Cheating

So after my long post about commuting with the boys and how I don't let William watch videos but instead we talk and interact during our ride to and from work, I think I have to eat a little crow. William has since discovered--or realized--that he can watch Backyardigan episodes on my iPhone.

I have used this feature of my iPhone before when trying to distract William and keep him quiet (especially at the doctor's office), but handing him the iPhone in the car is a whole new venture. I don't remember exactly how he came to have the iPhone in the car (or what possessed me to hand him this $300 toy), but he actually managed to stumble across the episodes on his own, and I got a quiet and relaxing ride home. Wow--was that nice! Since then, I've used it sparingly, only when William has been so cranky (or I've been so cranky) that conversations threaten to devolve into shouting matches, arguments, or tears. But my goodness, it's like a little slice of heaven to drive into work or home from work with no one demanding my attention, and time to just think. This is, of course, if Seth falls asleep. If Seth is awake, my attention is still diverted. But it's a lot easier to deal with one demanding child than with two!

By allowing William to "watch" the iPhone occassionally, I run the risk of having him ask for it ALL THE TIME. Toddlers are like that--if you do something twice, it might as well be written in stone. So I've really been using it sparingly. But still, it feels like I'm cheating. However, I'm over it. Everything in moderation, right? And anyway, when he's done watching a video, he just plays with the iPhone, and that keeps him entertained, too. This morning he figured out how to use the camera. And he's also found a few games that Ed has downloaded. I'm amazed that he can navigate around the thing like he can, but that's one of the reasons I really wanted an iPhone--it's so intuitive! "I'm an iPhone and I'm almost 3!" (That's a take-off of one of the Microsoft commercials, in case you missed it.) My next goal is to get him to wear the headphones while he watches so I can listen to NPR. After that, I need to figure out what to do with Seth!

Productivity and Then Some

I've been feeling really good about how much we've been accomplishing on the weekends recently. On top of the normal responsibilities--laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, and errand-running--we've been packing. We're two weeks out, and we have about about three-fourths of the house packed. That might be a bit of an exaggeration, because we still have most of the kitchen and toys to pack, and that is a LOT of stuff, but I feel really good about our progress.

Of course, the reason that we've been able to be so productive is that we've had a LOT of help. Ed's parents have been coming every weekend and watching the boys while we pack. Yesterday my cousin and her 11-year-old son came over, and William was in heaven playing with a "big kid." While Seth napped, my cousin helped me pack a bunch of kitchen stuff. Ed has also been uber-productive, for which I am very thankful.

This brings up a big difference between Ed and me. When Ed packs, he just throws everything into boxes and tapes them up, and labels them by what room they're in. There is no sorting. There is no organizing. There's no worrying about whether or not the boxes bulge when they're taped up. Bulging boxes are fine. This kind of packing drives me nuts. This kind of packing, however, gets done. It gets done quickly. My kind of packing involves going through everything, deciding if I want to keep or purge things, making sure things that go together are together (this is ESPECIALLY important with toys), and then putting things in boxes. The boxes must all be flat when they're taped up. And all boxes get detailed labels. My kind of packing is organized, but it is not efficient. It takes forever. So ultimately, Ed's system is better, and I'm deferring to him. And because of that, "we" have gotten a lot done.

In addition to packing today, we went to the new house for our walk-through with the landlord. We brought William with us so he could get a feel for the place. We went all throughout the house and walked around outside. William stayed upstairs for a few minutes when we were downstairs, and he managed to find some Comet under the master bath sink which he spilled on the floor. When I went upstairs to find him, he was clearly contemplating how he should handle the situation. He looked very guilty and sheepish. It was kind of cute. But it also reminded me that he's getting to the age where he's starting to try realize that it's better if we don't find out what he's up to. Anyway, after we got home, William told us several times that he likes the new house. I think we'll be happy there. And if not, it's only temporary.

In other news, Seth is walking all over the place, and it seems as thought walking comes with a new attitude. He has turned into a little terror! He is definitely going to give me a run for my money--much more than William has. He doesn't have the same sense of self-preservation that William has. He has no fear, and a strong sense of independence. William better watch out! The poor guy is still teething really hard, though, and despite the fit-throwing and hitting (yes--he's hitting!), he mostly just needs to be held by his mama. And for the most part, I happily oblige!

So that's our weekend report. Lots done, but still lots more to do. I'm looking forward to moving, if only to get my life back in order.

From Steps to Walking and Backseat Driving

Yesterday, Seth was taking steps. Today he's walking! William is as excited about as I am. When we got home from work, I was in the other room when I heard William say, "Mommy, Sef's walking! Good job Sef!" Sure enough, Seth has started walking from spot A to spot B. He's realized that he can and I think he's pretty proud of himself, too. I managed to get some video.

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Meanwhile, William has become the consummate backseat driver. He tells me to slow down. He tells me if I get too close to the car in front of me. And when we get close to home, he'll say, "You did a good job driving, Mommy!" He also questions me all the time, and tries to redirect me. "Why are you going dis way Mommy?" "I wanna go dat way!" "No Mommy--don't turn here!" If it wasn't so freakin' funny, I might get irritated. What was I saying about playing DVDs in the car? . . .

Seth is 10 Months Old! Seth is 11 Months Old!

As some of you might have noticed from the pictures I posted yesterday, Seth is getting SO BIG!!! I never did post his 10-month pictures, nor did I write about what he was doing at 10 months. He still had no teeth, was cruising on furniture quite a bit, and was starting to balance a little without holding onto anything. He was climbing stairs like a pro and was getting into table food. He loves music and was dancing whenever he heard some. And he was waving any time someone said "Bye-bye." He could also do the "So big!" bit, where he stretches his arms in the air. (Although his version is cute because he holds his hands together first and then holds them above his head.) He was babbling quite a bit, too, and would say "Ma-ma-ma-ma" when prompted. Here are his chair pictures at 10 months. I'm bummed I never got one with him and William, but such is life!


At 11 months old, Seth is taking steps--as many as five in a row. He claps and waves and repeats lots of consonant sounds. He likes to eat and his favorite foods are probably macaroni and cheese and waffles. He still loves music and is very vocal. He repeats lots of sounds--especially when William talks to him. He also has a bit of the devil in him. He delights in doing things that he knows he's not supposed to, like going up the stairs, and pulling my hair, and anything else that elicits the "No!" response. It's hard not to smile at his infectious grin. Here are his 11-month pictures. William made it into this round, and they turned out pretty cute. (You can tell by the bruises on Seth's face that he's learning to walk. The poor child looks abused! He ran out of room on his forehead and managed to bruise his cheek last night!)

Making Progress

I have had so many things I've been wanting to blog about this past week. But I'm still struggling to find the time to blog. Someone needs to invent an instant blogger, where you can dictate to your blog as things are happening, and your post will automatically get written. Until then, I'll just have to keeping trying the old fashioned way.

So now that I'm here . . . hmmmm . . . what did I want to blog about? Crap. Well, I guess I can start with weekend accomplishments. Today, Ed's parents came over to watch the boys so we could do this:

I think we got a lot accomplished, including most of the main level packed (except for the kitchen), but there is still soooo much more to do. Ed took to his parents' house a big load of boxes that have been sitting in our garage since we moved in. There were tons of books, and a bunch of memenotes-type stuff that probably should have been sorted through first, but for the sake of time, we just decided to take it as is. Thank goodness his parents have a ginormous basement.

Yesterday, William and I ran a bunch of errands, including going to the UPS store and mailing two items--one of which should have been mailed months and months ago. It's a box of maternity clothes that have been sitting in the back of my car, all boxed up, for forever. (MJ--they're on their way!) The other thing I mailed is a birthday gift for a friend, and this mailing is a HUGE accomplishment because I NEVER manage to mail anything off in time, and this package will actually get to her in time for her 35th birthday! (Hint hint!) At least I hope it does.

My weekend also included laundry, dusting the house (I just couldn't stand it!), and going to the grocery store this morning with both boys in tow. Not too shabby, huh? The highlight of the weekend, however, was today's weather, and getting to play outside with the boys. It almost made my heart ache to think about leaving our yard, and what it will be like without it. But I'm sure it will be fine. There's a fish pond down the road, and a basketball court and a tot lot close by (on either end of our row of townhouses), and the elementary school playground a short walk away, and the swimming pool, of course, where I hope to spend lots of time this summer. Hopefully we can figure out a way to play with the sandbox, too.

Anyway, I took a ton of pictures this afternoon. These are some of my favorites.

Commuting with Two

This morning as we were driving to work, I glanced over my shoulder at William, who had been a bit quiet. He looked up at me and said, "I'm just thinkin' 'bout dirt, Mommy."

I said, "Really? What about dirt?"

He had a small wooden dowel, and he was using that as his "control" and was pretending to drive a bulldozer and push dirt around. He proceeded to explain all of this to me, quite earnestly. I love that he is using his imagination on our commute to work.

There was a time when I had the DVD player hooked up in the car, and it was soooo easy to let him watch vidoes on the way to and from work. But since I let him watch PBS in the morning (usually Between the Lions, SuperWhy, or Martha Speaks), and he also gets to watch something when he does his nebulizer treatment at night, adding videos in the car was just too much of a good thing. So instead, we interact as I drive. And William and Seth interact. (When Seth isn't sleeping.) And while this interaction isn't always pleasant (some of my worst Mommy moments have occurred in the car), and while I don't get any "down time" between work and home, I'm still very glad that I took the DVD player out of the car.

To provide a bit more detail, our commute to and from work is usually from 45 minutes to an hour. In no traffic, it can take as little as 30 minutes. In very heavy traffic, it can take us well over an hour. I always start our commute off listening to NPR. I also make sure that William has his OJ in the morning, and his diluted apple juice for the ride home. (I'm thinking of nixing the afternoon apple juice, though, because he's often times not hungry at 6:30 when I serve dinner.) He also usually eats his breakfast in the car on the way to work--either cinnamon toast, a waffle, or pancakes, with grapes, banana, or some other kind of fruit. When he was younger, I also had to make sure I had his blankie, but he's outgrown that phase for the most part, so we usually leave blankie at home. Also when he was younger, I used to stock the car with various books and toys. He still often brings a car or truck or digger to play with, but for the most part, we just talk the whole time.

When I say "talk," this usually means that William observes out loud, and I comment on all his observations. He often asks questions, like, "What's that digger doing, Mommy?" God forbid I say, "I don't know." If he's in the right kind of mood, saying "I don't know" will induce a meltdown. Usually I can throw the question back at him--"What do you think the digger is doing?" We talk about the trucks and garbage trucks and construction trucks that we see on the road. We talk about the buses. And we look for the "doggie" bus (the Greyhound). We talk about how everyone is going to work, or going home. And the trucks are going to the construction site or back to the garage. And we pass a few construction sites along the way and we look to see if the diggers are working. If they're not, we say that they're "parked." He'll tell me what he ate at school, and who he played with. We talk about what we'll do when we get home.

It usually isn't very long before William asks to listen to music. He was on a Barney kick for a while. And we have a CD with songs that say "William" throughout them, and he liked that for a while. He loves Mary Chapin Carpenter ("Come on, Come on CD), and lately, he likes listening to a bunch of songs we downloaded on my iPhone, including the Cars soundtrack ("Real Gone" and "Life is a Highway"), "I Like to Move It, Move It" from Madagascar, and the ever-popular "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz.

Some days in the car are more difficult than others. He's irritable and I'm irritable and he pushes my buttons. If i'm not paying close enough attention to him as he talks (as in, if I tune him out, which mothers often do!), he screams, "TALK TO ME!!!!!!" He screeches or kicks the seat or wakes Seth up. He's usually really good with Seth, and if he's screeching and Seth laughs and screeches back, I just let it go. He'll grab toys out of Seth's hands, but if I remind him to take turns, he'll give the toy back, or find something else for Seth to hold. Seth usually doesn't care anyway. If he gets really bad, I turn off the music, and he gets very upset and will stop whatever he's doing. Or I can threaten to give him a timeout when we get home. He responds pretty well to threats, luckily!

Speaking of Seth, he is very different in the car than William was at his age. He is not a pacified by toys or books as William was. He just wants to get the heck out of the car seat, so he mostly whines the whole time. He usually falls asleep in the car, but if he doesn't, he likes to listen to music, and he mostly likes to hold my hand. For most of the car ride, I have by right arm stretched behind me so he can grasp my fingers. My only necessity for car rides with Seth are several extra pacifiers, and my hand. My arm usually aches by the time I get to work, but it's worth it to not hear him whine! Part of the problem may be that I still have him in his infant seat. We're getting a new seat for William in the next few weeks, so Seth will get to ride in the Marathon, which he may find more enjoyable. Probably not, though. We'll see!

So that's our commute. It's often not pretty, but I do feel like it's time that I'm interacting with the boys. Not so much with Seth, yet, but we'll get there! And I'm sure he's getting something from listening to William's and my conversations. And as Seth gets older, the two of them are interacting more and more. On the days that I get home feeling completely drained, and I haven't even started our evening routine of playing, getting dinner, baths, and bed, I think about how the next 4 years will probably fly by. And then I'll be commuting all by myself again. And that will be time I won't be spending with the boys. And that makes me sad enough to appreciate the time I have.

Weekend Report

I didn't get as much done this weekend as I had hoped, but that's the story of my life. Ed got our taxes done, so that's a biggie off his list. And I did manage to go through some things in our storage room and I sorted through William's and Seth's drawers and weeded out things that were two small or things they never wear. I started our Goodwill pile, so that's progress, too, right? I returned a few things to Walmart today, so that's a big check off my list. I'm terrible at returning things! And of course, there was laundry and grocery shopping and other household chores. (I didn't really clean, though. Other than keeping toilets and sinks clean, and the house vacuumed, I decided I wouldn't waste time dusting or cleaning floors--other than spot-cleaning--since we're moving in a few weeks and I'll have to clean after we're out anyway.)

The boys are okay, although it looks like they're both getting colds again. Seth is either teething hard or else he has another ear infection. He has not been sleeping well at all and has been very temperamental. He's actually started throwing mini-temper tantrums. He drops to the floor and lays his head down when you take something away from him or don't give him something he wants. I can't help but laugh. He's been taking lots of steps, too. He'll be walking before we know it!

In William's world, not much is new. He's looking forward to his birthday and to Seth's birthday. He knows we're moving but probably doesn't really know what that means. I think he'll do fine with the move. I made whole wheat waffles this weekend and both boys ate them up! I made cauliflower, too, but neither of the boys liked it. Seth has not been eating very much for dinner lately. He's over baby food, but I'm having a hard time finding other foods that he'll eat. He loves mac'n'cheese and cheese toast. But I'm trying to avoid cheese in his diet. He's not that crazy about vegetables, though. Or beans. He likes peaches and grapes. And Ritz crackers and waffles and pancakes. I'll just keep trying with him. He'll hit a growth spurt sooner or later!

That's enough babbling for now. I read The Last Lecture this weekend and it's definitely gotten me thinking about my life and how I'm living it. I have so much to say about that, and several unfinished posts to prove it, but I just can't find the energy or focus to write what I really want. So those will have to wait for now. What I most need to focus on is getting organized for our move. "Getting organized"--that makes me life. Who am I kidding? I still have a few weeks, though. Miracles can happen.

"Last Night"

To William, anything that happened in the past happened "last night." It took me a while to figure this out. I kept thinking that maybe he was dreaming a lot. This morning he said, "Me and Simone (his friend at school) played in the snow last night!" That happened well over a month ago. He'll often talk about things that he and Daddy did "last night," like they went ice skating, and watched the airplanes "at the airplane port!" (another favorite Williamism) and he sat on the bulldozer at Grandma's house--all last night. It's fun to see the progression of time recognition in toddlers. (Or the lack thereof!)

Spring Teaser

Like most of you along the east coast, we've had a real taste of spring these last few days. William has been spending lots of time outdoors, and enjoying every minute of it. His daycare class spent the whole morning outside, and Seth's class got outside for a good hour, too. And of course, as soon as we got home, William wanted to play outside. With the extra hour of daylight, who could resist? We sat outside and William played with his trucks and diggers while Seth enjoyed crawling around in the grass and dirt, picking up sticks and mulch. I'm so looking forward to warm weather and no more jackets and playing outside and swimming!

The time change hasn't messed us up too badly this time around. We went to Ed's parents on Sunday and William skipped nap, so he fell asleep in the car on the way home and was in bed asleep by 8:30. This morning and tonight were totally normal, up around 6:15 a.m. and to bed by 8:00 p.m. That's a relief!

I'll end with some video of Seth. I was trying to capture his new trick of spitting every time he gets a mouthful of baby food or yogurt. He so clearly does it because he knows he's not supposed to. He gets this devilish gleam in his eye. At the end of the video, though, I got him to do his three tricks. I didn't even know he could clap (which explains why I sound so excited at the end). I've been trying to teach it to him, but that was the first time he did it for me. It's kind of long, but still cute.

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A New Place to Live

We found a new place to live today. We looked at three places, and while that may not seem like a lot, based on what we've seen and what we know is out there, it wasn't hard to make this decision. There are some definite trade-offs. It's a townhouse with a brick patio and no "yard" to speak of. The patio isn't even fenced in. There's no garage--just two parking spaces in front. (At least there are two in front, though!) And while it's closer to the city than where we live now, it's still farther away than I had hoped to be.

On the positive side though, it's pretty big and has a nice layout. The kitchen, while not modern with granite and stainless steel, has lots of counter, cabinet, and drawer space, and a pantry! (Woo-hoo!) It also has a gas stove, which I'm very excited about. There's a family room off the kitchen with a gas fireplace. The master bedroom has two walk-in closets and a soaking tub in the bathroom. The other two bedrooms are decent-sized. And the laundry room is upstairs! (Can I hear a "hallelujah!") The basement rec room is huge and has a bump out area for an office. It also has a nice-sized room for storage, or whatever, a full bath, and even a little room/closet set up as a workshop. All of our basement furniture, including William's playhouse, will fit there with no problem. In fact, all of our furniture should fit fine, including our piano. It's the lawn/garden stuff that we may have a problem with.

The community has a pool and tennis courts. There are tons of walking trails, and there's a lake close by. There were all kinds of kids and families out and about, so that was nice to see. There's a very small tot lot at the end of our block of townhouses, and an elementary school with a nice playground within walking distance. And the clincher is the rent. We'll be paying $200 less a month than we pay now for our mortgage. Also, the couple who own the house seem very nice and cool and easy to work with. They're local and bought the townhouse as an investment two years ago. So that's a nice plus. Ultimately, it was a decision of paying more for a smaller place with fewer/no amenities but closer in, versus paying less for bigger, with amenities, but further out. The fact that it's not as far out as we live now, though, helps. It will probably take about 15 minutes less to get home.

I wish I could say I'm jumping-for-joy excited. But I'm still feeling very ambivalent about the whole thing. I'm disappointed that we couldn't find something with a better "yard," or at least a fenced-in patio where I could turn William loose and not have to worry about being outside constantly. We have patio furniture that I'm pretty sure won't fit on either the patio or the deck that's off the family room/kitchen. I'm not even sure we could use William's sand box on the patio. We can probably figure something out. Just beyond the patio is a grassy common area, and beyond that is a big resevoir-like basin, but it's totally dry. I think it's an overflow, catch-all, in case of heavy rains or something. It's like a big, empty pond--but grassy. Hard to explain, but with the snow we had last week, it had clearly served as a great sledding hill. There were a couple of abandoned sleds at the bottom. So that's actually a positive, I guess.

It's a nice community and I bet we'll meet a lot of nice people there. I liked the socializing that occurred among neighbors when we lived in our condo community, and I get the feeling it's the same way at this place. I'm sure once we're there, I will be happy that we moved. It will be fun to have the pool this summer, and to have a new area to explore, and to make new friends. And it's not like this is forever. So let the packing begin! Aghhhhhh!

I "heart" My iPhone

Did I mention before the I LOVE my iPhone? (This is for you MJ!) I completely forgot to mention the iPod and instant connection to iTunes. I've purchased several songs on the fly (two from Cars, and one from Madagascar--"I Like to Move It"--for William, along with a couple just for me) and I love the instant gratification! I've also downloaded a couple of podcasts, and love that I can do it right when I hear about them, as opposed to having to remember later to do it.

I also love the camera, and being able to snap instant pictures. My digital camera is pretty big and is usually "put away" so capturing those spontaneous moments does not always happen. With the iPhone, however, I've caught some good stuff. Including this:

And this:

(Capturing the joy of licking the bowl after making brownies!)

I also love that I now have pictures whenever anyone asks. I mentioned the boys today to some of the women in the class I've been taking, and they asked to see pictures. And I could show them some! Now I don't seem like an uncaring mom for not carrying pictures of my kids around in my purse!

I think I mentioned this before, but I took notes from my class on my iPhone notepad, and then instantly e-mailed them to myself when the class was over. Brilliant, huh? I no longer need to worry about keeping a pen in my purse.

Tomorrow, we're looking at three rental properties, and on Sunday, we're looking at two more. So I entered each property into the map and bookmarked them, and tomorrow and Sunday, we can just pull up the map and then ask for directions from one property to the next. In the notepad, I made a separate note for each property with the rent price, contact name and phone number, and some of the questions I have for each one. Tomorrow I'll just jot down my notes and impressions as we look at each one. I have never been so organized! And yes, I could have done all of that on a pad of paper, but this is just so much more accessible to me. It rocks!

I keep my grocery list on my iPhone, and I have several apps which look up recipes, along with access to the Internet and any of the recipe sites I want to look at. A few times I've looked up a recipe while shopping and then been able to get all the ingredients I need. It's awesome for menu planning--especially when I see something on sale that I had not put on my list. (This process takes a bit of time, so I can't really do it when I'm shopping with the kids, but it's great to have the ability to do so!)

The calendar is great because I can send myself alerts. I've used the weather feature a lot, although I wish that app had more information. It only gives high and low temperatures, and a picture to indicate sun, rain, clouds, etc. Good enough, though!

I could go on and talk about some apps I've downloaded and other things I love. But I think you get the picture. And BTW, my plan is only $75/month. I'm on the low end of the minutes (400/month, I think), but I really don't talk much on my phone, so it's fine for me. And it includes a limited number of texts (200/month, maybe?), but again, I don't text much, so that's not a problem. (The texting feature is really nice to have, though! It has come in very handy.)

So that's my pitch. Go get one MJ! You won't regret it.

Hodge Podge

Rather than try to be coherent and blog around a theme--and end up not blogging at all because that's virtually impossible at this time in my life--I'll just lay out my random thoughts.

Part of why I haven't been blogging at night is because I've been searching CraigsList and the MLS for rental properties. We've started looking at places on the weekends, too. Ugh. It's making me a bit depressed, as I think I will really miss our house and yard. The places closer to DC are really expensive, and if they're affordable, then they're basically dumps. So we're either going to spend more in rent than our mortgage on a place that's not as nice, but is closer in, or we can stay close to where we live now (we could get a bit closer to the city, but not much), live in a pretty decent place, and pay the same or less as our mortgage. Aghhhhh! I just keep having to remind myself that we're only talking two years here. We want to buy before William starts kindergarten. I can do anything for two years, right?

William and I played in the snow yesterday while Seth took a nap, but I didn't bring out my camera because it was too cold. Mostly we shoveled the snow. I worked on the driveway, and I shoveled it off, William would shovel it back on. It was pretty funny. We went out again later after Seth woke up, but by then, William was really tired and didn't want to play so much. When Ed came home at 6:00, he and William went back out to finish shoveling the driveway and William had a great time.

William is really into Superman right now. He loves the original Superman movie and wants to watch it all the time. He runs through the house with his arms out in front of him and sings the theme song. It's pretty cute. One day I found him a Superman shirt at Walmart. He would wear that shirt 24-7 if I let him. I hope it's a durable shirt because I wash it just about every other day. At least he's wearing something other than a truck or digger shirt, right? The next step is Superman pajamas. And I also plan to order Superman underwear. Maybe that will convince him to use the potty.

Seth is balancing and starting to try to take steps now. He turned 10 months old last week. (I did get chair pictures, but not of both him and William. I'll post them soon, with a proper "Seth is 10 months old" title.) He's also eating lots of people food now, like macaroni and cheese, cheese toast, waffles, pancakes, cinnamon toast, cereal bars, soft meatballs, goldfish, diced squash. He doesn't like green veggies, though (like peas or broccoli), or carrots. Mind you, he still has no teeth. I think the bottom ones are imminent. Time will tell.

I'm taking a class at GPO this week (Government Printing Office). It's on printing processes and terminology. Today was the first day and I've already gotten a lot out of it. I wish I had taken this class when I started this job. It's nice to be doing something different for a few days.

I'm finding it virtually impossible to read anything. I simply cannot fit it into my day. After I'm done with my evening chores (wash bottles, make bottles, make lunch, prepare sippy cups and breakfast for next day, do any prep work for next day's dinner), I either get online and catch up on blogs or search for rentals, or else I fall into bed and watch TV. I've tried to pick up a book, but I can't concentrate. I keep thinking it will be better when I get more sleep.

I don't think I've mentioned how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE my iPhone. I've been taking notes for my class on my iPhone, which I can then email to myself. I've downloaded apps for keeping a grocery list and for recipes, which have been awesome for grocery shopping. I've used the mapping feature quite a bit when we've been house hunting. I can save different locations and then get instant directions to and from each one. And I can instantly search the Internet or my emails to see various listings, get their addresses, and agent phone numbers. But the most useful feature of all has been the timer. The timer is my best friend when I need to get William to do something. If he's not ready to stop playing or change his diaper or get out of the tub or leave school, I set the timer for 2 or 3 minutes, and when it goes off, he's instantly ready to go. It's amazing. He woke up this a.m. at 5:15 and I finally convinced to go back to sleep in his bed, by himself, by leaving my iPhone propped next to him with the timer on. It was set to go off at 6:30 a.m., and then he could come into our room. It was a bit of a risk leaving it in his room, as he's already figured out how to slide the bar to activiate the menu. But it was worth it for him to go back to sleep by himself in his own bed. Actually, this ode to my iPhone probably should be it's very own blog post. But this will have to do for now.

I'm sure there are more thoughts swirling around, but I should end it here. It's 10:15 and I still want to look at rental properties. Why can't there be just a couple more hours in each day???

Snow Day!

We finally got our first measurable snow today (in March, no less!). I'm home with the boys, and William can't wait to go outside to play. I'm waiting until Seth goes down for a nap. I want to get pictures and doubt I'd be able to if I have to hold Seth the whole time. I don't have snow gear for either of the boys, so we will have to improvise. Even if William and I just shovel the driveway and the sidewalk, he'll have a great time.

Here are a few pictures. This is our front yard, early this morning, right about dawn, I guess:

And our front yard a bit later, around 8:30 a.m.:


And our back yard around 8:30 a.m.:


Hopefully more to come!

Time to Jump Back In

I have devolved into a vicious cycle of not blogging for a while, and then sitting down to blog but never finishing the post, and then it's even longer since the last post, and then there's too much to blog about and so I never finish the post . . . It's not pretty. So rather than try to explain my long absence, I'll just jump back in.

I wish I could say I've been doing lots of productive stuff, but I haven't. Just trying to keep my head above water, mostly. The boys are doing pretty well, though, so I have that to be thankful for. William and Seth having been playing with each other quite a bit lately, and it absolutely warms my heart. They do things to make each other laugh, and William is starting to show Seth how to do things (even though Seth is really too young to do them). One of their favorite games is for them both to get on their ride-on cars and race around the house or the playroom. I have to push Seth on his car, of course. But they could do this for hours. It completely wears me out, but the giggles are so completely worth it.

I'm not sure if all kids are like this, but Seth and William will play by themselves (and together sometimes) with no problem--as long as I am in the room and paying at least a little bit of attention to them. If I have something I need to do, like laundry, or using my iPhone, I have to first give the boys my undivided attention for a little while. Then I can start doing what I need to do, and they will continue playing on their own. If I try to leave the room, however, they'll come find me in two minutes flat. It never fails.

That said, Seth decided to assert a little more independence today, which left me with my heart in my throat. William had woken up from his nap and was in need of a lot of attention. (He is an absolute bear when he wakes up, and it's purely for my benefit. He's fine at daycare and when Ed is with him.) William and I were in the kitchen and Seth was in the family room--just out of my line of sight. I could hear him playing as I held William and got him a cup of orange juice. When I went to shake the OJ, however, the lid wasn't all the way on and OJ went everywhere. So I had to put William down--which started him wailing--to clean up the OJ. After a few minutes, I realized that I couldn't hear Seth. He wasn't in the family room. I walked by the stairs and heard something upstairs. Seth had climb the entire flight of stairs and was in Ed's office, just happy and proud as could be. Just thinking about what could have happened makes me shudder. Thank God he was fine. Little stinker.

William is still waking up a lot at night, wanting me to lay down with him, and wanting chocolate milk. Haven't made much progress there. It seems like we take one step up and two steps back. So we're starting again. We'll see how it goes. William's classmates have started turning 3, and we're on the birthday party circuit now. He had a party last weekend at Pump it Up, and next weekend, there's a party at Glen Echo Park, featuring the play, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." It should be really cute, and what a great idea for a kid's party. I've already started planning William's party, but I'm really bummed because the place where I want to have it is only available Memorial Day weekend. And half the kids in William's class won't be able to come. Hopefully William won't notice who's there and who isn't.

Okay, now I'm just babbling, so I'll officially end this post. Hopefully I'll get back into the habit of blogging, even when I don't have much to say. In the meantime, I'll include a few pictures, since it's been a while.

William enjoying pizza at the birthday party:


Seth being, well, Seth: