Oh my, it's been a while. Sorry to all of my loyal blog addicts. Some people have been recently thrashing me for not posting, but I didn't really realize that anyone besides Erica actually checked it. Why not comment some time folks? Anyway, here is a pic of the fam all cleaned up for the resurrection of Christ and the eating of ham and Peeps.

Much has changed in the last month. Most notably, I am only pumping twice a day and the fixation on my breast health is a background subject instead of the focal point of my day. This is fantastic for me and probably even more fantastic for my family and those other unlucky people who've had to hear me moan and groan and complain for six months about my freakish pumping regimen and subsequent ailments. This was no easy feat to get to this point. It took about three weeks of careful planning and pain to get here. I took the advice of many Internet sources which instructed me to wear leaves of green cabbage in my bra to decrease my milk production and soothe blocked ducts. I decided it would be better to stink like rotten cabbage than to continue at the rate that I had been going and therefore had nothing to lose. Plus, cabbage was on sale that week due to St. Patrick's Day. The effect was nothing short of miraculous! And no one complained (at least to my face) about the rancid cabbage smell eminating from my shirt. The leaves formed a perfect bra shape even. My mom commented that it looked like a perverse Anne Geddes photo. You know, instead of a cherubic infant with a cabbage leaf for a hat... Wait, didn't I suggest that I wouldn't subject you to a bunch more information about my breasts?

On other mundane news, L decided last month that she only needs to sleep for an hour at a time. She had been sleeping in at least five hour chunks at night and then.... No, she doesn't really seem to be teething and she has no ear infection. The doctor said, feed her once a night, then let her cry. Oh, easier said than done. The first night she screamed non-stop for two hours. It was horrible. She seems to be getting into a much better pattern of late with one wake up at 2 AM to eat and couple of whining fits where she puts herself back to sleep. I'd like to take partial credit for this after enduring no less than four nights of 1.5 hour plus screaming episodes. It was absolutely excruciating. I had to go "sleep" on the couch downstairs with pillows over my head and I could still hear her. Someone please reassure me that I have not caused irreparable harm to my infant. In the long run though, everything in life improves when one gets more that 45 minutes of sleep at a time. I figure that I am a nicer, more patient and more enjoyable human being when I get adequate sleep and that's got to outweigh the negative effect of the "crying it out" method. I hope.

The kids are changing every day. Here is a list of their current likes and dislikes:
D - Likes: blue marshmallow Peeps, writing everything in "cursive", Harry Potter books, Tae Kwon Do, making paper airplanes, talking about how great life will be when she is a teenager
Dislikes: showering, getting clothing washed, homework

E - Likes: blue marshmallow Peeps, playing soccer, having a giant bowl of sugar cereal after dinner for a "treat", making paper airplanes, reading to L, talking about poop and bottoms and farting,
Dislikes: cornbread, inability to foresee risk of serious injury while deciding to do things such as straddling two chairs on wheels then dancing and jumping, lectures, sleeping

L - Likes: high pitched screaming, rolling and scooting from room to room (almost crawling), finding hidden dangerous items in carpet and surrounding areas, being naked, pooping while naked, classical music, spitting, oatmeal mixed with sweet potatoes, "walking" while holding onto fingers, playing with anything "crinkly" like newspaper, disposable diapers and plastic bags - not good, banging toys on the table, brother and sister, listening to books being read to her, walks in the stroller

Dislikes: car seat, getting diaper changed, having face wiped

Next time I'll try not to wait so long.