Terrified beyond belief

Last night was a horrowing experience that I pray we never have to live through ever again. Hadlee has been teething for going on three weeks. When she teeths she cuts a minimum of 4 teeth, sometimes gets an ear infection and always runs a fever, and it lasts for what seems to be ever! I was in the Boro at an Arbonne training and got a text from B asking me to call him. HAH wasn't feeling well when I left, slight fever, but doing ok. When I talked to him he was concerned and on his way to my parents w/ her ~ temp 99, snoring w/ eyes open, in and out of it and then sleeping very soundly. I told him not to worry, everything sounded normal, she'd had a rough day, etc. Fast forward to 12:41am. We're all sleeping after the tornadic winds and storms came through (all's well 'cept for one little magnolia). I'm in bed w/ all of my pillows (6 to be exact) and B and HAH are in the living room on the couch and big chair / ottoman. I hear Hadlee making a choking type noise and ask B if she's ok. We both race to her and she's having a febrile seizure ~ complete convulsions, eyes rolled back into head, no color, non responsive, fever (102.7) ~ SCARRY. It's litterally the most freightening thing we've ever seen in our short time as a family. I call 911 while he dresses to see what we should do. The operator is doing her best to calm me down and get me to make the decision to either wait for an ambulance or for us to take her to the hospital... HELLO! I'm 28 years old, 37 weeks pregnant and my 19 month old is having seizures, white as a ghost, and completely unresponsive ~ can you PLEASE make the decision for me???? We get in the Expedition and head off, closest hospital is 5 miles away... not the best care, but still, it's a hospital. B is actually DOING THE SPEED LIMIT!! GO FASTER! I call my parents (did I tell you I'd been having regular contractions for several hours and that Jack's bag is packed? They finally stopped around 4:30 this morning.) who come and pray, sing, and help pacify Hadlee.
We are all there for a little less than 3 hours. It takes Hadlee a while to respond to anything... finally they do a Tylenol enema and that makes her cry.... THANK YOU LORD!!! MY BABY IS CRYING! They do numerous tests, x-rays, poking, prodding, and give an overall thorough exam. Doc says it's an ear infection and gives her a shot and anitbiotic and we go home. Follow up w/ pediatrition this morning who does much more testing... including a cathetor ~ not Hadlee's favorite thing and gives us more statistics than we ever imagined. He was great. HAH does NOT have an ear infection, but white counts are high, must follow up on Friday morning. Give us a NEW antibiotic and tells us to throw the other one away and to keep a close eye on her and to treat fever immediately w/ meds. (I'm just not sure I could do the Tyelnol enem thing. )Turns out B and his mom both had seizures as well and it's definitely an inherited gene. She has a 33% chance of having another one. They are not know to cause any brain damage or affect children in any developmental way and will stop sometime b/t the ages of 5 and 7.
All the clothes an objects that entered the hospital have been through the washer or diswasher and HAH is playing downstairs w/ her Daddy. We've all had a rough day and are trying to re-coup. Keep us in your prayers!

ThE eNd Is NeAr!

Jackson will be here is just under 13 days. Monday, April 16 around 7:45 a.m. I will NO LONGER BE PREGNANT... just a mother of two children under 20 months. Ain't no thang... right??!??!!!

The emotional roller coaster (along w/ losing brains cells everytime I blink) is alive and well. If I can actually go for more than 12 hours w/out crying it's fabulous!

My daughter is so stinkin' funny. Last week B was in some other state, oh wait, just Memphis (which for those of you who are not aware is directly above the geographical center point of Hell), and HAH slept through the night in her own big girl bed for the first time EVER!!!! (She's been in it since the week of Christmas). Mommy decided that sleeping was more than worthy of a strawberry sundae from Sonic and a trip to the park. My friend Tricia pulled up in front of us and decided to join in on the celebration. We were happily playing in Toddler Town when Hadlee looked over at the zip line where a few big kids were playing and of course asked "THE" question, "Momma, z'at?" My ever lowering braind cells could not put together the words "zip line" so I said, "I don't know Hadlee, it's just a play thing." and waved my hands at it. At this precise moment Hadlee gave me a Mae Anne look (chin down, eyebrows together, mouth in a slight pout, hands on hips, head cocked at a slight angle) and then ROLLED HER EYES AT ME!!!! What the heck??!?!?!?! This child is 19 months old ~ SERIOUSLY???? Tricia was just rolling. That CAN NOT be a learned behavior, it's definitely a genetically predisposed tick of some sort... at least that's what I'm telling myself, just to feel better. :)

Ok, nap time is coming to and end and my blatter is being used as a trampoline so I'll end here. Keep us in your prayers! I am supposed to stop taking my Terbuteline (the med that stops labour) on Thursday so JMH could be here earlier than expected... but that just isn't going to happen. Mommy has plans! :)

Have you hugged your ribs today?

Appreciate your body people!

Wednesday morning I was getting ready for work. Everything was going according to schedule. I was drying my hair and as any woman w/ fine hair can tell you, I had my head turned upside down to try to add body. When I sat up I heard "crack, crack" and thought I was going to pass out and die from pain. My ears started ringing, I was sweating profusely and had tunnel vision. I called for B to help (like 5 times b/c I have larengitis, he was sleeping and I was in INCREDIBLE pain!) and after dropping HAH off at Gramma and BooPaPa's went to the closest ER... note to self. Don't do that again, go further down the road and try not to get there at shift change. After filling out the paperwork and sitting for what seemed to be years we were finally granted an ultrasound of the rib cage (cuz pregnant women can't have x-rays). I have a hairline fracture in one of my ribs and it is crazy how much pain that causes! The ER "doctor" wouldn't do anything for me other than tell me to follow up w/ my OB. She gave me Tylenol w/ Codine. I love her. Codine is my new BFF! I've also got a "highly contageous virus" so I get to go through a z pack and take cough medicine w/ something in it that makes me very sleepy.

Functioning in life has taken on a whole new meaning. I've only worked one day this week and plan on going back next week to finish up the quarter and get grades posted. Then I believe my maternity leave will officially begin a couple of weeks early!

Please, hug your ribs and enjoy being able to go to the bathroom w/ out having to take pain medicine before hand!

Love,
Your broken and bandaged bloggin buddy.

43 days and counting...

Until Jackson McCullough Hale arrives. Yup, we're near the finish line!

Earlier this evening B, Hadlee and I went to Target and registered for "duh behba" as HAH says. So, feel free to buy my son and little sumthin' if you wanna. :)

We were out of school Monday and Tuesday for the flu so I took advantage of the days off and painted Jack's room. Well, technically, just the bottom third of the walls, but it's beautiful if I do say so myself. We still have to get chair rail to put up but it's coming along! I'll post pictures... maybe one day.

I am nearly positive that I have either a broken or severly bruised rib. I've had a horrid cough for the past 2 1/2 weeks and can constantly feel one rib in particular. What the heck??!?!!??!!? It's bad when you can injure yourself w/ out rhyme or reason!

This week my principal and I found someone to take over my position during my maternity leave. I couldn't be happier w/ the decision. Holly did her student teaching w/ us back in the fall and I asked her then if she was interested but she was planning on being in grad school full time. Her aunt is the lead reading teacher and we were talking the other day when I found out that her plans had changed. I'm SO glad she's going to be in my classroom while I'm out. My goal is to make it until Spring Break (the first week of April) and be off until next "fall" (July 30). Keep your fingers crossed for us, huh?

B and I are in the market for a full sized 4 door truck. Got a favorite? I think he's leaning more towards the Dodge Ram than any other. I don't really have an opinion, I'm just ready for the purchase to be made and over with.

I was looking through a test prep book at work the other day and one section is actually entitled "Fixing Punctuation". Is TN the only state where "fixing" would be in a grammar and reading test prep book put out by the state testing agency? :)

Ok, my feet are hurting cuz I'm standing at B's laptop in the kitchen on tile floors so I'm gonna end for now.

Happy weekend.

So, like, there's a "new" blogger?

Ok, it's really been a while since I posted. Things are flowing here in the Hale house hold. Hadlee will be 18 months on Wednesday and we have 9 weeks and counting (or maybe even less) until Jack makes his appearance into this world.

This pregnancy has been less than ideal... I was on bus duty a few weeks ago w/ contractions that were 3 minutes apart. Two doc's visits, tests and a couple of days of bed rest later and pre-term labor was ruled out. So I just have to get through the Braxton Hicks (Hix?) and live w/ the constant pressure, pain and uncomfortable state of things for 63 more days. Have any of you had to live through the FFN test(the test which determines if I'll go into labor in the next two weeks)? I've had it twice and get to endure it for the next two or three visits. Frankly, I'm miserable and on the verge of asking to go part time at work... Lord willing the wallet will allow for such a luxury!

Enough complainaniting. Got any advice on getting your nearly 18 month old to sleep through the night in her own bed? She was doing a fabulous job until a few weeks ago when we encountered her first ear infection (first time on antibiotics and the whole shebang). Since then she's good to go until about 2:00 and then one of us sleeps w/ her (usually B, b/c I just can't do it during the week). We haven't a clue as to what to do to get back into that beatiful 9:00 to 7:00 routine. Believe me, we're wide open to suggestions!

Jack's room is coming along. I got a beautiful steal on his bedding when Pottery Barn Kids put last year's designs on clearance. I got everything for $125!!!! Happiness exudes!

I reckon that's 'bout it for now. I'll try to go less than 2 months b/t updates. Happy Valentine's Day bloggies! (And just for your viewing pleasure... Hadlee's first major hair milestone ~ pigtails!!!!!)

Seriously?

A few days ago we went to see the good lady who runs the ultrasound machine at Dr. M's office. I was, of course, expecting for her to say, "It's a girl"... in my family that's all that my generation seems to be capable of having. BUT, much to our surprise there were boy parts showing. loud and proud! I made her show me several different times, just to make sure. Completely shocked, I was! So the week of April 16 we'll have a son. His name will be Jackson Somthing or Other Hale and he'll be cuter than c-r-a-p. (I try not to say that word on a regular basis anymore since I'm a mom and all, but I'm sooo not above spelling it!)

Hmmm, in Hadlee land all is running, talking, laughing, putting together sentences ("I see Chico. What is that? I want that.) and taking apart anything that looks remotely put together. She is a force to reckon with! Anything red and white is "Danta". I thought she was a genius in her Santa sightings until she pointed to my dixie cup and said, "Danta, Danta, Danta." Then I picked up my seriously deflated mommy-ego and said, "Good job, Pud! Way to correlate red and white with an internationally adored symbol!" No, that's a lie. I couldn't say anything at all. I just stared and shook my head. She is incredibly into animals, esp. cows, ducks, dogs and horses... which just so happen to surround us in our rural life. When the cattle across the street come by to peek in our kitchen windows HAH just about goes into DT's mooing at them. It's super funny! When I ask the Pud if she's ready to be a big sister to baby Jack the answer is always the same. "NO!" At least she's not indecisive?

"Danta" is bringing big girl bedding to Hadlee. Which means an incredibly large amount of moving furniture and boxes for B and me. We're moving the nursery furniture into the current guest room and giving HAH what was my grandparents' first bedroom set as a married couple. Hadlee's big girl room and Jackson's nursery are going to exude Pottery Barn Kids. I also plan on adding some incredibly cute paint details to both rooms, but it'll have to wait for a few weeks. Christmas break is only 2 weeks long! Pictures may or may not be posted in the next millenium.

B is really enjoying being a real estate agent... anyone need a referral? We can hook you up in a millisecond! I'm doing well w/ my Arbonne business and am hoping, praying, and crossing every joint possible that I'll be able to stay at home or only teach part time next school year. I REALLY enjoy teaching, esp. 8th graders ~ we work well together on most occasions, but I can't imagine a greater gift than to be able to stay at home w/ my babies and soak up as many moments as possible.

My digits aren't exactly keeping up w/ my brain signals right now so I'm going to stop. Hopefully I'll be able to post again before next year. If not, Happy Holidays and many blessings to you all.

Life

Who knew that being an adult would require so many decisions... many of which are not fun in any way?

Brandon and I have been faced w/ so many life altering decisions in the past 5 months. When we went on the vacation from Hell in July to Pawley's Island (we'll never again go to SC by choice, bad things happen to us there) he was laid off ~ on a business trip! We've been through many different emotions since then and once again are faced w/ big decisions which will affect our lives and the babies for a very long time. Please keep us in your prayers. I'll update when we know what's going on for sure.

In baby land things are progressing. To be completly honest, I've not been at all excited about this pregnancy in any way... until last Monday. We went to my new OB for a regular check up. I had to see the nurse practioner (sp?) and she couldn't find the baby's heartbeat. I didn't get worried b/c I can feel her (yeah, I really think it's another her) moving around. After about 15 minutes she went to get another doctor, who in turn couldn't find a heartbeat either. We went to the ultrasound room and she turned on the machine and we really got to see the baby's features for the first time. No gender check, simply making sure there was a heartbeat. Her profile is identical to Hadlee's. It was really neat, and uplifting to finally get over feeling guilty about not being excited about the new baby.

WOW! Confession IS good for the soul!

I've been having horrible headaches over the past few days. So bad that they move down into my jaws and are nearly debilitating (can you tell I'm teaching vocabulary?). So today I called and scheduled a consultation w/ the local chiropractor in order to get in to see the massage therapist. My insurance pays for an hour massage a week. Can you imagine setting that much time aside for yourself?!?!?! Holy Moses ~ what an idea!

Just four more days until Thanksgiving Break ~ an entire week to be w/ HAH, sleep until 7:00 (hopefully), and try to get bedrooms ready to rearrange. We're putting HAH in a full sized bed and setting up the nursery around Christmas for #2.

I'l leave you w/ pictures of our ladybug. She was too cute!

Happy Pumkining

We've been quite busy lately... And it looks as if, w/ the holidays rolling in, it's only going to get busier. I just don't know where people get the energy to do so much!

Tomorrow night is the much awaited 8th grade Halloween Costume Dance. I'm going as Mrs. Goth America. Pink bridesmaid dress, black hair, lips, nails and eyes, tiarra (borrowed from a student who loves me!), and a sash to boot. Hadlee gets to join me as a chaperone (or however you spell that word). She'll be the cutest little ladybug on the dancefloor! I'll post pictures sometime before her wedding day.

The pregnancy is going ok. I was going to a doctor that I was less than thrilled w/. If only my wonderful Dr. Bullard wasn't two hours away... sigh. So I get to change doctors and am joining a group where I'll see someone different at every visit. I just hope that my doc is all about scheduling the c-section a week or two earlier than my due date. I think I'm 14 weeks along at thins point.

I guess that's all the ever-so-exciting news for now. Thank you for stopping by, all 3 1/2 of you who read this from time to time. L8r.

Music to my ears...

Two words: FALL BREAK!

Thank the good Lord above for time off to spend at home relaxing, cleaning, organizing and visiting w/ friends. The weather is beginning to change, as well as the leaves. I ordered HAH's Halloween costume (Thanks SG!) and it'll be here in a few days. We're heading to the local pumpkin patch, corn maize, and petting zoo on Friday w/ friends from our core group ~ it's going to be wonderful. I hope you get to enjoy time off soon too!

In the news: Brandon is now officially an affiliate real estate broker for Keller Williams in Murfreesboro!!! Yea Honey, we're so proud of you!!!

Baby Update

It's officially due April 26, and I'm 7 weeks along instead of 15 (YEA! I'm not one of THOSE women who didn't know that she was pregnant until the delivery!!!) We saw the little buuterbean, heard the heartbeat (which was 138 ~ my sister is already saying it's a boy.) and saw that all looks good. The timing is just wonderful. I'll teach up until mid April, right after TCAP testing is over and say GOODBYE! Hopefully finances will work out so that if I return to teaching it will only be on a part time basis. God is good, life is great, Hadlee is screaming.... gotta jet.

In the news...

Finally!

We had Hadlee's first birthday party this past Saturday. It was so much fun! Just a small gathering of close friends and family for a cookout, splish-splashing fun, a super cool butterfly pinata and a great ladybug and butterfly cake. HAH got some really neat gifts. One inparticular that her daddy and I are quite excited about....

Her last gift was a t-shirt that read: "FUTURE BIG SISTER, FEB. 2007!"

How 'bout them buscuits??!?!?!?! :)

Happy 1st Birthday Hadlee!!!

Happy birthday to my sweet little beach bunny!!! It's so odd to know that an entire year has gone by; each day bringing with it numerous joys, laughs, and even a few tears along the way. You are such a blessing to Daddy and me. We love you sweet Pud. You are my sunshine, my angel of the morning and my special gift.

Here.

Here, a word I heard a minimum of 56 times today. Our two hour registration day was this morning. I'm beat. Sitting in inservice meetings, anticipating an entirely new (THANK YOU GOD!) job, getting to know the little in's and out's of a different school, system, subject, prinicpal and fellow teachers. It's all a lot to take in... As well as trying to get my Arbonne clientelle and business builders up and running. (Seriously, anyone want some samples? I can SOOOO get them to you ASAP!!!)

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Things on the personal/ family end are looking up. We're adjusting to the new swing of things and waiting, hoping, praying, praying praying, hoping. It'll all come out in the wash I guess. Whatever is meant to happen will and we'll adjust and move on. Thank you for your prayers.

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My little Punkin Doodle is going to be one in exactly 11 days. I'm just not ready to saddle that horse yet. She's cutting teeth like crazy, 6 at a time for now. Poor baby. In between the pain she's as happy as can be. I'm so thankful that there is very little remembrance of life pre-kindergarten, esp. at times like this.

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I'll leave you w/ this last thought....

It's almost FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!!!!!!!

We're back, safe and sound from Pawleys Island, SC. It was both a wonderful and absolutely horrid trip. Hadlee LOVED the beach. We have fabulous pictures and video of her taking the sea by storm. After 3 days of sun I had to get some shade so we went to Myrtle Beach to the aquarium (which is identical to the one in Gatlinburg, but HAH loved seeing the fish) and Margaritaville. I let Hadlee choose anything in the gift shop as a souvineer... she's extatic over her beer coozie ~ I kid you not.
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We had a lllooonnnnngggg 13 hour drive back home. HAH faired better than B and I in many ways. As long as a movie was playing and one of us was sitting beside her all was well. We watched Finding Nemo, Madagascar and Annie 4 times each. Yeah, it's a little much. We're going to have to extend the dvd library.

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I recently became an Independent Consultant for Arbonne International. So if you want to help my family be debt free, have fabulous vacations, and for me to drive a Mercedes please let me know what I can hook you up w/ and if you'd like to join the Arbonne family! :)

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I have 10 more days until the school year officially begins. MAN, the past 2 months have flown by! While we were gone to cursed SC, my mom-in-law worked in my classroom gettting it ready for me ~ isn't that so sweet? Now all I have to do is get my bulletin boards ready and get my first couple of weeks of lessons planned!

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Isn't it crazy how one moment in time can completely change your life course? Sometimes it's absolutely wonderful ~ finding out you're expecting, the birth of your child, graduation... and other times it's just completely deflating. We're in the latter part right now. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers ~ nothing life threatening, but nothing life lifting either. Maybe I'll give more info later. Please, just lift us up if you get the chance.

I'm addicted, addicted, addicted tooo....

Moolatte's from the DQ. True confession. There isn't a DQ in our little town (though we ARE getting a Starbucks which should be opening SOOON) so I drive 25 minutes ONE WAY just to grab a caramel Moolatte. Yeah, it's pretty sad.

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We've had a super busy week so far...

• Shopping and brunch w/ the Gramma and Abuelita on Monday.
• Cleaning / Organizing my classroom (w/ Abuelita) and more shopping (w/ Gramma) on Tuesday.
• Huntsville for lunch w/ the Cox clan (It was GREAT to see you all!!!) and even MORE shopping on Wednesday, followed by VBS (HAH's 1st!) at our old church.
• Today we were supposed to do more classroom cleaning and organizing but HAH is once again teething, so she's coughing and dripping from her little nose. I decicded that since we were gone for 12 hours straight yesterday we'd just take a real "stay at home" day and relax. I called my favorite (& to be completely honest, only) sister who works at the peditrition's (did I spell that right?) office and called in more Zyrtec for the Pud.
• We may be heading back to Huntsville tomorrow to visit w/ my dear friedn Vette and her nieces ~ depending on the coughing and nasal drippidge.
• My friend Krysta had Carson on Tuesday ~ he was 5' 13", just like HAH!

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Brandon's been in Memphis on business and he's on his way home (hence, all the shopping).

I have "Failure to Launch" downstairs to watch.

My dear friend Tricia is coming home for a visit from the anti-daylight-savings-time-state. We've not seen her since Christmas ~ FRIGGIN' MOVE BACK ALREADY!!!!!

Vacation is only a WEEK AWAY!!!!! I cannot wait ~ we're more excited about this trip than any other we've been on... Hmmm, could it be in part b/c of the Pud????

I have MANY new updates for the links. Maybe I'll get them done before Christmas.

Happy Stay-At-Home Day!!!!

Pictures of the Pud...

Hadlee's 9 month pictures. Probably my favorites thus far. I'm sure that if you click on them to enlarge they'll be grainy ~ oh well. Hope you're having a blast (maybe even an oreo blast from Sonic, mmmmmm!)
Speaking of Sonic... we're hungry! Toodles.

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P.S. For the "passive no more" Gramma.... Hadlee can actually say "Amma" when referring to her Gramma. I was simply making a point that a 10 month old whose native tongue is English was speaking a very loooonnng Spanish word before she said "Momma". We love you, no matter the degree of passivity!

Signs of toddlerhood

We now have a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. It's actually a good baby sitter. The walls of it are made of plexiglass so HAH can see herself in it as she stands there beating and talking in Swahili (or Ferangi, depending on her language choice of the day).

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Today HAH discovered the tiolet... need I say more?

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She's now begun sleeping through the night (well, we're going on 2 nights in a row) and waking up and playing in her crib for up to half and hour (that's long enough to shower and shave!).

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This just in... paying back the student loan mafia sucks.

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I got in my classroom today. This is so going to be a great job! I'll only have five classes, all on the same level, reading the same material, studying the same things... that equals ONLY ONE LESSON PLAN PER DAY!!!!!

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We got a couch for the bonus room last week. Microfiber suade, chocolate, along w/ a cherry end table for $10 (it has some damage on a corner that isn't visible under picutres of my oh-so-precious nieces). With those two additions the bonus room suddenly has a meaning and is one of my favorite places to hang out w/ Hadlee. The couch is like a bed of Godiva strait out of a very nicely wrapped box w/ a pretty bow in top ~ delicious!

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HAH's 9 month pictures are downstairs and I'm much too lazy to go down and come back up to load them into the computer. As soon as I get over the laziness I'll give you the gift of peeking on my little baby doll... You're welcome. :)

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Why is it that she can say "Abuelita" (which to the untrained ear may sound a bit more like "Abba bibba"), but refuses to say "Mama"?

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Neighbor Barb's son (we'll call him Barb, Jr.) is obsessed w/ Hadlee. He's around 2 years old, constantly has more dirt showing on his face than skin, rarely wears more than a diaper and has a 1,000 watt smile. The other day we were outside watering plants, I was turned around for a minute or two and when I looked back at the baby she was oohing and gooing at him WHILE HE WAS STANDING AT HER STROLLER!!! EEEEKKKKKKK!!! I kind of jumped asked him how he was doing, he answered in what I must only assume was Barbarian and took off running towards his house... Hadlee started whining when he left. I'm just not prepared to deal w/ such issues!

YEAH BABY!!!!

I'm in... the newest reading teacher at Coffee County Middle School! Woo~hoo!!!

When the principal called to offer me the job (while I was shopping in Nine West at Opry Mills) he said, "BUT you have to promise me that you'll be loud. We're concerned about you being too soft spoken." SERIOUSLY???? I just lauged and said, "I promise that I'm loud, just not in interviews." Too funny!

Did I ever tell you that B and I took our honeymoon to Prince Edward Island, Canada??? I fell in love w/ the place in a book... do you know which series I'm referring to?

Interview

I have an interview at 8:30 in the morning on my old stomping grounds. It's for a middle school Language Arts position. The prinicpal was my 8th grade history teacher ~ I have found that it seriously pays to be a good student (or what some may call a "teacher's pet")! So, wish me luck, say a prayer, find a penny, pick it up and then send it to me... whatever.

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Single mom-ing it this week while B makes his rounds to GA, SC, and NC. HAH and I will probably spend a lot of time at my parents' house "helping" Gramma recover from her surgery...

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I'm looking into getting bonus room furniture... probably microfiber suade. Any suggestions? I really want a sleeper sofa so that HAH has a great place to hang out and have sleepovers w/ her cousins and friends. That'll definitely be a delivery / set up for the store!

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We finished the patio... but I think the pictures are still on the other camera. They'll be posted soon, I know you're haniging on anxiously to see them!

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It's waaaaayyyy past my bedtime. Remember me in the morning!

Cheese!

< Standing at her noisy pulley-upey thingy and sending air zerberts.
< Doing what Mommy does't' do best... "cooking". We're (her gramma and I) are SOOOO excited we can finally get a bow in her hair!!! If you look very closely you can see her first curl abover her left ear!
< One of my favorite pictures EVER!!! Practicing her princess wave (wash the window, screw in the lightbulb, wash the window, screw in the light bulb...).
< HAH LOVES bath time. Her favorite toy is the red cup, which is the tower's top on the castle behind her.
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HAH is successfully crawling, pulling up, saying things [Today's term was "BABY, BABY, Baby, baby" when playing w/ her American girl doll from her great grandmother.] (not that I can understand them all...) and SHE HAS CURLS!!!!! They are so sweet and precious and cute and I think they are even going to be boingy curls!!! I'm just plum extatic over the whole thing!
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Note to self: When filling out an application to be an ENGLISH teacher, white out all grammatical errors!
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This past week B and I (but mostly just B) spent time, money and lots of sweat equity in putting down 3,000 pounds of flat rock for a patio off of the back porch. We lack about 5 rocks, a few bags of top soil and some grass seed before being finished (not to mention the adarondack chairs, bench, fire pit, and flowers that I want to add... and maybe a pergola too!) I'll post pictures in the next 10 - 20 years for you.
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I have tried 17 million times to post pics of HAH. hate blogger today... am removing the l and a g, adding an o, and calling it booger!!!