Storytime

Yep, that's my (barely) three year-old reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Now if she'd only use a toilet. I just don't get it. Reading is WAY harder than peeing in a ceramic bowl.

Team XY Has a New Player

Well folks, it looks like Katherine is going to have a brand new baby brother. Casey finally has someone on his team. The poor guy was outnumbered three to one. Even the cat's a girl. And to prove it, here are some photos of the pictures they gave me. No "boy" shots though. I can't embarrass my son with naked baby pictures even before he's born. So here's a profile (kind of....more like a 45 degree angle)

and a foot (those toes look like mine incidentally...aren't they pretty?)

and one of me that I took this morning looking nice and pregnant (this is Week 23 by the way).

Antidepressants, Anyone?

So my emotions have been all over the place, which is normal when you're cooking a baby in your oven. Everything is either hilarious or so sad I cry for hours. I feel like a crazy person and poor Katherine must think her mom hates her because she leaves her shoes on the floor and then I flip out.

I saw a commercial a month or so ago (before we told anyone we were having a baby, which is why I'm telling this story now) and it made me cry. Not just a quick sniff and a teary moment, but I was completely blubbering. This commercial is on all the channels practically all the time, so whenever I see it, I have to change the channel. Anyway, Katherine saw me and my fire hose impression and she came over to console me. She put her little hand on my knee and looked purposefully into my eyes. "It's all right, Mommy. Cymbalta can help, because 'pression hurts."

You know, she DOES want to be a doctor when she grows up, so she's on the right track I guess.

10 things you probably don't know about me

10.) I am allergic to squid.

9.) I'm named after my dad.

8.) I am a compulsive msn games player. Love that Bubble Town!

7.) I am not left-handed, oh wait, yes I am! So that also means I kick, bat, throw, crochet and open pickle jars left-handed, too.

6.)I am (very slowly) writing a novel. I have seven pages!

5.) I eat cranberry sauce straight out of the can, even when it's not Thanksgiving.

4.)I only have one dental filling. That single cavity was a souvenir of my pregnancy with Katherine.

3.)I can't curl my tongue.

2.)I have a toe ring that I've worn for 10 years. I even have a ring-shaped dent in my toe.

1.) I am pregnant! Baby number two is due May 2010. Surprise!

Discipline

So, this morning Katherine wonked her head on the wall and (this is a shock to nobody) was unhappy about it. After she calmed down enough for me to understand what she was saying...

Kirsten: So, what happened?

Katherine: The wall bite me!

Kirsten: The wall bit you? Wow that's serious. What should we do? (At this point I was expecting a response like, she wanted a hug or wanted to go play or something.)

Katherine: Wall needs a time out! (then she started waggling her finger at the offending bit of wall)

I think the wall might still be in time out. Katherine is a strict parent.

Compassion

Yesterday, Casey had a long day at school and so he called to let us know he'd be home late. I was putting dinner in the oven so I switched on the speaker phone and handed it to Katherine so she could tell Daddy about her day while I was finishing up. Somewhere along the line, Katherine dropped the phone on the rug. She seemed quite flustered and hollered into the phone, "Daddy, are you ok?" It's nice to know that she worries for her father's comfort when she drops him on the floor.

For the Benefit of Katherine's Aunt

In all its festive glory, I now present to you, Katherine's pumpkin-carving experience and her Halloween costume. She's dressed as Thumbelina or as she likes to call it, "Bumblebee-nah."

Silly me, I forgot to buy a candle for the jack-o-lantern, so I used my "Tropical Breeze" scented candle. So trick-or-treating at my house was an aromatherapy experience! Too bad we didn't get any trick-or-treaters. More chocolate eyeballs for me, I guess.