Genève's Smiles

Fruits

Yesterday's success (nappers) produced this: photo edits. I did not take the pictures... I just did some editing on them.
The whole and complete Neugebauer Family. not quite satisfied yet... with these but progress anyways


The us.

ya, Zurich looks almost like he's flipping someone one off... he had his finger in his mouth in every picture.... hmm wonder if I could fix that?

*sigh*

Whether or not anyone has noticed... My time to myself (computer time is included in this, aka blogging etc.) has been severely limited due to the NO NAP ZURICH.
And I am fried. Fried, FRIED.
But here I am....
TADA!
because FINALLY Zurich is napping.
And lets mark it as a miracle because Olea is too.
And the baby too! this just happens to be nice, she's like Mary Poppins (practically perfect in every way).

The silence is good so GOOD!
And lets face it, I was not handling things well, bless it that I have a very supportive husband who tells me not to be so hard on myself and then does the dishes and the laundry... but still, I'm a woman so I kick myself for not being perfect or handling things in a very calm and sugar coated manner....

So here's to a quiet moment. And a long awaited relaxing sigh.
I'm going to edit the family photos I've had on my to do list for A MONTH.

#1 things I say to my kids

At Meal Time
to Olea: EAT!
to Zurich: More?

At Bed Time
to Olea: Did you go potty?
to Zurich: Come back here!

At Bath Time
to Olea: Lay down (to get her hair washed)
to Zurich: Just a minute. (to get him out of the bath)

At Morning/ wake up Time
to Olea: No, you're not even dressed yet. (in answer to an endless slew of questions of what the possibility of the day holds)
to Zurich: Hey buddy, should we make you fresh?

Welcome to the Monkey House

Today, Gary called home around what I suppose was lunch time...
After I said the expected, "Hello." He asked, "Is this the monkey house?"
I only had time to reply yes, while pulling Zurich out of the tub, (I had just got him out and diapered and he'd crawled back in before I'd gone back to drain it).
So there he was with a fresh, newly saturated diaper... I plopped him on the rug which he used as a launch pad to run wild and free and slipped on the bathroom floor (due to wet feet, and source of wetness coming from his (new) diaper...
landed hard smacked his head and as far as I could determine from my view point hit his head on one of those door stop wedges. "Call you back!" and dropped the phone.

Turns out Zurich only knocked his head on the floor he was fine in about 3 seconds.
The kid is tough.

So the mayhem continues in the way it does for the next few hours... to come to what I can only hope is the climax.

So at about 5pm... I am nursing the baby. All is calm and quiet. Zurich is pushing a stroller around and Olea is watching qubo, I am sitting next to her, shielding the baby's head from Zurich's intermittent bonks from his ginormous cranium.

Genève rips one... I consider changing her diaper but veto it since she is still nursing and figure she will only add to it if I change her. I am right.

Then there is a knock on the door. I stand up and look for a blanket to drape over self and nursing baby to get the door... only to find that poop is squirting over the top of the little one's diaper, (she is wearing a shirt... not a onesie) down my leg and onto the carpet. I am at a loss... get the door?
can't.
too much poop,
poop on my hand, my pants, the carpet, the baby's pants...
Olea is freaking out because there is poop on the carpet... and "Mom, we gotta get the door, someone is here!" over and over.
I decide the door will have to wait... I have Olea remove the changing pad cover... easier to wipe the poop off the plastic pad than it is to wash it out of the pad. Set the baby down trying not to spread the poop any farther. Wash hands. Clean up baby, strap new poop catcher to her bum. (can you tell I am a fan of Mike Rowe?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-onTeIfenqg (mike rowe daycare)

Get stain fighter options from laundry room and get to work on clothing.
Go put them in the washer and start a load come back to bathroom to get something to clean the poop off the carpet...
only to find Zub in the tub, fully clothed (third time today, water drained by now) lathering up his head with baby shampoo.

There had to be at least 5 handfuls of it on his head by this time.
I have to laugh though and since the camera is handy I take a picture and then I haul him out and stick his head under the faucet and start rinsing his head off.
He does not like this and we both get pretty wet in the process.
During it all Olea is downstairs yelling at me repeatedly because someone stuck something in the door and the phone is ringing.
I get to work cleaning up the carpet.
Zurich is leaning and pushing against me whining, he wants me to hold him, or change his wet shirt or suck on the old toothbrush I am using to clean the poop off the carpet.

all this equals 20 minutes in the Monkey House.

And I have to laugh... because if I don't I'll go crazy.

blogging

I had a thought a few weeks back about how I don't blog the way some other people blog.
That's okay.

I didn't do a lengthy I love my Dad post on Father's day because I doubt he reads my blog...or tribute to holidays... etc.

When I first started blogging I thought I had to do those things... but it's my blog and if I choose to mainly blog about food, or pictures, or my kids, or my medical mishaps, or crafties or a smattering of all the above, I can and I do.

I am a perpetual journal-er. I blame this on my mom and her "Tablet" and my bad memory. However, my forms of journaling are varied and inconsistent. The thing I have been most consistent on is my children's journals and my husband and my anniversary book. Since I forget things easily esp the fun things we all say and the day to day laughs I have to keep my own "tablet" of sorts and then compile them in some form or another. In order to keep up on these things I use postits, blogging, scraps of paper that pile up on my computer desk and drive Gary crazy and my palm z22 (behind the times I know, but it works). I like blogging for the multimedia ability and also find I really like the comments.

My mom suggested I really try to keep up on enjoying my Zurich and keep up on his journal in light of the fact that he and Genève are so close together. Her suggestion comes from having two of my siblings close together and the eldest being a boy as well and she just wanted me to enjoy this age of my boy... and it's been lovely. I have been trying to do this, and keep up on Olea's journal as well. It's time, time always TIME. But I think I have managed pretty well. And I am grateful for my mother's suggestion.

I keep health records quite dilligently on myself and my children. (I can rarely get Gary to go to the doctor). Growth charts, when we went to the doc, what they were sick with, allergic to, and when their teeth come in etc. I use a Baby your Baby Health Keepsake (free here for Utah residents) to do this.

I currently keep a hand written journal in a book I made. (book binding is so exciting... hmm that sounds lame, but it really is a cool feeling to not just keep a journal but a journal in a book that you made from scratch).

I don't scrapbook but I do try to organize my pictures and label it to some degree of recognition, currently I think I have found a good system for me for labeling and printing and enjoying pictures.

... and none of it is totally complete, times I have guessed on when a tooth came in or totally forgotten to record something worthy of note etc.

After all this... I conclude with this thought, my grandparents among others in their generation have written personal histories. And it makes me think... have I been keeping a good enough journal (in all its different forms) to compile my own life history when the time comes? What records will I find the most useful?

um, speaking of Patience

(referencing last post) we're all working on it... as experiences yesterday in our home would attest... but here at least is a humorous example.

Genève

This weekend we blessed Genève in our new ward. She still fit into the blessing dress that Gary's mother made for her. It was so beautiful. And the little hat fit her well now. We were happy to have a small gathering of family. It was a beautiful blessing. Thanks to my mom and sister in law and brother I was able to transcribe the blessing. This is something that I do for each of my children, my mother did the same for us and I really appreciate it. It's always interesting to look back and see as they grow. Genève was blessed to be "low maintenence so to speak" and "a delight to her mother." My mother in law hates taking pictures, but I think this turned out great and am so glad she humored me since she made Olea's dress and I never got a pic of her and Olea in her dress and have always bemoaned that fact.

Genève is about three months old now. She is a delight to us all. We are so grateful to have her in our family. She has a delightful disposition and is so patient with the rest of us.

Olea said:

In case you were wondering: Jesus gave Olea magnifying glass eyes.