Elsa for Halloween

She's the Toodles Character from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, her
brother's favorite show.

DHH Halloween Costume

He is so excited to have a costume! He asked to be Mickey, and it was
easy to comply with his request this year!

Elsa Everyday Halloween Edition!

Elsa tries to eat her Halloween costume! She is Toodles, from her
brother's favorite show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Hot Diggity

Halloween Costume Preview!

So Cute Its...

Well, not scary. But maybe so cute would have been unfathomable a
year ago when I could not get up off the couch due to sickness and
Halloween was cancelled?

How about ... So Cute, It Was Worth It... that would be an appropriate
and awesome shirt for her to wear!

Monkey Shining and Pumpkin Faces

First of all, I'll tell you this.
I was a very calm kid; a regular shy violet.
 My husband was also reserved and had a careful personality.

So isn't it a bit odd that we birthed a child who is such a monkey-shine-er?
And when I asked what he was doing, he said, "Makin a punkin face!"

Antidote for Baby Fever

No, its not the cure for Baby Fever.  The is really only one cure for baby fever, and that is this:

(getting a new baby is the only cure for baby fever... once it sets in and runs its course!)



But the antidote for baby fever or perhaps a preemptive vaccination to avoid baby fever must be toddler bedtime refusal tantrums.

Lordy, they are bad! 

 And I know we are quite lucky to not have had bedtime woes with our son in his first twenty three months of life.  The last month has been wicked and has been like a repeating episode of Super Nanny ... the kid keeping getting out of bed and the parent putting him back in and deflecting requests for going to the weemem room, talkboke key, or line up (living room, chocolate milk, or playing with cars). Seriously, its lasting upwards of an hour and a half. 

Its most unpleasant.

And thus, the prefect vaccination against the twinkle in the eye and baby name daydreams.

I know I've had numerous thoughts like, "I've no business wishing for more kids!" or "Who am I kidding? This is the most non-fun I've had in my whole life, including that really harsh UTItwo weeks ago." and "Sheesh, he's lucky we love him because he's certainly NOT likeable right now!"

So... if you want to avoid baby fever, come to my house at about 7:45 PM.  We'll put you to work on the Back to Bed Routine, firm and as detacted emotionally from the emotionally frustrating situation as possible.  What, no takers?  There is a well worn path in the carpet so it will be easy to find your way back to the toddler's bed.

When we're lucky and the Back to Bed Routine has finally worked (a miraculous combination of semi-angry "Seriously little boy, its bed time! Lay down!", a sip cup of water, binky retrieval, or Jack Johnson CD he sort of likes)... when he's sleeping, we just MIGHT recall a time that was our cure for the baby fever we had for him...

We just MIGHT.

Or we might have a headache from the wailing and a discouraged spirit or exhausted head that longs for a soft pillow.

Either one, pretty much 50/50 shot on any given night.

PS, Darling DHH, when you read this as an older guy, of course we loved you and of course you were a total stinker.  Don't worry, I know you'll experience something that turns you into Crazy Parent, too.

PPS, EK, that's quite alright for you to continue in your own path of accepting bedtime and enjoying a cuddle without throwing a fit.  Please don't turn on us in two years, okay?

Holding Hands

This morning I held hands with my son as he sat on my lap on the
couch. I tried to appreciate the size and relative smallness of his
hands, as well as their stillness. He was rubbing my hands, and it
was just so special. Usually this is the time that I determine if he
needs a nail clipping or a hand washing, but for today I just enjoyed
the company of his warm, malleable hand.

Did I Mention I Typically Bite Off More Than I Can Chew?

I think its gotta be a personality trait. 
The more I succeed, the more I want to take on.
The more I struggle with something, the more I feel the urge to perfect that thing and just try harder and harder or try more and more somethings to feel like I'm successful.

If I've got one awesome thing in my life that I love, I automatically desire another heaping portion of that good thing.
So of course I am the one who now thinks two kids are marvelous so we must have four kids or maybe more, because I am totally the one who things more is better.  Somehow, its like two kids = great, so infinity kids = double great.

Oh, and biting off more than I can chew? How about trying to keep up on all the Pintrest preschool teaching boards I watch? And trying to craft with my kiddo? Teaching him skills AND appropriate behaviors AND to be clever.  Sheesh.  I am not a preschool teacher by trade, but I am becoming one through Pintrest and the insight of preschool teachers' blog thoughts. 

Another great example is trying to capture my fantastic days with these little ones with the camera.  I've got over a thousand photos per month! How to collect and organize and edit/retouch them to be as glorious as I remembered?  Wow, that's enough work for me to hire a personal assistant.

Another area of biting off too much is trying to maintain THREE blogs.  I know, that's a little nutty even to me.  And none of the blogs are making me any money, something my husband is now curious about and I think he'll become a daddy blogger and make loads of money with me as his personal blogger/backer/idea girl.

But I worked on the kids' blogs this week after the house was quiet, except for the constant hum of the laundry and dishwasher.

With this biting off too much... I wonder if its possible for me to really feel alive if I'm only nibbling?  What would I do without self-imposed stress?

btw this topic was addressed in the Breaking Free by Beth Moore study I am doing just this week, and I also happened upon the Living with Less book at the library today.  God must be talking to me through resourecs like this, and I hope that I'm not overwhelmed to listen and hear exactly what I need to hear.

Happy Golden Birthday!

My sister is now twenty six, and its pretty special that it was on the 26th,  Happy Golden Birthday, girl!  I hope you had a great Wednesday birthday, Rachel.

I did not give her gold for her golden birthday, but I did make her a cake with some fancy things: pumpkin, cream cheese, and candy corns.  Surely those are golden ingredients, right?

I am lucky to have a close and silly relationship with my sister.  Its silly because she and I are both silly, but its also a serious relationship because she is trustworthy, thoughtful, and interested in maintaining a strong relationship.  I appreciate her usually perky attitude and the dependability of her love and affection.

She came to spend the weekend with very recently to assist in catering a family re-wedding, and we were lucky to have her spend two nights here.  These photos are taken after church when two of the three got the giggles.

Watch out, Ayhan, you have some kissing competition!

DHH has a similar disposition, don't you think?

Fatigue.

This is a super-uncommon occurrence in our house... a child sleeping any place other than a bed. 

It was 4:30 PM, I was in the middle of prepping dinner and the boys were in the garage doing something with a table saw.  I heard her fuss for a few minutes and then came into the living room to find her curled up on her side, thumb perched between her lips, and with her Sophie chewie close by.  Its common for EK to take a late afternoon nap, and in the hustle bustle of the day I lost track of time. She decided to take control of the situation and take care of herself.  Bless her little heart!

Delight

Any guesses about what was so delightful and exciting?

Hint 1: Its not something that would give me the same reaction.

Hint 2: Its not gears, hydraulics, chocolate, kittens, or a grandparent.

Biting Off More Than I Can Chew

Man, I feel like I have so many things to complain about and so many things to rejoice about and really I am lacking the words for anything.  Here's a little list and maybe I'll go into more later.

- So glad that its impossible for a human to have asexual reproduction.  Aside from the obvious reasons.  The less obvious reason is about how freaking hard it is to parent ALONE.  I wouldn't wish it on anyone, ever.

 

- The bigger kid knows how to open the fridge door.  He calls it friggeradordor and now has access to his favorite drink - talkbowkey pink. 

- He might be on plain milk for a long while after he drank most of the strawberry syrup while under less than ideal parental supervision.  There were some consequences to his actions.  The involved vomit.  Pink vomit.  Ew and ew.

- I'm going back to Jillian and the Shred.  I just can't give up the Dr. Pepper, and it must be that sugar that's causing poof that has little to do with post pregnancy waist. 

- My eyes are a light pink these days, probably irritated by contact lenses.  I cannot wear glasses long because I get a headache from them and they have been snatched by a curious child too many times to fit properly.

My husband played with these toys 25 years before my son did.

- I roasted a pie pumpkin, a rutabaga, two sweet potatoes, an acorn squash, and a butternut squash today.   So so tasty, but these are really for Elsie's baby foods.

- I let DHH help wash, peel, and slice potatoes today.  I can barely believe how capable he was with my help.  He used a knife for crying out loud.  Not alone or anything, but he said, "Careful, careful" to himself while we were doing it of his own accord.  We have five pounds of potatoes prepped to make into baby food and potato soup for later in the week.

- He helped me make a mango/apple/blueberry concoction for his sister, too.  He is less proficient with the food mill lately, so have to do most of the work, and that's a bummer. It was fun while it lasted having a kid do most of the work!

- I parented out of exhaustion a few times today.  I didn't like this.  I gave in and let him drink the rest of my Dr. Pepper 10 if he only eat something for dinner, which was most of a cheese stick and a few Saltines.

- I parented out of necessity a few times today. I allowed bed time to be after 9 PM because I had to focus on the younger child.  As a result, we watched Chaz get eliminated from DWTS.

- I parented out of anger today once and I am ashamed about it. I apologized to my son and also to God.  How can I expect my son to control his emotions when I cannot? 

- I hope I am not biting off too much staying up to write this.  Probably I am.