Baby Blues

Allie was a little under the weather with a painful diaper rash tonight. I had the opportunity (or rather, was commanded) to keep her company as she settled down to sleep. I sang the “Wheels on the Bus” about twenty times and had a good chance to take a long look at my baby. She’s now more a little girl than a baby. It’s hard to believe that she will be two tomorrow.

When I found out I was pregnant with a girl I was scared. I’m not sure if that is a normal reaction but my true emotion was fear. There were logistics involved that were scary, I don’t have any baby items that are girly, but my real fear is that I would mess her up.

Scientific study has found that the person who makes the biggest impact on your life is the parent who is the same gender as the child. I always knew that is why we had boys; Bob is a fantastic father, husband, and all-around great guy. When I found out that Allie was on the way I figured that there must have been some mistake. Didn’t anyone realize that I was not good with girls? Just tonight as I was singing to Allie and thinking about that time in my life, it dawned on me that Allie was not born for what I could teach her but rather what she could teach me.

It never ceases to amaze me to think of how much love there is in my heart for each of my children and Allie is no exception. What a marvelous creature full of life, affection, and conviction. She is so determined to accomplish the goals she has set out for herself (most currently involve popsicles) and it is wonderful to watch. She is strong, funny, and she loves her Mom. When she is tired and I pick her up, she tucks her arms in her chest and lays her head on my shoulder; I love that. I love when she is sitting on my lap and she says to anyone within earshot “That’s my mom!” I love to hear her sing and I love to sing to her.

It makes me a little sad to think that in the not too distant future, I won’t be able to carry Allie around when she is tired. Soon she won’t want to sit on my lap and claim ownership, or have me to sing to her. So, on the eve of my baby’s birthday, I write these words to my daughter. Happy birthday Alexandra. Your mommy loves you. Don’t grow up too quickly.

Christmas Morning

Well, the craziness has past and my kids are exploring their gifts. Our morning officially started at 7am but there was activity as early as 5:30 with kids restlessly mulling around upstairs (they had to wait until 7 to go downstairs). After coming downstairs we discovered that, while coming through the chimney last night, Santa knocked off the pesky fireplace cover. I think the opening was too small for him to get through. I have to try to get that thing back on (stinky Santa!). It was a bit too crazy to take pictures of the kids opening presents but here are some pictures taken soon after. Here are my smallest guys eating a hearty breakfast of Christmas cookies, various chip products, and green rice krispy treats in the shape of Christmas trees. Ah, the breakfast of champions!


Here's Pete enjoying his new Nintendo DS game.


Here's Matt checking out his new Pokemon cards.


Here's Bobby taking a nap with Allie's new Diego. I think Bob was conscious for about 30 minutes this morning before conking out on the couch. I'm hoping to get next shift soon. =) We were up way too late last night!

The rest of our day will be rather quiet (hopefully!). This evening we are going to Jeanne's house (Bobby's sister) for a traditional Christmas meal. I have to bring mashed potatoes... not too bad. Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Eve

We had a lot of fun last night. Bob's parents and Margaret's family (Bobby's sister) came over to our home. Our evening was a bit untraditional as Lola and I decided a while ago we did not want to cook. We ordered Chinese food and pizza and served it buffet style. The kids seemed to like it and if the adults minded, they didn't say anything. We then hung out and sang Christmas carols while Bobby played the guitar. The violin even made an appearance after many years of hibernation. After singing for a bit, we realized that we had lost a few voices in the chorus. Here's my brother-in-law Richard.

Here's my father-in-law. We sure know how to host exciting parties!!!


I seem to have a knack at photographing sleeping people. In my defense, they hold still which makes them easier to photograph. =) No but really, Margaret asked me to take this picture of Richard so I happily obliged. I took Grandpa's picture for good measure.

Cha Ching

I have seen my future grocery bill and it is bleak. I picked up a 5 pound crate of tangerines last night thinking it would probably last through Christmas. The kids discovered them at 1pm today and by 6pm they were gone. I knew they liked tangerines but never imagined it could be like this. It was like watching a pack of wolves. Wow, I have to go sell some more houses to subsidize their habit!


PS- "Bear", the sweetest kitty in the world, was put to sleep last night. My heart goes out to Bear's family. We'll all miss the little guy.

Silly Hat Day

Here's a photo of the boys heading out to school. While Silly Hat Day is not a school sponsored event, I think the title is quite appropriate. They did wear the hats to school and I can only hope with the activity the raccoon hat has been getting that all my kids are critter free!

Quiz

I'll give you three options as to what Allie is doing...


1. She is planning a trip to the Middle East in the near future.


2. Is hoping to land a role in the upcoming production of Fiddler on the Roof.

3. Is watching her favorite TV show "Dora" and is so overcome with joy that she is unaware of what she is doing or any of her surroundings.


If you guessed #1, you are correct. Allie is planning a month long journey to all the regional hot spots and expects to be back in a month. Good Luck Allie! =)

Band Practice

Every ten days or so our family has band practice initiated by Matt. This consists of Bobby playing the guitar while Matty sings his lyrics. The rest of the group will join in by pounding on tupperware, holiday tins, or plastic step stools. Really whatever can be found is pounded on. With all the pounding, the band practice takes on a tribal feel but the timing is so various that it sounds like you are in a showroom of a clock store. We were snowed in today so Matt was able to try a few new songs out.

Here are the lyrics to one of Matt's favorite songs. Not bad considering he wrote it when he was seven.

Various Photos

I seem to take more pictures of the little guys because they are home with me the whole day. I do need to try harder to get more photos of the big guys. In the meantime, I snapped these photos over the last couple of days. Here's Allie wearing a family favorite raccoon hat. Matt even likes wearing this one to school.


Tommy likes everything about his dad including his old ties. I thought this particular photo was cute.

Confession

I have a deep dark secret. Well, not really but maybe you'll read my blog if I write it as such. I have been meaning to write about this sooner but have been too busy pricing plumbing fixtures. Last Friday, after six months of sweat and toil, I became the Western New York Season 5 Poker League Champion. That little trophy is quite a hot item in some circles, and it's mine! I also get my name on the main league trophy. It started as a cheap monthly date night for Bobby and myself. Bobby had been involved in prior seasons playing with his friends and decided to sign me up so we could make it a date night. I was the only girl which is fine; I relate better to guys anyway and the guys have been quite kind to me but sometimes I wonder if I'm destroying their boy time. Aside from my initial apprehension it's been fun and even a little profitable. It's nice to get paid to go out! I must admit, when I realized that I could win the whole season I really wanted to win so a girl's name will be on the league trophy forever. *insert Martina McBride's "This One's For The Girls" music in the background* I'm not sure I'll play next season though, I might want to end my career on top. =) I'm off to go buy a faucet with my winnings.

O Christmas Tree

We decorated our Charlie Brown Christmas tree last night. I didn't want anything too large, that just felt too daunting and complicated. This tree was perfect for us and smells great! It's been years since we have had a real tree and it has been a nice change of pace.

Everyone helped put up the ornaments. We had the classic heavy ornament concentration on the lower front, but the big guys helped move them around a bit.



Allie had a great time but was not interested in being in the final picture. I guess she needed a little coaxing (she loves when her Dad carries her like that).

A picture is worth a thousand words

Visitors

It is rare to receive visitors this time of year especially anyone from a warmer climate but my parents braved the cold to visit the kids. It was nice to have them around although I was a little sheepish to have them witness the craziness of the household right now. I would like them to come when my home is perfect, I am cooking gourmet meals, and am rearing my children in such a way that would make Dr. John Rosemond proud. That is not slated to happen until 2016 so I guess they decided to visit anyway. It was nice for the kids to hang out and play games with them. I think we tired them out a bit though. My dad liked to take any opportunity to doze. This was, however, consistent with my childhood memories of my dad so perhaps I tired him out when I was younger too. Now that I think about it, lots of things must tire him out. I remember as a child I asked him about his eyes being closed during church meetings. I remember my Dad said "I listen with my ears and not my eyes". This would have held up except then he would start to snore and I can't imagine he could hear what was being said over his snoring. But I digress....

The funny/ fun events noted were that my parents were with us when we went to pick up our Christmas tree, that was fun. My dad was too cold to get out of the car though. After all those years of dragging us for what seemed like hours around the u-cut Christmas tree grounds! In his defense, it was really cold! Thankfully, we found our tree quickly and got out of there. It took us two minutes to find our tree, three to pay for it, and then five more minutes to get it up on our car. Nice and easy, that's how I like it! I think as far as the cold goes, Dad could not have left soon enough; he was always under a blanket. Another funny incident was when I ran into the local pizzeria to pick up an order. My dad told Allie I was going to be right back as she was nervous when I left the car to pick up the pizza. After waiting for a while she was upset it was taking a while for my return and Allie said to dad "HEY, she is not right back!" as if she had been tricked. My dad was trying to keep Allie happy in the car while they were waiting and when he asked what she liked on her pizza she told him "I don't want to tell you" (such sass already and not yet two!). The little kids also had a hard time reconciling the fact that they have two grandmas and two grandpas. It's not so bad for the grandmas because we call Bobby's mom "Lola" so there is less confusion but Grandpa was a tougher one to figure out. One afternoon Bobby's dad swung by to say "hi" to the kids and my parents. Tommy pointed to Bob's dad and said "Here's the real Grandpa!" Poor dad! I must admit I was slightly horrified although Tommy meant no malice. My parents were quite gracious and good sports about everything. By the end of the visit, my kids had figured out the Grandpa conundrum. As I was uploading the pictures just now for this blog, Allie walked by and said "There's Grandma and Grandpa!" so I guess it works for her.

My big omission was that I was going to take some pictures of them with the kids prior to them leaving today but scheduling got crazy near the end. I also just forgot to take pictures yesterday, or the day before, or the day before.... I'm still working on remembering to use my camera more. As a result, this is the only picture I took of them. It was cold and they were both dozing on the couch. They looked cozy and cute so I snapped the picture. Perhaps they could forward me some pictures of them with the kids and then I'll post those too. Thanks for coming by Mom and Dad, we enjoyed having you here!