Our Yard

A couple "durings" and "afters." Hopefully next spring it will be looking a LOT better. We're going to plant a lot of grass and slowly plan the future lanscape of our yard that seems to have doubled in size.

Hughie Cuteness

We don't have a ton of video of Hugh, so I'm trying to take more clips. He was in such a good mood this morning, I thought I would share the cuteness. Make sure you turn off the playlist at the bottom of my blog so you can hear Hughie!

Reggae Music

A little known fact about me is my LOVE of reggae music and Sirius Channel 84. Today I'm listening and this song comes on called 'Barack Obama' by Cocoa Tea. It's quite catchy (you're listening to it now on my playlist if you have sound). Please don't hate me when you have the song in your head for the rest of the day. I dedicate this song to Gina.

p.s. I am in no way making a political statement with this post, I just like the song.

The Critter Show

For some reason Chris and I decided that we would hire people with heavy equipment to come in and TEAR UP our side and back yards. We started by cutting down six huge pine trees and grinding the stumps. There was a GIANT juniper bush engulfing our deck that is now gone and we can see both of our neighbor's houses! It's so dry it's like a dust bowl out there. We thought for sure that there would be hundreds of critters running from the backhoes to the woods, but only one groundhog was spotted. Chris told our neighbor Sarah that he found three snakes too, but given her insane fear of them, I'm not sure if he was being honest or just trying to torture her.

Our yard looks twice as big now! Everything about the vegetation around our house was beyond overgrown and we got the front yeard tamed last year, so it's only fair that we get the backyard in shape too. Our mission? LOW MAINTENANCE. We also might put in a swingset for the kids beside the side porch. It looks hideous now (and I'm sure our neighbors think that we may be smoking some crack), but give us time!! (And by "us," you know that I mean Chris). I need to take some pics and post them. For now, here are some "before" pics of the giant juniper bush (and three accompanying wasp nests) that are now GONE. See the trees and vegetation on both sides of the house? Gone.

Pile o' Poop

Last night we were in the playroom with the kids getting them ready for bed and debating about whether to bathe Hughie. Chris always prefers to err on the side of too dirty and me, too clean. We take off all of his clothes and diaper to "air everything out." He's dancing around naked and next thing I know Chris is laughing and yelling for wipes. I look over at Hughie and there is a VERY substanital (and surprisingly tidy) pile of poop in the middle of the playroom floor and Hughie with his hand in it. He didn't get far, just a little on his hands and face (BARF), so I got my chance to bathe him! It's just so like him to stealthly drop a load on the floor without any warning at all. He's so lucky he's cute.


We also bought this vanity at Restoration Hardware last night for the new master bath. You likey??

Weary Travelers

We haven't been home for three weekends in a row and I am tired! Lst weekend we had an amazing time with Zach, Becky, Riley and McKenna in Wildwood. We could not have asked for better weather and the kids had a blast. Becky took most of the pictures, so I will post them when she gets them to me.

This past weekend we were in Bellefonte to see Glo's new house and it is AMAZING. It's basically the perfect house, exactly as I would have set things up if I could start from scratch. Congrats Glo! We also got to see my niece Evelyn, who never ceases to amaze me. She is FULLY verbal and not yet 2. I'm talking non-stop multi-word sentences! Georgia was really verbal, but Evie just blows me away. She is also so sweet and loving. It was great to see her. I wish I would have taken some pictures or video clips. At one point, Hughie just couldn't stop hugging Evie. He just kept going back for more and it was so sweet.

Here are some recent pics that I had taken at Picture People. I only really like the close-up of Hughie, but the others are ok. Georgia's hair is getting really long and we're trying the whole barette thing again, we'll see how long I last this time.

Why I am a bad friend . . .

So I have this friend Beth who is easily the sweetest, most thoughtful person on the planet. For example, a few weeks ago she sent Georgia a super-cool hair accessory with a card, fo rno reason other than that's how she rolls. Georgia's worn that "fairy hair" accessory pretty much every day since then. I went to law school with Beth and she, Bogie and I were pretty much inseparable. Now she lives far away in Ohio and you would think that the least I could do is remember her birthday? Right? You know what's coming. I forgot. How is that possible, you ask? Because I would honestly lose my head if it weren't attached. Regardless, Beth, I ask for your forgiveness and want everyone on the internet (well, the 3 people who read this blog) to know that I WANT TO WISH YOU A VERY LATE BUT VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND I LOVE YOU.

Canada

The drive up wasn't too bad, except for another splinter incident. We were eating at an Arby's on an outside wood table and I hear Georgia SCREAM. She shows me a tiny splinter in her hand that is sticking out about an inch. Well, not that far, but it would have been so freaking easy to remove! I tried to reason with her for a few minutes while she screamed (at the very top of her lungs), "IT'S GONNA HURT!! IT'S GONNA HURT!! IT'S GONNA HURT!!" and people started dialing Children and Youth Services on their cells. After that (remembering the last splinter incident) I told her that she was going to have to live with it. We would have been arrested for sure if we'd tried to remove the splinter like we did last time. Later that night it just fell out, but Georgia did have the opportunity to milk that splinter for a decent ammount of sympathy before it did.

Betsy's house in Canada is gorgeous and so relaxing. We were there with Betsy and her parents and another friend of mine, Kara, her husband and two sweet boys (Jack and Patrick). Georgia was in heaven with the beach and boat and BETSY. She actually got to go out on a small sailboat with Betsy and the "Captain" (Betsy's Dad). My friend Kara's little boy Jack dubbed him the "Captain" early on and it just stuck. We all went out a couple times on the motor boat and Georgia loved jumping the waves. She kept screaming when we would hit a wave and the Captain thought she was upset, but I explained that they were screams of delight! We took Hughie out too, but he immediately fell asleep and stayed asleep the whole ride. It was bumpy, but I guess to him it was like being back in the womb? The kid never sleeps ANYWHERE other than a crib, so it was quite interesting that the boat had that effect on him.

Jack and Georgia were quite the pair, wreaking havoc together. When they were on the boat, First Mate Jack (he drove the whole time) kept asking Georgia is she was ok. it was adorable. They had a few other concersations that were pretty hilarious:

Georgia (laying on the couch under a blanket): Jack, do you want to sleep with me?"

Jack: "I don't know."

Georgia: "Well, if you want to sleep with me you have to get under the covers now or I may change my mind."

---------

Georgia (in the bathroom watching Jack pee and pointing to his boy bits): "I don't have one of those yet, but I'm going to get one. Hughie has a little one."

I really wish I'd had a tape recorder.

We went to Niagra Falls and it is always a wonder to behold. Georgia kept calling it the "Big Water Fountain." She just wanted to stand on the ledge and look at the fountain. She was intrigued with the 'Maiden of the Mist' boat and how close it got to the falls. While we were there we saw people from all corners of the world and heard at leat 20 different languages. There were even people hanging out with signs that said, "Free Hugs." Of course, I stopped got one. Who passes up a free hug? It was quite a nice hug, but I couldn't help but think that if the guy cops a feel I'm going to give him a crotch punch. But he didn't, he (and another woman) were just giving free hugs. Chris took one look at me afterwards and told me I was insane.


When it was time to leave on Monday, Georgia did not deal well with the prospect of parting with her beloved Betsy. But she survived and is now waiting (rather impatiently) for Betsy to visit us again.

Canada

We spent the weekend in our dear friend Betsy's Canada house and it was a blast! Georgia LOVED everything about it, especially the sailboat and the motorboat. The girl seriously LOVES the water. I will post more about our trip tomorrow, so for now I give you photos.

What's next, double socks and Swatch shirts?

Did you read People this week? Pegged jeans are BACK. I'm still trying to make the switch from "boot cut" to "skinny" and now they throw this at me? How about we mainstream HIGHWAISTED jeans for those of us with Mommy pouches, ok? The low waisted muffin top/butt crack/thong show parade has got to end.

Brown Tooth Update

We saw the doctor this morning and had an x-ray done of Georgia's front teeth. Obviously Georgia's had some trauma to her tooth and I assumed that because it was changing color, it was dead - not necessarily. Apparently teeth can bounce back from trauma like this. The discoloration may go away, get worse, or stay the same. For now, they're doing nothing but checking her again in a few months. I hope that little guy can hang in there and heal! However, Dr. Ross did say that thumb-sucking could compromise the healing of the tooth, much like a broken arm that's not casted. Her thumb sucking could be moving that tooth every day and not allowing it to heal properly. Lovely.

And while we were in there we heard a kid who was moaning/screaming THE WHOLE TIME. Georgia didn't seem to notice, so I'm grateful for that. It was very reminiscent of the screams I endured during Georgia's recent splinter extraction. I had to resist the urge to go in and hug the kid's mom.

Speaking of Bogie

Here is proof that I am not alone in my love for Bogie:

Rocking Out to Sugarland

So my BFF Bogie leaves a message on my phone this past week that I found to be especially amusing. She says,"Hey Amber, I just got the new Sugarland CD. I'm listening to it in my car and I thought of you. I'm thinking we should be driving somewhere together, jamming out. Because we have so much free time and all, to just drive around in cars and listen to music."

What DID we do with all that free time B.C. (before children)? Bogie, remember that trip we took from Carlisle to State College on that gorgeous fall day? Remember we got lost in Perry County and even though we could hear the theme from 'Deliverance' starting to play in the background, we didn't have a care in the world? There were no time constraints or agendas?

Now, imagine getting lost in Perry County with a screaming child in a poopy diaper, your DVD player is busted, you have another child whining "WHERE IS MY MOVIE! WHERE IS MY MOVIE! WHERE IS MY MOVIE!" and you are an hour late for an important in-law function? Doesn't quite have the same allure.

BTW: LOVING the new Sugarland CD.

I'll have to let them fall

I was over at my grandparents house yesterday with Georgia and Hugh. Hugh was particularly rambunctious and climbing all over me, giving me hugs and kisses. At one point he was standing between my legs and he arched his head back (thinking I was holding onto him) flipping right onto his head. I watched it in slow motion knowing that he was falling and I was RIGHT THERE, but I couldn't catch him in time. He banged his head, screamed, and I felt like the WORST MOM EVER. I was thinking about the incident later and realized that this is only the beginning of me watching my kids fall (and not being able to stop it). And I don't just mean on the playground.

I know that they have to fall if they ever want to learn how to pick themselves back up, but that isn't going to make my heart break any less when it does happen. I think I'm going to have a very difficult time watching my kids go out into the world knowing that I won't always be there to protect them. However, I will always be there to kiss their boo-boos. You know that creepy book about the mother who crawls into her grown son's bedroom so that she can rock him after a bad day (Love You Forever)? That's going to be me.

Pictures from the weekend . . .

We had LOTS of fun running around this weekend, visiting friends and and going to a Barnstormers game. This week we're heading to Canada to "Betsy's Beach." Can't wait!! But for now, I am very tired and need to sleep,

New Hair

I finally have pics of my new hair. We had a girls' night out last Friday and we were all dolled up. I prefer these pic because most of me is covered up! But you still get the idea with my hair. I had a gay hairdresser gushing about the cut, so I'm loving it. I definitely miss my ponytail when it comes to the gym, but I'll survive. For those of you who don't know, I'm the blonde with the black dress and cute bob. ;)