Just call me Webster...

Tonight I accidentally made up a new word: Horrideous.

I'm not sure if I was trying to say that the joke we heard was horrible, horrid or hideous, but somehow they blurred together and I've ended up with one that is even more of any of the three.

It pleases me.

And yet another...

Tonight the girls, working together, almost achieved another milestone. For the first time in their short lives they almost drove us crazy.

I am an only child and David has one sister who is 8 years older, so neither of us are very familiar with the apparent miraculous ability of siblings to push each other's buttons. And I can't say we've figured out how to deal with it. There was a lot of "Lilli, stop (fill in the blank) your sister", "Elizabeth, cut that out!" Seriously, the look of evil delight on Elizabeth's face as she yanked Elmo out of her sister's hands and waited for her reaction (naturally a piercing shriek) was frightening to see, and the glee with which Lilli was headbutting her sister in the face as they were pushed around Target in their shared cart made us fear for the future when they have access to things like scissors. This is new behavior for them that we need to figure out, and while generally they get along and play together beautifully, tonight they individually and in combination got on our last nerve.

We have never been so glad to put them to bed.

And you know what's funny? As I've said more than once I listen to a lot of podcasts. And I recently sent a nice long e-mail to one I interact with fairly regularly on how having two children is just as easy as having one. If we had planned Lilli, we might have not gotten around to more since we were so happy with dynamic the three of us had, but when Lilli came along she fit into the mix pretty seamlessly. We'd already adjusted to the changes a baby makes on your couple life, like actually having to eat balanced meals at regular times, and we were used to carrying a diaper bag and coordinating every departure from the house with military precision. So it was easy. And Elizabeth never had any problems accepting her sister. None of the things I hear about where the older child asks the mom to take the new baby back to the hospital. And Lilli was such a sweet and good natured baby, content to go anywhere and do anything. But now that she's developed her own distinct personality that is quite different from her sister's, things are getting interesting. And, I have to say, occasionally exhausting.

That being said...goodnight!

Cupcake

I just want to be on the record as stating that there is no better cupcake in the world than one made with Pillsbury Moist Deluxe Yellow cake mix (yes, I know, it's cheating, but I happily take deliciousness in all its forms) and topped off with chocolate icing.

I am baking some right this second for a friend's birthday and I want to climb into the oven to be with them, they smell that good. I know some of you agree with me and some of you don't (you know who you are), but I'm just saying...

YUM!

There's Something About Wednesdays...

Something about Library Night always makes me feel like blogging. Maybe it's being around all those books? Or maybe knowing that I'm midway through the week gets me giddy. I don't know.

What I do know is that I think I've discovered my dream career. I've never known what I want to be when I grow up, at least besides a stay-at-home mom which isn't practical for our family. So I've had some fairly diverse careers.

Today at work, while staring at spreadsheets and listening to podcasts all day, per usual, one of them had on a baby planner. Yep, you heard that right. A baby planner. Just like a wedding planner or event planner, but specifically and only for babies, and with much better hours. Or like being a personal assistant but without having to pickup dry-cleaning. Five minutes into hearing this woman talk and I wanted to work for her or with her or BE her. I have never heard of a job before that combines everything I love. List making, babies, baby showers, gift registries, birth prep, being around pregnant women, talking about pregnancy, researching baby gadgets, making things happen, did I mention LIST MAKING? I seriously love lists. You want a vacation packing list? I can whip you out a comprehensive one in 10 minutes. A To Do list for a move or party prep? I am so there. I flirted with the idea of becoming a doula or even a midwife since I love the whole process of pregnancy and birth, but once again, the hours...and the gore. Seriously, in the absence of the possibility of staying at home with my own sweet kiddos, talking with other woman about their impending little ones is my dream career.

It is a crying shame that I am a woman of more words than actions.

A milestone I'm not so proud of.

My last post depressed me so badly I thought I'd better do a quick pictorial recap of the good parts of today to cheer myself up again. You get to be a part of that. Yay!

So, we had a 3rd birthday party to attend for the son of our good friends. You will note that none of our friends or their children who were there are pictured. The whole "forgot to ask them if they minded" thing again. So if you see a child, they don't belong to our friends, so I don't much care what their parents think. Muhahahahahaha!

Anyway, the party was held at a gym-type facility called "Pump it Up". We've been there before and we liked it (I mentioned it several posts ago. The place that the army should hold basic training at? Remember?). Knowing how exhausting it is there and the planned timing of food (party starts at 12:15, food a couple hours later when typically my children should be napping), we stopped for lunch on the way. And Lilli achieved a milestone I'm not so proud of.

Her first Happy Meal:

Although you have to admit she does look really happy.

So, the point of this place is the inflatable bouncing thingies, obstacle courses and what not. All guaranteed to wear you out. This was Lilli's first time here.

"Mama, why have you put me in this giant letter P?"

"What? I climbed in here myself? And then refused to come out? Lies, Mama, Lies!"

For Elizabeth it was all about the bouncing. And the bouncing. And occasionally the falling down. And then some more bouncing:

Why what have we here? Oh yes! My darling's posterior!

Climbing the mountain:

Not an easy feat when the baby isn't helping at all.

Well, except to demand "More Whee! More Whee!"

Wheeeeeeeeeeee!

Look at the above picture, close your eyes for a second, and then take another look. Do that about 10 more times and save me the upload time.

"Mama, why have you set me down here among these strange children?"

"What? You say I know that one in the back? Why yes, I suppose I do! I guess she decided to join us after all. I told her not to take one last run through the obstacle course, but she never listens to me."

Oh look! There's the purty Grandma who came along. Hi Mom! I was very impressed that you went down the slide. Twice!

Hmmm. This is an interesting study. On one hand, the bottle she isn't supposed to have. On the other hand, well, IN her hand, an entire slice of pizza.

Baby or Big Kid? Baby or Big Kid? I guess we'll figure it out eventually.

Meanwhile I'll treat you to an action shot of Elizabeth with cupcake:

As you can see, it takes proper concentration to lick off all the icing without accidentally getting cupcake in your mouth.

Ahhhhhh. I feel much better. I was sappily singing "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music to Lilli as part of her lullabies tonight. "...when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feeeeeeeeeeel so baaaaaaad". And now that I have (my girls being right at the top of my list), I don't!

*sniff*

So, today my buddy C (that I've mentioned on here a time or two) moved to another state.

And of course I'm sad, and the finality of it is especially getting to me. Another friend noted that I was talking about this like she was going to be dead. Which is of course not the case. And, as the other friend pointed out, there's e-mail and all these friendly technologies to help me feel like C is still just over on the other side of 82 instead of a couple hundred miles away. Which is what I'm pretending to help me deal. It's not the end of everything. But of course I worry that it is. Some of you who read this blog are very aware of just how cruddy I am at keeping in touch. This is not the first time I have strongly resolved that I will e-mail (write, call, whatever), and always before I have at first and then I just don't know what happens to me. I guess I get distracted and then I don't know how to explain my lack of contact were I to try it, so I don't want to call and feel stupid, so I don't... It's a vicious circle.

I'm a little bit hopeful that maybe I won't do my usual fizzle this time due to the fact that pushing 30 seems to have made me all nostalgic. Thanks to Facebook and the wonders of blogging I'm back in contact with people I haven't seen or talked to in years. And I missed them. Not that you would know it by my contact with them, but I did. So maybe, just maybe it'll be ok. *sigh*

C, you're going to have to help me. And I miss you already.

Yes Sir, She's My Baby...

Lillian has a delightful habit of rubbing food on her head. Oatmeal, broccoli, pudding, bread, cheeseburger, whatever. In this photo she is demonstrating the remarkable "holding" properties the pizza bread stuff from Sweet Tomatoes has once it's been thoroughly rubbed into one's scalp.

She makes me feel so proud.