Rolling Along

Hank with his wrinkly forehead looking like a little old man.

 An evening at my Sister in law for supper. So much fun.

Stuart and his window washing. He brought this squeegee home from Grandma's yard sale. 

Last year I forgot to plant my zinnias. Making them extra special this year.

Cute little people who LOVE babies. 

Reading Henry and Mudge books. A favorite baby gift! 

When did my puppy turn into a dog? 

Ok, she's still a puppy.

Rolling along, Olive not so sure about the back seat. 

Henry's first fishing trip.

Ellie is missing a few teeth at the moment. This gives her quite the dilemma when it is time to smile for a photo. To show the teeth or not. Being 7 must be hard, her friends told her she looks like a rabbit after she showed her teeth on her Summer Bible School photo and now she has to be coaxed to have a normal smile. 

Ted visits from the city.

My Grandpa is crazy for this cat. It was his before they moved to the home. I try not to mind that he knows who the cat is when he sees it but not me. 

For a while it was so entertaining to go visit them thanks to the crazy things he would say. Now that his short term memory has gotten even worse the fun factor went way down as it's hard to carry a conversation. 

Grandpa and Step Grandma celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary, although they have no clue what is going on with that card. 

Harley does not like to be left out! 

Well this years Father's Day picture has me tearing up. Nothing like a new little person in your family to make you feel grateful. 

Two Weeks In

 One week old.

 I've been trying to keep my fridge empty for all of the baby meals. Nate went to get me a few groceries. A list with about 5 items. Milk, stamps, strawberries, etc. He came home with many other things including 2 watermelon.  

Great Grandma Minnie. 

Summer storm rolling in.

Hank's first real ride in the station wagon. 

Boaz in Mom's baby carriage. It's like a pack and play on wheels. 

Not a sight I see very often. Bless his heart.

We are getting spoiled with the fun baby meals. Henny Penny Chicken one night. 

The Lady in the Red Car with the Westie

It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon and nap time was just about over. The older kids had done some chores and were playing on the iPad in the living room. Olive was still sleeping. I went out to the porch with a cold drink and baby Henry. We were having a good time when the lady with the red car showed up. This was not the first time that she came. The Saturday morning that the sewer was clogged? Her dog showed up during that drama and was attacking/playing with Harley in a fashion that made me uncomfortable. All that I remember is I was yelling at Mia to tie Harley when this lady pulled in and called for her dog who then hopped in her car and she took off. Now she was back. She did not walk up to me, so we were yelling from the porch to the drive about her lost dog. Henry was sleeping on my lap and I was not about to get up. So she left and I went back to my quiet happy place. Over the next 15 minutes I heard someone yelling, "Help, Help me!" repeatedly and I thought it was coming from Main St. I imagined all sorts of scenarios but was pretty sure I was actually hearing something entirely different than a human voice. Maybe it was a table saw. Until the dog lady was back in my face. She was huffing and puffing and there was no car, she came from the other side of my house. "Can you call 911?" she asked, "My dog is in the pond and she is going to drown." She was quite worked up and I stood up and my foot was sleeping so I'm stumbling around with Henry in my arms... I told her I would get my phone and she could call 911. So I hobble into the house to plug my phone line back in (serious nap times = unplug phone line) stick Henry in his swing, by now I hear that Olive is awake. Great. So I go back outside hoping this is not stupid to let the lady use my phone. (What is up with us and 911 these days! Seriously since having Henry I dreamed twice that I had to call 911 but in my dream I could not get through to them... phobia) So now the lady is gone, I go dashing around the house and she is half way down the hill to the pond and I am thinking, "Oh no you don't" So I called after her, "Excuse me Ma'am! Hello!" getting louder until she heard me. I told her she can use my phone but I am not calling for her. I told her to just let the phone on the trampoline when she is finished. Back to the house I go to get Olive up from her nap, pick Henry back up out of the swing as he is not safe in there when Olive is up, and now we had a show to watch out the window. The dog was swimming circles in the pond, chasing a duck. The duck had the dogs number and was just tormenting it. Flying away a little bit anytime the dog got close. I went back outside to watch and I heard Uncle Jim was home, such relief I felt that he could deal with the very worked up dog lady. He soon appeared wearing his white golf shorts carrying his shot gun and I thought oh boy this is going to get good... he's going to shoot the duck! He just scared the duck off and sure enough the dog swam to the edge of the pond for a breather. Not that anyone could convince the dog to get out though. A man from the fire station did show up and kindly tried to coax the dog out. Nothing... she was soon swimming laps again just for the fun of it. This is when Nate got home and he headed down to join in on the fun. After a few more laps the lady managed to call her dog to her. The lady was almost falling in the pond herself and all the men were yelling at her to not go in the pond. She was pretty exhausted herself by now, probably more than the dog was. She got the dog out and they both plopped on the bank. Nate heard her telling Uncle Jim, "I asked the lady up there to call 911 but she wouldn't!"
I tell you the entertainment around here has been something!

Stu and Hank

When Stuart saw Henry for the first time he asked Nate, "If I would want to kiss her where would I do that?"

It turned out he was too shy to follow through on that particular day. And incidentally we all call him a she on occasion. We always have this trouble when the previous baby was a different gender. 

There was also a funny comment about Henry not being born wearing a blanket. Oh Stu Bop's you make being five so much fun.

                                  

Henry's first outing was the Sunday school picnic. While eating his burger and fries Stuart realized that his baby brother had gone missing from my arms and asked where he was, "You're just letting him crawl around?"

The nights have been rough, but so far each one gets better. I guard my nap time like a desperate person. 

Handing out cigars.

 Nothing better than hanging out in pj's all day in a sleep deprived baby loving stupor. 

Henry

Praising Jesus for the safe arrival of

Henry Burke

last night around 9:30

8 lb 2 oz