Unwelcome Visitor

Unwelcome is a complete understatement. I walked into the kitchen early this morning and found this...






a bark scorpion. This is not the first time we've gotten one of these, and unfortunately it won't be the last. These things scare me to death, especially knowing that young children could die from it's sting. I'm so glad I came across it before either of my babies. Fortunately, Paul came to my rescue. He rolled clear packing tape over the scorpion (this is the only way to make sure any babies on their backs don't scatter) and then squished it. Yes, we have an exterminator and he is well aware of our problem. But living in an area with water features in the desert makes it impossible to completely remove the buggers. Short of moving (which I refuse to do until they take me out in a pine box), the only things we can do are remove their food supply (hence the exterminator) and try to seal the house up better. Good luck considering they can squeeze through a crack the width of a credit card.

Sounds Like...?

It is truly amazing to watch a little person learn to speak. One minute they're cooing, then they're babbling silly nonsense, next they're parroting everything they hear. It's so cute to hear Ian speak. After we put him in bed at night, I love to listen to him ramble on about his day to his stuffed animals as he waits for sleep to come. Most of his words are unintelligible, but it makes sense to him. It sure sounds like full blown sentences, just in a different language. Ianese perhaps.

Ian does have a long list of understandable words he speaks. Colors, numbers, animals, family members, to name a few. Each day his vocabulary seems to grow by leaps and bounds. He's listening to everything, and repeating it back. He truly is a sponge!

At no time does this become more apparent than at dinner. A couple of nights ago, Ian was happily babbling away about his Papa, peas (that he and his Papa had planted together), the slide at the park, the garbage truck. We had quite the conversationalist on our hands. Suddenly, he started slapping his hands against his booster chair tray and yelling out something that we couldn't quite make out. Ian was very enthusiastic about it and kept doing it, confident he was saying what he meant. After a few more repetitions, I thought I knew what he was saying, but couldn't believe it. I looked at Paul to see if he was thinking the same thing I was. He looked just as confused as I did. This was a word never spoken in our house. Ian continued to slap his hands on his tray and yell, "Damn. Damn. Damn!" In the hopes that Ian will never use this word again, Paul and I decided to ignore him. Difficult as it was, we swallowed our fits of laughter and went on with dinner.

Granted, I don't think there are necessarily "bad" words, we just choose to not swear. Honest, we don't use that word. So, the question is, where did he learn it?

3 A.M. Scream

The last couple of weeks, I've felt the joy of sleeping through the night again. Laurel has graciously slept from about 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. the following morning. As we are too well aware of, all good things come to an end.

This morning, I was awakened by a hysterical baby. I dragged myself into her room and found that she had rolled over onto her stomach. This normally does piss her off, but the fact that she had an arm and a leg stuck between the crib rails really pissed her off. I'd be screaming too. She must have thought the crib was eating her or something. As soon as I freed her arm and leg and positioned her on her back, she fell right back to sleep. I kissed her sweet forehead, checked on her silly, backwards sleeping brother, and headed for my own beloved bed.

A Smile Is All It Takes

Who would have ever guessed that true happiness comes from seeing a baby smile. Perceptions change over time, but right now at this very moment, my joy comes from seeing sweet drooling smiles. Even better is seeing my husband enjoy those smiles too.



I can't believe Laurel's three months old. Dare I say it, I blinked. She's already changed enough that I'm saying I miss certain things. I miss her bobbing head against my shoulder. I miss picking her up and almost launching her into orbit because she was as light as a feather. I miss her newborn cry, mind you just the cry, not the getting up every hour or two at night.


Laurel's realizing that she should be mobile. Laying still is a thing of the past since she's discovered rolling can change her viewpoint. I'm amazed at how she'll be placed on the floor and within minutes she'll have rotated 180 degrees. In the last couple of days she's been rolling over from her back to her tummy. She absolutely hates to be on her tummy, so when I hear a blood curdling cry, I run to her rescue. Funny thing is, if I place her on her stomach first, she can usually roll over to her back unassisted. You'd think she'd remember how to do this when she ends up on her tummy do to her own doing. She must be shocked that she would ever do this to herself and gets rid of her frustration by screaming her wee head off.

Easter Deflated

Paul went to the D-backs game Easter afternoon, while Ian, Laurel and I planned to drive out to Tony and Diana's. I must have been feeling overly confident in driving myself and the kids to my brother's house in Maricopa (a one hour drive one way), because while on the freeway a passenger in another car kindly told me of our flat tire. You would think I would notice it while driving, yet somehow I didn't. Any way, I luckily was able to drive into a parking lot and call for roadside assistance. Someone showed up 45 minutes later.






Ian was delighted to see a real tow truck. Actually, it probably made it a perfect Easter for him.






















Laurel could care less.











Ian decided to spend the time annoying Laurel by occasionally sticking his foot in her face. It must be a natural instinct for older siblings to torture the younger ones.



My dad turned out to be the hero of the day. There was no way I would drive all the way out to Maricopa and back on a spare tire. My dad, who was already at Tony and Diana's, volunteered to drive back to get the three of us so we could join in the Easter festivities. That meant an hour drive to get us, installing a car seat, and another hour drive back to Maricopa. He did it, and with a smile no less. What a guy!

Proud Big Brother

Ian absolutely loves his little sister. He finally got to hold her. Boy is he ever proud of her. His face just beams!













Laurel looks to Ian for ideas on what to do next.

Date Night...Finally!

After about a 2 month hiatus, Paul and I got to go on a date. Whoo-hoo. Even better, it wasn't your typical movie and a dinner date, oh no. We saw Billy Joel! That man still rocks despite aging and having to go through rehab.