I Am Tiger Woods

He might not be quite ready for the Tour just yet, but with his new clubs & bag he certainly looks ready to play. I showed him the basics and tried to give him a very basic explanation of the game, but he wanted to play a version where we chased each other to see who could get to the ball and whack it first. So, lots of practice ahead, but maybe someday we'll watch him shrug on the green jacket at Augusta. And personally, I think in addition to his traditional red shirt on Sunday, Tiger should consider adding a policeman's badge sticker to his wardrobe. It adds gravitas, don't you think?

Me Connor. Me Eat Dirt.

Brown Eyed Girl

Looks like Riley inherited her Daddy's big brown eyes. After the surprise of both boys having blue eyes, I think we were expecting this little one to have them as well, but genetics is a funny thing. We've been hearing mixed opinions about who she looks like - some say Rob, some say me. Right now I just think she looks awfully darn cute.

Fierce!

As a Project Runway fan, I couldn't help cracking up at this SNL skit. Amy Poehler kills me!

Resistance is Futile

Must resist urge to purchase completely ridiculous foot ware for baby daughter, no matter how cute.

Gone, Daddy Gone

Daddy's on-call. Pizza & ice cream were served for dinner. Baths will not be administered, teeth will not be brushed. Mommy will keep a grip on her sanity.

That "New Washer Smell"

So, we continue to sink deeper into this suburban life, as evidenced by how we chose to spend some of our tax refund this year. When we bought our first house in 1998, we inherited the washer and dryer that existed in the house, and at the time we were delighted to have them. It didn't matter that the set was roughly about the same age as we were, only that they worked (and belonged only to us!). The dryer kicked the bucket within the first year, but the washer survived another nine years and two moves. Actually, it was still working as of this weekend, but it sounded like it was going to lift off out of the laundry room every time we ran it, and it didn't always do the best job cleaning our clothes. Sometimes after a load of towels I would find it had walked a good two feet away from the wall, and I was becoming concerned it would eventually just walk out the door and down the street. So we went to Lowes last week and purchased the top of the line Whirlpool front-loader washer. This thing is supposed to be able to handle 16 pairs of jeans in one load (although I would like to meet the family who is washing 16 pairs of jeans at once and offer them my sincerest sympathy) and has a special steam setting that will remove stains without any pre-treatment. We had a little mishap on the first load - we never really had to separate colors in the old washer because I suppose it wasn't strong enough to really cause any of the colors to run. Rob tossed a pair of Riley's purple pants in with all of her other clothes, and it turned the entire load a bluish-grey and mysteriously turned all her spit-up stains bright blue. After that everything turned out great - all stains were removed and our whites were whiter than before. One of the best features is that it is so quiet while it is running Ani can go in the laundry room and eat & drink - the old machine made so much noise I think she was afraid it was going to eat her.

My, my, how things change. There was a time when we spent our tax refund on season tickets for football and massive quantities of beer. Sadly, I'm not bothered by this. You can laugh at me all you want at my excitement over a new clothes washer, but you'll be doing it in dirtier clothes than mine.

Funny Kid

If "the first cut is the deepest", then perhaps it should be said that "the second cut is the crappiest". Poor Connor. We took the boys on Saturday to get haircuts, and with an hour & a half combined sleep the night prior between the two of us, we were not on our "A" game. Which I guess explains why we both sat there slack-jawed as the hair dresser continued to chop away at his little head like she was auditioning for some local production of "Sweeney Todd". Connor has a beautiful, enviably thick head of hair, and you have to be careful to not take too much off the top or as a result he will end up looking like an extra from a Flock of Seagulls video. I assure you that this photo is no exaggeration, this is not bed-head. It sticks up all over the top of his head like this all the time, and because the rest of his hair is laying flat almost looks as if he is wearing a bad toupee. Fortunately, his hair grows fast and so this 'do will not last long, and in the meantime we kinda' feel like it fits him, much like the chipped front tooth he acquired falling in the bathtub the night before I had Riley. He does drive us all nuts with his antics, but he also has me doubled over in laughter on a daily basis. He's just a funny kid. And now he's a funny kid with a (temporarily) funny haircut.

Things have been a little busy around here. Actually, to say that things have been "a little busy" is sort of like saying Elliot Spitzer is in "a little trouble". A typical morning looks like this:

Wake Up

Change a baby

Feed a baby

Put one baby down, pick another up

Change a baby

Feed a baby

Hand out cups of milk

Kiss a boo-boo

Help #1 get dressed

Change a baby

Find a binky

Get van warmed up

Put all three in the van

Drop off #1 at preschool

Feed a baby

Change a baby

Feed myself

Search for binky

Lay one baby down for a nap, pick the other one up

Feed a baby

Change a baby

Give a baby a bath

Bathe myself (on a good day)

Wake a baby up

Put babies in the van

Pick up #1 from school

Last week was my first week by myself with all 3 kids and no additional help, and although I felt completely overwhelmed a good portion of the time, we survived. Everyday we get a little bit more settled into a routine, and I can see the light of spring and better weather ahead soon.

One slightly less chaotic time during our day is bathtime. On a good night the boys will agree to a bubble bath together, and will play without bloodshed in our big tub. Riley seems to enjoy her bath time as well, as she spends most of her bath calmly staring at herself in the mirror. I love the time between their baths and bedtime. Everyone smells good and clean, and there is some sense of accomplishment that we made it through another day together. I'm trying very hard to cherish these days when they are all so small instead of focusing on how tired I am or how crazy they are making me at any given moment. So things may be a little busy right now, but they are only little for a short time, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Ikea Coming!

Cecily over at Dandelion Jelly made me aware that Ikea is coming to the Cincinnatti area in March, making it the closest Ikea to me by a long shot (only 98 miles away!). I love Ikea, but have never been in a store and have previously been reduced to ordering from the catalog. This limits the selection pretty severely. I've been thinking alot lately about decorating the nursery for Riley, and I love some of the new fabrics and designs I see on Ikea's website, but frustratingly enough you can't order any of the things I like online - they're only available in the store. Christa, looks like we may have to plan to meet there sometime in the near future (opens Mar 12).

On a Sling and a Prayer

A few weeks before Riley was born I made a fabric sling to carry the new baby around in. I experimented with the sling when Connor was a newborn, but the one I made then was poorly constructed and too small, so he only fit in it for a little window of time. However, I liked the hands-free carrying option, and my babies are always too small to fit in the Baby Bjorn right away.
You can tell from the fabric I chose (an Amy Butler pattern - in flannel!) that I was hoping "girl" when thinking about the new baby. Baby Shiny snuggled right in her pouch and napped while I was able to play with the boys and get a thawed casserole in the oven for dinner. I highly recommend the sling for anyone with a new baby who has to simultaneously chase other small children. There are all kinds of articles out on the web about the benefits of "baby wearing", but all I care about is having a fighting chance at keeping everyone reasonably happy around here, and the sling (and some prayers!) definately help that cause.

Shiny = Happy People

Happy happy

Put it in your heart

Where tomorrow shines

Gold and silver shine

Shiny happy people holding hands

Shiny happy people laughing

-Shiny Happy People

R.E.M.

Riley Louise was born last week, and her arrival has certainly turned us all into shiny, happy people. Especially Casey, who continues to insist that her real name is Baby Shiny and her nickname is Riley. Aside from being irritated that we all keep getting her name wrong, Big Brother #1 is smitten with his baby sister, and loves to give her kisses and pat her belly when she cries. Big Brother #2, however, has taken every opportunity he's had to get close to her to try and whack her on the head. He doesn't know what she is, or why she's here, and he wants to know when she's leaving. I'm hoping with time he warms up to her. I hate the thought of them passing each other in the halls in high school and him giving her a good whack on the head.

We had a long and rather unpleasant delivery (as if any delivery can be described as "pleasant") but we were so relieved when she arrived healthy, and certainly surprised she was a girl. Already I have noticed that there is just something different about a baby girl as opposed to the two boys. There is already something softer and sweeter about her that I can't really describe, and like Casey her father & I are smitten with her as well. She's been battling some jaundice and currently resembles a large squash, but she is sweet all the same.

A new baby in the house, and a little girl to boot. We're all just so happy, happy.

Birth Day

So, tommorow is "B Day", the day we're going to the hospital to have Baby Shiny. I still haven't completely wrapped my brain around the idea that by this time tommorow we may know whether Shiny is a boy or girl, and as a result I don't feel particularly anxious or excited. Maybe I'm too focused on the fact that Connor has chosen this week to decide to stage an all out strike against his crib and climb out 50 times a night before finally conking out. He really has impeccable timing, truly.
Anyway, I made these shirts for all the kids - the fronts of the boys' shirts say "Big Brother" with their respective numbers, and the backs obviously have their nicknames - Slugger for Casey & Humpty for Connor.
My bag is all packed and ready for our 6:30am trip to the hospital, and I'm hoping for a good night's sleep for us all.

The First Cut is the Deepest

We finally gave in yesterday and took Connor for his first big boy haircut. I loved the "surfer dude" look he had been sporting, but it was getting in his eyes and on Thursday the nurses at my doctor's office mistook him for a little girl, so I relented. He was a little wiggly (as was to be expected) but overall he did great. He looks like such a big boy - I even got a little teary during the cut because it was as though he was transforming instantly from a baby to a little boy right in front of me. He seems to really like the "new 'do", and to be honest so do I. Just another item to add to the list of all the changes happening around here...

Waiting is the Hardest Part

There comes a point in every pregnancy when waiting on your new arrival becomes slow torture. I don't mean that in a, "Good Lord, will this thing ever be over??!!" way, although with all the ailments associated with the third trimester (plus all the complications I like to toss in there for good measure) there is a smidgen of those feelings. I find the torture is more about not being able to wait anymore to meet the little person who has been taking up residence in my body for so long. Is it a boy or girl? Will the baby look like me or Rob? Will it look like it's brothers? Will the baby be a good sleeper or a cranky mess (more importantly - will I be a cranky mess once it arrives??!!)? At 34 weeks, I have definitely reached this point. One of my girlfriends once commented that pregnancy lasts about a month too long, and since my kids typically come a month early I guess I should be in good shape, but this waiting is killing me all the same. Just three weeks to go...
I set up a little session this morning with Casey and these were the best of the bunch. I would love some with Connor as well, but at 16 months trying to handle him and an expensive camera on a tripod and get some decent photos is really asking too much. But since Casey showed up around 34 weeks, I guess it is fitting that we took these, just the two of us together. I know he's tired of the waiting game as well, this morning he asked, "But when is Baby Shiny going to be here? Will it be soon??". Soon enough, bud, soon enough.

28-24

I. Don't. Want. To. Talk. About. It.

Cabin Fever

I believe the combined effect of it being ridiculously cold here in Indy (causing me to use my Dad's phrases such as, "Colder than a well-digger's butt," which I have to admit I don't really understand, having never been a well-digger nor felt one's behind, but it seems to really capture the feeling of temperatures in the single digits) and me being on light bed rest has created true winter cabin fever in the boys. Casey has been out of school for holiday break, and we've mostly been cooped up here. In an effort to combat "the fever", Rob brought our old tent up from the basement and set it up in the family room so the boys could "camp" this weekend. By far the best part was the effect the static electricity in the tent had on Connor's hair, and it was alot of fun until it became a bit of a safety hazard when the boy's excitement levels escalated (which seems to be the direction most activities take in our house when both kids are involved. It's no wonder that Casey recently surprised us by randomly dropping the phrase "safety violation" in conversation.). Anyway, it was enough of a distraction to get us through the weekend and the UofL vs. UK game (Go Cards!), and with Casey back to school this week and temperatures warming a bit, I'm hopeful that we can keep cabin fever at bay for a bit.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

I hope that everyone had as merry a Christmas as we did here in the Alderman house. Casey said he received, "Everything I ever wanted!", so we deemed the day a success.

First Snow

I woke up on Wednesday morning at 7am to Casey prying open one of my eyes and asking, "Mommy, can you bundle me up so I can go play in the snow?". We received 4 inches on Wednesday and a few more Friday morning, and Casey played outside until I forced him to come in the house and warm up. Fortunately, he was content to run around the backyard by himself without a playmate, as I am not nearly as fond of the snow and Connor is just a smidge to little to get out there in it with him. My little Christmas elf was quite happy to stay inside and play.

Christmas Photos

I have often lamented that it is much easier to take pictures of other people's children than my own, and that is certainly never more true than at this time of year. Even with a little help from Rob to try and wrangle the boys into sitting still and looking at the camera (both at the same time, no less!) it is nearly impossible. I've had a couple of sessions with them recently in an effort to capture the perfect image, and I think I've come as close as I'm going to get. I've given up hope of the "perfect image" and settled on one that is "pretty good". I committed to a design and image today and sent it to my printer, so there's no going back now. I thought I would share a few outtakes just so you can appreciate the one I chose when it arrives in the mail.

So cute - if only his brother wasn't hiding behind the tree.

Again, adorable - if only his brother wasn't around the corner climbing the stairs.