The last package has been slipped into the mail and it is with a very joyful heart that I began putting away my Christmas wrapping paper. This is Kev’s last week of work and my parents arrive next week so it’s looking to be a truely wonderful holiday. All I have left are the Christmas cards and, once again, we captured a precious munchie picture. She’s getting so much harder to photograph. She’s more apt to wander off when you try and snap her pic. Getting her to hold still, look at the camera, and smile has become a major struggle. However, once we dressed her in her Christmas best and placed her in front of the Christmas tree, we knew we had a winner.

So watch you mailboxes ’cause this is once sweet child!

So I’m up here, surfing the web and waiting for Kevin to come home when I hear Leina begin to cry. Only it sounds really really far away so my first thought is..”oh my god I left the baby gate open and she has fallen down the stairs and is lying by the front door moaning.”

I rush from the computer room to find Artie curled in front of the securely closed baby gate right at the top of the stairs and then I hear her howl. And again, it sounds like she’s far, far away.

Now, I am convinced that Leina is The Smartest Child Every so immediately I decide that somehow, she managed to climb over Artie’s inert body, open the baby gate, climb down a few steps, and shut it behind her before she tumbled head first down the stairs. I’m just about to head down to look for her sprawling body when I notice that the door to her room is closed.

Odd.

As I walk over I hear another moan, this one definately originating behind said closed door.

Yes, my brilliant child and managed to close herself in her room. In the dark. And, to prove how wonderfully smart she is, she was pushing against the closed door in at attempt to open it. And so ensued a slight pushing war as I attempted to push open the door and free my daughter from her dark room and she attempted to push the door shut in a futile attempt to help me.

The Smartest Child EVER!

Sorry to say we have to turn off the comment system. We’ve been getting a lot of postings that are merely advertising for all sorts of icky stuff and I have neither the time nor energy to figure out how to selectively block commenting.

So, if you’d like to add your own thought or opinion, please email us directly. Maybe we’ll find time to sort all this out but until then, we’re going silent!

Haven’t done much blogging lately because I have been so incredibly exhausted. It’s a tiredness that reaches into my soul and melts my bones leaving me to lie listlessly on the sofa or on the ground. Poor Leina. She runs around me expelling horrendous amounts of toddler energy and it’s all I can do to keep my eyes open.

There is only one thing that I know of which causes this soul sucking lethargy. A baby. Yes, that’s right, the McLaughlin family is adding another McNugget to this happy meal. I just returned from the doctor and have visual confirmation. I’m pregnant!

Now ladies, I want to take a moment to give you a piece of warning. You know on soap operas and really cheesy romance novels it only takes one night of forbidden passion and – whamo – the heroine is knocked up? Yeah, that doesn’t just happen on t.v. Now don’t get me wrong. Kevin and I were trying to start another McNugget. I was, however, expecting it to take a few months for things to get rolling. However, according to my doctor, Mc2 is already three month along which means sometimes, all it takes is once. And so, if little Mc2 follows the plan, the arrival date is scheduled for June 2nd.

And now, the next big question. Boy or girl? We are definitely going to find out but this time around, I’m not so nervous. I got my girl. Anything extra is merely icing. But it will be nice to know if I can give away Leina’s out grown clothing or not.

I must admit, I had forgotten how miserable being pregnant is. Last time, I spend the first five months curled on the sofa, dozing, with a barf bowl nearby. This time, no such luxury. I’ve tried explaining to Leina that mommy needs to sit and rest but she’ll have none if it. She just runs off, shaking her little head, and chanting “no no no” and I have no choice but to run after.

The worst part in the food. Last time ’round, smells really got to me. No difference this time. Unfortunately, Leina’s absolute favorite food is DinoNuggets. Basically, chicken mcnuggets in the shape of dinosaurs. She has them religiously for lunch and dinner and the smell. Oh the smell! I find it’s all I can do to zap them in the microwave, dump them in front of her and then sprint to the bathroom and chant over the toilet bowl “don’t throw up….don’t throw up.”

Let me just take a moment to write a mental note to myself. (Self, you are a miserable pregnant person. You do not glow. You do not revel in the mystery of motherhood. You do not want to do this again! Two is enough!)

Ok, so. Tired, sick to my stomach, I’m pretty much walking around wringing my hands moaning “woe is me”. Then, at my first doctor visit, we do an ultrasound and I see my baby. More amazing, it was awake and I watched with awe as it kicked and punched the ultrasound thingy, totally upset to be so rudely disturbed. The doctor called Mc2 a soccer player. But I know better. This one’s going to be just like her/his sister. A real firecracker.

So there, my excuse is laid before you. I’m determined to write more as this will (hopefully) be my last time on this crazy rollercoaster of hormones called pregnancy. But honestly, I can’t wait for June to meet this newest McNugget of the McLaughlin household.

Let the good times roll!

Leina and I have returned from sunny San Diego after a rip-roaring wonderful visit with the cousins. I’m so glad Leina will have cousins her age to grow up with and enjoy. Hopefully, there will be many more visits in our future.

Leina was happy to see Kevin. She smiled and climbed right into her arms. I thought it was a pretty touching reception. Until we got home.

When Leina saw Artie, she literally pee’d her diaper. She began squealling, jumping, and running in circles around him. She plastered her little chubby arms around his next, rubbed her snotty little nose in his fur and wouldn’t let go for nothin’. It was an outrageous 20 minute love fest. Poor Artie didn’t know what hit him. Leina was in pure heaven to have her dog back. Forget dad. Dog is all you need.

My homecoming was more bittersweet when I went upstairs to unpack and realized that Kevin had not done a piece of laundry. Not only did I have our dirty travel clothes but also two weeks of Kevin’s dirty grubs to boot. It took me SEVEN loads to get our closets back up and running and at the end of it, I was so wiped I went to bed at 8pm. If I never do another load again, it will be too soon.

Right after my return, my dad and Auntie Bev pulled into town. She’s in the process of moving into the little 69th house and I’m so happy it will no longer be vacant and alone. I can’t wait to go over and see what it looks like with someone else’s stuff in it. Out to be surreal.

That’s the lastest and greatest news. We’re back, unpacked, and Kevin has clean underware at last. (That last part was probably too much information, huh?)

I know it’s truely fall because we have our first case of the sniffles. Not a full-blown flu or sickness, just a stuffy nose, slight fever and general crankiness.

By “we” I mean the royal “we”; Leina and myself. Leina insists on drinking from my glass and taking bites off my plate and giving me big, snotty, baby kisses. But when they are coming from someone as sweet and lovable as my girl, no amount of snot will deter me. And so, we are both semi-miserable together.

Kevin, so far, has proven immune and this is a good thing as he now wears the hat of last well man standing. This means he gets to baby my and Leina while cleaning and cooking and washing like a mad man. Poor guy. I figure by the time we’re on the mend, he’ll be so exhausted and run down he’ll be a sitting duck for any last germies that are lazing about.

But for now, he’s an excellent dad and husband dealing with the two grumpy women in his lives.

Poor guy.

And it’s only Monday!