9 days and countin'

Florida....ahh...Florida...days spent doing nothing but laying on the beach...or swimming in the expansive pool with my family! sounds delicious....and we are so close now i am counting down the days..the hours really. IM SO EXCITED for my boy to experience the ocean (ya i know he is shark bait)...and be around his family. Sure hope my brother and his family make it...they arent positive yet.

Grant took his first steps Monday...while i was playing hookie from work..how kind of him to choose such a day for his momentus milestone! He walked back and forth from my mother and i over and over and over...3 & 4 steps each time. He laughed and giggled and screamed with delight...like OMG...im doing IT!!! It was precious to see and my mom and i both teared up in motherly emotion.

Dave and i officially started painting the house last night!! i guess the stars are alighned just right or something...or maybe its just no precipation for a week...either way...the side of our house is a dark blue (blue on blue to be exact)..so we gotta keep going now...no way out. We didnt get the color just right till last night..after dave spent an hour painting..OOPS...but i just cant have it toooo light..i detest the powder blue look...so lucky number 4..yes the fourth color we had mixed and tried out...was the right one for us. Cant wait to see the finished look! We are going to do lots of white trim to really make the dark blue POP. will post a pic of the final product...be nice if that was before florida...but dave and i are resolved to the fact that this is a HUGE project..and we will just keep pluggin away till its finished...whenever that may be.

Peace

hello...anyone out there?

so i really just wonder if anyone but sarah and amy read this thing. sooooooooo if you woudl please indulge me....leave a comment...even just your name...so i know you are reading this. i may need to send out another recruitment blast to lure innocent folks to this site. i just think its nice...especially since we live out here in the boonies....to have grant updates so he isnt just a figment of your imagination...and more like a real growing baby.

dave and i are making progress!!!! he wrote down the first phase of his requests! and you know it is already helping. i told him how excited i was to be truly communicating without all the drama of emotion and tone...and we are planning to continue a written dialogue! yae.

have you heard of flat daddies? dads who over seas in iraq....can have their life size images sent to their kids...and family...and that way the babes still recognize daddy on his return. at first i thought it was strange...strange but cool...and now im totally into it. infact...made me think of my own brand of flat grandmas! why not? have their life size faces in the house so he will quickly recognize them during a brief visit. he already knows my moms voice from the speaker phone..which has helped. this could really work.

grant and i are going to the chiropractor today...ive been putting it off for over a month now..the trip is just a lot of work..at least im not doing it BEFORE work..instead im taking off work to go..much better! so hopefully he can work out our kinks..man i need some help. and grants allergies are on overdrive right now...it would be nice for him to get some relief too. fingers crossed.

btw....grant is officially into everything! he is just all over the place...grabbing, reaching, crawling, scooching, rolling, pulling up, standing, walking....ahhhhhhhhhh....so now the challenge has increased and how has it! he also fights for his right to party...by screaming and crying for a bit. limits are being set...and i realize that i need to stay consistent, calm and loving through it all..which has been going well so far. such as...grant...sit in the tub...no standing...sorry....grant....may i have that? thank you...........grant....i cant continue to walk you around the house bc my back is going to give out...sorry. etc etc. he is something else! wow.

ok back to work. but please let me know if youve been here. THANKS!!!

Sweet Success

Ahh the sweet smell of victory....this morning I found the baby walker of my dreams....just down the street and a mere $2! I was amazed to find that they no longer sell them new (dangerous)..and that Good will isnt allowed to sell them anymore. It was quite the treasure hunt...and it felt kinda good to be exhibiting risky behavior hehe. Luckily the Tongie thrift shop hasnt caught up with 21st century extreme safety precaution culture....which albeit has good intentions but does take some fun outta life. Example B: teetertotters. I giggle with delight when i see one of them and trot over briskly to do the deed. Grant will be so pleased upon finding that this afternoon he gets to cruise the office..hopefully the commercial carpet wont slow him down too much.

Had a wonderful weekend! Our house guests were so sweet and we had a delightful time. Managed to get in some serious clothes shopping...and im telling you the stars were alighned because i found a whole bunch of cute stuff that not only fit in the budget but also fit my voluptious figure. The shopping spree started off my Birthday week....yes week....with Wednesday, april 4th (4/4) being the actual day i transformed from a amniotic fluid inhaling alien to an oxygen breathing baby. LOVE FOURS. So anyhoo...the visit was great and I got to know aunt mary rita a lot better and she is precious. with a tender heart and a great since of humor. Grant enjoyed getting to know his grandma burkemper again - and likewise she ate him up.

Sunday was spectacular. Not only did dave and i feel extra mushy for some reason (spring maybe?) but we had lots of outdoor time in lawrence...where we walked the river for a good while and introduced grant to the river up close.......then visited with sarah, ben & vivian. Together we walked their adorable old neighborhood with its vintage charm and gardens whose original gardener passed many many decades ago....and up to Mass street where we partook in ice cream splurges. The trek was fabulous! Good company...and god company (nature)...its a great combo. The kids loved it...especially in their baby carriers. Grant seems to really enjoy the new ergo...and we are getting the hang of it. The visit left me feeling optimistic, hopefuly & inspired. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I am thankful our paths crossed at the birth center...and we can now support each other in the great adventure of parenting.

So here we are at monday again...the ritual of survival.,....the routine of habit...the awesome life we have created for ourselves....its a mixed bag...but its darn good. ITs birthday week....i love birthday week.

Peace out.

hump day

This morning started off on a different foot, which is a nice change of pace. My piano student, Quinn, invited me to his school performance day, where he was to play a piece. I made it out the door by 8:30 and was in the pew by 8:45. He was a smashing success..and even pulled off the bow I had encouraged him to do. HOW ADORABLE. I was a very proud teacher…and it was sweet to see him happy to have me there..peeking over the crowd smiling.
Grant made his folks super proud last evening..when he pulled up for the first time! Mama and papa clapped and grant just squealed with glee. It was a fun moment. That little guy wants to walk so bad. We are going to find him walker this weekend.

Work is very very busy right now…we are working with a professional web designer to get our website up and running…I am presently gathering all the info that we want on there. We also have the directory deadline coming up in 2 weeks. SO im programming for summer…looking for instructors etc. If that wasnt enough, I am using a new company for sending out my online newsletters…so its been tricky learning how to use it and such.

Grant is super adorable and I am enjoying him to pieces. He has such a wonderful since of humor and we can really get to joking around. I am so in love. This has been an amazing experience that I cant imagine my life without now.

Grandma B and Aunti Mary Rita & little Mary are visiting this weekend! We are all excited and anticipating the fun we shall have.
Off to work. I barely had time to squeeze this in.

when its good its great

long time no write. ive been busy with a sick kid and then weekend guests. oh the roller coaster of life...its never dull.

hard to believe its march 20th already! thats just rediculous. before you know it my birthday will be here! yae. im still dreaming up what adventures i would like to take to celebrate the big...oh my goodness...34! at least there is a 4 in it. gonna be a great year.

its true.....we are all just kids inside aging bodies. sure we mature to some degree...but overall...the child inside of us is still playing, still aching to get messy with finger paints and itchy from playing in the grass on a hott summers night. hey maybe thats what i should do on my birthday hehe.

grant is FABULOUS. he is sooooo delightful when he feels good. his most recent obsession is walking. he wants to hold onto your fingers and walk anywhere youll go. he is getting better at it. he doesnt step on his own feet as much. balance is still very wobbly...but i would say he is getting the hang of one foot in front of the other. it wouldnt suprise me if he walks instead of crawls...and ive actually been saying that forever...but now i really can see it happen. of course...thats still months away most likely. it takes a ton of coordination to do the tango. he gets all excited when he is good at it and even does the high step in honor of the occasion.

even though he is only 8 months old....12 month old clothes seem to fit the best. he can wear 6-9 months...but many are very tight...and im all about the comfort. he is thinning out some....not super chunky anymore...and i can see his face changing. he still has an inch to pinch...which is soo much fun..and i love to kiss him all over and squeeze his girth.

grandma bb and grandma lo came to visit this past weekend. it was such a lovely visit! grant started feeling good on saturday and showed them his charming personality which was much to his mothers relief. it may be rediculous...but i so want other peeps to see the baby that i know he is...the happy go lucky, funny, silly, entertaining and loveable grant...who feels good. unfortunately the little guy has had more than his fair shair of yucky feeling days...which will make anyone a grump. but the grandmas did get to see his sweet baby side..and we had FUN. we all walked in the grand tongie st pats parade! grant barely stayed awake for it...but did enjoy it i could tell because he didnt complain. by the last turn he let himself go to sleep. you can tell in the pic how sleepy he was hehe.

much love!