I finally finished it!

This is supposed to be a dress, or at least that was the plan. I was knitting the girls the same dresses but in different colors. They would start out as dresses, and as the girls grew, we could use them at tops. So...does that tell you how long this took? By the time I finished it, Ellery can only wear hers as a top. (That's ok...I never did find the argyle tights that I wanted to go with this.) Molly's has been done for some time now, but Ellery's I just completed. I think I started this project when I was pregnant with Grady. His first birthday is in a week. Does that tell you how long these took!?!? Another thing about me...I LOVE to start projects. I love the idea of doing project. Craft, sewing, painting, building...any kind of projects. Its the finishing part that's hard. So, one of my goals...finish all the projects I have started. One down...32 to go...

Just a little something funny

My DH works so hard and is a bit stressed. Well, this became very evident yesterday when he opened up his email to find an email from none other than....himself! =) You see people talking to themselves...now the latest is emailing themselves! Honey...you need a break...or at least a break from that Blackberry!!!

Ellery's descriptions of things

Ellery has the most wonderfully perfect descriptions for things. Like when she's trying to explain to us about how the bottom of her foot "itches" after she been sitting on it. You know, how your foot falls asleep? She calls it "sparkles." Mama, my foot is sparkly. Perfect! Also, the adrenaline rush feeling is the wiggles (see earlier post.) Well, her latest....she had a little tummy ache the other day. We weren't really sure what kind, so we start asking questions...do you feel like you want to throw up? Did you bonk it? Do you need to poop? You know...the usual questions! =) She says, "Mommy, I think my cream cheese and crackers turned over in my tummy." Isn't that exactly what it feels like?

Baby book events

Grady has figured out how to go back down the stairs. Lucky for me, becuase now he doesn't stand at the top of the playroom stairs (all 3 of them) and scream for me to come get him.

June's Pictures

Happy Anniversay

To my wonderful husband:

Can you believe this is us? 8 years ago!?!? So much has changed. We've moved 4 times, changed jobs twice that, had 3 children, gained a few pounds (ok...so more than a few), survived your undergrad and grad schools, lost loved ones, seen the Northern Lights, moved away from family and friends, cried, renovated homes, celebrated birthdays, fought, snow-mobiled, met new people, taken trips, hiked up mountains (small ones), watched movies, seen Alaska, swam in the ocean, stayed up all night with sick kids, rappelled from cliffs, travelled through Ireland, SCUBA dived with sharks and seen some of the most beautiful waters in the world, read books, taken naps, laughed, travelled cross country...the list is endless and ever changing. But one thing that has not changed is my love for you. That's not true, exactly. It has and does change, but gets better and grows bigger every day. I love you so differently today than I did 8 years ago. You are so much to me. My husband, best friend, father of my children, sugar daddy, shoulder, support system, comic relief, teammate, other half, encourager...I thank God for bringing such a wonderful man to me. Someone with whom I will spend the rest of my life and grow old with, to help raise our children, to love and to love me, to talk to, to sleep next to at night. I love you babe. Happy #8.

Cupcake Tag

End note: the brad at the top is holding the slide back. A place for hidden journaling, a note to your sweetie, or even a picture!

My Wall Words

Well Amy, after what, a year and a half!?!? I finally got my wall words! Part of the problem was I've spent the last 10 months searching for THE quote. I finally found it! Here's a picture for now (still trying to get the right light for a shot of the whole room). I put them above the windows in our dining room. Since I heard about these a couple of years ago, I've been wanting to put them up. One problem...we keep moving! Since we're going to be here for a few years (right, Joe???) I figured I'd go for it. I'm wandering around my house looking at every possible place to put more, since I love them so much! I have since found that my Uncle owns a business where he does similar work. My mom and I are trying to persuade him to add this niche to his business. We're working on some ideas and (because I need more to do) I'd like to start selling these. So...any interested in buying some wondering words for your walls???? Contact me...=)

BTW, it says, "For health and food, for love and friends, for everything Thy goodness sends."

Our pool is finally done!!!

After, what? almost 4 months, our pool is done. It looks a lot smaller than we had imagined, but we have a wonderful place for the kids to play. A fantastic patio area with beautiful deck chairs. We are looking forward to our pool party and having everyone over to enjoy it with us!

Things about our sink

Apparently, we have a pretty magical sink. It can do a lot of things all by itself. It can turn itself on and off. It can fill tea party cups and stacking cups. It can drip and spray water across the bathroom floor and the counter top. It can completely soak a hand towel. It can even bathe various dolls and toys. While doing all this, it gets awfully dirty and needs to be washed...a lot. No need to worry, Ellery would be happy to play in, I mean clean, the sink. Without even being asked.

Oh and did I mention...

He's totally walking and loving it! Of course, this stage comes with all the bumps and bruises of the mobility learning curve. In addition to the new height he's gained, his reach has increased as well...and he's taking full advantage of it. I was in the bathroom getting ready the other day, and I hear the whoosh of the toilet being flushed, but then didn't see a little girl come out. Huh...well...it was Grady...flushing the toilet. Luckily the lid was down, so nothing took a swim, but I'm sure that's right around the corner. He's also become quit the climber. The fireplace, the girls rocking chair, my treadmill, the train table (that was a shock...to both of us!); if he can get his knee up on it, he's going for it. So, my mommy-sense has been heightened to a new level and I have a feeling that with a boy, its just going to increase!

Poop

Yes, that is the first word that has come out of my precious little boy's mouth. Poop. But it is oh-so-fitting, as that's what he does a lot of. Hhnnh, does he hear that word a lot? Well...we have songs about it that I sing while I change him. We have faces and noises we make about it when we smell it. We make him laugh hysterically just by saying the word (its really an adorable laugh which is the only reason I do it). It gets announced when the little people in the house have to go do it. The girls say it when I'm not in the room, laugh about it, then tattle on each other because they think its such a funny word. So, Grady does hear that word a lot...apparantly too much!

(Post note: he did also say "ma," "cat," and "up," but poop was first.)

Oh what a crazy life we lead...

Well, not really any crazier than normal, but still, sometimes it feels like I barely have time to sleep...(oh yah...I don't! =) Let see...what has been going on around here??? Well, there has been a bunch of firsts. For the first time, I have a bad teether. Grady is getting on of his top teeth and is making us all miserable. On top of that, we are having our fist nursing strike; not me, him. I've never been through this before, and its rather tough. Partly because I'm having to pump all the time.  Today Grady, for the first time, stood up from sitting, all on his own, no support, no help, just stood up.

Getting the wiggles

We've had some pretty bad thunderstorms here lately. Every night before bed, the girls check with us to see if its going to storm. If it is, they usually end up in our bed anyway, so they start the night there. On clear nights, Ellery says, "I want it to thunder and lightening so I can sleep in your bed." This morning when I awoke, it was surprisingly still stormy. As I was in the kitchen making coffee, I heard a horribly loud noise. I thought for sure that one of the tractors (yes our pool in still a work in progress and no we have no idea when it'll be done) had fallen into the pool (the one without water). Then the noise kept going and I was starting to wonder if the sky was really falling. Well, I walked into our bathroom where Joe was getting ready for work to find the girls out of bed and hiding in the closet. I smiled and asked if the thunder had scared them, because it had me! Ellery asked, "Did it make you wiggly too, mom?" In toddler speak, I guess wiggly is the best way to describe the adrenaline rush you get from a scare. Yes, I guess I got the wiggles!

Standing up

Grady's been practicing his new ability to stand up without holding on to anything. Well this is all wonderful, except when he does it in the bathtub...which he did over and over last night. Joe's comment, "wait a minute...you cheer and clap when I do this, and now you keep telling me to sit down? Make up your minds!"

I am not a teacher

I've pretty much known this my entire life, so not really a surprise to me. When I was in college I knew math was my thing, well I've kind of known this my whole life too. Anyway, what can you do with math??? Teach it or keep track of it for someone else. I chose the latter and went for Accounting and Finance. Last week was another affirmation that I am not a teacher. I was asked to direct and teach a class for Vacation Bible School at our church. I gladly agreed. I'm willing to help and serve when I can, and this was a perfect way for me to give service to the church....or so I thought. Keep in mind that when I do say "teach" I'm using that term very loosely. You see, I had a class of 10 two and three year olds. So basically what I did all week was attempt to keep order and make sure no one got seriously hurt. Throughout the week, I was able to relay to these young minds some of God's teachings and words, but I'm not really sure if VBS was more for me or the kids. I think that was God's way of teaching me that I have a lot to learn...especially about patience.

Toes

As a child I remember running barefoot in the summer. I also remember how painful it was when I would stub my toe. It's been so hot here lately that the girls have been running through the sprinklers in the evenings...at least the evenings when its not storming! Ellery comes in today to go potty and I look down and her big toe was bleeding. Assuming that she had does this a while ago and daddy took care of it, I asked how her toe was. Silly me. She looks down and see's the blood and immediately starts to cry, well, more of a scream-cry...and limp (which she wasn't doing right before I asked). There's something to be said for the power of suggestion.

May's pictures

Grady's Baby Book

He started to walk again. Joe was across the room calling for him. Grady took a few steps away from the train table and sood still. I think he realized what was going on a didn't know what to do, so he just stood there for about 30 seconds. Then, slowly squatted down and craweld the rest of the way.

Molly's Baby Book

YAY!!!! We are officially and completely out of pull ups! Molly slept in undies last night....AND there was not mess to clean up this morning! For awhile, she's said "when I'm 5 mom." Yesterday she turned 5 and last night she reminded me that she was going to sleep in underwear. Then she asked, "Mom, do you always wear the same pair of underwear?"

(Note added on 5/29...the next day) Wait, did I say that out loud? Did I actually say that my oldest child was not in diapers anymore? Hmm...I must have because she's back in them now...after PEEING IN OUR BED LAST NIGHT...but on Joe's side. =)

Things I need to Post

In no particular order...
1. My sister's visit
2. My mom's visit
3. Phil and Nickie's visit
4. Grady and the bug at Gregory's
5. The Binky boy
6. Baking (Erin, I'm that far behind!)
7.Paige's wedding invites
8. Pictures of the kids rooms...that are almost finished.
9. Ellery's BD party.
10. Molly's BD party...which hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure I'll still be trying to catch up after its over. So at that rate, I'll add...
11. Grady's 1st BD party.
12. Yes, another trip to the ER (we seem to be regulars)

So, bare with me and check back. I promise I'll catch up soon...

Being a mom

Ellery says to me, "Mom, I wanted you to get married. I wanted you to get married for a long time, so that you could be my mom. I'm glad she believes that you have to be married to have kids. I hope she'll believe that until AFTER she's married.

Grady's Baby Book

He dances when he hear music. Well, dance is a relative term. He holds on to whatever is around and bounces up and down. So cute!!!

Grady's diaper

I come back into the playroom from waking Ellery up from her nap. Molly says to me, "Mom, I think something just happened in Grady's diaper."

Molly's Baby Book

Well, its not really a baby book anymore, more of a life book. Anyway...two events. The first, apparantly over the last month, her 6 year molars have been coming in. All 4 of them. I had to look in her mouth tonight because there was some blood on the toothbrush after I brushed. I was shocked! The bottom two are over halfway in and the top two are just breaking the surface. We had no idea. No complaints, nothing from her. Although I guess she's always been a good teether. The other exciting event...she woke up with her first dry diaper....ever! We were trying to see which of the girls could get out of diapers first, so gave them some incentive...a race against each other. Well, last night was the first night of the race. Molly won. She got up and went to the bathroom on her own all night. Dry diaper this morning. I've been asking her for months to do this, so why all of the sudden? The bribing could have had something to do with it.

Daddy's home

Joe's back from "Yew Nork" as the girls call it. He had a few days of business and then met his brother and father there for a "Boy's Week" in NYC.

MORE TO COME, I'VE BEEN INTERRUPTED BY SOME LITTLE PEOPLE

Grady's Baby Book

He took his first two steps today!!!

Baby wraps

Nothing like a Friday morning, a cup of Java (read:milk) and taking your babies for a walk in their wraps. Hmmm, have they seen mom do this a few times? Molly came up with this all on her own!

Grady's Baby Book

He's standing on his own now.

The baby store

No, we're not pregnant. With that said, we do need to find the baby store. Not to get a new one, but to exchange the one we have. Or at least that's what Ellery suggested today. Our precious little baby seems to poop a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean it. Every diaper. Every single diaper. Poop, poop, poop. He's a machine. I was changing yet another poopy diaper today and Ellery says, "Mommy, maybe we need to take our baby back and get one that doesn't poop so much." (Just between you and me, I can handle the poop. I'd much rather take the whiny ones back and exchange them for perfectly behaved ones. But those are probably the REALLY expensive kind!)

Want to spice up your afternoon?

Move to Oklahoma where Tornadoes are abundant! We had a little excitement this afternoon when the tornado sirens went off here in B'ville. If it had been a clear day, I wouldn't have worried, but since its been a bit stormy, I kind of....uh...PANICKED!!! Well, not a full-blown panic, but the heart racing, adrenaline pumping, let's go hide in the bathroom type of panic. So, like the mother hen, I gathered up my chicks and we all herded into the bathroom. (During the excitement, I had forgotten to include Smokee....sorry, Joe.) I started dialing numbers. First Joe...where was he and what was going on? He, and the other CP employees were moved to the stairwells of the building. Hey, they were all there, good time for a meeting, right? Then my two neighbors, one old friends from Alaska, and the other a SAHM with three little ones as well. In the midst of that, I dialed up Betsy and Clay (life long Oklahomans...is that actually a word?) who, thank goodness, talked me through the event. Thanks guys!!! Well, after all of that, nothing to report, I'm glad to say. Just a little reminder of how unprepared I am....still.

See Joe, even Grady knows where the dryer is

(See previous blog for joke.)

Just a little something funny

Girls night out

On Friday, I got out of the house for a girls night out. I'm shocked that I was able to escape, although it was by the skin of my teeth (whatever that means...(a few moments later) ok, so I had to know and just googled it...odd how that phrase came about....I should have just skipped the phrase and said "barely made it"). Anyway...Grady was screaming in his crib (after an hour of trying to get him down), the girls were melting down too, and all the while Joe was trying to prepare for a huge conference that he's heading up. So, thank you honey, for letting me go. Thank you Betsy, for inviting me. I had a great time. Its nice to get out with other women and just be. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time and it felt wonderful. Thanks ladies! (A.K.A. "blog stockers"... I hope you're all reading this! =)

Being so scared

I can only imagine what it feels like to be so scared. Anxious is what it feels like to me now, but I'm trying to remember what it was like when I was three. We've been having a bit of weather here lately. We were having some severe thunderstorms yesterday, and as the name implies, there was quite a bit of thunder and lightening. Well, this started up during Ellery's nap. She's already let us know that she won't sleep in her bed at night while the thunder is "outside her window" (her bed is next to the window in the girls room). While she was napping yesterday there were some really loud claps of thunder; I kept checking on her, just waiting for her to wake up, but she slept through quite a lot of it. Well, I was in my office when she ran down the hall screaming and jumped into my arms. She had been woken up by the latest blast of the rumbling sky. I could feel the terror flowing through her body, but apparently, that wasn't all that was flowing. I never really knew that anyone was so scared they peed their pants, but now I know it does happen....because it happened on me. Bless her heart, she was so scared. (I have to admit, I was a bit on edge, too!) So we waited out the storm snuggling on the couch watching TV and covering our ears when the thunder roared.

Woohoo, tax season is over!

...for me, anyway. I just filed my last set of taxes. Now I get to clean up my office, file all the paperwork, and maybe, just maybe, find some time for scrapbooking.

Be careful Daddy...

Joe goes out to turn the grill on for dinner. As he's walking out the back door, Ellery says, "don't fall in the hole Daddy."

Why do I do this to myself?

What did you do this evening. Better yet, this last week (and the next few) after your kids went to bed? Me, you ask? Well, I painted, and I'm painting, and I'll be painting. I called my parents to ask what event in my childhood caused me to be so particular and determined to make things difficult for myself. What's wrong with simply painting the room green. Better yet, why not just leave it the plain "builder brown" as I call it? Why would I decide to paint it two colors and then, if that wasn't bad enough, scallop the edge??? But...I have to admit...it is pretty cute! Now if I can just finish the rest of the room before we move again.

My new coffee table book

Grady's Baby Book

He climbed up the entire flight of stairs (all 16) by himself this morning.

Sam's Club

I went into Tulsa the other day with Ellery and Grady. I needed to run to Sam's Club for my monthly stock up. Ellery was so excited to go to Sam's (I could not figure out why.) She kept asking, "when are we going to be there? Why did they named it "Sam's Club"? Are we going straight there? Why is it taking so long?" When we pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car she said, "Mommy, this isn't Sam's Club." I told her it was. She then said, "this isn't Betsy's house." Now I understand why she was so excited. She thought we were going to my friend Betsy's, who's son's name is Sam. Hey, it's his club, right? Lucky guy.

We have a hole in our backyard

Well...too late to turn back now! There is a giant (well, not that giant) hole in our backyard. The girls are hoping they can go swimming this weekend. Too bad life doesn't work like that!

a

Pajama Day

I go outside to get the kids for dinner and Molly looks at me and says, "Mommy, are you still in your pajamas?" I smile and answer yes. She then says, "Gee, I wish I could be in my pajamas all day." The tone in her voice was more like the adult sarcastic version of "must be nice." Now let me explain WHY I'm still in PJs...I got up this morning, fed the baby, got all the kids changed and dressed, made breakfast for the family, put Grady down for nap, then cleaned up after breakfast, wrestled with the girls to go down for a nap, then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out my new vacuum cleaner and then testing it by vacuuming every nook and cranny of the entire house (see post about Dyson) in between fixing lunch, changing diapers, cleaning up, and feedings. So...I'm still in PJs (even now as I type this) because I have spent the whole day taking care of everyone else instead of me. But that's the life of a mommy, right? =)

Dyson vs. Kenmore

Moving from Bellingham to Bartlesville reminded me how lucky I was that our last home had a central vacuuming system. This is something that I dearly miss, but when I had a company come out to give me an estimate, the $3,500 price tag put a hold on having one installed. So, I've been using my old (3 1/2 yrs) Kenmore canister vac. It works pretty well (or so I thought), but does have some quirks and a few broken parts. Last night, Joe wanted to take a family outing to Lowe's (doesn't that sound like fun???) so off we went, to pick up a few things for our weekend projects (he might think twice about that idea next time). Well, I've been looking at some stick vacs and hand vacs because the movers left the base to my little hand vac in Washington...and you can't buy just a charger. Of course you have to walk by the really nice vacuums to get to the piddly little ones....and back by them to get out of the aisle. There at the beginning of the aisle was a shiny new Dyson vac, just begging me to check it out....so of course I did. And while I was looking at this wonderful machine, I happened to notice that they were all 20% off. Hey, I was saving us $110. Actually, I was saving us over $3,000 by getting a simple vacuum, instead of having one installed, so buying a new machine wasn't that big of a deal, right? Well, I bought it...just to take home a look at it for a bit...I can always take it back, right??? I had just vacuumed yesterday with my old machine, so thought I'd take the Dyson for a little test run on the already "clean" carpet. OH MY GOODNESS...I cannot believe how much dust and dirt that thing picked up from my "clean" carpet!!! Disgusting!!! I couldn't just stop with the living room carpet, I had to vacuum the whole house. I won't even tell you how quickly I filled the canister...and I consider myself a pretty good housekeeper. My little Kenmore...GONE! Thank you Mr. Dyson.

Grady's Baby Book

He's started cruising on furniture. He's also giving kisses now....you know, the open mouth gummy kiss, where you just pray that he doesn't spit up.

Naptime?

Two of my boys taking a snooze. A day with the Gallagher kids just plum tuckers you out!

Cabo, the drama, in three parts

Part 1: Getting there

After about 2 hours of sleep, we woke all the kids up (crazy, I know) at 4:30, to drive to the airport in Tulsa. Our flight left at 6:45 and Tulsa is a small airport, so we figured if we get there by 5:30 we'll be ok. That would have been find if it hadn't taken forever at the check-in counter. Upon checking in, we find that, whoops, Joe's passport expires 2 days before we return home (slight oversight), we're late, so we'll deal with that later. When we get to security, the line is way too long for 6:15 in the morning. Like Tulsa is a metropolis??? Those of you who've travelled with small children, know the amounts of stuff that comes with it, so it takes forever to unload everything that has been so carefully and efficiently packed, including a car seat and stroller. Not to mention trying to get the kids to cooperate by getting shoes off, through the machine, and back on, all while what they really want to do is go back to sleep. We're at the part where we're walking through the sensor and I realize there announcing "last call" for the flight. We send Joe running ahead to stop the plane. It worked, because we had a gate agent come grab the baby and escort us (and our accouterments) running through the terminal to make the plane. Right about this time I realized that I have quite a headache. Lack of sleep, stress, adrenaline? Who knows!?! All I know is that because we're flying on a small aircraft and we got there so late, I had to check my carry on, which contains my advil and Immitrex. Not good. What a lovely start to our vacation, right? Then the screaming begins. Grady, we've come to find, is not a traveler. (Luckily there was another baby on board, so we were able to blame the noise on him...come to find out that his parents did the same to us! =) When we arrive in Denver, I run to my suitcase to dig out my migraine medicine, but it's already too late. Full blown migraine with nausea and everything. As we wait for our next flight, I try to make a decision on whether or not I can even fly. When boarding time arrives I asked for a "barf bag" right when I entered the plane. The flight attendant scrambles for a garbage bag (did I look that sick?) and asks if I'm ok to fly. (I wasn't sure if she was asking due to my stomach or the three kids we had in tow?) Well, I survived the flight (barely) and was thrilled to get off the plane By the time we got through customs, my head was bearable (only 12 hours later). My parents flight arrived shortly after ours, so we had just cleared customs when they got in line. The girls were so excited to see them and watched them snake through the line, waving and yelling at them every few minutes. I set their car seats up for viewing, so the girls sat side-by-side in their seats, watching the customs line like a movie. Too cute!!! Anyway, to make a really long story (oh, wait...maybe that was just a really long day?) shorter....we arrive in paradise 12 hours later, quite tired, but ready for a great vacation.

Part 2: The vacation

More to come on this...but I'll post some pics for now.

Part 3: Getting home

Let me start off by saying that I never want to get back on an airplane with my children. The abbreviated version... Joe had to leave early; despite attempts to get his passport extended, the State Department, the Embassy, the Airlines, nor Customs were much help. One agency actually suggested that Joe catch a flight to Tijuana, walk across the border, and catch another flight home...but I won't tell you who told us that because we never had that conversation. (Do you feel safe now?) So, Pat and I were left to travel with the 3 kids. I had planned Grady's feedings with the flight schedules, as much as possible, so of course everything went wrong. Our flight was about 2 hours late leaving Cabo, which left seriously grumpy and hungry kids because by the time we got into Denver, get through the enormous customs line (we were last in line due to waiting for our gate-checked stroller), get our luggage, re-check it to Tulsa, walk/run the 18 million miles from the international terminal to security, get through security (refer to Part 1 for more on security fun), navigate the gazillion escalators and elevators to arrive at the outer-most point of the terminal where (once again) they were announcing final boarding for the flight. During this time, I had wrapped Grady in the Moby, had his car seat in the stroller, Ellery sideways in his car seat holding onto all our documents and my carry on, Molly sitting on the back of the stroller with me dragging the whole load by the handle of Grady's seat, all while holding another car seat in my other hand. Pat was packing our roller board, the girls backpacks, the diaper bag, and a car seat. I'm sure we were quite a site. Besides the fun of getting through the airport, there were the actual flights. As I've determined earlier, Grady is not a traveler, so I won't even go into detail about the crying, not feeding and not sleeping on his part. Over the course of the two flights (3 1/2 hours and 1 1/2 hours), I visited the shoebox bathroom on the airplane no less than 15 times. If one of the girls didn't have to go, Grady was constantly pooping and I was trying to change diapers on my lap. If that wasn't bad enough, I ran out of baby wipes on the last flight (due to the many diaper changes), plus they were low on potable water (the water they use for lavs and coffee...not exactly in that order), so the last few times I was in the lav, I was trying to rinse the soap off of my hands with barely a misting spray of water. The good news...we all made it home. All in all, the travelling was worth the wonderful week spent with our family.