Being a Mom Is Hard (er) But/And I Like It.

I mean, I am totally responsible for them and their well being,
educational advancement, social and emotional development, and diaper
changing all the day, and then I share in the responsibilities in the
evening and take over for any need that might arise in the night.

Why didn't I expect it to be a challenge? I didn't think it would be
easy or anything, I think I just didn't think about it.

So heads up ladies with out children - just close your eyes and
imagine having a kid, or two or a dozen. Its YOU they are calling
Mommy, and hold up, its nursing bra and lack of glam and never eat a
meal that's hot and you'll know the words to more than five children's
books better than you know your college fight song or the pledge of
allegiance.

Its totally a good challenge. Its a worthwhile and wonderful one.

But its a real task.
"Just" staying at home? Are you kidding me?

And I do like this phase a lot.

Worn Slick. Baby Food Making Gig. Quitting Pintrest.

Maybe I have negativity in my spirit because I am just so dang tired and ran ragged.
Maybe that's why I spent the first half hour of naptime vegging out reading some design and kiddo blogs.

I kid you not, this morning was the morning of tears.
DHH would cry, then his sister would cry because he was so loud.
Then there would be a break.
The Elsie would cry because she got whacked by her brother's dump truck or she was tired of sitting up and didn't know how to lay down or her brother's toy flute playing was too loud.
She'd wail, which would make him cry.

Oh brother.

At breakfast, DHH sobbed because I was using a bowl to eat my pumpkin muffin from instead of a plate like he was.

Then the world was in pieces because I broke the blinds in his room and put them in the garage for safe keeping, "NO!!! Not on Daddy's workbench! On the couch! Blinds in weeming womb!!".

As my friend Ann would say, "Gee minilly."

My friend Hilary called and asked me to make baby food for her baby, which is totally doable since its just doubling a batch of applesauce or chicken and rice when I am making it anyway.  But then she said, "I don't know how you do it all and keep it all together and make your baby food from scratch."

Here's a hint: my husband folded laundry for two hours last night, and my son MAY have dropped a canister of flour on the floor, so its not that I have it all together.

I'm in pieces and I'm worn slick.

And yet, YET, I continue to pin little projects for myself on pintrest.  How inappropriate!  I have all this creative energy but when it comes to project COMPLETION, well, that's another story.

I think I might have to quit pintrest because getting all these ideas is getting expensive.
And its making me feel a bit inadequate that I can't do them all.
And I don't have time to do hardly any.
And I am having a hard time finishing any of them.
So, that's where I am at with that.

PS these photos are totally unrelated to the post... I would rather not show off the photos of the crying or the un-done housework, okay?

Negative Nancy

Yeah, I think I am Negative Nancy lately.
Its true that I've been inconsistent with the Zoloft this last week.
Its true that I am keeping most of the snarky comments to myself.


But I feel this negativity festering in me and its like I want to take an inner shower and emerge fresh and peppy.
And this festering cloud of grouchy and rude and judge-y is no good way to live!

I've got a good idea to make things better for me for tomorrow.
But if it doesn't work, you go ahead and leave me some advice, okay?


I really want to eliminate these negative thoughts.
Its just not good way to be.
I want to keep them at bay but I would actually rather just have them be not so much here, not bottled up or anything.
I don't want them to ooze out and taint any other relationships or events.

Ugh. Sick of Cyber Sales.

Shopping.
Its my downfall, I know.
Watching sales online, putting objects into my cart.
.Seeing these shopping carts with a savings of like 60% off retail makes me happy.
Then I realize the 40% would still come from my bank account.
Boo.

And if I were actually rich enough to afford all the objects (gifts, actually) for my family, I probably would be rich enough to pay retail instead of Cyber Monday prices, right?

I think this is sort of a symptom of something - I am not quite sure - but its got to be about that satisfaction vs. materialism stuff that's going on with me that I referenced in this post.

For the record, I do have boxes coming from amazon, Lands End, Kohls, and Barnes and Noble.
And for the record, they were super sales.
And for the record... I feel a bit empty even remembering that little thrill of clicking PLACE ORDER.

Thanksgiving Was Great!

We went to only ONE Thanksgiving meal this year.  Its pretty unusual for us.

The last nine years I've been with my guy, we have gone to two or three full sit down meals over Thursday and Friday.   It was only slightly fun to do this before we had kids, and it was not fun to do this with a kid.  This year we did just one, and it was relaxing.

My family loves having a decadent and Food Network-esque Extravaganza.  This year was no different.  We tried several new recipes, something that Martha recommends not doing for the first time when you are hosting, but they turned out great anyhow. (Sweet Potato Souffle and non-condensed soup Green Bean Casserole).  There was pumpkin pie, coconut cream pie with tall meringue, my mom's new recipe super-good chocolate cream pie, and gooey butter cake.  Basically, every single meal was delicious and if there is anything to complain about, its that we didn't make enough stuffing or gravy or eat enough portions of turkey!

My sister and her iBoyfriend of two years came, but my other sister's husband of seven years was out of town, so there was an odd number of adults.  This meant that I sat out on the games of Yahtzee!! they played with my husband.  That's okay, I 'm not really a Yahtzee!! person, even though it might come as a surprise to you because maybe I seem like a Yahtzee!! person.  (I was actually stalking a few toy deals and found the BEST prices were Thursday from noon - 8 PM, FYI.  Like, five to twenty dollars less than the following morning... just a hint for next year!).

What else?  Hm...
There was some merriment from my daughter, who loved jumping in a baby jumper my mom has.
My son enjoyed feeding their cat he named Moe Heady.
My dad and husband went to a gun auction, one of their favorite events of the year.
My sister made some fab cut out cookies, and my son ate a dozen of them, inciting the never before seen wrath of his aunt.
My mom smiled all weekend.
I had a 24 hour sickness that had me S.I.C.K. but then I was able to sleep and rest and abstain from some parenting duties since there were subs available to care for the kids.

Oh! And this!

My BFF and her twins came to visit us!
 Her husband was ill and could not come, which was a bummer.  But he got to rest without doing twin diaper duty or the like, so perhaps that was for the better.
We had a great time watching our little girls sit together and take one another's toys or grab each other's ears.   They didn't really seem to have as much fun together as we did, but that's okay.
She and I stole away for a precious hour and a half for a meal from Panera.  It was a balm for my soul.
I admit it was brave for my mom and sister to watch all four children during their nap time.  Any or all of them could have been awake and been too many hands full!  We put each child down, each in a different bedroom (four beds! four rooms! four babies!!) and stole out of that house QUICKLY.  When I called an hour later, everyone was still sleeping!  When we arrived, two were awake (DHH, ENH), but my mom was humming away on the sewing machine and my sister was teaching my son to use the rolling pin, so it wasn't such a big thing.  Both other babies slept for another hour.  It was great!

Then today, Sunday, we went to my in-laws house for a family meal.  His paternal aunt and uncle and cousin (a rather small paternal family, don't you think?) came for his paternal grandmother's 83rd birthday lunch.  My children were fussy and not well rested, but they were welcomed by their grandparents.  My MIL cooked the best vegetable soup I'd ever had (I think I saw some steak in there, however... but my husband also remarked how tasty it was) and my son sang a very soft, very sweet happy birthday song.

I was the best Thanksgiving I've ever had, but I'll wager that from now on each will top the previous.  Life just gets better and better the longer I live!

Shoot! I Can't Shoot!

I forgot my camera card in my mom's computer.  Two hours away. Bummer!  I'll be visiting her next weekend, but for now, you have to mentally imagine the following scenes:

Elsie's first Thanksgiving meal - a mash of potato, green bean, turkey, gravy, pumpkin, cranberry... pretty much EVERYTHING on the table! She was delighted by the tastes of Thanksgiving.

My son's toothy grin atop a tractor that was moving, one of his first rides without ear muffs (he's no longer afraid of the loud engine or has gained confidence).

My kids playing with Ann's twins!  All three girls lined up for their photo, and at least one of them looked cute and smiled for the camera.

I hate when I do things that are absent minded like this.  I thought to myself AS I WAS INSERTING THE CARD Gee, I hope I don't forget this camera card.  I had better put it back so I won't forget it!  And then I promptly forgot it.

Thankful #22 - Reading Others' Thoughts

Being at home during the day with two children incapable of sophisticated conversations and who interrupt any friendly phone chats I may get to have is kind of isolating.

(Kind of - I'm swarmed with hands and legs and mouths kissing and wrestling in my lap, but still a bit isolated in other ways)

I am thankful for the ability to subscribe to interesting articles through Google Reader.  This enriches my brain and gives me ideas to consider and mediate about while I am changing dirty diapers or in the pause of reading Richard Scarry's Very Best Word Book Ever.


Today's article that I am pondering is from the site Her.meneutics.  Its about Thanksgiving becoming trivial when people include #thanksgiving and #justinbeiber or #lattes as status updates.  I think its interesting.  My favorite quote is this one:

Being thankful is not telling God you appreciate the fact that your life is not in shambles. If that is the basis of your gratitude, you are on slippery ground. Every day of your life you face the possibility that a blessing in your life may be taken away. But blessings are only signs of God's love. The real blessing, of course, is the love itself. Whenever we get too attached to the sign, we lose our grasp on the God who gave it to us. Churches are filled with widows who can explain this to you. We are not ultimately grateful that we are still holding our blessings. We are grateful that we are held by God even when the blessings are slipping through our fingers. (Barnes)

Thankful #20 - For a Girl

I am thankful to be the mom of a girl.

 I am excited to do activities with my daughter from my girlhood that just aren't as fun to do with my son... not that he and I won't have special times, but playing Barbies, hosting girl sleepovers, buying a dress for a junior high formal, and getting a pedicure.... those things are going to be SO fun to do with EK.

I am also looking forward a little to the drama that comes with having a girl in the house... comforting her when she gets a bad haircut, experiencing best friend falling outs, and has a crush on her brother's friends.  It will make life exciting!

Thankful #19 - Good Relationship with Parents

I am 29 and I think I have a really healthy relationship with my parents.  I have a much better relationship with them than I had twenty years ago or ten years ago, in that they appreciate me and I appreciate them.  Its so valuable to me to have them participate in my life.

Thank You #18 - Reading

I am so thankful that my parents encouraged reading in my home.

I think my love of reading added to my ability to learn quickly and remember details.
Reading has led me to discover ideas and ways of life I wouldn't know otherwise.
Reading also gives me peace of mind because I can research topics that I am not an expert about to become knowledgeable about topics.

One of my big parenting goals is to foster a love of reading in my home and for my kids.

I am thankful that the other people in my house seem to love reading, too.

Thank You #22

I'm thankful for patience.
Both ways patience - me being patient with others and others being patient with me.

I've learned so much about patience in the last two years that I've been a parent.  I am just taking life much more slowly. I think experiences like going up and down on the elevator three times after a doctor's appointment because there's really no reason to say no to the toddler's request or a baby that needs to be held and soothed when I would prefer to get on with nap time aka ME time already.

Being a parent has made me more patient, and I am thankful for that because its making a me a better person.

Thankful #17 - Double Parent Household

I am struck time and time again by HOW ENTIRELY hard it is to parent alone.

Not that I have lots of opportunities to parent alone, thankfully.

Actually, I am very thankful for a partner in parenting when we are both together and its a tricky situation. I am thankful that we can both look at each other across the table and smirk a private-you read my mind-expression when the little boy is going apeshit* over the fact that its actually dinner time and he must eat something for dinner instead of just playing all night.

So thank you to God for giving me a parenting partner and thank you to Dan for being my teammate.


*I rarely curse because I think its not classy.  However, I do not think any other term can best characterize the level of insanity of the dinner time fits.

Thank You #21 - Sales.

I am thankful that I rarely pay retail for any purchase I make.

For instance, today I scored our Thanksgiving turkey for $0.49 per pound!
I also bought a $129 gift for my kids' Christmas co-gift for $64 a few weeks ago...

I am thankful for this!

I'm Feeling Off.

And that is why I haven't published the several blog posts I've composed lately.

I think I am having an issue in my life with materialism vs. satisfaction vs. clutter vs. shopping vs. gift giving vs. saving money vs. frugality vs. generosity.    The best way to explain it is that I feel frustrated and overwhelmed by the amount of STUFF that is here that I do not use or really want or need, but I feel the urge to shop and acquire.

No, not like I am a hoarder like on the show Hoarders, but more like my stuff being cluttered is a reflection of how my life is cluttered now.

My Mornings.

I used to dislike mornings.  I would lay in bed as the radio alarm played on.

I don't necessarily love getting out of my warm, soft bed, but I do love crawling into this morning scene each day.

These siblings love each other.  Every morning, DHH seeks out his sister and says, "Dee Dee kiss a Buggy". He often asks for her to lay "like dat way" on the boppy next to him.  She has started to touch him - his eyes, his pacifer, his toys.  This gets on his nerves.

I really like mornings at home with my kids.

Chatty Girl

If I told you that life around here was noisy, would you believe me?

Its not only the sounds of her brother singing or pounding a hammer or
making engine noises.

Usually those sounds get drowned out by this small fry's squeals,
squawls, and jabbers. She loves to hear her own voice (and we really
love hearing it, too!)

Funny Malpropism

Today we were talking about Thanksgiving. I took out two ceramic figurines/dolls that depict Native Americans. I told DHH that people often call these people Indians, but really, its more correct to say Native Americans because they live in American and not in India.  We continued to discuss their clothing and the food they were holding.  He played with them and made them to stand and dance in his box of beans.  I asked what game he was playing.

He said, "Naked Kids Game."

Excuse me?

"These guys.  Naked A kids. Indians. "

Oh, I get it. Native Americans.  We both laughed, but I was really laughing at him and he was laughing because of the word naked!

Its really fun having a preschooler in the house!

Confession: Not Liking Coffee Makes Me Feel Like a Kid

I feel like when I finally like coffee, I will be a real adult.
For now, I stick to iced tea, Pepsi, or if I reeeeeeally need caffiene, a SBux Mocha Frap, extra whip.

Coffee just makes my stomach hurt.
I tried the SBux Via, and it made me sweat and have the worst headache I've ever had.

So one day when I like coffee, I will be a real adult.
We'll be real adults with a real coffee pot in the home.

Linked up with:

 

A Sneaky Mascara Face

Last night I was freshening up before leaving the house.  DHH followed me into the bathroom, which is normal.  He often uses my hairbrush after I do, attempts to use our deodorants, and goes through the drawer identifying objects, telling me now its time to use the hair spray or eye shadow.

I started to brush my teeth and noticed that DHH had grabbed some make up. I asked him to put it back in the drawer. I was in a hurry and needed to leave in the next few minutes, and I didn't really want to run around and clean up after him.

He shut the door behind him while I finished brushing my teeth. When he came back in to the room, I asked him if he had the make up, and I almost didn't even look at his face since I was kind of in a hurry.

I just so happened to glance down and shrieked.  "Ah! Daniel! What did you do!! Honey, grab the camera NOW - GET IN HERE!!!"

My son looked surprised by my shock and calmly said, "Dee Dee do it by his self!".  And then he started to lick some toothpaste as I clicked away.

I know this is a classic toddler activity to do things like this.  Its such a cliche, isn't it? Its like a TV commercial.

I was still so surprised that he would have done this of his own accord, without any help, and actually get quite a bit on his eye lashes correctly.

He is REALLY watching and learning from us and another lesson I am learning is that he knows how to be sneaky and do things he knows we won't want him to do out of our eyesight.

My husband just looked at me and said, "We're in for some fun with this guy, right?! Watch out!"

I scrubbed and scrubbed using make up remover, but my son still had some smoky, rock star eyes when he went to bed.  His hair was also spikey from the bath, and I thought he looked a little Springstein.

Fake Coughing For Attention

My daughter started what I'd call fake coughing this week. Its like this: Ecgh, Ecgh! Look over here! Notice me! Egh! Food time over here! Play with me! Ecgh Ecgh!

Its pretty adorable.

After a bit, the fake coughs become fake laughs like this: Ecgh, snort, heh heh, ecgh! Heh! Ha ha ha hahaha.

If no one pays attention  to her, she repeats her show, or else moves on to something else she finds enjoyable, like pulling her socks off with her mouth or sucking on a toy.

If she manages to draw a crowd over, she starts laughing even harder.  Then she sings, smiles, and puts on such a good show.

My son did the same thing at six months, which makes me wonder if its a baby thing or just a Haid baby thing.  Or a Douglas Haid baby thing... as the Douglas part of their family does enjoy a crowd.

Did your kids make fake coughs? Or fake laughs?
I know its pretty fun for babies this age to to listen to their own voices and experiment with volume and pitch... but I've never heard of kids doing this!

Thank You #16 - Laughter

I know if it were just me and no kids and no Husby, I would not laugh too much. I am just a naturally serious person.  I married up in the humor department... he can sure make me laugh. Even if lots of the jokes are recycled, the delivery of them is funny.  My children are full of laughter, either due to inheriting my super-ticklish   ribs or their dad's funny bone.

Today I am thankful for the laughter I hear on a daily basis.

Sibling Play in the Rice Bin

I try to do a sensory activity with DHH each day, even if that means using different textures of towels for scrubbing off a mess we've made on the counter.  I'm finding that doing different sensory activities, such as using a bin filled with dry beans or a bowl of water and oats, let us enjoy our time together more because DHH is involved in an activity that I've planned to be a bit messy, rather than him finding an activity that is naturally messy and stresses me out.

Plus there's all that brain research that says sensory integration is important for child development.  Sensory activities can be solids or liquids of various sizes and usually involve small  toys, scoops, or cups.  Kids do transfer activities like dumping and scooping.  They push and dig.

They often use another sense besides touch - like hearing or smell.  For instance, I like to use metal only tools and toys with the rice box because its such a pleasant sound.  For scent, we add something like apple pie spice to play dough.  Of course there's the sense of sight, too, which is why I vary the colors of play dough or other sensory activities we do.

We don't have a sandbox here at home, but we do have a large plastic storage tub filled with Rainbow Rice. It used to be in a smaller box, one that was twice the size of a shoe box but easily a third the size of this underbed storage box, and it wasn't as much for for DHH to use.  Using this large bin gives him space to work with his trucks to "build a new hiiwaaays".  It also gives him space to sit inside. I am not sure why its more fun sitting inside the rice box, but if you ask him, he'll assure you it is.

On this morning he asked for his sister to play, too.  That's pretty unusual, perhaps even the first time he wanted her to be involved in his play, so I placed her next to him and gave her a scoop cup that was free of rice.

EK laughed immediately and scooted her bare feet around.  She noticed that yelling in the cup made a different sound than yelling with the cup farther from her face.  She was learning!

DHH began to use the funnel to pour rice over EK's toes, which she loved.  We also tried to bury her feet in the rice.  DHH wanted to do this for himself, and proclaimed that it "tickled DD toes!".

I'm glad I had the camera close by so I could literally reach a few feet over, get it and start shooting.  I don't think EK would have had any trouble being unsupervised since she's a new sitter and was propped in the corner, and DHH wasn't misbehaving at all.  She was totally unaware of putting the rice in her mouth, so I feel like it was a really great safe baby AND toddler activity.

Thank You #15

I am thankful that they like each other.

It makes my life much happier.  

It makes me glad we have two kids, and not just one. I was worried that I couldn't enjoy two babies, but was thinking about things the wrong way.  Its true that there's no way I have enough time to enjoy each child individually.  I don't have 48 hours in a single day, which is kind of what I would need.  Boy, I'd be tired then!

However, I do have 24 hours in each day with BOTH of them together.   I really like them together.  Its quite wonderful, and I was wrong to worry so.

               


There are only moments each day when there is a less than friendly interaction ("Dee Dee eat Elsibuggy's toes!!! followed by a scream and "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!") and I can handle those. Of course, its not my toes being bitten!

Thankful #14 Preschool Time

I'm thankful I have a hand in my son's learning time each day. We do
a preschool time and he sits next to me, focused, listening, and an
obviously sponge-like brain working.

We made this poster today and practiced using stickers and putting
them in specific places which required a lot of focus and hand-eye
coordination. We also talked about colors, shapes, sizes, textures,
words and letter sounds, and up and down. He used glue, scissors,
markers, and tape. This little poster took two hours time, with a one
hour break for Sid the Science Kid and sister-playtime in the middle.
It was really a good morning.

I am thankful for the chance to be at home with DHH and be involved
with what he is learning in such a detailed level.

Thank You #13 - For Sunshine

I am so thankful for sun light.  Cloudy days are nice  for candles and moody music like Adele, but too many of those and I feel a cloud of depression settling on me.  Sun really seems to stimulate the feel-good, optimistic part of  my spirit.  Days like today really spur me into the week and seem to recharge my emotional batteries.

Thanks, God for this light therapy.


+++ Written yesterday when there was a lot of golden sunlight, which helps me cope with the clouds outside today!

I Faked Enthusiasm Tonight With My Husband.

(Haha, this could be a pretty racy post with a title like this, but its not.)

I faked enthusiasm about deer hunting tonight with my husband when he called tonight sharing that he'd shot a deer.  I even asked its gender and how many points were on it.  (He counted nine, our two year old counted twelve, so I bet we're going with the higher count.)


"Good for you, honey! I'm sure you had a nice time doing that."  I think I said something along that line.

I know its important for me to listen to him share about life happenings that he things are interesting, and so that's what I did.

It has been a few years since he shot one, and he does enjoy hunting.

I don't think I'd enjoy hunting very much, even though I'm not necessarily an indoors girl.  Its not a hobby that I've ever chosen or forsee selecting in the future.

I know I'm selfish in that I enjoy talking more about things I enjoy than things instead of what others enjoy,  but its a skill I am working on.

I don't personally enjoy eating venison, and I think it is smelly when cooking. So I'm not super enthusiastic about the meat.

I know husby does like the flavor of deer meat though.
And he's got to feel really glad about having a freezer full of high quality protein at a low cost.

It is the first day of deer season, so that means he doesn't have to go out next weekend and can spend time with me and our kids instead.  That's something to be enthusiastic about, even though I am completely unintended by crouching in the woods at length and deer corpses.

Thankful #12 For My Parents' Trip

My parents just got back from a trip to the Gulf of Mexico.  I haven't heard all the details about it, but I heard enough to know they had a good time exploring. I am thankful they got to go on a trip like this and send back the following photos:

Its really good for me to think about other people having a good time.  I am easily made jealous by people who get to do awesome things while I am doing something much less awesome (like unloading a dishwasher or mating socks).  However, when I see these photos, I can just feel so thankful that they got to do this wonderful early winter trip to the coast.

Doesn't the water suit them?  They've never been to Alabama together, and I hope they will want to go again!

And perhaps buy a beach house for the whole family to use. Wouldn't that be the bomb? (Yes, the bomb.  Its an appropriate old-fashioned phrase for beach ownership!)

They also got to visit the lovely Miss C and Miss E (yes! they have a blog now!!).  They were able to visit my dearest friend Ann in Jackson!  I haven't seen the babies in so long, so yes, I am more than a little envious.  But also thankful for their chance to visit and bond with MY friends!

Thankful #11 Surprises That Come In The Mail

My sister sent me a surprise today via priority mail.  She found some wonderful children's clothes - which she described as prep, but I call perfection - and sent them just in time for holiday photos.

A teddy bear on the cords? Adorable.

And floral corduroy dress? Perfect for winter photos! Not just Christmas!

And a red tartan plaid shirt with a woolen vest?  What a lucky, lucky boy!

I am thankful for surprises like this, because I've had the itch to go cute-clothes shopping for my kids, but haven't had the urge to realign our monthly budget to add that Cute Clothes category.  How awesome!  God knows just what we need, and I think its a perfect example of Him providing for us.

Sweet.

Both kids are nuts for Oreo cookies.  No surprises there.

I think the sibling hugs are just as sweet as the Oreos.

I feel the need to disclaim that it was not my original intention to feed my six month old daughter Oreos. I was holding her on my hip with a cookie in my hand.  A distraction from her brother resulted in her getting access to her first taste of cookie bliss.  She loved it so much that she threw a fit when I realized what was going on and took the cookie her.  I figured it was a textural and flavor experience for her, and since I was going to buy arrowroot cookies/biter biscuits soon... we just rolled with it and had Cookie Snack at 10 AM that day.  Yes, they were still in Jammies at 10 AM with cookies on their faces.  

Thankful #10 Digital Pregnancy Tests

I am thankful that three years ago today I had positive pregnancy tests for DHH.  Tests - plural.  And pricey!
But that was a wonderful way to spend $22.

My husband was going away for deer season, and I took a test.  Before the test result came through, he felt positive I was.  But the result was a distorted two lines, a hint of a second line, a well, maybe we're squinting too hard for it to be a for real we're having a baby positive pregnancy test second line.  So we figured we weren't pregnant after all.

Then I got to talking with my friend Hilary who told me that she heard any hint of a second line means a pregnancy.  That she heard there's not really a such thing as a false positive, just false negatives.

Then my friend Amy did some fact checking and came back saying the same details.

So I went to buy a digital test.
(Just buy digital ones from now on... really. SO worth it.)
The mystery was solved and now the mystery looks like this:

Three years ago I was teaching high school biology and not loving my work environment or feeling a passion for life.  I was unfulfilled and feeling insecure and unsettled.

I am thankful for the positive result on that digital pregnancy test and for that sweet little imp asleep in the next room.

A First Sibling Squabble

Some of the first shots of EK trying to take things from DHHl.  After six months of the same treatment from him, she can finally torment him!