Christmas is coming! Hooray!

Hello, peeps. Christmas is one week away! We are so very excited for our family to gather, and for Emma to have her first Christmas. We've got the tree up, the stockings hung, and the presents all wrapped. What a wonderful time of year!

In mommy news...I made a sandwich one handed today! I was just about to get lunch, and Emma started crying. She was just having some awake time, and decided she didn't want to hang out in her boppy or her swing anymore. She just wanted to be held. And I just wanted to eat. So...I managed to make a sandwich with Emma in one arm!

In other news, Mike and I had our 3 year anniversary yesterday!! It was a low key event, but we were able to get take out from our favorite restaurant, instead of going there to eat. All we need is some Cantone's for our special events, so we were excited to hear they did take out!

Here are some more pictures. My favorite? Emma in the bear suit. I just love it so much. All the pictures are taken in her car seat, because it positions her perfectly to see her little paws and ears!! Another favorite is her all wrapped up in her towel. She's always so content when she pops out of the tubby!! And she loves Daddy, who is the designated towel boy!!

Message Received

Ok, Anna. Message Received. No, my camera is not broken. But my regular desktop computer is not currently set up. And getting my pictures onto the laptop is kind of a chore. And also, too my time is currently being hogged up by this needy little baby. And also, I try to sleep where I can. So, my apologies for not posting more pictures, more quickly.

So. Being a mom is awesome. Sure I've had my moments and meltdowns. (lots). But it's just awesome having this little baby to snuggle with! And for those of you who were wondering, the calming effect is DEFINITELY Sherry (mom) induced. The woman just knows how to soothe a baby (me) and also the newborn:) Emma is also a big reason for how well I'm adjusting to motherhood. She's just a good baby. She doesn't cry very often, and when she does it's usually because she needs to poop. Actually, that's really the ONLY time she's cried. When she's hungry, her arms just get going, and she sucks on her fingers. So that's how I know when to feed her. But otherwise, she's just a happy, sleepy, snuggly little baby. She's even adjusted to bathtime, and seems to LIKE it. Well, at least tolerate it. She eats well and sleeps well, and is just awesome all around.

So, that's it for now. I'm sure one day I'll be able to blog about something other than baby. But don't expect that any time soon. I'm kind of preoccupied with it for the time being:)

More Pics

By popular demand, here are some more pics of Emma!
After 11 days of life, she weighs a WHOPPING 7 lbs 9 3/4 oz. The doctors exact words were, "Holy Cow!"

She's a keeper:)

She's Here:)

Emma Kay Sage joined our family on 11/22/08 at 8:04 pm. She weighed 6 lbs 14 oz, and measured 21 inches long. She now is only 19.5 inches long, since she's not a cone head anymore:)

Labor was long and arduous, but it's also the best thing I've ever done. For the record, I DID NOT take castor oil, and I DID go into labor on my own:) I'm very thankful that I did not have to be induced. However, it would have been nice not to have been in labor for 37 hours, start to finish. But, I guess that's life:)

We are still adjusting to life with a baby (A BABY?? WHAT? SHE'S MINE? YOU MEAN I GET TO KEEP HER?? RADICAL!). I'm very thankful that my mom is here with us, and that we have so much family, so close, to help us out. I'm also very thankful that Emma is currently dozing next to me wearing her turkey day outfit. Because she's just so cute!

I'm in love:)

FYI

An update for those of you who don't get the family emails...

The Dr.'s appt yesterday was ok. I'm still only 1 cm dilated. I have a non stress test and ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

Due date discrepancy: The initial estimate (when I was 8 weeks) was 11/19. Later that day I had an ultrasound, and they said the due date was actually 11/16. At every appt. since then, the countdown has lined up with an 11/16 due date. Then at my appt. last week, the lady who was scheduling me for another appt. said that in my charts, the due date was still recorded as 11/19. Confused, we asked the Dr. about it yesterday. He explained that yes, the ultrasound date of 11/16 was more accurate, but that in order to change my due date in my chart, there needed to be 4 or more days of difference between the estimate based on my last period, and what the ultrasound showed. SO. There was only 3 days difference, so even though we spent 32 weeks operating under the timeline of an 11/16 due date, they never made the change in my charts. Why does this matter? Because it effects the date I will be induced, if I don't pop naturally.

So. I'm scheduled to be induced on Tuesday morning at 9:00 am, instead of on Saturday or Sunday. At this point, 2-3 days just seems like a really long time. At any rate, if I'm able to deliver naturally after being induced, I'll be sent home from the hospital on the morning of Thanksgiving. If for some reason I have to have a c-section, I'd be sent home the day after Thanksgiving.

So, that's my story. I'm cranky. And tired. And I think I'm just going to hunker down in the house until she gets here.

A Notice: To Whom it may Concern

I'm taking a page from the book of Anna, (who I believe was taking a page from the book of one of her Rawlins' SIL's) and issuing an eviction notice to the tenant of my womb.


Dearest Bean:

You are totally awesome and cool. That said, Get Out.

Please consider this your final notice. You must vacate the premises of my womb immediately. Don't misunderstand my motives or intentions. I will sorely miss the internal tenderization of my organs. I will miss our afternoon naps together. I will miss having your little elbow serve as my alarm clock. I will miss cuddling with your little butt up under my ribs.

However, there are some things that I am looking forward to, with your departure from the womb. First, I look forward to the return of a normal center of gravity. I am also looking forward to sleeping on my back, to walking and not "waddling", to having control of my own bladder, to touching my toes, or putting shoes on without grunting or sweating, to wearing pants that aren't elastic, and to drinking Dr. Pepper with reckless abandon.

Mostly, Bean, I am looking forward to YOU. Yes, you. You will cry. You will poop. You will spit up and/or puke on my nicest outfits. You will wake me in the middle of the night. Repeatedly. You will make me worry. You will only increase my paranoia and fear of the irrational. But you will also be AWESOME. And that's a fact, I know it already.

Also, Bean, your father would like for you to come out, now. So that I will stop whacking him in the middle of the night with the gigantic pillow I'm required to keep between my knees when I sleep. And so I will stop making him put on my socks and tie my shoes for me. And so I will stop wearing his clothing, which looks oh-so-ridiculous on me, but is also oh-so-comfortable.

Mostly, Bean, he is looking forward to YOU. Yes, you. You will cry. You will poop. You will spit up and/or puke. And he will pass you off to me:) But that's ok, because I like you. Aw, heck. I love you! Bean, your father would also like to play with your toys. He's already unwrapped them and broken them in for you. But he's feeling a little silly playing with them all by himself. He'd like a friend to play with. And he'd like none other than you. (Side note, right after I finished typing those last few sentences, Mike walked out into the living room with "Mr. Monkey", his favorite rattle.)

So, Bean, get out. Get out. Get out. Get out here. We'd like to meet you:)

Sincerely,

Your (Ugly) Mom

I need

Here's a list of some things that I need:

1. Sleep.
Everyone is saying, "Oh get all the sleep you can now, because HAHAHAHA you won't sleep a wink once baby is here!" Great, in theory. Except that I get up every 5 minutes to pee. Or if I'm not getting up to pee, I'm having to flop over from side to side because my hips are in excruciating pain. So lately I'm ending up on the couch, which doesn't provide for very sound sleep either. And I've been having trouble NAPPING lately. If you know me...you know I love my naps. So this is very upsetting to me. Egads, if I can't sleep, can I at least have a baby here as the reason??????

2. A Baby.
I need a baby. No really, I just need her to get here. I love her so much already, and she's going to be awesome and totally cool. And she just needs to get here so that these weird, horrible awful nightmares about bad things happening during labor will go away. So, get here, ok?

3. A pedicure.
It's getting a wee bit chilly in this neck of the woods to be wearing flip flops, but I'm even more opposed to traditional footwear now than I was a couple months ago. So my feet are all dry and rough. And I can't reach them.

4. A Cool Code Word.
Mike and I just rented Juno last week. And when Juno goes into labor, her code was "Thundercats are go!". So now Mike and I feel that we need to have an awesome code word/phrase to use. I think we're both secretly hoping I go into labor while he's at work, so I can call him and yell out whatever we come up with as our cool code! Suggestions are welcome.

5. To Stop Cleaning.
I have had the uncontrollable urge to clean and disinfect every surface of my house. I've mopped my floors more times in the last month than I had in the 2+ years we'd lived in this house before then. And my bathtub...pristine. I know this is what you'll call the "nesting" urge, or whatever. I've been told it sets in just a few days before labor is go. BUT - I've had this urge for weeks now. And where's baby? Please refer to #2. Get here.

6. People to stop saying, "So, no baby yet?"
Um. I think it's obvious upon seeing me, that NO, there's no baby yet. Because I'm still huge and whale-like. It seems silly to even have to answer that question.

7. To stop freaking Bird out with random text messages.
Apparently I haven't been very sensitive to the situation, because Bird told me last night (after I sent her yet another randomly timed and meaningless text message) that she'd have to start keeping her cell phone with her all the time, because when she heard her phone she frantically ran up the stairs because she thought it was me calling to say I'd gone into labor. My bad.

8. Chrysta to post a new blog?
Chrysta, as far as I know, there's no new Stephanie Meyers books out right now, so people are totally checking your blog. And noticing that you're still in repentence. So, you should post a new blog, even if it only includes ridiculously cute pictures of your family. But if you'd like to add words to it, and share with us all the happenings of your life lately, that would be awesome too.

9. To go get some leftovers for lunch.
I made potato soup last night for dinner. And I love it so much! And now I'm going to go eat some more. Yum.

Bean's Room

Awwwwww Yeah!

So, I just had the funnest days ever!

Yesterday my sister Bird, mom, mother-in-law and BFF Jean put together a shower for me! Hooray! I got to see some great friends I hadn't seen in a while, and we had an all around good time, so it was awesome! Thanks to everyone who was able to come, and thanks SO MUCH for all the wonderful gifts! It was like Christmas, but then I felt guilty because I was the only one who got to open presents! I guess that's just how a shower works...

There were lots of funny moments, and secretly (well not anymore), I laughed so hard at one point that I peed a little. Shhhhh. Don't tell.

And then today, Mike and I put together our crib and changing table for Bean's room. I can't begin to express how fun and exciting it was! It wasn't the most restful sabbath activity, but it was a great bonding time for us, and good family time, I think. The crib and changing table are just perfect...I love them so much! It makes her room feel totally different!! After it was all put together and in the right spot, I just kind of stood in the room and got all teary, because it hit me really hard that she will actually be here. Like...SOON! I just can't wait!! Once I get her bedding washed and put on, get decorations up and get things organized the way I want them, I'll post pics, I promise! Hopefully...that will all get done BEFORE she gets here, now that I'm done with work and have some time on my hands!

And speaking of such baby related things (which are the only things I speak of lately, it seems) I just have to mention a few funnies. First, is that I've been having some Braxton Hicks contractions. Except, I can never remember that they're called Braxton Hicks, and instead usually tell mike I'm having "Toni Braxton" contractions. So, unbreak my heart, baby! Also funniness...Mike likes to remind me to do my Kegels. Except he can never remember that they're called Kegels, and instead tells me to do my "Cankles". I don't even bother correcting him anymore! And also speaking of cankles...many of you will be happy to know that I am developing them. My feet and especially my hands are starting to swell! My fingers look like little sausages, and my rings are permanently stuck on my finger. But I guess it's all worth it. The only thing I'm really bummed about are the stretch marks on my tummy that I developed about 3 days ago. Seriously. I have 2 weeks left, and I get stretch marks now? Everything I've read and heard said that IF I was going to get them at all, they would have started showing up months ago! Grrrr... they're pretty light, and not terribly bad, so I'm hoping that they'll go away after Bean's born. I don't know...is there any actual hope of stretch marks going away?? I can't tell you how much I hate the ones on my thighs, that I've had since I was twelve, hit puberty, and got tall really fast. Grrr...I hate them.


BUT - I digress.

Tuesday is the election and I would like to mention a few things, as a former Citizenship Education Professional. That's right. You heard me. When I was in college, the PA Dept. of Education decided that Social Studies shouldn't be called Social Studies, but should be called Citizenship Education. So technically, my degree is in History, with a Citizenship Education focus. The PADoE has since reversed this decision, and calls Social Studies, Social Studies again. But that's besides the point.

Um, right the election. I knew I was going somewhere with that. Vote or Die. Well, ok I won't kill you if you don't vote. But P-Diddy might. I'm pretty sure he's probably got guns. Perhaps that might influence the way you feel about the NRA??? I'm not sure.

I digress again. VOTE! I don't care who YOU vote for. I really don't. I have my own political opinions, and I have valid reasons for those opinions. I don't, however, feel the need to justify to ANYONE why I will vote the way I'm going to. People, it's a SECRET BALLOT for a reason. No one in this nation should be persecuted for their political affiliations. In the past couple of months I have spoken to individuals who have been alienated from their families or friends because of how they are planning to vote. That, my friends, is sad. Very, very sad. In this country, over 80% of the population considers themselves to be "moderate". This means that in the political spectrum, 80% of us are lumped right in the middle. Either just barely Republican or just barely Democrat. What does this mean? It means that the difference between Republicans and Democrats is more subtle than most of us realize. The number of those in the far left or far right is very small, and some of those politicians or activists who are labeled as "far right" or "far left" are really...far from it. I feel that if we could just recognize our differences, get over them, and then instead focus on those goals and ideologies we have in common, the political process would be much less vicious, and far more productive and efficient. In the past several months I have also seen many individuals who have the most insane logic for why they are going to vote. I know I just said that no one should have to justify why they are voting how they are...but I must also make a plug for people to be informed. For instance, I don't think the fact that Barack Obama is black would be a good reason not to vote for him. Sadly, my husband works with a woman who thinks that his skin color should be the major reason McCain gets elected. I've also heard people say that they won't vote for McCain because he's too wealthy. Let's get real, people. How many high level politicians do you know that aren't wealthy? Wealthier than you and me, anyway. Voting is important, and being informed about BOTH candidates and their platforms is equally important.

So that's my two cents, it's all I really have to say. Vote. It's important. Or Die. P-Diddy's making a list, and checking it twice. He also says, BK is open late. And since I do everything P-Diddy says, I'm going to vote, and then I'm going to go to BK.

Curly Fries....MMmmmmmmm.

Going Retro

Since the trends seem to have abated somewhat, I'm going retro and making a numbered list.

1. Here's some recent preggy pics. 36 and 37 weeks respectively. It's getting close now! I had a check up on Friday and I'm 70% effaced...but I'm only measuring about 35 weeks. Oh well, she'll come when she comes and hopefully we'll be ready. We have a pack and play and diapers and wipes, plus enough outfits to get us by for a while. We can live with that if she comes early!

2. Our front steps are finally done! The job that was supposed to take "1 week, maybe 2 if we run into any major problems" is now finished after just over 3 weeks. And no, in case you're wondering, there weren't any major problems. Except for the major problem of the contractors not showing up to work for days at a time. It took several nasty phone calls to motivate them to get here and get our job done. But it's done, and we can just forget the last month of inconvenience it caused. And the emotional trauma it caused me as people had to walk through the dirt and grass to our backdoor to get into the house, and then dirtied my floors on a regular basis. The day after they finished the project, I spent a good couple of hours sweeping and mopping my floors, and it felt soooooo good. The carpets will be getting cleaned sometime this week. Sooooooo good.

3. This isn't much of a list. But it's all I got for now. I'm sleepy. Nap time!

Holy Crapazoid!

Holy Crapper McStinker! I'm 36 weeks! 29 days til Bean arrives! Can you believe it?!? This last year has gone by SOOOOOOO slowly, but at the same time, has really flown by. In a couple weeks we're going to be parents! PARENTS?!?!? Are you kidding me?? It'll be awesome. However, I was thinking that since I'll be a mom, Christmas will be a little different this year. Usually, I get all goofy with the nieces and nephews and am pretty riotous, I must say. Especially with Taylor. We have this nerdy bond. But now, I'll have to be all serious and do mom things. Like sing opera. And read the dictionary. And ballroom dance. And make lace doilies. And knit foot sweaters. It might be weird. Taylor, if you're reading this, be prepared for serious Aunt Alyssa. No more of this "aunt lyss" stuff. It's not serious enough for a mom.







HA! I kid...can you tell I can't wait for Christmas? I'll have a baby, I'll get to show off my baby to the fam, PLUS I'll get to meet Sophie and Keaton...Oh it's gonna be good:)

Anyway, we had a great opportunity last week to take a trip to Virginia with the in-laws. They have a timeshare in Williamsburg and were kind enough to take us with them! We'd been there with them once before, but the last time we went it was an absolute torrential downpour and freezing cold for our entire stay, and we had packed pretty much like we were going to the beach. Not smart.

But this year, the weather was phenomenal! Sunny and warm, every day! We left early last Saturday morning and got back by evening on Wednesday. We did a lot of shopping and got much of our Christmas list checked off. Hooray! Plus, we got some stuff for Bean and a few things for ourselves as well! Shopping and eating were probably the two things we did the most...good vacation, right?!?! But, we did take one day to go down to Virginia Beach, and that was probably my favoritest. We basically walked up the boardwalk for about two miles, and then went down by the water and walked two miles back to where we started. The boardwalk was gorgeous, the beach was gorgeous and the water was gorgeous. The water was pretty cold at first, but after a few minutes it just felt really nice to walk along in it. It was just an absolutely beautiful day! There are some pics in the slideshow from that day! Oh, there's also a pic of Mike mini-golfing...he smoked us all! I came in dead last. And I couldn't pick my own ball out of the cup. It was pretty sad. Oh well:)

One last note on the trip: My husband loves Captain George's. If you're not familiar with it, it's an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet. I'm pretty sure that if my husband had to go back in time and marry somebody else, it would be Captain George. That does not speak anything to his orientation, just to his insatiable love of sea creatures, and the eating of sea creatures. We went to dinner there on the first night, and every night after that he'd suggest we go back again. Now, normally this wouldn't be a problem for me, expect that during this entire pregnancy, seafood has just been completely disgusting to me. So, I had some crab legs, and choked down a couple other seafoody delights that I would normally love, and that was that. THANK GOODNESS they sat us right next to the desert tables, because otherwise the smell in there alone would have driven me right out the door. Instead, I got to enjoy the smelly goodness of baked pastries. Yum.

Lastly, to explain the last couple of pictures I tacked on to the slide show below:
1) I have also had a strong aversion to Chinese food during this pregnancy, which drives Mike crazy because he was really hoping I'd just have ridiculous cravings for Chinese, because he does. SO - the other night I suggested to him that he could pick up some Chinese take out for dinner, because I just felt like eating cereal. Sounded good to him! As we were driving home, he says "Oh darn! I should have got chop sticks so I could eat with them! I'm so good at eating with chop sticks!"

Oh, don't worry honey, I said...I have chopsticks at home! I had a stash left over from when I was teaching...I used them for a fun activity when we talked about China. Anyway, I said he could use them! Then he started back tracking...hahaha...but I made him eat his whole meal with chop sticks anyway! He was actually pretty good, but the whole scene was just amusing to me:)

2) After Chinese, Mike decided to eat some Dots for dessert. And then he decided to joke about "sharing" one with Bean, and accidentally spit a half eaten dot onto my belly (my shirt was pulled up, because she was jazzercising, and we like to watch it)! GROSS! So he apologized, and then decided he'd just give Bean her own dot. And so he stuck it to my belly. And then she started pushing up on where he'd stuck it, like she was trying to get to it. It was rather amusing. So pardon my momentary lack of modesty in the belly shot...it was just tooo funny!

Happenings II

Alright, let's try this again. Blogger kicked me off mid-post, so I'm picking up with Happenings II. This is my second attempt to write Happenings II, because as I mentioned before, blogger is being stupid today. I'm not happy, but there's so much to blog, so little time. Anyway...below are some pics of the painting fun. I love the color, and Bean did a lot of helping. I'll take more pics once furniture is switched out and it's all set up!

As some of you may know, Mike and I had our birthday week last week! Woot! Mine is 9/28 and his is 10/2. So we always have a good time with it! We of course had dinner at our favorite restaurant, Cantone's. Then we just relaxed the weekend away. Then we had dinner with Mike's parents on his b-day. It was a nice week, all around. Mike, ever the sweetie pie that he is, bought me an ihome for my bday! It's this little contraption that I can set my ipod into, and play as a stereo. It's also an alarm clock. He had two reasons for buying it for me: 1) He wanted me to able to listen to my ipod at the hospital when I'm in labor. He said this way I can listen to whatever I want and just use the remote to change songs when I feel like it! 2) I can put it in Bean's room for when I'm nursing, or putting her to bed, or things like that. What a sweet and thoughtful guy. The morning of my birthday (we were at church) I was just telling Mike that I wanted to get a CD player or something to put in her room so I could listen to music while I was in there...he later told me he had to bite his tongue VERY hard to not just blurt out my present!!

I would also like to give a shout out to Ta-May-May, my homecoming-attending, not-heavy-enough-to-set-off-the-airbag-sensor, hair-donating, harry-potter-obsessing, 14 year old niece! I called her on 10/2, her birthday also, to sing her a bday song, but she had already left way early that morning for...egads...SEMINARY! That's right...because she's in HIGH SCHOOL! Anyway, here's your song Taylor

Happy Birthday to Taylor
You dress like a Sailor
Perhaps you should think about attending Baylor (because it rhymes with Taylor)
Or maybe just become a Whaler.
And many more...

It took me a long time to think of that song, so I was disappointed when I didn't get you on the phone:( Hope you enjoyed it anyway!

Ok, what else? Ah, you may have noticed there's a picture of my bebo below! I've recently noticed that I'm no longer an innie, nor am I an outtie. Rather, I'm a flatty. My bebo is a flatty. If you don't know why I'm calling my belly button a bebo, you don't read enough Sandra Boynton (sp?) books, or spend enough time with Hudson and Cannon. Anyway, lately I've been obsessed with my bebo, or as Mike calls it, my "timer". I don't normally sing in the shower out loud...I just kind of always have a song in my head. And of late, this is the song that's been in there...

My Be-bo brings all the boys to the yard
Dang right, it's better than yours
I could teach you
But I'd have to charge

I'm not even sure why THAT tune was in my brain, or why I started substituting BEBO for MILKSHAKE. But I did. And now I can't stop. Help me.

Lastly, Shoes. They are not my friend. I'm a sandal person anyway, and I hate when it gets cold enough that I have to put away my flip flops and trap my feet in those meta-tarsal prisons we call shoes. But now...just TYING them is SUCH a pain in my butt (and belly) that I hate hate hate them even more. But I have found somewhat of a solution to my problem. I was digging through my closet and found a pair of elastic slip on shoes. If they weren't brown and plaid, I'd wear them everyday with every outfit. Heck, I might just wear them everyday, anyway.

Alright, that's all I can think of for now. I need a shower. I've noticed that even doing the slightest workout at the gym makes me sweat like a pig now...so I'm icky. That needs to be resolved. And so it will. Buh bye.

Happenings

Ok, because my public needs to see me all chubby and whatnot, here are the preggy pics requested. These are all somewhere between 32-34 weeks. You will notice my cheeks are getting chubby, my butt is getting large, and, although you can't see it, my hands and feet are starting to swell up a bit. Not too badly, but if I wanted to take my rings off, that ship has sailed. So there you have, me all preggy.

In other news, my blog is being weird and changing font sizes on me without my permission. I don't know if these things will show up once I actually post, but if you're reading this and the font is all screwy and the pics are out of whack, I swear, it's not my fault.

My man...my man is a man of action! I'm sure since you're all dedicated readers, you will remember my ranting on the last post about how our front stairs were STILL NOT STARTED! Well, Mike and I were discussing it after I made that post, and he decided to give them a call at 10:30 that night. He knew he wouldn't get anyone on the phone, but a message was all he needed. He basically gave them the ultimatum that if THEY couldn't get the job done or AT LEAST COMMUNICATE to us what was happening with our job, he would just find someone who could! And booyah, grandma, wouldn't you know that they just happened to show up to start our job the next day? WEIRD! But don't be fooled, it was no coincidence. They were perfectly open about the fact that had Mike not called, they wouldn't have come, because our contract got "lost in the shuffle". Thank goodness we didn't give them any money until they actually STARTED work. So anyway, the stairs are underway and should be done in a few days time. Woot! Here are some pics

This is after day one. Steps COMPLETELY gone. Oh yeah. You might also notice some spray paint...let me show you what it says in detail...



That's right, Bird Wuz Here !! What a dork. Mike joked with her that if she ever wanted to vandalize our house, the time was NOW because we were getting rid of the stairs! Soooo she waited just a TAD too long, and missed the stairs by a mere few hours! She came sneaking over at around 12:30 while Mike and I were asleep and vandalized our dirt and rocks! Oh no! We walked out the next morning to look at the work they were doing, and we were like... "Huh... was that paint there yesterday??" "Uh no...maybe they were already here this morning??" "No, I don't think so..." Me looking at it upside down..."Hey...does that look like an exclamation smiley face??" And then I saw "wuz", and then I solved the mystery. We'd been tagged! But it was funny and we liked it:)

Here are some pics from day two:




You'll notice that the entire front step is gone, and that there is also a bobcat in the yard! Aaah! Today is day three, and it's already quite the production so far. They finished taking out the tops step, dug deeeeep down in the dirt with the bobcat and are currently working on installing the forms for the new steps. There's a huge crew here right now, and a giant pile of rock in the street. I'm not so sure the neighbors are happy. Oh well.

So, what else is new? Mike and I spent the weekend fixing up the house some more. Mike and his Dad spent Saturday cleaning and framing out the basement. It's almost 100% framed, and then the next step is carpet. Once the carpet is down, we'll move the computer and stuff out of the baby's room. WHICH - Bird and I painted on Saturday! It's a nice "Pale Daffodil" yellow. It's such a calming color, and it is just beautiful with the windows open and the sun shining in. I can't wait to get it all set up for bean!