And by "later today", I meant...

Ok, so here are the highlights of the last two months:

Thanksgiving was yummy and Annika was in heaven surrounded by cousins and Aunt Michelle. She'd been asking for weeks to get in the car and go to Aunt Michelle's. Especially when she wasn't happy with me. When she's bored, she wants to "talk to somebody." This means that she wants me to call someone on the phone so she can "talk" to them, but she generally sticks her face in the couch and hides, or she nods when the other person asks them questions. She was asking to talk to Jake's mom for a whole day, probably because she wanted me to call and ask if Jake could play. Annika and I spend a lot of time in the dragon cave, which is whatever blanket is handy and we lay in wait for unsuspecting Daddy's to come and try to relax on the couch with the cozy "blanket." Ha! While inside the dragon cave, our conversation goes pretty much like this: "I love you princess." "I love you dragon." "Now, I'm dragon. You're princess." "Ok. I love you dragon." "No, Jacob's dragon." "Ok. I love you... wait, who are you?"
Annika has also developed the "endearing" habit of shushing us and saying "Jacob's sleeping" when we're saying something she doesn't want to hear.
We're still no closer to potty training and I'm not sure what to do about the binky, but she's otherwise learning and talking and articulating and sassing at a fast pace. Physically, she is growing a little. For instance, she doesn't fit into her 18 month clothes anymore!
Lastly, my little girl who will not eat ANYTHING, and this is only a slight exaggeration, likes "triceratops leaves." With ranch dressing. My kid, over whom I agonize about her meals, likes salad. And green pepper mustaches. And RADISHES!
(Triceratops are herbivores.)

Jacob is pretty close to walking, smiles with his WHOLE face, tries to bite my toe when it hangs off the couch and is very sweet, very patient and very lovable. He likes to be tickled, to ride horsey with Daddy, loves bananas and will eat anything I give him. He sleeps well, he travels well, he imitates sounds and singing, he can clap if you say "clap" even if you don't do the action, and he is very patient with an overbearing and mildly abusive sister.

We got a big, beautiful christmas tree for only $20 because we live in the christmas tree capital of the world. We've (I've) decorated the house and it feels cheery and festive and I'm inordinately proud of myself, because I'm not generally very good at decorating. (Its hard to go wrong with Christmas.)

I joined the gym so that I won't wallow in the Oregon winter pit of despair and so far, so good. We paid for the Kidscare package, 2 for 1, so the kids go to the "playplace" while I work out. Its a herculean task just to get us to the gym, so I'm feeling pretty proud.

John continues to be wonderful, if a little stressed. (Too much work, not his fault.)

Here are some of our recent pictures. See if you can pick out which ones Annika took. You'd be surprised.

I'm coming!

I'm writing something later today, with pictures. I promise.

Trick or Treat

Annika was the cutest kid in all of Halloweendom, but our camera battery was dead. As usual. She whispered "trick or treat" and i would coach her to say it louder and she would say "TRICK OR TREAT!" Then she would sweetly say "thank you" and "Happy Halloween" and everyone would melt in awe and wonder at her cuteness. Or just me. (They didn't melt at me, I melted in awe and wonder at her cuteness.)

We went out for only 1/2 hour and she got lots of loot. I kind of micro-managed her candy choice. Several people kept offering her plain M&Ms, (snooze), but we already had too many at home, so I'd say, suavely, "no, I think she'd like to try such and such." I hope that wasn't too tacky, but I've been teaching her colors with Skittles and she's been enjoying herself. (Yes, M&Ms are also multi-colored, but, again, snooze.)

Today we went to church and I was just happy to be with my funny family and hold them close.

Jacob and I were spinning in the living room and I was singing a joyful spinning song, (the acoustics are pretty good with the vaulted ceiling, even if it is wasted space) and lost in joy and dizziness, I was abruptly brought to a halt with a big gob of drool falling from the sky onto my eye. ick. Jacob, however, thought my reaction was so funny that he laughed and drooled some more.

We are still trying to convince Annika that the potty is AWESOME but I realized that that freedom is a long way off when she said, "No. My diaper is nice and cozy." We're in deep... well, you know.

Winter gloom comes, but so do the smiles. And laughs. And drool.

It's gloomy and yesterday was rough and my (clean) laundry has banded together and is now terrorizing the neighborhood in the form of a giant dryer sheet. Jacob is weaning himself and I'm sad because I was hoping to go until he was a year old and it means he's growing up too fast and that he won't need me as much (yes, I know that he's nine months and he's still entirely dependent on me.) Also, formula is expensive and nursing helps me not gain weight even when I exercise no self-control and exercise not at all. Hmmph. Now I'll be poor and fat.

Now, the fun stuff. Annika came up to me a few days ago, sat on my lap and said, "Mommy, I love you so much." I say it frequently to her, so its not out of the blue, but it sure sounds nice. Jacob will nurse, stop, look up at me and grin the funniest lop-sided grin with his two teeth and his two emerging teeth and then impishly go back to eating. And then again. And again.

We went to Utah to visit John's family down on the farm, and Annika was in heaven. She chased chickens and dogs and sheep and petted one of the bulls named Mortimer and now she likes to say "moor-timm- errr." A lot. We egg her on and ask her about him a lot because it sounds funny. She adored the attention and the family and the presents and the early trick or treating. That was a big hit. We drove the 14 hours (add on any stops) and drove through the night. We figured that since our kids don't sleep when we're on "vacation", we might as well stay in the car. We didn't sleep much while we were down there either and I had pretty bad allergies so I was in a bit of a haze most of the visit, but we had a great time and loved watching Annika and Jacob with the family.

I hate blogging

So, it turns out that I don't really love to blog. I've never put up pretty backgrounds, I barely put up pictures and I never post interesting links. I don't give political opinions, religious views, book recommendations, recipes, etc. I don't get to brag about all my doings, because my doings are few and not particularly interesting.

So, the bare minimum should be to put up pictures of the kids so that adoring family can see them. Except the #@$%*@!-ed kid (A) won't stand/sit still for a picture!!! I've been trying for DAYS to take a few pictures so that loved ones can see their darling granddaughter/niece/cousin etc. But, no. She wants to hold the camera, point the camera, throw the camera, push the camera into Jacob's face, take pictures of my feet and her feet and the dirty part of the carpet that I can't seem to get clean. (That makes it sound like I've tried real hard to clean said carpet. No.)
Anyway, I'm sorry about the pictures, but its really not my fault. I'm not sorry about the otherwise boring, lackluster blog, I'm just sorry about the pictures.

I'll keep trying. If all else fails, I'll post some pictures of our feet.

The magic and mystery of laundry

Found in my dryer AFTER the cycle. Overtired mother or helpful two year-old?




Repositioned for better brand recognition




There was less lint than I thought there would be. And the laundry feels very soft.