Running update: check. Kids update: check.

It's been all running for a while around this here blog. Which is appropriate since that's what's on my mind now. I promise to talk about other things though. Sometimes. But first two running related things:

A couple of weeks ago I was running on the treadmill, as I often do during the week, and things were going along fine. I was listening to the Another Mother Runner podcast and had just taken my iPhone off the treadmill dashboard to switch to another cast when all of a sudden the treadmill stopped, started up again REALLY FAST, and threw up a big plastic silver ball. I had been pressing the stop button but it took a while to stop. I should have pulled the emergency cord, but didn't think of it. Which is funny because I had a MILLION thoughts at the same exact time. Seriously:

• I can't drop this iPhone.
• I'm going to die on this treadmill and I didn't shave my legs. 
• At least Lightrunner is safe in his crib when he starves to death.
• Will SkyWalker and the Princess get off the bus if I'm not out there?
• Chewie is the LAST person I want responsible for my body. 
• She's going to go upstairs, poke Haze in the eye, Haze will nip at her and everyone will blame Haze and I won't be able to defend her. 
• If we have to fix this treadmill there goes my damn TV money.
• Where the hell did that ball come from?

Once the treadmill stopped, I turned, looked at Chewie holding the silver ball and said, "Er, ah, eee, uh" and then she said "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you're okay." Hmmm. I asked if she threw the ball at me and she claims that she did not. It's possible it just rolled over and got sucked up. Possible. But she's not quick to apologize for things. The frame holding the belt was off, but I was able to stick it back on enough to finish my run. Vader glued it back together and we haven't had any problems. 

Second, last weekend I did my long run, 4.5 miles, yes, that's long to me right now. That's not unusual. What is, is that I did it with other people! The Princess has joined Girl Scouts and the troop leader is a runner and lives nearby. There's a whole group of them that go out weekend mornings. It was the best 4.5 miles I've had in a while. I like to run alone sometimes, but other people keep you motivated and keep you from listening to your weak inner voice telling you to stop. It was close to my house with nice, fun, ladies and I'm hoping to keep running with them as my long run gets longer (particularly once I start training for the half in October.) 

And that's the running.

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The kid updates I haven't done in a while:

SkyWalker gets older and bigger. He's one of the tallest kids in his class now. Who could predict that?? He is constantly bouncing a ball and wants to get a big hoop for outside. I was going to wait until the beginning of the summer to get it in lieu of a birthday gift, but I might get one sooner. If he wants to do physical activity, I've got to support it before he changes his mind! He has decided to be a Syracuse basketball fan and took the bus to his friend's house the other day so he could watch a game. They had soda there and he asked for juice instead knowing that we wouldn't want him to have soda. How many 8 year olds would do that? Not many. I told him I was so proud of him that he could make good choices without me there, even if he did moan and complain that he was the only one who couldn't have it (as it turns out it was special occasion and not a regular occurrence.). He's doing good in school and we have fewer homework battles than we did at the beginning of the year. He is SUPER obsessed with Greek Mythology right now and is currently typing up everything he has learned. 

The Princess is loving school. She just joined the Sneaker Tying Club for kids who can tie their own shoes. She has wonderful handwriting and is a hard worker and really coming into her own. She LOVES the Girl Scouts and I get to see a side of her I don't normally see when we go to meetings. She seems to really thrive in a group of girls... she gets so silly and happy. It's nice to see. I still think that she wants a true best friend, like big brother and little sister have, but she has no problem making friends and it's nice to see her in a group. 

Chewie has once again gone through the speech evaluation process but this time she qualifies.  Most people don't understand her and I am constantly translating, even for her father. She doesn't really let it stop her from talking, but it's better to get it cleared up now and not have to wait until kindergarten. She loves to dress herself and wear mismatching socks. Two different socks, not just socks that don't match her outfit. I have given up fighting. Her hair is a mess constantly. I go back and forth on whether or not I want to get it cut short. She might look really cute... but her crazy hair kind of goes with her spunky personality. And she is without a doubt spunky.

Lightrunner is eating green beans and avocado and peaches and pears and seems to like his greens more than his fruits (yay!). He's gaining weight and happy. He has his two bottom teeth now and I'm sure he'll have more soon. He can be up for hours and still smile. He truly lights up a room and everyone who sees him has no choice but to smile and talk to him. He brings happiness everywhere we go. I am so very lucky I get to go out on a high note... my last kid is just pure joy.

I have ignored the mess in the house for far too long. Dishes need to be done, laundry, cleaning. What else is new? I run, I exercise, I read, I care for children, and then frantically "catch up" on my "rest" day. I gotta start getting up earlier... I repeat, what else is new?

From scratch smoothie--Wha Wha What?

The only smoothies I've ever made have been with my 5 year old daughter following a recipe from her Mommy & Me cookbook. I've never really been a smoothie person, nor much of a cook. When I do make things I need to follow directions and very rarely step outside them.

Until Monday.

But let me back up a bit. I've been looking for something I can drink, something that would be a little more than water, something to help hydrate me quickly. Not for after runs--I'm sticking to my chocolate milk for my post-run beverage--but during the day as I breastfeed every few hours. In case you're unaware breastfeeding is seriously draining. Round the clock nourishing of the young can take a toll on the mama. Particularly a mama of 4. I've felt like water just wasn't cutting it, but I didn't want to drink chocolate milk all the time, and I didn't want to drink gatorade because of all the sugar. And because it tends to cause some gastric distress in me. I searched the ol' internets because that is what I do and came up with a solution. Coconut water! No calories (not that I care), no HFCS, no extra sugar, nothing bad, but a little more than plain water. There was only one problem. It tastes, um, icky. I tried the pineapple flavored one and it tasted a little less icky but still icky. Then I started making my own mix which was basically a lot of pineapple juice and a little coconut water.

At the same time I've been looking for snacky things to eat. One of the best things for breastfeeding moms to eat is oatmeal. I don't like oatmeal. I have serious texture issues and oatmeal violates them all. What to do? I ground up some rolled oats as much as I could using my super duper food processor I bought during my kitchen appliance buying pregnant mania. I've been sprinkling some on my yogurt instead of the wheat germ I usually use.

And then came Monday. I put it all together.

I decided to make a smoothie FROM SCRATCH. Insanity. I had no idea what I was doing, no idea of amounts or what absolutely should be put in it or not. I just decided to wing it. Along the way I kept tasting and adding things and hoping for the best. I think it came out okay, although I will make some changes next time.

In case you're interested:

1 cup of coconut water
1 cup of Langers Apple Orange Pineapple Juice (the store didn't have the plain Pineapple juice I wanted)
3/4 cup Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt
1 banana
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup pineapple chunks
1/4 cup ground oatmeal
1/4 cup chopped/shredded kale (I used one stalk/leaf/whatever and threw that in the food processor)

I blended it the best I could because of the aforementioned texture issues. I didn't taste the icky coconut water. I didn't notice the kale and the oatmeal really didn't bother me. The one thing that did was the stringy pineapple pulp. I think I may leave the pineapple chunks out of it next time. It made enough for me to put in the refrigerator. The girls both tried it and liked it. I'm hoping that this works out and can fulfill both the drink and the snack needs of a very busy breastfeeding mama!

Crazy. Plans.

I've been going a little crazy.

I have reorganized kitchen cabinets and my fridge and counters and as many things as I can in the kitchen. I bought all new hand and dish towels so they would "match" the green of the wall. Got rid of the big dish drying rack and got one--or six--of those dry mat towel things. In green of course. Bought an iced tea maker and a new food processor (I do use that iced tea maker every couple of days though). I reorganized closets in the bathrooms and got rid of crap we've had for a decade and don't need.

I need to set up a crib and wash baby laundry and I can't yet.

I have all of these PLANS in my head. My soon to explode head. I have finally FINALLY convinced Vader to rip up the carpet in the kids' bedrooms and put down floors. FINALLY. This will most likely be the last step in our attic-renovation plan, a plan that has yet to get off the ground. We're converting our attic to a guest room (and making the currently unaccessible part of the attic into a storage attic). The attic comes off of the girls' room, which is directly across from the boys' room. So, we'll rip up the carpet (we, ha!) and then have the contractor do ALL of the floors, guest room, girls' room, boys' room. In order to do that though we'll need to get all of the furniture out of those rooms. There is no point in setting up a crib if we have to move it out. SkyWalker needs a new dresser before I can move his clothes out of the baby changing dresser he's still using and then put baby clothes in that. So I'm not washing baby clothes now. Although I will have to get all of the boxes out baby clothes out of the attic. Vader is not very concerned. He seems to just see it as guaranteed that things will not be done in time, and so he's not stressing. He also doesn't have a million hormones in his body screaming to get all of our ducks in a row. RIGHT NOW! Luckily we are one step closer. After months (weeks) of phone tag with the contractor we have finally met with him and an architect. We'll get architect plans next week, meet again, get a price, get a loan, get this ball rolling. My protruding belly was pretty clear and the contractor said to the architect that we want to do this ASAP so I think things will move quicker now. (In reality, Quattro is not going into this new room, so if his arrival comes first it will not be the end of the world. But I want things DONE.)

Plans. Plans. Plans.

I've also been going a little crazy trying to get us to eat healthier, which is quite honestly, exhausting. I wish I could go back in time to when SkyWalker was little and expose him to more then... but I *did* give him vegetables and he did eat them and then he went bad. But, I suppose I could have cut out HFCS and sugar  before he ever got a taste of them. Alas. I have managed to change the things we eat on a regular basis. Our jelly and syrup don't have HFCS anymore. I made my own blueberry syrup the other day. I can't cut ALL sugar out of our diets but I can try to cut it DOWN. I've also been getting some local farm fresh milk. It's not organic, but sometimes the organic at the grocery store is not any better than the non-organic. Short of milking my own damn cow, getting milk from a local farm is the next best thing. It's grass-fed, they don't automatically pump the cows with antibiotics, there's no hormones, etc. I get it from a local foods store, in a glass bottle no less so there's no BPA either. Of course it's more expensive. It's $3 a half-gallon for the 2% reduced fat option. I would have preferred the whole milk, but that only comes in a quart and I'm just not spending that much money. Yet. I've been trying to cut down how much milk we go through because I can't get 6 gallons of this stuff. This week I got 2 half-gallons of the farm fresh and 3 gallons of the regular grocery store milk. I'm definitely not drinking glass after glass of milk like I used to, which makes me sad, but I gotta do whatta I gotta do. Good thing I got that iced tea maker.

Snapshots

Blah blah blah. Blahbitty blah. 

Okay, then. I was having trouble starting but it's all better now. I remember back when I had command of the English language and could write in complete sentences. I was an English major, you know. Now I don't even finish my sentences... in my head. 

Chewie:

She is beyond amazing and I am so happy I decided to keep her after those first couple of scream-filled months. She is so unbelievably happy and content. She was up for 4 hours yesterday morning and was totally fine at gymnastics. It just boggles my mind. Of course at home today she was asking for a nap after only 3. I'm afraid to mention the t-word, but she was a bit cranky for no obvious reason... and her brother was 11 months old when he got his first tooth. She seems to be his little clone so I wouldn't be surprised if she follows him. She's sitting nicely now and pushes herself up which is very convenient. She's content to just sit and play and let me go to the kitchen. She's not crawling yet although she gets up on all fours and rocks. She made a couple of tentative forward movements but has not repeated them. She's just too content to crawl. She was 16 pounds at her last checkup a couple of weeks ago. Please note that I do not need to hear about your uncle's brother's cousin's kid who has a baby that's 16 pounds and only 1 day old. I don't care. I have small babies. I have size 2 pants. That fit me. Her pediatrician is not concerned at all. And here's why I love my pediatrician--a lot of them would look at the number and tell me to use formula. Not ours. I'm doing something unheard of here and using her real name now--Dr. Melinda Clark @ Albany Med--is the BEST. She looks at the whole picture. She looks at our history and she looks at Chewie and she's not worried. I was starting to worry about solids but Dr. Clark is pro-breastfeeding too. So I'm back to feeding her 4 times a day and I'm not worrying about the solids at all. She's still getting 3 meals but I'm not trying to shove it in her. She's getting distracted while feeding so I thought it was time to cut out one of the nursings and drop down to 3... and then I was up with her at night because she was so constipated. So I'm back to 4 but I'm spacing them out a little more (4 1/2 hours now). I pureed peas and pears together and now she's eating pretty well. She has her brother's poop problems so the more green veggies I can get her to like, the better. Aside from the regular constipation issues, she's doing great.

The Princess:

We're doing really well. We've cut down on the tantrums a lot. She's able to stop crying and whining and repeat herself in her big girl voice when she wants something. And she is such a big girl! On Monday we went to the library and she actually participated and danced and did what the other kids were doing. She did great at gymnastics yesterday and I am so glad I signed her up for the next session. I had been wondering if I had made a mistake because the weather is getting better but she did SO well yesterday. I think she really needs the consistency to feel comfortable. It didn't hurt having big brother there a couple of weeks ago. There was no school so he came along and she was a different kid. One of the grandmas there said something about her being so animated and into it. Even though they have normal sibling problems for the most part I can honestly say that he brings out the best in her. She feels comfortable and safe with him and lets herself have fun and enjoy things. It's amazing and beautiful to see. She's a little chatterbox and talks ALL THE TIME. Except to strangers. She was convinced there was a crocodile under her bed the other night and woke up crying. The next day she told me that it had opened up the kitchen window with its mouth and walked up the stairs to her room. And then it left when I got up there. And that it was "so funny". Didn't seem funny when she was sitting on my glider chair crying for Mommy. It took me all day yesterday to get her to admit it was a pretend crocodile and not real. 

SkyWalker:

He still has random crazy outbursts but it's been easier to bring him out of them. Yesterday they were fighting and whining and I managed to end it with a game of Simon Says. His moods are still very much tied to his bowel movements. And he stills likes to eat nothing so it's a tough battle. I try to make at least one thing at each meal that he does like so that he will eat something, but sometimes it's not possible. Or he will just decide that he doesn't want it no matter what. He's gone to bed without eating anything plenty of times. It gets frustrating because I'm not making exotic dishes! I'm picky too and if I can eat it, he should be able to! But he's not crying about it. He just doesn't eat and sits there. Other than that, he's doing great. He did so well at gymnastics with the Princess. It was so much better than his first attempt when he was 3. He has completely embraced the big brother role and looks out for his little sisters. He takes the Princess outside to play. They stay in the fenced yard and he pushes her on the swing or they run around and climb on the bilco doors. I wish I could keep the dogs out at the same time and truly have some peace but Isaac is too much of a pain in the butt. 

Most days are filled with happiness and laughter. Every once in a while I have to stop and think and realize what a gift I have been given. Working was just not for me... I was miserable after SkyWalker was born and I had to work full time. It was better when I was part time, but... it is so nice to just not have to worry about going to work. To not have to interrupt our daily flow. I am incredibly lucky that I can do this. I honestly never thought I would be able to. It was always a dream--one that I wished for every day but never let myself truly believe I could have it. These are pretty good days and I'm not missing them.

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Routine

Today was the first day I left the house since a week ago, that's right 7 days, when Vader and I got our flu shots. While in some ways I am perfectly fine with that, I feel very disconnected. We haven't had a playdate or seen our friends in ages. The Princess found a Christmas card with her friend's picture on it and latched on to it, carrying it around and saying something. When I wasn't looking directly at her I SWEAR she said "Conal". It was quite cute. Yesterday while I was laying on the couch after vomiting a second time SkyWalker told me to get up and get dressed because he wanted to go to Tony's house. Sorry kiddo, not today.

Anyway, today was back to our routine. We got up much earlier than we had been and left the house at a time when we were just eating breakfast the day before. Luckily SkyWalker was excited to go back to preschool and had been asking all week when he was going to go. Unluckily it was my turn to "volunteer" so the Princess and I had to stay the whole time and help. The Princess is all ready for preschool. She played with the playdough and the puzzles and sat in a circle on the rug and stood in line and was all in all pretty good. Except when she took her shoe off and had to try to put it back on herself and very vocally said NO! when I tried to help. SkyWalker played with other kids and participated in everything and was really comfortable there and that was good to see. 

Isaac went to the vet on Saturday and she's pretty sure that he did tear his ligament. She thinks that it is not completely torn though and that there is a *chance* it will repair itself. So for the next month we give him painkillers and keep him on the leash. While this sucks mightily, particularly since it is cold and icy and snowy and who's home to take him out on the leash?, it's not as bad as being confined to the crate. He's free in the house, doped up so he's a *little* less barky, and since he's on leash he can't eat his own poop. Maybe he'll start to stink less. There's only one being in this house who hates the cold and snowy and icy as much as I do, and it's Isaac, so he tends to not want to go out anyway. It's not like the summer when he's outside playing. So it's not as bad as it could be. 

Speaking of cold and snowy, I was actually a little sad when the snow melted all away on Christmas morning. I think I finally understand what I want--I would like it to snow once in the beginning of the season, a big 3 foot storm, and then just keep that snow for the rest of the winter. 

The Princess is a little chatterbox lately, pronouncing words that her brother just started saying correctly. They play together really well and love to hide together and search for bears. They've been playing hide and seek with Daddy which is just as cute as it sounds. I took a little video the other night and will get around to posting it sometime. 

When the Princess was born and SkyWalker kissed her little head whenever he saw her I thought I had seen the cutest thing in the world. Then when the Princess started kissing HIM I thought that had to be it. I particularly love bedtime when I tell her to go say goodnight to Daddy and her brother and she toddles to his room and says "Nite" and gives each a little kiss. But I think I have finally seen it--the Princess giving her baby dolls little kisses. It's even cuter listening to it on the monitor when she's in her crib and I can hear her kiss-smacking noises. 

OH and SkyWalker has been trying new foods! On Thursday I made chicken and rice and broccoli in a completely different way and he refused it and begged for pizza, crying and screaming. I had told him that it was something new and then he could try it and if we didn't like it that I might very well be eating pizza with him. His Daddy did not hear that. So he's whining about the pizza and Vader just YELLS about dinner being dinner and blah blah blah. So now's he's screaming and crying about the pizza, but still hasn't tried the dinner. I felt bad for him because I know exactly how he feels. So I started crying, for him and because Vader yelled at me too. SkyWalker said "Don't cry Mommy" and continued asking for the pizza and then boom, he tries the chicken and the broccoli and says he "kind of likes it" and then eats the rice and pretty much eats everything. I gave him the pizza then. He asked for more pizza and then whined when I said he could have more rice and chicken, but still. When he was all done he said "That was a good dinner Mommy." The next night I made swedish turkey balls with noodles. He ate all his noodles and wanted more. I had given him a tiny meatball on a plate. The Princess had shockingly NOT eaten her meatballs at all and also wanted more noodles. So I said "whoever eats a meatball first, gets more noodles." She immediately sticks one in her mouth and eats it. I look at him and he's got one on his fork and eats one! And says "I KIND OF like it." Saturday night we had turkey hot dogs and he actually ate half a hot dog. He told me that he's going to try things now to see if he likes them and if he doesn't then he'll ask for something else. The something else seems to be bread with butter, so I think I might be okay with that. As long as he gives it a real try instead of taking a tiny bite and immediately saying he doesn't like it. Of course he can't admit to it, so he has to say "kind of" but that's fine with me too. I told him I was very proud of him. 

The two of them are giggling like crazy in their tent and I almost don't want to go upstairs to make dinner. But #3 is overruling them right now.

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Hunger

When I worked full time I had lunch at 1, picked SkyWalker up at 4:45ish and was home by 5:15/5:30. I had just enough time to start dinner before Vader got home at 6. He used to get home at 5:45 and I'm not sure what happened to make it 6. Whatever. Sometimes we didn't eat until after 6 but it was fine.

Now that I am home this is just ridiculous! We have lunch anywhere between 11:30 and 12:30 depending on preschool. By 5 we're hungry. Even with a snack. We're hungry. I've laid out a simple dinner tonight since I have to leave at 6:30. It is now 5:30 and I am blogging because I have to wait for it to be close enough to 6 before I start cooking. It's not like Vader works that far away. He doesn't have much of a commute. He just always leaves late. It doesn't matter if he's gotten to work wicked early or on time or late. He still stays until 5:30 every day. (except Thursday because I work). 

Have I mentioned that I am hungry? I'm starting to think the kids and I should just have dinner on our own every night and forget about him. 

Last night I made turkey meatloaf and thought I was screwing it up but it actually turned out pretty good. I gave Skywalker a sliver of it and the carrots and green beans and mashed potatoes that went along with it. He said he didn't like any of it and pushed his plate away. We didn't say anything. He would up eating the carrots because he can't resist carrot math (he counts them and then says "What happens if I take one away/minus one/eat one?" and then counts again until he's eaten them all). He did not try the meatloaf or the mashed potatoes or the green beans that he used to like. His sister ate his meat loaf and his green beans. There was no crying, no drama. Mostly I think because he had had 2 PBJ sandwiches for lunch. On Sunday when it was really bad he had NO lunch because his father gave him orzo with diced tomatoes mixed in. Now, I love tomatoes and I don't like the diced tomatoes in the jar that he gets. SkyWalker has never liked any kind of tomatoes. He did try a grape tomato yesterday (yay!) but didn't like it. Anyway, so naturally he did not eat the orzo & diced tomatoes and was really hungry by dinner but not hungry enough to try the stew I made. Just hungry enough to cry and scream about it. I think I'll keep letting him have control over breakfast and lunch (within the choices I give him) and make sure he's got some food in him and then use dinner time as the try new things time. He won't starve and hopefully if we don't make a big deal out of it and call attention to his whining and crying, then maybe he'll stop whining and crying.

Crikey, I'm hungry.

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Food

I know I've talked about being a picky eater before and how I really just don't think about food the way other people do. There are some foods that I like, but I don't daydream about them. Food is a tool of survival and that's it. I try not to assign any emotional value to it and I've tried hard to pass that to my own children as well. I don't reward them with food, I don't bribe them with food. We try to eat as healthy as we can and avoid desserts and candy/cookies/sweets. Lately instead of having goldfish in my diaper bag I've had carrots and both of my children beg for carrots when we're out (the Princess's shirt was covered with carrot stains at the library today). 

My son has taken my pickiness and brought it to a whole new level. I know it's payback for what I did to my mother. Whatever. He will refuse to eat food that he LIKES because it's presented in a different way or a different form. He likes macaroni and cheese. But he refuses melted cheese on anything else. He likes chicken nuggets but not any other kind of chicken. And lately he's been refusing nuggets at home and claiming he only likes Burger King chicken nuggets (our one weakness--Burger King). He refuses to try anything new. I've tried to explain to him that if *I'm* cooking it and able to eat it then he should be too... I even tried chicken nuggets and fish sticks to show him that I can try things. He remains stubborn. Which leads me to my dilemma. 

I understand being picky and not wanting to eat anything different. I feel for him. I really really do. I can't just go to a restaurant and be sure that I can eat what they have. I can't just go to a friend's house for dinner. I understand him.

But.

I can't make different meals for all of us. I don't enjoy cooking to begin with and when I have to make alternatives for him it's just a pain in the ass. Once he is old enough to take care of himself I don't care what the hell he eats if he doesn't like what I make. But for now I really don't want to be treated like a restaurant with him ordering something different off the menu. If I'm making something that I know he's tried and really doesn't like I will have another option for him. But if it's something normal that he should like and refuses to even try then I don't make him anything else. Which leads to...

crying. Crying and whining at the dinner table. It's mostly at dinner because I let him choose his breakfast and his lunch. But at dinner I would like us to eat the same meal. So I'm left with him crying and being upset. Crying over FOOD. I've told him that food is never a reason to cry and if he doesn't want to eat his dinner he doesn't have to. He just has to sit with us and not cry over it. I try to ignore the whining and sometimes he will actually stop and take a bite or two. 

So I'm left with this. Either I just let him choose what he wants to eat, or I try to stay in control and risk him developing an emotional association with food. And I know that half of you reading this think that I'm crazy and if he wants a bowl of fruit loops for dinner (no, we don't have that in the house) I should give it to him. But he's got ancestors with weight problems and I'm trying to start him out on the right path. I say him, because the Princess is no problem whatsoever. She eats anything and everything. She tries it all. She loves vegetables and eats a healthy diet. I will probably just have to make sure I get her into sports when she's old enough. And while I know that ultimately he will have to make his own food choices when he's older, I want to give him the right tools now.

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Insane in the membrane

Insane in the brain. 

Sigh.

In a fit of insanity I decided to take the jedi to Denny's for lunch. I've been wanting to go to Denny's but I didn't feel right going without SkyWalker when he's in preschool. So after his preschool Thanksgiving "feast" which consisted of popcorn and some fruit, we went to Denny's. We didn't leave preschool until 12 so I knew I was pushing it, but the Princess is always so good when we go out... as long as there is food, she is happy. SkyWalker was excited to go and told me how to get there in case I forget. "remember Mommy, it's on the same road as Wal-Mart and Target and the orange Home Depot. Daddy goes there. I do too. But not you, or [the Princess]." 

We got inside and sat down and much like the Anchorman in the bear pit I said  "I immediately regret this decision!". The Princess did not want to get into her booster seat because she wanted to clip the belt straps. Why? I don't know. I distracted her with something, I don't remember what, probably dangerous, and I finally got her in the seat and strapped in. We ordered. The Princess ate crayons and mocked me. Shaking her head and saying "No" very softly much like I do to her. After 3 years or so the food came. SkyWalker got mac and cheese and grapes and the Princess got the little dipper sampler--chicken nuggets, mozz sticks, and fries. (I had a club sandwich if you really need to know). SkyWalker gave his grapes to his sister. And proving that he is the best brother ever he gave her half of his mac and cheese because that is ALL she wanted. Usually she wants a little bit of what everyone is having but she will eat everything on her plate. Not this time. She nibbled her food, but she very loudly asked for the mac and cheese. I thought that they would share so it would all work out, but SkyWalker didn't want any nuggets or fries (!) so he just gave up spoonfuls of his mac and cheese (on his own, no less). 

They were actually both well-behaved, but it's just a pain in the neck when you have two. Going potty, getting all of our stuff together, keeping an eye on both of them. It's just a pain. Which is why I don't do it often and will probably not do it again for a long long time. 

In good news--SkyWalker pooped before preschool this morning and when I told him that it was great that he got that out of the way so early he said "yes, I didn't want to hold it in. I like pooping now. It's not hard anymore." Yay laxative. I actually didn't even give it to him yesterday. I've been tapering off and trying to do every other day. With the holidays coming up he could easily have a relapse though so I'm not cutting him off until I know for sure he's done with that holding crap. 

The Princess pooped on the potty THREE times on Saturday. Her sticker chart is almost full. She peed at the library today. When I say "Do you want to sit on the potty?" she usually runs for it. It would be SO nice to have her trained early. And easy. After all the nonsense with her brother... 

I need to fold laundry and wash dishes and straighten up the kitchen and I have no desire to do anything. Oh and pay bills too. Crap on a stick. I need an assistant. And a shower, but that's another post.

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Habits

I've been thinking a lot about JustKeepGoing and her snacking in front of the TV problem. I have the same problem but I'm not trying to lose weight so it's not a "problem". Growing up we ALWAYS watched TV as a family (good thing) and we ALWAYS had snacks (maybe not a good thing). Pretzels, potato chips, popcorn, whatever. I find it difficult to watch TV without having something to eat. Unless I'm at the movies because it's too expensive, but when do I go to the movies now? I digress... The other day it dawned on me that I may be leading SkyWalker and the Princess on the same path. I only let him watch a limited amount of television. Most of the time that is when I need to feed the Princess and it's easier/safer to have him on the couch next to me. This also tends to be during snack times. So we're snacking in front of the TV. It's gotten to the point that he doesn't just ask to watch Caillou, he asks for TOAST and Caillou. Or crackers and Curious George. And the entire time I am nursing the Princess, but I am less worried about that--she's not really watching the TV. I've started trying to break the eating and TV connection but it's a bit of a pain in the neck. 

FIL had his procedure today. He had stents (I think that's what my husband said) put in, coming from his kidneys to bags outside his body. He's on dialysis now to help speed up the removal of the toxins in his blood. We're on a "wait and see" basis now as to when he can come home. Apparently he's been really out of it mentally and they hope that the dialysis will help this. It appears that something is wrong with his right kidney--it's not draining like it should. But once again, there's no definitive information as of yet.

Pumping break over...

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