Mildly disturbing

Ever since high school, I have attracted hair in my food. Every time I go out to eat I find a hair, that is not my own, adorning my dish. I have found a hair on the bottom of a biscuit, in a milkshake, underneath my last bite of stir fry, laying neatly across an omelet, around some ice in a glass of water, inside an egg roll, as an additional topping on my pizza, I could go on and on. I suppose one perk of this I that I get a lot of free and discounted meals. On the other hand, it's just nasty. So the other day I went grocery shopping and among other things, bought some celery. After I got home, I thought I would have some celery and peanut butter for a snack. I pulled out the celery and there was a hair in my celery. I tried to convince myself that it was mine because really, how do you get hair in your fresh, pre-packaged celery? But it wasn't long enough, or dark enough to be mine and it was wrapped around the leaves and in between the stalks...how could it be? I was too disgusted to even do anything about it. It's still sitting on my counter, and writing about it still makes me want to vomit. Why can't I attract money like I attract hair? Sick.

I like to move it move it

Little Miss Heidi is on the move. She is not going to wait around while her sisters run past her. She is rolling like crazy because at the moment it is her fastest way to cross a room. She gets up on all fours, but doesn't quite know what to do to move forward. She usually ends up going backwards, but often she will lung forward and belly flop. It looks like a very clumsy inchworm, up on all fours, lunge, plop down on the belly, up on all fours...it works for now!

Heidi is also sitting up. She still hasn't quite figured out how to catch herself from falling over, but she has learned to curl when she's falling so her head isn't the first thing to hit. I wonder if she's teething as well. It would be really early for my kids, but I need some explanation for her persistent foul mood and NEVER sleeping. I'm dying here. The other night she only woke up four times and I was ecstatic. I was just starting to feel "normal" again, after the initial sleep deprivation that accompanies child birth, but now I'm back to not being able to form complete, coherent sentences. Anyone know how to make a baby sleep all night?

I'll take back the terrible twos

I've decided that three years old is more difficult than two, there just isn't a catch phrase for it. Terrible twos, thwarting threes...I just don't see it catching on. But seriously, two is frustrating because the kids are over-confident and stubborn, so they try to do everything on their own and get frustrated easily resulting in throwing a fit because they don't know how to ask or accept help. But three is even MORE frustrating because they are actually fully capable of communicating clearly, and dressing themselves, and going to the bathroom, etc. but they choose not to use or manipulate their newfound skills. Emilia is generally a pleasant little person, but she has picked up some undesireable habbits such as lying directly to your face when you know it. "Did you clear your dinner plate?" "Yes." "Um, no you didn't. I'm looking right at it still sitting on the table." "Yes I did. That's Naomi's." Wrong. Or expresssing her control by refusing to eat for days and begging for candy with her first breath each morning. Love that one. I also love that SHE picks fights with her sisters who tower over her and could easily pound her, but she is the one hitting them and calling them names. She will even make up songs about how mean and stupid they are. Emilia is really my first one to do this.

The trait I enjoy the most is her refusing or"negotiating" everything that comes out of my mouth. Here's a little taste of my day...

S-Yaya, did you wash your hands after you went potty?

Y- I hate washing my hands because that's why I need a drink.

S-OK girls, time to brush teeth.

Y-I hate brushing my teeth. I will when I'm 16.

Y-Can I take a bath?

S-You've already had two today.

Y- Well, I need a bath because my tummy in NOT hot.

Well, I can say it is never dull at my house!

O Danny Boy

I would like to reflect for a moment on my favorite cashier at Ware-Mart, Dan. Dan is Buddy the Elf, without the elf suit. He is SO happy all the time. I always go through his line when I'm in a good mood because I'm sure to be laughing by the time I leave. I will go to any other line, even if it's longer, when I'm in a bad mood because his cheerfulness makes me want to punch him in his glittering white teeth. But really, what is it that makes some people ooze rainbows and daisies. I consider myself a mostly happy person, but I'm not one to run around hugging grandmas and kissing babies. I smile politely and speak kindly to my children, but even in my best of moods, you probably won't hear me chortling at the lame jokes thrown at me in the check out line. I don't know...but I do appreciate Dan. Glad I only know one person like him.

What's for dinner?

Last night I was getting dinner ready. The girls wanted to help make it, of course, so I sent them to the bathroom to wash their hands. Naomi got there first, but Yaya took the stool. I'm not exactly sure what went down in there, but all I heard from the kitchen was Naomi crying and screaming as loud as she could (and mostly likely directly into Yaya's face) "I have to wash my hands! If I don't eat RIGHT NOW I'm going to DIE !!!" And can you guess who didn't eat their dinner last night?

What was I thinking?

Tuesday Heidi had her four month check up (a few weeks late). I had the brilliant idea to bring Emilia in to get caught up on her shots and Naomi in for her kindergarten visit...all at the same time. I was grateful the nurse brought us to a rather large room, so at least we had room to breath (not that anyone was doing that anyway). I had prepared to be there for a while and so the girls pulled out the toys and books I let them bring. They were playing peacefully...and then the doctor walked in. We had three very different responses from the girls. Heidi, of course, had no idea what was going on, so she gave the guy a big cheesy grin. Emilia started cheering, really. Arms up with an enthusiastic "Hooray!" Naomi freaked out! She laid across the chairs, on her back, kicking her legs and screaming "memememememememe" in her amazingly loud, high pitched tone. She kind of looked like a beetle, when they get stuck on their backs and are trying frantically to turn over, except she wasn't trying to turn over, she was fearing for her life.

The doctor checked over all three girls. Heidi has grown 5 inches and weighed in at 15 1/2 pounds. Yaya just hit 30 lbs. with shoes on and Naomi was 43 lbs. They were all healthy, no questions, so on to the main event...shots.

Yaya wanted to go first. She hopped up on the table and put on her brave face. She fared pretty well and as soon as those band aids were on she was fully recovered and begging for her orange tic-tacs...my no fail cure-all.

Naomi was next. The first two times I tried to put her on the table (with one arm and Heidi in the other), she stayed curled up until she was just about on the table and then would plant both of her feet against the side of it and shove herself (and me...and Heidi) backwards. The observant nurse, clearly seeing this was a hazard to all of our lives, went and got some assistance. I decided it would be less traumatic to all if the other nurse held the baby rather than wrestling Naomi to the table. So I hopped up on the table and held Naomi in my lap and gave her a big giant hug while she caused temporary deafness in my ears...and then it was over. The second we got off that table she was giggling. Sometimes I seriously think she is exhibiting bi-polar tendencies. So then I sent the girls out of the room with the nurse to get some stickers while Heidi had her turn.

I don't feel quite so bad because she has such meaty little thighs. But I always do think it's kind of a mean trick because babies have no idea what's coming. Mom is standing over them, smiling, giving them a false sense of security, and then WHAM! out of no where someone is shoving needles into their legs. But I try not to think about that, or rack myself with guilt, and pass all that on to the school system who requires immunizations for enrollment in public school. It's all their fault. (Feeling better.) But Heidi did well and stopped crying the moment I picked her back up again.

I can hardly wait for Monday...Leah's turn.

yeah...

Emilia has had a chronic runny nose since we have moved to Oregon. The other day I said, "Yaya come here so I can wipe your nose." "No," she answered, "I'm just wiping it with my tounge." Sick.

Hair cuts...and extentions

Yaya

Naomi

Leah

After fighting the hair brushing battle for the twelve millionth time, I finally put my foot down and busted out my scissors. I cut about four inches off both girls hair. And Yaya, well, that's another story...as usual. She has started a new fashion trend. Fortunately for society it hasn't caught on yet. She wears a pair of pajama pants on her head. All the time. To the library, to the grocery store, she won't leave her bedroom in the morning without her head adorned. I'm hoping this is a quickly passing phase, as if her outfits weren't unique enough without it :)

"Sausage Links"

So these are Heidi's legs. The kid is a chunk. She even has another rather large leg roll hiding in her diaper. Which, by the way, I had to move her up to size 3 diapers because size 2 diapers would not fit around her thighs. What can I say, she likes to eat and I make good milk. I'm anxious for her upcoming doctor's visit so he can tell me just how many pounds of love she is at four months!

A trail of drool...in case you get lost

I put Heidi down for a nap on my bed and left the room. She generally falls asleep very quickly but she was fussing a bit this time. When I went in to check on her she had scooted and DROOLED across my whole bed. Sick.

Can we PLEASE differentiate?

My girls all like to take "bath-showers". This means they all crowd into the bathtub together, turn on the shower and plug up the bath. Sometimes I think this is a great idea because all my children (who can stand) get bathed at once and so does my bathroom which always needs a cleaning. Well, today they all piled in as usual and I was in the next room when I heard a truly panicked scream. Not just one, but several screams steadily increasing in frequency and volume. Immediately my mind flashed back to when Leah was about eighteen months old and we were bathing her in my father in law's bathtub. I turned to get a towel and she found a razor. She got a tiny cut on her finger, but it was bleeding so much and she kept wiping it all over her body so when I turned back around, my baby was sitting there covered in blood. Ok. So i'm imagining a repeat, except it would have to be much, MUCH worse to constitute this type of reaction. I bolted into the bathroom, honestly knocking over Naomi who had just gotten out of the tub, left her sprawled on the floor, ripped open the shower curtain to find Leah...with a bit of shampoo in her eyes. "It's burning! It's burning! I can't even open my eyes!" Really? So I got her a cold washcloth, turned off the water so it would stop flowing into her eyes and she immediately calmed down. After a minute she opened her eyes and said, truly relieved, "It's a good thing I didn't go blind!" Good thing honey. Oh, and the next time you scream like that, you had better be running from a bear.

This is a problem. Seriously

One of Yaya's outfits.

And yes, that is Heidi's dress being used as a jacket.

Yaya loves clothes. She has the most clothes because my cousin gives me bags and bags of clothes that are just her size. I try to go through them and keep only a reasonable amount, but one Mom can only do so much. Yaya changes her clothes honestly every hour. And when I say hour, I really mean every ten minutes. Her outfits are always "creative" and her other clothes never make their way back to their drawer. My house is littered with size three clothes in every bedroom, the kitchen, bathroom...but somehow my laundry room stays clean. Go figure. Anyway, short of taking all her clothes away, or barricading the closet (which I tried...it turned into a "fort" and they still got in the closet) I don't know what to do. Any suggestions?

Lesson Learned

I was holding Heidi in the kitchen and Naomi kept coming in, playing with Heidi, and then running away screaming, "EWWWWW, slobber!!!" Heidi does drool excessively, to the point that she saturates all of her clothes so by the end of the day they smell musty because they have never dried out. Yeah. Anyway, so after a few times of Naomi running in and out, I thought it would be really funny to hide right around the corner and down on my knees so that Heidi would be eye level with Naomi when she came into the kitchen. Well, Naomi ran in, I thrusted Heidi forward and yelled "slobber monster!!!" Naomi SCREAMED her amazingly loud high pitched scream right in Heidi's face. Needless to say, Heidi nearly jumped out of my arms and Naomi just about fell over and I spent the next five minutes comforting my poor baby. I suppose had I put any forethought into my actions I could have foreseen the outcome and avoided this emotional distress...but I didn't...and it was really funny.

My Creative Child

Saturday Leah asked me if she could make a Teddy Bear for Heidi. I gave her some fabric and no more instruction than to cut out two pieces at the same time for a front and a back. Leah drew a bear, cut it out, sewed it, stuffed it, (i sewed the buttons on) and then tied a little bow around it's waist. She was SO excited that Heidi loved it and immediately started eating it's face off. Not too shabby for a six year old 'eh?

All I Want for New Year's are my five front teeth...

Leah was quite excited the whole holiday season that she could sing "All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" including the lisp that comes naturally when missing them. She was also missing a molar and then on Christmas Eve she pulled out another tooth, right next to her missing front teeth. That night she put her tooth who knows where...she said under her pillow, but neither Lars nor I could find it. So in the morning she came out with two dimes and her tooth. Confused, she asked why the Tooth Fairy didn't take her tooth. Lars quickly came up with the explanation that the Tooth Fairy must have been in a big hurry so she didn't run into Santa. "Ohhh," exclaimed Leah with greater understanding, "That must be why she ONLY left me two dimes." And we thought we were being generous. Apparently the Tooth Fairy has to keep up with inflation.

Before church this morning, Leah pulled out another tooth! I really hope they start growing back soon or she'll have to go on a liquid diet because she won't have any teeth to chew with!

Close Call

Last Friday, while we were at my mother in law's house, my girls and their cousins were running around crazy. Eventually this lead to making a fort in the bedroom and then inevitably jumping off the bunk bed. Well, after a while we hear a scream, crying, oowww my foot, tears, drama...what could you expect? Naomi comes crawling out of the room clutching her right ankle dramatically. What happened, I inquired? "I fell off the bottom bunk." Really...you weren't jumping off the top like your sister? "No." Well then it can't be that bad. Off to bed, here's an ice pack for good measure. (Eventually the truth came out...)Well, the next day Naomi crawled all day refusing to put any pressure on her ankle. Sunday we bring her to church where she hopped to class on one foot. One of my friends who works at the hopsital passionately urged me to take her in for an x-ray to make sure she hadn't broken her growth plate. Apparently the rule of thumb for kids is if they baby it for more than six hours, it's broken. I must have missed that day in parenting school because we were going on 36 hours...oops. So Monday I called the Dr.'s office to have him take a look. Well, I haven't brought Naomi in yet since we moved here so that would require a "new patient exam" and the first available time was January 12th..."Will that work for you?" Um, no. So I called around to find an urgent care. Nearest one...24 miles away. Now my paranoia about Naomi's hypothetically broken growth plate in her foot was compounded with the fear that if my child were to ever stop breathing it would take me 37 minutes to get to someone who could help me. I finally resorted to taking her into the Emergency Room in Dallas. No, not Texas, although it may as well have been. I felt a bit foolish hauling her in there on one hip with the baby on the other while she's giggling and not looking like she is in ANY amount of pain at all. She was playing around the waiting room...laughing at Sponge Bob on the TV while I'm casually tring to explain to the receptionist that my daughter really did need to see a doctor. As soon as they called us back, however, the water works started. I'm sure more out of fear than anything else. They did x-rays and plopped us in a room until the ONE doctor on staff got to us. Two hours later were discharged with an ice pack and an ace bandage. No break, just a good solid sprain. One week to the day Naomi started limping around on her foot and today attempted to jump off the kitchen counter...with a crash landing. Easy there tiger. Healing takes a bit of time.

zzzz...happy new y...zzzzz

Last night we took advantage of the time difference and welcomed the new year at 9pm...since it was midnight on the east coast! Our dear friends came down from Portland and spend the evening with us. We had some good grub and pleasant conversation. They have a little boy and the girls just loved on him the whole time. He ate up all the extra attention and did a fine job filling the role of "king" in their role playing games! And as much as I hate to admit it...we were all in bed before midnight...lame. No illegal fireworks, no disturbing the neighbors with banging pots with spoons and shouting out the front door, just the peaceful sound of four little angels breathing steadily...but really, who could ask for anything more. I am so blessed.