11 random things I'm thankful for

This is a list that could go on forever but I decided to limit it to just a few.

1. Talking to small children - if you need a fresh perspective on life, you should discuss it with a 4- or 6-year-old.
2. My job - I'm glad every day that I get to do something that is fun but lets me put my family first.
3. The garage - Joe lets my car live there and I don't have to scrape windows.
4. Scooby Doo Meets Batman & Robin - you arrived just in time to entertain a not-feeling-well little boy.
5. Being pregnant in the winter - sitting by the fire and crocheting hats and toys for the new baby is so much more cozy than feeling like a midsize killer whale at the pool.
6. America's Funniest Home Videos - if you've never watched this show with two little children and a scoop of rocky-road ice cream, you should give it a try.
7. Joe's job - how many people get to say they get to work for honest, competent people in a company that actually cares about you and your family?
8. Pie for breakfast - I can't wait for all the delicious leftover pie to eat later this week!
9. Various conveniences of the modern age - washing machines, text messages, movies that appear in my mailbox, delicious low-calorie pudding, shopping online, Egyptian cotton sheets, waterproof boots, Kitchenaid mixers, Dancing With the Stars, blogs, DVD-players in the car, take-out Thai food, telecommuting, Dr. Pepper, waterproof eyeliner, the iMac.
10. Friends with skills - people who knew how to sew and an online tutorial resulted in some maternity jeans that actually fit and look good!
11. My awesome, handsome, super-cool husband who has a plethora of talents and who will run to the store for rocky-road ice cream at 11pm.

I hope that you too can find a million things to be thankful for this year.

30 weeks

Being in the '30s' seems a little surreal - we're actually getting there! Not too many more weeks and we'll have another little bundle.

Sprinkle/Star Wars/Hiccup is getting big and wiggly. All the sudden I feel a lot bigger. I don't know why it seems different this time around but I can see and feel the different parts of the baby shifting around. Joe sat in the back of Sunday School yesterday with his hand on my belly, feeling little knees poking and wiggling all over - we thought it was so funny. Of course we maybe should have been paying more attention... sorry Bro and Sister West!

He hasn't (yet) started hooking his toes into my ribs or trying to stretch out full-length, like Minnie always did. How are babies so strong? I thought she would puncture a lung. If I put on my seatbelt or wear a waistband that is tighter he sits and elbows and punches and fights against it. Long car rides are the best.

I've gained 20 pounds and I hate looking at the scale. I think I'm in the nesting stage because I work on the house a lot - I keep the kids' room obsessively straightened up, I've turned into a Person Who Makes Everyone's Bed and I've put new flooring down in three rooms all by my very own self! I took pictures but haven't posted them. Oh! I also made a car seat cover (again... haven't posted pictures) and I'm working on a cute crochet hat for the little nugget. I hope his cute brown blankets and clothes make up for the fact that I have no plans to take down the pink-and-orange curtains in his bedroom.

Internet names

Lisa has cleverly pointed out that the blog names Bart and Lisa will not work with the upcoming baby boy (if it had been a girl, Maggie would have been perfect). Yeah yeah... totally a critical decision, right? It's either that or go back to mourning the loss of Kurt Warner on DWTS. I miss you Kurt! And seriously, WHO is voting for Bristol Palin? Anyway, at Lisa's behest, I've been thinking of other threesomes. Here's what I've got:

Ellie, Crash and Eddie


Violet, Dash and JackJack


Candace, Phineas and Ferb
Thoughts? Suggestions? Votes?

Sharing 101

I've moved the kids into a shared room. They've always had their own, so this is uncharted territory for us.

Lisa's room is bigger than Bart's, with two windows and she chose it herself when we moved here. Unfortunately, the bigger room is also closer to ours and further away from the hustle/bustle of the rest of the house, making it the ideal room for Hiccup. I know plenty of people with 2+ kids per room so it seems silly to feel bad for her but hey, I had my own room growing up and asking her to move in with her little brother gives me guilt.

A big sell for the idea of a shared room was: a bunk bed. What kid doesn't love sleeping at unusual heights? We've had a bunk bed frame for more years than we've had actual children (a cast-off frame from Joe's mattress-delivery days that we've hauled with us for 4 moves.) However, we've already had one bunk-bed related incident, so Joe spent all day Saturday welding up new, higher safety rails for the bed frame we already had. The kids spent all day Saturday climbing up and down their new jungle gym.

The other half of my bribe was: you can both pick new bedspreads. If you know me, this is a big concession. Most kiddy color combinations and character-inspired patterns make me itch. Also one child has a level of indecisiveness (inherited from her father) that makes shopping experiences pure torture.

This trip wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. Granted, confronted with rows and rows of pink, flowers and ruffles, Bart escaped to an adjoining aisle to indulge his taste for All Things Super Hero. His sweet little heart could only be satisfied with the complete Iron Man sheet set but he agreed to a solid black bedspread of super soft fluffiness. Lisa carted around 4 entire comforter sets for half an hour (feeling textures, comparing all coordinating sheet patterns) before deciding on this one.

OK. Cute right? I was actually a little surprised. But she could never pair the comforter with something as tame as pale green sheets. No... we got these instead.

I vetoed a feathered accent pillow (it was $20 people!) but she was all right with it and said she would add it to her Christmas list. Is there a show for Amercia's Next Elementary School Fashion Star? Look for her in the final four.

The space villian and the Spanish beauty

This year the kids did not want to dress up as a pair. One child wanted a licensed-character, out-of-the-box costume and the other... well... she had her own ideas. I borrowed this gorgeous flamenco dancer dress from a friend (we had a little bookclub costume exchange) and thought she would be so excited because the dress was all the way from Spain. Then she had herself a right little tantrum because apparently red is not pink enough and... well... I stopped listening. But after scouring all the costumes at the local Buy-and-Large and bribing her with a new red lipstick for her very very own, she mysteriously changed her mind.


And I'm glad she did. Because she was ever so lovely.

This was a birthday party outfit and instead of being a regular princess, she wanted to be a Halloween princess. Have I mentioned less than 5 million times how much I love her beautiful hair and how much fun I have doing it?