Sunday Summary

Lots of big stuff happened this week -

1. BIG DECISION #1 - Lance and I finally agree on where we want to buy our house. When we moved to Burke we knew that this is the area we want to raise our kids in, but we had yet to decide which neighborhood etc., that we wanted to live in. We have been discussing this on and off because the plan was to buy next year. We went to a BBQ with some friends of ours this week out in Fairfax Station. For you non-Virginians, this is about 5 miles from where we live right now. To get there you have to drive on a road that is tree lined on both sides with a canopy of trees above. It is heaven. You end up with houses that have land (and sometimes horses!). Lance has always wanted horses. I have been wanting to move out to the country but know in my heart that I would go stir-crazy, plus Lance doesn't want the commute. Fairfax Station is pure heaven. Our friends house has acres and acres of land, a barn, and many horses. There was a point when we were roasting smores - non traditional ones, I'll have to post the recipe - and watching the kids ride on mini John Deere's that we looked at each other and said "this is where we want to live." Same ward, same fabulous schools, just a heck of a lot more land and peace. Unfortunately, because it is heaven on earth, the cheap bank owned houses in Fairfax Station go for close to $600K, and the houses that I want are in the $800-900K range, so we will be saving for a few more years but it definitely will be worth it.

2. I found my new all time favorite movie. If you haven't seen Juno, do yourself a favor and go get it. I have watched it 3 times in the past 12 hours (can you tell I'm stuck in bed ). I have bawled like a baby all three times and like it more and more. I usually don't watch a movie more than once but various family members kept coming over who hadn't seen it so I kept rewatching it with them. I have never seen a movie that captures the adoption experience so well. The cast is amazing, the script wonderful, and the whole movie just feels real. It actually is really funny, don't let my crying throw you off - nobody cried but me. I am buying it tomorrow, I have to own this movie. Just a warning, the first 5 minutes seem like it might be a questionable movie - it isn't. Just watch it. Let me know what you think.

3. We are still in the midst of baseball madness. The majority of our time is spent sitting at baseball games and washing Spencer's baseball uniform. Good thing we like baseball and own bleach (why, why, why are little league baseball pants white?????). I have some great pics that I hope to post soon.

4. BIG DECISION #2 - I told Lance we are having another baby. He agrees. Weird because we both thought we were done. I'm blaming Gina and Corey for this one (and Irene - she knows why). Don't get excited though - we are planning this for 3-4 years from now. Not sure why I'm putting this on my blog. Can you tell I like to overshare?

5. Hey - speaking of babies, I have a new nephew this week. In the words of Spencer, "YES!" He is so excited that it wasn't a niece. Berkeley Michael-Cline Aldridge was born on April 29, 2008. I'm calling him Berk because I like to think that he was named after where I live :) Visit Gina and Corey's blog (on my blogroll) to see pics of the cutie.

6. Great parenting moment of the week - So we've been having bedtime problems with Ella. I think most of you know this since we've been dealing with them FOREVER. But now she has stepped it up a level and kicks Lance out of our bed nightly so she can sleep with me. Before you judge us, just know that at 3 AM it is so much easier to give in than stay up for 2 hours fighting her. Plus, I secretly love it when her little body snuggles up against me. Anyway, my friend had a great idea to try and solve this (hi Irene!). Friday I completely cleared her room of any books, dolls, stuffed animals, etc. She hardly has any toys in there because we keep most of them in the playroom but the few that she did have, are gone. She helped me move them all to my room. We told her that every night she stays in her bed all night she will earn one of her items back. That night she went to bed wonderfully. Her bedtime is 7:30. She fell right asleep - score 1 for the parents. Around 9 she woke up, we heard her go use the bathroom, afterwards she came to the top of the stairs and yelled down "I got out of bed to go potty, are you gonna take away my pillow now?" I'm glad she couldn't see my face because I busted up laughing. Guess she thought we were going to keep taking away her stuff - gosh she has mean parents :)

7. Finally, my mom happened to be watching Mystery Diagnosis this morning and they were describing my symptoms exactly. This poor woman had the same symptoms as me for 22 YEARS!!! She had every test known to man and was shuffled back and forth from doctor to doctor. Nobody could explain the nausea and chronic pain. Finally, they were able to diagnose her. Yep, she had stage IV endometriosis. I was so happy to see this because almost everybody I know has mild endometriosis and can't understand why mine is so bad. I have read how debilitating endometriosis can be (and have lived it), but it was nice to see an actual case of someone with my symptoms. They said when it is stage IV it is very hard to diagnose because it mimicks so many other diseases, so doctors end up just passing you back and forth and never really put the picture together. I am glad that I only went about a year w/o a diagnosis, I can't imagine 22 years. It really put it in perspective.

That's all for now.