I'm sorry...

... but this is just a funny picture:

... as is this:

... check out that double chin!!!

Growing Pains

When E was 2 years and 1 month... she was potty-trained.



M is now 2 years and 1 month.



And is she potty-trained, you ask? No, not really. I hadn't really thought about it.



Anyway, recently I decided to investigate.



I put underwear on M. I let her run around. She did not have a problem.



Then I put her in the tub.



She pooped.



Then I took her out of the tub... obviously...



While I was cleaning up the tub, she peed on the carpet in her room.



While I went downstairs to get a rag to clean that up she yelled from the top of the stairs"

**** in a teasing voice, mind you ****

"Mommy, I poop on the floor."



Luckily, she hadn't. She was just teasing me. TEASING ME.



So no, in answer to your question, M is not potty-trained. And I have no intention of doing that for a long time.



I told Justin that is why I rent. I will get my own house, with my own carpet when all my kids are 12.



Maybe.



the end

Te He He

E has a cough.

And since you can't give kids medicine anymore until they're 14 and weigh 97 lbs... I gave her a cough drop.

Do you think she'll overdose?

No, but this is what is funny:

Because her mouth is little, and because she is new to the world of cough drops...

... she can't talk while she sucks on it.

Hence the "te he he."

When we had our ultrasound of little E, her mouth was wide open the entire time. Now we know why. She was talking.

And talking.

And talking.

She hasn't quit.

Except right now. Instead, she is humming and pointing and trying to communicate to me with throat sounds.

Te

He

He

January

I am having January doldrums.

I am sorry, but I hate January.

Nothing happens in January. Except M's birthday... and we all forgot that anyway.

Meanwhile, I feel like I am waiting at an undisclosed train station, waiting for an undisclosed train, that will arrive at an undisclosed time with all this PhD stuff.

And let's not forget that this train will take me to the next five years of my life.

That makes January even more irritating.

Sadly, my children have to deal with me in this beautiful state.

Today I made an apple pie. That was yummy.

E thought it was yummy too.

"Mom, this apple pie is soooo yummy. I love it."

About five minutes later...

"But Mom, I don't really like the apples."

She ate the crust and the whipped cream. Left all the apples in her bowl.

So did M.

More apple pie for me!

I'll think about that instead of January.

Cousins

A and E had a fight on the way to ballet yesterday.

At the end of it, E declared:

"I am NEVER talking to you again!!!!!" (Pause) "At least, until I forget."

She forgot soon.

Be Positive

Today, I actually made dinner.

Not Stroganoff or Spaghetti.

The kind of dinner that takes two hours. I made it with a cake for Justin's "Congratulations, you're done, dinner."

I used red peppers, and cilantro, and an orange.

I used cumin, and cinnamon.

I didn't get my normal Monday activities done.

And then, 1 hour and 50 minutes into the exercise, I accidentally infected the whole meal with raw chicken juice.

And there was no way to cook it out.

So I had to THROW IT AWAY.

I am never cooking again.

We ate plain mashed potatoes and chocolate cake for dinner.

And I lost an entire afternoon of my life.

I am so mad.

In other news:

On Saturday we went to the BYU Bookstore. M missed her nap as a result. As we walked through the Wilk, I carried GQ and she followed me, screaming. She wanted me to carry her.

Finally, I said:

"M, what do you want me to do? Put G down on the floor and leave him here?"

With a sob... "Yes."

Oh, to be the baby of the family. What a coveted post.

E went with me to the store today. On the way there she listened to NPR reports concering Haiti. When we came home, she drew a picture for me to send to them. She wants to send the pennies from her piggy bank too.

When I told her I ruined the salsa for dinner, she said:

"It's okay Mom, I don't like the salsa."

Then, she told me to to "be positive" courtesy of Aunt Laura and Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

The long and short of it?

Plain mashed potatoes are good food, my friends.
Being carried by your mother makes your heart feel better.
Sending pictures and pennies to Haiti is a worthy endeavor.
And everyone should be a little more positive.

The end.

Sigh...

... the applications are done.

Can you believe it?

Neither can we.

Now comes the waiting time, and the hoping time. With about 500 applicants for each school, and 3-5 positions available... there is no guarantee for anything.

Cross your fingers with us!

Snippets

Today we went to the doctor's for some shots.

After being told I'd done a nice job of keeping my children healthy, I gave them a sucker and took them to Wendy's.

Wouldn't want to do too good of a job.

Then, at home, M lay on the floor kicking and screaming because I locked her out of the kitchen. I asked her:

"M, would you like to kick the gate, or have me read you a book."

The doctor asked if she can speak two-word sentences. Apparently she can:

Says M: "I want to kick the gate."

Meanwhile, after a nasty migraine last night, I went to bed. My migraines, rather than bringing pain, result in:

A. an inability to read - letters just disappear off the page, so strange, and
B. the odd habit of saying the wrong words: like "think" for "thought" - this makes Justin laugh).

The first time I experienced these symptoms I was in the 7th grade. I was convinced I had a brain tumor and would die momentarily. My mom did not agree.

Anyway, during last night's episode, Justin put the baby to sleep for me.

Funny, I think I like migraines now. It's so nice to go to sleep without wondering if someone is crying.

Then, today, after Wendy's, and kicking the gate... all the children went to sleep. Since Justin was home I got to go to the bookstore.

Alone.

Wow.

Of course, I couldn't buy any of the books.

But I did just sit there for a moment without wondering whether one of my children was eating/tearing/ or losing any of the merchandise.

Now that I'm home again, with M awake and preparing to kick the gate again, I am thinking of having a migraine again.

No, not really.

Just kinda.