oy vey.

first, the good things.

addy in her last diaper! it's all pull-ups & undies from here. which is so wonderful to think about. today we were gone most of the day & she didn't pee in her pants once! i was sooo proud & the great thing is that she did it without even needing her m&m treat as a reward. oh yea!

what else is good news? uh, it's supposed to be warmer tomorrow? frost should be over after tonight. we covered out strawberries last night b/c man oh man, it would be a HUGE bummer to lose all those green berries out there... plus an animal ate most of wes' veggies on the side of our house the other night. stupid varmint. so he had to replant/seed all of them! seriously, what's the point of growing your own stuff from seed if your babies are just going to be gobbled up? plus that stupid varmint ate my daisies! i am soooo ready to hide out & shoot whatever animal it may be.

****** funny story time ******
tonight at dinner (we were having blueberry buttermilk pancakes & these egg/omelet/souffle cups. we had about 4 tablespoons of maple syrup left (we only use real maple syrup b/c i am a syrup snob apparently; not that stuff that comes in a ginormous container, lol. snob, i tell you.). anyway, we were eating mostly dry pancakes b/c we didn't have enough syrup to go around, which always seems to be the case. we buy a thing of syrup & then it's gone before the next time we use it. so i looked across the table & asked wes "why is it that our maple syrup is always gone?!" he gives me this smart-alec look back & replies "b/c of that" & points to adeline...who was drinking the rest of the syrup out of the jar, head tilted waaaayyyy back & making low gulping noises...

***
& today was the 2nd hearing test. *sigh* adeline passed! i am not sure how to feel about the whole thing. there are so many levels of schtuff to think about with this test. first is that last test she did indeed have a slight cold, which could give her an earache. except that her ped had checked her out that very morning prior to the test & didn't see any signs of an ear infection. so i'm not quite convinced that the reason she didn't pass the last test was b/c of an ear infection.

#2 is that an inner ear problem explains so many things about adeline...the random fevers, diarrhea, belly aches, headaches. these could all come from inner ear problems. as can imbalance! & she is that as well (imbalanced). it also explains her speech delay.

the third problem i have with this test result is that the same audiologist gave the test & she was very abrupt, nearly to a point of rudeness, did the tests a bit hastily (it took half the time it did last time...granted adeline cooperated much more this time around, though). then once the test was completed, she opened the sound proof door (i had addy on my lap in that sound proof room) & said "she is responding on a normal level, she's hearing normal. you were right to say you didn't think she had a hearing loss last time"...then she gave adeline a sticker & walked towards the door, opened it & then asked "do you have any questions?"...i sorta felt like i was being shoved out the door! YES i had questions! last time you totally shocked me saying that adeline could barely hear what i was saying & that it probably wasn't from her cold & now you are saying the exact opposite & sending me out the door with a fake smile. i was pissed. i am very very very unhappy with children's hospital so far! (it takes 2 1/2 months to get a speech evaluation with them & 3 weeks with 'help me grow'?).

i think we are going to get another opinion from a different source, probably columbus speech & hearing. i just don't want to go with this test result & then encounter this problem in another year & say to ourselves, i wish we would've looked into it a bit more last year. right?

along with this, addy had her speech evaluation with 'help me grow' last thursday & on sunday afternoon (! yes, weekend day!) they called us with the results: she indeed has an expressive speech delay. & she is advanced in other areas, meeting 4-5 year old marks! yep yep yep, smarty pants. now if we can just get her to talk, lol! so we should expect a call from our coordinator this week to get connected with a speech therapist & the westerville school district. then we have the children's hospital speech evaluation in early june & may get a speech therapist through them for the summer. having a diagnosed speech delay does qualify her for "services" according to 'help me grow'...i think that means preschool through the school district, but they haven't said that for sure or not.

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! we are so frustrated. we just want a plan...there is just so much we don't have answers to.

then to top it off amelia is finally cutting her two front top teeth. & she is oh-so-not-happy about it. let me tell ya. wait, it's more like 'let me scream it to you'. she was up so much last night. so so much... as i rocked her i was struck by how much her emotional faces look like wes. it was adorable. at times when i looked down at her sleepy face i nearly felt like i was rocking wes...it was that similar! in a good, feminine way, of course. *she don't look like no man, lol.* & tonight she's already been awake screaming/sobbing/ flailing twice & yea, she went to bed at 8. it's going to be a long night. i keep telling myself that this is it, we're just getting past the last few night time hurdles & then we'll be in the clear for (mostly) nights of sleeping. unless its like last night: when i finally got amelia back to sleep...adeline then wakes up crying & won't stop until we go into her room to comfort her. lesson here? don't have another kid! *smile* we wouldn't trade amelia for the world, though (nor would we trade addy).

today as i walked through the mall with my friend judy on our way from the playground to the food court, i did what mamas are not supposed to do: i compared our kids again.
amelia: pulling addy's hair & loudly squawking/squealing.
addy: crying (see above)/shouting (don't want to leave playground)/kicking (who knows what, the air?).
elliott: peacefully sitting & looking about his surroundings.

i then asked judy if she only hangs out with me so she can make herself believe she is raising an angel baby & she actually smiled this wicked smile & you KNOW she was thinking 'oh yes, that is one reason for sure' but she lovingly said 'i had my time with two kids close in age & they were just this loud' (she has two older boys also). but folks, she knew i had the loud kids at this time. to clarify, btw: i somehow forgot the stroller today so we had to 'rent' one from the mall & they aren't the most spacious of things, so amelia had the ability to pull addy's hair at this point & pull it out she did!)

Goodbye Robins

Today our robbins fledged. I didn't even notice it happened until this afternoon when I came around to the patio. All of a sudden there was a flutter and there were two lil birds out of the nest. One was on the patio and one in the flowers. Then disaster struck as one flew into the road and was hit by a SUV. It was one of the saddest things I've ever seen. RIP little robin. I watched the other one fly on to the neighbor's house so I guess he's OK. We're assuming the other two left earlier and are still alive. The wild thing is that they will not be returning to the nest (they will sleep in tree branches). So now our front yard is eerily quite and somewhat lonely but it was fun while it lasted. Good luck and goodbye sweet robins. Stop by and say hi once in a while....we'll leave some food and water out.

so just what have the gerbicks been up to?

the answer to the title question: not much. daily life. the mundane becoming the exciting.

this year wes & i have promised each other that we will do more enjoying of our backyard/gardens than working in them. the past two years have been filled with setting up new garden beds, cultivating soil, & trying to get all the weeds out of the yard (thistles! ouch). wait. i have to confess that last year wes did most of that while i lay miserable on a patio chair moaning about the miseries of pregnancy & why did god punish me again by giving me another 3rd-trimester-in-the-summer-baby. so now that we've established that i did no work of substance in the yard--except pulling weeds & dead-heading flowers, which i love to do (& practiced doing hip/round ligament joint stretches/squats & stretches while pulling weeds)...anyway, we want to enjoy our yard & fruits of our labor this summer. so far...we haven't done that! i tried to talk wes into relaxing outside in the sun this afternoon; instead, he put in the final herb garden box (so now my chives can be planted finally...they're huge!) then he also planted posts for the concord grapes & soon-to-be planted raspberries (well, they were planted last year but died a painful, hot death in august). & while he did all that work...i read a book this afternoon! not an entire book, of course, but quite a few chapters which is more than i've had the time to read in MONTHS.

this weekend seems to be emphasizing the everyday things that are simply good things in life. for quite a few years, around the time wes & i met & were married, i was so sure we were destined for an exciting life in another country. maybe south america, maybe africa, maybe asia...but it was plainly told to wes & i through prayers & random christian-hearing-god-sorta-people coming up saying this to us: god wants you to enjoy life as a family, here in the u.s. i've heard the pastor of the vineyard columbus say that not a lot of people are called to this & i was like 'why us?! we want to go! we'd be good at it!' & it was so hard to hear that we are to live in a house, doing everything that everyone else can do... come on, wes & i can go DAYS without taking showers, we'd do great in other countries & as missionaries, lol. & all along we keep meeting people who have been missionaries & doing trips to other countries. so for quite a while, i would be a bit mopey about it, wondering why i was told to stay & be a tab-bit bored while everyone else got to GO & think & do & explore. (but i know we'll get our turn).

& over the past year i think wes & i have finally began to understand that god has many things in store for us...even if we're not going on adventures (as in exotic vacations or ministry). we are trying our darnedest to get involved in different things (which isn't easy for two introverts) & put ourselves out there a bit more. but that's not even what i'm talking about...i guess it has more to do with enjoying what we have for what it is: we have two enchanting (at least to us!) wee girls who mostly adore us, we have a strong marriage, (mostly) good health, a job/career, a home, we hear/feel/desire jesus, our families aren't totally coo-ky (lol, really, our families are really amazing), & best of all we have a budget (that one was for my husband).

over the past few years my sister has reiterated to me over & over again that i shouldn't feel guilty when i am a bit off/bored/sad/frustrated over things in my life. you know, all the mundane things that can tip a stay at home mom over the edge (round the calendar illnesses, miserable pregnancies, children who insist on peeing on the floor, a dog who rubs his butt on the carpet...just daily grievances). often i try to stop myself from getting frustrated over these things b/c they seem so, oh--silly?--to get upset about. & some people would just tell me to suck it up, i have it good, etc etc. but not my sister, or my family, or wes' family, or wes, or my friends, & most importantly not jesus/god. i am continuously reminded that jesus is here with me throughout the day, helping me calm down when adeline is throwing a tantrum for over 30 minutes. those things...like last friday when i wanted to jump onto a slow boat to china & just chill on that boat for about 2 months. i don't know what i'd do when i got there, but i was READY. instead we went to judy's birthday bonfire-party! good choice, i agree.

but lately we have noticed ourselves finding more joy in these daily parenting/marriage/u.s. family of 4 in the suburbs. there is joy in it, in having children & being here to watch them mature & sort of stewing in our community & home (you know: birth twice, stir a few times, sit back & watch it on a slow boil??). i guess what we're feeling, especially me, is that god is telling us that this is where we are needed to further his kingdom. sometimes i guess i do feel like i am in some foreign country battling out some terrible satan-spawned army...but then i realize it's just my children & i should stop day dreaming. *wink*

since we have returned to vineyard columbus several people that we used to be acquainted with have approached us (or one of us individually) & said how great it is to see jesus in our marriage & kids & that we are living out the life jesus has given us to the fullest...& i'm like "what? do you know i change diapers all day? & i just told me 2 year old to shut up last week?" (yea, not one of my finer moments, i know, but if you're a parent please don't lie & say you've never been there also. i have a feeling it happens to all of us at one point. mine just happened to be very recent!). anyway, i guess i am just finally understanding it all...even this mundane life is good to him.

& i had to make it over 6 paragraphs b/c wes made fun of me & said i couldn't write a post under 6 paragraphs. so i am proving him right?!?

a birthday post!

so today is my dear dear friend judy's birthday! i don't know exactly how old she is, maybe 27? *wink* but that is not the subject of my post. i want to tell you all what a great friend she is & really just what an amazing woman/mother/friend/baker/thrifter/etc she is.

i met judy through wes when we were engaged & looking for a photographer. wes said he knew this lady who knew the pastor who was marrying us & we met her &, well, so it goes. her & her hubby aaron had us over for dinner a few times & by the time we were married, i would consider her a dear friend.

judy invited me to my first scrapbooking party & didn't make fun of any of my questions or comments...when we moved to boise, she lovingly called us 'BASTARDS!' for leaving them & then happily dug out half of our plants from our clintonville abode (that didn't sell for 8 months!)...then they came to visit us in boise over valentine's day. this was the visit to remember, folks.

hhhmm, judy slept with griswold in bed. we went skiing & i have NEVER laughed so much skiing as i did that day...even thinking about it now makes me laugh & i can barely tell the story without crying from laughter. anyway, judy had a hard time skiing & it's not like i am some wonderful skiier either! so, wes & aaron (her hubby) went off to their black diamonds while judy & i attempted to conquer the step up from the bunny hill. on the way to the lift, we somehow tangled up our skis, with her sitting i believe & me with my stomach & arms holding onto the lift & our legs entangled with the skis. instead of terror filling us as the lift lifted us we were laughing & shouting & it was all very exciting as the ski lift dude ran to stop the lift & help us untangle. he just sorta looked at us like 'are you SURE you should be going up this?' after being untangled, we were lifted to the top & started to go down...but judy's version of skiing downhill is at about 3 miles an hour. so i would ski a bit, make the turn to go down the hill, then stop & wait for judy, who was all "WWWWOOOOOOAAAHHHHHH, don't you think this is a bit steep? how do you turn again? how do you stop again?" then she would fall over, just like that. folks, it was HYSTERICAL & i was crying & crying over this...it's like to stop = to fall in judy ski land. i think it took us about 30 minutes to get down the hill...but it was totally worth it.

then when we moved back to columbus, the crawford's were there helping us paint, moving furniture, bringing food over, watching adeline as we unpacked...it's like judy can predict what help someone will need & then will offer it before i could even ask.

of course, we were pregnant together last year as well which was a total hoot b/c i think we were the only people who enjoyed being around both of us at the same time...we just complained & moaned that much about the whole pregnancy stuff. i mean, we had fun doing it! 'wow, you should have seen how much i vomited this morning! oh yea? what did you eat afterwards? i went to mcdonald's & ate two breakfasts' ... we had many conversations that went that way.

what else about judy? well, she is a giver. she loves to bless people with her help for anything! need a dish? she has it. need an odd home shopping network gadget item? she has it & will loan it to you. need a photograph of your family? she can do it. need some time away from your toddler? she'll take that toddler & spoil her like crazy (wait, that could just be my toddler that she will do that with??). judy is an amazing friend, loyal & trusting & kind. she is truly a great friend & i am blessed to have her!

happy birthday, judy crawford!

37 weeks & two days in, 37 weeks & 2 days out.

that's how long it took amelia to bake in my oven, as my hubby lovingly refers to pregnancy & my uterus. i mostly agree that it's a great explanation of why i was so blazing hot during pregnancy (& i'm not talking 'sexy hot' here folks). she was in for 37 weeks & 2 days & tonight at 3 a.m. she will be out for that long.

& how different she is, thankfully. i couldn't handle a wee 6.7 pound baby for much longer than the 2 weeks she stayed that small! i remember being totally shocked that she was in the 6 pound range (but it makes sense b/c i was nauseous &/or vomiting most of the pregnancy) & a wee bit shorter than average. BUT she has more than made up for it. i don't know exactly what she weighs; my guess is around 20 pounds. & my anti-car seat regulation brain is already thinking of ways around the 1 year mark so we can turn that stupid car seat around. & we keep putting off buying her a new convertible car seat b/c we really despise going into stores like babies r us (is it just me or do the workers flock around you with questions of what we're looking for, then just annoy you the rest of the time? & so far i've found that 'buy buy baby' isn't much better). poor millie has her legs hanging over the car seat so much that she's fairly scrunched up. somehow that doesn't seem to impair her sleeping abilities in the car. thankfully.

what i find interesting to mull over is that my water broke 5, maybe 6 days before i was sent to the hospital during a routine midwife appointment...so if i had actually gone to be checked by the midwife (yes, i must point out that my mom was here & she nearly forced me to go, as she seemed to believe i was in labor already, & i was apparently) but if i had gone at that time...amelia would've been only 36 weeks & wouldn't she have been considered premature? would they have tried to keep her in me longer? put me on bed rest or something of that sort (which i would have firmly said a big N-O to, i'm sure). how was it that my water broke at the top of my uterus & i didn't really realize it & then i also didn't realize i was having 'real' contractions. that hypnobirthing stuff is for real, i guess! even in the hospital, i didn't know when i was having a contraction half the time...

anyway, i often think back to the two births & how different they were. i was talking to some ladies the other day about births & birthing options (such as hospital, home, birthing center, c-section, epidural, hypnobirthing lamaze, etc). there are so many options out there for women right now. i mean, my goodness, could you imagine being conked out with ether & having your baby pulled out with forceps & then wake up hours later hardly remembering any of it??!!! ya know, that was the norm just even 50 or 60 years ago...

the feeling i get when i think of adeline's birth is sort of this hazy glow of joy & calm & peace. even though my parents/sister/in-laws were 2 thousand miles away, wes & i were so calm & ready, although a bit sad that our families weren't there to witness their first grand child being born. but the birthing center was amazing, my midwife was there the entire time & the nurses were there when we needed them, knew what to suggest in the kindest tones. it was so peaceful, really. i was EXHAUSTED, let's not be fooled, after two hours of pushing adeline out (yea, big head & big baby! & after a few hours of pitocin, i didn't fully dilate, yet they still found a way to get her through a 9 cm dilated cervix without pain meds, slow & steady...yea, that's an amazing thing to let happen, but adeline's birth hurt me much less than amelia's.). then adeline was out & WOW was she loud...there was no tiny newborn cry. she went straight to that ear piercing baby cry & then proceeded to cry for the next 15 hours, unless she was nursing, of course. so there goes that theory that a totally calm atmosphere will birth a more calm baby, lol! i think now we know that's just addy's personality (not crying, but the 'here i am' kind of kid).

the feeling i get about amelia's birth isn't so glowy & warm, but still filled with joy, but also some confusion & frustration. the nurses didn't seem to 'get' hypnobirthing & didn't care that i was refusing pain meds but they still wouldn't let me eat or drink anything but ice chips... i feel like i told them over & over again that pitocin didn't really help me with my last birth, but they still thought it was the way to go. which is fine, but then with pitocin i couldn't be in the tub or walking around like i wanted to. then there was my wonderful hubby trying to sneak apple juice into me & then he ends up spilling it all over the floor. good times, listening to the *stick stick, stick stick* of feet walking across the floor on an apple juice sticky floor. then there was me trying to explain to the nurses that i didn't fully dilate before & i really felt the need to push & they just looked at me like i was crazy, that i had no clue about anything & they were so UN-helpful. until angel nurse amy entered the picture...she was amazing, but all the other nurses i give a big ole "poo-poo" to them. i'm glad now that i told that one off! but then amelia was so calm & quiet & tiny-itty-bitty. i didn't have my glasses on, so she was a bit blurry at first, but i was getting nervous that there was something wrong b/c she was so quiet compared to adeline. & everyone just sort of looked at me like i was crazy, then wes said, 'yea, she's so quiet' & nurse amy & my mom were like 'dears, this is what newborns sound like!' OH! thus enter our little snuggle bum, who is much quieter than her sister, but not the least bit less curious & cute.

it just seems odd that the smaller 2nd baby caused more pain & anxiety during the labor & delivery than the larger 1st baby. all i can think is that it has something to do with the location...i NEVER WANT TO BE PREGNANT AGAIN, don't get me wrong here, but if the sweet jesus above finds it in my plans to have another baby & i don't off myself before the baby is born b/c i hate pregnancy that much...i will not deliver in a hospital (unless i need a c-section, of course!).

***the only way i can think i will ever be pregnant again: wes' vasectomy doesn't take (so not only will i be in jail b/c i killed the urologist who didn't do the job properly, but i will also be a widow from murdering wesley :o) & my new baby will go to the next of kin...which could work out in my sister's favor b/c she doesn't want to be pregnant, esp after listening to my horror stories, so she gets the baby, then). the other option is that my sister can't carry her own baby, then i would force myself to be her surrogate, her baby-mama...but only if they promise to buy me lots of food & massages & listen to me complain every night b/c wes will have left me b/c he won't want to put up with me pregnant again, esp since it won't even be his own kid! if either of those options actually happen, then i will choose to not deliver in a hospital. *did that make any sense??*

so amelia, you have accomplished much in your 37 weeks & 2 days on this earth. not only have you tripled your birth weight, you have stolen the hearts of many, esp your mama's...all it takes is to see you flap your arms when i walk in the room & my heart melts a bit more. or when i see your wee little bottom wiggle as you are learning to crawl...or when you have grass hanging out of your mouth & dirt covering your face. or the look of victory when you scatter adeline's snack or puzzle or legos. or the belly laugh you do so well...you are just a heart melter & we love you beyond what you can imagine.

i think we're onto something here...

this morning wes & i BOTH gloriously slept in until 8 a.m. you may be wondering how this is possible. doesn't wes work? well, he took two days off this week to pick up our furniture yesterday & hang out with us today (we went to the zoo!). so, as i was saying, we both were able to sleep in until 8 b/c **drum roll** adeline entertained amelia for nearly an hour!

this could be a new high or low, depending on what your parenting style is...our parenting style says: this is a new high! sweeeett. amelia got up around 7:08, i heard her moving around in her crib, jabbering to herself. then i heard adeline get out of bed at some point, open her door, close our door, then go off & do something. i'm not usually the morning person of the two of us & since wes can usually never sleep past 7:30, he gets up with the girls if the are up before i get up (okay, they nearly always are up before me...what can i say, they wear me out!).

finally, at 8, wes rolls over & says in a mystified voice: "it's 8 o'clock. how are we both still in bed?" then we hear the giggling & jiggling of the girls. wes gets up first to investigate & i am about 1 minute behind him....the smell hit me before the sight. two girls had apparently filled their morning diapers with very stinky poops. yuck yuck yuck.

then i saw it: adeline was IN amelia's crib. she had brought in the (fisher price) parking garage toy into amelia's room & also all the fisher price little people cars & matchbox cars into the crib with her. she then somehow managed to climb into amelia's crib using a very small rocking chair & sheer willpower. so there the two were, amelia with a matchbox car in her mouth, rolling around in the crib with addy bouncing around tickling amelia & babbling away to amelia, who would then respond with a loud belly laugh & an inch crawl or two. & yea, they both had nasty poo bits oozing out of the diaper & amelia needed a complete outfit change due to leakage...but they were both so stinkin' giddy. (as were mom & dad for being able to sleep in).

recently it just seemed to hit adeline: this little baby amelia is going to be my best friend in the whole wide world (yes, even better than the elusive imaginary friend guy-ga).

speaking of guy-ga. this is, we think, adeline's imaginary friend. every once in awhile she will talk to something/someone & i will ask who's she talking to & she response: guyga! so now i am going through a list of questions & have somehow invented this game we play. i ask "is guyga a dog?" & she will say "iya" (which means yes in addy language). then i will look completely baffled & shocked & say "really!!!!" in this shrill voice & she will bust up laughing & shake her head noooooo & i will say "are you fooling me?!" & she will crack up again & nod her head. this could go on for HOURS. so far, we have tested whether guy-ga is a dog, bunny, snake, caterpillar, plane, etc etc etc. seriously, we have probably played this game nearly an hour, so however many THINGS/PEOPLE i can come up with in that amount of time. it's hysterical.

yep, who else can make me laugh more than these two?

the mom's day

well well, it was mother's day today, eh? so here's my top 10 (15? 5?) things about being a mom:

1. i have very animated purposes in life now (you know, adeline & amelia)

2. i have a front row seat to seeing two amazing little girls grow from birth (well, in utero as well).

3. never to i find myself twiddling my fingers thinking "what is there to do, i have nothing to do...?"; i always have something to do.

4. i get to teach these girls things about life, love, politics, jesus, friendship, etc etc...this is daunting & also very awe-some.

5. i know so much more about myself now that i'm a mom (such as, i have much less patience than wes does but i can calm both girls down faster than wes! hahaHA!)

6. everyday i get to help make memories for my girls; right now, i'm even a main character in their lives. ya know, i'm the BOMB to them, right? (well, unless adeline is being naughty, then she doesn't so much like me).

7. i can feel super-human after some days...those days when at the end of the day i am mystified as to how i am still sane, awake, & in a half-good mood. not even mentioning the fact of growing two babes in my uterus, then delivering those wiggly babies. now that is pretty darn super-human (but a very regular occurrence in this world, but it still is amazing, each & every birth).

8. i have leaned how to multi-task even more than before not being a mom...AND i have learned how to use every part of my body. even the pinky toe has a purpose beyond general balance.

9. having wee ones has also taught me to appreciate the daily things more & to also pay close attention to the small things, such as a bird chirping/flying or a neighbor walking by (we MUST say hi, right) or to smell a dandelion in the sidewalk or to love something so much (ie: going to the park) that you are willing to cry & flail around for an hour b/c you are so sad that it didn't happen...

10. i have learned that naked baby butts are very adorable indeed.

11. taking care of the environment & our national issues (politics, terrorism, social security, health care, etc) is more important to me now than ever before. i want my girls to have a stable future, right?

12. somehow taking care of a dog seems so simple when compared with a kid. sorry griswold, to think at one point i thought you were difficult!

13. i never thought i would get so excited over a new dryer. (but it dried a full load of clothes in 31 minutes today! i can hardly fold the last load fast enough!)

14. staying in pj's all day isn't as wonderful as it may sound, especially when it's the 5th day in a row (& yea, sometimes in the same pj's all 5 days, lol).

15. playing the game "guess what bodily fluid that stain could be" is actually sorta fun.

16. a trip to the grocery store with 2 young kids can last about 2 hours (during which most every person who passes us in the aisle will stop & give us either an annoyed grimace or a aren't-you-so-cute smile. we are no longer able to be ignored as strangers with 2 kids in a store, we are highly visible).

17. going to bed at 9 p.m. isn't luxurious, it's necessary.

18. i know at least 2 dozen kids book by memory but can't stinkin' remember where i put my phone/keys/water bottle or to put my shoes on or what my home phone number is or what amelia's birth date is (yes, this is a sad development in my days as a mother. i keep giving out the wrong birth date! i say 8/24/08. it's actually 8/26/08. DOI!)

19. i now see the full amazing-ness of my husband as a father/husband/provider.

20. having an emotionally conflicted day is totally normal & in no way should be mistaken for mental health problems. lol.

adeline & grandma sue sitting at the new kid's picnic table. yes, that would be my 6 foot tall MIL sitting under a tiny kid table! that's love, i tell ya.

millie shoveling it (food) in

on other amelia news: she's crawling! it's not the zippy fast crawl yet, but she is no longer doing a few knee jerks here & there; she's crawling, getting into everything, chasing her sister (slowly, but still chasing). so far today she has knocked over a glass of water, tangled herself up in a cord, pulled another cord out of the socket, knocked over an adeline lego structure, emptied addy's snack bowl, followed adeline out of our bedroom & into the bathroom where she then tried to eat a diaper, pulled plastic paint drop cloths onto herself, played in the mud outside, tried to climb onto the slide outside, got lost in the tall grass outside. basically: she's mobile! we're really enjoying it so far. but it's been a bit difficult to remember to shut the gates again (we just have them at the top & bottom of the stairs, though). it was so adorable watching her concentrate on moving her limbs in synch today, then BAM it just happend & off she went.

stupid me: i grabbed the camer, opened it & pushed the 'record' button at the same time, then after amelia was finished crawling hit the 'record' button again to end the recording...& then started actually recording. meaning, we could have gotten some of amelia's first true crawling moments on tape, but i was too idiotic & didn't actually record it.

hhh...

21. accept that when it comes to electronics, there is a reason god put me with wesley.

so for lunch today we gave adeline the plates & asked her to take them to the table...this is the table she chose, her picnic table. so i had a wonderful mother's day lunch outside on our porch squished under a kid table. it was perfect!

& this was addy's response this morning when i told her it was mama's day: "MO! MO! MO!! addy-d! addy-d!" translation: no! no! no! addy day, addy day. i know she loves me by her actions not by her words *smile*

now i'm off to eat my mother's day dessert: chocolate lava cake with whipped cream & ice cream & hot fudge (don't be jealous *wink*).