PICTURES!!!

Michael was burning wood and Haelley was burning Mommy's patience, so I sent her out to sit and watch Daddy. Later on, I brought them out their food, this was their quiet meal together.

Haelley has adopted my tv addiction. Her favorite movie is Horton Hears A Who (w Jim Carrey). Her name for it is "Hortah the Ellebee." It also features the "Maya."

This pic is random, but Michael was proud of his Mashed Potato Smiley Face and asked for me to display it proudly amongst his other passions.

Bren was sitting in Haelley's chair, she was jealous so she decided to sit on the potty instead. This was her really good potty day. She went 10 hrs or so with out an accident! This astonishing run was ended with a "stinky" behind the couch.

I really want you all to meet Bren, he is such a happy baby. He smiles for anything. (Unless it's Haelley dropping the bouncer on his head, Mommy dropping him head first into the carseat or Daddy smacking the back of his head on the table.) All of those things happened in the past two days. Poor guy.

He loves to lay on his tummy. The past few days, instead of waking up in the morning and crying, he peeks over the edge of the bassinet and talks to me until I come get him.

Haelley was fascinated with blanket time, so I let her do it too.

When wet, Haelley's hair will stay in a bun, it's really cute, until it's been slept on. And then it's, well, scary.

We had a couple 87 degree days in a row, so I got out a bucket of water for Haelley to splash in. She was confused and went swimming instead.

What child doesn't love dirt? And Miss Haelley is no exception.

These are sicky pictures back when the kiddos were downed by stomach junk. Poor Haelley was so sick. For those of you who didn't know, we had to take her to the ER for fluids. She was extremely dehydrated and sick with the rotavirus and a UTI.

These are Easter pictures. Janet, Michaels Great-Aunt or something like that, gave the kiddos towels. Here they proudly show them off (fully clothed, for your sake).

We went to Michael's Aunt Lauri's house for Easter. They had an Easter Egg Hunt that Haelley was quite successful in.

She got the hang of it pretty quickly.

Bren is always smiling!

I think I know the answer now, several people have told me that these are Bleeding Hearts, but I thought I'd post them anyway for input.

Movies!!

Just some things about these videos. The one with Haelley and Brennan in the crib-Michael put Bren in there before she was awake, this was her reaction. The dancing one-she loves to watch commercials or anything with music.

Book Excerpt

I will post pics and movies tonight, I promise, but I really wanted to share this with you all. Jim Butcher is my new favorite author. He writes fantasy (which I'm really picky about), and his is amazing. His main character is named Harry Dresden, a wizard. The character, though very brave and powerful, is very genuine and sarcastic. He is so good about blending the two parts together. The following was something Harry was thinking. I thought it was good on so many levels.

"We still hadn't learned, though, that growing up is all about getting hurt. And then getting over it. You hurt. You recover. You move on. Odds are pretty good you're just going to get hurt again. But each time, you learn something.
Each time, you come out of it a little stronger, and at some point you realize that there are more flavors of pain than coffee. There's the little empty pain of leaving something behind-graduating, taking the next step forward, walking out of something familiar and safe into the unknown. There's the big, whirling pain of life upending all of your plans and expectations. There's the sharp little pains of failure, and the more obscure aches of successes that didn't give you what you thought they would. There are the vicious, stabbing pains of hopes being torn up. The sweet little pains of finding others, giving them your love, and taking joy in their life as they grow and learn. There's the steady pain of empathy that you shrug off so you can stand beside a wounded friend and help them bear their burdens.
And if you're very, very lucky, there are a very few blazing hot little pains you feel when you realize that you are standing in a moment of utter perfection, an instant of triumph, or happiness, or mirth which at the same time cannot possibly last-and yet will remain with you for life.
Everyone is down on pain, because they forget something important about it: pain is for the living. Only the dead don't feel it.
Pain is part of life. sometimes it's a big part, and sometimes it isn't, but either way, it's part of the big puzzle, the deep music, the great game. Pain does two things: It teaches you, tells you that you're alive. Then it passes away and leaves you changed. It leaves you wiser sometimes. Sometimes it leaves you stronger. Either way, pain leaves its mark, and everything important that will ever happen to you in life is going to involve it in one degree or another."