it's tears of joy, really!

For the last few days Maria has been telling us that she wants to "touch the moon". Of course she means this literally and not figuratively which makes it slightly less touching, but not by much. My eyes welled up with tears the first time she said it. It's just that childhood innocence and all the dreams they have that make it so sweet. I swear the girl knows how to push my buttons....(the tear buttons, of course, not the anger ones. those are still reserved for Sophia.)

I still can't read them the Dr. Suess book "Oh the places you'll go". It seriously kills me. After maria was born I must have tried to read her that book a hundred times and just couldn't get through it. At least not in public. Not that the NICU nurses would have thought it odd that I was balling my freaking eyes out, because that was pretty much a daily occurrence. But never the less, certain things just make me so happy and so sad all rolled into one that I can't hold back the waterworks no matter how hard I try.

OH! Like weddings. It doesn't matter if it's a fake wedding on TV or a cousin who's marrying someone she shouldn't. I sit there and just ball like a baby. I literally take an entire BOX of tissues (not one of those measly little purse packages. those things are barely enough for the intro music). And then God help us all if I watch the video or see the pictures. And don't even get me started on the list of songs that I can't listen to in public. It's shameful.

Josh always says "oh, here she goes" at the first mention of a wedding, birth, graduation, death...any of your major life events really. I've always been this way though. I remember being 12 yrs old at my cousins wedding and using all of the Kleenex my mom had bought and being upset she hadn't brought more. I WAS 12!

The other day Sophia counted to 10 (totally on her own I was on the computer and she was reading a book). So of course, I ended up drying off my keyboard with my t-shirt. lol. And I guarantee the day Jackson says his first word, it'll be like Niagara falls.

So now Josh's brother got engaged over the weekend. If we get to go to the wedding it'll be yet another opportunity for me to showcase my incredible super-power that is "unstopable tears of joy".

the baby....and toddler...and preschooler

Just a few pictures of my beautiful babies. You know you love them :D

reindeer poop, anyone?

This story is about 5 months late, but just as hilarious today as it was back then.

Around Christmastime I found these stocking stuffers at walmart that were really funny. So I bought 2 of them. It was a little plastic reindeer that held brown jellybeans inside of it and when you push down on the reindeer's back he "poops". (yes I am well aware that this is childish toilet humor, but it doesn't make it any less amusing). I put one in Josh's stocking and had the girls give one to my dad. They were a riot.

So the day after Christmas Josh was playing with his, with the girls. Maria has her hand in her mouth and I said "what's the matter maria" she exclaimed "I HAVE REINDEER POOP STUCK IN MY MOUTH!" we were rolling laughing. I said "well that's one statement I never thought I would hear....and not scream in horror".

As if that wasn't funny enough, today I found the reindeer b/c I've been cleaning to get ready for my garage sale this weekend. So there it is on the coffee table and Maria walks in the room and yells out "oh mommy! I want reindeer poop! I love eatin' reindeer poop! it's nummy yummy!" (Josh says num yummy all the time b/c of that commercial where the guy gets a new name tag on his cubicle that says num yummy b/c he loves soup or something).

So then after her begging me to let her eat reindeer poop a bunch of times. I said no. So this is what she says to me "fine, mommy. you no let me eat reindeer poop then I ask daddy when he come home from work. how 'bout that." ("how 'bout that" is her new favorite saying...yeah)

What am I, the poop nazi? Anyway that's my fun story for the day.

Ohmigosh! Wait. I think I actually have a picture. Let me go see....

Yes folks. That is, in fact, my father looking up a reindeer's ass....while holding my children.

what have you done for me lately?

oooo oo oo oo yeah.....
Great, now I'll have that song in my head for the rest of the night. lol.

First let me say that I lied and have no pictures for you today. :-( sorry.


So I just read a friends blog (Diana, her blog is "i am still" sorry I don't know how to link) and she was saying how we should appreciate our bodies, b/c they never did anything to us. And at first I agreed because I have to say it is an absolute MIRACLE every time a baby is born healthy. Only God could make two cells turn into a human being. And that is one way that she is right, but then I thought, wait a minute. My body has done more harm than good to me in the last 5 years....heck in my whole life. Including the fact that it tried to kill all three of my children. I honestly am struggling to come up with some good things about my body. So the following is a list of reasons my body and I aren't currently on speaking terms.

• I suppose I will go with the most obvious. Well, it...er...THEY are obvious if you know me. :D I had to wear a bra in the THIRD GRADE. That's right folks. What were you doing in the third grade? Good money says not wearing bras. lmao.
• I am unable to give ANY amount of blood. I have actually had 4 separate medical professionals (2 anesthesiologists, one surgeon and one ICU doctor) tell me they have NEVER, in decades as Dr.s seen someone with such terrible veins. One of the anesthesiologists had to leave the room and come back b/c he was getting so pissed at my BODY. And that is not including the uncountable number of nurses and phlebotomists.
• I heal like a banana. No, seriously.
• For some reason I carry ALL of my weight in my stomach. I could not pay, nor bribe my butt to uphold it's end of the bargain (no pun intended there). So I am officially a walking APPLE, complete with the bright red face (only after a drink or two though lol)
• A few letters for ya....HELLP (hemolytic anemia, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets). For those of you, not yet informed, it was my bodies excruciatingly painful and nearly fatal, way of telling me I should never be a mother.
• And because I will forever fail to take a hint, a few more letters....NAIT (neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia). It only took two pregnancies affected with this little gem, to make me wanna call it quits.
• And on the baby note, how about the fact that, not for lack of trying (and trying and trying) I was never able to BF any of my three children.
• HEAD.ACHES. every minute of every day for the last....10 months, I believe (and as a sweet little tid-bit, my body has decided to throw in the occasional day of total dizziness).
• BODY.ACHES. at least 2 days a week. To the point that I'm starting to believe I have a new disorder called "hitbyverylargetruckwithoutmemoryofevent syndrome"...it's a working title.

So, to recap, this is why for the last 4 yrs, I have run (not walked) to the freezer on a daily basis for ice cream. I'm thinking of it as pay-back. ;-)

I love you Diana and I am sooo glad you appreciate your body for all that it has done for you. I'm just not there yet. The wounds are still to fresh...get it, b/c I never heal. I crack myself up sometimes. lol :D

day 2-the challenge!

so, apparently "it's no big deal" to give up something that you "dont need" but enjoy. at least this is true according to josh.

soooo i have officially challenged him to 30 days without alcohol. that's right, no beer, wine, shots, margaritas. nothing. nada. he agreed to this challenge last night (immediately following his ridiculous statement) so today is actually his day one. and guess what. he came in here BEGGING for a beer after mowing. it was hilarious. i said, "no way. but, I can have one, i can have 5 if i want". (though i wouldn't b/c i think beer has a rotten taste.) then i used his own words against him. i said, "but hunny, it's no big deal to give up something that you don't need, but enjoy. it should be especially easy for someone with your amazing powers of self-restraint". lol. ahhh sweet revenge. that'll teach him to devour a huge, chocolate cookie in front of me. lmao.

i am quite proud of myself though. because today i went grocery shopping and as much as i wanted to, i didn't get anything sweet. thank you. thank you. no applause necessary. lol. :D

also, i just realized i haven't posted pics in a long time, so i promise to have a few next time.

simple pleasures

Here are a "few" (in my head right now it's a few, but it will probably end up being 50 lol) of the basic/silly/simple things that make my life so fun/crazy/entertaining.

1. When Maria wakes up she says "Daaaaaddy" over and over until he goes in to get them and if she's particularly impatient she'll come into our room and say "Daddy, I was sayin 'Daaaaaddy' and you didnt come in my room. Why you stay in bed with Mommy?".
2. I love seeing Jack smile while he sleeps. Josh does it too and its absolutely adorable.
3. When/If (more like when though) Sophia gets in trouble for hitting, she stands in the corner. Then after she gets out she chases maria all over the house. When she finally catches her, she tackles her (I know, hitting. it's a vicious cycle) and she'll say "Mia, you give me kiss!" while she grabs her face on both sides and plants one right on her lips. Then she'll hug her and say "I sorry". the thing that is especially cute about this is that I only told her to do this once and she just does it on her own every time now.
4. I love when Josh gives me a kiss and a BIG hug when he gets home. That is probably the one thing that can de-stress me in a minute. I just feel so safe and I know he will take care of me/us.
5. Dinner is of course a struggle, most days to get them to eat everything (mostly it's the meat they dislike). But the whole time they cheer each other (and themselves) on by saying "I eat all my chicken and my noodles and I get a cookie", "Only little bit more!" and "Great job Pia! you eat all" it's soooo cute. And as an addition to this I will add that when Josh eats all of his dinner maria will say "Daddy you eat all. Great job! you a good boy! you get a cookie!" :D
6. It's so rewarding to see Jack roll over. I know it's something they all do and it's totally simple, but I just love the look on their faces when they do something new. They are more surprised than we are.
7. I LOVE the sequence of events that happens in this house when Josh pulls in the driveway. They RUN to the window to make sure he's here. Then they RUN to the back door squealing and shreaking in delight the whole way "DADDY HOME! DADDY HOME! BACK DOOR! BACK DOOR! AHHHHHH EEEEEEE". Next comes "nail!" He gives them each a peice of mail to give me and they run to give it to me. screaming the whole way "i got nail! i got nail"
8. I take great delight in seeing the girls cooing at Jack and giving him kisses. They cheer him on to roll over and they say "great job Jack!" when he does it. And they fight over who gets to take the empty bottle and throw it in the sink, so I end up saving them on the end table rather than taking them in so that they can each have one.
9. When the weather is decent Josh takes the girls outside and it's sooo sweet to look out the window and see him showing them how to use their tools and riding in the "trailer" behind his lawn mower (blades up of course!), and helping him clean up tree branches.
10. I love hearing them say "give me a kiss" to Josh and I when we put them in bed. and then when we say "I love you" they say "I yuw you too". It's just the way they say it and the look on their faces. I'll never forget it, even when they're 50.
11. Ok I was gonna try to keep it to 10, but I just can't. I love them dancing. I have the greatest DVD of them "shakin my booey" as they say. I really wish I could post it, but I cant figure out how to upload it from the dvd to the computer. :-( But trust me, you would pee in your pants, its so funny! Some of you have had the opportunity to see it and you know.

busy, busy, busy

So, I hope everyone had a great Easter. We did, for sure, though it was an extremely busy weekend.

Friday I ran out to Canton to BRU (babies r us) b/c they were having a sale. But I must say I was disappointed when I got there. There were no signs anywhere, so I thought, Oh my gosh if I got all of us ready and out the door by 8:30 this morning and drove an hour in the pouring rain and there's no sale, I'll be pissed. No. there WAS a sale, just no mention of it throughout the entire store. What's up with that? Then Friday night my friend Jessi and her hubby Ken came over for dinner which was lots of fun. I hate that she lives so far away. :-(

Saturday the girls were sooo excited b/c Aunt Mel came over and we made desserts and colored eggs. They would color eggs all day if I let them. And if you can believe it, there were NO SPILLS, though there are quite a few cracked eggs. But that cant all be blamed on the girls...I think I broke most of them, and the wax crayon too. lol. I guess I dont know my own stregth.

Sunday we had Josh's whole family over for dinner (including us it was 17 ppl). I think dinner turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself :D. idk if they thought so though. all I heard on the subject was complaints that I didnt make these disgusting noodles they always have. And I think his cousin was trying to tell me she doesnt like Jacksons name. But his mom doesnt like it either and that didnt stop us from using it, so we werent too offended. lol. And thank goodness Josh's Grandma only made me want to lash out irrationally once or twice, so that was a plus. lol. Honestly, though, it was a good weekend and I think the kids had fun and thats what matters most to me. But as I sit here I can look behind me at the taunting glances of the sink full of dirty dishes....Ugh! too many pots and pans, too little energy.

So here are some pics from the last few days. enjoy.

ps. I COULD NOT get a good pic of the girls with their easter baskets so that's why there arent any. I got lucky with jack though.