You Might Think

Danny and the kids gave me Wii Fit Plus for my birthday, and you might think that I would be offended or something for giving me a game to help me loose weight. However, I think it was just about the perfect gift for me this year. Just having Allen, and feeling the desire to be more active again, but not really being able to do anything super intensive is why Wii Fit Plus is perfect for me now. Anyway, we opened it up and tried all of the new games with the kids. I just laughed and laughed. Hopefully, the pictures and video explain why.

The video is of Danny flying, if you couldn't tell. He is playing a game where you are trying to fly from pillar to pillar. Of course the only way you can fly is by flapping your arms, hence the hilarity - at least to me :)

Mary is skateboarding. She really got into this game and was leaning from side to side and moving her hips to weave through the obstacle course. Again, it was so funny. I wish I would have taken another video. Maybe next time.

Last of Preschool

Since Mary's preschool group started she has insisted that we tape all of her projects and crafts to her bedroom door. As you can imagine the door was quite full, and made an interesting collage. Mary hasn't wanted to take any of it down, and now that we are packing to move, it has become necessary. The only way I could convince her was to tell her I would take pictures of everything, and put them on the computer so that her grandparents and friends could see them. So here they are. Mary had a great time taking everything down at arranging it on the floor so we could take pictures. She then wanted to take a picture of everything by herself. :)

To Miss Or Not To Miss

As the time draws closer to the day we are moving from Ohio, I have been thinking specifically about all of the things I will miss and not miss so much from Columbus. So, without further ado, here are my lists in no particular order.

I will miss . . .
the Westland Ward.
the wonderful friends I have made here.
the metro parks.
the humidity.
the wind and constant breezes.
how green everything is during the spring and summer months.
how vibrant and colorful the leaves are in the fall.
how the ice storms make everything look so sparkly.
the football - Go Buckeyes!
the lightening storms (even though they used to freak me out :)
the plethora of snow days.
the zoo.
Jazz and Rib Fest (Soooo yummy!)
Thanksgivings at the church.
4th of July's on top of 9th Ave parking garage.
book club.
Bob Evan's
Raising Cane's
Chipotle (there are a few locations in Utah, but not close enough to make it worth the drive)
Anthony Thomas Chocolate Factory, and the free tours.

I won't miss so much . . .
the weave lanes on the freeways (Yes, this is number one on my not miss list.)
the train tracks behind our apartment (this is a close second.)
the ice storms.

Well, I need to be doing other things now, so I will stop with these lists like this. I am planning on adding more as I think of them so stay tuned. Furthermore, I know lots of people also moving, so what would you add to either list? Just curious.

The Kids

I finally was able to take pictures of all of the kids together. I have been trying/wanting to for awhile now, but Allen was either asleep or eating when Mary and Derrick were awake, dressed and ready to have pictures taken.

This is the only picture where both Mary and Derrick were looking at the camera. I wish Allen would have too. I have learned that trying to get my kids to look at the camera at the same time is next to impossible. I though this was funny. I can't decide if Allen is trying to scream in terror or bite of Derrick's nose.Allen is finally looking at the camera! I only had to blink the flash at him about a million times to get his attention :)I can't believe how much he has changed already - and he is only just over two weeks old.

More About Mother's Day

After a much anticipated leave of absence, I'm happy to be feeling well enough and alert enough to post a few more things about Allen and his entrance into the world.

I started having contractions around 7:00 when I woke up Sunday morning. The contractions were actually strong enough for me to know that it was time to wake up the kids, feed them breakfast and take them to the Patterson's. (Thanks again Fran and Henry and sorry for making your Mother's Day chaotic.) We arrived at the hospital around 8:30 and was told I was dilated 6 cm. It took about a half hour or so to check-in and for them to call my doctor. They broke my water right after I got to a delivery room, around 9:00. My doctor arrived around 9:30 and checked me again, I was expecting to be 7 maybe 8 cm dilated, but I was so happy and surprised to be told I was a 9 and let my doctor know when I felt the urge to push. Waited through a few more contractions, decided it was time and told my doctor, pushed and Allen was here. As soon as I held him I knew his name was Allen, or at least I couldn't think of calling him by any other name. All in all I couldn't have asked for a better labor and delivery.
After all of the pictures Danny posted of me and Allen I feel obligated to post at least one of him. (: This was taken right after Allen had his first bath, and before Danny went home to get Mary and Derrick. Later that day, Danny brought Mary and Derrick to the hospital to introduce Allen to them. Mary was all smiles and just wanted to hold, hug and kiss Allen. Derrick wanted to be helpful right from the start by trying to feed Allen a pretzel.

What a proud big sister!Excuse my cheesy grin. Sometimes you just can't help it.

Derrick pointing out that Allen has a nose. Something he did at least ten times.

He's finally here!

Today just before 10 am, Darcie recieved her greatest (and most desired this year), Mother's Day gift as we welcomed Allen James Waite into the world. Both mother and baby are doing great.

This is one happy mom on Mother's Day

Here he is all cleaned up. He has the same blond hair as his siblings.

Still Waite - ing . .

Ha ha ha! Pathetic pun, I know. But yes, for all of you that I haven't talked to with in the last 24 hours, we are still waiting for the baby to arrive. Just thought everyone might like to know :)

Balcony Bird Watcing

I haven't posted in what seems like forever. Furthermore, I was sort of thinking that I'd be posting about our newborn, who hasn't arrived. So what have we been doing for the last week or so, at home, because I really don't want to go anywhere or travel too far? Bird watching from our balcony. Which has actually turned into a new family hobby.

It started with Mary telling me that she HAS to show me something. She promptly led me to our back balcony and pointed out a rather large bird walking around in the water in the pond by our apartment. I thought it was a crane, so that's what I told her it was. Well, the crane has come and gone several times over the last week, and so Danny eventually saw it as well and informed us it is a heron, not a crane. Then he promptly looked up what type of a heron online (great blue heron), as well as the sound it makes. Mary thought this was fantastic!Well, as the week has progressed Mary has watched for the heron. This morning, imagine her excitement, when she came to tell me (actually all of us) there was another bird outside in the water. There was another bird, an egret, and I'm totally impressed that Danny knew what it was. Once again we got out the laptop and looked up exactly what kind of egret (great egret).So, even though we have been home-bodies for the last week, I feel like we have accomplished something. O.k. at least Danny has accomplished something. Because of his efforts, Mary can tell the difference between a heron and egret, and has a new found interest in birds. Something she can watch for from the comfort of our balcony. Which is a HUGE plus for me right now. Hooray for bird watching!