Happy Birthday Dave

Today my brother Dave turns 36. Here are 10 things you might not know about him.

10. As much as Dave loves going to the gym to work out, he enjoys complaining about it even more.
9. Dave always has connections to get things done. Whether it is paying to much for a new car or getting a deal on a TV, there is always "someone from church" who he can call to take care of business.
8. Dave likes to wear his clothes on the small side. His pants are a size 30 and his tee-shirts are girls medium.
7. Nobody in our family has any idea what he does for work. We know it involves travelling and watching lots of videos on you-tube.
6. Dave can't sit still for even 5 minutes. He always has to either be doing something or getting all his ducks in a row to be doing something soon.
5. Never eat ice cream while over at his house. He will occasionally dip his junk in the ice cream so other people won't eat it.
4. He is a huge "cat person". If you read his blog, you will read entry after entry about how great his cat is, but you would never even know he has three wonderful children.
3. One time on a trip out to Iowa, Dave pushed me off the slide and I broke my arm. I had to start nursery school with a cast on.
2. Dave was the Best Man at my wedding, as I was at his. Our older brother Dan had some other guy.
1. When Dave was younger, he perfected the art of taking my money. One thing he would do is convince me to put all my money underneath a brick out in the yard and he would do the same. Then together we could save up to buy Star War figures. The next day when I went to check on the money, it was all gone and I still have yet to see the figurines.

33 Weeks

On Wednesday Beth had her OB appointment and we got to see new ultrasound pictures of the baby. As you can see on the picture, Baby #2 has her hands up in front of her face, just like Libby did. But this baby is going to be HUGE. Libby weighed in at 6 lbs 1 oz when she was born and all during the pregnancy she was always in the bottom 5th percentile for weight. Baby #2 is already 4 lbs 6 oz and will gain about 1/2 lb per week from now on, so she has the possibility to weigh upwards of 8 lbs, as of now she is in the 47th percentile.
For those of you planning on coming down to visit, it looks like June 8th will be the day for the repeat c-section.

New Bed

I painted Libby and baby #2's room last week and we set the bed up this weekend. Today I picked up the mattress that we had ordered (saving $70 picking it up myself). Libby was so excited, from the time I dragged the mattress into the room until it was put on her bed, she kept saying, "nigh' nigh'" and "bed".


For the rest of the evening she kept bringing books and her babies into the bed and pretending to sleep with her head resting on the pillow. After we get back from Michigan next week, Libby will start taking naps in her new big girl bed until she masters that, and then hopefully before baby #2 arrives, Libby will be in the big girl bed permanently. Any suggestions out there on keeping Libby in the bed would be much appreciated.

Happy Birthday Emily

My oldest niece named Emily turned 6 today. Here are 5 things you probably didn't know about her.

5. Emily loves animals more then anyone I know. From bugs to bees to zebras, she has kept them all as pets at one time or another. If she could be any animal it would be an elephant.
4. Emily is a neat freak. At anytime you could eat off the floor of her room. Her motto is "there is a place for everything and everything has it's place".
3. Two years ago, I was babysitting Emily for a few weeks and her and I went out to eat at a Coney Island joint. She dropped a hot dog on the floor. No big whoop though, they brought her another one.
2. Em is great to have along when travelling with Libby. She will sing Libby songs and keep her amused for minutes on end.
1. She is a great eater. She once ate her weight in corn-dogs and cheetos.

Getting Bigger

Beth is now 32 weeks along.

Helpful

The other day Libby made a huge mess in her car seat. She dumped a snack sized bag of teddy grahams into her lap and then doused them with a healthy helping of water. I brought the car seat inside to clean it up, but before I could get to it Stretch and Zoe decided to give me a paw. They have the perfect sized schnozzles to get in every nook and cranny. The car seat now looks like the day we brought it home from Babies R' Us. Thanks wieners!

Bad Name

And you thought Will Brown was an awkward name to have...

Named

It is official, the new baby (still in Beth's belly) has been named. As we speak I am working on repainting Libby and Baby #2's room. It looks like Beth will have a repeat c-section on June 8th (date might change) and all of you will get to learn Baby #2's name.

Lumpiest Libby

Once again, Libby decided to stuff blocks, cups and eggs down her shirt. Since we had to leave to go visit Beth at work, I emptied her onesie and discovered all this:

• 12 blocks
• 2 cups
• 2 1/2 plastic Easter eggs

The worst part about it is the brusies and contusions she gets from all the blunt corners and cup edges that get jammed down her shirt.

Oh Lumpy Libby...will you ever learn?

Allie Not Safe

Does this seem safe for highway travel?

Happy Birthday Andy

My oldest God-Son turns 9 today. Here are 5 things you might not know about him.

5. Andy has one of the only birthdays I can remember, because it is also tax day.
4. Andy loves to be creative. Give him some markers and paper and he will keep himself amused all day. Just be careful, he will also draw on your walls if your not watching him closely.
3. He owns almost every single Rescue Hero there is, but never plays with them anymore. His mom keeps them organized and will one day soon open up a Rescue Hero Museum.
2. Andrew loves Irish Dancing, much to the chagrin of his Scottish relatives. For his birthday he is going to an Irish Dance-off. He also insists that he is the true "Lord of the Dance".
1. Andrew has a huge heart and will do anything to keep his favorite cousin Libby amused. Last time they visited he let Libby "push" him down over and over, she laughed every time.

(Because of the heavy workload, I will now only being doing the top 5 things for nieces and nephews)

Lumpy Libby's Moving Company

Libby managed to put all of these things in her shopping card and push them around the room, all why having her onsie filled with stacking cups.

Baby Carly

Today Jen and Damon welcomed their second daughter into the world. Caralynn Jean (Carly) weighs 6 lb 15 oz and is 22 inches long! Despite all her hard work, Jen looked great and was awake enough to visit with us. As you can see from this picture, Isabelle made sure she kept a safe distance from the loud creature known as her baby sister. Isabelle was disappointed that her parents took the Hallmark holiday "Siblings Day" so literally.

Carly has already learned how to pose for the camera. (It serves us right for making the camera flash in her eyes.) Libby was quite enamored with Carly. She kept holding out her arms expecting to hold her. After seeing how Libby treats her own baby, Damon put the kibosh on that idea. Libby even gave her own farewell, saying "Bye-bye baby."

The proud father.

Sleep Over

Last night we got a call around 6:30 p.m. that our friend Jen was heading to the hospital to be induced. So Isabelle got to spend the night over at our house. It was Libby's first sleep over party, except Libby didn't know that Isabelle was there until the next morning. Isabelle was a dream house guest. She went to bed without a peep, slept the whole night, and woke up in a wonderful mood. Libby was so excited to find Isabelle sitting on the couch when she woke up.

The girls had such a great time playing dolls and eating Fruit Loops. Libby force fed Isabelle two bowls of cereal and Isabelle loved every bite.

Lumpier Libby

Libby is still in the stuffing items down your shirt phase. Today she stuffed all 8 of her stacking cups into her onesie. She just had her diaper changed which is why she isn't wearing pants.

National Sibling Day

Today is National Sibling Day. I called my brothers and sister and told them how much they mean to me and what great siblings they are. They should receive their cards later this week.

I am very blessed that some of my siblings care enough about me and my family to make the long drive down south each Spring Break to come and visit us. I think it is so important that Libby connects with her cousins and Susan and Dan are doing everything they can to make sure this happens.

Taking a Bath

After celebrating Easter with Damon, Jen, and Isabelle (and Jesus), Libby was ready for a bath. So ready in fact that instead of standing next to the tub waiting to be undressed and allowed to put her bath toys in the tub, she decided to climb over the side her self dress and all.

For all of the who are getting their panties in a bundle about Libby's safety (Will, Monaca, and Mom), don't worry, Beth was within arms reach at all times.

Ben's Bed

With Susan, Kevin and their 3 kids staying with us last week, I got a few emails wondering where everyone slept. Being only a 3 bedroom house it was very tight. Luckily Susan brought Ben's bed with them. He slept like a log each night.

Naked Cookie Time

While Libby was getting ready to take a bath, Beth thought she would sneak into the bag of Nutter Butter cookies for a snack. What she didn't realize is that Libby has very good hearing, just like her four-legged siblings. As soon as Beth opened the bag, Stretch, Zoe and naked Libby came swarming like piranhas. Fortunately, there is no such thing as "bad naked" for a baby.

Robbed

Yesterday between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. somebody smashed my car window and stole my ipod FM transmitter. Luckily that is all they got. Usually I keep my Ipod and GPS unit in the car also. Luckily it only cost about $200 to get fixed and they were able to fix it quickly.
Yet another reason I can't wait to move out of Memphis.
(The reason I was parked in the street was to let Susan and Kevin have their car closer to the house to make it easier to load-up, but I'm not bitter)

Organ Grinder Monkey

Here is Libby doing her impression of an organ grinder monkey.

Gabe's Quote of the Week

"Rip out the fire"

-Said by Gabe to encourage his Dad while he played the Cow Racing game on the Nintendo Wii

Dog Lovers

Something I never thought I would be able to say about Kevin and Susan is that they love dogs. This past week that they spent with us turned them into dog lovers. Stretch and Zoe really charmed them. I actually had to search their van before they left on Thursday to make sure they hadn't kidnapped one of the dogs. My guess is in the next few months they will be getting a hairy child or two.

Happy Birthday Anne

Our friend Anne is turning 27 today. Here are 10 things you might not know about Anne.

10. Anne likes long things. One time we had her over for dinner and she asked that we have hot dogs, asparagus, and corn on the cob. For this reason, she doesn't like Rudi.
9. Anne is technically my sister-in-law Errin's friend. For the first 6 months I knew Anne, I thought that her nickname was Anus, but it is actually Annis.
8. Anne almost caused Beth and I to divorce. Everyone knows that I love Will Ferrell and all his movies. Knowing this, she still called and invited Beth out to see Anchorman. I still use this against Beth when I want something.
7. It is a small world. Anne is good friends with Amy T, who was one of my sister's good friends in third grade. I once house sat for Amy's family and the water main broke and flooded the basement.
6. Anne is very thoughtful. She bought the outfit that Libby wore to her first studio shoot. For Christmas, she got Libby one of her favorite books to read.
5. Stretch once gave Anne a "teeth kiss".
4. Anne was a competitive diver for Holt High School. She would have continued onto the Olympics but she didn't like getting her hair messy wearing the swim cap.
3. Anne writes articles for a fashion magazine. She sometimes gets free swag and gives it away to her favorite people. She sent me two hats that Beth will not let me wear outside of the house.
2. Anne has a cat named Maize, pronounced MAY-ZEE. She doesn't like it when you call her kernel or maize .
1. Anne is always very well put together. Her hair is always perfect as is her makeup.