Culinary Skillz

The Nut fixed herself a sandwich. Picture it----hamburger bun, mustard, ham, lettuce. Not too shabby. What did she add to put it over the top fantastic?

Grape jelly.

She ate it.

She liked it.

She can't be my child.

Parents Just Don't Understand!!!!

I thought we had a few more years before we got to that phase. Our neighbors had a crawfish boil yesterday and TGTBT and The Nut spent some time over there. I tried all day to get dressed to go but velcro baby was having none of it. Later that evening The Nut walked in front of me all sullen looking. I asked what was wrong.

"Sigh----I really wanted to keep that crawfish but Daddy wouldn't let me."

TGTBT pipes up. "It was dead, Peanut."

"I know! I didn't want a live one because it would pinch me!"

"Well, you can't keep a dead crawfish because it'll start to stink."

"That's better than it pinching me!"

So TGTBT and I are talking over each other giving her reasons why keeping a dead crawfish isn't a good idea and she lets out an exasperated sigh and stomps off to her room saying, "You guys just don't understand!" And she slammed her door for good measure. Six years old. I told TGTBT that I can't imagine what's in store for us when PMS hits.

TGTBT has been shuffling around and going through lots of frozen peas the past few days. I also caught him with my broccoli florets so there goes my plans for chicken fried rice. I ask him every half hour or so if he has any regrets yet and he always says 'no' so that's good. It's still hard for me to fathom the idea of no more babies. Ever. I still don't think it's really sunk in and I doubt it will until I start getting baby fever.

I suppose I'm just not used to making decisions based on logic only. I usually weigh things by giving about 50% to logic and 50% to emotions or gut feelings. In this case my emotions say there's a very good possibility I/we will want more kids down the line but the logic screams that 3 is enough.

I just need to keep picturing family vacations in about 3 years with no infants. And no more waking 3-4 times at night to nurse. And no more buying diapers. And no more packing the entire dresser in the diaper bag just to run to the store.

And no more kicks in my belly. And no more meeting someone so new yet so familiar. And no more tiny fuzzy heads on my shoulder. And no more losing myself in baby blue eyes while I nurse. And no more cuddling up against a small warm body while I sleep.

And now, no more wistful thoughts. I'm off to go cuddle up against a small warm body and go to sleep.

TGTBT Has Gone and Done it.........

this morning he had the Big V. Our childbearing years are now most definitely over. I've been pretty ambivalent about it but now that it's done I feel relief. We can now move on to the next stage in our life which is exciting. He's staying at his father's house today and tonight so that he doesn't have to deal with kids running around and possibly jumping on him while he recovers. I'm sure that by the time he gets home tomorrow I'll be totally over the thought of ever wanting any more kids. :o)

Yesterday my mother and sister were visiting and they wanted to see the changes we've made to the house so far. So I finished nursing the baby and stood up and started to usher them outside. I began tugging on the bottom of my shirt to make sure it was pulled down and my tummy wasn't showing as there are workers crawling all over the place inside the house. About the time my sister piped up and said something I felt the breeze. I was wearing a nursing tank under my shirt and was so concerned about making sure it was down over my belly that I left my boob hanging completely out. Like my sister said, I've spent the better part of the past 2 years nursing babies so it seems much more natural to me to have my boobs uncovered. TGTBT is a fan of nursing for that reason.

Anyway, I'm in sort of a 'blah' mood today and I'm having trouble thinking of funny things the kids have done lately so I'm signing out now. This is probably the quietest and calmest it'll be over here for the next couple of days and I don't want to waste it by "working."

One last note though before I go. My aunt was in a bad car accident a few days ago and is in critical condition. She has multiple injuries and some extenuating circumstances that make it difficult to treat her the way they normally would. I'd appreciate it if you would keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Yesterday was AWESOME!

Not really, no. Night before last was pretty hectic with the baby so the kitchen didn't get cleaned and both sinks were stacked sky high with dishes. I also didn't get to take a bath so I was already in a foul mood when I woke up. I played with the baby for a while and then realized that she had peed out of her diaper and her pajamas smelled like old dry pee. Which meant I now smelled like old dry pee. On top of my self-generated filth.

So I stumbled into the kitchen and eyed the filth in there and was trying to figure out which filthiness I wanted to tackle first---kitchen or myself---when TGTBT comes in from the house and says, "FYI, the plumbers are about to turn off the water." Niiiiiiiiiiice. All I have to say is it's a good thing I'm a lackadaisical housekeeper and dirty dishes don't drive me up the wall AND that TGTBT has a sinus infection and can't smell anything right now.

Later that afternoon Frito added to the fun. I was getting ready to lay the baby down for a nap and she was ALMOST asleep in my arms when Frito threw a blanket over her head and started shuffling around moaning like a ghost. She walked over to me and lifted the blanket and said, "Boo!" She no longer says, "Bah." :o( We 'boo'd' back and forth at each other a few times and then she pulled the blanket back down over her head and turned to walk away. She stepped on the blanket and went face first into the coffee table.

She screams and cries which scares the heck out of the baby so SHE'S screaming and crying and I'm trying to calm them both down when blood starts pouring out of Frito's mouth. I tossed the baby (not really----I laid her gently down) onto the couch and call TGTBT's cell phone to tell him to get in here ASAP. Frito wouldn't let me look inside her mouth to see how badly she was hurt and I'm picturing the worst and an emergency trip to the dentist. TGTBT comes in and is pretty much useless because his hands are covered in grime from working in the house and we have no WATER to wash them. All this time both girls are screaming their heads off.

TGTBT finally just uses his dirty thumb to lift Frito's upper lip and he says, "Hey, look at this." I look. And my body temperature raises about 100 degrees and I start to feel woozy. I actually have to lay my head in my hand and I tell TGTBT that I'm about to pass out. Somehow, the inside of her upper lip, the area where the cleft is that's between the nose and upper lip, is STUCK between her two front teeth. TGTBT asks me why I'm about to pass out and I start to cry, "Because my baby's LIP is stuck between her TEETH and she's BLEEDING!" Did I mention that I'm a big ol' whimp when it comes to my kids getting hurt? Yeah, I have.

Now Frito's not crying anymore and she's looking very confused. She looks at me and then at TGTBT and points at me as she babbles as if to say, "What the heck's HER problem?" I try to compose myself to not upset her and after a few minutes the blood stops and she goes back to sucking her thumb and running around playing. I, however, have had multiple panic attacks every time I picture what happened.

I guess it's a good thing we had all girls because from what I hear, little boys pretty much have a new injury every day to deal with. Maybe someone who knows better than I knew I couldn't handle it.

Zero Tolerance = No Common Sense

I am so irritated right now. I am just fed up with the public school system. EVERYTHING has to be made an issue and there's no more "let's call the parents and let them handle it."

I got a call from the principal today telling me to come get The Nut because she was hugging and kissing a boy on the field during P.E. He also said that she's suspended tomorrow which is the last day of school.

Ok. These kids are six. It's not like they were frenching each other. If anything it was a peck or two MAYBE on the lips but most likely on the cheek. At any rate, they're SIX. Does it really require a suspension? Can they not see the difference between 2 sixteen year olds kissing in an empty classroom and 2 six year olds pecking on the field during P.E.? One scenario is serious and the other is innocent. In fact, not too long ago adults would giggle at 2 six year olds kissing and would maybe even take pictures. GASP. Now it's grounds for disciplinary action.

@@ <----------That's me rolling my eyes.

I wish I could homeschool but I know my limitations. Too bad we don't live next door to a retired teacher who loves kids and wants a little extra income. I just don't see things getting any better over the next 11 years.

Technical Difficulties

The Nut just came up to me and told me she couldn't get the apple juice machine to work. I was confused until I went into the kitchen.

I recently bought a pitcher to put the apple juice in since we buy the giant one gallon glass containers of juice. This was the first time she used the pitcher and didn't know she had to turn the lid so the open part was lined up with the pour spout.

Apple juice machine, LOL.

Don't Report Us For Neglect

My sister wanted me to post what happened recently. For background, The Nut and Frito are both pale white with blond hair and light eyes. My sister's husband is Mexican and their little girl, I'll call her "A," takes after him. She and The Nut are only 4 months apart so they're very close. The other day The Nut came out of her room with 2 sock puppets she had made and asked me if I could guess which one was "A."

I feel SO bad about not posting in so long. The problem is that I have a velcro baby and it's extremely hard to type one-handed. My email replies average about 1 sentence lately and I can't be held responsible for typos. Luckily, she stayed asleep this morning when we rolled out of bed so I'm able to update.

She generally only sleeps soundly if I'm uncomfortable. She likes to be pressed right up against me with my boob either in her mouth or at least resting on her cheek. That means I have to be curled up around her with one arm flung over her head and I have to be STILL. That one arm starts to freeze up AND just freeze since I'd have to put a blanket over her head to cover it up. So I don't sleep well and then I hurt when I wake up. Good times.

This morning The Nut was up first and she asked if we wanted her to get Frito out of the crib when we heard her stirring around. So they were up for some time while we dozed. Then The Nut came back in to tell us that Frito had taken off her diaper. Instead of getting up and taking care of it TGTBT asks her to please put another diaper on The Nut. So off she goes. We can hear her struggling with Frito and Frito is squealing and fighting back.

Now, good parents would have gotten up then and taken over. REALLY good parents wouldn't have made their 6 year old take care of the 2 year old in the first place. Being just mediocre parents, we laid in bed and giggled at the sounds of the drama. Then we heard The Nut say, "There! She won't get that diaper off now!" And she giggled. All I could picture was Frito walking around covered in scotch tape.

Frito came and climbed into bed and I saw that The Nut, genius that she is, had put the diaper on her backwards. I looked at TGTBT and he looked at me and then shrugged and said, "Hey, if it holds everything in and stays on, who cares?"

When she got dressed she put her shirt on backwards too. She's just keeping with the theme.