Happy Father's Day

So I think Chris had a pretty good father's day. He got to sleep in and then enjoy a lazy Sunday capped off with dinner at Blue Goose mexican restaurant. At least I really hope he enjoyed the day because he deserves a day to feel special and treated. He is so special to our family and we love him so much. I couldn't ask for a greater husband and father to our kids. I love you Chris! Piper's gift was some snuggle time with Daddy.

This was her happy chatty time in our bed this morning.

And the pictures are out of order again, but Bash created a scavenger hunt for Chris to find his gift. The first clue was in his card, then he went to the grill, the mailbox, the pantry, and the toilet before finding his new tree trimmer under Bash's bed. And I just want everyone to know this wasn't some pseudo-gift that actually means work, Chris had really been wanting a tree trimmer and after last week's storm he even went outside today to test out the trimmer and shape up one of our trees that was a little damaged.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

WE LOVE YOU CHRIS!

Technology Struggles

So technology is great, but it sometimes (or a lot of the time) outsmarts me. Some of you are so great at putting pictures with your blogs, but often my pictures are out of order with the story. So here are some pictures I wanted to put with the last post. And I must say I asked my husband, the ITS, for help, but he also couldn't figure out how to put the pictures in the correct order. He told me to write less or use fewer pictures, both of which I thought were bad suggestions, but I'm glad to know I'm not alone in my struggles. So enjoy the random pictures!

My beautiful, loving family
our little golfer

Bash's favorite reading spot

Piper and Sally

Two happy ladies

These next three pictures are a sequence of Bash jumping on the raft at Megan's pool. You'll have to look at the last one first and scroll up. Again - sorry for the picture order.

Piper resting after her first swim

Bash jumping over the spray from the hose

Bash's First Week

Sebashtian came last Wednesday and brought the bad weather with him from Lubbock. That night we were at Chris’ softball game when the tornado sirens went off and as we headed home we drove right into the storm. The sky was green and there was a ton of lightning, rain, and wind. We made it home safely, but had no power so we spent the night at the Fischer’s house. They were so wonderful to let us stay and hang out the next morning until we had power again. We lost two tree branches and found out that we need a new roof. So that will be the next update on the house.

We spent one afternoon playing with the hose. (It’s what you do if you have no pool). Bash was jumping the spray of water, it was pretty hilarious, and Piper wore her swim suit for the first time. We misted her with the hose and she was ok with it.

Sebashtian went to golf camp this week at the Tour 18 golf course. HE LOVED IT!!! Chris was so jealous! The best part was getting metallic titanium balls, some he won in putting contests and others he bought. He and Chris played a par 3 course and Chris thinks Bash is improving. I’m glad they have this hobby to share.

One morning while Bash was at camp, I took Piper to see our friends Rikki and Sally. Rikki and I talked for two hours straight, pretty much uninterrupted, which was so great to catch up. Piper and Sally spent a little time together both awake and happy on the blanket. Sally was so cute because she would hook her arm in Piper’s. Rikki and I want these girls to be best friends.

We went to Megan’s pool one afternoon to swim. Bash had a great time jumping on the rafts and floating around the pool. Piper took her first dip and was really calm in the water. I think she’s going to be a water bug, at least I hope so. Also Piper went to the church nursery this weekend for the first time and did great. She slept in the swing the whole time. It was so nice to be able to sit through an entire worship and sermon and be able to focus mostly. (I was thinking about her and worried about getting paged.)

Bash has also been reading a lot. He loves to do it, but we also got this great idea from our friend Jennifer that he has to read to earn screen time. So if he wants to watch a 30 min. t.v. or play the Wii then he has to read for 30 min. first. It was a family agreement on how to limit screen time and it helps balance out activities. Bash has read 3 books and today he’s been reading Harry Potter book 2 for four hours. It’s so good he can’t put it down. I love to see him read, he is really good at it so he enjoys getting his hands on a good book. I was just like him as a kid.

Since we’ve been hanging out with our friends, the Fischers, a lot Bash has got to play with his favorite dog in Dallas – Paisley. At Chris’ softball game he babysat Paisley on the top row of the bleachers.

2 month check-up

Last week we had Piper’s two month check-up. She’s doing great. Here are the stats:

Weight: 9 lbs. 10 oz. (25th percentile)
Length: 21 ¼ inches (10 percentile)
Head circumference: 38 cm (25th percentile)

She got her first round of shots and did well. I mean of course she screamed at first, but that evening just slept it off. She wasn’t really fussy at all. She has continued to grow on the 25th percentile curve so the doctor was happy. He said, “She’s just going to be a little baby.” My friend also told me that there has to be babies at every percentile, they can’t all be in the 90th percentile, so my Piper is just rounding out the curve. Honestly we’re not that concerned with her size, she’s happy and doing all the developmental things she should – being alert, visual tracking, head control and being able to raise her neck 45 degrees, smiling, and vocalizing. She sure does a lot of this – it has been so fun to hear Piper talk and explore her voice. She’s started to make these little screams that are so cute. Also she’s been starting to show fear. Loud noises have been scaring her and when she’s unsure of someone looking at her or holding her she now shows her scared face. She’s now eating 5 oz. She takes a good morning nap, but just dozes in the afternoon. Pretty consistently she sleeps 5 hours at night, sometimes longer, it usually depends on what time she has her bedtime feeding. We sure love this petite little girl God has given us to raise.

Her big brother Bash arrives today for the summer and we are so excited to see these two together!

Piper had such a great time with Grandma the two weeks I had to go back to school.

The two month pic in her lamb chair, she's almost too big so we may be doing a new pose next month.

This is the cool new hiking backpack from Randy and Donna. Piper already fits in it, but we're just not sure what her head would do if she fell asleep in it so we're waiting until she has a little better head control, hopefully she will before we go to Sea World because it'd be really nice to take the backpack.

It Happens

Well it happened after feeding Piper this evening, she had her daily poop. It's usually two squirts in the diaper, so after the two squirts I checked and it was all coming up her back so I quickly took her to the changing table. Her shirt was pretty soaked so I removed it before changing her diaper. Some poop got on her shoulder so I put wipes down on the mat before laying her down. I cleaned the diaper area and then lifted her up to clean her back. (I'm already thinking she should have a bath.) She was shocked by the cool wipes on her skin and peed all over her feet. She was officially getting a bath now, but I needed to wipe the dripping pee off her feet before moving to the tub and that's when she spit up all over her arms and my arm. She spit up again in the tub on my legs as I was dangling her under the faucet. So if there was any doubt before Piper has now officially christened me as a parent.

Two Weekend Update

We have had a great time with family and friends these past two weekends, such a great start to the summer.

Memorial Day Weekend – My family came to visit for Memorial Day. My parents and Mimi came Thursday night, and my brothers came on Friday. It was a packed weekend (as always when my mom comes and she and I decide to start a project). We started with a big trip to the grocery store to feed all the boys all weekend long. Then we went to the nursery to pick out plants, I’m finally starting to landscape the yard. It’s taken me a long time to formulate a landscaping plan in my mind for the yard. I’m not quite there yet since I know nothing about plants, but I have started some pots on the front porch and back patio. Chris took my dad and brothers to play golf on Saturday. They did some sort of switching partners game to equalize the talent, and Chris won. (They may have let him win.) Chris also got a grill. It’s really nice and cooks great burgers. On Sunday my cousin Kelly and her boyfriend Brian joined us for a cookout. On Monday my mom and I began taking down the border in the kitchen. The glue is making it really difficult, and to be honest I haven’t made any progress since my mom left, but I’ve promised Chris that I will eventually make the kitchen presentable again.

I had to go back to work on Tuesday. I started crying Monday night just thinking about leaving my sweet Piper. Tuesday was hard, but my kids at school were really sweet. Each day got a little easier. Chris’ mom, Clara, has been here all week watching Piper. I’d be late for school everyday if I also had to get Piper in the car in the mornings. Piper has been good for Clara, willingly drinking her bottle, even though the A/C has been out in the downstairs. It came back on for a day and is out again. Hopefully it will be fixed tomorrow. To make going back to work easier, our sweet friends James and Abby brought us dinner on Wednesday. Abby brought an amazing spread for building salads, it was gourmet!!! Also Piper got to have her first play date with their twin girls – Tilly and Ellie. Their twins were born last summer and having watched them grow from preemies it is amazing to see how far they’ve come and how well they’re doing. It shocks me that Piper will be as big as they are in a few short months. These girls have been so kind to pass on clothes to Piper. We put the girls together on the floor and after a minute of sizing each other up, the twins went straight for Piper’s hair. I think they’re jealous.

This weekend – On Saturday we went to Wichita Falls for my cousin Kelsey’s graduation. We missed the ceremony, but arrived just in time for food. It was great to be there and see Kelsey and the rest of the family. It was Piper’s first official trip in the car and she did just fine. We are planning on going back with Bash this summer so he can hang out with Garrett.

Today Piper got to meet a special friend – Miss Sally Claire Downing. There is a big story behind these two girls being special friends so let me explain. My best friend Rikki and I found out we were pregnant last August, both due in April. Rikki’s due date was April 6, mine April 11. We were so excited to be going through this stage of life together, but shocked that the due dates were so close because we didn’t even know the other was trying. Well my due date got moved up to the 6th because my baby was measuring big and ahead of schedule. Then Rikki’s husband got a job in Tulsa so she was scheduled to be induced on April 2. I started having contractions in the middle of the night on April 1, but didn’t go to the hospital until April 2 and Piper was born at 8:45am. Rikki had Sally later that day around dinner time. With the miracle of babies and how they can cause so many wrenches in the plan, it is amazing these girls were actually born on the same day, although Piper couldn’t share her birthday with a sweeter girl. The Downing family has moved to Tulsa so that’s why the girls just had their first meeting today, but they were so cute side by side. It was so fun for Rikki and I to catch up and sympathize with each other and what we’re experiencing with our girls. I am hoping Sally and Piper are life long friends like Rikki and I. They are going to have to get along considering how much Rikki and I like to get together to gab. And here are the pictures, what you've all been waiting for.

After her bath, with crazy curly hair, waiting for her grandparents plane to arrive.

Sleeping on my mom's shoulders, her hand is so cute grapsing the robe.

Hanging out with Uncle Craig.

The boys digging into the dip while my mom is busy cooking. This is pretty much what you saw all weekend long when you walked into the kitchen..

Chris' new grill!!!

Our patio with a new umbrella to provide some shade and ambience to go with my new plants. I have citronella on the table, bouganvilla and double wave petunias in hanging baskets, and in a pot by the window I have a double knockout rose bush.

In these pots we did vinca, sweet potato vine, and something tall in the back that I can't remember the name.

Piper's sunglasses

In the sling with mom, Piper has graduated to sitting up. This sling has been awesome, I totally love it and it almost always puts Piper to sleep.

What a precious smile! Piper has been smiling more and we love it. Of course she smiled at me when I got home after my first day back at school. She's such a good girl!

This is the sweet face I left Tuesday morning for work.

Her play date with Tilly and Ellie.

Napping on Great- Grandpa's belly at Kelsey's graduation party.

Rikki and I with our babies. She's holding Piper and I'm holding Sally.

Both of us trying to soothe the girls with their passies.

The birthday buddies!

Summer Movie Review

With the summer quickly approaching not only is the excitement of summer vacation building but the anticipation of the summer movie season is growing. I have recently seen a few movies so to keep you from wasting your money I thought I'd give you some insight on some of the movies I've seen. I've seen 4 movies recently so I'll just rank them from #4 to #1 (1 is best movie I've seen so far). I know it's early but it'll just be fun to do, so here we go.

#4) X-Men Origins/Wolverine - As an avid X-Men follower, I was somewhat disappointed with the action sequences and overall flow of this movie. The story of Wolverine is well known for any X-Men follower but this story really lacked the ferocity that comes with Wolverine. It was OK but I didn't walk out of that movie thinking that it was worth seeing again.

#3) Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - The fact that I have this movie listed is definitely putting my "Man Card" status in jeopardy but this movie was a surprisingly entertaining movie. It was funny and Michael Douglas played a role that gives us some insight as to how he could have ended up with Catherine Zeta-Jones.

#2) Angels and Demons - Great movie! Although I never was able to see "The Davinci Code" I was still able to follow what was going on in this movie. It was action packed and exciting and will be an enjoyable movie experience.

#1) Star Trek - I am not a "Trekkie" but this movie is the epitome of "summer blockbuster." It had non-stop action and included a few laughs as the traditional members of the original "Star Trek" were introduced throughout the movie. I'm am considering experiencing this movie again because it was just that good.

Til next time, catch a movie!!