rita j

this is my girl talia, she may hate me in about 13 years. just like i hated my mom and she hated hers. perhaps it's because i now have a daughter that i have a NEW respect for my mother.

she is the epitome of emily post....

"never wear white after labor day", "make sure the house is clean before chris gets home.", "what should we have for dinner?" before we've digested lunch. 

she knows how things should be done and shares it with whomever will listen...

"do your wash on mondays, clean the house on tuesdays, etc...", "always dust first and then vaccuum.", "when you do your dishes, start with sippy cups and bottles, then do glasses, then dishes, then the pans should be last."

we have been over the coals in the past few weeks (ahem, months). we have lived in pure chaos since about september. roller coaster the entire six months. we haven't had one ounce of boredom. starting with buying the house and now ending with talia being in and out of the hospital all week. (she had RSV-another story for another entry.)

how does this connect? well, my mom and i have always butted heads. i pretty much grew up bucking her "rules" my entire life. she just seemed to have SOOO many "musts" and i can't handle that. before talia was born, i realized how many rules i had made for myself. it was exhausting following them...so i started bucking my rules and it has really helped me define myself in much better ways.  

well, where does that leave us? my mother came down to stay with us for the past five days right after talia was finally discharged. i wanted some help but i was nervous about FIVE DAYS. as it draws close to the end of her stay, i realize that i don't want her to go..we did argue at times but i learned so much. even though i knew it before, it became clear about why her rules existed. everything has come full circle for me with what makes her who she is. we had always called her the best housewife in the world because she managed to keep our house in great running order but i didn't realize how hard she worked to do that.

she said something profound today...the baby was crying, max was hungry and begging/screaming for egg (he just wanted one), and i was in the middle of a project with max involving an iron (pictures to follow.) if she hadn't been there, i don't know what i would have done. it was so overwhelming...she said, hold on to your pants, 

"you have to anticipate everything your kids are going to want"

i hadn't been doing that. when she suggested "what should we have for dinner?" after lunch, i thought, "geez, we just ate. who cares?" then at dinner time, we have a snack til i think of what to make. PREparation...hmmm. what a novel idea!!

i feel changed. and like i said, i don't know if it's because i have talia now or what but i've decided to put away all my white pants and heels until the season changes. just to honor her a little bit more....for everything she's taught me...

funniest stuff in a long time

max has been saying some real humdingers lately...with the baby, i haven't had much time to post but two that he just spit out were...

we were doing a little "planet study" because he got some planet stickers. i went to a website to find the order of the planets, i had no idea because highschool was not something i took, hmmm, what's the word, "seriously" that's it....embarassing, i know, but true....

anyway, i was showing him the pictures and he never ceases to amaze me, he puts the stickers down and draws the orbits himself....now, the accuracy left something to be desired but...

me: ok, one planet left...uranus (chuckle, chuckle)

max: do you want to put a planet on the paper mama?

me: that's nice max thanks. 

max: you're welcome. where do you want to put my anus (he thought i meant your anus).

(i had to clarify because i didn't think it was clear.)

i almost fell off of my chair...it was hilarious...

he then wanted to play outside, it's really rainy and not fun in the snow weather...so he said

"i want to draw some snow angels. can i have that woodpen?"

"woodpen? do you mean 'pencil'?"

"uh, yeah, pencil."

these few weeks have been some of the funniest days...i'm trying to remember everything he's said but my pure exhaustion has caused some short term brain damage...will have more pictures soon....

milestones...if you will...

well, i have a million pictures to share and lots of info...but for now i'll be easy and share 2 milestones in talia's life...

1. she is now officially in 0-3 month clothes...i never thought the day would come...she woke up BIG today...all of the sleeves on the newborn clothes were too short

2. she has her first official cold, however, i think she's almost over it...my dear friend patrick called today and said "she's sick!?!? was she born without an immune system??" well, to that i say, "no, she just has been around a lot of kids in her short life and caught the worst from them." i refuse to stay in the house til spring...i just can't do it...

max had croup last week. that was his first really major illness. he has never really gotten sick beyond a cold...he throws up alot but it's all based on his unbelievably large amount of mucous. 

this "parenting two kids" thing is a lot tougher than i ever thought...

but in the now famous words of mcdonald's

 "i'm lovin' it"

pictures to follow soon...and can someone help me "doll up" my blog...advice please...

presenting...

talia eve bovard

december 31, 2008

7 lbs 3 oz

19 1/4 in

dearly loved

talia eve bovard

patrick called this week and said "you still don't have a name??" he apparently never checks facebook....for those of you who are in the same facebook free lives...we decided on the second of january...i just havent had time to post. also, im still having trouble uploading pictures. the files are too large. if you have an apple and know how to shrink files...let me know

should be sleeping

well, i should be sleeping right now but i have some untapped energy and a strong desire to share with you guys the events of our recent past. i am not going back to november 27 to get you all caught up but i will share some fabulous highlights...

december 12: my best friend since 8th grade got engaged to a great guy and she asked me to be the matron of honor in the wedding. i was thrilled and horrified. she said the wedding was THIS YEAR in august...ugh, baby two due this year too...lots of exercise will be happening in 2009 for me. i am grateful for a motivator...

december 13: our deadline to have the house complete. we have an annual Christmas party for a few close friends and chris volunteered for us to host this year as another motivator to get the house done. wow. for all intents and purposes...it looked done. A LOT was put into the basement. but the house was presentable...what a fun night. charades and lots of treats. great fun was had by all...

december 17: i am 3 cm dialated. flashback to max...dialated for weeks but nothing happens. also, the whole family is diagnosed with strep. we were all placed on different antibiotics...what a ride. 

december 18: surprise shower for me at work. two adorable outfits, lots of giftcards, and a HUGE cake...how thoughtful...and delicious

december 19: last day of work. great day...

december 23: max's christmas party at preschool, we decided to cut his year short because of my desire for the three of us to bond together after the baby comes....also, midwife says "looks like we're going to have a Christmas baby!" i don't get my hopes up...max was promised "any day now" for four weeks...

december 24: ten minutes before we leave for church, we find a LEAK in the basement. ugh! fortunately our neighbor is a plumber...we decide to wait til after christmas to bug him. we stay overnight at chris' parents house. fun time. this marks the beginning of max's rebellion against sleep.

december 25: super fun day! chris' parents super generous with christmas gifts and max really is really into it. he had a great day and an surprisingly grateful attitude all day. i crash on the couch at 10 and wake up to an almost empty house. everyone dispersed to family's houses and chris, bob, max, and i are left alone. i am officially nesting. i did all their laundry, cleaned the house, and made food. we had NO CHRISTMAS DINNER. i am a creature of habit and it was not quite christmas without sweet potatoes and pasta. so, we had leftovers. 

december 26: great day with my family. great presents for max. he was in heaven. however, we did have one glitch in the completely perfect day. max got upset and he started grabbing at ribbon that nina was standing on and she was slowly about to be flipped over...i had laryngitis and in my attempt to reprimand him, i screamed at him and literally scared the pee out of nina. she peed all over my living room floor. HILARIOUS!!! we were beside ourselves...

december 29-30: chris takes the week off but plans to go back for a short day on new year's eve, i pack our bags for the hospital, and we surrender the fact that they baby will come when she's ready...it doesn't matter how much we want the tax break. 

december 31: i wake up with contractions. i had been having them for several weeks but they were painless. 6am -12pm they were painful. call the midwife, time contractions, watch movies with chris, contractions stop....i am a wreck. call midwife again. she says just wait, this isn't false labor the contractions will start again. at 330, i decide we are going to the hospital. chris calls the midwife and she agrees with my decision to come in. she "checks me" and i'm 6 cm dialated. the day, even with the worst contractions, has not been that bad...so she says, walk around we'll admit you at 515. "ok, let's walk to the elevator, ride it up and walk on each floor" i suggest to chris. he says "no! we are walking up all the flights of stairs. we do, NO CONTRACTIONS just heavy breathing. grooossss! i get checked at about 630 and i'm almost 8 cm. WHAT!?!? i accept. so they admit me, and before you know it...i'm at 9 cm. this was not a painfree transition at all but better than i thought. then i stall out at 9 cm for a couple hours. contractions are back but not making my body change. i beg for an epidural and a cute man comes in and does it. that was at 1100 pm. at 1144 my mother -in-law says "you have 16 minutes til the new year." i yell, "get her NOW!" my room clears out and the midwife comes in. immediately i start pushing, she asks me to stop, i say i can't and one and a half pushes later, she was on my chest. so sweet...

that's all for tonite...but there is more...

sweet dreams

proud papa

at 1148 pm ______ ______ bovard was born. she remains nameless because we 

can't fully decide. we will inform you when we know. 

7 lbs 3 oz (1 full lb less than wells)

19 1/4" long (almost 2" smaller)

she's dainty...

and we love her so...

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...