Forshadowing The Dramatic Years?

Bean has ALWAYS had a flair for drama.  Her facial expressions can run the gamut between joyful to disgruntled in about 2.4 seconds.

It seems her dramatic nature is slowly becoming more refined. 

The other day, we were in a flurry as we got ready to head out for a last minute dinner.  Bean had gathered her chosen possessions, (in this case, a small bucket of stuffed cats and Pancakes for Breakfast), asked if I would help her carry them, and when I agreed, she placed them in the kitchen for transport. 

About halfway to our destination, Bean piped up from the back,

"Mama?  Where are my kitties?  Where's my pancake book?" 

I peered into the back of the van and realized suddenly that I had left them on the floor of the kitchen.  Forlorn and lonely. 

Or that's what she'd have you believe.  I told her that I forgot to bring them and instantly, her face fell and HUGE tears welled up in her eyes.

You would have thought I told her that the Easter Bunny died or there would never again be another episode of Charlie and Lola. 

"Mama!  Oh MAMA!  But I want them!  I need them!  They MISS ME!" 

And then she shed two giant tears and looked at me like I was a hardened criminal.

"Mama, why did you forget them?!"

Ouch.  The kid is GOOD. 

Then, a few nights later, I tucked her into bed and she suddenly sat up and said, "Mama!  You said you would get my baby, my sweeper (broom), and my cam-ee-are (camera) from the car when Robin got home.  And you DIDN'T! Can you get them?"

I merely asked if it would be better to wait until morning so she could actually play with them.  

She looked directly at me, put her hand over her eyes with her palm up, Scarlet O'Hara style, and said,

"You said you would get them and OH!  I would REALLY like them!  You said you would! And now you won't!"

And then she promptly fell straight back onto her pillow in true dramatic style and let out a few long sniffs for good measure.

I went and got the stuff out of the car.

I'm in so much trouble.

Last Day for Giveaway

By the way, today's the last day to enter my Fruit Roll Ups giveaway.

Ok, people... you all KNOW you want them.  Imagine putting your head on a chewy fruit snack.

(OK, that sounds a bit weird, I admit... but still!)

Comment away!

Baby, C, and Sleep!

What do they all have in common? 

Um, I don't really know.  But I figure I owe an update on them!

Visited the OB yesterday and everything checked out fine!  I had been a tad stressed out because I haven't yet started to feel this little one moving around.  With Bean and C, it was by 15 weeks.  The OB said this could be for a number of reasons, but so long as the heartbeat was strong, baby's fine.  And so it was. 

I'm 17 weeks and a few days or so and I've gained 2 pounds.  If you add on the weight from the cheesecake I ate yesterday, it might be 11.  Heh.

On March 16th, we have a sonogram.  Any bets on the sex of this munchkin?  And no, I'll preempt the probable question, we are not hoping for a boy because we already have two girls.  Girls are great too!  We're hoping for a healthy baby.  Don't even get me started. 

C is doing quite well despite teething in FOUR places, (two have popped through), and has unofficially chunked up to be close to 18 pounds.  Making up for lost time, it seems.

She's related to sleep since she suddenly started actually sleeping.  I think her body is FINALLY satisfied with the amount of foodage she's getting.  Thank goodness.  For several nights, she's crashed and not woken until 10 or 11 hours later.  If I could coordinate my bladder to her waking, it'd be gold.  All the same, I'm so unbelievably happy that she's starting to sleep I could dance a jig.

Ok, I did. 

That shouldn't surprise anyone. 

What's going on with you?

Channeling My Inner Rastafarian

Sometimes, I like to get out and run errands all by myself.  No kids, no Shaun, no one else.  There's something about being able to linger in the housewares aisle in Target or picking my favorite music of the day and blasting it in the car without having to worry about little ears or competing tastes that give me a little sanity, particularly at the end of a loooong day.

The other night, we put C to bed, and I headed out to Wal-Mart and the grocery store to get a few items that we definitely needed before the morning.  On the way, I popped in a Bob Marley CD and cranked the volume.

There's an interesting fact about me and Bob.  I don't know all his lyrics.  I can sing the chorus of almost every song, but the lyrics?  They kinda get lost.  So I resort to this weird little beat boxing, mumbling mess of words.  At top volume.

So, I'm rocking out, (jammin' out?) and pull up at a stop light where I vaguely notice the guy in the car next to me chuckling while looking in my direction.  Not surprising, since I'm singing at the top of my lungs and doing some weird dance/headbanging thing.

I smiled and waved and continued my musical experience.

(I'm kind of hard to embarass).

I get to Wal-Mart and open my door to hop out into the cold and run to the store.

And I'm still singing at top volume.

"Jammin', Jammin', JAMMIN'!  We're JAMMIN' in the NAME OF THE LORD!"

I finish gathering my wallet and step fully out of the car, still singing. 

And at that moment, I noticed that there was a gentleman waiting patiently for me to close my door so he could get into the passenger side of his car. 

And he was laughing at me.  A lot. 

I cut off mid "Jammin'", squeaked a bit, and bolted for the door as fast as my 17 week pregnant self could go. 

I have an embarassment threshold, and I think?  I think it was hurdled over.

(But don't think it'll stop my in-car "Jammin'" sessions.  No way!)

At The Park

I'm feeling kind of glum today.  It wasn't even a full two weeks ago that we had balmy 70 degree weather.  Today?  Today it's snowing/raining with little chance that it will stick.  And it's COLD.

So.  I'm going to vicariously live through pictures of our park day a couple of weeks ago, (before Bean came down with the plague).  Because if I close my eyes and breathe deeply, I can totally smell...

A poopy diaper. 

Ok, really...  the sweet scent of grass growing, the fresh breeze drifting across my face. 

Yum.

OK, spring?  Hurry up.

The day at the park was lovely.   I'm thoroughly excited that Bean is big enough to do most things on her own.

And that's without a ton of fear... though some things were scarier that others

And that C is able to at least stand, which gets her down out of the stroller or my arms and lets her stretch a bit.

C liked that. 

Most of the time.  We had some tears and a bruised lip.

But that was nothing a little love couldn't fix.

We learned that Bean AND C both stick their tongues out when they're concentrating.  Thanks to me, it seems.

 

And then?  When the kids acted up, we sent them to jail.

 

Except, they really seemed to like it.  

 

All in all, a nice way to get a taste of spring.   

 

LiveBlogging 10 Minutes of My Life

Shaun and the girls are on the floor putting together a potato head family.  Rather, Shaun is helping Bean put them together, and gently redirecting C when she gets too close to the "family"

The "Mom" potato falls over and Bean threatens to burst into tears.  We right the falling potato and all is right in the universe.

Then C gets stealthy, goes around Shaun's back and attacks the "Bean" potato.  Under her attack, "Bean-Potato" loses an arm. 

Bean flips out, dives over Shaun and snatches the arm back from a very confused C.

C's confusion turns quickly to rightous indignation and she starts screeching. 

Bean is still distraught over the loss of the arm and is shedding a lone tear.

Shaun notices C's nose is running and asks Bean for some toilet paper to wipe her nose.  (We're out of tissues). 

Bean goes into the bathroom and comes back with half of a roll.  Unraveled.  We now have enough to wipe the noses of a kindergarten class for the entire day. 

Bean commendeers the bathroom, determined to go by herself in order to get a highly coveted jelly bean.  Whenever Shaun would open the door to check on her, she'd screech, "NO!!!  DON'T COME IN HERE!" 

C took the opportunity to destroy the potato family and gnaw on the pieces. 

Chaos erupts and culminates with Bean trying to poke C in the head with a plastic baton.

All in a day's work.

Need A Self-Esteem Boost? Call My Three Year Old

At dinner last night, after I cut away the offending piece of peel on a grape,

"Mommy, you're a GENIUS!"

She's so very easy to impress. Wait until I do something REALLY genius-like.  She won't know what to do with herself.

Bean In The Morning, Bean at Night

Sleep has been weird around here the last few days.


4:30 am two days ago
 

Bean:  "Mommy!  Mom!  MOOOM!  Let's go to Chick-a-lay!"

Me: "Mmmmmph.  What?! Go back to bed!  It's still night time!"

Bean: "I'm not tired!  I'm hungry!  Where's Chick-A-lay!"


Sometime in the dead of night about a week ago

Bean:  "Veggie Tales, Veggie Tales!  VEGGIE TALES! VEGGIE TALES!"

Me (Woken from a dead sleep and totally confused as to what is using my hair and pj's to climb onto the bed and weirded out by the fact that my 3 year old's face is mere centimeters from mine as she chants "veggie tales!" at me) "What?  Bean?  What's going on?  What do you want?

Bean:  (Climbs over me, lays down and promptly falls back to sleep without another word).


Me:  (Wide awake and staring now, totally freaked out).

5am this morning

Bean:  "Hi Mommy!  I had a wonderful sleep!  Let's have breakfast!"

Me:  "You're going back to sleep.  I don't care how or where, but you are not allowed to talk until the sun comes up.  NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO TALK UNTIL THE SUN COMES UP."  (Burrows head in pillow).

Bean:  "But MooooOOOOM!  It's wake-up time!  Rise and shine!"

This afternoon, post-rest time.  (Should have been nap time).
 
Bean:  "Mommy!  You are a super hero mommy!  Thank you for coming to get me!"

Heck yeah, I'll take the super hero comment at any time of day.

Now?  Now for a nap.  Maybe.

Review and Giveaway: Personalized Fruit-Roll-Ups

We were given the opportunity to test out the new personalized fruit roll ups.  For $30, you can customize a box of (30) Fruit Roll-Ups to have a preset theme, your own pictures, your own words, or any combination of the three. 

We decided to create party favors for Bean's birthday. 

So she snuggled on my lap and the two of us hopped over to My Fruit Roll-Ups' website and got started.  The website interface was incredibly easy to use and navigate.  The process was super quick and we had a lot of fun experimenting with different pictures and sayings. 

In the end we had Bean's picture in two sections and a thank you message in the other two. 

The shipping was INCREDIBLY fast and we got them on a frigid morning on our way out for the day. 

(Which brings me to my first lesson learned:  do NOT try to unwrap and eat these while they're frozen.  They crumble.  Despite being totally tasty, they're a mess to clean up.  I was a kid once... I should know these things).  :)

Anyway, Bean was tickled to see her face on the Roll-Up and even though we never got a party together, we've been handing them out to her friends anyway and they have gotten a lot of praise for being so fun.

Enter for a chance to win your own box of 30!  Comment on this post by next Thursday (February 26th) and I'll chose a winner randomly after that date. 

For now, if you don't win and chose to buy, they're also offering free shipping for a limited time.

C vs. Spaghetti Squash

The other day we had spaghetti squash for lunch and I assumed that C wouldn't really be able to handle it well enough to eat it.

Apparently, she thought otherwise and squealed and wiggled and fussed in her seat until I tossed some onto her tray.

The girl tore it up. 

 She alternated between trying to cram it into her mouth as fast as she could and trying to figure out why it was stuck all over her.

And of course I took pictures.  Apparently, lots of parents take pictures of their kids' first experiences with spaghetti.  We didn't have spaghetti, but these pictures get the same feel, I think.

She cracks me up.

Hey Germs, GO AWAY!

I am sick to death of winter.

And I want to punch a germ in the head.

We are coming out of one of the worst bouts of sickness we've had around here.  And it was only one person.  Bean woke up on Thursday night at about 1am wheezing and coughing and saying, "Mommy, I can't BREATHE!  My chest hurts!" 

Um, can we say scary?

It was insane.  Luckily, we had some medicine from the last bout of bronchiolitis that she ended up with and that helped a bit.  It was still hairy though...  the medicine wasn't working for as long so she was up more often. 

Anyway, we rushed right to the doctor's first thing in the morning and he diagnosed her with a severe case of bronchiolitis and an ear infection.  The poor kid had more meds than I knew what to do with.  But they knocked out her chest congestion and the ear infection and she's on the mend.

Thankfully.  Because the combination of some of her medicine and an extreme lack of sleep made for a very, very difficult kid.  And that?  That made for a very crazy mommy.  (Yes, people... crazier than normal).  Usually, when she's sick, I have more patience than the average duck because when you're sick?  It's pretty crummy.  And you're not usually feeling your most cooperative.  But this?  This was preschooler gone wrong.  It was awful.  So I'm glad my sunny girl is back.  I don't know if the Crazy made me appreciate the good kid more, but these last two days with her have been awesome.  She's a fun kid :)

Anyway, the long and short of it?  Germs stink.  And I will be back to my regular posting craziness sometime tomorrow. 

Happy Tuesday :)

Question...

So...  I have a question...

How on earth do you stay organized and keep your houses relatively neat in the day to day? 

Maybe it's me being dead tired with two small kids and one on the way that makes it so darn difficult to keep my life in order, but whatever it is, it's frustrating the heck out of me not being able to get things done.

And I know that when this new one comes, it's not going to get easier. 

So, that's where you guys come in!  Help a woman out and give me your best tips to keeping things neat and organized.  It doesn't matter if you have kids or not.  Or for that matter, it definitely doesn't matter if you're neat.  I know everyone has ways to keep some aspect of their lives somewhat organized.  My hope is that perhaps, maybe, um, possibly I can compile enough great tips that I'll make progress.

Because some progress is better than no progress.  

Help!

CJ

I'm working on a post from our outing to the park the other day and came across this picture.

It's not the world's greatest picture or anything and I wish I could have gotten an angle to really light up her blue eyes, but I love it all the same.  It's so very, very... well... her!

And since I can't resist... here are a few more from the same spot:

 

  

Maybe, just maybe, this will make up for the embarrassing lack of pictures from her 9 month update.  

While the spring weather was short lived, I think it was enough to jump start me back into life for awhile.  

It's The Little Things

Like 70 degree weather in February.

Or grocery store trips with a toddler who insists on wearing her cowboy hat.  Sideways.

 

And staying in the car in front of the grocery store for a full 10 minutes just to crack up with C who erupted in giggles every time Bean hiccuped.

Or getting down on the floor and pretending to be a monster while chasing both kids and cracking up in a pile when we're all worn out.

Or dinner time with a baby who is inevitably getting a bath anyway, so who cares what she ends up "wearing"

  

 It's naps with the breeze floating through the open window.

It's green grapes fresh from the fridge.  

It's snuggles from a cranky baby who's still cute despite the crankiness.

 

 It's the little things that make the big difference.

C - 9.5 Month Update

Dear C,

Best news ever:  You're finally, finally growing.  Between your 8 month weigh in at the doctor's and the 9 month checkup, you gained a pound and 6 ounces.  That officially puts you back onto the percentile charts at a whopping 10%.  Woot!

Seriously though, I cared very little about where you fit in relation to every other 9 month old in the world, but I did care a lot about making sure you gained some chunk.

And happily, you did.

That's not without its own bittersweet points though.  In order to get you to start eating more, I stopped nursing you and switched you to a bottle.  We came to the conclusion that you were most likely nursing only long enough to take the edge off of your hunger and then wanting to get down and play again.  Even if we were in total silence in a dark room, you'd sense that something was going on somewhere in the world and with your face pressed into me, you weren't seeing it.  So you'd pull off, grin at me, and try to roll away.  You're still ridiculously hard to feed with a bottle, but at least I can follow your mouth and get some calories into you.

But I miss nursing.  You were a champ from the get-go, nursing right away and with vigor.  You grew steadily for many, many months and continued to thrive.  And then you realized there was a world going on behind your back and you struggled through wanting to be part of it and wanting to... well, you know, eat.  I think we've hit the best of both worlds.  I still get lots of snuggles while giving a bottle, and you finally get the food you need.

It's been hard, though... sorting through the feelings that I was in some way at fault for your crazy weight issues of the last month.  I know that there are a million factors at play and it was never like I refused to do what was best for you on the basis of what I wanted at the time.  But it's still hard.

However, you're not only growing, you're blossoming.  Your personality, which was already pretty sweet and funny, is gaining more depth.  You know how to work a room and can casually start smiling and waving until you have everyone's attention.  Then you'll laugh or coo or make some noise to let us all know it was absolutely on purpose.  Cracks me up.

You're crawling everywhere.  EVERYWHERE.  I love walking out of a room, (when you're in a good mood), and hearing you snuffle and babble as you shuffle towards me.  Every once an awhile, you'll look up with a huge grin as if to say, "Try and stop me!"   Don't worry, I won't when you're coming my way.  It's when you're headed to the kitchen to attack the dog bowl or the trash can that I use my handy-dandy relocating arms to scoop you up.  If I can't get to you right away, I'll call you and say "No, no C!"  And you grin, shake your head no, and head right back to what you were doing.  But at least I can get you to stall.

I guess I'm so used to you being one particular size that now that you're growing, I'm unable to appropriately estimate how far to put things to keep them out of your reach.  Which is how I ended up with a full glass of ice water on my lap last night.  Nice.

You're regularly say "Mama" and "Baba"  (Which alternately means bottle and bye-bye), and have started saying "Dog!"  I think you're far more focused on trying to get into things than you are about naming them.  I love the difference.  (Well... I love that you're different... you sure keep me busy otherwise).

Anyway, may you keep growing and getting into mischief.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Love you, my little munchkin,

Mama

P.S.  I have NO pics of this month.  Nada.  None.  Because every time I went to get my camera, I'd forget that I'd forgotten that I didn't charge the battery.  Situation remedied.  I'll make up for it, I swear.

A New Layout Shoutout

By the way, if you're digging my new three column layout, it's definitely not of my doing.  I sat down to try to get it to work and an hour and a half later, I had pulled out some of my hair, shouted strange things at space, and gone nearly cross-eyed from the effort. 

My lovely and hilarious friend Amy from Flexible Dreams took over my blog one night and whipped it into shape.  The blog now calls her "Master."  Seriously.

I have some tweaks to do with the photos, especially in the sidebar, where the only semi-recent photo of me is of my bowling face, which is more funny than anything.  And the pic of Bean in the snow?  Not really all that spring-like.  And hello, if we're not getting snow, winter can kiss my toe.

Ahem.  Moving along now. 

Thanks Amy!  You're the best!

I Like The Christmas Jesus Best

The other day, we were at Michelle's house for a birthday lunch and before we started eating, someone asked who wanted to say the blessing.  Shaun turned to Bean and said, "Do you want to tell God thanks for the food?"

She nodded and then suddenly shouted, "No!  Not God!  Jesus!"

Okey dokey.  We gave her the go ahead, but she wasn't done specifying,  "And the big Jesus, not the little Jesus!" 

Alrighty then.  

Apparently, she and Ricky Bobby don't share the same affinity for praying to the sweet little baby Christmas Jesus. 

Remember Me?!

Hi!

I'm alive! 

We haven't been overtly busy over here, but now that C is increasingly mobile, it's tougher and tougher to sit at a computer while she's awake.  And when she's asleep?  Often, I am too.  I seemed to have missed the first trimester tiredness, so my body is making up for lost time.  I can seriously fall asleep sitting up.  Heck, I think I could fall asleep standing if given the chance. 

But I have SO MUCH TO POST! 

This week in preview mode:

• C's 9 month update (I know, I KNOW!  9.5 month update).
• A fun review and giveaway of the snackish variety.
• Some answers to questions I've gotten from a few of you about baby products, etc.  
• Pregnancy update.  This will include the increasingly weird cravings I've been having.  

I think that's ambitious enough considering I may drop off into another narcoleptic-like sleep at any moment.  

That'll Get You Some Looks in Public

After using the bathroom a little while ago, Bean called from the bathroom,

"Mommy! Help! I can't get my britches up!"

Except she forgot the r in britches.

I did a double take. I mean, we only listen to gangsta rap on the weekends!

(she's now got it, R and all)

(and yes, it's hilarious that she sometimes calls her pants "britches". Thank you Texas for that one)

Things I Learn in the Course of an Average Day

Every day comes chock full of lessons, no?

Here's what I learned yesterday:

1.  Never underestimate the power of chocolate cake.

2.  Is is not only possible, but probable that I am going to get spit up on at least 4 times a day.  Three of these times will be after I changed clothes.

3.  Having a dance party with a toddler is infinitely more fun than a dance party anywhere else.

4.  When I toss my hands up and refuse to change my shirt after being spit up on, I will get peed on for emphasis.

5.  I am sheerly amazed at how quickly I can fall asleep any time that I am still for more than 11 seconds at a time.

6.  More shocking is the ability to snooze while my 3 year old is "brushing" my hair and serving  lunch on my face. 

7.  The same kid who can sleep through an earthquake at times will instantly wake up if you blink too loudly.

8.  Hearing my 3 year old tell me stories are the best parts of the day.

9. Well, aside from first thing in the morning.  At that point I walk into C's room and she acts like she can't be more excited to see me.  And when I go into Bean's room to ask how she slept, she always says, "Just wonderful!  And beautiful!"  That'll start your day off well.

10.  We are entering into the squabbles stage of sibling-hood.  I never knew how fast a dilapidated dinosaur could turn to what must be candy or sprinkles or something equally coveted.  Because that's what it must be for my 3 year old to be willing to throw her entire body on top of it to prevent C from taking it for her own gummy pleasure.

11.  Home is my absolute favorite place in the world to be. 

12.  C has sonar that senses exactly when I drop off into that weird place between sleeping and being awake.  She'll wake from her own nap and call out at that exact moment every day.

13.  My job is hard.  It's exhausting.  It's dirty.  It can be mundane.  It's generally the same every day.  There's rarely a sick day or a personal day.  It sometimes gets frustrating.  The results are long term, most of the time.  It's positively not glamorous.  It smells weird.  And even though I dream of sipping tropical drinks while being fanned by a large palm frond in my seat on the balmy beach of Tahiti, I wouldn't trade it.  Cliche?  Perhaps.  But absolutely the truth.

(I wouldn't mind that chair by the beach for a few days, mind you :)

Bad Mom Confessions - Episode 2

We just had an ice storm around this way that was delightful to me in every way except for the insane circus routine that it took for me to not maim, injure, or kill myself or my children when I had to load them in the car. 

But as with anything, I got used to figuring out the best places to step and it started being a lot funnier.  (Bean walked a fine line between giggling riotously and shrieking in fear when we'd start our trek across the frozen landscape.

Our roommate watched me loading Bean into the car one day and as I came in to get C in her bucket seat, she casually mentioned that it was icy enough that C car seat could be a good sled. 

I don't think she meant with C still in it.

When we got back outside, I scoped out the yard for hunks of ice and finding none, I gently set C's car seat down and gave her a little push. 

And then I scrambled after her quickly gliding car seat, cackling like a maniac.  She was grinning too, though probably because I sounded like such a goon as I slid along next to her.

Don't worry, I think her top speed was like, 2 mph. And her handle was up for a make-shift roll bar :)

Would I do it again?  Heck yes.  I was tempted to film it, but the weather got warm and the yard wasn't nearly as hazard free so maybe next time. 

I May Be A Space Cadet

But I haven't forgotten... this time.

I'll post C's 9 month update tomorrow after we go on into the docs and get her checked out for her well-baby visit.  Included in that visit?  A weigh-in.  I'm thinking we'll have some good news to report.  :)

Halftime Show

We had a few people over to watch the Superbowl.  Tons of fun, though the real highlight was the halftime show.

No, not Springsteen.

Bean IMITATING Springsteen. 

Classic.

  

She does a fierce rockstar impersonation, doesn't she?