the house...

things are coming along nicely...we are not done yet but everyday we get closer. a dear friend of mine has offered to paint the baby's room and it should be finished this weekend....that's really where we are...get that done and then i should feel a lot better. i have no pictures of anything mainly because i can't find my camera charger...AARRRGGGHHHH!!!. the two things i've been looking for are the charger AND the plate for the microwave...they are probably in an obscure box in the back of the garage...

keep praying....we're getting closer and closer...

interesting weekend...

we had a really great weekend!! friday night we went to see the light up night fireworks downtown with my brother and his sweet family...sasha is growing up so fast....we had such a nice breakaway from the monotony of unpacking...we went to visit the dinosaurs the night before so by the time saturday rolled around...we were ready to focus on the house. max played at granny's house all day so we were able to fly through a lot of the boxes and living room. we have pictures but i'm waiting til we are DONE to display them...

saturday, my dear friend, denise came down with her family and they all worked on our house til the wee hours of the morning...denise painted, the boys broke out the toys, and eric and i cleaned up vomit a few times...wells had about four or five trips to the potty to poop and he threw up 3 times...of course, i'm concerned about the blanton boys getting sick but denise wasn't concerned. what a saint...

then sunday, my sister had a smaaaalll second shower for me. she said that it's ok beause the gender changed and we needed some pink...and boy did we get some pink...super fun...wells did well when he was with his friends but when we arrived home, he was quite grouchy...he crashed early and now i'm being silly and staying up when i should be sleeping...not good...

click here to see the gift both sides of my family chipped in for....so sweet...

a conversation that i had today

my friend jen from work and i are entranced by the twilight series. i know it's sooooo bandwagon but i'm hooked. today we were talking about where you go when you die if you're a vampire...i said just into the dust because your soul is gone...she said she thought it was that they went to hell...this conversation started and i haven't laughed like this in awhile....

jen: "what would your personal hell be?"

me: "being trapped in a small room with a lot of pedophiles."

jen: "why? they aren't going to hurt you? what do you have to be afraid of?"

me: "because i 'hate' them so much. i can't imagine anything worse than being surrounded by sex offenders."

jen: "then never go to community basket in aspinwall...they get some kind of tax break for hiring sex offenders...it's like shooting fish in a barrell..."

me: (what appears to be complete silence but really is unbelievable laughter)

i'm so happy to work with some reallllly funny people...

in the midst of the chaos

i have been reading through my blog and it's been pretty ME focused...the goal of this blog has always been to update folks about our life but i wanted wells to be the focus. he has really dropped down the list....so here goes some FUN quotes from the kid...

"some kids say 'over therw' but i say 'over there'..."

while singing this little light of mine he laughs hysterically when we sing

"hide it under a bushel...NO!! I'm gonna let it shine."

also, chris' personal favorite...

"shine all over johnstown, i'm gonna let it shine." (vbs favorite)

"mop!! MOP!!" 

apparently a child in his preschool class yells this word when the teacher mops the floor. wells finds it hilarious so he too yells it, bringing much frustration to the teacher but absolute hilarity to chris and i...

"who's my biggity boy?"

"i'm not your biggity boy anymore...i'm just the big dog."

when i've been gone for awhile, he greets me with

"baby!! i've missed you!!"

and proceeds to lift up my shirt and kiss my belly

and some of our favorites...

"NO!"

"i'm not doing that right now!"

"mama, cool it!"

"daddy, you need to sit for a time out. i warned you already"

"you're making me crazy!"

(that one stung...i say that to him....ugh!)

these quotes are pathetic...he says such "doosies" all the time...i need to write them down more often...

why i love my new house...

this transition to a new house has not been simple. from the mortgage issues we had to the current sewer issue...but we love our house. we have been so happy here...it's been a lot of work but sooo worth it.

i have a lot of pictures to post but i can't find my camera right now...surprise surprise!! if i were catholic i would have (oops, i forget her name...ironic huh) the patron of lost items all over my house...but i'm not so here's my casual shout out for some help to the Almighty...

ok, i love this house because, it's easy to get everywhere. my big fear with "suburban life" was that we would be so far away from everything...we are about 10 minutes from the zoo...15 from oakland, and last night we went to IKEA and the drive didn't seem long at all...it's crazy...

another reason...i can do laundry all the time...i know sounds sucky but when you can't do it whenever you want....THAT'S SUCKY!!! we had a washer and dryer in our basement for a long time but no electric line hookup. they would laugh at me when i went into the basement....

max's bedroom is fabulous...we finished it last night. it's amazing. he loves it. kids are so hilarious because i thought it would be such a tough transition getting him out of our room...he was thrilled to sleep in there. now he did have a nightmare and woke up at 3 am but he was amazing going to bed. really strong....oh, i just love the crap outta him. 

the nursery is small and not at all done...but it's really cute. the ideas are in place and hopefully they will be implemented this week. our room is going to be left alone for now. we want to do something really fun but we don't know what yet so we're not rushing to decisions. the dining room is painted but not assembled. that shouldn't be too long and the living room is almost complete...the basement is good enough for now and the basement is slowly being emptied. 

it's hilarious because i didn't realize how afraid i was living in lawrenceville. i triple checked the door, checked the windows every night, and refused to shower at night unless chris was downstairs. two nights ago, i left the windows in the living room unlocked because i was cleaning them and forgot. we were on the second floor in lawrenceville, only a vampire could access them. now we are on ground level and i'm not afraid. 

not to mention we have great neighbors, a huuuuge yard, and more space than we know what to do with....it's been a good life so far....max is so happy, we are so happy, and our new pets are happy...more about that to come...

funny news...

chris and i were watching the end of terminator 2...and they were giving random trivia questions...they stumped us with...

"which actor was turned down for the role of the terminator because the casting agent didn't think that any audience would believe him as a ruthless, heartless killer?" 

click here for the answer

i felt the same way...i could never picture him like that...

we're in

i have some pictures of the new house to share...but my camera is dead. i'm going to wait until we are completely finished with the house to post them...we are really having a fun time...but woah, are we spending a lot of money...as much as you think that you are ready because you came from a house into another house...you still have dramatic needs. curtains, bath mat, new shower equipment, etc...am i complaining? no...we are excited to spend money...but ugh, it adds up quickly...

just wanted to let you all know that we were in and living here...please don't hesitate to stop by and visit...we would love to have visitors...just be prepared...it's not done yet...

today's the day...

i woke up at 430 this morning, ready to start the day. apparently, i'm the only one that motivated. my mum, sister, and chris are all KNOCKED OUT!!! we went to sleep at 12 am which was about 3 hours earlier than i anticipated. so that was great! we painted the house last night, living room and dining room. tomorrow am, we can't start until 1 pm to move bc of MANY things out of my control, ugh, i hate surrender! so chris, his mum, and bekah are painting max's room. i'm up, so i'm heading to walmart to get some more boxes....that is the actual reason we got into bed so early. not enough boxes!! i had NO IDEA we had so much CRAP here...

yesterday, i bought a little treat for our new home...as i was walking into the store, i got a FRANTIC call from our realtor stating that our money had not been wired to the lawyers, so the check they wrote to the seller was not going to clear. chris was at the house painting and didn't have a phone....the realtor had said, tell chris to stop painting...it's not your house yet. ...after, melting down on the couch and being saved by a friend who happened by, an hour later, everything was resolved. 

this has not been an easy 40 days. i have complained, whined, not cried much, SHOCKINGLY, but i am reminded of someone else who suffered for 40 days, to a much worse extent than this, and am comforted in knowing that in the midst of our hard time, He is there.

growing up, my mom had "footprints" the poem (?) on our wall and i never read it. it looked so retro and i wasn't interested...when i finally read it...i memorized parts of it...and now 20 years later, ugh can't believe i can say that about my own life, i hold tight to that. "no, my child, it was then that I carried you." i can honestly say, that these past few weeks, i know that i was carried.  

as we come to a close...

we are definitely closing on friday. well, i should say....it looks much better than it has i feel as though i would like to briefly share the struggle that has been our existence for the past two months....

• we were pre-approved for our mortgage on july 31
• we looked at a billion houses and the one we finally chose, we had seen in our second night out
• we made a bid on the house and found out that night, that the program we had been selected for had been cancelled. we would now have to come up with $x for closing costs. that is not a lot but it's $x more than we were told on july 31. driving home, my sister broke down and in the span of an hour and a half, waiting for a tow truck,  our alternator went. ($x later...) not to mention the $x we had just given for "hand money" for good faith on the mortgage.
• accepted the bid after some haggling we went through the crazy 15 day rush to get this, that and the other done. 
• everything was completed but with the credit crunch, the simple paperwork become super complicated and quite arduous....
• then we plan to go to IKEA one night and our brakes went!!! it was the worst grinding you've ever heard....(X million dollars later) we still haven't made it to IKEA...
• the day before closing, we realize we can't close yet but now have to wait one week for a last minute issue. 
• chris in the midst of the chaos found out he had two stress fractures and is forbidden to run til january and that his bank was boughten out (that was for yins locals) by PNC...thus placing his future at the bank in jeopardy...
• now here we are closing, painting, and moving in two days...

many tears have been shed, mostly by chris :)...but it's over. we are moving to a great house. and His faithfulness is new every morning and we are living in sheer grace right now. overwhelmed and horrified but dearly loved...

"today i consider myself the luckiest (wo)man on the face of the earth"

i have never been more proud as a mother, person, or woman in my life....

it was an all day struggle....

...it just finally came out.

...max dropped the kids off at the pool....

more news

well, it's been a really stressful few weeks for us. for those of you who think that this buyer's market means "easy like sunday morning" closing remember that we are also in a mortgage crisis. it has not been an easy few weeks for us. paperwork, changes, emotional rollercoasters, etc...well, it has all come to a head today....we got our final approval and will close next week. we were originally supposed to close tomorrow. however, for reasons that are way toooo complicated and incredibly boring, i'll spare you the details, we are now closing next week. 

also, it is important to mention that our beloved "cockageah" may be lost forever....we can't find him anywhere and are desperately hoping he was accidentally packed in a box....he loves this bear...it was a gift his first week of life and he has loved this bear since he was born. we always kept him at home except for transition times to a babysitter...well, we broke our own rule, and we fear he may be gone....please pray for his safe return...

probably my most favorite quote came from wells tonite....

"what do you want to be for halloween...a cat or dinosaur?"

(i found both cheap...cat last year...so cute)

"i don't want to dress up"

"max, do you realize that you will score lots of candy by looking cute and begging for candy?"

"ok, i'll dress up like a big boy and wear gutchies. people will think that's cute...you do."

TRUE AND TRUE

one

this U2 song has been playing in my head all weekend. 

i have always been surrounded by U2 fans and always LOVED them but was not die hard....

after this weekend--i'm hooked. they don't need to release anything else...their old

stuff is sufficient for me...

more hilarity

we have been crazy for about two months. we've had colds on and off. we made the bid on our house and it was accepted and now...we close in a few weeks, um, well, ten days. it's been wild. i haven't posted many pictures lately, so here are a few of this past weekend. wow, what a weekend. our brakes went all of a sudden on saturday and it cost a fortune to replace...it was rough....but we used public transportation on monday while it was getting fixed and it was quite a ride...we really enjoyed it. we definitely enjoy our car more...

making muffins with daddy...

first day on the potty and the day i hurt my back...this is his bear "cockageeah". he named it that a few days ago. it was crazy...so sweet...

playing with his matreshka doll (russian nesting dolls) a gift from olg...that hat is a size 3-6 months...what? how does that fit? it does fit though...so cute

barrel full of monkeys cheater...

my inlaws have houses being built in their plan and sometimes we sneak on them when no one is working..he loves it soo much...

we had another ultrasound yesterday everything was good. she is growing soo much. max finally asked the question that no parent wants to hear....

"how did the baby get in there?"

...gulp...

"the things i say because my mama is a therapist"

i need to share some of the recent comments from my son who is clearly being raised by someone who is overly concerned about his emotional IQ...

"mommy, i'm really mad at you right now."

"why?"

"because i asked you for some more chips and you told me that i was all done. i really wanted more but you said "no" and it hurt my feelings!"

"when the new baby comes...will mommy still love maxy?"

"caleb bit my arm and that was NOT nice. he made a bad decision"

watching national geographic kids, there is a video that has a bear trying to catch a fish swimming upstream,

he said "c'mon bear. you can do it. don't give up! keep trying...."

these are a few i could think of but i had a looong list earlier today....so funny.

it's underwear day!!

i never thought these two sets of words would come out of my mouth...

 "thank GOD for elmo!" 

and 

"wells peed on the potty!!"

we have had quite a ride with the potty training. i vowed not to get stressed out about it...however, last christmas, nina got this potty training video...i remember my sister telling me that she intercepted it from max's gifts so i didn't feel like our mom was pressuring me to get him trained. i was grateful for her doing that because i may have felt bad...like i should have been more "on the ball" with his bathrooming...well, this summer came and went and he was NOT READY. the main thing that stands out to me is his screaming bloody murder when i pulled underwear out of his drawer...he hated it. two weeks ago, he screamed when i put his underwear on OVER his diaper...yikes. again, not ready...all of last week, i would casually mention that saturday was underwear day...he didn't EVER respond to it...he said nothing at all when i brought it up...finally on friday, my sister in law said "is tomorrow 'underwear day'?" she said max had told her that....without fussing...so we went full steam ahead. 

saturday morning came and i took off his soaked dippy and threw it away. i put on the underwear and he said "i'm such a big dog now!" (chris calls him big dog) and we set the clock for 30 minutes....the morning was flying by, we watched elmo's video about the potty....30 minutes really goes by quickly...at about 1030, i bent down to pick something up on the bathroom floor and turned to get max to lift him up and SNAP!!!!! my back "went out"...i wanted to cry sooo badly because the pain just SHOT UP my back and i couldn't stand up....it was terrible...that being said, he decided that was the time to pee on the potty....we were so excited...we both laughed and screamed...it was so exciting. we called chris, he was golfing, and he was so excited too..

he has only had two accidents, that really were my fault...i should have let him use the potty before i did...but i'm almost 7 months pregnant...i really had to go...and then one time the first day after his nap...not bad huh??

im finally on the mend from this back thing....i was such a jerk at work yesterday...i can't believe myself...today was a bit easier...tomorrow i go back to the chiropractor...should be a lot better tomorrow morning...

also, i need to tell you about my sweet, sweet son...he asks to pray several times a day. he loves talking to God. it has boosted my prayer life dramatically. he prays for the baby, he thanks God for construction trucks, and he prayed for an ambulance the other day and thanked God the lights weren't on...meaning everyone was safe in the back....what a babe!!

i'm so proud to be his mum! 

working in middle school...

i work with middle school students all day. this is my second year doing that...i LOVE those kids. they are such a neat, amazing, HORMONAL group of people...that being said, articles like this, baffle me more than ever now. the maturity level, in my opinion, could not allow attraction. these poor students are being abused by their teachers in the "name of love" and it's forever distorting their view of relationships. the woman in the aforementioned article said, "We (translation "I") didn't see age anymore...in my mind he quit being a teenage boy...to me, he was a man." this inspired chris to say "it doesn't matter what she saw....what matters is what it was."

OK not profound...pretty obvious...but it immediately caused me to log in and delete my quote at the top of my page from anais nin..side note.....i LOVE her. she has amazing quotes and as we have been contemplating names...that one is a lead dog (a-NYE-iss) but i hesitate because of her "other writings"....questionable at best....granted that does not determine our daughter's future buuut....in ASL when you name a child they say "is she named in honor of" (rough translation but more accurate than "named after".) BACK TO THE QUOTE...it was "things are not as they are but as we see them"....it sounded a little off to me but i still liked it...i chose the route of perspective instead of realitivity...chris hated it...so NOW i see clearly why....

that was a huuuuge ramble but i had to get it out before i got ready to see my MS kids...

some pics of the new house

here's the house 

living room

dining room

bathroom

backyard...

we close on october 24...anyone willing to help us? calling all friends...food, drinks, beer, etc on us...just lend us your backs...i can't lift anything heavy....so anyone who is willing...please let us know...

love your pet without loving your pet

short tirade....

just when you think the world cannot possibly get any more bizarre you read a story that completely changes your paradigm of normal human behavior. . .

i just read a story about a woman who is going to be serving 15 years to life for not helping when her ferocious dogs mauled a woman to pieces in her own apartment, she actually had the nerve to say that her neighbor should have not been carrying groceries and then pushed the dog's head out of her crotch when she walked past them....she had over 70 bites to her neck and body and the owner did nothing to stop it...i am in shock right now. there were so many irrelevant details in the story that have forever changed my view of people and their pets...


if this offends you in anyway...forgive me and blame it on my hormones...they are out of whack...i just spent 25 minutes doing the dishes and crying....about what?? i don't know...just standing in the silence of my kitchen sobbing. i'm over it...now i'm just disgusted...

a moment of peace...

max is sick...he has a double case of pink eye, a never ending dripping, running nose, and he is GROUCHY!!! he is such a typically pleasant child...with the exception of 

"No! I'm not eating my pancakes" (inserts pancake into mouth and chews) "

or

"No I don't wanna put my shoes on" (as he's putting them on)

or 

(my personal favorite)

"No...I don't want any ice cream. wait, mama yes I do."

that is tolerable for the most part, typically we just ignore it. but when he's sick he whines everything repeatedly and he wipes his nose on my arm and tells me that "I don't love you today mama." (thanks for that sweet children's book from the library! when i remember the title i'll warn you all!!!) it can be slightly overwhelming. especially since i don't feel super great today myself and i have to face the daunting task of collecting some papers that we needed last week. ugh, its tough to depend on other people. i'm tired. it's beautiful outside and we are all congested and inside. tonite we are doing something fun-ish. like drive past our new house and long for a month from now when we'll develop carpal tunnel from signing papers and becoming official home owners....

generally speaking aside from this yucky sicky time. we are all doing well. max is having a much better time at his biweekly preschool and he has been having the time of his life when they listen to music and dance. i got him the most fabulous little bag that looks like a dumptruck, to the average human eye, but he is quick to inform you that it is "actually a site dumper." 

the difference...i don't know but it's definitely big for him...

chris although still hating the bank is making the necessary moves towards graduate school in the fall. he wants to get his MFA in creative writing/poetry so he can teach on a college level. it's such a process to get through but he's doing it...he's writing some good stuff....i'm going to post one of my favorite poems of his called "i wanna be in a bar fight." it's fabulous...he also, has started running again. for those of you who may not know, he had a stress fracture in his shin for about 2 months now. he was suffering a lot but still averaging about 30 miles a week running. he also was biking to work so it was becoming increasingly more painful. well, he's almost healed and back to running again. he's so happy...

as for me, the control freak can not delegate any responsibilities about collecting papers for the final work...so i'm exhausted from it and frustrated with myself for not sharing the load better with chris. i'm starting a yoga class this week. i gotta get rid of this stress better. that helped so much with my pregnancy with wells. so hopefully, that'll be a good solution for me now too....

well, there's my "christmas letter" written in my moment of peace...i just wanted to let yins know what was going on...boring mostly but positive....

i wonder if i write this for you guys or more for myself....i feel better....

creeped out...

i'm deleting our home post...sorry. i'll put up more pics later. i got wigged out having that up with our address...it's 6 am and i'm over paranoid...

when it rains...it pours....

i think i forgot to mention in my last post that it was raining the entire night while we were waiting for the tow truck...i think i caught a slight cold...just kidding. i know it's a virus.... :)

yeah, so this is starting out light but gosh...this weekend went from bad to worse-ish. we qualified for closing cost coverage for the house. we were supposed to only have to pay about $1000 for the entire closing because we didn't have a lot of savings. well at the end of the week with freddie mac and fannie mae being "bought out" by the government....we lost our deal...the government closed all those perks down two weeks earlier than planned....so rough. so we signed papers on a house and had to figure out about $2500. ugh!!! hopefully that is solved now but YUCK!!!. that almost did me in completely....

then tonite, we left too late from dan and erin's house. max was pooped but refused to crash...he was exhausted. i ALWAYS get off in oakland to get to our house....ALWAYS!!! but not tonite. i try to be adventurous and try a road that's been closed for several months. it was open but we got half way up bigelow blvd to find about 3 miles of backed up traffic. we left at 1000 and got to the traffic at about 1015. we sat til 11....a tree had fallen on the road and penndot was trapped about four miles behind us....so a group of men went and broke the tree into pieces so we could get through. max was sweaty from his meltdown and exhausted...when we were about 20 ft from the tree, a man decided to help a broken down car and stopped in the one available lane blocking up miles of traffic for about 5 minutes to help....i got out of the car and men were screaming obscenities at each other so i stepped right back into the car....we gave max a quick bath and now he's in bed....we are all bushed and i can't wait for this ride to be over!!!

it is not only figuratively raining but i'm assuming that it will soon be literally raining...thanks ike for the gas prices and all the memories that will haunt me tonite till i fall asleep....

a day in the life

we received word at 3pm that our offer was accepted for our house. we are now further along in the process of becoming home owners. very exciting. the house is terrific...a bit out of our price range but isn't that to be expected in our "keeping up with the jones'" mentality...clicky here for full tour...

just kidding...our mortgage is slightly above the joke house's taxes....but hey a girl can dream. we got a good deal on a great house. the neighborhood is great. safe, lots of toddlers, quiet street. very cute...we love it. we looked at maybe 40 houses and this one always stood out to us....the kitchen is blah but the yard if fabulous...we are excited....

driving home from the realty office, bekah broke down on the highway. we parked behind her and waited over an hour for AAA. during that time, the natives were definitely getting restless and our nerves were wearing thin. chris was quiet mainly because he was supposed to camping and this was setting him back considerably....during our wait, the honda just STOPPED RUNNING!! we had to call a tow truck too....now i can laugh but those two tow guys who showed up were in shock...my in-laws and christian saved us...so kind...i'm exhausted now but i really wanted to share my whirlwind of a day...

huge housewarming party in december...i hope...

innocent request

initially i was wigged out by the sitemeter but now i'm intrigued...new orleans, seattle, korea....i'm totally curious about WHO is reading/skimming/stalking our blog...

please leave a comment on this page when you read this entry....i don't care who reads ours...i just am dying of curiousity...

leave a note, where your from and if i know you....chris and i are completely awestruck...

more for me than you

since i was 25 years old, i have been instructing parents on how to improve their parenting skills. i have an advanced degree in child development and years of experience in behaviorist approach...yet somehow none of this prepared me for parenting. don't be alarmed i love max more than life itself but today was one of our WORST days ever.

we went on a hike today. he was hilarious, he kept running really fast and then kicking his shoes off to get us to laugh. it was funny until we asked him to stop because he was getting into big rocks and we didn't want him to get hurt. he started crying and throwing a fit...we ignored it and he calmed down. then we decided to go home and he didn't want to walk...he wanted me to carry him. so we spit water on him and he calmed down...(we tend to non-traditionalists). we get home and he insists on sitting in the dark playing with his trains. he didn't want lights on. fine. then it was too dark and we wanted to sit in the living room....melt down number 2....

we then, started making dinner. chris made it and i played some games with max. he was in a great mood. he loved the pumpkin game from his highlights magazine. so we had a great time. i offered him some yogurt and he melted down again. who knows why?? ignored...

meltdown at dinner, bath, brushing teeth, and bed time....he got no books tonite...i explained his wasting time...and he said "tomorrow i'll listen and not be naughty." unbelievable. ugh, i could have thrown him out the window if he wasn't so dang cute.

he had a long nap but a horrible night sleeping last night...so all's forgiven...it's all good...i'm alive and so is he...

hilarious morning...

it goes without saying that the morning that you can sleep in is the morning that your toddler decides to arise at 330!! he didn't have a nap yesterday so he crashed at 630. fortunately, he is well rested and we were struggling...now i'm awake and so far so good, i'm alright.

this morning some of the funniest things ever happened. max laid with us in bed and he really wanted me to "hold him", meaning my arm resting over him. he was doing well but couldn't fall back asleep. my mind just started wondering about our house...i thought he was asleep so i started to doze off. he wasn't asleep at all. if i moved he would say, "mummy, hold me." so i would. eventually, this became exhausting...finally, i said, 

"max go play in your room." 

"ok, but i'm bringing the baby." 

"that's fine. just be careful"

(he loves "taking the baby" from my belly button and playing with her)

"ok, mama. i won't drop her."

"read some stories in your bed" 

"ok, i will"

(i hear him reading and doze off. about 30 min later he's upset trying to calm her down)

"oh no, she's starving. what do i do? i don't have milk here. oh, no, mama, she's 

crying because she's so hungry. oh my goodness, what can i give her? she's staaarrving"

"max, get her bottle in your toy box"

"she doesn't want it....and i'm hungry too. starving actually" 

(we come downstairs, he wants to carry her down the stairs, i tell him that she needs to ride in my belly down the stairs. he holds my stomach the entire way down.)

"mama, she wants some crunch, i mean i want some crunch, she want's some milk"

(i sneak to the bathroom and hear the refrigerator door)

"oops, i hit the baby with the milk. sorry baby."

(i come out of the bathroom)

"i hit the baby with the milk"

"is she ok?"

"yes, but she is starving"

i wanted to laugh so badly but he was so serious, i didn't want to laugh in his face. 

i'm so glad i was awake for it...

my sweet boy...

today we celebrated pop-pop's birthday. i was helping to serve pie and icecream. so i was the last one to be served. i took pie to chris and dan and while i was gone, i heard max say

"francine (granny), please give my mom some pie and ice cream."

what a babe...

one broken nose

i have so many pictures to post but i need to upload them....i'll do that tomorrow night....however, it does need to be said unfortunately without photos, to spare some dignity, that max spent part of the evening in the clinic....because he broke granny's nose. he was playing on the couch and fell forward onto her face. clean break...snap right down the center....i can't believe that i haven't broken my nose with a few of the headbutts. she was his first broken bone...

I asked him..."did you apologize?" he said, "uh, yeah, three times. she said it was an accident and forgave me..."

big exciting news...

for those of you who don't know or don't remember....bekah was kicked out of nursing school one year ago because she failed two classes. this is sooooo unlike her but we all thought that she was stressed out because of single motherhood and the fact that nina had so many health problems from birth on....little did we know it was because she had a brain tumor...her main doctor wrote a letter stating that her tumor was in his professional opinion a direct cause to her brain dysfunction that caused her to fail out of school. so last week we found out that the school allowed her to come back this coming june. she will graduate with her RN in december 2009....when she failed out of school last august she was set to graduate in december...the tumor was found in january but had been there for probably at least 10 years even though it had only been problematic since june of last year... so, we were all back in johnstown to celebrate her big news and for labor day. johnstown has an annual folk fest that is fun to attend but always slightly reminds me why i wanted to move away...pittsburgh would be perfect if we could just get my parents down here....

so much to say....

I haven't posted in a while...nothing significant at least....i must say that i love reading blogs. i check them daily and am quite disappointed when nothing new is posted....that being said, i'm not a crazy stalker like my husband thinks. i just love it...well, nancy (formerly kuhn) FREAKED ME OUT with the sitemeter. wigged out!!! i am in shock. i signed up and was completely horrified that i have looked like a complete stalker...as i get over that...i should resume blog searching again...for now, i'm going to cool it... :)

secondly, wells started pre-school this week. first day he was fine. he adjusted very well to being away from me. he was thrilled to see me and chattered on for a long time about  his day. "i had so much fun mama. I played and colored and sang songs. i can't wait to go back..." Day 2--he was odd all morning and fussed a little bit.  he threw up at lunch...wow did he love telling that story. "i don't have shoes because i threw up on them at lunch." or "i threw up because i was too nervous and fussy today at school." wow....day 3...he was great!! he loved his day and apparently he was yelling and dancing during the dance class saying "I LOOOVE these songs. i'm so happy." he was in a great mood. 

lastly, school is going well. i miss my boy but i think it's going to be a good year. i'll post more later...i'm really going to get better about this....i love reading about everyone but i love sharing info too....

reunited and it feels so good

max stayed with my parents and bekah/nina for three days this week so chris and i could wrap up the house search at night. we hopefully will make a decision this tuesday but no guaruntees....

i called many times a day because i missed him dearly and he would barely talk to me because he was having so much fun. i was bummed but i know that bunna and poppy's house is a lot of fun...we love coming to johnstown...we like going home too though...

so when i saw him last night, we were equally thrilled to see each other. i cried so hard. i didn't realize how MUUUCCCHHH i missed him. i knew that i did but when i saw his sweet face...it hit me...

so we are reunited again and so happy. this morning it was just like old times. he refused to apologize to nina after he pushed her down and had a time out....for about 10 minutes because of his refusal to cooperate with the apology...so old times....

we had the BEST conversation when he woke up today...he loves talking into my bellybutton to the baby. today sounded a little bit like this....

"hey baby. hey baby! come out and play!"

"maxi, she needs to grow more. she's way too small too play with right now. she'll be out soon."

"baby keep growing. i miss you. i want to hold you...(he rubbed my belly and pretended to pull out the babythrough my skin) oh, baby, i love you. (he then rubbed the "baby" on his cheek) ok hug mama and then it's time to go back in and grow."

two weeks ago he told me

"i know that the baby will come out of your fingers when she comes"

i'm so glad that he stated that instead of asking....

first day of school

every year, and i mean EVERY YEAR, my dad has given me a "back to school" pep talk. (julie, let me know if those quotes are unnecessary...it just felt right :)

i have a mild anxiety before the first day of school. through elementary, he would come into my room, give me a power pep talk and then again in the morning. throughout college, he would call the night before. and even into graduate school, he would call just to reassure me that i wasn't foolish for being anxious.

so why did i work at a school? i still have the same anxiety. it must be something related to the long break and then the readjustment to a different year. if you work all year, then you don't even realize any kind of transition but having two months off...ugh.

my greatest joy is that my school year is going to be three and a half months. this baby is going to dramatically change my year...YEAH!!

ps i looove wpsd and my co-workers. the kids are some of the best people i know. i have a great job and an amazing supervisor...i have a terrific office. everything spells out perfect situation....but i miss max. all of those perks don't add up to jack if measured against him...i have to trust that this is my calling and i am important to them...

pictures of our weekend

seriously could he be any cuter????

what else would he wear on his beloved erin's wedding day???

they threw their fighting ways aside and loved each other allllll day at the wedding. max walked out with chris and nina walked down the aisle with me...it took the "all eyes on me" pressure off....when i got to the end of the aisle, he reached his arms out and she ran into his arms and they hugged and he said "nina, nina. i love you." thank God for tension breakers....

i'm framing this one...

she was as cool as a cucumber...no stress at all...she said "i'm just a little nervous because i know that dan is...if he wasn't i think i'd be completely fine."

she was the most beautiful bride i've seen in a loong time...she glowed all day...

what a weekend...

since last week on tuesday, we have had a crazy week. we've been running around like crazy getting everything ready for erin and dan's wedding. no one in the history of time has invested more of themselves into planning a wedding, than erin. no stone was left unturned. erin was a gorgeous bride and dan was so handsome and was so happy. the wedding was at beulah church in churchill and the reception was at PNC park. it was perfect. we had a great time and max was awake until 130 in the morning. (we had some last minute pictures on the field at midnight!!) he didn't throw one fit or shed one tear...he was great. he did knock out the second his carseat was buckled...when chris picked him up he was like a ragdoll. 

saturday morning we got up early, thanks max! and went to chris' parent's house for brunch. then max and i had to crash for a few hours and brave chris went golfing. they played 19 holes and didn't get home until almost 9 that night. we had a great time with the bindewalds, carolynn, callahan, and my siblings with kids. we played at the park and then went to dave and erin's for dessert. if we hadn't napped for 3 hours, i doubt that night would have been much fun for us....

sunday we had church after our huge, hostile congregational meeting last week. wow. i have never been a part of something that tense. but...it's over now and one week later we can discuss it with less emotion...that's a different story for a less public time...

we met up with denise, eric and their three boys again. we went to the science center and out to dinner with my in-laws. so much fun. 

the most fun news was i got lots of girl clothes yesterday. denise surprised me with a bag of girl clothes from children's place (all summer stuff for next year--she never gets to shop for girls so i'll reap the benefits of that :) and francine, chris' mom, loves to shop and loves girls so we got a full gap bag for the baby. it was really fun to see what our sweet little girl will be wearing next swimming season....

yes, i'm awake at 630 am. who knows why??? this pregnancy has been so different than max's pregnancy. nothing horrible but sooo different. one similarity would be nice---if the steeler's could go to the superbowl right after her birth....that sounds good.....

i'll post some wedding pictures and i have some MAJOR stories about what happened before the wedding...it was an interesting time getting ready that morning....it's never easy to be pregnant during these times....but it really was one of my most favorite days ever with chris' family....

it's a girl...

we had our ultrasound today and everything looks good. she is an active baby. we have to go in for another ultrasound to get a full picture of the heart. but it's fine with me...i love seeing that black and gray screen....

the hunt is on

we got pre-approved for our mortgage, met with our realtor, and started a budget. 

we are officially entering the homeowner's world. 

we are hoping to find a house and move in to our "dream house" in 60 days....

pray hard...

PETA--where do i sign up?

i am so glad that you guys checked out CAKEWRECKS. i think it's the funniest thing i've seen in a long time. i laughed til i cried...that being said...i have a cried-til-chris-made-fun-of-me youtube video that i found today. i cry each time i watch this...hormones, maybe....

some background info....these two guys raised this lion from birth til he became to big to live in their home. they introduced him to the wild and went back to visit a year later. they were told that he had acclimated to the wild very well and that he would not remember them. just watch this....

clicky here please

for the full story click here

fun times with an old friend

my friend denise was in town last week and we got together with her and her sons. max is about 3 months older than her twins, silas and donovan. (don't be angry, fellow pittsburghians but he is named after donovan mcnabb.) also, her older son brady was also along for the ride. anyway, we went to kennywood on thursday and then to the pool on friday. the robl's (her parents) have some hot connections at kennywood so the day was free and free. you can't beat that with a stick so i thought i'd return the "free" favor with a free day at the pittsburgh public pools which we have passes for. i like to go all out for old friends....

this is silas. he's very cute but not too happy on this ride. 

this is donovan and brady...

boys are all the same

max loves running so it was great having a pal to run with at "down time"

my water baby at schenley park

little family shot...hope bufe doesn't mind the twins playing with barbies...yikes.

cuuute...

apparently silas loves karate.

is he bufe's twin or what???

i have noticed my beloveds that we all are not posting very often. for some of us it's been MONTHS, some two weeks. i have become addicted to reading about your lives...even for those folks i talk with regularly. i miss your updates.  please find time...i miss your blogs...

i don't know if it's just because i'm tired....

i have tears of laughter POURING down my face right now. i have the shoulder-shaking, eyes soaked, snot running, quiet laughter of my college days. you know that laughter. the kind that you can't explain but something that was said hit a spot inside you like nothing you've ever experienced before. i have had so many experiences like that. mostly in college and beyond. (why do we take ourselves so seriously in highschool...seriously there are so many things to be laughed at during that time)

anyways, i woke up at five o'clock this morning (better than four) when i heard the pitter patter of small feet in my room. i had forgotten to put up max's gate. anyways, i heard them and then he didn't come over to my side of the bed or anything like that so i thought i would check on him. he was sleeping soundly on the floor (not uncommon).  i laughed in spite of myself thinking, "wow, i made that up." i turned around and he stood up and walked over to me. i held him for a few minutes and the laid with him on the floor and he knocked back out. incidentally that was enough to wake me up. so i went downstairs and cleaned up the house from a wild playing spree the night before.  

then the best thing in the world happened. i opened the computer, went to carly's website and found this link....i just stopped laughing about 10 seconds ago. please, if you have any sense of humor clicky here....

max wellington zane bovard

well, i know that everyone has a personal bias towards their own child but honestly, without any at all....i can tell you that i have the funniest child ever. 

he has been amazing us with his communication these days. he started talking when he was 18 months old, he said NOTHING until he uttered the word "wall" one lovely day last summer and really has not stopped talking a day since. he wakes up and instead of yawning or acting groggy, he proceeds to tell me about what his plans for the day are or what he "dream-ed" about last morning (we're still working on timelines). he is hilarious.  

tonite, stacy called and said that she had surprised us by stopping over to see us after vacation and waited a half an hour on our porch. we unfortunately had been at chili's with chris' family and had missed her.  i told max and he was bummed out. he said " i really wanna see stace."

so we had him call her.  naturally we only heard one side of the conversation....

"stace. i want you to come to my house. nooo, we can't come over there. you have to come to our house. what? is your phone broken? are you talking? i can't hear you. i think we need to get you a new phone. stace. are you coming over? i wanna see you stacy because i love you. are you laughing? you are laughing. you are funny. ok all done, it's for you daddy." 

i took the phone and stacy was laughing and tearful. he is so sweet. 

chris was walking down my parent's stairs today and was carrying really heavy bags trying to persuade us to hurry and max, in true toddler form, was lolly gagging down the stairs. now, in my experience, trying to rush a toddler only causes the adverse to occur. they become slower....so without pressure, judgement, or criticism i ask max "do you want me to holdya?" he turns around looks at chris who is redfaced at this point and says "daddy. cool it. i need to get my shoes on!" we all cracked up because often times his little toddler fits are dealt with by us telling him to "cool it". ahhh, the statements that are thrown back in our face....

this sparked a story from chris' dad this evening....chris was about four when his family uprooted to new mexico for a job for his mom. his dad started pharmacy school when they were out there and was studying around the clock when he wasn't working at one of his two jobs. so chris' interaction with his was limited due to time constraints but chris being who he is, never misses anything.  apparently, chris told him mom one afternoon that he was going to study. he then proceeded to sit down at the kitchen table and yell "dammit, dammit" while pounding both fists on the table. 

in closing, i would like to say that i have some amazing pictures to put up of my family but i don't have that much energy at 407 am. why am i awake right now you may be wondering??? this is typical second trimester behavior for me. i don't sleep well. i wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed at about 330 most nights. so i thought i'd post something here. you'll probably see this time on my blog a lot now....

hope you are all having sweet dreams....

back to the beach

the last time we were at the beach with my family, i was pregnant with max. we used to come every year but since i had grad school for three years and bekah was in school last year...this was our first family vacation for a few years. max has been a little sheepish with the ocean but he is L-O-V-I-N-G the sand. we are having a great time. nina and sasha can't get enough of the ocean. sasha just runs into it. the babies are hilarious. so much fun. yesterday was beautiful. it was overcast today but we got LOONNGGG naps. we needed it because we woke up so early on saturday and stayed up so late. so it was fabulous to have free time. we are having fun and hoping this week lasts forever....

bekah got her staples out today and she bought a really cute wig. i'll post pictures soon. 

the beach

we are headed to dewey beach, de on saturday morning. this is our first family vacation with babies...it should be interesting. all three are at good ages for the sand and water. we are really excited. christian, christopher, and my dad are especially excited for the pizza. we have vacationed at this spot for many years. we stayed in the same place (we mostly stayed in the second villa from the left) for many years and now we are moving to a bigger house type place. i'm not sure exactly what it looks like but i trust my parents.

not too much to report with us. bekah is doing well and we are all raring to go.

of course, everyone is bringing their laptops so i'm sure i can share some pictures while we're there...

here's the surprise

BRACE YOURSELVES....

SHE HAD ENOUGH OF PATCHES BEING SHAVED...

THIS JUST HAPPENED YESTERDAY

THIS WAS THE FIRST SCAR...OPENED TWICE...

fun summer pictures

sweet sassy molassy

my saucy sister corrected me....SHUNT....not shut....

at last....

bekah had her final shut put in this afternoon. she is going home tomorrow. praise the Lord. i can't wait to spend time with her outside of that "sterile"/dirty environment. today was a beautiful day in pittsburgh....we had such a great day!! we went swimming (my most favorite activity in the whole world) with all the kids and olya. i got some great pictures!!! also, i'm hoping to have a surprise picture tomorrow to share....hold on to your hats....

more info

at 1030 my dad called and said that the surgery never happened because her white blood count was high. soooo, no surgery. she will have it on wednesday if they can't figure out the source of the infection...i'll keep you posted...

keep praying

bekah just called. she's having surgery at 715 to place another shunt. we are supposed to go on vacation soon. she is desperate to go and we, of course, will not go without her!! so this may be the solution to her seepage issues. 

we've been holding up alright. that seems to be the big question. you guys have been so great with check-ins and everything. thanks...

on a light note....yesterday i hugged bekah so hard when she was leaving for the hospital that she said she felt a gush of fluid from her incision. 

KEEP PRAYING!!

like father like son

i was checking the weather on the computer and max was trying to get my attention. he grabbed the rag that i used to clean up after we painted some pictures and shoved it up the back of my shirt. i screeched because it was cold and he laughed his head off...then in true chris fashion, he saw that the fan was on and threw it into the fan. he's been trying to do this forever...today it happened. he almost (actually did) pee(d) his pants. it hit the blades and flew onto the curtains....he laughed harder than i've ever heard him laugh....so priceless....

how's that carly??? now you have to worry about both of them.....

funny story

i forgot this story that happened the last time i was in johnstown.

 i threw a load of laundry in my parent's house. chris, max, nina, and i were playing in the living room and my parent's  were out. 

max went to get his sippy cup and said "mama, what's wrong with the kitchen?" 

i said "what do you mean?" 

he said "there is water everywhere on the floor. i was splashing in it." 

we jumped up and found several inches of water on the floor and suds were everywhere. long story short. it took almost two hours to clean up the soap. the lock on the washer wasn't working and it kept gushing open and spraying bubbles everywhere. it was exactly the same situation that mike teevee's mom went through in charlie and the chocolate factory (the original) when she was sloshed with soap on the wonka-car. max rubbed my back as i held the machine shut through the rinse cycle. 

some more classic comments from wells:

erin (sis in law and chief babysitter) was questioning him several times about his poopy smells coming from his diaper. he apparently just had wicked gas...

erin: are you sure you didn't poop max?

max: no erin, (very frustrated) i think you did...

mama: max stand up. we need to put your shorts on...

max: stand up, stand up for what you believe in believe in believe in God. He's the one to back you up. He'll stand wif you, He'll stand wif you. 

(classic veggie tales song)

daddy: do you want a sister or a brother? 

max: a sister named nina. 

max: nina's crying

mama: why?

max: i pushed her down really hard.

mama: why did you do that? 

max: she took my turn away from me and then

she took my train so i hit her.

mama: go sit for a time-out

we going to the beach and it's gonna be so much fun!!! (jumping up and down)

lets go see bekah in the hospital. i miss her.

i told him to say "bye poppy" (to pop-pop) 

he said snickering "bye poppy" and started laughing so hard 

because it was the wrong person.

he has so many classic things and i feel like this smattering is a such a disservice to his multi-dimensional communication....

keep praying for bekah. 

she's sprung another leak...

we are all in johnstown. we came in last night and this morning bekah started leaking again. so mum and bek are headed back....please pray. she may get a lumbar shunt....ugh. 

sick obsession

a week in pictures

nina's hair gets "picked out" every morning. i went a little overboard. 

the end result...

isn't she the sweetest little thing...

this hat was a gift from granny (chris' mum) and clearly she didn't consider the recipient's huge head. so...

so chris tricked it out. now he calls him gilligan. but he looks really cute in it. 

best friends...worst enemies.

this isn't the best picture of them but you can see the scrape on max's chin and nina's shiner.

both occurred unrelated to the other. max fell and hit his face on a cement bench and 

nina fell down the stairs. 

they hurt each other often but tend to not leave any marks...