Sunny day in Monterey

Our family:
Our cousins Anne, Josie and Conchita (and Maggie too):
Josie gives Audrey a flower:
Me & Audrey:
Maggie surveys the skies:

Monterey Aquarium

Audrey makes the plastic fish swim:
Maggie touches a real sea star:

Audrey stands under an ocean wave:
Sea jellies:
Watching the fish swim by:

On the road

Welcome to my first mobile blog entry. I'm sitting in the minivan racing up the 101 at 70 miles an hour with my laptop connected via a wireless card. Yeah, I'm fancy.


The girls are having a great time, obviously:


Don't worry, they haven't looked that miserable the entire drive. Actually, Maggie is now napping and Audrey is watching Dumbo and blowing raspberries. Robert is driving and I'm hoping we'll see a place soon where I can get a milkshake.

A new record

Last night my insomnia was terrible. I dozed lightly a couple times but only really slept for one hour, from 4-5 a.m. I've been in a fog ever since. Actually I feel punch drunk. Earlier I was trying to decide whether to book an appointment for the girls to have an Easter portrait taken, and I said out loud (not even intending to speak out loud to myself) "Maybe I'll just take it themselves. I mean, myself. Ha ha, how many of them are there anyway? I mean, how many of me are there?" At that point I figured I'd better sit down, stop making decisions and try not to hurt myself.

I have big plans to nap while Audrey does, which will hopefully be soon.

This afternoon I have to pack for a long weekend trip we're starting tomorrow. At the moment the idea of making all those clothing and gear decisions is enough to bring tears to my eyes. Let's hope I feel...something...can't think of the right word...anyway, you get what I mean.

Another blue ribbon outfit

Maggie describes her art

"It's a maze, a special maze. Those are circle mushrooms. That big yellow thing is popcorn. The little yellow thing is a spider, and his name is Margaret. One part is a cuts, that's a kind of scissors. That purple thing is a tess, that's a kind of roller. And the sun is going down, and the rain is coming down. The red thing is a pel, that's a color for paper. That's a cell-coop, a kind of colorful wipe with teddy bears on it. The teddy bear's name is Margaret too!"

Tired; useless

The family room looks like a toy bomb was detonated in it.

Maggie bit Audrey and I didn't make her do a time-out.

It's almost 6 and I have no plan for dinner.

Audrey isn't wearing pants.

Maggie is wearing a dress and two pairs of pants.

We're lucky I managed to put on pants myself this morning.

Let's hope she's not psychic

Maggie is making me a plastic birthday cake in her play kitchen and singing, "Mommy today is your birthday...today is your last birthday...Mommy's last birthday..."

Immersed in Audrey

I devoted the weekend to working on Audrey's baby book, which I'm determined to finish before the new baby comes. I got tired of looking through the same tall stack of photos from Audrey's first year over and over, but I'm pleased to have finished several more pages. I just need to find a few more chunks of time to get it all done.

Here is a sample. My layouts are so simple you'd think I could power through dozens of them in a weekend, but I'm a painfully slow scrapbooker.

Audrey is 21 months old

My not-a-baby-anymore Audrey is turning into such a big girl!

Gratuitous Audrey photos

My own little waitress

Maggie/Robert just left for preschool/work and I wanted a few minutes on the computer, so I got Audrey a little bowlful of Cheerios (second breakfast) and a cup of milk to keep her busy in the family room. I could hear her doing something suspicious behind me but I didn't want to look. Soon she came to me with some of the toy dishes filled with cheerios and splashes of milk she had shaken from her cup. "Here, Mommy. Breakfast, Mommy," she said as she served me numerous bowls and cups filled with my feast.

Audrey's and Mommy's morning

6:00 am: Good morning. We start the usual morning routine of eating breakfast, watching one TV show, getting dressed, brushing teeth, locating shoes, preparing lunch (for Maggie) and snacks (for Audrey). I manage to shower and get dressed. My hair looks okay. I try to ignore how pale and tired I look in the mirror.

8:00 am: Departure. Two hours sounds like a long time to get everyone ready and out the door, but despite planning and rushing I'm still behind schedule.

8:25 am: Doctor's office. Audrey and I arrive for my prenatal exam 10 minutes late.

8:45 am: Waiting. Audrey is already bored with her cup of water, Elmo notepad, stickers and three books.

9:00 am: Still waiting. In the exam room, I weigh Audrey on the scale. 26 pounds. I weigh her approximately five more times until she gets tired of it. I also read her the three books repeatedly, make animal noises, let her rip up an old magazine, walk her down the hallway a couple times and sigh profusely. Audrey shouts exuberant hi's to everyone who walks by our room, charming the nurses and fellow patients.

9:25 am: Finally. My OB arrives for my 3-minute check-up. I strap Audrey into her stroller and ply her with a box of raisins. She is content to eat and stare with curiosity while the doctor measures my belly and listens to Littlest's heartbeat.

9:45 am: Starbucks. I order a decaf latte, croissant and coffee cake. Audrey shouts "Cake, Mama! Cake, Mama!" until her wish is fulfilled. I sip my coffee, eat my croissant and read a few pages of a book while studiously ignoring the shower of crumbs, socks, napkin shreds and drips of water spilling down around me.

10:15 am: Storytime. 20 toddlers sitting nicely (or at least that's how it seemed to me). Audrey rolling, crawling, flopping, squealing, trying to climb me like a tree, stealing the librarian's books and puppets.

11 am: Rain. I carry Audrey under an umbrella one block to where I parked. Inside the minivan I change her diaper while she performs circus tricks.

11:15 am: Blessed sleep. One of my favorite things in the world: carrying a sleeping girl from the car to her bed. They're so darned lovable when they're asleep: warm, limp, cuddly, quiet.

11:25 am: The art of denial. I avert my eyes from dirty dishes, stacks of paperwork, cascading art supplies, scattered toys, unfolded laundry, mysterious stains, blinking phone messages and other monsters lurking in my peripheral vision.

11:30 am: Relax. I sit on the couch with lunch and the remote control. I'm happy.

Our day in pictures

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Why I love having girls

These shoes are so gorgeous I want to EAT them.

If only Target had them in my size.

Warning: Someday you will see me and all three of my girls in matching dresses. I'm not proud of it, but I feel certain it will happen.

Spring in the backyard

Caught in the act

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

While I finished getting ready in my bedroom the girls were wandering the house knocking stuff over and making messes as they went. I heard them arrive in the family room, and then everything fell silent.

I came to see what they were doing and caught them red handed. Or should I say, cookie handed.

"Where did you get those cookies?" I asked.

"From that cookie box," Maggie answered innocently, pointing at the box of Girl Scout cookies I had left out the night before. Oops.

"I'm sorry Mommy," Maggie said, "but they were so delicious."

Audrey, not a guilty taste bud in her mouth, simply reached for another cookie.

Another Maggie original

As Maggie would say in her best cowgirl voice, Heehaw!

Water play

It was so warm today that we spent the whole afternoon playing in the backyard. We filled the water table with water and bubbles and the girls collaborated to make "soup" in a bucket. They spent at least half an hour dipping water into the bucket, adding toys and leaves, and stirring it with sticks. Luckily nobody minded when Audrey decided to pour the bucket out all over herself. They just started over with a new batch.

One of those moments

The nice thing about non-preschool days is that the girls and I can take it slow in the morning. They watched a TV show while I drank a cup of tea and read my book, then we had pancakes for breakfast, then we lounged around in our PJs. In the living room Maggie turned on the seldom used CD player and was absolutely delighted when "Jingle Bells" started to play. We listened to it three times in a row while they joyfully spun and danced. Maggie started dancing with a stuffed animal, so Audrey found herself a doll to dance with. I just sat and watched, blissful for the moment, thoroughly enjoying their happiness and cuteness.

Compare the hair

We haven't compared the hair for a long time.

Here's Maggie at 20 months with hardly any hair:


And here's Audrey today, looking like she's just about ready for her first trim:

My favorite meal

More than once, my family (as in my parents and brothers) has discussed what we would choose for a final meal if on death row. That's not weird, right? All families talk about it?

I'm pretty sure I would choose my favorite meal from Ruby's Diner, which was one of my favorite Pasadena restaurants for years until they closed the location (I'm still bitter). I ate many a protein and iron-rich Super Burger there while pregnant with Maggie, and today I got to nourish Littlest the same way by meeting my friend Amy for lunch at the Whittier location.

So here it is, my favorite meal and the one I want on death row (just in case):

• Super Burger (swiss cheese, avocado, beef on grilled parmesan sourdough bread)
• Fries
• Diet Coke with vanilla syrup
• Birthday cake shake

Perfection.

And yeah, sure, I've eaten my share of shmancy meals at shmancy restaurants that were wonderful, but when it comes right down to it, this kind of delicious junk food is what I want for comfort while uncomfortably pregnant (or, you know, facing execution).

Fashionista

When it's up to me, I tend to dress the girls in simple outfits most of the time. I rather like the plain look of a pink t-shirt and blue jeans, for example. But Maggie has much more adventurous taste. She has been putting together her own ensembles for a long time, but just lately she has managed some very creative outfits that she insists on wearing out of the house (previously I could persuade her to change into my choice--but no longer!). Here is today's outfit for preschool. Not something I would have chosen, but I must admit, she looks kind of fabulous!

My own personal yes-girl

Audrey is a most agreeable conversationalist. I especially love taking her shopping:

Me: "Ooh, this is pretty, isn't it Audrey?"
Audrey: "Pretty. Cuuute!"

Me: "Do we need this?"
Audrey: "Yeah, need dis."

Me: "Which kind of ice cream should we get, vanilla bean or strawberry cheesecake?"
Audrey: "Ice ceem. Ice ceem, Mama!"
Me: "You're right. Both."

Smores

Today's project

Collages! I flipped through a couple of magazines and catalogs and let the girls point to anything they liked, which I then cut out. Maggie did the gluestick work while Audrey did most of the sticking down (with me occasionally guiding her hand to spread out the images). Maggie also reserved her favorite pictures to stick down by herself.

Long days

For the third time this week Robert will be working late tonight, which means I'm alone with the kids all day and have to do dinner, pajamas and bedtime on my own. It's not exactly torture, but the long days are tiring. I've been getting a lot of contractions and my ever-present sore back at the end of most days, especially days when I've been on my feet a lot. The accepted advice is to lie down and rest when this happens, but usually it's not an option, at least for more than a couple minutes.

I get frustrated that a lot of the advice for pregnancy doesn't take into account the presence of older children. How are you supposed to get extra rest when you have a 1-year-old and 3-year-old to care for? There are a couple of books out there on "your second pregnancy" but they're not very helpful, in my opinion. I'd write one myself but it would be too hard to get anyone interested in it since I'm not an expert or celebrity. Well, not to anyone outside this blog, anyway. ;-)