You know you're pregnant when...

1. You get to bed fearing the next day and what it will bring. Then you lay there entertaining yourself by placing personal bets on how many times you will puke the next day.

2. Although you are a normally happy, well-adjusted, balanced, and positive person, you walk around tangled up in a web of unstable emotional, with tears permanently glued to your eyes

3. You aren't hungry, nothing sounds remotely good to eat, yet if you follow your instincts and choose not to eat, you will spend your day in the bathroom.

4. You haven't spent this amount of time hugging the porclein goddess since your first few years in college

5. Ideas that previously seemed like good ones (for example getting pregnant) now seem like the beginning of the end.

6. You cry a few times each day, whether it be due to a certain 4 year old's unruly behavior, a stupid tv show, or because the marble run you are trying to set up keeps falling over.

7. You feel hung over 24-7, yet didn't get to enjoy the pleasure of ever feeling drunk first.

8. Your normal routine full of exercise, great playdates (sometimes complete with champagne or chilled white wine), beautiful walks and bike rides on the coastal trail turn into lazy mornings where you keep the kids entertained with books until 9 in the morning, don't get dressed or shower until it is time to tutor, and the kids go crazy inside all. day. long.

Yes, I am a mess. I admit it. I don't like it, but I do know it too shall pass. And so I will wait patiently, and jump at any chance to pawn my chilluns off on any capable adult.

The things they say

A few mornings ago the kids were painting while I was cleaning up the kitchen. Charlie put some red paint on his hand:

Charlie: Oh no look at me Kate, I am bleeding on my hand.

Kate: (looking very sad and concerned) Why you got blood on your thenar eminence

Background: My mom has been teaching the kids medical terms for their body parts. So far they know what they gum is called, their elbow and their thumb muscle. Kate is learning spanish quickly and these medical terms. She is quite the little parrot. I mean what 2.5 year refers to your thumb as your thenar eminence.

A few mornings ago we took a long, wonderful bike ride into the deep, dark forest. The entire trip lasted 1.5 hours, with Kate on her balance bike and Charlie on his big bike, while I rode my cruiser. We got to the second forest where Charlie likes to ride down pretty big hills. A few months ago they went to the same spot with Adam and I guess Charlie pushed kate down one of the hills. In his defense he wasn't trying to hurt her, just curious what would happen I guess :)

So when we got to this hill, I said, wow charlie this is a big hill, is this what you pushed Kate down....he said,

"No, it wasn't this hill, but it was a big hill. (Then he looked at her with such proud eyes and said), she didn't get hurt. She's like....she's like...she's like......Ironman. (of course Kate looked up at her brother totally in love with him and with being likened to iron man)

For a long time when Adam wanted to get the kids out of the bath he would say, "Whoever gets out first gets to sleep with mommy!" Of course Charlie would race out first, since I always put him to sleep. " Then Adam would say, "Whoever gets out second gets to sleep with daddy." And of course Kate would jump right out since Adam put her to sleep.

Last night:

Charlie: "Whoever gets out first gets to sleep with.....NO ONE" "And whoever gets out second gets to sleep with NO ONE too!"

Both kids crack up. They are both very smart and funny, and I thought this joke was great.

This morning I was making my coffee and the kids were playing by the couch. I noticed they were interacting in song. In sweet, soft, beautiful song voices. I listened closer and heard Charlie say,

"There is a tiger down the street" in a song voice, so I chimed in, "There is a tiger down the street, what if it tries to eat me?" in my beautiful singing voice. Kate looks over with perfect little face, and sings in the softest, sweetest voice, "Mommy, I would save you. I would hold you in my arms." Of course my heart melted. Then I said, "And we can put the tiger back in the zoo." And Charlie sang, "Tigers don't belong in the zoo, they belong in the jungle." Which of course made me so proud that he gets this concept already.

Kids say the sweetest, funniest things.

300 POSTS!

Just wanted to say that this is post 300.
With crazy, active kids like these, I feel it is quite impressive I can reach 300 posts in around 2 years....

Kate's new bed

After much talk and discussion we moved Kate out of the dog bed and into her very own toddler bed. She loves it and surprisingly Charlie handled waking up to Kate's great new bed like a champ! She is really into polka dots, and all things purple, so she was thrilled. So far she has fallen asleep alone happily for bedtime, but still chooses her big brothers bed for naps. She has yet to spend an entire night in there, but secretly I wait for her to wake up so I can watch her sleepy, sweet body crawl into my nook.

One of the things I love about my town

is the library.

Not only is it a great place to tutor the students I work with, but my kids absolutely love going there. We have built it into our weekly rhythm, going there every Monday before swim class.

I admit I had a few hurtles along the way. At first my kids (mainly wild Kate) ran around like crazy up and down the aisles, but they outgrew that. Then they discovered the dvd section, and for a family with very limited media at home, it is like a child's heaven to see rows and rows of videos. But it has been months and months and they have not even glanced at that section. Our latest obstacle was when Charlie found the comic book section. Who in their right mind who put such violent comic books where a 4 year old can see and reach them. If there is one thing I have learned as a mother, it is to pick my battles and loosen up on my own personal ideas of what a kid should be into. So I embrace super heroes- I tell long, detailed stories every night about superboy, spiderboy, or ironboy helping some animals in the forest, helping gnomes find food, etc.....

And with each bump in our library road our experience has become that much more incredible.

Charlie immediately sits down and studies his comic books, Kate joins him at first and then comes and finds me. I return the books from the week before and begin my search for new animal books, fables, short chapter books, and good ole picture books. And after an hour or so I call on the kids, and together we use the computer to check them all out. The best part is we have a whole new crop of books to read during the week, and the kids get great practice at being quiet. Sure we had just taken a 1.5 hour long bike ride on the coastal trail, but look at how sweet, focused, and QUIET they are being:

Outside Air

About a week ago I had a long day. ok, so in the summer when I don't tutor and there is no preschool, every day is long. 12 hours straight. This one day we had already done a lot. And it was only 3. Kate took a short nap, during which I played nonstop with Charlie, and despite the fact that most of the day had gone smoothly, I felt ready for the kids to be in bed for the night. And yet I had hours until backup arrived...

I had to run errands. I had to go to New Leaf. And No Charlie today we are not getting a treat.

Ok, Kate you can walk along with us in the store, but no running away. I said no running away. And do really have to stick your grubby hands in the bulk candy section in front of a tutoring student's mother? Sweet. Not only did you run away Kate, you stole candy. Can you at least do it discreetly, so I don't get the "look" from others around me.

Once our quick shopping trip was completed I realized I also really needed to go to the post office. There was a very short wait, during which my kids raced around like crazy, and at one point Kate decided it would be fun to pull down her pants and underwear in front of everyone.

I didn't get mad or annoyed. My main thought was: Wow, the kids really need to be in a big open space.....good thing we live where we do....

I happened to have the balance bike and scooter in the back of the car, and knew just where to unleash the hounds...

My slightly crazy kids became good listeners eager to have a fun time...

In case you didn't know charlie is one seriously cool dude, he was charging down this hill....

After a while they made a deal to switch their modes of transportation, and would frequently stop to discuss this jump or that trail or that bird...it was quite cute.

In the past two months Kate has learned how to ride the scooter quite well, and her balance bike too.

We made it to the "deep dark forest" as the kids call it. We searched for gnomie homies, rode bikes off "crazy" jumps, and surprise surprise played "kitchen" Here Kate made me eggs and toast behind a log bar.

Charlie played in piles and piles of dusty dirt in his nice white shirt, and I really didn't care because the day was coming to a close and my nice full glass of hard earned wine was calling my name.

And like all good nature adventures I end up carrying every thing as we trudged back to the car...

So the message here is to get outside often and as charlie says, "Get some air on me!" we had a great time, and by the time we made our way home, Adam was back from work and ready for his kids..

My village

Somehow I have this enormous village around me. And throughout the year they choose to spend time with me and my kids. I can't even count the times Glenn and Megan have called me on their day off to see if we (the kids and me) wanted to go somewhere with them. What mother of two young kids (especially kids 1.5 years apart) would not want two adult chaperones to help ensure a good and safe time.

Last week Glenn and Megan encouraged me to go to the zoo. It was a cold Friday, school is back in session, and we literally felt like we had the place to ourselves. As much as many of the exhibits make me sad, with my heart of hearts feeling for that animal that will never live in the wild, it is a very fun day for the kids. Even if Kate was more excited pigeons and squirrels than the actual animals there. This trips we observed a baby gorilla twirling and climbing and playing. We saw baby flamingos all puffy and grey and cute. As I was commenting about how cute the babies were, Charlie says, "Mommy, I really want you to care about the pink mommy flamingos too." And it was fun having some adults to talk to and share this experience with.

Woah, mommy, I am big. Look at this, I can balance on a bronze baby elephant

Charlie is the most perfect kid to take pretty much anywhere. He was curious, focused- spending as much time as Kate would allow looking at one animal, he follows directions, takes "no" to toys and treats so well, and all around is a complete pleasure to be with. Kate...well she is cute, and sweet, and silly. But she is a bit of a pain, she is spacey, and easily distracted....and is constantly going in the wrong direction....

She would rather spend her day on fake animals, chasing peacocks, and laying in the middle of a path.

But I had Glenn and Megan to help, and they did a great job of moving her along...

and even though it was slow-going they helped her move in the right direction.

I have said it before and I will say it again. I love my village.