Summer Chaos

Summer is definitely here. It's hot, it's muggy, it buggy and ... did I mention the hot yet. I do live in Georgia, but wow, it's been crazy. While the rest of the country is experiencing floods and tornadoes and cooler than normal temperatures, Georgia is experiencing hotter than normal (for this time of year) temperatures and craving a little rain. Don't misunderstand me, I feel terrible for those who are having to evacuate their homes and those who have lost loved ones...I don't wish that on anyone. Thank goodness for air conditioning and pools, because otherwise, I don't think I'd be doing very well.

I really have no complaints other than that. Life has been pretty good to us. I still can't find my camera charger, so you'll have to be bored by my rantings instead of the adorable pictures of my kids and the fun things we are doing.

Last week, Landon spent the week with Grammy and Grandpa Garfield. He absolutely loved it! He's been feeling a little over-looked since Brogan joined our family and we wanted him to feel special. (we were also hoping it would help in the never-ending potty-training saga...it helped more than we thought it would!) He has been wearing big-boy underpants and went to church for the first time without a diaper yesterday! He had to go potty once and was dry the rest of the 3 hours. He had an accident that night while we had a Father's Day dinner celebration at Grammy's house, but once in a while is better than all the time! All in all, it was a great success and now he's been talking up a storm and we've discovered that Landon really does have a lot more to say than we thought. Who knew!

Braden and Brogan and I spent the week swimming, playing with friends and going to the movies. We also spent a little time shopping for Daddy for Father's Day. Two days at different pools with different friends and a day watching the movies for free (ok it was Shrek 3, but the drinks and popcorn were only $1 each!)...we look forward to Spiderwick Chronicles and Nim's Island coming up in July! This week, Landon and Brogan and I will still get to do the pool and the movies and hopefully a fun playdate for Landon!

For those of you that may not have known or heard something and wondered why we were in a rental car on Sunday, here's the story!



My van back - crashed into our neighbor's house on Thursday. It was far more tragic while it was happening than what it turned out to be. I had just gotten home from shopping and the movies and the baby was asleep, so I parked the car and ran inside while it was running to get him a bottle so I could just put him straight up to bed. I came back out and turned off the car and it started to roll back (baby still asleep in the car). I tried to start it again, but it would start and I tried to stop the car with my body, but it started to drag me with it (baby still in the car) so I stepped aside and watched as my sleeping baby and my van rolled down our driveway and into our neighbor's house across the street. Screaming the whole time, I looked around to see if anyone had seen it or come out of their houses to see what happened and nobody was around. I was glad there was no kids in the street (a frequent finding on our street) and I was grateful that no cars were coming down the street. I'm still not sure how the car turned, but it did and I watched as the front tires lifted up in protest to the corner of their garage. With only minimal damage to the house ( a storm drain crushed and a couple of planks mushed up and a satellite cord to be replaced) the house was totally in tact. My van on the other hand, was severely destroyed. The bumper and trunk door inverted where it hit, glass completely crumbled and the bumper some how flipped out. And the exhaust pipe totally curled towards the front of the car. It was a miracle that I wasn't injured trying to stop the car, or that the baby wasn't even scratched, he was even laughing by how I was acting (hysterical and completely freaking out) and Braden could have been the most injured if he hadn't gotten out of the car when he did. Gratefully, our insurance took care of everything and they will be picking up my "totaled" van today and we will be needing a new van before our rental car runs out. We are so grateful that everyone was ok and that we will not have to declare bankruptcy to pay for the damages.

I have babbled on long enough (I know because my kids are starting to distract me with their boredem), so I will leave with these last few things. Brogan is completely walking now. He's a monster, but is a complete joy to be around. He also has the darkest skin of any of my children. We call him and Braden our indian babies. Landon is our Ghost...whitest boy you ever saw! I will be finding out the sex of our new baby on July 1st (thank you to all those who gave their thoughts and opinions...it was more help than you'll ever know!). When we find out, we will let you all know!

Take care and hope you are all having a wonderful summer!