just an update

Well we've been home from Spring Break for officially 8 days and I am now just writing this. Spokane was a great time, low key with lots of time spent with loved ones, mainly Grandma and Grandpa Martin and our dear Lynch "family".

And wouldn't you know that rascal Maggie "decided" to have her baby Wednesday April 1st about 12 hours AFTER we left Spokane! The nerve right?! No I am excited for Lucy Lauren is a breathing citizen now and decided to leave the womb a whole week before her due date. She must really love her mommy!

Maggie and I got some good quality time in before this of course, which included giant onion rings from none other than The Onion. We also had play time with the kiddos, where our daughter's became fast friends. Good stuff.

It was also special to see Bradie and Beau interact with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Stan, especially Bradie who didn't speak for about two hours after we arrived. Don't worry she busted out the charm soon after and enjoyed her week, which included a date with Daddy to her first movie on the big screen. Candy and soda completed the experience. Beau did well there also, walking better than he did the morning we left! Its like a little switch went off in his brain. He still cannot stand on his own without something vertical to help him, but I expect this switch will flip soon. He is also now totally weaned, which is a bittersweet relief.

We then journeyed to Grandma Janie and Papa Dave in Tumwater to say hello and pick up the dog which they generously baby sat for the duration of the Spokane trip...

And now we're back! For Easter and to see Auntie Caren who is visiting from Virginia. The only shadow is Grandma Janie is resting in a hospital bed after unexpectedly needing a few feet of small intestine removed! Crazy! If you are inclined to make any Petitions for a speedy recovery on her behalf, please do so.

Tomorrow we will ride back up to Gig Harbor to sup with my family and watch the kiddos hunt for eggs.

Let's see... I am finding some joy in gardening these days. We planted a window box and I have seeds sown...so fingers crossed! Beau loves to be outside and will beeline for any open door. He and Bradie have been known to hold hands in the car. They did so all the way to church last week. I took very few photos in Spokane but I will post those soon.

Last night Bradie and I are saying good night in her room. its dark and low key. Suddenly she says,

"Elmo doesn't have a real butt. It's not real. There's a hand."

So I say "yes, Elmo is a puppet. There's a man who makes Elmo sing and dance."

"He doesn't have a line like this", she says as she rolls over and points between her little cheeks.

Wow.

I love giving Bradie the camera once and awhile. I just need to check and make sure its off manual so the camera can select a different depth of field on its own.
Apparently they use helicopters to add new phone lines. It was bizarre. All day long, intermittently, it felt like we were on MASH. I kept thinking about that Chris O'Donnell/Mt Everest movie where you see the helicopters struggling in the thin air... obviously not thin down here, but watching the precision hovering made me nervous. Oh well. The kids liked it. Bradie also says "helleecopter" and sounds very British, which makes me smile.

I'm off to by some pseudoephedrine as I could not procure any last night at 2 am when we REALLY needed it :( Beau is a snotty, nonsleeper right now. I'm assured he will not use any to help produce methamphetamines... although granite falls is just down the road.

Beau's one year visit was today! I am just beside myself at how fast his first year came and went! I had to post a one year pic of Bradie just because I love how different they look yet you can still see the relation and I MUST remind myself that Bradie was once a baby too...although this is beginning to fade into memory :(

Beau's stats as follows:

20 pounds 5 ounces 14%

29 1/2 inches 40%

46 cm head circumference 38%

Little man! Okay so I pulled up Bradie's one year stats today and they measured the EXACT same in length and Bradie was 3 ounces heavier at one year!

What tickles me the most is that their laughs are on their way to being identical :)

Gotta go hit record.... its Office time!

Check out my little weaner! :) On Thursday I replaced Beau's rather pathetic afternoon nursing with a cup of milk. Took like a charm. This has been the fastest year of my life, yesterday being a whirlwind. Grandpa Dave and Grandma Janie came to visit and got Bradie a new car seat so we could upgrade little mister to her FORWARD facing seat! He looks so tiny in it!

And later that afternoon Beau stood and clapped his hands THEN took three steps to Grandma Janie!

Big day.

To OUR friend, Tiny Pink Blankie:

thank you for the timeless snuggles even after you became scratchy when mommy washed you with Oxi Clean.

You were our favorite pretend prop, excellent for swaddling dollies and monkeys as well as being held in place with a crown when we play "married".

You smelled like morning breath that ONLY a mother can love.

You made parenting easier when the overtired stage was reached.

You were privvy to the Tokio weigh station jokes and our stops at the Moses Lake Burger King.

You watched Fairytopia and Clifford with her when I couldn't bear to.

I know it never hurt your feelings when people 

joked about how stinky and pathetic you became.  

I like to think at the final resurrection you will show up fresh, and a true Pink 

that will never fade :)

You never really got what the big deal was about that baby anyway...

Can you believe that I, a grown woman, am weeping as I type this?  I'm not sure I am cut out for this parenting gig... to see your child heart broken feels unbearable.  And this about a BLANKET for crying out loud!  What the heck I am going to do as Bradie gets older and the stakes get higher?!

Out the window it went on the interstate.  Marcus and I both did a down and back over the suspected section, but no luck.  Numbly I drove Bradie and myself to Edmonds to a baby boutique.  I was out of my mind and should have just went to Target here but I had to look myself... 

The amazing blessing is that she is really doing okay.  We are on night #2 and she even took a nap today with our new replacement.  But momma knows.  She's a little off.  So know I pray and watch and talk if she wants to, I suppose.  I'm a little sad I won't be able to pull the thing out when she's 20 and embarrass her with its funk and dingyness...

So with all deaths, even minideaths that we'll most likely chuckle over someday, I am looking for the teachable moment.  Maybe Bradie will understand in a deeper way the father's heart as he gazes over his land, looking for his wayward son in the distance.

Bee line for the camera... I love using a 50 mm but its hard with kids and FAST crawlers.  I told him no and kept him at bay with my foot, hence this priceless, whiny face.

A boy and his...Swiffer?  Apparently it is an agape sort of love.
Thanks Cousin Meg for giving us your old iBook.  Meg is the normal sort of person who upgrades every few years when her computer slows down and becomes quirky....Marcus is the sort of person who will rip its guts out and put in new guts.  Here's Marcus after removing the back case of the iBook which I quickly found out is NOT easy and can break the whole darn thing.  He got it off without using a Spudger (a little rubbery nail file type thing) which makes him pretty awesome.  I played the role of assistant, scotch taping carefully TINY screws to a labelled chart he printed of the internet.

"what happens if you put the wrong screws in the wrong place?"- me, the simpleton

"you can screw through the logic (mother) board."- marcus, the apple surgeon.

gotta go, Beau is going up the stairs....