What's In Store?

Like everyone else, life can be pretty busy and often times...... completely insane!! There are those moments when things seem good and maybe you brace yourself because you know that there is bound to be something around the corner.
We were told at the end of July that the owners of the home that we have been living in for 8 years, ever since we were married, was going to be sold so that we needed to find another place to live. Jeremy has to finish his dissertation at UC Berkeley this next year and then we'll have a job, right? So we have to be around here to do that. Then there is M.E. with all of the therapy and appointments that she needs. Ethan starting school...The fact that we are now a family of five but have the income of a family of one or two!! So trying to find a place where we could live was crazy!
I couldn't go to sleep one night thinking about it. In the morning, I knew that I had to call a particular person. After a number of contacts and even a viewing of the house, we were able to rent it. It was a three bedroom, hard wood floor, newly remodeled place that we could ACTUALLY afford to live in. I had made a special connection with this older woman who would call me daily with news and updates. I spent time in her backyard picking apples. I was ready to pick up the lease papers last week but for some reason did not get around to it. Later that night, the owners of the home we are in called to say that they decided not, yes not, to sell right now. Why they did not realize that it is not the time to sell 30 days ago still boggles my brain. It was heart breaking and actually emotionally draining for me to have to tell this kind woman who was actually ready to give me the keys to the other house that we were not going to be able to move in. I hoped that the apple pie that we had made with her apples eased the news. But to make a long story now shorter, we do not have to move. We will remain here and I wonder...what else is in store for us here?

DILLENDER REUNION

Recently our family gathered to celebrate the wonderful life of my Uncle Lynn. It was bitter sweet to all see each other again. What a great man my uncle is. His family is amazing too.

WARNING...POSSIBLE GRAPHIC IMAGES

IS IT A BOY THING? I have discovered that both Greyson and Ethan, at about the same age, have both enjoyed stripping and "tatooing" themselves with Crayola markers...ALL over! I'm not sure that the Crayola marker company ever tried scribbling on various body parts when they said that the markers were "stain proof!" It took days of scrubbing for Greyson's "art work" to fade. I hope that he gets all of his "tatooing" out of his system now. I guess that at least he did not write on the wall??

Holes in His mouth

Ethan has quite a few holes in his mouth these days. Ethan has lost four baby teeth so far with at least one more on its way. I don't remember teeth growing in behind my baby teeth. Ethan has had that happen. It's kind of weird. I guess the tooth fairy dues have met inflation. I remember a few coins for a tooth. A dollar? or two??? For a tooth???

Wearing Hair

M.E. likes to be tickled by my hair. I had this great idea to see what M.E. would look like wearing my hair....Such a cute baby! Even wearing my hair!

One of those days...

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever catch up on sleep. I know I need more but even when it is time for bed there if always something else that I need to do before I wake up with M.E. anywhere between 3-5am and then by the boys between 5-7am. I loved "American Inventor" and I am America's next inventor....if I could only figure out some way of making a "Sleep Bank" where you can save up on sleep and use it when you need to. Does that make sense to anyone else? This is how I look most of the time with a slight headache always looming on the edge of utter and full fledged headache explosion!

So Bad!!

Something that I can't stand...PHOTOS LIKE THIS!!! One of those, "oh everyone is together...this doesn't happen very often...Let's get a nice photo"...Yea, of everyone else but me!! So gross! Then I start to wonder, "Is that what I really look like or did the camera add 10 lbs. Oh, wait, I think that I did!" Can I still get away with it being post baby weight? I need some greater motivation than all the yummy tempting food.

4 months old

M.E. must have wanted to stay wake until she officially turned 4 months old (10:58pm). I think that she may have finally fallen asleep. Is that a good sign that she will be sleeping through the night? Or is it just a scam and she'll be stirring far too soon...Such a cute baby, though, even at 3 or 4 am.

Growing Up

I have been looking at my boys...When did they grow up so fast! Even Grey is not a baby anymore. He's this big kid!! I have been thinking a lot about how hard it is to be a mom. Some days I am so exhausted. We were doing things all day long but what DID we do? Was it at all significant? Are my boys and now my daughter better off today then they were yesterday? TOMORROW they will be on their missions or something...Step back not too fast now...

Starting Again

I have had requests to start the blogging again. I am so bad at it! I think that the main reason is because I have not too many new things to say and even fewer pictures to include as something at least interesting...

Margaret Elsie, or M.E., is doing well. As she gets older, more about her condition will be revealed. She has been diagnosed with moderate visual impairments. She is also seeing a physical therapist for her muscle tone issues. It's still hard to believe that anything ever did happen to her....But she is doing well-healthy and gaining weight...

Greyson has really gotten into defending his older bro. Ethan could be clobbering him. I attempt to intervene and get an ear full of "that's my brother!" from Grey. Can't win for losing...

Ethan is still the talker. Here is a typical example. We were all in the car together driving. Anyway, most kids would get bored of asking the SAME question over and over again, right? Not him. I counted 22 times that he asked the same question in a 15 minute time period. "Are we almost home?...How about now, are we almost home??" Kind of like the energizer bunny. He keeps going and going.