the last week has been fun; we've just been hanging out at the house, running errands, and meeting up with friends and family. last week my friend sarah and her two boys, who are close to micah and rowan's ages, came over for a play date. the kids got along great and had fun, and we all had a new, yummy snack: raw milk and raw cheddar cheese! sarah is always discovering new foods, and is also inclined to notice the natural and alternative. she bought some raw milk and cheese at a co-op and brought it over for us to try. it was awesome!! the cheese was wonderful, flavorful and mild at the same time. and the milk tasted just like the milk i buy at the store, but it was so cool to know that it was raw and unpasteurized. i wish i could afford to have raw milk in the house all the time, but it's on the expensive side, and the co-op doesn't take food stamps, of course.

last night (thursday) mama and maya came over for dinner, which was really fun because it was the very first time i've had my mom over and cooked dinner for her at my house. sounds weird, but it's true. i made meatloaf, broccoli rice & cheese, and cornbread muffins - three things i know she loves. she and josh both liked the meatloaf, but i thought it turned out a little bland. i need to practice that more... after dinner, my aunt shannon and cousins emma and audrey came over to play, and they ended up staying until almost 10 o'clock. the girls all had so much fun together. the next morning (this morning) they all left on a little weekend trip with grams & sweep to mississippi. i hope they're having fun, and i hope we get to see them again on sunday night, when they get back, before shannon and the girls have to head home to austin.

today (friday) i had lina with me - i usually don't have her on fridays, but her mom needed to finish a project at work. we bummed around the house until lunchtime, then ate leftovers with josh, and drove him back to work when his break was over. then we picked up caleb and took him to work. we arrived about half an hour early, and i'm so glad we did! they were having a 50% off sale, and i have been anxious to plant some pretty, colorful flowers in the front flower bed. so micah and i went in, found what we wanted, and ended up getting 80% off on our purchase because the cashier gave me caleb's employee discount! SWEET!! i'm going to get up early tomorrow and work on getting them planted before it gets too hot. i'll take pictures and post them as soon as i can. : ) tonight (friday) daddy and vesta came over for dinner! i looooove having people over for dinner at my new, pretty house. : ) anyway, i made this chicken enchilada recipe that i got from my friend, jessica, and they turned out soooo yummy. the ONLY thing i'll do differently next time i make them is bake them for a slightly shorter amount of time. the corn tortillas were very soft, and i think i would've preferred them a little less... mushy.

naomi was supposed to come home this weekend, but she forgot that it was a friend's last weekend before going somewhere, so she stayed in austin. jill is in town, though, babysitting melanie's kiddos, so i think after we do yard work tomorrow, we're going to head up to mckinney and swim with the boyle children (josh's nephews and neice). then i hope to make a stop at half price books to get a copy of roald dahl's "the witches" for micah, and dr. sears' "the birth book" for me, for my LLL leader application. i want to read "the witches" to micah because she got two rats as a late birthday present from me and her daddy, and i think she'd enjoy the story of the boy and his trained, pet rat. : ) i also hope to pop in the old navy by mel's to see if i can find a dress to wear to temple's wedding tomorrow night!! which is also in mckinney, so we will pretty much be there all day long. i can't wait for temple's wedding. it's going to be so much fun, and honestly, it will be the first wedding i've been to in a long time in which i'm not a bridesmaid. so it'll be a nice change to sit in the chapel and enjoy the ceremony. : )

we were supposed to go on another LLL field trip to old city park in dallas this morning. but my morning did not go as planned... and i can't seem to do anything right today. first, i neglected to inform christian and/or samantha last night that i'd be taking josh to work this morning, so i could keep the car. so this morning at 7:24 i called samantha and she was already on her way here to drop lina off. i told her i'd meet her at belt line and 75, but soon realized i wasn't going to make it in time. so she ended up being late to work because of my poor planning - UGH! then, i headed north to our bank with my check from samantha for this week, with the intention of depositing part of it and cashing part of it. when i was about two-thirds of the way there, i realized that, since our account is overdrawn at the moment, they wouldn't let me keep any of it. so i pulled off the highway and drove around for a while, trying to find a bank of america branch where i could go in, cash the check, then take $100 of it to our bank in mckinney and deposit it. when i finally found a BOA branch, the sign on the door said the lobby would be closed for another 15 minutes. my stomach was cramping like mad, and i knew sitting in my car for that long would result in an accident the likes of which i haven't had since i was about 3 years old. and by this point anyway, i had grown so accutely irritated by the fact that we live in GARLAND and our bank's nearest branch is in MCKINNEY, that i angrily drove out of the parking lot and all the way back to richardson. i went to the BOA branch by my supertarget (the bathroom had stopped calling me for the time being), where i went in and cashed my check (NEVER, and i mean NEVER take three children under the age of 5 into a bank; you're just askin' for it). after that, i was hungry and annoyed and suddenly needing to poop again, so we went next door to chick-fil-a and resolved two of those three issues. even after that, i had one more errand to run: for several days now, my fingernails have been in desperate need of clipping, and i can't find our clippers anywhere. so we stopped in at the CVS right by our house for a new pair. THEN we went home, and my annoyance level has decreased since i was able to get the two younger babes down for naps at the same time. so, needless to say, we skipped old city park (it was, what, 100 degrees by 10 AM anyway), and have had a quiet afternoon here at home.

micah is hungry all... the... time these days! i bet she's going through a growth spurt. i'll be anxious to see how much she's grown by the end of the summer. rowan's appetite hasn't changed, but his crankiness has upped a bit. i don't know if it's because he's getting some molars in, or if it's just the slow march towards 2. he's also giving lots of unsolicited kisses, and is "talking" and make some new gestures to get his message across.

the big 3-0!

here are some cute pictures we took at josh and jill's 30th birthday party last month.

josh and rowan in their matching hats. so cute!

rowan, me, katy (josh's youngest sister) and hope, josh's neice (a year older than micah)

micah and her favorite cousin, hope ann, having fun in the pool!!

i have baby fever! a good friend's sister had her first baby, a girl, at the end of june. i've been spending time with my friend, jessica, and her sweet 7-month-old boy. one of my LLL friends had a baby boy in mid-june. my friend in pennsylvania is pregnant with her first, and another friend here is pregnant too. gosh... i want another baby. : ) and the cool thing is, josh no longer winces when i bring up the topic! we even have names picked out for #3. shhhhh...

we had SUCH a fun 4th of july in wichita falls with josh's sister, jill, and her boyfriend, richard. we stayed at their house and slept in their wonderfully comfy guest bedroom with a roomy king-size bed. josh didn't want to come home and go back to sleeping on his stiff, creaky twin trundle bed mattress!

on friday we arrived pretty early and played rock band at the house, then went out for a nice dinner. on saturday josh and i took the kids to a flea market, then in the evening we all went to a fun kids event at the civic center where micah got to ride one of those spinning carnival rides (with her aunt jill; those things make me barf) and eat cotton candy. the fireworks turned out to be a bust... it started pouring down rain, and we were waaaaaay too close to where the fireworks were actually launching from, and the noise was overwhelming for micah and rowan. they had fun running around inside the civic center, though, listening to the booms and pows from a distance.

the next day, sunday, we got up and had an early lunch, then went roller skating! it was micah and rowan's first time to do this, and they both had fun. rowan wore his skates for about ten minutes, holding my hands or josh's hands and scooting around, then he sat down and pointed to his laces and said, "uh, uh, uh!" translation: get these crazy things off of me so i can walk normally again! micah stood perfectly still on the carpet next to the rink in her skates for a long time, maintaining perfect balance and watching people zoom around in a circle. after about 45 minutes of watching me, her daddy, aunt jill and richard skate around and have fun, she decided she was ready to try it - and she did very well! : ) she held my hands first and skated forward with me behind her, then held one of jill's hands and one of richard's hands and skated in between them. it took her a while to get the hang of centering her body over her feet so her feet wouldn't shoot out from underneath her, landing her on her tail bone (that happened several times - ouch). once she got the feel of how she needed to balance a little differently, she enjoyed it. i love watching her learn how to do something brand new. it gives me the neatest feeling, and i hope i remember all these moments forever.

from the skating rink, we went to an early dinner, then josh and the kids and i headed home. we made really good time, so once we got to richardson we stopped at the grocery store for some stuff we needed for the house. micah slept the whole trip home, so she was a bit wired, but rowan, for some reason, stayed awake and whiny the whole trip home. he had a weird burst of energy once we unloaded the van (we borrowed joann and sheridan's van for the trip), then crashed at his normal time.

micah and i stayed up watching the dog whisperer. wesley, my stepdad, has us hooked on this show. it's got me totally psyched to be a better pack leader to mia!

today my aunt and cousins came over to play, and we had so much fun! micah always has the best time playing with them. then tonight we all ate dinner at my grandparents house. ahhhh, heaven. : )

and rowan signed his first sentence yesterday: he signed "milk" then "all done", to tell me he was done nursing. : ) : )

catch-up time

i've been really bad at updating my blog lately!!

our A/C has been partially restored... a small, used unit was installed last week to tide us over until sometime this week when the new unit is supposed to arrive. the landlords are replacing the entire cooling and heating system in the house. it'll be about a 3-and-a-half hour job. meanwhile, the unit we have is struggling to keep the whole house at a comfortable temp (80), so i've been keeping the vents and the doors closed in the playroom and the office during the day. that way the bedroom, living room and kitchen get all the cool air, and the unit isn't running nonstop all day long to try to keep up. i am not looking forward to our utility bill next month...

kid news:

• rowan is communicating a bit more. he says owl, bagel, mama, micah, and bye-bye on a very regular basis. he has certain sounds he makes for certain needs/wants, and he signs "milk" and "all done".
• micah and rowan both are both becomming fantastic little swimmers this summer! rowan can jump off the steps or the side and go completely underwater, before being swooped up by me or whoever is playing with him. sometimes my dad and i play "catch" with him: i dunk him under and push him through the water to my dad, and my dad brings him up to the surface. he voluntarily dunks himself underwater all the time, then pops back up smiling. micah can put her face underwater and hold it there for several seconds, and can glide from your arms to the steps several feet away with her hands out in front like a torpedo. she also loves to kick around in her 'dora the explorer' inner tube.
• micah is loving her dress-up clothes these days. she spends a lot of time wearing her beautiful dresses, skirts, headbands, crowns, purses, etc. we recently got some princess dresses and high-heel shoes from my friend alison, and they've been a huge hit!

we are all still adoring our new house!! the backyard especially is so fun for me; we have one of those little fisher-price cars (also from my friend alison - thank you!!), a small slide, and an airplace swing for lina. my grandparents have a blow-up pool for us, but they haven't brought it over yet.

we've been enjoying the summer so far, at home, in my dad's swimming pool, and going on several outings with my la leche league group. earlier this month we went to owen's farm in richardson and got to feed some goats, see and learn about many different farm animals, go on a barrel ride, and plant a pumpkin seed! today, we went to the flight museum at love field in dallas and went on a guided tour, got to see tons of vintage aircraft, climb aboard a real plane (some of the kids were nervously asking, "are we really gonna take off?!") and enjoy a nice, big, air conditioned play area! we also got to hear one man's first-hand account of WWII, including his memories of normandy and omaha beach, and the loss of his best friends. his story was very moving, and i had a hard time keeping it together in front of all the kiddos. at the end, when he was talking about how many men died on D-Day, he pointed to all the kids and us and said, "and each of you are worth every bit of that sacrifice." i thought about how blessed i am to have two grandfathers who served in the Korean War and lived to see their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

i... can't... believe... my A/C seems to be broken again. it's not blowing cold air, and it won't get below 83 degrees in here, even though i have the thermostat set at 75. i'm going to scream, or cry, or maybe both. and we're supposed to have company again tomorrow night. lovely... at least tomorrow is saturday and i know my landlord will come over here to check it out. geez...

josh, the kids and i played with maya at her house tonight while mama and wesley went out on a date for their anniversary. we had fun dancing to music, molding things out of beeswax, and playing with dolls and wooden food. i took some cute pictures of maya and micah dancing, and will post all sorts of pictures from the last couple of weeks very soon...

i was frustrated this morning because i didn't get up to drive josh to work, and was stuck at home without a car until noon, which meant that i missed two fun playgroups with my LLL friends. alison and laura and their boys were at the splashground, which is where i really wanted to go, and vicky and others were at a shady playground in dallas, which sounded like a bit of a drive but still would've been fun. my other friend miranda was also at the dallas playground, with her 3-yr-old son, jack, and her brand new baby girl, lily! i'm sad i missed out on seeing her. she's having a "meet lily!" party tomorrow afternoon, but we won't be able to go because we've got a full day tomorrow already. i'm also super excited for my other friend, marina, who had her baby boy last week! i can't wait to meet and hold these precious, new babies!!

i'm looking forward to getting some plants and flowers for the small bed right next to the front porch tomorrow. i have an idea of what i want to put there, but i don't know the names of the plants or the flowers. we're also going to go buy a cheap weedeater tomorrow. we'll worry about buying a lawnmower next year; my dad said we could borrow his whenever we need it, and it fits nicely in the back of the station wagon.

we are almost completely settled in and unpacked over here on archery lane! a few boxes remain in the kids' room, and the office needs artwork hung on the walls and the shelves loaded up with books. there are a lot of boxes of books and DVDs in the office closet that need to be unpacked. i am trying to come up with storage ideas for the kids' playroom. i want one of these storage systems from IKEA to house all their small toys, dress-up clothes, etc. maybe i can get them this for christmas.

micah and rowan are loving the new place! they love the backyard, even though we don't have a swing set or anything out there yet - again, hopefully christmas! we do have a small toddler slide that they're enjoying in the meantime. and of course, the sprinkler is always a hit. my grandparents have a blow-up kiddie pool they're going to bring over sometime next week; i'm excited about that!

josh and his twin sister, jill, turn the big 3-0 on monday, the 22nd! we had a birthday party for them at their oldest sister, melanie's house this past wednesday night. it was such a blast. i will post pictures soon. we swam and listened to music and ate brisket sandwiches, and had the yummiest cupcakes you've ever tasted for dessert. josh got a charcoal grill with all the accessories, a new wallet, a stainless steel water canteen, a drafting pen set, a gift card to hobby lobby (which he's already spent on some brushes, paints, mineral spirits to use with oil paints and to clean his brushes, and a sketchbook), and an awesome t-shirt with a record on it (his younger sister, katy, made it).

before the party, jill and katy stayed with us for one night each, which was wonderful but - our A/C was broken for part of the time! our landlord came out to the house four differet times to try to fix it, and he finally determined what was wrong and got it repaired. but, ugh... it was kind of a pain having it broken while we had company. i love, love, love it when josh's sisters come to stay with us.

we've also had my dad and vesta over for dinner, and my grandparents (jo ann and sheridan, my dad's folks) over for pizza, my friend alison and her boys over to play and help unpack, and last night katherine came over with smoothies and hand-knitted gifts! she made me a dishtowel with the breastfeeding advocacy symbol on it (i will post pictures of this very soon, and can't wait to take it to my next LLL meeting to show it off...) and she made micah two knitted chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting and chocolate sprinkles!! they are amazing. she also showed me pictures of some of her other projects... she is so incredibly talented, and she's only been knitting a short time. she just has a knack for it.

in other news, rowan is still not saying much at all, but has no trouble communicating. he uses hand gestures and little sounds to get what he needs, and he's started to sign more. he signs for milk, all gone, and thank you (sometimes). and of course he waves bye, and stretches his arms out for a hug. it's really cute. : ) he has his pacifier in his mouth a lot, and i've wondered if that might be contributing to his speech delay... so maybe this week i'll try to keep the paci away as much as i can. i'm not worried about it; i'm sure he'll talk when he's ready.