Swagger Wagon

(Note* This was so silly, I just couldn't resist.)

My hubby was dead set on getting an SUV instead of a minivan for a long time because he felt like he was too young to have "his style cramped" by a minivan. Hubby now has an ongoing joke with one of our friends about how he too will eventually have to "join the club" and break down and buy a minivan. Our friend holds that he will never break.

If you had to drag your husband to the dealer when you finally bought your minivan and/or if your husband says that no matter how many kids you have, he will never drive a minivan, introduce him to: The Sienna Family.

Sure, they have a minivan for the space, but they "fill it up with their swagger."

Blog? What Blog?

Well, hello there.

I'm just "stopping by" so you'll know I am still alive and well.

Recently, I have been quite the busy bee. For the sake of time, I will just give you the highlights:

• I have been toying around with a new schedule:

Monday- Errands or Bedrooms (alternate)

Tuesday- Dusting and Vacuuming

Wednesday- Bathrooms and Kitchen/Mop

Thursday- Laundry

Friday- Mail/Filing/Homeschool Planning

Saturday Morning- Library or Alone Time (alternate)

Sunday- Church

So far, this has been working out fairly well. Nevertheless, this week both Monday and Tuesday turned into errand days. Actually, Friday is going to turn into one too.

I find that its weeks like this one, when I have many errands that have to be extended over more than one day, to be the most challenging when it comes to keeping up with any kind of weekly schedule. Of course, I can keep adjusting the schedule. I am open to any suggestions as to how I might improve it!

• Urban Prep is on Spring Break this week. As a result, hubby has been able to work shorter days. This, coupled with the beautiful weather has meant some exciting trips to the park for 3 special little people!

• I have discovered a new source of ruin to my diet: the Mocha Frappe at McDonald's . Have you tried it? Don't. You will be hooked. HOOKED, I say! Hooked!

• Believe it or not, I have been working on quite a few blog post ideas, although they have not made it to the blog just yet.

There are times when blog post ideas are just flooding my mind and oozing out of my ears. Then, there are times when I am stumped and can't think of anything to say (if you know me, you know that these time are rare).

I've been tempted to ask you, the readers, what you would like to see more of on this blog. However, after I think about that for a while, I keep coming back to the same conclusion: that is not a good idea.

You see, if I ask you what you want me to blog about, then I would have this pressure to write about those things. With that comes the added pressure to be all witty and relevant and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I mean, that can be challenging, in a good way.

Or, it could suck the life right out of take away from what makes blogging fun: free expression. Free to do what I want to do.

But, I digress.

What I'm trying to say is that I have some exciting new blog post ideas and whenever I find time between all of my errands to put them up, I'm sure you will enjoy them!

Until then, I will leave you with this subliminal message interesting advertisement:

A Fresh Spin on a Time-Honored Classic

Our librarian introduced us to this very comical, new version of Chicken Little by Rebecca and Ed Emberley.

The girls and I love the bold and colorful illustrations and even I have to laugh out loud at this book's sheer silliness!

If you're looking for a good "Thanksgiving read" for your little ones, you might want to check it out.

"Chicken Little was not the brightest chicken in the coop. He was very excitable and prone to foolishness.

One day he was doing nothing, his usual pastime, when an acorn fell from the sky and hit him on the head. BONK! EEP!" (pg.1)

Plans Gone Wild

"Honey, 3 things...

First, please make sure you coordinate our family so they know what to do when church is over.

Next, make sure that you leave out of service early enough to nurse and dress the baby because I don't want him to be crying and fussy during the blessing.

Finally, please make sure everyone is ready to go as soon as they call for us. I want the baby's blessing to go smoothly."

This is the "talk" given to me by hubby before we left for church on Sunday. We had invited our extended family to stand with us as our pastor prayed for and said a special blessing for the baby directly after the service.

Hubby's "talk" was one of those "I want you to understand that I'm very serious about what I am saying to you. However, I am going to speak very slowly and choose my words and tone very carefully in order to make sure you don't feel as though I'm talking down to you" talks.

He does those "talks" pretty well and I always appreciate the effort.

I really had no problem with hubby's requests. I had thought about all those things. I had a plan.

I had even considered and included extra time for the archenemies of all that is orderly and harmonious: meltdowns, vomit, and poop.

I used Saturday night to prepare. I set out clothes, gave baths, brushed teeth, packed bags, and cooked for Sunday.

On Sunday morning, I fed everyone and made sure the grandparents, the great-grandparent, and the sibling we invited knew where to go and what to do. I worked my plan.

I left out of service in enough time to nurse and change the baby and to account for any unpredictable glitches.

It was almost time for the baby to be blessed. I was almost done preparing him when I realized that little Bella needed a change. But, it was cool: I had a plan.

I quickly whisked her away to the bathroom for a change. By the smell of her, I knew it was a pretty bad poop diaper. No problem, poop was accounted for in the plan.

As I tried to change her, I realized that her dress was actually stuck to her back by a layer of poop that extended from her bottom all the way to her neck. "How in the world?" I thought to myself.

I went into problem-solving mode. But, I didn't have an extra dress for her. I tried to improvise. But, my time was winding down. I couldn't think straight anymore.

I could hear the words of my husband's "talk" ringing in my mind. My palms started to sweat. My plan was no match for a mishap of this magnitude!

So, I did the only thing that was left for me to do. I prayed one of those quick and powerful "Lord, help me!" prayers and then I called my mother-in-law in the bathroom for back-up.

Thankfully, her brain and problem-solving skills where sharper than mine at that point. We cleaned Bella up and then my mother-in-law tied her gray camisole straps in knots so that it would look like a little dress on Bella. We covered it with a blue-jean jacket so no one would see the straps and then we went upstairs just in time enough for the blessing!

I'm not quite sure what the lesson was in all of this. However, I do believe I handled the situation better than I would have in the past. I mean really, I didn't even shed one tear! This is a sign of new levels of maturity on my part;)

Here are a few pictures of us after the baby blessing.

Bella has on her "custom-made" dress in this picture.

Noah and his godparents.


My mother-in-law and Noah.

My mom and Noah.

Managing The ER

"Many times...we believe that if our days aren't peaceful, predictable, and productive, we are a failure!...The truth is that our days may (actually) resemble the predictability and routine of an Emergency Room..."

~Busy Mom of 10

Read her entire post: Overcoming the Myth of the Perfect Homeschooling Mother, part 3.

I Tried

I really did try to resist buying the Mocha Frappuccino Ice Cream that you now see in my freezer next to the peas. Really, I did.

Imagine my dilemma: I see a coffee and chocolate flavored ice cream, while shopping at Target, on payday! With that combination of simple pleasures, I was doomed!

I guess since its in there now, I'm going to have to have a taste;)

I just hope I don't eat so much that what happened to Mary happens to me. Somehow, I don't think that I could pull it off as adorably as she did!

The Art of Multi-Tasking

Some claim that women are naturally better at multi-tasking than men. After having 3 babies, I really don't doubt that. It makes sense, especially when you think about nursing moms. In fact, with every baby I have perfected my ability to complete tasks while nursing the baby at the same time.

At this point, I can nurse the baby and simultaneously...

•  Type an email.
• Prepare (some) meals.
  
• Dial the phone.
• Brush my hair back.
• Comb and style my girl's hair (while balancing the baby on my lap, while I sit in indian-style on the floor).
• Wipe down the counters and table in the kitchen.
• Sweep the floor.
• Put away dishes.
• Use my foot to move clothes and toys back into their designated rooms.

I suppose that once I have children who are old enough to hold a baby and/or do more chores, the need for this level of multi-tasking will all become a thing of the past. Won't it? I'm right about this, aren't I? You who have older children: please tell me I'm right!

But, I digress.

At any rate, how about you? Do you work "single-handedly" while nursing? What have you learned to do? I'm wondering can one of you top this list? Any takers?  

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mommies!

Click here to learn more about my 2009 Mother of The Year Award!

My Sentiments at This Point...

...in which I invite brother to dinner.

We've all been there. Its the vicious eating-out cycle. It goes like this:

"I suppose I could save more money if I bought some groceries. But, I can't think about that right now...I'm hungry!"

-My brother (as he is on his way to McDonald's :)

My children are so helpful...

See? Even when their sleep, they serve as a great cushion for my bread products!

Day 13

It's day 13 of eating Thanksgiving holiday leftovers for my husband. I was done at about day 4. Although he seems to be doing fine, I'm beginning to worry. I am yet to hear of any incidencts of illness as a result of eating 13 day-old leftovers.

To be honest, I'm actually a little flattered by the whole thing because its primarily the dressing that he keeps coming back for (which is the dish I took the lead in cooking this year;) Perhaps he has really just fallen in love with my cooking?

Noelle's Recipe

Noelle: "Mommy, I'm using 3 cups of dirt and 3 cups of water." (as she stirs with her plastic spoon).

Me: "Really? What are you making?"

Noelle: "Ummm...pie."

On Discipline

Recently, I've been utilizing various discipline techniques with my one year old, in efforts to put an end to some of her rather ungodly habits. Needless to say, when I saw this post by Kim over at Life in a Shoe, I was immediately intrigued.

You can click here to see it and tell me what you think, but this seems like one technique that just can't fail!

For those of you wondering...

...Yes. I am alive and am proud to annouce that I have not, in fact dropped off the face of the earth;)

I do apologize to my faithful readership (I found out there were more of you than I thought:) for my blogging hiatus, and I want to let you know I do intend to get back to it!

In part, I have been stalling my blog post because I had hoped to have some pictures of the retreat and our family vacation to accompany the exhilarating post I planned to write. Neverthless, It has taken me until recently to get those together. So, I will continue to hold you in suspense for those updates and just share with you what has REALLY been going on with me lately. You do want the "real deal" anyway, don't you?

Well,I hope you didn't forget I am expecting! I'm already 18 weeks and counting! Thus, most of what goes on with me these days is unavoidably related to that fact. Since it would be virtually impossible for me to sum it all up for you in words, I have included some visuals that will tell it all.


So, lately I've been experiencing...



...a little of this:




...and a whole LOT of that:

Pregnancy Brain

This was sent to me by one of my good friends who is also expecting. It's so funny how once you've been pregnant there is a certain humor only those who have shared in that experience can appreciate:)

Thanks db!

Whereas my children occasionally clinch me at the ankle....

...I had a good laugh at this:

The War of the Sexes in a Nutshell:

Men are sick of women trying to get them to talk about their feelings.

Women are sick of men not telling them why they feel that way.

Perhaps the best preparation for motherhood is...

Waiting Tables?

p.s.

Although it did not fit into my post about our value on character, here was my favorite quote from one of the Obama supporters on his blog:

-"Bush threw up on this country. Guess who has the sawdust?" -Scruffy {The Janitor}