pleased as punch

Sun time means when the sun is out so are we. Even if it means skipping a nap. The Northwest favors gray skies but we do not. I can't tell you how much better my days go if there is sunshine involved. I remember as a kid loving rainy days because it meant that we could stay inside, in our jammies, and eat lunch in the blanket forts we had spent all morning constructing while we watched Goonies. Unfortunatly 6 months of Chad coming home to find blanket forts and me in my sweats sounds more depressing than fun.

Lesson learned, when buying a car advertised on Craigslist do it quick. Both Cruisers we liked were gone the next morning. So we found another one and this time made a quick decision. Hope we weren't too hasty. I guess we'll give it 6 months and then we'll see. At this point all we really know is we could hang out at the local high school and pull some serious tail (at least according to Chad)! Here she is, our '93 Cruiser with more miles than we care to disclose (I guess our attempt to get into this millennium is going backwards)...

Finally we found a car that we both agree on. Well sort of... the Toyota Land Cruiser. While dating we shared a trusty I mean rusty Volkswagen Fox. It turned off when you turned corners, three of the doors didn't work, no AC, smelled of gym socks and Crown Burger.... But for $500 what do you expect. Being poor and newly married we started life together with a 1989 Ford Probe. Ah the Probe, another steal of a deal. Things were running smooth in our "new sports car" until the drivers side window broke during the rainy season. Unfortunatly it was rolled down when it broke and we were to poor to have it fixed. So for the next 5 months I drove to work with an umbrella an overcoat and a blow dryer. Our next great buy was a 1997 Honda Accord. Movin' on up!.. With the drivers side window broke once again (thankfully in the up position this time) our champagne sedan has safely driven our two babies home from the hospital, made countless road tips, and hauled more gear then it was intended to carry. This weekend it suffered its most devastating casualty when I busted off the radio knob while loading a crib, desk, bookcase and accessories from IKEA. Will we ever own a quirk-free car? We have decided that it might be time to become a two car household and own a car we can all (including the dog) fit into. This is what we've narrowed it down to.

We both love this car but it currently resides in Nevada which is just a little to far away.

This is my first choice. An '88 Land Cruiser. I have always LOVED this body style and would even settle for its lack of modern conveniences ie. lack of power anything including radio.

Chad's first pick is this '92 Cruiser. It is 4 years newer and has 2 extra fold down seats in the back making it a 7 seater. He loves the push bar up front and it comes with all the bells and whistles that a "modern car" should. Well we'll see who wins this one.

It was everything you would expect from a Tulip Festival and so much more!

My sister let me borrow this ridiculously wonderful swaddling blanket. I love it so much that I will never be giving it back. Sorry. Both of our children have loved to be swaddled. My family doesn't quite agree with this technique. They think babies should sleep free and don't like to see me pinning my child's arms to their bodies while they sleep. My brother jokes, "Are you training them to become River Dancers when they grow up!?!" All I can say is, I've found a good thing and I'm not willing to let go. The problem is they grow out of it so quickly. My baby is just 4 months old, and I am afraid the swaddle is in its last days.

tucker had surgery last week. he developed a hernia shortly after he was born. we waited until he was 4 months old to have it fixed because there would be less problems with anesthesia. everything went very well during the 2 hour surgery and he is recovering nicely. it's always awful to send your baby into surgery. we greatly appreciated the thoughtful acts of service we received while tucker recuperated.

Yesterday I realized that I have been neglecting my 2nd child. I nurse him, change him, cuddle him, you know the basics- but when I thought about it, I haven't attempted to teach him to sit up on his own or even offered him a toy. Poor little guy has just been looking at toys from afar with nothing but his own jammies to play with. Get with the program lady! After he was born I created a daily routine and put myself on auto pilot to survive. Sometimes I think I forgot to turn the auto pilot off. Looking @ pictures of Fin, I was reminded that she was sitting in a stroller and playing with all sorts of toys when she was 4 months old. Boy do I feel bad. Good news is I'm not in a competition for the mother of the year. So I said to myself, Start Fresh, and what happened...Yesterday I witnessed "The Happiest Moment" of his young life. I sat him up in bed and handed him a toy. With eyes as wide as silver dollars he clutched onto that baby rattle and kicked his chubby legs to his heart's content. I have never seen him so excited. I love that my kiddos are so completely forgiving. They constantly remind me that, -It really is all about the little things in life.