Oh the Bliss!

I'm really looking forward to March because so many fun things are happening. We kick it off with Mark's b-day on Monday, then the rest of the month is filled with birthday parties and baby-showers for various family and friends. And the most exciting thing will happen probably towards the end when my newest baby nephew will be born!! His birthday is a tiny bit bittersweet for me because I probably won't get to actually meet him for many more months due to the fact that he lives across the pond, in London. Just like my all my nephews and nieces in the Lands of Faraway, this new baby will live waaaaaaaaaay too far away for me to be the doting Aunt I want to be. :-( I'm SO excited for Pam and my brother, and Jesse and Luci. I think Luci will have a blast being a big sister. So that's all, I'm excited for a new month. I'm looking forward to the end of cold and flu season and I'm really excited to have a month of fun celebrations. Lord please bless this mon...

I have a small stack of Gift Cards that have accumulated over the years, that's right -years, because I suffer from a little known illness called Gift Card Anxiety, or GCA. Due to this disorder it is very difficult for me to spend a gift card. While gifts cards usually come with the best of intentions to give me the freedom of buying whatever I want, it's really like giving me a little piece of torture wrapped in a bow. For example: Right now I have two gift cards to the same pedicure place. Who wouldn't love that? Well, my GCA sets in and all the sudden I can't decided if I want to use them at the same time and get extra special things I would never spend extra money on, like massages or fancy lotion, or do I spilt them up and go two times getting the basic deal? I've had a gift card to a favorite restaurant for almost two years now because the amount is sort of an awkward amount; not enough to completely pay for dinner. Do I go and get a really high priced meal f...

Troy has all but begged for food, solid food, lately so tonight I ground up some oats and made his first bowl of oatmeal. He LOVED it, as I knew he would. He was so happy about eating. He ate like a pro too, like he's been eating oatmeal for years. I did have to hold his hands down at first because he kept wanting to knock the spoon away, but after a little bit he figured it out and was SO pleased. This is just another way my little man has grown up over the last week or so. He's spent the last five nights in the crib in Ben's room. Or should I call it the "Boy's Room"? He's getting better at sleeping each night, and maybe with adding some food he'll sleep even better. (I actually think that's a myth, but some people swear it works). I can't believe I'm talking about cribs and solid foods and crawling and Troy all in the same sentence. I cannot believe it's been a half a year. In some ways he's still such a baby, but in other ways I...

Benefits of having a plugged ear. 1. It sounds like a rain-maker in my head. You know, one of those hollowed out wooden things with cactus needles or pine needles or something in it and when you turn it upside down all the needles trickle down and it sounds like rain. Yeah, that. That's what it sounds like inside my head when I'm in the shower or when I brush my hair or scratch behind my ear. My own personal rain-maker. Rather soothing. 2. When I'm singing worship in church and I think I'm harmonizing now I realize I'm not and I really sound tone deaf. Note to self: Reserve harmonizing talent for car or kitchen. (Some of my best singing is done in the kitchen.) 3. I can get out of doing things because I didn't hear someone ask me to do it, honestly. 4. I hear 50% less whining. 5. I didn't have to fully participate in a group discussion the other day because the leader was to the right of me and I couldn't hear any of her questions. I just smiled and nodd...

Addison spent her first night in her new toddler bed last night. She LOVES it. She calls it her "cozy bed". The crib is now in Ben's room ready and waiting for the day Troy stops sleeping in his cradle in my closet. I keep thinking it'll be an easy move once he sleeps through the night, and no, that isn't happening yet. He still wakes up at least twice, sometimes three or four times. I don't feed him but one time, those other times are just to make sure I'm still there, I guess. That boy loooooooooves me! Can't take his eyes off me when I'm in the room. Bless his heart, it's like he has mini anxiety attacks every time I walk out of his sight. Today is he is six months old! Happy Half Birthday little man! I love half birthdays. On Ben's first half birthday he got a cool new rattle chew toy. When Addison turned 6 months she got a new pair of shoes. Troy got a trip the park! Yippee! Hey, isn't quality time with family more valuable than m...

it pours, apparently. I think our family has been sick for a few months now, taking turns, all at once, a break here, a sunny day there, but over all it's feels like it's been three months of fighting off something. We all know about my two babies with four ear infections between them, but that just wasn't enough pain and antibiotics for our house. Nope, now you can add me to the list. Last night after a special treat of a dinner with dear Wendy I came home and casually mentioned my ear was bothering me. Two hours later I was writhing in pain, literally writhing. Rocking back and forth, tensing up, shaking, pulling my ear just like my 6 month old. It was awful. I even threw out a few desperate emails at 1am to Carrie hoping her nursing advise and personal experience with ear issues would cure me. Because I have this ridiculous mindset that ER's are for extreme emergencies I didn't go, although I probably should have. I held out until I could make it into the Urgent ...

Bono Elton John. Oh sorry, SIR Elton John

I found this on fb and I just have to post it here too. Click on it to make it big enough to read.

Nana to the rescue! Thanks mom for coming down and being here for me and the Sickies. (This is my mom's "Poor baby" face) I took Troy to the doctor last night because he was just so sad and nothing was making him better. I found out, just like his big sister, he too has infections in both ears. So, so sad. This is new territory for me, this land of Being Sick All The Time. Ben was/is hardly ever sick. So to have two kids, one of which is a baby, on antibiotics is a first. I'm not a fan of this place at all, nope, not a fan. I don't like feeling like I can't leave the house because if I do we might infect other people and/or be infected with something new because our immune systems are low. Our big outing today was getting bundled up (because it was in the 50's) and driving 2 miles to pick up our veggie basket. Even then, only Ben got out of the car. Troy has slept really well though, so I'm very thankful for that. Lord knows that boy n...

I feel your pain. Love, Troy

I have three sick children; one of which has a double ear infection - again, and a next door neighbor doing a major remodel. These are the noises I heard in the last 60 seconds, AT THE SAME TIME. ~ whining ~ hammering ~ sniffing ~ jackhammering ~ sneezing ~ sledgehammering ~ coughing ~ drilling ~ whining ~ cement scraping ~ crying ~ chainsawing ~ nose blowing ~ Max, the dog, barking ~ big, heavy things being dumped into a huge metal trash bin ~ chicken laying an egg ~ metal pounding ~ screaming I'm not complaining. I'm simply marveling at the amount of pitch levels my ear can take decipher at once.

My children will sleep tonight. They will, they will, they WILL!

WARNING: SLIGHTLY INAPPROPRIATE MATERIAL FOLLOWS. (Dad, you might want to sit this one out.) I often find myself thinking about the names of stores and restaurants and how they came about. (I don't know why I think about such things, I just do). For example, if a store has a lady's name, is it the owner's name? Her grandmother's? Her twin's who was separated at birth? Or maybe a trendy girly name she wanted to name her daughter but her husband wouldn't let her so she name her store that instead? When I was a little girl I had a "store" named Sarendipity. I think my dad thought of it. It was a play on my name, see, serendipity - Sar endipity. Catchy eh? Maybe that's where my interest in business names began. Along with names I love, I have a running list of names of places where I'd like to ask the owners, "what were you thinking"? Except, in my head it would sound a little more like, "Who the H E double hockey sticks thought of...

Addison received some lovely gifts yesterday for her birthday (more birthday blogging to come). One of them, an adorable Cabbage Patch Kid, didn't go over so well. But, today is a new day and Addison, in all her fickle glory, has decided that the "big dolly" is now her friend. This video is dedicated to Wendy.