Friday, June 29, 2007

My Baby's Birthday


Baby Ernesto
Originally uploaded by Ernesto and Kristen Burden.

It's my husband's birthday today and I would have posted a current picture of him but this is cute kiddio Friday, so I thought this baby picture of him would be perfect. This is one of my favorite pictures of Ernesto as a wee one, just a chubby little munchkin hanging out on the beach. He's not so much a chubby munchkin anymore but I bet he'd be more than happy to play on the beach if you made him and he's probably a lot less likely to eat the sand now.

Happy birthday, honey! We love you!

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Cheaper by the one-quarter of a dozen

I am a little surprised by the number of people who have seen me with my three children and said, "Oh boy, you've got your hands full, eh?" Okay, well sometimes they don't say "eh" but it's pretty much the same comment I hear whenever we venture out anywhere. It's not like my kids run around yelling or screaming or are climbing the walls wherever we go, (though no doubt they would if I let them) so I'm not sure what the deal is. Maybe I look overwhelmed, though I don't feel it, at least not most of the time. Though I've noticed sometimes Sofia will stare at me, then ask, "Are you okay?" and I'll say, "Sure, why do you ask?" and then she just smiles. Maybe I've got that face that screams, Dear Lord, someone tie me up, put me on a cruise ship and set a course for the Caribbean before I completely freak out!

Yesterday I was getting the minivan serviced and brought the kids in and when I went to pay the cashier peered down over her big desk and said, "OH MY GOODNESS, you've got THREE!" as if that were the number of legs (not children) I had. I kind of smiled and maybe I looked a little puzzled and then she said, a little more calmly, "Well, that's a nice little family, though." What I should have said was, "OH, these are just my youngest three. We've got eight more but they're in school right now. Or somewhere near there. It's hard to keep track, you know."

Anyway, it doesn't bother me in the least and I think it's funny that people think I'm sort of Wonder Mom or something because I'm managing life with three kids. Sure, it's hard sometimes, and very busy. But it was just as hard when we had one (harder even, because I wasn't getting any sleep at the time) or two. It's all relative, I guess.

We stopped by the mall after the auto place and I saw lots of moms and dads and grandparents out with one or two children and then I spied a mom with two little kids, one holding to each of her hands and a baby hanging from a front pack. It was like walking toward a mirror (except we didn't look anything alike) as I held David and Sofia's hands while Isobel bounced in her Snugli. We paused for a second and smiled at each other, almost as if to say, "My, don't you have your hands full!" Indeed, but pleasantly so.

Friday, June 22, 2007

It's Friday, Baby!


happy baby
Originally uploaded by Ernesto and Kristen Burden.

So since my posts are so lame and infrequent (so I guess it's just as well I don't post that often) I'm going to, at the very least, post a cute baby/kiddo picture every Friday, for no other reason than it's quick and easy and the kids are growing so darn fast they're going to be old and haggard like me before I know it, so better do it while I can. I'm kidding of course. They've got eons before they're as old and haggard as I.

Happy Friday everybody!

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Practical Parenting Tips

Since the kids are playing so nicely together, I thought I would take a minute here to introduce my blog post series, "Practical Parenting Tips", wherein I will sporadically post my best parenting tricks of the trade, covering topics ranging from discipline to practical household maintenance. For example, this little gem...

Tip #1:
Children messed up the living room again? Is the hallway littered with a highway of army men, "Rescue Heroes" and assorted "Hello Kitty" paraphernalia? Is the clutter driving you insane but you've no time to clean? Not a problem. Simply remove your contacts/eyeglasses and continue about your day as usual. The mess will become a cloudy blur and you will feel your blood pressure return to normal in no time! Not visually impaired? No problem! Simply ask the kids to play a game of hide-and-seek and lock yourself in a dark closet for several hours. You will get the added bonus of some quiet time and maybe you can even sneak in a short nap. If your children have already figured out all your best hiding places, your next best bet is to engage them in a game of "coma patient", wherein you are the patient, lying quietly on the bed or couch with your eyes firmly closed as your children think of ways to revive you. This has the added benefit of allowing the kids to work on their problem-solving techniques. Always remember: if you can't see the mess, you can pretend that it doesn't exist.

I've got a million of them folks. Just leave your questions in the comments field and I will be back with your solution within 24-465 hours. Cheers!

Monday, June 04, 2007

Wacky Weather

We had a freak hail storm this weekend and Ernesto captured some of it on video. The kids were scared, naturally, with all the pouring rain, blowing wind and large stones of ice hitting the house. I was a bit frightened myself, as you can tell by my repeatedly saying, "Oh my God!" I had just gotten my window box planters filled with impatiens, salvia and ivy and they were sitting out on the picnic table in the backyard. Now they were being hammered with ice. Sorry little guys!

Luckily nothing was really damaged, but the bed out front lost a good deal of mulch from the river that ran through it. Oh well.

E and I have never witnessed this sort of thing first hand, so it was really interesting. Did you know that if you cut a hail stone in half you can count the rings of ice inside it to see how many times it bounced up and down inside the thundercloud? Oh, the things you learn from your son's meteorology books!