Birthdays

I am still on the birthday kick. I think every other day of the year--that's not your birthday--is better, because when it stinks, the birthday label makes it stink worse. Not that the day was entirely bad. Steven made a pretty good effort this year. Which was nice. But like this morning, I had to get up 20 minutes early to get Ashley up and start that fight. Every single morning with her is a fight to get her ready for school. As punishment for last week, she has to get up early every single day this week. But that's still not enough time for her. I haven't figured out the trick yet. We don't really spank her--it's got to be REALLY bad for that to happen (although we do threaten it, the threat is usually motivation enough), and giving her early bedtime or taking away privileges isn't really effective. So we just plow on through the daily mundane fights about stupid things--put on your pants, take off your pajamas, I said do it now!, why aren't your clothes on yet?, why are you laying on the floor in your closet?, you still need shoes and socks, put them on NOW, did you brush your teeth? No you didn't--go brush them now and don't lie to me again!, please brush your hair, no you didn't brush it already--it's still tangled from you sleeping on it...and on and on. Usually these are the phrases we repeat over and over again for an hour. And that's literally all she has to do in the mornings. Usually the kids eat at school for breakfast--they decided school breakfasts are more interesting than home cereal, and hey, it's cheaper too--so all they have to do is put their clothes and shoes on, brush their teeth and hair and go! Super easy, right?
WHAT'S THE TRICK?????
And why haven't I learned it yet???

So that was my morning, except Steven bought some sausage biscuit things and heated them up for us to eat. We were all done by the time Ashley moseyed to the table to pick at hers. lol. I guess she didn't inherit my sense of urgency!

So, the kids went to school, and all was calm and quiet until Sydney started hurting from teething. A good dose of Motrin didn't really help all that much, so she didn't really nap well, and she was chewing and drooling like crazy when she was awake. And she didn't want to be put down much. So I held her. A Lot. But she's cute.

After the kids got home, I got them changed and took them outside to take their pictures. Wow, do you have to have patience to photograph 4 little kids at once. But ultimately, I enjoyed the time out there with them, even if I did have to suppress the urge to yell from time to time. Christopher was the worst. I'd say look at me and smile, and he'd give me the biggest grin he could muster while clamping those big blue eyes shut as tight as he could. And he wasn't doing it to be cute, nor was he trying to be funny. He was living up to his nickname--Booger.

So, then Steven came home and made us a great dinner of chili and corn bread. At which point Sydney started howling to nurse, so I left my great family birthday dinner to go get chewed on. At least she fell asleep, so I did get to eat in peace.

I think my birthday cake was the most comical part of the day, though. Steven decided he didn't want any leftover cake (cause it will make me fat--wasn't he sweet to think of me!) so he went to Walmart and bought the smallest cake he could find. Don't know how familiar you are with Walmart cakes, but they happen to make a cake that is round and about, oh maybe 3 or 4 inches in diameter. It's the one they give you when you have a first birthday to celebrate and need a tiny cake to let the baby smear all over. Yeah, that's the one! That's my 30th birthday cake! And German chocolate too. I HATED to tell him that I don't like store bought german chocolate, and I wouldn't have either, except that I had to poke a little fun at the tiny cake so he started giving Jacob "advice." You know, the manly advice that men give to their sons when the wife is around to overhear and they want to make a point. So he started in on how when you love your wife and it's her birthday you always have to make an effort even if she cuts down everything you do for her and hates it. Well, maybe he didn't exactly say that, but that's certainly what he was implying. So, all bets off now, I told him fine, you're right, the cake is sad. It's too small to feed 5 people (and it was) and it's a yucky flavor. I ate exactly one bite. And it's my 30th birthday.




Thanks hon. And thanks for the outside welcome mat. (I do like it--it's LSU.)

Well, that's all over, and the kids are in bed and all is quiet (for the moment--I'm sure Sydney will be howling again in a minute).

Well, in Steven's defense (I have to put this b/c he will read this and if there isn't something good, I'll hear about it every birthday for the next twenty years) he took me to a fantastic restaurant Friday night for an early celebration. It was a great night. He did plan what to cook for dinner tonight ahead of time, and even thought of breakfast this morning. And I didn't have to do any dishes this evening (though, he wasn't around for the poopy diapers earlier--lol).

Oh yeah, one other highlight: I caught my very first lizard. The nasty thing was in my house and I didn't have any kids around who would be willing to chase the thing, so I had to do it. Imagine that. Two milestones in one day. 30 and a lizard.

So...here's to turning 30. It sucks.