the obligatory last post of 2010.

words fail me.

it's amazing what a difference a year can make in the life of a mama.  i thought i understood it with the first two.  i finally am starting to understand it with the last.

last year at this time.  (my belly.) 

this year at this time.  (i still have a belly.  but i also have my baby boy.)

wow.  we're teetering on the edge of one. 

as i drove home this afternoon from another baby belly that i have blessed to be able to photograph ... i realize that this year has given me more than i have ever asked for or thought i deserved.

thank you for being here with me and reading these little tidbits of my life and encouraging me in more ways than you will ever know. 

have a blessed new year. 

once upon a time i told my husband that it wasn't a problem if he picked up those extra few days of work.

and now?

totally regretting giving the go-ahead for that one.

because looky here.

if the sheer amount of medicinal cups and syringes isn't enough to give you clear indication of the last few days ... then here's some more proof.

yes dear ... those are popsicles on the couch.  i only wish i could have peeled the children off of the couch in order to have fed them popsicles at the table where they belonged.

this picture was taken before the advil wore off.

poor girl ... this is what she looked like 30 minutes later.

if she hadn't been quite so cranky and ornery and whiny ... i might just agree that there is a certain amount of angelic cuteness there too.

this is what prompted the camera-coming-out-while-children-are-sick moments.
because dude.  those eyes.  and that shirt.  and the color of the popsicle ...
you would have thought i planned it.

but i couldn't have because ... i should note ... every single one of us is sick. 

(and totally NOT able to plan the coordination of said clothing and popsicles.)
like fevery.  shakey.  achey.  sneezy.  crabby.  sleepy.  whiny.  and drugged.


it's like the winter version of the seven dwarves.

there is one certain someone that seems to be enjoying it though ...

for my next life ... i totally choose cat.

i might live in the land of the mall of america. but i don't enjoy it.

have i ever told you about that time that i HATE SHOPPING?

and then my mom put my 3 year old in the stroller ...
and took the 6 year old by the hand ...
and handed me the 80 thousand pound baby.

because i needed to go and look in a scrapbooking store for some ridiculously overpriced tag things to make up some stupid crazy i'm totally kind of regretting it story about an elf that lives in our house.

and she said. 
in her sweet mom voice.
we'll be right here.

and then i come out of the store about 2.2 seconds later because i couldn't even find the tag thing that i had in mind and she ... and my can-actually-both-walk children are with her.

and i'm left holding the 90 thousand pound baby.  and i don't have my sling.  because it's on the stroller that she's going to be right here with ...

and then the baby gets hungry and i have no b00b pads or blankets or anything to cover myself up with and i'm in the middle of the mall DURING CHRISTMAS SHOPPING SEASON ON A SATURDAY and none of the stupid men will give me their comfy seats that they are lazily sitting on while reading their dumb books that aren't even written on paper anymore ...

and so i have to sit on a creaky chair at a wobbly table IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MALL SO THAT MY MOM CAN FIND ME ... feeding a baby that looks big enough to be three.  while gazillions of people walk past giving me that look.  and the baby is whacking his foot over and over and over and over and over against the wobbly table.  so that it creaks and squeaks.  over and over and over and over and over and over.

and then three teenage boys sit down at a table just a bit away and start talking about sex and girls and periods and circumcisions and their moms finding out that they are having sex with girls with periods.  and i'm totally grossed out and i just want to kind of maybe walk over to their table and let them know in all of my infinite wisdom that usually the boys that talk the most about sex are the ones getting the least of it.  but i don't.

i just stare into my baby's eyes and whisper things like ...
you won't ever do that to me, will you?
and
please never have sex until you are 33.
and
i hope you learn that girls are to always and forever be respected.
and
please don't get distracted and look away from me because i really don't want to have a pdb (public display of b00b).
and
where the hell is your grandma?

and then i walk around trying to find her.

and then the baby gets hungry.  again.  and the only open seat is the one i left and the boys are still there.
still talking about stupid things i don't want to hear.

and then i finally give up.  and i walk around with the 100thousand pound baby that is screaming to be put down.

and find my mom.  and my girls.  FORTYFIVE MINUTES LATER.

and she says, i've been calling you.
and i ask, on the phone that is in the stroller?
and i look and the phone has vibrated a minimum of 8 times. 
and she didn't notice it?

oh to the no.  with an extra helping of ho ho ho.

so i leave the mall.  with a super sour taste for christmas shopping in my mouth.

looks like you'll be getting a handmade (with love!) christmas present this year, mom.  i've always wanted to learn how to make a life sized santa out of recycled wine bottles and glitter.

teething. and all that other mommyblogger kinda stuff.

oh holy night.
so ... i'm kinda wondering ... is this whole teething cannot stop wailing and wanting to be held ... a boy-thing?

my girls had several teeth pop up in their mouths without. me. noticing.

but this boy?
apparently i will be blessed with the knowledge of every tooth until it finally makes it's grand appearance.

is this similar to the old men are from mars / women are from venus comparison ...
wherein ...
mommy has a cold.  but can still manage to do the dishes.  wake at 4:30 am.  watch the children.  birth a baby.  write birth announcements.  bake cookies for a bakesale to raise monies for world peace.  craft christmas ornaments out of acorns and pinecones that she hand picked in vermont.  and save baby kittens.  ON THE SAME DAY.

whereas ...
daddy has a cold.  and must stay in bed.  moaning for someone to rub his feet.  ON THE SAME DAY.

why hello there mr. snaggletooth.  you sure are superty cute.

or is that just me?

i was lamenting about this to another mother ... a so-called copycat that has managed to have all the same sexes of children approximately 1-3 months AFTER my childrens were born.  all of which have the most superb of names.  seriously.  i wish i could share them with you.  (her children.  not mine.  though i'm kinda partial to my children's names too.)

off topic, much?

anyhoo.  yes.  and she mentioned her middle child (girl ... obviously ... if you've kept up at all.)  got some crazy number like 7.  read that ... SEVEN ... teeth in one weekend.  and she didn't. even. notice.  because she is a girl.  and we can endure crazy amounts of pain.  and then decide a few years later ... to do it again.  because it was fun. 

fun.

if that's what you call childbirth and then staying awake for the next approximately 18 years.

so.  yeah.  where was i going with this?

who knows at this point.  we best just look at another picture of the cute bubbers, shall we?

i promise to stay awake for the next forever if he promises to always look at me with that much happy on his face. 

oh and for the record.  the biting fiasco of 2010 is already over.  a mere 2 days after it began.  i'm like a no biting the b00b expert.  and for just $9.99 ... i'll send you my secret to success.  then you can be an expert too!

the night on which i realize that i don't HATE winter.

i hate winter.
seriously.  i lie to myself all summer long and tell myself i love the idea of 4 very absolutely positively distinct seasons.  lie lie lie LIE.

and then at the very first moment of a snowfall ... i remember that there is oh-so-much to very much dislike about living where i do.

it's cold.

there's SNOW.

not just a bit of snow.

lots of snow.

and the driving on ice sucks.

superty bigtime.

and then?

sometimes.  everyone in my family falls asleep ... including the husband.

and i walk outside ... because now the job of taking the dog out has fallen onto my shoulders too.

and i see this.

and this ...

and catch a glimpse of this.

 and i start to do crazy things like this.

while holding a camera outside as the snowflakes land upon my lashes at rather late an hour ...

and i realize that maybe HATE is too strong a word.

because there really is something ok about late at night when the world doesn't seem quite so dark with a blanket of white snow.

(dear anymommy.  i promise.  i'll still move to somewhere warm with you.  because tomorrow might be a whole 'nother story.  love me.)