Life in General

These are the days of our lives...in January. The daily minutiae of our lives is what sets us apart from the other families with 2.5 kids (the dog is the .5, not the half-pint with red hair) and also gives us something to talk about when people ask "what's new with you?" So let's see...
We are reading the BFG by Roald Dahl. My HC remembered this book from his childhood and since I can count the number of books he admits to having read on one hand, we immediately checked it out and started reading it with the kids. This is a bit disturbing to Ian, who is apprehensive abou the idea of giants reaching hands through windows and munching people like popcorn, but the pictures are cute and the part about the BFG tooting is so funny, it eclipses all the yucky parts. I have had immense fun doing the voice of the Queen of England (and the whispering butler). Erin tends to fall asleep during bedtime reading (praise the Lord), but she also enjoys the pictures until she does. When we were finished with this one, we're going back to the Magic Treehouse just in time to correlate "Revolutionary War on Wednesday" with the same topic in History. Yay. So definite school points there.

Erin is going to be ready for pre-k next year. She is very interested in what Ian is doing and loves our one on one time when we work on Cubbies (Awana). I am hoping that she will actually say her verse this week during check-in time, though even the 4 year olds get all bashful and hug a leg when put on the spot. ;)

Ian is about to finish one of his reading books next week, the Robinson Crusoe reader with all the neat craft/drawing ideas that go with it. So far we've made a popsicle stick boat(that's what it's supposed to look like), a tiny island, some rocks, a tent and cave out of various materials, a playdoh goat and a big stack of illustrations. Mr Cheaterpants has been insisting for a couple of weeks that Robinson Crusoe will be finding a strange man on the island with him. I have been denying this, since we haven't read anything about that yet, thank you. Today, we got to the part where Friday is delivered to the island by savages and escapes, where Robinson Crusoe welcomes him and feeds him bread and raisins. Ian was elated and gloated like mad. "See, Mommy?! I TOLD you there was another man. I was right!" Add the victory booty dance to that. And a giant Mommy eyeroll. I will be sorry to finish this book. And a couple of weeks after that, we'll be finishing his other reading book. And by the end of February, he'll be finishing the dreaded, hated Phonics. I gave him the option of just doing one page per day instead of two. He was excited about this until I told him that it would extend Phonics until May, or we could continue and finish by the end of next month. He chose next month. :) It looks like math and spelling will be our long running subjects for this year. Those are two things that have more to do with understanding and less with grunt work. (Like the phonics rules, word-writing and language story-writing.)
We'll be starting a new chapter in Science next week and we'll be spending a lot more time on these than we have the rest. It has to do with sea creatures, with one animal per lesson. We're making an animal notebook with our drawings and colorings. I am very excited. The chapter after that is land animals with more of the same. I hope we can go to the zoo for this chapter! Ian will be happy to be finished with history, but I think he'll enjoy the next chapter on Pioneers. We will attempt to make a covered wagon. haha.
And we're only to the Capital H's in cursive, another hated subject. I'm not being too strict there. He traces a lot and just has to try to write it on his own. I am more concerned with him learning how to form them correctly than doing a bunch of wrong ones on his own. There's plenty of time for cursive in the future, right? Says the 98% of people who still don't form letters correctly...
So there, boring minutiae, yet the kind that occupy my days and thoughts. And it's Friday evening finally. So I'm out.

Liking It

Now that we have sort of reached an understanding with the new trial diet, we are finding out a lot of new things. My HC is finding out the most. Now that Erin is her beautiful healthy best, things are changing. As is normal, when most kids are babies they want Mommy, or whoever their primary caregiver happens to be (I have utmost respect for you no matter your age or gender; we are all after the same thing here). And when most kids don't feel good, they want the same person. In our house, it's me. Continuously.
Ian is getting to the point where he doesn't care who changes the sheets when he wets the bed or gets him another glass of milk. But Mommy is still the kisser of boo boos (for another couple of months, anyway). Erin is discovering this fact as well. Last night, it went like this.
I'm not sure if it's the normal course of things or not, since she's been sick for so long, but Erin tends to get up at least once a night because she is thirsty. She's always thirsty; she's part camel. And she takes after me. I get up a couple of times a night to get a drink or visit the bathroom and check on the kids. Usually my HC is awake and doing his after work wind-down and computer fix (Mobster, anyone?), so there's the added bonus of saying hi and how long have you been doing Mobster and come to bed already. (!!) Last night I was tired. My little chickie is up with the sun, which comes out 6-oh-something here. Last night she got up like usual. She fussed half-heartedly for a bit. Then started calling. "Maaaaaaaaaaa-meeeeeeeeeeee!!" After a while of no corresponding footsteps signalling my arrival, she tried something new and hit paydirt.
"Daaaaaaaaaaa-deeeeeeeee!" Daddy was on the computer and probably pounding keys loud enough to broadcast his presence. It didn't take many repetitions to have him bounding into her room to save the day (uh, night). Well, Daddy = playtime. She instantly went into a monologue. He got her some milk and walked with her for a bit. She wanted to talk and play and see what everyone was doing. Eventually, she got dumped into bed with me. She was cold!! Last night was chilly, somewhere in the low 50s and damp. I dozed off and on with her laying next to me, still talking to Daddy, who we could see from the bed, tapping away again at the computer. (as a side note, did he really thing she'd just go to sleep?)
After a while, I got tired of being kicked with little toes, warmer now, and got up to put things right. She got some more milk and then we changed a diaper. I turned her heater up and straightened her pillow and blanket and found Elmo. I walked with her for about 2 seconds and poof! Back in dreamland, back under the covers. Still, Daddy is mystified. But not intrigued enough to log off...
Erin was still sleeping today when it was time to get Ian from school, so I left Daddy home to monitor and went to get Ian. When I got home, they'd practically formed their own secret club, with handshakes and everything. Daddy had put shoes on her and taken her to play on the carport (which Mommy doesn't do; Mommy prefers the security of the fence.). They had colored pretty pictures with the sidewalk chalk. They had played on the playground and Daddy had pushed Erin on the swings just the way she likes it (this is one of the few things that Mommy cannot do; Daddy rubs it in, the oinker). They were happy to see me, but I have a sneaking suspicion it had more to do with the drinks I brought them from Sonic.
At suppertime, squealing, shrieks, giggles and wordy explanations heralded Daddy's stay at the table. At bedtime, she somehow managed to kick the wall, sing to herself and twiddle her thumbs until 10. She tried calling for Mommy and Daddy, but Mommy didn't go in until 10, when Castle was over.
I went in. The bed was mussed, the cup was empty and the diaper was full. I picked her up and went to get more milk. It was so predictable. Erin leaned out of my arms to peek around the corners. "Daddy? Daddy???" "
"Daddy's at work," I whispered.
"Shhh," she replied. "Daddy? Seeeep? Daddy?"
"No, Daddy's at work," I said again. "But Ian is sleeping."
The whisper was comical. "Daaaaaaa-deeeeee!"
I got her milk and she looked out the kitchen door, presumable for the cop car to be parked there. It wasn't. She looked disappointed. I guess she hadn't stayed awake long enough after all. Shucks!
She got her milk and a dry diaper and her bed all fixed. I walked a bit and she fell asleep. But that's okay. In a couple more hours, she has the chance to try again. And some things work every time.

A New Room

Sickness is bad enough, but lately another problem of ours has been sleeping arrangements. A little clarification. After Erin was born last year, she mostly slept in the room with us. We had our bedroom set up in the laundry room/play room/back add-on with the sliding glass door/back door. Comprende? Thus, the baby's room was empty and unused. When it started to get cold, we decided to move Ian's room into the smaller baby's room and move us and the baby into Ian's room. Then we could close off the back room and save some money on our gas bill. And we could be closer to the baby stuff instead of having to change a diaper on the other side of the house. A year later, we have this problem.

If/when Erin wakes up in the middle of the night, she rolls over and sits up. She looks through the crib bars and sees me sleeping in the big bed 3 feet away. She stands up, jumps up and down and screeches like a banshee until I get up and get her. Then, we either have to walk and sing or lie down in the big bed and go to sleep (ha ha on #2). Since she's been sick, it is a tossup as to whether or not she'll go back to sleep without a commotion.


Since I have 2 children, sometimes I have to get up to go to Ian. I have noticed this: when I'm not in the room and she wakes up, she looks around and lies back down. She Goes Back To Sleep!
So for the last month I have found myself sleeping on the couch in the living room at different times of the night so she will go back to sleep. This has worked for all but 2 cases. One was the breathing episode and the other was a prelude to some really nasty diarrhea, so I can conclude that this method will work in all but dire circumstances. My HC may or may not be sleeping in the room during this, since he works evening/night shift, but even if he is in there sleeping, he can sleep through everything except a wet bed. But last night, he couldn't go in the room to sleep because the baby was just lying there awake, staring at the lava lamp. I had been sleeping on the couch, trying to wait for her to drop back off so I could go back to sleep (I can practically hear people rolling their eyes, but don't worry a solution is nigh) and my HC was home from work. It was about 6 am before we faced each other and realized that we had to do something about this. Finally. After 5 or 6 weeks of sick and not a full night's sleep for any of it, I am not looking my best and my reaction time is frankly embarrassing. My HC just wants to get in bed without being screeched at. It was quiet, so we sucked it up and decided to be the parents and to get in bed. Screeching commenced. My HC went straight to sleep. I was left to console, carry and sing to our noisy bundle.
So today after church, we moved.
After lunch and naptime, we cleaned out half of the back room and moved our bed back into it. Then we moved my HC's wardrobe and my drawers. The rest will follow eventually. Then I headed to walmart to get a rug, some blinds, a clothing rack (I will really miss the closet in that room, but I miss my sanity more. I need sleep!) and other things that we needed to make the rooms habitable. I'm pretty sure the tub of candy corn jumped into the cart all by itself.


So I have been cleaning and arranging Erin's new room and after supper she went in there and uttered a big "Hi!" to her new corner of toys and played until bedtime. The monitor is up next to my bed and my bed is on the other end of the house in an entirely different room. I am SO ready for this.
I am praying so, so hard that this is going to work. But either way, I am not going to miss the couch at all.

Sick of September

We've been sick since August. The kids had little allergy-type colds that just haven't gone away. Erin has had her phlegm/cough/congestion/runny nose yuckiness for 2 weeks. It has been 12 days since I have had a decent night's sleep. Since she is so stuffy, it is hard to lie down flat (even though she is using one of our pillows to elevate), so she gets up a lot in the night. So I hold her and walk back and forth in the living room until she 1) coughs up all the yuck that is keeping her from sleeping well, 2)warms up and 3)falls back to sleep. Number 3 isn't always accomplished as fast as I would like. I'm not saying all this as a contest, like some women do. One person complains and the next person says, "oh yeah? Well, I haven't had a decent night's sleep in 6 months!" and then it's some sort of weird, deluded competition. No. First off, I'm saying it in disbelief because I can't believe it's been that long, even though the rings under my eyes could tell their own story. Second, in the middle of the night, it seems so much longer than that. Third, it's only because of how great God is that I am even functioning right now and haven't been late getting Ian to school.
Saturday night, Ian had a really nasty bout of cookie tossing. He had eaten his lunch in his room at his little table so he could watch whatever movie he wanted to watch in there and he had gotten some pizza on the floor. Before bedtime, I asked him to pick up the two little pieces that were under the table and throw them away. I'm not sure if he was just grossed out or bending over made everything in his stomach shift or what, but he proceeded to eject everything that was still in his stomach all over his rug. Then he took a deep breath and did it some more. I just stood there, holding Erin and watching in some kind of suspended animation horror. Then my adrenalin kicked in and I herded him to the toilet, where he stood there and stared (like "Ew! I'm not throwing up in THERE! I pee pee in there!").
I dumped (with a very fast song) the baby in bed and she stood there and protested missing all the fun (one of those times that it's completely gross to be the only grownup) while I cleaned Ian up and made him stay in the bathroom until I had cleaned up his room (nothing like the sight and smell to cause a relapse!).
It took a while.
I can tell you right now that we won't be having chicken divan again for about 15 years, if ever.
We ran out of carpet fresh. sigh.
I found the baking powder.
I was leery about putting Ian in bed because I didn't want round 2 to get the mattress. He didn't want to go to bed, so I made a little nest on the floor and gave him a pot in case he had to upchuck again. He asked for milk. Um, NO! So I got him some juice that he said tasted yucky and popped a movie in for him. An hour or two later, he had round 2 in his sleep and there was no clean floor left for him to sleep on and no clean blankets left (or stuffed animals).
So I covered his bed with towels (that's a trick that a great doctor gave me from when Ian had the stomach flu and I couldn't keep crib sheets clean) and got him a big beach towel to use as a blanket. Thank you Lord that there were no more eruptions.
Except this morning Chris felt queasy and nauseous. Groan! I took Erin to the PA (physician's assistant) and she got some Z-pack and better allergy meds to get rid of her bug (thank you Lord! I need Zzzzs!). I am very optimistic about this treatment. It's been really rough since the FDA or whoever has declared that any kind of cough meds, etc are not to be used on a child under the age of 6. Tell that to a parent who hasn't gotten more than 2 hours of sleep at a time for almost 2 weeks. I dug some old cough meds out of the bottom of my medicine chest and gave the proper dose to Erin anyway. And no, I don't feel bad at all. Or like a bad parent. It's hard to listen to your miserable baby cough and gag and choke. Then you're supposed to suck out their nose with the Blue Beast (nasal aspirator), slap some Vick's on and call it a night? Ha!
Anyway, I hope this z-pack works really really fast. Because tomorrow is grocery day and bill paying day and I won't have time to take a nap then either, even if I had the opportunity.
But that's okay, because I am thankful for medicine and for a little boy who is happy to see me after school and who is not throwing up gallons of supper. And for a little girl who can feel like the inside of a dirty diaper and still give gorgeous smiles and be happy to see me when I come to get her out of her crib.
So we've been through another one of those Parenting Trenches and boy are we happy to see the other side. Now if I can only get rid of the Marianna Trench under my eyes...

Party Pooper

The week of birthdays is over. Not quite a week. 4 days. Wednesday was Ian's birthday and we went to Eureka Springs to ride the train and to see the Turpentine Creek Big Cats. It was SO hot! And expensive. I'm known to be...uh, to put it nicely, Thrifty (capital T). I had a hard time shelling out all those clams for our two attractions. The parts Ian liked the most was getting to put money on the railroad tracks and watching the engine 'smoosh' them. He also liked feeding time at Turpentine Creek. We got to watch the employees/zoologists throw raw chicken, etc through holes in the cages. There was some impressive roaring and growling. There were also some BIG tigers and lions. We didn't go on the guided tour because we have small children that would not have enjoyed it. Which equals out to "we wouldn't have enjoyed it" which also equals "no one would have enjoyed it." Has anyone else noticed how these things happen?

So we were in the car for a total of 4 hours and got very overheated. But Northwest Arkansas is beautiful.













Thursday was Erin's birthday. We chilled out at home and tried to recover from our excursion of the previous day. We made and consumed strawberry cupcakes. Mm. Erin got tired of opening presents so we saved the rest of them for the party (don't spaz out on me, she didn't get THAT many. She's 1; she wants ribbons and boxes).





Saturday was supposed to be a nice quiet day when Ian's friends (all 3 of them) would come over and play in our back yard. Then more people were invited and we almost didn't have enough food and one child (who will remain unnamed) informed me that my party punch was disgusting and wanted chocolate milk. I could have curdled said milk, but I toned down the Look quite a bit and sweetly (hey, I tried, it may not have been as sweet as I'd hoped) told the child that there was only punch available. The child drank it anyway, but did Not ask for more. The mother didn't like the punch either. The sibling loved it and drank about 4 glasses.



And then there were the pizzas. I made homemade garlic breadsticks and homemade cheese pizza for everyone and the kitchen was HOT! So I was all sweaty and gross in the kitchen, going out into the yard to serve everyone. The grownups were all clumped in a circle in one part of the yard talking, I'm sure, of Important Things. The children were running rampant like hoodlums, since they have a 6th sense that enables them to detect when the adults are not paying attention to them. Of course, one of those hoodlums was my child, the birthday boy. The birthday girl was napping inside. Fast forward a bit. Everyone was fed, caked, presents were presented and exclaimed over and everyone went outside to play some more. I was stuck with cleanup and a cranky baby.

Rewind a bit, I forgot something. Then there were the Worms. We had the slip'n'slide out and everyone knows that there is little more frustrating than an unslippery slip'n'slide. Where you run and plop and stick to the plastic? No fun. So HC (my Hot Cop) decided to dump a little--in this case, a lot-- of Palmolive and then shoot the kids down the slide. He then left the Sam's sized container of Palmolive in plain sight and rejoined the oblivious circle of adults. What do you think happened next? Any kid with a brain would've done it. In this case, there were 4 kids with active brains (the 5th one was too young to think such devious thoughts, he was only 3). They dumped about 30 oz of dish soap over a period of an hour. With the hose attached to the slide, it wasn't long before our yard started looking like a cheap car wash. And that's when the worms came up out of the ground. I came out to serve the breadsticks and saw the grass writhing. There were worms everywhere. They don't like soap in their underground kingdoms, so they come up to give their opinions to the world (and to find a place where they don't gag on soap fumes). We collected a lot and threw them into the garden, but there were just too many. Later that afternoon, I collected 6 off of the slip'n'slide alone. Eeek.

The 3 year old adopted one and played with him for about an hour. He'll have a great story to tell to the grand-worms.

Anyway, my kid was being a brat. He was being mean to the other kids, not sharing, not taking turns and getting in everyone's way. I got down to his level, spoke in a firm voice and gave him the ultimatum. Either he would listen or get time out. I could see (on his face!) the decision being made. He did something else that went beyond not listening. So I did it. He got frogmarched inside and put in the tub with his very grassy, grubby, wormy (she almost ATE one! Gag!), baby sister.

You could just tell. My little guy, newly 4, had been partying for over 4 hours and he was done. The baby was beyond done and just wanted her crib and some quiet. So what do you do when the party's over and NO ONE WILL LEAVE?!
(Update: I realize that I sounded frustrated here, because I WAS. I had done so much by myself and had gotten up too early after not getting enough sleep and I was frustrated with my own children as well as hot and sweaty. I hope it's understandable why I was aggravated. Apologies to anyone who attended the party who is reading this.)

You bathe your children, clean up as much as possible and put them down for a nap. Then you sit inside with a book and put your feet up until people get the picture. Aaaaaah!

And you know what? They did.

Whale Song

If I think back to one of my earliest memories, I gradually start to remember flashes of things. I remember being very young and watching Ghostbusters at the movie theater. I was terrified that statues would come to life and hide in my closet for years after that. Between Ghostbusters and Gremlins, my nightmares had a lot of material to choose from. I also remember going to Lassiter's Store for bottled Coca-Cola. The lady who owned the store, Mrs. Lassiter, would give me a Charm's Blow-Pop and I would eat it with my junior bottle of Coke. My dad always got the big bottle. It still amazes me how much better Coca Cola always tastes when it's cold in the bottle.

Now that I'm a mommy, I have to wonder what incidents will forever be branded in the little minds of my offspring. What, 20 years from now, will they receive counseling about? What will make the sweetest remembrances at family holidays and birthdays? What will they promise never to do to their kids that I had done to them? Today I think I ran headlong into one of those Memorable Moments and plowed right over it. Don't worry, it's kind of funny, even if you weren't there.

First, to really get it, you have to know two things. You have to know this little song that most kids seem to know, either through day care or Barney. "Three little ducks went out to play, over the hill and far away. When the Mommy duck said, "Quack, quack, quack," two little ducks came waddling back." You keep going in the song until NO little ducks came waddling back and then the Daddy duck says, "QUACK QUACK QUACK!!!!" Three-little-ducks-came-waddling-back!!!" This is a household favorite, especially with hand motions and funny voices.

When we had finished the song, my very-soon-to-be-4 year old wanted to sing another song. "Okay," I said. "Which one now?"

"The Whale Song," he replied with a little grin.

"Uhhh...okay. Which one is the whale song?"

"Three little ducks," he said. "But with Three Little Whales and a Mommy Whale."

This sort of blew my mind. It was a favorite thing for my friends and I to do in high school, taking the lyrics of a well known song and changing it to fit circumstances. Or pulling a George on Seinfeld and doing your answering machine message. But it seemed that we were starting pretty early. Creative minds. I was so proud.

Until I started thinking. "What do whales say, Ian?" I asked, really wanting to know.

He just grinned at me. "You figure it out," his twinkling eyes seemed to say.

Which brings us to the second prerequisite. You have to have seen Disney's 'Finding Nemo', especially the part where Dory, the little blue fish, insists she can speak Whale and proceeds to speak several different dialects of whale. So I started the song.

"Three little whales went out to play, over the waves and far away." Two pairs of eyes were trained on me expectantly. I was almost heady with glee. I can count on one hand the number of times I have had their full attention. Both of them. Their FULL attention. Since they were Born. "When the Mommy whale said---" Uhhhhh. Then I started speaking Whale. "Whooooooop! Whooop! Wheeeeee-ooooouuuuuuuh!!!" Snorts and giggles filled the air. My almost one year old looked at me like I were something she had found under the couch cushion.

"Two little whales came swimming right back!" I finished triumphantly.

I stopped.

Two pairs of eyes were still looking at me expectantly. Ian seemed to be daring me to finish. He was still giggling.

I got to the second verse. Two little whales went out to play but only one came back. It was time for the second Mommy whale call. I changed to a different whale dialect. Whoops, a little too squeaky. The baby was wincing the way you do when someone claps too close to your face.

Ian's giggle had changed to loud guffawing. His face was red and he was holding his side. I had started laughing now too. This was turning out to be worse than karaoke on a first date.

One little whale went out to play, over the waves and far away. When the Mommy whale said---I'm not sure exactly what sound came out, but it was a cross between the first two, punctuated with gasping laughs and teary eyes. The baby let out a short courtesy laugh, but I think it was only because Ian was laughing so hard.

Uh- oh. "But when the Daddy whale said "Whaaaaa-oohp. Whaaa-oohp. WHAAA-OOHP!"

Two pairs of eyes were as round as saucers. Everyone listens to Daddy. The baby looked like she might cry. Ian just looked surprised that I could make a noise like that.

"Three little whales came swimming right back!"

It was quiet in the room. There may have been a cricket chirping in the distance. Then came a piping voice. "Let's do it again!"

"Hold on a minute, Ian. Mommy needs a drink."

A Day of Firsts

Today was a pretty big day in the Grand Scheme of Things.

Yesterday, I used my Brand New Dishwasher for the first time. But I unloaded--no I didn't. But I did get a clean glass out of it First thing this morning. :) This is my first dishwasher Ever. There was one in my last apartment before college graduation, but we only used it once and it flooded everything, so we just used it to store cat food. Anyway.

Another first today: Erin was left unattended and the bathroom door was left open. So was the toilet lid. So she had her first Splash Fest in the toilet. Mmmm. Don't worry, she was summarily disinfected and scolded and disinfected again. She just likes the pretty blue water.



And the big first. Drumroll:

We went to our First Family Movie at the movie theater. We saw Kung Fu Panda.

Yes, we loaded up the entire family, called some friends who wanted to see it again, and went to the movie theater. This is a huge deal around here because this movie theater is a new addition, unless you want to go to Stilwell. It was my first choice because it is $3, but it only shows at 7pm and only one movie a week. Not such a great time for small children.
So we went to Siloam Springs and paid the matinee prices and got Ian a little kid's pack of popcorn and drink and candy. Then we tried really really really hard to actually watch the movie. I was getting frustrated with Erin before the previews were over. She is hitting this stage where she wants to be vocal. And she wants to be the loudest one in the room. So trying to outdo Dolby Digital Surround Sound was a challenge, but she was up for it. She was not content to sit in the chair. Nopity nope nope. She wanted to be held, jiggled, swayed, etc. Every now and then she would let her head go limp and rest on my shoulder, just to encourage me a little bit. Then it was Bloop! Head back up and "blaw blaw blaw waah. Squeal, squeal, eeeeeh."
Oh yes. And then there were the bathroom breaks. We tallied it on the way home. I took Ian to the bathroom before the movie and then 4 times during the movie. Chris took Ian twice. He peed every single time. So there are several chunks of the movie missing for me. It will probably actually make sense if we ever see it in its entirety, but what I did see was cute. It always drives me nuts though, when I recognize the voices and can't figure out who it is. I figured out everyone major except for Dustin Hoffman! He is so good! He is such a talented actor, no matter what he's like in person. His voice was making my hair curl! I could not figure it out!
But we did it. We took Ian to his first movie. And it will be the last for a while. :D
Though I asked God quite a few times what I was thinking when I put those wedge heels on. What was I thinking?!!! Oh yeah, that I'd actually be sitting down. Ha hahaha.
So just to refresh my memory (or let's see if I can find out what happened to the old turtle, as well as some other major plot points): http://www.kungfupanda.com/ And just in case you need to play some online games.

The most ironic thing though, about Ian and the movies, is this. The whole time we were there, he kept expecting Wall-E to come on. "Ooh, we see Wall-E? Wall-E is on? When is Wall-E coming on? I guess we know now what movie he Really wanted to see. He just didn't get it, but he had a good time. At least the bathrooms were clean.

Oh, FYI, did you know there's another Mummy movie coming out? And another Ice Age (about dinosaurs!) And what else? There was something else, but there was a big humongous stand up cutout of the new Ice Age and Ian had to touch it every time we went by...sheesh.
Oh well. I think it will have to be at least a couple of months before we brave that again. I'm pretty sure we can be really patient and wait for the DVD. :)

OH, and our week at a glance:

Scholastic Book Fair Has Readers Going Buggy!
By Mandi Goforth

The Scholastic Book Fair came to town this past week, transforming the library’s entertainment room into a young readers’ paradise. Children and young adults had their pick of classic books as well as posters, comics, and series ranging from Junie B. Jones to High School Musical. Wednesday’s Summer Party, “Going Buggy,” started out with rain, but the sun came out to shine on those happy children and parents who came to enjoy the festivities. With favorite hits such as the Hokey Pokey and the Macarena, the music was hopping, and so were the parents. There was a scavenger hunt, where bugs (on paper) were collected. The end of the hunt yielded a “Catch the Reading Bug!” poster. Balloons were tied to small arms and the line was long for the face painting. Volunteers Shelley and Whitney painted various bugs, butterflies and other requests on excited faces. Though they did not profess to be experts, they did a wonderful job! Guests were especially impressed with the red car on a small cheek as well as a pirate, complete with eye patch and gold tooth, on another boy’s arm. VIPs included Clifford the Big Red Dog and Geronimo the Mouse, who also danced and took photos with adoring fans. Partygoers munched on hot dogs, chips and cookies before loading up the loot and going home.
Next week will be the last week of activities, so get out of the house for some fun! Monday is a special appearance from Critter Tales, Inc. Bring your friends! Live animals will be there to watch and touch. Tuesday will be the last opportunity to give your toddler a special experience as a volunteer reads fun books just for little ones. Prepare to be astonished on Wednesday as magician Kevin Wade presents “The Good, the Bad and the Bugly.” The finale to our wonderful summer program will be worth seeing as funny adventurer Ryan O’Brien and his puppets return with another episode of the Big Magic Book.
Another reminder to Westville’s voracious readers! Keep reading and filling up those reading logs! Triumphant readers who complete their logs, reading 55 books, will be entered into a drawing for exciting prizes.
Don’t let the summer pass you by! And don’t just pass by the library, come on in and “Catch the Reading Bug!”

Yes ma'am.

Today was another part of the Library's
"Catch the Reading Bug" program and the Oklahoma Science Museum came to teach us about real bugs. The college boys who did the presentation did a great job and everyone learned something. But then Something happened and my self-perception will never be the same.

OK, I know there comes a time in every woman's life when this happens. Sometimes it is funny, and sometimes it is just heartrending. Sometimes you are impressed with the manners of today's kids and sometimes you want to ask them what the big idea is. The fact is--and I'm sort of cringing--someone called me ma'am today. It wasn't a little kid. It wasn't an old person (someone my age or older, that is). It was a college kid! I wanted to shake the guy and say, "Hey! I'm only, what, 5, 6, 8 years older than you! What's up with this?" But I was holding the baby and couldn't do that. So I just stared at him, dumbstruck. I could almost feel my eyes rolling around in my head and my tongue lolling out. With that cartoon "aah-oooooga" sound. He noticed my strange expression because he got that deer in headlights look. That "what did I do?" expression. I stammered out that no one had ever called me ma'am before. He tripped all over himself trying to tell me that it was a habit, blah blah. I told him that I understood, I was from the South. He smiled politely (probably afraid I would go into those "when I was a kid in the South" stories) and quickly busied himself doing anything that would hide him under the table.


I was so upset I did two things that are completely against my nature. I petted a giant cockroach and then I ate a meal worm. Well, it was a library program, after all.

Waiting it out

We are going on a trip soon and Ian is making me nutty! At times, I wish I had just waited and gotten him up at 5:30 on The Day and said, "Get up! We're going on an airplane!" Instead, I opted that anticipation is almost as sweet as the gift, and we have been marking off days since day 15. Now we have a few days left and he is stubbornly insisting that today is day 2. Today is day 2. Today is day 2. Aaaaah! Sorry, honey, nothing I can do can make it day 2 any faster. But the 3 year old mind is not a mind of logic. Just of unsurpassed stubbornness.

Erin on the other hand, is now a crawling machine. She is getting fast and discovering all sorts of fascinating things. Especially Ian's toys. Usually to the chorus of "Ew! Baby goober is making it all gross! We need to wash it off. Mommy, NO! No, Baby girl!" All the while, she is happily munching on the Hot Wheel, train, book, etc, enjoying the commotion.

Well today's commotion was as usual. Then Ian walks casually over to me and, still watching SuperWhy, remarks, "Baby's girl's playing in poo poo diapers."

I heard the crackling, but discounted it as normal play noise. Ha ha. She was in our room, sitting on the floor bapping around the trash bag that houses the yucky diapers. Said diapers were littered all over the floor around her. She wasn't sure why I ran in there, but happily lifted her arms when I came in. I practically bathed her in Germ-X. I warned her not to taste her fingers for a while, but I'm not sure she listened.

Chris slept through the whole thing. I really wish we could just switch brains for a day. It would be really educational...and I would get more sleep.

On Tuesday afternoon, we broke out the bike trailer and our bicycles and went on a family bike ride. Buddy had been sleeping in the bike trailer all winter, it looked like, but Chris vacuumed and I sprayed Febreeze and Chris scrubbed and vacuumed some more (notice my huge contribution; whew!) and finally deemed it ready for our offspring. The kids had a blast. Ian protested all the way home because he didn't want to GO home (it's starting already). Erin just enjoyed the fresh air and enjoyed sitting next to Ian and I think she liked it a lot. I'll let you decide.

Film Development

Yes, we are one of the last of the old school beginner photogs. We have a nice camera, with APS film, but we still use this stone age thing called film processing at Walmart. Call me crazy and old fashioned, but give me a photo album over a DVD of pics any day.

So without further ado, here are the best of the lot.

Here you can see Chris reading Erin her first book, Green Eggs and Ham, from the doctor who delivered her. We have to keep this away from Ian or he will 'borrow' it.

Here, Ian is on 'forced' potty time. This lasts until he gets a potty seat ring on his bottom or something actually appears in the potty. :) This hasn't happened for quite a while. He is very excited about the 'pee real quick and go' method.

This pic is funny because it was cold in the house and Ian said he was cold during his morning potty time. First his legs were cold. Then his arms

were cold. Then his hair was cold. Then he wanted to get closer to the heater. We managed all of this and then he was happy.

Now we get some cute ones of Erin and Chris again. She is SUCH a Daddy's girl. And it's so precious to see.

This one is in a frame right now because it's such a Good picture. Finally, one of Erin smiling! Now doesn't your day seem a little better now? I know it works for me!

I believe! I believe!

It has been a noisy interesting last couple of days. Erin is ferociously teething. She will not let me get more than a couple of feet away from her without crying. She wants to be held constantly--by me. Whenever Chris holds her she reaches out for me. Part of me is all touched and 'aw-isn't-that-sweet'! The rest of me just wants to go to the bathroom in peace and quiet without a sobbing baby sitting on the floor pulling at my leg.

And we've figured out that Ibuprofen does not sit well on her tummy.

On the flip side, Ian is doing tremendously well in the potty training arena. Except now he tells Everybody every time he has a body function. For example, he used the restroom in Wal-Mart (he's still scared of the noisy auto-flush). We clapped and yay-ed and when we were in the other end of the store, 20 or so minutes later, Ian saw an older woman and gleefully announced to her "I went pee pee in the toilet! Want to see?" She handled it very well and said no thank you, but did congratulate him on his success. She was really sweet. But does he have to invite everyone to look at it? I believe, I believe! (Some part of me is thinking of Peter Pan, where we clap and say "I do believe in fairies!" I don't know why.)

There has been another cold snap after the days of horrible thunderstorms and hail (yes, hail!). During one episode of penny sized hail, I went to the carport to pull the Jeep up a bit, in case the hail got bigger. There was some hail that had bounced over so I picked it up and brought it inside to show Ian. I explained to him that hail was just "Ice rocks from the sky". He looked at it, held it a bit and popped it into his mouth. "Mmm. Cold" was all he said. And that was that.

Last night it got down in the 40s. We are cold. It is really weird to be freezing and have the heaters on again and to look out into the yard and see the kiddie pools and the slip 'n slide.

I must take the time to mention that there are large warnings all over the slip 'n slide for good reason. Chris took Ian outside in his trunks (we're trying to get rid of the white pasty legs) and wet the ramp down and put dish soap all over it (just in case it wasn't slippery enough). Ian couldn't figure out how to slide down the strip into the little holding pool. So Chris kind of picked him up and did the old heave ho and skipped him down so Ian was sliding down on his bottom, like you do on a slide. Ian loved this and begged to do it again and again. Eventually Chris got tired and we debated on who should teach him how to go down on his belly. This is where the illiteracy comes in. I volunteered for the first skid and passed the baby to Chris. I took a run and leaped onto my knees (hey, I'm a girl and there are parts that make it painful to slide anywhere on your belly!) and promptly skidded off the edge into the muddy part. Naturally.

My knees and ankles and feet were kind of scraped up.

Well, Chris gave me a towel, passed the baby back and stated that you weren't supposed to go on your knees. Everybody knows that! So he (in pants and boots) backed way up and took a running leap and went down on his belly and skidded off into the same muddy spot (ha). He got scratches all down his belly. Ouch. They are still there.

Then we noticed all the writing at the beginning of the slide. The ones that say "For children between 2-12. Not for adults! Not for anyone over 100 pounds!"

Oh.

For laughs, I'm posting a picture that Chris took last week. He had taken Ian out to help him wash his police unit and then Ian decided that his trike looked kind of dingy, so he needed to wash it too. :)

Oh, my okra has popped up. The squash and cucumbers are growing very nicely, new leaves all over the place. The tomatoes still look peaked, but the peppers look the same size. We got a tiny strawberry off of Ian's plants and split it 3 ways. It was surprisingly sweet and Ian wanted more. He is waiting impatiently for our 2 plants to yield more. He checks it 5 or 6 times every time he plays outside.

Going, going, and going some more

Well, potty training is a very interesting business. One of the things so, um, exciting about parenting, I'm finding, is that if one thing doesn't work you try something else. Well, bribery did not work. Waiting until Ian was sick of sitting in his own waste did not work--he doesn't care. All he did was get a chapped bottom and a rank odor (think PigPen from Peanuts). We even tried the whole "babies wear diapers and big boys wear underwear" thing. As well as the important fact that he can't go to school (preschool) if he can't use the toilet All the Time. In 3 year old logic, every time he goes on the toilet, he asks to go to school. Go ahead, give yourself a big Homer Simpson "d'oh!" and wave it in our direction. No, we don't watch the Simpsons, but some things are just pop culture. Well, we heard every "solution" in the books from parents, grandparents and strangers in the Pull-Up aisle in Walmart. Some were silly (the solution was to enroll him in a daycare and let them train him--What?!) and others were horrifying (every time he goes in his pants, take him outside and spray him with the hose. Some sounded a little excessive (just let him run around naked or just make the toilet area like a play area and stay in there until he learns). Since I have another child and the bathroom is not big enough (or plush enough) to stay in all day long, besides the fact that it is our ONLY bathroom and we all share the toilet, this didn't sound promising. And the fact that toilet ring on your bottom doesn't make you want to sit there longer than 3 Thomas books.

Another solution was to just keep him in Pull-Ups or diapers until he figures it out for himself. By the time he gets to public school, if he isn't trained by then, peer pressure ought to do it. Yeah, and that one will NEVER be forgotten by the kids at school. No way! Since waiting for him to get the incentive could take years and he turns 4 this summer, we were getting kind of alarmed at his easy acceptance of sitting in a gross Pull-Up until you caught him and pried it off. He's getting harder to catch, too.

So we went to Wal-Mart and bought big boy underwear and let him pick. Thomas and Cars won. So we went home, threw out the last day time Pull-Up and stuck Thomas on his cute little bottom. Thomas lasted about 10 minutes before we required a costume change. Underoos, pants, socks and even the shirt. At least the pants prevented a large puddle on the floor, but no one liked peeling the soggy clothing off. As the day went on, we gritted our teeth and kept changing clothes. That afternoon, we ran out of clean underoos and had to revert back to Pull-Ups. I have started doing a load of laundry every day just to keep us flush. Today was better, only three costume changes and when I neglected to put pants on him, a large puddle on the carpet/heater platform. And a big glob of grape jelly on the potty seat (don't ask).

I think he is starting to welcome bath time because that means pjs and pullup. We've only had one poop so far in the underoos (gag, gack and bleagh!) and it wasn't pretty. Every time the kid squirms or changes positions or blinks too long it pops out of my mouth. "Do you need to go poo poo?" He groans. "No, Mommy!" he answers in a longsuffering sing-songy voice. Well he'd better not go....

So how is potty training going? Hm. This is day 3 of big boy underoos and potty training is going, uh....well it's going. All over the carpet. :)

T-pants

Certain things make the most sense when you are young. Say 3. For instance, if there are t-shirts, how come there aren't any t-pants?? Sometimes you just don't feel like wearing your pj shorts and only t-pants will do.

Another question is this. Did Daddy REALLY eat my belly button?

Other things are just facts. Twisty straws are SO much better than the straight ones. Unless you're at McDonalds.

That leads to the next fact. McDonalds french fries are the best. Not even Mimi can make better fries. Mommy sure has tried though.

Some things you find out by trial and error when you are three. Wet Nerds that fall into your car seat can and will stick to your butt when you get out of the car.

Boots go with everything.

Matching socks are just not that important.

Cracks in couch cushions are just waiting to eat little boys.

Vitamins taste great until you get too old for the gummy or chewable ones.

There's no such thing as too much candy.

Forks are always optional.

So are clothes.

Older brothers exist to grudgingly share toys with little sisters and also serve as built in stand-up comedians when she's in the mood to laugh.

Splashing other people is way more fun than getting splashed.

So is hitting.

It is never too cold or too hot to swim.

Everything sounds funny when Daddy sings.

Bedtime gets earlier every night, I just know it.

Every package in the mail is secretly for me.

Moving to Florida will happen when I see it; then we'll live on the beach with sharks and alligators and I will swim every day and ride boats and see all my family whenever I want.

One day the nice lady will come back and we'll sell the house today.

Little sisters are noisy.

Mommy has a big bottom and I tell her every time I see it. I haven't seen it in a while, though.

Did I mention that bedtime gets earlier every night?

Le Pew!

Today was interesting (and it's not over yet). Chris got called out to what he thought was a dog check, where he takes Berry out to sniff a suspicious vehicle. It turned out to be a search warrant with the Drug Task Force, so he was not even dressed all the way, though he did have his vest on. This is the kind of search warrant where all the guys jump out of the cars before they stop and burst through the doors shouting and waving firearms to catch the drug-selling scum before they escape out the back door (where Chris was waiting; Berry never got out of the car; he was there 'just in case'). So by the time Chris got back, it was 45 minutes before his normal start of shift and we were at the park with Girric and 25 other kids whose families were all having a giant cookout at the park. Brian (Girric's dad) and I got to be the Park Police today. Brian happens to be the mayor, so he was yelling at all the teenagers who stuffed themselves into the toddler toys to get off. I was the referee for all the little boys who played too rough and pushed and called names. I really expected to get an offended parent come yell in my face, but I guess I'm the only one who actually watches their kids on the playground, because I never even saw the other parents within 50 feet of the playground at all. And the boys all listened and quit shoving each other onto their faces, so we managed to get along. Somewhat.

But then Chris came and we went home to watch him run around the house and get dressed for work. Erin had a great time in the stroller with her little shades on. She is just too cute and loves being in the sunshine and watching her big brother play.

Later, while I was making our chicken fried rice for supper, Ian came running into the kitchen. "There's a skunk, Mommy!" he shrilled. What?! There's a WHAT?! I followed him, running to the back sliding glass doors and peered through. "Where's a skunk?" I asked. "By the neighbor's house!" Ian insisted. Well, it wasn't a skunk. It was a cat. Thank the Lord, it was just a cat. The last skunk we saw was smeared on the road 200 feet from our house and stunk for a solid week. I told Ian it was a cat, but he didn't believe me. I guess it waved its tail funny or something. Then again, he's seen Looney Tunes. He knows what Pepe LePew (sp?) looks and acts like and that cat was just pretending. Poor deluded Mommy.

Erin has been fretful of late, I think she's teething some more. She's been steadily getting her appetite back though, which is a great thing. Chris is just convinced that she doesn't like vegetables. He thinks her appetite is fine, she just hates peas. Well, she just about licked her carrot baby food container clean today before she fell asleep sitting up, so I'm not sure it's all vegetables! All that sunshine just wore her plum out.

But we were in the tub and she leaned too far forward and took a header into the water. So bath time ended prematurely. She was ready to get out after her dunking.

A fellow officer's sister got tired of her pet rat, so the officer offered to get rid of it for her. I wonder if he told her that he was going to feed it to our snake? Oh well, it's too late now. Chris brought the rat + cage home on his 10-45 (meal break) and fed it to Sir Hiss. It's being digested as we speak. There was some kind of cotton batting/bedding in with the rat and since the rat bit the previous owner several times, Chris didn't want to handle it. So he turned the cage sideways and dumped the thing into the snake cage. Well, the cotton wadding went in with it and our either really hungry or not quite bright snake got a mouthful of fluffy cotton stuck in its mouth. It tried to throw it up, but it was all caught on its teeth. So Chris got most of the bedding out but had to get most of it out of the snake's mouth with my kitchen tongs. He got enough to where the snake was able to quit heaving and eat the rat, so I'm hoping the rest of the cotton will come up with the fur, etc when it is expelled after Hiss's supper.

And randomly, we have purchased and eaten pears this week. I can't even remember the last time I ate a pear that wasn't in syrup and mixed with peaches. But we bought Bartlett pears from Harp's and Ian, Erin and I have been eating them! Shocker! And they're really "tasty and dewishus" as Ian puts it. Gotta love Sesame Street! Without Ian's fruit requests I don't think I would have even considered them. Erin loves them in her mesh bag. She had some fresh corn I cut off the cob (I love spring!) and put in there today. She is getting a lot more than Ian did when it was his turn. I guess that's the luck of not being firstborn. There are pros and cons all around.

And if you get a chance, go to JD's blog. For today's post, he has a link to another guy, who talks about the sex scandal of that Governor, you know the one that got busted for prostitution. I haven't paid much attention to the news articles, because that sort of thing doesn't really interest me, but I like JD's blog, so I read it. It's really interesting. Let me know what you think. I will just sit here and eat pears and wait for the snake to hack up that last wad of cotton. :)

Inevitability

There are things, I've found, that are as predictable as finding freckles when I look in the mirror.

--Erin will always find a way to spit up right down the neckline of my shirt.

--Whenever there is inclement weather, the chief will not come to work.

--As soon as things start getting romantic, one (or both) of the kids will cry.

--The most perfect dinners will be eaten as leftovers.

--Chris will get called out most holidays.

--Mom will call on the phone as soon as I get in the bathroom.

--The last roll of toilet paper will be gone when you most need it.

--The library books I requested will all get in after we move.

--Chris will get great job offers as soon as we decide to move (actually there were 3 opportunities!).

--As soon as we pull out of the driveway, someone will have to go to the bathroom.

--As soon as he gets in bed, Ian will need ______ (it could be anything).

There were others that I was thinking of, but these are the ones foremost in my mind. I'm sure there's some kind of order to all of it. :) Other topics for today were: Gack! It's Monday! Chris gets Monday and Tuesday off, so this is the first day of his work week (thus, Monday). We have decided to just register Chris for the May classes in FL that he needs to be FL certified. We were hoping that the house would have sold by now, but oh well, it's just been 6 weeks on the market. We still have time. We are expecting to sell the house while we are gone at this class in FL, just because it can't happen while we're actually HERE! Of course not! But it's okay, really. As long as it sells, we don't really care how. Still thinking that once the dopers get the word out, it's only a matter of time.

I need to go get Erin's flu booster shot and am kind of balking. Chris is talking about getting his Hepatitis B shot and charging it to the town. The only rub is that it's a 3 shot installment. The second is a month after the first and the third is five months after the second and we definitely do NOT plan to be here still in five months. Please Lord! I do not know what the future holds, only that God has it in his hands. But I really really want to be settled in with the new job and house by the kids' birthdays! That's July 23, 24. Either way, whatever happens, it will be interesting to see how it all comes about.

Well, Erin is up from her evening nap. The picture, by the way, is from middle school. I think it was 8th grade at Busch Gardens, Tampa. With me are my best friends Heather and Christine. We still talk. Happy Spring!

Feeling Better

Well, after logging everyone else's sicknesses so faithfully, I have been very lax in cataloguing my own. Oh well. It's been quite some time since I've had a 102 fever, painful cough and enough phlegm (don't you love the way that's spelled?) to....well, I'll spare you the gross word pictures. I am very happy to report that the fever only lasted for one night and the next day. Yesterday and today has been simply the aftereffects of a yucky cold. Just in time for Erin to be fever (again!) and start hacking, poor widdle munchie. But she slept pretty good last night, so that's good. Chris has been great, letting me get extra rest and running herd on our herd (Ian is active enough to be plural). His shift from 3-11 is starting to show some deja vu because he either gets home hours late or gets called out to assist. The guy who has the night shift is uncertified and uncertain.
But I forgot to mention before that I finally got some guts and shot Chris's handgun (.45 Glock) at Jeremy's house last weekend. I only shot 4 bullets, but it was definitely an experience. Can we say recoil? There's a lot of power in that little thing and definitely not something to mess around with. I managed to hit the target too and I have to admit, it's a whole lot harder to aim with a stubby gun than it is for a .22, which is just way too much fun to shoot for target practice. I am not a great fan of handguns, but we still have one in the house (and chill out everyone, it's not like we let the kids play with it!) and I feel better knowing as much about it as possible. The hardest part about it though, was the fact that I'm left-handed and everyone else is right-handed, so I felt unbalanced and a little awkward, but that also could have been the newness factor. Anyway, it was exciting to me and Chris, so there. :)

Ian actually asked for homemade pizza. He was upset that Chris and his Explorer ate all the leftovers and asked for some the next day. So one day this week I get to make another one. :)
This time I think I'll mix in some garlic or seasoning in the crust. Cooking is so much fun, except for those times when things just flop and everyone has to eat sandwhiches. But we won't mention those much.

Ian has just joyfully announced that he pottied in his potty chair. I went in there to look and along with a whole lot of splattered pee (Why won't he sit to pee on that thing?!) there is the tiniest little splat of poop I have seen in ages sitting in there. But a bargain's a bargain, so Ian is now kicking up his heels because he gets to play video games for the first time in weeks. Fingers are tightly crossed in hopes that when he decides to finish the rest of his potty time, it will be sitting on the chair (it has been cleaned and rinsed and is now dismantled and drying in the tub).

Another interesting thing that happened while I was sick. We got our coupons in the mail for those TV converter boxes. I signed up a few months ago for 2 coupons because we have 2 tvs in the house and then kind of forgot all about it. It would be a travesty if our one channel (PBS) went out, even if it is fundraising month and they interrupt the shows every 10 minutes with a fumbling plea for pledges. So I have two $40 gift card look-alikes for our converter boxes. Now the only thing left to discover is how expensive the boxes are. We'll see.

Ian is asking for toast. I'd better get on it before Erin wakes up.

Feeling fuzzy, and I'm not talking about my legs

Yep, there comes a time when the day after starts getting hazy, like trying to look through heat waves on asphalt and the world around you just starts to look all wavy-looking and it's time to sit in the shade for a while. After 2.4 hours of sleep, it's the night after and it's time for me to sit down. The morning was rocky, since Ian got up at 7am and was very bright-eyed, as he usually is. Erin still woke up about every hour, crying and straining and gassing up a storm. She had three potty diapers today (none loose, so that's good)* and finally stopped crying so much when we went to the park. She snoozed while I wheeled the stroller around the track as much as Ian would let me without having to go rescue him from the top bar of the jungle gym and help him go down the 'fire pole.' It was very chilly, even though the sun was shining and I was ready to go way before Ian was, but he was such a good boy this morning while Mommy zombied about and Daddy mimed being awake before taking the baby and snoring with her in the chair (it was so cute I had to go lie down). Ian played video games and played trains by himself, probably happy for the uninterrupted play time (you know how Moms like to nag when you're just getting to the good part of your book, game, video game, movie, train track, car ramp, etc.). Anyway, since it wasn't too awfully bad outside (the sun was shining! We who are not in Florida salute the sun whenever it comes out!), we went to the park. Anything to get Erin to stop crying and catch up on her beauty sleep. She did not want any food today that was not milk, even though I tried.

The bonus part of the day came when I was in the shower, trying to remember if I had shampooed my hair or not and the phone rang. It was our real estate agent, giving us an update. From what Chris told me, when the agents do a company walk-through, they bring a checklist and afterwards tell the seller what they can do to improve the house to sell faster. Our house made it through with flying colors with only one infraction and all agreed that the house was well priced and expected to not be on the market long (HOO Ha!). Our improvement was that the laundry room/possible 3rd bedroom/Ian's train room was drafty and there was condensation on the sliding glass doors. Therefore it was decreed that we should put real doors there instead of the sliders for better insulation. I agree, but we are not about to fork over 5 or 6 hundred smackeroos when it's going to sell anyway. I don't like the sliders either because they freeze shut and lock behind you when you shut the door (see previous post for eye-rolling details), but oh well. Our agent also told us that she has had 4 calls to inquire about our house from the sign out front as well as one person from out of state contact her after seeing it online who is interested in seeing it [or just buy it and pay us an extra $15,000 to be out in ten days; what movie was that from? Father of the Bride II. hahahahahahahahaha. Ok, getting tired) in the next week or two. Either way, she said to expect more showings (that doesn't sound right) in the next week or so.

Chris is having me check our bank account daily (hourly, minutely (I know that's not right. I'm not THAT tired, but it just sounded funny), whatever) to see whether or not his Florida Dept of Law Enforcement (FDLE) application to transfer his academy time to FL has been processed. We figure that they'll cash the check before they do anything else and I guess someone's on vacation or something because it's probably still sitting in somebody's inbox (or worse, still sitting in the Westville Post Office underneath something) begging to be opened. Now, I know, I know, they tell you to give them 6 weeks for processing, but come on! It's been almost two weeks already. Chris is excited and worried that he went to the one academy in the known world that doesn't transfer. Silly.

Regardless, he is still having me check the post office every day without fail, a sure sign that he is excited, because if it were up to him, he would check it once a week and the mail would be stuffed in the box like intestines are stuffed in the body, once you get them out, it's about impossible to get them all back in* (we tried in A & P lab, didn't we Rachel?). We have decided that at our new house in FL, we really would like to have a mailbox. Really.

For Papaw's amusement, Ian compensated for not being able to pee in the Walmart bathroom drain by peeing in the bathtub drain today while I was rinsing out the tub before bathtime. He was very proud of himself. He also made an attempt to sit on the toilet without his little potty seat, where he tried for a couple of seconds before grunting and announcing "I can't do it like this," and running out of the bathroom naked. The naked part didn't have anything to do with his potty preferences, he just likes to be aired out every once in a while, probably more so when it gets warmer. He is discovering the changes in his body parts due to changes in temperature and it is so much fun to relay these incidents to Chris later. It really gives us some good laughs. Can't help it if your kid is just so cute, can ya?

Anyway, back to the Baby Noodle. After the park, she conked out in the swing (after crying some more) and slept for more than 4 hours. I woke her up around 8:30 so she could eat (I was about to explode*...yikes) and then she was awake, sort of. She enjoyed having her diaper changed and really whooped it up in the tub. But I think her cold hit another stage because she is all red-eyed and bleary and just looks hung over (again, my concept of hangovers is completely general, since I have never had one and try to avoid others who do due to their sensitive natures during that time). After her bath, which was refreshing (those Soothing Vapors) but again, the bubbles just taste gross, because she kind of made a face and spit them out and didn't try them again (and yes, I did clean the tub thoroughly when Ian was finished, thank you very much). Then it was PJ time and hairbrushing time and feeding time some more (we had a lot there to consume) and then it was full bellytime. Kind of like puppies or kittens with their big full bellies taking a nap in a sunbeam except she was on my lap and lolling around all limp and sleepy. No wailing, I enjoyed it.

Yay! I thought. Chris gets off at 10. Well, around 10:20 he comes in and tells me that Berry (who went to work today) took a huge dump in the back of the patrol car (Berry is now grounded for a couple of days, at least) and it stunk so bad that both Chris and his rider were gagging and heaving. The situation was so desperate that Chris actually floored it and beat the train across the tracks in his rush to get home and hose out the backseat. Even after he had hosed out the dog cage, it Still Reeked. Berry is known for his intestinal problems. Chris came in still breathing deep through his nose, told me that his rider had suddenly remember other things he had to do, and grabbed the Febreeze air freshener and will probably empty the entire bottle in the car. This is one of those times you think, "better him than me!" and then feel bad for thinking it because you know that as soon as you start getting smug, one of the kids will take a dump on the floor and you'll be left to clean it up alone. But okay, I know I'm starting to get punchy. Thanks to everyone who have been praying for the kids (and me). We are on the mend! We have to be. I can't think anything else. Zzzz.

*This is where I put the disclaimer that not much grosses me out, so I will and do talk freely about various bodily functions and patterns. Apologies to the faint of heart.