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Wednesday, July 29, 2009



Monday, July 27, 2009

James Commentary: Nursing Addition

Warning: The following post is about lactation and the vessels required for such endeavors

James: Mom, are you gonna have those 'fings forever?
Me: What things?
James: Those milk 'fings.
Me: Yeah, I'll have them forever, they just wont always make milk. When Tyler gets bigger he won't nurse anymore and I won't need any more milk.
James: So are you gonna throw them away when Tyler is done with them?

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Photos of Deliciousness, etc.


One of Tyler's favorite pastimes.


Just look at those big muscles!


Cheese!


I'm snuggling, Mama!


Kids showing off the monster squash. We found it hiding under a big leaf and obviously it had some time to get HUGE! (The one on the left is normal size)


We are starting to pick things every day!


One of the most adorable pictures of all times! James is very excited to have a brother! He practically mauls Tyler every time he gets a chance. (In a nice, gently 3.5 year old sort of way) 'But he didn't cry or any-fing!'



House Update: The latest is that the prospective buyer is 'trying to work things out,' so who knows. Maybe yes, maybe no. The good news is that in the not-quite month since we have listed our house, a few others in our neighborhood are now pending sale, which means things are moving.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Random Ramblings

  • I've found the Mother Land, in the form of a brand-spankin'-new W@lmart. I know some people think that W@lmart is an evil store but where else can a tired mom go to buy bananas, diapers, toddler undies and glue sticks all in one place?! I think I could actually get lost in there.
  • We are waiting to hear back on our counter offer. The offer we received was a little lower than we would like, so we are trying to meet somewhere in the middle.
  • Tyler was starting to get a little fussy this morning, and James went and laid down next to him and said, 'shhh, its OK, I'm here. I'm here.' He's also come up with a new line to use every time he does something to Tyler (e.g. waving in his face, showing him a book, giving him a kiss, etc.) 'But he didn't even cry or anything!'
  • Katie has begun to say 'own! own!' about a lot of things. This is her version of 'mine!' We got her 'big girl undies' today and she had to put on all 9 pairs, at once!!! I don't think she's quite ready to potty train yet, but it would be nice.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

The New Normal

We are settling in to the new 'normal' around here. (Translated means we have no idea what the heck is going on from minute to minute but we try to roll with it.) Tyler is so far a very content little baby, sleeping, eating and pooping as usual. Last night, he only woke twice to eat which was nice! I am very tired, but that goes with the territory. I had to laugh when they gave me discharge instructions at the hospital: limit stairs to one trip a day, don't lift anything heavier than your baby, no driving for two weeks, and take it easy. Ha!!! Maybe that works when its your first kid, but with three? Ain't gonna happen. The kids have been really great overall. They absolutely love Tyler and want to hold him, read to him, show him their rooms (again!), and otherwise fawn all over him. They are very gentle with him too, which is great. Every now and then Katie gets a bit overeager with him, but I really can't complain. They are good with him. They are showing signs of enduring a major change though, being cranky and whiney and such. Hopefully that doesn't last too long. Its definitely busy around here, with lots of baby-gazing, diaper changing, book reading, feeding (three! hungry muchkins), etc., etc.. I can't believe Tyler is already a week old! I am trying to soak it all in because I know that 'the days are long, but the years are short' and he'll be running around before we know it. Not to rub it in, but this is what I get to snuggle with every day: Oh, and did I mention we have an offer on our house?!?!?! We made them a counter offer and we are waiting to hear back from them. And they want to close in one month!!!!!
We are praying it all works out with these people; it would be wonderful to have this off our plates!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Cheater Post

This really shouldn't count as a post, but check out Uncle Phil and James' golf outing of magnificence. They had sooooo much fun! Last night, James prayed 'thank you for the golf and the water sprinkles and the hamburger and the milkshake' etc....

Things are going quite nicely around here. Tired, but hey, we do have a baby in the house. I'll try to come back and post pictures and real live information here soon.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009





Monday, July 13, 2009

In Case You Didn't Know...

1. Megan liberated our third offspring today. In short, all went well.

2. For all the lady folk out there:
  • Name: Tyler Aaron Groves
  • Gender: Male
  • DOB: July 13, 2009
  • Time: 10:36 am
  • Weight: 7.375 lbs
  • Stature: Somewhat resembles a midget (20")

3. And for the gentlemen out there:
  • We had a baby today.

4. Megan is still in the hospital, so... Jeff is writing this post as a favor!?!

5. And now for the all-important pictures:

Tyler Aaron Groves


Katie holding Tyler


James holding Tyler


The first time James & Katie saw Tyler


The Groves Family

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Farmer James

James says he wants to be a farmer when he grows up. At the ripe old age of almost-four, he is very interested in dirt, worms, compost, 'pwants,' seeds, etc.. He is always asking if we can plant this or that in the garden next year. A few things on his list are corn and lettuce. And if you ask James, we can grow just about anything in the garden. Here is a sample conversation on agricultural endeavors, according to James:

James: Where does bacon come from?
Me: Pigs.
James: Pigs?
Jeff: Yeah, pigs. Remember Charlotte's Web? They were going to turn Wilbur into bacon.
James: Yeah, but sometimes you can just plant little seeds in your garden and just grown some bacon in your garden. Then you can just pick it and eat it.

Yes, and while you are at it, can you find some seeds for a money tree? That would be real nice.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Still on Baby Watch



Random Picture Of the Day: Painting with a Toddler

Not much to report here. We had a nice long weekend, celebrated Jeff's Birthday and Father's Day, all while watching my feet swell to enormous proportions. Fortunately the feet have subsided somewhat in since yesterday and made things much more comfortable. The kids loved (as usual) having Uncle Phil and Auntie Rachel come down. The basic formula is my kids dragging Uncle Phil all over the yard, begging him to 'dig to China,' play water balloons, and various other shenanigans. Uncle Phil is a good sport and seems to like my kids just a wee bit, so I don't think he gets too annoyed. :) There is really no way to go wrong in my kids' minds when they are at Grammy and Chappy's house, in the backyard, with all the relatives at their disposal!

In other news, the house has been listed for a week and half and we have had 4 or 5 showings. Hopefully the right person will come along ASAP and buy it! Paying two mortgages is not all that fun. Jeff started school again last night, via an online course. This one lasts six weeks or so, and is 'African American History of the 1900's.' Right up Jeff's ally, considering his college career has consisted of class subjects such as 'Strength of Materials,' 'Chemistry,' 'Building Codes,' 'Statics and Dynamics,' and other basic rocket science-type classes. The really nice thing about this class is that it is considered 'double dipping,' and counts for two different requirements. Can't beat that!

Friday, July 03, 2009

Happy Birthday, Jeff!





Yesterday was Jeff's birthday. I keep calling him an old fart, and then reality hits and I remember that I am over a year older than him. Duh. To celebrate, I planned to make a nice dinner involving steak. I had the potatoes and steaks ready for the grill, went out and realized that sometime between when I started the grill and when I went out to use it, the gas was out! Lovely. So, we dined on everything but the steak, which was really supposed to be the main part of dinner. The kids sang the sweetest rendition of Happy Birthday I have ever heard. James knew the words pretty well; Katie sang 'happy, Daddy, happy, Daddy, amen.' The cuteness factor was pretty much over the top. Last night, James told Jeff he had a birthday present for him. He said that Jeff wanted to go to Mayor's Park and have a picnic. Who knew Jeff and James thought so much alike? ;) We went today and had a lot of fun. I just might have gone on the swings, and given James an underdog. Shhhh...don't tell the pregnancy police!






Thursday, July 02, 2009

Garden Surveillance

Now that Groundhog Numero Tres has moved into my yard, I am on the warpath. That spawn of Satan decimated all five of my bush beans in one day. He nibbled the leaves off my pole beans. He ate my carrot and beet tops. All of this, in the course of two days. This little rodent has caused me to take on the paranoia of a drug dealer fearing he is under surveillance. I peek out the window all day long to make sure the beast isn't pillaging my plants, or munching on my marigolds. I have put mothballs under the shed (supposed to deter them), and sprayed the pole beans with an evil stinky brew of egg, cinnamon, pepper and garlic. I have checked and double checked my fence situation and blocked any holes bigger than a baseball. So far, he's still in the yard (at least I spotted him on Tuesday), but he has not made it into the garden since the weekend as far as I can tell. Little booger. I really need to get my own trap, seems how my shed seems to be some sort of Groundhog Love Shack attraction.

On a happy note, while performing my daily foliage check, I found that I have some (still green) Yellow Pear tomatoes, a few little lantern-shaped husks on my tomatillos, and a plethora of squash blossoms. Hooray!

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Not Yet

Every phone conversation I have with my sister must now begin promptly with 'no, I am not in labor. So, the reason I was calling....'

Its getting down to the end, folks. I am also lacking anything remotely entertaining to blog about. Speaking of blogging, can you believe its been three years this month that I started this beast?! (Thanks to my friend Erin:) Who knew people would keep reading it past the first month? I didn't. The funny thing is that the people I thought would read it, don't. And then there are my parents and my sister. Not only to they get to hear the play-by-play over the phone, they also get to read about it on the blog! Thank you all, my trusty blog readers near and far. It just wouldn't be the same without ya!