It's My Life

Twelve in '12

2012-01-04T21:02:00.007-05:00

So, obviously it's been a couple months since I've blogged. But I'm back (at least for today!) with my resolutions for 2012.

Here are twelve things I want to accomplish in 2012.

1. Run 500 miles. This is my friend Melissa's challenge. I strongly dislike running and I'm hoping this makes me at least hate it less.

2. Run a 5K. I ran the 3.5 mile leg of the Akron Marathon Relay back in September, but I'd like to do an actual 5K.

3. Write down the 52 books I'll read in 2012. I'm fairly certain I read at least 52 books last year. Our library has a 52 Books challenge, but I could never remember to enter them online.

4. Learn to use my camera. Right now I pretty much keep it on P, but I'd like to learn more. No, I need to learn more. I need to get the most out of my camera, and take the best pictures I can take.

5. 52 Projects with my girls. I'm planning on doing one project a week with my girls, and creating a mini-album documenting them. These might be cooking, baking, crafting, an outdoor adventure, or something else I haven't thought of yet. So much of my time is spent with Ryan that this will be a fun way to spend more time with them.

6. Project Life. SO excited to start this!

7. Take my videos from over the years and turn them in to movies. Must learn video editing.

8. Control the clutter. I'm a pack rat. Enough said.

9. Monthly family photos. I want to take one the 12th of each month.

10. Read the New Testament/spend time each day reading and studying my Bible. I have quite a few books I want to read, a couple which are Bible studies, that have been sitting on my nightstands as well. Must finish Crazy Love.

11. Six dates with my husband. We don't do this enough. Like never.

12. A Month of Thank Yous. My Bible study is doing a month of thank yous in January where we write a note each day thanking someone for something they've done or the impact they've made in our lives. This was inspired by the book 365 Thank yous and I'm really looking forward to this. There are so many people who impact our lives and I want to acknowledge and thank them. So far I've written notes to my husband, my mom and my high school keyboarding teacher, Mrs. Arndt, who taught me how to type.

Happy 2012!

Emma's first day of Kindergarten

2011-09-11T23:11:00.002-04:00

Emma started Kindergarten last month, her first day was August 18th. They split the Kindergarten classes in to thirds (there are 12 classes) with each 1/3 going on one of three days - the 17th, 18th or 19th. I took Emma to school that day at 9, and she rode the bus home that afternoon. She was so excited to go. she woke up before 7 asking if it was time for school yet.

She'd seen this pink dress in the Gap the day before when we went to get her back-to-school haircut. She told me if she could, she would wear her on her first day. So of course I ran out that afternoon and picked it up as a surprise. She was so surprised and thanked me over and over.

I took a lot of pictures. I had to. I probably would've taken more than I did if she'd have let me!

Before leaving for school

With my mom, Grandma McIntyre

With her friend (our neighbor) Caroline. They get to ride the bus together which is fantastic.

First Day of Kindergarten

Walking in to school. I love how they're holding hands.

Her locker

Her table

Please mom, haven't you taken enough?

One more, just one more, Emma! I had to beg to get this one.

The moms after drop off. Surprisingly dry-eyed.

Emma was laughing and really, really excited when the bus pulled up.

Mackenzie was so happy to see Emma!

Ta-da! First day is done!

Daddy was there to see her get off the bus.

Family self-portrait.

Emma loved her first day. Liked her teacher, liked her locker, liked eating lunch, she liked it all. I still can't believe I have a Kindergartener though.

11 months. (10 and 9, too)

2011-08-22T23:11:00.000-04:00

Totally slacking on the monthly Ryan updates. I do have pictures now though.

11 months old. We were at Grove City College Saturday and I took these on a bench outside one of the buildings.

He kept yelling. Happy yelling. But yelling and not smiling. Also, he wouldn't sit still for very long.

Instead he made his way over to the side.

@ 11 months, Ryan is adorable. Of course. Crawls fast. Very, very fast. Pretty much wants to just go up and down the stairs all day long. He stands and can bend down and pick something up without falling but so far doesn't try to walk on his own. He will walk with the push-walker though. He discovered he can throw and therefore does so repeatedly. He loves food. Really. You wouldn't believe how much this kid eats. Still taking a bottle, but I'm reducing the amount in the anticipation of being formula-free in less than a month. We call him Grabby-Grabby. He takes everything.

10 months. 7/19/11 @ what used to be Jellystone Campground. Michael and the girls were in the lake and Ryan and I hung out in the shade. No sand for us, as he would've most certainly eaten it.

@ 10 months. First stitches. That's about all I remember at the moment. Must go back through photos and rack brain for more milestones/stories of note.

9 months. Well, technically still 8 as I took this the night before. But no photo from the day he turned 9 months or the days after have him sitting still like this. Too busy exploring.

@9 months. Cute. Skinny. (although I didn't necessarily notice it at the time, he's very skinny compared to the food-chowing baby he is now.)

It's all about the diving board now.

2011-08-17T09:02:00.001-04:00

So last week at the pool, Emma decided she was going off the diving board. Something we'd been encouraging her to do all summer since we knew she could swim the distance required to do it. But she wouldn't. Then Monday, there were a lot of friends there, friends who were telling her she could do it and that she was a great swimmer, and apparently she just needed to hear this from them instead of us, because she did it.

Well, if Emma was doing it, Mackenzie wanted to do it too. She needed some practice though. So Michael worked with her, having her jump in off the side and then swim to the end to make sure she could swim far enough to get to the ladder. Once she could, it was her turn to go. This is one determined 3 1/2 year old we have!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

And in the fall she'll be a Kindergartener.

2011-06-14T23:58:00.006-04:00

Emma graduated preschool last month, May 23rd to be exact. We had additional excitement in the form of the tornado sirens going off forcing us all in to the hallway to wait it out shortly before Emma's name was to be called. The kids didn't mind though, it gave them time to burn off some energy since they'd been sitting in the church for so long. The program was cute. They marched in wearing their felt graduation caps, sang some songs (or just looked around at everyone and everything) and then received their diplomas.

Our graduate.

I'd meant to get a family picture at the church/school, but forgot. Maybe it was all that tornado siren excitement. Or being on crutches. Or the fact that Emma was pretty much over pictures as soon as I started. She relented at home. That, or I told her she had smile for pictures if she wanted a snack.

Wednesday of her last week was Wacky Wednesday. Really, it wasn't that much different than many of the outfits she puts together. This originally had a grey ruffle vest to complete the look. She's quite the trendsetter.

And for the last day on Friday they had a pajama pizza party. We went to the park with everyone from her class afterward.

First Day (orientation, 9/12/10) and Last Day (5/20/11)

This isn't really school related, but I can't believe how different her hair is now. Last September is was so long and curly and still blonde. It's now to her shoulders, the curls are gone and it's gotten so dark it can't even be considered blonde anymore. The red's really showing, too. And she just looks so much older.

First day of school (9/12/10) and now, 9 months later (6/15/11)

Warrior Dash 2011

2011-06-10T22:20:00.004-04:00

Last Sunday I ran the Warrior Dash with three of my friends/boot camp girls.

We started our nice and clean in our fringed and beaded cammo shirts, courtesy of Michelle. We ended up really muddy and gross and minus a pair of shoes.

(me, Michelle, Lisa, Noelle)

The giant pile of shoes. You really don't want to keep your shoes after wearing them in the race. They're disgusting. So this charity takes them, industrial cleans and sanitizes them then sends them to third world coutries. Pretty cool.

We took a waterproof disposable camera with us throughout the race. We weren't trying to win. Obviously. Or even be a tiny bit competitive. We just wanted to have fun, so our goal was to finish in under an hour. The guy who won? He ran it in something like 22 minutes or less.

It's in Hocking Hills so most of the course is hilly. And it had rained the night before so it was super slick with mud. So slick and hilly that instead of running, we did a lot of careful hiking.

I'd just jumped in over a dead fish. Awesome.

The best part? Jumping over fire. This was the second to last obstacle. Just before the crawling to mud part.

See, very muddy.

On the shuttle bus back to our car. We'd been sprayed off by a giant hose so while from a distance it might appear we're slightly clean, we weren't.

I think we might do it again next year. It was fun. Mud and all.

Friday Five

2011-06-10T21:56:00.002-04:00

So....I kind of skipped over all of May. Not June though. So far this week:

1. Summer haircuts. Emma's been asking for a while to get her hair cut. Mackenzie chimed in today that she'd like hers cut too. So this afternoon we went to Snippets where the girls walked in like this,

And out like this.

Emma wanted it to her shoulders, that's what she kept saying over and over. Mackenzie just wanted it short. And then shorter. I asked her at least 10 times, are you sure? I kept explaining that once she cut it this short there would be no more ponytails or braids (which she's been very in to lately) but she said she knew. In fact, her words were, "it's okay Mommy. I don't need a pony." She handled it much better than I did. I went between the two stations with my heart pounding and my hands shaking. Mackenzie's only had her hair trimmed three times and Emma's hasn't been this short since, well, ever. We've, or I rather, have always just let it grow. But it's their hair. It's summer. Time to try it and go short. And they love it. Emma's will be easier to brush and Mackenzie's will make for much easier mornings since she won't be crying every time I brush/style it. Plus, it's really, really cute.

2. Today was Mackenzie's Little Gym program.

3. And Emma's Safety Town graduation.

4. And this guy, well he needs a whole post to himself with all he's been up to lately.

5. Wednesday was Emma's Little Gym program.

and a Tball game.

There was also two trips to the pool, playtime outside and with friends, an evening at the outlets, eating on the deck, mornings at the fitness center/kid park, errands, summer Bible study began, family here for programs and to visit, and more. It was a fun and busy week. Which is just a preview of the summer to come, I'm sure!

Easter 2011

2011-04-26T23:50:00.000-04:00

After church on Sunday we went to my mom's. First things first - a family picture. Since it was raining, we took it on the porch swing. I love this swing and if we ever move to a house with a porch we will have a swing just like it.

My favorite part of the pictures we took.

Then it was time to open Easter baskets from Grandma and a Easter bag from Aunt Tara. They were pretty much bursting with excitement to do this, which is probably why they were so willing to sit for photos. They knew what was coming next - baskets filled with candy.

After we ate, mom and I hid eggs for the girls to find. I love watching them look for eggs. I love how excited they get each time they find one.

Then it was time to eat more candy. And cheesecake. Really good cheesecake.

locker room self-portrait

2011-04-21T23:39:00.000-04:00

I attempted to get a picture of me with all three kids in the locker room of the fitness center's family restroom. Because of course I always have my camera with me. You never know when you might want a post-workout, pre-Chick-fil-a bathroom break picture.

He

2011-04-20T22:23:00.000-04:00

...is seven months already. Seven.

Which means I really need to take his six-month t-shirt picture to match the girls'. Oops.

I have an excuse

2011-04-07T22:27:00.001-04:00

for not blogging this week, I'm hosting the Write.Click.Scrapbook. blog. Of course that's no excuse for missing all of last week, too...

Ryan @ six months

2011-03-25T14:43:00.000-04:00

On Saturday the 19th, Ryan turned six months old. Six months already. Half a year. He's no longer my tiny little baby. He laughs and "talks" and rolls and grabs. Sigh. He's amazing.

He's starting to sit up. With a bit of a lean.

The tongue is still out all the time.

And he's still happy, all the time. Seriously, this is the happiest, most content baby.

He has the best laugh. And there's something about Emma he finds funny. Sometimes he just looks at her and lets out a belly laugh. She had him giggling like crazy the other night. He was the cutest thing. Of course, once my camera was out to video it, he couldn't decide if he should watch Emma or look at me and the laughter wasn't quite as forthcoming. But it's still cute.

Emma making Ryan laugh from Erin Sweeney on Vimeo.

He's doing wonderfully when it comes to tummy time. He is constantly rolling onto his stomach. He loves looking around, watching the girls.

Of course, he's not a fan of tummy time when he's in his crib. Oh no. This usually occurs between 3 and 6 am. I find myself in there up to a half dozen times rolling him onto his back because he's gotten stuck. Sometimes with a leg sticking out the crib. Two nights ago he was stuck on his belly with his head pointed diagonally in the corner. Poor guy, he had no where to go. I will say this though, it does get annoying when on your third trip in there, you roll him over, give him his binky, tell him to stay put - only to have him immediately roll back on to his stomach! Twice now he's given up and just slept on his belly, but for the most part he's not a fan of that yet. It amazes me though how a baby who can't yet crawl can get in to every square inch of that crib. In the dark. I wish I could film him one night just to see what he does when he's sleeping/supposed to be sleeping.

He likes the jumperoo.

And the star on the exersaucer.

He's all about putting things in his mouth. His hands, binkies (which he can do on his own when he wants to), toys, the bottle (more miss than hit with this one), the newspaper, anything that's within grabbing reach. Like his toes.

He's teething. His hands are constantly in his mouth and it's like a faucet turned on with the amount of drool he has.

He's tried all the stage one foods now. He loves to eat. He gets very excited when he sees the container, the spoon and the bottle. He tried a sippy cup just to see what would happen, but no success. He just got frustrated. We'll try again in a couple weeks. He's still drinking 32oz of formula a day.

He had his six month well visit. He's 15lbs 3oz, 10-25% (up almost 3 lbs) and 25 3/4 inches, 25-50% (up 2 1/2 inches and up from the 3-10%). Our pediatrician said he's made noticeable improvements with the head tilt. Ryan doesn't have to have physical therapy, but we do have to continue stretching his neck. There's also some improvement with the flat spot/forehead/small eye issue, but that will continue to get better as he does more tummy time and starts to sit up. It'll take a while for that to correct itself.

This picture makes me laugh. This is the exersaucer at the gym. He's so tiny in it, but he loves watching all the other kids at Kid Park.

He's in size 2 diapers and fits well in to his 3-6 month clothes, but with room to grow. According to the tags on the Carters clothes, he should be in 9 month outfits. I don't see that happening quite yet. He has some summer outfits from Gymboree that are 6-12 months and even though according to the tag he fits in them for height (starts at 25 inches) and is only 1 1/2 lbs away from them in weight, he's really no where close. the shorts come down to his ankles. And I think two of him could fit in the shirts. He's gonna need one heck of a growth spurt between now and June!

Ten on Tuesday

2011-03-22T22:43:00.002-04:00

1. I've really got to get back on track with the whole blogging thing.

2. And the scrapbooking thing.

3. Especially since I'm hosting the Write.Click.Scrapbook. blog again in a couple weeks.

4. Mackenzie at Emma's soccer game Saturday.

5. Emma at her game. She really loves soccer.

6. Michael leaves soon for his spring break baseball trip. Should be an interesting week with just me and the kids at home.

7. She makes me smile when she does this.

8. And this.

9. They're quite the fashionistas. I've been trying to take pictures of all their outfits lately. I see a mini-album in my crafting future.

10. He makes me happy.

Scrapbook Sunday

2011-03-13T22:31:00.001-04:00

I haven't posted any scrapbook pages lately, so I thought I'd try and get back in to the Scrapbook Sunday routine.

This mini album is from the February Write.Click.Scrapbook. gallery, Mad for Minis. Ryan will be six months in less than a week, so I'll have another page to add soon.

And this mini is from WCS for the Holidays. I still need to add pages with ornaments from the last few years.

And now I need to work on some pages for Mackenzie's book. She asked me today where more of her were. Apparently she noticed that Emma's got about 3x the layouts in her books!

Friday five

2011-03-11T22:55:00.000-05:00

1. We started baby food a couple weeks ago. Actually, we started it a couple days before I wrote Ryan's 5-month update. He still isn't a fan of the cereal, but he loves the food. Well, most of the food. Bananas are his favorite by far. The first new food after bananas? Carrots. Oh my, his face was hysterical. It was if he was expecting bananas, was ready for them and instead I put this awful tasting stuff in his mouth. He gave me the biggest frown/disgusted look, then spit them out. By the end, we had carrots everywhere. He's also not a fan of green beans, and seemed to think squash and peaches were just okay.

2. I registered Emma for Kindergarten yesterday. All I can say is her first day of school is going to be rough. For me. She'll have a blast, I'm sure.

3. Last Saturday we went out with some of my workout girls and their husbands. Dinner then bowling. I love bowling. It brings out my competitive side. I'm not very good, but I just want to keep playing so I can get better and get a higher score. I bowled a 96, 128, 112.

4. We went to dinner and then Kohls tonight. I finally got a 30% coupon and I never get the 30% ones (I'm pretty sure they're stingy with them) so I was a little excited. I'm at the counter to pay and realized I had last month's expired coupon, not the current one. I'm pretty sure the look of shock and confusion on my face, plus me asking her to hold it so I could go home and get my coupon, convinced the cashier I really did have one and wasn't trying to scam her, so she gave me the 30% off anyway. I got out to the car, checked my purse and there it was. It'd been in the car the whole time. Of course I felt the need to go back in and show it to her. So I did. I'm sure that made her think I'm crazy. But hey, I felt better afterward.

5. Shelby is now 18. I was 16 and a junior in high school when she was born. Now she's about to graduate high school and head to college and I have three kids. Crazy.

Happy Weekend!

Random, again.

2011-03-02T23:05:00.003-05:00

Today I saw this and it made me smile.

He likes to eat his feet.

Michael had a basketball game at Shelly's high school last night. I texted her, "I'm at your school. No reason to tell you that. Just felt like it," while we were in the commons having a snack during halftime. I'm taking pictures of the girls and the next thing I know, there she is! She had conferences. Totally did not expect to see her, it caught me off guard, oh but what a fun surprise! Also, I'm glad I sent her such a random text.

The girls have been putting together quite the outfits when dressing themselves. These were Mondays' looks. I meant to take a picture of today's as they were equally colorful.

Swim lessons ended Monday. Emma can move up to what is essentially the same class, just for older kids. But really, we just need to work with her on her strokes, holding her breath and her confidence. She can swim, she just thinks she can only go so far and then stops. She could go so much further in the pool if she'd just keep going.

This one was promoted from beginner to advanced. On one hand, not surprised since the beginner class is just to get them acquainted with the water and that's no issue for her. She loves it and is not at all afraid. On the other, it makes me laugh because whenever Taylor had her on her back and Mac was supposed to be kicking, she'd instead just let Taylor pull her through the water. I'm thinking she's going to have to work a bit harder in the next class.

This is how we entertain ourselves. Michael comes up with random stuff for the girls to do. In this case, it was practicing both their long jumps as well as high jumps. Emma was so into it. She's competitive. Very.

Ryan in the exersaucer at the gym's Kid Park. I think he likes it. (Of course it could be that he was happy to see me. Just sayin'.) Bonus, extra time working on his trunk/head strength. No worries, though, he gets plenty of time being held by the wonderful women who work there. He's quite the ladies man already.

Ryan @ 5 months

2011-02-27T21:59:00.006-05:00

I'm a little late with this, but Ryan turned five months old on February 19th.

No clue what he weighs right now. I'm guessing about 13 1/2 pounds. He's fitting nicely into his 3 - 6 month clothes but still has plenty of room to grow in them. I don't see him outgrowing them anytime soon. He is actually still wearing a couple 0 - 3 sleepers, most of the 3-6 ones are still pretty long on him and his feet get lost.

I love how he sleeps. He either rolls over on his left side (which I need to get a picture of) or clasps his hands and puts them over his eyes, like this:

He's doing such a great job holding up his head. Although again, I need to take a picture. This one is from a couple weeks ago on the boppy. He can hold it up while flat on the floor, and hold it up pretty high. He still isn't pushing up with his arms but he'll get there. He's made such improvements, I'm so pleased. I'm still stretching out his neck as the head tilt hasn't improved yet.

He's a rolling-over machine. Front to back; back to front; just no front to back to front. He often will cry out for someone to come rescue him when he gets stuck on his belly with his arm pinned under him. This has happened a few times when I've put him down to nap.

He's all about his hands and feet and toes. I just love watching him grab his feet, he likes to put his toes in his mouth. He waves his hands around and watches them and eats those, too. And the tongue. His tongue is constantly out of his mouth. It's the funniest thing.

I love when I go in to get him after a nap or in the morning, he always has the biggest grin on his face when he sees me. He gets so excited he starts flapping his arms and kicking his legs.

He's napping three times a day: around 10 am, 1 -2 pm and in the evening around 6. He's in bed by 8:30 usually and sleeps until 8 or so. He's woken up at 4am a few times recently, thinking it's morning but goes back to sleep pretty easily. No crying, he's just talking and moving around. He's still eating 4 times a day: when he wakes up, around noon, 4ish then before bed. Still 32oz/day, but acts like he could eat more and since we're at the limit for formula, we've started the rice cereal.

Speaking of the rice cereal. He's not a fan. He wants to eat. He wants what is on that spoon. Until what's on that spoon is in his mouth. Then he changes his mind. It's just not good. I don't blame him. Also, it doesn't help that he likes to stick his tongue out. He can swallow the rice cereal, it's just more fun to push it out on his tongue. I'd forgotten how messy feeding rice cereal is.

He loves his Daddy.

He's laughing all the time. Especially at Emma. She does the best job making him laugh, sometimes it's by jumping and stomping in front of him, other times it's the random words and sounds she says to him. He loves it.

My sweet sleeping baby boy. He's always turned towards the rain forest toy. He always lays on his left side so he can watch it, touch it, turn it on when it goes off. He's started turning around in his crib, so sometimes I'll find him turned every which way after naps and in the morning.

He still likes the exersaucer. He can move around in it now. Michael got down the jumperoo, and he wasn't quite sure of it at first, but likes it now.

And I think that's it. He's just an amazing baby. Super easy. And happy. And loveable, huggable, kissable, snuggleable, just wonderful.

Emma's five-year checkup, or

2011-02-22T00:19:00.004-05:00

How my camera came in handy for entertaining us during the 1.5 hours we were there for said appointment.

There's only so much you can do in a tiny room with three kids without going crazy. Granted, the time was broken up with a vision test, hearing test, check-up, peeing in a cup (always fun!) and shots. But still. It was a loooong time to be in there!

I let Emma and Mackenzie take pictures. It kept them entertained. For whatever reasons, the ceiling and floor are very interesting to three-year-olds. I snapped a few, too.

For the record, at five-years-old Emma is 44.25 inches, 41.5 pounds. Healthy percentile, healthy BMI, good blood pressure, and she passed vision and hearing tests.

The shots, by the way, were awful. Emma freaked when she found out she had to have them. I had to hold her on my lap while she kicked and flailed and whipped her head around while shouting, "no shots! no shots!" as loud as she could. It was awesome.

Photo 365: 1/24/11 - 1/30/11

2011-02-10T23:36:00.001-05:00

1/24: The deer in the woods behind our house. Took this from my kitchen window with my new zoom lens. Loving the new lens.

1/25: Mackenzie's snowman. She, Emma and Olivia were drawing during the basketball game. I love seeing her learn to draw things now, as opposed to just scribbling. Although she does a lot of that still, too. But I think that's a mighty fine snowman.

1/26: Playdate with Olivia. Lots of silliness going on while having a snack.

1/27: oops, missed a day.

1/28: Mackenzie was here.

1/29: We went to see Tangled. It was wonderful. Emma now loves Rapunzel and all things Tangled. She was so into the movie, just transfixed by it. This was the best shot I could get of Emma when the movie was over. She dressed herself: Steelers jersey, cardigan, flower headband, and jeans. She's definitely got her own sense of style.

1/30: This was a busy day. Church, then Caroline's bowling birthday party, then preschool open house for Mackenzie. She's all signed up for next year. She's so looking forward to school and was excited to be able to go and play for a while rather than be rushed out the door during drop-off.

Photo 365: 1/17/11 - 1/23/11

2011-02-10T23:18:00.002-05:00

1/17: Sledding at Kelly's after boot camp. That's Sam in between Mackenzie and Emma. The best part of sledding was Mackenzie going downhill with her eyes closed. She told me it was so the snow didn't get in her eyes, and she seemed very proud of that solution to her problem.

1/18: A sweet sleeping baby.

1/19: Land's End box shoved in my mailbox. Attn mailman - it doesn't fit.

1/20: An awake and happy baby.

1/21: Saying goodbye to Grandma McIntyre.

1/22: Family Play Day at our Church. Well, not actually at the church itself, but at it's warehouse/Loft space. It's a potluck/playtime for the kids on bounce houses.

1/23: My boot camp workout for the next day. It's my turn to lead and of course I waited until 11pm the night before to type it all up.

Photo 365: 1/10/11 - 1/16/11

2011-02-10T23:10:00.003-05:00

1/10: Mackenzie's first swim lesson. She loved it. She was so excited to finally be big enough to take lessons. The girls lessons are back to back, so we're there from 7 - 8:30 by the time we shower them and get them in their PJs.

1/11: Playing the Cat in the Hat game Emma got for Christmas. I put my camera on the floor and set the timer.

1/12: I knew when I left this morning without snowblowing I was going to get stuck in the driveway. And I did. So I had to snowblow around my car, move it in to the garage, then finish the driveway.

1/13: We met my mom at the mall so the girls could use their Disney Store gift cards she gave them for Christmas. It was so fun watching them check everything out. Emma kept asking, "can I get this?" and if I said she could but only that and then there'd be nothing left, she'd put the item back. She wanted to be sure she could get two things. Their final purchases were exactly the same, of course - princess art kits in a zip around case and stickers. They were so excited.

1/14: Poor Ryan, already being dressed up in tutu skirts. And he's already perfected the, "Are you serious?" look.

1/15: Date night. We went out to dinner with my workout girls and spouses. Twenty-two of us in all, which meant we needed a room to ourselves. It was fun to hang out, chat, eat and then play a few games before heading home.

1/16: Shelby and Angie stayed the night after babysitting for us, so we took them to lunch after church. Not that we need an excuse to go to Bob Evans, we go so often after church that the girls expect us to go to "the pancake place" every Sunday.

Five on Friday

2011-02-04T14:50:00.000-05:00

1. So when Bloglines changed ownership, not all feeds transferred over and mine was one of them. I know because it stopped showing up for me, and according to Marie, for her as well. So if you usually read through Bloglines and aren't getting it anymore, hopefully it'll start showing up if you re-subscribe. Unless it was just us. Although I'm going to go with all the people that used to read this aren't getting it anymore and that's why I've got about five people following right now. ;)

2 I got my new zoom lens (Merry Christmas from my husband) two weeks ago. I love it. I love that I was able to zoom in on Emma and get this:

3. Made me laugh when I saw it in the mailbox though. I think the mailman was determined to make the box fit no matter if the door didn't close.

4. Had snow and ice and cold temps this week, which meant snow days for Michael and Emma, a cancelled class for Emma and Mackenzie and a cancelled play group for Mackenzie and Ryan. Now the weather is fine but we're still at home because Mackenzie is sick. Although due to the miracle drug Motrin, she's acting just fine right now.

5. I ordered the girls swimsuits from Land's End. The ones I posted about on FB as being the best girls bathing suits ever. And then they came and they've changed the cut and I was disappointed. I've reordered Mac's in a size up, and am going to order Emma a completely different suit and hope they'll work.

Bonus picture just because he's so cute.

Happy Friday!

Ryan @ 4 months

2011-01-30T22:46:00.002-05:00

Ryan turned four-months-old on January 19th. And if nothing else, I'm going to at least blog his monthly updates. Whenever I get around to scrapbooking, I'm going to need the info.

So, what's Ryan up to...he loves his playmat. He can now grab all the toys and he's moving all around on it. He rolls up on his side often, and he tries to roll over but so far he can't. He is good at turning around though. I'll put him down on his back with his head pointing one way, and ten minutes later he's turned 180 degrees with his head pointed the opposite way. Yet somehow, I've never seen it happen. It's magic.

He also grabs his binky out of his mouth and bats at the toys to trigger the music in his bouncy seat. He doesn't have to use a head positioner anymore, not in his car seat or the bouncy seat. We can actually easily buckle his car seat now that he's grown and we've lengthened the straps.

He's such a happy and content baby. That hasn't changed. He doesn't cry unless he's super hungry and you haven't fed him fast enough, or when he has a messy diaper. While there are exceptions, they don't occur very often. He just likes to be held, watch people and things, and play. I love it when he coos, especially when it's in reply to something I say or do to him.

Ryan had his check-up this past Friday. He's still a peanut - 12lbs 8oz, 10 - 25%; 23 1/4 inches, 3 - 10%; head - 16 1/2 inches, 3-10%. His eczema has gottten much better. I love the Cerave cream. His cradle cap is almost gone. His acne is completely gone, too.

While he might be a peanut, he doesn't eat like one. He's eating 28 - 32 oz per 24 hours. He eats pretty regularly which is amazing to me. (It's nothing like it was with the girls. I love it!) He's like clockwork: 8-8:30 am, 12-12:30pm, 4-4:30pm, 8-8:30pm. He's still in the bouncy seat in the crib, but sleeps from 9:30pm to 8 or 8:30am. Again, amazing. Although not so much on the naps. Those are hit or miss. But with sleeping like that at night I can live with the non-napping.

He's facing forward in the carrier now. Which means I need to figure out a new way to wrap the Moby. But he likes the Baby Bjorn, even if it does get a bit slobbery at times.

(1/19/11)

He's starting to wear 3-6 month clothes, although they're long on him. He can wear some 0-3 month sleepers, bust most have gotten too short. He's in size 1 diapers but I put a size 2 on him at night since he sleeps for so long.

We have one issue we're dealing with right now. And I must warn you, this is about to get wordy and likely confusing. I keep editing it trying to make it more coherent, but it's not helping so I'm just leaving it.

Ryan cannot yet hold himself up when on his tummy. Like most babies, he does not care for tummy time but instead of pushing himself up, he just gives up and lays there crying. Or, sometimes, just turns his head to the side and goes to sleep. Over the last few weeks I'd been thinking about it a lot, as it's usually something that babies can do easily by four-months-old. He was also still a bit wobbly when held and when sitting. We'd tried the Bumbo but weren't using it because he would end up leaning to the side and didn't really like it. We hadn't gotten out the exersaucer for that very reason.

I was discussing all this with Ryan's doctor - not pushing himself up, that I'd noticed his left eye was bigger than the right, the head tilt, the wobbly head, how I wasn't ready to start cereal yet because of this.

Ryan's a bit delayed with his gross motor skills and trunk strength. For example: If you hold a baby in front of you, their back to your chest, and tilt them at a 45 degree angle they should lift their head up to look forward. Ryan just looked down. Poor little guy. The doctor recommended the exersaucer because while I wasn't using it since I didn't feel he could do it yet, that's the very reason I should put him in it. It will force him to strengthen his core/trunk. He'll have to work at staying upright. First time I put him in it, he just slumped forward with his head on the seat. It's was so sad...yet kind of funny, I'll be honest. But, he got better quickly and now seems to like it. Same as the Bumbo. The more we put him in it, the better he's getting. Seems me avoiding the things he couldn't do was doing more harm than good. Of course, I didn't know that at the time when I was avoiding them.

While we're making progress with the wobbly head/staying upright, not so much with the tummy time. He still cries and still just gives up and turns to the side. But with time, practice and the strengthening coming form the Bumbo and exersaucer, it will get easier and better. Which brings me to the head tilt.

We'd actually discussed this with the doctor previously, at his 1 and 2 month checkup. Ryan's head is always tilted to the right. He showed me how to stretch our his neck and I thought the issue had gone away. We weren't noticing it anoymore. But I think we had just gotten used to it. When I mentioned how one eye was bigger than the other, I expected our pediatrician to tell me it was normal and the small eye would catch up with the bigger one. Nope. Turns out the head tilt (that we knew about) had led to the flat spot on the right side of his head (which we also knew about but I thought had gotten better) and that had caused his forehead to push forward and make his right eye smaller (that we certainly did not know about). I hadn't noticed it until he pointed it out to me, but the right side of his forehead is actually bigger than the left. Thankfully, this is fixable.

When we'd been discussing the flat spot back at his two-month appt, he wasn't concerned because we'd be starting tummy time, and with less time on his side/back the flat spot would correct itself. Except there's not a lot of tummy time therefore no correcting.

I'm now to stretch out his neck 3x a day for 30 seconds at a time. I'm not sure if you know this, but when fighting your four-month-old to stretch his neck which he most certainly does not like, 30 seconds is a really long time. And it's hard. Hard because he fights it. Hard because it hurts him. Hard because he cries and looks at me like, "Why are you doing this to me?" But I have to. Because if I don't, and we can't fix this, the next step is physical therapy. And while it would easier to let a stranger do this, I don't want this to go on any longer than necessary.

So our goals are: to get his neck muscle straightened out and strengthen his trunk so he can sit up with out wobbling. Those in turn should alleviate the the flat side of his head, let his right eye grow and catch up with his left, and hopefully he'll soon start holding himself up during tummy time. As Michael said, no one goes to Kindergarten without holding themselves up when on their stomach.

I was googling tonight, and found this Congenital Muscular Torticollis. Now, my pediatrician did not give me this diagnosis for Ryan, but this certainly seems this could be what Ryan has. I'll ask him about it at his six-month check up.

I know that was confusing and I was rambling, so if you've stuck with me and made it through, thanks. I know that this isn't a life-threatening condition, it's fixable. It could certainly be worse. And it's not as if he's months and months behind where he should be, it's slight delay. He's not nine-months-old and unable to push himself up. It's a physical issue (something I asked) and there's nothing wrong with his brain developmentally-wise. His fine-motor skills are good; he can grab toys and necklaces and hair. He smiles and laughs and coos and loves to watch people. It's a minor thing. Just a bit worrisome and makes this mama concerned.

Now enough about that.
There's something very cute about lions on baby butts.

Even cuter? This.

(1/17/11)

Mackenzie's already started dressing him up in tutus. He's got the "are you seriously doing this to me?" look down pat.

(1/14/11)

And I love his eyes here. I'm not sure what was so shocking, I was just changing his diaper at the basketball game.
(1/14/11)

I don't care what anyone says, but dressing baby boys is just as fun as baby girls. He was looking mighty cute for church.
(1/9/11)

Looking very cute in the "r" shirt and matching hat from Missy. I love it, Mis!
(1/8/11)

And with that, he's four months and a week and a half old and growing way too fast.

Photo 365: 1/1/11 - 1/9/11

2011-01-09T23:11:00.005-05:00

I stunk at this last year, but I'm going to attempt it again. I've already missed a day, which doesn't bode well for me!

1: 1/1/11

Ryan watching football with Daddy.

2: 1/2/11

Playing Crossbows and Catapaults. This was Michael's favorite game as a kid. It is fun. But I stink. I kept overshotting my catapault. I lost. And it wasn't close.

3: 1/3/11

Mackenzie was sick and fell asleep on the couch.

4: 1/4/11

Ryan fell asleep waiting for the Buckeyes game to start.

5: 1/5/11

Checking out Cody, Sam and Zac's new slide. My friends Kelly and Craig put this slide in going from the basement stairs landing down to the basement. How fun is that?!

6: 1/6/11

I washed all Ryan's new 3-6 month clothes. I can't believe he's about to start wearing these. He's still so tiny. And yes, I artfully arranged some of my favorite shirts on top. ;)

7: Sort of forgot to take a picture on 1/7/11

8: 1/8/11

Sledding with friends at the old school. Mackenzie lasted 2 times down the hill then she sat in the car with me and Ryan. Emma could've kept on going for hours. Somehow the girl feels no cold.

9: 1/9/10

Mackenzie playing So Big with Ryan this afternoon after church. I have the wrong child in focus, but I love it anyway. Bonus - Ryan looks cute in his button-down and cargos.

Ryan @ three months.

2010-12-31T01:12:00.000-05:00

Ryan turned 3 months old Sunday the 19th. So yes, I'm a bit late with this. But I'm going to get it down anyway because at some point I'll scrapbook it. I actually just printed some pictures from when he was born so I could scrapbook. His album is empty. Well, it'd be empty if he had one. Haven't done that yet, either. But I will. Soon. When my scrapping mojo returns.

I just took these pictures on Monday. I had to make him a 3-month shirt since the girls' monthly shirts are pink. Not quite as cute as the Old Navy tees the girls had (Thank you for the 20th time to Renee, love those shirts!) but I think it turned out well for my first attempt.

He's a happy baby. Don't you just smile when you see this? I do. I love him.

He's very content. Doesn't fuss much. Doesn't cry. Isn't crabby. Just happy and content. Unless you don't feed him right away when he's hungry. Then he does his Crazy Cry. Thankfully that's not too often, though.

He's getting bigger. No more chicken legs. He's filling out. Getting chubby baby cheeks. He's looking more cute-baby and less grumpy-old-man-baby.

Filled-out-happy-baby:

Grumpy-old-man-baby @ 8 days old. Skinny arms and legs. Still very cute. At least to his mama.

And let's compare the three, shall we. L-R we've got Emma, Mackenzie, Ryan. Definitely seems as though each baby gets more hair. Poor Emma's practically bald. Ryan's is the darkest, but has the red tint to it Mac's did. Maybe he'll turn out blonde like her. Emma's hair now is more like Ryan's, darker with the red tint that you can really see in the sun.

Ryan is still sleeping in his bouncy seat at night. I tried putting him on his back right when he turned 3 months and instead of sleeping from 11 - 7, he woke up in the middle of the night. So it was back to the bouncy seat the next night. He's eating great. He's up to five ounces each time he eats, although sometimes he'll want more, every once in a while, less.

He loves his play mat. He watches the lights with fascination and is starting to bat at and grab the toys. Same with his bouncy seat. He loves the mobile in his bed. He's still in 0-3 month clothes, although some sleepers are getting a bit short on him. He kicks off his socks. He uses his binky but doesn't always want it. Usually just to sleep. He can still wear size 1 diapers but he's wearing size 2 because that's what I have right now (from when I stocked up before he was born.) They're not too big, just bigger, so we'll go with them.

Ryan has a bad case of cradle cap but it's starting to finally, and slowly, go away. He has eczema. He has cracked skin the worse at his ankle creases. Plus patches of eczema on his thighs, arms, back and belly. So, pretty much everywhere. I'm using Cerave cream on him every time I change him. It seems to be helping in that it's less dry, but it's not going away at all, if that makes sense. This is new to us, as neither of the girls had eczema. The acne is gone though.

I realized the other night he has had no day/night confusion at all. That's really nice. Really really nice. The girls did and what a change it is to have a baby who sleeps at night! No real schedule during the day, just sleeps whenever/wherever. But at night he's a rock star. I never thought I'd be getting such nice stretches of sleep at night this early on. I haven't slept like this since before I was pregnant with Emma. And I'm not joking!

The girls are still calling him "boy." I usually call him buddy, bud, sweet baby, big guy, peanut. Athough the last two do seem to contradict each other.

We've got the girls trained. If you joke around and say you're going to give him something to eat or drink, they'll tell you no and that he only drinks his special milk from his bottle and he can't eat food. You can tell I have drilled this in to their head to avoid any incidences of them playing Baby Alive with their brother.

He snores. Is still a loud eater. Toots a lot. (We seem to have gassy babies.) He always sounds stuffed up, which I'm going to ask the doctor about next month. So far, he hasn't gotten sick. He's had no reactions to his vaccines. He smiles all the time. Laughs. Is cute. I love him.

Ten on Tuesday

2010-12-28T23:45:00.003-05:00

1. I've got a lot of blog catching up to do. I'd like to say I'm going to post every day until I catch up. But probably not.

2. The girls put the Nativity scene together for me this year. Once it was complete, Emma promptly hid the baby Jesus. Because apparently that's what you do. (And as I'm typing this, I feel as if I've already shared that.)

(12/2/10)

3. The fitness center held their annual Winter Wonderland earlier this month. (Again, feeling like I'm repeating myself. Which I do often, by the way.) Attempted a picture of the girls and Ryan with our neighbors and friends, Caroline and Jack. Mackenzie was being grumpy and didn't want in it.

(12/5/10)

3.5 But then she did. See her face? Grumpy. And blocking Jack.

4. Then Jack made Ryan smile and it was cute.

5. Please let me show you the football hold. Our kids have always liked this.

6. We did some Christmas shopping with my mom. Six hours the girls walked the mall - and with no meltdowns! I was so impressed we had Auntie Ann's pretzels before leaving.

6.5They rode the train. It drives them all around the mall. They loved it.

(12/9/10)

7. Six hours of shopping meant six hours of bags. Which meant Ryan got held towards the end...

8. And the bags went in the stroller.

9. The nicest man sat in front of us at our church's Christmas concert. He was so kind to the girls, chatting with them, not getting annoyed at their frequent moving and talking. Emma even shared her Twizzler with him. When it was over, he offered to take a picture for us. We're missing Grandpa Sweeney and Ryan was in the nursery.

(12/10/10)

10. But here he is. Snoozing. With the program. Because I'm still taking pictures of him with things on his lap. It's still amusing me.

Ten on Tuesday

2010-12-14T23:19:00.000-05:00

1. When will the snow stop? Depending on who is reporting it we either have 19.5 inches, 20 inches or 2 feet. Or, to put it simply, a lot. And it was still snowing tonight, albeit lightly. Thankfully, Michael fixed the snowblower that broke when I was using it last week. I took this picture Monday morning. Lots of snow. Lots of wind. And it just kept coming.

2. Saturday was Breakfast with Santa. I don't think we'll get a family picture with all of us looking at the camera until Mackenzie outgrows the put-my-fingers-in-my-mouth phase. But I still like it.

3. Snow days are still fun. Michael has had two so far this week.

4. I took Christmas card photos after church Sunday. Not bad for only 10 minutes worth of pictures. It'll work. Ryan's not smiling. It was too much work keeping Mackenzie in place and making sure Emma wasn't dropping him or strangling him to try and get him to smile. Of course, I could've done it when Michael wasn't outside snowblowing and had him try and get Ryan to smile but I wanted to get it over with.

5. And tonight I picked up my cards. Now to address them all.

6. I love The Sing-Off. But Nicole is the Paula of this show. I want to fast-forward when she comes on.

7. One benefit to living on a hill? You can make your sidewalk into a toboggan chute. Michael and the girls were sliding down the sidewalk yesterday. I didn't get any pictures because the wind was blowing the snow everywhere, but I did watch them go down once.

8. Christmas shopping is done except for two presents. One I know just have to pick up. The other I'm stumped.

9. The girls are really in to Charlie Brown right now. Tonight we watched "All I want for Christmas is a dog, Charlie Brown." They giggled a lot and shouted Snoopy! when he came on the screen. I laughed at Rerun in the bicycle seat that was over the rear tire, yet three feet behind his mother, ya know, so you only hear her, rather than see her. I wish I knew how to type out how the Charlie Brown adults sound.

10. I wish I could have all my house clean at the same time, all the time. Yet what usually happens is I get the basement, kitchen and upstairs cleaned and the family room becomes a mess. Clean that, and the girls room is a disaster zone. And so on and so forth.

Scrapbook Sunday/Menu Plan Monday

2010-12-13T22:49:00.002-05:00

It's two for one, today. I meant to get these up yesterday but didn't quite get to it. And since I'm cooking again now, (can I just say thank you one more time to my church and my workout girls for bringing us meals for two months!) it's back to menu planning.

First up, the layouts. These were all done for Write.Click.Scrapbook. No supply lists this time, because, well, I'm just feeling lazy. But if you have a question about any product used, let me know.

Second, the menu.

Monday: Parmesan-crusted chicken, fettuccine noodles with garlic and basil, asparagus, carrots
Tuesday: Lasagna, garlic toast
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: homemade chicken and dumplings, corn
Friday: meatball subs, baked potato wedges, green beans
Saturday: Michael has a game, so we'll all be on our own.
Sunday: eating out or ordering pizza

Snow Days

2010-12-09T00:18:00.004-05:00

We've had a crazy amount of snow over the last three days. Monday was a snow day for both Michael and Emma. Which included the girls playing outside twice while Michael cleared the driveway.

Please note the car coming in to the frame on the left. I've mentioned before how cars get stuck coming up our road every winter. It's entertainment. This one never made it. He had to turn around and head back down the hill.

See, turning around in our neighbor's driveway. Hi Beth.

No snow day Tuesday. By late afternoon the snow had stopped and we went to Emma's program at school. But then it started again. And it didn't stop until late this afternoon. I cleared the driveway Tuesday at 1 and at 1 today there was another 7 inches or so on it. Then the snowblower broke. So that's great.

Emma and Mackenzie got to play with Bree and Ava all day today. Rather than have her mom drive in to watch them in the cruddy weather, they came here. They played in the snow while I snowblowed, we worked on making a fort (but I was pretty much done with that after three rows), played play-doh and babies and more. Good times for the girls.

Here's our deck Monday morning around 10:

And today (Wednesday) about noon.

It's snowing right now. More snow expected Thursday morning, and Friday and then a huge storm Sunday and Monday. Because what we really need is more snow. :)

Ten on Tuesday

2010-12-08T00:08:00.002-05:00

1. We have snow. Lots of snow. I took these this morning, and we got plenty more afterwards. Lots of snow means snow days though, which Michael and Emma had on Monday.

2. Emma had her Christmas concert/Happy Birthday Baby Jesus program tonight. It was unbelievably cute. I didn't get any good pictures from where I was sitting, but you can see her in this one.

3. Purple Heart picked up two bags of donated clothes today while I was out snowblowing. I was just cleaning out the laundry room and now have four more bags for them. Wish I would've done this last night.

4. While I haven't started putting together my Dec. Daily yet, I am up-to-date on the journaling and tonight downloaded Ali Edwards' 6x8 overlays. I'm getting there.

5. Ryan is still cute. Starting to grow out of his 0-3 month sleepers.

6. Mackenzie is still a stinker. Oh my is this going to an interesting winter. I'm praying for patience daily. Really. I am.

7. Emma still talks a lot. And questions everything. We'll be lucky if she still believes in Santa next year. She's already wondering why there are so many Santas and if they're the real Santa or not.

8. We cut down our tree Saturday (pictures to come) and afterwards you can go in their barn and get hot chocolate, make s'mores, roast hot dogs. It's the best hot chocolate ever. And the woman who owns the farm was nice enough to share the recipe with me. It makes a lot. I mean a lot of hot chocolate mix, you only need 1/3 cup per serving.

9. Have you checked out Write.Click.Scrapbook. lately? December brings WCS for the Holidays, a month of holiday-related posts, projects, layouts, mini-albums and more. I have two new mini-albums that will be posted later this month.

10. I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. Thursday I'm going to the mall with my mom (first trip with all three kiddos) and will finish my sister and mom that day. I'll then just need to get my brother-in-law's present, some stocking stuffers and I'll be done. Very excited by this.

Friday Five

2010-12-03T23:04:00.002-05:00

1. Tonight at dinner we were discussing Emma's day at school, specifically show-and-tell and I asked her what Layla brought. (We always ask what specific people brought, trying to work on her memory skills, since she doesn't seem to remember much, or anything, that she does during the day other than play and craft.) Her response was, "Mooooooom, I just told you what Layla brought!" And while she didn't roll her eyes, it was implied in her exaggerated tone of voice. Also implied, "duh." Michael and I just looked at each other and laughed.

2. I'm doing a December Daily album this year even though I never finished last years. Haven't actually made it yet. Although I did pick up the cardstock at Hobby Lobby today.

3. Speaking of Mac, her newest thing when she's angry is hurl an angry insult at you. Her insult of choice? "You silly goose!" growled in a very angry, laughter-inducing, 3-year-old voice.

4. I took this tonight and it might be my new favorite picture.

5. Or it could be this one. Ha! Mackenzie wanted a picture of her with her breadstick with Ryan. And he sneezed. And she's fake-eating. There's just something funny about this.

Ten on Tuesday

2010-12-01T00:19:00.004-05:00

1. Tonight I was watching CMT's countdown of the top 40 country songs of the decade. I was doing this while rocking Ryan. Watching country music videos while holding your still-new baby boy means there will be tears. Just saying.

2. Have I mentioned I think he's cute? I do.

3. The above picture was taken on Thanksgiving at my in-laws. We were out in my father-in-law's workshop watching the trains. The kids love it. They all got to pick out a train car from Grandpa's collection to take home. Which means the train around our tree will be three cars longer. And since our track isn't that big, there's a good chance the first car will be meeting up with the last.

4. Impressed the girls are looking without making faces and Ryan's awake.

5. Mackenzie's really into reading. And reading to Ryan.

6. All the Sweeney grandkids.

7. Sigh. I love him.

8. I mentioned the love of reading. I have a love of seeing them read books.

9. Also, I love hearing her read aloud.

10. Funny Ryan sleeping pictures.

The End.

2 Months

2010-11-28T23:19:00.002-05:00

Ryan was two-months-old on Friday, the 19th. The only picture I took of him that day was this though, in his car seat. He pretty much slept from about 2 pm until the next day other than waking up to eat. I think the combination of shots and Tylenol pretty much knocked him out.

@ 2 months old:

He's sleeping in his bed but in his bouncy seat. I might attempt him sleeping on his back soon, but so far any attempts at him doing so results in him waking up. My kids are just incline sleepers, it seems.

(11/16/10)

He's on just formula now. I stopped pumping the day after he was 5 weeks old. He doesn't seem to mind. He eats between 3 - 4 ounces at a feeding, usually every 3 - 4 hours except for a 5 hours stretch at night. When he's hungry he just whimpers and puts his hands to his mouth. Unless you don't feed him fast enough, then he gets mad. He gained almost 2 pounds and 1 inch in the last month. He's now 9 lbs 6.8oz and 22 inches long. Still 25% for both. He's still the noisiest eater ever. I have to warn people beforehand how loud he is and that while it might sound as if he's choking, he's not. He's just that noisy.

The acne is about gone, but he has some eczema on his forehead. Hopefully that clears up easily with lotion, hydrocortisone when we need it. He also still has strangely greasy hair.

He smiles. I love it. First smile was at 7 1/2 weeks old on 11/10/10.

(11/18/10)

He's cute. Really cute.

(11/16/10)

And still awfully serious sometimes.

He like his play mat. He's so interested in the lights and music above him. He really likes the mobile over the changing table, too.

(11/15/10)

He sleeping great. He usually falls asleep between 8 - 9, wakes up and eats around 11pm then sleeps until 4 or so, eats again and sleeps until 7 or 8am. I cannot complain one bit.

He's an easy baby. Content as can be. Rarely fusses. Just easy. For now at least.

He's out of newborn clothes and newborn diapers. With these (almost) two pounds he's gained, he's fitting in most 0-3 month clothes nicely. The fleece sleepers are still way too big, though. He's starting to get chubby cheeks we noticed last week.

He uses a binky, but is hit or miss with it. He's definitely not as into it as Mackenzie was. Sometimes he really wants it, but often he has absolutely no interest.

He's still awesome.

Because it amuses me, part two

2010-11-18T00:24:00.001-05:00

@ the library, 11/12/10

@ Steak and Shake, 10/31/10

@ the pediatrician, 10/18/10

@ Dairy Queen, 10/16/10

Back to Halloween

2010-11-14T23:06:00.000-05:00

It's never too late to get the Halloween pictures up, right?

Our Halloween festivities began the Thursday before Halloween when we met up with all my workout girls for trick-or-treating at First and Main. It's an outdoor shopping mall, very cute, and many of the store employees dress up to hand out the candy.

I had no chance of getting them all to look at me. And this was only half of the group. It was crowded, and near impossible for everyone to stay together.

Next up was the Halloween parade and trick or treating at Emma's preschool.

Mackenzie dressed up too, and was the candy-hander-outer.

Emma was Belle. We tried hard to find Strawberry Shortcake, but it wasn't meant to be.

And Ryan just looked cute in his spider hat and slept.

Then on Halloween Sunday, we had trick-or-treat. Lisa, Tim, Bree and Ava came over for our 3rd annual Halloween trick-or-treat party. We missed having Larry, Beth, Caroline and Jack there though. It wasn't the same without Beth's super cute mini-cupcakes!

Ryan was a football. Hee.

And underneath his costume, he had a pumpkin butt. Another hee. Also, he was 6 weeks old that day.

Hello Dora, Belle and Football.

Bree was not wasting any time.

At our next door neighbors, Bob and Stacy's.

Ryan slept through it.

After we hit a few houses, the boys took the girls for more trick-or-treating while Lisa and I sat by the fire pit. Much warmer there. But by 7:30 they were done, I took Ryan in and Michael and the girls handed out candy until it was over at 8. Emma is now Cinderella, as she tripped on her Belle dress twice and fell face first onto driveways. But she's tough -no tears, just wanted to switch costumes.

And you might've noticed Dora was blonde up above. She should've looked like this:

But she wouldn't wear the wig. I got it on her once, when we tried on her costume, and that was it. I wish she would've worn it, so stinkin' cute.

Friday Five

2010-11-12T22:43:00.001-05:00

1. I got Emma this super cute sweater at the Gap. Totally reminds me of my favorite sweater when I was in elementary school. But Emma did not find it super cute. She told me she didn't like it because she didn't like "that color" and pointed to the grey. So she doesn't like grey. This was Sunday night.

Monday at school, I'm telling Lisa and Kelly about it and Emma tells them she doesn't like grey. That's when we all just looked at her in disbelief, because you know what she was wearing? Grey. That she picked out of her closet that morning herself. Grey shirt and grey skirt. Really? But you don't like grey. Huh.

2. I worked out today. Closest to a real workout as I've gotten so far. I walked a few laps with a friend, lifted my regular upper body routine with slightly lighter weights than I'd been using, then ran four laps. I haven't run since my belly was big enough to bounce when I ran and I stopped. So it's been a while. It wasn't as awful as I thought it would. The running that is. I'm slowly adding things back in. I'm still slightly paranoid of hurting myself after my c-section, but I'm tired of not being active. I think I'm going back to step class next week. And I'm going to start adding ab/core work back in. And push-ups. I've done a few of those and it's crazy how hard they are now. Something that was so easy to me pre-pregnancy has become not-so-easy. It's amazing how fast your body gets out of shape, how fast you lose the strength you've built up. It felt good though.

3. Ryan went to Kid Park (at the fitness center) for the first time today. Technically babies should be eight-weeks-old before going in, which would be Sunday, but they let him in. Thank you Miss Nancy.

4. Mackenzie really got in to painting her little animal that Renee sent her. Emma enjoyed it to, just didn't make quite the mess. Thanks Renee! They love them!

5. Ryan smiled! Wednesday he gave me his first real social smile. It was awesome. There is nothing better than your baby smiling at you, especially the first time. I can only describe the feeling as joy. This happiness was just bubbling out of me. I love it.

Today I tried to get a picture of him smiling and this is the best I got. When I say "Good morning Ryan!" in this baby talk/sing song voice he smiles. But when I move back to take the picture, he stops. So there was a lot "Good Morning"-ing going on this afternoon in my attempt at a smiling picture. Note to self: do not use your 50mm lens when trying to get a picture of your baby smiling on the changing table. It just doesn't work when you're trying to be close to said baby's face to get him to smile, yet keep having to move back to to get the picture in focus. Also, learn to use your camera.

Now she's three.

2010-11-10T22:42:00.008-05:00

Mackenzie's birthday was November 1st, so I now have a three-year-old. A crazy, lovable, silly, talkative, stubborn three-year-old.

(On the slide at Chick-fil-a, my current favorite picture of her)

Last Monday on her birthday we went to Chick-fil-a for a birthday surprise lunch with some friends. She was so excited. This is about the best shot I could get of seven kids 4 and under sitting at at a round table.

Have I mentioned how much I love Chick-fil-a? And not only because they will bring me as many Dr Pepper refills as I'd like.

When Michael got home that afternoon Mackenzie got to open her presents. While she enjoyed opening them, it was nothing compared to Emma's excitement. Christmas should be interesting.

After dinner, we had brownies (courtesy of Lisa) with three candles in Mac's.

Sunday we had her party. It was a Toy Story/Dora/Diego/Scooby Doo/Princess party. Toy Story cake, plates and napkins, Dora tablecloth and streamers, Diego plates and napkins, Scooby Doo and Disney Princess decorations.

At three, Mackenzie is 36 inches tall (25%) and 30 pounds (50%). She refuses to be potty trained. She's capable, just would prefer not to. No more binkies (thanks to a visit from the binky fairy, more on that later). Loves to sleep in her bottom bunk. While she hasn't been regularly napping since the spring, she will still go upstairs and lay down in bed if she's tired. The girl loves to sleep. She loves her monkey and blankies. I have to limit her to two yogurts a day. She loves mac and cheese, grilled cheese, yogurt, honey nut cheerios, fruit. We made a lot of improvement this summer in what she eats. She'll now eat most veggies and most meats, when before she wouldn't eat anything but chicken nuggets for meat and the basic veggies. Not to say she won't put up a fight if there's something she doesn't want to try, but for three, she does very well. Except peanut butter. She refuses to try it.

She still does her "like this" thing when describing stuff. Calls granola bars granilla bars. She will scream no when there's something she really doesn't like/doesn't want to do. Will still lay on the floor when she's mad or frustrated. Did I mention stubborn? But she often will easily give something to her sister if she wants it, she shares easily and is so giving and loving.

She has lately been saying"da!" "ba ba!" when pointing out things/wanting things because she can and it's funny. You have to hear her say it to get it. Today she said "Sha-la. Sha-la" while wiping up water she spilled. When I asked her what it meant, she matter-of-factly said, "When you want to get a thing, then get a thing." Well, that clears it up.

She rides a two-wheeler, can pump her legs on the swing (no more pushing!) as well as Emma, and takes a shower more than a bath. Although to be honest, she'd prefer a bath. She'll start swimming lessons this winter and (hopefully) ballet in the spring. She's becoming her own person, which means more fighting between the girls as Mackenzie starts to speak her mind and have her own opinions. She is really in to books, and will disappear in to her room to read for long stretches of time. She also wants us to read to her all the time and will read aloud to us. She can now go to the Eagle's Nest at the grocery store and finds this extremely exciting. She's starting to get opinionated about her clothes, which I don't find exciting. She's in Sunday School at church.

She loves to snuggle, loves to play, loves her family and friends. She's beautiful, smart, and just simply amazing.

Friday Five

2010-11-05T22:50:00.001-04:00

1. It's snowing out. And it is sticking. So apparently winter is here. I like winter but I hate being cold.

2. They love him.

3. The binky fairy visited this newly-turned-three-year-old this week. In exchange for the three binkies under her pillow in a Ziploc bag so she couldn't get to them (plus the two her mother found the next day), she received a Polly Pocket set. It went about as expected. Some crying. Some begging. But she was able to go to sleep pretty easily without them. Yesterday in the car she randomly whined, "But mom I want my biiiiiinkies." Tonight is night number three without them and not a word was said. So I guess she's good.

4. Emma was Special Child of the Week last week. Very exciting. This included a sticker, a box she filled with her favorite things for a special show-and-tell all her own, pictures and drawings to hang on the wall (above her in the picture), a q&a she filled out (with spelling help from me) and a "pet" to bring home over the weekend, complete with movies and a book. Unfortunately we never got to the movies. Which caused some tears Sunday night when she realized this.

5. Ryan likes to roll onto his side. He's been doing this for almost two weeks, since five weeks old. I'm not a fan. What if he turns into Super Infant, rolls on to his stomach and then can't lift his head up to breathe? This is the one time I'm glad he doesn't like to sleep on his back and is still in his bouncy seat at night. It is pretty cute, though.

So far today.

2010-10-28T13:37:00.001-04:00

2am: I hear the girls talking. And talking. And talking some more.

2:05: they're in my room asking me to take the lids off their cups so they can have the last swallow of milk. Seriously. They apparently were thirsty for that last little bit from before bed, which for the record was still cold. Because I want to go back to sleep and them to go back to sleep because Ryan is still asleep (since 11:15 pm) I do this. They go back to their room.

2:10 4am (this is all a bit of a blur since, you know, it was the middle of the night and I should've been asleep) - Emma coughs. The girls go get water out of the bathroom. (I'm thankful for the invention of Dixie Cups.) More coughing. Mac comes in because she peed in her pull-up and wants it off. I tell her to get one and come back in. She can't find them so I have to go to her room. Emma coughs more. (You know that annoying cough because your throat is dry and you just can't make it go away? that's what she had.) Mackenzie comes back as says she wants to lay in our bed. She does. Then gets bored and leaves out bed without saying a thing, I think she thought I was asleep. I wasn't. More talking. More coughing. I lay awake just listening to Emma cough except for the short time I dozed off and dreamt that Emma coughed so hard she threw up so I start yelling at Michael, "Puke! Puke! Puke!" because apparently in my dream world it means "Wake up and come help me clean it up!' At least that's what I was thinking while yelling it in my dream.

4am - Ryan wakes up to eat. I'm excited he slept for almost 5 hours straight; not excited I also didn't sleep for almost five hours straight.

4:15 - Another thing I'm not excited about? When changing his diaper in his dimly lit room I stick my hand in poop. He'd exploded. All over his thigh, clothes, stomach, back, everywhere.

5:15 am - Michael gets up and I tell him about my dream and yell "Puke! Puke! Puke!" at him for full effect of dream-telling.

8am - Ryan's up and hungry. I feed him and change his diaper during which I discover I'm not very good at cleaning up diaper explosions in dim light while tired. turns out I missed some places. Like his whole right side and thigh. Well, I didn't completely miss, I'd gotten most of it but left traces. Sorry kid. So I cleaned him up and we head to my bed.

8:30 -Girls are up and get in bed with us and then I think Ryan and I dozed off and on until about 9:45. It's all a bit hazy.

9:45 - I shower then give Ryan a bath. This is what happens to you when you have two older sisters. Also, because you're the third and already getting shafted. You get pink and purple fairy towels. Again, sorry kid.

When you're a peanut like Ryan, the snaps on 0-3 month onesies will come down to mid-calf at 5 1/2 weeks.

11:00am - After drying my hair I hear Mackenzie talking to Ryan but don't see her by the crib. That's because she was in the crib.

Emma then asked to get in the crib, I said no, so she settled on being in a picture with him.

The end. So far.

one month

2010-10-18T21:43:00.005-04:00

Last Tuesday, Ryan was one-month-old. (I'm a week late posting this, so everything in it is from prior to Oct 19th. Anything that's new or has changed since then I'm saving for his 2-month post.) The last month has flown by crazy fast. Which shouldn't surprise me but it does.

Ryan had his check-up that same day. He was 7lbs 8oz and 21 inches. He was up another 7 ounces which is fantastic and had grown 2 inches since birth. Which means no more weight checks. He doesn't go back until his two-month appointment. He's still in newborn diapers and newborn clothes. I tried a size 1 diaper last night just to see, and it was huge. So, more newborn diapers, it is.

I nursed Ryan for the last time the day he turned 3 weeks old. I'm still pumping though, so he's on about half formula, half breastmilk. He doesn't have a preference, so no problem switching back and forth. He's taking anywhere from 2 - 4 ounces every 2 - 3 hours, sometimes stretching it to 4, usually at night. He's up more and more, for longer stretches. A couple times he's been up for 4 hours at a time. He's sleeping well at night, usually at least one 3.5 - 4 hour stretch.

He's still got the "only look to the right" head thing going on. We're trying to force him to look left, both so his head doesn't get any flatter on the right and also to stretch out his neck muscles. As his pediatrician said, it's better to do it now than need physical therapy in the future. And that we do not want.

I took these pictures Tuesday (the 19th) afternoon.

The girls still call Ryan Brother. Plus he gets called Little Guy, Buddy, Little Buddy. Emma will often say, "He's such a little guy, isn't he Mommy?"

If he cries, Mackenzie will still runs to ~~put~~ shove his binky in his mouth, yelling, "He needs his binky, he needs his binky!" If you're doing anything to him, say changing his diaper, and he cries, she'll also yell at you that he doesn't like that. They both ask to hold Ryan everyday, Mackenzie the most.

His blocked tear duct cleared up at 3 weeks and now he's starting to get baby acne.

He likes to lay on the pack-n-play changing table.

I went down to switch laundry the other week and heard this from Emma: "No Mackenzie! He doesn't need his binky! Only I know what he needs and what he needs is a song." Then she began to sing.

Around 2 weeks we moved from the two of us in the recliner to the him in bouncy seat and me on the couch. This was much sooner than with the girls. None of my children will sleep on their back for the first few months, they have to be at an incline. So the bouncy seat, car seat and swing it is. We stayed there until the day after he turned one-month and then moved upstairs. It felt so good to be back in my bed. I just put the bouncy seat in his crib and he slept there. Except he wasn't a fan. It was like he knew I wasn't right next to him and kept waking up the first night.

He's not a cryer. When he's hungry he tends to just whimper, fidget and stick his fist in his mouth. Of course, if you don't feed him soon, he'll progress into a full-fledged freak out. He'll also fuss is he has a really messy diaper and then calm down once it's changed. Otherwise, he's the most content baby. When he's awake, he'll just snuggle and look around. Of course, it's only been a month, so that can all change.

I love his little sleep smiles, the way he holds his binky with his hand, and how he folds his hands up when he's sleeps.

In his first month he's been to a couple of soccer games, lots of doctor's appts, various stores, the grocery store, library, fitness center, a birthday party, church play group, CiCi's, Dairy Queen, and probably more but that's all I can think of.

He does a great job peeing on me, even when I'm prepared. Hopefully the little peanut will fit in them soon. The outfit below is 0-3 months, and so bit I could pull the pants up to his chest.

He still has the full head of hair he was born with. Still dark. Although his eyebrows are so light you can barely see them. His eyes have lightened up quite a bit, you can tell they're blue now, they're gorgeous.

I took these on Sunday when he was four weeks old.

In summary, he's awesome.

Because it amuses me.

2010-10-14T19:53:00.003-04:00

I've started taking pictures of Ryan in his car seat when we're out and about. (When I remember to, at least.) Pictures of him with things like my lemonade at Penn Station.

(Taken 10/3)

At Dairy Queen with my caramel sundae. Ok, so my sundae isn't in this one. But it is in the one I took with my cell and sent Michael, so I'm pretending.

(10/1)

With Michael's football at Emma's soccer game. I think this was his first outing at 6 days old. Michael started this whole thing, by the way. Him putting the football ball there is what gave me this idea.

(9/25)

Visiting friends at the fitness center. We're getting him started on a workout routine early on. Side note - is that not the tiniest weight ever? It's one pound.

(10/4)

Also starting him on Target early.

(10/4)

My camera battery died before I could give him something football-related yesterday while we were at Michael's game. But I did get this one of him on the track. Please note he's wearing the cutest hat ever made.

(10/13)

I don't know why I find this so entertaining but I do. I'm sure one day I'll hear, "Really Mom? You did this to me? This is what you did for fun?" And I will just say, "Wait until you have you own kids. It's amazing what will amuse you!"

7lbs, 1oz.

2010-10-07T20:22:00.007-04:00

That's how much Ryan weighed as of Monday morning. Significant because he was having a bit of trouble gaining weight. He was born weighing 6lbs 12.3oz. But when we went for his first checkup at nine days, he was only 6lbs 3oz. Nowhere near birth weight. We went back three days later and he was 6.5. Three days after that, 6.6. Not good. Babies are supposed to gain 1/2 ounce to 1 ounce a day but he only gained 1 ounce over three days. I was getting worried.

That was last monday. We had a week to work on getting some weight on him. Between pumping, nursing, bottle feeding and supplementing with formula, he hit his birth weight and then surpassed it on Monday. Ryan gained 11 ounces in one week. I was so happy I almost cried. The tears were in my eyes. I felt relief and joy. I high-fived his doctor. It was such good news. It meant he was okay. There was nothing wrong. He was able to gain weight. To grow. Happy happy news.

But it showed us something. He just isn't getting enough from nursing. I nursed both girls with no problem. But it just isn't working with Ryan. Even with pumping and getting my supply up, it didn't make a difference. He could nurse for 20 minutes, stop and be done, but then eat 2 ounces out of a bottle. Which explains why he wasn't gaining in the beginning because when he stopped then, I assumed he had enough and never gave him anything else. Turns out he needed more. I don't know how long I'll continue, but for now I'm pumping and giving him a bottle and he's eating like a champ. At some point we'll switch to just formula and I'm okay with that. At this point I have to do what's best for him and works for us. And while my first choice is to nurse him, that's just not going to happen. I've made peace with it and we're moving on.

One of the nursing issues with Ryan was for the most part he'd only nurse on the left. Never the right now matter how often or how long we'd try. If he'd nurse on the right once a day we were doing good. Turns out there's a downside to that I hadn't thought of, his poor little head is a little flat on the right, since that side was always pressed against me when he nursed on the left. That and the way I hold him. So we're trying to correct it. I'm holding him more often in the other arm, other positions. And no longer nursing should help, too. It's not bad, I never even noticed it. But when the pediatrician was checking him out he noticed he wouldn't look the other direction, only the right. He was fighting him turning his head, he was so used to leaning it to the right.

He's sleeping great at night. Still not in his bed, since like the girls he doesn't do well flat on his back, but rather in the bouncy seat. But it works. And he sleeps. Something Emma and Mackenzie did not do yet at this age.

He's going through the three-week growth spurt. Eating more frequently. Shorter naps today. As in up from 8:30am until 1:30, when he slept sporadically until finally sleeping for long stretches late this afternoon. I like seeing him up and looking around though. Checking out the bright lights and big dark child-size spots in front of him, in his face, touching and cooing at him. :)

He's such a peanut though. The newborn clothes are still plenty big. He doesn't have the chubby cheek baby look yet. And he makes the funniest faces. He kind of looks like a little old man, always so serious. His eyes have lightened up. They're still a dark blue, but at least we can see his pupils now. He barely cries. Loves to be held. Really really loves to be held. He is just so snuggly. Sometimes he likes his binky, sometimes he won't take it. He's fabulous.

And now a lot of pictures. I've got a couple weeks to catch up on...

Teeny tiny baby.

This is what he has to look forward to.

From yesterday.

Grandma McIntyre with all three.

Grandma Sweeney with all three, too.

His hospital picture, with Mackenzie on the left and Emma on the right. I was impressed with the hospital picture. I wish he would've opened his eyes, though.

On 9/27.

They love him so.

Snuggled up.

Dana came to visit.

I was worried about Mackenzie and how she'd handle the change. But there's been no issue at all She loves him.

So does Emma.

Sleeping with Daddy.

Whew. I think I'm a bit caught up. At least with him. As for the rest of us... Sometime soon I'll get back to blogging regularly!

So, I was at church last Sunday when...

2010-09-27T00:00:00.002-04:00

...my water broke. But I didn't realize it for it was no big gush of water like everyone talks about. I know, looking back, really stupid of me. I called my doctor when we got home and he told me to head to the hospital to get checked out. Naively, at this point, I still thought I'd be coming home. I did throw some things in a bag "just in case" but I certainly didn't do a thorough packing job. The girls went across the street to Beth's and we headed to Marymount.

Here's what turned out to be my last picture pregnant with Ryan, taken in the hospital parking lot around 2:30 pm.

I soon found out that yes, my water broke and yes, I was going to be having a c-section that day. This was totally a surprise to me. Emma was 9 days late and Mackenzie made it to her scheduled c-section date 6 days before her due date. I thought there was no way I'd ever go early. I'd thought I had the whole next week to get the last few things done on my to-do list, to have a special day out with the girls, to get some errands done, to just rest. But Ryan didn't want to wait any more and he was coming 11 days early, 9 days before his scheduled c-section. Finding out he was going to be born this day was exciting. Not so exciting was the fact that because I had eaten lunch - since I didn't really think my water had broke - I had to wait 8 hours from when I ate to have the c-section. Which was 9:30 that night. Which meant I got to hang out in that hospital bed for 7 hours.

About 9:30 I walked down to the operating room, got my spinal and shortly after Ryan Michael was born. September 19th, 2010. 10:02 pm. 6lbs, 12.3 oz and 19 inches long. Absolutely beautiful.

Holding him for the first time in recovery, around 11:45 that night.

Monday Michael brought the girls up to meet their brother. Love at first sight for sure. They were fascinated. We took our first picture as a family of five. This, for the record, was not easy.

I stayed until Wednesday night and the girls were so excited to have us home. I've had great help from my mom and mother-in-law both with entertaining the girls and taking Emma to school and other errands since I can't drive yet. Hoping I get the all-clear for that on Friday at my check-up. And now it's time for more snuggling with my cute little ten-day-old. :)

Oh the power

2010-09-20T08:36:00.004-04:00

Marie Taylor here-Erin has given me permission to hack her blog to give you some very, very exciting news. Erin's water broke unexpectedly yesterday (despite the fact that she did not have everything done on her list ;) and she had the baby!

Ryan Michael Sweeney
6 lbs. 12 ounces
19 inches

I am SURE she will have tons of pictures for you soon but as I can't leave without leaving you one (showing just how excited I am) Yup-that's what friends are for. CONGRATULATIONS Sweeney family!!

Code Yellow

2010-09-14T21:57:00.002-04:00

Did you know Target has something called a Code Yellow? Apparently, it's what happens when a almost 9-month pregnant woman walks up with her 4 1/2 year old and asks for help finding her almost 3-year-old who decided to run away. Oh yes. This is what happened today.

Today we were in Target with my mom. We were in the shoe department, Emma and Mac standing by the cart with Grandma while I was looking. I heard, "Mackenzie, come here. Mackenzie!" Then Emma saying, "She went that way Grandma!" and I see my mom go down the aisle after Mackenzie. But then she comes back without her. See, she's fast. Faster than Grandma and faster than me at this point. So off we go looking and when we don't see her immediately I realize the best thing to do is ask for help before she decides to just walk out of the store. Because she would do that. She has no fear. She would just walk out, with purpose, and with my luck no one would stop her.

I headed to the toy department and when she wasn't there I walked up to the Target security guy and an employee standing in the music department. The conversation went a bit like this:

Me: Hi. Could you help me find my almost three-year-old who decided to run away? She's short. Blonde. Wearing a pink Minnie Mouse shirt and she's fast. Faster than me.

Them: (Concerned look on their faces) Sure, we can help. Where was she last?

Me: (With a crazy smile on my face) In the shoe department. But no one took her. She's okay. She just decided to run away. She's fast. And fearless.

Them: What was she wearing again? Okay, you stay here, we'll go look.

Now I wasn't afraid. I think my mom probably was, but I wasn't. I really wasn't concerned anyone had taken her. I was just annoyed (and yes, amused, hence the crazy smile - a cross between Ican'tbelivethisishappening and ohsheissogoingtobeintroubleforthis and thisisalittlebitembarrassing) that I actually had to ask for help to find her.

I think if she wasn't found quickly then I would start to get nervous and start to panic. And I'm sure the Target employees would do the same, because inevitably, you'd think someone actually did take her. But it wasn't more than a minute before I heard the crackling of the walkie talkie and someone saying they had her in diapers. I walked over and there she comes, walking toward the diaper aisle from the baby clothing, holding the hand of a female employee, and SMILING! Yes, smiling. She saw me, yelled Mommy and jumped in my arms. She then squeezed me as tightly as possible and hid her head in my shoulder. Embarrassed? Aware she was in trouble? Happy to see me? Who knows. All I know is what Code Yellow means at Target, thanks to my very cute and very mischievous almost 3-year-old.

And because every post needs a photo, here are the girls during a better time, AKA, at the mall before Mac ran away in Target.

37 Weeks

2010-09-07T22:43:00.005-04:00

37 weeks along = 20 days to go until the boy is here. I'm so ready for September 28th and the c-section. Everything is pretty much ready for the boy to arrive, meaning all I've got is one more load of his clothes to wash and the valance to hang when it arrives. Therefore were he to arrive early, I wouldn't panic. Well, I wouldn't panic that we weren't ready. I would be panicking because I do not want to go in to labor, thankyouverymuch. I want to go to the hospital at 5:30 on a Tuesday, sit in a bed for two hours, then get up and walk in to the operating room and magically have a baby a few minutes later. The going in to labor thing would be an entirely new experience, and one I'm good with never having experienced at this point!

Sunday my sister-in-law Abby took some pictures for me. I took a couple the beginning of last week, but other than that it'd been 4 or 5 weeks since I'd had a belly shot. I've gotten much larger in that time, which I'm reminded of because people tell me when they haven't seen me in a couple weeks. Memo to self regarding pregnant woman - don't tell them how much bigger they've gotten.

36 weeks, 4 days:

Nothing too exciting going on pregnancy -wise though. Check-ups have been fine. Baby looked good at my ultrasound last week -he was about 6lbs 3 oz and not cooperative. He is still moving around like crazy. I'm still feeling pretty good, but definitely getting slower. Still working out, although at this point I could go without the exercising and be fine with it. But I've made it this far so I refuse to stop. My plan is work out through the Friday before my c-section.

The dumb Restless Leg Syndrome is getting worse as it's now bothering me during the day. Back pain. Hip pain. Same old stuff. Nothing serious. Nothing I should really be complaining about, just normal pregnancy stuff. As I've said before, compared to the girls' pregnancy, this has been a piece of cake. I thought I was going to miss out on the cool dark line down the middle of my belly but in the last week it's started to show up. Faintly, but it's there.

I've been cleaning and organizing like crazy, trying to get through my massive to-do list. Most of it is nothing that has to be done before he comes, just stuff that would be nice to have done. But if I don't get to it, I'm not worried. Today I checked off spray-painting picture frames, cleaning out the bathroom drawers and the silverware drawer.

And with that, I'm heading back to the floor (my least favorite place to sit at this point) to continue sorting through boxes of crap in my scrapbook area. Cards, keepsakes and junk. Lots of throwing away going on and it feels good. And looks much cleaner, too.

Ten on Tuesday

2010-09-07T22:15:00.001-04:00

1. Soccer practice was cancelled tonight because of a storm that came through. Emma was very sad. And when the storm was over, she asked if she could go to practice since it wasn't raining anymore. I had to explain again what practice being cancelled meant.

2. This picture is from the game Saturday when Emma scored a goal. Love that I actually captured her kicking it in.

3. All the girls' fall clothes are washed and put away in their closet. Very glad that's done.

4. Our fitness center has added a new fitness class - T-Bow. It's great. Versatile. Fun. The only downside is I can't do everything with it at this point. I'm still going, but doing a modified workout with it. Can't wait until I can do it full-strength.

5. Emma has mentioned trying to ride her bike without training wheels a few times this summer, so Sunday when we were at Michael's parents we gave it a try. They have a huge, flat yard so it was perfect. She used Mackenzie's bike so if she fell, it wasn't quite as far. She lost interest in it in about ten minutes, but she actually rode a few feet during that time. Please excuse my really dumb cheer at the end. Am I the only one who hates how I sound on video?

Emma's attempt to ride without training wheels from Erin Sweeney on Vimeo.

6. I've got this giant to-do list I'm working on (which I might have mentioned before) and now have 3 weeks to get it all done. Today I was able to cross some things off it. One of them being the mess of cords under the computer desk. Now why it seemed like a good idea to sit under said desk three weeks before having a baby, I don't know. But having the cords all neat and wrapped up makes me happy.

7. I hate doing laundry. And each time I do it now, I think about how I will have even more with a fifth person in our family.

8. My girls are going to think this is the best week ever because they're having play dates three days this week. Yesterday and today here and Friday at Kelly's. This week is orientation at the preschool and so we're swapping childcare for those not going to orientation. I love my friends.

9. Last week I got my hair cut and colored and brows waxed and it's amazing how much better that makes one feel.

10. My scrapbook area is all cleaned and organized (check that off my list!) and now I'm feeling crafty.

Food, rides, food, rides...

2010-09-06T21:54:00.005-04:00

...that pretty much sums up our day at the Canfield Fair Saturday. Well, I guess it actually went like this:

Food (fries, pulled pork)
Rides
Food (funnel cake)
Rides
Food (giant cinnamon rolls)
Animals
Food (shaved ice)

Yes, we Sweeney's were eating healthy that day.

But back to the rides. Of course the all-day ride bracelets are way overpriced. But worth it. The girls had so much fun. The swings were Emma's first pick. Mackenzie too. Until it was time to get on, then she changed her mind. Which made me a tad bit nervous about the $20 bracelet on her wrist.

Thankfully that was a fluke. She was more than ready to ride when Emma got off. The funniest thing had to be the dragon roller coaster. Mackenzie had this look of fear half the time...

And a big smile the rest.

More rides followed:

Including the Carousel and slide with Daddy.

We had a bit of a meltdown when Mackenzie wasn't big enough to ride a different swing ride with Emma. She was an inch too short and none too happy about it. I was heading there way from the previous ride they were on when I heard Mackenzie crying. Loudly. She was so sad to not ride it with Emma.

Of course we had to bribe the girls with seeing the animals (which we were going to do anyway but they didn't know this) in order for this picture to be taken. Check out Mackenzie's face.

There was one before that in which she was smiling. Then she decided to do make the pouty face. Then it was back to smiling.

By the time we'd seen cows, horses and chickens, then watched a line dancing demo (the girls are always ready to dance when they hear music) we were ready to go. Especially Mackenzie. I believe her exact words were, "Mommy, I'm ready to go home." She was asleep in the car rather quickly, which was no surprise considering we'd been walking around for nearly five hours.

We couldn't have asked for better weather - 60's, partly cloudy, a bit on the windy side but compared to the 90 degree heat we'd had, I was loving it!

Ten on Tuesday

2010-08-31T22:24:00.003-04:00

1. Yesterday Lisa, Kelly and I took our kids to the one of the Metroparks to play in the river and have a picnic. Kelly had been there before but this was new to me and Lisa. The kids all loved it. Finding rocks, walking in the river, trying to catch tiny fish - it was a perfect way to spend a couple hours. It was a good thing we'd brought extra clothes because they were soaked by the time we left!

2. Before:

3. After:

4. I have an ultrasound tomorrow afternoon. Very excited to see how big this baby boy has gotten. Also, to make sure he's still a boy.

5. I'm over the 90+ degree heat. Especially since the pool is closed during the week now.

6. This is Mackenzie right after the first time she fell in the river yesterday. Notice I had said first. She fell at least two more times.

7. I started washing the girls' fall clothes yesterday and the last load is finally in the dryer. I like to wash them after they've been in plastic tubs for two years. Well, Mac's have been since they were Emma's. We also have some things from Emma from my friend/neighbor Beth. Now I have to put them all away tomorrow. Fun times.

8. Speaking of friend/neighbor Beth, here's Emma after her game Saturday with Caroline, her friend and Beth's daughter.

9. There's a park near us that has an old-school merry-go-round. How awesome is that?

(Emma, Graham who is hidden, Titus, Mackenzie)

10. I ordered pictures last week from Shutterfly because they sent me an email coupon code for 101 free prints - I hadn't ordered since March 2009. Now I'm working on my free 8x8 photo book. Maybe I should go a year and half between orders more often.

4 hours

2010-08-29T23:06:00.000-04:00

Four Hours. That's how long Emma played with the play-doh I'd just made. Mackenzie made it about 2 hours before she decided to take a nap. But the freshly made pink and purple play-doh entertained Emma for twice as long. In fact, she probably would've kept on playing except that I made her clean up because we had to leave.

Rock the Park

2010-08-25T22:06:00.002-04:00

So our town does these Friday night concerts four times a summer. They're not the typical family concerts in the park, but rather for adults 21 and over. This past Friday was the first one and Michael and I attended. We went with some of the girls I work out with and their husbands.

The band was The Breakfast Club, so it was all 80's music. Some pop, some hair metal. Definitely some Bon Jovi and Def Leppard. Which made me happy. Of course, I couldn't get all of us together at the same time but we did get this photo of five of us, but we're missing five others that were there but somewhere else at the concert.

(Kelly, Lisa, me, Megan, Tracey)

I think this was the first time in, oh, maybe years, we'd been out as a couple with friends but without kids. It was good. We should do it more often. Except that's probably not going to happen with a baby arriving in less than 5 weeks. But it's a nice thought.

Ten on Tuesday

2010-08-17T23:20:00.002-04:00

1. Malachi turned 3 and his party was Sunday. He likes horses. There was a pinata which was very fun and funny, too.

2. Had friends over yesterday. Stefanie and her girls, Julia and Frankie, went with us to the pool and then came over for some playtime.

3. The garage sale was a success. We had a lot of strollers for sale. No, we weren't selling all our baby gear - we were multiple times why we were selling everything. My friends Beth and Lisa put stuff in it (the majority of the baby stuff) as well as my mom and Michael's mom.

4. Speaking of the strollers, the girls wanted to go for rides.

5. Lemonade was sold.

6. Scrapbook supplies were sold. This was the table Friday morning. I think I ended up selling about 1/2 to 2/3 of the product. I should've taken an after photo. Regardless, I was pleased.

7. One of the girls favorite summer activities has been squirting daddy with water guns when he mows.

8. Friday night we went to Chipotle. Where while walking out Mackenzie kept sing-songing "It won't hurt. It won't hurt," as she was pulling on Michael's hand/leaning over the curb/jumping. Then she fell. And it hurt. A lot.

9.Tomorrow is Michael's last day home with us. He goes back to school Thursday. The girls are sad. I'm sad. Thinking he's sad, too. The end of summer always stinks.

10. But that means Emma will go back to school soon and she can't wait. She's very excited. And it also means we'll have a baby soon. Six weeks and counting...

33 weeks

2010-08-11T22:48:00.000-04:00

33 weeks today. Technically 7 weeks to go, but waiting on the hospital to call to schedule my c-section. It'll be nice to have a date on the calendar; to know. To maybe use it to get Michael to commit to a name. :)

Still feeling good. The swelling still isn't too bad, some days my feet look worse than others, but overall I don't think it's anything anyone would notice. Went to boot camp Monday...where I sat and watched everyone and yelled "go team!" when they were doing sprints. I did participate in step class yesterday. And based on how sweaty I am and how red my face is, I'd say I'm getting a really good workout in. Although I always get at least one look each week like, "what are you doing here?"

Adding leg cramps (which actually I've had but left off my list on the layout below) and reflux to my list of pregnancy fun. It's a bit annoying to not be able to bend over with the reflux kicking in. But it could be worse, it could be heartburn. Or carpel tunnel. So far that hasn't come back. Fingers crossed. At my appointment last week I had actually lost a pound since my appointment two weeks prior. I was good with that considering at that appointment I'd gained 4 pounds in two weeks.

The boy has had the hiccups lately. Emma had them all the time. Mackenzie never had them. But in the last week he's started to get them, maybe 3 or 4 times now. Makes me smile each time.

The girls room is done except to hang some pictures and the transition to them sharing a room could not have gone smoother. Next, on to the boy's room: bedding, paint, organizing, cleaning, getting the baby gear down, clothes put away, just getting ready. The next 7 weeks are going to go fast.

Lastly, two recent pregnancy layouts from Write.Click.Scrapbook. I'm determined to get some pages in his section of my pregnancy album. I think he's tied with Mackenzie at 3 right now. Emma? Oh, maybe twenty or so.

ten on tuesday

2010-08-10T22:13:00.007-04:00

1. Emma's into posing lately. Which is usually funny (except when I'm trying to get a good picture). But what's funnier is when Mackenzie tries to copy her. Hee hee.

2. Trampoline jumping at my sister's.

3. Posing? Or just making funny faces? Sometimes she thinks it's the same thing.

4. Michael built the girls a new sandbox. Very cool. Very big (6ft x 6ft). Currently holding over 1 ton of sand. Mason sand which is perfect for building roads and castles and such. They love it.
Love. It.

5. Also, it's very dirty. This is not quick-brush-off-before-going-in-the-house sand. It's hose-them-down-and-they-go-in-naked sand. The girls now have 3 sets of sand clothes. Did I mention how much they love it? And how much I love that Michael built this for them? That it makes us happy seeing them so happy playing it?

6. Watched the Twins Day parade Saturday.

(When I was taking this, she was telling me "Go sit down Mommy.")

7. Got my new lens and filters Friday. (Thanks, Marie.) Wondering why it was necessary to package them like this:

8. My Mom.

9. I'm pricing things for my garage sale this weekend. This pile is done. Now to pull out the two boxes in the laundry room and start them.

10. Michael got me flowers for our anniversary yesterday. He even remembered I'm not a rose fan. :) Love the mix of flowers and colors.

7 Years

2010-08-09T23:20:00.000-04:00

7 years ago today Michael and I were married.

We've gone from this:

To this:

(photo taken tonight by Emma. The first one was just us, then Mackenzie snuck in.)

7 years
2 houses
(almost) 3 children

Life is good. No, not just good. Wonderful. Fantastic. Full of love and happiness and fun. More than I dreamed of having. Unbelievably blessed. I love you, Michael.

soccer begins

2010-08-05T14:33:00.001-04:00

Tuesday night was Emma's first soccer practice. (Please excuse the strange cropping of this photo, I was trying to crop out the other children.) She loved it. She was a bit shy with the coach at first but that didn't last too long. When I asked her what she learned, she said "I played Simon Says." Which was true. It was a great way for the coach to get the kids kicking the ball. But then I asked again what she learned and she said which part of her foot to use to kick the ball and how to stand like a soccer player (more on that later).

She thinks her shoes are really cool and asked if she could have some soccer cleats like them but without the spikes. I explained those would then just be regular tennis shoes, not soccer cleats. Her reply? "Oh."

Last night was a skills clinic (just an hour) for 4 and 5-year-olds. She said she really liked that and learned a lot including how to jump without moving your feet. Now, we're not quite sure how that goes, and when we ask her to show us she says she can't b/c she can't do it. Huh. Regardless, she liked it.

She even let me take some pictures when we got home.

The "stand like a soccer player" pose she learned at practice. Although she told me that night her hands were supposed to be on her hips. Guess she forgot.

Then she started getting silly.

new camera pictures

2010-08-02T22:24:00.004-04:00

Friday, I got a new camera. This is my birthday/anniversary/and-let's-throw-in-Christmas gift. I love it. I have no idea how to use it, but I love it. So far all I've done is use it on P mode (except for the one picture of Mackenzie when I was messing with the settings) and already I have so many photos I love. Once I learn how to shoot out of auto and get my new lenses....well, I'm excited. Really, really excited.

Friday night at a free concert at a local outdoor shopping mall. (I have a few more from this night that I'll post once I check with my friend to make sure it's okay since they're of her kids.)

Yesterday

And last night.

Headlands

2010-07-29T21:39:00.002-04:00

Last Friday we took the girls over to Mentor Headlands beach. It was on my Summer Fun To-Do list and given our girls love of water and wet sand, we knew they'd love it. And love it they did. We stayed about 3 hours and if it had been up to them, we would've stayed even longer.

I do have one suggestion to the fine folks running the beach: Showers to wash all the sand off would be great. It really is no fun to strap a four-year-old and two-year-old in their car seats when they have sand everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Thanks.

Someone got stuck in the basketball hoop...

2010-07-21T21:46:00.000-04:00

And her name is Mackenzie. We didn't see this happen, so not exactly sure how she got this way. We just heard her crying for Daddy to come help her and when I looked around the corner this is what I saw.

Oh my. We were laughing so hard. It was the funniest sight to see. The thing is, all she had to do was walk backwards and she could pull her head down and out, but instead she just stood there with this sad and pitiful look on her face. I can't help but giggle when I look at these pictures. Oh, Mackenzie, you goofy little girl.

Ten (@ Virginia Kendall) on Tuesday

2010-07-20T13:56:00.006-04:00

1. Sunday evening we went hiking in the Virginia Kendall Park, part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It's not far from our house, I'd driven by it before in college, but we'd never been. Last week the paper had a picture of the Ice Box Cave there, which inspired my husband's idea for us to go check it out. Because we all know, with this summer's heat wave, the only thing I suggest is going to the pool. I'm so glad he thought of it, because we had a great time. We walked for an hour and 40 minutes. The girls never complained about being tired, they walked and climbed the entire time and never asked to be carried. In fact, they didn't want to leave. Well, not until Mackenzie fell and scraped her knee on the way out, then she was ready to go. But not Emma, she wanted to keep going on more trails. She asked today when we can go hiking again. Looks like we've found a new family activity.

2. This is my favorite shot of the evening. It was right after we started, so we were just heading into the trails. The girls wore their Dora backpacks, complete with water bottles and flashlights. Oh, and Off for me in Mackenzie's.

3. I had a walking partner in Mackenzie, since we're pretty much going at the same speed right now. Unless she runs. Then she can beat me.

3. The Ice Box Cave. Which Mac kept calling a cage. We kept having this conversation:

"When are we going to the cage?"
"It's cave, Mackenzie."
"Cage."
"No, cavvvvve," as I'd sound it out.
"Cabe."
"No! Cavvvvve."
"Cage."
"sigh...We'll be at the cage soon."

It's amazing. You walk up to it and it really feels as though you just opened your freezer. It's cold. And felt so good. It's also dark. Hence the flashlights.

4. There was a not-so-big opening to go back between these huge rocks. While Mackenzie was all about doing everything thing Michael did - the girl was fearless - Emma didn't want to go at first. She did end up changing her mind. I was going to just meet them on the other side...

...but then Michael convinced me to squeeze through here. Good thing I'm not a month further along. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made it.

5. Our two little hikers. The girls loved it. They were so in to it.

6. Apparently these stairs were carved by hand in the 1920's. There are a lot of them. I hadn't really gotten tired until I climbed these stairs at the end. Then I had to sit for a minute. There were a lot. And they were steep. Did I mention there was a lot of them?

8. Hi Munchkin.

9. In addition to getting excited by any stairs we encountered (there were also some made out of logs) they liked the bridges.

10. This one, who never wants to pose for me, wanted her picture taken by a "2" post. Unfortunately, I didn't think of this until we'd passed the "2", so we made do with a later-photoshopped "12" post. She didn't know the difference though. She saw the 12 and started yelling "2! There's the 2!"

And with that, I'm going to attempt to get the above-pictured 2 year old to bed. She napped for 3 hours today and now at 11pm, she's playing with the train set. Pretty sure she's not tired yet. Darn.

At the red park

2010-07-14T23:04:00.002-04:00

After ballet on Wednesday we had lunch with Missy, Maya and Laney, then headed to the park. This particular park is the Red Park, according to Emma. Emma also likes to visit the Castle Park and the Orange Park. We were there about 40 minutes, which was all I could take in the 90 degree heat.

In between trying to find shade, sweating and telling the girls it was time to go soon because Mama wasn't going to make it in the heat, I managed to get some cute pictures. This one being my favorite of the day.

I'm thinking our next trip to the park will be in the evening.

@ 29 weeks

2010-07-14T16:36:00.000-04:00

As of today, I've hit the 29 week mark. 29 down, less than 11 to go.

(Photo taken this morning by Missy. Hi Mis!)

I think this is my new favorite pregnancy picture. Though I might just be liking it because I used PW's 70's action on it, though.

(Picture from 7/8, 28 weeks and 1 day. Taken while camping. Yes, camping. But more on that in another post. Thanks, Amanda.)

I certainly can't complain about this pregnancy. Granted, it was a bit rough in the beginning with the morning sickness. And even though I still had some days with a heck of a lot of throwing up, even while on the highest dose of Zofran I could take, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been with the girls. For the most part, the Zofran kept the majority of puking away and left me with just constant nausea, and of course, other side effects that sucked all on their own. But, by 14 weeks it was completely gone and I felt better than I knew I could feel while pregnant. It was amazing.

And now at 29 weeks, for the most part I still feel great. Sure, there are some aches and pains, but those are to be expected at this stage - ligament stretching, hips hurting at night, some lower back/hip pain that I usually get when I've been sitting on the floor. My feet are starting to swell a bit. The Restless Leg Syndrome is back, although not to the extent it could be. The always strange skin tags. And I'm hot. The 90 degree temperatures have not helped one bit. But the pool and AC make it bearable.

I passed my glucose test, thank goodness. I don't know that I could've drank that disgusting orange beverage again.

(7/1/10)

My weight is good, although I'll admit to having 7 lb gain one month, followed by a 2lb month, then a 5.5 lb month. But I'm only at about 20.5 pounds gained right now. It's amazing how much more you can eat when you don't have to worry about throwing it back up. And I've been hungry. Really hungry. And eating lots of Tootsie Rolls. For some reason I can't resist them...although that's not so far from the norm for me!

I'm still working out, some weeks I get to the gym a lot (5 days the week before last, 3 days last week) other weeks not as much (probably only Friday and Saturday this week). Working out has been hard for me. Not so much the physical part of it (although my swelling feet making my feet go numb after too much cardio is a bit of an annoyance) but the fact that I can't work out like I want to. I actually get jealous seeing my friends really push themselves to the limit when working out, knowing I can't right now. Step class is my new best friend at the gym. I can do all of it but the ab work, and it's pretty much the best workout I can do right now. Otherwise, it's Zumba, lifting, cardio on the Precor. I quit running when my belly bouncing started bothering me. Some women run while pregnant and it doesn't bother them, but I don't love it enough to do it right now.

Baby boy is crazy active. He loves to be nestled up on my right side, right in my ribs. Which is why I often find myself stretching out to the left to get some relief. Thursday was the first time I could feel a body part poking out of my belly. He kicks a lot, most often early in the morning (7am-ish) and at night (like right now).

No name picked out yet, although we each have a name we like. The girls are still excited. Emma still randomly tells people I'm having a baby boy, even people that know (friends and family) and that she's told before. They both love to tickle the baby. So far they haven't felt him kick, but not for lack of trying. He always stops right after they put their hands on my belly.

Lastly, 28 weeks through Emma's eyes.

If you actually stuck around to read all that, thanks. Even though I swore I'd do a better job at recording this pregnancy, I haven't. So this post was my attempt to make up for my lack of memory keeping. Poor #3, already getting the shaft!

Ten on Tuesday

2010-07-13T11:48:00.006-04:00

1. The pumpkins (minus the actual pumpkins, of course) are out of control. While common sense should have told me I didn't need to plant two whole packets of seeds in such a small area, it didn't.

2. She's cute.

3. She's in Snow White ballet camp at Missy's studio this week. And loves it. She also loves running in front of the camera, on purpose, then darting away when I try to take her picture. Fun game at four.

4. Last night was the Bon Jovi concert. It was my birthday present from my sister. She even got a parking pass which if you've ever seen a concert at Blossom you know how awesome that it. Especially pregnant. So glad we didn't have to walk 1.5 miles to the car!

5. It was Baby Boy's first concert. I saw Bon Jovi when I was 6 months pregnant with Emma, too.

6. We're not the only ones who still love Bon Jovi. It was packed. There was a couple near us who fell asleep (or passed out) for nearly an hour. Completely out of it. So out of it, one guy came over and took their picture. Then another guy came over and lay next to them and had his picture taken, then so did a girl. Then they finally woke up, oblivious to all that had happened.

7. So last week I had four moles taken off. I go back next week for a follow-up appt and get the pathology report. Thing is, I couldn't watch. I've had two c-sections and will be having another and those don't bother me at all. But watching her slice off the moles? Couldn't do it. Sat there with my eyes closed.

8.The girls like to stand by the water slide and get splashed when Michael and Tim go down. They giggle every time like it's the first time they're experiencing it.

9. Emma made this for Miss Nancy at Kid Park the other week.

10. Mackenzie's face going down the slide makes me laugh. Needless to say, she didn't want to go again.

Scrapbook Sunday

2010-07-11T21:19:00.000-04:00

So I haven't posted any scrapbook pages since May. And since then, these are the only 4 I have to post. I did do a couple, well started a couple, the other week when I scrapped with friends, but they're still not done. One day, I suppose, one day...

This I did for the Write.Click.Scrapbook blog when I hosted in May.

This is one I started a while ago but just finished not too long ago.

This was for the WCS June gallery. I feel like I posted this one already, but if I did, I somehow missed it when I went back through the last two months of posts.

And from WCS's May gallery.

I did purchase some scrapbook supplies that can be used for boy pages, which I'm excited about. But I've got a ways to go in building my boy stash. We don't want the poor guy to have an album full of pink, purple, sparkly, floral pages!

Night #1

2010-07-05T22:28:00.000-04:00

Emma's room has officially become Emma and Mackenzie's room. Tonight's the first night they're sharing the room, sleeping in their new beds (well, mattresses, until I paint the headboard and footboard). this is how I left them around 9:45.

20 minutes later they came down to get Mackenzie's Minnie Mouse. I haven't been up to check since then, but I've got a feeling they're not sleeping yet. Besides the fact that they're excited to be in the same room together, they both napped for nearly 3 hours today. Sleep will not be coming any time soon, I'm sure.

The room is now very purple, with purple bedding and purple walls. Next up is painting the beds white and getting a new white dresser/mirror them. Then decorating and it'll be done.

Then it's on to the baby boy's room. My goal is to have his room done by mid-August. Hopefully we'll get the bedding soon so I can get paint and have that ready to go.

I just heard a thump and a yell, so I think it's time to check on the girls. I first thought if they could get to sleep by 11 I'd call tonight a success, but maybe I should push that back an hour or so...

Just paintin' my nails, she said.

2010-06-28T16:35:00.000-04:00

Saturday morning, Mackenzie wakes up about 7:45. Michael's downstairs so she goes down with him. I fell back asleep until about 8:15 when I heard Michael calling her name. He came upstairs looking for her, but she hadn't come up...so where was she hiding?

In the living room, against the wall between the piano and end table so you couldn't see her if you just glanced in. The real question is why was she hiding? And why didn't she answer Michael when he called?

Answer: Because she was busy painting her nails. And her foot. And her knee.

And her face, and nightgown too. Amazingly, though, not the carpet.

She seemed to be mighty proud of this, as she was all ready to say "cheese" and smile for me.

We've learned it's never good when Mackenzie's quiet.

20/21/22

2010-06-23T23:00:00.003-04:00

6/20 Father's Day

Emma picked out Michael's card at the mall last week. It was a little boy making noises with his armpit. It had sound. And the picture moved when you turned the card, so it was an action card. Tooting sounds + moving pictures demonstrating said sound = a very giggly 4-year-old.

Mackenzie was very excited for Michael to open her Blue's Clues card.

Posing with the rock paper weight Emma made in school. We got Michael a new tent that will actually hold all of us, plus 6 or so. And a new Bible with his name imprinted on it. Oh, and some Buckeyes. We went out to breakfast then church, then napped. That evening we headed over to his parents for dinner.

6/21 The start of VBS. And my birthday. I didn't actually take any pictures on my birthday. Although now I realize I should have taken at least a belly shot. I've been pregnant 3 out of my last 5 birthdays. I could've made a cute little scrapbook page!

6/22 Mackenzie, Emma and Caroline at VBS. Notice the missing decorations behind Mackenzie. I've tried resticking them, but they just keep falling down. So I gave up. My room is now only half-decorated.

Emma had t-ball that night. She got a little silly at the end. As in chasing Cody in circles. According to Michael he was pulling her her pony tails earlier. Which just makes me giggle for some reason.

My mom, sister, brother-in-law, nieces, nephew and Michael's parents came to watch.

And then we went back to our house for cake and ice cream. Emma chose the colors - pink and purple, of course. I should've taken a picture with the candles on it: a "1" candle, plus two single candles. Yeah, we couldn't find the actual box of candles. Nor could I find the "3" or "4" candle which would've been the easiest way of putting 34 on it. Regardless, it was yummy.

Ten on Tuesday

2010-06-15T22:24:00.003-04:00

1. Last Wednesday I had a date with this man. Dinner at Hyde Park. No kids. Absolutely delicious French Onion soup and the most tender filet mignon. And the gruyere potatoes. Yum. Yum. Yum. Bonus: an hour and 45 minutes to eat - no rushing, no cutting up my girls' food and getting them ready before I could eat, no interruptions. It was awesome.

2. 25 weeks along tomorrow. At my appointment last week my doctor told me that after my next appointment (@ 28 weeks) I'd be coming in every 2 weeks. Huh. Already that close. It's going fast, but that really reminded me just how close we're getting.

3. Anyone else have low blood pressure when pregnant? I'm always right around 120/80, but this pregnancy I've been around 110/60. I asked the nurse about it last week when she told me 112/62 (which was 2 points higher than the month before) and she said it was fine, that they don't worry until you're in the 50s. I thought, "Um, yeah. Almost there." Of course, my this could just be the same as my last two pregnancies and I just don't remember. It also could be normal and very common.

4. At the pool last week.

5. T-ball tonight. More sliding in to home plate.

6. Also some dancing in the outfield.

8. Emma has ballet camp this week. Which is actually jazz and tap. Thank you to my friend Noelle (and Missy!) who loaned me tap shoes since it didn't dawn on me until 10:30 Sunday night that she needed them. Okay, so it didn't actually dawn on me. I never would've thought of it but Missy gently reminded me. Thanks, Mis.

9. Ballet, er, jazz and tap, camp means I haven't been to the gym this week. Of course, as Michael said, I could get up early and go or go late, but....I'm more a 9/10/11am workout kind of girl. Since I worked out 5 days last week, I'm not worried about skipping M-W this week. I'll be there Thursday and Friday though. Oh, and Zumbathon Friday night.

10. I think I've solved the mysterious brown stains on clothing. I cleaned out the rinse dispenser and ran some Clorox washing machine cleaner through it and so far, no more stains. Now if only I could get rid of the stains on the girls' clothes. The count stands at 9 items stained. Annoying.

corn on the cob

2010-06-10T23:05:00.000-04:00

Tonight Emma helped me shuck the corn.

And while they both love eating it, Mackenzie made an extra special mess of it tonight.

I can't quite figure out where the dirt on her belly came from. I'm thinking she will need to eat corn on the cob in just a pull-up from now on. Her clothes would've been a mess!

Ten on Tuesday

2010-06-08T23:12:00.007-04:00

1. T-ball tonight. It was hysterical. Lots of kids randomly running around. Emma said she wanted to stop halfway through the first inning, but that was short-lived, she got in to it again. At the end she loved it, said she had fun. And I did catch the glove on her butt on at least two occasions. Don't know if the song went along with it or not. Oh, and she slid in to home her second time up. On her knees. It was too funny.

2. So this past Wednesday Emma decided it'd be a good idea to climb on a cozy coupe at Kid Park (fitness center), then just let go. This resulted in a face plant on the floor. Which we thought resulted in just a scraped up nose. Turns out there was a GIANT goose egg hidden under her bangs, although I didn't see it until 2 1/2 hours later when I caught her touching it. She never mentioned it once. She only told us she hit her nose. After the tears, we went to the library - she was fine. Then the grocery store - she was fine. Never let on about her forehead. It was big and squishy and purple. Ugh. She held some ice on it, and never said it hurt. But Thursday night it had flattened out, Friday she had a black eye, and on Saturday night it'd spread over to her other eye. Here's how it looked on Monday.

When she told me how it happened, "I climbed on the car and then just let go and I fell." I said, "well maybe that's not such a good idea and you shouldn't do that again." "Yeah, you're probably right, Mom." Yeah, I think I am, Emma.

3. We went to the Akron Zoo yesterday. Great thing about the Akron Zoo - it's small. And only takes a couple hours to go through. Compared to the Cleveland Zoo which is too big to do in one day. Perfect for the girls. And also one certain pregnant lady.

Jelly fish are weird. Yet fascinating. And in this picture, strangely pretty.

The girls liked the tiger. Related - Mackenzie did not like the bear that was right up in the glass. one habitat over. She hid behind me.

(Emma, Mackenzie, Ava, Bree)

Me and Lisa. Had the girls take some pictures of us, but let's just say the angles weren't the most flattering.

Me and my girls. And Lisa in the reflection.

4. Friday (yeah, totally not going in order, here) we had lunch with Missy, Maya and Laney at the park. Where the highlight (for the girls) was playing in the mud puddles. For the moms, the highlight was sitting in the pavilion watching: seats + shade + not having to chase small children = a good morning.

5. That evening we went to the pool. Where both girls had meltdowns when it was time to leave. That's always fun.

6. Hmm..where am I..oh, Saturday before Memorial Day. Blossom Time. Got the girls bracelets for the rides. Turns out the only thing Mackenzie would ride is the train once and the Merry-go-round twice.

7. And the Friday before that, went to my sister's to swim. Love the Target dresses. And the pigtails. And the almost identical faces they're making. Have I mentioned Mackenzie's freckles are coming out? She has three. They're cute.

8. And the Wednesday before that, planting pumpkins and flowers with Grandma. So far we're 2 for 3 - the pumpkins and Mac's flowers are showing, Emma's are MIA.

9. In an effort to stop the night-wakings, Mackenzie is no longer napping. It's great that she sleeps through the night (finally!) and therefore I get more and better sleep. Not so great is the fact that she's pretty cranky/clingy/rotten most days from 3 - 5ish. Also, she is prone to falling asleep in the car if we're driving in the afternoon. Kind of like here, when one minute she was watching a cartoon, the next the was asleep. Shortly after I had to wake her up for dinner and it was ugly.

10. Speaking of Mac, she still hasn't grown out of the color-with-marker/use-stamps-all-over-my-body phase.

Bonus - Fun jumping shot of Emma, Bree and Mackenzie.

And with that, I'm sort of kind of caught up. A little. For now.

And so it begins...

2010-06-07T22:50:00.004-04:00

Emma's first t-ball game is tomorrow. Michael is the coach. And Emma had her first practice on a field Sunday night.

First up, a lesson on bases.

Followed by running the bases.

Batting practice.

They played catch.

They also practiced fielding the ball, catching grounders.

Then came the silliness. Such as "My glove is stuck on my butt! It's stuck on my butt" with lots of giggles. My varisty baseball head coach husband's reply? "I won't last. I'll quit after the first game."

And then this, after running the bases one last time, "Dad? Can I go swing now?"

I can't wait to see how this game goes Tuesday night!

Have a Care Bear

2010-06-05T16:14:00.002-04:00

So apparently I decided to take a week off blogging after hosting the Write.Click.Scrapbook. blog last week. But the house is quiet - Michael took the girls to visit his parents for the afternoon - and once I'm done with my cleaning (amazing what you can get done when you don't have two little girls constantly seeking your attention), I'm going to work on some blog posts for this coming week.

Until then, here's a picture of Emma and her newest stuffed animal - a giant orange Care Bear, courtesy of her cousin Rachel.

Last Day

2010-05-26T23:00:00.002-04:00

Thursday was Emma's last day of 3's Preschool. Crazy how fast the year goes by. Crazy how much older she looks.

Emma loved school. Loved. It. Of course, we had our share of days where she cried and didn't want to go in the room. Days where I had to hand her off to Mrs. Sivillo while I picked up Mackenzie and ran out the door. But the tears never lasted long and she was always happy when I picked her up. She loves her teachers. Loves her friends. I'm so glad that next year she'll be in the same room with the same teachers with the same friends. I like the consistency.

She was always quick to tell me what the snack was, about the book they read and sometimes even what others brought for show and tell. As for her answer when I asked, "What did you learn today?" Well that was usually, "I don't know" and "I can't remember." Although I always got "I played" when I asked what she did that day.

When I told Emma school was about over for her, she cried. Same thing the night before her last day. She told me again how much she loved school, her teachers and her friends, how fun it was and how she didn't want it to end. That morning before school, I mentioned that now she'd be home with us this summer over break, and her reply was "And now Mackenzie won't have to miss me. And then in the fall I go back and I can't wait I'm so excited I love school!" And then she cried when I went to leave her room. Sometimes 4-year-olds make no sense.

And just because I love it.

Head on over to Write.Click.Scrapbook.

2010-05-25T09:48:00.002-04:00

I'm hosting the
Write.Click.Scrapbook blog this week. Yesterday was inspiration and how do you use it/keep it. Today is mini-albums. Come on over and check it out.

Scrapbook Sunday

2010-05-16T22:47:00.004-04:00

First up, the page I started at the NSD crop May 1st. One down, one to go. Yep. I was there for over seven hours and did two pages. Er, started two pages.

And one I did this past week. Michael and Emma at Dad's Night. This was inspired by a page in a recent SBE, but I cut it out without the designer's name. She used 3 pieces of wide pleated ribbon, which turned into pleated patterned paper for me.

Next on my list, adding some pages to Emma's "Emma at three" album, which has turned into the "Emma at three and at four" album since there's only five pages in it so far!

Ten on Tuesday

2010-05-11T00:18:00.007-04:00

1. Last Thursday was the Mother's Day Tea at Emma's school. Which was actually donuts, milk and juice. Which is a good thing for me, since I don't like tea. I think the kids made it all of 10 minutes sitting with their mom's. As soon as the donuts were gone, so were the kids - running in circles, yelling and laughing and in Emma's case, red-faced.

2. Last night I downloaded PW's actions and I think my favorite is the 70's. I used on this picture (from Friday) of Mackenzie.

3. And this self-portrait Emma took that same day. She LOVES the camera.

4. And last night, we went on an hour-long walk with Lisa, Bree and Ava. Which turned in to a nature walk. The wagons were full of leaves, dandelions, little baby pine cones and twigs. I used it here, too. Emma and Bree are all about posing these days.

5. Saturday was Claire's birthday party and yesterday she turned 3. Happy birthday sweet niece!

6. So I'm in love with Glee's Total Eclipse of the Heart. I've always loved the song, and Lea Michele does an amazing job with it. But my very favorite thing? The video. I secretly (or not so much now) want to be Rachel dancing that ballet with Jesse. Loving Jonathan Groff. Loving his voice. Loving the ballet. Really loving the ballet. Also really hoping he's not on less after last week's episode. More, please.

7. Last week the new Sookie Stackhouse book came out. (What True Blood is based on in case you don't know.) SPOILERS IF YOU'RE WAITING TO READ IT: It was good. I finished it the day I got it at the library. But it was over too soon. Plus, there should be more Sookie and Eric. I like them together. I don't like how it ended, I wanted things more clear between them, I didn't like how he just left. I don't really care about Alcide and his pack. I could've done without that. Now, the wait until next year's book begins.

8. I actually finished my scrapbook page from the crop on the 1st. And am almost done with another. I might even get them posted this Sunday. I think that'll be the first Scrapbook Sunday in a while.

9. This morning I ran out to the mailbox in the pouring ran, and on my way back, Mackenzie was standing in the garage cheering for me, "go Mommy! Good job Mommy!" Thanks, munchkin.

10. I'm tired. Everyone napped yesterday - it wasn't such a good day, what with Mackenzie headbutting me in the forehead giving me a headache from 8:30am to 7:30 last night with a bump still there plus Emma's complete freak-out at the dentist - until 5:30. Know what that means? Emma was up until 12:45! So I was up until then. Again, tired.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T22:36:00.002-04:00

So we started off the day with church, then brunch at Doogen's. Yum. Prime Rib, veggies, potatoes, ribs, chicken marsala, turkey, salmon, pancakes and other breakfast items (which is what the girls ate), fruit, omelet station, desert. Yum. Yum. Yum. We were full. Really really full.

Attempted a picture when we got home. This is the best of the bunch.

But we also got these.

All the moms got a rose at brunch. One flower. Which meant two little girls had to share. It didn't always go well.

This afternoon while Mac slept and Emma snuggled with Daddy for a bit, I ran out to the mall to exchange a shirt. It's always nice to be able to get in and out of some place, without buckling small children. When I got home I napped. And apparently I was sound asleep, because Michael said Mackenzie got right in my face to tell me she pooped and I don't remember it. I'm glad I was asleep. We had pizza for dinner. Yum again. Love Papa Johns. And now I'm installing Photoshop Elements 8. I will now be able to use Pioneer Woman's actions and I'm happy.

Friday my mom and sister came over and we took our mom out to lunch for Mother's Day. Emma took this for us. It was bright out. Hence the squinty eyes.

But before we got that winner, we also got these. Emma just snaps away without really waiting for us to say cheese, or anything.

(since my sister doesn't read this, she'll never know I posted that. hahaha.)

She's also learning about centering, as in not cutting off grandma. More lessons are needed.

We celebrated Mother's Day with Michael's mom yesterday at Claire's birthday party. I really should've taken a picture of Michael and Marty with their Mom but I'm just now thinking about that now. Oops.

It was a fabulous day. Happy Mother's Day to all my friends. Thank you to my awesome husband and amazing children. Today was wonderful, I loved it and I appreciate it. I am mom to two absolutely wonderful children, with baby boy (who is kicking me) on his way. I cannot believe how blessed I am and thank Him every day for my girls, this (still can't believe it!) baby boy and Michael.

Boy or Girl?

2010-05-05T14:29:00.011-04:00

So I started drinking my water about 8:15 this morning. I just want to say that no one should have to drink 64oz of water at one time. By the time I was having the ultrasound, I was in pain. I now understand why small children pee their pants.

Waiting...

Hello little baby.

What does that say?

It's a...

Which meant I had to pick these up this afternoon.

A few things:

1. I think my husband might be in shock.
2. Emma, who has been saying she wants a boy for weeks, changed her mind, started to cry and said she wanted a girl. This was after she got excited it was a boy.
3. Then she got excited all over again and said she wants to name him Ryan. That's my choice, too, but we'll see what Daddy picks.
4. When we told Emma it was a boy, she said, "Now Daddy doesn't have to move out of the house!" Just once he said if it was a girl he was moving out, and she has not forgotten!
5. We're going to need to do some serious shopping, since our house is currently filled with all things pink, purple, tutu, princess and baby related. My sister is going to be all over that.
6. Based on measurement, due date is 9/25. We'll see what my doctor says at my appointment next week, whether he keeps it 9/30 or moves it to 9/25.
7. We're excited. :)

@ 18 weeks, 5 days

2010-05-03T22:29:00.004-04:00

In 2 days, we'll find out if this little baby is a boy or a girl. I'm thinking boy. And I've got a name for a boy. Should it be a girl...eek. I've got nothing.

(picture from Saturday, 18 weeks, 3 days)

This pregnancy has been so different from my other two. While I had morning sickness (and it was not good, not good at all) it ended early compared to Emma and Mackenzie. I stopped taking the Zofran at 14 weeks and hadn't thrown up for a couple weeks before that. Of course, that could've been thanks to the Zofran, though there were days that were really, really, really bad even with it. More than once I asked, "whose idea was this???" But still. When I went off it, I felt nauseous for a week or so but that was it. I've felt so good the last 4 weeks. So good that unless I see/feel my belly or I'm working out I forget I'm pregnant. Such a new thing for me.

Speaking of working out. This has been hard for me. I didn't work out really with the girls. But I have been working out the most I ever had over the last year, I was finally down to my pre-baby weight and I was feeling good. Now, while I can still work out (running/walking, weights, low-impact things) I can't do the things I was doing. Nothing requiring jumping (which is half of boot camp), no more ab work, no heavy weights/lifting, I can't even do regular push-ups any more because of the strain on my core. It's just an adjustment. One I haven't gotten used to yet. Although I did enjoy myself today - we did the deck of cards workout for abs. Since I can't do them, I got to tell everyone else what to do. It satisfied my need to be bossy. ;)

The need to nap every day is gone. No longer do I fall asleep every day even when I'm not trying to. I no longer feel as though I'm neglecting my children every afternoon while I'm on the couch. And it would seem I'm not anemic this time around either, as my energy is back to normal. Not that I still don't enjoy a good nap, it's just not a requirement anymore!

And let's talk about my ring. If you look in the picture above, you can see it on my necklace. I wore my wedding ring through both girls' pregnancies. I never had to take it off. This time around, I'd noticed it getting tight. I took it off last week to try on a wedding band a friend is letting me borrow (she got one in a bigger size to wear during her pregnancy when her wedding ring no longer fit, which is what I was planning to do) and once I got it off, which wasn't easy, I couldn't get it back on. Wasn't expecting that.

One of my favorite parts of being pregnant is feeling the baby move around. Sometimes it's a little kick, which feels like someone's flicking me with their finger. Other times just a wave of movement. I first felt it before 13 weeks, but I wasn't sure. Since it was so early I thought it could just be gas but as the weeks went on I became certain. He's active. And just now gave me a little kick.

I hate maternity clothes. I want my old clothes back. Especially my jeans. I miss them. Particularly my "skinny" jeans I'd just bought before getting pregnant.

This picture (the one in my banner) is my favorite so far. From 4/9/10, it's strange that my belly looks bigger there than it does in the picture from 3 weeks later. I'll blame it on the shirt.

I'll post on Wednesday after we get back from the ultrasound!

A Week in the Life - Sunday

2010-04-28T21:35:00.019-04:00

Walking in to church. We were late this morning. I'll also go ahead and state now that the girls dressed themselves this morning. Emma wore a red dress, black shoes and pink sweater. Mackenzie wore a blue striped dress, black dress shoes and pink sweatshirt. They were cute.

Mackenzie in her room in the nursery. In the fall she moves up to the 2-year-old Sunday School class.

In church. (Church was over though, and I snapped this right before we left to pick up the girls.)

Emma's Sunday School class. That's Kelly helping her. Kelly is her one teacher's daughter and also does nursery duty with us.

Waiting in the parking lot. Just a little traffic.

Form for my blood work that's been sitting in my car so I wouldn't lose it.

Lunch. Yes, I had ribs at 11:45 am for lunch. And they were yummy.

Emma doing a dance for us.

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday.

Bike ride when we got home.

If you look closely (you can click to enlarge) you can see Mackenzie just about to fall off her bike. Hello Beth.

The boo boo. This poor girl has no idea what sort of summer she's in for. I'm going to go through band-aids like crazy.

All better now though.

Mackenzie, Emma, Caroline and Jack. They were highly entertained by Michael mowing.

Also highly entertained by the clumps of grass he left behind.

Flowers Emma made in church this morning.

This one just makes me smile.

The after-church belly shot.

Emma wanted me to take her picture on her bike. I will probably be able to put an entire album together full of just pictures of Emma on her back come September.

Snuggle time with Daddy. Please note the fleece one-piece pajamas she is in. She got an ear ache (which thankfully did not last long) and was crying and miserable for an hour. Thank you to whomever invented Motrin. And food coloring. Since I have to make in red in order for her to take it.

I ended up taking a nap later that afternoon. They read books while I slept. I found them here when I woke up.

Play-doh.

She made a hot dog. And while you can't really tell here, it actually looked like a hot dog. I was impressed.

This was my attempt at getting a picture of Mac checking my ears.

Cookies brought back from Grandma's. They're back in the ballet outfits from Friday.

Emma took this one of her bookcase.

And this one, too. Pretty sure Mackenzie was up to no good. See the blue thing under her bed? That's The Wave, kind of like The Firm if you've ever tried it. I borrowed it from my sister but haven't used it yet. Instead, my girls have taken it over. When you flip it over you can rock back and forth and balance on it. They love it. Which is why Emma swiped it and stashed it in her room.

Time for bed.

Emma likes to ask me how her teeth look after brushing. So now Mackenzie asks me when she takes her turn brushing her teeth, except she asks me ever 3 seconds. Which is what she's doing now. "How do they look?"

I like this one because you can see all of us...even if it is only a bit of Michael's arm and back.

Mackenzie has been really in to reading lately. I'll find her just sitting in her room, or on the couch, or in the middle of the floor with books

I was trying to get a picture of the two of them while I was reading.

But Emma kept sticking her head in the shot. After 3 or 4 of these they were cracking up.

Prayer time.

Potty time. With one of her favorite books, which is about going potty, of course.

Reading before bed.

Cleaning out my purse. This is everything minus the garbage I'd thrown away. A mess.

Baseball stats.

The end.

A Week in the Life - Saturday

2010-04-26T22:24:00.005-04:00

Not a lot of pictures, today. Mostly because I spent a good chunk of the day cleaning. And really, that's not that exciting.

The girls playing play-doh. They love to wear dresses. Emma got Mackenzie dressed today. They thought they were all ready for Corinne's party (at 5) at 10 this morning. neither of those outfits made it.

Lunch. Sakkio. Yum. And the paper of course. I read the newspaper everyday. I go through withdrawal without it. I like CNN.com, but there's nothing like having an actual newspaper in your hands.

A freshly made bed with freshly washed sheets. And my pillow from when I was 6. I still sleep with it.

My best french braid so far. I'm really out of practice. And to think I used to be able to french braid my own hair.

Ironing my shirt for tonight. Pretty sure it's the last time I'll be wearing it for a while.

What happens when you assume you have wrapping paper and then 15 minutes before leaving realize you don't have enough.

En route.

Turnpike.

Directions. While I've been to Marty and Abby's plenty of times, I never drive. And while I'm pretty sure I could've gotten there without having the directions, it's better to be safe than sorry!

The birthday girl, Corinne. Moments later we all started singing, cameras started flashing and she started crying.

The cousins.

I'm not a fan of icing. When I'm with my sister, she eats my icing for me. And when my mom makes cupcakes, she always leaves a couple un-frosted for me.

Still eating her ice cream.

I was attempting a picture of Abby and her children, when my child did this:

Playing in Corinne's new tent and tunnel.

Family picture courtesy of either Malachi or Claire. Not sure which took it. not really a flattering look for me.

And another. This makes me laugh. A lot. Not really sure why Mackenzie was so close to Michael's feet.

The end.

A Week in the Life - Friday

2010-04-25T22:28:00.012-04:00

We started the day at Great Northern Mall. First stop - Archiver's.

Second stop was Gymboree. Third stop was not the Disney Store. Which earned me this look:

I took this by just holding the camera over Mackenzie. Which meant it was upside down, so I flipped it. She only climbed out of the stroller once today. Of course that was in Gymboree and she then proceeded to push the stroller around the store squealing with joy. Said squealing then turned in to shouts of "No! I want to walk!" when I put her back in.

Fourth? Sakkio Japan of course. One for lunch today. One for lunch tomorrow. Oh, Beef Teriyaki how I love you.

Waiting.

(Photo by Emma)

Posing while waiting.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the ugly on the way out. Emma was up looking at the rides and apparently forgot she had stepped up to get on the platform and therefore fell flat on her face when she walked off it. So she cried. A lot. Then she had to go potty. Then she didn't want to go potty, she just wanted to go home. Then she wanted her lamby and blankie which she didn't bring. Then she wanted her bed. Then the lamby and blankie again. She was tired. Then she wanted me to go home and get them. Well, we weren't going home because we were 35 minutes from our house and 20 from Grandma's. The crying continued all the way to the bathroom, during my running into someone I went to high school with, in the bathroom, to the car and half the way to Grandma's. She stopped before we got there, but it was short-lived. She started right back up a few minutes before we arrived.

All in all, she had to have cried for over a half hour. Awesome.

Mackenzie, meanwhile, was oblivious to it all. After lunch, she checked out the toy closet. Well, it's really the coat closet, but it houses all the toys. When I was a kid, I played in there. And not just me, friends too. It was like a clubhouse. A very small clubhouse.

Helping my mom on Facebook.

Then we went outside so the girls could play with Sophia next door.

Mackenzie sort of lost her pants.

Popsicles.

Sophia recently learned to tie shoes so she practiced on Emma. Until Emma decided she wanted Mommy to do it, that is.

Playing with Sophia's dog.

Mom on her laptop checking her photo order status.

Not long after that, Mackenzie was trying to wash her hands in the bathroom, slipped off the stool and hit her chin/mouth. She crying hard so mom handed her to me and I rocked her, trying to calm her down. That's when mom asked me if she was bleeding. I had no idea. She hadn't been when I took her, but boy was she now. Blood was pouring out of her mouth, and it was all over my shoulder.

It went through my cardigan, onto my shirt and then my bra strap. It came out though.

Mackenzie eventually calmed down, but my poor baby was hurting and scared and so upset. Once the bleeding stopped and she got a band-aid for her chin it went from being painful to a story she could tell everyone.

That crisis over, we headed to Tara's. Rachel did the girls' hair and they put on a little show for us. It was all of 3.7 seconds.

We brought the ballet outfits with us. They love them. Thanks, Beth!

This one was taken by my nephew Michael. I'm impressed he got them to put their arms around each other. So was he.

Tara and Michael.

My favorite pizza ever. Seriously, it is the first number I remember knowing by memorization. (I almost typed "knowing by heart" but then I thought 33-year-olds probably don't say that so I changed it.) And there are two people who work there who've been working there since I was a kid and when I call they just know me. I don't even have to give my name. And they always remember to give me extra sauce. I love Lu's.

Yum.

Mackenzie fell asleep between my sister's and mom's - it's 4 miles and was 7:15.

Emma did not, but pretended to and wanted me to take her picture.

I went to high school in the middle of a corn field. See?

We stopped to see Shelby at work. Not at a barber shop. Ice cream.

Daily belly shot. And Emma. Michael wanted to know why I took another of my sister's Midview sweatshirts. Remember the blood?

We didn't get home until after 8:30. I immediately left again to go to Kohl's and get Corinne's birthday present.

The end.