Arriving Sometime In December...

A Girl!!! A girl. Wow. Let's see...that will make FOUR girls, one boy, and two very tired parents.

Oh my stars.

Mother Of The Year

I was driving home today and was sitting at a stoplight when a sweet little hand touched my arm and a sweet little voice said "Hi Mommy! I come up here with you!".

WHAT????!!!! That is NOT supposed to happen when driving four little ones around town.

Freaked, I looked down and saw Lizzy standing right behind me. I must not have strapped her into her car seat and she decided a stoplight would be a good time to take a stroll from the back of the too-cool minivan to be close to The Mommy.

Me: "Lizzy! You scared the daylights out of me! Hold my hand, sweet girl. I'm going to pull over and get you back in your seat."

Lizzy: "Mommy! I want to sit in your lap!" (visions of Britney Spears appeared)

Light turned green, I held on tight. She still staggered back a bit.

Johnny: "Lizzy! Hold my hand! I keep you safe!" (such the gentleman)

Me: (silently) Please, please, please don't get pulled over. But I'm sure he would understand...right? I mean, look at this mess of car seats and with one on the way SURELY I would just get a warning.

Everything worked out, of course.

Good grief.

Trouble

Morning Conversation:

John: "Johnny, you're looking ornery this morning."

The Boy: "Yes I am."

I'm in for it today.



Ignore the mess of our garage. Of course there's an excuse...

Potty Training

I hate it. Ainsley wasn't potty trained until she was 3 1/2 and it is 100% my fault. I was preggers with the Three, we only had one bathroom and it was upstairs (there was NO WAY I was going to stagger up and down the stairs every 1/2-hour), and we were doing major construction on our house, which disrupted everything for 6 months. When she did decide, on her own, that she was done with diapers, she was trained in 2 days. She made it easy on me.

I've been dreading and putting off training for the crumbgobblers (which they still are - they'll eat anything they find...anywhere) forever and they're starting to call me on it. I'm fairly certain Lizzy and Johnny could experience the joy of a Target trip for big kid underpants if I encouraged them, which I don't. They voluntarily go 3-5 times/day and the ordeal is so lengthy it drives me crazy because if one has to go, then everyone wants to have a swing at it. Gracie is barely interested and she really doesn't get it. She'll sit there and just stare and stare at her loo-loo (which is what we call it - thanks Elizabeth for bringing that into our lives), waiting for something to come out, which it never does.

So I'm blase' about the whole thing and my 2 1/2-year-olds are still running around, everyone blissfully and unashamedly wearing diapers. I guess I need to do something about this before preschool starts in September, right? Ugh. Sigh. Dang it.

Maybe I'll put it off until they're 3...

Kindred Spirits

One of the gifts in Ainsley's life is her friend, C. C is great because...well...she gets my sweet girl when I don't think everyone in her world does. C understands how important - necessary, even - it is to celebrate the favorite stuffed-animal's birthday (and half-birthday) with an impressive tea party. She understands that it is important to have a real tea party, every month, complete with invitations and a theme. She understood when Ainsley went through her 1 1/2-year phase of being a different character every day and preferred to be called by that name. C would come over and say "so who are you today?" without hesitating. Neither girl thinks it odd when my child says "C! Watch my arm movements when I jump!" and C says "Wow! That's really great!". And vice versa.

There is much more, and while these two don't embody Anne Shirley and Diana Barry in character, they do personify what it means to have and be a kindred spirit.

Sometimes I'll find them reading to each other...taking turns and just being content to sit.

The Perfect Ending

When we found out we were pregnant with Cinco, a good friend commented that this event was like "the perfect end to a love story". She was right, even though our story would still have been perfect if there wasn't going to be a fifth Laird child, or any Laird children for that matter. No, Catherine was on target because Cinco is the final chapter of our 11 years of longing for and being granted children and this baby could not feel more...right.

This wee one is our bookend and the one that completes the family. The triplets, as much as we are madly in love with them, somehow did not bring closure. But this one...this one does.

Keepin' Busy

It has rained here the past few months - tons. Way too much because lots of rain = wet playgrounds and being unable to go places because you never know when the next storm is going to come = no fun for the Laird kids? Nope. Why? Because of rain boots, that's why. They have nearly worn theirs out of existence and splashing in puddles never gets old...does it?

They do this thing where they take turns racing down the puddle path. Obviously Johnny's up next - he's in the "set" position. When can they go to track camp??

My ducklings.