sugar city

this makes me want to say, "here, here!"

putting a package of disney stickers to good use

seth's all, i don't want to live here anymore.

and i'm all, really? why?

and he's all, GEE, I CAN'T THINK OF ONE REASON.

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(for hambly, "a lioness. grrrr!")

weekly mouse

um, i love her?

weekly guy

there are times when we're playing or he's just finished eating and i look at him and realize, "he's just as in love with me as i him." and that feels good.

preschooler ava and the zoo

we went to the zoo on a whim last saturday. i love doing things on a whim. and i love the zoo. unfortunately, doing things on a whim means bringing the wrong equipment or leaving important things at home. we accidentally grabbed preschooler ava and took her to the zoo instead of the much nicer and more enjoyable toddler ava. i'm rolling my eyeballs when i tell you she was a joy.

think i'm exaggerating? see for yourself:we figured out that getting ava's cooperation required the use of a magic phrase. the phrase: "let's go see the next animal." worked almost every time, except when she suddenly decided that she loved the lion and she only wanted to see him. upon finally seeing him, she attempted to scale the gate saying, "c'mere lion, i love you." (this didn't work, he did not come)

best moment of the day? obviously this one:
this is when we were watching the giraffes come right up to us and i was marveling at their grace and size and wondering how close they were going to come and why when i thought i would take a picture. i pulled out my camera, started snapping a few shots and thought to ask ava what she thought of the giraffes coming so close. i asked her. no answer. i looked down mid-snap and saw--

my daughter underneath the giraffe fence, just an inch away from clearing it. in my best shocked mommy voice i gasped, "ava!" and she quickly climbed back over to me.

"Mom," she said loudly and with indignation, "I want to pet the GIRAFFE!" then she wept. bitterly. for a very, very long time. and then ryan had to stop me from chucking her into the giraffe cage by physically restraining me because i had just about had it.

ah, family.

so very naked

we are at the tail end of our potty training.

and when i saw "our" i really mean "ava".

i know that this is a hectic, crazy time when it's you versus the potty and parents want to cry and stop rubbing defecation out of their carpet and i know that i should probably be documenting this all very closely and telling you all of the funny stories that come out of it, but. . .there hasn't been much, to be honest.

this potty training has been uneventful and boring, sad to say (and i was so looking forward to the writing material it was going to provide, too).

potty training began when ava asked for it and i couldn't put her off any longer. perhaps i'm one of the few moms out there who would rather just change diapers the next several years of her life instead of look down and see my child performing the potty dance someplace public. i'd rather not be inconvenienced, you see.

so ava's using the potty and i'm avoiding target. so far, so good. except that i have her naked almost all the time we're at home so she can quickly go potty if she needs to and many, many people have seen her naked little bottom galavanting around our yard. this, of course, does not bother her at all. i don't know how the neighbors feel.

when lucy, the neighbor's daughter, came over to borrow an onion, ava stood there, more naked than the day she was born and shakin' what god gave her in her excitement over lucy's arrival.

"hi lucy!" she sang, "i'm naked!" lucy's wide eyes slid to mine. i think she wanted to see if i had noticed.

"yes," i agreed with ava, as i handed the onion to lucy, "you're naked."

so lucy is five, and i think this answers the question that ryan is constantly asking, "at what age does a child feel embarassed about being naked?" (because ava loves her nakedness and i prefer her nakedness. she's much easier to clean off that way)

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the getty villa

weekly mouse

great-grandma flynn won the best present prize. an umbrella? who would have known it'd be the best gift ever?

weekly guy

sleeping in daddy's jacket

we played hooky so we could go here

the dripping rock

woodpecker tree

i always wanted a treehouse. seeing this gave me the exact idea for building one for my kids. and by building one for my kids, i mean i'm going to plan it all out and ryan will do it because he has patience and i have. . .great ideas.

my time dried up

i had a bunch of spare time about five months ago. those were the "pre-seth" days. man does that kid turn extra time into time well spent on him! good thing he's so cute or else he'd be found on craigslist with a bow around his neck.

i also picked up a writing gig. i don't know how long that will last me (probably when she gets sick of trying to make my pieces work), but it sucks up whatever little amount of time i have left.

and finally, i got a month free at curves (woman gym) that i love, and i think i'm going to sign up for keeps as soon as my month is up. i have more energy and i feel like i'm doing something all alone for the first time in. . .well, a long time.

conclusion: my house is a wreck, this blog is neglected and i keep forgetting to take my camera out. it's a pity, you should see the amount of rolling seth is up to. he starts off on one part of the room and ends up in a totally different part. i'm proud, he's giddy and ava thinks it's a game.

sorry i'm not writing as much, i'll do my best.

ps grandparents, do not fear! weekly mouse and guy will continue for your grandchild viewing. even though we live five minutes away and you see them often. i guess you have to have something to look at while they nap, right?

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no editing

weekly guy

with grandma

weekly mouse

riding daddy's new mountain bike

a resolution

over the holidays, i heard about a couple that i love very much and their problems in trying to conceive. it made me think about how my own two pregnancies went (fairly well) and how much i whined and moped about them. and now that i have these two little children consuming all of my time, smacking their lips and demanding seconds, i realize something:

ava and seth are gifts. and i am an ungrateful wretch by begrudgingly caring for them. it is about time i screwed my courage to the sticking point and did a better job around here. i am going to change my attitude.

i've been thinking about what ryan always says, "blah, blah, something about how it's my problem and no one else's and i'm the only one who has the power to change it." (boys have the most awful habit of giving advice when they should just be listening and perhaps giving you a foot rub and also, ryan says it a lot nicer than that) the reason i hate that little tidbit of advice is because that's hard to do. and i'd rather there be another solution. for example, get a maid. for free. and a mother's helper that pops up only when i need her (like when ava's crying for food and i'm feeding seth or when both children are sleeping and i could use the time to go exercise). do you see the incredible job i can do with whining even when i'm in the middle of a resolution to not whine anymore? i can out-whine and out-procrastinate the best of them. i'm so amazing, it's almost a shame to try and tame these awful habits.

back to the original point: this is a new year and i'm going to work hard to be grateful for the gift of my children and not text message ryan with threats of dropping them off at the back door of the salvation army. besides, i might regret that move when i go to snuggle with something and there's nothing to snuggle with.

new and not improved

remember toddler ava? you know, short, blonde hair. loud. well, her visits have become more and more frequent, which was fine, i was coping, until she started bringing a new friend. meet preschooler ava.

preschooler ava is tempting me very much to actually put her in preschool (an institution i see as meaningless) due to one word: why. it's amazing the power this word has. when slipped into a conversation repeatedly, it makes me want to commit suicide. i mean, does the government know about this?

yoo-hoo, china! WHY?

so preschooler ava comes over and wants to have it out with me, and i indulge. mostly because i can't help myself. it's my button and preschooler ava's pushing it.

"ava, you need to take a nap."

"why?"

"it's time to go to sleep."

"why?"

"it's what we do everyday."

"why, mom? why?"

this goes on until i think, 'i don't have to answer these questions! i am the mom!' then i stand and bellow, "OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, CHILD! JUST GET INTO BED!!" this is when she jumps into bed, pulls the covers over her body and shouts, "OKAY, MOM! I'M COMING!!" except you know what? she wasn't coming. i watched her the whole time. she didn't move until i lost it. why is she doing this to me? i used to think, 'i never did this. i always listened to what my parents told me.' (no, i didn't. i just have a very high opinion of my child-self)

which leads me to this new problem: being a parent has made me feel so guilty for things i have done in the past. it has caused me to bring up certain instances and apologize.

like all those times when you told me to knock it off and i just kept doing it and explaining myself to you? I AM SO SORRY. THAT IS SO ANNOYING.

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