tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13229952687642594402024-03-12T22:23:17.969-04:00Mister, Freddie, & Wren BirdMister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-61094826101451940202012-07-23T09:49:00.000-04:002012-07-23T09:49:19.818-04:00A Collaboration of Sometimes<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">
Sometimes the Mister has to work overnight.</div>
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Sometimes it happens alot in a month.</div>
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Sometimes I stay up all night when the Mister is working.</div>
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Sometimes I spend those nights obsessively Pinning on <a href="http://pinterest.com/hlstrycker/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>.</div>
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::carefully curating the balance of fitspo and food porn of course::</div>
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Sometimes my friends notice my sandy glazed eyes and the light crust of insomnia drool crusted on my cheek.</div>
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Sometimes I suspect they draw lots to see whose turn it is to babysit me.</div>
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Sometimes we realize we have scheduled out fourteen years of free time with Pinterest DIY projects.</div>
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Sometimes we decide to accomplish JUST. ONE.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoF86NJbIqlL3Pzdi81jo_z6zN4T_YQWZrgnhwBiuIfHYS6il_SO2DFM71BHdzZuKSzVGDU9QPNNqMRSgQDCd3YFC-PsMooL3mRZSWQnFBtcXq4R2ORqPTcg5ZOMthrL0lq4Qqw2dUKKM/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Sometimes we transform our creativity into productivity and have an </span></div>
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"I WILL Accomplish a Pinterest Project Party" </div>
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while the Mister is working overnight.</div>
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Sometimes my dear friends will stay overnight so I can sleep. </div>
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Sometimes, despite good intentions, instead of sleeping, we stay up talking and eating fresh, homemade kettle corn.</div>
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But at least we didn't Pin anything else.</div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-34293270195738368262012-02-23T21:21:00.000-05:002012-02-23T21:21:11.699-05:00Three Months<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixdbwgxKs_XGxZRtNmGGKpHCcWUaPA9zJ06gIbaBq3eJBRRGu1g3SM-1v67_iSrqHmbs4g811ivX7tSbdLeJlCWyHUKl-rVCobldfFpanLo74-uCw62EBcE_9N8me__rQ4M_mvhyphenhyphen4qDGw/s1600/Group+Shot+at+Roman+Numerals.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHQqj3VI3BByqR-8zy7qd6sxgjTmbNOv76Hje-MJqi0ZF62A_62VaRCH1jY6cc64mEPMaO_E11RPUo2aDrSZp8rcUOxERG0qs-MjjN7RCTQ2nYWGyrWQNY2C7lE_mUHS8yjpvJypD8I8/s1600/Laundry+Basket+1-1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHQqj3VI3BByqR-8zy7qd6sxgjTmbNOv76Hje-MJqi0ZF62A_62VaRCH1jY6cc64mEPMaO_E11RPUo2aDrSZp8rcUOxERG0qs-MjjN7RCTQ2nYWGyrWQNY2C7lE_mUHS8yjpvJypD8I8/s400/Laundry+Basket+1-1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">There are certain things that happen everywhere we go.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">People ooh and ahh over the Wren Bird.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">They tell me she's such a cute little boy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">I resolve not to dress her in blue any longer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">I see that she's just so darn cute in blue stripes that I vow to move to France.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">The Midwest isn't ready for little girls in Breton stripes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Something else also happens wherever we go. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">I've come to the conclusion that we give off an intense aroma of heavenly delight and manic desperation. It begs for sweet ladies at the grocery store and the JoAnn's cutting counter to look beseechingly into my eyes and whisper with tears choking their words that the Wren Bird will be grown and gone before I know it -- I must cherish every second.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Well I'll show them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">In order to make time slow down, I will now be posting monthly updates at seven week intervals.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">For the Birdie's three month birthday we went downtown to experience the Super Bowl Madness.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">In the middle of the week.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">At 11:00a in the morning.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Just our speed.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixdbwgxKs_XGxZRtNmGGKpHCcWUaPA9zJ06gIbaBq3eJBRRGu1g3SM-1v67_iSrqHmbs4g811ivX7tSbdLeJlCWyHUKl-rVCobldfFpanLo74-uCw62EBcE_9N8me__rQ4M_mvhyphenhyphen4qDGw/s1600/Group+Shot+at+Roman+Numerals.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixdbwgxKs_XGxZRtNmGGKpHCcWUaPA9zJ06gIbaBq3eJBRRGu1g3SM-1v67_iSrqHmbs4g811ivX7tSbdLeJlCWyHUKl-rVCobldfFpanLo74-uCw62EBcE_9N8me__rQ4M_mvhyphenhyphen4qDGw/s400/Group+Shot+at+Roman+Numerals.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">She wasn't that impressed.</div><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">I bet she would have been if we'd seen Ryan Gosling.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
Hey Girl.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC75lBpuVm6TaPNFpAHxRKlkhRWb6659gu33EPKWAuMh-DJuUljzngYzGGKMuzLI_Skv3NI9tAe49WHIzKwRblawEUV_Qzqui0dHH79WDZlRYbneUuPBlyXmlOIqAJPvWJzADMN5ttghA/s1600/Smile+4.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC75lBpuVm6TaPNFpAHxRKlkhRWb6659gu33EPKWAuMh-DJuUljzngYzGGKMuzLI_Skv3NI9tAe49WHIzKwRblawEUV_Qzqui0dHH79WDZlRYbneUuPBlyXmlOIqAJPvWJzADMN5ttghA/s400/Smile+4.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">This month the Birdie met some special people...</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqSszPhG5cjhayA9DpQYgbPYxoNLdW0gKPzSdosvI68BcR-WKAuyngn5WOScg8TmBTlvAEaReFvlOkGP9jl9gSg1ShsILOkLf3D9ERujxGp96o774WOUW1G0qC5unGzlO5fKAwW7YbGj8/s1600/Wren+and+Hunter-1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqSszPhG5cjhayA9DpQYgbPYxoNLdW0gKPzSdosvI68BcR-WKAuyngn5WOScg8TmBTlvAEaReFvlOkGP9jl9gSg1ShsILOkLf3D9ERujxGp96o774WOUW1G0qC5unGzlO5fKAwW7YbGj8/s400/Wren+and+Hunter-1.JPG" width="330" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> and played with some special friends.</div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEgOnajgkYEhaxLy-gJMkmoG3j0x70vSnC5EDEhIoIXx00GdBg3z8CHVL-01ioPLtLXEFkS2Ps6EOAYMB_fM1NOw98y39pabnvoXtkBpodEVzWHiD-sSBGwbR2BdPKtTUvt_rNngwA9Zo/s1600/Wren,+Aubrey,+and+Rylee.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEgOnajgkYEhaxLy-gJMkmoG3j0x70vSnC5EDEhIoIXx00GdBg3z8CHVL-01ioPLtLXEFkS2Ps6EOAYMB_fM1NOw98y39pabnvoXtkBpodEVzWHiD-sSBGwbR2BdPKtTUvt_rNngwA9Zo/s400/Wren,+Aubrey,+and+Rylee.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">She learned that the tv is the mostamazingthingEVER.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">I learned that it was worth compromising my </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">crunchy-mama-books-only vision when tummy time became the </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">latest form of child abuse.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Obviously this is the first principle I've compromised since the Birdie arrived.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">I should probably end on that note.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVH3AIA7K4UbSfLJjlnXBFpkteGa5Jqujp2u-XL_vdzyLIhnL-yWSlgEGLDHfVZYN70V7b5UbK7uBRtpeNKNcBWBn-UArG_q6AlHkY0cVhxK7eLBDtgKwoKstVZ_PXVZEU64I40-51-Y/s1600/Smile+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVH3AIA7K4UbSfLJjlnXBFpkteGa5Jqujp2u-XL_vdzyLIhnL-yWSlgEGLDHfVZYN70V7b5UbK7uBRtpeNKNcBWBn-UArG_q6AlHkY0cVhxK7eLBDtgKwoKstVZ_PXVZEU64I40-51-Y/s320/Smile+3.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-13178395181014415592012-01-23T16:43:00.000-05:002012-01-23T16:43:27.277-05:00One of Those Days<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">I think the Mister worries about us while he's gone.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">There was this one time, just before the Wren Bird came, there was a tornado coming and I read the weather map (that was live and in motion) backwards, thought the storm had passed, and proceeded to whine that I really wanted to watch Dexter.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">He was very worried about the Birdie's future that day.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">He doesn't like it when I go running during lightning storms.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Or when I play "Chicken" with the cars that are in MY ROAD while I'm running.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">He worries about my psychological health when I tell our puppy that I'm going to rip her ears off and stick them up her nose.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Come to think of it, I worry about my psychological health when I tell our puppy that I'm going to rip her ears off and stick them up her nose...</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Huh.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">So in the chaos of Newborn Life, there are times when I suspect he's torn between rushing home to the rescue... </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">or just not coming home until many. hours. later.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Last week, I had to send him this: </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSxbCHzG6Hg6UY9UjXtKGW3VBwhuFnXRtK0-2tgQ6ixBsnlHdX3rXL_aDLQs9XrLcSDDoUV2F49CTa_QV1AFltwX8WMaa3Kgj5imqA8-ZJSsJUmWjwxPbydfRJBFvg3IGxVdJcAaiPNpE/s1600/IMG_1349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSxbCHzG6Hg6UY9UjXtKGW3VBwhuFnXRtK0-2tgQ6ixBsnlHdX3rXL_aDLQs9XrLcSDDoUV2F49CTa_QV1AFltwX8WMaa3Kgj5imqA8-ZJSsJUmWjwxPbydfRJBFvg3IGxVdJcAaiPNpE/s400/IMG_1349.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0u4pNsBO4NU4F0-5zdiw5AgLaf-fiWC5KaTb1ihwixz7_Yp1WQbCH4kAmezso6yhvLVYqeUa9lZuylqSF8CavkSuSZev44nNQwRT-llyuy54l7o3k-lWsCnY-UEyTFgHLrBELsT7cmJE/s1600/IMG_1352.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0u4pNsBO4NU4F0-5zdiw5AgLaf-fiWC5KaTb1ihwixz7_Yp1WQbCH4kAmezso6yhvLVYqeUa9lZuylqSF8CavkSuSZev44nNQwRT-llyuy54l7o3k-lWsCnY-UEyTFgHLrBELsT7cmJE/s400/IMG_1352.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><b>Text message exchange on said day: </b></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Freddie: This is the trail of pooped on and spit up on clothes at our house right now.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Mister: Oh no! Are you going to be okay until I get home?</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Good thing he's much more the swooping in, red cape, </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">white knight kinda guy.</span></div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-14724972583075608532012-01-20T10:26:00.000-05:002012-01-20T10:26:30.449-05:00Seems Uncanny<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Don't get me wrong.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">We love books in this here little casa.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">When I was growing up, I was regularly grounded from reading.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(but that's another story)</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">I confess to unintentional voter fraud in order to save my library membership.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(but that's another story too)</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">We intend to instill a similar love of books in our little Birdie by inundating her with Eric Carle books until her wee eyes cross and her head bobbles in exhaustion.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(this may or may not have already happened)</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">The Mister thought I had gone off my Stay At Home Mommy rocker when I babbled excitedly about how the little Birdie loved story time and would cry if you didn't ACTUALLY READ to her.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">He was proved wrong. </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(but THAT'S another story too)</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">So, you see I love books!</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">I love classic children's literature!</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"> But... </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Is it just me?</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Or does the Wren Bird <strike>astonishingly</strike> sorta resemble a </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Robert McCloskey illustration?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQrCHiQeI4M49awFPJC_ykqzyY9rCGE6lzpetxV2t1JsFyB2vk01IfIDwN2wXPb5OM_7ATbDGniIr2yZN00UV0LxoFDmhFhv4w1xKmrBPQnmch89oApUtCJJ771s7sacCl6XUc-ZtWlw/s1600/Homer+Price.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQrCHiQeI4M49awFPJC_ykqzyY9rCGE6lzpetxV2t1JsFyB2vk01IfIDwN2wXPb5OM_7ATbDGniIr2yZN00UV0LxoFDmhFhv4w1xKmrBPQnmch89oApUtCJJ771s7sacCl6XUc-ZtWlw/s400/Homer+Price.jpg" width="400" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-14056227223778443192012-01-09T17:22:00.000-05:002012-01-09T17:22:14.255-05:00Two Months<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIeeZB7VvhAAQGWzkqzVp5-Vbni9ZCKy35tsp5daNH8Yb_y5HZuOPPelfHkJhM89_-PSrlvCBXONdokv7yVdeVXnV7CRMzwZT2psXFOVlNANWdSiRTyMj4Anlnt24KO2oKKi5Pvii498s/s400/edited+two+month+photo.jpg" width="400" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">9lbs 11oz</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">22.5 in.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Our life at two months:</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">The Wren Bird took her chubs very seriously this month.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">She rocketed into the 20th percentile and has the rolls to prove it.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">I waffle somewhere between smug and bewildered that I now use "percentile" in everyday language.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
This little girl loves her daddy.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">I feedher.rockher.clotheher.changeher.takeherforwalks.readtoher all.day.long.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">She's pleasant to me. She's happy for me.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">But the instant the Mister walks in the door, she wildly flaps her now roly-poly arms and squawks like the love child of a seagull and Tickle Me Elmo.<br />
While the time Wren and I spend at the changing table could been seen as a forecast of our relationship in fifteen years, the only sounds I hear from her room when the Mister is home are coos and giggles.<br />
I encourage frequent use of the "Daddy Diaper Patrol."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Because of this shockingly warm winter, the Wren Bird and I went on our first run outdoors in the BOBS stroller.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">We call him Bob. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">We're that kind of clever 'round in these here parts.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifsTIRbdP5JzpQgS5fOJQwqC3mMEoLA07DfGrUcPWvK5UkWx2OUoLvqvzRlgU-CAJ3bXP4sIVqehLfBsblFfmfsz3wYrTJQXKcxqyIoHegJ4g9uAlyIz75iduOzchcW-HrLPXkOjLH00Q/s400/first+run.jpg" width="300" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">The Birdie got her first shots.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">If you think this is bad, you should have seen my face.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBVKR9O2akq3GS2laBaWlDTaNLnfxLm5F1Wp4cyIsFgvRl_tgntr7RWOSj7WiSximPU69MFqhKvgv-dMGWgB1KUNOdExWA-WnpDE_AcJP-NA91q5zP5KOUXg5_vsIgiJNSc9twHyKpXi4/s1600/Shots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBVKR9O2akq3GS2laBaWlDTaNLnfxLm5F1Wp4cyIsFgvRl_tgntr7RWOSj7WiSximPU69MFqhKvgv-dMGWgB1KUNOdExWA-WnpDE_AcJP-NA91q5zP5KOUXg5_vsIgiJNSc9twHyKpXi4/s400/Shots.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">In addition to the coos and laughter, that achieve a level of verbosity we're fairly certain has never been and will never again be seen in an infant, the Wren Bird is learning many forms of self-expression.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFfm_0E_TVQrwQ_I1Wp45gWpcHZvsC-4GWmbVFts6af5Q4it1Hg0cV5B8pBkJzrCaK9iq2MVrl3b88JcTQPC8PMSWeI_ZuKB6tHYKgz-jeEoW870GtxQ51ah_ULDNH-UAD6guu-9HqJhw/s1600/Two+Months.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFfm_0E_TVQrwQ_I1Wp45gWpcHZvsC-4GWmbVFts6af5Q4it1Hg0cV5B8pBkJzrCaK9iq2MVrl3b88JcTQPC8PMSWeI_ZuKB6tHYKgz-jeEoW870GtxQ51ah_ULDNH-UAD6guu-9HqJhw/s400/Two+Months.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-65791372393260822312011-12-12T19:29:00.001-05:002011-12-12T19:29:28.900-05:00It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">After four years of participating in Very Large Yuletide Decorating Projects at my places of employ, it was lovely to decorate square footage in the four digits.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Especially lovely when "decorate" is defined: burrowed on the couch while directing, "hmmm... a few more lights on the right."</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">Have I mentioned how much I love the Mister? </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB5KAmSRnzCDfIAIEs9hostY_gLc1P4xEWhjczwxPqLAEe7baTff7gz7aXDUqevE3gQxzOsRUyQZuu0I0HNf-6OyxJuXu1WdcfXQUkJZkiGol6JbG132G5rPMt-tEntV2vhpsiA_QTKTc/s1600/IMG_0413.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB5KAmSRnzCDfIAIEs9hostY_gLc1P4xEWhjczwxPqLAEe7baTff7gz7aXDUqevE3gQxzOsRUyQZuu0I0HNf-6OyxJuXu1WdcfXQUkJZkiGol6JbG132G5rPMt-tEntV2vhpsiA_QTKTc/s400/IMG_0413.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">pretty twinkle lights and doily snowflakes</span>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ZCy20ED8zGMU8qtpOE8z0kiBn9KCTNkeRQ0W30CiyapWjLJAs-ztEsSNpTF1670Egdpgjaem8_2oS9g-rO-5CW4D5T_BXK1UwfZwBZD1hyphenhyphenX6l4u4q94GkHXAkhkfZ5pljXbmWyLj3Gc/s1600/IMG_0416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ZCy20ED8zGMU8qtpOE8z0kiBn9KCTNkeRQ0W30CiyapWjLJAs-ztEsSNpTF1670Egdpgjaem8_2oS9g-rO-5CW4D5T_BXK1UwfZwBZD1hyphenhyphenX6l4u4q94GkHXAkhkfZ5pljXbmWyLj3Gc/s400/IMG_0416.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">festive lanterns and mistletoe.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJl4I6-QArQu4wMcemAPsvVzxFtvIcgJKcd-6MzAG_hu-tc8W11zyywPvcOtPoZ0VfrA_Btp0I1aNb7cKokLukLgcDct_4ufCG6-lEHAlZz7_mQKFSb0FsoyFR9zgGxXPMpmoBagL9BMo/s1600/IMG_0417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJl4I6-QArQu4wMcemAPsvVzxFtvIcgJKcd-6MzAG_hu-tc8W11zyywPvcOtPoZ0VfrA_Btp0I1aNb7cKokLukLgcDct_4ufCG6-lEHAlZz7_mQKFSb0FsoyFR9zgGxXPMpmoBagL9BMo/s400/IMG_0417.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">quirky elf that the mister thinks is creepy. <br />
i love you little elf.</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEienQG5HcJf0B6da8z4U6MVKTxFHxmFSmo4ZqrkCEoKfMNQtB6vAczaurhtqwJ2pQOS9P2sjlEfXsqvVwww3-EY1YVWN8RoRoIsnBGgV3NB-rhHXqSmkhpz0oLCBqs2GIiaLh6U17bgsGs/s1600/IMG_0418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEienQG5HcJf0B6da8z4U6MVKTxFHxmFSmo4ZqrkCEoKfMNQtB6vAczaurhtqwJ2pQOS9P2sjlEfXsqvVwww3-EY1YVWN8RoRoIsnBGgV3NB-rhHXqSmkhpz0oLCBqs2GIiaLh6U17bgsGs/s400/IMG_0418.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">pretty sparkles.</span> <br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">why hello there, self in reflection.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWygHoA1QB1JuV6Uhynqhaw1feoRdOCqOP4eTip4fK1LIMNEDm28JjzpXHSUqw8SPq5y9T64gdDLLUha5XpdctmPwiElwNk6XQdBRV6GELwat6RLxgD148Kt1XdyTHPi9qJ97gOmTauvM/s1600/IMG_0420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWygHoA1QB1JuV6Uhynqhaw1feoRdOCqOP4eTip4fK1LIMNEDm28JjzpXHSUqw8SPq5y9T64gdDLLUha5XpdctmPwiElwNk6XQdBRV6GELwat6RLxgD148Kt1XdyTHPi9qJ97gOmTauvM/s400/IMG_0420.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><a href="http://joyfullyweary.blogspot.com/2011/11/our-advent-calendar.html" target="_blank">the prettiest advent calender you ever did see. <br />
thank you aunt rachel and uncle jeremy!</a></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_fhDWa4j2OKgm8T8gEEEFYmb3Ov9XmdT509xGHyTHdHVv0XMeFgoq_xcSnjTEst7NoWA9Ej0bhGkvZYehvHfcOW85Wikthji0WPOeHjqGXL_TJqqFQnMy8EGw_nJAi96_ZiWA0o8o_g/s1600/IMG_0415.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_fhDWa4j2OKgm8T8gEEEFYmb3Ov9XmdT509xGHyTHdHVv0XMeFgoq_xcSnjTEst7NoWA9Ej0bhGkvZYehvHfcOW85Wikthji0WPOeHjqGXL_TJqqFQnMy8EGw_nJAi96_ZiWA0o8o_g/s400/IMG_0415.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">when in doubt, add more twinkle lights.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0y50IL_4c_2k5RbFjk7_LbG2_-z5W3rIL21mP0LYOkcpU5PtlN6O1LSHwoNFEqcFTbP8NLjZF_OrVHH3FeBF3Wft6yEenxMuo4tVxqshxfRZ5ax23ghuw0IqCo4qsV7Ggb4XuSiI7lA/s1600/IMG_0412.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0y50IL_4c_2k5RbFjk7_LbG2_-z5W3rIL21mP0LYOkcpU5PtlN6O1LSHwoNFEqcFTbP8NLjZF_OrVHH3FeBF3Wft6yEenxMuo4tVxqshxfRZ5ax23ghuw0IqCo4qsV7Ggb4XuSiI7lA/s400/IMG_0412.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">candles in mason jars with a mistletoe-scented candle.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaSyOtuci9CHYSdEeEw3utCPrM6vtXgP6GRgLk0bZXQba5Dg8bk2DEzuws5TTWo07QdMYRTjb_C98KmzSyx5kO9l43P6z0Gle3Ip95N3wURNyu2Q-IHra3kB4rmNFOu5gzEwzySQOYFOc/s1600/IMG_0414.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaSyOtuci9CHYSdEeEw3utCPrM6vtXgP6GRgLk0bZXQba5Dg8bk2DEzuws5TTWo07QdMYRTjb_C98KmzSyx5kO9l43P6z0Gle3Ip95N3wURNyu2Q-IHra3kB4rmNFOu5gzEwzySQOYFOc/s400/IMG_0414.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">cheerful ornaments and bows.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0y50IL_4c_2k5RbFjk7_LbG2_-z5W3rIL21mP0LYOkcpU5PtlN6O1LSHwoNFEqcFTbP8NLjZF_OrVHH3FeBF3Wft6yEenxMuo4tVxqshxfRZ5ax23ghuw0IqCo4qsV7Ggb4XuSiI7lA/s1600/IMG_0412.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-6474452460975274012011-12-07T10:37:00.000-05:002011-12-07T10:37:50.899-05:00Howdy Pardna'<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The weekend after Thanksgiving, the Wren Bird met her </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Uncle Ben from Texas for the first time.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">He began the relationship on her terms...</span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxdOdhXqbOpqw8mbkgn42D8UpgOJE5iVj_IBXFd1j_wvvg3vybNND6ohr0QMVdUUlN25VczkQVkbuPFije7_NzjygYWp8v_bzOW61C7U0xK2Elf0NJkIVFSjzow9Ps00I3MV6St7Qf-o/s1600/Uncle+Ben.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxdOdhXqbOpqw8mbkgn42D8UpgOJE5iVj_IBXFd1j_wvvg3vybNND6ohr0QMVdUUlN25VczkQVkbuPFije7_NzjygYWp8v_bzOW61C7U0xK2Elf0NJkIVFSjzow9Ps00I3MV6St7Qf-o/s400/Uncle+Ben.jpg" width="347" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">But it wasn't long before he was teaching her to say "Yee Haw!".</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH24I0iZpDcpPEDZDnNf-akL9e0A9AOgqZ8H2XRCUVZnHyNWESsvJcvswvmFkDVLtfB_PmS3ZtXXvbIXcQG4J452FAoG8e_QNw0T1VpiZxHiLOJ80Q9e2t34gNUXJdIJPd0Yxr3xieBLQ/s1600/Cowgirl+Wren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH24I0iZpDcpPEDZDnNf-akL9e0A9AOgqZ8H2XRCUVZnHyNWESsvJcvswvmFkDVLtfB_PmS3ZtXXvbIXcQG4J452FAoG8e_QNw0T1VpiZxHiLOJ80Q9e2t34gNUXJdIJPd0Yxr3xieBLQ/s640/Cowgirl+Wren.jpg" width="394" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span></div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-30972368845124935262011-12-06T09:46:00.000-05:002011-12-06T09:46:33.479-05:00One Month<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvpAWXbNZgYWJqq_v4inU5_aMDZ749zCbwkkVqEJNvkFSdhC6njW69mMHY-_GlzVM6VCnDyb_q0T3s3p4DqGTcGO2B8ubt74WTOW9-YAdpIyGDWxqbFZN7Lg84gzoAdphTXaLoHXA8SQ/s1600/IMG_0187-1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvpAWXbNZgYWJqq_v4inU5_aMDZ749zCbwkkVqEJNvkFSdhC6njW69mMHY-_GlzVM6VCnDyb_q0T3s3p4DqGTcGO2B8ubt74WTOW9-YAdpIyGDWxqbFZN7Lg84gzoAdphTXaLoHXA8SQ/s400/IMG_0187-1.jpg" width="400" /></a> </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: CENTER;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">7lbs 6oz</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">20in.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Our life at one month:</span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Victory:</b> We have yet to be late anywhere.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Recount?:</b> We've only committed to being three places<br />
at a specific time. </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Two of them were the Wren Bird's doctor appointments.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Victory:</b> The Wren Bird rolled over twice.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Recount?:</b> Both occasions were during Tummy Time and it was just a serendipitous coordination of her enthusiastic flapping that sent her rolling to her back.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Her astonished blinking was priceless.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Victory:</b> The Wren Bird slept through the night twice last week.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Recount?:</b> I suspect that she was just begging for relief after days filled with errands. Her cooing on the monitor implied she just needed some peaceful time with her thoughts.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Amended Victory:</b> The Wren Bird didn't cry during the night twice last week.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Victory:</b> The Wren Bird recognizes the Mister's and my<br />
face and voice.</div><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Recount?:</b> Some articles and nursing books say your little one will begin to gaze adoringly at you while you're nursing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Wren Bird <u>does</u> recognize me, but the look she gives me most often is a furrowed-brow, suspicious, sideways glare that says </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"What took you so long?!?"</span><br />
<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Victory:</b> We have established an orderly routine.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Recount?:</b> The extent of that routine?<br />
<u>Every time</u> the Wren Bird burps or pooters (delicate mommyspeak for flatulence) we clap and crow like she graduated valedictorian. </div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><u>Every time</u> she flings both arms wildly from her swaddle and stretches her little seven-pound body, we giggle, throw our hands up and cry, "SOOO BIG!"</div><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><u>Every time</u> she falls asleep on someone or does tummy time, we know we have time to accomplish one thing on our list... and yet we choose to take more pictures.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">We are the picture of dignified consistency.</span><br />
<br />
</div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-1150153759942059082011-12-05T17:10:00.000-05:002011-12-05T17:10:33.396-05:00The Birdie's First Turkey Day<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">In order to celebrate with us on Thanksgiving, my brother and <a href="http://joyfullyweary.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">sister-in-law</a>, loaded up their three little people and took the long route to our house.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's a wonder they keep coming - their travels south always seem to spark some travel-devastating natural disaster or bureaucratic notion of improvement. This time was no different.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm so thankful they persevere though because I grew up believing God consulted my older brother when hanging the moon, and the best decision HE ever made was choosing my sister-in-law - moon notwithstanding.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Wren's Maca and Papa, Auntie Em, Aunt Heidi and Uncle Colby joined us as well. With nine adults, four little people, and five dogs it was a full house, but since I remained burrowed on the couch committed to my role as an all-you-can-eat-buffet, I had a front row seat to laugh at the busyness and be very, very thankful for the joy in our home this year.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD3IgBHO5B8s2LFkWCfkuPfRusf0S6UpsMAJ_RKQ4Q1FOzYHGsu6vGUuB0uhYNn3sbpulAmtI9HONnh-WgmiDYqa3vI2q-U29QxAPuYvcScdJgxk4Kyx9DjAnThd6q3rnbhU_sHVT_68k/s1600/Thanksgiving2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD3IgBHO5B8s2LFkWCfkuPfRusf0S6UpsMAJ_RKQ4Q1FOzYHGsu6vGUuB0uhYNn3sbpulAmtI9HONnh-WgmiDYqa3vI2q-U29QxAPuYvcScdJgxk4Kyx9DjAnThd6q3rnbhU_sHVT_68k/s400/Thanksgiving2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Wren Bird met her cousins for the first time.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Getting used to a new little one is a learning experience, but I can't imagine the learning curve had the Wren Bird had an older brother. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Each time I went to change the Birdie's diaper my little Mini Man nephew (right) would bolt into her room crying with glee, </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"Is it poopy? Is it poopy?"</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Upon his arrival, her Big Buddy cousin (left) solemnly informed the Wren Bird that he was Batman, Mini Man was Spiderman, Little Lady was Wonder Woman, and the Wren Bird would now join them as Catwoman.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">While their little boy preoccupation with all things gross and heroic made me laugh, there wasn't anything quite as precious as Mini Man running in saying in distress </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"Baby 'When' is crying!"</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> or Big Buddy sitting beside me and comforting her, </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"It's okay little Birdie, it's okay."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZb7ubhX8p9hmM0h3MuIKf70C1TnSoNtJzVNxFwcBPUn9jKekSk3OSw6hA0hN1ZVlZQFYYQFHbBJzAFTViEco3H3eSR9CF8Fqx0KR9YxdNHTTX8XGdFsfsROydo-F4Fn2jctTzPjCTF0E/s1600/Playing+with+playdough.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZb7ubhX8p9hmM0h3MuIKf70C1TnSoNtJzVNxFwcBPUn9jKekSk3OSw6hA0hN1ZVlZQFYYQFHbBJzAFTViEco3H3eSR9CF8Fqx0KR9YxdNHTTX8XGdFsfsROydo-F4Fn2jctTzPjCTF0E/s400/Playing+with+playdough.jpg" width="383" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Mini Man was certain the Wren Bird would love pumpkin playdough.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_EPd1Ih6jLwZDaik4synP3FFwdNiQBQOY5bTn0SFXqjn8iMkUTTXbGmpmzM8y3A-XTCcPS0yk9FMQd4L5x4896t9VL87YQlWNZCFmHZlfdqJWsfwvNbcuixm16aW11bFBKxRMS6hDTAc/s1600/Doggie+Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_EPd1Ih6jLwZDaik4synP3FFwdNiQBQOY5bTn0SFXqjn8iMkUTTXbGmpmzM8y3A-XTCcPS0yk9FMQd4L5x4896t9VL87YQlWNZCFmHZlfdqJWsfwvNbcuixm16aW11bFBKxRMS6hDTAc/s1600/Doggie+Collage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_EPd1Ih6jLwZDaik4synP3FFwdNiQBQOY5bTn0SFXqjn8iMkUTTXbGmpmzM8y3A-XTCcPS0yk9FMQd4L5x4896t9VL87YQlWNZCFmHZlfdqJWsfwvNbcuixm16aW11bFBKxRMS6hDTAc/s400/Doggie+Collage.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_EPd1Ih6jLwZDaik4synP3FFwdNiQBQOY5bTn0SFXqjn8iMkUTTXbGmpmzM8y3A-XTCcPS0yk9FMQd4L5x4896t9VL87YQlWNZCFmHZlfdqJWsfwvNbcuixm16aW11bFBKxRMS6hDTAc/s1600/Doggie+Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Hattie and Pippin realized that little human snack time is their new Mecca. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Suddenly, the Wren Bird has a future purpose in their lives.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTTNTNsYX8x2lm5TRHnMNmx9dEyou6mXCs5hOBxQRORTBw7C2iXx-oP3cHq6sPzZnKnUbPHn_80gFXahpHc3xXtchrdpUY_cmd_74lGVujbaGV2e4no4mUuIFY3mcSkcerAkO9yEDUY4/s1600/Thanksgiving+Dinner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTTNTNsYX8x2lm5TRHnMNmx9dEyou6mXCs5hOBxQRORTBw7C2iXx-oP3cHq6sPzZnKnUbPHn_80gFXahpHc3xXtchrdpUY_cmd_74lGVujbaGV2e4no4mUuIFY3mcSkcerAkO9yEDUY4/s400/Thanksgiving+Dinner.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It was a nontraditional but oh-so-fabulous Thanksgiving feast.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Mister takes his grilling skills very seriously.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Girls like guys with skills."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmPokFVxvhvh2OAJIAzibhylg5z_7D1BwUw5oIBHTDc0MB6k1ZO6nPw-0-qPOLeb71UEgt-FtrZz5r3toT7CKn9TyDa9OxhT_z4rAM7vA7IgroAbM9JTtjh8BpLK3H5wDGg-K-8Tv9ez4/s1600/First+in+Line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmPokFVxvhvh2OAJIAzibhylg5z_7D1BwUw5oIBHTDc0MB6k1ZO6nPw-0-qPOLeb71UEgt-FtrZz5r3toT7CKn9TyDa9OxhT_z4rAM7vA7IgroAbM9JTtjh8BpLK3H5wDGg-K-8Tv9ez4/s400/First+in+Line.jpg" width="345" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Five years ago I was seduced for the first time by the mysterious allure of Black Friday shopping. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">My sister-in-law and mom were there for my tragic lapse in judgement. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I think we sought solace at Starbucks while I gazed unblinking into the distance and asked if I could sit on my mom's lap.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Never again.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I swore it.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">But then...</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBMgq5vXghi_fiFix7JlZcOU7YumBL_EGMx7d3kploEXdctXq6oOCVYJ_eGxqhJA7PdFDQjZ_BFV4ts5pzXRXni5ERNS_dAOQcbUdY3i2pk6gAixjazOH4B139EBjB5aocKR8Jo5lQW8g/s1600/anthro+sale.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBMgq5vXghi_fiFix7JlZcOU7YumBL_EGMx7d3kploEXdctXq6oOCVYJ_eGxqhJA7PdFDQjZ_BFV4ts5pzXRXni5ERNS_dAOQcbUdY3i2pk6gAixjazOH4B139EBjB5aocKR8Jo5lQW8g/s320/anthro+sale.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
This was enough to pull me from my air mattress at the 4:00 that still has a "0" in front of it.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It was one of my proudest moments when we stood, first to arrive, in front of the Anthropologie store at 5:20a. </span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFE0cCLrtgwXVG-Y2b-KsJZ0qLSHcWVdbn9_tBgObhwZw3WAebJL9SQUVG_nBlbN1p0W9fs5PujthEDcCcsh01WP14QYyrd5FvcbF0DCw_s2T-lDM6u4wpqNeESxBBStYbBCeJaBJXaAM/s1600/Maca+Shopping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFE0cCLrtgwXVG-Y2b-KsJZ0qLSHcWVdbn9_tBgObhwZw3WAebJL9SQUVG_nBlbN1p0W9fs5PujthEDcCcsh01WP14QYyrd5FvcbF0DCw_s2T-lDM6u4wpqNeESxBBStYbBCeJaBJXaAM/s400/Maca+Shopping.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Thank goodness Maca came!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">While I was ferociously sifting through ruffles, lacy granny-inspired knits, and whimsically insect-adorned apparel, Maca and Wren protected our treasures and carried our bags.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">While trying on clothes three weeks post-baby is about as much fun as spending a summer day in rubber pantyhose, we spent a delightful hour and a half in the Anthropologie dressing ro</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">om.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">We spent the rest of the weekend cuddling on the couch, slowly putting up Christmas decorations, reading books with Big Buddy and Mini Man, listening to Pandora Christmas stations, and working on some fun projects.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMs_FZOZA1KqydlWP82Q4xfT_LUdsrz2DWor1xxEOpY0mKhrKEVxqMdG8q0i2hN9FhhVzqliTw_7KR_dgbVDteJj71qMFanCkH7oLwz4a2fLmQnpDYNTBWvftK_M1ekY5oajwR38otU1s/s1600/Wren+and+Colby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMs_FZOZA1KqydlWP82Q4xfT_LUdsrz2DWor1xxEOpY0mKhrKEVxqMdG8q0i2hN9FhhVzqliTw_7KR_dgbVDteJj71qMFanCkH7oLwz4a2fLmQnpDYNTBWvftK_M1ekY5oajwR38otU1s/s400/Wren+and+Colby.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Wren Bird and her Uncle Colby - one of her favorite buddies for warm snuggles.</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHquwn7x1z5_wSb5JEBp3ul8EngBBZiN3PnYoHWIw46IuMUqh6lMuzzdpVfZHcq21DlC5_QemltSPNmCkdk6QJ0hUxwXP-8gdrnrTTtizEv_kRWkIOCstyYOsTg0TPe_s1ZyHi4uyeP7s/s1600/Wren+and+Em.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHquwn7x1z5_wSb5JEBp3ul8EngBBZiN3PnYoHWIw46IuMUqh6lMuzzdpVfZHcq21DlC5_QemltSPNmCkdk6QJ0hUxwXP-8gdrnrTTtizEv_kRWkIOCstyYOsTg0TPe_s1ZyHi4uyeP7s/s400/Wren+and+Em.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Chillin' with Auntie Em.</span></td></tr>
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</div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-91220592708463165682011-12-03T13:00:00.001-05:002011-12-03T13:02:27.369-05:00Maca Days<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Mister had to return to that place that puts money in our bank account.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">This whole business of keeping a little human alive was still very daunting, so my mom - the Wren Bird's Maca - arrived to ensure there was dinner, clean laundry and nap time for the Mister and myself. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It was wonderful to have company and happy chatter as I adjusted to the new rhythm of life with three hour feeding appointments, but we also managed to fill our days with JoAnn Fabrics trips, preparations for Thanksgiving, and random gallivanting around town.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEl698RCn9ieQvYWMICALMVcEPOOqDc1w2oypbAur5sAn4A_AK_JOAWxqsx48f_xZrQJnTvihAP_MR0IlFrq4Oe3l9mqdjbTJB7ojpH0syi5BXGTAjdPFg-edb0oQd63BhULYewml10D4/s1600/Wren+and+Maca.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEl698RCn9ieQvYWMICALMVcEPOOqDc1w2oypbAur5sAn4A_AK_JOAWxqsx48f_xZrQJnTvihAP_MR0IlFrq4Oe3l9mqdjbTJB7ojpH0syi5BXGTAjdPFg-edb0oQd63BhULYewml10D4/s400/Wren+and+Maca.jpg" width="300" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Wren Bird and her Maca.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIBY8U6VrYTz06_EtSzXXwq0l6CPhfQeU7cLcaRKAMsWcggqCnbKQJ6S7zoMmLnR2-9jgYSs-bBD8FhbfLuvas3gvybglY0wVjjWsoOH5V_9PmDU8i2hcS7TRncmxgXyxxlmprrGwrTlU/s1600/Wren+and+Em.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIBY8U6VrYTz06_EtSzXXwq0l6CPhfQeU7cLcaRKAMsWcggqCnbKQJ6S7zoMmLnR2-9jgYSs-bBD8FhbfLuvas3gvybglY0wVjjWsoOH5V_9PmDU8i2hcS7TRncmxgXyxxlmprrGwrTlU/s400/Wren+and+Em.jpg" width="300" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">A trip to see Auntie Em on her farm.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It was too cold to see the ponies. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">We were sad.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6wr2zdZKNGWCUgZJDcFbwgCBUffTq9tWEtCcxZNn63bOKHDl68I8kR7J6peDzbhQlMf6bfz_dkYtcg7p3vYZVvue4D8DTNn8R7YT-Gg2XZb4ZpszMp_prYUWrWZd8QZ3OUtbqd6F1QG0/s1600/Cobblestone+Grill.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6wr2zdZKNGWCUgZJDcFbwgCBUffTq9tWEtCcxZNn63bOKHDl68I8kR7J6peDzbhQlMf6bfz_dkYtcg7p3vYZVvue4D8DTNn8R7YT-Gg2XZb4ZpszMp_prYUWrWZd8QZ3OUtbqd6F1QG0/s400/Cobblestone+Grill.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> The Wren Bird's first girl's lunch with Auntie Em and Maca.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX2-qFXOKWAb48EmYGRRRWlHcirJbt5SnYg4qDUYiUGR1K8uZvE3VWw83c3iPxt0P61obTgH5P3LtrmLUhg2Ko7BU5XIIPESLhL0Fsn_ZXB-eclCa8Lhnh_duYVFmlS7AeGhySl4TV5qA/s1600/Wren+shopping.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX2-qFXOKWAb48EmYGRRRWlHcirJbt5SnYg4qDUYiUGR1K8uZvE3VWw83c3iPxt0P61obTgH5P3LtrmLUhg2Ko7BU5XIIPESLhL0Fsn_ZXB-eclCa8Lhnh_duYVFmlS7AeGhySl4TV5qA/s400/Wren+shopping.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Happy trip to the mall to see the </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Christmas decorations. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I came to terms with the fact that most of my time at the mall will now be spent in the Mother's Room at Von Maur.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mRXI6Yu6Zui5mwYLxUkfz-D895-orHxmkHCa4TnfLpGtjZd_rWNdk79WKz4SBjDx5DZTSSYIXIdkXPFd4STd4G0t5hb7W1JPdJ5J52HcvJmqZYJ85SSMcN6Y2ezS-E1qWG_9gAywzM0/s1600/Grocery+Shopping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mRXI6Yu6Zui5mwYLxUkfz-D895-orHxmkHCa4TnfLpGtjZd_rWNdk79WKz4SBjDx5DZTSSYIXIdkXPFd4STd4G0t5hb7W1JPdJ5J52HcvJmqZYJ85SSMcN6Y2ezS-E1qWG_9gAywzM0/s400/Grocery+Shopping.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Thanksgiving grocery shopping. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Because we have to put the infant seat in the cart, it's the Wren Bird's job to hold the cereal boxes.</span></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7iTLhc-f62lzitr_xzJKIlEwxN0DqxjIxCzSvQB9l8Oj_RjUD3loVBIzKZh0BhTp2aer12z34wcGAXm_uijO3P7OM8QlJHfuUDrpCRCsfumT1RHjJn0tefjqsxwZwbkik7VyA1TPvckU/s1600/Shelly+at+work.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7iTLhc-f62lzitr_xzJKIlEwxN0DqxjIxCzSvQB9l8Oj_RjUD3loVBIzKZh0BhTp2aer12z34wcGAXm_uijO3P7OM8QlJHfuUDrpCRCsfumT1RHjJn0tefjqsxwZwbkik7VyA1TPvckU/s400/Shelly+at+work.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">After two weeks of eat.swaddle.sleep. (bestseller of how it changed her perspective on life coming soon) we took the Wren Bird for her newborn photos. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">She ate, but then we expected her to lie naked and asleep on various furry contraptions. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Wren Bird's world came apart.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">There was great weeping and gnashing of little, gummy, someday teeth. </span></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEFdsWHGvr3kwadXmW6Nt4iMAYaLMbAS3wiFpa2-A2AkRu6CYaOwNPWIIjOcyqIz8aV5OTpdP5ZmIuT05oqD83esXEk0a-cxRdEAqINysJwWZHl4BiFf1vUpn-IAPlgTWgtyJTDOon-ic/s1600/Wren+exhausted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEFdsWHGvr3kwadXmW6Nt4iMAYaLMbAS3wiFpa2-A2AkRu6CYaOwNPWIIjOcyqIz8aV5OTpdP5ZmIuT05oqD83esXEk0a-cxRdEAqINysJwWZHl4BiFf1vUpn-IAPlgTWgtyJTDOon-ic/s400/Wren+exhausted.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">10:30p </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Five hours and three photos later, we put the overwrought Birdie into her seat while she maintained her protests at my inconsistent parenting. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Please note the nakedness - even a onesie was too much to ask at that point.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">We arrived home and I noticed she was fanatically clutching her pacifier (right hand), her last link to the world as she'd known it for two weeks.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX2-qFXOKWAb48EmYGRRRWlHcirJbt5SnYg4qDUYiUGR1K8uZvE3VWw83c3iPxt0P61obTgH5P3LtrmLUhg2Ko7BU5XIIPESLhL0Fsn_ZXB-eclCa8Lhnh_duYVFmlS7AeGhySl4TV5qA/s1600/Wren+shopping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-82138044103210517342011-11-19T12:10:00.009-05:002011-11-19T13:47:15.579-05:00What I Didn't Know<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">I call myself a pessimistic optimist.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">I <strike>fixate on</strike> prepare myself for the worst case scenario and every related contingency like I'm the love child of Cassandra and Eeyore.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because the mutant nightmares I conceive rarely happen, I generally walk around with the awed delight reserved for Disney movies and Narnia.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">True to form, while preparing for the Wren Bird, I was certain my days would be merely a parade of staggering zombie marches from a warm bed to a screaming baby.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">I think people tried to tell me I might <u>like</u> having a little human around the house, but I was staunch in my conviction that </span></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">a mandatory purgatory of</span></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;"> lost control and sleep were the sum of my new reality. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It's been two weeks of awed delight.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I didn't know I would love:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">...the Mister diving to turn off the radio when a classic Father|Daughter song came on because he "really can't think about her wedding right now."</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">...seeing her sleep with her little booty in the air.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6hSKquXJc90mWZLW0MlaQs0hM2_gZhZmpGOhX5VDRbE-KKJG5UDuK2qCdYzmL6fz9s4uomdnA7URbfTJ4iAgxp2cw17PTU2SFrRuIi4C7CLmaJiB84YbWvLIiWsdmzJXOPwavpMwUns/s1600/Booty+Sleep.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6hSKquXJc90mWZLW0MlaQs0hM2_gZhZmpGOhX5VDRbE-KKJG5UDuK2qCdYzmL6fz9s4uomdnA7URbfTJ4iAgxp2cw17PTU2SFrRuIi4C7CLmaJiB84YbWvLIiWsdmzJXOPwavpMwUns/s400/Booty+Sleep.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">..little baby kisses on my neck.</span></span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo5SGyR-JqGsf_jI52M4w92nCh6L8ff5fIIzcznmKgIlDv13QlVGzjOy09L9wkFUw1IXuDBKhHygkmyr85NUolaMc55gGQ93G1DKBDZdBeHCDZERCAkgANBEunY-pcL_3nszVFnBA3Btw/s1600/Little+Kisses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo5SGyR-JqGsf_jI52M4w92nCh6L8ff5fIIzcznmKgIlDv13QlVGzjOy09L9wkFUw1IXuDBKhHygkmyr85NUolaMc55gGQ93G1DKBDZdBeHCDZERCAkgANBEunY-pcL_3nszVFnBA3Btw/s400/Little+Kisses.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">...her furrowed brow and straining little chicken neck when she is So.Sure. she knows where dinner is.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> The Mister says she gets her confidence in her disorientation from me. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">Apparently you can never live down one upside down map in Dublin.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEySmKkgNsxU7s1HjTxrk2lpSqlEXGew4vuylrUMroaFn0vSp_2VFqn2fi2b6rbBvBZ3p4WARo8XQgrSZfym7ZMRe-vTxWWZ1sjOkvNTP99B2hTrKtU9qAPaF51TMSM4A_IbCOZFbB5zo/s1600/Looking+for+Dinner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEySmKkgNsxU7s1HjTxrk2lpSqlEXGew4vuylrUMroaFn0vSp_2VFqn2fi2b6rbBvBZ3p4WARo8XQgrSZfym7ZMRe-vTxWWZ1sjOkvNTP99B2hTrKtU9qAPaF51TMSM4A_IbCOZFbB5zo/s400/Looking+for+Dinner.jpg" width="298" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">...stretches that are SO. BIG. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCADys9YqYVUZnVa0IZmVV_4wQ2BdKskfNcEOJkx4yaZ4Z_BJXgkeMFZhBL_kub-t3Y4-SO2WSrs-BAHpZmu8m_Q_D1En0ilUdo5ba2JbDKPAmkmnTnFYeXPsO_9jOr90_8cY5yCk0GQ/s1600/So+Big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCADys9YqYVUZnVa0IZmVV_4wQ2BdKskfNcEOJkx4yaZ4Z_BJXgkeMFZhBL_kub-t3Y4-SO2WSrs-BAHpZmu8m_Q_D1En0ilUdo5ba2JbDKPAmkmnTnFYeXPsO_9jOr90_8cY5yCk0GQ/s400/So+Big.jpg" width="300" /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">.</span></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCADys9YqYVUZnVa0IZmVV_4wQ2BdKskfNcEOJkx4yaZ4Z_BJXgkeMFZhBL_kub-t3Y4-SO2WSrs-BAHpZmu8m_Q_D1En0ilUdo5ba2JbDKPAmkmnTnFYeXPsO_9jOr90_8cY5yCk0GQ/s1600/So+Big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">...those first stares that seem like a moment of recognition.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk8vlbZAsQ8vLlp7xzZUavqWXeR6u048X9ILop2mR3KUJ5-IUk8E_N9GCk7-BSMMgpta_1Q6RbnplYibkLSsqFObbkmKU6wDnKR5FeCPhp96U_Eg9wwoLkpMmFqb9TuA4kKWrTNsp_-P0/s1600/Staring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk8vlbZAsQ8vLlp7xzZUavqWXeR6u048X9ILop2mR3KUJ5-IUk8E_N9GCk7-BSMMgpta_1Q6RbnplYibkLSsqFObbkmKU6wDnKR5FeCPhp96U_Eg9wwoLkpMmFqb9TuA4kKWrTNsp_-P0/s400/Staring.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-12584851851376890882011-11-14T19:15:00.001-05:002011-11-15T08:29:53.898-05:00Evidence a Proud Daddy Lives Here<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I love being in the other room when the Mister is spending his "daddy time" with the Wren Bird.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">All I hear is him laughing at her various faces. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Then he sighs and tells her he can't believe how pretty she is.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I sigh tenderly and smile. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Hallmark will be knocking on our door any minute.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">We send out those kinds of vibes.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Then I open the computer and see the photo stream of "daddy time"... </span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVlpzHry10KSuV4QH5TDwfvGFPNSRxj_YH_Cp-bnDjRY3lwHL9f87A7bZry8RYLrlgfJC4eaBR-vq2CKx31yZoMEmx1n4YurA6o4Jl4N5nfKZms325BeaczDtYoKZIfT5Mz7VNB8g09M/s1600/20111112-173013.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVlpzHry10KSuV4QH5TDwfvGFPNSRxj_YH_Cp-bnDjRY3lwHL9f87A7bZry8RYLrlgfJC4eaBR-vq2CKx31yZoMEmx1n4YurA6o4Jl4N5nfKZms325BeaczDtYoKZIfT5Mz7VNB8g09M/s400/20111112-173013.jpg" width="400" /></a> </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Hallmark probably won't be knocking.</span></span></div></div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></div></div></div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-33181932454232425562011-11-12T21:59:00.009-05:002011-11-12T22:01:13.692-05:00Evidence of a Newborn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLYwTdKiFLTYeGB_ML1oAsMlsst5033c5jY0o_FzgNCQOTq3oaeO8qnc42ukpixcId3XSMqmDzU5Ja_7lCGKnL2N94oZlva79_yiVs7H4JgcUVyWLH1O_JMPhW2nSLhAH_IsMr5U8f3yE/s400/IMG_0935-2.jpg" /> </div><br />
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">Looking back over this past week, there are some decisive clues that a newborn has brought drastic change to our little home.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">1. Stumbling in from a 3am feeding, I saw the Mister sleeping with his face smooshed into the pillow and I almost woke him up in hysterics because of his high risk of SIDS. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4k_v7HcfR7ufzND6pNd6hZAI0g3zmcsFSFIH7zANGwkI3E_iXNIXg9frUUiEE0bys6mwDMPrGuHoMbHRfFHO6gT9_Hwh9oRdmtpHXkd7zAprqlgTBOIAgAoLsEU35kFEUHVMfdEbSq8/s1600/IMG_0932-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4k_v7HcfR7ufzND6pNd6hZAI0g3zmcsFSFIH7zANGwkI3E_iXNIXg9frUUiEE0bys6mwDMPrGuHoMbHRfFHO6gT9_Hwh9oRdmtpHXkd7zAprqlgTBOIAgAoLsEU35kFEUHVMfdEbSq8/s640/IMG_0932-1.jpg" width="478" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">2. I allowed a 25% off a sale-priced purchase coupon to JoAnn's expire.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">{{I didn't realize it was expired until I tried to use it. Then I cried. And blamed hormones.}} </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrjBYvyhOI9AFRn-dWpSsQNh-BuNHxpGw4zV5faGrw1F0eq9cYjLWICBI9dWmtZ-52lNWCyYEThuKnySudLskSxTn3LmehQqgCqKu1QR1tbdQG8CZwBcwX-wULIdAhVZZBrKu2sopr6o/s1600/IMG_0945.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrjBYvyhOI9AFRn-dWpSsQNh-BuNHxpGw4zV5faGrw1F0eq9cYjLWICBI9dWmtZ-52lNWCyYEThuKnySudLskSxTn3LmehQqgCqKu1QR1tbdQG8CZwBcwX-wULIdAhVZZBrKu2sopr6o/s640/IMG_0945.jpg" width="473" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">3. When the Mister asked if I was excited to get my new iPhone I responded with despair, "I don't want an iPhone, I just want to sleep."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">{{I recovered when I heard Siri could sleep for me. The iPhone is ordered.}} </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhSFffF3I2Auxf8_EyX-Lys9lzAcpRNte2-Ua1AyBrHvijIxh_YSITDAuXZYj37x9yB5ySJiig4_QmL8sNPRcMJNzXynYbQmZJICqr5hlyppRUOpqW6lEmRLF1g9RLdekTWHKySVt4ZY8/s1600/IMG_0931-1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhSFffF3I2Auxf8_EyX-Lys9lzAcpRNte2-Ua1AyBrHvijIxh_YSITDAuXZYj37x9yB5ySJiig4_QmL8sNPRcMJNzXynYbQmZJICqr5hlyppRUOpqW6lEmRLF1g9RLdekTWHKySVt4ZY8/s400/IMG_0931-1.jpg" width="400" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">4. My pretty magazines remain unopened.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC9LktFN1Iig0vKM98NU-yXF0O7wZKtJdQhroGoA99hC6eJq5cMu-1sehTQjEzI30SR0YNqJs2s-LkCTdTdVnZXQBDsX5UX_9CJnfajcAg_d51tDmARsGZgHgmc7iks21v93HAslCSFZ8/s1600/IMG_0930.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC9LktFN1Iig0vKM98NU-yXF0O7wZKtJdQhroGoA99hC6eJq5cMu-1sehTQjEzI30SR0YNqJs2s-LkCTdTdVnZXQBDsX5UX_9CJnfajcAg_d51tDmARsGZgHgmc7iks21v93HAslCSFZ8/s640/IMG_0930.jpg" width="470" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">5. Multiple loads of laundry remain in various stages of completion.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_MTAlXP2IXrjTmYQLrACCx0wa-vBFvAy2FzOFqt_7fFaofWEP9LaOeT8A0cBL10rj1F1uczEJyBujIWi9eSBs_RFp-RzVtp9XDMIjRJEYk4uY6UOpRlXhWpRuc8xBCv6X74cmByoAl-U/s1600/IMG_0950.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_MTAlXP2IXrjTmYQLrACCx0wa-vBFvAy2FzOFqt_7fFaofWEP9LaOeT8A0cBL10rj1F1uczEJyBujIWi9eSBs_RFp-RzVtp9XDMIjRJEYk4uY6UOpRlXhWpRuc8xBCv6X74cmByoAl-U/s640/IMG_0950.jpg" width="478" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">6. A trip to the Yankee Candle store was pure pleasure instead of desperate and fearful sniffs to find the candle that wouldn't make me ill.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">{{Which is more "Evidence of Not Being Pregnant Anymore" than "Evidence of a Newborn"... eh, semantics.)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-6oJ6owGMTeVaZeWZAvzYO7XE-M_5naclex8y_4A4RBZ36BwUlODSdT-sptg02JJSbKmgogXi9p7j-k3b3VKz_qC4hlKkfKk8Ff-7krUGcYIwQV7IGnbeYuDGpwNTQOmGr3k50LiQL30/s1600/IMG_0947.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-6oJ6owGMTeVaZeWZAvzYO7XE-M_5naclex8y_4A4RBZ36BwUlODSdT-sptg02JJSbKmgogXi9p7j-k3b3VKz_qC4hlKkfKk8Ff-7krUGcYIwQV7IGnbeYuDGpwNTQOmGr3k50LiQL30/s640/IMG_0947.jpg" width="457" /></a> </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img align="middle" alt="Posted by Picasa" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 50% transparent; border: 0px none; padding: 0px;" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">7. We now think "milk drunk" is just about the funniest thing that ever did happen.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-30523461190629161092011-11-11T15:58:00.000-05:002011-11-11T15:58:49.685-05:00NFL Sunday<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Earlier this week, we tried to initiate Wren into the local <strike>religion</strike> culture, for her first NFL Sunday.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6xOnkgu1RA0Wd8oj6QPF5lrv_pZRPGa1ewr2FGR4ySXyYfoF_N04uiUpCo3WzZUrYxl6zA-4TYOU7_4wlx2KsTjf6NRuMtt6NJFubXAVJvtL09iBZxBn1DWzbCpVtWyFK3ltmjvhFiM/s1600/Colts+Family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6xOnkgu1RA0Wd8oj6QPF5lrv_pZRPGa1ewr2FGR4ySXyYfoF_N04uiUpCo3WzZUrYxl6zA-4TYOU7_4wlx2KsTjf6NRuMtt6NJFubXAVJvtL09iBZxBn1DWzbCpVtWyFK3ltmjvhFiM/s640/Colts+Family.jpg" width="478" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">Unfortunately, with an 0-9 start, Wren was not convinced this was the fan base she wanted to join.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumXNjpDbTGNNvEYDs-fpGRT0Ct8IuJBJTExPVsHnz3kVzZUR93hbisbVnkv9rLAP08FIi78QdBgsh5fqyS0Vv1JT_OVRcxhvqEJVRmAmmae_GuavSprT_pylxE0gbcpV7iKOMHDcmL5Y/s1600/Reluctant+Colts+Fan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumXNjpDbTGNNvEYDs-fpGRT0Ct8IuJBJTExPVsHnz3kVzZUR93hbisbVnkv9rLAP08FIi78QdBgsh5fqyS0Vv1JT_OVRcxhvqEJVRmAmmae_GuavSprT_pylxE0gbcpV7iKOMHDcmL5Y/s400/Reluctant+Colts+Fan.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">We'll keep working on her...</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">In other news, what a happy difference a week makes!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPWzNkS_uI7fKRiDupyXQ2nJ7EVSO2hpNIoAvdRaJCtUNpLgvM0PpvhyC9_QEgI3xw_qT7uQlmRLklhf3tT2FRT52e07Lyi11LW3mKPeg2l4FYuVg4k1Yj-gGD5LtH9BVfkLTCHcLSF4/s1600/IMG_0811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_jVhEKevDBzODt7jOqZ2GBIFmc-pOLIRyFwAXqoO05IbH_vaXSCAlXVpou0iHeFtAAeJvshnjnFCvLCM0VoetqFjfaxY3Vw-VfS31mo5YooczTJOZwzQNPFwwgaunldu83wQCxJam5aw/s1600/3+Days+to+Go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_jVhEKevDBzODt7jOqZ2GBIFmc-pOLIRyFwAXqoO05IbH_vaXSCAlXVpou0iHeFtAAeJvshnjnFCvLCM0VoetqFjfaxY3Vw-VfS31mo5YooczTJOZwzQNPFwwgaunldu83wQCxJam5aw/s200/3+Days+to+Go.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPWzNkS_uI7fKRiDupyXQ2nJ7EVSO2hpNIoAvdRaJCtUNpLgvM0PpvhyC9_QEgI3xw_qT7uQlmRLklhf3tT2FRT52e07Lyi11LW3mKPeg2l4FYuVg4k1Yj-gGD5LtH9BVfkLTCHcLSF4/s1600/IMG_0811.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPWzNkS_uI7fKRiDupyXQ2nJ7EVSO2hpNIoAvdRaJCtUNpLgvM0PpvhyC9_QEgI3xw_qT7uQlmRLklhf3tT2FRT52e07Lyi11LW3mKPeg2l4FYuVg4k1Yj-gGD5LtH9BVfkLTCHcLSF4/s200/IMG_0811.JPG" width="149" /></a></div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-45321266115470766442011-11-08T20:05:00.001-05:002011-12-06T09:54:22.384-05:00Scenes From the Week a Birdie Flew In<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibQInAyq7cjiRZHJ0z2dyOibF1EVXqheCwK6LPHA1Gmu_rUIwtLjeLoFh9q7ZT2uxtUi-10JkNd_EZQUDvkSbVNKV6kyUDS9jcTJ_QNlGnOubxHdyTTrR19NinVFrDeLnP3UkInfQhw8E/s1600/Wren+Born.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Wren Louise Strycker</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9k8PGndfPjKv7pslj36zpA7Hoh_Ty7rgv0ZIl2YSVNUkpIrb3TggtcmSPHidZ2Ob6zKwRV8Q0TEYyBVq1vaWnx194m_IZZofH2ELVL5aQqYqoK-hGz-bkhg_0ckPQQCQS_ykwSY4JV9Y/s1600/Wren+w%253A+Yellow+Flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9k8PGndfPjKv7pslj36zpA7Hoh_Ty7rgv0ZIl2YSVNUkpIrb3TggtcmSPHidZ2Ob6zKwRV8Q0TEYyBVq1vaWnx194m_IZZofH2ELVL5aQqYqoK-hGz-bkhg_0ckPQQCQS_ykwSY4JV9Y/s400/Wren+w%253A+Yellow+Flower.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">10:58p | November 2nd</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">6lbs 8oz | 19in</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">A few of the moments from this past week. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">We went to the hospital Tuesday night.</span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrLkiETxmEEVa6BmuE5yqISmsBu058meiZYX2XX25kNpVVdTFSr-Wrle7i0KJ77jwEdAyDLHmlqipoCvXYGN8QMtJNMWcG6TTr3NcyK37Rt2ew-bG1E4w1ksCVTyQjYlYN7DL5WK_Xz0/s1600/Wed+Morning+with+Ice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrLkiETxmEEVa6BmuE5yqISmsBu058meiZYX2XX25kNpVVdTFSr-Wrle7i0KJ77jwEdAyDLHmlqipoCvXYGN8QMtJNMWcG6TTr3NcyK37Rt2ew-bG1E4w1ksCVTyQjYlYN7DL5WK_Xz0/s640/Wed+Morning+with+Ice.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">After a night of Dexter, I spent Wednesday morning crunching ice, reading blogs, and <a href="http://pinterest.com/hlstrycker/" target="_blank">Pinteresting</a> with our fabulous nurse, Carmen.</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQ3Y1zeG1oS0b2te0TKEa7EnUyiX4d4zBEp331SH68YX1T7-oJoChoosZWkuYJez0_2qr7T4JuXFv1ie-bA9r55fwNKtgHVnbj5I4v2dxxiMprlRJBLB9t0JlkYGV4w5n5Y5K9PV7NoY/s1600/Lindsey+Labor+Visitors.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQ3Y1zeG1oS0b2te0TKEa7EnUyiX4d4zBEp331SH68YX1T7-oJoChoosZWkuYJez0_2qr7T4JuXFv1ie-bA9r55fwNKtgHVnbj5I4v2dxxiMprlRJBLB9t0JlkYGV4w5n5Y5K9PV7NoY/s400/Lindsey+Labor+Visitors.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWAMRrS03pCPMdEM-HnQSol_MxmR5-s8kKIJ-KxHASsz13hHobpKd3QIDC2zG0QYlP8gllhPkA0J_gTXoxLmBgdaamBQKKLMQzi8kCRHdpdcRBxC_inxAnOq-zT3L0l5ximHIR0Ju0bWw/s400/Strycker+Labor+Visitors.jpg" width="297" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><u>After</u> the epidural, visitors were fabulous.</span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8h7PLGFEMPn_6UA1IDAmhjQt_H1gPMRZWcphdnPKqMePS-c5-pgAxuuI0LVJwBrJYPSK6wUEStQqhLRtc2EOp35bWkgO19-hvlgz8ryFPw1F9k4au6rMcfqaOWe9GpIe5ToXfi2bJTs0/s1600/Labor+and+Knitting.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8h7PLGFEMPn_6UA1IDAmhjQt_H1gPMRZWcphdnPKqMePS-c5-pgAxuuI0LVJwBrJYPSK6wUEStQqhLRtc2EOp35bWkgO19-hvlgz8ryFPw1F9k4au6rMcfqaOWe9GpIe5ToXfi2bJTs0/s640/Labor+and+Knitting.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">After a week of knitting frantically, I still had to finish ONE MORE hat.</span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">There were a few scary moments through the day, when the doctor was about to take us back for a c-section because I wasn't progressing but Wren's heart rate was decelerating. At 9:15p, the doctor told me I had until 10:30p to progress or off to surgery we'd go. She left the room and told the anesthesiologist that we'd be heading back to the OR in an hour. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I often struggle with procrastination because I tell myself I work well under pressure. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> Apparently that is still true. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">At 10:35p she looked at me in surprise and said I was ready to push.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Thankfully, once the Wren Bird was ready to come, she was READY. Within 10 minutes of leaving the room, the doctor was back in the room, while Carmen urged frantically, "Wait! Wait! Don't push anymore!"</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibQInAyq7cjiRZHJ0z2dyOibF1EVXqheCwK6LPHA1Gmu_rUIwtLjeLoFh9q7ZT2uxtUi-10JkNd_EZQUDvkSbVNKV6kyUDS9jcTJ_QNlGnOubxHdyTTrR19NinVFrDeLnP3UkInfQhw8E/s1600/Wren+Born.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibQInAyq7cjiRZHJ0z2dyOibF1EVXqheCwK6LPHA1Gmu_rUIwtLjeLoFh9q7ZT2uxtUi-10JkNd_EZQUDvkSbVNKV6kyUDS9jcTJ_QNlGnOubxHdyTTrR19NinVFrDeLnP3UkInfQhw8E/s640/Wren+Born.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Healthy, safe, and squishy - even her little cone head was perfect and beautiful to me.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04O5Xo8VeDwC-Y8GCvb8RzqUX9ZPqU7_xkklR5yQZsi5-VMr4Dq1HGKcXRRrG8NcPtYOVvmP46Efsgnv2ugi3m2wJWhz3WgJ19JJlq1SxwWicpv0DB8okl9MV3oHT9XfC60XFc9qKwvM/s1600/Kyle+and+Wren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04O5Xo8VeDwC-Y8GCvb8RzqUX9ZPqU7_xkklR5yQZsi5-VMr4Dq1HGKcXRRrG8NcPtYOVvmP46Efsgnv2ugi3m2wJWhz3WgJ19JJlq1SxwWicpv0DB8okl9MV3oHT9XfC60XFc9qKwvM/s640/Kyle+and+Wren.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Watching the Mister hold the Wren Bird and tell her how beautiful she is, have been some of my favorite moments in the last few days.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvGu80Gv3s8dVM5RF3kqnBFDbQvsMuutXmJCW0qT8acMH9ttfZv4qA5XshHF5QnIo0rhh5m-atUSoK_RTQAChW6r84cH90Y7Ryjn1hs0LMrqB6r8HXi7YdyhbHhkAOLgglsyMGDOsAsYw/s1600/First+Family+Picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvGu80Gv3s8dVM5RF3kqnBFDbQvsMuutXmJCW0qT8acMH9ttfZv4qA5XshHF5QnIo0rhh5m-atUSoK_RTQAChW6r84cH90Y7Ryjn1hs0LMrqB6r8HXi7YdyhbHhkAOLgglsyMGDOsAsYw/s640/First+Family+Picture.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our first family photo!</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Just a few of the wonderful visitors we've had. We are so incredibly blessed to have so many dear friends to share in our joy!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjABLkKFCM534bEmjCCtMD1NV6ZBZ8w2ZdIKQSErtq4pNw4OirJgVKvBeFU5yfdwldGXPdUwOTxgH2d9QGFEe0qE891jhY_aaPCP0nhobPh4ok0_ZleS0fBIEqK_t5Bpvwuz3qtp3Z3OVE/s1600/Jim+and+Wren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjABLkKFCM534bEmjCCtMD1NV6ZBZ8w2ZdIKQSErtq4pNw4OirJgVKvBeFU5yfdwldGXPdUwOTxgH2d9QGFEe0qE891jhY_aaPCP0nhobPh4ok0_ZleS0fBIEqK_t5Bpvwuz3qtp3Z3OVE/s200/Jim+and+Wren.jpg" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncle Jim</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOw2bXCO1UZ7LMax_T8IWPTyCZnAeip3r_a6fskVzPRaQ3M2_jxfs-5VtEtDolfUg1Dv9VHQcr8YYDdZ30HbDZJ7zZCPDFMXXHTiIM_LeALUoCt7sfMdkkTdseQieFbgsPHBkmJmyIBC0/s1600/Jennie+and+Wren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOw2bXCO1UZ7LMax_T8IWPTyCZnAeip3r_a6fskVzPRaQ3M2_jxfs-5VtEtDolfUg1Dv9VHQcr8YYDdZ30HbDZJ7zZCPDFMXXHTiIM_LeALUoCt7sfMdkkTdseQieFbgsPHBkmJmyIBC0/s200/Jennie+and+Wren.jpg" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aunt Jennie</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0cCHYeWz5PrX4XLSqwCJ41MujYI83ighsDC6HC6wwNKPby86MXzIia2q-M02JSSd67QhK-eTd34FwyPavvRedtA01fnuqlqitRcI1n0Up58wJwNNISGnOcnoaHIOd02AhIiUgjLzTd8/s1600/Grace%252C+Emma+and+Wren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0cCHYeWz5PrX4XLSqwCJ41MujYI83ighsDC6HC6wwNKPby86MXzIia2q-M02JSSd67QhK-eTd34FwyPavvRedtA01fnuqlqitRcI1n0Up58wJwNNISGnOcnoaHIOd02AhIiUgjLzTd8/s200/Grace%252C+Emma+and+Wren.jpg" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grace and Emma - Future Babysitters!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha3n0Ci217bcY0hYxJG9ivHp_p1PBVkyG-3olOZc7oitXbkMqSW4PmWQGevdt2fpyH0SW2xmIM2XNKDaMq5gQmoD8cpOjfD22stUNmm0Xf-N-d8z1kEcWNwIlyshIShX2AFp6jb46l0b4/s1600/Emily+and+Wren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha3n0Ci217bcY0hYxJG9ivHp_p1PBVkyG-3olOZc7oitXbkMqSW4PmWQGevdt2fpyH0SW2xmIM2XNKDaMq5gQmoD8cpOjfD22stUNmm0Xf-N-d8z1kEcWNwIlyshIShX2AFp6jb46l0b4/s200/Emily+and+Wren.jpg" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aunt Emily and Wren Bird in matching hats.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-60273394950454264442011-11-01T22:15:00.000-04:002011-11-01T22:15:57.736-04:00Dress Up Day: Desperation<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because both of our moms live over three hours north, I took pictures of the Wren Bird Bump during the last two weeks. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Most people would take a picture a week and show a lovely progress of growth as the wee one develops. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Not me! </span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">No way! </span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">I make certain that I'm so silent and out of touch during the first 38 weeks, by the time one actually receives the pictures, she is absolutely shocked and celebrates even though she just received fourteen photos where I look. exactly. the. same. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">I'm not certain if the famine makes one appreciate the feast or if gluttony makes one appreciate asceticism, but I'm pretty confident in the process.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">These last few weeks were probably some of most difficult of my life to get dressed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">I felt like I finally understood the allure of the saggy bottom sweatpants, stained wifebeater and exposed midriff rolls so popular at so many southern Indiana gas stations. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXi8EaGJ7Rq1t7AAxVYQp5JXDvriyXefeG3QG6dsTw2eRg-N4bmKsOaOuoVi9_ourDno7aMkGrGlsMY5aJQQgMkD5d9X-Pdeg6fj8c3cYAY1lsJbzFcab8AEowFKOxnQtmL9YRB4lGiwo/s1600/13+Days+to+Go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXi8EaGJ7Rq1t7AAxVYQp5JXDvriyXefeG3QG6dsTw2eRg-N4bmKsOaOuoVi9_ourDno7aMkGrGlsMY5aJQQgMkD5d9X-Pdeg6fj8c3cYAY1lsJbzFcab8AEowFKOxnQtmL9YRB4lGiwo/s640/13+Days+to+Go.jpg" width="454" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">13 Days to Go</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiNEJUygbJTwC_rSYY0UBD8NxeanbC0eVGDjsfDjjl7iwACTEhtGpk0BoZcWGtzly4pDoQeh5MLtExJ7G5wGH6B1bEr4T96C1RRuC3XHqOsQ8PIBA6KRINQpHoog_wwaRj5zh2QdWxi_Q/s1600/12+Days+to+Go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiNEJUygbJTwC_rSYY0UBD8NxeanbC0eVGDjsfDjjl7iwACTEhtGpk0BoZcWGtzly4pDoQeh5MLtExJ7G5wGH6B1bEr4T96C1RRuC3XHqOsQ8PIBA6KRINQpHoog_wwaRj5zh2QdWxi_Q/s640/12+Days+to+Go.jpg" width="474" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">12 Days to Go</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBHsxYsMWMXbeK5WWwim72ajBV8Bd3w7gILWlpAwNAQtkAII9C4wCS-uwfCXZwbg1Tq7TTcB3BheLWcQ-GFi6CbY3lTWNzXgj0ToT_IOq4XnVJwuFd2DpltbiKapdL1T9zzE5oKbkJ74/s1600/11+Days+to+Go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBHsxYsMWMXbeK5WWwim72ajBV8Bd3w7gILWlpAwNAQtkAII9C4wCS-uwfCXZwbg1Tq7TTcB3BheLWcQ-GFi6CbY3lTWNzXgj0ToT_IOq4XnVJwuFd2DpltbiKapdL1T9zzE5oKbkJ74/s640/11+Days+to+Go.jpg" width="476" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">11 Days to Go<br />
Something was wrong with my iPhoto editor here - somehow no matter how much I "enhanced" the flyaways remained, no mascara appeared, and I was still wearing the ten year old sweatshirt. But I'm still learning how to use the program. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBUHJSYV1XSnTVmGigB6EApQSjS_wKRl6Dm6rmjgLgfMyvSP933XbLSr3mW67MbXDGKVNDdxNtuWQAKbM_6jtzteLr-aUaQVtC1BuV-RJoFBgTdlAFdvi-qwJLZ149MuEpVv9MahQZOIM/s1600/10+Days+to+Go.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBUHJSYV1XSnTVmGigB6EApQSjS_wKRl6Dm6rmjgLgfMyvSP933XbLSr3mW67MbXDGKVNDdxNtuWQAKbM_6jtzteLr-aUaQVtC1BuV-RJoFBgTdlAFdvi-qwJLZ149MuEpVv9MahQZOIM/s640/10+Days+to+Go.jpg" width="476" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">10 Days to Go</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6udtg6uyu92YfCEr3AgO2gyj6iIOD8ilbKmkKu8wXlH3Yfvmzw3uE5-2rIq6FbL0p_nKgwaPGiyjX2MwVGNn-loJSJPhAwqRU5uuRz6-tq3MPAyNGYKK_xNxBuUC6hmzeKEAS0b6DIs/s1600/9+Days+to+Go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6udtg6uyu92YfCEr3AgO2gyj6iIOD8ilbKmkKu8wXlH3Yfvmzw3uE5-2rIq6FbL0p_nKgwaPGiyjX2MwVGNn-loJSJPhAwqRU5uuRz6-tq3MPAyNGYKK_xNxBuUC6hmzeKEAS0b6DIs/s640/9+Days+to+Go.jpg" width="358" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">9 Days to Go</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-t-sbDXE6Z6tsKnUBCtw0MvmskB7tI40znoDoXG8YF-c0MIhQvgRQHcfiGdhgkmoHIldZtSO4GRMnJnPg691fTMUK0ej5vvz5T-BE_mftYLtyAfGjRnHAkmyfcRrdErxWKDgCkFceA5g/s1600/8+Days+to+Go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-t-sbDXE6Z6tsKnUBCtw0MvmskB7tI40znoDoXG8YF-c0MIhQvgRQHcfiGdhgkmoHIldZtSO4GRMnJnPg691fTMUK0ej5vvz5T-BE_mftYLtyAfGjRnHAkmyfcRrdErxWKDgCkFceA5g/s640/8+Days+to+Go.jpg" width="354" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">8 Days to Go</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFnDqrK08x0G7ZmI3l-zlKZ-Gmq6kjQHtcSUFXn1dg3PIBT09-rLO2Ug_3rIMoRYYBKgCSni-jhvwsrHpE8o4GGRAq1c2rbixcJGIf_3prLUY16avxmtbpMmDjszHABXCJ2sGhBMSkSs/s1600/7+Days+to+Go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFnDqrK08x0G7ZmI3l-zlKZ-Gmq6kjQHtcSUFXn1dg3PIBT09-rLO2Ug_3rIMoRYYBKgCSni-jhvwsrHpE8o4GGRAq1c2rbixcJGIf_3prLUY16avxmtbpMmDjszHABXCJ2sGhBMSkSs/s640/7+Days+to+Go.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">7 Days to Go</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DlQM-5qRCKM5h9pEzDEbS062CVyHcv8zQVcqwTjky85wsW6YJ7rVwAkgSfyoWoyQunWxhAzsmmttwcovuSCRaltM7SLTDEAJten2Teu5HDC6Pp1MzD2EpwdnMEuZSDd-p9R2VB2_nxA/s1600/6+Days+to+Go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DlQM-5qRCKM5h9pEzDEbS062CVyHcv8zQVcqwTjky85wsW6YJ7rVwAkgSfyoWoyQunWxhAzsmmttwcovuSCRaltM7SLTDEAJten2Teu5HDC6Pp1MzD2EpwdnMEuZSDd-p9R2VB2_nxA/s640/6+Days+to+Go.jpg" width="318" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">6 Days to Go</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5579sjsqfv3W7SB151Hhq02pnPEO2GnhUXYeC8NbhuZ2jpG3eaKotsZ5G200OkGyqw_hd_pWeALXonNlbSLmrEmys4-q4RVXkkQ867V6RHblUQyYPg_NBR107Hd3YCAndNoGCqusXjk0/s1600/5+Days+to+Go%2521.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5579sjsqfv3W7SB151Hhq02pnPEO2GnhUXYeC8NbhuZ2jpG3eaKotsZ5G200OkGyqw_hd_pWeALXonNlbSLmrEmys4-q4RVXkkQ867V6RHblUQyYPg_NBR107Hd3YCAndNoGCqusXjk0/s640/5+Days+to+Go%2521.jpg" style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" width="476" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5 Days to Go</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWemTQWUPiEO2ygyrAZpwzWADt8w_RgZrs3HYr79etwGII2xaaUKTi6PwuyAVCltn5lUQLHR-MP-iNIhUMX754P8itaN71Z8Asdkss01QJzyTuuvSceuRAPclRmkeJ0H9-ZRfyd_WzBfU/s1600/4+Days+to+Go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWemTQWUPiEO2ygyrAZpwzWADt8w_RgZrs3HYr79etwGII2xaaUKTi6PwuyAVCltn5lUQLHR-MP-iNIhUMX754P8itaN71Z8Asdkss01QJzyTuuvSceuRAPclRmkeJ0H9-ZRfyd_WzBfU/s640/4+Days+to+Go.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">4 Days to Go</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt3IKVLUEsmnNaeQ1FxyxZVYA6RyWCZ9Ee5-rX9CtV4s1T8OhEmxcbfPXM6-N35Tv5DVGzg35lsnjclSUG2XZkjGkkGCLYuvclcTdstsOV1xk954uU4ikICDviNA_Mj9_MLAbwtzsMBhM/s1600/3+Days+to+Go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt3IKVLUEsmnNaeQ1FxyxZVYA6RyWCZ9Ee5-rX9CtV4s1T8OhEmxcbfPXM6-N35Tv5DVGzg35lsnjclSUG2XZkjGkkGCLYuvclcTdstsOV1xk954uU4ikICDviNA_Mj9_MLAbwtzsMBhM/s640/3+Days+to+Go.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3 Days to Go<br />
Somehow the costume jewelry remnants of my church attire merged into the best the Colts have looked all season. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEN7j9RTZT37MOJKGMGbqVFGnW-NVreoUjEekSadWxBn8wdv1L3-z-tm5RViixnzqJihCOFnpK1QyyyLuHpRoWBiYdEq-Zf1D1TULUmBmQEZiS19yLlV_hdtLhTndPgJunDEMVSzUlsjI/s1600/1+Day+to+Go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEwNO08jCutWe-Zye9s6ixCvgwkauajkh8thCO0Z0PpNaJq8x1hPFVXco2lo3tdudQyQKwbtfrmFDJvOV1MdL06sPAb4CgxH-Rqli_aYm3EwzMtJyq8oNv7jO4fjC5CVQ5W-1dSuugik/s1600/2+Days+to+Go.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEwNO08jCutWe-Zye9s6ixCvgwkauajkh8thCO0Z0PpNaJq8x1hPFVXco2lo3tdudQyQKwbtfrmFDJvOV1MdL06sPAb4CgxH-Rqli_aYm3EwzMtJyq8oNv7jO4fjC5CVQ5W-1dSuugik/s640/2+Days+to+Go.jpg" width="476" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2 Days to Go</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEN7j9RTZT37MOJKGMGbqVFGnW-NVreoUjEekSadWxBn8wdv1L3-z-tm5RViixnzqJihCOFnpK1QyyyLuHpRoWBiYdEq-Zf1D1TULUmBmQEZiS19yLlV_hdtLhTndPgJunDEMVSzUlsjI/s1600/1+Day+to+Go.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEN7j9RTZT37MOJKGMGbqVFGnW-NVreoUjEekSadWxBn8wdv1L3-z-tm5RViixnzqJihCOFnpK1QyyyLuHpRoWBiYdEq-Zf1D1TULUmBmQEZiS19yLlV_hdtLhTndPgJunDEMVSzUlsjI/s640/1+Day+to+Go.jpg" width="376" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1 Day to Go</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-91358291041581016862011-10-31T17:06:00.000-04:002011-10-31T17:06:53.713-04:00"Final" Preparations<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">I think "final preparations" is a phrase that has about as much integrity as "one last Target run."</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">In any case, these are some of the things that have been keeping us busy as we wait for the Wren Bird. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">{{Full disclosure: the phrase "keeping US busy" means I have been "pinning" madly on <a href="http://pinterest.com/hlstrycker/">Pinterest</a> while the Mister collects his tools from the garage and makes my dreams come true}}</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3hOSZRgkwh5LV5ES4qu9txSEThjq29AOWtlPwUCpJnzLZQkF7dpxhnDBHxXfYT2LVWEh3MHynW_qFZoOJ-7H-eQudFm2dgyg4aDj6qJ3AqjfLuLMVmEkSFxhwpE0Xh_qB2cW61dDLh0U/s1600/Door+View.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3hOSZRgkwh5LV5ES4qu9txSEThjq29AOWtlPwUCpJnzLZQkF7dpxhnDBHxXfYT2LVWEh3MHynW_qFZoOJ-7H-eQudFm2dgyg4aDj6qJ3AqjfLuLMVmEkSFxhwpE0Xh_qB2cW61dDLh0U/s640/Door+View.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9mkytce7GLjY4SOcdScWaC_hFdQ-Q3B_LvcARP5MPK5la24c7GoDNjXkiVS8b55RGYYdEZTS_Ji_hgY05GeQ9l3HsHhrKf7HXd-1YhViz78ZbUb10jmPdKn7FKPnjp8OKIa8mUJQ2ci0/s1600/Bouquet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9mkytce7GLjY4SOcdScWaC_hFdQ-Q3B_LvcARP5MPK5la24c7GoDNjXkiVS8b55RGYYdEZTS_Ji_hgY05GeQ9l3HsHhrKf7HXd-1YhViz78ZbUb10jmPdKn7FKPnjp8OKIa8mUJQ2ci0/s200/Bouquet.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvkb56ZL6vh9egUIhPb5sQlQOpeGH0m6038CNc0gXxuFtL3wN81AMwlwrpbc9K-0XXyOXM7VjTkWxu7h-WhzZTVct1ipwO4So_6prJPE_wdB-PXxvxdQ-6oEIXzT9wX7CVEEPTW7jHH6M/s1600/Dresser+Knobs.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvkb56ZL6vh9egUIhPb5sQlQOpeGH0m6038CNc0gXxuFtL3wN81AMwlwrpbc9K-0XXyOXM7VjTkWxu7h-WhzZTVct1ipwO4So_6prJPE_wdB-PXxvxdQ-6oEIXzT9wX7CVEEPTW7jHH6M/s200/Dresser+Knobs.jpg" width="150" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLZi4JeIrq8c6Ho9jSg_Idv6ou7XtGYcuC5hzXC-r9xyFO1Z_jU00J5bDka0QIsPcz4JLFAwiNwX4IH8l84w8QYcebo5chW0NIZrDqWerzH6JKSR_Jr1Xph2Fc5j_92OaYO6KPkcp6hA/s1600/Burp+Cloths.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifVVystEwCk6FCnOEmhPkMGH6tEfefsNKghJ-8kPpTjrW4jsVhy7Vy1u5rComs_Me-glENLXbzy3kqkrBVy6FZktconzuEUhP9bknvtQXjKTOBgZAEj2vKbbd1OttF-S-lh_4URuXZ5Dw/s1600/Name.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifVVystEwCk6FCnOEmhPkMGH6tEfefsNKghJ-8kPpTjrW4jsVhy7Vy1u5rComs_Me-glENLXbzy3kqkrBVy6FZktconzuEUhP9bknvtQXjKTOBgZAEj2vKbbd1OttF-S-lh_4URuXZ5Dw/s400/Name.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhhyTCAfr6c31bhyzsphxmTGuTvb6iAmUwocDDFxfHSCV0P3w-g6Q0DUUlMm9RBWhyTKeRnKK0nnDHdWHxmsUHCR8reB82hA9LIVEVFN10_TYku0MsQiOFXeaxBom45JYW9qm7nNGdDw/s1600/Paper+Lanterns.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhhyTCAfr6c31bhyzsphxmTGuTvb6iAmUwocDDFxfHSCV0P3w-g6Q0DUUlMm9RBWhyTKeRnKK0nnDHdWHxmsUHCR8reB82hA9LIVEVFN10_TYku0MsQiOFXeaxBom45JYW9qm7nNGdDw/s400/Paper+Lanterns.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrOzmCBCDfItI7-nYBhsXGsAUdDIlwKugak0wo6SpBnzXML-C98uMS-CdaykLNLaCV7IpvErdMxT4S2-M0gPnM3zzU5Wuzg1V3M63okGbzV7ff2tA4mO-oBD40ov63o23oOxNCsV6U5c/s1600/Changing+Table+Knobs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrOzmCBCDfItI7-nYBhsXGsAUdDIlwKugak0wo6SpBnzXML-C98uMS-CdaykLNLaCV7IpvErdMxT4S2-M0gPnM3zzU5Wuzg1V3M63okGbzV7ff2tA4mO-oBD40ov63o23oOxNCsV6U5c/s200/Changing+Table+Knobs.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNAtyoA-RspsysOchUsSGAoXhK3UoGSnjYgmXhdniZk_TJFBZ8jXtt25g8tZ1USuvPxjwlhCOihhyphenhyphen6FI9g9GBDaRvPq4E-3my1OzSzmQ5lL-9nrKi7NZN7FM9bmCH2kpi-js3Y-0oRBQ/s1600/Changing+TAble.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNAtyoA-RspsysOchUsSGAoXhK3UoGSnjYgmXhdniZk_TJFBZ8jXtt25g8tZ1USuvPxjwlhCOihhyphenhyphen6FI9g9GBDaRvPq4E-3my1OzSzmQ5lL-9nrKi7NZN7FM9bmCH2kpi-js3Y-0oRBQ/s200/Changing+TAble.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLONb21QgfWEjX-RLZdAW1vkaSOwb-tlMI7_AKHjgGN06oeUysrw6JpdrEXMmrAs5Qp9j8sDGNvNQfegWtkXoyf-Jk5IfuuOMs5mbhvZigT-qZ9Gzo2Dzaf4WzAf4ZeTZR6VtMUUwdftY/s1600/Crib.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLONb21QgfWEjX-RLZdAW1vkaSOwb-tlMI7_AKHjgGN06oeUysrw6JpdrEXMmrAs5Qp9j8sDGNvNQfegWtkXoyf-Jk5IfuuOMs5mbhvZigT-qZ9Gzo2Dzaf4WzAf4ZeTZR6VtMUUwdftY/s640/Crib.jpg" width="480" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">The little birdie rack is a gift from a darling friend three years ago that never had a home until the Wren Bird needed a blanket rack. The Mister has been attempting to thrift this at every move. I guess Wren Bird was never a twinkle in my eye - just a wrought iron birdie rack clutched to my chest as we migrated from home to home.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpd-K0RYpL3H2IFFN1HYB6bzCxNwC45QJX47Wbym-VtRJlrQRC6u_i3CZ7sMENJ_25GZxFJtY-1HXITyGKZ2X12nBRbeQ899DDjVyevLoitjTUo4h3sTTwA2SXh9PEJZEL6fdBgGU1Z4/s1600/Birdie+Rack.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpd-K0RYpL3H2IFFN1HYB6bzCxNwC45QJX47Wbym-VtRJlrQRC6u_i3CZ7sMENJ_25GZxFJtY-1HXITyGKZ2X12nBRbeQ899DDjVyevLoitjTUo4h3sTTwA2SXh9PEJZEL6fdBgGU1Z4/s640/Birdie+Rack.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Going Home Outfit</span></span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKnqY2uUDTay6uBqmF0xftLSLI27do0XKNbIV2BB2EMD0mc-xtNGFYxVA3SnmYzuoL8e2eiWnCUk47F8_3FL7krinTYW1es2ae8T7p9HVlSVKOw72QTsdnfX7WnBehMABBLFRHMxJrrwA/s1600/Outfit.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKnqY2uUDTay6uBqmF0xftLSLI27do0XKNbIV2BB2EMD0mc-xtNGFYxVA3SnmYzuoL8e2eiWnCUk47F8_3FL7krinTYW1es2ae8T7p9HVlSVKOw72QTsdnfX7WnBehMABBLFRHMxJrrwA/s640/Outfit.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvkb56ZL6vh9egUIhPb5sQlQOpeGH0m6038CNc0gXxuFtL3wN81AMwlwrpbc9K-0XXyOXM7VjTkWxu7h-WhzZTVct1ipwO4So_6prJPE_wdB-PXxvxdQ-6oEIXzT9wX7CVEEPTW7jHH6M/s1600/Dresser+Knobs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Because I am fully expecting any daughter of mine to have coiffure challenges, I've taken it upon myself to ensure that she will be recognized as female by crafting an inappropriate number of hats and headbands. Well... the inappropriate number came more from the fact that I was ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN I didn't need a pattern or measurements and there are many hats that either fit the Mister or we had to donate as yarmulkes.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">But, we celebrate our successes here. In multiple-attempt-outcome-based crafting I AM a success.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJRyeZ_g2ISSblYiLKSHs_mYQk5nrBTAa7nSPJFAiXMm9FTQ_kD0dP6lkFkSyFv7JYZ_W9R8SsRUvRR9GSPLASbOvgUSzM-yYQXjc1nk_STJr-c-aVxYxid1XspoCajsxgk6ij1DRad3U/s1600/Hats.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJRyeZ_g2ISSblYiLKSHs_mYQk5nrBTAa7nSPJFAiXMm9FTQ_kD0dP6lkFkSyFv7JYZ_W9R8SsRUvRR9GSPLASbOvgUSzM-yYQXjc1nk_STJr-c-aVxYxid1XspoCajsxgk6ij1DRad3U/s400/Hats.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbVFqiq_Fpv2651YnZ6MxWaJ8r1PSMVDqaW7-_BAuupVu-ZTj99zL1EsAI0WtBTq-XDk73Z0nSGDVEE0oyxK5414FVmIMJZRnd20vi1uhCxk3X70DysgM78et4NWS0i8feA7AZUKV2fbc/s1600/Headbands.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbVFqiq_Fpv2651YnZ6MxWaJ8r1PSMVDqaW7-_BAuupVu-ZTj99zL1EsAI0WtBTq-XDk73Z0nSGDVEE0oyxK5414FVmIMJZRnd20vi1uhCxk3X70DysgM78et4NWS0i8feA7AZUKV2fbc/s400/Headbands.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Burp clothes with pretty backing.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Necessary because white burp clothes were about as depressing as maternity clothes and WHAT ELSE WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO when JoAnn's KEPT sending me 50% off coupons!?!?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">They knew I needed pretty burp cloths.</span></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLZi4JeIrq8c6Ho9jSg_Idv6ou7XtGYcuC5hzXC-r9xyFO1Z_jU00J5bDka0QIsPcz4JLFAwiNwX4IH8l84w8QYcebo5chW0NIZrDqWerzH6JKSR_Jr1Xph2Fc5j_92OaYO6KPkcp6hA/s1600/Burp+Cloths.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLZi4JeIrq8c6Ho9jSg_Idv6ou7XtGYcuC5hzXC-r9xyFO1Z_jU00J5bDka0QIsPcz4JLFAwiNwX4IH8l84w8QYcebo5chW0NIZrDqWerzH6JKSR_Jr1Xph2Fc5j_92OaYO6KPkcp6hA/s640/Burp+Cloths.jpg" width="480" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhhyTCAfr6c31bhyzsphxmTGuTvb6iAmUwocDDFxfHSCV0P3w-g6Q0DUUlMm9RBWhyTKeRnKK0nnDHdWHxmsUHCR8reB82hA9LIVEVFN10_TYku0MsQiOFXeaxBom45JYW9qm7nNGdDw/s1600/Paper+Lanterns.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1322995268764259440.post-59362392092420366212011-10-30T23:18:00.001-04:002011-10-30T23:22:21.044-04:00...A Very Good Place to Start...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqihuwK3ywBbKKyz5i1wuRo6d80_DlsgDi5kQrl0zgTzvWvgv4stJhkPq-qrFcFODU-fT-dcwe9xfsOrLTdDg70hkUDiYoUcN-MI_sO0WgjDHn16JoIl9MHy_DXMJjiUbPS1105Bz75-Q/s1600/Wedding.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">About five and a half years ago, this happened:</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqihuwK3ywBbKKyz5i1wuRo6d80_DlsgDi5kQrl0zgTzvWvgv4stJhkPq-qrFcFODU-fT-dcwe9xfsOrLTdDg70hkUDiYoUcN-MI_sO0WgjDHn16JoIl9MHy_DXMJjiUbPS1105Bz75-Q/s1600/Wedding.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqihuwK3ywBbKKyz5i1wuRo6d80_DlsgDi5kQrl0zgTzvWvgv4stJhkPq-qrFcFODU-fT-dcwe9xfsOrLTdDg70hkUDiYoUcN-MI_sO0WgjDHn16JoIl9MHy_DXMJjiUbPS1105Bz75-Q/s320/Wedding.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAh7o1OongoSfwYPeXBhuT2bxQF6Hz3EDUGY7B11ibNcD4RozEcxswL58p0-nOfmqXs8DNJF5qUx_juF52M-8k94VVS71wFZDK8IN497kVwgYFrWN0h3KPxgfRpRHlRc6bIWXpKe4duGQ/s1600/ISP+Group.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAh7o1OongoSfwYPeXBhuT2bxQF6Hz3EDUGY7B11ibNcD4RozEcxswL58p0-nOfmqXs8DNJF5qUx_juF52M-8k94VVS71wFZDK8IN497kVwgYFrWN0h3KPxgfRpRHlRc6bIWXpKe4duGQ/s1600/ISP+Group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">Oh wait... actually, about nine years ago, in Ireland, this happened:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRa_P5viY4oO3xx1MngJy3b7PYIsvON-mgJIhq6_OfcrzYaJErDc0Z1wNJ7mA7G8pi-EDO4shUvkU-yXGPK0jLaDAOGnxVvexlDZyx8LKKsfrktaENj2hceIYEIkuQtm__UPRfWTcNmVg/s1600/ISP+Group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRa_P5viY4oO3xx1MngJy3b7PYIsvON-mgJIhq6_OfcrzYaJErDc0Z1wNJ7mA7G8pi-EDO4shUvkU-yXGPK0jLaDAOGnxVvexlDZyx8LKKsfrktaENj2hceIYEIkuQtm__UPRfWTcNmVg/s320/ISP+Group.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well, it took him awhile. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So, let me reiterate...</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Five and a half years ago this happened:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqihuwK3ywBbKKyz5i1wuRo6d80_DlsgDi5kQrl0zgTzvWvgv4stJhkPq-qrFcFODU-fT-dcwe9xfsOrLTdDg70hkUDiYoUcN-MI_sO0WgjDHn16JoIl9MHy_DXMJjiUbPS1105Bz75-Q/s1600/Wedding.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqihuwK3ywBbKKyz5i1wuRo6d80_DlsgDi5kQrl0zgTzvWvgv4stJhkPq-qrFcFODU-fT-dcwe9xfsOrLTdDg70hkUDiYoUcN-MI_sO0WgjDHn16JoIl9MHy_DXMJjiUbPS1105Bz75-Q/s320/Wedding.JPG" width="213" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jumping ahead...</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">(Apparently we're taking this story at four-year intervals)</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">About nine and a half months ago </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">this happened:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwoQqzixvQcsL480x1VbCQka4nPBV7REWzn8yL5X5XQDyI2E-C6iFNC5LRrKsicYCfa94sUKvLxlpdPByFIRg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our little town shut down for a week.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">Then about eight months ago this happened:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6ewPEGeQlSUbthcEYa8ngNttQkV6udcHQwKHXr5pGYaIMhTcVP19YraR6gpF4qXWoZTeSCM_JbEYAAeZXc5Cd__Mi0-sBKWuXMh_ngh_2sOtETDJH3ZsjKto9XMMjJrqBH4P4Zhb7tY/s1600/Preg+Test.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6ewPEGeQlSUbthcEYa8ngNttQkV6udcHQwKHXr5pGYaIMhTcVP19YraR6gpF4qXWoZTeSCM_JbEYAAeZXc5Cd__Mi0-sBKWuXMh_ngh_2sOtETDJH3ZsjKto9XMMjJrqBH4P4Zhb7tY/s320/Preg+Test.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">There may have been thirteen tests involved in reaching this conclusion.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">About four months ago, this happened:</span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbUODIcoXZitkComWtLzFaZZWZCy7XfBIRCOsn8DyMxEFDndAnPTZWvTXx-dg9phXvKAhidrqCVzArdR8Zh8WB92HCE3x7gvmug1ke2kdBClzFxjrZaJpLDjjFOlXV8hVnKDGz-jxAfzs/s1600/Cutting+Cake.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbUODIcoXZitkComWtLzFaZZWZCy7XfBIRCOsn8DyMxEFDndAnPTZWvTXx-dg9phXvKAhidrqCVzArdR8Zh8WB92HCE3x7gvmug1ke2kdBClzFxjrZaJpLDjjFOlXV8hVnKDGz-jxAfzs/s320/Cutting+Cake.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQyGLWI3RbGUFLVqZc_XjHrRpR8jcWoKgro0_W82o1uyPz7POwVvRWfnQSBdiW5VW_Q02BlBhzgQPGVrg4ifX0rW4ozeyGioq5d8o9gN2ShU_3rhBJy6Sw8eRGkbSN7kOvnZhgC-XeOo/s1600/Pink+Cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQyGLWI3RbGUFLVqZc_XjHrRpR8jcWoKgro0_W82o1uyPz7POwVvRWfnQSBdiW5VW_Q02BlBhzgQPGVrg4ifX0rW4ozeyGioq5d8o9gN2ShU_3rhBJy6Sw8eRGkbSN7kOvnZhgC-XeOo/s320/Pink+Cake.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">And we knew that Wren Louise was on the way.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">She will be here the day after tomorrow!</span></div>Mister, Freddie, & Wren Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13901342622201365815noreply@blogger.com0