Sugar and Spice

STOP THIEF!

2008-01-31T06:56:00.000-05:00

Caught red handed! My sweet little 15 month old stole two candy bars from the grocery store yesterday. She was riding in the front of the shopping cart in the part that's made to look like a little car. Being only 15 months old, she thinks she is quite hot stuff riding in there I might add. At the check out line I noticed her grabbing at the candy bars, that are right at her level. I thought I removed them all from her little paws. BUT, as I was loading her into our car I noticed some treasure by her feet. Twix and Milky Way, not my favorites, I would have preferred a Kit Kat or maybe even a Snickers.
So yes, I let her eat some of them, she had to share with her big sister. She went through the trouble of stealing them she may as well enjoy them too.
Side note. This is not the first time my little lovies have stolen merchandise. It's just the first time I was able to catch it on camera. ;)

Priceless

2008-01-23T20:38:00.000-05:00

We're thinking that this should be next year's Christmas Card.
If you can't tell what it is, look closer. It's E playing with all of the poisonous cleaning chemicals under the kitchen sink. Not too mention there are enough crumbs on the kitchen floor that may warrant a visit from the Board of Health.

She got skills

2008-01-23T20:30:00.000-05:00

It's talent like this that makes a mother puff up with pride. L mastered the skill of crossing her eyes today. Isn't she clever? Looks like she should be taking the short bus to kindergarten from now on.

Look out Mary Lou!

2008-01-23T20:23:00.000-05:00

Here comes the next US Gold medalist. Miss Z had her Big Show at Gymnastics today. They call the kids in one at a time so they can show their skills off on the floor, beam and bars for all the parents. It was really cute. And then they got a gold medal at the end. This is actually Z's third time doing The Big Show, she's been going to gymnastics since she was about 20 months old. She really has developed strong little arms and can do a kick ass forward roll.
I didn't really get any great pics because I was also trying to wrangle my darling 15 month old at the same time that there were a dozen 3-5 year olds running about the gym floor in the show. That part was not fun.

Can I shamelessly brag for a minute?

2008-01-19T08:05:00.001-05:00

So when L is working at the kitchen table on some homework or something she does this a lot,
"Mom, how do you spell zebra?"
I'll answer her without really looking at her while I'm washing dishes or cooking dinner, "Z...E...B..R...A"
Okay, so sometimes Z is also at the table while L is doing this and so she'll mimic her sister and say , "Mom, how do you spell DINOSAUR?"
I'll answer her the same way I do L but I know that she is just righting down gibberish because she is only THREE.
Well to my complete and utter shock the other day she was asking me how to spell Ella and Zoey.
When I walked over to the kitchen table this is what I found.

Ummm, how did my three year old learn how to write her letters???

Grrrrrr!

2008-01-19T08:02:00.000-05:00

She's at that annoying stage. Where she can climb up onto everything. She spends hours climbing up onto the kitchen chairs and then of course right onto the kitchen table and giving me a heart attack when she then tumbles right off onto the hard floor. Seconds later she will wipe away her tears and climb right back up.
Look at that little devil with the poop eating grin on her face!

Catch up

2008-01-19T07:50:00.000-05:00

We had yet another snow day on Monday (that means no school to you southerners). We got a mere 10 inches of the white stuff. I think this brings us to a total of about 42 inches this year. Alright, I'm pulling that number out of my ass, but seriously, we've had oodles of snow this winter. OODLES!!!

I haven't blogged all week so let's catch up, shall we?

We took the girls to the Boston Children's Museum last weekend. They had fun, for the most part. Let me explain. L has two moods, either happy go lucky (which is about 90% of the time) or whiny and teary eyed. On this particular day she was the latter of her two moods.

Z on the other hand had a blast. She has no fear so she does really well in big, new, crowded places like a museum on a wintry Sunday afternoon.

E could care less about her surroundings. Just so long as she is set free from her stroller for a significant amount of time to get her energy out.

A new Combo

2008-01-12T20:14:00.000-05:00

It's mashed potatoes on one side and chocolate pudding on the other. Mmmm mmmm good! I think she may be on to something. Big giant box means many many many many many hours of play. This stupid box has been kicking around our house since early December. Today L and Z painted it with brushes, fingers and feet. I cut out a little hole for the window.
Needless to say they needed to soak in a hot tub for a while after this mess and I was forced to give the kitchen floor a Looooooong over due mopping.

Hellooooooo! Anyone still out there????

2008-01-07T20:38:00.000-05:00

Here I am Here I am!!!! Did you miss me? I bet..
I've got 5 million x mas pics that I have meant to post but really who cares anymore. Christmas has come and gone we don't need to ooh and ahh over my kids opening presents anymore.
I've really got nothing else for you. My life is boring, what can I say.
I've been contemplating, I mean SERIOUSLY, going back to work soon. It's overwhelming and terrifying and exciting all at the same time. So we'll see where that goes.
Anywho, I just wanted to pop in here and dust off the cobwebs. Hopefully I'll be back in full swing soon.
Sorry to bore you to tears.
Why are you even reading this? You might want to find a hobby or something.

Christmas, a few days early

2007-12-23T21:26:00.001-05:00

Z modeling her new hat and shirt. It doesn't take much to impress her.

It's hard work watching your kids get spoiled by their grandparents.

We went into the big city today to my parents place to celebrate Christmas with them. My parents did tone it down a bit this year but they still gave the kids just as much, if not MORE stuff, than Santa is bringing them. Must be nice to have money to burn.

2007-12-22T19:58:00.000-05:00

Doesn't she look like she is ready to kick someones ass?
She probably was, now that I think about it. Z was the one holding the camera, L probably did want to kick her ass.

Suck Balls

2007-12-22T19:46:00.000-05:00

My hubby can be so eloquent, so charming, when he is mad. Instead of screaming, swearing, punching walls when things have gone wrong, he simply mumbles this phrase, suck balls !!! Like the time he bought a brand new bathroom sink from Home Depot and as he was opening the trunk of the car in our driveway to take out the new sink it slipped right out of the box and shattered into a hundred small pieces on our driveway. He didn't scream or kick the car as I would have done. He just walked away and mumbled under his breath suck balls!!
Well on Friday afternoon as our hot water heater burst and spewed 90 gallons ( literally) of hot water all over our finished basement he was heard to say Suck balls over and over again through out the day. It still amazes me that neither of us lost it. Neither of us yelled or snapped at some innocent bystander. We just dealt with the shit that was handed to us. I simply followed his lead and remained calm. My first instinct was definitely something a little more dramatic but instead I just mumbled suck balls.

A Morning at Preschool

2007-12-22T19:42:00.000-05:00

Big Z had a Family Sing a Long at school the other morning. E and I went to represent our fam. You would think that it being Z's school and all I would get oodles of pics featuring Z, but alas, I did not. My freakin battery died about 5 minutes into the festivities. This is the best I got. That's Z in the red sweater sitting in front of the kid dressed like The Man in the Yellow Hat.

The Weekend

2007-12-18T07:01:00.000-05:00

A long weekend trapped indoors. How do you keep a baby occupied? Why the Sunday paper and nearly a full roll of toilet paper is the answer. She busied herself for nearly 40 minutes making this mess. If you look closely you can see little pieces of toilet paper mixed in with the news paper.
Playing with her big sister's leappad.

My Little Photographers

2007-12-18T06:57:00.000-05:00

Some pics that my girls took.
This one was by L.
By L also

This one was by Z. Pretty good for a three year old.

Snowbound

2007-12-17T08:38:00.001-05:00

No school today. We got about 10 inches on Thursday, yet L had school Friday morning. Then we got about five more inches yesterday and so today, no school. Go figure. It is an icy mess out there. Not the fun kind of fluffy snow that kids can play in. So stuck in the house we are. What to do, what to do. Oodles of laundry I suppose, that sounds like fun. Maybe make some fudge? Now that sounds like fun.

Side note, I spelled icey and spell check changed it to icy. Now either way it doesn't look quite right, does it? One of those weird words.

Fond Mommy Moments

2007-12-10T15:08:00.000-05:00

Don't you love it when you are snuggled up in a chair giving your baby a cup of warm milk to settle her down for a nap. She drinks about 6 ounces and then gets all cozy and drowsy on your lap. So you pick her up and give her a few pats and rubs on her back before you place her in her crib. BUT before you can place her in her crib she throws up oodles of putrid milk all over your hair, shoulder and leg. Miraculously, she does not get any nasty undigested warm milk on herself, just all over you. And yet somehow, even though she only drank six ounces, she managed to puke up 56 ounces. So now there is the distinct smell of rotten cheese in the air because as we all know, that is what hot puked up milk smells like.

Benefits of Being Number Three

2007-12-02T20:05:00.000-05:00

You know how with your first born, you never let them watch tv until they were two years old? You had much more energy and time to do quality things with the first born.
Then when number two was born it was a little different. You sat the second born in her bouncy seat next to her big sister in front of Dora as soon as she was able to hold her head up.
Well, then came baby number three. Not only has she been watching CSI since she was days old but she also gets to eat horrendous foods such as Gogurt at the ripe old age of 13 months old.
Her mother's intentions were good. She fed her rice and broccoli first so eating a little artificial coloring in the shade of electric blue isn't that bad.

Pomegranate Martinis

2007-11-28T20:21:00.000-05:00

Get your antioxidants and a buzz all at once. Fabulous!

It's that time of year

2007-11-25T21:22:00.001-05:00

The time for the yearly chaos and torture of attempting to take a good enough picture of all three of them for our Holiday cards. These are only two of the two dozen I took. They all pretty much sucked, but who really cares. I love the bottom pic of L and Z but of course you can only see Miss Uncooperative's head as she tumbled right off the chair as the camera snapped this shot.

Baby E going face first off the chair.

No, she didn't get hurt. In fact I think we laughed at her. But then again we're a horrid and malicious family.

A Little Glimpse of Old Man Winter

2007-11-25T21:19:00.001-05:00

This snow actually came nearly a week ago but I've just been too lazy, err, busy to post these.
I do love the first snow of the season. I actually love snow, I just hate the cold air that goes with it.

I don't know what to label this post so I won't give it a title

2007-11-25T21:15:00.000-05:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't know why I buy them toys. This is favorite thing to do. She takes the pitcher out of the cabinet and fills it with cans of cat food and then takes the cans out of the pitcher and then puts them back in and then takes them out and then, well you get the gist of it.
I think she threw in a few Weebles in this picture just for good measure.

Catching Flies

2007-11-25T21:13:00.000-05:00

Little Z is catching a fews ZZZZ'z, well actually it looks more like she's trying to catch some flies too.

Emotional Roller Coaster

2007-11-16T20:02:00.001-05:00

So I lost a friend today. Her name was Elizabeth. She was awesome. If you looked up witty in the dictionary you'd find her picture there. Go ahead and check, it's true.
I'm on a bit of a roller coaster now. I cried all day long. Now I feel fine. The giant glass of wine sitting before me may be the answer. Yes, I seek alcohol when sad, big whoop.
Elizabeth was my friend. BUT I wish we had become even better friends. She was just like me. Well, no, she wasn't just like me. I guess what I mean is I felt like me when I talked to her. Does that make any sense? No, not really. I guess I mean, there are very few people in life, whether you admit it or not, that you completely let your guard down when talking to. I took all my armor off when spending time with Elizabeth. I felt very comfortable with her. Now she's gone.
Don't feel bad for me. Feel bad for her husband and her two little girls. They are only 5 and not quite 3 years old. Feel bad for her husband when his two year old daughter keeps asking for her Mommy. Feel bad for him when he has to explain to nosey, yet well intentioned, strangers when they ask questions about the girls mommy. I think I shall call the girls gymnastics teacher (my girls go to the same place) and tell her what happened so I can save everyone a lot of uncomfortable embarrassment when the gymnastics teacher says something like "Hey girls! You've missed a few weeks of class. What happened? Where you sick?"
Crap, I'm just rambling nonsense now. I shall go and drink my sorrows away into my giant goblet of Chardonnay. Hopefully I will edit this tomorrow so I don't sound like a complete lunatic.

Almost

2007-11-14T16:25:00.000-05:00

Well he almost held up his word. Almost. So I had a little party with twelve of my friends and neighbors on Sunday night and we had a pot to pee in but had to use the kitchen sink to wash our hands. sigh....

My guests were scheduled to arrive at 7pm. He literally hung the door on the bathroom and was sucking up all of the saw dust from the hallway floor at 6:50. Needless to say what should have been a relaxing little gathering of friends was very stressful until at about 8:00 after I'd swallowed a glass or two of wine. By then my rage towards Hubby for stressing me out and nearly ruining my fun had been softened. He should be very grateful for alcohol and the warming effect it has on his wife.

What was he thinking??!!

2007-11-12T20:53:00.003-05:00

So Wednesday afternoon I come home from gymnastics with the three girlies to find this.

What the hell is that you say? That, well that pile of rubble would be my bathroom. The guest bathroom. The only bathroom on the main floor of my house. You know, the one all of my guests use!

So Hubby felt motivated and decided to rip it apart, sink, toilet, floor, walls etc etc etc. Now granted it was outdated and so damn ugly but for the love of God could his timing have been any worse!

Why was his timing so impeccable you ask? Well I'll tell you why. On Sunday, a mere four days from his bathroom hayday I had a party planned at my house! Nothing fancy or anything but still! I would like to be able to offer my guests a place to pee besides my kids bathroom upstairs that is filled with damp barbies and seventeen different toddler sized toothbrushes all over the sink and a Blues Clues potty seat on the toilet.

He swore up and down and inside out that he'd have the bathroom finished by Sunday. HE SWORE!

Pretty in Pink

2007-11-12T20:51:00.000-05:00

She kept this headband on for all of about 4 minutes. But damn it looked cute. It really accentuates her chubby cheeks. ;)

Germy Germerson

2007-11-12T20:45:00.001-05:00

Isn't she beautiful even when she's sick? Poor little L has been sick the entire long weekend. Sore throat, fever, cough, yuck. She has a major case of leryngytis, which frankly isn't such a bad thing.

CHEESE

2007-11-07T16:26:00.001-05:00

L took this pic of me and E today. She did a pretty good job, don't ya think?

AH HAH!

2007-11-07T16:20:00.001-05:00

Caught red handed! I had my suspicions all along but today I finally caught her in the act. I can't tell you how many times a day I find these framed pictures tipped over or strewn about the living room floor. I had thought maybe, just maybe it was a group of little homeless children breaking into my house to mess with my stuff but today I caught my youngest child on camera right in the midst of her shenanigans.
Can I just tell you how impressed I am that I spelled shenanigans right.

The Poor Neglected Middle Child

2007-11-07T16:15:00.001-05:00

Putzing around in the ice cold sand. Brrrrr

Filling the bird feeder. We've got a family of blue jays, cardinals and a whole boat load of other little feathered friends that patiently wait for their meals.

She is a puzzle pro. Dare I say, she is a genius when it comes to putting these things together.Yes, I said, A GENIUS!

I don't care what anyone says, the middle child does get totally screwed. It's true. So today I took some pics of me and Z while L was at school and baby E was sleeping. See, I do pay attention to her, sometimes.

Our front yard

2007-11-02T19:48:00.001-04:00

If nothing else, having kids is fun because it allows you to have really big, over the top, tacky holiday decorations on your lawn.

Her skin tone is starting to match that of her dress

2007-11-02T19:43:00.000-04:00

This is what one looks like that has had one to many pieces of candy. I'm truly amazed that she didn't puke.
Blech, mommy I think I'm going to be sick. BUT can I puleez have one more piece of candy! Just one more!!!!

Riffling through her sister's stash

2007-11-02T19:42:00.000-04:00

Finally, here we go a trick or treatin'

2007-11-02T19:37:00.000-04:00

Z started out wearing the typical cone shaped princess hat that came with her costume but she didn't much care for the elastic under her chin. So I suggested she go look in our dress up box for a tiara to wear. (It's not like we don't have a dozen of them.) She came back with pink bunny ears. L scoffed and said "Z , you can not wear those!!!!" But my sweet little Z shouted back "YES I CAN!"

Of course the bunny ears lasted for about 5 feet outside before she got sick of them and literally tossed them in our neighbors yard.

Next....

2007-11-02T19:35:00.000-04:00

Next up was the party at L and Z's gymnastics class. I didn't get any good pics of L or Z because they run around like little maniacs in their. So here is Miss E dressed as Minnie Mouse for you to ooh and aahh over.

Soooo Many Halloween Pics

2007-11-02T19:26:00.000-04:00

We had so many Halloween events to attend on Wednesday that I just don't know where to begin.
How about at the beginning? Shall we...
L's kindergarten had a parade around the parking lot. It was quite cute to see all the little kindergartners in their costumes. The parents were invited to come by at 11:00 to watch the parade and then we joined them all inside the school's function room to see the kids sing a few creepy Halloween songs.
It's times like those that I am envious of the moms that don't have any other children to wrangle while they are trying to take pics of their kindergartner. I did my very best to look as though I was completely relaxed and focused on L but really I was trying to keep E from escaping down the hall and ripping everything off of the bulletin boards while also trying to hold Z up so she could see the kids singing their songs. I was actually sweating profusely.

My Kids Don't Know How Lucky They Are

2007-10-28T13:03:00.000-04:00

Most kids don't get to play around on fire engines when ever they damn well please.

I'd have a big smile on my face too if someone gave me a doughnut that was as big as my head.

You'll Never Guess Where I Went Last Night

2007-10-27T09:19:00.000-04:00

You want to guess? Go ahead, you'll never get it. Ready for this? I was at a Tupperware party!!!!! They actually still have those things! I thought they went out with disco. Of course I felt obligated to buy something but really it was just a great excuse to get together at my neighbors house with a bunch of ladies and well, um, drink.
We were there until close to midnight drinking Cosmos and yap yap yapping. Tupperware, shmupperware, who cares! It was just a good excuse to get out with out the kids or husbands tagging along.
Unfortunately hubby is at work for 24 hours and I'm alone with three kids on a rainy day and a wee bit of a hang over.

That's New England for You

2007-10-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

On Monday L wore shorts and short sleeves to school. Today we were bundled up in our fleece jackets and mittens (even a hat for baby E) as we stood at the bus stop. I finally turned the heat on in the house. I guess winter is coming after all. Suck.

The Fine Art of "Licking the Beater"

2007-10-26T09:55:00.000-04:00

Look at all the fun that poor little L misses out on when she's at school.

My Kids Are GASP Average!!!!

2007-10-15T20:39:00.000-04:00

Both Z and E had their yearly check ups today. Z weighs in at an astounding 31.5 lbs and 37.5 inches. Baby E hit the charts at 22.12 lbs and well, crap I don't even remember how many inches she was.
Then the "chart" came out. I was shown on the chart where each of them measured. They both were exactly at the 50th percentile.
You can only imagine my horror to hear the words that two of my beloved children are AVERAGE!!!!!
I don't know how I'm expected to sleep tonight with this new knowledge. I guess I have no choice but to drink myself into a puddle.

Ain't they cute!?

2007-10-11T10:53:00.001-04:00

Besides my own three love bugs, these are my two favorite girls. The older one is my 15 year old niece J and she's holding her 3 month old baby sister B. Technically J is my "step" niece but we don't like to use that ugly "s" word.

Some more pics from last weekends dual b'day party

2007-10-11T10:46:00.000-04:00

Grampy helping baby E ride her rocking unicorn. Miss Z LOVES Elmo and this shirt from Grammy not only has Elmo on it but it also has Z's name! Huge hit!

Showing off her walking skills. And her fat rolls.

I clearly do not have a future as a cake decorator.

Miss Z is a BIG FAN of those crazy Aussies.

Here's my brand new One Year Old!

2007-10-11T10:39:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was baby E's first birthday! I don't know how that happened. How did she go from being that adorable tiny little black haired infant to this walking, babbling chubby little brunette. Unfortunately for Miss E she is sick as a dog. She has a double ear infection and some other strange virus that is causing a rash on her bottom and cold sores in her mouth. She has been miserable and not able to sleep for several days now. Poor baby.
I think maybe last night she was trying to recreate what it would be like to have a newborn. She went to bed at 8 and woke up at 11, again at 12 and then fell back asleep at 2 am. She then woke up at 4:30am and then again at 6 am and then finally for the last time she got up at 7am. Did I mention she was screaming bloody murder for the two hours between midnight and 2 am? Clearly she's having a lot of ear pain. And clearly Mommy needs to drink 24 ounces of coffee today.

Birthday Party Today!

2007-10-06T18:01:00.001-04:00

We celebrated E's first birthday and Z's third birthday today. We had our families over for lasagna, salad, garlic bread, two cakes and ice cream. The girls had a great time. Even L made out like a bandit with several "unbirthday" presents from her grandparents and aunt.

My Brand New Three Year Old

2007-10-05T17:50:00.000-04:00

Here's my little cool cat riding her new princess scooter that she got from me and Daddy-o.

Causing Trouble

2007-10-03T19:39:00.000-04:00

Check out the drool hanging off of her chin. Blech! Happily playing with the Little People Farm. That is, until the damn thing "Mooooed" at her. It scared the crap out of her. She did one of those cries where she doesn't breath for what seems like an entire minute while she turned purple and then just finally screamed and couldn't get away from that scary freakin farm fast enough.

This disaster all occurred within about 60 seconds. I was standing all of about 3 feet away from her cooking dinner and not watching what she was doing. She dumped out all the crap from the bottom two shelves and that brown stuff all over the floor is cat food. She picked up a bag of over priced Science Diet "Mature" cat food from the bottom and spilled it everywhere. She then proceeded to eat a few handfuls of it. It's pretty high in fiber. Maybe I should try some.

Backyard visitors

2007-10-03T19:38:00.001-04:00

Those are deer in case you can't tell. Hubby took the pic and he is pretty much the WORSE photographer EVER.

That Al Gore fella may be on to something

2007-09-27T16:09:00.000-04:00

This past week we had two days of ninety degree weather and today it's up in the eighties. That's a wee bit unusual for these here northern parts. I had to dig through the girls recently packed away summer clothes to find something for them to wear. We turned the AC on again yesterday. This is crazy.
That Al Gore guy may just be on to something after all. ;)

Houston, we have lift off!

2007-09-25T09:58:00.000-04:00

Miss E has started walking. Much to my dismay, I might add. When I told Hubby that I felt sad that my baby was growing up and learning to walk he replied, " We could always have another one."
What the hell is wrong with that man. Honestly, he is a moron. ;)

I'd post a pic of E showing off her new skill but Hubby took my camera to work today. Figures...

Stupid God Damn Frogs

2007-09-21T21:04:00.000-04:00

These two freakin cheapo plastic frogs have caused so much mayhem in our house. I took the pic with a quarter for scale. They are tiny. Cheap. Useless plastic frogs. L and Z got them from the dentist the other day. After you get your teeth cleaned you can choose two prizes from the buckets of crap that the dentist has available. Usually it's stickers, pencils, cheap plastic rings and such. This week it was plastic freakin frogs. L and Z have had more screaming fights over who touched who's frog than they have ever had in all the three years of their lives as sisters. And of course because these things are about 3 centimeters long we have also had SEVERAL hysterical crying episodes because Z lost yellow froggie in her bed. Well of course she lost the stupid damn frog in her bed! It's the size of a nickel and she insists on sleeping with it in her bed!!! I have had to pull apart all of her blankets and sheets shaking everything out looking for the damn yellow frog after each of her naps this week.
When my mom asked Z yesterday what she would like for her upcoming birthday she replied, " I want a pink frog like my yellow frog."
Are you fucking kidding me????!!!!
Cinderella herself could come strolling into our house tomorrow and L and Z would hardly look up at her if they were busy playing with their stupid ass frogs.
If you'll notice, yellow frog (which belongs to Z) is missing it's nose. It surely was ingested by her at some point.

Pics from last weekend

2007-09-21T16:23:00.000-04:00

We spent last weekend here http://www.storylandnh.com/ . This was our third year going there. It's kind of like a miniature version of Disney World made just for babies to second graders. We spent part of Saturday at the park and then the ENTIRE day on Sunday. It is only about a three hour drive to get home, but with three little kids it often turns into something more like a five hour drive. I don't need to go into the details of bathroom breaks, pulling over because someone fell asleep and peed all over their car seat, pulling over to eat at Burger King and the same someone peed her pants in the restaurant etc etc etc.

Picture Perfect

2007-09-17T18:05:00.000-04:00

Don't be fooled. Looks can be deceiving. We may look like the picture perfect family. But in reality we're like the freakin Osbornes.
Z needed to bring in a family picture to preschool for a project they are doing. I scrolled through my 7 million pics and failed to find a single one of the five of us. So this past weekend our major goal was to get a pic of the five of us for Z to bring to preschool.

Poor Kid

2007-09-13T09:45:00.000-04:00

There should be a bubble above E's head that says "This is my life. I get schlepped around all day long. Whoas me." Today is Z's first full day of preschool. When I say "full" I'm referring to an entire 2.5 hours. Hmmph, that's hardly enough time for me to get a mani and a pedi, a massage, and drink some mimosas.
Not too mention I've got that other little one to care for. But she's napping. She probably wouldn't notice if I left for a while.

Suck!

2007-09-12T19:59:00.000-04:00

You see this stuff in the pic below? It's called Moon Sand. I bought it at Walmart. It's supposed to be sticky sand that you can mold and reuse over and over and it won't dry out like playdough does.
IT'S A FUCKING NIGHTMARE!!!!
I may as well have brought in a bucket of sandbox sand and dumped it out on my kitchen table. It got all over the place. It's in every crack of that booster seat, all over the table, and floor. Down my kids sleeves, in their pants and all their little cracks and crevices. It stuck to the kids hands and arms and therefor it traveled all through out the house. I even found traces of it on Z's dinner plate mixed in with the rice she didn't eat.

What has become of me??

2007-09-11T19:28:00.000-04:00

I ran out of laundry detergent today. I didn't know what to do with myself all day. I usually do at least two loads of laundry a day. Today I was lost. What has become of me??? Five years ago (pre mommy days) I would have written something more like this: I ran out of wine today. We didn't even have any beer in the house. I was forced to open up the horrendous bottle of White Zinfandel that my mother in law brought over last Christmas that has been sitting in the back of the fridge ever since. I think I'd rather drink the cooking wine. What am I going to do with myself all day......

Flashback

2007-09-11T11:01:00.000-04:00

This is L on her first day of preschool two years ago. She's standing in the same spot that Z is standing in the post below. L looks younger than Z does but she is actually a few months older than Z in that pic. L would have been 3 yrs 2 months and Z is 2 yrs 11 months.

Sick of pics of my kids yet?

2007-09-11T10:55:00.000-04:00

Here is Miss Z on her first day of preschool today. It was orientation day so it was only an hour and the parents stayed the whole time. Z said to me on the ride over "Mommy you can leave. I'll be okay by myself."

My kindergartner and my preschooler heading out the door this morning.

Is my hair sticking up?

2007-09-06T15:37:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I wish I could just put them in the trampoline and lock it shut so they had to just jump and jump and jump until they had completely exhausted themselves.

I'm baaaaaaack!

2007-09-06T15:26:00.001-04:00

After a lovely summer hiatus it is time again for me to start boring you to tears with non stop chatter and pics of my lovely little girls. Let us start with L's first day of kindergarten pics, shall we...

Is it so wrong that my favorite part of the day is naptime? I count the hours to it and feel such relief when it finally arrives. What does that say about me as a mom????

Just cause she's cute and getting sooooooo grown up looking!!!

Future members of the U.S. Women's Gymnastics Team. Can I just tell you that Z is a wayyyy better gymnast than her big sis!!! I think it's because Z has a petite compact little body and L is kind of tall and leggy. They are taking a class together which is waaay cute to watch.

My Little Gymnast

2007-06-29T09:10:00.001-04:00

Big Z had her last day of Little Gym. She recieved her gold medal and showed off all of her amazing talents. (Do you detect my sarcasm?)

2007-06-10T07:57:00.000-04:00

I was feeling brave on Friday so I took the three amigos on an outing. They were incredibly well behaved. So much that I may be brave enough, or dumb enough, to take them again.

www.davisfarmland.com

Showing off her new skill

2007-06-10T07:55:00.001-04:00

The little bugger is pulling up on everything all of a sudden. I push her down every chance I get. I'm not ready for this stuff yet.

Last day as a preschooler

2007-06-08T08:28:00.001-04:00

Miss L is no longer a preschooler. This was her last day. Sniff sniff...

We had her kindergarten orientation the other day. Holy crap! I can NOT believe she is going to kindergarten in just a few months.

Soooo big

2007-06-08T08:24:00.000-04:00

You know your baby isn't a tiny teeny little baby anymore when her pajamas are normal two piece pajamas without a thousand snaps. A thousand snaps that you can never line up quite right on the first try.

Learn from my mistake

2007-06-08T08:07:00.000-04:00

Tonight's entree consisted of shake and bake chicken, peas and couscous. Notice who is NOT eating.

Miss L won't even eat her dinner with a big glop of her favorite condiment, that horrendous red stuff.

When you're child is a baby/toddler DO NOT feed them what ever they want. Refuse to make just "kids meals". You know what I mean, chicken nuggets or spaghetti with no sauce for the kid while you and hubby dine on salmon or some other normal grown up food. I did this with L when she was younger and believe me I am paying for it now. She refuses most foods, won't try new ones, and would rather starve then eat what the rest of us eat for dinner.

Now when Z was younger I just gave her whatever I was eating and now she'll eat just about anything, with in reason. It makes meal time sooo much easier.

It's quite miraculous that L is growing as tall as she is considering she survives on chicken, chicken and chicken.

The face of an angel?

2007-05-31T18:18:00.000-04:00

See how adorable, beautiful, sweet and happy she looks? I remind myself, and her too for that matter, every night that she is lucky she's so damn cute. I tell her she's lucky she's not one of those ugly kids because I could never be so forgiving of her behavior if she didn't look the way she did.
How can a child with a face like that have such a shrill, piercing scream? She screams in such a manner that it actually makes my skin crawl. She screams when she's mad, when she's frustrated, when she's hungry, when she's tired, and just about any other time of day she feels the need. She also bites, pushes and pinches her baby sister on a regular basis.
She is hard headed (not unlike her mother). She knows what she wants, when she wants it, how she wants it and god damn you better get it to her pronto. She is every bit a two year old and then some. My mantra these days is "it's just a phase, it's just a phase. And at least she's really cute."

The Littlest One

2007-05-28T22:41:00.000-04:00

You know that sideways snarling look a dog will give you if you get too close to it while it's eating? Well that's kind of the look E was giving me here. Like she would bite my hand right off if I got too close to her mashed potatoes. I bathed her tonight after she ate these and yet at bedtime her forhead still had the distinct smell of garlic.

I just think this is cute. She's looking over at Z and laughing at her oh so amusing big sis.

Her Highness

2007-05-28T22:39:00.000-04:00

Do you think it's normal for a two year old to eat, I mean,to demand, a three course meal for breakfast? Here she has a bagel, cut up for her majesty, scrambled eggs and cheerios. She ate about 1/3 of each thing. She is the boss of me, I won't deny it.

Apparently I wasn't the only one hung over this morning

2007-05-28T22:37:00.000-04:00

Doesn't L look like she tossed back a few too many Cosmos last night?

The Weekend

2007-05-28T22:11:00.000-04:00

We went to our friend's wedding on Saturday. Hubby was in the wedding party and I had a reading to do for the ceremony. Surprisingly I wasn't really very nervous. A few months ago when the bride- to- be first asked me if I would do a reading at the wedding I got that familiar panicky insecure feeling that I had in the sixth grade when I had to do an oral report. I guess I really am a grown up now. It didn't even phase me to stand up in front of the crowd.

Anywho, the wedding was great. We had a lot of fun and it was hard to go home at the end of the night. I know how very very lucky I am to have my three beautiful baby girls but sometimes it's so hard to leave the party and come back to reality.

Notice in the pics you can tell in the bottom one, of me and the bride, that I'm still completely sober. In the one with Hubby, a few hours have past, and I have a big dopey smile on my face that clearly states "Hey, I'm buzzed!"

Here's what is on my agenda for today

2007-05-22T09:14:00.000-04:00

It's 9:15am and Ella is STILL asleep! NO, she did not sleep through the night but she is still asleep from the night, does that make any sense? L and Z also both slept until past 7:30! If it weren't for the worlds loudest garbage truck picking up our trash at 7 am I would have slept that late too. I just can't win.
Anywho, today we are heading down to see Hubby for a lunch time picnic at the playground. After that I will promptly drop off all three of my little lovely princesses at MIL's house and I will go off gallivanting on my own. I have a list of things I SHOULD do but we'll see if I use my time wisely and get anything done at all. I SHOULD go the the mall and buy some shoes for a wedding I'm going to this weekend, and maybe get an outfit for the rehearsal dinner and get a mani and a pedi. I've got my priorities in order don't I?

Where have I been?? Busy I guess...

2007-05-20T08:13:00.000-04:00

I just want you to note that it is mid May and Z is wearing fleece footie pj's. I had to turn the heat back on a few days ago. Why do I live here????
E and Z both smooshed into E's little tiny blow up tub.

The little stinker is CRAWLING already. Crap, have to put those damn baby gates back up I suppose.

A Poop Story

2007-04-28T10:02:00.000-04:00

This is only for the moms to read. No one else will appreciate it. Actually, I'm pretty sure only moms read this blog anyway.

So, notice how happy E looks in the above pic? Well right after I took that pic I picked her up and noticed her back was wet. I should mention she hadn't pooped in five days. You see where this is going?

So I picked her up, noticed her back was wet and I just thought it was pee. I put her on the changing table and proceeded to take off her pants and her diaper and YIKESSS!!! There was poop EVERYWHERE!!! Literally from her feet up to her hairline on the back of her neck. And it wasn't that innocent watery breastmilk poop, it was more like the consistency of peanut butter. Come to think of it, it was the same color as peanut butter too. Unfortunately it didn't smell like peanut butter. So I suppose this means that some of the baby food actually does get into her tummy and not just all over her face, on hair and clothes and me.

So back to the poop. It's all over her and her clothes and now it's all over the changing table and I've already used about a dozen wipes and so I call to L and ask her to bring me a plastic bag. We keep the plastic grocery store bags in the cabinet just for throwing out poopy diapers. Here's my conversation with L.

me "Honey, can you get me a plastic bag for E's poopy diaper?"

L " Okay mom."

A minute passes and she doesn't bring me the bag. I have poop on my hands and E has managed to kick her little feet into the poop smeared changing table.

me "L, can you bring me the bag please?"

L, "Uh huh."

me "Bring me the bag now please."

L, "Uh huh, just let me finish coloring this picture first."

me "L I need it right now. Finish your picture after.
L sighs "Okay okay"

I'm still waiting and trying not to touch anything with my pooped upon hands.

L "Mommy, do you want a brown bag or a white one"

me " I don't care."

L "Hmmm, how about a brown one from the grocery store?"

me "That's fine. Just bring it in here."

L "Oooh, how about this white Target bag?"

Good God. She finally brought me the bag, the white Target one if you were wondering. I ended up throwing away the clothes E had been wearing and giving her an emergency bath. This all occurred before 7:15 am.

Days later and I swear I can still smell the poop.

A day in my life

2007-04-15T10:19:00.000-04:00

Several of us have done this for our mommy board. I'm too lazy to make it into a slide show so just click to view it as slide show. Enjoy my boring life.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Lindseysmum/a%20day%20in%20the%20life/

A New Easter Tradition

2007-04-06T21:13:00.000-04:00

I tried to color Easter eggs with L and Z today. I haven't done that since I was about 10 years old. All was going well until one of the eggs cracked and Zoey realized there was FOOD inside the eggs. She then began smashing the already colored eggs on the table and peeling the shells off to eat the hard boiled eggs. She's her father's daughter, not one to waste food. ;)

Are ya kiddin' me??

2007-04-05T14:20:00.000-04:00

This is what I woke up to this morning. For the love of God it's April 5th, cut the crap, no more snow!!!!

Reading herself a bedtime story

2007-04-05T14:04:00.000-04:00

Soups On!

2007-03-31T09:50:00.000-04:00

Baby E's first taste of baby food. She doesn't seem to be impressed.

Spring Thaw

2007-03-31T09:32:00.000-04:00

Baby E getting a breath of fresh air.

L is sooo happy to be outside. She is wearing what I refer to as her "Elton John" sunglasses.

Z playing in the slush.

It's finally beginning to warm up around here. The girls and I are able to play outside and boy what a difference that makes in our day. You people who live in warmer climates have no idea how looooooong the winter can be when you are trapped inside with your kids.

But I have to admit, even though I'm glad we can go outside I don't like the spring. It's by far my least favorite of the seasons. Everything is all wet and muddy, the grass is all flat and gray and dead. You never know quite how to dress because it could be 40 degrees in the morning but 70 degrees by noon time. And forget about going out to buy some spring clothes because all the stores have out are shorts and bathing suits. And part of my dislike for spring may be psychosomatic . Since two of my little lovies were born in the fall I have been early into pregnancy in the spring twice and I was puking my guts out both times. So with the spring comes the memory of feeling pukey and tired and so I often feel yucky. You know how certain smells remind you of something? Well the sound of robins chirping and mud on the ground reminds me of throwing up.

Happy spring. ;)

Miss Ella

2007-03-24T10:31:00.000-04:00

Look who's sitting up! Well, sort of, after a few minutes she begins to fold in half. ;)

She's so damn cute.

News From Miss Ella

2007-03-21T16:44:00.000-04:00

Little Miss Smarty Pants learned how to roll over from her back to her belly last week. Now she just needs to figure out how to roll from belly to back. When you're a full figured gal, as E is, the whole rolling thing isn't so easy. When she gets stuck on her belly and is struggling to roll to her back it's kind of like watching a beached whale.
The little hot shot also got her first tooth yesterday. Well, not a full tooth, more like a little itty bitty piece.
She's growing up too quickly. I want her to just slooooow down and be an itty bitty baby for a long time.

Precious

2007-03-20T12:43:00.001-04:00

I'm sitting upstairs and I can hear L down in the kitchen having a conversation with her 86 year old great grandmother. They are coloring together and chatting away. L has no idea how fortunate she is to have her Great Grammy still around and sharp as a tack.

Is that what I smell like?

2007-03-20T12:35:00.000-04:00

You know how every one's house has it's own scent? You know like when you walk into a friends house it smells different than your own? Whether it's a combination of the laundry detergent they use, the foods they cook, the pets they have, whatever the reason, it's their scent. But you can never smell your own house's scent UNLESS you go away for like a week and then come back home and you're like"Wow, does my house always smell like cat litter and Lysol?" Well yesterday I was out for a few hours and when I got home I walked in my door and was nearly knocked over by the odor of maple syrup and poop. I think the maple smell was from the maple flavored bacon that we had with breakfast on Saturday so I'm pretty sure my house doesn't usually smell like maple. BUT the poop smell, well that's clearly from my toddler and my infant. And since they poop every day, all day, it's now clear to me that my house always smells like poop and I've been blissfully ignorant to the fact.

Compliments from a four year old

2007-03-17T12:01:00.000-04:00

I was getting out of the shower today and L was sitting in my room. I was naked, as one usually is when they shower. No biggie, we're kind of a naked family. L looks at me and says " Mommy, your boobs are droopy."
Thanks. Like I needed a reminder that without a bra my boobs reach down to my belly button. If I'm not careful I may actually tuck them into my pants.

2007-03-16T17:13:00.000-04:00

OMG! Could I suck any more!? I've been the crappiest blogger for the past few months. I swear I have nothing to even report. My life is dull. E is five months old now. She weighs nearly 17 pounds, she laughs out loud at her sisters a lot and sleeps like crap. Z is still having a bit of a tough time adjusting to her baby sister. She pinches her or pokes her in the eyes at least once a day and makes poor little E cry. I guess Z just can't resist the temptation. Z tends to be clingy, needy and overall high maintenance and screams when she doesn't get what she wants. I guess she's just really a text book two year old. This too shall pass, right???? L is great. Her usual good natured self. She loves preschool, her ballet class, and she currently has about 77 My Little Ponies all over the house.
Hubby in all honesty is unhappy with me because I'm simply not giving him enough, ahem, loving. I know he's right and I do feel bad about neglecting him but I'm just sooooo tired and just not in the mood very often. I wish guys could just understand that we women can still love them dearly, more than they could ever know, but just not be in the mood for weeks at a time. Sigh, it's the never ending lack of understanding between the sexes.
See, I told you I had nothing to report.

Break my heart why don't ya

2007-02-26T16:25:00.000-05:00

Today L very matter of factly stated "I love Daddy better than you." What she meant was I love Daddy more than I love you. I very calmly said "Why?" She replied, "He plays better games and I like his voice better." She then snuck a look at me to see my response. I was quiet for a few minutes and then I kissed her head and said "Even when you say things that make me feel sad I still love you more than anything in the world."
I know she's only four. And this isn't the first time she's made such a comment but it still killed me. I really had to concentrate on not crying. I can't wait until she's fifteen and actually hates me.

Random bunch of pics

2007-02-25T20:16:00.000-05:00

I've done something terrible to my little baby girl. You see she had lost most of her hair in the back and around the sides leaving her with this mop of hair on top that resembled a bad toupee. So I decided to trim the front so it wouldn't be hanging in her eyes and thin out the top a bit. It's like the scissors had a mind of their own. I couldn't stop them.This first pic is from this morning the second is from after the massacre. She looks like the guy from the Three Stooges. Do you think she'll ever forgive me?

Miss Z needs her bangs cut, I know. But I'm trying to grow them out. And well, we've all seen what happens when I get a pair of scissors in my hands.

Just cause she's cute. No, I don't normally dress my kids in red and gold taffeta. She's wearing a princess dress, of course.

Now those are what I call CANKLES.

Do you think she was warm enough?

A couple quick updates full of useless information for you

2007-02-20T20:13:00.000-05:00

Ella is loosing her hair. I don't mean just the little bits that all newborns loose. I mean her blankets and hats look like a cat rolled around on them shedding massive amounts of fur.

Our neighbors who keep their Christmas decorations up far too long took them down this week.

I'm sick of eating popsicles. What are you talking about? Is that what you are wondering? I have had a terrible soar throat for days so I've been sucking on lots of popsicles.
I ate an entire box of Valentines day candy by myself. I didn't even feel sick afterwards.

Zoey is doing fabulous in her big girl bed. She stays in it for naps and bedtime. No problems at all. What a relief.
Ella missed her four month check up because we had a snow storm the day of her appointment. We'll have to wait a few more weeks to find out how much Miss Chubs weighs.

I'm going to be an aunt. SIL is having a baby girl in June. I'm VERY excited!

My brother, who currently works in S. Korea, was supposed to come home for good in May. BUT he's decided to try to extend his contract for at least another year. That sucks.

Here's some irresponsible parenting for ya

2007-02-20T20:09:00.000-05:00

Hubby was going to do our taxes last night. We've used Turbo Tax for several years and it's always been super easy for us to get done. Well he's upstairs on the computer for all of five minutes when he hits a road block. He can't find Ella's social security card. Of course we have no idea what her number is and we can't find the damn thing anywhere. To get a new one takes several weeks at best. What a pain in the ass.

I think my baby needs to start wearing a bra for extra support

2007-02-03T17:37:00.000-05:00

2007-02-01T13:40:00.000-05:00

Okay, I don't want to jinx myself or anything, but I put Z down for her nap about 20 minutes ago and she never got out of bed. I can still hear her yapping away to herself in there but she's still in her bed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yesterday she napped on the floor of her room right in front of the door. Sounds comfy.

Yet another update

2007-01-29T20:02:00.000-05:00

Clearly this big girl bed thing aint going so well considering Z is sitting right next to me right now chattering away and trying to press the keyboard buttons when I put her to bed over an hour ago. Oh yeah, she didn't nap today either because I couldn't get her to stay in bed.
I either need Super Nanny or some duct tape.

Big Girl Bed Update

2007-01-28T22:07:00.000-05:00

So night two (sat night) was much better than night one. It only took about 30 minutes to get her settled down and into bed. Today at naptime it took all of 15 minutes to get her settled. But tonight at bedtime, well, not so good. Hubby is not home so I was trying to keep Zoey in her bed while Ella screamed in my arms and Lindsey laughed the whole time.
Sigh, now I'm drinking wine.

2007-01-28T15:08:00.000-05:00

Miss Z swinging on the bars at Little Gym and some annoying kid that tried to get in the picture. She had her last Little Gym class of the session on Friday and she got a gold medal. She was VERY proud.

How cute is she? These pics don't do her justice. She has the most beautiful dark chocolate colored hair and navy blue eyes. I'm so in love.

Me and the biggest sister and the littlest sister. The in between sister was napping.

*Notice I did not call her the "middle child". ;)

Thank God for Netflix

2007-01-28T15:03:00.000-05:00

Due to some ingenious planning on my part, I had a few kid's movies arrive in the mail just in time for the weekend. Hubby is at work for his 24 hour shift and it's really cold out so the perfect day to pop the kids in front of the boob tube. They are eating popcorn and drinking juice boxes, so they've pretty much died and gone to heaven. They are currently quiet as mice watching Brother Bear. Baby E is sleeping right next to them in her swing and I'm sitting on my ass happy as a lark that no one needs me right now.
If you look closely you can see even the cat is hanging with the girls.

Trying Again

2007-01-27T14:19:00.000-05:00

You may remember back in August we tried moving Z into a big girl bed. Well that didn't go over so well.We moved her back to her crib after two ridiculous nights. But as of last night she's in her big girl bed for good. It took about an hour last night to get her to actually stay in her bed and go to sleep. I expected that much. Now today at nap time she was up and out of her bed 18 billion times. So I finally stopped going back in her room and instead I stood outside her door and held it shut each time she tried to open it. She didn't know I was doing that, she probably just thought she couldn't get it open. I heard her running around in there and so I took a peak and she was taking all the books from the bookcase and piling them on her bed and looking at them. Then she found L's Leapster and sat on her bed playing with it. Eventually she laid her head down and continued playing with it. Now she's asleep with the Leapster on her chest and 84,9624 books piled in her bed with her.
I wouldn't call it a smashing success but it's definitely a success in my book. I've found as a mom, that as long as I keep my expectations low, I'm nearly always satisfied.

No, that last comment wasn't meant to be funny, I'm dead serious.

Useless Parent Info

2007-01-23T16:51:00.000-05:00

You know what kid's show I actually like? The Upside Down Show on Noggin. The two guys on it are actually funny. I don't mind watching it. They kind of crack me up. L loves it, but the humor is a bit over Z's head.
This is what it's come to. I'm enjoying Noggin and writing about it. Good God.

Does anyone know why???

2007-01-20T11:11:00.000-05:00

Can someone please tell me why ALL little kids MUST pick their noses and then stick that same finger in their mouth?????? Why, why why why why does this happen? Was there some kid back at the beginning of time that tried this and since then every kid has mimicked him? I mean, the picking of the nose is one thing, but the placing of the snotty finger into the mouth just takes it to a whole new level. Does it actually taste good? Should I try it and find out? Maybe boogies actually taste like chocolate cake and I've been missing out on it all these years.
Let me tell you, if you're reading this and thinking "ooh gross, my kids don't do that." Oh believe me, they will, it's only a matter of time.

Sugar and Spice

STOP THIEF!

Priceless

She got skills

Look out Mary Lou!

Can I shamelessly brag for a minute?

Grrrrrr!

Catch up

A new Combo

Hellooooooo! Anyone still out there????

Christmas, a few days early

Suck Balls

A Morning at Preschool

The Weekend

My Little Photographers

Snowbound

Fond Mommy Moments

Benefits of Being Number Three

Pomegranate Martinis

It's that time of year

A Little Glimpse of Old Man Winter

I don't know what to label this post so I won't give it a title

Catching Flies

Emotional Roller Coaster

Almost

What was he thinking??!!

Pretty in Pink

Germy Germerson

CHEESE

AH HAH!

The Poor Neglected Middle Child

Our front yard

Her skin tone is starting to match that of her dress

Riffling through her sister's stash

Finally, here we go a trick or treatin'

Next....

Soooo Many Halloween Pics

My Kids Don't Know How Lucky They Are

You'll Never Guess Where I Went Last Night

That's New England for You

The Fine Art of "Licking the Beater"

My Kids Are *GASP* Average!!!!

Ain't they cute!?

Some more pics from last weekends dual b'day party

Here's my brand new One Year Old!

Birthday Party Today!

My Brand New Three Year Old

Causing Trouble

Backyard visitors

That Al Gore fella may be on to something

Houston, we have lift off!

Stupid God Damn Frogs

Pics from last weekend

Picture Perfect

Poor Kid

Suck!

What has become of me??

Flashback

Sick of pics of my kids yet?

Is my hair sticking up?

I'm baaaaaaack!

My Little Gymnast

Showing off her new skill

Last day as a preschooler

Soooo big

Learn from my mistake

The face of an angel?

The Littlest One

Her Highness

Apparently I wasn't the only one hung over this morning

The Weekend

Here's what is on my agenda for today

Where have I been?? Busy I guess...

A Poop Story

A day in my life

A New Easter Tradition

Are ya kiddin' me??

Reading herself a bedtime story

Soups On!

Spring Thaw

My Kids Are GASP Average!!!!