Rockstar

Last night Penny went to bed around 6:45, ate at 6:00am, then slept until 8:00. That's my kind of baby. She really is a rockstar. And I'm not just talking about her hair.

Attack of the Hair!

Um, I can't even come up with words cute enough for this picture. Maybe you can, how about a caption contest! Give it your best shot.

Attitude of Gratitude

Last night was quite the adventure. I was pretty sick and took some Nyquil to help me sleep but told Jessica to wake me if she needed me during the night to help with Penny. Well it turns out she didn't have to wake me. At around 10pm Bridger burst into our room. He covered his mouth and Jessica ferried him to our toilet where we had to watch him retch over and over. It was the first time since a baby that he had to vomit and it was really sad to watch, but he took it like a champ. He didn't cry, just talked normally in that little voice and went back to bed. The second time, he ran into our room with a blood-curdling scream that scared us half to death. He went in a and threw up again and went back to bed. Unfortunately, the scenario repeated itself every 45 minutes for about 5 hours straight. He couldn't keep anything down.

Sometime in the night the power shut off too and we worried that Penny would wake without her white noise fan.
Then, early in the morning Brody came in to tell us he wet the bed.
Then Jessica woke me with her sobbing. She had dreamed that Bridger died.
Overall, I'd say last night ranks high on our list of worst nights ever, but on the upside Penny didn't need to eat until almost 5, so that was nearly 10 hours straight.

With all this, and being a bit sick myself, its actually hard not to be grateful. Strangely all these things just serve to remind me how wonderful we normally have it. That our kids being sick and sad is something rare. That we have comfy beds and a home to sleep in. That Brody and Bridger are completely out of diapers, and normally don't wet the bed. That our children are alive and well and generally happy. We have everything that we could need and much more. Even at times like this when things aren't "perfect" we are well taken care of and have medicine and food and water. We have the Church. We have awesome friends. We have it all.

I think of all the families in Pakistan and Afghanistan who have lost their meager livelihoods and homes, who worry about strangers or bombs killing them in the night, who wonder what they will eat the next day, who ache for rest and health. What would it be like to be a parent there? A parent who loves and cares for and worries about their children just as I do mine, but they don't have the comfort and ease that I enjoy, or even the means to give their children what they need. And not just there, but places all over the world. How can I not be overwhelmingly grateful for everything we have and enjoy on a daily basis? We have it so good, its amazing. Heavenly Father has blessed us so much.

Penny Candy

Penny is now 4 1/2 months old. She weighs 16 pounds and is 25 1/2 inches long. She seemed so small to me until I saw my friend's newborn yesterday and Penny was like a giant compared to little Everlee.

Here are some reasons why we love Penny:

First of all, look at that face. When she smiles, she has a dimple in her right cheek. She loves being tickled and listening to us sing to her. She can roll from front to back but then gets frustrated because she hardly ever gets back to where she likes to be.

She is sleeping well at night, only getting up once to eat in 12-13 hours. Naps aren't fantastic, but we take what we can get.

She rarely cries in the car anymore. That was annoying while it lasted.

She is almost always happy. Even when she's hungry or tired, we can usually get a little giggle out of her. She babbles and squeals and is generally delicious.

And finally, she is very studious....






We love her face off.

Bridger's Turn!

Today was Bridger's first day of preschool. I knew it was coming and we were both looking forward to it but it just kind of snuck up on me. I dropped him off and he was a little nervous but then he suddenly looked up at me and smiled and said, "Bye, Mom!" And that was that. I left feeling strange and came home and hung out with Penny for a while. I even got to sew in peace during her nap!

When Bridger got home he told me all about his day and how much fun he had. He was most excited about the fact that he got to ride home with his friends.

I was a little lonely without Bridger today, but I have a feeling I'll get used to it.

Back to School. Back to School....

"...to prove to Dad that I'm not a fool. I got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight, I hope I don't get in a fight. Ohhhh, back to school. Back to school. Back to school. Well, here goes nothing."

Today was a big day for Brody. First day of Kindergarten. First day riding the bus. First day in a long time he'll come home to a relaxed mom.

Waiting for the bus.

We met Brody's teacher and bus driver Friday night at open house and they are both really sweet. The bus driver came right up to our house to pick him up, which will be really nice for me.

This morning Brody was so excited...I had butterflies in my stomach when the bus pulled up. It's hard to put your little kid on a bus with big kids and not very much supervision. I'm sure he did great. I'm so excited for him to experience a good school with good teachers. He's going to love it!

This was Brody's face when he saw the bus pulling up. Pure excitement.

I was tempted to just get on the bus with him and ride to school with him. It was a bittersweet moment. Bridger broke down and cried watching the bus pull away. Poor kid was missing his playmate already.

The Other Side

Hi! It's Adam. You can probably tell by the curiously handsome writing and overly mediocre wit. I'm going to blog today about the time I was able to spend with my parents a couple of weeks ago. As some of you know (and most of you don't) my 'rents have had enough of America and are moving to a new and wondrous country full of opportunity and pineapples called Hawaii. I hear it's strange there; men wear skirts, women wear coconuts, and babies can hold their breath for an hour while riding dolphins in between surf lessons. It sounds amazing and maybe that is why they are choosing to abandon me and move to this strange land. Maybe the lure of long walks on beaches, dangerous volcanoes, and the set of "Lost" are all just too much for them to resist. Perhaps they will have the heart to at least fly us out there in a couple of years and watch our kids while Jess and I honeymoon on a totally different island.

In any case, on their drive to the island they decided to stop off at our place in Georgia and have one last hoorah. They were actually nice enough to fly me up there on Sunday night so that I could drive down with them from Indianapolis and just share some no-kid time with them - something we have not been able to do since I was like 5 or something. I know that 12 hours in the car and one night in a motel on a full bed (advertised as a queen) doesn't sound like a blast, but it was actually quite a lot of fun. I suppose that some people out there might not like their parents or have nothing to say to them, but I LOVE my parents and enjoy just about every minute with them. It was quite fabulous to just sit and talk to them for hours and hours. We did play a game or two and eat some food as well, but mostly it was just time in the car talking and laughing and crying - and then stopping to get gas. ( the fuel kind- though, that BBQ place was a little iffy.) I love that in a series of conversations with my parents we can laugh about memorable "natural gas leaks" (much like an oil leak, except the blowout-preventer usually works), and also share spiritual experiences and thoughts.

Well, we obviously made it down to Georgia without dying (thanks to my Mom's excellent driving skills). The next few days with them were a blur of wrestling, and trips to the pool. Unfortunately I had to work most of the days they were here so I wasn't able to spend that much time with them during the day, but after the kids went to bed we could play games and talk.

Let me just tell you this: in the mind of my little boys they have two Grandma's, one Grandpa, and one hairy jungle gym with gorilla hands. I have no idea where my Dad gets all the energy that he expends wrestling with Brody and Bridger. He must save it up during the year and store it in his...love handles. (Sorry Dad, I suppose that's a better explanation than reality, right?) The fact is Brody and Bridger loved being able to wrestle and play with their Grandpa Gym. They also loved that my Mom was patient enough to play Sorry with them for like three hours straight. Once again, she must save up patience all year. (And I don't know where she stores it. Since she is practically perfect in every way she probably has a magical purse full of it. And I'm not full of it.)

Luckily we also have a pool in our neighborhood that allowed us to take a break from wrestling...or at least move locations. It was a lot of fun to go to the pool each day and play sharks and pirates and monsters and blow water at each other and throw kids through the air. Good times. I'm sure you can tell from the pictures how much fun we had. Don't you wish you could have been there? And now a commercial break.

Hello Georgia friends! How are you? Fantastic! Does your pool look like my pool? No! Can your pool BE my pool? Yes! Should you come over and swim in our pool? I don't know! Do you like the
look of fresh cool water? Do you want to dive into clear deliciousness and lounge while your children splash and play? Of course you do! Swan Dive! - into the best pool friendship of your life. So Georgia friends, Should you come over and swim in our pool? You tell me!
(If you don't get why that is funny shame on you. Watch this!)

Now back to our regular programming. While the 'rents were here my Mom had her Birthday. Can you guess from the picture how old she is now? If you guessed 35 you are probably closest. Obviously! Look at that youthful smile! We had a simple celebration.
Also while they were here Jessica and I were able to go on a date without kids. The kind without kids are fun. We decided to go to Adventure Crossing and play some air hockey and a round of mini golf. Let me just say that I am way better at both of those things than Jessica. So how she won both of them is a mystery to me. However, losing has never been so much fun. I love being a loser. It was a lot of fun to act like teenagers again and laugh carelessly. It was also a lot of fun to look at the actual teenagers there and remember how nice it is to not be two of them.
I can't really remember what else happened during the week. It was fun. I will miss my parents A LOT. It's not like we lived very close when they lived in Indiana or Illinois, but Hawaii...well, its a totally different country. I wish them luck there and hope that they have tons of financial success and meet lots of great people who see how awesome my parents are.

This is Penny. "Hey Penny, Richard Simmons called. He wants his head band back."