mostly normal with a side of crazy

Oh yeah . . . I have a blog . . .

Vomit is not my area of expertise. I don't do it and I don't understand why other people do either. Since we'd come this far without any stomach bugs, I had hoped that my kids inherited my no-vomit gene. No such luck. This week they both got a stomach bug and I quickly became schooled in The Art of Vomit Detection, Clean-up, and Prevention 101. Gross topic, isn't it? So gross, that it needs to be shared. It was such an awful week . . . Not only because of the overall grossness of the situation, but because I was struck with the realization that this week will probably repeat itself several times before they are old enough to put their vomit where it belongs -- the toilet. Tired of reading about vomit?? Yeah . . . sorry about that.

On to brighter topics!!

Today was a good day for Miss Flora. Lately she's had issues with the nursery at church. She used to love it but in the past few months she has cried every time I've left her. Poor little thing is so cute though. All the way to church she sits in the backseat and says "No cry, Mommy. FloFlo no cry." She totally prepares herself to be a big girl, but ultimately breaks down when the moment of separation arrives. Today she watched me leave the nursery with no tears!! I held my breath as I walked out the door and stood outside listening for the sobs, but they never came. When I picked her up after church her first words were "No cry, Mommy! FloFlo no cry!" She's such a cutie. And she's turning into such a big girl too.

I realize that most people space their kids further apart than mine are, but I often wonder what 2-year-olds do all day without 1-year-old playmates??? Flora and Scout are such good buddies and playmates that I can't imagine entertaining one without the other for an entire day. I know there are benefits to spacing siblings out more, but I like my way. My way is best. My blog = my way is best. :)

They are quite open with their displays of affection for each other now. Scout will hug and kiss Flora while she's watching TV and Flora will rub Scout's head, give him a hug, and say "Oh, so cute! Scout so cute him!" I don't know why she adds the "him" at the end, but I like it. Toddlerese is so cute! Scout says a bunch of little words now too. He says happy, nice, ball, night-night, thank you (ta-tu), bye-bye, more, mama, dada, and brrrmbrrrm. He's going to be a little chatterbox like his daddy. It will be so funny to listen to the things that he and Flora talk about once he can really communicate!!

If I were to order a life from what would surely be a very expensive restaurant, I would order my life "mostly normal with a side of crazy." Some people have very normal lives. Everything is easy and perfect and boring. Some people have very crazy lives. It's all chaos all the time. Neither sounds appealing. I'll take the Combo Plate . . . with a Coke, and no, Pepsi won't do. Right now the kids are our "side of crazy." It's hard to have an easy, perfect, boring life with two toddlers in the picture. Someday they'll be normal and we'll have to become the crazy ones. Somehow, I don't think that will be a problem!!

Christmas Recap

"O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree! Thy leaves are so unchanging." Obviously the author of this carol did not have young children. Our Christmas tree was ALWAYS changing, thanks to my two little elves. (Also, thanks to one of my little elves, my computer is randomly underlining text.)


<---- I posted this picture a few weeks ago to show how Flora and Scout had taken tree decorating to a whole new level. They continued to add interesting ornaments to the tree throughout the Christmas season. Below you will see some of the other unique ornaments with which Flora and/or Scout decorated our Christmas tree. Enjoy!





If this were a real tree I might say it had a future in baseball.










Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree!













Christmas tree cookies, anyone?














"Merry Christmas!" Love, Barbie.












On a toy-themed tree, this duck block might pass for a real ornament.












Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a bowl of cereal.

Snipets

~~~Flora was leisurely eating her lunch today when suddenly she yells "Oh! Oh Mommy!" Her little hands raise in a questioning gesture and she asks, "Where Christmas tree go, Mommy?" I told her it went away because Christmas is over, but laughed to myself because the tree has been down for a week and she helped me take it down. This was the first mention she's made of the Christmas tree since it's been gone. It's funny how a two-year-old's mind works.

~~~After going poo-poo in the potty and getting her candy reward, her first thought is to tell Scout. She gets right in his face and says, "Flo-Flo poo-poo potty, Scout!!!" with a jubilant expression on her face. He never gets as excited as she'd like, but he does like the attention so he smiles and tries to hug her like he always does when she's close.

~~~Scout has learned to point to his cute little nose when asked where his nose it. He taps it on the side like he is Santa Claus or communicating some sort of secret. He also blows kisses, except they are more like fish lips that end in a giant smack. He's such a cuddler. Mother was right . . . everyone should have at least one cuddly baby.

And that's all for now. I have some funny pictures I will post and write about later, but this is just a quick update while I'm waiting for Chris!