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!

Preschool Politics...

Hayden's preschool uses a storytelling program teach early literacy skills to the kids. Each morning, one child dictates a story to the teacher who writes it down. Later in the day, a cast of the children act out the story. I'm in the process of compiling (typing) an anthology of stories from the year to send home with each "graduating" student. Most of the stories are about princesses and knights, but this one was too funny not to share. From the lips of W.T., age 4:

"Once upon a time George Bush sent some soldiers to do a war. Obama won and he stopped the war. John McCain said the war would still go on. Obama stopped the war again. Hillary called the police and put John McCain in jail because he put the war still on.
A giant dragon came and it ate the jail and it ate John McCain who was in the jail. The End."

Every time I read it, I want to fall on the floor laughing. I think it's the jail-eating dragon that's really the icing on the cake.

Worth the wait...

Juliette is 4 months old today. It seems like forever ago that I spent 65 days in bed waiting for her to be ready to be born. Then again, I think I waited my whole lifetime for this baby girl. And if I had to wait forever, it would have been worth it for this sweet bottom in ruffled panties...
These perfect toes...

And perfect little fingers...

And the sweet angel face that I love more every minute...

Happy 4-month birthday baby girl! More pictures here.

Attached Garage...

This house has an attached garage (only one-car, sorry Sean). At the old house, I thought the attached garage was handy for when I was in pajamas or half undressed and needed to retrieve something. Now I like it for another reason. When your sweet-looking, but horrid-acting 2 1/2 year old chucks a really hard toy at your head in the car, you can just leave him strapped in his car seat in the garage until he calms down and decides to behave himself and join the rest of us inside. Don't worry, it isn't hot in there and I leave the van doors and the door between the garage and the house open. So if you're selling a house with an attached garage, you might want to list that as a bonus feature for parents of toddlers.

Impish Charm...

Trevor has this impish grin he uses when he wants to proceed with something he knows he's not supposed to be doing. I know I'm supposed to be firm and consistent, but this look usually just doubles me over in laughter. Oh, and the sing-songy voice he uses doesn't help me stand firm either. He plays me like a puppet.
In other news, we got a bubble machine at Target today and had loads of fun with it. Why did I go to Target for a bubble machine? Because the kids got bubble guns as the give-away at a birthday party today. They wanted to play with them right away, but I said they could only play with them after naps and only if they went to bed quietly and immediately. They were so great about the naps and then when they woke up we discovered that we couldn't open up the f&(*@&ing bubble guns to put batteries in. So off I went with all 3 kids in tow to buy a bubble thing at Target.

You can't blame the party mom. Don't we all give away useless crap at our kids' parties? Who started this tradition anyways? When I was getting stuff for Hayden's birthday, I was grumbling about spending $100 on junk that would be 99% in trash cans within 24-hours. But who can break with tradition? Anyways, here are the boys and their bubbles:

Delicious...

Don't you just want to eat these up?


These are my new gallery wrapped canvas prints of the kids that I bought with my birthday money (Thanks Art!!!!!) I'm just in heaven and can't wait to hang them. They're larger than life. I inserted Juliette so you could compare the size.
I've been told that I've been delinquent in my blogging (there was some exaggeration, it hasn't been 3 weeks). I have about a thousand legitimate reasons, but mostly I've been trying to go to bed before 2 or 3 am. It's great to have a baby who sleeps through the night, but if I don't get her down till midnight and then try to catch up on laundry, photos, e-mail, then I'm not in bed till 2:30. Which makes me a little cranky when Trevor wakes me in the morning.

Sean's plant has a maintenance turnaround that started on Monday. So he's gone 14 hours a day including weekends. I'm trying to be disciplined about getting things done while the boys are napping so our evenings aren't a total nightmare. But I think the next three days will be challenging with Sean working and Hayden having t-ball, 2 bday parties, and me shooting a wedding on Saturday. Yikes! Only another 3 weeks or so of this.

I went to a parent social for Hayden's school last weekend. Sean stayed home with the kids, too much hassle to find a sitter. I was talking to two of the other moms who I only know casually from the playground and they were remarking about how mellow I am. I could only laugh. They actually think I seem very calm and cool all the time. That I seem to be able to juggle all 3 kids and everything else with ease. How far from the truth is that? Vito has to be laughing at the thought. Me? Mellow? Ha! Oh well, it's nice that I can come across that way. Not everyone has to see the dark side.

Trevor and I went to a book signing last weekend. Mo Willems was in town to sign the brand new pigeon book. Here's Trevor with the new book while we waited to meet the author:

And here's the pigeon-man in the flesh, signing Trevor's copy of the book:

Very exciting stuff for an almost 3-year-old. Can you believe? Almost THREE? I made his 3-year doctor's appointment yesterday and it was a wake-up call. Even with Juliette here, he's still my baby in so many ways. But in 4 months he'll be in preschool. Time flies...

Switching gears, our friend Ben is in our thoughts much these days since we heard news of his stroke. Very shocking for an active, healthy, brilliant 37-year-old. You can keep up with him on Mama T's blog, but please remember him in your prayers as we wish him a full recovery.


I'll try to post more frequently. A comment or two once in a while wouldn't hurt as a means of encouragement!

Happy...not so happy...

Here's a happy Juliette, enjoying some time on the faux fur, all smiles in her cute outfit.
Here's Juliette thirty seconds later, looking more than a little pissed off to now be sharing her faux fur with two stinky dogs. Isn't it nice how quickly they're able to make themselves comfortable and how they're completely oblivious to the presence of the baby?

Twins?

I used to think that Juliette looked more like me, but now she's taken on a striking resemblance to Sean. I don't know what it is. I just can't put my finger on it...

Am I blue?

Only in the best possible sense of the word. There isn't much that I really like about Texas or the outdoors. I'm a Northerner at heart and the summer heat here really kills me. But Spring? And Bluebonnets? This I LOVE...

More pictures on the KodakGallery site if you're interested.

Thanks Mrs. LeRose...

71 words

Speedtest

Please note, I had to go back and do this again because Mama T threw down the gauntlet with a little challenge.

Happy 3-month birthday Miss J...

It is just shocking to me how fast the past 3 months have gone by. But here she is, my baby girl, getting bigger every day. At least I've finally put her in a proper dress like a regular girl. And she's a big fan of faux fur. Nothing makes her happier than to lay on a soft sheet of furry fabric.

I neglected to mention that we had a nice visit from our friends Anne, Chris, and Olivia this week. Olivia has grown so much since the last time we saw her. She's soon to be a big sister herself, and although she looks up to the task, I think she really has no idea what's about to hit her. Good luck to all of them on the new adventure.

I've always thought the kids are especially sweet and/or funny when they're sleeping. I'm secretly lusting after a new camera with better low-light performance so I can shoot the kids in their rooms at night. But here are a few recent pics of Trevor that I had to share...He often toddles into my room at around 7 am and catches an extra half hour of sleep in the big bed. Who could turn this sweet guy away?
And this is him at about 8 pm on a day where he didn't have a nap. Pretty pitiful...

Substantial Improvement...

Last year, Trevor was deathly afraid of the Easter Bunny, which didn't work out well for the pictures at the mall. Actually, he seemed fine until showtime and freaked out at the last minute. Miraculously, he loved the big rabbit this year. He was all smiles and hugs. So here is my crew in their Easter finery...

Juliette was asleep before we left the house, so we don't have a picture of her in her pretty dress by herself. Later this weekend, hopefully, if I'm on my feet.

And one last thing to mention...

Juliette was cute today and is starting to grace me with her smiles.

Never trust the silence...

The boys got up from their naps today while I was trying to make some spaghetti sauce. I already had Juliette in the Baby Bjorn, so entertaining them wasn't high on my list. But miraculously, Hayden just sat down to read a book and Trevor was quiet.

After about 15 minutes, Trevor comes be-bopping into the kitchen with the St. Patrick's day card Grandma Carole sent him today. "Mommy, is it OK if I color on this?" he asks. "Sure baby," I say, noticing he's already been at it with the blue magic marker. Then I notice that the marker goes all the way to the edges of the card. "Where were you sitting when you colored this sweetie?" I ask. "In my room," Trevor replies. UH-OH, THIS CAN'T BE GOOD.

As I try to make my way down the hall to his room, he's physically trying to block me and push me backwards, saying "No Mommy, No". So I know it's really bad, yet am somehow unprepared for what I see, which is blue magic marker all over his bedsheet, desk, cloth runner on the desk, and the CARPET.

Was it washable marker you ask? Shut up already Vito. Of course, my child ignores the 200 washable and "Color Magic" markers in the house and chooses the permanent "Mr. Sketch" scented markers I bought for him.

I will say this, Folex carpet cleaner rocks. The marker actually came out of the carpet pretty well. Second thing I must say is that Trevor is pretty sweet despite making me want to kill him about 10 times a day. I went back to my spaghetti sauce and noticed he was silent again. Turns out, he had taken the Folex and a rag and tried to get the marker off of his sheets. Which actually worked pretty well too.

But seriously, don't think that because your 2-year old isn't tugging at your shirt that you've caught a break somehow. He's just creating some larger nightmare for you to discover later.

Perfect(ly Bad) Timing...

After Juliette, Trevor, and I picked Hayden up from preschool today, I said we could stop to pick up lunch. At this point, there were clouds in the sky, and it was very slightly misting. We get to the Chik-Fil-A parking lot and it's now actually raining. So I drive around a few times trying to wait for a spot to open up right by the door. No luck.

I ask the kids "Do you just want to go through the drive-thru and eat at home?". Screams of "NOOOO!" are heard from the back seat. "WE WANT TO PLAY!". Honestly, I want them to play too. Because it's raining, so we're definitely not going to the park, and I'd like them to burn some energy instead of coming home and bouncing off the walls.

While I'm driving in circles, the rain is getting worse. So I tell the kids, "If we go inside, we're going to have to go through the rain and we're going to get wet" They confirm that they're good with this plan. Juliette doesn't get a vote. So I get out to get out the stroller. Now it has started a torrential downpour, coupled with gale-force winds. I get out the stroller and am already soaked, despite the umbrella. I open the door on Juliette's side of the van and she is immediately soaked from the blowing rain. The wind blows the umbrella inside out. Now I notice hail also. Nice little ice beads pelting my precious baby girl.

This is when I give up. I get further soaked trying to put the stroller back in the car. The boys are silent when I tell them we're going through the drive thru. I think it's clear to them that getting out of the car isn't open for further discussion. The rain is blowing so hard that I get soaked again just ordering the food, even with the awning over the order box.

Five minutes later, when we're driving home...nothing but a mist. Yep. That's me and my perfect timing.

Hat Baby

Well, Juliette has made it to two months old without being a bow-head-baby. But she might just be a hat baby.

One of my favorite childrens' photographers had a post a few weeks ago with hat babies. Given the inspiration, I ordered Juliette a new hat from Etsy and we tried it out today. Pretty sweet, don't you think? Both the baby girl and the hat. Thankfully it was warm out today, because we didn't have any clothes to go with the hat so we wore our birthday suit.

VOTE!!!

Tuesday is election day in Texas, so if you read this blog and live in Texas, get off your bottom and get out there and vote. And do some crazy caucus nonsense afterwards too. Because if I can drag my 2-month old out to a caucus at 7 pm, so can you.

Look, I'm not telling you who to vote for, just telling you to vote. But if you're really at a loss and need advice from a blog, vote for someone from Illinois. Because people from Illinois are cool. I'm from Illinois you know. And I'm clearly super-duper cool. And if you live in Budapest but are still officially residents of Texas, I hope you got your act together and submitted your absentee ballots. Slackers.

Cowboy up!

Well, it's that time of year again...Rodeo days. Last year, I was the most unprepared for the "Trailrider's Breakfast" at Hayden's school. I sent him in jeans and a regular shirt and everyone else was head-to-toe in cowboy regalia. This year, I made a more substantial effort, although it was difficult without breaking the bank. Hayden has a man-sized head but it's hard to find men's cowboy hats for less than $50. And don't even talk to me about boots. But it is priceless at the end of the day to see my men-folk all duded up in their gear.
Note to other mothers, don't dress your 2-year old in chaps if you're in the midst of potty training. It's hard enough as it is for the little guy, but even his daddy couldn't figure out how to work all the ties on the chaps. But he was awfully cute, wasn't he?

Issues...

When you find yourself picking brownie crumbs off your newborn baby's head (hmm, must have dropped them on there when I was feeding her and eating brownies at the same time) and trying to get chocolate stains off her clothes, it might be a sign that you have a little addiction to sweets. Maybe I need an intervention, because I'm pretty much able to polish off a whole pan of brownies single-handedly. And don't even get me started on the diet soda issue. Hey, I'm trying to hold my act together with three kids. At least I'm not hitting the liquor cabinet. Oh, how we can rationalize.

In other news, I gave blood for the first time in forever this weekend. Platelets actually. It was a triple-point day plus I got 100 bonus points for making my appointment online. Plus, with the platelets you can give every 48 hours or something, so I'm already eligible to give again. And, they let you pick the movie you want to watch while you're donating. The downside is that you're hooked up to the machine for an hour and a half and something they pump back into me makes my face all numb for about 15 minutes. Oh, and I feel like my hand is going to fall off after squeezing that stupid ball for so long. But hey, this weekend is triple bonus time again and they did have that Michael Clayton movie on DVD, so maybe I'll hit it again on Friday.

Oh, and this is for Allison. Isn't her new little guy a cutie? Allison is part of the third baby club at Hayden's school:

The Oscars...

Many years ago, I used to listed to a local morning radio show and try to win their many give-aways. One year, they broadcast the Oscars at a movie theatre and my friend Steph and I won tickets to go. It was kind of fun, because you filled out a card with your Oscar picks and the person who picked the most correct winners, won a year long unlimited movie pass for two people. Steph and I really wanted to win, but ended up one right choice short (we guessed the Barbra Streisand song from The Mirror Has Two Faces rather than the Madonna song from Evita for Best Song).

It sounds cheesy, going to a movie theatre to watch the Oscars with a bunch of strangers, but it was actually fun. But what struck me today when watching the Oscars, was that unlike 1996, when I had seen most of the movies, I had only seen one of this year's nominated films (Juno). And while I still love movies, I'm not really sad to have not seen too many this past year. There are, after all, three good reasons I don't go to the movies anymore. And those reasons were looking awfully cute today...

More new pictures on the KodakGallery site.

Ready for her close-up...

Presenting, the almost fully-recovered from the trauma of the doctor's visit, two month and one day old Miss Juliette...

Initially I wasn't sure what color her eyes were going to be. Hayden has green eyes and Trevor's are very blue. I'm now putting my money on blue for Miss J as well. I think they can change up to one-year old, but hers are becoming more blue rather than less. But they're more of a violet-blue than Trevor. Very Liz Taylor.

7 Good Reasons...

I'm pretty religious about taking pictures of the kids to document their age milestones. Their first birthday pictures aren't taken a week before or a week after their birthday, they're on the exact date. But here are seven reasons I don't have 2-month old pictures of Juliette from today...
Little Miss J had a seriously traumatic visit to the doctor today which ended up with most of her skin covered in band-aids. Five shots and two vials of blood drawn made Juliette not a happy camper. The shots were all standard vaccinations, but the bloodwork is to check on her lingering jaundice. Hopefully nothing is going on with her liver to cause her to still be so yellow (I PhotoShop her skin color a little, so you can't see the full effect here), but we're waiting on results of the blood tests.

This next shot was a moment of exhaustion for her. But for the rest of the afternoon and evening, she screamed every time I tried to lay her down, even for a diaper change. I think she thought another needle was coming at any moment.

In the meantime, Trevor traded a smile for a piece of candy since Mommy had the backdrop out and was itching for a cute face to photograph.

Juliette's trauma made me stay home and miss my photo session with our new friend Will (one of Juliette's numerous future suitors). But she seems to be on the mend already so hopefully we'll get to take Will's pictures next week.

Resemblance?

The general opinion on the street is that Juliette looks like Trevor. What do you think? I see it some, but I remember thinking Trevor as a baby looked so much like Hayden and I think they're very dissimilar now. So you never know.

I feel like I've been so busy, but don't have much to report. I've worked 4 parent-helper days at Hayden's school in the past 2 weeks, plus a 6-hour shift at his school's garage sale this past Saturday. So that's been the bulk of it. And clearing out the closets here in preparation for the garage sale. Lots of excitement and you're all jealous, I know.

My mother came to visit last week (Valentine's day is "Grandparent's Day" at Hayden's school, nice way to import a free babysitter). It looks like they're closing the reservations center she works at in Chicago sometime within the next year so guess what? She might be moving to Houston!?! Hayden is obviously thrilled and planning many sleepovers at Grandma's house in Houston when she moves. I just hope my grandparents come up with a plan to manage without her in Chicago.

I'm starting a continuing education class at Rice Univ. this week. The subject would probably bore most of you (Photographic Lighting), but I'm so excited about it. Every time I've looked at the class before, it's been filled up. And taking it while I'm off on maternity leave works well, because it's hard to work a full day and then leave the kids for 3+ hours at night once a week.

I just hope I don't get too much equipment envy being around other photographers, especially now that I'm on unpaid leave. I've really been eyeing this beautiful new camera too (Nikon D3), if only it didn't come with a $5000 price tag and require me to buy a new lens too...We can all dream, can't we? Someday, if I'm really good, maybe Santa will bring me one.

Look what arrived!!!!

Thank you Mama T for my lovely new hat. I think it looks just wonderful on my little head.

Bowl Cut...

I'm the first to admit that I'm too hard on Sean. When I send him to get the boys' hair cut, I inevitably criticize the results, because I'm pretty impossible to please. But I win the award for getting Trevor a bad hair cut yesterday night. Which I guess means I have to keep my mouth shut for all the times Sean does it in the future. But I probably won't. I digress...

I took Trevor to TGF at 7:30 last night because his hair was in his eyes and clearly making him 1) uncomfortable and 2) half blind. But Trevor's hair is kind of his signature. I rarely take him somewhere without someone commenting on how beautiful his hair is. Not the style, actually, but his actual hair. So I keep it a little long on top so people can see more of it.

Now TGF closes at 8 pm so they're annoyed when you come in at 7:30 especially when they've already got people waiting. So I should have just left. But I'm stubborn, so I stayed. Eventually the guy calls him over to the truck to get his haircut. I noticed a slight accent, but the guy didn't say much, so I just went into my standard instructions (same cut as he has now, just a little trim, up to the eyebrows in front, clippers on the bottom, scissors on the top, basic bowl cut). From then on, I'm really just there as a distraction for Trevor, holding his hand and feeding him candy.

So we're a good 15 minutes into the cut when I realize this guy didn't understand a word I said, and is just marching to the beat of his own drummer. This is the point at which I basically started screaming, "Stop! Stop right now! What are you doing to his hair? STOP!!!!" and I'm ripping the cape off the boy and pulling him out of the truck mid haircut.

All the other customers are gone at this point, but the other woman who works there comes over and asks what's the problem. And I say "this is not at all what I asked him to do, he has destroyed my baby's hair". She asks "What did you ask for?" I said "A bowl cut" At which point she responds "He doesn't speak much English so he must not have understood you and thought you said 'boy cut'. Besides, I've been cutting hair for 20 years and I've never heard of a bowl cut." Now I'm equally pissed at her. Google "bowl cut hairstyle" and you get 22,300 hits. It's classified as a "Classic" hairstyle. There may debate on whether or not it's a good hairstyle (most sentiment says no, but I think it's ok for kids, just bad for adults), but it is well-recognized as a style. Except at TGF, apparently, where it's unheard of. Freaking idiots.

So I took Trevor this afternoon for a correction of his half-cut from last night. They had to cut it pretty short and it looks bad. Out of consideration for the boy and given the fact that things on the internet live forever, I'm not posting a picture. Suffice it to say, he looks like a chump.

Sean's cousin Debbie was over the other day and wasn't happy with her new hairdo. She said "I don't think the woman spoke English." To which I smugly responded "Oh Debbie, I won't even let someone paint my toenails if they don't speak English." So my smugness got its just reward. It just happened to be visited upon my innocent little Trevor. So sad.

Friendly Guy...

I was in the checkout at Target tonight and the guy behind me decides to strike up a conversation. "How old is your baby?" he says. I'm confused for a minute, looking around for Juliette who I believe I left at home with Sean. Then I realize he's noticed the diapers in my cart (size 5 - for Trevor) and I say "The diapers are for my 2 year old." "I'm buying the same size for my son," he says. Interesting, really, I'm fascinated...we must be the only two people in the whole world buying size 5 diapers. "Do you have other kids?" he continues. "Yes, a 5 year-old and a newborn," I say.

Now mind you, after every response, I go back to staring off into space, trying to end the meaningless conversation. Actually, even when I'm responding, I'm not looking at him, I'm staring off into space. Yet he continues, "Are you having any more or are you done with three?" Yeah Target guy, this is something you need to know? I'm thinking of coming back with some response to make him really uncomfortable like "I'm planning to breastfeed for six years so I won't be able to get pregnant again until I start menstruating regularly." Will this stop the conversation? I'm not sure.

It isn't as if I flatter myself into thinking this guy is hitting on me. He's clearly not. But dude, I'm a mother of three with 30 minutes to myself. I got to go to Target and didn't have to bring a single kid with me. This is like a freaking spa day for me. Can I PLEASE just have one moment of peace?

Sorry, just a little rant. In other news, we've had some bug going through the house. About a week and a half ago I had a fever for two days. Then Hayden had a fever for three days last week. Now Trevor has it. So I've been busy trying to bribe my children to take Tylenol for the last week. Hopefully it ends with Trevor.

Oh, and in case you love cheesy portrait studio photos as much as I do, have a gander at this site.

Lucky #7 Here we are, seven years after the day we said "I do". We've gotten in the habit of taking a picture together every year on our anniversary, usually a self-portrait with the camera on self-timer. I'm not so certain I'm liking the tradition these days, since I don't know how kind the years have been. I'll have to dig out the others some day (most are pre-digital camera) and scan them in.

I remember the 2nd anniversary with the scrunched up newborn Hayden in our arms. He was only 11 days old I think. And now there are 5 of us. That's a lot of change in seven years, but it's been a fun adventure and I look forward to many more years with this little family we've built together. I love you honey. Happy anniversary.

Too fast...
What happened to that scrunched up little newborn baby I was holding just a few weeks ago? Where did this big girl come from?

By the way, I stayed strong through my first big girlie challenge today. I was returning the scale I rented at the baby store today, and was convinced to try a miniature bow in Juliette's hair. I was truly tempted to buy it despite my many professions while pregnant that I would not have a bow-headed baby. In the end, I walked out bow-less. Maybe it was the $9 price tag for a 2 cm bow for a baby who really doesn't have much hair.

Evacuation

At the beginning of January, they started some major road construction on our street that's supposed to last till mid-2010. Which is a really long time to be annoyed every day sitting in traffic trying to get to your driveway. So I was even more annoyed today when Trevor and I were coming home from dropping Hayden at school and found the street shut down completely in both directions several blocks away from our house. I tried cutting through the neighborhood and coming back from the other side, but was still blocked off. So I parked the car about a block away and got Trevor out and starting walking.

I asked a cop who was diverting traffic when I would be able to drive my van back to my house, and he said after they fixed the massive gas leak the road construction crew caused when they hit a gas line. So I continue towards the house, suddenly noticing a strong smell of gas. I asked another cop a little further down whether it was OK to go to my house. He asked for my address and then radioed someone and then said "no, your house is right where the leak is". So I mentioned some mild concern that my newborn baby and husband were at home. He said no, they evacuated everybody. I said it seemed strange that Sean wouldn't call my cell phone to tell me they had been evacuated.

So the cop volunteers to go down to the house to see if anyone is home. He comes back and says that Sean's car is still there, but there's no answer at the door. I'm still concerned about not knowing their whereabouts, so he takes Trevor and I in the squad car down towards the house. He tells me to leave Trevor with him while I go check in the house, and that if there's a problem inside, come flag him down. I think the implication was that if my family is asphyxiated, he'll radio for help. So I go in the house and Juliette's carrier is still inside so I call for Sean. He responds "What?" from the back bedroom. I shout "Did you not answer the door for any of the police trying to evacuate you?" "I was in the shower" he shouts back. So I grab the baby, car seat, and diaper bag and tell him to come on. Sean, always cool in the emergency, needs to comb his hair first so I leave without him. He joins us in the police car a minute later. The cop was pretty surprised to see me walking out with the baby he was so sure wasn't there. So Juliette had her first ride in a squad car at only one month old. That's one for the baby book.

We tried to come home a few hours later but the street was still blocked off. We finally were able to get into the house about 6 hours after the initial evacuation. Did I mention it was pajama day at Hayden's school so were were toting around the boys in their jammies this whole time? Eventually I stopped and bought them some pants when it was clear were weren't getting back in the house for a while. Obviously, the house didn't blow up, and the dogs were still alive when we came home. We did have to leave the doors open for a while to air out the gas smell though.

All in all, an exhausting day.