Awkward Sibling Pic, v7.0

Guess who loves bathtime, and guess who doesn't love sharing bathtime with their splashy baby sister.

I can honestly say I am sad I ordered Christmas cards before I found this picture.

Sunday Sibling Moments

We've been a little Anneliese-heavy in these parts this week, but in case you forgot about them, there are other awesome people who live in this house too.

Mark took this one post-bathtime:

Charlotte is channeling her Uncle Brad with that hairdo.

And I took this one of Daddy too. Because it's cute when he pretends he's playing legos just for the kids.

Can you see the snaggletooth in these pics? Yep, thought so.

And there is a dose of easy sweetness this corner of the internet has been needing. My family is sometimes really good for that kind of thing.

You're welcome.

(Me too.)

Awkward Sibling Pic, v4.0

Today's awkward sibling photo is brought to you by bathtime, lest any of you accuse us of never bathing our children. See, bathtime totally happens. And we take pictures. Sometimes even for reasons less important than the upcoming celebration of the lord's incarnation. Like, to commemorate Charlotte's whopping second bath. (For a completely hypothetical example. Ahem.)

So what's the best worst part of this picture?
A- Nathan's fake smile
B- Anneliese's hair, so dirty her pigtails stay in place even when the elastic is out
C- Charlotte, either obsessed with her belly button, or weak in the neck, or being a drama queen who's holding out for an amendment to the nudity clause in her modeling contract

If you guessed C, then ding ding ding you are correct!

Charlotte Claire: making family photos awkward since 2011.

Best. Mad. Face. Ever.

Okay folks.  I'm going to ask you to stretch your imaginations here for a bit.  Can we all just agree to not remember that Charlotte was born at the beginning of August, and not notice that it's now the beginning of November, and not do the math to figure out how old she is for today's milestone?  And definitely can we agree to not judge anyone based on those things we're not noting?  Okay?  Cool?  Cool.

That being said... Charlotte has officially had her first bath!!

(Get excited.)

She was okay with it at first... and then she wasn't.

Which is okay with us, because her mad face can't be stressful when it's this... awesome.

So basically, she shrieked.  Amidst a chorus of Nathan clamoring to help wash her, and Anneliese constantly narrating what was happening (baby. chey-ette. baff.) (baby. water.), she shrieked.  Lesson for the day: first baths are not unchaotic in a family our size.

Other lesson for the day: clean babies are sweet and fuzzy-headed and oh-so-cute wrapped in towels, and might be worth the effort of bathtime a little more often.  Maybe.

Eleven Resolutions

I know some people don't buy into making resolutions, but as I've said before, I totally do.  Even if I fail.  I mean, why not at least try, right?

I should probably be very serious and smart and make some resolutions about being less of a control freak, and maybe less emotionally high-maintenance while I'm at it.  But those goals might be a little too lofty for a year that contains both the potential building of a new house and a pregnancy (I pray not simultaneously).  So.  I am setting the bar a little lower.  (No, eleven is not too many.)

1.) I will shower and get dressed every day.  (And  by every day, I mean I get one skip a week.)  It makes me feel more human and better about myself.  Plus I've gotten one too many compliments on my hair recently of the oh-it-looks-so-pretty-what-did-you-do variety, when the answer is um, washed it? brushed it?  Also when a friend hugs you and says oh you smell so clean, that's unus-- ... Yeah.  Likewise, the kids.  I'm totally going to bathe them at least once a week this year.  Really.  Hopefully.

2.) In an act of solidarity with my awesome sister Ashley and my favorite friend (Another) Nathan, I am going to try really hard to call this year twenty-eleven.  It's apparently important to them?  Or something.  And I'm inclined to agree: it's time to make the change.

3.) I fully intend to re-read all the Little House books and the Narnia books.

4.) I want to have a date night with Mark every week.  It sounds like a lot, but we did it this summer and it was so awesome and helpful and good for our marriage.  So when we have our 2011 family budget meeting (no it still hasn't happened **hangs head in shame**) we're going to prioritize this.

5.) No more profanity.  Eventually I would like to get rid of all of it (for realz, Mark is not a fan) but for now I'm setting the bar realistically low: definitely not in front of the kids.  I slip up more often than I should.  I need to nip it in the bud.

6.) I'm jumping on the Project 365 bandwagon (not in any official capacity though) and resolving to take a picture every day this year.  At least one.  Also this should give me lots of material to post new blog content every day which should keep some people (coughAshley) happy. The dailies just might become daily.

7.) I am going to be a less lazy housewife.  True story: I'm a decent mommy, but I'm not much for cleaning (see #1).  I'm going to get back in the pre-Anneliese habit of really cleaning one section of the house every week, so that it never gets so bad it becomes and overwhelming task. 

8.) Two people whom I love very much hinted that I should be more helpful.  Um, whaaa?  I think I'm pretty helpful already! Seriously?!  But after glaring at them for a minute then sleeping on it for a few nights, I decided it never hurts to be more helpful.  (I mean, I don't even have a job, right?)  So I am going to go out of my way to find one really helpful thing to do for someone else every day.  Someone hold me accountable to this and ask me how it's going in a month, ok?

9.) I'm going to ignore my phone less.  Truthfully, my default reaction when it rings is just to ignore it.  Yes, yes, there are times when I really can't or shouldn't answer, or legitimately am not in the mood to talk.  But I ignore it way more than just those times.  I mean, I don't even try to look at it while it's still ringing and see who's calling and discern if it's a good time to talk.  And usually I end up calling whoever it was back within a few minutes with a lame-o apology about not being able to get to it fast enough.  (Note: if I've fed you this line, it was probably just that -- a line.  I'm for real sorry.)  I want to make the effort to talk to people when they have made the effort to call me.  So I'm going to try really hard to change my default phone reaction from ignore to converse.

10.) I want to spend more alone time with each child.  Especially since we're about to have three, I'm going to have to be intentional about this.  I don't want alone time with mommy and daddy to become a precious commodity (been there, done that, handed down the t-shirt).  I want it to be normal and expected and routine and basically not a big deal or special treat.  I know this is really important to Mark too.  I'm not sure yet how to concretely state this resolution (half an hour every day?  one morning a week?) or the logistics of how to make it happen, but we'll be discussing it.  And prioritizing it.  Each of my children need me, and I want time with all of them individually, as well as family togetherness.

11.) I will get there in time for the epidural.  Basically if this happens, I'll call twenty-eleven a win.

Mommying at its Finest

I have a blog-friend named Caroline, originally from North Carolina, who now lives outside Cape Town, South Africa.  I "met" her through my college friend Hope (you might remember Hope from this hilarious list when Anneliese's pregnancy went overdue), who met Caroline when they both lived in Scotland.  (Confused yet?  Does this story span enough continents for you?) 

Anyway, Caroline is awesome.  You like her.  You want to be friends with her.  This week she described her son as "chilling out max and relaxing all cool."  What more could you want in a blog friend?  I mean really.  And... you will be hearing more about her soon.  Stay tuned.

In the meantime, Caroline has challenged me (and by challenged, I mean called me out) to write a post about "motherhood at its finest." She had a bit of an adventure last week involving a pregnant woman, some poopy shoes, burnt chili, maybe sixty-five baby wipes, a metaphorical cow-brander, and an ant hill built into the golden curls of a toddler.

She decided that even the most frustrating moments can be magical and bonding. 

Ummm.  I don't know if I agree.  But then, her story involved poop, and mine involves a stabbing.  (Yes, I said stabbing.)  So that might be why I'm dubious about the calling it a magical moment just yet.

**********

The scene:

Last Thursday morning. 

I am tired because a thunderstorm roared through last night at midnight, and my children hate thunderstorms.  I am tired because this is the second night in a row I have been up in the middle of the night (two nights in a row is a lot in these parts... new moms, and moms of bad sleepers, yes you may throw rocks at me now).  I am tired because Anneliese got up before six am.  That's very not ok.  I'm tired because even though Anneliese went back down around 7, that's exactly when Nathan got up. 

I am frustrated because not only is Nathan awake, he's whining.  I'm also frustrated because I left my car windows down during last night's aforementioned thunderstorm.  Which means the inside of my car is soaked.  So is the stack of too-small kids' clothes sitting on my front seat waiting to be exchanged for things in Nathan's size. (You know, so he doesn't have to go to school naked. That's kind of frowned upon at our church.)  My stroller is also soaked, because I forgot to put it away yesterday after my mom took the kids for a walk.  Ironically, it would have gotten wet even if I had put it away, because of course I got rear-ended by a cement truck two days ago and the taillight is broken in such a way that water leaks inside the trunk when it rains.  (This knowledge does not make me feel better.  It just makes me remember that I got rear-ended by a cement truck.)

I am worried because the driver of said cement truck is starting to be kind of sketchy about when and how our car will be repaired.  (The first estimate indicated it would take almost two weeks and lots of money.)  I am worried because I have to spend lots of the morning driving around to body shops on wet car seats with an infant who didn't sleep well and a toddler who will. not. stop. whining.

Can you picture the scene?  Ok good.
 
So, tired + frustrated + worried = I'm exhausted enough to doze off in the armchair in Nathan's room while Anneliese is doing her "catchup" sleep.  This totally proves that my mommy gene allows me to sleep through whining after all.  Know what my mommy gene doesn't let me sleep through?  Nathan pulling a thumbtack out of the poster on his wall and sticking it in my foot.  (He also did some very sweet things, like tuck a blanket around me and bring me an animal to snuggle and drive cars up and down my leg saying "does that feel nice mommy?" but that's neither here nor there because right now I'm bitching about the fact that he stabbed me in the foot with a thumbtack.)

I have never been so mad at him.* Honestly.

But.  Our day went on.  The car dried out.  I cleaned it.  The to-be-exchanged clothing survived.  I rewarded my emotionally frazzled state (and sore foot) with Starbucks.  Nathan and Anneliese played together well and kept each other happy during the body shop visit.  The second estimate on the car was much more optimistic, both in time and money.  Both kids napped.  At the same time.  A friend who had survived some e-bitching about my morning texted to make sure I was feeling better.  I was.  Things were looking up.
So I decided to take a bath.  And have a glass of wine.  (Btw, thank you to the handful of facebook friends who agreed this was a reasonable way to spend a Thursday afternoon. I love you all. *Fistbump.*)  I set the kids up with legos and trucks on the bedroom floor, topped off the bubbles in the tub, grabbed my book, and jumped in, all set to relax.

Enter Nathan.  Remember?  The kid who stabbed me with a thumbtack?  Yeah, him.

He decides that playing legos with his sister is too boring (or something) and instead he needs to wash his cars and trucks.  So after the thirty seconds it takes him to dump a bunch of toys into my relaxing bubble bath, then soak himself (and bathroom floor and mats) with soap and water, he determines that the bubbles smell good ("like noodles") and takes a huge bite out of the suds.

You can imagine how that ended.  Crying, spitting, gagging, throwing wet soapy trucks and legos at his sister out of frustration.  Everything you'd want in a relaxing bath.  You know, the one you're taking to recover from your thumbtack stabbing.

The perp.  With his (now exceptionally clean) new Doc Hudson toy.

Magical?  No.  Bonding?  No.  But there you have it: mommying at its finest.

*Yes, I forgave Nathan.  Of course.  We're cool now.

While We Were Out...

Since I know you're all dying to know (right?), Anneliese and I survived without each other just fine last weekend.  After all her finicky bottle-refusing and her sudden (and drastic!) separation anxiety... I was worried.  More worried than I let on.  But it was fine!  (Just like everyone told me it would be.  I know, I know.)

Anneliese stayed with my mom and they had fun.  According to the very very detailed papers my mom wrote out with notes about her visit (Finn's GJo would be oh so proud), they did about 15 miles in the jogging stroller, watched soccer, went to two parties, ate lots of yogurt, and stayed up late every night.  Past midnight on Sunday, when they watched fireworks together (the description of Anneliese sucking her thumb and staring in wonder makes me a little sad I missed her first fireworks, not gonna lie... although if I were there, she would have missed them anyway since she would have been in bed five hours earlier... just sayin').

I have no photographic evidence of any of this. But (except for the lack of camera capturing every moment) it seems like it was everything a Marmie weekend should be. 

Including follow-up text messages as my mom cried* her way through some sort of weird grandmotherly post-partum depression that had her feeling lonely, let-down and bored in the 24 hours after we took Anneliese back home.  She even said** her stroller looked sad.  (Projection what.)

Meanwhile, Nathan had a blast too.   He spent a night with my dad, who put him to work painting his mailbox (no, I am not kidding, and yes, Nathan loved it).  And then he went to my sister's house for the rest of the weekend.

Ashley's notes weren't quite as detailed (I crack myself up.  There were no notes.  You knew that already, right?  It's not her way.) but there were some pictures on facebook of fighter jets drawn with sidewalk chalk and giant pb&j sandwiches eaten by the backyard pool.  When we asked Nathan how his weekend was, he just kept talking about how he went swimming with AshleyRitaMickeyUncleJohn&Nathan (Rita and Mickey are dogs, in case you're curious).

And about the blue frisbee Ashley put in the sky (and apparently one in a tree).  And Uncle John's huuuuge lawn mower.  Oh, and this little gem, which he will not shut up about:

Note to anyone who hasn't heard about it yet:  he doesn't like the spray.  And no, he isn't talking about Anneliese blowing raspberries beside him in his armchair.  He's talking about Ashley's shower. No more showers, please.  Baths only.  (If you can't see the video embedded above, click here.)

So now we're home, and back to the status quo.  Which I have to say is actually a really good thing.  I missed both kiddos way more than I thought I would.  I'm so glad to have them back.  So glad to be a mommy again.

*No one out there is still wondering where I get my crazy, right?
**Yes, it's totally fine for me to make fun of her on the internet because a- she's fine now, and b- she already admitted it on facebook anyway.

When Toddler's Away, Parents Will Play (...or Work)

Nathan has spent the majority of this week with my friend Jenny (remember Jenny? friends since fifth grade) and her family in Greensboro. Mark and I both had extremely hectic work weeks, so this was our version of childcare.

It's been a mix of stressful and relaxing during Nathan's time away. I miss him like crazy. Being non-parents again, even for a short while (this is the first time we've done it in our own house), is kind of peaceful, though. It's annoying that we've both been working like crazy (Mark has 12-hour shifts, and I've put in 9-10 hour days which is double my scheduled norm) and haven't used the quiet time for something more fun, but... that's life. We did have a date tonight, which was an extremely good end to an extremely unpleasant day.

I've been thinking about little Nathan, and how he's doing with little Katie (Jenny's daughter, about six months younger than him). Besides a few post-nap breakdowns (that's his way, unfortunately), it sounds like he's doing just fine. If there's anyone who can handle two toddlers, it's Jenny, I know that much.

Thank goodness for facebook; I can see what they've been up to this week!

Nathan has learned to accessorize.

When they're older, they're going to kill us for making this picture public.

This picture is sweet but I'm mostly distracted by the fact that Nathan apparently had to accessorize his pajamas as well.

He looks so old in this picture! How did that happen in just three days?

We have missed you Nathan, and we'll be glad to see you tomorrow! We're glad you're having fun and seem to be embracing the idea of having a sister around to play with!

Who Wears it Better?

Nathan loves bathtime these days, although I must admit we don't bathe him more than a couple of times a week. (What? He doesn't get that dirty. Plus, we're watching our water usage. Yeah, that's it.)

Anyway when we tell him it's bath time, he runs into the bathroom to help us get the water running and then he runs into his bedroom to "get n,aked" (yes, I am spelling it that way on purpose so this site doesn't flag as having adult content... he also knows some other words for his body parts -- the proper words, don't worry -- that make for amusing diaper changes but aren't necessary to post online... he's at that awkward stage now of knowing the names for things but not quite understanding which things are appropriate to mention in a social setting... I'm hoping once we potty train it will be easier for him to make the distinction between things we do in private and things that are ok to talk about/share with friends... I digress). Then he loves to sit and splash in the tub, and his favorite thing recently is to dump cups of water all over his body to help me rinse after I wash him off. All those bath toys, and he spends 85% of the time playing with that orange cup. :)

He's kind of outgrown the little hooded baby towels, but he does have this tiger towel (and a frog one we got last Christmas) that works perfectly. It was a gift from Ashley at our baby shower more than two years ago, and Nathan is very into being bundled up as a tiger for his evening milk and book. (BookS, I should say. "Another one" is fast becoming a favorite phrase around here.)

So, as People Magazine would ask, who wears it better?

Mark - Spring 2007

Nathan - Spring 2009

Leave your vote in the comments. Nathan is awfully cute, but I have to applaud Mark for his daring fashion statement here.