Quick Takes - The "Making Up For Lost Time" Edition

I wish I had some amazing reason for being a crappy blogger like Dwija, but - no.  I don't.  But I've missed blog land so very very much and it feels wonnnnderful to be writing quick takes again!!  Here we go.


Before I begin, this post is rated P for Poop.  Proceed with caution.


1. We're moving.  I don't know where.  But we are.  Probably.

Our lease is up on May 31 and I've picked up on the very nice hints from the kind folks at the leasing office that 3 small children who cry and throw tantrums in the apartment right above said office should probably find a new place more conducive to triple tantrums.  Besides which, I'm not crazy enough to commit to another year in a shoebox with a family that might very well contain 4 small children by next May 31.  Not pregnant, but I'm just sayin...

Gonna miss these glorious windows.

The problem is I haven't yet tracked down a new place with 3+ rooms and a backyard that is in an acceptable location and within our budget.  That means we are going month by month until we find a new place, which of course comes with the risk that I'm going to get a call from the apartment manager following the next epic tantrum to inform me that our rent has suddenly been increased to $15,000/month.

So if ya got a lead for me in the Baldimore area, gimme a shout hon :)

2. I started cloth diapering, which I blame heavily on Rosie, and I kind of love it.  I never understood when people talked about cloth diapering laundry being "fun laundry" - laundry is not fun.  It usually makes me want to cry, like when I have to hand Stephen rolls of paper towels when he gets out of the shower because I used the last of the regular towels for an emergency bath for a child who defecated in their pants.  But I've got to admit, it's amazingly cathartic to throw a very well contained bag of poop rags into the washing machine at night and have a fresh dryer of prefolds ready for me in the morning.  It's totally true that it's different than regular laundry - no sorting, no folding.  Totally doable.

Prefolds and a flip cover, baby.

3. Speaking of Rosie and poop, I cranked our relationship up a few notches last week when I showed up on her doorstep asking for a new pair of pants.  Clarification - pants for my child, not for me.  We were on our way home from dropping my sister off at a civil war reenactment in Virginia and Clare decided it was a good time to unleash her backup fecal storage tank.  Thankfully, Cecilia's pants were a perfect fit and we were able to proceed with a lovely play date.  You absolutely must go check out her incredibly hilarious and completely accurate recap of it all, including the photo shoot of 4 children under age 4.

Our matchmaking efforts seem to be working nicely.

4. Let's see, other major accomplishments of last few weeks?  Made a semi-solo trip to NY with the kiddos.  My mom and Haley met me halfway in PA and Haley rode back with us to help out for the rest of the way home.  The trip went amazingly smoothly thanks to Haley, Ronald McDonald, and the entertainment package on our minivan.

Haley and Ronald, the winning road trip combo.

5. While we were in NY, we got to attend my great uncle's 100th birthday.  They had a table of old photos and some certificates which I assumed were just for fun...

Congratulations from Pope Francis!

...and Jimmy Carter...and George W. Bush...

...oh and the Queen of England.  Yawn.

Nope, they were all real.  Apparently being 100 comes with some pretty amazing perks.

6. Then we kidnapped Emily and kept her for a while until she went off to her reenactment.  I hadn't been to a reenactment since I was a kid and it was a much more sobering experience as an adult.  It was very, very cool to see everyone camping out in their authentic tents and dressed in period clothing though - especially since I could go home to my nice cozy tick-free bed.

True story, I thought CSA was for "community supported agriculture" but actually I dropped my sister off at the confederate registration table.

Aren't they cute??!

Check out Emily's post for a bunch of really amazing photos!

7. OneTab update:

Yep, definitely just enabling me.

I have a problem.



On that note, go see Jen for the quick takes of the non-procrasinators!

Play - Theme Thursday

I was going to make a big bloggy comeback tomorrow with a "7 quick reasons I've been a pathetic blogger lately" post, but I saw this week's Theme Thursday is "play" and I couldn't resist - it's basically all we do around here.

Has anyone played this game before?  It's one of my childhood favorites and I was stoked to find it at a local toy store this week - for 30% off!  Wahoo!!  It's a kind of tricky game, but surprisingly Ava seems to grasp the concept.

I love this one because it's a great illustration of how just simply getting out to experience any little bit of the world is so good for kids.  I'm trying to remember the little errands we find so dull as adults can be adventures to children.  I was brave this week because my sister is in town visiting and I knew I'd have an extra pair of hands to help...we decided to go to a bookstore.  A real live grown up bookstore.  With lots of expensive books within reach of a 2 and 3 year old.  And we survived!  And the bookstore survived!  Guess what happened when we were home?

That's right, they changed out of their "street clothes" and put their princess pajamas back on!  But after that Ava set up her own little bookstore and went shopping with her Easter basket.  And Clare decided to hurl herself headfirst down our new-to-us indoor slide.

That's right, I said indoor slide.  Because that's what every 1000 square foot apartment with 5 human occupants + 2 pets needs.

Actually, it's Dr. Indoor Slide.

Go see Cari for more fun play pictures!

Feme Friday

...because I just love alliteration.

I took the theme "grow" as a sign that it was time to actually do something about the herb garden I've been talking about for the last 3 years or so.  Here are my favorites from the lot:

So glad to be back this week - thanks Cari for hosting another round of photographic awesomeness :)

5 Favorites - the "I didn't fall off the face of the earth" edition

I can't believe I completely disappeared last week from all usual link ups.  I'm so ridiculously happy that nobody is sick and the weather is good and I'm trying to get out there and seize the day with a death grip.  And obviously I can't compete with sweet little Charlie but I'm glad to be back to my regular blogging schedule nonetheless!!

And let me say before I begin - I thought I got into my groove here with embedding my pins from Pinterest and now they've gone and changed it on me.  I don't know.  Bear with me and my lack of blogging finesse.  I'll have to figure this out later. Gah!

Without further ado...5 favorites.

1. Strawberry Lemonade

The weather got HOT here this week, and so naturally lemonade was in order.  I was so excited to drink our first batch that we left out the strawberries, but I've got a carton of strawberries in the fridge that is the size of my head so it's only a matter of time before I give in to that gorgeousness.

2. Peter Rabbit...and other audio books

I got the audio version of Peter Rabbit and the girls are loving listening to it while we're driving around.  We got season passes to a local petting zoo and the girls were so excited to find out the rabbits were named Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton Tail, and Peter.

We've also been listening to "Peter and the Wolf" and they love that too.  I'm stoked that they are able to actually pay attention enough to understand what is going on.  I think it's so great for kid's imaginations to have to picture all the characters in their heads and I have such good memories of listening to radio shows as a kid...hmmm I'm starting to feel like the Waltons now so I'm just going to stop.

3. Maxi Dresses & Skirts

Since the abrupt onset of very warm weather, I have been wearing my (coughmaternitycough) maxi nonstop.  Since I don't think I'll be wearing anything else this summer thanks to my awesome leg veins (I'd like to trade someone for stretch marks, please...) I'm thinking I should probably have another (non-maternity) maxi in the rotation.

I'm loving these two - the one on the right is made in the USA (and also - surprise, surprise- twice as much :)

4. Boy Bibs

Emeric tried a few bites of food this weekend and I realized all we have in the drawer are pink kitty bibs that say things like "I'm cuddly".  Don't get me wrong, Emeric is a cuddly baby - but I feel I owe him something a little more masculine.

He loved it. Sooooo good.

I think I can DIY bow ties on a pack of plain bibs for some irresistable cuteness.

5. Four Seater Shopping Carts

Need I say more?

Now go take a peek at an adorable chunk of baby over at Hallie's!!

Ava speaks

Serious questions from a highly inquisitive 3 year old...

Mommy, when lent is over can we watch TV all day, every day??

Did you come out of your belly when you were born??

What kind of trees do peeps and pizzas grow on??

Are these WWWWWiwwies or LLLLLLillies?

Ava: If Clare pulls a bottle of chemicals off the table and sprays them on herself, I will come tell you.
Me: Ummm...what kind of chemicals???
Ava: The kind of chemicals that would make her very sick and have to go to the hospital if she sprayed them on her face
Me: Ok...have you ever seen chemicals like that sitting out on the table before??
Ava: No.
Me: ...
Ava: But if I see her spraying chemicals on herself I will tell you.


Stephen: Ava, do you know what animal beef comes from?
Ava: A beaver!

Me: Ava, are you spitting??
Ava: No, I'm drooling.

(Ava is trying to tell me a ridiculously long winded story while Emeric is throwing an epic fit and Clare is trying to color on the wall with a crayon and I'm simultaneously cooking burning dinner)
Me: Uh huh, that's good Ava...
Ava: NO it's not good!! It's EVIL!!

Me: What do you want for breakfast, Ava?
Ava: I just want cinnamon toast, candy corn, chocolate, brownies, cupcakes, cakes, strawberries, blueberries, pancakes, vanilla stuff, chocolate chips, and marshmallows...those things make me smile, mommy!!

Most of these photos brazenly stolen from my fabulous sister Emily

And now...since it must be done... Follow my blog with Bloglovin. Blah blah blah.

Quick Takes Vol. 14

Jen, I really could have used the reverse order this week :)

1. Let's pinpoint the cause of this week's tardiness...

I'm getting pretty fancy with Picasa.

...all right I give up.  It definitely wasn't related to crocheting leprechaun pots for our leprechaun trap though.  Definitely not.

2. Last Friday, I decided to try introducing the girls to stations of the cross.  I took a page from Lacy and downloaded the Holy Heroes CD from Amazon and printed out coloring pages to work on while we listened.  It went pretty well other than Ava asking every 2 minutes or so "Where did Jesus go pee pee when he was on the cross??"

3. After another trip to the pediatrician who is urging me to take my children to the dentist before age 1, I finally relented and took both girls for their first checkup.

Ava did an awesome job.  Clare refused to open her mouth.

I'm definitely right about the whole "it's pointless to take young children to the dentist" thing.

4. We got a globe this week, and I am stoked.  I am such a geography nerd.

The girls seem fascinated with it so far and it's hilarious to hear Ava randomly asking things like "hey mom, where is Ethiopia again??"

5. Stephen finished his first rosary, and it is AWESOME.

Tell him to open an Etsy shop already!!  The man's got talent.

6. Thank you Aggie Catholic for this one...I'm a little bit worried that whoever wrote this song has hidden cameras around my apartment and wrote this about my life.




7. Conversation this week with Haley:

Haley: you should be asleep.....and in the morning we will be there with creeps for seven years stoke....that is so perfect!!!

 Me: wait...what???

 Mom: we will come in the morning and bring a seven year supply of crepes...and babysit for three years...or more....and......let you blog all day!!!!!!!!!!!!!![I wish}

Ahhh...the girl knows me so well.  Crepes and uninterrupted blogging time...what more could a mom ask for.  Someday...


Have a great weekend everyone...and go check out Jen's place for the rest!!!

Liebsters and 5 Things and TMI...oh my!

First things first - THANK YOU Jessie, Erika, Rosie, Brooke, and Heather - for nominating me for Liebsters and/or 5 things. You are all awesome and I'm a total loser for taking so long to finish these.

Since it has taken an embarrassing amount of time to finish these questions, I'm going to stick with 5 random facts about me instead of 11.  Come in!! And know me better, man!!

There is no end to these types of photos of me.

1. I am a nerdy former homeschooler.

Ok I went to a Catholic school until 3rd grade.  Then I was homeschooled.

2. As such, I started taking classes at a local community college when I was 12, started college full time at age 15, and graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science when I was 19.

Not kidding about the nerd thing.

3. I have fainting diseases...

...whatever that means.  

I, along with my sisters, mom, and grandma, pass out regularly due to pain, disturbing images, bad smells, claustrophobia, paper mache (ok that one is all Haley)...the whole lot of us are delicate little butterflies.  Here's to hoping my girls have NOT inherited this gene.

However, I alone have inherited the added bonus of seizure like behavior when I pass out - that's right, I get the whole "losing control of bodily functions" package.  Which leads me to my next point...

4. I once passed out on an airplane and peed my pants.

I was 17, and flying alone across the country, still had a connecting flight to make after it happened, and no change of clothes in my carry on bag.

It was awesome.

5.  I kind of drive like your grandma.

I have never gotten a speeding ticket.  Let me also clarify that I have never been pulled over for speeding :)


So....wow.  I don't think I realized how many questions these were until I sat down and copied them into blogger.  Not going to lie, I think I might know myself a little better after answering these questions.  It's intense.


Questions from Jessie Pope:


1. What's your favorite TV show ever?
I'm a little ashamed to admit it's probably Covert Affairs at the moment.  Don't judge me.

2. Who do you think is the most attractive actor from the classic era of film? I'm thinking 1960's and before? (I'm not supposed to answer my own questions but PAUL NEWMAN.)

Stephen was reading over my shoulder and agreed about Paul Newman.  Who am I to disagree with Stephen and Jessie Pope??

3. When you were a kid planning your life out, is there something you always thought you'd have done by now that you haven't done yet? 

I don't think so...my life looks very different than I imagined when I was younger, but mainly I always wanted to be a mom, and I am.  Boooooring answer, sorry :)

4. What's your favorite holiday and why?

Christmas, but strangely enough I think July 4th is second.  Please don't think I'm a heathen.

5. Do you have a go-to meal that you make allll the time? What is it?

Does ordering pizza count??  Because...we order pizza way way way more than I'd like to admit.
And after that, crepes.

6. Playing of Chalayn's question: Beach Boys or Beatles?

I like them both, but I'm gonna have to go with the Beatles.

7. Do you have a book you've read more than once or twice? Which book?

I've read a few books twice but I don't think I've read any more than that.

8. If the rain or snow has you stuck inside, what's one way you try and beat the cabin fever?

If it were just me, I don't think I would ever get cabin fever.  Did you ever see the cabin fever episode of Mythbusters??  I'm totally just like Jamie.  It's probably because my name is Jamie too.

But when I'm stuck inside with the kids...gahhhhhh!!!
Cry a lot, browse Pinterest, and drink?? 
Just kidding.
Kind of.

9. If you have a garden: what do you grow? If you had a garden: what would you grow?

I have no garden.  If I had a garden, I would grow ALL THE THINGS!!!!
I'm thinking about starting an indoor herb garden, though.

10. In your opinion, which is the best Disney/Pixar collaboration? (Monster, Inc., definitely.)

True story - Monsters Inc. makes me cry now that I have children.  I'm kind of a sucker for the original Toy Story.

11. Are you a Kindle fan or an advocate for hard copies of books? Or both?

Both.  I like real books but the instant gratification and cheap prices of Kindle books is soooo...addicting...


Questions from Erika:


1. Best trip ever:

WOW this is a hard question.  It's kind of like asking me to pick my favorite child...I love all of my travels in different ways hahaha.  My honeymoon was probably the most relaxing though.  We rent a cabin in the Smokey Mountains.

2. Favorite saint and why:

I'm woefully inadequate in my knowledge of saints, but I chose Martha as my confirmation saint because we are most definitely kindred spirits.  I can be a real type A, and I think my greatest struggle in my adult life has been to tear myself away from the things that need to be done, and the things I think should be done, and just be present with my loved ones.

3. Fav recipe:

Right now it is most definitely crepes.  Is everyone sick of me talking about crepes yet??  Ummm...I unashamedly love crepes.

I use this recipe and spread the Nutella reeeeal thick and top with whipped cream and sliced strawberries :)

4. Your wedding colors and flowers (potential, if you're not married yet):

Brown and white - and chocolate roses!!

5. Article of clothing that you can't live without:

Right now it would definitely be my Gap Jeggings :)

6. Favorite blog for your morning coffee read:

I just started typing out a narration of my morning coffee...
Let's just say I haven't really read any blogs this entire Lent since we gave up TV.
Really looking forward to Super Why helping me to reclaim my morning coffee blog time :)

7. Polka dots or stripes?

Ok your questions are way harder than Jessies.  Seriously.
I think stripes...probably.  Maybe.  Sometimes.

8. Top favorite mass song:

I love the "taste and see" responsorial psalm because it reminds me of our wedding :)

9. If you could meet anyone, who would it be:

I once told Stephen if I could meet anyone in the world it would be Stacy London, and he chastized me for not picking the Pope.
I don't think it would still be Stacy London, but I still don't think it would be the Pope.  That would be way too intimidating.

10. Most essential beauty item:

I loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo -
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooove Origins skin care.  I've tried several face wash/lotion combos and they are all fabulous. 

11. Why you started blogging:

I was an internet lurker for a while, reading blogs but never commenting and all that....when I started talking about blogger people in conversations as if I knew them in real life I knew it was time to stop being so creepy and start my own blog and interact with people.  

Also Stephen kept telling me to do it.  Probably because he was concerned about my creepy stalking.


Questions from Rosie:

1.  If you had to choose only ONE animal (cow, pig, chicken, other) whose meat/products you could eat for the rest of your life, which would it be and why?

Wait so if I pick chicken that means no milk??  That means no...butter????

I guess that means I'm picking the cow.

2.  What is your favorite article of clothing, the one you would seriously miss if it were gone?

I have this scarf from Loft that I absolutely love...pretty, shiny colors!!  I can't seem to find a pic of me wearing it at the moment...

3.  Which one of your children do you love the most?

Not playing favorites, but Emeric wins the best baby award hands down.

3.  What do you tell your kids about Santa/the Easter Bunny/the tooth fairy/other secular(ized) characters?

We decided not to do them.  Then last year I asked Ava whose birthday we celebrate on Christmas, and she said Santa.  ??????

I have nothing against integrating secular characters into religious holidays, it's mostly just that Stephen and I don't really have a lot of memories of believing in Santa (he's too logical/skeptical and my brother spilled the beans to me before I was old enough to remember...) so I think we're slightly nervous about scarring our children with our horrific lies since we don't have the experience of having to find out the truth when we are at an age where we really remember it or are affected by it.

And as for the other characters, I'm guessing our tactic will be to mention them so as to integrate our children into American culture and not give people any more reasons to think they are weirdo homeschoolers but not go out of our way to overtly deceive them or let them believe these mythical creatures exist once they are at an age to really know better.  I feel like right now they are still constructing their view of reality, and it's not weird to talk about leprechauns and fairies because they just take it as -"ok, there are leprechauns and fairies out there. cool. whatever." But I'm assuming Ava will at some point be alarmed when I start talking about these things because she will realize they are inconsistent with reality and start asking more questions, at which point we would most definitely inform her that they are not real.

Wow that was kind of a novel.

4.  How many pairs of shoes do you own?

I own:
A pair of black flats for everyday wear in cold weather
Woven sperries for everyday wear in warm weather
Thong sandals for summer 
Sneakers for running

I also have some nude peep toe (wow...that's what they are, but did I really just write "nude peep toe"?!) heels that absolutely do not fit and are absolutely inappropriate for winter and yet I wear them to church every week of the year because if you haven't guessed yet - I'm so not a shoe person.

Somebody stage an intervention and take me shopping, please???

5.  What is your favorite thing about where you live?

At the risk of sounding like a nut job...I feel pretty safe here.  We live above the leasing office in an apartment building that screens everyone who enters.  Even the poor pizza guy that is practically part of our family by now.  Coming from the boonies to a more urban(ish) area I still feel a little terrified to be raising my kids in a place where neighbors barely know each other and I'm a little freaked out about being on my own in a house all day with the kids.

6.  How did you choose your children's names?

Ava Marie - We both liked the name Ava...we picked Marie in honor of the blessed mother and to be a play on "Ave Maria" (and Ava is actually a PRINCESS saint name...which must be why she is so obsessed with princesses.  It's definitely not related to the amount of Disney we've let her watch.  Definitely not.)

Clare Anne - Stephen had heard the name "Anne Clare" somewhere and liked it but I thought it would be too confusing because his sister's name is Anne.  So we changed it to Clare Anne, also both awesome saint names :)


Emeric Stephen - This is weird but Stephen and I are computer science people so we see patterns in everything and we thought we should look for an "E" name and start naming children on every other letter.  We found saint Emeric - the son of St. Stephen of Hungary - and thought it would be funny since our Emeric would be the son of Stephen who is always hungry.  Ok I'm the only one who thought that was funny.  And Stephen's middle name is his father's first name and so we continued that trend.

7.  Can we all agree that it's obnoxious when parents make up new spellings for names?  Like Madisyn and Abagayle and McKinzEe?

Hahaha whatever floats your boat I guess??  Just don't get mad when I spell it wrong :)

8.  Have you watched Toddlers and Tiaras?  Are you as intrigued by it as I am?  Give me your thoughts, please.

I am highly disturbed.  I don't think I've ever seen an entire episode, it gives me the heebeeejeebies...however you spell that...

9.  How many crucifixes/icons/saint statues do you have in your house?  Do you wish you had more/less?

5 crucifixes, 1 statue of the Blessed Mother, I think that's it.  Yeah I definitely wish we had more...

10.  What is one thing about your life right now that makes you ecstaticly happy?

That my 4 month old sleeps reasonably well.  I am eeeee-lated :)


Questions from Brooke:

1. Do you subscribe to any magazines, and if so what are they?

I'm kind of proud of the fact that I have gotten free subscriptions to Family Fun, Martha Stewart Living, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Parenting, and I know I'm forgetting some others...but the point is I don't pay for subscriptions because as much as I love the idea of magazines I rarely make time to sit and read them.

I wish I had a subscription to Cook's Illustrated, but sadly that is not a subscription you can get free with ninja couponing skills :)  One of these days I'll get over it and fork over the cash.

2. Best dessert you ever had?

Is anyone going to smack me if I say crepes again??

3. If money didn't matter what is the one thing you would splurge on right now?

Probably a shopping spree with Stacy London :)  Will someone please nominate me for the show already!!!

4. Dream vacay? DISH!

When Stephen and I got married, I desperately wanted to honeymoon in Bora Bora in one of those huts over the water.  It wasn't doable then, but I made him promise we would go someday, like on our 10th anniversary or something.  Insert snort laugh here.  But seriously...I'm going someday...OR ELSE.

5. Share something that made you smile or LaughOutLoud today.

Ava singing "Ice Ice Baby Emeric"...

6. If there was one thing that you could learn how to do what would it be?

Learn to sew!!

7. What are your hobbies?

The hobbies I indulge most at the moment are reading, cooking and baking, and (very poor) crocheting...

8. Summer plans?

Those depend a lot on whether or not we stay in this apartment or find a home to rent...I have visions of the kids splashing outside in a backyard pool or sprinkler while I lounge with a glass of lemonade...but that's about the pinnacle of my summer ambitions thus far.  If we're still in this apartment it's going to be even less glamorous than that :)

9. Do you hit the "snooze" button in the morning and if so how many times?

My alarm is 2 little girls standing at the baby gate guarding our bedroom door whispering "good morning mommy!!"  Really not a bad way to wake up...just wish it was not at 6am.

My attempts to hit the snooze button (aka "go play quietly for a few minutes...") result in loud protests of "WE ARE HUNGRY WE ARE HUNGRY WE ARE HUNGRY!!!"  

10. If your day had a soundtrack what would be the top 3 songs?

Hmmmm...I was just trying to google songs about poop, and came across this article. Hahaahahaahahahaahah...

Ok I give up, I just know they should definitely be about poop.

You know what, I am just going to post this right now - I will update later with who I am tagging :)