List

1. I just finished watching all the episodes of Heroes. Ben totally got me hooked on it. The last 2 days have been all Heroes, straight through, nothing else. I feel like a total nerd, but it was really fun!

2. Ben may have broken his foot. He is in a lot of pain and it is swollen. He is getting it xrayed on Monday morning. Hopefully they can make it better.

3. I started Harry Potter. I am only on Chapter 4 so far but it is really good. I can't believe how action packed it is just in 4 chapters. I hope to be done with the book by next weekend. I am trying to restrain myself and not spend 24 hours straight reading. We'll see if I can do it. ;)

4. Evelyn has been constipated the last few days. I don't know whats going on. I may be taking her to the pediatrician if it doesn't get better by Monday. Hopefully the extra water and prune puree will help the problem.

5. I haven't been reading blogs or writing here as much in the last few days because of #1 on this list. And because of #3 I may not be back to normal blogging habits til next weekend. So have a great weekend everyone, I'll see you after I finish HP! =)

I am a Farmer

I totally administered a shot to one of the goats today. Our pygmy goat Fred got neutered a few days ago and he seems to have an infection from the procedure. Grammy got a syringe of antibiotics from the vet but she was a little weary of giving the shot. So I stepped up and did it. I totally feel like a bad ass for doing it! I am quite a good shot giver, if I do say so myself. So I think I could be a great vet, diabetic, or IV drug user in the future. What do you all think?

7 - the Ketchup Edition

1. Ben skipped work today to finish reading the new Harry Potter. He was up til 5AM reading and now is back in the book. I let him read it first because he is a faster reader. I made him swear not to tell me anything. He slipped once already, hopefully, that is all the slips he will have.




2. Evelyn got a lot of wonderful, thoughtful, and fun gifts for her birthday! Grandpop and Mimi sent presents to Ben and I in traditional Jewish style, instead of gifts for Evie. We got little bottles of our favorite alcohol and water balloons and some fun tabloids. We love it all! Evie's GiGi (my Grandma) got Evie a beautiful new dress and shoes, as well as a new super cut bathing suit and coverup. Uncle Paul and Aunt Karen came to visit Evie for her bday and Karen's brother got Evie a very kickass shirt which I will post a pic of soon. Evie got a nice card from her Oma and Opa (Ben's grandparents). She also got a nice card from my awesome friend Angie! Our friend Heather got Evie some awesome books. And our other friend Melissa got Evie a very cute outfit (pictures to come). Evie's Aunt Vanessa also sent her a very sweet card. I think that is everything. I am gonna post pics of her loot later, but suffice it to say that Evie is a very well liked lady. =) Thank you everyone for your kind words and thoughtfulness!


I made a chocolate "dirt" cake for the party.




Here's Ben with the outfit we got from Melissa.


Thanks Melissa and Emani and Jerome!


Here's our gifts from Grandpop and Mimi, thank you!!


Thanks Steve and Anne and Nora (Karen's Brother's Family)

The shirt reads "ABCD: For Those About to Read, We Salute You!"


3. The days before and on Evie's birthday I was kind of a wreck emotionally. I was really caught off guard by my emotional reaction to Evelyn's birthday. I am not upset that she isn't a baby anymore, I loved her as a baby of course, but I don't miss the baby phase at all! I was just hit by what a major year this was for me and Ben and our life together. We had a lot of really amazing and sad stuff happen this year. And our lives pretty much turned upside down at least 3 times. We had Evie which turned us upside down. Then we found out Ben had to go to Africa for 6 months. Then Evie and I moved to the farm with my parents. Two out of three of those things were really great and wonderful changes. So the days around Evie's bday were pretty emotional for me, I was crying a lot and just feeling really raw. It was really weird. I feel a lot better now.

4. Mamma Tomato, Daddy Tomato and Baby Tomato are walking down the street. Baby Tomato is walking really slow. Daddy Tomato repeatedly tells Baby Tomato to speed up. Finally Daddy Tomato walks back and squishes Baby Tomato and says "Ketchup!"

5. Training is going really well for the Triathlon. I am really proud of myself for not giving up. It has been really hard! I am pretty sure the only reason I haven't given up is because I don't want to disappoint my Dad. He is a GREAT motivator for me. I do love the feeling I get at the end of a run/bike ride/swim, I feel really proud and healthy. But I hate the feeling I have at 6AM when I wake up and I know I have to bike 5 miles and swim 400 meters. But I keep doing it, and I am getting stronger and more confident that I can do the race.

6. Ben is having a really hard time not talking about HP. I might have to kill him. ;)

7. Ben and Evie and I had our pictures taken yesterday by a professional photographer. She came to the farm and took pics for about an hour. The proofs are great! I don't think she really caught the essence of who we are as a family but she did make us look really fancy and pretty. Even the goats and the dog look fancy! I'll put up pics soon.

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Thanks Grammy and Gramper!

Evie's present from Grammy and Gramper! Whoo Hoo!

Our Friend's Birthday Party

Here's Emani's Mom and I last year with our girls.



Here's us with our girls when they were 1 month old. Now they are a year old!!

Don't Tell Me!

I haven't bought the new Harry Potter book yet, which means I don't know what happens. Please don't tell me any spoilers! I will be reading the book next week, after that we can discuss and disect as much as you want =)

Pet Cemetery

Since our move to the farm and out acquiring of animals we have had to come to terms with some less than ideal aspects of farm life. The most difficult one being death. We have lost five animals since we got to the farm. All for different reasons but all very sad. The first animal to go was a baby duck. She accidentally drowned in the water dish when she was 2 days old. We have also lost my parent's pet chihuahuas, Logo and Simca, I posted about their passing here. Next was a baby kitten that my Mom was fostering. Rocky got sick and because he was so young he couldn't fight off the illness and passed away. And finally my grandmother's (Evelyn's Gigi's) dog, Nala, had to be put down a few weeks ago for medical reasons.

In honor of our lost pets my Mom has built a pet cemetery. Tonight we had a memorial service for our animals.










Here we all are telling our favorite memories of our pets.




Here's Evie wandering around...




And here we all are having dinner.






Here's Evie and her Grammy and her Gigi




P.S. Evie's birthday is today but we are waiting until Sunday to have her party so that Paul (BigBro) and Karen (DocRom) can be here to celebrate. We're having a grill out/pool party. It should be big fun!

Happy Birthday Evelyn!!!

Here you are at 11:03 PM July 20, 2006.



Here is you and Daddy when you were 2 days old.



Here's you and me when you were 2 days old.



Here's you when you were 4 days old.



We thought we couldn't love you more than we did those first few days. You've proved us wrong everyday since then. We love you more every minute and we are the luckiest people in the world because we get to be your parents. Happy first birthday Evie-lou!

Family Pics

Goofing off...



Zoolander pose...



Evie swinging with Ben





Evie and her Gigi and her Daddy



Evie and Me swinging



Evie walking with her Daddy



Evie and Ben feeding the goats



The goats are trying to get fresh with Evie



Ben and mini Ben (aka Evie)





Our Family =)

Love Shack

We're in Georgia, the home of the actual "Love Shack" from the B52's song. Ben and I are going to pack up and go to a romantic get away for 2 nights starting today. This will be my first time leaving Evie over night. She has spent half nights and such with Grammy and Gramper but this will be the first time that I am not in the house with her for over 24 hours. I am nervous, excited, and anxious. I am excited about getting away with Ben and not having to worry about anything. I am nervous that she won't sleep well, be fussy for my parents, be miserable, etc. I am anxious to sleep a full night without any interuption, oh my god, that will be glorious!!

My Dad Wears Combat Boots

My Journey to Get Ben: A story in pictures

Evie and her Daddy!!!

Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In less than 12 hours I am driving 4 hours West to pick up Ben!! Holy Cow!!!!!!!!!

p.s. I biked 8.8 miles on a really hilly course today. I am super proud of myself for going up all the hills, it was really hard! I am so stoked for the race in October =)

New Header Pic

What do ya think? I thought I should update with a more recent photo of Evie.

Evie's Crib, Yo!

Evelyn slept in her crib all night last night. That is the first time she has ever stayed in her crib overnight. Up until last night she had only played in her crib. She napped in her crib maybe 5 times, ever. So her sleeping in her crib is a big deal! And the timing, of course, is really good. Ben is coming home and I know he will be happy to have his side of the bed back. Putting her in her crib was really easy. She fell asleep on her own in the playroom on the floor and I just picked her up and put her in her crib. That was it. She didn't sleep very well last night but she hasn't been sleeping very well anyway, because of her cold. The hardest part for me was resisting the urge to bring her into my bed after I got out of bed for the millionth time to put the binky back in her mouth. That is the next thing to go! Overall I am really pleased with both of us. I thought putting her in her crib was going to be a terrible awful no good ordeal. It wasn't, it was actually really easy! I just hope that is lasts, I hope she continues to be so easy going about being in her crib at night.







Word to ya Motha!