Just some recent pictures.

I know I know... we are in love with her too and no you can't have her... go get your own.

Laundry Day!

We live in our parent's basement and so laundry day can get a little hectic.  There are three other people here besides us and we all create a ton of laundry.  So I launder my dirty duds early in the week and Sandra launders hers mid to end of the week.  So today is laundry day.  Anne is becoming ever more active and awake and willing to help.  So I let her help.  I really needed someone to hold down the laundry basket and she obliged.  What a sweetheart.

I just love this girl.  She is coming out of her timid new baby shell and is just delightful.  She smiles and laughs and plays and is cute as can be.  Laundry day is suddenly more fun!

I ran/walked/jogged/almost died a 5K! Go me!

Okay so go to this link for the 5k results and do Ctrl F (it is a neat trick you can thank me later for teaching it to you) then a little window pops up in the top right corner and type in Stradley and hit enter. First you will find Matthew who came in 19 then Andrew then me. Mom and Dad Stradley where out of town and I thought it would be neat to get Andrew and Matthew to come run a 5K with me. Andrew ran it last year with his good buddy Ryan. Hannah, Ryan's wife, and I had to sit out due to being due in May and October. This year Hannah and I got together and planned a breakfast and run for all of us. Andrew picked up our gear the day before and with the bang of George Q. the cannon we where off. I walked jogged maybe ran a little and man it was hard. The plan for Hannah and I was to take our kiddos so we would have an excuse for going slow... we didn't bring them and we were still slow. However, we beat the pregnant lady,  well at least one of them.  That made me feel better about myself. Anyway... I ran and I am awesome. I keep telling myself... next year I want to run a marathon. I think it would be awesome. I have plenty of experts here who could help me train and run it with me. Well at least I know I can survive a new exercise routine... I guess if I didn't really die even though I felt like it for a second or two... I can maybe start working out in the morning with my mother-in-law and her ladies. Maybe...5:30 is so early... Andrew would laugh at me for that. He wakes up every morning at that time. Go me.

Lucy! You got some splainen to do!

So my blog wigged out on me... I posted and reposted posts and messed with html changed backrounds and got rid of my backround uploaded videos deleted videos.... frustrating.  So I deleted a good post and lots of comments and I am sorry.  Feel free to recomment if you feel so inclined.  It was the only thing that I could think of to do. RIP my "I love my artistic friends" post.  You will be missed.  Sorry to Naomi and Ashley where were the stars of that post.  I still love you.

Watch First Video First

So I have the same problem... freezer full of milk.  I have actually joked about this for sometime.  I told Andrew I wanted to make butter or something.  I often picture these Aborigineal women providing nourishment for their whole family or something.  i dunno if they actually did but I think it would be at least interesting to try making something just to entertain myself.  I started researching on the internet and found one woman who made one of those never ending waffle mixes that you make one out of the last batch and it just keeps going.  So her children would always have some of mothers love.  It is exceptionally hard to donate breast milk to a milk bank.  They want blood samplese and health histories and shipping to Colorado... no time sorry.  I tried giving it to two different women and it fell through... now what.  I am too lazy to thaw it and give it to Anne and rotate and keep track of and label and keep everything from going bad and making sure it thaws on time when I can just giver her fresh stuff.  Throwing it out I just can't bring myself to do.  It IS liquid gold.  andrew thinks I am disgusting.  He showed me this video thinking it was funny (because of my previous butter threats).  Ha well he better watch out any time I cook withmilk products... what kinda milk is it really?  I even asked Matthew (little brother) what he thought about it.  He considered it and decided maybe his wifes milk but not mine.  He is braver than Andrew.  Seriously I could make like a cheese cake or something.  Anybody wanna try?  No requests?  I promise I am cleaner than a cow.  I'm well treated, free range, no rBST hormones, I won't be butchered when I'm out of good milk... the benefits are endless and incredibly humane (he he).  As for it being cannibalism... then all babies would grow up to be Hannibal LEctor.  So now that I have posted twice and thoroughly grossed you out with snot and breast milk here is a nice video to help you forget....

Demanding

So there have been demands made... This last week we survived our first family flu!  Go us for not killing each other on accident or on purpose!  First I came down with it two sundays ago and didn't go to church.  Then Anne started getting a little snotty and eating less and coughing.  So I took her to the pediatrician where they sucked her snot and tested for bugs.  The next day we got the call... yes it is RSV!!!! EEEEEK.  That meant I had it too probably.  Then Andrew came down with it and we where just one happy RSV family.  Mom and Dad Stradley have been in Hawaii this hwole time.  So it is just me at home with sick Anne and sick me... then sick Andrew... then one day of kinda sick Matthew.  Andrew asked me if I would survive taking care of two babies... I almost didn't.  Poor Anne was puking a ton!  I learned that babies don't know how to hawk a loogie so they cough and gag and swallow their snot and spit which gives them upset stomachs so gagging leads to throwing up.  It was a long week..  We where all just so pitiful.  We did learn about a sweet service our local hospital offers where they will put a tube down Anne's throat and suck the snot out of her lungs so it doesn't stay there and impede her breathing or turn into bronchitis.  So we took her several times.  She hated it!!!  She is particularly touchy about her nose. She had a feeding tube down it for the first 2 months of her life so ya... don't touch it.  So I had to hold her down while the nurse tortured her an dscreamed and gave me sad hateful looks.  Good thing she doesn't hold a grudge.  She still has a bit of a cough but eating much much better an dlaughing and smiling again.  We are all not 100% over it but much better.  I seem to have a lingering stuffy nose and congestion that just won't let up.  We have been trying to get Anne to sleep in her crib in her own room, but it seems every time we try she gets sick or starts throwing up or something makes me too nervous to have her not close so I can hear her breath.  I'm a bit uptight I guess but it make me so nervous to have her in the other room.  So last night we tried again and she survived and so did I so I guess we will try again tonight so there you go... That is our contagious update.  Her are some cute naked baby bath time pictures.

Anne Update!

Aren't I clever... Anne Update as opposed to An Update. Anne is almost 6 months old!!! Wow! There where moments along the journey I didn't know she would make it this far or if she would be doing all the things she is doing. She continues to melt hearts and keep us all on our toes. She is jabbering a lot! Seriously she just goes and goes and goes. She distracts my young women during spiritual moments at church. She is also holding her self up on her arms and raising her head all on her own. Still a bit wobbly but doing great. She has rolled over a few times but not a frequent roller yet. If I had to guess her weight I would say 11ish lbs. She is starting to laugh which is the cutest thing. I've started making a huge fool of myself just for the privilege of hearing that cute little laugh. We are using special soaps and lotions because she has crazy sensitive skin (possibly eczema but we will ask the pediatrician first before I diagnose her). She is just my favorite little person.