7 Quick Takes, Vol. 76

Joining up with Kelly, who is so cool that I just tried to type her name with an extra 'e'. That's how I show my affection. Apparently.

1. This is totally going to be an update post. Sorrynotsorry.

2. Clare, probably like all toddlers, is an enigma. When we leave to go to a friend's house or the library or the store, she REFUSES a jacket like it is made of burning hot lava. "No no no no no do not want a jacket!!!!" Then, last week, we get some serious snow flurry action (only a dusting accumulated), and the very instant-second-moment she saw it, she was insisting on going outside. And very compliantly let me dress her in alllllll the layers, no questions asked, no sass given. Anything to run around in (falling) snow, I guess. Girl loves snow. Yes, there will be a collage of nearly identical "Clare in the snow" pictures at the end of the season. ;-) On the plus side, jacket issues aside, it seems that Clare and I have gotten over the 2 year old hump. Famous last words, I know. She's acting much more reasonable, and I feel like I've developed a better slew of coping techniques for getting through (most of) her unreasonable moments. I'm eager to see where I end up falling in the "which is worse, two or three?" debate. We even managed a little (very very simple) crafting this week. I'm not crafty, but she likes it, so I decided to "let go and let glue." No really, that's what I told myself when I relinquished control of the bottle of Elmer's.

Glue not pictured

3. Peter, meanwhile, is up to his usual tricks. He's finally regular crawling, though he sometimes goes back to his modified army crawl. Pulling up, cruising, bla bla bla . . . please don't walk! We also did a little sleep training a couple of weeks ago. He got with the program quickly and is still doing pretty well through the night. He broke his first front tooth a few days ago, and his second is right there. I'll honestly be a little bit sad when they're grown in, because he looks so stinking cute without them. He also turned 10 months last weekend. [Cliches about time passing here.]

4. At playgroup this week, we took valentines to the residents of a local nursing home. We visit them a few times a year to celebrate holidays. I love the opportunity to teach my children the value of service -- giving to people without an expectation of return. Giving to people they don't know. Providing sunshine to others. Corporal Works of Mercy and all that.

5. I know I wrote about Confirmation a couple of weeks ago, but it seemed flippant to mention another thing I have loved about having our Confirmation kids over every week: I thoroughly clean the upstairs every week. I mean, we clean regularly and put toys away at least every night anyway, but having people come over (even teenagers who probably don't care), always gives that extra push to make sure things just so.

6. Charles started his third (of three!) months on the medicine floor this week. These are definitely his hardest rotations, but this week, in particular, it is clear how much he has grown as a doctor this year. #proudwife

7. I'm unusually excited for Valentine's Day tomorrow, mostly because Clare is excited, but also because I get to celebrate my loves. I hope you have a wonderful day with those you love. But if you, for whatever reason, feel down this Valentine's Day, wear a pink sweater and eat something with sprinkles. It might not fix everything, but it might just brighten your spirits. :-)

Have a lovely weekend!

7 Quick Takes, Vol. 71 (Updates for the Fam (and Anyone Else Who Cares)))

Happy Friday -- slow week on the ol' blog. Nothing bad or crazy (unless you count the munchkins), just not much down time this week. Boo! Anyway, joining Jen, per usual.

1. Sometimes blessings come in the form of work trucks. Ever since we moved into our house, Charles has been trying to get the sprinkler system figured out and working. Two weeks ago, he was able to get it on, but found some repairs -- mostly replacing broken sprinkler heads. There was also a leak that showed up, and he spent a good chunk of time over the week "out at the hole" trying to get it fixed. He happened to mention this to one of his co-residents, who mentioned that he had previously worked for a sprinkler company and would be happy to help out. He rolled up Monday morning with his old boss in his work truck, and they got the thing fixed in no time flat! Praise God!

2. Meanwhile, I took the kids' to our usual Monday play group at the park and splash pad. The grown-ups thought it was a bit cool for the water, but the little girls had other ideas.

3. I don't think I've mentioned Clare's surprising unwillingness to get out of bed by herself. She is fully capable of getting in and out of her big girl bed without help. And she will not let us help her into bed. But in the mornings, she calls, "Mommy Mommy" when she is ready to get up (thankfully, that is rarely before 7 am, so I have no complaints or attempts at retraining on this front), and either asks me to lift her out, or jumps out of bed and toddles off herself.

4. So, imagine our surprise Sunday morning when she popped into our room while Charles was getting dressed with a bright, "Good morning, Daddy!" And, even more amazingly, she hasn't done it since.

5. Peter had some congestion issues all week, and Charles is fighting some little buggy boo. Thankfully, I've not had anything worse than a crick in my neck from holding Peter too much at night, and Clare seems her usual, feisty self, so all's well that ends well. Hopefully.

Unrelated -- Clare and Peter "playing rock 'n' roll"

6. Poor Peter. When he's congested and breathing like he's congested, he gets nicknamed Snergle, from too many readings of The Lorax: "Down slupps the Whisper-ma-Phone to your ear/and the old Once-ler's whispers are not very clear,/since they have to come down/through a snergelly hose,/and he sounds as if he had/smallish bees up his nose." He's either gonna love it or hate it by the time he is old enough to have an opinion.

Young Master Snergle, Swaddle Breaker and Spinner Extraordinaire

7. A week from today, we head to Colorado for a little getaway/retreat with Charles' residency program, and two weeks from today, we'll be getting back to the homeland for a couple of days, including my dad's wedding. No idea how much radio silence or noise there might be in blogville, but I'm sure I'll have some updates when all is said and done.

Have a lovely weekend!

7 Quick Takes, Vol. 75

'Cause it's Friday y'all. Joining Jen.

1.This week has sort of slipped by, time just passing from one day to the next without anything too remarkable/terrible/crazy/wonderful to show for it. It was just a week lived. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it makes sitting down to write more challenging.

2.The most noteworthy part of our week has been dealing with Clare. I love my sweet, wonderful, adorable, hilarious, smart, curious girl to no end, but the toddler thing is just exhausting. Answering one million questions. Redirecting. Coming up with consequences (regardless of whether I actually have to dole them out). Dealing oh-so-patiently (or trying to) with outbursts and tantrums. Ohmygosh. It just exhausts.

But still so sweet.

3. She's also obsessed with her toys. I love watching her play -- and really play -- with her toys. It's amazing to me to see my baby suddenly playing -- having her Little People do things and mixing and matching little trinkets and having so much fun. Until she decides she wants to play instead of whatever it is I actually need her to do. I mean your responsibilities at 2 are pretty limited, but it's still a struggle. (See #2, above.)

4. And the little guy? He just keeps on keeping on with his sunny little disposition, goofy grin, and getting too big and strong antics. Where did my tiny baby go? I mean, I know he's only 4 months, but . . . yep, I'm that mom.

5. Last weekend, we were able to take a walk down by the river as a family. It's amazing how wonderful simple family time feels when you're deprived of it like we were last month. Bliss.

6. In weather news (in other words, feel free to skip to the end), the weather guy the other day was saying that we might have had our last 100 degree day of the season. No promises, ever, with the weather, but that is so amazing after so many loooong summers in Arizona.

7. Ready for a lovely (maybe rainy?) long weekend! We're really lucking out with Charles being off for the long weekends so far -- he's off on Monday! Yay!

Have a lovely weekend! Stay safe and dry and enjoy the last days of "official" summer!

7 QT, Vol. 74

Joining the 7 Quick Takes Club with what are really 5 Quick Takes. Linking with Jen.

1. I looked down the other day, and there Peter was, sucking on his feet. With Clare, she worked so hard on that, it was a major milestone for all of us. Peter, on the other hand, just did it. He's also working really hard on rolling and sitting and running a 4 minute mile. Crazy baby!

2. Things Peter will be glad not to remember, but I don't want to forget:

First tea party

Clare let him try on her headband. That is love.

3. Clare, meanwhile, is turning into quite the 2 year old. If it can be done, she wants to do it herself. She's more interested in playing than most anything else. We are going to the park every.single.day so that she can run around and burn some energy. She's got the attention span of a 5 year old and the attitude of a 15 year old. She keeps me on my toes these days, that's for sure!

Girly girl with a pile of (belated) birthday presents

4. This week, I officially feel like I have me feet back under me, for the first time in a long time. I don't think I realized how long I'd been trapped in the hamster ball until I started feeling better about things. But getting out and about, getting better sleep (thanks, Baby Peter and Sleep Sheep!), and getting Peter into more of a routine has me feeling like the newborn fog has fully lifted and that we're pretty settled in post-move. We're even starting to investigate the Kansas political scene, since there are elections this fall and all. #informedvoters

5. The sure sign that I didn't know was a sure sign that I'm out of survival mode: next week, salads are coming back for dinner! Apparently my feelings about salads are cyclical in pregnancy. As a rule, I try to make salads with dinner most nights -- once you get into the routine of prepping lettuce in advance, it doesn't take too long, and adds some veggies to the ol' diet. Generally, we use some kind of vinaigrette. Midway through both pregnancies, I decided I was craving thick, gooey salad-bar style Italian dressing, and with Peter, that turned into the only dressing I could eat! Yum!! Then, by the end of pregnancy and the crazy, survival-mode newborn days, I lost the energy to even pull salads together -- it was just a bit more time on my feet or a bit more time in the kitchen while the kiddos were being their most angelic selves. So the fact that salads are back is a good sign! Yay! #eat your veggies

6. Apparently, I decided to go hashtag crazy this morning. #apologies.

7. Okay, that was terrible. I'm going to finish my being productive this week so that we can have fun this weekend chores! Two days off off off -- we're excited!

Have a lovely weekend!

In That Moment, There Was Joy

Yesterday evening, I was getting dinner ready in the kitchen, which is functional in it's own galley way, but it is by no means a spacious dream kitchen straight out of HGTV.

I was sauteing onions. The radio was on, but static-y. Baby Peter was rocking out, kicking away in the bouncy seat. Clare was in her tutu, doing her favorite thing: dancing to the electronic stylings of Fisher Price. Dancing, at it's best, means spinning in endless circles until she's too dizzy to stand, then laughing until she can stand up and dance some more.

There were were, the three of us crammed into our little kitchen, laughing, dancing, cooking, kicking. And in that moment, there was joy.

Goofy tutu pic from a couple of days ago.

7 Quick Takes, Vol. 73

Joining Jen et all for 7 Quick Takes.

1. I knew it was coming . . . but I've been in denial. I can't deny it any longer. We've reached the point where I had to lock down (ok, just put a password on) my phone, because I was tired of finding this in my photos all.the.time. And we hadn't even hit the "sending random text messages" phase.

How avant garde is her foot obsession?

2. I've also (finally) made the decision to start "watermarking" my photos on the blog. I know that it doesn't provide any real security (cropping, etc.), but I feel like it at least demonstrates proprietary intent with regards to them. Anyway, that's the deal. The blog is due for a few more tweaks that will hopefully be rolling out in the next few weeks. The "About" page, in particular, needs some serious updating!

3. These two crack me up. The other day, I had Peter on the floor while I was getting Clare up. When she and I were done, she ran into the living room, announcing, "Baby Peter, I will play a you!" So sweet. And yes, "a" refers to most all prepositions. Crazy kiddo!

4. Yesterday we finally were able to get my car re-registered to Kansas. It has been one thing after another, and adding Charles' not flexible schedule and the tag office closing at 3:30 (yeah), it turned into a real comedy of errors. It felt so good to finally get it off our plates! I guess that means I'm officially a Kansan.

5. Charles accidentally left his name badge in my purse yesterday afternoon. It was one of those moments. He put it in there, because he (shockingly) didn't want to wear it at the DMV. I knew it was a bad idea. He knew it was a bad idea. I got the 6 am phone call to bring it down when the kids wake up, so I guess I'll be making my first hospital trip of residency later this morning.

6. It has otherwise been an . . . interesting week to say the least. Between the news in Iraq, the brouhaha over Robin Williams' death (Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord), poor Charles' ridiculous rotation, and everything else that seems to be piling up in the world, I'm glad for Friday. And the fact that it's a Sunday-on-a-Friday? Even better!!

7. On that note, Happy Feast of the Assumption! (And if you're not Catholic and are interested in learning more, the Wikipedia entry has the basics.)