Collect Call From...

'wehadababyitsaboy'. OK, so we haven't had the baby yet and won't for over 4 months but I love that commercial. If you don't know what I'm talking about you're missing out. Anyway, here's a little preview of our coming attraction.



Luckily, the baby has quite some time to become less monstrous.

One little footnote on our experience at 3D BabyVu in Pleasanton, CA. I really wish they'd just tell you the sex of the baby and get on with it. Our tech was constantly identifying and circling with her mouse pointer, the genitalia of my unborn child. She even printed out a picture of the baby's bum, legs and 'parts' (with the pointer right up in there in case there was any confusion). Am I supposed to scrapbook that? I'm not a big fan of pornography, in-utero or otherwise. And I'm too embarrassed to show off the DVD they gave us because our voices are recorded, including her repetitive anatomy lesson. So, if ya happen to go to this place in Pleasanton, be warned.

Good Friends Make the Worst Goodbyes

Tomorrow we head off to our new home up in Oregon. We are finally homeowners. HOORAY! I am very excited at the prospect of living somewhere I don't plan on moving out of in a year or two. GOODBYE RENTALS!!!

Sadly, this is a bittersweet moment for me. I have never, in my entire life, had such amazing friends. Friends I'm comfortable asking for anything. Friends that share my beliefs and are living the same life that I live. Leaving them behind is the toughest part about this move. These amazing girls have taught me so much in the short time I have known them. They have shown me how to be a better mom, a better friend, and a better person. It may sound like I'm going a bit overboard and even to myself this sounds a bit mushy but there is no other way to say how amazing these women are and how jealous I am that they get to remain here with each other. We'll be back to visit but we'll miss you all in between. And you're always welcome in our home. (We'll even kick our kids out of their beds for ya!)

Thank you so much for helping me become a strong enough person to be able to take this big step toward being a real grownup.

Baby Riverdance

I couldn't let Lexie have all the limelight. So, here's our Jolly little Jumper practicing for his future Riverdance audition. It's so sad that he's already proving to be more coordinated than his big sister.

Poor Lex.

Gymnastics

Lexie has be going to gymnastics for almost two months now. This video is from her first day. Sadly we haven't seen much improvement. Just a little taste of the silliness that goes on each Wednesday morning.

A Few Little Picture Updates

Lex has become quite the fashionista these days. It all began when Nana bought her some colorful socks. So Lexie, always needing more than the norm, thought to herself... "Why just wear one color when you mix and (not) match?" I haven't figured out why we still match her socks when folding laundry. Naturally, she couldn't stop at the socks and that's where the shoes come in. Goodness knows, what's next?





Could he be the next Mikhail Baryshnikov?

Or maybe just the star of Robin Hood: Men in Tights,
The Next Generation


Somehow a pair of Lexie's baby tights made it onto our son.

Please don't call CPS.




Daddy and Owen.

Bonding for some of the few moments we get to see Shane in between work and the Fire Academy.


Lexie --- In the new 'Naughty Spot'.

Again... Please do not call CPS.
(She did get in on her own I swear! No children were harmed in the making of this blog.)

Mermaids & Tadpoles

Today we went swimming with some of our friends. It was definately the highlight of Lexie's day. She loves her friends. Today was also the first day she tried out 'water wings'. Anna brought a pair for Lexie and for Ella and was kind enough to show them the ropes. It took a few minutes but Lex sort of got the hang of it. We had a minor set back when Anna gave her an up-close tutorial on how to spit water like a fountain. But all in all I'd say the floaties were a success.
















Owen also got a little time in the water today. He was a bit nervous at first but relaxed after a bit. He got to ride around in Kayla's frog floatie. We traded our ladybug in for the frog in order to get some more masculine pics. He's quite the tough guy these days. I couldn't find his sun hat so I rubbed sunscreen on his fuzzy little head. Nana calls him Dandilion Head. She's pretty sure if you blew hard enought all his fluff would fly away. That would be some wish you'd get to make.


These are my favorite pics from today.

Thank you Lauren for taking these cute pics! And thanks to Photoshop for helping me hide my 'wobbly bits'.























We had such a great time at the pool today. Unfortunately, as usual I sunscreened the kids and bypassed myself. There was a moment when I was putting Lexie on the edge of the pool that I noticed a happyface sticker in her hair. I couldn't figure out where it came from. Later when I got home I noticed a very white, perfect circle on my scortched shoulder. Sadly, it took an hour or so to put two and two together.


NOTE TO SELF: Always wear sunscreen while in the sun, even if it takes an extra five minutes of keeping Lexie at bay. Also, check for stickers.

"You'll be a Man my son"

I came across this poem when I was a teenager and I spent an evening a week at my grandmother's house. We shared a love of poety and would often leaf through various books she had collected over the years or recite our favorites from memory. I loved this poem back then but when I had Lexie it meant so much more. I used to read it to her often as an infant. I eventually gave up because there just isn't a way to change the last line for a girl. So now that I have Owenski, this poem has come back to me often. It says exactly what my heart wishes for my son (and daughter). And when I read it to my children I can feel the love my grandmother has for them and I know she shares my hopes for them as well. I miss her dearly but she will forever live on in my heart and in the faces (and hands) of my precious babes.


If
by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!


Thanks, Mama.