JuJuBee

The WOOD Anniversary...Heh.

Today marks our fifth year of being hitched. FIVE YEARS. The mister and I have agreed that five is pretty significant, that it's like Really For Real now or something. That the past four years have just been practice, or playing house or something. Five is like...whoa...you're totally married.

I wondered what the fifth anniversary was, in terms of gifting. Some girls at work had no clue since they are still either so young that marriage is a funny joke to them or so old that they barely had the energy to kiss the cheek of their spouse on year 69 let alone celebrate the way you'd expect to on the year 69. Another girl thought it might be tin foil, which was good, I know how to make some pretty cool tin foil animals.

Alas, the gods frowned down upon me and I found out that year five is indeed the year of....wood. Seriously. Wood.

I had no clue about what to get him that involved wood, and I already used the no-fail gift of lingerie for Father's Day, so I ended up having a nice silver business card holder engraved with some sweet words about the future instead. Not exactly practical, or WOODEN, but still nice.

Then I open my gift...and HE TOTALLY SCORED AN AWESOME WOOD GIFT! He showed me up! But that's ok. I'll get him back next year with some awesome tin foil origami. Six is tin foil, I'm sure of it.

This is an awesome wooden plaque:

And this is just so beautiful:

Happy Anniversary, Baby. I know we toasted last night to five more wonderful years at the most but I didn't mean it. I'm in for life.

Good luck with that.

Maybe He'll Potty Train Early Too?

My little monster, Andrew, has been quite the handful lately. I was in the bathroom last week and Madeline came to tell me to, "COME LOOK! HAHAHA! ANDREW IS OUTSIDE! HEEHEEHEE!" and sure enough, when I ran into the living room, there he was, standing on the front porch pushing his face into the screen door and giggling. He'd let himself out. Thank god he hadn't gotten off the porch.

He has been pulling out the dining room chairs and climbing up and onto the table, hands and knees. He has started to pull out the drawers in the kitchen and loves to try and see what he can get out...plastic and rubber spatulas=okay and knives=very NOT OKAY.

I don't know how to further childproof our house, I think I might need to "Andrew" proof my life instead.

He just got his first haircut...so even though he is far from being two, the cut makes it look a bit more believable that we're in the terrible stage.

God help us.

We've Been Busy

Hittin the spray pool and chillin at the park.

Sign that Your Child May Need to have Some Things Cleared Up

me: So, what teams do your friends follow?
him: Anthony likes Cincinnati but most of them like the Bills.
me: Hmn. Wonder if he was born in Ohio, or maybe his parents are from there?
him: Mom. HE'S BLACK.
me: ...And? What does that have anything to do with Cincinnati?
him: Well, his parents are probably from Africa.

(to DT ~ I received your email and promptly lost or deleted it, could you please resend or let me know your email address again?)

Taking a Breather

Life has been hectic lately. Nothing new, but you know, hectic as in, "Doing Something Everyday Single Day of the Week and Having to Bundle Kids Into Coats and Hats and Mittens" hectic. Thinking back not too far, Friday was babysitting for friends and going to work, Saturday was work (LONG day) followed by a big girl's night out with Madeline to Elmo Saves Music at Sheas where we had front row seats (which meant that she couldn't see and stood on my lap bladder throughout the entire performance) but all in all a fun day. Pictures on Flickr. Sunday was lots of cleaning and then dinner at Mr. JuJu's parent's house. Monday was spent at the Buffalo Marriott Niagara in a meeting for work. Tuesday was groceries and haircuts for the kids and today is: NOTHING. Ahhhhh.

Except later when we need to take Julian out for new shoes since he ruined his jumping in mud puddles, which he KNEW BETTER THAN TO DO. But it's a trip to Target, so no big problem.

I have a week long paid vacation coming up (WOO!) on March 16th which I am trying to fill with doctor appointments, home organizing and a trip to visit my family for Easter. The last trip left me feeling like I never want to travel with these kids again. They were sick, crabby, didn't sleep and cried quite a bit in the car. Mostly the baby...but enough for my nerves to retaliate against me and make me miserable. I also got a kidney stone in the car on the way there, which didn't exactly help matters.

So anyway, any tips for traveling happy with the under 3 set? Julian does great aside from the occasional "are we there yet?" bullshit. He can watch DVDs and play Gameboy and be fine. Madeline does pretty well as long as she has copious amounts of food and drink, so mainly it is Andrew who cannot understand why he needs to be strapped down for close to 4 hours without being able to move.  Discuss.

Off to mop the floor. Some breather that was.

23 Backwards

So, I know your birthday was yesterday, and I know that I am a total jerkass for not acknowledging it here, but come on, really...did you expect me to? Ok then. With that said, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY LOVE!

I know you don't expect too many people to remember, or to send cards, or to call, but the truth is that you are important to so many people. If I remembered to send a card to everyone that I cared about on their birthday? Good god, we'd be knee deep in postal debt. You make the world a better place by being alive, as cliche as it sounds, and I don't know what we'd do without you. I DO know that I'd get those fluorescent bulbs out of our lamps faster than a jackrabbit on a date...and maybe the ice cube trays would always be filled...and we'd have 97% less shoes in the house, but really...we'd never manage alone. Who would make silly songs about our Big Fella, and who would blow our driveway? Who would kill the spiders and who would buy all of the books that I steal and read?

You are an awesome daddy, who gets the kids fed and cleaned up and put to bed way more often than I do, you've stepped up so I can get out and go to my new job, and you don't complain when I spend a third of my paycheck on trips to Tim Hortons on the way there. You miss happy hours with co-workers and countless free tickets to games so that I can feel like I am helping our family. You fill the gas tanks and the wiper fluid so I don't have to stand in the cold.

Ok, enough sappy crap. Happy Birthday. Maybe we'll get to that birthday wish one of these days :)

ok...the naked Ron Jeremy picture was scaring you away, I apologize. It's gonzo.

My Last Baby Turned One, I Have no Words

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I Mean, They Look Like Little Maggots Anyway, So Who Would Want to Eat Those?

Yo! We have new carpet in our livingroom and our bedroom! It's so pretty and new and clean and I want to just go and lay on it and maybe lick it even, but I won't. That'd be one step too far and I am not the one-step-too-far type. That'd be my husband. Maybe he'll lick it.

As for the mess? It sucks. I have little itty bitty pieces of carpet fibers all over the house. It's really awesome that I can't vacuum them up because the kids are napping and even more awesome that the baby thinks they are some sort of food, food that I spread all over the house just for him (HOW LUCKY!) and I have to either keep him off of the floor or hold him all day until I can get this mess cleaned up.

Trick or treating tonight, are you excited? I know I am. What are your kids going dressed up as? What about you? My costume has been on all day long, I am going as a zombie who had a kidney stone last night and had to take two pain pills for the pain to subside and now I am really looking HOTT with the no sleeping and the pain pill bloodshot eyes and swollen face. Also my kids are going as Sick, Sicker and Sickest.

Halloween at our house ROCKS.

Girls Are (Still) Complicated

Madeline is trying to put her big-girl underwear on over her jammies....

"Mads! Those are big girl underwear for big girls who go on the potty!"

"YES!"

"Do you want to wear those and go potty today?!"

"YES!"

"OK! You have to take your diaper off so we can-"

"Ohhhhh. No."

Girls Are Complicated

"Do you need a hug, Madeline?"

"No. Go away."

"I'd really like to give you a hug...I'll wait here for when you're ready, ok?"

"No. Go cry. Go in Mommy's room and cry. C'mere Kitty! I want to hug you!"