In Which Serena Steps on a (FIRE!) Ant Hill!

This afternoon, when Jordan was weed-whacking in the back yard, he discovered an ENORMOUS ant hill (haha, I keep almost spelling it "aunt" and it's cracking me up!) at the base of our little lonely tree. We were amazed when he would whack into it and how the ants (not aunts) would scurry around immediately trying to rebuild. When we checked on them a couple hours later, they had already made impressive progress toward rebuilding their home. Well, this evening, Jordan had invited a co-worker and his wife over for supper. After we were done eating, the guys stepped out front to play with Rocky while we girls sat inside chatting about babies (she's pregnant). ;) Serena was wearing my sling and carrying her baby around in it. Her travels took her out into the backyard from whence we heard her screams a minute or so later! Now, our backyard is very child-friendly, Serena plays out there all the time, and I never feel like I need to worry about her back there. So, my mind immediately started trying to think of what could possibly be wrong, since this wasn't just a "Rocky-just-stole-my-toy" type of scream. The first thing that popped into my head was that ant hill (the one where the aunts do not live)! What if they were fire ants?!? Sure enough, when I got to the door where I could see Serena, she was standing about 5 feet from the tree, frozen in place, screaming from the pain of the dozen or so horrid little ants (once again, not the sweet ones she has scattered in AZ, MN, and IA!) that were wreaking havoc on her chubby brown legs! She was so upset and didn't know what to do! I'm not sure if she realized the ants were even there. All she knew was that she was hurting! L and I took off her shoes and the sling (the ants [which were insects; not humans] were crawling all around in both items) and brushed the stubborn little meanies off of her. I was also very careful to inspect the sling inside and out to get every last ant so as to prevent Bret's experiencing the same fate! When Daddy found out what had happened, he immediately doused the ant hill with gasoline so Serena's backyard is a happy place once again! :0)

We love weekends because we get to have Daddy home with us all day! This morning, Serena woke up with a dirty diaper. I went in and changed her, put the item in a plastic sack, tied it, and handed it to Serena to carry outside to the trashcan (she loves having this 'job'). As she trotted happily by the open bedroom door, she noticed Daddy in there laying in bed! All thoughts of her Big Important Job escaped her mind, and she ditched the diaper for her Daddy! She was so happy to see him! He lifted her into bed and she gave him a big hug for a whole minute or two (while I made sure the diaper made it to the trashcan)! ;)

It was neighborhood-wide garage sales this morning, so I grabbed some (HOMEMADE! I found a new recipe I'm super excited about!) granola bars for Serena and I, strapped Bret on with the Moby, and off we went! Daddy & Rocky accommodated us by coming along, since Serena would not get into the stroller until we had reassured her at least 15 times that Daddy was indeed coming along too! ;) Besides finding a few clothing items and books (and even some free onions, heehee!), we found a double jogging stroller for just $10!!! YAY! We also picked up a big bag full of big LEGOS and Tinker Toys for $.50!

Serena had a lot of fun with our company, D & L. They're expecting a girl, so I think they enjoyed playing with our baby girl. ;) She wanted them to read her books to her and throw her ball for her. She even got on D's lap and gave him a big hug completely of her own accord! Awe!

Hours of entertainment for just 50 cents! While she was napping, I picked them all up and hid them. Except for a couple pieces that had already hidden themselves under the couch. Oh, and the 3 Tinker Toys that Serena had insisted on taking to bed with her for her nap (when I told her it was time for her to "go sleepy," she picked up the toys and did the "go sleepy" sign on them, haha)...not to play with, but to sleep with. When I put her in her crib, she carefully laid the toys out on her pillow and then put her head down next to them. I never heard her play with them during the entire 2.5 hour nap!

This little guy has started laughing out loud!!!

I know this post is getting long, but I just thought of another little story! I was getting Serena ready for bed tonight (it was much later than normal, so she was a little emotional), and trying to talk happily with her to keep her from falling apart before we could actually get her into bed. ;) Just as I finished putting her jammies on, I said something about how Olivia was all ready to go to bed with her. Serena looked over at the rocking chair where (the big) Olivia was waiting. Suddenly she started to get upset! "Serena, calm down. Now, what do you want?" "Yee-lah!?" she said imploringly as she pointed at the closed door! What could I do when faced with such a sweet request accompanied by those round tearful brown eyes??!? Of course, I stepped out and found her little Olivia. She hugged her Olivia's tight as I rocked her. When I put her in her crib, rather than laying down and waiting for me to cover her up like she usually does, Serena laid her Olivia's down on the pillow and wanted me to cover them up. I left her sitting there looking at her Olivia's sleeping on her pillow! I didn't hear any other sounds, so she must have followed them to dreamland pretty quickly!

And One Last Thing!

WE GOT A NEW CAMERA!!!! IT'S COMING NEXT WEEK!!!!!!! YIPPEEEEEE!!!!