not like I didn't already know

One tip of very few that I have...

For those of you out there who have leg-lifting dogs like we do, and smell pee in a general way but can't quite place it:

Get a handheld blacklight,


turn the lights off,

and if you're unlucky like us, your house will look like a crime scene.


They were so busted!
The blacklight tells all.

I leave town and the dogs lose their minds while I'm done and pee up the joint.

I'm considering putting cloth diapers on them during the day when they roam the house.

media nuggets

(usually Kevin is the great anti-commerical sheriff in our house. I made him stop to see this one the other night.)

And credit goes to Aurora for this comparison. Everytime I watch the Today show, I laugh thinking of it.

crazy is just a chemical messenger away

This pregnancy has been rather kind to me up to this point.
I'll cry at practically anything sappy, but I hadn't had the other kind of PMS (Pregnant Mental Syndrome).
That is, until now.
These hormones make everything stressful. I don't want to do anything especially if it's productive or healthy. My fuse has been clipped to about 3 millimeters.
I'm like a crazy person.

This afternoon I took a nap and then got in the spa tub and when I got out I was still white knuckled over absolutely nothing.

And I can't get enough chocolate and cola.



I could drink this Whole Foods coke all day long. I limit myself to one a day, and if extreme estrogen emergency arises, I'll drink two.

So I haven't returned your call, your email, your letter, your text message, missed a meeting, etc., now you know why. I'm mental right now, and probably will be until the due date.

(And then after that I will be unavailable due to a different kind of crazy.)

Baby Tuesday

Yep, it's early again. I know how people hate a late B.T., I wouldn't want to ruin anyone's lunch break by not making the noon deadline.

Most of these are from our trip last week in Big D.

I bought this hat for Cricket a few months ago and sewed ribbons to the sides so that I could tie it onto her head. The ribbons only served as a pretty noose when she would pull it upward with all her baby-might. So I brought it with for Scoutie to wear. I tied it on Baby C's head to show how she won't wear it, and what did she do? She kept it on as if she loved it.


Granny G and her grandbabies. :D


That darn pug! I put babydolls to deter Emmitt from laying on Scout's Dora Bed, but he just rolled them over and used them as throw pillows.


Aurora and I found that the cousins were probably pretty close to having twins.
One is on a lap? The other must be on the same lap!
Poor crippled Aurora had to haul the two of them around in her wheelchair in the name of equality.



Another hat-spotting- this time back home in Sockswithsandalsland. I put in on her head and she took off into the kitchen. It came off shortly after.

Psalm 17:6

The bug and I flew back yesterday afternoon.

[[Bu-bum!]]

It started out with me breaking down in tears at the ticket counter after we got a TSA boy scout who was going to deny me my flight because my maiden name on my passport didn't match my ticket.
I lost my driver's license somewhere in the DFW airport when I arrived, and I'd bet $100 that the baby pulled it out and dropped it while I was carrying her and my carry-on.

My mom demanded satisfaction (yes, my mom is still fighting my battles for me ;) ) and begrudgingly, after much conversation about police reports and federal requirements, he gave me a boarding pass that matched my ID. If my mom hadn't been there I was desperate enough to buy an entirely new non-stop ticket just to be able to get my big pregnant self and my toddler back home.

Still in tears, we go to the overly-complicated security checkpoint, baby and I.
The whole baby bottle thing- oy!
As I have my 1) baby 2) carry-on 3) baby bottles in plastic bags 4)blankie and doggie 5) both our shoes and 6) red wagon all separated into plastic bins (with exception to the baby), two (obviously single) business men cut in front of me at the X-ray machine. As in, just as I'm scowling at the back of one guy's head, the next one gets right behind him. I was a hair away from losing it and screaming "look at me! look at me! could I get a break?!" at them. Instead I just cried a little more, made it through and reassembled myself on the other side.

There was a nice man at my gate offered to pull the wagon down to the checkpoint for me (thank you stranger) right before I found out it was a full fight and I had a middle seat. As I sat down with a college age girl on my left, a stoic business man on my right, and a squirming kicking baby (required to be) on my lap, I said a little prayer for help.
Less than 60 seconds later, a flight attendant comes by and says something quietly to the man on my right in the aisle seat, he picks up his bag and leaves. Since they said it was a full flight, I thought for sure he'd be coming back. But instead, the flight attendant, a.k.a. angel of mercy, says "I tell them it's for their comfort to sit away from a baby. And there, now she can have her own seat!"
I think I heard a choir sing.

And! The baby was mostly happy on the flight. That had never happened before. She only screamed when we descended and then fell asleep once her ears pressurized.

We arrive in Denver knowing that we had a 3 hour layover. 30 minutes into it, I realize this idea was exhausting, chasing after her with all of our stuff.
So I checked the boards looking for a earlier flight to SFO. Sure enough, one was leaving an hour before ours.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm not a finagler. I was going to ask the person at gate A24, and if she said no, that would be the end of it.
"Hi, heh. Um, so I am, err we, are supposed to leave on the 6:00 flight--"
"Wait one moment, she can help you" [points to another woman]
"Oh right okay. Hi, so we're supposed to have a later flight to San Francisco and it's a REALLY long layover and I was wondering if maybe we could switch to this flight? Is it really full?"
"No. Do you have your boarding pass?"
"yes."
And could I get an aisle seat...preferrably with an empty seat next to it?"
"Do you mind sitting in the back?"
"no."
"How about I give you a whole aisle in the back?"

And there was the choir again.

Man, I was so- thankful. So so so thankful.

There you are ladies and gentleman, a direct answer to prayer. It happens.

Baby Tuesday- early edition

I won't be able to post on Tue, probably. Logicistical difficulties.
So while I have access, I'm doin' it.

We're in Tejas. The bug is confused, but mall playgrounds and pacifiers are helping. She's suspicious that I'm gonna leave her here.
The flight here was full of crying, of course, but we survived.
Even though she'll be so glad to be home, I'll bet money that she'll go through the same routine on the flight back.
Oy.




This is our visit to the best mall baby-play area I have ever seen. Giant food! It was all squishy and vinyl-y, the babies loved it!  

. 

Baby C, sunny side up. 

. 

Only because she didn't know the barrette was in her hair, did she leave it in there. I relished every moment of the "whale tail." 

"One for you, one for you, one for you, one for you. Hey, no grabbing- don't touch her- stand right there..." 

She likes to poke eyes, no pet is safe. 

No pacifier? I got a finger. 

Baby Tuesday

The baby's got a cold today. It's not that bad of a cold, but as you can see, she looks pretty pitiful. Tomorrow we fly. I'm tired already. 

I googled "how to fly with a baby" and found this article diappointing. It's one big "duh" after another.
This one was a little better.

rolled-up shorts and mustard yellow- pah!

Does anyone else feel that this would be a great time to be a teen?
Okay, my opinion is mostly based on clothing and music, but what else really matters when you're 14?

Allow me to illustrate:

Here is a photo of a bunch of teens from the mid 90's. Fluffy hair, oversized everything. Nobody looks attractive.



And (towards the end) it was cool to like Korn and Tool. Terrible, terrible music.


Here's a current senior class.
Now I realize there are still some in this photo that don't look cool, but overall pants fit, hair is natural, all good things.

I bet they all have cell phones and laptops too.

And teen-emulating music now is good, The Shins, The Killers. No fair!

And this isn't just a recent thing I've thought. I mean, the 1960's was a great time to be a teenager too.


I know this isn't the best photo, but let's all remember American Graffitti. Isn't that the message of the movie? It was cool to be a teenager in the 60's.

Yes, I'm still bitter about every T-shirt being 3 sizes too big and having shoulder pads in it and the entire flannel trend. You lucky 2006 teens with your skinny pants and long shirts!

Not without a fight

Thank heavens for this article!
(all credit goes to Jenna for finding it)

Parents tell me that if you have a girl you can't avoid the princess obsession-- that it's some law of nature that if you have a little girl in the U.S., and you don't lock her in a box, she will want to consume everything that is princess related.
I say I will fight it!

This goes for the little boy train obession too.
I know there are doubters reading this.

And to you I say, "watch me!"


My strategy? Substitution! Elmo, Dora, Batman- I don't care, just as long as it's not princesses or trains. (Although in all fairness, trains are less socially offensive, but equally expensive as a habit.)

If that fails, I'll resort to disparagement. I will.
If I'm pushed, I'll lay judgement and say "Princesses are ignorant and can't get a real job. People don't love them for what's on the inside, they love them because they are pretty and have money. Princesses are stupid, He-Man is better."

Baby Tuesday Boxing Day Edition

Last night.


This was a few days ago. It wasn't the packages that enticed her under the tree, it was the gift tags. Oh little pieces of paper-- she cannot resist them!


This was Christmas Eve. I know she looks totally absurd in jeans and a dress like that, but it was the last chance to wear it. And we needed the jeans for the park. It all makes sense.





I think this one is my favorite. Happy day! 

She's totally not looking at the camera, but no pacifier! 

If it wasn't for the dress she's wearing, I would think this photo was from 1982. 

Little Hummel Girl