Just some of my recent favorites...

Lydia enjoys climbing onto this step and watching the birds out the window.

Puppy love.

Daddy and his girls in the butterfly garden at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester. Notice Catie has a Jets sweatshirt on...aren't they cute!!!

Baby Auffhammer

Not much detail in the first one, but in the next one you can see a head, legs, and an arm. I'm told there are 2 arms...no worries. We don't know the gender. That won't be available for at least 2 months.
These were taken January 14th. (I'm way overdue on posting.) According to the ultrasound I'm due on August 14. Originally, we thought the date would be the 10th. I'm leaning toward the 10th anyway and here's why. With both of my previous pregnancies my nausea ended, pretty much, on the last day of 1st trimester. My final day of feeling crappy and nauseous with this pregnancy was last Sunday (it was a doozy of a day). That would line up with the earlier due date. Otherwise, I would've been sick until Thursday. I know...not much different, but I am interested to see what day this little one arrives in August.

Lydia has some new tricks.

Lydia has learned some new things recenly and I thought I should document them for my own memory.

She started standing on her own last week. Only for a few seconds at a time, but she is getting better.

She learned to clap and does so when she has done something good.

Last night she learned to drink through a straw.

She can climb stairs, but I don't let her near them.

She loves to stand on her stool at the front window and watch the birds. (I think I need to get a picture of this next time she does it.)

my thoughts during the inauguration.

I have so many thoughts about today. It's historic, yes, and I can appreciate the significance. I wonder, though, was Obama elected b/c he's black or b/c of his promises? Are we celebrating his color or his presidency? He's different, that's what our country wanted. We have elected a Black President. It seems to me that's all anyone is caring about. He's BLACK. So, what? Like I said, I can appreciate the significance of this, but at some point we need to forget his color and remember that he is a man...he is the new president. He is significant in history b/c he is the President of The United States of America.



I will pray for him. I will show him respect. I will not call him stupid or uneducated or uncaring as so many have done to President Bush. If I did, I would probably be called racist anyway. Which brings another thought...How can anyone say anything bad about this man without being seen as racist? His color is going to be an issue for the next 4 years (at least.) Criticism of the president is now going to be a very sensitive subject. ugh.

Again....I can appreciate the significance of this event. Less than 50 years ago, blacks were not even allowed to vote. I just wonder how all of this will pan out.



(As I write this Aretha Franklin is singing...does anyone else think she's not as great as she once was? That was horrid.)



Now...THIS is music....Yo-yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Gabriela Motero and Anthony Mcgill.



They used his middle name. Did anyone else catch that? They used Bush's middle name when they introduced him as he came down the steps. They used Obama's middle initial. When he was sworn into office, though, they used his full middle name....Hussein. I wonder why it wasn't used earlier.

blogsurfing is dangerous.

So, I sometimes will take a link from one of my friends' blogs to one of their friends' blogs to one of their friends' blogs, and so forth and so forth. This gets dangerous when I find a blog that is published by and overachiever/neurotic mom of 27 who makes all her meals from scratch, keeps an immaculate house, serves on the PTA, and sews doll clothes in her spare time. When do these women sleep?!
I feel inferior. I don't sew dresses for my girls (yet). I don't cook a full meal every night--sometimes I even use Hamburger helper (shame on me!). I don't keep up with the laundry very well. I have dirty dishes in my sink. I vaccinate my children and last night Lydia ate......[gasp] BEEF!!!!!

I keep having to remind myself that I am the best mom for my kids and that is why God gave them to ME. He wouldn't have given them to me if He didn't trust me.

I also keep telling myself that these other blog mom's are writing about their good days and good qualities. Maybe they are even exaggerating a bit so they feel better about themselves. Who knows....I just need to keep working on contentment and self-discipline.

Thanks Kiley

Here's another attempt at a link. This time I'm going to send you to my friend Kiley's website b/c she is the one who told me how to do this. Thanks, Kiley, for explaining it so well.

attempting a link

My friend, Rachel, posted a link to a giveaway on her blog. I checked it out and decided to try to link to that website so that you could all enjoy it as well. Here's the address:

http://gahangirls.blogspot.com

And if anyone can explain to me how to link through a word/phrase without having to show the full address, I would appreciate it.

thanks.