New Blog

Just wanted to let all who land here that I've started a new blog.

You can find me over at Following Yonder Star, where I plan to be better at posting than I have been in the last couple of years (last year especially).

Thanks for following me!!!

Milestones

We've had a couple of weeks FULL of milestones.

This...




And this...





And this... (that's a tooth- bottom left- if you can't see it :)




AND she's pulling up to standing, but I don't have a photo of that ready to post yet. The first year goes so fast!!!

Back Online

Kevin had my computer fixed :) (thanks honey!) so I'm back and ready to post again. Look for some photos to be up soon.

ACHOOO!

My computer is sick :(
I'm posting from Kevin's computer right now and will get back to posting as soon as I can fix the problem with my computer. (also... if anyone has tried to contact me via e-mail in the past few weeks and found me MIA, this is why)
Other than an annoying computer bug, we are all doing great. I hope the same can be said for you :)

Happy Mother's Day

Because I'm a slacker this year... or can I still blame it on Emily?... our Mother's Day wish to two awesome grandmothers is going out as a blog post.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, Grandma and Grandma Kate!!!!!

Call Time

Having kids participate in the performing arts has added to my vocabulary terms previously unused... call time being one of them. It's an important one for me to know since that's when the performers need to show up especially since I'm the one who usually makes sure they make their call time.

We've had several call times over the past two weeks- all our activities seem to wind down at once, which would be the exact opposite of calm before a storm. Sully's last chorus concert of the season was tonight and last weekend was a flurry with two plays AND a concert, not to mention rehearsals. Last weeks concert's venue was "The Art of Sand" show, which really deserves it's own post. As for the play, both boys had pretty big parts- this being Nathan's first really big part and he did a fabulous job... he even had a singing solo!

I know the photos of Nathan are super blurry but you can tell by his body language that he was really in character (he played an old sheep, thus the cane).





And Sully was the shepherd.

Three Months Already

And enjoying every minute!

Feast or Famine

I've got a few minutes and several photos to post tonight... sorry for everything at once, but it's better than not getting them out at all :)

Emily According to Nathan

Nathan is a budding photographer and has captured some pretty good images. I especially like these two of Emily. You can really see her personality coming out in the second photo.






He takes pictures of Duke, Sully and Emily and most of them are actually pretty good... of course, he's just started making Lego videos and then there are the numerous "self portraits"- and no worries about wasting film... gotta love digital cameras!

Planning to Post

I have several posts floating around in my mind and a few photos to share but for now here's a quick post, list style, about the goings on of the past few weeks.

Easter- Emily got her first Easter basket and Nathan initially wanted to know why *I* had a Raggedy Ann from the Easter Bunny. It quickly dawned on him that was Emily's basket.

Same day as Easter this year- SULLY'S 15th Birthday- How can he be 15 already??? Amazing really! We had cake and presents (he actually got his parent present the day before). A record player- or as he likes to call it a record "machine". He loves that old fashioned thing :) He'll have a paintball party in the next week or so.

Visit from Grandma Kate and Wally- they came the weekend before Easter and took us all out to dinner to celebrate Uncle Chris' birthday and Sully's. We had a ball at the Melting Pot... definitely an awesome place to go!

A visit TO Grandma Kate and Wally's- the boys spent part of the week after Easter being spoiled by grandparents... they have been asking and asking to be allowed to go to "Wally School" and we were finally able to coordinate schedules. They had a ball!!!

Other things- Emily had a doctor's appointment and weighed in at almost eleven pounds. Sully has several upcoming chorus concerts and Nathan's play is right around the corner. We're hoping to plan a trip north in a couple of months- wonder how this baby will travel? I've been fortunate so far to have kids who are very good travelers... hope our luck holds!

In between- we've been trying to get used to our new normal... catching housework and schoolwork at different times than we are used to but LOVING the distraction all the same.

Fifteen for a Moment

Happy birthday Sully!!! He's gearing up to get his learner's permit... where did the time go?

This year his gift was a "record machine"... known to us old fogies as a record player or turntable... in addition to BIG speakers, a receiver and a box full of 10,000 albums give or take.

The 9 year old in the house was very excited that his brother's birthday was on Easter because that meant we would have candy AND cake!!! And we did.

Changing My Perspective

Looking through Sully's treasure trove of 10,000 albums, Kevin asked if I remember "The Big Chill" (the soundtrack was included in the lot) and I said that of course I remember it...then I said , and I quote, "It was that movie with those old people who had some kind of reunion." He agreed, they WERE old people... then he laughed and showed me the album cover. Oh gracious, when did that happen... those OLD people look to be about MY age!!! LOL!!!

The Measure of a Man

Should be determined by his patience while holding a screaming infant and singing Steve Miller songs to her until she falls asleep. Boy, am I grateful tonight!

All Thumbs

Emily found her thumb the day she was born. Here she is on another such happy occasion.

ARG!! Camera is Down

Well, it's not actually the camera but the charge cord, without which the camera is worthless. Could it break (or get broken) at a worse time? Don't the camera gods know we have a cute baby in the house??

And on that note, she is starting to smile in response to us and there have even been some "gee"s and "a-gah"s coming from her. We're all waiting eagerly for her to laugh. She'll be 6 weeks old tomorrow.

Asking for Help

One normal ankle...




I was so happy on Tuesday. My debut drive... the first solo outing since surgery!!! I'd driven the boys to Kids Klub. The drive went really well and I was sure to be running around in days. Things were finally starting to get back to normal... I'd even scrubbed the WHOLE bathroom earlier that day. (Some women may bounce back from a c-section faster, but I was really pleased at my less than 4 week progress)

Here's where it gets interesting... It was time to get the boys from Kids Klub so I put the baby in the car and walked around to get in the van myself. I took a wrong step and ended up sprawled on the driveway where I realized several things.
I couldn't walk.
The baby was in the car.
I couldn't get her out, much less carry her into the house.
I couldn't even crawl because I'd landed hard on one knee.
My boys needed a ride home.
If I couldn't walk, I couldn't drive either.
Concrete is hard.

While not completely helpless, I surely needed help. After catching my breath, I got up and hopped into the house, grabbed the phone and stood (on one foot) at the door while calling my neighbor to come get Emily out of the car. Thank goodness for good neighbors!!! As soon as she was on her way, I called about a ride for the boys. My neighbor helped me settle on the couch with a bag of frozen veggies on my ankle and the boys arrived home safely.

So, for the past couple of days, I've been parked on the couch again. I've been going up and down the stairs on my bottom and have had to ask for things like lunch. Fortunately, I heal pretty quickly and today I've even walked to the bathroom sans crutches (thanks Uncle Chris for lending them). I believe that a quick recovery will be greatly influenced by staying off of my feet, so I have ended up sprawled on the couch where I have realized several things.
I don't like to ask for help.
I'd much rather do it myself.
There are some cases where I can't do it myself.
I am very fortunate to have people in my life who are willing and able to help.
I am thankful for them.
I can fall down and hurt myself on flat concrete... who needs skis?
It's hard to photograph your own ankles.
I am also glad that this is temporary.


One not so normal ankle...

Mrs. Darling's Kiss

"...and her sweet mocking mouth had one kiss on it that Wendy could never get, though there it was, perfectly conspicuous in the right-hand corner." J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

A perfect description of how I feel about Emily's smile.

And here she is peacefully sleeping... 4 weeks old on Wednesday.

What Do the Boys Think?

For Nathan, a picture speaks a thousand words (he'd like the idiom too)

Of course I'll add a few words of my own... He asks to hold her and says how much he likes being an older brother. He also says how he can't wait until she's up, moving around and crawling... I just think to myself, "I hope you remember saying that when she's after your toys."


Sully's answer is a bit more complicated. He's in the "I'm a way too cool teenager" stage so when asked how he feels about his cute little sister is he usually says, "Whatever."
But this photo says otherwise...

Don't pay attention to all the junk on the tables and floor :)

He'll sit with her and talk to her and bop this little bear around and watch her wiggle her arms and he laughs at the funny things she does... so when he answers with his "too cool" answer, I just think... "Whatever"!! ;-)

Self-Esteem

Kevin believes in instilling self-esteem early... that's why he's already telling Emily that she eats ALL the time and has ENORMOUS (speedboat) feet :)

Fortunately we are also already teaching her to pray.

Of course, I'm kidding... and it hasn't bothered her in the least. Isn't she cute???

Two Weeks

is enough time to watch a baby grow and change and is more than enough time to fall head over heels.

Emily is 2 weeks old today.