* * * *

A little over 4 months have gone by since Sterling joined our family.
I am as in love as ever!

Little Silver,
At 4 months you are as happy and smiley as ever. You are especially happy when you wake up. Whether from a nap, or in the morning, you wake up babbling to yourself, all the while grinning from ear to ear. Every morning I pull you out of your bed, and lay you down next to me. You giggle and grab my face, talk to me about your dreams, and practice your flirting. I can't get enough of you like that. I want to lock those images of you into my mind for ever. Then we say hi to Dad and Stella. You smile to them, and bat your long eyelashes, and babble on again. Your face is always so bright. You smile at everyone you see. You recently learned to roll over from your belly to your back. Now every time I put you down for a nap on your belly, I come back to find you staring up - talking to the fan. You still love your pacifier. But you also love your hands. You chew on them all the time. Stella has taken to chewing on her fingers now - after watching how much you enjoy it. You weigh 17 and a half pounds. You are definately not going hungry. You wear mostly 6-12 month clothes. You love your bath time, but your bath is getting small, so you splash water all over the bathroom when you do. Every night and morning, I rub cetaphil all over your arms, legs, belly and face. Some days you love it, other days you hate it. I think because you are so ticklish. You still love your stuffed animals and toys. You have especially enjoyed cheing on the soft taggies book you have. And you giggle and smile a ton when we play "trott trott to Boston", or "pattycake". You are starting to resemble your big sister a little more - but I can still see a little of myself in you, which I love. You have slept for 8 hours twice now, and sometimes you only wake up once, but it seems you have stalled on your wonderful sleeping habits. Hopefully I can convince you to get back on the good sleeping band-wagon soon. You still love to cross your ankles, and sleep all swaddled tight. You have learned that you can't always be patient in this house, or your sister may steal all of the attention meant for you too, but you are still generally an understanding soft-spoken little guy who is not too quick to complain. I love you my little man!

my little house-cleaner

I always hear people say that the reason you have kids is so that they can take care of things for you. You know, things like yard work, dishes, retirement home rent, etc. I didn't realize that the help would start at such a young age. As you can see - Stella loves to vacuum.

(doesn't she look straight out of Maid In Manhatten here?)

And sweeping can keep her busy for... well at least a few minutes. (which for her, is really long)

And she loves to organize her shoes. (Or at least inventory them, so she knows what she should be looking for next time we go shopping!)

Now if I can just find a way to get her to continue to enjoy these activities into her more mature years.

Emile

Stella has a love. His name is Emile. There is only one little problem.

He lives in France. (well, and he's 19)

About a year ago, he moved to the US to live with the Rozmus family. (our bestest friends ever - out here in good old South Carolina.) We were excited to hear that they would be hosting a french exchange student, but it wasn't until we saw how wonderful he was with Stella, and what a cool young man he was, that we really got excited. We loved being able to spend time with Emile. He was a fun, hardworking, adventurous guy, who really knew how to win Stella over. (She knew how to win him over too. When he first came - He could barely speak any English, and he said that when he got tired of trying to understand everyone, he would just talk "baby talk" with Stella so that he could give his brain a rest, and everyone else would leave him alone.) In fact, one time, Stella was sitting with her dad, on his lap (her absolute favorite place to be) when Emile walked in. She then shocked us all, by asking to go sit with Emile rather than with her dad. That practically never happens. Unfortunately earlier this month, Emile's time here in America was up, and he headed back home to his Mother (who I'm sure is now in Heaven with him back) and far far away from us. We explained to Stella that He was going on an airplane, far away, but she can't quite grasp that she won't see him, for a very long time at least. She has asked for him now a few times, and we explain... "remember he went on an airplane far far away?". She will then just say His name and the word plane over and over again. Poor little girl just wants to see her friend.
The hardest part of saying goodbye to Emile for me, was knowing how much Stella loved him, and how there was no real way for her to understand that he wasn't gonna be around all the time anymore. Maybe we will have to skype with him sometime soon.
We love you Emile, and we miss you!

Is someone playing a sick, sick joke on me?

About the time of Andy and my 1 year anniversary, I was happily minding my own business in the bathroom of our ancient apartment, when I glanced into the toilet to see many little tiny bugs, similar to ants floating around inside. SICK! I got Andy, and he thought they may be termites. The way our bathroom was set up - probably similar to many bathrooms, the fan was directly above the toilet. Apparently, termites were falling from the wood shingled roof, through the fan, and down into our toilet. This made for a very uncomfortable situation. Every time I had to pee, I would grab a large piece of foil, shape it like a huge bowl, and hold it over my head while sitting on the toilet. (great visual, isn't it?) And yes, on occasion, I would catch some termites in my foil bowl. Dis-gus-ting!!! Luckily our year contract was just ending, and we could move out ASAP!

To think this was all some kind of preparation for what was to come...

We have now moved into some very nice apartments, that, allthough they are old, are very comfy and spacious, and for the most part, very quiet. We like it here very much. Well - minus one small problem. I thought the roach in Stella's room was bad. About a month ago, while in the bathroom (whatever it is with me and bathrooms... I don't know, but it has got to stop.) I suddenly heard a buzzing noise, like that of a bee - so I turned my head, towards the bath tub where the noise was coming from, to see a black bee flying directly at my face. Literally, it was as if it were trying to intimidate me by going straight for the eyes or something. I grabbed New Moon( the nearest book), and threw it at the bee - unfortunatly right into a bathtub that was not completely drained yet. Great, so I had a soaking wet book, and a bee in the bathtub. I grabbed my dripping book out of the tub, and quickly threw a towel down onto the recovering bee. Then turned the water on, straight to scorching hot, and doused the towel with it - hoping to drown, or burn, (or both) the bee to death. When Andy came home - he lifted the towel to find the dead bee, and got rid of it for me. He also convinced me that it was most likely some weird fluke that there was suddenly a bee in our windowless bathroom - and not to worry. Well, I took his advice, and didn't worry my life away about the bees, and that brings me to this morning. While in the bathroom, once again, I suddenly hear a buzzing, turn to the tub, and here comes an even bigger bee - flying right for me in attack mode. Seriously? This has to be a nightmare. Well, I grabbed a magazine - (thank goodness for reading material in the bathroom, right?), and start swatting at this disgusting buzzing creature with all the energy I can muster up. I am sure neighbors thought I was crazy as they heard screaming, jumping, and pounding on walls, the floor, and counter tops. After about 14 swats, the bee was dead on the floor - right next to the door of the bathroom, where he was trying to escape to go sting my peacfully sleeping children, I am sure. So he got what he deserved. But now my speculation has practically been proven. Somehow - someway, bees are making it into my lovely little home, and tormenting me in all my bathroom, half naked vulnerability.

If this is some kind of sick and twisted joke - thanks, but it is no longer april fools day, you can stop now. And if it's not... well then I am doomed.

uno, dos, tres, QUATRO!

Thats right folks...the best four years of our lives! We enjoyed our anniversary yesterday, complete with a date...just the two of us alone. (thanks Karen, for babysitting) It's not too often we get out alone, so when we do...it is HEAVEN.

Andy,
Thanks for being the Husband of my dreams, for teaching me so many things, for making me laugh, for thinking I am beautiful, for picking up the slack when I fall behind, for being the worlds best Dad to our two wonderful children, for wanting to know me better every day, for connecting with me on my level, and pushing me to connect with you on yours, and for taking me to coldstone even though you think it's gross! I love you! Forever.

Not again!!!

I walked into stella's room this morning after her bath, and this is what I was greeted with. Honestly, I can't stand it. I am soooo grossed out by these things, they may make me go crazy. So disgusting!

I would love to kill this thing, but it is too high for me to reach, even with a chair, I would have to get on my tippy toes, and by the time I got the chair in the right position, the thing would probably be flying right towards either my mouth or hair. Sick! I hate these things! So right now this horrible thing is sitting in Stella's room, door closed (not like thats gonna stop the thing from moving throughout my entire house), doing who knows what, and by the time Andy gets home to take the thing down, he will probably be hiding in her dirty clothes, or in her crib. Ewww... I am so grossed out! So at least it isn't this bad (the picture below that I found online)... but these palmetto bugs (aka american cockroaches) should just leave me alone, or I am really gonna flip one of these days.


I can't have such a depressing post, so I will leave you with a couple cute pics of the kiddos. (Mostly Sterling, Stella hasn't been the most cooperative model lately :) )

Here is Sterling sitting in "Stella's" bumbo seat. It, along with everything else Sterling ever wants or uses, is hers. Just ask her... actually, you don't have to ask her, she'll tell ya - loud and clear. If your too close to her or anything that is hers, she'll "politely" ask you to SCOOT BACK! Sterling has spit up in the chair a couple of times now, so maybe Stella will be willing to give it up now.



Stella wants to hold Sterling all the time - still. He usually just tries to ignore the fact that she is playing with his hair, his pacifier, his hands, etc. and just bide his time until I take him back. Sweet kid gets more LOVE than he would ever know what to do with. From the look of things, Stella is going to be a fantastic mom, a little on the controlling side, but definately loving. She is constantly telling him "it's ok" and "love you". It is so sweet to watch her with him, when she's not yelling "MINE" that is.

the luckiest kids in the world

I don't think my kiddos know how good they have it. They got a dad who LOVES to play with them. Swing them, fly them, chase them, tickle them... boy did they make out in the Dad department. Stella has had her fair share of flying around the world in her daddy's arms, and now Sterling is getting his chance. We're pretty sure he loves it.

Florida pics

We (and Emile, the Rozmus's French exchange student who Stella is in love with) went to Florida to spend some time with Andy's parents who were on a little trip in Orlando. We stayed with them at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club, and had a FANTASTIC time. The hotel is probably my favorite hotel ever - there is a big lake in the center, with fish and ducks to keep Stella entertained, as well as two huge pools with all sorts of fountain/waterfalls to allow Stella hours of fun. We went last year too, but Stella was still too young to fully enjoy it. This time, however, she was in heaven. She spent hours at the pool, and we all had a blast! Thanks Duane and Audrey for the wonderful trip!

Enjoy the millions of pictures!

Code Adam

Stella in one of her favorite hiding spots. Too bad they aren't all as painfully obvious of spots as this one - the corner of our kitchen.

While making our way home from Florida on Monday, we decided to make a little stop at some truck station so that I could feed Sterling. Andy and Emile (the french foreign exchange student staying with the Rozmus') decided to take advantage of the moment and get Stella out of the car for a little break. While Andy was "shopping" with her, she turned the corner around an isle. Andy says he turned no more than two seconds after her, and she was gone. I think, "like she fell into a hole" were his exact words. They tried to find her for a second, and then alerted management. A code Adam was called, and immediately everyone started looking for Stella. Andy looked in every cupboard at least once. Emile ran outside to see if she could have jetted through the doors, but after looking around for only a few seconds, ran back inside. That's when I saw him, through the car window while feeding Sterling, and I knew Stella was lost. I automatically had the thought that he was looking for Stella, but I thought that if they actually couldn't find her, Andy would call me. No call, so I figured she must be safe, and maybe Emile was looking for Andy or something. They searched everywhere for Stella, and then searched everywhere again. Emile went back to one of the stock rooms near where Stella had "just" been, and the manager in there assured him that no one had been in there. Andy says that a million different things were going through his mind. Finally, when Emile went to check the stock room one more time - he heard Stella yell his name, trying to be found. All one big game of hide and seek. She was in the back corner between a whole bunch of stuff. Emile said she was in the best hiding place she could have been. Thank goodness she saw him and called out his name, or who knows how long the "game" would have gone on. Stella loves to hide, she is almost always "hiding" at home, and she often makes her toys hide, and then laughs so hard about it. Looks like we are going to have to drive into her head that she is only allowed to hide when we are "playing a game" together at home. We are so glad it was just a scare, and that she is perfectly safe and sound.