March pictures

The Hampster Wheel

No we did not get a hampster, mom. Like I really need more to pick up after? It's just don't you ever feel like you're on the wheel? You know...running and running and walking and running, but you never seem to get anywhere? (I guess it could be my treadmill, too!?!?) Anyway...I'm in a rut. All the way around. House, kids, work, crafts, exercise, life...just a rut. I clean a room, I walk into another room to clean it, I go to put something back in the first cleaned room and somehow its messy again. How does that happen?

On that note...must update later...life has happened here...BRB...

Baby Zandee

I have wonderful news today. My dear friend Kristen and her hubby are expecting! YAY!!! We are so excited for you. It's been a long wait and I know you will make wonderful parents. We gladly welcome you to the wonderful world of parenting! Here are just a few tips from a somewhat seasoned parent...

1) Take pictures every month of your pregnancy. Regardless of how you look and feel now, you will want to look back and see your pregnant belly!

2) Start stocking up on diapers now. They're expensive and you can never have enough.

3) Now and when the baby comes....if people offer help...take it!

4) Sleep when the baby sleeps.

5) Get a great diaper bag. Not too little, not to big. Enough to fit diapers, wipes, change of clothes, burp cloth, bottle and a toy. You will be carrying it for a long time, so make sure its cute.

6) Don't buy the matching quilt to the bedding set unless you plan on hanging it on the wall. You'll end up using receiving and minky blankets anyway.

7) When you make up the crib, layer pad, sheet, pad, sheet, pad, sheet. This way when the baby spits up or poops through, all you have to do is pull the top layer and not take the mattress out of the crib to change it. (Which is not easy to do.)

8) Buy a pack of white wash clothes at Costco/Sam's and have them stashed all over the house. Perfect size for burp clothes, cheap, great absorbency, and easy to bleach.

9) It's your baby so enjoy every minute of it. They are small for such a short time. You can never give them too much love.

OK...so that's it for now. Hee hee, I can't wait to see pics of you preggers. Congrats you three! =)

Thoughts from Ellery

Driving to school this morning:

"Wow mom, what a beautiful day." (It's cloudy and overcast). "With the birds singing....and....the clouds.....wait a minute....we need the sun to have a beautiful day. Maybe its not so beautiful."

Thoughts from Ellery

Really, I should just start a whole new blog about "Thoughts from Ellery." These tidbits of wisdom seem to come almost on a daily basis. I love it. She makes me smile all the time! Well, her 4th Birthday was on Saturday. Some friends stayed over after the party and we took all the kids for a bike ride/walk around the block. We passed by another friend's house (Aubrey) who was cooking dinner and could see us out her kitchen window. Aubrey knew we had had Ellery's party that day, so she asked Ellery what she got for her birthday. Ellery answered, "presents" and kept right on riding.

Molly's race

All weekend Molly's been complaining about going to school today (Monday). She keeps saying she feels like she needs to stay home. Come Sunday evening, I finally get out of her why she doesn't want to go. You see, they're doing that Presidential Health thingy. You know, you remember, the see-how-far-past-your-toes-you-can-stretch thing, and the how many push-ups and sit-ups you can do, and the timed running thing??? I remember. I loved it....but then again, I was pretty athletic way back when. =) So, I guess in P.E. today, they were doing the running part and Molly didn't want to do it. She thought they had to race for a mile and was telling me, "that's an awfully long time to run." So...when I picked her up today, she was pretty excited. Not only did she run the whole distance (which turned out the be a 1/4 of a mile), but she "won." Meaning she got the fastest time out of the whole Kindergarten. It wasn't a race at all, but she was excited that she still came in first. I was pretty surprised especially since she's one of the smallest kids in the class. I guess those short little legs can motor pretty fast...unless I've asked her to do something...?

Another scrapbook page

We've had a busy few weeks here. I've helped throw a baby shower, Ellery's 4th Birthday party, the girls started swim lessons, an eardrum rupture and 3 separate ear infections, one night of no sleep for mama, coffee spilled on my carpet (no connection to the no sleep), the pool pump almost broke and I'm sure there's more, but my point...What picture do I post??? The one of the page I completed last night! Hey, a girl's gotta have priorities, right? Well, here is page #6 for the year. I'm aiming for 52 completed pages this year. Yes, I know, that is a HUGE goal for me, especially since I haven't scrapped in over 18 months, but I'm going to make it. Right now, I'm only 9 pages behind....ok, so maybe that's a lot but each page seems to take sooo long right now. There is a learning curve right? I mean, at some point I have to get quicker??? Oh well...I'm having fun! =)

This is page #6. It's my pregnancy with Ellery. Notice there are no pictures of me? Well, that's because the only ones I had were that of me 9 months preggers, sitting on the couch the night before my C-section. Not pretty. You see the mat the ultrasound pics are on? There is actually a hidden pocket behind it. I sewed 3 sides of the mat and all the other ultrasound pics are tucked away. I also used my foam stamps and acrylic paint for the first time. Love them. Will be using them more. A lot more. Anyway...enjoy!

Ellery my brain-child

It's been warmer here lately, so we've been wearing more summer-type clothes. On our way to school the other day Ellery says, "Mom...you and Grady and Molly and I are all wearing short sleeve shirts. Everybody is wearing short sleeved shirts.....except for the people that aren't." Chemical Engineering, here we come!

Musical Beds

We've been playing musical beds at our house. Or at least the kids and Joe have. It seems, by morning, that the two children that can escape from their beds, have. The final location changes a bit...sometimes our bed, sometimes the couch, sometimes the floor, sometimes each other's beds...you just never know where they are going to end up, but most likely, it isn't' their own beds. Sometimes Joe moves around with them, or ends up in one of their beds. I, however, will rarely give up my spot. It's my bed. It's comfortable. I paid for it. I'm sleeping there.

Well, one early morning I was awoken by a little person in our bathroom. When she finished and climbed into our bed she was a little upset. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "there is no spot for me." I answered back, "yes there is...its up in your bed." "I don't like that spot," she replies wiggling down under the covers. Well, you lucked out this morning kiddo, cuz I'm too tired to argue with ya!