Baby Mark

Mark tells us he is not baby Mark any more.  Just Mark.  Not Marker, his most common nickname.
Just Mark.
he tells us by yelling of course, since that is his primary mode of conversation.
He decided last week to leap onto his face on the driveway.  That same day he leapt off the table onto his face.
I think he has finally decided he prefers to land on his feet, because today when he leapt off the bed he chose his feet.
I knew he would have a hard time adjusting to baby, because he was my little baby up until the day baby Andrew was born.  He loves Andrew.  he plays with him.
But wow I am ready for Mark to settle down and know that I love him.  I'm sick of the yelling. I'm sick of waking up in the middle of the night because Mark woke up.  I love cuddling him but not right after his nap if I don't brush his teeth, because wow that is some bad toddler breath. 
Mark has been going on the potty about half the time during the day.  I'm proud of him. But I'm frustrated with the screaming.  and the mass destruction.
He yelled at me for a solid month after baby was born. now he doesn't seem quite as mad at me.
My little man will be excited when he realizes he finally has a brother to wrestle with.




I'm glad my baby Mark will still cuddle with me, and that he is starting to calm down again.

Read more...

hello there

today was not my favorite day.
end of post.

Read more...

Sunday Thoughts

Ten Thoughts for this Sunday.

1. I love laminating.  I think we should laminate more.  When I was doing my student teaching I discovered I could get the library to laminate things for me.  Then my teacher told me we had to pay for that out of the curriculum budget, unlike all the other copies. Good thing she had a huge savings- sorry lead teacher! But I still love me some melted plastic.

2.  Also love- gift bags.  Turns out I own quite a few of them. I wanted to buy some on Friday because they were on sale at Target and I stopped myself. Because I don't need any more bags. I don't think I actually need any.  but they are so pretty.

3. I went and saw the vow. It was fun. Not a great movie but I did almost cry several times.  The more children I have the more feelings I seem to develop. I decided I need to go back to book club or something so I have something to talk about, other than etsy and my new baby. or maybe I just need to find a scranton etsy mom- I bet I could. Etsy rules.

4.  I don't like it here.  Maybe it is the weather which is totally gray or the fact that John is in school and I having a hard time seeing the long term picture. Maybe it is the fact that I wish I had more energy to do yard work, even though it is the middle of winter. Maybe it is something else or I just have a bad attitude right now. I haven't been able to watch the office since I moved here because it just isn't funny that this place is strange. Whatever.  Peace out Scranton.

5.  My kids are cute when they play nice.  They put their stuffed animals to bed. Also Elmo spends a lot of time in the corner in time out. I don't think I put them in time out to warrant the amount of negative attention poor little Elmo is getting.

6.  I think writing a blog is boring. not boring- pinterest.  Hello awesome! I didn't even realize how cool pinterest could be. It's like filling up a shopping cart and pretending you are going to buy it, but from lots of different stores. http://pinterest.com/claireandjanae/ oh my I like some people's taste a lot.

7.  I really need a new zig zag foot for my pfaff. It is making me crazy. I don't want to drive the hour it takes to get to a pfaff store. Especially not with the three kiddos.  Even though they are good, they aren't that good. I wish the pfaff website had a store, or your could buy the feet at joann's.  Love my sewing machine- once again don't love Scranton, since one of the many things they don't have is a pfaff store.

8.  Andrew is probably our easiest kid. He has to go to the doctor a lot and he doesn't like that but he pretty reliably sleeps at least six hours.  Holy lucky me. I could see how people would have lots of kid if they were all like this.  That being said, I still feel a bit like a zombie. A lot.  He's still a baby after all, and babies are high maintenance.  Good thing they are also so adorable. I need to clean my house, it is oppressing me. Maybe I should just throw away all those messy kid toys...

9. I don't know how some people manage to be so sympathetic.  Your heart just goes out to them. I don't think I'm one of these people.  Sometimes I wish I was, because I have this theory that if I was people would show up at my house with pie and hang out with me sympathetically and hold my baby while I worked on stuff.  But then i get annoyed with people whining about their lives and I wouldn't want people to think that of me. I am also not someone people usually push around either so that's good. Too bad it seems hard to be both.

10. I was watching the view in the waiting room at the doctors office for Andrew and they were talking about how Obama made a comment about taxes and referred to the scriptures where much is given, much is required.  One of the girls didn't like it.  At first I really related to that comment, because I feel like you should want to help other people.  Then I sort of understood where she was coming from, because I don't know if I feel like government should control your religious practice. In Germany the church can automatically take taxes from your paycheck like the government.  It seems so tidy and easy, but very foreign for me since America really pounds the separation of church and state. It's odd when you go somewhere else and realize how much this huge issue is a non-point other places. Still not sure how I feel about the whole thing, except that I might still be a little too sleep deprived to consider moral implications in politics. I think I need more friends who like to talk about this kind of stuff.
and like board games.  Seriously miss the board game club where I lived before. I didn't necessarily like those people or have much in common except the love of board games.  on the down side I came pretty close to learning to play magic, and paint some of my board game figurines. Confirming that it is time to embrace my inner geek a little more.

How was your Sunday?

Read more...

Cast number three

Andrew was born with a positional club foot. They are treating him using the ponsetti method which involves serial casting and sometimes a surgical heel release. He is making great progress.
I hate it. He screams the whole time they are putting the cast on. I feel guilty and sorry for the doctor and my baby.
Please ask me how fun it was to take all three kids to the specialist today, which is over an hour and a half away. I felt a little like a super mom and I only pulled the car over twice because Mark loves screaming.
I'm not sure if I want to feel good for hanging in there and surviving that trip ever again.
I'm really glad I'm not a single mom, because they don't have sympathetic husbands to let them take naps. I'm hoping to take a nap now...
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Read more...

Sunday thoughts: sleepy style

My dresser isn't an example of design genius. You see I have an eight week old and occasionally sleep. Boy do I love sleep.
Today we went to church. I made a mental note of a few things for next week.
Bring two outfit changes for baby. One was not enough this week.
Bring a burp cloth and don't leave it in the car.
Straight iron the back of my hair not just the front, because it looks funny and blows the illusion that you are on top of things if you forget the back.
Claire left early this morning and I already miss her. John woke up at four to bring her to the airport so I went to church with the kiddos.
Miraculously, I got to listen to most of the meeting.
I'm hoping for a second miracle where I get to sleep...
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Read more...

Danielle

I think Danielle might die of boredom when my sister leaves.  She loves her pink dog cutie and the puppy Penelope. She also loves cooking with Claire, and wants to wear glasses like her aunt.  Mark and Danielle put on the sunglasses when Claire put on her glasses to read stories.
I have no idea how I will ever get things done once she leaves.

She has cooked for me pretty much every meal. and bought more Panera than I would admit.
In other good news, Andrew slept six hours in a row.  For three days.
also, Claire is pretty stinking good at putting the kids to bed.
Just like I am.
She totally cleans non stop. I would be ashamed if I wasn't super happy.
I love my family, and it's nice for Danielle to see the person she got her middle name from, and to have help with baby while I sew for the etsy shop.

Read more...

Brothers


Mark can be bribed to hold baby. I like it. Baby slept six hours in a row. He hates his cast. He has to do serial casting for his club foot and it is so sad.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Read more...