Finally!

2008-03-19_2 021, originally uploaded by Kristianna.

trying again to post -- the Flickr/Blogger sync was not working last night.

Finished the never ending hat for Paul. This cashmere felt so nice in my hands that it almost made up for ripping it back over and over to try to adapt and adjust to make the hat as tight as Paul would prefer -- he likes then very tight on his very short hair.

On the plus side, I'm kind of well practiced at crocheting cables now and hope to find some other way to put this to use.

Hello! McFly!!

Our pleco died a couple of weeks ago and the tank really was becoming algae ridden quickly, since sunlight hits the aquarium. Okay, so I bought the fish yesterday, plus 2 marbled mollies for my daughter. And, um, we can't find them today. There are the same 5 fish as ever in the tank. Oh wait, they came back -- never mind. I'm laughing at myself, because we literally spent 10 mins looking for them this morning, and now I glance over and can see the two mollies swimming by just as I was pondering their fate (did the others gang up and kill and eat them overnight? Did we imagine going to the fish store? What is the nature of reality and perception anyway?).

But never mind. They're there. Ha!

If I were an Aussie

I'd be a Brown Owl. It looks like such a neat group. But alas. ;)

Slow Cooking Thursday: The Inauguration

Slow Cooking Thursday ~ Easy Meatloaf

I think I like this idea... seems the more kids I have, the more I yearn for the boring predictability I never would have wanted say 10 years ago, when I literally never cooked the same dish twice. My husband's joke/complaint was, "If I like something, I better enjoy the HELL out of it, because I'll likely never see it again." Now, I still do enjoy trying new things, and someday probably will have the totally unique menus every week.

But for now, routine is the means to sanity, haha. That, and lots of coffee. ;)

So anyway, I think after I get home from drop off, it'll be the inaugural Slow Cooking Thursday prep time. Then all I have to do is make sides tonight. I guess that's why I make a batch of soup so often in the middle of the day--so in the evening when it's crazyville here, with 2 or 3 kids fussy, I can just put food in a bowl/plate, and then they're quiet at least while they eat, heh.

2nd Parent-Teacher Conference

This morning I had the second of three parent teacher conferences with Bunny's teacher. In general, she exceeds standards for her grade level in reading, writing, speaking, and math while she's meeting the standards for social studies and science -- these are the standards for completion of Kinder, not 2/3 of the way, so within a couple of those areas she was marked as 'approaching' standards, but overall meeting, since it's a journey. A couple of areas where she particularly excels are reading/listening comprehension, pushing to write more complex sentences (i.e. instead of "I like ____," she adds a second clause and reasons out phonetic spellings for words she has not been taught (sometimes with the cutest results, haha!)).

This is the comment on her report card:

Bunny continues to do well in all areas. She is a quick learner and a pleasure to teach! Her enthusiasm towards learning is a wonderful gift. Bunny is reading simple books, writing simple sentences, and writing numbers up to 100. Her reading is beginning to flow and she is sounding out words. This will be the concentration of our last trimester. Bunny displays creativity with problem solving and with written work. Bunny is kind to others and she is a role model in our class. She is learning to jump rope at recess. Keep up the good work!

Mighty Fine Gumbo

Ready to eat., originally uploaded by Kristianna.

I've been wanting gumbo forEVER, but they don't have okra at Trader Joe's and I keep forgetting to grab some whenever I go for some random thing at Safeway. Finally last week I made some, and it was better than I remembered. Bunny loved it and asked me to make it again, and Paul ate and ate and ATE it. Carter? Well, he's my hard case. He asked if I had 'choccy cake', as he has every day since we *did* have some on my birthday a month ago. Can't win 'em all.

Mighty Fine Gumbo

4 slices bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
8 oz green pepper strips -- or use mix of colors
20 oz frozen cut okra, thawed
28 oz can diced tomatoes, with liquid
1 bay leaf
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1 qt chicken stock
1 lb large uncooked shrimp, peeled & deveined

Brown bacon in the dutch oven, and reserve. Add onion to the bacon drippings and saute 1 min. Add pepper strips and continue to saute for 4 more minutes or until onions are translucent. Add okra, tomatoes, bay leaf, some red pepper flakes, chicken broth, and reserved bacon. Cook it for an hour. Add shrimp and cook just until done, about 10 mins. Serve over rice--mine was saffron rice. YUM.

Loonatic. ;)

Loonatic. ;), originally uploaded by Kristianna.

No comment really needed here. He's obviously my son.

"Tolerable"

Paul and I agreed that 'tolerable' is about the highest praise a parent can give of time spent in Chuck E. Cheese's. Kids LOVELOVELOVE it. It's loud, full of places to spend your tokens in hopes of a payoff, the 'prizes' are about a 1:10 value to what is spent in the quest for them -- hey! It's basically Kiddie Vegas! Aha!

Anyway, we went to Chuck E's yesterday to help celebrate Sarah's big 4th birthday, and it was pretty much tolerable. The kids would have rated it much more kindly. :)

My March Madness

I really don't care about basketball. At all. Even a teensy bit.

But March is important in our house because it's Bunny's birthday month. This year we have 3 other birthday parties to attend, making for only one weekend off (Easter weekend, of course, so not really a weekend off from kid stuff--since we celebrate the secular, rodent bringing treats kind of Easter).

Since the month will fly by, I'm starting to plan out her party details. Bunny, being BUnny, never comes up with some theme you can just buy from Birthday Express and have done with it. Thank heavens she abandoned her first idea -- an Otis party. Otis, our CAT. That would have been, um, interesting! When I asked her why, she said, "Because I love Otis," as it I was really rather thick.

Then she changed to white tigers. Really she wants the place to be transformed into an Asian rainforest, but we'll see how much of that we get. She agreed to a 'regular tiger' pinata, since, while pinata come in a large variety, they don't come in *that* large a variety! I found a template for tiger invitations, how-to for a tiger cake, I'm thinking about doing pin the tail on the tiger, but that game always is more fun in theory than reality so we may stick with bashing a pinata and scrambling for candy, plus another small favor (search and you can get my rant on favors, haha). The decorations will be somewhat jungle--but what I can do without driving myself *too* crazy. I'm always a little crazy, haha. 3 weeks and counting down.

Day 2 of 84 (12 week challenge)

So I'm on a journey to fitness (to steal a say someone else put it). Now that my baby is 8 weeks old, I have no good excuse to not bust a move and try to literally work off some of my ass.

Today Lisa Seguinot posted a great entry on her blog. I totally agree--now to put that better way of thinking into effect! For now, I hear snoring, so it's time to see how much of the kettel bell routine I can get done.

Yesterday I took 15,383 steps. Today will not be nearly as good, but tomorrow will also be good. I'm trying to do it every other day to start.

So now we're catching mythical creatures.

luck of the arrrish, originally uploaded by tervaja.

Growing up, St. Patrick's Day was one thing: you wore green or you got pinched. That was enough! I mean, heck give a small kid a reason to chase another one around and voila... fun holiday.

Got older and it also meant green beer. Not my favorite, really, since it invariably was awful green beer. Sorry, but putting some color in Milwaukee's Best does not make it the best anything.

Now apparently St. Paddy has figured a way to make us work harder. You have to build leprechaun traps! Seriously. I was looking at the March calendar for Bun's class, and on the 13th it says, 'Leprechaun Traps Due" with a note that they'll explain more later. You gotta be kidding me. But Bunny is excited and convinced she'll get the pot of gold. :)

What Lucas didn't show us.

Stormtroopers are regular folks. They like dogs. They go to the bookstore. They crack me up.
Bunny finds their Flickr site fascinating. And you thought all they did was, ya know, march around. Well, after their bosses died and the rebels won, I guess life changed. ;)

Another Winner from Ray-Ray

Leeky, Creamy Chicken-and-Dumpling Stoup - NEW!

I made this yesterday, substituting chicken thighs, as my crew prefers dark meat (I am the only one who likes the white meat), and instead of gnocchi I cooked some tortellini separately and added it into the bowls so that Paul's was low carb. I also added some thyme and 1/4 t red pepper flakes. Then after we had dinner, I stretched it with more chicken broth, a bag of chopped spinach, and a little nutmeg (always with greens, just like Racheal says!). That way Paul has it to eat when he's hungry, which is ALWAYS. Man, I thought he had a big appetite before he was on Adderall... if I had wishes from a Genie, one would be that he could be WAY less hungry with no ill health effects. If he takes too much Adderall, we get part A, but also he loses a LOT of weight and suffers from a form of malnutrition; not to mention the meds make him kind of terrible to live with, unless you like aggression and paranoia ;).

But anyway -- the soup... it's good. For the mere mortal (not Paul), it's super filling because it's really rich... one serving is plenty for dinner with salad or the like.

Aw, Freak Out!

Today I finally got around to putting together something Carter received for, yes, CHRISTMAS. It’s a no-pedal trike with trailer from my father, and I just didn’t feel like sitting on the floor and assembling it while giantly pregnant, then I simply had other things to do all the time, like nurse a newborn. Funny how that happens!

So today I noticed the box in the garage while I was putting other boxes into the recycling bin and decided today’s the day.

It was not hard to put together, but I am glad I did it when able to sit and bend. Carter loves it, and didn’t want to stop playing with it at dinner time. He really seemed to think it would be a good idea to bring it ONTO the table. I tried to ‘park’ it next to the table, but he was not having it, so I finally had to put the thing outside. Instant DEFCON 5 here (if I remember my War Games well). Carter freaked out and I basically had to ignore him for a good 15 mins while he worked it out and then he came to the table and ate. It was hysterical to me, to watch him being hysterical. If you can’t laugh at tantrums, what can you laugh at? Plus I think I am always a bit slap happy at the end of the day. Tomorrow we’ll take the toy to the park and see if he likes it as much on Day 2.

What goes around...

Before I start: near as I can tell, it rained 2+" last night. And *not* quietly. Don't need to water this week! :)

Anyway, on to what I wanted to write about.

You know how sometimes you’re in the midst of something and have a moment of clarity? I’m not sure if it was clarity, or perspective, but it was something I had the other day when driving back from the zoo with my three in the back. Bunny and Carter were having a grand time making some noise (maybe it was being a cat, maybe a dog—that’s not the point). One or the other of them would make the noise and the other would copy and then giggles would ensue, leading to more making of the random, and unattractive noise. After about 15 mins, I had to ask them to cut it out. By “ask”, I mean, of course, snap at them to “CUTITOUTI’MTRYINGTODRIVEHERE!!!” Having fizzled their bored fun, I then remembered.

HARDEE!

What, you say? Well, way back in a time we call the Awesome 80s, my family was on one of our annual summer road trips down what seemed like the whole East Coast. We always went one of two places, with *very* little exception: Wrightsville Beach, and Disney. One year, when we were going to Disney, my parents chose Hardeeville, SC as our overnight stopping point. There’s not a whole lot to do when you’re in the back of a car for hours on end, unable to read in the car because it makes you sick to your stomach, etc. So, for some reason (slap happiness, I assume), my sister and I started to say, “HarDEE!” in what can only be described as the most goober way possible. It was hysterical. We said it over and over, especially when we’d see a sign on the highway saying ‘so many miles to HARDEEville’. I don’t know for how long we said it, but I do know eventually our parents threatened to leaves us for dead or something. They were such meanies. As was I.

To this day, I am *sure* I could call Eleanor, and just say, “HarDEE!” and she’d dissolve into laughter. I should try it. And then ask her to burp. But that’s another story.

Meatball Recipe for Heidi. :)

I made THIS soup for dinner Thursday, but me being me, I winged it with what I had on hand (didn't plan to make it, just saw the recipe and decided to try it), and also made a bigger batch, so that Paul could have leftovers.

Heidi and her kids came over for a playdate and dinner that night, so we adults had the soup, and we all really liked the meatballs. It was the first time I'd ever cooked meatballs in a soup, and I have to say they come out very tender that way.

More or less I used the recipe if you cook the above link, but I initially subbed a quart of beef stock for the chicken stock, then, seeing as I was making a double batch of meatballs, I topped it all off with some 3 cups of chicken stock so it would all be covered in liquid in the 5qt pot I used. I also just used about half a pound of the 3 color peppers you buy in the frozen section of Trader Joe's--they're super cheap compared to fresh colored bell peppers--and chopped them to bite size instead of strips. Finally, the soup had little in the way of herbs/spices beyond salt and pepper, so I added 1/4 t red pepper flakes, 1/2 t dried thyme and a bay leaf. (Little t = tsp.)

For the meatballs: I used sourdough instead of white bread (never buy the stuff). Ripped 2 large slices into pieces and soaked with 1 c milk. When the milk absorbed, I mixed in 1 package TJ's sweet italian sausage removed from the casings, one package of ground beef, some salt and pepper, about 1/2 c chopped parsley, an egg, and about 1/3 c grated parmesan. I also threw in probably 1/4 c leftover creamed spinach, just because I had it and figured it couldn't hurt. Then I followed the recipe on forming them and adding to the soup. It was really good, and I will make it again. Oh! And I had it over cooked egg noodles, just because it seemed like a nice idea. I liked it!

Monkey Boy Update-arooni

Carter cracks me up. Today he bowled for the first time (rainy 'no school' weeks make you do the darndest things). He was so cute, squatting down low as his ball rolled very s-l-o-w-l-y down the lane, yelling, "Go, go, go!" and then hopping like mad, so happy about the results, even when he managed to hit nothing.

Then later today he was drawing (okay, scribbling) and kept saying, "Zoboo... Z, B, O." over and over... He loves the show Zoboomafoo and i honestly am not sure how he came up with the ZBO part, but he has been learning a little about letters as I help Bunny, so who knows. I'm sticking with him being a genius. :)

Very much likey

banksy pollard st bethnal green, originally uploaded by alex image.

Banksy.

Though I imagine it may be a confusing street to drive on, what with the double lines veering off to the side and then making a flower. ;)

Eureka!

I found it! I bought two skeins of cashmere a few months ago when the Bascom Beverly's was going out of business and everything was massively discounted. Knew I wanted to make Paul a hat, but not just the typical toque I generally do. I wanted cables or something a little special for this special yarn. but I don't like knitting cables--too much to remember when I'm sleep deprived (which is for 6 years running more or less, haha).

Anyway, I found it!
http://www.rheatheylia.com/index.php?page=patterns&id=5

Will print this tonight after kiddie bedtime and begin. I should be able to finish in time for Paul's birthday. I doubt I can keep it a surprise, since I find he likes his hats *just so* in fit, and I need to periodically fit using his real head.

Oh, and I also am making this hat for Cole.
http://haakpoes.blogspot.com/2007/06/noodle-baby-hat.html
I need to think of colors, since he's not a girl, ;). And I may leave off the noodle bit.

Moose Baby!

So Cole is all of 6 weeks tomorrow. And I dug out the 3-6 mo stuff for him last weekend. He's 12 pounds, the milk guzzler. And the legs on the 3-6 mo sleeper he's in are not even long. Sheesh! Bunny was wearing some 3-6 mo stuff at 9 mos, and Carter only needs tops a size big because he is long waisted and has broad shoulders, but he's far from large--actually some 18 mo pants still fit him, but mostly he's in 2Ts except for Osh Kosh, which I swear is designed for huskier kids.

I think maybe Cole is our large boy who's going to take after his dad, who was his family's moose-child growing up. I can't believe I am putting away clothes that he has outgrown already.

Carter's Doggie

Doggie Diner on Sloat St. in SF, originally uploaded by lslphoto.

FYI, two out of two times, Carter has gone berserk over this dog 'thing'. :) He says it's his dog. You see when walking from the auxilury lot at the SF Zoo on Sloat St. Too bad the Doggie Diner chain went belly up about 20 yrs ago, or I'd take him for a snack post zoo sometime.

Quick -- name the ethnic (??) group you can make fun of!

Then go to the "Stuff White People Like" blog. Which is hilarious. Nearly every entry (there are 70-ish so far) I find myself saying, "Oh yeah, I like that!" ::hangs head in shame for she is so white::

Kids Bring Home the Darndest Things

2008-02-16 010, originally uploaded by Kristianna.

This is what Bunny brought home Friday. The small version makes it hard to see clearly, and you're not missing a thing. It's some various rat and other rodent bones Bunny dug out of owl pellets at school. Christine from the Wild Bird Center comes to her class once or twice a month, and the kids love it. It's great really. BUT. I could really go a long time without finding another bag of tiny bones in her backpack. Bunny was upset I chucked it out after we *admired* it, but I'm sorry, there are some things I can not stand the thought of being scattered all over the house--or even her touching, then touching other things in the house. Like regurgitated rat bones. *shudder*

What good is it without chocolate??

Just figured out something. Yesterday Carter discovered a Christmas flap book in with the books and kept yelling at me, while chewing on a flap he’d ripped off. I told him we don’t pull apart the book, and when Bunny asked shy he was doing htat, I said, “Dunno. You also ripped flaps off this kind of book until you were about 4, honestly.” Now, however, this is odd for Carter. He’s a boy, to be sure, so he can have Y chromosome destructive disorder. But he’s not “Bunny destructive”… not just for no discernible reason other than “because it popped into her head.” He’ll bang a toy hammer on the glass door, or huck a car across the room – boy stuff! But ripping a book is not his thing.

So anyway, today I figured out what his deal is/was with the flap book. He came up to me with the book, and was scraping the photo under the flap, saying “Chokkit… help!” Eureka. The advent calendar we get every Christmas! You lift the flap for that day and get a little piece of chocolate! It’s even a Christmas flap book. Now, I get it, dude!

Happy Valentine's Day

Vintage Valentine's Day Postcard, originally uploaded by riptheskull.

Been busy using my allocated blog time (which would be naptime most days) copying over old posts from my old LiveJournal blog. It's been funny to read over old things as I cut and pasted. Lots from 2006 so far, but there eventually will be some 2005, too. I don't think I had a blog before then.

Anyway, also, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
We're having a nice dinner for the 4 of us who eat solid food this evening: grilled flank steak, sauteed shrimp, glazed tomatoes and roasted asparagus, with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert.

Dodged a bullet by making sure Bun had indeed addressed all her Valentine's cards, and *phew!* she left out Brian's and Heather's. Which explains how she had extra candies to wolf down this morning -- thankfully I had a couple of reece's hearts to use in a pinch. My inability to resist those at the store a couple of weeks ago paid off, haha. Bunny was miffed she didn't get the last couple as treats in her lunch, since I have been letting her have one every few days, but hey, thems the breaks. (And she'll end up ahead by the end of the day in the candy count.)

Speaking of, time to change Carter and head out to pickup time.

5 Weeks!

My baby boy is 5 weeks old today. In about 2 hours, he'll be 5 weeks to the minute. He's already gone and changed on me. No longer a totally newborn, larval, creature. Cole is cooing, learning to amuse himself a bit by batting at things with his newfound hands, smiling at both animate and inanimate objects a LOT, and settling into longer awake times (which means a couple of longer naps during the day and night, too!). Bunny still loves to hold him for long periods of time, and has figured out how to lie back with him on her chest--a very comfy position for both holder and holdee, I must say. Carter, good hearted soul he is, has never shown any resentment towards Cole. Not to say he's not a two year old, and prone to testing limits and tantrums, but he's simply the kindest little 2 yr old to Cole. Cole is lucky to have two older siblings who love him so much. And I'm lucky to have three wonderful, healthy, smart, and cute kids.

Carter's Baby

This is Carter's baby. Yesterday Paul was at a biology event at Stanford and I let the big kids stay up until about 8:30, figuring they’d be more tired and hence more ‘put to beddable’ than if I did it an hour earlier, which is the norm here. After I got Carter and Cole into jammies (well, changed Cole – all his clothes look like jimmies to be honest), Carter and Bunny were fooling around brushing their teeth and then Bunny decided she would give Carter an old fleece blanket of hers. He took it, and wrapped up this UGLY toy, then decided it was his baby. He cooed at it, telling it that it was ‘coot!’ and then settled in next to me on the sofa, hugging ‘baby’ to his lap, just like I was doing with Cole.

Then he unzipped his footies just a little bit and said the baby needed to nurse. Apparently Senor Siniestro or whatever his name is has a *very* small tummy, as it only took a moment for him to be ‘all done’. Then Carter unwrapped him, said, “Eww! Poopy!” grabbed a wet wipe, wrapped the baby in it, and the reswaddled him. (Which would be why 2 yr olds don’t change real baby diapers, haha.)

This morning Bunny decided to dig out an old Bitty Baby for Carter so he has a cuter baby. But Senor Siniestro sure cracked me up last night. Carter is so funny.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Vintage birthday postcard, originally uploaded by palesoftness.

I'm 35! Tada.

My baby LOVES my sweater.

Cole approves of what I am wearing this morning. He can't take his eyes off my striped sweater. He's cooing and smiling at it. I think the stripes are making him think it's smiling at him?? Whatever, it's really pleasant to hold him like this.

Kid Talk

Bunny's speech is very advanced for her age. Excellent vocabulary, though I am sure there are some instances where she sounds like she understands a word better than she really does--but she really has an appetite for linguistics, and is always asking what a word I say means, since I do and always have spoken to her as I would any adult (well, vocabulary not content, haha!).

But she has one word she still uses her baby word for: opymeal. Oatmeal. She knows it's oatmeal. Simply prefers to say it her way. I'll miss with whenever she decides to give up that one.

Carter is coming along with his speech. At two years he really was not speaking in sentences anyone other than his mother would understand, and even most of his words were iffy at best. He is forming 3-5 word sentences in generally a correct order, though tense is hit or miss and really limited to present or simple past. he has a couple of really cute baby words or names for things. Chiggy being the funniest to me. A decrepit old, falling apart quilt that used to be my dad's. He loves it, because the underside is very soft cotton, and because it is DAMN cozy. He hates that Bunny always wants to use it as the 'roof' of her sofa forts, and hides it under the aquarium base. Yesterday he hid all the blankets under the base, and when I asked him if he wanted to 'nuggle' on the sofa with me, he ran over, pulled out one blanket, said, "Mama chiggy," brought it to me, and then retrieved *his* chiggy. And he was SOOO happy to snuggle with me. I had Cole on my lap, but I think he till felt like it was a return to pre-baby times, since he is a very snuggly guy and needs a lot of it--and this darn baby has kept me awfully busy!

Cole? He made a 'g' sound. It's more pleasant than crying, and nice to hear his 'voice'.

But... it's the crappy design, I promise!

Just had a Monica Geller moment. See, my vacuum SUCKS. Not in the good way. It was designed poorly as far as the refuse bin goes. You can end up with a mess inside the vacuum the way it is (someday it will be kicked to the curb and I will dance). Anyway, I had the genius idea of cleaning it with the dustbuster. So, there I was, dustbusting the vacuum.

Yikes. I am not that anal, I promise.

Good Mom/Good Dad

News Flash: Women have to be damn near perfect to be considered a "good mom." Recently New York Magazine had a feature in which the writer relays the results of an informal poll asking what consitutes a good mother or a good father. Good read, check it out.

What makes a good mom? Well, let's start with what makes a good dad. That's easier. He is there. At the delivery room (pretty much no wiggle room there), at dinner time (when he can work allowing), at school recitals/shows and sports events (but again, we understand when it's not possible). He changes some diapers and will sport a Baby Bjorn. He's a good provider.

And that's about it, more or less. If you're being honest, your own definition probably is not all that far off. Maybe you add in a thing or two, like weekend trips to the park, or cooking an occasional meal, but let's face it, we put the bar rather low for the menfolk.

What makes a good mother? Well, according to we women (always hard on ourselves aren't we?), she should be Mary Poppins, but not leave; she possess infinite patience, remembers to serve a balanced breakfast, never yells, is always cheerful, volunteers (with all her imaginary free time that she doesn't even desire, no doubt!), she does art projects with her kids, and she enjoys playing games with them (I challenge you to enjoy Candyland more than twice in a row--or a week!). Oh, and she is never too tired to be intimate with her husband.

Sadly, I know no good mothers, according to that definition. We're all a rotten bunch. So we read Crabmommy and the like and revel in comraderie. And complain to each other about how hard it is to deal with whiny kids when at the park together. And generally scare the bejeesus outta first time moms. And yet still manage to have rather well adjusted happy kids. Go figure.

6 Weeks

According to Phil, there will be 6 weeks more winter. Boo.

However, today is delightful. 60 and sunny enough to make it very warm. I need to check the forecast to see when the next system comes through, but for today I am pretending it’s spring.

If I can get Cole to sleep (Carter just passed out for his midday nap), then I am going to throw open the front window, air out the place and put a cheery tablecloth on the table for starters. I also think I need something to freshen up the potted plants by the front door. It’s a running joke that I am the family potted plant killer (I’m not so good at remembering to water them in the heat of summer), but I did keep alive some freesia that are threatening to bloom in a couple of weeks, and a geranium, but there is a large planter I need to put something happy in. I’d rather be getting our summer veggies in, but I have to be realistic, haha. Plus Paul is the veggie grower. I’ll let him do that and keep my goal attainable—to remember to water the 3 things I walk by 4+ times daily. It helps that Bunny knows how to dump water from a cup into them.

And maybe this afternoon I will finally check out the Japanese Dollar store down 85 from me to see what neato stuff they have. Nothing makes me happy like Japan-schwag, and I have been wanting a little bit of bento stuff for Bun’s lunches. Yeah, I’m a dork and enjoy making cute lunches. I’ll never be in the big leagues like THIS lady, though. Man, she must have a lot of free time.

Workout Mommy

Seguinot's wife Lisa is a personal trainer and has a blog. Since I am a couple of weeks away from being able to finally work on looking normal, it is good timing that Mike sent me the URL yesterday. :)

http://workoutmommy.com/

I've been looking into kettlebells, and Mike says Lisa likes them a lot for women. And I need to get an infant carseat converter for the BOB as Cole can't sit up for a few more months. That should do it for now. :)

Little Old Man

Carter has a hilarious new habit. He tends to have about $3 in small change rattling around in his right pocket at any point in time. It's always the right pocket. He has to have it everyday as soon as he's dressed in his day clothes. Which explains why he will NOT wear sweats. No pockets to jingle his change! When he walks, he needs his right hand in his pocket. I swear my son is channeling someone's weird uncle Morty, who always gave the kiddos a shiny nickel when he visited.

This evening when I undressed him for his bath, it was riDONKulous. There was something like 100 coins in his pocket, adding a good pound to his weight. And I have found him riffling through Paul's pockets for more change when he gets the opportunity. Oh, and he also put a little Listerine strips pack in his pocket the other day--like Daddy does. Which I need to mention to Paul, since he sometimes puts an Adderall in his Listerine pack to take one with him discretely. He's good about making sure he never leaves one accesible to a child, but still, I need to be sure he doesn't leave the packs lying around for peace of mind.

The Littlest Lactation Consultant

100_5232, originally uploaded by Kristianna.

Carter continues with his insistence that the baby must nurse all the time. If Cole has unlatched and dozed off, Carter will try to wake him, saying, "Cole! Nurse!" He also loves to inform me when Cole is pooping. (Cole is a bit noisy at it, so I think anyone in earshot can figure out that one!) Carter loves Cole so much, it's really adorable. And scary, since if he ignored the baby, it'd be safer on the whole.

Oh, and yesterday Carter sat on Cole for a moment. Accidentally. Cole was nonplussed, being in a soft papasan chair--Carter fell backwards not paying attention to anything as he and Bunny were playing with their Trader Joe's balloons from groceriy shopping earlier that day. While I would love a good babysitter, that is *not* what I meant.

Really Cool Forecast (if you're a duck)

Tonight Jan 25 Rain / Wind N/A/48° 100%			High not valid after 2pm
Sat Jan 26 Rain / Wind 60°/48° 90%			60°F
Sun Jan 27 Rain 51°/41° 80%			51°F
Mon Jan 28 Showers 50°/37° 40%			50°F Get the Gameday Forecast
Tue Jan 29 Few Showers 53°/40° 30%			53°F
Wed Jan 30 Few Showers 52°/41° 30%			52°F
Thu Jan 31 Few Showers 53°/42° 30%			53°F Get Tips for Driving in the Rain
Fri Feb 1 Few Showers 54°/40° 30%			54°F

Happy Two Weeks

100_5235, originally uploaded by Kristianna.

Taken on Cole's Two Week 'Birthday'. :) Still sleeps a lot, but having more and more alert moments, too. Cole seems (knock wood!) to be really mellow and as someone else said, an old soul. He often looks amused, like this is all old news to him.

Cole's starting to bat at things just a tiny bit, beginning to notice he has hands. Spent a long time messing with his left ear yesterday, like, "Hey! I can feel this two ways!" Loathes diaper changes, like most tiny babies, but quickly calms once he feels himself being dressed, and certainly when held. Paul's been getting him to take to the sling like a pro, and usually Cole settles right in, unless he's simply not ready to chill--then he generally still quiets down pretty quickly--or he gets to come back out, since it's supposed to be a nice place, not torture. ;)

Did I mention my husband jokingly nicknamed him Cutie McTiny? Probably not going to stick, but he is cute and tiny.

2 Weeks with a Cheesy Grin

Call the baby mensa chapter, for I have a genius on my hands. Cole is smiling. This is no gas, for I know the face he makes for *that* (and the general accompanying noises). It's uncoordinated, and very amateur, but hey, it's pretty adorable. Maybe I will see if I can't get Paul to make him smile and film it, since these things are so fleeting.

Success!

Managed to take three kids to Target today *and* get all three back home. Whoopteedoo! Bunny helped a lot keeping Mr. You Mean I Get to Walk? around without putting too many random items into the cart. He did seem to think we needed a ginormous thing of Tide and many air fresheners (Yummy! was his reason). Otherwise, it was only minorly headache inducing. I forgot my list, so I forgot to get a few things on the list, but I did remember the various kinds of diaper supplies which we needed ASAP, so the other things can wait. Cole slept the whole time, which was a major help, too. Me? I'm exhausted! Need to rest up so I can make dinner... I'm wishing I'd told Heidi to go ahead and bring a meal tonight even though we do have the salmon to cook (this fish needs to be eaten today, seeing as I got it Sunday--we've been so blessed with meals from others that I have not had the chance to cook it yet). It's okay; I'll be happy to have the healthy meal once I am done actually making it (planning salmon, sauteed zucchini, salad).

Oh! And I finally took down the Christmas tree today. So now I just have to get Paul to chop it up so it'll fit in the green waste container and I can say we've avoided being the craziest people on the block. Though with my weird neighbors, that would be a hard feat to accomplish. Seeing as they still have some Halloween decorations up! ;)

Day off? P'shaw!

I remember loving 3-day weekends. It used to be *SO* awesome that MLK Day was neatly just a couple of weeks after New Years, then a month later is Pres Day--just what you need to break up the winter doldrums! Take a coupl eof days off for Good Friday or something, and you have a nicely broken up winter with extra free time to enjoy.

Now it's just a weekend that is ONE DAY TOO LONG. Someday, in a couple of years, we'll go on minivacations, or make good use of the extra day, but this year it's not so much fun. Probably because it's rainy, Cole is cluster feeding with ravenous gusto, and Carter is very TWO. Bunny got out of the house, which I'm sure has immensely improved the prospects of a decent evening, and Nancy dropped off a meal that is cooking in the oven, so my tired butt has less to do than normal to get dinner on the table. So, much thanks to both Heidi, for braving Chuck E. Cheese with an extra child on a rainy holiday Monday (apparently it was a CIRCUS), and Nancy for feeding us. Oh! And she sent a very cute little jacket for Cole to grow into--with Tigger on it!

So, for today, for this year, 3 day weekends are not the bestest thing ever. But soon Paul will be out of the shower he's taking after he did his workout, and he'll be gifted with a fussy 12 day old infant, I will finish assembling dinner, get the kids to eat it (or not, since Carter probably will refuse the stuffed pasta), douse them with water (or put them in the tub), and get them to bed... then open a bottle of wine, methinks. One glass would be heaven right about now.

Then tomorrow is just a normal weekday--much easier than a 'day off' in reality. ;)

I'm really not a complete wreck -- promise!

This happened two days ago, but sue me, I don't get as much computer time as usual, and what I do get involves holding a baby whose age you still count in days (9 today, BTW).

Somehow, despite starting to get ready to leave something like 30 minutes before pick up time, I was still running late to pick up Bunny Wednesday. (I hate modified days!) I decided, as I was literally pulling up near the school as the bell rang, that it would take less time to wimp out and do the car line than to park, put Cole in the front carrier, get out Carter, hold his reluctant hand all the way to school… but for some reason the line was held up for 5 minutes of idling. UGH. I could have walked back and forth 3 times. Live and learn.

I finally pull up, and Bunny runs over, I wave to her teacher and apologize for my tardiness (she’s fine about it, and plenty of non-postpartum moms are later than me anyway). Bunny gets into the car and starts to say how cold she was in just her shirtsleeves in the wind. I ask her why she didn’t put on her sweater—I saw her grab one on her way out the door after I reminded her!—and she told me she had accidentally grabbed a pair of BLACK LEGGINGS instead of her block sweater. Whoopsie! Half the way home I was chuckling about how much of a mess they must think me, sending her sans show and tell item one day and with some pants instead of a sweater the next (though it really wasn’t my fault on the sweater!).

Oh well!

First Outing Today... Oy.

100_5221, originally uploaded by Kristianna.

So today Paul had an appointment which conflicted with Bun's pickup time, so it was the big day to steel myself for an outing with all three. All the way to the car, drive 4 mins to school, walk basically a block, pickup, reverse order and get back home.

I decided to give myself 15 extra minutes to change and dress Cole in footies instead of the nighties he has been wearing at home so he would have warm legs for the front carrier and carseat. 15 minutes sounded like more time than it turned out to be.

Just as I put him on the changing table, I hear the sounds of an eruption in his diaper. Actually, this is an AWESOME thing, since I much prefer changing him than to get him all the way out to the car, then having him start to go. I give him a minute or two to finish up, then open the diaper. TMI, but he was really ready to go. Seemed he *had* to be done going by the results. WRONGO! As I am cleaning up and putting the soiled dipe in the genie, KAPLOWIE! He's not done! But I had an extra wipe handy, so I then cleaned him and was sure to be good to go. NUH-UH! By then I am asking Carter to give my wet wipes and basically just trying to play catcher and mitigate the mess.

Long story short, about 10 minutes later I finally am getting him dressed in his adorable velour Pooh footies my uncle bought for Carter in London (big ben on the front with Pooh, weirdly), and we're in the car about 2 mins later than I usually like to be heading down the driveway. I got there *just* as Bun's class was exiting the room, and Cole was *almost* as much of a hit with the kids and moms as Happy, Olivia's family's new puppy.

Strangely, while all the *mess* was happening, it was the absolute calmest Cole has ever been during a change. Go figure.

Make Your Own Damn Food!

Found a new blog to crush on. Or rather someone with whom I heartily agree on the topic of picky eaters. To read her manifesto on picky eaters, click HERE. While my kids are a little young for me to adopt the idea of 'if you don't like what Mama makes, make something for your own damn self'--I envision Carter covered in yogurt and pretty much only being able to 'make' himself an apple beyond the yogurt, since he can't even open a cheese stick--I love theoretically commiserating with other moms who once 'never' would bow to kids' being picky who also own books on sneaking in extra veggies commando-style.

How low the mighty always fall. *sigh*

Good for the Soul

Good for the soul, originally uploaded by Kristianna.

Made 5 qts of what I mean no slander calling Jewish Chicken Soup. Hey, the recipe is on the back of the bag of Manishevitz noodles. I only change it a teeny bit, adding a tiny bit of red pepper flakes to it, some parsley, and more salt than the recipe calls for.

This stuff is goo-ood!
Since the Manishevitz site does not include this recipe, I can't link to it. It's worth sharing.

4.5 lbs chicken parts, cleaned
2 qt water (I use more--however much to cover the chicken in the pot)
8 whole allspice
8 whole peppercorns (I sub ground pepper per hubby's request)
1 tsp ground dill
1 tsp salt
4 celery stalks, chunked
2-3 medium parsnips, chunked
4 carrots, chunked
1 medium onion, chunked
1 bag Manishevitz fine yolk-free egg noodles

Put all but carrots in pot and bring to boil. Skim and reduce to simmer for 1.5 hrs. Skim. Add carrots and simmer a final 30 mins. Remove chicken and allow to cool a little, then remove from bones, cut into bite size pieces and return to soup. If you will not be eating all this at one time (and it is a LOT), cook the noodles separately (al dente) per package directions and serve with soup in bowl. If you're feeding a hungry crowd, put the noodles in the soup and allow to cook for about 8 mins more then serve.

I never needed to know this existed.

I believe I have mentioned before my odd fascination with Japanese schwag. I find the way popular culture there is manifested to be both oddly compelling and, well, just plain damn odd. I used to collect stationery sets, but having kids limits my actual letter writing nowadays. I fiddle around with bento, though I have not gotten up the nerve to go to the Japanese dept store to buy real-deal bento boxes; I just fake it with Pack & Pack containers. Anyway! This I never want, nor do I ever want any-effing-one aside perhaps from an ENT specialist helping me clean my ears. Gag.

http://www.jbox.com/PRODUCT/FY377
Hello Kitty Ear Pick

The Japanese love cleaning their ears, and it is often a sign of love if your partner will clean your ears for you. It is not an uncommon sight in Japan to see a man with his head on his partner's lap while she scapes out his ear wax with the precision of a surgeon. This Hello Kitty mimikaki (ear pick) will help you recreate the uniquely Japanese experience of having your ear wax cleaned out. Made of wood with a tiny ladle-like scraper at the end, it is made to be inserted into the ear (but not too far!) and scoop out the ear wax. On top of course, is a incredibly cute figurine of Hello Kitty, usefully weighted for balancing the delicate instrument. There is a whole subculture in Japan dedicated to ear picking, find out why with this high-quality Hello Kitty Ear Pick. 5" (12cm) long. Of course, always excercise common sense when inserting anything inside your body -- these ear cleaners are used throughout Asia but should be used with caution in a sturdy place, like your girlfriend/wife's lap. (More like this) (Direct link to this product)

Crash! Boom!

Huge storms the past two days, and last night the 'big one' rolled into town. I was up going to the bathroom at about 3, because I do that a lot being massively pregnant, and as I was falling back asleep I heard a loud crash/crack sound. I thought it had to either be the fence we share on one side with the crazy Sanford & Sons neighbors (seriously, that's their backyard, but it's allll theirs, not for sale) or a tree branch. I went over to the living room and flipped on the flood lights and all was well there, then I noticed all the way over to the far side of the pool that the umbrella was upended. Crap. Though that would not be noisy per se. Then I saw that the glass top to the 'circle table' was entirely shattered. Double crap. Shame on me for not even thinking about it when I knew full well there would be 60 MPH gusts today. Oh well, worse things turned over today, like 4 big rigs on the San Rafael Bridge, so losing the top to a somewhat old table is not the end of the world. It never let up enough for me to go out and sweep it up, so that job awaits when hopefully tomorrow is not so crazy weather-wise. But we have a week solid of rain ahead. 10 feet in Tahoe by the end of this weekend! Too bad I seriously doubt I'll make the slopes this season even for April boarding. Bah!

On the plus side, I finished the scarf I started for Bunny last night and today. She loves it, and it came out well. I'll photograph it tomorrow probably. It's soft and purple--one of her new colors she loves. Thank goodness I don't have to do just pink-pink-pink anymore.

Happy New Year!

happy new year!, originally uploaded by drewzel.

Sadly my egg hath not hatched. But hey, all in good time...

I must have some of this.

And hide it from anyone (read: girlchild) in the house who'd use it all up in an hour but also become frustrated because nothing stays glued.

Instant DIY sticky notes with special repositionable glue stick.

Boo Yah. Because the boy child just delights in pulling apart the actual pads of sticky notes I buy--and the ones he can abscond with from his father's desk. Which leads to Paul wandering about the house asking where things are.

Happy Belated Birthday Note to Cartert

Dear Carter,
You've been 2 for two whole months now. And Mama is just getting to writing her letter to you. By the time you're old enough to really read this, you'll know that's pretty typical and A) roll your eyes, B) laugh, or C) A+B with a touch of love.

Now, I could wax poetic about how much I love you, and gush how, over the past two years, you've changed my life in ways that I never could have fathomed. I could tell you about the tears and joys you've brought to our lives. Or I could try to explain how the journey of adding a second child and first son to our lives has been such an adventure--one I never knew I'd enjoy so much.

Instead, I think I'll just tell you how cool and weird and wonderful you are. When I look back at these times, these are a few of the things I'll want to remember about you now:

• You have the goofiest sense of humor! Your father says it's from me, and he's probably right. One of your favorite things is to completely gross out Mama with boogers. You will pick at your nose--and in no small way!--then hold it out to me and say, with this *look* in your eyes, "Bite?" You don't do this to anyone else, just me. Because it freaks me out, and you like that.
• You're much more sensitive than your sister. Apples to apples, when Bun would get angry and pitch a fit, you become upset or have hurt feelings. You need LOTS of hugs. And boo-boo-gone kisses. You're not a wuss; you often do just get up and keep on trucking. But you're not above running to home base for some love.
• Man are you a picky eater! I used to have myself convinced my tactic of always feeding a small child the same meal as their parents, not bribing, and not sneaking in foods was a WINNER. I mean, Bunny eats everything and other moms comment on how she will gobble escargot en brioche or even begrudgingly take her couple of bites of kale. Then came you, little man. You, who survived on willpower and milk for something like 5 weeks in early fall. This again, you get from your mother. I went on food strikes, too. I'm a foodie now, so there is hope. Until then, there is The Sneaky Chef. Yes, I now hide veggies in meatballs. *sigh* Oh how low the mighty have fallen. You're just as stubborn as me, dangit.
• You still sleep with us. Kind of. You sleep in an adjacent futon to our queen bed, and we shuffle around as you wander over to find 'touch' with me, then I usually shift, Paul goes all the way to the far side of the futon... long story short, it is not at all uncommon for someone to end up UPSIDE DOWN in the queen bed as we accommodate you sleeping sideways, especially after your sister creeps in at about 5:30 insisting there is plenty of room. I shudder to think how we will make it so the baby can cosleep in this mess we created. I also longingly think of hte day when you and Cole will share a room and hopefully we'll get at least, say 4-5 hours just parents in the bed. But I know we'll miss having you 'nuggle' with us, too. Your Daddy has said it: we like having you guys close, as inconvenient as it is sometimes.
• You are at the same time a poop denier and a poop "wolf cryer". Hopefully it's something leading up to the day you use a toilet and your recongition signals are haywire with the latter. Either way, we can count on you to deny having very obviously soiled yourself or declare you *have* pooped when you're not even wet. However, you do manage to have a nasty bordering on blowout diaper at the park a good 4 out of every 5 times. Way to go dude, I really appreciate that. :-/
• You're pretty well mannered considering you're not all that verbal yet. You say please and thank you and you're welcome very reliably, which charms your adoring public to no end. Sometimes you lay it on a bit thickly, such as you thanking Bunny with much gusto for being a turd and chucking your juice at you because she was grumpy. Or was that your sense of humor again? Were you sarcastic? Hmmm. Again, that would be a wee bit from me.
• You kick trees. Dunno why. But boy does every tree need a good kicking in your opinion.
• You love music, but hate my singing. Which may simply mean you have good taste, as I have a 4 note range, more or less. HOWEVER, you did see Barry Manilow singing Copa Cabana on Ellen and screamed, "That's awesome!", so I am not completely sure of your taste. At least it wasn't Mandy.
  

Cartito, this is just a smattering of what makes you, well, YOU! Any day now you'll be a big brother. I try to forget that you'll also be the dreaded middle child. I try to couch it as that you're the older brother. I hope very much we're all able to help you with this transition and to keep you YOU. Because you're pretty awesome the way you are. Boogers and poop and all. I can't wait until we have real conversations and I can learn more about what you think about things. Except Barry Manilow. I hope you don't find him awesome very soon. Because that's just wrong.

Souper Yum

So yesterday I cooked the ~8 lb ham. Yum. I had ham and hominy and eggs twice in 24 hours, and Bunny and Paul had plain old ham steak with eggs, plus Paul has been eating ham-out-of-hand all day, and there is still a ton left. My main goal was getting the bone and ancillary meat to make split pea soup. I am so glad legumes are back on Paul's diet after years of no split pea soup, or it being seen as some major splurge (for the record, beans and legumes lower insulin resistance and the impact of both the carbs in the meal you're eating *and* the next meal, so there!).

Anyway, it was a very easy recipe. Take 2 lbs dried split peas and dump into 4 qts water, bring to boil and simmer 3 mins, then let sit covered for 1 hour. Then bring back to simmer along with about a cup each of celery, carrot, and onion. Add about 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp dried thyme, 4 bay leaves, 1/4 tsp pepper, some celery seed and put in the reserved ham bone and any meat you're willing to give up for the cause. Simmer about 90 mins. Depending on how thick you like it, you may want to thin it with some chicken stock. Voila.

I'm putting away some to freeze for a meal after Cole comes, and we'll nosh on more in the coming days. Tomorrow I think I will make a double batch of "Big Martha's" meatloaf and freeze one. Except I prefer oatmeal to bread in it. It's what I had growing up, and what I like. Sue me.

I *heart* this idea!

Keep a list of things you swore you’d never do as a parent

This is an awesome idea. I remember way back when I had such high ideals on, oh, everything mothering. I still do have high ideals, it turns out, compared to a lot of people out there. (You really get your eyes opened once you're no longer only in the very self selecting groups of mother's clubs and co-op preschools, where ideals are pretty dang high anyway... public school, even in the area of San Jose that wants very badly to be Los Gatos makes you realize you're a rock star in comparison to some [and a schlub compared to others, oh well!]).

Anyway, along the way we all seem to make concessions to reality. We buy a Happy Meal--then we at least rationalize that one child gets apples and one gets fries; they split it and it's somehow not total junk. We buy battery operated toys--and the 40 pack of AAAs at Costco. We crank up PBS Kids and Sprout, and if it's a bad day we may even let 'em watch SpongeBob just to get dinner made while being the only adult in the house. But we do a lot of things right, too.

Anyway, this is a great idea--to revel in inadequacies we never expected to have.

Oh, and I'm still preggers. Dammit. Oh, and cranky. And nesting. Let's see, what has Muffy done today? Hmmm. 5 loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, baked a ham (going to make split pea soup and freeze half tomorrow), and sorted a lot of maternity clothes for the charity pick up on Jan 4. The kids can't possibly have more clean clothes than they do, unless I start making them go naked, there is nary a dirty linen or towel in the joint, and even the trash rugs I put on the cement floor in the garage around the fridge and washer/dryer are freshly laundered. I hope this kid decides to get born before I have to paint the exterior of the house or something to use up this nesting energy.

If I were only this creative...

I am beginning to suspect I live in some alternate reality where there are TRULY less hours to my day than others have. Or maybe it's simply that I really like to sleep. If I were an insomniac, I'd get so much more done, I promise. But I love sleep. Like 6-7 hours minimum. (Don't remind me that will sound like a decadent amount soon when night feedings re-enter my life!)

Anyway, this blog is too cool and I only wish I were able to do more than look and imagine finding the time and space and keeping the kids out of the way and out of my stuff long enough to make one in ten of these projects this woman does. Though she has her share of UFOs (unfinished objects), I am sure, too.

Behold: http://weewonderfuls.typepad.com/wee_wonderfuls/

What a mess.

It's far too early to know how it all happened, but by now there are probably 3 people in the Western World and beyond who don't know a young man was killed at the SF Zoo and that two others were badly injured on Christmas. A lot of evidence points to the tiger having been provoked somehow to escape (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gEclFYG2_eqGTpkeD4OknwUlgqEgD8TPVPG01). Again, while it's still being investigated, this sounds pretty likely, as zoo tigers are not in 'sparring shape' and even if the moat is not as tall as current standards (seems it's off by 4 feet), it's still quite a leap for a flabby 'kept tiger' to leap. Anyway, we're keeping our membership, as we love the SF Zoo and I'm sad to see that this gorgeous creature is dead.
We went to the zoo on Veteran's Day and I got a little clip of Tatiana in her enclosure. Yes, she was huge! But you can see how great a leap she had to make. While I am sorry for the families affected, this reeks of Darwinian justice. My 2 yr old would know better than to taunt a tiger.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Carter Skywalker

Carter Skywalker, originally uploaded by Kristianna.

We had a very merry Christmas and are now in the hangover stage, where the toys are fun, but the natives are also restless.

Carter made out very well, getting a teeny bike, a lot of Jay Jay and Thomas stuff, a light saber (darn that Santa putting that in the stocking), a pedal-free trike with wagon, about 20 Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars, and some nummy candy, plus some other things I am sure I'm omitting.

Bunny got her first two wheel with NO training wheels, a real digital camera (better in MPs than Mama's!), a very soft Steiff bear, a pottery wheel, 3 or 4 books, the much coveted Littlest Pet Shop ranch set, plus a few other new 'pets', and of course candy.

Oh, and of course a light saber, too. She and Carter have waged many a battle with them, and even took them to the park today. Both nights I have had to confiscate the sabers and put them away once the kids seemed to be turning to the Dark Side in temperament. ;)

I'm still large and in charge here. Today we met up with Heidi and her kids at the park and she laughed out loud at how huge I had gotten just since Saturday when last she saw me. From my view point (mainly above) it doesn't look much different, but apparently I'm really dropping, haha. I will say it's damn near impossible to keep up any but the one pair of cropped jeans (PERFECT in cold Dec weather, p'shaw) because I am not shaped anything like a normal human, well anything like a non-ready-to-pop human.

Paul said he considers the real Christmas to be whenever Cole's born, and he feels like he's in suspended animation until then. He really can't wait to hold the little guy. I'm excited to see him, but I think, seeing as I feel him all the time, it's not the same for me as him. Yes, I want to hold him, but I *have* been holding him. He's all mine now; Paul wants to have his baby in his arms. Which, since I got the sling washed and ready, he will get a lot of, fear not. Paul does the screeching baby routine much more sanely than me. It drives me up the wall when babies cry with no resolution available. Paul, however is so good at remaining calm despite the pissed-off-for-no-discernible-reason mass of humanity. Which is why the person who made slings large enough for men is a saint (though probably, they're really just for larger sized women--whatever, it works for me). Paul gets his baby time, and I get my free time, ya know, to make dinner or some other comparatively relaxing thing in the evening. ;)

Carter's Beloved Rock

Carter's Beloved Rock, originally uploaded by Kristianna.

Behold the Rock. No, not the wrestler cum actor who's really named Dwayne I think. :) This is Carter's Rock. It's small enough for his palm, flat, and both water and increasingly careworn. It also fits nicely in his pocket. Most rocks do not see much action beyond what happens near their resting spot, but this one gets around. It (He?) goes to school, to stores, to watch Bunny sing songs with her class, pretty much everywhere but the park (Mama says it stays in the car then, because she's pretty sure it'd get lost *there*). Carter proudly shows it off to all who appear to be attentive, thrusting it in their faces saying, "Rock!" Kids are cute.