I have to admitt that I am overjoyed with the fact that I am raising children in the era of digital cameras. I think we would have spent $300 on film alone in the past week if it weren't for our lovely digital camera. I shudder to think of what new parents did during those few years when the polaroid camera was the big deal, along with its ten dollar box of cartridges....

Here are some latest snapshots of life at casa de phillips:

Surrounded by pink...

Who would have thought I would go so overboard with the pink? However, it compliments the hair nicely I think.

First Bath

(Much better experience than Isaac's first tub time. For some reason, we felt like it was a good idea to bath him in his baby bath tub in the middle of our large, air conditioned living room. This decision was made by four intelligent adults--two of whom had raised three children together. However, we wised up with Miss Evelyn and performed her first home bath in the warmth of the bathroom. She had quite the spa experience!)

Picnic in the Backyard

(In case you haven't figured out, Isaac's "big brother" job is to push the music button on the swing. He takes this responsibility quite seriously.)

Post-doctor's appointment pictures

(Evelyn weighed in at 8 pounds 1 ounce and is now 22 inches long!)

Our Little Secret...

We have a little secret over here at casa de Phillips....

Miss Evelyn Kathleen has BROWN hair! I don't think we mentioned it in any of our posts on Friday, but we were shocked to see such lovely amounts of brown hair on her head. She also seems to have the same skin tone as Tobe....which means Isaac and I will be slathering on the SPF 80 while Tobe and Evelyn will be applying a mere SPF 15 while the family lounges at the pool.

Many have asked how Isaac has reacted to the baby. Tobe brought Isaac to the hospital around 10am on Saturday morning. Isaac simply laid all curled up on my shoulder for a good ten minutes before even looking at his surroundings. He peeked at the baby, but was more interested in the crushed ice provided by the hospital rather than Evelyn. He returned that afternoon after his nap and again was more interested in the ice than the baby. Both times he left the hospital with a simple "Bye Mommy!" rather than tears---which was nice, but I think a little sadness over the fact that he was leaving without me would have been a boost to this Mommy's ego. He has been running a low-grade fever since Friday evening, which is my personal excuse as to why he was not more heart-broken over leaving me behind.

Yesterday baby and I returned home after waiting forever to be discharged from the hospital (I was discharged at 9am.....Evelyn at 1am when the pediatrician who was on-call for our normal doctor decided to make her way to the hospital and round). Isaac was napping when we got home so he didn't see the baby until later in the afternoon. That was not exactly a joyful brother/sister reunion and there were many tears shed at first over the appearance of Evelyn in the room or anywhere near me. However, he did warm up as the night went on and today he is quite interested in her. He can say her name, which is sweet (and sounds much like his words for Elmo, Elbow, and Elephant but it is still sweet). Right now both of my babies are napping and I am about to join them. Although Miss Evelyn is a champion eater, it appears that her awake time is in the middle of the night. This does not sync up with my idea of "awake time" so I am struggling today!

Here are some more pictures! Enjoy!

Isaac's favorite part of the hospital--the large cup of crushed "Sonic" ice

I love this picture because Tobe is sitting in my hospital bed with a boppy and newborn daughter....They are watching basketball together for the first time!

Waiting (and waiting some more) to go home

Evelyn in her going home outfit

(Isaac wore the same outfit, but the boy version, when we took him home)

Isaac showing Evelyn his barn and all of his "people"
Isaac and Evelyn hanging out with Daddy this morning while Mommy slept

9:40pm

Lynley here...

Okay so six hours ago little Miss Evelyn arrived into this world! I have to say that this day was just absolutely wonderful--a bit painful at times, but wonderful! We feel so blessed by the comments left by all of you. It is nice to know that we have many friends and family who love us enough to even be interested and genuinely excited about the birth of our precious daughter. Thank you, thank you, Thank you!

We are getting settled in for the evening and I am about to take a lovely little sleeping pill. Miss Evelyn is going to attend the slumber party in the nursery for the evening.

The birth went beautifully, with only an hour of actual pushing. Tobe is an excellent labor coach and knows exactly how to encourage me without being too harsh or too "sissy." If his whole PhD thing doesn't work out, he might have a future career as a doula. Unfortunately our doctor did not make it for the actual delivery--Evelyn just decided to come out quickly at the end and another doctor who happened to be standing in the hall jumped in to assist our nurse. The baby looked great and has already proven to be a champion eater. At this time, I feel great (could be the pain medicine speaking or perhaps the vast amount of food I have consumed in the past six hours--yes I did get my Jason's deli!) and feel a bit more prepared for the rollarcoaster of hormone-induced emotions that will surely come in these first few days of Mommyhood.

Isaac has yet to meet his beautiful little sister. We decided that it would be best for him to come visit her in the morning when he is rested and happy. However, we have already been telling Evelyn all the things that Isaac will soon teach her--such as how to order at restaurants, how to "keen" (clean--one of his favorite pastimes), and how to get Mommy and Daddy to do anything you want with just a simple "peas" (please). Although Isaac has been in excellent hands all day and likely hasn't noticed that Tobe and I were not around, the mommy in me missed him dearly today. I think my heart might just explode now that I have another sweet baby to love to pieces.

Thanks again, dear readers, for taking the time to think of us today. We know the Lord has greatly blessed us with the best friends, family, and co-workers. We love you all!

Lynley

PS. I am sure Tobe will add new pictures tomorrow--so check back in!

PPS. Rest assured that never again will I dictate a blog post after the initial injection of epidural medicine. I just read over that post and all I can say is YIKES!

Evelyn Kathleen Phillips

She has arrived!!!
She was born at 3:40 PM on Friday, May 11th, 2007. She weighs 7 lbs. 9 oz., is perfect in every way, and is currently lying in Lynley's arms eating.

2:30 PM.

Alright, here we go. The pushing is to commence in about 5 minutes. Hopefully, the next post will contain pictures of our new baby daughter!

1:30 PM.

Lynley here (I am dictating to Tobe, who is doing the typing).....

So, just watching a little Days of Our Lives and the nurse says that we will probably be ready to start pushing in the next 30 minutes to one hour. I am quite thankful for the person who invented the epidural. And really craving Jason't Deli, as I haven't eaten since dinner last night. It's hard to think of what to say when I'm not typing it myself. Don't I look glamorous with my oxygen mask?

11:45 AM.

Not much new to report here. The epidural made Lynley pretty drowsy, so she has been able to nap a little bit. She is still progressing, albeit slowly. Her mom and dad are both here in the hosptial room with us, and my parents are watching Isaac at our house. We are able to watch Evelyn's heart rate on the monitor, and she appears to be doing fine. I'll see if Lynley feels up to doing the next post (unless the baby decides to come!).....

10:30 AM.

Tobe again....
Here is a picture of Lynley with her mom (the short red hair) and my mom. Also, Lynley just had her epidural inserted, and so is feeling a little better. The contractions are getting rolling much more quickly and intensely than they did with Isaac. The staff here are hoping that means Evelyn will come on along sooner rather than later.
They are taking some last preparatory steps, and then hoping that Lynley will be able to nap for a little while. We will continue to post updates as they occur. Thanks for checking in. We'll try to post some video of Evelyn once she arrives, if/when Lynley feels up to showing me how.

9:00 AM.

Tobe here.....
Dr. Allen just stopped by to check on Lynley and break her water. Both Dr. Allen and our day nurse (Lisa) feel Lynley is having good contractions and making solid progress. Isaac is at home with the grandparents right now - both sets. So, Lynley and I plan on having to reintroduce the word "no" into Isaac's vocabulary after this weekend. He apparently asked for Lynley once (and me not at all), and then just went on about his day. We are very blessed, though, to have all of Isaac's grandparents active in his life to the extent that he is so happy and comfortable with any of them in our absence.
To all who are reading these blogs, please do leave comments. Lynley has set up the security on her blog such that anyone can leave a note, without having to have a blog account. She really likes hearing from folks (as do I).
On a random note, Lynley and I heard an interesting news story this morning on the radio while traveling to the hospital. Apparently someone by the name of Don K. of Plano, Texas is receiving some local publicity due to his striking resemblance to Ian Zeiring, currently a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. We only caught the tail end of the interview with this Don K individual, just long enough to here him yell something about how he is "on like Donkey Kong." Not real sure what that's about. Just a local interest story we took note of today.

8 AM

Lynley here....Aren't you impressed with this live blogging? I am currently feasting on a gourmet breakfast of ice chips and watching the Today show (it is a little odd to actually be watching an adult news program in the morning rather than Playhouse Disney). Contractions are coming about every two minutes but are simply slightly irritating rather than painful. I have my handy-dandy pain scale of smiley/sad faces to let the nurse know what my degree of pain is. My goal is to stay drug-free until I reach the sad face of 6 or 7 before getting the epidural. We'll see how that goes....

Our first nurse said the baby might be here by noon, but I am estimating 5pm as to not get my hopes up. Just in case you were wondering, I plan on sending someone for a club sandwich from Jason's Deli as soon as this little one appears as I am already STARVING! (that is the exact meal sweet Alison brought me to eat after Isaac was born--which I ate at 9am!)

In closing, I must share two Isaac stories. Last night the whole family went out for my final pregnancy meal (which included a very large brownie sundae). Not only did Isaac order apple juice again, but he also asked the waiter for "corn, please." Too sweet. This morning around 4:30am I heard Isaac laughing in his sleep--such a sweet sound. Then I heard him start to whimper as if having a bad dream and he called out in the saddest voice, "apple juice, apple juice..." I think he must have been dreaming of a world with no apple juice and it just broke his little heart!

We are live from the hospital.

Hello everyone. Lynley and I are here at the hospital. It is currently a little before 6:30 AM, and she is already in the gown, lying in bed, signing a bunch of consents. Our admitting nurse is actually the same one we had overnight during Isaac's birth, which is pretty cool as we had asked if she was still around. Though everyone who interacted with us the first time through here was very kind, this particular nurse stood out and was one we remembered by name.

So, just a quick 'good morning' to you all and more to come soon!

Tobe.

Ready....Set.....GO!

Isaac loves to say, "Ready, set, GO!" before tackling some great feat, such as running down the hall at full speed. Looks like we are at the point of saying, "Ready, Set, GO!" for this little baby to be born tomorrow. Yesterday we had our final doctor's visit and discovered that I had finally made more progression in the whole labor department. Also, I had lost three pounds this past week which is a good sign the ol' body is ready to have this baby (I lost five pounds the week before Isaac was born). Sooooooooo....tomorrow morning we are going in bright and early to encourage this little one into the world. Tobe will be updating the blog to let you know what exciting things are happening as the day goes along. I am hoping that the baby will be born by 5pm---my doctor has reassured me that this labor will not take 26 hours like Isaac's did. If you are bored tomorrow and need something to entertain yourself at work, stop by the blog and see if this baby girl has been born! (By the way, you can now leave a comment even if you don't have a blog of your own--I decided to be brave and allow anonymous comments, so play nice!)

Today we put the final touches on the nursery. The only thing we are missing is some last minute decorations for the shelf over the changing table and a sweet baby girl!

Pardon Me, Sir...

Saturday evening we went out to dinner with Tobe's parents. The waiter approached our table and graciously took our drink orders. As he began to walk away from the table, a sweet voice (belonging to a little boy who had been consumed with coloring during the entire ordering process) called out after the waiter, "Apple Juice."

This weekend placing his own drink order.....tomorrow he will be walking across that graduation stage!

***

I have secretly been hoping that the baby would have been born yesterday for the past nine months because it would have made her birthday 05/06/07.....how cool is that! However, at about 11:55pm last night when I was up watching the replay of Extra! while the rest of the house slept, I gave up the dream of her having such a super cool birth date. The 11th is cool, too.

***

Umm, did Apollo just do the tango to "Jesse's Girl" on Dancing with the Stars? Great dance, but his partner was not even alive when that song came out...

***

Here is a snapshot of Isaac's latest obsession---climbing. He can now climb up on the ottoman and couches by himself. I tell you....he is growing up too fast!

Save the Date!

Mark your calenders, charge the video camera, and put film in your camera (I guess that is actually an outdated reference....perhaps I should say, clear your memory card?)......we have a date for this little one to be born!

Unless she decides otherwise, our baby girl will make her big appearance one week from today on Friday May 11th! (Please don't let her take her time like her big brother and actually arrive on Saturday May 12th!)

After seeing the doctor on Wednesday and discovering that I had not progressed any further than I had two weeks ago (at which time we panicked thinking this baby might arrive early), she decided to schedule us for an induction next week unless this baby girl gets the show on the road. Being the Type A personality that I am, I like the idea of having a scheduled date for this baby to arrive and I can quit hoping that my water will break at any moment (okay, I am still hoping it will break at any minute because I am quite uncomfortable, but I can pretend that I have quit hoping my water will break at any moment.....).

So, Dear reader, clear your schedule for next Friday because remember Tobe will be updating the blog with witty accounts of this whole labor process!

***

It wouldn't be Friday without a sweet Isaac story. Lately he has been wanting to sit at the table to eat rather than in his highchair. He has a little booster seat that we can put in the "big people's chair" and his sweet head barely peeks over the table. This is all good, but the other day he lost this table privilege because he purposely smeared applesauce all over the table. Yesterday at lunch he was allowed to sit at the table again, which caused him great joy. He is in a cereal phase right now and wanted cereal as his end-of-meal treat (usually his request is for "Ah-sauce" or yogurt). He loves shredded wheat but sometimes gets frustrated when all the shreds of wheat get stuck in his mouth. I have been teaching him he has to drink something between bites to wash down this type of cereal. Yesterday I was cleaning up my lunch dishes with my back to him while he finished up his cereal ("sear-sul"). I turned around to find bits of shredded wheat all over the table and the floor. All I said was, "Isaac...." and before I could finish my motherly statement he looked at me quite seriously and said, "Obey, obey, obey..." He helped clean ("Keen") up his mess before bedtime, but I safely tucked the booster seat away in the garage for another day!

***

As mentioned in a previous post, Isaac really digs coloring right now. Wednesday he was coloring in his coloring book at our coffee table while I cooked dinner. We feel quite comfortable leaving him along with crayons because he understands what he can color on and what is off-limits. I popped into the living room to check on him and to color with the "ye-doe" (yellow) as he had instructed me to do. It was then that I noticed the book I have been reading laying open on the couch. Not only was it laying open to where my bookmark had been, but it had been artfully decorated in red crayon streaks on two pages. As I looked at the book and then looked at Isaac, his blue eyes immediately got big and filled with tears. All I had to do was ask him if he colored in my book and he laid his head on the coffee table and sobbed. His little heart was broken that he had gotten in trouble. I hope he always feels this guilty when committing a "crime." He apologized and we hugged it out. Yesterday he saw my book and pointed at it, saying "No No." Smart boy.

***

In closing, I have a book recommendation for all you parents who love children's books. We heart reading here at casa de Phillips and hope to inspire that love in our children (if you have visited our home you have seen the large bookcase of children's books that resides in the living room). Isaac and I visit the library every week and a few weeks ago one of the stories at story time was a book called "Moon Plane." We checked it out this week and Isaac has carried it everywhere. I have ordered him his own copy. If you are wanting to get your child a new book, we suggest Moon Plane by Peter McCarty. It is a great read!

My Blog... A Long, Lost Friend

Oh, Blog, how I have neglected you in the past week. I am deeply sorry for the neglect, my friend. It is not that I haven't a thing to write about--in fact here is a sampling of topics I have meant to sit down and blog about but chose to lounge on the couch instead...

• ...how the other day I heard Isaac running down the hall, then a loud thump occurred, followed by a sweet "Oh-Uh." and then immediate wailing. I rushed into the hall to find Isaac laying in a heap on the floor, sobbing. In all of his excitement, he ran smack into the wall. I tried not to giggle as I scooped him up and kissed away the pain.

• ...how I have had no baby yet. In fact, the daily contractions have seemed to slow down rather than pick up. Aargh! I quite over the whole pregnancy thing and willing to enter the "no sleep/exhaustion" phase.

• ...how Isaac loves to sing "Old McDonald Had a Farm" but really only has the "E-I-E-I-O" part down. This "singing" involves saying "E" and "I" repeatedly at a loud level and then finishing the song with a strong "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO."

• ...how Isaac is fascinated with clips of all kinds right now. He can entertain himself for quite the while by buckling and unbuckling his highchair, booster seat, the baby carrier, etc. We hope this is in indication that he has a mechanical mind, something that neither Tobe nor I possess.

• ...how over the weekend I installed and reinstalled Isaac's and the baby's car seats no more than four times until I finally figured out how to make them both work in our car. This installation process involved Isaac feeling the need to crawl in, around, over, and on both car seats as I attempted to get them situated. The baby car seat still needs some work, but I am waiting until my frustration level over the ordeal subsides.

• ...how anyone who is voting for Billy Ray Cyrus to stay on Dancing with the Stars should lose all phone and Internet privileges until the end of the season and who should also be denied the right to vote in the upcoming Presidential elections.

• ...how President Bush vetoed the war-spending bill today that would start to actually bring troops home, declaring it as a way of "setting a date for failure." Two questions: 1. Didn't he say "Mission Accomplished." four years ago today? 2. Have you noticed there are less and less "W" stickers on cars these days? Hmmmmmmmmm.....

• ...how yesterday I spent a total of three hours on the phone with Time Warner Cable and was actually only speaking to someone for about twenty minutes of that time.

• ...how on Sunday I attended the memorial service for a dear co-worker who lost her battle with Ovarian cancer. It was an "ideal" memorial service, in that people were appropriately sad and respectful but there was lots of laughter and great memories shared. I was fortunate enough to teach at a very close-knit school, were past and present faculty remain in contact with each other. Kathy will dearly be missed by the staff at Timber Creek but we all had a great time celebrating her life on Sunday.

• ...how last week I turned and knocked Isaac's sippy cup off the highchair with my tummy (or "tunny" as Isaac calls it)

• ...how the Gerber baby food company has a commerical that simply shows different women in labor. It is a bit too realistic and makes me want to (slightly) reconsider this whole birthing a baby thing.

• ...how a former co-worker of mine told me that childbirth is her absolute favorite thing to do EVER. She has had two children, but says she would do it a dozen more times (except she does not want a dozen children) if given the chance. Seriously....can you list "childbirth" in the box titled, "Favorite Activities?"

• ...how whenever this baby arrives (if she EVER arrives) we plan on blogging live during the labor (make sure you read that to say "labor" and not actual "birth" There will be no play-by-play of anything involving the terms "pushing" or "crowning."). By "we" I mean Tobe. I plan to be busy. Tobe happens to work for the hospital system at which we are having this bundle of joy and membership has its privileges (intranet access).

So, dear Blog, I am sorry I have left you lost and alone over these past few days. Perhaps you will accept these few pictures as an apology...

Isaac loves to color and has become quite fond of sitting with his "desk" and coloring for long spells. This warms my heart because I am all about the arts and crafts time. I especially love how he will draw something particular and tell us what he just created. You can tell how serious he is about the whole process in these pictures....

The required belly shot.

I love how some people will tell me how low the baby is and then some will tell me how she is still up under my lungs....makes me think no one really knows.

Notice the beautiful flowers on the piano my husband gave me for my birthday---I kept them looking good for two weeks!

Discoveries...

Here are a few things I have discovered lately...

1. Isaac can crawl up on the master bed. This morning Isaac and I were in the bedroom--he was playing Lego's ("le-lows") while I was puttering around getting things done. I left the room for 42.3 seconds and returned to my son standing on the bed saying, "Tough-tough" while beating his chest with Lego's. He apparently had claimed victory over the queen sized bed which sits on lifts. Despite the fact that he is not a big climber, Isaac has figured out to climb onto the hope chest and then onto the bed. A bit scary, but hilarious.

2. Gray Hair! I just hit 30 last week and I am beginning to go gray??? This cannot be. I noticed a few grey strands on the top of my head in some pictures we had taken this weekend. Today as I was brushing my hair, I noticed gray at the temples. Aaargh! I don't color my hair because I prefer its natural color and because red out-of-a-bottle doesn't look quite as good as the real deal. I had a momentary picture of myself at 32 with completely gray hair and about passed out on the floor of the bathroom.

3. They're not freckles---they are the mask of pregnancy! Okay, so technically they really are my freckles, but they have gotten significantly darker in the past week. I kind of remember this happening at the end of my pregnancy with Isaac, but it was also the end of summer and Tobe and I had spent a significant amount of time at the pool (yes, in a maternity swimsuit that I was never photographed in--thank goodness--and whose yards of material would soak up half the pool water whenever I entered the water). Between the gray hair and the darkening freckles, I am one hot mama!

4. 20 month olds do not understand the simple act of returning library materials at the drive-through window. Tuesday is our typical library day, but yesterday we had a service professional at our house and had to skip out on story time. However, we had some items that needed to be returned. Since the library is just down the road, Isaac and I loaded up in the car and set out to drop these things in the library bin. I explained exactly what we were doing, stating that we could not get out of the car because 1.Story time was over 2. It was raining 3.Isaac had on no shoes. Apparently this logic did not come across, because all the way home Isaac cried, "Li-larry". That boy loves his books!

5. Regardless of increase in contractions and activity level, I have not progressed any more in the "labor" department since last week. We saw our doctor today and really thought I would have made even more progress than I had last week. Our doctor even commented on how she had expected to see us over the weekend. Well....nothing has changed since last week. Last week's news made us panic a little and the same report today disappointed us a bit. Ironic, huh....especially considering it was the same news! The doctor is estimating that the baby weighs 7 pounds (she estimated six pounds last week)....I hope she doesn't gain another pound in a week--I prefer to stay under the 8 pound baby mark!

What have you discovered lately?

National "Hug a Goat" Day

Did you know that this past Saturday was "Hug a Goat" day? Neither did we, until we took Isaac to a petting zoo at a local farm. He was not scared of the animals at all and immediately felt the need to hug the goat. (Don't worry...we know the dangers of petting zoos and were willing to risk a case of E. Coli so our son could hug a goat.)

I love these pictures because it captures the first (of many) hugs as it happened.

Surveying his crops

Finally....a bunny that does not hop frantically away when Isaac approaches it

(Our neighbors happened to be at this same event with their son who is five months younger than Isaac. He too was thrilled with a bunny that was captive as he often attempts to chase "Neighborhood Bunny" his own self.)Tobe's work had a baby shower for us on Friday---it was great fun and everyone was incredibly thoughtful and generous.

Here is a picture of Isaac eating cake for the first time at the shower

(remember, he didn't eat any cake at his birthday party and we are mean and don't allow him to eat junk food.)

Because it is 7am on Monday morning, I can safely say that I successfully made it through the weekend without giving birth (our doctor's goal). Here are some of those lovely pregnancy statements made to me over the weekend ....

*** "You don't even look pregnant." (Really??? I am nine months pregnant--there is a
six plus pound human in my stomach. It's okay--I know I look pregnant. Just stick
with the "You're glowing." comments rather than attempting to make me feel like my
stomach can't take out small children if I turn too quickly.)

*** "Let me just squeeze this in between the two of you." (Said by the size 0 Banana Republic salesgirl. If you are wondering who the "two of you" were....it was me and my tummy.
This same sales girl also attempted to reach out and touch my stomach when we entered
the store, but I backed away. Why do people think it is okay to touch someones
abdomen when they are pregnant? Ask first please---and then I will likely tell you "no"
unless you are a close friend or relative.)

*** "You need to be really careful on there." (This warning was given by the 20 year old male
sales associate at Banana Republic. Why was I given a warning? Because I had dared sit
upon a sturdy, two foot wide stool, with my feet planted firmly on the ground. Yes, the
stool read "Employees only" but I figured management did not want me dragging over
one of their leather chairs so I could give my opinions to my adorable husband as he
shopped the men's section.)

Despite these random comments, we had a nice weekend of getting things done (and hugging goats) before this baby arrives. I think Isaac senses something is going on. He wants me to hold him more and is being a lot more affectionate (this is the baby who never wanted to cuddle). Lately he has been whiny and having a more difficult time following instructions (this could be because he is 20 months old and not because baby number 2 is coming) He understands what room belongs to the baby and can tell you what things are the baby's and what are his. We are attempting to prepare him as best we can and then are ready for his potential rollar coaster of emotions once the baby arrives.

Often I will ask him, "Isaac, is the baby here yet?" to which he will sweetly reply, "No." Then we talk about how the baby is in my tummy and the doctor will take it out when it is time...blah, blah, blah. Yesterday Tobe was up in the attic fetching some baby gear. Isaac loves the garage and the attic. He kept telling me "Daddy, attic." Then he told me, "Baby, attic." Nice. I guess he thinks we are keeping the baby in the attic for the time being....

30. That's Me.

I can remember stories of how my parents took a mini-vacation to New Orleans to celebrate my mother's thirtieth birthday. They already had my older brother and myself and loaded up the family to celebrate in The Big Easy. Although I was too young to remember this particular trip, this story has stayed with me because for most of my childhood I would think, "30....that is sooooo old." (Sorry, Mom--I don't think you are sooooooooooo old now and you certainly don't look a day over 40.)

I turned 30 this week and suppose I have now crossed that great age barrier between still being somewhat of a "kid" and now actually being a true adult. Per my request, there were no flashy parties, stretch limos, or toasts with champagne to welcome in this new decade of life (Have you seen a maternity party dress? Think a Mu-Mu that has been attacked with a bedazzler.). There were a few incredibly fun, low-key celebrations that made the event quite enjoyable. Isaac helped me welcome in my actual birthday by having the worst diaper explosion ever that morning which resulted in a complete stripping and washing of the entire contents of his crib (Somehow, Ink-Ink was spared).

Entering my thirties---thus leaving the good ol twenties behind---makes me think over the past decade to see what I have accomplished in order to get to this major age milestone. It was at the age of 20 that I met Tobe (We actually had a class together the Spring semester I turned 20, so technically I guess I knew him at 19 as well. However, he never knew I was in that class and I was terribly annoyed by his loud mannerisms. That is a story for another entry though....) and the age of 24 that I married him (Best decision I ever made). I completed an undergraduate and graduate degree in my 20's. I wrote a pretty good thesis (despite the fact that I did not win the $100 thesis award from ACU---no bitterness there, huh?) and was asked to present it at the national APA convention. I travelled to Africa twice---spending a total of 3 1/2 months living there---and became deeply involved in the plight of street children and in the horrible condition of this continent. I purchased my first home (along with Tobe) and discovered the ups and downs of actually owning your own property. I worked as a behavioral specialist teacher for four years---something I would have never seen myself doing at 20---and came to love a small group of children with such a passion it amazed me. I closed out my 20's by giving birth to the sweetest boy ever and was able to devote my days (and nights) to raising him in his early months. Finally I carried baby number 2 during the last months of my twenties, often times stopping to wonder what this feisty little one will bring to our world.

Would my 20 year old self be happy with this new 30 year old? Probably (although she might be a bit frightened by the 30 year old version of her body and the fact that her hair is still a major battle most days). My in-laws came over this week to celebrate, laden with gifts and chocolate cake. The napkins they brought read, "30...the party continues." I truly hope so.

*****

Because I am lazy, I am going to include a baby update with this post rather than creating a new one. Yesterday the three of us headed out to our doctor's office and were a tiny bit shocked to discover that I had progressed some in the whole "labor" department, despite the fact that since Sunday contractions had really been picking up. I will spare you the details (except for those of you I emailed last night in which I did give you the graphic description), but our doctor did say this baby needs to at least wait until next week to make an appearance because we want her lungs to be nice and healthy. Um....Tobe and I really need her to wait until about May 4th so he can get through a major project at work and I can actually prepare for this child. I am now going to lay low and attempt to keep this child in a few more weeks. I have crossed off "mulch flowerbeds" and "walk with family to historic farm event" off my weekend list of things to do in order to make this happen. We'll keep you posted!

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What's a blog entry without a funny Isaac story? Yesterday, Isaac and I were riding in the car. I was SUPER tired yesterday and realized as we drove along in silence that I was not being a fun Mommy. I looked at Isaac in the mirror and said, "Hey, you want to sing 'E-I-E-I-O' (his name for "Old McDonald Had a Farm"). Isaac sweetly replied, "No." I then asked, "How about 'Wheels on the Bus?" Again, another sweet little "No." came from the backseat. I tried a third time by asking, "You want to sing your ABC's?" Isaac shook his little head and said "No." Finally I asked, "Would you like to just ride and enjoy the silence?" A big grin spread across his face, lighting up his blue eyes, as he eagerly replied, "Sures!"

Random Bits and Pieces

1. I love all things that involve organization. My supervising professor in grad school one day told me my spiritual gift was organization (This was a compliment coming from a professor whose tests' layouts involved a specific planning process with a certain amount of spacing between items and carefully constructed boxes around questions so that answers would be neatly contained.). Because I love organization, I adore The Container Store. I can look for hours at their carefully constructed closets, pantries, and mud rooms. The Container Store is currently having their Spring Sale. On Wednesday Isaac and I swung by and picked up a few things. The first was their various sizes of lingerie boxes (currently $2 off original price). These make excellent storage spaces for baby socks, onesies, pjs, and burp clothes and prevent one's dresser from becoming an explosion of baby clothes. I used these in Isaac's dresser and now Evelyn has her own set. We also picked up another clear storage bin because Isaac's puzzle collection was overflowing it's original container. These clear storage bins are great for children's toys with a variety of pieces because they are clear (Isaac can see what is inside), they are sturdy (Isaac loves to sit in the larger ones and be pushed through the house), and the lids snap shut tightly (Isaac can't open them on his own, which prevents too many toys from being tossed around the living room). If you are out and about this weekend, peek into your local Container Store and find some great buys!

2. Our new sand and water table is officially open for business. Being the intelligent parents that we are, Tobe and I left the 40 pound bag of play sand outside during the rain last week. Oops. Currently the sand in the sand table is a bit damp, but you can make some groovy sand castles with it. Isaac is quite thrilled with this new outside toy (he was actually quite thrilled with it during the week it resided in our living room with no sand or water in it and he had to pretend to dig) and often takes a shovel over to Bunny so he can join in the festivities (By the way, Bunny is not actually our pet nor does he reside at our house full-time. There is some confusion out there involving this little hare. He rotates between a few homes in the neighborhood throughout the day. He often visits us from mid-morning until early evening.).

3.I trekked out to our local Wal-Mart last night around 8pm to pick up some necessities for the weekend. I prefer to make such trips by myself or with Tobe when it happens to be just the two of us. The whole experience is much more peaceful without Isaac, even though he happens to be a great errand companion. Although I was fortunate enough to be alone, there were quite the number of parents with small children in tow completing their own shopping. I know some of this is out of necessity, but I still wonder why people have young children in Wal-Mart at 9pm at night (Yeah, I was there a long time.). The sight that shocked me the most was the one year old riding happily in her mother's shopping cart drinking a 22 oz soda fountain drink from QT. It wasn't the occasional sip to keep her pacified either---I believe this was the child's personal drink. Oh dear.

4. Speaking of QT, guess where Tobe and I ate dinner last night? QT. After he arrived home from work, we began talking about our respective days and lost track of time a bit. I was also feeling a bit "blah" and was contemplating leftovers rather than the shrimp pasta I had planned to cook. We decided to go ahead and feed Isaac and then pick up a small bite to eat for our own selves. Somehow we ended up feasting on a hot dog (me) and taquitos (Tobe) in the parking lot of this fine establishment. Sounds a bit disturbing until you have visited our local QT (it is quite nice and incredibly clean) and have tried their food (pretty tasty). Our particular QT is next to a storage building facility and we noticed a few men parking their cars in the QT parking lot and walking over to the storage facility. Tobe guesses that they most likely live in one of the units. I immediately felt disheartened that someone had to live in a storage unit, but then wondered why they were living in this particular storage facility. Our local QT (and its neighboring storage facility) don't actually reside in our hometown but in the neighboring suburb which is much more expensive and ritzy (Thus, the nice gas station). These men could likely get a better deal on a storage unit if they would simply relocate about 5 miles down the road. (Truth be told, I hope they don't have to live in any storage facility and our guess about their residence being located at these units is wrong.)

5. Yesterday, Ink-Ink had to have his teeth brushed, socks put on, fed goldfish, and be "rah-rahed" (This means be "rock-rocked" and Isaac has to join in the fun as well. The three of us are quite a sight as we attempt to fit into the glider). Poor Evelyn. I think she has just lost her first sibling battle over a toy. (Don't know who Ink-Ink is? Check the post below.)

6. Because it is Friday....here is a video of Isaac chasing Bunny on Easter. Enjoy! (Random Tip: Never purchase a home whose front yard is shaped like the state of Florida. You can see our "peninsula" in this video--not fun to maintain, my friends.)


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Become Aware this Month

Despite the fact that we are rapidly approaching the middle of April, I wanted to pass along the knowledge that April is Autism Awareness Month. For those of you who might not have realized, I mainly worked with children who had forms of high-functioning autism during my teaching career. In doing so, I became quite proficient in this spectrum disorder and somewhat involved in groups that are searching for a cure and/or answers for this disease. I believe it is safe to say that Autism is an epidemic that is rapidly affecting our society. The prevalence rates of autism are now being reported by the CDC as 1 in every 150 (some other organizations report it to be as high as 1 in 133). That is tragically high, people.

Autism is classified as a "spectrum" disorder, meaning that symptoms can range from mild to serious, yet are similar in features. Basically, not everyone diagnosed as having autism acts like Dustin Hoffman in Rainman (truthfully, very few demonstrate such characteristics although Mr. Hoffman's character was based on a real person). There currently is no cure and currently no definite known cause of this disease. Having worked closely with a small group of children and families for four years who are affected by this disorder (I taught the same students every year, despite their grade level), I have seen how hard Autism is on the person struggling with it and on their families (all of the parents were either divorced or going through a divorce by the end of my four years with that class--tragic). My students were considered "high functioning" meaning that they basically appeared to be your average elementary student. However, they were prisoners of their own mind, unable to communicate feelings appropriately, severely irritated by things others likely do not notice, and struggled to understand the social norms of our society. A journal sits in the dusty corners of my attic written by one of my students in times of anger. We started this process one fall as a way for him to tell me what he was feeling when frustration took hold of his body (I honestly started this out of self-preservation because his normal reaction was to scream and act out aggressively towards me and school property....always a nice way to spend one's work day). Some of the journal includes writing but the majority of it is in pictures. It really opened my eyes to the prison this child was in and that the prison was his own mind. Although I would like to share this journal with others and use it someday, the mother was never very keen on signing any type of release so its contents are bound by state confidentiality laws.

I encourage you to become more aware of this disease this month. Oprah did a semi-decent episode on autism last week (I say "semi" because she felt the need to share her half-educated ideas constantly and also attempted to make a vaccine connection which has been rebuked by the scientific community. However, the families that were shown did an excellent job of relaying how autism affects them personally.) that had some useful insights and information. Cure Autism Now (who recently merged with Autism Speaks) is a great organization and a good start to educate yourself about this disease. Our local Walk Now! is rapidly approaching, but there is still time to sign up to participate (Casa de Phillips will not be at this one due to the fact that little Evelyn should have recently made her appearance by this point in time)

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As I climb down from my soapbox, I do have an amusing Isaac story to lighten the mood of this post. Last week my mother sent an Easter basket package to Evelyn (Isaac's had come the day before through Amazon.com---an Ernie DVD. He currently calls Ernie "Denny" which is quite precious). Isaac was in the living room as I opened the box and was quite excited to view its contents. As I cut through the thick layers of packing tape, I kept reminding him that this box contained things for the baby. We were finally able to open the flaps of the box and the first thing I pulled out was a pink Gund teddy bear that had been mine when I was a child. Isaac immediately grabbed it, gave it a huge hug, and called it a pig. He has since named this "pig" Ink-Ink (because he says a pig says, "Ink Ink" rather than "Oink, Oink."). Ink-Ink has been a companion of Isaac every day since. Ink-Ink takes naps with Isaac, has his diaper changed with Isaac, and watches Elmo's World with Isaac. Every night we put Ink-Ink back in the baby's room, but every morning Isaac retrieves his new friend. Last night Isaac was mad at me because I would not let him play with nail clippers (what a Mean Mommy I am) and went in the living room crying for Ink-Ink. Precious. Poor Evelyn might never know that Ink-Ink is 1.Actually a bear and not a pig and 2. Belongs to her.