Well Shone, Moon.

I'm currently embroiled in a bedtime battle royale with Finn. He's become the master of tactical stalling at bedtime.

This kid knows how to do it, guys.

He only asks for things that are totally necessary (like going to the potty or a drink) so I have a hard time saying no...

But he when gets tired, he gets sloppy and starts asking for toys and I draw the line because I'm a real toughie and I also get pretty tired of all the two-year old BS.

Seriously though, I've gotten up like, 10 times since I started writing this.

Rargh.

Anywho, sometimes I get a creative wave and start decorating walls in this casa and it's a good feeling. In my office space I have a gallery of random art that goes across the entire wall.

It's my inspiration wall and I love it. I'll show it to you one day.

But recently, what with all my new school prepping and all, I've gone on a quote kick and here are the two new images in Finn and Jussi's rooms respectively:

Luke made this one for me...

 I'm smitten with my own creativity.

And since I'm obviously on a Midsummer kick, this is in Isla's room:

Aaah I love that play so much. It almost makes me sad that I've picked American Literature as the emphasis for my Master's. So much so that I might be still swayed to switch.

Also, I joined our neighborhood book club and I got to pick the book for April. Steven Millhauser's Dangerous Laughter.

In the Springville area come April 28th at 8pm? Want to read a book that WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE? Seriously feel free to come! I'm sure I'll bake up something delicious too.

Who are we kidding? I'll buy something delicious. 

Last but not least, I got my kids as dressed up as they'll ever be (for Easter's sake) and we took a one-shot chance at a family picture. Bam. Turned out great. First try:

We. Are. All. Fabulous.

One Flew Over This Cuckoo's Nest...

Apparently, if all is working correctly, you should be reading this on my new blog site, rebarchikitydo.com. 

Are you? Because Luke took the liberty of changing some stuff and I don't know why or how (specifically why) or if it is even working. In any case, I'm grateful...that '.blogspot.com' part was gettin' pretty old, huh?

So there you go, blogdom. Enjoy your stay.

Anywho, you've caught me in the midst of a fantastically frazzled week. It's a doozy and it's only Wednesday. No bueno.

Isla just cut four teeth. At once. Three on the top, one on the bottom. And two more made their appearance a week or two ago. They're still coming in and boy, is that girl sad about it. Add her first ever cold on top of that you've (I've) got a real snot-fest on our (my) hands.

So. That's gross.

Finn has also been throwing some serious attitude around recently, too. All day long he goes around flinging these little gems at me:

"No mommy! I tell you to go to your room!"
"No mommy! I tell you to go to the potty!"
"Mommy! Go time out!"

And so on and so on. 

Give your mom a break, kid...she's only, you know, providing the necessary elements for you to SURVIVE. Sheesh.

And as two year-olds are wont to do, the next minute he'll be giving me hugs and kisses and saying, "I love YOU, mommy...I love YOU". Or my new favorite, "Thank you so so SO much"

Whatever. It's like living in an honest-to-goodness nut house around here.

Thankfully, the boy is seriously potty-trained now so I don't feel like a total failure. We can do all-day outings with no pull-ups and no accidents. And that, friends, is how you know you've made it in life.

When you can go to the mall and no one in your party wets themselves. Sweet, sweet success.

Last but certainly not least, Jussi just got back from an overnight stay at the vet after getting ummm, 'fixed'. I thought dropping her off would be the easy part but Finn lost it when he saw strangers taking her away. He started bawling and yelling, "I want Jussi!"

It was seriously so sad...but at the same time a little bit happy because at least it means they're friends now, right? Silver linings all around!

And now I give you the pièce de résistance...the pictures. duh.

Isla is 10 months old today!

How Do You Pronounce That?

Vacashun?
Vacaytun?

Vacation! Ah, yes, that's the word. It's been so long since I've had one..

...ahem...

That was so cheesy I want to die.

Moving on! Luke and I are going on vacaaaaation. To Chicago. For a wedding. By ourselves.

Sans kiddos.

And while I vacillated for quite some time about whether or not we should bring those crazy hooligans along, I ultimately decided that ummmm...nope. Sorry, guys.

Bringing a 2 and 1 year-old on vacation isn't exactly tres romantique, is it?

May can't come fast enough and my mom is a baby-sitting saint.
 .....
In other news, Finn is approximately 85% potty-trained, guys (!).

No accidents in 3 days and we've been going out every day with no diaper on. It's legit!

He's getting better at telling me every time he needs to go which means this whole business is getting a little bit less exhausting.

I've also been doing some serious research on preschools for when he turns 3 this fall.

I mean, these places have waiting lists, enrollment deadlines. I have to compare tuitions. Serious stuff! I'm waiting to find one that requires a talent show or something to get in. It has to be out there.

(The thing is, his birthday is only TWO weeks after the cut-off for starting preschool at 3 kindergarten at 5. Basically, they tell me he better be pretty effing smart to start early or I can wait a year. Here's hoping he's ready to start early)

What I'm getting at is that with all these big new developments present and future, I'm feeling super-mature-mom-sy right now. And I'm loving it.

I'm not a big fan of the little baby phase (sorry, Isla...you're almost out of it :). This toddler, potty-trained, school-age stuff.

This is much better.

Speaking of Isla:

She's a great little trooper. Teething like a demon, but here's hoping she makes it through. I'm just hoping she makes it to her first birthday. The girl is a furniture climber. Climbing down? She's all about the tuck-and-roll kind of somersault. Stressful.

And Jussi? The never-mentioned hairy child of mine? She's getting huge but thankfully the weather is now warm enough for her to be outside all the time. Like big dogs should be.

Plus, we dropped some major cash on a huge dog house, so she better be outside in that thing. Gotta get my money's worth, right?