Today Rori came to me and said, "I accidentally broke the bracelet that Baba Hoo Hoo gave me. I need a new one." Rori is needing to learn to appreciate the things that she has and not assume that she can always just get a new one. She doesn't always treat her things very well--which I know is typical behavior. However, it is getting frustrating when I threaten to throw something out if she doesn't take care of it and she just says, "okay." Grrrr.... Anyway, I digress. I told her that Baba Hoo Hoo was going to be sad because it was a special bracelet. So she proceeded to tell me, "Well Santa Claus can get me a new one and then she'll never know!" sigh. I love that little smarty pants.

Happy Birthday Baba Hoo Hoo

Happy birthday Baba Hoo Hoo! Love,

Rori Rose

Liam

and Brendan, who doesn't understand why mama doesn't have a picture of you with him...

What is a baba hoo hoo, you ask? Well, she's a grandma, of course! She got her name because she would rock Rori and sing, "Bababababa." and one day I noticed she was calling grandma and patting the ground next to her for grandma to sit by her. Only she wasn't saying grandma, she was saying, "Baba." She started calling the grandma's "baba." And one day she was talking about "Baba" and I didn't know if she meant my mom or Bill's. Both grandma's have dogs. Bill's mom's dog is named Casey and my parent's dog is named Sarge. However, she couldn't say Sarge. She called him "hoo hoo." "Hoo hoo" was how she said "woof woof." Thus changing Sarge to Hoo Hoo. She was pretty young with limited vocabulary, so I asked her which grandma she meant--the one with Casey or the one with Hoo Hoo. And Baba Hoo Hoo and Baba Casey were created. Sometimes she still calls them Baba, but now it is mostly Grandma, but they are still Grandma Hoo Hoo and Grandma Casey--even to Liam. So, as Paul Harv*ey would say, "Now you know the rest of the story!"

Santa Came Early

If you've been reading my blog since the beginning, you may remember this post and recognize this picture

That is my vacuum cleaner complete with duct tape on the cord and on the hose. I have been complaining about it for over a year now, and even hinted that I would be okay with getting a new vacuum for Christmas or my birthday. Both came and went without a new vacuum. But, the last straw came when I was vacuuming nine months pregnant and felt a horrible shock on my leg and screamed in pain. The cord had ANOTHER frayed part that had hit my leg and given me an electrical shock.

I remembered that my friend Lesley had mentioned in the comments section of my previous post that she had gotten her vacuum from Amazon. I grabbed the newest issue of Consume*r Reports which happened to feature vacuums and went online. I found this beauty and ordered it and got free shipping, no tax, and didn't even need to leave the comfort of home--thanks Lesley! It truly is a thing of beauty!

I love it and don't mind vacuuming. It almost goes by itself! However, since I did have to order it myself, I think Santa still needs to pay me a visit on Christmas.

Third child syndrome

Poor Brendan. I fear that he is going to suffer from third child syndrome. Each child gets a little less attention than the previous one. We have less pictures of Liam than we do of Rori and I'm sure there will be even less of Brendan--at least of him by himself. Today he had his one month doctor's appointment and I noticed something. Bill wasn't coming with. We hadn't even talked about the possibility of Bill coming with. However, With Rori and Liam, Bill came to just about every well baby appointment for the first year! What's sad is that this is probably only the beginning of the third child syndrome. I can only imagine that it gets worse with every baby. I'm pretty sure that the only documentation that the Dugg*ars will have of their 19th child are his or her birth certificate and whatever footage gets taped for their television show! So I am vowing to make an effort to catch more of this special boy on camera.

Baby Fat

I am feeling discouraged and frustrated. When I had Rori and Liam the baby weight practically fell off on its own from nursing/pumping. I could eat a double cheeseburger and large fries and still lose 3 pounds. I expected the same thing to happen after having Brendan. Unfortunately, that has not been the case, which is what is leaving me discouraged and frustrated. I have no clothes that fit, except for sweats, my hair is flat and shapeless because it hasn't been cut in ages, and I haven't had contacts for about six months now. I'm clueless as to why Bill would even want to come home to me. My mom says the weight is more difficult this time because it's my fourth baby, but I'm pretty sure that Heidi K*lum isn't having this problem...

So, two days ago I decided to go to the gym. It was the first time in about six months that I worked out. I pulled on a pair of men's shorts, over my hairy legs, squeezed my giant tatas into a sports bra and threw on a giant t-shirt. I wanted to wear a sign that said, "I look like this because I just had a baby." I have to say, that I was pretty proud of myself though, because I was able to do 30 minutes on the elliptical machine without killing myself. I wasn't sure what kind of shape I was in, so that was encouraging. When I went yesterday, I went with more confidence, (and shaved legs) and even did some weight lifting. I am hoping that I will notice some improvement in my weight loss and hopefully fit into some pants that do not have an elastic waist soon! Wish me luck!

One Month

Happy One Month Birthday to Brendan Rhys!

Darth Vad*er and Princess Jasm*ine

This year for Halloween, Rori wanted to be Princess Jasm*ine from Aladdin. She picked out a beautiful dress that looked like something Jasm*ine would wear. We were sure that Liam would want to be something to do with Cars--probably Lightning McQ*ueen. However, he had been watching St*ar Wars with his Papa lately (I was a bit leery and thought Liam was too young, but it was Papa's favorite movie). So, when Papa took the kids to the Halloween store, Liam insisted that he wanted to be Darth Vad*er. Unfortunately he wouldn't wear the mask--but I will get a picture of him with it on at some point :)

We went trick-or-treating with some friends from church, and while it was a freezing day, everyone had a great time. I wish I'd gotten more pictures, but there were so many kids for us all to keep track of so it was tricky.