things i am used to

first, some pictures of valentine cookie baking & decorating.

addy's one cookie that she iced & put sprinkles on about 20 times. can you say 'sugar high'?

amelia & elliott. they don't know it yet, but they will be the best of friends.

greasy haired amelia. she has a terrible case of cradle cap which i think is probably itching her noggin, so we gooped it up with some oil & i have spent nearly an hour today brushing the dried skin out of her hair. may sound gross, but i get this weird enjoyment from picking dried skin off (you know, when you have a sunburn & it peels? well, i love to pull the skin off for some unknown reason).

this is a post i wrote awhile ago, but failed to publish for some reason. so i am doing that now.

things that will be in my life for awhile:

• laundering the largest load of pink & reds ever known to man every 5 days
  
• bottles on the counter to be rinsed & put in the dishwasher
  
• not thinking that a pile of poop or pee on the floor is a cause for concern (first it started with a dog, then adeline potty training, & i'm sure when adeline finally gets it, amelia will start it all over again. by the time amelia is trained, griswold may have passed on, so i'm sure there will be a puppy...)
• old sippy cups with milk found under a piece of furniture.
• finding random, single baby hair barrettes just before the vacuum sucks it up.
• being worried that there will be dog hair in the food i serve to guests.
• a dishwasher that needs unloaded
• hearing "MAAA MAAAA" being yelled from the top of the stairs
  
• muffin crumbs on the couch & floor, then crusted on blankets & socks.
• frozen dinosaur chicken nuggets in a huge bag from costco
• monthly costco trips that cost over $150
• ketchup dried on a plate, which won't wash off in the dishwasher b/c our dishwasher sucks
• a folder for stickers
• stickers stuck to my socks
• stickers stuck to wood furniture
• sticker stickiness in the dryer
  
• being woken up by a teddy bear being thrown in my face. or a book. or my glasses. or adeline shouting 'mama!'
• griswold farting in his sleep during the day. which i first think it's a kid's dirty diaper, so i change or check their diapers first, then realize it was griswold.
  
• annoying kid plastic forks & spoons...they are everywhere in our house.
• the first 2 items on any target list are: diapers. desitin.
  
• finding random things in the laundry basket in the basement (from adeline sending them down the laundry chute [or shoot???}).
• plastic bibs hanging on the kitchen curtain rod to dry.
• not being able to walk through a room without tripping over a toy
• counting the days to the next 'grandparent take over event' (when g&g take addy or visit, giving me a break!)
• wondering if i will ever truly have a real vacation again
• searching the the entire house while the phone is ringing, trying to find it. giving up & finding the phone in the toy basket, laundry chute, & even the dishwasher an hour later.
• using 'oxyclean' by the tub within 1 month
• empty desitin tubs everywhere. everywhere
• planning 1 hour in advance before leaving the house.
• spit up or urine or a bit of poop or vomit on my clothes not bothering me a bit...then still wearing those same clothes the next day!
• chalk, marker, crayon on walls, furniture, & important papers
• seeing the coloring paper without any type of marking on them.
• hearing a toddler run through the house. pitter patter *clunk clunk* (that's adeline falling)
• looking for that 1 missing puzzle piece like it was a lost child
• needing coffee in the morning like i need a vacation (if i don't get it, i won't last much longer)
• saying 'no' about 300 times a day
• day dream about sleeping all night long
• enviously looking at women at a store who don't have kids with them & are obviously buying things for their kids
• wondering how to get adeline to take a nap...how many hours of rough, physical play does it take to get an adeline to nap? (answer: more than 3)
• thinking that i have the cutest kids in the WORLD! (that will last for the rest of my days, though). sorry everyone else, but the cutest kids are mine. i know quite a few who come in second, though, if that makes anyone else feel better. ;o)
• singing cartoon songs in my head & actually dancing to these songs during the day, with or without a child in my arms.
• feeling my heart melt as i watch the girls learn something new or smile or laugh or eat or go in the potty

okay, that's enough for now.