Memoir

Has my brain atrophied?  I was looking back at this blog last night... three years since my last post!  Not possible!  People speak of the onset of "Mommy brain" as if it's a sudden transformation that occurs when you see that little blue plus sign on the stick, but I'm beginning to think it's more like a very slow, subvert degenerative disease.  I go through our daily tasks and appointments and by the end of the day have little energy, physically or intellectually, for anything more than a glass of wine and the Real Housewives of some godforsaken place.  Wow, that was a depressing paragraph, can you tell it's January and we haven't seen the sun for the better part of two weeks?

I so loved re-reading all the memories I had wiped clean to make room for mundane details of the current version of our lives.  I vow to force myself to make time for writing once again!  I'm blown away by the amount of amazing moments I have forgotten in three, four, five short years.  I don't want to forget the amazing anymore.  I love our life too much to let it go.  This is our family memoir.

Everyone is three years older since my last post... three years smarter, three years sassier, three years taller.  An anecdote for each child:

The other day Maggie had the flu and apparently it caused her to time travel to the 1950s.  jeepers and gee whiz    When showing her a particularly cool bit of science on the internet she exclaimed, "Jeepers!" and slinked back to bed.   Jeepers?  Where did she even hear that word let along hear it to be able to apply it appropriately.  A few hours later she was rolling her eyes at something her sister did, I'm sure it was soooo annoying, and exclaimed, "Gee Whiz!"  Again, I ask you, what bobbysoxer has been in my house teaching my kids arcane white-bread slang?  

On to Catie, this one is far more succinct.  While eating dinner the other night she asks, "Mom, how old do you have to be to wear a jet pack?"  I look at her.  She's completely serious.  She therefore deserves a completely serious reply.  "50 years old," I tell her, my face as straight as I could possibly maintain.  Never mind the fact that a jet pack is not really an actually "thing"... I love that she thinks about alternate forms of transportation.  

Nature

Ever see a duck get molested by five suitors at the same time?  I have.  I have also seen two very nonchalant deer walk down my driveway from about fifteen feet away.  I have also had a giant effing bullfrog scare the daylights out of me while raking leaves.  Oh, and I've had to watch my husband pull a bloody dew-claw off my dog after she sustained the injury while frantically circling two ducks in our pond.  And as I type this I think I'm watching two squirrels flirt (although they may be trying to kill each other, i'm not really sure).  I love this property and all it's creepy inhabitants.

The Utmost Authority on All Things

Ah, Catie... you are the most wonderful thing.  You make me feel like the smartest person in the world!  Every statement of fact you make turns into a question by adding just one little word to the end... right?

"Mom, Maggie is going to get in trouble if she doesn't wear her helmet, right?"
"Mom, I like M&M's, right?"
"Mom, we don't want to show any friends our tushey  at school, right?"  Wait, what?

After all, when you don't know, ask an expert... even when you do know actually.  Just another three-year-old moment, sure to be gone by the time she turns four. Sigh.

Goin' to the Chapel and We're Goin' Get Married....

Catie has been very concerned lately with figuring out the identity of whom she will marry.  Her short list of candidates includes, Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa, Papa Gary, Sissy, and Chandler.  This weekend, while perusing the aisles of a local antique store, the topic of marriageable individuals came up once again.  After listening to the faults of each of the aforementioned candidates, she was starting to get frustrated.  Pointing to the elderly man in the next booth she growled, "Fine, can I marry THAT guy then?!"  So desperate, so young.

I finally caved and told her she could marry me.  "Good Mom!  Because we are in love, right?"
Yes Catie, we are very much in love.

Sisters

I don't have a sister, but my daughters do.  From the moment we found out we were having a second daughter I have been so excited to witness their relationship, and now that they are both talking, walking, and full-blown people, it's really getting good.

Yesterday the big sister figured out how to give the little sister piggyback rides.  Both sisters could not have been more proud of this feat of strength.  Then there was the cartwheel marathon, first one tumbling girl, then the other, then repeat about 50 more times.  Then the sweet, random hugs while dispensing M&Ms from the candy machine.  And then came the puking.  Yes, after a fun filled day o play - the older one got sick (just in time for the babysitter - which was generously cancelled by an empathetic Mom and Dad). 

You would think all the grossness would make the younger one run for the hills, but no - the younger one was so concerned for her older sister that she kept trying to climb into bed with her.  I would say she just wanted attention like the pukey one was getting from us, but I don't think that was it.  I think she felt lonely.  She had just spent all day playing with her best buddy and now she had to play with her parents.  Boring.

After being sequestered to separate bedrooms all night, Catie woke up and asked me, "Is Sissy still sick??"  When I told her, "I'm not sure yet honey, she thinks she feels a little better," she said, "I hope she's better, I don't have anyone to play with."  I tried to suggest that I would play with her but that idea was unacceptable, "No Mom, I want to play with a little kid!!" 

I don't mind being second string playmate, nothing could make me happier.