Booster Shots

Today I took the girls for their H1N1 booster shots. I wish you saw Rose #2. She was our daredevil at Disneyworld - rode Space Mountain five times without even blinking, rode Expedition Everest. But she got completely freaked out by the prospect of the shot today, and wedged herself into a corner of the examination room. Behind the bed. Where she could kick my legs when I tried to remove her and simultaneously push me away so that I couldn't grab any part of her body effectively except her hands (and I was afraid she might dislocate her own wrists if I pulled too hard!).

Eventually a nurse got her out and two nurses and I held her down, and she got the booster shot which took all of two seconds. I remember nursing Rose #2 after getting shots at her 18-month appointment, when I was already pregnant with Rose #3 and feeling as sick as an old mangy dog. I think it was the last time I ever did nurse her. I loved nursing Rose #2 - she was and is a cuddlebug. rI planned to nurse her until she quit on her own, but then we got Rose #3 who could hardly be coaxed to nurse through the ripe old age of 11 months.

Happy Valentimes

Rose #2 calls it Valentimes day. We had some good times this Valentimes Day, including MYOP (which stands for Make Your Own Pizza). Here are Roses #2 and #3 with the pizzas (Valentimes just wouldn't be Valentimes without wearing your ninja suit, which was a Christmas gift from your Uncle Felix):

And here are the actual pizzas. Rose #1 could be forgiven for asking if they were actually supposed to be Mickey Mouse.

Happy Valentimes to all of you.

We Love Guppy

The Roses' grandmother - Guppy - is in the hospital. She is very sick from cancer. We went to visit her today and Rose #1 made this message from a game that my brother and sister-in-law brought. A picture is worth 1,000 words:

We hope you get well soon, Guppy. We love you so much.

Rose #2 is a READER

Oh, I am so proud of Rose #2. She just read, in its entirety, Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now? It is true that we have read that book a lot but I know she wasn't just repeating the words. She sounded out "Zike Bike" and "Zumble Zay." Becoming a reader is such a big deal. I LOVE reading. I wish there was a job where you read all day for fun (I guess there probably are jobs like that - I just don't have one of them).

Rose #1 had basketball tonight (her dad brought her). She came home with a big smile on her face and pink, pink cheeks. Her team "won" (a loose term since they don't really keep score). Rose #1 is not the tallest kid in the world, and yet she loves basketball. Rec center sports are the best for trying out sports, even if you aren't destined to be in the WNBA.

Rose #3 brought home Orangie Bear from preschool. Orangie Bear has an accompanying worksheet, where I am supposed to report, in writing, what Orangie Bear saw, did, and who he met while on his visit to our house. I believe there are also spots in the worksheet for pictures. Um, no. I can hardly keep my head on my own body - there is no way I am filling out Orangie Bear's itinerary. Forget it.

Regarding me rather than the Roses - I just finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Oh my goodness, that is one of the best books I have read in years. Riveting. The main character, Aibileen, was a living, breathing person to me. She flew off the (Kindle) page. Loved it.

We Went and Moused

The first - and possibly last - weeklong family vacation has come and gone. We went to Disneyworld! It was really fun, with the exception of the unfortunate weather. We arrived on Saturday night. On Sunday it was cold - high of 52! - and then on Monday and Tuesday it rained. Wednesday and Thursday were the best weather days with some clouds and some sun.

Even though it rained, we had a great time. On Sunday we went to Magic Kingdom; on Monday to Epcot (Epcot was really neat and would have been 100% neater if it hadn't been raining all stinking day long!); on Tuesday to Animal Kingdom (ditto); on Wednesday to Hollywood Studios; on Thursday back to Magic Kingdom; and on Friday to Downtown Disney.

Rose #1 reported that she spent 96% of the vacation with her cousin Sam. Rose #2 was our daredevil: she rode Space Mountain multiple times! Rose #3 made friends with everyone she encountered. I mainly enjoyed not working for an entire week and being with my Roses. It hit me as I was playing a game with Rose #3 one night after we got back to our hotel room that it is a very rare occasion when I can just sit down to play with one of my kids without worrying about a million other things at the same time.

Here is the entire group with Mickey and Minnie.

And So.

January has been a huge dump of things. Some really bad. Others, unexpectedly good, like a little glimpse of sun during a dreary day.

The other night, Rose #1 comes out of the bedroom (all three Roses share a sleeping room, at least for now). She tells me "Mom, I want to tell you something."

Me: "OK, what's up?" (Expecting this to be another long recounting of a complicated playground game or relatively unfunny joke.)

Rose #1: "I am so proud to be your daughter. And Daddy's daughter."

Where did THAT come from? I am so proud to be her mom. And, feeling unworthy of such praise.

Tomorrow, we are off to Florida. I DETEST flying, so it should be an interesting trip. That and we are all seated in totally different locations on the airplane. It is a completely booked flight, so some flight attendant is going to have to work a little magic tomorrow!

Christmas Morning fun

A shot of Roses and cousins opening their Santa gift that was delivered to Sam & Maddie's house:

Mickey and Minnie Mouse watches, because it's time to go to Disneyworld! Yes, that's right, the big Christmas gift at our house was a family trip to Disney the first week of February.

Santa is undoubtedly proud: all three Roses were wearing their new Christmas morning jammies to their cousins' house.