Dogs and Bunnies

Well, I didn't get around to posting anything this weekend because we spent the better part of it searching for our dog, Lilly. This is nothing new. She defies the laws of physics when it comes to escape. I don't have the energy or desire to go into detail, but she managed an escape again this morning during what can only be referred to as the "crazy, uncontrolled, rip-your-hair-out-trying to get three-year-old out the door for school and baby down for morning nap" hour at our house.
So, Anna is on my bed (which is yet to be made up) getting a dirty diaper changed. She was a little constipated (bear with me, it will be relevant later) and trying to change her these days is much like trying to stuff a jack rabbit into a paper bag. Meanwhile, Charlie is screaming from his room for "Daddy" because I put him in time out for screaming. Irony is a funny thing.
Will has shut himself into the bathroom with his iPod blaring. Smart man. So the phone starts ringing and I figure the answering machine will have to do for now, I just can't handle one more task. Then, 5 seconds later, the doorbell. Not a good sign. I know right away that Lilly has done it again.
It is about now that I am down to the wiping portion of my diaper changing task when I realize I am out of wipes. Of course. So I run across the hall while Anna is still on my bed, release Charlie from his prison, grab a pack of wipes, and signal to my neighbor that I understand why she is there. Naturally, Charlie follows me into the room telling me why he doesn't love me anymore and that he is isn't going to play with me any. more. because I sent him to time out. I get Anna's diaper finished, wrap her in a blanket, throw a pair of pants on myself (an afterthought) and head out to find the dog.
I am still too bitter to go into detail about this part of the morning, but I found her. She followed my van home as I leaned out of the car window bribing her with treats, which I didn't give her. (Sorry dog lovers, but if you spent as much of your precious time searching for this dog, you wouldn't either. I love her, but it is maddening.) So she repays me by jumping into the driver's seat as soon as I got out and wedging herself under the dashboard. After about 5 minutes of negotiating a turn-around, she managed to free herself. But she wallered around on the seat just enough to make my entire van reak of dead, rotting fish. Wonderful.
Finally, I make it inside, put the dog in the garage, prepare Anna a warm bottle, and crawl into my bed to cuddle up with her before I put her down for a nap. As I am holding her in my arms and crawl onto my bed, I notice several small dark balls roll toward me where the mattress was giving under my weight. "That's funny," I thought. "I don't recall eating chocolate covered peanuts in bed?" Then I remembered the chaos that ensued during Anna's morning diaper change.
You guessed it, bunnies. IN my bed.
Motherhood is such a dignified job.

Girl's Weekend In

This past weekend, Will took Charlie along with him to a wedding in Nashville so he could play with his cousins and I could have a little alone time with Anna. And let's be honest here, Anna is still immobile, takes two 1 1/2 hour naps a day, and goes to bed at 6:30 pm, so this was a mini-vacation for me as well. As shocking as it is, this was the first time in 3 years, 4 months, 2 weeks, and 2 days that I spent more than a few hours away from Charlie! That is, of course, excluding the two days in the hospital when I gave birth to Anna, but that hardly qualifies as "vacation time".

Believe it or not, it wasn't until we entered into the "three's" that I even felt I needed time away. I love kids (particularly my own), always wanted nothing more than to be a Mom, and spent one hellacious year teaching 30 kindergartners from 7:30 am to 3:00 pm, so I just saw this lack of alone time as part of having young kids...and I loved it! However, although I continue to love my son even more than the day he was born, the time for a "break" had come. First-time moms beware: everyone talks about the terrible twos; but it's the terrible threes that will grip you by the you-know-whats, make you scream for mercy, and see what you're really made of. Most days I can get by just reminding myself that every "No, I will not do what you say", and "That's no fair!" is just normal "I am three, hear me roar...", defiant, self-asserting behavior, but the past couple weeks had been wearing on me hard. The couple of days of sunshine followed by a solid week of rain and cold, trapped inside a house with two three-year-olds and one 9 month old was just more than this Momma could handle. So needless to say, I was looking forward to this...

Friday night, Anna and I had a quiet dinner (oddly quiet). Anna went to bed early and I had some girlfriends over to celebrate my mini-vacay.

Saturday morning, we got all dressed up and headed to the mall with friends for a "just browsing" trip that turned into a "new summer wardrobe for Charlie and Anna" trip.

I didn't buy it, because it wouldn't have survived the afternoon, but is this just the cutest thing you've ever seen?

After hours of shopping, Anna had her first "Girls Night Out" style dinner.

She entertained the other patrons with her dance moves...

while her buddy Caroline slept through the entire thing!

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend that I will not soon forget. I will remember how much fun I had shopping with the girls, hanging out with my friends, taking two naps a day, reading a magazine while Anna played on the floor, having time to devote to just Anna, and eating an entire meal without having to tend to anyone.

But I will also remember how lonely the house felt when I returned home without anyone to greet me, how quiet it seemed without the dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, and baby monitors buzzing, and how lifeless it felt without someone giggling, throwing balls at the windows, crashing cars on the carpet, pitching a fit over bedtime, and begging for one more cookie.

Most of all, I will remember how much I missed my Charlie. Attitude and all...

Girl Talk

I found the girls engrossed in a deep exchange during a playdate the other day. I think they may have been plotting against the older brothers. So from the looks of it, Anna will either be a comedienne or a pedicurist. Check it out...

Charlie-isms

As Charlie's vocabulary seems to expand by the second, we get more and more laughs out of him. It truly baffles me how we, as humans, are able to acquire so many words in so little time when we are young! Of course, one must allow plenty of room for error...

Charlie: "Flash the toilet." (Flush the toilet).
"Quaz the dvd." (Pause the dvd.)
"This blanket is worm." (This blanket is warm.)
"I want a nuffin." (I want a muffin.)
"Sandwich ice cream" (Ice cream sandwich.)


There are so so many more, but I just can't put my finger on them now. These are the precious little things that are so easy to forget, yet so priceless!

Anna's Baptism

I was baptized when I was merely weeks old, brought up in the church, an avid member of youth group and Young Life and have always had a relationship with God. But like any human being in a relationship, my dedication and commitment to that relationship has always been present, but at varying degrees. Although I talk to God often, calling on him for strength in trying times, asking for mercy in times of sin, and thanking him daily for the enormous blessing that is my life, it is not often that I feel him. In fact, it wasn't until today that I decided that's what that feeling was. Before today, it had only happened twice in my entire life, that feeling of something tangible on my skin that seemed to indelibly etch itself into my memory in a way that an image, sound, taste, or smell could never do. Those two times were the same feeling: of a tiny, wet, squirming body laid onto my chest, still warm with the heat of being within me. I can still feel both Charlie and Anna in my arms and on my chest and can remember the way their warm wet skin felt on my hands like no time has passed at all.

Today, God unexpectedly blessed me with that feeling once more. As we stood before the congregation of the church and the minister sprinkled the water onto Anna's head, baptizing her in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, she smiled and reached for the glistening bowl of water. She then bounced happily on the minister's hip as he walked her up and down the aisle that her brother and I both traveled on the day of our baptisms, and the aisle that her grandmother and grandfather, and father and I walked on the day of our weddings. As beautiful and sentimental as all this was to me, it isn't what touched the depths of my heart. After showing Anna to the congregation, the minister returned her to my arms as we stood at the head of the church and said a prayer. Just as the minister began his prayer for Anna she reached across my chest and laid her head onto my shoulder, pressing her head, still wet with the Baptism water, against my cheek. Feeling that warm, wet sensation against my skin, with the knowledge of what it symbolized for my daughter, touched me once again in a way only the birth of a child can. For me, it can be described only as Divine. Through my two precious angels, Charlie and Anna, I have truly been touched by the hand of God.

Here are more than a few photos from our memorable day:

Getting ready:

1. Clean diaper


2. Socks.

3. A kiss from Daddy for luck.


4. The slip.


5. The dress.


6. Buttons.


7. Bonnet.

8. Done!

The handsome brother!

Paci Lover

Recently, Anna has become a pro at finding her pacifier in her crib at night and popping it back into her mouth on her own. In case you weren't aware, this is HUGE considering just several short months ago the child was still fully swaddled to sleep and required someone going into her room to replace her lost paci at any given time throughout the night. Once we tackled the swaddle-beast (which is an entirely different blog altogether), I started wedging an extra paci in the corner of her crib to "up" the odds that she would be able to find one in the night. However, after peeking in on her the last several nights, I'm afraid I may have started an entirely new habit altogether...

Here she is, one in the mouth, one clutched firmly in the palm of her hand. Oh well, there are worse habits than needing two pacifiers to sleep!

Funnies

Okay, so I know the random outdoor pictures are getting a little redundant, but these two struck me as hilariously post-able for some reason.


This one because it gives you a little perspective on the size of my deliciously enormous daughter. She is 3 months younger than the girl, and 4 1/2 months younger than the boy. She also looks incredibly confused...


I'm not really sure why this one strikes me as laugh-out-loud funny, but it does. Something about two precious girls with dolls and pretend cell phones circling the cul-de-sac with my son stuffed in the trunk meant only for looks really tickles my funnybone. I know, I have a strange sense of humor.

Nine Months and Thirty Inches!

That's right, I said thirty inches. Officially off the charts in length. Holding strong at 95% in weight, though. Healthy and huge! Charlie was a great helper at Anna's 9 month check-up today and insisted on sitting up on the table with her. Wish he would have been singing that tune at his own check-up! Two healthy kids...I couldn't ask for more!

Yet Another

A neighbor let me borrow her son's walker for Anna yesterday afternoon. She was finally able to leave her perch on the sidelines and join in the crazy cul-de-sac fun! She was so excited and you could really tell she thought she was "one of them". Look out, neighborhood, here comes another one!

Ok, so this one was from the morning, but I couldn't resist posting it here!

Oh My Geese!

What a wonderful day we had today! We went for a picnic at the park with Charlie and Anna's buddies and had such a great time. We were, however, harrassed by some rather unwelcomed feathered friends...

My kidos are blessed with the most wonderful little friends!

"Doing okay in there, girlfriend?"

And this is why I don't eat meat...

This morning Anna and Charlie were playing on the floor as Charlie attempted to wrestle her and buried his face into her crotch area. I knew she had been "working on something", if you catch my drift, so I held my breath in anticipation of Charlie's reaction. He threw himself backwards on the floor and shouted, "Ugh, I don't like that smell!". Then came the statement that sealed the deal on my new found vegetarianism: "Mommy, Anna smells like chicken nuggets...". Unexpected, hilarious, and nauseating all wrapped into one.

Long Time No Blog

It has been nearly a month since I have posted, and for that I am sorry! We have really just been hunkering down and toughing out these last few weeks of winter and I haven't had much to post. But Hallelujah!, Spring has sprung! Every year I forget just how spectacular warm weather is when you have children until it makes it's comeback sometime in March (if we're lucky). We head outdoors at the first glimpse of daylight, and return home only for potty and naps. Charlie is actually begging to go inside by the end of the day.

We spent the weekend in the cul-de-sac with our wonderful friends and neighbors and it was pure heaven. Charlie has gotten into playing soccer in the neighbor's yard, and he's pretty good! And Anna is just plain wonderful. She has gotten to the age now where I miss her when I put her to bed at night and can't wait until she wakes in the morning. She says uh-oh when she drops things and gives sloppy, wide-open-mouthed kisses. And still NO TEETH!! Here are a few pictures from our romp in the sun this weekend, and a few older pictures just to fill in the blanks...Anna and Abbi cruising in the wagon, and below, Abbi's sister Hadlee joins the ride. (Anna just adores Hadlee, especially trying to rip out her big hairbows!)

Monday I took the monkies to the park for a picnic. It was packed and we didn't get to stay long because Charlie had an oh-so-impressive meltdown and we had to leave, but it was fun while it lasted!

Here are just a couple of pictures from the time surrounding my blogging hiatus...

Boys!

There really are no words for this.