David Poe

David,

First off, we appreciate your interest. We giggle like children every time you comment on our blog. We recently watched your performance on World Cafe live and loved it. We also caught word that you will be the lead in the upcoming "Whisperhouse" musical. Congratulations! If by then we can find some time and money we will definitely come to New York. We also await another record that we can glue in our players next to 'Love is Red.' We would just like you to know that you write wonderful music.

Brad and Katie

By the way, we are well aware that Idaho lacks the splendor and popular interest of the east coast but, maybe you could come and play the county fair! You know you'll have at least two fans and "You could meet my sister and her husband the bastard..." (Kristen and Nate, this is a song lyric, do not take this the wrong way)

Craig is My Favorite Person

After Brad and Ruth, of course, Craig has to be my favorite person in the entire world. Not that I've ever met him, but Craig and his list has saved me so much money I seriously love him to death! My most recent Craig's list purchases were this beautiful changing table ($15), which just so happens to match the rocking chair and crib in Ruth's room! (I'm also proud of myself because I put it together...we won't say how long that took!) And in the same morning I picked up Ruth's new Fisher Price Jumperoo ($20)! I am going to run the numbers like I always do:


WalMart had no changing tables, at least at the Jerome location. The new "gently used" kids store opening tomorrow has a changing table but they were asking $65 for a used one that wasn't even the right color. Other kids stores priced their changing tables from $120 - $400! So once again my purchase for $15 was a STEAL! Especially since it's in great condition.


The jumperoo I got for $20 was also the best deal around. The cheapest jumperoo at WalMart was $40, but the one that is comparable to this one was selling for $90. At Target the same Fisher Price Jumperoo was going for $120. At the used kids store opening up they were selling it for $35. SCORE!

Thank you Craig, wherever you are, who ever you are, thank you.

Goings On

Ruth is very proficient at rolling over now. She's now working on crawling. She lifts her bum up really high in the air while she has her hands and feet on the ground still. She also likes to cock her head to one side when she looks at things:


Also, I never thought the day would come that my child slept from 7 pm to 7 am (waking up 3 times in between) but that day has come, Yay.

Ruth has started helping me with my projects:

Sewing:

Whisking:

Potato Mashing:

She also loves to chew on carrots:

I've also been working on lots of sewing projects. I made a huge floor cushion to sit on while playing with Ruth. And now that she finally has a crib (I love Craig's list. I found her crib with a new mattress included, plus 2 sheets, a blanket and the bumpers for a total of $50!!!! Again anyone without kids here's the run-down: crib alone ranges $120-400; bedding ranges from $70-300; and mattresses range from $40-100. So this was a huge kill.) The only problem was the bedding didn't really match the purple curtains I hung in her room. So I got some purple fabric and added purple quilt squares onto the bumpers and the blanket so they match the curtains. I also got a $10 sheet from Target that had pink and purple polka-dots to tie everything together. It turned out really well.

This is the close-up of the purple squares and sheet:



I also made this wall decoration for her room, it brings the pink and purple across from the crib to the other side of the room:


The top center square is a big purple bow that you can't see very well in this picture. The other things are scrapbooking supplies in pink and purple that I had as well as some of her old pajamas that got stained so I cut out the little animals or flowers. I also used the extra purple fabric from the bumper/blanket project to back everything with and mounted it on cardboard from the 20" fan we bought the other day. This was really fun to make because it was like making a collage. I put her hospital bracelet on as well as the other things I already mentioned. This might sound weird, but my favorite part was cutting up her old pajamas...they still smelled like a newborn...kind of sweet smelling.

Family Reunion

We had a great week in Santa Fe for the Laws family reunion. We got to stay with wonderful Brian and Tia and Lydia and Ben. We went to the zoo, aquarium, Explora (discovery museum) Fuddruckers, pedicures for the ladies, an Isotopes baseball game, wandered around downtown, and my favorite thing of all we saw a concert at the zoo. It was so much fun! Here are some pictures of all the fun we had. We love you all and can't wait for next year.

Ruth, Morgand and I are sporting sun-glasses:





My two favorite people cuddling in bed: Ruth did not sleep well on this trip, she slept most nights with us...Brad loved it.


The following are the three boys: Joey, AJ and Ben, they are all about 18 months, born within 2 months of each other. They're so much fun.


The next pictures are from the botanical gardens, zoo and aquarium:







The next two are Brad with Ruth and Brad with Morgan at Explora.




The family picture of all of us at the picnic tree by Paula and Asa's house in Santa Fe.



I'm so glad I finally have sisters!