I have been sooo busy the last few weeks. Josh's little sister got married. I did her engagements pictures and the flowers for her wedding.

My Kitchen after the fact :(

I did photography for a wedding, which included engagement, family, bridal and wedding day photo shoots. I also did the flowers for the wedding.

I have a real estate transaction in the works. Normally you try to wrap these things up in 30-45 days. We are trying to get this done in 2 weeks. Very chaotic, but awesome if it goes through.

We finally went to court for our "little" irrigation ditch problem. If you have had any contact with Josh or I in the last 2 years, you have probably heard us go on and on and on about this. Well we won. They still have the right to appeal, but would be idiots if they did. So I don't consider it over until I have a check in my hands.
Josh got the last part of the fence put in.
And finally I have two little boys that consume every free minute, including the ones that should be spent sleeping.

Tour de Cure

Josh has given up a lot for us. One of the things, is biking. He used to do it all the time and hasn't had the time. So we decided he should ride in the race for the cure, a diabetes ride with his friends Asiel and Jenny.
It was terrible weather. Rainy, Very Windy, Very Very Cold! Poor guys.

My adorable husband at the start.

The three of them at take off.

A few hours in, me and the boys went and found them on the ride.
Aiden was excited to see his Daddy. BUT he kept wanting to honk the horn at all the bike riders.

They FINISHED!!! 65 torturous miles! We were so PROUD!!

4 Months

Owen's 4 month check up stats:
Weight 12 lbs. 7 oz. 10th percentile.
Height 2 ft. 8 inches 50th pecentile.
I didn't take pictures on his actual 4 month day, but here they are from his check up day.

Not a happy day

Do those thighs, look like only 10th percentile, to you?

Not much

It isn't that we don't have much going on. We actually have quite a bit going on, but nothing that would interest anybody.
We spend our nights and weekends putting in a fence. We are very close to being done!

Aiden has started sleeping in his big boy bed. My friend told me to just "bite the bullet" and put him in there. It's been interesting. He wakes up a lot earlier then we thought. Before he would hang out in his crib until he heard one of us walking around, which was around 9am. Now he just climbs out of bed, opens his door and comes and finds us. Sometimes as early as 7am. OUCH.
When I was telling the above mentioned friend how it was going, I told her sometimes I'll have to lay down with him for a minute to help get him to sleep. She said she has to do that sometimes too. But what really caught me was what she said after. She said she didn't mind, because they are only this age once and before long they won't want you in bed with them. I really took this to heart. When I have been rocking him to sleep or having to crawl in bed with him, I have been counting the seconds until I could leave. Not wanting to be there. Wanting to be doing something else. Well these last couple weeks I STOPPED all of that. Every time Aiden has asked me to snuggle, I have crawled in bed with him. And it has been a lot! I haven't wanted to get out, I've just been soaking up my little boy. I have held Owen while he falls asleep and then continued to hold him. Rather then try to get him out of my arms as soon as possible to get to the dishes or laundry. I have loved spending these moments with the boys but lets just say you can tell my house has suffered. And I kind of don't care. It's messy and maybe smelly.
When Josh and I lived in Maryland, our last week there, all our stuff was in the moving truck and different members from our church were feeding us dinner. One night we went to this lady's home. Her husband was in Iraq and she had a million small children. I don't know how many, but you know me, more then one is too many. Realistically probably 4 or 5, some very small. Her house was a disaster. I mean sort of gross. She didn't care. At the time I was shocked, but now I finally get it. Her kids were all very loved and you could tell. She gave them attention and played with them and taught them.
Moral of the story is if you come to my house and see it in shambles, I'm learning not to care. I still may apologize for the mess, but I hope to get over that too. I'm not wasting time. I am just spending my time doing better things. I wish I could do both and maybe someday I'll be able to, but I have finally put things in the right priority. I hope I don't forget. I hope the smell doesn't get too bad, that I give in and go back to my old ways.
So that's what we are doing, fence and lots of snuggling and adoring. Not much to you, but the world to me.

Aruba. Day 10. Friday, May 7th. A Dingo Stole My Baby

Today we checked out of our BEAUTIFUL, 10th floor, ocean view, 850 sq. foot hotel room. Goodbye huge bath tub, that Owen and I spent many a fussy nights together in. Good bye beach front property. Goodbye amazing pool that has an in ground bar so you can swim right up and order a drink. Goodbye lazy river.

We rented a car for our last 2 days. Figured it would be the same price as the taxi rides to the new hotel and airport. Plus now we get to see some of the island. Lets start out by saying that there are NO street signs and the streets are all narrow and windy. What a mess!
We went to an Ostrich farm. Ate ostrich meat, which was delicious. The owner had a baby parrot that he let Aiden play with. Then we went on a tour. Of course Aiden took off and had to be saved by some local teenager and his big stick. I always manage to see Aiden right when the trouble is happening. I either need to be more on top of things, so trouble doesn't happen. Or completely oblivious and never know that strangers are saving him.
Then I had to explain that the ostriches would peck his eyes out. We got to feed the crazy ostriches.
Then we drove to Alto Vista Chapel.
It was the first church established in the whole of the Caribbean. Also called the Pilgrim's church, it was constructed by Spanish missionaries in 1750. It it quite literally in the middle of nowhere. Man, you really had to know the meaning of sacrifice if you had to walk to this church in the hot Aruban sun. Aiden fell asleep, so Josh and I took turns wondering around.

I am walking back to the car and I see this skinny, mangy dog picking up a piece of trash. Middle of nowhere, people. I have a soft spot in my heart for homeless starving dogs. So I pop open the trunk and get out a loaf of bread. I called him over. He was very hesitant and didn't get very close, so I just threw him a piece of bread. Then, slowly, one by one, different dogs would appear. All skinny and mangy. I kid you not, like 10 dogs come out from hiding. I have NO idea where the came from, it was hilarious. I turn to Josh in the car, to see if he was seeing this. He was taking pictures :)
None of them came very close. They were exactly what I imagined a dingo to look like, so I googled it and they were very similar looking. I fed them all a loaf of bread and some peanut butter captain crunch. Then when I got into the car, minutes later, all but one of them disappeared into the shadows.
And YES I am REALLY wearing that!

Aruba Thursday, May 6th

Today I WANTED to get up early. Total shocker, I know. But our vacation is coming to an end and I don't want to miss anything. We all went out to feed the wild iguanas. Josh was running around impressing everybody by catching the things. I use to be the brave crazy one. So I see a pretty big one. It looks mellow because it is letting Aiden crouch down and feed it. I walk over and, SWOOP, pick it up with one hand. Owen is being tossed around in the other hand. I walk over to Josh and the swarm of people he has swooning over him. "You're not the only lizard whisperer!" The lady that works at the hotel and brings the food out for the lizards says, "That ones pregnant!" "Oh s*#t", I really said it very loudly. I felt so bad. No wonder she was slow. I too could barely walk when I was pregnant. I was no longer proud of myself :(
And still I told Aiden to pick her up because I didn't want him to be the only one that didn't catch one.

Aiden told us a lizard pooped on his cheek. There wasn't anything there though.

Aiden relaxing by the pool later that day

Aruba May 5th

Today I had a rude awakening. Josh headed out to get some milk. Left me and the baby asleep and I guess left Aiden watching TV. Then bang bang bang. Ignore. BANG BANG BANG. Darn that Josh, I guess he forgot his room key. I stumble out in my unders and look through the peep hole. WTF. I don't know these people. Then I look a little lower and see a little blond boy dancing around in his white footy jammies. CRAP! I open the door. "Is this your kid?" Quick thought, "nope, never seen him before." I say,"Yes. thank you." "Thank You SO much!" I was hiding behind the door the whole time. I was embarrassed and shocked! Bad mom guilt swarming all over!
I swear I'm not an alcoholic who was nursing a hangover from a crazy night! Although I'm sure that is what they thought.
Then some daytime swimming, well and sleeping for Owen :)