Broken camera blues

Well, it was bound to happen! Our little jeans pocket sized Sony that I've loved for its compactness struggled to hold on through the abuse that Ian and I gave it for the past 21 months. It's been beaten in bags, my purse, and our pockets and managed to hang on. Then Kylie started giving it lots of "special attention" and it still managed to work. Add Caleb to the mix and I think it got dropped one too many times...

It still works, but is stuck in video mode and so still shots are unavailable to me right now. (Too bad because I don't think anyone wants to see video of the SNOWFALL we had this morning ~ it's the only way I could record it). Luckily the camera worked when we needed it most and now I'm really trying to work my angles to get a Canon Rebel for Christmas. Maybe now I'll get it a little early? Anyway, we'll see if we can get our trusty little friend repaired. Until that happens, or we get a new one, I'll have to rely on some pictures that haven't surfaced on Fireworks and Fireflies yet. That isn't too hard seeings that last week I was much too overwhelmed to be posting regularly...

A few fun ones of the kiddos together last Monday (our first full day in the new house together)

Kylie FINALLY got to live out her dream of riding in the "bue tohyer wif Ta-eb!" Just know that the inevitable happened and by the next day Kylie was whining, "Mommy, Ta-eb put his yeg on my side!" Brought back memories of riding in the backseat of the car to Ohio with my sister...

We walked to the neighborhood park ~ I LOVE walking to a playground! ~ and enjoyed the sunshine. Kylie led the way and showed Caleb all the fun things about the slides!

We had a lovely morning together and I was naively thinking that we were going to skip over the dreaded "older sibling" jealousy issues because we hadn't seen too much of it to that point. I guess vying for Mommy's attention when I was the only adult around for that long was just too much because after nap-time that afternoon all heck broke loose. I was too tired to do much of anything but want to run away as Kylie as wailed, "You my mommy, not Ta-eb's mommy! No pick up Ta-eb!" and of course Caleb was screaming with arms reaching to be held. Put one kid down and the one on the floor was clawing at feet, put them both down and they'd knock each other over and sit on one another, pick them both up and my back was killing me because I twisted something in China trying to hold them both. I so wanted for someone to step in and comfort at least one of them, and it was just me while Ian was finishing up the project.

Fast forward to last night. All four of us were sitting on the kitchen floor waiting for some cookies to finish baking. I was sitting "criss-cross applesauce" and Kylie was sitting in the hollow of my legs. Caleb came over and sat on my right leg beside her. She grinned at Ian and I and said, "We a big fam-ah-lee! I LUHV my fam-ah-lee!" And then she turned to me and said, "Mommy, we need another one baby to sit on dis leg!"

One day kiddo, just let Daddy and I feel like the dust has settled a bit on our crazy life before we start again...