lazy monday morning

Oliver and I spent the morning catnapping, snuggling and giggling in bed together. 
Its been busy around here lately so it was nice to just hang out for a while with no pressing responsibilities and sneak in a little extra rest.

Toby was there too but he was mostly just napping

The only thing that would have made it better is if Aaron had been there too...oh and maybe if someone could have brought us breakfast...

for my husband

There are some things I'm kind of guarded about. Personal feelings and emotions that I try so hard to keep out of the social media realm and public view...sometimes maybe too hard. 

So on our 4th wedding anniversary I'm letting my guard down.

The thing is Aaron, I love you a thousand times over.

I know I don't say it enough or always let it show, 

but you are my best thing.

Happy anniversary my love. 

For all of the everything and nothing that we've had and will have together I am truly thankful.

I love you forever.

"Earl opened Mooch's gift.

'There's nothing here,' said Earl.

'Yesh!' said Mooch. 'Nothing...but me and you.'

So Mooch and Earl just stayed still and enjoyed nothing and everything."

Let's See Where This Goes

There are two ways to approach inconsistent blogging.  The first is to apologize with something like "Sorry it's been so long" at the beginning of each bi-annual post.  The other is to ignore the lapse in text but acknowledge it by posting a collection of Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, and Memorial Day photos.  I prefer the second option, since it at least allows you to enjoy some pictures.

Actually, it hasn't been that long (Oh look, a third way: denial).  We have been keeping ourselves busy though.  For one, we've gotten back into the summer viewing routine.  So far our list of must sees includes Burn Notice (a cooler James Bond) Leverage (think pint-sized Oceans 11), and Falling Skies (Independence Day/War of the Worlds), the latter being a new entry to the summer rotation.  In non couch potato news, I've been spending one evening a week getting my exercise in a local beach volleyball league.  Our team is improving (we won only one game during the spring season) but we still have difficulty closing.  I mostly blame the fact that we're playing beach volleyball in 90 degree heat.

Obviously, the big event of the last few weeks was Jordan and Alli's wedding. As expected, it was amazing.  A lot of work and a lot of fun led to quite the day/night.  Evidence in the form of pictures below.

You can guess how many L of moisture we wrang out of those clothes.

Obadiah, Jethro, Abraham, and Samuel
(Actually, the yellow ties would be way too bright for the Amish)

Oliver finally got to meet Dave and Kim!

After the festivities, we relaxed with two backyard cookouts, courtesy of family and friends. 

Overall, lots of Kan-Jam, burgers/hot dogs/chicken, and cold drinks. To top it all off, we went to the library yesterday and I picked out my summer novel (Bridge of Sighs, Richard Russo). Life is good.

Look!

Look back...
I have a confession to make. I watched Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, and I liked it...a lot. It's an awesome story and Justin Bieber is a super talented kid who gets to work with some pretty great people. It's a documentary that will inspire you and might even have you humming "Baby"...just ask Aaron :)


Look out...
News flash I love this baby! And not just because he's already saying "momma".

He's wonderful and I love spending every day with him. For the most part it's all smiles and giggles and I could not love him more! He's really loving his cereal now so we'll move on to some veggies soon. 

Also, his new favorite toy: Solo cups. Minutes of entertainment!

Look forward...
A few exciting things to look forward to in the coming weeks. Alli and Jordan are getting married! I can hardly believe Aaron's youngest brother is all grown up and ready to start a new life with his lovely bride to be. 

little Jordan and big brother Aaron

when we first met he was a sophomore in high school

Uncle Jordan

Something I'm most looking forward to is our beach vacation to the Outer Banks with my family. 

The last time we were there was in July of 2009 right before we headed to another brother's wedding.

I can't wait! I love the beach and I'm especially excited to be there with my family and take Oliver on his first vacation. Sunscreen and hats for everyone!

And he makes it two for May!

Given the obscene amount of time I have not had for sitting at a computer, I'm proud that I am somehow managing to squeeze two blog posts into a single month.  Award, please.  In an effort to avoid a monthly "this is a list of what I've done since I last blogged" routine, I'm going to let you in on what I'm looking forward to this summer.

(1) Oliver eating solid(ish) food.  We tried that today and the results were...well...not for the faint of heart.

(2) Jordan and Alli getting married!  Memorial Day weekend was an awesome excuse for all 10 of us (+2 dogs) to collect in one place for 3 days.  From the hour long game of Signs to the cookout by committee, I enjoyed every minute. Naturally, we're excited to see everyone again in July--and to finally need one less air mattress!

At Logan & Emilie's Wedding

(3) Leaving behind the ridiculous end-of-days weather. The past 4 days notwithstanding, the latter half of May seems to have been one giant severe thunderstorm.  We lost power twice--always fun in a new place.  Monday, the power was out from 7pm to 3am.  Not too bad.  Go to bed early, walk around with flashlights/candles, hope you've shut off all the lights that were on before the power went out so they don't all come back on at 3 am., etc. Wednesday, however, the power went out at 11:59pm, not to be seen again until  2pm the next day. We realize this isn't especially terrible, but we did find it ironic that while we sat idle without power, the mailman delivered a box of 6 complimentary CFLs...from our power company. 

(4) Taming the outside.  The joys of home ownership are abundant. The joys of maintaining the home one owns, not so much.  Last Friday we finally got a fence installed on the side of the house.  Thinking this would now contain Toby, we let him out for some outside time.  One hour and a frantic hunt later, we found him wandering in the woods well down the road.  We have since wired in the bottom tier of the deck and done some other dog-proofing work around the house.  As you can see, we have not, however, deer proofed.  

Our next big task is to figure out why one portion of our yard continues to earn the nickname "The Slough".  Even recognizing that we've had two months of near record rainfall, we're still a bit baffled by the marshy conditions and persistent muck.  Fortunately, the best minds I know are mulling over potential solutions (thanks, Mom & Dad).  

(5) Summer tv.  We watch tv.  It's our outlet for decompressing after a long day and quite frankly, it's often entertaining.  With our fall/spring network standards on hiatus, it's back to cable with new seasons for Burn Notice, Leverage, and our new entry Franklin & Bash.  Of course, we'll miss favorites like Parks & Recreation...

Bye, Bye Li'l Sebastian indeed.  Hello summer.

late night rhymes

diddle diddle dumpling my son john

went to bed with his stockings on

one sock off and one sock on

diddle diddle dumpling my son john*

*apparently whoever first taught me this nursery rhyme was misinformed because it's actually about trousers and shoes not stockings and socks...thanks google but sometimes i'd prefer to stay blissfully unaware.

Seriously, April 12th?

You'll never guess whose turn it's been to blog...fail (apologies to those of you who find "fail" annoying and overused).  In keeping with my penchant for blogging in list format, allow me to share some of the hits of the last few weeks, in pictures!:

(1) A weekend visit to Indiana. We headed home for a wedding shower and get to enjoy some friends and family.

Pictures of Mark and Oliver seems to drive a lot of comments, so I'm hoping for some "oohs" and "aahs".
Can't remember what was on...

Oliver loves visiting because his grandpa tempts him with solid foods. He also gets to be fed and carried around by a different person every time, which has got to be better than always staring at my chin while eating.

Oliver was really much happier than he appears.

We also got to visit with our friends Steve & Jolie and Jason & Courtney, among others.  Steve, Jason, and I met up at Starbucks with Oliver during the wedding shower.  Helpful hint by the way, if you're starved for attention, throw a diaper bag over your shoulder and carry a baby into a coffee shop loaded with college students.  Everything you do for the next 25 minutes will be a combination of cute, adorable, and inspiring--as in random college students whispering: "I want a baby so bad."

(2) Gold Level Membership.  The personalized card is in the mail. The dossier that multiple "behavioral marketing" firms are keeping on me has probably been updated to include: gullible, status-conscious, addicted to coffee.

Yes, I'm proud to keep the engines of capitalism greased and running.

(3) Easter weekend in Pennsylvania.  When we have a long weekend, it's "Wagons East!" So last week we packed up the car and headed out to central PA for a 4 day weekend with Jath's family.  Wild swings in the weather kept us inside for much of the weekend, but we did manage to make it onto the back deck Easter Sunday for a family picture. Other events included Mystery of the Abbey, Stocks & Bonds, Things, Identity Crisis, and Tiger Woods Golf.


Toby spent most of the weekend realizing that even at the grandparents' house, he's no longer the most popular member of our family.  He was, however, grateful for the sun.

(4) Sleeping in the basement...an hour at a time.  Although nothing on the level of Tuscaloosa, we've had our fair share of severe whether around here in the last couple of weeks.  On one evening, we even had to get up at 1 a.m. to take Oliver and Toby down to the basement.  Jath had made up a nice rest area complete with flashlight, dog bed, laptop, and pillows.  We were only down there for an hour and half--the storms were moving fast--but Oliver seemed to enjoy himself; Toby, not so much.

At the front door!

(5) Our biggest news of all: We Bought a House!!!  I know we've already announced our escrowing on a place a month or so ago, but as of Friday at 1 pm, we were officially in debt up to our eyeballs homeowners!  We spent Friday afternoon, all day Saturday, and this afternoon at the house painting.  Thanks to babysitting and trimming services from our intrepid friend Robin, we were able to finish Oliver's bedroom and the hall bathroom.  We also managed to get fencing estimates from three fence contractors and discover that our garage door opens really...really...slowly.  Our mission for the days before we move is to paint a couple more rooms, have a few things fixed, hopefully get a fence in place for Toby, and maybe install a ceiling fan.  Overall, we're just excited to do all those things without having to consider whether they will come out of our security deposit.

Anyway, the guest bath is painted and ready to go, so come visit!