Why So Serious?!

No, this isn't the Heath Ledger's replacement for the next Batman installment.

This would be the result of a little girl thinking that she was perfectly capable of putting make-up on all by herself.

When I showed her what she looked like in the mirror, she made herself cry because the end result was NOT what she was expecting, and got scared at the face looking back at her.

Serves her right!

While Mommy's Feeding Liam, Seth to the Rescue!!!

Eliza has learned that Mommy is completely occupied when Liam is hungry, which also means that Eliza then has free access to the rest of the house, or so she thinks.

Today's little journey was into Mommy's make-up bag. She decided that she was a big girl too and wanted to look pretty for the day by donning Mommy's essentials.


ARGH!!! As "pretty" as she looks, that's waterproof mascara and long-wearing lipstick (the 12 hour kind). What I need is a super hero to save the day.


Seth to the rescue!!!!

After informing me that Eliza was making bad choices, he hid the make-up bag, shut the door to my room, and corralled Eliza to stay where I could see her (no easy task for anyone, let alone a 4 year old!).

I declared him to be "My hero!" to which he just pointed at his shirt (and big muscles) and said that he's Iron Man and it's his job.

Nice work, Iron Man!

How My Morning Routine Has Changed

Before the kiddies outnumbered the parents, our mornings were pretty much the same:


Seth would yell from his basement bedroom that he needs milk in a sippy cup, usually around dawn.

Eliza would emerge from her room with the coolest fluffy bedhead and come straight into our room. If Chris was working, she'd ask, "Where's Hon?" then leave bored when she received the answer.

Eventually Seth would come up from the basement, barely make it to the bathroom, then ask for "cereal in a bowl with milk and a spoon."

When he's receive that, he'd ask very politely, "May I have juice to go with my cereal?"

As for Eliza's breakfast routine, she loves her sippy full of milk and only if she's "stealing" will she eat any food.

They get to watch a cartoon while mommy gets ready for the day, and then we proceed into our scheduled events for the day.

Well, now we add Liam into the mix, and some things stay the same while other factors I hadn't even considered have shown their ugly face.

For instance:

Last week, Seth slept in until almost 9. Eliza woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as I put her morning cartoon on while I went back to my room to feed the baby. Little did I know that she had grabbed something on the way out of my room as I sleepily put on her morning cartoon and got her some milk and breakfast.

She decided to be artistic with the cocoa butter lotion I had on my nightstand to help with the itchy belly and stretch marks while I was still pregnant.

Unaware any of this was happening, I groggily went back to my room and to this image:

He soon woke up to eat his own breakfast, only to go through nearly 5 diapers in less than 1/2 hour inbetween the nursing.

Which I had in my hand to throw into the kitchen garbage as I checked on my quiet little girl.

Yeah, she was being quiet, all right! She showed absolutely no remorse when I walked into the front room as she casually began sucking on Chris's camelback water pack he used for bike patrol over the 4th of July weekend.

Well, that nonchalant attitude didn't fly with me for very long as she needed to realize there's a consequence to her actions.

So what was the consequence? She had to clean it up, of course!


She had a blast wiping the paper towel over her mess, and though it wasn't the most effective way to clean, she still learned that there's consequences behind her actions.

She just didn't know she was being "punished" because she thoroughly enjoyed herself, and who am I to rain on that parade?!

The Weather Doesn't Care About Holidays

Look what I woke up to Saturday morning as I was preparing for Easter Egg hunts and outside fun.




So, we skipped all that and dyed eggs.





Note to self (which I wish I received a day ago): It's not a necessity to introduce dyeing Easter Eggs with toddlers. Wait until they're at least in elementary school! It'll save you a lot of stress.

As pretty as they are....

The dye likes to leave a lasting impression.



Maybe I should have learned after staining my fingers that this wasn't the best idea.

Until I saw the end result, happy (though slightly mischievous) face and all!


We gave Eliza old school paints to use on already dyed eggs, which suited her just fine.

I took proper precautions with all the newspaper ads I could find, garbage bags as painting suits (the kids got the biggest kick out of these!) and constant overseeing. I was pretty stressed the whole time.

They sure enjoyed themselves though!

Mostly cracked from numerous droppings on the floor, the results are bright and one of a kind!

Chicken with a Cut-off Head

Do you ever feel like a chicken with its head cut off? Metaphorically speaking, of course. This last week I feel like I have so many things to do, yet it's more like I'm running around aimlessly as nothing seems to get accomplished.

I'm slowly becoming more and more limited as to what I can get accomplished in a day as my belly gets rounder, so I've began writing to-do lists (and actually following them), having baskets at the head of the stairs for toys to be brought downstairs, and have been planning menus in advance, yet the house is still messy. I've cleaned three times just this morning and you'd never guess.

I shouldn't even be on the internet, but I'm taking advantage of the kiddies eating a mid-morning snack, or second breakfast, depending on the child. My body's telling me to sit for a bit before I tackle the dishes, run errands locally and in the next town, sew pillows for Eliza's bed, and take Seth to karate. Maybe I'll even be able to get a nap in, but I'll just have to leave those fingers crossed.

I do love the feeling of crossing off items on my list, though! Sometimes I add everyday things like getting the kids dressed, then cross it off...once I figure out how to use that feature on my fancy cell phone...hmmm.