Quickie Update 10/6/12

1. We went to see an alpaca farm last weekend with Jason. CUTE!!!!! I want one! $3,000? Nevermind.

2. Carved an AWESOME jackal lantern! Adorable Kitten + Adorable Puppy = Best Mom Ever.  Picture below.

3. Someone stole my jackal lantern before I took a picture. They left the lid.

Thanks, guys. It means a lot that you left the lid.

4. Lily is sporting 2 more teeth for a grand total of 4.

Don’t let the grin fool you. Those babies are vicious.

5. We spent a day in Philly after Yohannes’s citizenship interview.  We saw Independence Hall and some museum mummies, and gave a piece of our mind to the mean lady in the subway elevator who pushed Nati.  (Okay, so Betty and I just tried to disappear into the wall while some other, more experienced family members told her off.)

6.  Four of the family headed home today, so we are down from 11 in the house to just 7.  The visit went by so fast.

7. Quickie trip to the ER this afternoon for Nati.  The doctor prescribed Neosporin.  Never before has a single prescription made an emergency visit seem quite so superfluous. (Yes, I did just use superfluous in a sentence. Thanks for noticing.)

unhappy

Poolside in the Caribbean

This is where I have been since Sunday.  Feel free to envy me.

The World’s Largest Cruise Ship: Allure of the Seas

Just kidding.  I am home.  Alone.  With two children.  Yohannes, on the other hand, really is on that ship along with his parents and two of his sisters, a friend, my uncle and aunt, and my uncle’s in-laws.  So it does seem odd that I’m not there and I feel it’s important for morale (mine) if I at least pretend to be there.  The short story is that the tickets were through Yohannes’s work, no children were allowed, and I thought the kids were too little to go a whole week without me, so I opted to stay home.  My introvert self was in need of a little re-charging after so long with a full house, so it’s not all bad.

In the mean time, we have done the following exciting things instead of going on a cruise:

Go Through Withdrawal: I spent last week participating in a 40 hour, mentally stimulating Immigration Training with real, live adults.  So the transition back to temporarily-single-parent/stay-at-home-mom was a little jarring.

Sleep in: While it’s not as restful when you’re co-sleeping with two fussy kids, there’s still something to be said for staying in bed till 9:00am.

Watch Planet of the Apes (me) and Caillou (Nati):  Worth it for that aha! moment a few minutes in when I realized that this is a political allegory and not just weird science fiction that dorks (Jason) watch. Planet of the Apes, that is.  There’s so little to be said in defense of Caillou.

Get First Teeth (Lily):  An aha! moment of a different sort when I nursed her and she bit me.  Also, I felt a little silly after having just told the doctor that morning in a solemn tone that, “I’m a little worried because she’s been having unexplained fever’s all week, and I know she’s not teething.” The two bottom front ones are just barely through.

That’s all the excitement I can think of for now.

Nati Quote:

Nati: “Mama, are you happy or grumpy?”

Me: “I’m happy.”

Nati: “Are you happy?”

Me: “Yes.”

Nati: “Are you happy?”

Me: “Yes.”

Nati: “Are you happy?

Me: “Nati, yes I am happy!”

*pause*

Nati: “Are you grumpy now?”