Biters

What to do with my biter?
The Boy has started biting the The Baby. Let me start at the beginning.
In the beginning, The Boy harassed  Baby, who couldn't get away and would thus bite The Boy. I explained (and he seemed to understand) that Baby bit because The Boy was bugging her and she couldn't get away. I did not punish Baby for biting, because she only does it in self-defense.
Then...The Boy started biting. Hard.
I did time out, I explained. I ranted raved and generally made a fool of myself. Today he bit her IN FRONT OF ME...TWICE.
Here's where I admit to loosing it. I sent him to his room and told him it was the ENTIRE day.
Baby and I left to run an errand and within ten minutes of us leaving the house, The Boy was asleep. On the floor. In the family room. In broad daylight. He has NEVER EVER EVER done this. Ever. The Boy needs the following to get to sleep: A dark room, his bed, two pillows, 14 million blankets applied in the correct order. No lie.
I find myself asking, "What on Earth is wrong with my little boy?"
Do YOU know? 
EDIT: it has come to my attention that I ought to say in the body, The Hubs was home with The Boy when I left. :)

The Baby turns 17 Months

and you know what THAT means? ONLY ONE MONTH UNTIL CHURCH NURSERY!!!!! Not that I'm counting down or anything...
The Hubs and I are excited to learn we can have actual back and forth conversations with her. A few days ago her eye caught the animal net in the play room while The Hubs was changing her. He told her if she would let Dada put her pants on, she could get an animal down. She sat right down and let her Dada put one pant-leg on before she was up and moving again, but that's real progress! She also gives answers to questions if the answer happens to be in the affirmative, and she feels like it.
Here are the vital stats:

Words:
momma, dada, baby, no, bye, hi, thank you, me! (which means I want you have, and I want it NOW!)

Signs:
eat, more, drink, thank you, baby, no

10 teeth (she's still cutting the 10th-a molar, but it's through the gums so I'm counting it) and still no hair, but at least that's one thing more I don't have to do Sunday Morning. :)

Here's a picture of her signing thank you (and eating pizza).

My phone camera doesn't snap the picture right when I click, so I had a hard time getting the whole sign. Deal.
She loves to sing and chatters like crazy all day long!
Her favorite toys are baby dolls and stuffed animals. She also likes the ride-on car and the baby stroller. She loves to "help" momma play the piano and push the shopping cart. We cannot get her to sit still for anything! If it weren't for some very baby-centric teenagers in our ward, The Hubs and I would never hear a talk or lesson.
Happy 17th month birthday, Baby. We love you!

CONVENTION!

The Hubs and I just got our tickets and room reservations for the TusCon and I could not be more excited.

I mean, we get to MEET JIM BUTCHER! 

Could anything be cooler?

I know. We are giant geeks. But you know what they say about geeks. "Wow. Geeks are rich." And someday, I plan to be a rich geek. Actually, this convention is part of our "Become a Rich Geek Family" plan. We are going to network and hopefully find an agent for The Hubs' new book. (Crossing fingers, wishing on stars, etc)

Don't bother coming to rob us. My sister will house-sit! Plus, we don't have any stuff worth stealing, since, you know, we're not RICH geeks...yet. (Di, can you house-sit? I'll even let you throw a party.)

All joking aside, the best part of this little trip may be the part where we are NOT (under any circumstances) taking our children along. WOO HOO!

Blood Shooting Out of My Eyes

I want to write a rant, to get off my chest everything that's been eating at me all day. But I can't because I'm still too mad at stupid people and the people who don't care that they are surrounded by stupid people. Honestly, I'm allergic to both types. 

So this is me screaming at the world: YOU CAN'T SPEND OR TAX YOUR WAY OUT OF BUDGET PROBLEMS! 

ARGGGGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH! 

Sigh. I'm going to go run off my frustrations. Just, nobody talk politics at me for a while, mkay?

The Hubs

I thought when The Hubs saw my last post, he would instantly want me to do one for him. I was wrong. His response? "I'm a writer. If I want, I can post a favorites list on my own blog".  (www.arizonamatt.blogspot.com) for those of you keeping track)
Ye-eessss, but this is our FAMILY blog. Plusandalso, more than 2 people read it.
So I made him tell me some things he likes, because I'm evil like that. I'm really hoping this list is no particular order, because I'm sad to say, I did not get top billing. Here's what did:



And then:

• Belgian Chocolate

and

especially WITH ice cream.

THEN

• Me
• The Kids
• Reading
• Programming
• Writing
• And last, but certainly NOT least: Plotting To Take Over The World.  

An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Almost every post is about the kids, which is understandable, since they ARE my world. But the recent spate of "kid-favorite" posts has lead me to the obvious question; what does Momma like? Here, my friends--or cyberspace-- is the answer.

Well, one of them. I also like

and

Now for the less obvious things.

1. Freshly shaved legs, clean sheets and silky pajamas all in the same place at the same time, preferably with 8-9 hours to enjoy them
2. Dark chocolate covered almonds
3. A shower without the possibility of child-related interruptions
4. Lifting weights and running
5. Cooking...uninterrupted
6. Reading a really good book
7. Going to school (wish I liked this one back when I had time to do it)
8. Traveling, mostly without kids
9. DRIVING! LOVE IT!
10. Throwing a party
11. Writing
12. A clean kitchen
13. All the laundry done, and put away
14. Disneyland
The End

Boy Stuff

It's time for a Boy Post. I'm all about equality in parenting...and blogging.

RECENT FUNNY STUFF:

We're driving in the car, and he starts to fuss, so of course The Baby joins in, because she's like that. The Boy says, "NO BABY! I CRYING! My turn to cry!" I could not help it. I laughed.

"Mom? Let's paint our house purple. I like purple, it's SO beautiful." "Um. Let's paint a picture of our house, and in the picture we can paint the house purple." "No mom! PAINT MY HOUSE PURPLE!"

(Interestingly, as I'm typing, The Baby just bit The Boy on the arse. THAT'S funny. )

OK. Back to The Boy.

We were watching General Conference (church) on TV and as the prayer starts, The Boy interjects with, "NO! I say the prayer! (Insert The Boy's Actual Name) say prayer!"

"Mom. I like your eyes. They are SO beau-i-ful!" Followed closely by, "Mom, I like your teeth, too."

Of course my favorite thing to hear from The Boy is, "I love you mom!"

FAVORITES:

Form of transportation: train

Vehicle: fire engine

Color: Blue, Red, Orange, Purple

Food: candy (he's three, what'd you expect? brussel sprouts?)

Book: Once Upon A Cool Motorcycle Dude and Not Too Much, Just Enough

Song: Stinky Feet aka The Going to Bed Song

Activity: Anything outside

Word: DUDES!

Phrase: Oh my stars! (Because we don't say "Oh my gosh" at our house)

The Pirate

Say it with me, "Arrrrr! Minnie!" Because he's a Disney Pirate, apparently. 

That's about it for my just-three-years-old little man. He's such a cutie!

First Words

Baby has been "talking" for quite some time, but yesterday she said her first sentence.

I went in her room in the morning to get her up and she was sooo happy, so I asked if she was my happy baby. Then all morning she sang, "HAP-py, BA-by"! And she's doing it again, today. This makes me the HAP-py MAma. :D

Here's her list of words:
mom-mom/mom/mama (that's me)
dada (the DH)
baby (herself, and sometimes other little kids)
tickle (first "real" word)

list of signs:
more
hungry
thank you (love this one)
tired

Baby, I love you. Thanks for making me smile, and sometimes laugh out loud.

The Tale of Two Lisa' s And Genes vs Jeans

I promised this story in my last post. It's an oldie, but a goody.

In first grade, there were two girls named Lisa in my class. My teacher called them Lisa A. and Lisa B. All year long I thought that was SOOO rude! I couldn't believe my teacher could be so cruel as to label them A and B.

It wasn't until third grade when they were both in my class again I realized their last names began with A and B, respectively. Sorry Miss Casper! I knew you couldn't be that mean to two perfectly nice girls when you were so sweet to me. :)

As a three year-old, I remember Dad always coming home and changing from dress pants to jeans. One day I walked into the bedroom as he was doing this and randomly asked my mom and dad why daddy had very little hair on his head. My momma said, "It's because of his jeans". So I asked the next logical question. "Why does he wear them, then?"

Thank you for joining me on this trip down memory lane. :)
Wish I had an old digital picture of me to post. Someday I'll get a scanner.