Ladybug is the first in more ways than just being the first girl. She is also the first of my babies to actually stop nursing to look up and talk to me. She is the first of my children to have a dirty diaper blowout (requiring a change of clothes and LOTS of stain remover) almost every day. Believe it or not, my boys didn’t have blowouts at all. She is also now the first of my children to attempt and succeed at the feat of spitting up down the inside of the sleeve of my long sleeve shirt. To the elbow. Can’t wait to see what else she’s first at. I really hope it doesn’t involve more stain remover.

Imp

Our November has been busy…

With soccer…
Go Go and Mr. Pres were on the same team. (here they both are going for the ball)

with early Christmas presents…..

that brothers thought were cooler than Ladybug did.

And with Thanksgiving….

we had this Superman Pilgrim join us for our feast. A feast which I made almost nothing for, I might add. We decided to try the pre-made store kind this year with no prep on our part other than to heat everything up! When dinner was over in less than 10 minutes, I felt fully justified in my laziness! 🙂 It’s just not worth slaving in the kitchen all day when you are only feeding a husband who doesn’t eat a lot, and three small children. Our little 10 lb turkey almost fit in a 9×13 pan it was so small! But it was more than enough turkey for our family of small eaters and we loved not having to cook it all. Happy Holidays everyone!

This may come as a surprise to many of you who know me well, but I have always laughed at the more extreme child safety products and their paranoia. Locks for your fridge, locks for your toilet, video monitors, and corner covers for every piece of furniture in your house. My personal favorite is the device that prevents doors from shutting all the way so that little ones can’t pinch their fingers in the door. Heaven forbid they actually learn something as basic as how not to hurt themselves. But I am now seriously considering the corner covers for all corners and furniture in my house or Blue Jeans might not make it to the age of 5 with his face intact.
Wednesday I had him scheduled to have his pictures taken at Target. Three hours before the appointment he ran through the kitchen with his bowl of snacks, tripped and landed teeth first into the dinning room chair. He didn’t knock out any teeth, but he hit so hard he gave himself a hematoma in his gums and lip above his upper front teeth and some nice teeth marks under his lip. That kind of injury can translate into crushed teeth up in his gums and dead nerves that cause the teeth to go gray. He was lucky enough not to have any crushed teeth, but the dentist said his teeth may very well go gray. “It’s only cosmetic for kids” he said to reassure me. Just cosmetic?! Easy for him to say, his kid isn’t going to be walking around with dead teeth for the next 5 years. When I finally can take him in for pictures once the vampire teeth marks do heal (look close you can see them), the exchange will go something like this:

Photographer to Blue Jeans: “Say “Cheese”!
Blue Jeans smiles.
Photographer: “Mmm. Maybe you better say “MOLDY Cheese instead.”

This is the kid whose mother gets stopped in the mall by modeling agencies and photographers in Walmart to tell me I need to have his portfolio done. Between the scars on his head and now his teeth I can kiss my life as a child star mother goodbye!

I was so looking forward to that too.

But he definitely is. Today begins my very long life in Cub Scouts!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been complimented by an apostle.  (An apostle did thank me for cleaning the table he was sitting at once, but that’s a story for another day…) Today at our stake conference Elder D. Todd Christofferson spoke.  We have such a small stake here in New Jersey and there were so many children in attendance that he kindly offered to shake every child’s hand after the conference.  How exciting that my boys got to shake an apostle’s hand!  I didn’t get to do that till I was in college!  As Go Go got his turn, Elder Christofferson put his hand on his shoulder and said, “That’s quite a tie you have there.” 
(He probably wanted to say, “Wow, that shirt and tie combo is really… bright!” For some reason this Christmas shirt and tie are Go Go’s favorite. It’s like pulling teeth to get him to wear anything else!)  Go Go was not particularly bowled over by the compliment, but I felt it at least deserved a blog post.  After all, it’s not every day you get to shake an apostle’s hand. 

I love folding PINK laundry!