Aunt Meghan bought Rowyn some Earth's Best Wheat Teething Biscuits . Rowyn seems to really enjoy them. I gave her one during lunch today and after I cleaned her sister Camdyn up, I came back to find Rowyn had lost her biscuit. See if you can find it. ;)

And Rowyn doing her Chris Farley face...

Yesterday, we went to Davenport to visit Meghan and pick out her dress for B & C's wedding at David's Bridal. Christina made the task a simple one, the bridesmaid's get to choose any dress they want, they just had to be corn flower blue. The saleswoman made it even easier, she picked out several styles and all Meghan had to do was try a few on and choose one. The whole process would have been a wonderful shopping experience, but for one little 3-year-old who made it quite the day.

Lumpy was on a rampage. She was slamming the glass dressing room doors, taking off with tiaras, putting heals on and attempting to run around the store, hiding under dresses, playing 'ballerina' on the stage, and she put some random veil on her head and started to pirouette on top of the little chair they had, fell off, and knocked 8 boxes of shoes over. In the meantime, I'm trying to help Meghan pick out a dress and shoes, Rowyn is crawling INTO the glass doors (red mark on forehead) and crawling OFF the little raised stage they have (another red mark on her forehead). Then, my mom is off talking to the sales woman, I'm chasing Lumpy on the other side of the store, I come back and find mom's purse and my purse and ROWYN sitting there all by themselves...Meghan left them to go try on a dress on in the dressing room. Camdyn walks behind the counter by the cashier, she walks into the store room, she's screaming, "I want a wess!" (dress)
omg...if I never go there again, it will be too soon.

So many new things lately. Rowyn has her first tooth, the little bugger appeared yesterday on her lower left side. She has now stood unassisted for several seconds. She makes a funny noise with her mouth when she sees food. She loves her food; cereal, veggies, and her Mum-Mum's...fruits not so much. Tonight she used her activity table as a walker and cruised all around the playroom. When I got home from work I peeked in on her and she was sitting quietly in her crib playing with her teddy bear. It was all I could do to not go in, scoop her up, and smother her with kisses. I love that baby.

Rowyn discovered the way into Camdyn's fort.

Lumpy didn't care for that.

Speaking of Lump, she's very much into dressing herself. She's all about layering.

Two shirts, a sundress, and some leggings. Very chic.

The girls were in the toy room playing while I emptied the dishwasher this morning. Camdyn wasted no time making Rowyn a 'pretty, pretty, princess'

But wait, the princess is not happy...

Much better.

CNN

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The hemorrhaging of American jobs accelerated at a record pace at the end of 2008, bringing the year's total job losses to 2.6 million or the highest level in more than six decades.

A sobering U.S. Labor Department jobs report Friday showed the economy lost 524,000 jobs in December and 1.9 million in the year's final four months, after the credit crisis began in September.

The steep annual drop in jobs marked the highest yearly job-loss total since 1945, the year in which World War II ended.

November, in which 584,000 jobs were lost, and December marked the first time in the 70-year history of the report in which the economy lost more than 500,000 jobs in consecutive months.

Construction employment shrank further by 101,000 jobs, and the rate of construction unemployment soared to 15.3% - by far the highest of any group.

CHRON
New-home construction plunged to an all-time low in December, capping the worst year for builders on records dating back to 1959.

That's us. That's my family. So please don't tell me the economy isn't that bad, that it's not a big deal. Because maybe it isn't for you and yours, and how great for you, but for mine and millions of others, it is a big deal. For my co-worker who is 2 months behind on her mortgage payment, because her husband is a self-employed plumber, it is a big deal. For my friend whose husband is a self-employed landscaper it is something to worry about. They've lost everything they've worked so hard for. There is no unemployment when you are self-employed. So no work = no money. Try that with a family of six. Try finding a job in the already dismal construction field. Try crying yourself to sleep every night, because you are struggling to keep your head above water. Try sucking up your pride and filing for heat assistance. Try hiding all your feelings from friends and family. Try being the best parent you can even when you're already at the end of your rope both emotionally and physically. Try explaining to a child why they can't have a new coat this year, because it isn't in the budget.

I'm not looking for sympathy. It's not self-pity that prompts me to write this, it's because I'm sick and tired of hearing people minimalize the state of the economy. I know it has ebbed and flowed throughout history, I know it will eventually improve, but for here and now, for a lot of us, it sucks.

Now that I've got that off my chest, in the words of Clark W. Griswold,
"Hallelujah. Holy shit. Where's the Tylenol?"

A friend of mine told me about Baby Mum-Mum's , so we thought we'd try them out for breakfast this morning.
What's this you give me?

Not exactly the cat's meow.

Here, you eat it!

No, really, you eat it...or I'll jam it in your ear.

Okay, okay...she was a little dramatic for her first go round with the Mum-Mum's, but it was her first try at solids. I think they're awesome, they are just the right size for her to self-feed and the dissolve really well.

Lumpy strikes again.

It was finally warm enough for the kids to go out and play in the snow, so our 3 older kids and 2 of the neighbor kids headed out to the huge snow piles at the end of our cul-de-sac. Clyde and I check on them periodically, so when I looked out and didn't see Camdyn, I opened the door to yell to Riley. She told me she didn't know where Camdyn went, that they were looking for her.

I hear Lumpy yell, "I'm right here, Mom."...as she comes walking from the side yard of the neighbor's house. So there she is, walking down the street towing something in her little red plastic sled. It was a statue from the backyard she'd just emerged from. I about died. I made Clyde throw on his coat and boots and find where she'd snagged the yard art from and hopefully replace it unscathed. Hopefully this isn't a foreshadowing of things to come. She better not be one of those teenagers that steals Christmas decorations from some unsuspecting soul.

Today was very eventful. Rowyn found out that her shirt had ears...

...and in the midst of taking picture of Rowyn, Lumpy managed to get a sucker stick stuck in her mouth.

Little Miss Personality

I'm sure this picture doesn't need much of an explanation, but it is sold on Etsy and here's what the seller wants you to know:

This award winning doll received both "Most Creative" at the 2006 Foster Old Home Days fair, Foster, RI and "Best in Show" at the 2006 Woodstock Fair, Woodstock, CT.

She is anatomically correct, as is her newborn son!
Her embellishments include a wedding ring, earrings and necklace and her son has a tiny belly button, made with a real button to which the umbilical cord attaches.

She makes a great addition to any midwifery practice, or for any birth professional that works with siblings.

Note: The doll is available for sale. THIS LISTING IS FOR THE PATTERN ONLY.

The pattern is for the experienced crocheter and includes all information for making the Mama and baby (with detachable placenta and umbilical cord) as well as the maternity clothes for the Mama. Suggestions for embellishment are included.
Finished doll measures approximately 15" and the baby approximately 4.5"

Discuss.

Our version of Handy Manny...Handicap Manny

Fixing the heat vent in boxers with a plastic jack hammer

Today Cooper was playing Lego's in his room and called out to me,

Mom, I need to change my pants!

Why, Cooper?

When I sneezed, I threw up. It was neat!

Aren't 5-year-old boys the best?

Want to see what my 7-month-old can do?

Little show off!

Some vintage Riley B.
(oh alright, how vintage can it be since she's only 7, whatever, you get the point)

That's what we think of the economy!

Being broke sucks. I'm in desperate need of some retail therapy.

Brendan & Christina gave Rowyn a Giant Microbe for Christmas...the rhinovirus, to be exact. See, Brendan was sick after visiting here on Thanksgiving and had the nerve to assume it was my children that infected him. :P Anyway, looks like we need to get one for Cooper...he's got strep again, second time in less than a month. Apparently, he's taking after me...I had strep so many times in 4th grade, I'm not sure how they passed me through to 5th. Come to think of it, is 4th grade when you learn fractions and the capitals, because I'm horrible at both. Anyway, I had my tonsils and adenoids out and 5th grade was much better.

Say hello to Cooper's little friend
Mr. Streptococcus

This little petri dish of lovelies is what Coop is hosting a soirée for as we speak.

Camdyn got a rose petal cottage from ho-ho this year. It takes up half the toy room, but whatever...I can hide toys in it if people come over. Haha!

Anyway, Clyde bought me a small box of Betty Jane Gremlins for Christmas. I love them, but don't need them...they are as evil as those damn peanut and Oreo balls. So after opening them, I had several (ugh) and then asked Clyde to put them on top of the refrigerator so I'd stop eating them. A few hours later, I went to sneak just one more and the box was missing.

Clyde, what did you do with the gremlins?

Put them on top of the fridge.

Well, they're not there now.

Now we're both looking all over for them. I hear paper rustling. I peak in the rose petal cottage, and there sits my very happy 3-year-old, with a now nearly empty box of Betty Jane Gremlins.

Guess that's one way to keep me from eating them.

Rowyn tried sweet potatoes tonight for the first time. They were baked, pureed, and presented to her...you can see what she thought of them. ;)