Just a Little Behind

This sweet girl had her 6 month check up a month late (oops!) Still a teensie 17 pounds something and happy as can be. Until the shots came. Which of course led to this:

The traditional "I'm Sorry You Had to Get Shots Outfit." Isn't it fun?! I just love it. And it was 75% off on the sale rack at Nordstrom. Wheeeee! I am not a perfect parent by ANY means, but at least I can tell her I raised her right in teaching her a little shopping therapy never hurt anyone. And THIS girl got these!!! You know that a florist never gets flowers. Well, thank goodness I don't do wedding flowers anymore, so Dan can send me these! Thanks baby!

Blessings in Disguise

For those who have not listened to my moaning and groaning about preschool, consider yourselves lucky. For those of you who HAVE - thank you. You have no idea how your listening ears have eased my anxiety this week.

I came home from late Saturday night to find an email from Greg's preschool teacher of exactly 3 weeks telling us how due to marital problems she was going to stop teaching preschool in one weeks time.
PANIC.
Finding a spot in a preschool where we live is like getting your child in to Harvard while offering to pay triple tuition, a pint of blood and other unmentionables.
Lots of kids - few preschools - lots of people pretending to be preschool teachers, etc.
I have spent hours and hours on the phone trying to find him a spot somewhere decent with someone who felt trustworthy enough to leave my son with and where he could just be a fun 3 year old.
No can do.

Greg is also a Little Gym dropout this week. The music is so loud it hurts his ears. They won't turn it down, and he cries. (Duh) so we are done with that. (Anyone hear the clinking sound of more money down the drain that I can't get back?) Grrr.

I was frustrated, disappointed, angry and discouraged. Top that off with a few other personal things going on and I was a mess. I can get a bit dramatic and ocd over things like this when they happen.

Dan and I went out Thursday night and I came home with a clear head. Still feeling all those feelings, but at least thinking straight.

Found a preschool for him that blows the other preschool out of the water and across the state. Maybe 2 states. We took a tour, Greg is excited to go and we can get into their January class. Hallafreakinglujah.

Until then he is having preschool with his highly qualified mommy. Shoot, I have a B A degree - I think I can teach my son a few letters in the alphabet.

I love his new teacher so much I am buying her the most amazing Christmas teacher gift EVER. I deserve it after all this stress.

Yumma YUM!

I hosted a baby shower last week and turned a failed pie recipe into my new favorite party treat! It was easy and tasted OH SO GOOD!!

So instead of Lemonade Pie they are now renamed Luscious Lemonade Tarts - ooh la LA!

All you do is:

Pour 1 3/4 cups cold milk into a bowl.
Stir in two small packages vanilla instant pudding
Mix.
Add 6 oz frozen concentrate lemonade. (A lot of other flavors might be tasty too!)
Mix.
Add one regular sized tub of Cool Whip, thawed.
Mix together and let set in fridge for at least 20-30 minutes.

Buy 2 pkgs pre made pre cooked phyllo dough mini shells. (In the pastry section of frozen foods)
Spoon lemonade mixture in till full.

With canned whipped cream, add a dollop to the top and then if you are feeling fancy, add some lemon zest as well.

EASY!! And aren't they pretty?

Our Weekend

Being lame in the car with the camera before the movie....Cheesecake Factory had a TWO hour wait (WTH?) so we went with Plan B. Went with Plan B for the movie too...not our best date night out but it was our first since Lauren was born I think. Not the best picture of Dan either but he was making me laugh making faces in every shot!

Greg wanted to wear a tie to church "just like daddy." Talk about making my heart melt! Poor kid is going shoe shopping with me this weekend. His Sunday shoes did not fit his feet so he had to wear his summer dress sandals to church! He's grown about 2 inches in the past 2 months I think!

Lauren modeling her new dress. Good girl didn't spit up on it till after church!

I decided last minute (really, like at 5:00 p.m.) to make our regular Sunday dinner a bit fancier to celebrate our anniversary with our kids. I got out the chargers, goblets, we had candlelight (which is why the blinds are all closed, Graham insisted!) Silly but the kids thought it was great!

Handsome Dan did what I hate the most EVER - the dishes!!

After dinner we had some music on which turned into an impromptu dance. Thank goodness Graham had shut those blinds - ha! We twirled the kids around till we were all sick to our stomachs. The question tonight was "Are we dancing after dinner?"

OF COURSE!!!

Happy 7th Anniversary Baby!

Our first date was December 2nd..we think. I think we both knew we had met someone special that night. I walked down to the lobby to meet him and I thought I was going to faint. I knew the minute I saw him. I sent him home with a bit of red lipstick too.

After asking my dad's permission while my dad was in the ICU (notice he asked while my dad was medicated) a few weeks later, he proposed on July 8th. I have no idea what he said. I just remember seeing him go down on one knee and I said yes. Twice. I would say it twice again. Eleven weeks later we were married!

This is my favorite picture from our reception in Salt Lake City. Whoever took it and sent it to us, thank you! Every 15 minutes, "Can we go yet?" And here he is saying "LET'S GO!"

I love you baby. Seemed like it took you forever to find me but I'm so glad you did!

Thee I love, more than the meadow so green and still
More than the mulberries on the hill
More than the buds of a May apple tree, I love thee

Crazy

I have two things to say...

1. There are white lines in parking lots for a reason. If you can't pull in straight the first time, use the gear marked 'R" in your car, back your butt up and try again. No one will make fun of you, I promise.
I will curse under my breath at you for parking crooked and so darn close to my car that I cannot even slide open the door to get my baby in on her side.

2. If you have just had a baby TWO DAYS AGO you should NOT be in Target with him. I don't care if you feel like you have to get out of the house. Send your friend, your family, a neighbor. Or go alone. But unless you are trying to get your newborn sick with RSV or some other disease. - don't have him hanging out in the shopping cart in just a onesie and no blankets.
Yes, I think your baby is cute. Yes, I for SURE think you win the stupid mom of the year award for telling me "It's my second " like that makes a difference.

I am judging you and I do not think you are cute for "getting out of the house." I don't care. For pete's sake, you should still be ordering room service in the hospital!

End of rant. Thank you.

Know What This Means??

It means Graham is actually getting decent at baseball and that the season is OVER!!!

Whew! We made it. Every picture I have of him with his trophy has to be cropped or edited for safety's sake, but that is ok. Trust me, me was a happy boy getting it!

I threw a baby shower for my friend tonight - she is expecting her first boy. She is in for some fun!! Was crazy and took the boys to the dentist - as well as had my appointment there. DUMB. I will never do that again. Oh - and at playgroup today Greg freaked out again. I think the music gets too loud and hurts his ears. So I was in there galloping and running under parachutes and heard/felt "POP!" in my lower calf. Could.barely.walk.out.

Heavily medicated but still had 100 things on my to do list. Let's just say a big thank you to my mom for saving me last minute and one more I LOVE YOU DAN to my sweet husband who saved the day. He never ceases to amaze me at how willing and sweet he is.

Off to bed. Hope everyone else had an easier day than I!!!

What Are They Teaching Greg in Church?

First of all - tell me this girl isn't CUTE!!! I loved how she posed for this.

And then I present to you Greg's drawing from his nursery class at church

Something "soft" - I guess that was the assignment of what to draw. He drew my hair and then a lovely cross section of my skull. And I quote:

Greg: "Mom, this is your hair. And that is your head. When it cracks open they have to take you to the hospital and sew it back together like this. "

Me: What are those spots inside?

Greg: "That is where you know stuff."

(Which is not so much if you notice.)

Disclaimer: I am allowed to tease and make fun of this because A)it's MY head and B) Greg's teachers are my neighbors and they know I am just having fun.
But next time I would like a little more artistic direction for him.
At least give him a brown crayon to color my hair with...geeesh!

Happy Fall!

I feel like I should say "Y'all" after that. But the closest thing I am to Southern is Southern Californian.
Which would be, "Happy September it's still 76 degrees out and the Santa Anas are coming."

But here is my favorite wreath to hang. I look forward to putting this out all year. I love how it looks on my black door and I love this time of year.

(I do like things that are preppy...that is a little bit southern I guess!)

Oh! And to cute mom Jenny...I think you have the wrong blog...you come to mine for ideas ??? Are you sure???? In any case...treat bags should be full of fun things like those crazy wax lips and spider rings. No plastic toys (I always pitch those since I'm afraid of little things on the floor for Lauren to choke on) What about Oreo lollipops made with the Halloween Oreos, dipped in brown chocolate and orange sprinkles? Oh cute!!! I might have to make some of those myself!! Good luck - can't wait to see what you come up with!

One Down,,,

One to go!!

Greg did not think baseball was all that hot. But he did great on his last game. He went out and played without Grandpa, Dan or I in the field with him. He even hit a line drive on one of his last times up. His coach had twin 11 year old boys who were earning a Scouting badge and coaching was part of their time for that. I thought that was a great idea!

Running the bases!

His very first trophy!
He would've done about anything to get that trophy! I'm just proud of him for sticking with it. Sweet boy came and snuggled with me in bed this morning. He brought his trophy with him and had it on my nightstand to look at. He's been showing it to everyone who will look at it today.

One more game on Monday night and I can officially breathe again. It's been a rough month. BUt the kids have had SO much..ok, Graham has had SO much fun. Greg has hated most of it!

BOOK CLUB!!!

I have been SO excited for book club tonight, and I didn't even love the book that much! Have you read it? I thought it was "Eh." I think my fascination with Bella and Edward has seriously waned by the time this came out.

I was the most excited about my friend Natalie hosting. She goes all out and tonight she did not disappoint.

"Vampire Repelling Garlic Mints" were at the door. Along with cute framed sayings from the book like, "Are you ready to get Bitten?" Her and fun Leslie were even wearing fangs. Too fun.

But can you believe this? She made this crazy cool Werewolf cookies and some other red cookies all labeled "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob!" Blood red punch, red roses were out. This girl has an amazing knack for details!

I'm hosting the dinner and book exchange in December....thankfully not right after Natalie. What a hard act to follow!! At least I've got a few months to come up with something fun!!

Thanks for the fun night Nat!
It was a great turn out and I think I speak for everyone when I say you are the hostess with the mostess!

Little Bit of...

We've been doing a whole lot of

This! (What? He ASKED to help me. I didn't MAKE him to do it. Look, he's smiling!)

Just started this!

Might be learning a bit early to do this

But getting to be a pro at the sitting up biz...

And can you hear Dan cheering with delight? His sweet sweet wife helped him to clean OUT the garage today. I mean, move everything out. Clean clean. Move 1/2 of it back in. Paused to go get a pedicure and a pumpkin spice somethingorother. And after having this stored in the garage for almost 4 years, we finally cracked open the crate that has been a major space hog. Behold the dollhouse. I got this for Christmas when I was 8? 9? I BEGGED my mom and dad for a Fisher Price piece o crap dollhouse. I remember so much so that my mom actually snapped at me in the car about how if I asked one more time she would tell Santa something bad. I wouldn't get it. I walked out Christmas morning to this beautiful glorious dollhouse that my parents had built for me.

It was taller than I was!!

Isn't it pretty? I think my mom was so happy to finally tell me that of course I wasn't going to get the junk dollhouse. They got me an heirloom that I am so thrilled now to have to pass on to Lauren.

I need to clean it up. And I'm debating painting it. Light blue was a favorite color when I was young but I'm not sure how I love it now. Any color ideas? It's going to go up in Lauren's room for the time being and her room looks like this.

Dan installed a fantastic closet organizer in her closet for her. I love staring at all her clothes. It's like a candy shop - everything is so pretty! I'll have to post about that after I am done moving everything back in!

Back to School Part 2

My cutie patootie Greggie John started Preschool today!!

He was so excited to wear a backpack just like his older brother and did not even bat an eye when I left. I however, cried as soon as I drove off. Just a little weepy that's all. Greg is my little buddy and I'm so used to having him right by my side for everything.
I'm so thrilled that he gets to start doing more things on his own. He will do great in school I know it!