Ryder Adelbert Otten

I have a new nephew. He was 9 lbs. I was so happy to be able to hold him. If he had weighed one more pound he would have been beyond my weight limit. It was great to see my sister turn into a mom. It is so amazing to me what instincts women have. And when they kick in. She still needed some assistance in her learning process. Some people were overwhelming her with information, and I think that frustrated her. You HAVE to do this, and you HAVE to do that. I found that all of my sentences began with "I have a friend" or "one of my friends....". She thought that was pretty funny how much information that I had attained from all of my friends. Mostly from book club.....Thank you. We spent four days with her, helping her out and letting her rest. It was nice to be able to sit and hold Ryder. I love holding babies when they are sleeping. It is an amazing relaxation technique. Of course I had to give him up, which was sad. But it was a great baby fix. I'm looking forward to more baby time this year with the arrival of my friend's children.

Blog to you soon.....

My Friends are AWESOME Mom's

I cannot believe how hard it is to shuffle kids and have a life on the side. I have been watching two children for some friends of ours for the last two weeks. OI!!! I never realized how time consuming it is. And how exhausting it is. I now know why my friends all looked at me like I was crazy when I mentioned we wanted a sibling group. But, I tell you....I have the recipe down for Play Doh and all the cookie cutters to go with it. And kids love to play outside in the water and pick flowers and color with crayons and bake.......Oh and nap time. LOVE IT!! I have never been a nap taker.....but do I ever now. You almost have to to keep up with these little ones. AmyJo asked me if I wanted to go on an outing with her and the girls.....I don't think I'm up to going outside yet. I have a hard enough time keeping them in order indoors. Of course I am sure that all of you have control of your own children and that it is just difficult for me because they don't know my language yet. At least I hope that is the case. This has been a great eye opening experience for me. It has made me think more about what age of children would be good for me too. Little ones are very tiring. I wonder if I could keep up with them. If I have the energy that all of my friends seem to have. I need to know what your secrets are. Is there some kind of food that I'm supposed to eat right before bed to get energy the next day....or is it in liquid form? I would love to know how you all do it.

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Our Newest Family Member - Officially

For those of you that don't know...and I don't think there are many of you...Barbara is officially a member of our family (And her little dog Ara). As of August 1st she was given permission to stay in our home and attend McKay High School for her senior year.

We figured this would be perfect with the adoption process and all. Of course we seem to be going backwards. Most people adopt young children......we are starting with the oldest and working our way backwards. She will be 18 in November. She and Dan have the same birthday. We are trying to come up with a great birthday party idea for the both of them.

We are very excited to have her here. And she is very excited to be a big sister. We are all looking forward to the changes in our lives over the next few months. From what we hear....it could be a very quick process. We'll keep you informed.

Blog to you soon!!

Waiting & Waiting & Waiting.....

This waiting process for our family is killing us!!! We were talking to some friends that have done this process....and they said Christmas Day they didn't have any leads.....but by February 2nd the children were in their home. It could happen that quick! We finally went and bought bunk beds. We are so excited to get them set up and in the rooms. We also have been dreaming about mini vans. How sad is that? I never thought that they would be on our dream list. But here we are....

Blog to you soon!! :)

Waxing

So, I had my very first experience at waxing the other day. I have always loved my eyebrows. They are one of the few thing that I have never criticized on my body. I was getting my hair done and my stylist asked if she could wax my brows for me. Of course my first reaction was "What is wrong with my eyebrows?". So I didn't want to do it.....but, I said my husband was the one that had to look at me all the time so I left it up to him. WRONG!!! He just wanted to see me suffer. So, of course I got them waxed. I just have to say now, that I will NEVER do that again. She took off half of my skin. I look like I was attacked by a badger. How is this considered beauty? I went to my friend AmyJo's house and she admitted that that had happened to her before. What is funny......people keep on doing it. Why are women so obsessed with beauty? I for one will never try to change anything that I am happy with......Even if someone else says I should.

Blog to you soon!

What remodel?

We worked so hard to get the walls and floors done before book club last month. There were nights we stayed up until 2am just to make sure we could make the deadline. I was kicking myself for giving us the deadline and working us so hard. Now that I think about it.......I NEED A DEADLINE! We haven't touched it since. There are a lot of finishing touches that need to be made. Dan will probably kill me.....but maybe I should plan a get together. ;) I know that we would work harder if we were trying to get it done in time. Funny how that happens. Time sure does fly and sometimes it seems to stand still. One thing is for sure.....the remodel is at a stand still. I need a kick start.

Leaf Hoppers

These little leaf hoppers are driving me crazy this year. Do any of you have them? They start to swarm about now. You cannot go outside without them dive bombing you. They are out mostly at night and that is when I water my hanging plants. They have been so heavy this year that I find myself getting up at 6am to water just so I can do it in peace. OI! But I have to admit.....I love being out in the yard that early. Everything is fresh and cool and quiet. Not many like to be up in the early am. It's almost like vacation. :)