yay glory!

Glory had her 4 month check up on Thursday. She is a healthy, growing little baby girl. She weighs 13 lbs and is 25 inches long. Everything is good with her. We were so happy! She is still such a good, sweet baby. If you hold/carry her, she will stay content for hours. I think she is a little sensitive, sometimes when we set her down she scrunches up her face and gives this pathetic cry, it's so sad! The only other time she cries is in her car seat and she's slowing getting better with this.

Glory LOVES Dane and Dane LOVES her. It totally melts my heart how sweet they are together. He can get her to laugh so easily and he is constantly giving her kisses. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but Dane is also really protective of her. If someone he doesn't know holds her he gets very upset and points to her and then me (he wants me to take her back).

Oh and I almost forgot the biggest news!!! Glory rolled over on Sunday!!! Yay Glory! Just like Dane, I missed it. Kevin got them both to roll over and both times I was not home. I mean, come on, what are the odds!?!?! I am home with them everyday, all day... He even managed to catch it on video. What a dad. If I could figure out why this computer will not let me post videos, I would fix the problem and post it - it's really awesome!

I love having a little girl so much... I love the huge bows and the fun clothes - the ruffles and pink - everything about it! I bet some people think she looks ridiculous with her headband and huge bow, but hey, I am LOVING it!

This was too funny... Dane loves to bring Glory stuff and she honestly holds onto it all, it's like she is really concentrating! Here she has nose drops, a pink ball, chocolate sprinkles, and a green block (under the sprinkles). What you don't see is that next he gave her his sippy cup, but at this point I was a little concerned for her well-being and put the camera down!

deceptively interesting

Ok, so you know the book by Jessica Seinfeld, Deceptively Delicious? Well, I have been wanting to check it out, but do not have funds to buy it and do not dare to venture into the Library with my two young ones in tow...that has disaster written all over it...

ANYWAY, when Kevin has "away" soccer games I certainly do not cook a nice or even decent meal for Dane and I. Typically I relish in the quick and ever-so-pleasing box of Mac-n-Cheese. But let me tell you, along with that little box comes a lot of guilty feelings. "Processed cheese, processed cheese" chants my guilty conscience. I justify these feelings by buying the organic kind and serving a side of green beans. Yet, to no avail, the guilty conscience still haunts me.

Tonight I had the bright idea of adding some kind of veggie to the Mac-n-Cheese - artichokes! I mean why, not? I love artichokes...who doesn't? Toddlers of course!

Dane is a weird eater. He was the baby who loved ALL veggies. He ate mashed avocado and breast milk with zest at 7 months and all the staples; peas, green beans, squash, corn, sweet potatoes, even lentils with rice! Now he is starting to be the picky guy. While he refuses broccoli and peas, he loves green beans. He eats hummus like it's going out of style, but despises cauliflower. He eats mushrooms on pizza and adores black olives and lettuce, yet hates carrots. For the life of me, I cannot figure this kid out.

So tonight I did add the chopped artichokes, a WHOLE big can of them. And Dane couldn't have been happier! Thrill of thrills! Now I want more tricks! Gimme tricks!

the hardest parts of motherhood...

1. not being able to pee, poop or shower when you want to...not to mention when you NEED to

2. being so tired that you question your ability to do much of anything. including operating a vehicle. there are times i wish i would get pulled over. "officer, no, i haven't been drinking, but i wish i was...and you are right, even though i am sober, i should be put in jail for the night anyway...that way i can get a full night's sleep."

3. being thrilled to finally - five months after giving birth - fit into your FAT jeans. sad. so sad

4. catching a glimpse of yourself in a mirror, in public. "i do not know that woman," i always say. i really shouldn't go out looking the way i do at times, and i certainly never thought i would!

5. crawling the walls as a stay at home mom. then, finally getting all the crap together to venture out, all the while thinking "why did i do this!?!? my kids are complete disasters!!!! i am a complete disaster!!!!"

6. feeling like a 5 minute car ride ALONE is a serious VACATION.

7. changing 5 poopy diapers within 3 hours. yes, that was this morning. pampers makes a fortune off of us

8. your husband calling in a cheery voice to say he's going to be home later than expected

9. trying to make an important phone call with two children under the age of two. enough said.

10. just keeping your sanity in general

and to think that these are just the hardest parts of being a mom to young children. As they grow older, we have to tackle different issues, equal in stress and anxiety

the training potty

a sweet pic of little glory-bell

Um this is about the extent of the use of the training potty. Dane brings it out to the living room to sit on (lid up with his clothes on) and watch TV. Oh well, at least he is fond of it.

trip to cincinnati

My cousin Sam...he's going to have a baby girl soon, too!

Cousin Jenny, she's great with the babes

more cincy pics

My Grandma and Glory

Berkley and my Uncle Guy

The whole freakin' fam...a fun bunch. Minus the aunts who were taking the pics.

Lib's man, Kamal, with Glory-bell

Carly opening her gifts

wind-blown

The barn all decorated for Timmy's party

The lights inside

My Aunt Paula and Glory

My cous Shannah and her daughter Berkley

Glory and I went to Cincinnati this weekend to visit family. My Aunt Jan hosted two parties in two days; my cousin Timothy's 21st bday party and my cousin Sam's fiance's baby shower. It is always fun to see the whole fam and to catch up. It was the first time my grandparents had met Glory, so it was a special trip.

Both parties went off without a hitch, despite all the rain that was called for...not a drop!

However, at the end of the baby shower on Sunday the wind started to pick up. And pick up, and pick up. Soon the power was out. Limbs were flying. Trees were falling. My sister left for St. Louis...and came back. No gas. Meaning no gas in the CITY. It was crazy. I decided not to go home that night. Ends up the greater Cincinnati area and Kentucky had no power. And no school on Monday. Seriously. It was like Little House on the Prarie. We went to the barn to grill a frozen pizza and got ready for bed by candlelight (although I have a feeling frozen pizza was not on the menu in those days...). I got up at 5am, fed Glory and drove home. The wind storm was over, but I had to get to the highway through intersections without working stoplights. It was wierd...like a ghost town.

Anyway, I'm home and glad I waited to leave. It was an interesting weekend! We did have fun and I did get to eat my Skyline Chili before things got hairy!

Thanks for having me, Aunt Jan! Love you all -

new pics

Some recent pictures...

Dane making pizza

cute shots of "Glory-Bell" as Kev calls her

Dane and Daddy before MSU tailgate on Saturday 

Dane and Glory before church on Sunday

danger: dane

One of our friends at the club calls Dane, "Danger." It's sort of a joke, but I am begining to wonder. In less than twenty-four hours he has run into a tree (scraping his face and arm), flown off the bed head first (onto the wood floor, he can climb up on our bed now), and written all over himself, the floor and his training potty with blue magic marker. Not to mention the little things such as finding hand-me-down shoes for Glory that he insisted on wearing (white sandals with flowers), me finding money in his mouth, and of course the continous drinking out of the dog bowl (like a dog). When I am on the ball and remember to put the bowl up after Gatsby takes a drink then he does it out of his kiddie pool. Give me a break - it is HOT out so the dog needs the bowl down!

Danger...Dane at play!

the meaning of labor day

These are not the pics from this past weekend, just a couple I took before we left to go back to the cottage. It was a SAD weekend, cleaning everything and closing it up. The meaning of labor day is clear to me; extra work and a heavy heart. Oh well, I have next summer to look forward to...