LANES

33.  Really?  Has it been that long?  I remember when you turned 19.  I think I may have loved you then... but I'm not sure.  14 years later, I AM SURE. 

He may look totally annoyed in this picture... he's not.  He loves me, and was thrilled I made him take a picture with me before he went to bed last night.  I don't know what the big deal was... he only had to get up at 4 am.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DALE!  I may not have gotten you a present, or made you a cake, or planned anything special- but I do love you, and I am proud of you.  As soon as you get one of those super cool doctor paychecks, I'll get you a killer present.  Until then- my love will have to be enough.

... are coming back to haunt me- in the form of a 2 year old boy.  Apparently he was so impressed with the furniture I was painting OUTSIDE, he thought it would be good to paint inside as well.  Oh, if I only had the black cabinet's that I really wanted, then the black paint wouldn't be SO bad.

Contrary to popular belief, you can not find joy in everything.  Ok- so you SHOULD NOT be able to find joy in everything.  A smile?  Really?  You do realize I'm yelling?

... still more...

... and more...

... and here's the recruit...

... and here's where I stopped taking pictures- although it wasn't the end of our treasure hunt for paint.  On the plus side- I didn't find any in the carpet.  Hooray for little victories.  Now, if this were my own house, I would have just called this a head start on the way to personalizing my kitchen.  But alas, we are renting... so I'm off to scrub, and deal with CREW.  Someone call CPS!

WHITE:  Is the color of the shower curtain that I bought for the bathroom where Crew pees.  I didn't think that through.

BLACK:  Is the color of the checkbook sized mark that is now on the INSIDE of my 50" flat screen T.V. because Crew thought it would be fun to spray it continuously with a spray bottle.

FIVE:  Is the Number of holes poked into the micro fiber bench of my kitchen table with a pencil.

TWO:  Is the number of goose eggs on my 6 month old babies head because he insists on CLIMBING ON EVERYTHING.

FOUR:  is the number of trips to the D.M.V today to get a Texas drivers license.

VCR:  Is the current appliance that needs to be replaced because Crew thinks it's a toaster.  Do they even make VCR's anymore?

BUFFET:  Is the piece of furniture that I refurbished today.

Zero:  Is the amount of money it cost me, in total.  The buffet was free in Cleveland, and the paint was free cuz the Home Depot guy left the lid off and it spilled on Dale.  It will look lovely as my T.V. stand.

WEDGE:  Are the type of shoes that came in the mail for me today.  Little slice of heaven to break up the hell of the day.

CLEAN:  Is the opposite of what my house is.

HAPPY:  Is what I am because my friend Haylee is back in town.

CONTENT:  Is how I feel sitting here in my dirty house, watching my expensive T.V. with a big black spot in it, watching Crew dance (reminding me that I do love him) wearing my sweats, and my new 4 inch black peep toe wedges.

FYI: This was ALL today.

I was going to wait until I took him into the doctor to get all his official STATS... but, in true Meghan fashion- I haven't taken him in for his 6 month appointment.  In fact, I haven't taken him in for his 4 month appointment either.  I love you #4.  You're healthy right?  Growing... kinda.  Eyes focusing, hearing, seeing, eating?  Check.  I think we may have to stagger the immunizations, so he doesn't have to get like 12 all at once.  Plus, logically I know that immunizations are probably the right way to go- but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about the possibility of autism.  Man those famous people making a big ole' fuss are stressing me out.  So I think in the interest of my sanity- we'll get his 4 month shots at 6 months, and his 6 month shots at 9 months.  Unless of course I don't get him in soon... hmmm

It's still in the 90's around here so I take advantage of the heat, and rarely dress him.  (i say it's because of the heat, and act like I'm doing him a favor... but it's just easy.)  He was actually dressed tonight, so I thought I should get a few pictures- cuz let's be honest, I don't know when he'll be dressed again.  (aside from church- but I can't toss him in bed fast enough once we walk through the door.  Not super conducive for picture taking.)

At 6 months, Tyke is an expert crawler.  Seriously... expert.  He's fast too.  It's not fun.  He's a little human vacuum.  Every little spec of anything ends up in his mouth.  Crew is NOT very helpful in my efforts to keep the floor picked up.

He's working on pulling himself up to standing.  Great.  Can't wait.  He's a concussion waiting to happen.

This is his first time sitting in the grass.

After he got done being totally confused, he really liked it.

We are all in love with this boy.  Crew loves to "bring" him to me when he cries.  Yep, he carries him.  All the things you're imagining, are about right.  I rescue him on a regular basis.  The girls love to make him laugh hysterically.  It's pretty funny.  My boobs don't love him so much.  He now has 2 teeth, and he loves to use them.  All the flicking in the mouth isn't stopping him either.  TMI?  Are you surprised?  We're good enough friends that we can share, right?  No?  Sorry- this blog IS the censored version of my mind. 

weight- 13 pounds (MINIATURE!) (19th percentile... soaking wet)

height- Dale said a foot and a half.  I said "wasn't he taller than that when he was born?"  Dale said "Oh, yeah.  Where's my tape measure."  I said, "what are you going to measure he's in bed? Dale said, "I'm just going to guess.  24 inches?"  I said, "okay."  SOOOO height- 24 inches.  (53rd percentile)

Head circumference- normal.  WAY smaller than Crew's fat head. (50th percentile)

He just started baby food.  LOVES peaches.  Hates sweet potatoes.  LOVES the diet Pepsi that Crew smuggled to him. (CHILL.  Crew stole it from me and dumped it into his own cup.  I didn't give it to him.)  LOVES graham crackers, apple jacks and whatever else he finds on the floor at lunch time.  Hmmm... typing that list, it just occurred to me why he isn't nursing as much.  I catch on quick.

He has been sleeping through the night since 3 weeks.  Aside from the 2 nights that he woke up at 2 a.m. leading to my decision to give him food.  Seriously, 2 a.m. feedings TWO nights in a row.  I was not about to go a third night.  I'm sure my life is way harder than yours.  sigh..

What else?  Crazy good motor skills... which probably means he won't be talking until he's 5.  (We're fairly certain that by the time Crew starts Kindergarten, he will be talking... in a way people outside our family can understand.  No worries though... if he's not talking, we'll think of some super socially acceptable reason to wait an extra year to put him in school.)

We love you Tyke... You will ALWAYS be the baby.  Sorry.

p.s. The above measurements and percentages, are educated guesses.  Okay, maybe not educated... but they are guesses.  Don't judge... we do love him, and we'll work his health into our schedule's eventually.

This is what I walked in on yesterday.  It took me a minuet to figure out why my baby had an oatmeal box on his head.  Doesn't it look like one of those cones a vet puts on a dog to keep from scratching their stitches?  Yes it does.

Apparently this is how Crew distracts Tyke while he steals his toys.  Bully.  You'd think after finding my baby like this, I would start supervising a little better.  Nope.  It happened again 20 minuets later, after Crew found the box in the trash.  Good luck little dude.

She is not my kid!  Not only has getting up at 5:30 A.M. not been that big of a deal to the girls... Pyper finds time for some "early morning studying" as she calls it. (don't mind the scary garage- we'll be unpacked someday)  Yeah.  I don't know where she came from.  Her evaluations are showing her at least a grade higher than she is.  I guess they evaluate for the Gifted and Talented program at the end of the year for the following year.  I can't decide if i want her in it now, or if I want to take advantage of how easy it is for her, and enjoy the year without the extra work.  I think it's really easy to forget to let kids be kids.  I don't know... we'll see...

And little belle.  THANK YOU SHAKER HEIGHTS SCHOOL DISTRICT!  Seriously.  I don't know how well you can see- but this is her first progress report, and she said, "I'm a straight A student!"  Everything in her initial evaluation is in the 90's (when did they start giving 2nd graders percentage grades???) or an E for excellent.  Elle didn't struggle at school in Ohio, but there was definitely a lot of room for improvement.  She was a strong average student.  Not the top, not the bottom.  Okay- so I could look at this 2 ways:  Sad, that our Texas school is so much further behind our Ohio school (the kid is blowing through her homework like it's nothing) or Happy, that our Ohio school set the bar higher than necessary giving our girls a nice little head start.  Seeing as how she begged me to take her picture this morning with her progress report, I'm going to choose option 2 and be happy.  She is so proud of herself... which means I am proud of her.

... I give you Crew's first misdemeanor.  This is Billy the train.  We met Billy on a recent trip to the Austin area TJ MAXX.  We went with our friends (LOVE them) and I forgot to take in the baby Bjorn, or Phil (stroller) or anything that might free up a hand or two.  It happened to be a pretty good TJ MAXX day, and we were finding some killer deals.  Crew and Tyke were less than thrilled that our shopping was so productive.  Crew was getting antsy... and Tyke was getting hungry.  (he's loving baby food, and wants it all the time.)  

I watched Crew pick up Billy from one of the toy shelves.  It had fallen out of a box where his other friend Thomas was still snugly in place.  I watched Crew drive Billy around the isles, and over his brothers head.  I watched Crew drive Billy over my hands on the shopping cart while we checked out.  I watched Crew drive Billy up and down his arms while we went to 17 other stores.  I watched Crew driving Billy on his car seat while we were driving home.  Crap.  I didn't BUY Billy.  In my head, I'm remembering being a little girl sitting in the back of the Police Car (in hand cuffs) where my mother placed me after I STOLE a pack of gum from the gas station.  What a good mom she was to march me back to the scene of the crime immediately.  I should do that.  Only... there are a few differences in my childhood memory, and my current predicament.

#1 When I was little, I knew I was stealing. (which is why i hid the gum hidden in my coat.) I remember that day SO well.  I think I was 3 or 4.  My mom wouldn't buy me the gum, so I took it.  I remember being really mad that my coat (blue coat with a brown owl on it) didn't have pockets. That's how I got caught- I stuck it under my coat and it fell out when I got out of the car. (no car seat)

#2 At the tail end of our shopping trip, Dale called me.  He had gotten paged... and I was suppose to be home with the girls.  Oops.  So now we were racing to get home. (40 min drive) So my husbands career took precedence over my moral obligation. (BOOO) I know, I know.  Bad.  Sorry.  

Rest assured, Billy will be making the next trip back to Austin with us.  Where we will explain... or try to explain... and pay for Billy.  I hope this will square me with the universe, and my karma will not take a major hit.

p.s. the picture above, is when I was telling Crew to give me Billy.  He said no.  I said fine.  I'm already in trouble with the universe- let's not add a crying boy on top of it. :)  I'm off to plan my primary lesson now. ;)

dale:  It's good... I just wish it wasn't choking me on the way down my throat.  

me:  Boy- tell me how you really feel.

dale:  No, it's good really.  You know that picture of the big bird eating the frog, and the frog is reaching out of the birds mouth trying to choking him?  That's a little what this dinner is like.

me:  So I shouldn't cook it again?

dale:  Probly not.  But it's not that bad.

me:  It's just choking you.

dale:  Yes.

I love watching this little guy get himself around the house.  He's just starting to get into things.  he found the hood to Pypers coat (she won't be needing that anymore) and wore it around for a good 15 min.

Dales anesthesia rotation isn't near as busy as we thought it would be- so Tyke finally knows who he is.  He even likes him... a little.

Note to self:  Find a better hiding spot for the baby shampoo...