I thought I was going to be missing a few days worth of photos because I’ve been using my phone as a white noise machine for Caroline (it’s like MAGIC – she LOVES the white noise) but all it did was cut my photos down from 400 to 200. I’m an iPhoto phiend.

Sunday:

To celebrate my birthday, I went thrifting. I did not buy these.

I also did not buy these. Who donates suede fringed chaps to Goodwill?

Monday:

Sometimes I leave my baby on the floor while I get ready for Stroller Strides

We hung out at the yarn store

Adorable hand-embroidered onesies from @lifeversiontwo

Tuesday:

And sometimes I leave my baby in the laundry basket while I get ready for Stroller Strides.

All the babies in a row at Stroller Strides

We tried to have a nice picnic lunch. Until Little Evan stomped all over the sandwiches.

Wednesday:

Playing with mommy's mascara...

...is a poor choice.

It was "time to move some of the toys up to the playroom because OMG LOOK AT THIS MESS" day

Some people don't appreciate a good vintage sweater

Thursday:

Stompin' in the puddles

Words I never thought I'd have to say "Stop trying to run your sister over with the dumptruck!"

"Crap, I forgot how to roll from front to back so I'm about to get really pissed that I'm stuck!"

Friday:

So, should I be WORRIED my baby powder expired seven years ago?

Pretty blue buttons on a knitted gift

Playing at the most fun playground in our area

Sailing the pirate ship!

This is the super-cool old mental hospital in our town. They're FINALLY turning it into some sort of shopping center/housing development - but I'm afraid they're going to tear all the old buildings down.

Helping mama with her knitting

Saturday:

NOT helping mama with her knitting

"Hey, what are we going to do with all these burnt potato chips?" "I know! Let's call them 'gourmet dark' and sell them to suckers like Suzanne!"

I added some daffodils to the flowers from last weekend's party and put them in front of my laptop so this is what I see when I'm working :)

And even with the mid-day grocery shopping (SO CROWDED) I still had time to hit up TJMaxx for some dress shopping. I scored big time for Caroline (THREE gorgeous dresses originally more than $50 a piece for $10 each) and even found an awesome dress for me to wear to the wedding we’re attending in May. It’s Calvin Klein (What are you wearing? A dress! Says who?) and fits me great now BUT will also fit if I manage to lose any weight before the wedding. I even got all fashionable and bought a belt to replace the one it came with. As far as I’m concerned that’s a Major Fashion Risk. I am very excited to wear it. I think I even have a pair of fantastic heels I haven’t worn in years that would match.

Wow, how boring was all that? Hey, welcome to life with 2 kids. TJMaxx is exciting.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

Twenty weeks of iPhone photos! I’ve gotten in the habit of taking a LOT of pictures each week so I can have plenty to chose from when I share them with you. I actually had to move all the previous weeks to our back-up hard drive because my computer’s memory was full. Whoops!

Sunday:

Even though there is NO ACTUAL REASON daylight savings time should have messed with our sleep schedules, I'm blaming it for the 5 am wakeup that lead to a 10 am car nap anyway.

Providence. Hey, did you know they have an Apple Store there?

Perhaps the last Apple Store in the country to still have iPad2's available. Or at least they did. Before E and I bought the last 2.*

Monday:

It's officially BabyLegs season, now that someone's thighs are full of chub

The snot levels in the house reached EPIC proportions. At least he doesn't mind the sucker.

Hello lover. My birthday present came early.

Tuesday:

I HAD to get out of the house so we went for a walk with the $25 third-hand jogger.

And apparently that’s my only pic from Tuesday. Like I said, poor Little Evan’s head cold was making him miserable and barfy so we skipped the whole week at Stroller Strides. I’m going to regret that on Monday.

Wednesday:

He thought Brutus looked cold and was sharing his blanket.

All full - milk, water and juice. Poor kid was barely eating so I was trying to keep him hydrated.

New outfit due to naptime puke incident. But he was feeling well enough to ask to go outside.

Thursday:

The weather kept getting better! Little Evan played with his car while I cleaned the porch.

Spring flowers on the door mean it's officially spring. Screw the calendar.

Working out pictures, frames and an arrangement to go around the Modern Bird painting.

Friday:

He insisted Caroline's bloomers were a hat. And then tried to hide behind the glass door. My kid is weird.

OMG MOM! SPRING DRESSES ARE SO CUTE!

Sale at the yarn store! That magenta yarn is going to be a shrug. Someday.

Saturday:

Someone celebrating turning 3 months old by taking a nap.

And someone celebrating being almost 2 by throwing his spoon on the floor 50 bajillion times turning breakfast. Oh toddlers.

*I cannot believe we bought TWO freakin’ iPads. I thought even buying ONE was a waste of money until I got to play with it and fell in love. But E still had some of his reenlistment bonus left after we did responsible stuff with it and when you sell your soul to the Navy for 5 more years sometimes you need shiny electronics to cheer yourself up. And sometimes you really hate sharing so you buy one for your wife too.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

Sunday:

I found these while grocery shopping. E & I used to eat at the actual Sticky Fingers ALL the time in Charleston, including our first real date.

Now that Caroline's a litle bigger I pulled out the cloth diapers. They're working well.

Monday:

Stroller Strides! Also, bebeh with ears on her hood!

Seriously, if we do switch back to cloth it will be entirely for the cuteness factor.

Apparently Monday was Caroline day. Adorable hat from Uff Da - I have a mommy sized one!

Tuesday:

Waiting for me to tell him it's time to go to Stroller Strides.

The bubble machine is my secret weapon against tantrums. Even if it means bubbles in the kitchen.

I went to Staples for envelopes and Post-its. It wasn't nearly as exciting as this picture makes it look.

Wednesday:

Mommy multi-tasking: bouncing two kids at once. Great leg workout too!

Invitations: addressed & mailed!

Little Evan and I played a LOT of games with Chuck the Truck and his friends

WHY IS THIS GIRAFFE TOUCHING ME?????

Thursday:

Mural on the wall of our post office. That's some awesome art right there.

That cool brick building used to be a fancy hotel. Now it's rent-controled apartments and a restaurant that keeps changing names.

Oven mitts are his favorite toy. This week.

Friday:

Taken 20 seconds after I finished seaming up the vest. I like to wear what I make as soon as possible.

Yarn & pattern to make a husband-sized sweater. I'm a little scared.

We ran some errands, including a quick trip to Best Buy to see if they had iPads. They did not.

Saturday:

SOMEBODY got up at 5 am. At least she was adorable in her onesie from @lifeversiontwo

I dyed my hair for the first time in ages. It's only a little blonder. I'm not sure I love it.

IKEA! Toddler room makeover before & after pics coming soon.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s. It’s really fun!

Yesterday morning at Target I had an experience that left me feeling alternately overwhelming guilt and extreme anger (neither of which seems warranted but I’m really tired and overly emotional right now).

The kids and I haven’t left the house since last Thursday and if it was up to me we probably wouldn’t leave again until it’s consistently above 70 degrees, but a lack of cold medicine and Goldfish drove us from our cave and out into the world. And by world I mean Target. We actually did pretty well getting ready and packing up to go so it was early when we got to the store.

Now, with one child, my standard method of getting said child into a store was to park as close to a cart return as possible, toss my bag over one shoulder and carry the child to one of the carts in the return. Then I don’t have to worry about anyone running away or distracting me in a Dangerous Parking Lot Situation and we roll right into the store. The problem is with TWO children – especially when one weighs upwards of 30 lbs and the other is sleeping in a bucket seat – is I cannot carry them both safely at the same time. It is possible but not easy and not something I like to do, especially with the toddler in his current state of extreme defiance. I just don’t trust him not to thrash out of my arm when I’ve only got one to hold him with. So what I try to do when I have both kids with me is park directly next to the cart return (even if it means parking super far away from the store)(I actually prefer far away because then no one parks so close to your doors you can barely fit in the space to get the kids into the seats), lock the car, grab a cart and bring it back to the car to load the kids one at a time. I’ve always felt very comfortable with this situation, because my proximity to the car at all times means even in the extremely unlikely circumstance that I were to suddenly – KNOCK ON WOOD – drop dead while the kids were locked in the car, someone would notice them.

Unfortunately, because it was still really early and I was at the Target Less Traveled (you should be so lucky – brand new gorgeous store, almost always empty) there were only 2 carts in the entire parking lot and both were in a cart return in the only row full of cars. I drove around for a minute, hoping I could stalk someone out of the store to their car and grab a cart from them but no one came out. So I decided to pull through a spot one row over from the return. That way although I would have to trek across a row of cars to GET a cart, I’d only have to cross the lane of traffic to put it back.

So I park the car, turn around to tell Little Evan I’ll be “one minute”, which he repeats back and holds up one finger, and get out of the car. At that exact moment, cars pull into spots near mine. The guy in the truck on one side smiles and heads towards the store. No one gets out of the minivan on the other side. It isn’t until 5 seconds later when I’m on my way back with the cart, being extra-super-careful not to ding anyone’s car on my way through the row that I can see two women in their van making dramatic motions and pointing towards my van, where you can clearly see Little Evan sitting in his seat drinking his milk. I get back to the car and press the “unlock” button as dramatically and obviously as possible, wrestle the toddler then the infant seat into the cart and start towards Target. Only THEN do the women get out of the van.

After picking up all the essentials – cough drops, graham crackers, tiny pink cowboy boots – I successfully navigate checkout without accidentally stealing anything or letting the toddler fall out of the cart and head to the car. I open the right door with the remote, lock the (still sound asleep) baby’s bucket into the base, drop my bags under her seat, and close that door. I roll the cart around to the other side, wrestle the toddler into his car seat, put my diaper bag under his seat and close THAT door. Now I have an empty cart and two kids secured in their seats, so I press the lock button, dash across the lane of traffic and shove the cart into the (still empty) cart return.

As I get back into the car, I look to my left and notice those two women are sitting in their van, just watching me with their judgy, judgy faces.

I can’t prove they were waiting for me to come out and they never said a word while we were in the store together, although I passed them several times, but I would bet a MILLION DOLLARS the conversation they had when they pulled into the parking lot was whether to call the police and report children left in a car. I wouldn’t be surprised if they wrote down my license plate.

Or, hey, maybe I’m just being paranoid! Maybe they were waiting to see if I needed help! They’re just Concerned Citizens and they want to watch out For The Children! Such As.

So here’s the thing: Am I doing this wrong? Is leaving my kids in the car for less than 30 seconds at any given time worth the looks of scorn and horror these women were sending me? Trust me, I am VERY AWARE of the dangers of leaving your kid in the car but…I don’t think that’s what I’m doing here. I would bet the number of children hit by cars in parking lots is a lot higher than the number of children who are kidnapped while their mother grabs a cart. Even if you add in children who were left in a car for up to 5 minutes while their mom runs into a convenience store to pay for gas or buy some milk I think “hit by car in parking lot” would be significantly higher. I am making what feels like the safer choice in a situation that doesn’t really have a better option – at least until Target gets valet parking.

What say you?

This past Tuesday I took a blissfully child-free trip to Target. I wandered the aisles. I browsed. I picked out all the best clearance Valentine’s Day candy without any grubby little fingers grabbing at it. I spent a good hour and a half filling my cart with the kind of useless, pretty things that make Target the Best Place To Shop Ever.

Half way through the cashier ringing up my purchase, I realized my wallet wasn’t in my bag.

SHIT.

I blushed and apologized and died of embarrassment and swore to the cashier four thousand times that I’m sure it was just in my car and I would be RIGHT BACK, OK? PLEASE DON’T PUT ALL MY STUFF AWAY.

So I went on a hunt for my wallet. It wasn’t in the car. It wasn’t at Guest Service. It wasn’t in the parking lot. I called home – E said it wasn’t on the counter. I drove back to the doctor’s office where I had been just before Target. The nice nurses looked everywhere but we couldn’t find it.

It’s a big wallet. It’s also bright red. It’s always been really hard to misplace and isn’t the sort of thing you drop without noticing. Now I was PANICKED. The stuff in there is IRREPLACEABLE. How am I going to find the time to get a new driver’s license with two kids to drag around? I can’t see a doctor without my military ID (it’s my insurance card) and I can’t get a NEW military ID unless I can get on base which I can’t do without a military ID. IT’S AN ENDLESS CIRCLE OF HORROR. Not to mention the credit cards, my social security card, my membership cards at the aquarium and seaport and the four hundred rewards cards to various stores. For some reason I was oddly worried about those. How will I ever replace my Gymboree Rewards card? MY LIFE IS OVER.

I drove all the way home on the brink of tears. Once I saw the empty counter and realized my wallet was good and really, truly missing I lost it. Sob sob sob. Hopeless despair. E finally realized I wasn’t going to just pull it together and got up to help me look. WHATEVER  HUSBAND. IT’S LOST. FOREVERRRRRRRR. There’s really no point in going to look in the car because…

Oh, hey. Lookit there. It was under the passenger seat. It must have fallen out of my bag and slid back to where I couldn’t see it while I was driving. Oopsies.

I drove back to Target and collected my cart o’stuff, most of which suddenly seemed stupid and silly and not worth buying but at this point I was too embarrassed to put anything back. In fact, I threw in a couple extra things from the check-out lane to, I don’t know, make up for being such a moron. Because somehow in my head three packs of gum and a chapstick is what it costs Target to leave my cart between two check-out counters for 45 minutes.

Yesterday I did all our meal planning and went to Stop & Shop to buy $200 worth of groceries. Half way through the checker ringing up my purchase, I realized my wallet wasn’t in my bag.

SHIT.

I panicked. I blushed and apologized and died of embarrassment. I told her to finish putting all my stuff in my reusable bags and I would be RIGHT BACK with my wallet, swearsies. No, really, I have money! I can afford these things! I am not some sort of crazy person who just likes putting things in a cart for the hell of it!

I checked the cart. I checked the parking lot. I drove home. I checked the driveway and the back porch and the counter. I started to freak out. AGAIN, UNIVERSE? REALLY?

I yelled at E “I lost my wallet AGAIN! I just left a whole cart of groceries with the cashier and she thinks I’m a crazy person. Can you believe it? TWICE in one week!”

E looked at me and said “Did you even check the car?”

Guess where my wallet was.