the good

ah, home ownership. this weekend wes noticed our hot water heater leaking. one call to our home warranty company & *poof* this morning we have a new hot water heater. free of charge (okay, we're not counting the cost of the warranty, which is greatly less than the cost of a new hot water heater). it was a bit odd to be a part of something that worked, you know, that one call made a repair dude come to our house who quickly surmised that we need a new tank then scheduled it for less than 24 hours later & then after 2+ hours this morning...new hot water heater.

anyway. we need those positives to equal the equation of leaking toilets & yucky carpet & barely working appliances (a/c, dishwasher, etc). or the fault of a young little lass named amelia. yesterday she flooded (not as bad as the toilet incident, but, close enough) the upstairs bathroom within a few minutes. i will never take a shower during the day again. never. too risky.

so then today i was doing something as crazy as peeing on my own & opened the girls' bathroom door just to find them both SUCKING on toothpaste tubes. there was also a bowl full of water & toothpaste that they were apparently using to wash out medicine droppers & water all over the counter & parts of the floor. ??? i have no clue what is so tasty & enticing about toothpaste, but apparently there is something (sugar?!).

so today i'm going to set up the water table outside & prepare myself for perpetually wet children & muddy floors. that has to be better than perpetually flooded bathrooms?!

***

but somehow through all this crap i've been doing pretty darn good emotionally. physically, i hurt--sometimes to a point that just trying to move seems monumental. i have been purposefully trying to find the good in things but at the same time not doing this stupid fake smile & just plain fake happiness. maybe some of this emotional change is due to the cortef steroid fully leaving my system. i *know* the steroids did a ditty to my ability to ride that emotional rollercoaster. 

anyway. all that to say that it's been fun being a fly on the wall with my kids. they're at that age when they can play alone together (yes, at the risk of a minor flood in house but...that's nearly inevitable with kids anyway, right?) & i have listened in to many conversations (most one-sided, from older sister to younger, as you can imagine) & peeked in on play times that are truly full of imagination & laughter & *sigh* older sibling manipulation... (again, inevitable lol, right!?). it seems children are just buoyant. they have a mom who is often sitting on a damn heating pad, yet they are still happy & full of creative play & laughter.

can you hear that *big sigh of relief* coming from westerville?

to prove they are simply giddy about life, here's a picture of adeline dancing

& another

& then amelia, hair always in her face

notice the light fixture in the background? to the right? the glass, white-ish globe? that's the one that filled with water. nope, still haven't fixed the ceiling yet!

& here is adeline holding her first barbie doll.

story & milestone report:

i have serious problems with barbies. i do think they can influence girls to think they should look like that (skinny, shiny straight hair, tan, big breasts, etc) but adeline has been plain aching for one every time we go to a store with toys. so we told her that she could have a barbie when she poops in the potty. (yes, we are to the point of bribery for full toilet training) & yes, her holding a barbie doll means she pooped in the toilet!! since last thursday the toilet-pooping has been on & off, but she only gets to play with her barbie from the time she poops in the toilet & ending when she poops in a pull-up (then she gets it back if she poops in the toilet). sweet deal for most of us, right? but i am just plain giddy that she's doing her business in the toilet...FINALLY!

so really what life boils down to for me right now: super low expectations during the day (wes can attest to this *smile*) as far as house work goes, sit down as much as possible (hey! doctor's orders!), sleep as much as possible at night, take pills & vitamins on time every day (much more difficult than you may anticipate), play with the girls & also force solo-play time on them, easy dinners....you get the picture. seriously low expectations. what's that saying, keep it simple, stupid. well, that's my mantra. if it's beyond easier to stop at mcdonald's to buy fries to go with our cheeseburgers--so be it. or instead of vacuuming up the cereal crumbs just letting griswold eat them (some may suck yuck, but hey, then you come to vacuum my floors *smile*). if the kids are going crazy at home, well, just take them to a park without all the snacks & diapers & such (following some advice, i know keep a stocked diaper bag in the car full of snacks, an empty sippy cup, diapers, wipes, & a change of clothes...& yes: scissors, band aids, hand sanitizer, & of course, sidewalk chalk).

another rambling, all-over-the-place post from yours truly!