I hope you didn't hold your breath

Here is little Joshua Michael Boyd, finally. He was born Nov. 11, 2008 at just after noon. He weighed 8 lbs 5 oz, my biggest baby. He was 19 in. long. I am sorry it took me so long, to post, but he and his siblings have been keeping me pretty busy. I'm sure most of you have NO sympathy. After all many of you have 3 or more kids and still manage to update your blogs. How DO you do it? I barely took a shower today. At 3 weeks Josh took his first airplane ride for his aunt Ally's wedding. That's what he's all dressed up for in this picture. I'd like to say I'll post more soon, but I can't make any promises.

Ah the joys of having a bun in the oven

Which by the way is a term I've never quite understood. I get the reference to something is cooking inside you, and believe me it is quite hot, but a bun? Babies are not bun-like. It should be "a monkey in the oven" or "a watermelon in the oven". But who really cooks a watermelon I guess. So some fun things I would like you all to know and empathize about. Firstly, at no other point in your life will a complete stranger feel it is appropriate to rub your belly. This is a truly one of the joys. I had some one do this in the store in passing, granted it was more of a pat, but I couldn't have been more shocked if the old lady had slapped my butt. Seriously, can I just get one of those museum signs that says please do not touch. Secondly, I can no longer get out of bed without swinging my arms and legs over my awkward body and rolling out (the swinging is meant to get the momentum going). Sometimes I forget my excess bulk when trying to stand up from the couch (or toilet) and I fall back down. I am only 5 mos pregnant this is going to get worse. Thirdly, I pee my pants more than my 4 yr. old. Pretty much every time I sneeze. Fourthly, being intimate with my significant other. Enough said. It's awkward, I'll let you use your imagination if you want to(trust me you don't). Now I'll be the first to admit there are many other joys to being pregnant including the baby at the end, but these are a few of my favorites. There I updated my blog. I'm sure you're all thrilled now you can go back to holding your breath for another 2 mos.

Excuses

Now many of you may be thinking there is NO excuse for not blogging for going on 2 months. Let me offer my meager apologies and present you with my host of excuses for my blog silence. I haven't even looked at other people's so I anticipate a late night tonight. So first my sister in law, Ally graduated and I flew out to be there, a busy week of graduation activities. Fun, but busy. Then my brother Leon safely returned from his tour in Iraq, so I was
quite excited to see him and stayed a few extra days. I was maybe not as excited as his wife, but it is good to have him home. Almost as soon as we got back from our extended stay in Utah, we had a busy week of puppy sitting while getting Abby ready for her first ever dance recital. If I was savvy enough I would put the video on here but sadly I have no clue how, so a picture of her doing what she called "becoming a flower" is the best I can do. Isn't she sweet? Even James was able to make it to the recital. Rest assured if you venture out here for a visit you will be made to watch the video. Next was my awesome 30th birthday. My sister,Eva, brother, Leon and best friend,Elesa, drove out to surprise me. I was very surprised and delighted, but as you can imagine it was a little crazy around here. This is Elesa and I at the park with our kids as you can tell (maybe) I chopped my hair off, however despite my best efforts, it is not pink, yet. We are both 30 now and I can honestly say I've known her all 30 of those years. It was a little windy that day if you can't tell. So after all that fun, I had Stephen little bug party to plan, Thanks Nicole for letting me steal all your ideas, I don't think there would have been a party without them. You'll probably think I ruined everything, but I didn't even make invitations ! I know try not to be too shocked. It turned out cute anyway. Here is my little bug enjoying his first birthday cake. As most of you probably know, he eats anything he can get his hands on and cake was no exception, he demolished that cupcake. Last but not least, perhaps after all my biggest excuse is that during this whirlwind two months I was also surprised (very) to discover that I would look like this again around mid-November. So those are my
reasons. I mean excuses. You can take them or leave them. Well you pretty much have to take them because I'm the one in charge here. That's right accept my excuses and like it! I'm going to start wearing the pants around here.

Are you a Blog Addict?

Do you find yourself linking from blog to blog reading one after another, spending hours coming up with pithy comments and losing precious time while doing so? Maybe looking for a giggle or two or a tidbit of knowledge. I have a few friends I believe to be blog addicts. I also believe there are those out there who are blog users. Now this is a much more serious offense. Blog users will visit your blog, laugh at your admittedly clever and witty publications, and then move on. The crime here is that they don't let you know how funny and clever you are by leaving a comment, or responding to a tag. They visit your site, have a good chuckle and leave you empty handed. They are effectively using you for your blog. These invisible offenders leave no trace of their crime so they are very difficult to detect. I have found the only way to do so is to bait suspected offenders in actual conversation with a question they could only know if they had been reading my blog. Like "I don't even think hijinks is a word is it? Or "Do you know the approximate population of Monaco?" Only by these wise and ingenious devices can I discover which of my supposed friends are reading my blog but not leaving a comment. I (and I'm not trying to adopt a holier-than-thou attitude here) almost always leave at least one comment to show people that their hard work on their blog is appreciated. And even if I don't think their entry was clever enough to leave a witty comment, I at least say "hey, how are you?" or "cute picture" at least something. Don't worry, I'm expecting most of my comments on this post to be "hey, how are you?" I didn't post a picture, so you can't fall back on that one you vile blog users. Take that!!!!

Favorites

I was tagged to list my favorite websites quite a while ago. I suppose I've been 'it' for a while, but I was really embarrassed at how boring my list is. But here goes.
1. I LOVE to read through recipes, I frequent cooks.com and foodnetwork.com
2. Sometimes I just type things into Google because I'm too lazy to put in the whole web address, so I Google everything, even if it is Gap.com. I'm sure Google appreciates my business, but I like almost everything Google.
3. I could spend hours on Yahoo!Games. My favorites are Text Twist and Cubis. I'm such a nerd.
4. I like to do internet window shopping I don't buy anything, I just see what's available and dream, my favorites are ikea.com, pbk.com, landofnod.com, and crateandbarrel.com. As you can tell I mostly fantasize about purchasing furniture although I'm not going to lie target.com is where I spend the most time because I feel like someday those dreams might actually become a reality.
So there you have it, my pretty boring list. I'll tag anyone who wants to get caught.

Guitar Hero

Those of you that know me well know that if there is one thing that I don't know anything about, it's music, although I sing and play the piano the appeal of pop and rock music completely escapes me. I like music and I like to listen to it but don't follow any bands and I'll listen to the same cd in my car until my husband changes it
because I just don't care. You probably also know that I love games and I'm a little competitive. Which is why it must be funny to watch me play Guitar Hero and Rock Band. I love to do it because its a game, unfortunately I'm completely hopeless at it while still insisting I can beat you. Recently I stayed up until 4 in the morning trying to beat a song on Guitar Hero entitled "Raining Blood". I still do not know who sings it, but I did eventually pass it. The very title clashes with my personality but there I was listening to it over and over again so I could win. So I could finally stand there triumphant with my guitar over one shoulder, a fist in the air and yell "I rock!" Then dance wildly about my living room. Suddenly I remember. I'm 29. My blinds are open. What would the neighbors think?

Some Pictures of Little Me

You couldn't possibly mean this picture could you Elesa? It is a priceless treasure. I'll have you know that I crept into my sleeping babe's room in the middle of the night to retrieve it for your benefit. Once I had accomplished this task I returned downstairs only to find that I no longer have a scanner attached to my computer. However, evil genius that I am, I used my digital camera to take pictures of my old ones so I could directly load them onto my computer. Ha! thwarted again Dell! I will never pay the extra money for a printer with a scanner, after all what would I possibly need that for? Sadly however my genius is not sufficient to enable me to figure out how to turn OFF the underlining. In case you wondered. I thought perhaps it would be appropriate to include some other pictures of me when I was knee high to a grasshopper. If anyone is concerned that I was an unhappy child do not worry, I always pretended to be sad because I LOVED the attention of people trying to make me smile. Doesn't sound like me does it? As you can see Abby has quite a different method of getting attention. The picture of me in the pink dress has always been my favorite, that was my favorite dress too. Abby and I do not really look alike do we? Hmm who does she look like?

Skiing

After being put on Elesa's list of blogs she checks without hope of seeing a new post, I've made a goal to post more often just to prove her wrong. Although she's right, I've had one new post in 3 mos. But that will ALL change, if only so Elesa has something to read on the internet. So last week I went skiing for the third time in my life. Although I grew up among the greatest snow on earth I didn't ski much. The first time I went with my college boyfriend I'm sure he thought it was hilariously funny when I fell off the lift (right after take off so I didn't die or anything) (Obviously) and got clotheslined by a tree branch and ran over a little girl (admittedly a better skier than me although 15 years younger than me at the time). So thanks Boone for the memorable, if disastrous, experience, it taught me nothing. Except maybe to duck. My 2nd trip I took ski lessons, instructive but uneventful. This time I went out on the regular runs with my loving husband. Who had a good laugh when I slid face first down the mountainside about 50 feet. Right before I'd been bragging about how good I was getting. After a series of tumbles I finally felt I was getting the hang of it, here's my photographic evidence, I actually got some air in one of them.

6 little known facts about James

A lot of my friends know Jimmy better than they know me. So I tried very hard to come up with things most people would not know.

1. His absolute favorite cookies are hershey's heath bar cookies.

2. He scored over 250,000 on one song on Guitar Hero (on medium). He also played one perfect song with a 550 note streak.

3. He likes names that start with A and J (he picked Abby's name)

4. He can't grow facial hair around his mouth b/c he sunburned his face too much when he was a kid.

5. He picked up his wife over a microscope (nerdy eh?)

6. He admitted to tearing up once over extreme makeover home edition, although I was not there to witness it. That supposed report is the only evidence I have that his lacrimal duct functions at all.

Thanks Nicole for tagging me. Hopefully you learned something new.

This is Long Overdue

So I guess I need to update this blog. We DID have Christmas and New Years and all. So I hope when I grow up I can Christmas shop like Steve Boyd. If ever there is something impossible to get or simply unfindable, he will find it. He got me a Wii for Christmas and I must say that I blame my recent blog inactivity on the amount of time I've spent boxing and playing Mario Galaxy. Yes I am a gamer. I know it's a bit unusual for a 2o something year old mother of 2, which is why I do it between 12 and 3 am. Exactly the time of day when I used to blog. So sorry friends, until I develop Wii tennis elbow, you may hear a little less from me. Fortunately I have to fight Abby to play it the rest of the time. She got a princess game. I will try to be better. James got Guitar Hero (also a spectacular find by Steve) and everytime Abby sees him playing it she comes and tells me that Daddy is busy rocking out and can I get her a drink? I cannot rock out. We did have a fantastic Christmas and New Years. I resolved to budget better and not eats sweets. Try not to laugh when you read those I'm nearly a week and a half sweet-free and going strong. So for about 4 mos. I've been struggling to drop those last 5 bably lbs. and in the last week and a half I've lost 2 so it hasn't been entirely a waste of time. The budgeting thing is going less well, but I still feel I'm making progress. Here's some pictures. Abby and I after wrapping presents on Christmas Eve. Abs on the stairs Christmas morning. Stephen eating a ribbon. Some baby behinds.