I thought I had more time

I had my first birds and bees conversation with Leah yesterday.  More accurately, it would have been a birds and bees conversation had I not froze up, broken into a cold sweat, and stammered my way out of answering the question.  She just asked, "How to the babies get into the mommies tummies?"

Uhhhh....

Really, I thought I would be cool and collected when teaching moments like this came.  I want to be able to talk about how babies come and the importance of families.  We have Eric Carle's Mr. Seahorse checked out from the library right now, and it is a perfect, simple example of how the mom and the dad work together to take care of the eggs until they the babies are ready to be born. 

But looking into her big, innocent, pure eyes, I couldn't even bring myself to say, "Mommy and Daddy give each other a special hug" because to me, that could have just launched right into a conversation about saving yourself for marriage, the joy of procreation, and yes, sweetie, I know it's a completely disgusting thought, but Mommy and Daddy even like to spend "mommy and daddy time together.  You'll understand when you're older."

Nope.  Just couldn't do it. 

Instead I said, "When a Mommy and Daddy are married and Heavenly Father thinks they are ready, he puts the baby into the mommy's tummy." 

And that satisfied her.  So, for now, my child thinks that all babies are born a la immaculate conception.  Great.

Apparently I have some reading up to do.  And next time I won't be such a bumbling idiot, I hope.

And of course that picture up there is not what I looked like yesterday.  I looked like this-

prior to the cold sweat, of course.

Cheese and mostly whine

You know it's going to be a long day when your clock looks like this-

And your kids are doing this...

...and the check engine light just came on again, another blanket of snow has been dumped on us, the fish bowl needs to be changed, SOMEBODY ate all of the Triscuits, and my meddling in our otherwise-running-like-clockwork finances resulted in some hefty and irritating fines from the bank.  Thanks a lot, Dave Ramsey.

On the bright side, I got 504 free wipes from Amazon today thanks to a few discount codes and coupons, the kids played happily with a friend all morning, my angry energy propelled me through the house, vacuuming and dusting like a madwoman, and date night is just around the corner (pizza and games with friends- yay!).  And I got to vent all of my silly frustrations to some great listening ears.  Lots of gray clouds, but lots of silver linings, too.

And is there anything cuter than tiny hands wrapped around a cup of water?  I don't think so either.

Hallelujah!

My computer is old... by computer standards.  And it's starting to act it's age.  But thankfully, my in-house IT expert has once again saved the day, and I can blog sanely again.  I just love this man.

And look!  He's even thoughtful enough to wear headphones during the rare, late-night moments that he acts like a 14-year-old instead of his actual age (by playing video games).

And now, for my random blog updates.

My brother mailed us a solid milk chocolate anatomically-correct heart for Valentine's Day.  I couldn't stomach the thought of biting into it, so after a Family Home Evening lesson on love in the home, we melted it down and dipped peanut butter cookies in it.  De-lish.  They remind me of the Mrs. Field's cookies that I used to eat just about every day when I worked in the mall.... back when I was acting like a 14-year old. 

 *****

We spent $600 on our car this weekend- getting routine maintenance done and trying to figure out why a hose to the radiator keeps popping off, overheating the car.  Now the car runs beautifully.  I love our car.  I know I shouldn't be so worldly, but it's the first nice car we've had, and, well, that's just kind of fun.

But something about pregnancy apparently makes me a bad cook and a bad driver, and I backed into a minivan on Saturday.  He was backing up, too, so we kind of bumped into each other at the same time going 5 mph in a neighborhood.  Had I caused or incurred any damage, I don't know who's fault it would have been.  I didn't see any damage, but when I got home and told Jason, a nice big dent had blossomed on the back driver's side.  The same side we had replaced the last time I ran into something. 

One of the things I appreciate most about Jason is his ability to keep his cool under stress, and he somehow didn't bite my head off.  He just muttered something about how we "just can't have nice things" and then went back to making the kids lunch.  Really, I just love that man.

 *****

And this is what my kids look like when they pick out their own clothes.

I am sure I'm not the only parent that struggles with choosing my battles.  Most days, how they dress is not a battle I care to fight.  Because they always end up looking pretty darn cute anyway.

 This is Leah's new sitting place.  I look at her in amazement these days.  She is so cute, so creative, and SO curious.  She pulled out the latest Friend magazine today and was so excited to find that there was some homework in it for her to do- "just like Daddy."  She also invited a neighbor friend to go to Disney World with us, "just as soon as we fill up the coin jar and my daddy is done with school." 

And she confessed to having an argument with another child at Joy School this week over whether the pencil box should stay opened or closed. 

Leah- "I wanted it open but he wanted it closed but I wanted it open but he wanted it CLOSED!" 

Me-"So what did you do?"

L- "Nothing, and he started crying."

M- "You made someone cry?!"

L- "No, I didn't make him cry.  He just started crying on his own."

Hmmm...

As for Mr. Man, his vocabulary is starting to really take off.  He randomly shouts out words like, "yellow!" or "monkey!" and he is pretty good at remembering "please" and "thank you" all on his own.  He can finish the last word of every line of "I Am A Child of God" (so he's singing "...God... here... home... dear... me!... me!... me!... way... do... DAY!") and loves to take his turn reading a verse or two of scripture every night.

As for me, my pants are getting tighter and my naps are getting longer.  I am pretty convinced we're having a girl because I haven't felt any movement from this baby yet, which is similar to how it was with Leah.  With Adam, I was already enduring painful drop-kicks by this point.  I guess we'll find out soon enough!

Glimpse

We seem to have finally broken the endless dreary winter spell, at least for a day or two.  The weather has been nice enough that the kids and I have been playing outside as much as we possibly can.  We spent the first day of nice weather wielding stick swords, jumping in slush puddles and sucking on ice chunks.

And the very next day squishing in mud puddles, eating a picnic lunch, and squinting in the glorious sunshine.  Overnight, the mountains of snow all disappeared, the wagon has come out of hibernation, and the kids have rediscovered the joy of the backyard.

It may not be here yet, but spring is finally right around the corner.

Overheard

After last week's comment, I have been trying really hard to make sure that I tell Leah how much I love her every day.  At breakfast one day I said, "You are my favorite Leah ever."

Her response?

"So, does that mean you don't like Adam anymore?"

Really, I just can't win around here.

Jason tried to explained to Leah that, just as she likes chocolate cake and ice cream, Mommy and Daddy love Leah and Adam.

*****

As I was getting ready for church today, Leah exclaimed, "Mom!  Your tummy looks big.  Is there something under your dress?"

I'm still not ready to tell her what exactly is hanging out under there, so I said, "Nope, it's just my belly."

And then she proceeded to lift up my dress to check for herself, finally proclaiming, "Oh, it's just your slip."  Phew.

And that solved the mystery... for another day or two.

Lemme Get This Straight

"So, sneaking a bag of Crispix, climbing onto the couch and crushing them all over myself, the couch and the floor is something that you don't want me to do?  Huh.  I had no idea."

Pudding Paint

We were reading a book last week that has an illustration of a mouse grandma and her mouse grandson finger painting.  Leah asked why they didn't have brushes, and I realized a serious childhood milestone had been missed.  Not really,  just according to her memory.  I wasn't feeling up for cleaning real finger paint out of hands, hair, clothes and mouths.  The solution?  Pudding paint!

First the mixing-

Then the testing- 

Followed by lots and lots of creativity!

We went a little overboard- 

But clean up was a breeze!

The very best part of the activity was when I was pretending to destroy Jason's picture by licking it away.  I yelled out, "Tornado!" and Adam perfectly echoed me, "Tornado!"  We all just looked at each other and laughed, then begged, coaxed and pleaded with Adam to say it again.  No such luck, but I'll never forget his first three syllable word!

Somebody Stop Me

I have been on crafty roll lately, and after one busy naptime last week, I got all of these projects checked off the list... it's all about checking things off the list!

Another drawstring bag- this one for lacing cards.  These bags are a breeze to make, and I have only used scraps of fabric and ribbon that I already have laying around- easy and free- my favorite kind of craft!

Adam loves to sit and loop the strings through the holes.

One tricky part about all of the many, many stories we tell Leah about our younger days is the fact that she knows what we experienced as kids, and wants to experience it all, too.  This is exactly why I will never tell her about the entire year that I refused to eat anything but peanut butter and American cheese sandwiches for lunch.  Or about the secret stash of candy that I kept hidden under my bed.  Or the year that I snooped around my mom's bedroom and found some of Santa's presents.  Some things are just better left in the past.

But after telling her about the simple magic that was Valentine's Day morning- complete with a heart-checked tablecloth and a small gift for each child- I had to make sure that I was prepared this year.  I couldn't find a tablecloth anywhere, let alone a heart-checked one, so I bought 2 yards of fabric from the store, added a simple hem, and ta-da!  My $5 tablecloth, complete with the rest of the required magic.

This craft hardly is worth mentioning except for the story that goes with it.  I just wanted a separate place to stick all of our spare change and decided to spruce up an old salsa jar. 

Leah helped me pick out the letters, and when she asked why it said that, I explained that we were saving all of our pennies for something special, like a trip to Disney World.  When she heard that, her eyes got as big as silver dollars and she ran up to her room, grabbed her piggy bank and came back down to empty the contents of it into the jar.  I told her she could just keep her pennies in her piggy bank, but she insisted on putting them in the Disney fund. 

"We could go to Mickey's house, Mom" she said.  "Do you have to pay to get into his house?"

Now I'm going to have to make sure to be true to my word!

And for my very favorite craft-a sign for my laundry room!

I saw this funny quote online months ago, but didn't care to spend any amount of money on decorating my laundry room.  So when my sweet friend Sarah offered to make something vinyl with her super-fancy Cricut, I knew just what to make!  My original plan was to just slap it on the wall, but I decided I liked it too much to leave behind when we move.

After searching many, many stores for a cheap frame or decent sized wooden board, I decided that I would just make something myself... with a lot of help from Jason.  We used a $3 piece of trim, some cast-off wood from his lab, and a lot of wood glue to piece it all together.  And now I can take it with me wherever I go!

Because mark my words- wherever we go, there WILL be a laundry room to hang this sign in!

I Love You... And You Love Me...

What's not to love about Valentine's Day?  

I woke up this morning to these

(a pretty incredible feat considering yesterday was Sunday and Jason had to be on the 7:00 bus this morning)

Jason found his laptop looking like this- 

the kids spent the morning enjoying these- 

 (Books!  I'm slowly learning you just can't go wrong with books!) 

We had this for lunch- 

(because everything tastes better in the shape of a heart)

I handed out a bunch of these- 

For dinner, I made this-

(okay, it was actually for dessert, but you get the idea)

 
And there were three- THREE!- packages waiting to be opened after such a tasty dinner.  (not to mention the package we got earlier last week!)

Adam immediately fell in love with his new Woody-

and Leah immediately changed into her new outfit-

The biggest surprise was sent by my brother Jared, who is serving as a medic in Afghanistan.

That's right.  A solid milk chocolate HEART.
It was received with more enthusiasm by some-

than others-

That is quite possibly the very best Valentine's Day gift EVER.

So, what's not to love about Valentine's Day?  

Leah will tell you in one word- CUPID.

Yes, the sweet little naked baby with feathery wings.  She is terrified of him.  I mentioned him a week or so ago, and she has been nervously eying the skies and asking me when he's coming ever since.  We made a list today of all the people we love, and when we got to the grandmas she said, "There is enough love for all the grandmas in the world, so the baby doesn't need to shoot anyone with his arrows."

I have tried to explain to her the idea of falling in love, but to her, the fact that I was shot by Cupid's arrow when I fell in love with Daddy is just as offensive as the idea that one day she really won't want to marry Adam, let alone be legally allowed to marry her brother.  Ahh, love is in the air. 

Happy Valentine's Day to all our loved ones!

Party of Five

So... was Leah right?  Yes!  We are so excited to have another baby joining our family.  Lest you think our lives are all sunshine and roses, we had some incredibly scary and shocking complications at the beginning of the pregnancy, but, thankfully everything is on track now and I am feeling great.

Due date? August 4th.  I am sincerely hoping that this child follows the thoughtful example of Leah (7 days early) and Adam (13 days early) and comes some time in July.

Was it planned?  To quote my sweet mother-in-law, all babies are planned, some just come a little earlier than expected!  Yes, this baby was planned and we are 100% thrilled.

Do the kids know?  Nope.  I have learned that their concept of time is non-existent, so we are at least waiting until we know if it's a brother or a sister on March 14th.

Biggest guilty pleasure- bottled water.  It just tastes better, and helps me choke down those lovely prenatal vitamins.  That, and I nap every day.  I absolutely need it, and dread the day that we can't all nap at the same time together.  Oh, and I am getting addicted to a 10 o'clock bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats before bedtime.

Biggest aversion- pasta.  I can name the exact two times I have made pasta since being pregnant.  The first time I made chick-pea-stuffed shells and forgot the Parmesan cheese.  They tasted like oniony paste shells, and Jason immediately sent me upstairs to take a pregnancy test.  I have a history of horrible cooking while pregnant, so it was a bit of a tell-tale sign.  The test was positive.

The second time I made really tasty chicken Parmesan, picked up the baby-sitter, enjoyed a night at the symphony with Jason and then spent the night bent over the toilet.  It felt like the worst morning sickness ever, but since Jason and Adam got it, too, I'm pretty sure it was just the stomach flu.  Still, I could hardly type that out without vomiting again.   We have definitely become potatoes, rice, and beans people, at least for now.

Most unrealistic hope- that, somehow, this time around I won't gain 60 pounds.  Oh well.  It's a small sacrifice, and the silver lining is that I seem to lose it again... eventually.

Most realistic hope- another VBAC.  Adam's birth was a dream, and I couldn't ask for much more than the same thing this time around.  Except maybe that my mom could somehow get here before I go into labor (unlikely, considering I tend to go early and the due date doesn't mean much).  


Fun fact- My sister and sister-in-law are both pregnant, too.  We'll have three baby cousins within 12 weeks of each other!

Any other questions?  Leave a comment or check here!

Would You Like Fries With All That Catch-Up?

Having a broken computer for a week has left me sorely behind on my blogging.  I love looking back on my posts- all 600 of them!  Sometimes that is all the motivation I need to post again. 

The weather last week was much better than the week before- no icy snow storms or threat of losing power, just a few days of single digit temperatures and lots and lots of gray skies.  To ward off some of our fear about freezing to death should we be left without power, we bought a humongous kerosene heater.  The kids had a great time pretending it was a campfire when we tested it out in the garage.

And we've even gone out and played in the icy snow. 

There is a solid foot of snow and ice everywhere- perfect conditions for Jason to do funny things like this.

And when we're not outside having fun, we've been staying busy and warm in the house.  Last Sunday was Fast Sunday, and Leah asked if she could bear her testimony in church.  I told her we'd better practice at home first. 

Of course, Adam wanted to have a turn, too.

When I last taught Joy School, Adam was unusually quiet during the last 10 minutes or so of our class.  I knew that meant he was up to trouble, and I found him in the bathroom looking like this-

The toilet paper all over the floor was no big deal, but let's get a close up-

He had taken tiny wads of toilet paper and stuffed them in his ears and up his nose- I didn't find one bloody piece of tissue in his nose until a good 20 minutes later.  That boy!  I'm sure this is something he gets from his dad, not from me.

Adam's also become super sensitive to loud noises- not to the point that I'm worried about him, but it definitely has become a trick when I'm trying to send something down the disposal, blend frozen strawberries, or vacuum.  He will just lay his head down and cry as loud has he can until I notice and turn off the offending machine.  Poor little fellow.

And we've discovered the joy of a smock.

As for Miss Leah, she has taken a few turns lately that I could do without.  She likes to ask if she can be a 2-year-old, then proceeds to talk like a baby, crawl around and refuse to help herself in any way.  I try to point out to her that Adam isn't even two years old and he can function more completely than that, but she just likes the idea of being a baby.  Along with that, she has become my little shadow.  She refused to go to Primary last week because it was "too long to be away from you, Mama" and chose instead to sit on the hard chairs through a boring adult Sunday School class.  

She has stopped complaining as much about leaving me for Joy School, but I am fairly confident that we will not be signing up for any kind of official preschool next year.  It would be a daily power struggle and a waste of money for someone who would rather stay at home.  Just this morning I said, "Today is Saturday.  Daddy will be here and we can spend the day together as a family.  What would you like to do?"  Her reply- "I think it would be a nice day to stay at home and maybe play some games together".  And who am I to argue- especially when the weather is so miserable?

She just likes to be together- and she loves, loves, loves to ask questions.  She wants to show me everything she is doing, and she has to ask about things 3,000 times as she is processing random facts of information.  "I know a part of my ear- the cochlea.  What is a cochlea?  But why do we have a cochlea?  I have two cochleas.  Does everyone have two cochleas?  Why?  Why?  WHY?!!"  I actually have to remind myself that, one day, Leah isn't going to want to talk to me at all and is going to think that I'm a complete idiot whose opinion counts for nothing.  I'm trying to soak this time up as much as I can.

And her imagination is through the roof.  She loves to tell tall-tales (stories, I've tried to explain, that might be true, but probably aren't) about swimming with sharks, getting chased by rats, and catching fish the size of our house.  She continues to be quite verbal about her feelings ("You didn't put my hair in braids and that made me So. Angry.  I am so disappointed in you!"  Something I never say to her, for the record) and nearly broke my heart with this conversation- 

Me- Adam, I love you so, so much.

Leah- Mom, when you say that it makes me wonder if maybe you don't love me so much anymore.

Agh!  Where does that stuff come from!

And today she looked at me and said, "Mom, can I can come with you to the hospital when you have the baby?"

Me- "You think I'm having a baby?"

Her- "Yep.  I think you're pregment." (Her way of saying pregnant)

Any guesses if she might be right?