Work

This is only my second blogpost ever.

I have had an interesting past couple of weeks. First off, it was so much fun to see the Payne family this weekend. I wish more people could come visit--we have the room and the invite is always open (especially to Moses Lake people!) Nothing beats having fun with family and the Payne family will be hard to top!

I took care of some sick kids and kids that were pretty banged up in car wrecks this week. I also took care of some homeless people that had nothing more than what they were wearing. I take care of people every day in situations and circumstances that really make me grateful for all I have. I also take care of people who have absolutely no one in the world to care for them.

After a particularly hard and busy night, I came home exhausted and went to bed. Bridget let me sleep in, Eli did not cry, and Dora was an angel. When I woke up and went downstairs, I saw my family, in my home. Everyone was happy (although Bridget was tired). Eli laughed and ran over to give me a hug and said "da-da". It felt good to be surrounded by people who love me.

I am so lucky for my family, and blessed for all those who have helped me get here. There is so much suffering and heartache and loneliness in the world. While having kids can be very difficult most of the time, nothing removes frustration and loneliness better than your son saying "ah wa waah" or (I love you), and a hug from your wife.

This may not make sense to anyone but me... be grateful. There are literally thousands upon millions of people that would do anything to be loved and cared for by someone and I think those of us who have that love and care take it for granted.

-Whitney

A Payneful Weekend

My broken tailbone still hurts, but that's not the Pain I am referring to... The Payne family came to visit us on Saturday after seeing the sights with Golden and Julie. We had a fun weekend, especially Eli who basked in all the attention.

These first two aren't from this weekend--the first was last week. Whit worked lik 36 hours and I guess I was pretty tired when Emma came over. She snapped this one.



Then this one is from this morning--I took the kids on a walk (after running 6 miles at the gym--so I went almost 8 miles all told today! I had to make up for all the weekend pizza.) and look! They both fell asleep! Dora woke up minutes later, but Eli slept more than 3 hours!

My fat little angels!


I liked this shot of Eli...

This is Whit's cousin Abe and his fiance Grace. Aside from being lovely, she is one of those rare people who actually (seems) to like playing with other people's kids! She made friends with Eli (and so did Abe) and both kids were all smiles with her. I am sure she will be a GREAT mom! You can see Eli warmed right up--he even trusted them to hold his revered blanket while he traipsed around the room.

Dad and Dora...

Uncle Calvin was the life of the party... :-)

Aunt Jane really was the life of the party. I think she usually is... What a SWEET and funny lady.

Thanks for coming to Hershey! We had a great time. Hopefully on your next trip we can see more sights (it was raining so we didn't hit Hershey Park...) We did set off some fireworks, but I didn't get photos of that this time. Whoops!

Isadora is Three Months Old!!

With Eli I recall a vivid difference in my life at around 4 months. It was as though I came up from being submerged under water for months and could breathe again. I am just a few short weeks away from that feeling! :-) Seriously though, she's already sleeping much better and growing so big!! I can't believe she's 3 months old. The only bad thing is that I still have 18 pounds to lose! (But it's not her fault I am moving so slowly!)

Anyhow, these photos make it clear I am still a terrible photographer, but her adorable nature shines through in spite of my shortcomings. I just haven't had time this week to learn about the camera--I was doing work to pay for my mom and dad to come out for a visit! Dad's coming in a week and a half, and mom is coming in June! Hooray!

As an aside, the maroon dress is one *I* wore when I was a tiny thing, and l am going to do a cute scrapbook page (or maybe even a shadowbox on the wall) of the photos of both of us in it. There is a bit of my mom in me after all. I like that you can see how blue her eyes are in the first shot.

She has such dainty hands and feet--such a contrast to her brother's paws and hugely fat little feet!!

Terrible light here, I know, but she's adorable anyway.

And I can't leave out my little trouble maker. Here's a cute shot of Eli and Dad... Dad's shirt says I'm a Fun Guy (with a fungi on it). Gotta love Target Tees...

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day was not too happy at our house this year. To be fair, we got off to a bad start when I fell down the stairs early Saturday morning (getting Dora a bottle and slipped on a water bottle on the stairs) and cracked my tailbone. That's right. Embarassing!! And really painful! There isn't anything to be done for it, either. You just have to sit it out (bad pun.)

Then on Sunday Eli got Croup! Poor little guy. He is not feeling well, but Whitney got him some great medicine and he's getting better finally. I did get some lovely flowers, shown in the photo. I loved them!! Also, Eli and Dora got me a FANCY massage at the nicest place in town. I am pretty excited to go there again.

Next year all I want for Mother's day is healty kids and parents!


What a cute little girl. She is truly an angel!! And I love this little cherry top from the outlet! Thanks mom!

Eli was not in a photo friendly mood... But I snapped one anyway!

Happy mother's day to my mom, Whit's mom and all my sister in laws!! Hope yours was less pain filled than ours! (And since I missed church, I didn't get a carnation!!)

-Bridget

WAY TOO MANY PICTURES! AHHH

As I have already mentioned, I have a new camera. We had a pretty big Friday here at our house... Whit was at work, but Eli went to play with Jaedon and Olivia, Eli and Dora and I went on a walk and then played in the yard with Eli's water table (it was the first time it's been warm enough since we got it weeks ago!) After Dad came home, I took Eli to see Auntie Em and one of her friend's dogs. He had a great time! We finished off the night with the Bradfords and Bassetts over for fireworks. Eli loved the fireworks, clapping and clapping and asking for MORE MORE MORE! He got to stay up an hour late, but was still really upset about having to go to bed. The big surprise was that Dora liked the fireworks!!

Anyhow, here are some of my photos from our Big Friday. I hope you enjoy (mom!)

Dora outside...

My only attempt at an artsy shot!

This was my favorite photo of the day.

We had to change clothes because his first outfit got all wet.

His expression the first time he saw the dog...

My two Scrubs

Ang suggested I put up Eli's birth announcement photo, too. (It's the reason for the second set taking place out on the futon too!) You will notice one of my men has more hair in photo 2, and one has less! :-) I love them both more now, no matter their hair status. I also think they are both even cuter now than they were in August of 2007.

New Camera!!

This first photo is the only one not taken with the new camera. Emma came over after church to play with Eli, and they were playing under the coffee table. What a good Aunt!


I made this sepia tone on the camera itself!! WoW! Isn't my honey hot!

These are Eli's new jammies. My cowboy! Shockingly they aren't from Grandma Stuckey--a first!

The colors are so much better with the new camera!! But I need to figure out how to take photos manually so I can avoid using the flash. I am still pointing and clicking for now!

I love this one where Whit is getting a kiss!

I haven't ever really done bath photos, but I tried out the new camera in there today. Eli got a hair cut today, so we had to take a bath right after. I cut it a little too short, but it will grow back, right? He HATES haircuts, so it's really hard to do!

Another bath photo. His eyes look so blue in these!

Here is Dora... What a cute little button. I love this big fluffy white flower bow! She was SO GOOD today; even more of an angel than usual. What a DANG good baby! She just smiles at me all day long. SO FUN!