Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday, sweet Harry! We love you SO MUCH and are so happy God gave you to us. We love your sweet nature, your dramatic kisses, your indignant tantrums. We love watching you grow (my how you eat!), learn, and delight in the world (except any living creature that comes within 2 feet of you). You are a joy to raise and though someday you will leave us, as you should, we treasure these days we have with you.

Happy THIRD birthday, little man.

My loves and their lovies

This is Harry and his lovie--brown blanket. It was given to him by a former work colleague of Seth's at his old law firm. It's a beautiful cashmere blanket with trees on the front. I started putting it in his crib (well, his pack n' play; Harry slept in it, in our bathroom, for a little over a year. Condo living...) as soon as I was no longer concerned about him suffocating. And he's now thoroughly attached to it. When we check on him at night, we usually find it like this, or in some other unusual pose in his bed.

This is Brice and his lovie--Blue Bunny. Brice claimed BB as his own shortly after Harry was born. When he was just a little guy, he would call him "Boo Baybum." Still kills me. Three years on now, and he still cuddles him fiercely all night long. And also takes him out and about when he needs a little extra support. Like when he had to have his tooth extracted--Brice and BB sitting in the dentist's chair, champing it. I'll be really sad when (or if?) Brice leaves BB behind.

Winter 2011, destroying your hard drive, blah blah...

Harry helping out during "Snowpocalypse 2011" when we got about 12 feet of snow. I love a good snow storm, especially (only) when I don't have to be on the road . Seth didn't go to work, and spent a good portion of the day shoveling out a 5X5 little square of snow in our driveway. Of course, he had no shoes on, no gloves and no hat. Oh, the unfortunate things that get lost in a move! Thankfully our neighbors came and helped us out later on.

This is Brice and his "bestie" Evelyn. Evelyn's mom is one of my best friends. Brice and Evie are 9 months apart. And Harry and Luke (her son) are 9 days apart. We forced friendship upon them and they are mainly okay with that. Brice and Evie are both strong-willed, stubborn, leadership types (super fun as toddlers, lemme tell you!) and don't always get along. But this was a good day.

This is Harry. I love this picture. He is playing a pink piano in the kid's section of Neiman Marcus in downtown Dallas. The boys had never "seen" Santa Claus, so when we were in Dallas we took them (with their cousin, Luke) to see the NM Santa. And, oh my goodness. What an orgiastic display of the Christmas Spirit. Harrison was terrified of Santa, as was his ever-so-slightly younger cousin Luke. So they hung out in the toy section and pretended not to notice the goings-on one floor below.
This is Brice and Luke in Dallas. We wish that they were closer, but as is the case with most Texans, their parents have no interest in leaving Texas. Even for Chicago. Gasp! I guess our great weather couldn't woo them. Luke is a lovely little guy. When he wants a toy, he'll tackle the kid with a half-nelson until he gives up the goods. He fits right in with our family.

So, about that hard drive.

I've been yearning for a laptop for years. So when we bought this house, we decided we'd splurge on a laptop, too. That way I could actually read/write/surf/waste time in bed, as opposed to hunching over in a tiny corner of our unused dining room into the wee hours. The Apple Man told me I could bring in my desktop and my laptop and they would switch over all the info for me. Great. So I dropped it off and went to pick it up a few days later.

It's NEVER a good sign when they whisper, look at me, and say "ohhh, could you hold on a sec, we need to go over some things with you."

(flashback: this past winter I was at a church retreat for women (I know, shocking) and took a photography class. I laughingly mentioned that I had 6000 pics that I didn't know what to do with. The teacher was a little surprised when I said I didn't back them up, had heard about this procedure, but didn't actually know how to do it. So she told me. Then I forgot and never did it.)

Apple Man comes out with my desktop and a padded baggy and hands me "my hard drive." Why is my hard drive not in my computer? Oh, well it died. Oh, it died. Ok.

He gave me the card of a company in CA who could retrieve it all for me. I called the company. Yes, they could probably do it. For over twice the price I paid for the computer.

So, now my hard drive sits in my desk drawer, wrapped tightly in plastic padded baggy, awaiting next year's tax return.

Sigh...

I love my kids! Really!!!

I realize that I often complain about my children. Say how awful they are (they are), say how much they drive me crazy (constantly), how they do nothing but fight and scream (true story). Yes, it's all true. They drive me crazy and I don't often have those transcendent, "i love my kids, they amaze me" moments. But I do love them. Really! So I thought i'd take a few minutes to say some nice things about my kids.

BRICE:

* he's amazingly smart: curious, thoughtful, intelligent
* he's soulful: on those rare occasions when it's only us and he looks into my eyes and tells me what he's thinking, i'm often left breathless
* he is endlessly enthusiastic
* he loves music: especially classical--he can identify different songs and tell you where he heard them last
* he is great with Scully: loves him desperately, tries to care for him like he's his parent.
* I am so curious to see what path he chooses when he grows up: I have my own ideas, but that's for another post


HARRY:

* he is possibly the happiest child you will ever meet: he is bubbly, playful, he doesn't walk--he hops and skips
* he is a very tender child: if you yell out in pain, he is the first at your side to make sure you're okay.
* he loves his brother: this amazes Seth and me. Brice is terrible to him, yet he keeps on loving him
* he is easy: if you discipline him, he repents. If you change plans, he can flow. Happily.
* he is endlessly cuddly: he will sit on your lap for hours if you read to him, turning his head frequently to kiss your face.

Yes, these are my children. I love them. I do. I look forward to this Fall, when they are both in preschool, but not at the same time. In the morning, it's me and Brice. In the afternoon, it's me and Harry. I look forward to them getting older, getting along. I look forward to enjoying motherhood more.

Yes, they drive me insane. They have driven me into therapy (love therapy!). But when they are quiet and focused on something, I look at them. Look at their blue/grey eyes and floppy hair. I drink them in at these times. I take them in and i'm deeply grateful.

Told you he is cute!

Welcome Scully!

So, I can't find my computer cords. Which means I can't upload pics of my newest love--Scully.

As I posted recently, we had plans to get a sweet little lab puppy at the beginning of July. However, everyone I talked to scared the bejeezus out of me, telling me I was insane and how much work lab puppies were. So cute, but hey, they stay puppies in spirit until they are 2 or 3. And frankly, that sounded like a LOT OF WORK. And then one afternoon, I was talking to my neighbor. She had just adopted a black lab puppy. I said something along the lines of "it's not THAT hard, right? I mean, it's not like having a newborn, right?" To which she replied, "well, actually..." I don't know the rest of what she said, because I raced back to my house and was on the phone with the breeder before she finished her sentence. CANCEL CANCEL!!!

So, after getting over my guilt of saying goodbye (pre-saying Hello) to my little lab, I decided to put the dog thing on hold. And then adopting an adult lab. But THEN, a couple weeks after getting (somewhat) moved into our new house, I was browsing the website of a breeder of goldendoodles. She had posted that they had a 12-week old housetrained goldendoodle up for adoption. I briefly told Seth my idea as I was dialing, and then she answered. No, they didn't have her anymore. But hey, they had a littler of minis that we could come see if we were interested. (Sidenote: they also occasionally sold litters of labs, so I thought we could go on a "fact-finding" trip to see the puppies and talk to her about the differences bt doodles and labs). The next day, we were on our way. To just look and talk.

But then...she handed me a dog to hold. He was creamy and fluffy and cuddly and he fell asleep in my arms. So I bought him. Right then and there. He was 7 weeks old. The next week (today!) we went to get him. Sweet little Scully is lovely and fluffy and cuddly and I could eat him up with a spoon! Brice named him (so much better than Gilbert, his other choice). He is the lovliest little guy and to prove it, i'm going to scour the house to find the cord to upload the pictures.

Welcome home, Scully.