Alone Time

I think one of the things about having our third child that I find the hardest is the lack of time with my spouse. We had a nice morning today with some alone time with each other and Baby J, who was in a wonderfully, happy mood then he feel asleep and we had some time to just chat and hang out for a bit. It was very nice!!

And on another note - Baby J was so fussy tonight. He was super fun earlier in the evening, smiling and cooing and even starting to laugh but oh my gosh - so fussy for about an hour. Yikes - go back to sleep Baby J : -)

MOPS Christmas

Today was our MOPS Christmas gathering. I always get so nervous before going to MOPS. I haven't "clicked" with anyone at our table or anyone else for that matter and just feel out of place. It's such a character defect of mine - the out of place thing. It was fun though and very enjoyable. It always is, when I get over that feeling. I even met another lady who has 3 kids the same age as my 3 and that was fun. She's overwhelmed too : -) The kids really enjoy themselves. They have a special program just for them, MOPPETS, and have fun playing with others their own age.

Daddy Piper had a rain day so he was home when we got home. It is nice to have him home - wish we were rich so it could be a regular occurrence without worrying about the financial aspect of it. I got to nap today from 1:30 until 3:15. When I woke up at 3:15 by myself, not awoken by anyone, I woke up thinking how delicious the nap felt :-)

Tonight while dinner was cooking, the kids & I delivered plates of goodies to our neighbors. We have really gotten more friendly with them which is nice. The holidays are wonderful time to connect and remind others that we appreciate them.

Off to wash off the kids and switch over laundry (I HATE laundry!!)

Ornament Disastor Corrected

We went to the mall today and got the ornament fixed for L. She was very pleased to be back in her deserved spot as the big bear on this year's special ornament! The kids got to ride the carousel and then it was off to buy groceries. It took us forever to get groceries for some reason, like an hour and half - way too long. This afternoon, L and I made 5 dozen cookies, Cap'n Crunch candy and some other little candies for our neighbors (and extras for us to enjoy!). It was quite the baking extravaganza. And in the middle of baking, I made a yummy dinner. My friend told me about this place called Relish that has dinner menus and recipes lined up each week for you. I subscribed and was happy with dinner #1. Everyone else enjoyed it too! They usually have a crock-pot meal or 2 and I'll be happy to try those out when I get my new one next week for Christmas : -)

L was a misbehavin' girl for most of the day. Minor things, well except for the lying incident, but still out of character for her. It made for some hard times today. I sure don't enjoy the discipline part of parenting but realize that it is necessary.

Santa '08

Yesterday we went to see Santa. It was soooo busy, even though we got there 20 minutes before he opened up. It was still 10:30 before we got to see him. S was "nervous" to sit on his lap but did it anyway, for me. L and J did just fine. J even smiled, although the photographer wasn't the greatest in capturing the moment (and for the price of a Santa pic that pic shoulda been perfect - HOLY COW!). After the Santa pic, we found a kiosk that was selling personalized ornaments, like the kind we get every year. I let the kids pick out the one they liked - it's got a mama & daddy black bear pulling 3 little bears on a sled. We got everyone's name on it and headed for the carousel. First a quick stop for some chocolate chip cookies, which they ate while I nursed Baby J and we watched the carousel for a bit. When everyone had their snack done and washed up, it was time to ride. S picked a tiger and L picked the spinning thing. I tried to sit by her with Baby J in the carrier but it wasn't working because she couldn't spin with a baby nearby so I sat on the floor and watched her spin. After such a fun ride, they wanted to go again so S could try the spinning thing. They were giggling and having such a blast on the thing (it was kinda like the teacups at Disneyland). They were both having full belly laughs - one of the best sounds in the whole world, to me anyway. After the 2nd trip on the carousel, it was time to shop for S some shoes. We happened to pass the pretzel stand on the way to the shoe store and just had to stop. We shared a pretzel - YUMMO! Onto the shoe store, where we got his feet measured. He was wearing a shoe that was a whole size too small, poor guy!! He got 2 new pair of shoes, one being a pair of Lightning McQueen from Cars, his favorite and they even light up. He was so excited about those shoes. I tried hard not to buy them but couldn't when he was so thrilled. I really hate character shoes but what's a mom to do?!? After leaving there, it was time to get our ornament and go. We picked it up and headed out of the mall. Let me back up here and say I did check the ornament for spelling, all of which was correct. When we got out of the mall, it was soooooo chilly outside, unusual for us. We had to stop and put our coats back on - wowza! Then it was home for lunch and naps. We got home and proceeded to hang our ornament when L noticed that they put her name on the small bear and J on the big bear. This infuriated her. She demanded we return to fix it right then. Uh no - we live 30 minutes from that mall! She is still talking about it. She is really upset about it. She is the biggest, not J. I keep hearing this over and over. I might try to go tomorrow and get it fixed or I might not because now it's a memory I want to keep : - )

Today was L's Christmas party thing at dance class. We had to bring treats and mom's got to sit in the class and watch for the first time. It was such fun to watch L in class. It is always interesting to see her interact with other kids and to take direction from another adult. She is getting better and better. S had fun watching her but got kinda bored. But he was very respectful and sat quietly for the whole time. Baby J slept for most of it except when he pooped, loudly I might add! I am listening to the kids play in their room. We hung a strand of Christmas lights in their room and they are being rowdy enjoying the ambiance. This afternoon was nice. L got up from her nap and we got a little one on one time. After getting bundled up including beanies, we went out and collected firewood together. It was enjoyable just walking and talking with her. She is getting to be so big and just not a baby/toddler anymore - a real kid. It's such fun being her mommy, most days :-) Baby J slept the day away again. He was awake alot yesterday and sleepy most of today. I do think he is waking up more and more though. And he starting playing with his Baby Einstein thing that all the kids have played with so that makes me feel better. He is smiley and very happy. I have been very blessed with my babies. Actually, I have been very blessed in all aspects of my life. I complain and grumble but truth is, I have little to complain about and that is so wonderful!

Rainy Day

We got some rain here today and the kids enjoyed playing in it! They rode bikes and dug in the soft mud.

I love seeing this picture of Daddy Piper trying to get L - their smiles are priceless!!

Sweet Treats

1 bag Snyder's square pretzels (or any pretzel that is square or round with small holes)
1 bag chocolate kisses (any flavor you desire - we like the milk chocolate ones)
1 bag Reeses' pieces.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place your pretzel pieces on a cookie sheet. Unwrap your chocolate kisses and put one in the center of each pretzel. Place cookie sheet in hot oven just long enough to soften the chocolate, but not melt it. This is why you don't want pretzels that have holes that are too big, the chocolate will fall through. Remove tray from oven and place one Reeses' piece in the center of each chocolate kiss. Allow to cool, then enjoy!

These can be made in advance, cooled and then frozen if desired.

Got this from here

LAYER 1: (I'm going to be very vague about these, for privacy reasons):
Tell us your...
* Name: Piper Mom
* Birthday (month, day): I'd rather not say
* Birthplace: Texas
* Current location: Southwest US
* Eye color: Golden Brown
* Hair color: Blonde
* Height: 4'9"
* Righty or lefty: Righty
* Zodiac sign: Gemini

LAYER 2:
What's...
* Your heritage: HMMM - Heinz 57
* The shoes you wore today: Black clogs
* Your weakness:
* Your fears:
* Your perfect pizza: Pepperoni
* Goals you’d like to achieve: To raise happy, well-adjusted kids and to continue to be a SAHM
* Your first waking thoughts: Do we have early morning plans or can I sleep in today?
* Your best physical feature: My smile
* Your most missed memory: I miss living in MN. I think it's because it was so carefree and not loaded with responsibility like life is today. Besides - I totally miss the wonderful friends I made there!!!!

LAYER 3:
Do you...
* Smoke: No
* Cuss: I try really hard not to, but sometimes I slip, especially if I'm really stressed out.
* Sing: Yes - not very well though!
* Do you think you’ve been in love: Yes, definitely. I'm in love with my husband right now.
* Did you go to college: Yes.
* Liked high school: No
* Want to get/stay married: Yes. My husband and I plan to stay married until death.
* Believe in yourself: Not enough
* Think you’re attractive: No. My husband would say yes.
* Think you’re a health freak: Hardly
* Get along with your parent(s): Don't have a dad (not a long story) and not such a great relationship with my mother. Weekly phone call and once a month visit fits perfect.
* Like thunderstorms: NO!
* Play an instrument: I used to play the flute

LAYER 4:
In the past month have you…
* Drank alcohol: Yes. My first since having Baby J
* Smoked: No
* Done a drug: Well, if Tylenol counts as a drug, then yes.
* Made out: Yes
* Gone on a date: No
* Gone to the mall: No
* Eaten an entire box of Oreos: Ate a whole sleeve of them from Costco :- )
* Eaten sushi: No.
* Been on stage: No.
* Been dumped: No.
* Gone skating: No.
* Gone skinny dipping: No
* Stolen anything: No

LAYER 5:
Have you ever…
* Played a game that required removal of clothing: No
* Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Yes
* Been caught “doing something”: Yes
* Been called a tease: Yes
* Gotten beaten up: No
* Shoplifted: Yes.

LAYER 6:
* Age you did get/hope to be married: 22
* Numbers and names of children (either you have or want): L, age 4; S, age 2; Baby J, age 2 months.
* Describe your dream mate: My husband is everything I ever wanted in a man. He is loving, sensitive, funny, very smart, ambitious, responsible, resourceful, and a good provider. He's also tall, dark, and very handsome ;)
* How do you want to die: I want to die in my own home, in my sleep.
* What did you want to be when you grow up: An attorney or anything that I made good money and wore a business suit : -).
* What country would you most like to visit: I would love to visit Paris - it's my dream!

LAYER 7: Now tell...
* Name a person you could trust with your life: My husband
* Name a favorite CD that you own: Matchbox Twenty "Yourself or Someone Like You." This CD reminds me of college, and I just never get sick of it.
* Number of piercings: Five - 2 in each ear and Belly Button
* Number of tattoos: One - sun on my lower back. I would love a cool one with all 3 of my kids' intials but am not artistic enough to draw up something.
* Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: I have no idea.
* Name a past experience that you regret: too many to list

Oh Christmas Tree

We got our tree up today! It was fun going out to lunch and then to the Depot to pick out our tree. We always get a cut one and a real one to plant after the holidays are over. Every kid had their first Christmas tree planted somewhere on our property. L and S were sooo excited to decorate the tree, which we planned to do after naptime. L kept hollering from her napping spot "Can I get up? Is the tree ready yet?". We got the lights on while she rested. She got up before S and helped put the garland on (including the popcorn one we did yesterday). L also got to hang her special ornaments. Each year we get a special family ornament and each child gets their special ornament for the year. I tried to wake S up from his nap but he wanted nothing to do with that and asked me to save some ornaments for him to hang up later : -) He hung his up when he got up later, along with some candy canes. Christmas season has been wonderfully magical with the kids this year. Definitely what the holidays are made of! I wrapped some presents while they were in the shower so there are gifts under the tree, which has already erupted into "Can we open our gifts yet??".



And It's a Christmas Miracle - the kids actually fought over who got to sit next to Mama at dinner tonight... that never happens. Sure made me feel like a million bucks : -)

S pretended to cut firewood this morning.

p.s. I think I broke a toe tonight - what the heck?!? I have never hit my toe so hard and then I hit AGAIN making it hurt even worse!

New Dr

I took Baby J took meet the new doctor this morning. I wasn't real impressed. She was still 20 minutes late. The main reason I wanted to find a new dr was to avoid waiting and I still waited. Baby J got his 2 month vaccines and he is super fussy because of it. I hate doing the vaccines but would hate the alternative if something happened. Baby J was 23 1/2 inches long and weighed 10 pounds 8 ounces in their scale. He was 25% on the growth chart for head, height and weight. After the dr, it was a quick trip through Target for some pull-ups and batteries (Baby J's swing goes through batteries like water - think it's because he swings in it for like 6 hours at night?!!?). L woke up from her nap and we strung a popcorn garland thing for our tree, which we plan on getting tomorrow. After S woke up, we ran to the bank and the kids played in the grocery store's play area for a bit unti I got the call that L had to potty : - ) Back home to cook dinner and get ready for the evening. We need to finish stringing the popcorn garland.

Gingerbread House Fun

We got together with the K family today to make gingerbread houses. We mamas should have taken the houses out of the boxes and did the prep work before getting the kids involved!!! We needed to put together the houses and let them dry before actually putting on the candies - which is the only part the kids wanted to participate in :- ) Oh well - it worked out. We got the houses put together while we were at their house and then finished when L & S woke up from their naps! Here are some pics of the fun adventure:

Life

Baby J was soooo fussy today : -( S, Baby J and I ran to Lowe's to get a door sweep thing and Baby J was fussy the entire time. It was nice to have some "alone" time with S though. He is such a fun, thoughtful little boy! Baby J was fussy the whole time at Lowe's, the trip to Ace since Lowe's didn't have a door sweep (Ace didn't either) and then fussy at home until he got his bath and went to bed about 8. I hope he was just overtired - guess we'll see. He and I are still battling thrush - UGH!

Earlier today we had another gathering with our homeschool group, which was fun. I have grown really attached to these women. We all such similar lives and values, it'll be fun to see the kids interact together over the coming months. I only wished there was another little girl L's age in the group. I worry about her not having friends, isn't that silly?!? I really want her to have a friendship thing with other little girls. I think she would really enjoy that. What do I know though. I do know that she tends to hang back when we are with others. She would rather play with S or play alone. Maybe as we spend more time with this group, she'll warm up to them. I guess she isn't a social butterfly. Really, I am not even though I would like to be. I just want her to be happy.... She was a stinker today. I was taking pictures of everyone driving their motorized cars and I snapped a pic of her hitting S. I didn't review the pics until we were home and went I saw it, I was MAD! She got in trouble after the fact but I think she understood not to do it again, or at least I hope so. She was mad because he wouldn't give her a turn. I never had siblings to really share with growing up so this whole hitting, fighting sharing thing is new to me.

Tonight after bath, the kids went outside and were looking at the stars and moon with the neighbor's telescope. I think we are going to check out an observatory this weekend. I think the kids would enjoy that. Stars & general astronomy are something they have become interested lately, along with their dad.

I better hop off and get a bath before bed. I am sure Daddy Piper would appreciate that : -)

Park and More Family Fun

We have just spent so much time together as a family in the last few days - it's almost time for a break :- )

Fishing, Familytime and all kinds of other Fun!

First off let me say that the kids finally went fishing today - for about 5 minutes that is. L & S got fishing poles from Grandma Piper last Christmas and Daddy Piper has told them for 12 months, a whole year, that he was going to take them fishing. Today was the day, we were going no matter what. After Daddy Piper finished some work calls, we headed off to a local pond/lake thing. We arrived, picked our spot and got down to business. I diverted the ducks away with some bread while Daddy got the poles ready and in the water... for about 5 minutes until L needed to potty. Let me back up here and say that within 1 minute of L's pole hitting the water, she was bored just like her mama is when fishing : -) Okay so off to take L potty, wait S needs to go too so he runs to catch up. We walk to the bathroom and.... it's CLOSED! So we hightail it out of there, get Daddy Piper, run to the van and hit a local restaurant for restrooms and dinner (where we had to use the men's room since the ladies was occupied - L saw her first "boys" potty!!. S had used it before with Daddy and refused to use it with me - only with his Daddy!!). Such fun going fishing. Baby J slept through the whole experience on Mama's chest in his Moby. Daddy Piper is going to take them tomorrow AM while I take Baby J for his 2 month checkup.






















Back to the weekend... We had a nice weekend. Nothing special, just nice. Daddy Piper's work has slowed down again (UGH - this economy SUCKS!!) but we enjoyed the weekend together. I had a TS thing on Saturday (which produced nada - just enough money for dinner out on Saturday night). Saturday night we went to see Santa at this store's special Christmas thing but it was sooooo packed that we just played around with their activities like shooting a bow and arrow, writing a letter to Santa and watching old fashioned trains and then we had dinner. It took forever to get dinner and Baby J was super fussy so dinner out wasn't that grand of a plan but L & S had fun seeing Wilbur the Pig : -) The last 2 pics were taken just before we headed out for the evening. It is always fun to see the older 2 interact with the baby. S just wants to hold him all the time and L gives him lots of kisses. I am a lucky mom to have such great babies!

Park Day

Daddy Piper didn't have work today (ugh) so he joined us as the park this morning (yeah!). It was quite fun! We met our friends, the K family, and had a blast at the park with an orange jeep : -) We were headed to another park but Mama K's battery was dead so we ended up at a closer park, which L wanted anyway!! All the kids played well together and Daddy Piper played with them, such an involved daddy. I ran around taking pictures of all the kids. I sure do love my new camera still. Baby J slept and ate once, what he does best. He is still a super sleepy baby. I am less concerned though because he is cooing and smiling a bit now. I do have an appt with a new pediatrician on Tuesday. I love our old one but I am so tired of the hour or more wait each and every appt. Back to the park. L saw a bigger bike and was really into it. I can't wait for her to see what Santa is bringing her this year!! Another cool thing was this lady had a clear box full of sand toys. This was a such a neat idea. I wish I could find sandtoys this time of year and make this a gift for the kids. Might make a great b-day gift for S in the spring!

This afternoon, after a wonderful nap and a wakeup call from a crying S, I ran to Target to get some stuff for a TS party tomorrow. It is actually an open house that I am doing with a girlfriend of mine. My goal is $200 in sales and 1 party booked. This will give me about $75 in spending cash and give me my minimum for the quarter. I am looking forward to hanging out for a few hours without no kids, except for Baby J who will literally be hanging out with us (in his Moby!).

Baby J is fussy tonight - driving me crazy. I better go tend to him.