this is what you get...

a dry, chewy, half-burnt lemon-garlic roasted chicken.
not even wes will eat it.

whoever said that new moms should try cooking to relieve stress has never been a stressed out mama. i used to be able to roast a chicken in my sleep. i used to whip out a cheesecake without another thought. it's like my brain has totally died. FIZZLED.
i even tried to follow a recipe. the problem was the frozen gizzards inside the damn chicken. i hate taking them out & wes wasn't here to get them for me, so i just left it in. little did i know,but the gizzards weren't thawed! so as the rest of the chicken roasted, the center was still frozen. so we baked it a bit longer. then even more longer. then we pulled the gizzards out & baked it a bit longer. then we realized that it was overdone & we would not be eating it tonight. in fact, we haven't even eaten yet tonight....b/c we have really no other ready to eat food in this house. b/c we suck.
oh, bother.

sleepy sheep 1

for all of you sandra boynton fans out there, that post title was for you (from her story "six sleepy sheep"). for those not in the know: here is the excerpt: "sleepy sheep 1 is painting a starry night time sky; sleepy sheep 2 is singing a quiet lullaby. sleepy sheep 3 is wishing upon a silver moon. sleepy sheep 4 is yawning; it must be bedtime soon. sleepy sheep 5 is putting on a night cap soft & red. sleepy sheep 6 is summoning the other sheep to bed." that's all i know from memory, so that's all you get!

so here is our sleepy sheep. when she is not screeching as if someone is pulling her head off (imagine that & you will know why we look like we do sometimes), she is sleeping. OR she is being held. in a certain position & only this position. she has started not even enjoying the baby bjorn! GASP! i've read that week 6 is the pinnacle of fussy infant times & geez oh man, i hope that is right & that this past week just isn't her true disposition rearing its ugly head...b/c we can't take it anymore! then we realize she's beautiful & snuggly & just a little baby after all & we decide to keep her after all (wait, did i just write that...? :o) this picture was taken about 10 minutes ago, which is why i am able to post!

a smile to let us know that we're all having a good time, really.

wide awake eyes to let us know that she doesn't have narcolepsy after all. we are a bit worried at times... she's either dead to the world or crying. these awake & content moments are very rare this week.

exercises! look at that head control! we go from a baby (addy) who couldn't hold her head like this until month 4 to this baby (millie) who is a champion head holder-upper.

well, amelia also has a drunk look that is fairly common & goes along with our fear of narcolepsy...she has this near-pirate eye look when a bottle is given to her. she almost instantly falls asleep half the time & then gives us this look for the rest of the feeding. then she gives us the 'bob & weave' where her head just flops everywhere & then she tries to hold it up, but fails...& i think she's really explaining to us that she wants to be a boxer when she grows up. (heads up ms. emily from boise! meaty millie is out to get you!).

so here's the family people checklist:
nutty mama...exasperated daddy...bi-polar baby (explanation: either very content or crying, i think that qualifies as bi polar in baby land & i know my brother in law "mr. psychologist in training" cal doesn't agree, but oh well!) ...googly-eyed sister...annoying dog... we're all here & still alive. so far.

the adeline chronicles

monday: dark red lipstick on the newly cleaned carpet
tuesday: waking up millie every time i finally got her to sleep AND emptying contents of my purse & eating tums & chapstick (or was that monday? i don't really remember at this point)
wednesday: dumping, folded clothes & taking them around the house (also note that this is the day that mama, yes mama, flooded half of the basement while addy played there)
thursday: emptying contents of certain folders in a somehow not baby proofed picture cabinet

so here's a picture of the damage this morning. she always gets into things when i'm feeding amelia. always. i can not get ahead of her! i have learned to close all doors except to her bedroom & so she sneaks downstairs & gets into this cabinet...which she has never had interest in! what is going on in this mind of hers, i have no idea. no clue. all i know is that it makes me very frustrated.

a picture of her first decorated pumpkin. she did this with grandma & grandpa gerbick last weekend at avon lake's homecoming celebration. apparently, she had loads of fun! she even got to ride a pony, which she is still very excited about. we have other artwork from that day also, but this is by far the most impressive.

the joy of her life right now: her dolly. she does everything with this doll that we do with amelia. it's very cute & endearing, but when she runs out our batteries on the (stupid) doll, that's when i get frustrated! but, still, we encourage this b/c i think it helps her with amelia getting a lot of mama & daddy time.

another 'looking out the window' picture. she just loves to look out the window & always has. when i see this picture, she just looks so grown up to me. & to think that millie will be this age & size in just two years!

so after the terrible day yesterday, i had to get out of the house once wes got home. alone. no kids. what else is there to do but go to target?! so i did. i heard babies crying & sort of smiled to myself, knowing i was alone! i stopped at steak & shake on the way home & indulged in a tasty treat of a steak cheeseburger & greasy fries & a large chocolate shake. yum yum yum. then i go home to help wes with bath time & bedtime b/c i felt bad & missed them, sort of. missed the smiles, let's say. i took millie to give her the bottle & was sitting in the nursery chair, feeding & rocking her & in runs addy, post bath, no clothes on. she's ecstatic over something, who knows what makes a 2 year old girl so giggly & happy, but she was. and she just starts PRANCING around the room, laughing. prancing & laughing. round & round, round & round. then she stops at the chair & gives me the most genuine & beautiful smile ever.

i have to remember those times better than the bad ones! they have to be the ones imprinted in my mind's eye when i think back in a few years, not the ones where i am hot-blooded & mad & ready to spank over something like folded laundry on the floor. if only i could have a camera always on hand, to catch the prancing & smiles & giggles...

grrrrrrr.....

having carpets cleaned...$130
having house deep cleaned...$250
having your toddler draw all over the carpet with lipstick...priceless

what a toddler can eat...

we made our first call to poison control this morning...as i was checking blogs & FB & news, addy was apparently investigating my purse. she had EVERYTHING out, then decided to come & sit by amelia on the couch (millie was sleeping) & just sat there putting chapstick all over her face for who knows how long before i noticed what she had. so i sort of laughed & asked "did you put it on your lips?" & she nodded yes & then i asked "did you eat it?" & she nodded yes, then she proceeded to take a bite off the top! yuck. so then i told her that's pretty gross & we needed to put it away & THEN i noticed that all the contents of my purse lay on the floor. then i noticed the TUMS all over the floor. so i asked her if she ate the tums & showed them to her & she nodded very enthusiastically, yes (they are the berry flavor!).

so i made a quick call to wes to look up toddlers eatings tums on the internet & he came away with calling poison control. so we called. turns out she's going to live! they were a bit more concerned with how much of the chapstick she ate instead of the tums. (apparently, she wouldn've had to eat many more than 2 or 3, which is all that was in the package, plus the 6 she left on the floor). she needs to drink lots of water & then we can try to "burp" it out of her...that should be interesting! i already feel like i'm getting carpal tunnel from burping amelia, there needs to be a burping machine made & sold at target.

anyway, poison control is even sending us a fridge magnet for future incidents! how sweet. i guess i slowed down over the weekend just having a baby to look after (addy was with wes' parents since friday). here's to burping a toddler today!

a few odd & ends

so here are pics of addy's bedroom (cleaned! they even made her bed & arranged her stuffed animals)

addy in her new superwoman outfit...as my mom mentioned, she never remembers superwoman (okay, wonder woman) having such a belly, though. gotta love it. she wore this outside to play on thursday.

amelia just 3 days ago. adorable. she was allowing us to put her down for about 3 minutes that day...she is a snuggle bum.

amelia before a bath last weekend. again, adorable. she looks so much like addy.

now getting the bath...she seems to enjoy them most of the time, so we've made it a nightly routine. bath. scream when getting clothes on. calm millie down. give bottle. burp endlessly. put in crib, hopefully awake. (which reminds me: so millie has reflux & our ped told us to keep her mostly vertical for up to 20-30 minutes after her feedings. so how in the heckle are we supposed to do that AND put her in the crib awake, teaching her how to soothe herself to sleep? man oh man, this stuff gets tricky).

anyway, this is also her "i have a question" look. she's just so cute. i can just imagine her thinking: "excuse me, mama, exactly why do you use that soap? i would really like to have the lavender soap that addy has. it just smells better than that newborn soap. & could this water be a bit more warm..." on & on the thoughts go...

here is a picture of my dad & amelia (about 3 days old). he's really had a terrible month. he's been in severe pain with diverticulitis for about 3 weeks now & has now been admitted into the cleveland clinic for 5 days. long story short, the small town hospital that he originally went to really screwed him over & didn't catch everything & if he wasn't lucky enough, he could have died. that may sound dire & it is. i really wish i could go see him, but we can't make that 3 hour drive right now to cleveland & it's a big bummer. the good thing is that he is FINALLY in good hands with a surgeon & hospital who know what is what & say they won't let him leave until he is pain free, which will be amazing. they also told him he will have to have surgery on his colon in 2 months, another bummer. please keep him in your prayers. he needs some healing. he's really probably the best dad out there, wes aside, & an even better grandpa (he goes by 'pop pop' or 'bob-bob' if you are chloe or zoe). love you, dad!

a clean house

some of you bloggers may not think this is such a big deal...but to me, it is. it's amazing. mood changing. uplifting. burdens gone. i could go on & on...what am i talking about? we have a clean house. not just so-so clean, but really super duper clean. why? how? you may be asking b/c as you know, we have a toddler & a newborn. WELL, the gerbicks hired it out! WHOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!

since about month 2 of the pregnancy, i was pretty much out of commision in the cleaning department. although wes cleaned, it wasn't the extent i usually go to; ya know? but i am so thankful that he did clean, let that be known. so our house has been building up filth for quite some time (10 months to be exact) & towards the end of the pregnancy, i just kept telling myself that i would get the 'nesting instinct' at the end of the 3rd trimester & then i would clean. ms amelia had other plans & arrived early, so the house was never cleaned (except the nursery...little squirt! she knew her room was clean, so out she came! in fact, the day my water really broke was the day my mom was here & cleaned the nursery, which was 5 days before her birth). and for the past 5 weeks, i have been so dis-heartened that our house is so gross...our bathroom had mold & ring around the everything; dust build up; little toddler finger prints & crayon markings everywhere; just general grime. this week was my breaking point & i believe wes' also. we just couldn't take it anymore & neither of us had the energy to do it. so we called & the first person fell through. i was DISTRAUGHT, thinking my house will never be clean again & i will have to start cleaning during their naps, etc.

*insert chariots of fire music here*

then...

wes told me someone was coming to clean the carpets friday morning. okay, wonderful! clean carpets that will no longer have toddler pee (see a previous post for explanation) & apple juice & crayon drawings & dog vomit & pee, etc etc etc stained into them. super! they came & it was beautiful (although a bit stressful b/c they arrived friday morning before all of us were mostly dressed, egads!).

then...

wes again informed me that he had found another cleaning service & the owner was coming over to give a cost estimate later that night. when i met her, i fell in love. she was so sweet & understanding & even had the kindness to lie & say "your house really isn't that bad" but i saw the look on her face when she checked out our shower...oh yes, indeed; nasty! she asked if we wanted a deep clean, i said YES! then before she left she said very gently "you look so tired, heidi; you really need this help." i couldn't agree more, my dear Mrs. Paulino!

so this morning, a married couple who barely spoke english (god bless the immigrants! i say tear down that damn border, but i won't get into politics right now) arrived about 8:45 a.m. & didn't leave until a bit after 3 p.m. she spent an entire hour in addy's bathroom. AN HOUR! it's gleaming in our house.

i just really feel like a burden has been lifted. it's the best few hundred bucks i've spent in a long time. (okay, my $100 hair appointment on friday & new post-baby gap jeans come pretty close). so we are here to share pictures. i highly recommend doing this to all new parents out there. HECK! you don't even have to be new parents!

can you see the shine on the fridge? on the floor? i didn't know it could shine...

now THIS in shiny!

they even made little flowers on all of the toilet papers & bows on the tissue boxes! SERIOUSLY.

what ya'all don't know is how gross this shower was before. imagine pink & some back-ish mold around about EVERYWHERE. i can't wait to take a shower... now if i could just find the energy to do that, even.

did i mention that the house just sort of sparkles? well, it does.