Pasta Cole

Mr. Cole sure loves his pasta.  Especially with marinara sauce.  We had some on Sunday, and the boy probably ate more than both of his brothers combined.

I especially love how he rubs it in his hair.

And by love I mean hate.  He's so fair it took two scrubbings with shampoo to get the orange tint out.

Bowling Oops

So yesterday I decided that for a fun Spring Break activity I would take the kiddos bowling at the Purdue student union today.  I checked the website to make sure it would be open, for the prices, etc., and then emailed a bunch of our friends to see if they would like to come join us.  By this morning we had a good sized group that was going to join us.  Fun!

I finally got all the kids loaded into the car, we drove down to campus, found parking (not always easy), unloaded the kiddos, wandered around a very non-stroller-friendly student union, and then finally found the bowling alley.  Only to be told that the lanes weren't open to the public today.

Dang it.

I felt so bad.  Here I had not only promised the boys a morning of fun but also enticed several of my friends to drag all their kiddos down here for nothing as well.

So.  I decided that we'd still have a morning of fun - in our basement.  Time for a major playdate!  Within the hour all four of us moms and our collective 14 children (ranging in age from infant to 8 years old) were playing and eating snacks in our basement.

It was busy, it was LOUD, and it was fun. :)  In fact, I think I probably had more fun with this giant playdate than I would have had chasing Cole around the bowling alley.

Josh said it best during the middle of it all.  He excitedly ran up to me, huge smile on his face, and said, "It's like a giant party!!!"

Real Heroes

I really, really like the Real Heroes posters.  Have you seen them before?  They're awesome.  I just think they look really cool, especially in little boys' rooms.

(Side note: they are LDS themed, but even if you're not Mormon they also have some really great Bible and American Hero posters.)

I had a couple for the boys at the last house but never put them up after we moved.  I finally got around to unpacking them a couple of weeks ago (I know.  I know!) and decided that we needed a few more.  I like the 11x17 size, which I put into cheap $4 poster frames.  I think they look great.

Tonight for Family Home Evening I introduced the new posters to the boys.  I was actually really impressed at how much of the stories they knew for each one.  (Score for good parenting points!)  We went through each one and then had a little quiz, where for each right answer the boys won a piece of candy.  It was, not surprisingly, very well received.

(I knew they would do well on the quiz because for the opening prayer Josh said, "... and please bless that we will get lots of candy..."  Awesome parenting again, right?)

Here's the poster we originally got for Spencer:

 

Honestly?  I just thought he'd really like all the swords and how cool Helaman looks.  But I also hope that he will look at this and emulate the Stripling Warriors' faith and Helaman's courage. 

And here's the one we originally got for Josh:

I think it's pretty obvious why we got this for Joshua - it's an AWESOME picture of Joshua at the battle of Jericho!  Plus, when I bought the poster this was often how we found Josh around the house: hollering at the top of his lungs in the wake of destruction he left behind him.  (He was going through a phase...)

This time I got this poster for Spencer:

He loves the story of Samuel the Lamanite.  To be honest, I think he's more enthralled with the idea of the stones and arrows that missed him while he was up on that wall.  But hopefully he'll also get the broader message - of doing what the Lord requires, even when it's hard and scary.

This is the poster we just got for Joshie:

Joshie luurrrves animals right now.  And he lurrrvees the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den.  Hopefully he will also grow up to love the Lord and do what he knows is right, even when it's hard.  Or full of lion-consequences. :)

This is the poster I got for Cole:

The story of Joseph is one of my favorites of all time.  And Josh and Spencer were both enthralled as we went through the basics of Joseph's adventure.  (Cole was too busy being a toddler to listen, but that's okay.)  They were also impressed with the thought of Joseph having 11 brothers who sold him as a slave; hopefully they won't get any ideas.  I got this one for Cole not only because he's the youngest brother, but also because at his baby blessing Lance blessed him that he would be a peacemaker in his home.  I think Joseph is a great example of that.  (Now excuse me, but I need to go get started on the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat I'm making for him...)

Don't think I've forgotten baby girl Madsen.  I haven't bought anything for her yet since I want to get to know her personality first, but here are a few of my favorite 'girl' posters:

I just love the colors in this one of Mary.  And could you ask for a better example?

This one of Ruth is also pretty.

And this one of the Pioneers?  Love it.  (I've often said that I would have made a terrible pioneer.  I would have.  But that doesn't mean I don't admire all that they did!)

Momma Says...

"Cole! Hands out of diaper!"

"Josh! Hands out of pants!"

"Spencer! Hands out of pants!"

(Ahhh... life with boys.)

Kindle Cover

Being just about immobile means that I have get a little creative to feel at least a little bit productive each day.  Today that meant making a cover for my Kindle.

Side note: I love my Kindle.  One of the best birthday presents ever.  Lance is probably regretting his decision to buy it for me since I read it all the time and late into the night when I'm battling heartburn, but he's also smart enough not to make any smart-aleky remarks about it either.  (He's witnessed my Fists of Death.)

So last week I found this completely to die for wool felt hair band tutorial on Make It and Love It.  It soon became pretty obvious that I would be the world's worst mother if our baby didn't have a few of these hairbands when she was born, so I ordered some felt and it finally came the other day.  (I ordered it from here, in case you're wondering.  Waaaay cheaper than the place recommended on the tutorial and the felt is really good quality.)

Previously I had thought about making a Kindle cover out of cotton or flannel, but then I realized how much easier it would be to make with felt.  I didn't even use a pattern.  Viola!

As you can see, the nice weather this week put me in a Spring-like mood.  I really like the flowers, although I definitely need some more practice cutting them out.

I put a button on the back.  I've sewn plenty of buttons before, but I don't think I've ever had to put in a button hole.  It's a little off-center, but not enough for me to redo the project!

The front and back are different colors because the felt squares I got were only 9x12", which was just a tad too small for this project.

Productivity: achieved!

Completely Unnecessary

Dear Body,

There's no need to continue with these inconsistent and slightly painful contractions.  You don't need to practice or get into shape for delivery day.  This babe's getting sliced out of you, remember?  No contracting, no pushing, just a rather long and highly uncomfortable recovery.

So you see?  These contractions are completely unnecessary.

These contractions hurt and make me tired and also a little nervous - you had better not be planning on going into labor any time soon.  I have plans.  I have things to do.  I have family coming in from out of town and they expect to see a brand new baby, not some old 3 week old.

So knock it off.  You're bugging me.  And I have fists of death.

You have been warned.

Love,

Me

An Experiment

Josh and Spencer complain about dinner Every. Night.

Seriously, without fail.  I will cook them something they've gobbled down in the past, but before I can even finish telling them what we're having they're whining and complaining about how gross it is. 

Spencer is the worst offender.  With all the sensitivity of a 7 year old boy he will walk into the kitchen and declare that whatever it is I'm cooking (and most of the time he doesn't know what that is) smells AWFUL and DISGUSTING and there is NO WAY he's going to eat it.

Spencer spends a lot time of time in his bedroom right before dinner.

So I've given up.  If they're gonna complain and be rude, I'm just gonna make what I want to eat for dinner.  It only makes sense - I'm the one doing all the work.  If I want a vegetarian butternut squash stew served over couscous (which is soooo yummy!), then that's what we're having.

You don't like it?  What a surprise.  Too bad.

Anywho, yesterday at the grocery store I discovered that the strawberries are starting to go on sale and actually look halfway decent, so I bought a couple of boxes.  Then I decided to use them in a little experiment on my kids.

HYPOTHESIS:  My kids will complain about what we're having for dinner no matter what I make.  Even if we're having dessert.

Okay, so I didn't really and truly serve a dessert.  But it's about as close to dessert without being dessert as you can be.

I give you Strawberry Shortcake French Toast.

Yes.  Yes it was as good as it looked.  Yummers.

How could I go wrong?  The boys love french toast.  They love syrup.  They love strawberries and they love whipped cream.  Combined, this would be an unstoppable meal.

So anywho, I called the boys into dinner.  (Lance was working late.) 

Joshie: What's that smell?
Spencer: Yeah, it smells like... smells like...
Joshie: It smells like dessert!
Me: It is!  We're having dessert for dinner!
Joshie and Spencer: Yay!!
Me (pulling out dinner): Yes!  We're having strawberry shortcake french toast!  Yum!
Joshie and Spencer: EEEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!  Gross!
Me: Mother of pearl! #$%$&#$%!!!

It took a bit of threatening but they each finally took a bite.  And then another bite.  And then another.  Spencer ended up eating three pieces.  Josh ate most of his.  There was plenty of complaining, but there was also plenty of eating.

I'm not sure if I won this battle or not.  Whatever.

By the way, Cole is my super eater.  He eats pretty much whatever I make and he eats a lot of it.  This makes me so happy!

Of course, he's super messy with whatever he's eating.  He prefers the fistful-of-food-crammed-entirely-into-his-mouth method of eating.  This does not make me very happy.  But as long as he's not complaining, then neither am I.

Momma Says...

"Cole, toothbrushes do not belong in our ears."

Self-portrait: Week 36

Ooooh boy.  I think we can all safely agree that this baby has dropped.  At my appointment on Thursday the doctor confirmed that she was head down all ready.

Not that I needed him to tell me this.  This child has been using my bladder as a pillow for at least a week now.  Oy.

Once again, I'm noticing a strange phenomenon that seems to occur every time I get to this point in a pregnancy: people forget to actually think before they speak.

Specifically, they seem to lose all rational thought as to social mores concerning what you should and should not say to a pregnant lady.

More specifically, they seem to feel the undying need to make some sort of comment about the size of my ever-expanding belly.  In public.  Loudly.

What they should say is something like this: "Wow, Maren, you look great!  You're just glowing from head to toe!" 

But instead they say something along the lines of: "HOLY COW.  You have gotten SO HUGE!  When in the world is that baby going to come out?  I mean, seriously, you are defying the laws of physics just by walking around!!  CAN YOU HEAR ME ABOVE THAT LARGE BELLY OF YOURS, OR SHOULD I SPEAK UP?!"

See, if they actually said the first thing I would totally know they were lying.  And that's okay.  I'd go along with it and respond with something along the lines of: "Thanks!  That's so nice of you!"

But instead I am forced to fake a smile and lie through my teeth when they come at me with the second comment: "Yeah... I'm bigger!  Ermm... Thanks!"

When what I really want to say is something along the lines of: "Look, dingus, I KNOW I am getting large.  I'M the one who's pregnant; I'M the one who can barely walk because of this dang sciatica and the constant need to pee.  But I'm only gonna get larger, and you offering your oh-so-stellar insights into my rather uncomfortable current physical doesn't help anyone, especially me.  So, shut it or BEWARE MY FISTS OF DEATH!!!"

And then I would use my fists of death, which is another rather violent post altogether.

Anywho, let this be a warning to you about what you say to pregnant women.  Or you might just have to deal with her fists of death.

Josh is Special

Today we got to take home Joshie's preschool memory book.  It's full of little bios on each of the children, plus pictures from the activities they've had so far.  It's really cute. 

I wasn't at all surprised when I came to Joshie's bio:

The boys got a huge kick out of the last question; for whatever reason "I don't know yet" is absolutely hysterical to 4 and 8 year old boys.

What I liked best was Joshie's look in the picture.  I'm sure his teachers tried to get him to smile and look happy, but this was the best they got.

Classic Josh.  You sure are my special boy all right. ;)

Mom & Dad Dinners, Kid Dinners, and Why Grandpa and Grandma Are Really Coming

There were two LAN parties scheduled for this month.  Two weekends in a row.  To put it bluntly, I was none too thrilled about this.  Mainly because it's getting really hard for me to get the kiddos into bed by myself now.  Not that I can't - it's just hard and frustrating and the kids know this and thrive on it.  Plus, (don't read this part, Lance), Lance can get pretty crabby after LAN parties because of lack of sleep.  And I'm already crabby enough for the both of us, for obvious reasons.

Anywho.  On Friday he showed me that he really and truly and really again loves me more than his LAN parties because - and pay attention to this, because I never thought I'd be writing it - he stayed home from the LAN party and took me out to dinner.  He even got a babysitter.

Holy cow.

We went to Hu Hot Mongolian Grill, which I had been wanting to go to for a while.  It was AWESOME!!  Seriously, loved it.  Now, is it as authentic as real Mongolian grills?  No.  But is it yummy?  Definitely.  It was made even better by the fact that we didn't have three little boys bugging us every five seconds.  We even splurged and got dessert at the end - s'mores that you make at your table.  Ours took a while to cook because we were right under an air conditioning vent, but they were tasty nonetheless.  (I have a thing for s'mores, did you know?  I lurrrve them.)

It was a really nice evening.  Totally worth the awful heartburn bebe Madsen provided late into the evening.

On Saturday we had the complete opposite kind of dinner.  Every March I restock our 72 hour kits, which means we have a week of lots of preservative, sodium, and fat laden foods.  The boys luuurrrve it.  I decided it was time to get rid of all that we could, and laid out a spread of cup-o-noodles, canned fruit, fruit snacks, crackers, granola bars, Pop Tarts, and other sundry items. 

The boys were in heaven.  They ate and ate and didn't even complain.  (A minor miracle.)

Josh even squealed and announced "This is the best dinner ever!"

This is why we don't take them to places like Hu Hot.

During this dinner we started talking about the upcoming month.  We talked about how Spring officially starts on the 20th but it probably won't get really warm very soon.  (Much to Josh's dismay.)  We talked about Spring break and when Easter is.  Then I said, "What's going go happen in about a month?  Something really big and exciting!"

Blank stares.

"You know, something we've been waiting for for a long time.  It'll happen in around 29 days."

Crickets chirping.

"Okay, why are grandpa and grandma coming out to visit?"

Without missing a beat Joshie jumped up from his chair and practically shouted, "To take us to Chuck-E-Cheese!"

Well.  I couldn't argue with that. 

I guess in a four year old's view getting a baby sister is completely secondary to going to Chuck-E-Cheese.

Baby Girl Madsen's Room

This week I've been working on getting the baby's room ready.  Do you remember how ferociously pink it used to be?  Here's a reminder:

Now that's pink.  (And you should have seen it with the afternoon sun shining in - blazing pink!)

Well, I had been toying with the idea of painting over either the dark pink or the light pink, but I couldn't decide what color nor how else to decorate.  Complicating matters is the fact that I just don't believe in spending a lot of money on decorating a nursery.  Why?  The babies just don't care.  Crazy decorated nurseries are for the mom, not the baby.  I'm not judging those who do go all out; if that's what makes them happy then good for them!  But that's just not me. 

Then I rediscovered a quilt my mom had bought in Hawaii for Spencer before we knew Spencer was a girl.  (Don't worry, Spencer.  I'm glad you were a boy!  And grandma Wendy got over it very quickly!)  Amazingly, this quilt perfectly matched the darker pink in the room, and it coordinated with the green in the rocker I recovered before Cole was born.

Awesome.

So last weekend I had Lance paint the upper half of the room a nice off-white.  It really tones down the whole room, and even though I would probably never choose that dark color pink, I think it now looks nice.

So, here's where the quilt now hangs.

Right now I should ask you to please ignore the mess in the room.  I love you readers, but there's no way I was going to bend down and tidy up for these pics.  That's just the person I am.

To match the quilt I made some art out of coordinating paper.   Then I put them in some frames that I already had.  I think they turned out okay, but I'm not in love with them.  (In fact, I'm already thinking of replacing them with some wool felt flowers like these. Darling!)

They hang above the crib.

Over in the corner is the rocker.  (Cole decided to get in on the action, but of course would never turn around and pose.)

And just above that I have hung my (newly whitened with Oxi Clean - go Oxi Clean!) baby blessing dress.

I had an extra picture, so I put it right by the door.  I like it there.

And here's one last pic, showing Cole's preferred - and much more perilous - method of getting into the rocker.  He can get in the right way, he just chooses not to.  He also then rocks as hard as he can, making the rocker bang against the wall, no matter how far away I place it.

Pesky toddler.

Favorite Quote of the Day

It seems like every day one of my kids says something awesome that I want to remember forever.  Or I catch myself saying something to my kids that no one else in the history of mankind has ever said.  Then I plan on blogging about it but completely forget to.

I'm gonna try better at catching these phrases, mainly because I think my kids will probably get a big kick out of them when they're older.

For example, our resident paleontologist, Joshie, loves to spout off dinosaur facts for long stretches of time.  He gets really excited and runs around and kinda forgets basic English grammar.  I'll admit, I don't always pay the closest attention to everything he says... because I'm a bad mom.  (But we've established this fact before.)  But yesterday I happened to catch this little gem:

"And this dinosaur has like 18 brains!  But this other one has just one really big brain!  A BIG BRAIN!  And the bigger the brain, the smarter it be's!!"

"The smarter it be's."  Love it.

Then this morning, during our green eggs and ham breakfast, I looked up and caught myself saying:

"Joshie!  We don't use forks to scratch our nose!"

Well, in my defense, we don't.  At least not in our family.

Sneaky Leprechaun

I thought I'd be sneaky today with Josh and Spencer and have a leprechaun pay them a little visit. 

At Josh's preschool they have little cubbies where they put their snacks in the morning when they first arrive.  After Josh was in his classroom I took out his fruit snacks and put in a little bag of Oreos with this note inside:

Hahaha!  Paddy O. Furniture!!!  I crack myself up.

Josh wasn't so impressed with the fact that a leprechaun stole his snack and left a note, but he was crazy happy to have had Oreos for snack.  Oh well.

For Spencer I took out part of his usual lunch and put in a bag of Oreos and this note:

Spencer was also a bit nonplussed about the whole thing.  Actually, he told me he thought it was me.  I emphatically denied it, of course, but I'm not sure he believed me.  Dang, it's only a matter of time before Santa and the Easter Bunny hit the chopping block with this boy.

Guess the leprechauns around here aren't that sneaky after all.

Non-Irish St. Patrick's Day

In the past I have tried to incorporate real Irish food into our St. Patrick's day.  I've learned that this is now a big waste of time and money since I am apparently the only one in our family willing to eat Irish food.  So now I just make a lot of green food and everyone is happy.  (Well, I'd be happier with Irish food, but I'm okay with green, too.)

We started off with green eggs and ham for breakfast.  Doesn't it just look oh-so-appetizing?

The boys really enjoyed the novelty, even if their expressions didn't show it.  (They're still all grumpy from daylight savings.  Stupid daylight savings.)

Okay, Spencer looks happy, but trust me.  He was a grouch.  (As he so often is.)

Originally I was going to make shepherd's pie with green mashed potato topping for dinner.  (That's kinda Irish, right?)  But then it turned out to be 72 degrees and the grill was calling my name, so we had St. Patrick's Day hamburgers.  On an American Flag table cloth.  Awesome.

But dessert got us back on track.  St. Patrick's Day pudding parfaits!

Leprachaun sprinkles (crushed Oreos) on top, of course.)

Cole was quite pleased with this dessert.  The evening obviously ended in a rather long and soapy bath.

Josh and Spencer liked the dessert, but were much more interested in going back outside to play in the great weather before bedtime.  (Which was fine by me - we are all suffering from a serious case cabin fever around here!)

CAUGHT!

And not the least bit ashamed. 

He even grinned and said "Cheese!" as I took the picture.

(He wasn't grinning when I pulled him, kicking and screaming, out of the sink and bathroom!)

Unbelievable Lies and Zoning Out

I'm almost to the point where I believe the incredible lie that this baby will actually be less of a bother outside of me than in.

Almost.

Once I do really believe it then I will know she's all done and ready to come out.

Until then, I feel like I'm zoned out half of my waking hours.  I just can't function.  I hurt when I move and I hurt when I'm still.  (That dang sciatica is back... probably to stay.)  I forget what I'm saying mid-sentence.  I can barely carry on a cohesive conversation - just ask poor Lance.  I can't get a proper night's sleep and can barely keep my eyes open during the day.

I think my body (especially my brain) has given itself up completely to these last few weeks of growing this tiny human.  In moments of clarity I miss my old, cognizant self.  But most of the time I don't realize that self is on indefinite hiatus, so it's not like I'm moping unhappily around.  (Ignorance really can be bliss!)

What do I do with the rest of my waking hours?  Try to keep the house in a semi-livable state.  This is hard to do when you can barely move or bend and you have a tornado toddler following behind you, undoing everything you just cleaned/straightened/put away. 

I also try to keep the boys from killing themselves or each other.  So far I've been successful in this, but I can't deny we haven't had more accidents and injuries than normal.  Fortunately, the kiddos don't seem to feel too neglected.

Hopefully I'll get a brief, unfoggy period of time right before this baby comes.  It's happened with my others, which is good because it helps me get those last few essential things done before baby comes home.

Until then, well,  I.... what was I saying?

Zzzzzzzz.....

Bunk Bed Cole

Remember the other day when I talked about finding Cole in the bathroom sink?  He was really into that during the weekend.  I found him in there several times on Saturday, and then on Sunday morning, right before church.  (He was just about to turn the water on - all over his Sunday clothes - when I walked in and put a stop to the fun.  Talk about minor miracles...)

Well, the whole sink thing was not so fun for me.  I'm kind of a stick in the mud that way.

But as not-fun as that was, I now wish we could go back to those simpler sink-climbing days.  Because now Cole has discovered the top bunk.  (Or bunker, as Josh calls it.)

Yes, Cole finally faced his very reasonable fear of heights and climbed all the way to the top of the bunk bed ladder and onto Spencer's bed. 

He is oh-so-very proud of himself. 

He has also realized that I cannot climb up there to get him.

Punk kid.

He decided to use this against me this morning.  It was time for me to go Visiting Teaching and I couldn't find Cole anywhere.  Until I heard the sound of him swatting the ceiling fan, which he can just baaaarrely reach from the top bunker.  (Safe, Cole, safe.)  I climbed onto Josh's bed and tried to get him down, but he just laughed at me and scooted as close to the wall (and as far away from me) as possible.  I can't climb up on the top bunk anymore; my belly already defies the laws of physics.  There's no way I can fit up there now. 

I tried to bribe and prod him closer to me for several minutes, but he wasn't fooled.  I tried reasoning and sweet talking and then I tried being mean and making demands.  None of it worked.  Finally he got a little bored and started moving around.  I was able to grab one of his ankles and pull him down.

He was none too pleased.

Neither was I.

We now keep the door to Spencer and Josh's room closed, much to Cole's dismay.  However, this dismay will only last a little while; he's getting pretty good at opening most doors. 

Dang it.

Climber

Cole flexing his climbing muscles.  Look at that physique!

Cole is my climber. 

Now I know, there are climbers and then there are climbers.  Climbers are little monkeys, not to be trusted alone at any time.  One mom at Josh's preschool has told me three times the story of discovering her son literally swinging from the chandelier.  (Every mom has some story about her kid she tells over and over.  This one must be hers.)

My friend Misty has a climber.  My friend Heidi really has climbers.  Their stories scare me.

Fortunately, Cole is only a climber.  He'd like to be a climber, but he's not particularly skilled or fast so I usually catch him before he can cause any real trouble.  However, Spencer and Josh were both the opposite of climbers so this is all new territory for me.  (What is the opposite of a climber?  Faller?  Gravity seeker?)

But today Cole caught me off guard.  I was vacuuming upstairs and thought he was down in the basement with Josh.  Then I saw that the light in the kids' bathroom was on and the door was slightly ajar. 

Uh oh.

See, Cole is currently obsessed with bathrooms.  Well, he's obsessed with a lot of different things, but bathrooms rank up at the top.  So I just knew, before I even turned off the vacuum, that he would be in there.  I just didn't know what I'd find.

A happy squawk greeted me as I walked in, startling me mainly because of where it came from: the sink. 

Cole was standing in the sink, happily playing with the soap and staring at himself in the mirror.  He had obviously been playing with the water because his pants, shoes, and socks were soaked.

Once I got over the shock, I laughed.  I couldn't help it.  He grinned that Mr. Cole grin at me.

For a second I was tempted to run and get the camera to document this.  But then I thought better of it; why tempt the broken arm fates?  (How would I explain that to the ER doctors?  "Well, he fell out of the bathroom sink while I was running to get the camera to take a picture of him in the sink... ermmm...")

I spoiled his fun and pulled him out, stripping him of his pants, shoes, and socks, much to his dismay.  Then for a minute I thought about getting the camera and reenacting the scene for dramatic purposes.  I thought better of it, figuring it was probably better not to teach him this was a good thing to do.  Besides, he was angry because I refused to put more pants and socks on him.  Hey, if you can't stay dry for longer than 15 minutes after getting dressed, that's the price you pay.

I wondered how he could have done this in the first place.  It's not like I was still in bed asleep or just not paying attention.  I mean, I don't follow my kids around all the time to make sure they're behaving, but it's not like I ignore them either.  But still, it seems like I was able to keep a better eye on Spencer and Josh when it was just the two of them.  Am I becoming a worse mother?

Then I figured, hey, my time and attention was only divided by two with Spencer and Josh.  Adding Cole to the mix meant that it was now divided into thirds, which is considerably less than half.  That's not bad parenting, that's just basic math.

Who knows where I'll find Cole in the next month once my attention is divided yet again.

If you're sitting down, you are climbed on by Cole.  That is the law.  Even when you're very pregnant.  Especially when you're very pregnant.