I haven’t been posting much lately because the Powers That Be seem to be against me getting any time at the computer. Yesterday’s big challenge involved a full cup of coffee spilled all over the side of my bed (mattress AND box springs) and the carpet around the bed. I’m convinced the amount of the coffee in the cup quadrupled as it left the cup and hit the surrounding area. There is no way that cup held enough coffee to cover as much territory as that one spill. NO WAY.

So I used that “excuse” to steam clean the carpet in the bedroom. It’s been needing to be done since that is NikkiZ’s safe have for snacks. She can watch TV in there and eat a snack without being bothered by the dogs. Therefore, there has been quite an increase of stains on the carpet. (Notice I’m not blaming any of the stains on myself - even though 99% of them are probably from my coffee or sodas. What are kids for if not passing the blame?)

The funny thing? I had just washed all of our bedding three days before. And there I was, washing it all again yesterday. I hate having to re-do chores. And this has been the week of do-overs. I washed all of NikkiZ’s bedding on Monday, and then Monday night MrZ forgot to put a pull-up on her before putting her to bed. So Tuesday morning? She and the bed and the blankets and sheets and PILLOWS were all soaked in urine. That kid pees a LOT during the night. In case you were wondering. So Tuesday? Washed all of it. AGAIN. For someone who washes bedding twice a month (And that number has been properly inflated to make me look less disgusting that I really am) this week of double-duty sheet washing has been a royal PAIN IN MY ASS.

So - here are some non-dirty laundry related pictures! For all of us to enjoy!

NikkiZ has been making an effort to match all of her meal dishes for some reason. OCD? Here we come.

“Saving” her brother

I love the color of her eyes. And the Elvis lip.

AndyZ attempts the same look

My youngest is crying and my middle child is currently yelling at me to “Wipe My Butt, Mom!” so I only have one second but I wanted to post something that says, “I’m alive, don’t fret!” I just have had no time to do anything on the computer as I’m currently engrossed in Poop/Vomit fest of 2008. Compliments of our dear AndyZ. Until I can return to post something coherent, about something other than bodily fluids, please enjoy a few pictures of our non-poop related adventures from last week.

I took the kids out to Bridge Street yesterday. It’s a fancy outdoor shopping center (Actually - you know it’s fancy because it spells it centRE) that has a carousel and fountains and such things to entertain a toddler while providing store fronts that keep me entertained. (Have you ever been inside the store Francesca’s? I’m scared to go in but the window displays are always full of things I covet for myself.)

As much fun as we did have, there was one adrenaline rushing event that will haunt me for years. A little girl about NikkiZ’s age fell into a fountain. Now - before I tell the story - she’s FINE. She didn’t even need any CPR or anything…but it was still traumatizing. I just wanted you to know it all worked out okay before I got started.

Her and several other girls were running around the edge of the fountain on the wall of it and one of them fell in. Now, LilZ and I were at the other end letting NikkiZ throw pennies in (It was a long shallow fountain) but we heard one of the women in the group yell, “She’s in! She’s in!” And then she went running across the fountain through the water to the little girl who was, in all practical sense, drowning. It was horrifying. I saw her little face bob up and down. Even though the water was shallow, she had obviously gotten enough in her mouth that she was choking and couldn’t get her head straight to just stand up.

It was a visual I’ll never forget.

It was one of those strange moments where you feel like you should do something, but everyone else is already doing it. One woman was halfway across the fountain and another was on her way into it while a big sister was running around the fountain to get to the girl. But - it still seemed like they were all moving so slow and the woman running through the fountain who was ahead of the rest of the bunch - stopped in the middle. She just STOPPED. Maybe because the fountain dropped off or something, I’m not sure. But LilZ, who was watching it all unfold like I did, gunned up at that moment to run because he saw the same thing I did. SHE STOPPED. WHY DID SHE STOP? I said, “Run, LilZ.” And he took off. Now - in those two seconds, the other two pursuers made it to the girl and LilZ was able to turn back, but still. The fact that he took off in the second made me VERY proud.

Everything worked out, they got the girl out and she screamed for a good 10 minutes while the mothers cried over her. It was scary and my heart was still beating in my throat 30 minutes later. What do you think the first thing I did was? After realizing everything was okay? I grabbed NikkiZ’s arm and said, “Whatever you do, do NOT step on that WALL. STAY ON THE GROUND. Or you’ll NEVER get to watch Dora AGAIN.”

What? Did you think I was going to say I hugged her or something? Yeah. Well. I did that too.

The SAFE fountains.

Not only is he brave, but he’s not afraid of getting wet to help his sister get through the fountains. He’s my hero.

NikkiZ has SEVERAL weird quirks. Almost Obsessive Compulsive type behaviors. One of them is this irritation by having food in front of her that she does not want to eat. Either because she’s done with it, or because she never wanted it in the first place. If she has no desire to eat it, so wants it no wear near the table in front of her face.

This started first as her taking food off her plate that she didn’t want and putting it on mine. This didn’t bother me too much at first because, Hey! More food for me! But then we realized it was probably not very good ettiquette to do such a thing and we started trying to teach her to just NOT EAT IT. Just because it’s there, doesn’t mean it has to go in your mouth! We promise! Ignore it!

Yeah. That didn’t work. Now? We just don’t put it on to begin with.

Then, she started doing this thing where she would push her plate as far away as possible when she was done eating. Usually towards me. Again - didn’t phase us at first. Then we realized it was kinda rude and obnoxious so we started teaching her to just LEAVE IT THERE. When someone clears the table, your plate will be removed. Otherwise? Leave it alone.

This did not work either. You can watch her fight the temptation to move the plate when she’s done eating. She’ll scoot it a bit and try to restrain herself from flinging it far away. It’s torturous for her to leave it IN FRONT OF HER when she’s not going to eat any more. WHY MUST WE TORTURE HER SO?

Well - tonight? NikkiZ discovered something truly glorious about eating out. We took the whole family to Chili’s for our first five-person outing. At some point in time, NikkiZ noticed that the waiter was taking dishes away as we finished them. Then it clicked in her head: This guy will allow me to break the rules! NikkiZ, our typically bashful-with-strangers daughter, confronted the waiter by handing him a piece of chicken she was done with. Now, he didn’t just take it (gross!) but he offered her a dirty plate he was holding to put it on. I thought she was going to DIE she was so happy. Then, she actually gave him her plate the next time he stopped by the table. THEN, she tried to flag him down because - God Forbid - there was a ranch dressing container on the table that no one was using. AND HE SHOULD REMOVE IT IMMEDIATELY.

It was hysterical. I think she felt such relief at realizing there was someplace on this earth where someone would recognize her pain of having to sit in front of food that would not be eaten. And they would REMOVE IT FOR HER.

Unrelated Photo Goodness:

Last night NikkiZ woke up crying while I was up feeding AndyZ, so I brought him into her room still attached to the boob (Ah…such a useful talent…) and we ended up laying down on the floor next to her bed for a few minutes until she fell back to sleep. When I went back to bed I found myself thinking, “What would happen if I just turned the monitor off?” Now - I didn’t. I do find it useful to know if NikkiZ needs me throughout the night, I’m not completely evil. However, I did consider it for a moment where I pondered the fact that having one kid waking up repeatedly through the night is about all I can handle.

NikkiZ is one of those kids who won’t get out of her toddler bed when she wakes up. She just calls for me to come in there. When I get in her room, then she’ll get out of bed. It’s very weird. There is nothing holding her there but the magical force of MOM. When she wakes up in the morning she yells, “Mom! Mom! Mom!” until I come in there. Some mornings it takes longer and she’ll just keep hollering. “Mom! Moooom! Mooooooooooom! Come in here! I want some oatmeal!” But still? She stays in her bed.

When she wakes up in the middle of the night, it’s mostly while still technically sleeping and it only takes a few minutes before she’s back asleep enough to leave her alone. But she wakes up crying those times. And it’s that awful cry that pulls at a Mother’s heart because it says, “I need you, Mommy! I’m scared!” Unless, of course, you’re up with an infant that it says to you, “Mom! I’m trying to kill you by taking away what little chance for sleep my brother gives you!”

Either way - while she’s always had pretty decent sleeping habits - her waking habits are a little unusual. We don’t encourage her to just get out of bed by pointing out there’s nothing holding her in. Mainly because we like that we don’t have to worry about her waking up and getting into something she shouldn’t. But still - will she still be laying in her bed when she’s 9 yelling at me to come get her up? At what point will she realize, “Hey. There’s nothing keeping me in this damn bed. Why am I screaming for Mom? I’m going to get up and color on the walls instead!”

What about your kids? How do they wake up - either nightly or in the morning? Do their beds have invisible barriers holding them in as well? If not - do they color on the walls? Because NikkiZ would. I’m positive.