For the Record

Weaned? 100%
Teeth? 6
Current number of bruises on his head? 4
Cruising? like crazy
Letting go? a lot (hence the bruises)
Walking? only when holding two fingers
naps? 2
words? 5--mommy, hi, bye bye, bread, more(sign)
likes? eating daddy's homemade bread, bellybuttons, cell phones, wrestling with his sisters, climbing stairs
dislikes? vacuums, waiting for food, not being held after waking up, going to bed without his sisters
weight? about 22 lbs
sleeping through the night? more and more often

14 months.
14 months?
Really?

Can someone please tell me where the time has gone?

Home Improvements, Phase 1

There is a three-phase home improvement plan going on around here and phase one is half-way completed. Phase one is to put down laminate in our two downstairs bedrooms, which, incidentally, we don't use as bedrooms. The room you see below is our tv/guest room. Duncan finished laying the floor last night. He did an amazing job.

Here's the "before" picture taken February 2008. (We forgot to take a before picture before the carpet was ripped out, so this will have to do.)

Here's how the room looked without carpet. You can barely see the fake wood asbestos tiles that were original to the house. The black is some sort of adhesive that was under the most recent carpet.

And after! We'll move the dining room furniture into here while we do the dining room floor. So watching tv won't be quite as cozy as it usually is for a few more days.

And what are phases two and three, you ask?
Phase two will be to paint our living room, downstairs hall and stairwell.
Phase three is to have new carpet installed in the living room, downstairs hall and on the stairs!
We're SO EXCITED!!!

Goodbye yucky, stained, light beige carpet that was brand new when we moved in but only looked really nice for about three and a half minutes!

Please Tell Me It's O.K.

Tell me it's good even.
Right now, at this very moment, Amelie is on a field trip.

And I'm not on it too.

Last year, I chaperoned EVERY SINGLE FIELD TRIP with Amelie's class. I went to the pumpkin patch. The firehouse. The grocery store. The dentist. This past Tuesday, I went on the pumpkin patch field trip with her class. (see below)

This morning, they are going to the firehouse. I could have worked it so that I could've gone, even though my primary babysitters are galavanting around Southern California as I type.
But I chose not to.
I chose to let her go under the care of other adults.
Without me.
I chose to let her have an experience of which I am not a part.
I chose to let her do something about which I will only hear.
Never see.
Never live through.

Man, does growing up hurt or what?

Wordless Wednesday--So, what does YOUR doctor do during his free time?

Sorry, Patrick. Had to do it.

Backyard 'afari...WVU style

The girls love to play (s)afari in our back yard. It usually involves backpacks and walking sticks. Most recently, it involved West Virginia University (my alma mater) apparel. (Thanks again, McDermotts!)

We're headed to good ole Morgantown in a few weeks. We're attending a retirement party (you going to be there Karen B.?) and visiting our nephew Patrick who is a freshman this year. We can hardly wait!

"Beat 'em, bust 'em, that's our custom!
West by God Virginia!"

Off to what-used-to-be-called-Rainbow Farms...

...but isn't anymore and my sister's family still CALLS it Rainbow Farms and their cut-out face thingy even SAYS Rainbow Farms and I can't remember what the new name is anyway. So there.

whew

This past Saturday, we headed out to Maryland's Eastern Shore for a day of pumpkin farming. This particular farm is an Easton tradition and now that my sister's youngest is 14, she enjoys carrying on the tradition with our three.

Megan and Violet explore the corn table.

A handsome bunch of corn and farmers and...a goat? (See? Rainbow Farms is painted on the barn!)

Amelie and Violet got a kick out of this!

They had this awesome bouncing pillow--something I've never seen before. But I can tell you, if we had one in our backyard, I wouldn't need to lose 30 pounds!

Amelie and I took two turns on the bouncing pillow. It was an incredible leg workout!

Violet and Amelie took a turn at driving the tractor too.

Linus got to know the pumpkins.

Our whole group: My sister, Karen, brother-in-law, Dan, and niece, Megan are in the center. Dan ALWAYS finds the BEST pumpkins.

Violet and Amelie even felt kind of brave and fed the cute baby goats with Megan.

Oh, and this baby goat was SO cute, too! Hey wait! That cutie is just a braces-free Megs!

Happy Autumn!

Yogurt Mishap or Linus Can Now Grab Things Off of the Kitchen Table

Last Saturday, Linus was left alone in the kitchen after lunch while the girls and Duncan played outside for a bit. I was on the internet doing something productive when I heard a slight tapping noise coming from the kitchen. Knowing that there are toys EVERYWHERE, I wasn't concerned in the least. After a couple of minutes, I decided to check on the boy. And this is what I found:
[Note: You'll probably want to click on the pictures to see the yogurt detailing throughout.]

Even his socks were covered in yogurt!

Like any good blogging mommy, I had a snap a few pictures of the event before cleaning it up.

Here's to not crying over spilled dairy products,

Way Back Machine

Amelie
April 19, 2005
14 months old

Linus
September 8, 2008
12 months 1 week old

It goes so quickly!