We need to teach her

The Princess has been testing my limits and my patience. It's not the fact that she throws food and her dishes on the floor (she broke her Dora bowl!), it's that she looks at me as she does it and she KNOWS she shouldn't. She's moved past the baby-dropping no coordination thing. This is intentional. I don't care so much about food, the dogs will get that, but it's annoying when she flings her dishes, especially her milk. I was asking SkyWalker what we should do... if we should put her in timeout (no, I wouldn't really, but I wanted to see what he would say). He said "No, [Princess] can't go in timeout. Not like me. I go in timeout when I'm in trouble. [Princess] can't go in timeout." So what should we do? "We need to TEACH her." So funny.

We had our playdate yesterday. It went really really well. There was a lot of conflict and kids fighting over SkyWalker's toys (it's pretty funny hearing 2 boys grabbing SkyWalker's toys and yelling "Mine!". Um, no.) There were some tantrums. Not from my kids, but from the other boys. SkyWalker was very quiet as he always is when other kids are having tantrums. He didn't really talk to anybody, but he did play on the playset with them and play downstairs and he didn't hide in the bathroom so it's progress. The Princess tried hard to be a 3 year old and crawled all over the deck. But then she got tired and needed a nap. It was actually kind of nice to put her down and have just the big kids playing. And the BiG news is that the dogs were outside with the kids the entire time and were absolutely fine! Isaac had his crazy ball and Haze had a stick that the moms threw and they were so good! I was so proud and happy and relieved! We had lunch and one mom who lived on Long Island for a little while (the one starting over since her friends have moved away) was just saying the "right" things. Hard to explain but for the first time in a long time I have some hope. 

I've started weaning the Princess off the pacifier. It's much harder than when SkyWalker was a year. When he was a year I took it away and he didn't even notice. But I've been finding her still sucking on it after she's been asleep for an hour. She only gets it in the crib and in the car. I've stopped giving it to her in the car and she's been okay. I'm starting to take it away for her naps now. Once I break that then I'll take it away at night. I'm sure we'll have a few rough nights. I'm not really sure how she got so addicted to it... I don't even give it to her anymore. It's in the crib and she just puts it in her mouth herself. 

We have a birthday party to go today and another floor guy coming tomorrow. Another busy weekend. I need to make cupcakes today and do some laundry and figure out my June schedule. Oh and dishes and a million other things.

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Picnic perfection

We went to the town park again for our picnic lunch. We've been doing it (or trying) every week. Last week it rained so we had our playdate at an apartment instead. SkyWalker and the Princess played with trainboy and did really well. We met him and others at the park today. It was a beautiful morning. SkyWalker ran around and was near other boys even if he didn't talk to them. There were 4 other moms there and it was great. We all talked about how hard it is being away from family (one is from Ireland and has left her family there while her husband's family is just 20 minutes away and is not helpful at all! She has the best Irish accent.). One's best friends have all just moved away and so she's starting from scratch building a new network of friends. It was so nice to just sit and talk to people in the same boat. And the Princess! She crawled away from me MULTIPLE times to climb up on the playset. It was hilarious. At one point she and trainboy were "playing" together. And then something happened and she was crying and he had to apologize and said "sorry baby" in his 2 year old voice. SkyWalker was too busy elsewhere to notice, but he did seem to really enjoy her trying to play too. It was just the perfect morning.

Some of them will be coming to the house tomorrow for our playdate. I have gotten the bathroom cleaned but I'm not going to go cooky-crazy. A large part of our conversation today was how hard it is balancing things and how it's better to have happy kids and a messy house. I hope they meant it!

I just did the best thing. Ever. One of my former teens is back in town on break from college. She's EMT certified and has loads of babysitting experience. She's going to come over once a week, for 2 1/2 hours, and play with the kids while I clean the house and strip wallpaper and do things that I don't want to do with them hanging on me. It'll cost me $20 and lunch but it will be SO WORTH IT. I'm hoping that the kids will get used to her and then by the end of the summer maybe, just maybe, Vader and I can leave the house without them. MAYBE.

I hope my DVR doesn't screw up LOST tonight.

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It was 80 degrees today

And my son wore his snow boots to the post office. He also had chapstick ALL over his face so he had a nice shiny complexion. Oh and the snow boots were on the wrong feet. With no socks. And yes, I did allow him to leave the house like this. The post office was just down the road and we needed stamps and more importantly needed to just leave the house for a few minutes. A lady was there and all she said was "What good children". I had to point out to her the snow boots and she hadn't even noticed them she was too engrossed in the cute well-behavedness of my children. Too funny. 

On Friday SkyWalker and I were musing about the staircase wallpaper and whether or not we could do it ourselves. The Princess woke up so I went to get her and when I came down... SkyWalker had started without me. He got quite a bit of it done too. It wasn't in a destructive way... he honestly wants to help me. Unfortunately it didn't come down as well as the kitchen bit did so it looks like crap right now. But that would have happened whether it was him or me. In fact it wasn't until I started pulling some off that we realized that it wasn't easy. 

We rode on Thomas the Tank Engine on Saturday and it was totally worth the 2 hour drive and $18 tickets. SkyWalker was less impressed with Sir Topham Hatt and tried to run away rather than take his picture with him, but other than that it was great. He got a new shirt, a new hat, a placemat and a balloon (Nana went with us). The Princess got a balloon and has been very happy with it. SkyWalker really wanted the Thomas shaped balloon and we walked all over the place when finally they blew up more and we got one. It was SO windy I held on tight to both balloons and wouldn't let him have it till we got to the car. Everyone got in and just as I was about to I looked and all I had was a blue string. No balloon. It just broke from the string and was up in the air. If I could have flown I would have. My mother thought I had lost my wallet from the look on my face. And then I saw the look on SkyWalker's face... My mother went back down and got another balloon and held on to the actual balloon and SkyWalker was happy. He could have had a wonderful day but he was so set on that balloon that not getting it would have ruined the entire thing.

I heard the most shocking thing yesterday morning. We had a guy come out to look at our floors and give us an estimate on refinishing them. The dogs were outside at the door. His exact words were: "What well-behaved dogs you have! I'm sure they want to come in and jump on me but they're being so good." I was in shock. They weren't barking, they weren't even whining too much. They were scratching at the door a bit but he was right, they were okay. Either they really liked him or more likely it was the 80 degree weather and they were too hot and tired to be a pain. They've actually been pretty good today too. They like being outside and hot as much as I do. 

We have a playdate on Friday so we've been cleaning the house today. I wasn't sure if I was going to do the bathrooms just yet when SkyWalker told me that he had peed on the wall. I went in there and sure enough he peed on the wall. Next to the sink. On the opposite side of the toilet. I said "um, how?" and he said "I peed in the sink but I got the wall." My husband claims that he has not done this in front of our child but since he has done the same exact thing I will still blame him for passing on his ridiculousness gene to his son. 

I should be cleaning but I am not. I really hate cleaning. It's never done. I'm not very good at it. I like doing things that get done. When I rip a piece of wallpaper I will NEVER rip that piece again. It's gone. It's done. When I do a load of laundry I still have another to do tomorrow. Same with the dishes. And sweeping and the bathrooms and all the other crap. I have a checklist on my fridge of what needs to be done and I check it off each time I do it. It's partly to remind me that I have to dust or vacuum or whatever but it's mostly so I can see that I did actually clean the kitchen sink even if it's a mess again the next day. So I can see some kind of progress. I'm not a housekeeper. I'm a SAHM and there's a difference. I don't want to waste all my time cleaning when I'm supposed to be with my kids. But at the same time I can't live in filth and neither can they. I don't run out of clean clothes and the dishes don't pile up for days. We don't have ants or creatures eating off our floor. Well, besides the dogs. I know that I'm not as bad as I could be but I still look around and see all of the dust and wish that I could wave my magic wand and have it all gone.

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Sacrifice

Mothers are no strangers to sacrifice. We sacrifice everyday to make sure our children's needs are met. I have recently switched to whole-grain pasta and bread so the kids and I eat the same things. Sigh. I sacrifice sleep and brain power on a regular basis. Today I sacrificed a box of tissues:

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My house is never clean and straightened up at the same time and this is why. I had the audacity to spend time in the kitchen cleaning today and then to fold laundry. The kids' laundry ironically enough and this is how they repaid me. It was mostly the little one but big brother was only too happy to help.

My kitchen counters are now clean. The floor? Not so much. Those are the fridge letters that the little Princess thought would be really funny thrown around the room.

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Apparently in my house clean and straightened up are mutually exclusive properties. If I clean something you can bet there are toys all over the place in the living room. If the toys are straightened up you can beg there's piss on the bathroom floor. This also works between the different levels of my house. If the first floor living room is okay, the basement "office" that is quickly becoming a playroom is a mess. If the office is okay the kids' upstairs bedrooms are a mess. My house is proof of entropy. I think. I'm not sure if I remember what entropy means.

I realized today that my children are perfect counterparts. I make a turkey sandwich. SkyWalker removes the turkey and eats the bread. The Princess removes the turkey, eats it, and throws the bread on the floor. Perhaps I should just let them share one sandwich.

I have been attempting to work tonight. I have music CDs I need to buy for the department. I finally got an account to do so... and the vendor sucks ass. The searching is horrible. They don't have anything on my list. I am very discouraged. I'm going to eat some string cheese and try again.

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Checkup

The Princess had her checkup today. She is 28 1/4 inches long and 19.5 pounds. She was down to 17 something when she was sick just a month ago, so I'm really happy she's bounced back so well! Of course she's doing wonderfully with everything. She'll be putting stuff in her mouth until she's 2 1/2 or 3 according to the doc... that's when most kids stop that annoying habit. SkyWalker stopped very quickly and then started again once the Princess started. Argh. He's always been susceptible to peer pressure in that area though... I am determined to nip this bud though. I know it's "natural" and that's what babies do, but it's friggin annoying and it will stop. Oh, it WILL stop.

SkyWalker has started his mantra "play with me', so alas my brief break is over.

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Time

The little Princess is now a year old. Her birthday was on Thursday and I am still in shock. It's been a year since we brought her into our lives and we became a multi-child family. It's been a year since I stopped working full-time and left that drama behind.

She's been on whole milk since Thursday. I am so proud that we lasted that long. She's still nursing morning and night and we'll keep that up as long as we can. I'm shooting for July. She'll be 14 months then and that's when my sister's wedding is so it would be a good time to stop. I made it to 15 months with SkyWalker and by the end it was just the morning feed. I think we can do it. She's doing okay with the milk. She has a bad diaper rash right now, but she didn't get it immediately after having the milk... she got it after pooping 4 or 5 times on Friday. Her check up is tomorrow so we'll see what it is. Wouldn't it be funny if she was somehow lactose-intolerant and I needed to start breastfeeding again? Ha.

She and her brother get into all sorts of trouble, making messes every where they go, and it's both frustrating and wonderful. There are disagreements but for the most part they get along really well.

diapers

I took that picture last year as I was preparing for the Princess's birth. The newborn diaper and SkyWalker's size 5 side by side. Guess what the Princess is wearing now? Yup, she and her brother are wearing the same size diapers. To be fair, she could probably still be in 4s but when you sleep 12 hours a night you need a bigger diaper. SkyWalker only wears his at night so he doesn't need a whole bunch. So they are both wearing the same size. Which is just too funny.

Also funny--SkyWalker insisted the other day that he needed to check his e-mail. I told him he didn't have e-mail. He said "I need e-mail" in a very matter of fact voice. So I said fine, and made him a new gmail. I only have 95 invites left. He now has his own e-mail and he e-mails his grandparents. He does all the typing--like dog and fart--and will ask me how to spell other words and then he'll type them.

He's also been making cards for everyone. I had him make a card for his sister for her birthday. So now he takes paper, draws happy face balloons on them, writes the first 2 letters of his name on it, folds it in half, and then comes up to me and says "what's it gonna be?" which means "I have a surprise, what do you think it's going to be" and then pulls a card from behind his back. He also says "what's sticking out?" I'm assuming from behind his back. He has made cards for everyone he knows, including all the dogs in the family and Nana's cat. They are all on display in various places in the house and we will soon run out of room.

Good times.

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Oh yes! Rumors!

SkyWalker is starting this rumor:

He has said more than once now that my sister was talking to herself about her wedding and a BABY. Hmmm.... He also suggested that my brother have a wedding and then a baby too. I told him that he already had a wedding. He seemed to think the wedding and baby happened simultaneously. My sister is getting married in 2 months... let's see...

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My son is in love

I caught him looking at pictures on our computer all by himself (he opened them up. He is too smart). And saying "Awww.... Awww Ruby." He wants to buy her a present and he has told me at least 5 times how he loves her. "I just love Ruby dog." Ruby is my brother and SIL's dog. She is the cutest little puppy.

The Princess is 1 tomorrow. She'll celebrate by having her first cup of cow's milk. I held on to the end! We'll still nurse at wake-up and bedtime for as long as we can. But she'll get her cow's milk at meals. I stopped pumping a while ago but last week was the first week I would have had to pump and didn't... I'm not sorry to see the pump back in the closet but I am sorry to see our nursing days coming to a close. There's not much difference between 2 and 3 times a day but I'm sure that once she starts getting cow's milk she'll be less thirsty for me... although she may very well want to keep it up for comfort. Wouldn't that be funny? She gets it less and wants it more. We'll see...

I forgot to mention this a while ago.... I got a charge on my verizon phone bill from ILD teleservices for some type of voice mail I never set up. The phone company provided the phone number for ILD and said I had to contact them directly to remove the charge and that they couldn't prevent it from happening again! Isn't that crazy! They couldn't prevent fraudulent charges! I was able to get in touch with ILD and they removed the charge. The next phone bill had the credit and then another charge and credit! I was so irritated that I started looking into doing the digital phone with the cable company. I already have digital cable and high speed internet. I called and set up the appointment for next week. So soon I too will be able to look at my TV and know who is calling! HA! Call waiting and caller ID and long distance are included. And the price is less than what I pay for verizon and AT& T together. We get to keep our phone number too.

I leave you with the funniest picture we took on vacation. Any guesses as to where we took it?

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This radio sucks

We're having snacky-snack. We meaning me and the Princess. We're eating nilla wafers while the boys are putting up the new garage door opener (finally). The Princess has one in her mouth and one in each hand. She has been unbelievably cute today. 

I don't have very many NC stories. It was a long drive. And after 2 days of driving to get there I had to rather forcefully say that we should go to the city of Charlotte. Why would you drive 2 days and not go to the main tourist city? Why would you drive 2 days and just eat at the same crappy local place you've already eaten at? Gah. 

Anyway.

The Princess had her 1st birthday party yesterday even though her birthday is not until Thursday. She got lots of clothes which is very good because her closet was starting to get a little sparse. I hope summer gets here soon. Real summer, not this 60-70 degree crap. She also got lots of musical instruments, including a harmonica, a recorder, another baby piano, and a real keyboard. She loves them all. She's a little musician--she just loves it all. She also got a little caterpillar rocker and will sit on it and smile as long as Mommy or Daddy is there to hold her. Speaking of which she let everyone hold her yesterday. MIL didn't try because she didn't want to be the only unsuccessful one. 

SkyWalker did very well for a 3 year old. He helped her unwrap her presents and showed her how to use a few of them. Of course the things he was most interested in are the toys he chose for her (including an Elmo doll he gave her in the store so she could put it right in her mouth forcing me to buy it). He's also pretty interested in the keyboard especially since it has a microphone attached and he can hear himself sing loud. 

There was another little one at the party as well. A cute little furry puppy dog. All of 10 weeks old. She was the cutest little thing. They always start out that way and then you open your eyes and they're eating poop in the backyard.

I finished the Princess's scrapbook last night. I had wanted it done for the party but the computer and then the printer had problems so I had to give up Friday night. But it's done now. Since I suck at actual scrapbooking it's more of a book of pictures with stickers and sayings and extra stuff thrown in. I do think it's funny that both of my children have surgery pages in their 1 year scrapbooks. 

I couldn't shake the feeling yesterday that something was missing. I kept thinking about the people who weren't there. Shinesalot and Littleman, and FIL. I suppose that's how special occasions will be now. Marred by a sense of loss. 

Yesterday morning SkyWalker said to me "This radio sucks, it won't play humpty dumpty!" Yup, that's my kid.

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I'm still around

I'm back at work. I haven't been here since April 12. It feels like forever. It's good because the Princess needs to know that life exists outside of Mom. I will not deny that I am her favorite person. Well, maybe it's a tie between SkyWalker and me.

North Carolina was okay. The drive was long. I do not think I would do it again.

I'm not pumping so I've been jumping in and out of here while answering questions and helping patrons.

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