I almost never have sex dreams, but I frequently have "falling in love" dreams these days. In many ways, they're the worse of the two.

Yet another sign that my children have turned me into an old person:

"Testing out the new couch" now means sleeping on it, not having sex on it.

I know it's hard to believe that any story that starts with "so, my son had been barfing for four hours straight" can end on a happy note, but bear with me.

Ben spent all of yesterday afternoon throwing up. It was really gross. I can handle most of the messier parts of being a parent, but vomit does me in every time. I cut him back to toast and water, and when he threw up the toast, cut him back further to just water. By bedtime, he was hungry and furious and pathetic and I was grossed out and tired and pathetic and we made a pretty sad sack team. Any time Ben was anywhere near me, he was scrabbling at my chest, begging to nurse, and I just had to keep saying no.

Knowing that I would never be able to get him back to sleep without nursing him, I asked Andrew to take the night shift, and to my utter shock, he reluctantly agreed, and I had the promise of a whole night of sleep without getting up!

In the end, I did get up once with them - Ben was REALLY mad that it was Andrew and not me, and after 20 minutes of screaming, I caved and nursed him, and then waited around for half an hour to make sure that he kept it down - but on a normal night, I'm up at least 3 times and it's not unusual to be up 5 times. The universe was kinder with Andrew - the 1 am wake-up was the only time he had to get up last night. Regardless, I got a stretch of sleep that was almost four hours long, and that's a record for me lately. I'll take it and be grateful.

I don't really have anywhere that I feel like I can vent right now, and my normal "fake it till you make it" just isn't working. Every day, it seems just that much harder to slap a cheerful smile on to face the world. With that being said, if I continue to post here, it's probably not going to be puppies and sunshine for the foreseeable future. I'm too busy saving that for talking to people IRL. This might be a good time to unfriend me and save yourself some vicarious misery - I really really really won't mind.

And now, if you'll excuse me, my son has been vomiting uncontrollably for the last two hours, and I have a crap-ton of laundry to do.

(After Hanna's sudden interest in knock knock jokes yesterday, we spent part of dinner last night trying to teach her how they work, specifically using the "orange you glad I didn't say banana" joke as an example. She broke out this one this morning.)

Hanna: Knock knock.

Andrew: Who's there?

Hanna: Daddy Pants

Andrew: Daddy Pants who?

Hanna: Orange.

Andrew: ???

Hanna: I believe I didn't say banana.


*snicker*

The monkey just figured out how to climb out of the three-point harness on her umbrella stroller. While I expected her to figure it out at some point, this is a particularly bad time - the Stowaway is two weeks old, and I'm just starting to take them out in public together on my own, with her in the stroller and the baby in a sling. We were at the grocery store when she did it today, and happily for me, one of the cashiers helped me get her back into the stroller, but I'm terrified that she's going to repeat the trick while we're crossing the street or at some other horribly dangerous juncture.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I'm looking to buy a light-weight umbrella-style stroller with a five-point harness. At the moment, I'm looking at the Maclaren Triumph - it seems light enough, and the online reviews I've read seem pretty positive, but I don't know anyone who has one that can give me the lowdown.

Can any of you mom-and-dad types offer any advice? Are there any other brands or models that I should consider? My budget is about $200.

Thanks!!

The Monkey just gave me a misplaced headbutt with her mouth wide open, and cut the bridge of my nose with her teeth.

Bets on if I'll get a shiner?

So, here at the old ranch we're trying to cut back on grocery expenses in an effort to save for a 2 month camping trip (!) next summer. I'm a terrible cook, and this is forcing me to be a little more creative in my meal planning.

Tonight I had a cooked chicken breast to use up, along with some fruit and veggies that Andrew picked up at the market, and voila! Curried chicken and apple wraps were born! Even the Monkey loved them, and she's normally a bit of a picky eater, so I though I'd share the recipe.

Curried Chicken and Apple Wraps

1 chicken breast, diced
1 half apple, diced
2 large spoonsful of mayo or miracle whip
1/2 tsp curry powder (I used "hot" , and it wasn't too spicy at all!)
1/2 tsp garam masala

multi-grain wraps
lettuce
tomato
cucumber

Mix the spices with the mayo thoroughly, and then dump in the chicken and apple. Stir well then spoon onto your wrap. Add the lettuce, tomato, etc - any sandwich toppings you'd like, and then wrap it up.

Enjoy!