Quietly Bringing in the New Year

I've never been one for a big New Year's celebration. Oh, I tried when I was younger. In elementary school I would spend the night at Rennie's house and we would make our own confetti and stay up until midnight and have a big celebration. I honestly don't remember what I did in junior high and high school, but in college I would reunite with my high school friends and find a party and try to make the best of it. As I entered the "real world" I found that New Year's just didn't really excite me. I was more worried about somebody slamming into me on my way home than about where the best party was going to be. Luckily I found somebody who feels the same way.

I'm not one of those people who gets wrapped up in the day. I'm more about the event itself. I don't care if Charlie is out of town on Valentine's Day, because that doesn't make or break our relationship. We're in it for the long haul, whether there is a Valentine's Day or not. The same goes for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, all the holidays. Don't get me wrong, you can't forget them completely, but I'm not a stickler about celebrating them on the exact day. Weekend before, weekend after, works for me.

This year is a perfect example. Charlie was invited to the Rose Bowl by one the companies he does business with. I was supposed to be his guest, but we weren't really sure what to do with the kids. We didn't think it was fair to ask someone to come for New Year's weekend to watch them while we went off to have a fabulous time. We would never do that. So, I stayed home with the girls and Charlie took Andy. I would have loved to go with Charlie, not because it's New Year's but because it's football and it would be wonderful to have a weekend alone with my husband without anyone little people interrupting. If Michigan State had gone I would have found a way to be there, but since Wisconsin just barely beat them out this year it just was not meant to be.

So as Charlie is getting settled in California with Andy, I am here with the girls. Since Sarah was a little bummed she got left behind, we went to the grocery store to buy macaroni and cheese, pie and ice cream (three of my, um I mean Sarah's, favorite foods!). Her tummy was bothering her so we put pie and ice cream on the back burner until tomorrow, and after putting the girls to bed I got a quiet evening at home. By myself. I watched the ball drop in New York and was so glad I wasn't there. You could not pay me to go there for New Year's Eve.

Another thing I don't do is make resolutions. I used to, but realized it's kind of dumb to wait until the beginning of the year to make a change. If you recognize that you need to change something, just do it, don't wait until January 1. However, as I sit here, bringing in the New Year all alone, I realize that I am doing exactly what my resolution should be. Getting more alone time. More time to myself to think, destress, take a step away from the chaos and frustration and craziness that hums through this house. More time to do the things I want to do, so I can be a happier mom and wife and overall person.

So, yes, it's okay that I'm not at the Rose Bowl. I'm disappointed that I'm not with Charlie, not because it's New Year's but because I don't get to spend enough time with my wonderful husband and I really like him. However, I'm spending quality time with my girls, I'm getting a few moments to myself, and I'm getting pie. Cherry pie. What more could a girl ask for to start out the new year?

Back on Track

We got home from holiday traveling on Tuesday. I asked Andy if he wanted me to set up some play dates this week and he answered with a loud "NO". He wanted to play his new video games by himself, he didn't want to share them, and he didn't want to do anything else. I kind of don't blame the kid. He had to wait three days after opening them to play them and all he wanted to do was play. If he invites a friend over to play with him, he has to, well, be nice and share and be respectful and use manners. Who wants to do that?

It probably was for the best. I had all these grandiose ideas about what we were going to do with our time off over the holidays. I always do. We're going to have play dates with wonderful friends that we never otherwise get to see (yes, I'm talking about you Mel!), organize the house in a way that would put a professional organizer to shame, do all those little projects that have stacked up over the last few months, sort through the toys that need to be thrown/given away, put away all the holiday decorations, and play in the yard, go out to eat, go to the movies and do a whole bunch of other fun stuff.

As it is now, the kids go back to school in four days and we haven't done much of anything. The living room is a mess, less of a mess since Charlie picked up a lot of it today, the decorations are still up, there are still piles of stuff that have been in the same place for months and need to be put away (the cleaning ladies must wonder why that stuff sits around week after week), and we haven't decided on any toys to get rid of. We haven't seen anyone, but we did manage to eat out a couple of times (only because I was way too lazy to cook) and go to the movies (the popcorn counted as one of our times eating out).

Anyway, here are some holiday observations I made in the past week:

1. The kids never listen to me - This is kind of a given, kids never listen. However, what I'm referring to is that fact that on Christmas Day, after making cookies, sledding, watching the third Harry Potter movie (which he has wanted to watch "forever") and opening a present, Andy still declared this Christmas as "the worst Christmas ever". This isn't because he didn't have any fun doing those things, although he did get in trouble while sledding and have to stop early, but because even though I told him about 100 times that his cousins were not coming until Sunday and that's when we were going to open presents and celebrate Christmas, he was disappointed that his cousins weren't around to play with on Christmas Day. Maybe next year we'll be the last to arrive and first to leave. That won't make my mom very happy but it will show him.

2. The less we travel, the longer it takes to recover - When we used to travel all the time it was a piece of cake. We didn't have to make a packing list because we knew exactly what we needed to take and never forgot anything. We could pack for a week long trip within an hour and fit everything into the tiniest of suit cases. When we got home everything was washed and put away within a day. Now, we hardly ever travel, because the thought of security and entertaining everyone all flight long is so daunting, and we are the most inefficient packers around. We bring too much, we forget things, and it takes me days to get our suit cases cleaned out and put away. The entryway is still littered with back packs and books and other things that we are too tired and lazy to put in their proper place.

3. There is no down side to buying your own presents - This year I told Charlie I would buy my own presents. He was worried that deep down I'd be upset that he didn't shop for me or that my presents weren't a surprise (usually I'm all about the surprise) and that I'd hold it over him and bring it up in future arguments about how he does nothing around here (a) I wouldn't do that and b) he does a ton around here). It was fabulous. I got exactly what I wanted. How can you be disappointment with that?

4. Christmas is definitely not as much fun as it used to be - When I was I a kid all I had to do was open lots and lots of presents. Now, I have to buy and wrap lots and lots of presents, figure out gifts for the teachers/coaches/therapists/whoever, order/write/send the holiday cards, do a whole bunch of other crap I'm subconsciously blocking from my mind, and do it all when I'm not with the kids, which is almost never. I used to love Christmas, it was my absolute favorite time of year. Now, not so much. However, I do love seeing my family, watching Charlie and the kids open their presents and receiving holiday cards from all of our friends far and wide, so even though it's not quite as much fun as it used to be, it's all good.

Even though we didn't get to see our friends, organize our house or tackle any projects, the most important thing is that we spent some fun time with the kids and made some memories. I have my memories of Christmas past and theirs will be very different, but not in a bad way. On Monday 16 of us went sledding. It was a blast. My brother, the biggest kid of all, organized a sled train with all the kids and they kept going down the hill with 4-5 sleds grouped together. My kids will never forget that. That's what this time of year is all about.

The Elf on the Shelf

Have you heard of the Elf on the Shelf? I only heard about it a couple of years ago. It's a combo pack you buy with an elf that is made out of felt (it's face is plastic) and a book explaining the elf and his purpose. It's supposed to be a fun way to get ready for Christmas and also keep your kids from acting up.

Basically, the Elf comes on December 1 so he can start checking up on the kids and make sure they are behaving themselves. The kids get to give him a name and can talk to him, but they can't touch him and he can't talk back. It's kind of like the toys from Toy Story, when the kids aren't around he can move and dance but when they are nearby he has to be very still and just watch them. Each night he goes back to the North Pole to report to Santa about the kids' behavior and when he comes back the next day he sits somewhere else. So one day he'll be in the play room, the next day the kitchen, the next day the living room. Always up high where the kids can't reach but can see him. Then, he leaves on Christmas Eve and doesn't come back until the next year. A couple of my friends had told me about it and said how much their kids loved it so I thought it would be fun and bought one last year.

It was a nightmare. There was so much drama with the Elf. Andy was paranoid because he always thought the Elf was constantly watching him. He was on edge the entire month. Sarah took her cue from Andy, so she was also unnerved by the Elf and was constantly making comments about how scary he was. Every time he would move, which is supposed to be part of the fun, finding the Elf, Andy would freak out. Every day he said he hoped the Elf had left and hadn't come back. By the end of the month we were so glad that the Elf would be leaving on Christmas Eve and we wondered whether it would be worth it to bring him back this year. Of course I'm a glutton for punishment so we tried it again this year.

To my amazement, it has gone pretty well. The kids were a little disappointed to see the Elf back again this year, but now they're doing well with it. They both have friends at school that also have elves at their house, so it's not like Santa is only checking up on them. Plus, Andy's friend, Meadow, said she tells the Elf where to go each day and he usually does. So now most days the kids will say, "Elf, I want you to be on the tree tomorrow, or I want you to be on the bookshelf tomorrow." They like having a little control and seeing if the Elf actually listened to them. One day I didn't hear where Andy told the Elf to go so I just moved him and decided I would tell the kids I told him to go there. The next day Andy saw the Elf and said, "That's exactly where I told him to go". Amazing. Maybe there is some Santa magic with this elf!

Andy is pushing the envelope a little bit. He asked the Elf to come back in green clothes instead of red, to get rid of his hat and uncross his arms. Things that just aren't going to happen. We aren't sure if he is testing the theory that maybe the Elf isn't real or if he's just trying to mix it up. All it has done is led to numerous conversations about whether or not they have a dress code at the North Pole and if the color they wear has anything to do with the elf ranking. Is he in the best job there is or if he succeeds at this job will he get promoted to a better one? Also, at the beginning of the month Charlie and I weren't very good about moving him every night so we had to answer questions and develop hypotheses about why he hadn't moved. It is amazing the things the kids come up with.

Tomorrow will be our last day with the Elf. I'm sure the kids are a little relieved that he won't be checking in and spying on them, but I think they'll miss him too. They had fun telling him where to go and trying to find him each morning, and we have enjoyed all the conversations that ensued and listening to the kids' creative thought processes. Plus, there's nothing better than seeing the joy of Christmas through your children's eyes. I don't know how long the Elf will last in our house, how many years he will be invited to come back, but I hope he can bring his Christmas magic for years to come.

All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

Just before Thanksgiving, Andy lost his top two front teeth. Not at the same time, but about a week apart. The first one was unexpected. It wasn't as loose as the other, and came out during lunch at school. He bit into something, and out it came onto his plate. One of his classmates had to tell him it fell out. After he lost it, he looked like this:

Yep, a class A hillbilly. Apparently, the left front tooth was coming in and pushing this one out of the way. It kept moving farther and farther over the the right, and I think that's what knocked out the right front tooth. So, he walked around like this for at least a week. We tried to pull the remaining tooth but it just wasn't loose enough. It kind of put a damper on our attempt to take a photo for our holiday cards, because Charlie really didn't want to send them out with him looking like that.

The second tooth finally came out when Charlie accidentally knocked it out while they were wrestling. Well, what really happened was Charlie was wrestling with Sarah and Andy was trying to mess with him, probably tickling, and so Charlie tried to swat Andy away. Instead he actually hit him in the mouth just hard enough to knock out the tooth. Andy wasn't hurt and we were all happy that tooth was out. Believe it or not he had a dentist appointment a few days later and the dentist said it happens that way all the time. Now he looks like this:

Much better. It's a little hard to eat an apple, but he's figuring how to work around it. Anyway, everywhere we go strangers keep asking him if he asked Santa for his two front teeth. Huh? No, I asked Santa for Lego Harry Potter. I tried to explain to him that there is a song titled "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth". He has never heard it. What? When I was a kid we had a holiday music program every year. It was at night, too, so all the parents could come. Or at least that's how I remember it. We sang a few Hanukkah songs and a bunch of Christmas songs, and one of the was always "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth". I think it was the dream of many little kids to be missing those teeth right around the holidays just so they could sing that song. The one he doesn't even know.

I'm surprised they don't sing it as school, but am a little more than thankful that I don't have to fit in a holiday music program this time of year. We're already too busy as it is, and Sarah's program is plenty. So, the other night I sang it for him. I sang all the words I know, which is only about two lines, but happens to be the only lines of the song. Sweet and simple. The first thing he asked me after I finished? Is that really a song? Seriously, you think I would make that up? First, I don't have the ability to think that quickly on my feet. A lot of the versus rhyme. Secondly, I'm too tired for that.

I love how he blindly believes everything I tell him. Not. So I asked Charlie to pull it up on YouTube, something he does believe, no matter how right or wrong it is, and show him that I did not make it up. He instantly found two version, one Disney version sung by Goofy and another sung by the Chipmunks. I got it right word for word.

I don't know that he really wants his two front teeth for Christmas, he'd much rather have Lego Harry Potter, but at least now he knows what everybody is talking about. Oh, and maybe his mom knows a few things after all. Not things that really matter, but things.

Kid Quote of the Day

"I didn't go through all that hustle and bustle to have a quarter of it eaten!"

-Andy, referring to the work he put in to his gingerbread house, after we realized that Amanda had gotten into it. To clarify, she did not eat any of it, and the only reason she was messing with it was because we weren't paying very close attention to her because we were playing Wii.

Kid Quote of the Day

"Mommy, you make such good desserts and such bad dinners."

-Sarah.

Sarah the Red Nosed Reindeer

On Tuesday Sarah had her Christmas show at school. They do two shows a year, one at Christmas and one at the end of the year. When Andy did these shows he was all about performing. Of course, he always has been. I've had strangers ask me his full name so they could remember it because they were convinced he was going to be a star someday. He is such a showman and was always performing on "stages" in stores or anywhere he could find one (or something that looked like one). Sarah, not so much.

Sarah has never liked the shows. She would worry about them weeks before they happened and would consistently say she didn't want to be part of it. She would cry when I dropped her off with her class and she would stand on stage either crying or straight faced, and wouldn't sing or dance or anything. It became a huge joke between Charlie and me. One performance Sarah stood there doing nothing while the girl standing next to her was dancing and singing and giving the performance of her life. It was so comical you had to laugh, otherwise you'd just cry.

We got out of the spring performance last year because we went to Disney World. Good thing, because she wasn't looking forward to it. Oh, she would talk about the songs, even sing them, and the costumes, but when you got down to it she would say she didn't want to go. I was convinced that was going to happen again this time. How could she chancge in just six short months? But, believe it or not, she has. She's actually changed a lot this year. Her teachers are fabulous, I can't say that enough, and have really helped her to love school and get over some of her fears. Last year she cried every day I dropped her off, this year she never cries. She loves it. So in the same fashion, she was really excited about the show.

She told me she wasn't going to cry and she wasn't scared. To her credit, she didn't and she wasn't. She went out there and had a great time. She danced her little tushie off and sang to her heart's content. She even had a smile on her face. For the rest of the week after the show was over she kept saying, "I miss my show". She was sad that they were done practicing and didn't have anything to look forward to. Until I told her they would soon start practicing for the spring show, that cheered her up.

My little girl is growing up. Now, if she could just stop crying about everything else.

New York, New York

Holy cow! I cannot believe it has been a week since I have written, a week! Okay, I can believe it, because life at this house is crazy. I know I say it all the time, but it is. So crazy that I accidentally blew off a friend for lunch yesterday, sorry Jen, and was gone today from 1p-7p. Ugh! We are on the go. I have all these things to write about but some of them go in and out of my head so fast I can't even remember them. I try to write them down to remember later but I haven't even been able to keep up with that lately. The kids are in school for two more days, two more days of trying to cram everything in, and then hopefully it will get a little better. But of course it won't because then it will be the week before Christmas and these kids will have the worst hyperactive behavior that they can muster all year. They can't help it, but it makes Christmas just that much less fun.

Anyway, on to the goodness. I took Andy to New York for the weekend. That's right, just the two of us. I hardly ever get to do things with just Andy anymore, and I've been wanting to do this trip for a long time. So Charlie stayed home with the girls and off we went. We flew First Class to New York. I could have ended the trip right then and just come home he loved it so much. First Class is awesome, great leg room, warm nuts, but this time we even got an ice cream sundae after our meal. He was over the moon.

Charlie arranged for a car to pick us up. Unfortunately it wasn't one of those cars where the guy holds a sign with your name on it, that would have been so cool, but it was way better than standing in the long, cold taxi line. When we got in the car I had to call dispatch in order to pay with a credit card. They put me on hold and the whole time they keep pushing their website address, www.carmellimo.com. I had to chuckle every time they would say it, because we were in a silver Dodge minivan, nothing even close to a limo. I drive a minivan everyday, not much excitement in that.

Saturday morning Andy woke me up early. Of course he did, nothing changes. That kid never sleeps in and always wakes up at the same time no matter what time zone we're in. We're going to London in March, I can't wait to see when he wakes up there. He was ready to go do things. After a brief chat with my friend, April (the April from New Jersey, not the April from Orlando), we decided we would do the Empire State Building first. One, because April couldn't meet up with us for awhile and she has sworn she will never go there again and two because we wanted to beat the lines. Smart move, because we got there and there was no line. We paid a little extra and did the Skyride where they take you on an aerial tour of the city before you go to the top. We also had the option of upgrading our ticket to go all the way to the 102nd floor, but I felt like they had enough of my money so we stopped at 86. Andy absolutely loved the top of the Empire State Building, but his favorite thing was the .25 cents I dropped in the view finder (somebody had nicely left the other .25 cents) so he could get an up close view of the Statue of Liberty. He was in heaven.

After getting Sarah a New York snow globe for her snow globe collection (Andy said we could only buy it for her because she had been to New York before, he's a stickler for the rule that you can't get it unless you've been there) we went to Rockafeller Plaza to see the big tree and go ice skating. It was very cool, but Andy was bummed there were only lights and no ornaments on it. Do you know how long it would take to put ornaments on that thing? Man. We wanted to ice skate but the line was about a mile long and luckily Andy is like me in that he is not willing to wait for anything with a super long line. He was very flexible and agreed we could come back first thing in the morning when all the tourists were still asleep.

April and her son, Riza, met us there and then we went to get frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity. I have wanted to go there since I saw the movie Serendipity, and was pretty sure that Andy would like something called frozen hot chocolate. Unfortunately, there were a lot of people in the city being tourists and Christmas shopping, so the line was over two hours long. Again Andy was cool about skipping and was easily appeased with a large bag of candy from Dylan's Candy Bar and lunch at California Pizza Kitchen (which we have about two miles from our house but he never gets to go to. Since it was his weekend I let him have his way).

After lunch we hopped into a taxi to Times Square to see the Lion King. A friend of ours had gotten us AWESOME seats and the show was fantastic. I saw it nine years ago with Charlie and obviously know how the story goes, but didn't remember a lot of the Broadway version. Fabulous! Afterwards we walked around Times Square in the dark, saw the ball that will be dropping on New Year's (I quickly realized that I never, ever want to go to Times Square for New Year's Eve) and visited the M&M store. Then we headed back to the hotel to meet up with April and Riza again. We were having a hard time finding a taxi and then one of those guys that drives the bike that pulls a cart (in Thailand they are called tuk-tuks) saw us and asked us if we wanted a ride. I was going to say no, but Andy was so excited so we did it. I'm glad we did because he really enjoyed it. The driver took us back past Rockafeller Plaza so we got to see the tree at night and we even drove by two cops on horses.

We topped off the evening with burgers and fries in the room and a few hours of playing the iPad and the child was in bliss. The next morning he woke me bright and early again so we could go skating. Unfortunately it was raining so skating was out. Instead we went back to Times Square to check out the Disney Store and Toys R Us. The Disney store wasn't that unique, just a larger version of the store we have here, but the Toys R Us was pretty cool. It has a little Willy Wonka candy shop inside, an ice cream parlour and a full size ferris wheel.

From there we went to the Museum of Natural History. We saw an awesome walk through about the race to the south pole and then spent a lot of time on the big bang theory and the universe. Andy loved the museum, which I love about him, and can't wait to go back. From the museum it was back to the hotel just to pick up our bags and then to the airport. Fast, fast weekend. I told him I'd like to take him somewhere about once a year, so he asked me if we could go to Washington D.C. in January (that's next year, right?). Smart kid.

It really was great to get away. Andy and I used to do everything together and went on trips all the time. Then his sisters came along, as happens to families, and now he doesn't get as much attention. He does fine, but it's nice that we can do things one on one with him every once in awhile. Charlie gets to do a little more, because he takes him to school every morning and they do scouting and sometimes practices together, but I don't have that. We do read together every night, but we spend that time reading, not talking. So I'm so glad that we got to be together and hold hands and talk and share and do something that's just us. I hope someday he'll remember these trips and think of them fondly, but if not, at least I will.

Deck the Halls with Spinning Dreidels

We are knee deep in holiday spirit at our house. That's what happens when you have one parent who is Jewish and one parent who is Christian, lots of holiday cheer. December is a crazy month. The kids are inundated with gifts from us and from family. The get the receiving part, I think they have a little trouble with the giving. We try to teach them about sharing with others and getting gifts for each other, but they are small so it's hard.

At Andy's school they have an angel tree (well, technically it's an eagle tree because their mascot is the eagles, but you get what I mean), so I had Andy pick out a few angels and go shopping with me. One of the things we needed was a winter coat. We had gotten his coat at Costco this year, so I suggested we all go there to pick out a coat for our angel. Unfortunately, since it got cold over Thanksgiving there weren't any coats left. Charlie and I weren't in the mood to shop for anything else that day, which is unusual when we go to Costco, but we did come across a nice variety case of Leinenkugel beer. As Charlie said, "You mean we came here to buy a coat for a needy child and left with nothing but a case of beer?". Yep, sadly that's how it went. Great lesson for the kids.

On Saturday we put up our tree but had friends coming over so left the decorating until Sunday. We've had a fake tree for 3-4 years now, and it's still weird to me. We had a very strong tradition at our house growing up where my dad would take all the kids out to a tree farm to get our tree. My dad or one of my brothers would climb a 50 foot tree and cut off the top and then we would take it home. Couldn't be fresher. We did it every year. My dad would string the lights and my mom would get out all the decorations. One year we even video taped the journey so we could show it to our children and grandchildren someday. It's actually pretty hilarious, my brother and dad really play it up for the camera. Anyway, Charlie and I tried the real tree thing a couple of years, but they ended in disaster. The first year it was pretty much dead before we got home and after we took it down I clogged and almost ruined the vacuum cleaner with pine needles. The second year Charlie brought the gas powered leaf blower/vac into the house to take care of the cleanup. Very bad idea. After that we found out Charlie was allergic to cedar and that solved all my issues with trying to have a live tree. I do miss the smell of a real tree in the house, but the fake ones are so much easier.

The tradition isn't quite the same as what I had growing up, but it's turning into our tradition, and I hope that my kids will have nothing but fond memories of it. As we were getting the Christmas decorations out, the kids were so excited to see things they remembered from previous years, like the snowman that stacks inside itself. It made me remember the happy feelings I got as a kid as I watched my mom unpack our decorations. I know it was a pain for her, but I loved it. I still remember the Mrs. Clause candle she put out every year. Thinking of it gives me warm fuzzies. With my kids the tradition is going to be a little different. Instead of watching out for sap when you decorate the tree, you have to look for branches that haven't been spread out yet.

This year, after we put all the decorations away, we moved over to the menorah and lit the Hanukkah candles. Charlie and I were guessing that not many families light the candles with Christmas music in the background. But that's just us. We're not doing a good job of teaching the kids about either religion, but I hope that we are teaching them some and it is enough for them to investigate further as they get older. I have no doubts that Andy will, because he truly seeks out knowledge, but I hope we don't let the girls down.

So the stockings are hung, we are nearing the end of Hanukkah, and we're gearing up for the end of school and Christmas with my family. Surprisingly, I'm pretty calm. My shopping is basically done, I just have a few odds and ends to tie up, and hopefully instead of being frantic for the rest of the month we can enjoy ourselves. That's the plan anyway.

2:27 A.M.

I don't want to spend all my time writing about how Amanda is always keeping us up, but that's about all I can focus on right now. She has not been sleeping well, and therefore we have not been sleeping well. Basically, everybody pays. She's tired, I'm tired, and the older kids get the brunt of it because I have no patience and the baby is crying all the time. Fun times!

Yesterday Amanda had a fever for most of the day. It started on Sunday, went all day yesterday, and today she is fever free. I don't know if it's teething or from playing around in the doctor's office on Friday (quick side note - Andy had a weird rash on his chest so I took my three kids and one friend [I forgot I had told her mom she could come home with us from school when I made Andy's appointment] to the pediatrician. I hate taking my kids to the doctor, because we are always stuffed in that tiny exam room for what seems like forever and there is nothing to do in there except make each other mad and fight, so adding another kid was not the best idea. Of course the kids were touching everything and rolling all over the floor so I'm not surprised if Amanda got sick from being there.) or just from the fact that it's winter, but she was miserable. She didn't sleep well during the day so I made sure to put her down a little early. You'd think that since she wasn't feeling well she would sleep hard, but not so much.

I should have known it was going to be a long night when she woke up at 10:30p screaming. I gave it a little bit but when she wasn't quieting down I went up there for about 30 minutes. That should have been my sign to go to bed, but I'm not so good at reading the signs lately. So, I stayed up until 12:30a. On top of that, Charlie was in Miami on a business trip, so I had no reinforcement. When Amanda woke at around 1:30-2:00a, I decided it would just be easier to bring her into bed with me. We were still awake when Sarah came into bed with us around 2:00p. I thought we would all just fall asleep, until Sarah announced she had to go to the bathroom. Now, how to do that? I couldn't leave Amanda in the bed by herself because she was awake and would cry and probably fall off the bed. Sarah wouldn't go to the bathroom by herself because it was dark and she is scared of the dark. I can't tell you how sick I am of kids being scared of the dark. I cannot wait until that stage is over. Even Andy is still scared of the dark and he's almost eight.

Finally at 2:27 a.m. I took Sarah to the bathroom. I considered letting her just wet the bed, since it was Charlie's side after all, but I didn't want to mess with changing the sheets so off we went. All three of us. It was then that once again I wondered how single moms do it. What do you do when you have to be two places at the same time? Yep, you all end up in the bathroom at 2:27 a.m. After we got back to the bed it still took Amanda awhile to fall asleep, and then she was up and ready to go by 6:15a. I decided maybe she needed a dry diaper and a glass of water, and Sarah whimpered and cried the whole time we were gone because she did not want to be left alone in the dark. After I diapered and watered the baby, I tried to bring her back to bed, but she just screamed. Over and over and over, and she is loud. That behavior won her a trip back to her crib, but that didn't make her too happy and she just screamed there. At least I could lie down for a bit and try to wake up. I finally got her out of bed at 6:45a when my alarm said it was time to get up and now all the kids were awake and wondering what all the noise was about.

So now, Sarah and I are tired and cranky, the baby is trying to sleep every time I put her in the car, and poor Andy, who of course got a great night's sleep, has to walk on pins and needles so nobody gets mad at him. Did I mention already, good times? Luckily Charlie will be back tonight. I think I'm going to dig up a pair of those ear plugs he used to put in when Amanda was tiny and I was getting up with her a couple of times a night. Maybe we both will.

When Baby's Awake, We're All Awake

Yes, I know, I haven't written in a long time. I'll apologize, but this won't be the first time. You're not going to hear much from me for the rest of the year. It is too CRAZY around here. With Hanukkah and Christmas and trying to find gifts for nieces and nephews and all the teachers (and with my kids in so many activities, there are a lot of teachers), I just don't have time to put it all down. That just adds to my insanity, because little snippets of text are running through my head all day long. As if I was typing as I was driving, folding laundry, emptying the dishwasher, any mundane task that I am attempting to complete during my day. If only I could type while doing those things, you would get an earfull. The other reason why I haven't been writing, is that the kids haven't really been doing anything funny, just annoying. Okay, it's probably all really funny to you, but to me it's just annoying. Oh well, someday I'll get over it.

Here's an example of something annoying that you will find funny. You know how sometimes you wake up at the totally wrong time but you think it's time to get up so you take a shower and get dressed and then realize it's only 2:30 a.m. and you don't have to be awake for another four hours? I'm pretty sure that's happened to everyone. I'm not sure why your brain doesn't register the actual time when you look at the clock, but you are positive that it's your normal waking time. Well, this morning Amanda started crying. I rolled over and turned off the alarm because it was about to go off anyway, or so I thought. I went to her room and picked her up and started rocking her for a bit. I do that because sometimes she goes back to sleep and sometimes I'm just too tired to do anything else.

After what seemed like 20-30 minutes, I stood up. I turned off her noise maker and grabbed a clean diaper. I took her into my bathroom and tried to get her to go to the bathroom, then took off her pajamas and put on her new diaper. Naked baby in nothing but a diaper. At that point I had not looked at a clock, but assumed it was probably around 7:00 or 7:15 and Andy was late and needed to get up. So I let Amanda wander into the kids' room and went in to get Andy out of bed. It was then that I looked at his clock and realized it was only 6:20 a.m. About 40 minutes before he needed to be up. Of course at this point the damage was done and both Andy and Sarah were awakened by Amanda. So, all four of us were up and dressed by about 6:45 a.m. New record. Charlie was in New York for meetings today so it was just the four of us.

I thought that I had gotten out of bed at 6:45, but I guess it was more like 5:45. I don't even know. All I know is that the girls were extra cranky all day and I paid for my mistake because they definitely needed that extra sleep and so did I.

So, that's all for now, but I'll be sure to notify you the next time my kids do something extra annoying. Yes, I'll write again tomorrow :)

Oops She Did It Again!

My friend, April, has a blog (which is kind of how I started writing mine in the first place, because I was so inspired) and has mentioned several times how her son, Riza, has pooped in the bathtub. She hasn't mentioned several times about one pooping incident, each time is a separate pooping incident. Needless to say, it seems to me the warm water does something for him because he poops in the tub a lot. Every time I just laugh. I am one of those lucky people who's children have never pooped in the bathtub. Maybe once, but if so I don't remember, and I think I would remember that monumental occasion and I really don't. Of course, my memory stinks so I could be wrong. But as far as I'm concerned, if I don't remember it, it didn't happen. I digress. I say lucky because there's really no skill of parenting involved. It's not like good parents' kids don't poop in the bathtub and bad parent's kids do. This is just one of the few things I have been lucky with.

That does not mean I don't have my own pooping stories to tell. There's the one where Andy was an infant and his poop shot about six feet across the room. That's Charlie's favorite story and he wasn't even there. I have more frustrating poop stories centered around potty training with Sarah that I care to remember. The other day with Amanda, however, takes the cake.

If you remember, and really how could you forget something so crazy, I have been doing cloth diapers with Amanda and EC (Elimination Communication, aka infant potty training). I love the cloth diapers and wish I had done it with all of my kids, really, but that's not part of this story. The EC is. The other night we were getting the kids ready for bed, so I took Amanda to the bathroom before I put on her bedtime diaper. She pooped, which was fantastic, because she's been on a little pooping strike since August. I guess it's very common, at least my other EC friends have told me so, that around this age babies like to show their power and will refuse to stop going on the toilet. She was doing it like a champ in August, and then stopped. She's been great with the peeing, but not so much on the pooping. Way more than you want to know.

So in the last couple of weeks she's finally coming around with the pooping in the toilet again. Yay! That means a lot less dirty diapers. After she pooped, I set her down and remembered that all the overnight diapers were in the dryer, and I would have to go downstairs to get one. I told her to go find Daddy and went down to get a diaper. Charlie was doing something in the game room so wasn't really paying attention to Amanda at the moment. I came back maybe two minutes later, it wasn't that long. I found her in Andy and Sarah's room with poop all down her leg. Ahhh! I scooped her up, and yelled for Charlie to find the poop while I plopped her in the tub and washed her off. She had done a lot of damage in those short two minutes. Of course all the pooping had been done in our bathroom. Remember, the bathroom that still has carpet on it because we haven't taken the time to get it tiled? The one that Andy puked on just a couple of weeks ago? Ugh.

This time I remembered what to do. I told Charlie to go get the corn starch that I had stocked up on after Andy puked. While I dressed the baby he covered all the spots with corn starch. Unfortunately, Amanda rarely has solid poop. It's usually very soft and this particular evening was kind of runny, so there were several spots on the bathroom floor. No worries, we'd vacuum up that corn starch before we went to bed and all would be good. Except later that night we realized that funny sound we'd been hearing in our vacuum was a broken belt and we'd need to get a new one before we could vacuum up all the corn starch. Unbelievable. Fortunately it was Friday night so Charlie and Amanda went out to get a new belt the next morning.

Before that trip to the vacuum store, however, I slipped up one more time. I had just taken Amanda to the bathroom and she had pooped, again. This time of course it was more solid and would have been easy to clean up off our bathroom floor, but was sitting where it was supposed to be in the toilet. Charlie told me no more commando and went upstairs to get a diaper. I let Amanda down and told her to go wait for Charlie at the bottom on the steps. She did, but as Charlie came down the stairs not 30 seconds later he noticed that she had peed on the floor. Are you kidding me? I couldn't believe it. Again, while I got her diaper on he cleaned up the floor. Oh, how I love my husband. What is up with that kid? The last couple of days I have made her sit for an extra minute or two before I let her down just to be sure she is totally done, because obviously things are moving a little slow down there.

The good thing is, the corn starch worked. It didn't get all the stains out but they did come out with the special floor cleaner the professionals left the last time they came. It did work by removing all evidence of smell and all accompanying liquid. So now you know.

Kid Quote of the Day

Sarah: That makes me sad.

Andy: Sarah, you were born to be sad.

Can't remember what they were talking about, but pretty much everything "makes" Sarah sad so Andy was spot on.

The One Where Baby Eats French Fries

You know how they say (you know, THEM) that the more kids you have the earlier they do things? So true. Amanda can do things her siblings never did at her age, and stuff that other kids her age aren't even thinking about. For example, when she wants a drink, she gets a sippy cup and lid and takes it over to the refrigerator to fill with water. When that doesn't work, because she is too short to reach the water dispenser, she brings it to me or one of the kids. How many 15 month olds do you know that do that?

When Andy was little, we were very careful about what we let him eat. Well, except that one time when he was only 10 months old and we fed him some of our Thai food and forgot that it was covered in peanut sauce and peanut sauce has, well, peanuts in it. Luckily he does not have a peanut allergy. But in general, we were careful about what we gave him and tried very hard to make sure that it was healthy. We wanted to instill good eating habits in him and make sure he didn't eat a lot of junk and get fat or have his teeth fall out. So, he was about 2 1/2 or 3 before we gave him french fries. Every time I would run into my friend, Lisa, she would say "Has Andy had french fries yet?". Her daughter ate nothing but french fries, so she couldn't fathom that my kid didn't eat them at all. Looking forward, it worked out pretty well. Of course he likes candy and junk food, but he makes very good food choices and almost always chooses fruit over fries.

Sarah was a different story. She would see Andy eating fries, and therefore she wanted them. She was probably about 18 months when she had her first fries and never turned back. When she has the choice she always picks fries, unless her friends are picking fruit then she goes with them.

Amanda hasn't really had fries. Maybe one or two here or there, but not really. Definitely not before she turned one. But yesterday, she definitely got to try them out. We had to run an errand before Sarah went to therapy and we were running out of time to go home and have lunch. So I went through the Chick-fil-A drive-thru to get us some lunch. I gave Sarah hers in the car and was going to share mine with Amanda when we got to the therapy office. As soon as Sarah got the hot little bag in her hand, Amanda started asking for some food. Now, she can't say any real words, but when she wants something to eat she says, "mum mum mum". I think it's from when we used to give her Mum Mums, the baby rice cakes, all the time, now she thinks that's the word for food. So there she is, looking at Sarah, saying "mum mum mum" over and over again. The food was too hot to give to her, so she just kept saying it. Finally I heard Sarah's hand rustling in the bag and a few seconds later Amanda stopped talking. She finally had her delicious waffle fry. You could tell when she was ready for the next one, because the "mum mum mum" started all over again.

So how's she going to turn out? Is she going to be like Andy, and choose the fruit, or Sarah, and choose the fries? I'm hoping we'll break even and have her somewhere in between, but truly when she eats french fries is the least of my worries. It's the other stuff she's going to do early that really scares me.

Kid Quote of the Day

Sarah: I'm going to pass gas on your car seat because you did that to me.

Andy: Well, I have two seats, so I'll just smell them both and sit in the one that you didn't do.


Yeah, I think she wins either way.

R&R

I just got back from three days in sunny Orlando with the girls from Myrtle Beach. Okay, to clarify, as Sarah says they are not girls, but yes, women. Also, none of them are actually from Myrtle Beach, they are just the women that we always go to Mrytle Beach with (yes, I know I just ended a sentence with a preposition). Are you up to speed now?

Anywho, we spent a wonderful day on Friday at the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. The weather was nothing short of fantastic and the lines were not long at all. We ate our way all around the world, it was delicious. I love the Food and Wine Festival and want to go back every year. Charlie doesn't like it as much and that's why this year we went without him. It was pretty weird being at Disney without any kids or a stroller. I haven't been there without a stroller in over seven years. It seemed like we were walking so fast and we didn't have to weave in and out of anybody. The only sad thing was we didn't have anywhere to put our packages. In fact, we weren't really sure what to do with them. We almost rented a wheel chair just so everybody could rest every once in awhile and we would have somewhere to hang our bags. In the end I just brought a good sized shoulder bag that did the trick.

On Saturday we shopped and shopped. I tried not to shop, because I have been doing that a lot lately, so instead I played the game, "how much money can you make your friend spend?". It's a great game. Basically, you encourage your friends to buy things, clothes, shoes, whatever, so you don't feel so bad about the amount of money that you are spending. We also have a "who spent the most money?" contest, and after every store declare who the current winner is (there, I did it again). Luckily that day I was the big loser.

Overall, we had a great time. Lots of eating and shopping and eating some more. We were going to hit a movie but we ran out of time. I got at least eight hours of sleep both nights and came home rejuvinated. Charlie took great care of the kids and they all had a wonderful time.

So why am I not so, so happy? I don't know, I should be. I got away for the weekend and the house didn't fall apart. In fact, it looked just about how I left it, which is a big deal. I'm glad everything went well, because that means that I can go away again. But that's where I'm having the issue. When Charlie is gone for the weekend, it's always a nightmare. I'm so tired and the kids are cranky and everybody misses him. When I'm gone, they are so happy that they are with Charlie they don't even care I'm gone.

Yes, I know they love me, but they love Charlie more. Or at least they act like they do. Maybe because he is more fun, that has a lot to do with it, but also because they just don't see him as much. When they're with him they play. He is so great about playing with them. When they are with me we are rushing everywhere, going from activity to activity, and when we are home I'm trying to make dinner or do laundry or something. I'm not a fun mom, just Mom.

I'm sure I'm a broken record, you've heard this before. I'm okay with it, it's just that sometimes it makes me sad. Years from now when my kids are my age, what are they going to remember? How are they going to think of me? Are they going to have fond memories of me in their childhood or is Mom just going to be on the sidelines while Dad is the main attraction?

Right now I'm too tired to deal with it, and that's part of my problem. Give it some time and the fun mom will come out again. I know she's in there, she just covered with piles of dirty clothes.

Kid Quote of the Day

"What is your favorite type of death omen?"

-Andy. Yep, we've moved on from Percy Jackson into the world of Harry Potter. No more questions about gods and demi-gods, now their all about death eaters and omens and dementors. Good times.

Big Snotty Baby

Amanda had her 15 month well visit today. She did awesome. Well, really, it's not a test, I'm not sure how you can do poorly, unless your kid can't walk, is grossly overweight and can't do any of the things they ask you about. Amanda did pretty well. Off the bottle, check. It helps that she was never on a bottle, but I get a check anyway. Walks, check. Feeds herself finger food, check. Communicates, check. I didn't say talk, she doesn't do that, but she communicates very well, even if it's not really with sign language. She's got us right where she wants us. Points to her body parts when you say their names...huh? Really, I'm supposed to be teaching her body parts. Actually, Charlie has been working on it with her, but me not so much. When I joked to the nurse that I didn't know I was supposed to do that, she asked if Amanda was my first. When I told her she was my third, she just laughed and said something like, "Yeah, you don't really do that by the time you get to the third. They'll learn it eventually." She is completely right!

So my baby who won't be a baby much longer weighs 24.5 pounds and is 30 1/4 inches tall. That's 42nd percentile for height and 73rd percentile for weight. Yep, just like mom and dad, short and fat. In her defense, both of her siblings were like that when they were babies and it all evened out. So I'm not worried at all, a healthy baby.

The thing I did want to talk to the doctor about was all her snot. I thought it was mostly allergies, and it turns out for once I was right, but what to do about it? Every time the weather changes or there's a big wind she has a non-stop runny nose and drainage for at least a week. She's already on Zyrtec, so what next? He recommended she throws back a little Benedryl as a chaser. That should do the trick. It might help her sleep better too. Hmm, not a bad idea. Really, I'll do anything to stop the snot because she seems so sad and her face is all puffy and she coughs like crazy when she first gets up. Also, her hair is just about the length of her nose so if you don't put it back it gets in the snot. In the morning her hair is actually stuck in the dried snot under her nose. It's so sad and she is so miserable as you try to get it out. Poor, poor baby.

I asked about seeing the allergist, but he wants us to wait on that. Of course. She doesn't really exhibit any of the symptoms for which he would send a baby to an allergist, but this isn't something I want to mess with. We'll see how the Benedryl goes.

Other than the extra chub and the snot, she's doing great. She's one big happy baby. Hopefully it will stay that way. I could use a break from the craziness.

Arf, Arf

Amanda will be 15 months old tomorrow. She goes in for her well visit in the morning. When we went in for her one year well visit one of the questions they asked, to make sure she is developing correctly and on track, was "How many words can she say?". They were only looking for between 1-3, but I know tomorrow they will want it to be more. Right now, we're still at zero.

I could use the excuse that she doesn't talk because she has a brother and sister that do all the talking for her, but that's not quite true. She spends a lot of time with just me, while the kids are at school, so they aren't always around to do her bidding. I'm not sure why she doesn't speak. She doesn't even say hi. The closest thing she comes to a word is when you give her something to eat and she really likes it she says "mmmm". That's sort of yum, so maybe yum is her first word? Oh yeah, this kid isn't going to have any eating issues growing up.

She doesn't talk, but she makes lots of noise. When she wants something she say "ma", loudly and repeatedly, I think because she is trying to say more. So today Sarah was eating a Wendy's frosty in the car while we were waiting to pick up Andy, and Amanda sat there next to her just saying "ma ma ma" over and over again. She screams when she doesn't like something or doesn't get what she wants and she cries when she doesn't like what you say or do.

I've tried to teach her sign language, and she's slowly starting to use it. Andy and Sarah also used sign language, and it helps a ton. I don't teach them anything fancy, just more and eat and milk, stuff they need on a regular basis. Once someone asked me if I taught my child how to sign bird, and since that doesn't help me in any way I couldn't understand why I would want to do that. If it's going to make my life easier, I'm all for it. Otherwise, no need.

The one thing Amanda does do is bark. It's a combination bark and chirp like a bird. Any time she sees an animal, or hears a dog bark, she starts barking. It's really cute, and shows she is recognizing things and understanding how things work. The other morning she was sleeping in our bed because her allergies have been driving her crazy and she can't sleep at night. She woke up, sat up, and started barking. I'm not sure why, maybe she heard the neighbors dog barking, but she just kept going. Now when I ask her what a dog says, she barks. Of course, if I asked her what a zebra or giraffe or donkey said, she would bark then too. It's not the point of what sound she's making, it's that she knows it's an animal and makes some sort of noise.

This is the stuff that I love about babies and their journey into toddlerhood and further. They don't know anything, but they slowly start to figure it out and piece it all together. She understands so much that we do and say, I just wish I could get into that little head and figure out what she's thinking. The fact that she's not talking, I'm cool with that. Because if she' anything like the other two, once she starts she'll never stop. So for now, I'm perfectly happy with some barking here and there.

Escape

Amanda is trying very hard to open the front door. See, she's even on her tip toes. I'm going to have to start watching her a little closer. Before you know it I'll be finding her playing in the front yard with stray dogs.

Kid Quote of the Day

Me: Sarah, can you go tell Daddy goodnight so I can put you to bed?

Sarah: No, because he said I couldn't lick.

Me: Well, you shouldn't lick other people's tongues, it's kind of gross. (She was trying to lick Amanda's tongue earlier)

Sarah: No it isn't, it's awesome!

Oh man, are we in big trouble in a few short years!

Kid Quote of the Day

"When I get a phone I think my ring tone will be Paranoid."

-Andy. Yeah, when he finally gets a phone when he's fifteen or sixteen, I'm pretty sure he's not going to want Paranoid by the Jonas Brothers as his ring tone.

Why Is It So Hard To Follow The Rules?

With little kids in the family, you have to have house rules. That way, when their friends come over and tear up your house you can say, "Andy, can you please tell your friends the house rules?", and hopefully your kid will get their friends back in order. It doesn't really work, but you still have to have them. You also need them so you have an excuse to punish your kids every once in awhile. Ha, just kidding, but seriously, you have to have house rules so the kids know what you expect from them. They don't have to be difficult or lengthy, just rules of the house that everybody knows and agrees upon.

One of the rules we have that the kids, never, ever follow is "No talking to Mom or Dad while they are on the phone". We try to explain to them that when they talk to us while we're on the phone it makes the call even longer and it's rude to the person on the other end and it's disrespectful, but they don't care. My kids could be completely quiet doing their own thing and as soon as I pick up the phone to call someone, anyone, they will run in the room and have to talk to me that minute. Or start fighting. Loudly.

They know they aren't supposed to talk to us while we're on the phone, but they can't help themselves. They truly cannot stay away, they must find a way to communicate with us. Andy thinks that not talking to us means he can use his made up sign language to talk to us instead. So he won't actually speak, but he'll make all these weird hand gestures and faces that are so distracting you have no idea where your conversation is going. Or he'll whisper, because that's not really talking either. They just don't get it.

Yesterday, I was talking to my brother on the phone. The kids were in the living room and I was in the office so I could have some privacy. I could hear them in the other room, but they weren't fighting and seemed to be getting along okay. Amanda, of course, was in the high chair, her personal prison, so I knew everything was okay with her. All of a sudden, Andy came into the entryway (the office is off the entryway and when sitting at the desk that's exactly what you see out the door) completely naked. Huh? I was trying really hard to concentrate on my phone call, but it's pretty hard with a naked seven year old boy standing in front of you. Especially one that is constantly claiming he needs his privacy and won't change his clothes in front of me half the time.

Soon after Sarah came into the room and they both started telling me that she took his clothes off. Huh? He's seven, she's four. There is no way she took his clothes off of his body without him wanting her to take them off. I shooed them out of the room, telling Andy to get dressed, so I could finish my conversation. At that point Andy hugged Sarah and she said, "Ugh, Andy got penis all over my shirt". She took off to the living room and the next thing I know she was back and then she was naked. Seriously, I can never get these kids to change their clothes, but when I don't want them to do it they're all over it.

I finally finished talking to my brother and looked at the kids.

"What's our rule?"

"Don't talk to Mommy when she's on the phone."

See, they know the rule. It's just getting them to follow it that's the problem.

Kid Quote of the Day

"Oohhh, don't put that in your mouth. Your nose was lighting up!"

-Andy, telling Sarah to take her light-up wand from her Halloween costume out of her mouth.

Happy Halloween

Last week I took the kids to get their pictures taken for Halloween. There's only a couple of times a year that I take them. Valentine's Day (which coincides nicely with Andy's birthday), Father's Day, and Halloween. Every once in awhile I'll take them for something else, like a big birthday or something, but otherwise that's it. We take so many photos ourselves that we find it very difficult to pay other people to take pictures of our kids. However, I do like to get a few nice pictures of the kids in a better setting than my messy, toy infested living room, so off we go. Also, as they get older I know we will go less and less, so I try to keep a record of them now while they are young and still changing.

Taking the kids for their Halloween pictures is a huge undertaking. It doesn't sound that difficult, but it is. First, you have to remember everything for their costumes. This year was particularly challenging because Andy was Harry Potter so I had to have the wand and the glasses and the tie and the robe and the eye liner to make his scar, ugh. Then, you can't let them wear the costumes in case they mess them up on the way to the photographer. Next, we have to bring our Halloween pajamas and get an adorable picture in them as well. Did I mention that I can't forget anything?

Now that the two older kids are both in school almost everyday, it adds another challenge. I have to wait until after school to take them. When they are tired and cranky and Amanda has most likely not had a nap, because she doesn't like to nap much no matter what day it is. I took them on a Tuesday for a 5:00 p.m. appointment. I promised Sonic and slushies and anything else I could think of that would just make them behave for the hour that was needed to get the pictures. The studio is in the mall, so we have to park, walk in with all our stuff (I truly look like a bag lady I have so many bags of costumes and pajamas and whatever else) and then walk past the food court and the yummy cookie and pretzel stores to get there. Then, once we arrive, we have to cram into the one-person bathroom and get all three of them into their costumes.

The stress of it almost kills me each time. We always end up getting a few good pictures so in the end it's worth it, but before I see those pictures I swear I'm never coming again. Sarah smiles great but never looks at the camera, Amanda is afraid of it all and is trying to run out of the scene, and Andy always thinks he has better pose ideas than the person taking the pictures. You know, the one who gets paid to do it for a living and does it all day long? After we're finally done I have to pay up and follow through with my bribe of Sonic or Chick-fil-A or candy. One time their behavior was so abysmal that I refused to give them their promised prize. That got them back in line for a long time.

So, I won't give into the stress. In a couple of years they will all be old enough to participate and do what is asked without making me pull my hair out, but the pictures won't be quite as cute or fun. I definitely won't be able to get Andy in pajamas that match his sisters.

Kid Quote of the Day

Sarah: Daddy, Andy said I couldn't go outside.

Andy: No I didn't!

Charlie: How many times have we told you not to listen to Andy?

Sarah: Zero.

Charlie: Are you lying? Because if you are you can go to your room for an hour.

Sarah: Seven.


Nice guess, honey, but try more like a MILLION.

Not To Be Outdone By Her Big Brother

Andy isn't the only one I have interesting conversations with. This is one I had with Sarah this morning in the car on the way to school. Remember, she's four.

Sarah: Mommy, what's 10 + 10 + 10?

Me: 30.

Sarah: What's 30 + 30 + 30?

Me: 90.

Sarah: What's 90 + 90 + 90 + 90 + 90 + 90?

Me: 540.

Sarah: What's 540 + 540 + 540 + 540 + 540 +540 + 540?

Me: 3780.

Sarah: What's...

Me: Stop. I can't do any more than that in my head. That's all I can do.

Sarah (pauses): Mommy, what's 1 + 1?

Me: You tell me?

Sarah: No, I just want to see if YOU know the answer!

Kid's Quote of the Day

The kids were looking at a toy catalog the other day so they could tell me what they want for Christmas. Andy and Sarah had the following conversation:

Sarah: I want the person with the bicycle.

Andy: You realize you don't get the person.

Sarah: I think they are fake people.

A Tiny Peek Into the Insanity

Ever since Andy's been able to talk, he's been asking questions. In that way he's like Charlie, he asks a ton of questions, trying to figure out the world, and sometimes doesn't even stop to wait for your answer before he asks another. It's maddening. Over the years I've learned that the answers I give are rarely the answers he is looking for. Huh? Why? Because I don't truly understand the question he is asking.

For example, he used to ask me a lot of what if questions, but they weren't your normal what ifs. He had a very specific answer in mind, and if you didn't give it to him you were wrong. One time he asked me, "Mommy (because every single question always starts with Mommy), what would happen if poop came out your penis and pee came out your butt?". Of course I'm thinking of all these medical conditions where something horrible has gone wrong and how your life would change forever, but instead, because I've learned, I said, "I don't know Andy. What would happen?". His answer? "Then you would have to stand up to poop and sit down to pee." Makes sense, just not where you thought it was going.

So, the other day he started barraging me with questions once again. Sarah started taking an art class about 15 minutes away from our house. The class is only an hour long, so if we went home we would only be there for about 20 minutes before we had to turn around again. As a result, we usually run errands or go somewhere for a snack while we wait. I don't get a lot of one on one time with Andy anymore, so this is his chance to hang out with Mom and ask crazy questions. Yes, Amanda is with us, but she isn't much of a conversationalist at this point in time.

Our conversation went like this:

Andy: Mommy, what are the rules for riding out west?

Me: I don't understand your question.

Andy: What are the rules...

Me: I understood what you said, I just don't know what you are trying to ask.

Andy: Okay, let me reword it. What are the rules for driving in the dessert?

Me: Same as any other driving rules.

Andy: They just drive around in the sand?

Me: No, there would have to be roads, otherwise the cars would get stuck in the sand.

Andy: Yeah, like dirt roads?

Me: No, cement roads.

Not exactly where you thought the conversation was going, huh? Maybe a cow hand could have given a better answer.

Kid Quote of the Day

"This is one chipped buda."

-Andy. I bought some really cute buda magnets for the fridge and they are just some of the things Amanda likes to frantically throw on the floor. Apparently they don't do so well on tile.

Hurricane Amanda

I forgot what it's like to have a one year old. Blocked this stage completely out of my head. You don't forget the baby stuff - the sleepless nights, the spitting up, the crying - you try to, but you can't. The stage right after the baby stuff, however, is easy to forget. Now that we're doing it again, it's all coming back. The frenzy with which the baby runs through the house tearing everything apart, throwing things in all directions, moving from target to target. I'm not sure why, but I forgot they even behaved this way until I am now in the thick of it.

Having a one year old is a full time job. At least if your one year old is active, and mine is. She is EVERYWHERE. When we moved into this house, we tried to make it toddler/kid friendly so the kids could learn to be a little more independent and do things for themselves. We put all the cups in a low drawer so the kids could get their own drinks, and the bowls and plates just above them. It's a great setup, or was until Amanda learned how to open up the drawer. Now there are cups and lids and plastic straws all over the kitchen floor during most of the day. Every time I pick them up and put them back she notices they are missing and replaces them. It wasn't until she actually started doing this that I remembered Sarah did the same thing. Basically you just have to wait until the end of the day to pick them up and leave them all over the house the rest of the day. Otherwise you'll go crazy. You also don't wash them, because if you did you'd be washing cups all day long. Let's just say we're building up their immune systems.

Her other favorite place to hang out is the recycle bin. We keep it in the laundry room, which is attached to the garage, and try to keep the door closed, but don't always remember. As soon as that door opens she's there like a flash (kind of like the dish washer). Today while I was moving some laundry from washer to dryer, she was trying to drink out of an empty milk container. Earlier this morning she was carrying a smashed coke can around the house. She's like a little bag lady, digging through the trash. She just can't stay away.


I know this stage won't last long. She'll tire of it eventually. Andy used to do the same thing with our Tupperware drawer. Eventually I had a set for Andy and a set for us to use. I won't do that with the cups, I'll just keep asking her to put them back in the drawer. In the meantime, I'll continue to walk through my house in disgust because it's a mess, and be just a little bit embarrassed when friends come over to visit. Just like all the others, this stage won't last long, but this probably won't be one that I miss after it's gone.

Dish Washer Wanted, No Experience Necessary

Amanda decided she was going to help me unload the dishes from the dishwasher this afternoon. I don't know if you've ever had a one year old help you unload the dishwasher, but it's not pretty. The second I opened the door she ran over to help. The first thing she did was grab a knife from the silverware holder, a butter knife not a sharp one, and lick it. Thank you very much, back into the dishwasher. After I asked her to leave the silverware alone, and took it so she couldn't grab anymore, she picked up a plate, luckily a plastic kid's plate, and, you guessed it, licked it. At this point I should have just rerun the dishwasher.

As I emptied the silverware container into the drawer, Sarah came over to play defense and prevented Amanda from picking up any of the breakable plates. Luckily when it comes to Amanda, Sarah has become a huge help. When it comes to anything else, not so much. As I gathered up all the plates to put in the cabinet, Amanda decided we were don't unloading the dishwasher and tried to shut the door. Unfortunately the bottom rack was still out with breakable dishes in it. It was just heavy enough to prevent her from getting the door very far, but she was trying hard.

I finally grabbed all the bowls, pushed in the bottom rack and put the bowls in the cabinet only to turn back to the dishwasher and find her sitting on the open door. Now I know those doors are strong, but I don't know how long they can hold 22+ pounds. I took her off, told her no, which really has zero effect, and pulled out the top rack. At this point you'd think I'd just give up, but no, I'm a glutton for punishment. Plus, I had a sink full of dirty dishes that needed to go into the dishwasher. This is the part Sarah is good at, because it's mostly plastic. So she started grabbing plastic cups and lids and putting them away. Not wanting to be left out, Amanda also starting grabbing cups. Finally finding a job she could actually do, I told her to take the cup and put it in the drawer where the kids' cups go. Amazingly, she did.

When we finally got the dishwasher unloaded with no injuries or broken dishes, I started to reload with the dirty dishes. At least now if she licked them or dropped them I wouldn't have to rewash them because they were already dirty. I put all the silverware in first and as I was putting in the plates she grabbed a knife, the sharp kind. Oh how she loves those knives. I nicely took it away from her, put the last of the dirties in and then asked her if she wanted to help me close the door. Of course that had been what she was waiting for all along. As soon as it was shut she walked away. Game over.

This is just foreshadowing for so many, many things I will have to be careful about in the next coming months. Give me strength!

Kid Quote of the Day

"How come nothing is about me today?"

-Andy. Believe me, I ask myself the same question on a daily basis.

Kid Quote of the Day

"I feel like not having you for my mom."

-Sarah, upset with me for something stupid. Don't worry honey, sometimes I feel like not having you for a daughter.

Frayed Nerves

Amanda has picked up a very bad habit. I'm not sure why, but she's been screaming. A lot. It's not a high pitched scream, but instead just a long, loud scream that makes you want to cover your ears. She does it around the house, which is tolerable, since you can get some distance. The problem is she also likes to do it in the car.

I haven't figured out if she screams because she's happy or excited or mad, this evening she was doing it when playing with Charlie and was definitely happy, but I don't really care. When she does it in the car I have a very hard time staying calm. I've tried covering my ears, but then I don't have any hands on the wheel and that's not too safe. Sometimes she does it when nothing is going on, but usually it's when Andy is trying to talk to me from the way back, Sarah is either also talking to me or singing a song and I'm trying to concentrate on driving. It's too much. It's enough to drive you insane. My nerves are shot and by the end of the day I'm just exhausted from listening to it.

I know I'm not always the quietest person, but her volume is unbelievable. It is just so loud. She screamed a lot when she was smaller, and I thought it would go away as she got older. Some of it has gone away, she doesn't scream all the time, but it's not a tiny baby scream anymore. This is a full lung shout out for all to hear.

Charlie recently got a hearing test and was told that a small amount of his hearing was gone (or damaged or something like that). The technician said it could be a result of loud children at home. If he's only with them a couple of hours a day and I'm with the all day long what does that say for me?

Better start looking into hearing aids.

Kid Quote of the Day

Andy: Why do they even let boys into Victoria's Secret?

Me: So they can buy someone a gift?

Andy: That would make a great gift, ha ha. (Pause) Yeah, right.


If only he knew.

Recovering

I know, it's been over a week since I've written. It has been crazy here. Well, it's always crazy here, but it's been more crazy than normal. My parents arrived about two weeks ago, and stayed with the kids while we went to San Diego. Three days after they left our friends, the Dodds, arrived. They live in Orlando where there isn't any good Mexican food, so we spent four days eating at all of our favorite Mexican joints. There are so many we didn't get to take them to, but those that we did were delicious. We also took them to a few other places that we really liked, but Mexican was the theme. I think I ate about two bags worth of chips over the weekend. When we weren't eating we went to the American Girl doll store, a pumpkin patch, and to play mini golf and ride go-karts. The boys even got in a round of golf.

So now we are in recovery mode. It's fabulous to have company, especially company that you love to hang out with, it's just that while people are at your home you don't get anything done because you are having too much fun with your friends. This week I've tried to get the kids reacquainted with their bedtime, get back into our normal weekly activities, do lots of laundry and try to recover from the lack of sleep. Oh, forget about that last one, I just can't make myself get more sleep. I'd like to go to bed earlier, but I know I won't because there's too many other things to do. Things are slowly coming together.

I thought that having the older kids back at school would give me lots of time to get things done, but I never really feel like I've done anything. There's always more to do, always things that need to be picked up or put away or fixed or something. My little break from reality seems like it happened months ago, not two weeks ago. Once again I have to remind myself that it will get easier and I have to enjoy this time while the kids are little while I've got it.

Easier said than done.

Frankie Goes to San Diego

We just got back from four days in San Diego. Without the kids. I can describe the trip in one word - relaxing. There are other words to describe it to - fun, beautiful, exciting, awesome, but the best one is relaxing. Four days without the kids. Nobody screaming or fighting or crying or telling me they don't want me to be their mom anymore. Nobody being disrespectful to me or disagreeing with everything I said. Best of all, I got a lot of quiet time. Ahhh!

My parents came and stayed with the kids. They did awesome, survived, and are even willing to come back so I call it a successful trip. We left early Thursday morning and got home on Sunday afternoon. It was a fabulous charity even for Susan G. Komen and they took really good care of us. Charlie got to play a couple rounds of golf, I went on some beautiful walks, the weather was fantastic and the food was amazing. A wonderful time had by all.

There were some celebrities there, actors and actresses and lots of athletes. We ran into coach Bob Knight in the elevator and spoke to him on the way to our room (his room was two down from ours). He was very nice and much taller than he looks on tv. I told him I was an I.U. Alumni and then moved to Texas so had followed his career for years. Unfortunately I didn't see him again over the weekend so I never got a picture with him and didn't get his autograph for my friend, Kim, who LOVES Bob Knight. Oh well, it was still really cool to meet him. I also got to sit next to Wendy Malick at dinner one night. She used to be on the show Just Shoot Me and is now on the TVLand show Hot In Cleveland. She is super nice and very fun and engaging. We really had a blast talking to her.

The best part of the trip, however, better than meeting celebrities and coaches and ex-athletes, and spending some time with my wonderful husband, was getting some much needed time to myself. Each day I had at least 2-3 hours by myself in the hotel room and I really enjoyed it. Charlie asked if I was getting bored or if I could stay a few more days and I was ready to stay another week. Of course we weren't invited to stay that long and Mom and Dad wouldn't have appreciated that, but it would have been great for me.

People kept asking if I missed the kids. No, not so much. It's not that I don't love them, because I do, but I just needed a break to regroup and spend some time doing something nice for me. You know how the saying goes, if Mommy isn't happy, nobody's happy. Hopefully now I'll have a little more patience, be a little more calm and be a lot more relaxed. At least enough until we can get away again.

Costume

The other day, out of nowhere, Andy said, “Olivia says, 'No matter what the question, costume is always a very good answer'". Say what? I asked him who Olivia was, and he said it was Olivia the pig, from the fabulous kids’ books. Apparently while we were in Myrtle Beach this summer, he watched a few episodes of the Olivia cartoon with his friend, Anna. We don’t usually watch Olivia, so I didn’t know where he was coming from.

So, all afternoon Andy and Sarah kept asking each other inane questions, and they would always shout out the answer, “COSTUME”. It took Sarah a couple of minutes, or questions, to catch on, but she finally got it. She liked it so much she was giggling uncontrollably. Now, when you are around Sarah and she is whining and crying most of the time, it is amazingly refreshing to hear her giggling. It is contagious.

It didn’t take long before the game got a little old, at least for me, but the kids were having a blast. I tried to end it with, “Andy, what do you wear on Halloween?”, but they kept it going. Not just that day, the next day it picked up again. “COSTUME”, “COSTUME”, “COSTUME”.

It gets a little annoying, but here’s the plus. They weren’t fighting, or crying, or whining, or yelling at each other (unless you count saying costume at high volume). They were talking and playing and having a great time. Together. It may take an annoying game to make it happen, but that’s okay with me.

COSTUME!

It May Not Ever Come Out

Why is it that kids always get sick in the middle of the night? They can't throw up when they're awake and aware of their surroundings, they have to do it in their bed, down the hallway, or in some other really inconvenient place. It's like a sick joke the parenting gods play on you. Oh, things have been going pretty well? Let's zap you with a pile of puke at one o'clock in the morning.

That is exactly what happened to us last night. It was just past midnight, way later than we should have been up anyway, and we were about to go to bed. I don't know where Charlie was but I was brushing my teeth. All of a sudden Andy walks into the bathroom, stops, and throws up not once, not twice, but three times on the floor. He continued to throw up two more times but by now I finally had gotten control of my in-shock self and put a trash can in front of him. Not ten minutes before had I taken the trash can off his bed because he was sleeping peacefully and it was extremely close to his face. Should have just left it there.

No problem, you say, because it was in the bathroom. On the tile. Yes, normally that would be the case. Except for some, unknown reason, there was carpet in our bathroom when we moved in and we hadn't quite gotten around to removing it. Oh, it was in the plans. We even have the tile sitting patiently in the garage. We just haven't had the money to get it done. Or the time. Or the money.

Thankfully Charlie took charge and cleaned up the floor. Good thing too, because I almost threw up watching Andy throw up. There are lots of disgusting things the kids do that I can handle no problem, but I've learned lately that throw up is not one of the them. If Charlie wasn't around I could do it because I have to, but I am so glad he was there. He brought a bucket and a large paint scraper (we use all the right tools in our house), and scooped it up and then cleaned the floor.

I was telling this story to my friend, Larisa, today and she said we should have put corn starch on it. Apparently all good cooks, of which I am not, have some in their house because it is used to make sauces thicker. Um, okay. When you put corn starch on vomit, it absorbs the liquid and the smell. If you wait until it dries completely you just vacuum it up and it's like it never happened. Amazing. I wish I would have known that, and, of course, had corn starch in my house, because almost 24 hours later the stench is still there.

This morning it was bad. I could barely take a shower in the bathroom and Sarah refused to stay in there and hang out with Amanda. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but our bathroom is huge. We often hang out in there with the kids. We have toys in there so they'll stick around while we're getting ready or showering or whatever, and there's plenty of room for all of us. That's one of the reason why Charlie didn't want to rush to pull up the carpet and put in tile, because the baby plays in there. I don't think he'll stall much longer.

The smell has dissipated a little bit. I've cleaned it again with some great stuff that the professional carpet cleaner gave me the last time he came and I've Febreezed it like crazy, but it continues to smell. If it still smells by the time we get back from San Diego I'm definitely calling the pros. Then we're going to have to find a way to get that room tiled sooner than later. After that the kids can puke on it as often as they like. Well, as long as Charlie is around to clean it up.

You Can Dress Her Up, BUT...

Next weekend Charlie has a big work event and I am invited. He has plenty of work events, I just never get to go to them. It's in San Diego and I get to go and the kids do not. Awesome. My parents are coming in for a few days to watch the kids while we're gone. Even more awesome. Good luck, I hope you still love us, and them, when we get back.

The only thing dampening my excitement to get away from my very loud, whiny children is the fact that I have to get dressed up. Really dressed up. Dressed up in a way I have not been in a very long time. I had the perfect dress in mind from my closet. I went to try it on and before I even could I realized it had faded in some weird places and was not an option. When was the last time I wore it? Oh yeah, to a wedding a year or two before mine. So, about 12 years ago. No wonder.

I have one dress that works and, amazingly, fits, but I needed another one. So Amanda and I went dress shopping. Have you ever been dress shopping with a one year old? Not fun. She doesn't ooh and ahh and tell you how wonderful you look even if you don't, she screams and yells and throws Teddy Grahams on the floor and spits water all over herself. I spent four hours shopping at two malls and guess which dress I bought? You guessed it, the first one I tried on. Ugh.

My problem is not the baby weight. I lost all the baby weight a few months after I had the baby. My problem is the weight I gained before I got pregnant. You know, the weight that I put on when I was frustrated that I wasn't getting pregnant. That I haven't seemed to lose yet. My other problem is the baby belly. Because even if you lose the weight you don't lose the belly. Those that don't know what I'm talking about either don't have kids or are very, very lucky people.

Then, of course, is the fact that I never have to get dressed up. Never. I can dress up, but that's only because I want to, not because I have to. I wear t-shirts and shorts or jeans almost everyday. On the days I do feel like dressing a little nicer and I put on a skirt and nice blouse every body asks me why I'm so dressed up. My answer? Sometimes it's just nice to look good and not have snot or drool or whatever else all over you. At least for a couple of hours.

I thought I was done with it when I bought the dress, but today I realized that I'm really lacking in footwear as well. Unfortunately my Keen Mary Janes and running shoes, which I do not run in, are not appropriate for this even. So this time I packed up both girls while Charlie and Andy went to a birthday party and we went shoe shopping. Once again, not an ideal place to take two little girls, but Sarah loved it. She tried on all the shoes and helped me pick which pair to buy. She probably tried on five pairs for every one I tried on, and of course she had to try on every pair I did. She did make it somewhat interesting, and made me see how much fun we might have shoe shopping in the future. She loves shoes almost as much as I do. Not quite, but almost.

So, in the end, I have my dress and my shoes and I will look presentable. Not fabulous, like I know some people will, but pretty good for a lady who spends most of her days wearing old, holey t-shirts with snot, drool and Cheetos stains on them. We just won't tell Charlie's cohorts how I dress for my day job.

Kid Quote of the Day

"Andy, you got your smell on my pants."

-Sarah, complaining that Andy smelled and that after rubbing against her now she smelled. I made sure he took a shower this evening.

Caffeine

I was driving home today after picking Sarah up from school, trying to stay focused on the road. You see even though Amanda is now sleeping through the night (most of the time) and I'm not getting up with her on a regular basis, I'm still not getting enough sleep. Now, instead of going to bed at 11p, our regular bedtime has been creeping closer and closer to midnight, and maybe surpassing it several nights a week as well.

So I was driving and thinking about what I could do to get more energy. Oh, I thought, I'll grab a caffeine-free Diet Coke when I get home. Maybe the fake sugar will give me a little lift. Then it hit me. I'm not nursing anymore. I can drink REAL Diet Coke. You know, the stuff with caffeine in it.

What, you ask, you don't drink caffeine? Nope. Not at all. I never was a coffee drinker because I saw what it did to my mom growing up and I cut most of it out when I was trying to get pregnant with Amanda and then cut it out completely when I did get pregnant. Then after she was born I didn't drink it because I have a very bad story about when I accidentally drank a large glass of Root Beer that I thought was caffeine-free when Andy was six days old and I will never, ever do that again. So I haven't had caffeine for a very long time.

Let me tell you, it was awesome. I only drank one, because even though it was only 2p I didn't want to be up all night, but it was amazing. My afternoon was so much clearer, I was so focused, so awake.

A silver lining to the I'm so sad I'm not nursing feeling. I may be over it.

Kid Quote of the Day

"Do you want to make me sad or leave Andy at school?"

-Sarah, who was crying because Andy got picked up from school before she did because he had a half-day.

Closing Up Shop

Do you know how I know I am completely done having babies? I know I've said I am, but do you want to know how I know I am? It's simple, really. When I used to see a pregnant woman, and believe me, when you have little kids you see them everywhere--pre-school, elementary school, Target, grocery store, gymnastics and every other activity the kids go to, EVERYWHERE--I would get all sad and mopey and want to be pregnant and think about what life would be like with another baby. Now I just look at them and think, "thank God it isn't me".

You see, family planning didn't come easy for us. I got pregnant with Andy in a flash so I assumed that would be the case with all of my children. When we finally decided to start trying for number two it took a year and a half with the assistance of a crazy, quacky doctor. I can't discredit him 100%, because he did get me pregnant, but I would not recommend him to anyone. Then, with number three, it took me about a year to convince Charlie it was a good idea (which now I'm starting to see why he didn't think it really was) and then almost a year of trying before we got Amanda. So, it was a lot of work, and I spent a lot of time staring at pregnant women in angst. So it just amazes me now that when I see someone who is going to have a baby instead of wishing it was me I can just say, "oh, look, a pregnant woman, it must really suck to be her right now".

Hand in hand with that, is the termination of nursing Amanda. It's funny. With Andy I only did it for six months and then it was just too hard to work and pump and nurse. With Sarah I did it for a year but as soon as the doctor told me she could have milk I gave it to her and cut her off immediately. I was so done. With Amanda, it's just different. Maybe because she's my last one, maybe because she finds it very comforting, maybe because when I'm in a pinch and I haven't fed my daughter (unfortunately with our crazy schedule this happens more than I would like) I can nurse her to tide her over a couple of hours. I don't know what it is this time, what exactly is different, but I am very sad to stop nursing.

It's not like I nurse her all the time. By the time she hit a year she was only nursing 3-4 times a day. Once the doctor said I could give her milk I stopped nursing her during the day and only nursed first thing in the morning and before bed. The last week or two it's only been at bed, and last night I stopped. Sigh. My parents are coming next week to watch the kids while we go on a work trip of Charlie's. When we asked them they were happy to come, but my mom kept asking, "Are you going to wean the baby?". She has a valid point, it's not really fair to leave a nursing baby with Grandma. I know she has different expectations from Mommy than Grandma, but we'll be gone for four days. She needs to be done. I know she needs to stop, and I'm doing it, I'm just not happy about it. It makes me sad. It's that one special bond that we still had, the time when she wanted nobody except Mommy, and now it's over.

So our baby stage is coming to a close. Maybe that's why I'm so sad. No more babies. Only kids, who yell and talk back and hit and fight and...tell you they love you. Amanda won't nurse anymore, but when I ask her for a kiss she'll give me a nice open-mouthed tonguefess and a great big hug too. She runs to the door when Charlie comes home, just like the big kids, and giggles when you tickle her and roll around on the floor. She's turning into one fun little kid. I'll get past the sadness, because with this sadness also comes freedom and maybe even the ability to get back into shape, and there are so many good things yet to come.