I'm the Reigning Queen

So here's the thing--

I say I will never do a lot of things.  And when I say I will never do those things, I mean it...with all my heart.  I will NEVER do it.  And then I do them.

I will never have a baby without an epidural.
I had 3 of my 4 without an epidural.

I will never have a baby at home.
I had my last two babies at home.

I will never have a minivan.
I have a minivan.

When I have kids, I'll never yelll.
hahahahaaahahahaaahaa!

I will never live in Manassas.
I live in Manassas.

I will never wear skinny jeans.
I wear skinny jeans.  I'm still in denial about it, though.

I will never buy kids music CDs for them to listen to in the car.
Our 6 disk changer in the car is almost fully loaded with kids music.

I will never join a gym.
I joined a gym.  Sadly, that was years ago, but if juC would let me, I would have already joined another one.

There's no need to continue the list.  Just know that there's a lot and I say it all to lead up to this one.

I will never move my family to Utah.  Never.  Never ever.  Never ever ever ever never ever never.
And here we are...right in the midst of getting our house ready to sell because juC has accepted a job in Utah.
And that is why I am THE Queen of Doing Everything I Say I Will Never Do.  Don't even try, the crown is mine!

A couple years ago, while visiting Utah, I took the above picture.  We were at a park.  It was a lovely park with slides and jungle gyms and water shooting up out of the ground (on purpose) and a big green hill for the kids to run up.  The sky was beautifully blue, the clouds in the distance were wonderfully fluffy, and the mountains were sitting there all majestically without even trying.  I sat there thinking, Utah sure is pretty!  And I couldn't help but snap picture after beautiful picturesque picture.

Over the last several weeks as this whole Utah thing has come to fruition, I keep thinking about that day at the park.

And living in Utah will come with other perks too aside from beautiful picturesque mountainous view parks.  We'll be close to family.  Lots and lots of family.  All over.  juC will have consistent hours at work that (hopefully) won't require phone calls on Saturdays and Sundays for leaky pipes at buildings, and having to go clean up messes at 10:00 at night.  The kids will be in schools that are NOT the school they are in now (huge bonus!)  And did I mention we'll be close to tons of family!?

So Utah.  I'm sorry I never wanted to move my family to you.  But I'm excited about the move after all.  So get ready for us.  And be good to us.  You've got approximately a month to prepare for our arrival.  Use your time well.

Meanwhile, I'll continue to say a lot of "I will nevers..." that I will end up doing, so that I can remain the queen.

P.S.  Virginia.  Oh dear, sweet, Virginia.  Please don't take offense to this.  I will forever and ever love you.  But I'll save that for a post just about you.

Celebrate good times! Come on!

It's still the month of May, so even though it seems like forever (FOREVER!) ago that we celebrated our anniversary and juC's birthday, I'm considering it totally legit that I'm just now posting about it.  I'm going to blame my lateness on cC.  I totally could have posted this last week, but, he has decided to not go down for naps.  The last time he took a nap was last Monday.  So that means we are 8 days in a row with no cC naps, which means no free time during the day for me, which means no time for organizing a post.  And also, very sadly, means that I haven't been able to get my normal naps.  And let me tell you folks, it's not a pretty situation.  Not pretty at all.

So now I'm just neglecting luC and cC so I can do this post.

But back to the point!


On May 5, all of Mexico celebrated the 7th anniversary of the day that juC and I were wedded.  It's always nice to know that we have so many people celebrating with us!

All I wanted to do for our anniversary was have the whole family go to the tulip festival so I could get some fabulous pictures of the kids with the fabulous colors of the flowers.  Unfortunately, cC wasn't having it, and the pictures of the kids were all some form of this:

 The good news was I got some super amazing maternity shots.  And by "super amazing" I mean this:

Oh, and it also started pouring rain while we were there.  So that was awesome, too.  My anniversary adventure was not going as I'd planned.

Then we went to Chili's for dinner.  What else would we eat on our Cinco de Mayoversary?  It was when we were dining on our anniversary with these crazy kids that it dawned on me...

..wedding anniversaries are something completely different when 3 small kids are involved.  

The good news is that a week and a half later, while juC's parents were here, we got to celebrate right.  And by "celebrate right" I mean go on an over nighter that pretty much revolved around what restaurants we'd eat at.  

For dinner we ate at a lovely Italian restaurant.  And for lunch the next day we ate at a place that was a shoot off of a chocolate candy store.  It was on our little anniversary trip that I learned that juC and I don't take pictures together anymore.

In between our family anniversary celebration, and our legit anniversary celebration, we had an awesomely legit birthday celebration for juC.

I decided to help him out and get him a real sized grill, instead of the tiny wittle travel grill he'd been using.  I know, I'm so nice.  We set it up in the backyard, and the kids were so excited to stand there and wait for juC to walk around back coming home from work and surprise him.

 Then it was time for perfectly handmade birthday cards, puuuurfectly store bought cards, and a present.  And by a "present" I mean a cover for the grill.  Because it was the only logical other thing to get him.

 And then, of course, it was cake time!

Though the highlight of juC's birthday, for me, was the following night when we dined at a Tex-Mex eating establishment.  During one of the kid bathroom trips, I made sure to tell our super-trying-to-get-a-good-tip-waiter that it was "Dad's" birthday, as the waiter so affectionately called him.

So the highlight was when the severs were all rounding the corner clapping their hands, preparing to sing "happy birthday" and juC started dancing, having no clue that they were headed to him!  When I started laughing his response was "What?...Wait...they aren't coming to me are they??  You didn't!!"

Oh, how I wish I could have captured a non-blurry picture of the events.

Lest I not write about our month of May celebrations, and not include Mother's Day.  juC knows how to celebrate me right.  I was awoken to little voices our room, and juC standing there with the kids and this fabulous breakfast.  I can't remember what he made me for dinner, but I know that was good, too.   And good food is all that really matters in my book.

I'm thankful for juC and that each May I get to celebrate our anniversary, his birthday, and Mother's Day with him...and our crazy kids.  

Thirty Six

I say it every birthday.  I love birthdays.  Love 'em.  Almost as much as a love the person that's celebrating a birthday today.  I guess this is the week for sappy posts, because I've decided to do a post of 36 things I love about juC.  It will be hard to narrow it down.  But...I will do my best to keep it at just 36, as he enters his 36th year.

1.  I love that he is a good sport with some of my crazy ideas.  Like when we used to go bowling, and I had the rule that any time you roll a gutter ball, you have to do one roll on your pants leg.  I won't complain that he should have continued to roll up one leg until it wouldn't roll anymore, but would always divide it between the two legs.

 2.  I love that he doesn't complain when I probably don't meet his expectations.  I hate to admit how many times he's come home to me having no idea what's for dinner and not really wanting to make anything.  He doesn't complain.  (well, he doesn't complain about me, to me.)  I appreciate that.

3.  Along the same line, I love that he doesn't make me feel bad when he comes home and finds that I'm still in my pajamas.  Being pregnant or having a small baby during most of our marriage means that it's happened a lot.  He never makes me feel bad about it.  That's love.

4.  I love that he kills bugs for me.  Remember the spider outbreak in our basement apartment!?  That was the scariest time of my life.  And here he was, kindly going around and spraying to ward off those horrible things!

 5.  I love that he never yells at me.  I cannot think of a single time in our 9 years of dating/marriage that he's yelled at me.

6.  I love that he takes his job as provider for our family so seriously.  I love that I get to stay home with our kids and that he wants to do it for us.

7.  I love that he is willing to do all the silly things that I want to do.  Like when I insisted we make a gingerbread house...before we even had kids.

 8.  I love that he can fix things around the house.  It's so nice to have a husband that knows how to do things.  And if he doesn't know how to do it, he will figure out how with the aid of google and youtube.

9.  I love that he smells good 99.5% of the time.

10.  I love that he calls me babe.  There aren't many pet names that I think I'm ok with, but babe is a good one.  It makes me fell like...a babe.

11.  I love that he takes the trash out.

12.  I love that he bakes things for me.

13.  I love that he's frugal.  Ok.  He's not always frugal.  But it definitely helps when he is.

14.  I love that he always wants to help people.  It's not always convenient for me, and sometimes it feels a little frustrating.  But if anyone needs anything, he always wants to be the one to do it.  He's a great example of being selfless.

15.  I love that he helps me clean when I ask for help.  Or beg for help.  Or demand help.

16.  I love that he takes care of me when I'm sick.  He's a good nurse.

17.  I love his smile.  It's the best!

 18.  I love that he is the most patient person I have ever known in my whole entire life.  I don't think there's another person out there with as much patience as him.  And it just so happens that he married the person with the least amount of patience of anyone out there.  Lucky me, poor him.

19.  I love that he gets all of my jokes...most of the time.  And that he thinks I'm funny.  It's a nice little ego boost when others don't.

20.  I love that he's been so good with me about choosing baby names.  It's always been a very easy process for us.  Hearing the horror stories of others reminds me of how lucky I am that he is the way he is.

21.  I love that he has a sweet tooth just as bad, if not worse, than me.  Then I don't feel so bad!

22.  I love that he makes the best out of bad situations.

 23.  I love that he lets me have time to myself when I need it.  Which is probably more than I should need, but he lets me and I am so very thankful.

24.  I love that when I want to take ridiculous pictures, he goes for it.

 25.  I love that he takes the kids with him when he goes places.  They always want to go with daddy, and he's usually willing to oblige.

26.  I love that he helps with bath time and bed time.  So, so, so very thankful for that!

27.  I love how hot he is with a beard.  Even though he can't have one right now.  It's still good to know.

28.  I love that he's so...just...nice.  For example--today is his birthday.  Today is also the day of my prenatal yoga class at 5:45.  I can miss the class, but I paid for a certain number of classes, so if I miss it it's kind of like paying for it but not getting it.  I can make it up with another class, but there aren't a lot of other classes that are prenatal friendly.  If it was my birthday, I would absolutely make sure juC clears his schedule so it can be all about me.  However, juC has willingly said that he is fine with me still going, and he will make the kids pizza, just like he always does on yoga Thursdays.  That's just the nice kind of guy he is.  When I said it wasn't fun for him, he said "It's fine."  I guess this is more of an example of why he's a better person than me.

29.  I love that sometimes when he has meetings at night, he brings a treat home for me.

30.  I love that he gives me a kiss and tells me he loves me every morning before he goes to work.  Even luC has noticed it.  And if he leaves later when the kids are awake and luC doesn't see him do it, when he walks out the door she says, "Daddy didn't love you!" all concerned.

31.  I love that he does his own laundry.  (OK, this list is making me look like a really, really lazy wife!  Sorry juC!)

32.  I love that he talks to the babies in my belly with a weird voice.

33.  I love that he makes me laugh so much.

34.  I love that he is such a good dad.

35.  I love that he doesn't look at day over 29.  I think we really throw people off.

36.  I love that he married me and that he is happy with being married to me.  Older, experienced men always tell younger men to marry up.  I guess juC decided not to follow that advice because I'm definitely the one that married up.  

Although juC keeps inching closer and closer to 40, which just sounds SO old, I still love him for so many reasons.  In spite of my yoga tonight cutting into his evening, I hope I can do my part and make this day special for him.  He deserves a day to feel loved and appreciated and celebrated.  And hopefully I can do that for him!  

I love you dearly sweet little juC! 

Lucky #7

7 happens to be my favorite number.  Ever since I was 7.  When someone asked me what my favorite number was, and I said 7 (because I was 7) but when they called me out on saying it was 7 just because I was 7, I denied it.  So then when I turned 8, I had to prove that 7 hadn't been my favorite number just due to my age, so I continued to say my number was 7.  And thus it has been every year since.

So if the number 7 has been my favorite number for the past 25ish years, I guess I have a pretty good relationship with the number 7.  7 has never let me down.  7 has always been there for me.  7 is good to me.

Which is good news because juC and I have just officially entered our 7th year of marriage.  And if my experiences with the number 7 have been any indication, our 7th year of marriage is going to be a good one!  Maybe the best yet??!!

It's kind of crazy because 7 doesn't really sound like a lot.  To those that have been married for many, many more years, we are just getting started.  But for us, 7 years has brought us a lot.

We've owned 2 homes.  We've had 4 different cars.  juC changed careers.  I've had 3 different jobs.  And we've had 3.5 kids.  We most definitely haven't spent our 7 years in wedded bliss stagnantly!

I also recently realized how sentimental I am when it comes to some of the things that mark the beginning of our marriage.

The morning of our wedding day, there was a little bit of rain.  juC bought a nice big, umbrella that morning for the rain.  For nearly 7 years, that umbrella has been by my side.  Each time I used it, a reminder of the day it was bought, bringing back lovely memories.  And a few months ago, I went to use it and...nothing.  The umbrella would no longer extend out.  Most people would toss a broken umbrella in the trash, but I just can't seem to bring myself to do it.  Every time it rains, I attempt to use it again...in the hopes that it's magically healed itself and works now.  No such luck.

We also got a spatula when we got married.  The sort of spatula you use to scrape the sides of a bowl.  It was a very basic one from Target.  Metal handle, red spatula.  Nothing fancy.  But it was with us since the beginning.  The number of cookies and cakes that that spatula has aided the production of over almost 7 years is innumerable. I couldn't help but think of us first acquiring that spatula at the beginning of our eternity together each time I used it.  And a couple of months ago, while Jud was using it to mix something that was getting too thick, the tip of the spatula broke.  I nearly shed a tear when it got tossed in the trash.  (Maybe I'll blame pregnancy hormones for that.)

Over the past 7 years of marriage we have laughed more times than I could ever count.  No one makes me happier than juC and no one makes me madder than juC.  We've learned how to be married.  We've learned how to be adults.  We've learned how to be parents.  We've learned how to sacrifice and how to work together.  We've accepted (for the most part) each others faults.  And we've done our best to be strong where the other may have weaknesses.

I often think that of all the people in all of the world that I could have married, no one was made more perfectly for me than juC was.  He loves me, imperfections and all.  He is more patient with me than I think any other human being could be.  He puts up with more from me than anyone else is capable of.  And he is just...the perfect person to be at my side.

It's only been 7 years, but if the rest of eternity looks anything like the past 7 years have, we're good to go!

**Photo credit, Thomas Photographers

Adventure Time!

Saturday was a beautiful, magnificent day...weather wise.  After having a snow storm on Monday (And the crazy cold temperatures all winter) the 70 degree weather was more than welcome!  So of course that meant I needed to come up with an adventure for us to take the kids on. And the key to getting juC to agree to an adventure is to find a place for us to eat...with hamburgers.

One of the things I always see people do when they visit NYC is go to Shake Shack.  So imagine my surprise when I found out that we have Shake Shack here in DC.  And not just 1 of them, but 3.  If everyone is always talking about it, I have to try it out for myself.  It was the perfect day to give it a try and enjoy being outside in DC.

So off we went after cC woke up from his nap.

As anyone who lives in this area knows, traffic on 66 going into DC is super predictable.  It's always a mess even when there is no construction or accidents.  When we started realizing a certain trend to the people that we were stuck in traffic with, juC begged the question "Is there an event tonight or something?  Is there a Caps game?"  Smart phone to the rescue!  There was indeed a C-A-P-S! Caps, Caps, Caps! game at 7 p.m.
So then I begged the question, "The Shake Shack isn't by the Verizon Center is it?"
juC's reply: No.  Phew!  Dodged that bullet!  I didn't want to deal with all these people planning to have the same dinner as us before they headed to the game.

As luck would have it, we were able to find a pretty decent parking spot on the street a few blocks before we were to arrive at the Shake Shack.  We unloaded, and began our walk.  As we arrived on a street  corner, we saw...wait...what is that kitty-corner to the Shake Shack?  Is that...the Verizon Center?  How about that!?  Good thing we didn't go to one of the other 2 locations.  I was secretly really wanting to dine with all of the C-A-P-S!  Caps, Caps, Caps fans!

We walked by all the outside tables, which were completely full.  Walked into the Shake Shack and got into the long line.  I took the kids to the bathroom at the back, walking past all of the full tables.  This was going to be a blast and a half!

juC ordered our food while I hi-jacked a table and waited with luC and jC.  jC waited by the counter with cC.  Waiting at that table with them for our food to come while in an overly crowded restaurant was akin to torture.

We waited.

  Then juC and cC joined us at the table.  And we waited some more.

 Then we waited some more.  If only that little thingy would buzz!!

 And finally!  Our food was ready!!  I won't deny, when I first saw what kind of fries they had, I wasn't thrilled.  But I dare say they are the best fries I've had in a long while.  The shake was delicious.  The burger was unfortunately quite salty.  But the bun was really good!

We survived our Shake Shack experience.  My biggest complaint:  The shake wasn't nearly large enough for this here pregnant woman!

After the Shack, we headed for the monuments.  The downside of waiting until cC's nap was over to go on our adventure was the later hour it put us there.  It cooled down a bit, but it was still super nice compared to normal.  First we walked through the Roosevelt Memorial.  It should be noted that a visit to the Roosevelt Memorial was part of a date that juC and I went on that he claims to be one of his favorite dates of all time.  So why, pray tell, did he not remember where it was that we sat gazing into each others eyes??  Just food for thought.

We then walked over to the Jefferson Memorial.  I have to say that the walk around the Tidal Basin from the Roosevelt to Jefferson Memorial is one of the best!  (Note how amazing my kids are at posing for pictures.)

 I also have to say that one of the highlights of the evening was seeing sign after sign on all of the stairs at the Jefferson Memorial saying to use caution because it was slippery, then seeing a teenage girl make a run for it to go to a friend and gracefully fall on her bum.  Don't judge me...she was fine!  And like I said, it was totally graceful.

AND, I ALSO have to say that I'm glad there are pictures of me.  For no other reason then the whole time I couldn't figure out why in the heck my coat was bunched up at the top on one side.  I knew it fit a little differently due to my enlarging stomach, but it was just annoying.  If it weren't for the pictures of me, I never would have realized the next day it was because I had it buttoned ALL WRONG!!  (note in the picture that the left side of my coat is higher than the right.)

 And the final highlight of the night--
Getting to remind juC that I'M NOT HIS MOM!!  He couldn't figure out why I didn't bring him a coat.  Clearly he forgets that even though I am *a mom*, I am not *his mom*.

Although it was a bit chaotic, and my kids listened and followed directions about 0.04% of the time, causing me a lot of frustration, it was fun.  I always forget how lucky we are to live in a place with so many awesome restaurants to try AND amazing monuments and memorials to visit.

juC, juC, juC

It's been a while a while since I've posted about my husband.  You know...the one that doesn't love me as much as your husband loves you.  He's due for another post dedicated to just him.

Back when juC and I were young and in love...I mean, younger and not nearly as in looooove as we are now, and newly married, I did a "spotlight" of him on my blog.  That blog went bye bye, BUT, this was back in the day when I used to actually write the questions and answers on a paper then transfer it to my blog.  So the other day I was looking through my old game score keeping notebook/
recipe notebook and found the spotlight questions and his answers.  I couldn't help but have a good laugh as I read through it.  Then I had the thought that it would be fun to ask the same questions, nearly 7 years later.  You know, to see how much he's grown and matured.

I also did another spotlight of him back in 2009.  You can read that insightful blog post here.

So for your reading pleasure, here are his answers to the questions.  White answers from 2007, and green answers from 2014.  And ( ) are my two cents.  Because how can I NOT out in my two cents?!  I did not read him his previous answers until after I asked them again.

1.  What is your favorite time of day?
Breakfast time, lunch time, dinner time
Ooooo....Evening.  Did I say morning before?

2.  Where in the world would you love to visit?
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
(At least he's consistent with some things.)

3.  What is your favorite kind of bean?
Black bean or green beans.  Wax beans.  Refried beans.
Black beans.  Jelly.

4.  Have you or anyone else ever painted your nails?
Yes.
Yes.

5.  What is your wife's best quality?
Patience...her humor.  Her passion for life.
Her hair.  No...Don't say hair.  I don't know.  Ummm...how she thinks of others.
(Glad he didn't have to strain himself to answer that one.)

6.  What is your most memorable date?
Senior year of high school.  Just kidding!!  Great falls with my wife cause it was a beautiful setting with a beautiful person.
Cherry Blossoms.
(Such a detailed answer.  Don't expound on that or anything.)

7.  If you had to live in a tree, what kind would it be?
An oak tree.
A umm...Redwood.

8.  Do you ever drink milk out of the carton?
No.  Orange juice, yes.
...Not really milk.  Orange juice.
(Seriously, so consistent with the important stuff!)

9.  Who is your favorite sibling?
I don't have a favorite.  I love them all the same.  ....Lorinda.
I don't know.  I don't have a favorite.  I like them all the same...Equally.

10.  What are you holding in your hands right now?
aniC's feet.
Cell phone
(Yes folks.  That one answer right there perfectly sums up the biggest change that has occurred since the last time.  I would be happy to never see a cell phone again!)

11.  What causes the most fights between you and your wife?
Phase 10
Do we fight?  Money.
(Truly, we don't fight.  I mostly just fuss and he mostly just pretends to listen.)

12.  Why is your mother-in-law so great?
Because she's your mom.
Her southern hospitality.

13.  What is your favorite 20s year old memory?
When I got married.
Dating you.
(Awww...)

14.  How do you like your eggs?
Sunny side up.
Fried.

We're Having Another Baby!

In case you missed it (how could you have missed it?)  the C Clan is having another baby.  Yes, ANOTHER baby.  (Believe it or not, there are people out there that have more children than us.  WAY more children than us.  Stop acting so surprised by us having our 4th.)

It's funny.  I hate making lists...like, to do lists.  HATE it.  If I had to choose between making a to-do list and digging a 4x4 foot deep hole with a kitchen spoon, I'd choose the latter.  But for some reason, when it comes to blogging, I'm all about the lists.  Which is something you've probably realized if you've read more than a few of my blog posts.

So of course, I have to make a list, for you, about why we are having another baby.  Not that I really think I owe an explanation.  But hey,  if it helps, why not.

--I gave our first reason on facebook, when announcing our pregnancy.  And I quote, "So here's the thing. I personally think it is important for all of the really good parents in the world that raise smart, nice, well behaved children to have lots of children so as to populate the world with. Conversely, I think it is equally important for all of the inadequate parents in the world that raise sassy, ill-behaved children to have lots of children to even things out. Which is why we are having another baby. Coming to even things out sometime around August."

--I love changing diapers!  Love it, love it, love it.  The more, the merrier.  It's right up there on my list of loves next to making to-do lists.

--juC looks super cute holding a newborn baby.  (And changing their diapers, when he begs me to let him have a turn.)

--When we moved into our house, I did pretty well get unpacked in an appropriate amount of time.  However, it wasn't very organized.  I had cC, at home, a little over a year after we moved into our house.  Those few months leading up to his birth, I was a machine.  I got the house cleaned and organized like never before.  It was awesome.  Then cC was born and it took approximately 3 days 14 hours and 27 minutes for all of the cleaning and organization I did to come undone and only decline since then.  Soooo, have another baby at home = motivation and energy to get the house cleaned and organized to the max.  It's a win-win.  Cute newborn baby AND an organized house.  (Even if it doesn't last very long.)

--Newborn babies smell like heaven. 

--little jC started asking for another baby when cC was like, a week old.  And I give my children everything they want, soooo...

--I wouldn't have said this when I was pregnant with little jC, but I LOVED my pregnancies with luC and cC.  No joke.  I was miserable with jC.  MISERABLE.  And I fear that this pregnancy will have the same outcome.  BUT, I really appreciated the next two pregnancies.  Feeling a growing baby inside of me...that is an amazing, AMAZING experience.  It is something I will forever, and ever be grateful I have been able to experience, and I am thankful for the opportunity to experience it again.  Being able to experience a tiny, growing babies movements is definitely a on the top of my list of why we are having another.  It's truly a huge blessing.

--juC and I love sleep deprivation.  There is nothing like being awake 27 times a night with a newborn baby.  Bring it on!

--Babies are just cute.  Even ugly ones.  How could we not want to stare at another one for hours on end?  Their tiny fingers, and tiny noses, and tiny lips, and tiny feet.  Oh my goodness!! 

--I touched on it already, but seriously, babies are such an amazing blessing.  How could we not want to take advantage of the blessings that we have been given?  People say we are crazy and that's fine (I guess).  Having children is definitely seen as a sacrifice by many, but we are willing to sacrifice for these amazing little humans that our Heavenly Father has so graciously blessed us with.    Although I'm not always as grateful as I should be, and don't always appreciate my children to their fullest, I love them more than I ever knew I could.  There was no denying it was time for another, and we are unbelievably grateful for the opportunity to have another sweet spirit join our family.

**It should be noted that having children has made me appreciate so much the struggle that others have in being able to have children.  Having children made me realize what an amazing miracle it is that not everyone gets to experience, and for those of you that have struggled or are struggling, my heart truly goes out to you!  And I know that you will be blessed beyond measure for your struggle.

Goal Setting.

It appears that at the young ages they are, my kids understand the importance of goals.  (Something that I still don't quite get the importance of at my age.)

They all have some goals they are trying to achieve, but it seems that they are all contradictory to the goals I have.

luC
luC's goal--To see how much food she can shove into her mouth at one time.
my goal--To keep luC from gagging and choking every time she eats.

luC's goal--To take off her diaper every single time she goes down for a nap or bedtime.
my goal--To not have to wash sheets every day.

luC's goal--To see how hard she can squeeze cC.
my goal--To keep cC in one piece.

luC's goal--To see if she can set the world record for loudest scream.
my goal--To keep my hearing until I'm in my 90s.

jC
jC's goal--To stay awake, all the time.
my goal--To have a well rested child.

jC's goal--To put up a fight about everything, even if it's something he actually wants to do.
my goal--To do fun things with my kids even if they aren't cooperating.

jC's goal--To make luC miserable.
my goal--To keep each of my children happy.

cC
cC's goal--(just like his older brother) To stay awake, all the time.
my goal--To have a well rested baby so as to have a well rested me.

cC's goal--To crawl around the kitchen floor getting his footed sleepers dirty, proving that the floor isn't as clean as I thought it was.
my goal--To keep cC out of footed sleepers when he's crawling around so that I don't see how dirty my kitchen floor actually is.

cC's goal--To get into everything he can possibly get to.
my goal--To try to keep up with keeping the house baby proofed.

My husband doesn't like to be left out of anything.  So he has taken it upon himself to also set some goals that are contradictory to mine.

juC
juC's goal--To never replace the toilet paper on the holder.
my goal--To not be the only one replacing the toilet paper on the holder.

juC's goal--To avoid doing the dishes at all costs.
my goal--To avoid doing the dishes at all costs.

juC's goal--To see if he is capable of completely tuning out a crying baby 24 hours a day.
my goal--To be sane.

Allow Me To Reintroduce Ourselves

You may have noticed the effort I have made the last few weeks to actually blog.

I thought this would be a good time to reintroduce ourselves.

First, there is my husband, juC.  He is half way through his 30s (poor thing) and works at a job as an employee doing work.  In his free time, he enjoys reading really long books about secret spies in the government, stalking people on facebook (I'm going to get in trouble for that one, but how can you be mad at someone for telling the truth??), and driving me crazy.  He is really good at making breakfast for dinner, grocery shopping, and taking the kids off my hands so I can take naps.

 Then comes our first dear child, little jC.  He will be 5 in September and starting kindergarten.  It makes me want to cry.  He is all about cars, blocks, and numbers.  He loves little cC with all his heart and loves to torture liitle luC with all his heart. He loves going on adventures, which means he hates when it's time to leave adventures.  He also loves to dance.  And when I say loves, I mean LOVES.  jC is proof that the last 5 years of my life have gone by insanely fast.

 Next up is our little luC.  And when I say little, I mean little.  (She is 2.5 years old and is in the 5th percentile for her weight, so that gives you an idea of just how little I mean.)  But don't let her littleness fool you.  She has a massive personality.  She is sweet, compassionate, and full of love.  She is also ornery, sassy, and impatient.  She cannot be convinced to do anything she doesn't want to do.  Unless you cry, thenn you can sucker her in.  (Something jC learned all too well!)  She gives the best hugs.  In-the-entire-world!!  She loves to play with dolls and read books.  And knock cC over.

Which brings us to our newest addition.  Little cC.  And by little, I mean the youngest in the family, not little like luC little.  In fact, he's only a couple pounds lighter than her!  cC is a big old ball of happiness.  Except when he's teething, then he's a big old ball of crankiness.  He really has the best smile that quickly turns my frowns upside down.  His favorite thing to do (aside from sleeping when I want him to be awake, or being awake when I want him to be asleep) is to crawl around the house looking for things to stick in his mouth.  Which means I often find him chewing on someones shoes.  He's a sweet boy!

And last of all, it's me, aniC.  A nearly 31 year old stay at home mom, that feels like a 14 year old that got stuck playing a game of house 5 years ago that won't stop.  Seriously, my life does not feel like my life, but like I'm just going along pretending.  I keep waiting for someone to say "Ok, you can stop now." but apparently this is the real deal.  I also feel like I'm stuck between wanting a million and one babies and feeling like I'm going to lose what's left of my sanity at any minute.  So I'm just plugging along.  Doing my best to be a mediocre wife and a competent mother.  (I've found it's easier to succeed if you set your standards low.)

So, that's us.

--And if any of my loyal readers that always looked forward to "kitty Thursday" are wondering about sweet little, izC, I have bad news for you, good news for her.  izC has a new home.  One with no kids to torture her.  I miss her tremendously, but I don't miss constantly harassing my kids for constantly harassing her.

My New Normal

After luC was born, I didn't leave the house by myself with my 2 kids for months.  I'm talking months, and months, and months, and months, and months, and months, and more months.  I know.  BUT, in my defense, any time luC made even a peep of a cry, jC would have a completely ridiculous meltdown.  She would have been done with her crying for 10 minutes and jC would sometimes still be freaking out about it. So the thought of going out with the two of them alone was absolutely the most stressful thing imaginable.  It was a hard time (as documented here)

Which is why I'm utterly proud of myself.  (don't judge me for being proud of myself.)

December 3 was a day I was dreading.  December 3 was the day that I would be alone with all 3 kids for the first time.  I was SO very lucky enough to have juC home for 2 weeks, (with a visit from my helpful parents in there), and have juC's parents here for 2 weeks.  Having help for the first month (minus 2 days) of cC's life was amazing, and the thought of going at it alone was petrifying.  (don't judge me for feeling this way, not everyone is as awesome as you are.)

So imagine my surprise when I found myself not only going out with all 3 kids out of necessity (taking jC to and from preschool), but also out with all 3 kids enjoying some unseasonably warm weather.  And as I walked along with cC strapped to me, pushing luC, and jC riding along in front of me I had an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment and happiness.  December 3 wasn't the easiest day in the world, but it also wasn't the hardest.  I actually survived.  Which led me to believe I would actually survive the days that followed.

3 kids is my new normal and it still blows my mind.

The birthday

Yesterday was juC's birthday!!

I love birthdays. Love, love, love, love, love!! I love trying to find the perfect gift for someone. I love getting them cheesy little extra gifts. I love trying to figure out what to make for dinner, and making them the perfect birthday cake. I love putting up birthday banners/signs. I just love all of it!So I started planning juC's birthday well in advance. I knew what I was getting him for his birthday months before, and had it ordered and in the house about a month before. I knew I was going to make his favorite cake...red velvet cake, because I'd never made it for him before. I was trying my hardest to figure out a favorite meal to make him, but a few days before his birthday, he took the pressure off and said he wanted Cafe Rio for dinner.

All day long I got ready for him to come home from work. The kids and I were all set up in the dining room ready to surprise him. (And my sister, elB, too.)

When he came in and walked around the corner we yelled "Surprise!" and as you can see, he was totally surprised. Or maybe I had to get him to pose again because the first picture I took didn't turn out.

He and the kids enjoyed opening his presents.

His "big" present was a butler. My sweet juC loves setting his clothes out the night before...in a big clump on our bath tub. I wasn't about to try to put it together, so he got to open a piece of paper with a picture on it. Being so on top of things he got it put together last night...and then put his clothes in a big lump pile right beside it. But now he has the perfect spot to hang his shirt, pants, tie, and everything else, when he gets over his clothes clumping addiction.

I may kind of like making fun of him for getting "old". Clearly I know he isn't old, but it's still fun. So...I might have gotten him this card.

He loved it...I just know he did. And don't worry. I wrote in the card that I will love him in spite of his age.

After all the exciting present opening was done, we headed to Cafe Rio for dinner. Then came back home for some delicious red velvet cake with the most amazing cream cheese frosting ever. (I can't help but divert from this birthday post to talk about how amazing this frosting is. Anything that calls for cream cheese frosting, I use this recipe. Chocolate cake, carrot cake, red velvet cake...it's amazing!! Although it should be noted that this recipe makes a large amount, so halfing it is usually needed. Try it!! You'll love it!!)

juC's parents called on Skype just as I was getting the cake ready for him to blow out the candles so they got to participate in the festivities and sing with us and see him blow out the candles. I'm not sure what he wished for, but hopefully it was for a van for our family.

Hopefully it was a perfect birthday for my dear, sweet, loving, perfect husband.

Anniversary AND birthday

This past Saturday, juC and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. We were lucky enough to be able to go away for a few days (thanks to my dear sister, elB). After little to no to debate, we decided to head to rural Pennsylvania. Why? Umm...not really sure. But it was great. We were in a teeny-tiny town, in this super cute place.

Not sure what the history of this place is, but it was divided up into different rooms and we were in a room up top at the far right. We had a kitchen, a living room, bathroom, bedroom, cable tv, and a mouse. It was wonderful.

As with anything juC and I do, I planned it all...in spite of me trying soooo hard to get him to plan something. While we were talking one night while on our trip, he tried to say he did plan stuff, and I said "Name just one thing you planned for this trip." To which he replied "I planned on not having fun, but you changed my mind." And that folks, is the reason I married this man 5 years ago. He is quick and witty and he lets me do what I want.

A couple of highlights from our trip:

As we were driving around doing nothing on the rural Pennsylvania roads, I spotted this place and said "STOP!" It was much like a place we have in my home town. I wish I had a picture to show you what we got but I haven't yet developed the pictures I took with the disposable camera I got (The one that juC fought tooth and nail to try and not let me get). I got a glorious hot fudge sundae here, and juC got a "medium" ice cream cone...that was about the size of his head. This place was great!

We were close to Shanksville, Pa...the location that Flight 93 went down on September 11, so we went to the memorial site. Amazing! As soon as I stepped out of the car, I couldn't help but feel a since of overwhelming love for each of the people that sacrificed their lives to save so many others. I couldn't help but think how amazing it was that the plane, headed straight for the US Capitol was brought down in the middle of a field...sparing the lives of so many. What an amazing miracle in that tragic day. Those people on that plane are truly heroes and I'm so glad we got to go to the memorial site.

For our anniversary dinner, we had troubles finding the perfect restaurant, and ended up finding the perfect place on accident. Obviously, the perfect place for a Cinco de Mayo anniversary would be at a Mexican restaurant, but we had Mexican the night before. After some frustration on my part in finding a good place, we ended up at a Chinese restaurant, and it was great. It was the "real deal" as juC called it. Again...no picture yet, as it is still on the forbidden disposable camera, but just know that it was a wonderful anniversary dinner.

And now, after all of that excitement, today is juC's birthday. I couldn't help but publicly remind him that this is the last year that he is closer to 20 than he is to 50. I love giving him a hard time about his age. (Especially after we had an intense conversation one time because he was convinced he was a year younger than he actually was.)

I'm doing my best to make sure that when he gets home it will be a wonderful birthday. I will have to post later to let you know if I succeeded.

Happy anniversary and happy birthday, my dear juC. Couldn't be happier that I get to celebrate with you! I think it would be especially awkward at this point if we celebrated either of those things with anyone else.