Conner
Riley
Marin
My sis
Papi with Conner
Mother in law with Adam
The hubs with neice
Papi with Conner
Me with Riley
Conner
The cake
My sis, Conner, Me, and Mom
My sis and her man
Two of a gazillion Christmas card pic attempts
Picture Parade
ConnerRileyMarinMy sisPapi with ConnerMother in law with AdamThe hubs with neicePapi with ConnerMe with RileyConnerThe cakeMy sis, Conner, Me, and MomMy sis and her manTwo of a gazillion Christmas card pic attempts
Happy Birthday Conner!!!
This is the first time since December 2000 that I have not been pregnant and/or nursing. Since finding out I was expecting kid #1, I have been pregnant, nursing, or a combo of both until now. I nursed 3 months into each pregnancy which once caused a midwife to feel inclined to mention nursing wasn't a form of birth control, just in case I wasn't aware of that fact. And about the whole milk flavor changing around 12 weeks as a natural deterrent...never happened. I probably would've nursed them longer if it wasn't so darn draining growing a child inside while feeding one on the outside. The weaning process always proved to be a long and frustrating adventure for each kid and myself...until...Conner. No boob since Saturday night. He has flat out given up...done...kaput!
Over the last 7 years, I have often dreamt of the time I would have my body back to myself. Visions of Victoria's Secret bras pranced thru my dreams. Now, I have my body back, but I am not so sure I am ready for it to be so easy. I'm still putting on my nursing bras...why???...habit and the fact that the only non nursing bras in my drawer are over 7 years old.
What happened to my weaning process??? Conner turned one today and over the last 7 days, he has managed to figure out the whole walking thing, become an expert vanilla soymilk chugger, and ditched the boob. I don't recall giving him permission to grow up that quickly. I guess I can take this as his way of letting me know that while he is the family caboose, he is not the "baby" of the family.
Happy Birthday Conner! Thanks for the gift of giving me my body back even if I wasn't quite ready for it. I love you!
Happy, happy, joy, joy
A fantastic day was had by the family as we spent the afternoon at Metzi's dining on some of the best persian food cooked outside of my mother in law's kitchen. If you haven't yet tried Shamshiri, I highly recommend and you must be sure to get the hot chili mystery sauce that I swear I will figure out how to make some day.
While enjoying the delicious food and wonderful company of friends and family, we witnessed one of the most precious things ever seen...#4 fell asleep in the crook of Papi's arm. The kids have always had a special warm spot in their hearts for their dear Papi so it wasn't as surprising as it was just so darn adorable to see an almost 1 year old so comfortable cuddled up next to his 93 year old great grandfather. And more exciting than that is the fact that the man who hid from the camera years ago, now begs for us to take pictures of him with his great grandchildren.
Will upload some pics tomorrow. Time to go do the dishes, gather my yarn, and get to work on Christmas gifts before I run out of creative craft time and must resort to buying gaudy baubles from department store shelves with money I don't have.
While enjoying the delicious food and wonderful company of friends and family, we witnessed one of the most precious things ever seen...#4 fell asleep in the crook of Papi's arm. The kids have always had a special warm spot in their hearts for their dear Papi so it wasn't as surprising as it was just so darn adorable to see an almost 1 year old so comfortable cuddled up next to his 93 year old great grandfather. And more exciting than that is the fact that the man who hid from the camera years ago, now begs for us to take pictures of him with his great grandchildren.
Will upload some pics tomorrow. Time to go do the dishes, gather my yarn, and get to work on Christmas gifts before I run out of creative craft time and must resort to buying gaudy baubles from department store shelves with money I don't have.
Triple Dose of Halloween
We had a triple dose of Halloween this year. Cousin L had a costume bday party, we had #1's school parade, and trick or treating.
The girls took it upon themselves to dress up in 3 different outfits for each occasion. We had Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Ballerinas, and Tinker Bells. #1 was a camouflage decked out soldier, #4 was a firefighter (his big brother's first costume) while Mom and Dad were Princess Leia and Obi Wan Kenobi.
The girls took it upon themselves to dress up in 3 different outfits for each occasion. We had Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Ballerinas, and Tinker Bells. #1 was a camouflage decked out soldier, #4 was a firefighter (his big brother's first costume) while Mom and Dad were Princess Leia and Obi Wan Kenobi.
Why I Love The Post
There are many reasons to love the Post...world news, metro, and style sections...but today, I love it for the Sunday extras. After scouring the ads, I found that Staples and Office Depot are offering free photo printers with the purchase of a dig cam. Go figure, we are finally getting our first printer thanks to Nana and Grandpa John upgrading to a nicer, newer one and now another printer option falls in our lap. Just might have to get the free one and tuck it away for a great Xmas gift for an unsuspecting relative (unless of course they read this...which will mean they will open the printer Xmas morn and thank us for the regift of a freebie). I am such a sucker for a great deal!
Ay Carumba
So, our lovely adorable 4 year old (#2) has become quite the photographer...so much so that she broke our digital camera. We have been not seriously in the market for a new dig cam for several years but never put any serious thought into it until I couldn't get the lens to pop out this morning right before we were to head out to our annual trip to the pumpkin farm. So for the first time in five straight yearly visits, I did not get a pick of the kids at the pumpkin patch. It wouldn't be such a big deal, except that is the pic I put in the October spot of the yearly Shutterfly calendar I hand out to the grandparents' at Christmas time.
Before heading to the patch, we scoured the internet (I am a research hound!!!) for reviews on regular and SLR dig cams. While an SLR would be a terrific accessory to our family picture taking activities, I do need to have money leftover to put food on the table for my little munchkins, so we settled on a Canon 560 or 570...we haven't decided if we want to pay more for the optical image stabilization...which is worth it for me since practically every perfect picture I take is blurred by a kid blinking or a puppy bonking my elbow ever so slightly.
I am such the bargain shopper that we left Best Buy to check out Costco who didn't have it in stock, and now plan to purchase it online. How will I survive the next few days without the ability to snap a single photo? No, my cell phone does not have picture capabilities...I have yet to conjer up the courage to take all four lovely little children to a Verizon store to trade in my old phone (a hand me down from a friend since one of the kids stuck my phone in the dog's water bowl...it worked, but the screen was toast so I could never tell who was calling and if I was dialing the right number) for a new one...aside from the fact that the account is in the hubby's name, so the company doesn't seem to take kindly to anything I have to say or do regarding our account.
So, while my day started a little rough with the hubby calling to let me know his car wouldn't start in the parking lot of our fave New Mexican Style Restaurant on his way to take #1 to his soccer game while I was working on packing up the car to sell a bunch of loot at my sister-in-law's yard sale...which meant I had to go jump him and leave the loot....to the camera not working, but the pumpkin patch being fun, and making enough money at my mom's yard sale to pay for my next hair appointment, and a wonderful dinner with a fun group of friends for the first time in ages, it turned out to be quite perfect. I am ready to go feed the screaming 10 month old upstairs, call it a night, and look forward to #1's school friend's bday party tomorrow at the new Pump It Up pad.
Nightie Night!
Before heading to the patch, we scoured the internet (I am a research hound!!!) for reviews on regular and SLR dig cams. While an SLR would be a terrific accessory to our family picture taking activities, I do need to have money leftover to put food on the table for my little munchkins, so we settled on a Canon 560 or 570...we haven't decided if we want to pay more for the optical image stabilization...which is worth it for me since practically every perfect picture I take is blurred by a kid blinking or a puppy bonking my elbow ever so slightly.
I am such the bargain shopper that we left Best Buy to check out Costco who didn't have it in stock, and now plan to purchase it online. How will I survive the next few days without the ability to snap a single photo? No, my cell phone does not have picture capabilities...I have yet to conjer up the courage to take all four lovely little children to a Verizon store to trade in my old phone (a hand me down from a friend since one of the kids stuck my phone in the dog's water bowl...it worked, but the screen was toast so I could never tell who was calling and if I was dialing the right number) for a new one...aside from the fact that the account is in the hubby's name, so the company doesn't seem to take kindly to anything I have to say or do regarding our account.
So, while my day started a little rough with the hubby calling to let me know his car wouldn't start in the parking lot of our fave New Mexican Style Restaurant on his way to take #1 to his soccer game while I was working on packing up the car to sell a bunch of loot at my sister-in-law's yard sale...which meant I had to go jump him and leave the loot....to the camera not working, but the pumpkin patch being fun, and making enough money at my mom's yard sale to pay for my next hair appointment, and a wonderful dinner with a fun group of friends for the first time in ages, it turned out to be quite perfect. I am ready to go feed the screaming 10 month old upstairs, call it a night, and look forward to #1's school friend's bday party tomorrow at the new Pump It Up pad.
Nightie Night!
I Want To Get Off The Wagon!!!
Puffs has created the best invention of 2007...Vicks menthol tissues!!! Even if I wasn't congested, I think I would still sit on the couch sniffing one just for the fun of it. My oldest one who is battling a nasty cold is totally addicted as well.
Remember back on Sept 20th, how I said I was finally climbing out of the laundry pile after a stomach bug and skin rash...well...I spoke prematurely. I did catch up on the laundry, but that did not signal the end of our sickly demise. Pink eye hit and is still making the rounds, one family member at a time. The hubby ended up in the hospital with food poisoning. The caboose's (#4) third tooth finally broke thru which has riddled him with an occasional fever and nasty diaper experiences that led to a painful diaper rash.
And I ended up with a double ear infection and sinus infection (according to the doc, I had a "true" infection due to the lovely neon yellow liquid dripping out of my nose whenever bending over to pick up a child, toy, or the like) which explains why I felt like complete and total crap when I thought I just had a simple cold that wouldn't get better. The first round of anitbiotics didn't do the trick (I have finally been let down by my wonder antibiotic Zithromax). Round #2 of anitbiotics and going amazingly well except for the fact that it has now been 2.5 weeks since I have been able to enjoy a glass of wine or any other form of alcoholic beverage. One of my favorite activities is to unwind on the couch with a glass of red wine and watch my shows (anything that is not on Disney, Noggin, Nick Jr, or Sprout) after everyone has gone to bed. I miss that dearly! The wine bottles are gathering dust!
So I hope this next week proves to be much better for us healthwise and I can get off the wagon I never wanted to be on in the first place. Until then, I'll pretend my Lemon Italian Soda is a Lemon Drop and the Blood Orange one is a Tequila Sunrise.
Cheers!
Remember back on Sept 20th, how I said I was finally climbing out of the laundry pile after a stomach bug and skin rash...well...I spoke prematurely. I did catch up on the laundry, but that did not signal the end of our sickly demise. Pink eye hit and is still making the rounds, one family member at a time. The hubby ended up in the hospital with food poisoning. The caboose's (#4) third tooth finally broke thru which has riddled him with an occasional fever and nasty diaper experiences that led to a painful diaper rash.
And I ended up with a double ear infection and sinus infection (according to the doc, I had a "true" infection due to the lovely neon yellow liquid dripping out of my nose whenever bending over to pick up a child, toy, or the like) which explains why I felt like complete and total crap when I thought I just had a simple cold that wouldn't get better. The first round of anitbiotics didn't do the trick (I have finally been let down by my wonder antibiotic Zithromax). Round #2 of anitbiotics and going amazingly well except for the fact that it has now been 2.5 weeks since I have been able to enjoy a glass of wine or any other form of alcoholic beverage. One of my favorite activities is to unwind on the couch with a glass of red wine and watch my shows (anything that is not on Disney, Noggin, Nick Jr, or Sprout) after everyone has gone to bed. I miss that dearly! The wine bottles are gathering dust!
So I hope this next week proves to be much better for us healthwise and I can get off the wagon I never wanted to be on in the first place. Until then, I'll pretend my Lemon Italian Soda is a Lemon Drop and the Blood Orange one is a Tequila Sunrise.
Cheers!
Latest Pics
#2 after her first day of school
#1 and Hokie hanging out
I like food!
Looks like #3 found the tailpipe of the car or something just as dirty (reminiscent of when #1 did the exact same thing around the exact same age)
The garter snake I almost stepped on in the backyard. Didn't get a pic cuz it was too fast, but almost stepped on a copperhead off the front stoop the following day!
Helping with the dishes
#4 getting in the spirit of Hokie game day
Sweet Sleeping Sisters
#2 with my sister
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