Snapshots from our life

Welcome to a photo essay of our week.

We'll start with Garry.

As announced in this article in The New York Times, Wells Fargo is merging with Wachovia. Garry said the atmosphere at Wells Fargo is very positive and happy; it feels good to have positive news in the banking industry. Garry's job in risk management should be very secure for the next few years (lots of risk to analyze as the companies integrate over the next few years). We feel blessed that Garry works for one of the strongest banks in the industry, even at this time of uncertain economics.



Garry is also gearing up for working one of the first weekends in our history together (hooray for that record). His piece of a very high-profile report must happen when a certain segment of data is available, and that is slated to occur on Saturday or Sunday. We're bummed about the timing, but glad for his chance to let the big-wigs know his name. This will happen at each quarter-end for the foreseeable future.

Now for Tyler.

It's a good thing Tyler is generally such a mellow, keep-himself-busy sort of boy. He is amused by by simple things, like fairy tale stories on CD, newly-discovered baby toys, books from the library, and of course, television. I am so grateful that Tyler can get his own snacks and drinks, that he's satisfied with nuke-'em-and-eat-'em chicken nuggets every day, and that he goes to preschool two afternoons a week.



Speaking of preschool, Tyler seems to be thriving. He doesn't tell me much about his afternoons at school, except that he has friends and enjoys himself. Tyler's class has days where all the students dress in the same color and bring pictures representing letters of the alphabet. So far, Tyler has worn green, yellow, red, and blue and taken pictures for A, B, and C. Thursday was also Crazy Sock Day. I completely forgot but Tyler took care of it; he wore one ankle sock (inside out) and one crew sock. Crazy!

Sweet Gavin.

I wrote a lengthy update about this boy on Tuesday, but here are a few more things about the babe. Gavin had a sty on his left lower eyelid this week. He didn't seem bothered at all, but the lid was red and puffy for a couple of days. Gavin also cut his eighth tooth on Wednesday, which probably explained his grumpiness on Tuesday! We are really enjoying watching Gavin walk all over the place. He can pivot and turn corners, walk on grass, reach down to pick up something and stand right back up, and usually walk with shoes on his feet.



This week I also weaned Gavin from nursing {sigh...}. I guess I wasn't ready, at least emotionally, but Gavin didn't blink. I suppose I should take it as a good sign that after not nursing him for 24 hours I'm not even uncomfortable (physically), but it makes me a little sad that the end of this era has come and gone with very little fanfare. So Gavin has formula bottles three times a day (we're still working on what volume is appropriate) and life goes on.

P.S. I decided to wean because an anti-nausea drug I want to take isn't good for Gavin, plus my milk supply is diminishing...in case you wanted to know.

Because the end of September arrived,
we did our first monthly Accolade drawing. The boys earn Accolades for five areas of good behavior: manners, honesty, service, obedience, and kindness. We decided recently that once a month each boy would put all his earned Accolades in a bowl and draw one for a special prize.



Zachary gets a new book (the service prize) and Tyler gets an ice cream date (the obedience prize).



And Zachary.

Parenting Zachary is a constant roller coaster. He's up, he's down, he's nice, he's mean, he's happy, he's angry, he's cooperative, he's crazy....all in the space of two hours after school. It's hard to keep up!! But of course Zach is a really good kid who is just suffering from being six. He adores soccer, playing it at recess every day and on his team two evenings a week. He has really learned to hustle after the ball and made a great goal on Thursday night. He was excited about that!

The photos below are a good synopsis of Zach's week. On the left is Zach busily coloring the Star of the Week poster that features all sorts of fun facts about Zach (I'll post about it next week, or maybe for his birthday...). He spent so much time on this in addition to his regular homework -- no complaints! On the right is a picture of a rather unhappy Zach who was sentenced to picking up rocks for a moment of poor judgment. We are very, very slowly clearing that corner of the yard for what will someday be a fabulous flagstone patio. Zach has filled that orange bucket with little rocks about six times this week.



You might have to enlarge this picture to see the detail -- you wouldn't want to miss the the ball-point-pen graffiti Zachary created on Tyler's car seat. I sent him to the van to fetch something, and when he found a pen in the process, he decided to vandalize Tyler's seat. We are still trying to come up with a reasonable consequence for this one. Any ideas?



Autumn has arrived in Colorado Springs.

These trees in our yard are just starting to turn, as are many in our neighborhood. I really hope we'll be able to squeeze in a drive through the mountains this weekend. The foliage is supposed to be stunning right now, but we've heard it won't last very long. I love this time of year. The pumpkin crisp I made in celebration will have to be enjoyed by other family members, however; it makes my tummy hurt.



Speaking of my tummy,
I'm sure you are all curious about the details after my last post. Thanks for all of your fun comments! I appreciate your congratulations, enthusiasm, and well-wishes.
We are surprised, excited, amazed, grateful, and overwhelmed all at once.

And I am sick.

There's nothing like puking three times a day and feeling lousy 24/7 to remind a person that growing a baby is hard work. And I've never balanced taking care of a baby with morning sickness. The next few months should prove interesting.

These photos show the fundamentals of my life right now: laying on the couch, wearing the same comfy lounge pants every.single.day, and reading a book to Tyler when I feel too guilty about the quantity of television he is ingesting. The other picture shows the state of our kitchen table for three consecutive days. Why clean up breakfast when you'll just eat the same things again tomorrow? Can you see my kitchen table from the front door? You betcha.



But on a happier note, I have an ultrasound on Monday morning. We hope to see a little bean with a beating heart and figure out a more specific due date. Can't wait!