Gregory

You won't see many pictures of Gregory throughout this blog and it's not from my lack of trying. Greg is three months shy of turning 13, my baby will be a teenager!!! Getting pictures of him is very tough because (1) he is never home or around for me to get one, (2) he won't allow me to tag along to the skatepark to snag a couple shots, (3) I can't even sneak pictures because he always finds me and finally, (4)when I do get a picture, he is making his "Mom, PLEASE get out of my face", face. Here are some pictures I took the past month - see what I mean!

New Neighbors

We own a duplex house, we live in one side and we rent the other. The lady who rented the other half has lived there for about 10 years, she is 87 years old! Well, she is moving out, against her will, unfortunatley she is in intensive care and will have to go into a nursing home. We'll miss you Miss Bea! Her family is moving out all her stuff as I write this and will be out by the end of the month and then we (Steve and I) start the grueling task of remodeling, probably completely, every room on that side. Carpets will be pulled up to expose all the hardwood floors, walls stripped of the god awful wallpaper and coated with some Kilz primer, the kitchen cupboards will all come out and new put in.....and the list goes on. Hopefully some friends will pull through and help us out!!! We already have new tenants lined up, a couple that has a little boy Joseph's age and in his preschool class and another little boy in 1st grade is interested. They are an Army couple and the husband has been deployed to Iraq, he is not even half way through his tour; me and my good friend Tiffany have befriended Nona and she has joined us in our Friday playdates. Anyways, her lease in the Army housing is due to be renewed August 1st....so that means we need to get our butts in gear and get to work so this can be finished by the end of July. I'm acutally looking forward to this project.

Picture Perfect

Joseph asks me the other day - "do you know why I'm so smart Mommy", I ask why and he tells me "because my brain takes a picture of everything I see and keeps it in my brain so I remember everything". Boy, where do they come up with this stuff - maybe it really is true and I have a little Einstein in the family!

My Three Sons

It's a crazy life with three boys in the house; one teenager and two toddlers! There is never a dull moment, never a quite moment, never a moment alone, but I wouldn't trade these moments in for the world!

Lucas

To The Baby - I've always loved you best because while endings are generally sad, you are such a joy. You readily accepted the milk stained bibs, the frayed books and the used crib. You are the one I hold onto so tightly and never put down. You are the link with my past and my reason for tomorrow. You darkened my hair, quickened my steps and restored my vision. You gave me a sense of humor that security, maturity and durability can not provide. When you are all grown up and have children of your own, you will still be my baby.

Lucas Steven Rich was born January 17, 2006. He broke our pattern of birthdays with a 2 or 22! When labor started with Luke, I was feeling like a pro and decided I would tough out as much labor at home as I could. Sometime early evening on January 16th labor started, by 10 p.m. labor was getting pretty strong, but so was my will, so I stayed home still... then by about 1:00 a.m. I'd had enough and was ready to go to the hospital. By the time we got there, got in the room I was READY for the pain meds - however, Lucas was ready to make his appearance. My water broke and out he came, before the doctor could even make it into the room! He was born at 2:17 a.m., and I was medication free. Never in my life will I do that again!

Joseph

Dear Middle Child - I've always loved you best because you were my challenge and it made me become the woman I am today. You cried often, had no patience and wore faded hand me downs. You could play in the dirt and leave your toys all over the livingroom floor and you helped me understand that the world would not collapse if you went to bed with dirty feet. You were the child of my busy, ambitious years and without you, I would not have survived the job changes, moves and the routine that is marriage. Never in your life will you get anything first, but it only makes you stronger.

Joseph Patrick Rich was born on August 2, 2004, the year after Steve and I were married. He arrived one week early, after giving me a scare. While I was pregnant I developed inter-uterin growth restriction or in otherwords, my amniotic fluid level was very low. We were going in for stress tests and ultra sounds every other day, then one day at the doctor's office, he stripped my membranes and sent me to the hospital. Right after I got there, I was given an epidural and was feeling no pain at all. It was a much better labor than Greg's! I wanted Joseph to be born on August 2nd because Greg is September 2, Steve is Feb. 22 and I'm April 22. Well, he came at 11:52 p.m. only 8 minutes to spare!

The Wedding

Steve and I were married in June 2003 in Florida. It was a simple ceremony in a friends yard with a good friend of my mother's marrying us. We decided to say our vows in Florida with my Mother and Stepfather present because we were not able to spend any holidays with them and they missed out on many special events because they lived so far away, so this was our way of giving them something.

We also had a "renewing our vows" ceremony in Watertown in September with a big party afterwards for our family and friends here. So for the next year it was just the three of us. However, on August 2, 2004, that changed!