Developments

Lucy has begun to say "Mama". I'm so happy.
Bart has begun to use deodorant because his armpits were starting to smell after karate. I'm a little less happy about that one.
Drake has begun to kick people in the shins lately (me included). I am definitely NOT happy about that.

Tired But Happy

I'm tired. As if I didn't work enough at home, I took on a part-time job as a Target Pharmacy tech. I work 4 hours on most weeknights and last Saturday I worked 10 hours. It was pretty brutal since the job is 99.9% standing or walking. My back was killing me.
The experience is good. It's a lot to remember, but I'm hoping to decide whether I should go to Pharmacy school when/if we move.
George was so cute Saturday. Since I had to work all day, I asked him to bring Lulu to me on my lunch break so I could nurse her. Well, when they arrived, the two little ones looked like street urchins. Drake had remnants of his lunch on his face and Lucy was wearing the oldest, most ill-fitting and unmatching outfit possible. Honestly, I had just finished washing almost ALL of the laundry in the house, so there was no excuse for her not matching. My hubby is absolutely drawn to the bottom depths of the children's dressers where their stained/torn/slightly too small play-clothes are. He bypasses all the nice stuff and dresses them like bums. But....I just bit my tongue, told him what a good job he was doing, and was silently thankful that at least they were all wearing clothing.
All said, I think everyone enjoyed themselves. George took the children to the Havelock Wal-Mart (the Green Wal-Mart with the "Death Star" lights) and then to the park. While I was at work, he texted a picture to me of Lucy swinging at the park. It made me a little sad, but it's also a nice break for me to get out of the house and exercise my non-mommy mind a little. It's also good for George to have to try to get things done around the house with all four kids. (Although when I got home, he acted like he was waiting for some kind of award for taking care of his kids by himself all day).
I didn't have to work Memorial Day, so we invited some friends over for dinner. It was just relaxing and fun, as usual. The kids had a blast and played outside most of the time. We got to see the Nicolaysen's new baby - what a cutie!!
Today, Bart's class had a "Teddy Bear" day in which they were allowed to bring a stuffed animal from home and take it everywhere with them - to lunch, recess, etc. I thought it was a nice idea. I thought for sure Bart would take his favorite stuffed animal, Silver Horn, his little beanie baby horse. Or maybe Leo, his WebKinz lion. But no, it had to be major drama. First, he fussed because he wanted to take this weird little toy of Skylar's, (whom she calls "Bob"), which he only saw for the first time yesterday. There were major tears and sulks over that. Then Bart insisted on taking the little Heinz Ketchup guy (who's wearing a leather jacket) that Elsie and Mom and Dad brought Skylar back from Pittsburgh like nine years ago. Skylar gifted the ketchup guy to Bart, who has never once even taken him down from his stuffed animal net - until now. So, Mr. Ketchup got his day in the sun, and apparently all the kids in class thought it was hilarious.
I'm totally exhausted, so I'm going to run now. I have a test tomorrow on three chapters and I need to study. Life is busy, but good.

Yay, etc.

It's official. My little girl is growing up.
Last night we let her use Veet (the hair remover) on her legs for the first time.
I am so sad/happy for her/weirded out.
I am getting old. The big 3-0 is just around the corner.

I've written a Haiku to commemorate the occasion:


My hair will turn gray
But you won't see me sweat it-
That's why they make dye.

Mother's Day

Last weekend I had probably the best Mother's Day ever.
I don't really know why other than I am taking a lot more Prozac than usual.
Also, George has been really nice lately; I'm trying to figure out what he wants.
The kids were really sweet and they made me the most beautiful cards.
George had gone to a Carolina Hurricanes game on Friday with a friend from work, thanks to a very kind vendor. They had great seats and he had a lot of fun. He ended up buying me the prettiest nightgown and robe from Victoria's Secret. Honestly, it is so cute, I'd wear it out as a dress if I could. He felt bad that he couldn't afford to buy me a Coach bag like his friend did for his wife, but what on earth would I do with a Coach bag right now, anyway? The baby would just puke on it or the kids would use it to carry sticks and rocks to their secret clubhouse. Did I mention the time I found out Skylar had been using my $20 facial moisturizer as lotion for her legs? It's useless having anything that can't be replaced at Wal-Mart.
Church was really nice. All the moms were given chocolate bars and I was able to eat mine fast enough that my children did not take even one bite of it. During sacrament meeting, we sang "I Am a Child of God" and Lucy was so happy as she watched her Daddy conduct the music. She tried to sing and I could feel her little chest hum beneath my hands. For some reason, it was such an absolutely spiritual moment for me as I looked toward the front of the chapel. I can't even explain it. It was like just at that moment, I understood the divine in music in a way I have not felt before.
After church, we went to Mindy and Kevin's for dinner and everyone really enjoyed themselves. Drake was his cheekiest for his "Aunt Minnie".
Skylar wrote me the most beautiful poem. I cried. She's becoming quite the poet these days. I think Elizabeth would be proud of her.

Mom kneels
Her makeup on
Changing diapers
On Drake and Lucy's bottoms
Her brown eyes sparkle
And her rings glisten
Like stars on her fingers
She goes about the house listening,
Ready to help one of us
And when I think of her
She's smiling at me
And telling me stories.

Like Father Like Son

George keeps saying that Drake is the only kid that he isn't certain is his because he doesn't look a thing like him. Today Drake presented me with irrefutable proof that he is indeed George's son.

While I was changing Lucy's diaper, Drake looked at me and said, matter-of-factly, "Mommy, I have a big pee-pee."

I wasn't sure I had heard him right, so I repeated it and he said yes, he has a big pee-pee.

I just cracked up laughing and had to call George right away.

Proof positive! I think Drake just might be the kid who is the most like George, with that super-size ego!

Spring time tea party

One afternoon, the kids decided they wanted to take Skylar's plastic tea set and dishes outside and have a tea party in the front yard. They spread a blanket out and we all sat around it. Skylar served up real biscuits (bread) and tea (water). It was just one of those absolutely perfect days and I took about a million pictures, so bear with me.

Funny Face

Here's Drake's funny face. We were at Chick-Fil-A a few weeks ago.







Now here's his cute face:



Here's Lucy's cute face.

Oh dap

Drake's vocabulary has really been growing by leaps and bounds. I can't believe the way he can carry on a conversation now. I used to be able to pretend I didn't understand what he was saying sometimes (like when he was whining for candy), but now he speaks sentences and is pretty clear. He gets mad unless I make it clear to him with my response that I know what he's talking about.


The other day at lunch, the two of us had just sat down with our plates. Drake immediately bit into his peanut butter and jelly sandwich and started chewing. Then he stopped suddenly, put his sandwich down, looked up at me with big eyes and said, "Oh dap. I say prayer." Then he proceeded to fold his arms and say the blessing on the food. He had forgotten to say prayer before eating. I realized that "Oh dap" meant "Oh crap". I'll take the blame on that one. I say that word way too often.

One of my favorite words of Drake's is "diduz". He'll say he really NEEDS a piece of candy right now, so I'll ask him "Why do you need a piece of candy?" and he'll answer "Diduz". Translation: because.

Lucy has also been developing at turbo-speed. Just Wednesday of last week, she was learning to push up on her hands and feet. Then she was crawling pretty well. Then by Saturday she was pulling up on things. I put her to bed Saturday evening and she wasn't happy about it. So we turned the monitor off like we usually do for ten minutes or so while she cries it out a little. Usually Sky is in bed by that time, too, so if anything was really wrong with Lucy, she would let us know. However, Skylar was being allowed to stay up a little late and play MarioKart with George. So we're sitting there relaxing when all of a sudden I hear Lucy screaming, I mean really screaming. We could hear her from upstairs with the monitor off. George said I should check on her in case she had fallen out of the crib or something. I hurried upstairs, not really thinking she could actually fall out of her crib yet.

Ha!

I was just in time.

When I walked in, I gasped and I think I may have done a double-take. I had been totally prepared to cover her back up, say "go to sleep Lucy", and go back out. But Lucy was leaning out of her crib, teetering, about to fall. She had pulled up on the side and gotten her chest and arms over the side before she got stuck there. At that point, she could have gone over the edge with the slightest push of her feet.

I think I yelled and ran and grabbed her up. George lowered her crib immediately to its lowest level. Why do kids seem hell-bent on giving their parents heart-attacks?

That was definitely an "oh dap" moment.