I'm Adopting David Archuleta

This kid is amazing. From the beginning, in the auditions, I loved him. I loved how both his parents were there supporting him, I love his voice and how he sings with feeling and passion. He is so cute, I don't know if I want to pinch his cheeks or just take him home with me! Mark my words, in 5-10 years he is going to be on the top sexy list too!

TWILIGHT!!!!!

For all you book lovers, hold on to your seats! My friend Kallie recommended the book, Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer right after Christmas time. All she told me was I had to go buy this book. It was not a Christian book, it was fiction and I could find it in the Young Adult section. There is nothing racy or too sexy or scary, but it is addictive. There are currently three books out in this series, Twilight, Eclipse and New Moon. They are all around 400-600 pages and I read them in 6 days. Jillian was 7 weeks old at the time. It was crazy. There isn't anything too obviously philosophical or life altering, but you fall in love with the characters and the events that follow.

GO BUY THE BOOKS!!!

Summit films is currently wrapping up filming as they are making a movie based on the books. Y'all, it is going to be awesome. Check out this to see a sneak peak at the film. I don't think it will give to much away.

SERIOUSLY, GO BUY THE BOOK...TWILIGHT BY STEPHANIE MEYER!

You will love it!

Great Ideas for the Blog Lover

There are two things that Janelle introduced me too when I officially started my blog. I want to share them with you, in hopes of making your blog experience easier! The first is Bloglines. It is the best way to stay current with your favorite blogs. You just register and then add your favorite blogs to the feed area. I keep my bloglines window open on my computer all day. I check it whenever I sit down and it lets me know who has posted a new blog. Love it! The second is for those who already have a blog. It is with SiteMeter. You, once again, register your blog, for free, and it lets you know who checks out your blog. It is a pretty interesting site! Hope this helps your blog-experience!

Showers and Puddles

What a wonderful weekend. From the title you might think we had rain, but the weather was actually beautiful. I attended 2 baby showers with Jillian this weekend. It was so fun to get her dressed up and show her off. Dave and I played outside with Gage a bunch. The weather was to pretty to stay inside. On Saturday night we had some friends over for dinner. It was nice. The pictures say it all...

Jillian and I all dressed up for shower #1

Gage helping me make dinner that night. He thought it was funny to pretend to bit the avocado!

My little helper!

Our dinner! It was so yummy. I made this dip that I saw on Sunni's blog. It was great. If I make it again I will add artichoke hearts. You can get the recipe here.

Our beverage! It was so good!!!!

The boys (from L to R), Dave, Gage and Ryan

Gage enjoyed his dessert, Little Einstein chewy candies in his "boat!"

On Sunday, we spent a lot of time outside!
Gage had to stop and smell the roses!

Peek-a-Boo!

Puddle jumping is fun...

Wet socks and shoes are not fun! Drumming on the neighbors gutter!

I had so much fun dressing Jillian up. Isn't she sweet!

We're ready to go! I found my yellow clothing for the summer! You can read more about that on my stepmom's blog!

Hope you guys had a nice weekend and had time to smell the roses too!

Trip to CT : Saturday and Sunday

Sorry for the delay in my story telling, but it has been a busy week. Nothing special, just business!

Saturday was Girls Day. Alicia and I spent the morning in our hotel room as we weren't planning on meeting Kasey at the hospital until around 1pm. Jillian woke around 7am and we just laid around in bed for a long time. She and I shared a bed. It was so sweet and something I was looking forward too. Around 8am she was ready for a nap, we must have worn her out on Friday! She took an almost 3 hour nap that day...praise the Lord. During that time, Alicia and I got cleaned up, played on the computer and lounged around. It was nice!

Alicia enjoying some blogging!

Yea! Shower time!All smiles when she finally woke up!

That afternoon we went to eat at a great little restaurant right across from the hospital. It was so nice to sit around and catch up on old times. We have some funny stories from college. Crazy boys and crazy roommates! After lunch we went to the mall. I think just getting out of the hospital and doing normal life things was really good for Kasey. It helps take your mind off things and just relax.

After the mall we dropped Kasey off at the hospital and Alicia, Jillian and I went to the hotel. We had a really nice set up. We were in a 2 bedroom suite. At first we went to our room and it was a studio suite. Hello! That defeats getting a suite if we are all in one room. I wanted a separate room for Jillian so that when she slept, we could talk. So, we got upgraded to the 2 bedroom, 2 bath suite. Jillian took another nap and we vegged out in front of the tv. When Kasey was ready, I picked her up and we had a nice chat in the car before going into the hotel. I have had a lot of experience in hospitals. Although I was in there for my husband and she is in there for her baby, I tried to share some knowledge I gained through my experience. It is a hard time. Kasey asked me how I did it and wondered how she would do it as well. I told her, "You don't have a choice. You just do it." It is true though. I am sure some of you have been in a hard situation and wondered how you were going to make it. Sure enough, one day ends and another begins. All the while, you are just doing it. It was a nice time in the car that night.

After getting some to-go food, we watched 27 Dresses...totally girly and predictable, but good.

Sunday was a great day. We had to be at the airport at around 12:30, so we planned on getting to the hospital early with breakfast from McDonald's. Yummy! Well, we didn't know that visiting hours didn't start until 10am, so we all ate breakfast in the seating area.

Kasey came down to eat with us and had some interesting news. She was told, right before we arrived, that they could go home! Although Ethan is a very sick little boy, he was not in need of transfusions, because his good blood cells were increasing on their own, so that meant he could continue treatment at home. You can read more about it on Kasey's blog, but so far, his good cells are increasing and he spent this whole past week at home. What a blessing! We got to help Kasey pack up their room and spend the last bit of time Ethan had in the hospital with him, taking lots of pictures and enjoying the good news!

Alicia and Kasey packing up the room
Ethan was happy to go home!
Putting his "going home" outfit on!
Ethan was a little mad at this point. That boy was going through a MAJOR growth spurt and needed to eat!! Jillian is making her spitting face!

Yes, he is still hungry!
Ok, here is his food!

Kasey, Adam (her hubby) and Ethan

The nursed gave Ethan a Superman outfit. It is fitting. He is such a strong, and happy, and beautiful baby.

The family, happy to go home!

It was so good to be there with Kasey. There weren't tears until we were saying goodbye on the elevator, but it was alright. Kasey is such a strong mom. Ethan is going to be just fine.

The plane trip home was much longer the one going there. Or at least it felt like it. I came home to a very happy little boy. Gage seems older and bigger when I got home, and a bit cuter too! Jillian missed him very much. She giggled like I have never heard her giggle that night when she was reunited with her big brother. It was so sweet.

Thanks for asking about my trip. It was a good experience. I hope to go back in the future!

...

"The guy who wonders how he is going to pay for his kid's orphanage...That guy shouldn't worry about where he is going to park."


THE OFFICE IS FUNNY AGAIN!!!

Mini Milestones

I will be posting more about the CT trip soon, but things have been busy around here. The weather is to perfect not to spend as much time outside as possible. So, the days are flying by. There have been so fun little milestones that I want to document in the blog world.

First, this weekend Jillian officially found her tongue. I don't really remember this with Gage, although I know he did this too. It is just to cute for words. She is constantly sticking her tongue out in all sorts of ways, sometimes pointy, sometimes to one side, then the other, sometimes with just a hints poking out. It makes me smile every time I see it.

The second is that Gage is now saying "Thanks Mom (or Dad or Grandma or Jilly). It comes out more like, "Tanks Mom". I love it. He will even say it on his own, without being prompted. He is also saying "Owww". For example, we are playing outside, in the beautiful weather, near the swings in the backyard. He purposely bumps into them and says "owwwww" then repeats this pattern about 20 times. Each time I smiled and laughed at him. This pretend play stage is so much fun. Yesterday was pot-holder puppets, today it is the attack of the swing. Love it!

The psycho-nighttime-baby syndrome is getting a little better. I enjoyed sharing my hotel bed with Jillian this weekend, but once home, she is back in her crib. She took great naps yesterday and today and only woke up once last night before finally gracing us with her presence around 7:30am....lovely! We are trying to work out the solids issue. I think the rice cereal is giving her gas, so we are just trying squash for now. Lord, bless her tummy!