Buster Reads You A Bedtime Story

**I typed this verbatim as my three-year-old, Buster Brown, read aloud from his sister's book.  You are welcome. **

(He gives it "two fumbs up.")

There are so many things we can learn about webs.  And when the sun comes down and the moon goes up.  Next page.  And ALWAYS, always we learn about boots.  We always always always always always always always always live on earth.  The end.  There are so many fings we can learn about earth.  First page:  The beginning.  The sun sun sun.  You’re supposed to be up.  Spider web:  so many ways to learn about earth.  You will always learn—wait—you’re not on that page.  First page:  W.  You always live on earth and you always learn about earth.  Next:  You always always always—wait—next page—you always always always always always always always always always always always live on earth.  AND you always always always always always always always always live on earth.  More pages:  AND you always live on earth by the other planets AND the sun.  And the sun is hot and the temperature is the hottest.  And Venus is the hottest.  And Neptune is the coldest and Saturn has rings.  And there are other planets with rings, too.  The End.  C-H-A-R-L-O-TT-E-S W-E-B E-B-W-H-I-T-E.  Always always always Planet Earth. 

Linking, Linking, and More Linking

Buster weighs 15 pounds now! He is half the size and twice the age of FattyFatFat!

Man. Things have been busy here in El Paso! First we had that thing, then that other thing, then napping. Man. Busy!

In the meantime, here are some random bits and pieces I keep wanting to tell you about but haven't, due to the Busy.

1. I have found the PERFECT laundry concoction, in terms of smells and washingness. First, Method detergent in Clean Linen Scent. It comes in a pump and you use four squirts for your load. No drippy cups or measuring things or spouts. Also, refillable. THEN ADD THE SECRET INGREDIENT: Purex Crystals. They look like rock salt but smell like Lavender (in the scent I get, which is what you should get) and you put them in the wash and they sniff up your laundry in a serious fashion. Like, the other day I was lounging in bed and noticed a lovely scent and sniffed my undershirt and was all "Hey! Lavender!" and we all know I had been wearing it for, like, twelve days due to the Busy. If you go to Facebook and search for Purex and Like them they will give you a buck off. Which I am all about because I am a pimp for Facebook coupons.

2. Did you watch Downton Abbey this January? No? How about Upstairs Downstairs? No? You are dead to me. Go watch Upstairs Downstairs until May 24 on PBS.org. I am re-watching UD after refreshing myself on the politics of abdication and all the back-players in the British fascist regime. ARE YOU HAPPY, CARINA?

3. Nick Jr and the like need to stop importing shows from Canada. Aside from Kids in the Hall and the original, non-soft-core Degrassi Canada shows are crap. I point to Dino Dan if you need proof. I am not linking because I hate it that much.

4. I signed up for this site that gives me free stuff if I blog about it or whatever, and I haven't done much with it because I haven't been thrilled with the things. But then they sent me the L'oreal Double Extend Mascara Of The Gods and now I am telling you that you need to get it. It is amazing. And I am a High-Ticket Mascara purchaser. The also sent me the L'oreal One Sweep Eye Shadow and it is pretty rad, too, but I am not as fanatic about eye shadow as I am about mascara, so it is not as exciting to me. But this mascara, freaking awesome. My lashes look really really really really long. And SPARKLY.

5. Six more weeks of kindergarten. We had to order a cap and gown for Jooj. Really.

Back soon with more things. And Buster. Which I know is all anyone wants to see. And Jooj, for Continuity and Sass.


I was sent the L'oreal makeup to review, but the opinions are mine. If Purex or Method or PBS or England or Wallis Simpson or Fascism want to send me anything, I would totally take it. Canada, please stop sending me your television shows.

We Swing Over the Scorpions and the Dog Poop.

(I am linking this up here for Family Fridays)

Just a Minute in a Day in the Life

This is what you are missing when you don't visit me.

Untitled from

Why I Stopped Blogging

Buster in the hospital sink

I think that the blogging really stopped in January--that's when everything came to a standstill for me. (I blame the Christmas Letter wherein I wrote that I was looking forward to a much easier year when 2011 rolled along.)

The holidays were super busy, as holidays tend to be, and we had to reschedule Buster's checkups a few times due to unexpected family events and illnesses. By the time we made it to the clinic it had been two months since his last appointment. He had not gained even an ounce in two months. Not one ounce.

The doctor took one look at him and called the hospital where he was born.

Diagnosis: failure to thrive and severe anemia and possession of the worst mother ever.


I drove him to the hospital where he was admitted and given a private room, as he was the only kid on the ward without RSV, and we lived there, on the fifth floor, for seven days, and that's when I kind of shut down.

I was in charge of his food, of making it, of the delivery system, of the waste retrieval--how had I missed this? Partly I know it was because we were always told "He is a preemie--he will be small for a while." But how was I to know that he was too small?

If I am being honest, there were whispers. Proddings and nudges to my spirit. And I dismissed them, mostly because of pride.

The ONE thing my body did correctly was make milk--and it made a boatload. So how could it not be enough? I would not entertain the idea, no matter how often it popped into my head, that it was not doing the job.

I needed to quantify that I was a good mother. And nursing did that for me. And starved my son in the process*.

And so we spent a week in the hospital fattening Buster up. Drying my supply with cabbage leaves. Teaching the boy to sit up and roll and smile and sleep for longer than 90 minutes at a stretch. (Apparently he was not fussy or sensitive, just hungry.) Teaching me to rely on the Holy Ghost again, and to listen and obey willingly and quickly. And one of the messages I heard loud and clear was "Focus on yourself and your home and your family and put away everything else."

And that's why I left the internets.


*I am absolutely not advocating giving up nursing or not ever breast feeding. Don't pull that crap.