Hodge Podge

Today I went and did a few things that I have been needing to do for a while. One of which is renewing my licence and getting new tags for the van. (Yes, I know it's 2 months late. What can I say, I'm a procrastinator).

The other was that I got Sophia a bike. The poor thing has just been watching Maria ride hers around and staring in envy. You can practically feel her excitement through the pictures, which I ADORE. It's my favorite part of Christmas, too. I just love giving people gifts that I know they will love and the smile on their faces melts my heart. (Oh and they had to ride in the garage because it started raining about 1 minute after dinner).

And we are getting a few fruits of our labor (well, mostly Josh's labor). We've gotten about 10 peppers and just as many green beans. Normally I wouldn't pick the green beans, but they were HUGE and we thought they needed to be picked. Our tomatoes have TONS of fruit on them, so I can't wait to can my own spaghetti sauce! I should take a picture of the whole garden (it's HUGE). Maybe I will save that for later in the summer.

And this is just because he wasn't in on the bike situation. He is loving his new-found independence. He's scooting and rolling ALL OVER THE PLACE. I never know which piece of furniture I will find him lodged under, when I enter the room. He's just getting so big and smart and curious. I say it with each of them, but it's still true. THEY GROW UP TOO FAST!

Nighty Night. Sleepy Tight.

I'm realizing lately, that time is going faster and faster. I think it's having kids that makes it go so fast. You wake up one morning and realize they have grown incredibly fast and you feel like you have possibly missed something or not enjoyed something enough. And speaking of enough, what is enough? When is it ever enough? When can I say that I showed my love enough or played with them enough or laughed enough or enjoyed all of their little idiosyncrasies enough? To me, parenting is one big question that never gets answered. But, I guess, it doesn't feel like it needs to be answered. It feels like a question that needs to remain rhetorical. I think every parent feels, at some time, like are making a mistake or could be doing something better. I think the best we can all do, is try to enjoy every minute and think about whether or not we will regret what we are doing in the end.

In an attempt to remember the kids as they are right now (because this time is so fleeting), this is our bedtime ritual EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.

Mommy or Daddy: Ok! time for bed! :D
Girls: OK OK OK! BEDTIME!
Sophia: Hold my hand mommy!
Maria: Hey guys, wait for me! (as she tries to find her blankets and giraffe and baby doll, etc.)
*at this point I am holding Sophia's hand and trying to keep her upright as she trips over her "pink blanket" all the way back to her bedroom.
Mommy: Hop into bed!....Get into bed....GIRLS Get into bed!....Sophia! Get into your bed now! (she thinks it is the funniest thing in the world to act like she can't get into her bed as she laughs so hard that she ACTUALLY can't get into bed)
Maria: Pia, get into bed like me. I'm a big girl going to school cuz I wear panties. You a baby cuz you don't go pee in the potty (this is what she says any time she calls herself a big girl).
Sophia: body slam me daddy!
Josh: Ok. Ok. KA-BUUUSH! (as he lifts her up over his head and slams her down on the bed)
Sophia: HEHEHEHEHEHEHE! Do again Daddy! Do again!
Josh: No, once is enough. Lay down.
Maria: Body slam me Mommy!
Me: Ok. Ok. (my body slam noise is not nearly as good as Daddy's, but it still gets a nice laugh out of Maria)
Sophia: turn my fan on
Me: No, you don't need your fan on tonight. (or ok, depending on how hot it is)
Maria: Where's my blanket with the holes in it? (she means my baby blanket that she sleeps with. It is crocheted. lol).
Me: It's right here, beside you.
Maria: Where's my giraffe?
Me: Right here.
Maria: Where's my blankie baby? (this is the "snoedle" they gave me for when she was in the NICU. I kept it with me while I was in the hospital, so it would smell like me. Then after she was born they gave it to her to keep with her that week until I could come see her.)
Me: It's right here.
Maria: Oh, thanks mommy!
Me: Lay down. *kiss* I love you, baby girl. nighty night, sleep tight.
Maria: I love you, mommy! I wanna kiss your head. (so she does). I think you have nice hair!
Me: thanks baby, I think you have nice hair too.
Maria: thanks mommy. nighty night. sleepy tight!
*then I go to Sophia
Me: I love you, little Pia! *kiss* Night night, sleep tight.
Sophia: Nighty night, sleepy tight. oh! oh! oh! I wanna kiss you head! I wanna kiss you head! (so she does) I think you have nice hair!
Me: thanks baby. I think you have nice hair too.
Sophia: thanks mommy!
Me: I love you
Sophia: I love you mommy. I take a nice nap, then I wear my babysuit and go swimmin.
Maria: and I go see gam if i take a nice nap
Me: I dont know girls, maybe.
Maria: maybe
Sophia: maybe.
*lights out and a big sigh of relief that we got out of there without having to turn water into wine or do the chicken dance in Spanish. ;-)

And just so you know, Josh goes through the same thing with the girls, except when they kiss his head they say "I think you have a little bit of hair, Daddy". Which is probably much funnier to me, than to him. lol :D

One day they wont want us to tuck them in and all I will have are these memories of when they couldn't get enough of us.

and the journey begins

Yep, we're starting the inevitably tortuous journey of potty training with Sophia. Yes, I am well-aware of the fact that she is 2 1/2 yrs old and I should be positively humiliated by the fact that she STILL has never actually gone IN the toilet. Next to it, yes. In the next room, sure. Immediately following a 20 minute sitting on it, of course. But never actually IN the bowl.

I have to say that the girl has some staying power too. She is absolutely obsessed with food. If we want her to do anything we offer food (I know, I know. stop shaking your heads in disapproval). But not this. I even bought chocolate chip cookies to offer as an incentive (the small piece of candy wasn't doing the trick). But still nothing. There she sits today on the pot telling me "mommy, I don't want to be big girl like Mia and go pee on the potty! I like going pee in my diaper!" WTH!? Who would proclaim their love for such a thing? Only Pia, I suppose. hence the nickname "Pia pee pants". Cruel yes, but truthful nonetheless. I have implemented the "no diapers" method. It's a major pain in the ass for me (like I don't already have enough laundry to do), but it is the only thing that worked for Maria and it honestly didn't take too long with her.

I personally, am blaming all of my shortfalls as a mother on Maria. She was too easy. (other than nearly dying in the NICU and all). When I told her to do something, she did it. When I said something was off limits, she stayed away. When I said no to something, I never heard a word about it. She was sleeping through the night a month after she came home from the NICU, for crying out loud. I was recently watching video of her a couple days after her second birthday (she had just learned to walk and I was capturing her running 4 days after taking her first step). The door to the basement was wide open and she was standing about 6 inches from the opening because I had told her MONTHS before to not go past that line. Show me another 1 1/2 yr old that would say "ok mommy" and never go near it again.

So then we get Sophia and I act like a 15 yr old with my first child or something. I remember telling Josh one day "she said no, to me today" Josh goes "WHAT? well what did you do about that?" (like we're solving the war on terror or something) I said, "I stood there like a moron trying to figure out what just happened". That had never happened the the 3 yrs Maria had been alive. And now, here Sophia is telling me that she doesn't care if she ever gets to go to school, be a big girl, wear Dora panties or EVER get out of diapers at all. We have been joking about the fact that she can count to 10, recognize some letters, knows almost all of her shapes and colors and speaks like a 4 yr old, yet she can't seem to figure out the complex equation that is "peeing on an actual toilet". At this point we are convinced that she will be heading off to Harvard in her Depends with a travel pack of wipes in her backpack.

Well either way, wish me luck. I understand that this is an uphill battle and am totally prepared for the fact that I am totally unprepared. (again, thanks Maria ;)

hot dogs, sparklers and facepainting, oh my!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. I know we did. We went to Silver Park and watched their gorgeous fireworks display with my parents and sisters. It's beginning to be a tradition for us. This is our 3rd year and we just love it. We go in the afternoon and hang out all day playing games and talking and all the fun stuff they have there is really cool. Here are some of my pics from the day, unfortunately my camera batteries died so I couldn't get any pics of the actual fireworks. But you can just take my word for it, they were great.

I don't know if you will believe it, but he slept through the fireworks!

The girls waiting for "Gam" and "Gampy". It was actually kind of chilly and windy the whole day, then it cleared up at about 8:30.

The 26-years-apart twins lol.

Eating...the best part of any holiday ;-)

Yes, we did give our 2 and 4 yr olds sparklers....ok, WE didn't, my parents did.

They were so good with them. I couldn't believe how careful they were being to not touch the hot part to anything. And Maria was obviously mesmerized.

They got butterflies painted on their cheeks. They were really patient and never moved while they were painting them. The girls doing it even said "I can't believe how still they are being". Maria wasn't quite sure how to show hers off though.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas

Ok, you're right, no it's not. I really don't know why I do it to myself every year. I start obsessing about Christmas starting in the summer. And to be honest, I have no idea why it happened so early this year (I usually at least hold off until Christmas in July). All it takes is one Christmas episode of Friends to start the Christmas train a rollin'. So, to add fuel to my holiday fire, I'm going to post some pics of Christmas' past. Enjoy. :D I know I'm already making lists. lol.

2003
2005
2007

2008

75 Things

Alright Tricia, I will accept your challenge to write 75 interesting facts about myself. OK, I don't know how interesting they will be, but they will be facts. ;-)

1. I wanted to go to Paris on my honeymoon.
2. But I would never change a thing about the honeymoon we actually took to Cabo.
3. I HATE tomatoes
4. But I LOVE tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce & ketchup.
5. I LOVE apples and anything with apples in it.
6. But I HATE applesauce
7. I HATE when people use a "k" to start words that are supposed to start with a "c"
8. I LOVE anything even remotely related to Elvis Presley
9. I would rather cook and/or bake than do just about anything
10. Josh has always and probably will always hand wash the dishes (I do the dishwasher and everything else though, don't worry)
11. I had pretty bad post-partum depression after I had Jack and I only recently got through it because I didn't take any meds.
12. That is actually the first time I ever admitted that.
13. I say I need a break from the kids every day
14. But I would never actually be able to leave them and go to an "outside" job.
15. My favorite season is fall.
16. But my favorite Holiday is Christmas. It is seriously a sick obsession that starts in July and ends with me sobbing all day on Dec. 26th because, in my own words "it's all over".
17. I have always secretly wanted to live in Seattle. I really don't know why, though.
18. I believe that the number 5 is lucky for me.
19. I am a compulsive list maker...it's a sickness, really
20. I watch every documentary/show/miniseries/movie that has anything to do with World War II.
21. I married my high school sweetheart.
22. I was the only one in high school though ;-)
23. I hated my first high school...
24. But I hated my second one even more.
25. I have had 12 different jobs in my life (not including babysitting)
26. The only one I want to do for the rest of my life, is the one I'm doing right now.
27. I get 80% of the gifts I give from QVC.
28. I get 80% of the clothes I wear from QVC.
29. I HATE the heat. (mostly it's the sweating=being dirty that I dislike)
30. One day I hope to finish my list of 1000 places to see before I die (I changed some from the book)
31. I don't understand people who go on the same vacation every year. I want to travel all over the world, not go on a Caribbean cruise every year or to myrtle beach every summer.
32. I have always wanted to get jury duty
33. I have never had jury duty
34. Josh and I have been talking about going to Alaska since we met, and I can't wait until it actually happens. (even if I have to wait 20 years to be able to pay cash and not charge it on a credit card)
35. Josh and I have canceled our credit card and vowed to never use one again. We used it a couple years ago for a couple big purchases and we are STILL paying it off.
36. I only drink pop about once a year (and it's either orange pop or root beer)
37. I am a very picky eater and it is one thing that I really dislike about myself
38. I have never had a beer
39. But I have had many other alcoholic beverages ;-)
40. When I was a teenager I didn't want to ever be married or have children
41. That all changed when I started dating Josh
42. I think I like some of the kids shows more than my kids do (the Backyardigans and the penguins of Madagascar)
43. I do crosswords puzzles all the time because I once heard it can help prevent Alzheimer's
44. I have always wanted to go on Jeopardy
45. I will never actually try out though
46. I'm a Republican
47. I used to be a Democrat (before I grew up)
48. I can't stand it when people have really bad wigs. It takes all my power not to pull it off their heads
49. No one rides in my car without a seat belt. (Even Travis!)
50. It would not take much prodding to get me to just pick up and move away
51. I believe that I actually "saw the light" the night before Maria was born.
52. It was strangely peaceful and not scary at all.
53. I have a very good sense of smell
54. I have always wanted to learn the dance to Thriller. (and I am only reminded of it, now because of all the recent news coverage)
55. My dad wanted to name me Dawn.
56. Josh wanted to name Jackson, Mason
57. If Jack had been a girl, we would have named him Katherine (and called him Kate)
58. That is in no way related to the show Lost.
59. I HATE Jackson Pollick
60. I can only count on one hand the amount of times I've gone out in public with the kids where someone didn't come up and touch them.
61. I miss Maria's speech, physical and occupational therapists
62. I don't miss Maria going to therapy at all.
63. I hate nicknames
64. But we only call our own kids their real names about half the time
65. Gum gives me a stomach ache
66. I love swimming
67. I can't remember the last time I actually went swimming (I prefer not to make the people around me barf lol)
68. I couldn't care less about Michael Jackson dying
69. I can't stand when people say "I could care less" because that infers that you COULD care less....which means that you do care and it makes you sound stupid.
70. My Grandpa used to always give me werther's original candies
71. I still think of him every time I eat them
72. I have always wanted to win the lottery
73. I have never played the lottery
74. I am probably too sarcastic for my own good
75. I love getting blog comments :D

This is for you, Andrea

Andrea posted a blog yesterday about how before we have kids we always say "I will never do that" or "my kids will never do that". And this is soooo true. After having 3 babies in less than 4 years, I have learned that NOTHING is off limits. It's easy to look at another mother and think, you could do her job better, but until you've lived it yourself, you really need to keep your mouth shut on the subject of parenting (and while you're on a roll, all other subjects). Here is my list of things that I was absolutely positive would never happen with my family, but most definitely have happened.

• I will never let my kids throw a fit in public. this is easy to say when you don't have children. "Why can't they control that kid" used to be a phrase, Josh and I said, quite often. But I refuse to give in to my kids just because they whine and cry for something. So I would much rather everyone in the store/restaurant hear them throw a fit than let my kids know I'm a push-over. Now to be honest this has only ever happened once or twice, but the way I look at it, the rules apply wherever we are.


• My kids will never talk-back or say a "bad" word to me. As much as I wish, I was the only influence on my childrens vocabulary, it isn't true. They hear things on TV, at school, at the park...everywhere and occasionally they do say something you wish they hadn't...and usually you wish they hadn't said it in front of your family/friends/church/playgroup etc.


• I will never fight with my husband in front of the kids. We are definitely working on this one, but it is harder than you think. If Josh and I didn't fight in front of the kids...well we would never fight, which isn't healthy. Mostly we are working on the way we fight. We do think it is important to show the kids "healthy conflict resolution" so we are trying be positive influences in that way (didn't mean to sound like a shrink there, it just came out). But man, is it hard! No matter how much you try, you are destined to get into a screaming match at one point or another, we all do it.


• I will never miss a vaccination/Dr. appt. Ok, now this one is not on purpose. I'm not one of those nuts that refuses to vaccinate....I'm just lazy. LOL. I honestly am one of those people that forgets about appointments or doesn't go because it's raining/snowing/cloudy/sunny lol. Taking all three of them out to wait in a waiting room for 2 hours trying to keep them all happy, only to bring home three crying children, is not exactly my idea of a good time. So unless I have someone to watch the others, I generally have to remake a Dr.'s appt at least once before I actually go to it.


• My kids will be potty trained by age 2. Yeah...NO.


• I will never bribe my kids. This one goes along with the previous one. If it works for me to tell the kids that if they go in the potty they will get a piece of candy (only while they are potty training). Or to say that if they eat all of their dinner we can go to Grandma's house, I say, what's the harm.


• I will trust my Dr. implicitly. Until you've had a Dr. tell you to put your baby in her car seat backwards (as in, on her knees and belly), you may not understand this one. I have had so many fights with their doctors over stuff like that, I have learned to take their advice with a grain of salt. Sometimes mothers intuition is the best thing at the moment.


• I will never prop a bottle. OK this one is Kara's, but I agree. I used to think, "how hard is it to sit there and feed your baby", but by the second or third baby you are far too busy to feed every single feeding. Life happens and sometimes I have 500 things to do at one time, instead of the usual 50, so I don't feel too bad about it.

But the basic gist of it all is that, no matter how many "mistakes" I have made, I've ended up with 3 of the greatest kids on the planet. They listen when I tell them to do something (even if i need to say it a few times or raise my voice). They are polite and respectful and so kind it brings tears to my eyes sometimes. They play very well with others. They are so well-behaved, people actually can't believe it. I love taking them out and hearing everyone say "oh my gosh they were sooo good!". And to hear my parents (who have the highest standards) tell me that they are the most well-behaved kids, is the best compliment I can get. It's funny to see the girls when they are around bad kids, they just sit there and stare in amazement that their parents allow them to act like that. It makes me feel so good to know that THESE are my kids. These wonderful little people, are a product of my parenting "skills" (whether they be accidental or purposeful). I must be doing a decent job or they wouldn't be so amazing...right?