Fauxtographer Mom's Photo Blog

201/365 July 20, 2010

2010-07-20T23:55:00.001-04:00

Jonas tries to jump:

200/365 July 19, 2010

2010-07-19T23:50:00.000-04:00

We spent an hour in the ER at the children's hospital today. Thankfully it was only an hour.

Yesterday afternoon, I noticed Jonas had a bit of a runny nose and felt warm. I gave him ibuprofen before bed and again when it wore off in the middle of the night (Levi woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and felt a little warm to me too, so I guess he has whatever it is too). He ate breakfast just fine but then he was cranky and just wanted to sit in my lap. After a little while, I checked his temp again and it was 107.2. Yes, you read that right. I didn't think that could even be possible, and sometimes I am a little leery of our temporal artery scanner thermometer, so I checked a bunch more times on both sides of his head and the lowest reading I got was 106.7. I also checked my own temp, and it read normal for me. So I gave him some more ibuprofen and started getting ready to go to the ER. I checked his temp a few more times between packing up to head out, and it went to 103.5 and then not even 15 minutes after the medicine, it was 101.7. I figured there wasn't much point in going to the ER with his temp under control so I decided to wait it out and see what happened, and if it spiked really high again I'd take him in. It was 100.5 before his nap and the same when he woke up. I tried to give him some food and he wasn't eating, and he started getting cranky again, so I started checking his temp and it was going up again, and fast. It got to 105.5 and I decided I was going in. I took the thermometer with me and checked again just before getting out of the car and it was 106.1.

I had posted on Facebook that I needed someone to make a drug store run for me so I could get some more medicine and a thermometer I could use rectally to make sure I was getting an accurate temp, and a really sweet couple from our church called me and said they would bring some over. But then I decided we needed to go to the ER, so I called them and they said they would just meet me there. So that was nice to not be alone there, even though the kids did really well and we were in and out in an hour. They did a rectal temp when we got there and it was 105.something, so they gave him a Tylenol suppository. The doctor looked him over and couldn't find anything wrong with him. She said that I was right to bring him in, because 107 is a big deal, but high fevers in little kids aren't really dangerous (they are in adults, but not kids) as long as they are from an illness and not from being exposed to heat. So basically she said to treat the fever to keep him comfortable and let it run its course. I'll keep alternating ibuprofen and Tylenol and hope it goes away soon. His temp was down to normal at bedtime, and I haven't heard a peep from him yet, but I have the medicine ready to go if he wakes up feverish again.

So, that was my "fun" day.

199/365 July 18, 2010

2010-07-18T23:47:00.000-04:00

We'd already gone through 2 shirts, so when Levi wanted watermelon again, I just told him to take his shirt off and he would get a bath after dinner.

I never get to eat the crust of my pizza, thanks to this little guy.

198/365 July 17, 2010

2010-07-17T23:44:00.000-04:00

197/365 July 16, 2010

2010-07-16T23:42:00.000-04:00

Levi earned a popsicle for helping me bring in/put away groceries and for eating his dinner.

Cheeeeeeeese!

196/365 July 15, 2010

2010-07-15T23:07:00.000-04:00

I listed Shane's car for sale a while ago and today someone put down a deposit on it to buy it! Hopefully he'll have the rest of the money shortly and then we can pay off the rest of the loan for my van and start saving for a new (to us) car for Shane when he gets home.

195/365 July 14, 2010

2010-07-14T23:46:00.000-04:00

The kids got a little slap-happy before bedtime tonight. I didn't have my flash, so this is the only shot that was in focus:

194/365 July 13, 2010

2010-07-13T22:33:00.001-04:00

I love this little guy!

193/365 July 12, 2010

2010-07-12T22:07:00.002-04:00

Other than hanging up Levi's name letters and some pictures, his room is DONE!

I love this lamp!

New faux wood blinds and blackout curtains

Levi likes it!

192/365 July 11, 2010

2010-07-11T21:49:00.000-04:00

We have blue!

I still have to do all the finish work - put the switchplates back on, hang blinds and curtains, touch up some spots of paint (the tape on the ceiling pulled off some paint, grrrr...), etc. I also need to clean up all the trash from the packaging, put away all the tools, etc. Hopefully I can do it all tomorrow while Jonas naps and get Levi's bed back in the room.

191/365 July 10, 2010

2010-07-10T23:42:00.000-04:00

These photos probably don't look much different from yesterday's, but I did do a lot more work.

Painted the trim and doors bright white (will be replacing the hinges and knobs, so I didn't worry about slopping paint on them)

New ceiling fan. The box advertised it as "quick and easy installation." HA! 2 hours later...I finally got it all put together. And then had a near freakout because I thought I had flipped the breaker back on for it and it didn't work, and I was going to have to undo the entire thing and start over. Then I realized I'd flipped the breaker next to it off instead of flipping the correct one back on. I turned them both back on and it worked just fine. Thankfully I'd only gotten as far as removing the glass shade before I checked the breaker. I'm not a fan of getting shocked, personally...

Just behind one of the fan blades is a new air register. That should have been a piece of cake to replace, but I fought with the stupid thing for 20 minutes before the screw would catch on the right spot on one side. It's never as easy as it should be!

More trim and door paint. Four coats, to be exact.

That's all for today. Tomorrow: blue walls!

190/365 July 9, 2010

2010-07-09T23:24:00.000-04:00

The de-girlification process has begun! Tonight: painted the ceiling and removed the flowery window sheers and butterfly curtain rod. Tomorrow: new ceiling fan (sans giant hanging butterfly), paint trim/doors. Sunday: paint walls. Monday: hang new blinds and blackout curtains, and move Levi's bed back in the room. Hopefully getting Levi to bed in the bonus room will be easier after tonight... As much work as it is, it's nice to finally be doing something to really make the house ours.

189/365 July 8, 2010

2010-07-08T22:57:00.001-04:00

Bliss in a bag:

It is very bad news for my waistline that I found a party size bag of these. Very bad.

188/365 July 7, 2010

2010-07-07T23:28:00.002-04:00

This is how all the cool kids eat their cheese:

(It's not 100% in focus, and it's noisy, but his face cracks me up)

And here's the big brother with pizza all over his face:

187/365 July 6, 2010

2010-07-06T23:34:00.000-04:00

We got the TV back today! And it was even covered under warranty! Phew! I had to ask my next door neighbor to help me get it from my van into the house, but it's not heavy, just big. I'm so glad to have this off my shoulders.

Today also marks 10 years since my mom died. It seems like just yesterday in some ways, and like forever ago in others. I still miss my mom every day, and it makes me sad that my boys don't have the chance to get to know her. I hope she would be proud of me. This is a project I did my senior year of high school. The assignment was to take a picture of your eye and come up with a graphic that represented the phrase "the eye is a window to the soul." I obviously played with the colors, and I also put a picture of my mom holding me as a baby in the middle. The hands/heart (claddagh) ring were a gift from my sister after my mom died. She got one for herself too. The top stone is my mom's birth stone, and in the center (I cropped them out for this project) are the birthstones for me and my sister. I'm not sure what the claddagh actually stands for, but for us, the rings were symbolic of our mom holding us in her heart and her in ours forever. I thought framing the picture of me with my mom with the heart of the ring was a pretty good representation of the theme. I only wish I had access to the full resolution file so I could make a print of it. I suppose I could redo the project from scratch, though.

186/365 July 5, 2010

2010-07-05T23:25:00.003-04:00

It was HOT today, but with very low humidity, so once the sun got low enough in the afternoon that our yard was in the shade, it was nice to be outside. The boys ate dinner at their little table outside and watched the dragonflies do laps around the yard (I've never seen so many dragonflies before!). They weren't that cooperative for pictures, but I took some anyway. You can see their new hair cuts. Levi's is pretty subtle since I didn't do anything to the top (we had several people tell us that they liked it longer, so I thought I'd let it grow a little instead of buzzing it all off this time) and just trimmed the sides and back. Jonas' is a little more obvious. It's not as much of a hack job as last time, but it will definitely look better when it grows a little bit.

We get our TV back tomorrow!

185/365 July 4, 2010

2010-07-04T23:00:00.002-04:00

Since the fireworks at the park were last night, we had a really low-key 4th of July this year. We didn't even leave the house, but I put the boys in their cute matching outfits so I could take some photos of them together. Ha. That didn't work out so well, but I guess I got some decent ones of them separately.

Naughty boy... At least it comes off with water.

The boys got hair cuts before bed tonight. Pics of that tomorrow...

184/365 July 3, 2010

2010-07-03T23:50:00.002-04:00

I guess a lot of people were busy or out of town this weekend, but I attempted to have a get together for the 4th ok July fireworks at the park by our house today. Only a few people ended up making it, and only one could stay for the fireworks, but we still had a good time.

Mmmmmm...banana pudding. I wanted to use blueberries, but Walmart didn't have a single package of them. And, actually, that was the last package of blackberries.

Fun with the splash mat (or "birthday water," as Levi calls it)

Hannah had fun too

Jonas is not a fan of the splash mat, so I didn't even bother putting him in his swim trunks, but then he went and dumped water from the water table all down his shirt. Oh well.

Cutie Kady (Ethan was here too, but somehow I didn't get a single photo of him!)

Levi never plays with this climber thing, but when other kids come over it's always a hit. Go figure.

Daniel and Daddy (Robert)

I was lazy and didn't set up my tripod, so my fireworks shots are not that exciting, but I took a few anyway

The fireworks weren't as good as they were at the Chesapeake Jubilee in May, but it was a decent show. They had a live orchestra, which was neat. Grant was the only one to stay for the fireworks and he actually cleaned up most of the stuff in the kitchen while I got Jonas to bed, so that was really nice! We also ended up having exactly the right amount of food, so I guess it's not so bad that hardly anybody could make it.

183/365 July 2, 2010

2010-07-02T23:36:00.002-04:00

Here is my freshly cleaned van! I don't think it's ever been this clean while I've owned it. Even when it was brand new (to us), the detailers did not do a good job on it. I hope I can keep it clean by taking it to a car wash every couple of weeks. Lord knows I don't have the time to wash it myself!

Now I'm going to step on my soapbox for a minute. Here are my boys in their car seats:

Yes, they are both rear facing. Levi, at 4 years old and 32.5 lb, and Jonas at (almost) 16 months and 20ish lb. They could legally be turned forward facing, but I am choosing to leave them rear facing as long as possible (their seats both go up to 35 lb). Why? It is immensely safer for them this way. Children in the second year of life especially have a marked improvement in protection from riding rear facing - it is FIVE TIMES SAFER. Yes, I am yelling that! Other studies have shown that there is also a significant improvement in safety up to age 4. Levi is getting close to being turned around now, and he does ride forward facing in Daddy's car for short trips to run errands a couple of times a month (when he's home), but he's had the full benefit of staying rear facing for 4 years. And, nope, he hasn't complained about it once, and he is not at all uncomfortable! I'd say he looks pretty happy, actually! I'll step off my soapbox and leave you with this video as food for thought:

182/365 July 1, 2010

2010-07-01T23:34:00.000-04:00

We're past the halfway mark of the 365 project! Sure, I've "cheated" a little to keep up, but I have kept up for the most part. Hopefully I can finish out the year! Here's today's picture:

Just a quick snapshot on my phone of Levi being silly

181/365 June 30, 2010

2010-06-30T22:30:00.000-04:00

Levi got his birthday gift from Shane's parents today! It's a little (okay, a lot) big, but he loves it and I'm sure he will still love it when it fits. He wore it all afternoon even though it was like a dress on him:

180/365 June 29, 2010

2010-06-29T23:28:00.000-04:00

Bedtime fun:

Levi's new Toy Story "sheeps" on his bed

179/365 June 28, 2010

2010-06-28T22:24:00.000-04:00

Crazy boys in the ball pit:

178/365 June 27, 2010

2010-06-27T22:19:00.002-04:00

My aunt Pat and uncle Don are staying at First Landing State Park in their camper for a few days, so since they were out this way we decided to meet up for dinner and ice cream at Friendly's. We all had a great time, and it was nice to see family that I normally don't get to see very often. Levi loved his ice cream and Jonas enjoyed stealing food from everybody.

Oh, and here's Jonas rockin' the shades before we left:

177/365 June 26, 2010

2010-06-26T23:16:00.000-04:00

One of Levi's favorite toys he got for his birthday:

He's not just Buzz Lightyear - he's "Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue!" Thanks Aunt Amy!

176/365 June 25, 2010

2010-06-25T23:15:00.000-04:00

My crazy boys on the couch:

Jonas showing off some of his words

Levi's message to Daddy that we will mail to him on a DVD

175/365 June 24, 2010

2010-06-24T22:13:00.000-04:00

Cell phone pic of the boys' first living room fort:

174/365 June 23, 2010

2010-06-23T23:10:00.000-04:00

Despite the plants being abused by Levi, these flowers just bloomed in my back yard. I'm not even sure what they are. Snapdragons?

173/365 June 22, 2010

2010-06-22T23:06:00.000-04:00

I did laundry today and the boys had fun playing with the laundry baskets:

172/365 June 21, 2010

2010-06-21T22:02:00.001-04:00

Something's missing... Our TV was zapped by lightning/a power surge during a thunderstorm last week and is completely and totally dead. I dropped it off at a repair shop this morning to hopefully be fixed under warranty. But for now, there's just a big empty space on the TV stand.

This is also from today. I thought it was cute:

171/365 June 20, 2010

2010-06-20T23:00:00.000-04:00

Levi playing with his Melissa and Doug cutting food set, which he LOVES!

170/365 June 19, 2010

2010-06-19T23:33:00.001-04:00

It was nice and hot out today, and Levi asked if he could play with his "birthday water," so I set up the splash mat for the kids and fed them dinner outside. Jonas LOVES to sit at the little table and eat like a big kid.

(that's a glob of sand on his forehead, by the way)

I don't know what Levi did to those cherries on his plate, but he must have chewed them up and spit them back out or something, because it was a MESS!

169/365 June 18, 2010

2010-06-18T23:30:00.000-04:00

Jonas turned 15 months old on the 3rd!

Levi, as usual, wanted to be part of the picture session too:

168/365 June 17, 2010

2010-06-17T23:13:00.000-04:00

Levi asked for yogurt this morning. He never eats it when I give it to him, but this was one that came with a Subway meal and I knew I wouldn't eat it, so I let him have it. So, in usual Levi fashion, he did not eat it. He also left it on the edge of the table, where Jonas could reach it. These are the results:

At least he enjoyed it, right?

167/365 June 16, 2010

2010-06-16T23:01:00.000-04:00

Another cell phone pic:

The Harris Teeter by our house has the coolest 2-kid carts! I don't normally shop there, but I was on a time crunch and knew they would have what I was looking for. The cool cart made the extra cost worth it. I wish they had this kind everywhere!

166/365 June 15, 2010

2010-06-15T23:00:00.000-04:00

I finally sold my coffee table! This is the ottoman I got to replace it:

165/365 June 14, 2010

2010-06-14T23:52:00.000-04:00

Happy birthday to my first-born little man, Levi! I can't believe it's been 4 whole years since you came into the world. You've been my spirited, intense, smart, funny, and energetic child since you were first born. I love you!

Mommy

(I spent all day keeping the boys out of the painter's hair at my dad's house, and then I packed us up, we went to dinner with Dad and Jackie, and we went to Jackie's house to get the boys in pajamas before hitting the road. I snapped a pic of my dad's Corvette parked next to me before I left as my lame photo for the day)

164/365 June 13, 2010

2010-06-13T22:45:00.001-04:00

We celebrated Levi's 4th birthday with my family today. We had a little cookout and then Levi opened presents and we had ice cream cake. We all had a good time!

Playing with Tyler's new Doodle Pro

Present time!

"Toy Story sheeps!"

Ice cream cake!

Still his favorite part

Jonas enjoyed his ice cream cake

Really enjoyed it

Tomorrow after dinner we go home!

163/365 June 12, 2010

2010-06-12T21:39:00.001-04:00

My nephew Tyler turned 2 today! We celebrated with the family and lots of friends at my sister's house. Lots of (unedited) photos below:

This one is deceiving. Jonas looks bigger than Addy, but she's really almost 2 and a little bigger than he is.

This is the splash mat that inspired me to get the one I bought for Levi's birthday party. The kids love it!

These are kind of fuzzy for some reason. I guess it was cloudier than I thought.

Yummy Nemo cake from Wegman's

He did a great job blowing out the candles by himself!

Emily was JUST changed into her white dress (and told "don't get wet!") before this was taken. Ha.

So much for that "don't get wet" thing.

Addy carried around those two buckets like a little milkmaid for a LONG time

You can see what Tyler spent most of the afternoon doing in the background

Emmy and Mommy

The girls were definitely outnumbered, but there were a few of them

Tyler and his new dancing Brobee

Krista, Jackie, and Talan

I put my boys in their pajamas so I could just stick them straight in bed after we got back to my dad's house

More presents, and lots of grand-boys

Emily loved to "help" Jonas by smooshing his pacifier into his mouth

It was an exhausting but fun day! Tomorrow we celebrate Levi's birthday with the family.

162/365 June 11, 2010

2010-06-11T23:10:00.000-04:00

We made a road trip today to my dad's new house. We'll celebrate my nephew Tyler's 2nd birthday tomorrow, and then Sunday we'll have a little family party for Levi. For once, the drive was not bad and we made good time. I only had trouble when I followed my dad's bad directions for how to get to his new house. :oP

Here's my little bread fiend. This kid doesn't like lots of foods, but bread is a sure-fire thing he will eat!

(Bad lighting and lots of noise on these, but they're all I've got for today!)

161/365 June 10, 2010

2010-06-10T22:50:00.002-04:00

160/365 June 9, 2010

2010-06-09T23:47:00.000-04:00

Levi got these really cool Melissa and Doug wooden play food sets from my brother-in-law's family for his birthday. There's a pizza that has velcro to hold it together and then you can stick different toppings on it, and there's a pizza cutter and spatula. The cake has candles and different candies on the pieces, and a server. Levi is having a blast with them!

159/365 June 8, 2010

2010-06-08T23:26:00.000-04:00

I know these aren't photos, but I am counting them anyway. Here are a couple of videos I took today:

158/365 June 7, 2010

2010-06-07T22:21:00.000-04:00

I entered a raffle last fall, from which the proceeds were given to an online acquaintance who lost her daughter at 26 weeks gestation. I was supposed to get custom printed address labels. Months went by and they never came. I asked about them and told the girl who was supposed to send them that we were moving and I needed to change the address on them. Months later, they finally showed up - with the old address on them. So I told her, and she re-did them. Those finally showed up and they were printed on the wrong side of the paper. I told her that they were wrong again and she just gave up and sent me $20 to buy something I liked on Etsy. I ended up choosing a self-inking stamp instead of labels, since I will get much more use out of them. It was more than the $20 but it's really pretty and I will use it for a long time to come. It came today and I love it! (Blurred for privacy)

157/365 June 6, 2010

2010-06-06T23:19:00.000-04:00

I recently ordered a 12x12" photobook of Levi's first year. I'm only a little behind...

156/365 June 5, 2010

2010-06-05T22:54:00.001-04:00

Today was the big day! We celebrated Levi's birthday (a little early - his actual birthday is the 14th, but we are going to be out of town next weekend) today! He had a blast!

Cake, made by me, with lots of buttercream, crushed cookies under the "tracks," and a toy Thomas train on top

Thomas pull-string pinata

Big balloon on the mailbox

Cake and presents

Fun with the splash mat

Jonas was not impressed with the splash mat. He preferred the water table.

Silly boys on the splash mat!

This one makes me laugh, because Josiah reminds me of Wilson from Home Improvement. His face was hidden in several pictures in a row like this.

Happy boy, Silas

Levi taking a break from splashing to eat some dinner

Presents! ("Cool! Fast cars!")

Toys for the new sandbox

Pulling the strings on the pinata (which didn't work so well - nothing fell out when the door opened! I had to do some "surgery" to get everything out.)

Time for cake!

Blowing out the candle

I'd say today was a success! Now I just need to clean all of this stuff up...

155/365 June 4, 2010

2010-06-04T23:16:00.001-04:00

Not much time for pictures today - I'm getting ready for Levi's 4th birthday party tomorrow. I spent today cleaning and tonight preparing food. I made cake, cupcakes (pictured below), and cut up a bunch of stuff to put in marinade and have everyone make DIY kabobs at the party.

154/365 June 3, 2010

2010-06-03T23:12:00.000-04:00

The sandbox is a hit! Levi LOVES it! The only problem is that the sand is really dusty and dirty. I am hoping a few good rainstorms might wash away some of it.

153/365 June 2, 2010

2010-06-02T23:38:00.001-04:00

This is Levi's birthday present from me (and Daddy, but obviously he is not here right now!). He does not turn 4 until the 14th, but his party is on Saturday, and it's going to be in the back yard, so I wanted to order this and get it put together before that. My friend Dawn's husband offered to bring me bags of sand in his truck for it, and I am sooo grateful that he did that and I didn't have to lug 15 bags of 50 lb play sand home from the hardware store. I got some nice blisters putting this together, but I think Levi will LOVE it. We'll find out soon.

152/365 June 1, 2010

2010-06-01T22:08:00.001-04:00

Jonas is still pretty picky about what "real" foods he will eat, but he loves almost anything "bready." He loves eating frozen waffles for breakfast:

151/365 May 31, 2010

2010-05-31T23:05:00.000-04:00

I love the back of this little outfit:

My white balance was totally off on these, but oh well.

150/365 May 30, 2010

2010-05-30T10:31:00.000-04:00

We went to a Memorial Day BBQ today, and normally I take a lot of pictures when we go to this particular house for get-togethers, but 1. it was HOT and humid today, and 2. a huge thunderstorm came through, so we spent most of the time inside, and I had to spend all my time wrangling kids instead of letting them run free in the yard while I took pictures. Thus, the only picture from today:

149/365 May 29, 2010

2010-05-29T23:27:00.001-04:00

Jonas' face in the background on this one cracks me up:

If Jonas has his paci clip on and is not asleep, this is usually what it looks like lately. He rips the paci off and throws it. I have to move his crib a few times a day to retrieve his paci after he throws it back there when he wakes up:

148/365 May 28, 2010

2010-05-28T23:25:00.000-04:00

I finally ordered a new end table for the family room and got rid of the old, hand-me-down hand-me-down hand-me-down table we had. This matches the console table. I still haven't gotten rid of the coffee table. Apparently nobody wants it on Craigslist. I have the ottoman to replace it in a box in the garage, just waiting for the coffee table to be gone. I guess I might have to resort to giving the coffee table away.

147/365 May 27, 2010

2010-05-27T23:19:00.000-04:00

Today was Levi's last day of preschool for the year. His teacher made a cute little scrapbook for each kid (more for the moms, I think) to take home, with pictures from throughout the year.

First day of school (well, approximately - I know he was wearing something else on the first day!):

This one cracks me up, because the caption is "friends" and Levi is doing the "no, it's MINE!" move, haha. So friendly of him:

Class picture:

146/365 May 26, 2010

2010-05-26T23:58:00.000-04:00

We met up with a few friends at the zoo this morning. We went once when Levi was a baby, but this is the first time he's gone and actually cared about seeing anything! It was Jonas' first time there too.

Sleeping rhino:

Zebra:

Giraffes:

I couldn't miss taking a picture of this giraffe!:

Levi wanted to walk, so we put Hannah in the stroller with Jonas:

Sleeping lions:

I'm not even sure what was inside the glass, I just thought this was cute:

This was shot through glass, so it's a little fuzzy:

Prairie dog:

African elephant:

Turtles:

Wrestling meerkats:

Komodo dragon:

Feeding the geese and turtles:

145/365 May 25, 2010

2010-05-25T23:57:00.000-04:00

(Most of this ended up on the floor)

144/365 May 24, 2010

2010-05-24T22:39:00.000-04:00

143/365 May 23, 2010

2010-05-23T22:35:00.000-04:00

Enjoying the back yard:

142/365 May 22, 2010

2010-05-22T22:30:00.000-04:00

We went to a birthday party today that started out at the local fire station. Levi was totally uncooperative this morning, so we were a few minutes late and actually missed the quick tour of the station, but I did stop to take a picture of the boys with a fire truck before we headed to our neighbor's house for the rest of the party:

141/365 May 21, 2010

2010-05-21T22:37:00.000-04:00

What a long and exhausting day... We got up at 4:30 this morning to drop Shane off for his deployment. The kids are too little to understand what's going on, but it was a tearful goodbye for both me and Shane. He will be gone for basically the rest of the year. This deployment has been moved back so many times and we've anticipated it for so long that it's almost a relief to just have it finally happen, but at the same time it's overwhelming to think of 7 months of single-parenthood, all he will miss, the boys not having their daddy around, etc. We will make it through, though. Hopefully the time will pass quickly.

So, that was how our day started. Oh, and did I mention that Jonas is having a growth spurt and was up half the night? I thought the boys would go back to sleep in the car on the way home, but it was a no go. They were up for the day. We went to play group and that helped distract me for a while. Shane called me a few times before they left too, which was nice and really helped me not feel as anxious. I put Jonas down for a nap when we got home and he slept for a whopping 45 minutes. I have no idea how he managed that after being up half the night and getting up so early, but I could not get him to go back to sleep for anything.

Soon after Jonas woke up, my Realtor called me to say that we were a go to close on our house that afternoon. I don't know if I explained the situation here, but basically, we got possession of the house back in December, a week before we were set to close on it. Then, a few days before closing, the sellers said that they hadn't been able to get the loan they needed to pay off their mortgage and our closing costs (they bought the house several years ago for a LOT more than they were selling it for). They tried to appeal, but were unsuccessful, so the bank told them they had to do a short sale. Since we already lived in the house and had a contract in place on it, they submitted our contract with the short sale paperwork and we waited...and waited...and waited...to hear from the bank about if they would accept it or not. We finally heard a few weeks ago that it went through, but we were a bit unclear on if the terms (namely, the sellers paying $10,000 in closing cost assistance) would stay exactly the same. We still weren't totally clear until closing this afternoon.

Anyway, I was hoping and praying the kids might get a short nap in the car, and I didn't want to take them into the bank with me to get the cashier's check we needed for closing, so I asked my Realtor (who ROCKS, by the way!) if she could meet me at the bank just before closing so she could sit with the kids while I went inside. She was fine with that, so we met up around 3:40 (closing was at 4). Oddly enough, Levi was the one that fell asleep in the car, not Jonas. I got my check and we headed to the attorney's office. I signed a gazillion papers (and since I had to sign for Shane with power of attorney, it wasn't as simple as just writing my name) and the boys did pretty well. We had been told that the bank would only give us 3% closing costs, which put us about $3000 below what we had on our original contract. But we were willing to pay the extra money just to finally have our house really be ours. When we signed the papers, the seller concessions were $9700-something, so we ended up almost exactly where we had planned all along! The only thing was that I didn't realize our homeowners insurance rate was really high, so I will have to do some rate shopping and switch that to something better, but hey, the house is ours!

My Realtor wanted to treat me and the boys to dinner, so after closing we went to Smokey Bones. We were right by our old house, so it was strange to be there again and not be living over there anymore. Levi was a bit cranky when we got there, and I had hoped that eating something would help his mood, but by the time we left, he was a complete wreck because he was so tired. It was 6:40 then and I figured I would just go home and put the boys straight to bed, a bit earlier than their usual 8:00 bedtime.

Well, my plans were foiled when I got near our house and it took me over an hour to go a mile because of the Chesapeake Jubilee going on at the park right by our house. The boys screamed for at least half the time we were sitting there, and I was so exhausted I could hardly stay awake. By the time we got home, it was after 8, and I had to quickly wash down the boys (they had played in the dirt at the park earlier in the day, so they really needed it) and put them to bed, all while they both screamed. By the time I got Levi to bed and sat down to nurse Jonas before putting him to bed, I was so frazzled and overwhelmed that I lost it and started sobbing.

I finally got Jonas to bed and then came downstairs and tried to relax. I had a glass of wine and finally got to unwind a little bit. Hopefully I can go to bed kind of early to make up for last night, and hopefully Jonas won't wake me up 15 times tonight.

Oh, and here's today's picture. Our not-so-new-anymore house that is finally OURS!

140/365 May 20, 2010

2010-05-20T22:29:00.000-04:00

Shane asked me to take a picture of him so he can get a passport. I also took one last picture of Levi with his daddy before the deployment (Jonas was already in bed, or I would have taken one of all 3 of them). I can't believe it's so close. :o(

139/365 May 19, 2010

2010-05-19T21:45:00.000-04:00

Jonas turned 14 months on the 3rd!

138/365 May 18, 2010

2010-05-18T22:35:00.000-04:00

The boys enjoying their daddy for the last few days before he leaves:

137/365 May 17, 2010

2010-05-17T23:35:00.000-04:00

Some guy time with Daddy before he leaves for his long deployment:

This is what Levi did when I told him to smile:

136/365 May 16, 2010

2010-05-16T23:15:00.000-04:00

I did a maternity session today with my friend Angela and her husband Dave:

135/365 May 15, 2010

2010-05-15T22:52:00.001-04:00

I love these little guys. They make me smile.

134/365 May 14, 2010

2010-05-14T22:48:00.000-04:00

I have an awesome diaper bag that matches my stroller, but since Levi is potty trained I started thinking I might be able to downsize. I wanted to stick with the same brand (Ju-Ju-Be) but thought I'd go a little wild and try a new print. I got it and it doesn't match my stroller like I thought it would, and it's also a lot brighter than I thought and I don't really care for it. So, here it is, the bag I just wasted $65 on and am trying to turn around and sell again right off the bat:

133/365 May 13, 2010

2010-05-13T22:36:00.000-04:00

Our kids have collided with the wood coffee table one too many times, so I moved it out of the way and hope to sell it (anybody want it?). We are going to get a big leather storage ottoman instead. Hopefully it won't inflict so many battle wounds to the littles.

132/365 May 12, 2010

2010-05-12T22:27:00.001-04:00

This is my life: getting stains out of clothes.

131/365 May 11, 2010

2010-05-11T22:24:00.000-04:00

Me knees are not liking me at all for doing Insanity. I have barely been able to walk in the mornings. Hopefully these will help:

130/365 May 10, 2010

2010-05-10T23:38:00.002-04:00

I've gained a bunch of weight since having Jonas, and I wanted to start a workout program that I could do at home. I'd heard good things about P90 and P90X, but then Shane heard about Insanity at work, and told me that it's by the same people that do P90, but you don't need any equipment for it like you do with P90. He said people from work were doing it and dropping clothing sizes like crazy and getting in great shape. That was enough to sell me on it, so we ordered it online and started it on April 26th. It's really hard, but hopefully it will be worth it!

129/365 May 9, 2010

2010-05-09T23:36:00.000-04:00

This is another preschool project that Levi is particularly proud of. I've always regretted that I didn't do footprints of the boys as babies, so it's nice to have this from when he's still fairly little.

128/365 May 8, 2010

2010-05-08T22:35:00.000-04:00

Levi made me a Mother's Day card with a poem in preschool. I think it's supposed to be a high heeled shoe on the front of the card.

127/365 May 7, 2010

2010-05-07T22:33:00.000-04:00

Levi planted this for me for Mother's Day in preschool. It had a ribbon on it, but that didn't last long.

126/365 May 6, 2010

2010-05-06T22:28:00.000-04:00

This was the best expression I could get today:

125/365 May 5, 2010

2010-05-05T22:26:00.001-04:00

Levi told me he saw a lizard on the window, and I didn't really believe him, but he insisted, so I finally went outside to look. Sure enough, there was a skink hanging out by the window outside! I hadn't ever seen a lizard in someone's yard around here before today.

124/365 May 4, 2010

2010-05-04T22:25:00.001-04:00

This one is noisy, thanks to my camera's crappy low light abilities, but I thought it was funny:

123/365 May 3, 2010

2010-05-03T22:23:00.000-04:00

Levi made this at school and is especially proud of it:

122/365 May 2, 2010

2010-05-02T21:20:00.000-04:00

I'm a little late with these, but I finally did spring/Easter portraits of the boys and Jonas' 1 year portraits. I'm not happy with how I set up my lighting, but I salvaged the shots ok. I'll definitely change some things next time (again).

121/365 May 1, 2010

2010-05-01T22:11:00.001-04:00

Since the weather has been getting warmer, I decided it would be a good time to take the water table out for the kids to play with. It had gotten kind of grimy from all the leaves, etc. falling in it at our old house and hadn't been cleaned out since the weather cooled off last year. I decided to put a little bleach water in it and let everything soak overnight to clean it out. It worked great, except that we had a horrible night with Jonas last night (he screamed for an hour in the wee hours and was restless afterward) and I didn't remember to tell Shane to dump out the table when he got up with Levi in the morning. So Levi played with bleach water and ruined his clothes. At least they weren't anything special or expensive...

And one of Jonas, just because (yeah, it's fuzzy and the color is off...oh well):

120/365 April 30, 2010

2010-04-30T23:34:00.001-04:00

Poor Jonas is getting some teeth and has a fever. Ibuprofen (not the name-brand recalled stuff!) is our friend right now.

119/365 April 29, 2010

2010-04-29T23:29:00.000-04:00

Jonas' crib was recalled AGAIN, and this time it was bad enough that I immediately took it apart and took it back to the store. We got this crib and changer combo to replace it. It doesn't have a drop side, and the company has no recalls that I can find, so hopefully it is safe.

118/365 April 28, 2010

2010-04-28T23:16:00.000-04:00

I don't know what's up with this boy and the little tree in the back yard, but he loves to throw things at it, hit it with his toys, etc. He was out there with a tennis racket trying to swing at it today.

117/365 April 27, 2010

2010-04-27T22:13:00.004-04:00

Jonas is starting to get the hang of this walking thing!

116/365 April 26, 2010

2010-04-26T22:11:00.000-04:00

Randomness on the instructions for a laundry sorter:

("Please do not use laundry sorter for anything other than its intended use. Please do not allow children, spouses, or pets to hang from or hide in storage closet.")

115/365 April 25, 2010

2010-04-25T22:11:00.001-04:00

Graphics FAIL (cell phone pic):

114/365 April 24, 2010

2010-04-24T22:08:00.000-04:00

"I'm fixing the tree, Mommy!"

113/365 April 23, 2010

2010-04-23T21:48:00.001-04:00

Playgroup at the park! (I was lazy and just uploaded these straight out of camera, so pardon the lack of cropping, etc.)

112/365 April 22, 2010

2010-04-22T21:43:00.000-04:00

Levi went on a field trip with his preschool class and got a peacock feather. I thought it would be pretty to take a picture of it shimmering in the sunlight.

111/365 April 21, 2010

2010-04-21T21:41:00.000-04:00

Levi keeps picking these wood strawberries out of the grass and putting them out "for the bunnies." They are usually gone within a day, but I think the birds are the ones enjoying them.

110/365 April 20, 2010

2010-04-20T21:38:00.000-04:00

Levi opened the storm door while I was getting the mail and Jonas scooted out and scraped his face on the porch.

109/365 April 19, 2010

2010-04-19T21:36:00.000-04:00

"I'm going to work, Mom!"

108/365 April 18, 2010

2010-04-18T21:28:00.000-04:00

107/365 April 17, 2010

2010-04-17T21:03:00.000-04:00

Playing with Mommy's phone is fun.

I don't even remember what he was upset about.

106/365 April 16, 2010

2010-04-16T20:57:00.001-04:00

I have gotten way behind on this, but I am going to try and catch up in the next few days. (5/22)

Jonas got his second hair cut. We kind of butchered it but at least it will grow in fast. It's hard when they won't stop squirming and trying to grab the scissors!

Before (covered in food - we didn't bother cleaning him off since he was going straight to the bath after his hair cut!):

After:

Levi wanted to be in a picture too:

105/365 April 15, 2010

2010-04-15T23:30:00.000-04:00

I did one year portraits for a friend's little girl today. So much fun! I got to use my new lighting equipment. I definitely have a lot to learn about that. And Shane goes back to work in the morning, boo!

104/365 April 14, 2010

2010-04-14T23:21:00.000-04:00

I didn't take a picture until everybody was in bed, so today is a super exciting picture of my freshly stocked baby food cabinet.

103/365 April 13, 2010

2010-04-13T23:17:00.000-04:00

Jonas turned 13 months on the 3rd! It took a lot of distractions to get him to sit in the chair, and I wasn't that successful.

102/365 April 12, 2010

2010-04-12T23:05:00.000-04:00

It was too dark to go without a flash when I finally got around to taking photos today, but I was also too lazy to go put new batteries in my speedlight, so I used the on-board flash. And now I know why I never use it. Ick. I will suck it up and use the speedlight next time.