Random

I just overheard the following coming from one of Lila's school friends while playing make-believe outside:

"We miss our daughter. [fake crying] She died like Darth Vader. [more fake crying]"

Other fantastic things said by 3-year-olds today:

Lila: "I love you, Mother."
Me: "I love you, too, Daughter."
Lila: "You are my most special Valentine ever."

...and...

Lila: "All my little kitties are called Meshacks."

I love 3-year-olds.

Another Giveaway

I found a giveaway for a $150 shopping spree at kidscoats.com. They have the cutest boutique coats and jackets for boys and girls (many more for the girls than the boys, of course)!

Go to Extraordinary Mothers for more information and to enter!

Doug Update

I figure it's about time for me to give an update on Doug and his job transition. In case you missed it, he left Dell in December, after nearly 12 years. He'd been contemplating a job change for some time when Dell announced that they were offering a very generous Voluntary Separation Package. What's that? You'll pay me to go and do something that I'd already been considering doing for free. Okay!

So he left Dell and entered the world of Lots of Free Time. The first month that he was off was like a big vacation. Par-tay! After Christmas, we started to grate on each other's nerves pretty severely. We've settled into a good routine now, though, and are both enjoying the rare opportunity. Doug disappears in the morning to some location with wireless Internet access, while the kids and I do school or go to the gym. He might or might not be around for lunch, depending on his schedule. Then he comes home and the afternoons are either spent together as a family or I flee the children for a little while. Nice.

During this time, we've still had the part-time Community Leader job at Gateway that we used to share. Since Doug has had so much more time and motivation, he's taken it over completely. I'm pretty sure he's doing a better job at it than I ever did, but I'm choosing not to notice. We've also had income from the renters in our old house, but they, theoretically, moved out at the end of February and we are thinking it might be time to sell that house anyway. It has, as expected, increased in value quite a bit in the past 1.5 years.

Now, the things that are on the horizon... there are a lot, but nothing is firm, so I'm going to be vague. There are a couple of in-town positions that Doug is considering, as well as one that is out-of-town. He's also been working on proposals for several contract jobs with various companies and is looking into a job doing financial planning for people. I really don't know what the end result of all this will be. Could be that he'll take a full-time position right away. Or he might do contract work for a year or so, until a full-time position that really sounds interesting comes along. Or he might do some combination of jobs.

Initially, I was freaked out by the uncertainty of contract work, but then I realized that I trust Doug and, more importantly, I trust God. So now I'm not worried. Just waiting to see what comes next in our adventure.

Coffee

I don't remember whether I've mentioned this before or not, but I recently gave myself over to a coffee habit. I now drink a double cup of coffee every morning after breakfast. I read somewhere that a moderate amount of coffee was actually good for your heart, which seemed like a sufficient excuse to start drinking it. I've always had a somewhat romanticized view of coffee-drinking, probably because all my grandparents did/do it. Of course, half of them also smoked and I didn't have any sort of inclination to take up a cigarette habit...

Anyway, I like coffee. And now I drink coffee. This week, I determined that I only want my coffee to taste like coffee. I bought some cinnamon and something-or-other flavored blend, mostly because it was the only non-decaf blend that was on sale at the grocery store. (in case you didn't know, i'm obsessed with buying things on sale. i won't go into that now though. it is an obsession that deserves a post all its own.)

So I brewed a serving of this flavored coffee and decided after the first sip that I didn't like it and would be making another trip to the store as soon as possible. I waited a few minutes and then went ahead and took a second sip, just in case it improved after the initial shock. Nope. I pushed the cup over to Doug and went back to my water. With every flavored coffee I've ever tasted, the flavoring just tasted like chemicals to me. No different with this one. So, from now on, I will be getting only coffee flavored coffee.

My favorite is very dark French Roast and I drink it, not completely black, but with only 1/4 tsp each of sugar and creamer. I guess I like my coffee to wake me up by reaching out of the cup and slapping me. What I also find fascinating is the effect that my coffee habit has had on my night time cravings. I usually start craving caffeine at night, particularly when I haven't had a soda with dinner. Pre-coffee, this craving was always for Dr. Pepper. Now it's a craving for coffee.

Don't get me wrong, I still love me some D.P., but what I crave at night is coffee. It only took me giving in to that craving one time to realize that coffee has a lot more caffeine than soda, however. I drank a cup at 9:30 p.m. and didn't get to sleep until 1 a.m. Oops. Now, when I start to crave caffeine at night, I just go to bed. If I stay awake, then I'll keep wandering blindly into the kitchen and snacking. (we don't keep soda in the house anymore.)

Mother

Since Lila was a baby, she has called me Mommy. I couldn't see her calling me that forever, but it's the name I decided to start with. Sometime in the past year, she started alternating between Mommy and Mom. That is totally fine with me. I kind of like being called Mom. In fact, with both kids, whenever we'd talk for them, we'd have them referring to us as Mom and Dad. It just happened that way. I think that Lila's adoption of Mom came from hearing us talk for Eli and having him refer to me that way.

The odd thing is that, sometime in the past week, she has started calling me Mother. I have no idea where she came up with that and I find it unexpectedly disconcerting to be referred to in such a way. Especially by my 3-year-old. Picture this: Yesterday, as we were getting into the car at the gym, Lila turned to me and said,

"What are subways like, Mother?"

How random is that?!? I quickly recovered from my confusion (and the urge to laugh) and answered her question. For once, she was satisfied with my answer and just went on with her business as though it were perfectly normal for us to have had such a conversation. Strange child.

Kids are Awesome

The best thing that Lila asked all day: "Does God have a wand?"

Now that I've probably lost half my readers...

Yes, I am finally sitting down to type out a real post. I can't believe how long it's been since I did this! The problem, I think, is an increase in emails to read and the introduction of other distractions into my life. I'm thinking of making blogging a part of my morning routine. Wake up - Wii Body Test - Breakfast - Coffee - Blog. The only problem with that plan is that the creative part of my brain typically does not wake up until sometime after lunch. We'll see how it goes.

And now I'm sitting here, staring at the screen because I don't know what to write. . . . Oh! I could tell you about Lila's new gymnastics class! She finished up her swim classes in mid-January and I was planning to get her started in gymnastics at the beginning of February. However, due to my extreme procrastinator tendencies, it didn't happen until last week.

At any rate, she is now taking a weekly gymnastics class and loving it! I have some photos from her first class that I'll post soon. (don't expect too much - they were taken through a window) She looks super cute in her little leotard, with her hair in a ponytail. I was afraid she'd get into the first class and not want to do anything, but she jumped right in (literally)! They've spent the first two weeks working on "cartwheels" and yesterday they even got to walk across the balance beam! So fun!

Rain-X Car Care Kit Giveaway

Check out Meghan's Mindless Mutterings and enter to with a Rain-X Car Care Kit!

Giveaway

Check out this RC Airplane giveaway:
http://mommosttraveled.com/flying-model-aircraft-with-children/

Looks way fun!

This website has a bunch of cool stuff too: https://www.modelaircraft.org

9 Months Old

Eli was nine months old yesterday and we went to the pediatrician for a check-up. She wants us to take him to a specialist to be evaluated for a possible speech delay, but I'm really not worried about it. I mean, we'll take him and have him evaluated, but I'm just not worried. And here are his latest stats...

Weight: 18 lbs 13 oz (20th %ile)
Height: 26.5 in (4th %ile)
Head Circumference: 46 cm (70th %ile)

Movie Review

I went out for a late-night movie last night and saw, appropriately enough, 'Friday the 13th'. My review in four words: Don't waste your time. Rating: F-

I mean, I wasn't expecting anything amazing. This is Friday the 13th, Part 73, after all. But there was nothing remotely original about the plot. Several hedonistic young people go out into the woods and die horrible bloody deaths. Just like Parts 1 through 72. The sex was borderline pornographic. The language was foul. The horrible bloody deaths were... horrible and bloody. (that, at least, i expected.) The only redeeming quality was Jared Padaleki whom I have a soft spot for. He was also the only non-idiot in the movie.

All the Tens

Lila just said something so random and funny that it almost made me cry. Doug and I were discussing a weekly park day on Friday and I mentioned that it starts at 10:30 or 11 a.m. when Lila piped in with,

"Yeah! It starts at 11, and then it's 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and all the 10s get tornge."

I... umm... what?!?

It was all I could do to look her in the eye, with a straight face, and try to clarify this statement. She did, in fact, say 'tornge', though I have no idea what that means.

Confused

I'm sitting in the living room right now, listening to Eli cry. He woke up about 15 minutes ago and is refusing to go back to sleep. I'm guessing that I'll wait about four more minutes and then try feeding him. Hopefully that will settle him down and he'll sleep. I'm glad I decided to stay up late tonight because if I had gone to bed at the same time as Doug, then I would have been awakened after only 30 minutes of sleep. That is far more painful than not getting to go to sleep in the first place.

I'm feeling rather confused this evening over a big decision that I just had to make. I started reading a book recently called 'Just Courage' by Gary Haugen (i think that's the author's name - the book is in the room with my sleeping husband). [pause while i follow through on plans to feed baby and put him back to bed. seems to have been a success.] Anyway, this book is about following God's call to fight against injustice in the world.

I chose this book to read almost at random, but it has turned out to be quite challenging. In fact, it's the first thing I've read in a long time that challenged me to the point of making me uncomfortable. It started me really thinking about how comfortable I am in my little 'Christian cul-de-sac' and got me thinking about mission trips more seriously than I have before. Just after this seed was planted in my heart, I heard about a mission trip that my brother-in-law, Keith, is leading to Uganda in May.

Well, Eli has woken back up and started crying again, so I'll make this the short version. First I was excited about it and willing to do whatever I needed to make the trip work. I talked to Doug and he was generally on board. I got more details and it looked a little more daunting, but after some discussions it seemed like it still might be a good fit. I prayed and thought about the decision a lot and was feeling pretty confident that this was the direction God was leading.

I got Doug's input on the idea again and then suddenly (though not because of anything he said, i don't think) started getting very upset at the thought of leaving my kids - especially the baby - for so long (the trip is 2.5 weeks). I then went through a brief but intense internal battle where I felt like God was leading clearly in one direction, but my emotions were trying to take me in another. After more prayer and wrestling, and a couple of helpful conversations with other moms, I started to have some peace and excitement over the idea again.

And now it has basically fallen through due to logistical difficulties. If I had an extra month to research and plan before I made a final decision, then I might be able to do it, but there's just not enough time. So, what was that all about? Was it a test of willingness? I am happy to say that, though there was some resistance, God did find a heart that is willing to follow wherever He leads. Was this preparation for another, upcoming opportunity?

It is confusing for obvious reasons and leaves me feeling slightly insecure because I feel like I fought this major spiritual battle against my flesh and overcame it by the power of God... but for nothing. Now I know that's not true because nothing is for nothing. But I can't see clearly what it was for. Hmm... I think I'm starting to talk in circles now. And Eli is still crying, so I'd better go. Just thought I'd take the time to finally post something real. :)

I keep thinking of all these wonderful things that I'd like to post about, but I've been buried under a mountain of email for a week. I'm mostly posting this photo to let you all know that I'm still here. Don't give up on me! :oI~

even princesses have to pick their nose sometimes...

...but do they have to do it with gloves on? in the middle of a birthday party? while people are taking photos?

Very Mysterious

Lila totally freaked me out the other day. We were on our way out the door, headed to Double Dave's for peproni rolls. Doug had already taken Eli out to the car, I was gathering some last-minute item from the kitchen, and Lila was getting a jacket from her room.

Then Lila says, "Mom!" -- (she calls me 'mom' now) -- "I found something mysterious! Behind my closet."

I was, first, amused by the fact that she was using the word 'mysterious' and, second, intrigued by what she might have found in her closet. Doug had taken a piece of furniture out of there to fix it, so there was no telling what might have been under it. Anyway, I come into the kids' room and Lila is standing a few feet from the closet, sort of leaned forward and staring into it.

"Mom... Do you see it? [she's pointing into the back of the closet]... It's very mysterious... Look..."

This is the point at which I started getting a little freaked out because I didn't see anything. Was there some insect that she saw, but I didn't? I was looking very closely where she was pointing as she continued.

"Do you see it?... It's teeny tiny... It's a little tiny baby guinea pig!"

Oh. All this was about an imaginary animal. Whew! I thought one of us was crazy! Well... arguably, we both are. What inspired this sudden mysterious discovery in the closet, I don't know, but the guinea pig joined us at dinner and has "shown up" now and again since then. We found out later in the evening that it's a BLUE guinea pig.

I'm glad we have someone to keep us on our toes.

Sooo Tired

We have been going non-stop all day long and I am so tired. [see photo] We had school all morning, lunch at Chick-fil-A, a marathon photo session at the mall, then dinner at Chuy's. Now Eli is crying in bed, Lila just got out of the bath, Doug is sick, and I think I might fall over. All that being said, I don't have time for a full update, but I wanted to post something.

A New Clarity

Something amazing happened to me at the gym today. I was laboring away on the elliptical machine and people-watching when I suddenly saw the people I'd been looking at. And what I saw amazed me! They were beautiful. All of them! They were youthful, wrinkled, overweight, lean and toned, energetic, careworn... and breathtaking.

True, there were still a handful of people that I had a hard time finding the beauty in. I was making assumptions about their character based on characteristics they shared with people I'd known in my past. The woman whose posture told me that she was emotionally withdrawn, even from those closest to her. The man whose eyes told me that he was a talker, the constant flow of words a habit developed over a lifetime to keep at bay the questions and thoughts that were lurking in moments of silence. The young lady whose apparent conviction that everyone was watching her bespoke a heart that had not yet learned to put others before itself.

But I forced myself to put aside those judgements and keep looking until I saw the beauty underneath. And it was there, in every person I saw.

Directly in front of me, there was a mother and daughter working out together on a pair of stationary bikes. The daughter was wearing a diamond engagement ring, which I gathered, based on the way she flashed it for her mother, was a recent addition. I was caught off guard by how their beauties were reflected, not only in their own faces, but in each other's face as well. Beauty multiplied by being near a loved one.

How long will this clarity last? How soon will I absentmindedly slip those lenses back on and start looking at people through the filter of my own past and biases again? Well, truth be told, it's happened already. (i'm remembering my thoughts as i watched someone approaching the door of my neighbor's house.)

I will pray most earnestly, however, that I may see the people around me as God does more and more often, until it is a part of who I am.

There are moments in my day -- when my daughter says something that takes me by surprise and makes me laugh; when I pick up my son and he buries his head in my neck -- which leave me certain that I am the most wealthy woman I know.

3 going on 30

My daughter said to me, a little while ago, "I need to understand myself so I can figure out how to go to sleep at night without back pats."

Wow. I knew she was a lot like me, but that's just unnerving!

By the way, this photo is not very impressive as a small image, but if you click on it to enlarge, it's quite cute. This is when the girls were 'ice skating' around the living room. Actually, this was taken right after Lila discovered that the bags would fly off if she kicked her feet!

Kids

I love this photo of Eli. He is sitting in the floor, watching the preschool girls 'skate' around the living room with paper bags on their feet. We frequently do things during school that make him question what kind of nuthouse-- er... family he's been born into. You should have seen the way he looked at us when we were flapping around in circles and making turkey noises!

I've come up with a few of analogies for what it is like to walk with/behind a 3-year-old. Maybe they aren't all this way, but mine is.

First, when you are walking behind one and want to get around them. It's like being stuck behind someone who's driving 10 mph below the speed limit and swerving in and out of their lane. Every time you think about passing them, they swerve right into your path.

Second, when walking with one... anywhere. They are like a drunk snail. Again, with the slowness and swerving. Don't even get me started on how easily they get side-tracked by everything in sight!

Third, when you, for example, are at a fast-food restaurant and you get up to grab more napkins and when you turn around to come back to the table they have started to follow you and are drunkenly weaving their way toward you, directly in your path. OR they've come up behind you quietly and you turn around and step on them/knock them over. This one is a video game analogy. If you've ever played a game where you are the main character and you have a secondary character who follows you around and is good for virtually nothing - this is the 3-year-old. The secondary character who follows you like they are attached with a bungee cord and only manage to wander into your path so that you are back to the first analogy.

There are definitely times when these tendencies are maddening, but overall, I find them highly amusing!

potty talk

Lila and I were just having a discussion about going potty. I was telling her how great it is that she's just been going potty when she needs to lately. She used to tell us she needed to go or just stand around doing the potty dance until we asked her. For the past few days, however, she's been going in there and taking care of business all by herself.

Anyway, she was sitting on the potty seat that goes on the big potty and she was talking about how one of her school friends can sit on the big potty all by herself. Lila recently discovered that she can also do this, which I pointed out to her. I said she could use the big potty or the potty seat, whichever she wants. She then said...

"Big potty... Potty seat... Big potty... Potty seat... Big potty... Potty seat... So many chances!" [i believe she meant 'choices']

Too funny!

P.S. - I do realize this is not a photo of Lila. It's actually a picture of Eli, sitting in the floor at Grammie and Papa Joe's, watching 'Wall-E'. And speaking of Eli...

He has decided to out-do his sister by beginning communications even earlier than she did. If you don't remember, Lila started speaking at 8 months of age. (Her first words were, "Hi Lila!") Well, Eli has started at 7.5 months, BUT... He must also do things a little differently because he is his own man, after all. He has learned to do the ASL sign for 'all done'.

We weren't sure, at first, that he was actually signing, but over the past 24 hours it has become quite apparent that he knows exactly what he's doing. He's signed 'all done' at least twice at the end of a meal, once when the doctor and I were holding his head still so she could look in his ears, and again just a little while ago when I was invading his personal space with lots of kisses on the cheeks. So cute!

The way he does it is exceptionally funny and adorable, so I'll be trying to get it on camera in the next day or two. We'll see if he cooperates. :)

Kiddies and Kitties

While we were in Houston, someone had the idea to take all the granddaughters to the movies one day. After some discussion, we realized that it would not work due to attention spans, energy levels, and competing naptimes. Instead, we popped some popcorn and everyone (except me - i escaped for a little while) settled in to watch 'Wall-E' at home. This photo shows Hope, Cole, Kuncle Keith, Olivia, and Lila. Oh, and Papa Joe's left shoulder.

I took Charlie to the vet this afternoon to check out his runny eyes. They said he's got pink eye, picked up who-knows-where, and gave me some ointment to put in it twice daily. What's more interesting, to me at least, is that Charlie is much more relaxed at the vet when Cordy is not there with him.

I always take them together because it's more convenient to make one trip rather than two. And Charlie usually hunkers down on the exam table, hides his head in my armpit, and growls while Cordy explores the room, rolls around on the floor, and generally flirts with anything that breathes. This time he didn't hide his head or growl and even tolerated having his eyes messed with.

When they spent the night at the clinic a couple of weeks ago, the staff tried putting the two of them in the same cage overnight and they freaked out on each other! Cordy got all hissy and spitty and Charlie was hiding in a corner, trying to escape her wrath. They had to put them back in separate suites to calm everyone down. I guess I'll start taking them in separately in the future.

Kick! Kick! Kick!

I'm kicking myself (very hard) in the tush right now. When we were in Houston, we saw an ad for the Wii Fit for only $90 at Target. That is an amazing deal! We were going to stop on the way home from church to try and pick one up. For some reason, I was feeling hesitant on the purchase, so I suggested that we wait. By this evening, I had decided that it really was a good idea (especially since we have gift money to use), but it's too late!

I called five different Target stores in our area and all are sold out. Maybe we would not have been able to get one even by the time we left church yesterday because they are THAT popular this year, but now we'll never know. And I would feel a lot better about missing out even though we got there as soon as we could than I do about missing out because I hesitated! Oh well. Let it go, Angela. Let it go...

We had a great Christmas in Houston with the Peelers and took about 150 photos, most of which you will probably never see. (much like i never got around to posting pictures from halloween.) The one you see here is Eli playing with Lila's favorite gift - a stuffed dog that she named Sparky. Eli's favorite gift, hands down, is his 'jump jump'. Maybe I'll finally take the time to post a little video on here so that you can see him in action. It's hilarious!

Difficulties of Life

Lila just started crying and said that Charlie had scratched her. Since I know that his aggression is rarely unprovoked, I asked her why he scratched her. That's a little more diplomatic than asking what she did to him. Anyway, she said, "I was trying to be kind to him, but I couldn't. I just wanted to be rude." Just to clarify, I asked her if that meant she was being rude to him and she said yes.

She tried to be kind but couldn't because she wanted to be rude.

That, my Love, is what we call 'battling the sin nature'. And it never ends.

The Day's Adventures

Lila and I had a fun little date today. We went to a free screening of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas at the Alamo Drafthouse (South Lamar)! They even had a live jug band play before the show. Lila's favorite part of the experience was getting to eat (she ordered a corn dog and ate only the corn, not the dog). Her least favorite part was the dark theater. It really wasn't that dark, but I think it was the pre-show anxiety about just how dark it would be that she didn't like.

I also put a big nasty scratch on our mini-van while we were out. I'm usually overly cautious about the boundaries of my vehicle because I just don't have a good sense of them. This time I thought I had room and it turned out I didn't. I scraped the back driver's side against the corner of a dumpster! Ugh. And then I got us into such a tight spot in this miniature parking lot that I couldn't get out!

I was seriously wondering if I'd have to just sit there until someone came and left in one of the cars I was stuck between, when I was saved by a homeless man. There was a guy who seemed to live in that parking lot, right by the dumpsters, and he helped me maneuver my way out. I was so thankful because he really rescued me! I gave him the leftover half of my pizza from the movie and then picked up some cash to give him while we were shopping.

I always wish I could do more though... like bring him home with me and give him a fresh start... I think maybe I have a dream for our future of starting some sort of home/program for homeless, to help those who really want to change and get their life back. Anyway, I digress. Doug is sitting just a few feet away, reading books to Lila, and it's hard to concentrate.

My head and neck hurt and I feel kind of ill. I'm going to do 10 minutes of yoga and see how I feel afterward. If I feel better, then you'll see another post from me this evening. If not...

Stretchy Jesus

Lila has spent most of the past 24 hours playing by herself. We brought out a Peanuts Christmas play set - it has all the characters with moveable arms, etc. and props. This morning, she incorporated Baby Jesus, a large rubber frog, and Cinderella into the crew. The funniest part is that the part of Baby Jesus is being played by Nearly-Headless Stretchy Man, a little yellow smiley face guy with only one arm (and the obvious attributes of being stretchy and having a nearly decapitated head). We've been referring to him as Stretchy Jesus.

Just a little while ago, Lila was playing with some of the characters and sang the following song:

"You have to be brave when you're sad.
You have to be brave when you're happy too.
You have to be when you're in the stroller.
You might be too big for it."

Boy, I crack me up!

I was attacked by the toilet paper dispenser in a public restroom today. It was one of those large plastic ones that has two big rolls of paper side-by-side. I pulled down on the paper, then pulled up to tear it off and the thing fell open and whacked me in the head! The best part, I think, was imagining the woman in the next stall, who had no idea what was going on. From her perspective, I just suddenly went "WOAH!" and then started laughing. These kinds of things never happen when there's someone around to witness it!

Ooh! I take that back. There was a witness for the falling-on-my-butt-the-day-before-giving-birth incident!... Wait - WHAT?!? I didn't record that one for posterity? I guess I was a bit preoccupied by the fact that I was going to have a baby in less than 24 hours. Well, the short version is that I woke up to the sound of Charlie scratching the carpet. I got up, grabbed the squirt bottle, and went running after him, squirting away. He ran into the living room and I followed, still squirting.

Here's a tip: Do not squirt water onto wood floors and then run across them. Especially not when you are nine months pregnant! I stepped on some water, my foot slipped out from under me and I landed on my bootie/back. Once again, the perspective of the other guy was even better!

Doug was standing in the kitchen when he suddenly hears the sound of a running cat and a thundering pregnant woman. He looks up to see his wife, who he thought was asleep, come running into the room and then disappear, with arms and legs flailing. The poor guy came running into the room, asking if I was okay, but I couldn't stop laughing long enough to answer him. Once he determined that I was, in fact, okay, he said something along the lines of, "What the heck were you thinking?!?"

Oh yeah. That one still cracks me up. I laughed until I cried just while typing this out! I occasionally ask Doug, "What would you have to laugh about if you weren't married to me?" or, alternately, "Imagine how boring your life would be without me!"

Stuff

It seems like at least yesterday that I wrote that last post. Was it really just late this morning?!?

Doug has put our Christmas tree up and it's got lights and a skirt, but no ornaments so far. To be honest, I like the way trees look with just lights and no ornaments. Especially when 85% of your ornaments are Peanuts characters. Cute, but not classy. (Sorry, Irene. I know that's a traitorous statement.)

We went to Rudy's BBQ for lunch today and rediscovered a fabulous baby toy: butcher paper! I had completely forgotten, but we used to go there occasionally when Lila was a baby and she loved playing with that stuff. We'd just tear off a piece of paper for her and she'd let us eat our dinner in peace. Eli felt the same way about it. In fact, we had a bit of a hard time keeping him from stealing the paper out from under nearby diners' food.

I got a haircut this week, in case I haven't mentioned it, and I love it! It's cute and easy and I actually feel like a girl again. I'll have to update my little profile photo now. Especially since I haven't had that orange hair for about... a year and a half!

Lila Castro

Grammie and Uncle Bill (Grammie's brother/Doug's uncle) are visiting right now and Lila has turned into the Evil Dictator that she always does when grandparents are around. She's got a bossy streak in her anyway, but it gets 10 times worse with the grandmothers. We insist that she speak kindly and politely to us, so maybe she just goes nuts when she gets around someone who doesn't. I don't know, but it's frustrating (and a bit embarrassing)!

Oops! And now Eli is waking up and needs to eat. Rotten timing! I'll try to post more later...

Nyeao

My daughter is incredibly articulate. She has a tiny voice, but uses it clearly and distinctly... Most of the time. The child seems entirely unwilling to say 'YES' and 'NO'. Both words come out sounding the same. The following is a frequently recurring conversation:

Us: [Some question requiring a yes or no answer, such as,] "Do you want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?"
Lila: "Nyeao."
Us: "Was that 'Yes' or 'No'?"
Lila: "Nyeao."
Us: "Yes?"
Lila: "NO!"
Us: [gently prompting] "No, thank you?"
Lila: [grudgingly] "No, thank you."

She gets very irritated when we ask her to repeat herself, but we have not been able to convince her that she would not need to repeat herself if she'd just respond to questions with 'Yes, please.' or 'No, thank you.'

There are two other times when we can't understand her. The first is when she's using her tiny voice from the back seat of the car. The other is when she's talking with one of those confounded pacifiers in her mouth. (which only happens just before and after bedtime, i feel the need to explain.) I'll complain about those another time though. Right now I need to go give my sweet girl some goodnight kisses and hugs.

Eli's Latest Stats

From his 6 month check-up on 11/20/08...

Weight: 16 lbs 13 oz (45th %ile)
Height: 25 inches (10th %ile)
Head Circumference: 44.1 cm (55th %ile)

As of yesterday, when we went in to have his ears checked, he had gained another pound! Must be all that baby food he's been packin' away.

Warning: Potty Talk

So, Lila went to the bathroom this morning and made a poopie. When she was done, she wanted to look at it, as always. She was so proud of her poopie that she wanted me to look at it next. She then enthusiastically proclaimed, "It's biiig and strooong and looong!" I did question how so much poop could come out of such a small person...

Tonight Lila is trying out 'sleep panties' for the first time. She's been daytime potty trained for some time now and rarely has an accident anymore. She also consistently wakes up with a very dry diaper, so I figured it's time to take the next step. We borrowed these panties from a friend and she was excited about them until the first time she tried them on. She says they are too poofy and does not want to wear them.

They are plasticy on the outside and padded on the inside. So if she does have an accident, they will feel wet, but hopefully not get the bed too messy. We just had a long conversation about them and why it's a good idea. We even prayed that God would help her be brave as she wears the new panties. I think that, if we can get past this first night or two, she'll be fine with them. We'll see...

Today was Doug's last day of work at Dell. He had to turn in his badge and his computer and sign things. As a parting gift, they gave him a cheap plastic pen. Oh yes, they are also giving him a very generous separation package. Doug is now officially unemployed!

Psalm 150

Psalm 150

Praise the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

Update

Lila, Eli, and I went to a rescue ranch yesterday with some other friends and their kids. We chose this particular place because they have one male turkey [see photo] and I wanted Lila to see one. She claims that seeing the "big ol' turkey" was her favorite part, but I disagree. She was completely infatuated with the baby guinea pigs they had and spent a long time picking each one up and talking to them.

Eli, who I haven't mentioned much lately, is doing wonderfully. He gets really excited before bed and that's the best time to get chuckles out of him. His neck and ribs are ticklish, of course, and nibbling an ear is often a good way to make him laugh too. The funny part is that, for me at least, he seems to be ticklish only on his right ear, not his left.

Oh, and let me not forget our real news. Doug is leaving Dell!!! They recently offered up a Voluntary Separation Package to those who were interested and we were. After much discussion and prayer, we decided to go for it and they accepted Doug's request. His last day is December 2nd and, truly, only God knows what will happen after that. Whatever happens, I believe it will be very exciting!

Ho hum

I don't know why, but I always have a hard time with Wednesdays. Maybe it's because I know that I won't have Doug's help for most of the evening on that day. Or maybe it's because it's the middle of the week, so I'm starting to get worn out, but it's not really close to the weekend yet. Maybe it's the alignment of Venus, our neighbor's car, and my top left molar...

I am shamelessly hiding behind my computer right now (well, in front of it, technically) while Doug deals with both children and gets dinner started. I will go relieve him of at least one child and help with dinner in a moment, but because it's Wednesday, I'm feeling more than a little petulant and need a few moments to myself.

Okay, now Eli's crying and it's just wrong for me not to be helping. Gotta go.

The World of Lila (and a bit about me) (and a bit about Eli)

My daughter totally just taunted me. She was in the bathtub, clean and playing. I had a timer set to remind me to get her out in 7 minutes. In the meantime, I was at my computer, trying to read something. In the background, she starts yelling at me from halfway across the house, "HEY!... Mommy!... Come here!" It was very difficult to concentrate with this going on in the background, but I wanted to finish what I was reading!

I started hollering back, in response, "Just a minute.... Just a minute!... Just a minute!"

She finally replied, "Come here, Just-a-Minute Girl!"

I kid you not, those were her exact words. She also, a few nights ago, said the following to Doug: "I don't like the fact that you're doing your email." Those exact words. She frightens me sometimes.

Anyway... I was sick on Friday and Saturday, but I'm feeling mostly fine now. I'm still doing a lot of throat clearing and a little bit of coughing and my voice has, over the course of the day, gone from somewhat raspy to cutting in and out like a cell phone with bad reception. I feel fine though!

Eli has a double ear infection that turned him into a raving lunatic for the last half of last week, but he's feeling better too. He still sounds like a piglet because his nose is all congested, but he's sleeping much better and not crying inconsolably until I develop a twitch anymore. He's still on antibiotics, but back to his smiley self.

Whatever!

Lila just got a fun dessert - Birthday Cake ice cream. She wasn't sure if she wanted that or some of my chocolate, so Doug showed her both. When he told her there was cake, and icing, and sprinkles all in the ice cream, AND that it would turn her tongue blue, she got pretty excited.

She started cackling madly and slapping her knees, and said, "What-eee-ver!"

The photo I put in my last post is stressing my mother out, so I'm giving her a new one to fixate on... :)

Precocious Children

Lila and I had the following conversation on Monday morning.

Lila (who was feeling very contrary): I don't like having school. It's not fun.

Me: You don't like having school?!? What do you not like about it?

Lila: When my school friends come... [mumble mumble]

Me: You don't like it when your school friends come? You always seem excited when they get here. Why don't you like it when they come?

Lila: I don't like the shape of their car.

The things that go on in her head leave me speechless at times. Of course, Doug says the same thing about me...

I love my son ever so much, but he is driving me completely bonkers today. When I put him down for his last nap, he screamed for 45 minutes before he fell asleep. I feel quite traumatized by the experience. I'm sure he'll wake up and flirt with me as though nothing happened. Good thing his flirty little smiles have the power to wipe my memory clean!

Zzzzzzz....

I was going to type out a real update to go with this photo, but that was two hours ago. Then I got distracted by my husband and children and now I'm having a hard time staying awake. I have a strong desire to go to bed right now. I'm also having difficulty speaking in complete and grammatically correct sentences because I've already gotten into the habit of making little mini-updates on Twitter.

I was just fixing a couple of snacks for Lila and I to eat on the way to the library. I was pulling grapes off the stems and getting ready to rinse them when Lila walked into the room and said, "No I don't like grapes, remember?"

"Excuse me? Since when?!?" I replied.

"Two hours ago."

Awesome.

Politics

If you are getting sick of inane Election Result Chatter, then just look at this cute Baby and go to the Happy Place.

I don't WANNA come up with a title!

My plan for tomorrow is as follows: Vote in the morning. Avoid all media outlets until the day is over because I JUST DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! I'm not going to share my opinions on the presidential race or who I'm going to vote for because there's enough of that going around lately. Also, my head hurts and I'm a bit grumpy.

I found a new addictive habit today. Twitter. I really don't need another reason to be drawn to my computer like a metal shaving to a magnet. I need to renew my habit of turning the monitor off when I'm not sitting down and doing something. That way I'm much less likely to be sucked in as I pass through the room.

Yeah - my head really hurts. Every noise seems amplified and grating. I told Doug I have a hangover - too many kids today. The time change has thrown everything out of whack. The children used to lose their minds precisely at 5 p.m. For the past couple of days it's happened at 4 p.m. That means that instead of dealing with two maniacs for a little while until Doug got home, I was dealing with them for what seemed a very long time until Doug got home.

Now I'm getting a wonderfully relaxing massage from my wonderfully wonderful husband, so I'm going to go.

So, Lila just told me she wanted some lunch and I was in the midst of being the Mommy Monster and "eating" Eli's cheeks to make him laugh. I asked her if she'd like some Eli for lunch and she said, "No." I told her that I was going to have some and started munching his cheeks again. She said, "No! We don't eat Eli." I asked her why not and she said,

"He just has germs on him. From your belly. That's why."

Stuff

I'm very tired this evening and I don't know that I have anything very interesting to say. Or maybe I do have interesting things to say, but not the energy or brain functioning to type them out. At the moment, I'm waiting for the last of our small group friends to leave so that I can come out of my room. I'm not able to participate in the discussions these days because of Eli's bedtime.

I could go out and mingle now that the discussion is over and Eli's asleep, but, due to the aforementioned lack of energy and brain functioning, I really don't want to.

I went to my second meeting of Smoothing the Way last night. That's a support group/training course for new homeschoolers. We talked about learning modalities, learning styles, and love languages. It was right up my alley because I love any label that can help me better understand myself and those around me. (don't worry though - i don't use them as little boxes to stick people in and then file them away.) I'm still trying to decide whether I'm a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic/tactile learner...

Articulate

I was just fixing a snack for myself (a pear - yuck - why do i force myself to eat healthy things?) and Lila was insisting that I was not cutting it up for myself, but for her. I finally relented and told her that I was, in fact, cutting it up for myself, but that I'd share it with her. I asked her to go get her bowl from the couch (where it had been left after an earlier snack).

She held up one of her hands (the one i had to torture her by removing a splinter from earlier) and said, "Actually, I have a bandaid on this one. I'd rather don't do it."

How do you argue with that?

If you need a reminder that she is, in fact, 3 years old, she also just told me that she's eating with a big Daddy Fork that's as big as her head and that I was eating with a little Baby Fork that's as small as my head. I'm not sure which image I find more disturbing - a fork as large as Lila's head or my head being as small as a salad fork!

The Most Beautiful Prayer

Shortly after I began doing the 60/60 Experiment, we had an idea to include Lila. We just explained that the watch beeps were to remind us to pray and then we'd pray out loud with her. It only took a couple of times for her to get the idea and then, whenever she'd hear the beep, she'd say, "Hey! We can pray!"

That lasted for a while and it got to be rather annoying, in a helpful way. I'd be oblivious to the beep or subconsciously putting off my moment of connection, when Lila would pipe up and I'd "have to" pray. Eventually, she started to lose interest, but we'd keep doing it. Sometimes she'd participate, and other times I think she might have been trying to block out my presence.

Well, every moment of this experiment was made worthwhile this morning. (not that i haven't seen God working in other ways as well, but this was enough even if i hadn't)

I was in our playroom/classroom, cleaning up before preschool, and didn't even have my watch on. I heard it beep from another room and only vaguely registered the sound. A few seconds later, Lila appeared beside me and said, "Let's pray to God!"

She got down on her knees next to me, folded her hands, bowed her head, closed her eyes (none of which we make her do when praying), and said,

"Hmm... Let's see... Thank you for school coming this week and please help me be kind and gentle to my friends. Amen."

She has been listening and she has been learning. Lila has offered her thanks to God before, but she has never asked for help on her own. What I am doing does make a difference and it fills my heart to know that God is using this experiment to make me a better godly example for my daughter.

Praise God for this beautiful child and all that He continues to teach me through her!

This is a cute little site to go to with your preschooler. You can dress up a fairie, turkey, or scarecrow and then print it out. Lila and I just did it and she especially enjoyed dressing up the fairie.

rock 'n' roll lila

Want to be a Blob

I just put my son down for bed, left the room... and I haven't heard a peep out of him. He must have been really tired! Lila, on the other hand, is running around the house (naked) and giggling like a maniac.

My resolve not to watch TV for a while is being sorely tested this evening. I've gotten too much in the habit of sitting down and blobbing after the kids are in bed. That's alright now and then, but not every night. I want Doug and I to start talking and playing games again. And I could do a much better job of preparing for school if I were not being distracted by SVU/CSI/Cold Case/House!

Ooh, our anniversary is this weekend (the 26th) and I got a fabulous gift for Doug! I can't tell you what it is until after he's gotten it though. My own husband only reads my blog about three times per year (when i specifically ask him to do so). I'm afraid, however, that if I put a "secret" on here, then he will decide to visit on his own for once. Anyway, I'm very excited! Actually, I got him two gifts and both should make him laugh, though they are very different.

The Facts of Life

Lila just asked, with complete exasperation, "Why do my panties ride up my tushie every day?!?"

Stalling

Am... so... sleepy.... Want... to go... to bed.... Must... clean... house.... Am... stalling... with blog....

Have you ever listened to a 3-year-old try to deliberately pick a fight? It usually begins with a seemingly innocent question, such as, "Why is it getting dark?" And then you, the parent, walk into the trap and answer with something logical (if slightly simplified), such as, "Because it's night time and the sun is going to shine on another part of the earth." GOTCHA! Now the 3-year-old comes back with, "Nooo! It's not night time!"

Much to Lila's chagrin, I refuse to engage in these absurd arguments. As she sits there, usually in the back seat, and tries to antagonize me with her powers of contrariness, I politely explain that I'm not going to argue with her. That usually only makes her more angry, but what can I do?!? I'm not going to actually have an argument with the child over whether or not it's night time (or whatever the chosen bait is). A few times she has even responded with, "Yes! I want you to argue with me!" We've decided to find a debate team for her when she gets older.

More of a Tangent than an Update

For those who live in Austin, you might be surprised to know that Freebird's has a really good kids' combo deal. You can get a cheese quesadilla, chips, and a drink for less than $3. I have a policy on Lila's food that I won't pay more in dollars than Lila is in years of age. That means that I currently won't pay more than $3.15 for her food. (don't worry, we don't deny her food altogether. she just eats off our plates.) Most places charge at least $5 for their kids' plates.

Anyway, I think there was something important or amusing I was going to relate... Oh, no, it's neither amusing nor important, but it might be of interest anyway. I rented The Happening and watched it last night. I truly don't know what I was thinking when I rented a creepy movie to watch while Doug was out of town. Thankfully, it was more of a Fascinating Creepy than a Scary Creepy.

I thought it was quite good and worth watching. I was mildly irritated by the environmental message at the end, not because I disagree, but because I GET IT ALREADY and I'm tired of watching that poor dead horse being beaten. Oh and I will warn you that there are some pretty disturbing images, especially at the beginning of the movie. But aside from all that, I enjoyed it!

"That ain't no happy child!"

Eli is on the bed next to me, screaming. I would like to scream too. Unfortunately, we have small group members showing up any minute, so I should probably not be found in a state of hysteria when they arrive. This is what happens when I put him down for his last nap of the afternoon and he refuses to go to sleep. He cries for 45 minutes instead and then I have to get him back up because it's too close to bedtime for him to go to sleep anymore.

Within an hour, he's a screaming maniac. It's too early to put him to bed for the night; too late to put him down for a nap. So we just have to try and keep him happy until bedtime. That means that one of us must be holding him constantly and probably also bouncing around in some way.

I would really like to walk out the door right now and not come back until they are both asleep.

Please do not leave comments about how sweet my children are or platitudes about enjoying these days before they are gone as that is guaranteed NOT to improve my mood. You may, however, leave comments about how you have days like this too, and how you have considered selling your children to gypsies before.

Thank you.

Things I don't want to talk about

Yeah, that whole "getting the kids to sleep" thing - I don't want to talk about it.

I have been a snotty mess all weekend. Actually, I've been sick for the better part of three weeks and I'm getting really tired of it! I think that what's going on now is mostly a heinous allergy attack, but it's compounded by the ulcer in my throat. Hmm... I don't want to talk about that either.

So, UT beat OU yesterday! Woot! Lila and I were gone for the first half of the game, but I got to watch the second half and it was the first fun game of the season. The others have been so one-sided that I lost interest pretty quickly and wandered away from the TV. Apparently Doug and Eli were watching the game before Lila and I got home and it sounds like it was very cute.

Eli was propped up in one corner of the love seat while Doug sat on the other side and ate his lunch. Eli was just staring at the football game, but every once in a while he'd look over at Doug, scowl at the food he was not getting to eat, and then grin at his Daddy. They were just chillin' on the couch, watchin' football!

Baby Stuff

I'm listening to Eli fuss as I try to get him to go to sleep on his own. At 3.5 months, when he was still in our room, I would put him down awake and he'd go to sleep with little to no fuss. At that time, he was also sleeping from 8:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. When we moved him into Lila's room, we were suddenly unwilling to let him fuss because we didn't want him to wake her up.

We started rocking him until he was totally asleep and then putting him down. He then started regularly waking up in the night again. Due to that, and some severe bedtime drama on Lila's part, we've moved his bedtime half an hour earlier than hers and I'm trying to get him to fall asleep on his own again. Tonight is the first attempt and it mostly seems to be making him angry, so far.

I'll give him one more minute (for a total of 5) and then go in and try to relax him, but not all the way to sleep. I'll keep you updated...

Oh, Eli also got his first "solid" food today - extremely runny rice cereal mixed with breast milk. He thought it was quite good and at it all up. He also tried to eat his bib and the spoon.

I Hate Ragweed!

Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it!

Not a Story about my Children

If I am feeding Eli while Lila is in the bath, I sometimes turn the TV on because there's only so much time that can be spent in contemplation of a nursing baby, no matter how cute he is. I did this last night and ended up getting totally sucked in to a ghost movie on the SciFi channel. (An American Haunting, in case you're interested.) Doug ended up sucked in as well and we watched the whole thing. It wasn't the best movie ever, but it was good enough that I was completely creeped out after it was over.

There are a few things we do while getting ready for bed at night. For me, one of those things is cleaning out the kitties' litter box, and this I did, with only slightly irrational fears that something was going to jump out of it and scare me. When I was carrying the bag of goods out to the trash can, I remembered that all the windows on the playhouse were open and there was a chance of rain. There was no way I was going into the dark backyard and inside a small dark house after that movie, so I decided to ask Doug to do it for me.

I went back inside, finished the rest of my little pre-bed chores, then found Doug and asked him to be chivalrous and do me this favor. He agreed, and, with only minor grumbling, found his shoes and headed for the back door.

At this point, I should probably tell you that one of the other things I do before bed is set the alarm. Since I was operating on auto-pilot, I went ahead and set the alarm as usual, without thinking about Doug needing to go back outside. I should also tell you that, for some unholy reason, opening the back door when the alarm is armed makes it go off instantly...

So I'm brushing my teeth when I hear this remarkably loud noise that sounds something like a banshee, or at least what I imagine a banshee would sound like, if they existed. I then hear the sounds of Doug running for the alarm keypad (halfway across the house, in the laundry room) and slipping and sliding on the wood floors along the way. Charlie, apparently, was in the path of this running and slipping, and was already understandably disturbed by the noise, so he freaks out and starts running and slipping too.

Unfortunately for him, he chose the same destination as Doug and thought that he was being chased, which freaked him out even more. All of this seemed to last much longer than the few seconds it actually did and then Doug reached the keypad and the alarm finally stopped. It had only taken me half a second to realize what was happening and I was fighing very hard to control my laughter when Doug came into the bathroom, looking like he had seen a ghost, and informed me that I could go out and close my own stupid windows.

He was all bark though and went on to close them after all. That gave me a chance to laugh and him a chance to recover his sense of humor about the situation. It still cracks me up. That one's going onto my List of Reasons I Wish we had Video Cameras Installed in Every Room.

The children, incidentally, slept through all of this, despite the fact that the alarm is right outside their room. Amazing.

[cough cough]

Things have been nuts around here for a week! Lila was sick, I was sick, Eli was sick, I was still sick, Eli was sick again, Lila was sick again... I think we are finally all well now. Or mostly well. Eli is still a bit spotty - more so than usual, I mean (see photo). He's also politely requesting some milk, so I have to go. At least I got a brief update in.