Tiger Moms? Gggggrrrrrr!!!

I read this article that one of my friends put on facebook.....omg.....if you have ever feel guilty for yelling at your kids, READ THIS. If you have kids or think you might have kids, read this If you already raised a kid or you think kids are kind of cute-read this. Cuz I want to see all the funny letters you type when your jaw drops onto the keyboard!

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2043313,00.html

Whoa!!! Anytime I feel like a bad Mom I am going to break out that little gem! One of the most interesting parts was in the comment section. Some of the people were not even horrified, she had plenty of supporters. So you know me....I start thinking about it. Is there any truth to this idea? Should I waste my money on this book? What are the girls like now? Are all those hugs I've been giving out turning the penguins into lazy slugs? The only thing I can figure is her babies necks must not smell as good as my babies necks. Could I really ever reject a card hand-made by one of my sweeties? I don't think I have it in me. Sorry, kids I don't think your Mom can be a tiger. But that's not to say I totally reject the idea. Are there any tiger moms out there? Should I be busy googling 'tiger mom blog'? I would love to hear your thoughts on this, folks. Now excuse me while I go hug and kiss and praise my children.....alot.

Random Friday Thoughts

I can't think of anything to write about today. Sorry I'm lame dear readers!

1. My hubby is very cute and sweet. I like it when he hacks into my facebook. And he said the pork roast I made yesterday was the best thing I've ever cooked him....aaawwww!

2. Wouldn't it be fun to have a game night for girls who don't want to watch the Pooper Bowl but who do want to eat snacks and hang out? Yes I thought so too. We need one more (or three more!) to make it an even number so come join us!!

3. I guess having such a cute hubby is how I got these 3 adorable kids whose cheeks happen to smell like heaven.

4. Besides Dino Dan my girls also have a crush on Jonathan the Juggler. (Stop snickering all of you!) So imagine Large's face when he picked her to be his 'helper' on Wed when he performed at their school. Medium's teacher said she was waving her arms and yelling, "Juggler, when is my turn?? I need my turn!!" When I asked Large how she liked it she said, "Oh Mom, he knowed my name!" Oh my gosh, those penguins are crazy.

5. I like Fridays, I really really do.

6. Have you ever eaten frozen cool whip? If you're doing weight watchers and you need a treat you might want to check it out.

7. I'm craving Chili's...not chili but Chili's.

8. Do you think the Animal House needs it's own Facebook page? Then I won't have to put it in my status every time I write something.....

9. Big Mac is such a good singer....I just love to hear him sing.

10. If you are sitting there going 'who in the world is Big Mac???' you are not the only one. Stop googling. The boy I take care of in the afternoon and I decided he needed a nickname so I could mention him in my blogging.....Big Mac it is!!!!

Y'all have a great weekend!!!!!!!!

Hair Products and Head Injuries

Two blog posts in one week?!?! Do What??? Who is excited now? I know I am. I had a story I wanted to tell but I could not tell it unless I wrote my Small Man a burfday letter first. Anyway, it's not THAT funny.

In case you didn't already know, my husband is adorable and funny and super tall. We are thinking of relocating the Animal House, so he has been doing a few projects around the house. One of them is updating our master bathroom including hanging a new caddy in our shower. He does all of the 'hanging' at our house (which I very much appreciate because I don't want to). If you ever visit the Animal House you will notice everything is hung unusually high. All the pictures, clocks, etc reside at his eye level. He's 6'3". His eyes are way above the rest of ours. I try not to complain about it but it does make me giggle. Anyway so I'm in the shower enjoying my new fancy shower head and I go to reach for the shampoo. I'm 5'9"...I mean I'm no shorty here but I can barely reach it! I almost pull the whole thing off the wall trying to get my conditioner. And in an effort to reach my face wash I knocked over the shampoo and conditioner which then fell ON my head. I am thinking to myself 'What is wrong with this thing? Why did Lin even buy a stupid new shower caddy? I liked the old one! Why is my stuff up so high that I can't reach it?'. So I take a step back and I realize there is nothing wrong with this caddy. It is hung up really high. I mean really super high. Why would anyone hang the shower caddy so high that nobody can reach stuff? Is Lin reaching up for his soap too? Are there NBA players moving in here that I don't know about? Did he catch the penguins trying eat my shampoo so he's childproofing? When I find out the answers to these pressing questions you will be the first to know. In the mean time let's hope my shampoo does not give me a concussion.

A Letter to My Little Man

Yes I know I am over a week late for my birthday love letter to my baby. Were you all wondering if I was only planning to write one to Large? Perhaps. Just Kidding! My computer is broken and it's for real this time so we are having some technical difficulties at the Animal House. My back is also broken so we have to buy a new bed before we buy a new computer. Now I think blogging is just as important as sleep but Lin says I am too grouchy with an achy back and no sleep soooooo since we defer all final decisions to the man of the Animal House..........I am waiting for the peels of laughter! Anyway, no computer for a while and we are back to the matter at hand.

My Sweet Son,
We did not plan to have a third child (I will leave that little detail out of your love letter next year ;) but every time I look at you I am so very glad we did. You are truly a miracle and a gift from God. You totally changed our lives and your parents marriage. I am completely in love with you and I am not the only one! You were a colicky baby and your Dad and I were traumatized by that but we have gotten over it. You are such a sweeeeet baby boy now! You have a smile for everyone. And so smart, you can say 'mama, dada, bye-bye, uh-oh, and (your favorite) Eeeellllaa (Stella)'. Some of your favorite pastimes include playing 'crawl' with your sisters, screaming and banging stuff, eating EVERYTHING and crawling around crying until someone picks you up. I know that last one sounds annoying but I think its cute. Your smile and your voice melt my heart. I am addicted to kissing your fat cheeks. They are the only fat thing on you, by the way, for a guy who eats everything available you are kinda skinny! And even though you can be fussy sometimes at home you are usually very well behaved when we take you places. You seem to enjoy riding in your stroller.....for now! I love you so much Little Man, you will just never know how much you mean to me. You taught me so so much in your one year here on earth. Everyday I am amazed that God chose to bless our lives with you.
Love Always and Forever, Mama

A Vacuum Cleaner Full of Silly Bandz and a Heart Full of Love

So Small has started crawling and when I say crawling I don't mean just starting to mosey around and explore a little. I mean a full on Jeff Gordon-oh my gosh where is he-speed crawl. Luckily it was just a week after we put up the Christmas tree. (Cue TAPS now) We have lost a few good ornaments, but we are making due. I think the tree was pretty much his inspiration for learning to crawl. Good Work, Baby Boy!! I am not much on cleaning...there are about 10 thousand things I would rather be doing. Thankfully, I have Lin to keep me in check! ;-) But after the third time one of the girls brought me a slobbery little dust bunny that they claimed to have pulled out of Small's mouth (you mean you rescued it from a bear trap....as if!) I figured it was time to put it in high gear. Since I am sweeping 2-3 times a day now you might not have to step on crunched up cereal if you visit the Animal House. Don't you worry, as soon as he is walking the broom and I are breaking up.



The girls got lots of Silly Bandz for Christmas (thanks to all of you for NOT getting the scented ones!!!) which is great because they love them. They count them and name them and trade them, it's really pretty cute. But I swear those things are multiplying. Every time I turn around there they are. And it seems like more and more of them. Are they breeding? Are they following me? Would she really notice if I threw out the broken one?? Small finds them to be quite tasty. I am pretty sure he can't choke on one but I would really have to laugh if I ever saw one in his poop. Anyway.....so I was vacuuming and usually the girls are no where to be found since they hate the noise. I saw the Hello Kitty paw but I was simply too lazy to pick it up. I knew nobody was around and they'd never know the difference. So I did it, I just ran it right over. And I almost got away with it (do you watch that show? I really like it...I know I'm weird).

Where did Medium even come from? Was she spying on me?? She screams MOOOOOMMMM, My siiiiillllyy baaaannndd!!! Seriously? It was ONE there are like 638 more all over this place! Just kidding what I really said was, "Oh my goodness, baby girl, I am so sorry that bad 'ole vacuum took your silly band!" I was rocking her and singing songs when Large comes running in with her hands over her ears (even though it was turned off) and a replacement Hello Kitty Paw stuck between her fingers. Sweet sister moment. I treasure those.

Tug of War

I have not wanted to admit this but I am very grouchy this Christmas season...maybe some of you already noticed! ;-) I know plenty of people who are usually crabby around this time of year, I will admit the hustle and bustle is not for everyone. But that usually never bothers me, I love the busy and the parties and the shopping (by far my favorite part!) and the decorating and especially the music. I try not to be over-the-top, obnoxiously happy (ahem-LIN :) however it is normally pretty hard to get me in a bad mood at Christmas. This year something is different for me and I don't like it! As I admit this to you the weight of the guilt as I say the words is so heavy I am worried I won't be able to get out of the chair I am sitting in. I have NO reason to be grumpy. I am so blessed. So so so so very lucky and blessed...and I know that, I really do. But still somehow I can't shake this feeling of constant stress and being stretched too thin. Too thin..ha ha ha wouldn't that be a nice change since my answer to stress is to eat more cookies. I have been praying about it alot and so I thought maybe to admit it out loud to millions of (or maybe just 7) people would help to get it off my chest. Sadly now I can feel you all staring at the screen and yelling, "Get with it lady! You should be thrilled about how lucky you are!!". Geez, you guys are harsh! Just kidding, lovely friends. Is is possible to feel blessed and completely stressed out at the same time? Doesn't seem like you have mastered counting your blessings if you are sweating your to-do list at the same time. My heart feels like poor Toddler Baby when Large is trying to get under Mediums skin. Her favorite trick is to grab Toddler Baby and dangle her in front of Medium until a frantic tug-of-war begins while Med screams and Large sports her sinister smile. It's awesome. Don't stop reading in order to google Toddler Baby; that is one of Medium's 'guys'. He/She (jury is out on the gender) never wears clothes and I'm pretty sure I got him at the dollar spot last Christmas. He's not an official brand; Toddler Baby, is just what Medium named him/her. Feel free to giggle. Anyway, so what do you do here at the Animal House when you are feeling blue? We like to blame Small. I know he seems so innocent but nobody was grumpy for Christmas until he came along! I tell myself I could manage everything anything until I had a third baby. Luckily for Small-man it's not really true and I wouldn't trade him for the world. Even if that means I have to be buried under a mound of unwrapped presents (the official count for how many I have had to rewrap(thanks to the girls) is 4) for the next couple days. Have a very Merry Christmas dear readers!!!!

Winter Follies

Is it even actually winter, yet? I don't think so. Lots going on here at the Animal House, we are pretty busy on a normal day so this time of year is extra crazy. Good crazy, but still crazy. You know what would really round out a nice hectic week? Stitches. Mama needs a good curve ball...or two. Losing Small might spice things up a little too. Awesome.



It was only for a second but now I know what it feels like to have the air sucked out of your lungs. I was really hoping I would get to experience that feeling at least once in my life. Not really. I was loading up the van, and Small was all bundled up in his carseat. Bear in mind that carseat + baby = about 43 pounds. So it can't be picked up and moved by a child...or can it?! I put him in the living room to the right, on the other side of the sofa. Where are the girls at this time, you ask? Not sure, playing, singing, plotting a terrorist attack....it's anyone's guess. They should be getting their coats on waiting patiently for me to load the van. Anyway, I come back in from taking stuff to the van and I look to the right of the sofa....no Small. *GASP* All is quiet, I hear nothing except maybe some faint giggling. I take three steps into the living room and peak around into the kitchen when I hear a little whimper. I whip around and look down the hall (to the left of the front entrance) and there is my poor sweet Small parked in front of his bedroom door. This next part really needs an illustration or some hand motions so bear with me. Picture an infant carrier in your mind. It's shaped like a C that lays on it's back, right? Well imagine how sad Small might be if he were sitting in his seat as if he was halfway thru riding the Battering Ram at Kings Dominion. If the C were lying on it's back, that's normal but turn the C upside down and that was Small. Not face down but with his fanny and legs up in the air. HOW did he get there, you are wondering? The world may never know. But for now, he is safe and I can breathe again.



So I go to school for Large's Christmas party on Wed and Medium's sweet teacher Ms. Z knocks on the door saying, "I think you need to take a look at this." Oh no, that is never good. I can see a very bloody band-aid on her chin. "I felled at school, Mommy!" Medium tells me. She doesn't look fazed in the least. I check out her sweet little fat chin and it does have a nice little split in it. She goes off to finish music time while I gather up all their things and figure out my next move. My pediatrician does not do stitches or glue so I say to myself Patient First or St Mary's Peds ER? I know you are probably all screaming at the computer "Peds ER!!!!". Too bad you weren't there. It is 11:30am now. I have to go to work, I have to leave my house at 2:10. My bosses are very understanding people but the bottom line is if I don't go to work I don't get paid. C'mon people, it's Christmas!!! So I call Patient First and say, can you handle a 2 1/2 year old who needs stitches, really? REALLY? And the very nice nurse assures me that they can. So I go on over to PF instead of skipping out on work and going to the er or KidMed (a kiddie version of pf that is farther away and does not open until 3pm--drat). I have a real hesitation about this decision but I am trying not to be the spastic mother that I normally am. While I am on the subject of bad decisions...I do not stop to get them any lunch. THANK HEAVENS Small was already at home with my Dad ('cause I was going to the class party). I'll skip over the waiting room adventure and the emergency snack delivery (thanks so much AJ). The tech who got us settled in seemed ok, he was good with the girls. Medium is not particularly skittish unless there are animals involved or she just decides to be. I thought Large might freak a little but he distracted her with a My Little Pony coloring book. They don't do glue at pf so I was little nervous/leery/sad about that but I soldiered on. They numbed Med's chin (with a gel not a shot thankfully) and she is hanging in there no problem until two things happened: they told her she had to stop eating her 'printzels' (aka- pretzels) and the 'Dr' covered her face with a drape. There was a hole cut out for her chin...I guess she needed a sterile field? So Medium is screaming and crying "I can't see, I can't see!!!". The doc keeps saying (in her heavy middle eastern accent) "Stop crying, be still..... stop crying, be still" I'm starting to think...this is not going to be good. Until finally I say 'she's 2, she probably won't stop crying or be still'. So she goes to make the first stitch and her hand are SHAKING!!! Not just a little tremble, I mean like a full on shake. I wanted to scream STOOOOOPPP, and run right out of there. But a little part of me is still saying 'your just being spastic...everything will be fine!'. So instead of running I held my baby girl as tight as I could and I prayed. 3 stitches later we were all still in one piece (technically 4 stitches because the good doctor had to redo the first one). That was painful for my heart. I am not sure about that numbing gel but I know my baby SCREAMED every time that fish hook thingy went in. They take off the drape, Medium recovers and on the way out the Dr says, "Come back on Mon so I can take out the stitches." Yeah, sure lady, count on it. I am sure most of you have been there before I guess Meds is just getting me ready for what Small has in store for me. Wish me luck!