Take this job and love it

For all of us that still have jobs (especially in the advertising industry!), I congratulate you. Here's a quick pat on the back to myself, too, although is it really in any of our hands to dictate if we keep our jobs? All we can do is, literally, be as billable as possible, which in effect means that we are charging someone good money for the services we provide. But the ad industry is very value-driven and sometimes it's hard to see that fact, particularly for some clients who want do do great work but on a minimum budget. It's not the specific services you provide, because any joe blow can photoshop. It's the value you give to that service, the thoughtfulness and quality of creativity behind those hours you're billing, and that's what I'm proud of.

I'm proud to be the provider in my family and I love that Ross and Isla don't care where the money comes from. I'm also extremely proud to have a husband who is willing to drive six hours every few weeks, or at least offer to, help out on the family farm. The 2,000 glorious acres that is my version of Tara. It's where I gain my strength. Sigh. We are the lucky ones.

The best things in life aren't things

There are so many things you take for granted. Grandparents are definitely one (or two, for me!) of them. The things you learn from the special people around you tend to stay with you through a lifetime and I'm so thankful to have absorbed these lessons from my Grandma Hanna. Here are my top 5:

1. How to make the sourest thing in the world (rhubarb) so delectable!
2. How to always squeeze a hug from even the biggest "kid".
3. How to enjoy life no matter what's going on - depression, the 60s, in your 80's!
4. How to show others your love through actions.
5. The importance of family.

Now hush your mouth and find some time to write yours a letter, if you can. If anything, for all that they've done for you in your life...

Shave and a haircut

Ross getting "blowed"

Beer holder man

Auntie Steph and Auntie Melissa with little ones

Grandpa and Isla

Grandma and Isla 

It's been a while, so sorry! We've been up to a lot lately, or rather, in the last few weeks. We received a mega box of fine products from England, things that Ross misses and can't live without (Like his PG tea, Eclair candies for me, and wine gums!).

We were up in Iowa in mid-June, where we had a great time with my family, and Ross got a summer buzz cut (from my brother, Chris) who proceeded to use his freshly-buzzed head as a beer holder, then blew off the hair clippings with a leaf blower! Good times, good times...We sat in the hot tub and met my little niece, Little Miss Siena. Check out how much bigger Isla is than the little newborn. It's absolutely amazing that just 11 months ago, Isla was actually smaller than Siena - Siena was born 8lbs, 6oz and Isla was a straight 8oz. Just crazy...

This past weekend I wasn't too well, but we still played a game of Settlers of Catan and on Saturday we braved the flash heat/cold/rain waves and walked twenty feet to our lovely neighbor's party and surprisingly, we stayed out until well past midnight! Photos to follow soon! Watch this space!

Some good quotes for today:

Take chances. Take a lot of them. Because honestly, no matter where you are, where you end up or who you end up with, it always ends up just the way it should be. Your mistakes make you who you are. You learn and grow with each choice you make. Everything is worth it. Say how you feel always. Be you and be ok with it.

I may still not know what I want to be when I grow up, but I do know that someday I want to live in a house filled with my books and travel souvenirs. And the walls that aren't covered in bookshelves will be covered with photos of my family and friends. When I leave that house, I will be going to a job I love and I'll return to a person I love. So that's the dream I'm working on...

"Design is 70% dealing with people, 3% the idea, 2% selling the idea, 2% the brief, 2% being pig headed, 1% printing, 3% eye for detail, .6% invoices, 2% coffee, .7% tracking, .1% warm glow, .6% panic, 1% 4am, .6% staring, .2% checking, 1% letting go, .8% keeping hold, .7% estimates, .3% checking, .4% proofs, .1% colour, .9% understanding, .4% marketing, 1% checking, .8% beach ball, .5% mice, .3% keynotes, .4% persuasion, .2% bragging, .5% smiling, 2% knowing when to stop."

Ross and Isla are coming home tonight. Couldn't be more ecstatic! And a bonus that mom and dad are coming too! It looks like it will be a fabulous weekend just hanging out in the sweltering KC heat. Can't wait for it to begin. [note to self: TAKE PHOTOS! You have two cameras now, USE THEM!!] grrr.

I was skyped

...and I liked it! I invited my mom and Ross to be skypers and then I could see my baby through the long week that we'd be separated. I nearly cried this morning while talking to Paula about my first few days sans Isla. I miss both of them desperately. I love that you can take snapshots on it, here are a few!

It was so Nice to meet my Niece...

Ok, now that the tea set is done, I can't, um, WAAAAIT until these two little ones are at a teaparty with me! [question: who is this party really for, anyway?] Isn't Siena a little sweetheart??!

Speaking of sweethearts, sigh. Ross and Isla have been up to the farm in NW Iowa this week to help haul some grain for my dad, and they were lucky enough to go hang out with Teresa and Siena today. It was a total bummer that on the hottest darn week of the year her air conditioner broke! Just pooped out! With a mom, newborn and two very high-maintenance dogs at home. Whew. And I'm moaning about being home alone for the last two days...

Which I actually haven't been home by myself much at all! I was finally able to get some movies deleted off of the DVR, like Thank You for Smoking. Hilariously hilarious movie, I tell you! It makes me realize how powerful choice is, but my personal favorite has always been willpower. They're both such strong words. I love the way 'choice' rolls off the tongue. And I love the connection will+power has. Literally, if you have the "will", you have the "power" within yourself to make of something what you wish. Hopefully. But this is for certin - without both, you could never live a full life. Make a choice, and follow through to the happy/bitter end. Just do it.

Otherwise, I've had a lot of invitations and plans to visit this week! Last night I went out to happy hour at Harry's with my AM, Hilary, since it was her last full day in the office, then my lovely neighbor cooked me dinner! Then I promptly collapsed to the thunderings of a storm. It was pretty blissful, minus the fact that I had no Ross to cuddle with...Tomorrow they'll be home!!

100 Things I Love...

There are so many things...too many to put just 100! So I've taken my time and really thought about this list. It's not in order of importance, even, so enjoy and make your own. This excercise has really shown me what's important in life (notice there's nothing about work here? Hmm, a bit of balance is in order...)


1. My husband of (nearly) four years! They say 82% of married couples make it to five years and 60% make it to 8 so here's to being almost halfway!



2. Isla - no way is she quite #2!



3. http://www.britsuperstore.com/ - they have EVERYTHING an expat like my hubby could ask for, except for Cuprofen...



4. Swimming - preferably in an ocean that's a few degrees below "bathwater" temp.



5. Grocery shopping - punctuated with a starbuck's bought with a gift card acquired though credit card points



6. The feeling of the gravity pushing on you just before take-off on a plane.



7. Finding an old pen that I love, and still works!



8. Packing for a trip.



9. Skipping stones.



10. Getting a rebate in the mail - and it being right!



11. Not having to drive home after a night out.



12. Laughing 'til my face hurts!



13. Trivia!!



14. Learning something new about the past of a family member, esp. when it's good!



15. The new TV seasons - Hell's Kitchen/ Kitchen Nightmares, Creature Comforts, The Tudors...



16. Grandma's rhubarb pie



17. Grandma's cherry pie



18. A favorite song being played by your favorite band...when they were reported to never ever play it again!



19. Singing, esp. to Isla



20. Being grammatically correct, the majority of the time.



21. Telling the truth when other people are too scared to do so.



22. Guernsey - Cobo bay and L'ancresse are gorgeous



23. Flowers! Read earlier post



24. Thunderstorms while falling asleep - not when they wake me up!



25. Getting an outfit juuuust right.



26. Getting to know myself better through the years...



27. Cleaning out my closet and finding "new" things



28. Buying books on Amazon and seeing the completed ones on my shelf.



29. Post-it notes


30. My camelbak water bottle, with bite spout


31. Being surrounded by pictures of Ross and Isla...


32. Gathering quotes


33. Writing in my journal


34. Dark chocolate kit-kats and Curly Wurly's


35. Being able to leverage my experience to help out.


36. Booking a trip


37. A nice cup of tea


38. My rocking chair


39. A balanced checkbook


40. A loving card in the mail


41. A clean, organized...anything


42. Pencils that aren't just-sharpened, I like them a little dull.


43. My iPod


44. Crunchy things! Like BURNT bacon, quesadillas, carrots, thin gingerbread cookies


45. Game night at Emily's


46. My family history
    
47. Being involved.
48. Pedicures
49. Basil pesto
50. Back tickles
51. Pearls
52. Good hair ties
53. Long hair
54. Lifting weights
55. Updating my resume
56. Pink nail polish
57. My iPhone and Ultimate Data Plan (text me!!)
58. Quilts
59. The smell of Isla's hair
60. Ross's eyes
61. Sign Language
62. The Greek Language!
63. The color of chocolate
64. The game of Flux
65. and Flashlight Tag!
66. Books "that bite and sting"
67. Guitar chord C
68. Yoga
69. Being pregnant
70. Jack Vettriano
71. Sauvignon blanc wine
72. Sand castles
73. Cottonwood trees
74. Pretty flowing dresses
75. Stripping furniture and refinishing!
76. Face masks
77. Hydrangeas and bougainvilleas
78. Dr. Morris, our pediatrician
79. Plucking my eyebrows (such a sense of accomplishment!)
80. NO air conditioning
81. Lots of storage space, but planned storage
82. HGTV
83. Making a great meal...
84. Pottery!!
85. Painting - walls, mostly
86. Riding horses
87. Shopping online
88. A good stroller
89. New undies
90. My front and back porches
91. Sand volleyball
92. Butterscotch pudding
93. Paleontology
94. Tubing down the Elkhorn River in July!
95. Balloon animals
96. Kind glances
97. saying, "remember when...!"
98. Being warm
99. Environmentally sound food, water, air...
100. Beautiful swimmers

Pottery fever

I suppose I would be remiss if I didn't show some of my favorite pieces on here, if only to prove to my dear husband that the pottery classes have definitely paid off! I'm now the proud owner of three new baking dishes, made completely by my hand!  I bought some throw-away pans you can get in the grocery store, and made my own pans in their likeness - the 9x9" and the muffin tin. Then I did a wavy pie dish, which looks so good with peach crisp, yummy!!

I'm a little teapot

Or rather, I made one! In the basement of a nice lady here in Liberty, are hundreds of ceramic molds and while there picking out some glazes for our handbuilt/wheel pottery class, Jenni and I discovered I could make a sweet little tea set for Isla. Two months later, I'm finally done and my french-blue tea set is all done! Now, I probably won't let Isla play with it until she's, oh, 30, but it's gorgeous! And it only cost $15 to make the whole thing! 

You can learn lots of things from the flowers

I love that song from Alice in Wonderland. I've been obsessed with flowers lately, plucking blooms as soon as they pop open just so I can have them in the house where we all can enjoy them. I wasn't too happy the other night when I was taking in the glorious smell of the "Queen of Sweden" old English rose and looked down at the bloom to see teeny, tiny little red bugs on it. Just a few, but I'm afraid I inhaled that few. I sneezed right away, so all was well. Still yucky though!

Some flowers I'm throwing myself at are:

• All of my different colors/ flavors of the old English rose rainbow I got from www.davidaustenroses.com - Queen of Sweden, A Shropshire Lad, Benjamin Britten, Cinco de Mayo, Alnwick rose...
• Bouganvilleas! How beautiful are they arching over a seaward-facing terrace?? Oh, I can't wait to get myself to Greece!
• Poppies! If Afghanistan wasn't so scary and the flowers weren't grown strictly for dubious opium, I'd gladly run through a field full of them, wicked witch or no!
• Lilacs...glorious lilacs. Someone quickly point me in the direction of a botanist to hybridize these bushes to bloom season-round in the summer!
• Hydrangeas - My old love. I love how you can change the color of these from year to year - blue, pink, purple, I think that's it...The only downside is that they're poisonous to children.

May you travel safely through the fields of flowers unscathed from the stings of bees, wasps and without little red bugs...We're off to meet my beautiful new niece, Siena (previously misspelled!).

The Wedding of the Year!

And we were there, man, we were there! Carly and Eric got hitched just less than two weeks ago and through me losing our beloved camera, we were able to get a few snapped on Annie's camera. We've since lost the search for it, along with my wonderful blue Camelbak BPA-free water bottle (with bite spout!) and my imported-with-love face cream from Helen. Why have I been losing so many things lately? I blame mom-nesia... At least I've been blogging fairly regularly! 

All tuckered out at the reception...

Sneaking peeks at our friend, Karen, the harpist...

Can I have lessons, momma?? 

Love was in the air...

And mischief!

She was so spry after spending a night in the clink...

The clink that was the scary crib the hotel let us use!

Not bailing you out, baby, it's time for bed :)

Baby Siena is here!!

My little sister, Teresa, just had a baby! Siena Lee Schultz was born at 5:36pm on June 17th, and we are going up to Iowa this weekend to meet her! Isla doesn't know it yet, but she couldn't be more excited!!

Wish list

Every few weeks, an unavoidable ratio crops up in my mind: it seems the "things we need/want" list just keeps growing, as the little one keeps growing. So, for posterity, I'm posting it as a reminder to myself!

1. Suction bowls - It would be remarkable to have borne a world-class frisbee champ, but I won't see the fruits of that for years...Plenty of time to work on this skill.

2. Bookends - there are too many books in Isla's room to speak of, or read. This definitely isn't a problem but it's becoming a little cumbersome to lean books against the wall with only a fragile lamp to hold them from a tumble onto my foot (or Isla's!).

3. Ballerina Jewelry box - you know, like the one we alllll had when we were little? Although Pottery Barn Kids now sells much-higher-class ones that I would love to have for Isla. Too bad if she gets one, she can't play with it until she's 20. Kind of like her new tea set :)

4. Zip 'n Go Blanket - Never stopped to realize that even though it's mid-June, it's still rainy season and even though the grass looks dry, it's never a good plan to go to the park in white clamdigger pants...

5. Baby gates - MUST HAVE. Will need to go to store soon. Risk of impending falls from fun stair-climbing imminent.

6. Jogging Stroller (Instep Swivel Wheel) - Now that I have some routes planned out on www.walkjogrun.com, I'd love to have one of these. www.Craigslist.com is a-calling.

The list is sure to grow longer, for now I just need to get my mom-nesia in check and my purchasing priorities!! Secret-admirer cash gifts or Amazon credit always welcome :)

A nickname

Our daughter's name, we've found, has a definite propensity to gather the odd nickname now and then. The ones we love have been Izzy, Islie, Isles, and the quintessential literal phonetic - Iz-la. I was in the bathroom yesterday after work, washing my hands, when Isla army crawls in to see what's going on. Without a second thought, I say, "Well Hi, Lolly!"

I have always, ALWAYS loved history, especially family history and hearing about long-gone relatives and their friends and good times. And I've always wondered how one would acquire a nickname like Minnie, Millie, Kittie or Dolly. Most likely it's just a shortening of a name (i.e. millie short for camilla). I haven't ever heard of a Lolly though, aside from the candy lolly-pops. Maybe that's why I thought it - Isla is sweet and little, and can make my head ache from time to time (not from her sweetness, more volume-based!). I think that possibly, maybe I'm falling for that name, too. Little Isla, a.k.a. Lolly, Wallis :)

Bye bye!

Daddy and baby playing with his early father's day "pressie", his first American soccer ball!

A new set of words to add to Isla's vocabulary - she says, "bye bye!" and waves when you say it to her. And she's developed a fixation on playing with the dog bowls - I don't understand why. There is no dog food inside, or water, it can't possibly be attractive. Now that she's mobile, both on hand/foot and via the walker, she'll get to those bowls however she can. But during the day, Ross has rigged an ingenious way to keep her in the living room - putting down a dog blanket that is virtually impassable through use of a walker. Even if you take the bowls away or block her off, though, she isn't bothered much by it. Necessity is the mother of invention. And I'm a mother of a very active, and thankfully, content baby.

Woka woka

No, Isla isn't saying "walker" in babytalk yet, but she totally surprised us with "mama" yesterday! That's been a long time comin, kind of like when we waited and waited and watched and watched for Isla to roll over...the sit up...then crawl. And now she's got the army crawl down and she surprised me again for being so fast, so pardon the heightened mommy-talk!

Yesterday, Isla and I had a great time sitting out in the neighbor's driveway with little Megan, having a little play time. It's so interesting to see how babies this age interact, like they have their own little language and mannerisms, it's pretty neat to just be a part of. 

$5 to go down the road?

To get to the lake? And get ice cream? Sheesh. At least the lake was only ten minutes away so we could drive back to Target's Starbucks and get a mocha iced coffee instead. And for free, thanks to credit card point gift cards. Again, I have to say sheesh. I'll relent from ranting "I pay my taxes, why do I have to pay $5 per vehicle to see a county-run park/lake??!" Instead I'll chalk it up to Missouri's ridiculousness. Although Kentucky had some craziness too, like a law still on the books that bans people from walking around with an ice cream cone in your pocket (apparently that was a trick to steal horses! And in KY, of all places, stealing horses is a NO-NO).

The rest of the weekend's been spent hanging with the neighbors - how fabulous is it to go to a bonfire, get a little tipsy, put the baby to bed in her own crib and then walk home? You can't beat it. And I got a hair/bang cut and had some mysterious moles and skin tags removed. I just imagined the person sitting behind me at Carly and Eric's wedding and the mole on my shoulderblade winking at them, handing out compliments and feeding other guys pick up lines...not ideal. 

Three days of work and then we'll be getting our dixie fix back in Kentucky, going down for the wedding of the year! 

Is it in the stars??

I can't begin to express how insanely busy work is, May is never this crazy, not in my last two years anyway! As I write this, I'm getting a nice neck and shoulder rub, thinking into the future. Or should I say, I've been thinking about going to this astrologist that two of my friends at work have gone to - Quan Tracy Cherry. Funny name, serious intuition, apparently. Is it worth $125 per hour, though? Now that the neck rub has stopped, I can't help thinking about what else that money could buy... a nice new set of bras and undies from VS, a trip to Kentucky there and back, and nearly a month's worth of cable. I think I'm going to go for it. Stay tuned if I really do it or not!

On an already-scheduled front, I'm excited to get back on the bike and go to book club next month. June 24th, I'm not backing out on myself this time! Some other things I have scheduled in the near future is a haircut (desperate for a bang-cut!!), a garage sale this weekend and getting Isla's tea set glazed and fired, along with my homemade pie pan and muffin "tin". Over and out.

At the Races and then some

Happy Birthday, Megan!

Loving on my daddy...

The tuxedo t-shirt man and baby

Chilling watching Mean Girls

Bathtime before travel time

Rocking the walker!

It's been one week, one off for us lately. That's precisely why I love nice weather, everyone likes getting out to do things. Us, we've been out on the road to the Indy 500 in Indianapolis, IN - drove eight hours there on Saturday, and Ross and his buddies (Lee, Steven, Jeremy, Kyle, Mike, and Matt) started off our friend, Eric's, bachelor party then proceeded to stay out until 2:30am...and woke up to drive to the race tailgating at 6:30am, where we met my aunts and uncles - Jerry, Lindy, their friends and Steve and Mary. Ouch, I felt so blessed to have had 7 hours asleep (Mean Girls was on in the hotel and it was like a train wreck, I couldn't stop watching!). I was also glad that I didn't have to endure the treacherous trek to the race, about two miles or so, but at one point there were 15 grown men in the bed of a little Ford Ranger, bottoming out the entire way to the track...yikes. But all of them had chocolate brown/blue tuxedo t-shirts on. Needless to say, the sleeves didn't make the end of the race. Classic.

The race was great, Helio Castroneves won! He won the first year I went and did the "spiderman" on the fence in front of the brickyard fans. It was great, and he's a hilarious guy. But Isla and I didn't go into it because it was a) way hot and b) no place for an infant. So we stayed in my uncle Jerry's big RV, complete with DirecTV and air con! That's how I like to roll, baby! We left 2/3 of the way through the race and eight hours later, picked up the dogs and crashed. Ross said it best, he was 'shattered.' 

Oh but the weekend wasn't over yet. We had a big birthday party to go to for Isla's little friend, Megan, and it was a good, nice, relaxing time. You can't beat a grill out and yummy cupcakes and getting to play with your friends new toys! I must say, though, that it was not an educated decision mommy made when she put white pants on Isla...

A four-day week coming up, then a doctor's appointment to get some ominous moles taken off before Carly and Eric's wedding next weekend. Yes, we are embarking yet again, but it'll be a three day week. And I'm thankful for that. And the rain today. I miss wearing pants and drinking a hot cup of tea...only some days. 

You Can Tell...

Maya Angelou said, "I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. " I'd like to add one more to this list: RFP's.

That's ad lingo for "Request for Proposal", when clients pop up and say, "hmm I'd like to put my feelers out for new ideas and shake things up with my current agency". This, of course, is not a good thing to spring on agencies in our economic times. We are so lucky to still have our jobs! But even though it's work doing these RFP's, it's still not "billable" work. The more billable you are, perceptively, the more valuable you are. And I like to be valuable, doesn't everyone?

And being un-billable and stressed out can make some people very crabby. I like to tell myself that if I ever get in that position that I won't be so short with people. It's not the words, though, it's the looks. Of death. Like nothing else on this planet could possibly be more important. I ask myself, is this any way to live? If we are this stressed out, what do doctors go through, when lives are literally on the line?? Whew. I needed to let that out, thanks.

Needless to say, my weekends are work-free zones, learned that the hard way! C'mon, Memorial Day!

Valkyrie-ally bad movie

Don't get me wrong, I love my movies. Which is why we cannot get a redbox movie and watch it before Isla goes to bed, hopefully around 8pm. She's been a sickly little thing today - soo cranky. And so was her daddy. I think we are all ready for a day off to relax a bit. 

Back to Valkyrie. It reminded me a bit of the Gladiator storyline, in which a soldier/general dude is doing his duty for the Reich and gets damaged - especially mentally - in the beginning, then goes on a rampage to do "what's right", then dies before anything gets done about the turmoil his crew is in. Could've been a lot better. I'm a huge fan of thespians totally getting into their roles and being nearly unrecognizable. One thing I am NOT a fan of is the mixing of accents in historical true-story based films. There you had Tom Cruise with an American accent, the Adolf Hitler actor in a German-English dialect, then the rest of the actors were sporting British accents. Talk about a cluster. Tom Cruise wasn't "himself" in this film, not that I know him personally, but he is one actor that tends to act one way in films (Risky Business, Jerry Maguire, Top Gun, Cocktail, The Firm, etc. although he was excellent in The Last Samurai and Far & Away so I knoow he can pull of accents of some degree). 

I hope I can get a good night's rest and that Friday comes quickly...

Beurre manié

"I think i got the rocking thing down, ma!"

I love bananas but it's freaking cold!

Can you tell how mischievous I'll be someday??

Still draggin those legs and rolling eeeeverywhere...

I'm gonna go for it, momma!

Mmm...A tradition we've started (on weekends we're home!) is a Sunday Roast. Today we kind of went overboard. I've really been wanting leek and potato soup, and we got a beef roast yesterday, we we basically have the whole week cooked up for supper and lunches, yummy!

Complete with desserts. I did an apple crisp yesterday, then Ross taught me how to make raspberry creme brulees, with raspberry coulis (coo-lee :) Very exciting. Ooh, and for the soup, I personally made the beurre manie - which is flour and butter mushed together until it looks like bread crumbs. Always an education 'round ours!

The rest of the day we've spent sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms and doing laundry. Then Isla and momma hung out on the front porch, eating frozen bananas and rocking in the chair. I enjoyed getting to clean a bit today - but it's been sooo nice having my little house husband for the last 5-6 weeks. He's back to work next Monday, quite reluctantly I must say. 

Todd and Jenni got back home today, they went on a train tour to St. Louis, then to the zoo and all over the place. I just showed them the vid of the flood and they were freaked out, it's the highest they've seen in over five years! 

A little video of little Miss Isla, dancing girl...makes me think of the ABBA/Mamma Mia song, Thank You for the Music: "mother says I was a dancer before I could walk..." haha! Sooo cute!!

Naughty mommy!

If you want to hear a naughty mommy story, here's one! Isla just hasn't been eating a full bottle at night before bed like she used to. So, night before last, I haphazardly left a nearly-full bottle out to become a bacterial breeding ground ALL NIGHT. That's not the bad part. Then last night I came upstairs with Isla to attempt to feed her a full bottle. But before feeding her, I read her a story, then reached for the bottle, which I thought had suddenly gone stone cold. So I came down with Isla and heated up the now-cold bottle. I started feeding her, without a single complaint from her, and two minutes later realized I may have heated up the yucky bottle, haha!! Not funny though. Ross wasn't nearly as freaked out as I was and threw out both bottles, and got me a new one. Of course, Isla didn't want to eat at that point, but I hoped that I had filled her full of summer vegetables, applesauce and a bit of apple yogurt to tide her over...and hoped she didn't wake up a few hours later with botulism poisoning or whatever could happen!

Needless to say, I will now always TRY to pick up my dirty dishes, especially from Isla's room!!

Naughty mommy....

Just to prove I'm not, here's a video of Isla swinging on Jenni's swing from the other week. Maybe it's naughty that she totally could've flipped out on her sweet little face, but I'll just chalk it up to her being cute and forget about 'what coulda happenend' :)

Flushed out-up

Whew, dodged a bullet last night! Rob and Ann Marie, our wonderful neighbors, said they've never seen the creek so high...and Todd, Jenni and Tyler just left for St. Louis and missed it! I think they're lucky, because it was right up next to their backyard! 

But we weren't that phased inside, as you can see, a toy monster vomited all over our living room floor.......So it begins!

Oh! And we went to Isla's 9-month check up yesterday afternoon, the "no-owwie" check-up, and she's 30.5" long/tall and 21.5 pounds! That's 95th and 90th percentile and I was most glad for her head starting to catch up, it was at 17" around, so almost 75th percentile, haha. So Isla can start having yogurt, string cheese and cottage cheese...although I've been experimenting with all of these in the last month. Naughty mommy?! hee hee hee. 

The Water is Wide...

I wouldn't want to cross over this crazy water! It's the first time our creek in the backyard has gotten thiiis close. I've always had nightmares of storms - tornadoes, specifically - and rising, raging rivers coming to sweep everything away and drowning me. That's never good! I truly believe that in my last life, I drowned in a river, most likely trying to crawl up the side of the muddy bank and never getting anywhere...I digress!

Isla and I went out for a walk in the backyard after the rain stopped, and it was a little disturbing to see raging water that close, hopefully it doesn't rise anymore tonight and we'll wake up to a babbling brook once more...

Swinging!

We went over to our neighbor's house, Todd, Jenni and Tyler's, house to swing on their porch swing and watch "Slumdog Millionaire". It was a great time!! And it was a pretty good movie! 

Poor little miss has a fever tonight, she cut two teeth a couple weeks ago so I'm sure one more is on the way. Which reminds me, I realllllly need to remember to brush her little babby teeth...

It finally hit 80 degrees in KC today, it was great. EXCEPT it's absolutely freezing in my office. Some people just like to be cold, evidently, and I am definitely not one of those people. I felt very silly walking down the street wearing a light sweater, then I got in my car and basked in the humidity. I turned on the iPod and away I went!

It's good to be home. 

Shiny Happy People!

Visiting Great Grandma Hanna on Mother's Day with Calista

Grandma givin' the love right back!

mmm...it's a girl cigar!

Auntie Teresa and Uncle Jeff opening a million presents!

On daddy's shoulders

It's been so beautiful outside...finally! So we've been all happy being outside I nearly broke down crying a week or so ago, I was so mad about being cold.  It's hard to believe that anything would welcome winter if it didn't have to, but I suppose winter and being cold is just a part of life...but not for the next 6 months!! We've been outside constantly, watching daddy mow the lawn, hanging out with the neighbors and visiting family up in Iowa. 

We have a very busy May and early June coming up, so we are really looking forward to having the next weekend "off". These photos are from a week and a half ago, when we went to the park for the first time, and Isla slid down the slide for the first time with momma and daddy! Then there's photos from Auntie Teresa's baby shower last weekend.

Some of you may have noticed we've taken off the "permissions" on our blog, mostly because it's gotten a bit cumbersome for some to sign in every. single. time. I can see how that would be frustrating, so this blog's for you!

Up on the cul de sac

ROFL!

Isla loooves her blankie

...and running into things with her walker

She started off liking getting her haircut, by this pic she wasn't having it!

We heart KY

At the races!!

Watching Benjamin Button

Soon she'll really be sayin, "Gimme the keys, mama!"

...and driving, omigoodness!!

It's summer!! Gardens and trees are in bloom, the david austen roses are safely in the ground, and the spiders are out (can't all come up "roses", can it? haha)... Isla and daddy have been home together for the past month, which has been absolutely wonderful. For three of those weeks, uncle Jimmy came over from England and we were all getting together on the cul de sac and it's been soo missed!!

So the pics here are from all over - Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Iowa. In Kentucky, we got to go to the horse races (sunburns in April, yeah!), in Kansas we got to do some major shopping and Missouri we did a lot of relaxing at home (although I worked the entire time!). Iowa was a bit more somber because my dad had a heart attack while out in the planter, so we went up for five days to help out and make sure everything was ok. It turned out much better than it could have - 100% blockage and a severe case of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) but after a triple bypass and three days in the hospital, pa was back home...and trying to climb back up in the tractor to plant soybeans! Men...

What I am most proud of in the last few months is the effort my momma, daddy and brother-in-law, Jeff, who have all quit smoking together. I know they can do it because they care so much about the people around them!

After a shaky week of allergies and baaaad poopy diapers, Ross and I are off to Iowa for my sissy, Teresa's, baby shower. I can't wait to see how big she is!! June 21st can't come soon enough for Little Miss Schultz to show up!!