I am having one of those days where the clock just isn't moving. I swear it should be almost dinner time; the day feels as if it's been that long. I've been meaning to blog about several different things lately. Here are a few.

• Fire: Our next door neighbors got a firepit this winter. Friday night they invited us over to enjoy it and the new patio they just put in. It was wonderful. B ran to the store and bought fixing for s'mores. Delish! I want a firepit!
• Worms: Okay, technically caterpillars. They ate the few plants I successfully grew from seed this spring. So much for saving a few bucks by getting plants the hard way.
• Veggies: My child has always loved to eat anything you offer him. Lately though, he's refused to eat his veggies. It's turned into quite the battle of the wills between he and I. The winner of the battle varies from day to day.
• Fur: I love our Mags, but I hate her fur. I told B before we ever got a dog that I didn't care for long-haired dogs. I am so tired of her fur covering everything. I'm at the point that I'd love to shave her bald. (Okay, not really. That's a bit drastic. And she's too pretty.) Right now, I'm thinking our next dog will have very, very, very short hair.
• Feet: N is spending more and more time on his feet. He'll walk from one thing to another if it's a short distance. His prefered mode of transportation is still crawling or Mom for the time being.
• Grass: Two things here. One. Our yard is being invaded by weeds. We are continually walking around the yard searching for something else to pull. The crab grass is the worst. Two. N seems to be getting over his fear/utter dislike of grass. Previously he would just cry and scream when put on the grass. Now he will sit there for a minute, and then bear crawl (way too cute) to the closest lap. Once on that lap, he attempts to keep as much of himself as far away from the grass as possible. It's not perfect, but it's progress.

That's all. Carry on.

Happy Birthday Matthew Al!

. . . with an ocean view . . .

B and I were blessed this evening with Patty wanting to babysit N so that we could have a date night. We absolutely love her for wanting to make sure we have time to spend together without our little guy. With my broken toe bothering me, we decided to go see a movie. It's not an easy to make a decision on what to go see when we are in the middle of the summer movie boom. There were at least 5 or 6 that I really would have enjoyed seeing. We decided to narrow the field by which we could make it for a matinee of. (Gotta love the cheap seats. If only they had matinee snack bar prices too.) We decided to go Ocean's 13 over Spidey 3 (sorry Aaron). Ocean's 11 - great. Ocean's 12 - not so impressed, actually bored by. Ocean's 13 - wonderful!!! It was a lot more in line with what made the first one work so well. B and I were laughing on and off again throughout the entire movie. It is definitely a must see. (Dad, I'm talking to you.)

will work for food

The above title is N's new motto. It's amazing what he can be inspired to do when food is involved. In the past few days he has learned how to sign that he wants "more". Along with this comes something along the lines of "mawh". He also has a sign for "all done" or "all gone". I'm hoping to help him learn more signs in the coming weeks and months. Ginny loaned me her book on baby signs. It's nice for him to be able to communicate before he's able to say all the words to express his needs, wants, and feelings.

I also discovered another power of the cheerio today. I'm ready for my boy to walk. He can crawl faster than lightning already. It'd be nice if he wasn't always getting his hands and knees so dirty. (Although I am aware that that does just come with having a boy.) I was able to get him to take about 40-50 unassisted steps over a 10 minutes period today by enticing him with cheerios. (Up to about 8 steps in a row without going down.) He hasn't taken any since then without the cheerios, but at least it's progress. At one point he looked down at his feet after taking several steps with an expression that read, "did those thing just do what I think they did?"

I'll let you know about our progress with both the signs and steps. Cheer on the little guy!

Rainbows of color

I thought I would share some of my newest flower pictures. All but two plants here are ones that either Mom or I bought last week. I love all the colors! I'm letting things fill out a little more before I take a picture of the entire garden. I have to say that I am so proud of all my flowers. The glad bulbs that Mom planted last week have already started to come up. Hopefully they will be blooming in no time since they add a lot of height and color. My butterfly bush is also getting ready to start blooming. I've got flower buds on both the mums and the clowns too. I love it!!! (Thanks again Mom for all you did to help with my garden! I used my new too last night.)

Precious

Happy Father's Day to our favorite Dads!

Love,
B, A, and N

Stand Back - I'll Get You!

Sleep anyone?

It has been quite a busy week, but I wouldn't change anything about it. Mom, Ginny, and Camryn got here Sunday evening. It was constant activity from the time they got here until they left. (constant at least compared to normal) We spent Monday around the house for the most part. Camryn really seemed to enjoy the park that is just down the street from us. We did spend some time and dollars at the local flower nursery. Mom helped me fill up all of the empty spots in my garden. (Thanks again Mom!) It looks really full and colorful now. I'll have to post a picture soon. Tuesday was our shopping day. I ran into Camryn when she stopped suddenly and ended up breaking my little toe. OUCH! We vetured to the outlet mall in the morning and the outdoor mall in the afternoon. That was a lot of stroller time for the kids! B got home from Mexico on Tuesday night. I sure am glad to have him back. Maybe I can convince him to post about the mission trip to Mazatlan. Wednesday my hubby had a big day. He turned 30! Happy belated one! We were suppose to go to Arbor Farm in Nebraska City, but the weather didn't cooperate. Instead we found ourselves shopping once again. (What did you expect?) Ann and Don came over that evening to help celebrate B's birthday. Unfortunately I managed to hurt my poor toe yet again. It was quite a painful experience. Again. Thursday I was forced to go get my toe checked out by the doctor. That afternoon we went and ventured around work and then headed to the zoo. It probably wasn't the best decision with a broken toe, but I really wanted to take them. Today they headed home. Sadness. It was a great time. We all went and took a 2 hour nap after they left because we were all so worn out.

N played in his pool this afternoon. I'll try to post the video after a while.

Our trip to the Henry Dorley Zoo

Trip Pictures

It took Christiana a while to warm up to me, but she was a lot of fun once she did.
With the ocean being so rough, we found the pool to be a better water option. (Thanks Becky for letting us come stay with you at the condo.)
The humidity was unbelievable! I did love the cute curls it produced in Nate's hair though.
Just a cute picture of Moriah and Nate playing on either side of the glass door.
Moriah is a cutie. You have to love her perfect curl. I agree with Corrie that I hope she keeps them.

Just Beachy

N and I just got back today from a trip to visit a childhood friend of mine, Corrie. We had a great time hanging out and playing with her, Moriah, Christiana, and Eric. It was amazing to see how much clean up has been done after Hurricane Katrina but also how much rebuilding is left to do. I didn't realize just how close (just a few blocks)they were to so many houses that were completely lost. We took a side trip over to Gulf Shores, AL while down there and went to the beach. N didn't really care for the ocean because the waves were huge that day (red flag day) and it was so noisy. He did love his first swimming pool experience. We're glad to be back home again though. There will be no traveling in our immediate future. It's so much work to travel with a baby! We do look forward to Mom, Ginny, and Camryn coming into town tomorrow! I'll post picture of our trip later. I've got to do some picking up around here, and I promised Mags I would play ball outside before it gets too dark.

Drinks, Rocks, and Blooms

Happy 21st Birthday Tori!!

What is it about boys, dirt, and rocks. They just can't stay away from each other. N was loving playing with the dirty chunks of concrete we were digging out as we did more landscaping in the front yard. I didn't quite approve of the dirt eating he was quite fond of, but he didn't seem to mind.

I've been hard at work wishing my garden to take off and be filled with tons of blooming flowers. It's not anywhere close to as bloomy as I'd like it to be yet, but I'm thrilled with what's there. Here are a few that have made for good pictures. daylily
lantana
daylily
asiatic lily

Hopefully there will be more flower pictures in the near future.