The Last Week...

We love no-shirt weather!

Apparently no-bottoms weather as well!

We found a huge stack of Tupperware stencils at Unique this week. I realize I'm about 20 years behind.

Riding Grandma's tire horse.

Typical brother-sister relationship.

Not the greatest picture. Avrie sampling dog food. She didn't actually eat any that we know of!

Cousin Tanner and Avrie.

Cooking up something in Grandma's sandbox.

Potty Talk

Almost daily conversations (if you can call them that):

Mom: Nolan! Why did you pee in your undies again?
Nolan: *Shrug*
M: I know it's not an accident, Nolan. You know you have to go.
N: *Shrug*
M: I'm sick and tired of this. Where do you go pee?
N: On the toilet.
M: Good. Why don't you go there?
N: *Shrug*
M: Aaarrgghhh.

Mom: Nolan, it looks like you need to go poop. Go sit on the toilet and try to get it out.
Nolan: No, I don't have to go.
M: Yeah. You. Do. You're squeezing your butt cheeks together and walking on your tippy toes.
N: *Shrug* I don't haff ta.
M: Go. NOW.
N: I want a diaper.
M: Arggh. Fine. (Go to put a diaper on him and there's a big poop smear or more in his underwear).
M: I am so, so sick of this Nolan. You can't keep holding your poop in or we'll have to go back to the doctor. Do you want that?
N: No.
M: Well POOP then.
N: *Shrug* (Doesn't poop for another day at least).

This afternoon he's wearing Avrie's tinkerbell underwear. He's not happy about it but he has no clean ones left. Am I creating a complex here? Am I going to turn my son into a 'little girls' undies loving pervert"? I. HATE. POTTY TRAINING. I thought we had rounded the bend and were 99% done. And now he's peeing in his pants all the time.

On an up note...Avrie pooped on the toilet today! Whoohoo!

One Word Only

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your significant other? Work
3. Your hair? Up
4. Your skin? Freckled
5. Your mother? Busy
6. Your favorite thing? Family
7. Your dream last night? Forgettable
8. Your favorite drink? Water
9. Your dream/goal? Attained
10. The room you're in? Living
11. Your ex? Nonexistent
12. Your fear? Heartache
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Vacation
14. Where were you last night? Out
15. What you're not? Skinny
16. Muffins? Bran
17. One of your wish list items? Maid
18. Where you grew up? Farm
19. The last thing you did? Discipline
20. What are you wearing? Dress
21. Your TV? ABC.com
22. Your pet(s)? Ants
23. Your computer? Essential
24. Your life? Chaos
25. Your mood? Elated
26. Missing someone? Evan
27. Your car? Hot
28. Something you're not wearing? Shoes
29. Favorite Store? Thrift
30. Your summer? Painful
31. Like someone? Yes
32. Your favorite color? ROYGIBV
33. When is the last time you laughed? 1:38pm
34. Last time you cried? April

Gritty, Gritty *Cringe*

I decided to give sand a taste today. A good hefty shovel-full. I chewed.

Hummm, maybe it isn't food after all.

But, I really seem not to care.

I think it makes me look rustic.

A sand tear.

Tag, I'm It...

What I was doing 10 years ago? Probably counting down the days until the extended weekend so I could spend it with my long-distance boyfriend. I was 15. I actually remember that I went to his house for the weekend and they were re-roofing their house. Evan threw a rug off the roof and I thought it was a body and had a heart attack.
Five Snacks I Enjoy: Fresh fruit. Honestly...not much of a snacker.
Five Things On My To Do List Today: Keep the kids alive. Keep myself sane. Make supper. Have a shower. Go to Bible study.
Five jobs I have had: Photo retoucher for Herff Jones. Dental receptionist. Spine Center receptionist. Transcriber for Spine Center. MOM. The last one is by far the hardest, lowest pay and most rewarding.
Five of my bad habits: According to me or my husband?! I brush my teeth too much. I never get dressed unless I'm going somewhere...and Target usually doesn't qualify as "somewhere". I have terrible posture. I never have company...my excuse: it's expensive. I never put the vacuum away. Unless "away" is the kitchen floor.
Five places I have lived: Lewiston, MN; St. Paul, MN; Eagan, MN; Columbia Heights, MN. That's it.

FOOD!

At the beginning of the month P-Dub ran a post about favorite foods. I've been making my own running list since then and am interested to know what yours are! These are generally things that, no matter how much I eat, I'm always bummed when the last bite is gone. In no particular order:

• Sushi
• Pizza - yes, there is BAD pizza. I'm partial to Punch.
• Naan with sour cream and my homemade marmalade
• Berries of all kinds. Preferably fresh picked and still warm from the sun.
• Greek salad
• Steak - medium rare
• Mussels
• Ice cream - yes, there is BAD ice cream.
• Caprese salad with buffalo mozzarella
• Creme brulee
• Fresh artichokes with butter
• Bubbie's sauerkraut
• Watermelon - the stuff of my youth tops it all.
• Mangoes
• Cookie dough
• Root beer floats
• Bruchetta with tomatoes still warm from the vine
• Olives - but not your standard green and black. I could eat a meal at the Olive Bar at Byerly's or Lund's.
• Animal crackers - I love Cub's Wild Harvest Organic brand.
• Iced tea, unsweetened
• Rice Krispy bars
• Mushroom Swiss burgers - medium

I think I could go on and on and on....

A Few Days of Summer...

Nolan fell asleep on the way home from Mindy's on Thursday. He woke up long enough to slide to the floor and slept there for at least half an hour. He's clutching "baby lamb" who follows him EVERYWHERE he goes. It's disgusting. I managed to wash it yesterday but he talked about him the whole time. Last night before bed Evan picked him up and he said "I love Mommy and I love Baby Lamb". Poor Daddy.

Little Monkey took a dive face-first into the ground.

And this is where I bit my lip. It bled like crazy and tasted awful. My Mommy remained surprisingly calm and just did a tooth check and sent me back out to play.


Isn't this the perfect capture of summer? Especially the band-aid on the knee.

Check out my tan line. It turned into quite the painful burn a few hours later. And I have a billion +1 freckles. Maybe by the end of the summer they'll all be connected into an even tan. Ha!

Mr. Cheese playing croquet. He set the course up himself, obviously. Pretty challenging, eh?

Snacking bathing beauty.

A friend.

Such a beautiful day calls for much better reading material. I was thinking smutty romance but don't seem to have any on hand...it's not generally my thing. However, I did visit the physical therapist that morning and she gave me a nice little graphic* pamphlet titled "sex with back pain". Uncomfortable yet? Have I overshared again? *And by "graphic" I mean bad sketches of people in swimsuits. Because that's how we all do it. Right?

An adorable little imp waiting for her breakfast.

Observations

• Two days ago I noticed Nolan had stopped calling Avrie "RV". It's now strictly Avrie unless he's really mad at her, then RV pops out. I think she'll always be RV to us.

• Avrie has been a very mannerly little girl lately. She was up at 12:30 Monday night with some ailment...probably an owwie tooth. She was screaming bloody murder so I hopped out of bed and ran in. "Chocolate milk, Mommy". I didn't oblige the chocolate but grabbed her half full cup out of the fridge. I'm rocking her back to sleep when I hear this little voice "thank you, Mommy". She made it worth it.

• I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess I'm not the only one who gets sick of pushing my kids on the swings. Nolan has finally mastered pumping so all he needs is a start push. But Avrie could swing all day, every day and wants a push about every two seconds. I remember this phase with Nolan but don't recall how long it lasted. I realize there are people who wish they had kids to push. And that there are moms who would push their kids forever if only they could have them back. This makes me feel really selfish.

Almost 23 weeks. I'll admit that I kind of cleaned off the fridge before this picture. Stuff just gets piled there, ya know? Maybe I need to get rid of some magnets.

We went to Peapod's today so the kids could play and I could check out their fairy selection. I absolutely loved the picture below and didn't leave without it. Peapod's used to have two big cats that roamed the store and I was really excited for Avrie to see them but they aren't there anymore. Nolan requested shrimp pad Thai for lunch so we ended up at the mall for Big Bowl. I had an awesome Thai basil shrimp thingee and the kids split the pad Thai. There was just enough left for the kids' supper tonight.

We ran to Target at 4 today...the absolute worst time of day. It's so crowded you can hardly maneuver the aisles and the lines are forever long. Avrie started screaming the second we walked in the store. I earned every drop of my $2 iced Caribou. We picked up our milk and eggs on the way home and Nolan fell asleep in the car on the way home. He woke up enough to stagger into the house and crash on the couch. I woke him up at 6:30...I hope he's tired enough to go back to bed at 8!

My supper tonight. I am so tired of heavy winter food. Summer here we come! We actually got a decent watermelon 1/4 at Target tonight. The kids demolished it.

On the radio this afternoon they were having a garden segment and discussing things that grow in your yard that you can eat. A lady from a nature center called in and said that the flowers from creeping charlie are wonderful on top of ice cream. I don't know if we have creeping charlie in our yard, but I'd love someone to try this and let me know!!

a long day begins...

when Avrie was up at 6 with a new tooth.

I got lots of household stuff done before 9:00 and decided I need to hire someone to come in and mop my floors and scrub my tub.

We went to Home Depot and got paint for Avrie's room...light sage green base and a light pink accent color. I also scored a $1 "oops" quart in the perfect shade of blue for the ceiling. Also picked up some lettuce and basil seeds...plus 1 basil plant. I got half a bed of basil planted this afternoon. I'm planning on freezing a boatload of pesto this summer. Oh, and planting teeny, tiny seeds isn't very easy on a windy, windy day! Here's a few shots of Avrie's new lampshades! The grapevine was pretty tricky business. The gorgeous stickers are Amy Butler...I never knew she had accessories!

P.S. -- The best benefit to a long, fun-filled, sun-filled day? Both kids were sound asleep by 7:55.

Physical Therapy Results

I scheduled an appointment yesterday for PT today for my back/butt. I also told Evan last night that I will not be doing pregnancy again. But I also told him that when I was pregnant with Avrie. So, time will tell!

The therapist felt around for a few minutes and had me lie down. Which takes me several minutes and something just short of screaming. She then states she's absolutely shocked that I've lived like this without steady narcotics. Thank you. I almost hugged her. Having my pain recognized and validated is so wonderful. My pelvis is severely disengaged. Which results in severe pain in my sciatic area and hip. If you make two fists and put them side by side and then move the right fist down so the knuckles are even with the wrist of the left hand...that's my pelvis. So I got refreshed on the exercises and hopefully we'll see some steady improvement. I'm supposed to ice twice a day, wear my brace from sunup to sundown and I'm banned from sitting on the couch. Hardback chairs, here I come.

I'm really hoping to get a boatload of recipes uploaded to my foodblog sometime in the next 24 hours. There are some super ones...keep your eye out!

A Note About the Poll (Possibly TMI)

Can't say I'm too surprised about the results of the poll. I didn't vote, but I'd have to say I'd join the 1% being I'm pregnant, in my 2nd trimester and have an extra 3 pints of blood.

It seems we're all a bit embarrassed about how much we check our email. I think I need a 12-step program. I check mine so often that it's like I'm instant-messaging sometimes. Right Cheri? I honestly have no idea how often...50x/day? More? Maybe they should have a tracking button on Yahoo!. I tried to restrict myself once and lasted about 12 hours. I seriously think I get a self-esteem boost every time I have mail from an actual person. As a SAHM it's my link to the world.

Now, I wonder what the 2% are too embarrassed about?!!!

**I just checked my history for the morning and I've checked my mail 9 times since 7:00 and it's only 8:55. Help! Or email me so I don't have this sinking disappointment when I have an empty inbox.

I Love Bullets

• On our way to the park today we got pulled over for expired tabs. $105.
• The cop followed us into the park...there was a child there all by himself. He was 4 years old. The grandpa dropped him off and left. What kind of person does that? The police tracked him down at the church two blocks away at a bible study. That was an hour long. It doesn't matter where you are...bible study or the bar. You never drop your kid off at the park. Ever. Seriously.
• I went through all the kids' too small clothes yesterday and today. Any baby in the future will not need a stitch of clothing. Diapers, diapers, diapers for gifts please! Or money sent in our name to the hospital's billing department. Not really kidding!
• Now that we know what the kids' bedroom arrangements will be I'm super excited to decorate Avrie's room. I'm leaning toward woodland fairy accents. What little girl doesn't adore fairies? I'm hoping to get this all done fairly soon...there are just two walls to paint and a few accessories to look for. I have a big branch that I'm going to use for a window rod. I'm (I wonder how many times I can use "I'm" in one paragraph?) going to decorate some plain cream chandelier shades with raffia-like twigs and fairies and/or tiny eggs. I may paint them sage green too. I'd love more ideas from little girls at heart!

Family Fun Day

The kids were up early. I fed them and put them in front of Toy Story and crawled back in bed. And I didn't feel guilty. At all. We went to a park I discovered this week. It is part of the Three Rivers District. There is an awesome nature center and I've enrolled Nolan in 3-day summer camp in July. He'll get to build a bug box, bird feeder and a brick. They'll also dam a stream, construct a beaver lodge, make a fort and "build" a snack. They also get to climb on big machines that built the park...I'm assuming bulldozers, etc. It's only 5 minutes from us and by far the coolest park I've found yet. There are lots of nature trails, as well as paved trails for Nolan to bike on.

We came home for lunch and nap/rest/sit on the couch. Later, Evan and Nolan cleaned out my garden beds while Avrie and I went grocery shopping. I went to the meat market to get hot dogs and brats to grill tomorrow night and decided to pick up a t-bone...celebrating our economic stimulus check that got deposited today! Evan grilled it medium-rare and it was fantastic. We never even opened the A-1. The kids got a hamburger...the poor dears. Although it was a great burger.

Went for a walk to the park after supper and the kids are in the tub now getting rid of the filth of a good Saturday.

My Day (so far) in Bullets

• We had a level II ultrasound today to further investigate some fluid in the baby's kidneys. Everything came back clear and we have a healthy, very active baby boy. Very evidently a boy!!
• I had the morning to myself and I spent half at Barnes & Noble reading books I'd never buy. I laughed out loud at this one and couldn't resist copying a few (okay, several almost the whole book) favorites:

1. My one regret in motherhood is that I can't slap people.
2. Some nights when my husband and I go to bed I roll over and "play dead". All I can think is --- "I just can't handle it if one more person pokes me today".
3. We were in the grocery store and when we hit the wine aisle she screamed "that's mommy's juice!"
4. Once I realized my husband was not my girlfriend, it made my life so much easier.
5. I get annoyed at my kids for picking their noses. But I do it too.
6. My husband thinks I'm sad when he goes on business trips but secretly I'm happy that my "third child" is out of the house!
7. I know the exact day my son was conceived because it was the only day we had sex that month.
8. My strict "no toy guns" policy eventually relaxed into a "if you make it yourself" policy and then finally into a "if you shoot at someone, aim at their feet" policy.
9. I never, ever hire a good-looking babysitter. Why put candy in front of a baby? (This one is especially funny to me since Nolan asks me where we're going whenever I actually get dressed.)
10. The one thing I wish I had is a wife.
11. I tell my husband I am going to go potty but actually lock myself in the bathroom, sit on the edge of the tub and read People.

Now you need to go leave your secret in my comments and make me feel like even more of a normal parent!!!

• I spent the other half of the morning moseying through the Galleria -- the upturned-nose mall of Edina. I have found the secret to feeling fat and fabulous! $210 designer maternity jeans! I looked amazing. And I never think that about myself. A $42 maternity camisole---oh how I loved you for the two minutes you were on.

Continuing on through the mall I was reminded why I hate shopping. I hate finding amazing things that I could never in my wildest dreams justify buying:

1. $109 toddler sundress
2. $268 summer skirt
3. $48 maternity t-shirt that says "knocked up"
4. $68 silver pet food scoop. Okay, I didn't want this. But...what in the world? Seriously?
5. $45/each gorgeous pink chandelier shades.

There are THREE baby boutiques in the mall. Which is really sad because it means people actually buy all of this overpriced stuff. Which was really evident by all the yuppie mommies pushing their $1,000+ strollers. They'd never in their wildest dreams consider a Graco. Oh how wildly different our worlds are. I'm happy in mine --- are they in theirs? I ended up splurging and bought myself some $12 hand lotion.