A message for Celia...

Happy Birthday Celia! Have a great day!!!
We love you!

Katie's visit & a ton of photos

We had a great time last week when Katie visited all the way from Abilene, Texas. She brought Lola a super cute coffee maker for her kitchen and how did Lola thank her? By pretending to be a newborn baby of course. With Katie expecting her first baby and all Lola figured it would only be helpful to Katie if she got in some practice while she was visiting. This is pretty much Lola's most FAVORITE game ever and at any given time she has the ability to transform from Lola to newborn baby.

Thank you for visiting Katie, we miss you guys SO MUCH!!!!!











IF YOU WANT TO SEE MORE PHOTOS LIKE THIS ONE PLEASE CLICK HERE

Shirley vs. Lola

Lola's fan base in Downers Grove has offered us a trade...
we take Shirley in exchange for Lola.

Pros:
*Shirley has permanent makeup
*Shirley doesn't go #2 in her pants
*It's free to take care of Shirley
*If we put her in the window she will scare away would be intruders
*Shirley won't wake us up in the middle of the night
*We don't have to worry about her getting hurt
*We can leave her home alone to guard the house
*She won't throw food on the floor
*She won't stick her tongue out at me

Cons:
*Shirley's hugs & kisses are too stiff
*She has a creepy look in her eye that says "I may kill you while you're sleeping"
*Everyday is a bad hair for Shirley
*She can't say "I love you Mommy"
*She won't stick her tongue out at me


I think we'll leave Shirley in Downers Grove and take Lola home because I'm pretty sure I'll miss being told "NO", changing poopy diapers and getting up in the middle of the night.

Bitty Baby goes for a walk

Normally when we go for our evening walk Lola is in her stroller but yesterday she decided to take her baby for a walk.

Our regular walk consists of going around the circle in the neighborhood across the street for a total of 0.7 mile. This is a pretty big walk for her little legs but we thought we would give it a try. She started out strong but by the time we got to *Rowan's new house (0.3 mile) she was totally over pushing her baby and left poor baby in her dust.



Daddy ended up having to take control of Lola, the stroller and the baby doll for the rest of the walk home. I had my hands full with Bruce who happens to be extremely obedient on a leash. NOT!


Aaron looking like the tough guy with his morbid tattoos, a sweet baby girl and a doll in it's stroller.

Lola was in her stroller for our walk around the circle today. Half way around she asked where her baby was.
We made the circle, ditched Aaron & Bruce and kept walking up to the cemetery. I prefer to get over a mile in but it's like pulling teeth to get Aaron to walk with us and I can't handle Lola AND Bruce at the same time, that equals total ciaos!

*For those of you that haven't heard the good news, the staff at The Daily Squink is buying a house in the neighborhood across the street! We can't wait to welcome them to the hood next month!
P.S. Jeff - this is your reminder to show me the gang symbol.

NO MORE PACI!!!!! yipppeeee!

It’s been a week now that Lola quit her pacifier cold turkey. We told her since she was a big girl we gave all of her pacifiers to Lydia. It went much better than I thought it would. We were prepared for a few nights of non-stop crying for her pacifier but that wasn’t the case. She has only asked for it twice this week and both times I reminded her that she gave all of her pacifiers to baby Lydia. She seems ok with that. It definitely hasn’t been totally easy but better than I thought. She doesn’t go down as well as she did before we quit the paci. Before quitting the pacifier she was in bed by 7pm giving kisses and laying down without a fuss. Since quitting the pacifier I’ve noticed that she is trying to extend her bedtime routine by doing a few things.

1. Repeatedly telling me that she has to go “potty” even after she just went
2. Asking for milk
3. Freaking out when story time is done

She will cry when we lay her down in her bed and say “Mommy (or Daddy) come back”. In the last week I’ve had to go up to her room 5 out of the 7 nights to hold her for another minute and give her more goodnight kisses. After that she normally falls asleep.

Lola has ever only had her pacifier in her crib or in the car. There have been a few occasions where it has come in handy while out & about. I’ve been anti the pacifier since I saw a kid (probably at Wal-Mart) walking AND taking his pacifier out of his mouth to talk to his Mom. At that point I said “NO WAY will my child EVER have a pacifier” Again, after actually having a child I’ve eaten my words however I was pretty adamant about keeping Lola’s pacifier from public view. Just me and my anal ways. I by no means judge a parent that chooses to let their kid have a pacifier until they are 4 BUT if your kid is barefoot walking around at the license bureau or the Wal-Mart store with a paci in his mouth I will probably whisper something to Aaron about lazy parenting.

Below is a rare photo of Lola with a pacifier in her mouth, you might not see the pacifier because it’s clear, my way of making it seem invisible. We were on vacation in Vermont. All of these stuffed animals filled a hill from the roadside.

settle down you crazy engineers!

Yesterday was Steve's birthday and let me tell you, the crew got WILD (as seen in the above photo). I love my job because I get to work with the best people ever!

Unfortunately a key player was missing for my group photo shoot. He had a good reason.

Best Dog ever takes a dip

This afternoon we took the kids to a park that Ian & Aaron go to often. I don't know the real name of the park but they call it fossil park because they are always collecting fossils from there. It's not too far from our house, 3 minutes drive time. Bruce had so much fun swimming and the kids loved tossing rocks in the water. Lola accidentally tossed a rock at Bruce. I think it was an accident.




Bruce got the headline photo because clearly he was the most photogenic this afternoon. What a perfectly handsome dog!

Historical Landmark

The Bellbrook Sugarcreek Historical Society has recognized our house as a historical landmark.
Last winter our historical society located 200 old homes, cemeteries, churches and schools and in an effort to recognize these buildings offered plaques to the owners.
We received our plaque this afternoon and I kindly asked Aaron to hang it IMMEDIATELY! I've only been waiting 6 months for the plaque to arrive.
The plaque is hung to the right of our front door. It's hard to see in the above photo but it's there. I loved my house to begin with and now I love it even more!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Thank you for being the best Mom ever!!!
I am the luckiest girl because you are my Mom and Lola is so lucky to have you for her GiGi.
We have enjoyed spending the last three weeks with you.
WE LOVE AND MISS YOU ALREADY!!
Happy Mother's Day!

bye bye Florida

We're getting ready to make our long journey home. It's been a wonderful relaxing week! Thank you Julie & Celia for making the trip to FL to help me celebrate my birthday and thank you to Peggy & Chuck for EVERYTHING!!!! We have had so much fun!
More photos!

I win bastard Ouija Board!

Aside from the year I got my Michael Jackson birthday cake I have never been happier to have a birthday. Today, as I turn 36, is the day I have longed for. My 35th year has been haunting me since I was 14. I've done only three stupid things in my 36 years.

One: getting a lizard tattooed on my rear end

Two: getting drunk, vomiting and passing out (in the ladies locker room) at my Aunt's country club wedding. Classy, I know.

Three: asking the Ouija Board how old I was going to be when I die.

I was 14 and was at a slumber party at Kristen's house. It was my turn to ask a question so what better than "How old will I be when I die?" The answer: 35
Stupid I know but I've been thinking about this for years and am SO glad 35 has passed. Yay for me, I'm 36! For those of you (Jenny & Julie) who have stuck by me through my neurotic phone calls this past year THANK YOU for being there for me!

Now that the above rant is over here's another photo of Peggy doing everything (and other stuff):

Chuck takes it easy

We have all arrived safely and have been enjoying the sunshine & pool. Lola and Celia are getting along and they share Peggy pretty well so far. Lucky for the rest of us, we can go by Chuck's example and take it easy while Peggy does all the work.
aahhh.. vacation