Daily drama

Sorry for not posting much lately. Sometimes it feels like nothing's happening and then tons of little things happen at once. Like yesterday...

A: Went to the bathroom without telling the kids. In the process of being "absent," the mail truck pulled up to our house, Mads tried to let her in, subsequently letting the dog outside (he didn't have his collar on), finally came and told me someone was here. I went to the door to sign for the package then the mail lady tried to help me catch Drake. Did I mention I was still in my pajamas? Meanwhile the kids are standing in the doorway crying because I'm running down the street away from the house. Finally made the dog think it was a game and he chased me to the neighbors house and she helped hold him while I got his collar on and dragged him home.

B: While laying P down for nap, the doctor's office returned my phone call about some blood work I had done. Mads answered the phone for me and hung up on the nurse. After playing phone tag for another hour, I was able to reach her and get the info I needed (everything's fine).

C: P puked 4 times during the evening yesterday, 2 times happened to be while I was carrying him so my back got soaked. (He is doing much better today.)

D: The hot water bottle I was using to warm up the foot of the bed last night split wide open and soaked our sheets, comforter, and mattress last night. We spent the next 30 minutes cleaning up the mess and scrounging for miscellaneous blankets and towels to keep us dry and warm. Think I'll stick to microwavable rice bags from now on.

All in all not too big of a deal but when all of these things happen on the same day I tend to feel a little overwhelmed. At least today should be more manageable. We'll break out the camera soon and post winter/Christmas photos. Hope you're all having a joyful week leading up to this weekend!

A good night and "wishful" thinking

Thanks so much for all of the kind words that have been sent our way regarding our lack of sleep. Mad's apparently got the memo because she slept through the night last night! I've been giving her praise and affirmation all day. I don't know if it will happen again but it's the first full night's rest she's had in over 3 months so I'm thrilled. She seems to be a different kid getting that much sleep.

On a different note, not to be too pretentious, but I thought it might be helpful for any family members who were interested in getting M or P gifts for Christmas to have an idea as to what they're into. I've created a new link on the left side of the page to Amazon wishlists I've made for P and M. The items there are examples of the things they like playing with these days. Plus it's pretty easy to get free shipping and I'm happy to wrap anything that's sent right to our house. Just an idea...

Thanks again for all of the support you all offer us in cyberland! It helps us not feel so alone or isolated while we struggle with the journey of parenthood.

Jabberwocky nights

I hope you enjoyed the last post because this one isn't so light-hearted. Justin and I love our kids; we really do. However, 2-3 times a week they challenge us to the brink of sanity. Tonight, I got up with Parker at 11:45. It is now 3:10am and he's still awake (although quiet, finally). Madeleine woke up at midnight and finally fell back asleep around 2:30am. Out of desperation I went to the pediatrician for help after trying everything from herbal tinctures to letting them cry it out. She recommended giving them Benedryl on nights like this because even if it isn't ideal, Justin and I have to get some sleep. But this isn't a permanent solution. We already give them a very small dose of melatonin to help them fall asleep at night but just when they should be entering the deepest sleep, one of them wakes up. And if Justin or I don't do exactly as they want (M wants us to sleep in her bed with her all night), one tends to wake the other with screaming. And the cycle begins. I am an empty shell when they do this. I have no capacity to express compassion or comfort when they deprive me of the only time I'm not supposed to be needed by them. Nothing makes me detach from my kids more than when they're both crying/screaming for Momma. I cannot physically be in both places at once so one has to settle for Justin who does his best but also feels emotionless as one of his own kids won't accept the care he's offering. So these are our Jabberwocky nights: when Justin and I battle an indescribable foe, where there is no rhyme or reason as to what's happening, and the result is us feeling completely empty. If any of you have experienced this, I'd love to hear what you tried in case there's something we've missed. At this point I'm left wanting to call a sleep expert to see what advice they have. We have to start getting good rest soon. Our family and especially our marriage is depending on it.

The hunt

Snow bibs, jackets, mittens, boots, hats, sleds, hot chocolate, a saw, and some string and you've got yourselves a Cline Christmas tree hunt. We bundled up today and hit the road with kids and dog in tow to the Lolo National Forest. Justin and I have done this 3 of the 5 years we've lived in Missoula and we hope to make it a yearly tradition with M and P.

Because we've had tons of snow already this year, it made sense to pull the kids in on sleds which went wonderfully for the trek out. The trek in was a bit tedious as we continuously scanned the woods for "the one" with the kids telling us they were cold (it was only a high of 22 today so they weren't lying). Once we found a winner, the real whining began. Fortunately we bribed some positive outlooks with M&Ms and hot chocolate.

It took J merely seconds to cut the tree down and prep it for carrying out. By then P and I were long gone with Drake and me trying to keep up with his sled as it wanted to fly down the trail. He giggled when I nearly fell over a few times as his sled knocked my feet out from underneath me.

Justin came out of the woods looking like Paul Bunyan. The kids and I enjoyed sledding down a small hill while J tied the tree to the car. Once we got too cold, we packed in, headed to our favorite Mexican restaurant, chowed down and considered the day to have been a delightful one. Unfortunately I've run out of Christmas lights (these straggly ones suck the lights right up) so the kids won't wake up to a beautiful tree; instead they'll get to help in the ornament hanging...another adventure is in store!

Dear Santa

Madeleine's the perfect age this year to start understanding all of the excitement around Christmas. The other day she was telling me that she wanted some new things so I asked if she'd like to write Santa a letter asking for some of them. It was pretty endearing! She held the marker and I helped her make all of the letters except for the last sentence (she ran out of steam). However, at the very end she wanted to write her name all by herself and she did a great job! (And yes, I know we misspelled "puzzle" in the rush to finish but I think ol' St. Nick will forgive us.) Now to teach her the part about being naughty or nice...

While I was celebrating my b-day...

Justin discovered this after laying Parker down for bed:

Madeleine passed out cold on top of Drake; they were both were snoring. Makes a very cute picture.

Birthday snow

Today is my 31st birthday. No denying it now...I'm really in my 30s! I'm welcoming this year with a new hairstyle (will try to post pics later) and a hopeful disposition. By this time next year both kids will be in preschool and I'll have a lot more free time on my hands. I have no idea what I'll be doing with it but the prospect is titillating! I am meeting some girlfriends at a bar tonight to share beer, appetizers, but most of all companionship. I've been very fortunate to meet a few really neat women over the last few weeks and I'm looking forward to some kid-free time to enjoy conversations with them. We'll save the family celebration for tomorrow night when we don't have to suffer the effects of kids and sugar highs on a school night. And Mother Nature is sending some snow as a reminder of how quickly time does pass. Next week Thanksgiving then Christmas, New Years, and then my trip to San Diego with Carol! I'm gonna like being 31!

Unplanned projects

On Monday I burned a bag of popcorn in the microwave. Really burned it! After airing out the house as much as possible, Justin could still detect it when he came home. That finally pushed him over the edge and he agreed it was the excuse we needed to get an over-the-range microwave. I'd had my eye on one on Craigslist for a while and fortunately it was still available. Thanks to having yesterday off, we actually started and finished a project in one day (not common in our house)!

Look past Parker's head. Our old black microwave stood out like a sore thumb on the counter, taking up valuable space, especially during canning season.

Excuse the disaster but this pic shows what our cabinets looked like prior to installing the OTR microwave. The mess on the counters was all for a good cause...notice the jars of red and green salsa and canned pears and pear sauce. They should last us the year!

Installation in progress.

Space saver wonder!

Crown of the kitchen :) Justin and I are so happy with the final results! So our cabinets look a little different...it's totally worth it (we had to ensure enough clearance for the canner)! I won't have to worry about the kids trying to microwave toys (it's almost happened), provides a perfect nightlight, and isn't as loud as our old one. Now my goal is to keep the reclaimed counter space clean, at least until next canning season!

Trucking

Life's been on auto pilot lately. Not too much to report...joined a boy's 2-year old playgroup and both Parker and I are making new friends. Madeleine's getting better and better at sleeping in her twin bed and she even made it a solid 10 hours last night without waking up (first time since starting preschool). Our washing machine croaked a few weeks ago so we splurged and got a new fancy shmancy energy efficient one that we can fit a whole lot more clothes into. And we're finally moving forward with getting new windows for the house, just in time for the first dusting of snow today! Guess we have a little bit going on...just no pictures to show for it! I'll try to get some fall photos before snow covers the ground.

Halloween

We had a whirlwind evening this Halloween. Once Parker woke up from his nap, we got the kids decked out in their Thing 1 and Thing 2 costumes (from Dr. Seuss books) and loaded up in the car to visit Jen as our first trick-or-treat stop. Jen indulged the kids with lots of goodies and her neighbor let them practice knocking and saying "trick-or-treat." We ran back home, slurped some smoothies, grabbed the jogger and ran around the neighborhood looking for friends who had already started ringing doorbells. We caught up to them easily and the candy fest began! Madeleine caught on very quickly to the amazing deal this is for kids and we had to keep calling her back because the 2-year olds couldn't keep up! After scarfing down some cheese, we let the kids have a bit of candy while they played with the play doh that I bought to hand out this year. It turned out to be a pretty popular trick, at least from the parents' reactions. Then Beth, Cody, and Greta stopped by for some last minute fun before bedtime. It was an evening full of friends and fun and I'm guessing we'll be hearing about it until next October.

DQ

These pictures are a bit dated (Parker still had his shaggy surfer hair) but they show some of the fun dynamic between these two. And to give credit to Dairy Queen, the new mini blizzard is perfect: big enough for sharing between two kids and small enough to not cause stomach aches or guilt for mom!

Six

With everything else going on I almost forgot to announce that Justin and I have been married for six years as of today. While our bodies show the wear and tear of the last six years, I can still think back to what it felt like waiting to walk down the stairs to see Justin waiting for me. Our love has changed with each adventure but our commitment to experiencing them together only grows stronger. Thanks J for sticking with me through it all. I love you!

Happy birthday little P

At 11:00pm on October 13th, 2008 I began timing contractions. Two and a half hours later, Joshua Parker Cline was in our arms, turning our family of three into a family of four. We love you Parker and can't believe how quickly you're growing up!

Family photos

I snagged a "seize the deal" offer back in August ($80 photo shoot for $20) and coerced Justin and the kids into participating for some fall family photos. And by coerced I mean I pleaded with Justin and he bribed the kids with ice cream. Whatever works, right? We met Jessica, the photographer, on Saturday afternoon up the Rattlesnake and had some fun running around in the woods. She's posted the best shots on her website. We get to pick 10 to have as prints. Which ones do you think we should choose?

She likes it

Turns out Madeleine really likes the dress I made for her. She wore it to school this week with some jeans underneath since it's a little chilly and outside play at preschool dictates the need for modesty :)

Is hair allowed to do that?

Until 2 months ago, I would have sworn that Parker would grow up with stick-straight hair. But something happened over the summer: his hair started to curl! It started at his crown in the back and is slowly progressing around the sides of his head to the front. I'd been letting him sport the shaggy surfer look but after his bath tonight I decided to get down to business. Snipping here and there resulted in a much better haircut even if it does make him look a bit feminine. He has already being called a girl by 50% of the people we interact with at the store so I figured this couldn't hurt his ego too much. Justin says the wings have to go; we'll see when I get brave enough again to cut around his ears with sharp scissors.

Lawn ornament

One of our toilets sat in the front yard for an hour Saturday morning. The unanticipated chore of taking out a toilet was put on Justin's to-do list midweek when I discovered that the kids had clogged it by flushing two of Parker's pacifiers. Only upon disassembling the toilet did we find out the biggest culprit: a pen! What were they thinking?!? Fortunately all were easily removed and Justin got everything put back together quickly. I wonder what they'll try to flush next...

Flying, sorting, dancing, crashing, drawing

Carol wasn't lying when she told me Minneapolis had more playgrounds than any other city she's been to. Here's the one in the airport! We were lucky enough to go past it on our first day of flying. It's dedicated to Charles Schultz and since Madeleine loves Snoopy we had to take a picture with him. Unfortunately this playground had some glass walls that Parker apparently didn't see so he got a black eye by trying to run through one! I'd suggest all kid play-spaces steer away from glass because Parker can't have been the first to try that.

Staring out the windows. It never gets old watching airplanes take off and land. At Nanna and Pappy's house. JoAnn brought out some shells from the Outer Banks and let Madeleine play with them on the deck while we waited for George's grandkids to come over to play. It quickly became Madeleine's favorite activity, outside of playing with Buoy the puppy (those pictures are on Nanna's camera).

After the wedding, the grandkids took to the floor to show off their moves. Okay, it was only ring around the rosie but still they were quite the entertainment! Madeleine and Parker ran around with their new cousins all night and were disappointed to find out they wouldn't be coming to Montana with us (their family lives in Florida).

Downtown Phillipsburg (where the reception was) and rolling PA hills

Being supervised by JoAnn's dear friend Audrey (Hi Audrey! I know you're reading this :)

Wedding cake eating. Both of the kids managed to stick their fingers in the cake before it was cut and served. What can I say? My kids know a good thing when they see it!

Flying home. There was a lot of eating, a lot of sleeping, and a lot of goofing off.

Best buy ever! A last minute find on clearance at Target last week: Crayola wipe off drawing pad. Entertained Madeleine for hours. We flew both directions without a portable DVD player. I think we deserve gold medals.

This is just a smattering of what happened. Most of the events were captured on JoAnn's camera so hopefully I'll find a way to get a hold of those and share some time soon.