Oh, toddler life

Places that Clare has fallen asleep lately:



In a "bed" she made on the floor between her real bed and her tent. Those must have been good books!



Half way in a basket full of blankets in her closet

Her latest phase? Thinking that she's invisible if she puts a blanket over her head.



This is her sneaking out of her room and down the hallway when she's supposed to be taking a nap - part of her craziness while Tom was in Japan. As soon as she heard me coming down the hallway she just laid there very still thinking that I couldn't see her.



Who is that phantom bicyclist?

Tom is home!

After the longest TWO WEEKS of my life, and probably the most difficult behavior and bedtime-wise for Clare, Tom is finally home from Japan safe and sound!

Sorry for my blogging absence, but with my foray in to the wonderful world of having two little ones and only one me for the past couple of weeks, I've rarely had two minutes to myself. Something's gotta give...

Thanks everyone for your prayers for Tom's safe trip and for all those who helped me through Clare's craziness. Thank God for husbands.

Toddler Antics

What happened to my sweet little angel helper girl?

Clare just poked James in the eye because I was nursing him while she wanted to play with me. Not sure how I should respond to this lovingly. As it is, she just got a swat and sent to her room until she could come out to say she's sorry. Any mommy tips out there?

Quick Takes...Monday...

I think I need to leave a note for myself to post 7 Quick Takes on Fridays until I get in the habit of doing it. Here are a few things on my mind/going on in our world.

1. Clare is such a little mommy! She's "nursing" her bear right now...complete with putting a nursing pad in her shirt.

2. My dream of having a mantle for Christmas has come true! My mom and her husband Tom came up yesterday to hang out for the afternoon and Tom said, "Hey, I think I can put a mantle together for you today." So he brought up his saw and compressor and this is what he was able to craft in the short span of only 4 hours! We're still going to try to figure out a way to hang the stockings without blocking the beautiful work that Tom did, but this is what it looks like for now.



3. The bottom strand of Christmas lights went out on our tree. I was so annoyed that I had to dismantle the tree almost entirely to pull the stupid thing off. By the time I got done doing that I had wasted so much time that I decided to forgo putting on another strand to replace it, so I just rearranged the 2nd string of lights so that there are at least some on the bottom 1/3 of the tree...although it's definitely not lit up as much as the top 2/3. Oh well. Perfectionism has gone out the window in so many ways.

4. Clare is trying to insist that she wants to wear panties again. Yes, she went back in to diapers after James was born. She is, however, also refusing to go to the bathroom on the toilet, so this means that I have lots to clean up these days...couches, floors, beds. Argh. I'm tired of it. Back to diapers.

5. Breastfed baby poo supposedly "doesn't stink." I beg to differ.

6. I learned something that I think is going to revolutionize my cooking and grocery habits: roasting a whole chicken. Wow. Talk about a MUCH less expensive way to get chicken meat than buying a bag of frozen chicken breasts.

7. James puked all over me and the floor and the pew at our Holy Hour on Thursday. Not a little baby spit up. Vomit. Yuck.

I just realized that much of this post revolves around bodily functions. Ahhh, such is my life with a toddler and an infant.

Anyone order an extra Butterball turkey?

James just had his 2-month checkup today. We'd been thinking that he's awfully big for a 2-month old and today was our confirmation. He's 26 inches long and weighs 14 lbs. 13 oz. That puts him off the charts in height and in the 92nd percentile for weight. At least he's proportional. :)



He just looks more like a little butterball when I carry him like this.



Waking up to his big sister.

7 Quick Takes

Ok, so in lieu of a real post I'm going to jump on the 7 Quick Takes bandwagon so that maybe I'll be inspired to keep up on this blog - something I've not been good at...ever. We'll see how it goes.

1. We have a super cute Advent calendar in the shape of a Christmas tree that Clare loves. We put Hershey Kisses inside each of the little boxes and Clare gets to eat one every morning after her breakfast. Oh, the joy that a little chocolate can bring! She's her mama's daughter for sure.

2. Clare is getting ready for Christmas. Yesterday she was walking around singing, "Happy Birthday to you, Jesus!"

3. We love our nightly Rosary. Clare gets all her bears/babies lined up on the couch, little rocking chair, and baby swing, giving each and every one a little plastic Rosary (how did we end up with so many of these?). She is also in charge of making sure that everyone else has a Rosary as well. I have to say, though, that my favorite part of the Rosary is when Clare kneels down next to us and looks up at the crucifix on our wall as we pray.

4. James loves his sister. If he's at all fussy, all I have to do is ask Clare to go hold his hand and sing him a song. Almost inevitably he gets a big fat grin on his face. Sometimes, though, the crying continues and Clare runs over to me and says, "Not working, Mommy. James crying!"

5. We got our Christmas tree last weekend with my dad, Shannon, and her boyfriend Brian who was visiting from Virginia. It was awesome -- both babies had a total meltdown right as we were packing up to get in the car -- but it ended up being fun! We also got our lights hung outside, watched Christmas Vacation, drank Tom & Jerry's, and had dinner. A great day!

6. My house has had one of those weeks where I feel like I truly cannot keep up. Tom, thanks for your patience as I learn to juggle a toddler and an infant as well as keeping the house at least in working order, if not as neat & clean as I like it.

7. I'm thankful for babywearing. Nothing, truly nothing, would ever be done in this house without my sleepy wrap or sling. James is contentedly asleep on me right now, actually. Don't know what I'd do without it.

It's been a day

Ever had one of those days? Today has been one. The morning went well; my friend Christina came over and we chatted for a little bit while her son Eddie and Clare played together. Then Shannon and I decided to run a couple of errands to get a few things we need for Mom's 50th birthday bash. James slept the whole time and Clare was an angel in Hallmark (I know! I'm surprised too...lots of little things to play with and break).

We got home without a hitch, and then all hell seemed to break loose.

James woke up and decided he was hungry. Clare didn't eat much breakfast, so she was hungry. Both babies were cranky. I managed to make some lunch quickly for myself and Clare while nursing James. Then Clare decided that she was more interested in eating her sour cream with her fingers and wiping them everywhere than actually eating lunch. When I scooted her plate over toward me so I could control the eating, she got mad and dumped her cup of water all over the table. She got sent to her room for a few minutes until she could come back and eat nicely - and I scarfed the rest of my lunch.

She came back to the table and I managed to get a bit more food in her, then she claimed that she was all done with lunch and needed to go #2. Off to the bathroom we went...where she proceeded to cry that she wanted her shoes off. When I tried to take them off she screamed that she wanted them on and that she was "all done" on the toilet (she had NOT gone to the bathroom). I told her that we could sit in the bathroom just for a few minutes together while she tried to go. Anyway, after 15 minutes, lots of tears, and on-and-off the toilet, I decided that she wasn't going to go and if she had to just go in her diaper, so be it. This kid needed a nap and I needed a breather. (All this while nursing/burping fussy James) She cried the whole time I put a diaper on her saying that she needed to go back to the toilet, but I wasn't about to start that again. We got her a cup of chocolate milk and went to snuggle in her bed with a couple of books and her bear.

We read books, said her prayers and gave hugs & kisses. As I was about to leave, she said, "Mommy, I love you, sweet heart."

Maybe today isn't as bad as I thought after all. :)