Happy Birthday, Jennifer

On Monday, May 11, 2009, Jenny hit 28.

She thought we were celebrating her birthday on Saturday with a free Coldstone Creamery ice cream. We had just dropped off our kids at the Heather and Jason Carr's. The ice cream was fine.

We returned to the Carr's and knocked on their back door. We waited. Jennifer peaked into the window, wondering what was taking the Carr's so long to answer the door. After all, she could hear the voices of excited children.

Heather answered the door and apologized for the delay. She let us in, and allowed us Jenny to take the lead. She directed us to go through the kitchen and open the chef's door into the dining room. Jenny barreled through only to hit an invisible wall as soon as she opened the door. To her utter confusion stood her family (parents) and several of her friends yelling "SURPRISE!!!"

It worked.

Thanks, guys.

Can You Tell

We are running out of things to say?

Joe's Thought of the Day

“Why do people in ship mutinies always ask for "better treatment"? I'd ask for a pinball machine, because with all that rocking back and forth you'd probably be able to get a lot of free games.”

- Jack Handy

Quote of the Day

Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.  

~P.J. O'Rourke

Random

Why is it that every time I comment on someone's blog I have the urge to tell them what the word verification is? I guess the real question is: why do I find the "word verification" choice of letters so humorous?

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I saw someone else who did this star thing to break up their thoughts. I thought it was a good idea.

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I would really like to get up at 5:00 a.m. and sit outside on the patio and drink hot chocolate while I watch the sun rise and write in my journal. I got up at 6:30 a.m. instead. Maybe tomorrow.

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I'm not sure if I should publish my random thoughts. You might think I'm crazy.

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Madison agrees.

 

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I forgot. Grant is showing signs of desire to walk. This includes pushing the walker toy and taking a few steps on his own. We're relieved.

The Phantom Battery

Grant will put anything in his mouth.

As Jennifer was flattening her hair for church, she noticed Grant sitting amid the broken pieces of a toy cell phone (at just 1.15 years old, Grant already knows how to hold it up to his ear and babble). She collected all the pieces, but couldn't find one of the phone's two button batteries. A long search on her hands and knees failed to produce the Smartie-sized pill.

The two parents reasoned, 'He won't eat broccoli florets, why would he eat a metallic battery?' Everyone moved on.

At night, however, Grant cried in his crib for over an hour, which is unusual for him. He normally puts in a worthy 5-minute effort, then calls it quits. But this increased the likelihood that an ingested battery was giving him fits. So they pulled Grant out of his crib, and the little guy thought he was the champ (increased effort, increased results).

Now Jennifer drafted Joseph into the search. The two groped the floor for over an hour, then called the "My Baby Swallowed a Battery, What Do I Do Now" hotline (202-625-3333). They suggested taking Grant in for an X-ray.

At 10:00 pm Joe drove Grant to his hospital. By this time Grant was tired. His body was like a soaked towel; they spread-eagled his little body over the x-ray film and snapped a picture. 10 minutes later the verdict arrived: No battery.

So now, each of the kids have emergency room experience. Madison chopped off the tip of her finger while performing circus tricks on her chair. Logan was rushed to the ER after a few weeks of life because he was full of mucus (still is); then had to have a sweet pea extracted from his left nostril (always something green); and then had to have his forehead stitched up after tripping on a stair.

Kids.

Fun times!

 Logan, Madison, Joe and I went to a Cleveland Indians game. Grant enjoyed playing at a friend's home! We got a little rained on, but fun was had by all.

Kids coloring. Grant only ate the non-toxic crayons.

BTW, Grant still isn't walking, but he has mastered the stairs! I still get a little nervous and try to watch him when he is going up or down, but he's fast! As you'll see, he kind of slides down--he keeps his left leg straight and his right leg bent just in case he needs to stop (like if he sees something mouth-worthy on the stairs, or realizes that the fun is upstairs).  I just watched the video and can't figure out why it cropped his head off, or how to fix it. Sorry! He also is finally getting more teeth--four are coming in on top. We laugh when we see his tongue rubbing his upper gums--it would be weird to all of a sudden feel something hard and sharp coming out of those baby-smooth (and swollen) gums!

We're still planning to move. Life is feeling back to normal.  The sunshine and warm weather help keep our spirits up. I'm basically finished with my first three credits, and need only three more before September to keep my teaching cert. current. I called the Idaho State Dept. of Ed., and they said I could even take a class I had taken before. Life's not too bad! I actually am kind of excited, and told Joe I could work for a while and he could be the stay-at-home dad while he started up the practice. He quickly turned my offer down... must be he realizes that staying home with the kids isn't all play-dates and macaroni and cheese!

Joe is working away at getting a web page up and figuring out marketing stuff for the practice he hopes to get started in a month or so. Stressful? Yes. But he's excited, and even though we both have doubtful moments, we are hopeful and feel like this move--literally and figuratively--will be a great blessing.  

House for Sale!

If you haven't seen our home, check it out! 

Some of our favorite things about our home:

• Feels comparatively new (it was built in 1949, but it's in great shape. And for those of you unfamiliar with the east--1949 is relatively new for a house!)
  
• We have an attached garage (many of the homes out here have a detached garage behind the home.)
• We have a great backyard
• We live a 5 minute walk from the park, which has a great pool, playgrounds, tennis courts, and playing fields
• We a few minutes away from several shopping centers
• The playroom is right off the dining room, so we can entertain or clean, and the kids are never out of sight!

If you know anyone looking for a home out in Cleveland, send them our way!

(I put a picture of Madi's room up because the one on realtor.com doesn't show how cute it is! And this picture is super faded for some reason. In case you can't tell, the colors in her room are pink, purple, and green. I love it!))

Additional Niagara Falls Pics

Jenny is Going to Kill Me

Voila! Here's is my cute wife after her in-the-doghouse husband forgot to bring her changing clothes to transition from a temple trip (Palmyra) to Niagara Falls. Her mother kindly let Jenny borrow some extra shoes, and we stopped at a Dollar Tree to pick up some socks. She was quite embarrassed. She wasn't very thrilled that I took this picture in the first place, and I'm pretty sure she won't be impressed that I posted it. (Although, doesn't she look happy?)

Turning 1

Joe and the kids are making chocolate chip cookies. Joe said he'd cook if I'd blog. They say hi!

Grant turned 1 on March 20! It was hard choosing which baby picture to put up: crying and slimy, or sleeping and peaceful. I chose sleeping because he is a happy and content little boy. He's not walking yet, and I don't think he's got any interest in walking yet; although today he did think it was fun to walk with mom and kick a soccer ball. He plays well with the other kids, but definitely knows how to scream and fight back when he wants something, especially if that something was taken away. All in all, the past year has gone incredibly fast, and I suspect that the clock will continue to tick faster each year. We love you, Grant-e!

We had a very small, very simple party for him--we returned home from Texas the midnight before. I (mom) felt a little bad that we did so much less for his birthday than for Logan's or Madison's, but luckily Grant doesn't seem to know or care.

 

(Insert joke about eating the high-chair strap when food is gone.)

Unlike Logan a nd Madison, Grant had lots of cake and even some ice cream before turning 1. 

Here's Madison and Logan on their first birthdays. Who do you think Grant looks most like?

Have You Missed Me? A random rant.

Hello! Our lives have been crazy lately. I'm sure you understand. We've been taking down wallpaper, painting, chipping paint, painting, tearing out tile, putting down new floors, packing, and cleaning. We bought a home that we wouldn't have to fix-up. Mostly we haven't had to do too much. And since we've only been here for about 18 months, we don't even need to do too much painting. But the realtor suggested a few things, including replacing the bathroom floor. OK, so we've known for a long time that we needed to do something about the bathroom floor. We've even called a few bathroom floor people to come fix it, but never followed through. Well, we finally have time to fix our bathroom floor and a few other things for someone else to live in our home. Isn't life ironic?

My parents and some WONDERFUL friends have helped us out.... babysitting, lending a steamer, lending a saw, wall-prepping, and helping us put down the new bathroom floor. So many more have offered to babysit and come over to help pack, organize, clean, etc. *I still might call you!!!

Joe is busy taking care of business... health insurance, loose ends, applications, TX bar-exam study, and (reading) books about starting your own practice and immigration law.

I get easily stressed out, but I'm surviving. I know we have a Heavenly Father who is watching out for us, and I am thankful for the friends and family who have shared their love with us.

We are almost ready to put the house up for sale. We are leaving for TX in a few days to scope out the area and decide if this is really the path we should take. We have often recognized the many options in front of us, but at no time have I so identified with Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Less Traveled"

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Grant turns one this month. The kids think it's fun to have dad at home. I'm glad they aren't old enough to understand the stresses on our lives; they think we are in a great adventure. And we are. They are the reason we live, our hopes for the future. And I'll leave you with a picture of Grant catching bubbles. I wish I had it on video so you could see his delight and laughter when "catching" a bubble.