the 4th...25 days later.

I'm trying to get all my July posts in...so what, it's still July, it counts.  We had a rousing 4th of July filled with a Fireman Pancake Breakfast (don't get excited it was very G rated), a 'Candy' Parade where Hadley lost all circulation in her left arm anxiously awaiting the next treat, a dynamite (no pun intended) BBQ at the Conniff's, a dessert-off, and a lame ass firework show.  All were in bed by 9pm.  My how times have changed.

the duck.

Awhile back, we rode The Duck.  It was amazing.  Once I got over the fear of anyone I knew seeing me on this giant vessel, with all the asian tourists...I loved it.  I quacked, I yelled CHA-CHING everytime I saw a Starbucks, and I even started talking in a British accent...just to make the tourist thing seem more authentic.  Heath and Cole, you were perfect first mates. 

suck it in.

Hadley lifted up my shirt the other night and said "Mama, where did your muscles go?"  Oh Hads, I don't think we'll be seeing those again for quite some time...like maybe when you're 6.

thomas.

My folks are talking Loggie, Hads, & Mads up to the cabin this weekend, but first they are hitting up  'Thomas the Train' on the way.  Hadley has been talking about this since Zaide bought tickets in June, and knows every single detail of exactly what they will do from the minute they see Thomas till the time they come back home.  I'm sure it will be a weekend filled with treasure hunts, chocolate milk, treats, every piece of god awful Thomas paraphernalia my mom could buy, fairy houses, baking, and reading books.  To put it mildly, the girls are stoked.

Hadley and Logan are the same age, in fact, Logs is 3 months older.  This is what two 3 year olds look like next to eachother when one is in the 5th percentile and the other is in the 95th percentile.  Cracks me up.

how did she know?

Maybe it's a nurse thing, but I love teaching Hadley all about her body and it's parts and how they all work together (mostly it's just to jog my memory).  The other day she was playing with a puzzle that shows the bones, muscles, and organs of the body.  So I start quizzing her, using Ry as our mannequin (or dummy, whatever you want to refer to it as).  It went a little something like this:

"Hads, where is Daddy's liver?"

"In his tummy."

"Where are Daddy's lungs?"

"In his chest."

"Where is his elbow?"

"On his arm."

"Where is Daddy's brain?"

"In his penis."

Oh, this girl is wise beyond her years. 

a girl.

I am so glad that I have one.  So, so, glad.

shout it from the rooftops!

We can't know why some things happen...we still grieve, we still wonder, we still miss, (and some of us are still in therapy)...but we know there's a place inside the heart where love lives always, where nothing beautiful can ever be forgotten....

With that said, we are over the moon to announce that we are expecting again. All is well, all is healthy, and all are quite simply, ecstatic.
We get to meet our little bean in November, the day after Thanksgiving in fact... and I can't think of a better way to kick off the holiday season.  We're halfway there, and we kind of can't stop smiling.