Well son, Mommy went sky diving...

I woke up this morning, blurry-eyed, sipping coffee and laughed hysterically at the first email in my inbox:

Emily,


We have not been in touch for a while. You skydived with us in the past years and we thought it was time to send you some greetings from Taupo - New Zealand.

We would be delighted if you would like to stay in touch with us on either facebook or twitter, and if you have any photos or videos you want to share with us that would be awesome.

All the best and safe travels.

The Team at Taupo Tandem Skydiving.




This email brought joyful memories to mind and seems like a lifetime ago.  Fortunately I have no pictures to share of this event (lucky for me) ...my cheeks were stretching towards outerspace while my body was plummeting towards the earth.  I do have a video, but forgot to take it out of my carry on before it went through the x-ray machine and the footage was destroyed. Oh well.  I must admit I felt much cooler than I actually looked!

My second email was from sweet Nelle (lovingly, Ellen--her name backwards) sharing pictures from her visit...

My favorite for last:

   This is going to be a good Friday, I can already tell! Have a great weekend.

The itsy bitsy spider

Is Van's favorite song. You have never seen such excitment when you start those four words. Seeing mama Bex's newborn, Jackson, made me realize how Van is not so "itsy bitsy" anymore.  Recently, Evans and I sat down and looked through some early photos and we could not believe how small he was! 

                        {My ring finger was too swollen for wedding rings}...

When you spend every day with him, its hard to visualize how much he is changing.  He finally fits into his LEL gown so we had a photo shoot this morning.

Brooks Elementary School is right across the street from our house.  Every morning a cute mom walks behind her two scooter-riding boys and can be seen toting the scooters back up to her house after she drops them off for school. It makes me excited to imagine walking a little Van to school with Nana Soph.  Some afternoons we sit outside and watch the kids on the playground and I find their laughs, giggles, and bossiness so entertaining.

Today is a DH Hill day and I have my first meeting with my thesis advisor next Tuesday!! Yikes.

Lastly...hooray for cousin Fray!!!!!!! She took her first solo steps yesterday, which is so hard to believe.  Lots of love Fray-Wump!

parenting lesson number 3,005

Don't take baby, dog, yourself on a long walk when the bottom is about to fall out of the sky. Maybe I should rename this blog "Disasters of Parenting"...

We got all geared up, Van in the BOB, Soph on the leash for a casual stroll around the neighborhood. Since it wasn't a major hoofing walk, I was in sandals. About 15 minutes away from the house, the bottom falls.

I kept walking at first because I tried to convince myself it was only leftover raindrops falling from the trees...but eventually realized I needed to bolt home.  Of course Sophie decides to stop and try to poo every 3 seconds while I'm running as fast as possible in a skirt and sandals pushing this enormous stroller...Van starts screaming from the cold rain drops hitting his little sausage legs. What a mess! {And funny mental picture I am sure}... We made it home and I decided this scenario was humbly refreshing. I can hear Rhombus saying now "welcome to motherhood!" haha

We were all soaked so I stripped Van down to his diaper and let him take it out on the drums.

How to catch on fire

...Hover over an "OFF" candle in a billowy dress. Hopefully I can salvage the dress.

                                      
                       Busy weekend with lots of great friends visiting!

Van is still teething up a storm and we are praying an actual tooth appears soon after all his discomfort. He can put himself on all fours and push his heiney in the air, moving forward about an inch at a time...so a crawling wumpus is on the way!

Another wumpus is on the way...his soon-to-be friend, Jackson Farris!! Lots of love, Farris fam!!

And a new shipment of his cousin's toys arrived, including a new ride! Thanks Oliver :)

Perfect day for a picnic!

AND the cleaning lady came. What a glorious day! Happy weekends!! {esp to those family members in the northern half of the country!}

You'll be glad this post has no pictures.

Today at lunch, I was so excited to be rocking my pre-preggo white pants! What an accomplishment...I mean you'd think after 7 months...

Anyway, I'm feeding Van and Evans comes home to get a sandwich. I am hoping he'll notice my nice white pants.

What he notices is a big, brown, wet spot all over my lap.

Leaky diaper, strike 1!

...well here is a picture for fun:

Gardening, Reading, Bluegrass

What a fun, hard-working weekend! Evans and I got our flower, herb, and vegetable gardens up to speed. Everything looks and smells so wonderful...I just love being outside this time of year before the mosquitos take over.

Herbs...

Vegetables...

Flowers...

G-diddy and G-mommy lent us their old fountain and Evans worked hard Saturday afternoon to get it up and running.

We finally broke down and turned on the AC since it reached the 90s but the season is teetering on one of my favorite parts of the year. {Fall, clearly being the best!}

Any ideas how to keep bunnies out of your plants? We don't want to scare ours away but the little rascals are eating the leaves off of our mums.

Ever since I embarked on my thesis I have been reading more than ever {non-thesis related material, that is}... I finished Rosamunde Pilcher's The End of Summer in a nice long, candlelit bubble bath Friday evening... I am 3 quarters through The Birth House, halfway into Conroy's South of Broad, and excited to start my two book club reads: Twilight and Dune Road. Let me know if you have any other recommendations! I love adding books to my list and multi-tasking plot lines.

Our pool opens this weekend and Van got some new swimming trunks from G-mommy! I will have to let him model later.

We spent this Sunday evening discussing our Farmshare Work Schedule to the tune of the PineCone Bluegrass Radio Music show.  Looks like we've hopped back into the early 20th century.  Have a great start to the week.

Get in my belly!!

Yesterday evening, I took supper to dear sweet mama Bex who is due technically June 2nd, but potentially any day now. Seeing her belly made me experience some sort of phantom-baby-pump pain that made me nostalgic for little baby Van in my belly. It is so strange how quickly you forget what its like to be pregnant! I know I was so ready for that baby to come out, but then now it seems so wonderful knowing this sweet little fella was growing inside of you that entire time:


Here is the recipe for Jerianne's Chicken Noodle Soup (plus a few additional goodies)
4 Tbs. Butter
4 Tbs. Flour
2 Small cans evaporated milk
Salt & Pepper
1.5 Cans chicken broth
2 Boiled, chopped boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 of a large bag of whole wheat egg noodles, cooked
1 Cup of shredded cheddar cheese
2 Cups of chopped spinach
One carrot, shredded

Melt butter
Whisk in flour
Whisk in evaporated milk
Stir until thickens
Add S&P
Add 1 can chicken broth
Stir and simmer until thickens
Add chicken & noodles
Add 1/2 cup of the cheese, spinach, and carrot
Stir and simmer
Add more S&P, chicken broth as needed

Top with remaining cheese and serve with whole wheat biscuits

Bisch brought a delicious cheeseball for dessert!

Today Van and I are headed to yet another college campus to visit some of my former co-workers at Peace College and potentially endeavor on a summer project helping out the career center.

Have a great morning!

Respect your mother!

Yesterday afternoon, I was at Kroger {again} buying some wine for book club. I was carded by Darlene {who doesn't remember meeting Van and has yet to ask me his name again, thank goodness} and while viewing my ID she screamed out: "OH MY GOSH... we have the same birthday!!"

How many similarities can we possibly have? Thanks for the cute shirt, Syd!

Spoiled Rotten.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the fantastic mothers and mothers-to-be reading this blog. It is HARD WORK but worth every effort. Happy Mother's Day especially to Rhombus! And to Jerianne who raised such a wonderful guy.

Rhombus, Evans, Van and even Soph spoiled me rotten. My spoiling began by being personally fitted by Rachel Pally with a very cute, fun skirt and top that will probably become my new uniform. Evans hid happy mother's day signs all over the house this weekend and they were popping up in the fridge, in my laptop, etc...

We had a pool date with Buddy Man & Soph...

Then Evans made some delicious mother's day pancakes (sans syrup)

and gave me some deliciously smelling body wash from the spa at Pebble Beach (I had to throw mine away from the CA wedding gift bag b/c the bottle was too big to fit through airport security).

Ah...pedicures and brunch with Rhombi {we were both feeling a little bollywoodish}...

                                A sewing project {the curtains}...

                 Lots of catching up on sleep, reading, and relaxing.

                  Such a beautiful, special first mother's day.

**AND HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO CUTE AND BEAUTIFUL AUNTIE SNAGS & FRAY**

Forever and Ever, Amen

Little debbie zebra cakes, take-out sushi, and cheesey Randy Travis was how we celebrated this anniversary. Not exactly as planned... but still memorable.

Van accompanied me to NCSU to hear some fellow graduate students present their thesis projects. Although I was extremely jealous they are finished with this milestone... It was a pleasant way to spend the morning until Van decided to test his vocal chords. My professors enjoyed meeting this guy who distracted most of their classes last year as he grew and grew in my belly.

Our yard is in bloom and so is Van's crawling instinct! He is scooting around backwards on the hardwood floors...I've heard this is normal but yet to confirm...

I am looking forward to Mother's Day weekend = starbucks, pedis., and brunch with Rhombus and some QT with my boys.

Have a great morning!