Baby Talk

Conversation with Caleb at 7 months:


Me:  Dada??
Caleb:  Dadadadadadada

Me:  Thhhhhwwwwwppppppttttt  (blowing raspberries)
Caleb:  Thhhhhwwwwwppppppptttttt  (pause)  ttttttthhhhhhhhwwwwwwwppppppttttttt

Me:  Nananana?
Caleb:  Nanananananananana

Me:  MAMA????
Caleb:  DADADADADADADA!!!!!

*sigh*  :)

Things that make me smile

 In case you were wondering...

We had to work in a doctor's visit last week because Caleb had a cough that was worrying me.  Everything checked out OK and, while he didn't like being poked or prodded, he LOVED making faces at himself in the mirror.  "Oh no, YOU are the cutest widdle baby..."

You all know how I love a good deal and CHECK THESE OUT!!  Seriously, $1 for organic hearts of romaine??!!  Yes please!!  I do believe Scott will shoot me if I sneak another bag of snow peas into his lunch, but you can't pass up $1 produce!  Thank YOU, Mr. Manager for your clearance decisions!

And back to my son, who is going through a crazy developmental stage right now.  I don't remember the girls doing something new every day, but he seems to figure things out a little more every time I turn around.  His latest trick is grabbing the puffs off the high chair tray, although he can't seem to get them in his mouth yet.  If you look closely, you can see the blurry little varmint escaping from his mitts.

And not to be overlooked, the dynamic duo makes me smile too...most of the time.  They've recently become obsessed with the play cell phone and walk around "talking" to their friends with the thing propped between their shoulder and their ear.  The other night, Elizabeth told me she couldn't come to the dinner table because her friend Piper had a crisis on the phone.  Yes, my four-year-old knows the word 'crisis.'  *sigh*

Who knew they made coconut milk coffee creamer??  It is saving my life on this Paleo kick, since I can't have dairy and think that black coffee is almost as pointless as decaf.  The Bailey's is there in case any of my sane friends drop by for a cup.  

And speaking of the Paleo challenge, CHECK IT!!  BUH-BYE 140'S!!!  This was day 3, after I had been stuck in a rut at 141 for two weeks!

When my grandparents moved, I received boxes of boxes of their slides and photo albums from their travels and I've truly enjoyed the process of transferring them to digital.  Every week when I talk to my grandma, I get to tell her what trips I took with them that week.  This shot is of my grandpa overlooking the Bad Lands, S.D.  Right now, I'm in the middle of their trip to the Hoover Dam and last week, it was Mt. Rushmore.

Don't you just love big mugs?  We now all have the sniffles and for some reason, tea just tastes better in these Christmas mugs I keep out all year round.  

And finally,

these guys.  Life just wouldn't be crazy (or worth it) without them! So blessed!

Happy Wednesday, my friends!

A Day in the Life of Elizabeth

If you've been following me for a while, you might remember back to last April when Elizabeth got a hold of my camera the first time and left an incriminating video and her paw prints behind.

Well, today when I decided to download snap shots to the computer, I realized there were 91 PICTURES TAKEN IN THE PAST COUPLE DAYS!  Therefore, I thought I would share Elizabeth's "day in the life" and obvious trigger finger. :)

Ah, finally!  Everyone else is getting up!  I've been up since 5:30 a.m. with all the lights on.  Rachel has finally gotten her milk and Butch wants out.  Just another day!

Hello Rachel!  Don't stop on account of me having Mom's camera.  She told me I could.  Really.  No, you cannot have it.  Only big girls.

Ah, there's Mom now with Caleb, in Daddy's t-shirt.  Daddy loves it when she wears that old shirt.  He even says, "Oh yay...another old ratty t-shirt that's three sizes too big" when she comes down the stairs.  That means he loves it.

Here is Caleb, watching me play Barbies.  Dad yells at me when I give him one to play with.  That's sharing, Dad.

Here is Caleb in the jumper swing.  He likes to fling himself against the door jam and refrigerator.  I get in trouble when I try to launch him with my feet.  Geez...he always laughs.

Here's Mom, smiling.  I don't know if it's because I'm so cute with the camera or because she just got new coffee from Amazon. 

I think Rachel is tearing up my puzzle.  See?  Now, I have proof, Mom.

But Daaaaaaaad.  Mom said I could!

I just got in so much trouble.

This is my scared face.

Rachel, getting in trouble for running around the house and spilling these puzzle pieces in her tracks.  See?  I told you she did it.

I told Dad that I would gather sticks so we could roast marshmallows.  I'll keep them on the fireplace, just in case.

I call this one, My Find-it books...

I call this one, Mom needs to dust the ceiling fan...

And finally, this is my favorite, Playpen sans baby...

Happy Tuesday!!

Hitting your stride in the mom race

So I've been going through this back and forth with myself on whether or not I want to keep the blog going or not.  Don't get me wrong...I love all you people who take an interest in our lives or my opinion on anything, but life with three children under five has quite seriously thrown me through a loop.

I keep waiting to hit my stride any day...and recently, I've feared that maybe there isn't a stride after all and I'm going to be in this flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants stage for the rest of my life.  And as much as I enjoy writing, I have a lot of mommy guilt that piles up when I sit down to do ANYTHING for my own enjoyment.

Maybe you recognize the thought process.  It usually goes something like this:

I should really sit down and write...

But the kitchen is a wreck.

I should probably update my header since I'm not pregnant anymore...

But I haven't swept the floor in five days.

I've had these notes written up and I should just finish that one story...

But the bathrooms are gah-ross.

And on and on it goes.  Really, the only thing I steadily do for me is go to the gym, but even that has been spottier since Caleb has been born than ever before in my life.  There always seems to be a doctor's appointment or a play group or an emergency errand that needs run or someone has yellow snot running down their face. 

Even fixing a meal for myself is a challenge.  If Scott's on the road, I will go days without really fixing a meal...unless you count mac and cheese or eggs or heating up leftover pizza for the kids a meal.  It is just easier to pick at things, pour a bowl of cereal or (shudder) eat what's left on the kids' plates when they're done.  

And I know I'm not alone, because I hear so many of my friends having the same gripes or frustrations.

So let me clue you in on some words of wisdom my friend Susie gave me regarding my kitchen that I have since expanded to my life.  I was griping to her about how I could probably spend every second of my day in the kitchen either cooking the next meal or cleaning up after the last one and she told me about visiting a home recently where the kitchen was gorgeous.  The counter tops were cleared, the appliances spotless, no food on the floor...you get the picture.  And then she found out that the couple always ate out and the room was very rarely used.  Thus spawned this line of thought.  (And I used YOU to really mean ME...unless, of course, you need it to refer to YOU.  Then, by all means, go ahead.)

Your kitchen is always messy because you cook in it.  Three meals a day and several snacks.  Your children eat at the island and enjoy your company and each other so they linger...continually leaving crumbs and sticky trails as they do.

Your house is always dirty because your kids play.  They jump, they climb, they run outside and then back inside and then back outside again because you are letting them be kids.  

Your windows are always smudged because your children are always looking for Daddy to come home.  He is their hero and provider and they need to see him coming so they can ambush him at the door.

And you won't find a stride - it's not there.  Because if this whole gig was easy then you wouldn't  need to pray or search for answers higher than yourself or recognize how much you need the One who blessed you with these little people to start with.

I guess it's all in how you handle the chaos, and, as for me, I'm going to keep writing through it.  :) 

Thanks for reading!

Christmas Shopping with Elves...

I know it's been forever and, while I'm tempted to go into a long diatribe on how busy I've been and just not really all that inspired to write and share my adventures, I shall instead jump right back into our previous relationship like we never skipped a beat...

Deal?  

Great.

So today, I had to haul the three amigos to Target.  We all had colds and some form of bad attitude since Scott had been out of town, so I we loaded it up to the most wonderful place on earth for a little retail therapy. 

This was on a former trip to Target, but you get the idea of how we roll...

Ideally, I hadn't really wanted to go to the toy section, but had promised the girls Play Dough because I'm crazy and really don't care for my carpets.  Walking through, I naturally glanced by the clearance aisle and noticed a Barbie bath toy before Elizabeth did.

For 75% off.  

I know.  

Rachel was chirping about Hello Kitty and Elizabeth was trying to prime me for a Dora doll so I just casually strode over and grabbed the large box with BARBIE stamped all over it and slid it under the cart.

Have I mentioned that we have developed a severe Barbie obsession?  It's a joy, let me tell you.  We have books, movies, dolls and can sing ALL the songs on cue.  And I have envisioned most things pink under the tree this year - which does not come cheap, let me tell you.

So we continued on our trek to get new filters for our humidifiers (told you we were snotty) and just as I found the one I was looking for, it began.

"Mama, is that Barbie under the cart?  IT IS!  IT IS BARBIE!!  Why did you get that Barbie, Mama??"  

"That's a gift, Elizabeth.  Leave it alone."

"But it looks like a...ooooo!  It's a mermaid Barbie!!  Who is it for..."

(And then, in her own 4-year-old SQUIRREL moment)  "Mama!  There's Dora!  Can we get Dora??"

Thankfully, we survived to the checkout and there were yet more Barbie things in the grab-it aisle, which she begged for while I sneaked the goods onto the conveyer.

So the point of my story?  

Well, to tell you that toys are on sale at Target...along with swim stuff and pretty much anything else summer related... and also to ask you for your best shopping for THEM while THEY are along tale.

Really, please make me laugh.  Meanwhile, I'll be scrubbing this germy house.

Oh, and hiding Christmas presents...

Saturdays Around Here...

Very rarely do I post on Saturday, but I feel like I have so much to tell you, that an update is truly in order.  This morning was shaping up to be a busy day with lots to do at home, so we opted out of the gym and had a family breakfast of waffles instead.

I had been eager to try the Paleo waffles from the Eat Like a Dinosaur book I've been raving about and not only did they LOOK like real waffles, but they were pretty darn tasty as well!  Check them out - gluten and dairy free! 

Today was the first Saturday to pick up our CSA box at the farmer's market, so we carted the crew off and met the farmer who is going to supply us veggies for the next several months.  It works out to about $20-30 a week for a mother-load of freshness.  And the lady said that this would be the lightest box we would get!

I found our CSA through this Local Harvest website.  You can search for one in your area, if you're interested.

Of course, the girls were more excited that we stopped by a couple yard sales on the way home, looking for some more sleepers for Caleb.  We struck out on those, but did score a $5 three-wheeled scooter for Rachel and a 10 cent My Little Pony for Elizabeth...and there was much rejoicing.

I believe she named it Cloudia.  Not to be confused with her other pony named Rainbowa and her stuffed dog named Sparkla.

Now, to get a box like this was the closest I will ever get to Iron Chef and I spent a couple hours this afternoon looking for new recipes to use the vegetables I've never cooked with before - especially beets.  (AND NO, THERE WEREN'T ANY ZUCCHINI, YOU SMARTIES!!) 

The smell of beets cooking reminds me of my Memaw's house growing up, when I swore off the stinky things forever.  This evening though, I pulled up my big girl britches and started to work.    We made this Beet and Apple Salad from the Food Network and it was AMAZING.  I roasted the beets beforehand and caught myself eating them straight out of the pan.

Scott and I were just talking about how our taste buds have changed since limiting our processed foods and sugars and this is just an example of it.  Fruits and vegetables taste so much sweeter, without the need for dressings or dips.  In fact, even the girls are starting to accept newer veggies and eat more things on their plates - HALLELUJAH!!

And speaking of limiting sugar (ha!), we had ice cream for dessert and the girls enjoyed them in cones for the first time.  (Aldi had them for 99 cents a box and I thought that would be such a fun treat.)  So after dinner, outside we went and they were so excited to feel grown-up with cones in their hands!

Posing with the cones...

Posing with the cones and Daddy (who is NOT eating two, but is holding the photographer's)

 

See, you lick it with your tongue Mom...SEEEEEE???  AHHHHHHH!

Hey!  Where's mine??!!

Enjoy your weekend, my friends!!

Sleep Parties

I'm not sure if I've told you that the girls' current favorite game is Sleep Party.  If I have, forgive my prego amnesia and consider the adorable pictures that follow as my apology.  

I have no idea the origin of this, but it's been going on for a little while and basically entails putting on pajamas, piling up pillows and blankets and pretend sleeping.  Sometimes they nest up in the closet, sometimes on our bed.  Although the best parties are, by far, on the days that I change sheets and they can wrangle up all the comforters and pillows at once.

Seriously, you would think we'd have zero issues getting them to go to bed, but so far the only rules I have gathered about sleep parties is that they don't count at night and certainly not in your own bed.

Here are a couple shots of parties around our house:

Back around Christmas time - this shin dig was held between the couch and footstool.

Sleep party among the laundry pile in mommy and daddy's room.

Rachel, reiterating that these boots were indeed made for walking.  This kid has a shoe fetish already - I fear her teenage years!

So, after experiencing these parties day in and day out, you can imagine our surprise when we went upstairs to check on them last night and found a real-life sleep party being held in their room.  Now, I have to let you know that this was directly behind their bedroom door and I couldn't squeeze my large belly in the room, so this picture was taken with my arm wrenched around, hoping I got both of them in the shot.  

Of course, I turned to mush watching my strong husband lift them individually and put them back in their beds - tucking them in with their individual dolls and blankets.  *sigh*

Best.sleep.party.ever. 

Sleeping Double in a Single Bed...

Wasn't that an old country song?

I'm certainly not sure if this was what the song writer had in mind (ha!) but it did go through my mind last night I checked in on my small children before we went to bed.  

Happy Monday!

Secrets to a Happy Marriage - Part 2

My husband knows that I have an itty-bitty, teensy-weensy obsession with Amazon.  It isn't unusual for the UPS man to show up a couple times a week to our house, delivering anything from paper towels to toilet paper to diapers. 

So boxes in the hallway don't really surprise Scott, although I really have to give him credit for his reaction when he walked in the house and saw this bad boy...

He simply said, "Babe, what's in the gigantic box by the front door?"

Upon hearing that it was a curtain rod for our front window, he didn't even blink to volunteer to put it up for me that weekend while he watched the girls during my lessons.  And then he was only slightly irritated in telling me how a project that should have taken 30 minutes lasted two hours as his little helpers ran off with his tools and hardware.  Oh and he was missing the football game...

But I am so thrilled with the results.  Do you remember our front room?  I asked you for your advice this past summer here.

But in case you don't feel like going back and reading all that again, here was the before:

And after:

Like it?  Didn't he do a great job?  Thanks Scott!

Comments heard from beneath the countertop

Just a couple random conversations heard among my little people...

Duh, Daddy

Our Y is awesome and has a wonderful children's nursery.  Especially in Elizabeth's age group, they do crafts and play outside whenever they can so it's a great experience for them - which makes me feel not at all guilty for dropping them off to go get an hour to myself.  So last night, we went during the evening hours and ran up to the door as I came in to pick her up, so proud of the picture she had drawn.  I really didn't ask her much about it, but she continued to tell me all the way home how she was going to bring it inside to show Daddy.  

"I can't wait to show Daddy."  "Daddy will be sooooooooooooo happy with this picture."

So we get home and Scott was working at the kitchen table and Elizabeth ran right up with her picture.  Taking her onto his lap, he looked at the picture, praising her work.  Then he said, gently (as every parent does to a 3-year-old who consistently draws jibberish), "Now honey, tell me what this is here."  

Elizabeth looked at him point-blank, shrugged, and said,  "Oh you know, Dad, just a bunch of pink and purple squiggly lines.  That's all."

And that was all.  So much for Picaso, folks.

Rach's New Name

The reason why we went to workout later yesterday was because we had a play date earlier in the day.  My friend Susie has three little girls, all around our ages, and we try to get together about once a week because the girls scatter through the house and leave us with nothing to do but have coffee and actual adult conversation.

It.is.wonderful.

So, like any time your kids play with other kids, they seem to come home with a new piece of vocabulary or something random that you've never heard before and last night was no different.  Getting ready for bed, Elizabeth suddenly started referring to her little sister as "Rach" and must have thought that sounded smooth coming off the tongue because she continued over and over.

Without skipping a beat, the young one would auto-correct her every time, adding an "-el" to the end of the statement.

"Hey Rach..."

"...el..."

"I really like those pj's, Rach..."

"...el..."

Mama-Daddy

For about a month, Rachel has molded Scott and me into one term: Mama-Daddy.  

As in "Tank-ew, Mama-Daddy."  "I wuv ew, Mama-Daddy."  And many other absolutely adorable phrases.  She is a talker and is really more advanced than Elizabeth was at this age, which I'm sure is normal for a second child who has to compete with an older sister for air time. 

I'm not sure what made her link us up, but it is definitely her thing of the moment.

At the same time, Elizabeth has grown quite fond of saying the evening prayer before dinner.  Upon joining hands, if you don't jump on thanking God, she'll do it for you.  Not that we mind, as our little girl has shown quite an open heart and giving spirit - two things we want to nurture.  

Well, of course, Rachel has begun to want to say the prayer too.  Most of the time, upon Elizabeth's Amen, little sister yells out her signature, "ME DO IT!" and closes her eyes tight for a couple seconds, followed by a robust "AMEN."  

The other night, she squeezed her eyes closed a little longer than usual so I tried prompting her.

I whispered, "Thank you, God."

To which she repeated, "Tank you,God-Mama."

And I thought, Lord, that's a pretty high complement in this house!  

What Sound Does it Make?

Elizabeth has the uncanny ability to think of every animal that makes no noticeable sound and ask me to mimic it.  

"Mama, what sound does a lady bug make?"

"Mama, what does a giraffe say?"

And my favorite came the other night...

"Mama, what does a wildebeest say??" 

*sigh*  Have a great day!

Our Clothes Horse

I remember being so excited the day Elizabeth figured out how to get herself dressed.  We had coached her up for months:  This arm in this hole, this arm in that one. See how the tag goes in the back?  Good job, honey!!

Now, no one warned me about the consequences of this momentous occasion.  Therefore, my fellow mothers / fathers / people who might one day be around small children, consider yourself warned.  You're in for a doozy of a ride here.  

Consequence 1: Once she figured out how to get herself dressed, she suddenly began caring about what she was wearing.  

Now, I am all about creativity, but the fact that my child went to church on Sunday in a purple dress and green tights and pink socks was totally her idea.  She didn't like the black pants...or the ruffle socks...and don't even get me started on the precious Christmas shirt I had bought her to wear.

I swear, she has cute and matching clothes.  The problem is, she refuses to wear any of them.  She won't touch jeans or sweaters or turtle necks.  She'll wear jumpers, but not the shirts that need to go under jumpers.  She likes leggings and dresses and shirts that have a ruffle at the bottom.  Oh, and if they have a character on them, that's a bonus.  And they have to be a pretty color.  

Which brings me to...

Consequence 2: She wants to wear clothing that is totally inappropriate for leaving the house.  

Right now, her obsession is shorts and t-shirts.  That's what she picks out.  The problem with that lies in the fact that it is currently the dead of winter.  This morning, she came down for breakfast dressed in her pink My Little Pony t-shirt and a tie-dyed skirt that she called her tu-tu.  She had purple and brown striped knee socks and was set for the day, in her brain.  

The fight that ensued when I forced her to change into long sleeves and long pants was catastrophic.  We had tears, thrown clothes and shoes and eventually, I ended up pinning her between my knees and her little brother (the 26-week pregnant kind) to force the clothes on her.

Eventually, she calmed down and we went downstairs and proceeded with the getting ready to leave the house process.  I had the bags packed, sippies poured, jackets out and suddenly, I didn't see her.  

"Elizabeth?"

"Upstairs, Mom...I'm just getting dressed..."

(Which leads into...)

Consequence 3: She changes her clothes 50 million times a day.  

I ran upstairs to try to catch her before the damage was done, but it was too late.  There stood my 3-year-old with no shirt on, pulling back on her "tu-tu."  World War 26 erupted and we finally got our long sleeves and long pants back on and was out the door in 20 minutes.  

Picking her up from the Y, she was happy and in a good mood.  I asked her about her time there and she told me about the crafts she made and the picture she colored and the new little girl she played with.  Then she let me know that as soon as we got home, she was going to change.

But of course she was.

As I write this, I can see our entrance way.  Scattered not five feet from the door are her shoes, socks, pants and long sleeve shirt.  Within seconds of stripping, she had reappeared in the My Little Pony shirt and tie-dyed tu-tu.

The girls had asked for Dora soup for lunch (similar to Princess soup but with Dora noodles...thank you Campbells), which is not a clean-eating process (literally) and after the first drip landed on her shirt, Elizabeth jumped down and stripped naked to finish the rest of the bowl.  

Upon completion, she ran upstairs and came back down in a pink leotard and two mismatched striped socks - one pink and one purple.   Scott surprised us all by coming home for lunch and picked her up, spun her around, and asked why her socks didn't match.  "Because I couldn't find the other ones,"  she answered in her mater-of-fact voice.

Consequence 4:  Your child will now have a tornado of a room as she hunts for what exactly she wants to wear. 

Yesterday, Scott asked me why there were three leotards in our bedroom upstairs when he got home from work.  They were haphazardly thrown around as if someone was looking for something.  I told him that it was probably because his oldest was hunting for her swimsuit.

Which I had hidden...

Up high...

In her closet...

Here was a normal breakfast in Vegas with her swimsuit, tiara, and Hello Kitty necklace on. 

For our Vegas trip, I had stupidly packed the swimsuits - you know, just in case it was warm enough to get in the hot tub or go for a swim in the indoor pool.  The first morning, Elizabeth was overjoyed to find it, as she flung the rest of her clothes out of the suitcase, and claimed it as her dress up outfit of choice for the 5 days we were there.  (I didn't let her bring any princess dresses with her - packing room was tight!)

Now, three things about this swimsuit...it is a little one-piece with a ruffle skirt that qualifies it as a "ballerina,"  it has Tinkerbell on it, and it's just a tiny bit too small for my daughter.

So after wearing it for a couple hours, she would begin tugging at the bottom...which is something you never want to see your little girl doing...so I had to confiscate it about a million times and then deal with my crying child.  As soon as we got home, it was put far far away in the depths of the closet.

Consequence 5:  You become made to do laundry.

This really doesn't tie into the rest of the story except that I have a huge pile staring at me right beside the desk and I can see that over half of it is Elizabeth's.  I swear, we just had everything in the house clean on Sunday...  Isn't this such a mom statement?  "Do you think I was made to do laundry??"

Thankfully, Rachel hasn't joined the ranks of her older sister just yet, although she's starting to.  She already lets me know when she hates an outfit that I pick out - although she's a little easier to pin down and force into something.  I'm sure these aren't the consequences in every house and maybe your little angels get dressed willingly in matching outfits and keep them on all day and look perfect...but somehow (especially if you've been following my madness on purpose), I doubt it.  

Got any tales to tell?

I better go check on my child now.  Currently, she is watching the Cat in the Hat in my bedroom...naked...

*sigh.*

The Library and Hug Hug

This post happened in January, earlier this year.  Thankfully, I never have to return to this library since we moved and so far, I have no record at the new library. 

On the final moving day, I had a bag full of books and a couple movies in the front seat to return.  I didn't have the girls with me so I thought it would be a pleasant good-bye process - a simple drop in the hopper.

20 minutes after dropping off the goods, my phone rang.

"Mrs. So-and-so...this is the library.  You returned your movie boxes...with no movies."

They were still in the DVD player...I mailed it.

Enjoy the tale!

So I wasn't planning on writing about this particular adventure to the library until my best friend found it so humorous to concoct a picture in that creative, graphic-design brain of hers and send it to me in an email.  Amanda always seems to call when I'm leaving the library and gets the brunt of my frustration - which she finds hilarious.  Not wanting her work to be in vain here, please, let me explain...

It all started with the Wiggles book.  We lost it.  I mean, I have no clue where it is.  We've offered rewards.  We've had contests to search my house.  It's gone.  Scott thinks our friend Chris took it home with her after her visit when Rachel was born - since she had to read it to Elizabeth exactly 765 time, but of course, she denies any foul play.

I had to pay $14 to the library and the receipt is good for a year if it turns up.  It hasn't.

Since then, I've been late about a million times and have racked up enough overdue fines to pay one of their librarians salary - which you can only do when you check out 30 little kid books at a time and forget which day they're due back.  So I've had to develop quite the organizational system - counting the books we bring home and writing the number on the day on the calendar that they're due back.  

We use the Mickey Mouse bag as our library bag and I keep the receipt for the books in there - to double check my number on the calendar.  And we plan the trip to the library days in advance, which helps with my coaching Elizabeth on her behavior.  (Talks sort of sound like a scene out of Turner and Hooch.)

"You will not run or pull off books or yell or scream or cry or lie down on the ground at the library.  You will not run from Mommy or beg for the Wiggles DVD or cry when Mommy wants to grab a Joyce Meyer book, or a cookbook and child rearing book on the run."

I've tried driving by and returning the books in the hopper...which never works.  The girls know when we're supposed to go inside and I have a holy fit in the backseat if I take a step towards the building without them. 

So you can imagine my horror as we drove up to the parking lot last week and it suddenly dawned on me that it was Martin Luther King Day.  *Groan.* "Honey...the library is closed.  See, there are no cars there."

"Mama! Library!  Push the button!"  (She gets to push the handicap button that opens the main door...it's a pretty big deal.) 

"Honey, we can't push the button...it's closed.  Mama's so sorry...the library is closed...we can't go today."

I turn around in the parking lot and my children scream all the way home.

Awesome.

So Tuesday comes and I still have all the books in the Mickey bag in the front seat...counted...  That's how I knew that Hug Hug was in there.

We go through the library and my children are actually great.  Elizabeth found a princess book she was thrilled about and wouldn't let out of her grubby mitts.  Rachel was gnawing on a string on my sweatshirt and was happy for a moment.  I should have known I was pressing my luck. 

I put the books on the counter and gave the lady my card.

"You have a book out," she said.

"I do?  Which one?"

"Hug hug," she answered.

"Oh no," I said, relieved over the simple misunderstanding.  "I just put the books in the hopper.  It's in there.  I counted all the books."

She looked at me, unsympathetically, and said, "Riiigght,"  while looking at the computer screen.  In front of her, I know, was my library rap sheet:   Annie-crazy woman, address, two bad kids, a million dollars in late fines and loser of the Wiggles book.

She looked up.  "I actually just checked all those books in and it wasn't in there."

Elizabeth started fussing...the princess book was on the counter.

"I'm sure it was in there," I said.  "I double-checked all the books.  I have a system now."

She gave me a sure you do look and said, "Ok, I'll go look again."

As she went in the back, an old lady came up and told me how adorable my kids were while, at the same time, lecturing me on Rachel not wearing socks.  I told her that I was sure she was wearing socks when we left the house and somehow they got lost, while I'm thinking, "Please don't call DSS...I put socks on my kids."

Elizabeth:  "Mama?  Princess...?"

The librarian comes back.  "It wasn't back there.  Do you remember what it looks like?"

"Yes," I said.  "It's a little square board book.  I know it was in there."

"Well, I'll go look in the board book section for it."

Now I started to get peeved and so was Elizabeth.  Rachel was no longer pleased with the string.  I'm sure her feet were cold. 

Now, the board books are in the real little kids section of the library and to say it is the least big straight is a lie.  There is no organization and is one jumble of toys and books and mats.  It's awesome, really...but there's no hope in finding a singular book.

She comes back empty handed. 

"It wasn't over there," said Captain Obvious.

"I know, I just turned it in...with the rest of my books,"  I repeated.

"Well, I don't see it and I can't check out any more books for you until you turn it in."

This is the point that I begin to snap...in the public library.  "You're kidding right?"  Elizabeth started wailing for the princess book.  "I'm sure it just fell out in the car or something.  Can't you just check it out again for me?'

"We're really not supposed to do that ma'am," she explained. Plus you have a record, I know she thought.

So I stood there with my two now-crying children and my 30 non-checked out books on the counter and weigh my options.  I could leave with no books and a hysterical Elizabeth.  I could go out to the car and attempt to look for Hug Hug with a hysterical Elizabeth and a wiggling Rachel.  Or I could try to strong arm the librarian.

Option 3... I gave her the silent stare.

Scott coined this method of just looking at someone without talking until they decide to give you what you want.  Lucky for me, she broke quickly.  Seriously, like I had just done a Jedi mind-trick or something.

"Ok, I'll just recheck Hug Hug out for you just this once," she said.

Perfect.  "Oh thank you so much.  I will look in the car for it.  I'm sure it's just right there."

She gritted her teeth through her smile.  "Oh, I'm sure it is."

Elizabeth dries up as soon as the princess book hits her paws and I led my circus out the front doors.  Elizabeth hit the handicapped button and I'm sure all eyes were on us as we left.

Stupid Hug Hug.

The week ahead...

Very soon, we head to Vegas, baby.  Part of Scott's family lives out there so we make this trek about once a year, if we can, and the day is fast approaching

Which means that this week, I shall run around like a crazy chicken...with Monday being a typical Monday and being crazier than ever.  And like any day that you wake up with a renewed spirit, ready to tackle your to-do list, my children have caught wind of it and have decided to be especially challenging.  Like take all your clothes off and run around the house in just socks, screaming Mickey Mouse songs challenging.

So far, they've lost TV and the McDonalds treat they always get after gymnastics for not listening and being disagreeable and just plain hard-to-get-along with in general.

Seriously, who am I trying to punish here?? 

So I am facing a week slammed with packing suitcases and cleaning bathrooms (am I the only one who can't go out of town without cleaning her house??  Yet another curse handed down from my mother...) and taking books back to the library and trying to get a quick run in at the Y...shew!

Therefore, I've decided to share some of my favorite older posts with you this week from my former family blog, The Good Life.  At some point, I'll make a little button for it up at the top with those others so you can check more out.  

**Writing was paused as my sweet little children each walked in the kitchen with a handful of Christmas ornaments swiped off the tree.  We now have three ornaments at their level.  The rest take up the top half of the tree.  Also, did I mention it's also raining??  IT'S RAINING!**

I started The Good Life blog after we moved to Tennessee and it was a way to share pictures of Elizabeth, who had just turned a year old, with our friends and family.  Pictures turned into stories and then Rachel joined us and pretty soon, I morphed the whole thing into Mama Wants... But I haven't posted any of the old stories from The Good Life.  

So enjoy the repeats for some of you and the back story of this whole adventure for others and we'll see you on the flip side.  Have a great week!

Thanksgiving with my turkeys...

There are quite a few things that I love about holiday weekends.

I love being able to eat the holiday meal early enough that you can then have sandwiches for dinner.

I love waking up on a Friday and thinking that it's Saturday, but then realizing that it is INDEED Friday and that Saturday is a whole day away.

I love when our little children let us sleep until almost 7 a.m. before they start singing Lion King songs.  Normally "I just can't wait to be king" begins around 6:15.

I love seeing random people at the gym on their days off.  They're always happy and chatty and one older man made the comment to me this morning that I must have eaten waaaay too much turkey yesterday, pointing to my belly.  Funny guy...

I love shopping Black Friday deals online and scoring sales plus free shipping.  I made one attempt to go to a store and waited in line for 30 minutes just because I had a $10 off coupon and then decided that I was an idiot and the three small items I had in my hand weren't worth it. 

And I love having my husband home.  

Now, some of you may think that I'm running a little bit on the crazy side by celebrating a holiday weekend when I'm home with my small offspring all the time anyway - but having your spouse at home makes things totally different.  We are big on routines and rarely stray from our breakfast - Y - lunch - nap - activity - dinner - baths - bed schedule and just to have that other person around to share in the insanity and be another grown-up with you makes it a holiday in my book.

Or maybe you think I'm crazy for attempting to potty train on the biggest cooking day of the year...

But I digress...

I had these big master plans of getting the house clean and most of my cooking done on Wednesday so I wouldn't be in the kitchen all morning Thursday and, like most plans made by a 23 week pregnant woman, they went to the way side as I decided to take a nap instead.  My loving husband brought home take-out Wednesday night and the girls and I started on the cranberry relish after dinner because I wanted the flavors to fester together in the fridge overnight.  

They were very excited to help and squeeze the oranges and watch it all come together and that really kicked off a string of my little cooks helping me in the kitchen.

Thursday morning, I got my bird in the oven and decided to take the diaper off my youngest.  We've been reading a book on the potty and she's been telling that she needs to go sometimes so we thought we'd roll with it...you know, on one of the busiest mom days of the year.  With the potty in the kitchen...

We were about 50/50 on the potty...much better than the first time we tried this with her big sister.

I had debated on just getting a pie at the store, but I had all the ingredients on hand and figured I was just lazy not to make one myself.  Now, I had never made a pie crust before, so it was a little bit of an adventure, but it came out edible, even if I'm doing most of the eating on it. 

Battling for prime counter real estate...

I let them play in the flour and roll out the remnants of the crust dough after I was done with it.  This appeased them for a good 20 minutes, until I had to kick them out to do the dishes...which led to a good 20 minute double tantrum.

We had Thanksgiving for lunch and ate around noon, which was a record for me and I was pretty proud of the spread.  I had one store bought item - the rolls.  And here you can see that it was all my children could think about.  We don't have rolls that often and I will have to tell you one day about how I gained 60 pounds in my second pregnancy AND made my daughter a picky eater all through the influence of having rolls with dinner.  But that's another post.

Long story short, the girls snubbed their noses at the plates of yummy Thanksgiving food and ate rolls.  And Elizabeth ate a little cranberry relish...I would say since she made it, but she also assisted with the sweet potatoes and pie and green bean casserole and wanted nothing to do with them.

Yes, I said pie...weirdo...don't worry, I ate her piece...so it wouldn't go to waste.

Scott shredding the turkey, under close supervision by the Master Drooler himself.

Amazingly, the scent of turkey must have had enough of a sleepiness effect to make both girls take a three hour nap, and I joined them for about a third of that.  Scott spent the quiet time doing manly things in the garage, like getting down the Christmas bins and putting together a shelving unit.

Out cold.

So that was our day and we consider ourselves very blessed to have been able to spend it together in a warm house with plenty of food to eat.  We hope you had a wonderful one as well.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!