I can't wait to get furniture put back on our floors! It's driving me a bit insane only being able to use half our house space. I have to figure out where we're going to eat supper now since most of our living room furniture is stuffed into the dining room.

Accalia had her first dance class today, and most of it was very similar to what she did in her summer class - summersaults, balance beams, dancing with scarves and other accessories, learning basic ballet positions, etc. She really had a lot of fun and loved her teacher, Lisa. It definitely helped that Lisa is a very motherly type and is excellent with the kids. I spent the hour trying to keep Cole away from the dance floor and talking with a mom I had met before at storytime. She just had her second child a couple weeks ago, so of course I asked if she was nursing (yes) and invited her to our upcoming LLL meeting on Saturday :)

Talk about a rather stressful morning, though! I had left Accalia's leotard on top of her dresser (I think!) before we left for the weekend. Everything got moved around since Cory refinished all of the floors (except for two rooms) upstairs. About a half hour before class, I realized I had no idea where the leotard was, so we ran to Kmart to pick up a new one. Accalia was also thrilled to get Barbie of Swan Lake, which she'd been asking for FOREVER. Perfect first day of dance gift :)

Time to take care of supper!

I'M BACK!!! Aren't you terribly excited? Feeling as if your life is just a little more complete now? I know I'm glad to have Internet and email capabilities again. Although, truthfully it was nice having that extra time that I normally would spend online. And I received a few more phone calls than normal.

A quick rundown of the past week:

- My birthday was last Monday (22nd), and the kids and I spent part of the day at my friend Amy's house having a playdate with her and our friends Sara and Karen and all of our kids, of course. When we returned home, we all went to the chiropractor (free adjustment for my birthday!) and went out to eat. My big gift from the family was a digital camera!

- The rest of the week was fairly uneventful, and then the kids and I left for Mankato on Friday to stay with my parents for a few days while Cory refinished the floors upstairs and downstairs. The floors look marvelous!

- In Mankato, I saw my friend Heather, who's feeling so much better now that she's closing in on the second trimester. Can't wait for a little belly to start popping out on her! Got to see my brother Jeremy and his wife Jessica's new house. They moved into it at the end of May, but I haven't had a chance to see it before now. Also got to see my cousin Rachel's new house that her husband built. Beautiful!

Now I'll have to get back to all of my responsibilities - both at home and online. Tomorrow Accalia has her first dance class. Hoping she enjoys it!

Being dependent on technology really sucks sometimes. I'm at our local library right now because our computer died last night. Well, it may not be dead, but we have to take it to the shop to find out what's going on. Hopefully it's something that can be repaired and hopefully it won't take long at all.

Highlights for the upcoming week:

- my 27th birthday tomorrow (Monday)
- playdate at Amy's house tomorrow, too
- going to my parents' house Friday and returning home next Monday

So, I can't say when I'll be back online. I'm already going through computer withdrawal, but this time may be good for me, too. I'll post again as soon as I can.

I'm still sick. And Cole seems to have caught a new cold - maybe thanks to me. Who knows. I'll just be glad when we're all better again. This is getting really old.

Tonight, while Cory took Cole and Lucy for a walk, Accalia and I played Chutes and Ladders. I tried my hardest to not win, but I did. Accalia was so sad. Tears welled up in her eyes and she said in a quavery voice, "I was supposed to win!" Thankfully Cory came home then and played a game with her, which she won. Poor kiddo. Best not to play win-lose type games when it's getting later on in the day.

I think it's safe to say Cole has gone down to one nap a day. It's kind of hard even though I'm used to having at least one child awake throughout the day. Part of it is that he's just constantly on the go now that he's a full fledged walker. Today he was just walking back and forth all day. He'd walk between the living room and the office/playroom, peak around the corner and say, "Huh?" Very cute.

Cory's tearing up our nasty brown carpeting in the living. There are beautiful wood floors underneath (which we knew already). Such a shame that they've been covered up for decades.

This was one of those days that you just want to forget about for the most part. There were some bright spots, though.

Cory had a cancellation and came home early, so we had the evening to spend together (although not a quiet one).

We added to our board game collection with marvelous deals at Goodwill: Chutes and Ladders, Memory and Outburst Junior all for less than $3.

My mom called to tell me about this elderly volunteer at the hospital who came to see her for a sore finger (my mom is a nurse at the urgent care clinic attached to the hospital). My mom asked this woman - now 89 - if she remembered me and this woman did :) She said they all loved me, that I was so dependable, etc. etc. I volunteered at the hospital from about eighth grade until I graduated from high school - basic candy striper duties such as manning the information desk, delivering mail and flowers, and working in the gift shop.

So, here's to a better tomorrow!

Cory and the kids are out shopping for my birthday present (the 22nd if anyone is keeping track). Accalia also needs to get new ballet slippers for her class starting in less than two weeks.

I try to avoid Dr. Phil because he really annoys me, but I happened to be flipping channels this afternoon and came upon his show and paused. He had a family on with a very competitive mother - the kind who screams at her kids during their games, yells at the coaches, etc. - who was forcing her kids to do these activities they didn't want to do and was really bringing them down with her desire for them to always win (that being the most important thing of all). Dr. Phil started talking about extrinsic and intrinsic motivation (i.e. extrinsic is doing something because someone tells you to do it and intrinsic being doing it out of self motivation). He talked about how harmful the former can be and how little it actually accomplishes for the person doing it, while the latter does so much more for the person and others around him. This is a big part of our unschooling (and subsequent life) philosophy in how we are raising our children and treat each other. I could go on and on about this, but I'm not inclined to at the moment :) Not that Dr. Phil was endorsing unschooling in any way, but it was nice to hear something like this in the mainstream.

Today was the start of the fall session of storytime at the library. I was a bit disappointed because the number of children was around 15-20, and I was really hoping it would be closer to 10. There were a lot of younger siblings around, so that did add to the general chaos, but it certainly doesn't help when the majority of the parents leave to wander around the library or actually leave the building and leave the librarian to try to conduct storytime and discipline children. Of course this is what happens in school classrooms all the time, so I suppose it's just expected by the majority of parents. There were a couple parents who stuck close by and helped out with their kids, so that was nice.

Accalia had a good time, and her favorite part was the craft (as usual), which was painting. She usually doesn't enjoy listening to the stories, and I think this is partly because they aren't stories she chose and isn't terribly interested in listening to, and she's used to reading being a much more intimate activity. At home, she's snuggled next to me or Cory and has our undivided attention (unless Cole is awake and climbing all over). At storytime, she's trying to hear the story and watch what all of the other kids are doing.

I think I've figured out just one reason why so many kids don't enjoy reading (and I think there are many reasons). I heard so many parents today say things like "You can only pick out two books" or "No, you can't get any books today. We just got books at such and such a place." What? Why would you discourage your child's interest like that? When we leave the library, our bag is stuffed full of books, so that's at least a dozen books that we bring home from the library each week. And we could easily bring home more if I was physically capable of doing so :)

After storytime, we drove to nearby Hartington, Neb., to stop at an open house my co-Leader was holding. It was really, really nice. There were 5 or 6 other moms there - all really nice - and a group of kids. Accalia and Cole had a blast playing with all of the kids. Cole, of course, had to be right in the action with the big kids. That meant I didn't get quite as much of a chance to talk with everyone as I would have liked since the kids were playing on this trolley parked in the front yard, but the nice thing about LLL events is that no one expects there to be a quiet, uninterrupted conversation. It's just natural to have children around and on top of you :)

These comics are great!

I have a candle lit right now for my friend who is in labor and will be birthing twins before long. I'm so anxious for the birth announcement!

I'm now sick. I felt it coming on last night right before bed. It's not horrible, but I'm definitely not feeling like myself. Thankfully Accalia has been entertaining herself for much of the day. Cole is just getting a kick of walking around everywhere. I'm not sure he's even crawled today. He was almost running at one point, actually. And he's busy practicing his turns and carrying things while he walks.

Tomorrow is the start of storytime at the library. Accalia's really looking forward to that. After that, we're going to head to my co-Leader's house in Hartington, Neb., for a LLL open house she's throwing. That's a really good way to kick off a new series of meetings. I have a lot of LLL stuff to do and not just getting things ready for the next series meeting here in Yankton. I have to buckle down and start preparing my session for Leader Day in November. I also have an article deadline next month.

There's a phrase I've been coming back to a lot lately in thinking about my interactions with others - especially Accalia and Cole: Something you say could last forever. Yeesh! How's that for pressure? But it's so true. There are so many things from my past that stick with me - both very hurtful and very helpful - that the person saying or doing it might not have even given a thought when they said it. And now that I'm a parent myself, I've found myself saying things or doing things that I wish had never been said or done. It's very obvious to me where I picked those traits up from, and I'm glad that I at least know that I can prevent my children from experiencing the same things. That's also why, when I screw up, that I'm sure to tell Accalia or Cole that what I did was wrong and that I'm sorry. I can't ever remember hearing that growing up. How sad for a child to grow up thinking it's okay they were treated in certain ways.

Accalia received a Disney Princess stationery set in the mail today. She gave out such an excited squeal :) She's upstairs right now busily writing out letters to all sorts of people. Accalia seems to be feeling much better today. Apparently she wasn't hit as hard with the bug as Cole was. Or maybe she'll really crash tonight. Let's hope it's after we've gone grocery shopping!

Maybe we should dress Cole up as Frankenstein for Halloween. He does a marvelous impression. Now that he's walking so much yet isn't too sure of his balance yet, it's so cute to watch. He walks around, sometimes lurching forward if he's in a big hurry, with his arms straight out in front of him. And when he's really excited, he'll make his "EEEEEE" sound in a loud voice. Too cute. I don't think I'll call him Frankenstein to his face, though - could cause issues later on in life :)

Accalia now apparently has the bug that Cole did earlier. Around noon she laid down on the couch, said her eyes hurt and asked me to blow her nose. She's had a fever of around 101 today, too. Poor girl. After a nap and a lot of veg time, she felt good enough to bounce super balls with Cole and Cory, but she's back on the couch watching Fantasia now. We were going to get together with another LLL Leader and talk with a potential Applicant tomorrow, but I had to cancel since Accalia won't be up to it. Oh well. Such is life.

Last night Cory and I watched Chicago. We really enjoyed it, too. I think my favorite number had to be with Richard Gere as the ventriloquist and Renee Zellweger as the dummy, and with Gere the puppeteer of the media. Sorry, can't think of the name of the song. Loved that protrayal of the press - even though I was once a devoted newspaper writer myself. I haven't seen a musical since "Mulan Rouge", which I also really enjoyed.

I'm going to put Cole up in bed now and hope for a quiet night.

Today we had been planning to drive up to Sioux Falls to participate in their LLL group's World Walk, but we decided that wouldn't be too smart with Cole just getting over this bug. So we're just having a lazy day at home. We picked up Cole's one year pictures from Wal-Mart, and they turned out quite well if I do say so myself.

Cory returned safely home from Pierre last night, and since both kids fell asleep early we just relaxed and watched "Super Troopers." Pretty funny movie and even funnier for us since Cory's brother is a highway patrol officer here in South Dakota. Tonight we're hoping to watch "Chicago" if both kids cooperate. They're both fairly low key, but who know. Cole will either be falling asleep for a late nap or make it through the day with just one nap once again. He started cutting out one of his two daily naps a couple weeks ago, which is a few months earlier than Accalia. I really don't mind, though, since it usually works out better for us when we run errands or what not to be able to work around just one nap.

Cole seems to be doing a little better - no fever as far as I can tell. Definitely punchy still. And unfortunately Accalia and Cole just didn't want to cooperate last night and fall asleep early and give me a couple glorious hours of me time. Just as Cole was waking up from an afternoon nap, Accalia fell asleep. At 5 p.m. For three hours. When she woke up, we went out to drive around and grab a late supper. Accalia was just thrilled to be out in the dark and see all of the different lights from houses and businesses. I suppose it's been a while since it's gotten dark early enough that we'd be driving around in the dark. "Ooh, Mommy! Everyone else is asleep right now!" This was at 8:12 p.m. LOL!

So a very cranky, overtired boy finally went to sleep at 9:30, while Accalia lasted until midnight. And both were ready to be up for the day a little after 7 a.m. Okay, I'm a little sleep deprived because I'm starting to obsess about times and I don't usually do that.

Since Cole's still a little sickly boy, I'm not going over to Vermillion to meet up with all these super cool homeschoolers. I mean, how can they not be cool if they want to meet me? ;) The good news is that we've decided to cancel today and try to meet up in a few weeks since this date doesn't seem to be working out for anyone.

It's hard to believe it's already been two years. I still find it extremely disturbing to view images of the destruction and death at the WTC, Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. I get very emotional seeing the media coverage or viewing it all online. I think the enormity and reality of it all is probably still not entirely within my grasp. Partly that's because I haven't been affected personally in that a loved one was killed and I live so far away from the locations that were attacked. Personally I hate to watch the media replay footage from that day. What purpose does that serve? Is it to give people that emotional kick in the stomach? Does it make sure we really don't forget what happened? It must be so painful to the families and loved ones of the victims.

Rather ironically, Cory is once again gone at a mental health meeting on Sept. 11. In 2001, he was in Rapid City and called me with the news. I had just turned on the television. Today he left for a mental health meeting in Pierre and will be back tomorrow. He called just a few minutes ago and said his hotel is probably the safest place in the state right now because it's surrounded by highway patrol vehicles. The highway patrol is also meeting in Pierre, so Cory will be able to spend some time with his brother.

God must really have a sense of humor where I'm concerned. Right before Cory leaves for a night, Cole gets sick. I thought something was going on since Cole's been so clingy and nursing frequently this week. Yesterday he woke up from a nap and felt really warm, so I took his temp and it was 100 degrees. He doesn't seem to have as much of a temp today, but he's definitely not himself. Cranky, clingy and no life in those eyes. Last night was not a good night, and Cole and I ended up in the guest room for half of the night.

And something's going on with Accalia. I don't think she's getting sick, but I could be wrong. She's been rather weepy and more clingy at night, asking if she can sleep right by me. Usually she's in her bed on the other side of Cory, but this week I've been wedged in between both kids throughout the night. Not an unpleasant thing at all :) She's had a couple dreams that have caused her to wake up crying - dreams about being lost and not able to find me. This morning she was really shy around Cory and rather weepy before he left, but it wasn't because he was leaving. Maybe she's going through some psychological and emotional changes - just part of growing up.

Last night Accalia was playing games on the computer (not uncommon lately as I rarely get a chance to get on), and I walked toward the bathroom and saw a puddle of urine.
Me: Accalia, did you pee on the floor? (duh question since I doubt it was Cory!)
Accalia: Yup.
Me: Are you okay?
Accalia: I have a problem.
Me: What's that?
Accalia: I peed on the bathroom floor!

Accalia definitely was catching up on sleep last night. She fell asleep probably before 6 p.m. and didn't get up until after 7 a.m.! She even slept through all of the thunder and lightning and three plus inches of rain we had last night.

Things are getting busier when it comes to La Leche League. The coordinator of a group called Parents As Teachers called me the other day wanting information about meetings she could pass along to parents. The kids and I dropped off a packet this morning. I've also been asked to work with a possible Leader Applicant in Nebraska even though that isn't my area. Geographically, I'm closer to her than other Nebraska Leaders are, so this is the way it works. I may also be working with another mom nearby who expressed interest in leadership. Of course I haven't given either my stamp of approval, so we shall see :)

My uncle had given us a gift certificate for a fancy children's clothing boutique in town back in June when he came to celebrate Accalia's birthday. We went there today. Ouch on the prices and thumbs down on the selection. I had told Accalia she could pick out anything in the store, and she had told me that she wanted "a beautiful dress like Sleeping Beauty." Well, she did find a satiny, frilly, flowery pink number that fit the bill. Hopefully it still fits for next Easter :) For now I guess it's an extravagant dress up dress. I guess I could have just said, "No Accalia, you have to pick something that is appropriate for winter. Blah, blah, blah." But hey, it was her gift certificate and she's the one wearing the clothes. It's actually fun now that Accalia wants to choose what new clothes we get. I enjoy not having to make all of the decisions myself. Cole, of course, doesn't really care what he wears at this point, so I picked out something for him, too.

When we got home, Accalia had me brush her hair ("Hold it out straight and brush it like Sleeping Beauty, Mom"), help her into the dress, find "beautiful" shoes and put a tiara on her. Then she danced around to her "ballerina" music.

Cole, according to Accalia, looks "cool" in his clothes :)

I'm going to blame the weather for my fairly bad mood. It started out raining - which was great since I love rain and we really need some - but it's ended up being a kind of cool, humid day. The humid part I'm not thrilled about. And this sounds so old of me, but I really do think that when weather changes, it affects more sensitive joints in my body. My knee and back are still trying to get back into the swing of things with the rest of my body, and it's going rather slow. The good news is that I don't feel any worse!

I have been rather neglectful of the children today, too. They've been fed and kept in dry, clean clothes (when they want to be clothed), but that's about all I'm feeling up to.

This afternoon I made the mistake of flushing the toilet for Accalia.
Accalia: Mom! You can't do that. I do that!
Me: Okay, I'm sorry. I won't do it again.
Accalia: (walking out of the bathroom) Mommy can't flush the toilet. I flush the toilet. Mommy can't flush the toilet. I flush the toilet.

Her rant went on for a bit until she was apparently purged of her annoyance.

I'd better get started on some spaghetti sauce. We eat early on Tuesdays because Cory has to take off to see a client soon after he arrives home.

I hope Cole's not coming down with something. I really hope it's a growth spurt, although not enough of one that he'd already be too big for the 18 month size winter clothes we've recently acquired. Today he's been clingy and nursing, nursing, nursing. It reminds me of how Accalia was most of the time for those first couple years and made me realize what an independent sort of guy Cole is compared with Accalia as a baby.

Not a terribly exciting day today. Accalia is signed up for the upcoming session of storytime at the library. I'm excited that there will be smaller groups of kids rather than the 20 plus during the summer. Accalia's excited to start doing the crafts there again.

I went to the chiropractor even though I had just been last Tuesday. My knee felt like it was twisted sideways and I was limping around horribly. And I could feel it going into my lower back. Turns out my pelvis was all twisted up. Who knows how these things happen. I'm feeling better now, although my knee is bothering me a little bit yet thanks to Cole needing to be carried so much more today.

Accalia's kicking me off the computer again to play games. She's been on a game craze lately - Halloween games especially.

Accalia's on an organizing mission right now. She's taking all of the clothes out of her dresser, folding them and putting them in piles. Hopefully she'll want to put them back in her dresser!

Wasn't it absolutely thrilling to hear Bush say that we're going to spend $87 billion in Iraq? There's a homeless man who sits near the entrance to Wal-Mart most weekends - a veteran - holding a sign asking for any sort of help. His dog lies in the shade of this man's green duffle bag. Today, after we left Wal-Mart, we ran to McDonald's and brought back some food for this man. After hearing Bush speak, Cory said, "If we can spend $87 billion in Iraq, we shouldn't have anyone have to sit outside of Wal-Mart needing food or money."

Maybe I've missed the great economic upswing and all of the good economic news that this war was supposed to bring. I haven't seen it around here, at any rate. The poor economy is still hurting families. One of my fellow LLL Leaders and Area Department Coordinators (ADCs) is resigning her ADC position because she has to go back to work to help the family after her husband just took a huge pay cut.

Cory's parents brought us two boxes full of tomatoes and cucumbers. There's no way we would get through all of those, and I don't can. None of our neighbors need anything, so I took the majority down to a table outside of a nearby Catholic church. The church has this table set up much of the year so people can give their food donations and others can come and choose what they'd like. Apparently many of the local homeless population takes advantage of this.

Well, it's getting later but I'm probably not going to get to bed for a while with Accalia on her rampage. On to other things, I guess...

Accalia and Cole have just woken up from late and long naps - much needed for them after this weekend. I really should have taken advantage and napped myself, but I watched "The Hours", something I was planning to do when Cory is gone later this week. Ah well. Leaves me time to do other things if I happen to get a rare period of quiet when Cory is at his quarterly mental health meeting.

Cory's parents camped at the lake this weekend, and my mom stayed with us. We had a small birthday party for Cole at a local orchard. There were a few things about the party that Cory and I weren't too thrilled about, but I guess you take what you can get when it's your only orchard around. Not a big deal really. Cole was probably ready for a nap even before the party began at 2, but he was brave and seemed to mostly enjoy seeing the goats, going through a hay maze and going on a wagon ride to pick a pumpkin. He didn't eat any of the cake or ice cream but was fairly enthusiastic about smashing a piece of cake all over the ground.

Yesterday I also attended my first LLL meeting. Another area Leader led this first one, but eventually I'll be leading meetings. It's been a couple years since I've even attended a meeting, so it's nice to be more of a participant than facilitator at the start. Beside myself, the other Leader and a retired Leader, there were three moms. All were enthusiastic, so it made for some great conversation. They all also attend local MOPS meetings and invited me to attend. I'm not sure if I will or not because frankly that sort of thing really doesn't appeal to me, but it's nice to have that option there. I know it's a nice way for moms to get together, meet each other and listen to inspirational messages, but it's just always seemed more like a forced playgroup in a way. I'm sure my perception is way off, so feel free to correct me :)

This coming week isn't terribly full. Tomorrow we'll head to the library and sign up for storytime. Tuesday I have a haircut. Cory will be gone in Pierre Thursday and Friday. Friday I'm getting together in Vermillion with a bunch of un/homeschoolers I've met online. Saturday we're heading to Sioux Falls for their LLL group's World Walk for Breastfeeding. Okay, that actually is a full week for me. LOL!

This morning the kids and I were snuggling in bed and reading. Accalia was handing me books and said, "You're the best mommy in the whole world!"

Cole had his year checkup. I guessed a little high on the weight. He's just under 22 pounds, and according to his chart, he shrunk a little in height! I don't think that happened, but he's apparently remained steady for the past few months at 30 1/2 inches tall. Pretty typical for breastfed babies since their growth slows down in the second half of the first year - usually. At least this nurse wasn't like the nurse we had with Accalia, who was trying to blame me for Accalia lack of weight gain because she wasn't eating many solids!

Accalia's requesting some time to color online, so I'd better scoot.

I'm so tired right now - just about bordering on sleep deprivation :) Heading to bed in a few minutes. Cole just went down and Accalia seems willing. Tomorrow's the start of another busy weekend. We're having a birthday party for Cole on Saturday. Cory's parents are camping out at the lake, and my mom is coming to stay with us. Cole has his year checkup at the doc's, so we'll see what he weighs. My guess is 24 lbs.

We named our tree George. As we were driving home from the nursery, I said we should give it a name and out popped George. Cory looked at me and said, "That's what I was thinking." So we're odd, but there it is.

Accalia and I just went outside to say goodnight to George. He seems very peaceful in his new home and surrounded by a lovely cedar mulch.

The birthday boy is dumping out the contents of the plastic container cabinet in the kitchen, and Accalia has fallen asleep upstairs. Cory and I just finished eating supper, and as I look out the office window I can see the weeping willow tree we (mostly Cory!) planted today along with Cole's placenta :)

I think it's been a pretty good first birthday for Cole - not that he really knows anything too special is happening. Accalia helped him open gifts this morning. She did most of the unwrapping while Cole sat there ripping apart the discarded paper, saying "Ahhh!" as he ripped each piece. He says "Ahh!" now whenever he does anything - takes a drink, nurses, puts a toy on the table, etc. etc.

I made cupcakes for Cole's birthday treat, and they were sitting in a container on the dining room table after Accalia had decorated them. Apparently they were close enough to the edge for either Cole or Lucy to grab them, because I walked into the dining room and there were Lucy and Cole surrounded by cupcakes. Lucy was quite rapidly eating and licking up as much as she could, while Cole was happily covered in sticky chocolate frosting. We salvaged one cupcake so I could put a candle on it, we sang "Happy Birthday" to him, Accalia blew out the candle, and Cole promtly tossed the cupcake on the floor. LOL!

So that's been our day. Oh, I think I'm rather ticked off at the children's consignment store. The owner (a woman about my age) is becoming increasingly snobby each time we go there. She seems to have a real problem with the kids testing out the toys that are covering the floors, boxes, shelves, etc. That's fine. I understand that, and I've told Accalia that the owner doesn't want her touching the toys. Today I went in because I wanted to grab up a winter jacket for Cole that was just $3, and I told her I had a few things for consignment. She looked at me and said they really didn't have room for anything else. Okay, that's fine. The place is stuffed full; it really is. Then I just mentioned that we had a garage sale and had things left over. Her reply: "Oh, well then those wouldn't be things we would want anyway." I muttered a few choice words after we left the store.

Accalia has a catch phrase. We really should try to patent it or market it or both. I've heard it too many times today, but she will say "Not again!" for almost everything - doesn't even mean that it's something we really do over and over. Now she just needs to add a hand palm to her forehead and she'll be ready for the big time :)

Happy first birthday, my little man! Right now the birthday boy and his sister are enjoying a bubble bath. It's shaping up to be a glorious day of celebration. More detail to follow...

Happy Labor Day! Last Labor Day I was in early, early labor with Cole :) Just two more days until he turns one. Sniff, sniff. It's really hard to believe that it's almost been a year. These past couple years have definitely been just about the most stressful in my life but have also been filled with some wonderful things - Cole being the most wonderful addition during these times. The kids both fell asleep early last night, so Cory and I had a chance to talk about all sorts of things, including the effects of the past couple years on us. We're definitely feeling it, but thankfully it hasn't hurt our marriage ;)

Cory had today off, and we've been doing odds and ends all day. Nothing terribly exciting - oil change and tire rotation and alignment for the van, grocery shopping, etc. The woman that bought our crib at the garage sale stopped by because a couple pieces were missing. We found them behind boxes in the basement, so they must have just fallen by the wayside when we were moving things for the garage sale.

Both kids are relatively calm and quiet, so I think I'm going to make a phone call to take care of some LLL business.