Things I've learned recently...

I learned that letting your child play in the sprinkler for hours on end can result in the much-needed nap for your child, which you'd pretty much given up hope on even attempting:


I learned that you should never wrap a present in a huge hurry in your bedroom, then dash off and leave the roll of paper, the tape, and the scissors to be put away later, because your toddler CAN (and will!) find them and have his own fun (with 1/3 of a roll of wrapping paper, and several feet of tape):


I learned that helium balloons do NOT last very long on a hot day (5-6 hours):


I learned that it really truly was HOT that day (by our standards anyway):


I learned that it's very very helpful to set the timer when baking cookies:


And lastly, I learned that Jared is very well-prepared in case of a natural disaster. I was stripping his bed to wash all the bedding and I found three cups of water, two extra blankets, an emergency crank-style lantern thingy, and a pack of fruit snacks (fruit snacks not pictured because Connor snatched them as I was trying to take the picture and it wasn't worth chasing him down):

Things I learned recently PART FOUR...

The Rule of Wipes

I learned that when you leave the house without wipes (because you plum forgot the container in the diaper bag was empty), your baby WILL poop his pants, despite the fact he'd already pooped that morning.

The Napkins

I learned that unused McDonald's napkins and water from a who-knows-how-old water bottle found rolling around in the van WILL make halfway-decent-not-the-greatest-but-better-than-nothing make-shift wipes

The Screamer

I learned that when your baby is screaming while out shopping, you shouldn't just always assume it's because he's unhappy being strapped (tightly) into the cart. You MAYBE should assume it's because he has a poopy diaper. And you PROBABLY should also assume it's of the acidic variety, where his little bum is being eaten alive to the point of bleeding in some areas after your 20 minute shopping trip.

The Parents

I learned that it's a pretty good bet that the people in the store who look at you and your screaming child sympathetically are parents themselves or even grandparents, and that the people who glare and/or make rude comments ARE PROBABLY NOT. After a snippy comment from one young gal about how I shouldn't be so selfish and be out running errands while my baby is obviously miserable (in my defense, we'd only arrived a few minutes before, I knew I wouldn't be long, and I paid the toll to cross the bridge and I wasn't going home without getting what I went out for!!), a middle-ish-aged gentleman came up and said he's got two at home just like mine and that sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. AMEN!

The Nap

I learned that a baby will probably take a good long nap after such an ordeal. Such a good long nap that he won't even wake up when you arrive at DQ to purchase an ice cream cake for his daddy's birthday. Or when you buckle him back into the carseat. Or when you stop off at a friend's house to load her daughter's booster seat into the car.

The Goofball

Lastly, I learned that despite sitting in a poopy diaper getting a sore tush, and despite screaming during a shopping trip, and despite having a too-early/too-short nap, your baby can still manage to be sweet and happy and GOOFY.

Things I've learned recently...Part Three

I've learned that Connor hardly ever fusses about naptime or bedtime if we give him a sippy cup of water (about a half inch full). He lays down, drinks the water and goes to sleep!


I've learned that Jared smells like a boy because he's wearing his pajamas and has short hair.

I've learned that Emily knows how to use "air quotes", but she doesn't know how to use them appropriately. And I've learned it's completely hilarious when she says things like, "Mommy, you're so...(air quotes)...funny!"

I've learned that Emily's pregnant dance teacher will not be telling anyone the sex of the baby, which is going to make it really hard for me to decide what color(s) to use when knitting a blanket and hat!

I've learned that I'm far too addicted to my computer and this blog...That said, we're almost going to be late for the bus now!!

Things I've learned recently...Part Two

In additional to the Things I learned recently from the other day, I've recently learned some more (Isn't great that we continue to learn new things all the time?!?)

...That Connor knows what a dogpile is, and he's only 15 months old! Dan was on the floor so I yelled "DOGPILE" to get the older two kids to come running and jump on him, but Connor's the one that headed into the room and landed on him first! LOL!!!

...That Connor is very resourceful. He saw that Emily and Jared were each eating a piece of candy, saw where they'd gotten it from, and decided to take matters into his own hands and help himself


...That when Connor screams and reaches for his crib after you get him out of bed in the morning, it's NOT, ABSOLUTELY NOT because he wants to go back to bed. It's because he wants his blanket


...That the highchair apparently has a "SNOOZE" button, because Connor sure seems to like like SNOOZING in it!


...That Emily likes buying hot lunch at school. I let her do it Monday; there was a bit of confusion over her lunch money. I sent in cash in a sealed, labeled envelope which she didn't give to the teacher, the teacher assumed I'd started an online account already since I hadn't sent her a lunch, supposedly hadn't sent her money, and HAD sent in a note mentioning Emily would be doing hot lunch and was worried about not knowing where to go. SO, Emily came home, raved about how good it was, I said we'd have to do it again soon. Packed her a lunch for Tuesday, but found the lunch still in her lunch bag when she got home. I asked her, "Were you not hungry today?" her reply, "I was REALLY hungry and the rice and meat in sauce (teriyaki dippers, by the way) were REALLY REALLY GOOD." The child had taken it upon herself to decide to have hot lunch again! NOW, becuase I had NOT created an account already Monday, and had sent in cash (which we didn't use, as stated above), we'd already gotten a call home from the school that we were MINUS two dollars so far in her supposed account. THANKFULLY, I had gotten the info I needed to finalize our account first thing Tuesday morning, so there WAS money in her account to cover hot lunch Tuesday, but we had a nice long chat about how we don't just get to buy hot lunch whenever we feel lik it; we have to sit down and discuss it and plan it out TOGETHER and that if mommy packs her a lunch, THAT'S what she's supposed to eat that day! I don't mind her doing hot lunch here and there, and she should have plenty of money to cover "here and there" for this school year. But HOLY COW, can you imagine how embarrassed I would have been had I not gotten that account up and running that morning and had gotten a SECOND phone call home about owing money????? aughhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

...That ten years and a few beers heal all wounds. Dan is now suddenly all chummy again with a kid he had a falling out with in high school after seeing him at their ten year class reunion last night. I'm not a real fan of the kid (man!) myself, so have mixed feelings over this! LOL

...That people are REALLY chatty when they're drunk! I was Dan's DD last night and you have NO IDEA how many drunk people came up to me wanting to chat. Some were people I had no idea knew me in the first place! I heard the life stories and sob stories from several people last night. And one guy was so drunk he was slurring and SPITTING while he talked. I gave up trying to end the conversation nicely, told him to have a better next ten years than the last and just walked off. LOL!

...And last, but not least, I learned that a mother should NEVER attempt to function on only four hours of sleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(oh, and that for some reason, no matter how long I leave the laundry laying around, it refuses to fold itself and put itself away...SIGH!)

Things I've learned recently...

...That if there's ever a skeleton using my bathroom, Jared will come in and beat it up (he told me so!). And that he "sunk (thunk/thought) it up all by himself!"

...That Elvis, Daddy, and Indiana Jones are the coolest guys in the world. SOMETIMES in that order (sometimes daddy falls into last place!)---so says Jared.

...That Emily does NOT like the taste of soap (and we'll leave it at that!)

...That Connor is happiest acting like he's a BIG BOY
(wouldn't let anyone sit with him or touch him)


(reading his own magazine)


...That Connor is very persistant
(HERE, TAKE IT ALREADY MOM!)


...That Jared is NOT afraid of shots!
(He bared his arm totally on his own, chatted up the nurse while she got the shot ready and cleaned his arm, barely flinched when she poked the shot in, and immediately wanted to know where the piece of gum I promised him was)


...That the brown stuff on Connor's face last night was NOT from dinner (and more to do with a wild diaper change when daddy was in charge; and the stuff on the wall by the changing table wasn't from dinner either...)

...That little boys in preschool use WAY more glue than little girls do; paint, too.

...That you shouldn't leave your camera in the pocket of the apron you're wearing while being a working parent at your child's preschool, because you'll forget about it and leave it there and not realize until you get all the way home and will have to backtrack to go retrieve it.

...That it wasn't nearly as hard sending my second child off to preschool as it was sending my first child off to Kindergarten. But maybe that was because I got to work in class his first day so it wasn't like I was leaving him anywhere???

Look how sweet he is all duded up for school!




...That Jared's not afraid to get straight to work


...That Jared's also not afraid to try new things


...That he'd rather sit by Audrey than Cooper because "she might be his bride someday." (I didn't get permission to show her face so blacked it out for now, sorry, but she's REALLY cute!)


...And last of all, I learned that Jared makes a darn cute teapot!