Catch up.... or not?

I have been wanting to post forever, but I feel like there is so much to cover. Here is just a smidgen:

--the wicked Billy Joel concert we attended

--Christmas/New Years stuff--goodwill and resolutions and all that stuff

--The trip to Park City

--Our awesome trip to Disneyland

--The sewage saga. Will it ever end? Who knows.......

--MLK Day. I have some strong feelings about this. Apparently not strong enough.

--being pregnant

--our impending minivan purchase

--Jacob resisting potty training unless he gets "Diet Coke" as his potty treat

--The "I promise it is coming" Down Syndrome post

--Norah's development and health--new big and scary stuff coming down the pike

--The other children (yes, they exist and are pretty funny)

--Our visit with Jacob's family

And the list goes on. I want to post about these things b/c this is my journal and I don't want to miss recording these things. I feel like I need to sit down and write a BIG entry about it. When that doesn't happen, it just doesn't get done at all. Maybe this is like what they always tell you about scrap booking (not that I do that either). Just start where you are.

So, where we are today is pretty mellow. Yesterday I got a pedicure and had lunch with my dear friend Suzi (who will forever remain blog-less, which is sad b/c she has a LOT of great things to offer). Red toes and all the Thai food I could eat, and these days that is a lot. Yum. It was very good for my soul. I had hoped that it would mean I would come home and be motivated to attack the laundry, before it attacked me. Sadly, all it made me want to do is take a nap. So I did. Today the laundry and I are going to have a little talk.

It is still raining here and it hasn't been above 50 degrees all week and apparently it won't go above that for the next week or so. Now, I know that many of you are languishing in the snow and much colder temperatures than that. You are shoveling driveways and scraping cars. That stinks, it really does. But frankly, I don't want to hear about it. If you live somewhere with snow you EXPECT it to get cold there, so you own things like coats and scarves and shoes that require socks. There is a reason why I live where I do. I want to be able to take my kids to the park all year long. I don't want to bundle them into long pants, shoes, coats, etc, etc. Everyone here pays approximately one hundred kajillion dollars to live here. The thing that we always tell each other to make us feel better about the fact that no one has a yard and that we will always live in a condo is "well, the weather really is great... and you can't beat the parks". When the weather is cold and rainy, we all start to get a little bit bitter about our rent/mortgage payment. There isn't enough room in my house for Jacob to get his wiggles out. That is why, right now I am letting him cut apart a bag of peperoni with scissors while watching "Buzz Lightyears". What else is he supposed to do? (OK, relax, I do entertain him and they are not big kid scissors, I am just making a point).

OK, I just felt guilty enough to send him out to the back porch where he is now playing in the rain and rotting leaves. MUCH better.

Actually not. It is 15 minutes later and he has returned covered with a strange silvery, glitter like powder. Let's hope it isn't toxic. I better go investigate and decide if I need to call poison control yet again.....

Whew, it was only (only!!) Lauren's makeup kit. And there is lip gloss involved too. Good times.

Don't think that I am being a downer or am grumpy, I actually am not. Things are going pretty well. I am feeling great. I don't think that I am too big, pregnancy wise. I have gained more than I would have liked, but that is because I never stop eating, so it is only to be expected. In fact, right now, we are eating a breakfast of baby back ribs. They are leftover from a football party last week. I toss the almost cleaned bones to Norah in her chair and Jacob (when he isn't cutting the peperoni) at the table and they clean off the bones for me. EVERYONE WINS. Norah has even rubbled some bar-b-que sauce in her hair. This should make brushing it out later a little bit more fun. Have you ever brushed sauce out of a 6 inch afro? It is slightly more fun than cleaning the closet and less fun that wrestling a bobcat. Come on over if you want to give it a shot.

I have a great babysitter who loves my kids. I trust her with them and they love her. She is black and does great things with Norah's hair. There is only one tiny problem. She only shows up half the time. Other times, she shows up on days that I didn't schedule her. We have liked her so much we have not been too harsh about it, but that has to change. I keep missing doctor appointments and have to scramble to reschedule and find last minute sitters. I hate doing that. So, back on the nanny hunt. The irony is that we pay top salary AND we used an agency to find her. We aren't trying to nickle and dime here. We want to pay someone that will stick around, love our kids and compensate them in a way that makes them have some loyalty to us. Here comes the irony, NO ONE WANTS TO DO IT!! My standards are very low. In fact, I told the agency that I was looking for someone who would 1) show up and 2) keep the kids alive. I told you. I would have thought that low standards and top dollar would be a winning combination.

You might wonder why I need a nanny. That is a good question. Almost everyone I know has as many (or more) kids than I do and they do it all by themselves. Some of them even manage to start businesses and do artistic things like paint or sew on the side. That amazes me. I have been accused of not wanting to spend time with my kids and even "why did you have kids anyway if you aren't going to spend time with them". To those people I always want to answer "Surely you know it is because I hate children". But I don't. I WANT to, but I don't. I have a nanny for many reasons. Not that I need anyone's permission or give to much thought to what others think, but I might as well put it out there. First of all, I never thought that I would be the SAH mom that had "help". I made fun of those moms. And like everything else I made fun of as a youngster, I have become it. At the beginning of the summer I found myself in a situation where I needed to be at least two places at once and NONE of those places was appropriate for children. Add to that the fact that the children needed to be places too, it just became clear that there wasn't enough of me to go around. I hired my fantastic "manny" for the summer (Hi, Julian) and I was hooked. Julians job was to make Jacob tired, mostly. He could have Norah on his hip and chase Jacob and take them swimming and on walks and basically occupy him while I went to various appointments and took Lauren to her camp/lessons, etc. It was heaven. Soon we moved back into our house and I still found myself needing to be in more than once place at once. Between myself and Norah, there are a lot of doctors to see. When the new one shows up she will have more appointements and theapies than the rest of us put together. Hence the nanny. Also, I consider it the ultimate luxury to go shopping (I am talking Target/Safeway shopping, not fun stuff like mall shopping) without children. It makes me happy. THAT, my friends is why I want a nanny. We are lucky that my husband's job provides us with enough income to provide this luxury. We are UN-lucky in the fact that he is not here from the hours of 4:00 am to 6:00 pm daily, and often travels. I also have house cleaners, but that is a post for another day...

So, that was long and rambling but it is the state of affairs in our home these days. We are crusing along. I am feeling the itch to be more creative, to sew or to read. This might be nesting (I am not the type that wants to clean when nesting....).

I also miss my blog. I haven't done it for a long time and there have been some great stories. When I walk into my kitchen, the computer looks at me like a neglected pet. Then I feel guilty ad yell at it and walk away.

I have been reading blogs and feel like I am totally caught up in blogland........ so that is something.

I'll be back soon. I promise.