par-tay

Since my dad, my brother, and my brother-in-law's birthdays all fall within a week of each other and they are the week prior to Halloween, my sister decided to throw them a joint costume birthday party this year. We all had an awesome time, awesome food, and awesome company. Thanks Beth for hosting!

Our little witch, Reagan 

Spooky bat, Luke

Me with two of the three birthday boys: Randy (the goofball in the back) and my dad

After all of the medical issues poor Randy has had this year, he always manages to keep a positive attitude. I guess you really do have to have a positive attitude to pull off the costume he chose. He said its from Rocky Horror Picture Show, but since I've never seen that, I can't verify.

Me and my prince charming (we went as Prince William and Kate Middleton)

See? I even made a sweet replica ring from tin foil and a large faux blue rhinestone. It's quality, I tell ya.

My sweet little family

And we were lucky enough to finish the night with Reagan in true form. Lucky us!

three rocks

This kid never ceases to amaze me or make me laugh. He can come up with the most crazy ideas and turn everyday phrases into the most hilarious parts of my day.

Instead of everything being a "good idea," it's now a "big idea." He was so excited on Monday when he had a "big idea" that Daddy should come home and watch his Packers.

It's also funny to me when he gets sad because he has to wait for Daddy to get home after naps and that he has to wait almost an entire week until his Packers come back.

He knows and can use the words disgusting and ridiculous completely accurately, but he says them missing important vowels and consonants. It's hard to take a kid seriously when he says something is digussing or ridiulus.

He loves his sister, but still manages to terrorize her to no end. He'll give her anything she wants when she's mid-tantrum, although 57% of her tantrums are caused by him taking something that she had in the first place.

I love this kid.

vent, apology, solution

And no, they may not come in that order.

Sometimes I feel bad for this poor little blog and anyone who takes the time to read it. When things are going well with the family and we're having fun and enjoying each other, I don't really stop to write about that; it essentially gets shelved to be blogged about when I have a few spare minutes. When it's a rough day or things are especially rough, this is one of the first places I turn to and I'm sorry about that.

Writing helps me express my feelings and get out all of the crazy that's in my head. Often when I'm stressed or overwhelmed with the amount of things I need to get done, I'll write out a list so that all those things are out of my head and on paper. The same theory and practice applies here: when the kids are driving me up a wall and into a padded room somewhere, I blog about it and then I'm not so stressed anymore. The words I have cooped up are out and so is the animosity.

I love my children with all of my heart, but as any mother can attest, sometimes they may just be too pushy, too cranky, too sassy, or just plain awful.

I really can't fault Reagan too much. Thinking that she'd be able to handle a small bit of cheese, I made spinach and cheese ravioli for dinner last night and she gobbled her two right up. She was then up at 9:30, 11:00, 12:00, 2:15, and 3:30 screaming. It brought back all of the horrible memories of how she'd be in pain before we determined she had a serious lactose-intolerance. We ended up snuggling and sleeping on our couch together, or as much as I could sleep. That girl moves in her sleep: kicks, turns, punches.

Both Reagan and I are now in straight Zombie form today. She's screaming more, just because she can. She's getting into things that she knows she shouldn't get into and I had to attempt to Reagan-proof the house before I went to the bathroom. She still managed to spill an entire glass of water all over herself and the floor in that time.

So, I've resigned myself that today just might result in an epic Battle of the Wills. And that Reagan will probably emerge victorious.

Now for the solution: I'm going to bake. Deep down, my thighs are telling me that drowning my sorrows and looking for reward in food, especially the delicious calorie-laden kind I'm dreaming of, is not healthy. But honestly, every screech, whine, or tantrum I experience today makes me want the food a little bit more and care about the calories a little bit less.

I fairly certain that pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are on the menu today.

Take that, thighs.

this and that

Every time I come back from an extended vacation from this lovely blog, I know that I always make excuses for my absence, give reasons why I just couldn't get to it. Not this time; you don't need to hear all that again.

All that matters is that I'm back. I have no guarantees for how long this blogging streak will last, but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts and I hope you do too.

1. This kid. Seriously. Wednesday evening he went with Keith to pick up dinner. They made a stop at Kohl's on the way there to pick up a pair of work shorts for Keith. Luke ran away from Keith, tripped, and landed forehead-first into the corner of one of the wood displays. After a lovely trip to the Emergency Room with him, his forehead is adequately glued back together for the time being.

2.  Reagan has been holding out on us. She's had only one word that she says with certainty and consistency in her short little life: poop. It's not one of my proudest momma moments, but a word is a word. Keith and I finally had her evaluated for speech impairments this past Monday. The conclusion is that although she has a delay, she doesn't currently qualify for services.

And then yesterday happened. She said thank you. Like, well enough that we could understand her. And then today she said please unprompted. She then said trash and dada and mama and an-ee (Andi) and balloon. Where did the girl go who refused to speak any words for the first 20 months of her life with the exception of poop?

3. As if the forehead situation isn't much of a clue already, Luke is all boy. The kid can throw a perfect football spiral and can also kick with amazing force and accuracy. His favorite thing to do with Keith is wrestle and Luke's already asking to go fishing with Keith sometime soon. He'll read about pirates and dinosaurs for hours on end and likes to roar at new people he meets as if he's some kind of alpha lion. Don't mess with his pack.

4. Sass. She is all sass and the bigger and older she gets, the more sassy she gets. Watch out for Reagan because I'm convinced that she may take over the world. She's figured out how to get what she wants when she wants it, but she also makes you think that it was your idea in the first place when it really wasn't. Luke is wrapped around her cute little crooked pinky and is at her beck and call when she starts crying.

These kids are crazy, ornery, stubborn, chaotic and I love them to pieces. I wouldn't change them for anything.

Well, except maybe Reagan's screaming. I might just change that.