Seriously...this is getting ridiculous

This blog just isn't happening. I'm sure no one is reading this anymore. It's like trying to keep up with Andrea's blog...after a few months of no new posts, you just stop reading. (oh, a little dig at my baby sis, there).



I need more sleep. I remember getting to this point with my other kids also. At first, I'm all, "Oh, he's just a little newborn. He's used to being inside and warm...he needs extra cuddles." Then, I'm all, "Okay, so he's growing really fast. I understand that he needs to eat frequently." And then after 12 weeks or so of not sleeping more than 3 hours in a row, I'm all, "GODDAMMIT! I NEED SLEEP!" I'm getting bitter. I'm not reading the blogs of other people with newborns because I LITERALLY turn green with envy. The thought of a full night's sleep has taken on orgasmic qualities. But I exaggerrate. At least 2 nights a week, Michael goes 5 hours between a feeding at night...so it's not quite as bad as I make it out to be. But almost. ;)



But enough complaining! Michael may not like to sleep for long, but he is the SWEETEST little thing. So contented, so smiley, such a happy boy. Honestly, he hardly ever cries...and when he does you can soothe him back to peaceful smiles and cuddles in less than 5 minutes. Always quiet...unless you lay him down. But he's even improving in that aspect...he regularly takes 20-30 minute naps in the bouncer during the day. Oh, sweet heaven.



Okay, so I was going to write separate posts about the cute things my children did during our trip to Ohio. But by the time I actually sit down to write these imaginary posts, my kids will be going to college in Ohio. Hopefully on full scholarship, because we can't afford out-of-state... ;) So here is a run-down of things I want to remember my kids doing. Undoubtably boring for all of you, but I feel the need to at least get them down for myself.

1. Can you put a restraining order on a 4-year-old? Andrew likes the ladies. This summer he seems to prefer tan blondes (Jeff says, who doesn't?). Jeff's 20-something, tan, blond cousin Megan came to visit while we were at his parents' house. Andrew immediately sat next to her on the couch, oogling and grinning until he turned to Jeff's uncle and said quietly, "She's so pretty." Which was mildly creepy, but still cute. A few minutes later, Megan is laughing. Why, you ask? Because my son is sitting on the floor in front of her...RUBBING HER FEET. Quite weird. The following weekend, he oogled and grinned at MY cousin...also blond and tan. Kind of creepy...

2. Impressing the relatives We have become quite accustomed to our 4 year old. But occasionally he says things in front of other people that bring to our attention how unusual he can be. Like when he was sitting in a rocking chair that fell over and he said, "Whoa. This chair isn't stable." Or when he was visiting the zoo and they came upon an unusual animal. Well, unusual for everyone but Andrew, Mr. Nature-show-junkie. As Andrew told his dad later, "Uncle Chad was so impressed that I knew it was an okapi and not a horse. It was an okapi." Or when we're saying, "Messy Mike, Silly Lilly, ...hmmm, should we say Adorable Andrew? Athletic Andrew?" and Andrew says, "No, I'm Obnoxious Andrew!" Or when Andrew explained the scoring of Corn Hole to my 40-ish cousin. These are normal for Andrew...but not normal for the relatives to hear.

3. Grandma's house is F-U-N Jeff's parents are notorious spoilers. Imagine Andrew's delight in finding the ESPN Sports Game in their basement this time. It is hard to describe, but it has like 6 games in one. It's about the size of a pin-ball machine, and you can shoot hoops, kick soccer ball, play hockey, golf, throw a football, and hit a baseball...or is it throw a baseball. I honestly didn't spend too much time around it. But Andrew did. And he wore himself out...it was kind of hilarious to watch him throwing after a while. His muscles were so tired he was out of control.

4. Lily has attitude...and she's funny too Lily is so two. Dear God, help me. But lucky for her, she is quite adorable as well. She stole the show while we were in Ohio...stomping around like she owned the place, screaming loud enough to deafen the cicadas. Some of my favorite moments... Lily wanted DESPERATELY to play in the baby pool on Grandma's deck. You have to fill it with buckets from inside, so it takes a few moments. Lily waited impatiently as I waited for the buckets to fill in the kitchen sink. When I came to the patio door a few moments later, Lily yelled, "Day she is! Mommy! Wah-wah! YAY!" It was so cute. Then, on the drive back to PA with my mom, Lily is having a fit in the back of the car (one of many). "YAH-YOH! YAH-YOH! NOOOOOOOO! YAH-YOH!" We tried changing music, handing her books, toys, etc. Andrew then calmly says, "She wants a different song. E-I-E-I-O. It's on CD #3, song #4." I change the CD player in disbelief. When the song came on, we were rewarded with this from the back seat, "Day it is! YAH-YOH!" And her tone was kind of snotty, as if she were saying, Duh! There were many many more stories of Lily...but these are my favorites.

Okay...that's all I can think of for now. If relatives can think of more to add, please comment so that I don't forget them years from now.

100 stories and 0 creativity

So we're BAAAAACK! And I have dozens of stories from our Tour de Ohio, and literally no inspiration to write about them.

We started in mid-state-country-bumpkin-Ohio, visiting all of Jeff's family. Uncle Chad flew in from Texas, we saw lots of relatives, Michael was baptized on Father's Day (Jeff flew in for the event), we ate lots of good food, the children slept amazingly well, there was a visit to the Columbus Zoo, and basically my in-laws bent over backwards to make sure our trip was as pleasant and wonderful as it could possibly be. The kids and I left on Wednesday (with our car heavily laden with extras) to head down to Cicada-infested Cincinnati.

We picked up my little sister on the way, which gave me a nice time to chat with her alone. She has a lot going on right now...and the kids and I enjoyed every minute she spared to be with us.

In Cinci, we did a lot of eating...I have certain restaurants that MUST be visited...and since I haven't been since June of 2007, they all tasted DELICIOUS. Of course, we didn't ACTUALLY go to the restaurants much of the time...have I mentioned that I have 3 children? But I still managed to eat all the desired treats. We managed to see a TON of family at my little sister's graduation party...and these cousins and aunts and uncles had never met Lily before, much less Michael. It was fun to show off my little ones. To read more about the cicadas and visiting with my nephew, read this.

My mother drove back to PA with me...an 11 hour trip (amazingly short, considering the distance and the fact my newborn needed to stop and eat every couple of hours). Lily slept a whooping 40 minutes of that. Andrew slept 15 minutes. In 11 hours. Mom is still speaking to me. Shocker. I took her out to dinner last night to thank her...and give her a few moments away from my sleep-deprived, cranky children.

All in all, it was a tiring trip and a fantastic trip. It makes me really want to live near family. But at least I can be thankful that a trip can be made relatively easily (this will not be confirmed by my mother...;) )

I have to write a post later about Lily and Andrew and their antics during the trip. But for now I have to take Andrew to summer camp and find a legal tranquilizer for Lily. Seriously. How do children survive the 2s? Because Lily isn't even 2 yet and I should get an award for not locking her up already. :)

On the road...

So, um, I'm slacking a bit on the blogging. But I have a perfectly good excuse. I'm in Ohio, and the computer room is where Lily sleeps. And Lily has become a Momma's girl since we arrived, so there is NO computer time. Except for now. Because my in-laws took the older kids to the zoo, and I am having a Mommy & Michael day. -sigh- The joys of one child who requires little if no entertainment. It's like a vacation. ;)

Quick updates...

Michael's 2 month appointment went great. He's up to 11 lbs, 1oz...still my skinniest kid, but growing nicely now. We are slowly but surely backing off the formula. I think he gets an average of 1-2 ounces a day now...

Thursday, my MIL flew into Philly and we got all packed up. The she and I drove the kids to Ohio. Well, let's be honest...I drove the entire way while she sat in the back of the mini-van catering to all my children. As I reclined in cruise control, she was plugging Michael with a pacifier, handing out books, distributing snacks, telling Andrew how to spell words as he wrote out a list for his scavenger hunt, and communicating with her co-workers via cell phone. All at the same time. She is a rock star. And this trip was ultimately her idea...so she can blame no one but herself ;)

Once here, the parade of family began. It has been awfully fun to show off Michael...and Lily too for that matter. Tomorrow, I will drive the children 3 1/2 hours to my part of Ohio and another parade of family will start. Lily is totally insecure with this change of routine and is actually MORE work than usual. Michael is still sleeping horribly...like a newborn, how dare he, but I don't have Jeff to wake up and help me. My MIL wants to help, but I just feel bad. Does that make me a horrible wife? I have NO problem waking Jeff up. None. Hmmmm. Andrew is having a BLAST...staying up late, talking everyone's ear off, etc etc.

So I can't promise to write much more this week. Down at my parents' house, Lily also sleeps in the computer room. So there you have it. ;)

I will catch up soon-

At 2 months...

Tomorrow is Michael's 2 month appointment, so I'll talk about him then.

In the meantime, here are my 3 kids...all at 2 months old. My opinion? Definitely look like siblings, but I think it's really easy to tell them apart.

Andrew, January 2003

Lily, December 2006

Michael, June 2008

Cute, cute, and cuter

Oh, heaven help me. Lily is so stinkin' cute.

She enjoys playing hide and seek. Lily-style. She will take a stuffed dog and place it at her feet. Then she says, "Wha dog?" (where's dog?). I say, "Where is dog?" She points at the dog and says, "Day he is!" (There he is!). Or, if she gets really into hide and seek, she will place the dog at her feet and then cover her eyes and "count" (Lily's counting consists of saying the number 2 over and over again). So she stands there saying, "two, two, two, two" then she uncovers her eyes, points at the dog, and enthusiastically yells, "Day he is!" She could do this for HOURS.

She acts out her books. One book in particular. It is a simple board book...a page of kitten pictures, then a page of dog pictures, etc etc. On the kitten page, one picture is of a kitten sleeping. When we get to that page, Lily says, "Mommy, Mee-ow!" then she lays down on the floor and pretends to snore...which is cute in and of itself. On the dog page, there is a picture of a dog running. She says, "Mommy, dog!" and then runs around laughing. If I turn the page or close the book, she rushes over and tells me No! and reopens to the appropriate page. Repeat dozens of times for an hour of fun!

She pretends to swim. She will lay on the floor and wiggle her arms and legs and say, "Mommy, wa-wa!"

She no longer just calls Michael "baby". She now calls him "Baby Muck". We may just call him Mike now because it sounds so cute when Lily says it. "Hi, Mommy! Hi, Daddy! Hi, A-ew! Hi, Baby Muck". Melt melt melt.

She actively tries to get us to laugh. Today, she was eating breakfast and asked, "Where dog?" I said I don't know and she pointed to Shadow sitting under the table, "Day she is!" Then she said, "Peek-a-dog!" Which made me laugh, which made her do it 10 more times. :)

She's just fun fun fun. I'm sure there are more stories I could write down here, but I just can't think of them right now. Fun age!

Scary smart

Quickly, before I have to go play Jeff Corwin with Andrew (our latest pretend game).

Andrew seriously scares me sometimes, he can be so smart. Especially with math stuff. Maybe he isn't really that smart, and I just think he is because he is my first child. Or maybe he's even smarter than I think, because he's my first child, and I have no other 4 year old's to compare him to. Whichever...

Andrew knows Jeff's birthday is June 22nd. He likes to know what day all of our birthday's are on. So on Wednesday, with no prompting or previous discussion, we had a random conversation like this:

A- Mom, what day is it?
M- Wednesday.
A- No, what day is it, like what number day?
M- Oh, um, it's June 4th.
A- So Dad's birthday is 18 days away!

He is 4 and a half, people. I seriously had to think about it to see if he was correct (I've never been good at adding/subtracting 8's).

Scary.