I No Want To!

Can you imagine my shock when I told Little P it was time to go to sleep last night and he came back with "I no want to." He did not throw a tantrum or whine; he just looked at me very calmly, shook his head and said "I no want to."

Then he held up his car to me, "play car."

Oh boy.

So he was allowed to play for ten more minutes, and this time when I walked up to him I did not have to even say anything before he was shaking his head and saying "I no want to."

Nice. It was going to be a rough night.

I tried to reason with Little P that it was past his bedtime and he was tired and could play in the morning, so let's go lay down and read a story. He was all for reading a book, but not in the bedroom; we had to read our book sitting on the coffee table in the living room (I think to ensure discomfort and no possible falling asleep). After our story Little P got down and started to go back to his cars.

No more Ms. Nice Mommy...

"Daddy, P is ready for bed."

Daddy picked up 28 pounds of squirming, crying child and carried him off to bed.

Five minutes later the whole house was completely silent, since the little bugger had fallen asleep almost instantaneously.

I guess I have to get used to Little P thinking he knows what is best for him, as I will have to deal with it for the next 17 years or so; I was just hoping it would not start so early. It must be some fundamental part of human nature to defy one's parents, even from less than two years old. This is going to be fun.

No Bake Cookies

I was not feeling well today, so, as usual, I decided to make something. I do not know why, but cooking often settles my stomach and relaxes me when I do not feel 100%.

Today I made no-bake cookies, and they are so easy and so yummy that I just had to share.

Ingredients:

4 ounces real butter

1/2 cup milk

2 cups sugar

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons peanut butter (optional)

3 cups oats (quick or old fashioned)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

Mix chocolate chips, peanut butter and oats in a large bowl. Combine butter, milk, sugar and vanilla in a saucepan; bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Combine hot mixture with oatmeal mixture and stir well. Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper and refrigerate for 1 hour. Store in airtight container, and keep refrigerated for best results.

These are very rich cookies and will definitely spoil your diet, but every bite is worth it! Everything in moderation, and with a glass of milk!

Our First Visit to the ER

Paul fell down last night and managed to split his eyelid open; it did not bleed much and Little P did not cry much, but it looked deep and nasty enough to me that I thought he might need stitches. Great.

The whole process was pretty quick, for the ER, and our entire trip took less than 2 hours, so it was worth it, in my book. After Paul climbed on all the furniture in the waiting room and struggled with the Triage Nurse trying to take his blood pressure, temperature and weight, we got to see the doctor, who pulled and stretched my little guy's eyelid around to look at the cut. He said he did not think it needed stitches, but recommended gluing it closed, or just leaving it to drain and heal on it's own (but there would be a bigger scar). I did not want to risk a bigger scar, nor did I want to have to worry about what might get into (or drain out of) this slit while it healed, so I asked if we could try the glue process. It was pretty simple; Daddy and I held Little P down while the doctor basically put super glue on my son's face. Two minutes later I was calming down a hysterical baby while we walked back to the car. I do not think it hurt him as much as he just hated having to hold completely still for a couple minutes.

He is totally fine this morning, except for the yucky red gash on his eye (I think he is determined to put his eye out before he is two). He woke up this morning and demanded that we take off the hospital registration bracelet, then went right back to running around.

The registration lady at the ER looked at Little P last night and said "we are going to get to know this little one really well..." I hope she is wrong, and while I do not want to hover over Little P too much, I think I need to be on my toes a little more so he does not get hurt.

Eating Out

I was reminded yesterday why we never, ever, ever go out to eat.

We have a toddler.

Last night after work we took a trip to Roseville to visit the bookstore, since I had exhausted my stockpile of reading material. We decided that since it was past dinnertime already, we would grab a quick meal out; we have not gone out in a couple of months, and P seemed to be in a good mood, so everything would be OK.

It's not that Paul was "bad" per se, it's just that he would rather not be strapped into a high chair when he is surrounded by lights, balloons, loud noises and people; he could have been having so much more fun. He was actually fine; but always, no matter where we go or how long we stay, he decides he is ready to go when we are almost, but not quite, ready ourselves. Little P was finished with his fruit and milk, and had likewise finished coloring and batting around his balloon, and had decided that he was "stuck" and needed to be free of the high chair immediately. He did not quite get to the point of screaming, but close enough, as he called for me (sitting right next to him) to get him out because he was "STUCK, MOMMY!!!!!" I told him I knew he was stuck and he would have to wait a little bit longer, but this was not good enough. He began calling for his Uncle James (who was not even there) in his loudest voice. I finally had Daddy take him outside while I paid, and we had to leave before we were finished.

What a lovely, relaxing dinner... Not.

I guess I do not have much to complain about, since P does not throw food, rarely bangs on the table, and does not cry for freedom until he absolutely cannot stand anymore stimulation, but I hate to have other people's meals disturbed by my kid trying to escape his chair. I think we will just eat at home for the next several years, as it is less stressful and much more peaceful.

Bath Time

Last night I decided to give Little P a bath; not that he is not clean, he just usually takes a shower instead of a bath. I started giving Little P showers when we he was about 10 months old for lots of reasons. When we moved into this house I thought P might have some trouble sleeping in a new place, so I popped him into the shower with Daddy so he could feel loved and get clean at the same time before going to bed. He relaxed automatically and slept all night. I immediately thought showers were wonderful. I also liked to give him showers because it uses less water than the bath, overall, and he can still play with his toys and probably not drown. The main reason I started giving him showers was so that I could have one, too! I realized very quickly after we moved that grams and gramps were not in the house to babysit while I took a shower, so it was both of us or nothing. Paul loves the water, though, and does not care if it is pooled or raining down on him, as long as he is playing in it.

He does, on occasion, take it upon himself to go into the back bathroom and climb into the bathtub, calling for me to "get water," "get bubbles" and "take bath." I cannot resist when he does it, and I must give in.

As much as I like to give him showers with me, I have to wonder if he is missing out on something by not taking a bath. Is it essential that he splashes in the bathwater and eats bubbles? Is this a childhood right of passage, or does it not matter so much as long as he gets clean? What do you think? Bath or shower? Does it matter?

While I finished...

I finished the Twilight series about 20 minutes ago, and it was everything I expected it to be. I am not going to write a review, since that's not what I do, but I will say that you must read it; especially if you have any tiny spark of self that loves romance/action/mildly magic stories.

My husband and brother were fabulous while I worked through my addiction; they understood that I could not set the books down without going through severe withdrawals, so they took care of my son and let me fully enjoy my weekend. I was glad for the break, but it is not like they had a choice in the matter. I was almost totally useless while I was not reading, as I could think of nothing besides Bella and Edward if I set the book down to complete other chores. I had to stop and cook, for example, and all I could think was "My vampire family would not need me to do this." Not that I would trade this family for a vampire family. Probably.

Ah, alas, it is over; they will be in my heart and on my bookshelf forever, but I must move on. Hopefully my next relationship with a set of fictional characters will not be so consuming.

Now I must go; I have chores to do from the last several days and I have to get ready for work tomorrow.

Sigh.

PS: Here is what Paul was doing while his Mommy was on another planet.

I'm back... for a minute

Holy Cow!

Sorry I have been away so long; I have been locked away in Forks, Washington with Bella and Edward for the last three days, and I will be there for the next few hours as well. I have almost finished reading the Twilight series, and they have been moved to the bookshelf in my living room reserved for only my most beloved books! If there is anyone in blog land that has not read these books yet, I suggest you get to it. You will not regret one word of it, although you may become swamped with chores, lose a few pounds for lack of eating, and suffer sleep deprivation because you feel the need to stay up until 3am to finish each book. I managed to pull myself away last night to make dinner for my family, and again this morning to make breakfast and wash the dishes, but every spare second has been spent reading. How wonderful. I love long weekends.

Anyway, the real world has not been that interesting (from what I could tell from peeking over the top of my book once in a while to watch Daddy and Uncle James playing with Little P), so I do not have much to report. Paul is talking more and more every day, and speaks in mostly English sentences now. His new favorite phrase is "Come on, Mom" when he wants me to go somewhere with him. Also, when something is not going his way he says "Mom, this not working!!!"

Daddy put up some shelves for me because I was running out of room for books, and that got him motivated enough to put a few of the baseboards on in the living room (we have been here almost a year and we do not have this finished yet...) He said maybe next weekend he will build me some more bookshelves on the other side of the living room with my still-good-but-not-so-favorite books, so I can continue to add to my collection. I would be happy if he just finished the baseboards by the end of the year, but more shelves is nice.

We worked in the yard on Wednesday before I started reading, and Little P was pretty innovative with trying to get some leftover plums off a tree. He could not reach the branches, so he decided to try and whack the plums off with his plastic rake. Good idea, but who teaches him this stuff? I am pretty sure he has only ever seen me pick fruit with my hands, but whatever, as long as he is using his little brain. I think I might make it outside to plant some Chrysanthemums today, but I need to finish my book before I do that, so I am going back to that right now... See ya!

Cinnamon Hazelnut Biscotti

The Italian in me loves a great cup of coffee and some sort of yummy carbohydrate to go with it, most especially Biscotti. It is yummy any time of day, but especially for breakfast, and since we are having a breakfast-themed potluck at work tomorrow I figured I would make Biscotti for my dish. I made it along with another dish for our last potluck and it went over pretty well, so I figured I would try it again. In case anyone shares my love for this treat, here is the incredibly easy, incredibly yummy recipe:

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped Hazelnuts

Cooking Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper

In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix together flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Mix flour mixture into the egg mixture. Stir in Hazelnuts. Place dough on baking sheet and shape dough into two equal logs, about 12 inches long; flatten to about 1/2 inch thickness.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until edges are golden and center is firm. Remove from oven and cool on the baking sheet only until dough is cool enough to handle. When loaves cool, use a serrated knife to slice the loaves diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices.

Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, turning slices over once. Remove from oven and cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Take to work for officers who have to be to work at 6am to enjoy with their coffee (or eat them all yourself, whichever you prefer).

Yard Work

I am totally exhausted!!! Not only an I still tired from working last night, but I landscaped about a 20x4ft section of my yard today. It looks really great, but I am going to be sore tomorrow.

I took out all the sunflowers by the front window, as well as the dead rose bushes that the evil gophers devoured, and replaced them with succulent plants and a rock garden. It looks really nice, and I have included some pictures, although they do not do my new little garden justice.

I always feel so great when I accomplish some bit of yard work, and I feel so happy as I stand back and admire the work; but then I turn around and see the whole rest of the yard that still needs so much work. All I can do is come inside the house, grab a glass of wine and promise myself we will complete another project next weekend. Maybe.

Laptop

We were supposed to go to the zoo yesterday in order to teach our son about the wonderful animals of the world and expose him to the beauty of nature. Instead it turned out to be 3000 degrees outside, so we went shopping and Daddy let me buy a new laptop. Awesome!

My argument for it was that it was on a really great sale ($180 off), it had awesome graphics and memory, it was way faster, it would stay connected to the wireless internet better, and our old laptop was almost five years old. Daddy's argument against it was that we have property taxes to save for, a home to remodel/repair, and our computer was perfectly fine, even though it was built right before dinosaurs were extinct.

My counter-argument was that I needed something better for my blogging and we needed something better for movies/internet/pictures, etc, plus I really liked it. Daddy's argument to that was that I always have to get something new and it always has to be expensive and brand new (which is almost, but not entirely, true), and shouldn't we be saving our money.

I acknowledged that saving money is good, but... PLEASE!!!

Since my husband is the best husband on the Earth, I am typing this post on my beautiful new computer that has such a lovely screen and keyboard and does not disconnect from the internet in the middle of my posting. I love it!

So, could I have spent the money on something for the house or kept it in savings? Absolutely.

Am I just a little selfish for wanting a functional laptop instead? Probably.

Do I have buyer's remorse? Not an ounce!

Thank you, my dearest husband, for putting up with me!

Ouch!

Holy Cow! Check this out!

If it was me instead of my baby this lump appeared on I might be a little less freaked out and think this was kind of awesome. I would have been bawling like a baby if this was me, but P cried just a little when it happened and did most of his crying when I tried to keep ice on it (I knew that was going to be impossible because he hates stuff on his face). This happened about and hour ago, and he just now fell asleep. I think it is safe to let him sleep, since it was just a bonk and not a concussion or something. I am going to keep a close eye on him, anyway. He was trying to sit in his chair, but instead he flipped over in it and landed right into the corner of the coffee table (no, I do not have bumpers everywhere; yes, I feel like a crappy mom right now).

AquaDoodle

In an effort to save my furniture from crayon/chalk/marker improvements (as Little P would call them, as everything needs a little color in his opinion), we bought an Aqua Doodle mat today. The contraption uses water inside a sponge-tipped pen, and a "magic" mat that turns blue when it comes in contact with the water. When the water marks dry the mat turns white again, so it can be used over and over again. Awesome, since it saves paper, too. It is keeping Paul busy right now, and hopefully he does not lose interest too quickly, since at $18 it is a little pricey. He loves to color, so it should be something he keeps among his most played with toys, but we'll see.

I have been cleaning house and doing laundry today, which has been my normal Thursday routine for the last few weeks. I love a clean house, but cleaning up and doing laundry after three boys is not easy. It takes pretty much the whole day to deep clean the house, no matter how well I keep it picked up during the rest of the week. I get a pretty good workout from scrubbing and bending and vacuuming, but I also just feel happy when I am cleaning. Kind of creepy, I know, to be actually enjoying housework, but nothing puts me in my happy place like cleaning, especially if I have some groovin' music on and lots of clean rags to work with. One thing I hate to clean is windows, though, and I am sorry to say that I have only washed the windows in this house once since we moved here (almost a year ago), and that was after someone else really cleaned them, first. We have giant eaves all around the house that are filled with spiders and webs, and there are usually some nasty spiders hanging out on the windows, so I stay away from them as much as possible. Sometimes I will take the hose and spray them off, but other than that they are neglected.

Another thing that is neglected at my house lately is the fish tank. It is clean enough, but the water is quite evaporated and it is only about half full right now. Poor guys. I promise I will go to the store this afternoon and buy some water conditioner so I can fill it up again. I have to buy groceries, anyway.

Well, I would love to continue my rambling post about nothing, but the dryer is buzzing and Paul is Aqua Doodling the sofa... good thing it is just water. Oh, he has moved on to chewing on the sponge. Nice. See ya!

Work Drama

I hate drama; it has been a very rough week at work, and while the problems have not been my own, I have come home these last three nights more worn out than I have been since starting this job. I have tried to keep my work life and home life separate since I started this job, because I was very intimately involved with my last job and it consumed my life. I have come to realize, however, that one cannot completely separate any aspect of one's life from the rest- most especially, work.

This week our department's shift rotation schedule came out, and the world came crashing down around our employees in a catastrophe of epic proportions. Admittedly, there were lots of errors, and needless panic and grief from several individuals was the result. These issues were resolved today, and now many people's issues are over. However, many people got schedules that are going to make their lives difficult, to say the least. This is where my stress begins; there is absolutely nothing wrong with my schedule, as it has not changed at all, but some people that I care about very much have gotten just awful schedules and have openly shown their distress and discomfort.

I told myself when I started this job that I was not going to make friends with people at work, as it tends to cause drama and needless pain. I thought I had done a fair job of keeping my promise until this week. I have had knots in my stomach and chest and an almost constant headache for three days because of someone else's problems! Because I care about these people and I cannot do anything to help them except for tell them that everything is going to be OK and they should be happy just to have a job in today's economy.

Some of these people are going to have graveyard shifts thrown into the middle of their workweek, and some are going to all graveyards or are going to be working with supervisors they absolutely do not get along with. The most troubling part of this is that these shifts were assigned unfairly and seemingly based on politics. I hate politics. Lame excuses were given for better shifts being given to less seasoned officers instead of seniors, and some really great officers got shoved to the shifts that would keep them from stirring the pot on a regular basis.

Anyway, all I can say is that I am sorry for what these guys will have to go through for the next six months, and I am most sorry because all of my friends are going to be on completely opposite shifts from me, so I will not see them for six months. Will they still be my friends? I hope so, and I wish everyone peace and happiness with their new assignments, since there is nothing that can be done to change the situation further. I am glad to get this off my chest, but I suppose I will not feel better until the dust settles. Good luck, guys, I will miss you! I guess I will just have to work lots of overtime graveyard shifts so I can keep in touch with everyone!

1,2,3

I came home from a very dramatic and hectic day at work with a nasty headache and an empty tummy, and while I am still not feeling great, Daddy did a great job of taking care of me in his own special way (making me two cheese tortillas, a quarter of a peach and two Ibuprofen with a glass of water). I feel just good enough to tell you all that I also came home from work to a son who can count to three and make his own decisions; he is almost ready to move out on his own, I think. Oh wait, he just pushed his shopping cart into the hearth and bumped his nose on it, so he needs a hug...... Maybe he needs me a little longer (just for boo boos and dinner, anyway).

Tonight he got ready for his bath by throwing away his own diaper and putting his dirty laundry in the hamper; then he asked for soap and washed his legs in the bath, splashed around a little, and climbed out without me telling him it was time.

After his bath, Little P played with uncle James and Daddy for a little bit, and I heard him through my pain-filled ears and clinched teeth count to three before jumping onto Daddy off the coffee table. It was very cute and so much fun to hear him counting and calculating his jump. Nearly every week I say how amazed I am at his development. It is so amazing to realize every day how smart toddlers are to pick up language, gestures and thoughts so easily. He has begun to play and use what he has learned to make his own games, instead of simply playing with something out of curiosity. I am so excited for him and I love to watch his face light up when he realizes he can do or say something he could not do the day before.

It is Little P's bed time, so we are going to lay down, but I thought I would share my happiness at my little man's progress, and share some pictures of this little ham as well!

Princess

I love to read; I believe it is healthy to escape our world sometimes through books, and sometimes, the more outrageous the world or plot, the better. I am a girl who tends to take the books I read very seriously, to the point of imagining myself as a particular character in order to better understand and become one with the story. I love long series' of books that involve the same characters, since I tend to get very attached to them; and the end of a series is always bittersweet because I long to continue life with these characters in these worlds.

Some of my favorite series' include Terry Goodkind's Wizard's First Rule, Orson Scott Card's Ender Series, and Brian Jaques' Redwall Series. I also love to read absolutely any classical literature, as nothing beats masterful English prose.

My current obsession is closer to home, but takes place about five hundred years ago in Europe. I have been reading several different works of historical fiction and biographies of the Tudor and Stuart lines of royalty. I am just absolutely crazy about them and, as usual, it has made me obsessed with being a princess. I am not sure why on earth I would want to be a princess, as they, more often than not, had to to endure awful marriages for the good of the family and/or country. They also had to be constantly aware of scandal and the importance of bearing a male heir, but for all their worries, a princess had it pretty good. Most princesses were learned in many languages and lessons, could play instruments and dance well, were surrounded by intelligent people, lived in great houses, and the clothes were absolutely fantastic! The castles were a little drafty in winter, but I am sure Windsor Castle could not be too much colder than my house in the middle of winter, when the only warm place in the house is the two foot radius around the wood stove. I am sure I could bear the cold if I got to wear layers of purple velvet all winter.

Anyway, the thing that always got me about royalty (excepting only the Golden Queen, Elizabeth Tudor) is that they have so much, yet it is not good enough. Mary of Scots (my absolute favorite queen), for example, had an entire kingdom that Elizabeth was willing to leave in peace, but she would not let rest her claim to the English throne. Yes, her claim was better than Elizabeth's if you want to go by truer bloodline, but come on! You have an entire kingdom that is at peace and you are the head of it! What more do you need? Besides, her army was smaller and there was no way she could ever win against England in a war. Her failure to be content with her lot led to a very premature death after a life of imprisonment, instead of a happy reign in Scotland. That is the very watered-down version, but that is the overall theme of her life.

I am an ambitious person, to the point where I usually get what I want from life, but I am utterly confident that I would have let this issue rest and been a perfectly happy Queen of Scotland. It just does not seem worth it to lose one's life for greed. I am always surprised at the greediness of people these days, but then I remember that it is not "these days" that spew out greedy people; they have always existed, and always will. I think greed can be mastered, however, with a little self discipline.

Sorry, that was my little tangent for today, born to existence by my anger/sadness at various queens dying needlessly because of too much ambition (either their own or their family's). I can tie this to my Little P by saying that I hope he is ambitious and always seeks what he wants from life. However, I also hope that he realizes that his happiness should come first and that he should draw the line between ambition and greed before his neck is ever threatened by the executioner!

I am going back to my reading now. Current book: The Constant Princess by Phillipa Gregory.

Funny Guys

We went to the auction yard/flea market in Roseville yesterday to look around, just for something to do. We could have stayed home and worked on our house, but it was just too nice to stay indoors, and we are too cheap and boring to do anything more entertaining. The auction is fun, mostly because you can see things that you never knew existed, and wonder how on earth people came to possess these items, and why they would sell such fascinating conversation pieces. We hardly ever actually come across anything we need there, but one can spend an entire day treasure hunting... or, if you have a child, you can spend an hour speed walking through the isles so the kid does not get bored in the stroller.

We were looking for a runner for our hallway (to try to muffle the sound of the squeaky wood floors that mommy walks on at 4:30am while getting ready for work), and just generally browsing, when Little P started laughing and pointing and saying "Funny Guys!!!" I asked him what was funny, and he pointed again and said "Funny Guys!" I looked around, and for the life of me could not find anything that could be considered the least bit funny, but he kept laughing and pointing, so we strolled him in the general direction of his pointing. There, in the midst of stacks of socks and t-shirts was a headless mannequin sporting blue jeans and a fancy bra.

I had completely forgotten that Little P has mannequins right at the top of his list of stuff that is totally hilarious. We were at the mall a couple of months ago, and that is where P got his first glimpse of these funky people standing in the display windows. He loved them! I guess, to a baby, headless and/or armless folks that stood completely still would either be really scary or really funny. I am glad that Paul chose the latter, because it made mommy's day to hear him laughing and talking in his Paulinese/English mix about the "Funny People."

The Joy of Sand

The definition of sand, according to Wikipedia is: a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles. The definition of sand according to Paul is: awesome!

Little P went to the park today and spent a good hour playing in the sand box. I do not blame him, as I find sand very appealing as a plaything, and it can be used for different relaxation techniques. It is fun to put your feet in, and even more fun to squish around in your hands; it must be an inherently and universally pleasing substance, as I have never met a child that did not like to play in sand. Little P is just now beginning to appreciate sand for it's awesomeness, as a few months ago he would have picked up a handful and shoved it right in his mouth without playing in it at all. Today he drove trucks through it, made a nice sand pile, scooped it up in his hands and let it fall through his fingers, tried to run in it, and generally had a good time.

It completely wore him out, like playing outside always does, but he refused to take a nap and was just a little grumpy until he went to bed this evening. I am glad he likes to play outside, though, as it gets us out of the house and away from the plumbing for a while!

Plumbing Issues

In my opinion, the most important system in the home is the plumbing system. If the heater is out, one can snuggle under blankets; if the cooling system goes out, one can use a fan or go swimming or shopping. However, if the plumbing has issues, all hell breaks loose! If the shower and sinks do not drain and the toilets can't be flushed, there's no fix it except for the right fix, right away.

The day before yesterday we noticed that when we flushed the toilet, the contents came up instead of going down; that is a problem. Grandpa has tried to clear the mainline with his plumbing snake several times; those of you who have never worked for a plumbing company, like I did for four months, may not know that the mainline runs down the house to the sewer or septic, and all the other drain lines connect to it. If the mainline doesn't drain, nothing drains. Anyway, grandpa could not fix the issue, so it was time to call in the big guns.

I like to look in the phone book for a plumber, because when you do not have anything to go on for a reference, one should go by the size of the ad. If the ad is gigantic, it means the company has a central call center and random, usually unqualified guys contracted out around the entire state. DO NOT go with these guys, it never works out. Trust me, I used to work for a company like that, and we had more complaints than I could care to relate. Anyway, I found a tiny little ad for these local guys, and they were the BEST! They were nice on the phone, even though I called at 7:30am, and they had someone out to my house by 8:30. Cool, no waiting. Better yet, when Chris (the plumber) arrived, I did not have to show him how to use his equipment, and after I showed him to the clean out, he assured me he knew what he was doing and I could go on with my day like he was not even there. Awesome. Two hours and $230 later, everything drains and flushes again. Nice.

Today Daddy is trying to put a new faucet on the bathroom sink. He is doing a great job, but it is not going to make me forget that we need an entirely new bathroom and that the shower is probably going to fall through the floor soon. Do you know that you can buy a decent shower at Home Depot for about $300, but we just gave that to the plumber, because the water must drain!

I Am Longing...

Little P, 5 hours old!

For another baby!

We have been trying for another one since February, and so far we have not had any luck; it has only been six months, however, and it took us nearly two years to get pregnant with Paul. I hope it does not take that long again, but short of IVF there is nothing we can do to speed things up; we will just have to be patient and hope that all the planets align, or sperm meets egg, whichever is easier and more effective...

I told everyone after Little P was born that there is no way in hell I would bear another child, as the entire process was unpleasant and overall disenchanting; but here I am, not two years later, trying to conceive.

Am I stupid?

Did I forget everything I went through?

No, but I am inclined to believe that nine months of grossness was worth the human that is the end result, and I must also admit that I am rather selfish. I do not need another child, by any means. I have done my job and repopulated the earth with my spawn, uh, offspring. However, I want Paul to have a sibling, as I think it makes for a well adjusted family; and basically I just want another little person to love me. How bad is that? Contributing to over-population so I can feel better about myself. Nice.

Anyway, I am wanting a baby extra bad right now because there was a little guy at Paul's playgroup today who is just six months old and too cute! He is just now sitting up and learning to crawl, and it is an absolutely precious time that I want to re-live. Don't get me wrong, Little P is a blessing and a wonder every day and I love to teach him and watch him explore, but I miss the newness and the joy of an especially new human.

Well, if it please God I would like another baby. If not, I will be fine with my little Angel (who is currently pulling all of the pillows off the sofa and jumping on them).

Oh, Boy!

A few minutes ago it was quite noisy in the living room and I was trying my best to ignore the boys and write my last post. Suddenly everything went quiet, and when I looked behind me, this is what I found.

Sigh again. It is hard to be the only girl in the house.

They are watching Spiderman on Cartoon Network. Not my first choice for Little P before he goes to bed, but Daddy said he can watch it, so what am I going to do?

Milestone

Tonight at dinner my Little P used a fork to eat all by himself! I am so excited and so sad at the same time! Yay for him, sad for me; he is growing up so fast. It is great that he is developing and growing like crazy, but he is not a baby anymore. Well, there is not anything I can do to keep him a baby forever, so I might as well roll with it.

Another thing he started yesterday I am not so willing to roll with. Yesterday he started saying "MOVE!" and pushing people out of his way. Excuse me? 1. How rude! 2. Where the hell did he learn that? Nobody in my immediate family would talk like that, and I am pretty sure grams and gramps would not say that, so where does he come up with this stuff? Ugh! So now we have begun to learn how to say "excuse me." So far I have not had any success, but we only started last night.

Little P: (pushing mommy out of his way) Move!

Mommy: Excuse me?

Little P: Move!

Mommy: How do you ask, Paul?

Little P: Move! Please!

Mommy: Pauly, we say "excuse me" if we would like someone to get out of the way.

Little P: Cue me! Move!

Sigh. It is going to be a long week.

Stickers and Spiders

Little P has discovered stickers and has been sticking them everywhere! On Mommy, Daddy, Uncle James, dog, toilet, floor and, of course, himself. What a goofball.

Now he is playing golf and singing the "Daddy" song. "Daddy, daddy, daddy, golf, golf!"

Earlier, while I was at work, Daddy killed a monster Black Widow right outside Paul's bedroom window. It had to be big if Daddy thought it was big, because he usually tells me how tiny every spider is before squashing it's guts out for me. He said this one had stretched a web from the eaves to the bush under Paul's window, which is about SEVEN FEET! Not just a string or two, but a giant web! It was trying to catch a bird for dinner, apparently, or maybe my cat or child. If I had been in the backyard to see that I would have FREAKED!!! Right by my tiny little man's window? That we keep open every night? Oh my GOSH!

Someday, as soon as I am rich, I am going to call an exterminator to rid my house of every nasty bug on my acre, especially the spiders!

The Doctor

Paul had his 18 month check up yesterday, and the kid is the absolute picture of health, thank goodness. Little P is 34 inches tall and weighs almost 28 pounds. He is a big boy, but he is no longer in the highest percentile ranges and is not that much bigger than other kids his age. He is perfect (perhaps a little mom bias, here).

No major tantrums today, just my regular happy little guy; it has been a good weekend!