Dada!

When we got home from the Farmer's Market last night, LaVor was going to entertain The Lime while I put away our delicious fruit. I got The Lime out of his car seat and put him on LaVor's chest. He was being especially cute, just resting there, when all of a sudden he said, "Dada". LaVor and I looked at each other, he threw his arms in the air and we gave each other a hi-five.

I love seeing The Lime melt LaVor's heart. In the 9 years that we've been together, I've maybe seen LaVor cry 2 or 3 times. Since we've had The Lime join our family, that number has increased dramatically. It's amazing what a little person can do.

Put Your Head On My Shoulder

Or chest, in this case.

Normally, on the days that I have to work, The Lime sleeps until I have to get him up to head to my sister's house. Every once in a while, he wakes up before 6:30 and disrupts my getting ready schedule. This was the case yesterday.

It was 6:00, I had just finished my hair and the next thing to do was eat breakfast. He woke up while I was doing the final touches on my hair and I knew if I got him, he'd want to eat or be held and I'm not talented enough to do either one and feed myself. Unfortunately, I had to let him cry and cry and cry until I was done eating. I went into his room, did my usual, "Is there a [Lime] in here?" He then looks up, smiles and knows I'm on my way to pick him up. I took him back into my room where I woke LaVor up and told him I needed 15 minutes to brush my teeth. I laid The Lime on our bed and he erupted in cries. I quickly went into the bathroom, shut the door and began flossing. Within seconds, the crying stopped. Whew! I finished up with my teeth, opened the bathroom door and saw this...


The Lime hasn't fallen asleep on LaVor's chest in months! This is one thing I envy! The Lime would never just lay on me...he'd end up trying to eat me instead.

Tender moments like this make me smile :o)

And The Crowd Goes Wild

I had a dream last night that I was a comedian, in some sort of competition against Conan!

At one point, the audience got a bit distracted and I had to reel them back in. My solution? I yelled, "SHUT UP!" in a really loud, annoying voice and said, "I'm Roseanne!" They roared with laughter! My reaction? I jumped up and down with my arms in the air like I had just won a race.

I don't remember if I won or not but I did receive a text from Conan telling me how hilarious I was.

Roseanne isn't my favorite comedian but her show was hilarious. Thank goodness YouTube had a video of my favorite episode...



My sisters and I roll on the floor, laughing, every time we even think about this clip. My sister, Amy, is a pro at impersonating Jackie.

Thanks for the laughs, Roseanne! Thanks for the laughs.

Tally Mark 6

-He had rice cereal for the first time on 7/16. He couldn't get the spoon into his mouth fast enough.
-He's army crawling all over the place.
-He's attracted to anything with straps or what resembles straps. Purse straps, diaper bag straps, straps on the car seat, ribbon, etc.
-He sits up for only a couple seconds before he topples over.
-He has his two bottom teeth.
-He says, "Mamamama" but no "Dadadada".
-His favorite song is the ABC's.
-He's gone swimming a couple times this summer.
-He's a mellow baby. Very content about 95% of the time.
-He still loves to be tickled.
-He spent last weekend alone with Daddy. Mommy missed him every second she was gone.
-He gets startled quite easily but seems to like it. He usually smiles or laughs if he gets scared and he jumps about a mile into the air.
-6 months have gone by far too quickly.

In It To End It

After months of (somewhat) training and fund raising, we've completed the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer!

We had another great weekend, fighting for boobies and feel great about what we've accomplished.

We determined that within the 3 years our family has participated in the walk, we've raised $12,600.00 and walked 260 miles! How awesome is that?!?!

I would love to write all of the wonderful things about this weekend but we'd be here all day. So I'll just point out a few things I'd like to remember...

• We only got 4 hours of sleep the first night. We weren't sure how we got the energy to walk 26 miles but it came from somewhere.
• The weather was perfect for walking! Not too cold, not too hot. It was just right, no matter where we were on the route. Although, as we were leaving the Wellness Village on Saturday night, it did get quite chilly and we were grateful we had a warm hotel room to go back to. No camping for us!
• The new route was fun...something different. I love having the opportunity to see parts of the city that I never knew existed.
• Found out that the lady who cheers us on in her pajamas, is named Pepper. I love it!
• Cute old man at mile 15.6 saw my "I love my little tatas shirt" and smiled. He notified me that his wife instructed him not to say anything this weekend. He was afraid that if he did say something, it would be to someone his wife knew and he'd get in trouble. Therefore, he just smiled and nodded as he read my shirt.
• Seeing the little kids cheer this year had a whole new meaning. One day, The Lime will be out there, with jingle bells on his wrist.
• Met a lovely woman named Kathy. She came out from New York and finished the last couple miles with us on Saturday.
• After seeing several people walking for their moms, I couldn't wait to see my mom at the cheering station. As we walked towards each other, I instantly started crying, gave her a huge hug and told her I wasn't sure what I'd do if she wasn't around. I'm so lucky!
• Not being able to pump as often as I needed to really messed me up. I couldn't wait to see The Lime at the finish line, both days, for more than 1 reason.
• I got blisters on the same toes I did the last 2 years. It's just the way my feet are made, I suppose.
• A woman asked us if we were twins. We came to the conclusion that we may sound alike and obviously come from the same family but that's about it.
• We had to take pictures in front of the restaurants that we love. For me, Memphis Minnie's & Suppenküche!
  
• Love the San Jose Police! They ride their bikes on the route with us and provide much needed entertainment. Although, some were a bit perverted this year.
• I don't like that each year, my list of people I'm walking for gets longer. But it makes me that much more motivated!
• We couldn't have done it without the donations, love and support from our friends, family members and complete strangers. A big thank you to everyone!
  

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Let Freedom Ring!

I love our flag.

When we were in Washington D.C. last year, we visited the National Museum of American History (one of my favorite museums in the Smithsonian). My favorite exhibit was the flag that inspired the Star-Spangled Banner. We actually had to cut the time short because I became a bit emotional and I think I was embarrassing LaVor.

They have the flag completely sprawled out, lit only with a black light. Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures but you can view it here.

They had the national anthem playing in the background while the words appeared on the wall, above the flag.

I remember the opportunity I had to visit Fort McHenry in 1995. I believe I still have my souvenir whistle...somewhere around here. I wish I had the love for our flag that I have now, back then, because I think I would have appreciated that visit much more.

After viewing several episodes of America The Story of Us, I have no doubt in my mind that the Lord had his hand in the development of this country. He put the right people on this earth at the right time to establish, build-up, invent and protect this great land.

I am eternally grateful for our freedoms and the blessings we receive from living in the United States of America. The flag reminds me of that each time it waves.

Dig & Bury

A year ago today, we were feeding Gushers to the Capitol squirrels.

One in particular would take the Gusher, dig a hole, look both ways to make sure none of the other squirrels were watching, bury the Gusher and cover it up with dirt. Smart little fella.