This is their patio table! 
This is my dad clearing the driveway - the snow is to the top of the blower.
Their parents are in Spain right now, so Grandma Buell is watching them and she came to. It was fitting to have her here since she was there 5 years ago. (note: Grandma Buell is a very close friend but is not actually related, but it's just a minor technicality. She is a trained L&D nurse who has been at both of my children's births) 
Bryce's grand arrival happened the day before his due date and everything was very routine, except for the size of my baby. 9 pounds 14 ounces, and no - I did not have a c-section, and that boy's head was PERFECTLY round. Everyone in the room was guessing how much they thought he weighed and when the nurse announced it, Grma Buell summed it up nicely with an, "Oh, good grief". If you've never seen a 10 pound newborn, it's something else. A ten pound baby is just huge and fat and pink and so stinkin' cute you can't even imagine. We had no idea that day how much our lives were about to change and now we couldn't imagine life without him!
We also had a race track cake:
He and his cousins are such good friends, Sam cried when they had to leave. It was a fun day for him! Happy Birthday Bryce!!!
And our awesome neighbors loaned us a radiant heater also. So wherever we go, we just take a space heater with us and plug it in. So it's a huge inconvenience and I wished they'd come out two weeks ago (when I'd originally scheduled it before Service One rescheduled) - we are happy we don't have to pay for it and now we don't have to worry about it anymore. And I'm also enjoying our fireplace and snuggling with my honey on a cold winter's day!!!
So far it looks pretty good - we still need some more dirt, the cap stones and mulch, but the hard part is done. Next week - he's doing another one where the tree used to be!
Austin is more attached to his pacifier now than he ever has been before. I am not a pacifier fan. I would have liked if he'd never taken it, but he was one of those babies that NEEDED it. Well, since I weaned him and went on my trip his paci has become attached to him. He always wants to have it nearby. I was trying to reduce it to sleeping only, but he's started stashing them places, so I'll take one away, and he'll show up with another one. He's even got a sign for it and now will sign "Where's paci?" by putting his palm up (like we'd do for "where is it?", or "I don't know") and then he acts like he's putting it in his mouth. It's really quite funny and cute, if I didn't dislike the nasty little thing so much. Any tips on how to get him off this would be appreciated!!!
and then went shopping that night, and stayed up talking and watching movies.
I stopped in antique shops, little restaurants, clothing boutiques and the cutest little bakery where I got a Cranberry Almond Oatmeal "cookie" that was more like a biscuit and the size of my head (it's my goal to figure out a similar recipe). In one of the shops, called Paper Kicks, they had some made in Maine preserves and other kinds of food. I asked the store keeper about them and she said I had to try to Roasted Garlic and Onion spread. OK, for those who know me well know I HATE onions with a wild hot burning passion. I don't like the flavor, the texture, the crunch, the smell - I don't like them sauteed, I don't like them in things, or on things, I hate being told, "You can barely taste them" (to which I ask, then why add them?) I really really really don't like them. So I wasn't about to fork over $8 for this little jar, but I did select several other things to purchase and took them up to the counter. This feisty New Englander took one look at my items and said, "Fine, if you're not going to buy it, I'm buying the damn thing for you because you've just got to try it." And she did, even over my protests. It was so nice of her, and we had such a fun conversation. It was neat - I'm not sure how else to put it. The people in Maine seemed so happy. I think it's because it's impossible to talk the way they do without smiling. Honestly - I every time I'd talk to someone I'd think, "I wonder where they're from." and then I'd realize - they're from HERE. Sara says there are too kinds of Maine residents - those who are from Here and those who are from Away. Needless to say, I got the card from the store and am going to write back after we try this spread to let her know what we think. Derek was excited when he saw it - poor guy LOVES onions and never gets them in my cooking. So after several hours in Hallowell I walked back to Augusta, read my book in the park beneath the capital building, then went to the museum all about Maine. It was pretty interesting and since it was only $2 to get in I didn't feel like I had to pay too close of attention or spend too much time
there. Sara got off work early and we got some food for dinner and headed back to her place. There is only one kind of grocery store in Augusta - Hannafords - so you'd better like what they have. Sara lives in a basement apartment of a large, very typical Maine home. There are three more apartments in the house. It is very quaint and yes, cute and cozy. I loved the architecture in Maine and I saw pretty much NO new construction (unlike Omaha) and if I did, it was all in the same New England style (colonial, cape cod, etc). Also - I'd say for every 4 street lights we have here, they'd only have one. So there's no light pollution and the night sky is just teeming with stars, even in town.
It was a beautiful day - low 50's and clear beautiful skies. I experienced rising tide for the first time - on the way there we crossed a stream, on the way back we waded through a river. My favorite hike was up the Beehive, which wasn't so much hiking as it was climbing 500 feet up metal rungs to the top.
The view, oh the view, was breathtaking. I loved looking out and seeing the ocean. I tried to convince myself all weekend that we could move to Maine (surely LL Bean needs a brand manager!). Trinity, Jenn and Holly I wish you'd been there with your camera's and artistic eyes because you could have captured the beauty way better than I did, but I tried!
Now, before you think I'm a terrible parent who's too cheap to buy my son a new cup - let me tell you, I did get a new one for him and he refused to drink from it. Apparently he likes the big hole so he can slurp it down quicker. 
James is a train from the Thomas set. He's 6, his birthday is June 26 and he does very naughty things and he's super fast and they have a great time together. Beanna is 4, her birthday is Sept. 4 and she gets sick a lot, and needs help doing a lot of things. We're always waiting for her to go through doors and to catch up with us. She's smaller than Bryce and James, and I have no idea where she came from. The three of them play pretty much every day. They don't live with us though - they go home and have moms and dads of their own.
I thought to myself, "Did he really bring flowers for no reason at all?" and the answer was no, but it was even better - the first words out of his mouth were,
"Happy September 15th!"
I had forgotten our "anniversary". Since our wedding anniversary is in December and often gets over looked with the festivities of Christmas, we've taken to commemorating out first date which was September 15, 1999. Derek had not only remembered the date, but then acted on it and kept it a surprise - all very impressive things for a husband, don't you think! Well - I was impressed. So in memory of that day 9 years ago, I'd like to share what happened that fateful evening.
Picture it, Provo 1999. Derek actually didn't ask me out on our first date, his roommate asked us, on the spot, to double with him for dinner that night (it was a Wednesday). Neither one of us wanted to put ourselves out there too much incase the other was repulsed by the idea, so we hummed and hawed and said things like, "I'm OK going if you'd like to go." And finally we decided to go, along with another one of Derek's roommates. But before we left I had to do one very important thing -
change my shoes.
We drove in my car and followed his roommate. We were supposed to go to Frontier Pies, but then his date changed her mind and we drove to some Mexican place, but she didn't want to go there either, so then we went to some buffet, and that wasn't good either, so we went to Chili's and - you guessed it - not there either. Finally, we ended up at ... Frontier Pies. Shockingly this was the only date these two went on. So we get seated and ordered and we all have a really fun time. Most of you know me pretty well and know that I like to eat. In college I believed that if some guy wanted to pay for my dinner, who was I to stop him. At Frontier Pies they bring out cornbread at the beginning of your meal and it's pretty yummy, then I ordered a chicken salad - which was pretty good size, then this roommate decided he felt bad for making us drive all over so he offered to buy us pie. For those of you who've never been to Frontier Pies, they make a mean Jumble Berry Pie, and once again - if some guy wanted to fill my belly, I'd let him. So I had pie (and ice cream, I think). Derek told me later he'd never had a date eat so much and he had to decide whether he liked it or not. I didn't think anything of it honestly. So then we went back to my apartment and we start talking in my living room. Well, it was like Grand Central Station in there and Derek asked, "Do you want to go for a walk or something?", which sounded pretty good to me. When I went in my room to
change my shoes, again,
and my roommate Niki was in there. She said, "How's it going?" and all I said was, "We're going for a walk." and she grabbed my arm and said, "Sheri, this is serious." Looking back I've found that reaction to be very funny and like a bit of foreshadowing for my life! So we went walking on the paths behind the RB and on Maeser Hill and, for those of you who know both us, you can imagine how we just talked and talked and talked. It was a really fun first date - a lot of food and 3 pairs of shoes later I was home. And honestly, it was smooth sailing from there (other than me deserting him to go to Israel for a semester) and we got married 1 year, 3 months and 1 day later. Derek wooed me while we were dating. I'd find notes on my computer keyboard, flowers on my doorstep, my car mysteriously washed and vacuumed, and lots of other sweet things. But after we got married these things have naturally decreased in frequency, which made the flowers he brought home on the 15th that much better. It's been 9 years, 7 moves, multiple jobs and 2 children later - but those flowers reminded me of how it all started.
Good times, good times!
Austin has been such a terrible sleeper until about 3 weeks ago when I tried this sleep training method my friend Taffy told me about and ever since then he's been sleeping through the night. It's the first time in OVER A YEAR I've had uninterrupted sleep. I'm a new woman. Thank you Taffy!!!
The second thing is this:
In case you can't tell what he's eating, it's a piece of pizza. For those of you who don't know, Bryce has a difficult relationship with food. It's beyond picky. It's been about 2 years since he ate pizza. He used to eat it all the time, but then one day decided he didn't like it anymore. Pizza's a hard food not to eat - it's every where, birthday parties, family get togethers, airports etc., so to have him elimate it from his diet was a real blow. Derek picked up a pizza for dinner last week and when I told Bryce that was for dinner he said, "Oh good, I love pizza." I thought, "Ya, right" but decided to capitalize on his sudden enthusiasm and told him if he ate an entire piece I'd give him a $$dollar$$ (nope, I'm not above bribery). So, we sat down for dinner and Bryce ate the entire piece, without leaving his chair. Derek and I were speechless. We scooped our jaws off the table and said, "That's great. Keep going. Good job." We didn't want to do anything to end this magical moment! And tonight Bryce asked, yes asked, if he could try a green bean. He's tried bites of the tomatoes and peppers from my "garden" (I use that term loosely). He's actually putting new food into his mouth lately. Could there really be a light at the end of the tunnel? Now - the kid's not about to sit down and eat a lasagna dinner, but we're definitely seeing improvement here. My kids are both sleeping and eating - does life get much better than this???
