Something New

In preparation to change our blog name (ya know, 'cause we're adding another little Mexican to the family), I thought I would try my hand at redesigning our blog. I'm trying a free 30-day trial of Photoshop Elements 7.0 just to see if it would be something I would and could use...and so far, I'm LOVING it!

I've also learned a little bit of HTML to change the background tile as well as adjust the writing space.

Who says you can't teach an old dog (with preggo brain) new tricks? LOL! Nap time for the kids just can't come soon enough.

Soooo, what do ya think?
(I've got a lot to learn, but I don't think what I've created thus far is all too bad.)

Then & Now

My bloggy friend, Trisha, started a "looking back" series as a way to incorporate the pictures taken before she started her blog. I thought it was such a good idea, I couldn't not copy (imitation is the ultimate form of flattery, after all).

Not counting our trip to IL just last weekend, our last trip up to visit my parents and sisters was Dec 2007, when Josiah was just 16 months old (he's now just 1 month shy of being 3).

And since I finally broke down and started a new addiction friendship with Photoshop, I thought I would try to compose a simple collage of a couple of "Then & Now" pictures. (It's far from perfect, but you have to start somewhere, right?)

Fun in IL

Last week we travelled to IL for my sister's wedding, the last "Good" wedding. And we figured that since we were spending $$$ on tickets and we are uncertain when the next time we'll see everyone again, we decided to spend a week at Grandma and Papa's house.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves...we had great weather and lots of new things to do.

They had fun at the park....

They wrestled with Aunt Kara....

They rode the John Deere with Papa....

They loved on Moby (Aunt Leslie's furry child)....

Laney got her toes painted....

Laney with Aunt Leslie and Soon-to-be Uncle Josh....

They played the piano....

Josiah played Candy Land (game board circa 1978) with Aunt Kara and Uncle Chris....

They rode on the John Deere some more....

They helped Grandma sweep the grass clippings off the driveway....

They posed with Grandma....

Laney quietly ate a mouthful of black M&Ms....

They even celebrated their birthdays (2 months late for Laney and 1 month early for Josiah)....

Laney even blew out her candle by herself...

Whew, it was a fun yet exhausting trip. We were sad to leave, but it's good to be home.

PS. I apologize for all of the individual pictures....I have just downloaded Photoshop and hope to figure out how to create collages and edit color, etc. Wedding pictures will be posted soon.

Happy 4th and Fourteen Months!

Sorry, I'm a bit behind, but better late than never, right? I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend, celebrating the freedom that our many service men and women work so hard to protect.

We spent the afternoon at a cookout/pool party at our Program Director's house. We enjoyed good swimming, good food, and good fellowship with our fellow Residents and their families.

July 4, 2008

(Laney was just 2 months old)

July 4, 2009

In addition to fun in the pool, Josiah tried out the homemade slip n slide, complete with dishsoap (helps in gaining distance).

There were also games. Josiah was excited to be able to participate this year. I think he was even more excited about wearing matching bandanas with Randy.

Our evening ended with a small backyard fireworks display. It was a great night...bright moon, no clouds, light breeze, and NO mosquitos. After spending the last couple of days saying how he wasn't going to be scared of the fireworks this year, Josiah ended up hiding out inside while Daddy, Laney, and I enjoyed the site, sounds, and smell of the fireworks outside. Laney even fell asleep during the "show", that's how much she enjoyed them. Oh well....maybe next year.

*********

And while we were celebrating our country's independence, we were also celebrating Laney's 14 month birthday. Laney is getting so big and is doing and saying so many things. A couple of weeks ago during a visit to see Randy, I weighed her....26.5 pounds, so still a big girl. She is still wearing 2T clothes and has grown into a size 6 shoe...and speaking of shoes, she loves to wear them. If she sees them laying around, you can most certainly expect that she will bring them to you, say "shoes" or "here ya go" and sit down. Definitely a girl (well, except for the whole not-wearing-a-bow thing)!

In addition to saying "shoes", Laney now says "juice", "go", "ouch!", "uh-oh", and "up". And she will clearly sign "please", "thank you", "milk", "more", "eat", and "all done" (and she'll also open her mouth REAL big if she sees something she wants to eat and say "ah, ah"). Laney is also thoroughly enjoying learning her letters and sounds along with her brother, she already knows that "the A says ah, the A says ah, every letter makes a sound, the A says ah". She is also learning her animal sounds and has cow, dog, and goldfish down pat. If you ask what a goldfish says, she'll open and close her mouth silently...it's SO cute.

Laney is still seated rear-facing in the car (her feet are just now barely touching the back of the seat). However, she will get an opportunity to see the world from a whole new perspective when we turn her around this week for my sister's wedding. I hope that she won't like it too much because I do plan on turning her back around when we get home....until her new car seat and baby brother/sister arrives.

Laney sure does love her brother...if imitation truly is the highest form of flattery. It's 100% "Monkey-see, Monkey-do" around here. And in just the last couple of days, she'll walk up to Josiah and give him a kiss. It's darling! Eeek, so many cute things to capture on video before they are gone and forgotten!

Laney, you are definitely one quirky, sassy, funny, and cute little girl...and we just love that about you.

Happy 14 Month Birthday!

Halfway

It's hard to believe that I've reached the halfway point of this pregnancy already. It seems like just yesterday I was sharing our shocking news. I guess that's what happens when you're in denial for 3 months. *wink* Things have been going well, and I feel great. I've just barely started showing, and I'm not in maternity clothes yet (losing 30-40 pounds twice now has given me a little bit of room for growth in my "fat pants"). While Laney has no clue what is about to happen to her little world, Josiah is much more aware...and he has started talking to the baby and pat my belly when we lay down together...it's very cute.

Please pray that the next 20 weeks go smoothly (and I'm on the fence about whether I want them to go by quickly or not) as we adjust the house and the big brother and sister for baby's arrival in just a few months. We hope to transition Josiah to a big, "big boy" bed, in a separate room from Laney, move Laney to the toddler bed, and move the crib back to our room, in about 4 months. New car seats are on order (our current seats are too wide to accommodate 3 seated across the back of our car)....I just hope they fit and that the kids like them as much as their current seat.

Lots to prepare for in the next 5 months....

Promotion

As of Friday evening, Randy is no longer the lowest on the food-chain, an Intern. WE are now 2nd Year Residents, which also means that we have drastically less "First Call", more time spent in education-packed rotations (ie. Hospital Service), and a teeny, tiny raise! Woohoo! But Friday night's Graduation Dinner was bittersweet....while we were excited to be one year closer to being done with this training nightmare (my word, not Randy's), we were also sad about saying "good-bye" to friends.

I had a lot of reservations about moving all.the.way.down.here for a number of reasons...probably too many to list...but a good friend helped make the tranisition a little easier. She was willing to look at houses for us, she hooked me up all sorts of information about utilities/formalities once we got here, she kept Laney's breastmilk (AKA liquid gold) in her freezer just days after we met in person (we lost power for a week after we moved in because apparently you just can't transfer the names like we were originally told), she frequently brought her daughter over to play with Josiah to help pass the time, and she shared whatever she learned about coping (about Residency and about living so far away from 'home'). Over the past year, she and I had dinners together, MOPS together, Bible Study together, and chit-chatted about anything and everything while the kids played together.

Katie and Matt became wonderful friends over the past year, and we will miss them. They've headed to St. Louis for the next year for Matt's Sports Medicine Fellowship.


And while I am losing a good friend (in person--thank goodness for Facebook and the Blogosphere), so is Josiah. Isabella (only 6 months younger) and Josiah grew to be great friends, and Josiah will tell you that she is one of his best friends. They were MOPS buddies, sandbox buddies, Children's Church buddies, and pool buddies. Being dropped off at MOPS or Children's Church seemed all right as long as they were together. I know Josiah will miss his friend.

Katie and Matt, we are so blessed to have gotten to know you this past year. We are excited for you guys as you start yet another new journey in this crazy life we call "playing doctor"....we just wish it were closer. ;-) We pray abundant blessings for you and your family...and can't wait to hear the news of Isabella's Big Sisterhood.

Dr. Matt left his scooter with us to sell.....so in the meantime, the kids are enjoying it.

Inner Iowan

"Sweet Corn" season is by far my favorite food season of the year, if I can describe a season by what which food is harvested when. I just *heart* sweet corn....and we were able to find some pretty decent corn in our neck of the woods this year ("knee-high by the fourth of July" doesn't apply down here as corn season is already over-sniff, sniff)...however, it's just not the same as the good ol' fashioned Iowan variety.


I apologize for the not-so-great pics (not great lighting)...but I wanted to show my family that I haven't forgotten that the kiddos are half Iowan (as much as Randy drills into their heads that they're 100% Texan). ;-) To say that my children loved sweet corn would be an understatement...Laney couldn't get enough (this was her first time eating corn straight off the cob).