Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Unhappy vs. Happy

Not Happy:

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Happy:

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Notice the differences?

No binkie, no blankie…not a happy baby. But, insert binkie and cover with a blankie, and he’s just fine! :)

Yellow + Gray = Gorgeousness

I was up with Harper early one morning, and I went downstairs to see Zoe off to school, and this was the outfit she had on:

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I think it is super cute! I love the silver detail on the top, and the ankle boots look great with it too! I just wish my pictures had turned out better, they sure don’t do this outfit any justice!

A Visit from an Old Friend

Alex and Harper:

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Last Thursday, when my fever finally subsided, an old friend of mine stopped by for a visit. I haven’t seen her in years (too many!) and it was great that she was off work and able to stop by for a visit. We had a bit of a falling out several years ago, but I’m glad that we have since reconciled because she always has been a good friend to me.

We didn’t do much since I still wasn’t feeling 100%, and I didn’t really want to drag Harper out to the mall or anything, so we sat around talking and reminiscing about the past. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon, and I’m hoping we’ll be able to get together again sometime soon.

Zoe, the Junior

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Thank goodness I have a husband that pays attention to what’s going on around here.

Since I was sick last week on Zoe’s first day of school, Tony got up and got her obligatory first day of school photos! I didn’t know that he had gotten up and taken these pictures, but boy was I happy when I found out that he had! I was feeling all kinds of mom guilt about not getting up and seeing her off on her first day back. I would have really been upset though if I didn’t even have photo’s of the event! Starting 11th grade is a big deal after all!

She sure looked beautiful, but my baby sure isn’t a baby anymore. :(

Lovin’ on Her Littlest Brother…

While all the elementary school kids went back to school today, the 7th-8th grades as well as 10th-12th grades start back tomorrow. The schools do this so that the 6th and 9th graders can figure out how to get to and from their classes before the mobs of other kids get there.

Anyways, since Zoe didn’t have school she found some time to snuggle with her little brother…and by the looks of it, he’s happy to let her:

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I’ve Been MIA

I am so far behind on blogging I don’t even know where to begin.

I guess I should start by explaining that last Monday I came down with mastitis and was pretty much out of commission for the week. I can’t remember ever feeling so sick so suddenly! One minute I was changing Harpers diaper, the next I was lying under all the blankets in my bed shivering like it was –5 degree’s in our house and running a fever of 102.5!

I was able to get to the doctor on Tuesday evening and started taking antibiotics immediately, although it still took until Friday morning before I started feeling back to normal!  Lucky for me Tony was able to take off work on Tuesday to help me out because I don’t know if I would have been able to take care of Harper all day without him. Wednesday was pretty tough, but I made it until Tony was able to get home and take over. He really took great care of me while I was sick, bringing me my medicine and keeping my water bottle filled so that I wouldn’t get dehydrated…he is truly the most magnificent husband. Ever.

So, now that I am feeling better and things are calm (for the moment!) I'll be catching you up on what’s been going on around here…

Monday, August 23, 2010

4th Grader!

Today was Landon’s first day of school…he’s in the 4th grade. It hurts my heart. I know he’s happy to be one of the bigger kids in school, but I just wish I could squish him back down to Kindergarten size and start all over.

As painful as today was, I’m sure that tomorrow is only going to be worse when I send my little Zoe to 11th grade. And no, it doesn’t matter that she’s taller and smarter than I am…she’s still my little Zoe and I’d like to squish her down too. I’d let her squish to 1st grade size.

Anyways, here are the obligatory first day of fourth grade photos:

Do you see the silly band collection? He was determined to wear them to school! He chose the outfit for school too. He loves that shirt, and in the third photo down you can see the coolest shoes ever!IMG_2141

His backpack weighs more than he does!

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The cool pose…and you can see the awesome shoes! :)

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And he’s off to another great year. I sure hope he’s got a lot of his friends in his class. I can’t wait to hear how it all went when he gets home!

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Lea @ 7 months

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Chris, Lori and Lea stopped by yesterday for a quick visit and I only got one picture, but wow, isn’t she adorable?! I can’t believe how big she’s gotten in the last few months, and she is quite the mover and shaker these days!

It was good having them over, especially when I noticed all the things Lea was going for on the floor in the house…it gives me a better idea of what I’m going to have to move/block/get-rid-of as soon as Harper becomes mobile! And, if yesterday was any indication, I’ve got some serious baby proofing to do!

The Last Hurrah Before School

Zoe got to spend the day out shopping, and Landon chose to go mini-golfing. He really wanted to go to the golf course and use real clubs, but we don’t own any golf clubs so he settled on a round of mini-golf instead.

I chose not to golf because I didn’t know how well Harper was going to do in the heat, but I certainly could have. So, since I was the baby stroller pusher, I just took pictures the whole time…and I got some good ones!

I love this first one because Landon had just gotten a hole in one, and Tony was shocked! Landon was in shock too, but after he realized what had just happened the smack talk began between him and his Dad.

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The second one I love because of the look of concentration on Landon’s face. I also love it because I was able to get some of the background in it and it really looked quite beautiful out there. Do you see my feeble attempt to frame Landon in the photo? LOL!

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I was attempting to frame Tony between the trees with his golf club, but it looks like I caught him peeing outside. Oops! The look on his face doesn’t help! :)

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Landon didn’t even try to make it look like he was golfing. Instead he just got behind that tree and gave me some cheese!

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This is how Harper looked the entire time we were on the course:

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I love Landon’s silliness in this shot; it’s just so him right now:

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And, I love Tony’s smile in this next one because it is his real genuine, melt my heart, make me weak in the knees smile:

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Here’s just a shot I got of the surroundings. I thought it was beautiful…for a mini golf place on the side of the highway:

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Look Who Found His Thumb…

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Too bad the poor guy found his eye at the same time.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Harper’s Photo Update

It’s hard for me to believe that I’ve already made it over the one week mark since having Harper. I felt like my pregnancy was never going to end, and then WHAM!, it was over. Just like that.

I couldn’t even begin to post all the photo’s I’ve taken of him over the past 8 days, but I have a few I need to share:

Day 1:

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My sweet husband with our new sweet baby. This image is forever burned into my mind…Tony is such a great father and husband, and I am so incredibly lucky to have snagged him when I did. I wish I had captured more of the look on Tony’s face, which was a mixture of joy, peacefulness and adoration.

Day 2:

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My mom holding Harper. She was so thrilled to get to hold him, and I was so happy that she was able to be here, not only to stay with the kids while we were in the hospital, but also because there just isn’t anything better than sharing your child with your Mom.

Day 3:

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In these first few days of his life, Harper wasn’t much of an eater. We had to coax him to eat, and the only way we could get him to wake up was to strip him down naked. And, look how good that worked! It took some time, but he eventually woke up to eat!

Day 4:

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I was doing a photo shoot with the baby in some of his cute little outfits when the kids decided to get in the pictures and model along with him. I got some beautiful photo’s of the three of them, and these pictures remind me how lucky I am. These kids are everything to me.

Day 5:

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Those little baby feet. Aren’t they just adorable?

Day 6:

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Zoe’s friend came over and as she was holding him he clasped his hands together like this. I joked that it looked like he was praying she wouldn’t drop him!

Day 7:

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We don’t want him to get that flat head some babies get from lying on their back so often, so here he is getting in some much needed tummy time. He pretty much just looks for his fist to suck on the entire time he’s on his belly, but he’s oh so cute!

Day 8:

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So peaceful. We thought it was just too cute how he had placed one hand over the other…but then again, we pretty much think everything this little tyke does it cute! :)

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Look Who Made the Team!!!

If your wonder who Jess is and wondering why you would say yes to her…I’m just as clueless. But, this post doesn’t really have anything to do with the shirt that Zoe’s wearing.

No, it has to do with what a sweaty mess she is, and the fact that her sweat and hard work have paid off this week. Paid off in the form of her making the V-A-R-S-I-T-Y girls soccer team!!!

I am extremely proud of this girl! She just goes after what she wants and makes it happen!

Go Zoe!

I LOVE YOU!

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My Big Boy

Landon recently went from being the baby in the family to being the middle child. It’s been a bit of an adjustment for him, but fortunately he’s quite a bit older than the baby, so he’s taking it pretty well.

We are doing our best to make sure that the older kids don’t feel left out while trying to also make sure that the baby gets all the attention he needs…a job harder than it seems, but doable. Zoe is almost like another parent to Harper since she’s so much older, and she’s pretty helpful. She even changed her first diaper the other day!

Here are a few shots I got of my big boy the other day…it doesn’t seem like all that long ago I was bringing him home to meet his big sister, who for 6 1/2 years had been the baby.

My how time flies.

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Older and Wimpier

Tummy time…

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Today was Harpers 1 week appointment with his doctor and I've been dreading it all week. I wasn't exactly sure what they were going to have to do to him other than his second PKU, and that alone was making me anxious. I'm glad Tony was able to go to the appointment with me because I was pretty stressed. I always worry about how the baby is going to react, how I'm going to react, if the baby's been fed recently enough that I won't have to do it in the doctor's office etc...so, I pretty much just drive myself crazy.

We got to the office and of course the little guy was sound asleep. When we got into the room, the nurse came in to take his weight, (which, of course, he had to be completely naked for and really makes him unhappy) temperature, length, and head circumference.

Everything checked out, and his stats are as follows:

  1. Weight: 7lbs. 10oz., which is up two ounces since his last appointment when he was only 3 days old.
  2. Length: 21 inches, up 1 1/4 inches since birth.

I've already forgotten what his head circumference was...guess I'll need to find that out at his next appointment!

(Can you remember, Tony?)

Right after we got his diaper back on, the doctor came in and it was off with the diaper again for a thorough exam. The only concern I had was regarding the amount of jaundice he still has (mostly noticeable in his eyes), but the doctor said everything looked normal for his age. He was a bit more concerned about the minimal increase in weight, but said now that my milk is in and the baby is eating/peeing/pooping regularly we should see more progress. So, we'll just keep up what we are doing, which is eating at a constant rate right now!

After the doctor left the nurse came back in to wrap his foot in a warm diaper so that when she pricked his heel the blood would flow easier. After a few minutes, she came back and while Tony held him upright, she pricked his little heel and worked it so the blood would flow easily. Harper isn't much of a crier, so when he does cry, it breaks my heart; I mean it took all I had not to cry with him. It was way more painful for me to listen to that I thought it would be...hence the title to my post! I know that these tests are necessary, but that certainly doesn't make them any easier to go through.

His next appointment is for when he turns 1 month old...so, I suppose I have a whole month to agonize over it! :)

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Introducing: Harper Thane

As most of you that read my blog know, I’ve been expecting baby number 3 any day now. Well, I am happy to report that that day finally came, and everyone is home now, recovering and doing wonderfully.

Here’s a run-down of the excitement:

  • August 4th, my due date comes and goes without so much as a 1 cm dilation. The baby is completely content where he is and has no desire to join us on the outside. My doctor informs me that if I haven’t had the baby by the following Thursday, I will be induced. Yikes.
  • August 6th, my original due date comes and goes. Still no signs of labor. I am having an awful time trying to sleep at night and my back pain has gotten pretty severe. I’m hot all the time and getting cranky from the lack of sleep and inability to do much.
  • August 10th, my weekly doctors appointment. The doctor does an internal exam and tells me that my “cervix is soft” and it looks like all I need is a “push in the right direction”. She believes the Pitocin will do just that for me, so we plan on heading to the hospital on August 11th so that the doctor can “prep my cervix” for Thursday’s induction.
  • We arrive for my 4:30pm appointment at the hospital around 4:15pm and after registering and checking in find our way to the Labor and Delivery area. I am a ball of nerves walking through the hallways…the anticipation of the pain and work ahead are enough to make me a bit crazy.
  • Once reaching Labor and Delivery, we are informed that they have no record of our appointment. Crap. Fortunately, the doctor on duty says she will squeeze me in, and I am taken to a room to wait. Once in the room, my vitals are taken and I am asked to undress from the waist down, and a fetal monitor is placed on my belly. I can hear the baby’s heartbeat, and the nurse tells me I am having slight contractions…contractions that I cannot feel at all. Tony is waiting for me in the lobby, so I ask the nurse to go get him so he can at least sit with me. Having him with me makes me feel better.
  • When the doctor finally makes her way in to see us, it is close to 7pm. I have been lying on the table since around 4:45 and I’m feeling tired, hungry and a bit agitated. The doc says she’s been having a crazy day with 10 scheduled c-sections, and I immediately forgive her. I’ve been hearing baby after baby being born, and I realize that this woman has been busy bringing all these lives into the world. How could I possibly be angry with her?
  • After a quick look, the doc says that I am dilated to about 1 1/2 to 2 cm, and she’s going to go ahead and “prep my cervix”. (Not the worst procedure in the world, but certainly not fun. It only took a minute or two, but it’s a couple minutes I won’t soon forget. I won’t describe it here because my kids read this…so, consider yourselves lucky!)
  • By 7:15pm I am having strong contractions. I am shocked how suddenly they have come on and am having severe back pain. Pain I know is true labor pain. Tony is just as surprised as I am, and being the wonderful man he is, he begins coaching me through each contraction. I remembered reading about bringing an object into the delivery room to focus on, but since we weren’t here to actually have a baby, I didn’t have anything with me. So, I found a spot on a light fixture in the room, and that small dot became what I focused on while breathing and listening to my husband reassure me that I was doing a good job. That spot on the light, my husbands voice and the thought of a new child made me keep pushing through the pain, although at times I just wanted to stop and cry.
  • Around 8pm or so (I am guessing here since I was in way too much pain to actually keep track of time) the doctor comes in to see how far I am and I’ve dilated to 4cm. Since I’m in so much pain they tell us that we won’t be going home tonight after all. I’ll be delivering sometime tonight or early morning, so we start to prepare for that. The progress is quick and I am told that I can have an epidural at this point. I tell them I definitely want one asap, and am told it will be a bit since the anesthesiologist is making her rounds with all the c-sections going on, but that I’ll be seen within the hour. The nurse then goes ahead and gives me an IV drip with an antibiotic and also administers Nubane to ease up the pain between contractions. I’m pretty sure Nubane is a cruel joke…I am not getting any relief and the contractions are seemingly endless.
  • Finally the anesthesiologist shows up. She immediately makes Tony and I nervous because she has a bit of a head tremor and we can’t help but wonder if her hands are going to be steady enough to administer the epidural. They have me sit on the edge of the bed and tuck my chin to my chest and lean as far down as possible. This is likely the most painful position to sit in while in full labor. But, I’d like to walk when I’m done so I am as still as possible. They tell me not to move at all, but when the doctor comes in, I look up and the nurse and anesthesiologist just about have a heart attack, which in turn scares the hell out of me and the doctor who shouldn’t have walked in. She apologizes and leaves the room while they finish me up and I pray that the pain will go away.
  • Tony wasn’t in the room while they were putting in the epidural, but he came back in afterwards. Because we showed up at the hospital that night with the intention of coming back the next morning, we hadn’t brought anything with us. No camera, no bag for the baby or myself. We hadn’t even eaten anything…so, once my epidural is in, Tony takes off on a mad dash home to get all that stuff and something to eat. He makes it back to the hospital in record time only to find me panicking because I can’t get the nurse call button to work. They never turned it on. I wanted to talk to the nurse because about 15 minutes before Tony walked in, I felt a huge burst of water and wasn’t sure if my water had broken or if my catheter had come out and my back pain was so intense I could hardly stand it…plus, I was beginning to get the urge to push.
  • Tony found the nurse in the hall and she confirmed that my water had indeed broken and at that point she called the doctor in. The doc said that I was now dilated to about a 9 and with each contraction, a 10. So, the pushing began. Tony held one leg, a nurse held the other leg and the doctor was positioned to help the little guy out. As soon as his head made it’s way out, my back pain disappeared. Thank goodness.
  • At 12:15am, August 12th, our baby boy, Harper Thane, made it into this world. He weighed 8 pounds 3.6 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long. He had a full head of hair and just a whimper of a cry. He was gorgeous…just like I knew he would be.

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Darling isn’t he?

Another Thank-You Card

I realize I haven’t been around in awhile, but rest assured, everything is fine here. I’m going to do my best to catch up on blogging over the next few days about what been taking place in our lives, but I do have a lot of catching up to do, so please check back often!

First off I have a card that I finished last week. I really love the colors and how the card turned out, unfortunately it was a card I should have made and sent months ago! Hopefully the recipient liked the card as much as I enjoyed the gift they got for me…

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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

What a Character

Zoe’s been drawing a lot this summer. She’s always loved to draw, but these long summer days at home have provided the perfect opportunity for her to work on her skills. She doesn’t trace any of these either, she just copies what she sees…

She was mad at me (for some reason that I can’t remember) in this first picture, but even so, Goofy looks great! :)

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Here’s her Donald Duck, and he’s awful adorable!

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This last one is my very favorite though, I just think it’s so cute! It might also have something to do with the fact that she drew it and gave it to me, but either way I think it’s great!

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Friday, August 6, 2010

Thank-You Cards

I am not much of a card maker, but I found a couple cute cards in the latest Paper Crafts Magazine and decided to try them out. The first one is one I made for my friend Alex…the one who sent me the gorgeous crocheted blanket.

I didn’t even try to change this card up at all, (pg. 39) it’s pretty much copied straight from the magazine and I just love how it turned out! I thought that the rounded squares were a great idea, and so easy!

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The second card is one I made for Zoe’s friend Kelsey, the one who sent over this adorable little blanket.

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I copied this one from the magazine as well, (pg.16) and loved that it used up some of the extra letters I had on some older sticker sheets.

Making these cards has helped to rekindle my interest in scrapbooking, and I’m looking forward to the day that I can sit comfortably and scrap…shouldn’t be long! :)

Thursday, August 5, 2010

SK8 PARK

I love these pictures of Landon at the skate park. Last summer he went to a skateboarding camp and he really learned a lot and came home wanting to practice every night.

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While we were on vacation we bought a pass for him to use at the skate park, but when we got to the park there were a few older boys there skating and Landon was very intimidated by their skills. He skated for a little bit that first day, but then he wasn’t really interested again…so, I’m glad I got these photo’s of him while I had the chance! I have a couple other pictures of him from the same trip that I need to scrap, so be looking out for another skateboarding layout soon!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Overdue

Someone forgot to call/text/write the baby to let him know that today was his eviction date.

It looks like I may need to bring in reinforcements to get this show on the road. He's just not ready I guess...and I suppose I can't really blame him. I mean, after all, once he's out he's out for good, so I'm thinking he's just making the most of his time on the inside.

I had my weekly appointment yesterday and after an hours wait (GRR!) the doctor came in and told me there was no progress. I told her that I was a bit concerned about his lack of movement so she hooked me up to a machine that recorded any contractions I had and each time the baby moved I had to push a button so that the machine could record that as well. I was also able to hear his heartbeat the entire time which is always such a pleasure. Everything checked out well during the testing and exam so we are just sitting and waiting at this point. (The doctor did say that if I hadn’t had him already I would be scheduled for an induction next Thursday, which will put me at just over 41 weeks. At least I know I won’t be pregnant for sure after that date…but, I’m really hoping I’ll be in and out of the hospital before then on my own.)

I have been having a few contractions today and I think that I am starting to freak Zoe out a little bit. Every time I say something about contractions she wonders if it's time for me to get to the hospital. For instance, we went out to lunch today and once we pulled into the parking lot I needed to wait a second before getting out because I was having a strong contraction. When Zoe asked me if I was contracting I said yes and she said "Do you need to go to the hospital?" to which I responded "No, not yet." She then informed me that if I went into labor while we were in Subway, we were screwed. (Her exact words! LOL!)  When I asked why, she said it was because she couldn't drive and I wouldn't be able to either! Poor kid, she's panicking about what's going to happen when I finally do go into labor. I keep explaining that when I do go into labor it'll be hours before the baby's actually born (most likely) and not to worry, but I don't think it's helping.

Landon isn't so worried about the whole thing and when his Mema asked him about the baby he just told her that they were going to give me a pill in a week and then I would have him.

Proof that he listens to what I tell him...sort of. :)

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Game Night {Triopoly}

I have never in my life played a game of Monopoly. I’m not sure how my entire childhood got away without once playing that game, but it did.

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Sunday night Tony decided we were going to have a family game night. Monopoly isn’t a game we own (and we own MANY) but years ago Tony and I bought the game Triopoly…and never even played it! So, that was the game of choice on Sunday, and it was a hit. The kids really liked it! I did learn a few things that night though, things I may never have learned if not for that game, such as:

  • Zoe is hell bent on winning that game. She will make sure that she sucks every last penny out of you possible, and she’s even happy to make you mortgage your property in order to pay up. She’s totally relentless.
  • Landon doesn’t pay much attention when it comes to which property he owns. We can land on his property over and over again and he rarely notices…and we even wait a few extra minutes for him to catch on, but he just doesn’t.
  • Tony mortgages more property than anyone else. Over and over again, and early on. I don’t know if this is strategic, or if he just can’t manage money…but, I will keep doing the check books around here, that’s for sure.
  • I like Triopoly. I like that it’s a game we all can sit and play for a few hours and then put away and resume the next day…or whenever. I like that we can all enjoy the same game despite our age gaps. I love the family time.

We all enjoyed playing so much on Sunday that we started a new game tonight. After two hours I couldn’t sit anymore so we packed it up, but the kids have already asked when we thought we’d get back to it.

That makes me a happy mom.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Progress

Yesterday Tony decided he’d had enough of the ugly cypress bushes we had outside…so he got to work digging them out:

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As he was working, he stumbled upon a tiny little bird nest, complete with a tiny little egg:

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Because he’s a good guy, he gently picked it up and put it on the porch…only to discover that the egg had small holes in it and no baby bird would ever come from that egg.

I’m guessing it’s my hormones, but that little egg in the empty nest makes me sad, and I really need Tony to get rid of it tonight when he gets home.

It’s just too depressing.

April Fools Pranks

The two little kids made me laugh yesterday morning.  I was upstairs getting things ready for school when I heard them talking about how ...