The Return of "Teddy"

Maddie has developed a sudden and complete love for the little (now quite mangy) stuffed bear (koala?) that I carried around as a young child. Mom has many stories of this bear and I, including the new nose and "hat" she had to sew on when the dog chewed him up. He is 32 years old, I believe, and his fragility limits his play time. Which is probably his appeal to the girls. He is basking in the new love that is being heaped on him despite his grunginess, which reminds me of the Velveteen Rabbit story.

What Kind of Mother Forgets the Camera on Christmas?

This kind.

It's true, I forgot to take my camera to my mother's house on Christmas Eve. Therefore, I have no pictures of my many children opening their many presents on Christmas morning. I know, I know. You all watched your own children open their presents, why do you want to watch my four children open theirs? It was fun, that's for sure. I would have liked to have a picture of Taylor opening her unicorn Pillow Pet. She saw them months ago at Walmart, and has not stopped asking for one since then. She (I) wrote it on her Christmas list that was posted on the fridge for the past three weeks. So, you can imagine her face when she opened that one. Unfortunately, that's all I can do too. Is imagine it. Because I forgot my camera on Christmas. What kind of mother does that??

The Favorite This Year

This was their gift from Grandma, and as you can see it is a huge hit. You should have seen Maddie whisking away. That is what she is doing in the last picture. As a matter of fact, you can see that she refused to turn around and look at the camera. She was too busy cooking!

Things I Have Learned This Week

1) It is actually better to buy the cheap diaper rash cream, I realized this morning as I was cleaning Boudreaux's Butt Paste for the second time this week off of the recliner. The cheap generic stuff is much thinner and easier to wipe up.

2) I can now fully understand why my mother never had the same excitement and love of Christmas that I had as a child. When you are the mother, not the child, Christmas brings loads of stress. The tree is coming down the day immediately following Christmas.

3) I have spoiled Madison, and coddled and babied her to the point that now she thinks she can get away with absolutely anything. And now that she is two, and can use logic and problem-solving to reach things she shouldn't, this is a big problem. She is in the full blown terrible twos.

4) My husband truly is a thoughtful, selfless person. I already knew this, but my appreciation for this facet of him has been renewed this week.

I can finally say that I am completely done Christmas shopping. And it is only the day before Christmas Eve! Plenty of time. There is definately no need to start earlier next year, nosiree. Plenty of time.

***eyeroll***

Somebody Call CPS!

Quick, someone call CPS--"Computer Protective Services".

Maddie ripped four keys off of the computer I am currently using, an old laptop that belongs to Corey's office. Suffering the same fate that my laptop suffered. Perhaps if we intervene now, this one can be saved.

Today I did something I should have done months ago. I threw every single non-washable crayon we had into the trash. This action has left us with 8 lone crayons. The non-washable ones are cheaper, you know. That was my reasoning for choosing those. Faulty reasoning.

This and That

If I have any readers left, I apologize to you for my rare and boring posts as of late. Things around here are pretty monotonous, although my mother-in-law was visiting for the past week (hi Mary!) so that was a welcome diversion. Ever since I dropped her off at the airport yesterday afternoon, Maddie has been repeatedly asking me "where her go?".

I am very relieved to say that I am pretty much done with my Christmas shopping, for the kids at least. I am very excited about the play kitchen that I found for the girls (a gift from my mom). It is old-fashioned, made mostly of wood (plywood), complete with red and white checked curtains. Taylor has been asking for one ever since I bought a big package of plastic food, and I didn't want a cheesy plastic one. I almost had to settle for the pink plastic Disney Princess one that talked and played music (ugh), when suddenly I saw this one. There was only one left, and it is exactly what I have been hoping for. I can't wait for the girls to open it on Christmas morning.

Our Christmas tree this year leaves a lot to be desired. It's really quite a sad sight. The ornaments are all on the top 1/3, and not solely because of the little ones. My cat spent the first night the tree was up grabbing the red balls and batting them around the living room. At first the ornaments were at least spread out on the top part of the tree, but little hands have rearranged them into clumps. We have a pre-lit tree, and Taylor keeps trying to unwind the strands of lights from the branches. Not a good thing. Poor tree. I should have bought that hideous shiny white table top tree from Garden Ridge. It was pre-lit also, and already so "festive" that it wouldn't even have needed ornaments. Truly gawdy, that thing was. But is was 50% off, so I really was tempted.

The girls had their first visit to the dentist last Friday. I know, I know, I'm way behind with Taylor. But they both did very well, and the dental hygenist was very pleased the extremely low amount of plaque build-up that Taylor had, especially for her age and for never having had a cleaning before. You wanted to know that I'm sure. Maddie just had an exam, and her teeth look great too. Whew.

One final note. Or question, rather. A person should be allowed to have something, something that belongs only to them and doesn't get destroyed by small people, right? Right?

Traditions

One of our family Christmas traditions is making stockings. Each year I buy 4 plain stockings, some fabric puff paint, and let the kids decorate their stockings. We started this tradition in 2006, so I have piles of red stockings in a box in the attic. Here are some pictures from this year.

Two Things That Are Really Annoying Me Right Now

1) Having to run the A/C still. In December. While Corey is hanging Christmas lights. Why do I live in this state?

2) Maddie getting back out of her crib after we have put her to bed for the night to go potty. Three times every night at least. Six times last night. Can't she just wear diapers forever?

Rock-a-bye Baby

Taylor is such a little mommy. So is Maddie, for that matter. The game lately is to put all doll babies and various stuffed animals on Maddie's green potty and on the regular toilet padded seat insert (placed on the ground, of course) and talk and talk about how they all need to go potty. Here is Taylor, rocking her favorite thing to "mother".

Can you guess what it is?

How about now?

No? Look a little closer.

Why yes, you are right! It is Finn, the most recent addition to our family.


Before you call the Humane Society, she is just keeping him warm as he dries from his bath. He has a tendency to shake like crazy when he is wet, so every time we give him a bath we wrap him in a baby blanket and hold him until he warms up. No cruelty involved.

Painting

Ohh, the mistakes we make as parents.

Like buying paint kits from the dollar bin. Cheap paints=not washable.

In Memory of Hilary Jane Ferguson

Last night I found out that a dear friend of mine passed away unexpectedly. Her name was Hilary, we met at church around 20 years ago, and she was my roommate 13 years ago while living in a small apartment, when I met my first husband. In fact, he was the one who called late last night to tell me. They had remained friends, and he had found out through Facebook. What a way to learn of something like that, right? It was very unexpected and sudden, and we don't know what happened yet. I haven't seen her since Taylor's 4th birthday party in February, and it has been at least 3 months since we have even spoken. Still, I am shocked and saddened beyond belief. She was only 5 years older than me. So young to die. I just cannot understand this. It just goes to remind you that you never know when the last time you see someone will indeed be the last time. Rest in peace, Hilary. I will miss you.


***edited to add: I just received an email from her sister, and apparently she hadn't been feeling well for a few days. When she missed an appointment with her mom and sister, they sent a friend over to her apartment to check on her. She had died in her sleep on Sunday night/Monday morning. I feel for the friend who found her that way. It appears at this point that her death was due to her heart condition. I knew she had congestive heart failure, but was not aware that she was having any symptoms.