tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87286437138324818972024-02-19T00:56:09.168-05:00The Ritger RoostThe Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-73418108560222283342014-10-09T12:08:00.000-04:002014-10-09T12:08:08.981-04:00Happy First Birthday Junebug<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
My baby is 1. She has the biggest brown eyes, dark hair that is starting to curl, and the best chubby cheeks! She's full fledged toddler already--my other two children weren't even walking until 14 months and this monkey is 100% walking and into everything since 11 months. I honestly don't have a lot of memories of the other two kids at the same age, but Johnny and I find ourselves saying all the time "I don't think Hank and Lucy were quite as busy and into everything". She is so motivated to keep up with her big siblings, and is so proud as she toddles as fast as she can behind them giggling hysterically and stopping to rip things off the wall and shelves as she sees fit. She has a strut to her walk now, as she charges across the playground towards the biggest slide or climbing structure. She walks up to any and all kids and babbles some nonsense at them, not scared of anything. Don't tell Junie that she can't do something-in fact saying "no" combined with a head shake is one of her few words. Her favorite places to hang out are under the kitchen sink, around electrical outlets, medicine cabinets, toilets, on stairs, and generally anywhere hazardous to her health and safety. </div>
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While she's pretty advanced from a motor perspective, I'm pretty sure she's not as chatty as the other two--her few favorite words are "nana (banana)", "shoe", "no", and "MOM". She rarely says mama, it is always a loud, assertive 'MOM!' Clearly the girl knows she's the 3rd child and if she wants something she's going to have to be loud about it. Her more typical communication these days is a whole lot of pointing and grunting (typically at the fridge). Girl loves to eat-anything and everything. She cleans her plate, and then hovers around everyone else's looking for handouts-again don't tell her she can't have any. </div>
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Overall, June is such a happy go-lucky little girl. She's super snuggly and loves to cuddle with mama over anyone else (this I am so thankful for in my last baby). She's full of love and giggles--and loves to give hugs and kisses to anyone willing to accept them. Her brother adores her, her sister wants nothing to do with her her--we'll see how that works itself out over time. There is nonstop fighting in the house-and June is certainly getting pretty scrappy about it all. I find her pulling Lucy's ponytail and clawing at her face in response to Lucy stealing toys etc. Most days it feels like the Lord of the Flies in the house. I tend to stay out of it unless there is bloodshed (we like to avoid the ER whenever possible), hopeful that they learn to sort out differences sooner rather than later--may the odds be ever in your favor my dear children.</div>
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I adore this little girl, and her spunky,wild personality so unlike anyone else in the family. I look forward to seeing her personality continue to grow as I think it's going to be a big one. I also suspect this little one is going to give us a run for our money over the next 20 years or so-but as with all of my children I see great things for their futures! </div>
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We celebrated with a fantastic water/duck themed party and bbq in the backyard with lots of friends, family, and cake (we never pass up opportunities for parties in this house!). </div>
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1 year stats (she's another biggun-already shares clothes with her sister):</div>
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Height: 30.75 inches 95th %</div>
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Weight: 21 lbs 70th%</div>
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Head: 18.9 in 99th%</div>
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<br />The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-87498731105753430942014-09-04T16:32:00.002-04:002014-09-04T16:32:37.755-04:00Put your car on cruise and lay back because its summertimeWe love summertime around here...well the kids and I do, Johnny longs for the short, dark days of winter for some strange reason. Since we finished our renovation in the weeks before summer, we decided to kick back and not work on the house for the summer. We had two awesome weeks at the beach-one week in the Outer Banks and one in Tybee Island (awesome once the car rides were over). We generally spent lots of time at the pool, in the sprinkler, at the zoo, baseball games, swimming lessons, having hot dog parties in the yard, setting off fireworks, staying up late, playing with friends everyday, berry picking etc, etc, etc....<br />
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While fun was had by all, there was plenty of sibling fighting going on daily and the lack of any structure or routine really starts to wear on everyone by the time August rolls around. So really the best way to highlight our summer is with a little photo montage of the summer...As sad as I am to see it go, I am looking forward to fall, football, and a little less humidity....<br />
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<br />The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-78348693958830017272014-08-30T09:20:00.000-04:002014-08-30T09:20:21.333-04:00Recap Series Vol. 3-School's Out for Summer and Back in for FallHank had a great year at school-In May he finished up his 4 year old preschool year at Grant Park Cooperative Preschool with Ms. Ellie and Ms. Kellie. After a difficult start to his school career the year before in a school that just wasn't a fit for our very bright and stimulation seeking boy, this school was the perfect fit for him. He was allowed to be very creative in small groups and work through project based learning-working on larger projects for longer periods of time. He has made amazing friendships this year, and we've really seen him blossom socially (aka all he wants to do is play with friends now). They have a farm to school program at the school where the children make the lunch everyday from the local farms (yes we have farms in the city)-Hank, our notoriously picky eater, has found a love for lentils, quinoa, and all sorts of funky legumes-this is probably the biggest achievement of the year in my eyes. Hank<div>
had such a great year in fact, that after much deliberation we decided not to send him to the public preK next year and let him stay and complete his prek year at the Co-op. Hank has an early birthday, and many of his friends are starting kindergarten, and while he's technically not a "redshirt" because of his birthday we hope that keeping him in the same school will help build his confidence for kindergarten next year. <div>
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So, being real I'm actually writing this post after his first week back to school, and so far so good! He's really enjoying being a "second year swan" and the leadership roles he gets in the class-he's also won the award for biggest swan as he is a good 3-4 inches taller than the next tallest kid in the class (still wondering where his size came from). He has two new teachers this year-Ms. Stephanie and Ms. Christa. </div>
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In other school news, our sweet little Lucy is very interested in going to school, and being in the ladybugs class. We originally held her out because tuition and parent requirements for two kids enrolled were both higher than we'd like, and honestly she just didn't seem ready to go 3 months ago. However, we're now changing our tune, and if she gets potty trained we plan to enroll her midyear right before she turns 3. What in the world will I do with myself with two kids in school? Lucy, who is nothing like her brother and sometimes I wonder how exactly these two children raised in the same house could possibly be so different, is really a preschool teacher's dream. She dances through the house everyday singing nursery rhymes, organizes crayons according to everyone's favorite colors, and lines her dolls up in "circle time" to read stories-I'm pretty sure she's going to think the ladybugs class is the greatest place on earth. </div>
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I look at these pictures of Hank, and hardly recognize him. While most people look at him and see a boy the same size as an average 8 year old, I still see the 10 month old that I spent countless hours rocking back to sleep at night. Only a few months, and he will be 5-which means I've been a parent for 5 years (and while it does "go by so fast" as everyone says-I feel every second of those 5 years and it sure shows on my face in the form of wrinkles, bags under my eyes, and maybe a few grey hairs). </div>
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This boy is one very bright little boy, and I hope more than anything for him that he has a wonderful year full of friendship, new experiences, and lentils! </div>
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Here's to preK!</div>
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The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-83102063779550536522014-08-30T08:30:00.001-04:002014-08-30T08:30:26.990-04:00Recap Series Vol. 2-EasterEaster is a funny thing in our house-Hank doesn't understand why the easter bunny is just a man dressed in a bunny suit and not a real rabbit, and Lucy is always brought to tears that the easter bunny is not an actual rabbit that she can feed grass to like the ones in the neighbors yard. Anyways, we always have an egg hunt in the park that is a huge hit, and I make my kids dress in their "easter finery" for about an hour and take some pictures (they can thank me later that I don't make them wear smocking, bonnets, and knee socks).<br />
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The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-63473276372798289252014-08-28T09:20:00.003-04:002014-08-28T09:20:48.960-04:00The spring re-cap series vol. 1In an effort to document my children's lives since I can hardly remember anything anymore I must resort to these re-cap posts that detail months of their lives. They'll thank me someday, right? I'll attempt to hit the high points of our past few months over the next few posts....<br />
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Over spring break we headed north for our first full family trip to the Smokey Mountains with the grandparents. We had a nice cabin (complete with hot tub which was likely Hank's favorite feature of the trip) and spent a few days exploring one of our favorite places with the kids. I mean traveling with kids is a lot of things-mostly totally exhausting and completely opposite of a vacation, often requiring days upon returning home to recover, BUT I do think our kids travel pretty well and honestly it is easier now that there are so many of them. It could be that after 5 years of parenting we have just mellowed and lowered our expectations to rock bottom or it could be that we're just getting better at it-I'll go with that. Either way, as long as the crew is all together they seem to adapt pretty well and enjoy the change of scenery. Hank found his love for historic grist mills, Lucy enjoyed the abundance of streams to throw rocks into, and June, as usual, just enjoys being along for the ride. Lots of waterfalls (Lucy's favorite), hikes, wildflowers, and even a horsedrawn wagon ride...The kids still ask me all the time when we can go back to the Smoky Mountain. </div>
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The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-13859324190489667312014-08-04T08:39:00.003-04:002014-08-04T08:39:50.412-04:00Remind me to never do that again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
After 6 painful months under construction, not to mention the full frustrating year prior to that working through the planning and permitting process we are now enjoying our beautiful 5 bedroom 3 bathroom 2400 sq foot home. I've been asked many times if I would do it again, the answer is NO. I knew the process would be stressful/frustrating/expensive etc...but similar to having children, you don't really know what you are getting into until you are already there and it's too late to turn back. </div>
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Don't get me wrong...I can't imagine a better place in the world to live and raise my family than Grant Park and the thought of having to leave my village behind would be devastating...so I am thankful that we were able to survive this process and now have a beautiful home large enough for our family that allows us to stay put. When I say beautiful home I'm not lying, I still have moments where I cannot believe this is all ours and am overwhelmed at how perfect it is for our family (part of that has to do with the fact that we custom designed just about our entire house down to closet shelving to accommodate our exact needs). </div>
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So at about month 4 of renovation we were finally closed in with walls, windows, a roof, and insulation...but lacked most of what builders call "finishings" i.e. paint, trim, doors, tile, light fixtures etc. This has to be the most frustrating point in the process--you feel like you are SO CLOSE but in actuality you are SO FAR. This is also the point that the big ticket expenses are all behind you-HVAC, framing, roofing, sheetrock, electrical, plumbing etc. So this means that when you sit down with your builder to "take a look" at the financial spreadsheet you just about fall out of your chair at how much you've spent compared to how much work is left to be done. </div>
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Anyone who knows my husband understands a few things about him 1. spending money is more painful than passing a kidney stone and because of this 2. he feels that he can accomplish anything on his own to save a buck. Another thing about my husband-he is generally very unflappable, calm, composed, it takes a lot for him to get upset/fired up etc. In our 6 months under construction, I'm pretty sure I saw him upset/fired up more than I've seen him in the 14 years I've known him-typically related to money :)</div>
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So of course he has it in his head that he's going to do all the finishing work to save us money--because he has so much time on his hands with a regular full time job, 4 rental properties to manage, and 3 kids? Our builder repeatedly tried to convince him that he would not be able to accomplish this on his own. Anyways, it took about 2 weeks before he realized that it took him 5 days to hang a door and that at this rate of work we'd be done in approximately 2037 and all our children would be in college. At this point, we start hiring our own mexican crews and with the help of Hehu and Joel we were able to finish the project. It was also about this time that our friendly neighbor Paul (remember him from the historic committee days) approaches us about showcasing our home on the annual tour of homes. I immediately respond with NO, but Johnny has other ideas. He only tends to accomplish anything with a bonfire under his butt, so he somehow convinces me that this is EXACTLY what we need to finish the project. So now the clock is set-we have 2ish months, a deadline to have our house not only finished but "tour ready". I must mention that our house has become an absolute chaotic mess, storage floor to ceiling in all rooms-nothing has it's own place, basically a disaster zone across all 2400 sq feet. </div>
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Long story short...we meet our deadline to the tune of- the tour starts at 1030 am and at 1029 we are moving furniture into the freshly painted playroom-both completely covered in paint head to toe. I'm pretty sure neither of us have ever worked so hard and tirelessly on anything in our lives-up into the wee hours in the weeks leading up to the tour with me on repeat "we're never going to get this done, can we back out now?". Where are the kids while this is happening? they are here, generally being completely unhelpful as usual. We trimmed, painted, organized, furnished, and cleaned the entire upstairs and downstairs (and even spent a few days working in the yard). The house looks amazing, and likely would still not be finished if we didn't have the deadline. The tour of homes was amazing actually, and despite the enormous stress leading up to it...I cannot tell you how amazing it is to have hundreds of people walk through your home all weekend telling you what a beautiful home you have. It was definitely one of those bucket list items that both Johnny and I had, and was truly an unforgettable and really emotional life experiences (particularly the road to get there). The tour went on all weekend, ended Sunday night at 5:00 at which point Johnny and I crashed. I think we were running on pure adrenaline up to that point and it took a few days before I could move again. The amount of blood, sweat, and tears packed into this house has to be enough to last a lifetime--but I'm not gonna lie I'm already thinking about a new kitchen :)</div>
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Some pictures of the finished product....come visit anytime! We have room for everyone!</div>
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The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-74023570573126296752014-07-29T09:54:00.005-04:002014-07-29T09:54:49.096-04:00oh wait? I have a blog?So yeah...I last posted in March....Lucy is now almost 2 1/2, Hank is about to start Prek and will be 5 in a few short months...and yes baby June is about to take her first steps and I just sent out the invites to her first birthday party. Life happens..and it is nothing short of crazy every single day. The spring was dedicated to finishing our renovation in time to showcase the home on the Grant Park Tour of Homes (this deserves it's own post...so more on that later). The longer you go between posting, the harder it is to get back to it...but I will try to do some catch up posts of the last 6 months of our lives and get back up to speed as I cannot let another season go by without any documentation of it! <br />
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First up our sweet baby June our brown eyed girl--sorry 3rd child but your monthly posts are getting all smushed into one big one. She just turned 11 months old-stands and cruises most of the time, and recently started balancing without holding onto anything. No steps yet, but I fear they will happen any day now making her our youngest walker! She crawls exactly the same way Lucy did-dragging one leg under her (the pegleg crawl we call it), and recently she came home from vacation and decided she could do the stairs (quickly resulting in baby gates being installed). </div>
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June is also our chunkiest baby-she is well over 20 pounds and actually about 3-4 pounds shy of her 2 1/2 year old sister. She is already sharing clothes with her. She eats more than both other kids combined, gave up baby food for the real stuff months ago and has yet to meet a food she does not like. While she's earlier to walk, she's been later to get teeth; although she's made up for it and cut about 7 teeth in the last 3 weeks which makes for an awesome good time at night. Ah..sleep, how you taunt me...our children are many things but good sleepers as babies are not one of them. June has yet to sleep through the night, much like her older sister who did not figure that out until 13 months. She's a super mamas girl, and just prefers to hang with me in the middle of the night. This likely has to do with her not having a room until our renovation was finished in May. She was so used to me being right next to her, and while she does seem to enjoy having a crib finally--she clearly misses the days of room sharing with her parents. She'll get there...and in the meantime I run on caffeine.</div>
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June is a very happy girl-always smiling, giggling, clapping, waving, and pointing. She recently started saying uh oh as she throws her food on the floor, and babbles nonstop. She might be the most adventurous of the 3 kids as the other two tend to be very cautious and stay close to mom and dad. We've never had to do any baby proofing with the other two because they never showed any interest in stairs, forbidden cabinets, or electrical sockets. June is another story-I find her frequently digging through the cleaning products under the sink (after she's broken through the child lock), poking at the outlet covers-screaming in frustration that she cannot get them off, an as soon as the gate swings open on the stairs she beelines for them giggling hysterically. </div>
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We have some serious pecking order establishment going on at all times in the house. Hank is generally putting Lucy in her place-taunting, tormenting, irritating etc (although the two of them can be good buddies 2 seconds later as Lucy just wants nothing more than to play with Hank and his friends). Lucy in turn has started hitting, kicking, poking June whenever she sees fit as generally this is how Hank treats her. June is not deterred typically, and just wants to be included in whatever the two big kids are up to. Hank adores June as I imagine he doesn't see her as quite the threat that Lucy is. Either way, a good 80% of my day is spent breaking up fights and I imagine this will increase when June is an active participant in the daily commotion. I can also see the tables shifting and June perched at the top of the pecking order. <br />
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So here's a catch up of our monthly photos (while I have not kept up with the blog, I do keep up with her photos) 3 weeks until this little one turns 1 and we celebrate with a backyard splash party as she is my summer birthday baby! <br />
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7 months</div>
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8 months</div>
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9 months</div>
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10 months</div>
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11 months</div>
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The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-16172830577998438882014-03-17T17:35:00.001-04:002014-03-17T17:35:45.208-04:00Happy 2 years Lucy Lu!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm so not ready for my tiny 6lb 1 oz baby Lu to be two years old already; however she's fully ready and totally embracing her "big girl" status. Lucy is so full of life, personality, and sweetness. We have said since day one that there is no way she can stay this sweet and easy forever-but so far she's stayed pretty close. While she certainly starting having her 2 year old moments, overall she's absolutely precious to us and I just soak up every minute with my Lucy and keep my fingers crossed that she never turns into a moody teenager. I don't know if it is truly the stark personality differences between Lucy and Hank or if it is simply second child status but she's always been so mellow and independent-both qualities that her older brother does not have. </div>
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Lucy isn't necessarily a girly girl, and not really a full tomboy either--she does have strong opinions about what she wears-and typically ends up looking like Punky Brewster everyday. Recently, out of the blue she became suddenly interested in princesses and as you can see got her first princess dress for her birthday and wore it for 48 hours continuously. She'll pick out her outfit in the morning, and say "pretty dress mommy?". Lucy is my little mommy's helper most days. She loves to do anything I am doing, and will help when "baby Junie crying". Her language has exploded in recent months-as parents you learn that you compare all subsequent children to your first. Hank's language has always been unbelievably ahead of schedule, so we say that Lucy's has been slower to develop; however lest we forget that this is what I do for a living-her language is actually ahead of schedule as well, but not quite like Hank. I think it has been difficult to get a word in with her overly talkative older bro. She's so independent, and our house is so chaotic and noisy all the time, that she's frequently flying under the radar and we honestly don't know what she's doing, learning, hearing etc. Recently it has become so clear just how smart this little girl is. She's doing things now that Hank certainly wasn't doing at her age-counting to 20, and back down from 10, saying the alphabet, identifying all shapes (including obscure things like octagons and pentagons!), labeling all her colors. Her vocabulary is HUGE and she spouts off new words daily that I have no idea where she learned them. </div>
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Lucy is our animal lover, likely from the amount of time she's spent at the zoo in her short life. There isn't an animal she doesn't love, and can always be found quietly reading animal books or playing with her farm animals. She is also a huge music lover-she dances and requests "I want to rock mama" daily. She's coined herself the rock n' roll princess which I think suits Lucy's personality perfectly-girly with an edge :) Lucy just loves life-she soaks up all new experiences with such a fun-loving attitude. She loves throwing rocks in bodies of water-and this would keep her easily entertained for an entire day if we let her. She adores both mommy and daddy and always has snuggles and laughs for both of us; but Hank is likely her favorite person on earth. Luckily, he has recently been learning the value of a little sister, and now that she's a bit older the two of them have started playing quite a bit together which makes Lucy immensely happy. </div>
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Lucy is still a rather petite princess; but it is certainly not related to the amount she eats. She loves food like she loves life, and typically has a snack close by. Most of her 2 year old drama moments are related to food-or the lack of food-and is easily corrected once we have established that she needs the "rainbow goldfish in the blue cup" rather than the "pretzel goldfish in the pink cup" (anyone with a 2 year old will understand this). </div>
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In honor of the big 0-2 Lucy had a zoo party that included a trip to the zoo with some pals followed by pizza and cupcakes at the house on a beautiful 70 degree early spring day. It was so nice to see Lucy enjoying all the attention on her for once-she so rarely demands the center of attention unlike Hank and June, and it was nice to give it to her on her special day. </div>
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I could go on and on about my precious second born-she's such a doll. Happiest of birthdays to our littlest rockstar! What a gem she is!</div>
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The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-14831682736407303352014-03-02T21:41:00.002-05:002014-03-04T17:21:12.949-05:00Junie Bug 5/6 MonthsI know, I know....I fell off the blog wagon again. To say our life is hectic would be the understatement of the century, but we'll save all that for another day. Now we focus on my precious Junie who in standard 3rd child form is getting her 5th and 6th month all wrapped into one post. June is my happy, giggly, roly poly dark hair and eyed baby. She is almost always smiling, and giggles at the drop of a hat-likely due to the number of adoring faces always around. She will grab my face and start chattering to me like she has something very important to tell me, and then will blow raspberries in my face and think it's hilarious. She's just about to the point of sitting up well enough that we can leave her unsupported and trust that she's not going to plop over. Sitting is my favorite milestone, babes seem so much happier in the upright position, AND I find that it drastically reduces the amount of baby toting I have to do (and I do plenty). June loves her jump up and her exersaucer, and will happily hang out in her baby contraptions- especially if big bro or big sis is playing with her. <br />
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We have just started on foods, and I always start out with the standard firsts-sweet potatoes, bananas etc, but have found after about a month it's just easier if they eat regular people food. No surprise, we haven't fed her anything she didn't like. Sleep? what's that? June went from my best sleeper to the worst in recent months. I assume this has something to do with the fact that she's still stuck in our room in a pack-n-play due to the home renovation process. She's learned that mom is right there, and she may as well wake up every 2 hours all night long to snack away. I can' remember the last time I got a stretch of sleep longer than 2 hours, but it won't last forever, and every morning when she's snuck into my bed and chattering happily while playing with her toes I tell her it's a good thing she's so adorable or I might be less tolerant of this whole no sleeping thing. <br />
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At her 6 month check up she was weighing in at 16lbs 8oz and 27 inches long. Placing her in the perfectly plump and juicy percentile--She's my chubbiest baby, and I just love it! <br />
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Junie is adored by all in the house, and loves to cuddle with anyone who is willing--and typically there's always someone available. <br />
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<br />The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-9046192120099309252014-01-09T12:23:00.000-05:002014-01-09T12:23:55.674-05:00 Christmas 2013 in ReviewSo I figured I should document that yes, Christmas happened in our house. I struggle with the holidays, not b/c I don't enjoy the magic of the holidays with small children, because I do. I struggle with the amount of extra work/stress it generates in my life making that magic hard to appreciate at times. Because Johnny and I both work for ourselves we don't really get a vacation, which just means along with all the shopping/decorating etc I just have to keep up with my normal workload. Thank goodness for Amazon-I purchased 100% of Christmas gifts online this year! <div>
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I made an effort this year to be selective in the holiday activities we participate in as we often find that "attraction" type events are just not worth the trouble/money/frustrations they tend to create with young children. These sorts of bad experiences a la sitting in an hour of traffic, walking a mile from the parking lot, freezing cold temps, shoulder to shoulder crowds all leading to crabby screaming children and crabby screaming adults. All we are trying to do is look at some darn Christmas lights that we spent $30 a ticket on. Can you tell we've been down this road more than once? We are so fortunate to live in the neighborhood that we do. The kids get to visit Santa for free, with no lines, and free pictures-because seriously I would NEVER in a million years go to the mall and stand in line for 3 hours with 3 children to pay $30 for a picture of my child screaming on santa's lap. Along with Santa, our neighborhood has a Candlelight Tour of Homes every year where 10 homes are showcased-Johnny and I were able to go this year and really enjoyed the night out. Honestly, with making an effort to be selective in our holiday activities, and getting organized about my holiday chores-I made a calendar after Thanksgiving giving myself deadlines to get shopping done, gifts mailed, gingerbread house assembled etc, and it did make things a little less daunting. </div>
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Christmas was certainly magical with two little ones participating in the excitement this year-I cannot even imagine next year when there will be a third hanging out waiting for Santa too. So here's the photo tour of our holiday season, and as usual while it was fun, I'm so glad that I have a full 12 months before I have to do it again!</div>
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Santa visits were a hit with June and Hank. Lucy wanted absolutely nothing to do with the man.</div>
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Probably my favorite new tradition-we cut our own tree this year and it was a perfect activity for our family. We went to<a href="http://www.kinseyfamilyfarm.com/">Kinsey Family Farm</a> and you get to ride a tractor out to cut your tree down, roast marshmallows over a fire, and they even have a petting zoo which is always a hit in toddler world. </div>
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Another first for us this year, and will be added to the annual tradition list-the holiday Christmas parade. Perfect for our crew, plus we take Marta to get there which is an event in itself. </div>
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I let the kids put the ornaments on the tree this year-they were highly clustered in groups around the bottom, but at least I didn't have to do any of the work!</div>
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Oh yeah, Monkey the elf caused all sorts of hilarity in our house this December. Many nights I would be up feeding June at 3am and realize I didn't move Monkey! Thank goodness for late night feedings, otherwise Hank would have been very angry as he woke every morning in December immediately on a mission to find the elf. </div>
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I just love Christmas babies-especially ones with huge cheeks</div>
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Baking cookies for Santa</div>
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Again, I gave Hank and Lucy the chore of decorating the cookies this year. This sort of activity is right up Hank's alley, and he spent a good 3 hours meticulously decorating each cookie. The rest of the season was spent saying "Hank, next year we should go easier on the red hots"<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRd_05u-mEeJKeFy5CHVnFzr_YWcgAs7M0_v6mWPPvslyanYwz7MeaNxW5AxS450j5gUkxqrZT9PwW4Pngmw0mAbq9z8ExecUJz0JHiT5rIz9PDwnM5i2W7Mcx4YIB_C04lZ-vJnk5YGDw/s1600/IMG_0648.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRd_05u-mEeJKeFy5CHVnFzr_YWcgAs7M0_v6mWPPvslyanYwz7MeaNxW5AxS450j5gUkxqrZT9PwW4Pngmw0mAbq9z8ExecUJz0JHiT5rIz9PDwnM5i2W7Mcx4YIB_C04lZ-vJnk5YGDw/s1600/IMG_0648.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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The stockings-all 5 of them!-hung by the chimney with care</div>
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Christmas before....</div>
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and after...</div>
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I have to say the best moment of the whole season for me was on Christmas morning I heard Hank come out of his room run into the tree and then rush into our room screaming "he came! Santa really came!" I guess he wasn't convinced that the whole Santa thing would happen?? Then he took off into Lucy's room to wake her up and tell her that Santa came. They were both super pumped, which as a parent really makes the extra effort worthwhile. </div>
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The aftermath</div>
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Junebug spent this year observing from a distance, and let her brother and sister do her opening for her. Next year, I suspect she'll be right in the middle of the action.</div>
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My favorite part of christmas? Peppermint bark.</div>
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Lots of adorable Christmas jammies</div>
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The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-61080531406139815072014-01-08T07:00:00.000-05:002014-01-08T08:15:42.332-05:00Recipe Roundup-The Chicken Cranberry RingIn my efforts to spend a little more quality time in the ole bloggy world this year, I decided to start adding some new features to the mix-up first is the recipe roundup. So many of my recipes come from other people's blogs, and let's face it I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Luckily, I do love cooking and baking and trying new recipes so figured I should give something back to the interwebs. I'll be posting something that is part of our weekly meal plan-and for those interested, I do meal plan weekly. I grocery shop once a week on Sundays and plan typically 5 meals for a week. Thursday night is always leftover night, and we have one pizza/out night that we can substitute in when we need to. Also, 3 nights a week I work until about 6:00 and since Johnny serves as nanny while I'm working and hasn't quite mastered the whole making dinner while wrangling 3 children thing--I have to work ahead-usually one night is crock pot, one is something that is easily made ahead and he just has to throw in the oven, and Thursday is always leftovers. <br />
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So moving onto tonight's dinner--the chicken cranberry ring, this is a recipe I've been making for years and is a huge hit. It is an old pampered chef recipe I think, but I see it everywhere now in the world of pinterest etc. The idea is that you use leftover turkey/chicken which is actually what I've done tonight since I did a whole chicken in the crock pot yesterday. Sometimes though, I just crave this and end up cooking a few chicken breasts just so I can make this one or a rotisserie chicken works great too. This is def one of my winter recipes, and is very much a winter chicken salad. </div>
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A disclaimer for my readers-recipes are merely suggestions in my kitchen, I rarely make the same dish exactly the same way twice. Maybe I've watched too much Rachael Ray, but spices are more of a dash or pinch and often I add what's in the fridge or leave out what was pitched from the cart unknowingly by some disgruntled toddler in my shopping cart. Onward....</div>
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As my blog/recipe hero The Pioneer Woman would say-the cast of characters...<br />
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Here's that yummy 2ish cups of leftover chicken, shredded. Bonus that this is a budget friendly/uses leftover meal-major husband points on the "meat ring" as J calls it. </div>
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And here it is with all the other yummies-1/2 cup-3 stalks of celery, 1/2 cup craisins, 1 cup shredded swiss (only ever found this at Kroger), 1/2 cup mayo, 2 Tbsp dijon mustard, spices to taste-s&p, garlic salt, and onion salt today oh and I had some fresh dill leftover in the fridge that I chopped up and threw in.<br />
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Onward to the ring. I remember the first time I made this recipe I didn't have visuals and was reading my way through this and had no clue what I was trying to achieve. <br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;">2 cups chicken shredded</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;">1-1/4 cup Swiss cheese, shredded</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;">1/2 cup celery, diced</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;">1/2 cup dried cranberries</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;">1/2 cup mayonnaise</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;">2 Tbl. Dijon style mustard</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;">salt & pepper to taste</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;">2 tubes crescent rolls</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;">1 egg white, beaten</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;">Preheat oven to 375 degrees. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;">In a bowl combine the chicken, 1 cup of the cheese, celery, cranberries, mayo, mustard, salt & pepper. Mix well and set aside.</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;">Arrange triangles of crescent dough in a circle with the wide ends of the triangles overlapping in the center and the tips pointing outward. Smush together the inside pieces of the crescents where they are overlapping. There should be a 6" circle in the center of the baking stone.</span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;">Scoop the filling evenly in a circle closest to the inside edge and bring point of crescent up and over the filling and tuck under to seal. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;">Brush with egg white and sprinkle with remaining cheese. </span><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><br style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;">Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown and cooked all the way through. I usually serve with fruit salad</span></span></span></div>
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Getting real: </div>
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How easy is this actually? I hate when I"m reading recipe blogs or asking someone for a recipe and you see/hear "oh its soooo easy" when in reality its 800 steps with no less than 34 random ingredients that no one has on hand and requires dirtying 8 bowls, 3 pots, and chopping 1/2 a cup of 9 different ingredients.</div>
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The leftover "meat ring" is in the moderate category for me-I judge a recipe based on above listed requirements and how easily I can get something made with 3 children crawling around underfoot asking me to wipe various things and get them snacks etc. This is a keeper for me #1 b/c its delicious, #2 budget friendly, #3 uses leftover ingredients and I usually have what I need on hand (with the exception of crescent rolls), #4 can be made ahead, #5 minimal clean up required, which in my mind makes up for slightly more work in the prep. </div>
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What were the kids doing while I made this? well I usually try to cook when at least one child is sleeping (june this time) and Hank was entertained with the ipad, and Lucy was contained at least part of the time. </div>
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The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-14084350391589223182014-01-07T12:27:00.003-05:002014-01-07T12:27:50.844-05:00June Bug-4 monthsAs expected, time seems to move exponentially faster with each subsequent child. 4 months (okay 4 1/2 let's be real) of your little life are already over, and I am trying to make sure I savor these precious early months/days. As the 3rd child, you are certainly along for the ride much of the time and I cherish any one-on-one moments I can get with this sweet happy little nugget. Happy is certainly the best word to describe June-I'd say she's my happiest baby, she smiles at the sight of anyone in the family-giggles easily and loves to coo and chatter at anyone who will listen. At the sight of either sibling or mom/dad her face just lights up into the biggest smile imaginable. She also super snuggly, and will sit happily in my lap for long stretches of time generally being cute and doing baby coos etc. She's all cheeks, certainly the chubbiest baby of the 3-she's really starting to show interest in our food when we are eating. She's also our only brown eyed babe-still with dark hair but hair color has really yet to be determined. <div>
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At 4 months, she is starting to play and grasp toys. She spends a lot of time on her playmat and just started hanging out in the johnny jump up which is a huge hit with the other kids who love to swing her. Hank and Lucy have fully accepted her as a member of the family at this point. Hank loves to hang out with June, and can be trusted to "watch her" on the couch where he will read to her, tell her jokes, or teach her about angry birds. Lucy was slower to accept "baby sister" but has really come around and has taken a mothering interest in her. She will exclaim "uh oh baby sister crying" and run to her rescue-usually throwing stuffed animals at her. She pats her on the head like an animal and thinks its hysterical. She also likes to point out all of baby sisters body parts, and seems to like her more based on what animal is on her clothing on any given day. </div>
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Sleep? well as usual we've had some regression in this department. I imagine some of this might be due to the fact that she's more than ready to move into her own room in a real crib; however this is not available yet so we push forward. She takes 2-3 naps a day and one typically coincides with Lucy's nap. She goes down easily, but generally wakes about twice at night to eat. I pull her into bed to nurse and generally wake up an hour or two later and we are both completely passed out-she's just so warm and snuggly, but I do put her back in her pack n play only to be woken a few hours later to her grunts requesting to be back in the big, warm bed. I can't say I blame her-the pack-n-play has been heavily used and is really not that comfortable for her. We'll likely be dealing with undoing bad sleep habits for months, but honestly I'm so used to being sleep deprived that it just doesn't phase me anymore-and how can you say no to this face?</div>
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Onward my littlest one!</div>
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The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-85737223782360561662014-01-06T15:04:00.000-05:002014-01-06T15:04:44.509-05:00Progress Report-Mechanicals & Inspectors-2 months Greetings from 2 months into our home renovation! I cannot lie, my patience is wearing paper thin-almost daily I have to close my eyes and take a breath over some frustration caused by the absolute state of chaos in my home. We lost Johnny's huge walk in closet to build the staircase which now means I share my closet with him and June. We have holes in ceilings and walls in every single room of the house from plumbing, wiring, and support beams that have been installed. I have a hot water heater so close to my bed, I can touch it. <br />
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When I last reported we were finishing up the plumbing and mid-way through the framing. Framing is now finished (with the exception of a few built-in decorative requests we've made-including exposing the brick fireplace on the landing of the staircase and adding built in book shelves to the window seats in both of the bedrooms). Our framing inspection is (fingers crossed) tomorrow, and double fingers crossed that #1 the city inspector actually shows up and #2 that we actually pass on the first go around b/c if not we must fix issues and reschedule (see #1). We passed our plumbing inspection on the first try, granted it took 3 days of no shows before the inspector actually showed up. He took 2 minutes to pop his head upstairs and say "looks good, where do I sign?". Electrical also went smoothly, and we passed on the first go-around, and he showed up when scheduled. A word on inspection days-When you have an inspection scheduled, the subcontractor must be present, there is no guaranteed time that said inspector will show up, so the subcontractor must sit at your house and wait. Curtis, our wonderful electrician, is now like the 6th member of our family. On the morning of his inspection he showed up at our house about 7:30 and sat at our kitchen table and chatted with me until about noon when the inspector finally showed up. I mean, as much as I enjoy sharing my coffee and breakfast with someone, sometimes you just aren't in the mood to hang out with your electrician in your pjs! I gave up long ago on actually being up and dressed before people start showing up. We failed HVAC on the first go around, but managed to get that one fixed quickly and have now passed. <br />
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The framing inspection is all that stands between us and sheetrock. The windows were delivered today, and are currently sitting on our front porch b/c the window delivery men are "not allowed to do stairs"-riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. So, we were all excited to get the windows installed since it is forecasted to be the coldest night that Atlanta has seen in decades tonight, but silly us, apparently you can't install windows if it is below freezing. So the windows will continue to sit. Sheetrock was delivered on christmas eve by the likes of Beavis and Butthead who actually told me we might not be able to sheetrock our space b/c there was no way to get all the sheetrock upstairs-riiiiiiiiiiight, so I'll call the builder and tell him the remodel is off b/c the sheetrock is too heavy? And really, by no way, they actually mean no way other than carrying all 80+sheets one at a time up the driveway, in the back door and up two flights of stairs. 7 hours later, the sheetrock was off the truck and upstairs where it continues to sit until we pass the framing inspection. <br />
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We've ordered flooring (all hardwoods upstairs), decided on architectural shingles for the roof, and opted to save money somewhere and decline the spray foam insulation in the attic. From here we must pass framing inspection, then windows get installed, insulation gets installed, sheetrock, floors installed, and then we are onto finishings from there-light fixtures, bathroom fixtures, trim packages, paint colors etc. Last week el hefe estimated we'd be done by the end of January early February-I'm not holding my breath on that one, but it sure is a nice thought!<br />
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<br />The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-75782822210527102492014-01-02T14:26:00.000-05:002014-01-02T14:26:26.585-05:002013 In Review<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 24px;">
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<strong>Thanks to Susie for this nice little year in review/annual reflection activity...</strong></div>
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<strong>1. What did you do this year that you’d never done before?</strong></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Garamond, Baskerville, Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>been a mother to 3 kids</b></span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Garamond, Baskerville, Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>lived through a major home renovation including giving a presentation to the city( at 7 months pregnant) explaining why they should allow us to add onto our home</b></span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Garamond, Baskerville, Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><b>Visited my Dad in the hospital after he suffered a pulmonary embolism 5 days before I was admitted to have a baby. Talk about a stressful week.</b></span></span></li>
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<strong>2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?</strong><br />
<strong>I don't exactly recall my goals for 2013-I know I set a goal to read a book a month which I met! I imagine growing my business was up there last year too, and now I have a full schedule with a waiting list and an average of 15-20 inquiries a week--go me!</strong><br />
<strong>For 2014: </strong><br />
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<ul>
<li><strong>The year of the house. With our renovation scheduled to complete late January/early February we will be putting lots of time into organizing and designing our new space. We will finish out outdoor patio project, paint the entire house inside and out, reconfigure a guest bedroom and home office, design the kid's new rooms, re-paint kitchen cabinets, and some furniture refinishing projects are all on tap. </strong></li>
<li><strong>Johnny and I have set a joint goal to live more intentionally in all that we do. Along the lines of thriving not just surviving-more quality time with our party of 5, less screen time during family time etc</strong></li>
<li><strong>Read 15 books-I met my goal of one a month for the past 2 years, so it's time to up the ante!</strong></li>
<li><strong>Run a half marathon-this is lofty, but been hanging out on my goal list for a long time and I'd really like to cross it off this year. </strong></li>
</ul>
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<strong>3. Did anyone close to you give birth? geez..who didn't give birth this year? Closest to home is my sis-in-law who had another girl 8 weeks before June was born. Also, my childhood bff, Dorothy, had a baby girl about 10 days before June was born which was fun to live through the pregnancy with someone so close (also for those who knew us growing up, is it any wonder that we also had babies together?)</strong></div>
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<strong>4. Did anyone close to you die?
 nope</strong></div>
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<strong>5. Whose behavior merited celebration? um? mine for enduring a pregnancy, life with 3 kids, a major home renovation all while running my business from my kichen table? okay, other than me? I can't really say my son as I found age 3 to be terribly difficult and am so glad to say good-riddance to that. How about my wonderful husband who puts up with me during above stated stressors?</strong></div>
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<strong>6. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? at times my 3 year old :) and also at times, the way I lost my patience with him too quickly. alas, parenting is so hard....</strong></div>
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<strong>7. Who did you miss? extended family that we just don't get to see enough of...</strong></div>
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<strong>8. Who was the best new person you met? Our June Bug </strong></div>
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<strong>9. Where did you travel? not much time/money/patience for this....but we did manage a few mountain get-aways with the crew that were a nice break from reality and tagged along on a business trip to Fripp Island for spring break. </strong></div>
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<strong>10. What would you like to have in the new year that you lacked this year? an extra 5 hours a day </strong></div>
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<strong>11. What dates from the year will remain etched upon your memory, and why? August 23 the day my littlest one was born</strong></div>
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<strong>12. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
 Growing our 3rd perfect, healthy little one sounds like a pretty good achievement to me. Also, I'm pretty darn proud of how my business has grown in the past year and my growing reputation in the community.</strong></div>
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<strong>13. What was your biggest failure? my inability to figure out how to set aside time for all my responsibilities so that my kids aren't always being pushed aside for work etc</strong></div>
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<strong>14. Did you suffer illness or injury? I sprained my ankle recently when I fell off a curb, but no time for mama to be laid up so I pushed on through that one and it still hurts months later. I also have developed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Quervain_syndrome">Mommy's thumb</a> if that's any surprise. I don't get sick thanks to an immune system of steel so I just wipe snotty noses nonstop and somehow remain unscathed-good thing b/c Johnny is completely lacking an immune system and is typically down with the kids. </strong></div>
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<strong>15. What was the best thing you bought? A new car! Also, I guess we can count the money for the home renovation eventhough it's still ongoing</strong></div>
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<strong>16. Where did most of your discretionary income go? discretionary income? whats that?</strong></div>
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<strong>17. What did you get really excited about? June's arrival and becoming a family of 5</strong><br />
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<strong>18. Compared to this time last year, are you:
 exponentially busier in all aspects of life which I never imagined could be possible</strong></div>
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<strong>19. What do you wish you’d done more of?
 taken more time for myself</strong></div>
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<strong>20. What do you wish you’d done less of?
 yelling at Hank</strong></div>
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<strong>21. What did you want and get? an upstairs!</strong></div>
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<strong>22. What did you want and not get? a vacation</strong><br />
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<strong>23. How did you spend Christmas? in our home exactly how it should be</strong></div>
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<strong>24. What was your favorite TV program? hmmm...we had a few favorites this year--Breaking Bad, Homeland, Downton Abby, Sons of Anarcy...Downton Abby seems strange in that list, doesn't it?</strong></div>
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<strong>25. What were your favorite books of the year? The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks-one of the most thought provoking books I've ever read.</strong></div>
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<strong>26. What was your favorite music from this year?
 hmmm...Blurred Lines was a favorite for everyone :)</strong></div>
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<strong>27. What song will always remind you of this year? Gangnam Style and that darn What Does the Fox say song that Hank plays repeatedly on youtube. </strong></div>
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<strong>28. What were your favorite films of the year? can't say that I made it to the movies this year, and honestly can't remember the last movie I saw that was worth remembering. I've been after Johnny to take me to see Walter Mitty on a datenight</strong></div>
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<strong>29. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? uhhhh...well certainly no government officials impressed me this year...</strong></div>
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<strong>30. What political issue stirred you the most? As a healthcare provider and insurance biller--def Obamacare</strong></div>
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<strong>31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Well about a month before my birthday I was talking to a friend and told him that I was about to turn 31, and he responded with "I didn't realize you were a year younger than me" then I thought twice an realized I was actually turning 32-I lost a year in there somewhere! My birthday was only 6 weeks ago, but honestly I have no recollection of the day-I think there were donuts involved though</strong></div>
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<strong>32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? more free time, more money, more space in the house</strong></div>
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<strong>33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept this year? maternity, stretchy, comfortable-my fashion gig is that I throw a scarf on top of any outfit and it automatically makes it look like you tried</strong></div>
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<strong>34. What kept you sane? wine, coffee, book club</strong><br />
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<strong>35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year.
 Learning to let go of small things, prioritizing what's actually important vs. what I used to think was important, and the classic "it is what it is". </strong><br />
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<b>Bring it on 2014! We added new family members in 2012 and 2013 and in 2014 we're adding 800 sq feet--hard to say what's more exciting :)</b></div>
The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-79965550901191886322013-12-02T21:44:00.001-05:002013-12-02T21:48:44.942-05:003 months of JunieAhhh...I love the 3 month milestone with the wee ones. Smiles and giggles come easily, sleep is generally improved/improving, the babes can generally hang out and play in some baby holding device for at least a short amount of time-basically the little alien looking Mr. Magoo creature you brought home from the hospital is finally looking like the adorable, roly-poly baby you always imagined. June is certainly no exception to my 3 month/ end of the 4th trimester benchmark. She's adorable, round, squishy, and full of smiles and giggles for all of us. She sleeps like a champion, 12 hours at night and a couple of 2-3hr naps during the day and honestly some days I wish she was awake more so I could snuggle more with her. She is super snuggly, and manages to sneak her way into the bed with me in the mornings because I just love having babies in my bed despite what any "professional" tells me. 3 months into life with 3 kids, and I can't imagine life any other way-the kids have pretty much adjusted to baby June, and Lucy and June have even started sharing rooms some of the time due to construction chaos.<br />
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Baby June, you are just darling, and quite possibly the most perfect addition to our family-and I can hardly believe that just a year ago I didn't even know I was pregnant with you yet. </div>
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The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-52285055440215236992013-11-27T14:54:00.000-05:002013-11-27T14:54:26.117-05:00Progress Report-3 weeks 3 weeks exactly since we started on the new addition to the house and the progress is amazing. We are completely framed up with a roof, plumbing complete, and electrical going in this week. HVAC will go in next week and then after all the mechanicals and framing inspections are completed we start on sheetrock. It is incredible to actually go upstairs and see the rooms rather than having to visualize them from the architecture plans. We have made some small changes to the framing of the rooms as the crew builds to allow for additional windows in the kids rooms, and modified the closet spaces. Very soon my laundry will be moved upstairs and the staircase will be built, allowing me to continue laundry with only 1 day sans laundry access-thank you Jeff! I have been warned that I will be doing laundry in a construction zone, but the alternative was 2-3 weeks with the washer and dryer in the dining room and having to go to the laundromat-that was not gonna work in this house!<br />
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We have had many people come through the house to check on the progress, and most immediately say "I could never live through this"maybe we just have a high tolerance for disruption and chaos? but honestly, the first two weeks were the worst and beyond that it just hasn't been that bad. In the first two weeks they laid the floor system which included massive structural beams and a variety of holes in the ceilings in almost every room of the house. They were sawing, drilling, etc right on top of our heads and it was SO LOUD. The entire house would vibrate for hours on end, so much so that we had many shattered wine glasses in cabinets and picture frames on the wall. You couldn't hear yourself talk for the majority of the day, so Hank took to screaming very loudly to be heard above the noise which added significantly to the chaos in my head. It was difficult for the girls to nap with this sort of noise, so naps were often cut short resulting in two crabby ladies (3 if you included me). At this point the crew still didn't have good access to the upstairs from the outside, so they were having to come through the house and up the attic stairs nonstop with very large wood beams. There was a steady stream in and out of the house 8 hours a day-tracking a lot of dirt with them. They would have to rearrange furniture in different rooms each day to build temporary supports from the downstairs before they could lay structural beams upstairs. (often the kids rooms, resulting in moving the girls back and forth in attempts to accommodate sleeping and avoid a ceiling falling through onto them). Crew would often come down and ask us to either leave the house or keep everyone confined to a "safe zone" while they did some sort of work that was deemed unsafe for us to remain in the house. </div>
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So, yes this was not fun; however it was 2 weeks-not even really, probably more like 7 bad days. Once the floors were down, and they moved onto framing, we hardly notice them at all. They no longer come through the house and access the upstairs from ladders on the outside. The noise is so much less than before that we don't notice it at all-we are also just used to it at this point. Many of our neighbors have done this type of renovation before and moved out for 3 months to some sort of rental property. Honestly the effort and money of moving 3 kids to a temporary location seems like a nightmare compared to the minimal disruption this has been. It's obviously chaotic, as we have to store all the contents of the old attic downstairs, and find new homes for things that are being displaced. We have a variety of holes in our walls and ceilings downstairs, and now that winter is arriving it is slightly drafty at night as we listen to the tarp blow in the wind (but nothing a few space heaters doesn't fix). We still have a steady stream of people as Jeff stops by typically twice a day to check on things, Curtis our electrician comes by at least once a day to make sure we still have electricity, but honestly on the weekends the house seems kind of empty without our framers, Randy, Oscar, Omar, and Edgar and the constant hum of the compressor on the front porch. </div>
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So the pictures can tell you more than I can. We are starting to get into fun things like picking out fixtures in the bathroom, and deciding on floors etc. I spend entirely too much time on Pinterest, pinning ideas for "bungalow bathooms" and "craftsman playspaces". But seriously, how often in life do you get to custom build an 800 sq foot space specifically for your families needs? It's so exciting to think about the finished product, that I feel like kid on Christmas eve-likely what is contributing to my patience and tolerance for the chaos. Short term discomfort for long term reward...repeat. <br />
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Looking into Hank's room from the top of the soon-to-be staircase</div>
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Plumbing is done!</div>
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The view from Hank's room down the hallway into the playroom and girl's room</div>
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Standing in the playroom looking into the doorframe for the girl's room</div>
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Inside the girl's room</div>
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Inside the girl's room-the beds will sit on both sides of the window</div>
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The old vents on the side of the house will be converted into windows and we got Jeff to carve out some space to create little window box nooks in both of the kid's bedrooms</div>
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The view from the outside-the tarp doesn't really come off these days now that the outside is framed. I imagine it helps keep the crew a little warmer up there while they work</div>
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The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-6220748366555458632013-11-16T19:31:00.000-05:002013-11-16T19:31:13.664-05:00Fabulous 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I don't think I've accepted that I am a mother to a 4 year old yet. I still remember the day I became a mother so clearly, and how is it possible that it was 4 years ago? This boy, there is so much I could say about him, he's such a real person in our home now-a person with real ideas, opinions, and feelings. The changes from 3 to 4 have been unbelievable. There is something special about your first born, it is hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, especially without making everyone out there think you don't love your subsequent children as much as your firstborn. But there is a special little corner of your heart that will always be reserved just for that child that gave you the title of mama, that one that paves the way for his younger siblings. It's like this unspoken notion that we're figuring all this out as we go along in life-and with your sisters it is always a little easier simply because we've already figured it out once before with you. </div>
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Maybe it is because you are my first born, maybe it is because you are my only boy, maybe we are more alike than I like to admit, but Hank you challenge me like nothing in my life ever has. You are simply brilliant-you think like your daddy and blow me away everyday with just how bright you really are. You are a calculated thinker, no decision is made on impulse, you think out your options and make a very deliberate decision every single time. I see the wheels in your head turning all the time, and wish that I could see what is going on in there for just a few minutes. Although, maybe I don't want to know what's going on in that head. You started at a new school this year and absolutely love it. After a rough start to school last year, in a program that just wasn't the right fit for this boy, we moved you to a multi-age classroom at a school with a very hands on, creative, child-directed focus-clearly exactly what you needed. You beg me to let you go to school everyday, because you just crave time with your friends. We hear exclamations of "I love school!" that are so wonderful to hear. The biggest change in the past year is that we've made the transition from us (the parents) being the preferred playmates to your friends. Suddenly, you want to play with friends all the time, playdates at friend's houses and we don't even have to supervise. Sometimes I can't believe I'm already here. </div>
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Speaking of being "here", at age 4, being out in the world has brought home all sorts of hard questions and issues that make me realize that parenting just gets harder and more heart wrenching all the time. Hank has a friend with divorced parents, and wants to know why this boy's mom and dad don't live together. After explaining as best we could, we were left with a few nights of him waking up scared that his mom and dad wouldn't always live in the same house. Another day he asks why his friend Abby in the backyard (who is 10 years old) doesn't play with him as much anymore. We explain that she is just getting older and has more school and friend things going on, and he spends days pondering why Abby doesn't want to be his friend anymore-breaking my heart every single time he brings up his idea that Abby doesn't like him because he is too young. </div>
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Of course there are still plenty of more light-hearted worldly observations, like recently when a Muslim woman was walking down the street as we drove by and Hank inquired as to why she was dressed like a ghost or why the hipster kids that live across the street wear such short shorts. He keeps us on our toes constantly, always pushing the limits, and full of more energy that I ever imagined possible. He is a very loving and thoughtful little boy, who never hesitates to write a get well card when he hears someone is sick and loves to celebrate other's birthdays as much as his own. Still a fierce mama's boy, who loves to wake up and cuddle with me on the couch watching Curious George just like he did when he was a baby. I fear these days are numbered, as he is already sleeping much later in the mornings and often I have to drag him from bed to get to school on time. </div>
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Hank has changed so much as he has changed from toddler to little boy in the last year that sometimes I look at him and just cannot believe he is still the same little guy I brought home from the hospital 4 years ago. I do love watching him become an independent person, as he is starting to navigate this world for himself. I have no clue what is in store for him and his generation, but I do know that Hank is destined for great things and will always make us proud. </div>
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As you can see from the pictures below, an epic party was thrown to celebrate 4 years of life for Mr. Henry James. We do birthdays big in our house, and nothing makes me happier as a mother than to see the huge smiles on my children's faces as we celebrate their special days. </div>
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A few stats and likes/dislikes at age 4: </div>
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Still off the charts at age 4, growing 3.5 inches in the last year.</div>
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Height: 43.6 inches 99%</div>
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Weight: 42 lbs 99%</div>
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Likes:</div>
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;">Chick Fil A</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Cyberchase</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Playdates with Lucia</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">going to school</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">playdough creations</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">cooking with mom</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">adventures with dad</li>
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Dislikes:</div>
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<li style="text-align: left;">naps/bedtime</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">when Lucy plays with his toys</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">most foods not on his top 10 preferred list</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">chores</li>
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<br />The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-66634942421595273982013-11-15T12:42:00.000-05:002013-11-15T12:42:07.681-05:00Mexicans in my BedWe have officially "broken ground or maybe broken roof?" on our upstairs addition. We've been officially under construction for the past 10 days after finally getting our building permit from the city after 10 long weeks waiting. We started drawing up the plans for this project last January, and after our encounters with the GPNA historic committee, the Atlanta Urban Design Commission, and then the City of Atlanta permit office we are finally cleared almost 1 year later to begin construction. <div>
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We are learning to exercise patience everyday as there is a steady stream of workers in and out of the house, and nonstop noise. My SIL, Susie introduced us to the concept of type 2 fun many years ago, and this life adventure certainly fits in the category of type 2 fun. Kind of like traveling with kids, not exactly enjoyable while it's happening, but when you look back on it you see that it was worthwhile afterall. If our life wasn't completely chaotic before, it's now in total upheaval-they were laying support beams yesterday and the whole house literally shook for hours it was so loud-we even broke some wine glasses in the cabinets and picture frames on the wall. The kids are getting used to the crew that is here from sun up to sun down 6 days a week-Hank asks every morning when Oscar and Randy are arriving and Lucy waves hi and bye every single time they walk in and out of the house and her new favorite phrase is "what's that noise?". Our yard is completely full of materials, we have a dumpster on the street, no roof (well does a huge blue tarp count?), the power flashes and surges on and off all day, and my favorite-the crew listens to telemundo style music all day that makes our house downstairs sound like we're having a mexican fiesta. Lucy, our music lover, dances along a good bit of the day helping to keep up smiling. This will certainly be one of those life experiences that we look back on, and wonder how the heck we survived. </div>
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So how is June handling all the chaos? Well, fine considering she had a near miss when one of the crew came crashing through our bedroom ceiling onto our bed inches from her crib. Don't worry-all is well, and we're already laughing about the whole day. The day was one of the windiest days of the year with huge wind gusts happening all morning that resulted in the tarp being blown off the roof a about 10 in the morning-did I mention the crew didn't show up that day until 1:30? So, I was here with all 3 kids, and with every wind gust we got a showered through the attic and ceiling fan hole with various insulation, acorns, leaves, and halloween candy wrappers. Hank exclaims, " It's like camping in the house!", well not exactly because at least when you camp you have something covering your head. With one particular gust, I see our building plans fly off the roof and through the back yard. I fear losing the plans that took almost a year to get drawn up and stamped by the city, so I take off running after them in the yard-I think I'm carrying a baby or two while this is happening. After a variety of nasty texts to Johnny to the tune of "where the hell is the crew?" "I'm moving out" etc. they finally show up at 1:30 in the afternoon. I breathe a sigh of relief and figure the afternoon should settle down from here. </div>
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I finally get June down for a nap in our/her room (because remember we are out of space in the house and Johnny, June, and I all share a room currently). I shut the door, and start working on cleaning up the disaster in the rest of the house. Not 20 minutes later, I hear June start fussing and at the same moment Johnny comes in from work the door to grab his phone charger from our room. Johnny bikes over to the office, so he has his helmet on as he runs into the bedroom to grab his phone charger. I follow behind him to check on June, and when he opens the door there are two crew members in the room, one standing over June's crib-I say "what are they doing in there?" and Johnny looks at me like I know what is happening. I walk into the room to see a huge hole in the ceiling directly above our bed and my baby sprinkled with all sorts of debris. And here comes my husband, with helmet on to protect him from any falling debris running into the room uncertain of what has exactly happened. Pretty sure the crew made fun of him for a while after that. </div>
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I pick up the baby, ask what happened, and the guy with minimal English responds with "new guy" June suffered no permanent damage that we know of-maybe she'll need therapy later in life from the trauma, we now have a skylight above our bed, and laugh pretty hard every time we think about the whole situation. While this was playing out, Lucy who is constantly battling for center of attention now, throws a glass vase at one of the workers that shatters all over the floor at his feet, and almost simultaneously the power goes out. Hank, who loves to be captain obvious, continuously points out that there's a huge hole in the ceiling and ponders out loud how we are going to fix that. </div>
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That my friends, is the story of mexicans in my bed....we are now on edge with every bang and boom waiting for another hermano to come flying through the ceiling-maybe we should all start wearing our bike helmets in the house.</div>
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Enjoy the pictures from the first week of construction. </div>
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Demo complete-no roof on the entire back half of the house</div>
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I have a hard time picturing this being transformed into 800 sq feet of living space for us, but man I am so excited about it.</div>
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This will be Hank's room</div>
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This is looking from Hank's room down the hall at what will be the bathroom, playroom, and girl's room on the other end</div>
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This will be at the top of the staircase, looking into the bathroom. </div>
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June after dusting off the debris--no worse for the wear, she's a 3rd child-has to be tough, right?</div>
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Someone call jefe! Ironically, the boss (jefe) is Jeff...we do nothing without jefe's approval around here...</div>
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The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-83635384617074358672013-11-06T12:46:00.001-05:002013-11-06T12:46:07.300-05:00June 2 months<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
2 month stats:</div>
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Height 23.25 inches 91%</div>
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Weight 11 lbs 45%</div>
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I mean is this a beautiful baby girl or what? My sweet June bug is now at that adorable, squishy, smiley baby stage-not that alien, old man look that all newborns have complete with flakey skin and baby acne. I already can't even imagine our family without Junie. We seem to be coming over the hump of the new baby adjustment period-Hank has really done pretty well, but Lucy has had more trouble accepting her middle child status. It seems that the random 2 year old, flailing on the floor, screaming fits seem to be calming down for the moment...while they are hilarious to me, the decibel level in the house is now at max so high pitched screaming over the wrong color fruit snack isn't always welcome. Lucy has recently warmed up and started "petting baby" and loves to label all of June's body parts-"yook mommy, baby eyes" poke poke poke in June's eye sockets followed immediately by "yook mommy, baby crying". They'll learn to love each other eventually- I even caught Lucy trying to color June the other day, "crayons on baby, mommy". Progress, right?</div>
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June appears to be our brown eyed baby, and seriously has the roundest head and face imaginable. She is still keeping the title of my best sleeper-the past 2 weeks she's been doing 10-12 hour stretches at night AND she's started putting herself to sleep which is so dreamy. I don't believe in any of that Babywise nonsense, they get it when they get it and I've done my time with bad sleepers, so thank goodness for this nugget's good sleeping skills. She's super smiley, and started really cooing recently. She loves to play on the playmat, with lots of kicking and batting at toys. Hank claims she's already rolled over, but I think he may have pushed her over in an effort to "help". She's got awesome head control, and is already working it in the Bumbo chair. She doesn't love the carseat, unless we are in constant motion. Loves her baths, binky, glow worm, and swaddle. All in all, she's a pretty mellow little one that is just along for the ride most of the time. I'm almost sad that she sleeps so well at night, because that was our quiet time alone...ALMOST...</div>
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Happy 2 months Junie!</div>
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The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-38532045329750143132013-11-05T14:57:00.001-05:002013-11-05T14:57:36.820-05:00Happy Hallowiener<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I LOVE Halloween. It is one of the best holidays with kids-lots of fun with no gifts to buy or meals to prepare. Endless candy? yes please. Now that we have two trick or treaters participating in all the festivities it is seriously double the fun, I cannot imagine once June is old enough to appreciate the festivities. First up is the annual Grant Park Halloween Parade which is hands down the most popular event that the parent network does in our neighborhood. There aren't actually any spectators in the parade its just all the kids in costume walking around the park with the high school band and fire truck leading the way followed by dinner picnics in the park. This year we had a spiderman, a pig, and a pumpkin in the house. Hank wore his costume 24/7 for about 4 days, Lucy screamed anytime the pig head came near her for a few days, and June just looked at us all like we are crazy folk. </div>
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I couldn't get it together enough this year to have costumes for Johnny and myself; however we did make it to the Mothball this year, which is another Grant Park tradition-basically think adult prom/costume party with better food and drinks. This year's theme was Hootenanny, so Johnny and I got ourselves all done up and had a night out on the town with some awesome friends--plenty of fun was had by all! I'd like to mention that the combo fu manchu/mutton chops hung around way too long until I forced him to shave them off for our family photos this past weekend threatening to shave them in his sleep if he refused. </div>
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Pig down! Probably having a fit about not being allowed to eat non-stop candy.</div>
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Back up and on the candy trail! </div>
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Seriously guys? </div>
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Our fav halloween story--not sure if it's because of our household favorite food on the front or the fact that it says the word wiener repeatedly...</div>
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See ya next year halloween! This is one holiday I'm actually sad to see go...</div>
The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-14575949052160589922013-10-17T13:11:00.001-04:002013-10-17T13:16:52.800-04:00June Bug 1 month<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
How we're stacking up:</div>
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height 22.65 inches 98th percentile</div>
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weight 9 lbs 10 oz 53rd percentile</div>
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Sweet Junie Bug, as I write this you are about to be two months old--your mama apologizes in advance for my tardiness, but as you know our house is in a state of chaos 99.9% of the time. This does not in any way mean I do not adore you, because you are such a sweet, precious little one that I cannot get enough of! </div>
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My third baby, it is so crazy how your outlook on raising children changes from those first few weeks with your first baby. With Hank, I remember counting the weeks because everyone kept telling me it would start to get easier around 6-8 weeks. With him, I felt like I'd been hit by a bus everyday, the days dragged on, I often wondered why in the world did people have children? 6 weeks came and went, and he still fussed, cried, kept me up at night-everyone lied to me clearly. I hate getting and giving parenting advice, and I find that lots of moms and dads seem to think that simply because I have 3 children, I have a clue what I'm doing so they ask me all sorts of questions. Believe me, I'm no expert on anything, and what really bugs me is the "mommy wars" we read and see all the time. I don't get why moms are in constant competition with each other-seriously dude these are the trenches of parenting, it is rough more often than it's sweet. For every sweet thing one of my children does there are 3 non-desired behaviors that preceded and followed. Moms and Dads need support-and once you've had a 3rd child, you need A LOT. </div>
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That said, my PSA that I tell new parents it never gets easier, the parenting demands change as your child gets older, but it is always challenging in a new way. If you want a humbling experience in life, have kids. Now that I have an almost 4 year old, a 19 month old, and an 8 week old it is abundantly clear that my 8 week old is the easiest and most pleasant of my children. The days with her are flying by and I wish they would slow down. I cannot get enough of the sweet, snuggly, sleepy newborn stage and never want it to end (mostly because I know what's coming-lord help me, I have to survive age 3 with 2 more kids). So, for all the parents who have told me along the way, "it gets easier" (and man there have been a lot)-I disagree strongly, parenting is NEVER easy. </div>
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June is a doll baby. She's got a head of dark hair and her eyes are certainly darker than the other two were at this point-she might actually be our brown eyed baby, which would be nice since both Johnny and I have brown hair and eyes unlike our other two blonde hair, blue eyed children. She started smiling at 5 weeks which makes her the earliest of my babies to smile. Both Hank and Lucy held out until 9 or 10 weeks, so I'm loving this super smiley baby. She's pretty mellow compared to the other two terrorists I have running around the house, fighting nonstop. She's been a great sleeper-the best of the 3; however that might be that I've just got this baby thing figured out by now-a paci and a tight swaddle and we're set. She prefers to sleep on her belly-and I let her during the day so she typically takes a a couple good long naps-i.e. she sleeps a few hours in the morning followed by 3-4 hours every afternoon which is dreamy. At night, she starts in the pack-n-play and ends up in our bed by morning b/c basically mama's gotta sleep, so she wakes up, I pull her in bed to nurse and we both are asleep till morning. Most nights she's just up one time around 3:00 to nurse and then we're all up for the day between 7-8. Because of our building permit woes with the city of Atlanta we are still not under construction at our house, meaning June is bunking up with Johnny and I until further notice-I'll save those woes for another blog post :)</div>
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She is starting to spend more time on her activity mat, and I imagine will be rolling over soon given all the time she spends on her belly. If she's having a fussy day, I pop her in the ergo and all is well. I love how snuggly this little one is, and how her favorite place is nestled up against me. I am frequently wearing June, and toting Lucy on my hip-my arms are getting quite the work out these days! Lucy is having some difficulty adjusting to her new middle child status; thus when I am holding the baby she prefers that I'm holding her as well....ahhh transition. </div>
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June loves to be out and about with us; and being the 3rd baby, she's gotta be good at taking her naps on the go; although she's not a fan of long car rides which she lets us know by wailing at the top of her lungs for the duration. She's slept through the zoo a few times, some birthday parties, lots of playground trips, pumpkin farm, apple picking etc She's growing like a champ, doesn't demand much but food and some snuggles, keeps the crying to a minimum, and has a perfectly adorable round head :)-I'd say she's a keeper. </div>
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<br />The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-36646173636977337022013-09-26T13:35:00.000-04:002013-09-26T13:35:13.516-04:0018 months of Lucy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This little girl is an absolute breath of fresh air in our lives. She is unbelievably sweet and pleasant 99.9% of the time. She's absolutely precious, and I swear I love her more and more every single day. When she was a newborn, Johnny and I couldn't believe how easy and sweet she was and have always said "this can't last forever", well she's remained both easy and gets sweeter with time. We really hit the kid lottery with this one :) If I could bottle her up at this age and keep her like this forever, I would in a heartbeat. Lucy has this amazing love for life and just enjoys every new experience with a huge smile on her face. </div>
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She's always up for an adventure and will tell me "go buckle go" meaning she wants to get in the car and go somewhere. Her vocabulary is exploding and she's using all sorts of adorable phrases now like "I see it", "there it is", "where Hankey go?" "baby crying", and our absolute favorite is "that so funny" that she says while giggling all the time after she does something she thinks is hilarious. She has also coined her new sister "Baby Doon" which has already become her first nickname. She had her 18 month check up where she scored way ahead of the game both in motor skills and language-she is super coordinated for her age and is always throwing or kicking something-she seems far more likely to be our family athlete than her brainy bro. At the grocery store she loves to take the items out of the cart and say "catch!" before tossing them out. </div>
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Lucy still loves to eat-she will eat anything and everything I give her; although she's become very fond of sweets. She wakes up every morning asking for a cookie--meaning she wants to lick the icing out of an oreo before throwing the cookie part away. It was not surprising at all when she made a huge jump on the growth charts into the 80th percentiles from her meager start in the less than 3rd percentile. </div>
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She's my super independent child. She will happily play with blocks, puzzles, coloring books, cars/trains, balls, or her shopping cart all by herself for long periods of time. Despite her independent nature, she loves to snuggle with me, and gives me big hugs and kisses all day long. She tends to be my little shadow, and will run behind me helping me with laundry or sweeping-all with a huge smile on her face. Another current favorite is anything Dora-she brings me the ipad requesting "boots", and yes she can already navigate as well as Hank on the ipad and iphones. She loves music and anytime she hears music, she immediately starts dancing. Her current favorite song is "I'm Just a Girl" by No Doubt (we don't do kids tunes in our house). </div>
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She adores her brother, and is still slightly skeptical of the new baby. When we ask her if she wants to say hi to baby June she always yells "NO" very loudly. I think she's starting to come to terms with the fact that this baby is here to stay. Although with the arrival of June, Hank and Lucy have certainly gotten closer and are really starting to play together more. </div>
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She will have the occasional meltdown, where she methodically lays herself down on the floor before commencing screaming. These never last long, as something more interesting usually catches her eye (also because she is completely ignored while flailing on the floor). Usually, it has something to do with not being able to find her "minky" or "bun buns" her two most prized possessions. </div>
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Oh Lucy, you make our lives so so sweet, please don't ever become a sassy, moody teenager " :)</div>
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The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-12924712466423723842013-08-31T09:55:00.000-04:002013-08-31T09:55:14.728-04:00Welcome Baby June<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
One might think that the 3rd time around, some of the excitement of having a new baby has worn off. If anything, I'd say that it gets more exciting each time as I know what to expect and find myself able to enjoy the moment as opposed to being consumed with anxiety. Our sweet girl held out until her scheduled c-section on August 23rd, despite almost nonstop contractions in the last weeks of my pregnancy. When I got hooked up to the moniors at the hospital they couldn't believe the number and intensity of the contractions I was having-go figure. The scheduled nature of this arrival threw my nesting instincts into an unbelievably high gear-stocking the fridge, laundry baskets empty, emails answered etc. I couldn't seem to stop preparing to her arrival, it was a relief to check into the hospital knowing I didn't have to spend another day cleaning and organizing. </div>
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We arrived at Northside at 8am, got admitted and taken back to pre-op for my 10am c-section. I'd venture to say the 5 attempts at getting an IV in me followed by the epidural needle was hands down the worst part of the entire ordeal. I'm not a huge needle fan; although I've gotten much better over the years but after 5 awful, painful attempts combined with the no eating after midnight thing and I was a woozy mess. I had a harder time tolerating the epidural this time-my blood pressure was dropping to scary low levels (like at one point it was 70/40) which is a normal effect but certainly makes you feel like you're about to die. My wonderful nurse was right on top of things and could easily correct the pressures with medication and was very reassuring that I was not in fact dying :) This was also the first time I was actually being delivered by my doctor (rather than the on-call MD) which helped put me at ease. </div>
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Once you get set up on the table in the OR, it is literally less than 10 minutes before they pull the baby out. June Elizabeth came screaming into the world at 10:50 am. She was 7 lbs 12 oz, 21 inches long and with a full head of dark hair just like Lucy. When Johnny brought her over so I could see her, my first thought was "she looks just like her brother and sister!". After an hour or so in recovery, I was in my room by lunchtime (although lunch was jello for me...booooo, I was STARVING) and no sooner did I get into my room did Hank and Lucy show up to meet their new sister. </div>
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Hank has been absolutely smitten with June from the first minute he met her. He is so protective and sweet with her-he makes her things at school and always wants to hold her. Lucy is still a bit young to understand exactly what is going on, but everytime she walks by the baby she gives a big smile, wave, and "hi baby!". I was discharged 48 hours after delivery, and this recovery has been very similar to my others, probably the easiest yet. </div>
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June is now a week old, and so far been another super easy baby. Johnny and I have said all along that there is no way we could get a baby easier than Lucy, so we have been preparing for another needy, fussy baby. I realize that this will likely come in the next few weeks, but so far she has been alarmingly like Lucy. She has been my best eater, she took to breastfeeding immediately and never turned back-we were back to birth weight by day 5. She is still in that sleepy newborn stage, waking every 3-4 hours to eat and so far she's been sleeping at night for a 6-7 hour stretch--what?? I'm just enjoying it while I can, as I cannot imagine one of my children actually being a good sleeper as an infant. </div>
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So with one week under my belt with 3 children, I'm going to have to say that really it hasn't felt any different. I suspect that my transition from 0 to 1 will remain the hardest, as it seems to just get easier each time we have a new baby. I just don't worry like I did with Hank, I say all the time that my children have mellowed me in a way no medication ever could have! At this point I know that these precious early days are so short. They become big, dirty, loud, and wild kids so quickly-and stay that way for a loooong time :) Certainly the days feel like an endurance sport, but luckily Johnny and I have the energy for a challenge! We were saying that other day that we crossed into the realm of "large families", and while it is scary at times thinking about how we will send these kids to college someday, we have always felt that 2 kids just didn't seem like enough; although 3 did seem to push the limit of too much :) No turning back now. </div>
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Finally done with the needles, and ready to meet our girl</div>
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Welcome Baby June</div>
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<span id="goog_234357875"></span><span id="goog_234357876"></span>The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-83418205843979659342013-08-07T11:25:00.001-04:002013-08-07T11:25:31.281-04:00The Countdown is onWe love a good countdown in our house...Hank and I both love the anticipation of good things to come, so we started our official "countdown to baby" this week. I was also getting tired of the daily question "when is my new baby sister coming out of your belly?". I'm concerned that he thinks we might be trading in one baby sister for the other...sorry bud, you'll be forever plagued with two baby sisters. Lucy is pleasantly oblivious; however she's recently started with her first major mommy stage-excellent timing Lucy, she must sense something is about to rock her world. <br />
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I have 2 weeks until my scheduled c-section on August 23rd; however due to much discussion about my actual due date it seems quite likely that she will decide on her own to show up earlier (which would actually make life immensely easier since her arrival on the 23rd really cuts into all of Hank's back to school activities). So I'm hanging out somewhere between 37-38 weeks pregnant depending on who you ask, what calendar you look at, belly measurments, ultrasounds etc (at this point, Lucy had already graced us with her presence in the world). One would think they could figure due dates with a bit more accuracy at this point, but alas....given that I have been pregnant 3 times now in 3 years I'm fairly certain that I am a bit farther along than initially thought given the amount of timeable contractions I'm having and the amount of pressure this baby is exerting in a downward fashion. Overall though, I'm feeling pretty good--certainly tired and having a ton of contractions (which it seems happens with subsequent pregnancies and as the doc told me "they are just more of a nuisance than anything"). <br />
The Good: No swelling, no back or hip pain this time around (YAY!), my blood pressure was actually the lowest it's been all pregnancy in the past few weeks (totally not normal for me), my weight gain is low as well-only 20 lbs with this babe (after 30 with lucy and 40 with Hank)so now I can say I've made it through 3 pregnancies in 3 years without one stretch mark!<br />
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The Bad: heartburn is awful-ultrasound last week showed a full head of hair and possible cause of all this acid indigestion, can't sleep at all because of all the contractions that pick up significantly at about 2am every night, this babe rides so low that she sits right on my bladder causing me to pee all the time.<br />
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37 weeks</div>
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And since I'm so terrible about keeping up with the blog, I'll give a quick Ritger life update in a greatest hits variety...</div>
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<li><span style="text-align: left;">We bought a car! Say hello to our family friendly 2008 Honda Pilot. Nicest car we've ever owned, and we're totally overwhelmed by the number of features. I can't figure out how to work anything, and I always have some new flashing indicator at me b/c I've pressed some button somewhere. The kids love it and Hank wants to change his seating arrangement everyday. According to him, the 3rd row is reserved exclusively for boys and/or his friends only. "no baby sisters can sit in the way back".</span></li>
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2. Our home is still not under construction, but it is super close. I'm pretty sure we hired the slowest architect and structural engineer in the history of mankind; however they did finally get our construction plans finished last week and they look great! We got our stamp of approval from the Urban Design Commission and now they are hanging out in the building permit office downtown with the expeditor that we paid $300 extra to move things along quickly. Our builder says we should have permits in hand in 2-3 weeks with the help of the expeditor (this is compared to 3-6 months without). Oh City of Atlanta government.....Once the permit is in hand, off the roof goes. We've already spent somewhere between $6K-$7K for permits and plans alone and so far we've got not a thing to show for it! </div>
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3. Hank heads off to preschool in 3 weeks and it can't get here soon enough for everyone He's pumped, I'm pumped, I'm pretty sure Lucy is pumped for some time away from her annoying brother. Of course the school that seems to be the perfect fit for our high maintenance boy is the most unbelievably high maintenance school in terms of parent requirements etc-you'd think we were sending him to Harvard law, not 4 year old preschool. I have to squeeze in 4 new parent meetings, a home visit, a classroom visit before school starts and before the baby shows up. There are "no exceptions" according to the director-we miss a meeting he loses his spot unless we pay a $250 fine. Having a baby is not a good enough excuse :) Anything for our children, right?</div>
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4. Lucy is a wild woman who loves Dora, food, and her "minky" (pacifier) equally. She knows she's adorable, and has already started using that to her advantage. She will help herself to her snacks and look at me and say "thank you" while she cocks her pigtails to the side and giggles before running off. </div>
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5. Baby #3 still doesn't have a name but we're narrowed down as much as we will narrow before she arrives. We have about 3-4 names and we just need to decide the combination of first/middle names using those 3-4 names. Nothing will be revealed until she's arrived and named !</div>
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absolute animals....</div>
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Yeah, I'm cute</div>
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and it is quite likely that the next time you hear from me we'll be a party of 5! </div>
The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8728643713832481897.post-69536375489265539732013-07-10T20:59:00.003-04:002013-07-10T20:59:31.771-04:00June Happenings...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I just love summertime, there's nothing better than long, hot, sunny days full of playing and water fun-crashing at the end of the day and sleeping like a rock from a day full of fun. Our days are full of playdates, outside time, and all sorts of fun activities like making jello jigglers, oobleck, working in the vegetable garden, trips to the farmers market, and lots and lots of pool time. I seriously need to move somewhere with perma-summer; although my husband would divorce me because he wants to move somewhere with perma-winter. We did celebrate 8 years of marriage this month! and 13 years together! </div>
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So what's up with our crew? </div>
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Hank: Energy abounds! Our "spirited" boy runs nonstop from the moment he opens his eyes in the morning and literally doesn't slow down until we force him to sleep at night. Naps are becoming scarce; although he keeps himself entertained pretty well, and I enjoy my one-on-one time with him while Lucy sleeps. He loves to bake with me, and since I LOVE baking (especially when pregnant) the house seems to always be full of homemade cookies, cakes, cobblers, breads etc. Again, I blame hormones. Hank is rocking it at swim lessons this summer. He proudly announces that he's the "best swimmer in his class"-aka the only swimmer that doesn't scream bloody murder for 30 minutes :) He's been accepted at an awesome preschool for the fall that we are really excited about. He is loving the summer reading program we are doing at the library, and has turned into a reading fool. </div>
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Lucy: a full fledged toddler at 15 months. She's clearly the wild, throw caution to the wind free spirit that Hank has never been. She is into anything and everything-childproofing does absolutely nothing for this girl she figured out how to pull cabinet locks and electrical outlet plugs out within 30 seconds. She's a rough and tumble girl, filthy and disheveled by the end of every day-eats dirt, hits her brother to get what she wants, and manages to require 3-4 clothing changes everyday. Her vocabulary is really starting to pick up, and most words are related to food- "cookie" being loud and clear. She eats anything and everything, and everytime I turn around I see her little pigtails in the pantry or refrigerator. I just adore this little one's love for life and easy going spirit-she has truly been such a joy from day one. She's always dancing, giggling, and chattering as she toddles behind me all day-if she can't find me I'll hear loud calls for 'MOMMY' coming from the other room. </div>
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Babygirl: Picured below at 30 and 33 weeks gestation-we are now at the no more than 6 weeks from her arrival. Doctor seems pretty convinced that there's no way we will make it to her August 23rd scheduled c-section. She's already dropped and hanging out really low and my actual due date is completely up in the air. I'm having lots and lots of contractions already that the doc says is totally normal for the 3rd time around, but also increasing the chances of an early arrival. Since Lucy arrived almost a month early, we are getting ourselves ready for an early arrival. All clothes are washed and put away, her little nursery in the corner of our room is set up, diapers purchased, and basically we're ready to go. I think it took me about 1 day to get ready for this baby :) It's amazing how much things change from the first to the third baby. I'm still feeling pretty good, the more active I am the better I feel. Some days are full of nonstop contractions that really slow me down, but the next day is always better. No back pain or swelling (yet), I've actually gained the least amount of weight in all 3 pregnancies to date, but I am HOT and sweaty ALL THE TIME. My whole family will complain that the house is freezing from under blankets, as I sit literally dripping with sweat half naked in front of a fan with the ac cranked all the way down. It's an adventure for sure! </div>
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We are about to buy our "family car" a Honda Pilot (hopefully this weekend!). This will be hands down the nicest car I've ever owned which is very exciting for me-all leather, sunroof, DVD player etc. Who knew that having 3 kids meant that mom gets a pimp ride? We are in the final stages of permitting for the home renovations to start and are just waiting for the final paperwork stuff to finish up. Fingers crossed that we start construction in the next few weeks. Babygirl doesn't have a name yet, but I have no fear that she will remain nameless :)</div>
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Enjoy some pictures from our first month of summer!</div>
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A swimming champion </div>
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Father's day Braves Game</div>
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Blueberry picking-yes she is ALWAYS this happy</div>
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He takes this job very seriously</div>
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30 weeks</div>
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33 weeks</div>
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One of our favorite activities lately</div>
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It's big girl carseat time!</div>
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Catching crawfish at the river</div>
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Splashpark!</div>
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Helping me "water" my plants</div>
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Happy 8 years to my love! I think we look better with age!</div>
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<img alt="post signature" class="centered" src="http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/6701/signaturekim.png" style="width: NaN%;" />The Ritger Roosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06487997256088597730noreply@blogger.com1