faces.of.teething

Amelia got her first tooth last week...only 4 months old. My other girls didn't get theirs until 6 and 7 months. I think this is pretty fast, but what can I say? She's advanced. She was pretty fussy a couple of days last week. Here is a small sampling of what we saw on a few different occasions (these are in real-time order by the way!)...

Face #1: "My Gums Really, Really Hurt!"

Face #2: "Ok, I Think I Might Survive"

Face #3: "You're Looking At Me Like I've Got Drool All Over My Face"

Face #4: "Chewing On Fingers"

Face #5 "For the Love of All That is Good, Will You Please Put That Camera Down and Comfort Me?!!"

seriously.august 17

I'm going to be posting like mad...if I have time this week. Here's why:

Amelia got her first tooth.

Claire lost her first tooth.

The big, big bonfire rocked!

Claire starts kindgergarten tomorrow. *sniff*

We're homeschooling, and I'm still emotional about it! *sniff* (again)

Seriously.

winners.all.around

I totally just won the drawing for Darcy's recipe book! I am p-u-m-p-e-d to say the least. Thanks Darcy :)

And, I must say that I was a bit disappointed with the lack of guesses on Amelia's 4 month appointment. I mean, my mom didn't even guess...what's up with that? I think people must be on vacation :) That being said, everyone who did participate is getting a prize. Although, the closest guess goes to...SARAH! I'll track down your address soon and get a lovely piece of artwork out to you.

Amelia's 4 month stats:
11 lb. 9 oz.
23 1/2 inches
cry time: 1 min. 30 seconds

She did a great job! Unfortunately, she had to share her appointment day with Meredith who had to get a monster splinter removed. She kept crying, "Owie, owie, ooowwwiiiieee!" She's not a fighter, though. She pretty much just laid there and cried. Great job Meredith! Grandma gave her M&Ms when she was done (and the nurses gave her a popsicle). I think I want a splinter.


Oh, and my kids rock. They are doing crafts (which keeps them incredibly busy for like an hour at a time) with construction paper, glue, and little styrofoam trays. AND, they washed all of my non-dishwasher (and non-dangerous) dishes. They love to do dishes, and I love that I don't have to do them. Totally a win/win for everyone.

seriously.august 8

I love the questions that my kids ask...

Meredith: Mom, are strawberries made from ladybugs?

Seriously :)

toilet.on.the.porch

So, the girls and I (and nanny Aunt Jill) went to the lake over the weekend. Josh was staying home to install the new windows in the kitchen and to work on the siding on the front of the house. Great. We drive into the driveway and see this:

This is what it looked like a month ago:

This is what it looked like a year ago:

We decided that all looked good...that is until we pulled right up to the house to see this:

As good as the house looked, we decided that the toilet on the porch kind of ruined the whole look. I had to take pictures. The funny part was when Josh responds, "You know, I've worked really hard to get the siding done on the house, and all you can take pictures of is the TOILET!" Well, it makes for a better blog post, don't ya think?


Anyway, the toilet in the main bath needed replaced because the base was cracked. We put in a cool new "greener" toilet. We're not really that green overall, but it was pretty nemo...ahem neat-o...and I just couldn't resist a flush that cleaned out my toilet better. You know me, always one to not feel like she has to clean as much. (My mom is shaking her head right now.)

For all of you that come to visit, it has a nifty gadget to flush it (the 1/2 flush and the full flush). You can view the instruction video of the new toilet if you click on the link. It's almost amusing (and then you'll know which button to push to flush). Who knew that the 1.6 gallon flush would be as "equally impressive" as the .8 gallon flush? Who knew that this was something to blog about? I am certain everyone will sleep better tonight because of this new-found information.



And in honor of my hubby's hard (and great!) work, here are a couple more pics of the siding. Big improvement.

anniversary.dinner

So, Josh and I went out for dinner last night at this great little restaurant that we love. The dinner was fabulous, the discussion even better, and I only embarrassed Josh slightly. Notice, everyone, that there are no pictures of our dinner here on the blog. JOSH TAKES FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS! (love you, honey...mwah!)

I pull the camera out to take pictures, and he looks at me with this I-can't-believe-you-are-taking-pictures-in-here look. I said, "Am I embarrassing you?!!" Slightly. He said, "We look like we've never been to a nice restaurant." But I just wanted some great pictures for my blog as this restaurant has an awesome atmosphere. However, I decided to be an unembarrassing wife for the evening, and I put the camera away. And alas, it is the blog that suffers. Please, readers, no protests.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for watching the kiddos (they loved the popcorn). Thank you, nice little restaurant, for a fantastic night out. And thank you, Josh, for not taking your shirt off during dinner...wink, wink.

company.picnic

Here are a few pics from Josh's company picnic. He went by himself with all three of the girls since I had a wedding. Even though I knew there would be plenty of wonderful ladies there to help him with the girls, I was proud of him for taking on the task of taking the girls out to a big event all by himself. He had lined up a "temporary mommy" for Amelia for the day...thanks Jennie (she's holding Amelia in the top row). He said that he arrived, gave Amelia to Jennie, and didn't see them much for the remainder of the afternoon! You ladies spoil him too much!

They had a fun time, though! They went on a hay ride, fed the animals, ate LOTS of ice cream, and wore the cutest little cow and duck hats! Meredith insisted on wearing hers all day today as well. Everyone at the bookstore commented on how adorable she looked! Thank you, Josh's work, for a fun picnic!