ahh… to write in purple once again…
do you people know that i was actually getting nauseated by all things green? i have decided that you probably shouldn’t do anything extremely important to you during the 1st trimester of pregnancy. did i say pregnancy??? YES!!! i believe i did. as many of you already know, we are more than happily having a baby.
1. no- we don’t know the sex. hopefully, my kind doctor will take a look in the next week or so if we have a slow day at work (shameless begging might work as well- 
)
2. i will be 16 weeks on saturday, my rollover day, and
3.yes, the girls are very excited. so are the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and would-be godparents (if we were catholic)
4. although we have the 1st couple of months figured out, NO, WE DON’T KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOING TO PUT IT- lol. we are still praying for THE THING. i’m not prepared to answer questions about it, but we would appreciate it if you would pray about it, too. God knows!!
i think i covered FAQs. if you think of anything else, leave it in the comments and i will be happy to answer it for you. i do feel the most urgent need to offer an apology for going in cognito since march 31st. i truly had the best intentions of returning after a week’s sabbatical, but lemme tell ya, nausea and heartburn are nothing to sneeze at, and i have discovered that my pregnancy aversions were much more diverse than food. for example, for a time i didn’t want taco casa or sweet tea (i can hear the gasps of shock from the audience). i didn’t want coke- my drink of choice. i also didn’t want to blog in green, take pictures of green, blog at all, facebook, or anything else but lay on the couch and hold my stomach. i did go to work, feed my children, take pictures for Captured, and i slept a LOT. then, one happy day (at EXACTLY 15 weeks) i realized that i felt amazingly human again. i could drink water without my stomach rolling. i even felt the little guy KICK ME. 2 weeks ahead of my expected schedule. the Dale children are advanced, you know
so, enough for now about pregnancy. what have i been doing with the rest of my time?? well, there was easter. we dyed eggs at jenny g’s house. we gained some new friends, jason and tiffany, who we are sending off to new york. i’m quite sad about that one. i’ve planted flowers, veggies (for the 1st time), and i have pumpkin vines growing in the front yard!! i didn’t plant those, btw- bonus from last halloween. did you know that the vine has MALE and FEMALE blooms???? who knew?!! we’ve had family in and out, and multiple trips to houma to see that handsome little nephew of mine. is that a complete summation of life from then til now? probably not. but i think what you imagine to be the rest would be far more entertaining to you 
since i have to work tomorrow, i am signing off. i hope this was ok for the first day back in blogging world. i haven’t decided what or when my next project will be. i’m open to suggestions, hint hint.
i do have some pictures to leave you with. i hope you enjoy them as much as i did
back to the world
hand to cheek
beautiful baby
goodnight, all.
it’s over!!! i’m freeeeeee!! lol…
survived another blessed day at work… it actually was quite a nice day. i can’t complain. 
as i’m scheduled to work the next couple of days, i spent a little time this afternoon taking the last couple of shots for the green project (teardrop…). i had a couple of ideas in mind, one of them involving my girls, so you can imagine my angst when they just didn’t want to participate. i wanted to paint their little toenails green and take feet pictures. well, michaela doesn’t like feet pictures and moriah would let me paint her fingernails (for her toenails were already a pretty shade of purple) if, and ONLY if, i would paint them for her in the den so she could simultaneously watch tv. deal… so i get the polish and find her on the computer instead, having changed her mind so that she can research song lyrics. i had no idea that being eight years old could be so busy. “you can paint your own nails, mommy.” excellent idea. so i did. but since i work in the real world and my green streak in my hair is a stretch for my employer, i didn’t want to have green fingernails as well. so i painted a couple of flowers and went out on the porch to take pics. lol- IF i had any foresight at all, i would have painted the flowers on my left hand, because a) i’m right-handed, and b) my shutter release is on the RIGHT side of the camera. i won’t lie- it took some creative positioning to get this picture. i can only imagine how i looked to the neighbors, God bless ‘em, as i stood there with my camera upside down trying to press the button (now at the bottom of the camera) with the pinky finger of my left hand and attempting to hold still enough to stay in focus. what a site- lol. i think the mental stretch afforded me by the green project has made me a little looney. you can judge for yourself…
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
i worked today. again. some of you will understand the significance of the amount of times this week that i have typed “it was a long day at work today”. i worked 3 long days this week! thanks, God! but i don’t think i could do it every week… i’m beat.
whew… surviving the work week- one more day to go! i can’t wait for the weekend, and i know many of you are cheering the sentiment with me. 
hey y’all! i’m sitting on the couch (as usual when i’m typing on the computer) watching home improvement with mo. it’s been a productive day, filled with the usual- yardwork, laundry, piano lessons, supper for the children, and the beginnings of a little stomach virus… ugh. so, tonight will be short and to the point (no cheering, please). i really like the sharpie slogan, live out loud. or is it write out loud?? lol… i can’t remember. my brain cells are currently being distracted by the lining of my stomach which is apparently rejecting the rest of my body. at any rate, here’s the pic for the day:
i think i’m back to green text… i must have been so tired last night when i posted that nothing looked exactly right- lol. last night was a night to focus on the winner of the green project contest, but tonight i just want to say how proud i am of each and every person who entered their story. i mean, it takes guts to go out there on a limb and share yourself with the world. kudos to all of you!! you are all winners to me… without prizes, however. don’t worry- there will be more contests in the future and i hope for the same great participation!
i don’t know if i should start with the results of the contest, or give you today’s picture 1st. it’s so nice to have choices! heck, i think i might just ramble on for a little while just because i have your attention. is it just me, or does my text look a little blue tonight?? you know, blue is a 4 letter dirty word during the month of march, and i would hate to commit such a terrible faux pas. oh well, we can’t be perfect all the time! 
