Chicago

Welcome to Spring Break 2010

James had the foresight to use this as one of his weeks off. Wow! What a planner.

Thanks Daddy.

sooo...we set off to visit Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Clyde on their mission in Chicago.

mommy's girl. a coke on the floor of the museum. exhausted.

future missionaries?

Holy Smokes! They have a Legoland Discovery center 20 minutes from Grandma's house. Besides seeing Grandma and Grandpa, this was the highlight of the trip.

This one needs to go in Uncle Chuck's office. We are POSITIVE his business would quadruple.

Naomi loved her grandma.

This was hilarious...James was trying to make everybody smile because he thought it would be a great Christmas card...I think it was a failure. Sorry, honey. Good Try.

Quite a success. Oh, except for:

my nearly two day migraine (almost puking in their parking plaza and being a little grumpy)

missing toll roads (a lot of them)(we are still waiting for the tickets to start rolling in)

a 9 hour drive home that was supposed to take only 6 hours. pouring rain. bald tires. need I say more?

midnight.

a flat tire on the freeway...

call AAA

wait as I hold the grumpy freshly woken kids in my lap squished on the front seat

fix the tire

continue driving home

our gas light goes on

we just kept driving

we made it.

We Love you Chicago...actually we just love our Grandma and Grandpa.

Thanks for letting us come visit!

Happy Easter

Just like in my youth, we split the money between the kids. Well, actually, just the boys. Poor Nomers. I actually forgot to get money that day and I almost used the boys piggy banks to fill the eggs. I figured it was going right back to the same place. James wouldn't let me. It wasn't honest. We searched around the house and found our extra change in the cabinet. Perfect.
Luckily they don't quite understand that it wasn't a whole heck of a lot of money. Nickels and dimes. A few quarters. Childhood. So easy to please.

Easter 2010

The shirts...the same gingham disaster from last year...but this year we added a tie. Perfect...and affordable. Naomi refused to do her hair. In fact, I was lucky to get the kid in the car and dressed. I keep telling myself that I need to start paying someone to do my kids pictures. It's just too emotionally draining to get the kids dressed, to a park, smiling and not losing anybody all by myself. I even had to tie and re-tie the boys ties. (lack of a father presence) I actually think I nailed it...for a girl. I figure, this is how Naomi's hair always looks...I might as well remember her as she is. Strong, Independent and Willful. My dad says that's how I used to be...I don't believe it. I am pretty sure I was perfect.

Things I say...but probably really shouldn't say to my kids...out of desperation:

1. Do you remember the kids in Haiti...do you think they would be grateful for this gift,

food, etc...

William once responded: "oh, no, mom. Please don't say Haiti, please don't say Haiti."

James said I probably shouldn't use that anymore for guilt purposes. It's really starting to effect Will. My response: Perfect. I'll keep it up. Nothing else is getting through.

2. When asked "why can't I do this, that or buy this, that? etc... ect... ect...

I respond: Because I don't want you to grow up to be a spoiled brat...do you want to grow up to be a spoiled brat and have no one like you?

3. When I can't handle the verbal 4 and 6 year old abuse anymore:

"Fine...if you don't like me you can go and find a new mom...good luck. I'm as good as it gets."

4. When I am holding them in my arms, I will whisper,

"Why do I love you so much?" (I think I got that line from my mom.)

Nothing you could ever do would ever make me stop loving you. Never Forget it. Never.

Life without a Nap

Somedays, despite her best efforts, she will fall asleep on the chest of her mom or dad. She's a fighter, though. She doesn't close those eyes without a heavy, duty 22- month old fight.

So tired. Yet, I am still able to keep her happy with a bag of her own hershey kisses. Why not?

No nap = two more hours of the day when I get to monitor her every movement. Often times she can be found hiding in the fridge gnawing on a cube of butter. Delicious!

Ford #34

Our daddy is 34. The basketball cake symbolizes our love for him,

and his love for March Madness. "Perhaps the greatest sporting event ever," according to Dad.

Daddy is so lucky to have three big helpers on his special day.

Go, Team Ford, Go.

How Daddy spent his Birthday:

He went to work until noon. His day off.

Came home and let ME take a nap. I had a migraine, people. Don't judge me.

Then he cleaned smeared feces off his five year old and the bathroom toilet, walls and floor.

Then he let me take another nap. I still had a migraine.

We had cake at 3:30.

We fed the kids.

And then he and I went out to dinner.

And he got to wear a Sombrero and be sung to in Spanish.

I guess it wasn't so bad after-all.

The life of a dad. A birthday to remember.

Dance in the Rain

Jake asked if we could go outside in the rain. I felt the cold chill in the air and thought for a second. Sure. Why not. James didn't want me to take Naomi out because she is still under the weather. I looked over at her whimpering by the shoe rack looking up at me with those innocent blues. I grabbed her coat.

We only lasted a few minutes. Puddles covered our cold Akron lawn. Long enough to make a memory.

A Dance in the Rain.

The other night I had on overwhelming feeling come over me. I was looking around our house. Taking it in.

I walked into our bedroom and I looked at James.

You know what?

We live in a palace.

This is our palace.

It was a feeling of complete and utter contentment with life. Our life.

No matter what life brings, no matter where we move, no matter what state our palace resides, we will always have...

A Dance in the Rain. Together.

JOB

Look Who Lost His Two Front Teeth...

"Mom, what's your job?"

"I'm a mom."

"No, your REAL job?"

"I'm a mom."

"No mom, like your other job..."

Seriously kid, do you know how hard it is to be your mom! I only the have patience for ONE job...and your lookin at it.

Noami finally jumped through infancy into toddlerhood when we kept finding her out of her crib at the top of the stairs. We took out the crib. A spare twin mattress and boxspring are now the resting place of our adorable little 22 month old.

So...after months and months of pressuring me, I decided to give into my husband and also take away her bottle that I used to put her down to bed. Result: SCREAMING. SCREAMING. AND THROWING HER SIPPY CUP AT ME AS I WALKED OUT OF HER ROOM. NUMEROUS TIMES.

Also, Result: NO MORE NAPS.

It's O.K. Really. She is officially off the bottle, and done with naps. I told James he owed me one. Do you know how much harder this makes my day? Don't worry. He'll hear about for months. Possibly years.

But in all honesty, I'm glad. The bottle has been weighing on me for some time...

It's one of those things that I knew had to happen, but it's easier if you can blame it on someone. I love you, James.

I told her that if she is old enough to get out of her crib, she is old enough to go to bed with a sippy cup. I don't think she really understood my rational, but hey, she's not even two.