Baby-palooza

Tonight we had a family movie party. All of us in jammies watching a movie, eating pumpkin muffins, and staying up past(the kids') bedtime. Hey, don't judge me, it's Friday! Daughter was being such a sweet sister, and Son was being so patient. She insisted on sitting on his lap again and again...but then again, she was sharing her Carebears, so he didn't mind.

Then Daughter decided that she wouldn't rest until the entire couch was filled up with dolls. Believe it or not, she still has some left in her room at this point!
She has been struggling with going to bed peacefully in the last couple weeks. Before that, we'd tuck her in and not hear a peep. But she started really fighting it lately. It has been torture for my mommy ears to hear her yelling things like "Mom...Mom...Ow, Ow" and "Water...Water." So tough. But I eventually figured out that she was just saying anything she thought would get me to come into the room and pick her up. Once I figured that out, I had to steel myself not to get up, no matter what she said. If I picked her up, eventually I'd have to put her down again, and you cannot imagine the terrible screams I would hear then. I shudder to even remember.
So tonight, I told her it was time to go to sleep and she immediately began shaking her head no. I told her she could pick out one of her babies to go to bed with her. She had been holding onto the two in the picture above for a while and could not decide between them. So I told her she could bring them both, but only if she did not cry and went to bed happy. I then gave each doll a mini-lecture about how they had to go to bed quietly with no crying, too. Daddy and I kissed the three of them goodnight and tucked them in. And I didn't hear a peep.

Son's Sayings

I have to share some recent cute quotes from my little man:

Him: How did I get out of your tummy, Mom?
Me: The Dr helped me.
Him: Was there a door in your tummy?

and later in that same conversation:

Him: How did I get big?
Me: I made you.
Him:How did you make me?
Me: God and Daddy helped. (thinking...please God, help me now!)
Him: How did they help?
Me: We'll talk about that when you are bigger. (Much, much bigger)
Him: I'm big!
Me: Trust me, not big enough.

During a two-kid bath, we had a conversation about bath safety.
Me: You can't knock Sister down in the bath. You have to be very careful with her. If she goes under the water, she could drown.
Him: And she would die?
Me: She could...or she could get hurt. We love her and don't want her to get hurt.
then a few minutes later...
Him:I love you, my baby. I don't want you to die.

So many questions, but the answers are dwindling(at least the ones I can tell him now.)

That's All I Know

I bruise you.
You bruise me.
We both bruise too easily,
too easily to let it show.
I love you and that's all I know.
All my plans
Have fallen through
All my plans depend on you
Depend on you to help them grow.
I love you and that's all I know.
When the singer's gone
Let the song go on...
But the ending always comes at last
Endings always come too fast.
They come too fast
But they pass too slow.
I love you and that's all I know.
When the singer's gone
Let the song go on...
It's a fine line between the darkness and the dawn.
They say in the darkest night, there's a light beyond
But the ending always comes at last
Endings always come too fast
They come too fast
But they pass too slow.
I love you and that's all I know.
That's all I know.

Do you remember this song? It is so poignant, so simply sung, I can't describe it's beauty. But I thought I'd share the lyrics with you today. They say we hurt the ones we love the most, things do not always go the way we planned, but I love you...and that's all I know.

Once Upon a Time...

there was a beautiful little toddler, we'll call her Baughter*. She was precocious and too smart for her own good. One day Baught(for short) went to her closest Auntie, Bessica's house. Bessica had moved to a new house just the day before. Baught and her mommy were going to help Auntie Bessica unpack and get settled in her new house. As Baught's mommy filled a closet with blankets and Auntie took a shower, Baught went into her cousin's room, shut the door and locked it. Baught's mommy realized what Baught had done just a moment later and tried the doorknob. To her surprise, it would not turn. Supposing it to be a run-of-the-mill household doorknob, mommy went to get a butterknife or screwdriver to open it. When she leaned in to insert the screwdriver she had found, she discovered that it was no ordinary doorknob. It was a special security doorknob that required a special key to open it. There were no screws or hinges that could be removed to open it. Her first reaction was to laugh in disbelief, as Baught had never locked a door before, and had just the night before learned how to use a doorknob. Mommy peeked her head into the bathroom where Auntie was showering.
"Ummm, Bess? Do you happen to have a key for that door..."
"Oh, (fill in the blank) no! I don't!"
Mommy could not do anything but laugh at the absurdness of it all, even as Auntie started to panic. Mommy hoped she could get Baught to figure out what she had done and how she had done it, maybe this uncommonly brilliant child could be led to understand. Baught understood that there was a problem, but not how it was caused or how to fix it.
"Mommy?" then "Uh-Oh." was heard as Mommy knocked on the door and rattled the doorknob. Mommy tried poking various objects into the doorknob hopelessly. She never had acquired the skill necessary to pick a lock. She went outside to the window, but dared not attempt to remove the screen of Auntie's new house for fear of breaking it. So she waited, just a moment, for poor Auntie to rush out of the shower and find her tennis shoes. Mommy and Auntie wrenched the innocent screen out of the window, but alas, the window was locked. Mommy called Baught's Daddy, hoping not to panic him, but hoping he could give some brilliant advice as to what to do next. Daddy had picked a lock or two in his lifetime, and gave some clues to help, still Mommy had no luck. Auntie called her leasing agent, Rad, to see what he could do. In the meantime, Baught was still calling, "Mommy?" and getting increasingly agitated. Finally! Mommy had an idea! Mommy ran to the kitchen to retrieve....candy. Mommy and Auntie took turns talking to Baught and shoving Smarties and other small candies under the door to distract Baught. Mommy and Auntie feared that if Baught started crying, they would have to kick the door down with superhuman Mommy and Auntie powers. It worked, Baught quieted down long enough for Rad to arrive. Rad brought an arsenal of small tool with him and settled down to work on the door. They heard another "Uh-Oh" as Rad began to bang on the door frame. He said, "She's all right, I hear the candy wrappers rattling." That did it. The absurdity of the situation hit and Mommy and Auntie could not help but giggle, picturing Baught tearing into candy wrappers. Rad had to remove part of the door trim, but was able to hit the catch and open the door to a red-faced, very confused, candy-toting Baught, who finally burst into tears at the sight of the stranger who'd freed her. Mommy picked up Baught and soothed her as Auntie fed her chocolate kisses by the hundreds. Mommy felt sorry for Auntie, who felt sorry for Baught. All was right in the world again, until it was time to go. Then Mommy accidentally hit Baught in the face with the front door, knocking her down. Then she really cried.
The End

*Although this was a true story, names have been changed to protect the, um, innocent.

Goodbye '08 Hello '09!

I have sadly neglected emptying the pictures from my camera for a long while, so here is my abbreviated attempt to share the most recent cuteness that crossed its lens. I will try not to go too long, but be warned(if you didn't already know) that it is probably not going to happen! I have a feeling that right now my words are only making sense in my head, so I apologize in advance for any gibberish. Anyhoo...this is my favorite picture, taken by the talented photog in the family otherwise known as Daddy. You can see a distinct difference between the snaps I take and the ones he does, mine are blurry and his are focused!
Here are the first and second runners up(as close as my kids will ever get to a beauty contest, I know they would win but I am against the concept!)

Now here for some that I took of Son's school Christmas program...see the difference?




I have a hard time admitting that I might not be good at something, but photography is definitely not my calling in life! I think my calling might be something closer to run-on sentences...
I do not, as a general rule, make New Year's resolutions. I have a hard time thinking of goals for myself. They are always way too hard or way too easy, never reasonably attainable. I feel like most New Year's resolutions are just promises begging to be broken. Unless, of course, you are my inhumanly self-control possessing husband, who gave up soda last January and made it all year without a sip(and several pounds lighter and healthier.) So, although I am not making an official New Year's resolution, I am adopting a motto for this year: a place for everything, and everything in its place. If I can't find a place for things to be put away properly, I have too much stuff and it's time to get rid of it(or have hubby build new shelves)(or quit being such a cheapskate and invest in some.)
We were walking through Walmart the other day and noticed that every aisle and end display advertised exercise equipment and gadgets. We just laughed, because the smart people at Walmart know what many many people have made for their New Year's resolutions this year(and every year?): Get in shape/lose weight. Let me share a little secret with you that L and I learned the hard way: there is no miracle diet/drug/gadget that will magically drop the pounds off. None. None. None. There are things that can help, but here is how you lose weight: Burn more calories than you take in. That means many different things to many different people, but that is the secret. For L, he works out a lot, and so has quite a bit more leeway in his diet than I do. I am quite limited as to my physical activity right now, so the way I lost my weight was to very carefully watch what I ate. We unofficially followed weight watchers, that helped us to pinpoint where we were going wrong. I am far from finished, but now I know what it takes and it is doable. I love sweets, especially that one miserable week out of the month. I just have to say no sometimes, and recognize when it is ok to say yes(once in a while.) We trimmed down portions and eat a lot more veggies, less starches. Eating healthy can be expensive, but if your portions are smaller that they used to be, I found that we saved money on that end, so it worked out pretty close to what we used to spend on groceries. It just occurred to me that I promised this would be a short post...oops! At least I didn't make it a New Year's resolution!