Curdled milk and stuff

To all of Joshua's British Columbian Family Members Only Fan Club I apologize that there haven't been any new photos in the last three days (though I promise...Joshua looks pretty much the same as he did on Sunday :) Now that Rob's back at work, I'm finding that spare time doesn't belong in my vocabulary any longer. If, on any given day, I decide to do the dishes and a load of laundry (which I always do) and to nap when the kids are napping (which I grudgingly do) I find myself with approximately 30 seconds of free time every 24 hours. Okay, maybe a little more. The reason I'm typing this now is because I'm not sleeping....because Rob's not at home to tell me to go to bed. :)
ANYWAYS, this morning I was giving Ellie her cup of warm milk (she always starts the day with one) and for some reason (maybe because the milk expired today? I tasted it...it was fine, honest!!) was thinking, "I wonder what it would be like if Ellie threw this all up while Joshua was screaming his head off wanting to be fed?" Random thought, right?
Not even half an hour later, Ellie coughed. And a little white curdle came out. And then she coughed again (mostly just because I had a concerned look on my face and she loves to be dramatic). And another little curdle came out. So I brought her to the washroom and said, "Any more in there?" And the whole cup of milk came out...in curdles, of course. It was quite a sight. :) But hey, it was on my linoleum! Ellie was a trooper. I just held her leaned over and said, "See? It's just like when Joshy throws up! Keep coughing till you're all done! Good girl!" And in between coughs she'd say, "Spit out like Joshy!" (with enthusiasm like this was a treat) and at the end, "All done!" And she marched off and asked for a waffle for breakfast. Hehe. So anyhow, that was kinda weird. Josh was sleeping, though, so the screaming-his-head-off part of my premonition didn't pan out. And she's absolutely fine. And ate and drank like a horse the rest of the day! Go figure.

Let Chaos Reign!

So yesterday when Rob went out to a meeting I had my first real run at a lunch time on my own with two kids. I realize that a lot of you out there have done this whole two-kid thing for a long time, or maybe even a three-kid or twins or triplets thing! But for me this is a whole new ball park.
So here I am. We just got home from grocery shopping. Joshua was hungry. So I set some water on the stove to boil for KD (yeah, resorting to KD already!) and sat down to nurse him. During this time Ellie pulled out two boxes of cereal to munch on (thankfully no upside down boxes...this time) emptied out most of my Tupperware cupboard, and dumped her entire box of alphabet magnets on the floor. In the kitchen, of course. Where I'll be cooking next. I tried putting Joshy down in his bassinet, but he was gassy, so I continued to hold him upright as I cooked our gourmet lunch. Everything was going quite smoothly (I didn't trip on anything or burn anyone) until it was time to put the drained noodles back in the pot. Yeah, I mostly missed the pot. Ellie, bless her heart, thought this was awesome. She crawled up to the mess chanting, "MMMM! Noonoos an' cheese!" and I said, "Ellie, you go for it. Can you help mommy clean up the mess?" And she was delighted to help. And proceeded to eat half her lunch off my...relatively clean floor. :) My mother-in-law has kindly told me before that the average kid eats at least a couple pounds of dirt before they're grown. Or something like that. Ellie is now has a good head start.
So tomorrow is my official first day on my own. Should be exciting. Any tips from experienced parents out there??

There Mommy goes again....

Whenever I'm in what the experts call the 'quiet alert' state between feeds and napping, Mommy pulls out the camera and goes totally nuts. I'm happy just as long as I get to stare out the window. Everyone seems to be pretty excited about the fact that I have been "delivered" and can now wear the shirt that Auntie Leila bought me for Christmas, before I was born. Thanks Auntie Leila for buying me boy clothes so I don't have to wear pink!

Life

Pee Parties and Shoes

I think I've already mentioned that Ellie plays as though her life depends on it these days. Her very favorite activity (aside from playing doctor) is having "pee parties". She gets a little wet, but she's learning how to drink from a cup and mommy gets stuff done in the meantime. A true win-win situation!

Here's Ellie getting ready to go to the library. :)

And at last! She decided it was time to have a snuggle with her baby brother "Doshy". It looks as though she's about to strangle him, but she's actually leaning in for a kiss. This was a very moving moment for this mama. Josh remained fast asleep.

Day 6 (yeah don't worry...I'll only do the day-by-day thing for one week. I think.)

Day 5

Daddy son moment.

Mommy-son moment.

Gas smile!

Joshua's classic cross-eyed wonderment look.

He stared at that bright spot on the wall for a loooong time.

I can't believe how big my little girl is!!

She just plays....

and plays.... (yeah, those are Mr. Potato head pieces stuck in her face)

...and plays! (Joshua's sleeper didn't quite fit.)

My cutie pie.

Joshua: Day 4 (first hair wash and TV watch)

Joshua: Day 3

My hands are both free!

Since this is a bit rare, I thought I'd make the most of it and actually type something. Things around here are going really really good, considering the tremendous life change that took place this week. We have thus far been blessed with a baby who sleeps the most at NIGHT! Huh! (Didn't expect that one). This of course can change, but in the meantime I am loving it. Not that I'm getting all that much sleep anyways. The post-labor contractions from this pregnancy have been somewhat excruciating, often keeping me awake. Even still. I lie there and thank the Lord that at least I have a sleeping baby and soon I will sleep too. Joshua is a sweetie pie. He is melting people's hearts all over Steinbach (well, at church and at my parents' place anyways). He eats like a champion (even keeping up with my psycho milk let-down) and well...pees like one too, I guess! (He's already nailed Rob smack dab in the face with his fountain of pee.) Ellie is taking her new role as a big sister in stride. She mostly ignores Joshua and plays as usual (although has become strangely independent in group settings) but will come and kiss his head if he's crying and asks where he is when he's not around.
There is a lot of peace in our house right now. I can't totally tell if that's because we're too tired to do anything but talk in hushed voices and move slowly, or if it's the grace of God. I think it's the grace of God. Having Joshua makes everything feel very full and wonderful.
It sounds as though Ellie may bust through her crib any second. I better go tell her that she's napping till she's 4 years old so she may as well give in and go to sleep. Talk to you next time I have two empty hands!