Whew! We have been busy: we've painted the entire basement and had carpeting installed. That project has taken up all of my time for the last couple weeks. Now I'm excited to do the rest of the house. We picked a really light green for the walls. All the trim is white. And the carpet is tan. It looks really great!

Ivy is getting 5 teeth--all four tops and one bottom. She's been cranky here and there. Sleep is a little weird. Overall, it's not too bad, but I hope it doesn't last too long. She seems like she's in some pain, and there's not much I can do about it. I do not want her to live on Motrin for the duration.

We've been doing quite a bit of biking and walking now that summer has arrived. I ended up putting the burley on my road bike. It's way easier to manage the hills with the light bike and the clip-in shoes. Ivy loves the park--swinging and the slide. And now the kiddie pool. We tried it out for the first time today. Although the water is pretty chilly, she had a great time.

We are prepping for a visit from Jeremy's sister and her kiddos. I have lots of fun activities planned for next week. Jeremy's taking the whole week off, so even though we'll be at home, it will feel like vacation for us, too.

Off to move furniture back to the basement!

Ah, the old life

I'm a little sad that I have no idea what movies are currently out or coming out. And I have no hope of going to the movie, even if I did know.

Uh-oh

I read this article in Mothering magazine this month and felt a brief spark of inspiration. Am I to eat all my words? The Never-at-Home Homeschoolers

The Liar's Clock

A man died and went to heaven. As he stood in front of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him.

He asked, "What are all those clocks?"  St. Peter answered, "Those are Lie-Clocks. Everyone on Earth has a Lie-Clock. Every time you lie, the hands on your clock will move."

"Oh," said the man, "whose clock is that?"

"That's Mother Teresa's.  The hands have never moved, indicating that she never told a lie."

"Incredible," said the man.  "And whose clock is that one?" St. Peter responded, "That's Abraham Lincoln's clock. The hands have moved twice, telling us that Abe told only two lies in his entire life."

"Where's Bush's clock?" asked the man.

"Bush's clock is in Jesus' office. He's using it as a ceiling fan."

A trip and another milestone

Ivy & I spent five days with my sister Bethany in Richmond. We visited the National Zoo in DC where Ivy liked all the attention from everyone. She sat in the grass for the first time! It rained in Richmond Sunday and Monday, so we did inside things: shopping and swimming. We ate dinner at Dott's Back In, which I saw on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Definitely a dive. It was great food, but smoky. I'd go back, but NOT with Ivy. Tuesday, we drove down Monument Ave and walked around Maymont Park. The gardens were gorgeous and peaceful. We toured the house, too.

We got home Wednesday afternoon to a fabulous 75 degree sunny day. We went biking with Jeremy for almost two hours. Ivy was a little angry about the Burley, but eventually fell asleep.

The milestone we hit: Ivy can stand up really well along furniture and people, and in her crib. We've had to lower the mattress again. And she's crawling.

Developmental Milestones

The other night, Ivy woke up around 11 pm. I went in to rock her and found her leaning over the edge of the crib with her arms wrapped around the rail. She can go from lying down to sitting up all on her own! Even though it was the middle of the night and I don't like turning the lights on, etc. I had Jeremy come up to lower the crib mattress. I did not want her to flip out on her first night!

And she has started crawling backwards! It's pretty cute. She got herself wedged under the couch on Saturday. :)

Ouch

After several years of trying to get rid of that growdee (how in the world do you really spell that?) nail fungus, I had my right-footed big toe nail removed today. And no matter what the dr. says, it hurts like a mother. I'm in the process of soaking it so I can get the blood-caked bandage off it. The only good news is that it only takes a month to heal completely, and I will be able to walk around barefoot again without being self conscious.

Here's how it went: the dr. sprayed my toe with "instant freeze" spray and then shot me up with Novocaine. A few minutes later he returned and used a mini crow bar to pry my nail off. Then he treated the nail bed with some chemical to kill it so my nail will never grow back. The whole thing took about 15 minutes. I am eternally grateful I had Ivy along to distract me. I almost fainted twice.

Tonight, I made Jeremy take off the bandage. Again, almost passed out. I will not post or even take a picture. It's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. I might puke putting a new band-aid on it.