Hooray for Babies!

J. and I just went to see the movie Juno, which was most excellent! It is a great date night movie.

And for the tiniest moment I wanted to feel the miracle of being pregnant again.

Then I remembered the three to four months of constant puking (with both pregnancies) and the extreme tiredness in every bone of my body, and the inability to heave myself off of the sofa as I reached epic whale-like proportions. Oh, and that is the easy part. The hard part begins the minute they make that grand entrance into the world.

Ugh. So I decided instead, I am going to live vicariously through my bloggy friend Colleen who just found out she is expecting a little brother or sister for Zoe! Go on over and see Zoe letting the “cat out of the bag.”

I am so very excited for all of them – congrats, Colleen!

(And I’m sure that your pregnancy is going to be easy and wonderful. And the baby will sleep like a champ from the moment you bring them back home! Hee…)

How do you get to Chaos?

I was just perusing my blog stats because I haven’t done it in awhile, and I was looking through the search keywords that lead people to me, like when they type something into Google, and somehow it will bring my site up. For awhile I was getting a lot of “girl poopy pants.” Made me a little uncomfortable, I’m hoping it was just people trying to figure out how to get their girls to stop doing it, but whatever.

Among today’s searches are some funny ones though

How to tell if a turtle has died? Um…he isn’t moving and seems a little stiff? That is a pretty good indicator, I think. That is how we knew with dear old Tuck.

Cut your own cute bangs. Whew. Fairly certain that they did not find what they were looking for at our site. Em’s bangs are getting longer, but they are still definitely not cute.

And my favorite –

Bossiness in firstborn girls. It isn’t just in the firstborn girl I’m raising (or others I know). It must be some sort of epidemic!

I’m off to take my bossy, little firstborn to school. Hallelujah! I don’t know who is more excited, me or her.

A glimmer of hope…

I am not a political junkie by any means. Usually I scan the headlines, pick up what I “need to know” – when I need to know it, and I am a great “armchair critic.” I can sit here and tell you what is wrong and what needs fixing in this country, but I do not have any idea how to go about it, nor do I go out and participate in any sort of activism.

But I have been sitting here, eating dinner completely fascinated with the PBS analysts going through the Iowa caucus numbers.

Our “guy” has a true shot here. There could be a monumental and pivotal moment in U.S. history this year.

I remember a few years ago when Barack Obama spoke at the Democratic National Convention and J. and I watched his speech with our mouths gaping open. He is a phenomenal speaker. I literally had goosebumps as I sat and listened to that obama_mama.jpgspeech and I remember saying to J. that night, “Man, I would vote for him for President in a second.”

He really is astounding and if you have never listened to him speak, do yourself a favor and go listen to this and this. (And if you only have a little time – listen to the second one, the second half of his speech…that is when it gets REALLY good.)

We kept that speech on our Tivo for the longest time, and it was a good, little reminder that there are still politicians out there who are honest, sincere, smart, eloquent, and have a view of how our great country should be run.

I was thrilled when he was elected as our senator (when we lived in Illinois) and I have been cautiously optimistic that I would someday be able to vote for him for President as well.

I have jumped wholeheartedly on his bandwagon. I am an ObamaMama.

I am so hopeful…

Color ~ Theme Thursday

Theme Thursday has moved over to Stacy’s Land. Check out the fun photos on Thursdays and look for the theme for the week, which she posts on Saturdays along with some helpful photography tips.

This week the theme is color. I had intended on going out to shoot some of the “winter” color we have around these parts, and make all of you stuck up in the frozen tundra – jeaaalous.

But, alas, I did not make it out on such an expedition, and since I showed off Ad’s cute hat for BSM, I figured I should use this photo for my color photo. Because if this isn’t a display of how colorful our little Emma is, I don’t know what is!

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Speaking of color – I am having a little bit of a problem when I upload my photos to WordPress. It seems to wash them out, a lot. If you click on some of them, you can see the difference in the Flickr photos. Anybody else notice this in WordPress?

What do you mean… ~ Wordless Wednesday

…Nena went home?
…Daddy has to actually go to work?
…We are back to boring old Mom all day again?
…I can’t have Christmas candy for breakfast?

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Well, that just doesn’t make any of us happy.

(Mommy predicts tantrums of epic proportions in the forecast for the remainder of the week while we try to get back into the routine. I am guessing at least an 85% chance.)

It’s only Wednesday? Really?

It is only Wednesday. It has been the loooongest week. I only wish that I was getting some stuff done in this seemingly never-ending week.

J. is gone this week. Again. It is the third straight week, but who is counting? And I know he is just as tired of traveling as we are of having him gone. And I also know that I shouldn’t be complaining, but…well, just indulge me. A few minutes, please?

Oh, I’m trying so very hard to be patient. But I believe I used up my very last ounce of patience. All gone. Oh, about 8am, on Monday morning. The girls have just been bickering about every last thing.

I have even pulled out the big guns, “Santa is watching and not going to stop at our house this year.” It works for about 10 minutes, then it is promptly forgotten. No amount of begging, pleading, or timeouts are working.

And the whining. My God, the whining! It is making my ears bleed.

And….ok, I’m….done. No more complaining.

So let’s look at a few sweet photos from a birthday party that we attended this past weekend, shall we?

Let us remember the sweet little girls that are hidden somewhere under the little monsters that seem to have taken over their bodies this week.

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Today is another day. Monsters be gone.

Nose to the Corner ~ Wordless Wednesday

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(Okay, I can’t be completely Wordless on this one. This is Daddy’s discipline trick…the corner. I use the step. And yes, she definitely listens better to Daddy. But I can’t help but laugh when I see her stand in the corner…on her tippy toes, just waiting to be released. The giggling and taking photos probably isn’t sending the right message to her, is it now?)

Crafty Tuesday

Looky, looky here! I have something crafty this week.

I have some Christmas cards to show you all, (since they are finally finished and were mailed out today, hooray!!) but I think I’ll wait til next Tuesday so it won’t spoil the surprise in mailboxes this week.

But I did just finish 2 tutus. They are too, too cute – if I do say so myself.

This is Addie’s, she is going to be dancing to the Pinocchio song in the recital on Saturday. They are wearing red on the bottom and white leotards.

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And Em’s. They are dancing as pink poodles (?), so they just need to be in all pink.

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I am making 3 or 4 more for Christmas presents, I should probably get on that. My sister was giving me grief for procrastinating. She called tonight while I was furiously trying to finish them, and yes, it is true that the dress rehearsals are tomorrow morning. But it isn’t procrastination, it wasn’t like I was putting it off, I have just been working down my list of to-dos. And I finally got to them.

Anyhow, they are done, but the pics don’t really do them justice. I’ll take more photos tomorrow (well, today) when they are on the little cuties. It is also a little bit of a dress rehearsal for the tutus…let’s hope they don’t fall apart!

How about you? Any Christmas craftiness to share?

Christmas Cheer ~ Best Shot Monday

I finally have it. After a packed and productive weekend, I am the proud owner of both a little bit of Christmas spirit and a much shorter to-do list. And it feels good.

We put up not one, but two Christmas trees on Saturday. It was so fun with the girls this year. I’ve said it a hundred times once or twice before, and I’ll say it again…the girls are at the BEST age right now. They are still excited about family time and truly do want to be helpful. I know some day they will not be so anxious to help, and I’ll be left decorating by myself, so I am just eating it up while I can.

Testing out the lights. She kept saying “Are they hot, Mama?”

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Em was an ornament-hanging pro by the end of the night. Very serious about the task and I didn’t even have to go back and re-arrange after her. Well…not too much.

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Every ornament was paid proper respect and excitement. Ad couldn’t believe this one had her name on it!

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And Em loves every ornament from when she was a “baby.” She kept asking, “Was this one mine when I was a tiny baby?”

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So our house is completely decorated. It looks amazing. J and I got a ton of shopping done on Friday. And I also finished my Christmas cards on Saturday (also with a little bit of help from my Christmas elf, Em!).

Not that I don’t have a bunch of stuff to do still, but what a difference a weekend makes. I think I’ll just go turn out the lights and enjoy the fire and the pretty tree.

I’m making this one my Best Shot Monday. The soft glow of Christmas is upon us.

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Make sure to stop over to Tracey’s to see some other glowing Best Shot Monday photos.

Why I run…

I was reading an article in my Runner’s World today while I was waiting at the doctor’s office. It was written by a guy proclaiming that while he runs, he is “one with nature,” he has a “clear head” and exists in a completely “Zen-like state.”

Ha! Double Ha! That is so not why I run. In fact, I don’t think I have ever been in any sort of Zen-like state while running. My mind goes a million miles a minute, it is a bit schizo. Here is a glimpse of what went through my mind – my conversation with myself – while on my run this evening.

Let’s count the number of topic changes, shall we?

-Ahhhh, tonight is perfect running weather.

-And it isn’t nearly as dark as it was the other night, must be because it is so cloudy.

-Man, I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow – I really want to take the girls to the park. They need to go to the park. They haven’t been to the park in over a week now.

-Which park should we go to…maybe the little one by the gym.

-I can’t believe that house I love so, is still for sale. Well, actually I can – it is darn expensive even for our neighborhood.

-Oh, I love their wreaths. So pretty.

-I wonder if anyone can tell that all of the wreaths on our french doors are not the exact same size? Two of them aren’t that much smaller, but a little.

-Crap, I just felt a drop. I think it is going to start to rain. Either that or I just peed on myself. Man, having two 8 pound babies lounging on your bladder for 9 months each really does reek havoc on a system.

-I do like my new running shorts, though. They don’t seem to bunch up like my other ones.

-Wow! The Christmas lights on one of my other favorite houses look really pretty.

-I have to remember to look up that stupid Puppy Alarm Clock online tonight. Why didn’t I just buy it one of the 200+ times we looked at it while in Target? I’ve had over seven months. Emma will be so disappointed if there is not an alarm clock under the tree.

-Whoa…the lights on that house are a disaster. Looks like a gingerbread house on crack. Did they take every different color of lights and every different strand-type of lights and just throw them out there to see what would happen? Yikes.

-So, when I get home – I need to make sure that I email those comps to Russell. I’m just not sure what I don’t like about them still, but I’m sure he will like something about one of them – I need to get them to him.

-I also really need to finish up the Christmas cards. Such a huge relief – the minute they are all mailed. Maybe by tomorrow night they could be ready to go. That would be nice.

-Guy! I’m not going to run out in the street, just go. I can’t see you – I can’t tell if you can see me. Just go, friend!

-This is a pretty dark little section of our street.

-I’m almost home, though.

-Running in the dark is good for my time. Makes me definitely run faster. Or maybe it was the two cups of coffee? Yeah, probably the coffee.

-Only a few more blocks. My knees actually feel pretty good.

-And no rain. So the drop on my leg must have been from a mud puddle, or I really did pee on myself a little. I”m going to go with the puddle. The mud puddle.

-I wonder if Meesh and I could really swing a fun get-away for her 30th Birthday. That would be super fun. Where should we go, how long could I get away for? If it was during the summer, Denise could probably help out.

-What am I going to do for Christmas for Denise? It should be a good present. She totally deserves it.

-Ugh…what am I going to get for Jamie? I’ve got nothin’ here.

-I’m so excited he comes home tonight. I hope he gets home before the girls go to bed.

-Oh, but it is a good TV night. Early to bed for girlies. We’ll see. Maybe they can stay up. Remember to ask D. if they rested today.

-I have to take my car in tomorrow for the maintenance check. I could do it while E. is at school and just take A. with me. That might work.

-Okay, that was a good run tonight. Gotta turn on our balcony Christmas lights.

-What am I going to blog about tonight?