365/182 on the pillow

Syd sleeping with us is starting to wane. I would say she is down to only 2 nights a week. I attribute it to longer days and letting her stay up later. But now when she sleeps with us Hubby’s pillow becomes occupied as soon as he gives an inch. After he leaves for work or gives up and heads to the couch it is all hers!

365/181 More bins

I finished up the last of the tapered bins for the living room book shelf, {that will be the toy shelf when all said and done.} The numbers are vinyl and will be painted over and them removed to reveal the blue color, so I just used whatever color vinyl I had. I’m only numbering one  side, that will give me more options.

The numbering only one side was a great idea, I really did not like them all numbered next to each other and I liked the longer bins on different shelves. I wish I would have only numbered bins 1,2 &3 on one side…

365/180 the best way to camouflage the grey

Visiting the hair salon is my cure for the pesky greys that suddenly keep popping up in my hair. I decided to not color them away; just confuse the onlookers by getting very light streaks {highlights} to camouflage the little grey I been seeing in the mirror. And a fresh new cut doesn’t hurt either.

365/179 another way to beat the heat

Today after spending all morning in the garage building the wooden bins, I thought I should treat the kids to an afternoon cool down at the spray park. The girls loved it!  JD and MJ went just to get the Slurpee that I promised Syd if she left without a fit. {rewarding her with her newest favorite treat has come in handy these last few trips taken}.

There are only so many times  I can bear hauling a kicking, stripping and screaming child to my van, all while everybody is staring at me like I’m kidnapping her. With Syd’s hearing problem and speech delays this behavior has gone on far longer that it does in most children.

She is just starting to understand the “if this.. then that” concepts. The best example I can give you is… If Syd rides her bike home instead of jumping off and running, screaming in the opposite direction when we get near home, she will get to drink a juice bag.

Progress is this area is making us very happy. As a family, we are now going out for more bike rides and walks together because I don’t have to carry her kicking and screaming all the way back home.

365/178 Tapered bins

I have been busy making tapered wooden bins for the bookcase and the kitchen cubby. So far I have just these three painted and ready for the girls to load with stuff. I used my Silhouette for the numbers {I LOVE this machine}.

I’m also auditioning the paper on the back of the bookcase. I was thinking of cutting a vinyl and putting in on the back of the bookcase but that is a bit more challenging for my new skills as a Silhouette user at the moment. MJ was against anything going on the back of the bookcase but I think this has won her over.

Now just 9 more bins to finish up…..

365/177 A bit of IPad perusing.

Look what I found on my computer….. Pictures uploaded from the IPad {Via Dropbox}. I’m always surprised when I open my laptop and pictures from Hubby’s, MJ’s and my phone and now the IPad pop up. I wish my camera could have a Dropbox!

Syd was perusing the buttons on the home screen and found the camera. She took nearly 60 photos, all very similar to this one. The last few include MJ trying to stop her from pressing the shutter button. 

{Brent, when is IOS6 being released?}

365/176 Wow, it was a struggle.

Syd was the Energizer bunny tonight! She just refused to go to sleep until near midnight. After caving and letting her come to our bed she finally fell asleep and then I carried her back to her crib. Her room is much cooler than ours and I ‘m crossing my fingers that the cooler room will allow her to sleep the whole night through so we can get some much need sleep ourselves.

365/175 My newest toy

With the earnings from the garage sale I was able to purchase a Silhouette Cameo. This little beauty will replace my Cricut {it stopped playing nice with the 3rd party software I used to cut my fonts}.

I have plans for this machine in the near future….. stay tuned.

365/174 Spending time in the basement

With the latest heat wave we have been hanging out in the cool basement more and more. The girls have the best time digging through the treasure chest of dress up clothes from Halloween’s past and dance costumes from MJ’s 8 years of dance recitals. We are just happy to have a place to stay cool.

365/172 Still ours…for another day or two?

Today was the day we were supposed to part ways with “the yellow house”.  This picture was taken just before we went to the title company’s office for the closing. 

We literally pulled into the parking lot of the title company when we received a text from our realtor that said “STOP”.  And then we got the call…

The bank has some more due diligence to do on their end before they are ready to finalize the buyer’s loan.

We’re hoping that they can get it resolved tomorrow so that we can close on Saturday…but we’re not holding our breath.

As agonizing as it was for us, sitting in the parking lot, it must have been as bad or worse for the buyer because our understanding is that she was already in the title company’s office, waiting to sign the paperwork.

To be continued…

365/171 Too cute to pass up

Yep it is hot again today and that called for a Slurpee surprise. Even though it felt like 95 in our house; Syd wore the princess hat all day.

It cracks me up how she will wear hats and head pieces now; She adjusts her BAHA herself so that she can wear both the hat and the BAHA and not get the buzzing sound. She has become comfortable with it even in this heat she has been wearing it all day long.

365/170 What a difference 1 year makes

This girl amazes me! She had a yearly physical today and, to be honest, I DREADED it {She normally screams and will not cooperate with the doctors and nurses}.

Today was so different than last year! Syd let the nurse weigh her, measure her, take her pulse, check her heart and take her blood pressure; all with a smile on her face. The nurse and I kept waiting for the screaming to start so we moved quickly from one task to another.

When we entered the exam room, Syd plopped down on the chair and started swinging her legs like this is so normal for her! She did not like taking her clothes off and did cry about it, but I distracted her by letting her play on the my IPhone.

As soon as the doctor came in, Syd hopped up on the exam table and laid back to let the doctor check her over.{wow I was in shock at the difference from the last appointment!}

She even had to get her blood drawn to check her iron levels again and she did  not even cry for that either! I could not stop grinning. She really is Super Syd today!

365/169 Slurpee walk

It is HOT at our house so we took a walk to cool off. Thank goodness Speedway is selling all fountain drinks and Slurpee's, any size, for .99.

It looks like JD has competition for JO’s attention. The girls adore her.

365/168 Pete…repeat

Heather and Little lady are doing great but will be in the hospital until tomorrow. So we took Brent’s brood and ours to Grammie’s for a Father’s Day cook out. Grammie remembers Brent doing this for us when we had Syd 4 years ago.

What a cutie Little Man is….

365/167 She arrived 5 weeks early!

I was woken up at 12:48 AM to a text from my brother, “Heather’s water broke. Call me please!!!” 

I met them at the hospital and took Lu and Little Man back home with me.

The Little Lady arrived at 3:39 AM {5 weeks early; making Little Man and her only 12 months & 13 days apart!} She weighed 5 lbs. 9 ozs and 18.5” long. And she is perfect! Congratulations Fitz’s!

365/166 Ready, set, GO!

CJ was begging Hubby to take her running. It was too hot to take her to the track so he talked her into “speed work”.  She would run down to a neighbors driveway and back just to see how fast she could go. As you can imagine, he loves this….

365/165 My baby is 4!

OH MY, Syd is 4 today! Happy Birthday!!!! How time flies. It is hard to believe she is getting older. She is improving nearly everyday, doing things that she previously refused, tasting things that in the past she snubbed her nose at. Slurpee's are her newest favorite thing right now.

She is sleeping through most every night now and loving her big girl car seat. We need to work on potty training; did I mention she is very strong willed?

I can’t wait to see what this year will bring for her.

365/164 Getting comfy with the Ipad

Syd has been loving the Ipad. She asks to play it every morning; did you catch that? She ASKS to play it! Her vocabulary is improving every day, not just due to the Ipad but it is helping.

Her favorite games seem to be the memory matching games and Monkey Preschool lunch box.

365/163 Cool shades

JD had an eye exam today and they dilated his pupils. He thought it was cool to see his pupils this big, that is until he walked outside and was blinded by the sun! 

When the doctor told him that he would give him sunglasses to shield his eyes, JD got a bit excited that he was getting FREE shades!  I had to chuckle when he was handed the envelope that contained these awesome shades; JD was a bit speechless to discover these were his free shades. I think he said “I do not want to be caught wearing these goofy things!” …That is until he walked outside and was blinded by the sun……all macho-ness flew out the window and self preservation took over….  very cool shades!

365/162 CJ is her biggest fan

With JD and Hubby gone all day yesterday CJ did not get to see JD’s girlfriend at all. And CJ was missing JO terribly.

We went to DQ is afternoon and CJ had to sit by her and would only walk in if she hold JO’s hand. CJ  has also been organizing activities that her and JO can do while she is visiting. MJ and Syd are not far behind CJ  when it comes to admiring JO.

365/161 North Country Trail Relay Race

Last week JD and I were asked to join a relay race because they had a couple of last minute cancellations.  Having heard of this race before, we jumped at the chance.  It’s a team relay, with 5 people covering 62+ miles through the trails of the Manistee National Forest in a single day.  The group we were part of actually has 2 teams and so you always have someone from the other team to run with, which makes it a lot more fun.

Both JD and I were responsible for running 2 of the legs of the relay, totaling ~11-12 miles per person.  The picture below is JD after he finished his 1st leg of 6+ miles.  He looks a little rough but overall, he fared the better of the two of us.  In spite of the heat, we had a great time and plan to be part of the team again next year.

The Manistee National Forest is a great place to run and this relay race is an awesome way to experience it!  The burger and chocolate chip cookies at the end of the race aren’t bad either

365/160 The juice bag worked again

We took the girls on a bike ride this evening. {I cringe every time this idea is brought up} Syd is not the best at finishing a bike ride.

But tonight it was great; I kept talking to her about the juice bag that she would get when we returned home and she never fussed once!

Now we have a bigger issue… the girls are riding too fast for us to walk with them and too slow for us to ride our bikes so for now we have to jog beside them. No more leisurely walks for us.

365/159 Close to even

For the past couple of years now, the gap has been narrowing.  JD has grown almost 5 inches since the middle of 2010.  Since Thanksgiving, he’s grown about an inch and he’s now to the point where he and Hubby are almost the exact same height.  It won’t be long and he will be the tallest in the house.  At that point, if JD is likely to claim to be “the man of the house” and Hubby is going to counter with wanting JD to take over more of the chores

365/158 Drenched in a rain storm

JD and his girlfriend, {we will call her JO}, were out running when a rain storm blew in and they arrived back at the house drenched.  He loved it, running in the rain was fun for him. She did not and was glad to be changed and dry.

{this was the only picture that was taken today and JD took it so I’m sorry, JO, if it is not the best photo of you, blame him}

365/157 Goodbye Yews

I have disliked the Yew bushes in front of our house since we moved in but never knew what I was going to replace them with {and I dislike yard work even more}.

We have removed these types of bushes at another house and took out the transmission in Hubby’s parent’s truck in the process. So the task seemed daunting.

Well today I got clipper happy and removed them to the stumps. The bushes around where the yews were planted are warped out of shape from them and may also have to be removed {at a much later time}. I have called Miss DIGG to get the area marked out in case there is gas or electrical lines running under the area. Then the digging can begin {I’m hopping Hubby feels sympathy for me and does the digging for me…}

365/156 Outdoors

We don’t spend a bunch of time outdoors playing. I don’t like to fight with Syd when it is time to come in. The screaming fit that follows the playtime really is very exhausting for me.

Syd is getting a  bit better at coming in when it is time thanks to a “what’s next picture chart” that her teacher and hearing specialist has made for us to use.  I have also found, for  the moment, that a juice bag will get her to do a lot of things that she normally resists, like coming in from the yard.

365/155 the birthday party

Today was the official day for Little Man’s big birthday bash. It was a great party {Way to go Heather and Brent!}

We ended up cutting our early because Syd was having a hard time taking turns on the trampoline and we did not want the rest of the party goers to listen to her fussing {screaming and throwing a fit}.

Here is my favorite picture of the party, it was taken by Heather.

Grammie and Brent

365/154 Happy Birthday Little Man!

Today my handsome nephew turned 1! We all were at Hubby’s niece’s open house (Way to go Darcy, salutatorian of her school!)

His Nana had a lion shaped cupcake cake for him and we shocked him when we sang Happy Birthday to him. He is a wonderful little guy.

365/153 A baby gift given

Syd’s teacher is having a baby girl this fall. She will be on maternity leave when school starts in the fall so I quickly threw a little gift together for her just before school gets out for the summer.

I made her a cut chenille blanket in pinks. It was so fast once the fabrics were chosen {that is the hardest part for me}

She loved it and joked that she wants to be put on my girl’s hand-me down list {I thought that was quite a compliment.}