'Tis The Season

Winter has finally hit here
in Southern California. Concerned mother that I am, I rushed out to get the annual pair of footed Carters pajamas for my boys. I thought they were so cute and snugly as I was zipping my boys up into them last night. Well, they don't look so cute at 2:00am when your three year old is losing a wrestling match with them in his bed trying to get his feet free. They are even more hideous when you're woken up again at 2:30 am by your two year old who has equally sweaty feet. Curse the footed pajamas! It's going to have to get a lot colder before I will be pulling these out again.

On a happier note, has anyone read the newest installment in the Olivia books? I think Olivia is hilarious to begin with, but this Christmas version is so amusing I was willing to pay the hardcover price for it. Kudos to any author that can delight both the child and the parent who will be reading it aloud 500 times.

Two Of A Kind

All Aboard

Yesterday we attended a gorgeous wedding reception aboard a yacht in Newport Beach Harbor. The morning cloud cover had burned off and the afternoon was clear and sunny, without much wind. It was one of those "I can't believe I live somewhere so beautiful (oh wait, my mortgage payment reminds me)" moments. One highlight was re-connecting with some good friends from our law school days, Michelle & Caton. Don't you love it when it feels as if no time at all has passed between friends--that you can just pick right back up where you left off (before graduation, kids, and real jobs changed things)? I think this is how you can tell that some people will always be lifelong friends.

And, being at this wedding, seeing a happy couple just starting out, reminds me how nice it is to be married to Will--how much fun we have together, all the experiences we've learned from together and the many more years together I'm looking forward to.

Sounds Gross But . . .

Half a glass of thismixed with a little bit of this

=
the perfect "reward" for getting the kids to bed.

If you are an Egg Nog fan, try it.

(I know, I know, my mother will be disappointed that I am breaking a strict Rose family rule of NO Egg Nog until AFTER Thanksgiving, but my will power went down the drain on Monday at the Grocery Store after Luke crumbled an entire bakery sample muffin all over our whole cart of groceries, inducing very dirty looks from the Bakery employee who thought she was going to make a little boy very happy.)

The Many Faces Of Luke

Saturday was the annual family picture day. I must preface this post by saying that my friend Luci, our photographer, is an absolute miracle worker. She went to amazing lengths to get Luke to smile (including crossing her eyes, mimicking Peter Pan dialogue in an English accent, and pulling out and re-slurping up her gum). While we did end up with some beautiful pictures for our wall and Christmas card, I couldn't help but notice how many of Luke's not-so-subtle expressions she managed to also capture.

"I'm not so sure about this . . ."

"Why is she gripping me so tight?"
"Look at this trick--just one eyebrow like Elvis!"
"My cheeks are made of marshmallows"
"No Like It!"
(which Luke actually did yell at Luci, repeatedly)

"That's it, I've warned you people!"
"All hope is lost, I am utterly defeated."
"Hmmm, I guess I can still smile while sucking on two sticks of Trident Mom stuffed in my mouth."
"I can't believe I let Luci get a nice candid smile that Mom can hang on the wall!"
"Aren't I cute?"

Yes!

Yesterday I used a DRIVE-THRU dry cleaner for the first time. Now if only someone would open a drive-thru Jamba Juice, Rubios, Bath & Body Works & Pediatrician's office (they could check for an ear infection or take a temperature through a rolled-down window right?), then life would be just grand.

Anything to avoid extra trips in and out (and back in and out . . .) of two carseats is genius in my book.

The Rat Race

This weekend Ethan, Luke & I were visited by the wrath of some sort of food poisoning or stomach flu. It was violent, but blessedly brief. However, I can't figure out the math of how a 24-hour bug has left me with at least 48-hours worth of laundry and a sink full of the dishes still from Friday night's dinner (which I cooked and then threw up four hours later--ewww). Illness aside, I feel like my children are just whirlwinds of destruction. This week alone I cleaned up half-chewed tootsie rolls from the floor, red art paint off the wall, highlighter pen on the couch cushions, endless toys with impossibly small parts, peed on bedsheets, pooped on pants and potting soil (along with the shreds of my newly bloomed mums) off the patio. I clean and I clean and my house never looks clean. I know I must not be alone in this struggle--yesterday my sister-in-law and I agreed that the greatest present we could ever recieve would be to leave the house messy and to come home to it sparkling clean. I must be getting rather dull & old if that is now my greatest desire, but that is seriously my reality

Well, I realize that few will believe this coincidence, but it proves my point amazingly well. As I just typed the last line of the paragraph above, Luke walked over to the area rug in my living room and threw up all over it. Needless to say, I've got to go . . .