Another Planet Heard From

So I've been getting some little messages here and there from people who would like to know what's going on with us. It's been a month so I suppose it's only fair. First I'll give you the list of reasons why I haven't been updating lately and you can pick your favorite excuse.

* I don't feel like it.
* I got a new sewing machine and have been learning how to use it.
* CBS started again.
* I've been a little depressed and not feeling like doing much.
* Not doing much can spiral downward and make life messy.
* I've been cleaning up the mess.
* Erin has been sick for a few weeks.
* Every time I say no, Luke has a fall-down fit that takes at least 10 minutes to get under control.
* It's been nice outside so we've been taking walks to the park.
* I'm trying to home school Luke during nap time.
* I'm trying to get us back into somewhat of a routine.
* Erin doesn't eat vegetables anymore so I've been trying to prepare meals from "Deceptively Delicious" for lunch but they take longer than slapping together a PB&J.

There. I think you can get an idea of how life has been lately.

Luke has just been awful lately. I'm hoping it's the age and that when he turns 4, like Gus, he will miraculously turn into a pleasant, reasonable kid again. I'd take the age of 2 again, except that would mean going through 3 again and I'm not sure both of us would survive. He watched "Cars" and "Toy Story" a lot this summer and I'm hearing snippets of the language from them. Leave it to a 3-year-old to pick out the worst parts of a fairly benign movie and repeat them at (in)appropriate times. The latest one he says to me is, "You're getting on my nervous!" It's funny because he says it wrong, but still makes me mad because he knows he's back-talking.

The latest thing we're working on with him is obedience. Every time I ask him to do something, even if it's easy and quick, he pitches a fit and says no. When I tell him to go to timeout, he screams at the top of his lungs and cries and fusses and kicks and hits. He wastes so much time making his displeasure known - if he had an ounce of foresight he would understand how stupid it is to fuss over something that will take 30 seconds and end up with a 3 minute timeout and more time spent talking over the incident.

That's part of what has me in the dumps lately. It takes so much energy to keep my patience and to be consistent and not just say, "FINE! Do it your way." Plus Erin had diarrhea for a whole week which resulted in a terrible diaper rash - and that on top of having a chest cold for over a week. And we don't have health insurance yet because it takes so long for the application to go through. I'm pretty mentally and emotionally drained.

Anyhoo . . .

Here are a bunch of pictures from the last month.

Luke and Erin at the piano.

Luke and Erin playing in empty laundry baskets. We had to get Erin her own after she dog-piled Luke in his. It was a little too warm for the blankets but Luke wanted to be wrapped up.

We had to reconfigure the living room because Erin kept getting into stuff she shouldn't. Now all the furniture touches each other in a sort of semi-circle and the bookshelf is behind the couch. Luke has made the space behind the couch his hidey-hole (he calls it jail) and spends time back there away from Erin. He also keeps things that she shouldn't get into back there. Periodically I have to clean it out, but it's a nice little place for him to go be by himself. The only trouble now is that Erin just learned how to climb up on the couch and I'm afraid she could flip herself over the back since it's so low.

Luke said he didn't need a Sunday afternoon nap.

Erin in her Sunday dress with her hair done. I have to do pigtails now because she doesn't leave clips in and I don't want them to end up in her mouth.

Erin got up really early a few mornings ago so I got her dressed and brought her downstairs. It was a CBS morning so I turned the light on in the family room for her to play while I got stuff ready. When I didn't hear her for a while, I went to look and found this. She likes to cover Kukui up and then snuggle him. He doesn't seem to mind, even when she plays with his tail.

And this last picture is for Beth. She gave Luke these little "wooden shoe" slippers but they never fit him. I got them out yesterday and Erin wore them around the house all morning. She thought they were pretty neat and her feet were very toasty when I took them off!