This week I:

1. Survived my first week with 4 kids and a husband out of town.

2. Changed approximately 85 diapers

3. Scrubbed my kitchen floor on my hands and knees, an idea I got from my friend Laura, and let me just say that she and her mother are CRAZY for doing it this way!!! Sure, my grout is now clean, and yes it looks good, but holy cow! For all the work I put into it each tile should gleam like a new diamond and a heavenly chorus should sing each time I gaze upon it!

4. Turned 33. Wahoo! Scott made it back into town around 9 pm, which I was thrilled about. I got homemade birthday cards in bed from my girls, numerous phone calls from friends and family, chocolates from my visiting teachers, a cookie bouquet from my parents, cupcakes from my friend Kristin, and a package with a comfy new Gap outfit from my mom and stepdad. And best of all, I had a gorgeous, sweet-smelling, snuggly warm baby girl to cuddle all day long.

Then and now

Ava then:

Our 6 lb. 10 oz. beauty on February 11, 2004:

1 day old:

5 months old:

Sneaking snacks at about 1 1/2 years old:

Ava now:

The woman of honor at her preschool bithday celebration:

Enjoying her birthday breakfast in bed (Mom and Dad's bed, obviously):

Passed out on the living room floor mid-day. With her birthday breakfast, dance class, and a fun outing to a bounce house place she was exhausted by 2:00.

With Brenna and an unhappy Nate, showing off their new Build-A-Bear pets. Yes, that's a pink teddy bear in a wedding dress. She counteracts Brenna's puppy in a pilot's uniform nicely, I think. (Could my 2 girls be ANY more different?!)
And one last then and now.

Her birthday cake then, last year, when Mom had the time, energy, and interest in making her the perfect cake:

And her sad excuse for a cake this year, when Mom ran out of powdered sugar to make the icing the right consistency (hence, one layer sliding off the other) and had to put the whole thing together with a grumpy newborn in her arms:

The boy has had a tough week

It started with a cold on Tuesday, complete with coughing, sneezing and runny nose. Saturday morning he wakes up with a rash on his face. I kind of freaked out when I saw it, but after searching around on the internet I read that rashes are not uncommon with a cold, especially in people with excema (which Nate has). So mamma relaxes and allows Nate to play in the bathtub instead of rushing him in to urgent care. He behaves like a wild man in the tub and ends up falling and gashing open his chin. Once again, I'm ready to rush him to urgent care, but Daddy patches him up with a steri-strip and a bandaid.

The last straw came yesterday afternoon, when he and Ava started brawling. She kicked him, hitting him square in the nose. He ended up gushing blood and she ended up with a time out and a good talking-to.

So this is what our handsome boy looked like a week ago:

And this is what he looked like yesterday:

When it rains, it pours. And apparently it pours all over your face.

We're not getting out much, so here's documentation that we're still alive

I love this picture of me and Nate holding "Baby Wen".

And her sweet big brother.

If you look closely in this one you can see Gwen's dimples. She has one on each side.

And this is how I would prefer to spend most of my day.

Look closely and you will see someone buried beneath the stuffed animals. (Don't worry; they were only there a moment.)

And here's the culprit after he reclaimed his stuffed animals.

Ava loves to make things beautiful. She has a gift for arranging things, as you can see in this lovely snack she put together. She asked for peanut butter and apples. I placed the apples in a fan around the peanut butter (in the requested fancy cup). Ava took it one step further and added grapes and clementine sections and even added a grape on top of the peanut butter. I give her full marks for presentation!

She regularly beautifies her snacks and lunches this way.