The Crazy Month of August

Just so nobody can say I didn't post for a month, here's a cheat! My sister wrote an adorable blog post (complete with pictures) about the weekend she came to visit. So here it is for now. I'll catch up once I finish my book (hopefully before my deadline!) in a week or so. By the way, I turned 30 this month! Woohoo!

Oh, and quick details from Maddie's 6-month checkup: 13 lbs, 14 oz (11th percentile) and 26.5 inches long (77th percentile). Quinn's 3-year: 33 lbs. (69th percentile) and 37 inches (40th percentile). The doctor calls him Chatty Cathy. Maddie is sitting up by herself now and scooting all over the place. We're getting closer to potty trained. Not there yet, but closer. That's all for now, folks. Love, Us.

Congratulations Are in Order

I would just like to brag on my brother-in-law for a moment. Today he received results from his last test, meaning he has earned his GED!! I am so proud of you, Wade, both for all your hard work and for giving the glory to God. And I am proud of my sister for supporting him through the process and helping him to prepare.

In other news, Miss Maddie is teething up a storm and proving that her lungs are as strong as her legs. That makes this very interesting when Quinn jumps up every 15 minutes and says, "I gotta go potty! I gotta go potty!" However, he did wake up this morning with a dry diaper, so I'd say that's progress. We're moving ahead. And we still have a week and a half before he turns three!

We just got back last week from a week-long vacation to Orlando. We are so cheap. Last year we went to Sesame Place at this same time to take advantage of the free admission for kids under 2. This year we went to Disney and Sea World just before Quinn turned 3, at which point Disney tickets would have been $70! So we put up with 100 degree heat and 100% humidity to save a few bucks. We spent a few hours with my grandmother, who took an immediate liking to Maddie, and the feeling was mutual. We spent a lot of time with my mom, who was willing to drive to Orlando a couple of times to see us. Jalal and I even went out for the evening while Mom watched the kids. We went around to a few different restaurants and had a drink and an appetizer at each bar, starting with sake and sushi. Yum. Our day at Disney was a blast. Disney does a great job of keeping guests cool despite the heat. Quinn got to meet some of his favorite people.




We waited until almost 1:00 a.m. to see Mickey and Minnie. Still not sure that was worth it. Because Quinn got his mouse ears when we went to Disneyland two years ago, we had to get Maddie a pair. Check this girl out.



Could you eat her up? She was such a doll and even had fun on the Tea Cups! Quinn is a mad man, though, and I nearly got sick we were spinning so fast. A couple days later, we got to see "the big giant whale" at SeaWorld, despite the fact that thunderstorms shut down a fair number of the shows. Trish and Wade came down and hung out with us for the weekend, which of course made my heart happy. Even my cousin Sara came and had dinner with us in Orlando. It was a great trip, but we were certainly glad to be home. Love, Us.

I Lost My Underwear!

No, not me. Quinn woke up from a nap today and came to the top of the stairs. "Mama, can I please come downstairs?!" "Yes." "Oh, Ok. Thank you. Oh, wait! I lost my underwear!" Haha! We've obviously been potty-training around here. We had a huge fight before that nap about underwear versus a diaper. I told him I didn't think he was ready to wear underwear for a nap yet, but if could prove he could stay dry through a nap, he could try tomorrow. He was so upset, and he kept crying "my underwear!!" Finally he agreed and went to bed. (FYI, he was not dry when he woke up.) I think we're getting there. Love, Us.

He Didn't Learn THAT From Me

Seriously, I love my son. He is the funniest, most outgoing, smartest boy I have ever known. I left him home with Jalal this morning while I took Maddie with me to Bible study. The dear boy was evidently pretty upset when he realized I wasn't there. He didn't cry but he did keep asking if they could come find me. So I guess that made him a little more affectionate and appreciative of Mama today. At lunch and dinner, he insisted on sitting next to me, which is rare. He doesn't sit still when he eats, and having someone try to squeeze their head underneath my bottom and say "I'm stuck!" with ketchup smeared all over their face and hands isn't my idea of a good time. Go figure. So anyway, we tried to take the poor kid to the playground early this evening. It was too hot, though. I mean, it was 95 degrees out, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that the playground equipment was all "too hot" to the touch. Poor kid. He asked if he could sit next to me on a bench and drink water instead. So we took him to a bounce house. He had a blast, of course. Made some friends, cried when we had to leave. The usual. (Speaking of friends, he saw a little boy in the mall the other day, said a few words to him as we passed, then turned around and called "see you later! I love you!" as we walked away. Hmmm.) Anyway, we went to Jason's for dinner and decided to get him the salad bar for dinner. Jalal piled his plate with shredded cheese, a cornbread mini muffin, cherry tomatoes, peas, baby carrots, cucumbers, and pasta salad. Let's just say he wasn't crazy about the pasta salad. When he realized he had almost the entire cast of VeggieTales on his plate, he was super excited. Bob the tomato? Squish in his mouth. Larry? Chomped on him a while. French peas? Scooped 'em up with a spoon along with some cheese. But Laura Carrot? You were his great love tonight. In fact, when he finished, Jalal surprised him with ice cream. He took one small bite and could not eat it. It was too cold. I tried to get him to try some of the chocolate mousse (my favorite part of the salad bar!), but it looked too much like ice cream. So what did we do? Like any good parents, after begging him to try his dessert, we asked what he wanted. "Should I get it for him?" Jalal asked me. "Sure, why not." So Quinn enjoyed himself a heaping bowl of carrots and cherry tomatoes for dessert. I'm talking six or so tomatoes and probably a dozen baby carrots. Who are you? "There's no way you came from my loins." I'm not complaining, just confused. Oh, and he's getting really good at reading. He read the sign (all by himself) that said, "Good Food." I'm getting to the point where I'm not even impressed anymore. After he read the label on his sister's cereal box the other day (Beech-Nut), I just shrug like it's old hat. I just love that kid. Oh, and on a totally different subject, my small group was praying at the end of a meeting the other day and I heard him say to Maddie, "Close your eyes!" Tee hee. Love, Us.

Mopping Up Puddles

Well, I was so ready to say how much I HATE potty training when Quinn maybe, just maybe, seems to have gotten the hang of it. We spent all day today (while we were both awake and at home) keeping Quinn naked from the waist down. When I did try to put underwear on him, he peed on the floor. One other time he peed on his chair at the dining room table, but he also managed to do it right a few times, including "number 2"!! We've hit plenty of other milestones recently, too. Maddie rode in her stroller sitting up (not in her carseat) for the first time yesterday. She seemed pretty happy with it. She's also rolling over now, mostly from the back to front. She "talks" a lot more now, much louder, too. She eats rice cereal, sweet potatoes, peas (not a fan), pears, and squash. She's a very neat eater, too, not nearly as messy as Quinn was. Thanks to the solid food, she seems to be putting on a bit of weight. She is still not fitting into her size 0-3 month pants, for the most part. But she's outgrowing her pajamas and rompers in that size because she's the longest baby in the world.

Quinn buttoned his pajama shirt last night, which was a big step for him since we haven't been practicing that at all. He pretty much knows his right from his left, and he's really good at singing "Jesus Loves Me." He loves to help with the laundry, which is great for practicing his color sorting, and is especially helpful when Miss Maddie is screaming her head off and won't let me put her down. Everybody thinks she is such an angel, but that girl has a set of lungs you wouldn't believe. She has got to be teething, and she better cut her first tooth earlier than Quinn did, or I will go stark raving mad in the next 6 months. Well, I know that is a sad excuse for catching up, but it will have to do for now. My paychecks have been on a ridiculous delay lately so I am trying to work really hard to finish my current book ahead of deadline. Plus we are planning a trip to Florida to visit family and hit Disney before Quinn turns 3 and costs a fortune. Gotta go now. Love, Us.

The Power of the Media

Quinn cracks me up (when he isn't busy making me want to strangle him). Tonight, we were coloring together and I colored a chimney (the kind that runs all the way down the side of the house). I said, "Do you know what that is? That's called a chimney." He replied, "Huh. Looks like a wall." Smart aleck. Then he looks up at the TV, on which was a Progressive commercial, and says, "Need car insurance?" Hah! What a great kid. The other day, he tried to drink a cup of water that had been sitting in the car, and Jalal told him that was probably warm. He said, "I need a real drink. Daddy, you need a real drink?" Oh boy, does he. Mommy too sometimes. Well, just wanted to write those down before I forget. Love, Us.

Wordless Wednesday

Brought to You by the Letter P

Yikes! I realized that I better post once this month before June is over! Sorry kids. If anyone has any complaints about me being out of touch, you may contact me about what time you'd like to come over and play with Quinn, feed Maddie, wash dishes, iron shirts, vacuum up peas from under the table, and edit a book in British English while I blog and post photos. Takers? Hah! I thought not. Seriously, though. Sorry about that.

So, where are all of you moms who swore that all I had to do was put Quinn in underwear for a few hours to potty train him? Supposedly, one little accident is all it takes to get them rushing for the potty, right? Three puddles later, and I'm doing an extra load of laundry and the potty (sitting right in the living room so as not to interrupt the activities too much)is empty. Hmmm. That doesn't seem to be working. I'm not sure I have ever envied you people with wood floors more than I did today. At my Bible study this morning, someone came to get me and said Quinn needed to use the potty but the girls watching the kids weren't sure what to do with him. I laughed and said, "OK, but I'm just going to go in there and ask if he wants to sit on the potty, and he's going to say no." I'm not psychic, but I was spot on with that one. He's pretty adept at peeing in the bathtub, though! Guess we'll give it another shot tomorrow. Good night. Love, Us.

Reading Rainbow

Happy Memorial Day everyone! I wish I was feeling better today because this is Jalal's only day off this week and it would be wonderful to celebrate the holiday. But I started feeling crummy when I woke up yesterday and today is a little bit worse. Jalal didn't even get home until 5 o'clock this morning, so he isn't up yet (as of 10 a.m.). I'm just trying to take advantage and rest while I can. Rest--hah! Like that's possible with two kids under 3. Quinn woke up at the crack of dawn, and even though I'd cracked his door and left the TV downstairs on PBS, he still came in and bugged me, a few times. I guess the channel froze at some point, so he got bored watching a still image of "Arthur." I finally had to get up around 7 something and head downstairs, get everyone's diapers changed, and feed them breakfast. Maddie is fussing in her swing as I speak. However, there was a bright spot to my morning. Dear Quinn and I were about to read his "Finding Nemo" book when I asked him to read instead. I picked a word or two off of each page, and he sounded them out all by himself! I was so proud! Let's see if I can remember the words he read: Dad, off, in, on, but, met, back... That might be all of them. Isn't that awesome? I can't believe how smart he is. Well, I think we're actually going to get out of the house for a bit today. Later. Love, Us.

Five-Question Friday

Hi all. Joining in a little blog hop tonight because I feel like I ought to post but I'm too tired to think of what to write myself. It's called blog cheating. This one is hosted by Mama M. at My Little Life.

1. Is there something you've always wanted to try but just can't muster up the courage to actually do yet?

Hmmm...I have been trying to muster up the nerve to attempt some of Bakerella's cake pops. Maybe these? I have done a fair number of batches of the yummy chocolate cake balls, but decorating beyond simple lumps is daunting. Especially when hers are so freakin' awesome! I would love to pull these off for a friend's baby shower or Quinn's next birthday.

2. If you had $100 handed to you in cash without your significant other knowing about it, what would you spend it on?

Probably books. Or cookie dough (not all of it, obviously!). Maybe some adorable clothes for my adorable kids, though he certainly has done that often enough that I shouldn't hide it from him!

3. What was your favorite piece of playground equipment as a child?

The swings. I love the power of pumping your legs and going so high that you defy gravity for a moment and slam back down onto the swing. When my sister and I were little, we had a rickety old swingset in the backyard and the poles came up out of the sand every time you swung too high.

4. Do you prefer a sweet or hearty breakfast?

Depends on the day. I actually like to combine eggs, bacon, and french toast. That's my ideal breakfast.

5. Are you a Neat Freak or a Messy Bessy?

I admit, I'm pretty messy. But I do try. It's just overwhelming with two little kids, a job, and a hubby who works 95 hours a week. When I worked in an office, I was obsessive about organization and keeping my cubicle neat. But it was only 4 feet square, so it was manageable.

Well, that's all folks! Gotta get the baby to bed. Happy Memorial Day weekend, and God bless all the soldiers, past and present, who leave their families to protect ours. I've been loving PW's photos about coming home. Check 'em out here. Love, Us.

Manners

I have tried hard to teach my son manners. He says please, thank you, excuse me, you're welcome, I'm sorry, "are you ok?", etc. Granted, he's just 2, so sometimes he doesn't know the appropriate way to behave in some situations. So what was Mrs. Nosy's excuse? We stopped by Tuesday Morning this evening to get a birthday present for a party we're going to on Sunday. We had spent the whole afternoon with friends downtown at the Children's Fountain and feeding the ducks. So I wanted this to be a quick stop. I already knew pretty much what I wanted to get. I loaded both kids into the stroller to make it as easy as possible. I had to strap Quinn down within the first five minutes because he was swinging and hanging on the handle of the stroller. Not only was he about to flip his sister over, if he broke our expensive stroller, I would take it out of his allowance until it's paid for. Anyway, we made it to the toy aisle with only mild annoyance (mine) and him saying "I have that?" about 19 times. We stopped at the puzzles and I flipped through them, looking for the perfect birthday present. Incidentally, I was also keeping my eyes open for something Quinn might like. But I wasn't going to get him anything after he started crying about the ABC puzzle. He wanted it bad. Don't think I'm a terrible, heartless mother who doesn't want her kid to learn his ABCs. He is OBSESSED with his letters. He knows them all, knows the sounds they make, can spell a few words, including his name, etc. He can sing about three versions of the alphabet song (current fave is Alphapig's from SuperWhy), and he can sing the alphabet by the sounds the letters make as fast as by the letters themselves. He owns about 25 alphabet books. And he is great at puzzles. I buy him puzzles all the time. But he's worked his way up to doing 48-piece puzzles. I was not about to buy him a 26-piece ABC puzzle that he could put together in about 4.8 seconds. Now, there was a "sweet" older lady there who stopped us and asked how old Maddie was. We chatted about the kids and her grandkids, and she talked to Quinn about being a big brother. He asked her if he could have the ABC puzzle. Stop here. Think. What would you do? Would you:
A) Say something like, "Oh honey, I'm sure you have lots of puzzles at home. You don't need a silly old ABC puzzle."
B) Segue. Say "Do you know your ABCs? Aren't you a smart boy."
C) Bend down and find a few ABC puzzles and say, "What about this one? I bet you could put this one together. What about these number puzzles? Your mom could get you one of these, too." Hand the ABC puzzle to Quinn and say, "That looks like a great puzzle." Walk away pleased with yourself for making the little crying boy happy.

Hmmm. I'll let you figure out which version we experienced. Sweet Granny screwed me bad. I waited until she walked away and then told Quinn we were not getting the ABC puzzle. I attempted to distract him with talk of other things and began moving quickly toward the cash registers. He began shrieking at top volume. I mean, screaming hysterically at the top of his lungs. I acted on my first instinct and clamped my hand over his mouth. Let me just say, that did not help. He screamed louder and I just tried to calm him down by whispering in his ear. He got better but it was still a good idea to move ourselves quickly to the front of the store. We checked out with very little fuss and only a little whimpering. But I will never forgive sweet Granny and I ask this of each of you. Please do not take sides with a child against his mother, ESPECIALLY if you are a complete stranger. It would have been bad enough if it were Quinn's grandmother doing it, but I just wanted to say "How DARE you?" This rule applies to those of you who want to give my child candy or snacks or anything of the sort. Asking Mom's permission after you offer something to a 2-year-old doesn't count as good manners. So say "please may I offer your child something you may not want him to have" BEFORE you say "would you like [fill in the blank]?" Thank you.

When They Are 3, They Lie!

The finger-pointing has begun. For the first time, but probably not the last, Quinn blamed Maddie for something he did. We were all lying down on her play mat encouraging Maddie to reach out and grasp her hanging toys. I noticed a stinky smell and said, "Does someone need a new diaper?" Quinn said, "No." I said, "Quinn, did you go to the bathroom?" "No, that's Maddie." Well, without being too vulgar, I can tell the difference. This was not Maddie. But I had to give him some credit for shifting blame, I guess. It reminds me of a trip to the mall we took a couple months ago. I was waiting with Maddie and the stroller while Quinn and Jalal rode the "moving stairs" a few times. This sweet older lady stopped to admire the sleeping baby. She said something like "God bless you." I said, well, I also have a two-year-old on the escalator. She said, "Oh, I used to teach Sunday school to 2- and 3-year-olds. The 2-year-olds are sweet, but when they are 3, they lie!" I have to admit, I busted out laughing a little. I was sure she was right, and now I am seeing it first-hand. Below, he is not lying, but he is reading to her. He knows "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" by heart, and he loves to read to Maddie.


The next picture is of Quinn giving Maddie a bottle for the first time last night. How sweet is that? He practiced on his baby doll the other day, so I thought he was ready. Doesn't he look devious in that one?




Do you ever get so caught up in the little details that you miss the big picture? I don't mean on a daily basis with big stuff like life or anything, though I do that sometimes. I mean, for instance, today I had both kids sleeping at once, the living room was vacuumed, and the dishwasher was running. I was waiting on a job to come through, so I had no work, and I was caught up on blogs and facebook and junk like that. I decided to attend to the single most overdue cleaning project in my house: my bathroom sink and countertops. The tub and toilet get cleaned fairly regularly, but there is so much junk piled up on the countertops that it is a daunting task. But I dug in. Now I should have just unloaded the stuff, wiped it down, and moved on to other things, like putting away laundry or taking out the trash. But I got involved in the minutiae (love that word). I ended up scrubbing the gap between the back of the sink and the wall with an old toothbrush, which I then used on the ring around the drain. After the whole area was clean, I wiped off the stuff like soap pump and deodorant and replaced them, putting all the non-essentials in their proper place. (How very Donna Reid of me.) Another example: Sometimes when I really need to be getting ready to leave the house, I became (just a tad) obsessed with cleaning the hair out of my hairbrush. I can't stop until it's really really clean. Don't ask me why.

Well, I'm going to sign off now because I should have started dinner a half hour ago. And it's bath night, which HAS to be done by 8 p.m. because I am NOT missing the live finale of Biggest Loser. I have my priorities. I will close with a couple of Maddie pics because I owe you from her 3-month birthday. Love, Us.

"You Make My Heart Super Happy"

For those of you who don't get the reference, the title of today's post is from Ni-Hao, Kai-lan," a Nick Jr. show about a little Chinese girl and her animal friends. Quinn has spent the last 30 minutes pointedly NOT finishing his milk or dinner but instead singing "Jesus Loves Me" at the top of his lungs and asking for more "Jesus songs." It made me think about all the things in my life right now that make my heart happy, even when so many things don't. I could complain about my husband having to work six long days a week and not being around much. I could complain about how hard it is to get all of my work done while taking care of two small kids. I could complain about the fact that Quinn has absolutely no interest whatsoever in potty training but insists on showing me his backside every time he goes to the bathroom. But you know what? When Maddie gives me a big silly grin for no reason at all or Quinn pats my hair and tells me he loves me, all of that fades away. The fact is Maddie is a great baby. She sleeps through the night already and is a pretty calm baby whenever we're out in public. Quinn is a great kid, too, despite his temper tantrums. He still takes a nap (about 2 hours) most days of the week. He goes to bed without a fight almost every single night. He usually eats his vegetables before anything else. He says things like "That's the rules!" and loves on his baby sister. Tonight he was "helping" me cut coupons when I came across an ad for Baskin Robbins. He said, "Ooh, cake! I love cake. Mama, you say, 'Me, too'." I laughed so hard! Because, really, I love cake more than probably any other person on earth. Especially ice cream cake. I wish I had some right now. There is some really good ice cream in the freezer, but it's Jalal's and I can't eat it. He would say it was okay, but really I would never hear the end of it. As a matter of fact, it's pretty much a lose-lose situation for me. If ice cream lasts more than a week or so without me eating it, he says, "I can't believe we still have ice cream." Anyway, my point is that my kids make my heart super happy. Anyone who meets them falls in love with them. Well, I'm going to try really hard to get to bed early tonight. I've been up long past midnight every night this week, and catching some show last night on the History Channel about aliens being responsible for inseminating Noah's mother and then wiping out the "inferior" humans with the flood made me realize that it's not worth staying up late! Weird. So, goodnight. Love, Us.

Maddie's 3 Months Old!

Good morning! I woke up today with a few different things: a sore throat, for which I am drinking hot tea and hoping is not a sign of worse things to come; a prayer in my mind for my cousin (well, cousin's wife), Mary, who even at this moment is supposed to be in surgery; a plan to blow through some overdue housework first thing in the morning to catch up while I have no editing work to do; and a reminder to myself that Maddie is 3 months old today. I will have to take some special pictures today. I tried to find a recent one on the camera but after 10 minutes of deleting pictures of knees, fingers, foreheads, the ceiling, etc. (guess who got a hold of the camera?), I gave up. If anyone doesn't read my sister's blog, you should link over to it here and see the pics and video she posted of the kids while she and Wade were here a few weeks ago. Maddie is starting to put on some weight--slowly. She was only 9 lbs., 11 oz. at her 2-month appointment, in the 17th percentile. So we were having a tough time with clothes. She's long enough that she's almost too big for 3-month clothes, but her waist is so tiny that pants and shorts and even diaper covers fall off her. My mom sent us a couple of boxes of hand-me-downs from a friend of hers, and it was a jackpot! Tons of rompers in her size! Cute stuff, too. Rompers are perfect because there are no waistbands and most are shorts, so the length isn't an issue either. That makes it a lot easier to dress her. She is smiling a lot and cooing, but she's so vain. She will look at you like she's a little pissed off until you tell her she's pretty, and then her face lights up in a huge smile. Then you can see her one dimple and she'll start to talk. This morning, she was hanging out in her swing while I was making breakfast. I kept hearing this high-pitched shriek, which I thought was Quinn, but it was actually her. She also kept trying to roll over in her swing, but she just ended up slumped over. Going to have to watch that one! I'll put her at one end of her crib to sleep and in the morning she's at the other end with her feet sticking out of the slats. She's still a great sleeper, usually going for 8 hours at night without a peep! I don't know what we ever did to deserve two adorable children who are great sleepers. On the other hand, Quinn is trying to give up his afternoon nap. Guess who is not ready for that? Uh, me, in case you were wondering. I've had many different kinds of afternoons this week. One day, he took a 2 1/2 hour nap without a fuss. One day, he screamed and cried and pulled my hair and fought his nap so bad that he didn't get any rest at all. One day, he took a "rest" lying on our bed watching "Finding Nemo." That's the day he fell asleep sitting up in a cart at Babies 'R Us. He woke up after 15 minutes screaming and hysterical for a while. That shows me he is not quite ready for that either. I guess we'll keep working on it. We have a big playdate today with some other moms and kids, and I hope I can get him down for a little while so that will go better. Not only is he in a better mood when he naps, but he is safer. He gets really clumsy when he's tired. And he's such a boy that he doesn't need any more bruises and bumps and scrapes.

Speaking of Quinn, I realized that if I don't start logging some of this stuff, I'll forget. He's such a great kid most of the time. He's wicked smart and very funny. Here are some of the funny things he says:
Peaner jeller (peanut butter and jelly, though he's starting to say this correctly, which actually makes me sad, because this is really cute)
Leave Quinn alone! (this is said in anger when he's in a bad mood or being disciplined, when it is really inappropriate to laugh at him. But the first time he said it [yelled it, actually], I had to walk outside so he wouldn't see me laughing my head off.).
Me too. Me three. Me one. Etc. (often he'll say "me too" and then tell me to say "me three" and so on.)
I go to Mickey's House!! (we're discussing a trip to Disney World this year, so this is a favorite, but it comes out of nowhere like when he wakes up from a nap.)
We're having a birthday party tomorrow! (One time, we had a party for Jalal and Uncle Wade. This is now said almost every day. He also tells me "Happy Mother's Day" about every few days. So sweet and not right.)
(Counting) One through twelve, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, nineteen, twenty! He thinks 13 and 14 sound the same, so he only says 14. We always just thought he was superstitious.)
Watch out! Grandma's coming! (I swear I don't know where he gets this, but sometimes if someone is walking down the stairs, he says this.)
Hi Monica. (This just started. He's calling Maddie "Monica" sometimes, watching me to see my reaction. Monica is a little girl at our church, but she's a year old. Weirdo.)
Aw, so cute! Look at those ears! (He says this about Maddie mostly, but once to Jalal, which was really funny. It's from "The Tale of Despereaux.")
That's all I can think of right now. And Maddie's crying, so I better go. Hope you all have enjoyed this little glimpse into our life. Love, Us.

Frustration

I want to say in advance that I know I'm being irrational here. I just need to vent. I put Quinn down for a nap an hour and a half ago. He refuses to sleep. I have tried everything I can think of. We are supposed to meet some new people at the playground at 3:30 today, but at this rate, I don't see how we can go. He is upstairs screaming right now. I feel like he's doing this to me on purpose. (See first sentence.) I really really need to make some more friends, and I was really excited about today. We had a great morning, a good lunch, and I thought he would go down for his nap just fine--the same way he does EVERY SINGLE DAY!! But no, the one day that I really need to do work (I'm about 40 pages behind on my current job) and get out, and he refuses to cooperate. I tried letting him sleep downstairs on the couch where I was working. I told him we are going out to play as soon as he takes a nap. I tried begging, pleading, threatening, and ignoring him, hoping he would eventually get so tired he'd fall asleep. Nothing. The last time I went upstairs, it was because he was yelling and banging on stuff. The child has dark circles under his eyes, for crying out loud. I crouched down next to him to talk and when I dropped my head in frustration, he reached over and ripped out a chunk of my hair! WTH?!? I am so angry right now that I cannot go back upstairs no matter what or I will say or do something I'll regret. God help me, I need a day (or week) away from that child.

Show Us Your Life

Today I am doing a brief post to link to Kelly's Korner, who is doing a "Show Us Your Life" on baby names.

My darling son, born in August 2007, is named Quinn Jalal. My husband picked out Quinn from a name book (not a baby name book), and we knew it was perfect. Jalal is my husband's first name, so we followed the Lebanese tradition of using the dad's first name for the first-born son's middle name.


Just 2 and a half months ago, my darling girl was born. She is such a little skinny minnie. We had a much harder time picking out names this time, but we ended up with Madigan Ruth. Again, Maddie's first name is from a name book, but her middle name is the middle name of her grandmother, Louella, my mother-in-law, who passed away a year before we found out we were pregnant with her. I think she would be proud of her namesake.


So it seems we have an Irish thing ending in "N" going on for first names and a family thing for middle names. We like names that are unique but still easy to say and spell. We have a name picked out for another boy, should that happen someday, but of course we could change our minds before then. If we don't, it will fit the mold: Gryphon Lang. Lang is for Langston, my maiden name, after my dad, Red, who passed away when Quinn turned two. So there you go. Our kids' names. Love, Us.

The Concept of Time

This afternoon, the clock struck 5:00.
Quinn: It's nine o'clock!
Me: No, it's five o'clock.
Quinn: Oh, it's seven o'clock.
Me: No, it's five o'clock.
Quinn: No, it's seven o'clock.
Me: Okay, it's seven o'clock.
Quinn: No, it's five o'clock.

That's just a day in the life of a mother of a 2-year-old. Oh, and don't buy into all that parenting advice that says to give them two choices to make them feel like they have control. When we give him a choice between, say, two pairs of pajamas or two kinds of fruit, he picks one. Then he changes his mind and picks the other, which I then give to him. At that point, he freaks out and wants both of them. Yeah, giving a little bit of control to a toddler is not necessarily a good thing.

Toddlers are also notoriously inconsistent. Most of my mom friends agree that all two-year-olds ought to be qualified as bipolar. They can turn from hysterically happy to spastically miserable in two seconds flat--for absolutely no reason at all. We took Quinn to the playground today. He was so excited to get out of the car and run up to the playground. He freezes at the blue bridge, which he insists on walking over first and last thing there. He then turns so sad and begs Jalal to pick him up. At the stinking playground!! Who does that? We have to manipulate, threaten, tease, and coddle him to get him to cheer up and play. Weirdo.

Speaking of inconsistent, Quinn has been eating lettuce lately like it's going out of style. I mean, one night I gave him a small bowl of lettuce with dinner, and he asked for seconds--and thirds, and fourths! He's eating salads every day, and he ate almost the whole bowl of lettuce last night as we were having tacos. Today at lunch, I made him a turkey sandwich and put some lettuce on it. He picked off the lettuce and ate the rest. I asked him if he was going to eat his lettuce. "No." "Why not?" I asked. "I don't like lettuce." Oh. Well, I should have figured that out I guess. Tried again with a salad at dinner. He picked out all the pieces of shredded carrot but did not eat the lettuce. Not a fluke. Oh, and another funny story. I made him his turkey sandwich and served him some peas and pasta. While I was making lunch for Jalal, I heard him say, "Mmm, turkey is good." "Oh, have you tried your sandwich?" "Nope!" Okay, then. It's really no wonder that I can't wait for bedtime every day. It takes a lot of energy to be Quinn's mama. Well, I have to go be Maddie's mama now. Love, Us.

Crummy Day

Jalal spent part of the morning dealing with some very frustrating work issues.

We spent most of the afternoon on the phone with insurance companies and doctors' offices.

While Jalal made dinner and I fed Maddie, the doorbell rings. It's two little kids from the neighborhood to tell us that they've broken Quinn's bike. After stealing it from our front porch, they broke the pedal off and threw it into the sewer. Can't find parents; don't know where they live.

A few minutes later, Quinn drops a wine glass on the floor and shatters it. I sweep it up.

While eating dinner, Maddie starts to cry in her swing. I go to give her paci back to her and notice that she has completely overflowed her diaper, all over her clothes and her brand-new swing. I take her, Jalal takes the swing. We clean it up while Quinn finishes dinner and continues to ask, "Mama, what's happening?"

Jalal goes into the kitchen to get a washcloth for the swing straps, the ones that won't come out of the frame, and steps on a piece of glass. I spend the next 10 minutes unsuccessfully digging into his heel trying to find the glass shard.

Um, yeah, we're going to hope tomorrow is a better day. Can't get a whole lot worse. Love, Us.

A Conversation with Quinn

Quinn: Mama, you doing laundry?
Mama: Yes, I'm putting Maddie's clothes away.
Quinn: I help laundry.
Mama: Ok, why don't you go into your room and get me any dirty laundry off the floor.
Quinn: Ok, I do it! [runs into his room and returns with a shirt] Here's laundry!
Mama: Is there any more?
Quinn: Yes, I get another one.
Mama: Ok. [Closes the door behind him, which is child-proofed from the outside.]
Quinn: Mama, you open the door? [I do.] I got another one!
[Repeat sequence three times until all laundry is off his floor.]
Quinn: All done laundry.
[Maddie starts to cry from downstairs. Quinn leaves the room and starts to close the door.]
Mama: Where are you going now?
Quinn: Going downstairs to calm down Baby Maddie.
Mama: Oh, okay. Thanks.
[running down the hall] Quinn: Good job doing laundry, Mama!
Mama: Thanks, Quinn.
Quinn: Bye-bye, Mama!
Mama: Bye-bye, Quinn!
Quinn: See you real soon, Mama!
Mama: See you real soon.

Miscellaneous Life

So I am finally able to catch you all up on the comings, goings, and doings of the Halaby clan. It's been a while so I apologize if things are a little haphazard. Seems my editorial finesse is elsewhere, perhaps hiding behind the bags under my eyes. Lots of room there, ya know. I hope I'll make it up to you by sharing lots of pictures!

Last Saturday was a big day. Maddie turned six weeks old and Jalal and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. Since he had to work that night, we had to wait to actually celebrate until last night. We got a babysitter and went out to dinner. It was nice, especially the bottle of Cabernet. I haven't had a single drink in probably close to a year, so that was wonderful! I don't know if it was the wine or the relief from being out with my husband at dinner and not having to replace anyone's pacifier or ask for the 17th time if someone would please drink his milk. We really had a nice time, only we didn't have time to make it to a movie and we didn't know what else to do, so we just drove around a while and then came home early. We joked about getting a hotel room and just sleeping for a couple of hours, but it was cheaper to just go home and go to bed early. Hah! What a couple of dorks we are.

Maddie is smiling now, and it's adorable. She gives this big gummy grin and her dimple shows, and it just makes my heart melt. It's hard to catch on camera since it's just me trying to make her smile and take the picture at the same time, but here's what I've gotten so far.




Quinn is such a beast now. He has so much energy that he just literally runs around the house slamming into things at random. Whenever I get mad and fed up and tell him to stop doing something, he throws himself on the ground so hard that he ends up hurting himself. Does it make me a bad mom that I don't feel sorry for him one bit at that point?

Ok, to back up to what I've missed. We had our Easter Egg-stravaganza at the Bridge the week before Easter. Quinn had a blast, decorating cookies, coloring pictures, and finding eggs, of course. I love my church. We all feel so at home there. I have friends there who come up to me and say, "Quinn's a little stinky, so I'm going to take him to change him. Where is your diaper bag?" Isn't that crazy? It's amazing that it really doesn't take long to feel like they are family. My pastor's wife, Chris, is awesome. She works at her kids' school, so she had spring break last week. Midweek, she emailed me and emphatically insisted that I take her up on her offer to watch the kids while I go out and do something. I finally agreed and had almost two hours to run not-so-kid-friendly errands, like the Cartridge World, because of course I ran out of ink just as I received my first job after Maddie's birth. I also hit Hallmark because can you imagine me struggling with Maddie while Quinn ran up and down the aisles "reading" cards? Especially now that he knows some of them play music, I can't control him in there. Anyway, so Chris made it through most of his stack of puzzles while Maddie slept the whole time in her swing. It was so great of her to do that.






Speaking of puzzles, Quinn is amazing at them. He mastered his 12 and 20 piece puzzles months ago, but he would do them over and over again. When Trish came up for Maddie's birth, she brought this 48-piece construction scene puzzle from Melissa & Doug, a company I LOVE! I told her it was way too difficult. But it was just a few weeks later that I had to go out and find more of them because he was putting it together so well. I found two more just like it at Ross, a fish one and a dinosaur one. Here we are less than 5 weeks from his first attempt at the first one and now he can put them all together just about as quick as I can. It's crazy!!

We made it to the mall to visit the Easter bunny again this year. It started to look a little iffy with Quinn beginning a minor freak-out, and all I could think of was the Santa Claus fiasco last Christmas. I hate paying more than $20 to have pictures of my kid screaming on the lap of a stranger dressed up like a character. But when we told him he had to show his little sister how it's done and that he could ask the Easter bunny for a "special treat," he changed his tune. They turned out pretty cute. Here are the ones Jalal took.




Easter was really nice. We got a few pics of the kids all dressed up. Miss Maddie looked absolutely adorable in her Easter dress, and Quinn, of course, was quite the handsome little man. After church, we had a lovely traditional Easter dinner. For the first time since we met, Jalal made his mom's baked ham recipe, and I loved it! Those Hawaiians really know what they're doing with that ham and pineapple combo. Mmm mmm starts with M, as Quinn would say. Here are the little lovelies.






Somewhere in there in the last few weeks, we went to a circus in Spartanburg. To be honest, it was a little ghetto. Well, it was sort of half-ghetto/half-redneck. Hope I'm not offending anyone, but we were all abused by the urchins sitting behind and beside us. They were horrible. One little girl even reached over and grabbed a handful of our popcorn!! Seriously? Does anyone teach their children manners anymore? Do you think they have the decency to be ashamed? (The parents, I mean.) Anyway, Quinn had a good time, and he even rode an elephant. I think the next time we'll spend the extra money and go see Barnum and Bailey instead.




Well, I was flattered when I got an email from my contact at Cambria Press two weeks ago asking if I was ready to come back to work for them. I suppose that's a good sign, right? I just finished my first project for them, and wouldn't you know it was in Chinese. It was a good book, actually, but it was literally in Chinese. Well, some of it was. I have now done books that were partly written in Chinese, French, Herati (an Afghan dialect), and math. Yes, that's a language, and one I don't speak. But as stressful as it is watching the dishes and the laundry and the diapers pile up while I work frantically toward a deadline, I am so happy to have work. And I do like this job, so I am glad they like me, too.

Whew! That was a lot. I'm sure there is stuff I've missed, but it's probably minutiae. Like Quinn making Maddie scream when he throws her "teddy bear" (GloWorm) at her and hits her. Or how all of Maddie's pants are about 2 inches too big in the waist and fall off her. Or how we tried to take Quinn to a movie today to see "How to Train a Dragon." How even though we'd just eaten lunch, we had to feed Quinn peanut butter crackers, yogurt-covered raisins, Reese's Pieces, and a lollipop just to make it through the movie. (Don't judge us!) We also have had a couple of play dates with Maureen and Sarah and even met a couple of new moms. So we are making new friends, which is great. Oh, and whoever taught Quinn to say "are we there yet?" can bite me. Okay, time to go to bed. I'm exhausted! You probably are, too, after slogging through this post, which feels huge to me. That'll teach me to wait this long before writing! Love, Us.

Happy Spring!

I didn't even know it was the first day of spring today until I turned on the Today Show. And I wouldn't have turned on the Today Show unless Miss Maddie decided she needed to eat again just an hour and a half after her first breakfast. It's completely appropriate that it is spring now, since the weather here has been GORGEOUS! Plus it explains the manic cleaning I've been doing for the past three days: spring cleaning. That makes more sense than what I thought it was: post-baby nesting. I tell you, when Mama puts on her yellow rubber gloves, watch out! I cleaned the downstairs bathroom top to bottom, even the baseboards and the toilet brush holder. Then it was on to the kitchen, prompted by the fact that Quinn had shaken loose a bunch of my canisters that then fell back behind the lazy susan pantry thing. That took emptying the shelves, Quinn holding a flashlight, and me using a pair of long tongs to reach everything. I couldn't believe how many boxes of scalloped potatoes we had that expired in 2008. Whoops! Clearly we did not do much spring cleaning last year. I still have a long way to go, but I should be able to finish the kitchen today and move on to the upstairs bathrooms. That all depends on the cooperation of my children, of course. So far, Maddie has been extremely needy this morning, which wasn't much fun after a night of less sleep than usual. I guess I should be happy that we made it a full four weeks since Maddie was born without Jalal having to stay overnight at the hotel. Well, technically it was just two weeks since he went back to work. If it weren't for the income and the daily phone calls, I might start to feel like a single parent!! (Just kidding, not downplaying how tough it is for true single parents.)

So that brings me to the fact that Madigan is now four weeks old (give or take a few hours). Her doctor's appointment yesterday went well. She is 8 lbs, 9 oz. (30th percentile) and 21.5 inches long (61st percentile). Everything else was great. It was one day shy of when she could get her second Hep B shot, so we'll have to hold off on that. Quinn got a lollipop for behaving well, which he tried to share with Maddie. I told him Maddie couldn't have candy yet, and he asked, "why not?" I told him it was because she didn't have teeth yet and that we would just have to give him all the lollipops until then. He said, "Good idea, Mama! Good idea!" I thought he would like that. ; )

Here are a few pictures taken of Quinn and Miss Maddie lately. Hope this makes some of you happy (namely Trish and Mom!). Love, Us.



Quinn's special St. Patrick's Day breakfast: green milk, green eggs, and shamrock-shaped toast.

Pictures

Maddie will be three weeks old tomorrow. She is generally a good baby, requiring very little soothing other than to be held. She is starting to get a bit more demanding though, especially late in the evenings. Tonight, for instance, she is practically inconsolable unless I am holding her, which means I am practically inconsolable without a large bag of M&Ms. I am looking forward to early next week, when we are planning to introduce a bottle, so I can maybe get a stretch of sleep of more than three hours at a time. Quinn is a great big brother, but I need to start getting him out more because he is driving me crazy jumping around and running through the house and literally bouncing off the furniture. Every so often, he just forgets where Maddie is and lands a little too close to her head after a flip or something. I have to admit, though, that I am sick of answering his two favorite questions: Mama, what are we doing next? and What is baby Maddie doing? Usually he asks the former six times in a row; the latter is usually met with the answer, "Not much of anything, honey." My wonderful friends from church are providing a few meals, so I think we'll have enough chicken casseroles to last a while, which is actually a good thing, since I can cook maybe one chicken dish to every five beef dishes. I was worried about getting burnt out on my own ground beef meals, but not this week! Well, I know that isn't much of an update, but there really isn't that much going on. I think I'm going to have to feed this squalling baby and then put us both to bed. Good night! Love, Us.

Better Late Than Never

I know I should have done this 2 weeks and 4 days ago, but give me a break! I had a baby! Here are the details: Madigan Ruth Halaby was born at 1:44 p.m. on Saturday, February 20, 2010. She weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounce, and was 21 inches long. She was born with dark blue eyes and long dark hair (well, long in back anyway; it was sort of a mullet) with blond streaks. She prompted all sorts of comments about her size. The doctor pulled her out and held her up by her feet, saying, "I should charge by the pound!" The nurse measuring her tried desperately to fit Maddie's footprints onto the baby book page--barely. Trish and Jalal were there to help me bring her into the world, thank God for them. The laboring didn't go exactly as planned or hoped, but the end result was perfect. [Warning: Detailed labor story will follow. If you are not interested in this information, skip to the next paragraph.] We started the Pitocin at 7 a.m. that morning. After having fantastic nurses the day before and overnight, the nurse with us during labor was, well, lacking. She seemed like she could care less about my pain, and just kept knocking the dosage on the Pitocin higher and higher. Jalal and Trish helped me fight for getting out of bed and at least sitting on a birthing ball or changing position. I started the day at 3 cm dilated. After hours of laboring, I was hurting pretty bad. I could not catch my breath between contractions, and the monitor wasn't picking them up, so I didn't know when they were going to hit. Jalal and I had worked out a safe word for pain medication, so he didn't give in too easily. I really wanted to go without an epidural, and considering we did it with Quinn, I thought it was possible again. At around noon or so, I finally decided I had had enough, which was actually our safe word. He suggested we find out how far dilated I was at that point, thinking that I would be disappointed if I requested an epidural at 7 or 8 cm (he was right). So we asked Nurse Could Care Less to check me again. She did, and said I was at 4 cm. After 5 hours, about 3 of which were spent in a lot of severe discomfort, and I had only progressed one centimeter! At that point, I was ready to be out of pain and able to rest. So I ordered an epidural. Unfortunately, while my legs got nice and heavy, I still had pretty significant pain from my contractions. After another dose of the epidural medicine, the "hot spot" got a little smaller, but I still had painful contractions in the center of my abdomen. I kept thinking, Come on! If I'm going to give in and get an epidural, I at least want to feel no pain, right? I felt like such a baby because I was still complaining about the pain, and I could swear that the contractions were as bad at four centimeters as when I was in transition with Quinn. The nurse decided to check me again, and she said, "Oh, well, that explains the pain. You're at 10 cm." This was about an hour after I was at 4 cm. Yeah, I'd say that explains the pain. I had to hold on a while longer until they could get the doctor in there, and then I had to push twice. Within 20 minutes, Maddie was born!

So while it didn't go as planned, and it hurt a whole lot to get from 3 to 4 cm, going from 4 to 10 was pretty fast, and I didn't have the "burning ring of fire" that I had pushing Quinn out. I wasn't quite as delirious this time around, so it was a very different experience immediately after the birth. I will post more soon about the last couple of weeks, but I wanted to get the basics out before I got too many complaints. Love, Us (all four of us!!).