Laura and Tim are the Bomb Dot Com

Chicken that literally and actually jumped in my mouth, cake of the carrot-ine type, clothes from this season (let alone this decade), flowers, balloons, and surprises all of them (wink wink). Huzzah for you!

And thanks for card, Bryn. It's better than anything Hallmark could have done.

Helpful Baby Hint (HBH) #1

I've decided that with three kids I can now dole out all sorts of unwelcome and (un)helpful advice about what I've learned about babies.

So here's the first one: If your baby starts screaming in the car because she feels severely restricted by her life preserving seat, a good thing to do is put in some raucous rock and roll. Chris Isaak's Forever Blue album is a great choice because it's all about crying (it's a breakup CD). That way, even if the baby isn't soothed by the thumping bass, you can feel all ironic and cool as she screams.

These photos illustrate the effects of the mind altering rock 'n roll on the impressionable youth:
BeforeAfter a few lines of Somebody's Crying

They made me go to church today

Hmmph.

Issue Resolved (hopefully)

We went to a local town celebration today and took the opportunity to have a chat with the police officers there. They assured Bryn that they would never come and take her to jail for accidentally summoning them, and she seemed quite relieved. She's even decided to keep the badge and devote her grownup life to handing out things to the poor like cars and bags of candy.
Don't break the law or this young miss will pull you over and whack you with her mylar Barbie balloon. But you might get a free bag of candy out of it if your clothes look tattered enough.

Summoning Powers

Bryn's not the dullest pencil in the box, but she definitely doesn't have everything thing figured out yet. A couple of weeks ago Peter was putting Calvin down for a nap when he heard whimpering. He went out and found Bryn cowering behind the couch sobbing and clearly out of sorts.

P: What's wrong?
B: I'm afraid I called the police.
P: Why, were you playing with the phone?
B: No, I was using the computer and I heard sirens so I was afraid I may have called them on accident.
P: You didn't. You can't call the police with PBS kids.org [or dot-dot-dot org as Calvin calls it].

Yesterday I was changing Ivy's diaper and she ran in to her room with tears in her eyes and a worried expression.

Me: What's wrong Bryn; are you afraid you contacted the police again?
B: Yes.
Me: Were you on the phone?
B: No.
Me: Were you using the computer?
B: No, but I was standing near it. And I heard sirens. And I'm afraid I accidentally called them.
Me: You didn't. Even if you did, why does that worry you? They're very nice and would understand it was a mistake.
B: Oh. I thought they were coming to take me or someone in our family to jail.
Me: No one in this house is going to jail. We didn't do anything wrong.
B: But what if someone else called them and told lies about us?
Me: [explained the assumption of innocence and the burden of proof]

Poor kid and her mystical police summoning powers.

A little sparkle for Sparkles

I threw Ivy in this little suit, and decided something was definitely missing.Aw ye-ah.

Our big and exciting trip!

Okay, just kidding. We didn't go anywhere (unless you count Peter running up the street to re-deliver a package the UPS dropped off here by mistake), but I didn't want another title like, "more baby pictures." Because that's just about all we do these days.

In other news, I did enter the Jeopardy Galapagos Sweepstakes several times, and I'm looking forward to next week when they announce the winners. I'm pretty sure Alex Trebek and I are going to be rubbing elbows with the giant tortoises this fall. Try not to be too jealous.

So now enjoy these baby pictures.

A bit of shoe perspective on her wee size

They love to hold that squishy little baby (and we've started calling her Sparky which is short for Sparkles which is short for Ivy, of course)

Three squared years of bliss

The Mom post

Mother's day has hit the blogosphere, and my sisters both wrote touching posts about my mother. It's been one long week since she left us, but she's called me at least once a day since to make sure I'm okay (and that I'm still feeding the children).

So I just want to say to you, mom: thanks for helping me welcome each of my children into the world. We all know I don't have the easiest time adjusting to these screaming bundles of...er...joy, but you save the day (and the baby) every time by being here and assuring me that things will be okay (maybe not now, but probably in 6 weeks). I love you!
Mom and Bryn
Mom and Bryn and Calvin
Mom and Bryn and Ivy

Ants, brainsquishers, and fist bumps

Sistah power fist bump.

Her first brainsquisher.
Bryn made this cute little ant at preschool, and even added a French barret for a hat.

She's reverent