I Never Dreamed . . .

. . . that Nora would be the first kid to break a window around here.

As we were signing a contract with our contractors to paint our house, Nora (who was spazzing out at the fact that we had company), ran into the mud room and stopped herself with our skinny, tall, low window. I didn't get photos of it before Willi taped it up (we were in a hurry to reinforce it with the monkey situation we have around here), but I tried to get some shots afterward.

She has no idea how freaking lucky she is. We could be at the ER right now (or worse). What's more: we've been scolding the kids for WEEKS about not smacking windows, etc. I'm still not entirely convinced that this little event will get her to understand she can't smack windows. However, when she saw that glass crack, she knew she did something bad. I took her stunned face moment to say, "This is why we tell you not to smack the glass. You could've really been hurt, there. Wasn't that scary?"

She agreed that it was, but she still has no idea just how scary it could've been.

I am still in shock for the following reasons:

1. Henry wasn't the first kid to break a window.
2. The window didn't actually break out (but it was seriously, seriously close).
3. Our contractors were there when it happened—so we made arrangements for them to change out the window, too. Sheesh.

Count your blessings. Right? Craaaap.

Nora's Preschool Easter Program 2011

The following few photos and video are all that I was able to collect before my kids (the only ones, mind you) went totally haywire during the preschool program. Remember back when I used to talk about Nora doing really well with that at the beginning of the year? Yeah . . .

That's what Henry did for the first five minutes.


Nora's face cracks me up in this one. (She's on the right in a navy blue dress.)


She's watching the three-year-old class sing their song right here.


I'm not sure what's happening here, but I thought this was a cute shot of her hair.


Then, Henry decided to run up front and find Nora. (Note his backpack: he has to match Nora when we take her to school. It's a "thing" of his.) The thing that this photo doesn't capture is him yelling, "WOWA!" while they're trying to, you know, have a program.



Nora runs over to give him a sweet, little hug, and my camera couldn't be bothered to cycle fast enough for me to catch it. Darn it. (By the bye, she totally picked that outfit out herself today.)


This is where our pastor reads the kids a story and gives them a little lesson about Easter. This is also, coincidentally, where my kids went nuts and took off running everywhere (like, throughout the entire church—not just that little chapel) and clinging to me. Ugh. Sorry, everybody else. I am THAT lady (pregnant, to boot) with THOSE kids.

Oh, but here's a short video from just before Henry took off to find Nora and life got (more) difficult.

They are little blessings, but, man, I'm glad they won't be this age (and this type of challenging) forever.

Like He Do

Here is a photo series of one of Henry's favorite bad boy pastimes. Enjoy!

Recent Photos

Here are some recent photos that I just pulled off the camera.

I've been getting this face from her a lot lately. It isn't pretty.


They make this guy read to them constantly.


Palm Sunday photo, and after church, even. I'm not sure how we were able to make that work, but I'll take it!


Henry stuck around after the Palm Sunday photo to pose for a shot on his own. He never does that. Look at how he's trying to be all nonchalant, too. That's all acting.

My Screamer

It was suggested to me on Friday that I should take Henry to the doctor just to see if there's any medical reason for the amount of screaming he seems to be doing. So, I made an appointment, and we just got back from it a little bit ago.

The little dude has a severe, double, ear infection.

How stinking sad is that? He's probably had it for a month, and we had no idea (he had just been to the doctor in the last month for a well-child visit). We just thought he was being, well, Henry.

Now, he's got a liquid version of a Z-Pack and some ear drops. Let's hope this means that there will be some positive changes around here soon. At the very least, let's hope that there will be less screaming.

Request (A Legitimate One, Probably)

So far, I have been pretty lucky when it comes to motherhood. I never really had any issues or blues after Nora or Henry were born. Well, in retrospect, I guess that first week after Nora's birth was a bit more emotional than usual, but the fog lifted right at about a week into things, I think.

This time, I'm a bit more concerned. Nora and Henry have gotten to be such a wicked handful lately between the two of them (sleep deprivation all around—Henry, lots of screaming—mostly Henry, lots of disagreeing with Mommy and Daddy—mostly Nora, Nora regressing in potty training again, etc.), I'm really afraid of how my psychological well-being is going to be once this third one arrives. I'm sure a lot of the "handful" business has a lot to do with the unknown and the fear of losing any attention that they get at this point. The question is: how do they respond when this baby gets here?

The next question is: how does mommy respond when this baby gets here?

Hopefully, it'll be an easy transition. The worst thing that could happen is that things get harder. The next worse thing that could happen is that things stay just how they are right now. I know that realistically, I have to expect that things will at least be as hard as they are right now at least for awhile. It takes time to adjust to a newborn. It takes time for that newborn to start sleeping longer stretches, too. I just hope that the baby isn't as difficult as Henry was. That might ruin me.

Anyway . . . I guess I'm asking people (friends and fam . . . and other attentive folk) to kind-of keep an eye on me after this baby is born. I'm a little scared that I'm going to have postpartum depression issues. Part of me is a little bit scared that I might have issues with it before the baby even gets here (maybe even a little bit right now, but I think a lot of my issues now are just sleep deprivation and stress—work-related). What's extra disheartening is that I know my OB isn't going to be able to tell that there's something wrong—not unless I outright tell him. I've already told Willis that he's probably going to need to really monitor me after this baby comes. So, if you're a person who prays, throwing some prayers at it probably wouldn't hurt, either (and would be much appreciated).

Random side note: have any of you seen Shutter Island? If you haven't (and plan to), go ahead and skip two paragraphs [I marked it for you]. I'm about to ruin the whole movie for those who haven't seen it. 

In Shutter Island, you realize, after your mind gets bent all sorts of crazy ways, that Leonardo Dicaprio's character is a man who shot and killed his wife. Why did he shoot her? Well, he came home one day to find her sitting on a swing (all wet), and she had drowned their three children in the lake. The oldest was a girl, the oldest boy was named Henry, and the littlest was a boy, too. They all looked to be about two years apart. I had no idea I was in for that sort of home-hitter when we watched that movie. Creepy and devastating, isn't it? I suppose these kids were all above the age of (maybe) five, so . . . I don't know if you can call that postpartum psychosis at that point. Still, it scares the be-jabbers out of me. Leo's character later mentions that she had been having issues for a long time, and he didn't get her help. So, he blames himself for the loss of his entire family. It pretty much tears your soul apart. There needs to be a disclaimer on movies like that, man. Like, "If you're pregnant, you should probably avoid this one."

[SKIP TO HERE]: In about two weeks, we plan to consolidate Nora and Henry into the same room, and I'm hoping that'll alleviate some of the sleeping issues we all seem to be having. Nora's struggling with being scared at night, and Henry's, well . . . struggling. So, it could be terrible, or it could be better. We'll see. Nora seems excited at the prospect of sharing a room, and I imagine that Henry probably won't mind it (and may even like it) once he realizes what's happening.

The weather helps. It was supposed to be gross today, and it turns out that it's awesome.

Kid Update

Nora

Nora has been talking up a storm and asking lots and lots of questions. In fact, she's asking so many questions and so constantly that I'm about to go completely bonkers. It really needs to get warm so we can run around outside (because I think that might help solve some of it). I suppose it's wonderful that she's so inquisitive, but I get a lot of repeat questions within the same three minutes. That's enough to make a woman throw up her hands and say things like, "I just answered that question! Accept my answer!"

She's also been obsessed with twirly dresses (which are in short supply around here) and princess-type things since February. I think she picked that up from cousin Reagan at the Dill Family Christmas that we had in February.

She's also learning how to share with Henry, and she's learning that she doesn't like it much. This (above) is a typical face when she kindly passes off a toy to Henry (after he's asked properly, of course).

Nora loves to take pictures with my camera, and she's actually pretty careful with it. I should probably wash that mirror, eh? Gross.

She also likes to take pictures of people taking pictures. It's a "thing."

Nora has also been doing some serious boundary and patience-testing. We're getting a lot of push-back when it comes to just about everything. She's generally a really sweet kid, but she is having her moments. I'm blaming it on serious cabin fever. We need to be able to get outside and breathe in some fresh air. I think that'll remove the crank, post-haste.

Her memory is nearly too accurate (and long-term) because we can't catch a break when it comes to hoping she'll forget about something (for example: if she gets a balloon from somewhere, we typically throw the balloon out after a couple of days. When she realizes the balloon is gone, holy crap. God, help us). We have to be sharp, like, all the time when it comes to that sort of thing.

She's also very nearly potty trained now. (Now that I've acknowledged it in print, I'm sure she'll regress.) She's been sleeping at night without a diaper which is HUGE. Most nights have been dry. I've been having to get up with her in the middle of the night quite a bit (she wakes up before she wets the bed a lot of the time). I suppose that's all well and good since I have to wake up at least once in the night right now, anyway.

 

Henry

This guy is both stinking sweet and cuddly and terribly rough all in a tiny package. I recently had to buy a special cover for the switch on our HVAC system, if you know what I mean. (The little dude was shutting it off every single day. Sometimes, thrice.)

There's been a lot of this going on (above). He really likes to pick on the dog, and the dog loves to lick his face off. So, it works out for both of them. It grosses me out pretty well.

Henry's also been chatting up a storm lately. My favorite thing that he's been doing lately is informing me that he is, indeed, "being a bad boy."

I'm not even kidding. Here. Check it out. He says it in this video (below).

So, not only does Nora tattle on him all the time, but he's tattling on himself. It's working out at the moment.

He also might have yes and no confused. We'll ask him a question, and he'll say, "Nooo."

Then, we'll ask, "Do you mean yes," and he says, "YES!"

Sometimes, we think he's being funny, but sometimes, I'm not so sure about that. He does seem to know to yell, "NOOO!" when something is happening that he doesn't want.

He also gets all dramatic and funny when he needs a diaper change. He always informs either Willis or me of his "situation."

So, that's handy, too.

The kids have been playing together really well lately, and I can only hope that this continues as they'll share a room soon and this baby boy will arrive.

Also, it just needs to warm up outside. Desperately. For so many reasons.

Gotta run!

The Dark Ages

While we were sitting outside for the first time of the season, Willis mentioned that as he ages, he really enjoys the transition between the seasons more than the actual seasons. I mentioned that I enjoy the transitions, too, but I was complaining that we haven't really had transitions in the last two season changes. Then, I said something like, "I guess I should feel grateful right now that this transition between winter and summer is long and ridiculous, but for some reason I'm not."

Willis said, "Some people call that transition, 'Spring.'"

I said, "Some of us call it, 'The Dark Ages.'"

So far, this Spring has been fairly ugly. I've seen better.