Magpies

I have a praise report! The pacifier was located last night! After listening to Baby Nick scream for almost an hour, I found the pacifier, popped it in his mouth, and rocked with him for a few minutes. Since I don't want him to think he gets to be rocked to sleep again, I put him back down after he calmed down. Even though he now had his pacifier, he decided to scream for the next hour to hour and a half before falling asleep. Last night would have been a great time to have ear plugs.

As I was sorting through all the boxes of baby clothes (to pull out what can be worn now, and put away what is too small) I heard this enormous racket outside. It sounded like a thousand birds had descended upon the foliage out back and decided to scream along with Baby Nick. I peeked my head outside, and sure enough, the trees were full of magpies. They are part of the crow family, so you can imagine how beautiful (not) their "song" is. They were screaming at a cat that was prowling around. Of course, I don't blame them....I'd scream at the cat, too. Even after the cat left, the birds kept cawing for much of the night. I did get some video of them, both to show what they look like and what they sound like. But the darn things don't like to sit still. So, just as I get the camera zoomed in on one bird, it flies away to a tree behind me, and I have got to whip the camera around and try to find it. But now, of course, the camera is zoomed in too close, and all I can see is an extra large leaf! By the time I get the focus zoomed out and find the bird, it flies back to the first tree. And so the dance continued for several minutes before I decided to stop being the dumb one in the exchange, and call it quits. (I think I might have been the one with the "bird brain.")

Today, the magpies continue to bless us with their noise. At this particular moment, however, I am thankful to say that they are quiet now. My ears are getting a brief reprieve. Both the boys are napping as well....so I'm really getting a break.

It's funny; when Nick comes home from work, he gets to leave work behind and relax at home. He usually puts his feet up, and often falls asleep in the recliner while I cook dinner, look after the boys, and put things away. He gets what I used to call a 'break.' Now, whenever I get a 'break', I get to clean the kitchen without interruption, or fold the laundry without Joey's help, or eat a quick bite without my two small birds sitting at my knees with their mouths constantly opened! It's amazing how being a mom will redefine half your vocabulary. (I haven't yet figured out the definition of 'sleep', but I have a pretty good handle on 'sleep deprivation.')

John and Cindy, Shannon and Sherri will be over this evening. The boys will go off fishing and leave us girls to ourselves. The little boys will stay behind with us, where they will provide us with non-stop entertainment, I'm sure. It will be very nice to be able to spend more time with them. It was one thing to have Grandma Dooley up here back in January, making me miss mom even more (because she is Mom's mom.) But Grandma doesn't live right next to Mom anymore. Seeing John and Cindy is as close to seeing my Mom as I have been in ten months! They actually get to see her and hug her whenever they want. Plus, they are wonderful people on their own, so it is nice to see them for them, and not just because they are a connection to my Mom.

Joey's paper chain is quite small today...only two links left. It is kind of misleading, though, because, even though Angie technically arrives on Thursday, we will pick her up at two in the morning, so it will still feel like Wednesday night. I won't even go to bed tomorrow, since we will leave around 1:15-1:30am and I haven't made it to bed before 1:00am other than a couple of times in the last month or so. We will have the boys in pajamas with pants (instead of shorts) and keep socks on them, so all we have to do is lift them out of bed, put their jackets on, and buckle them into their car seats. We can't wait.