To Paci or Not To Paci

We have a paci-problem in our home....and it's time to kick it.  Austin is addicted... I mean co-dependent... I mean completely reliant on his paci.  Or, as you can see from above, several pacis.  I count 12 that I know of, but could only locate 9 for their photo-op.  I know that some of you might be mortified that my 2 1/2 year old still totes this luxury, but hey, he is my last baby and I am letting him do everything a little slower than the girls. The girls at this age where also in toddler beds where he is still in his crib, and they were both at least in pull-ups where Austin is still figuring out how to sit on his potty.

So after picking Austin up from daycare today, I tried to have a conversation with him about the Paci Fairy and about how she was going to come and take Austin's paci's to the babies who do not have any.  And he took the paci out of his mouth to say, "Uh-Uh, pacis go to Santa Claus".  Ummm....Santa?  In March?  So, I then asked if we could give them to the Easter Bunny who could pass them along to Santa.  Out popped the paci again long enough to say "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer".  Oh, he is really going to make this tough on me.  See, we can't drag this habit out until Christmas this year because Austin will be starting at St. Emily's in August with the girls, and I am pretty sure the 3's room does not allow for pacis.  So, with a big sigh and some thought, I am gonna have to figure out how Rudolph and Santa are coming for a mid-year visit to claim the pacis....but until then, I am more than content letting him go to sleep with one in his mouth, and one in each hand.....

Judge away, Judgey McJudergson, but I am he is just not ready.

Could you really take a paci away from that face?

School Projects Make Me Sad

Abigail has a Lenten school project that is making me sad and weepy for times when she was little.  Well, we could look past the months of colic and screaming beast-like child and just focus on the fact that she was super smart....she slept through the night like a champ, she weened off the bottle fast, she was fully potty trained even before Lilli was...and she had this head of black, curly hair.  I swear, if I didn't see them take her from my stomach I would have sworn she was the wrong child....

Anyway, the project is to make a book about your baptism and it includes pictures, so I thought I would share some...

This is Jim and his Grandpa...notice that he had that same dark curly hair that Abigail did!  

Abigail also wore the same baptismal gown Jim did.

See?  They look a lot alike.  My sister, Julse, is her Godmother...

And my brother, Rick, is her Godfather...

Look at that adorable baby on her baptism!  Oh, wait...that's me!  

Can we all check out the shoes that Rick is wearing?

 Nana and Grandpa

Grammi and Papa

And the new family!

Pretty sure the picture above with Uncle Matt and the picture below we took the other day happened only a few weeks apart....not the almost 5 years in reality...

When adults play with play-dough.....

This is what happens when adults play with play-dough while their children do...

I generally do not like playing with play-dough because the colors get all mixed, but it made for a cool cow...

And this is Lilli's creation....it's Wilbur and his trough and a fence behind him.  See it?

It's how big?

So, it snowed yesterday...big deal, right?  It's Chicago and it's February....but did you see the size of those flakes?  Thanks to my hubby for taking some pics and video for me!

These things were the size of baseballs!

A cool video he took looking straight into the sky....

Arrr you ready to smile?

It is really hard to get 8 kids to smile at a camera all at once.  I mean REALLY hard.  It's even harder to get 8 kids dressed like pirates in a little studio room at JCP to all look at the camera, stay still, and smile.  (My father loves pirates, so this was a picture for him for Christmas which really turned into being a picture for his birthday this past weekend)  It wasn't until after the pictures were taken that my sisters Shane, Suzanne, and I were crowded around the computer looking at the results that we realized all the little things....Lauren crying, Luke looking lost, and Abigail with her claw hand on Austin's head.  Oh well.  We figure in 8 years they will look at the picture and laugh.

And...because I love to show pictures a year ago to see how much they have grown...here was our professional pictures with them last year....They have grown up just a little bit...except I am pretty sure Austin has the exact same look on his face in both pictures...

(Abigail, Ella holding Lauren, Lilli with Austin, Will, Patrick holding Luke)

So, we are already thinking of this years theme....8 monkeys jumping on a bed, Rudolf and the reindeer, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs....feel free to make suggestions...

I'm Back!

Holy Cow!  Has it really been since August that I have posted?  My poor, neglected blog!

Well, it is about to be brought back into full usage as we are about to enter in Lent, which means no Facebook!  I mean, how else am I expected to survive 40 days without letting the world know the intimate details of my life?

I don't have any remarkable stories to currently share; there is no illness currently running through our house and none of my kids did anything particularly funny today, but I am sure there will be stories and pictures to come!

Welcome back, dear readers!  I have missed you!

Ruined my a commercial

This was going to be an AWESOME day!  I woke up a little early, snuggled Austin a little before Jim and he headed off to daycare, checked my e-mail, watched a little NBC5 morning news.  Being my late night at work, and not having to leave my house until 9:30AM, I elected not to shower before dropping the kids off at school, and instead giving us all about 10 extra wake-up minutes.  The girls woke up at the same time, both smiley and excited.  (perhaps this should have been my first clue that the morning was going to tank).  They got dressed without argument, helped me vacuum the living room, they ate breakfast pleasantly, and we were out the door, with 5 minutes to spare (clue number 2). 

After dropping them off, I came home, made my lunch, and flipped the TV back on in the bedroom as I picked out my outfit.  Golden Girls was on, and who doesn't feel better about themselves after hearing Rose talk.  So, I was doing that game where I was trying to figure out if I watched just one more segment of the show what I could do to get out the house faster (put contacts in at work, not blow dry my hair, etc.)

And then it happened.  The commercial that (I have allowed to) ruin my day.  Marie Callender's Microwave Lasagna.  Three Meat and Four Cheese Lasagna, to be exact.

The commercial starts with some deep throaty male talking about good fresh ingredients that you want to serve to your family.  Fresh noodles.  Bubbling cheeses.  Ripe tomatoes.  Cut to a smiling mother setting a fork and knife on a cloth napkin.  (Cloth?  Really?  I am all about saving the Earth, but get real).  She sets the table with love, dons her oven mitts, and SURPRISE!  This meal came from your microwave! She beckons her family who come in from gardening and something else.  You, too, can now feed your family this wonderful meal!  Look at how happy and peaceful they are sitting around the rustic wooden table with a crusty loaf of bread and having great conversation!

Irritated, I jump into the shower.  And then I am lost in that mad daydream world where you think about how you want you life to be, and try and plan for how to get there.  I want to be there.  I want to be the mom who stays at home and sews her own cloth napkins, and then has time to dry and iron them.  I want to be the mom who slips the lasagna noodles into a pot of boiling water and remembers in 11 minutes to come and pull them out gently.  I want to then go to my fruitful garden and pick fresh tomatoes, green peppers, and onions.  I would then chop, peel, and dice until I had the perfect sauce.  Right about this time I would start working on a crusty sour-dough loaf, letting to rise and pounding it down gently.  The kids would come through the door happy, showing off wonderful works of art and math test with giant A+'s on them.

Then the water got cold and I was jerked back into reality.  My reality ~ paper napkins, when I rememeber, otherwise your sleeve is fine.  Mac and cheese is about as creative as we get with pasta, and the garden certainly has more weeds than tomatoes.  And I should be ok with that....but today it irritates me. 

The End