bah bah black sheep

this past sunday was the christmas pageant at church. like his 1st grade and younger cohorts, quentin was a sheep - the very youngest little lamb. we were very worried how he would do because a: he's two, b: he's quentin, and c: every time he's been in the actual sanctuary at church he loudly points out the fans, flags, and lights.

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surprisingly, he did very well. he stayed quietly with me in the pew while waiting for his big scene. he was successfully herded up to the alter with the rest of his flock. though he quickly found where grandma and grandpa were sitting and sat with them for the rest of the pageant. if he had not behaved, the title of this post would have been "black sheep of the family." :)

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some pics from before, during, and after this amazing performance

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to grandma's house we go

scenes from another random trip to grandma's house -

a face only a mother could love

double trouble

cousin calder visited from chicago back in september. the boys had a blast tearing apart grandma's house. not sure if it has recovered. -

- and caroline was there too. -

maybe someday

maybe, just maybe, we will get a good pic of the two of them together. someday. - i love how Q barely cares that caroline is on his lap, even as she starts sliding off. picking his nose and watching dora are way more engaging. -

quentin being quentin

yes caroline, it does

blogapalooza is about to begin

been very very busy. so busy doing things that we haven't had time to blog about the things we've been doing. - but both kids are napping (at the same time!!!!!!!!!!!) so get ready...

Haven't I seen this Before

Caroline fell asleep in the jumperoo last night as you can see.

I was like hey, I've seen this episode before, see Quentin asleep in the jumperoo below :)

edited to add: posted by jeremy not kiwi :)

they might be giants, but quentin is defiant

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tonight we attempted to attend a free performance and book signing by "they might be giants" - an awesome grown-up turned kiddie band - at a local borders book store. jer was still at work so i was attempting this on my own with both kiddos. caroline was fabulous the whole time, chilling in the baby bjorn. quentin was a darling at first. he patiently sat on the floor waiting for the band to come out. he danced to the first few songs and applauded after each number. he was especially excited when they played a song he knew from his CD. then i had the audacity to take away a toy he was about to destroy that i didn't want to have to buy and it was over. the hellion was born. there was a lot of screaming, crying, and kicking so we had to leave. we did make it to the last song (it was an extremely short show) but we clearly had to skip out on the book signing part. i didn't even get a chance to take the usual "and caroline was there" photo, so you'll just have to trust me that she was there. i also didn't get to buy the book. guess i can order it online.

yuppify your nursery: a primer

i need to rant. i have recently become obsessed with HGTV's rate my space web site. so since i just finished caroline's room i posted the pics there. i know my style of nursery is a lot different than what yuppy america likes so i wasn't expecting rave reviews but i thought i might get a little bit of respect for the uniqueness of it. instead, no one likes it. people have rated our hideous kitchen higher than her room. i really don't care because i love it, and caroline seems to dig it, and that's all that matters. - but it has inspired me to write this primer on how to yuppify your nursery (and make it look just like every single other nursery posted on HGTV. (i am actually guilty of some of these too so please don't be offended. it could be because i am watching finding nemo for the 10th time - no joke - in 3 days and when nemo isn't on i have to listen to a toddler scream in the shrillest hyper-sonic voice, "bishhhhhhhhh! bishhhhhhhhhh! bishhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!) - so here you go:

1. you absolutely must have your child's name on the wall (bonus points if your kid is named kaedyn or maisyn or kambry or something similar. more bonus points if the letters are paisley or polka-dotted.)
2. a chandelier is a must - i mean what infant doesn't need an elaborate crystal dining room fixture to look at
3. a chair rail is highly recommended, must be painted white. maybe even some wainscoting.
4. the only acceptable paint colors are pink and sage green
5. an animal print rug, preferably zebra - to declare, "i'm a hip, cool mom. i will never go without a shower for 3 days. or walk around with spit-up on my shirt."
6. a matching faux animal fur throw rug, with pile deep enough to lose a baby in
7. at least one decal of some sort of sappy phrase in frilly font on the wall above the crib, something like, "love you to the moon and back again" or "sweet dreams" or "the angels danced the day you were born" or "always kiss me good night"
8. framed black and white belly photos from mommy's pregnancy, a framed ultrasound pic, and/or a photo collage of family members
9. a sleigh crib - because apparently this is the only type of crib they make
10. fancy matching baskets on the changing table shelves, with all your nursery essentials neatly lined up. even things that aren't used at a changing table like shampoo.
11. frilly crib bedding that costs more than $500 (you know it's just going to get peed on, right?) pottery barn is just too low budget. you gotta think bigger and better.
12. some sort of painted accents on the wall - stripes, a mural, just something more than one color on the wall. bonus points if it has some sort of three-dimensional accent to it like rhinestones or flowers.
13. a large victorian mirror, because nothing says baby safety like dangling glass
14. cute, delicate breakable trinkets like antique piggy banks on super low shelves because your kid would never break anything. not your princess.
15. fleur de lis - everywhere

ok, i feel better now :)

pants on fire

quentin got up around 5 today. in an attempt to get him back to sleep i went into his room and asked him if he wanted to cuddle with mommy in his bed. he said, "alright", and crawled in. but he never closed his eyes and after about 10 minutes of faux sleeping, he got up and started playing in his room. he kept trying to get me up but i resisted, hoping he'd crawl back in. he did not. after a little while, he pointed to his butt and said, "i pooped." i had to get up and check because he has such a sensitive heiny, poops cannot be ignored. i put him up on the changing table, but alas, no poop. little bugger tricked me into getting up.