Family Update

Well, our backyard is officially transformed. However, it's losing its leaves and dying right now.

Maryn is almost 11 months, and I have no idea where the time went. All of those cliches about how fast they grow and you blink and they can say "Da-da" and hold their own bottles are so true. Everyday she gets more and more amazing. She gets around by moving and rolling and scooting and has yet to crawl. I think one day she'll just stand up ready to run a marathon, and quite frankly, I am in no hurry for the mobilization of Maryn. It's a lot easier when she can be contained, and I am quite certain she will walk and not roll and scoot to elementary school.

She says "da-da-da-da-da" and all other forms of consonant-a you can think of except for "ma-ma." It's a little disappointing, but everyone keeps telling me once she starts she'll be saying it constantly for the rest of my life.

Well, it's a short update, but I don't even want to discuss Tech football. It's heartbreaking...

P.S. There are hopefully going to be changes coming our way in the near future, at least that's what my fortune cookie said..

P.P.S. I will try to post updates more often. Sorry it has been such a long hiatus, but Maryn keeps me busy!

Backyard Transformation-In-Progress

Our backyard is a work in progress. With a little elbow grease (and by "elbow" I mean Greg's elbow, not mine...someone has to watch the baby) we have turned our backyard from an eye sore to beauty galore. (Tried to find a lame rhyme).

Three dogs really take a toll on one's yard. And, seeing as how we live in a fishbowl, we were quite embarrassed that our neighbors could see our ugly yard, and we wanted to give ourselves a somewhat feeling of privacy. Greg has been working weekends to fix up our yard, and he has done such a great job! He tells me yard work is relaxing...I'll take his word for it.

It's still a work in progress, we are eventually going to add to our patio and such, but as you can see, it's looking so much better. We can actually sit out there and drink wine or coffee and look at the beautiful peak.

The before picture. (Notice, Greg had already started working when I shouted: "Wait! I have to get a before pic for the blog!")


Greg starting to dig out the flowerbed, with Cooper's help.


Flowerbed done, with trees. The little trees help with the privacy. There is an aspen in the left corner (every good Coloradoan must have one) and two maples. We were only going to do one maple, but then Greg called me from Home Depot and said: "I don't know where we're gonna put it, but I have to buy this tree, it's huge and cheap!" I still don't know how we got it out of the truck and into the ground with just the two of us. We had to adjust the shape of the bed and the placement of the little trees. It was a good buy though.


Another view of of the trees.


And...drum roll please...the Semi-After!! We put down sod and added lilac and burning bushes!

We put sod in a couple of weeks ago and finished the other half today, that's why the grass looks different. We also left a spot by the patio blank where we plan on extending our patio. (We didn't just measure wrong!)

Can you even take it how green Colorado is right now? We got home from Texas and were astonished at how green everything here is. It's beautiful!

So, it's still a work in progress, but I sure am proud of Greg and his hard work. Now, if we can keep the dogs from killing it, especially Wyatt and his radioactive urine....

P.S. No, there are no flowers because the dogs would probably just trample them...

P.P.S. Those of you with alleys should be quite thankful...

Season 5 is Under Way!

Well, Greg and I wrapped up season 4! Season 4 brought us such great memories. Babies, puppies, cruises, and so much more. It was so great, I am excited for season 5.

I have become less bitter about social networking. I am totally back into it. It just became too much at one point. Now, I am back to enjoying pictures of people's kids and pets and vacations. I think I was only unfriended by one person because of my blog. Oh well!

Maryn is almost 6 months old. We are so lucky to have her. She is starting to get more and more independent everyday. She loves her exersaucer and her jumper. She loves sweet potatoes and bananas, and she is wobbly, but sits up without assistance. Mommy and daddy can make her giggle, but we can also make her mad. Don't take anything away from her, she'll tell you how angry she is with a mad wail. (That's when I call her a diva!)

I have decided to get started on the process to get my teacher certification. I will probably try and get a teaching job for the fall of 2012. I'm not quite ready to put Maryn into daycare right now, although I am not sure I ever will be... I miss being a teacher. I miss the students and the coworkers and the professional development, among other things. So, that's what I am going to do. It will get us out of debt and save for Maryn's college. (Texas Tech or an ivy league, not A&M or she'll be paying for herself...UT..hmmm...we'll talk). It's really not about the money. It's about using my training, and my degree, and doing what makes me happy.

It's hard to decide to work when you have the option to stay home. Mothers who stay at home wish they worked. Working mothers wish they were home. The grass is always greener... Colorado Springs is my home now, and I love it here. The people, the weather, the traffic control (seriously, Lubbock, I almost pulled out every piece of my hair every time I had to drive down Slide), the newscasters, the neighborhood I live in, the proximity to Maryn's Aunt and Uncle, the Pottery Barn, and most of all the scenery. I was just thinking about asking Greg if we could put a little office area in the upstairs bedroom so that when I am teaching I can do some work up there and be able to get an amazing view of the Peak. I am ready to plant my roots!

So, that's my plan. I am quite excited about it. It's a process. Take another test, get fingerprinted, contact former supervisors, and pay for something every step of the way. It's going to be worth it!

P.S. Seriously, so not as bitter anymore. Didn't mean to sound like a grump in my last post!

P.P.S. My weight battle is continuing. I've lost all the baby weight, now I am working on the fat I had even before the baby...

Social Networking Hiatus

I think I need a social networking hiatus. I am starting to be very bitter about it all.

At first, I thought it was neat to find old friends, connect with family, and such on Facebook. Now, it seems that these status updates, likes, photos of how awesome you are and such have run amok, and I am guilty, too.

At first, status updates seemed to be about: Hey- what are you doing right now? Now, it seems, that all they are are everyone's soapbox. Each time I log on, which has become fewer and fewer times by the day, I seem to instantly regret it because all there is are everyone's strong opinions, and God forbid someone disagree, it becomes the argument of the century. And people are so combative, it seems. Everyone wants the last word, and it just makes me tired, because, in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter?

I was this close (imagine my long skinny thumb and pointer finger about an inch apart) to deleting my account. This close. But, then my sister convinced me not to. Because, as she pointed out, there are some people on there that I do want to keep in touch with, who's opinions do matter to me. And, that's true. But I will be on there far less than I used to be. I have already deleted the Facebook apps from my phone and iPad, so it is a lot less convenient. And, I am in the process of deleting a lot of pictures of myself and Maryn.

As my oh-so-wise husband said of the reason he never participated in the Facebook phenomenon: "It's just a lot of people who feel they should be heard, and rarely have anything intelligent to say."

P.S. Sorry this blog is short, I had to go check my Facebook...darn you Zuckerberg!

P.P.S. Abby- aren't you doing the same thing by using your blog as your soapbox? I suppose, but it is called "AbbyEd" for a reason.

To The Country

A little while ago, Greg and I made our first trek to Weatherford with Maryn to visit Gamma and Granddad. It was lovely. Their backyard does not have the fishbowl effect like our's- meaning that all of your neighbors can observe, watch, judge everything you do in your backyard like you are their own personal goldfish family, so we were able to enjoy lounging outside. We hadn't been to Weatherford since Christmas 2009, so we were anxious to get back, and especially introduce Maryn to the country. Gamma had everything we needed, including a wonderful room for Maryn with all of her necessities, which made it so much easier for Greg and me.

Greg's aunts and some of The Edmiston's friends threw Maryn a lovely party so she could meet friends and family. It was wonderful to see everyone there. Maryn is lucky to have so many people love her! Greg has an amazing family, just like me. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends...we have all of the above on both sides and they are all so wonderful.

I am quite attached to this little girl. I try to consciously commit everything to memory so I can tell her all about herself as a baby. How when we rock her to sleep at night it takes forever for her to actually close her eyes all of the way and if you can still see a hint of blue eyes under those heavy eyelids that just refuse to close, you can't put her in the crib or they will spring open and a big toothless smile will appear as if to say: "Tricked ya!"

How when she is in her swing and "fussing" as soon as I walk over to her she pulls out that same smile as if to say: "Ha! I knew I could get you over here!"

How she drops her moose when she's sitting in her bumbo and then looks at me with questions in her eyes that say:"Where did it go?" and "Aren't you going to get that for me?"

How her baby stretches are the most adorable thing you will ever see. The first thing she does when she wakes up in the morning is arch that back and stretch these arms way above her head, making herself look older than she is.

Or how right now she is tucked sleeping/snoring under my left arm right now, which makes me have to hen-peck the keys (I would never, ever let my students type this way) and every once in a while she moves her hand and sends a few extemporaneous z's flying onto the screen.

These are the memories I want to keep in the files in my mind to pull out later when there are slamming doors and rolling eyes. How big is a memory? Does it get so full you have to kick some stuff out? I definitely have some high school stuff I would gladly get rid of and replace with Maryn memories...

P.S. No more trips for awhile, thank goodness!

P.P.S. I didn't plan on this blog being so baby-centric, but I suppose it mirrors our lives!