the perfect fall day

i called in sick for real yesterday. just got back from deleware for baby isaiah's first birthday. i love indian food. kids were good on the plane. i was so out of it, though. we took a really small puddle jumper back from detroit to lansing. luci and i had the front 2 seats. hey! upgraded to first class! then i realized all the seats were 2-seaters. gary was giving me the even smiling stare, which meant he knew what i was thinking before i said anything. i love that even after the kids and crazy schedules we can still think each other's thoughts. like when we were trying to cross airport pedestrian traffic with the kids and bags and no one was stopping. we were both playing frogger in our minds.

luci was telling her lola and lola, "my daddy is going to be an angel for halloween. he is going to carry a sword and a shield, like the 'good knight' (from little einsteins). he is going to be St. Michael." it's funny how much she picks up from what we off-handedly mention. since it was 71 blessed degrees we took pictures in the yard with lijah in his pumpkin outfit, looking stoic. and luci, in her angel costume, running circles around the maple tree until she tripped and fell. can't wait to upload them...

also had 7 blessed hours of non-stop sleep, after lijah the cujo baby stopped chasing after my flesh to bite anything within reach. gary was keeping him on a slack tether. funny he'll bite anything but my boob.

things i want to do this weekend

build a snowman, weather pending
mom's birthday gift - hyacinth and crocus bulbs for planting this spring-->
(hopefully gary will dig the hole)
watch e.t. with the family -->
(garnered luci's interest by saying he was lonely and wanted to call home)
go to the pumpkin patch
go to church
get my warm sweaters out of the basement
do more work on luci's kiddie kollege homework
buy 'opera cat' on amazon.com because it looks funny
brainstorm Christmas gifts
wear pajamas 90% of the time

this summer luci and i were in my mom's bed watching t.v. there was nothing else on except 'cast away'. "why is he so sad, mommy?" she asked. "because he had to swim all the way to an island and now he has to find his family and his wife."

just yesterday we were flipping channels and it was on again. she says, "oh, hey, there's that scary movie again. the one with the guy who needs to find his family and his wife. and his ball."

taken on lane 24

tenderfoot bear. they look like vw bugs from the side.

the aqua ruffled bikini. look how clear that water is.

toblerone

i really used to be obsessed about my tummy. spent hours away from g trying to work out at the beginning of our relationship. then i learned he actually liked the pinchable bits of flab. yeah, at a whopping 108 lbs i had a lot to worry about, right? but being a mom is so different; kind of puts everything into perspective. i don't even really think of my body as my own anymore. examples?

i think lijah is a boob man. or maybe it's just baby behavior since i've never nursed this long. give him a boob and he'll take it, even if not really hungry. standing up, lying down, watching tv, doesn't matter. if we're both in the tub he'll try to nurse in there. he stands up and does it like he's playing a trumpet. the best part is he's had this chuckle since he was a newborn. he chuckles when he sees my boobs. hey, maybe luci is a boob girl. she likes to grab me too, if i happen to be changing in front of her.

i decided to take a long-awaited shower monday morning, post-call. i filled up the small red baby tub so i could give lijah a bath at the same time. i was undressing him and i heard a *splash*. ran into the bathroom to find luci in his tub, her clothes all over the bathroom floor. surprised to find she didn't mind sharing her bathwater with him. i plopped him in and she dutifully began washing his hair and scrubbing under his chin with a washcloth. she did a pretty good job! that was the best day... a 1.2 hour bath/shower with the kids.

embarassed myself

i was in the lunch line going to get my usual friday baked cod. at the end of the buffet was glazed chicken. the lunch girl mumbled, "that's *lpino chicken."

"FILIPINO CHICKEN?! NO WAY!?!?!" i exclaimed/proclaimed loudly.

"no...jalapeno chicken."

days of elijah

he is now 10 months. still looks like tow mater with his seven teeth. (what happened to the other bottom one?) we've got him blocked in the living room, with the furniture arranged around the carpeted area. he's figured out how to push things aside and break free. he wants to go up the stairs by himself. angels have already saved him several times. once i fell asleep nursing him, and gary and luci had gone downstairs for warm milk. he slipped out from under my arm and started crawling around the bed. i suddenly heard a very loud, yet quiet, shout in my ear. can't explain it, but i sat straight up and saw him just about to leap off the edge. gary returned to see me grabbing one of his legs.

i wonder what goes through the mind when you walk in on your spouse looking like something bad almost happened. once luci was teething, so i took a smallish ice cube to rub on her gums. she suddenly sucked the cube right into her mouth out of my hand, so i immediately inverted her body and smacked her back. she launched the ice across the bed just as gary walked in. hi g. how's life?

speaking of luci... she bops. she chooses her own outfits. her newest big deal are leg warmers i got from h&m while in chicago for a conference. she wore them last with an indian-type brown tunic, no pants, purple boots, and pink headband. she can get away with it though. we had the best time with the guevara cousins. luci loved their huge tub of dress-up outfits. she's my angel. she said to gary, "i love going to church." awww.

on an interesting note... all four of us were part of an pro-life silent protest. it was the weirdest thing; definitely out of my comfort zone. most people were apathetic. i felt more motorists gave thumbs up rather than down. there were the expected obscenities. how can people be so blind? most people that gave thumbs down were blasting booty music. i actually thought that was funny. gary held a sign saying "abortion kills children". he also had elijah in the front-strap baby carrier. my maternal blood boiled when people gave him dirty looks.

i bet you all $10 that if i had a picture of a white harp seal mom and pup, and another picture of them clubbed, and carried a sign outside of a coffee shop or bookstore saying that the fashion industry kills helpless animals, there would have been more sympathy/care/concern/love. i don't understand.