Steve took the entire holiday weekend off, and it was wonderful. It was the first weekend he didn't work in probably seven months. We went to a Royals game, watched several movies, ate out a few times, and basically just hung out all weekend. After watching The Pursuit of Happyness on Thursday night, he decided he wanted to solve a Rubik's Cube so we went to Target and bought one. Sure enough, yesterday afternoon he actually finished solving it. Nothing like putting vacation time to good use, right?

The little guy is two months old today. As he gets older and is no longer in that sleep-anywhere-anytime phase, things are starting to get a little more difficult. It's more difficult to go places (although that's mostly because of Emma), and it's near impossible to get any housework done. I used to think it was hard to get stuff done when it was only Emma - what on earth was I doing???? Now that it really is hard to get things done, I can't believe I didn't take advantage of having only one kid and keep my house spotless all the time. Now there is absolutely no chance of that happening. Sigh.

Last week Steve and I decided to take a vacation to Yellowstone in June. We started to get excited about it and even went out and bought a new tent. I haven't been to Yellowstone since I was 11 or so, and he has never been there so it seemed like a cool idea. Today, however, I thought of a new plan so we may end up scrapping the Yellowstone idea. Neither of us have ever been to Boston and we've both always wanted to go. I've never been to the northeast at all past Ohio, but have already made many trips across Nebraska and Wyoming. The Royals play in Boston in mid-July, and it would be awesome to go see them play at Fenway Park! Boston is a 23 hour trip, versus 18 hours to Yellowstone, but when you're already driving that far anyway, what's five more hours? Besides, who wouldn't want to spend 46+ hours in the car with these two?

Ugh. So the other day on our walk Noah decided he didn't want to be in the sling anymore and, because it's impossible to push a stroller with one hand (unless you just want to go around in circles), we had to sit on the curb and wait until he was ready to go back in the sling. After that I resumed my search for a good double stroller, and I'm now pretty certain that one does not exist - at least one for less than $350. Today I drove across the whole bloody city to look at one I saw on craigslist, and I ended up buying it. We went on a walk today, and it's clear that I made a mistake. It was SO hard to push and it kept veering to the right and by the time we were halfway through our walk I thought my arms were going to fall off. So now I have to try to sell that dumb stroller to some other unsuspecting sap, and continue to look for one that will work for us.

The other day I mentioned that Noah outgrew all his small diapers that I sewed for him. I unpacked our old Wonderoos, which Emma wore forever and they are working great for him. They are one-size-fits-all, but Emma outgrew them sixish months ago and we've been using disposables for her since then. Today I was thinking that she seems a little leaner, so I tried one on her and it fit! I'm happy about that because, although her not being potty trained is still a nuisance, at least now it can be a free nuisance. Well, sort of. I need more diapers if they're both going to be using them so I just bought a whole bunch more today from various places. I will have 20 diapers coming in the mail in the next few days. I can't wait! I love getting diapers in the mail!

Awhile ago I got a subscription to Vegetarian Times, and I am loving that magazine! In every issue there are a bunch of recipes that sound really great, and everything I've made from there so far has been fabulous. Lately I think I've been cooking something from there just about every day. Today Emma and I made some Chocolate Chip Spelt Cookies that are really good. I was skeptical because they are vegan and I've never made vegan cookies before, but even Steve, who always complains that I ruin cookies by trying to make them more healthy, liked them a lot. Mmmmm!

Noah has already outgrown all of his small diapers and his 0-3 month clothes. I was feeling sad as I packed those things away yesterday. He's not even a newborn anymore - how could that have gone by so fast?

Steve is, of course, still working this week even though he was supposed to be off. He was home for dinner both nights this weekend though, and that was really nice. Both nights we actually ate at home instead of going out, which was also nice. I'm looking forward to doing more cooking than I've been doing in awhile. When I was pregnant I could never think of anything that didn't sound gross, and now I'm finally back to where I can look through some recipes and actually see things that I want to make. Various things on today's menu: Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Mocha Chocolate Cake, and Asparagus Quiche. Yum.

Emma has always been a binky kid. We have the rule that she only gets it in bed and in the car, but she still sometimes cheats and will convince me to give her one if she's sad or whatever. I wasn't going to give one to Noah in order to avoid having another three year old who won't give up the binky, but the guy isn't that great about riding in the car these days. Basically, if he's awake, he's crying. I keep having to stop the car and calm him down, but then he just starts crying again when I go back to my seat. Today I brought one of Emma's old newborn binkies with us and when he started to cry, I reached back and put it in his mouth. Silence. And then more silence. I guess he is hooked. I think I'm only going to give it to him when we're in the car, though.

I bought a set of bunk beds at a garage sale today. Since Emma has suddenly become all knees and elbows when she sleeps, I'm getting pretty excited for her to have her own bed. Of course, first Steve needs to finish the bedroom that he (barely) started for the kids a couple months ago. This is supposedly his last week of work for awhile so now that may actually happen at some point.

In a couple weeks my dad is getting ordained as a deacon of the Catholic church. It's a pretty huge deal, and there has been a fair amount of discussion at my mom's house lately about various religious events and things. Emma, who likes to play games where she starts off by telling me that she's the princess and I'm the prince, apparently has been listening carefully to the goings-on. Last night she asked me to play with her and when I said I would, she said, "Okay. I'm the princess and you're the Archbishop."

Placenta

Emma, Noah, and I are at my mom's house again. We came in to attend a shower that my mom had for my future sister-in-law on Saturday, and are staying until Tuesday. Today was a really nice Mother's Day, although I'm a little sad that we didn't get to be with Steve.

Yesterday evening we buried Noah's placenta (which has been in my mom's freezer) and planted a tree over it. We said a couple prayers and the whole little ceremony was lovely. At least I thought so. Afterwards I sort of jokingingly asked my brother if he got choked up, and he said, "No, but I did gag a little bit." Even though my brothers and my dad thought it was lame, I think it's cool that Noah will always have a special tree in their yard.

The placing of the placenta:














The new tree:

I've decided against weaning Emma, at least for now. She clearly still has a need to nurse, and also I really don't want her to start resenting Noah. I did tell her that I'm only ever going to nurse one kid at a time anymore, and that helps a lot. I can tolerate her nursing by herself much better than when she's elbowing her way in while I'm trying to nurse Noah. Nursing them both at the same time was just too many bodies on me at once.

Emma seems to take forever to do anything these days and I often find myself annoyed by her dawdling. Yesterday I came to the realization that I'm being way too grumpy and I should just get over it and let her be. We were at Wild Oats and she was pushing one of the little kid sized carts around while I shopped. I secretly wish they didn't have those little carts because the trip always takes literally five times longer when she has her own cart (and therefore refuses to ride in mine). She stopped (for the millionth time) at the area with the plants, and proceeded to lean over and smell every. single. individual. flower. I said, "Come on, please. We don't have all day to mess around." She ignored me and kept smelling the flowers and I realized what a dumb thing I'd said. We don't have all day to mess around? Really? I'm staying home with my kids so I actually do have all day to mess around with them, and if she wants to smell flowers then why am I not right there enjoying the flowers with her? So I walked over and asked her which ones smelled the best. She showed me her favorites, and as I sniffed them, she told me we should hold some of them up to Noah's nose while he slept so he could have dreams about flowers. After hearing her say that, I would have happily spent the rest of the day smelling flowers with her.

This morning we tried to go to the farmer's market but on the way there it started to rain. Emma was really disappointed so we went to the mall instead of just going back home. I actually managed to try on and buy some clothes while we were there. Noah slept in the sling and Emma had fun being "that" kid (who I'm sure all the store employees despise) playing in all the racks of clothes.

I want this. I really really really do. If only I had $550 laying around.

Here is big boy Noah. I sewed those wool pants for him while I was pregnant and Emma and I dyed them. I just made up a pattern for them, and at the time I apparently forgot what a baby looks like because they are about five inches too long.

Today started out kind of rough, but ended up being pretty nice. This morning I woke up to more rain. I was sort of feeling grumpy because of that, but started to feel worse as soon as I headed downstairs to let the dogs out. Our basement was full of water. I called Steve and he said he'd come home right away. He got here and quickly fixed whatever was wrong with our sump pump. I cleaned up the water and all was well. We went out to lunch, and then Steve stayed home for the rest of the day!

Tonight I measured Noah, and then weighed myself, then myself while holding him to get a general idea of how much he weighs. He is now 22 inches long and weighs 12 pounds, which means he's already added 3.5 inches and four pounds. Sniff sniff.

I have decided to wean Emma. I wanted to wait until she weaned herself, but she wants to nurse all the time and I just can't take it anymore. The wiggling and elbowing never stop. I decided this two days ago, and I've been thinking about it constantly since then, but I'm no closer to coming up with a way to go about it. Whenever I tell her she can't nurse, she really takes it personally and often cries. I'd have no problem with it if she only wanted to nurse five times a day or so, but it's much much more than that. Looking back, I wish I'd have weaned her when I was pregnant. I didn't like nursing through the pregnancy, but I kept holding on to hope that it would be better after the baby came. If Noah is still nursing when I get pregnant again, I won't make the same mistake. So anyway, I'm sure I'll be writing more on this issue as I decide what to do.

Last night, at the last minute, we decided to go to the ballgame. It was the best time at a Royals game I've had in awhile. Every time we went last summer, I spent half the game walking around the concourse with Emma while Steve got to sit and watch the game. Last night both Emma and Noah sat happily for the whole game. I was about to get all twitchy watching the amount of junk that Emma consumed, but I guess once in awhile is okay. There were fireworks after the game, and although Emma has been terrified of fireworks the last couple years, she proudly told us before the game that since she was three, she was "brave with fireworks" and would be happy to watch them. She did get a little nervous when the display started, but as long as Steve held his hands over her ears she was fine.

Since Noah was born, I've had no time to do all the stuff I really like to do. I haven't done a single scrapbook layout or sewed a single stitch. I have attempted to knit, and here is a picture of what I've accomplished. Are you ready for this?













That is the (very) beginning of an I-cord to go around the waist of these shorts that I completed before Noah was born. By the time I finish the I-cord, he just might be too big to wear them.













Emma found a pair of hose somewhere in the basement yesterday and has been having fun with her new "crazy hat". She even wore it to Target yesterday.

My birthday ended up being pretty great yesterday. Steve gave me a really sweet card in which he listed 28 reasons he loves me. He also said I should schedule a day at a spa to do whatever I want there so I could get a break and he would watch the kids. I probably won't actually do that for awhile because I can't leave Noah, but the sentiment was nice. Yesterday I made a Pear Gingerbread Upside Down Cake that I've been wanting to try, but he didn't think that sounded good so after dinner we went to Cold Stone for dessert. That, however, didn't stop me from eating plenty of the delicious gingerbread cake once we got home!

This morning I took the kids to garage sales and found a bunch of fabulous stuff. I just adore going to garage sales, but it's definitely more of a hassle with two kids than one. Still, every bit worth it!

Happy birthday to me! I'm 28 today, but other than the fact that Steve is coming home for dinner, today doesn't seem any different than any other day. Maybe tonight I will be able to take a bath all by myself. I don't think I could ask for a better birthday present.

For the first time, I'm having an issue with only having one bed in the house. If I can manage to get both kids to nap in bed at one time, that is great. However, no matter how fast I sprint back there as soon as one of them wakes up, by the time I get there the other one has been woken up too. Very frustrating. Although I'm not sure a second bed somewhere would make any difference because getting them both down to sleep at the same time in two different spots would be darn near impossible.

I'm implementing a new plan today in hopes of finally getting Emma interested in using the potty. I normally don't think bribes are a good idea, but I'm starting to get desperate. I bought a bunch of cheap little trinket things and wrapped them. Well, okay, I only had time to wrap four so far but I will do the rest soon. I put them in a bowl which I then set in the bathroom. When she asks about it, I'm going to tell her that she can pick one of those presents out every time she pees in the potty. I'm interested to see what she'll do.

Pics of the kids:

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.

Introducing...

Noah Alexander!
















Noah was born at home yesterday at 2:00 p.m. after three hours of labor. He weighs 8 lbs, and so far is the easiest baby ever. He is nursing like a champ, and Emma is so excited to have him here that she can't keep her grubby little hands off him.

I really wanted a homebirth, but since I had a Cesarean with Emma, Steve wanted to have this baby at a hospital. Our deal was if I had a successful VBAC with this baby, then any children we have after this could be born at home. Well, it all happened so fast that by the time my midwife got here I was ready to push and in no mood to mess with going to the hospital. It couldn't have worked out any more perfectly. I am so elated to have the birth that I really wanted!

I finally have some pictures to post, although I didn't take them myself. The proofs from my pregnancy portrait session are ready. I think they turned out really well, and I'm having trouble narrowing them down to my very favorites.

GRRRR! A guy from one of the dealerships we visited on Saturday called Steve today and told him that someone had traded in a van that was exactly what we wanted, and told him a price that we thought sounded great. Steve left work to go there and check it out. After driving it, liking it, and calling me to discuss it, he was ready to sit down and try to work out a deal. The sales guy went to talk to his manager, and then came back and said he was sorry, but they wouldn't let him sell it for the price he'd already quoted! What a bunch of unprofessional losers! Blah!

I took Emma to the doctor today. They wanted me to get her to pee in a cup. Please, people. I have been trying unsuccessfully for months just to get this kid to pee in a potty, there was no chance whatsoever that she was going to pee in a little two inch cup. Still, I tried, but she assured me she would rather do it next Thursday instead. Coincidentally, that's when she always tells me she'll be ready to use the potty. I am skeptical, however, because a lot of Thursdays have come and gone and still no peeing in the potty. Anyway, the poor girl hadn't peed since last night - and didn't finally go until 4:30 today - so no urine sample was given. Our doctor said we could give her antibiotics, but I'm really reluctant to do that, especially when we're not completely 100% positive she has a bladder infection. We left and I just planned to load her up with cranberry extract, but then she really seemed to be in pain and she still wasn't peeing. He had said that holding it would make it worse because the bacteria would sit there and multiply instead of getting flushed out. So, I ended up having them call in the prescription and I went and got her some probiotics to take as well. Poor Emma.

I think poor Emma has a urinary tract infection. For awhile, she's been saying that her butt hurts at random times throughout the day. For the past several days she's had a fever that won't go away and she's been pretty cranky. Now, every time she has to pee, she rolls around on the floor saying "my butt hurts my butt hurts my butt hurts" and eventually crying before she will finally go. I'm going to take her to our doctor tomorrow, but I'm feeling guilty that I didn't catch on and bring her in sooner. Bad mommy. :(

Yesterday we finally got to spend a few hours van shopping! It was fun, but ended up being kind of disappointing. We were planning on getting a 2003ish model with 60,000ish miles. There are two features I really, really, really want - remote sliding doors, and stow and go seats. Unfortunately, we found out that those features weren't added until 2004, and not together in the same van until 2005. Boo hoo for that because, even though I have been drooling over the Honda Odysseys for months, we're not doling out over $20,000 to get one with those features. After I got over my disappointment from that news, we started to look at other models. We drove a 2004 Dodge Grand Caravan that we liked (with the remote doors, but no stow and go) and then spent - okay, Steve spent - a long time haggling over the price of that. Our sales guy kept leaving to talk to his manager about different prices, and Steve was assuring me that they wouldn't let us walk out of there. Alas, they ended up giving back our deposit and letting us walk out of there. We hadn't looked into Dodges before that so were unsure if we would really be getting a good deal or not, and no agreement could be reached, so we left. Now after looking online some more, we think we may have made a mistake. Apparently Steve had gotten them down to a reasonable price, and we should have probably met them halfway, but live and learn, I guess. The problem with this is that we are seriously running out of time! I may try to talk him into just calling them tomorrow morning and accepting their offer.

This morning we had our carpet cleaned, and looking at all the plush expanse of perfectly spotless carpet has made me happy all day. I know it will look like it's old, stained, spotty self again soon so I'm trying to enjoy it while I can. If we ever get new carpet, I think I'm going to implement a rule of no food or drinks on the carpet. Somehow I don't think a rule of that magnitude will go over so well, especially since Steve already thinks I'm a fascist for making the dogs sleep on the floor!

I am going through picture posting withdrawal. Since we are (not really) working on the office, all the computer stuff is pushed to the middle of the room and a bunch of it is unplugged. My camera dock happens to be one of those things, and I could probably fix it if I wanted, but I don't want to wade through the huge mass of wires to figure it out. So, don't be expecting any pictures any time soon.

We still don't have any TV, which is nice, but I'm sort of cheating. I started renting Grey's Anatomy from Blockbuster. I had never seen the show before last week, but now I'm on season 2, episode 6 and I really like it. Emma is in bed already (!) and Steve wants to watch this week's 24 on the computer, but I may have to skip that in favor of watching another episode of Grey's. Decisions, decisions...

Emma and I came to visit my parents for a few days, and Steve let the dogs sleep in the bed with him last night! He also put them in the bedroom when he went to work today, so I know they are lounging on the bed all day long, living it up while I'm not there to keep them off. Darn that guy! They've been doing so well, and this is only going to make it harder for them. Steve said they know I'm the sheriff (and the "facist", according to him) so there won't be an issue when I get back, but I'm still annoyed about it.

I'd write more, but my mom wants to play Scrabble, and I'm not one to miss out on a good Scrabble game!

The dogs are officially not allowed on the bed anymore, as of two days ago. They are handling it really well, and that alone makes me feel much more affectionate towards them. I decided not to crate them at night, but let them sleep on a blanket on the floor of the bedroom. It's been a teensy bit annoying because they get restless and walk around on the floor, and their toenails going click click click click on the floor keeps me awake, but I'm sure that will improve as they adjust. It's just unfortunate for them that we don't have carpet on that floor - they would be much less annoying if we did. Maybe I should knit them some socks!

We have been making some progress, albeit slooooow progress, on the office. The wallpaper is down, so I guess that's the first big step out of the way. Unfortunately a lot of the paint that was underneath it chipped off so Steve has a big spackling job ahead of him. We also got our tax refund, which means that the van shopping can begin anytime! When it actually will, who knows, but at least it's a move in the right direction, right?

Emma is really into doling out compliments lately. Out of nowhere, she will say, "Mommy, you look so pretty this morning," or "I always have such a nice time with you," or other sweet things. She is quite the charmer. Anyway, she has a pair of plastic dress up shoes that have heels on them and because they make it difficult for her to walk, she calls them her tricky shoes. Occasionally we'll see a woman wearing heels, and Emma always notes the "tricky shoes". The other day we were at the store and a lady walked by us wearing a pair of boots with heels, and as she passed us, Emma said to her, "You are really good at walking with those tricky shoes!"

Why isn't there a way to make small one-sizeish portions of things? Yesterday I really wanted some chocolate, so Emma and I made a chocolate cake. It was delicious, and everything was great, until today when the darn cake is still sitting around and making me eat it all day long. Part of me wants to just throw it away, but a bigger part of me honestly wants to just scarf down the entire thing, and the bigger part of me is winning!

Remember that swap I joined? I finished the washcloths in the nick of time. Whew!

Emma is turning into quite the little drama queen. She loves free samples whenever we go to the store, and yesterday at Wild Oats she was especially fond of one that was chips and salsa. The next free sample was also chips, but alas no salsa. When she realized there was no salsa with this one, she sighed dramatically, sat down on the floor, and proclaimed, "This is the most horrible day I've had in my whole life!"

This morning I got maternity portraits taken. It was fun, and Emma liked being in them too. Now it's going to be hard to wait two weeks until I can see them.

I am loving this weather! We've had the windows open for the last two days, and it is heavenly. Yesterday we unpacked all of Emma's summer clothes and put them in her room, which has resulted in even more clothing changes than usual. At one point she laid them all out on the floor and pretended to take pictures of them with her toy camera, because "we don't want to forget all these wonderful clothes!" She is so cute!

I'm working on crate training our dogs again, but this time I'm easing them into it a little more slowly in hopes that they take to it a little better. So far it's going well. The first two days I put them in there and Emma and I sat right there and read books until they calmed down. Then we did two days where I put them in there for a little while and Emma and I left the room. They barked and cried, but eventually stopped, and then I let them out and gave them hugs and treats. Now we are to the point where they go in there whenever we leave the house. They don't bark at all when I put them in there anymore. They do bark when we get home, but I don't let them out until they've stopped. Pretty soon we're going to try the overnight thing, so hopefully that will be as successful.

Last night we took Emma bowling for the first time. She was so excited and she loved it - for about three frames. Then when it was her turn, she pushed the ball without waiting for help from us and it slooooowly rolled down the lane, and eventually stopped about ten feet down. She took off running after it, slipped on the lane, and fell flat on her back. I don't know if she was embarrassed or what, but she didn't want to bowl anymore after that. Whenever it was her turn, she'd say that she was worn out from bowling or that she'd just like to rest instead. When we left she said she was happy to be going home because bowling was too hard for girls who are three.

A couple weeks ago she started playing with an imaginary friend named Sarah (original, huh?). Every day they dress up and go to fancy parties together. This morning they had two big weddings during which they each married one of Emma's dolls. Here she is, posing with her lovely new wife, Charlotte.



















And here she is doing her other favorite activity as of late - climbing the tree in the front yard.

Every few months Parents as Teachers has some sort of info night. There is a speaker, and childcare is provided. I've never gone before because I wouldn't leave Emma with a stranger, but last night they had one and I decided to go. I was really feeling the need for a break, and if I had to sit there and listen to someone spout off her views on discipline (last night's topic) to get one, so be it. Emma apparently had fun in the child care, but I was really disappointed in the talk. The lady had a lot of good points, but also talked about spanking and the times when she thinks it is appropriate. She made sure to tell us that it should hurt the child, and that the smacks should be hard. Um, what????? Spanking is never appropriate. Ever. I almost got up and walked out, but I wanted to stay until the end and ask her some questions. At one point, she was musing why children bite, spit, and hit, because, she said, "We, as parents, don't teach them to do those things." Sorry, but hitting your child is doing nothing other than teaching them to hit. She also made the point that the things that are always unacceptable for any child to do is hurt himself or herself, hurt someone else, or destroy property. So...how does hurting your child show him or her that hurting others is unacceptable? It doesn't. I was going to ask these questions afterwards, but there wasn't an opportunity for questions. Grrr. I was really, really annoyed that PAT invited this speaker and I considered quitting the program altogether. Fast forward to today - we had a PAT appointment with our educator this morning. She asked me what I thought of the speaker, and I told her all those things and that I basically thought it was a bunch of crap. She said they had no idea she was going to say those things, and that they are putting out a statement in the next newsletter apologizing for that, and explaining that PAT doesn't advocate spanking, ever. After hearing that, I feel much better about the whole thing. I am still sad, however, that there are people like this woman out there who think that there is nothing wrong with hitting babies and children.

Tonight I get to go to my AP group's Mom's Night Out! Steve is going to drag himself away from work at 6:00 so I can go, and I am so looking forward to it!

Wonderful news! Steve has agreed to leave our son intact! I am SO relieved about this. I was so disappointed that, after being presented with all the facts, he still wanted to go ahead with such a horrible procedure, but now he has renewed my faith in him. After he told me that, I was feeling generous, so I told him we could name the baby his favorite name. I'm not a huge fan of the name, but I better start getting used to it, I suppose. Now we have two big decisions taken care of.

I told someone I would sew a few diapers to sell to her, and I'm pretty nervous about it. When I'm sewing diapers for my own kids, who cares if my stitching isn't straight or my snaps aren't perfectly aligned? Now I have to be really meticulous about things like that, and what if I find out that I really can't even sew a straight line? I just hope she doesn't feel ripped off after she gets them.

I may have made a big mistake. This morning I signed up for a swap for which I am planning to knit five dishcloths by March 15th. At the time I was thinking knitting five dishcloths would be no problem, but I wasn't thinking about how soon March 15th actually is. Eeek! I really need to get busy on those. I can do it - clean laundry is overrated anyway, right? Right?

Woo-hoo, I finished sewing all the size small diapers! I love them! Now I better get started sewing mediums because I probably won't have much time to do it when the little guy starts growing out of these.













We have a weird thing going on here with naps lately. Many days, Emma doesn't go to sleep at her usual nap time. She then starts to get tired and cranky around 5:00, and I am usually getting desperate for some alone time then, so I give in and nurse her to sleep. Then of course, she isn't at all tired and ready for bed by 11:00, and at that point I feel like I'm ready to collapse. I just need to adjust, and deal with her not taking a nap. That way she will be asleep by 8:30, and I will have my whole evening to do as I please, and it will all be worth it!

I'm knitting Emma the green cardigan version of this sweater (scroll down a bit), and it's making me crazy. I have the main part of the body finished, but the sleeves are killing me. I've had to change my needle size and alter the number of stitches several times to get the sleeves to be right. Because of this, I've had to start them over many times, and I despise working on double pointed needles. I would've scrapped the whole thing awhile ago, but I don't want to waste the time I spent knitting the body of the darn thing. Gah!

I had a professor in college who I had kind of forgotten about until recently. Last week I found out that he allegedly strangled his boyfriend in 2004, and is now on trial for murder. There was a trial in October, but due to a hung jury, he is on trial again starting this week. I've read every article I can find about it, and I'm convinced that he's innocent. I remember him being a really nice guy and I keep thinking about him and feeling sorry that he's going through this. I hope they find him not guilty.

We are planning to get bunk beds for the new bedroom, and Emma is very excited about them. Every day she asks if today is the day we're getting the new bunk beds. I didn't expect anyone to be sleeping in them for awhile, and I never said anything to her about her sleeping in them. Somehow she has gotten the idea that as soon as we get the bunk beds, she will sleep in there. Yesterday she told me that it will be sad that she won't sleep with us anymore, but she will have lots of fun in the bunk beds. I'm amused that she thinks this, but am also 99% certain she will not really sleep there as soon as she finds herself alone in there for, oh, about thirty seconds. Apparently, I think I know her better than she knows herself.

Today I was lamenting my lack of clothes that fit, and I put on one of my regular shirts just for kicks. After I put it on, Emma told me I better change right away because the baby brother was probably getting cold!