Becoming

As parents we hope that our children will be better than we are. That they will become great people and do great things. But no one warns you that as parents, we have a tendency to become like our children at times.

Perhaps you may recall my "Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk" post that I have referred to before. Imagine my horror, my humiliation, my shame, my total embarrassment when while standing in the checkout line at Walmart, I do the unthinkable. I accidentally knock a gallon of milk off the belt and it breaks open, instantly covering the floor in a white pool mixed with brown as it collects dirt from the floor. AND the lady checking out my items is from my new ward. Go figure.

Yes, slowly I am becoming more and more like my children without ever realizing it. What next? I suppose next time I'll be posting pictures of myself sitting in a pile of rocks in our "back yard" frolicking through the dirt,

gathering rocks for a new rock collection,

playing "king of the hill,"

putting rocks in my pockets so I can find them later in the dryer,

jumping up and down,

and pouring rocks in my hair.

Oh just you wait! One of these days its going to happen, I just know it!

Did I just use the word Mojo?

I think this move has thrown off my blogging mojo. Yes, my mojo. I mean, its not like its a very entertaining thing to read about.

Today I unpacked two boxes.

See? Not very thrilling.

But yesterday, I FINALLY finished cleaning our apartment and turned in our keys. Who knew juice splatters could be found in so many places? I mean, have you tried scrubbing your walls and baseboards lately? No judging until you try it. And, has anyone tried pulling out their refrigerator just to see what might be underneath it? Its amazing how many "lost" items I found under there! I dare you to try it.

Now, its time for the slow, ever so slow process of going through every box and finding a spot for every item. I can see how people get out of control with a move. I just want to go out and buy nice new furniture for my nice new castle! But I can't and I'm not. One item at a time. And yesterday, it was a mailbox. Yes, the necessities of life must come before the not so necessary but ever so desirable things. Sad, but true. I suppose blinds will come next. After all, it is kind of creepy that people can see in your windows at night when the lights are on. Yup, definitely need blinds.

I'm also looking to plant a garden this year. But its looking more complicated than I thought! I mean, in Florida you can more or less plant things whenever you want. But out here, there is a thing called "growing season" and "last frost". Well for heaven sakes, like anyone knows when the last frost will be! Should I start seeds or just stick them in the ground? What kind of bugs should I be worried about? I need an expert, for I am quite lost.

Well, Savannah is laying on the ground meowing to the tune of "I love to see the Temple", Joseph just woke up and is already trying to put a movie on, Jacob is mournfully walking around crying for his sippy cup and Alayna needs diaper attention. I suppose that's my cue. Peace out! (What? Peace out goes with my mojo.)

P.S. I found my camera! Sneaky little thing can't hide forever. I will have pictures soon. Beware!

Moving is such a pleasure... right

Somewhere, buried beneath the piles and piles of stuff, things, gadgets, widgets, baskets. boxes and buckets, lies my camera. Somewhere, I just don't know where. So I have missed taking pictures of several moments. Such as:

Joseph kiddy christening the new carpet.
Luke had bought the kids some fruit punch drink bottles on Saturday. While they were not allowed in the house with them we failed to remember one thing, Joseph still had a really bad cough.
While standing in the living room, Joseph went into a coughing fit and coughed so hard he threw up bright red dye all over the carpet.
Go figure. Luckily I was able to scrub most of it out, I think.

Or when the boys, put in Savannah's purple and pink hats and spent the afternoon pulling all the clothes off the hangers in the closets and throwing them in big piles, all while color coordinating the blue, pink, green, and white hangers.

The kids are really tired from the last several days of no schedule, no naps, and late bedtimes. Jacob pretty much screamed through church in our new ward before finally falling asleep, and then Joseph took his screaming turn the couple hours before bed.

When someone figures out how to put together an organizational move, please call me, we'll talk. You in a chair with a pad of paper, and me laying on a couch. I can't seem to find anything! And of course I have to make an even bigger mess before it can get clean and organized. I plan to go through every box, every bag, every bit of everything we have and throw out, give away or put away. Perhaps in about four months I'll be ready for visitors.

Maybe.

My New Castle

I'm having a rather strange "you know you're a mom when" moment. Hmm... I wonder why?

And here is my new castle! BUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! NOW I CAN COMPLETE MY PLANS FOR WORLD DOMINATION AND SUPREME POWEERR!!!!!

(cough cough) I mean... er.... here is my quaint new abode for my little family and myself.

I really don't don't have any plans for world domination.

Really.

As you can see, its a new construction, never been lived in before. Believe me, they are a dime a dozen around here. So, there no grass or anything. Luke will put in a sprinkler system and seed this summer so hopefully next year we will have the makings of a nice yard. And while its not much of a porch, it has a porch!!! Yippee!

I truly LOVE my new castle!! The above picture was taken from the front door.

And here is my wonderfully magnificent kitchen! I'm in love. No more putting food in odd places and stuffing bowls and plates on top of each other.

Did I mention that I love my kitchen and its beautiful marble counter tops?

Master bedroom and bathroom.

Just around the corner from the front door is the hallways that has the other two bedrooms, the other bathroom and the laundry room.

And of course, a garage! No more trudging kids through the snow to get to the car! Or spending two hours scrapping ice off the windshield.

And it has an unfinished basement which, over time, we plan to finish for more rooms, obviously. It also has a cold storage room under the porch.

Have I mentioned yet that I LOVE my new castle?

Uh oh, better get back to packing before Luke catches me on the computer!

SilverMoon - Part Two

So, it turns out we are moving tonight and tomorrow. So I need to really get packing.

No pressure.

So today, you will just have to be satisfied with Part Two of our latest bedtime story. But I promise I will try and post pictures of the house this weekend.

Click here if you missed Part One! Especially to read the warning about the word "beautiful"

"Well well!" growled the giant lion. "What do we have here? You look like a tasty little snack!"

"Mom." Savannah interrupted yet again. "Um, she needs to go back to the mouse and ask the mouse for help!"

I laughed and told her it was sounded like a good plan but if she ran back to the mouse the lion would probably chase her.

SilverMoon was terrified! "Oh please." she said quietly, "Please don't eat me!"

Just then, a gust of wind blew and sent SilverMoon's long mane flowing. And in the moonlight it looked like silver waves of silk.

The lion stopped in his tracks and stared. "Wow". He said in awe. "That is the most beautiful hair I've ever seen! I'll make a deal with you. I promise not to eat you if you give me enough of your beatiful mane to make a necklace for my wife."

Now it was SilverMoon who stared. Beautiful? Her mane was beautiful? No one had ever told her she had beautiful hair before.

Of course she agreed and the lion left her as happy as can be with a long braided rope of her silver hair between his big jaws.

(At this point Savannah and Joseph were giggling like crazy in their covers.)

After a short nap and a snack, SilverMoon started her long climb up the mountain. She climbed for what seemed like a very long time. She was hot and very tired. But just before she reached the top she heard a noise.

"Sssssssssth"

She stopped and looked around.

"Its a snake!" shouted Savannah and Joseph at the same time! Well, I wasn't about to let them get this one right so I had to think of something quick!

SilverMoon turned around and found herself staring at the most enormous... (pause, pause) lizard! It was huge! His head come up to the top of her legs but he was very long and had a huge red and black tongue!

"Ssssooo, whats to we havess here?" The lizard said in a slippery slimy voice. "Me thinkss you would makes a tassssty ssnack for me and my friendsssss." The big lizard chuckled, showing a mouth full of my sharp teeth!

Well, at this point SilverMoon was just so very tried and scared she started to cry and big silver tears started to roll down her cheeks and made little pools of silver liquid on the ground.

The lizard stopped and stared. "Wowss!" he said in awe. "Your tearsss iss sso beatifulss!"

Again SilverMoon was stunned! All the other unicorns cried tears that looked like glistening crystals and her have always been silver. So the other unicorns would make fun of her when she cried. But here this big lizard said they were beautiful!

"I'll makes you a deal." continued the lizard, "Your tearss would makes a perfect paints for me new houssse! Gives me a bucket of your tearsss and I'll lets you go."

Well of course SilverMoon agreed and since she needed a good cry anyway, she filled up the bucket in no time.

After she was done she finished her long climb up to the top of the mountain. She couldn't believe it, she was almost there! And as she looked down at the bottom of the mountain there was a valley full, just full of..... (I paused here for a second and Savannah shouted, "Unicorns!" But I had a little twist up my sleeve.

No, it was a valley full of horses! Plain ole' black, brown and white horses.

SilverMoon felt so sad. Not because they weren't unicorns but because she was and she thought that they wouldn't like her because she was different too. Sadly, she decided to go down anyway and try to sneak past them and try to find another place to live far away.

When she got to the bottom of the mountain it was night time again and a full moon was out so she could see pretty well so she didn't think she would have a problem sneaking past the horses.

But just as she came out from a bunch of trees, she found herself standing in front of big black horse! The blackest animal she had ever seen!

"What are you doing here?" the black horse said in a deep voice. "You shouldn't be here!"

Trying not to cry again, SilverMoon said, "I know. I'm sorry you saw me. I was trying to sneak past since I knew you horses wouldn't want to be my friends since I'm different. The other unicorns didn't like me either. I'm sorry you saw me." And SilverMoon turned to go.

But the big black horse stopped her.

"You have it all wrong!" he said. "It's you unicorns who decided you didn't want to be our friends since we aren't as beautiful as you are. That's why we live on this side of the mountain. But you are most welcome to stay here."

SilverMoon turned back around to face the big black horse, her hair rippling silver in the moonlight. She wondered why the horse kept staring at her.

"Really? I can stay?" she asked.

"Of course!" said the black horse. "My name is Midnight." he said, "King of the horses". (Oh! My names are so very clever)

Shocked, SilverMoon quickly bowed. But Midnight told her not too and she stood back up.

"You are so beautiful!" Midnight said at last.

SilverMoon was once again stunned. First the mouse, then the lion, then the lizard, and now the horse! Could she really be beautiful?

"But", she said, "I don't look like the other unicorns. I'm not as beautiful as they are."

Midnight walked closer to her. "Of course you are! You don't have to look like everyone else to be beautiful." (Oh these sneaky teaching moments of mine!)

And for the first time in her life, SilverMoon felt beautiful and special. Midnight took her to meet all the other horses and made lots and lots of friends and she lived there happily ever after.

The End.

"I like that story mommy." Savannah said grinning from ear to ear.

"Tell uth a nother thtory mommy!" shouted Joseph.

"But that was a really long one!" I told him. "I'll tell you another one tomorrow night.

"Ohhh!" They said pouting.

Well, at least I'm good for something around here! =)

Would You Like To Be Me?

I hear by dedicate this epic masterpiece, this historic work of art to all mothers, old and young, many kids or no kids.
And when I'm rich and famous for it, I will share the wealth with everyone who leaves a comment! Because then I'll know who really loves me.
And when I'm not so rich and famous, I hope you commentors won't hold any grudges. After all, there's no guarantee in this business. Some crazy person might not consider it a masterpiece and ruin all my plans for fame and fortune.

Party poopers.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my day as much as I did.


Would You Like To Be Me?

The day starts so early the night went too fast
I fall out of bed, nearly earning a cast
The kids are all up, but happy they‘re not
I’m ready to put them back in bed on the spot

The house is a wreck the dishes are high
There’s laundry to do and I heave a big sigh
There’s no time to think, its time to just do
Perhaps I could bury my head in a shoe

Alayna has an infection in her right ear
The medicine makes her stomach hurt and easy to hear
Her cough is harsh and makes her quite sad
For the last three days it has been really bad

Jacob, his cough has been fairly light
But unfortunately his bottom is in quite a plight
The diapers and clothes he keeps leaking right through
Tend to get on me so I smell like his poo

Joseph, poor kid, his fever is high
His cough is horrific and there’s pink in his eye
He’s been sleeping all day, really quite sound
So he wet the couch then slept on the ground

Savannah is healthy and sassy as ever
Teaching her to behave is quite the endeavor
No one told me that I was getting a teen
Trapped inside a four-year old dream

We just bought a house, this week it came about
At the end of the month we have to be out
Which leaves me eight days to pack everything
Or else the renters will start pulling strings

Its bedtime now and Luke is at work
So I’m left all alone there’s no time to shirk
I give the kids baths, there’s water everywhere
At the rate things are going, will I still have hair?

And yet those darn kids, once they are tucked in their beds
Scream “Good night! I love you!” As I kiss their small heads
Those monkeys are lucky I think they’re so cute
Or else long ago I’d have given them the boot

With so much to do, why in the world do I blog?
I can’t help myself this is my time to defog
And like it or not you are reading to see
If just for one day you’d like to be me.

Duck, Duck, Goose

Have you ever tried to kick a duck? If not, I'm sure my boys would be more than willing to teach you all the techniques. It's fairly straightforward.

Get a running start, aim, and...

POW! Right in the caboose! Well, if you're fast enough that is.

I really did try to get Joseph to stop, but then Jacob decided it looked like fun, and there was no stopping them. Not to mention all the encouragement they received from other on-lookers. They seemed to find it quite funny and of course, the boys live to entertain.

I don't know anything about ducks, geese, or the like. But there were a lot of big goose/duck looking things that weren't afraid to get there beaks on a meal. Joseph about jumped out of his skin when, after offering a piece of bread to one, got his fingers nipped.

Apparently I wasn't the only one worn out by the weekend. This is Jacob at 11:30am. He took a four hour nap.

Here are the kids after their duck chasing, feeding, kicking fun.

No more four hour naps for this kiddo!!

Back to Reality - Part Two

The guy I had dated before Luke was from Henderson, so I had been to Vegas once before about 7 years ago. While there he had taken me to see the water show at the Bellagio. Basically, we drove down, saw the show, then left. Yup, a whole five minutes on the strip.

The next day he took me to see Hoover Dam. He parked on top, let me look down, then we left. Yup, a whole ten minutes on the Dam. Luke thought he was pretty lame for not taking me on any of the tours.

On a side note, Luke said it wasn't until after he saw me with my, at the time boyfriend, that he got the courage to ask me out. Apparently they had had a racquetball class together and Luke's opinion of him wasn't exactly high. After that, he said he knew he had a chance. LOL!

Guys have a strange way of thinking sometimes.

Anyway, we tried to get into the Dam Tour but they were sold out so we went on the Power Plant Tour. But that was still pretty cool. I'm sure Luke could appreciate some of the numbers and the enormity of the task a little better than I could since he has a background in construction and civil engineering.

They are building a bridge here over the Dam. It was really quite incredible.

At one point on the tour, Luke turned to the people standing behind us and jokingly asked, "So, do you think we should ask the tour guide where they are holding Megatron?"

His only response from the group was a blank stare. So, he tried again."You know, Megatron from the movie Transformers?"

Again, no acknowledgement other than a blank stare. He tried one last time. "Have you guys seen Transformers?"

FINALLY we received acknowledgement. One of the guys shook his head to indicate that he hadn't.

I think it would have been funny to ask the tour guide if hadn't felt suddenly unsure that the guy would have a clue as to what we were talking about.

Well, our trip was about over. We spent the night in St. George, UT Saturday night then drove all day Sunday, getting back to Wyoming at 6pm.

I don't think the kids missed us one bit. They had had a blast at their Grandparent's house.

This next picture was the sunset we saw while driving home that night. We made it back home around 10pm.

I was up with Alayna quite a bit that night since she had a bad cough. Then at 6am Savannah woke up because she wet the bed.

And so my day had begun.

Welcome back to reality.

Back to Reality - Part One

Its kind of strange how, once you get back from a trip, it seems like you never left. I wonder why that is? And I got more sleep this weekend then I have in ages and yet I am exhausted this morning. Now that is unfair.

Someone find me the sleep fairy, we need to talk.

Wednesday night about 9pm, we head over to Wyoming to drop off the kids with Grandma and Grandpa. We get to bed around midnight and at 3am we get up, get ready, and head for the open road.

We had to make a stop in Utah for Luke to take care of some business with a client. But after that, we drove straight to Vegas. It snowed quite a bit on the way down and Luke and I had to keep swapping between driving and sleeping since we had a hard time staying awake. But we finally arrived about 5:30pm, since we lose an hour, it was really 6:30pm.

We decided to take a quick nap before dinner. I remember looking at the clock as it read 7:15pm. The next time I woke up it read 11:30pm. Opps. I told Luke what time it was, then we both rolled over and went back to sleep, not waking up until about 7am the next morning.

It was so nice. Uninterrupted sleep (with exception of the sirens that seemed to never end) and no kids to worry about when I got up! Strange, but nice.

Once we got ready and had breakfast, we made our way down to the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino Convention Center for the Expo.

From about 8:30am to 4pm we walked through the Expo, talking to who knows how many people. My name tag said "consultant" on it. Ha! Right. I just followed Luke around trying to look older than 25 years old, though I don't think I was successful, pretending to understand what every one was talking about and occasionally asking a question or two so people didn't think I was mute.

And let me tell you, after 8 hours of walking around in heels, my toes were hating me. I think they would have up and left me if they weren't so attached to me. But I took one for the team, all in the name of looking professional... well, except for that couple hours where I just took my shoes off an walked around barefoot....

After that we went back to out hotel and changed. We thought it would be fun to go see a show. So we got online and starting looking around. I really wanted to go see Cirque De Sole'. But at 70 bucks a piece we decided to skip it. Then we ALMOST got tickets for the Tournament of Kings at the Excalibur but again, the expense was, rather large. So, in the end we decided that a show lasts but a moment, while a house lasts forever! That's right, sadly, no show. Although someday I really would like to see Cirque De Sole'.

We decided we would walk the strip for a bit instead because that was free! And even then we only walked part of it. Its kind of a scary place. Luke's lucky his arm is still attached as I clung to it for dear life the whole time we were there.

We walked by Cesar's Palace.

Saw the water show at the Bellagio... twice. Luke wanted to experience "Ocean's 11" first hand.

We walked by Excalibur.

And New York New York.

But Luke said we had to take a picture of "The Golden Calf".

My favorite place was the M&M store. Although, I couldn't justify $12 a pound chocolate so I didn't buy any M&Ms either. Might as well go to Walmart and get the same stuff!

But it was fun, till Luke got in trouble for flirting...

... and I got in trouble for trying to eat people who strangely looked like chocolate to me.

I couldn't help it! It was a natural instinct!

We fell asleep early again that night, about 10pm-ish. Is that a sign of old age? Or a parent? I'm still trying to decide.

The next morning we checked out of our hotel then went back to the Expo for a couple hours. After we felt sure we had talked to all the people we needed to, and my feet were screaming at me, we jumped in the car and decided to go see Hoover Dam.

I will post about that tomorrow. I think I'm going to go back to sleep! Right after I find that Sleep Fairy.....

SilverMoon - Part One

(Warning: The word "beautiful" is used to the point of exasperation in this story. Savannah LOVES the word "beautiful". So, everything is "beautiful" in this story.)

"Mommy?" Savannah quietly asked between sips of water from her sippy cup. "Can you please tell us a story tonight?"

"Okay, but only if I can get Jacob to stop screaming!" I said with exasperation.

I was worn out.

I was done.

I was fried to the point of overkill.

Finally, I sat down on the bed next to Savannah. "What should the story be about tonight?" I asked.

"A pony!" Savannah shouted.

"Yeth! A pony!" Joseph added.

"A pony with a horn." Savannah corrected.

"Oh you mean a Unicorn? Okay, Unicorn story it is" I said.

After thinking for a moment, I started.

Once, not long ago, in a land quite far from here, there lived a Unicorn named SilverMoon. She lived in a land where there were a lot of unicorns so she should have been happy. But she wasn't.

During the day, all the unicorns looked the same. Pure white with long snowy hair and a long sharp horn on their heads.

Not SilverMoon. While her hair was just as white, her horn was shorter and it had a soft round end, it wasn't pointed like the others. They often made fun of her because she couldn't play the games or do useful things that required a sharp horn. So she was often left out.

But nighttime was the worst time of all for SilverMoon. When the moonlight shone down onto the unicorns, their hair shimmered and glistened like diamonds! But not SilverMoon. When the moonlight shone upon her hair, instead of sparkling like the others, it shimmered like waves of soft silver satin. (hence my, ever so clever name of SilverMoon)

"Mom?" Savannah stopped me. "Why doesn't her hair sparkle?"

"Uh, well" I stuttered. "It just did! I don't know why." (Now that's wisdom and intelligence at its finest)

All the other unicorns would laugh at her because she looked different. They would tell her she wasn't as beautiful as they were because she didn't sparkle.

It made poor SilverMoon very sad. So one night, she decided to run away.

"Mom, the other unicorns need to be nice to her!" Savannah said quite sadly. After agreeing with her, I continued.

She tiptoed away from the others while they were sleeping (be sure to whisper) and when she was far enough away she started running as fast as she could. She ran and ran all night long. Finally, the sun was coming up and SilverMoon was so tired and thirsty! She decided it was time to rest and find something to drink. After walking a little bit farther she saw a pool of water and ran over and started drinking.

"Hey!" Squealed a tiny squeaky voice, (I thought my tiny squeaky voice was quite good! Sounded a lot like the chipmunk from the movie 'Enchanted') That's my water! Get away!"

Startled, SilverMoon jumped back and looked around. She saw... (give a nice long pause and enjoy the quite enormous kiddy eyes staring at you) nothing!

After a minute she thought she had just imagined it because she was so tired. So she decided to get one more drink then take a nap. Just as she was about to get another sip, the tiny voice came back.

"Hey! I told you to go away! That is my water!" Suddenly the bush next to her started rustling and moving! Then out walked... (I love pausing moments, I swear the kids hold their breath) a teeny tiny, yet rather chubby mouse! In his hand he carried a little bucket.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize this water belonged to you." apologized SilverMoon.

"Well of course it does!" Squeaked the little mouse , "do you see anyone else around? Now go away."

The little mouse put his bucket into the water and filled it. Then he turned around and started walking away.

"Oh please wait!" cried SilverMoon. "I was wondering if you could help me!"

The little mouse stopped, bucket his bucket down, then turned to face the unicorn with his hands on his hips. "Well?" he squeaked?

"I was wondering if you knew where there might be some other unicorns?" she asked.

The little mouse rubbed his furry little chin (rub your chin). "Well... I believe there are a bunch of them just over that big mountain." he said pointing towards a rather large mountain in the distance.

Oh thank you so much!" exclaimed the very excited unicorn.

With that, the little mouse gave a little, "humph!" picked up his bucket and started walking away.

Curious as to what the little mouse was doing, SilverMoon followed him. After a few minutes, the little mouse stopped in front of a tree. And there at the bottom of the tree, she saw a little door. It was the mouse's home! The mouse carried his bucket of water to a small hole and poured it in. Then turned around and headed back to the pool of water muttering something about how he needed water by his house for cooking and cleaning and for his garden but the pond was so far away... grumble grumble.

At this rate the mouse was never going to get that hole filled up! Then, SilverMoon had an idea.

Prancing back to the pond, she bent down until her horn touched the edge of the water. Then she slowly dragged it though the dirt and made a little pathway for the water to follow until it ran into the mouse's little water hole.

The mouse stood staring. His furry little mouth fell open and dropped the bucket. (be sure to demonstrate a dumbfounded look. The kids love that.)

"Wow" he said. "That is the most beautiful and useful horn I've ever seen! Thank you so much! You can have as much water as you want and please, come sleep under my tree."

SilverMoon was stunned! Beautiful? Useful? No one had ever said her horn was beautiful or useful before! And she fell asleep thinking about what the little mouse had said. When she woke up she felt much better, thanked the mouse and headed off towards the mountain. She walked ALL day and into the night.

She was almost to the mountain when she heard something.

"Grrrrr".

SilverMoon stopped and stood perfectly still. She heard it again, only louder.

"GRRRRR."

"Its a lion!" shouted Savannah!

Dang it! How to they keep figuring out what I was going to say? Why can't guess something like a bear or a tiger! They growl too.... don't they?

Suddenly a giant lion jumped out of the bushes and stood in front of SilverMoon.

"Well well!" growled the giant lion. "What do we have here? You look like a tasty little snack!"

TO BE CONTINUED VERY SOON.....

Wardrobe Woes

1 part vanity, 3 parts reality; I have nothing to wear.

Allow me to explain. (Sorry male readers. You can skip this post if would like to preserve any sense of sanity)

I'll be out of town for the weekend. I'm going with my hubby to a convention in Vegas. Its for his work, but he thought I would be helpful since its a printing and graphics convention. I have a limited knowledge of such things while he has none.

He said I didn't need to dress up for it or anything, but of course, I need to look nice. Dress for success though, right?

I stared mournfully at my closet as all I saw was a single row of cap sleeve solid colored shirts, half of which didn't fit. I pulled out anything I wasn't already completely certain didn't fit that I thought would pass as presentable. I even pulled out my maternity clothes, just to see if I could get away with wearing anything that didn't make me look pregnant.

1 part vanity.

This post baby body stuff can be rather irritating. Inflated and deflated parts seem have switched places and gotten confused. And I wish there were magic skin scissors where I could simply grab the loose tummy flubby and snip it off.

I tried on shirt, after shirt, after too small shirt. I suddenly mourned the fact that I lack style and am not willing to spend more than $10 on a shirt. As well as the fact that I'm not willing to buy new clothes at my current size as I have high hopes of losing that rest of the baby pounds.

3 parts reality.

My neighbor's oldest daughter is about Savannah's age. She had her third baby a month after I had Alayna. We are both working toward getting back into our clothes.

I was talking with her on the phone and she asked how my packing was going. I explained my wardrobe woes and she jumped in and told me to come down and check out her clothes.

I felt really silly about it, but I was hopeful. We are about the same height and build so, maybe, just maybe I'd catch a break.

For the next hour I felt like a teenager as she threw shirts and jackets and pants and shoes at me! Telling me to try this on with that or that with this. Thank heaven there are some people out there with a sense of style, for I inherited none.

And all the while, we laughed at ourselves and our post baby bodies. This doesn't fit and that gives me a muffin top. There's no way in heck that thing is going to button and sucking in doesn't seem to help.

However, I was successful in obtaining a presentable wardrobe. I feel so much better about this weekend. I know, I'm such a girl sometimes. What can I say? It's in my genes.

See? There is a logical reason why girls tend to have more clothes than guys. We have skinny clothes, pregnancy clothes, post pregnancy clothes, and every size in between! Its truly amazing how many sizes you can be in one year.

So, I've come to the conclusion that men aren't allowed to complain about the amount of clothes a women has.

Wouldn't you agree?

P.S. Since I'll be gone today and Friday, I've set up Friday's post to be another bedtime story. You can't say I didn't warn you!

Mom Can't Get Away With Anything!

You would think, that in the comfort of your own home, you could relax.

Oh no, you have it all wrong.

You must be on your best behavior at all times.

Little people are watching you.

They do what you do.

(Joseph put on mascara)

They wear what you wear.

(Jacob sporting my running shoes)

They copy what they see.

(Savannah drawing after watching me draw)

Oh, they're watching you alright!

They even say what you say.

After seeing daddy sit down with a bowl of ice cream, Joseph marches up to him, hands on hips and says, "You in big twouble young man! You need to athk mommy!"

And sometimes, they are completely themselves and you haven't the slightest clue where they get their ideas.

(Savannah's new door sign. "Not come in." Surrounded by sad and crying faces. I'm at a loss at to where she picked this idea from)

Just remember, best behavior at ALL times! For your secrets will be told.