Strike A Pose

Stan's sister Emma, her husband Ken, and their adorable new bundle - or should I say jumping bean - Owen (of Air Traffic Control fame) who is 6 weeks older than Fred came for a visit last week. I have lots to post and show on that subject, but until I can get the time to post pics and video of a wonderful visit you will just have to be satisfied with a link for all you adoring Fred fans to a slideshow of professional pics we had taken for this special family visit. It is so hard to decide what prints to purchase! More tales about the cousins summit coming soon!

Father's Day...

Seem like a life time ago and we didn't even really do anything big - we had a very low key and quite day at home and got prepped for our upcoming visitors. Still I think Stan was pretty stoked that he just got celebrate the day! Truly the world's best dad, Im so blessed to have such an awesome and loving partner.

Saying see ya later!

The queen of the blog - my pal Rox and her daughter Anni have now since left on their journey for Africa, well actually they are still in NY at the moment but will be leaving for Kenya then finally arriving in Tanzania for their three year stint. Fred and I loaded up and headed to the city to say our goodbyes. I'm going to miss them! We had so much fun and Fred got to be introduced to my dear friends Andrea and Jill. Roxi posted about our gathering much more promptly and with better photos. You can check it out here. Her blog is something I aspire to, even when they didn't have a bed she managed to post - now that's dedication!

Isn't she lovely....

So part of the fact that I have not been very good about keeping the blog up to date is because we have had so much going on! Some things in fact that have not involved Fred - like mama getting out to help with a shower for Fred' very soon to be new aunt Mary. It's getting to be wedding central as Jeff and Mary are going to tie the knot on the 5th of July. Her shower was back in the beginning of the month which I think turned out rather lovely, and last weekend was her bachelorette party (so much fun). Isn't she going to b the cutest bride ever? She's the petite one in the center next to her cuttie pie mom. Molly and I look like amazon women bookends.

SCHOOL OUT FOR SUMMER...

SCHOOL OUT FOREVER! That's right, that recent move I alluded too in the previous post was me unloading all my stuff from my classroom. I officially resigned a few weeks back and can now look forward to playing and being with Fred full time. Part of me was really sad because I do love teaching so much but on the other hand I know it was the right decision as I would not be able to devote the time I want to do it the way I think teaching should be done. Fred & mommy will miss our silly school friends (like these tech lab goofs!) but we'll be around for visits.

Mama said there'd be days like this...

Fred decided to wake up every hour last night after having a really hard time going to sleep. Then we wrestled with him trying to take a nap this morning - although he did sleep long enough for me to unload my car from a recent move (more to come on that). I think because I am tired the house is seeming super small, cramped, cluttered, and messy. Everywhere I turn I feel like there is a pile to be put away but I'm not sure where! Then Fred wakes up 30 short minutes later, I go and wrestle him for another hour trying to coax him to go back to sleep to take a longer nap - finally I realize this is a lost battle as it is almost time for him to eat again. After his lunch I put him down in his crib which he stayed awake for over an hour with off and on screaming bouts. By this time lack of sleep, trying to function (you know get dressed and eat), and attempting to get the mommy chores done, manifested into a wicked headache. So once he went down I decided I needed five minutes to relax, I decided to go pick some strawberries in our garden, a chance to get out, fresh air, be happy with the garden, get good organic fruit! I started to lift up the netting we placed over the patch to keep out the birds when all of the sudden I saw two furry things rising with the netting way too close to my hands... two chipmunks somehow got entwined in the netting and choked themselves. Chip and Dale's corpses freaked me out so bad it left me silently screaming as not to draw every neighbor to the backyard. By the time I got back in the house and washed my hands a thousand time just incase I brushed against one of them - Fred was crying, waking up from his nap and there was no getting him to go back down. We played, he ate again, I got another load of laundry done and I decided we needed to get out go for a walk. Instead of using the stroller I figured I minimize the hassle since we were just going around the block and used the front snuggli carrier. We said hello to a few neighbors and as we were nearing home a bird pooped on us. Even nature was against me today I swear. I was so grossed out and felt like crying at this point so I just had to laugh because really that's the only option that was left. But today has a happy ending with a little boy giggling all through out dinner, a nice bath, a good feed, a bedtime story, and no fussing being put to bed - which allowed mama to finish reading a magazine and recycle it as not to keep clutter around, have an ice cream sandwich, and curl up with hubby to watch an episode of Psyche. And now I'm off to bed, hopefully for a full night's sleep.

Will the real Fredshady please spit-up?

So can you tell which one is Freddy? This is Fred's body double to do all the stunts that his contract doesn't allow for, you know napping, doctor's appointment, getting his nails clipped etc. This is baby Myles, Stan's one time companion, and the only guy in town who can beat Fred in a staring contest. You should see them go at it during the Cross Town Classic, and you thought Fred was rough on Tigger - yeesh! So just remember in case you see Fred in town and he doesn't wave hello or register who you are, it maybe that Myles is filling in for Fred that day.

Fired Up.... Ready to go!

Usually this space is set aside to brag about Fred - but today I'm giving a shout out to another amazing guy my brother Jeff or should I say Montana's GOTV (get out the vote) director. He was in the first state and helped win the last state! Way to go Uncle Jeff - I'm sure Barack will be calling with an offer for press secretary. oh yes and any time you want to come home to visit your nephew or see your fiancee (sine the wedding is in 4 weeks) that would be great to!