Lots going on... Can't even remember if anything happened yesterday so I'll assume nothing worth noting did :)

Today went over to Mom's to drop off dogs. A. Deanne was there, and Ben and Aaron stopped by too. Had a good little visit with everyone, then took off soon after to get back home and prep for trip to Spokane. Didn't get much done cuz kids had missed their morning nap and were cranky! Jason got home and I was able to get a few things done. We're mostly ready... leaving at about 8am tomorrow and hope to be there by 1 or so. I'm so worried about how the kids will do. Its majorly stressing me!

Had maple roasted pork loin, baby potatoes with lemon-parsley butter and garlic sauteed spinach. Very good. Lonely here without the dogs. We complain about them constantly, but when they're not here, I don't feel as protected, and my floors are not as clean! I had to clean Ethans mess off the floor all by myself :)

Ethan can now open the dishwasher, climb onto the couch and climb into the car all by himself now. Its amazing! He also has all his molar teeth coming in at once... Poor little guy :( This all started happening this week.

My brain is completely fried. Time for bed.

I've put two new videos up of Ethan doing random things. You can click on the link on the right hand side of the page to see those.

Today went walking w/ Mom. Almost did our regular 2 miles, but not quite. Both of us agreed how it was odd that we felt 'out of shape' since we missed our walk last week. Can you feel that way when you only exercise once a week? Regardless, I'm incredibly sore.

After walking, we hit the library and I made a minor faux pas. I was excited to see that they had two cooking books that I've been wanting to read. They are like the definitive review of French culinary recipes. So I trundle up there with these enormous books and find out that 1) reference books can't be checked out and 2) I'm a dork for trying :D Oops! Nonetheless, I got a few books and am trying to restrain myself from reading them through so that I'll have something to read in Spokane!

We had a nummy pot roast tonight, w/ boiled potatoes, peas and a red wine gravy.

I feel a headache coming on, so I won't write any more.

Oh, eh hem... No comments have been left in a long time. Now, I know these blogs aren't exactly controversial or need much comment, but would it kill ya to say hi once and awhile? ;)

Not much to say today, didn't do much. Was able to sweep and mop the house, put Ethans swing attachment on his little slide thing and that was about it.

Gwen was real fussy last night, and is tonight too. Its super tiring.

All for now, can't type much cuz Gwen is crying.

Ouch. My arms and shoulders are so sore! Gwen is now in her 'only happy with Mommy' stage. I remember Ethan going through it and how I thought it was sweet that only I could console him. I do not find it so cute second time around. Even with me though, she's not been easy to make happy today. Not sure if shot hangover still or something else but she's just been really fussy.

We went to the store today to pick up groceries for next week. This menu planning thing is going well. However, since I'm getting more groceries at a time (since I'm only going once a week) its more difficult going with the kids, which generally means shopping on the weekend when either Jason can come with me or watch the kids at home. Shopping on the weekends really bites. Everyone is so rude and the lines are so long.

We had roasted chicken with potatoes. Pesto was rubbed under the chicken skin and over the potatoes. It was pretty good. I'm horrible at carving meat. By the time I'm done, it looks like it was attacked by a bunch of hungry cavemen... all the pieces are ripped and meat is hanging off them. That picture of the beautiful bird at the table, being sliced apart neatly by the man or woman of the house is a completely foreign concept. When I'm done there is meat and juice everywhere... on the counters, floor, in my hair, on my clothes. At least it tastes good no matter how it looks :)

I watched that House of Flying Daggers movie this morning. It was fantastic. The cinematography was gorgeous and the story was enthralling, but I'm a sucker for the overly dramatic foreign film. I buy as many on PPV as I can find :D

Uploaded a little video of Gwen to the site I mentioned yesterday, and I also put a direct link to it on the right hand side of this page.

Gotta go, baby Gwendolyn is needing Mommy, again. I hope my arms can hold up!

I made an account with a site called JussPress. They have free video hosting. I have one video up there now. They are only 2 minutes long, and of fairly poor quality (since they're taken with our digital camera and not our camcorder) but they're super easy for me to do! Here's the url, http://www.jusspress.com/kristiemiller

Today Becki came by and watched the kids while Jason and I did yardwork. We were going to section off part of the yard for Ethan, but due to technical difficulties, we did not. We did some stuff around the house too and then let Becki go after about 3 hours.

Becki,







(sorry, I just love that!)

Since then, we've pretty much not done a thing besides eat dinner and watch tv. I cannot believe that next weekend is July 4th and that I need to start planning for our trip to Spokane!

Well, not much to say. I bought a moive off PPV called, 'House of Flying Daggers'. Its subtitled and foreign, which means I will most likely love it

I hate shots. They make my kids unbearably cranky. Gwen was much better after her hard time last night, but has wanted to be held pretty much non-stop. I don't think she's been out of my arms for more than 15 min at a time. Its pretty cute though, she's taken to 'talking' if you can catch her in the right mood. When she's into it, her little mouth will be moving and she'll be wiggling and you can just tell she's working so hard to say something and then this little coo will come out and she'll look so proud!

Ethan was my mini-teen today. He slept in quite late (till nearly 9) and once he was up he was SO dramatic about everything. We're going to have to start cracking down a bit on these tantrums because they're starting to get pretty darn old. He drops his cracker or a toy and his life is over! OVER!!!!!! I had to ask him to wait while I finished feeding Gwen and he bent over, put his hands and head on the floor, then slowly dropped until he was flat on his tummy, arms and legs fully extended, crying the entire time. It was quite the show. Scenes like this continued the entire day.

After Jason got home we went to Costco to stock up on the paper towels and diapers. While we were there Jason was wooed by a 19in LCD monitor and he bought it. He is much pleased.

Mish, I watched the Merchant of Venice today. Have you seen it? It has Al Pacino and Ralph Fiennes (sp) in it and was quite good, I thought. Having not read the original story, I'm not sure how close it kept, but they had the original dialogue (or quite close to it I'd guess) and the acting, particularly Al Pacino, was superb.

About the adoption thing I posted earlier, Jason has not said a word about it. I'm keeping to my word that his lead is my lead. My Mom brought up a good point that perhaps I was so touched and drawn to these children because they are nearly the same age as mine and I could easily to relate to the kids. Regardless, my prayers are still with them because before anything, they need to be in a home where they are loved and do not need to be afraid.

Oh, I got a little carpet cleaner today. Its a handheld Bissell, so just for spot cleaning basically. I got it off Amazon for $15, because it was a refurb. It had good reviews, and for $15, even if it worked just ok it would still be a good deal! I did a few spots on our living room rug and it seemed to work well, as there are now three very clean spots to offset the dirty parts :)

Went to the pediatrician today. All was well.

Ethans stats are

Weight: 24lbs, 12 oz (60%)

Height: 33 in (95%)

Head: 47.5 cm (60%)

Gwens stats are

Weight: 9lbs, 9.5oz (25%)

Height: 22.5 in (60%)

Head: 37.8cm (25%)

They both got the same 4 shots. Ethan has had no reaction so far (he's never really had any type of reaction), but Gwennie did not fare so well. At first she was just sleepy, but about 4 hours ago her leg got all swollen where 2 of the shots were given and she was just crying and crying. She would relax for a moment, then tense up... her little eyes open so wide with fear, and start screaming. Scared me to death. Jason picked up some Tylenol on the way home and once we gave to that to her she's been ok. Sleepy, but ok. I hate shots.

Because of Gwens reaction, dinner was delayed till about 8. Jason had already eaten at his work BBQ, so Ethan and I had grilled pork chops with an italian relish and spinach on the side. This relish is basically an italian salsa. Chopped tomato, red onion, garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil, basil, oregano. You're supposed to marinate the pork chops in the relish juices, but no time for that. Still turned out good, and Ethan ate tons.

Some strange thoughts lately. I read a horrible story yesterday about a 7 week old girl who was sexually abused. After I read this story, I felt immediately that I should see if she was available for adoption. Not just her, but her 2 year old brother (who had also been beaten) as well. I've never seriously considered adoption, but thought it might be something to consider in the far far future, so it was surprising to me that I felt such an urge to check it out. I even dreamed about it last night.

I did some checking today with the lady who reported the story, as well as the city that the girl lived in. She has recovered and is currently in foster care, awaiting adoption, no word on her brothers status. I was given information on contacting the adoption services if I wished, with the understanding that an interstate adoption (these kids are in Ohio) would be the states second choice. I mean, it could be all moot anyway. What am I thinking, two infants and two toddlers right? Its just bizzare that this has been in my thoughts constantly since reading the story. I don't want to say its a sign or something because heaven knows I often have random ideas pop into my head, but it was such a strong feeling... I've asked God that if this is something he wants me to pursue to have Jason bring it up the topic and then be open to the idea. I mentioned it to him briefly today and he said we'd talk about it when he got home, so I'm leaving it at that.

So, now that you all think I'm crazy.... ;) Today we didn't do much. It was a lovely rainy day. We walked to get the mail, and astonishingly, a man found it necessary to flirt with me as I was walking. Flattering! I guess two kids isn't necessarily a turn off, LOL! Good for the ego. Did a laundry, did a little cleaning.

We had a delish Tuscan-style grilled chicken sandwich. It had a pesto mayo, grilled chicken, tomato, artichoke hearts, mozzarella and baby greens. Had it with grilled yellow squash on the side. Very filling yet healthy.

Tomorrow we are off to the pediatrician for Gwens 2 month and Ethans 15 month appointments. Always a bit of dread since shots will be administered. I am very curious however to see how their growth has been.

We've been trying to firm up vacation plans. We can't decide if Lake Chelan would be too much work. Well, we KNOW it will be too much work, but will the enjoyment outweigh the work? My thought is that its only going to get harder since next year both kids will be walking. At least one of them is still completely restrainable :) If we do go, it would probably only be for a couple days. I hate to miss any time over there because it could either burn down or be sold at any time and we'd never get another trip :( That will be a sad sad day indeed.

Mom and I were talking about doing a camping trip too... Just a long weekend thing. Their church campout is the first of August and we may do that, since its so close to home. I'd also like to go to the Oregon coast as I love beach camping and Les & Karen live down there too. We may forgo the camping part and just crash at their house :)

Well, Gwen is fussing so I'd best be off.

Left the house very early this morning to visit with A. Daralyn & U. Greg before they headed back to Oroville. It was there first time seeing Gwen.

After they left, we had lunch at Mom's, then headed back to my house so they could watch the kids while I went grocery shopping. Mom, Michelle and Jenni stayed at the house and cleaned it while I was gone. It was the first time I left Gwen at home and she did good!

When I got home the weather started turning for the worse and we had quite the thunder and rain storm. It was nice because the air previously seemed very thick and heavy with humidity.

We had a different dinner tonight. We do not eat a lot of fish, but I was inspired by a recipe which called for Red Snapper (or Tilapia since I couldn't find Red Snapper) coated in pesto, with asparagus, yellow squash and tomatoes on top, finished with dollop of more pesto. You wrapped it up in a foil packet, in the oven for 25 min and you're good! Everyone liked it ok... May not make this exact dish again, but I'd like to try more fish to mix up the beef/chicken/pork rut.


Oh, I bought a pair of capris and got them a size bigger than I usually do and they FIT. I'm going to pretend that I don't notice they're a size bigger because its nice to wear something non-maternity :)

all for now, headed for bed.

Oy vey! We had a rough evening. The day went fairly well, but as soon as Jason came home things started going wacky. Gwen wouldn't stop crying, and thusly woke up Ethan who had only been napping 30 min. He decided that he wasn't going to go back to sleep, so I lost my 'free' time to get laundry and housework done. Because of his missed nap he whined constantly.

It was toasty in the house, so we had egg salad sandwiches for dinner, which Ethan hated (one of the few things he's ever completely rejected). Afterwards, Jason mowed the front yard and gave Ethan his bath. Once he was done, I went to bathe Gwen. I had her in there and was soaping her up when all of a sudden a shoe came flying over my shoulder and landed on her, compliments of her brother. Grrr! Complete havoc ensued, with all the kids screaming and crying and ugh. No one was hurt, but everyone was scared.

Yesterday we went out to Mom & Dad's for Fathers Day. We had a good time and Ethan played himself nearly to sleep.

I'm struggling again with not feeling well. It starts simply, perhaps just a broken glass or someone not taking a nap, and it takes a free-fall from there. All of a sudden everything is unbearable and horrible and depressing. It gets so bad that I'll end up crying all day. All day, constantly. Sometimes leaving the house helps, but a lot of the time the thought of having to find clothes that fit, etc makes it even worse. And I can feel the cloud of depression come down on me as I head back to home anyway.

Tomorrow morning I'm leaving very early to go see A. Daralyn and U. Greg at Mom's house. Should be fun to see them.. They haven't met Gwendolyn yet.

What a day! It started out well, with Ethan sleeping in till 8. He had been quite exhausted by the night at the beach.

We called Becki to come out and watch Ethan while we went to see Batman Begins with Gwen in tow. I was rather uncertain how it would go, but she stayed asleep in the pouch for the first half and only made a tiny cry once when I was startled by something in the movie. I fed her right there in the theater and she ended up sleeping the rest of the movie. Easy enough! After the movie was over, the row behind us (which was an entire family) started asking us how old she was, how well behaved she acted, etc. The husband even said, 'I heard your baby cry and it was so great! I loved hearing that!'. Jason and I were amazed that we would happen to sit right in front of people who LOVED to hear little babies cry :) We went to that new theater at Alderwood and were very impressed. Its enormous.

When we got home, Ethan was happy as a clam with Becki. We invited her for dinner, but she had to go. We had eggrolls, rice and carrots. One of our favorite meals!

Unfortunately dinner time is when things started getting rough. Gwen did not want to left alone, and wanted to be walked. I, again, had to scarf down my dinner to get to her. She wanted to eat and eat and eat. I got Ethan bathed while Jason worked frantically to keep Gwen entertained. Ethan got dressed in his jammies and I was feeding Gwen again and we had a moment of peace. It didn't last long though. Ethan had reached up on the table and grabbed his food bowl. It fell off the table, and, along with it came a cup of soy sauce that we had used for the eggrolls. The soy sauce spilled all over his face. He was completely coated in it. He started screaming like the dickens... much more frantically than I'd ever heard him cry. Scared Jason and I to death. Jason rushed him to the bathroom and started washing out his mouth. I put Gwen down and ran in there and started splashing his eyes with water. Poor little Ethan thought we were drowning him I imagine, but that salty stuff had to come out or he wouldn't feel better :( He cried and cried and cried the poor little guy. Ethan clung to Jason for a while after that, sobbing miserably. After he calmed a bit I changed his pj's and saw that the soy sauce had caused him to break out in a bright red rash all over his tummy!

Anyway, we got him tucked away to bed and all was calm again.

We'll be heading out to Mom & Dad's tomorrow for a little Fathers Day celebration. Hopefully no more painful events will happen with our children this week. Between Gwens fall and Ethans soy sauce soaking, we're really on a streak!

Quite tired so I'll make this quick. Spent all morning (from about 5:30am to 12pm) cleaning up Jasons bathroom for Fathers Day. It was really bad, but its quite spiffy now. You might say, 'Kristi, cleaning a room for someone is not a good gift'. Well, if you'd seen this bathroom you wouldn't think that!

Before:





After:




I also have another small gift for him as well, so it wasn't JUST his bathroom :)

This evening we went to 'Kite Night' run by Mom's church. We had a really good time. Ethan totally loved the beach. He went in the water and played in the sand and chased birds and generally had an awesome time. We have some really cute pics that Jason will put up on the site this weekend (too many to post here). We do however have this nice family pic that I may get framed. Unfortunately, Ethan was in a pretty tired mood at this point (this was right before we left) so this was the closest to a smile we could get





Anyway, we are all extremely tired, so thats all I'll type for now. More pics and stuff tomorrow!

I'm so tired of dealing with baby body fluids. Gwen, for the second time in three days, had some major projectile vomiting in bed this morning. Bed, baby and I were soaked. Then I got Ethan up and as has been HIS way for the past week, his diaper overflowed and he was soaked head to toe in urine, as was his bed. I'm gonna have to go another size up for night-time diapers. Then later he had a poopy which, thanks to him pulling at his diaper went on the floor (luckily, the wood). He hates having a diaper on and if you don't have pants on him the first thing he'll do is remove the diaper. I'm sorely tempted to give potty training a try.

After a miserable morning, I packed up the kids and headed to FM to get some things for Fathers Day. I can't say much since Jason will read this, but hopefully he'll like it. I just hope the kids cooperate enough so I can get it done!

While we were shopping, I got massively overheated (perhaps cuz I had Gwen in the pouch?) and I started sweating like mad. I'm not a sweating type person, unless I'm REALLY working hard and its warm out. I was so embarrassed! My forehead was damp and my shirt under the sling was damp too. So weird! The checker was like, 'Hon you don't look very well, do you need some help out' and I felt like saying, 'It only looks like I'm dying, I'm really fine!'. Even in the car with the air conditioning blowing on me I could not cool off. Bet it was those darned hormones!

I also washed all of Ethans big lego things today. They hadn't been washed since he got them and they were icky from being in his mouth, all over the floor, in the dogs mouth, and thrown outside. Washed all the bins for his toys too. Lots o' dog hair.

Had homemade chicken noodle soup with toasted bread. One of my favorite soups. I even made a homemade chicken stock for it. I have a cool recipe that makes GREAT stock in 40 min, as opposed to the hours it usually takes. If anyone wants it, let me know!

I just realized that perhaps people do not care what I have for dinner. I find this hard to imagine, as I'm always interested in what people have for dinner! Well, if you are not interested, too bad, cuz this is my blog and I like keeping a little record of my dinners ;)

A most dreadful thing happened this evening. We keep Gwen on the table all the time while we're on the laptop or eating dinner. I even like having her up there when I'm in the kitchen so that I can keep an eye on her. Unfortunately, Ethan somehow was able to reach all the way up there and pull her down to the floor :( Luckily, she landed on her blanket, which was soft and fluffy, but she screamed like the dickens. She has no bump on her head and she seemed to be acting fine, so I'm assuming all is ok, but it scared everyone to death. Bad Mommy :(

Ethan has started liking his two chairs (both Spongebob, one is cushy, one is hard plastic). In fact, he now likes to climb in them and STAND on them. Then he can't figure out how to get down so he'll stand there and call for help. Its pretty cute, but we are trying to discourage it.

I took some cute pics of Gwen today... here are a few:

Smiley!


What are you saying to me Mom?


Look at those big blue eyes!


Tonight we had spaghetti, garlic bread and peas. It was ok. Ethan liked it well enough to spread it all over his face, and it left a little stain on his face so he kinda looks like a clown!

We were supposed to go to the Childrens Museum in Everett tomorrow, but today was draining and I haven't done laundry in AGES so I think we will stay home.

that's all for now!

Nearly every morning I wake up and recall something that I forgot to put in the blog. Then I have to try and remember to put it in the next one. For instance, Ethan now has a molar! I noticed it a few days ago when he was screaming and there it was :) That explains his recent bad behavior. We used to be able to stick our fingers in his mouth to see if he was teething, but he no longer allows it.

Today we went on our regular Tuesday walk. It was two miles, and this time I did not get a McFlurry afterwards ;) I'm hoping that we may be able to do our walks twice a week to get even more exercise in. I know that its much to early to expect my 'baby tummy' to be gone but I hate it so much. Seriously it makes me totally depressed. Sigh. God must be trying to teach me patience. If I live through this year, I will be the most patient person ever.

We had Tortilla Soup tonight. It was good.

Well, thats all I can think of to say for now. I'm sure that once I'm in bed I'll think of 10 more things though :)

I absolutely must remember that any meal that takes 3 hours to make and 5 minutes to eat is not worth it, especially on a weeknight. We had a roasted turkey breast, mashed tats and stuffing. As is her normal way, Gwendolyn woke up just as I started eating, so I had to gulp it down quickly and take care of her. She does this every night, which is rather tiresome. I would like occasionally to eat my meal slowly.

Managed to get some housework done today, which was nice. I had the urge to make something, so I ended up making chocolate chip cookies, which is not good. Choc chip cookies are not helping my diet. But what else can I make when I have the urge to bake? Its truly a curse for a person who loves to cook and bake to have to diet as well. Cruel.

Yesterday we went to my Moms house for a little get-together with Dad's cousin and his wife. We had never met them before, but they were very nice and easy to get along with!

Ethan has discovered his tongue and its always sticking out. Its pretty cute when he's trying to do something requiring concentration, he'll stick that little tongue out, as if its helping him focus. He'll even stick it out and touch it when you ask him where it is. Unfortunately, he also likes to go after other peoples tongues, and generally, people do not want dirty little toddler fingers in their mouth :D

I feel a headache coming, so I'd better log off. Cross fingers that it won't stay with me overnight!

Can I just say that I love this weather? I adore that its been raining like mad, and that I hear raindrops when I go to sleep and wake up. That puts me in a minority, and some may even say I'm crazy, but that's ok by me.

The kids both have been so enormously cranky. Ethan didn't take an afternoon nap, Gwen barely slept at all today and was crying a great deal. I don't know if it was her tummy or what. The only time she really slept was while she was in the pouch while I was grocery shopping.

We went to the library and picked up the books we'd put on hold. We had 7! Two were for Jason and 5 were for me and I still have one on the way. Its really quite exciting to have a huge stack of books to read. I go through them so fast that its a luxury to not have to 'ration' my reading. Most of them are historical fiction, based around the time period of Anne Boleyn, Queen Elizabeth I, etc. I even put another book on hold today. It's addicting, especially since you can do it all online!

Tonight we had leftover lentil soup w/ bacon and spinach along with some toasted bread w/ olive oil. Yum. I was again proud because Ethan ate it up. He loves lentil, pea and bean soups.

I'm feeling a wee bit better right now, but still struggled all day with depression and a general feeling of frustration. A few people have mentioned post-partum depression, but I feel like its not at that point yet.

Ok, enough typing... Off to read :)

Well thank goodness this week is over. The last couple days have been getting progressively worse and today I feel like it didn't get worse, but didn't really get better. It was just 'managable'. And 'managable' is passable right now.

Last night took a Percoset to kill the headache and wow, did that thing trip me out big time. I felt all floaty and dreamy. It did completely relax me and get rid of the headache, but was a little scary too.

I still can't explain why yesterday was so bad. It was just headache plus super cranky kids plus feeling like I'm so 'empty' right now. I think its a coping mechanism. I just stop caring that my head is aching, and that Ethan is whining or that I haven't showered in 3 days. You know when its really cold outside and you go out and you're freezing at first, but then you kinda get numb to it and after awhile you just don't feel it anymore? That's exactly how I've been feeling lately. Numb. Perhaps it will get better, perhaps not. I'll just have to wait and see.

We took Ethan to get his first professional haircut today. He did super great. The cut is ok... Once it grows out a bit I think it will be better.

I've been all interested in breastfeeding activism lately. First, Barbara Walters makes an idiotic comment on 'The View', then our own local Ken Schram does a commentary on it (if you watch the clip, make sure you watch till the end when his co-anchor tells him off), finally, today, I was directed to an editorial in the Seattle PI written by a smart fellow who tells Walters and Schram to grow up. I wrote emails to both Ken and his co-anchor... rebuking the first and praising the latter.

Well, I've held off Gwen as long as possible. The girl is hungry and has run out of patience.

Today was much worse than yesterday. Don't even want to talk about it. Maybe tomorrow.

I'm feeling rather blue, so this will be short :(

Went to OBGYN today for my 6 week followup. Everything is ok except for blood pressure which was still high. She would like me to see my GP for the headaches. She believes that if my blood pressure meds are upped, it may reduce their occurrence (currently they're about every other day). I got a prescription for Percoset though to kill the bad headaches that won't respond to anything else, so that's good.

Went to FM while waiting for prescriptions to be filled. Ended up buying some summer clothes for Ethan and, foolishly, buying some clothes for myself. Hence, the depression. Only one of the items I bought fit right and even it was not *that* great. It seems that no matter what I buy, in what size, the proportions aren't right. Either its too tight around the bust and too loose around the waist, or the opposite. Am I some sort of alien shaped creature? Waaaah!

My Mom and Jenni had cleaned the house up for me, put away laundry and did other assorted helpful tasks. Love 'em for it. Unfortunately, its been real rainy and the dogs tracked in dirt after only an hour or two of clean house.

Kids were real fussy tonight and dinner took forever to make for some reason... Homemade Mac & Cheese w/ Ham & Peas. Maybe it just seemed like forever because everyone was crying at me. Ugh.

Too crabby to type anymore. I'm headed for bed.

Ethan woke up this morning at 2:00 am... Luckily he put himself back to sleep. Then he woke up at 6:00 am and this time did not put himself back to sleep. Generally he sleeps until 8 or so, but his sleeping patterns have been all off and he seems to be woken by the slightest sounds. I try not to get aggravated, but when I'm already up two times a night to nurse, losing 2 hours of sleep does not make me happy.

Went walking with my Mom and Jenni today on the Cenntenial Trail. We walked a full two miles! I was very proud of myself, until I stopped at McDonalds on the way home and got a McFlurry. Oops :)

After we got home, I put Ethan down for his nap, but Gwen refused to sleep. She was very cranky all afternoon and this evening. Not sure what was up with that. I've noticed that she is very gassy all the time, and I read that sometimes prenatal vitamins can do this, so I'm going to stop taking mine for a few days to see if that clears up the problem and makes her more comfortable. I hope it does because otherwise I may need to eliminate other items like dairy and I'm not ready for that!

I made Thai Beef for dinner. It was very spicy and delicious. Even Ethan liked it! I'm so incredibly proud that I have a 15 month old that will eat nearly anything I give him! We're determined that he will be as non-picky as possible. Some days he is, but mostly he'll eat whatever we throw at him.

As we were all sitting on the couch tonight, we were asking Ethan to kiss Gwen. Instead of kissing her, he leaned right into her face and belched so loudly. I can't imagine he did this intentionally, but it was just the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. In that same vein, he is also trying to pee on me every time I change his diaper. He is in a stage where he hates having his diaper changed and so it seems he's found a way to make me pay! I will hear him attempt to go when his diaper is off and most of the time he's successful. I can't believe I have such a naughty boy :)

I'm still in my pajamas. That should tell you enough about my day :) Woke up at 5:30 with excruciatingly bright sunshine in my eyes, a cruel headache and little Gwen grunting next to me. She's a noisy little thing. For the next two hours I tried to get her back to sleep so I could go back to sleep, but unfortunately, she did not want anymore sleep. She wanted to play!

Ethan was a grump all day. We are going through another bout of jealousy which means he wants our full attention 100% of the time. Its exhausting! It also means he'll cry and scream and weep uncontrollably for no reason. Its like having a pint sized teenager in the house!

I post regularly on a message board having to do with babies, pregnancy and parenthood. This week I was voted as 'Parent of the Week'. Yay for me :) Basically all it means is that people can ask me a myriad of questions about various things. Its pretty cool, since I never seem to win anything :)

Went out on a limb for dinner and made a Mushroom risotto. Generally the boys love risotto, but they could not get over their mushroom aversion to enjoy the meal. I don't like mushrooms and I thought it was very decent.

Oh, I got the coolest thing today. A baby pouch! Its basically a baby sling, and you can hold the baby in a bunch of different ways On your hip, on your back, on your chest, you can even nurse them in it. Its double thickness of fleecy material and the baby sits inbetween, in the 'pocket'. It fits over one shoulder. Its meant to hold the baby very close to you to avoid back pain. Its also great because I can bend over very far without her falling out. So far I really really like it. My Baby Bjorn is excellent for a lot of things, but this will be a better option for 'every day' activities. Like right now, she's sleeping on my chest, in a laying down position while I easily type away.

I miss my grandparents :( They are traveling around the southwest visiting family and seeing the sights. I can't wait until they come back!

That's all for now...

Didn't post yesterday as I was too danged tired. We did a good amount of yard work. I used the weed trimmer on the front lawn, then mowed and swept up all the grass off the walkway. Jason then mowed the back, which is a dreadfully hard job (really, it is, I'm not being sarcastic!). I made a beef stew and we walked to get the mail and that was about it.

Gwendolyn got some gifts from her great-great Aunt Margaret in Alaska. She got a cute little bib and an adorable bracelet! I am behind in infant jewelry because I did not even know they made such a thing. Here's a pic of it on her:




After dinner,we gave Ethan his first taste of chocolate pudding..... Oh how he loved it!

You can see that he started out sweet enough...



But he turned aggressive when he realized that he had consumed all of his pudding....




Finally, he assumes a somewhat scary sugar-crazed smile...




Lets just say we won't be offering that dessert again any time soon!

Today we went to Mom's church. It was good to see everyone again! I feel bad that I rarely see the people I grew up with , even though they live so close to me :( After church we dropped by Trina's house to pick up some baby clothes for Gwen. We got 4 boxes! I do not know what we'll do with them because we are already bursting at the seams for clothes. Hopefully they're older sizes.

After we got home, we laid a very exhausted Ethan (he missed his morning nap) down and I went grocery shopping with Gwen so that Daddy could get some game time in. We went to Central Market which is not the place to go when you're trying to save money. Oy, that place is just chock full of cool foodstuffs, all of which are outrageously expensive. I hit FM to pick up some assorted stuff and got wooed by the kid art stuff. I got Ethan a Blues Clues coloring book, some soap crayons and finger paints. I can't wait to let him go crazy with that paint in the bathtub!

Oh, first week of menu scheduling was a success! We made no other trips to the store for last minute items! I made up another menu and we're going to do it again. If this keeps up, I can already see a significant savings.

I'm very weary in the mind right now. Part of it is dehydration (too many espressos today, not enough water) but also... boredom? I'm not sure how to describe it. I'd like to get some time off from the kids, but I have no idea what I would do or where I would go and frankly, if I did leave, I'd feel guilty because I could be using that time to clean the house or weed a garden or something. I don't even want to leave in a way, because then I'll have to put on something more than lounging clothes and that opens up a whole other thing of 'why does nothing fit me!' drama. I feel like I should have things under control and fairly scheduled by now, but its still a mess. She's only 6 weeks, and I know that Ethan didn't have a schedule till nearly 9 months (though he could have if I'd tried), but sheesh would it be possible for them to nap at the same time? That's the worst... as soon as one of them goes down, the other is up.

Well, enough complaining... Maybe after a good nights sleep I won't feel so morose and blah...To quote Scarlett, 'After all, tomorrow is another day'

Not much happened today. We hung around the house and played and watched TV and I swept. That’s about it :)

Ethan finally learned how to stack blocks and not just knock them over! I got a picture of it this evening. Here it is:

Ethan also threw his first major fit today. I'm not sure what set him off, but it started because he couldn't reach his book. Then he got the book, but fell down and from there it went downhill. First he threw his little fists around, then hit the floor, then spread himself out on the floor and laid there screaming and kicking. I was trying so hard not to laugh!

Gwen was quite enamored with her daddy tonight. He picked her up (she'd been sleeping) and as soon as she saw him she lifted up her head so high. I couldn't believe it! I grabbed a shot:


She kept her head up like that for a really long time too.

Later, he picked her up after dinner and sat her facing out so she could see Ethan. Well, she wanted no part of that. She just wanted to look at her Dad :)


We had one of my favorite meals for dinner. Chicken Veronique. Basically chicken with grapes in a cream sauce. Num. Had it with couscous and buttered carrots.

I packed up the Pack 'n Play that Gwen was supposed to be sleeping in because it takes up so much room and she's not sleeping there. She's basically sleeping in our bed all the time now, which is fine with us. She's been waking up only 1 or 2 times a night for about a week. I weighed her today and she is just about 9lbs. Ethan has his 15 month appt later this month (can you believe he's 15 months!) and I'm really curious to see about his height and weight. He's seemed to fill out since 12 months.

We have no plans this weekend besides going to Mom's church on Sunday to see her rapture play (and, as an added benefit, show off Gwen!). Maybe I'll get up the energy to do something fun.

Sorry these posts are so boring, but that’s my life people :D

Woke up with a nasty headache, but luckily it went away later this afternoon. Really need to figure out what is causing these because they are making me miserable :(

Gwen was smiley this morning and at one point was so excited that she actually giggled a bit. Huge smile and her body was all wiggly. Really adorable.

I made some foccacia today. Haven't made it in a long while and forgot how incredibly tasty it is. So tasty in fact that I've nearly eaten half of it myself! All crispy and oily and salty. If I'd made it earlier in the day its quite likely that I would have finished it all off and not even told Jason I'd made it :) When Jason came home he was begging me for coffee and instead I made hot chocolate. Between the half of foccacia and two cups of hot chocolate I was not hungry for dinner (and am still not hungry). So, Jason and Ethan fended for themselves. Ethan had leftover bean soup and Jason had string cheese. I've seriously got to watch my carboholisim or my baby weight will never disappear!

I don't have much else to say... Today was boring. Hopefully will have something more exciting tomorrow!

Lots o' pics tonight

Ok, here were the best shots we could get of her smiling. We had the same problem with Ethan... It happens so fast that you either get the pre-smile or the tail end of it, but rarely the actual thing :) Still pretty cute though.



Here's Ethan trying to be helpful by sweeping our carpet. He LOVES the broom. Terrifies the dogs though!

Gwen is in a growing spurt right now and is eating constantly! Its all good though because I want her to be more fleshy so I can put her in all the cute clothes that are just waiting.

I had a brief period of energy and cleaned the house. No energy left cooking tho, so we had mac & cheese from a box and green beans.

Watched Spanglish last night... Generally I am NOT a fan of Adam Sandler, but he was good in this movie. It was cute.

Ok, unhappy babies and Daddy are calling, so this must end for tonight :)