Hello again!

Hi, I haven't died. Everyone's fine. Just a bit overwhelmed with all I have to do around here.

Did anyone miss me?

Until I get back, here's a peek at my beautiful daughter.

Little Trip

Friday was a very special day at the Room By Room house. Three years ago today, something amazing happened.

This...

Zack's adoption was very difficult. We were matched when he was 3 1/2 months old, and then things (legal things) went haywire. He finally came home at 20 months old. And we were so, SO happy.

To celebrate Zack's third adoption day anniversary (we call it his Family Day) we did a little bit of this...

Can you get over that little pink flowered booty? AH!

We went to a water park for the day, then we went to my mom's cottage for a little weekend getaway. Would you believe me if I told you it SNOWED? Last weekend for Delaney's birthday party it was 80º and exactly one week later it snowed.

Argh. I'm sooooo over winter.

To cheer me up, here's some pictures of my two favorite sons in the whole wide world, soon after they both arrived three years ago.

Happy third family day Zack. You mean the world to me.

Mom

A first birthday party in pictures, plus a favor.

I am still amazed. We had THE MOST PERFECT WEATHER for Delaney's first birthday party yesterday. It's been freezing here all spring. We've even had a little snow. Yesterday? Oh, yesterday is was 80º F. 80º!!!! It was beautiful.

And so is Delaney. Here are some pictures from her special day yesterday.

Those flower banners are from Dollar Tree. How cute are they?

For the first time ever in my mom's family, four generations of women. So cool!

And now a favor. Have you heard of the the fun craft blog Fireflies and Jellybeans?

They have a fun craft contest called "The Iron Crafter". I think it is hysterical! As you might have guessed, it's patterned after The Iron Chef. They even pick a secret ingredient! Then bloggers from all over make crafts with the secret ingredient to compete for title of Iron Crafter. It's a hoot!

Well the peeps over at Fireflies and Jellybeans had a logo/button contest for the next Iron Crafter contest. And guess who landed in Top 3?

Yep, yours truly.

I'd love it if you went on over and voted for my button. Just for fun. Thanks a bunch!

Bad Hair Day

How can such a darling girl wake up with such horrible hair?!

Who me? I totally meant it to look this way.

Having a girl is weirdly wonderful.

I can't believe she's been here almost 2 whole months already! In case you were wondering, she is doing great. It's like she's always been here. We love her so. And I think she kinda likes us too. Bonus! :)

Now go make something!

Happy birthday, Clayton!

Something really amazing happened three years ago today.

After nearly four years of failure to become parents using nearly every method available to us... we finally, finally, FINALLY officially became parents.

Clayton was born.

We had had so many failures, I refused to take any pictures of myself pregnant. Finally on the way to the hospital, I relented.

Finally.

We didn't know on February 23, 2008 what Clayton would bring to our family. But honestly it didn't take long to find out. Clayton's always been on fire. From nearly the moment he was born he has been fiesty. Clayton has been my only successful pregnancy out of 10. I've lost 9 others. In my mind I joke that Clayton came from one stubborn-ass egg. Sorry, but I think it's true.

He laughs the loudest, he cries the loudest. He is a bundle of energy that almost never, ever sits still. He's a rollercoaster on steroids.

Just seven weeks after baby Clayton was born, little Zack would join us. Then the party would really begin!

Dear, dear Clayton. I love all you kids so much, but on this day, your special day, I hope it's all you've ever dreamed of. Just like you kids are all I could ever dream of.

I love you sweetheart. I hope you'll always know how much. You are a special kid.

Love,

Mommy

Happy Birthday to Yoooooouuu...

Happy birthday 36th birthday to the man that has stolen my heart. I love you so, so much, Mr. RBR.

PS. You are hot.

PSS. True story. Mr. RBR is at Monster Jam with the boys right now. HILARIOUS.

Delaney and I were going to paint each other's nails to combat all the testosterone, but then she reminded me she's a baby. She's napping instead. And I'm making cookies for Zack's class's Valentine's Day party on Monday.

Three Handfulls

I really, really, really, really, really want a beautiful picture of all my kids together. And I'm trying!

Ok, ah, hang on a minute. Delaney, uh.

Zack. Yep, look over here. And Clayton. Uh, Delaney, hang on a minute.

Crud. Try again next time.

Pigtails

My first time doing pigtails.

Big brother Zack said she looks like a deer.

What did he say?

Boys are so silly.

Favorite Dune Pictures

Last summer was the first year our dune truck had more than a couple seats, so we could use it as a family.

I grew up doing this with my family, and I'm really happy we can continue what was a really fun tradition.

So what do we "do", exactly? Well, we go for rides of course, but we also...

See the sights.

Go swimming.

Try to snag the best spot to watch the sunset.

And play in the sand.

Clayton on the left, Zack in the middle, and one of the boys' cousins on the right.

What family traditions do you hope to pass on?

Dune Truck Before and After

Here's the evolution of our dune buggy, or perhaps more accurately, dune truck. All courtesy of Mr. RBR. He spent a lot of long days working on that thing (often in scorching heat). All I did was provide moral support. After some long days wrangling two kids all by myself, I sheepishly admit there were times I couldn't even provide that. But now I'm so happy it's to a point we can use it as a family. That was the whole idea, after all.

We do everything cheaply, and the dune truck is no exception. It started with a 1992 S-10 pickup we got for free from Mr. RBR's parents. They didn't use it anymore, and didn't even really know how to get rid of it.

So they gave it to us.

Sometimes it's kind of embarrassing that we (I especially) take other people's junk. But then I remember we have no debt except our mortgage and I get over it.

We got the truck in 2008 (or was it '07?), before we had any kids. It looked like this:

Well, not quite like that. Mr. RBR got a little demo happy and ripped the doors off before he remembered to take a picture.

After a little more demo...

Mr. RBR removed the body rust and painted it... with spray paint of course!

The start of a cage on the back.

New tires and a lift.

New cage.

Done.

Sometimes you just get lucky on these types of things. The truck we got for free, and the big black seats in the back we got for free too (a brother-in-law found them dumpster diving). The pipes Mr. RBR used for the cage were free too (we have family that uses them for business, and these were leftover). The brown seat in the back was a craigslist find.

Of course not everything was free. When we had a little bit of money, we'd use it for the lift, tires, etc. It took about 3 years to finish, because Mr. RBR would only work on it if we had the money to spare.

I'm pretty happy that for relatively little money, we have a pretty neat vehicle for family fun.

How about a final before and after?

We Like Each Other

We like each other. A lot.

Now that I'm posting again, I don't want to give you any false hope. I don't have any immediate plans to do any decorating projects--although I do hope to get back to them, um, some day. But that doesn't mean we can't be friends anymore, does it? I'll get back to it eventually. Until then let's just relax and enjoy each other's company.

With three small children running around screaming.

Hm. Relax is not quite the right word.

Freaky Freaks

There is a chance this might be our home made dune buggy, made from an S-10 pick up we got for free.

Might be.

Maybe.

And these kids sort of look like ours, so there is a slight possibility these are my kids last summer ready for a ride.

A chance.

Could be.

Poor, poor Delaney.