ramblings

clay's been home a.lot. over the last few weeks. cause that is what happens when mama barfs her brains out right before he's supposed to start a trip. it's been nice (not the barfing part, the having clay home part).

and so now that it's just me & the kiddos again, i have lots of random thoughts throughout the day that i'd like to share with another adult.

like...
"g's up. it is 6:18a. what to do? i guess we could clean under our bed...since it's been like 4 1/2 years..."

and
"it's 8am and the kids are running around the playroom like crazies. i'm too tired for this. why did i think cleaning under our bed was a good idea before coffee? seriously, the kids are bonkers. somebody is gonna get hurt."
and then 15 minutes later...
"told ya. lu just slammed g's finger in the play oven door. but she was SO, SO.SORRY." (her words)

or...
"holy cow. we went outside today after lunch & it was so nice & chilly i thought i should run in & get the kids' winter hats. then i checked the temperature & it was 70 degrees. when did we become lizards?!?!"

or...
"i don't feel like cooking. wanna go to chick-fil-a for dinner?" actually, i did say that to my 3 year old and she readily agreed.

and...
"so the lu is afraid of 'ghost-es-es' now. d*mn halloween. she wants me to stay in her room with her all night. since when did she become afraid of things!?! luckily i'm quick on my feet & told her that daddybear & Jesus will keep her safe. and that ghosts aren't real, they are just pretend. she seemed skeptical at best, but she did fall asleep."

and...
"i hate the night before the best cleaning ladies on earth come. seriously. it is so much work to pick up. ev-er-yyy-thing. but i'm not complaining...no, really, i'm not. i'm spoiled & they are great & i'm grateful. what would i do if they didn't show up at 8a? how would i keep stuff picked up throughout the day?"

and finally,
"it's after 10p. at 6a when the goo is up we are going to wish we had gone to bed at like 8p. why is this a lesson we have to keep re-learning?!?!"

so yeah, thanks for listening. er, reading. and if i'm really honest, i know why you are all here...and it's not because of my ramblings. so without further ado...i proudly present...thecutestkidsever.

he eats half of his meal once he's down & out of the chair.

Happy Halloween!

my loves...spooky fog! my princess
my skeleton
my man in uniform (i wish it was only a costume!)
the lu & her buddy eleanor...all smiles as trick-or-treating came to end

we had a great halloween.

it was clay's first year home to see the lu trick-or-treat.

let's just say he won't be missing another one.

he's really a softy...once you crack that hard shell.

there may have been two sets of teary eyes when we recapped how much we enjoyed the night, each other, our children & our neighborhood.

life is good.

even if poor g did throw up on himself twice due to coughing fits. didn't even realize until we got home. it's his turn to battle the upper respiratory bug. he didn't take an afternoon nap, stayed up late, and was an angel the entire night. alert with big eyes - happy as could be just checkin out all of the eye candy.

life.is.good.

ps. happy birthday to aunt brookie today :) love ya sis.

fall festival (alternatively titled THAT mom)

cinderella's halloween parade at school
the parade went around this little hay bale island...lu was lapping the other kids for reasons unknown

sweet girl waiting in line

i really think he was trying to wave!


g was feelin the spirit so he wore his tiger outfit

playing games with mrs. potts!


she doesn't look all that well, does she. she keeps saying, "i'm sorry i can't smell. i'm sorry i can't breathe." :(

i was totally THAT mom this morning. the mom whose kid is OBVIOUSLY sick & should be quarantined at home. but it was the halloween fall festival at school...and halloween is the girl's FAVORITE holiday. she has literally been looking forward to it since we got home from trick-or-treating last year. one hearty family of bugs has taken up residence in our home for the last 3-4 weeks...leading to sinus infections in now 2 of the 4 of us - the lu's first...diagnosed today after school.

she's had a bad cough for a couple of weeks now. it seemed very benign until about wednesday. i figured all the kids in her class must be sick...till we got there this morning & realized our precious pea was the only one hacking up a lung, rubbing snot all over her face...i felt all the other moms looking at her...and then at clay & me...

so i stepped out and made an appointment with our pedi. cause i want her to enjoy halloween on sunday.

and then it got worse. a big frosted cookie was followed by a craft that turned an oreo into a spider. washed down with a sugary juice box. and then the crazy coughing started. and i knew it was going to happen. and then it did. she had her hand over her mouth, and coughed, and then stopped coughing but kept her hand over her mouth...and then black oreo goo started oozing out from between her fingers. and then the hand came off & the vomit came out. all over her scratchy cinderella dress (as she calls it...apparently it is scratchy on the inside so she wears clothes underneath it).

luckily i was right next to her & was able to keep it all in a nice puddle on her gown. and one of the moms (who i am friendly with) said, "i guess you're done, huh!". she looked relieved that we'd be leaving. i can't fault her; i'd have done the same thing if i had been on the other side.

and then one of the teachers announces it is time to play games & then trick-or-treat up & down the halls. awesome timing. how can you make a three year old leave before all of the fun starts?!?!?

so she recovered. we washed up. and stayed through trick-or-treating a half an hour later (notice no costume during game time). and then we promptly went to the doctor.

pedi says the meds should kick in before 5p on sunday when we meet our friends at the park for trick-or-treating. it's only her second time on antibiotics...the first time we discovered she was allergic to penicillin. hopefully we have better luck this time.

and hopefully the other moms forgive me.

pumpkin carving

i bought a pumpkin carving kit this year...clay poo-poo'd it until he figured out he could make this....

cool, huh?

camping, the foreward

according to clay, the following scene unfolded this morning when he dropped luci off at school....

lu: hi allie! we are going camping!
allie: yeah camping! we are going camping!
lu: yeah camping!
allie: camping!
lu: i like your shirt!
allie: it matches my shirt! we are going camping!
lu: camping!
and then 3 year old girl shrieking, giggling & jumping up & down commenced...

the lu & her dad are up at huntsville state park for her first-ever camping trip. while camping is not usually my thing, i do feel like i'm missing out. yet since camping is dad's thing, at the same time it feels very appropriate that it be a special daddy/daughter event. they headed up after school today, caravan-ing with our friends the turns family who were kind enough to include us the fall camping trip they do with a bunch of their neighbors. when we picked the girls up after school one of the teacher's aides asked if the girls were going tent camping because they had been talking about it all day. too cute.

they've been gone now less than 3 hours & i miss them! i feel like 2/3 of my heart is missing! luckily i have my guster goo to keep me busy. we'd have gone, but g puts EVERYTHING in his mouth & REFUSES to sit still so we'll go next time - hopefully he'll be walking by then. tonight i'm going out for sushi with a friend that i haven't seen in a long time, so that'll make tonight go by quickly. and i'm sure they'll be home tomorrow before i know it....right?!?!?

sweet friends

wally, clara & lu...having some snack on the steps...in front of our ghetto-fabulous baby gate. cause thatz how we roll...

wordless wednesday

g...@ 9 months

Notes at 9 months...

-he's pretty much officially weaned in the last week. i may have one more session of milk in me, but that is probably about it. a bittersweet milestone for this mama.

-said weaning has lead to 16 days of diarrhea. per his pedi we are switching to a soy-based formula. i'd probably have made a different decision about weaning had i known the massive amount of poop i was going to be in for. the good news is that g doesn't really seem to be bothered in the least by his frequent bowel movements.

-he's pulling up on furniture and has started to climb...up the bottom stair, onto the trampoline, onto the little shelf under our living room end tables...

-i am sleeping through the night...i'm not sure if he is. i turn my fan up on high (so it is loud) and close my bedroom door and i sleep through the night. and when he wakes up now in the AM he isn't screaming. he's usually happy. so i'm thinking it was time for BOTH of us to start sleeping through the night.

-he can't get enough to eat. eats a whole jar of baby food eagerly with every meal. plus finger foods. he loves him some lil muncher/cruncher puffs. to the point that if he sees the container out on the table he won't eat anything else. and if i take it away he puts his head down & sobs. sad baby.

-he LOVES his big sister and wants whatever she has.

-he wants more face time with the cat, mr. milo.

-the weaning has helped him bond with Dad...now there are two parents with the goods and whoever is holding the bottle is the favorite of the moment ;)

-he's a squealin fool. i do think he knows mamam because when he really wants me he'll say mamam. but he doesn't do it very often.

-we play the 'eh' game. he says 'eh' and waits for me to say it back. as soon as i do he comes right back with 'eh'...and so it goes.

- we just moved on to size 4 huggies. still in 12-18 month onesies and 12 mo separates.

-now that the weather has finally cooled a bit we get to go outside & play. he doesn't love to wear shoes, but he does love to be pushed in his little red car & on the swing. he doesn't think much of the slide yet.

-he sleeps in sleep sack with his paci.

-he likes to snuggle with his mama in a way his sister never did. i'll be honest, as much as i love sleeping through the night, i miss those late night sweet, sweet snuggles.

it's bittersweet i tell ya, watchin these babies grow up...

trampoline danger

gus gus can now climb....let the danger fun begin!!



no babies were harmed in the making of these photos ;)

my girl.

halloween cookies...round 1 of many, i'm sure.

she started to fade after decorating the first sheet of cookies.

i'll be honest...after i caught her eating spoons full of sprinkles i was relieved to have some less sugar coated sugar cookies!

my boy.

his daddy wants to cut that precious hair over his ears.

i just can't let him do it yet.

i know i'm biased, but could he be any cuter? as the lu would say, "i want to EAT yourself!" translation? we think it is her interpretation of one of my favorite phrases (you're so cute...i just want to eat you up...which is usually followed by lots of kisses).

strange interpretation, i know. it cracks clay & me up every time.

behind, again

my goo is officially 9 months old. got lots of great photos to post of him and some notes, but not enough energy tonight to tackle said post.

so, just wanted to say all is well. kitchen brainstorming/looking for items/shopping has been consuming me. i've purchased 10 used kitchen chairs in the last week. for a combined $110 ;) i love them all, but both sets need work. it seems everything needs work! and of course i have the 6 old chairs to sell....

i'm busy making pelmet boxes for the kitchen windows with this fabric. got one done tonight, but not hung yet (that is a job for the man ;). last night i put these cabinet knobs up. power tools don't scare me...although maybe the possibility of ruining our cabinet doors should have! i still have the island hardware & all drawers to finish because i'm thinking i'll mix up the hardware for those items. and of course i still have a laundry list of other things i'd like to get accomplished...yesterday!