Wow, has it been that long?

I just saw that my last post was Oct 11th...I shouldn't even be posting though because I'm so far behind on everything else. I'm still working on editing the wedding I shot on Oct 11th and then I have 3 other photo sessions to wade through.

And yet, here I am, shopping on-line for Halloween costumes and looking through pics of my own cuties. Here are a few updates...

This edible little morsel turned 10 months old today.
She had to demonstrate her new skills...

The sun sets on another month and I'm overjoyed and sad at the same time. She almost isn't a baby anymore.

Speaking of skills, what's wrong with this picture of the Sharks' soccer game yesterday? I've noted for your reference #1) the ball which is in play #2) David pointing to tell Logan where to go #3) Trevor running around the field with his jersey pulled over his head and #4) Logan blissfully unaware of where the action is. Gotta love 3-year old soccer.

And finally, we had another milestone around here yesterday. Someone had a little birthday cake with two #4 candles on it. Care to guess who that might be?

I'd say I'll post again when I get caught up with everything else, but that will probably never happen.

On the road...

To Louisiana. I miss Louisiana. Wish I could get there a little more frequently.

Whew!

Despite more wrong turns than any one person should be able to make in a single day, I made it to my meeting on time this morning. And despite my ability to turn a 30 mile trip to the airport into a 60 mile trip (one really wrong turn that took me 15 miles to figure out), I'm boarding my flight as we speak after a madcap dash through the airport. Remember the old commercials with OJ sprinting through the airport dodging obstacles? That was totally me. Without the future life of crime, I hope.

Maybe I'll make it to soccer practice tonight. Yay!

By the way, passed a restaurant called the Beef Connection. Is it possible that Louisiana is less vegetarian than Texas? My lunch at the meeting would suggest the answer is yes. Green beans? Yum, but not with pork. Pasta? Double yum, but not with seafood. Chicken? Not even a half-yum in my book. Oh well, leftover breakfast doughnuts and pound cake are a balanced meal for me these days.

In case you're curious, I'm still caffeine free. I almost caved in during a particularly scintillating presentation today, since my 3:30 alarm was coming back to haunt me, but I stood strong. Oops, doors closing. Signing off.

Got up at 3:30 am...

So I could get to the airport by 5 am so I could catch a 6 am flight to Louisiana so I could attend a 9 am meeting. And then catch a 4 pm flight back to Houston so I can get to bed early so we can get on the road Saturday morning to drive to Louisiana.

Sitting on the plane waiting for takeoff, wondering if your life keeps going in circles too?

Just spent $150. Remember when you used to get exciting stuff when you went shopping. I got diapers, wipes, and batteries. Doesn't get much more exciting than that folks.

Don't open Quicken...

It's just depressing. Sean has it set up to update all the stock prices automatically and the little net worth box in the corner is looking sad. That's what you get when 90% of your net worth is invested in stock. Just repeat after me: we're in it for the long haul, we're nowhere near retirement, the kids have years before they need their college funds, the market always recovers...it's all just a wonderful opportunity to buy more at bargain prices. And don't look at the numbers 'cause there isn't a darn thing you can do about it.

My brother would say...at least Juliette is cute, she can just marry well and not worry about needing a college fund.

GOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!

Times 4 for Hayden yesterday...

Think he's a little bit excited???

Trevor's game was a little more low key, but at least we got him out on the field this week. Sean promised to high-5 him for each time he kicked the ball. So every time his foot touched the ball, he would run off the field to find Sean for a high-5.

3-year old logic

We saw a woman on crutches at McDonald's this morning...yeah, nothing but the best nutrition for me and my kids...but not the point...

Trevor: "Why does that woman have those things Mommy?"
Me: "Because her foot is hurt and those things help her walk, they're called crutches."
Trevor: "How did her foot get hurt Mommy?"
Me: "I really don't know Trevor."
Trevor: "Maybe a policeman ran over her foot with his police car Mommy."
Me: "Yeah Trev, that's probably what happened."

Things to do...

1) Sort through pics for digital picture frame gift.
2) Make t-shirts that were for Art's 2006 Xmas gift.
3) Wedding album for Shelley.
4) Halloween costumes x3
5) Family Xmas pics/cards.
6) Family photo album update (hint: Juliette doesn't exist in our albums)

When will I find the time to get it all done? Already starting to get booked for Xmas pictures. In the midst of soccer season. Maybe it's good that I don't have internet to distract me.

Back to school...

The boys went back to school yesterday, FINALLY! It's like starting over to get them back into the routine after two+ weeks off. Hayden is actually doing better than before, no tears at drop off either day and I didn't have to shove him into the classroom and run either day.

Trevor is struggling despite my best efforts. I went into work late yesterday and today so I could drop him off myself but there was still sobbing upon my departure. Actually, he's kind of funny first. I say "It's time for mommy to go." And he says "It's time for Trevor to go too". His teacher is so sweet though, holding him and loving him through the transition. Reports were that he had a good day despite the initial tears.

Still no internet at home. I've almost given up. I used to come home and turn on the computer and check if the internet was working. Now I don't even bother. Comcast is like that boyfriend who stopped calling suddenly. At first you would check your messages and caller ID to see if he called. Then you try calling him. Then you just give up because that piece of crap loser isn't going to call. You're on your own now, you don't need him. But you still kind of miss him and you'd take him back. So screw you Comcast, we're done. Unless, of course, you want to get back together.

Decaf

The whole food poisoning episode started Tuesday mid-day. Felt queasy in the morning and then was doubled over with sharp intestinal pain by lunch. Still ate some pizza and salad which I promptly donated back to the city of San Antonio's waste treatment system. Wednesday started OK, ate a few crackers in the office but they came right back up. So now I couldn't keep anything down, including my daily diet dr. Pepper fix. Incredible nauseau compounded by a splitting headache now for a 4 hour drive with the kids from San Antonio back to Houston. Thank goodness my mom was driving.

Got too dehydrated by Thurs and had to go to ER for IV fluids and was quickly settled on the road to recovery.

In the midst of it all, survived the caffeine detox/withdrawal since I couldn't keep any fluids down. So I'm free, right? Except that caffeine, she's a seductive little minx. I feel like she's calling my name every time I put my quarters in the machine to buy another bottle of water. "Come back to me...you need me..." She says.

Forget about crack, it's caffeine and the internet that are going to bring me down.

Back to work...

Ahh, the internet, I've missed you my love. I know we only have a few precious hours together every day now, but I cherish them dearly.

I now have access to all the really important information. Like this. Wham! was #28 on the greatest songs of the 80s, George Michael solo was #74. I think a lot of the ranking are pretty debatable, but then again, I'm not a big fan of pop metal (guns -n- roses, whitesnake, etc.). Although, I have turned to volume up on Def Leppard more than once. Saw them at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo a few years ago. Doesn't that seem like a strange venue for Def Leppard? I was happy to find Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock at #80. Just downloaded that one from Amazon a few weeks ago. Trevor made a funny face while I played it and danced around the living room.

Oh, and when I don't have the internet, I can't share this precious piece of 9-month old loveliness.

The things you're not supposed to say out loud...

I know we should be counting our blessings right now...and we are, really. Our home is undamaged. We've had electricity for days, we've got gas in the cars, food in the fridge, my nasty bout of food poisoning is past (don't even get me started on that), the kids are a little less stir crazy...

But I miss the internet.

There...I said it...

Was laying sick in bed watching VH1's top 100 songs of the '80s on and off the other day. Didn't catch Wham! or George Michael. Was desperate to get on the net to know where they placed. Sigh...the really important stuff like that. Darn Comcast.

Checking in...

All is well for me and Miss J in Chicago (actually Wisconsin right now). The boys and Grandma Denise rode out the storm in Houston. They lost power and water, but the house stayed dry due to Sean's all night efforts keeping the drains clear of debris so water didn't back up. The power came back today and they've got enough water for a few days. My flight home has been cancelled but I should be able to get out Monday afternoon. Hope all is well with all of you.

Where do you blog?

On a plane with a baby waiting for people to board.

On my way...

Out of town tomorrow for a business trip/visit to Chicago. I'm taking Juliette with me. It will be her first airplane flight, first trip anywhere other than a day trip to visit Grandma in Louisiana. Should be fun. If only I could get around to packing. Yeah, that would be nice.

Anyways, the new photography website is officially up and running. So I'm adding it to my links. Comments and suggestions for improvement are always welcome.

Finally, here's a pic of Juliette from last week. She went from 2 teeth to 5 last week, yet still is only being fed mush (prunes here). She's getting great at the combat crawl, mostly using her arms to pull herself along. But she can definitely get into trouble. She executed a 1 second triple roll off the king size bed last night and was on the floor before I could jump across the bed to grab her. Oh well, she survived, hopefully we will too.

Mobile Blogging...

So my new thing is to blog from my Blackberry while I'm pumping at work. Yes, blogging on the blackberry is slow and half the time my posts get lost, but the other options are to stare at the wall or flip thru 5 year old magazines.

I had lunch with Hayden at the elementary school today. It is a bit of a challenge to get out of work, pick up some lunch, get checked in at the office at his school, and down to the cafeteria by 10:57 am, but it was totally worth it. He was so excited and I was like a rock star at his table. All the kids were clamoring to tell me stuff. The other mom who looks kinda pregnant but I wasn't sure and didn't want to ask...her daughter confirmed that they do indeed have baby#4 on the way. Hayden was super talkative, much better than at the end of the day. So if you want the real scoop on life in kindergarten, go to lunch.

The one thing that shocked me was that they have about 150 kids eating lunch at the same time and only 2 adults monitoring. Hayden's teacher was there at the start to help open bags, etc., but after that the kids were just left to eat with a few roaming monitors to make sure nobody acted up. Definitely a situation ripe for mutiny. If those kids were organized enough, they could totally overthrow the monitors and run wild. Talk about an insufficient adult to child ratio...

I went to the cardiologist Monday. He had me wear a 24 hour continuous EKG. Should get the results next week. I'm guessing it will show a few palpitations here and there but nothing serious. The doctor didn't seem concerned about the SVT. He sees much worse all the time (could have guessed that by the lobby full of 80 year olds in wheelchairs). He said I'm young and healthy and my heart can handle a few extra beats a few times a year. If I start having SVT every week, maybe we'll do something. He said he'd medicate me if my blood pressure wasn't so darned low. He took it 3 times to convince himself it was really 90/60. All the drugs they could give me would have a side effect of lowering my blood pressure and he said that with my regular pressure so low, I'd be passing out if it got any lower. So on we go...

It takes a lot...

A lot of stuff to keep our family of 5 going each week. Fruit, vegetables, 3 loaves of bread (wheat, white, cinnamon), ravioli, sauce, meat, fish, yogurt, crackers, cheese, vitamins, cereal, paper towels, baby food, wipes, etc. It makes for a really full cart at the grocery store. And a really ridiculously high bill - $300 last week.

Which makes it all the more embarrassing when you're all checked out with all the groceries sacked up and you kid munching on his new licorice and you realize you left your wallet at home.

Something, anything...

OK, I've been busy trying to sort through the pictures from the first week of school to share plus I'm working on a re-design of my "business" website. Neither is complete, but it's kept me from posting. If you want a sneak peek at the website redesign, it resides here temporarily until I finish it up and go live.

If you need something to read, there's a blog that I've been reading which really makes me stop and think every day. Start here, then you can read recent posts here. It's written by a dad with a daughter about Juliette's age, so I guess that's why I connect to it. Her mom was on bed rest for several weeks before she was born, just like I was. That's where our paths diverge, and reading it makes me count my blessings...and realize how abundant they truly are.

Oh, and as long as I'm posting completely random information, don't you think my fingers look FREAKISHLY long in the baby picture a few posts down? People always tell me I have long fingers, but they look creepy-long to me in that picture.

SVT...

Supraventricular Tachycardia. That sounds like fun, eh? I've probably had about a half dozen episodes in my lifetime, the last when I was pregnant with Juliette. But I've always been with another adult before.

Today I was in the drive-thru at Chik-Fil-A when it happened. It's always sudden onset, just sitting there, la-de-dah, and all of a sudden my heart is beating out of my chest and I can barely catch my breath. I try to take my pulse, but can't count that fast. So I finish ordering lunch for the kids (priorities people, priorities!) and drive home, now more annoyed than ever at the construction on my street. I try to call Sean, but big surprise, his cell phone is turned off. So I call my mother who is fortunately not working today and tell her to come over right away.

So I'm sitting, waiting, explaining to Hayden how to call 911 if mommy "falls asleep and can't wake up". The kids don't take me seriously at all, by the way. I wonder what the ambulance people would do if I called them...would they bring the kids with? Should I drive myself to the hospital? What would they do with 3 kids if I showed up at the ER? Sean calls, he's on his way now, but that's still 30 minutes at least.

Juliette's hungry, so I let her nurse. Can't make things worse, I figure, and I don't think there's any milk in the fridge so if I go to the hospital she'll lose her meal ticket.

I beg the boys to put their shoes on so we can be ready to go when grandma arrives. They're still unimpressed with mommy saying she doesn't feel well. Trevor doesn't want Hayden to help with his shoes. I cry a little, that works wonders, remember this for future reference.

My mom arrives and drives us to the hospital. Heart problems give you a free pass at the ER, no waiting. They put me on an EKG and say "SVT". Sean arrives, they put me in a room, start an IV, doctors huddle a bit, they try the vasovagal maneuvers (I tried them at home, no success), then decide to move on to the adenosine. This part sucks, they basically jack you with a chemical really fast and it stops your heart with the assumption that it will restart itself in a normal rhythm (crash cart standing by, just in case). In the meantime, when your heart stops, it feels like you're dying, even when you know it's going to happen, it's creepy. Last time the nice cardiologist held my hand. This time they all watched the monitors...success, normal sinus rhythm...everyone cheers, high fives.

I'm resting tonight, no housework or diaper changing they said. I asked all the important questions: Can I drive myself to the hospital next time? Answer: it could cause you to faint, but since you didn't faint this time, you probably won't next time, so it's probably OK. Can I bring the kids to the ER? Yes, definitely, plenty of people to watch them (not those creepy guys in the lobby, right?).

Will it happen again? My cardiologist said yes after the last time. Some type of electrical abnormality in my heart. They can do something called ablation, where they burn out the malfunctioning part, but if they burn too much, I could need a pacemaker, so that would suck. So as long as the episodes aren't too frequent, we just pack it in and head to the ER. Thanks for that $100 co-pay, see you again next time.

Sorry this post is so long, just a stream of consciousness...hopefully you still notice the post below begging for comments.

Show me some love people...

OK, we're going on 20 posts and over 2 months without a single comment. So it must mean nobody reads the blog, so I should just abandon it, right?

Look familiar?
I don't have a whole bunch of baby pictures of me (second child, y'know how it goes), but I thought this one looked a little like Miss J. Whadda ya think? By the way, note the edge of my brother's face cropped out of the picture. So the only baby pictures I have of me have him in them too.

It's actually the opposite here. I have more pictures of Juliette than either of the boys. I only went digital when Trevor was ~3 months old. Even though I was really over-zealous with the film, I've shot way more pics of Juliette, probably averaging 200 a week or something insane. So no complaints baby girl, OK?

Juliette & Malik...

I tried to take some pictures of Juliette yesterday because she was being super sweet for me. I got a few decent shots, but something kept getting in the way...and so I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the nuisances we deal with during our photo sessions and everyday life...

Here's a normal shot...

Isn't she delicious? Couldn't you just eat her up? Apparently, I'm not the only one with this thought...

For the full-size slideshow, click here. The close-ups work much better on a bigger screen.

#2...
Juliette found another tooth in her mouth today. More pictures here...obviously another productive day.

And in other news, I handed my paycheck to the plumbers who make more in 6 hours than I do in 2 weeks. Why did I go to college for 6 years??? Oh, that's right, I was getting paid while I took the picture above and the plumber has to dig in my sewer pipe to get paid. OK, maybe that's fair, but I'm so tired of spending money fixing things around this house and having no visible improvement. Oooh, a new hot water heater...the dangerous leaking gas valves replaced...the gas valves at floor level that the crawling baby can open capped off...YEAH, YEAH, it's all important, but not as exciting as some curtains or furniture.

The electrician is next...GFCI's...YAY! Now that's a party waiting to happen.

Tropical Storm Edouard?

We laugh in the face of tropical storms. Ha! Until we fall on the concrete and cut our knee. Then we cry. And the bad mommy feels guilty for encouraging the jumping.

Goodbye, hello...

It seems we've come full circle. This blog has actually outlived our fish Barnaby. If you've been a reader from the beginning, you might recall when we thought our fish Sammy died a few years ago. Then he actually died. Then we mourned. Then we brought Barnaby home.

Well, it was flush-time for Barnaby this morning. Rest in peace, little friend. All drains lead to the ocean kid.

And this afternoon, we welcomed GoGurt to the household. He's a zippy little fellow and hopefully will enjoy a long healthy life. Maybe I'll even change the water in his bowl occasionally. Maybe he'll live long enough for Hayden to be able to do it himself.

The new baby...

No, he's not really ours. He's Erika's new puppy that has been coming to work with her the past few days. Pippen and Trevor are quite fond of him, but Juliette's in a battle for reign over the toys and blankets. And Malik? The big bully has stolen the poor little guy's crate.

Juliette's Loves Live Sporting Events...

Could somebody make this child stop looking at me so I can get something done other than taking her picture?

Rolling...

Funny Kid...

I took the kids to the Children's Museum on Monday. I have such a love/hate relationship with that place. When it's not crowded or under construction, it's great, but it's been under construction forever (new addition slated to open in March 2009) and Monday it was crowded. All the summer camp programs bring busloads of kids who are all running around with their matching t-shirts and I can't even find a clear path with the stroller to keep up with Hayden and Trevor.

We found a quiet spot to play in the nearly empty computer room and I had Juliette in the "tot corner" of the room, playing in a little padded 4x4 ft square area especially for babies. And some 7-9 year olds come running in and one jumps right into the tot bunker, practically crushing Juliette. So I bite his head off and tell him that he has no business being in the baby area. Then he proceeds to build up a tower of the foam blocks in the tot corner and tumble them over onto Juliette. At this point I really flip out and tell him that he needs to move at least 10 feet away from me and my baby and stay there or else I will personally throw him out of the museum. Clearly, I just love other people's kids. Should have been a kindergarden teacher probably.

We play a little more in the rest of the museum and then have our lunch. The place has started to clear out by now and I've eaten so I'm in a little better mood. I tell the kids we can play for a half hour longer and they choose the grocery store area of the museum. I'm watching Trevor fill his grocery basket with every single plastic banana in the museum.

Hayden has paired up with some older kid (maybe 8 years old) and is working the cash register. So all is well. When we decide to leave, the other kid (who seems nice and smart, but a little geeky) says goodbye to Hayden and says he had fun playing with him. Then the kid says "Hey, I don't even know your name." So rather than tell him, Hayden picks up a piece of paper by the register where they were playing and writes down his name and hands it to the kid, saying "that's my name." And I hear the kid say "OK, well bye Mr. Scribble Scribble, it was fun playing with you." If I had a drink in my mouth, it would have shot out my nose when I laughed. It's those unexpected moments of humor that really get me.

Good idea?

The guy in the cube next to me just got a new position and moved to another floor. So I asked my boss if I could switch cubes and just executed the move myself. It only took a half hour since I wasn't too settled in yet. So now I have windows. Was this really a good idea? Giving me the possibility of staring out the window all day? Hmmm...

Peeling Apples...

Isn't it funny how certain things evoke the same memory over and over? The boys have been insisting on "Apple, no skin" lately. So as I sit over the sink, peeling the apple, I always think of my grandfather.

My Grandpa Usher used to organize these "getaway weekends" for the family. So my father, brother, mother, and I used to load up in the car (with the dogs) and head to Janesville, Wisconsin for a weekend at the Best Western Midway Motor Lodge. Doesn't sound like much to you, I'm sure, but it was ever so exciting when I was a child. My father was one of THIRTEEN children, so there were aunts, uncles, and cousins aplenty.

I would have been perfectly content to swim in the pool all day, but my grandpa had all these activities and contests organized. There were ping pong tournaments, talent shows, puzzles, and some crazy contests I'll never forget. One time he had 20 styrafoam cups, each numbered and filled with little pieces of Life Savers he had crushed up. You had to go through the line and sample each one and guess the flavor. A trophy went to the person who guessed the most correctly.

Oh yeah, the apples. There was a contest once to make the longest single apple peel. He had a pile of apples and apple peelers. I was young, I think the longest single piece of peel I came up with was 2 inches long. But I remember my mom and my aunts could peel an entire apple into one long corkscrew piece of peel. Then my grandpa carefully stretched out all these ridiculously long apple peels and declared a winner (with a trophy awarded, of course). It's taken me only 30 or so years of practice, but I'm a real pro peeler now. So when I stand at my sink peeling an entire apple in one smooth motion, I kind of wish there was a Grandpa contest to show off my skills.

Lucky Seven...

Juliette is now officially 7 months old. It was a big milestone day in our house. We've had a lot of fingers in the mouth lately...

But today, we actually had the first tooth pop through those poor sore gums. There's just a hint of a very sharp tooth in the lower left side of her mouth. Yay! They say the first one is the hardest and she didn't even fuss about it. Sweet girl.

So as if turning seven months old and getting a tooth wasn't enough of a milestone, Miss J. also decided to say "MaMa" for the first time today. There's been a whole lot of "BaBaBaBaBa" lately and somehow it morphed into a "MaMa" this afternoon. Just in case you're counting, that's two for me and one for Sean. Hayden said "DaDa" for a long time before he ever said my name, but Trevor and Juliette were all me.

And just to clear up any misunderstanding, Juliette is not bald. If you look below, you'll see that she's really starting to develop a nice head of hair. It's just really fine, really blonde hair. Enough to hold a bow even. If she had any bows...hmmm...maybe I should go shopping...

Here's a link to a slideshow of her pictures if you're desperate for more.

Sitting pretty...

Well, sitting is still taking a little effort for little Miss J, so she can't sit and smile at the same time, too much focus...She's about to get herself into trouble around the house. Not crawling yet, but leave her on the floor and you'll find her 5 ft. away a few minutes later. Lots of rolling right now. Doesn't stop irresponsible mom from leaving her unattended. I like to wait until they hurt themselves before I think about babyproofing. It was easier in the old house...with three floors we could keep all the really dangerous stuff (like all the computer wires) away from the floor where the baby played. Plus we had baby gates everywhere to keep anyone from tumbling down a flight of stairs. Here, it's all one level and everything is accesible. Yikes.

The boys actually were fighting over who got to hold Juliette for a picture. Small miracles. Would be nice if Trevor actually was more focused on holding up Juliette instead of working so hard to lean back into Hayden and trying to knock him down.

But Juliette once again had her fill of mommy and her camera and let loose with a scream...

And I kid you not, Trevor showed up from the next room in seconds, without any prompting from me, and found a pacifier and popped it into her mouth. Is there a more definitive display of brotherly love?

And do you need to see his mouth to know he's smiling here? He's trying to cover his face so I can't take his picture, but he can't help but laugh at my antics to try to get him to look at me.

All is well despite my blogging absence. I read somewhere once that the most common fear people have is that others will discover they're not as (fill in the blank) as people think. The blank can be anything: smart, thin, rich, good mother, together. Do you live in fear that your weakness will be discovered?

I know I don't have my act together and am shocked to hear people say they think I do. I have no illusions of being a super-mom: juggling kids, husband, job, dogs, home. I have no real furniture in my living room, maybe I never will. Juliette is lucky to get a bath twice a week. Chick-Fil-A is a relatively healthy meal for my kids.

What's with the revelations? Only this...It's been a struggle to balance things since I went back to work. And I'm only working part time right now. So something is going to get neglected. If you look at the pictures above, it's obvious those kids are far too sweet to neglect. So it's you, loyal blog readers, who will be neglected. Kindnesses that will go unreturned, emails unsent, thank-you notes unwritten. So there it is...can't do it all. I'm not quitting the blog, just letting you know I'm struggling to post these days. I sit here at 1 am and can't remember the clever thought I wanted to write last week. Trust me, it was really clever. Can't have you thinking I'm not as clever as you thought I was, now can I?

By the way, total digression, but our dearest friends came to visit from Budapest for two weeks and they contributed to the blogging hiatus by distracting us with fun activities away from the keyboard. They're gone now, but I dragged Katie and VJ out for an 8 am photo session one Saturday, in case you want to take a look. And here's a shot of my god-daughter Katie and Miss J. It was a nice break for Juliette from all the usual rough and tumble testosterone crowd...

More on Brianna...


OK, she's not my baby, but I just adore this baby girl so I had to share a slideshow of pictures of the new little angel.

Just fine, thanks for asking...



The family seems to be functioning OK since my return to work. I'm trying to keep it together, but Erika and the kids seem to be adjusting perfectly. The boys continue to dote on their little playmate...

Hard to believe this little lady is already six months old. I'm starting to feel like I should start planning her first birthday party since it will be here in the blink of an eye...

With no time to spare, I decided to whip out the old high chair and start Juliette on cereal the day before I went back to work. First of all, who puts the high chair away all crusted over with nasty food remnants? So the first meal was delayed by a good scrubbing with bleach, but Juliette seemed anxious to get started once she was in the chair...

Clearly, this child was ready and waiting to move on from a milk-only diet. But it was so hard on me. It's like I've given up a piece of her babyhood and I'll never get it back. And of course I resent my job because I feel like I could have delayed it longer if I hadn't gone back to work sooner than expected. But even the La Leche League women told me "Well, they all have to eat solids eventually..." as if I was a little freakish for hesitating to start.

Well, on the bright side, baby J-bird loves her cereal and is taking her bottles just fine in my absence. And Erika seems to manage all three better than I do, so all is well.

Just wait till they send me to Europe for two weeks in September...

No answers...


Hayden has been reading the sports and weather in the newspaper for quite a while now. He started with the weather before he could actually read, just checking out the temperatures and the symbols to tell him whether it would be hot, rainy, etc. It's progressed to a full-blown obsession, where he reads every sports score, and insists on informing me about the inning by inning scores of the latest Cubs' game and who pitched how many innings, who got on base, blah, blah, blah. I want to encourage his love of reading, but at the same time, I'd read the classifieds myself before I'd read the sports section.


So you'll understand that I didn't notice him branching out beyond the sports and weather. But clearly, the boy needs some supervision, because just as there are things on TV you don't want your 5-year old to see, there are things in the paper just as bad or even worse. What do you do when your child asks you "why did the girl stuff toilet paper in her newborn baby's mouth and try to flush it down the toilet?" I gave him the only answer I could "It's an awful thing baby, and Mommy doesn't know why anyone would do something so awful."


From here on out, I'm only handing him the weather and sports. There are enough horrible things in the world to give us all nightmares, I'm not ready for my son to be sickened by them too.

Welcome to the world Brianna...
Our dear friends Traci and Pat welcomed this precious baby girl into the world Thursday morning and I was overjoyed to finally meet her today. Couldn't you just eat her up?

Goodbye Two...
Hello three. Hard to believe that I've fallen so far behind, but it's been 3 weeks since Trevor turned three. The day belonged to him, waking up in his brand new bunk beds...

Unwrapping gifts...

Playing in his new backyard swimming pool...

Cake (the boy is a cake fiend, just like mommy)...

We even let him have his pick of anywhere he wanted to go for a family outing. Which of course meant we ended up at Chuck E. Cheese. Oh well.

I must take a moment to reminisce about the last year for this little man. It was a big year, really, and he took most of it in stride...turning two, the big trip to Yankee Stadium, moving to a new house, surviving Mommy's bed rest, going from sleeping in a closet to sharing a room with big brother, giving up the pacifier (bobo), welcoming a baby sister, going from baby of the family to middle child, potty training, and finally out of the toddler bed.

We certainly had our moments, and my boy certainly can be stubborn as a mule sometimes (where does he get that from???). He'll pitch a fit with the best of them. But his precious sing-songy voice, the constant "why?"s, the squinty eye when he's mad, the contagious joy when he's happy, the sweet loving cuddles when he patters down to our bed in a thunderstorm with his "lankies" (blankies) and 'nother doggie...I wish I could put it all in a bottle marked "two" and preserve it like a fragrance. My Trevie Trevario, I love you to Jupiter.

Very tiny update...

Today was the first day back to work. I'm very behind on blogging, but must say that although Juliette has consistently slept through the night (10-12 hours) since she was 4 weeks old, she chooses to start waking at midnight and being fussy/restless all night two days in a row. I'm not appreciating the irony.

Adding to my list...

Of things I adore about my sweet baby girl.

1) The way she holds her ears when she naps. It cracks me up and makes me melt at the same time.
2) The sweet belly button that forever reminds me of where we were once connected.
3) That crooked smile and sassy tongue.
4) The way she laughs at my feeble attempts at self-portraiture (in the bathroom mirror)
5) The sweetness she brings out in her big brother.
6) And her daddy...

7) The big blue eyes.

That's not nearly all, but in case I forget sometime when you're two years old and impossible, I wanted to remind myself.

Speaking of two, Trevor will only THREE on Sunday. Shocking, isn't it? Erika took him to the mall today to make his own teddy bear and he's spending the night at her house. I keep thinking they'll show up at the door any second now, but sadly, I think he's fine without us. Not even a phone call. I gave him several chances to change his mind before they left, but he was steadfast. Sniff, sniff.

In other news, it seems that I'll be returning to work in the not-so-distant future. My boss called me this week and said that someone is leaving my group and they'd really like me to take over his responsibilities if I'd consider coming back sooner than planned. So I've agreed to work 2 days per week starting in early July. I'm hoping that still gives me some quality time at home with the kids this summer. I'm scared though. So many people tell me that part-time work takes over your life and you get full time work for part-time pay. And it appears that my benefits as a part-time employee are worse than being on completely unpaid leave of absence. How's that for screwy? But seeing as I only worked for my company 6 months before I took off 18 weeks of paid disability, 4 weeks of vacation, and another 16 weeks of unpaid leave (if I go back in July), it probably isn't unreasonable of them to ask me to consider helping out a little.

But waking up early? Showering? Not being able to hold and smell that sweet girl all day? OK, I'm not talking about it. It's making me sad already. I know, I know, I'm lucky to have six solid months with her, but it's still just a little heartbreaking.

5 months...

And loving this baby girl more each and every day. She's such a very good baby. People say she has to be because she's the third child and wouldn't get any attention even if she did fuss. But I don't think that's it. Her disposition is just very mellow and sweet.

She's still refluxing up a storm. So we get to change outfits 4 times while trying to take a few pictures. But even though I get frustrated when she ruins and outfit I've just pulled over her head, I really think that makes her an even better baby. Would you be sweet and happy if you were throwing up 20-30 times a day? She just grins through it all.

I think she's teething. I'm hesitant to say that, because I think I though each of the boys were teething for about two months before any teeth actually appeared. But she has her hands in her mouth constantly and has a nice rash around her mouth from the fire hydrant-like drooling. You won't see the rash in pictures, thanks to Photoshop, just like you missed her baby acne as a newborn.

In other news, Hayden will finish preschool next week. I'm just now starting to think about it. They have a little graduation ceremony where they pass their apple to someone in the younger class (the younger kids are Acorns, the older ones are Apples). I'm hoping to take pictures if I'm not too busy bawling my eyes out.

Anyway, here's a slideshow of pictures from today...

The Police

On my way home from my second Police concert in the last 12 months. Who gets to fulfill their lifelong dream twice in one year? Concert was great, I think better than the last mostly because it was outdoors on a lovely evening.

Two observations...1) My head has a lot of useless information buried deep down. Like the words to "Demolition Man". I can't remember my office phone number, but I know the words to a song I probably last heard almost 20 yrs ago? 2) I've said that seeing the Police was my lifelong concert dream. I really got into them when I was a little too young for concert-going. Once I had a driver's license, they had broken up. But I had every song they ever made, even some obscure movie soundtrack ("Brimstone and Treacle" if I recall). And a few were on 8-track. But after having said all this and fulfilled this dream, I must say I would pay almost anything to go see Wham! Live if they reunited. It's socially acceptable to love the Police still, but does anyone other than me long for George Michael and Andrew Ridgely to get back together?

Well, I've probably said too much, but there it is. Maybe this post won't work since I'm typing in the car on my Blackberry.

Tired...

Can't muster the energy to type. Must go to bed earlier.

Trevor was sick today. Crawled into bed with me as usual when he woke up this morning. Then proceeded to throw up on me. Nice.

The past week was comprised of replacing 3 toilets (managed 2 on our own, had to call in the plumber on the last one), a t-ball party (our little man was named MVP, but I'm more annoyed with the coach than anything), t-ball game, and a birthday party. Tomorrow night we're seeing The Police and Elvis Costello. Here's hoping I stay awake...

A video from the backyard the other day. Might want to turn your sound down or off, since there I couldn't get the song inserted that I was trying to use and you'll have to listen to an annoying barking contest between Malik and the dogs next door...

Mother's Day, Rounds 1 & 2:

The last few years, we've gone to Lake Charles, LA (Sean's hometown) to visit with his mother for Mother's Day. It's always a nice visit, but the local cuisine really leaves something to be desired if you're a vegetarian like me. All I want for Mother's Day is a big luxurious brunch. Which is hard to come by in Lake Charles. So we decided to visit Grandma Carole on Saturday this year. We had a nice visit and the boys got soaking wet at the new Prien Lake Park. Note to the couple getting married in the little pavillion there: Sorry you had to see my naked children getting dried off in the minivan just next to your ceremony. We parked there long before we saw any signs of a wedding party. But I did wrap Trevor in a blanket and take him into the bathroom rather than letting him pee on the lawn like he wanted too. So I kept you from having that precious memory.

Anyways, here's our L.C. pic from this year:
Back in Houston, Sean tried to accomodate my desire for the big brunch. Unfortunately, they mislead him a little at the Hilton Americas in downtown Houston and pretty much had the regular old low-key breakfast buffet instead of the desired luxurious brunch. I thought I could just suck it up, but after I threw an omlette on the table (Hey omlette guy, when I say lots of melted cheese inside, don't forget the cheese altogether. And when I point out that it has no cheese, don't just throw some grated cheese on top of the now cold omlette), Sean decided that we'd better go Plan B. So we left the Hilton in a huff and walked over to the Four Seasons where all my wildest dreams for the decadent brunch were fulfilled. The children behaved (mostly) and I gorged on yummy salads, fantastic cheeses, grilled vegetables, proper omlettes, and a dessert selection which defies description. And Sean was polite enough not to fall over when the check came. So here's me and my crew doing some Mother's Day bonding.

Hope your day was as lovely as ours...I'll leave you with a quote shared by my brother, the true sentimentalist in the family:

"Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother's love is not."
-- James Joyce

Home Stretch...

We're in what has to be the home stretch of Sean's turnaround work schedule. I say has to be, because either they start that plant up or I'm telling him to quit because the kids and I are really missing his presence at the casa McLaughlin.

His absence for the past month has helped me discover a higher degree of competence juggling all three kiddos at once. Erika was sick with the stomach flu this week and I actually handled four at once, since I had arranged a playdate for Hayden before she got sick. Picture me, all alone, with Hayden, Trevor, Juliette, and another 5-year old at the bowling alley. I was remarkably calm. I've found they function much better when I actually take them somewhere fun instead of telling them to entertain themselves while I do laundry, feed the baby, etc.

Today, they said they wanted to go to the fire engine park. No problem, says SuperMom. So I proceeded to dress them all, pack up our lunches, pack up the diaper bag, redress Juliette (there's at least one spitting up episode before any outing). Then the boys tell me they want to ride their bikes to the park. SuperMom says "SURE!". We get the bikes, helmets, stroller, lather up with sunscreen, and head out. It's only 6 blocks, how bad could it be? We get to the house 2 doors down from us, and the sidewalk is all chewed up from the street construction. So Trevor is off his trike, asking me to push it. Juliette is SCREAMING, red face, big tears. And all of a sudden, 6 blocks (each way) is looking like a marathon. SuperMom becomes SurvivalMom and we turn around, head home, load our gear in the minivan and head to the park. We still had our picnic and played, but really, you know me and the outdoors, there's only so much I can handle.

Sean got home around 7 pm. He said the towers are up, reactors running, and they should be in the good tanks tomorrow morning. For those of you who haven't spent any time in a chemical plant, this means there's a light at then end of the tunnel. Yay!