Computer Crash

Ok, I think I just made a huge mistake. Our computer was in this horrible cycle of starting and shutting down, over and over for like 24 hours. According to the message screen, I needed to reinstall Windows. Hmm. So I did. And lost EVERY file and program on the computer. The one that I'm really fretting about is my pictures. Is there any way to recover these lost files? I did backup my Photoshop photos a few months ago on CD. But that means I've lost all my other photos. Also, I've lost all our budget information for the last year. Seriously?! How did I not back all this stuff up?

Good Deal at Expressionery

Ok, so I'm a paper addict. And anything related to paper. So, naturally I feel compelled to share a good deal on a website that features personalized paper, stamps, labels, cards, etc. Expressionery.com is offering 40% your order, plus free shipping for a limited time. I am now kicking myself because I just splurged a couple of weeks ago on a personalized address stamp (I've had it with writing our address out longhand for all the bills, thank you notes, etc.). Anyway, they have amazing products. Check them out!

Lots O' Pictures

I thought for the grandparent's sake, I would post some recent pics of the boys. They are random, but pretty cute. This is from the wedding a few weeks ago in Lorane. Samuel and Wes really wore each other out that day, but here is one quite moment I caught.

This is what I call product placement. Just kidding - Samuel found my camera lens cap in my maternity clothes bag. It's so funny where stuff ends up when you have kids.

And don't worry - this isn't open. But check out his face - doesn't he look sugar drunk or something?!

Samuel tried my glasses on - they look like they almost fit him!

Party in the back.

All business up front. Colin actually cut Jude's hair recently - nothing major, just a trim in back. It is now shaped like a bowl, which looks funnier than before, in my opinion. A little 70s.

I bought these plastic totes to store toys in, but the boys can't stop playing with them. They call them "space ships" and have hours of fun in them. Ok, maybe not hours, but definitely 15 minute increments! This is Jude practicing his standing. Nope, he's still not walking, but he has more of an interest now, at least.

Samuel laying down in the space ship.

Samuel completely in the space ship.

I also lent the boys my portable reading light (you'd shouldn't be surprised that I try to read in the car at night, or at my bedside when Colin is begging me to turn the bedside lamp out). Luckily, them come in a 2 pack, so they both had one to play with. Even though they are identical, they still fight over the same one. It really baffles me.

And this was Samuel's toy yesterday - putting a box over his head. You would think we don't own toys.

Samuel so kindly picked what appears to be the last of the tomatoes for our burrito dinner last night. You can see Jude in the background saying "matoes?". He can't get enough of them!

Jude was watching Samuel pick the tomatoes. He is always holding his "bobby" (stuffed animal).

Two Things I'm Loving. Okay Three.

This coffee maker is the best. After staying the night in Eugene and being served this divine cup of coffee, I was informed that cold press coffee removes most of the acidity in coffee. You add one pound of coffee grounds layered among cold water and let it sit all night (12 hours). In the morning when it drains, you have this glass pitcher full of coffee concentrate that you add as much or as little water or milk to. It's so good!! I bought the last one at my Kitchen Kaboodle a week ago. Be forewarned, though. Along with removing the coffee's acid, it takes some of the caffeine away as well. But don't despair - you can leave it sitting longer to keep adding the caffeine/acid.

The other wonderful thing I discovered (ok, I read it in a magazine) - you can "slurp" your blog into a book and have it shipped to your door in one week! Check out www.blurb.com and look up the blog portion. The books seems pretty reasonably priced, and it's so nice knowing that you can archive a hard copy of all your memories so easily. They literally import all your photos and text for you and ask you what layouts you want, etc. So fun!

And last? I love that the mice seem to be gone. Yes, they probably met their untimely deaths while feeling horribly ill outside, but I don't have to disinfect my house yet again and find myself weeping in the bathroom.

Escaping to Swan Lake

My very sweet friend, Sarah, bought me a ticket to see Swan Lake in Portland tonight. So, we're taking off for a girls' night to escape into theatre bliss. This is much needed after the week I've had. I found myself locked in the bathroom weeping a couple of days ago after finding more evidence of mice all over my kitchen, among my food. Then while bleaching that mess up, I found small worms that had gotten ahold of my brown rice (apparently called rice weavels or something). So, I spent an entire day throwing the majority of our food out, whether it looked good or not, and santizing my kitchen. Then I took time to soak cotton balls of peppermint oil, which is supposed to repel mice. We are still working with our exterminator, so hopefully something will work. And no, I won't be buying a cat to alleviate our pest problem. Our house smells like a stick of peppermint gum, which isn't a bad thing. It just doesn't feel like home.

We now have Jude working with Early Childhood Development for physical therapy so we can get him walking before our baby girl shows up. He has something called low muscle tone. It's something he was born with and he will always have it. I collapsed on the couch last night in a pile of exhaustion and told Colin I needed to rest - I was building the muscle tone of our little girl. Ok, so I've been a little dramatic, but really. What pregnant woman would clean mouse poo and rice worms up w/out moments of feeling sorry for herself?

And I find myself at night laying awake thinking of all the things we have to buy for this baby and what limited funds we have to do it with. Here's a short list: a vehicle that holds three kids, a new crib, pack n play, baby clothes, blankets, a nursery, crib bedding, etc. The list goes on and we have about three months left. Ahh!

Needless to say, I'm very ready to escape reality tonight and watch Swan Lake.

A McGladrey Wedding

Colin's cousin, Justin, got married yesterday in Lorane, Oregon at a vineyard. It was such a sweet affair. I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted because I was quite preoccupied watching the terrible dancing that was taking place. So entertaining!! Here are the pics:
Justin and Amber right after they said "I do". How happy do they look?!
Cutting the beautiful cake - I really need to learn how to do fondant.

Andrew, father of the groom, marched out in his Scottish gear halfway through the reception to a warm round of applause.
And Grandma Barb had baby duty some of the time. Do notice Jude's walking shoes. Nope, he's not walking, but he had a lot of help practicing yesterday.
Here are Goat and Erin - they wanted me to snap a picture because as Jake put it, "they look like they are straight out of the 70s!"
Here are the little ones dancing - my son inherited my dancing skills. And that's not a compliment to him.
Here was Jude toward the end of the wedding - just so tired. Until Grandpa gave him lots of marionberry juice.

All Activities Inside

Since the weather has turned less than extraordinary, the boys have begun creating inventive ways to have fun inside. I seem to get little else done than constant vacuuming, sweeping and spraying any speck of crumb that falls on our floor out of fear of attracting mice. So, the boys have taken to playing with the vacuum and brooms.
They played this game for awhile - Samuel sucking Jude's hand up.
Jude also found my sewing basket, which has my high school prom tiara in it, for some reason. He wasn't sure what to do with it, so he put it around his neck.
And here is Jude's latest - he falls back on the floor and throws fits. I usually just let him lay there and act dramatic until he gets it out of his system. Or I take pictures to preserve the ridiculous behavior forever in a photo album - he he.

Garage Update

Colin had a work party over here on Monday. I just want to throw a thank you out to all the peeps that helped - Tim, Mark, Andrew, Randy and the other Mark. Here's some pics: On the job site, putting up the tresses.

Colin is guiding the tresses as they are being dropped off of the crane.
Here are the tresses floating around. They are all on now and the garage is beginning to have a roof!

Catching Up

Ok, so I have been terrible about posting lately. We've had this little pesky problem come up, namely, well, pests. Yep, we have mice all of a sudden. They came with the house and apparently we will have to deal with them this time every year, as they seek out warmth. Yuk. You can imagine how my germaphobic brain is short circuiting at this point when I find mouse droppings up in my attic, on my window sills, etc. I sort of want to cry and move out until this whole problem is gone. We had an exterminator out yesterday, but when I called the health dept. about how to clean up after mice, they informed me that we have to seal up any hole that's as a big as a dime in our house. I had to laugh out loud - and you would know why if you have ever been to our house. So, Colin and I will spend the day (well, Colin will be doing the bleachy clean up because I am a bit too pregnant to be dealing with chemical and mouse poop) cleaning and putting our foodstuff in sealed containers. Fun for us! Anyway, here are a couple of random photos from the last couple of weeks. This was amazing to me - that Jude would fall asleep anywhere but his crib. He slept while my grandma swung him. It was such a sweet sight.

Here's Erin and Barb at the beach last weekend. One of these years I won't be pregnant and will actually get to go into the hot tub.

Samuel wanted me to take this picture of him yesterday "working". He took my clothes drying racks and pretended to saw them and put a roof on.

Speaking of roofing, I will have to post pictures soon of our garage. It's coming along nicely.