My first blogroll! (and other tidbits)

Was going through the blogs I follow today and happened to look at the blogroll on Nine Kinds of Crazy. Opened up Stepmothering, then had a 'Whoa! Wait a second!' moment. My blog is listed on her blogroll! My first ever. I know I have a few readers -- my daughter-in-law, Sharon (from Nine Kinds of Crazy), and someone who thinks I hate my children because she loves her dog more. But to be on a blogroll? It almost felt like my little corner of the internet just blossomed from pretend to real life.

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Working on potty training the 2 1/2 year old. The Bear is kicking my butt on this one. He's shown me he's willing to give up everything he loves (candy, tv, toys, paci) to avoid pottying on potty. And before someone tells me, "Maybe he's not ready!" trust me -- he's ready. He wakes up dry in the morning. When I sit him on the potty, he'll hold it for HOURS until I have to put him in a diaper to leave the house and promptly use the diaper. The kid is ready, but not willing. I know it will eventually happen, I just wish he was a bit more of a people pleaser at this moment.

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Working on planning a baby shower for my daughter-in-law. Her mom and I and her three friends were going to do it, until Biomom called. The fact that she called to be involved surprised me. I was nice and we agreed to do the food together. The thing is, historically she hasn't proven very reliable about helping with events -- except for food. Financially and work-wise, it's been my husband and myself carrying the load.

So, to keep her in the loop I sent her the jpeg of the shower invite. (designed by Sara Luke at A Life Less Ordinary -- http://lukecommasara.blogspot.com/) Little Red had 100% input on the design and wording. And chose to have baby's name put on the invite. Biomom? Calls me and tells me I'd made a mistake on the invite -- I'd put the baby's name on it and the kids aren't telling anyone what they're having until after the shower. Ummm. . . . they've been telling people since January 8th. Where have you been? Typical.

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Anyone know how to deal with a 7 year old who can't seem to stop lying? I'm a little scared that this is going to be something he doesn't outgrow.

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Gil and Belle both received special Valentines from special someones. Belle's wasn't a surprise -- in fact she had been working on staining and varnishing a box for her Valentine. Gil? We had no idea. It's the little sister of Belle's 'friend.' Gil was sweet and made her a ponytail 'tutu' to reciprocate. And Billy-bob was invited to his school's Valentine's Day dance by his crush. How -- WHEN? -- did this happen? When did they get old enough for this?!

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If anyone can share with me how to create a blogroll on my site, how to put links to past posts or other posts (you know -- the ones where it's highlighted and underlined and you just have to click to go to that site?) I'd appreciate it. The fact that I'm able to get a post to show on my site amazes me. Not the most computer literate person.

Well, why not?

So everyone else is doing it, right? Have to go with the crowd. (And hush up out there with your, "If your friends jumped off a bridge," comments. No, I wouldn't. Jumping off a bridge is dumb. And scary. This, not so much.) But, like the other cool kids on the internet, I figure I have a bunch of cute, crazy kidlings who will give me much fodder. And, who knows, maybe someday they'll thank me for documenting their childhood. (Older children of mine, sorry 'bout your luck. I'll try to post a few cute memories.)

Guess I should introduce you to the crew. To make the story short, I met my husband at 22 and married him after 10 weeks of dating. In our Associate Pastor's living room. On a Tuesday. Very romantic. Highly recommend it, actually. The honeymoon got off to a chilly start when I found myself, the very next morning standing on a slab of ice, in the dark with my two new stepsons, awaiting their schoolbus. Yep. Turns out no one thought to offer to take his (our) three children overnight on the night we got married. They were all that shocked. (For the record, less than a year later the Associate Pastor's wife said to me, "This has turned out better than anyone thought it would!" Then she realized what she'd said and looked HORRIFIED. I just laughed. Still makes me chuckle.)

I was 23 when I became a wife and stepmom to "Football", "Photo", and "Pixie-girl." And also 23 when, 40 and 1/2 weeks after the wedding, I gave birth to my first son. (We'll call him Billy-Bob.) 15 months after B.B. 'Belle' arrived (and the "Now you have a boy and a girl and you can stop" comments began. Yeah, because that's 'perfect' right? And that's what I'm going for, perfection. Um, no, not so much.) 17 months later, another son joined the pack, "Gil." And my thyroid died. Gil was followed by "Little-Louie" 2 1/2 years later and finally "The Bear." The Bear is now 19 months old and my husband says he's done. And, actually, so am I. A little. Some days. {{sigh}} Is it possible to be addicted to new babies? Because I might be. But not as much as the Duggers. The crew currently range in age from 21 y.o. to 19 months.

This past December (take note, don't let your children get married in December. First of all, it blows a family's budget all to heck. Second of all, it's cold and gets dark too quickly to get outdoor pictures) our family added another child when "Football" married a sweet, adorable girl. "Little Red-Haired Girl" is only 18. And, yes, they've heard the statistics. And, yes, they know they're really young. And so do I. But they are a level-headed, future-thinking pair. In fact, the pastor who married them mentioned their maturity during the ceremony. So now the pair is living cozily in our guest room while home loan matters get worked out. Yeah. But I actually enjoy having them here. Really. And when they move out, though I'll be happy they're finally going to have their own home, I will miss them.

Anyhow, welcome to my crazy world! I hope you find a bit of humor in my life. I sure do. It's either that or a straitjacket.