The Day Has Come

Well, I knew this day would come.  What day?  The day when Mia realized that we did not have as much money as one of her friends.  I know it's not a big deal really, but it just makes me sad.  She pointed out yesterday that Chloe was "luckier than us because she has a three story house and a fire place."  She got hysterical crying thinking about how much better her Christmas would be if we could sit around the fireplace drinking hot cocoa in our two or three story house.  She had just spent several hours with Chloe and they had hot cocoa.  I asked her if they drank it in front of the fire and discovered that Chloe isn't allowed to take food or drink into the room with the fire.  So really, all this envy was for naught.  Nevertheless, I could not convince her that although having a fire place and a larger house would be cool, they would not add happiness to her life or value to her Christmas experience.  She spent most of our half hour ride home from Chloe's house with her hat pulled down over her eyes and her hands over her ears so that she wouldn't have to hear the offensive Christmas music that would surely only remind her of how disappointing her Christmas would be without a two or three story house with a fireplace and hot cocoa to drink in front of it.  At home Shelby tried to talk some sense into her and all she kept saying was that she was so much happier last Christmas and it was because she wasn't so sad.  That was it.  She had no further explanation.  It was an endless loop. "well why was last year so much better?"

"because I wasn't so sad."

"well, why are you so sad?"

"because last Christmas was so much better because I wasn't so sad."

Right.  Huh?

Anyway,  we finally calmed her down and the only thing we could come up with was that her friends at school make her feel bad a lot.  That was about her only complaint.  Aside from saying she was "dumb and rude all the time"  which obviously she is not, but maybe these stupid kids at her school at making her think that.  I don't know.  I don't know if the issue was really that Chloe had more stuff than her - including a really cute dress that when we looked it up online was $58 with a $65 jacket - or if it was all the sugar she had with Chloe that had her head spinning, or if it is this school she is in making her think she is less amazing than we all know her to actually be or what.  She was fine today and hopefully will have a blessed and amazing Christmas spent with loving family and friends who can help her remember the meaning of Christmas and not all the stuff that comes along with it.   

Little Miss Santa Clause

It is done.  The ebay auction ended - without too much action I might add.  Gaga, Hillary and Adrienne bid basically and no one else as far as I could tell even looked at it.  I was really hoping that someone we didn't know would bid on it because a) they wanted the stuff and/or b) they wanted to help realize a sweet little girls dream, but alas, we were left with our friends and family.  Thank you and I'm sorry it was left to you dear friends and family!  The winning bidder was Adrienne Hirst with a nice big $40!  Thanks Adrienne!  Combine that with the ten dollars Mia rounded up in her room and I threw in an extra 10 to help her out at the store and she had a pretty decent stash of cash. 

Just after school we headed up to the mall to get her and Lennon's picture with Santa Clause.  I asked her in the car what she was going to ask him for and she thought for a minute and said "I really don't want anything except a cross necklace and to be with my family."  How could he say no to that?  Unfortunately I designated the cross necklace to someone else, so she won't be getting that from Santa, so we'll have to find a good way to explain that one.  Pictures went pretty well.  Not really a smile from Lennon, but he wasn't screaming either.  After that we went shopping!

Mia did a great job.  She had several ideas of what she wanted to get.  She had mentioned shoes, blankets, hats and gloves and toys.  In the end she purchased a little block toy set from Fisher Price, some cute little pink flats, Disney Princess snow boots, fuzzy warm house slippers, a sweet little touch and feel book, a set of matching hat, gloves and scarf and a nice warm pink fleece blanket called "the softest microfleece blanket"  so we thought it must be pretty soft.  :)  I pretty much let her lead the way with what she bought.  I advised as little as possible directing her away from $30 shoes and toward the just as nice but less expensive shoes.  Other than that she chose and paid for everything she wanted.  She even carried her money around with her and went up to the counter herself and checked out.  She was so cute!  I'm super proud of her.  She said at breakfast that she hopes when she grows up she will have a little girl that is sweet like her.  I think she probably will. 

The awesomest teeny carousel we've found yet.  Lennon did not want to get off.  They rode twice and then he had to be ripped crying from the steering wheel of the little train.

Mia with her booty

Night Terror Update

It seems there has been a switch in Mia's dream state activities.  While a week or so ago she was sitting up in bed or walking across the room screaming and crying out, she is now walking down the hall with sweet little messages for me.  She has not had a "night terror" or whatever they were in over a week, however she has on three or more occasions woken up and walked out into the living room - clearly still asleep - and given me something she had in bed with her or last night it was a singing teddy bear.  She opened her door, walked decidedly down the hall toward me and held out the bear as if I had ordered it.  I asked her what was going on and she sort of shrugged.  Then I asked if she was dreaming and she said "yes."  She told me she was dreaming about me and when I asked what about me she said "that you are the bestest mommy in the whole world."  Now, I don't know, but it seems clear to me that my change in attitude/behavior toward her is paying off.  I hate to think that I have that much power over her, and maybe I don't, but there has clearly been a weight lifted off of her and the only thing in her life that has changed is me.  She's such a sweetie pie.  

On a crappier note - I am soooo pissed at JC Penny!  I ordered this sweet little black pick up truck for Lennon over two weeks ago and they promised Christmas delivery and I just found out last night that I will not be receiving it by Christmas at all.  At the earliest we would get it by January 31!  How ridiculous is that!!!??  I am going to cancel my order with them and reorder it directly through Little Tykes.  I don't know what we will do about Christmas morning yet.  It was pretty much the only thing we got for him aside from a $5 Elmo movie.  I have had really bad luck with ordering stuff online.  I am also angry with Target, but I won't bore you completely with that story.  Lennon is taking such sweet naps the last couple days!  Go Lennon!!

One down

Here's Mia proudly showing off her missing tooth.  The new one is clearly visible already.  

I was just thinking about her losing this tooth and how her smile will look so different from now on as she loses more and more teeth and gets all her big girl teeth and I remember having this conversation with a co-worker back in Colorado when Mia was teeny and just about to get her first tooth.  She had a daughter the same age and she remarked that once they get their first tooth their little baby toothless grin is never the same.  My how time has flown since then.  I can't believe she was ever so little.  I wish I could freeze her and never let her get any older.  

A Little Magic and a Little Disturbing

First, the magic.

Mia finally lost her first tooth.  All her classmates and friends have lost several teeth by now, but Mia's have been clinging on until today.  Last night she bit into an ear of corn and it dislodged it for the most part, but she knew that if the tooth fell out at school she would get a special ring that opened up for tooth storage to wear for the rest of the day.  So, she waited it out and sure enough the tooth came out at school today.  I asked her to tell me what happened and this is the story I got.

"Well, I asked if I could go to the bathroom and I went to the bathroom.  And I pooped.  And I washed my hands and then I stuck my hand in there and wiggled it around and then I just twisted it and it came out."  

I was happy that she included the part about washing her hands.  :)

She was pretty excited and said she couldn't wait to go to sleep so that the Tooth Fairy could come.  Apparently Kendra aka Keke told her that one time the Tooth Fairy brought her a whole bag of toys.  I told her that was not usual and that she would probably get a quarter or a dollar or something.  It was pretty cute seeing how excited she was.  I was excited too cause it seems like we've been waiting on loose teeth forever now, but now that it's happened I'm a little sad.  It's just another reminder that my little baby girl really is growing up.  Tonight she said she didn't want to grow up and I of course told her that she didn't have to.  Yea!

Now, for the disturbing part.  A little recap of our bedtime conversation.

"Santiago in school, he said he has a friend who thinks I'm hot."

"What?"

"Santiago's friend said he thinks I'm hot."

"That doesn't make sense.  Are you food?"

a little giggle.  "No, it means like beautiful or pretty."  

I'm thinking "seriously?  at age 6?  this is starting already?  HOT?  is someone seriously using that word to describe my sweet little baby girl?"  But what I said was more like "well.  That's not really a kid word.  Next time why don't you tell him that doesn't make any sense and did he maybe mean that you were pretty.  and then say thank you."

She agreed with me and wondered why they would use that word to describe a pretty girl when it really only has one meaning - that being hot as in fire or a stove.  Then she wondered if maybe Santiago's friend could have been eighteen cause then he wouldn't really be a kid and he could use the word.  I just changed the subject.  She's a baby and babies are not "hot."  Oh, this world we live in.  Sometimes I want to give it a good slap.  :)

So, right now Mia is drifting off to sleep with hopes of waking up with money under her pillow for her very first lost tooth.  Sweet dreams Mia!  

Countdown

Lennon has only three pacifiers left.  He calls them "fa."  He has been known to wander the house saying, "faaaa,"  "faaaaa"  as he's looking for it.  We have decided that we will try to just be done with them when the final three are lost.  He uses them to go to sleep at nap and bedtime and often during the day to sooth himself.  He has been doing much better though.  He did great at the gym last week without it, so I think he can learn to manage.  We'll see how it goes.  I'm nervous though.  It's not like there's no going to the store to buy another one if he loses them and then goes insane, but he's old enough now and I don't really want to deal with a three year old with a paci attached to his face all the time.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Crazy Talk and More

Last night I went in to kiss Mia one more time before I headed off to bed.  I kissed her sweet little forehead and turn toward the door.  Just before I closed the door I heard her stir and still asleep say "That's crazy talk!"  I went back over to see if she would say anything else, but she just rolled over and kept right on dreaming I guess.

This evening, Lennon had gone to bed and Shelby, Mia and I were hanging out coloring in her Star Wars coloring book.  I mentioned to Shelby that I needed to come up with some kind of manger scene craft for Sunday School.  "What's a manger scene?" asked Mia.  "You know, like a nativity scene."  I said.  "We have three nativity scenes."  At which point she got up and went over to a shelf that did in fact have two nativity scenes and one dinosaur diorama that she made in school recently.  Shelby and I both sort of laughed.  "Which one of the dinosaurs is Jesus?"  I asked.  I thought she was joking, but as soon as those words came out of my mouth it was clear by her expression that she was not.  She suddenly turned pale and looked mortified.  She buried her face in a pillow crying hysterically.  "I, I...Well, no one ever told me Jesus had to be in one.  I didn't know that Jesus had to be in it."  She's crying so hard and obviously super embarrassed at this point.  Shelby and I can't help but laugh, but we are working really hard to stifle it so that she doesn't know we are laughing.  "Honey, what's the matter?"  "It's just no one told me Jesus had to be in it."  This comedy of her not knowing that Jesus had to be in a nativity scene was too much.  I got her to laugh by telling her some really embarrassing stuff that I had done.  Plus, Shelby had some of the most horrible sounding gas this evening.  I told her she need not be embarrassed in front of us about anything.  She is so cute.  And now, she knows the difference between a diorama and a nativity scene.  We sort of tried to think which of the dinosaurs would be which Bible character with her though.  Shelby said the pterodactyl should be an angel cause he was just sort of hanging in the air above the rest of the scene.  By the way - when she first came home with the diorama she was telling me what each dinosaur appeared to be saying and she concluded that the pterodactyl was saying "hey man, I'm chill.  I'm chill."  

Lastly,  earlier tonight, I was sitting in the living room on the phone with Hillary when Mia's door opened with a certain urgency.  I thought she was coming out to go to the restroom.  She walked straight down the hall toward me, eyes wide open.  I set the phone down.  "What's up honey?  Need to go potty?"  

"I.  I...I need...I need to....Um...I..."  She's rubbing her eyes, but I can tell she isn't awake.

"What's up honey?" 

"I need to...Um...I need to lick it again."

I laugh.  "what?  what do you need to lick?"

"The top of the candy cane.  I need to lick it again."

Now, I really laugh and pick her up to take her back to her room.  "Okay sweetie."

As I pick her up, she puts her head on my shoulder and hugs me tight.  "I love you so much Mommy."  I am really tickled now.  She is too funny.  If only all her night waking/sleep walking episodes were this comical.  She does seem to be doing better.  She hasn't had a tummy ache episode since Thanksgiving and no night terrors either.  I'm doing way way better on chilling out too.  I'm meeting with her teacher next week to discuss if there could be stress in the classroom or the playground that I'm unaware of.  

What a funny little girl.  Talk about crazy talk.  She must have been psychic.  :)

Some Funny Pics

Lennon loves Shelby's deodorant and gets quite upset when we take it from him.  If we would let him, he would cover himself with it and then eat the whole stick.  What a weirdo.  

Mia made a "snowman"  out of her coat, my boots, scarf and hat and her gloves

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY 

TO 

GRANDADDY AND KELSEY!!!

WE LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH!

Feeling Sad

Our kitty, Angel, who is 8 1/2 years old was just diagnosed with diabetes.  His blood sugar was 530 in the office and it should be between 65-135.  He is also down to 14 lbs.  The last time we weighed him he was well over 20.  The vet said she could feel all the bones in his spine.  For treatment we can give him insulin injections that will be at least $50 per month plus a special diabetic formula cat food that is $25 per 6 lb bag.  I just spent $200 at the vet to find this out and get his rabies vaccination and now Lennon is in bed crying because he fell asleep on the way home from the vet and it screwed up his nap routine.  Plus, it's yucky and gloomy and rainy and freezing outside.  Send smiles my direction.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Despite the fact that Shelby left for New York today for Dusty's event tomorrow afternoon, the kids and I ended up having a really nice afternoon/evening.  After dropping Shelby off in the city we went to do a little Christmas shopping and to pick up some prized I had promised her sunday school class for learning a Bible verse with sign language.  Back at home Mia and I made some cookies and Lennon was really interested in what we were doing, so I let him pull a chair up along with Mia and he just watched as she measured and poured and mixed everything together.  While I was making dinner Mia put on The Grinch and she watched it while Lennon sort of watched it off and on in between begging me to hold him (which I couldn't because I was making dinner.)  Lennon decided he wanted to go to bed a bit earlier than he has been and I decided that that would work out nicely because Mia and I had planned to do a little Christmas craft together tonight and that would give us a little more time alone.  Oh yeah, and Lennon used the toilet again today!  So, after he was down I finished the movie with Mia and then we cut the cookies into shapes, put Christmas sprinkles on them and baked them.  While they were baking, she made sparkly Christmas tree cards.  When the cookies were done we put them on a plate and each of us got a glass of milk and we sat down by the tree to read some Christmas books.  She then wanted to fall asleep in my bed, which we sometimes let her do, and since Shelby won't even be home tonight I let her (thinking I would probably let her sleep there all night so that I won't be all alone.)  While I was laying down with her telling her goodnight she sort of tucked her feet in between my knees to warm them up.  "My feet are freezing."  She said.  "I bet there really is a child out there shivering in the cold tonight."  "Yeah."  I said.  "But we couldn't know where she is could we?"  "Probably not."  I said.  "If you saw me on the street you would pick me up, wouldn't you."  "Of course."  I said.  "I am thankful that I have a family."  She said.  Then she closed her eyes and went to sleep with me laying there thinking, "are there other little six year old girls out there that are this sweet?  Is it normal for a little girl to be thinking so much about other children out there who may be suffering?"  I don't know.   But I am thankful that I have such a wonderful daughter.  

Proper Poop Disposal

Lennon has been showing some minor interest in the potty as of late and so we have been humoring him every once in a while, with no results expected of course.  Just now he got up from lunch asked to go to the bathroom and sit on the toilet and he actually pooped in the toilet.  He was very proud of himself and he wanted to just keep sitting there trying some more.  Then when I had to put a diaper back on him he protested and pointed to the bathroom.  I told him he still had to wear diapers unless he was putting all his poop and all his pee into the toilet.  (I'm sure he fully understood that! :) )  I'm not going to get ahead of myself.  I doubt if this is going to be a regular thing by any means, but it is still cool that he did it and he wanted to do it.  We'll see where this goes.  Keep your fingers crossed.  

A Southern Thanksgiving

We had such an awesome time in Nashville this Thanksgiving.  Every other year all the Francis boys and their families head over to Tennessee for a relaxing weekend of food, football and good company.  

It has become a tradition for the kids to help Granmommy make the pull apart bread for Thanksgiving dinner.  They love doing anything in the kitchen.  Especially rolling balls of bread dough into balls and seeing who can make the teeny tiniest balls ever.

Granmommy bought a great Gingerbread House kit and Mia and Peyton had a blast decorating it Friday night.  Peyton kept looking back and forth from the box to the actual house to see if they were putting the pieces in the right places.  I only helped a little with the icing and they did a great job!  Saturday morning Dustin, LeNan, Peyton and Reagan left after breakfast to start their long car ride back to Texas.  We were sad to see them go, but happy that it would only be a few weeks before we would see them again. 

Later Saturday morning Mia, Granmommy and I went out to the movies.  There is this program called Kidtoons and on certain days they show kids movies for $3.00 per child and adults are free!  We saw Barbie in A Christmas Carol.  Mia was sooo excited to see a Barbie movie on the big screen.  This is a picture of her kissing her M & M's just before the movie.  The M& M's cost more than her ticket cost.  I know I am a nerd, but I love Barbie movies.  It was so cool to get to sit through one uninterrupted with Mia.  I cried a couple different times during the movie.  I know, I know.  

Much later, Saturday afternoon we got a chance to visit with Logan, Jennifer, little baby Campbell and some of their family as well over at their new house about half an hour from Granmommy and Grandaddy's house.  Initially Mia didn't want to go and be separated from the family, but after an hour of croquet and chases with Logan's younger brother Sean, she was ready to move in and never look back.  

After many tears and much sadness on Mia's part after departing her beloved Sean we headed over to Opryland Hotel.  It is so cool.  We love going there and seeing all the great Christmas decorations they put up each year.  We usually spend a lot more time there than we did this year, but because of our venture out to see Logan we didn't have a whole lot of time before we needed to get Lennon down for bed.  It was a great day though and he actually did really well considering how thrown off his schedule was all week.  

Sunday we got up and rushed out the door to go to Granmommy and Grandaddy's church.  Mia went to Sunday School and loved it of course.  Lennon did well in the nursery and Shelby, Kelsey, Bethany and I heard some of the best church music we had ever heard.  The band at the end played a song that would rival most pop music.  It was really good.  After church we had brunch at Mimi's.  Mia was excited that I let her order chocolate chip pancakes and Lennon ate half of what everyone else ordered.  That freakin' kid can put away some serious food!  

At the airport we asked to be on the standby list for an earlier connecting flight because the one we were scheduled on had us in DC for about three hours and not getting home until 7 45.  Well...they ended up having room for two seats on the earlier flight, so Shelby took Lennon and I stayed back with Mia to wait for our scheduled flight.  However - the earlier flight which was supposed to leave at 3 15, did not board until 5 and then sat on the runway for an additional 45 minutes before taking off.  Lennon slept the whole way for Shelby.  Poor baby was so exhausted from the long weekend.  At one point they announced that my and Mia's flight was delayed "indefinitely", but happily it arrived and we boarded by about 8 o'clock - just one half hour past when we thought we would be landing in Boston.  We walked through the door of our house just before 11 completely drained.  Mia slept most of the way home from the airport and while I waited for our bags and went straight into her bed and slept like a log.  

Now, several days later, I am soooo sooo tired.  This week has been so super long.  Traveling on Sunday was stressful enough and then Monday I wreck the car and spend the whole week dealing with that and credit card stuff and phone stuff and blah blah blah blah blah.  I need to go to sleep.  I think I will.

Like Being in The Sweetest Movie Ever

Sometimes life with Mia is like being in a scene from the sweetest movie ever.  This afternoon I had just finished talking with Shelby about how a person close to him at work had gotten laid off today.  She was a really nice girl that he had worked closely with for most of his time at CBT.  He was feeling really down and when I got off the phone so was I.  I turned to the sink to finish preparing dinner when Mia came dancing around the corner dressed in Christmas pj's and twirling and giggling with her giant nutcracker doll.  As she passed by me spinning and full of joy she shouted "Happy Christmas Mamma!"  At that moment it was abundantly clear that no matter what happens with the economy, no one can take away the things that are most important to us.  Our sweet children, their laughs, their dreams - our amazing family.  I asked her what she was so happy about and she just said "you just reminded me of Christmas because you were being so sweet to me."  I have no idea what I did to prompt her joy, but if I could pinpoint it I would do it constantly.  She is so awesome.  I truly do not deserve her.

Setting Up Early

We looked at the calendar and realized that if we didn't get the Christmas decorations up before we left for Nashville for Thanksgiving that we wouldn't have another chance to do it altogether as a family until December 13.  Sad, I know.  So, we went ahead and decked out the house this past saturday.  The kids both had tons of fun.  I was in the kitchen most of the afternoon cooking lunch and dinner and getting people snacks on what seems to be a revolving basis on the weekends when everyone is home.  I have kept up a tradition of eating a dish called chicken squares the night of trimming the tree that we always did when I was growing up.  The only difference is we call it Christmas Chicken (it is a fun way to explain the 'green and red bits' in the dish aka red peppers and green onions.)  Lennon thought all the stuff that sang and danced was awesome and Mia did an excellent as usual job putting all the decorations on the tree.  Her job was made slightly more difficult because she had to make sure none of the ornaments were low enough on the tree that Lennon could reach them.  When we pulled out the tree more than half the lights were out so we had to go buy some more and they aren't the same size bulb, but oh well.  It was a really fun day and I'm so excited that Mia now has a brother to share all the special holiday traditions with.

Mia standing proudly by her work of art.  Notice there isn't anything on the lower branches.

Lennon got this chair and brought it over to the tree so that he could stand on a chair by the tree just like me and Mia

I was a little worried about all the decorations, but Lennon seems to have taken notice of them and then moved on to his regular toys.  He likes the tree, but he stopped messing with it and pretty much just wants to look at it now.  See in this picture how you can only see the lights at the top and the bottom and the middle?  There are more lights, but they are much smaller and they don't apparently show up in this picture.  

We only had one casualty and it was a glass candle holder that was on this sconce thing on the wall.  Shelby sweetly sweeped up the mess for us.

This was the big hit with Lennon.  A singing Pooh and friends on a sleigh.  He spins around in circles laughing whenever it plays.

P.S.  Lennon has started doing the cutest thing.  If you say "Lennon say 'ha ha ha'"  He will copy back "Ha ha"  He knows it's cute too cause he gets the biggest smile on his face.  He had, I think, his first official time out today and I think Mia was more upset about it than he was.  I'm not sure he really understood what was going on.  He'll get it.  (fingers crossed)

Gaga and Jimmy's Visit

Last week Gaga and Jimmy came for a visit from monday through saturday morning.  It was super fun, but I have to say the best part for me was going to a hotel tuesday night, just me and Shelby and getting to lay around in bed and watch Ellen the next morning.  Plimouth Plantation was awesome though and I can't wait to go back and spend more time talking with all the knowledgeable people about life in colonial times.  Thanks so much for everything guys!  It was a great visit for all of us Francis folk!

Friday Mia took the day off of school for a "family field trip"  to Plimouth Plantation.  It was really cool and Gaga bought us a membership so now we can go back whenever we want for the whole year!  I'm sure Mia had a much more enriching experience here than she could possibly had that day at school.

Mia and Lennon sitting in an authentic Native American meeting house.

Sweet little baby boy napping in the back seat with his blankie.

Gaga and us sitting in front of Paul Revere's house.  You aren't allowed to take pictures inside.  This was the only shot I got, so it's not the greatest, but it's historical proof that we were there.  :)

Lennon checking out the lobster at Union Oyster House, the oldest continuously operated restaurant in America.

Mia was so brave and held the lobster for this picture.  Notice the menu in the lobsters claw.

Mia chowin' down on some pasta next to Jimmy who was reasonable and got seafood. 

Mia asked question for the first time as we were walking through this holocaust monument and I explained a little bit about it to her.  She's so awesome.

Gaga gave me lots of relief from pushing the stroller around town.

Mia showing off her reading skills to Gaga and Jimmy.

Growing Up. Me too, hopefully.

Well, Mia now has three loose teeth, none of which will come out any time soon I imagine as she does not really like to wiggle them very much.  I understand I was much the same way.  The one on top however is super loose and probably could come out any day if she gave it proper wiggle attention.  It has been loose since right around the end of kindergarten I think which means it's been about 6 months.  She came home from school today with a necklace her friend had lent her with a dragon on it.  She said her friend was a fortune teller and that this necklace could tell you which chinese animal year you were born in.  ???  Who knows.  Anyway, that brings me to - we are more strongly than ever, considering taking her out of school and doing the home school thing.  At least until we get to Austin and can either put her in a good public school or can afford a good private school.  In either case it couldn't be much worse than her current school.  We even think the lunch lady has been rippin' kids off.  I have heard more than one story about kids getting incorrect change or no change at all when the lunch lady is "out of change."  Whatever.  We are going to start looking into different curriculum and talking with different moms I know who do home school.  My biggest concern really is that Mia would hate being away from kids all day.  I would definitely need to find several other families with kids her age range to hang with during the week.  It could be really awesome.  One thing that really spurred us on to this decision was that she recently came home from school and cried her eyes out saying that she was "the most badest behaviored kid in the whole school."  And that she "gets talked to every day."  All this because basically she can't stop talking to whoever she is sitting next to.  Her teacher has moved her about a million times to try to find people Mia won't chat with.  The problem is that Mia doesn't really discriminate when it comes to kids.  She will be friends with anyone, anywhere, anytime.  If there is a kid around, she will find it and talk to it.  Also, we have noticed since she has started to school she has been less creative when at home, doing less art work, less dress up and definitely had less self esteem.  When she brings art home it is often a copy of whoever was sitting next to her in art class.  She doesn't trust her own instincts anymore.  It may seem dramatic for first grade, but I was talking with my friend Claire today and she is usually brutally honest and she said, when I asked her, that Mia was definitely "cooler"  before she started school.  She said she had never heard Mia "sass" anyone previous to public school.  I know some of that could just be her age, but I have seen nothing but negative impacts on her behavior since she went to school.  Not that she is poorly behaved by any means, but the Mia that walked into kindergarten a year and a half ago is not the same Mia we have today.  I just don't think the school environment allows her to be her full, sweet, creative, loving, vibrant, crazy, loud, energetic self.  

Concurrently, it has been brought to my attention that my being critical of Mia has significantly affected her view of herself.  I know and admit that I am hard on her.  I know that that is perfectly normal for first children etc, etc.  I didn't realize though that my criticisms of her were making her think she wasn't good enough.  So, I asked everyone at my mom's group to pray for me, I made a personal dedication to be different with her and I put up sticky notes all over the house to remind me to be patient with her.  It's not that I scream and yell all the time, it's more a constant snipping at her about everything.  Tonight she spilled a huge cup of water all over the couch.  Although this seems like no big deal it is something that I may have gotten frustrated with her about and sort of made a big deal out of even though it is just water after all.  She had also earlier today left a cup of water on the edge of the table and Lennon picked it up and spilled it all over the kitchen floor.  In both instances I just calmly cleaned it up without really saying much at all to her.  I asked her to be more careful and when I was cleaning up the water on the couch she made some comment about how it was her fault, but I told her it was just water and not a big deal.  Even as I write this I am thinking "why would I have made this silly situations seem like big deals?"  It seems crazy.  I think that over the last year I've just had such a hard time with Lennon that there wasn't much left for anything/anyone else.  It's not an excuse for bad behavior, just what I think is the root of me being such an uptight jerk.  So, if you see me being a jerk to that sweet little girl the next time you see me let me know.  Remind me of my decision and help me get back on track.  Now it's your problem too!  Thanks for your help!

The Bounce Bounce Cuddle

Lennon has started doing this really cute thing we have started calling "the bounce bounce cuddle."  He will sit in your lap, or really your stomach I guess and bounce like he's riding a horse.  He does a couple of bounces and then lays down and cuddles you for a while, sits back up and does it all over again.  It's so sweet especially because he hasn't been much of a cuddler up until now.  He will just lay there on your chest and cuddle you after bouncing maniacally on your stomach.  It's fun even right after I've eaten just because I love getting the cuddles so much.  This afternoon he was doing it on Shelby and Mia layed down next to Shelby and wanted Lennon to do the bounce bounce cuddle with her.  He sat on her and bounced and when it was time for the cuddle he leaned over onto Shelby.  He's such a cutie!

A Clean Place to Poo

Why does Lennon have to always wait for a clean diaper to poop?  Why can he not just poop in the diaper he is in.  It is as if he does not want his pee and poo to co mingle.  What a strange boy.  Just had to share.

Talky McTalkerton

In the last few weeks Lennon has become a new man.  He is so much more content, he is happy to be with people other than me, and he eats most anything I offer him.  He is also saying more and more stuff.  Yesterday at Mia's karate class he pointed out to the parking lot saying "cah, cah, cah, cah"  I'm assuming that he is just talking like a baby and not like a Massachusetts person.    

He is completely infatuated with Jimmy.  He just snuggles and hugs on him like he doesn't even do with me.  He also seemed to be into Papa when he was here a couple weeks ago.  He really does seem to prefer dudes over girls, except for me of course.

He is communicating more and more and I think he is so excited to have made a small breakthrough in that area.  He does seem to finally be finding joy in life.  I know that may sound silly, but until recently I have really worried about his discontent.  I think he finally has started to relax and enjoy his simple life.  I love him so much!  

What Happened to the Core?

All that was left of an apple after Lennon was done with it.  What he did with the seeds, I guess we'll find out tomorrow when we change his diapers.  

Lennon loves "talking" on my phone.

Here I think he is saying, "I'm sorry.  I'm going to have to take this call in the other room.  It's personal."

Twirly Twirl Baby

Lennon has recently discovered the joy of spinning around in circles and has so much fun doing it.  He does it when he sees birds, when he hears music and when he's just feeling happy.  It's soo cute, but every time I pull out the camera he stops.  He has really been such a different baby in the last two weeks.  He seems to have found peace.  He plays happily by himself, I hold him about 50% less than I had been and he is doing great.  He loves being outside and he loves hanging out with Angel.  He is saying more and more.  When he sees Elmo he says Lennon because Biance always screams Lennon when she sees him and is usually wearing something with Elmo on it so I think he is mildly confused about who Elmo is.  He is doing much better eating too.  He pretty much eats whatever I serve him now.  He definitely has his preferences, but it's soo much easier lately.  He is doing great at the gym childcare.  The first few days he cried almost non stop and would not let Donna, the childcare lady, put him down.  Now when I come in to get him he is playing happily with a toy or another kid.  It's great timing cause I'm hoping that he is equally as confidant in Nashville with the rest of the Francis family.  He has been so much cooler about going to my friends when I need to do something or if someone just wants to hold him.  The future is looking much brighter!  I think we have a happy boy now!

Make Them Stop!

Ever since Mia was about 2 she has had these off and on nightmares.  There are times when she doesn't have one for what seems like a long time and then there are times when she cries out in the night every other night or so.  About a week ago I was out in the kitchen making lunches and she suddenly screamed out.  She was screaming so loud that I was sure our downstairs neighbor could hear her.  Screaming like in a scary movie.  I ran back to her room and tried to comfort her and see what the dream was about, but typical of these episodes, she had no idea what I was talking about.  "Mia, honey, what's the matter?  Are you okay?" 

"Hmm?"

"Mia, are you scared?"

"No."  trying to lay back down and obviously not really awake even though she is no longer crying or upset.

"Mia, what's going on?  Are you sad?  Did you have a bad dream?"

"No."

This is pretty typical.  She always says she's not scared, sad or otherwise upset and that she did not have a bad dream even though any time I've gone in it's been because she is crying, screaming or both.  Tonight she said she was looking into a mirror and she saw a pit.  She couldn't tell me what a pit was and when I pressed the question she woke up and didn't remember what she had been saying.  I just hate this.  I know kids have bad dreams, but I hate the idea of anyone making my sweet little honey sad/scared/upset ever.  Especially in a dream where I can do NOTHING obviously.  I know it's just a dream, but you would have to hear these screams.  The last time I got her to tell me anything about one of her dreams right after I went in to her she said that some kids were not being nice to her.  I don't know what to do or if there even is anything to do.  I just prayed over her and laid with her until she was back to sleep.  I love her so much.  I can't stand for her to have bad dreams.  

A Nice Steaming Pile of........Spaghetti?

I wanted to make a super simple dinner tonight so that I could get out of the house with Mia to trick or treat and let Shelby put Lennon to bed and get some work done.  I bought some store pasta sauce and made spaghetti.  As we were sitting down to eat - Lennon had already started - Mia said "something smells like animal poo."  "Well Angel's been inside all day it's probably just his litter box."  I said.  Then I sat down and took a bite of my salad and noticed that I too smelled this animal smell.  It smelled exactly like zoo poo.  Then Shelby, having already taken a bite of his food smelled his plate and agreed with us.  After a few minutes of looking awkwardly at each other and inspecting the jar of sauce we decided it must just be the basil in the sauce that was making it smell like that.  "It's weird, it smells just like poop, but it still tastes good."  Said Mia.  I took a few bites and it really didn't taste bad, but I couldn't move beyond the thought.  It seriously smelled like I was eating a petting zoo.  So gross.  Now I have a giant pot of zoo poo pasta sitting in the fridge that will most likely go to waste.  So, word to the wise - Do not buy Muir Glen Organic Tomato Basil pasta sauce.  It smells like petting zoo poo.

Update

Lennon just LOVES his Auntie Jess.  When she is around it is as if I am not here.  It's such an awesome change from the usual 'clinging to the knee' routine.  He is doing SO much better these days.  He's even been letting me go to the gym and voluntarily left my arms to go to three different friends this week.  He is playing so much more independently and really enjoys dinosaur books and anything about dogs.  He was quacking up a storm tonight in the bath and moos every time he sees a cow.

"What could this creature be?" you ask

It's a wittle baby Lennon in a puppy dog towel and Mia's bath robe that he insisted on wearing after his bath.

The kids newest game to play together is hide n go seek and it is the cutest thing ever to watch them playing together.  Lennon always squats down really low to check if Mia is under his bed and laughs hysterically whenever he finds her and then runs the other direction.  She adores him.  

We were using the rest of our apples we picked with Papa and Nana to make some delicious cinnamon apples and Mia got to use a knife for the first time to help me chop them.  She was so proud and did an awesome job.  The apples were delicious and we dubbed them 'Momma Mia apples.'

A few nights ago I went to turn down Mia's bed and found this big spider under her covers right where her legs would have been.  Shelby and I captured it and in the process accidentally cut off two of her legs.  We put her in a cleaned out baby food jar and stuck her on the counter because I was going to try to figure out what kind of spider it was so that if there were more and Mia ended up with a spider bite we would know if we should worry or not.  I know, I'm crazy.  Anyway, for about three days the spider did not move at all and we assumed it was dead.  And then suddenly yesterday the spider started scampering about inside the jar.  After a while it was clear that this was a female spider.  She had laid an obvious egg sack and spun some kind of protective stuff all around it and anytime I would pick up the jar to inspect it she would rush to the sack and cover it up like she was protecting them.  It was so sad.  This morning I sent Shelby out with the jar to open it up outside so that when they hatched they could go free and maybe that poor momma spider could survive with only six legs.  Who knows.  I didn't really find out what kind of spider it was, but we did find out that poisonous spiders are highly uncommon in Massachusetts.  That made me feel better.  For a couple nights after I found it I was terrified to put my legs down into the bed without a thorough inspection!

Just Some Crazy Lennon Hair

Mia's Halloween Party

Last Friday we had a Halloween party for a few of Mia's friends.  Making the invite list was a bit of a problem because her social circle is so broad now that I knew I didn't want to handle all those kids in one night.  I decided that she could either have only school friends or only non school friends.  She chose school friends, but then I ended up inviting Nicole from Plymouth and Chloe from gymnastics too.  The party was super fun.  The craft that Mia chose out of this fun Halloween book Granmommy got us a few years ago ended up being a little too involved for the kids, so we skipped past it after a while and moved on to other fun.  It was a shame though because Shelby had spent literally hours working on the prep work for it the night before.  I was lazy and just ordered pizza for everyone which was awesome to the kids.  Then we decorated cupcakes, played pin the tail on the cat, charades and bobbing for apples.  The next disappointment was when we went to put the kids temporary pumpkin tattoos on and realized they were just regular body stickers.  Kids like stickers, but they LOVE temporary tattoos.  Then as they girls were jumping around like crazy people dancing with their glow in the dark bracelets, Angelina's busted open and spurted green glowing goo all over her costume and her face.  Some of it got into her eyes and she was pretty upset.  We put her over the sink and flushed her eyes really well with water and Shelby read on the packaging that the stuff would  most likely stain and may cause discomfort, but would not cause damage to the eyes.  After this though, the girls were all a little shaken up and decided to sit down and watch a Barbie movie for the last half hour or so of the party.  I think they all had fun though.  Overall the party was a big success!  

Mia got her apple pretty fast.

Bella going in for a bite.  One of the kids said these apples looked like poisonous apples and Shelby said "They are...Well, one of them is poisonous.  You kids just have to figure out which one."  He is such a goof!  

Mia didn't quite win this game, but she was close and had a lot of fun!

Bella, Mia, Angelina and Lila around the table decorating cupcakes.

Nicole and Mia.  The cupcakes were out of Jessica Seinfeld's book Deceptively Delicious and they were a big hit.  

Shelby working diligently on preparation for the craft.

The Finished Product

Mommy's Birthday Weekend

Shelby started things off early.  He went out wednesday night to "buy a usb drive."  Thursday morning he woke me up to a fresh cup of coffee in my brand new coffee maker.  The old one was about 6 years old and didn't grind coffee any longer and also just generally sucked off and on.  Needless to say I was pretty stoked!  My next surprise came friday night.  Shelby told me he had arranged for Jessica to come over and babysit so we could go see a movie.  I spent all day friday trying to choose a movie time that worked and was so excited that he had planned a night out and found a babysitter all on his own.  Then friday night Jess called to say she was going to be a little late.  Then about 30 minutes later when we had missed the second movie time I had chosen I got frustrated and tired and called her to say "don't bother coming, I'm just going to go to bed."  Then as I was heading off to bed at 10 30 Shelby opened up the front door and walking up the steps were my Dad and Laura!  I couldn't believe it!  I was completely surprised and it was so awesome.  So I got to stop feeling frustrated with Jess and just enjoy the weekend with my family!

We went to Smolak Farms to pick apples, drink fresh apple cider and eat some yummy apple cider donuts.  Sorry, Lennon, you're still too young for that kind of treat.  :)

Just one of the gorgeous views of the farm.

Lennon likes to make himself beautiful just like Sissy.  Any chance he gets to use her brush or try on her headbands he takes.  Here he is using Nana's blush brush to "brush" his hair.  

Nana bought Mia two beautiful new dresses and this one had a matching dress for her Samanthat doll.

Lennon taking his breathing treatment.

We had such an awesome time.  My birthday weekend was so special.  I love surprises and this was a good one.  Also, my Uncle Lew came through town and stayed with all of us sunday night.  It was great to see him and have some extra company.  Saturday morning Lennon woke up with a "wicked" as they would say up here - cough.  It sounded bad, just like last winter when he had to go to the emergency room in Texas and got a bronchialitis diagnosis.  We gave him a treatment of some albuterol and silver and by the next morning he was almost fully recovered.  It was crazy.  Sunday we went to Boo at the Zoo and met up with Claire and the kids who were wearing the most incredible home made costumes!  Afterwards we went to the mall for lunch and shopping for my new coat.  Thanks Papa and Nana!  It's awesome by the way.  Monday we did the farm thing when we got home Papa and Nana got ready and headed out for the airport.  It was so much fun and just about everyone I know called me on my actual birthday which was cool.  Thanks to everyone who made it a special day/weekend!  

Check the photos on the sidebar for even more fun pics.

Better Late Than Never

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMOMMY MARY BETH!!!

Okay, so the video of Mia is sideways because I am slightly retarded, but nevertheless, she is cute and sweet as always.  Sorry for the extreme belatedness of this message.  We recorded it long ago and I just haven't gotten around to posting it until now.  I hope you had a great birthday!  We love you!

Daddy's Little Girl

Shelby was leaving to go up to the office tonight and Mia asked why he was going.  He said he had to get his portfolio done because if it was good he could win $1500.  To which Mia replied "Daddy, you are soo amazing!"  And she buried her face in him and gave him a giant bear hug.

TAGGED!!!

Well, I just found out today that I had been "tagged" by Adrienne. I guess this is a new blog thing to help everyone to know WAY more about their friends than they ever wanted to. Sounds fun to me!
Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Write six random thoughts about yourself
4. Tag six or so people at the end of your post
5. Let each person know he or she has been tagged
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is posted

Click on Adrienne's name above for her interesting facts!

Okay, so here we go.  Brace yourselves, cause I've got problems.  I'll just sort of run through my day and give you my dirty little secrets as I go along.

1.  Let's say I'm making eggs for breakfast and it's a brand new carton.  I will take out the eggs in such an order that they are evenly dispersed.  There can't be too many on either end or the carton would be off balanced and when I go to pull the container out of the fridge it might tip one way or the other and some eggs might fall out and break and then I would have salmonella all over the floor and have to clean up all the sticky eggy goup.  Now, if Shelby had made eggs the day before me he would not have left them in such an orderly manner so then I would have to reorganize the eggs before I start taking eggs out to make breakfast.  I don't actually think this is strange at all.  It makes total sense to me, but my friends saw me do it once and made tons of fun of me so I thought it was worth mentioning.

2.  Breakfast is over and everyone gets up and takes their plates over and leaves the room to get ready for the day.  Only one problem.  NO ONE PUSHES THEIR CHAIRS BACK INTO THE TABLE!  Why does this bother me so much?  I don't know, but it drives me crazy and it seems that it doesn't occur to a single other human to push their chair back into the table when they get up.  I even fix other peoples chairs at their homes if I'm in the room near the table.  I can't stand it.  Also cabinet doors and drawers.  They MUST be closed all the way.  I won't name names, but some people in my home will "sort of" close these things leaving them slightly open.   Why?  Why?  Why would you do that?  If you've gone to the trouble of pushing it some, why not just go the extra mile and actually CLOSE it?  To go a bit further, if I'm putting away dishes and I put away a few plates and then I move on to the cups knowing that I will have other items to put in the same cabinet as the plates I still close the plate cabinet while I'm putting the cups away.  I just can't stand cabinet doors being open.  Or if you close a drawer and just a little peek of a sock or something is poking through.  Agh!  It kills me.  Moving on.

3.  After I put Lennon down for his morning nap I often take a shower in peace.  I have a standard order that I do things in during a shower.  If I accidentally do something out of order I will start all over.  For instance my most common error is putting body soap into my hands before washing my face.  I just can't wash my body before my face.  It's gross.  Face, body, hair.  That's the only logical order to me.  

4.  Speaking of logic.  Let's talk about numbers.  If it's Thursday and something cool is happening on Saturday how many days are there until you get to do that cool thing?  Well if you ask me there is only 1 day of waiting for the cool Saturday activity.  You are currently in Thursday and it'll be over before you know it and of course you wouldn't count Saturday cause that whole day will be consumed with getting ready for the cool thing, then doing the cool thing, then thinking back to the cool thing.  So, you're left with Friday.  Friday you have to wait.  Most people however, will say that from thursday until saturday is 2 days.  Well, other people.  You are wrong!

5.  I'll have to stray a little now from my usual day, but let's imagine I am out at night after dark doing grocery shopping or picking up a gift from the mall or something.  Even just out at a friends house and on my way home.  As I walk to my car I imagine there might be some creepy dude/thing under it waiting to pull me under by the ankles as I approach my car.  So, I always get to the door and clumsily unlock the door and jump in as fast as I can do avoid this creepy person.  Then I lock the doors right away so said person cannot enter my car forcibly and take me hostage.  You might think the danger is over now, but it's only just beginning.  Then I think,  "well, with all that worry about the guy under the car I didn't even think to look in the back seat before jumping in.  There could be an even creepier dude back there waiting to attack me."  So, quickly I look back, but I can't spend too much time cause I really need to get this car moving and out of the parking lot in case some maniac is about to attack me.  I am after all a poor, helpless girl.  Periodically, as I'm driving down the road I will glance back to make sure no one has come out of their awesome hiding place in the back of my car and is sitting behind me waiting to strike.  Once home I am usually fine.  Although if I'm ever outside, alone after dark at a home that is not my home...I am almost always terrified of the unknown.  What could be lurking out here?  A big mean scary animal?  A dangerous man?  Some kind of creature I didn't even know existed?  Probably a really mean dog is about to jump out of the bushes and just tare me to shreds.  I literally (and yes, Adrienne I do mean literally)  run as fast as I can to get inside the home to safety.  

6.  A little more of the same.  As you all know, Shelby is often out late because of school and I go to bed alone on those nights.  When I go back to my room I usually do not feel completely safe.  I think "maybe there's some kind of thing under the bed waiting for me."  I don't really know what I think, but I'm scared.  In fact, truth be told, I usually ask Shelby to come back and say goodnight to me even if he is here cause if I'm not alone when I go to bed I'm not scared of what lies under the bed.  If, however I am alone  it goes something like this.  I enter the bedroom - I sort of gauge how fast I have to go and how far I have to jump to get to my bed after turning the lights out - then as soon as I flick the switch I zip up to my bed and get under the covers, touching the ground as little as possible so the thing can't get me.  After lying under the covers for a few seconds I usually feel safe.  I don't know by what rationale I think my down comforter is going to protect me from some creature from beneath, but it comforts me and so I'm not going to question it too much.  Once in bed, I sometimes hear a noise or something that sort of scares me, but as long as my back isn't turned to the noise I consider myself safe.  Then I will visualize how I would attack my attacker and save my children and jump out of the window and run to the neighbors house to safety if such an event occurred.  Sometimes I fall asleep planning my escapes.  

7.  I just have to add this to go along with Adrienne's "dog voice" quirk.  Shelby and I both actually talk for our children before they are old enough to talk.  It doesn't seem strange to us cause we just do it all the time.  For example:  Me as Lennon "Dada!  Dada's home.  Dada, I pooped in my diaper today."  Shelby "Did you Tugboat?  I hope Mommy cleaned you up."  Me as Lennon "Don't tell me stuff Dada."  Me as Me "Lennon, don't be rude to Daddy, he just got home from work."  Me as Lennon "Don't you tell me stuff Dada."   Or Shelby might say as Lennon "Mommy will you put some clothes on me so we can all get to church on time?"  And then I'll say to Lennon "Well Lennon why couldn't Daddy put your clothes on?"  Then Shelby as Lennon might say "Daddy was afraid he would put me in the wrong outfit Momma."  We basically use Lennon, and Mia before she could speak to just communicate random thoughts as well as to communicate together in general sometimes.   We also say really strange things to out kids such as "Mia, you are made of cheese and I just love you so much that I could eat your whole face right now!"  Or, "Mia, did you know that your brain floats in pickle juice?"  Or "Lennon, you are such a little duck!  Just a tiny wittle baby duck that smells like turkey and cheese."    This I'll give you, is a little strange.  

Hmmm.  Now I have to tag people, but I don't really know anyone who blogs except my sister in laws, so I'll just tag both of you.

1.  LeNan

2. Bethany

3.  Anyone else who just wants to divulge craziness on the comments section here please, feel free.  You might help make me feel a little less crazy.