random randomness

I mentioned this before, but I'm cameraless at the moment.  And I really, REALLY don't like that.  Maybe I'll use this time to go through photos I've already taken and edit and post them (beach, Disney).  Until then, I wanted to write down a couple random things that I don't want to forget, even if they have no accompanying pictures.  

First has to do with Elliott at nap time.  Tuesday when I laid her down for a nap, she cried for 20 minutes.  The fact that she cried is unusual enough, but what really got us was what she cried.  For 20 minutes, through broken sobs and reassuring visits from mommy, she cried, "Kellen... Kellen..."  I had a zillion things to do and was determined to make her nap, but Kellen couldn't handle it.  He begged to get her out of bed and promised to occupy her for the 90 minutes or so she would've been asleep.  I let him, and he did.  I didn't hear a peep from either one of them for almost 2 hours while he played with her in her room.

Seeing how well this worked, she tried it again on Saturday.  Apparently she didn't want to miss any of the football the rest of the family was watching/playing in the living room.  So at nap time she cried, "I wanna play football with Wyatt," again through broken sobs, for about a half an hour.  And again it worked.  I know, she's good.  And I'm a sucker.  It gets worse.

Yesterday (Sunday), she tried another approach.  It was nap time, and about 5 minutes after I laid her down, I heard her pitter patter.  She wasn't crying, and getting out of bed is unusual for her.  From the top of the steps she hollared, "Mommy!  I lud [love] you!"  She waited for my, "I love you, too, Elliott," and then she ran back to her bed.  A couple minutes later:  more pitter patter, "Mommy!  I lud you, too!" and back to her bed.  This continued, while Wyatt and I giggled downstairs, for a good 20 minutes.  So what did I do?  I went and got her out of bed.  It may be time to give up on naps.  On the (really really really) positive side, she slept through the night Saturday AND Sunday!  Considering that makes, oh, the 12th and 13th times she's done that in 2-1/2 years, I may be on to something with the no-nap thing.

Next random thing - my laundry is caught up.  Maybe not a big deal to you, but one day I'll read that here and marvel that it actually has been done.  Even if only once.

Random thing number next - Elliott is a football fanatic.  More specifically, a Gator football fanatic.  You already know that, since she was 18 months old, she would stop and yell "Go Gators" (which at the time sounded like "Doh Dators") and do a Gator chomp toward any TV on which there was football.  Well, having been to a few live games now, she's on a whole new level.  While we watched football on TV, she spent a good portion of Saturday begging me to GO to a game.  At least 100 times throughout the day, she said/cried, "I need my Gator dress.  I wanna go to football game!!!"  By the time Sean got home from work, it had elevated into full blown waterworks, with her begging us to "please, PLEASE get my Gator dress.  I NEED to go to the football game!!!"  Makes a mommy proud.

fall is yummy...

Last night after taking the boys for turns on the motorcycle, Sean came in the kitchen and said, "You know what I love about Fall?"  I totally expected him to say something about the biking weather, but he surprised me by saying, "You're always baking something and the house smells so good."  I have to agree with him - that's one of my favorite things about Fall, too.

This particular comment was prompted by these little pieces of heaven:

We're kind of pumpkin fanatics at our house.  When I'm not pregnant, I stalk Starbucks to make sure I'm there on THE day they begin serving the pumpkin spiced latte, and any version of a pumpkin pie is going to be a hit with me.   So to celebrate the first day of Fall, the boys and I made these pumpkin tartlets yesterday.  And they are, well, just wow.  I don't know what to say about them except holy cow.  Make them yourself - your mouth will LOVE you.  (Of course, this isn't a picture of ours.  I'm camera-less for the time being, having broken mine while we were in Disney, so this picture is from the recipe.  Remarkably, though, the ones we made look just as tasty - this is definitely a dessert you could serve a guest and be proud of.)  Happy Fall, y'all!!!

awe....

Wyatt had to write an outline in order to prepare a short essay.  The idea was to teach him outlining skills (start with a main point, write supporting points for each main point), and I told him he had to write his essay in biographical form about someone he knows.  (No research involved - this isn't about learning to research, but rather how to outline.)  He asked if he could prepare his outline on the whiteboard before writing the essay on his laptop (why do kids LOVE whiteboards so much???), and this was the outline he prepared:

It needed a little work, but this was his first stab at it.  I took a picture and posted it here because we'll erase the whiteboard soon to make room for other work, but I wanted to hang on to this forever.  Can you blame me?  Sweet boy.

vacation math

How does 1+1+2=1?  Like this:

1 vomiting toddler + 1 pregnant mommy who has to stop frequently and walk around for circulation reasons + 2 exhausted older brothers = 1 SERIOUSLY long drive home from Orlando yesterday.  At some point (after I had done 2 roadside disassemblies and baby-wipe-cleanings of her car seat), I got smart and decided to do what the airlines do, and provide a little receptacle for Elliott.  Poor little thing wouldn't let go of her "frow up" bag after that.

I know I really shouldn't have been taking the pitiful baby's picture, but I just had to.  And apparently I had to share it with you, too.  Heart-breaking, no?

Before the long trip home, we had a blast in Gainesville for the season opener and thoroughly enjoyed our week in Disney.  There will be plenty pictures of our adventures soon - once my laundry pile has reached a level where I feel less guilty about sitting at my computer.