Last night we went to the Rangers game. We finally got a game in without rain. Sweet!

Saturday, Papa got Saltalamacchia's autograph for Megan. She is thrilled. Papa told him that Megan is in love with him and wants to marry him...he said, "Yeah, I have that effect on women!" He's hilarious. Anyway, here's Salty at the plate.


Jayden and Aunt Karlie went with us. Jayden had no problem cheering loudly for the Rangers. He must've yelled, "Throw a strike!" at least 100 times. It was so cute.


Can't beat $1 ice cream night. Popsicle mess galore!




Busy watching a butterfly.


Cousin fun. Let me just say...it was a good thing we had 2 rows pretty much to ourselves. These two looked like "whack-a-moles"...up, down, up, down, up, down, around...constant energy. But they had so much fun together. Megan keeps asking when they get to play again.

Grandma bought Connor his first box of rice cereal, so we thought we'd try it at her house tonight. What a hoot! First of all, he had 6 little hands in there trying to help. Also, it was his first time in a high chair, so he thought he was so special. I only made a teaspoon, and magically most of it eventually made it in his mouth. He probably would've eaten more...tomorrow is another day.

Aunt Karlie, Jayden, and Karah are visiting Texas for a few weeks. We went over to Grandma's this afternoon/evening to welcome them and run the kids ragged. We picked the corn from Grandpa's garden and had some of it for dinner (only some Grandpa...we saved some for you!).



Megan seemed to like to play big sister to Karah. Great practice. The kids had a GREAT time together. They even included Connor in all the hoopla.



And Karah is such a HAM! She got dressed up for me and had fun posing for me. What a hoot.

Today was Connor's 4 month check up. Reader's Digest version: he's fat and healthy. The statistical version: 17 lbs 4 oz (90th percentile); 27 inches (90th percentile); head 16 1/2 (50th percentile). Dr. H walked in the door right as Connor rolled over from tummy to back. She said, "Oh good, get to check that box." Connor babbles up a storm, drools, laughs, stands with help, sits with help, loves looking at himself in the mirror, chews on his hands, and still eats every 2 hours. Dr. H gave him the little "ready for cereal test" and immediately said, "Give this boy some solids!" We had a rough day after 2 shots, so we'll try cereal another time this weekend. He's such a good baby. Megan comes at him full force, and he just barely flinches. But he sure lights up when she enters the room.

Megan and I decided to tackle some of the lingering tasks around the house today. One of them being to assess Megan's shoe situation. At the beginning of the summer, all of her shoes and sandals fit. The other day I looked down to find her toes and heels hanging off of a pair of sandals. Poor thing. So today we piled up every single pair of shoes we could find, and she tried them all on. Report: 16 too small; 4 keepers; 4 to the trash. Off shoe hunting we go.

By the way, Megan just told me that she's "delicate". When I stop laughing I'll try to pry more information out of her.

Yesterday, we went to the Art Barn with our moms group. The kids each painted a ceramic tile. Megan chose a vast array of colors and ended with a bright yellow hand print in the middle. Connor also got to do his own tile. Well, I painted it green, he stepped in blue paint, and then put his foot on the tile. I LOVE IT. We really had a good time. We will certainly go back for another craft.

It's not everyday that I get all emotional and sappy in front of everyone, so enjoy it at my expense.

I love this man. I love him in a deeper way now that he's the father of my children. He is a remarkable dad and partner. He balances me out (which can be extremely difficult) and I love working together with him on this very adventurous journey to try to teach and raise our children. I've become very aware lately how lucky I am to have a partner in parenting rather than just a participant in parenting. The kids are lucky, too. I can't believe that one day, about 4 years ago, I was nervous about what kind of dad he would be because he has far exceeded my wildest expectations. I love this man.

According to Megan, her daddy is a very handsome and fun daddy. Sometimes he's her prince; sometimes he's her "spider hero"; and sometimes he's her movie-watchin'-pal. And many other things.

According to Connor, his daddy is "ah-goo" (which we translate to mean "great").

And before I close: I'm very grateful for my dad and my father-in-law. Thank you, Dad, for all that you have done for me. I am more and more appreciative (and apologetic) every day as apparently I'm now parenting myself some 30 years later. And to my father-in-law, thank you for raising my husband to be a good dad. I can't imagine how proud you must be of him.

For Papa's Father's day, we all met over at their house after the family reunion. The kids flash-changed into swimsuits and hit the two pools set up in the backyard. The adults sat around in the shade and talked while they kids played, and played, and played. Connor rotated between people and finally snoozed on Aunt Taryn and Uncle Shawn. In conversation, it was learned that 2 moms had never been to IKEA before....so all of the ladies, and Connor, piled into the car for a trip to IKEA. The dads stayed with the energetic kids while we walked around IKEA. I got a few little kitchen gadgets and a bottle of my favorite peach soda. Afterwards, we ate dinner at Cheesecake Factory. YUM-O. Need I say more? When we got back to the house, I found a snoozing Megan. She actually passed out in the middle of the toy room floor, surrounded by toys and noise. Now that's a fun day!

Yesterday we went to Gran's annual family reunion lunch at Pappadeaux. It's always hard to interact with all of the family members when chasing around kiddos, but at least we got to see them from across the room. The kids sure enjoyed the time together and the walk to see all of the "wildlife". Connor enjoyed a little snugging time with Aunt Taryn as well as some deep conversation with Papa. And I just liked the picture of Uncle Kyle that he let me take when I was testing the lighting....he doesn't use the computer, so I think I'm pretty safe. :)

The girls were off in the other room playing "nightgowns" (which means they empty out the nightgown drawer and wear all of the nightgowns within 5 minutes) when they heard Connor's music. Poor Connor can't even enjoy his toy by himself. :)

All Connor wants to do is sit up and stand up, but he can't do it on his own. When we hold him in any type of reclined position, he grunts, growls, and pulls himself to an upright position. No way is he going to miss a single thing. Tonight he got his wish. He can now sit in his jumper and watch the world go by...or in tonight's case Megan as she ran by. Oh, and he can exercise those chunky thighs, too. He's already figured out how to make the thing work (with a little help from big sis).

Megan really wants to help around the house, so I've been letting her do whatever chores she wants. She wants to wash dishes? Fine. She wants to clean toilets? Fine. She wants to clean the bathtub? Fine. She wants to fold laundry? Fine. She wants to swat flies? Fine. And she loves it. And I love it although it takes 10 times longer to get anything done. And I end up having to clean up more after. Oh well. She's so proud.

No, he's not workin' on a poop.

"How to Teethe" by Connor. This is what he does when he isn't crying or screaming.



And then he finds his thumb. Bliss.

Today was my moms' group family picnic. We met at the park for lunch. The kids played and played while the parents - oh yes, we dragged the dads along - got a chance to relax and talk. Grandpa made very nice journals and we gave one out to each mom (somehow I didn't get one, so no picture for now...). The picnic was nice, but dang, it was dang hot. Connor slept most of the time but was awake enough to be passed around the group. He loves people! He'll let anyone hold him, which makes it nice for us.


My very talented friend Kez made and decorated a beautiful cake for the picnic. It had our logo on it and a "candy mom" with the kids' names on it. Very cute and yummy!


After the picnic, Megan refused to take a nap. So I dragged her around town with me while I ran errands. We were just going to pop into the library to pick up a book that I had on hold, but she asked to go to the Megan section. That turned into a very enjoyable 30 minute side trip. We found 5 books to take home. On the way out to the car she said, "I had a fun time with you mom. Thanks for letting me get some books and not making me leave. I love you." Yep, tears and heart melted! Think what I would've missed had I just rushed her out the door? *Sigh*

This evening we went over to a neighbor's house for a cookout. Daddy started playing softball with the neighborhood guys and several of them like to get together on a regular basis. Fine by us. Megan likes running around with the older kids, and I like getting to know the neighbors.

Now, everyone else is in bed. I'm going to curl up on the couch to watch the end of the Rangers game and read my book in the peace and quiet.

I've blogged about our nightly family walks before, but it seems as though they have gotten way more interesting lately.

First of all, there's one more of us in the group. Connor really likes the evening walks as long as it's before his "witching hour" of 8:00 p.m. We usually strap him into the car seat and then click him into the stroller, but now we've started putting him forward facing in the seat. He loves it.

The sidewalks in our neighborhood are sparse (tons of empty lots still), so we walk in the street for the majority of the walk. Because we're in the street, she has to hold someone's hand. Megan likes to trade partners throughout the walk; she'll walk with me for a while while Daddy pushes Connor and then will randomly request a switch.

In addition to the many changes I've made lately (that's a whole 'nuther post), I've started appreciating Megan's sense of exploration. Instead of demanding that we walk up a sweat, we mosey through the neighborhood picking up sticks, looking at the pond, talking to neighbors, watching bugs crawl before they get squished by a 3 year old's croc, and various other fun little activities. It's so pleasant. This evening, she and I made up adventurous stories about the coyotes that live in the area (the girl has an obsession with coyotes).

Megan is so observant anyway, but it seems like she doesn't miss a thing on our walks. Tonight she was pointing at "flowers" (weeds) and telling me I "could take pretty pictures of them with your (my) little camera thingy". Yeah, that's been me trapsing around our neighborhood with my camera. She likes to make up stories about items she spies in empty lots, too. Tonight there was a "barn" (Whataburger box), a fish, and an envelope in a little Megan story.

I love our walks with her little hand in my hand, her imagination working overtime, and her little voice carrying in the wind.

Apparently if the garbage disposal is not installed correctly, say when your house is built, it can leak and cause tons of damage. Guess how I know that? Yep, a week after we moved in I noticed a little drip under the sink. It stopped, of course, and we couldn't find where it was coming from, of course, but I put a towel down there just in case. Another time along the way I checked, but the towel was dry and I didn't see anything scary going on under the sink. Fast forward to last night...how about I stuck my hand in a puddle of water on the towel? And then when I pulled the towel out? Yeah, I'm not going there. Anyway, thank you, Mr. Bankrupt Builder, for the crappy installation (you should've seen the thing...all cock-eyed and such). But lucky me, I have a cute handyman hubby who is working tirelessly this evening to get it installed. He's even reading the directions. Be still my heart.



After a break to go to the Rangers game tomorrow night, he gets to fix the sprinkler head out in our front yard that waters the neighborhood street because someone so kindly ran over it as they were turning around in our driveway. Whoo hoo.

I was reading a story and all of a sudden they were both at it.

what today is? Sure, it's Sunday, June 7th, etc. But also, 3 years ago today I started this - what I call - BLOURNAL (blog/journal for those of you not inside my head). Yep, for 3 years I've been torturing the world wide web with my cluelessness and ramblings. And sadly, I won't even admit to you the total number of posts I've accumulated over the past 3 years. But it sure is fun, and thanks for reading!

Lately, Megan has her hands on everything and needs to be involved in everything I'm doing. Cooking, cleaning, getting ready, sitting, reading, scrapbooking, working on the computer, talking on the phone, ETC. And not only everything related to me but everything related to Connor as well - I won't even go into that list except that she picks out his outfits (every time). This morning she wanted to scramble the eggs. So I let her. And she did a great job!

Thanks to long car rides with Daddy, Gran, and Papa, Megan has learned a few new songs. The inflection and accents are what kill me.

We enjoyed some much needed sibling time this afternoon. We read stories, told made-up stories, did tummy time, played "Connor says...", and Megan got to rock Connor all by herself. I loved it!


Connor is holding his head up so well. Megan declared this his "bestest tummy time EVER."

Things were very uneventful until they ate sour blackberries and started singing made up songs. Then it got very interesting...

It's a rare occasion for me to get serious on my blog, but this one is long overdue.

Several months ago I had a very horrible experience. For reasons beyond my control, someone who I trusted, and thought was my friend, suddenly cut off all communication and interaction with me and my family. At first I was very upset about it and took it very personally. Later, I found out this person was just using me as a pawn in a bigger scheme and had been lying, manipulating, and insert various other verbs. It was definitely a wake-up call for me, and I immediately started doubting the validity of all of my other friendships. Sadly enough I just assumed that everyone else was out to use me, manipulate me, and/or would do the same thing as this person had done to me. (Pause and remember that I have explained several times before that my mind is a scary place especially under the influence of hormones and sleep deprivation.) Unfortunately, I began holding my cards close to my chest. I changed the type of friend I was to people to try protect myself from being hurt again. Quite frankly, I constructed a brick wall in record time.

But thankfully that situation and a little time have helped me grow as a person and as a friend. I am so lucky to have, and very grateful for, my friends. Unfortunately, it wasn't until recently that I let my guard down and let myself open up to even partially participating in a friendship again. I am amazed at the support and genuine concern shown to me especially lately even though I haven't been the best at reciprocating. From watching my kids for an appointment/meeting to giving me something because "I saw this and thought of you," to listening to me vent about feelings to random phone calls and emails or even encouraging me to pursue something, ETC (the list is too long to even try to post). I know I do not deserve the wonderful support that I've received over the past several months, but I promise to do better and perhaps even get back to normal. I truly appreciate the friends and family who have endured the aftermath with me and have patiently waited for me to heal. A sincere thank you and please don't give up on me yet.