Imitation

Molly has gotten into the habit of standing with her hands on her back a la an 8 month pregnant lady. Wonder where she got that from....

Update: Upon seeing this picture, Matthew exclaims, "That looks just like Mommy!"

Yikes! I should be more conscious of this!

Snack Time

A new stage in parenting when the kids can grab their own bowls and own snacks and help themselves all without my third-trimester self not having to leave the couch. I like.

Sibling Time

Love it.

Zombie Apocalypse

Molly is just beginning to walk, but she is not in the least bit good at it.

She usually has her hands out like a zombie and her legs are real stiff like Frankenstein's Monster.

When she does walk, the boys must show their support by walking with her mimicking her awkward style so I am usually facing a wave out kids walking toward me, arms outstretched and I either feel the need to take a picture or run before they eat my brains.

On Waiting...

So, we've been waiting for a long time to get news on a house we would like to buy.

It's a hard type of waiting because it's either: Yes, you got the house! Hooray! or No, you didn't get it and you have to start the whole process all over. There's no real middle ground.

It's like, proposing to a person and waiting for them to answer for 7 months, and it's not like the answer is, well, I'm not get ready to get married yet, but let's keep dating. The answer is just simply, "No, and let's not see each other at all anymore, now get out of my face."  And you get to start over trying to "meet new people."

I know acquiring a piece of property is not as important as marriage, but I can't really think of a lot that comes close to the level of anticipation we are feeling waiting for an answer.  Especially now as the answer we are waiting for is quite literally coming any day now.

So, waiting for the past several months has been difficult, but we weren't necessarily waiting by the phone all the time. It's akin to the person you proposed to going off to Europe for six months. You're waiting, but you don't really expect an answer at any given moment. But then that person gets back from Europe and is ready to tell you "Yes" or "No."  And you sit by the phone, and you check your e-mail, and you make sure the kids didn't toddle off with the phone or that you didn't put it on silent so you don't miss the call that will one way or the other, alter the course of your life in a pretty significant way.

We have been in that spot for a week now. There was a flurry of paperwork submission and we've been in that "any day, any moment now" mode every since. And it has been hard.

And we've gone through various exercises in detachment and various cycles of preparing for the answer to be "No."  We've spotted another property that looks promising that wouldn't be a bad alternative if the answer was No, but if we wait too long that property probably will not be there. The market is hot right now and things are moving fast.

Through all this, the obvious lesson is trust.  And it's funny. I have no problem (at least intellectually) trusting that if we don't get the house we want, that there will be tremendous good that will come from it. I don't feel "owed" this house and like it was taken away from me.  It's a great house, and I'd love to have it, but if we don't get it, I won't feel betrayed or like someone wasn't being fair. There are a stack of ways not having the house will be a relief (there are snakes in that area, it's near a canyon, and hence could be at risk for fires, it will stretch our finances to an uncomfortable level).

But you know, right now, my lesson is waiting for an answer. Any answer. We're not sleeping well at night, I've been nauseated pretty much all day, and I don't think five minutes go by where I'm not thinking about my phone to make sure it's within earshot.  There is some relief when 5 o'clock rolls around because at least I know we won't hear anything until the next day, but there is inevitably disappointment too when 5 o'clock rolls around because it means another evening and night of waiting for an answer and waking the next day hoping that day will be different.

One of these days, one of these hours, the phone will ring and the answer will be on the other line. And when I see our real estate agent's name pop up, it will both the phone call we've been waiting for, and at the same time the phone call we've been dreading. It's either news we'll be thrilled to get, or news we'll receive with a good dose of disappointment as we battle our emotions to fall in line with all the work our intellects have been doing knowing that we can trust in God, that He has never  nor will never let us down.

Right now, either option is possible.  We still could get the house, the answer hasn't been decided yet (to our knowledge). But once that call comes, the direction of our next steps have been chosen and the new phase has begun. Maybe at the time my phone rings with the realtor on the other line, this time of two possibilities won't feel nearly as despicable and I'll long for a time when there was still hope and we could still entertain our dream house, and still go on Pinterest and plan for how I want to decorate each room.

Anyway, I've killed about 10 minutes of that waiting time rambling on to you, you poor reader (there's probably only one of who you made it to the end of this anyways!).

Thanks for the distraction!

My Little Artist

Motor control has always been Matthew's strong suit..look at his letters as he practices writing the fruit of the spirit for the day!

Window Washers

The boys have been doing this for two days straight. I gave them a bucket of soapy water and some sponges and they are in Heaven.

Our little patio ain't much, but apparently it works for them!

The Baby Whisperer

I've commented before about my regard for the Baby Whisperer, whose advice I feel is responsible for our having three out of our three babies be incredible sleepers and all-around happy kids.  It could be luck and we could be in for a surprise with the next one, but I'm still sticking with her advice.

But that's not who I'm talking about.

I'm talking about Matthew. He is so good with Molly it's unbelievable.

You know how some people are just good with kids? Matthew is one of those people. He can get her to stop crying, he is always coming up with silly songs or silly things to do to entertain her.


For him, Molly is not someone who is just sort of there and he has to work around, but he really is a good friend to her and he seems to really enjoy playing with her.

So much so, as our family was battling pinkeye the past two weeks, we caught Matthew, who was pinkeye's latest victim out with her in the morning wiping her eyes, "Taking care of Molly." .

As horrifying as it was to see a person with a very contagious disease using a tissue he was just using on his own eye to wipe his baby sisters, it was very endearing. And so far, she is pinkeye free.

I'm so blessed we have such a good helper as Matthew! I'm hoping the trend will to continue when his baby brother arrives in September!

More Best Friends

After Mass on Sunday the boys simultaneously wrapped their arms around each other.

I had to snap a picture a) because it was so endearing and b) because that kind of unprompted affection is definitely not the norm...

Nighttime Adventures

We love that the boys are best of friends and have their little bonding time at night.

But sometimes their antics, especially lately, are getting a little silly.

Somehow, in the recesses of a boy brain, they discovered that it's funny to "shake their bottoms at each other."

But, this isn't just a boy doing a silly dance, in order for the humor to really take effect, the shaker has to be totally naked.

So, after we say our prayers, kiss them goodnight and send them to bed, one boy or another strips off his clothes and shakes their bottom to peals of laughter from the other boy.

We've asked for a demo of this ritual. I'll admit, it's hysterical, but not really conducive to bedtime.

The next thing they do comes from this hyper-competitiveness to be the first one to get dressed in the morning. 

It's awesome that for the past several months, I haven't had to even suggest that they get out of their PJs because they wake up and instantly get themselves dressed and so they are ready for the day before I even know they are awake in the morning.

But if one boy should get dressed before the other and the slower one woke up on the wrong side of the bed, he SCREAMS and yells and pouts. Michael and I run in there because it sounds like someone got seriously hurt only to find out that he was just the second one to get dressed and that merited a total meltdown.

So, trying to get a head start on the other to guarantee he will be best first, the boys have started to just get themselves dressed in their day clothes....at night!

We put them in their PJs, read them a story, say goodnight and turn out the light, and sometime after that, one or both of the boys will clamber out of the bed and get dressed and ready for the next day.

Overall, they are pretty good about going right to bed. Every once in a while, we have to get in there and quiet them down, but boys will be boys.

Taken a few months back when we had to put our video monitor to keep an eye on the chaos. A  blanket as a very warm scarf? 

Molly's Hair

This post is for Sarah who asked about Molly's curls.

Yes. She has amazing, amazing curls and I LOVE them.  They may be a struggle as she gets older (I know you have mentioned in the past that sometimes curly hair can be a pain to get just right, but for the record, since I've known you, your hair has been flawless).



But I really enjoy Michael's Lebanese genes that are manifesting themselves in her hair (and her beautiful brown eyes and beautiful long eyelashes-I also enjoy the other manifestations of Michael's genes in the kids, for the record).

Molly's hair began straight with one curl on top, as regular readers of the blog may remember, then the ones in the back started coming like crazy

and since then, her hair has gotten curlier and curlier and curlier.

Every once in a while, the most perfect ringlets form in the front and around her ears. Oh my, it is cute.

The two down sides are the tangles in the curls in the back; and the curls on top which aren't always as cooperative as the ones in the back. They flatten like a pancake and it doesn't look very good at all.

But my sister-in-law who is a cosmetologist gave us some great products that I can use to make the curls on top look awesome and something to help with the tangles for the tight curls in the back.

Photo credit: Michael's Dad

In the mean time, her hair keeps growing bigger and bigger, and cuter and cuter!

Best Friends

The Plague

Our house has been infected by the plague lately.  The stomach-churning, carpet-staining, breakfast/lunch/dinner revisited plague.

Right now, it is currently waging war on the kids, who have been absolute troopers.  Michael, at the young age of four has somehow mastered the art of running to use the toilet when the plague strikes. Bless him. I love him to pieces already, but I love him all the more that he has the wherewithall, even at 3 in the morning, to get the toilet.

Matthew is fifty-fifty.  Instance number one was in his bed, over just about every stuffed animal he has, his blankets, the floor and all in hair. Then, he managed to make it another time to the toilet.

Molly just does her business wherever. Beds, train tables, people laps. Then when she's done, she smiles and laughs and carries on her sweet way.

In other words, the poor kids are troopers. This really is the most miserable kind of sickness. It's terrifying for a child to have such a violent thing happen to them. It's nasty from looks to taste, and, unlike the other kinds of illnesses which you can usually coddle with special meals or special drinks, everything you put into the kid (who usually has no appetite to begin with) must be taken with the cautionary tale of: "What ever goes down will probably come back up." So I'm not so inclined to give them their favorite foods because, if it's like my childhood, that's a quick way to make them not-so-favorite anymore.

So far, Michael and I have held our ground against this plague.  Though, I tell you, every time one of the kids get sick, I always feel one step closer to succumbing to it myself.  I can't quite pin down the incubation period of this bad boy because Michael picked up from who-knows-where, it lasted less than 12 hours, and then over 48 hours later, with no symptoms to speak of, Matthew got sick and then a few hours later Molly got sick.

....And then today, Michael got sick again! What?! What kind of sickness goes away for three and a half days and then offers one final (hopefully final) kick in the pants?

So, it's really going to be impossible for me to figure out when we're all in the clear.

All I know is that I hate seeing the kids weakened and sad, nervous when they cough because they don't know what's going to happen next. I can't stand their look of desperation when they are getting sick and know it's going to be bad but they can't stop it from happening. I just wish I could fix it all for them.

And as much as juggling two kids instead of three at the same time, it breaks my heart when Matthew voluntarily toddles off to bed for a three hour nap, or when Michael doesn't want to play light sabers with his dad and just wants to go straight to bed.

So, we are in a bit of a quarantine here for the next few days hoping the plague will depart from our home and will stay away from Michael and I so that we have the stamina to deal with it.

In the meantime, we are trying to look on the positive side and are grateful that, though it's tough being in limbo with a house we really are hoping to buy, we are so glad this wave of the plague is taking place on brown ugly carpets of a rental rather than beautiful new carpets of our dream home.

"I Like Everybody"

Every night we get the boys out of their beds to do one last pit stop to get them through the night. Of course, the boys are asleep and conduct all their business while asleep, but every once in a while they arise out of consciousness just enough to give us a preview of what was on the brink of their dreams.


Tonight, Matthew declared with his eyes closed and with legs too sleepy to stand, "I like everybody."

I just love that kid. he really does like everybody.


And I really do think everybody likes him. (Or at least they should).

Michael's Villain

It's Killer Croc!

She Does Everything Like A Girl

While the boys lollop about, even in their sleep, Molly remains the ever delicate little lady, without even being conscious of it.

Notice the might-as-well-have-been posed legs, and the ever-so-sweet hand on her dolly. What a girl.

The Artist

I really must make sure all markers are out of the boys' bedroom before Matthew wakes up in the morning.

"...She knows how to use them"

I couldn't resist posting pictures of her very plentiful, very kissable gams especially when she put them on display so nicely.

An Image I Won't Forget for A Long Time

This morning, I was awoken by the sound of one of the boys in the bathroom taking care of his business.  It was Matthew.

But Matthew, typically pretty proficient at this, was taking a long time, and I eventually heard that he was having a hard time flushing the toilet. Sounds like he maybe went overboard with the toilet paper.

But instead of being daunted by the rising water levels of the toilet or fretting that things weren't going his way, I heard new sounds coming from the bathroom as I was getting up to offer assistance: the plunger.

I open the door and what do I see, but Matthew, naked down to his socks standing on the step stool plunging away at that toilet.

This is typical of Matthew. He is Mr. Initiative. Matthew doesn't get overwhelmed or discouraged. If something stands in his way, he just overcomes it. He doesn't whine or complain if something needs fixing. He just fixes it. He has heart. He's an amazing boy who will plow through whatever obstacles lie ahead of him.

So, as the evening is upon us, I will go to bed thinking about the same image to which I woke up: my naked little go-getter with a plunger in his hand smiling to myself knowing that this little boy will do anything he puts his mind to in life.

Three of 'Em

My baby girl.

I probably shouldn't have done this...but she liked it and the kids were careful!

My baby boy.

Long Overdue with the Moo

Oh, I don't call him "Moo" much anymore because he insists (incredulously) that his name is "Matthew". But I still sneak it in when I can.

My Matthew. I was supposed to get you a birthday post back in November, but now is just going to have to do. I hope you don't mind.

Matthew is a TOTALLY different kind of child than Michael. Matthew is impulsive, silly, he will do anything for a laugh, even if that laugh is just for his own benefit.  He is spunky and energetic. he loves to get out, run around, make funny noises, faces, wear silly hats and just be an overall character.

Matthew has taught our family generosity. He is the first to say "Michael can have this" and keep peace.  While that tendency has gone through the trial of his "twos"  which generally is the child being more self-aware and consequently a bit more self-centered, he still maintains that quality.  Especially at the park, he'll give a toy right out of his hands to another child, "Here you go, buddy"  and smile knowing he did something good.

Matthew can defer to his very strong-willed older brother, but knows how to stand on his own two feet and be his own person too.  He doesn't do everything Michael wants, but often times will be the first to compromise to make everyone happy.

He can't be trusted alone, even for a second. He is impulsive and so if a thought pops into his head, "This would be funny!" he doesn't consider the consequences. He just does it. Emptying soap bottles down the drain, opening the door to a stranger while I am in the other room putting Molly down, writing on a wall (and every other flat surface), etc. That's what Matthew does.

Matthew is very smart. He has good control of his body. He is coordinated, agile, fast, and he has a good arm for a little boy.

Potty training has also been a BREEZE with him. While he is not all the way trained, he wears a diaper only at night, now, and can often go through the whole day without an accident and that includes trips to the store, park, etc.  He can dress himself from head to toe, and can even get a diaper on by himself.

Matthew is a lover. He will cuddle, he'll collapse in your arms and throw his head back with a high pitched squeal knowing that he just wants to be the baby boy for a few minutes.

Matthew has a real religious sense.  He loves to pray. He wants to go make a visit to Churches, he'll be the first to remind me to say a Hail Mary when he hears a siren.  He has a real special sense of loving God.

Michael is a talker and consequently, Matthew absorbs everything, though he can  more reserved about saying what he knows. He likes to read, but doesn't like to be tested. Homeschooling him will be tricky because at this point, educating him has to be very round-about: if he thinks he is being taught, he will give wrong or silly made up answers, but every now again, I can test his reading and he is doing quite well.

Matthew's speech is still laden with baby-talk and consequently a bit hard to understand to the untrained ear.  He has a hard time with K,C,G sounds and has only recently gotten the V and F sounds, but they are still not habitual.  Sometimes, it seems like his tongue is too big for his mouth and he is struggling to speak around his tongue instead of with his tongue.

Matthew is such a joy. He's mischievous and rambunctious. He is silly and sweet. He is independent and crafty. He is smart and spunky.

We love our little Moo!!

Role Reversal