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Bathroom Update

Two contractors FINALLY came today and tore out the rest of the tile. They cut out the moldy bottom part of the drywall and replaced it. Then they put new tile up. And its white, not pink. We don't have a towel bar/shelf or soap dish now though. But it looks much better now. And the last photo shows the bathroom after we re-inhabited it.

Surveys, surveys, surveys

Three things that I'm loving lately:
Contractors tearing out my shower
The pool
brownie batter

Three things that are just down right crazy:
The heat
Kylie's blowout yesterday
The cost of gas! Its insane! Maybe they should make "forever gas" that we could prepay today!

Three things that I'm working on right now:
This list
An "I wanna" list
Framing a new print I got

Three things I love to hear:
The sound of pink, moldy tiles leaving my house FOREVER
Lilly making one sole squeak as she tries to laugh
Silence during naptime

COUNTDOWN
TWELVE things that I purchased this week:
Capris for me
Bermudas for me
Sippy Cup for Lillian
Water bottle for Richard
Twizzlers for Richard
Brown skirt for me
Supplies for banana bread
ARMY WIVES SEASON 1 DVD
Richard's Father's Day present
A book on Windows Vista for Richard
Mary Tyler Moore Season 1 for Gma Shipp who's having surgery tomorrow
A steering wheel cover so I don't burn my paws any more

ELEVEN things that I'm loving these days:
NEW TILEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE (I'm just a little excited, can ya tell)
Talking to Grandma Shipp on the phone yesterday
The pool!!
Helping a friend out by bringing dessert to bible study
That I'm going home next week!!
TiVo
Army Wives season 2
Begining of Design Star again
Facebook
Lillian
That Kylie is a good baby

TEN things that annoy me:
Moldy tile
Blowout diapers
That we don't have our replacement double stroller yet
That its 105 here and its only the begining of June
The elephants that live upstairs
Blankets that shed fuzz balls in the washer
Making bottles
That I can only take one suitcase home
That I haven't talked to Heather in FOREVER

NINE words that would describe me:

1. Concerned ~ Gma Shipp has hip replacement surgery tomorrow
   
2. Annoyed ~ I WANT MY NEW STROLLER so we can go for walks.
   
3. Pleased ~ The girls are such good babies
   
4. Grateful ~ i've finally made good friends here.
   
5. Overwhelmed ~ I really need to get crackin again on Lilly's week by week memory book
6. Sad ~ R isn't coming home to MI with us
   
7. Full ~ the strawberry cheesecake muffin was amazing
   
8. Excited ~ two days in a row at the pool!
   
9. Entertained ~ Army Wives is back on
   

EIGHT great old movies to rewatch about this summer:
Big
You've Got Mail
Follow that Bird
Cinderella- Rogers & Hammerstein
Gerbert or McGee & Me
Aladdin
The Rocketeer
Twister

SEVEN things that I've accomplished:
Folding 4 loads of laundry
Starting my "I wanna" journal
Losing 45+ pounds
Finding a great swimsuit
Watching two babies and even doing errands
Playing R's game with him
Walking 150+ miles
Getting Lil to sleep while they're taking down tile

SIX quick tips to simplify life:
1. When you're putting leftovers in the fridge, write what it is with a dry erase marker, then it comes right off when the dish gets washed.
2. Keep a sharpee and scissors in the kitchen.
3. Twice a year (or once a month if you're OCD like me) go through the entire house making three piles: trash, craigslist/ebay/consignment, goodwill. You will be amazed at how much you gather.
4. Put foil in the pan before you use it so you don't have to wash the pan.
5. Peel potatoes, shred cheese, etc on waxed paper then just pick up the paper and throw it away so you don't have to wash the countertop.
6. When clothes come out of the dryer, dump them on your bed, so you have to fold and put them away before you go to bed.

FIVE absolutely wonderful quotes worth remembering:
Life's not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon or tasted as good as brownies.
Childhood is that wonderful time of life when all you need to do to lose weight is take a bath.
How long a minute is, depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on.
When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.

FOUR things I said yesterday more than once:
It's hot.
When will my shower be fixed?!?
I got Army Wives Season 1 on DVD.
She's awake.

THREE things that made me laugh this week:
Lilly talking
The little girl at the pool, "she's pukin"
Lilly laying on my stomach and puking all over my shirt, cheast, neck, face, hair and carpet...yet not a single drop on her

TWO Books on my want list right now:
The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinsky
Change of Heart by Jodi Piccoult

ONE thing R's completely embarrassed about:
Falling through the step at a Friends' and breaking it

Monday

Yesterday, when Kylie left, Lil and I headed straight for the pool. (Since it was a mere 105 here yesterday.) We spent two hours down there and had such a good time. When we first got down there we were the only ones there and it was WONDERFUL. We just sat on the edge and talked to the Lifeguard. She is Sweedish or something and I imagine her name is Helga, although I'm sure its not. But that's what I like to call her in my head. Its funny when the pool is full and she blows her whistle and yells at some kid, she has to yell it three or four times for anyone to figure out what she's saying.

We played in the kiddie pool, then I read a book for awhile while Miss Lil took a nap, then we got back in again. This time, in the kiddie pool, we met a 3 or 4 year old girl and she was so cute. She loved to hold Lillian's hand and dance with her. She was talking to Lilly and Lilly was cracking up. She was so funny, she kept saying "she's pukin". I tried to tell her that's all she does all day, but she continued to keep sayin "she's pukin". It was too funny.

I just got an email from Lindsey at work that she has four tickets to the Saturday night Tides (baseball) game and asked if we wanted to go. Of course! So the six of us (Brandon, Lindsey, us, and the girls) will be going there Saturday night. The forecast is calling for 95% and 30% chance of thunderstorms though, so hopefully that changes before then.

Sunday I have a day planned for Richard's first Father's Day. Its all surprises to him, so he can't wait to find out what we're doing. He knows part of it involves lunch out at a restaurant, but doesn't know which one.

This morning, after I was woken by Brandon's knock on the door to drop Kylie off and I went back to bed (she was sleeping and so was Lil), THEN we got another knock at our door. Guess who?!?? Two contractors, not maintenance men, but real contractors, here to fix our shower, not just fix it, but rip it all out, tiles, mold, drywall, and even plumbing and re-do it all. I COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!! They are in the middle of it now but said they would be here most of the day. I was hoping to go to the pool again today so I'm hoping they're gone by 3, but if not, its worth it to skip a day at the pool for a NEW SHOWER!!!! I made them muffins and gave them pop cuz I was so thrilled to see them.

Lillian telling you about her weekend

Saturday and Sunday

Saturday morning we went shopping and got some clothes for me for Michigan. I actually have clothes that fit now! Unfortunately, its still not the closet full of clothes I already own, but we're getting closer...SLOWLY. We had lunch at Applebee's and finally used the gift card mom and dad gave us for Christmas. Then we went home and just hung out, played a game and watched some TV. Saturday night, Lena and Landon came over and we went to oldetown Portsmouth and watched the fireworks at Harbor Fest. It was still about 100 degrees and very, very muggy, but the show was AWESOME. It was more than a half hour and had a great variety of fireworks. Lilly loved looking at them and the sounds didn't bother her at all. She loves seeing Aunt Lena and Uncle Landon too. And we loved the break, we didn't hold her all night long! Landon tried to help R figure out how to fix the broken double stroller but no luck.

Sunday we went to church and took snack: banana bread and cinnamon bread. They were huge hits. We came home and hit the pool right away for almost two hours. The pool was almost warm this time and I actually got in. Lillian loved it, actually being able to get in now that its warmer. We spent some time in the big pool, then Lilly took a nap and I laid out while R swam. Then we all got in the kiddie pool. I sat on the bottom and just let Lilly stand in front of me. She had so much fun. We attracted a crowd of small children and Lillian was putting on a show for them, smiling and talking. We had to run to Target quick but then came back for a quiet evening at home, playing games. Army Wives season 2 started but I tivo'd it and will watch it later today...I can't wait.

Today brings:
watching Army Wives
calling Gma Shipp
Folding laundry
Making something for dinner
Writing in Lillian's memory book
Updating the checkbook
Putting away all the stuff from this weekend
Calling girls to set up lunch tomorrow.

To Do's and Goals

Things to accomplish this weekend:
Pool
Exercise one day
Take snacks to Sunday School
Pick up new Pac-N-Play
Harbor Fest fireworks with Landon & Lena
Shopping for clothes for Stacey for MI
Start MI packing list
Play a game together
Vacuum Pacifica
Fix wheels on stroller
Call Grandma
Call Kristen
Buy teething tablets for Lil



Goals for this summer:
Lose weight
Consistent workouts
Family photos & Lillian's 6 month photos taken in July
Stace and Lillian be in Brian and Steph's Wedding
A whole family visit to Iowa in August!
Go to the Virginia Zoo
Encourage Kylie and Lilly's friendship daily
Read at least one book a day to the girls
Have houseguests
Tithe regularly
Have a child-less date once a month
Pool at least once a week
Have Lillian get on the weight chart
R get off work for bible study on Wednesdays
Not take money out of the house fund
Make a house video for insurance purposes
Update wills, life insurance, medical info
Pray everyday about orders for next July

Leave comments please

In the interest of changing up the blog a little and making it more useful...is there anything anyone would like to see added to the blog? Leave your comments below and let us know what you would like to see here.

We have also deleted the chatterbox feature that was in the right hand column, any time you want to comment, you can leave it under any post, where it says "comments" and it is automatically emailed to us.

Over the next week or so we will be changing the background a lot. When we are done, I will post a poll of which one you like best, so remember. And when the poll goes up, please post.

Shower damage

This was our problem.



















This was their solution.


Hmmmmmmm....

The girls

On Monday, we started watching Kylie during the days while her parents are at work. It gets crazy at times with two babies, 4 months and 3 months, but for the most part its really fun. And with R's schedule, as much as I hate it, he is home for most of the time that Kylie is here, so if things do get crazy, he's great about stepping in and taking either of them. Then between 2-3 Lindsey picks her up and Lillian and I start the long process of passing the time til R gets home at midnight.

Tonight though, he's supposed to be able to get off at 5 so that he can go to bible study with us. I'm still not believing it until I see it, but if it happens I will be super excited.

We're doing a "cleanse" that is also supposed to help you lose some weight. The main goal though is to clean you all out, decrease your appetite and decrease any cravings. We started Monday and we're supposed to go for ten days. Although R quit last night and had a meal of three double cheeseburgers and a large fry. QUITTER!!!!! I'm still doing it though. You're only allowed to have one glass of tea a day and as much water and the lemonade mix you want. The lemonade mix is water, fresh lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. It's delicious - let me tell you.

Prunes

"Prunes, Prunes, the magical fruit, the more you eat the more you poop!" This is what we sang all night while looking at that adorable, brown covered face. And everytime the word "poop" was uttered Lillian smiled and once she made a sound when she smiled. We keep waiting for a giggle, but not yet, soon hopefully.

She got a hold of the spoon (when we were done eating and I handed it to her) and she was so intent on feeding herself that I didn't have the heart to tell her the business end of the spoon was the other end.







Hi mom, aren't I cute?














She's not to sure about this new form of bath.










But it ends up okay.

Brill Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Bottle Making Machine

Every other day we do the following:

I gather all the bottles and put them in the sink.
I take the tops of each bottle.
I take the nipples out of each top.
I put soapy water in the sink for them to soak in.
Richard (usually) washes the bottles.
Then he (or I) puts them on the racks to dry.

When they are dry...
I put all 24 of the bottles back in the sink.
I fill each bottle with either 4 or 6 oz of warm water.
I put one scoop of formula in each bottle.
I put another scoop of formula in each bottle.
I put a third scoop of formula in the 6oz bottles.
I put a nipple in each top.
I put a top on each bottle.
I shake each bottle, setting it on a towel after its shaken.
When all the shaking is done, I check each bottle for chunks.
I shake all chunky bottles again.
I take a second towel and dry each bottle.
I put all bottles in the fridge.

I do this every other day. Three or four times a week.

All of this to say: I would gladly pay for a paint shaker machine if it had a bottle sized adapter. Or even pay an energetic 5 year old. Too bad all my friends kids are 2 or under.

Has anyone but me noticed in this new picture of Lillian how much she looks like the baby in the ticker at the top of the page?!? A little freaky- all she needs is a little dress.

Double Stroller Woes

The double stroller came via UPS today. Box looked fine, no problems. However, after pulling out the stroller there is part of the metal frame that is dented, and because of that, paint is scraped, parts are rusted and the paint is cracking. There is another two spots where the paint is scraped.

Nice.

I emailed the store we bought it from and they are supposedly checking into what they can do. I'd be really interested to see what they can do BEFORE MONDAY which is when I need it by. I told them this and that I was counting on them to come up with a reasonable solution by Monday so that the integrity of the stroller would not be at all compromised when I put two infants in it.

I guess that is the reason R always makes me talk to people/companies who screwed up. My vast vocabulary. I have to say, so far, with other things, its worked miracles.

EDIT: The company is sending out a new stroller as soon as they can (2-3 weeks because ours was the last one in stock) and said we can use ours in the meantime and keep it when the new one comes. However, when R put it all together, the posts that hold the front two wheels in are also broken. I emailed asking if they can replace that part. We were looking forward to being able to sell this one on craigslist and make a small profit. Either way, they've gotta figure something out for us to have a stroller sooner than 3 weeks from now.

Richard got home from work early tonight and was home by six pm!!!!!!! We ran a couple errands, all had dinner together, and fed Lilly peas. She actually did great with them and ate a whole jar. Up next is prunes. We'll see how those go. She got a bath, we read Peter Rabbit and she's in bed at 10:17 pm!! Hopefully she will still sleep til 8 but I doubt it.

Tomorrow R is taking his truck in to get a once over to check everything out and to have them replace the antenna that the guy who replaced his windshield broke off. Thankfully the windshield people are paying for the antenna.

We got Lillian a new toy at Target tonight, its a giggle & jiggle cow. Its pretty hilarious. It's a round plastic ball, that looks like a cow with red pants on and his feet, hands, ears, tail and nose stick out from the ball. When you push its nose, it "giggles and jiggles". We were cracking up at it. She is not quite as thrilled, but it did garner a couple smiles, jiggling on her belly.

As a side note, Cyndi and I have been having facebook communication like crazy. Today was culminated with a funny comment from a family member who will remain un-named.

On the other hand, she ABSOLUTELY LOVES the theme song from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I am constantly trying to think of new things to sing to her as we seem to do the same ones over and over and today I came up with Fresh Prince (who knows from where). She smiled over and over and pouted her lip when I stopped until I started again. I would say her second favorite is "the song that doesn't end" but that can get a little repetitive if you know what I mean.

Richard's Father's Day present came in the mail today. Thankfully, it was while he was at work. I wrapped it up and put it on the table. He is going to be so excited!!!!!!!!!!! he saw it and wanted to open it of course, but nope, gotta wait.

We got Lillian two new pairs of shoes: black patent mary janes for Bri and Steph's wedding (and other things) and white sandles that match Daddy's brown ones for everyday. Now that she's standing so much more, she seems to be standing better if she has shoes on. She's growing so fast.

4 month update

She had her four month appointment today and got more shots of course.

She is now a whopping 10 pounds and 9 ounces, but is still at the zero percentile mark.

She is 23.5 inches tall and her head is 39.5 cm around.

The doc was pleased with her growth and all of her milestones. Said he expects her to be on the chart, at least in the 5th percentile by her 6 month appointment.

She is standing excellently now, on her own even, if she is against a wall or in front of a toy. She is growing up so fast. She likes everything we've fed her so far except for green vegetables.

We just put 300 new pictures on the web site. If you need the address, send me an email or leave a comment here.

Checking to see what kind of an audience we have. Not sure how long we'll keep this up. Comment below please.

Lillian got her ears pierced on Wednesday and has done great with them. No pain since then at all as far as we can tell. She doesn't even really mind when we clean them. They look adorable.

Richard has gotten a little break from work as he got to come home before ten three days this week. The week of the 19th he is taking some classes, so he will be on a day check schedule so we know we'll have time together that week.

Richard planned lots of special events for Mother's Day and Lilly was great all day, it was perfect!

Richard's mom is coming down next weekend to visit us (his dad's Mother's Day present for her). We can't wait to see her.

Lillian started sleeping in her crib this week and is doing great. We bought her a mobile and she loves laying in the crib and staring up at the moving animals.

My mother has been NON STOP nagging me to do another post.

The thing is, NOTHING spectacular is going on around here. Richard has been working approximately 70 hours a week, which leaves him home 1-2 hours a day while we are awake. It's been great..........

Little Lillian has been extremely clingy the last few weeks so that's been a fun addition to already feeling like a single parent.

Lilly and I were almost involved in a deadly car accident, but narrowly missed it, thankfully. You might have heard that a week ago we had ten tornados in our area, several touching down and doing major damage. Lillian spent several hours in her carseat under a crib mattress in the bathtub, but we got no damage. The base where Richard works had some cosmetic damage in a couple spots, but that's as close as they came to personally affecting us, thankfully.

Lillian is now eating cereal and food. She has so far tried bananas and sweet potatoes and loves them both. On to carrots and squash next. Then the green veggies. I am home making her baby food but its super easy and I love it. She is holding her head more steady every day. We got her a jumperoo and she generally loves to be in it. We think she is starting to teeth because of this clinginess, and the fact that she is starting to drool and chew on her hands constantly.

That's it. There's your update Mom.