the cruel side-effects of pacifier withdrawal

Well...I'm staging an intervention. Duncan is addicted to having a pacifier in order to fall asleep and it's time to stop because it interferes with MY sleep. He partially wakes in the middle of the night and needs his pacifier to go back to sleep. I laid him down for nap today and didn't give it to him. After over an hour of him crying and my nerves tiptoeing far too close to the brink of insanity he finally wore himself out.

A question for the Mother-Cats: Should a six month boy be able to sleep through the night (8-11 hours) without needing to eat? Kenna was able to sleep 10-12 hours at night at a much earlier age. I can't figure out if I'm an enabler or he really needs to eat. Any thoughts from my Kitties with boys????

Kenna is outside and had some snot on her nose. I told her to get the tissue out of her pocket and wipe her nose...she used her sleeve instead--yuck! She's playing mother & baby (the girl version of cowboys & Indians) with her stuffed Spider Monkey--a strange site.

Well, as always, the dishes beckon me :(
Liz

Easter Finest

Well, Nana and Papa sent us our Easter outfits and we looked good. Then we went to Kentucky to see Nana and Papa Sunday evening and stayed until Wednesday. It was great fun. They act like they are the first people on earth to ever have grandchildren. While we were there, Steve bought a Glock 9mm model 19, which he is very excited about.
The babies are 6 months old, still trying to master the whole "sitting up" thing, but doing very well with sippy cups. They can feed themselves, which is a good thing, as we are expecting another little one in November, so I need to get these kids independent before then.
I thought I would have some time to write, but Anderson is currently screaming his head off, so I'll cut this short. Hope you all are well. Miss you and love you.
-Fulty

Back to the grind

Well, we made it back from Disney! We had such a great time- the weather was beautiful and Brevin fully enjoyed himself. His favorite things were seeing all the characters at the different buffets, riding the rides, swimming (if you can believe it- maybe we have broke his fear of water), and being wild and crazy in the evenings. He always seemed to get a second wind later in the day. I think one of his favorite rides was the Goofy roller coaster in Magic Kingdom. You had to be 35 inches to ride and he was 36 inches. I was a little nervous because I didn't know how he would do with the fast speed and twists and turns but he laughed the whole ride- and he laughed all 3 times that we rode it! It was great. He also loved seeing "Mickey's Castle." I guess since we don't have any girls it is okay to be Mickey's castle and not Cinderella's. It was a great time!
Hope everyone else is doing well! Liz, I am making your tortellini soup tonight for dinner. It smells great! Love ya all!

Tortellini Soup

Meow Meow,
The fam and I had a nice little trip to Johnson City this past week--got to see all of Eli's family and visit with the Watson gang. We also got a taste of spring only to return to cold Indiana.

My tortellini soup has had several requests so I'm posting it for all interested:
1 small onion--chopped
2 medium zucchinis--chopped
2 cans chicken broth
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 can great northern beans--drained and rinsed
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 TBL dried basil
1 pkg uncooked dried tortellini (Barilla makes a good Three Cheese kind)

slap all the ingredients, except the tortellini, into a crock pot. Depending on your schedule--cook for 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high. 20 minutes before serving add the tortellini and cook until tender.
EASY EASY EASY!!!!

Hey Byrd, what was Miriam Bull's blog page?
And what was the name of that Leap Frog program you told me about for Kenna. I can't remember anything!

Well girls...I'm beat. I had a nice vacation but it wore me out to sleep in the same room with my kids! I'm such a light sleeper and they are so restless and noisy through the night that I am ready to take a nap.

Hope everyone is well.
Lizzy

CRAZY continues...

Well cats the craziness continues. My sister's wedding is officially off. Sadly, he was not the kind of man who desired to lead a relationship or work at a relationship, and we all know it takes some SERIOUS work to make it work. She is devastated but i think she feels she did the right thing by ending it when he expressed his deep doubts for the second time. Still she is broken hearted and needs our prayers.

On the kid front Ava Isabel has turned more into a holy terror than i thought was possible. This weekend we went down to Market Square to eat lunch. My sisters and i were perusing a store for about four minutes tops and came out to three different Ava stories. In four minutes she:
1. Shoved Atley up against a wall and spanked his butt
2. Walked over to an outdoor restaurant that had those big bulbed Christmas lights along the fence, unscrewed a bulb, pulled it off and took it to her father
3. An owner of another restaurant was standing outside his restaurant door, locking it to close up. Ava slipped in while he wasn't looking and was for just a few moments locked inside the restaurant alone. The sad thing is i think she would have had a complete ball once she realized she was alone.

Today we were telling Bible stories in the van when Atley explained to me that Jesus hit Noah really hard. Can we say OT/NT confusion?

Who knows what tomorrow will bring, much less the rest of the week!

Meow
Mandycat

Disney!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. We are busy here trying to get ready for Disney. We are leaving Thursday afternoon, driving part way, staying in a hotel, and then going the rest of the way on Friday. We are going to spend a day with Greg and Steph and their kids until we meet up with my mom on Saturday. I am hoping Brevin doesn't have too many meltdowns- we seem to be having more and more of those. Yesterday we were at McAlister's and he chucked a tabassco bottle across the table. Swartz took him outside and put the fear of God in him. Luckily, the bottle didn't break. Of course that came right after he dropped his full cup of water on the floor (at least that was an accident though).
Fulty- I hope you were able to dig out of the snow. I think my parent's got over 12 inches- crazy! Ness- I hope your kiddos start feeling better, especially for your trip. Great news about Gabe! It is so nice to not have to buy so many diapers! Liz, you look rotten as ever in your museum picture!
In other news, I think we are getting a pool this summer. My brother has one at his house that he doesn't use and he wants to take it down so we are going to bring it down here. Hopefully it will work out alright- I don't think it is too old. Of course after we decided this I dreamt that Brevin fell in the water- we will have to install some good locks! Well I hope everyone that is getting a spring break enjoys it and everyone else can enjoy a Happy Easter!

I'm tired!

Hi Cats!It sounds like you are all busy and back in the swing of things. Byrd, I wonder where she learned the term, "Oh my word", you are lucky she is not saying "oh piss!" Fulty I hope you are doing well, I miss you and saw that you called the other day! I will try to give you a call back this weekend! Liz I hope you didn't deface any artwork or exhibits at the museum by letting out a horrendous stench of gas! Oh how I love you all!

I am getting a "facial" by Klepper on Saturday morning if anyone would like to join me in my home! My children have been dog sick again---Gabe an ear infection and Eliana the croop! In the midst, my son has decided he is potty trained. He just started refusing to wear a diaper and asked to go pee-pee on the potty. Anyway all is well, my class is b-a-double-d and I am looking forward to a week with John on spring break. Liz, if all works out I would be up for a weekend in Cinci, meeooow! Any messages for Klep???? I love you all! Oh Liz, could you give me the recipe for the tortellini soup? very good by the way!
Love, V-Cat

Spinning Plates...

Hi Cats! Sorry for my ridiculous delay in posting. I have not been able to stop for a moment in the past few weeks. Daniel has been in Chicago this weekend so i am a little worn out to say the least. Tomorrow we move in our second mom. While i am excited, my work is doubling but my time is not. We are, however, implementing some new policies that i think will help with some of the "boundaries" issues we have been dealing with. Overall, we are mostly looking forward to beginning this new journey with another mom.

Ava has a new thing where she constantly says, "Oh my word!" And i do mean constantly! It is pretty funny. This morning she was laying in the bed with me and she tried to hand me something. I asked her what it was and she said, "My crusties." I looked closer to see that she was handing me the dried boogers from around her nose. How do you like that Fulty????

I think i am most likely up for the weekend in Cincy. I think it would be good for all of us to try to get away. We are too busy.

Love you cats!
Meow.
Mandycat

Children's museum

Went to the Children's Museum today and acted like a child...what's new!

movie night

Kenna and I just finished watching High School Musical--good ol' cheesy, squeaky-clean family fun. It's a cute movie if you haven't seen it--very G!

Eli and I got some mountain bikes the other day. I'm going to tear up some mountains--well, I guess I should call them hills. We Indiana people don't have very many mountains. I'll have to post a picture of myself in a pair of bike shorts :)

Hope everyone is doing well. Enjoyed the visit. By the way, what does everyone have going on the weekend of May 16-18th? Could we possibly have a Cat rendezvous in Cincinnati?

Post and let me know. I'll be the planner.
Liz