Growth in the Chaos

Where have we been?  Are we still alive?!

We have been here, and yes we are alive.  But you haven't heard from us because our lives are CRAAZZZYYYYY.  And this is no exaggeration.

Why should I update the blog when I could be sleeping?  Why should I update the blog when I could be packing?  Why should I update the blog when I could be stealing precious moments to take a shower, eat some ice cream and watch a little TV before I gratefully fall asleep?  Moms, we need to get what we need when we can get it, right?

This is the state of affairs at the moment:

A necessary conversation

Blog: DORIS?  Is that you?  *shading eyes, squinting*  Oh, it IS you!

Doris: *shuffling feet* Yeah, hi Blog.

Blog:  *hands on hips*  Where have you been?!  I have been waiting and waiting ….

Doris: Yeah, I know, I know, it's been awhile since I've …

Blog:  … And people just keep coming up to me and asking how your family is doing …

Doris:  Sorry, Blog.  I know, I know.

Blog:  … and I never have anything new to say.  What gives?!

Doris:  Well, we've been … busy.  Very busy.

Blog:  Is that really an excuse?  *gasps, wringing hands*  Are you trying to break up with me?

Oh No, it's the PLUMBING.

I put a notice up last week saying that we were having plumbing problems.  It turned out not to be a problem, but a NEAR MISS WITH DISASTER.

Last Wednesday morning I was preparing to walk out the door with Evie and Isaac when I noticed some white plaster on the floor.  Huh? 
I looked up and was shocked: the plaster in the section of the ceiling underneath our second-floor bathroom had swollen due to water leaking, looking like a very crusty cow udder.  Oh No!
The emergency plumber came, punched a hole in my ceiling, looked around and gave me the very very bad news:  You don't have just a leak, you have a calamity.  OH NO.  
Your entire pipe system connecting your bathroom pipes to your soil stack needs to get replaced.
And yes, it will cost a lot of money.
And no, you can't use your bathroom in the meantime.
And we can't fix it until Friday.
OH. *%#@.  NO.

Big Girl Days!

Last Tuesday, I had a conversation with one of Evie's teachers that filled me with Great Hope.  She told me that Evie had been talking that day about how she wears panties at home.  She encouraged Evie to bring her panties to school the next day and Evie agreed.  My heart flip-flopped.  Could it be?  Can she do it?

In the words of a recently successful presidential campaign slogan:  YES SHE CAN!!

Dalton Daycare

My friend, Katie H., has a beautiful little baby girl named Noriana.  Nori was born a few days after Isaac, so they are pretty much the same age.  You can find out more about them here on her blog. Katie is returning to work, and had an emergency need for a babysitter one day.  She asked me if I would be crazy enough to care for two four month old babies one day.  Am I crazy?  YES!!  And here are the pictures to prove it.

Isaac 4.5

He is now 4 and a half months old, and I really can't believe how fast he is growing.

First of all, he is falling asleep so much easier than before.  I THOUGHT THIS DAY WOULD NEVER ARRIVE.   But now that it has, all I can say is Praise God, I THANK YOU!  This is his usual sleep position: flat on his back.  I have tried to get him to sleep on his side, but to no avail.  Which is why the back of his head is so very flat.

One day when he is much older and he complains about the flatness of the back of his head, I will tell him that I truly tried to prevent it and then correct it.  I really did.  But since he wouldn't sleep unless it was on the flat of his back, my choices came down to 1) a really cranky baby or 2) a really flat head.  I chose option 2.  This way, we would all live.

Because a Flamingo is Pink

If you haven't figured it out yet, Evie's favorite color is Pink.  She has been known to leave the house decked out in different shades of pink from head to toe.  If she is asked to choose between two items of any color and pink, she will choose the pink item.  But Tim and I had no idea how far her love of pink could take her.

Sorry!

Posts will be coming!  I promise!

But in the meantime, dealing with a plumbing emergency in the house. Yikes!  Hoping to be cleared up by Friday.

Nashville, TN

Hi everyone,

If you have been missing updated pictures and notes about our family adventures, you may have noticed I have taken some unannounced time off from blogging.  I was planning on putting together a post on May 1, but when I got on the computer, all I could do was read about the portable classroom floating down 1-24 in Nashville.  Then, my heart started to sink when I began to follow the news reports of the rising waters.  Imagine my utter heartbreak when I began to hear reports from my friends in Nashville that not only had the city become completely inundated with water, but also that the block I grew up on was one of the hardest hit areas in the city.

The Smell of Victory!

I have been meaning to post an update on the potty training.  You may be tired of hearing how often my daughter pees on the floor rather than in the potty, and I can sympathize with you because I am tired of it too.  If you don't want to read any further, feel free to look at the slideshow I just posted below.  However, if you are the tiniest bit interested, check this out:

Slideshow

Last Friday, I took a series of pics of the kids. Voila! Here is a slideshow to entertain you! The pics are grainy because they were taken on my iPhone, so please excuse the quality. And because I am new at this, I forgot to add music. So perhaps you can hum a little tune to yourself to add some background noise. Enjoy!

Thank You, Pathmark

Today, I needed to go out and buy groceries.

"With two children under the age of 4? By yourself?!  It has never been done … by you!"

Well, yes, this is true.  It was going to be a new experience for me.  But I was comforted in knowing that other people did this, even did this with MORE THAN 2 CHILDREN, and they were able to survive and tell the story.  So I set out with a plan in mind:

1.  I needed a grocery store in my direct vicinity that has grocery carts with a fun toddler/kid attachment, preferably something with a steering wheel.  I knew that grocery stores had such contraptions, but I did not know which one so I would need to scope out a few stores before I committed.

2.  This grocery store could not have waist-high metal poles that would prevent carts from leaving the front area of the store.  If I shopped at such a store, I would then have to hold my daughter's hand while shouldering several bags of groceries and Isaac while crossing a parking lot and preventing anyone from hitting us with a car or anyone from running away from me.  Not cool.

Confession of a Normal Mother

Monday was a very hard day.  For some reason, on that day, something changed inside of Isaac and he needed something different to fall asleep for naptimes.  So instead of just fussing a little bit and falling asleep on his own, he would full-out scream, thrash, pinch, scratch his head and face until he was bleeding.    Laying him down in his bed did not work.  Holding him and comforting him did not work.  I was completely at a loss as to how to help him.

Isaac's 3.5 month update

Isaac had his 4 month check-up this past week and I am happy to report that our little buddy weighs 13 lbs., 5 oz. and is 24 inches long.  He remains in the 25th percentile in all his growth charts, and is hitting all his marks in development and maturity.  What a big boy!

Keeping Score

To: Anyone who knows how to pray
From:  A Mommy who is tired of cleaning up pee in all the wrong places
RE: Potty Training Saga 3 day Update.

Scoreboard--
Potty: 3
Floors/Area Rugs/Booster Seat at Dinner Table: 4.5

Operation Potty or Bust

Tim recently accepted a call to pastor a small church in an area outside of Philadelphia known as the Mainline.  We are excited to be part of their church family, and we will be moving to their parsonage in July.  There are so many thoughts, issues, natural anxieties and welcome excitement this change will create and has already been creating.

Props and Mad Love

No, you're not dreaming.  This blog did not use to look like this.  It was rather blah before.  And no, I didn't do it.

Last Night...

Last night, Tim was checking on the kids.  Suddenly, "Doris!" he bawled, "yougottaseethis, yougottaseethis!"  I walked upstairs to see my husband propping himself up in the bathroom doorway to keep from falling over laughing.  What was so funny?  All he could do was gesture at Evie's room.  Then I saw it.

I'm Three Years Old!

Evie is three years old now, and this fact still shocks me to no end.  How did she get this big?  How did she learn all that she tells us on a daily basis?  Why is she incessantly talking?  This post is all things Evie.  Here is what she is up to now.

Introducing...

So the biggest piece of news since this blog was last alive in 2008 is that we now have another Dalton with us.  Isaac En-Lin Dalton, born December 26, 2009 at 2:26 a.m.  He missed Christmas Day by a few hours; nevertheless, the specter of Christmas and all its outlandish commercialism and uninhibited present-giving will remain over his little head for the rest of his life.