A boy hanging upside down on the monkey bars...

...is what he drew on his chest with a green marker, while I was upstairs invoicing my clients. 

Fairbanks II - Day One

Oh, Day One. Travel Day! Well, it was not nearly as bad as I expected it to be. Tate was fantastic! He was well-behaved, calm, watched DVDs and ate snacks. He dozed from DC to Seattle for about 1.5 hours and then was raring to go in the Seattle airport. He rememebered as soon as we entered the terminal that this was the airport with the train! He slept pretty well from Seattle to Fairbanks so was refreshed when Unkie Dan met us at baggage claim... here they are playing in the sand pits in the Fairbanks International Airport.

I was more comfortable than I thought I'd ever be traveling that far and that long at 6 months pregnant. The worst for me was bending over to retrieve items from the seats in front of us and then the last leg of the trip where Tate was lying with his head in my lap, ultimately pinning me in place. I couldn't get comfortable and my tailbone was killing me! That was the worst of it.

We landed at 1am AK time (5am RI time) and damn it, it was still kinda light out! That sorta dusky light that feels like night but is not really dark. Amazing! Our heads were on the pillows in the hotel by 2:30am for much needed additional sleep.

25 Weeks

Things I Can Still Do:

- rough house with Tate

- wash a 52lb Boxer in the tub

- vacuum

- see my toes

- stay awake all day long

- run up the stairs and not be winded

- play baseball

- cook dinner

Things I Probably Shouldn't Be Doing Anymore

- rough house with Tate

- wash a 52lb Boxer in the tub

- run up the stairs

Things I'm Looking Forward To Not Being Able To Do Anymore

- vacuum

- stay awake all day long

- cook dinner

We are at 25.5 weeks... only a scary 14.5 to go! She's quite active when I am at rest and if she kicks hard enough I can not only feel it, but see my stomach move too! It's cool and kinda freaky all layered into one "Oh my God. I'm having another baby!" parfait of pregnancy fun!

Peace...

...and quiet!

He is so beautiful when he sleeps.

After a weekend of being sick (high fevers) he is well again, but still tuckered. This is him asleep on the couch in my office upstairs. He's never fallen asleep here before!

Suit

Tate is very excited to wear his new dress clothes for unkie Dan's wedding. He tried to wear them to bed last night, wanted them on first thing in the morning and then while at the park informed me that we would all wear our "fantastic new clothes" to the airport, on the plane and then to Alaska.

He thinks he looks like a dancer in his "suit" and last night led a conga line through the house. He plans on one for the wedding reception too. But we all have to dance crazy like him... so be ready! Oh and he wants the instruments too!!

Ice Packs

After dinner I went upstairs to do some more work. 20 minutes later I was called downstairs to apply ice packs to both father and son. Apparently, a game of "tickle spider" went awry and resulted in a serious head butt and a split open lip. Luckily no one needed stitches - it was iffy for a while. Poor guys!

Of bugs and m&m's

We walked to the beach after dinner tonight to plunk rocks in the water. Shortly after arriving there a ladybug landed on my shirt.

M: Look Tate! A ladybug!
T: Where?
M: Right here.
T: Oh. Can I touch it?
M: Sure!
{Tate gently touches the ladybug}
T: Hey!!!!! It feels just like an m&m!!!!!

Artists at Large

Lauren is spending the night again (no school tomorrow...yeah!) They spent the evening before dinner creating their own masterpieces with cray-pas, paint and water. Just a bit of paint on the floor. It was worth the quiet and contentment.

They are now currently giggling in bed and keep getting up to ask us things, like...

"Is it going to be cold or warm tomorrow?"

"Can I have my salamander?"

"Cousin Lauren is giggling, I can't sleep."

"Tate is talking, I can't sleep."

Would you like to guess what time they will finally fall asleep? The winner gets both kids for the night! Enter now!!!!!

Backwards Day

Tate has been resisting naptime lately. And on days he takes a nap, he doesn't fall asleep that night until after 10pm. I know it's probably time to stop the naps for him, but it's the time I get the most work done, so it's been a hard sell for me.

The past few days I've let him go no naps and he's been sleeping better at night. Today was a no nap day. I told Tate that I had to go upstairs and work for a while and if he needed me to call or come upstairs. He played, relaxed, watched TV, used the bathroom... all independently and happily. I came down about an hour and half later, sat on the couch and took one look at him and thought, "Hmmmm... that wasn't like that when I went upstairs!"

What is wrong with this picture?

18 Weeks and 31 Posts

We are at 18 weeks now and expanding. Lots of great little, soft kicks throughout the day. Although they can't be felt from the outside yet. She spends most of her time pressing on my bladder and making me have to pee constantly. There are many joys in pregnancy... having to pee all the time is not one of those joys.

I am at 31 posts for the month of March!!! I have to say I rather surprised that I did it. Yeah for me!! Hope you enjoyed. Let's see what happens now.....

Cooker Lesson #4

Today we made cookies. We've been talking about making these cookies for weeks. We've had the ingredients to make these cookies for at least 8 days now. Finally, I was so burnt out from working everyday for the last 3.5 weeks that I said, "No more work today! It's cookie-making time!"

We made Oatmeal, Dried Cherry, Chocolate Chip Cookies! And today was the first time Tate dared to use the electric mixer. Usually he runs and hides when I turn it on, but today...oh today, he was BRAVE. He did great. Kept it in the bowl, splattered nothing and did a great job mixing. Here's the proof...

After all that work and bravery, he decided that he does not like cherries in his cookies. I now have to eat all the cherries out of his cookies. Not a bad gig if you can get it!!

Shut Down

So I had a great post planned with a video of Tate squirting paint into a bowl and making farting noises with the tube of paint and then laughing hysterically at the noise. But the video won't load. It was really funny. So just take a moment and imagine it for me..... imagine the squirts.... the farting noises.... the hysterical laughter.... your imagining it, right??

Funny, isn't it??

FAVORITE PART OF THE DAY
D: eating cake from Sin
M: completing and then emailing coloring book concepts to my client
T: cuddling with you right now

Tired

In an economy like now, I'm very surprised to find myself overwhelmed with client work. Projects keep coming, I keep saying yes and happily add jobs to my forecast. Then I have to do the work. Well, I'm exhausted. I've been working just about every hour I can put aside the responsibility of motherhood... "Let's put in a DVD. Mommy's going to run upstairs and work for a few miniutes, OK?" This includes after Tate's in bed and on weekends too. The house is a mess, dinner's been pretty uninspired lately and the dirty laundry is piling up.

I need a housewife. I'm taking applications until 5pm next Friday. Interested?

That's what little _______ are made of.

Among my friends there are 9 children. All 9 are boys. That's a lot of boys. It seems inevitable that all the kids will be boys. There are all boys now... there will be all boys in the future.


Well, I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later...


It's a GIRL!!!

Hey Tate!

A few days ago Tate came with me for a client lunch meeting. He was good, told jokes and showed off his new blue-teeth-staining mouthwash. I rewarded him with ice cream.

Tate's at a sleepover tonight with Nana. I left them this afternoon while they were exploring an old shoebox packed tightly and filled to the top with Dave's old matchbox cars.

I miss him! Good night Tate. I love you!!