i am nothing if not totally random and easily distracted

Do you want to know what I think is really hilarious?

One night last week, when I was away during my business trip, I opened up my blog and I started this post with this exact title. I had every intention of writing it then, too. But instead, I turned on the television in my hotel room and noticed that they were playing Sixteen Candles. And well, that promptly concluded my blogging for the evening.

Since then, I've noticed this very post just sitting under my "Compose" file, but I haven't come back to it. Up until tonight, there have been other important things to write about, so this one post about how I'm so easily distracted just keeps getting shoved to the back burner. That's how it goes with me. I wish I could figure out how to do a screen shot of my "Compose" file, because you'd see that I have 20 blog posts that I've started, but have yet to finish.

Some of these posts are over three years old - and totally outdated - but I can't stand to delete them - because one day I might feel compelled to call upon the memories surrounding the dead bird that Charlie and I found in a swimming pool when the triplets were infants.

We later discovered that the dead bird was actually a Cockatoo that someone was offering a $500.00 reward to have returned. Charlie had scooped the dead bird out of the pool and thrown it in to the bushes before either of us knew that this bird was a valued pet. But once we saw the sign, my husband contemplated going back and digging the bird out of the bushes and putting it in a ziploc bag before calling the owner and telling them that he found their bird. And yes, we'd like that reward because we have three babies in diapers. Then when he returned their deceased and highly valuable cacatua alba, he'd ask, "Can you really put a price tag on closure?"

We didn't do that, of course.

And since I just relayed the contents of that post, I suppose I can delete it now.

Great! Now I'm down to 19...

Anyway. The point is. This post is intended to answer the questions that were posed to me last week during the Q&A session. And, I threw in a few other random questions that weren't posed during that post - but which I've received over the past few months.

This question came from Wendi:

Are you able to FLY with your BOB? Can you fit it through the security check in the airport? If you could let me know, I would soooo appreciate it! We have a trip to Colorado in a few weeks and I'm debating whether we can take it?

YES we are able to fly with our BOB strollers and we have, many times over!

Although the single BOB stroller can be collapsed and placed on the security belt and scanned through the x-ray machine, often times, the double BOB needs to be inspected by hand and with a wand. Either way, just roll your stroller up to the security line, unload your child (or children) and the agents will help you do the rest. Depending upon the size of the x-ray machine, you may need to take the wheels off your single stroller before putting it on the conveyor belt, but it's easy enough to do with the quick release system.

Once you roll up to the plane, just unload your child, collapse your stroller, put the claim ticket on it, and the luggage handlers will put it under the plane for you. When you land, they will take it out and have it sitting there waiting for you. Now, unless you have the Revolution, you may find that you have a difficult time getting your double stroller through the doors on the jetway. With the exception of over-sized handicap doors, we've had to remove at least one back wheel to fit through. Of course this is an inconvenience, but in my opinion, having your stroller available as soon as you step off the plane is worth ANY hassle.

Good luck and have a fun time in Colorado!

This question came from Katie:

We sold our house in NJ and we're moving out on Aug 31. You'll never guess--the two places that we can live for my husband's job are CA and MA, specifically around the San Fransico CA area or around the Concord, Sudbury MA area. Now, for the million dollar question--which one would you choose?? I have never lived in either place and they will both be new for me. We have three children 4 and under.

Wow. This is such a difficult question for me to consider, and I've lived in both places. Charlie's family predominantly lives in northern California. My family predominantly lives in New England. I love both areas. But, I haven't lived in an area where there is snow for any extended period of time since I was ten. Which HELLO, that was almost 30 years ago.

Where does the time go?!

The advantages to Northern California: It is absolutely beautiful. Darn expensive, though. You are close to wine country (this comes in useful with three children under the age of four) and you are close to the Sierra Mountains - which are spectacular if you are in to hiking, skiing or the great outdoors. If you were me, you'd also be close to my sister-in-law Kathy, who is an amazing baker and a plethora of nieces and nephews who would be recruited to babysit.

The advantages to New England: It is absolutely beautiful. Darn expensive, though. You are close to the Cape, which I love, and you are close to the quaint mountain towns throughout Vermont and New Hampshire and the beautiful Maine coastline (and the awesome LL Bean outlet). Another advantage, for me, is that I love US History and I am always enthralled how this part of the country just abounds with it. If you were me, you'd be close to my cousin Anne Marie, who is an amazing baker, and a plethora of nieces and nephews who would be recruited to babysit.

Both places offer the great outdoors.

Both places offer seasons, although they are more extreme in New England.

Both places offer an abundance of culture, good hospitals, and beautiful sights.

New England has awesome ice cream.

California has awesome wine.

According to my Uncle Bill, he would be happy anywhere that he went, so long as he had my Aunt Grace by his side. Being with the people that you love is the most important thing of all, where you are really doesn't matter. I know he's right. However, selecting the place where your family will grow up is a very tough call so I'd probably eat some ice cream, drink some wine and flip a coin.

Good luck and please let me know what you decide!

So many questions that I receive come in the form of e-mails. Please tell me again where you bought your children's hats? Would you please share more recipes with us? Are you going to keep up with your cancer fundraising, and if so - how? I've been knitting a blanket since January and still don't know how to end it. NO PRESSURE, but are there any plans to finish those knitting posts?

In short order:

We bought our children's hats at the San Diego Zoo, but you can buy them here.

Yes, I will share more recipes with you. Infact, now that Charlie will be home more, he is looking in to various creative outlets. At some point, hopefully soon, he will become a contributing author to this blog and it is his goal to post various recipes that he, himself, has concocted - or, adopted and adjusted along the way. We might start a new blog, just for him entitled, "Chez Charlie." Just ask anyone that has spent any time at our house ... my man can cook.

I'm happy to say that we will be continuing our cancer research fundraising efforts. I think I may have discovered a rather large loophole in the whole "illegality of the online raffle" thing. Stay tuned. More details are sure to follow.

One of the 19 posts that I have remaining has to do with how to cast-off. I actually filmed the video clip of me casting off and wrote out some detailed instructions, but I have yet to upload all of the photos to the post. I'll get around to it, soon. I promise.

In the meantime, I've been holding on to the baby blanket that I completed for Kim and her baby who was born earlier this year. Kim, if you are reading this, please send me an e-mail with your address so I can get this blanket off to you before your sweet baby girl is walking and conjugating verbs.

OK. With three blog posts within 24 hours, I think I've written enough today.

Oh ... But wait!! ... Would you look at this ...!!!

Charlie just revealed that a new movie from Netflix arrived. Don't worry. I'll be telling you about that later. Since I wrote this post, we've watched another 12.

Oops, I lied. One last thing. Aren't these posts without pictures BORING?

I think so, too.

So here's a picture of my husband introducing our two-year-old son to coffee.

Notice the tongue...

(There's nothing quite like sharing a beverage with a toddler.)

I can't stand the stuff, myself.

But Henry on the other hand ...

He loves it.

this post took 10 hours to write

My father and sister and seven-year-old nephew are visiting with us this week and we are having a great time together. After they'd been with us for a few hours and the kids stopped acting shy and were running through the house screaming like banshees, I joked that the cruise ship they saw in the San Diego harbor driving to our house from the airport - is the same boat that Charlie and I have tickets on, and we'd be leaving for Cancun in ... let's see what time is it now ... three hours.

Surely they'd be fine watching the kids while we partied in Mexico for a week. Right? My sister nervously laughed and asked "Sure. Where do you keep the Valium and velcro?"

We've been busy, busy and we have something scheduled to do every day this week. If people who are planning to come visit us in San Diego are looking for a relaxing vacation ... they might want to rethink their vacation destination. If the kids don't Tucker them out ... spending full days at the Zoo, Wild Animal Park, Sea World, Legoland, the beach, and our neighborhood pool surely will.

Since our computer is in the living room (aka: dining room / southern play space / guest room) my access to things like say ... my blog ... will be limited for the next few days. As time allows, I'll be addressing some of the questions that I've received over the past month. Because really, with three new people in the house - and activities scheduled almost every moment of almost every day - my brain capacity for writing about the motivation in teasing as a function of birth order and hair color, is nil.

So, with my next few updates, I'll answer questions about Montessori, what will happen to Henry if when I go back to work, plans for weaning, things I do with the kids for fun, and I'll also throw in a good recipe or two. Maybe, I'll also have the chance to publish the kitchen organizational post that I started working on twelve days ago.

*******

What would you do about benefits if you quit your job?

Currently all of our benefits are through my employer, but thankfully, Charlie works for a company that offers good benefits, too. Although, we would not be eligible for a 10% discount on gas, or three teeth cleanings a year ... we would have excellent medical and dental coverage. We would also have the option of visiting a chiropractor - if we so choose. And maybe I would, if I wasn't completely freaked out by the thought of someone "cracking" my neck and "adjusting" my spine.

How do you keep toys that your older kids play with, away from the baby?

All of the toys that I have out are toys that Henry can also play with. Toys with small parts or that are breakable (i.e. ceramic tea set) are tucked out of sight and I only allow the kids to play with them when they are sitting at the table and I can directly supervise what they are doing. Thus far, it hasn't been a problem because what the kids cannot see, they do not want to have. They stay happily entertained with all of the larger, nonbreakable toys or stuffed animals that they have access to.

Have you ever considered advertising on your blog to offset the cost of preschool?

Yes. And then, no. I'm not too sure about advertising. For those who do advertise on their blog, I'd like to know if the revenue generated is really worth having ads on the site. I've been contacted a few companies that have wanted to advertise here and I haven't been interested. If there is a particular product - or company - that I think is good enough to mention, I will. But I don't want to have random advertisements show up based on key words that are in a blog posting, that I may or may not endorse. Particularly when I write about the elongate and how this gate that expands to 14-feet was a life saver when our triplets were infants.

Go ahead. Type elongate on Google and tell me what you find.

questions, answers, discussions, conclusions. recommendations requested.

Someone recently asked if our children only use their small potty chair or if they also use the toilet. Because I do not yet trust the kids to have unsupervised access to the bathroom, they primarily use their potty chairs. Also, our home only has two toilets - and it is often the case that all three of the kids will be sitting on the potty (and sitting and sitting) on or about the same point in time. If, however, I am not busy preparing a meal - or feeding the baby - or doing a host of other things that I am consumed with every day - I will take them in to use the "big" potty.

For the most part, the kids use one of the potty chairs I have lined up along the kitchen wall. This system works great for now and I'm sure that with time, we will adjust to the kids using the bathroom without supervision.

The only problem with my current arrangement is that Henry is like a moth drawn to flame whenever he sees a potty chair.

*****

The UV one-piece swimsuits that the kids wear, were a Christmas gift from Alex and Kathleen and can be purchased at www.outdoorkids.com. We used them for the first time, in the pool, yesterday and they were perfect. They provide excellent coverage and dry a lot faster than if the kids were to wear a t-shirt over their bathing suit.

*****

We have two cameras: a Nikon D40x and a Canon PowerShot SD850 IS. I have yet to watch the instructional video that came with either camera. One day soon, I'd really love to take a photography class and gain a better understanding of Photoshop. Until then, I will be taking a lot of pictures that look like this.


And this.


And this.

*****

Our minivan is a Toyota Sienna XLE Limited.

I really had a difficult time making the conversion to a minivan, especially since the minivan replaced our convertible BMW and Jeep Grand Cherokee. However, in the four years that we've been drivers of a minivan, I can honestly say it is a wonderful vehicle. I am so glad that we went the minivan route as opposed to a larger SUV because parking is never a problem. The sliding doors on the sides make it extremely easy to get the kids in and out - and I never have to worry about finding an oversized parking spot for fear of banging doors against other cars.

The windows in the back can go up and down, the sliding doors and tailgate are remote-control operated, there is plenty of storage space, and the fuel efficiency is considerably better than I ever had with the Jeep. The only drawback is that it seats seven people. Or six - if four of those people are in carseats.

Although, Charlie is currently negotiating for a mini-Cooper, the next vehicle that we purchase will most likely be a 12-passenger van. I suspect that we'll need to get a whole new driver's license to operate such a monstrosity.

*****

I've recently heard that the reason the viruses that are going around are taking so long to combat, is because the antibacterial soaps and sprays people are using on their hands are making those viruses even stronger because they need to survive. And, a large portion of people that start antibiotics do not completely finish them, so those strains of bacteria become stronger, too.

Then, earlier this week, someone sent me a link to an ABC news segment that indicates Zicam causes anosmia, which is the loss of taste and smell. I had read about this allegation before, but I thought that Matrixx's response regarding "impaired" smell and taste when you have a head cold made good sense.

In light of this new information, I am seriously reconsidering the use of antibiotic hand soaps and sanitizers at all. Plain soap and water will do the trick just fine. Although I'm not entirely convinced that Zicam - if applied on a Q-Tip and not squirted directly in to your nostril - is harmful, my concern over the safety of this product has been elevated to a yellow threat level. Therefore, I will not be using it until further information becomes available.

In the meantime, I'll be consuming large quantities of wheatgrass and pomegranate juice for my physical well being, and O'Henry bars for my emotional.

*****

On Tuesday night, our neighbors came over to watch American Idol with us. During all of the commercial breaks, we discussed happenings in the 'hood.

We discussed our neighbor and his carpet cleaning business. We discussed another neighbor who rents a room to a boarder - and we think the boarder might be selling drugs because cars show up at odds times during the day and night and only stay for five minutes before speeding away. We discussed another neighbor that spotted her husband's car outside a motel on her way home from work. She convinced the front desk clerk to give her a key and she entered the room only to find her 50-year old husband with a 20-year old.

The neighbor with the carpet cleaning business is now conducting their business, elsewhere. They are allowed to park their vehicles for up to four hours a day in their driveway, but they no longer are discharging to the storm drain (that drains to the ocean and I know this because the storm drain has a dolphin painted on it) or the sewer, and there are no longer employee vehicles parked up and down the street. Our attention is now turned to our otherneighbor and her possible drug-trafficking-boarder and the bad-ass neighbor that found her husband with another woman and threw every single one of his possessions on the front lawn before turning on the sprinklers. She then popped his tires with an ice pick and chased him screaming down the street.

Living on a ranch in Montana with no neighbors for 100 miles is starting to sound really good again.

*****

Did I miss any questions? If so, please send me an e-mail and I promise to get them next time around.

But now! Here's a question for you!

Last week, in an attempt to get my mind off of falling 32,000 feet in a burning aircraft this coming Tuesday (March 11), I started playing with new blog templates. I also added a new statistics meter which shows the number of hits and geographic location of visitors that come to this site. I am amazed that this little blog is receiving almost 3,000 visits a day from people around the world.

In an attempt to further keep my mind off of falling 32,000 feet in a burning aircraft this coming Tuesday (March 11) ... please (please, please, please!) tell me what brought you here?

And also, what do you think of my new neon green format?

Erin Go Blah?

(Edited to add: if you missed the blog color that looked like the Hulk threw up on it, consider yourself lucky. The whole screen was the same color as the words in green, above. I've been busy hyperventilating packing all day and will provide an update, tomorrow. But I couldn't go another day knowing that I was causing retinal damage to so many good people.)

Q&A

It's been a while since I've done a Q&A and since I've received a lot of the same questions over the past month, I decided to answer them before I completely forget.

******

Q: Where was that picture of your mom in the blue dress taken?

A: That picture was taken at my sister Mary's wedding in ... June (?) ... of ... 197 .... uh ... 7? I've always thought that was one of the best pictures of my mother ever taken. She is absolutely stunning.

Q: How do you do strike through of your text or reference back to previous posts with in your posts?

A: I know very, very little about HTML, or that process of being all technical-like with blogging. But, to do strike through of a word or phrase, follow these commands, shown in parenthesis. Type the symbol (<) followed by the word (strike) followed by the symbol (>). Then, type the word or phrase you want to have struck through. Then, type the symbol (<) followed by the symbol (/) followed by the word (strike) followed by the symbol (>).

Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold. Peas porridge in the pot nine days old!!

Now, to refer back to a previous post, or other website, if you are using Blogger, you can simply click on the icon that looks like a little globe with an infinity sign on it, within your tool bar. Here are the steps ... open a new post on blogger. Start typing whatever it is that you want. Now, you want to link back to a story about your children learning their colors (or whatever!) that you wrote earlier in your blog.

Highlight the word that you want linked and go click that little globe icon. (You'll see font, text, bold, indent, color, and it's the very next icon. Sixth from the left on my template.) Then, open a new window and go to the post that you want linked. You need to click on the date/time stamp (at the bottom of the post with your signature), copy that from your URL window, and paste it in to the URL window on from your link icon, and hit OK. Now, when you look at the text in your blog, it will have a hyperlink back to whatever it is that you want linked.

Q: How and when are you planning to wean Henry?

A: I'm not planning anything at this point. I can already tell that he is nursing less since he's been eating solids and if he is anything like his siblings, I suspect that nursing will continue to slow down and taper off around 18 months. I'm definitely not in a rush. I love the nursing connection that I share with him.

Q: Where did you get those awesome wooden blocks?

A: I have searched high and low for a good set of wood blocks. I knew exactly the kind that I wanted to purchase, but had never been able to find any that fit the bill. All the wood blocks that I'd seen were too small, or didn't feel durable. As soon as I saw these blocks, I knew that they were perfect. They were a bit expensive, but you get what you pay for. I see toys that are constructed well as an investment because they will last forever and hopefully be something that our grandchildren will play with one day.

With that preamble in mind ... I bought the Preschool set of wooden blocks with a block case, online at Community Playthings. I also bought an entire fleet of village vehicles and wooden trucks. Including this big rig which the children actually sit on and ride around through our house. Almost all the toys that the children received for Christmas (with the exception of the princess bicycle), were constructed of wood. I'll be doing a write up once I get around to it, of some of the truly spectacular gifts they received.

Q: Do you have Henry on any kind of schedule?

A: Yes, I do, but it isn't nearly as stringent as the schedule I had with our triplets. For the most part, I'll nurse Henry every morning anywhere between 4 and 6 AM (sometimes between 4 and 6 AM) and then I'll feed him breakfast around 8. I'm working on getting him to nap in his crib at around 9 or 9:30, but this is tricky because we are so often darting out of the house - that those times when I want him to nap in his crib, he really resists it. He usually sleeps for only 45 minutes to an hour (whether in his crib or carseat or stroller - depending upon where we are) and then I'll nurse him again around noon.

He takes his second nap of the day around 1 or 2, which is typically the same time I try putting the triplets down for their only nap of the day. This nap will also last around 45 minutes, although one day last week, he snoozed for three hours. I'm also trying to get him to take this nap in his crib, with mixed success. I'll nurse him once more in the afternoon (he might take a 15 minute or so catnap) and then I've been feeding him dinner promptly at 5 PM. He goes sleep in his crib, without nary a fuss, between 6:30 and 7, every night. Then he's up again 4 and 5 AM to start anew....

Q: Have the triplets given any indication of giving up their nap?

A: Yes. If I let them, they will skip their nap, completely. For a few days, I let them skip it and then I realized that life was miserable for everyone when the children didn't sleep in the afternoon. Life was especially miserable for me. So, I reinstated the nap. There are certain challenges with having more children then we do bedrooms. I've had to split the girls up - one in our room - one in their room, because they play around too much and don't sleep.

Today I had William sleeping on a couch in the living room while Henry was crying-it-out in his crib; Elizabeth was sleeping in our bed and Carolyn was sleeping in the girls room. Meanwhile, Charlie and I stood quietly in the kitchen and played 15 games of Boggle.

Usually, I'll try and get them down anywhere between 12:45 and 1:30. They will typically sleep for two hours, although William will sometimes only sleep for 45 minutes. It always happens that I no sooner get Henry down for his nap that William is waking up. Although it would be nice to have more quiet time to myself in the afternoon, I really have been enjoying the one-on-one time with William while everyone else is sleeping. I think he enjoys it too, which is why he sleeps so little during the day.

Q: Where did you find that fanantastic sink?

A: Ah, yes, how we LOVE our kitchen sink! It is but one of the reasons we opted not to move in to a larger house last year. I couldn't stand the thought of leaving that sink behind. Someone told me that we wouldn't be able to bathe our children that much longer in the sink, but I respectfully disagree. Heck, if I wanted to - I could take a bath in it. We installed the sink ourselves when we did a kitchen remodel a few years ago. It is a stainless steel undermount manufactured by Blanco.

Q: Do you have any recommendations for toys or gifts for children?

A: I have a lot of recommendations, but it is late and I must get to bed soon. So, I'll say this. Books are great. Books are awesome. Books are probably my favorite gift to give and to receive. Books are my children's favorite toy. I'll be posting something soon on some of our current favorite books, but in the meantime, here's a teaser... if it says anywhere on the book "Winner of the Caldecott Medal" it's guaranteed to be great.

If you don't like the idea of a book, consider giving cash. Let the parents decide what the child needs or - better yet, let them put the money in to an educational fund.

Q: Can you post something about how you guys stay organized?

A: Yes, I would love to. I think that we've learned a lot about optimizing our organizational strategies because we are in a rather small house with a rather large family. I'll do a whole string of posts on this very topic because I have a confession to make. I'm an organizational junkie. I look at baskets and plastic bins and label makers with the same kind of lust that a druggie looks at crack cocaine.

Or a dieter looks at ice cream.

Or a sleep-deprived mother of four looks at a pillow top.

Before I go, here's a question for you.

How is it possible that children as precious as these...

Are capable of turning in to villains that dunk their father's brand new iPod in a glass of ice water, under the premise that it needed a "bath"?

since you asked ...

I'm not very good about responding to questions when they are left as comments and because it's been a while since I've done a Q&A session, this is it.

Pour yourself a drink and put up your feet!!

Q1. What color paints did we use during our recent re-model?

A1. We used Behr (Home Depot) sandstone for our family room and living room and Behr cracked wheat for our bedroom. Our house had been largely painted in Navajo white previously and we're really happy with the new colors. With the hardwood floors it feels very warm and I love it.

Although, I wasn't loving it when Elizabeth slipped under the radar for 2-minutes yesterday, grabbed a stick of cherry Chapstick and created her own version of "art" on the walls and baseboards in our bedroom.


Q2. Whatever happened to Alexandria Helena? Was she found?

A2. Yes, and thanks for asking! She was found a few weeks after she disappeared. It turns out that she had left the house on her own volition, but as a minor - her parents were terrified. It is extremely frightening what can and does happen to children that run away from home. What's even more scary is that the police do not invest much time or effort in to looking for these runaways, and as a result, many of them never return.

Q3. Please provide an update on Poppa Alex.

Q3. Again, thanks for asking! Poppa Alex is doing much better. After his scary falling accident in June, he remained in Costa Rica for several more weeks. He returned to the US and is taking it extremely easy for the time being. There are plans for him and Kathleen to come and visit us and meet baby Henry in September and we are looking forward to seeing them.

Q4. Where does the name "Coleman" come from?

A4. Coleman is my mother's maiden name.

Q5. What would Henry's name have been, if he'd been a girl?

A5. I'm not sure why boys names are so difficult for me ... but I had a wide assortment of girls names picked out. If our baby boy had been a baby girl, he would have had either Mary or Margaret as a first name followed by a middle name of Alice, Anne or Jane. These are all family names, except Jane, which I just love.

I'm enjoying this singleton parenting stuff so much, that you never know ... we might have an opportunity to use one of those baby girl names in the future.

(That's right, a mere five weeks later and I've already forgotten the discomforts of pregnancy and delivery.)

Q6. How do you watch 3-2 year olds and nurse a baby when you're at the park?

A6. A better question is how do I look after 3-2 year olds and nurse at ANY time?!

Enter Baby Bjorn.


I have it set very high, so Henry is situated right at "bar level". With a simple receiving blanket draped over his head and a stretchable tank top, I can feed him while on the move. It took a few days to get "the girls" broken in ... 25.4 exactly ... but this arrangement works quite well. I'm really amazed that I can push a child on the swing while nursing our baby.

I haven't tried going down the slide and don't know that I will. But if it is something I do, rest assured, you'll be among the first to know about it.

Our children are pretty good about sticking together and will follow each other, like a pack. It started when they were younger and I would take them to the park every day by myself. In order to keep everyone together, I would herd them from one thing to the next.

I do need to add that Charlie started a 4-week paternity leave this past week. So although I currently have another set of eyes when we go to the park, once he returns to work - I'll be on my own.

Because I don't ever want to take on more than I can handle when I'm out in public with our children (due to my overwhelming fear that something will happen to them) I am not planning to take any chances and venture out alone ... at least not yet. I can chase down three toddlers easy enough. But three toddlers AND a newborn who is vertically nursing might be pushing it.

Q7. Since you're not as modest this time around, please post a picture of your vertical nursing!

A7. Ah, but of course!!


Q8. What do you do when they all start screaming at once?

A8. How I discipline our children could be an entire posting in and of itself ... and entirely depends upon on the situation.

If they are tired - I'll make sure that they have their loveys and then I'll tell them to knock it off because their whining and screaming hurts my ears. Then, I try and get them in to bed as soon as possible.

If they are frustrated over something - like leaving the park or sharing a toy - I will get down at their eye level, have them look right at me and ask what the problem is. Once I establish eye contact, they are usually able to describe in a way that I can understand what is troubling them. I will try to rectify the situation or explain why things aren't going the way they want (for instance it's time to go home and we'll come back to the park tomorrow ... OR ... we have to take turns with all of our toys).

The most important thing is consistency.

I. DO. NOT. CAVE when they start whining or screaming, not even if we are in public. I don't want them to think that their bad behavior can influence the way I respond. If anything, they are quickly learning that their whining and screaming never has a good outcome.

These little people are smart and it's extremely important to set limits and stick to them. At all costs, I try not to start screaming, too.

Q9. Since it's broken twice in less than two months, maybe you need to consider replacing your refrigerator.

A9. If the refrigerator was older than 18 months, I would agree. But the problem is, we spent $1,000.00 on this Maytag (Kenmore brand) refrigerator less than two years ago. Our primary refrigerator in the house, a KitchenAid Superba (to match the dishwasher) is very small and could never hold the orange juice and milk requirements for a week at our house - let alone all the other food that we need to keep cold.

The compressor went out on our second refrigerator in late June and it took almost three weeks to have repaired (this was during the same time our dishwasher was broken for the umpteenth time). When I noticed that my beer was warm two weeks ago, we checked the temperature and sure enough, it was failing again. What really had us concerned is that our KitchenAid refrigerator - in the house - was ALSO failing.

Miraculously, our KitchenAid refrigerator fixed itself the next day. Yesterday, when the Sears technician came to check our Kenmore refrigerator, he said that it had also miraculously repaired itself. Unfortunately, not before all of the food that had been in the refrigerator went bad before we realized the problem.

The technician told us that with these new "computerized" refrigerators, they fail a lot more frequently than they used to. Sometimes, unplugging it and plugging it back in again will reset the computer and fix the problem. I thought he was kidding and started laughing out loud.
Turns out, he was serious.

Because I'd like something a little more dependable to refrigerate the $200.00++ worth of food that we purchase every week, I'm debating buying 40 dorm refrigerators like the one I had in college.

Q10. What is your banana bread recipe?

A10. Here is a link to the recipe I provided back in October.

But wait!!!

There's a twist!!!

When I came home from the hospital with Henry, one of our good friends brought over a loaf of banana bread that was positively awesome. Their *secret* ingredient was chocolate chips.

That's right.

They threw semi-sweet chocolate chips in to the batter and it turned run-of-the-mill banana bread in to heavenly goodness. I added a cup of chocolate chips to our recipe earlier this week and 48 muffins were gone in about 12 hours.

Just think of the possibilities... if I were to use this *secret* ingredient in other dishes, I might be able to get our children to eat broccoli!