Welcome little Jack!

I'm pretty sure when my sister woke up this morning, on the third to last day of school, she didn't expect that by the end of lunch time, she'd have a baby.  But, stranger things have happened.  Can't say that I'd be too interested in having my water break on the job and have to figure out how to get out of work as undetected as possible, but my sister is tough like that.

She's actually super tough.

Hangin' tough.

And she has beautiful children.  Children that I love very much.

We love you little Jack.

In a nutshell...

Visiting my Grandma, and letting her know that her gift to me, little twitchy, is doing just fine.

Best hair day in weeks....has to be on a Saturday when I'm not going anywhere but the car dealership to sign papers.  Ug!

Practicing animal husbandry.

Instagramming at church.  Who knew Rudyard Kipling wrote a hymn?  Oh, that's right, my husband and my sister did.  At least I learned something on Sunday.

Visiting a few other graves, particularly my Grandma P.  Man alive I miss my grandma's!!

Sunday was just breathtakingly beautiful.  Those mountains are part of the reason I love where I live.

Yummy treats for the family Memorial Day BBQ.

One tuckered out 5 year old.  (Note:  That other kid of mine was also with us all weekend, but he was sort of evil and I just didn't take his picture).

Note 2:  

I'm awake very early this morning because I had one of those crazy dreams.  I was in Switzerland with Elliott and my in-laws.  No husband, no other children.  My son and father-in-law had led the way and decided to walk across a strange bridge, straddling a wide river.  We got onto the bridge, me with much trepidation because the thing had wide gaps in it and was being held up by a small string.  I had just taken a picture and as I was putting my phone/camera away, Elliott ran ahead of me and missed the gap.  In order to catch and save him, I sacrificed my phone and it fell to the bottom of the large body of water.  As I was sobbing uncontrollably (apparent the phone contained all our documentation and we were now unidentified in a foreign country) we continued along this bridge, dipping into the water, floating on barges, being pulled along by a string.

Eventually, we go to the end of the line, in a very industrial and coal infused part of the city where we got off.  We had someone been part of an art installation.  It wasn't a real bridge at all, we had just gotten in the way.

Then I woke up.  I had to go to the bathroom and the Nestle Quik was calling my name.

Today is my birthday!

Today is my birthday!   I am 34!  Thirty-four years old doesn't seem nearly as old as it did when I was 24.  I love my family.  I love my life.  I love the life experiences I've had so far and can hardly wait for all those that are yet to come.

I'd just really like another nap like I had yesterday.  In my old age, that was pretty awesome.

Birthday lunch with my three favorite boys

Birthday visit to my grandma.  I've been thinking about her a lot lately.  That must mean she's been thinking about me, too.  (I hope!)

Birthday dinner with all of my favorite people.

2:00 in the am

Nearly every single night, I wake up at 2:00 am.  It used to be 4:00 am, but things change.

Usually, it's to go to the bathroom and then head back to bed.  Occasionally, it's for a drink.  Sometimes, it's because I've got low blood sugar and need something to eat.  Every once in a while it's because of a charlie horse in my leg or a twitchy back muscle, or a swift kick to the kidneys.

Regardless, If I'm lucky, the wake-up call lasts about 40 minutes and I'm back to sleep, waiting for 6:30 when I have to get up for real.  If I'm not lucky, it's a rough night, with at least 4 hours awake.  I watch movies on the computer, catch up on TV shows and read blogs.  I pace the house, peek in on my kids, and listen to my husband snore - him upstairs and me down.

These days though, I rarely get frustrated...or at least as frustrated as I used to.  Maybe it's because I'm lucky to be alive and have a quiet house to wander and a safe neighborhood to live in.  Maybe its because I know that in a few months, I'll be up anyway so it isn't a big deal.

Maybe it's just because I'm getting older and insomnia is just something that life throws at me and I'm learning to deal with it.

Either way, I'm going back to bed to try it again.  Wish me luck.  I've only been up 29 minutes.

The Squirt: 3 year old stats

On Thursday, the little Chick went with his dad and brother to the doctor.  I had my own series of appointments to attend (the little twitchy one is already measuring 2 weeks ahead...and, well, I need A LOT of insulin to cook him properly).

(Incidentally, he gets to play t-ball in the summer league, but he can already hit a coach-pitched ball with a good deal of accuracy.  I'd say that means he's a show off!)

Anyway, the stats.  Elliott, at his 5 year old appointment in April was finally, for the first time since birth, on the charts for height and weight. He's always been in the 100 + percentile for his height and he's finally in the 95%, meaning that he is currently, at 5 years old, as tall as most 7.5 year olds and his weight, is well, skinny.  The kid looks like he just got out of a concentration camp, but I promise he hasn't.  Just for dinner on Friday night he ate a small rack of ribs, french fries, 4 chicken nuggets, a icee push-pop and 4 e.l. fudge cookies.  So, the kid is a lean, mean, fighting machine and is going to be at least as tall as his parents when he's 18 (I'd say by the time he's 14 but we'll have to wait and see).

The Chick?  He's a little more average, and poor guy, might only be six feet tall.  He weighs 37 pounds (only 7 less than his brother who is 2.5 years older) and is 38.5 inches tall. This puts him in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th for height.  What's interesting though?  The kid has grown four inches since last June.  His legs have got to hurt - that seems to me like some speed growth.

And guess what!  He's got the attitude to match.