X + Y = Z
X= (Total number of hours that Liam sleeps + Total number of hours that Paige sleeps)
Y= (Total number of hours that Matt sleeps + Total number of hours that Shannon sleeps)
Z= (Level of parental satisfaction on any given day)
Archives
Today
I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, but it’s hard not to smile when I look at the pictures I snapped today. Here are some of them:
Cuteness and hand-holding:
Little, littler, littlest:
“Hey, Paige!”
Smile break:
Matching open-mouthed tongue-wagging:
Liam introduces himself to Sylvie:
Sweet girls:
Shock and disgust:
“Tell me about it, Paige”
“Hey Paige–what if I just reach over here just like this…?”
“Okay, first I gotta get into position…”
“Now Paige, what if I just took a handful of your face?”
“Now Sylvie, don’t make me show you how that feels…”
“Seriously, Mama? You’re just watching this and taking pictures?”
Jazz hands:
“Just one more fistful of ear…”
“Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout Sylvie?”
“Okay, so I have this theory that because I enjoy having my hands in my own mouth, you might enjoy them in yours as well.”
“Hey Paige! Paige! What did you think?”
“Paige? Was it tasty?”
“Are you serious right now?”
“Here, maybe if I try one more time…”
Perseverance:
I don’t think Sylvie quite understands how dangerous this situation might be for her…
Brother and sister snuggles:
I LOVE this shot:
Paige tastes Liam’s sweatshirt:
Liam tastes Paige’s forehead:
“Seriously, Mama?”
More snuggles:
My goal for the next year is to get a picture of Sylvie and Paige, both smiling, and both looking at the camera. I have a similar goal for Liam and Paige. We shall see…
Paige Speaks
Well, in this video she is doing her best to communicate with us:
Cabin Fever 2011
In all fairness, I don’t really get to leave the house between Tuesday and Friday on a regular week but Matt does and Liam goes to preschool and with neither of those things happening things around here are starting to get a little nuttier than usual. At least there were some fantastic photo ops in all of this…
Paige is unaffected by the craziness outside:
Liam’s all ready:
Obligatory measuring tape picture:
Let’s get this party started:
Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
Step 4:
Step 5:
Step 6:
Step 7:
Final Product:
Monkey see, monkey snow angel:
Snowballs:
Bull’s Eye:
More snowballs:
More snow angels:
Wash, rinse, repeat:
Off to explore:
Once more for good measure:
Stripping down:
Me and my monkeys:
Preparing the path:
Liam takes his turn:
Things are a lot sunnier inside the house:
Liam’s new favorite game…
Take a chunk of ice:
Crack it over your head:
Fall to the ground:
Play dead:
Laugh hysterically:
Find another sheet of ice…
Start the process over again. And again. And again.
Liam’s first hot chocolate:
This is what happened when Matt asked Liam to smile with his mouth open:
Fingers crossed that we get out of the house before the weekend. My food hoarding tendencies have helped us tremendously but even we won’t be in great shape by Saturday if this keeps up…
Miscellaneous Roundup
On the 8th, Liam and Matt and I headed to Athens to celebrate Lou/Granddad/GGDad’s 90th birthday. Paige (and the camera) stayed at home with Gran and Granddaddy. Here are some pictures I found on the camera when I got home:
Thanks for getting these, Gran!
What A Difference A Year Makes
January 8, 2010:
January 8, 2011:
The Big O-3!
On the 27th, Liam turned 3. His birthday is always at the end of a marathon of gatherings and celebrations, but his birthday only comes once per year and we’re going to celebrate, dagnabbit! It’s simultaneously hard to believe that it’s only been 3 years since we became parents and that there was ever a time when Liam wasn’t a part of our lives. I guess that’s just how it works with these things.
It was Liam’s day and he wanted to start it with a little Chutes and Ladders:
This picture was taken just before an epic exchange that nearly resulted in Liam’s presents being given away to children who don’t have any presents.
I won’t go into the particulars but suffice it to say that it’s more than a little difficult to feel anything but frustration when you’re 3 years old and you’re given loads of fun things to play with and then asked to put them all aside in order to open more fun things to play with. We eventually got past this bump in the road and Liam decided he’d like to open his birthday presents.
“It’s a car, Mama!”
“Thomas!”
Arches and columns and stairs, oh my!
Mama’s little monkey:
Apparently all we needed to get Liam to voluntarily take a bath was to give him new bath toys.
Shooting hoops:
Tub flutes:
When we asked Liam what he wanted for his birthday he told us “chocolate cake and pizza.” That’s exactly what he got. Thank goodness his Gran loves to bake!
“There’s a ‘3’ in the M&Ms!”
Firefighting birthday boy:
Firefighting Aunt G:
Dynamic duo:
When the birthday boy wants pizza, the birthday boy gets pizza. Even if no one else is quite ready…
Liam gets down to business:
‘Mote control firetruck!
Velveteen Rabbit:
He’s still just as fascinated with this as he was when he first opened it:
Thomas stickers!
Pete the Cat (which he had memorized after 3 readings — the unmistakable mark of a fast favorite):
“Pete the Cat animal” (which is how he refers to this when he’s getting ready to go to bed…which he no longer does without Pete):
Cake!
Yay!
And so begins the saga of the blowing out of the candles…
Consternation:
Effort and anticipation:
If at first you don’t succeed…
Try…
…and try…
…and try…
…and try…
…but when in doubt?
Get a little help from Dad!
Hooray!
And now? Let’s eat!
And the cake didn’t stop on Liam’s birthday. The next week when he went back to school Gran came through again with cupcakes to share with his friends.
Liam wasn’t at all disappointed that there were some leftovers…
If deliciousness of a cupcake can be measured by the amount of mess a toddler can make with it…
(and I’m pretty sure that it can)
Then I think we can count this cupcake (and this birthday) a smashing success!
I’m Dreaming Of A White Christmas
Okay, so these pictures are completely underwhelming in light of our recent snowfall, but it was the first White Christmas since sometime in the late 1800s so we took pictures. Well, we actually didn’t take pictures until the 26th since the snow didn’t start falling until late on the 25th. And to answer your question: Yes, my children’s sleep is FAR more important than the first White Christmas in over 100 years. So I took pictures on the morning of the 26th. In our defense, we weren’t finished celebrating Christmas quite yet, so there’s that…
Getting geared up to go outside:
Braving the storm:
When fathers attack:
Determining the snowball createability index:
“Is the index too low, Dad?”
This might just be the cutest boy ever born. I’m just sayin’.
I mean, come on. Check out the face on this one!
Liam measures the snowfall success based on the amount of accumulation on top of the walkway lights:
And his conclusion? Roaring success!
I have (literally) thousands of pictures to weed through over the next several days but for now I must sign off. I know that tomorrow is a snow day and that that means I can sleep in. Unfortunately, my children didn’t get the memo…
Christmas 2010
I’m obviously a little late on this one…
Our annual Christmas marathon was filled with lots of fun and family. Here are the pictures we got from 4 of the 5 celebrations we were a part of (by the 5th we were so tired that we completely forgot to pull out the camera…oops).
Christmas #1 (12.24.10)
We must have been very, very good this year:
Apparently Santa left a stocking for Liam at Gran and Granddaddy’s house. On the 24th.
The free Bob The Builder coloring book was a HUGE hit:
Matt sees it as his parental duty to take full advantage of this…
Liam finally realizes that there is a reindeer on his head:
Look Gran, it’s my footprint!
Gran love:
Liam begins on his path to fulfill Matt’s dream that he become a GP:
Giving Granddaddy a check-up:
Checking his own teeth:
Helping Greatdaddy:
“Whatchoo lookin’ at, Mama?”
Helping Greatmama:
Liam cracks open the dress-up box:
Trying on his spoils:
Connolly Firemen:
Three thumbs up:
Bob The Batman:
Matt’s not enjoying this at all…
“Oh, Wow!”
“I love GGMom’s bag!”
Bob and his Dad:
Liam The Builder:
He doesn’t look excited, does he?
Paige helps Gran open her present:
Bob works on the trolley track:
One of my favorite gifts:
What can I say? The girl loves a good ribbon:
Bob works on the tree:
Greatmama and Greatdaddy open the biggest Shutterfly album ever:
Paige and Granddaddy:
Paige loves her present…but she loves her Gran more!
Liam introduces Paige to Sophie:
After three years of making do, I finally got a rain jacket!
The Cat In The Hat:
Christmas #2 (12.25.10):
More important than breakfast? More important than stockings? More important than eyes that are completely open? That’s right: The Cat In The Hat.
Baby’s first Christmas (you can tell she’s psyched)!
Liam refused to check out his stocking until he was fully outfitted as Bob The Builder:
Bob helps Mama open her present:
“Hey, Mama! You got a guitar!”
I’ll soon be dismayed to learn what it takes to properly play Indigo Girls songs, but at this moment I’m blissfully unaware:
Bob carefully inspects his gift tag:
Hot Wheels!
Christmas #3:
“Hey Ben! Will you help me with this?”
“What’s up, Mama?”
Teapot!
The adorable factor here is kind of unbelievable…
Toe warmers!
Paige Bug:
Album unveiling #2:
Christmas #4:
Began with brie (as good things often do…):
And ended with cake (as great things must do…):
Funny footprints:
Paige and Pop:
Priceless:
Paige and Grammie:
Aunt G., Paige, and her Namibian twin:
Cutie Pie:
“I don’t know what this is yet, but I know I’m gonna like it!”
Superhero Chutes & Ladders (well played, Grammie & Pop, well played…):
The origin of Liam’s dance skills has long been a mystery. No longer.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
Sometimes Exhaustion Is Funny…
In yet another installment of things that happen as a result of complete exhaustion…
Okay, so here’s the deal. I’m really tired right now. This sounds vaguely familiar, right…? Okay, right. So a couple of days ago (on the 23rd) I got an e-mail from a program called Enfamil Beginnings (which I joined to try to get some coupons to offset the exorbitant cost of Paige’s formula). Here is the relevant snippet:
Congratulations, Shannon!
You’ve made it through one of the roughest patches of parenthood, and you’ve passed with flying colors. As your baby continues to grow, you may soon notice some dramatic changes in her development and capabilities.
It came after a particularly rough day that followed a particularly rough patch that has been going on since, well, her birth. As I often do, I forwarded it to Matt with a snarky comment attached. In this case I said “I resent the implication that the hardest is supposed to be behind us.”
This method of blowing off steam has the added benefit of also being entertaining for me and for Matt. It usually works very well. This time worked out a bit differently…
Later in the day I asked Matt if he’d gotten my e-mail (since he usually responds with another snarky comment and I didn’t hear anything from him). He had no idea what I was talking about. This is when I realized that I hit “reply” instead of “forward.”
Oops.
Oh well, we figured that the e-mail was probably sent by an unmanned account. No harm, no foul, right?
Wrong.
I didn’t think anything more about it as we entered our annual Christmas marathon, until this morning when I received the following message from the Enfamil Resource Center:
Shannon:
Thank you for your comments. Â We have a strong commitment to our customers and comments help us to continue our tradition of providing high quality products and services. Â I have forwarded your comment to the appropriate department.
Thank you, Shannon, for contacting us about our Enfamil Family Beginnings* program. Â Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Kind regards,
Karen
Consumer Care Specialist
Enfamil Resource Center
Oops again.
Is it bad that my response was to laugh out loud and forward it to Matt?