My MEME

I don't what that means either! Karen tagged me so I will pass it on. Here's my MEME:

My kitchen sink:

(I did the dishes last night, at least!)

My favorite room: the living room! I live there. Really.

My fridge. Those ducks might look familiar...

My laundry room. It's pretty much a cave, but dirty clothes go in and clean clothes come out, so it fulfills its purpose.

My favorite shoes. If you catch me at home, there's a 99% chance I'll be barefoot or in my slippers.

My side of the closet. Allow me to explain: on the left, you see things that don't fit right now. Straight ahead, things that DO fit right now. On the shelf, my scrubs (a few of which fit right now), and on the floor, boxes of clothes for Wyatt to grow into and New Baby Girl to wear.

My most recent purchase: 2 bambinos and a side salad. This is Pickett's Bambinos, a tiny place in Rigby that I simply adore. I'd like to blame my constant craving of those bambinos on pregnancy, but that's not true. I crave them always. YUM.

What my babies are doing right now:

I'm not a careless mom, this is just Wyatt's thing lately. He climbs on the rail and just chills there, babbling and laughing. I tell him to get down, and he does...for about 4 seconds. I hope this phase passes before he learns how to climb ALL the way out.

Skeeter is out on the deck, sniffin' the breeze.

My dream vacation:

The Hawaiian cruise. We were going to go this year, but then we found out that there was a Jana on the way- no complaints, of course. Maybe next year!

My self-portrait:

I didn't wanna do it alone, so it's me and Skeeter.

So there you go. And I tag...Steph, Monica, Fay and Amber!

MFEO!

I bet Lee wonders this sometimes, honestly. I know I wonder it- am I his refining fire? Is his mission in this life just to survive the messy and pretty scary rollercoaster ride of my emotional personality? Sometimes I look back at the day and the things I said and did and I'm pretty embarassed and disappointed in myself.


And yet, Lee keeps me laughing. He still tells me I'm cute (Hell-o! Have you seen me? MOO!) He picks up my slack and takes me out for ice cream and compliments my cooking (poor Lee: "This Hamburger Helper is really good, Melody!"), and pulls faces while I'm doing my makeup so I laugh and smear mascara everywhere.



So here's my shout out to my sweetheart Lee: I love you! I don't begin to deseve you, but I am SO glad you stick with me. And like the little kid says in Sleepless in Seattle, we are MFEO- made for each other! You to keep me sane, and me to keep you...busy! :)

The Zoo and July 4th

We went to the zoo last week with our friend Ali and her little ones Eliza, Hunter and Hannah. We had lots of fun! The next day was the 4th, and even though I had to work that night, we made sure to get plenty of playing in before then.


Wyatt all ready to start a day at the zoo!


Playing in the giant nest.



WOW! (I'm not sure what they saw, but it must have been exciting.)



Having fun in the egg.




Now where did that goat get off to?

Wyatt thought there were little raisins in the goat pen at the kid's petting zoo. I put a stop to that before it got out of hand (and into mouth!).

Getting little goat kisses.

Lazy tiger! He made me laugh, because if I were him, I'd be doing the same thing.

The whole group: Ali, Hannah, Hunter, Eliza, Wyatt and Melody

A little pre-4th picnic

Skeeter and Wyatt checkin' out my plate of food.

Daddy giving Wyatt some ice cream while we watched the parade.

Wyatt loved the parade!

We love the 4th of July, and even though we were sad to miss my family reunion this weekend, we were glad to still have a chance to celebrate what a wonderful place we live in and what a precious blessing our freedom is. I got a lump in my throat when we cheered and applauded for the veterans in the parade, knowing how much they, their families, and all those who serve in our military sacrifice for us. I hope I'm able to teach my little ones how important it is to respect and honor our service men and women and the wonderful country we live in!

To Bone and Back!

On Friday Lee celebrated his 28th (!) birthday, and on Saturday he proved how old he isn't by running the annual To Bone and Back 40-mile relay. There are options for all sorts of relays, but Lee's sister Holly was doing a 2-person relay and Lee decided to join her for her 20 mile stretch. They weren't able to run side-by-side the whole time, but they both finished and both did really well! Holly's team finished in about 7 hours exactly ("smashed the record" according to the local newspaper) and Lee did his 20 miles in about 3 hours and 45 minutes. I am so proud of them!

This is an elevation graph of the course. Lee did the second half, so he started on the right and finished on the left. As you can see, the first 10 miles was ALL HILLS and the second 10 miles is almost completely downhill, which is harder to run than you might think. It was a tough course, and it was hot and windy, so I am amazed at these two- even more so than usual!

Here's Lee right after he crossed the finish line. I don't know who that other guy is, but he's very happy to have his picture taken. :)

Summer!

We got our first wading pool this year, and it turns out that when the water is warm enough, Wyatt really likes to play in it! Our second wading pool will join our family really soon, though, because the inflatable one could get popped if a certain clawed member of our family gets in. Poor Skeeter circled the wading pool looking forlorn and licking water off the sides while Wyatt and I played. So we have a hard plastic one to come shortly so Skeeter can cool off on these hot days too- plus it's waaaay easier to manage than having to spend an hour pumping up this bad boy.



Wyatt lovin' swimming.



Pool mohawk = time for a haircut...




Mommy and Wyatt in the pool.




I had to post this picture of my blogging buddy. Skeeter likes to curl up under the desk and wait oh-so-patiently for me to be done doing whatever I do on the computer, and this last time when I pushed the keyboard back, I couldn't help taking a picture. Thanks for keeping me company, Skeeter!

Cookie Days

This picture pretty much sums up the last few weeks for us. We just do our thing and I make lots of cookies (from frozen dough, I'm not Betty Crocker!). This picture cracks me up especially when you notice Skeeter hovering in the corner, waiting for Wyatt to drop him some crumbs.

Lee is still loving his new job, and is getting ready to run a 20-mile race with his sister next weekend. I am so proud of him for being such a go-getter, and truthfully a little jealous that he's getting in great shape, and I am...adding to my already doughy physique. I guess I could cut back on the cookies. ;)

I am doing fine aside from having cookie cravings and being jealous, though. I'm pretty tired after chasing Wyatt around all day, and all my coworkers can attest to the fact that I'm not worth anything after about 3 a.m. But I enjoy my job and I love my little family, and that's the important part!

Wyatt has been loving this cookie phase. Lately he'll come up to me with a concerned look on his face while patting his head. This means, "Mom, I need my hat, I'm going outside now." He LOVES to play outside, and cries when I make him come in. He and Skeeter have some funny games they play together, and I am perfectly content to sit on the deck and watch. I only have to intervene when Wyatt tries to play in the bird bath, because that's gross!

Skeeter is loving the cookie phase too, because Wyatt is a VERY good sharer. Wyatt is just too young to differentiate between sharing with friends and sharing with dogs. So, for now, we share with everybody. Skeeter has no qualms about that, I'm sure.

Little baby girl is very, very active and we are so excited for her to come...in about 16 and a half weeks. I caved in and bought a maternity swimsuit the other day, so hopefully that will help Mommy pass the last trimester with not such an ill temper. I get pretty scary when I'm too hot.

So here's some pictures of the last few weeks of cookie-ing.

This has a story- Lee has learned that when I'm in a crabby mood, he can break me out of it by making me laugh. So I had turned my back for a second, and when I looked at Lee, his mouth was stuffed with cookie while he tried to get a bite out of every single one before I noticed. I laughed so hard I cried, and wasn't so crabby anymore...you know, for a while. Thanks, honey!




I can't explain the look on his face, but it makes me laugh.




Wyatt got a hold of a few cookies when I wasn't looking. This is a look of sheer delight, and I love it. He also benevolently dropped two cookies on the floor for Skeeter, which I took away because that's just too much for dogs. I traded him for a Beggin' Strip (dogs don't know it's not bacon!), so we are still friends.




Wyatt has been going through this kick of trying to eat finger foods without using his hands. Instead he does a face-plant with his mouth open. It's hilarious.



The funny thing is, he's pretty good at it!



Wyatt and Skeeter watching Daddy mow the lawn.

"Wyatt, where's Mommy's nose?"

And the baby is...

It's a GIRL!

We are so excited to get a little girl- even Lee. I am extra excited that I won't be the only estrogen contributor around here! Apparently this little one is already pretty photogenic; she was looking right at the ultrasonographer and wouldn't look any other way. So this is a picture of her looking right out at us. She's measuring just right, so we're still planning on her making an appearance around October 14th.

Thank heaven for little girls!