The Robot Factory

Pull out the sparkling cider and do a toe-touch or two! Last week, we found a house! Yesterday our contract became official. We have have been wondering what we will talk about now that our low-key forever-long house-hunting hobby is coming to an end. Probably projects.

The first time we went to the house, Lindsey and Rand started playing in a closet and called it The Robot Factory. Every time we go there they say, "It's the Robot Factory house!" And so the house is christened.

We are excited for a solid house, more space, a huge yard, not sharing walls with neighbors, good schools, a nearby park, a garage, Randy still having a short commute, colorful 60's tile bathrooms, someday remodeling the funky kitchen, etc. But mostly, I'm just excited to no longer be living in limbo!

And...we close in 4 weeks.

Suddenly my to-do list multiplied to infinity, and beyond.

**picture borrowed from mls

Thanks Paulie

For rest time, sometimes I separate Lindsey and Rand to different floors to rest and watch a show. But usually I keep them together in the basement to do rest time so I have the living room to either nurse the baby in quiet and rest myself, or if I'm feeling really wild, I'll accomplish something on my to-do list.

Today, I set them up in the basement together and they were watching a movie of their choosing. Randy prefers life to be as disc-free as possible, so we have a bunch of shows and music files saved on our computer that we play through our xbox (I am fuzzy on the details of how that works, but that's how it goes when you have a techie for a hubby). Lindsey has figured out that if she pushes the buttons on the xbox controller enough times, she can eventually end up changing the show if they have lost interest in their original pick. Sometimes the outcome is different than planned.

I was sitting here nursing sweet-cheeked Amelia when I heard the movie stop and suddenly heard the sweet strains of Paul Simon's Mother and Child Reunion** coming up from the basement. I could tell rest time suddenly went from resting to a dance party.

Anyhoo, I was about to get up to restart their show so they wouldn't spend their rest time dancing, which is the antithesis of resting by the way, when I heard Lindsey say, "Hey! This song is about us! Children!" How cute is that? The song has been playing repeatedly while I have been typing this. I'll go restart a show for them in a minute, but I want to hear the end of the song again. Oh! Lindsey just came up and asked me, "Want to come join our dance?"

Time to go restart rest time!

Oh, and while we are on the subject of Mr. Simon, there is a man in our community who I see walking the trails all the time who could be Art Garfunkle's twinner. Same age. Same unfortunate hairdo.

**As an aside, I come from a family of Paul Simon fans and that song brings back such fun memories of driving from Northern California to Oregon with my mom and my sisters Wendy, Sarah, Anna and Erin (Heather and Laurie were in college at that point). We were moving to HR just before I turned 14 and were on our way to our new home to meet up with our dad who had moved up there a few months ahead of us so that we could finish out the school year in California. That trip is when I believe Wendy bought the Negotiations and Love Songs album, which Mother and Child Reunion is on. Fun!

2 Months Old...and More!

At 2 months, Amelia weighs 9 lb. 10 oz. Almost 10 pounds! And she's got the round cheeks to prove it.



She is a smiley girl. Her first big smiles were reserved for Randy's mom, Marcia (I'll post those pics soon). We all get excited when she smiles and have to announce it to anyone around when it happens. There is something so fun about those eyes lighting up like that when she looks at you and grins.



Amelia is a great sleeper. Knock on wood. Last night she slept from 10 until around 7 this morning. She knows how to treat her mama right. I would appreciate it mucho if she would keep this trend going.



Amelia is finding her voice. It is fun to watch her work hard to form her mouth and make a real sound come out, rather than the nasal grunts she usually does. Lot's of "Ah!" sounds. This especially tickles Lindsey and Rand who love it when she talks to them.



Oh those cheeks! She's wearing the outfit she came home from the hospital in. It is a newborn size, and it is fitting rather snug.

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In other news... It was a dark and stormy night... And evidently I didn't have the fancy flash turned on, so all but a couple of our Halloween pictures are dark, and stormy. Okay, it was just drizzling, but still, dark and gloomy.



A tiger and witch, turned princess (when she decided not to wear her pointy hat) after trick-or-treating.

* * * * * * * * *

We have been busy doing lots of fun and regular stuff lately. Things shuffling around in my brain that I would like to get organized to articulate and post about sometime when I can manage it:

• Randy's parents visit
• Two bike-riding fools
• Sword play
• Amelia Faye's Great-grandma Faye's dress
• How I can't believe how soon Thanksgiving and Christmas are
• My scatteredness and disorganization
• And much, much more...

Sweetness

I sat down to do a Halloween post, but then realized the pictures are still on the camera. I'll post those pictures sometime soon I'm sure.

In the meantime, while I was looking at pictures, I found this sweet one:



I love you Randy!

The Day Lindsey turned FIVE!

(Meant to post this yesterday, Oct. 26!)

Happy Birthday Lindsey Girl!

This morning I walked into your room before you woke up and said "Happy Birthday!" You sat up quickly and responded with, "Is it today? Am I FIVE now?" Then you gasped and said, "My feet are bigger! And so are my hands!"

(Special 5th birthday outfit made by our pal Lynette)

You definitely are bigger! How did you get so big I wonder? It seems just yesterday you were as tiny as a kitten, weighing only 5 lb 6 oz, with the skinniest little legs and arms that just didn't have any meat on them. You stayed tiny a long time, but now you are big and strong and fast, which you like to remind us of all the time.

After you got dressed in your birthday outfit from Grandma and Grandpa C, we had a hurried breakfast of cereal and rushed out the door to get you to preschool, only a few minutes late as usual. A few hours later, I left Amelia with your grandparents and brought Rand and a whole tray of cupcakes to your preschool class for snack time. You looked so happy when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to you. After the snack, you jumped up to show me the little stuffed cat your teachers gave you for your birthday. I love how excited you are about everything!


(FIVE!)

Do you know, I don't know any other kid as obsessed with their birthdays as you? You are excited for your birthday the whole year. I'm sure tomorrow you will start talking about your next birthday, when you will turn six. Six! Yikes, that sounds too old. Let's stay five for a while, shall we?

After your favorite lunch of a peanut butter and honey sandwich, with an apple on the side, you and Rand and I played princess bingo. Then we started your rest time show ("It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"). But only a few minutes after it started, we heard the doorbell ring, which sent you running upstairs to see that the mailman dropped of a package from Grammy and Grampy McB for you (and Rand and Amelia) full of fun Halloween books, stickers, and even little haunted house cutouts to decorate. Getting mail is fun, but getting a package is just about the best thing ever!



(Opening gifts)

When daddy got home from work, we loaded up and went to the pumpkin patch. You kept saying how pretty the leaves are, and you are right, they are beautiful. You are lucky to be born during the prettiest time of year here. At the pumpkin patch, you were very serious about finding the perfect pumpkin. You searched and searched. You picked up and put down a bazillion pumpkins before selecting just the right one.



(Scarecrow Lindsey)

We stopped for dinner on the way home and as we entered the restaurant, you promptly told the first person you saw that you are FIVE. I love how exciting this new number is to you!

After we got home, we had cupcakes and you and Rand blew out the candles a few times before eating that scrumptiousness. It was hard for you to let the day end and you and Rand, clad in your skeleton pajamas, stayed up talking and giggling for a long time before you gave in to sleep. But even big five-year-olds need their rest.

We love you silly girl!

Rand

Rand had kind of a rough day yesterday. Poor kid!





During preschool yesterday, when I happened to be teaching, we went for a walk on the trail below our house to gather leaves. Rand was stooping down to pick up a leafy treasure when a little girl ran him over at full speed. She also happens to be bigger than he is, which didn't help matters. She wasn't watching where she was going and Rand wasn't prepared to be bowled over and didn't have time to try to catch himself, so he caught himself with his forehead, nose, upper lip, etc. Poor guy!




Anyway, this kid is a cutie. For example:The other night during his prayer he said, "Dear Heavenly Father. . .to infinity and beyond. . ."

Conversations with Rand often end up being very one-sided. He frequently starts asking me something before I realize it, so I catch the last bit of what he's saying, missing the essential point of his question. It goes soemthing like this:

R: Blah blah blah blah, please mom?
M: Please, what?
R: Please?
M: What did you ask for?
R: Please?!
M: No, please tell me what you are asking for.
R: Please?!!
M: Rand, what do you want?
R: Please?!!!
M: Just start again and tell me what you are asking for.
R: PLEASE!?!?!?!
M: What do you want?!
R: PLEASE!!!!





When Rand runs up to me crying, at least once a day:

M: Rand, why are you sad?
R:
M: Please tell me why you are crying.
R:
M: Are you okay?
R:
M: Did you get hurt?
R:
M: Did Lindsey take something from you?
R:
M: What happened?
R:



Have you noticed that this guy is wearing skeleton pajamas in most of these pictures? They rock! $6 at walmarto and you too can own such awesomeness! I can get Lindsey to change out of hers, but Rand has worn his all day a few times.

******

Just adding a picture of my beautiful girls too!

1 Month

Amelia at one month:

8 lb. 4 oz., 21 1/2 inches long. This might be the birthweight of many babies fresh from the womb, but to us she is positively plump!

Amelia's hairline seems to be receeding a bit to a more normal, less furry-face hairline. Though she still has some newborn fur on her cheeks and shoulders. I love how my newborn babes are a wee bit furry. Her hair is awesome and I still wonder if she'll keep it or if it will fall out like Rand's did. (He had a cute shiny head!)

Amelia seems to be focusing more on us when she looks at us - like she is really seeing us when she happens to make eye contact. She is getting more expressive and is awake more and more - just ask Randy who took her for me this morning after I spent from 3 to 4 a.m. trying, and failing, to get her to go back to sleep. (Randy is the best!) Dispite that hiccup, she is actually a good sleeper and doesn't usually keep us (me) up at night for longer than it takes to nurse her back to sleep.

Speaking of hiccups, Amelia has them all the time. She is also grunty and makes a lovely sound through her nose to let you know she's about to wake up.

She likes being held, doesn't seem to mind her adoring siblings' attention, and loves being swaddled tight.

Her first out-of-state trip was this past Saturday when we went to Hershey Park in Hershey, PA. She was excellent and let her big brother and sister do all the rides they wanted by sleeping much of the day in the double stroller or the front pack.

What a sweetie!