Sam tried to bake his ducks

Being the good mom, thought I'd whip up some cookies for my children. My mother bought me some cookie dough, so I put the oven on three fifty to preheat and spooned out the dough onto the cookie sheet - after a few minutes, I opened the oven to discover that my son had put his two favorite stuffed animals (Quackie 1 and Quackie 2) into a sleeping bag cover bag and stuffed it into the oven. Where I baked it.

I feel as though am I ill prepared for a boy. For this boy - Jessica would NEVER have attempted this. It just wouldn't have occured to her... I could have burned the whole apartment down if I had actually let the oven preheat the way I'm supposed to - fortunately, I'm not a patient baker and the ducks just got a little toasty, and not actually hot enough to catch on fire. Did I mention it's a gas stove??? I knew he put stuff in the microwave, I'm used to opening that and finding straws or toys or measuring cups - but he's never done the oven before. I'm afraid of what he'll do next.

I was on the phone with my mother, telling her what her grandson had just done - when I realized that he was standing on the desk next to the computer, applying sunscreen to the monitor.... he's lucky he's cute. He toddled out of Jessie's room earlier with a pull up on his head like a hat, sucking on a medicine dropper like it was a cigar. It's moments like that - that's what's saving him from me killing him.

Can I reschedule Mother's Day? Do I get a "do over"

Yesterday was just kind of crappy. Not entirely sure why.... it started out nice enough. Marc got up, made coffee, did the dishes, all of which was wonderful... then my mother in law cancelled coming over here for brunch. Which was good in a way, because then I could relax about cleaning up, but we had gotten Lilli and Sarah over to see her. Then Jessie threw her first temper tantrum of the day because we had to bring the girls back... and we were off and running. She just had a miserable day, mostly. She was pleasant enough with my mother, we went over there for the afternoon, but Marc was really distant and weird all afternoon, Sam was a complete koala baby, I think he was afraid that I'd up and leave him again, so he demanded that I hold him all day long. Jess was just nasty and mean, yelling at me and being all around wretched.

But ah - today is glorious Monday, and all is well in my world. Kids are cute, Jessie stayed home from school today (she had such a crappy weekend I figured she needed a day to recover, plus she was complaining about her allergies) and Sam is cute as a bug - I got him a Thomas the Train t-shirt on Friday, and no lie, he's had it on every day since. I pry it off of him occasionally to wash it, but he's literally screaming at me while I do it, and mourns it's loss the entire time it's being laundered. Marc just picked up Jess to get her cast checked out, it's really loose, so I'm hoping that they give her a new one, or just pronounce her wrist 100% healed :-)

Almost there....

God, it's been a long week. And this weekend is going to be absolute lunacy, not that most of our weekends are crazy, but this one is a little excessive. Tomorrow, I have to get up, grab all the library books (there are thousands) and the dry cleaning, drop off Jess at preschool, Marc and work. Hit the library, Target to get a gift for Jessie's friend's party on Saturday, and the dry cleaners. Grab Jess, go home, babysit for a friend's three little boys while making challah, after they leave, I load up Jess and Sam in the pouring rain, pick up Lilli and Sarah at the JCC, come home, finish making dinner, host Shabbat dinner with all four kids, plus Janet and Company. Lilli and Sarah are spending the night, I have to bring Jess to dance, drop the girls off, drop Jessie off at Annie's house, drop Sammy off at my sisters and go to Beverly for Greg's party. Then pick them all up (except for the girls) and come back home. Sunday, we'll do Mother's Day - which for us is trekking back and forth between Yvonne's and my mother's house. I'm tired just typing it.

Kids are both well - Jess is a little whiney, but I think she does it for her own amusement half hte time. Sam is well - pissed that I haven't taken him outside yet (he keeps pointing to the window and screaming "SIDE") but I have one too many babies to fit in my stroller or wagon, so he's going to have to wait until Harrison gets picked up.

On a side note - I'm taking the kids to the ice cream truck for dinner - because there's not a chance in hell I'm dirtying any more dishes today.

I love Tuesdays

No real reasons, but it's always been my favorite day of the week. I mean, Fridays are right up there too - but Tuesdays hold a special place in my heart. Marc first e-mailed me on a Tuesday ;-)

Nothing really new or exciting going on... kids are both well and healthy. Jessie is growing up so fast, but still so little sometimes. She crawled into bed with me last night and I was so happy. I know I should be encouraging her to stay in her own bed and be all independent, and mostly I do - but I love to have her snuggle up against my back and sneak her arm around my waist to sleep. Sammy is becoming your typical two year old - even though he's a couple of months away from actually turning two. He's into saying No all the time, for no apparent reason, he fights with his sister and is loving his little duck called Quackie.

Gorgeous day today - we're inside until it gets a little warmer. I'm playing toy rotation game - which is really not all that much fun, but necessary when you've got buckets and buckets of toys and many toddlers.

My baby lost her first teeth

Not her first tooth - her first teeth. She cut them at the same time and lost them at the same time. I still remember when I saw them for the first time and know that I'll never forget when she lost them. Jessie had two loose teeth, and I figured I had a while to get used to her losing them. But she's got that cast on her arm, and when her shirt got stuck on it, she grabbed the shirt with her teeth and gave a good yank. Out came the first tooth, and she started screaming, came tearing thru the house stark naked and crying. I held her and cried a little, she's growing up so fast and I'm so proud and so happy to have her. Then Marc realized that the second tooth was barely hanging on, and he gave it a little tug, and out it popped. Two teeth at once! My big girl... she was so proud.

I wrote her a letter from her tooth fairy, I named her Marigold, and we gave her two presents, a book and a diary - plus what she calls "double money." Because Marc had six singles, we quickly determined that each tooth would be worth three dollars - so I put all six bill in an envelope with my letter, sprinkled the whole thing with glitter (we call it fairy dust) and stuffed it under her pillow.

Having children is so amazing, and it's just not something I ever get used to. I'm consistently thrilled by it, something new is always happening, and the best part is that I've got two, so I'm living thru two sets of amazing milestones. And even though Sam's the second one, I find his just as thrilling as Jessie's. Sam's now seriously saying "No, no" and "Mommy." And he's enchanted with this new ability to get his point across, and declines almost everything. In fact, for about ten minutes in the car earlier, he sang the word "no" over and over again.

Sam's newest thing

He shoves his finger in his nose and says wisely "Booooooooogie." Ah - the moments that make a mother proud. Took everyone outside for a lovely walk and played bubbles and colors. Which is code for Sammy shoving the carriage around the driveway and Jessie blowing bubbles while Harrison clutches all the chalk he can hold to his chest while he runs after bubbles. Sam's asleep right now on the couch, clutching his 'quackie,' and Harrison, who apparently no longer feels compelled to nap, is up and watching JoJo's Circus. Jordyn is chattering in my bedroom, where she's supposed to be sleeping and Jessie is drinking a disgustingly chocolate glass of chocolate milk (I let her add her own chocolate).

Jessie has two loose teeth, and is very excited. I'm apprehensive, a bit. Loose teeth, starting kindergarten and watching Hannah Montana - it's all happening very fast for me....

so so tired this morning

Probably due to a lack of coffee - but I've got my second one beside me and am optimistic about the future. Curious George is on in the living room, all three kids are lulled into contentment with television and cheerios. No major plans for today, it's kind of chilly this morning, so I'll put off my walk with them until this afternoon, hopefully after Harrison goes home, so that I can cram the two toddlers into the double stroller and make my girl walk.

Had a lovely night last night, cleaned my house and put my cherubs to bed nice and early, and Marc got home early enough so that we could hang out before I fell asleep. Still not sure what the plans are for tomorrow... but Jessie has all day preschool, so it'll just be me and my boy :-).

I relented and started letting Jessie watch Hannah Montana. I still worry it's a bit too old for her, but in all honesty, all she watches is the theme song, so it turned out to be a non-issue. She's getting so big so fast...