New Old Friends

I mentioned yesterday in my list of numbers that I was able to meet three wonderful blogging friends on my trip. Let me tell you a bit more.

I had breakfast at Panera with Joanne. She was so sweet and genuine. We chatted over coffee and pastries, it was heavenly. I feel like we could have talked all afternoon, she made me feel so comfortable. Lovely lady that Joanne. And she has fabulous red hair. I was green with envy.

For lunch I met with Vashti and Gretchen. I felt like I was amongst old friends and we were just getting together again after being apart for awhile. Vashti was full of life and so amazingly friendly. Her two daughters were just precious and I was so lucky to be able to meet her three nephews also. She had quite a tribe with her, I felt right at home.

I have "known" Gretchen for a couple years now through a message board that we both visit and I have wanted to meet her from the moment I met her. Does that make sense? She was gentle and sweet and completely amiable. (I've been dying to use the word "amiable" for a long time and meeting Gretchen gave me the perfect opportunity) She also wore a most fabulous pair of sparkling pink earrings. I could have chatted with her three little boys for hours, they were simply charming.

This was a day completely worth plucking my eyebrows for. If you knew how much I hate tweezing, you would know how huge that is. These three ladies did not disappoint and I was so thrilled with my very first real-life-meets-the-internet day. Also, none of them turned out to be axe murderers, which is a bonus.

This Little Piggy Cried Wee Wee Wee, All the Way Home

I'm surrounded by a sea of suitcases and I'm waging war with my seven mile long to-do list. I thought I would give you a quick overview of our trip with more later.

Let's look at the numbers.

1 trip to Denver Colorado

4 flights

3 checked bags

1 snowboard

1 carseat

3 carry-ons

1 scamming cab driver

1 migrane

2 Advil

4 glass elevators

4 caramel lattes

3 fabulous blogging friends

9 well behaved children

1 monstrous pizza

1 very steep flight of stairs

2 loads of laundry

1 sleepless baby

3 lazy days

1 trip to downtown Denver

1 phenomenal rootbeer

countless trips up and down the elevators

1 snowy drive home from the airport

6 sleeping kids

1 very slow morning

0 gallons of milk

1 breakfast of "cee-yo" with heavy whipping cream

1 very happy mommy

Peace Out.

I am leaving.

We have arranged for the care of the children. The two little partners in crime are spending the rest of the week with their cousins. Together, they make up infamous Four Muskateers. The three oldest have the ball and chain of school around their little traveling ankles and have to stay in town. But staying with Oomah* and Doopah** makes up for having to continue with classes and homework and boring stuff like that. Little Gemster comes with us.

And where are we going? On an airplane. The last time I flew I was a mere 15 years old and was headed to sunny Florida. This time, I am not headed to sunny Florida, but to somewhere just as fun, and I am bringing along a very very active little seven month old. A seven month old who has mastered climbing the stairs and is now flirting with letting go of furniture while standing next to it. I think she freaks herself out a bit: "Look at me, I'm standing next to the couch. Am I awesome or what? Wait, whattheheck? I'm letting go! Wow, look, I'm awesomer than I thought! Ohmygosh, this is scary, MOM...HELP!" and plop, she falls right on her squishy little butt. Yeah, I don't think there is much room for that on the airplane, so we are praying that she will sleep a lot. Benedryl as a back up.

We'll be back late late late on Sunday night. Don't wait up.


*This is Nate's mom. The German word for Grandma-Oma became toddlerized by our oldest when he was a wee lad and the resulting difficult to spell nickname has stuck.

**This is Nate's Dad. This is the masculine partner to Oomah. It is sometimes shortened to a more casual "Doop".

Errors?

Raise your hand if you are having problems with my links or archives.
It seems that this template is causing some errors for people, including myself. I love the argyle, but I think it may be evil.

Why I've been scarce.

We are recovering from a crazy-wild weekend that ended in the stomach flu. I think we have successfully infected over half of our little town. (Sorry everyone!) I spent yesterday feeling queasy in bed (no, I'm not pregnant, just sick) while Nate impressed me with his laundry skills. He knocked out six or seven loads of bedding and whatnot. It seems as though everyone is feeling better today. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it is over and done with.

A quick update. My grandpa had triple bypass surgery on Saturday and is doing well. I'm disappointed that I haven't been able to visit, but I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate a stomach virus being introduced to the ICU.

Arrrg!

My pirate name is:

Dirty Ethel Cash

You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Do you speak toddler?

Karen over at The Big Trade Off wrote of her daughter's first night without her "Gicky". It cracked me up. I love toddler talk. Some of our favorite kid words have stuck and our family still calls the items by their toddler-given name. Some examples:

• "Shopping shoes". Or for short, "Shoppers". Noelle knew from the very beginning that there was something special about a sparkly pair of shoes.
• "Boochees". This one is HUGE. We have blankets for wrapping up in when we are cold, but "boochees" what our thumb suckers hold up by their faces while they suck their thumbs. If you have seen it, you know what I mean. Hilarious.
• "Boe-Jay". This is Jack's interpretation of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Which he loves almost as much as "Cee-yo". (cereal)
• "Nakee". If you don't have clothes on, you are Nakee.
• "take a tubby" You have to be Nakee to Take a Tubby.

I know you aren't supposed to repeat thing back to them the wrong way, but it's just so doggone cute! Only now we have our own little language around here. Please, assure me that we aren't the only ones who talk toddler all the time.

The Unforseen

Isn't it funny how you can be cruising along and everything is fine and then the road of life takes a twist that you didn't see coming? Last night I was running some late night errands alone. On my way into town, I had to pull to the side of the road two separate times for two fire trucks flying toward me, lights flashing, sirens wailing. My mind immediately went to the dark place it always does when I see emergency vehicles, "What if they are going to my house?" My pulse quickened but I quickly turned my thoughts back toward the gallon of milk I was on my way to retrieve.

As I turned the corner on to my street I caught my breath. My heart jumped into my throat, my hand went to my heart, and I breathed the words "Oh dear Jesus, no!" out loud to myself and my empty car. The trucks were parked in the middle of the street, right in front of our house. My pulse pounded, I could feel the panic rising. I didn't see smoke, so I immediately thought of all the other horrible possibilities. As I came closer I could see a fireman going up the stairs in my neighbors house, no smoke, everything looked under control. Further information proved that it was a gas leak, and not a serious one. The kids crawled back into their beds and tried to go to sleep despite the flashing red lights on their walls.

I was struck by the quickness in which my heart leapt into high gear. By how quickly life could have changed. My mind now turned to my Grandparents. Early yesterday morning we had news that my Grandpa had been taken to the hospital. It is definitely his heart, they are running tests to see what exactly. Life took a turn for them that morning. How could Grandma have suspected that this is the path her day would carry her on as she made breakfast for him while Grandpa did chores? Did Grandpa have any idea that he would be laying in a hospital bed that evening? I know my Mom couldn't have guessed that she would be spending the night with my Grandma an hour away. And what of today? Tests? Surgery? More tests?

Life is so precious. I forget that sometimes. I take it for granted and I figure that things will always be the way they are. But they won't. Most of the time I have a hard time looking past the now, the day in day out stuff. But life is all about change. Change for the better, change for the worse, we never know what is coming.

January. Bleh.

Yes, I love January because it is the month of my BIRTHDAY. But I have to admit, it's a little bit of a letdown after all of the December hoopla. And especially this year, all of our snow is gone making the view out of our windows pretty barren. And very very brown. This of course makes for some very dirty snowpants and boots when the kids come traipsing in after school. The temperatures have been lovely, but I feel like mother nature is a suffering from a memory lapse. Hello? Mother Nature? Yeah, it's Heth, and well, could you please make up your mind? What season is it?

So to bring a bit of sunshine into this January 18th, I give you one of my favorite summertime photos. Close your eyes and dream of July.

Laundry status 1/16

I've been laundering constantly for the past week and I am still up to my armpits in dirty clothes. I discovered part of the problem when I found all the dresses Camryn
"tried on" before church were in the hamper. I guess it's easier to throw them in there than to hang them back up. My children are using the laundry pile as a quick fix while cleaning their rooms, which explains the plastic dinosaurs I found hiding under a pair of jeans.

I go though phases of sorting and not sorting. Sometimes I just cram everything from not-so-whitish socks to red sweatshirts all in the same load. It doesn't matter if you are a towel or a lacey pair of underwear, you are riding the tub of suds together. Then other times, I become compulsive sorter. Today, I sorted. Camryn has been my star sorter. I taught her early, and she prides herself on knowing which pile to put the white pajamas with pink stripes in. Since she has been at school for two years now, I am passing her torch to Caedmon, who learned how to sort last week. He was very proud of himself. I hope I'm not breaking any child labor laws by making my four year old do laundry.....

And so today, our family room floor is littered with piles of jeans, colors, whites, towels, and darks. I guess segregation isn't a bad thing when it comes to laundry.

Do you sort your laundry? What are your "sorting categories"?

Do you feel sorry for me because I am out of fabric softener?

29

A list of Twenty Nine things on my Twenty Ninth birthday.

1. Pancakes. We had a birthday dinner at my parents' house, and I requested pancakes.
2. Ham. (Mom made ham too, I guess for the people who don't love pancakes all by themselves.)
3. Steaks. Last night, Nate's parents made me a delicious steak dinner. I'm drooling now.
4. Pecan Pie. Last night's dessert.
5. An "African-American" bracelet that Noelle made me with her new beads. (She's totally into beads right now)
6. Gemma slept all night last night. Thank you Gemma, that was the best gift you could have given me.
7. Cherry Chip Cake with Cream Cheese frosting
8. We made a trip to the ER with Gemma. Thought she had a bum arm, but she's fine.
9. I made a pot of coffee this morning before church and didn't have any until after church.
10. I wore my favorite Blindside shirt. And some fuzzy pink socks.
11. Caedmon and Camryn went to a birthday party. When he was getting out of the car, Caedmon fell into a snowbank.
12. My dream birthday present would be to sleep until I wake up on my own.
13. Nate made scrambled eggs for breakfast.
14. I thought thinking of 29 things would be easy but it's hard.
15. I don't think I feel like I'm 29, but I can't tell if I feel older or younger.
16. I wore my favorite black and pinks shoes to church this morning.
17. Jack sang happy birthday to me and it was adorable.
18. I went ahead and had a second piece of cake.
19. Just now, I ate the last two pieces of pecan pie. I think I'm going to wish they were there tomorrow when I get hungry for something sweet.
20. I'm thinking about cutting my hair.
21. I wish the season premiere of 24 wasn't on my birthday.
22. My birthday is my favorite day, and I milk it.
23. I still have those pink fuzzy socks on, I love them.
24. I wish I was in bed right now.
25. Track seven on Tyler's Spongebob CD makes me laugh out loud. "The best time to wear a striped sweater, is all the tiiiiiiime."
26. I secretly fed lots and lots of ham scraps to my Dad and Mom's dog.
27. We played a game of Apples to Apples this afternoon. That is a fun game.
28. I think I am going to start collecting belt buckles.
29. I'm so sad that my birthday is over.

Is this a Photo Blog?

While I'm posting pictures, I thought I would share my film version of Caedmon's self-haircut. Remember that? I don't think the digitals captured how drastically he snipped, but this photo does. I can't stop laughing!

Another Christmas Post?

So I have already admitted to the humiliating fact that we do not own a digital camera. Someday I will drag my butt into the twenty-first century, but for now, I will continue to use my beloved Pentax K-1000. I really, really love it. And I'm afraid that if I ever DID get a digital, it would have to be this little beauty. Not too easy on the pocketbook though. So I guess we will just stick to Nate's little camera phone. That, and you will have to enjoy delayed photos as I will be posting them when I get my film developed.

Which is what I am doing today. I picked up my Christmas photos the a few days ago and thought I would share. Every year, on Christmas Sunday, I make the kids line up on the couch for a picture before church. I usually take way too many shots, but I ADORE them because you end up getting a feel for the moment when you look at all the pictures in a row. One year they played pass-the-baby-Jack. I had four pics of the group with each kid taking a turn holding the baby. But I LOVE this year's pictures. I laugh every time I look at them. Ahhh, can you feel the brotherly love?

Distracted

You know, most of the stuff I write here is pretty fluffy. I don't really go delving into the inner workings and thoughts of the Heth very often. Honestly, it's because I know some of you in real life and how weird would that be? Its one thing to have you all know that Caedmon and Jack are up to no good most of the time. Running into you in Wal-mart would be a little awkward if you knew everything from the depths of my heart and I knew nothing about you. Anyway, that is my disclaimer.

But today I think I will go a little more serious.

I think the adjective to describe me lately is "distracted". I find distraction creeping into every area of my life. If you look around my house, you will see tell-tale signs. The pot of coffee that I started to make, I poured in the water and started to grind the beans, but I was interrupted before I could turn the pot on. There is the lineup of laundry baskets, half of them are empty, but I never got back to the rest of them. I am reminded of the painting I started on our bedroom wall. Beautiful shiny silver script of love poems and quotes. I was very pregnant at the time (with Jack I think) and I couldn't get down on the floor on my belly to write the last few lines. Ummm, yeah, that's still not done. The girls' dressers are primed, but never painted. The Christmas decorations are put away, but the living room is not put back together. I could go on and on.... You've all probably read "If You Give A Mom A Muffin." It made the email loop a while ago. They wrote that about me. (at least I'm pretty sure they did) But it goes deeper than stuff around the house.

It has spilled over into my identity as a mother. I am a MOTHER not a house keeper. Yes, I need to run an orderly place around here and at least keep the toilets scrubbed and the kids fed. But what about reading books, and dressing up like ninjas, and doing puzzles? Why is it so hard for me to join Tyler in a little two player on the Nintendo, to be a part of his world? Why don't I let Noelle use her Easy Bake Oven? If I was honest, it's because it's too much work for ME. How do I get so wrapped up in stupid stuff that I have to try to think really hard to remember if I hugged Camryn today. Have I let my "duties" distract me from a deeper relationship with my kids?

But the area that scares me the most is my relationship with Christ. Have I become distracted here too? I think maybe I have. Sometimes the daily stuff distracts me from spending more time in the Word. I can pray while I'm doing dishes, but my mind easily wanders to my to-do list. I think the biggest distraction for me is works. Sometimes I just get this list of things in my head that I THINK I SHOULD be doing to make God happy. It's almost like I am trying to earn my way into favor with Him. Like I'm buying a palace in heaven with my good deeds. I get distracted by legalism and I forget that He loves me. He saved me by His grace and He just loves me. The more I love Him, the more I will WANT to do the things that please Him.

I want to get back to the basics. A simple, orderly home. A family who is confident of my love because of the time I spend with them. And most importantly, an undistracted love for my Savior.

Luke 10:40-42

40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.

She came to him and asked,

"Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?

Tell her to help me!"
41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered,

"you are worried and upset about many things,

42but only one thing is needed.

Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Dance like no one is watching?

Hannah posted a great video over on her site. Remember those other dancing guys back in the archives? (I'm to lazy too go find the old post) I think this guy may have them beat. Check it out.

http://www.military.com/Video/050303_DanceTime.wmv

And go check out Hannah's blog, she takes pretty pictures.

Packrats

This morning I was sorting through the girls room. Taking on the job of picking Polly Pockets shoes from Ello pieces and Barbie clothes is a very noble job. Noelle (9) and Camryn (6) love purses, and they pack them with some interesting things. I think they each have about 4 purses each right now, and if I'm missing something around the house, I go digging through their purses. Let me give you a quick list of what I found in one small purse this morning.

• A Hot Wheels car
• one Fairytopia strappy sandal
• a dirty sock
• a rock
• a wadded up Sunday School paper
• Polly herself
• Some sort of bean bag thing one of them made at VBS this year.

Where's the lipstick? The mirror? The cute little wallet? Apparently they didn't get the memo about what to put in a purse.

Some haunting questions.

• Where were GI Joe and Barbie going in Barbie's convertible and why was their dog driving?
• How many thousands of googly eyes did Caedmon and Jack dump out on their floor?
• How long has this shirt been wadded up behind Noelle's dresser?
• What in the world are Polly's clothes made out of that they can stretch so much?
• Why am I jealous of the wardrobes of the My Scene dolls?
• What in the world am I going to discover when I clean the boys' room?

An unexpected concert

We just attended our first fifth grade band concert. I wasn't really ready for it, literally. We found out about it as Tyler walked in the door after school. "How was your day?" "Good, and oh yeah, I have a band concert tonight." Communicating important school info is not one of his stronger suits. Remember, we already discussed the condition of his backpack.

So we knocked out everyone's homework and chores, shoveled some supper into our mouths and ran out the door. It took a little shuttling, the Beast is in the shop (that's a whole other post) so we had to figure out how to transport eight people with a five seater. The xB is great. Love it. I took the younger four to my parents and then came back and picked up Nate, Tyler, and Noelle.

Tyler plays the trombone. We have heard him practice a few times. You just can't get the whole picture from listening to your kid practice their instrument solo. He does a great job, but there's not much melody in the trombone section. Those fifth graders put on a great show, seven songs and I wasn't even bored. Seriously, I wasn't. One thing I remember from my own fifth grade band experience was the foot tapping. And guess what, it's still there. And it's contagious. Tonight I found myself tapping right along with them.

Good times.....

The mind of a four year old

Gabe (my college freshman little brother) comes in the front door and greets Caedmon (4) "What's up?"

Caedmon "What does that mean?"

Gabe "It means how are you." (thinks to himself, "Wait, not really. Oh well.")

Caedmon "Oh"


A few days later, Gabe once again greets Caedmon with his usual "What's up?"

Caedmon (without hesitating) "Good"

Shoes I have loved in 2005

I apologize for the quality of the photo, but I used hubby's camera phone.

Let me tell you about each of my lovelies.

Ok, front and left is a little brown corduroy slip on I just bought this fall. Payless Shoes. $1. I am not even kidding. One little dollar. And I love them.

Behind that is my running shoes. New Balance 680's. Took a few tries to find one I liked, but these babies carry me through my morning run quite well.

To the right of the 680's we have a fun little black pump with some pink stitching. Target? Payless? I don't remember. They look great with jeans though.

To the right again is a little brown sandal. Walmart. I just want to gobble them up. Aren't they fun?

To the right, a cream ballet slipper. I love them, but I wear them without socks. The inside is really gross and dirty if I wear them to your house, I will probably not take them off at the door. Either that or I will disown them and wear someone else's shoes home.

The red ones. I have had these for a long time, I think I will keep them forever. I bought them at Walmart. They are red, what else can I say?

The pink and black tweed pair at the top are my most recent purchase. I bought them and had nothing to wear them with. So I went shopping for new clothes. I had to have them. I love them. I wear them too much.

There you have it. I am such a loser, I arrange my shoes for photography. But it's easier than taking pictures of the kids. The shoes don't make funny faces at the camera. I neglected to put my flip flops in the photo. Pulling the flip flops out of the back of the closet would just make me long for summer. I'll just have to do a "Shoes I Have Loved in the Summer" sometime in August.

Woo Hoo, bring on the Memes

Chilihead tagged me. Thanks Chili, I just love this kind of stuff.

Four jobs you have had in your life
1. Picking up rocks from a field. Why? So they don't ruin the machinery.
2. Waitress at Country Kitchen. I was the worst waitress EVER. I'm not kidding.
3. Waitress at Godfather's Pizza (this was better, just worked behind the counter, the customers got their own drinks. PHEW!)
4. Mom to all these kids

Four movies you could watch over and over
1. Romeo+Juliet The weird psychedelic one. Come on, you know you love the fish tank scene.
2. Emma
3. The Notebook Wahhhhh. Bring out the Kleenex.
4. Sense and Sensibility So noble.

Four places you've lived
1. My Parents house
2. University housing in Grand Forks, North Dakota
3. The Ghetto (in Grand Forks North Dakota)
4. Here

Four TV shows you love to watch
1. What Not to Wear
2. Good Eats
3. Spongebob
4. The Biggest Loser

Four places you've been on vacation
1. Out West
2. Down South
3. Up North
4. DesMoines, IA

Four websites you visit daily
1. Homestarrunner, But what is UP?! Nothing new for over a month. I hope it's not over...
2. Bloglines brings me all your blogs. (yeah I switched, I like bloglines better than Google)
3. A message board for moms with more than 5 kids
4. A message board for runners

Four of your favorite foods
1. Pancakes
2. Tacos
3. Red Velvet Cake
4. Chicken Enchiladas

Four places you'd rather be right now
1. Taking a nap
2. Reading
3. Shopping
4. Sunbathing on a beach

Four Bloggers you are tagging
(I'm hoping to wake up some sleeping bloggers here)
1. Shawn
2. Bill
3. Haleigh
4. Everyone else. If you are reading, you are tagged.

Lunch with Nate

Today the three littles and I had lunch with Nate. We had Pablo's burritos*. They. Were. Huge. I'm guessing about thirty pounds each. Ok, not thirty, but close. Nate wrote a tribute to the burrito a while back. You should read it. The kids (Caedmon and Jack, not Gemma silly!) had McDonald's hamburgers, apple slices instead of fries, and chocolate milk instead of pop. Am I the meanest mom ever or what? Of course I didn't give them the caramel sauce for dipping their apples, do you think I'm insane? I'm saving that to pour over a slice of Brooke's coffee cake. Ohmygosh,I'm about to pass out just thinking about it.

*I only ate 1/3 of my burrito and he ate the WHOLE thing. My remaining 2/3's is in the fridge right now, waiting for me. Oooh, I can't wait.

Putting it all away

I just finished up De-Christmafying our house. Everything is being packed away in plastic totes until next December. As I took the lights off, I noticed that our tree had the texture of shredded wheat. You know, like all the little crunchies that are left at the bottom of the bag. I wrestled and wrangled the old cactus out the front door and on to the curb where it now awaits it's delivery to tree heaven. It is a bit windy outside today and I keep looking out the window, fully expecting to see the tree go tumbleweeding down the street. Half of the tree was left all over the living room floor, but it is all safe inside my vacuum cleaner now. I had a lot of help from my two little boys, thanks guys, it was fun re-living the green and red Christmas ornament snow ball fight again. The latest in the girls' snowglobe collections are snuggled tightly with the boys' new nutcrackers. It's a fun little tradition my mom started a few years ago. I even clearly marked whose are whose so as to prevent any future squabbles due to memory loss on my part. Hooray for a moment of organization.

I always have an inner debate with myself whether or not to leave out the more "wintry" decorations so the place doesn't seem so stark. This year I opted for no. I have a history of not really getting those last few trailers put away with the rest of the stuff and then we have little mittens hanging on the wall in June. My mother-in-law has gotten us each a little wooden mitten with our name on them, she ends up having to place a new order with the mitten lady every other year. I think she deserves a discount since she single handedly keeps the woman in business.

As I'm looking around the living room, I am extra aware of every nail hole and scuff on the wall. Maybe sometime in the next year we need to switch colors. Any ideas on what would go with tired rose colored carpet, a green love seat, and a purpleish couch? And Nate, don't you have some business trips coming up?

Linkage

Ok, so I finally added some links on my little sidebar there. Here's the dealio: That is a list of some of the blogs I like to read. I only added people who actually update more than once every three months or so. You know who you are. I also didn't add anyone under the age of 18. (love you guys though!) I will continue to update it as needed, but it's tricky business. I don't want any hurt feelings since I know some of you in the real world. The non-cyber world. The world where you walk out to your mail box and reach out and open it with your hand when you want to check your mail. The world where you can eat pancakes.

Back to school

It was like we were standing on the edge of the pool, just about to dip our toes and test the water, when someone ran by and shoved us in. We are fully submerged in the routine of real life again, and the water is great once you get in.

The oldest two were having a hard time falling asleep last night. I guess two weeks of no bedtimes was a habit hard to break in just one day. Everyone was a little slow this morning, but after a bowl of Cheerios, they changed gears and were early to the bus stop.

Things I will miss:

• People sleeping all over the house. No, we didn't have house guests, we all just crashed where we wanted to. Usually there was someone on every couch and a couple of kids in bed with me.
• Christmas food
• Staying in our pajamas all day.
• Having Nate home.

Things I will not miss:

• Having Nate home. (just kidding!)
• Constant Nintendo
• no bedtimes
• Kids on a 24 hour sugar high

It seems that I spoke too soon in regards to Gemma's 12 hour sleep plan. I suppose I was asking for it though, proclaiming her angelic night time sleep habits to the whole internet. And so she did NOT sleep 12 hours last night. She does have a well baby check up today, maybe I will ask for a prescription for Ambien. For her.

I have high hopes for this day. Hopes of getting a whole lot of something done to make up for all of the nothing we have done the last two weeks. I let you know how it goes......

Happy routine to you all!! Hooray!

Overachiever

Gemma has a new trick and we are quite surprised.

She is six and a half months old. Babies aren't supposed to be pulling up to furniture at six and a half months old. Didn't you read the manual Gemma?!! This new trick has created a new problem. She doesn't nap anymore. Here is a visual for you.

We lay the little Precious down in her crib for a nap, and she stands up. Then she is stranded because she hasn't learned how to sit back down yet, the crying starts and there is no sleeping. The positive side of this whole thing is that she is sleeping wonderfully at night, sometimes up to 12 hours. The girl is exhausted. Infact she is asleep right now, probably for the night, because she did not nap. All. Day. Long.

Notice the little Glo Worm in her crib. Isn't that cute? I think she hates it but WE like it.

Our little New Year's baby

Today is Noelle's birthday, she is nine. NINE! I can't believe it. I can still see her toddling around the house with a little fountain of blonde hair spouting out of a rubberband on the top of her little two year old head.

Noelle was born during a season of winter in our lives. We were living in North Dakota, the state of perpetual blizzards. Over five hundred miles away from family, in a tiny little university apartment, we waited for our baby. We were young and poor and excited to meet our second child. A week overdue, but perfectly timed, she was a New Year's baby and was showered with gifts from all around town. Her ride home from the hospital was a free ride in a white limousine, and we didn't even have the cash to tip the poor driver.

Little Welly was a ray of sunshine in a bleak time in our lives. She is a ray of sunshine in the bright times too. One day, she will be the best cheerleader/lifeguard/pet shop owner that this world has ever seen. Happy Birthday to our little optimist.