News from the front

It's official.

The parents took a huge hit tonight in the sleeping wars. The battle was almost lost. Enemy #1 and Enemy #2 pulled out the heavy artillery--the piercing, shrieking cry of Enemy #2 AND the bum-scratching-rash-that-keeps-her-awake-and-smelling-like-stinky-rear-end of Enemy #1.

It was a lengthy battle, one full of tears, yelling, and temper-tantrums--from both the parents and their pint-size enemies. The parents had to fight with limited resources. One of the parent soldiers was MIA because he took the night off and spent it taking care of injured kids at the hospital. That left the cranky, emotional female soldier, and she is currently experiencing a little PTSD. And a little PMS.

We're thinking about calling in back up. If the Super-Nanny isn't available, then we might have to call in the Marines.

Help.

Don't tell the Department of Labor

I've been looking over my recent posts and I realized that I have strayed from my original intention for this blog. I originally started this to keep in touch with family and to share a few pictures. I seem to be spending more time venting than sharing pieces of our normally happy lives. So tonight I say, here's to less thinking and more pictures.

Wow, I'm tired. That sentence sounded better in my head.

We've been thinking about hiring a maid. We're not sure child labor laws will allow this:


For a two-year old, she does a pretty good job. If the maid thing doesn't work out, I'm thinking about teaching her to cook. Surely she can at least cook something better than this gourmet meal:



Steve has put her to work in the yard raking leaves and weeding. He says that he his going to cut her pay in half for this little incident:



On the other hand, he did get her back.



Lindsay is just nervous for her turn to come. As soon as she can hold a dishrag, we'll put her to work.

Halloween fashion show

Did you know that November is National Blog Posting Month? The people at this website have issued a challenge to post something everyday during the month of November. Can you imagine? I would never get anything done--I would be too busy reading blogs all day. So I don't know if I can make the challenge, but I thought I would start by at least trying to post every day for the rest of this week. We'll see.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the kids for Halloween. We went through many options to arrive at our FANTASTIC final costumes. (I think that all kids must go through this, Dory!) Allison originally wanted to be a princess. As you can see here, we really like princesses at our house.


Next she decided that she wanted to be the black Spiderman. I think she got the idea from this little friend. Allison ran around the house for several days singing the Spiderman song and shooting pretend spiderwebs out of her wrists. I was glad when the Spiderman costume was no longer a popular option at our house.

Allison went through many other costume ideas--clowns, mermaids, pumpkins, etc. I personally thought it was funny when she decided to try out the whole Lucha Libre look. I was going to buy her some stretchy pants, but Steve thought that it was a little too macho for his little girl.

(Yes, that is a pair of Little Mermaid underpants on her head. Don't ask.)

Steve and Allison then decided to try out the popular pirate theme.

(Yes, I do know it is not politically correct to make fun of handicapped pirates. I had a serious talk with Steve.)

Lindsay decided to get in on the action. She liked being the queen of the house, but Allison didn't like anyone else moving in on her current title.


Then Lindsay thought she would try to recreate that scene from A Christmas Story--the one where the kid can't move because he's got too many winter clothes on.



So here are the final costumes. This is Allison as a ladybug princess. I had her ladybug costume from last year, and I didn't want to make or buy a new one. Allison became really fixated on being a princess, so we compromised by letting her be a ladybug princess. That way, all I had to do was give her a crown and a wand. (Thanks for the idea, Lindsay P.)


Our little Lindsay was the cutest bunny on the block. Okay, she was the only bunny on the block, but she was still cute.


Steve decided to go a little crazy and be a doctor for Halloween. I decided to be a witch for Halloween--that way I didn't have to dress up too much.


I hope you enjoyed our Halloween fashion show. We had a great time trick-or-treating with the kids and spending time with Rachel and Jesse. Have a good day!

The Many Faces of Lindsay

vo·cif·er·ate – to speak or cry out loudly or noisily; shout; bawl.

It occurred to me that perhaps I should designate a post solely to the posting of some pictures of Lindsay. Most of her aunts, uncles, and cousins have not met her yet, and I know Lindsay's grandparents always love pictures. So I present to you "The Many Faces of Lindsay."

The first picture is a reflection of Lindsay's true personality. She is a sweet baby, usually very happy and content.


She does have her moments though. It starts with just a hurt feeling.


Then a little whimper.


Then she starts to let you know that she is serious.


And then my sweet little angel begins her vociferation. Usually this means that my other little angel is involved somehow.


Finally, I thought I would show you how Lindsay spends time with her daddy. Now that's quality time.

Dinner adventures with the Gammons

Have you ever had a night like mine tonight?

I decided against going to the grocery store tonight and decided to get creative with what I had in the fridge. I turned the oven on and mixed everything together and popped it into the oven. I decided I had just enough time to feed Lindsay and pick up some of the mess Allison had made before my casserole was done.

I fed Lindsay and then put her down on the couch, intending to come back after grabbing something from the kitchen. I was distracted from my quest, however, by the smoke billowing from the oven. I opened the oven door, pulled the casserole out, and then tried to open all the doors and windows to prevent the smoke alarm from going off. I was not quick enough.

Meanwhile, Allison decided that it was time to go potty. She kept tugging on my leg saying, "Mommy, potty. Potty, mommy! MOMMY, POTTY!"

Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, I heard a thump followed by a wail from the other room. Lindsay apparently decided that it would be an appropriate time to learn how to roll over. She doesn't have very good timing.

Eventually, I got everything and everyone calmed down. I scraped the blackened breadcrumbs off the top of my casserole. I fiddled with the oven long enough to realize that when I set it on bake, it turns on the broil setting instead. I guess I'm going to have to find someone who fixes ovens.

Sometimes making dinner is an adventure.

Steve quits his job to become a royal smoothie maker

These are the pictures of the kids that I promised. This is what Lindsay looks like when Daddy does her hair. Steve's thinking about quitting his current job to become a stylist. What do you think?



These are my pretty princesses. See how they love each other?



Allison is trying to learn proper ways to express her affection. She still has some work to do.



This is Lindsay's response to being smothered.



I was so jealous of the Blendtec blender that I bought a new blender. Unfortunately, my 30 dollars didn't produce the results that I wanted. When I put golf balls in my blender it just laughed at me. Then it exploded.

My new blender does make a mean smoothie, however. This is us after trying Steve's delicious Orange Julius.

Bloodsucking Vampires

fractious \FRAK-shuhs\, adjective:
1. Tending to cause trouble; unruly.
2. Irritable; snappish; cranky.

I've had vampires on my mind recently.

My little angel of a baby has turned into a cranky vampire. For the past week she has had these HORRIBLE crying spells. Lindsay is a cheerful baby, but when she gets upset she sounds like someone is torturing her. I have been at my wits end trying to keep her happy. I finally discovered the cause of all the mayhem--she's teething. And not only is my precocious three-month-old teething, but she is growing FANGS! Most kids seem to get teeth in the front, but my little vampire seems to be sprouting eyeteeth just in time for Halloween. I wish I could I could take a good picture of her teeth, but I will have to wait until they come in all the way.

I finished a fantastic book about teenage vampires this week. I'd read Stephenie Meyer's first two books in the Twilight series and enjoyed both, but I was not prepared to be so engrossed in the third book. I picked it up one morning and decided to read just a few chapters while the kids were asleep. Four hours later-- when I finally came to my senses--I realized that I had zipped through most of the book. I was able to put it aside for a few hours until Steve got home, but as soon as he walked through the door I handed my fractious infant to him and buried myself in the book again. At 10:00 that night, I came out of my teen fiction-induced stupor, having finished an amazing book, but having no idea what happened in the real world. Sometimes I can't seem to stop when I pick up a book. I have no self control. I have now banished myself from the library (except for story time)for at least a month.

This last week we also had a slight scare with a bloodborne pathogen. Steve got stuck by a contaminated needle during a surgery last week. There were some concerns that the patient possibly had Hepatitis C. Luckily, the lab results showed no signs of any bloodborne diseases.

I had not really given much thought to what life would be like if someone in our family had a possibly life-threatening disease--especially one that was contagious. I can't imagine how difficult life would be. I had a friend in nursing school who had Hepatitis C and I never realized how that must limit what she does. Even when your body seems healthy and strong, you have to constantly wonder if it will start to deteriorate. And the worry about passing the disease to someone else--especially someone you love--must be heartbreaking. I hadn't really thought of Steve's job being dangerous, but I guess every job must have its occupational hazards.

I promise I will post some great pictures of the kids soon. I'm still having some trouble with my computer.

The word of the day is . . .

When my sisters came to visit last summer, we played a fun game. One of my sisters was studying for the GMAT and had several vocabulary words to learn. We decided that to help her learn we would pick a word every day and try and use it throughout the day in various contexts. It was thoroughly entertaining. So I've decided to apply this game to my blog. Every week I will try and find a new word and I will try to use it somewhere in my blog. If you have suggestions, please feel free to make them. I'm hoping that I will be able to expand my vocabulary a little, even if I can't remember most of the words more than a few days. This week's word is:





jeremiad \jair-uh-MY-uhd\, noun: A tale of sorrow, disappointment, or complaint; a doleful story; also, a dolorous or angry tirade.





I also thought I would post a few pictures that have been hanging out on my camera.

I tried to take some pictures to show how chubby Lindsay is getting. She started out as a scrawny little bird and she's fattening up nicely.

I love fat babies. Every time I look at this picture I want to do some serious cheek-pinching. Have you ever seen jowls like that?

Last weekend we went to the local amusement park. Allison had lots of fun riding the rides. She especially liked this ride because she got to sit next to this random cutie. Notice how she's checking him out. Do you think he'll notice how she is eyeing him?

We also went swimming at the pool at the amusement park. I had a hard time getting her in the water, but after a few minutes she didn't want to leave. Notice my fancy photography. I'm really good at chopping off people's heads with my camera. It's a good thing Steve doesn't have a job where he has to think very much.

And this brings me to my final picture. I don't think people fully appreciate the spectrum of Allison's moods. Most people only see the sweet happy girl she is most of the time. But sometimes she wants people to hear her jeremiad. Sometimes she just wants someone to listen.

And I wonder where those chubby cheeks came from . . .

Lindsay has been so smiley this week. I have tried to catch it with my camera all week, but this is the best I can do. I guess I can scratch becoming a professional photographer off my list off my list of careers I'd like to have. She really is much cuter when she smiles than this fat-cheeked picture shows!

I want to tell my mom how proud I am of her in this somewhat public forum. She is on a backpacking trip in the Uintahs right now--probably being eaten by mosquitoes. Anyway, this is a pretty major accomplishment for her. She has been getting up early the last few months and walking or hiking 2-3 miles. Mom, I am inspired by your diligence. Now if I could just follow your example.

I found an awesome treat when I was at the grocery store the other day. I generally don't buy into the "100 calorie" treats--way too expensive and a waste of good calories. But I was walking by the Hostess treats section of the store and I saw, you guessed it, 100 calorie packs of Ding-Dongs. What the . . . Ding Dongs? So I closed my eyes to the price tag and bought some. They come with three tiny little cupcakes per portion. I tried some when I got home, and they were pretty good. By the end of the night, however, I came to a realization. Hmmm. . . four 100 calorie packs equals 400 calories. Whoops! So the moral of the story is: 100 calorie packs of Ding Dongs--good. Eating 4 portions of them--not so good. ( I failed to mention that each pack had 5 grams of fiber. Which made my tummy VERY unhappy.)

Okay, time for bed. Or maybe laundry. (Can you guess that Steve's on-call?)

Water parks, cowboy boots, and Vanilla Ice

I love having a digital camera. We bought it about three months ago and it is worth every penny. We are inching our way into the world of technology--we still don't have a cell phone. (We did have a cell phone when we moved to Cincinnati, but that's another story--one involving a bucket of water and me being a klutz.) Anyway. I love having a digital camera. It still amazes me every time I sit down and download pictures onto the computer. It takes less than 10 seconds to move pictures from our camera to the computer. With our old camera it would take months, even years before we would finally see what our pictures turned out like. (We aren't very good about getting film developed.) Even then we could not delete the pictures that didn't turn out so great. We just had to live with them. With the digital camera, I can take a look at the picture and say "Wow, do I really look like that?" and then happily delete it.

So we took the opportunity to use the digital camera this weekend. Steve had the whole weekend off--it was FANTASTIC! We have so much fun when he's around. After completing the list of chores I had compiled on Saturday, we decided to take the kids to the wet playground and then play Frisbee golf. We had a great time. Allison had fun running through water and laughing at us every time she sprayed Steve or me. Lindsay even got wet--Steve styled her hair to dry so that she would look like "Vanilla Ice". (Yep, that's the man I married.)

Allison also got a new pair of boots this weekend. A couple of months ago we found the COOLEST pink boots at Target. Allison campaigned hard to get them, (mostly by whining and crying) but Mommy just couldn't justify the price tag. When I was a Target this weekend, however, I found the boots on clearance for $3.00. So Allison got a new pair of boots this weekend. She loves, loves, loves them. She won't take them off! She wanted to wear them to the water park and she wanted to wear them to bed last night. Did I mention that she loves them? Steve and I got a big kick out of the fashion show that we had to go through in order to find a dress that she could wear them with to church. She looked so cute when we finally found "the right dress" that we just had to take a picture.

My cute girls