just a few random thoughts.

So here's our morning in a nutshell, a true "nut" shell, cause we're all quite nutty around here.

Wake up with dark circles because no one really slept last night (Jared's in AZ getting sunburned at spring training baseball games, and golfing).

Smile because my parents are on their way, and I might get a few minutes of rest.

Smile again because for once Maddie is the first one dressed and looking all pretty. After all, it is picture day, and her teacher said they needed to look nice. She even slathered on some of my lipgloss. She is a true girly girl.

Take Colin and Maddie to school, turning around only once, because I've forgotten their picture money.

Return home with a sleeping Gavin, he must have known I'd like to shower and dress without his usual screaming. Or maybe he needed to catch up on all the zzz's he lost last night when he woke up every 2 hours.

Clean Kate up and put two very long braids in her hair, hoping that one day I can convince her to let me trim it.

Have breakfast, I must really be a bad cook, I burned the toaster struedal.

Feed Gavin a little banana, get a little banana in my hair.

Cringe because it is snowing.

And finally type one handed, because both Gavin and Kate want to be held.

That is my cue to get off the computer. I hope your morning has been one to remember.
And lastly, a Disney movie trivia question. What movie is this little conversation from?
"Flo, what do you have in your store?"
"Gas, I have lots of gas."

Kate turns 3!

So, our little Kate turned 3 on Sunday. She really didn't have a clue, so we made a big deal about it being her birthday, now she is three (each time we held up our fingers, she would count 4,5,6) and that she would get presents. Slowly she came around, and by the afternoon, she was pretty excited.

We decorated cupcakes, and because Jared was tired of filling cupcake cups, we had a little round cake as well. No fancy decorating here, just pink frosting and pink sprinkles. What more can a little girl want?

Her first year of blowing out the candles herself.

When she finally did it, she was happy. Well, I'm not sure if this was when she blew the candles out, or when I blew them out and sent a spark flying towards them. We lit them and sang "Happy Birthday" a few different times, because she was liking it so much.

Maddie with her lovely cupcake.

Kate cruisin' on her new trike.


And Gavin spent a lot of time discovering this birthday card from Grandma.

All in all it was a fun day. I would post pictures of her first couple birthdays, but Gavin is super fussy today, and I don't think he'll let me search through our disks to find them. Maybe another day this week we'll travel back through Kate's first few years. She has been a lot of fun, and brings laughter into our home each day. I'm sure we have many more adventures in store with Kate in the future. But for now we just have some pink cake to eat.

Kate cracks me up.

So lately, Kate has been making me giggle with some funny conversations.
Today:
Kate(as she walks into the room): "What you watchin?"
Colin: Cartoons.
Kate: Oooh! I love cawtoons!

A few mornings ago:
Me: Kate, do you want a bite of my cereal?
Kate: No fanks, mom.

Almost daily:
Kate: Mom what's dis?
Me: That's a square.
Kate: Yah, you wight! Good job!

She keeps us on our toes, and she keeps us laughing.

And sadly, Colin stayed home sick today. He woke up last night with a fever and aches. He looks really uncomfortable. So, all morning he's been sleeping and watching t.v.

Then, around 1:30, Maddie called from school with a stomach ache and fever. So, it looks like they'll be staying close to home. I on the other hand am still going to Bunco tonight. You can't keep me away from a girl's night out! I'll make sure to wash my hands really good before I come so as not to contaminate anyone else. :)

you know you're lazy when...

So, you know you're lazy when you use your son's burprag as a napkin. Yes, spit-up and all I just reached for it to wipe my hands. Truly lazy, considering I have napkins, paper towels, handtowels, etc. all right in the kitchen. But that would require getting up and moving, and right now I'm just content to stay put.

a ray of sunshine.

He could be considered a ray of sunshine, he's such a happy little man, but the true ray of sunshine is behind him on the couch. I was a little depressed to see more snow on the ground this morning, but now that the sun is out, I'm feeling much better. Hopefully it will be warm enough to melt some of the snow on the ground. I want spring, and I want it now!

Just a random sidenote: See the arm of the couch behind Gavin? Just a week ago, Kate colored all over it with a marker. You can't see it, can you? That's the beauty of microfiber. It washed right off. I love it, and even better, it's not too expensive.

If you happen to visit our house in the next few days, beware. Our steps are icy, and these lovely daggers threaten to hurt someone's noggin.


And soon I'll have some daggers of my own, well maybe not daggers, but hopefully some muscle that will threaten the rest of my flab away. I got this in the mail today. I've heard good things about it, and since I'm too cheap for a gym membership, I thought I'd give it a try.
Wish me luck!

all about Kate.

So Kate is turning into an interesting little person. Last night, we were making tacos, and asked Colin to slice the olives for us (with an egg slicer, no knives or first aid needed). He respectfully declined (he ran out of the room before we could beg, yell or punish). The next thing we know, Kate has taken it upon herself to slice the olives. She was pretty proud of herself. It being her first time, I decided we had to get a picture.

We bought this chair for Gavin, but it turns out the other kids like it more than he does. Hence the box in the background, I'm thinking I'll take it back. It would make a good time out seat though, Kate played in the corner for at least 15 minutes.

And finally, I think Kate swallowed a penny. She fell off my bed, and when I asked if she was o.k., she pointed at her mouth and said, "my monies". I asked her where her penny went. She pointed to her mouth again, and I asked if it was in her belly. She nodded. She had been playing with it all morning. A responsible me would have forced it out of her chubby fingers first thing this morning, but the semi-responsible me just told her to keep it out of her mouth. Next time I'll go for the responsible approach, and we'll be keeping a close eye on her excretions over the next few days. It's a good thing the semi-responsible me has chosen to wait on potty training. It's a lot easier to search for a penny in a diaper, rather than a toilet.

She's showing Gavin a goldfish in the picture. I am responsible enough not to let her give him a taste. Although I did share a little Fun Dip stick with him yesterday. He loved that!

i'd win the award.

So, if there was an award for the worst, most forgetful, absent-minded, off in la-la land mom, I would win it. Yes, it was another early out day, and I forgot my kids. Maddie and her cute little voice called me at 1:39 (they get out at 1:25), and asked if I was outside, because they couldn't see me. No, I was still at home waiting for Gavin to wake up, and now kicking myself for forgetting again. I do this quite often, well at least three times so far this year. If they ever put it to a vote, I will definately vote to get rid of early out Mondays. They drive me crazy.

some scary words, and spit-up.

So, I was sitting by Gavin, giving him his medicine, and Kate is jumping all around us. She tells me, "It's o.k., I not jump on Gavin. I not jump on he's belly." So matter of fact, like it's been done before. Scary.

And now for the spit-up. Can I just say that I am so tired of spit-up! Gavin has been spitting up at least an ounce of every bottle. He's gone from regular enfamil to Gentlease enfamil, then to soy, which helped with his gassiness/fussiness, but the last few months, he's been spitting up. We've added rice to his bottles per doctors orders, and it just makes the spit-up thicker and smellier. Now he's taking Prevacid, a acid reflux medicine, that hasn't shown any promise. He still spits up.

So, count how many times I've said spit-up in this post and double it, and that's how may times he soaks a burp rag, my shirt, or his shirt with you guessed it, SPIT-UP! Can you tell I'm a little frustrated. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Peekaboo...

I see you! It makes me smile when Gavin wakes up happy like this.