James, Why are your naps so evil?

...they could be such a force for good, but your naps have somehow been twisted and corrupted. Instead of giving your Mom a mid-day break and waking up a refreshed and happy, James, you postpone your sleeping until 6pm. What good does that do anyone? Waking up at 8pm...cranky...and then staying up until midnight? It's a good thing I can still get you into bed before Daddy gets home, or you'd really be in trouble.

An Update

Wow. For some reason, I'm not getting a ton done lately. Actually, I'm getting a lot of baby-holding, nursing, diaper-changing, and cuddling done...it's just the other stuff that is challenging.

Today I made it to Costco (brought my keys in with me this time) and felt like that was a major accomplishment. Sadly, I spent about a billion dollars on food, diapers, sadly addictive cucumber-scented baby wipes...and...no, that's all. How did that add up a billion dollars anyhow?

The kids and I also managed to clean one room in the house - the loft, where we spend most of our time. I also cleared a path in Sofi and Annika's room. Sofia was very suspicious when I left her room with a big trash bag. (She knows I think her toy collection is insane.) But, no, it was really full of trash...all from their room.

The kids and I are reading Anne of Green Gables, and I think they are finally getting into it. At least they seemed very relieved that Marilla decided Anne could stay at Green Gables...for now. (I'm surprised they were in suspense at all - I thought the title gave that away.)

So, here I am, wishing James wasn't so refreshed by his 3-hour nap and wondering when my dear husband will finally make it home for the night. At least I got to blog about it.

Our Very Eventful Saturday

The dishes are done and my baby won't wake up to nurse, so I thought I might as well post. We had such a lovely/busy day yesterday. Sofia and my Mom both had their birthdays. I made Sofi an ultra-cute purse, which she didn't like...she loved!(That's a quote from Sofia.) Mom's present got procrastinated a little too long, so all she got for her birthday (from me) was a glimpse at the pattern and the fabric (pictured above) for her apron.

Annika was baptized. Why is it so hard to pull something like that together? It probably just is for me. I'm planning impaired. Still, it was beautiful to see her so excited to make that special covenant with Heavenly Father. Our family aren't super reverent when you put them all together. It comes from having a bunch of cousins who have way too much fun together. My little brother had a good point. He thinks they were so loud because they're usually interspersed among more reverent people. Undiluted Tunnells make a lot of noise.

Tony was also able to bless Cozette. I'll have to ask him what he said, because she started crying as soon as he took her out of her carseat. ...something about loving the gospel and being an example to her brothers and sisters? I'm sure someone took a picture of Grandma Cozette holding her namesake, and I will put it up as soon as I get my hands on it.

Thank you to everyone who helped with the whole affair...which I think was pretty much everyone...the Kangs for making the drive and Chris in particular for speaking...Rachel for playing the piano..Jana for leading the music...Allicia for making the program...Mike for filling the font and doing handyman stuff at my house...Bishop Meeker for conducting...I could go on, but I'm just going to say THANK YOU EVERYONE!

I love having family over. There's nothing better than having 30+ people (all of whom you love) filling up your house! I'll have to think up another occasion really soon. :)

My Sadly Un-updated Blog

We are all enjoying Cozette so much. Instead of getting in bed with me and cuddling in the morning, now James runs into my room yelling, "I hold it the baby! I hold it the baby!" There's always a line for baby-holding, and it's sweet and heart-warming to see the same look of love and fascination on their faces, as they craddle her and examine her tiny features. It may even be a little sweeter to see your eleven-year-old son cooing to the baby.
Amidst the baby furvor Cozette has created, my blog is definitely being neglected. My mother's blog, Grandma Linda's House is a better update of our lives right now. Maybe I'll be able to squeeze out a post tonight?

The Latest Model

It's so nice to get what you want once in a while. About 10 years ago, Sofia was born on my Mom's birthday. Annika wasn't as cooperative. Instead of hitting my Dad's birthday, she made her arrival on my sister's anniversary. Close.

Third time is a charm, I guess, because this little one was super accommodating and managed to be born two days early, on my Dad's birthday. She even came with time to spare. Since my Dad was born on his mother's birthday, I thought it was only appropriate to name her after her Great-Grandma Cozette. So...drum roll....the latest model is named Cozette Darling Romero (which is an only slightly adulterated version of my Grandma's name. I couldn't get attached to the "Darlene" part, so I altered it a bit.) ...and Cozette and her one-year-old cousin, Lilly, (her destined best friend) get to share that special birthday!

All of that business aside, our little Cozette is beautiful. Everyone is so excited to welcome her into the family.
Anthony was concerned that James would bully her (since he spent all day trying to boss around his younger cousin, Lilly).
Sofia, who was also born with a head of black hair, is thrilled that she finally has a look-alike in the family. (And Sofia was super-brave and well-behaved at the birth!)
Annika was whispering to the baby, "Don't worry. We all love you, and we're going to take good care of you," as she held her at the hospital.
Jonny is being amazingly gentle with his baby sister (normally his hugs knock me over. I call them attack-hugs.)
James thinks the baby should be thoroughly bundled and hatted at all times. He's continually tucking her blanket around her hands or feet (whatever is poking out) and insisting that we replace her hat (so that no one can get a decent picture of her lovely hair). He also told me, "No change the diaper - it's sleeping!" There are exceptions to the "never wake a sleeping baby" rule, James.

A million, billion thanks to my awesome husband, without whom I could never have the courage to push out a baby (regardless of it's cuteness). It's amazing you can get so much comfort and strength from one person's presence...just by holding their hand (maybe a bit tightly) and knowing they are there.

shes here!

This is Lia's mom blogging for her! Lia's water broke at 6:00 a.m., went to hospital, waited, waited, waited, checked again , broke rest of water had little sister at 3:00 something so it really only took an hour. 8lbs. 3ozs. lots of black hair! quote from Lia "I'm glad it's over". No name yet (so lame) oops did I say that.The problem is Tony wants a say..oops did I say that! shame on me! Welcome little romero daughter!!

I got this cute little rocking chair for James last weekend. He loves it, and rocks, rocks, rocks while watching his little train movies. Jonny actually fits it pretty well too, but James chases him out of it most of the time. So territorial! The chair also makes me want to take on another little project I've had in the back of my mind for a while...rehabbing Sofia's sewing desk (which she never uses, preferring my sewing machine to her own). I was going to have someone else do it for me...since there's not room to do something like that in our garage at the moment...and I'm too pregnant to be taking on painting projects, but I REALLY think I want to do it myself. Maybe I'll just put it off for a month.

Tony got home from work early yesterday, so we decided to celebrate by going out for Mexican food. Yum! I ordered a gigantic (so that I could share with the kids) virgin raspberry margarita. They brought me a gigantic non-virgin margarita. I thought I was pregnant enough that no one would bring me a huge alcoholic beverage, but apparently not. Luckily, it smelled strongly enough that we noticed before we started passing it around to the kids! Anyhow, Tony and I have decided that if any more children outgrow the kiddie menu, we'll only be eating out on VERY special occasions. $$$

Well, my count-down calendar is under a week now. We'll see how accurate that turns out to be. Either way (sooner or later), I think it's making Tony and I a bit nervous. He has been calling me every morning to make sure I have an accurate phone number of where ever he is (many of those places do not allow cell phones). My panic response is a little sillier. Instead of doing anything related to childbirth prep, I'm trying to rush through a bunch of long-postponed sewing projects. Avoidance? Maybe. Sofia's horse skirt is next on my list.

We're Winners!

...not big winners, but you have to enjoy the small victories in life. The kids had a lucky week. First they found a $5 cash card at the bottom of a cereal box. Then I noticed a buy one adult haircut, get one free coupon on the back of the Cookie Crisp box. (Tony likes to bring home sugar cereals, giant pixie sticks, reester bunnies, whatever he can find so that the kids will still love him. I think he feels a little guilty about his work schedule...as if he has any control over it!) For some reason, Anthony wasn't as excited about the free haircut? You'd think he would be, because they do a much better job than I do, and professionals seem to be able not to cover you in hair while they cut.
The kids have big plans to spend their winnings at the dollar store this week - one toy each.

What is wrong with me?

I'm not sure that I should be allowed out without adult supervision anymore. I was doing a little sample browsing and impulse shopping with the kids at Costco today. Fun. When we were headed back out to the car, I suddenly couldn't find the keys that I was SURE were in my pocket. They weren't in my purse either...uh-oh...little panic starting to seep in. Can you guess where they were?

In the ignition of my car - which was ON the entire time I was in Costco! Where on Earth is my brain? I'm so lucky my car was not stolen, but just a bit worried about my mental state.

The Next Two...

Ok. Here are my other two projects. The first is a shirt for Annika, and the second is Sofia's blue dress. There was a tear in Annika's pillowcase, so I didn't have enough fabric to make it into a dress...a blessing in disguise! Cutting a little more fabric off of the top (where the tear was) gave me some extra fabric for a kangaroo pocket (that Sofia had requested..darn!) and a cute flower.

Well, I was semi-successful in my goals for this weekend. We've managed to listen to most of General Conference...and did anyone else cry through President Monson's talk on Sunday morning? Is it just me or did children die in each of those stories? So sad.
On Saturday, Tony managed to get home by 7pm (that's how you know it's the weekend at our house), so he barbecued for dinner...whoo-hoo! It made me really look forward to summer, when I intend to make him my barbecue slave whenever he's home.
No, the house did not get as clean as I had hoped. We did reclaim the upstairs family room, and the kids put all of their toys away (in a desperate bid to save them from Goodwill). I wanted to do some sewing, so we're saving the bathrooms for Monday.
After returning library books, buying bias tape, and dropping stuff off at a donation site, I decided to skip down my list to the pillowcase dresses. No regrets there! Annika's was lovely, and when Sofia saw it, she said, "Hey, how come Annika gets a new dress? I want one...in blue." I was a step ahead. Her blue dress was already in the works. I'll put up pictures of the other next two dresses later. My favorite tutorial for this project was from Freshly Picked, although there are a ton of others out there if you look!

Keep Trying!

Ok. My life has not been especially eventful lately, and I'm trying to make it even less eventful until that one BIG EVENT happens. Somehow, it seems like I'm still getting roped into various obligations, but I have successfully dodged a few.

We haven't signed up for any more of the upcoming dance performances - not even the one in May (I'm really hedging my bets there, huh?).
I did say that no, I didn't think I could watch my friend's children when she goes into labor. We share a due date. Is that hypocritical (since I'm sure to be asking someone to watch my own children) or just realistic of me?
Every time Annika mentions the birthday party she's planning, I remind her that we only do that every other year...and NOT this year. No, not even a "family party" at the skating ring. I'm sure we can scrounge up something fun to do, but I'm not obligating myself to anything beyond cake and presents. Did I mention that her birthday is 3 whopping days after my due date?

I'm just planning my life one day at a time...tomorrow I'm going to oversee the cleaning of the house. (I love making my kids clean! It's so much work, but then you get to see them have some cute realizations. Today, Sofia looked at the very full kitchen sink and said, "What!? I just loaded the dishwasher this morning!" Yes, well, we've had two meals since then. So, expect at least 12 cups, 12 plates, plus misc. cutlery to be in the sink.) I'm going to write thank you notes for all of the lovely baby gifts people have given me. And, assuming that I'm not totally wiped out after that (I have got some VERY low stamina going on right now!), I really want to sew some pillowcase dresses! They look so easy and fun, and I bought 3 adorable pillowcases at Goodwill the other day for that express purpose.

Stay tuned...if it happens, I'll post some adorable pictures and a link to a pillowcase dress tutorial!