I vowed I would

never be one of those moms that let her kids go around with nasty, black-cuffed coats in the winter that look like they haven't been washed in years. So when Claire comes home with gray fur cuffs on her coat instead of white fur, as they should be, I throw the coat into the wash. Unfortunately, this has been happening every week. And all the blame goes to those cursed shredded tire chips they have at her school playground. I guess the days of gravel or wood chips are over. Claire has managed to ruin pretty much all of her socks and a pair of khaki pants. Everything comes home gray. I guess that's the price I pay for safety.

William's "silly heads" creation - they make me laugh!

You know you're tired when...

...the sentence you're reading doesn't make any sense because you're trying to read the word "shower" as "show -er". Because, what the heck is a "show -er"??

...you keep incessantly calling your baby girl her brother's name.

...you keep putting your nursing pads in backwards, causing you to soak through your last clean sweat shirt and nursing bra.

...you can't figure out why anyone would want to put hydraulic acid serum on their face, only to have misread the magazine's suggestion to actually use hyaluronic acid serum (whatever the heck that is)

...you think something in one of the Anne of Green Gables book is so funny, that you are crying, you're laughing so hard. Anne of Green Gables funny? Seriously?

...your toddler's request for one more cup of milk about puts you in tears.

...Barney is on, the remote is across the room and you're too tired to get up and turn it off. Now you know you're tired...

exhausted

Can I just say that mothers have to be the most sleep-deprived people on the planet? Insomniacs having nothing on me. The longest I have slept consecutively in the past three months is four hours...and I've only done that once. I know there are others out there who are dealing with the same thing and this is for all of you.

Now imagine this...

• new baby who eats ALL THE TIME +
  
• other small children in the house that have figured out that when mom is feeding the baby, she can't get up and stop them from destroying the house or torturing the other siblings +
  
• a husband with the stomach flu (the nasty kind that requires him is own bathroom that no one else is allowed into) +
  
• mom now has an eye infection due to the lapse in her immune system as she tries to fight off a cold, (possibly the stomach flu if her luck holds out) and an ear infection none of which she can get medicine for due to her breastfeeding the cute little piggy... +
  
• lots and LOTS of laundry +
  
• loads of guilt because mom has not worked on any projects or done anything to get ready for the upcoming holiday season as she is barely managing the basic household duties +
• all of the other junk that comes with having a school-aged kid, toddler and newborn (fundraisers, swimming lessons, girl scouts, homework, doctor appointments out the wazoo, etc)
  

= one EXHAUSTED parent!!!

As I always think at these times: it's a good thing they're so darn cute!

A 6-year-old's Take On Politics

I know, I know. The whole presidential election is long and gone (thank goodness, I don't think I could take one more: "I'm so and so, and I approve this message"). But I wanted to share a conversation we had at the dinner table with Claire the night before the election. She was telling us about how the kids at her school were going to vote for president. We asked who she was voting for and it went something like this...

Claire: Did you know that Obama loves basketball?
Ryan and I: No.
Claire: And do you know what his favorite food is?
Us: No, what?
Claire: Chili.
Ryan: So who are you going to vote for?
Claire: Obama.
Me being the cynical mom I am: ...naturally, seeing as how you don't like basketball or chili...

If it were only so simple...

Baby Rose

OK, I know you have all been waiting for me to post pictures of my sweet baby girl. As of last night, we once again have high-speed internet (it was just made available in our area last week). Ryan wanted to stay home and work today - but I knew that would mean that I wouldn't be able to use the computer, so I strongly encouraged him out the door this morning. I've been waiting months for this!



l



Baby Rose is the sweetest little girl. We are so glad she is finally here. She just fit right into our family - we knew she was supposed to come to us and I'm so blessed to have her. I promise to post more pictures later.

I just wanted to send out a thanks to all of my wonderful friends who have helped our family these past few weeks. Seeing as how we have no family in the state (or surrounding states), friends act as family for us. I've had numerous people bring over their baby equipment for us to borrow. My friends threw me a baby shower that was so much fun, it lasted until 2am! I received wonderful gifts and enough gift cards to allow me to buy a new stroller for the baby. Living downtown and pushing William and Claire in the stroller everywhere killed three strollers. So thanks to them, we are mobile again. THEN, I had friends willing to watch the kids when the baby came. My sweet friend Amy came over the other day and spent two hours taking pictures of Rose - you can see a few of them on her blog Playing House. The link is on the right side of my blog. They turned out absolutely beautiful! The day after I got home from the hospital, a couple of friends brought over lunch and stayed for a visit. I was going through withdrawals from them, so it was a wonderful treat (and a great sandwich!).

Now that my mother-in-law and mom are both gone, I'm on my own again. I'll dedicate another post to them later - they were irreplaceable help for me. So, knowing that I was on my own again, my friend Collette set up a few meals for us. So thanks to her, Gwen and Jennifer, our fridge is full of great leftovers that will keep up busy for several days. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!