The Dryer.

Things I remember from today...

--Lollipop (our newest, most favorite nickname for Lollie/Lillie) has been getting a bit better. Less screaming, more smiling and talking. I love it!

--It snowed last night and today was clean and crunchy and cold!

--I was so happy to see Jake at 6pm. I get so so happy when I know he's coming home to me.

--I had a long conversation with a friend. She's amazing. You know those friends, that when you talk, time stands still? You cross continents and knock down walls, all in a conversation between two moms.

--Grace moved up a level in gymnastics and did excellent today in her new class!

--Ruby's tiny fingers played with my hair and I wanted it to last forever.

--More of Tada's top teeth are almost all through the gums (mama's starting to wean). She's switching to one nap, too, which makes our evenings a little "awkward" and "fussy" and "so totally chaotic".

--Another day's gone by, just like that, and tomorrow always comes much too early...

{I also blogged at mymatilda.}

Just Stuff

-- Ruby loves that Tada Mae so much.

-- So now that Lillie is potty trained, next on the agenda is taking away the binky. Probably will never happen. She sucks on that piece of plastic like a bag of m&m's at midnight.

-- The girls just started gymnastics at a serious gym. I sit in the waiting area and watch (with Lillie and the babe). I simply cannot hang with these moms. They are dressed to the NINES. I am not. I feel like little Tim from Christmas Carol.

-- I took the girls swimming at the rec center last night. There is a soap opera going on over at that place with all those teenage lifeguards. There's always some drama going down. A little flirt or a sideways glance. I overhear some pretty interesting stuff. They don't care about chubby, pasty white moms. They know we're completely harmless. If I hear them talk about how cute so-and-so is or what chick didn't show up for work, who the heck am I going to tell?

The little one in swim diapers, that's who.

-- I've lived here for 9 months now and apparently there's been a WinCo Foods store near me all that time. Oh, the pain I feel having found out that truth, and all the money I could have been saving! Hannah and I went there together. With our five kids. It was as ridiculous as it sounds. Speaking of Hannah, she just finished a cycling relay race from Salt Lake to St. George. She is incredible and tough and does it all while halfway through nursing school.

-- My sister Miriam is 39 weeks pregnant today. I felt her tummy, closed my eyes and pictured my niece all curled up inside there, her tiny warm body taking it day by day, making her new parents wait. She'll be such a beauty. I dreamed about her a few weeks ago. She looks like her mama.

IQ:

Driving down Cottonwood Canyon at sunset.

My mind has gone off a cliff. Feels like driving in the rain. I was on my knees cleaning the girl's room (because it's easier than trying to reach down from a standing position). After I separated their clean clothes from their dirty, I spotted a small pile of toys in the corner. I didn't know what to do with them. I couldn't remember. Is there a place in our house for toys? I couldn't remember. So I had to leave and come back. Wipe my brain clean, like a chalkboard.

It was that bad.

It's literally all I can do just to concentrate on moving about. Take care of the basic needs of me and my family. But intelligent conversation? There is no way. The thoughts are there. I can feel the strength of them. They're pushing against that wall of fog in my head, and they can't make their way out. I feel around for them, kick up some dust, maybe one or two really important things surface, and the rest recede as quickly as they came forward.

This might be hard for someone to follow, sure, but imagine how hard it must be for me to explain intelligently that I'm getting dumber! Really think about that. An eloquent way to state, "I don't think straight". I'm not even sure who's fault it is. The pregnancy? My three kids? No one's?

What's my name again?

So many questions...

A Letter.

My Dear Minivan,

We both know your bumper fell off the other day. I parked too close to a trailer hitch and your bumper caught. Then when I backed out, there was an unexpected bumper exorcism. Whoops. Then it happened again when I was out of town, without provocation, and Jake had to use some twisty ties to... "fix you".

Last night, on a back road in Lakeland, we had some problems. Your bumper started dragging on the ground. I mean, who's bumper just DRAGS on the ground? That has got to be the definition of ridiculous. Ridiculous car problems. And I haven't yet mentioned all the things I have fixed on you in the last year. Expensive things. But the bumper falling off three times? That's just insulting.

Although I do affectionately call you "Mini" or "Vanni", I hold you completely responsible for the recent events.

I don't clean you regularly, you smell funny, you've got cutesy stickers on your windows, I've even threatened you with a watery grave (which would be very easy in swamp land). So you have been through your share of "heartache". But let me tell you, you know nothing about heartache. Heartache is your car falling apart at 10:30 at night when you're all alone on a dark street.

It's not that no one has loved you. We've driven you to St. Augustine, to the beach a thousand times and across the United States (well, okay, you were driven by my lovesick brother and he wasn't very fun). Still. Still you so frequently flaunt your inability to stay in one piece.

All I'm sayin' is that we care and we show it.

And I think you need to start showing it, too.

To The White Noise Machine Gods:

I'm changing my religion.

Strawwwwwberries

Every night.. kids are in bed, it's about 9pm, I've been hungry since 5 minutes after dinner, I decide to have my nightly snack. Sliced strawberries, mixed with a bit of sugar. Sometimes add some sliced nectarines or some sliced cantelope...
And I chow. It is officially my favorite part of the day. And look! I get crafty sometimes! Here are the four blankets I made for the new baby. That's three more than I made for Grace and four more than I made for Ruby... Since this one's getting all hand-me-down clothes, I thought I could wrap her in something pretty.
I've been busy getting my Florida Real Estate License. It's taking forever. The Florida RE commission is a bit picky and they send me lots of letters about fingerprints, fees, etc. All the classes are online, though, which is a stark difference from Utah! I'm thankful for that.

Update on my neighbor: She had her baby, a new little girl. She now has six kids and her husband is STILL in jail about the probation thing... She leaves her newborn home by herself a lot to take the kids to and from school. But who am I to judge??

Explanation: Grace's belly button became infected when she put the Shredded Wheat crumbs in it and rubbed them around a bit, creating numberous abrasions (since the crumbs are kind of sharp), which turned into these little sores. But I own a tube of Neosporin, and we are fixed. So it wasn't like the crumbs were in there for weeks growing mold... I bathe her at least every three days, ok people??

Weekly News:

-Grace stuck Shredded Wheat crumbs in her belly button and it got infected.
-We decided the dog that resembles Jake the most in shape and personality is the English Bulldog (he used to love Labs before we got married, but he's gained some weight).
-Some of us still walk around carrying a large volume of flem in our nasal area. Mostly me.
-Thanks to all your lovely comments on my preg picture, I can read back on them when I'm feeling like crap.
-Ruby will not go in the pool if there is an ant in the water. And there are lots of flying ants in Florida.
-I'm officially in my third trimester.... which is not an equal division of three, the third IS the longest.
-The biggest laugh of the week: Jake and I watching a girl on The Bachelor having uncontrollable hiccups.
-The second biggest "laugh" of the week: Ruby's uncontrollable diarrhea.

*Extra bonus weekend tip: Don't leave powdered lemonade mix on the kitchen counter and then go take a shower. Especially if my kids are around. They might just take it in the living room and mix the entire container with water to make a giant tub of lemonade. Apparently, that's every pre-schooler's dream.