Loudly Spoken

Most everything is loudly spoken these days. Which can be funny, annoying or down right mortifying. For example...

At the conclusion of the Christmas eve service prayer, when all the people said "amen", Roo shouted "Manamana!" Thanks, Muppet Movie.

At the grocery store, Em shrieked "Hey! She checked me out!" towards the pretty cashier. Apparently, Em was in the line of fire when the checker scanned my coupon card on my key chain and her eyes got flashed with red scanner light.

From the backseat, Em hollers "Sneak the red light, Mama!", urging me to turn right on red.

Em also announced to the entire cafe that she was going to "erase" her crumbs and then licked all the parts of her mouth that her tongue could reach.

This morning, while climbing in the car, Roo pretended to talk on the phone. Her entire conversation was about how annoying I was being. "I'll call you back. My Mom is bugging me again.", she said.

Then, don't forget the million times they announce that they have to go to the bathroom, have burped, or need help wiping their booties. Loudly. All very loudly.

I may start wearing a disguise when we go out in public.

Merry Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas!

Lists and Learning

This is the first year the girls made lists for Christmas. It's hard for them to understand that the list is a wish, not an order. Not everything will be fulfilled.

Then, there's the torment of the packages.

The joy of giving is still in its foundling stages, not in full bloom, yet.

It's the hardest Christmas so far. And, perhaps, one of the most important.

The Day itself will be celebratory, but the lessons learned before and after will stick hard, I believe.

it's the middle of the night

Dear Roo,

It's 1am. You started sleep talking about half an hour ago. But now, I think you're wide awake. You probably woke yourself up with all the chatter. You do this a lot, you know? Em is a champ who sleeps through it all. I probably would, too, if I'd already been asleep. But, I can't sleep and now, I can't try to sleep. Because you're awake. What's the deal, Neil? Not enough hours of day to say everything you need to say? I'm not upset, though. A few years ago, I worried that you'd never speak.

I'm not worried anymore.

Love,

Mama

P.S. You're narrating stories right now. With loads of details and plot points. Maybe you dreamed a story that you just had to wake up to tell. Until your handwriting catches up with your brain, we might need to snag some dictation software. You have stories to tell, my sweet. Beautiful stories.

the one where I could have pulled out the embryo photos

True Story

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Me: So, if Miss J gets a dog, what kind of dog should she get? A loud one or a quiet one?

Roo: One that will not sniff me or lick me.

Roo: Really, she should just get a fish.

Roo: I think we should take Maggie and Mo back to Petsmart and get a fish instead.

Me: Maggie and Mo didn't come from Petsmart. Mo was rescued. She didn't have a place or a home at all.

Roo: Where did Maggie come from?

Me: She had a good home and family and a mom named Meg and a dad named Beck. They had a lot of puppies, so Maggie had a lot of brothers and sisters. When they were big enough, they were ready for families of their own. So, Daddy and I picked out Maggie and made her part of our family.

Roo: Did you and Daddy pick me and Em out?

{crickets}

Roo: Well?

Me: Um… God picked you out. {tiny voice} and so did Dr. H.

R: Whatever

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Overdrive

The girls' imaginations are in overdrive these days. I'm loving all the stuff they come up with.

This photo shows Roo in her "truck" with all her babies tucked up tight in the back seat. They were off to the store to buy snow globes.

put the breaks on the Christmas shopping

Roo has revised Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You".

All the words are the same until the end of the chorus which now goes... "all I want for Chwistmaaaaas... is mah se-elf!"