Today was picture day. It didn't go as well as last time. He was not comfortable with the gal that did the session. I don't know why he is usually a very happy kid but itw as difficult to get a smile out of him. As you can see in the first picture of him full out screaming.

Enjoy!

Yard work

I have a love hate relationship with yard work. I love to dream and plan and look at plants at nurseries but I hate doing the work. I hate weeding. I hate planting and I hate getting dirt on my hands. Yet Mike and I managed to do a little yard work a few weekends back and it really spruced the place up.

Before...2 years ago with all the shrubs



Half way there...last year.



And finally...I would be happy to never touch another ounce of dirt and I am sure Mike would be glad to never see another shred of bark.



I would love to plant a few more things though and maybe some iron pieces hanging on the side of the house. I guess we aren't done. Let's not even get started on the back yard. Maybe I will save up and pay someone.

There once was a toy named fishy.



He came with us everywhere we went.
If Gavin had teeth fishy would have a lot of bite marks.
Fishy saw a lot of drool.
He was also good friends with the floor.
Fishy was loved dearly.
Fishy was lost in JC Penny today.
Mommy almost cried.
Not really but if it were the right day she most certainly would have.
Knowing how much Gavin loved fishy toy Mommy searched high and she searched low.
When fishy was not found she tried to replace fishy.
There were no fishy toys to be found.
At least not at Target or Toys R' Us.
So she bought a toy named buggy.





Then Mommy searched the World Wide Web.
She found one really overpriced fishy toy.

So now we will replace the words of the old veggie tale classic "Oh where is my hair brush" with "Oh where is my fishy."
We will hope that we will run into fishy during our travels.

Until then "Oh where is my fishy, Oh where is my fishy, Oh where oh where oh where no fair oh wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrre is my fishy?!"

Doggies Day Out



A short time ago in a land not so far away the kidless versions of Mike and I decided, okay I decided and Mike went begrudgingly along, to get not one but two fury creatures to call our very own and love like the children we weren't going to have in the near future. The plan worked for the time being. I loved and spoiled and cuddle and treated them like the two hairy children I had always wanted. Then I became pregnant and I swore to myself those two golden fur balls would always remain front and center loves of my life. Reality check, they didn't. They went from the furry children I loved so much to the dogs I never really wanted, not really I still love them and still want them but they were definitely demoted the day Gavin came home from children to dogs.

Today, they were in great need of a bath because my time is spent bathing more important beings like myself and Gavin. So we paid, and paid dearly, to have them groomed at a big box pet store. At a quarter to one today I quickly loaded my two golden fur balls into the back of my large eco-unfriendly SUV and dashed to the PetSmart I leashed up the dogs told them to stay one hundred times and quickly struggled to unload the stroller that was nestled between my two impatiently staying dogs. I tried to quickly but smoothly load Gavin into the stroller without waking him, HA! He was awake and then quickly the dogs were pulling me towards the store. I marched with a whole lot of stares with my stroller being pulled by the golden ones. I marched in there and confidently told the young looking girl in her blue smock that the James dogs had arrived for their bath. She looked at me puzzled. Thats when I knew, even though I had asked 3 times if it was at the PetSmart a simple miscommunication had led me to to the wrong store. I not so smoothly shoved, literally, my stroller and my two dogs through the very narrow doorway and procured even more strange looks ranging from poor woman with too much on her plate, to what a fool trying to juggle two large dogs and a baby. Before I knew it Duke and somehow come out from the leash and was wondering off by himself procuring even more strange looks. I had images when I left the house of how capable I was and how I could take on two large dogs and a baby without thinking twice. I'll tell you what I didn't think twice about calling my husband to tell him how upset I was that I was now going to have to load and unload the dogs and the baby at yet another pet store thanks to his slip of the tongue. Yes when you are trying to drop your dogs off for a grooming appointment it does make a difference if you say PetSmart or Petco.

I should have known when I dropped them off at Petco and they didn't want to go that something wasn't right. When Mike picked them up the girl was calling them names and obviously didn't like our dogs, which we have never had a problem with usually everywhere they go people love them and they behave well. They came home and drank 3 big bowls of water leading me to believe they hadn't even given them water in the whole 3 hours they were there. I wasn't impressed. So our hairy friends won't be going back to Petco in the future maybe we will try PetSmart next time.

So it's May, not just May the middle of May. A time when the sun should be shining and the birds chirping and the warmth of spring should be soothing my skin and making me itch to go outside on a walk. It's the time I dreamed of while pregnant. Loading my beautiful baby boy up in his fancy stroller and taking a much needed spring walk in my pre-pregnancy jeans with my cute pre-pregnancy shirt that I wore this time last year. Pride and joy would be beaming on my face. I woke up this morning to realize that dream had been shattered and into many pieces. It isn't just that the sun refused to shine and then when it finally does we have a bacterial infection causing us all to pile up on the sofa with enough cough drops to feed a small tribe in Africa but it is also the fact that my fancy stroller that my Dad so nicely spent lots of money on locks up and makes this awful clicking sound that by the end of a walk makes me want to check myself into a mental hospital. Then there is the case of the pregnancy weight that I think while I was putting it on decided to adhere itself to my body using some form of super glue so no those blessed pre-pregnancy clothes aren't even close to fitting. So this morning I had a reality check. I looked around my house and wondered why I had made it to spring and not one of the indoor projects I thought should be done weren't done so I could move to outdoor projects. No the pile on the computer desk with a sticky note about half way down "To file ASAP" is still gaining in height. The cluttered entry closet is gaining shoes and dog toys and chemicals for the hot tub and anything else I can't imagine where else it would go. The babies room looks like the baby gap exploded in there with clothes from this person and clothes from that person and the clothes I bought there and the cute swim trunks from Target and the great onsie from Auntie and the cute outfit from Grandma all with no place to go because the closet is draining out into the room with the Baby Bjorn Gavin is just to big for and the sheets that didn't fit the play yard and the baby books that need a bookshelf and the tons of blankets that I don't know where else to put. I wander around my house wondering why none of this is done what have I been doing these past 6 months and then I hear him "ummm" "hmm" "BAH" and remember That is what I have been doing taking care of that cute little bundle of joy that I love more and more each day. So instead of tackling one of those piles I do a load of dishes, dust a few of the surfaces in the living room and dining room and take a moment to tell you all about how I might never catch up with all these messes and it might take me hours in the gym to get back to my pre-grenancy weight but you know what Gavin is worth it.

After a round of antibiotics we are feeling better. Since I am still catching up on life here are some pictures taken over the past couple weeks.

A BAD CASE OF THE SICKIES!

Just to let you all know we are still alive, not necessarily well but alive. Saturday night on our trip in Seattle Gavin started running a fever and acting fussy by Tuesday I had a sore throat and by Thursday Mike had the bug too. Between sore throats, fevers, aches, coughs and restless nights I haven't had a chance to update the blog or the energy but as soon as we are all up and going again I will be sure to update you all on the toothless grin chronicles. It is tough when we are all sick at the same time because no one is well enough to take care of anyone else. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.