Why we haven't blogged in a while.

paint

Oodles of pictures & updates coming when we're all done!

A Day with Mr. Mom

Whenever my beloved wife becomes ill and is unable to care house, home, and family, I typically take the day off. Without the support of other families in our neighborhood, I don't know how my wife could adequately get well without a good deal of time and unnecessary suffering. I therefore take some days off now and again when Mrs. Pickles is unable to do much more than read and rest. Yesterday was one of those days.

Mrs. Pickles came down with flu-like symptoms on Sunday, so she basically needed rest for the day. I recalled from Katie's birth (nearly a year ago) that I needed to give myself some sort of direction and goals for the day, or else I'd be lost on what to do. Here was my list for the day:

• Vacuum
• Wash and Dry diapers
• Make Dinner
• Buy razors
• Play with daughters
• Work for about 2 hours from home (project deadlines looming)
• Bathe girls

There were many other small items that didn't make the big list (such as put girls to bed, make lunches). I'm happy to say that I accomplished nearly all of those tasks, but I still wouldn't have done it without my wife. Since she alone could nurse Katie, that time allowed me some child free time to work on dinner and make lunches undisturbed. I was also able to go shopping for some needed items during Miriam's nap time, but only because my wife wasn't napping at the same time. It is certainly a difficult job of juggling that wife accomplishes each day.

Bathing both girls at once is an adventure in keeping my children safe. I put both girls in the tub at the same time. Though she is a very steady and sturdy walker, I still need to use Katie's bath tub for her. Without it she spends all of her time trying to stand up, fall down, and drown herself. Regardless of its use, I have to watch Miriam to make certain that she doesn't drown Katie by dumping about 3 cups of water on Katie's head. Despite their joint attempts to make Miriam numero uno in Mr. Pickle's will, bathtime was a lot of fun. The girls spent so much time splashing and laughing at each other. It was such a riot. I also get wet, of course, but that simply adds to the fun. (I don't think my wife likes water fights,..., and she's the only one in the house with a squirt gun.)

Overall, yesterday was definitely the hardest day of work I've had in awhile--but certainly well worth the effort. This picture pretty much shows how I felt around 6:00 p.m., and yesterday's experience also reinforced why Mrs. Pickles is so happy to see me when I come home. In the evening Miriam gave me a huge hug after saying goodnight, and Katie walked up to me to lay her head on my chest and give a love pat. It was the best compensation I've received all year for a hard day's work. Nevertheless, I'm glad that my wife is the one who wants to work at home.

Supreme Court Confirmations

During the John Roberts confirmation hearings I heard this comment from John Derbyshire at NRO, and I thought it was hilarious. Regarding all of the questions not related to jurisprudence and law, he said:

Dianne Feinstein seemed to want to know if Roberts approved of the holocaust, and whether he understood that it happened because people took religion too seriously. Yeah, great churchgoer, that Adolf Hitler guy.

Who knows what these pompous ditwats are guessing on about. If the judge can just keep from laughing out loud at this spectacle of a bunch of middle-aged unemployables making Donald Duck noises at him, he’ll get confirmed. So far, (he has shown) not so much as a twitch of the lips. Now I call that great self-control.

From what I've read, I'm guessing that the same comments won't be made about Ms. Miers.

Hubby of the Year Award

For dessert tonight Mr. Pickles made the most awesome chocolate pudding cake -- in the CROCKPOT. It was heaven itself. There aren't words fitting enough to describe the lusciousness and richness and just plain good chocolateyness of this confection. My apologies to all other women out there -- I know each of you THINKS she married the most wonderful man in the world, but I'm sorry to have to tell you, ladies -- mine is REALLY the best. Not only does he cook on weekends, but he makes dessert for the gods to boot. He also took our two little banshe- I mean barbari- I mean beautiful daughters on errands with him today so I could have two minutes' peace together. (They've been doing the stagger-naptime thing this past week.) Sigh... I sure know how to pick 'em. :)

What I Had for Lunch Today

Little bits each of:
-sauteed breaded catfish
-rosemary cheese potatoes
-peas & corn
-chunky tomato basil soup
-meatloaf
-chicken & broccoli fettuccine
-mango

Why yes, it IS clean-out-the-refrigerator day. How did you know?

Summer Days, Driftin' Away...

Fall is on its way here, which means two wonderful things:
a) the weather is cooling off. Highs of 70 and lows of 50 make us VERY happy. It's nice being able to sleep with the windows open again! (yeah, I know, spoiled southern California girl that I am)
b) all the bugs DIE!!!!!!!

There won't be many more days for fun times like this, so we're trying to make the most of them:


summer fun

Katie was positively drenched afterwards. By the way, this is what most of their baths are like too, according to Mr. Pickles, official bath-giver of the household.

Flotsam, Jetsam & Miriam

Miriam practicing for her future role as drama queen (and she insisted I take this picture):


the Queen

Katie is shirtless because at the time she was fighting a fever, which made her cranky and clingy for a couple days. It finally broke after 3 days, and then she broke out into an itty-bitty rash everywhere. (At first I just thought we hadn't bathed her thoroughly enough!) :b I'm guessing it was roseola or one of the myriads of childhood rashes. She never seemed really sick so I didn't even bother calling her pediatrician. I'm such an overprotective parent.


Someone loaned us a Mr. Potato Head set (which Miriam instantly christened MRS. Potato Head). I remember doing this when I was a kid too:


Mrs. Potato Head

I also remember trying to fit my big kid feet into my baby brother's socks when I was about 6. So if you had noticed that Joe's booties were all stretched out, Mom, now you know why.

The Bear's Hair

It's unbelievable how much hair Katie already has. I just gave her her third bang trim. And she's not even a year old yet! Of course, trying to cut the hair of a 10-month old who has a fascination with scissors is an adventure I could do without.

But just so you can appreciate the fun of having a furry teddy bear for a baby, here is a sampling of what we see every day.


wakey wakey

This is a good shot of the pillow barricade we have to set up so Katie doesn't plunge off the bed to her doom. For those who don't know, we keep her crib, with one rail removed, right up next to our bed. We did this with Miriam and it's really worked well for us. Of course, now the only disadvantage is that she can crawl out of her bed onto ours, and thence onto the floor, usually landing on top of her head. Thus the elaborate barricade. Although lately, she's figuring out how to crawl over that too.... As soon as we hear a blip on the baby monitor we come running!

Anyway, here's a closeup of Katie's awesome fluffy bed head:


bed head

Can't you just see the mischeif in her sleepy eyes? She's all recharged and ready to go!


Okay, the deal with this next one is that I had put Katie in ponytails, and then later that day she proceeded to paint her hair with her dinner. When I removed the rubber bands, her hair stayed!


wings

You can also see how she scoffs at our efforts to keep her from climbing the stairs.