Tube Thing

Do we have sled? Nope. Did I think we should pick one up for this winter? Yup. But I didn't. And it never snowed. Until last night. It snowed like 3 inches. Perfect for sledding.

Refer to how I did not pick up a sled earlier in the year. So off we went, searching Pleasant Hill for one (when I say searching, I mean I had 3 stores to choose from.. Dollar General, the grocery store, and True Value). We quickly found out we should have bought one earlier in the year, everyone was sold out of sleds. Finally at the hardware store a man said, "You know, we might have one of those tube things left." Perfect!

Tube thing bought! Then off to Aunt Leslie's house where the perfect hillside awaited us.



L told me I was "his best mom, ever!" Tube thing totally saved me!

Snow Day

Good thing Pol won that snow shovel at the Christmas party.

Great-Grandma

Mary El helped her Great-Grandma Jennie celebrate her 85th birthday this past weekend. L was there to celebrate as well, but he was too busy chowing down on cake and ice cream to take a picture.

For my friends outside of MO, Grandma Jennie is Teri's mom. Teri is Pol's mom. I know... I know.. you want a family tree to keep everyone straight. It is coming. Once I figure it all out myself.

4 month report

Sweet little girl is 4 months old (well, technically she has been 4 months old for the past three days).

Her report from the dr today:
12lbs 3ozs - 25%
23 1/2" - 25%

Basically she is one little girl - literally!

Here are some pics of her newest pastimes.

Laying by the fire. Naked, of course. You should know she is only naked because I had to come downstairs to pluck her pjs out of the dryer. That's right. Out of the dryer. Why bother folding and putting things away when you can just lay your naked baby next to the fire while you root through a pile of clothes to find something for her to wear. (L's pjs were plucked from his dirty laundry basket... yup, I am an awesome homemaker)

And yes... we do cloth diapers. You can make fun, I make fun. We are not hippies. We are cheap. I wish it was because we were hippies (well I guess the correct term for modern hippies is hipsters). We are not hipsters either. Just boring mid-30 year olds trying to save a dime. Well save a dime so I can turn around and spend that dime on some Target clearance item that we do not need... and this is because I am an awesome homemaker.


Grabbing and chewing on anything she can get to her mouth is a favorite new challenge.

A friend had posted a picture of her daughter (who is only a few weeks older than M) in one of these Jimmy Jumper things and I realized, oh, we have one of those, perhaps I should get it out. I did. She likes it. For about 3 mins. Then she slumps over and gets angry until I straighten her back up. It might actually be a few more weeks before this becomes a favorite.

Starts out pretty good:

Then the slumping begins:


This is her favorite pastime... sleeping. She does this pretty well when in her crib. Outside the crib she isn't a huge fan of closing her eyes, but in the crib she and dreamland are friends.

Winter Getaway

Grandma Mary was able to come visit this past week thanks to Southwest having a winter sale. Because.. really, who wants to fly to K.C. in the winter? Well Grandmas do! Even better when "winter" is 60 degrees out! Even granddaddy could have handled those temperatures... but alas he was afraid there would be a blizzard so he stayed home.

I really like this pic of mom and Mary El.


Cracking each other up.


L always keeping the Marys entertained.


Quiet time for both... on their kindles!

43 Years

They met and married in 6 months. That was 43 years ago.

Happy Anniversary mom and dad!

Sucka

Mary El is thinking... "Check it out momma, I cry and Grandma Mary will instantly pick me up. Sucka."

Yup.

We are those people. Those people with the dog in clothes.

In our defense:
1. She (Mocha-dog) really does get cold. I would get cold too if I was a freakishly-skinny-horse-looking dog. I am keeping my baby weight on in order to get through the cold middle winters. Of course, this thinking would work a lot better if it would actually get cold here. This is the first and only snow we have had this winter. By the way... I thank the good Lord above each and every day for this. I am not a fan of blustery cold weather.
2. It was a Christmas gift from Grandma Mary and Granddaddy, you should always be polite and wear the gifts you are given.
3. Yes.. it is big on her, but again, she has the body of a greyhound that has been starved for 6months. PS. She is not starved. Though she would have you believe otherwise if you were to come eat at our house. She is also oddly long, so she has to wear the large size so it will fit her in length. She is like her daddy, tall and skinny, jackets don't fit him in length either unless they are larges. Someone needs to make dog clothes in medium talls.
4. I am not homemaker enough to make the dog her own wardrobe. Give me a year.. maybe next Christmas I will have knitted her a sweater. Right after I get the kids' baby books done.

She actually does like the jacket. On the few days it has been pretty cold she has waited by the door for me to dress her. She has no shame.

First Laugh

Mary was helping me clean her brother's room today. She thought it was funny I was trying to clean it. Listen closely at the front of the video... it's one of her first laughs ever.

Mary El Laughing from michelle buckingham on Vimeo.

A 4-yr old lives here

The plan: Paint L's really dark blue room yellow.
The plan: Accomplished.
New plan: Organize and purge long forgotten toys.
New plan: Not so much accomplished.

He choose to get rid of exactly 2 toys. And one of those is a broken McDonald's toy. Perhaps I will be going through the room without his help when he goes to preschool on Friday morning.

Sidenote: He did remember the name of two dragons he had not played with in at least a year. I mean really. Sam and Charlie must have made a deeper impression than I had realized. Needless to say, those squishy dragons will make the cut on Friday.

So as I was trying to make sense of the bomb that hit his room (and not step on a car, dragon, superhero missile or some other toy that would impale my foot). This is what he was doing downstairs.

In Pol's words: "Our house looks lived in. By a 4-yr old. No one else."

Three months old

Time is flying! Mary El is already 3 months old (yesterday)! I should be a better SAHM (this is short for stay-at-home-mom. I had to learn this when I became one, it's important to know the lingo). So.. I should be a better SAHM and post a fancy calendar, with a fancy picture, with Mary's achievements in her three months of life. Perhaps I will have this done for the next month... don't count on it... in case you thought I might actually do this. I am still working on L's baby book. When I say working on it, I mean, I thought about it once on his first birthday. Plus, do you really want to know each and every drool, burp, and poo that my child does? YOU DO? Well, I don't blame you for wanting to know, but alas, you will just have to wonder if she pooed on me today.

Sidenote: she did poo on me! In an airplane. In the air. She also peed on me. In an airplane. At take-off.

For fun. Here are the highlights I can remember at this moment:

• I have no idea what she weighs (many people ask me this, and I do not know). She weighs less than L and more than a beer mug filled with yummy cider.
  
• She drools. Some. Not a lot.
• She burps. A lot. She will cry as if I have done some evil wrong to her when I know she needs to burp. Then about 1min into the beating on her back she will calm down and let it rip about 10 secs later.
• The hiccups come, pretty much right on cue, about 30mins after she has eaten.
  
• After the hiccups comes the crankiness, if you keep her up.
  
• She does not settle down easily if you try to rock her to sleep. If you insist on rocking her to sleep (grandparents), make sure to pat her butt, it's about the only way she might possibly fall asleep in your arms.
  
• She sleeps with her eyes partially open. It's a bit creepy.
  
• L can run screaming bloody murder right past her head and she will not flinch. She might look lazily in his direction.
• She just moved into her room. Until now she has slept in a bassinet in our room.
• Caffeine does not effect her. Perhaps because it's like crack to her. She needs it. I bet she would get a headache if I deprived her. I know.... I KNOW... this might be the one case where "experts" would say formula might be better for the child than the mother's milk
• She smiles. This makes me smile, even as I type it.
  

She is wondering what the heck is that on her head.

Sweet baby sister

L loves his sister. Good thing it looks like she doesn't mind getting a hug/tackled.