Before I foget

From Matt Gleason:
I bought some Cadbury eggs at the store with the girls today. I told G and D that they had to eat their dinner before they could have one. G scarfed her dinner down fast to get one. D protested, so she didn't get her egg. We like to freeze the eggs, so I put ended up putting the remaining eggs in the fridge. Not long after, D was sitting at the base of the fridge trying to pry it open. While she was doing this, I walked by her and she said, "Daddy, I'm going to slam your feet in the fridgerator." I said "OK, you do that." Then she immediately said, "Daddy, I'm going to shove you down." Again, I said, "OK, you do that." To top off her threats, D gloomily said, "Daddy, I'm going to stick my hand in your butt." I had to cover my mouth to keep myself from busting out laughing. That kid is funny and not just a little vengeful.

By the way, V went to get the last egg out of the fridge tonight, but she found only an empy container. See, Georgia has free reign of the house after I go back to our bedroom and V is busy putting MJ to bed. That means G knows she could smuggle the last egg into her bedroom. She's a sneaky one. This is the same kid who has a 7:30 a.m. dentist appointment tomorrow morning to get her very first cavity filled.

On a totally different subject, I helped the girls make a spaceship out of a huge cardboard box yesterday. I even made them costumes out of plastic bags and foil. I told G she would look like an alien. She said, "Daddy, I don't want to be an alien." I said, "OK." Then she said, "I want to be an alien princess." So we added some pink to the costumes.

And today, at the park, G ran up to me, gave me a huge hug and said, "Daddy, I want you to call me your sweet baby princess." Later in the car, I said something like, "You're my monkey." Georgia corrected me saying, "Daddy, I told you to call me 'Sweet baby princess."

It's Done

Georgia's room is finally finished. I have spent the last two weeks doing "painters" work (spackling caulking, sanding, painting) to it. Most nights it kept me up til midnight but most of it got done before the carpet got put down today. I am so happy with the finished product!

Here is the view form the living room. I got red curtain to hang in front of the french doors so she has privacy and if the doors are open she can pull the curtains and we can still hear what is going on.

The curtains will be made out of this awesome fabric that matches the room and the rest of our house so well..

Here is the sleep area.

And the play area.

A Bigger House

No we are not moving or building but adding. We decided to close in our porch so we have a playroom and a place for G to sleep. It should be done next week except for carpet. Here it is in progress. I have spent my nights and last weekend painting trim boards so I don't have to paint them once they are up. This first pic is facing south.

Facing north.

Facing east. The west wall is the one to the house and the door that leads into the living room. More pic to come when it is done.

Turning a Corner

When you have a new baby it takes a long time for things to feel "normal." For me it takes about 6 months to feel like I will have my life back some day and perhaps not always be attached to a baby. Well, Mera is 7-months and we have indeed turned a corner. Not to bore anyone but Mera had the most horrible habit of waking up 40 minutes after I put her to bed at night and it would take me another 40 minutes to get her back to sleep. I tried everything to no avail. So basically I have had no time in the evening for "me" time. Mera has recently dropped her early evening nap and I have made a change in the way I put her down and all of the sudden she is sleeping over two hours for the first sleep of the night. This makes me feel like a whole new mom. I finally have some time to myself and time with my sweet and ever-so-patient hubby.

So the point of all this is that we have turned that corner and are starting to see the future in a new way. This is our last baby and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Don't get me wrong, I love babies, but I have either been nursing or pregnant since July of 2005. Granted I will still be nursing for a long while probably but just to know I don't have to be pregnant again and don't have to care for a 0 to 6-month-old again is very refreshing and freeing.

On top of all this, Mera is such a wonderful baby and such a joyful spirit to be around. I have enjoyed her babydom so much so far and am uber-excited about he next 6 months and all the changes it will bring. She is honestly the cutest little snaggle-tooth (she now has 5 teeth) baby I have ever seen. She loves loves loves her big sisters and is so content to sit on the floor and watch them play. They love to include her (which I do not encourage for safety reasons) and love to mother her.

In other news, Darby had one of the most difficult days today she has ever had. She is just so tormented some days it must feel awful to be her. The first "set off" involved her not putting her own bagel in the toaster because I had already done it. This led to a 20-minute crying and screaming jag during which she was unreasonable and inconsolable. It also include her crumbling up said bagel on my carpet which made me real happy. The second indecent was set off because G got a drink out of the water bottle before her. We were leaving Sam's at the time and she screamed for about 15-minutes while we were stuck in traffic and at one point yelled that she was going to throw up. She was screaming and crying so hard I would not have been surprised. I would also like to mention she ate a bowl of oats, a fiber bar, two pieces of whole wheat toast with cream cheese, a corn dog, a bag of apples dipped in caramel, half a bag of peanuts and 2 cups of milk all before 11 am. She has out grown most of her 3T PJs and will only be 3 in April. Needless to say, she might be my tall one.

This picture cracks me up after I say all that because she looks a little evil. She had gotten into some old makeup and done her eyes and cheeks up real pretty.

We are getting so excited about spring! G is my helper girl and always wants to help clean. In this case I let her wash all the salt and junk off my car.

My sneaky-snake as I call her.

And my itty bitty titty committee.



Mera has gotten a little aggressive and crazy about all that is edible. Here she wants the apple.

Here G is sharing.

Daddy loving on his D. She needs A LOT of this to stay on an even keel. Sadly more than I can give with Mera around. But like I said, a corner has been turned and I am hoping for a growing allotment of snuggle time with my big girls.

Valentine's Day

Big Papa sent his girls flowers as always on V-day. They were gorgeous and the kids loved them. Mera kept pulling branches out as I was trying to take the picture.

Snowman

We finally got out towards the end of the snow and built a snow man. From the size of his nose I am sure it is a snowman not a snowlady.

Jail Break

Matt finally got the sickness. This morning I was in Mera's room nursing her and I heard our house alarm go off. This happens if a door is opened before we disarm it. It took a while to shut off. When I got up I asked Matt what happened. This is the chain of events as I understand them:
Darby woke up and went to get Daddy. He had been up all night coughing so he told her to go back to bed. She went into the living room and saw some birds out the window. She went in the kitchen, got some crackers and went out the back door to feed the birds. This is why we never go to bed without the alarm set. This is what we mean when we say spirited.

Randomness

Here a picture purge of the last two weeks. Not enough of anything to deserve its own post but I thought worth putting up.

Nanue cam and stayed for a few days last week because I had to work due to an employee absence. It was a big help.

Mera just loves G and will be happy to just be with her. When Matt gives them a bath he sits just outside the door where he can watch but it won't upset Mera. She will just play with Georgia forever but if an adult other than myself enters the bathroom she will start crying.

I gave Darby her first set of pigtails but had to lead by example to talk her in to it.

Oh, and I bribed her with a Tootsie Roll.



Mera is on the food train. Lovin' some prunes and bananas.



We moved the slide inside for the snow storm. It of course ended in tears.



And more eating.

Matt did the girls nails and in turn, they did his.

When I'm 64

Mary had a birthday last week and turned 64. She is so hot. Here she is with 3 of 6 grand-girls.
Her cake was an ode to the peacocks.



We ended the night with a dance party and Mera even let Debo hold her while he danced.



But the truth comes out in the end and Debo proved to all who his real love is.

ECCO Program

I haven't done a hearing update in a while, which is good. Means there is nothing to report or talk about. We are participating in a program called ECCO (I don't know what it stands for, how bad is that). A nice lady (Petra) comes to our house once a week and works with Georgia on improving her listening and communication skills. It has been great so far and has taught both Matt and me so much. Here are just a couple of pictures of G and Petra playing games and working together. They did some sort of scavenger hunt where there was a toy at the end for G to find.

Snooooooooooooooooooo

So we got some snow this week. It snowed on Monday night and all day Tuesday and then stopped, leaving somewhere between 12 and 16 inches on the ground. Since then it has been so cold not a piece has melted. Evaporated maybe, but not melted.


This is a picture of the final snow fall on our deck.

So Matt braved the roads today and went to work, parking illegally in a pay lot. He got paranoid and went to move his car and saw it was snowing again. As he tried to move he car he kept getting stuck so he headed home. This is what it looks like outside right now. Please let it stop. Since it started I went to my parents once and now all of us, except Matt, have been sick with fever and cold symptoms. Is this what they mean when they say "hell freezes over?"

Winter Wonderland

(matt gleason)
Last week we had a couple of snow days for the Gleason family, so we all tried to stay civil cooped up in our shanty. The morning went really well considering and icing sugar cookies was the highlight.



After nap time, the girls were ready to bust out of the house, so we all went sledding off the slope where Mary's yard becomes the tennis court. I thought the girls would last about one or two runs down the slope, then we'd be done. Darby went on two rides with me and two rides with Georgia, then she was done. I figured Georgia would follow soon after, but Georgia was a sledding daredevil today. She even went down headfirst over and over again. Each time, she got a thrill from going just a little farther each time. More than once I had to keep her from speeding into a tree. It was one of those moments I wanted to last forever.