Hot Mess Cooling

It's Halloween. Due to Stupid Sandy we are trick or treating on Saturday. It is raining/snowing and very gray outside. I got an excellent nights sleep last night and so did SJ. All of these things have combined to make me a little sentimental this morning. As I held my little hot mess after she ate a ginormous bottle this morning, I was purposefully taking in nose fulls of her baby head smell. She was laying so still and peaceful with her full belly. The house was quiet and I was getting drunk on her smell. And I started to wonder, does that magical sent go away, or do we get so busy we forget to smell their wee little heads? It was such a peaceful moment that I grabbed my phone and tried to capture just a little of my personal magic for the day. I tweaked it a little in Snapseed, but I think I might have caught some of it.

The magic ended a few minutes later and the hustle and bustle of a school day started. Lunch to pack, hair to fix, breakfast to serve, you know the drill. We rushed out the door into the cold Halloween morning. Doodle was plugged into a movie in the car and SJ slept the warmth of her carseat. And I thought about that moment. I realized that sometime in the last few weeks I started to enjoy SJ. Please don't misunderstand, I have always loved her, but she hasn't been that enjoyable. We have exited the blob phase and entered intot he begiining of the fun. I am thrilled for all that is to come, but this morning while smelling that sweet baby head smell, I was acutely aware of all the things that are leaving our family for good. After the stress of a postitive quad screen, two bouts of pre-eclampsia and two colicky babies, we are content with our happy healthy family of four. That doesn't mean that I can't be a little sentimental about the end of each phase. I know that there are fewer and fewer sleepless nights to come, but also fewer "first holidays" to celebrate. I know that there will be less and less screaming to come, but also fewer baby death grips on my finger while holding a bottle. I know that soon there won't be a baby small enough to stretch out on my body and take a cat nap. And knowing all those things, I tried hard to enjoy this rainy, cold, gray day.

SJ and I enjoyed most of our morning, although she refused to take more than the pictured nap. We picked Doodle up from school and little early. SJ is finally napping and I am snuggled on the couch with my Doodle Bug. And I am reminding myself to be patient with her 4 year old self, because soon she too will grow and change and I will miss her at 4!

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Side by Side

Yesterday I posted tons of pictures from our visit with Sisterwife, Jayburb, and Trouble. As I was looking through the pictures, I saw these and felt like they needed their own post. In some strange way, the represent everything that is good and perfect about Doodle and Jayburb's friendship.

We spent Saturday afternoon at the local playground. The kids found a double slide. They spent about 30 minutes sliding down together.

Jayburb always having to wait on Doodle as she slowly, safely, and methodically climbed back up to the top.

Always holding hands to start with.

Jayburb sliding faster.

And loosing his grip.

And always smiling, squealing, and laughing all the way down.

Neither of them remember a time without the other. They grew up in and out of each others' houses. They shared and squabbled like brother and sister. They shared their days and sometimes their nights. They love each other with an innocence that can only be found in children. They worry about one another. When Doodle left the circus because she was scared, Jayburb worried for the rest of the show. When Jayburb leaves on a trip, Doodle asks about him daily. During our visit, Jayburb looked out for Doodle when the museums got crazy, and Doodle climbed up in the maze to help Jayburb get down.

They love each other unconditionally. Jayburb never questions why Doodle still sleeps with a paci (I know, we need to get rid of it!). When Jayburb was potty trained and Doodle was not, he all but encouraged her to stay in diapers. When something worries Jayburb, Doodle never thinks he is silly, she just worries about it too. They seem to compensate for each other, teaching, encouraging, and understanding they are different.

Even thought these two little ones love each other like this, they are just as happy to play with other kids, wander off and do their own things, and live separate lives. They are comfortable in knowing that their friend is around the corner, down the street, or a few hours away. That comfort is one of the most wonderful things about their friendship. They are not so tied to each other that they cannot enjoy things separately. It has definitely made it easier to be so far away.

Looking at these pictures and writing this has reminded me how precious and rare this kind of friendship is. If we are lucky we find it in our spouse, and in a handful of other people throughout our lifetime. Jayburb and Doodle are as lucky as two kids can be!

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Sisterwife Reunification

In all seriousness, the forthcoming pictures are documentation of the best weekend I've had since we moved. Don't get me wrong, I am making friends and doing fun things, but reuniting with Sisterwife and the boys was the highlight of late. I told Sisterwife that the last few months felt like a divorce that neither of us wanted. To that end, the weekend was perfect. Doodle and Jayburb we beyond excited to see each other. There was not one cross word between the two of them during the entire stay. As for Trouble, he had a great time too and didn't get into too much! SJ made me look like a whiney fool and was the exact opposite of the hot mess she had been!

We started the weekend out hanging out at the house and the kids played.

And yes, someone did end op getting hurt from this game. Can't remember who, but there were a few tears.

They were super excited to share a room and Doodle couldn't wait to show Jayburb his bed in her room.

The next morning, it took Sisterwife and I a little while to get our groove on and get super organized, but when we did, we rocked it out. Sisterwife stayed in the house with all 4 munchkins and I reinstalled all 4 car seats so that we could all travel in one car. We managed to get all 4 dressed, fed, loaded and into the museum by 10:30ish. We were impressed with ourselves!

Trouble watching Doodle climb the noisy staircase

Jayburb decided to climb up through the maze

"how fast can I get up those stairs?"

SJ spent the better part of the trip chillin in her stroller.

The water table/room was a hit with all 3 of the kids! Good thing we brought extra clothes because they all needed it!

They had such a good time that we left with 6 pruny wrinkly hands!

Saturday we crammed My Favoritest into the car

And headed to the Carnegie Science Center. Much fun was had, and few pictures were taken. Here are a couple of the good ones

We finished the weekend off with an attempt at a picture of all four children. Not so successful, but better than nothing!

Sunday came too soon, and the visit was over to quickly. It did make my heart happy to see that nothing has changed between Doodle and Jayburb. They still love one another with an innocence that is only found in children, and Sisterwife and I will do everything in our power to make sure they get every chance to grow up together!

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The Week My Favoritest Left- Part 2

Life interrupted this post getting out sooner, and I know you have been anxiously waiting (or not!). But here is what happened the rest of the week that My Favoritest was gone. The girls and I sadly dropped Beverly at the airport on Wednesday and I buckled down for a long few days! I was determined to make the best of the solo situation, and decided being busy was better than being bored. So we headed out to the zoo! We had a great morning. Doodle and I sat and laughed at the lemurs and she had a snack with the gorillas. SJ... slept. Imagine that!

We also managed to make it to the aquarium portion of the zoo. Doodle had a great time touching the giant sting ray and crawling through the tunnel under the touch tank.

We also discovered the play area. The first time she went down the slide, she was a little nervous.

But after one time, she was hooked. She must have gone down the slide 50 times!

Doodle spent the next day at school and then we hit up Tot Shabbat that night. As I was getting the girls ready to go, Doodle climbed into SJ's bed and this is a moment that melted my heart! Doodle hanging with her sister!

We survived the week and even had a little fun! That's not to say that I want My Favoritest to leave again any time soon!

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We Got Ears!!!

We celebrated Doodle's birthday last weekend with a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse bash! This is the first time we have had space to have a party at home. Doodle was excited to have all of her friends celebrate with us. I am a woman of few words this week, so here are the pictures!

I am a totally birthday party dork! I made Mickey Mouse ears for the kids even though I knew my own would not wear them. She hates headbands.

Along with my dorkiness is a sickness involving birthday cakes. Thanks to Landlord and Sisterwife, I realized that making fantastic looking cakes isn't as hard as it looks. It just takes alot of planning, supplies, patients, and most of all LOVE! Doodle knows that I have made her cakes in the past and this year she got into helping me plan it. Becuase of that, every one of the clubhouse gang had to be on the cake!l

I felt like I spent the whole party running around like a chicken with my head cut off! I didn't really get to take as many pictures as I wanted. I also don't want to post too many pictures of Doodle's friends without speaking to their parents.

Doodle obviously enjoyed the unlimited snacking aspect of the party. Please notice that she has a different bowl in each picture. And yes, she ate so many snacks she didn't want dinner!

The kids played and had fun. I had stations set up for necklace making, play doh, giant bowling, a bean bag toss, and sidewalk chalk. The kids turned it into a free for all fun fest, which was perfect!

We sang Happy Birthday and opened presents!

And although I didn't take a ton of pictures, I did manage to get a family picture and a couple of pcitures of the girls in their "matches"!

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