Here I sit, perusing iTunes for music for Aidan to listen to on our eight-hour flight tomorrow. I thought I'd get him some Backyardigans songs, since he loves the show and I can actually bear to listen to them, too. Tasha, the little yellow hippo, is his favorite character, and Aidan has chosen the songs he wanted based on whether or not she is singing, or if in the episode where the song was played, Tasha was present. It's hilarious. I was kind of amazed that he's able to pick out her singing voice.

Anyway, everyone please pray for all of our sanity tomorrow, and that I can somehow manage to keep this guy entertained sitting in one spot for that long. Oh, and for the patience of those sitting around us. :)

I did it!

I did not turn on my computer all day yesterday! Here's how it went down...

I really didn't have a problem in the morning. I usually check my e-mail before leaving the house, but we were running right on time (for once) to get Aidan to class, so it didn't bother me at all not to stop and log on.

Neely and I stayed out running errands until lunch, so I didn't think about it at all while we were out.

Normally on a day like this, I'd have checked in with the internet world at lunch, but instead, I fed Neely and myself, and then I laid on the bed with her while she babbled at me for a while.

When considering what to do with Aidan once we got him back into the equation, I considered taking him to a movie. I had a panic moment. How do I find out what time the movie is showing if I can't get online? I got out the yellow pages and called, yes, called, the movie theater. Did you know that they no longer have those recordings with the dramatic announcer voice reading movie times? Nope, they don't. A real live person answered the phone, and I had to ask her what time Monsters v. Aliens was playing. I could hear her fellow ticket sales employee person snickering in the background. Oh, well. And after all that, I decided not to try a movie. I didn't want Neely getting restless and having to drag a rapt Aidan out of the movie theater.

Instead, we played with construction paper, scissors, glue, and crayons for the afternoon. We had lots of fun, even though it was drizzly and yucky outside.

After the kids were in bed later, when I usually check up on things for the final time, I relaxed on the couch with John instead. All in all, it was good. I thought about getting on the computer, but I really didn't have a difficult time finding something better to do. I should probably do that more often...or at least limit myself.

Unplugged

If you try to get me via computer tomorrow and can't, this is why. I'm unplugging and replacing my computer time with mommy time. I'll let you know later what the kids and I do while I'd normally be e-mailing, blogging, etc.



I can't get the button to work quite right. If you want to learn more, go see Kimba at A Soft Place to Land.

Just because...

...I haven't posted in a few days, and everybody loves a sweet, sleeping baby.

Sleepless Moment

No, I don't actually mean being unable to sleep. As I was peeling apples, making baby food, I suddenly thought of Sleepless in Seattle and Meg Ryan peeling that apple in one long strip. I got one about halfway, but no matter how I tried, I couldn't peel one like that. And I wondered how many takes it took for them to shoot that. How many apples did they go through? I know. Sometimes I think about odd stuff.

Aidan's Tractor

I forgot to add this short video to my last post.

R-random

I just have a couple of new things to share with everyone really quickly.

1) Here's Aidan on his new power wheels tractor. He is (surprisingly) a pretty good driver. However, he'll drive around for a minute or two, get excited, stop, and run laps around the thing for the next five minutes. It's pretty hilarious.



2) Neely is just about to sit on her own. She would sit for about 10 seconds at a stretch today before falling over, so I don't think it'll be too much longer before she can sit totally independently. It's very exciting and a little bit sad at the same time. I can't believe how big my little peanut has gotten!



3) I took a picture of Neely sitting in her sling. It's totally goofy how you're supposed to do it for her size right now. She's basically folded in half, and her feet are supposed to be tucked up next to her tummy. It sounds uncomfortable, but she never complained about it. I think the picture is funny, because her little foot is sticking out the top. She thinks they make nice chew toys sometimes.



That's all. See, I told you it was random.

It's finished!

I made a pretty bow holder to match Neely's bedroom. Isn't it cute? You can clip the hair bows to the ribbons on the bodice or on the ones hanging down the skirt. I'm really proud of it! I'm attempting to make one for Maddie's room next, so I'll share photos of it once it's done. After that, I still have two cutouts for the bodice, so if anybody knows a little girl who needs one, I'm taking requests for those last two.

Give peas a chance.

I am ecstatic to say that Neely's first attempt at vegetables (and my first attempt at homemade baby food) went extremely well. She ate her entire baby-sized portion and only gagged once, when I think there was a bit that didn't quite get pureed as much as it should have. I'll have to be more careful. As I already have one child who will eat NO vegetables, I was elated. Overly so, maybe. But there she is, in all her pea-faced glory. Hooray!

Big Three

Over the weekend, my baby boy turned three. Three years old! I can hardly believe it. We had lots of family come in to help celebrate, and he had a fun birthday party with all of his friends, too. And still, two days later, he's asking for more presents...as if he didn't receive enough. Thanks to everyone who helped make Aidan's third birthday wonderful!

And Stephanie, I will be calling later, I promise. I know I forgot to call you on YOUR birthday. I've got some major groveling to do.

My New Pretty

I brag on my kids all the time, and I don't brag on my wonderful husband enough. Today, the opportunity has presented itself, so I've decided not to miss the chance. On his lunch break today, John went to the store and bought me this pretty new watch...for no reason that I'm aware of. It's giving me a warm fuzzy. I (heart) him.

My Funny Boy

This morning, I woke up too early and with a tummy ache. After the kids were fed and settled in playing and watching cartoons, I posted up on the loveseat to try and rest a little more. Every time I'd close my eyes, Aidan would yell, "Wake up, Mommy! Don't go to sleep!" I'd tell him I didn't feel good, and he'd tell me that I was fine. I tried explaining to him that Mommy had a tummy ache like he had this weekend. That helped him comprehend a little better, I think, because after he'd thought about it a while, he came to me and said, "Mommy, you need sprinkles. Sprinkles will make you feel better. Sprinkles AND birthday cake." It was too funny.

Snakes, Flags, and Trusting God

My baby boy was sick with a stomach bug yesterday, so I went to church at my kitchen table today. I've been working on reading the Bible through chronologically this year. One Year Bible lists out exactly what you need to read each day in order to achieve this illustrious goal. Of course, I miss days and get behind, so I was playing catch-up this morning. I read a story today that's never really jumped out at me before.

The heading is The Snake of Fiery Copper, and it's Numbers 21:4-9, if you're interested. The basic gist of it is that the Israelites are traveling through the desert with Moses, and they're complaining again. It's not even all that original. It's the same old "Why did God bring us out of Egypt to kill us in the desert?" deal. As frequently as I've read it throughout this book of the Bible, these guys are really starting to sound like whiners. I guess the whole nomadic traveler thing would get old, but it seems to me that freedom to roam the desert is better than slavery and building pyramids or whatever.

God's punishment for the Israelites' distrust was interesting this time. He just lets loose some poisonous snakes among them to kill some folks. If something like that happened today, we'd explain it away with science somehow. The Israelites? They know what's up. The immediately ask Moses to pray for God to take the snakes away.

Did he? No. God told Moses to make a snake and run it up a flagpole. If someone got bit by one of these snakes, then came and looked at the snake flag, they'd live.

At first, I thought, "Why didn't God just zap all the snakes gone again? He put them there in the first place!" That's probably close to what they were thinking, too. "What's the deal with this flag, God?" But God's way is not our way. What we think is the right path or the best solution to our problems isn't always. Sometimes, okay usually, God has a much better plan than us. Man, I need to remember this. Daily.

Ultimately, why the flag? My opinion is that these complainers needed a lesson in trust. If they trusted God enough to drag themselves out to look at a flag after being bitten by a poisonous snake, they were absolved of sin. They'd learned their lesson.

Oh, say can you see...

For those of you who don't know, we live on a military base. At 5pm every weekday, The Star Spangled Banner is played over a loudspeaker base-wide. Whenever it starts, Aidan usually says, "The music!" He did that today (as usual), and then a minute later, he said, "Mommy, the sky is singing!" It was adorable...and hilarious.

Squawk and Giggle

Video as promised. It's Neely, playing in her exersaucer yesterday afternoon. She would squawk and giggle at herself when she'd catch a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror. (it's on the back of that little hat on the left hand side) It was too funny. She only gets one real good giggle in with the camera rolling, and it's at the very last of the clip.

Check back later today...

I have a funny video of Neely that I intend to post, I just don't have time to do it right now.