A Small Tragedy: The 24-hour dad mug

I knew it was only a matter of time. In some ways I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did. And yet it's still a raw shock that it's time with us was so brief.

Last Saturday was a beautiful day, and I decided to take Karol for some mommy-daughter time to a place called Little Shop of Crafts not far from where we live. It's a really neat place where you can hang out as long as you want, listen to music, and make crafty things. But it's not cheap. The trade for not having a sitting fee or materials fee is that the pottery or other products for painting/decorating are a little overpriced. In the long run, however, it's totally worth it not to have to ration your paint or watch the clock. If you don't finish the day you come in, you can even bring your stuff back another day and continue working!

Karol spent 20 minutes picking out a small mug with sharks engraved in it to paint as a special gift for Daddy, then we had a barrel of fun painting it for a couple of hours! It would be ready for pick-up a week later: yesterday.

After a long conversation about carrying with two hands and walking slowly, Karol delivered the gift to Matt, who of course loved it and put it in the cabinet with the rest of the mugs.

Today, desperate for any form of caffeine, Matt used his new, favorite mug to brew some tea, left it perilously close to the edge of the counter and left the room.

Enter Patrick. My sweet, sweet Patrick. He came into the kitchen with a dirty dish and I told him to put it in the sink. I noticed he was due for a diaper change, so I left the kitchen to get a new diaper, just one room away. Then it happened.

*CRASH* *TEARS* I bolt back into the kitchen to find Pat a little wet from the scalding hot water and completely and totally distraught, overwhelmed by emotion. I scoop him up only a moment before Karol comes in to see what's going on and finds her precious new mug shattered into at least a dozen pieces. Emotional breakdown number 2, tears and wailing commence.

I hand Patrick off to Matt who checks him for burns from the water (he was totally fine) and scoop up the second heartbroken baby saying, "it's okay, it's just a mug, we can make another one. Yes it's very sad, but it was an accident."

And then we switch. Naturally, Matt assuages Karol by telling her how much he loved the mug, but now she can make a new one, and they begin cleaning up the mess.

Patrick is still balling his eyes out and so while changing his diaper (he still needed a change, after all) I tried to listen through the tears at what he was saying. "I broke Karol's cup, I broke Karol's cup," he kept repeating. He was obviously very guilt stricken and upset. Even though it was an accident, he felt terrible! Now that I think about it, it was a surprisingly kind-hearted and mature emotion for a (should-be) self-absorbed 2-year-old to have - but that's my Patrick :)

It was clear he needed redemption so I told him that it was an accident and it was not his fault but if he felt bad he should go tell Karol he's sorry. After a heartfelt "I sorry, Kawol" and a hug, the tears dried up quickly.

Bear in mind, this all happened within like a 4-minute span of time, at the most. What kills me is how I felt throughout this whole ordeal. It could not have been a more pitiful situation, with both children involved, and both legitimately upset, and no one really did anything wrong, per se. But to see and to know how upset and grieved they both were was more painful for me as a mother to watch than for them to experience, it seemed!

In short, a lot of good, hard lessons learned today, for everyone. I'm certainly not looking forward to the many heartbreaks yet to come, even more serious than this.

Oh, and if you're wondering where Max was for all of this, thankfully, he napped through the entire thing.

Mommy's Dirty Little Secret

So...I've been living a lie for the past 8 months. I've been masquerading as a stay-at-home-mom, but in reality I've been working in a variety of ways: taking on freelance work, working on a political campaign, then taking on projects as a consultant. I just couldn't stop! Poor little Max (and Karol and Patrick) have not really had 100% of mommy since we moved to New York.

I realize now that I may have been exhibiting early signs of workaholism. But today I am turning over a new leaf! I've finished my last project (okay that's a little bit untrue but the other clients are so small/easy, it doesn't really count) and I'm excited to throw myself full-force into my new role as Executive Director of Maternal Affairs at the Plomin Household (still debating between "Maternal Affairs" and "Family Affairs," actually).

Maximilian and I have a full day planned for tomorrow: laundry, bath for Max, grocery shopping, reading, cooking dinner, swings, a trip to Carters or Target for a couple new outfits in the 9-12 month range, and maybe even a nap with Max!

So be expecting cleaner, healthier, happier Plomin children from this point forward.

Mommy vs. Circumstance: A Mommy Win

So my plan for St. Valentine's Day was to make cupcakes - as close to Georgetown's red velvets with cream cheese frosting as possible - as a surprise for Matt. Oh yeah, and I mean from SCRATCH, from the cake, to the frosting. And I've never done it before. It was going to be tricky to make it all happen, but if everything happened right on schedule...

I got an email from a client wanting to meet at 1pm, right in the middle of the day. But that's okay, I was expecting it, I could still make everything work.

Then, just as Max and I were getting ready to head to the grocery to pick up some necessary items for the cupcakes, I got a call from the school. "Your son's ears might be bleeding." What? Bleeding? "Um....I guess I'll pick him up then." So to the subway, rather than the grocery, we went.

I called the doctor on the way and set up an appointment for a couple of hours later. Pick up Patrick - oh, and of course Karol wants to come to the doctor's office, too - and drag all three babies from Chelsea to the Upper West Side via subway.

At the doctor's office: "Yeah...he's just really ear-waxy." As I suspected. Neither kid wants to go back to school, so we taxi back home. But it was such a nice day, I decided to take them to the supermarket and get those cupcake supplies anyway. 10 blocks there and 10 blocks back. Whew!

Now it's 1:30pm and everyone's hungry and tired. PB&J's and naptime.

It's 2:30, and dinner HAS to get made, so I start there. And somehow, wonder of wonders, I manage to make brown sugar meatloaf, red velvet cupcakes, homemade cream cheese frosting AND chocolate ganache, and do all the dishes from the day before and all the cooking....while all three kids napped. Whew.

Suck it, Murphy's Law, I win!

First Blog Post in a LONG Time

Oh my goodness. It's been forever since I last posted here. Oh well, I'm just going to pick up where we are. A quick re-cap:

• Max was born July 29th
• Karol started at Nazareth Nursery
• I worked on a campaign for Congress
• We went home for Thanksgiving, stayed in NYC for the rest of the holidays
• Pat turned 2 AND started at Nazareth Nursery
• I'm consulting a variety of intriguing clients, from home with Max

The world continues to turn. Matt's office, which was in midtown Manhattan, got moved to Jersey City. The commute is longer, and now we live in Manhattan (and pay Manhattan taxes/rent) for no apparent reason. Life is hilarious.

The kids' school is in Chelsea, so we'd like to move there, but to find someplace we can all fit into is next to impossible, unless we want to pay upwards of $5k/mo. Which just seems silly. Moving to Jersey City is an option, maybe. We could get more space for less money, but getting the kids to school would be a weird, twice a day commute that wouldn't make sense unless I was coming into Manhattan for work anyway. Of course, anything could happen in the next 18 months before our lease is up, so I'm in no rush to change things.

I don't really have much time to blog, obviously, between Max, a growing client list and the haul to pick up the kids from school every day - but I'm getting better at it.

We've all been sick for the past month or so (and really since Thanksgiving, off and on), and I've devised a sort of cleaning/chore schedule to go along with my new SAHM image - I've yet to actually complete my daily chores in a day, but I'm getting better.

That's the update for now. I'm just trying to get back into the swing of blogging again. Maybe if I can pull it off here, I can work on my other projects, JillianShaw.com and GOPCampaigner.com (still building that one). Say a prayer for me!

Army Strong Mom turns Stay-at-Home Mom: Day 1

First day of (banker) school!

Day 1 being home alone with the kiddies was looong, but it went relatively smoothly. Matt and I woke up around 5:30 to get ready for the day, and Matt took off to take the train down to Wall Street at 6:50. I was hoping to have some time to myself to work on stuff before the kids started stirring, but I only managed about 25 minutes before Karol and Patrick were ready to start the day.

After rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, the kids spent some time looking out window and observing our new world. We talked about the garbage truck and buses that were going by, and did some people watching as well. We've bought a bird feeder and set it in this window, but have yet to see any birds eating from it.

Before changing clothes and really starting the day, we got a little puzzle action. Matt and I set up a really handy shelving set that covers most of one wall to store all of the kids more engaging toys in the main living space instead of in their room, and it's really proven to be a great tool. Everything is visible and accessible to the kids, and that makes it ten times easier for them to put things away on their own, too.

After a little play, it was breakfast time - yogurt and blueberries and Cheerios - then it was time for getting dressed and brushing teeth, always a fun adventure.

By a quarter to 9, the kids were clamoring for Caillou, and since we don't have cable TV and it doesn't come on PBS until 2, we had to watch Caillou on YouTube!

After about 25 minutes of Caillou, it was back to playing with toys.

By 10 am, the kids were deeply engrossed in play and I was on a babysitter search, since I have doctors appointments all over the city next week and no one to watch the kids yet! I also managed to fill out a voter registration form and do the dishes before snack time.

Carrots and string cheese! Mommy had some yogurt.

Around 11:30 we read a couple of Bible stories, then it was time to make lunch - PB&J's and apple slices. The babysitting service called me back as well during lunch and we (hopefully) will have some reliable help by next week.

After lunch, Patrick got to pick the pre-naptime DVD, and he chose Holy Baby. I don't know why, but these kids will sit and watch a DVD that repeats long Catholic prayers 7 times without flinching once. It's kind of creepy. Luckily, this gave me some time to do some clean up of lunch and other household chores. By ten to 1, they were ready to start the naptime routine.

We wrapped up naptime just in time for me to catch a phone call from Matt. Since he's starting a new job, and my health insurance runs out (unless we do the COBRA thing) two days after Max is supposed to be induced, we're anxious to get Matt's insurance info. So after talking to him, I got started on a bunch of admin work. I tried to get into the human resources website for Matt, but he's still not 'in the system' yet. I checked email, checked out the forms for AFLAC for Max's delivery, filled out the forms the babysitting service needed and sent them back, rescheduled my chiropractor appointment to follow directly after my OB check up next Tuesday (so we'd only need the sitter for that day), uploaded a bunch of new pictures to Facebook, and I even had a chance to vacuum the couch and rug in the living room, which was desperately needed, and broom-swept the hardwood floors in all but the kids' rooms.

Around 3, Patrick woke up but was clearly not really ready to be 'up.' So he and I laid down in mommy's room for an extra half hour. I'm kind of glad that we had that time, because I probably wouldn't have taken a break on my own!

I tried to convince Patrick that it was still naptime, but by 3:30 he was asking for 'Thomas' (the Tank Engine), so, in lieu of popping in the video, which I wanted to save for later, we printed out some Thomas coloring pages, and that seemed to do the trick. We had some strawberries for post-nap snack, and Karol was up and participating in the fun by 4.

This is Patrick's picture pose face. I love it.

Just as I was thinking I really needed to throw something together in the crockpot for dinner, Matt texted that he wouldn't be home until late. In a way, that saved me from putting together a crockpot experiment meal, but since our stove is broken (they're replacing it soon, hopefully), there weren't a whole lot of options for cooking outside of the microwave.

After coloring, we made paper airplanes which, between making, decorating, and flying, occupied them for an hour.

By then it was time to make dinner, so I gave in to the Thomas video requests. The no-stove solution? Cheesy scrambled eggs cooked in the microwave and corn and peas. I thought it was going to be a big flop, but the kids LOVED the cheesy eggs! I had to make a second batch and they literally ate about three eggs each, plus a decent helping of veggies. They both actually both ate very well all through out the day; I wonder if they're having growth spurts. During dinner I actually had a chance to read an article in the newspaper! It was the paper from the day before, but whatever.

After dinner, bath time. The kids soaked in the tub for about a half hour, brushed teeth, and put on pajamas.

I read about a million books for story time, and when all was said and done the kids were down and out by a quarter to 8. So, I ran some dishwater, put away the few things that were still out around the house, checked my email, then started this post.

Matt finally got home around 8:50 and we told each other all about the day.

Saturday with Mommy

Well Matt is getting the keys and moving the first few boxes into the Manhattan apartment today! That means I'm home with the kiddies - of course it's a free-for-all while Daddy's away!

Actually, I've done a fairly good job keeping a schedule, of sorts, today. Karol sneaked into my room a little after 7, and Patrick was just waking up in his crib at the same time, so we started the morning a little earlier than normal. But that was just as well, since the farmer's market starts at 7 and all the best stuff goes early.

The kids were dressed, fed and ready to go by 8am! But they decided they wanted to do a puzzle first. After a scuffle over piggy banks (don't ask) I managed to convince them they wanted to go for a walk to the farmer's market.

Rather than stroll, I strapped on their monkey and doggie backpacks and they walked with me. Luckily it's only one block away. We checked out all the different foods, but they were most entertained just sitting in the grass picking wildflowers and clovers.

We even got to pet a couple of dogs while we were out!

We started heading back home around 9, and Patrick demanded we stop at the courtyard for some rock pile action. Of course, they ended up completely soaked, but they had a blast.

I let them pick a flower from the landscaping in exchange for going inside and changing. Since they were already wet, I decided it was a fantastic time to brush teeth (forgot to do it this morning). Then they stripped off the wet clothes and decided to do puzzles again.

Snack time rolled around and they actually wanted cold oatmeal as their snack. My kids are weird.

After snacks, we threw in another load of laundry together.

I knew I needed to burn some time and some energy for a successful nap time, so I took the kids up to the pool all by myself. Until now, there's no way I would ever feel comfortable taking more than one kid to a pool without some back up. But I devised a strategy and I felt pretty confident I could do it. It helps that there's always a lifeguard on duty, and it's a 4-foot pool, so I can just stand.

We suited up - Coast Guard approved life jackets, sunblock and all - in the apartment. I didn't want to be stuck snapping Karol's jacket while Pat wondered off to the pool. After a pep talk about staying right next to Mommy all the time, we headed up to the pool deck. And I couldn't be more thankful we did. The water was perfect, and the kids both did a great job of holding onto Mommy, the wall, or a combination of the two. The jackets give the kids a lot of buoyancy and Karol was able to keep herself upright really well. Her big thing at the pool is propelling herself around the edge, so we did that a lot while I bounced Patrick on my hip.

The only real issue was actually the other children at the pool. There was a group of three sisters - two 8 year olds and a 5 year old - that took an interest in Karol and therefore were in my way a bit. And they were annoying. The 5 year old would take Karol's hand and inevitably she'd get a mouthful of water from losing her balance. Meanwhile, Patrick was already tired and cranky, so we needed to leave. This was simple enough, because I told Karol that we could go inside and watch Caillou. She was ready to go instantly.

Getting out of the pool was easier than I anticipated, but still no picnic. The kids were easy - I just sat them up on the edge and they walked over to our pool bag. I didn't want to be more than arms-length away for very long though, so I 'hopped' out of the pool up onto the side instead of taking the ladder, as best a 7 month pregnant lady can. I was shocked at my own ability to do it, but it couldn't have been pretty to watch.

Karol and Patrick sunbathed for a couple of minutes while I loaded up all the swimming supplies, and then we headed back to the apartment.

Caillou gave me enough time to make lunch - mac & cheese and peas - and then those kids just sat and ate. They must have been hungry because they both had two helpings of mac & cheese and most of their peas, and they didn't even talk or goof around, they were so intent on eating.

Next we caught Grandpa Shaw on Skype and then an episode of Wonderpets before stories and naps.

They are both sleeping like rocks now. Matt's already on the road back, so I'm hoping he makes it home in time to play with the kids before bedtime!

Mother's Day 2010 and "Babies" Movie

Today started out early (6:45ish), with a cranky Miss K coming into our bedroom to cozy up with us. She had a terrible time Saturday with napping (she did, but the timing was off) and sleeping (going through a getting up over and over again phase), and now she (and therefore Matt and I) was paying for it with a night of restless sleep. We all finally rolled out of bed a little after 7.

Matt managed to keep the kids at bay (he locked the bathroom and bedroom doors) while I took a shower. I really wanted to wash my hair and shave my legs today, since both were seriously overdue. Even on a good day, I usually have to choose between the two. Luckily when I'm pregnant my hair doesn't need to be washed more than every other day, and is really fine every third day, if I'm sporting a ponytail. Can't get away with that non-pregnant!

So after getting dressed and ready, I emerged to find Karol and Patrick up and at it and Matt made cinnamon rolls for breakfast - from scratch! I wanted to make 9am Mass, so there was no dilly-dallying with dressing and feeding the babes - but we still didn't make it to St. Charles until all the parking spots were taken, and we'd surely have to sit in the upper room.

Since parking was impossible, Matt saw that first communion was going on, and the kids actually do better downstairs in the main area rather than upstairs where kids can be more free, we decided to move to plan B - detour to Barnes & Noble and the Clarendon play area (although it was really too cold for that this morning) for an hour and a half. I'd planned on killing some time there after Mass anyway, so we just flipped the two. We picked up a new book I serendipitously found called 'Hello, New York City' and made 11am Mass easily with time to spare.

Patrick slept the all the way up to benediction!

When Mass was over, though, I was STARVING. So we went to Applebee's - mommy's secret obsession. We haven't been going out to eat much, so this was a big deal! After that, it was home for nap time. Mommy and daddy have not been doing nap time well recently. I don't know if our timing is off, or if we just aren't getting the routine right, or what, but the past two weekends we've totally failed at napping. Today, Karol didn't even take one. I settled for spending about an hour of 'quiet time' together, and that was it.

After a post-nap time snack, we headed to the Ballston Mall to catch a new movie. This is a pretty huge deal, in my opinion. I can count on one hand how many movies I've seen since K was born, with fingers to spare. And on the occasion I do see a movie, it's usually been out a while. But I started seeing the online buzz a couple of weeks ago for the movie "Babies" that opened this weekend, and was brave enough to take a 2.5 year old and a 16 month old to a movie that runs 1hr 20 min, in a theatre full of other people.

They actually did amazingly well. The movie has no real dialog, no narration, just a visual documentary. We sat way down front so the kids' chatting wouldn't be too noticeable, and generally they just made comments about what was going on on-screen. I was particularly impressed with Patrick's observations during the film. He was really watching the movie. And whenever an animal, food or other object popped up that he recognized, he pointed and said the name. So many words he's picked up! Banana, cows, dog, bird, baby, cat, cars...and the list goes on.

On the way home, in fact, Patrick said "please!" Can you believe it? He was asking for his drink (we could tell by his gesture) but since he's picked up on our insistence that Karol "ask nicely" for things, he said "please" without ever having been prompted! I was floored. I made sure to point out to Karol what he had said, and that he knew to say that because of her good example. She really enjoys being 'big sister' and when we note the ways she's 'big' and helpful, it encourages her, I think.

Karol was getting cranky after the movie and nearly fell asleep on the short car ride home, so bedtime was actually pretty smooth - for Matt. I got special dispensation from bedtime duties on account of the special holiday.

But I still had one baby left to take care of - Max! He was hungry! So I scavenged all the days leftovers and topped it off with some raspberry sorbet...but now I'm thinking little Maximilian wants a bowl of cereal too...

All in all it was another fantastic Mother's Day. Even though Matt was out of town last year, Mother's Day was especially good in 2009, too. I stop to think about how lucky I am to have these amazing, wonderful kids all the time, but on Mother's Day I try to really take the whole day just to appreciate the great family I've got. It's really all about them, and that's what makes it enjoyable. I think that puts me in the right mood for a 'special' day no matter what.

Missing the Baby Gear

I'm getting way too attached to the kid's baby gear.

It's not that I'm afraid I'll miss it. I'm afraid the kids will. Do they really have an attachment to these things? Or am I projecting that on them? Being too attached to 'stuff' is the opposite of what I want to instill in them, but I don't want to inadvertently rip something away from them that they feel emotional about, either. With the move coming up, a lot of things are going to change.

It's really getting hard for me to come to terms with giving up our lovely apartment, but only because of the convenience it affords. I know I'll be fine emotionally. But are the kids going to miss it? I remember growing up in two houses - and the second one was my grandparents' house before we moved there, so it was already 'home' to me. I can't imagine what it would be like to up and move to a whole new city.

On the other hand, Karol and Patrick are still very young - Karol's not even 3 yet. Will she even remember? I have no idea. And who knows how much we'll end up switching apartments in NYC, as the family (and hopefully the income) grows.

So why am I feeling this way today? Well, it doesn't help that it's a gloomy, crappy day overall, but I'm thinking about selling our double stroller. It's a monster of a stroller, and has served us very well. But now I'm looking to trade it for something smaller and more maneuverable for the city. And with Patrick walking really well already, we probably won't need a stroller for every trip in New York. Plus I don't really like the idea of having them locked up and lazing in a stroller for extended periods of time while I wheel their butts around. So I want something light-weight, easy to fold and easy to get around on skinny sidewalks.

But that means I'll need to sell ol' reliable. It's been like a second home for all the lovely long walks we take in Arlington...but am I the only person who's really getting sentimental about it?

We might go stroller test-driving at Buy Buy Baby this afternoon after work (I'll probably actually buy it used) to see what brand/model works best. I figure I'll be wearing Max for the first 6 months or so. I'm looking at the Jeep Wranglerthe Combi Twin Sportand the City Minibut who am I kidding? Should I just skip straight to the Triple Threat?

Good Times in the Bath

Karol and I wrapped up the evening (a terrible, nothing goes right type of day today) with a mommy-daughter bath, complete with facial masques, tea-tree oil foot scrubs, and an intense game of 'Spuh-LASH!' which is a lot like catch, but without the catching.

Luckily the rest of the night went smoothly with no tears from either toddler at bedtime. Unfortunately, Matt will be up late tonight working on one of two final papers that is due tomorrow at noon. I will be SO glad when he is done with all of this on WEDNESDAY.

As for me, I've been done with class for a week or two now (yay!). Now I'm going nuts about packing, going through the kids' clothes and weeding the outgrown and winter weather gear from their drawers for storage, and making big piles of random stuff to be donated. We are going to be losing a lot of space with the move to NYC (oh yeah, and adding a kid) and the extra stuff just isn't getting out of my apartment fast enough for my taste.

It's 9pm, and I think I'm going to go to bed. That's actually a little early for me. I'm hoping tomorrow starts off a little smoother than today did, but I'm not looking forward to Matt being MIA while he crams on final projects the next three days!

My Son's Amazing Motor Skills

So for a little distraction/treat, we went out to eat tonight at the Cheesecake Factory. Since I didn't think to bring sippy cups, the kids got milk in cups with lids. Karol rocked the cup with a straw, but Patrick practically poured it down his shirt. It's hard to mentally switch from sippy cup - where you tilt the cup up - to straw - where you keep the cup down.

So Matt asked the waiter for a small glass or plastic glass, like a shot glass. You see, Patrick has pretty much mastered drinking from a cup - taught Montessori style. Check it out:

Yes, I was totally paranoid he would drop the glass and break it. But I think he does this very well. In fact, he's better at it than Karol is right now, I think because 1) we started teaching him the skill at the right time, when he was mentally prepared to learn it, and 2) he's generally a rock star at gross and fine motor skills.

When it comes to climbing, using a spoon and fork, etc. he's doing the same things as Karol. Since Patrick apparently didn't get the super-cautious gene that Karol did, he usually is doing more running, jumping and climbing than Princess Karol is.

Montessori Mommy?

I'm back to reading Montessori from the Start: The Child at Home, from Birth to Age Three and back on a Montessori kick again.  I think I wrote in an earlier post that we found exactly the right school for our kids - it's a Catholic Montessori preschool - and last month we were finally able to go there for observation.

I'm even more convinced that this is where I want Karol to be next year, but alas, there's no space available.  Well, Sister Lucy, the lady that runs the place, said they may have an opening depending on if one family moves...so we're keeping our fingers crossed, but won't be surprised if it doesn't happen until the 2011-12 school year.

So what do we do until then?  I really don't see the point in sticking her in a different preschool for a year and then switching.  That just seems like it would cause undue stress for all of us.  So I'm seriously considering teaching her (as best I can) from home, in the Montessori Method.

Of course, it doesn't seem fair at all to put that kind of time and effort into Karol and not Patrick, who's nipping at Karol's heels right now, developmentally speaking.  But he's in a totally different sensitive period, so the work he should be doing is totally different from what Karol is on.

Oh, and let's not forget little Max (that's Fetus Plomin's new name, now that we know he's a boy for sure)!  I have the chance to start from the very beginning with him.  But just taking care of the basic needs of an infant is enough work for one mom.  I'm already depriving the poor little guy of much needed sleep (for mommy) most nights in order to research Montessori homeschooling, apartments in NYC and preschool options.  Do I really think I'm going to be able to teach all my kids at the same time all by myself?

Well, yes.  I guess I do.  My plan?  Be prepared well in advance.  I'm going to have to tackle this 'stay at home mom' thing (makes me cringe to type that) with a strategic campaign plan.  That's why I'm so glad I discovered this awesome blog, Wanting What You Have.  It's written by a professional 'housewife' (cringe) who's come up with what she calls a Home Management Guide.  It is the greatest idea ever.  Not that its a new one.  Basically, it's a business plan for the home.  I've already started building mine.  I've got two whole sections done, and I'm totally stoked about it.

I'm doing mine a little differently, though, since, well, every household is a little different, and in our case, a lot different.  I'm planning for all my Montessori tools and research to be a huge section of this binder.  I think I'm going to come up with a different name for mine though.  Something like, 'Jillian's World Domination Strategic Campaign Plan.'  So far I've got all my work schedules done, pretty similar to how Heather does it, and a cleaning section.  I'm going to add a food section, but I still don't really know enough about cooking yet to put it together, and Matt's in charge of the groceries right now, so I'm at a loss for a price book (I'm just going to take over his).  The Montessori section I'm going to start building tonight right after I write this post.  As for the World Domination-specific sections, that's classified, sorry.

Happy and Healthy Babies - All of Them!

Today was a 'big' day for the DC Plomins.  Bright and early this morning the whole family trekked up to our old stomping grounds, Silver Spring, for a round of doctor's appointments.

Karol - not surprisingly, Karol got a gold star for verbal ability.  The doctor was floored that she was answering questions like "how old are you?" and "are you a boy or a girl?"  I guess those are questions a 3 year old may be able to answer.  She was also impressed with the 6-word sentences she was uttering -but Matt and I know she can easily do 15-word sentences and more!
She's an expert at jumping, but hasn't mastered walking backwards yet - although that's another 3 year old task.

Patrick - Patrick is right on track developmentally, and doing especially well in the walking/climbing arena.  He's off the charts for both height and weight and a very healthy growing boy.  Patrick's language is seemingly ahead of schedule, too, but of course he was too shy to talk to Dr. Fishman at all.  He did manage a 'high five' though.
Patrick got a whopping 3 shots, one of which being the chicken pox vaccine.  The good news is that he won't need any at all at the 18 month check up.  I'm hoping we can squeeze that one in before we have to leave for NYC in July.

Baby #3 - Mommy and baby got a check up today, too.  I'm doing fine, of course, and New Baby Plomin has all the major organs and limbs and whatnot that they check for in the 20 week ultrasound.  And of course we got the opportunity to find out what we're having.  And, as I've been predicting since day 1 - the ultrasound confirmed we're having a boy!  Karol and Patrick are excited to have a baby brother and Matt and I are excited to use pronouns like "he" instead of "it" when referring to "him."

Measurement-wise he is still on track with his original due date of Aug 10, give or take a couple days.  I'm betting he'll be quite an average size, weighing more than Karol did (7 lbs 9 oz) and less than Patrick (9 lbs 3 oz).  It'll be 'fun' to get to know all new doctors just a month before he's born to deliver him in NYC, but we're getting closer to figuring out who that will be now.  Or I should say, Matt is.  I've put him in charge of finding the doc, the hospital and an apartment in NYC.  We'll see how that goes.

The apartment search is still pretty passive - it's still early - but we've got some feelers out.  We're still pretty focused on the West side, hopefully somewhere in our between the West Village and Upper West Side.  I'm not really thinking about that now, though.  For right now I'm just looking forward to tying my shoes without straining and meeting my new little boy, and thanking God we are so very lucky to have such beautiful and healthy children.

So that's the update for now!