Cherished Children's Books

These sweet reads translate to a Burkett Bestseller List. Yes, we too have worn out Goodnight Moon and Guess How Much I Love You. But these following titles now have torn dustjackets and well-worn pages as well. I feel like I should include a small disclaimer . . . Revolting Rhymes is not for the faint of heart. Mothers of boys and those of you with a slightly sick sense of humor . . . you're gonna love it!

Do Unto Otters
Laurie Keller

I Love You More
Laura Duksta

Russell the Sheep

Rob Scotton

The Moon Shines Down

Margaret Wise Brown

Revolting Rhymes

Roald Dahl

On the Night You Were Born
Nancy Tillman

Never Too Little to Love
Jeanne Willis & Jan Fearnley

Overboard!
Sarah Weeks & Sam Williams

On being a student . . .

I am a student, and certainly not a straight-A student, like my former sans-child-bearing-hips self. This student more closely resembles the one in my recurring college nightmares. I am a struggling pupil, at the mercy of my children, who are so many steps ahead of me I can no longer keep count. That said, I have become quite adept at many things under their rigorous tutoring. I can . . .

-Find the long-lost sippy cup. Fast.

-DVR "Maggie & the Ferocious Beast" with my eyes closed

-Locate, pre-soak, wash and dry the cherished blanket before it's even missed

-Handle the "Witching Hour", which involves making four dinners (the dog's, Ben's, ours, and the baby's), all the while holding Cameron The Great Nap-Striker on my hip. For the record, this happens every night, week after week, month after month, and NO I STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN THAT GIRL TO SLEEP THRU THE NIGHT, so I remain completely sleep-deprived while juggling.

-Provide my services as a Jungle Gym, which is especially helpful on a day too cold to venture to the park. I'm also a rock-star flotation device at the swimming pool.

-I am one mean diaper-rash-stopping machine.

Still working on the fine art of discipline. Today I screamed (yes, screamed) at Ben from the confines of my too-small-shower to leave my steaming hot mug of French Vanilla alone. As in, "Benjamin James, DO NOT TOUCH THAT, DO NOT TOUCH IT, LISTEN TO ME, AAAHHHHHH, NOOOOOOOO!!!" It sloshed all over my just-cleaned bathroom countertops and all down his little navy labrador T-shirt. It's the cutest shirt, and the bathroom did look pretty and polished after my rigorous scrubbing. More yelling, tears welling . . . When I finally pried the darling rooster mug from his coffee-coated hands, he looked up at me with those big brown eyes and said "Mommy, will you be nice to me now?" That kid. Like I said, I'm learning, too.

Top 10 Mommy Must Haves!

I'm starting a new trend . . . maybe! We'll see if this catches on . . . My Top 10 Mommy Must Haves.

Life just wouldn't be the same without 'em.

10. The Kid Tough DVD Player. It's tough enough to be dropped, and it comes with earphones. Need I say more to you who just braved the modern world with your little Christmas travelers?

We've also become big fans of the Kid Tough Camera and FP3 Player.

9. Lansinoh Diaper Rash Ointment. It has triple protection (lanolin, zinc oxide, dimethicone), and the best part, it goes on white and rubs in clear. Perfection, I promise.

8. Ian's All-Natural and Organic Food for Kids. Ben has a milk allergy, so this line of food really is perfect for us, but it's also a healthy alternative to some not-so-nutritious favorites. Sold at HEB, fair prices, gluten free. Their turkey corn dog bites are a big hit . . . I think I'm in love!

7. Noodle and Boo makes the most heavenly smelling baby products in the world. No I'm not exaggerating, although I do tend to exaggerate from time to time. Makes my little ones smell like angels. The Extra Gentle Shampoo is divine, the Conditioning Hair Polish can solve any case of bed-head, and the Ultimate Ointment is a miracle cream. It's on everybody's hot list in Hollywood, and you can get it from yours truly!

6. Tweezerman facial hair scissors are perfect for teeny-tiny fingernails. The rounded tips are safe, and the cutting edge is sharp. Tweezerman is gold-standard, and at $12/pair, the price is golden, too.

5. Oxi. As in OxiClean. They really are the stain specialists.

4. The coolest baby monitor around is from Bebe Sounds . . . Two videos, one tiny little monitor, and I can spy on my sleeping (or non-sleeping) babies any time I want! It's like reality tv, only it never fails to warm my heart, confirm my suspicions, and provide me with some really big laughs.

3. Cool Mom Picks. I check it daily. Fun and fresh ideas for hip moms like us!

2. Starbucks. We call it Fourbucks. I don't care, I can't live without my coffee fix.

1. Ziplocks. As in bags. Dirty diaper? Ziplock. Leftover lunch? Ziplock. Suckers, handi-wipes, bandaids, and more? In a Ziplock. My purse, my diaper bag, my suitcases, my car . . . They're everywhere!

Let me know what you can't live without , and I'll post my favorite response!

Candid Cameron

Isn't she sweet? At nearly nine months old, she is about seventeen pounds. She's crawling like crazy and pulling up like a pro. Her first tiny tooth just showed up . . . How I'll miss that gummy smile. She continues to light up our world with giggles and grins. Her big brother loves to explain worldly possessions to her (that's MINE)! Wherever Ben is, Cameron isn't far behind . . . And neither am I. Her new skills have brought on bumps and bruises, and I'm always delighted to rescue her from, well, herself!

Just a glimpse . . .

Into our week-long Christmas celebration. We began on Christmas Eve Eve with Greg's family, what fun! Then had our traditional (just the four of us) Christmas the following day, cinnamon rolls and hours of gift opening. And on the real Christmas Day we flew to Midland for round three, spent at Aunt Coco's, with Dustin, Paige, Big Daddy and Kate. The 26th we headed to Ruidoso for some much-needed snow and R&R at the cabin. It has become tradition to be sick for the holidays . . . Colds, coughs and the stomach bug. Oh my!

Santa delivered! Blankets for both, stockings full of goodies, toys galore. Ben loved his rescue helicopter, and Cameron immediately fell for Ryan the Zebra.

Ben's first snow . . . He loved it, as did Paige (age 3-1/2). They went sledding together, even built their first snowman with Uncle Dustin. I wish I had a picture of the poor little snowman. He looked like Jabba the Hut.

And finally, The Diva loved her chocolate souffle. Okay, it was organic prunes, but she ate it with abandon, I'm sure the same way she'll eat chocolate someday!

More pictures, soon. Okay, reality check. More pictures when I get caught up with the laundry, which could easily be the middle of next week.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Let it snow . . . or something like that!

There's no chance of snow in our balmy seventy-something degree forecast. And Ben woke up with a crummy head cold. Silly string to the rescue!

I think I can!

If she could, she'd tell me that clearly I've forgotten just how tricky it can be to get those dratty Puffs in your mouth!

Beethoven & Mozart!

Riding in Alligators

For that title to make any sense at all you need to know that Ben calls elevators "alligators". And yesterday, much to Ben's delight, we rode in one. With a very rude woman. Little did she know that she was in for a treat . . . Or some torture, courtesy of Ben.

I could tell from the way she pulled into her parking spot that she was in a hurry. And she jumped out of her car and headed for the elevator without so much as a glance in our direction. I strapped Cameron into the Baby Bjorn, then loaded Ben into the stroller (it was necessary for both kids to be strapped down, as we were headed to the new ultra-hip Hubbell & Hudson Market and Bistro). Rude Woman reached the elevator before we did, and was compulsively pushing the down button. Ben was jabbering about the "alligator", and Cameron was happily babbling away as we all waited. Finally, the elevator arrived and Rude Woman jumped in and started pushing the button to close the door, yes, compulsively. Since the doors were still open, I smiled and said "looks like there's room for three more", and we joined her.

She refused to make eye contact. It got pretty quiet. Ben stared at her for a bit and then said, loudly, "Hey, Mister." Uh-huh, this was clearly a woman. Again, from my little darling, "HEY MISTER!!" . . . I was doing everything to keep from laughing out loud. She looked at him. "Say hi to my Mommy", he demanded. Rude Woman refused. I said to Ben, "Honey, she could say hi to us, but I don't think she's going to."

She never made eye contact again. Neither did I, for fear of laughing. But as she pushed in front of me to make her way off the elevator, Ben tried one more time . . . "Bye! BYE! BYE-BYE-BYE!!!" She finally turned around and said with a smirk, "Good bye." I think she meant it!

To the Scrooge in all of our lives, "May you find yourself smiling as you ride in alligators with two-year olds!" Merry Christmas!

Santa, Baby!

This morning we visited Old St. Nick! Benjamin told Santa he wanted a space shuttle and a new Frankie. "Frankie" is what Ben calls Frank, the scary combine from the movie Cars. Ben will also tell anyone who will listen that he needs a new Frankie because his got poo-poo on it and Mommy threw it away. I won't go into detail, but I will tell you that poor Frankie got thrown out after an unfortunate incident involving a bathtub and a potty-training-two-year-old who refused to sit on the toilet. Back to Santa . . . Miss Cameron sat happily on Santa's lap and played with his beard . . . Which was a good thing, because she was fast-approaching meltdown stage after waiting in line for an hour to meet Santa!

Lights! Camera! Action!

Lights (as in Christmas tree)!

Camera (as in mine)!

Action (as in full-of-energy-Ben)!

Jump! Jump! Jump!

Isn't the Jumperoo the greatest invention? Cameron sure thinks so! And I think Michele is an angel for lending us hers . . . Thank you so very, very much! Something tells me that Cameron will log a lot of hours in this brilliant little toy. She's days from crawling, so I'll be doubly-glad to have another spot to put her, no, make that contain her!

Practice makes perfect

Haven't yet captured the perfect Christmas card pictures . . . But wanted to post these shots just the same. Love these little angels.