Getting in the car

There are many simple daily activities that are no longer simple with children, getting in the car is one of them. I am not sure it is the most difficult of activities, but it is up there. I like to think that if I had a nice big attached two car garage (preferably heated with painted floors and a shoe organizer rack) that my life would be significantly easier. Truth is, if you make one activity easier there is usually something waiting in the wings to pop up and say, "ha! now you have to deal with me too!"

Anyway, as I was getting in the car the other day to take Jonah to school I turned to look back towards my house and at my three children attempting to make it to the car (or not) and I thought, I MUST write about this. Some day I will forgot this and bee-bop out to my cute little two door sports car, hop in and drive off without a care in the world (that is if we ever get this birth control thing figured out).

The distance from my car door to my front door is about 30 feet I would guess. It is a straight shot, with a nice sidewalk (usually cleared off, even in the worst snow, by my husband). There are not that many distractors along the way, mostly grass and a couple potted plants by the door. We keep the porch swept and free from toys, shoes, rocks, etc. However, on this particular day (which is typical) I looked back and this is what I saw:

Jonah, to his credit, was closest to the van but had dropped both school bags, his lunch and almost lost his cost which was dangling down around the bend in his elbows while he bent to lick some snow off a muddy leftover lily steam. I believe there was actually a dead lily branch in his mouth.

Elias had made it half way up the sidewalk before he managed to trip and face plant into the one an only spot of mud on the cleared side walk. Instead of getting up he laid there and tried to lick the snot off his nose, for entertainment I suppose.

Bebe did not even make it to the sidewalk. She was still on the porch, crouched down by the flower pot happily eating dirt.

I took a deep breath and in my nicest voice reminded Jonah that he would have nothing to eat if he left his lunch in the front yard. Although he was closest to the van he ended up being the last in. I picked up Elias first and buckled him in - a quick aside note: I greatly dislike car seats in the winter. Trying to buckle a toddler into a tight, 5 point harness WITH a winter coat on is as close to impossible as it gets. But, I did it, as I do everyday at least twice a day.

Bebe was next and she screamed the whole time because I took the rock that she was chewing on away. She is slightly easier to fit the seatbelt around, but has much more, um...personality to deal with than Elias does.

Jonah was last. I don't even remember what he was doing by the time I got his brother and sister buckled. I know that I shut the doors and drove off about 10 feet in order to get his attention. He started screaming, "Don't leave me!!! Don't leave me!!!" so I stopped and let him in. Not because I didn't want to leave him, but rather because he was the whole reason we were getting in the car in the first place. He climbed in and like a true parent, I just HAD to repeat myself a 15th time and say, "get in your seat!" I know he knew that was what he was supposed to do, but sometime you just can't help yourself. He stopped and looked at me for a moment then said, "You know mom, you're kinda annoying."

"Oh, ya?" I responded as calmly as possible.
"Ya, you just keep saying the same thing over and over."

I said nothing, but rather buckled him in and finally drove off towards school. Someday I will reread this and just have to go jump in my car, all by myself and drive off with ease..............just for the hell of it!

Jonah quote 1/20/2011

"Mom, I don't want to be a person that doesn't have any talent. I want to be a people that can do many and strange things."

I love the way he worded that last part. I have all the confidence in the world that he will indeed do many AND strange things. He already does!

This is what he told me while I was scrubbing the bathroom floor and he was in the bath. Sometimes that most interesting things come out when doing the most uninteresting chores :) Thus, another reason to do your chores.

Stereotypical Pregnancy

As I baked a cake this afternoon, just because I WANTED this cake NOW, I realized.....I'm acting exactly like they say you will when you read about being pregnant. I'm pretty sure, although correct me mom if I just don't remember right, that I was not so stereotypical with my last two pregnancies. With Jonah I craved grapefruit, that is it (and still gained 50 lbs!). I barely had any morning sickness and when I went into labor, I was holding Jonah less than 5 hours later (Not typical). The twins just didn't go normal because, well, it was twins. I had to sit down the last 9 weeks of that pregnancy and was not just uncomfortable, but miserable. However, with this 3rd pregnancy, everything that I ask the doctor about or read about on google basically says, "ya, that is typical."

I will spare you with all of my disgusting pregnancy symptoms, if you have been pregnant you know what I'm talking about, but if you have not then to answer your question, yes...whatever you are thinking probably IS happening right now (pregnancy is gross). Anyway, I just felt the need to document that I am having a text book pregnancy. Not sure why it took 6 months for me to realize that, but that too is typical - at least of me- to not realize the obvious; this is something I did even before I had kids, but I can usually at least blame it on the kids now :)

So, that is my update.....I'll get to the kids later!

for G

This post is for G. She requested this story be shared and I will do my best. I can't really remember anything that happened longer than 30 minutes ago with much trusted accuracy, but I have retold this enough that I'll get the point across.

Jonah and G were in the "play room" (in our house rooms change ever few months based on need and this room is what would be called the formal dinning room if our house was on the market.) Anyway, they were in the playroom and G was trying to get Jonah to ask me something first before he did whatever thing it was he wanted to do. I walked in about this time and heard this,

"Oh, I just do it and THEN ask mama that way she usually says yes."

This quote really embodies Jonah and his train of thought. G laughed so hard she almost spit her coffee out. Strangely, I have NO idea what it was he wanted to do. He probably just went ahead and did it while we were trying to pretend not to laugh.

4 month update

So, we fell off the radar for a bit (and Tootsie -as Jonah calls her/him is not even here yet!). Jonah is continuing to grow like a weed. He literally has NO pants that go below his ankle bone but they still fall off his waste so we are putting off a shopping trip. However, I did win the "mother-of-the-year-award" when he went with dada to buy a new pair of shoes (only because he made it to the farm with only rain boots that got soaked in the snow storm - anyways....). They came home with a size 11, which is not that impressive unless you know that I have been sending him to school in size 7!!!!!!!!! Yes, he has been telling me that he only wanted to wear his open toe sandles in the middle of winter, but hey they are "Cars" themed so I thought that was why. I did ask if I could check his tennis shoes on a number of occasions, but those of you that know Jonah know that he does NOT liked to be messed with and touching his foot is OUT of the question completely. So, I was unaware that his shoes were 4 sizes too small. Oops. I'm sure that is the first of many times that my children will be uncomfortable, but I like to think that I will be a little more wise to the source of this discomfort in the future.

Now, the twins. *sigh* They are the BEST babies you will ever meet. Seriously, I challenge someone to find better babies. This is not to say that I'm not exhausted by 5 pm everyday, but it could be much worse. They still take two naps, so I spend my day getting kids up, feeding them, changing them, putting them back to bed and doing it all again - 3 times a day :) Oh and please don't think "oh, so they sleep a lot and she has a ton of free time." Or, I guess, think that if you want - but it is grossly inaccurate. My favorite question is, "what did you do today," by either my husband or mom. Now, both of them already know the answer, but just can't resist asking. During nap times I clean up all the shit from when they are awake then I prepare, as much as possible, for when they get back up. That's it. That is what I do. Glorious, isn't it? And yet, I love it!

Maddie has finished her horse season and was able to spend some holiday time with us both at the farm and in C'ville. Jonah absolutely LOVES big sissy and asks all the time when she is coming. We also love when big sissy is here, not only because there is an extra hand :) but because the four kids meld so well. They seem like they are supposed to be crunched up together in this little house and any stranger would be amazed to see the inner workings of things around here. There is very little fighting, but rather some kind of just natural understanding between everyone that allows us to just "be" together and enjoy our time. This is not to say that it is calm, quite and relaxing, but it IS fun and perfect!

Dada has been very busy with work and somehow seems to enjoy what he does, but he sure has a crazy schedule. However, I am thankful that has the job he does, which allows me to stay home with the children. I am living my dream, being a mom of many. It is even better than I was ever able to imagine. Most people think I'm crazy, especially people at the grocery store, but they have no idea. I'm the lucky one here!

So, we've had Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years since my last post. I promise to do better (maybe) in 2011. But for now, here are some pictures from the past 4 months.



The babies at Maddie's horse show.




Aren't these two cute! They look more and more alike everyday. Yes, Elias is ALWAYS this serious. The jury is still out on wether or not Jonah and him have an ounce of similarity (so far we have found none).



After a great day down at the river. Everyone went in, even the twins :)



Example of my halloween cake pops! I started doing these in September (I think) and they have taken off.



Here is my logo and name.



Jonah's self-made costume. I offered to make him one, but it was more fun for him to go through boxes in the attic and come up with his "racing sports dragon"



Thanksgiving at the Campbell's (not our house). You can just barely see Sandy and Maddie on the right hand side. It was the best pic I had, and the only of Thanksgiving because I was the only one taking pictures this year - so no one can complain.



Maddie and Jonah - captured quite honestly I might add :)



Bebe: "Why are you always so serious?"
Elias: "Please don't touch me, I'm sure your hands are dirty."




Family photo 2010



An attempt at capturing all 4 kids - it was the best we could do!



20 week pregnant with #4 "Tootsie". Dressed up for Dada's Xmas party.



Jonah Christmas morning. Yes, he is wearing fairy wings (Bebe got those from Santa).



Elias Christmas morning with his new backpack and grocery cart.



Bebe Christmas morning with the fairy wings, hat, gloves and boots (or I guess boot)



Just one last cake pop picture. I just made these for a baby shower and loved them, so I had to include them in our family blog :)