Woo-Hoo!

On Valentine's Day, Ella peed on the potty for the very first time.

Since then...nothing. Nada.

Today, she peed twice! Definite progress!

Sicknesses

Mom has pneumonia (more on that to come), but at least my nephew doesn't have the swine flu (although he did get to call into work today due to being quarantined...I kid you not).

As for us? The kids are on the mend, but I'm still crumbling under the sinus pressure. I should be back up to speed by the end of the week (fingers crossed!), but am still feeling like crud.

Curious

If, say, you come to this blog looking for a specific post, or two, that you can no longer find, you can always email me.

New Life

Congratulations, Lorraine and family!

Welcome to the world, Sean Daniel Robert :)

Whirlwind

The past couple of weeks have been a complete blur. After a somewhat last minute change of plans, I made a traditional Easter dinner up at Mom's. We had the kids' first egg hunt, and their first official delivery from the Easter Bunny. It went over very well. Then it was full-on birthday planning mode. My sister, M, had been sick before Easter but miraculously recovered enough to make it to dinner. And to infect most of us. Ella, Liam, Caitlin and Mom are all sick now and somehow my body knew to hold off until the end of the insanity. As I laid down with the kids last night to tuck them in, I felt the sore throat creeping on. I am totally sick now and none too pleased with M, who "realized" after crashing Easter dinner that she wasn't well enough to go to work last Monday or Tuesday. Ugh! She actually didn't come to the party yesterday, claiming that she "didn't want to be infected." Can you believe it?!

That said, here are some shots of Easter and the birthday party. Yesterday was a fabulous day. Everything came together so nicely - the food, the crowd, the weather, just everything - and J and I were so happy with how the day went. The weather was wonderful enough that everyone spent most of the time outside, soaking up the sun and enjoying each other's company. J's parents surprised the kids with classic Radio Flyer trikes (which actually worked out very well, because we haven't had a chance to purchase their bikes, so we'll just hold off on those for now and let the kids enjoy the trikes). N and her kids surprised Liam and Ella with a basketball hoop, which was a BIG hit. A and P, Liam and Ella's Godparents (as well as their aunt and uncle), surprised me by getting the Muffins a sand and water table for them to play with on the deck. P's wife gave the kids a great batch of homemade goodies, including a cute felt soccer ball, adorable little stuffed mice and some nice play dough. Everyone seemed to have a good time and I'm glad for the exhaustion at the end of it, because it was so worth it.

All in all, it's been a total whirlwind but it all just reminds me how blessed I am with amazing children, a wonderful husband and a great family.

Quick! Find those eggs!

She was quite good at finding more than one at a time.

Oooh...check out those goodies!

The only decent shot of the two of them together on Easter. It's so hard to get Ella to pose for a picture now.

Chilling out on the kitchen floor, muching on some of the loot from the egg hunt.

The trikes! (And, yes, my son did wear the same outfit for Easter and the party - isn't he so handsome?!)

Ahhh! The cake that caused me so much stress. It was quite good, albeit a bit green, but the kids loved it I think I'm over my cake ordering anxiety (although, I still prefer to make my own, but this worked out quite nicely).

Ella blowing out the candle.

Then it's Liam's turn.

I have no idea what they're doing here or even who took the shot, but I think it's super cute.

2 points!

He was trying to pretend that I wasn't taking his picture. Seriously.

A Brief Tour Of My Thoughts

• Jesus, I don't get enough sleep.
• I am so damn sad about recent events and don't know what to do to be of more help.
  
• The cake for the kids' party! Damnit, the cake! This thing will be my downfall. I don't really want to order one, but no one seems to want to sell me the decoration I want, so I may have to and hopefully someone will give me a straight answer tomorrow and just. sell. me. the. damn. topper. I really want to make my own Thomas cake.
• Ugh.
• If we lived at Mom's, then I could take the kids outside to play by myself and not worry about them (well, specifically the boy one) running into the street (I'd still worry, but there's so much more space at Mom's).
• I really need to get more sleep.
  
• If we lived at Mom's, I'd always be worrying about ticks.
• I now blowdry my hair in an attempt to get to bed earlier. After I shower, I used to let it airdry to a certain point, but when I'm not showering until 10 at night and it can take upwards of 3 hours for my hair to reach a point at which I can go to bed without looking like Medusa in the morning, I'm surprised it took me this long to think of this.
• Now that I'm blowdrying my hair on a regular basis, people keep asking me if I'd had it cut recently. I'm actually in desperate need of a haircut.
• Should I go to grad school? Is it worth it? Do I really want to go back to work one day? (Hint: Not so much. But, am I shortchanging myself? My kids?)
• Ugh.
• There are a ton of shows I need to catch up on on the DVR. Not enough time in the day.
  
• I need to stop it with the Easter loot (mine, not the kids. They got toys from the Easter Bunny and only one small tin of m 'n ms.). There are not enough hours in the day for me to spend in the gym to burn it all off. That said, though, food's a definite comfort at this point.
• I wonder. Can I kick my Diet Coke habit? The thought is very appealing. This is not the month to experiment, though, but maybe. Just maybe.
  
• I really want to post some pictures from the Thomas show. That was fun. The kids had a blast.
• I'm tired. Very, very tired.
• We really need to watch the movies we have taken out on Netflix. It's been months.
• I can't believe my babies are 3.
  
• I need a weekend off (I know, I know....who doesn't?!). Just someplace where I can sleep, food magically appears at my door and I don't have to do anything. It'll never happen, though.
• Ugh.

And that concludes the abbreviated, though circuitous, tour of my brain.

Thank you so much for browsing Heather's mind. Please wait for the ride to come to a full and complete stop and then exit to the left.

Hippity Hoppity

The biscuits are baked and bagged and ready to go, the bread pudding's almost done baking and the sweet potatoes are boiling for the casserole. The eggs are stuffed, the diaper bag is loaded with changes of clothing, Mom's Easter lily is on the porch. The kids' baskets are loaded into my car (the Easter Bunny is delivering their surprises to Nana's house since Mumma is going to early Mass and then heading up to Nana's to make a big Easter dinner for everyone and I won't be here when the kidlets wake up - I didn't want to miss the grand openings!). I have a long list of items to remember to bring in the morning (not the least of which is the ham!), and we're in good shape for a nice, relatively small (there'll be 12 f us, at last count) Easter dinner.

Wishing you a very Happy Easter, if you celebrate it, and a Happy Sunday, if you don't.

The Time...It Keeps Flying

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh







Liam and Ella, My Darlings -

You are 3 years old today and I just. cannot. believe. it. Where has the time gone? Where are my little tiny babies?

You are so big now - so strong and vibrant - and so funny. You have outrageous senses of humor and keep me, and everyone else, laughing. You both love music and often break out into a funny little dance that is quite unique. It's a cross between a carpenter sawing a 2x4 and an 80 year-old man trying to get down at a square dance.

You're very talkative little people and I love it. It can get to be a bit much sometimes, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Ella, you are easily offended if someone suggests that you be quiet and usually turn it up a notch, just to prove your point. For a while, your favorite saying was, "I can't won't be quiet!" And, that's pretty much still the case. When you guys were about 6 months old, we ran into a little boy at Borders who was talking his father's ear off. I asked how old he was and was told that he was 3. I remember thinking then, in the haze that was the sleeplessness of your first year, that the day would never come when you would be like that. I was so very, very wrong.

You love playing at Nana's (you adore your Nana), and you love it when we have company. You have lots of favorite people, but the Movers seem to always top the list when asked whom you love the most.

Liam, you love "real" dogs (read: not chihuahuas like our Jack) and are so very sweet with them. Your current obsession is Aunt N's dog. You follow her around from room to room and sit on the floor next to her, petting and loving her. It melts my heart. One day, I promise that we'll get a "real" dog.

You sleep together on the futon in your bedroom, having given up your daybeds a while ago. Ella, you're a lot like Mumma when you sleep. You crash hard and almost always sleep on your stomach. You don't like to be cuddled in your sleep (although I always snuggle with you for a bit before I go to bed at night). Liam, you move around a lot in your sleep and are usually aware when I come in the room to check on you. You roll over sweetly and cuddle in with me for a few moments and I treasure that time. Every night, I sneak in to you both, snuggle up and whisper in your ears how much I love you. And I do. And I always, always will.

Liam and Ella, I love you so much and I am the luckiest Mumma in the entire world. You are the greatest blessings of my life and, even though you're really, really, supremely awesome at annoying each other sometimes and at making me want to pull my hair out, I love every moment of being your mother. You share a bond that is magical and I am so lucky to witness it every day.

I'm looking forward to an amazing year of growth, fun, good times and learning with you, my loves.

Love,
Mumma

Mysterious Ways

I almost skipped my stretching routine after my workout tonight, mostly because I'm exhausted. I did it, though, and am so glad that I stuck it out. If I hadn't, I would've missed one of my most favorite songs as it came up on the sansa.

I really needed to hear this tonight.

When people keep repeating
That you'll never fall in love
When everybody keeps retreating
But you can't seem to get enough

Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
To your heart

When everything feels all over
When everybody seems unkind
I'll give you a four leaf clover
Take all the worry out of your mind

Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
To your heart

I have the only key to your heart
I can stop you falling apart
Try today, you'll find this way
Come on and give me a chance to say
Let my love open the door
It's all I'm living for
Release yourself from misery
There's only one thing gonna set you free
That's my love

Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
To your heart

When tragedy befalls you
Don't let it drag you down
Love can cure your problems
You're so lucky I'm around

Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
To your heart
- Pete Townshend

It's Funny How Your Perspective Changes

I never minded rainy, gloomy days before I had children. In fact, I found them rather comforting.

Now? Just a tad sick of these April showers (and it's only the 6th!).

Come on out, sun. Stay a while. Liam and Ella need to burn off some energy out on the deck, and two rain soaked toddlers is not really Mumma's idea of fun.

Oh, God. I'm turning into an outdoorsy person!

Palm Art

Years ago, one of my nieces went to Italy on a school trip. She happened to be in Rome for Palm Sunday and Holy Week and she brought Mom back a lovely ornately crafted piece of what can best be described as abstract palm art and I remember thinking at the time that it was such a lovely use of the palms.

Yesterday was Palm Sunday. Cait, Katie and I went to Mass and picked up palms at the door (little did we know that they would hand them out at the beginning of the service). Some other people had picked up palms on their way in, too, and Katie and I sat in wonder as we watched them create beautiful things with their palms. One woman spun hers into a lovely flower. A teenage girl in front of us made small cross after small cross.

Katie and I kept marveling at how, back in the day (!), we would never be able to do such a thing. We had to sit still and be quiet throughout Mass (hence why my children have yet to attend Mass with me on any regulr basis). I noticed other young-ish people playing with their palms (although two boys were spoken sternly to by their father for sword fighting with their palms...that was, I think, too clever of a use of their palms in his book). One little girl even had a bouquet of flowers made of palms and construction paper. I have a hunch that the new generations are being taught how to be creative with their palms, most likely in faith formation classes (known to us old timers as CCD).

I wanted to work up the nerve to ask the girl in front of us if she would make crosses out of our palms, but was feeling shy (believe it or not!). Katie eventually leaned forward and asked for me and the girl didn't even hesitate to just give us some of the little crosses that she had made to choose from. It was very sweet and now we each have a little palm cross of our own.

Now...if I could just figure out how to make one...

Chihuahuas Get A Lot Of Grief

It's no secret that no one really likes Little Dog, whose name is Jack. We didn't realize that chis needed to be socialized and, although he was a sweet, sweet pup until he was ~ 6 months old, he can be very aggressive to others. Generally, we crate him when we know company is coming. If people stop by unannounced, it can get a little chaotic until we can put him away.

We get teased a lot for having a chihuahua. He's a sweet boy to us, though, and to Cait, even though she doesn't live here any longer. He warmed up to the kids and only gets pissy with them if they get too close while he's eating. Plus, he's a hell of a guard dog.

Anyway...

Liam has met some big dogs lately and we've asked them if the big dogs are "real" dogs, he responds with an awed "yeah." It's quite cute.

Liam is very big into stating the obvious and also telling anyone who will listen what something is not ("Mumma, you are not Daddy."). Yesterday, he was sitting on my lap as we watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (almost the bane of my existence, but he loves it) and he told me, "Mumma, Pluto is nice. Pluto is not Jack."

Take that how you will.

On a somewhat related note, I had a dream early this morning that Jack and Mom were getting along. In the dream, he was actually sitting on her lap and she was petting him. I think it may be the most unrealistic dream I've ever had.

Forward Motion

• I am spent. Emotionally, physically, every which way. I didn't really get any sleep until Tuesday night, but last night was very troubled sleep. The exhaustion brings me back to the early days of when Liam and Ella were born.
• It's T-1 week until The Amazing Muffins turn 3! I cannot believe it. If I thought I was under a time crunch before? I've never been this far behind with planning their party or getting their invitations out, but I'll have them in the mail by Saturday. I gave everyone who's invited a head's up anyway, but I like to be formal about these things. Shortly after they were born, I figured out how old they'll be the first time Easter falls on their birthday (17, in case you're interested), because, well I'm crazy like that and needed to know when I was going to have to deal with the birthday/Holiday merger (as I mentioned before this Easter is my sister, M's, birthday). I'm very glad now that Easter is the Sunday after their birthday...it gives me the extra time that I need to get it all ready.
  
• I really need to get back into the gym. I went last Friday night and, understandably, haven't been able to get back there. My goal is Saturday. That'll put me back in line with my weight training schedule and it should be quiet enough when I go so that I can really bust out a good workout. Interestingly, a facebook friend of mine is really into Les Mills' Body Combat and she wants to meet me for a class. Apparently, the closest class is in Derry, which is a decent halfway point for us anyway, since she's down in MA...it sounds interesting, but I'm pretty sure it might just be a little too much of an ass kicking for me. I haven't done any of the classes offered at Gold's (none of them are of the Les Mills variety), mostly due to scheduling conflicts, but maybe I'll check a couple out in the weeks to come.
• I had an interesting peak into my brother's mind on Tuesday. He was telling me how great A's kids are, and they really are. He was saying how nice they all are to each other, how well they get along and how they've been amazing through everything that's been happening. I commented to him that they are far nicer to each other than he and I are and he actually thought about it for a minute and then reluctantly agreed. It finally, fully dawned on me that all of the crap he gives me is his way of showing me love! Now, I love P dearly and pretty much worshipped him when I was a kid (he's 8 years older than I), but we have perfected the art of sibling taunting and nitpicking. We'd be there for each other in a heartbeat, but are pretty much hardpressed to actually express our love for each other in our normal interactions. Even yesterday, as he was teasing me for being the only one of us (out of all of my siblings, that is) that "being raised Catholic stuck with" he then hugged me for a good long while. I guess he really does love his little sister. There's a reason he's my children's Godfather, though, and it has a lot to do with the fact that I love my big brother...
  
• Speaking of being the little sister...ugh, well, let's just say that I will always be the little sister. It will never matter how old I am, they'll always know more than I. Maybe it won't be as annoying when I'm 50 and they're all in their 60s and 70s? Here's hoping...
• Here's a nice parting thought: Before I found St. John's, I attended a church in another part of town. I drove by it the other day and just love the message on their sign..."Treat yourself to a faithlift. Walk-ins welcome."
• Now, to try and sleep...