I'll post with a recap of the Thanksgiving fun soon but for now there is a 9 week old baby who wants to be held, leftover pumpkin pie that wants to be eaten, and one very tired momma who wants to have a cold beer and a good night sleep. So here are some pictures, since in true Andrea fashion, I remembered to replace the batteries in my camera after the holiday. But, for aunts and uncles who may be missing this sweet smile, these are for you.

Our 6-pack family

I took the 3 younger kids to McD's Tuesday as a treat after Ace had preschool and Julia and Lucy behaved perfectly while I got the flumist. Julia didn't even cause a scene when I accidentally bonked her with the infant seat and sent her flying into the bumper of the van, now that is a well behaved baby! So a happy meal was certainly in order. As I sat down and dove into my quarter pounder with cheese value meal, a kind older lady patted me on the shoulder and whispered "I just don't know how you do it". Do what? Consume an entire burger and large fries in under 4 bites? I'd be happy to show you! Once I swallowed half my burger and smiled back at her I realized she was gesturing at the 3 kids. I still don't know if this is a compliment, as in "Oh, your children are so mannerly and well dressed,you must be an exemplary parent" or a harsh judgement "I don't know how you get through a day without medication" but I didn't have time to ask. Ace was talking (loudly) to his new Marty the zebra toy and he kept saying Crack-a-lackin!" at the top of his lungs. Ace has some enunciation problems so even his best attempts at the word sounded vaguely obscene and I decided it was time to leave.
Before Lucy was born I wondered myself how I would do it. Were there enough hours in a day to meet the needs of four kids? Would anyone feel lost in the shuffle? Would they resent each other, or me? Sometimes I think there just aren't enough hours, and yes, some days go by and they may feel left out and they may resent the time I give to another child. I hope not, I like to think that we are doing a good job at dividing our time and making one on one time each day for everyone but I know there are days when we fail at that.
Most days I am floored by how right it feels to have four. How naturally Lucy has scoooched into our family and taken her unique place as the baby. And how natural and right it feels that Julia is the big sister, the toddler that keeps us all laughing with her unexpected silliness. And how lucky Ace is that he has 3 sisters to make sure he grows up to be a good man. And, lastly, how much Hayley enjoys being the leader to her siblings, what a sense of pride she has in being the biggest big sister. I think of the perks of having a big family, there is so much love to go around. Wherever we go, our kids will always have 3 best friends on their side to be there for them. That's "how I do it", I stand in the middle of what may look like crazy to a lot of people, and I see 4 happy kids who are surrounded by a lot of love.

Ace is all about inner beauty

Last night the kids were doing their best impression of Beyonce's Single Ladies dance video. Julia was Beyonce and Ace and Hayley were her backup dancers. We had the real video on the computer and Ace kept freezing in his dance to stare lovingly at the computer. Andy comes in and sees him and asks what he's watching. Ace says, in the most sincere voice ever "I like these people, Daddy. They is really great dancers and nice people". It's good to know my son looks beyond the tight leotards and sexy dance moves to the person within.

"That's why they're called Business Socks"

So far I've shared this with 3 people and no one has found it as hilarious as I did. Oh well, I'm posting it anyway because it makes me laugh. You may not want to watch it with the kids in the room. I thought Ace was too distracted with Tinkertoys to notice it until an hour later when he asked me to play the funny "binn-iss" song again. Whoops.

Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for, don't we? I know in my family this year we celebrated a new uncle, a new baby, and a new special addition soon to come (not another Rosewall, of course!) Each night we get to tuck in our children in warm, safe beds with full bellies and peaceful dreams. I know that the country's economy is circling the drain and people are worried and struggling. We may not have a lot but we are blessed beyond measure to have what we do and we are blessed with the opportunity to share. If you are contributing to a charity this year, this seems to be a good one.
http://www.wfp.org/how_to_help/introduction/index.asp?section=4&sub_section=1

NoseInDaWinnow

Julia woke me up this morning with big news. There was nose indawinnow. For an almost 2 year old, Julia's language skills are a little delayed. Nothing I'm worried about at this point because she obviously can talk, she just chooses not to. And lucky for her, she has 2 older siblings who are more than happy to do her talking for her. So that fact that she was using a 2 word combo was impressive enough to get me out of bed before the appointed 8am and not a second earlier time. And there was indeed snow in the window. I used to love snow, because it meant snow days and hot chocolate and staying warm and cozy under the covers all day. Now snow means frantically digging through the hall closet for matching mittens and hats and scarves and boots and oh crap, it's already 8:50 and the kids are wearing nothing but feety pajamas. It means yelling at Ace that we will not, no way, no how, go to storyhour at the library unless he takes off his sleeveless tee and puts on the long sleeve shirt I picked out and turning around to see that Julia has rejected her Dora boots and is putting on her fancy, fancy summer sandals. It means finally getting out the door in time only to realize that it is going to take another 10 minutes to defrost the van windows. It means Mommy is grumpy and wearing Ace's hat and a pair of Andy's 2 sizes too big gloves when we finally show up at storyhour. But it also means I have an excellent excuse to stop for donuts and hot chocolate on the way home. And it also means that Ace will beg me to make him a snowball and when I do,he will of course, throw it directly in my ear. Then Julia will laugh so hard she falls down and, because she is bundled so tight, be unable to get up. Then, still laughing, we will rush inside so we can defrost our ears and enjoy our donuts. I decided I still love the snow. Pictures to come later, before all the snow melts.

Ace photography

Sometimes when I need a moment to get something done, I hand Ace a camera and let him have at it. It usually keeps him busy for awhile and when I find the pictures later, I find them quite revealing. For example these pictures reveal that:
1.Lucy does not appreciate the measures I take to avoid dry skin after her bath.

2.I have gigantic man hands.

3.Julia picks her nose. and

4.There are angels among us.

But we already knew most of that, right?

Veteran's Day,2008

7 weeks of Lucy lovin

Yaaay!

He's a good Daddy

Picture Day

One of the few memories I have from kindergarten is Picture Day. I don't remember much about it except the mini combs they handed out while we stood in line to do touch ups on our hair (the combination of home-hair cuts and naturally frizzy hair meant my hairdo was beyond help) and my Best Buddies pin. We had some kind of special assembly the day before and afterwards they handed out pins with a picture of 2 blue stick figures holding hands that said "Best Buddies". That pin quickly became my prized possession and I was determined to wear it forever. The morning of picture day my mom picked out a very cute, very 80's, plaid black and red dress and gave me strict instructions NOT to wear my favorite pin. But I loved the pin and felt incomplete without it so as soon as my dad pulled out of the school parking lot, that pin was on my collar. Because they would never know, right? It's not like they would, you know, see the school picture. To this day I think I lost my status as favorite child the day we came home with our picture proofs.
I never understood why the stupid pin mattered until today, when my beautiful 6 year old woke up on picture day with the worst chapped lip EVER. Seriously, her nose is all swollen and red from the cold and her upper lip is so red and flaky. And she threw a temper tantrum about the purple sparkly shirt I had picked out so I agreed to let her wear the red dress she preferred. Then realized that said red dress is at least a size too big and she needed a tee shirt underneath. Not exactly the cute outfit I had imagined. So I tried to convince her that we really didn't need to order pictures (they make you preorder) but she thought that was punishment for refusing to wear the purple shirt and burst into tears. So I dropped her off at school with a chapped lip, a mismatched outfit, and tears streaming down her face. The whole ordeal cost me 7 dollars because I circled the "Class picture only" package (which technically wasn't a choice but I refused to fork over 30 dollars for the cheapest package) to try and calm her down. Not the best picture day ever.

Wow. Wow. Wow. I stayed up last night until 1am, I had to see the speech and then I had to call my sister and compare our levels of speechlessness and awe and happiness. I have to admit, I didn't believe Obama would really win until I saw McCain's speech (by the way I thought he was incredibly gracious and almost made up for the moments of this election where I thought he acted like a complete douche) and then it took another hour or so while the reality sank in. I can't express how much it means to me that I got to vote in this election, that my children were with me at the polls and I can tell them that we are a part of this day and this historic decision. I am so proud to point to our President-Elect on the news and tell them that he DID IT! He is going to be the president! Not because his is from a powerful political family, or because he is super rich and well connected, but because he is a smart, strong, good person who worked really hard and believed in himself and in America.
What a wonderful day.

The aftermath

Halloween is over now, and oh what fun it was. That is, until the inevitable sugar crash. At one point Julia was laying on her stomach on the kitchen floor, her face coated in chocolate, reaching for the treat bag that was thisclose to her. But it was not quite within grasp so she sighed and gave up and just lay on the floor. Hayley was curled up in a ball on the couch, groaning from too many peanut butter cups, yet still holding on to her candy bag for dear life as Ace tried to rip it out of her hands. Superbaby was zonked out on the carpet, still in costume, oblivious to the chaos that surrounded her. I guess Andy considered he had done his part by taking them trick or treating because he disappered to the basement, leaving me alone with the candy fiends.
Soon after the kids were in bed (and asleep within 67 seconds), Andy and I raided the candy bucket in search of our favorites and I happily took over Hayley's spot on the couch and watched tv while stuffing my face with Almond Joys and Whoppers. Oh, Halloween, I love you so.
Only a few more days until the election. Get out and vote, everyone! Our kids get the day off school because the schools are polling locations. I had been planning on going while Ace and Hayley were at school which would have been a breeze, now have all 4 in tow which could lead to disaster. I'll be sure to bring my camera along to capture the event.