A Good Wife

This actual article, sent to me from my buddy Karen Cantrell, was written for the 1955 Good Housekeeping magazine is simply another confirmation to me that God knew when to place me on this earth. I was laughing so hard when I read it. Let me count the ways I was all wrong for 1955:

• Prepare yourself for 15 minutes before he comes home (a.k.a. have make-up, look refreshed, and be happy). I might have 1 of those 3 done occasionally.
• Catering for his comfort will bring you immense personal satisfaction. Unfortunately, I frequently find myself too tired to gain that "immense personal satisfaction"...that's probably not the idea they had in mind in 1955, however!!
• Prepare the children, have them washed, keep them quiet, and remind them of their manners. WHAT???!!! Dinner is quite possibly the worst time of the night!
• Listen to him-remember his topics of conversation are more important than yours. I definitely think that telling him about my grocery savings, my cute shirt I bought, or how many poopy diapers I changed today are more important than whatever he has to conversate about.
• Never complain if he comes home late, goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Oh I complain-loud and clear!! I need a break!
• Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement...You have no right to question that. This one is wrong on so many levels I don't even know where to begin.
• A good wife always knows her place. This means I am a terrible, terrible wife!!

Now, I do try to be a good wife and most of this is in jest. But, those poor, poor ladies of the 1950's!

For My Honey

Beach Bums!!

I just got back from a week and a half of pure, uninterrupted vacation. Yes, I'm tired, very tired. However, it was worth it and we had a blast swimming, playing at the beach, hanging out, vegging out, and doing a few other unmentionables on a memorable "girl's night out"! Jake has been begging me to put a lot of pictures of the vacation up since he wasn't around to enjoy it. We think Jake will be able to come back at the end of this week so we are really, really excited to have him back to ourselves! We love you and miss you so much!

We spent the first week with the Fia's, Josh, Mom, and Dad. Those girls are so much fun in the sun. If it was up to them they would stay at the pool all day long. The Beach Club has possibly the coolest set-up ever. There is a huge kid's pool in one area with several waterfalls and squirting water. This massive slide ends up in the kid's pool. Cooper couldn't get enough of it. He LOVED going down the slide. Poppy was a trooper to take him a few times because I got tired of climbing the 5 stories of stairs. Then there is a lazy river with several fun water obstacles. We stayed out of the adult pool and hot tub, but above that is another kid's sand pool. It's basically a bunch of sand that gradually runs into a pool. Lots of fun for the kids! While the pool is amazing, the beach is terrible. It is beautiful but that comes at a price. The sand is broken shells that cut painfully into your feet. Cooper wouldn't really get down and walk and I didn't blame him. It's pretty, though. Grandma and Poppy were so helpful with both the boys. It made my life a lot easier. Jordan, Amanda, and Jonah came up for a few days. Little Jonah and Big Luke are about 3 weeks apart (Luke is younger) so it was fun to see them interact and compare notes on milestones. We decided these 2 couldn't look any different. The next week Claire and Meredith came down to play with their little ones in tow. It made for a crowded house and some stressed Mom's, but it was definitely worth it! There were 5 kids in car seats, 3 mom's, and my 13 year old cousin came down to help out. We were all in a 3 bedroom condo. Here is a picture journal of the insanity.

One of the fun pools. Who needs to put the shark floatie in the pool? It sure made it easier to watch Cooper when Luke was eating. Trying to entertain the kids with the construction of the famous "Ickyboohoo" sand castle. We wished Poppy was there to add his decorative expertise.
Sweet Luke sleeps on his side with his middle fingers in his mouth. He has really learned to sleep through a lot of noise. He is such a good baby!
I decided he's not very photogenic because he always looks like he has 4 chins. He's not as chunky as he appears.

One of the days was really nasty so we decided to go to Marineland to check out the dolphins. The kids had a lot of fun watching the "big fishies". It was so windy and nasty we decided to go swim in the indoor pool for the rest of the day.

INSANITY!! Not enough arms to push all of the strollers.


Super Cool Cooper!
Avery, Meredith's little girl, was such a player! She was always holding Lincoln's and Cooper's hands. She was a peaceful barrier between the two boys who always tend to end up in tears when they are too close to each other.

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN!! We needed a release so we decided to try some sexy hair-do's and our "fierce" model poses.

Claire decided to go 80's!! You go girl!

This is the one of the crazy nights we had. We would all climb on the bed and let the kids torture each other. At least we knew where they all were. Cooper had a tendency to walk out the front door and into the parking lot with no one knowing. Scary!!

On the way home. We were so packed in with 9 of us in the Suburban, 5 of those being car seats. Torture! Thank heavens for DVD's because the kids were actually really good besides a few mishaps such as Cooper being soaked from head to toe in his own pee. Oh well!! It was a blast to hang out at the beach!

The Office is BACK!!!

Was anybody else out there as excited as I was that the office is back?! As far as American Idol is concerned, I am OK that Michael Johns got the boot, good voice, but he reminded me too much of my brother-in-law Grant in the way he moves, Shalie you will know what I'm talking about. I'm just kidding by the way.
The Office has saved me this week. I have been surrounded by Univision and the wonderful novelas that it produces! I used to think that Spanish was a great language to know, but after the time that I have had to watch all of its wonderful TV programs, I almost wish I didn't know it! I mean how many times a day can a TV station show new episodes of a show called "Passion" every day?? I am going stir crazy in my hotel room that I am sharing with a guy from Honduras who has to have the TV on Univision watching "Pasion" as soon as we get done with work, or he blows a gasket.
Anyway, so I told him (in Spanish) that I need to have the TV from 9:00-9:30 to watch the greatest show on TV right now (The Office of course) or else I just might have to kill him- I mean come on, is a half hour a week too much to ask? Well, he let me watch and watch I did, and I think it was worth the wait! Dwight rules! I am still trying to convince Emily that we need to name our next boy Dwight--what do you all think? Maybe have Shrute be his middle name, Dwight Shrute Hutchings? Awesome!

So I got "Tagged", I'm Just Not Very Interesting

ABC's

A--ADVOCATE FOR: Baby Wise, Baby Wise, Baby Wise...and I feel like a wise Mom for doing it. It is the smartest, best, never-fail philosophy to parenting babies.

B--BEST FEATURE: Must be my sexy stretch marks because it reminds me of the beauty of childbirth.

C--COULD DO WITHOUT: My sexy stretch marks, though it does create a distraction for the rest of the rolls.

D--DREAMS AND DESIRES: To have lots and lots of perfectly behaved and well-rounded children.

E--ESSENTIAL ITEMS: Q-Tips. 'Nuf said.

F--FAVORITE PAST TIME: I love to read a good book or play the piano and sing if no one's around.

G--GOOD AT: Playing game and getting really upset if I lose. One of Jake and mine's biggest disagreements was over a Monopoly game. That game is officially banned in our home.

H--HAVE NEVER TRIED: Risking my life for unnecessary dangers such as bungee jumping, skydiving, parasailing, etc.

I--IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS: I probably wouldn't be very practical. I'd buy a beautiful home and have an amazing kitchen. I would definitely get some 4 wheelers and wave runners. I would probably buy my children some clothes that aren't hand-me-downs or off of the 75% off rack. Hmm...maybe I'd buy them a pair of shoes over $2. Then I would go on some really sweet all-inclusive vacations. I would try to save some, but who knows if I would have any left over?

J--JUNKIE FOR: Carbs...in any form.

K--KINDRED SPIRIT: Me, Myself, and I. I don't know if anyone else gets me the way I do. My sisters (and in-laws) and my mom could fall under this category too.

L--LITTLE KNOWN FACT: I tend to not be able to keep secrets about myself so I don't know if there are any little known facts. I think I'm a natural introvert who has developed her extrovert.

M--MEMORABLE MOMENT: Finding out I was pregnant with Cooper. Finding out we were chosen to adopt Luke.

N--NEVER AGAIN WILL I: Purchase a condom or take birth control.

O--OCCASIONAL INDULGENCE: A massage-my absolute favorite indulgence.

Q--QUOTE: "If you lose your keys in flowing hot lava, don't go after them because, man, they're gone." Jack Handy

R--REASON TO SMILE: I LOVE being a wife and a mommy!

S--SORRY ABOUT: My inability to keep my mouth closed. I really have the ability to get myself into trouble.

T--TAG SOME FRIENDS: Everyone who's reading this. Yes, that means you.

U--UNINTERESTED IN: Oprah. I've had my fill.

V--VERY SCARED OF: Evil people. I don't like knowing or thinking that there are people out there who would intentionally hurt me or my loved ones. Spiders or non-human creatures invading my personal space.

W--WORST HABIT: Reality shows...I have an addiction.

X--X MARKS MY IDEAL VACATION SPOT: Anywhere I haven't already been. Not home.

Y--YESTERYEAR DECADE OF CHOICE: I love the 16th century. I don't know why.

Z--ZODIAC SIGN: Gemini

To My Friend Jenn Thomas

Good luck to Luke on his first official day of piloting!!! I just couldn't resist...

Funny Pics and Myspace Layouts at pYzam.com

Cooper being mauled by Lincoln

No children were injured in the filming of this video.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Coming Soon...

For all of those subscribers to The Nomads blog...we will return soon. I have currently taken up residence in FL at the beach and don't have my connection for my camera. I don't like posts without pictures so we're going to have a momentary delay in publication. I am taking lots and lots and lots of pictures so everyone will have a fun and very long post when we get back.

Love,
Lazy in Florida

This Week's Happenings

Nothing exceptional happened this week but I like to update my posts so Jake can see us wherever he is. Plus, who doesn't want to look at pictures of 2 really cute kids?

Cooper has discovered a new passion for baking!! He loves to watch as yummy things are concocted in the kitchen. Here he's making Grandma Becky's famous rolls!! They are so, so, so amazing!!!!!

Coop's favorite position is as follows: on the couch, watching a DVD, blue blanket over the legs, sippy cup in arm's distance. Last night I put him down on the couch without the blanket and he cried until I put it on his lap. At least he knows what he wants!
Our two "oh so boyish" boys! No it's not an optical illusion that these 2 boys look the same size-they practically are!
We had to re-adjust the straps up one level on both their carseats. They thought it was cool to take a ride on the countertop!
Don't I look astonishingly a lot like Jack Sparrow????
Courtesy of the neighborhood McDonald's. While this bandana may conjure up good memories and smiles a plenty for Cooper, for me it's a different story. After the drive-thru lady handed me the wrong food she asked me to pull up. Two more bags were brought out by a non-English speaking gentlemen...yes, they were both the wrong order!! Fourth try was a charm but only half of my stuff came out. I had to prove with my receipt that I wasn't lying. I wanted my ice cream cone and diet coke! I NEEDED my diet coke now! Mission accomplished--except I had no straw. Non-english speaking man soon returns. FINALLY!! I was so looking forward to a nice long sip of my diet coke...but no it was COKE!! Ahh!! I finally went in myself, left my kids in the car with grandma, poured out my drink and refilled it all on my own. That wasn't that difficult was it folks?

Shopping Trip

So, we decided to go on a shopping trip. I realized that I didn't have any clothes for Cooper after 18 months so we decided to go try and hit the end of the sales at the outlet mall. Seven of us, 4 of those in car seats, piled into my little Honday Odyssey. Here is a play by play (in film) of our fabulous day!

12:30 PM Kids are mostly happy (Cooper had a panic attack when I went into the house so his eyes are red-rimmed). They have fruit snacks, "Cars" is on the DVD, crammed in a car...what more could they want?

1:00 Luke happily sleeping while rapidly ruining his non-existent teeth with his new habit of sucking on his fingers (much to his mother's dismay)
3:00 Coop and Ella riding on the Merry-Go-Round during a brief break from shopping
3:30 Back in the car heading to Costco...Luke looking so, so sweet and loving the air conditioner
After leaving Costco Coop decided to catch a good 3-minute nap before Lincoln started yelling and woke him up. For those of you who know Lincoln you also know that I'm not exaggerating. Sorry Claire!
Emily, Claire, and Mom all wanting to tear our hair out at the end of a 10 hour trip in the Odyssey. What were we thinking? For the sake of brevity I left out several other stops in our shopping trip which added up to the 10 hours. Overall, I guess it was fun to finally get out of the house