Ummmmmm . . . . Aunt Kayla?

Can you tell me again where babies come from?




Congratulations, Ed and Kayla!!!!!

You know you are poor when . . .

it is a treat to buy a 12 pack of beer.

You are destitute when you have the following conversation:

[Scene: Curt and Maria in the kitchen, talking]

Curt opens the refrigerator.

Curt: I see we have some new beer! Cool! 211? I've never heard of that before.

Maria: Yeah, it was really cheap at Gerbes.

Curt: I think I will try one!

Maria: Go ahead!

Curt grabs a can. He opens it; it emits a satisfying "hiss." Curt grins and raises the can to Maria, in appreciation of a found bargain.

Curt takes a sip.

Curt: **$#(*^&#(^#(*$& [edited for content. Translation: This brew is most offensive, and I regret that I have swallowed it].

Maria: Sorry.

Curt: You know what? Next time we want cheap beer, why don't we just get Miller Lite?

dramatic pause, camera zooms in to Maria.

Maria: Yeah, but isn't Miller Lite expensive, like Bud Light?

Fade scene.

Anna and THE GREAT PUMPKIN!

Just thought I'd add a few pics.

First, Anna helped us with the back yard this weekend. You know, cutting down dead looking things, pretending to know what to do with a yard... And we're still on the hunt for super-vine from this summer. He's still lurking around.



"Did you really expect me to help.... what, with these delicate hands?"


"And these lovely cheeks?"


"And these lovely lashes?"


"I'll throw this rake if you ask me again!"


"Nuthin... whatchoo doin'?"


And who can resist cute bath pics? Anna had a mohawk in this one, but mom is NOT the photographer ("Captain Video") in the family.



And FINALLY......
THE GREAT PUMPKIN!!!
-Yes, it is real!
-Yes, we did it!

(Maria still has some amateur art talent left)

Anna's First Music Video

While mom was working, Curt (a.k.a. "Sergeant Safety") decided to let Anna play the organ, and we made a music video!

Melting of cuteness!

PUMPKINS! (And a mega weekend)

Last weekend was just dreamy!
After a hard week (see new post from October 9th) we thoroughly enjoyed Curt's 3 day weekend. We went to a pumpkin festival and Anna had a blast climbing on the giant pumpkins.
Check out the video (taken on Curt's cell phone, so the quality is poor):



Here are some pics:












Anyone fancy some good home cooking?



And then a nice, long nap?



(Notice Cricket underneath trying to figure out how to jump up and snuggle!)



Now, you may have noticed that Anna lost her clothes during the above photo montage. Imagine:
-a diaper change
-a naked hiney enjoying fresh air during the aforementioned diaper change
-a diaper bag without an extra set of clothes in it

Getting the picture?

After soaking herself and her clothes, and after moments of quiet desperation and quick thinking... Anna finished the festival in this:





Which is a mermaid tail skirt that I saw at Goodwill for $1 and has been stuck in the diaper bag for weeks, intended for a little girl in our playgroup.
We got some funny looks, but if you had seen the rest of the people wandering around in Hartsburg, MO - you wouldn't have given Anna a second look. (Great place for people watching! Hardly a full set of teeth in the bunch - but plenty of tats!)

What happens when....

A mom tries to check her email...


Anna finds the "cabinet of magic":


Luckily she has good taste. The DVDs she picked:
-St. Louis Cardinal's 2006 World Series DVD
-The Life of David Gale
-Dodgeball







Then, she learns how to turn on the TV:


Luckily, we have only three channels, so there wasn't much on!

G-U-I-L-T, dark nights, and work

A few updates.
So I started work... Before I started this week, I was the most whiney, ambivalent, morose momma you could interact with. "Woe is me" doesn't begin to describe it. But here's the deal (as Joe Biden likes to say): I only work 10-12 hours per week. Anna is truly, barely going to miss me. I will miss two bedtimes each week but she will get used to that very quickly. The thing is, it will be MONTHS before I'm used to it. It feels utterly wrong. But not paying Curt's student loans (which is the whole reason I'm working) feels wrong-er. Well, wrong-ish. I'd go on ignoring them forever and praying for a miracle for a lot longer if I could swing it.

So I became a "working mom" this week. If I were a painting, I'd definitely be a Dali all melty and creepy. THAT'S how frazzled and out of myself I felt.

IN FACT,

I had my first mom freak out in a long, long time. I finally gave in and took an OTC sleep pill because I couldn't settle down mid-week and I really, really, really needed sleep. Well Anna, who hadn't woken up before 3 or 5 am in months, woke up two hours after I took the thing because she was so uncomfortable (teething, stuffy nose - just plain grumpy - very Oscar the Grouchish). I didn't know if I could nurse her, which was what she wanted. So I called our doctor hotline thingy and waited ON HOLD for THIRTY minutes until someone finally answered a little after midnight. Meanwhile, Anna's screaming in her crib for the whole half hour because Curt tried to sooth her but was too sleep deprived himself to be really effective.

And I couldn't go in there to soothe her because she wouldn't understand why I wasn't nursing her. So I waited..... on hold...... piss#& as hell that they weren't answering to let me know if I could still nurse my kid..... listening to her wail.
What a night!

Mom guilt is a very, very powerful thing. I felt it.... last night.... for taking something that probably has fewer chemicals than a diet coke.



That's how much I love this girl: