letters to Beth {echinacea, getting dressed, & richard simmons}

Dear Beth,
max had a runny nose glimmering on wednesday night, so i took your sister laura's advice and decided to give the echinacea drops a go. 15 drops in a shot of orange juice for both of my kids yesterday and this morning. we shall see if i become a believer. i picked them up b/c we were out of garlic drops and i knew max would be needing them to avoid the ear infection that always seems to come with her runny noses. oh how i love that you've educated me in all of this. did i ever tell you about when i worked for melaleuca and a customer asked me to read the ingredients on a bottle and i tried to pronounce echinacea like "etch-i-nay-sea-uh" and she corrected me and i felt like a fool. duh emily. too big of a word for me i guess. it was just not my day for sight reading that day.

i have yet to mail you the lotion and paci plushie binky holder. my goal is to do it before this little egg on my tummy hatches. i'm hoping i can tackle it monday. be on the look out for a package from the U-S-of-A soon.

max spoiled us so much as a newborn that i think i am going to be feeling a little like you are with bear needing more attention than smith did. i always get really overwhelmed around the time the baby is 3 weeks old, have myself a good long cry, and then take a hot shower and get on my way. how are the showers in germany? hot? i hope they are hot enough, and i hope the water pressure is good b/c it's not a good enough shower without some good water pressure. it's amazing how a 10 min. shower without interruptions can feel like an entire day at the spa after you have kids.

i don't know how you are surviving without cheddar cheese. i honestly eat it or cook with it almost every day. i just don't think i could come to love any other animal's cheese like the cow that gives me colby jack and cheddar.

i got a new coat rack in my bathroom and splurged on some $3 frames and new red towel from walmart. i love it so much that i find excuses to go into my downstairs bathroom just to look at it. i don't know why a new coat rack could make a girl so happy, but it does. it has 5 hangers! 5! now sean can even have a hanger for his coat. he is so excited. or not. but i am!

i have been teaching brennan to dress himself this week. yes, i have been doing it for him this entire time. it's just so much faster when i do it, but when we went to his 4 yr old well check it listed it as a skill they should be doing, so i of course checked yes that he could do it b/c i know he is capable and vowed to give myself a raise in my own time and get him to do it himself. it took him 45 min. to dress himself in t-shirt, jeans, underwear, socks, and shoes the first time, with 40 min. of him crying about how he couldn't do it and "could i please just do it for him." oh the woes of a first child. max of course dressed herself in 5 min., including shoes and then sat looking at him in confusion as to what the big deal about putting a shirt on by yourself could be. did that sentence even make sense??? you know what i mean. yesterday i used a cadburry egg to bribe him to do it faster. he did it in 20 min. and almost no crying. today, we are going on 30 min. and he has only underwear on. we are out of cadburry eggs AND peanut butter. i'm going to have to give up one of my precious reese's pb eggs to get him motivated. and then i'll have to give one to max too. minus 2 from my personal stash. i am such a reese's pb egg hoarder.

max is all of a sudden going through some extra terrible two's. she is very needy and whiny. last night i put her in her crib to brush her teeth b/c i just couldn't chase her around anymore. she tells me when she is going to go poo, asks to sit on the potty, pretends to push, then asks to put her diaper on, and goes in her diaper. it's quite the spectacle. brennan had zero interest until the day i potty trained him so this is exciting business in our house. although, i have no plans to do anything about it until she is 3 unless she really starts being more aggressive in wanting to go. i think she just thinks it's a fun game and is not really ready, and i am in no rush to add anything extra to my life right now, especially potty training. she's saying words, especially "no" and is full of personality. you would not believe how grown up she acts.

the weather is hot here. at least 50* feels hot. i put on a short sleeved shirt today b/c yesterday i felt like i was sweatin' it out with richard simmons in my long sleeve black and white striped sweater. i am just loving this spring weather. it has me in a good mood and feeling very hopeful and happy in general. my tailbone is all better and the aches and pains of pregnancy are annoying me less and less as i see the light at the end of the tunnel. except when my kids are cranky or when 2pm hits and my tummy is tired. or if i'm hungry or thirsty. but other than that i am feeling quite pleasant. i have the uncontrollable urge to clean everything, but nothing can feel clean enough. i want to clean the walls and the baseboards and the carpets. i vacuumed last night, and that seemed to suppress my urges a little. so very strange.

love to you all,
Emily