A Whole Lot of New (but not too much)

As the title suggests, there are a few new things going on here . . . but nothing bad or stressful, thank goodness. Let me elaborate.

First we have a new attitude. If you look close, you will notice in this picture, taken exactly one month ago, that Charley is not too happy. In fact, truth be told, she is panicked and crying, even with a life vest on.

Here is Charley one month (eight classes) later, and she is actually smiling, because she is doing very well and truly enjoying herself. She has gained an immense amount of confidence, and while I would have been ecstatic for her to reach Level 2 by the end of the summer, her teacher thinks she only needs one more (two-week) session to reach this level. Yeah Charley!

Next we have a new Cubs fan. While we admittedly try very hard to influence our children's decision of team preference (go Cubs!), we know that in the end, it is there personal choice to pick a favorite team. Thankfully, without much resistance, Zander made the right choice.

Perhaps least exciting to anyone else but me are these new shoes that I bought today. I have not owned a pair of Chucks since I was 10 years old, so I'm very excited for the chance to flash back to the old days . . . except this time they aren't pink, they aren't high top, they have two shoe tongues instead of one (one of which has flowers on it . . . Hawaiian style), and they are a huge size 10. But they are still awesome.

Perhaps most exciting is that Brian has decided to pursue his Master's degree in Information Technology online, which should keep him busier than he already is for quite awhile. But now is as good as time as any, and I am extremely proud of him for taking this step.

So, in celebration of his new decision, we HAD to go buy him a new laptop computer (of course!) to help him survive the next couple years of classes (if you recall, our ancient laptop that helped me through law school died a couple weeks ago). And not only did he buy a new computer, but he bought a Mac . . . how exciting is that? I couldn't take a picture of the actual computer because Brian HAD to take it to work today to "get familiar with it" before he starts classes in a couple weeks. So, I had to settle for a picture of the box, which has a picture of the computer on it. You get the idea.

Next we have our two lovely children . . . not much new here, except the realization that I need to get Zander some new dress-up clothes of his own VERY SOON. The purple princess heels and pink butterfly headband are just not very flattering on him.

Last, but not least, we have our new pacifier-less son, who can finally function (and sleep) without that stupid plug in his mouth. Yes, the pacifier is gone (thanks to a pair of scissors that cut the nipple off and "broke" them all at the same time). On the other hand, he has decided at only 20 months old that he is pretty much done with naps. How lovely is that? This picture, this is an aberration, as this is the first time he's fallen asleep during the daytime in WEEKS. Everyday I try and put him down around 1:00 p.m., and everyday he screams until I pick him up (I've lasted up to 90 minutes, at which point I couldn't stand it anymore). He does NOT want to nap and his is completely stubborn. Hmmm, wonder where he gets that from?