Chris's Graduation

Well within the past few weeks we have celebrated by brothers graduation, played a family baseball game and gotten the girls ear's pierced. My brothers graduation was personalized and very unique. There were only about 40 kids in his class and each student graduated with a message from someone that hey wanted to talk on their behalf. The teachers seemed great and the students were so happy to be at the school with all the personalized attention. It was great to see his school and teachers who have influenced him and helped get him to where he is now.

Here is my brother at his graduation. His is his tutor/guide who has worked with him for over 9 years. She was just as emotional about his graduation as everyone else.

Here is one of his teachers sending him a message.

The proud parents.

Julianne has been bugging me for about a year to get her ears pierced. I got mine at 13 but it seems like all the girls have gotten theirs pierces way before then. So we compromised and said 10. However in the fall she cannot wear earrings because of soccer so we said we would get them at the beginning of summer so that they could heal and be able to take them out for soccer without them closing up. So when school was out for the summer was the magic day. However, about a few weeks ago she kept convincing me that she wanted to show all her friends her earrings so she needed them done before summer break. So I took her and Mallory the week before school got out. I decided to get Mallory's done because she has asked me a few times and I keep telling her that she needs to wait. I decided to surprise Mallory because she rarely asks for things repeatedly, unlike her persistent sister, so I thought i would surprise her. Julianne was fine with her getting her ears pierced before she was ten. She did say that it was "unfair" but I reminded her that life is unfair and it was an experience that they could share together. So we went to this local body piercing place which was both unique and cool. Our piercer, Kevin, was supper sweet and cool. The girls did not really get upset or cry. Mallory had a scrunchy face but that was about it. They were really excited and they both love their new earrings.






Ouch face!!

All done.

We took an impromptu trip to the park and played Tolly's baseball. D was the pitcher and the kids were the hitters. I was the designated baby holder and ball catcher. The kids had fun. D had a strained knee so he was hobbling around which gave the kids an advantage.

In my stroller

"I hate when you take my picture"

What a cutie


Nathan was all over the field. He did not know which way to run. Too funny.

I don't think he got her with his bum knee and his flip flops.


Where does he keep running to?

I will get to play next year.

Quit taking my picture.





Here are some Lindsay pictures:






Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-Seeing other peoples accomplishments.
-Taking the girls to get their ear's pierced
-My peaceful/calm/sleeping infant.

Rain boots

Wow has it been a rainy mess in this area. I think that we had the rainiest April ever and I am not sure were May stands but I am tired of this rain. I am not usually a person that the weather bothers me. I actually like the gloomy Ohio weather because it makes me really appreciate the sun, it holds the heat away, and you do not always have to worry about suntan lotion. But this rain is making our backyard a mess, D can barely mow the back area, and our soon to be patio is not existent because of the weather. Our yard has construction tire tracks in it that are collecting water (and bugs) and it is just a muddy mess back there. Oh well that is life. Having a patio and perfect grass is not going to make me any happier than I already am. It is just a nuisance and something that I can live with in the meantime.

Nathan had to get rid of his giraffe boots so we bought him some turtle rain boots. His giraffe boots had holes in them and no longer served its purpose as rain boots since his feet continually got water logged. So it is onto new boots and he sure does love these boots as much as the others.



Mallory continually wants to hold Lindsay in my Moby wrap. She loves holding her and walking around with her.



There's a smile.


Pictures of the kids at the duck pond.





Lindsay is almost 3 months old. She is a great sleeper, like Julianne, but we did not have to suffer through the colic crying like we did with Julianne. She slept 12 hours the other night and 11 hours last night. She takes two 3 to 4 hour naps (if we don't have to interrupt it with picking up kids places, etc) and is pretty content when she is awake. When she gets grumpy, which is usually about 1 to 2 hours after she is up we put her back to sleep. Sleeping on her stomach is the way to go and the fact that she has found her thumb makes her sleep even sounder. That pretty much keeps her content. I was so nervous when I first put her on her belly two months ago. There is such a stigma and apprehension about putting the babies on their belly's. I wish they would publish more studies about SIDS and if the babies had some underlying sickness, where covered in pillows, had parents that smoked or other risk factors, what percent of baby's that die from SIDS were on their backs, etc. It seems like having more information would help moms not feel so guilty if they do put their babies on their stomachs. Of course it would be devastating if it happened to any baby but how many babies does it happen to that are sleeping in their cribs without pillows and/or blankets around their face and are well babies sleeping on their stomachs versus well babies sleeping on their backs. Would it have happened anyway regardless of their sleeping positions, etc. If I remember I will ask my pediatrician about this because putting your baby on its stomach puts so much fear into moms but they sleep so much better in that position. Plus when I was a baby that was what everyone did. Anyway, I vented, Lindsay is a great baby. She smiles, coos, poops, pees and sleeps. That is about it.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-A sleeping/happy baby
-A well rested mom
-Getting back to a routine