So, the keys? The day after I had my car towed in to get my key programmed, Emma and my mom were going to cook some lasagna together. Emma has an apron that she wears when we're here, and the last time she had worn it was a few days earlier when they baked brownies together. My mom got the apron out of her closet and as she was tying it around Emma's neck, Emma reached into the pocket and pulled out my keys! My mom asked her how they got there, and she said matter-of-factly, "I just put them in there with my hand!"

Then, shortly after that, I was taking Noah to Target to pick up some stuff and I stopped to get gas on the way. I got out, just like I always do, and swiped my card then once the gas was pumping, I went to open my door and put my card back in my purse. The door was locked. All the doors were locked and I swear I didn't lock the car before I got out. My cell phone was also locked inside, so I ran inside QT to call the police, feeling very thankful that Noah was asleep and blissfully unaware that he was locked inside all alone. I called the police dept. and told them, then was transferred to the fire dept., so I relayed the story to them as well. I ran back outside to discover that poor sweet Noah had woken up and was screaming as if his little heart was breaking. It was awful. It really tears me up when babies cry, and he was right there, but I couldn't reach him and I felt so helpless. I stood there and cried while I waited for what seemed like forever (but was probably really only about three minutes) for help to arrive. The firetruck got there first and they opened the door in about two seconds. One of the firefighters commented on how red Noah was and suggested we call an ambulance to have him checked. I said I didn't think that was necessary, and he calmed down as soon as I picked him up. The cop who showed up also suggested an ambulance, but Noah seemed relaxed and was happily nursing so I said no. Like I wanted to make that ordeal any more stressful - no thanks.

That afternoon I was supposed to drive the kids and my brother down to Rolla to visit my aunt. Given the bad luck that was following me around, I was a little nervous about it. Thankfully, we went and made it back the next day all in one piece. I did actually hit a bird on the way home, which was sad, but more his bad luck than mine.

Oh, and since the locked car incident, I've had two people tell me that sometimes their cars lock on their own out of nowhere. That makes me feel a little bit better about the whole thing, and from now on I will never get out of my car without my keys!

Emma, Noah, and I have been at my mom's since Monday. My little brother has one of the leads in his school musical this weekend, and we decided to come early and stay all week since Steve was going to be working nonstop anyway.

Yesterday we were all getting ready to go somewhere when I realized my keys were missing. I have never lost my keys before. I always put them in the exact same spot, and they are always there. Not yesterday, however. We searched and searched and searched and searched and still no keys. Emma said she got them out of my purse and played with them, then later she said she never had them. Either way, my keys apparently dropped off the face of the earth. Normally that probably wouldn't be a huge problem, but the key I had for my van is the only key that goes to my van. When we bought it they gave us two keys, but one didn't work because it hadn't been programmed to work with my particular van. The dealership isn't that close to us, so I hadn't brought it back to get programmed yet. Thankfully, I remembered that that useless, nonworking key was still in my purse. This morning I called AAA to come and tow my van to the nearest Dodge dealership. We followed it there and had to wait for a bloody hour and a half while they programmed my key. Now I can drive again, which is a big relief. I do like it here at my mom's house, but I don't want to stay here forever. They told me it would cost $141 to purchase another key. Jeepers. I'm not doing that, so now I just have to guard this key with my life, or desperately hope the other ones magically reappear.

Steve's busy season was supposed to be over at the end of April, but I guess that's not really going to be happening now. Argh! Some of his clients are dragging into May, so he's going to have three more weeks of hard work, although possibly not as hard as it's been lately. The fantastic news is that once that really is all taken care of, he is taking five weeks off work. I'm so VERY much looking forward to that, but probably not as much as he is! He will be off from May 21st until July 5th. Woo-hoo!

This stupid, stupid show. Several weeks ago I started renting Grey's Anatomy, which I had never seen before, from Blockbuster. I thought it was a great show, and I watched the entire first and second season. The other night I finished Season 2, and had no more to watch, because Season 3 is not out on DVD yet because I don't think it's even over on TV. After searching everywhere online, I determined that there is no place to watch Season 3 episodes. So now, because I can't tear myself away from this stupid show, I keep purchasing episodes from iTunes. Watching DVDs from Blockbuster was one thing, but now it's getting a little ridiculous because I have to sit at my computer when Emma is asleep and watch them there for two bucks an episode. Last night after she went to bed, I was going to just watch one episode, but then I couldn't stop, and I was up until 3:00 a.m. because I kept downloading and watching more episodes. On the plus side, I was up when Steve got home from work.

This week has been so much better than last week. We really did get out of the house and go somewhere every day, and I am feeling much more confident leaving the house with both kids. This morning we went to Children's Mercy because poor Noah had to get his heel pricked for the PKU test, and then afterwards I was feeling so happy about my two great kids that we went to First Watch for lunch. I decided it would be nice to go out because for some reason I was thinking that we hadn't been out to eat in awhile. While we were there, I realized that we ate lunch at the mall yesterday, and then met Steve for dinner at Friday's last night. Oops. So maybe I'm losing my mind a little bit, and that's why it all seems so easy now.

Emma had her first check-up/cleaning at the dentist today. She was so cute, and did a great job. As soon as she got in the chair, she laid back with her mouth wide open. She kept it open the entire time, even when no one was doing anything in her mouth. I even had to tell her it was okay to close it after the cleaning while we waited for the dentist to come and take a look. She was very proud afterwards and kept opening her mouth super wide in an attempt to show me her clean teeth.

See that thing around her waist? Lately, she won't go anywhere without a "sash". Any ribbon or strip of fabric will do, but she's very particular about how it's tied in the back. She is so funny.

And, just because he's cute, here is the little guy.

Today was a good day. I took both kids with me while I got my eyebrows waxed, then made a trip to Target without any major catastrophes. Yesterday Emma said, "I am angry that the baby brother used to be in your tummy." When I asked her why, she said, "Because when he was in your tummy we didn't get to have him here with us." I'm glad she seems to be accepting him so well.

Yesterday we had an exterminator come (which I hated to do) because we had ants taking over our bathroom and kitchen. Armies and armies of them. Today, one day later, I've seen five or six lone ants crawling around. Nothing like before, but if there are five now there are bound to be more soon. There is one crawling on my keyboard as I type this. Darn those ants!

Some pictures...

The nap thing worked great again today, but I'm already feeling less than optimistic about the scheduling plan. Last night Steve came home to work, instead of working at the office. It was so nice to have him here that we all stayed up until 2:00 a.m. with him while he worked. Well, Noah slept off and on during that time, but Emma and I were up. I think we are just sort of weirdos in that we're the only people in the world whose kids don't have a regular bedtime.

You know how you hear of people getting "baby blues"? Well, I don't have that problem, but I think I have a touch of the "three-year-old blues". I feel like I'm spending a good part of every day telling poor Emma to "please stop" or "quit messing with that" or "don't be so loud". I'm sure she's just going stir crazy here because we haven't really been going anywhere due to my being a little nervous about taking both kids out and about. This week I'm going to attempt to get out and do something every day, even if it's just storytime or a trip to the park.

Something amazing has happened today. I have spent the last 3+ years nursing Emma to sleep for every nap and every bedtime. That is fine, of course, but now with another baby that is not so easy to do all the time. For Emma's nap today, I read her two books, then hung out and cuddled with her in the bed for a few minutes. I then explained that I was going to clean up the living room but I wanted her to stay in bed, and that I would be back to check on her in a few minutes. A couple minutes later I went in and she was just laying there talking quietly to her doll. I gave her a couple kisses, and the next time I went to check on her she was asleep! Incredible! Now that this worked so well today, I'm wondering if we could possibly do this at night time too.

I know I've said this a million times before, but I really want to create some sort of routine and stick to it. Like really really stick to it, unlike every time I've said this in the past. Our days are so unorganized and I'm craving some sort of order. Sometimes we eat lunch at 11:30, sometimes we eat lunch at 3:00. Sometimes Emma naps at noon, sometimes she doesn't start her nap until 4:00. Sometimes we get up at 7:00, sometimes we sleep until 10:00. I need to write out a loose daily schedule, starting with waking up every day at 8:00. I'm going to start setting an alarm to make sure we are awake at that time every day, and then do my best to actually get us all out of bed reasonably close to that time. If we start each day at the same time, it should be easier to do everything else at roughly the same time as well. At least I hope.

Here are a couple cute pictures of the new guy.

I can't believe Noah is already two weeks old today! How can he be growing so fast already?

Steve is a psychopath. (And I mean that in the best possible way.) Seriously. Last night he was at work until 3:30 a.m. This Thursday I really want him to come home early so he can watch Emma while I go see some friends, but the likelihood of that happening is pretty slim. The good news is that his busy season will officially end when April is over, so we don't have too much longer to go. What a relief that will be.

I aced my test of going to the grocery store yesterday. Noah slept in the sling the whole time, and Emma sat cheerfully in the cart. I know it won't always be that easy, but for now I'm feeling pretty good about my mother-of-two skills.

Look at this yummy Malabrigo yarn I got in the mail today! It will be fun to think of something to knit, but slightly more difficult to find the time to do it.

I don't have much time, but I wanted to post a couple pics before they get too out of date.

Emma and my mom made this cute little Easter house together,













and here are the eggs we dyed.



















This afternoon I'm taking both kids to the grocery store alone for the first time. I feel like this is my first real test at being the mother of two.

Yesterday we drove to my mom's house so we could be here for Easter. It was my first time driving here with both kids. I was a tad nervous about it, but it couldn't have gone better. We only had to stop once for nursing and diaper changes. It was SO nice to have a whole van full of space in which to do those things instead of having to squeeze ourselves around uncomfortably in my old car!

I am feeling like the Milk Queen lately with all the nursing that is going on. Emma has been nursing so much that she has almost completely stopped eating regular food. I know that is normal, and won't last forever, but keeping up with her demands, as well as Noah's, is requiring a lot of calores. I'm already back below my pre-pregnancy weight, and am concerned that I am not getting enough calories. I already feel like I am constansly eating all day, every day. The trouble is I am supposed to be eating something like 3500 calories every day and that is hard to do!

Happy Easter!!!

For the last six years, I've been driving this car.













It's been incredibly reliable, and really a wonderful car. I put 90,000 miles on it, and in all that time the only maintenance I had to do was get new brakes. I delivered thousands of pizzas in it, I commuted an hour each way to school for three semesters, and I drove it across Missouri dozens of times. Because of all that, today I feel a little guilty (but not that much) because I got rid of it in exchange for this:













I am SO elated to have this van. It doesn't have the keyless sliding doors that I wanted, but it has everything else. All that, and so much S P A C E, which was my biggest problem in the old car. I am loving it!

So it turns out I am really, really terrible at changing baby boy diapers. Noah hates having his diaper changed and screams the whole time. Not only that, he won't stop peeing! I can't seem to hold up his legs, clean him off, and stop the poor guy from peeing all over himself (and me and everything else around us) with only two hands. It seems that every diaper change requires three clean diapers and new, dry outfit. I hope I get better at this.

Everything is going great here. Noah is so sweet, and perfectly happy nursing and sleeping all day long. He hates getting his diaper changed, however, and screams bloody murder throughout that process. It's hard to believe that a week ago he looked like this



















and now he looks like this.



















My mom and Emma made a birthday cake for him and we had a little celebration. Emma swears that his favorite color is pink, so can you guess what color the cake was? Here is our new little family of four at the birthday party.