Here I am.

I'd love to be posting... .really.

But getting internet time here is, well, not really possible.

1. I have better things to do... like write thank-y0u notes.
2. I can't be online because Hot Stuff might be getting a call to go to a fire and we are using dial-up.
3. Did I mention we are using dial-up? Dial-up sucks. Do you know how long it takes to post with dial-up?
4. I've gone somewhere EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Really. I'd like to stay home but I have so much to do. Today we are off to the park to have a picnic with the cousins & Nana and then we are stopping at Ben Franklin to drop off Sweet Boy's Smokey Bear posters... I've been promising him we will get them shrink-wrapped so he can hang them on the wall. Yesterday I went to church (me, alone, with the two small ones.... I got a lot out of it), the grocery store & then we went to the water slide with Nana & the cousins.

Life is..... Busy.

Darling Girl is, well, perfect. She learned how to spit up a little bit this week and she's trying to master the pacifier. Her fingernails grow with lightning speed. She's a champion nurser and a world-record caliber pooper. Seriously. That sweet pink bundle can take a Pampers to maximum capacity in about 12 minutes. And she's started making cute noises (as opposed to smelly noises) and she's getting chubby cheeks. She's in that cute phase between scaly-lizard-baby (last week) and little pimple nose with cradle cap (next week). Gosh, I should take some pictures.

Sweet Boy is handling things pretty well. He is two. He has figured out he can pretty much do whatever he wants when the baby is eating. Yes, the naughty chair is in no fear of getting dusty. We've had a few serious trials but for the most part he's still sweet. And only a few stellar parenting moments.... like the night he slept with us because he was scared of bad dogs..... (What? He LOVES to watch Fear Factor with his dad.... he likes the helicopters & car crashes.... how was I to know that episode would have attack dogs on it???) He really loved going down the water slide with his Auntie yesterday. Perma-grin.

I'm holding up. It helps that this kid sleeps for fairly consistent 3-hour stretches at night. I try to keep her awake in the evenings and then nurse her into oblivion between 9-10 pm so I can get a solid chunk of sleep between 10-1 or 2. It's the best we can do right now. I've never been able to do that "nap when the baby naps" thing... I'm not a good napper. And it never fails that someone calls or shows up the second I flop down on the couch. Fortunately, she's not a screamer so I can nurse her in the middle of the night without really ever fully waking up. Love the co-sleeper bassinet. Worth every penny for us.

So far the "gift I thought I wouldn' t use that I now love" is the swaddler-blanket. It has a pouch for the feet & legs and some velcro things to keep the baby in. A little tiny yellow straight-jacket... what could be better? Darling Girl doesn't love having her arms swaddled so we skip that part but I love knowing her tiny little toes are covered up at night.... the girl is a squirmer.

And now she's squeaking.... must go.... back in a few weeks.....