*Yawns and stretches*

*Rubs sleep from eyes*

*Confusedly looks around*

Oh hey, hello there! I'm emerging from a nice restful break from blogdom. I just could not find the time/energy to sit down and write out a coherent post. I kept up with some of my bluddies (blogging buddies) but was lacking in leaving the comment love, so my apologies to you all.

Last night as I sat in bed banging my skull against the headboard as my 1 year old screamed like a banshee, I thought of a really great topic to blog about. As my little one and I tossed and turned and punched and kicked (it was her mostly, I swear) I lost track of what I was going to post.

Then this morning as I rolled out of bed feeling like I had been run over by a truck (felt a bit like a Chevy) I couldn't even spell the word bolg bgol blog.

Then as the day wore on I sort of remembered my great idea for blogging, but then my head exploded due to the sheer amount of ENDLESS NONSTOP SCREAMING.

I really did forget what it was, I'm sure I will remember tonight as I am climbing into my bed and about to drift off to sleep. Right after snuggling into my sheets, but right before being whacked in the face by my one year old monster.

*Yawn*

The Journal

The day after I found out I was pregnant with Chloe, I went to the store and bought a journal. My first entry was a little unsure and hesitant, as my emotions were so raw and new. I wrote as if I was writing to a teenaged Chloe, and I planned on giving it to her on her 12th birthday. I put my thoughts, advice, dreams, and fears down on the pages of the journal, and I wrote it in faithfully every night. Towards the end of my pregnancy as things got busier, I wrote in it once a week. Then after she was born it tapered down to once a month, then once every few months. When cleaning out our bedroom on Sunday, I found the journal; the last entry I wrote was December 24th, 2005, two years ago. I couldn't believe I let so much time go by without writing to her. That night I wrote several pages in her journal, writing about the changes in our lives, and a few funny stories about her.

I also started a journal for Alivia. I wish I had started it when I was pregnant, but time just flew by too quickly. Her new journal is already filled with several pages, words of wisdom from her mom, advice, chit chat, stories and jokes. I can just picture her as a pre teen or teen, reading the journal and thinking about what her mom must have been like so many years ago. It's also a great place to write down all the cute mannerisms of the girls. I hope it is something they will treasure forever.

If I look back at my childhood, I think ages 12-14 were the toughest for me. So many changes occur, physical and emotional, the boy crazies set in, parents are annoying, friends cause drama, it's such a rough time for a girl! I know how much I would treasure something like that from my mother, and I truly hope my girls will feel the same about my words to them.

Fags and Powers.

This was my conversation with Chloe today as we were driving.

"Mama! Mama! I see fags and powers!"
"What do you see?"
"Fags and powers!"
"Fags and powers?"
"YES MOM FAGS AND POWERS."

I glanced out the window to see that we were passing a cemetary. Row after row of American flags and hundreds of flower arrangements.

Ah, right. Fags and powers.

Annnnd......she's off!

We have runnage!!! Alivia took off like a jet plane. She is now running from room to room, pushing her dolly in a stroller all the way across the house, and climbing all over the place. She is powerful, busy, and incredibly strong-minded. And only 10 and a 1/2 months old.

I am also pretty convinced that she was a dog in her past life. She likes to watch us with eager eyes as we eat, hoping we will drop a crumb for her to gobble up. She enjoys splashing in the toilet, and the other day she licked my face.

When I'm not chasing after the little monster, or entertaining a toddler, I'm thinking about the holiday season. I've been brainstorming affordable gifts for my little spawn. I've decided on a box full of paints and paintbrushes for Chloe. She absolutely lives for painting. She will often bring me a fresh piece of paper and state very matter-of-factly "I paint dis." It is not uncommon for her to also tap her sister on the head and declare "I paint dis too." Whenever I pull the art box out, she starts to jump up and down and shake and sputter and get really giddy, and I start to think I should call 911 or something. Paint is her toddler drug. She has to get her fix every day.

Our local craft store had bottles of paint for a buck apiece, so I grabbed a slew of colors, a handful of brushes, and a few packs of construction paper. Threw it in a shoebox, tied on a ribbon, and voila....crack-in-a-box!

SuperBaby.

What did I get myself into?



I apologize for the fuzzy image. This would be my ten month old sitting on top of her sister's table, clapping and smiling because she is so proud of herself. She has been climbing for several weeks now, the couch, the chairs, the bed, her exersaucer, everywhere. I can't take my eyes off of her for a second. As a result, I haven't been to the bathroom in four days, but hey, peeing is overrated anyway.

She can walk from one end of the house to the other. Even though our apartment is tiny, it is still a huge feat for such little feet. She can walk halfway across the room, stop and pick up an item, straighten back up and continue on her merry way. She has a fascination with Forbidden Objects. Batteries are her favorite (she can even pop them out of the remote), second only to pennies, and sharp objects.

Good thing she is so stinkin' adorable.

Long, Long Break.

Well, that was the break to end all breaks! I had major blogger's block and couldn't think of a single thing to write that wouldn't make everyone slump forward onto their keyboards, drooling all over the spacebar.

You know, life has been pretty busy and boring. Busy with day to day stuff, you know, two kids under 3, another kid under 25, keeping up with the household, errands, bill paying, yada, yada, yada. But boring because nothing exciting has happened lately. Well, exciting things happen all the time, like Ali figuring out how to wave, or Chloe pooping in the potty. Fun stuff.

So...umm....I can feel you start to nod off, so here is a super quick update on my little monkeys, then I'll let you get back to your drooling.

Chloe
-Talking up a storm.
-Funny, funny girl. (She likes when I lightly blow on her chest and face, it cracks her up. So the other day she ran up to me and said "Hey mom! Blow me!")
-Crazy imagination (yesterday her french fries were giants going through the ketchup swamp, and they got in a fight with each other so she punished them by biting off their heads.)
-Loves to read.
-Currently on a vegetable strike. Should end around January of 2018.
-Enjoys long walks on the beach.
-Likes when her sister copies her. Encourages her sister to follow her into the bathroom, shows her how to unroll the toilet paper, then runs to me and says "Mama, baby did a bad in da bashroom!"

Ali
-Up to 8 steps in a row.
-This girl is small but she packs a powerful punch. Don't mess with her if she is tired. Or hungry. Or grumpy. Pretty much, don't mess with her.
-She is small but we have nicknamed her "The Pit" She eats a massive amount of food, more than the rest of us.
-Her hair has grown, and is now about 1 1/2 inches long! Still orangey-red.
-7 teeth and counting! She has four on top and three on bottom, and several more on the way.
-Almost 10 months old.
-Still in Mommy's bed, but about to be evicted.
-Enjoys pulling the wipes out of the container, unrolling the TP, dumping out boxes of toys, throwing her food, and pooping at inconvenient times.

Things are good! Although Ali is currently fighting a nasty bout of bronchitis.

Hope all my blends (that would be blogger friends) are doing well!

J-E-L-L-O

Today we went to a Chinese buffet. It seems like every Chinese buffet (at least in the greater Idaho area) has a plentiful stock of jello, cottage cheese, and mashed potatoes and gravy. Didn't you know those are the staples of a Chinese diet?

So I got a plate with one jiggly square of bright red jello, a small serving of mashed potatoes with thick gravy, and a tiny scoop of cottage cheese. All of this with the expectation that Ali would reject it with a tight lipped shake of her stubborn head.

But she opened wide for the spoon with a miniscule amount of melt-in-your-mouth jello. And then swallowed it! Sweet success!

She also gobbled up the cottage cheese, but spit out the mashed potatoes.

7 squares of jello, and two large scoops of cottage cheese later, she was finally satisfied. I know jello is not the most nutritionally sound food to feed to my seven month old, but at this point if she would eat a Krispy Kreme, I'd gladly oblige. (As long as she got her own, I don't share Krispy's, even with cute babies). She is getting skinnier by the day because she is so darn busy. She is beginning to cruise along the furniture, although she is still unsteady. She is also quite the food snob. Even her baby food has to be the exact right temperature and texture or else she chucks it at me. At most she will eat about an 1/8 of a 1/4 of a jar. So her jello and cottage cheese binge is perfectly timed.