Before... and AFTER

I've been waiting for Susan to post this on her blog, but her pictures weren't cooperative and she is trying to unpack boxes and organize her house, so I'm going to steal her thunder.

Doesn't Aubrey look beautiful in her mint green satiny, flowery Easter dress before church?

This is the picture AFTER church. AFTER Susan decided she'd leave it on a little longer and hope she didn't ruin it. AFTER Aubrey found the tiny plastic container of molasses. AFTER she opened it. AFTER she tried to eat it. After Brian took it away. And AFTER he unstuck her arms from the organdy overskirt. Poor little baby!




This one may have to go on the "senior pictures" page of her high school yearbook... (Oh yes, and for those of you who are wondering...Susan put the baby and the dress right in the tub to soak- and the molasses ALL came out!)

Paperwork!

Just when I think my work is "done" for the most part, I get another set of paperwork to fill out, with accompanying documents...

Jeff and I had figured out that the certified letter from the Contractors Board must be a request for a liability insurance certificate, since we paid so late on this installment that they had sent us a notice of cancellation. (We paid in time and it's all good. But that's another story.) When I picked up the letter at the post office this morning the envelope was WAY too fat to be a request for insurance. I ripped it open in the parking lot and read it in the car.

It was a six-page application to activate our inactive electrical contractor's license and a request for a financial statement, bank verification of funds, AND a certificate of insurance. I HATE paperwork, but that is the story of (one part of) my life!

About eight years ago Jeff decided he'd like to have an electrical license in addition to our general engineering license so we could actually pull the wire through the electrical conduit we (occasionally) install should we ever want to do so. We filled out the application, gathered the required paperwork, and he took the test. It was HARD and took him two or three times to pass the sample tests before he took the real one.

We had the license for three years and never used it, so we put it on inactive status, which requires a substantially less fee each year. Apparently that was five years ago. If you haven't used a license in five years, you must reapply and resupply documentation of financial stability and insurance. Bummer. I'm trying to convince Jeff that if we haven't pulled wire in eight years we probably never will...But...I agree he wouldn't want to have to take that test again. Oh, the joys of contracting and self-employment.

At least no one's trying to sue us or complaining about us to the Board...

I'm taking the rest of the day off.

Certified Letter

Don't you hate it when you come home, take your mail out of the box, and there's a notice that you missed delivery of a certified letter??? From the NEVADA STATE CONTRACTORS BOARD!! And you can't pick it up till after 8:30am TOMORROW??? What could it be? What did we do?? It's probably nothing big, but I don't think I've ever gotten a certified letter from the Contractors Board before...The only thing worse would be getting one from the IRS...or someone else's attorney...Okay, I'm going to stop worrying. I'll update tomorrow.

"Best Friends"

Whenever Tyler is asked who his best friend is he answers with a cute little grin. "Li'l Ally." She is so good to play with him whenever they are together.

Isn't it great to have a bigger cousin who loves you enough to spend time with you? Ally is a sweetheart.

Sydney Eats a Taco (& Fry Sauce)

Sydney attacks a chicken soft taco at lunch at Del Taco with Mommy, Papa, Maddie, and Grandma Linda.

Sydney is such a good eater. At fifteen months old, and with twelve teeth, she amazes me with what all she will eat. Some of her favorite foods include smoothies, cucumbers, any kind of fruit (Appy!!? Peese!!?) and most vegetables. Her number one favorite food right now is ketchup!

She also has a partiality to Pit Stop fry sauce. One night she was daintily dipping her fries into this yummy concoction and she ran out of fries. Jimmy and Ally were conversing and not paying close attention to her when they heard people at the next table laughing. They glanced at Sydney just in time to see her raising the cup of fry sauce to her mouth to finish it off!

A Boy and His Dogs

Tyler, Little T, and Mr. Snoopy...

You know it's true love when a little boy chooses to sleep on a blanket...on the hard floor... in the kitchen...every night... with his dogs.

Aubrey Jane at Nine Months Old

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this little girl! When I see her smile like this, I just want to pick her up, squeeze her tight and kiss both cheeks!

What makes her especially sweet and beautiful is the fact that the first three months of her life she was SO miserable and grumpy. She constantly spit up. A LOT. Her tummy hurt ALL the time and she cried so much. No one could make her happy but Mommy, and even she wasn't always successful. It was so sad to see her hurt and listen to her hard, hard crying.

When she finally started to feel better and began smiling, it was like a ray of sunshine across her face. Her smile just split from one side to the other, ear-to-ear. It was the cutest thing I ever saw. (I know I am prone to hyperbole, and I have a LOT of "cutest-evers" but that's a grandma's prerogative. )

At 9 months, she is just beautiful. Feisty, mischievous, LOUD, fast, slobbery, stubborn, sure to find every little crumb on the floor and put it in her mouth...but REALLY, really beautiful-inside and out!