So long, 2008!

Ah, New Year's Eve. A wonderful holiday, where you dress up in your finest formal clothes, go to a party on the top floor of a skyscraper with a beautiful view, and drink and eat caviar until the ball drops and everyone gets to kiss a handsome stranger and then you dance and sing together to welcome the new year.

Uh, yea. Right. Now, to be fair, I've never had a New Year's quite like in the movies, but now that there are children involved? 3 children? Okay, to be fair, Michael's not to blame. We got lame when we had just one child.

No, New Year's is not a spectacular holiday over here. My kids still go to bed at the regular time, because Lord knows they'll wake up at the regular time (6:30 on the nose...you KNOW he's up before that though) and Michael will still demand to be fed sometime between 3 and 4 in the morning. (as if that is the "morning"...whoever named that time of day had obviously never been awake during it). We thought we were going to our town's New Year's festival for families, but it doesn't even START until 5. Michael goes to bed at 6. And it is $15 per person. Shelf that sucker for when the kids are a little older, I think.

So all New Year's ends up being is a regular old day that Jeff gets to spend with us. And I get to look back wistfully at the year gone past. So since you have subjected yourself to this rambling journal of sorts, you too get to look back. Lucky you.

Let's first look at last year's resolution:

This year, I am resolving to stay out of the loony bin. My goal this year is to survive until next year. I know this seems melodramatic. And I know that I could have it much harder (a hubby who travels, twins, terminal illness, etc.). I know this logically. And I also know I am being hugely pessimistic about bringing a 3rd child into the mix this soon after Lily's birth. But I like being pessimistic. I can only be pleasantly surprised, right? I'm especially worried about the summer. But more on that later...aren't you excited? So, 2008=No commitment to insane asylum!On a big positive note, I have done a 180 degree turn in thinking about this child as an individual. I am SOOOOOOO excited to meet him. I realize this makes no sense when combined with the paragraph above. To try and clarify, I am terrified of juggling 3 children and all that comes with that. I am thrilled to get to know this new little person growing inside of me. Confused? Me too. It defies all logic, but my Mama-bear instinct has fully kicked in, and I WANT this baby. He is MINE. He kicks me all the time, and I'm starting to be able to feel body parts when I push and probe my belly. I'm just glad that he's there. It's not what I planned, but I'm finally very happy that he's here.

I am proud to say that I spent not a single day in an asylum. It was hard, don't get me wrong.
You know, when I was getting 3-4 hours of non-consecutive sleep and then having to take care of a baby and 2 other children while Jeff was at work. Yea, I was really sad we live so far from family then. And learning to juggle 3 kids was tough...especially when #3 would NOT BE PUT DOWN EVEN FOR A MINUTE WITHOUT SCREAMING. Those were days I was wishing for a padded cell by the end of the day. But I did it! I really did it! And not to be sounding egotistical, but I think we're doing a pretty darn good job at it here at the end of the year. All 3 of my babies are thriving and healthy and happy. Well, Lily isn't happy most of the time, but I think that is a personal problem...not necessarily the parenting. ;)

Jeff's job was safe and secure for 2008 (we're crossing our fingers for 2009), we had good health (that scary headache? MRI came back all good...so must have been a fluke), and we've been happier than ever. More tired than ever, but happier. More content. Enjoying life.

So, thanks 2008! You were ten times better than I ever imagined. Tomorrow I'll work on my resolutions for 2009...

Foosball '08

Andrew asked for one thing for Christmas, a foosball table. And he got it. And now he wants to play it a lot. Which is fine, because we got it for him. But we have to constantly remind ourselves of that when we are feeling lazy and don't want to play with him. I mean, WHY get a gift like that for your kid if you aren't willing to play it?

So since discovering the foosball table on Christmas morning, I haven't played at all. I sneakily allowed it to become a "Daddy" game, and sat on the couch eating candy canes and Christmas goodies reading my new books while Jeff hiked down to the cold basement and played. Grinchy, eh? But this morning Andrew determined that it was time to teach good old Mom how to play.

And I made a fatal error.

See, I am not good at foosball. While it is hardly athletic, I excell at it about as well as any other sport/physical/coordinated activity. So Andrew takes one side and I take the other and the games begin. I talk and groan and shriek at my "players". I make them "talk" back to me. After one pitiful game where Andrew and I barely moved the ball around, I suggested that we team up against Jeff. Andrew and I on one side, Jeff on the other. While we played, I did more of the same comedy routine, which was really a bad strategic move, because my partner was laughing so hard at me he was crying, so couldn't see the table, and so was worse than usual. I did NOT have the same effect on my opponent...who soundly beat us.

Eventually, I had named the middle goalie...who, quite frankly, is the root of all Andrew and my problems with the foosball game. Seriously, could he pay attention and actually block some shots? So "Larry the Loser" was born. If Jeff missed a block, I would declare that Larry's cousins must have joined up with the other team. I would scold Larry each time he missed, and during breaks, (moving Lily out of the range of the poles), Larry and I would hold practice, where he would spin quickly and try to stop in a blocking position. Andrew was HYSTERICAL with laughter. I thought he was going to wet his pants a few times. Jeff was kind and let us win a few games. But he really could have been a bit more stealthy about it. Leaving your goal undefended? Playing one-handed? Really? Do you think it is any better for our egos to win versus you one handed than it is to lose? Come-on!

So my fatal error? Andrew had so much fun today, I'm pretty sure there will be no more couch reading sessions while the boys play foosball. I've been drafted to the team...and my contract doesn't expire for a while, I'm sure.

Pause for family

Oh, this blog. I am not writing down all that we're doing, because I'm just enjoying Jeff being home. It's so nice to be reminded why I married him in the first place. Now if only we could win the lotto and become independently wealthy so we could hang out all the time. If only we would play the lotto so we could have a chance of winning so we could hang out all the time. -sigh- It's nice.

Yesterday we ventured downtown and visited Reading Terminal Market. It was really fun...the kids did AWESOME...I got to eat a gyro. Yummo.

Today we went to the zoo since it was in the 50's and dry. The kids were AWESOME...and we had a lot of fun.

Tomorrow, I have an MRI and a playdate for Andrew. Not at the same time.

Tuesday, Andrew and Lily are spending the morning at My Gym for 3 hours without parents. Jeff and I will be home with just one kid...AS IF. We will be running errands like mad. And the van is getting it's eco-check.

Wednesday is New Year's, right? Our town has a huge festival thingy...so we'll go to that. Put the kids to be early and eat Montgomery Inn and Graeters for dinner...shipped at a ridiculous cost to PA...and totally worth it. Yummo.

Thursday is New Year's Day. I'm pretty sure we'll yell at the kids a lot and not do much of anything. Good times.

Friday, Jeff goes back to work. I think I'm hosting playgroup at my house...hmmmm, better check on that.

Saturday, we're having people over for dinner. So, add "clean frantically" to Friday's list. Oh, wait...playgroup..."clean frantically" to Thursday as well. Oh, and I'll have to go shopping and figure out what to make sometime. Whenever...

So now you're all caught up. I'll post again when my boyfriend goes back to work and I'm lonely again. Toodles!

Merry Christmas!

Oh, Christmas with young children. As we set about preparing for the holiday in the last few weeks, every stranger that we met and friend that we talked to envied us openly. "Oh, this is going to be a great Christmas...a 5 year old, 2 year old, and 8 month old. How wonderful it is going to be."

And, oh Christmas, you didn't disappoint.

Jeff's parents came in from Ohio with Uncle Chad from Texas in tow on the evening of the 23rd. They suffered through flight delays and got in late late late. Or early on the morning of the 24th, however you want to look at it. I decided to let everyone sleep in, and tried to keep the kiddos quiet. But Jeff is the only one who ended up sleeping in...Grandma, Grandpa, and Chad just couldn't stay away from the kids. ;) They are lucky to be so loved.

We spent Christmas Eve just hanging out with each other...each child trying their hardest to show the relatives their latest tricks, making them play with their favorite toys, bringing them books to read. Linda and I prepared dinner (a spiral ham, green beans, scalloped potatoes, Strawberry Jello thingy, and rolls) and breakfast for the next day. It was a long day filled with anticipation...something I'm still not used to (since my family ALWAYS opened gifts on Christmas Eve). We set out cookies with Andrew and put everyone to bed. Then everyone went into action...assembling! After the assembly finished, we enjoyed Skyline dip and shrimp and deep conversations about fixing education in America (a nice change from someone accustomed to discussing bowel movements and imaginary football teams).

Andrew came into our bedroom at promptly 6:29am (we had told him he could get up at 6:30...no earlier). Chad informed us later that Andrew had been singing much earlier than that (they were roommates...lucky Chad). Lily and Michael were still sleeping soundly, so I asked Andrew to go downstairs and check to see if Santa had come. Andrew was downstairs for what seemed like a long time, and then came up to report. "Yup, Santa came," he said, almost tearing up. "But I can't see a foosball table. I don't think he brought one." A foosball table is ALL Andrew asked for for Christmas. I said that maybe Santa couldn't fit it on his sleigh. Jeff suggested that maybe it was still in a box under the tree unassembled. Andrew put his chin up and soldiered on. I sent him to wake up every other person in the house...except for Lily...I woke her up (I know, shame on me. But I wanted her to see the big pile of presents). I drag her bleary-eyed down, and the present opening began. Oh, but first Andrew read the letter from Santa (left by the cookie plate)...all by himself (with the exception of the words "extrememly" and "delicious"). I was so proud!

Andrew tackled the presents on the outside edge of the pile...all for other people except for a set of binoculars and a book for him. He almost lost it...really starting to cry. So much for enjoying watching other people open gifts... I gave him a hug and we started to sort through the gifts together. We found a few big packages and her perked up. He tore through his gifts while Lily opened one at a time...with frequent breaks for Cheerios, milk, and time to play with each gift. She was NOT to be rushed. The rest of us snuck in a gift or two...but we were much too busy getting Lily's toys out of the boxes and watching Andrew-the-hurricane blow through his packages. At the bottom of his stack, Andrew found a letter addressed to him from Santa. It instructed him to find another special gift in the family room...at the back of the house. He RUNS to that room and starts jumping up and down and screaming...because there is his full-sized foosball table. Priceless. Of course, I missed it because I was nursing Michael.

So it was a good Christmas, full of tricking children and seeing them happy. Lily loves her play tent/house thingy, I haven't spoken to Andrew all day, because he is so busy with his toys. Michael is in HEAVEN playing with the wrapping paper and his new toys (he got a TON...not from us...ahem, grandparents...)

We spent the rest of the day eating yummy Christmas breakfast casseroles and leftover ham and gorging ourselves on candy and candy covered Oreos (seriously, Sara, I think I gained 10 pounds on those in one day...so addictive). Just after dinner, everyone had to be back at the airport (Grandpa has to work tomorrow). It was a quick trip...a wonderful trip.

Merry Christmas! I feel so blessed to get to enjoy it with such a wonderful family!

Things I've learned by watching home videos

Our own home videos, that is. We recently pulled out a few DVD's of our family...one from when Andrew was a baby and one that Jeff made me last year from when Lily was a baby. We have WAY more footage...but it is captured on mini-tapes that need to be downloaded onto the computer and then formatted into a DVD...zzzzzzz....oops! I fell asleep there for a minute. Maybe by the time the kids graduate from high school...college?....PhD programs?...Maybe before we die we will have all the DVD's made and I can enjoy watching them. Of course, DVD's will be obsolete by then. -sigh- I'm getting depressed.

The most depressing thing is that one of our 2 DVD's is of Andrew as a baby. Now I love me some first time parents, don't get me wrong. I loved being a first-time parent, and I think there is a joy and wonderment that just can't be duplicated. But, DAMN, first-time parents make some BORING ASS videos. Seriously, I think 30 minutes of this DVD is of Andrew lying on the Boppy pillow, unable to even move his head, slowly...slowly falling off the Boppy pillow until the hovering parent (because there is ALWAYS a hovering parent) props him back into position. He gets a gas bubble and smirks in relief when it passes...and the parents (that would be me and Jeff), coo and giggle and murmur to each other in amazement and wonder. God. It. Is. Boring. And the sad thing is, I remember when Jeff made the DVD, he cut out so much. The stuff immortalized on this DVD is THE GOOD STUFF. I'm not trying to dissuade new parents from taking videos like this...for heaven's sake, what a blessing that you are that in love with your little creation that little farts make you feel glad to be alive. But 5 years later, when that same kid is clearing a room with his little farts (seriously, has something DIED in there?), when you watch the video you can't help but cynically thinking, "Oh yea. It started young..."

I digress...as usual...

So assuming that these 2 DVD's are the only two we will ever successfully format so that I can watch them...here is what I will remember of our life with young children...

1) It is so quiet. Seriously, when you have only one kid...or no kids, I assume...it is friggin' PEACEFUL. So so quiet. You can actually hear those gassy farts from your 3 weeks old...because there is no fighting or teasing or tackling in the background. There's no TV on constantly, no crashes as things get knocked over...QUIET.

2) It is so CLEAN. 3 kids=lots of toys. Back when there was only one, and he needed nothing but a boob and a Boppy...oh. my. God. I have forgotten how uncluttered a house can be. And I have never been a good housekeeper...but there just wasn't as much STUFF.

3) We never wear clothes. Our entire lives are spent in pajamas. Because in every shot except for 2 or 3 we are all in our pajamas. Apparently we don't remember to get the camera out after 8 am.

4) We live in two rooms. An unfurnished living room and the kitchen. Why don't we own a couch? Or beds? Why are we always sitting on the floor?

5) We never leave our house. A few videos are taken in our backyard. But we never ever leave. There are no shots at the aquarium or the park or school. Always at home. In our pjs.

6) I don't exist. After Andrew hits about 8 months old, I disappear from life at our house. I transform into a disembodied voice which makes annoying and painfully obvious observations while taping. Which is even more irritating when I watch the video, because I say the same annoying and painfully obvious comments as I watch...proving that not only am I obvious and annoying, but unoriginal as well.

So what am I taking away from this reflection of our taping? Should I stop taking videos, since they will be locked away on an unviewable disc forever? Should I dress my children? Make the videos more exciting somehow?

Nah...heck, Christmas is coming in 2 days. If there is anything more boring than new baby on Boppy footage, it is opening presents footage. Set her up...I'm filming!

Big day for Michael!

Today was a big day for "firsts" for Michael. I was getting out of the shower this morning (at 6:03am), and I heard Michael's mobile turn on. I was all ready to get mad at Andrew for turning it on, but then it turned off again. And then on again for a long time. And Michael could be heard happily talking by himself. I snuck in there and found him watching his mobile happily. He had rolled onto his tummy, lifted himself up, and managed to push the button to turn it on. Big boy!

Then after breakfast, I put him on the kitchen floor to play with some toys. He streeeeeeeeetched and grabbed the bottom of his exersaucer and dragged it towards himself. I called my MIL to finalize Christmas plans. I look up...and Michael is STANDING at the exersaucer!!! Big boy. Not a smart boy, since he was in fleecy-footed pjs on slick floors...but still...

And finally, at pre-dinner Yo-baby time (Lily just can't make it to dinner time), Michael was his usual 5:00 fussy self. So as I'm spooning yogurt into Lily's mouth (it is too messy for little Miss Priss, so I have to do it) I am bouncing the baby on my knee and trying to keep him from upsetting the yogurt or whacking his head on the table. I grabbed some puffs that have been around for about a week. Michael has been completely clueless as far as finger food goes, so I kind of set them aside after trying last week. I gave him a few, and after a couple of tries, he just starts picking the up and putting them in his mouth. Cool new trick!

And the best part of these 3 "big events" ? How excited the older two kids got. I know they are just mimicking me (especially Lily), but it is still sweet. Lily was shouting with glee every time Michael would pick up a puff, and Andrew was cheering for him as he at it. It seems funny to me now that I was worried about having Mikey. I thought that because he was so close in age to Lily, I would be overwhelmed, and the kids would be deprived of the attention they deserved from me. But now I think that if I HADN'T had Mike...I would have deprived them from this little person that they love and adore. They don't get as much of me as they would have...but instead they get to enjoy and love this guy. What a fabulous turn of events!

Conversations with Lily

Lily with Abby, the only character she would approach at Sesame Place. Weird, since she is really into Elmo...but I guess she saw him at Elmo's World Live and didn't feel the need to pose with him.

Lily on the carosel (sp?) She's the little girl in green on the blue horse. I'm the cool mom with the white earmuff thingy on. Oh, yea...sexy beast.


The initial approach to Abby.

Lord help me, if Lily isn't cute. Which at this point is a defensive mechanism...because she needs to balance out the other behavior that comes with being 2. One of my favorite parts of 2 years old (and there aren't many), is the exploding language. Every day, Lily will say something and I'll do a double take. Which I understand is not a singular phenomenon...indeed almost every human child goes through this... So I don't expect you to be thrilled beyond belief by these stories, but I am compelled to record them for my own future amusement, thank you very much ;)

If you ask Lily what her name is, you get one of two answers. Either she says, "Yiddy" (Lily) or she points at herself and says, "ME!"

She is very into emotions lately...possibly because I've been working with her on expressing her emotions verbally instead of through tantrums. We've been practicing our emotive faces, etc. This has resulted in Lily being obsessed with emotions everywhere we go. "Me am soooo hungee." Or when watching Charlotte's Web, "Cider so sad, so sad (big pout on face)", etc etc.

The advent calendar is almost finished (praise heaven above), and Lily's was decorated with all the Mickey Mouse characters, and each piece of chocolate had a different face embossed on it. Andrew would wait for Lily to wake up each morning to open up their chocolates. So now we get to hear Lily say, "Chalk-it! Chalk-it wid Mickey onit!" Or Dondud or Doodoh or Minnie or Daisy or her personal favorite...Goo-fey!

Sometimes she just comes up with it. This morning she was eating her oatmeal and she very dramatically said, "mmmmmmmm, cicisious" I finally figured out she was saying 'delicious'. She was tickled pink when I finally figured it out. I wasn't expecting that big of a word to come out of her mouth!

Lily loves to take her babies for a walk in her stroller (inside this time of year). But she insists that someone walk with her. I have no idea why. Occassionally we humor her, as was the case last night after Michael was put to bed. She is the worst stroller steerer ever...and every time she would whack the stroller into another obstacle, she would say, "Oops. Sorry, guys."

Lily was enthusiastically eating her waffle Sunday morning. "Yook, Mommy. Yook, Daddy. Affles yummy!" Suddenly she was finished and started saying, "Get it away" while pushing the plate away. Jeff got a washcloth to de-syrup her, and unlike me, he is a kind man and uses warm water on the washcloth (ice cold from me...unless the tap is already warm for some reason). As he begins to wipe her off, Lily is screaming, "Too hot! Ouch! Too hot, Daddy!". After he finished torturing the child with the soothing warm washcloth, he asked if she would like to get down. "No, Daddy, No. Stay up." Jeff begins to walk away and Lily screams at him, "Get DOWN. GET DOWN NOW. NO THANKS STAY UP." Jeff managed to get her out of her chair without shaking her...which earns him the Daddy of the year award.

And finally, this isn't related to her speech, but just a little FYI if you come to visit. You can get an immediate idea of how you rank with Lily based on the character she assigns you to play when using her dollhouse. If you come to visit, you WILL "play house" at some point. Lily plays approximately 25 times a day, and anyone and everyone is asked to play with her. There are 3 characters in her dollhouse; a daddy doll, a mommy doll, and a baby doll. Also a Little People jester from some McDonald's Happy Meal long ago that she has dubbed "AU" (Andrew). But he doesn't count. When you agree to "play house", Lily will assign you one of the dolls. This is the only doll that you will be permitted to touch...so don't even try any funny business. If she offers you the baby doll, you are #1 on her list. So far, I think I am the only one who has EVER been offered the baby to play with...and that doesn't even happen for me very often. If you are offered the mommy doll, you are fairly well thought of by Lily. This is her doll of choice for Jeff...the second he comes home from work she is harassing him, "Daddy? Play house? You be mommy?" If you are offered the daddy doll, you are a bit low on her list. In fact, she is probably only letting you play begrudgingly. The daddy doll is her doll of choice for Andrew. If Andrew is not playing with us, then the daddy doll often gets sent to work and isn't seen again for the duration of play.

So now you know! The best is when she plays with the dollhouse by herself. It is hilarious to listen to her view of our world as portrayed by her dolls. One night, Jeff and I were watching her and she didn't realize it. The baby asked for playdoh, the mommy got stuff ready in the kitchen and then put baby to bed. Then the mommy started tackling the baby and jumping on its head. ??? I'm pretty sure THAT has never happened. Time-outs? Oh yes. Jumping on the kids? Not yet. Maybe next week.

What if we'd started this in our 30's?

A few mornings ago, I commented to Jeff about how many...um...fertile signs my body has been giving me. This is the second month in a row, in fact. And how ironic...because when I desperately wanted to get pregnant with Andrew and then with Lily, there were no fertile signs anywhere. Just as a reminder, I had signs of ovulation about once a year back then...which is why it took 18 months to get pregnant with Andrew and 8 months for Lily. And those were months of charting and paying attention and trying our very hardest. Then a month before turning 30, I miraculously get pregnant with Michael (while trying to prevent it with a few forms) and now my body is obviously desperately trying for #4. Which brought me to the conclusion that maybe we should have started our family in our 30s, since it apparently would have been very easy. I could have had all spring and summer babies like I always wanted.

Which started a conversation...What if we really HAD waited until we were 30 to start our family?

This would be our only child:



Of course, he would have been in a "real" highchair with a cuter bib and he would have been quite a bit cleaner. And it would have been quiet in the background.

But we would have had 2 salaries for the past 5 years. Wow. That's a thought. And I would have had my master's. I'd been accepted at San Jose State's MLIS program and was registered to start in the fall of 2003. Perhaps with a fulfilling career, I would have opted to work full time while raising my family. We could have traveled to Europe and all around the United States. Actually, I'm sure we would have. We traveled to Hawaii in spring of 2003 and Jeff was bitten by the travel bug, so it would have been a sure thing. I probably would also have been bitten by the travel bug because I wouldn't have spent our trip to Hawaii throwing up in the hotel toilet (thank you, Andrew). I wouldn't be one of the youngest moms in the bunch. Heck, if I was working, I wouldn't have met all my current friends anyway...I'd have other friends.

It is amazing to think how our lives could have easily been so different. I am of course ignoring the fact that in my mid-twenties I was bit HARD by the mothering bug...that all-encompassing urge that makes a woman think of nothing else but Must. Become. A. Mother. And I am ignoring the fact that I felt nothing but happiness and fulfillment when becoming a mother, and I have enjoyed (almost) every minute of watching my babies become little people. And besides, if we HAD decided to wait, we wouldn't have this cute person:


And Michael almost certainly wouldn't be playing football already...

And I would be missing out on these special moments...

No, I wouldn't trade the path we have chosen. I know I still could have had 3 kids and all the moments that I've experienced up till now could have happened anyway. But it wouldn't be Andrew. And Lily. And Michael could have been...but he would be so different without his older siblings to shape his personality.

Besides, how would I ever capture exciting video like this: ?

(I swear I will someday capture my kids being cute. New Year's resolution. They seem so...boring in these things. I guess they inherited my photogenic gene...and no future performers here...)

If I ever learn how to work my scanner...

I'll put these pictures in properly. But to give you an idea...

Forced materialism...part 2

So a little while ago I posted this, in which I vowed to limit how much I buy for my children this Christmas. For those of you not wanting to link up, I basically limited myself to 5 gifts plus stocking stuffers. A big Santa gift, a little Santa gift, a toy from us, an article of clothing from us, and a book from us. So how did I do?

First of all, let me say that I am TOTALLY doing this again. It has been so helpful to plan out what exactly I'm buying, because it made me choose more carefully. I would see something totally cute and fun while shopping, but I would stop and think, "No, no...you really want to get her fur-lined slip-ons. Don't buy that sweater/pants/dress/pjs or else you can't get the crocs later." I know it is crazy, but I have always just kind of guessed at how much I've gotten the kids...not a good thing ;) I've been finished with the kiddos for a few weeks now, and it is nice to not be tempted. Well, I'm still tempted, but I know I'm finished. And that is that. Like Lily was falling in love with a toy at one store, and I was tempted to buy it for her...but I didn't. Good, eh?

BUT, I wrapped them and started having a problem. 4 wrapped gifts doesn't look like much. It is PLENTY...but it doesn't look like much. I just have to keep remembering the 150,000 packages from the grandparents that are filling our back basement right now...there will be plenty to fit under the tree. :)

BUT, I kind of cheated. I really wanted to get Andrew a Webkin's animal...I don't really understand what they are, but they aren't very expensive and I'd like to try it. But I was out of gift slots to fit it in. Sooooo, Lily got it for him. See? Cheating. And Michael got Lily the cutest ever Abby Cadaby doll that she loves but I didn't have a slot for. But I'll consider it weaning myself off of buying gifts until the little ones are old enough to pick out their own gifts for people. Baby steps, people. And I cheated on buying gifts for Jeff also...totally putting children's names on it (we were not going to exchange gifts this year). And I got him one just so he'd have something under the tree...but I kind of stuffed 3 gifts into the one box. Oops.

Another update...Andrew is not so much into the gift-giving part of Christmas this year. He talked a good game, but when it came time to think of ideas and actually go shopping he flaked on me. He said, matter of factly, "Mom, really I enjoy the getting of gifts better this year." Okay, then...that was a short lived phase ;)

Oh, yea...I have a blog...

So, um, I've been a bit MIA. Not for too long, but after November it feels like forever. I've had ideas for blogs, but just haven't sat down and wrote them out. Here are some highlights...

Michael is changing so fast all of a sudden. Getting all geared up for the 9month development explosion that both my other kids went through. He has decided that napping is overrated, and we are struggling with that again. Yesterday he took a 20 minute nap in the car. That was it. Honestly...I can't handle that. He suddenly has two teeth, is rolling around getting into trouble, and is pulling himself almost to standing when he is in a sitting position. He was rolling around yesterday and actually started trying to scoot himself forward to get something he wanted. So crawling should be coming quite soon. My biggest pleasant surprise in all this is how well Lily is dealing with it so far. She has handled this new mobile threat on her toys with amazing grace. Only once so far has she run and snatched something out of his hands...forcing me to give it back to him. He even loves to tear down her dollhouse (one of her most prized possessions) and chew on it and the people inside (they are big and wooden...no choking worries there, thank heavens). She at first got a big shocked look on her face, but now she just laughs with Andrew and I at Michael's antics. We usually just incorporate him into our game, "Ahhh, a huge slobbery dinosaur is attacking Baby!" I still am anxiously waiting for her to tackle him like she does Andrew, but so far she seems to understand that he's too little. And once this weekend she was playing with her mini animals and playdoh. She picked up one of the animals and said, "No for Muckal. Tooo small." Good girl!

Oh, that Lily. She's changing a ton too. She's very into big and small right now (this hat is too big for Michael, this sock is too small for mommy, etc). She wants to do everything herself and when she accomplishes a large feat, like pulling her play stroller up the step between kitchen and family room, she cheers loudly, "I did it!" And we cheer with her. She makes up silly songs about things around her, making us laugh all the while. She plays with her baby doll a lot lately, feeding it while I feed Michael. It is so cute to watch her wipe the doll's face off with the bib like I do with Michael. Yesterday I was feeding him some peas and she went and got a bowl, spoon, and a big old play cornonthecob. She said, "Mommy baby eat peas. Me baby eat corn. Yum! Mommy baby yike it?" Oh, yes, the I like it. If a song comes on that she likes, she will chant, "Mommy, I YIKE dis one." over and over until I respond. Or heaven forbid something she doesn't want, all we hear is "Don't yike dis one. Don't yike it!" Oh, and she loves to scream at the top of her lungs, "NO THANKS!" It is hardly ever just no...she always says no thanks. Which is cute and annoying all at the same time. And she is still unpleasantly psycho. Yesterday she had a huge fit because she wanted, "MILK! MOMMY MILK PLEEEEEEEASE." This whole fit happened while she had a cup of milk sitting in front of her. Maybe it was in an offending cup? Perhaps I placed it in the wrong spot on the table? Later in the day she was really excited to have a "And-itch" (sandwich) for lunch. When she sat down and saw that I had dared to put 3 blueberries on the plate with her sandwich, she threw a monster tantrum and refused to eat ANYTHING. On the floor twitching and thrashing because of 3 blueberries that weren't even touching her sandwich. All I could do was think ???? huh????

I went to the doctor finally! It took about 3 weeks to get my insurance to change my primary care physician number and then to get an appointment. I really really like the doctor and nurses. They even laughed at my lame jokes...bonus points for that. Here's one of them...I had to get my weight and height measured. After getting my weight, the nurse asked me to turn around so she could do the height. She was getting a stool so she could reach over my head and she said, "Wow, you're tall." To which I said...wait for it..."Is that an official measurement?" Oh, I can hear your peals of laughter now. Yes, the practice gets major points for putting up with me. Since the headache was now a full month ago, they found me perfectly healthy...and I was reminded why I don't go to doctors...my left ear has had pain and congestion off and on since I was pregnant with Lily, and it was quite painful the day of the appointment, so I asked the doctor to look at it. Nothing wrong...not even red. Of course. Whenever I have actual problems, there is nothing wrong. Whatever. Doctor wants me to get an MRI and MRA to be safe (and I didn't even have to mention you, Bill!) and she ordered some bloodwork since I've never had my cholesterol checked or anything. I had the bloodwork today, and I'm having problems making an appointment with radiology. The person answering the phone has put me on hold two separate times and never gotten back on the line. -sigh- I just don't have 30 minutes to wait on hold. But whatever.

What else? Oh, there was a totally annoying family at the park this weekend. Which is really rude, but they were really annoying. It was a mother and a father and their little girl (who looked about Lily's age, and I later found out was just under 2). The mother never was more than one step behind this girl. I was irritated for this child. I understand up on the equipment being one step behind. I was like that with my first child. No I wasn't. But I could have and should have been. But even while walking on the nice recycled cushy tire surface the mother was right behind her. She was NOT a new walker. And the parents were terrified this little girl would play with my kids. Just because they were roaring like lions or something. Whatever. But the most annoying thing? They all 3 had matching coats. Same brand, same design, make me gag. Apologies to my readers with matchy-matchy family coats. I think it is lame. I understand same brand...if you find a coat you like, everyone wants it. But same color? Same thread pattern? Really?

Posts to come...how I've been feeling like Igor more and more, (Yes, Maaaasta...shuffle shuffle) and how I think my persona is more like a sheepdog than a human when I take the children in public (nipping at the heels, barking at them to stay together, running in circles).

Another up...and another down...

I had an entire post in my head about Lily's "up" day yesterday. She was so much fun, so agreeable, such a good listener. It helped that I have hid baby Jesus and Andrew was in school in the morning. We went to My Gym class, and she was listening and having a great time and playing peek-a-boo with Michael. She walked into school to drop Andrew off, and walked next to me the whole time without a fuss. She took a nap without a fight, and when she woke up, we all played house...and Lily even let Andrew be the Dad. We went to a friend's house for dinner (Jeff was working late and had fencing). She was up super late (for her) and did fantastic. She was funny and polite and just down right charming. What a love. It's important for Lily's well-being that we have days like that to balance the others. It prevents me from having her committed to an asylum.

And then I woke up at midnight not feeling well. I've been up off and on since then...um...shall we say..."exorcising demons" from both ends. Jeff has meetings today, so no sick day for me! Another joy of being a mother...no time off to get yourself better. Let's just hope that Lily has an agreeable day today. And then let's hope that the kids don't catch it. And let's hope that Jeff gets home at a decent time...

Frantic babyproofing

HOLY CRAP! Michael is mobile and getting into stuff. Dangerous older sibling stuff. Like little crayon pieces and dollhouse accessories and paper...my God the paper! Today we were all playing in the computer room, and I turn and Michael has gotten into the Christmas books...trying to pull down the whole stack of them onto his head.

CRAP.

I start moving the books to a crate I happen to have extra upstairs. And as I put them in the crate, I begin looking around. Dear. God. I need to baby proof. There are binoculars (with small plastic beads on the strap) and play food that is a bit too small, chalk that has been thrown from the easel, a stray football helmet, a paper clip, a penny, some football cards, Playmobile pieces....

I'm starting to hyperventilate.

Over here there is a wire from the lamp and a folding chair precariously leaning against the wall and a big clump of carpet fuzz and oh heavens the Christmas tree...with branches temptingly hanging down enticing an 8 month old to just roll right under them and pull.

Take a deep breath. Take a deep breath. Just breathe.

All 3rd children survive their older siblings, right? How about a cluttered mother?

Why does this happen so fast???

My day...

We are on a daily roller coaster over here. We're uuuuuuuppppPPPP. And then we're DDDDDOOOoooowwwnnnn. And back uuuuppp. And back dowwwwnnnn.

I'm talking about the two-year old roller coaster of course. Today was a real humdinger. I caught myself screaming at Lily a few times today. Because THAT is really productive. But, honestly, her whining and screaming grates at my nerves until one of them SNAPS...and then I scream.

Let's see if I can take you on a tour of our day with Lily today...SHALL WE?

Okay, the morning is already fuzzy. I think it is a self-protection instinct in my brain...if I think about the 2 year old's behavior for too long I will self combust...better to just forget it quickly. So please understand if there are large gaps in our day. Let me try harder...

Lily wakes up. Desperately wants milk, but mean old mommy makes her get dressed first. Get downstairs and desperately wants advent chocolate. Mean old mommy will only let her have one, so tantrum ensues. Mommy is expecting this one, so no big deal. Lily gets her milk. Fights with Andrew over baby Jesus. Mommy contemplates converting to Islam. More fighting over random toys that Andrew touches...even if they aren't toys Lily is playing with. Mommy starts seeing an aura of red. Time for breakfast! Lily plays with syrup on plate and spreads it artfully on the table while Mommy is busy feeding Michael. Doesn't eat any waffle. Stands up on chair when finished playing with syrup and knocks over advent calendar. Chocolates burst out of windows. Lily screams when Mommy won't let her have any. Mommy turns on tv.

While Mommy takes Andrew and Michael upstairs to get dressed, Lily bores of the tv. She screams at the bottom of steps to come upstairs. Mommy tell her to come up by herself. She wails and thrashes. So Mommy goes downstairs to carry her up. As Lily feels Mommy's hands under her arms, she begins screaming, "NO! MYSELF!" and she goes up the steps by herself.

Somehow all the children get dressed and teeth brushed and coats on and ushered into the car so we can make it to Andrew's doctor's appointment. Lily starts whining for food (remember how we just PLAYED with breakfast?) and to watch a movie. Children have a spirited fight over what CD we can listen to, since Mommy said no to the movie. Michael begins to get hysterical because this SHOULD be his morning nap time, even though he hasn't napped in a week for some reason, so it's not as if he would be napping at home anyway. He won't sleep in the car, so screaming it is. Mommy is getting more and more excited about the doctor's appointment.

Go into doctor's. Lily does amazingly well, considering there was 10 minutes in the cramped hallway measuring and weighing and checking Andrew's eyes with nothing for her to do and Mommy holding Michael (aka not restraining Lily). Lily soon gets bored in the examination room and lets out a few screams for good measure. She eats 2 packets of fruit snacks.

An hour later, doctor's appointment is over. Michael is delirious from lack of nap, Andrew is sobbing from his shot, and Lily is screaming because she doesn't want to leave. Huh? Yes, that's right, after an hour of begging and screaming to LEAVE the doctor's, she has a full-blown tantrum when we actually leave...begging and screaming to stay. I say again, Huh? Our reward for the doctor's was going to be going to the library. Everyone agrees this is still a great thing, so we head over to the library. I pull into the parking lot, and Michael has begun choking he is crying so hard, Lily starts screaming NOOOOOOOo, and Andrew is shaking his head. I pull a U-turn and get the heck out of there. 5 minutes before turning into our driveway, Michael falls asleep in the carseat. We drive around listening to the Backyardigans CD for 20 minutes. Back at home, we play outside while Michael continues to sleep in the car. Lily wants inside so she screams. Then, Lily screams and has fit because the rake is too big for her. Michael wakes up so we finally get to go inside! Lily screams because she wants to stay outside and go in the backyard. We go in backyard and play, but she screams because none of the toys are outside anymore. We go inside. I can't remember what happened at this point, but somehow everyone got fed.

Coloring time. Lily takes all the caps off and then dumps markers on the floor. Andrew is hysterical because they were sharing said markers. Lily refuses to help me pick them up. Time out. Comes out of time out stoically and helps pick up markers. I think it was bedtime? Much screaming and to-do about nap time. Michael takes a whooping 20 minute nap. Lily gets up after 90 minutes of sleep. Lily and Andrew begin fighting over baby Jesus again (Hindu, maybe?), and break the nativity barn. Lily starts wheeling her stroller around trying to chase Andrew, who decides it isn't so fun so the screaming begins again. I think we played with Playdoh at some point? I remember more screaming because Andrew walked by while she was playing.

We decide to go to the library after all, because it was only 3pm and Daddy doesn't come home until at least 5. At this rate there certainly wouldn't be 3 children alive when he got there. We went to the park next to the library and played for 30 minutes. Lily was a MESS. A little girl wanted to play with her (because she looks so friendly and cute???), and Lily would cry as if she had punched her every time the little girl would approach. The grandfather with this child was convinced his Chloe was doing something horrid, and I had to keep reassuring him that my child was simply psycho...not to worry. We walk back to the library, and Lily screams bloody murder when one of the 2 computers is broken. We look at books and Andrew hops on the other computer when it opens up. Lily whines to get on it. Timer goes off, Andrew gets off, Lily's turn. Timer goes off, Lily easily stops and says goodbye to computer. (?) She puts favorite book up on counter...librarian is too slow, Lily grabs it off before it gets checked out, and then throws a MONSTER tantrum when we have to take it away to check it out. Mommy gets all kids back into car (2 out of 3 screaming crying), and then realizes the books in the bag over her shoulder never got checked out. Mommy leaves screaming children in the locked car and runs inside to check out books. Librarian takes her sweet time, even though it was the same gal and she realized my children were alone somewhere without me. Grrrrr. Drive home listening to the Backyardigans (my eye is twitching at this point), and sing sweet praises that Daddy has just arrived home as we pull in.

Somehow dinner is prepared and served and children get library books read to them, pjs on, to bed.

Ahhhhh, then my fantastic husband made me spiked hot chocolate. Strong.


Oh, and Andrew is 46 lbs and 47 inches tall. He is going to the ENT because his ear have been filled with fluid every appointment since birth (only 3 infections that whole time, though), and he has some hearing loss in the upper registers. Nothing serious, but enough to get a recommendation to the ENT.

Oh, and Michael is rolling around rooms now. I found him struggling under a chair reaching for a tiny piece of chalk. Lord help me, I hope he has a great guardian angel...I don't know how he isn't going to choke every day of his life.

Oh, and Lily was reading a book of opposites today. So cute. Of course, she wasn't READING, but it sounded like it. Each page has a picture of this duck doing something....like SAD and the the opposite page shows the same duck HAPPY. She easily figured out the pictures and "read" the book to us. We made a big deal about it, so she hopped down, grabbed "Green Eggs and Ham" and pronounced, "Read it MYSELF." And then had a tantrum when we wouldn't read it to her. And had a tantrum when we tried to read it to her. Then we put her to bed ;)

Christmas cards

My Christmas cards are all signed, sealed, and delivered. Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for taking the picture of the 6 of us (yes, even Shadow made the picture this year!). Thank you to Snapfish for making the ordering of cards so incredibly easy. Why oh why have I been doing it any other way these past few years? I have TONS of extra cards, because locals send each other cards around here (kind of weird to send a card to someone you see every day....but whatever...), so I ordered 100, and then realized when I addressed my cards that I only have about 70 people to send to. Anyhoo, if you don't get a card this week and would like one, that means I don't have your address...so let me know if you want one.

I didn't send a letter because this is all I could think of to write:

Hello, friends!

We would like to announce the birth of our newest son, Michael Paul. He was 8 pounds, 4 ounces and 22 inches long. Big brother Andrew and Big sister Lily are enjoying every moment they get with him. Mommy and Daddy are tired, but thrilled with the addition of this sweet baby boy to mix. Oh...and he was born April 9, 2008. Sorry we never sent birth announcements. But an announcement at Christmas 8 months later ain't bad, right? Don't worry, you'll find out about the 4th child before the high school graduation announcement. Maybe.

That's the only lame-o thing I could think of to write. I mean, we haven't even moved this year. For heaven's sake, this is our THIRD CHRISTMAS in Philly. WTF??? We are friggin' boring this year. Except for the birth of the baby. Oh, and I have a BLOG, so you get to read our daily drivel...why bother sending a letter recapping? Maybe I should do a post of blogs through the year as a Christmas card...

Hello, friends!

Remember this? And then this? Wow, and this was sure fun. And I couldn't even believe this. Then this happened. And this. Isn't this a riot? Next came this. And then this. Wow, do you remember this? And this only happens once a year. Finally, this. That's been our year.

And imagine how good it could be if I didn't just randomly pick a blog from each month! Sounds easy to me!

Oh, and also? I LOVE getting Christmas cards. So if I'm not on YOUR list, please please add me. Not that I'm bored at home and look forward to non-bills mail to entertain me. Not that at all. Just because. ;)

Videos?

Okay, once I realized that I could put videos on here successfully, I immediately went and tried to get videos of the kids. Notice how life-like they are, in motion! Notice how messy my house is! No, wait, DON'T notice how messy my house is...just look at the cute kids...

Lily was putting her doll baby in and out of Shadow's cage, and I thought it had great potential to be cute. It is so difficult to capture her facial expressions on still pictures. But, as you can see, it instead became a great example of Lily's "terrific" twos!

Next, I went and tried to get one of Michael. He was very very tired, but of course still cute (he can't run from the camera yet!) Andrew barged in on the filming and made it a little more interesting...it's a relative term. :)

Oh! One more video!

Okay, I've back timed this one...I just had to add another video of pure Lily. ;) Everything is no!

A weekend

Showing off the stockings...kind of.

Notice the tackling in the background...a nice peaceful Christmas picture.

Still tackling...and now Michael is trying to eat his stocking.

Okay, so I'm not so good at remembering to post. My parents are visiting, and we've been having lots of fun. What a generic sentence. I'm listening to Lily jabber in the background right now, so I'm having hard time concentrating.

So what have we been doing? Well, there was the nekkid Santa incident. And my mom and I went on the historical tour that happens one day a year in our town (12 historical homes are opened up by their owners so you can go through them...so much fun...we went in a private home that was built in 1636...and people just LIVE there...every day going home there...amazing...). Michael has been on a sleep strike...arghhhh. We got out the Playmobile nativity set for the first time. Here are some other funny things...

--I was wondering if you have to make an effort to start traditions or if they just happen. I got the kids chocolate Advent calendars. Lily's is Mickey Mouse and friends and Andrew's is the traditional colonial village scene. But each day they get to open a window to find a piece of chocolate. When we opened the first one, Andrew said, "Well, I guess I'll save it until after lunch" (our usual acceptable candy time). When I told him that he could eat his Advent candy whenever he opened the window, because it was Christmas time, you would have thought that he'd won a million dollar lotto. This kid doesn't even LIKE chocolate, but the fact that he can eat it at 6:30 in the morning when he wakes up is so thrilling he RACES down to open it each morning. I have a feeling this will be something he remembers...

--Andrew is sleeping on the floor of his room while Pepere sleeps in his bed. To his credit, Andrew hasn't complained AT ALL about this arrangement...a testament to how much he loves his Pepere. But the first morning, he woke my dad up at 5:55 am. Woke him up and whispered, "Pepere? I just wanted to let you know that if you need to know what time it is, I have a clock. Right over there. Just in case you wanted to know." And then he climbed back onto his inflatable mattress and stared at my dad for 30 minutes until the acceptable 6:30 exit time. He never tried to wake my dad again...he just wanted to let him know about the clock. The large glowing red digital clock right next to the bed. ;)

--The nativity scene is a huge hit. But my kids INSIST on playing with Baby Jesus. There will be no keeping him away until Christmas morning this year. And they FIGHT over Him. And I have found myself yelling loudly, "Jesus wouldn't want you fighting over him!" Which is a lesson I think the whole world could stand to listen to.

--Today, we were all playing in the family room, and a great stink suddenly filled the room. I said, "Phew! Who smells like poop?" And Lily yelled at the top of her lungs, "I DO! I DO!"

Okay, and here's my first foray into posting a video. Please enjoy Lily and I singing, "The Wheels on the Bus" unfortunately cut off just before Lily does her Wah Wah baby verse. If this works, I'll try to post more videos...

Little Baby Bottoms

JCPenney Portait Studios has redeemed themselves.

I spent SO much money on pictures today. Of Michael, of course.

Since my parents are visiting, they took Lily to the play area at the mall while I waited for 40 minutes (grrrr.). It ended up working great, I reluctantly admit, because I had a chance to nurse him. Which resulted in a very uncomfortable father in the waiting room with me. Which amuses me. Uh, you are there with your 3 month old child (because it takes 2 parents to get pictures of one non-mobile 3 month old). Like you don't realize how babies are fed. Maybe you should have stayed home since there is nothing for you to do at the studio but take up valuable space and glare uncomfortably at a mother trying to feed her baby, under a cover, no less. Ohhhh, look at me, the snide judgemental mother of 3. Boy, I digress. I am not sensitive at all.

Back to story. When Andrew was 6 months old, I got a picture of him in swim trunks, showing off all his chubby rolls of glory. When Lily was 6 months old, I got a picture of her laying in a bed of roses, naked except for a white diaper cover. My big plan was to have a picture taken of Michael at 6 months, naked in a bathtub (a prop at JCP). Um...notice he is 8 months old next week. Whatever. At least I got it done now. I was worried for a while that it would be cute bare-chested 6 month old Andrew, cute bare-chested 6 month old Lily, and scary bare-chested 12 year old Michael. But success! I got him in there.

So the photographer got out the little tubby, and we put Mikey in there in his diaper and got some absolutely adorable shots of him munching on a duckie and grinning with wet spiky hair. Every time she clicked a shot, I thought, "I am going to spend so much money today."

THEN, she suggested that we strip him down completely naked and take some shots on a black background. And, really, is there anything cuter than a baby's butt? So we took some really cute shots of him looking over his shoulder with his little baby back and butt facing the camera.

THEN, she put a Santa hat on him. Naked baby butt Santa. Sweet mother of all that is holy...I could not resist. I bought a ton of shots. They are soooooo sweet and sooooo cute. And Michael is going to hate me soooooo much when he is older.

Oldest child...swim trunks. Middle child...diaper. Youngest child...completely nekkid.

Yup. Mikey's going to hate me. And I don't care. It's MY baby butt to look at. ;)

(obviously NOT the nekkid Santa pictures. Hopefully those will follow at a later date...)

Redemption!

Remember this?

Went to the library and found them both on the shelf. Ha HA! I am NOT losing my mind...at least not about library books!

Too rough on Lily?

Today, I took the 3 kids to the Please Touch Museum by myself. I know, I know, mothers do it all the time...take their children places by themselves. But I am a total wimp when it comes to large public places and 3 people to watch by myself. But I've started thinking into the future, when Michael is actually needing to be watched. And I think I need to take these 3 out NOW...before the world ends when I have 2 mindless walkers. Andrew is not a mindless walker, because if you ask him to walk somewhere, he actually listens. ;)

Anyhoo, it takes about 40 minutes to get to the museum, so I popped a movie into the old DVD player, prayed that Michael would take a nap in the car, and enjoyed my 40 minutes of down time. And I began composing a blog entry in my head.

I think I am too hard on Lily. Not to her, but what I say about her. On this blog. When I talk about her with other people. It is a well-known fact that I am not "fond" of two year olds in general. But here's why I shouldn't paint Lily with such a dark brush (does that even make sense? Maybe I should just stay away from the metaphors this evening...)

First of all, when Andrew was 2, he was my only. He was a little bi-polar, but I had the ability and the motivation to try and shape our days to fit his schedule. There were no other people at home to share with, no places to go that he didn't want to go to, etc etc. Lily not only has a big brother that she has to always share with, and drop off at school, and go to play dates for...she also already has a LITTLE brother who leeches her mommy's time and takes lots of naps that prevent us from going places and has to get home which prevents us from staying place. Lily faces many many more transitions each day and fields many many more confrontations each day (with people who aren't rational adults), EACH DAY, than Andrew probably did his entire 2nd year. I mean, let's be honest. For much of Andrew's 2nd year, I had my head in a toilet as my body fought to even produce Lily. :) In summary, it is not fair on any level to compare Lily and Andrew as 2 year olds. She has every right to be more ape-shit crazy.

Second of all, Lily is really a very compliant little 2 year old. She has an amazing comprehension of "taking turns". If we are at a playgroup and someone is playing with a toy she wants, I just need to tell her we're taking turns, and she'll 9 times out of 10 wait patiently for that toy. If we are somewhere fun, or she's doing something she really likes, I'll set my watch timer and tell her, "When the watch goes beep beep we have to leave." I make her repeat it back to me, and 9 times out of 10, when that watch goes off she will stop without a fuss. That is AMAZING for her age. (and not that we're comparing...but WAY better than Andrew was at this age). Of course, all bets are off if Andrew is involved...but to be fair, she has learned time and time again that Andrew doesn't obey the sharing rules. So he cursed us with that one.

Thirdly, Lily is Hilarious...with a capital H. And many times it is intentional. She is a crack up. She can twist those eyebrows and say things with a certain inflection...man, we are dying laughing. Our favorite right now is, "What?!?" As in, "Lily, we are having hot dogs for lunch." "What???" I can't write it the way she says it...because it is the expression in her voice that makes it so great. She also loves to make up songs as she goes about her day. They have a tune, but not to any song we know. It is so fun to listen to her compose away. And her pretend play seems very advanced...maybe it's just the girl in her coming out. Just as Andrew can play football with any objects, Lily can play house with any objects. She had Andrew's model Donavan McNabb making oatmeal for Eli Manning this morning.

Okay, so I'm thinking of all these wonderful things to post about Lily in today's blog. And then we went into the museum, and she was horrible. Awful. No sharing, certainly not listening to the timer, no cute or funny words, lots of screaming and hitting and flailing on the ground.

And I guess THAT is why I hate the 2's so much. They are capable of so much good behavior and so much bad behavior...often in the same 15 minute period of time. And I just hate trying to keep up with that roller coaster.

So sad to see you go, NaBloRamadamadingodong

I know many of you are probably THRILLED that you won't have to read this blog everyday anymore. Perhaps I will only write cute stuff about the kids and skip over the titillating blogs about my period and guest accommodations (which, to respond to Kate's suggestion...we have definitely considered getting a pull out couch, but they are friggin' expensive and not comfortable and the guests would be in the middle of the action...etc etc). From now on, I will try to refrain from my own commentary and complaining and stick strictly to cute stories about Andrew, Lillian, and Michael.

Ha! Suck-ahs! It's not time for resolutions yet. December is bound to be a month filled with school holidays (today is one???), bad weather, and frustration over attempts to make cookies and other festive activities destined to be thwarted by said cute children. I see LOTS of complaining in the future of this blog.

So while you may have been thrilled (before that last paragraph) that NaBlaMoPoWhatever is over, I am very very sad. I have really enjoyed and looked forward to all the blogging going on. I think I need to read more than 15 blogs so that there is a new post by SOMEONE each day. I think that reading blogs to me is like watching soap operas to other people. Really boring soap operas. I'm not saying that you are boring. But does your husband get possessed by demons or do you sleep with your neighbor's half-brother only to find out that it is your father or get shot/go in coma/wake up after brain surgery every couple of years? No? Okay, so you're not boring (why else would I read your blogs?)...but you aren't quite as exciting as Soap Opera, USA.

Anyhoo, I digress. PLEASE keep writing. Don't take a week hiatus just because you are burnt out from writing. Entertain me. ;)

Signed,
The truly desperate housewife