ooh la la

This weekend Neil and I have our little 24-hour-getaway. While we're not going to Paris (I just liked this picture), I am really excited to have a whole day alone with my sweetheart.

One of the things I'm really looking forward to are the meals we have planned--right now the house smells like roasted garlic (tonight we decided to cook up some favorites ourselves rather than going out, so the menu is grilled sirloin steaks, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, spinach and strawberry salad, and crusty baguettes. Plus a total dietary splurge--jalapeno poppers to munch out while we wait for the steaks to cook). We're planning on going out for breakfast, which for some reason always epitomizes decadence to me--it's probably my favorite meal to go out for, perhaps because it's never very feasible with small ravenous children who insist on eating five seconds after they've woken up. Ooh, I am excited. Plus I think we may sneak out and take advantage of Applebee's half-price appetizers because we can leave the house after ten p.m.! Exciting stuff.

Other than that, we're pretty up in the air. We've got a bunch of ideas that we've been tossing around, depending on the weather and how lazy we feel--so I'm just looking forward to a weekend of doing whatever we want to, whether it's several hours of raquetball, a long tramp in the rain through the woods, a trip to some of the really fun stores in Indianapolis, or playing chess in our pajamas in front of the fireplace. Indulgence, indulgence, indulgence.

And now, speaking of indulgence, I am skipping my normal afternoon workout because I promised Neil I would take a nap this afternoon (since otherwise I will fall asleep before 8:30 tonight). Maybe I'll eat a box of chocolates or something really decadent while I'm at it, since it's almost two and I used the girls' lunchtime to pick over the spinach rather than sitting down and eating (except the only chocolates we have are the ones that my dad brought me from San Francisco, and I hid them from Neil to stop their speedy disappearance and then I forgot where I hid them. A hunt is in order...my mouth is watering for almond-chocolate coated toffees. Actually, I still have the makings of those Cafe Rio sweet pork salads in the 'fridge, so maybe we'll do both...am I making you hungry yet?).

service in your slippers

My life seems to have gotten busier and busier lately. I realized recently that it's been awhile since I've brought anyone dinner, babysat for someone who was sick, or did any number of the little acts of service that keep me feeling like I'm a contributing member of society. I can think of lots of ways that I could be more involved in the community or various service projects that I've heard about, but somehow they never seem to fit with my schedule. Cue the feelings of guilt, and wondering if my children will ever grow up to be service-oriented people if I'm slacking off. So I've resolved to do two things about this: one, to try to be more aware of what the people around me are struggling with, and two, to make service a regular thing, rather than a "when it arises" type of thing.

So here's what I've found really helps me in that second goal and fits with the only free time I have (at home, during naptime): Family Search.org's indexing opportunities. After you create an account (and go through a couple of brief tutorials), you can download batches of names from census records and type up the handwritten records into a readable and organized format. The website is free and open to anyone who wants to either contribute as an indexer or do research on their own family lines. Generally, a batch of fifty names takes me about an hour (I'm definitely still learning!). Yes, it does eat up my rare free time, but it also makes me feel a little glow for having done something more virtuous with that hour than blog-surfing (although I've only promised myself to do 100 names a week, so I still have LOTS of hours to fritter away on other things!)

I'm blogging about this not to put myself on a pedestal, but because I want to spread the word about how easy this is, and also because I'd really like to hear if you have any similar things that you're involved in--service from home, in small chunks? Please share!!!

announcing...

And it's a...

BOY!!

We are all so excited! Neil couldn't stop grinning all through the rest of the ultrasound (and out to the car...)--and kept saying things like, "Father-son campouts!" "Dump trucks!" "GI Joe!" Abigail sweetly volunteered to share some girl clothes with her brother and followed that up by saying, "When he is born, I will teach him to play Barbies and how to put on makeup." Juliet has clutched her printout of the baby's face tightly in one fist for the last two hours (the picture is now a crumpled little blob. The ultrasound tech was FABULOUS--very personable, lots of commentary on everything we were seeing, and gave each of the girls a picture of the baby with their names typed across the bottom.)

And me? I'm very excited. A little nervous about changing diapers (and daunted by the prospect of acquiring all the baby clothes/toys all over again), but very, very, very excited. Very grateful that the baby is healthy and growing well and that both girls are (at least, Abigail is, who knows what Juliet thinks) excited for this addition to our little family.

enjoying the days

Jules a year ago

I feel really lucky right now to be at a stage with both kids where they're just plain fun. Sure, we have the occasional day (like yesterday) where Juliet's like a lamprey attached to my leg, but by and large I spend most of the time chuckling to myself. It's nice to have two little people who are not just on predictable sleeping and eating schedules, but are also actual little people with fascinating and winsome personalities.

For instance, this morning I had trouble concentrating on the aerobics routine because I was so entranced by the picture of Juliet diligently doing squats in time with the instructor (I kept looking around to see if anyone else had noticed--my kid is so awesome! Hee hee!)

Or later in the car I laughed to myself while Abigail launched on a long involved explanation of how sometimes "cookie" really DOES start with a T, because when Juliet asks for a cookie, she always says "tuh-tee."

This could be a much more detailed and eloquent post (especially since I've been thinking about this a lot lately), but I have other things to do...like join in the laugh-fest going on behind me as the girls look at each other in close-up through a set of backwards kiddie binoculars.

Oh--we find out the baby's gender tomorrow. Any guesses?

last photos of dinner theater

what we came up with when the photographer said "be goofy." don't you think my arms look weirdly skeletal? ick.

A couple more dinner theater photos, and then I'm done...

I forgot to mention before that the whole thing had an '80s theme. So all the characters were supposed to be famous people from the '80s, with a slight twist (read on and you'll see what I mean). In these photos, from left to right, we have the director (who also wrote the play), Joe Nebraska, Max Powers, Michael J. Facts, Nick Nixon, Danny Drums, Principal Adam Zapel (say it out loud), and the assistant director. Front row: Hall monitor Sherry Johnson (the narrator, who had a MILLION lines and was fabulous!), Natalie Nebraska, Pamela Abdul, Cindy Crawfish (that would be me), and Molly Ringworm. We had all the stereotyped characters--the athlete, the nerd, the band guy, the punk, the politician, the drama queen, the dance captain, the cheerleader, and whatever you would call my character, because I'm not really sure (man-eater is probably pretty accurate). In any case, one thing I really enjoyed was just getting to know so many other people in the ward--they tried for a cast that covered a wide range of ages, so it wasn't just newlyweds or young parents or older members, but a great mix. I got the chance to get to know people that I haven't really talked to in the 3 years we've been here, simply because we just don't cross paths much outside of church.

When they first came in to the "commons" area, all the guests were given a nametag with a photo from an '80s yearbook and a silly name like Beau Tye or Anita Bath. There was also a slideshow running in the corner with ward members' high school photos, a band (comprised of the youth) playing in the corner, etc. The cast mingled with the guests for about half an hour before the play started, establishing our characters and generally being obnoxious (my character was "famous enough" so that I got to have my own entrance with theme music, which was a lot more fun the second night when I wasn't so nervous). The whole thing was really cute, and I think everyone had a good time.

This shot was supposed to be everyone in character...more or less.



Oh, and if you want to know about the decorations (which were pretty sweet), you can get an idea of what they looked like here. If you click on (and enlarge) the sixth photo down you can see my face Photoshopped onto Cindy Crawford's body. I liked looking at that poster and pretending it was real. :-) Too bad I didn't ask to take it home.

And last but not least, here's my understudy, who insisted on watching me put on my jewelry and curl my hair every night, and refused to venture from my side until I was out the door (as you can see, once I gave in and let her wear some sweet '80s lipstick). She watched with great sadness when all the jewelry went back to its real owners, but gleefully rejoiced that the sequined jacket (a Goodwill find) got to stay at our house. Oh, and the green on her cheek? That would be from a snowflake stamp...apparently she decided to decorate herself while she was watching me.

dinner theater recap (first night, at least)

So we (finally!) had our first dinner theater performance last night--I thought it

actually went really well! It was definitely a relief to be able to perform and sort of get it over with, rather than just stressing about it constantly (although I dreamed about running my lines ALL NIGHT last night). The thing that was most scary for me was the idea of pretending to flirt with all the guys there--my character was supposed to be Cindy Crawford--I think it would have been fine if I hadn't actually known anyone, but since everyone was in our stake (and mostly from our ward), it was pretty intimidating--especially with my husband watching (and laughing). Make that really, really intimidating.

Neil came last night, so he took a couple of pictures; unfortunately, it was pretty dark so only one (sulky-looking, unfortunately) at the show actually turned out (although since I had four paparrazzi (some of the Young Men) following me around all night and taking pictures constantly, there could be a good four thousand pictures out there that I don't know about). It was pretty fun having an excuse to go totally over the top with my clothes and makeup--sequins, huge rhinestone earrings, lots of bracelets and necklaces, bright red lipstick, the whole nine yards. Abigail, of course, now wishes that I dressed like that every day.



We got lots of laughs, lots of compliments afterwards, and LOTS of donations for the YM/YW camp programs this summer, so I'm really excited about that--it was so nice to hear those totals after the show and realize that as silly as we may have felt onstage, we were doing something really awesome to benefit the youth programs.

The most exhausting part for me was the clue-giving--the stuff onstage was fine, but we spent a total of 70 minutes out in the audience running from table to table dropping clues about the other characters (the premise of the show was that it was a 25-year high school reunion, and one of the cast members had tried to murder a late-arriving guest). By the end of the night, my arches were aching so much that I couldn't walk without my heels on, and most of us just sort of slumped into chairs and lay around like wet noodles.

But it was still fun, even if it was terrifying at times and totally exhausting by the end, and I hope everything goes well tonight (and hopefully someone else took better pictures that I can post here eventually).

by the way...

If you're reading this in Google Reader, it cut off the last half of the last post (which is the bit where I talked about Abigail's latest little cute-isms), so click on over and catch up!

guess what? the girls napped for three hours today. blessed, blessed children...I slept too!

moderation in all things

Today we took a break.

A real, honest-to-goodness rest day. Due to decorating for the dinner theater, both Abigail's preschool and my aerobics classes were cancelled, which meant that for the first time this semester, we had a day where nobody was supposed to be somewhere.

Can I just tell you how divine it was to still be in bed at 8 am, cuddled up next to a fluffy-headed little Abigail, drowsily listening to Juliet's morning songs coming over the monitor? And how lovely it was to have a leisurely breakfast with the girls, and to take half an hour to clean up after breakfast, and spend the morning doing nothing more arduous than reading lots of stories, a brisk and rejuvenating walk, a bit of vacuuming, and mixing up **granola bars? Oh, it's nice to have days like these--while I love having exciting things to do and fun places to go, it's always lovely to have a day where you have nothing to do but play and have fun. I go crazy being home all day every day, but today it's sure been a nice break from the rest of this jam-packed week.

Cute Abigail story of the day: Yesterday the bagger at the grocery store gave her the standard roll of stickers. As is her wont, she immediately stuck one on herself, one on Jules, put one carefully in the pocket of her coat to give to Neil (you better believe that was on his sleeve within sixty seconds of his entry through the door last night), and the last? She very carefully stuck it on my stomach, patted it gently, and said, "There, Mommy...I gave that sticker to the baby."

I love how she wants to say hello to the baby every morning, kisses my stomach occasionally throughout the day, is vigilant about reminding me not to pick her up ("I'm too heavy, Mommy! You might kill the baby! I can do it myself!"), and always reminds Jules to be very careful when she's sitting on my lap. I'm so thrilled that she's as excited for this baby as her parents are, and she sees it as a welcome addition to her little family (although she did specify last night that she would like a girl, because "we have enough daddies and I would like it to grow up and be a mommy because we always need lots of mommies.")

**The granola bars were super-tasty, especially if you like peanut butter, which my girls do. I found that I needed to bake them for about 10 minutes longer than the recipe suggested, perhaps because I'm in a more humid climate. Most of the ingredients are ones that I had on hand, but I did end up leaving out the lemon zest, substituting blenderized oats for the oat bran, and switching out a heaping 1/2 c. of sugar plus 1/8 c. milk for the honey, since my honey is just about gone and I didn't have quite enough.

the rain rain rain came down down down

house rule: when it's raining outside, you must eat your snacks in a boat.

p.s. do you like Abigail's socks? when I commented on their non-matchingness, she responded, "But Mommy...I like to be colorful." (so much for folded laundry, eh?)

oh my

This morning I fell asleep on the bus to campus (while staring at an open set of scriptures in my lap). I'm not sure if it was the five hours I spent in traffic last night on the way back from my parents' (should have been a three-hour drive, but the freeway was closed and so we got to be diverted through teeny back roads) or dread of the upcoming week and a desire to get as much sleep as possible, whenever possible. I had a nightmare last night where I was already in bed, half asleep, and then I realized I was supposed to be at rehearsal.

Here are a few of the exciting things I've got on my calendar:

• Three-hour rehearsals (starting at 8:30 pm) three nights this week
• Two five-hour performances (and then it will be over! Yay! Sleep again!)
  
• Four visiting teaching appointments
• ENT appointment for Jules
• regular life: hauling myself out of bed at 6 am to go teach, LOTS of grading, keeping everyone fed, clothed, and reasonably clean, while finding time to exercise and have meaningful play and story periods with the kids.

so you'll forgive me if this is my last post for awhile...

Valentine's idea

Abigail's preschool party has been postponed tomorrow, occasioning some gloomy little faces trudging around here. After all the mailbox-decorating and cooking-planning, it's quite the letdown when you're only three.

So I'm planning a quick stop off at the grocery store after aerobics so that we can spend the rest of the morning tomorrow making these adorable little pies (spotted on Design Mom). For downloadable instructions and the free PDF template for the box, visit Twig and Thistle.

Wouldn't you love to get one of these adorable little packages on Valentine's Day? I think this would make the perfect little something to slip into the backpack, purse, or driver's seat of anyone special in your life, be it a wonderful roommate, a doting spouse, or charming little kidlets.

favorite Christmas present

First of all, thank you all so much for your comments on the last posts! Great food for thought--thanks again!




not my boots exactly, but pretty close for a Google-ized image


Neil asked me a few days after Christmas what my favorite present was, and I told him it was too earlier to tell.

After this morning, it's official: the Columbia boots my parents gave me. They've been my loyal companions through deep snow, keeping my toes toasty warm in sub-zero temperatures. And now they've further proved themselves after I waded through torrential rain (literally--my pants were splashed to the knee) to the bus.

Oh boots, I love you!

And everyone else who gave me a gift this year, I love them too. I just happen to be feeling particularly appreciative today that I am not shivering from cold like everyone else in my classroom, because my feet are DRY! and WARM! (this is especially exciting because all last semester, I was shivering and miserable because my fashionable high-heeled dress boots also happened to let in so much water that I could literally feel the water welling up between my toes with each step).

What was your favorite present this year? And if you wore snow boots to work, would you bring other shoes to change into when you got there? (I did the first couple weeks of the semester, but then the effort of lugging them along too with a briefcase full of papers and books conquered my shoe vanity. Plus I'm lecturing behind a podium setup anyway. But I do keep surreptitiously checking out the footwear of passing professors to see what they're wearing.)

I felt the baby move today for the first time!

I feel like I need to blog just because there are so many ideas/thoughts whizzing around in my head. Must! Set! Free!

• It's warm! I want to go dig holes all over my yard and plant things. Except it's still so squishy that yesterday when we were playing on the swingset my tennis shoes got soaked, just from standing there and pushing swings.
• There's a girl in our ward who teaches a free aerobics class at the church every single weekday. I love her for this, and every class I wish that I too could be an aerobics instructor, because how cool is it to give something like that to people? Every day.
• After living in this house for more than two years, I finally have a grip on how to balance keeping the house clean with keeping my sanity and spending enough time with the kids. Good thing another baby's coming soon before I get too complacent.
• Do you have a husband who remembers to fold the laundry while he's feeding the kids breakfast? I do. I love him dearly.
• My former college roommate and dear friend Jen is coming to visit me for spring break (how fortunate are we that both of our spring breaks coincided!), and we are going to have so much fun.
• Tonight for dinner I'm making red beans and rice. This is a meal that I always refused to eat whenever my mom made it, so I really hope that it's one of those things I just refused to eat out of principle because it looked Mexican, and I never ate Mexican food until Neil and I got married. Nor did I eat onions, or mushrooms, or garlic, or lots of other things that I can't live without now.
• Did you know Neil proposed to me four weeks after we started dating? And then we got married ten weeks later?
• I want to recover this futon sitting behind me, but I'm a little nervous about a project that big. Any tips?
• All my March magazines have articles about gardening and making dinners with fresh seasonal veggies. It's torture, I tell you.
• Whenever I'm pregnant I have very vivid dreams. Some highlights from the last three days: someone abandoning kittens at our doorstep, which then proceeded to defecate all over our house, so I put Juliet's diapers on them; the world economy totally tanking and resulting in mass looting and total anarchy, and I kept wishing I'd ordered more powdered milk for our food storage; random neighbors stopping by and inviting themselves in right when I was about to put the kids down for naps, and being very irritated that they wouldn't leave so that I could go lie down too. One of my favorite things about actually having the baby is having a peaceful night's sleep and not waking up in the middle of the night terrified/irate/confused (Neil also really likes this, because half the time I dream he's left me for another woman because I'm pregnant, and I've been known to wake him up by hitting him in my sleep).
• Another thing I look forward to about having a baby: being able to ring a bell and someone brings you food in the middle of the night. Food that you did not prepare, nor do you have to wash the dishes afterwards. Hospitals aren't so bad when you think about it that way.
• I really like BLTs. And string cheese.
• Everyone always asks me when I'm going to do a Ph.D. in English, and guess what? I don't really want to do a Ph.D. in English. I would rather (a) get a Ph.D. in finance and teach, (b) be a financial planner, or (c) go to cooking school. Neil's vote is (c).
• This weekend we're going to my parents' so that we can see Rosalind's musical. Abigail is going to go with us for the first time, and you would think someone had handed her the moon. She is thrilled.
• Tomorrow I'm planning on making pink snickerdoodles with Abigail to hand out as Valentine's treats to her preschool class. I'm really looking forward to this.
• Speaking of preschool, I'm having the most enormous inner debate about whether to send Abigail next year or not. I only signed her up for three months this year, and while it's been nice to have only one chickadee for a few hours twice a week, I really don't want to commit to four days a week for three hours kind of thing, because quite frankly, I don't want her gone that much, and I think Juliet would go crazy with missing her. But on the other hand, our school district ONLY offers all-day kindergarten, and I'm really worried about her going away for 7 hours a day when she's been at home free to do whatever she wants. Plus it seems like here preschool is practically required in order to have all the skills to start kindergarten, which is now more like first grade. And last thing--it's quite expensive, enough so that we'd be using the money to pay for preschool that's currently being diverted into both Abigail and Juliet's college funds (not that we're really socking it away at an insane rate, but still). Any thoughts?

okay...I think I'm all written out now.

photo essay

I've been pretty bad about uploading my pictures lately, so here's a smattering of eight all at once.

We've been enjoying the afternoon sun as the days get a little longer--it's perfect for dancing after naps.

And speaking of dancing, on Saturday night we had a houseful of six little girls. Six. I think Neil felt a little overwhelmed.



The symphony on Friday was so fun--the kids ate Goldfish and started begging to go home after the first two songs. Neil and I hushed them with more Goldfish and tried to focus on Gershwin and Beethoven. Of course, the song both kids liked the most (and even Juliet started singing) was the gimmicky one that Neil and I found most obnoxious. Due to Abigail and Juliet's superior memories and vocal facility, it's been stuck in everyone's heads all weekend.



On Saturday it warmed up so much that all our snow melted (slush! mud!) and we ventured outside for a blissful sunny walk, then launched a kite up into the blustery skies while our baguettes baked inside.

And today I finally took a picture of my expanding baby stomach (note: every time Abigail mentions "the baby in Mommy's tummy," Juliet lifts up my shirt and checks to make sure the baby isn't hiding there. I think she's convinced that Abigail is just playing a trick on her). With both Abigail and Juliet, I never took pictures until the day before I was due, so this time I vowed to actually document it a bit better. I wish I'd done this the first time around, because I'm definitely noticing that by the third pregnancy, my stomach muscles have happily thrown in the towel months ago. Oh well.

Anyway, here is the "before" shot in October (sorry about the workout clothes)...


...and the 17-week shot now. Notice how my head isn't in either of them? That's because when someone else takes the picture I never know what to do with my arms (can't have them in front of my stomach) so it ends up just being easier to take it myself. Plus, it has the added bonus of making me stand up straighter and then I look skinnier than I do in real life when I'm slouchy and tired).



And I promise my skirt isn't really that red...at least, I hope the color combo wasn't that bad at church today.

eighteen months old

At eighteen months, Juliet is enchanting, curious, and willful as they come. She's also extremely attached to her "bee" (blanket), her "hippo hippo," and retreats to her den in the laundry room (nesting on the snow boot tray) when her feelings are hurt. She loves reading stories, delights in Lincoln Logs, chatters nonstop, and has not met the furniture that she cannot climb. Jules refuses to back down or give in, and is often found holding on ferociously (and being dragged across the room) to a toy to which Abigail has laid prior claim and is trying vainly to rescue from Juliet's vice grip. She has us all constantly alternating between a state of clenched-teeth frustration and sheer hilarity. And last but not least, Juliet never ceases to amaze with new skills and competencies, and we often comment on how she'll be a total genius, if all of us can survive her sure-to-be-wild childhood/adolescence. I am head over heels for this child.

Not the most flattering of shots, but it does show off her enchanting eyes (and a mouthful of carrots).

The hair, unfortunately, (since my sisters are always asking hopefully!) continues to be rather unmanageable. Once I tried to put the curls into a little ponytail and she looked like a Mafia child.

Today was her first day of nursery--her teachers told us later that they wished all children behaved so well, and that she sat quietly in her chair, followed instructions, and never shed a tear. Hurrah!

Juliet meets cookies: not a sight for the faint-hearted (and the floor received its second sweeping and mopping of the day).

But as is the nature of eighteen-month-olds, just when you think you can't take any more drama, mess, and general upheaval, they're so darn cute that you sweep them up in your arms and vow that you could have a hundred more children if they were all as darling as this one.

the nonbeliever

Yesterday afternoon the girls and I took a little ride on a star-spangled magic carpet in our living room (my solution to being worn out from a lot of interpretive dance to Vivaldi's Four Seasons--we were all supposed to be fairies, and I think kids come with little rocket packs. Little tutu-bedecked rocket packs).

So I'm describing--in great detail, and really getting into it--all the things I see zooming by beneath us (like a flame-breathing dragon, pink and purple birds--standard imaginative fare), and then a frowning Abigail told me it was night and we couldn't see anymore. I think she was worried that I was starting to veer a little close to the Cliff of Lies, since we've really been emphasizing honesty lately ("must save Mommy from herself! there are obviously no fuschia dragons about!").

So I asked her what she saw in the sky, and she said nothing, and I said, "What about those twinkly lights up there? Tilt your head back, do you see them now? For pretend?"

And so she leaned back, squinted, then looked at me and said, "I don't know...they kind of just look like pictures [on the wall] to me."

If the kid winds up a skeptic, don't blame me...I tried.

thankful Thursday

Things that are making me smile today:

• A lovely interlude with Jules at the downtown library this morning
• Scheduling my ultrasound (3 weeks away!) and being told I was "slender" by the doctor--I don't think there's any nicer compliment you can pay to a pregnant woman!
• Stopping off at the health food store and placing a bulk order to restock pantry goodies: brown rice, steel-cut oats, and dried pineapple and papaya
• A family trip to the symphony tomorrow night (free kid-centered performance!)
• Explaining to Abigail how an ultrasound works (in terms of bats and dolphins, since she knows about echolocation) over our delicious breakfast of crunchy homemade granola
• Taxes are done!
• Abigail made a puppet today and named it "Mommy," and told me the puppet brown hair and brown eyes, so it would look like me. I was really touched by that.
• Yesterday in general: I was so not looking forward to it that I was grumpy all day Tuesday, but it turned out so well. I graded 19 sets of employment documents (halfway done! hurrah!!), taught two classes, had rehearsal for 2.5 hours, and still managed to do the things I really WANTED to do: playtime and lots of stories with the girls, all the housecleaning and meals, and even squeezed in a rejuvenating 3-mile walk. It was a serious answer to prayers (more like pleas) along the lines of "please help me do it all today." And fueled by lots of apples and plums.
• My first real quilting class tonight--I am SO in love with the pile of happy bright fabrics on my sewing table and I can't wait to get started!!! I have one class a month for the next year and I am really super excited for it. I love making pretty things.

What are you thankful for today?

perhaps paradoxical, but happy thought nonetheless

A conversation with Neil last night produced this jointly-created aphorism:

If life seems easy, there's something you're not doing.

What do you think? Personally, this idea is comforting to me: it makes me feel like all my struggles, whether they be big or small, aren't because I'm falling short; it's because I'm doing what I need to be doing: learning and growing and conquering my difficulties. And then moving on and finding some more.

But really, what do you think?

**and lest you worry, my day is going just fine today. :-)

the fine art of escape

This afternoon when I turned off the treadmill, I heard a whump whump whump sound coming from the other side of the house. Then I heard Juliet singing loudly in her crib (nap? what nap?). The chortling and whumping continued, so I peeked in to check for wall damage.

Guess what I found--another mini Houdini!

Neil and I used to chuckle about Abigail's ability to undress herself before she had actually mastered the use of her limbs. My personal favorite: the time we found a five-week-old Abigail naked (except for her diaper) at the top of her crib, while eighteen inches away was her beswaddled nightgown, still wrapped up securely in its cocoon of blankets with the arms folded neatly across the chest. Under the blankets.

Explain that one to me.

So today this is how I found Juliet--sweater unsnapped, onesie hanging loosely, one elephant slipper halfway across the room, one sock on the floor. And get this--her pants were off but the other slipper was still on. How, I ask you? How? Those are some fat little elephants. And apparently one very determined little Juliet.

I thought about taking a picture, but then I thought that was giving in a little too much to the blog-mind, so I just put her clothes back on and kissed her good-night again. But since the chortling has turned to crying, I think naptime is officially over for the day (seeing as how it began two hours ago. Shucks).

Moments like this, oddly enough, really make me relish being a stay-at-home mother. Would a nanny bother to tell me "your child took off her pants, but not her slipper?" Probably not, because really, it's not that important in the grand scheme of things. But in stay-at-home mommyland, it made me laugh and kiss those adorable little Juliet cheeks, grateful that I was there to tuck those chubby legs back into their fuzzy pants. And chuckling over the fact that I have yet another child who will require surreptitious checking in the wee hours of the night in order to insert wayward arms back into sleeves, tuck round little tummies back under their nightgowns, and give a final smoothe to sleep-tousled hair.

at last!

Feeling better again, just in time to attend a much-anticipated sledding party?

Priceless.