Smells Like A Clean Bathroom!

Someone once told me "Tuesdays are the most productive day of the week." I've noticed that for some weeks.

What about y'all, do you have a day in your week that's typically more productive?

Found!

Yeah, so I found my set of keys in the bottom pocket of my diaper bag. I shoulda known. I do vaguely remember checking the bag on Sunday but clearly I wasn't very meticulous. We still couldn't have gone to playgroup though because that bag was in the van. Locked.

Why Keys Are So Important

I had all four of us ready and a lunch packed to go to the park today. And then walking out the door I realized Andy had gone to a funeral with my spare key on his ring. (My regular keys have been missing since last Wednesday night. Grrr.) Talk about a let down! Especially since the whole morning I'd been hurrying the kids along with the promise that we were going to the playground. ("Eat that banana, don't you want to go to the playground?" ... "Go find your shoes, don't you want to go to the playground?!")

I was able to get a hold of my two playgroup friends (Friends! Look, I have two friends!) and they came here for a picnic lunch instead. Other than the humidity it was a grand ole time. Drew gets along surprisingly well with one of their girls, Maddie. And Madeline loves to rummage through little Julia's diaper bag - so it all works out great, just great!

Well, I'm off to enjoy a (hopefully) very long and unproductive naptime.

Following This Trend:

I didn't see "Mama" on the list of career matches. They should add it.

a few more random pictures...

Next year's Halloween costume, maybe?


It even has a tail...


About a week ago Adelaide started eating her toes. Seems a little early to me but she's happy, so who am I to judge?





"Is there any felicity in the world superior to this?"

Here's one for the Record

Why do husbands insist on napping underneath all that clean laundry? It's rather irksome.



At least he turns his socks right side out.

While I'm on the subject of Cute Shoes...

I found these at Payless, of all places. (for $12!)

They're much easier to walk in, bytheway.

What Cute Shoes You Have, My Dear

Imagine, if you would, a young mother type who found herself with a whole week of free mornings (let's say due to a local church teaching VBS). She would do what any other sensible mother-of-three would do and GO SHOPPING. EVERY SINGLE DAY.

And, NOT FOR FOOD, either.

Nicky, you are in France at the wrong time, honey. Everything marked down at ATL is an additional 40% off (which is, like, half the store). So. Even though I was there, um, YESTERDAY, of course I had to go back, TODAY. Because it's TODAY and THE KIDS ARE AT VBS. That's why.

And, though this might be a little embarrassing, I will add a little something else. The other night Andy and I went to Target. Love Target. Anyway, he bought me a cute pair of shoes. I will even add a picture, well, because they're cute. And it helps explain some things.



Cute as they are, I made a terrible mistake in wearing said shoes to the mall this morning. Oh, they fit great at Target. Walking a parking lot is another story altogether. They were just too big and the backs kept flopping off my heel. Not to mention how TALL they made me, so I sort of had to bend over to push the baby's stroller.

Oh yes. I was the ridiculous lady bent over her stroller with her too-big flapping shoes trying to walk slower to retain some semblance of poise. (And failing miserably.) I tried not to wonder what some poor husband banished to the bench outside ATL thought of me and my darling shoes. I know he secretly wanted to bust out laughing and mock me for my fashion nonsense.

Anyway. At least I have cute shoes.

Love for the Memory Foam

The phrase 'sleeping in the clouds' comes to mind. (Although it is a little warm.)

Thanks, D, for the tip.

That Madeline - Part II

A couple of minutes ago Drew asked me to come play with him outside, being done with lunch and all (stall the nap tactics here). I decided, good sense prevailing, to first run upstairs and see what Madeline was doing. I heard some movement coming from the bathroom so I walked in to find her standing on the bathroom counter, rummaging around in the medicine cabinet. She turned around holding one of those little medicine cups full of NyQuil. She held it up to me as if it were a toast, "Mecine! See?!"

Childproof cap, my foot.

Maybe I should have let her have a sample. It being naptime and all.

Stylin'

Since yesterday I posted a shot of Madeline and her "gasses," I thought it only fair to post this one as well.

That Madeline

This post is merely for the sake of posterity. When she’s a teenager I’ll remind myself that I knew I had it coming ever since she was two.

Raw eggshells aside, she is almost always up to something. Which usually involves a mess and a purse to go with it.



For instance, in the last week or so I’ve found her:
* Applying my black mascara as if it were lipstick.
* Trying to change her own poopy diaper.
* Walking around with completely yellowed mouth, chin, and hands. I later found an empty bottle of food coloring back up on the counter.
* Sitting in the bath eating wet gummy vitamins. She’d dumped the whole jar into the bath (and they ain’t cheap!). The water smelled, uh, quite healthy.
* Putting on my brand new lipstick (or 'tasting,' as the case may be):


And most recently, I ran upstairs tonight after a moment of quiet and she was “washing her hair!” She was completely dry, still in her clothes, but she had squeezed out a massive amount of shampoo and was rubbing it onto her now matted head. She insisted she was “washing her hair! See?” Apparently water is not such a necessary ingredient in the hair washing process - who knew?!

The Electric Bill

A couple of weeks ago the electric bill subject came up while we were chatting it up with Andy's parents. I remember his mom saying she hadn't gotten a bill yet since we moved in. I remember my blood pressure rising a little bit - but then just as quickly I forgot about the whole thing.

A few posts ago I mentioned hearing the bill verdict while I was at the park (via Andy on the cell phone). It was $915, y'all.

$915!!!

Who has an ELECTRIC BILL of NINE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN DOLLARS?

But the more I thought about it the more I knew it just had to be wrong. I mean, so we've been using the window air conditioning units around the clock. So we've been watching "Cars" every single morning. So we've left a few lights on. And sure, we've been running all their appliances a WHOLE LOT MORE - what can you expect going from a house of two to a house of seven?

But, $915? It's a bit excessive. Even for forgetting to turn a/c units off.

Andy's mom finally called the electric company and found out that it was the bill since November. Yes, I said NOVEMBER. (Someone please cue the Hallelujah Chorus.)

I have never felt more relieved as far as bills go.

FORECAST: VBS

The kids are going to VBS this week. It brings out the ol' cheerleader in me. Oh yes sir it does. (Gimme a "V!" "B!" "S!")

A whole week of free mornings? Whatever will I do?! (That was sarcastic, bytheway.)

I am so excited. It's going to be a great/wonderful/fabulous week.

Did I mention I am so excited?

Beach Fun

Sometimes I think I should rename this blog "The Laundry That Never Ends."

Anyway. Saturdays are lookin' good here. Last Saturday we went up to New York... today we went to the beach! Andy had to prep the servers on his wine before the dinner shift at one of his accounts, which is a fancy pants restaurant in Atlantic City. So Drew and Madeline and I went and waited for him and then we hit the beach. It was right as most people were packing up and leaving, so it wasn't too crowded at all.

It was interesting because Madeline went running straight for the waves, while Drew held back. He said "that boat is scary," and pointed to this sailboat like fifty million miles out. No sense reasoning with a 3-year-old though. They both really loved playing in the sand and knocking each other's (and Daddy's) sand castles over. I'll add a few pics and then it's g'night.

Something Called, "Thank Goodness It's Friday"

This morning started out rough. That might be an understatement. For instance, Madeline walked into my room saying, "I'm stinky. I'm stinky." Yea, yea... I'll get to you.

Except she wasn't wearing a diaper. Which means...

Okay, I'll get to you NOW!

Let me just leave it at this, it was quite the mess. Then I came downstairs to cracker crumbs all smashed into the carpet in front of the TV. Did I mention we're living with Andy's parents? And therefore it is not my carpet?

We (somehow) managed to make it through breakfast and actually got out the door (and only 15 minutes late!). We were meeting some friends at the park. The whole playgroup thing I was so excited about? It seems to have, uh, fallen through. Very Bizarre Situation. But I did manage to make a few friends before it just fell right off the face of the planet.

So, two of my new friends and I met at a park and brought a picnic. It was a really wonderful time and not too hot. I only had to pry Madeline's hands off some other kid's toy once. Making progress. Oh, on an interesting sidenote, one of the girls has two kids and their names are: Andrew and Madeline. Yes I'm serious.

Oh, I also should mention that while I was rounding up the kids to leave, Andy called to tell me his parents had received the first electric bill since we moved in.

I almost had a heart attack, right there on the sidewalk.

And, to wrap up the day (since I'm on such a roll here) we fired up the grill for dinner - pork chops and bbq chicken. Andy's quite the grill master. The corn on the cob here? The best ever! I now declare Fridays the Official Grill Day of the week.

It was so good it caused Andy to just fall asleep - right here in the middle of the living room floor.

Stick It In Your Fridge and Wala! Lunch!

I'm going to share a little EASY recipe I got from Nicky. It's a no-brainer but hey, those are the best ones!

Boil a box of pasta - ziti or spirals - and rinse with cold water. Chop up a green pepper, a red pepper, two or three Roma tomatoes, cheddar cheese, and salami. (You can add olives if you like such things.) Toss it with a (small) bottle of ranch dressing.

Enjoy the goodness.

Good Thing My Kids Are Made of Rubber

Tuesday I got on the treadmill (go ahead, make sure you read that right) for the second time since last Friday. I’m on a roll, people. Andy’s parents have it smack in front of a TV. A TV with cable, no less. I’m all about exercising in those conditions.

I told and retold the kids to stay far enough away. But seeing mommy on a moving contraption proved too hard to resist and they slowly tiptoed ever closer. At one point Drew even dared to drop a matchbox car on the running belt and watch it zing across the room. Oh yes, I screamed and yelled. But oh yes, by then he was firmly and utterly captivated by that black patch of matchbox performance perfection.

But then.

I can’t even remember now what exactly happened. I hopped off to quickly attend to Madeline and didn’t bother turning the thing off because (a) I was walking at a snail’s pace and (b) of course nothing would happen in the millisecond I was helping her. But I’m talking about Drew here; he was up there in a jiffy. And then in the next jiffy he was in a heap on the floor. With only a rug-burned knee to show for his efforts. (After that he lurked at a safe distance.)

Fast forward oh, about ten minutes. Madeline decides she has just GOT to get in on some of that falling excitement. A girl just can’t allow a brother all the limelight, now can she? And she also must outdo him, naturally. So she hops on from the very front of the machine, falls immediately and zooms (literally) off the end – hitting her head and banging her leg on the way.

She turned out to be just fine (my kids are made of rubber) and was more scared than anything. They also don't have any image or embarrassment issues at that age, thankfully. (Which is perfect since they fall flat on their faces every 6.38 seconds and usually in front of people.)

I’m glad it happened this way. Both falls happened while I was merely walking and not running or even jogging. Neither kid was seriously hurt. But it scared them enough to think twice before approaching that treadmill again. It’s like my mom used to say, “it’s for your [their] own good.”

A Very Important Announcement

The stinky dog is gone. No more holding back a gag when I walk by the kennel!

My nose is marvelling at it's good fortune.

I feel like doing a cartwheel.

Help!

My neck and back are stiff pretty much every single morning climbing outta bed. I've come to a firm belief that we need a different mattress. (Andy and I have not-so-endearingly dubbed ours "the hardwood floor.")

Any recommendations? I remember a post in Jonesville about a mattress situation - what was that all about?

P.S. I want it to be soft and snuggly. No more of this hardwood floor stuff.

That Can't Taste Good

I keep having to remind myself NOT to put the eggshells from breakfast in the kitchen garbage pail. I've found Madeline munching away on them - twice. TWICE! As if once was not enough.

Crackly sharp (raw!) eggshells just isn't on my top ten list of yummiest foods, nor should it be on my daughter's.

Ew.

NYC At Long Last

We finally got up to see Vangie and John. It was good for my very soul. The in-laws kept the older two for the night, which is a really great perk of living with them.

Driving to the city from our van window:

On a walk waiting for the pizza dough to rise.

Discussing the world situation.

Bee-utiful city sunset.


Picking fresh basil outta Linnea's garden (shh, they're in Europe!)

Vange making us a yummy dinner.


Over the bridge into Manhattan (Sunday).



Very Important Store.


On Broadway.

funny sign

That Crazy Woman in the Supermarket? It’s ME!

Last weekend I decided it was high time we move past mere survival and try to cut out some of the chaos and unpredictability of our lives here. I had this big idea to plan out our meals for the whole week in the hopes that it would cut down on the whole freak-out-thirty-minutes-before-dinnertime-because-what-the-heck-are-we-going-to-eat thing.

Plan out meals? Now there’s a novel idea.

So Monday after the park, I pulled into the grocery store parking lot, ready and armed with my shopping list in hand. I should mention I had ALL THREE KIDS with me. That’s important.

You know those mom-friendly carts with the car attached to the front? Not one was anywhere to be found. When I realized that I actually stopped right there and had to take a deep breath. I had been counting on that cart. And if I had been smart, I would have turned right around, buckled everyone back up and just saved myself the insanity to come. But I wasn’t.

Instead, I snapped the baby’s car seat to the front of one of the REGULAR PLAIN carts and put the other two kids in the back (hoping and praying they’d actually sit and stay put).

They didn’t.

The first few aisles were mostly painless. They didn’t get too terribly rowdy, although Madeline took several bites out of an apple. But when I was about halfway down my list Drew decided it was a great time for him to jump ship. And whatever Drew does, Madeline does. It’s just the nature of things.

I suddenly found myself in the middle of an aisle standing alone with my cart because wouldn’t you know Drew took off one way and Madeline the other? I’m not really sure what the proper mom response should be for this type of situation.

I managed a split-second decision to get Drew first since… well maybe he can get further faster? Got him, caught Madeline… go back for cart and baby. This woman blessed my heart and called me that poor girl – she had had five children and knew what I was “going through.” So I was talking to her and too busy to notice I walked off pushing the wrong cart. THE WRONG CART! Then she said “oh, and you left your baby!” [find hole, crawl in, hide]

I’d like to say that after that things went smoothly.

But that would be a lie.

My kids were running and whooping it up all through the grocery store. And everyone noticed. And stared. I finally made it to the checkout line, laid everything out on the cashier’s table belt thing and she says “I’m sorry, Miss, I’ll be right back.”

As if the whole shopping thing hadn’t been bad enough, now we’re just standing around [gritting my teeth] and biding our sweet time while our cashier is off who knows where and doing who knows what. And please, Drew, sweet baby, please stop touching that hanging glass thing already.

I should also mention it was around then I noticed I was in the bag-your-own-groceries line. Is that some kind of joke they play on unsuspecting beaten-down mothers of very young children? Must be.

I did come to one conclusion, though, and that is I am NOT doing the shopping with ALL THREE KIDS again EVER.

Organized meal plan shopping list or not.

Summer Fun

or, "Wear 'Em Out Good For A Marathon Nap"

Summer Fun

It worked, too. They woke up at 6 p.m.

Problem is, I'm wiped out as well. Which is why I'm posting a bunch of pictures instead of a bunch of words.

Go ahead, call me lazy.

Southern Style, Part II

Look at this bee-utiful dress my friend D is making for her daughter:





Now there's real talent, people!

Southern Style

Too cute to not share (and by that I mean the dress and hair).

Ratatouille

Tonight Andy and I took Drew to the new Pixar film, Ratatouille. Andy loved it. I think Drew was a little overwhelmed at the whole package. The seat kept trying to close up on him, he's a little...short... and well, you know, it just wasn't "Cars."

At one point he wanted to go bye-bye and once (although during a preview) said - loudly - "I scared!" He ended up curled up on Andy's lap (thumb in mouth and blanket in hand, of course). But I think he did enjoy it overall and I bet anything tomorrow he asks to go back. Or maybe just asks for more popcorn.

A Pound, or Five!

If you know anything about me, you know I just had a baby. Well by 'just,' I mean three months ago. So it goes without saying that I have not gotten close enough to a scale to be able to touch it with a ten-foot pole. Until about a week ago.

It was depressing.

But it made me a little more in-tune to the fact that, you know, I might want to think about that sometime. But I got back on the sale (with fear and trembling) again after a week and I lost five pounds! (FIVE POUNDS! I LOST FIVE POUNDS!) Mexican food notwithstanding!

It's cause for general celebration.

Does it count as a date when the kids go too?

We finally had a chance to check out the restaurant scene in our new neighborhood. This was Tuesday and I was craving Mexican. Our local options, unfortunately, looked something like this: Italian, pizza, Italian, Italian, Chinese, pizza, Italian, Italian, Chinese, Italian. Oh, and a Taco Bell or two (not the kind of Mexican I was craving). Got on our trusty internet and found a "real" Mexican place fairly close by. But the in-laws were asleep (don't ask) so we packed up the entire crew and crossed our fingers.

Dinner turned out fine! My fave was the guacamole (super fresh and tasty):



Although we weren't expecting it to be quite so pricey. But it's hard to argue on that account once the food is, you know, gone.

oh my word

Drew's been walking around the past two days saying "oh my WORD!" ... "oh my worrrrrrrrrrrd."

Wonder where he picked it up.

No idea whatsoever.

July 4th

It's not for the faint of heart.

I'll just paste a link for pictures - enjoy!

4th of July - 2007

"Hey Ed! She getchya too?!"

Last night, while Andy's aunt and Uncle were over, my mom-in-law showed Drew and Madeline how to catch lightning bugs. Yes, you heard right. And - wow! - we have two talented lightning bug catchers in the family, who woulda thought? At one point I heard Andy's dad say "Madeline's all lit up like a Christmas tree!" (did I mention the part about lightning BUGS?)

Drew: "Madeline, she drop my bug!" And twenty seconds later, "Madeline, she broke my bug!" Obviously, Madeline ain't so gentle-like. All she cared about was the part that glows, naturally.

The adult conversation instantly turned into this roleplay of the local lightning bug convalescent ward. Andy: [cue wobly bug voice] "Hey Ed! She getchya too?!"

Love the UPS man

Look what he brought today.



Oh I was so excited. And then I spent all afternoon hemming capri pants that looked more like floods. Perhaps they would have been capris on my 6'1" cousin but... not on me.

Oh good, she pooped!

Adelaide, my 3-month-old, saves her poops for special occasions. So you can imagine my nervousness at taking her to the park this morning with the playgroup. I mean, (as some of you know) this playgroup already has adventures of its own. But, thankfully, she got it all out before we left and we had a really great time at a really great park. More people showed up, which was good, and I met some more moms, which was good.

The park/playground was huge, clean, nice, new, and under 10 minutes from our house. And the weather - oh, the weather. It was a beautiful 70 degrees. In July. Ahhhh.

So we had our first-ever Fabulous Monday Morning. And that was in spite of the fact that the first words out of Andy's mouth were "Moriah, your main objective for the day is to buy some coffee."

Voted: World's Cutest Kids

No bias or anything. None.

"No, don't you fall my Drew!"

What Drew said to me this afternoon as I was changing his diaper [ahem, pull-up] and almost slid him right off the end of the changing table. Isn't he too big for this?

Note to Self

Always use the timer. You WILL forget.

Hello Old Friends!

So I feel the need to record my life. Somewhere. Like, "dear diary," but not. Besides, I hate my handwriting and it changes with my mood.

And since we're only one month into this new stage of life, what better time to start something new? Just don't be expecting anything profound because, after all, I spend my days talking to a three-year-old.