Tempting the Sleep Gods- a week in review

Some things should never be even mentally vocalized. Earlier this week I suddenly found myself thinking that Sam had actually been sleeping fairly well for a week or so. It happened so fast, was just a fleeting moment really, but it was already too late. Fate had been tempted- the Sleep Gods would get their revenge. Sure enough, that very night at approximately 3 AM, justice was served. Our door swung open and in bounds Sam, laden like a Sherpa with every item from his bed (which that night happened to be 3 blankets, a pillow, a baby doll, and a truck). After arranging his "bed" next to me, it soon became clear that he had no intention of actually sleeping. I gathered him and his entourage and took him back to his bed, where he insisted I lay down with him . And that's when I heard Mia. Apparently she thought there was a party going on that she wasn't invited to, because she soon was in bed with us, and laying on top of me. I can tell you that me, the belly, a wiggly 2 year old, and a 5 year old in a toddler bed is NOT a fun party. Long story short: when I finally just gave up and went back to bed, Mia was in her room looking at books, and Sam was playing with his truck- both were wide awake. It was after 4.
So my mantra for the week has been, "I will only be sleep deprived for another 18 years." Since that lovely night of nocturnal bonding, Sam has been up every morning at 6:30. Apparently my debt was not paid the first night. Is there some other sacrifice besides my own exhaustion, physical health, and emotional stability I could offer? I'm now going into week 4 of the cold that will never end, and my kids are actually complaining about having to watch too much TV. Wow- I can't wait to add a new born into the mix!

Here's a few other highlights from the week:


Yet another picture of my kids dressed inappropriately for the weather. This picture was taking around 6:30 PM, and probably 40 degrees. For some reason they thought riding their bikes in bathing suits and towels would be awesome. Note Sam's mismatched boots- he wears those all the time.


It was Take Your Child to Work Day on Thursday. Lucky Mia got to spend an exciting morning with a bunch of Information Architects. She came home with a fake tattoo that says, "IA Forever", complete with a heart with a sword through it. Rough crowd.

I started my weekly doctors appointments this week. I'm 36 weeks along, and in the pregnancy tradition of sharing really personal information about your cervix, I'm dilated to 1 cm.

Friday, I celebrated the impending arrival of baby #3 with some close friends while enjoying some incredible desserts and fantastic atmosphere (thanks Sara! and note to The Melting Pot: turns out we don't need chocolate Fondue to have a good time).

We made a trip to Ikea, didn't find what we wanted but did pass by this piece of framed art: ...which we didn't buy, and regretted so much that I sent Mark back a few days later to pick it up. Really, I shouldn't love art from Ikea this much.

Yesterday we finally had one of those amazing Seattle Spring days, and we celebrated by doing hours and hours upon hours of yard work! (If you don't know, we bought our house from super gardeners, who seemingly wanted to spend at least half of every day doing yard work. I just do what I can and try not to kill anything, so I'm usually pretty thrilled when things grow back in the spring.) Oh, and we harvested our first batch of our own organic compost from our compost pile. Black gold anyone? Sorry, no photos of our yard. I'll try to take some this week- if I'm not too tired.

Snow again...

Yet another freakish spring snowfall. Need I say more? And yes, those are my children in their pajamas, barefoot in the snow. Apparently we've decided not to run for the 2008 Parents of the Year.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Let's start with the Bad:

• Realizing I have been visited by the Upset Stomach Fairy at the start of a busy day, while pregnant and with 2 young kids to care for.
• That realization coming while at the gym, less than 20 minutes into a much needed, albeit pathetic, workout.

The Ugly:

• Throwing up multiple times, among other things. I'll leave the exact details to your imagination.
  
• Having your 2 year old also throw up, all over the kitchen.
  

The Good:

• A sweet little girl who put 2 cherry tomatoes on my nightstand (in case I got hungry), and who later brought me 3 flowers from my garden and told me "It's because I love you for 3 things."
• That same girl correcting herself a few minutes later, "Actually, I love you for more than 3 things. I love you for probably a hundred things!" (And this is so great because to a 5 year old, there is no number greater than 100. When I tried to tell her that I was #803 for my race over a week ago, she kept saying, "but what number were you?").
  
• A husband who came home from work early to take care of me and the kids, was vomited on, cleaned it all up, witnessed one of my most undignified moments in life thus far, and never once complained.
  
• Realizing that while nothing on my list got done today (Costco, exercise. guitar group, yard work, phone calls, picking up prescriptions, etc), and the house is beyond trashed, it's all OK. Although I might feel different about that tomorrow.
• Being able to eat food again! Though, this is proving difficult since there is almost no food in the house (I think grocery shopping was also on that to do list...).
  

If I sound a little too Pollyanna, it's probably because of some euphoric stupor of insanity induced by a day of almost negative caloric intake. Yeah for endorphins!
Time for me to get some sleep now...

Girl's Weekend

Being the jet setters that we are, when my Southwest Ding! icon popped up a while back, I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit the capitol of the Gem state, Boise, Idaho (city motto: "energy peril success"- what in the world?). But not only does Boise offer the best grilled salmon sandwich that I've ever tasted, it's also home to our great friends, Jen and Mark McBride, whom Mia and I got to spend the weekend with. We left the boys home to veg in front of the TV while eating Mac and Cheese straight from the pan and freely eliminating bodily gases, while Mia and I enjoyed our first getaway together.

In actuality we were sicker than dogs and really appreciate our hosts for not complaining while we coughed and hacked all over their house. But the sun shone all weekend, the kids had a blast playing, Jen and I got in a few marathon chatting sessions late into the night, and I also got to meet up with my friend from high school, Neva, and her cute little family (best part: watching her oldest son's recently frozen wart fall off and bleed all over- good times huh Neva?).

The best part though, was how amazingly angelic Mia was. So much so that I began to wonder if I had done her a huge disservice by deciding to have more children. It was heavenly to enjoy a trip mostly free of tantrums, meltdowns, bickering, and bedtime battles (OK, one meltdown the last night after skinning her knee). Seriously, was it the altitude? Because not even 20 minutes after being home she was fighting with Sam, whining, and generally freaking out. We've been "blessed" with this return to normalcy ever since. Oh, and just a few hours after arriving home, I developed conjunctivitis in both eyes, and spent an exciting 2 hours waiting at Urgent Care, only to have it pretty much clear up on its own in the waiting room. That's the way we like our Urgent Care trips: pointless and kind of embarrassing.

Anyway, we had a fantastic time in Boise, despite being sick and hardly sleeping at all- Thank you McBrides! We miss you! Jen, Mark, and their beautiful girls.

Photo by Mia- do we look tired?

The girls enjoying a little "slumber party" minus the slumber part.

Quotes of the Week

From Mia:

"When I get older, everything Daddy does will embarrass me, huh Mom?"


And it was hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure that Sam came to the table the other night, pointed at his plate of spaghetti and said, "I hate this stuff." My response: "Yeah Sam! That was a complete sentence!"

Great Expectations

I'm all out of ideas. I think I've used up all the snarky comments in me, and it's only been a week. So from now on, all my posts will begin with "Today I woke up and..."

Today I woke up refreshed from a great night's sleep, to find that my kids had already gotten themselves dressed, fed, and cleaned up. They were busy mopping the kitchen floor when I came in. "Good morning, Mother," they said, "we were just trying to help you with some cleaning, and after this we plan on reading quietly in our rooms for an hour. Would you like us to make you breakfast and bring it to you in bed?"


ahhhhh, sorry, had to wipe the tears of laughter from my eyes. I warned you there would be some bluffing on this blog. So I won't tell you all the excruciating details of my actual morning, but I will say that at some point I was reminded of a great story a friend in California once told me. Her son came up to her one day (he was probably 5 or 6 at the time) and said, "Mom, I feel great about myself today." When she asked him why, he replied, "Because I'm not dead!"

I started thinking about that little boy and how happy he was, and suddenly it seemed so obvious how great my day was really going. I mean, I wasn't dead right? So I stopped everything right there and climbed back in bed for a nap. It's amazing what lowering your expectations can do.

Happy Birthday Mark!

Our Old Man is 34 today. He got lots of great presents. Sam's present was waking up at 5:30 AM and crawling in bed with us to wiggle for another 1 1/2 hours. Mia's present was dressing up like a princess and then acting like one. My present to Mark was waking up sick. Poor guy had to do the dishes on his own birthday. But Mother Nature came through with the best present of all: sunshine! In the end, I managed to pull myself out of bed to make dinner and cake, and he did get the one present he really wanted: a mop. Yes, the man wanted a mop for his birthday. That's why we love him.

Yes, that's a heart cake. I had the pan from Mia's birthday...

My new favorite picture. You'd almost never know
that their favorite activity is terrorizing each other.

Quirky Kids

For all you parents of quirky kids, I thought you might enjoy this. In light of Sam and his head banging, car lining, and speech issues, I could relate. And yes, we're starting speech therapy next week. My favorite quote: "the new normal of childhood is abnormal."

"A New Trial of Motherhood: Keeping up with the diagnoses."
http://www.burbia.com/node/1688

Tulip Run (minus the Tulips), and Mark's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

Today was my race- the Skagit Valley Tulip Run. It takes place during the annual Tulip Festival, so you would think that the course would come in at least close proximity to a tulip field, or cluster, or maybe some tulips in a pot or something. But there was not a single tulip to behold the entire 5 miles- go figure. It turned out that the tulips aren't even in bloom yet, although it wouldn't have mattered anyway because the route still wasn't near any fields. It was beautiful though, and FREEZING, which made for a miserable husband. Somehow Mark didn't get the message that the forecast was cold and rainy. Hmmmm, somehow when I told him "It's going to be cold so I can't wear my maternity tank top and shorts to run in," and "the kids need to be dressed really warmly," along with all the extra jackets and umbrellas I put in the car, you'd think he would have picked up on it, and brought a jacket.
Anyway, back to the race. I've always wanted to do some short race while pregnant, and this 5 mile run during the Tulip Fest seemed perfect. In my mind, it was going to be a sunny spring day running amidst fields of brightly colored tulips, followed by a day of family fun at the Tulip Fest. Well, we've already covered the sunny spring day and tulip part, more on the "family fun" that wasn't later. But lest you think that I'm either a super star runner or very careless, let me reassure you that pretty much everyone in the race passed me and I took it very easy and slow. When I decided to do this a month or two ago, I was only running about 3 miles at a time, and started having problems with my legs feeling really heavy and tired. It got better, but I wasn't able to do any hills, or ever get up to 5 miles. So I started to worry about this race, but I figured the worst case scenario was having to walk at times. So the course was completely flat, my legs felt great and I was able to run the whole thing! My time was just under 1 hour, which is about my pregnancy running pace, and I wasn't even last. The only funny thing that happened was right as I was nearing the finish line, there was a group of bystanders that starting yelling "go Mom!" as I was passing. I assumed because of the belly that they were talking to me, and it was only after I smiled and waved, and I believe even gave a thumbs up, that I realized they were probably cheering for their actual mom who was running behind me. They've probably been laughing about that all day. It felt great when I finished. I just missed my running partners, none of whom were able to make it- wish you could have been there guys!

The starting line.

Nearing the finish line. Notice the blurred quality to do my husband's shivering hands.

After the race- the only really decent belly shot.

On to the Tulip Fest. Since this is already a long post, let's see if I can sum up the misery in a few words: freezing weather, almost no tulips, unbelievable prices, overtired children, a 2 year old who was not excited about being restrained in a way, overpriced and extremely disappointing lunch, and a very grumpy husband. Oh yeah, and a tired, 7 1/2 month pregnant mom who just ran 5 miles. Hurray for family fun!

The "kid's booth"

We finally let Sam loose and you can see that he was very happy, and not at all restrained.

The only tulips in bloom. This picture in no way does justice to how cold it was, or how unhappy the kids were.

This one's a little better. Notice the bare feet- all part of the tantrum. Immediately after this photo we left, got home and took long naps. We were much happier then!


Good times. I guess if it doesn't kill you, you can always blog about it.

Photo Ops

Some recent pictures of the kids...

Easter: this is the only picture with both kids looking at the camera at the same time.

Post Easter Egg Hunt: who couldn't love this face?

We found this elaborate set up one night after Mia had fallen asleep. I guess in case her dolls and pets woke up and needed a pork chop.



Notes to self:
Sam slept in until 8:00 this morning. Try to figure out why.
Look into that idea of feeding Sam intravenously until he is 6.
Mia does NOT like Sam to be thirsty at the same time as her.

Go to bed.

Generic Post

Mostly I started this blog to aide my failing memory. Since my New Year's Resolution was to write in my journal regularly, and I've done that a total of 0 times since January, I thought a blog would be a more motivating way to get down some of those precious little goings on in our lives. So forgive me while I indulge in a little memory preservation.

2 conversations with Mia from yesterday:

Mia: You don't love me! You never listen to me.
(The first part is not true, the second part is, regrettably, mostly true. The girl never stops talking).

Me: I'm sorry, I do love you. And sometimes you don't listen to me either.

Mia: Well, that's because I learned how to not listen to you from you not listening to me.

Ouch. Immediately that anti-drug commercial from way back in the day came to mind. "I learned it from watching you, OK Dad?" Seriously, is this girl 5 or 15? Case in point, later on that day we had the following interaction:

Me (yelling): Mia, we've been waiting to start family night, what are you doing?

Mia (from the bathroom, with the door shut): I'm going potty... and getting ready.

10 minutes pass...

Dad: Mia, are you coming?

Mia: In a minute.

Dad: Good, because family night is all about waiting around.

Mia: No, family night is all about how you look.

Oh? Thanks for clearing that up. She then came out of the bathroom in a leotard, tutu, feather boa, fairy wings, and her church shoes, complete with her latest "hairstyle" which involves 2 headbands and 2 clips. Unfortunately we have no photo, so you'll have to use your imagination. Later we played Twister, but thank goodness she really is 5 and not 15- she didn't feel overdressed in the least.

Now just a snapshot of this moment: my 2 year old who woke up at 5 AM is crying in his crib and refusing to take a nap while my 5 year old is asleep on my bed. The family room is currently an elaborate "camping fort" with every single toy from Mia's room inside of it. The sun is shining (!), the wild cats that live in our backyard are out roaming, I'm listening to Coldplay on iTunes, and I've got The Count of Monte Cristo sitting here which I picked up from the library for book group this Thursday to reread. Apparently though I read the abridged version in high school, because I do not remember it being 1500 pages! Oh, and I have no idea what to make for dinner. And this blog is officially getting in the way of my productivity, but at least I'm working on my resolution right?

Happy Freaking Spring

This was the view from my front door on the second day of Spring. What the?! For those of you who know me well, you know I'm not a fan of frozen white things falling from the sky. Give me rain any day (except in June). And yes, we do have the world's smallest lawn. (We actually own a push mower and it takes all of 5 minutes to mow.) On the upside, it's been way too cold to do yard work. Tomorrow the forecast is partly cloudy in the mid 50's. Wow, second post and I'm already talking about the weather. How sad- like a really bad second date. OK, my point: if we don't get some nice Spring weather soon, don't be surprised if my next post is pictures of our last-minute trip to Acapulco.

Blog This!

So this is not a blog. More of an anti-blog really- a glob... a blehg... a blave ("which we all know means to bluff"). Just really a place for me to post my poems and witty comments about laundry, and especially to compare everything in my life to childbirth. So fine, I'm a blogger. Whatever. Here we go- hello world...