Dear Lord

Thank you for blessing me with a baby that sleeps. Anytime. Anyplace. I think he does what babies are supposed to do. His big sister? Not so much.....at least not when she was a baby.....

Back to the Beach

We are back at the beach! Brent has meetings in Va Beach and we are all with him. Loving that! As I type this and other posts, I'm doing it with a baby on my lap. no complaints. We did get some swimming in this morning. At least Brent and Allison did. Alex and I just nursed and slept poolside.

It is raining here, so we are hanging out....

Allison's First and likely LAST dance recital

This past Father's Day weekend, we embarked on what I would consider a rite of passage of parents with daughters. The infamous dance recital! It was very pink, purple and adorable. Sad thing is I think it was our last. I was a "career" dancer if you will, forcing my parents to endure years of dance recitals. Allison is a more one and done. She didn't enjoy it, she really didn't. It was hard to have her not enjoy dance as much as I did, but I recognize it and I am just trying to encourage her with her other pursuits. At this point, he other pursuit is gymnastics. She will be taking a Level I class this summer with 5-8 year olds. Yikes! So I digress, here are some pictures from her recital. I have a video too that I'll end up putting on my me site. She did an amazing job and honestly was the only dancer to actually (imagine that) dance. It was precious and if it's the last, at least it happened!

Strawberry Fields Forever and ever

We went strawberry picking again! Yeah! We journeyed back to Hollins Farm in Delaplane. I love that place. This year we had two more additions, Alex of course and then Connie went with us. She has been staying with us as she is in between houses right now. We ended up picking 2 gallons of strawberries. Then we came home and I made a strawberry crumble, strawberry jam, chocolate covered strawberries, froze some strawberries, stawberrry smoothies and finally strawberry shortcakes. After awhile it felt like Bubba Gump and the shrimp......

Landscaping Pictures

Here's what my super hubby got done in the front yard.





He took out three large holly bushes and then planted some laroppi and planted three more more manageable holly plants. The bare space is where my flowers will go and the last picture is the corner where we planted some ground cover and a Japanese maple tree. Which we got a super deal on at Betty's.
Since I took these pictures, Allison and Connie planted vinca in the flower garden and some mulch in the beds. Azaleas have been transplanted to the back and we moved another holly to the side of the garage. I'm tired just looking at it all........

Grr, ugh, and sigh

This morning was our first trial run at getting up, showered, dressed and fed by 7:45. I am happy to report that it was successful and we all survived! Then I decided after dropping Allison off at her preschool, that I would stop in the baby room to "let" the teachers hold and swoon over Alex. Then the grr, ugh, and sighs started and some tears. I hate this. I don't like change and I want to be with my baby!! I hate pumping (the things I have done for breast milk are embarrassing!) and I am not sure how I feel about working. My boss has this whole "a patients first" mentality. Which given the state of healthcare and the endless medical mistakes isn't a bad thing, but I don't make mistakes, I'm careful and honest with my patients I don't want my patients to interfere with my family time!, ugh! Then there's my husband who's has almost drawn his sword with is proclamations of, "you will go back to work". Sigh. Then there's me. The therapist who's really loves her job and her patients. It's just that I know how the story goes....they run late, they have insurance issues, the paperwork, the meetings....it's just not all that exciting to me anymore. I hope this feeling goes away and once I am back I'm not sucked into the crap. I feel like I'm doing the right thing and honestly my schedule is not that awful. I'll see patients Tues, Thurs and Friday and in the office at 8:30, done by 3. Grr, ugh. At a least that's when the patient leaves, if they are on time and don't need extra paperwork! Which trust me they usually do! Sigh. I hate the thought of someone holding Alex and seeing him smile and coo and laugh. I really do. I just don't know how to balance it all right now. Daycare is expensive and I want to make it worthwhile and Allison really enjoys her preschool and the program. It's just my baby boy that I will miss terribly. And to make matters worse, this isn't a financial issue. I don't have to work. It's a lifestyle thing. We (more he) wants to be able to anywhere we want, buy what ever we want, etc. Trust me I enjoy that too, I just don't know what I would prefer right now that luxury or the time with Alex. Sometimes 3 months isn't enough. I'm going back with an open mind and I hope the empty pit in my stomach and heart gets better. Grr, ugh and sigh.

Another 3 months? Screw it and then plant it!

Yikes. I'm a bad, really bad blogger! I thought it was before I was pregnant and had such bad carpal tunnel but know I think I'm just a bad blogger. I stink at updating baby books too, so this is really the only shot my kids are going to get. I should buck up!
I've been thinking of ways to update and there is no good way and frankly those who read this blog (insert crickets chirping here) are close family and friends and they know that Alex was born and that he's perfect and we won the baby lottery, and Allison is your typical perfect 4 year old girl who is having a period of HIGH drama but otherwise a well adjusted and well mannered little girl. So, screw it. I'm not updating we are going to go forward. I may revisit SOME things, but with how my life is going and how busy I am I don't think so.....

I will now provide an update. Not on the above mentioned children but on my husband. I love Brent :)((That's not the update!))

He has spent the ENTIRE weekend working on our landscaping. Some background: we have an ongoing list of things that we want to change or projects that we want to start in and around the house. There are definite He/She items on this list. The yard falls under HE. Last weekend, we had the pleasure of inviting Russ and Faye Davis over for dinner. Russ is the mastermind behind Montclair Landscaping, a company that Brent worked for pre-union days. Getting his hands dirty is something that Brent truly enjoys and is amazing at. The patience he demonstrates is limitless, I don't see it with our kiddos, maybe that because the plants don't talk back??
After dinner last week, Russ walked outside with Brent and passed along some ideas/tips for our landscaping. That was all the motivation my little green thumbed husband needed. We have spent the weekend (We meaning HE, I've stayed in the cool A/C!) digging, moving, analyzing, shopping, inspecting, shoveling, raking, composting, fertilizing and every other -ing verb that relates to the yard. He is doing an incredible job. He is tired, sore (not as young as he used to be!) and covered in blisters, but honestly he seems right at home in the yard with all of the gnats. Who by the way are another reason that I stay inside, they are awful! I just wanted him to know that I am proud of him for doing a great job and even more excited that we get to cross off something from our list. That is the best feeling! I will post pics once it's done.