It's too quiet.

Do you remember that song by Paul Young? (I think)The lyrics are, "Every time you go away, you take a piece of me with you." Well that holds true for me tonight. My ladybug is off to her Grandma Shirley's to spend the weekend. I hate when she leaves. Part of my heart goes right along with her and I am not right until Sunday when I know I will be getting her back. So right now the house is too quiet. Oliver is sleeping and Michael is out for Kenny's bachelor party.
On a brighter note, Kenny came to visit last night. He got to spend some time with Oliver and at least we got to see him before he heads off to Australia and becomes a married man. Best wishes to him and Jacinta!
I got a job today. I will be working as a banquet server at Wheeling Island Race Track. It will be sporadic at first but should get a little more frequent. It will make easing into working and leaving my baby a little easier.
Oliver will get to visit with his pappy tomorrow. Michael's dad is coming down for a visit. I will try to get a picture of three generations of Sterling men and post it so you can see that Oliver looks just like them.

We're back!

We have returned from our journey to Roanoke! It was a long and exhausting drive, but well worth it. I am not sure which is harder. The drive or unloading the car and then unpacking. We really enjoyed our stay. We got to meet Lee and Jon's friends and see a bit of Roanoke. I will describe Roanoke as crunchy. For those of you not familiar with the term I will describe it as progressive and hip. A lot of all natural products, recycling, outdoorsy and that sort of thing. Maybe that is why I liked it so much. Sometimes life is too pre-packaged and we just need to get back to simplicity. We did get to venture to the center of town and go to the farmer's market. I left with some pretty fabulous soap, not to mention that Leebug hooked me up with some awesome body shop products! We took Brady to Artventure where she got to exercise her artistic mind. A cool little place where she got to paint and create. Michael got to spend the day with Jon on the golf course. I think he really enjoyed himself as he hasn't been able to golf for quite a while. Brady and Oliver did very well on the long drive. The only negative thing I can say about the whole weekend is that it was way too short. Next time it will have to be a four day weekend. I don't get to see my Leebug enough.
Less than two weeks until Michael leaves for Australia. It should be the trip of a lifetime. It will be odd not to have him home every night, but I didn't want him to miss the opportunity for him to have an exciting trip abroad.
Well, back to the daily life. It doesn't look to be a very exciting week. I have a PTA meeting and Brady has tap and tumbling and I think she has Daisy Scouts this week. Whew! I am tired already.

Full speed ahead.

That pretty much sums up things around here. Oliver has really blossomed just in the last week. He has gotten a lot more vocal. I think he has finally realized those sounds are coming from him. He makes us laugh everyday with his squeals and smiles. He has also gotten very good at rolling. He can go both ways and he is good and fast. It makes diaper changing all the more challenging. My ladybug gets a little jealous sometimes of all the attention we give to Oliver so I try to do things that are special just for her. Michael has been playing school with her. This invloves her being the teacher and reading to him and she gives him spelling tests. It is a hoot! I will try to get a picture during one of their lessons and post it later.
I was looking in Brady's baby book. She was the same size as Oliver at 4 months. There is only a 5oz difference. I can't believe how quickly they grow up. My baby girl is going to be 6 years old in just two months!I included a picture of her at age three just to show you how different she is now.
Oliver is doing well with eating solids. He is a little piggy and if you don't spoon it fast enough he will yell and let you know it is time to move faster!The picture is of him after dinner with his food all over his shirt.
We are making our journey to Roanoke tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be great this weekend. I post on that when we get back!

Happy Birthday Michael!

Yeah, I know I already posted today but I can't let the day pass without telling Michael, "Happy Birthday!"

I baked a cake for him while Brady was at school and then she iced it all by herself. I think she did a fabulous job!

A good weekend!

It was a good weekend. Michael and I went out Saturday night. It was good to be around other adults. The place was packed. It never even occurred to me that it was St. Patrick's day and a huge night out for people! The Uhrigs even ventured out and left Hayden with Grandma, Yay for them for surviving their first night away!

On Sunday, Brady and I went to the mother/daughter luncheon for the Girl Scouts of America. It was absolute chaos. There were probably over 200 hundred people there. They had a snack table set up before they served lunch. On it was a chocolate fountain, marshmallows, strawberries, and pretzels. I thought it was odd that they had chocolate, etc... BEFORE lunch. Oh well, didn't matter too much for us because by the time Brady and Dulcie got to the table pretty much everything was gone. As for the lunch, the food was running out so the people who got up last to eat had to pick out of what was left. Yes, that was us. I guess what is really important is that we had a nice outing with our beautiful daughters. I am so proud to be Brady's mom. She is such a great kid. We made the day extra special as I took the time to put her hair in rollers and help her get dressed up in her pink suit. She is SUCH a girly, girl.

On to the rest of our week. We are going to Roanoke, VA this weekend to visit friends of ours. It will be our first time visiting them there and it is long overdue. I am not looking forward to the long drive but can't wait to hang out with them and the dogs.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to Tom and Noreen Sterling! They mark one year of wedded bliss today. We hope to see you again soon!
And a Happy St. Patty's day to everyone else!

In memory...

I have put a lot of thought on whether to post on this subject. And I decided that it is a must. So this post is in memory of my stepfather, Thomas A Haymond, who passed away six years ago yesterday. You are missed and loved!

He rolls!

Oliver finally rolled from his tummy to his back! At his last check the nurse asked if he was rolling yet and I said no. She said, "OK we will give him until 5 months." So it had me worried that maybe he didn't get enough tummy time or was going to be late doing everything. OK I will admit I really don't do enough tummy time. So when we went home I put him on the floor and within 2 minutes he rolled over. And now he is a pro!

Last night we went and got Brady her tap shoes. It was one of those times when I wish I had a camera trained on her at all times. The look on her face was priceless. She was trying so hard not to look too excited, but it was the smile in the corners of her mouth and in her eyes as well.

Saturday night we get to out with some friends of ours. We will be celebrating Michael's birthday as well as a friend's. I haven't been out since January! I must try to stay awake past 10pm that night! Aunt Paigey is coming to babysit so Brady is looking forward to playing with Dylan. (affectionately known as the D-man)

These pictures ended up in the wrong order. I was trying to snap one in mid-roll but this is the best I could get!

Happy Birthday Ben!

Just wanted to throw out a quick Happy Birthday to my little brother, Ben! He is 28yrs old today. I hope this message finds you well in Germany!

Pretty as a Daisy

Miss Brady had her Daisy Scout meeting last night. They learned about helping and caring. She came home and asked me if there was anything she could do to help me. So I gave her a few things to do and she happily complied and then left a little note that said, "A girl scout was here." Soo sweet. Next month she will have her Investiture Ceremony where she will officially become a member of Girl Scouts of America.

The other little girl in the picture is Brady's friend Abby. They go to school together and live across the street from each other. We have become friends with her parents who are very nice people and make the best pizza I have ever eaten.

4 month check up

Oliver had his 4 month check up today! He measured 25" and weighs 13lbs and 14oz. He is average in both categories. He also got his shots which I really, really hate. Fortunately, Daddy stood with him and I just waited for it to be over so that I could nurse and comfort him.

We got the ok to start him on cereal and vegetables which is good considering I have been giving him cereal for a month now! At least he will get to try something new when I whip out the carrots.

Brady has Daisy scouts tonight. She will also be starting tap lessons in addition to her tumbling class next week. I will get a picture of her in her Daisy scout outfit and try to post it tomorrow.

Time to join...

the world of bloggers! I am starting this blog so that our friends and family who don't see us too often can check in and see updates on the kids and what is going on in our world. I will try to update at least twice a week, maybe more depending on how busy we are.

Oliver has a cold. My poor little guy. His cough sounds terrible and he is pretty congested. He has been house bound since Saturday but the weather is warming so maybe I can get him out for some fresh air in the next couple of days.

I took Brady to a classmate's birthday party on Saturday and she had a blast. They had a clown and a magician. Let me just say that they set the bar really high for her party in May.

Michael's dad got to come down and spend some time with Oliver on Saturday. It was nice to see them even if it was brief. They hung out while we were at the birthday party and then Michael, Tom and Noreen enjoyed dinner at the Alpha. Brady, Oliver and I stayed home because of Oliver's cold. Next time we are all going!

Here are some recent pictures of my babies....When I say recent, I mean within the last month!I will get better with posting recent pictures so you can see how fast Oliver is growing.