My Funny, Funny Family

Miss Crankypants

2009-11-07T13:11:00.006-06:00

Pebbles may have had the swine flu this week. All I know is, she started to come down with something on Friday, when she coughed a little and cheerfully told me she needed to go to "the coughing doctor."That was the last cheerful thing we heard out of her until yesterday.She coughed, she developed a fever, she refused what tiny bits of food she usually ingests, but worst of all -- for us -- she

An Almost Perfect Halloween

2009-11-02T10:51:00.009-06:00

Regular readers here know that Nutmeg loves Halloween even better than Christmas or her birthday. Halloween is IT, as far as she's concerned. She generally begins discussing next year's costume around Nov. 2 and plots her entertaining and decorating plans for the holiday throughout the year.This year our celebration started a couple weeks ago when Epu carved the girls' designs into their pumpkins

Toth Is Now a Regular Baby, Level 2

2009-10-29T22:23:00.000-06:00

Toth turned 3 months old and overnight he moved to the next stage. He's no longer a snuggleworm, he's a little guy looking all around and trying to grab things and trying sooo hard to crawl that it just breaks your heart. I want to tell him, "Baby, take it easy! You have a couple of months before you can reasonably expect to start hauling that body across the floor." But he's all like, I need to

Fwendly Pebbles

2009-10-23T17:00:00.004-06:00

Can you believe these two kids were born the same week? To be fair, I think Pebbles' "best fwend" on the right may be sitting on her knees, but still. Pebbles is a midget.A friendly midget. Everywhere we go, she's telling me that kids she plays with or sometimes even complete strangers are her fwends. She is full of complimentary gossip about her fwends, frequently noting that they are nice to

Nutmeg at School

2009-10-22T10:36:00.006-06:00

Nutmeg got her first report card this week. Can you imagine, the kindergarten report card?What's more important, we got to sit down with her teacher for her first parent/teacher conference. The result is that I am very impressed with Nutmeg's teacher, "Miss Binney."During the early weeks of school, Epu and I volunteered to staple some "books" that the kids would be using to learn to read. They

Let Me Stop Watching Balloon Boy and Get Back to the Beyonce Baby

2009-10-18T12:45:00.004-06:00

Oh Balloon Boy saga, how I wish I could quit you.I wish I could report that I did not go out of my way to watch the poor kid barf on live tv (via YouTube). Or that I could forget about this poor 6-year-old child under so much pressure to lie. Or stop wondering why the a cameraman would pan out to make sure America sees the barf, or why the mom at least couldn't get that poor puking kid unmiked

Wordless Wednesday: Brother and Sister, and Best Friends as Well

2009-10-14T21:15:00.002-06:00

If you know what that title is from, you, too watch too much PBS Kids. Also, you probably will not be able to get that song out of your head for the next 30 days or so.Sorry.

Obama's Nobel Prize: How Much Does It Suck That His Mom Is Dead?

2009-10-09T08:05:00.004-06:00

Just last night we were watching Dr. Who as I dandled Toth on my lap. As Dr. Who explained that he needed to change his hot chick sidekick once a year not because he's a horny old goat but because he's dealing with the angst of immortality, I thought about something that doubtless bothers every parent: That if everything goes the absolute best that can be expected, my kids will leave on for years

Toth Is 12 Weeks

2009-10-03T21:14:00.007-06:00

We were at the Oak Park Farmer's Market Saturday, and the pumpkins and gourds and apples were out. The day was sunny but there were leaves on the ground. We were buying brownies from Nutmeg's school bake sale booth.It was an appropriate way to mark Toth's big milestone, his 12th weekly "birthday." Twelve weeks ago, I told everyone who would listen, we came to this farmer's market trying to walk

Review and Contest

2009-10-01T11:01:00.002-06:00

So I have this blog just for product reviews. I don't do that many of them, so you may not even know I have it. But right now I just reviewed the Leapfrog Tag and Tag Junior, and I'm giving away a Tag Junior. It's kind of a lame giveaway because we already opened the package by accident, but still, it's a $35 toy so there you go.Here's the review with contest.

Wordless Wednesday: Do.Art.

2009-09-30T14:36:00.002-06:00

Because I am never wordless, here's a word of explanation: Nutmeg made this and put it on the hallway wall. In case you can't see the lettering, it says "Do.Art." I think she was pretending to be her art teacher from school.I kind of want to laminate my wall so this thing stays up forever. For one thing, I just like it. For another, it reminds me of when you look at modern art and go, "My kid

$250 Gift Card Giveway on My Other Blog

2009-09-21T10:39:00.002-06:00

I've hit the big time now, people. Dominick's gave me some big-bucks gift cards to give away on Frugalista, my money-saving blog on Chicago Now. Three hundred DOLLARS in gift cards, all together.The top prize is a $250 card, the two runner ups get fifties. If you live in the Chicago area, you are definitely going to want to get over there and leave a comment so you can have a chance to win one of

Sometimes Even Nutmeg Doesn't Feel Like a Nut

2009-09-20T12:02:00.005-06:00

When I was planning my trip to San Francisco to help celebrate the impending arrival of Bert & Bryan's baby, I waffled on whether to bring Nutmeg. Toth had to come with me, of course, but I thought it would be nice to have an otherwise kid-free weekend. And Epu's parents were coming anyway to babysit Pebbles.But, then, Nutmeg pined to see her friend Eliot. Eliot and his parents pined for Nutmeg.

End of Summer Fun Rush

2009-09-12T22:43:00.009-06:00

Something happened as Labor Day approached last week. It's like we saw the end of summer in front of us and said, "Oh hay-ell no. It's not over."So we had a block party:And we went to Kiddieland, a local amusement park that will be closing at the end of the month, likely to be replaced by a Costco.And then we went to Disney on Ice. OK, that;s not summery. But it was fun.Right now, Nutmeg, Toth

Pebbles and Toth

2009-09-03T10:31:00.005-06:00

So it's been a week now that Nutmeg is in school all day and Pebbles, Toth and I are on our own. Yes, I have the luxury of toddling around town with just my two more difficult children.But actually, it IS much easier. Nutmeg is the one with all the opinions and the attitude, the one who digs in her heels when I say "Let's go to Kmart and shop Super Doubles." Pebbles is already learning to play

Her Highness

2009-08-27T10:55:00.003-06:00

You know that crown Nutmeg wore on the first day of school?(to refresh your memory, here's Nutmeg breaking out of the joint at the end of that first day)Well, that night I asked her if she was going to wear her crown to school again on the second day. She said, "Of course not." Instead, while she's at school, Nutmeg keeps her crown on a homemade pedestal. The sign, which she wrote with help

OK, I'm Over It

2009-08-25T08:40:00.003-06:00

My First Day of School post was full of so much angst. But don't leave comments trying to cheer me up, because I feel better already. Yes, we are doofuses, but Nutmeg was so happy skipping off to school that I think she will survive childhood with doofuses for parents just fine.Going to see if the neighbor girl can sit with sleeping Pebbles when I go pick Nutmeg up at 11 a.m. today. (The first

First Day of School

2009-08-25T07:33:00.007-06:00

OK, I'm in tears and not just because my baby started school this morning. My baby started school and I didn't bring her there.Also, she was tardy on her very first day.My God, what is WRONG with me? I've been late for everything in my entire life. It's somewhat of a family joke. But I was quite determined that the whole family would be taking Nutmeg to school this morning with plenty of time to

Slack

2009-08-22T21:52:00.000-06:00

Epu and I have been fighting a lot lately. When this happens, I always think it's happening because of something he's doing or not doing. I'm angry because he turned off the shut-up machine TV when I put the kids in front of it so they wouldn't mess up the house until I got done straightening it up; I'm angry because he's heading into hour two of Facebook while the baby is sleeping peacefully in

This Is Not Really Late -- Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-20T08:58:00.001-06:00

Note: Yep, I have too many blogs. Cuz late last night I accidentally posted this to the currently-on-hiatus Shoplifting With Permission. I realized something must be amiss this morning when I wasn't flooded with comments about Toth's adorable smile. 5 weeks old and loves to smile.Some bloggers do this thing called Wordless Wednesday. Since I've been having trouble getting posts up since Toth was

The Latest Nutmeg News

2009-08-14T07:48:00.014-06:00

Remember when this blog chronicled every new thing that happened to Nutmeg? I even used to call it "The Nutmeg News." So many times in the swirling maelstrom of the past month, I have composed Nutmeg posts in my head for you. Today I'm sitting in a cafe on Michigan Ave. and I have a few minutes to actually type one.*Nutmeg has been a science and nature nut this summer. I picked up a book of kids

How Is It Working Out With 3?

2009-08-10T15:52:00.007-06:00

At many moments of many of the past 30 days, having 3 kids has indeed been more difficult than having 2. The 3rd kid is the easiest of the bunch so far -- still sleeps for hours on end, doesn't mess up the house and never picks fights. But of course, he's the one responsible for my impatience when the lack of sleep catches up with me. And the most difficult times are when he's crying and driving

Awake and Asleep

2009-07-29T22:12:00.003-06:00

Toth, watching the ceiling fan and (I think) trying to grab it with his hands. This was taken just now, and it's the most animated we've ever seen him.This afternoon, asleep: He's starting to look more like a regular baby and less like a newborn already, eh? And I just noticed that the sleeper he's wearing tonight, size newborn, is a little tight. Fit him fine last week. Also, his cord stump

Where's Carrie?

2009-07-27T22:15:00.002-06:00

I know, posting here stopped abruptly a week ago. What happened was, my parents came over. And they brought these two kids with them. And then they played a dirty trick on us: They walked out the door, and they LEFT these kids here. And since then, well, it's all a blur.Also, I took Toth to BlogHer for three days. More on that later.Today was my first day flying solo with all three. It went

Family of 5

2009-07-16T20:27:00.006-06:00

My girls came back today. Life went from calm and sleepy to chaotic and overwhelming all at once, but damn, was I glad to see them.They had a fabulous vacation with their Grammy and Grampy, and both they and my parents were full of stories of the waterpark they'd been to, the cabin, fishing, swimming and the campfire they'd had. They were both all over the baby -- Nutmeg wanting to hold him and