Going Solo

First off, since I'm sure everyone is just dying to know, there have been no more rooster sightings since I last wrote.  So either we really and truly scared him off with our water treatment or maybe someone decided he'd look tasty in a soup.  Either way, I'm just glad he's gone.

On to other things...this past weekend we had a first which was bound to happen.  Calleigh got invited to a birthday party and Aubree did not.  Let me say that I'm wholeheartedly supportive of this since let's face it, birthday parties are expensive and even more so when everyone in the whole family is there rather than just the friend of the birthday person.  So I had no problem at all with the invitation to Marley's party being just addressed to Calleigh (plus, I knew this info ahead of time).  The girls did not take it well.  They both flipped out and Calleigh was actually more upset about it then Aubree and stated that if Aubree couldn't go, then neither was she.  While I appreciated her concern and camaraderie with her sister, I told her that this was how things would be some of the time as they get older.  They couldn't always do everything together.  It's actually a strange thought since I was always think of them as a pair but the reality is that they aren't.  Then, as luck would have it, we got an invitation to another party at the exact same time so Aubree and Brady ended up having their own party to go to so it all worked out.

Colby, of course, got to come to the girl party although he slept through much of it.  The party was for both Macey and Marley and Ashley did a fantastic job with the decorating around the baking theme.  All the girls got their own aprons and hats and decorated cookies and cupcakes to take home.  This apparently made an impression on Calleigh as this was the conversation she had with Aubree the next day:

Calleigh: "I'm going to be a baker when I grow up."
Aubree: "I'm going to be a storer."
Calleigh: "What's that?"
Aubree: "You know, the person who sells the cupcakes and cookies in their store."
Calleigh: "Oh good.  Brady can be the garbage truck person, Daddy can buy our stuff, and Mommy can eat it.  Then we can all be together."
No mention on Colby's role.

Ashley's mom sewed the part on the bottom on all the aprons and I'm guessing the hats.  So cute!

Marley, the birthday girl (turning 6)

Aubree and Brady's party was for Kenny (turning 5) and Katelyn (turning 2).  They totally remind me of Camden and Acadia.  Their party was at Monkey Joe's which was very exciting for them since I think this was Brady's first time going there in which he could actually do stuff.  He had a great time although reportedly was freaked out by the giant Monkey Joe mascot.  Looking at him, I can see why.

Kenny and Katelyn

Our week since then has been pretty routine.  Wake up, eat, school, a quick errand if time permits, eat, quiet time, play time, eat, go to bed.  Throw in a bunch of Colby feedings in the mix and you pretty much have our daily schedule.  Oh, I occasionally do get a shower.

I finally got most of the school room done so here are a few pictures.

On the Colby front, unfortunately it looks like I have another spitter-upper.  The girls NEVER spit up and then Brady came along and I got introduced to the phenomenon and now it's back.  It was all good for about the first three weeks but since then, I've had to keep a steady supply of burp clothes on hand.  A lot of times it doesn't actually hit there so I've had the displeasure of spit up going down my shirt, down my back, etc. And good think we got our sectional sprayed with some kind of protective coat because I've been cleaning it off there frequently.  You always wonder how any of the milk is left in them after you see all that comes out but he's still peeing and pooping with gusto so evidently it's not ALL coming up.  I also finally got his 0-3 month clothes out and have put the NB stuff away for good.  Never to be used by another Grodack baby again.  Sniff, sniff.

I just love looking at him from this angle.  Love those lips.

Speaking of babies, it occurred to me that I may not have mentioned that my dear brother and sister-in-law are having another baby!  Those not in the inner circle may have been surprised by the announcement a few weeks ago.  I am beyond thrilled since really, three is so much better than two, right??  So yes, Shawn and Camille are expecting in March and I have my fingers crossed for a girl since Camille has all my girl stuff and I have all her boy stuff down here.  Although, I suppose a boy would be nice because then he would be close in age to Colby.  We shall see.  It seems we are due for a girl though since the last five babies born to Latimer cousins have been boys.

Colby's sleeping is pretty much unchanged.  Still sleeping in the swing and still going for about a six hour stretch.  Last Saturday night I finally put him to bed in our room in the swing but it was miserable.  He seemed to grunt an unusually large amount of times and woke up sooner than he does when sleeping in the living room.  Who knows what the deal was.  All I know is that poor Duncan didn't sleep as well as he usually does either so I told him it was nice seeing you and all but we're out of here.  We're moving back to the other side of town.   And here we shall remain until further notice.

Duncan's big project over the last two weeks has been to do put in all the landscaping in the backyard.  You will recall that we had the landscape architect map it all out for us and they put in the patio and our three big trees.  Well, as stunning as the rest of the design was, the price was also stunning so we decided to just do it ourselves (the "we" and "ourselves" of course, being Duncan).  He has a good portion of the plants put in and today he cemented in the poles for the hammock.  We are awaiting on the hammock itself from LL Bean. It's been crazy how much cheaper it's been to do it ourselves.  We will have outlayed about 20% of the amount they would have charged us to do it all.  I will post pictures next week.

Oh how I love the month of October when it comes to yard sales.  Probably the best month of the year since so many places have community sales going on.  Last night I got all the sales loaded into the GPS and I knew there was no way we would get to all of them especially with our shortened schedule...we have to break and feed Colby.  But I got everything all prepared (snacks, drinks, clothes) so we could get out of here as early as possible and then I had to make sure that Colby's schedule worked out so that he ate right before we left, ensuring that he would only eat once while we were out and not twice.  We left the house at 8:15 and finally got back at 1:45.  It was a great day.  I got tons of clothes for $.10 (most of which we will never wear.  Going right to Goodwill for a tax deduction) and lots of books.  Our first sale had this brown paper bag full of books and it had a sign on it that said "Free."  I asked them if I could take the whole bag for my school and they said, "Yes, you can.  They have people's names on them, though."  Ahh, okay.  As far as I know, a book is still just as good even if it has the name Joe written in the front cover.  Crazy.  But hey, we got a bag of like 30 books for nothing so works for me.

A book I got myself for $.50.  I hear it's very good.

 Last night we had the kickoff to the new Bruins season.  Uncle Ricky came over to watch the game with us. It's funny how I haven't had the NHL package on TV for years but somehow last year I really got into it again and now I was counting down the days until the season started again, despite the very poor conclusion to last year (losing the finals to Chicago).  Reminded me of my youth actually as I very distinctly remember my excitement of the season starting and watching the games on like a 15-inch TV that my parents had (this was when I was a teenager.  Before that, no TV).  I let the kids watch the first period (fast forwarding through the fight, mind you) and my main objective was to find Calleigh a new favorite player since her's, Tyler Seguin, had been traded to Dallas in the offseason.  We seemed to have landed on Milan Lucic since he wears # 17 and her birthday is on the 17th.  Everything almost went awry though when she announced that maybe she was going to root for Tampa Bay (the Bruins opponent last night).  Aubree chastised her and said that "No, we go for the Bruins." And Calleigh said "But WE were not born in Boston, Aubree.  We are from Florida so we should vote for the teams from here."  They always say "vote" instead of "root..." So funny. In the end, she is still cheering for the Bruins.

Here are a few more pictures to close.

Praying.

Aunt Wanda

Perfecting the side hold.  She should know.  I had to keep her like this for the first few months, the big cry baby.

New house getting built nearby.  They had the crane in for the heavy lifting.

The floor is yours, Colby Jack (a nickname that Uncle Ricky has bestowed on him).

Hmm, an empty bottle in the fridge.  Laziness or an ingenious way to keep track of our recyclables?