Okay, you guys really wish that Jamie lived near YOU, because then she would bring you bacon chocolate for your birthday and come play at your house without even complaining about how the place is so crazy messy that her baby started eating paper he found on the floor!

 

 

(In all fairness, I had just gotten home and the twins had been super-high-maintenance for the babysitter so she couldn't get anything cleaned up and I was nursing the babies until Jamie got there...)

 

 

AND she doesn't even complain about the ant on the tray that you served cookies and milk on, for which there is no defense. We have ants. I am trying to figure out how to get rid of them.

 

 

But ANYWAY, for our first visit we were just so excited to be in the physical presence of one another that we didn't take any pictures!!!

 

 

Worst. Bloggers. Ever.

 

 

Don't worry though, because I've got a trillion from this visit!

 

Emeric is a master of the backward crawl, which is why he managed to make his way to the paper...  Don't know why he couldn't make do with the doll blanket, plastic lid, teething toy, or 75000 plastic animals on the way to the paper - there's just something about that non-food!

Okay, that's not the paper he found...  Apparently John Paul's new "craft" is "Rip all the paper you can find into long strips and then throw it on the floor."

 

Showing off for the ladies while contemplating the pink Mrs. Potato Head visor.  Also, I promise Mary Claire gets tummy time (at least once a week...).  She can actually hold her head up, she just chose not to because she was about 7 seconds away from taking a nap.

 AND NOW... 

For your viewing pleasure...

STAGED PHOTOS OF 4 CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 4!

"Okay, everybody sit on the step!  No, the second step.  Yes, John Paul, that step.  Cecilia, sit down!  Clare, move down to the second step.  Ava, almost there!"

"It's a popcorn kernel, John Paul.  Not a mustard seed.  Clare, go down to the SECOND step.  Cecilia, it's just an ant.  Sit down!"

"Okay fine, everybody on the top step.  Ava, it's just sand, you don't need to brush it all off.  John Paul, sit down and stop worrying about the popcorn kernel!"

"Ava, it's clean enough.  It's fine, it's just sand!  Everybody, hands on your knees and smile!"

"No, look at me!   Cecilia!  Look at me!  John Paul, where are your shoes???  Ava, just sit down, you can brush the sand off later!"

"Everybody smile!  No, laugh!  Cecilia, look up here!  Clare, turn around!"

"Clare, turn around!  Look!  Cecilia, look up!"



"Clare, look at Miss Rosie!"  Cecilia, stop looking posessed...

"Okay good Clare, now sit down!  On the step!  John Paul, Cecilia, look up here!"

"Okay good, everybody smile again!"

"NO!  One more!  Look at Miss Rosie!"
Cecilia:  NO, DAT'S MY MOM!!!

And thus ended a lovely playdate!  Next time we will clean up beforehand...  And perhaps just lock the kids out of the house and lie on the floor drinking mimosas?

VII Quick Takes

 

--1--

 

 

Andrew gets annoyed at me for refusing to do tummy time.  So I gave the twins tummy time (for maybe the 4th time ever?), and Elizabeth did this for 5 minutes and then rolled over.  Little jerk!  Doesn't she know she's supposed to stay immobile?

 

Mary Claire, as you can sort of see, remains prone on the floor.  Like a GOOD baby!

 

--2--

 

Sister is visiting!  Which means an extra set of hands to do baby holding, bottom wiping, lunch making, naptime, you name it!  She's basically the best.

 

And we get to talk in real life about weirdos who won't stop commenting on their misinterpretation of her most popular blog post ever (Seriously folks, she's not advocating that you bring kids to Mass and force them to scream the whole time.  She's reminding you that it's not the end of the world if your kid makes a noise.  Get over it.  And stop trying to start fights on the internet.).

 

--3--

 

Jamie sent over an adorable housewarming basket, complete with zucchini bread that John Paul carved a giant hunk out of with a butter knife, a maze book that John Paul has gone through about 6 times, trying each maze in a different color each time, and princess coloring pages with markers!

 

As you can see, the children are REALLY good at coloring. 

 

But actually, Cecilia is.  Her stomach?  A beautiful shade of blue.  Nose?  Burnt sienna.  Ears?  Blue.  Cheek?  Blue.  Heater in the playroom?  Well, it'll wash off :P

 

She also decided that the cool thing to do is to bite off the ends of crayons and spit them on her stomach.  Needless to say, she is banned from coloring for the time being.

 

--4--

 

Speaking of Jamie, she's coming to our house tomorrow!  It's like we were internet dating and we're finally ready to make the jump into real-life friendship only we don't need to meet at the mall because we both blog and facebook so much about our lives that we can't POSSIBLY be making it up! 

 

And also Sister met her already, but that's beside the point!

 

Cecilia and Clare are going to teach each other how to wipe bodily fluids all over inappropriate surfaces.  There may be a three-legged mud race.  And don't worry, I'm hiding the crayons!

 

--5--

 

Cecilia in a ponytail.  And a ballerina dress.

 

--6--

 

I gave John Paul & Cecilia the compost bin to empty into our compost pile.  So they put on their snow boots (no snow left in our yard) and traipsed through the mud, each holding the handle of the bucket.  Then John Paul got distracted because he felt like sitting in the mud, and Cecilia emptied the entire thing herself.  While sitting on the compost pile.  In her tutu.

 

If I hadn't been nursing a baby, I would have gone outside to take a picture.  You'll just have to imagine the juxtaposition!

 

--7--

 

My laziness has paid off!  I never put away the newborn clothes the twins outgrew, and some friends of ours just had a 6 pound baby girl!  Needless to say, she will be well-supplied with clothing :)

 

That's that!  Happy weekend!  Go read more Quick Takes!