Long time, no write...

I have a very good excuse for not writing in a while...I have taken up reading! Michelle recommended some books to me, saying how they were sooooooo good, and she was right! It is the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer. I am on the second book now, and I have my mom reading the first. Thank you, Michelle, for the recommendation! I had forgotten how much I like to read! I also recently read James Patterson's "Sunday's at Tiffany's" with some girls from work. It, too, was excellent, and I would highly encourage you to read it!

Since I last wrote, we have done some exciting things! Emma had her first birthday party, which was very fun! She was much more dainty when eating her smash cake that Jack had been at his first birthday party.

When she was done, though, it was easy to see why it is called a "smash" cake.

Emma had zero interest in opening presents, so I did all the work with my little helpers, Jack and his girlfriend, Elena. Elena is the daughter of one of my best friends, Jamie. So, I am sure you can imagine what it is like having two 2 year-olds help with opening gifts. They fought over every toy! It really was funny! Joel and Jamie played referee and eventually both Jack and Elena went to time out. I even had to take one toy that they refused to share and put it in time out before Emma even saw what it was! It was very classic birthday party chaos. Once all the party guests left, Jack and Elena played much nicer together, and Emma was content playing with a pink bow that had been on one of her gifts. It really was a very nice day!

Later that week, Emma went to the doctor for her 1 year check-up. She is in the 75th percentile for height and only the 20th for weight! She doesn't even weigh enough to move up to her big girl car seat yet! When the doctor asked if she was walking yet and I said no, he seemed stunned. Based on how early she started crawling and cruising along the furniture, he expected me to say yes. He said she probably was capable of walking but was just lazy! I agree! Her majesty, as we call her here, is sooooo lazy! That girl still won't even hold her own bottle! She can hold toys, a sippy cup, and feed herself, but she refuses to hold that bottle! Now that she is one year old, we are switching her from formula to whole milk, which she is tolerating well....a lot better than Jack did! But, she will only drink the milk from a bottle, and she won't hold it. When we ate dinner tonight, we put her in her high chair and gave her chicken and strawberries, which she was happy to feed herself. We also gave her a sippy cup of milk and she screamed for a half-hour at it! I let her win and finally poured the milk into a bottle. I thought my head may explode if I didn't. And that would've been one more mess for me to clean up.

The following Saturday, we went to a local pumpkin patch. Joel and I were so excited...Jack and Emma seemed bored. Joel and I were walking around and talking real excited like "Ooooooo, look at this cool pumpkin!" and our kids were looking at us like we were losers.


We picked out two pumpkins in the patch, which I thought was really fun, and then we got to take a hayride back up. Later that day, Jack and Emma were both acting real pitiful...runny noses, watery eyes and the most pathetic little cough you ever heard. Jack understands "blow" when you hold a tissue to his nose, but Emma just does not get it. With her, you just have to wait for the snot to start dripping and then wipe it off. And you have to get it before she takes her hand and spreads the snot into her hair and her eyes. If you don't get the Jack snot in time, he either uses his shirt sleeve or the curtains or he walks along the couch and drags his nose on the cushions. I am not kidding...it is gross. I cleaned the sliding glass doors in the kitchen today, and found lots of little boogers on the glass. I could tell who they once belonged to because some were down low, like Emma must have done a crawl-by boogering, and others were grouped together on the edge of the door near the corner of the kitchen where Jack stands for time-out. I guess picking your nose is a good way to pass time when you are bored and stuck in one place. Maybe that's why people do it when they are sitting in traffic? Have you ever noticed that? You are sitting in traffic and you look to either side of you and in your rearview mirror and everyone is discreetly "itching" their nose.

So my week has consisted mostly of snot, with poopy diapers thrown in here and there, as well. I had to work Monday and Wednesday, which one may think would be a nice break from the cooties, but remember...I work in a hospital. In my world, there is no escape from the cooties.

Something wonderful happened on Thursday when Jamie gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Owen!! Elena is now a big sis! Joel and I went to visit them in the hospital on Friday night. Owen is soooooo adorable, and he looks just like his beautiful mommy. I am so happy for Jamie, Greg and Elena now that their family has one more! And of course, holding a sweet angel of a baby in my arms totally made me want another! I think Joel may have felt a bit of a baby itch when he held Owen, too, but he certainly isn't looking to start pro-creating again just yet!

So, that's my story...hopefully, my babies will be feeling better before I have to go back to work on Wednesday...and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Joel and I do not catch this cold of theirs! That is one thing I would be okay with Jack and Emma not sharing!