don't drink the water

"don't drink the water" is phrase used frequently at new hope. you see, when one person gets pregnant, everyone gets all nervous and suspicious. because when one gets pregnant, it starts a pandemic. i can't remember a time in 20 years at new hope where someone was pregnant alone; there are always 3 or more women pregnant at the same time. it's just how we do it here. i can't explain it. luckily, the quota of 3 is already filled right now, which may mean i'm safe. because seriously, God has his own plans and sure does some miraculous wonders with our women's wombs. impossibility and pregnancy are never in the same sentence (umm, except right here). just ask leeann and elya, two of my featured mamas in this blog.

basically, i'm feeling the mama love lately, with all these babies and pregnancies and all. it's like i'm in baby lal-la land, all drippy and excited and ooey and gooey over pregnant women and/or teeny tiny babies.

and i'm not even joking about the number of babies and bellies. let's see...

my best friend leelee is unexpectedly pregnant with her third when there was a 99.9% chance that could not happen; my friend elya is miraculously pregnant with a baby girl (tentatively named "charlotte" by yours truly) when doctors pretty much told her there was no way for her to conceive; my fellow blog friend suzannah is expecting a baby boy, and my west coast girlfriend jesse just had her third, a baby boy named benjamin. not to mention my friend april who just had her third, bridget, and dave's cousin gretchen, who just had her third, emaline. fellow-MOPS attenders, shannon and christy, pregnant with their second and fifth, respectively. also pregnant, my friend nick's wife, tracy, with a boy, and my college friend sara, and high school friend jen. oh, and sarah just had a baby boy, jaxon, a couple months ago, who is really quite adorable.

EVERYONE is pregnant or snuggling babies!

this fever has led everyone and their mother to continue asking me if i'm expecting. especially because leeann and i have been pregnant together with both our babies (who are...no longer babies). it's funny, i kind of feel like i'm leaving her out on a limb or something by not being pregnant! it feels unnatural. truthfully, seeing all these babies and bellies is making me wonder if i want another. i think in theory i do, but in reality...i don't. it's like being pregnant- it's cool in theory, but when you're carrying another person around (that kicks and punches you) all day, every day for 40 weeks, it's not so cool anymore. at least i didn't think it was. so i'm not sure.

right now, i feel very content and blessed with two.

and...i feel busy.

so i give it up to the women who have three or more small people to tend to. you're more severely outnumbered than i am, so i commend you. you might be a saint. if not, you're likely quite close.

and i'm going to keep thinking on this whole baby thing. right now, i'm going to enjoy what God has given me, and see what his plan unfolds. i don't know...i may find that ribbons is the only gal around here having lots of babies :)

how soon we forget...

i think, after about 5 days, that i am finally climbing out of the dark hole called sickness, with elias and piper not too far behind. dave, with the power of orange juice, vitamins, and will power, has somehow avoided the train wreck. sunday he wasn't feeling well, but he told me he was going to kick this sickness in the...

miss piper sleeping through the night the past couple nights has been a huge help. when i say huge, i mean tremendous. GIGANTIC.

and a jagged edge of her first little tooth has finally emerged. her bottom left.

(angels singing)

this is only the beginning, but i'm ready for all the madness tooth cutting brings.

ha ha ha, not really.

truth is, i have no recollection of tooth cutting, or whether elias was rotten when he got teeth, or what is was like in that period of time. he's like the golden boy who did no wrong because we simply can't remember. dave and i are always trying to recall things from when elias was piper's age, and we rarely can.

regardless of our failed memories, poor piper takes the cake for being a pain in the neck overall anyway. she's a sassy little thing, with her furrowed brow, her angry little fits of rage, and her adorable, beautiful, shrieking, smiling, face.

it's sort of like she's my first child. all the things i thought i learned, or would remember "for next time"? yeah, couldn't tell you one of them.

the other night i recalled (i already had forgotten?!) how she used to make me wrestle her to breastfeed. every time. relentlessly. and now, we don't wrestle anymore (proof that God really does love me!). man, i like her a whole lot more! yet another example of the short term memory loss associated with our kids.

i tend to think it's part of God's divine plan that women especially would forget all of the reasons why we would never want to be pregnant, giving birth, breastfeeding, raising little tiny people, etc. etc. etc. there are about 53972350823 trillion reasons why logic would tell us 'this is not a good idea.' and if this part of our brains functioned properly, would we really ever jump excitedly at the chance to do it again?! if we really remembered??


no. the answer is no.

us women, we just love it all. we can't help it.


the good.
the bad.
the ugly.
ALL of it.

which is why despite some sleepless nights, drippy, boogery noses, coughing, whining, and all the other fun things sickness brings along with it, i still love my life. and i love my children.

and i wouldn't even trade it.


see?! WHAT is wrong with us!?!?

refueling the tank

this afternoon, courtesy of my handsome husband, i stopped being a nutty recluse and went out of the house. with no children. to do whatever i want. okay, a couple hours on the clock- and what do i do?

step 1: aviators.

step 2: sunroof open- it's 60 degrees. holy crap. is it spring, and i didn't notice because i don't leave the house unless i have to?

step 3: good music. today's selection, the man i would hunt down to marry if i wasn't already, mr. john legend. his latest cd, evolver, track 2, "green light." this song makes me want to dance. but i try to focus on driving while i sing along like it's karaoke night. sun is shining. life is good.

step 4: iced coffee. oh, it's been SO long. i think coffee and chocolate (ie, my livelihood) make piper gassy and even MORE impossible to breastfeed. so i have gone without. i may regret this decision, but it's such a great iced coffee. i drink every bit of it by the time i'm home.

step 5: wal-mart. lame, i know. practicality wins out sometimes. i need to return a whole bunch of things- which always takes an eternity. i meander around and i find piper cute headbands. SCORE.

step 6: marshalls. oh how i love marshalls. i scout some cute pajamas for my long and lean little string bean of a daughter. much too short are her 9 mos. pjs suddenly. onto 12 mos. it is. i find two really cute antique-y floral types that fit the bill. $6 each. can't go wrong. and what are those? navy stretch pants- for 50 cents?! is this a yard sale or a store?! nothing excites me more than a bargain.

i'm home in time to feed pipski, dinner's cooking itself in the crock pot, and there's a fire in my wood stove. i check the mail, and there's a movie that has date written night all over it. it can't get any better.

as moms, we don't need much sometimes. tell me- what are the little things that refuel YOUR tanks?

my sweet boy

why being a mom is great/joyful/fun/hilarious/adorable:

- moments like the one i just had where elias (2.5) said to me "make pi-ber yaff, mummy!" (make piper laugh, mummy). we just discovered two days ago that when elias jumps up and down, piper (5 mos) practically (or literally, who knows!) wets her pants laughing and screeching in delight. and as a big brother who has realized piper is just another small person, same as himself, he just adores interacting with her. he'll lay his head next to her and talk to her (while he slyly puts her bink in his mouth, of course...), give her toys to play with, run to me if he hears her crying ("pi-ber sad, mummyyy" or he'll pat her and say "no cry baby"), and bring me blankets for her ("baby pi-ber cowd [cold], mummy"). she just thinks everything eli does is delightful and hilarious, which is so charming and heart-warming to see. it's like they already know that they're in it together. i can only imagine when the two of them are running around wild. let's just hope piper ends up being laid back and mellow...dare i say, quiet?

- those proud mom moments, like when elias simply blows my mind and name colors and shapes correctly. blows my mind! he knows at least 4 colors and at least a few shapes (that i know of)! does that mean kids actually DO listen when we talk?? what?! yesterday we were coloring with markers and he draws a circle. and it's literally a circle. and he looks at me and says "mummy, yi-yi (eli) draw a circo!" and then he told me to draw a circo, and i did, and he took his marker and made dots inside my circle and said to me "boo dots!" and they sure were. blue dots. and it's magical to see them learn. and you just smile because you are so darn proud of them. it makes you realize that they are so eager to learn and their brains are just starving for more knowledge. imagine if we had the time to sit and teach them! i feel like i'm lucky he knows anything because i can barely get piper fed, myself dressed, meals made, and my teeth brushed! if i actually leave the house?! miraculous! see, God still does miracles.

these little moments were just on my mind, and i just HAVE to remember how sweet they are, because when my son turns around and smacks me in the head and i want to throw him across the room, moments such as these help me to find patience when i have none, sanity when it's all lost, and joy when i feel seething madness.

i know i can't be the only one...