Okay, so have you all recovered from the shock yet? I haven't, but since I'm the one that will be wiping this little one's butt, I suppose I have more to get over. ;)
My favorite thing about announcing a "surprise" pregnancy that I'm really nervous about? All the, "It could be worse..." stories I get to hear. You know the type...I'm at playgroup, and the mom next to me says, "Don't be nervous. It could be worse. I have a cousin who had twins and then 13 months later had quintuplets and a goat. Can you imagine?" Or, "My sister knew a woman who had 5 kids, each just 8 months apart. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true!" Those types of stories. (coincidentally, these are the same people who potty trained their kids at 13 months...hmmm). Apparently, I've really got nothing to worry about. 18 months apart is a piece of cake compared to 99% of the rest of the population. Relieving, that what it is ;)
As you all know, pregnancy is not my favorite phase in life. If you are reading my blog, and suffer from infertility or other conditions that may make you sensitive to complaining pregnant people, you may wish to stop reading for the next few months. I am grateful to be able to get pregnant...not so grateful about being pregnant. At least the other 2 times I was preggers, I was soooooooo excited about the end result. It was a real light at the end of the tunnel. This time, the light at the end is tainted with fears of juggling two babies/how will I get Andrew into school with 2 little ones in tow/will Lily get lost in the middle/etc etc etc.
I am feeling quite sick this week...but not too bad yet. I've only thrown up twice, although I've thought I would many more times. I fear I'm anticipating the sickness a lot this time. I feel resigned to the fact that there will be much worshiping the porcelain God. Except this time, I'm going to have to keep an ear up for my 10 month old making a break for the steps (yes, it is her new favorite past time).
Um, what else? Oh, yes, my mom is here this week (THANK GOD!). Next week should be interesting. I wish she could stay for the next couple of months...but she has to, like, go to Russia or something. Selfish. How could she choose a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel in a fascinating country over doing my dishes and laundry while entertaining my restless children? Huh.
So thanks for the congrats...we'll get there. ;)
Friday, August 31, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Against All Odds
FACT: I suck at keeping secrets.
FACT: I am a control freak. Which is why moving is so hard for me...it is not in my control. Which is why waiting almost a year to get pregnant was so hard for me...again out of my control.
FACT: All 3 times I've been pregnant, it took 8 months of charting my temperature, supplementing all sorts of things you don't want to hear about, planned/unspontaneous/unromantic sex. All 3 times. It was WORK to get pregnant. Fun work, but work non-the-less.
FACT: Each time I got pregnant, my body gave me distinct signs that I was ovulating. Very distinct. I was convinced that I just ovulate every 8 months or so.
FACT: Jeff and I were feeling pretty secure in our "sub-fertility" as one doctor put it. I have been putting off getting on hormonal birth control (cause it makes me sick) and depending on less effective barrier methods. But who cares about "less-effective"? We're sub-fertile. Even 90% effectiveness should be good enough for us.
FACT: This is probably WAY too much information about my sex life for most of my readers.
FACT: They have probably left the computer to go barf in the toilet.
FACT: Which may be where I end up later this morning.
FACT: When Jeff and I talked about the spacing of our children...even before we had any...I pretty much couldn't imagine having them any closer than 3 years apart. After having Andrew, I could imagine 2 1/2 year apart. Not a month closer.
FACT: I regard people with kids 2 years or less apart as crazy. Sorry to all my friends who have kids with that spacing. But I've always regarded you as crazy. Gluttons for punishment. Mostly just crazy.
FACT: Jeff and I have not yet decided if we want a 3rd child or not. We have been leaning towards 2 because I get so sick during pregnancy, we live far from family, we want to travel, we have 2 really great kids, so why jinx it, etc etc etc.
FACT: I have had NO signs of ovulation since weaning Lily.
FACT: I have missed 2 periods.
FACT: I have taken 3 positive pregnancy tests.
FACT: I had an ultrasound yesterday that showed a beating heart somewhere in my uterus.
FACT: This baby is due in April...Lily will be a mere 18 months old. Andrew will be 4 1/2.
FACT: Against all odds, I am pregnant.
FACT: Jeff and I have spent the last month in disbelief. If I had a nickel for every time we've said, "How did this happen...to US?"...I'd be able to put this child through college. Well, let's be realistic. I'd at least be able to buy a college book for this child.
FACT: I am TERRIFIED. And NERVOUS. And feeling quite INADEQUATE and definitely TOO LAZY to have babies so close together. 18 months apart. OH DEAR GOD.
FACT: I am somewhere deep down below all these anxious feelings, really really curious and excited to meet this baby who has broken all our patterns and come here despite all our expectations. This kid is meant to be.
FACT: I am a control freak. Which is why moving is so hard for me...it is not in my control. Which is why waiting almost a year to get pregnant was so hard for me...again out of my control.
FACT: All 3 times I've been pregnant, it took 8 months of charting my temperature, supplementing all sorts of things you don't want to hear about, planned/unspontaneous/unromantic sex. All 3 times. It was WORK to get pregnant. Fun work, but work non-the-less.
FACT: Each time I got pregnant, my body gave me distinct signs that I was ovulating. Very distinct. I was convinced that I just ovulate every 8 months or so.
FACT: Jeff and I were feeling pretty secure in our "sub-fertility" as one doctor put it. I have been putting off getting on hormonal birth control (cause it makes me sick) and depending on less effective barrier methods. But who cares about "less-effective"? We're sub-fertile. Even 90% effectiveness should be good enough for us.
FACT: This is probably WAY too much information about my sex life for most of my readers.
FACT: They have probably left the computer to go barf in the toilet.
FACT: Which may be where I end up later this morning.
FACT: When Jeff and I talked about the spacing of our children...even before we had any...I pretty much couldn't imagine having them any closer than 3 years apart. After having Andrew, I could imagine 2 1/2 year apart. Not a month closer.
FACT: I regard people with kids 2 years or less apart as crazy. Sorry to all my friends who have kids with that spacing. But I've always regarded you as crazy. Gluttons for punishment. Mostly just crazy.
FACT: Jeff and I have not yet decided if we want a 3rd child or not. We have been leaning towards 2 because I get so sick during pregnancy, we live far from family, we want to travel, we have 2 really great kids, so why jinx it, etc etc etc.
FACT: I have had NO signs of ovulation since weaning Lily.
FACT: I have missed 2 periods.
FACT: I have taken 3 positive pregnancy tests.
FACT: I had an ultrasound yesterday that showed a beating heart somewhere in my uterus.
FACT: This baby is due in April...Lily will be a mere 18 months old. Andrew will be 4 1/2.
FACT: Against all odds, I am pregnant.
FACT: Jeff and I have spent the last month in disbelief. If I had a nickel for every time we've said, "How did this happen...to US?"...I'd be able to put this child through college. Well, let's be realistic. I'd at least be able to buy a college book for this child.
FACT: I am TERRIFIED. And NERVOUS. And feeling quite INADEQUATE and definitely TOO LAZY to have babies so close together. 18 months apart. OH DEAR GOD.
FACT: I am somewhere deep down below all these anxious feelings, really really curious and excited to meet this baby who has broken all our patterns and come here despite all our expectations. This kid is meant to be.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Slacker
So I'm a slacker. You all knew that, so what's the big deal.
My sister and nephew are visiting this week, and I've been too tired to post. Sure, my sister has, but I'm L-A-Z-Y with a capital "L". You can read about all our adventures here. I'll let her do all the work.
Having Colin here has reminded me of Andrew as a 2 year old. And I would laugh in the superior tones of someone who has passed through that "wonderful" age...except I have a little one in the wings. I watch Colin playing FOREVER with a bucket of water and some cups outside. I remember Andrew doing that last summer. It was so easy to entertain him! Seriously. Cups and a bucket. Now we need a slide attached to a pool...and that is only exciting for 10 seconds. I watch Colin say/whine little conversations like this, "I want banana. Banana, Mama. BANANA. Nooooooo, don't want banana. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH. MILK! MILK! No Milk, WANT BANANA." And on and on. Ugh...the irrational behavior of this age. And the scratching! And the biting! How quickly you forget this stage when your child moves on from it! This has been a rude awakening that Lily is not going to pass from sweet baby to fun kid peacefully. Oh, yea, we have to do the 2's. Yippee.
It is so fun to watch all the cousins together. Colin is so sweet with Lily (provided she is not eyeing his toys). He kisses her and always wants to know where she is. And Andrew and Colin have been getting along amazingly well, considering Noah is coming to pick us up in an arc later this week and we've been in each other's faces the whole time waiting for rescue from the flood. (was that a run-on sentence, or what? English teachers, eat your heart out!).
And it is fun having Kate here. It's so great to watch her being a mom. We have different styles for our different kids (my style=mean/controlling her style=fun/easy-going). In my opinion, Kate's only parenting problem? She isn't confident enough in herself. She doesn't have any idea how well she is doing. She thinks I'm being "nice" when I say this...again with the lack of confidence. Proof is in how much Colin and my kids love her. Andrew is eating it up. He so enjoys his fun Aunt Kate, and even told her she is "funnier than Pepere". Whoa...high praise from Andrew.
So that's my update from PA. It has FINALLY stopped raining today, so hopefully we'll be able to take the boys outside and away from each others' space. More later...
My sister and nephew are visiting this week, and I've been too tired to post. Sure, my sister has, but I'm L-A-Z-Y with a capital "L". You can read about all our adventures here. I'll let her do all the work.
Having Colin here has reminded me of Andrew as a 2 year old. And I would laugh in the superior tones of someone who has passed through that "wonderful" age...except I have a little one in the wings. I watch Colin playing FOREVER with a bucket of water and some cups outside. I remember Andrew doing that last summer. It was so easy to entertain him! Seriously. Cups and a bucket. Now we need a slide attached to a pool...and that is only exciting for 10 seconds. I watch Colin say/whine little conversations like this, "I want banana. Banana, Mama. BANANA. Nooooooo, don't want banana. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH. MILK! MILK! No Milk, WANT BANANA." And on and on. Ugh...the irrational behavior of this age. And the scratching! And the biting! How quickly you forget this stage when your child moves on from it! This has been a rude awakening that Lily is not going to pass from sweet baby to fun kid peacefully. Oh, yea, we have to do the 2's. Yippee.
It is so fun to watch all the cousins together. Colin is so sweet with Lily (provided she is not eyeing his toys). He kisses her and always wants to know where she is. And Andrew and Colin have been getting along amazingly well, considering Noah is coming to pick us up in an arc later this week and we've been in each other's faces the whole time waiting for rescue from the flood. (was that a run-on sentence, or what? English teachers, eat your heart out!).
And it is fun having Kate here. It's so great to watch her being a mom. We have different styles for our different kids (my style=mean/controlling her style=fun/easy-going). In my opinion, Kate's only parenting problem? She isn't confident enough in herself. She doesn't have any idea how well she is doing. She thinks I'm being "nice" when I say this...again with the lack of confidence. Proof is in how much Colin and my kids love her. Andrew is eating it up. He so enjoys his fun Aunt Kate, and even told her she is "funnier than Pepere". Whoa...high praise from Andrew.
So that's my update from PA. It has FINALLY stopped raining today, so hopefully we'll be able to take the boys outside and away from each others' space. More later...
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
"Comfortable" house
We have visitors coming next week! Yippee! Cousin Colin and Aunt Kate are flying in on Saturday and staying the week.
Having lived out of state for my entire married life, live-in visitors no longer stress me out. I am who I am. But there is a list of chores that I do so that people will come back and visit again. Here's an excerpt of my list:
1- Go to grocery. Probably should have more to offer guests than water and Cheerios. Perhaps water, Cheerios, juice, AND lunch meat.
2- Chisel new life forms off kitchen floor and table. I hate killing, but there is no need to infect my guest with some strange bacteria.
3- Change sheets in guest room. Dust in guest room. Vacuum in guest room. Basically, make guest room a haven away from the chaos, dirt, grime, and clutter that is the rest of my house.
The results of my lack-luster performance as a hostess are pretty good. I have many repeat visitors. I highly doubt it is due to my hostessing skills, and more to do with the cute little people that inhabit this disgusting abode. But whatever. They keep coming back.
I receive many comments from guests that make me wonder if I shouldn't really sharpen up my skills, though. They go something like this:
"Oh, I feel so welcome here. Sometimes it's hard to be a visitor because you feel like you're putting people out, but not here." Translation: I don't feel guilty for coming because you obviously did nothing different to prepare for my arrival.
"It's so nice to come to someones house and just relax." Translation: I truly go home relaxed/bored to tears, because you plan NOTHING for us to do.
"Visiting you is just like being at home." Translation: You make me serve myself, find my own towels, watch the children, figure out what to do to entertain myself, etc etc. You know, just like at home.
"I just love thistle flowers. They are so pretty." Translation: This poor dear has no gardening skills at all. Just focus on the only green thing alive in the yard. Grasping for polite comment.
I know all these comments are meant well. But maybe it's time to change things up a bit. Improve my hostessing skills. Maybe just a little bit at a time. Like, in preparation for this weekend, perhaps I'll move the mountain of discarded shoes out of the front hall. Or wash the mirrors in the bathroom. Or serve food in platters on the kitchen table.
This makes me tired just thinking about it. It's just my sister, right? Maybe when dignitaries come to visit...
Having lived out of state for my entire married life, live-in visitors no longer stress me out. I am who I am. But there is a list of chores that I do so that people will come back and visit again. Here's an excerpt of my list:
1- Go to grocery. Probably should have more to offer guests than water and Cheerios. Perhaps water, Cheerios, juice, AND lunch meat.
2- Chisel new life forms off kitchen floor and table. I hate killing, but there is no need to infect my guest with some strange bacteria.
3- Change sheets in guest room. Dust in guest room. Vacuum in guest room. Basically, make guest room a haven away from the chaos, dirt, grime, and clutter that is the rest of my house.
The results of my lack-luster performance as a hostess are pretty good. I have many repeat visitors. I highly doubt it is due to my hostessing skills, and more to do with the cute little people that inhabit this disgusting abode. But whatever. They keep coming back.
I receive many comments from guests that make me wonder if I shouldn't really sharpen up my skills, though. They go something like this:
"Oh, I feel so welcome here. Sometimes it's hard to be a visitor because you feel like you're putting people out, but not here." Translation: I don't feel guilty for coming because you obviously did nothing different to prepare for my arrival.
"It's so nice to come to someones house and just relax." Translation: I truly go home relaxed/bored to tears, because you plan NOTHING for us to do.
"Visiting you is just like being at home." Translation: You make me serve myself, find my own towels, watch the children, figure out what to do to entertain myself, etc etc. You know, just like at home.
"I just love thistle flowers. They are so pretty." Translation: This poor dear has no gardening skills at all. Just focus on the only green thing alive in the yard. Grasping for polite comment.
I know all these comments are meant well. But maybe it's time to change things up a bit. Improve my hostessing skills. Maybe just a little bit at a time. Like, in preparation for this weekend, perhaps I'll move the mountain of discarded shoes out of the front hall. Or wash the mirrors in the bathroom. Or serve food in platters on the kitchen table.
This makes me tired just thinking about it. It's just my sister, right? Maybe when dignitaries come to visit...
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Hey! It's dark in here!
We put our kid to bed early. Every night.
Yesterday, Andrew took a 3 hour nap! Not surprising, since he had a hearty dose of Benedryl after being stung by a bee (on his forehead, poor guy!). God bless Benedryl. If only it wasn't evil to dose your child every day...
Anyhoo, due to the 3 hour nap, I figured I should let him stay awake a bit later than usual. We went outside to look for fireflies...which there were none. I'm sure I'll be getting an e-mail from my hippy playgroup friend about how cell phones are killing fireflies. I jest...kind of. We looked for fireflies just last week...they were alive and well. We didn't find fireflies, but we found a HUGE scary looking spider crawling through the grass. I'm proud to say I didn't shriek and run inside to put on a haz-mat suit. I just calmly told Andrew to LOOK at the spider, not pick it up (all the while clenching my teeth to hold back my screams of terror). I don't like spiders. We also enjoyed watching the bats fly around our backyard. We have a TON of bats that fly around. They are Cool with a Capital "C".
Came inside. Played our new favorite game, Guess Who, for a while. At ten till 9, Andrew finally went to bed. And after Jeff tucked him in and closed the door, we hear this through his monitor:
"Hey! Hey, guys! It's dark in here! I can't see anything!"
Okay, it doesn't sound funny when I type it. Jeff and I were ROLLING. How sad that he is so used to going to bed when it is friggin' daytime still. He didn't know how to react to a darkness at bedtime. I hate to disrupt his patterns. I'll be sure to put him down at 7:30 again tonight. :)
Yesterday, Andrew took a 3 hour nap! Not surprising, since he had a hearty dose of Benedryl after being stung by a bee (on his forehead, poor guy!). God bless Benedryl. If only it wasn't evil to dose your child every day...
Anyhoo, due to the 3 hour nap, I figured I should let him stay awake a bit later than usual. We went outside to look for fireflies...which there were none. I'm sure I'll be getting an e-mail from my hippy playgroup friend about how cell phones are killing fireflies. I jest...kind of. We looked for fireflies just last week...they were alive and well. We didn't find fireflies, but we found a HUGE scary looking spider crawling through the grass. I'm proud to say I didn't shriek and run inside to put on a haz-mat suit. I just calmly told Andrew to LOOK at the spider, not pick it up (all the while clenching my teeth to hold back my screams of terror). I don't like spiders. We also enjoyed watching the bats fly around our backyard. We have a TON of bats that fly around. They are Cool with a Capital "C".
Came inside. Played our new favorite game, Guess Who, for a while. At ten till 9, Andrew finally went to bed. And after Jeff tucked him in and closed the door, we hear this through his monitor:
"Hey! Hey, guys! It's dark in here! I can't see anything!"
Okay, it doesn't sound funny when I type it. Jeff and I were ROLLING. How sad that he is so used to going to bed when it is friggin' daytime still. He didn't know how to react to a darkness at bedtime. I hate to disrupt his patterns. I'll be sure to put him down at 7:30 again tonight. :)
Thursday, August 09, 2007
The HEAT the HEAT
Why do I forget this heat every year? Why does everyone, for that matter? Every year, we are in our houses facing brown-outs and heat advisories, and every year people say the same thing..."I haven't seen heat like this in years. It used to be so pleasant in the summer. Damn global warming." Except that 8 years ago it ended, "Damn El Nino." I promise I have this conversation with EVERY checkout person at EVERY store I've been to for the last 10 summers.
How soon we forget the seasons. Every January, I sit in the house bored to tears and think, "If it were just summer, I could play with the kids outside all day." Fast forward to August when the mere THOUGHT of going outside makes armpit rings on my shirt. I don't even want to go to inside activities, like the mall, because when we return to our car it is like entering an active kiln. And we bake like pretty glazed pottery. All for the privilege of going to...the mall? I think not.
So I sit inside the house bored to tears and think, "If it was just winter, we could play in the snow and lick icicles and get cozy under blankets."
Ah! The joys of seasons! Even in California, where it was just pleasant all the time, I managed to complain. "Oye! Sunny AGAIN? I just can't go to the park one more day! I need an excuse to watch movies all day."
Tough to please, that's me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go stop ignoring my bored children.
How soon we forget the seasons. Every January, I sit in the house bored to tears and think, "If it were just summer, I could play with the kids outside all day." Fast forward to August when the mere THOUGHT of going outside makes armpit rings on my shirt. I don't even want to go to inside activities, like the mall, because when we return to our car it is like entering an active kiln. And we bake like pretty glazed pottery. All for the privilege of going to...the mall? I think not.
So I sit inside the house bored to tears and think, "If it was just winter, we could play in the snow and lick icicles and get cozy under blankets."
Ah! The joys of seasons! Even in California, where it was just pleasant all the time, I managed to complain. "Oye! Sunny AGAIN? I just can't go to the park one more day! I need an excuse to watch movies all day."
Tough to please, that's me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go stop ignoring my bored children.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
8 years
Today marks eight years since I walked down an aisle and started a whole new family. Changed my name. Started sharing a bed (over-rated). Became a gypsy. Became an adult. Became a wife.
One of my friends here asked if we were going to go on a date for our anniversary. Uh, no. Who would watch the children? "Get a babysitter" I hear the collective chant of everyone I meet. And I respond, How exactly do you "get a babysitter". Right now, all I can think of to find one is to stalk teenage girls in my neighborhood and ask them. Seems creepy and weird and not the right way at all. So any tips on how to find a babysitter are welcome. Asking my friends is not an option. They all use relatives. "Oh, Matthew just goes to his Grandma's once a month. Then we have a few days to ourselves." Barf. When our family comes into town, they are more than willing to watch the kids. But we always feel torn. Here is our family that we only get to see every couple of months and traveled 9 hours to be here for a few days. We could go out and leave them in our boring house wondering which of the 5 remotes turns on the tv. Or we could stay at home and spend time with people we love and hardly ever get to spend time with.
Anyway, back to the anniversary. 8 years. Kind of like turning 17 or 26. Not a very exciting year to mark. Doesn't even have the ring of "7 year itch" to it. Which, by the way, as far as I know we had no 7 year itching. Although I am very itchy due to a bad case of poison ivy right now.
Okay, I'm feeling very stream-of-consciousness right now. 8 years. 5 dwellings. 3 states. 2 kids. Countless jobs (I'm just counting myself now). Never a single day that I have regretted it. Regretted that Jeff couldn't have gotten a job in Ohio, yes. But never that I wasn't with Jeff. I just don't get sick of him. Which seems like a terrible thing to say, but in my experience, too much time with anyone and you're ready to spend some time apart. Not Jeff. We can spend weeks of vacation together, where he doesn't go to work, and the only thing we feel at the end of his time off is disappointment that we can't win the lotto and have him stay home all the time. For 2 people who seemingly don't have much in common, we sure like to hang out together.
This isn't turning out nearly as mushy as I had hoped. I'm not real good with the PDA. I'll just say this...Jeff could be married to anyone happily. I honestly believe that, because he is so laid-back and considerate and kind and such an amazing care-taker. I don't know why he is with ME, because I think there are very FEW people that would be happy married to me (lazy, lazy, lazy, and thinks she is funny). But I snagged him, so that is that. I thank my lucky stars every day that I get him, and not somebody else. I hear so many people complaining about their husbands/marriages, and I just don't feel that. I make up lame-o stories about how detail oriented he is in order to fit in (I don't actually want the TV remote...just give me the GD cable remote that you KNOW I want, but insist on "teaching" me that I should call it the Cable remote).
I just love him. Clear and simple. The only family member that I'll ever get to handpick. You kind of get stuck with everyone else...this is your one chance to choose someone to get stuck with forever. And I'm so glad we picked each other.
One of my friends here asked if we were going to go on a date for our anniversary. Uh, no. Who would watch the children? "Get a babysitter" I hear the collective chant of everyone I meet. And I respond, How exactly do you "get a babysitter". Right now, all I can think of to find one is to stalk teenage girls in my neighborhood and ask them. Seems creepy and weird and not the right way at all. So any tips on how to find a babysitter are welcome. Asking my friends is not an option. They all use relatives. "Oh, Matthew just goes to his Grandma's once a month. Then we have a few days to ourselves." Barf. When our family comes into town, they are more than willing to watch the kids. But we always feel torn. Here is our family that we only get to see every couple of months and traveled 9 hours to be here for a few days. We could go out and leave them in our boring house wondering which of the 5 remotes turns on the tv. Or we could stay at home and spend time with people we love and hardly ever get to spend time with.
Anyway, back to the anniversary. 8 years. Kind of like turning 17 or 26. Not a very exciting year to mark. Doesn't even have the ring of "7 year itch" to it. Which, by the way, as far as I know we had no 7 year itching. Although I am very itchy due to a bad case of poison ivy right now.
Okay, I'm feeling very stream-of-consciousness right now. 8 years. 5 dwellings. 3 states. 2 kids. Countless jobs (I'm just counting myself now). Never a single day that I have regretted it. Regretted that Jeff couldn't have gotten a job in Ohio, yes. But never that I wasn't with Jeff. I just don't get sick of him. Which seems like a terrible thing to say, but in my experience, too much time with anyone and you're ready to spend some time apart. Not Jeff. We can spend weeks of vacation together, where he doesn't go to work, and the only thing we feel at the end of his time off is disappointment that we can't win the lotto and have him stay home all the time. For 2 people who seemingly don't have much in common, we sure like to hang out together.
This isn't turning out nearly as mushy as I had hoped. I'm not real good with the PDA. I'll just say this...Jeff could be married to anyone happily. I honestly believe that, because he is so laid-back and considerate and kind and such an amazing care-taker. I don't know why he is with ME, because I think there are very FEW people that would be happy married to me (lazy, lazy, lazy, and thinks she is funny). But I snagged him, so that is that. I thank my lucky stars every day that I get him, and not somebody else. I hear so many people complaining about their husbands/marriages, and I just don't feel that. I make up lame-o stories about how detail oriented he is in order to fit in (I don't actually want the TV remote...just give me the GD cable remote that you KNOW I want, but insist on "teaching" me that I should call it the Cable remote).
I just love him. Clear and simple. The only family member that I'll ever get to handpick. You kind of get stuck with everyone else...this is your one chance to choose someone to get stuck with forever. And I'm so glad we picked each other.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Explosion
Lily is having an explosion. And I don't mean the kind that cause me to change her outfit 3 times a day...although she's having those as well. No, she's having the same 9 month explosion that Andrew did, where after turning 9 months, every day brings something new. It is so AMAZING to watch. Here are some of the things she has started to do...this WEEK:Point (at objects, at pictures in books)
Pick up objects and say, "Hisssss"...which we are interpreting as "this" because once you tell her what it is, she is satisfied
Crawl up a step
Follow people around from room to room
Eat peaches and grapes (cut up in SMALL pieces, people). Throw pasta on the floor.
Squeal and crawl excitedly to Jeff when he comes home from work
Fake cry when Andrew stops her from doing something
Discover and play in dog bowl
Next up? Pulling herself up to standing. She is DESPERATE to accomplish this. The rate she's going, I bet it will happen this week sometime. Big girl.
And two Andrew stories:
Andrew call for help when he has pooped. Usually, he hollers out a charming, "Someone come wipe my butt!". So proud. So one evening, Andrew calls for his dad from the bathroom...although not in the "usual" way. Jeff walks in and asks, "Do you need a wipe?" Andrew replies, "No, Dad. Turn on the light. If I go poop, you will hear a splash. That's how you know."
We have an extra fridge in the basement where we keep lots of drinks...unfortunately mostly non-alcoholic (although after today, I am reconsidering stocking it with wine and vodka). This evening, I asked Andrew to go down and pick out waters for dinner. (I love having a 3 year old...they can DO stuff...and are excited by it still). Andrew calls up from the basement, "Do you want regular or spicy water?" Apparently, carbonated water is now "spicy" water...that's what the kids are saying these days. ;)
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Is it possible to love more than this?
No, really. I don't think it's actually possible to love this much. Surely my heart will break soon. Oh, wait. Andrew just knocked over his box of crayons...and Lily is rushing to eat them. Andrew just chucked one at her. Maybe this is how my heart will survive. ;)
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Favorite signs
Every once in a while, a sign just makes me chuckle. So I take a picture. I probably look like an idiot taking pictures of these signs...but they still make me chuckle when I see them.
In Texas last June. Isn't it supposed to be "Dumpster"?
At the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. This is at the hippo exhibit, which is all open with birds flying freely. There is one place to watch the hippos swimming...and it is directly under a branch. This sign is there in case you didn't look up when choosing a viewing vantage point. Love it!
And my new favorite, from the Academy of Natural Sciences. This is one of those honey bee hive displays. The bees can enter and leave the building through a tube, but make their hive in this plastic display case. In case you can't read the sign it says,
"Please do NOT tap on the glass."
"Besides, what would you do if the glass BROKE?"
Love it!
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