an early 33rd birthday present for me!

"By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end."

Thank you, Mister President.

too early for such heavy thoughts

This morning while on a seemingly never-ending quest to drop off some auction paperwork downtown, we were stopped at a light just a few feet away from the long line winding around the outside of the Portland Rescue Mission Men's Shelter on West Burnside. Just seeing all those guys standing out there at 8:27 am in 31 degree weather made my heart sink. I was secretly hoping Cayden (home sick again... arg) wouldn't notice.

But sure enough, it was only a split second before I could see in the rear-view mirror that he had indeed noticed them. "Mama," he piped up from the way way back, "do you think those people are waiting to see Twilight?"

Maybe it's the lack of sleep this week, which always makes me more emotional than normal, but I started to feel the tiniest bit weepy at that question. Of course he would assume that the folks were all lined up to see a popular movie (just like he witnessed last week while going to see Marley & Me at the Bagdad). He would have no reason to assume that the knapsacks at their feet probably hold their worldy possessions and that they probably have nowhere else to go to stay warm.

It was such a surreal moment... to think that this was going to be one of the first times that he's had to think about people living on the streets and not having any food. I almost wanted to just answer with a simple "yes," but I knew that would be dodging a super important conversation.

So we talked about what the men were really waiting in line for, and what kind of services are offered to the homeless. We talked about the things that could have happened in their lives to get them to that point... job loss, illness, mental illness, etc. Cayden was especially curious about the 3 or 4 men who were wearing army pants. "Were they in the army? Did they go to war?" Those were the hardest questions to answer... especially given my opinions about how this country treats its veterans. I'm sure there will be more questions to follow as he thinks about it all more.

A little more than I bargained for so early on a Friday morning, still half-asleep. But good practice, nonetheless, to keep me on my toes.

attention-getter

I've been trying to only work on auction-related stuff during Josie's naptimes but as the big day gets closer, that's proving to be impossible. All this week, I've had more than enough work to keep me busy for the whole day straight. So I've been trying to sneak in a little bit here and there (so inefficient!) when she appears to be distracted by something else. Cayden had been home sick all week (back today, woohoo!) so that helped some, but not entirely. As soon as she notices that I'm in the middle of something (like answering emails or trying to return a call), she is suddenly compelled to get my immediate attention.

If I'm sitting on the couch with the laptop, she'll crawl up and over so she's basically got her bum on the keyboard... which is not very helpful. Yesterday I was standing by the dining room table talking on the phone, and she crawled up onto the table to get right in my face. I didn't stop her in the process because I wanted to see exactly how far she was willing to go to get some attention. Poor, deprived girl.

When she gets within reaching distance, she'll put her hands on my face and say something... pretty much anything. The other day she came into the living room with a hat on, only to find me on the computer (bad mommy). She crawled up so she was about one inch from my face, nose-to-nose, and said "It's a hat, Mama." Smart girl, because I'm not sure how anyone could resist paying attention to something so cute!

wordless wednesday #15

how do you keep 3 toddlers in place for a photo shoot?

Pretzels!

Josie and I took a break from everything auction to attend a brunch at Christie & Henry's this morning. We also got a chance to meet the adorable Avery (and her equally adorable mom, Megan) in person after several blog & FB visits. As usual, there was scrumptiously delicious food (in addition to the pretzels) and lots of good conversation.

Ah yes, a break is always good. But now it's back to work. Just 18 more days!

stairs:1, josie:0

Jojo fell down the basement stairs today. All the way down a whole flight of stairs. She was trying to carry her little ride-on car down to the playroom, as best I can piece together. Of course it made me feel like the worst mother in the world. We've started leaving the gate at the top of the stairs open, unless I'm in the shower leaving her semi-unattended. She's mastered the art of going up and down the stairs, but apparently doing so while carrying a ride-on car was one step too far, no pun (however lame) intended.

Sadly, this is not the first time this traumatic event has happened to one of our kids. Cayden has fallen down those same set of stairs about 4 or 5 times in his life. They're really steep (and thankfully carpeted) and he is always moving so fast... he just sort of tumbled down a few times. Plus a couple more.

I forgot to mention it, but Josie was and is totally fine. She let out a huge scream and screamed & screamed & screamed for about 0.28 minutes... or until she spotted her juice cup by the couch, whichever came first. I'm hoping tomorrow will be a calmer day with no falls or injuries. If it's not too much to ask, I'd also like Cayden to make a miraculous recovery from his quasi-illness so he can go back to school.

{Jojo and her car, during happier times}

6 out of 7 ain't bad

• Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Actress: Kate Winslet
  
• Best Supporting Actress: Marisa Tomei Penelope Cruz
  
• Best Actor: Sean Penn
  
• Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger
• Best Director: Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Animated Picture: Wall-E

In all fairness, most of these were pretty obvious choices. On the expanded ballot with 24 categories, I only got 14 correct. I got 20 out of 22 on the Oscar trivia though. Barely missed my chance at a Milk poster and some Milk Duds. Drat.

oscar predictions

We're heading to an Oscar bash in a little bit, at which point we will have to make our predictions in order to win a presumably fabulous prize. In order to kill two birds with one stone (picking my picks and updating this sad blog), here are my very scientific predictions in the major categories:

• Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Actress: Kate Winslet (as long as it's not Angelina Jolie)
• Best Supporting Actress: Marisa Tomei
• Best Actor: Sean Penn (liberals are in this year)
• Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger
• Best Director: Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Animated Picture: Wall-E

I should note that I haven't seen a single movie that's nominated for anything, but my children have seen 2 (Kung Fu Panda and Wall-E). This is a new low point for me.

Josie's New Camera

wordless wednesday #14

400!

400 posts!

We rock!

!!!

very deluxe hotel

As part of our crazy, non-stop weekend, we snuck away (all the way downtown again!) for a whole night without the kiddos. We stayed at the still-new Hotel Deluxe, which is absolutely gorgeous. Its decor is modeled after old Hollywood and the furnishings are all vintage and very, very cool.

Take that chair for instance. If I thought I could have taken it home with me without being arrested, it would be mine forever. But alas, we left it in the room for the next guests to marvel at. Speaking of the room, it was huge. Just a normal guestroom, but it had a little seating area and way more than enough room.

All the artwork in the halls and in the rooms were shots from old movies. Even the adorable key cards paid homage to the big stars of yesteryear.

Since we were coming from the birthday bash and subsequent gathering at our favorite restaurant, we didn't actually make it down to the hotel until 2:30 in the morning, but just knowing that we could sleep the whole night through and wake up when whenever we wanted was a huge treat. Luckily, Josie cooperated and my mom got a whole night's sleep too!

whirlwind

Whew! What a weekend. Our most excellent friend Mara turned 40 yesterday (still not sure I believe that) so there was lots of partying to be done. Of course it involved karaoke... lots of karaoke. It also involved a family-turned-neighborhood party on Saturday night and a lucky limo ride for 24 to Spirit Mountain Casino on Sunday (more karaoke and mixed drinks on the rides to and fro).

Mixed in there with our kid-free Friday night at the auction, we've seen our kids for about 13 hours total this weekend. My mom stayed here with them Saturday night overnight and then we dropped them off with Andrew's parents yesterday afternoon for another overnighter. They are on their way home now and I can honestly say that I missed them like crazy. But man it was nice to have some time without them. From what grandparents and aunts and uncles have told us, they did just fine without us. I was worried that 3 nights with different people in our house and away, on top of way-later-than-normal bedtimes, would add up to some big ol' meltdowns but it doesn't sound like we've gone there yet. We are totally gearing up for that today, though. Should be loads of fun.

Here are a slew of pics from the partays, starting with Friday night:

{the beautiful birthday girl}

{of course there was food...}

{...and cake... also commemorating Oregon's 150th}

{one of her 3 beautiful Es}

{our friend Colleen is quite the karaoke queen}


{a gift only a little brother could give!}

And now onto the casino trip on Sunday (I'm realizing now these pictures show a deceivingly calm scene... and only the people sitting closest to me--lucky them!):

{the beautiful birthday girl, again}

{researching the karaoke options}

{singing their hearts out}

{nate chose to tell dirty jokes instead}

Many, many, many thanks to all our amazing kid-care-givers and to Mara and family for all the excellent celebrating. We're all hurting a little today, but it was well worth the sacrifice!

our very own dwight schrute*

*For those of you sad folks who don't watch "The Office" (does anyone actually not watch "The Office"?), Dwight Schrute is a no-nonsense salesman on the show who has zero tolerance for anything on the impractical side. His idea of decorating for a co-workers birthday on a recent show was to hang a sign that read, "Today is your birthday."

Although Cayden does not in any way exhibit Dwight's desperate lack of social skills (thank goodness), he does share Dwight's love for the practical. Unlike me, he doesn't feel the need to add in any demonstrative punctuation or unnecessary verbiage, and certainly has no use for fancy paper. How would he have time for that nonsense?

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours! I hope it's even better than good!

someone else's auction

Tonight we had the pleasure of heading out (without the kids!*) to an auction that my high school bff helped coordinate for her son's preschool. I felt a little torn about going because this school happens to be the #1 rival of my kids' preschool, but I had to go support all of her hard work. Somehow, with our own auction just a month away, we got talked into talked ourselves into buying a seven-night stay at a beach house... but it was such a good deal, I just couldn't pass it up. Now, I do feel like kind of a traitor, but it was for a great cause, and was a seriously good deal (less than we'd normally spend for just two nights at the beach). Here's hoping there's no catch!


*Many thanks to Uncle Joe & Auntie (Aunt? Auntie?) Julia for babysitting for us. They have more patience for charades than I could ever muster. I'm sure Josie only cried at bedtime because she didn't want to miss out on all the fun!

working on the manners

It's very important to me that my kids have good manners. Nothing chaps my hide worse than when Avery or Cayden have a friend over (none of my blog readers' kids of course!) who barely knows the meaning of "please" or "thank you" or when it's appropriate to use either of the darned words.

Needless to say I've been a bit discouraged by Josie's new tendency to yell "Bear (or whatever else, but usually Bear)! Get it!" at the top of her lungs when she wants something out of reach. On the one hand, yes, it's better than when she used to whine without being able to express what she wanted. But come on... you can't get much more rude than that.

On the flip side, I'm happy to say that Josie is getting really good at remembering her pleases ("pease") and thank yous (blowing a kiss, because that's how she's translated the sign). When I asked her if she wanted some lunch today, she immediately started singing, "munch pease, munch pease." And when I asked what she wanted, she even answered with my new favorite word of hers, "SNAMITCH." "Snamitch, pease. Snamitch, pease." So freaking cute, I can hardly stand it. I tried to get her on video saying it... but, no big surprise, she wouldn't cooperate.

wordless wednesday #13

life in the digital age

riddle, with an obvious answer

Q: What do you get when you A) accidentally leave a half-full bag of chocolate cookies within sight on the counter, B) leave a 21-month-old unattended while you take a shower, and C) neglect to put the step stool from the big kids' closet up on the counter?

A: A newly-emptied bag of chocolate cookies on the floor, next to the step stool. Of course. Silly me.

both are pretty long

Overheard in the car after school today, as Josie was watching Elmo, like usual:

Cayden's friend, Lucas: "Sesame Street is like the longest, most boring show in the whole world."

Cayden: "Well I know what the longest thing in the whole world is. The Bible. Either that or the election."

que importa, cara de torta?*

I married into a family of pie-lovers, no doubt about it. If there is a special occasion in the Wagner household, chances are there's pie involved. My father-in-law, especially known for his marionberry pie, makes them from scratch several times a year and there's rarely a crumb left once folks have dug in. [Sometimes I feel guilty because fruity desserts are just not my thing (I know I'm not the only one out there--I found someone else a few years back!) but then I figure that just means more for everyone else.] Based upon the results from last night's dinner, I think it's safe to say that Josie is her Papa's newest fan.


*This was my all-time favorite saying as a kid, from my best friend's mom. It roughly translates to "What's it to you, Pie Face?"

must be 21 (months, that is)

What a gloriously beautiful day for a birthday!

I'd think about changing our header photo...
except that it's supposed to snow tomorrow.

octuplets + 6 = FOURTEEN

I am so not usually one to question anyone's reproductive choices. You want no kids? Just one? Half a dozen? Fine by me. As long as you have the wherewithal to take care of them and are content with your decision, more power to you. I don't think that educational or financial limitations (or marital status) should exclude someone from having a child, and I know that education or wealth (or marital status) alone doesn't make someone a good parent. But I am so glad to hear that the California Medical Board is going to investigate the case of the octuplet mom.

Perhaps they will find that everything's on the up-and-up. That she's not actually as batsh*t crazy as she presents herself when she's being interviewed by Ann Curry on the Today Show*. Maybe they will find that a single mother with 14 kids all under the age of 8 and no job can in fact take care of a huge family. Surely her doctor (the same one for all 14 kids) had some reservations about her stability and ability to care for these children. I'm assuming there is some kind of psychological screening before IVF is done? [But there's no psychological screening before women can get pregnant on their own, so is that an unfair double standard?]

My hope is that they will find that implanting a woman with 6 embryos (2 of the octuplet mom's apparently split to produce 2 sets of identical twins?) is actually not a good idea. The wonders of technology and medicine will never cease to amaze me... but just because we can push it that far, doesn't mean that we should.

That being said {me, climbing aboard my soapbox}, if there was a way to make in vitro more affordable (other countries have managed), maybe people wouldn't feel the need to implant that many embryos at one time because it wouldn't be such an "all or nothing" mentality. Saving up for one round of IVF can wipe out an entire life savings and then some... I'm sure I'd want to increase my odds of a successful pregnancy too after forking over all the money I had to my name. And criticizing a woman (or a couple) for not going through with selective reduction is totally unfair in my opinion. Deciding to leave some embryos un-implanted is one thing, but selectively reducing implanted fetuses (fetii?) after trying so hard, for so long, to get pregnant in the first place, is another issue altogether and not something that anyone should be criticized for... as completely 1000% (yes, one thousand percent) pro-choice as I am.

But back to the octuplet mom. Like I said before, I don't want to criticize her choices if they were made with a foundation to back them up. She's right that being a single mom shouldn't keep her from having kids. But being able to afford so many rounds of IVF (how on earth could she do that???) also doesn't alone make her fit to raise so many kids. The fact that there was medical intervention here to create this situation needs to be investigated in my opinion. It will be interesting to see if she gets all the outpouring of help that the McCaughey septuplets got when they were born. I'm thinking not so likely. Which is sad, because she is going to need all the (financial, physical, psychological?) help she can get.

Was that enough italics and parentheses for you guys? I'm trying to increase my usage because I've been told I just don't use them nearly enough.


*And is it just me, or does she totally look like (she's paid a lot of money to look like) Angelina Jolie? Not that that has anything to do with wanting lots of kids. Just sayin'.

wordless wednesday #12

fragment sentences

Just this week Josie has started saying a few fragment sentences. I can't think of the ones she said yesterday (that'll teach me not to write them down) but just now as I was putting her to bed she said two!

She wanted her big, battery-powered Elmo in her crib so she asked, clear as day, "Elmo in bed?"

I told her Elmo wouldn't fit and there wouldn't be room for her if I put him in and she sadly responded, "Elmo too big."

Changes every day. She'll be begging for the car keys in no time (oh wait, she already begs for the car keys).

Overheard at the Wagner House

Amber: Cayden--time to turn off the Wii. We need to go to your soccer game.

Cayden: Just a sec! I'm trying something!

Amber: Turn it off, bud. We don't have any more secs.

Andrew: (juvenile snickering)

Josie: More secs. More secs. More secs.