The Other Baby

Sometimes, when Corbin gets bored, he shimmies his high chair across the kitchen to play with the baby we keep trapped behind the glass in the baking cabinet. They are good friends.

Baby Lovin'

Look who made himself nice and comfortable zipped up in my hoodie while we worked on the fence Saturday afternoon.

{Discouraged}

I took these the other night when I decided to get my feet wet on "Project: Meg-Needs-a-big-fat-table."
Later that night, I think I was referring to it as "Project: Meg-is-crazy-to-think-she-can-do-this." and "the reason I can't park in my garage."

ick.

I lost a little (ok, a LOT) confidence and wondered if the hard, salvaged wood was a good idea.
See those black marks on the end of the boards?
No bueno. The wood is SO dense that my circular saw (even with a relatively new blade) kept kicking back smoking, and making unattractive cuts.

Problemo numero uno: I have a steel blade rather than a fancy (cough, expensive) carbide blade, and cutting these bad boys is not for the faint of heart.

So... this morning, I loaded all the lumber back into my mini van (slash pickup) and went back to visit Glenn Beck (Why yes, I DO just like saying his name) with the plan to pay him to let me use the tools in his shop.

Glenn is a nice guy, so he was eager to "teach me to fish". Yay!
I learned a lot of cool tricks, used a planer for the first time today, and ripped my first board on a ginormous table saw. It was a rush. I want one.

And that Glenn is a chatty guy. He taught me a little about growing peanuts (yep. Sheena, I'll be calling you.) hulling walnuts, raising chickens and skinning mules.

Lessons learned today:
-Glenn Beck is rad.

-I'm not afraid of getting my arm chopped off by a big, noisy, machine, as long as I am the one operating the big, noisy, machine.

-I want chickens....maybe not now, (I'm sure the neighbors would love that) but some day.


I also borrowed an electric hand planer and will be attacking the leg posts later in the week.
I made ROCKIN' progress today.

I just needed the right tools.
Photos soon.
Be excited.

Fake-Up

Lately, Reese and Quincy are very excited about makeup....which is ironic, considering I don't wear as much makeup as I probably should and really only put some on about twice a week (for church on Sunday, and maybe a date with Aaron). Anyway, Reese has been getting lip gloss from her friends at preschool and putting it on, and the other day I thought she had a black eye...only to discover an old mascara tube of mine in her backpack. I don't really care that she wears lip gloss and such, I just don't want her to be sneaky about it. We talked about the ick-factor of sharing makeup (hello! Cold Sore anyone? Or perhaps you might like a Sty with that?) and knowing my genetic background, y'all can appreciate my concern for her particular vulnerability for both of these ailments. Gross.

Plus, there's a little lice outbreak circulating though friends my kids' ages also...and...and... need I go on? I'd rather not have that problem, so it's just best to teach them about not sharing that sort of stuff now, before they have to learn the hard way. You can all habitually start scratching your heads in paranoia now. Sorry.

Do you know how impossible it is to find pretend make-up anymore? I totally had play makeup as a kid, but now everything has the real deal in it! REAL eye shadow, REAL blush, REAL lipstick! I'm ok with some for playtime, but my babies do not need that stuff on their faces 24/7.
Plus...let's be realistic: when you put your kid in that super cute outfit (that you purchased from Gymboree in a moment of weakness, but planned to call it "school clothes" or have a family portrait taken it to justify), and they come out of your room with something glittery and bubble gum scented smeared all over it....you laugh first, take a photo (to blog, of course) second, then cry silently inside that the greasy, smudgy stain is never going to come out of that $20 splurge outfit. Am I the only one that feels this way sometimes? And also, don't they kind of look like they've been beaten with the blue shadow on their cheek and black smudge up to the eyebrow? I'm just sayin'.
No. I am not a lover of real makeup on my wee ones.
It's a shame I can't find the fake kind anywhere.

I guess I'll make my own:
I found the idea for "Fake-Up" on a blog back in December (sorry, person-with-cute-ideas-in-the-blogoshpere, I forget who you were and that's all the credit I can offer you) and the girls and I had a fun little Mom & Me night making them.

STEP 1) save old makeup containers.This is basically impossible for me, since (aside from mascara and lip gloss that I throw out when I get an illness) I hang onto make up long past it's expiration date.
So.... I collected some from friends, and then bought some for 50 cents at a garage sale. Score!

Ok, now before you go judging me for breaking the "socially unacceptable garage sale purchase code" (you know, swimwear, chonies, lingerie, toothbrushes, medicine...) RELAX. just move on and read step 2

STEP 2) DUMP OUT remaining makeup, wash, and sanitize the containers.

(See? No, I am not wearing garage sale make up. I am cheap, but I have SOME boundaries).
STEP 3) Pour an assortment of pretty colored nail polishes into makeup compartments. STEP 4) Allow 2-3 days to dry (a "full" makeup container will look emptied, only the color stays on the plastic, and the liquid evaporates or something)

STEP 5) Discard OLD makeup brushes (again, if you keep them, that's kind of gross) and replace with new brushes. I just bought each of my girls a big pack of the disposable brushes for $1 and will toss them when I find them lying around or they look questionable. I also filled all the compartments with color and plan to just put a few brushes for each of them in their "make-up" bags.
For those of you who like to plan ahead, this would be an excellent homemade gift for all the little princesses in your life. Reese and Quincy can't WAIT to play with them and ask every day if they're dry yet. After these pics were taken and the polish was nearly dry in the little wells, I went back over the smudgy edges (I let the kids help pour the nail polish in the containers...it was a little messy) with a Q tip that had been dipped in polish remover. It cleaned them up beautifully and they look great.

I plan to make several more, and put them together in little gift bags for their little girl friends to take home after they come over to play....because that's the kind of make-up sharing I will allow.

Deep Thoughts

Quincy is quite the little thinker.
She remains fairly quiet until she feels what she has to say MUST be said, and it MUST be said NOW. When this happens, she explodes with everything she's been thinking at once.

{on getting ready to leave}
"I'm taking my blanket in the car, and two barbies, and the pink baby, but not the yellow baby. I can't take the yellow baby AND the pink baby. Reese will take the pink baby from me and I can just have the yellow baby...but I want the pink baby today. Corbin is taking his blanket so that means I can have mine, too.
Let's go to the van. I am ready now."

{on using the bathroom}
"Mom, does Santa wipe his own bum? You wipe my bum because you're just my mommy. Why do we have white soap? I like orange soap, but we ran out a long time ago. How come we have white soap now? Orange is not your favorite color still?"

and no.
she never wears pants.

Stats

We had a round of well child visits today.
This was convenient, as both Reese and Quincy have been pretty grouchy, and I had a feeling I would come home with at least one diagnosed ear infection.

Reese: (the lucky winner)
5yrs old
has an ear infection AND a bladder infection (which explains the "crazies" this week)
Weight: 32 lbs (15th percentile)
Height: 42 inches (45th percentile)
She is SOOOOO excited about starting school in the Fall and knows her letters, numbers, colors, etc.
This morning, I got off the treadmill and she told me, "Mom, I just have to tell you that you smell awful." At least she is finally on board with being honest.
And I did smell pretty awful.

Quincy:
3 yrs old
Has a ton o fluid in her ears, but it is not infected (yet) so we are hoping an antihistamine will dry her ears out before they become infected.
Weight: 24 lbs
Height 36 inches
We are thinking about getting one of those little bracelets that help children to stop sucking their thumb. I have mixed feelings about it.
On a positive note, the pediatrician said that Quincy's vocabulary is "stellar" and her conversation skills are exceptional for her age.
My current favorite thing that she does is put her hands up by her face when she converses with anyone. She's such a character.

Corbin
9 months
Sits Up, Rolls, Scoots, and is starting to get up on his knees and rock back and forth.
Weight: 18 lbs (50th percentile)
Height: 28 inches (60th percentile)
I can't remember his head measurement, but was surprised when the doc said he's in the 50th percentile for head circumference...it just seems so big! ("look at the size o that head! It has it's own weather system" -Mike Meyers)
He wowed the nurse when he said, "Mama" and "Ahdunnnn" (all done)
The only other words he says are "Dada" and "Mo!" (aka "MORE FOOD. NOW.")
Is allergic to milk based formula, and gets a rash on his face when he eats anything with carrots in it.
Loves bananas and sliced apples....but we really have to watch him with the apples...those new toofies are sharp and he likes to bite chunks off. No bueno.
Is the cutest baby in the universe.

Aaron:
-Is rad.
-Is freaking hilarious. He is beautifully gifted in the art of delivering perfectly timed movie quotes as responses for unrelated conversation topics. He's been on a roll lately.
-got an award at work with his team...but is super humble, and the only reason I found out about it is because I saw the photo of them accepting said award on our camera.
-those who know Aaron well will appreciate that he is doing the Heisman pose with the award in the photo.
-is starting to get burned out on "Gringo Fiesta" and we're only on day 5. Perhaps we need Santa Fe pizza tomorrow night.
-is wrapped around his little girls' fingers.

Meg:
-Survived my first college exam after a 5 year hiatus. Aaron was quick to remember that I would go temporarily insane and put a carton of chocolate ice cream in the freezer 3 days prior to test day.
-helped my kid pee in a cup today. The first time you pee in a cup serves as some sort of rite of passage I'm sure...but really, helping someone else go pee in a cup....that's beyond rite of passage. That should come with an award. I was pretty upset when the nurse did not offer ME a princess sticker as well.
-I'm trapped in a love/hate relationship with the treadmill...Spring and grandparents cannot arrive soon enough. I gotta get my run on, and one 6-8 mile run a week just isn't cuttin' it. My long-time-running friend, Jocelyn, was right when she said, "welcome to the drug" recently. I'm hooked.
-I'm working on my table...and by working I mean, I'm thinking about it, and I pull out my tape measure about twice a day to think about what I'm going to do, and when I'm going to find time to do it.
-Preschool is going really well. Some days I wish I had decided to teach more than once a week. There's just so much to do, I love it so much, and Quincy thrives when her friends are here to learn and play with her. Wednesday has gone from being my worst day of the week to one of the best days of the week.
-I am only awake because my children are. Ear infections are awesome like that. Yes. The current time is 1:41am, and I have one Reese in my arms, waiting for ear drops to kick in. At least she's been fever free this time....could be much much worse.

Junie B Good, Please!

It might be time for mean meg to go to bed. She's only fun to have around for a day or two....not even that long if you have to live here.

This weekend, Reese and I read her first chapter book together.

I've heard that Junie B. is the new Ramona Quimby (which is the first chapter book that I can remember reading) and it came highly recommended, so we decided to give it a shot. I was amazed at how intently Reese listened to a book with few pictures. She got pretty caught up in the story.
...but maybe that's because she was taking copious notes. I gotta say, that June B. is kind of a brat. A funny brat for adults, but not real cute when my 5 year old mimics everything she hears.

Aaron thought the story was great (aside from the "s word" and the "h word" which we omitted because our kid can't read yet, so we can do that sort of thing still) because Junie B hates (oops! I mean "really doesn't like") riding the bus, which Reese is (of course) dying to do. I'm not really a fan either, since one of my childhood bus drivers was arrested years later for child molestation (no, not me) so needless to say, we aren't big fans of the school bus thing.
Maybe someday...but not yet.
Not with our first born.
We've screwed up enough on her already, maybe we'll wait and let our Quincy B be the guinea pig for the bus thing...and then they can ride it together. Of course, that is to say that Quincy is ever going to grow, and at this point, I'm quite ok with her staying my tiny Q forever and ever and always being my little buddy. I'm working on a magic spell to keep her this way. So far, she hasn't grown much lately, so maybe it's working a little. Reese has already told me that "being 5 is the best" and that she's not going to grow ever again. I hope she's right.

Anyway, the story was cute...but I'll kick myself for not previewing the plot first if Reese follows suit and hides in a storage closet after her first day of kindergarten. She's already asking for another "words book", any suggestions?