Kai turns 3 on Friday. Dax turns 1 next Monday. And the party (of which I’m probably thinking way too hard about) is this Saturday. I’ll probably be gone for a few days. So let me leave you with San-Francisco-based Scissors for Lefty.

{Photograph by Jen Gotch}

Is that we’re closing down that portion of the store permanently. It was a fun endeavor!

These pictures buoy me up at a time I feel particularly bogged down. I seem to have a zillion projects hanging over my head. And those projects don’t even include housework. But they may include catching up on Heroes and The Office.

Oh, and before I sign off. Tonight, at the critical hour of 7pm, Kai was winding up and up (as usual) and being his crazy self. Dancing around the living room he sang,

“Deeee-DO! Dee-Do!”

On and on (we kind of tune him out after a while),

“Deeee-DO! Dee-Do!

Then,

“B!%CH!”

Silence. Then again,

“B!%CH!”

Ryan and I nearly died trying to hold our laughter in. After we recovered, Ryan casually asked, “Wow, Kai. What was that? What did you just say?” We braced ourselves for his response, but Kai just sang out,

“Dee-Do!”

And that was the end of that.

Yummy food…

…and goofy kids.

1) Finish painting the kids table. ‘Top Banana’ (topmost swatch above) appears to be working out nicely. In the past, I’ve had easy successes choosing blue, gray, and green paints, but now I know yellows and oranges require more thought. And squinting.

2) Finish website design that involves little guy above. Not going to reveal until the site goes live!

3) Send postcard design off to the printer for a VenturaParent.com event.

4) Finish a frame project that’s been dragging out for months. Some frames I’ve been eying at Target went on clearance a few months back, so I snapped up a couple. Yesterday, I spray-painted them a lovely shade of blueish-gray (still in original color below). Now I just need to find some artwork to go in them and hang the suckers, once and for all.

So, lots of projects mean little sleep (Ryan has been my partner in crime doing the late-night thing, as well). But I can’t help but love what I do, creating, even if means working into the wee hours of the night. Ryan, too — he’s been working on an incredible piano piece, so hopefully soon it’ll be coming at cha. Cleopatra.

Days just need to be longer. Like, 30 hours instead of 24. Wouldn’t that’d be grand?! Mothers everywhere would jump for joy.

Yes, that last pic is urine. Because Kai went pee in the potty today for the first time. Ever. I almost cried. Then, I almost cried again when Dax knocked over the full potty seat.

But it was incredible seeing Kai feel so accomplished and proud of himself. He was beaming and so full of pride, he didn’t ask for any of the treats we’ve been bribing him with all month (lollies, jellybeans, and, um…Chuck E. Cheese).

Update: Kai went again today, Saturday. While exciting, it is also frightening. Just the realization at how fast he’s growing up. He’s also been so conversational as of late; “I like this song, mommy!” or “That makes Jesus very happy in the temple!” Wow. To think he was a little baby in my arms not even three years ago. I’m getting teary-eyed now…

While I’m anxious for fall, I need summer to linger just a little bit longer. Because we haven’t done a family beach day, all summer long (shame on us!). And I want to try the famed, but possibly overrated Pinkberry now that ice cream is back in my diet (hooray!). And we’re not using the pool in our complex as often as we should (lazy me).

But fall…fall will be good. I’m looking forward to cooler weather, to Dax walking, and Kai turning the big 3. Three will be a magical age, I can just tell.

Once upon a time — okay, a year ago, *ahem* — I sucked at baking. Truly, truly sucked, in a major sort of way. Ryan would get visibly nervous as I bust out the flour, and sugar, and measuring cups. “Uhhh, Jenn, you sure you want to be doing that?” But since becoming a mother, I’ve honed my domestic skills and sort of rule the kitchen. On a good day.

Look at me, I’m miss bakey-bakey, muffin-top lady!

Anyways, the reason I’m writing this post is because “chochi-chip kookies” is like love tonic for Kai; give him a fresh-baked cookie, and all is well and swell. There’s just such a warm, happy feeling as we sit at the table, chomping away on our “sfecial treets” and making funny faces at each other. I really hope I’m creating some positive childhood memories for him, and so glad that I gave baking another go. I dream to one day conquer pie. But just thinking about buttery flour and rolling pins gives me anxiety.

A subdued Kai post-cookie. And a thankful Dax for taming his bro.

Never mind you that it’s a humid 80 degrees out. Or, that it clashes against an outfit more beach-town chic than indie/urban. But we’re going to Trader Joe’s in an orange beanie, because Jet wears a beanie, and Jet is the cool neighbor kid that Kai wants to be when he grows up.

Except, Jet’s beanie is black with a skull and crossbones. Kai’s version belongs to his mommy, who purchased it on clearance from Target. But to Kai, it’s a beanie. Just like Jet’s.

*Sigh.* My son is so dang cute with his ways.

This is where I napped today.

I much prefer my bed over cribs and pint-sized Ikea couches, but I wasn’t afforded that luxury today since Dax (who still crashes in our room) spent his appointed nap time tumbling, squealing, and wahoo-ing from his crib.

We’re so ready to move Dax into Kai’s room, but it seems impossibly complicated; They have different bedtimes. Dax takes two naps a day. Kai plays with his toys before finally settling down for bed. Dax doesn’t sleep through the night. Dax wakes earlier than Kai.

I’ve heard nothing but good when it comes to siblings sharing a room, but I just don’t know how to start. If any of you have pointers, do dish.

And lastly, to put it mildly, I’m tired. Burnt-out. Desperate enough to sleep in a munchkin bed. So, I’ll be taking a short vacation from the blog, to return…I don’t know when yet. (Yeah, sorry to disappoint all of 6 people that subscribe!) I still have a good amount of work to plow through this week, but any free time will now be spent vegging on the couch while my mind turns to mush.

You spray yourself with stain-remover instead of the intended wrinkle-reducer. Two days in a row!

And, you have absolutely no qualms about baring a month-old pedicure at church. With nail polish grown out nearly half-an-inch, I present to you the newest “mom” trend; The Reverse French-Tip.

Do you ever feel so busy, you just want to cave in and scrounge up fifty bucks to hire a cleaning person for a day? I’m at that point. I’m in the middle of putting together a cookbook for my moms group, the end almost in sight. Glad the front cover is done:

“Over fifty recipes inside!”

I think the picture I took came out half-way decent, considering I’m not a photographer and I used a mere point-and-shoot camera. Recipe here in case you’re interested (their picture is much better than mine!).

I still have about fifteen recipes to add, four design projects for Relief Society, a collage project for Kai to bring to Nursery this Sunday (and you bet I want to make it awesome), a website I still have to build, and of course, children to take care of and a household to manage. Yet, I find myself blogging and checking my Google Reader…

Alright, time for me to buckle down. I got a date tonight with Adobe InDesign and the Killers.

So I headed to the mall last night, looking to blow some of my birthday money on a rare shopping trip for myself. I was set on getting a pair of skinny jeans or a new pair of gladiator sandals to replace my Isaac Mizrahi (for Target) ones.

But after trying on a number of pairs at Macy’s, I’ve come to the conclusion that skinny pants on me are hideous, designer and non-designer brands alike. I’ve tried on skinny jeans off and on the past few months at various stores, only to be continually disappointed that I look nothing like:

this hot mama.

Seriously, you need a thigh-to-ankle ratio of like, 1.2 to 1 to pull this look off. So I’ve decided to embrace the bootleg and not feel so bad I can never be as chic as Ms. Klum (sigh!) or Kate Moss (double sigh!). Looking balanced and well-proportioned trumps chicness any day.

After grumpily ditching five pairs of jeans in the dressing room, I perused the shoe section and finally settled on these:

B-day present #2. Slouchy, comfy boots.
Can I chase my children around in them? Check.

Tsk, tsk, bad lighting. I couldn’t wait till daytime.

A new Canon PowerShot to replace its aging predecessor. I love it; it’s much faster, smaller, has more memory, and just better all around.

One of these days, I’d love to get my hands on one of them Canon Rebels, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon unless we get stimulated by the government again with a pretty check. But in the meantime, the new PowerShot plus some Photoshop tweaking will do just fine!

Tahoe pics to come soon.

8-10 hour car drive.
Bring it on.

Looking at that map, I just realized we’ll be driving more than a third of the length of California. 495 miles, to be exact.

We’ll be gone until Tuesday, so if there are any weirdos out there reading our blog thinking they ought break into our home and steal our stuff shouldn’t. Because we don’t have anything of monetary value — with the exception of baby #3 our computer — but I promise you’ll be very bored, unless you like toys meant for 2-year-olds.

But I’m very excited to see my family. My mom is flying out from North Carolina, and I think she’s going to be beside-herself-happy at seeing the boys. We’re going to have a big celebration dinner for my grandparents’ anniversary on Sunday and then some cake for my b-day (gonna be 27!) on Monday. Fun fun.

Meanwhile, the boys will be missing their cat, but I think she will enjoy the break from the “petting” and “hugging” (grabbing and wrestling come closer to the real thing…)

Everyone’s mad at Obama. Jesse Jackson, now Ryan too.

I’m not in the mood to get political on all ya’ll, so email rjkirk@gmail.com if you’re interested in joining Ryan’s newly created group. Or, search for ‘Obama has Betrayed Us!’ on Facebook.

Sooooo, I think I’m allergic to chocolate. Yeah. That’s right. Chocolate allergy.

Last night, I attributed the swelling of my throat coupled with what I’ll politely term “gastrointestinal distress” to some cantaloupe I had after dinner (who knows, I could also be allergic to melons). But no way it could be the chocolate cake. Not in a million years. Never, oh dear heavens, no!!!

But here I am again, throat tight, and a funny scratchy feeling at the back of my tongue, minutes after having me some mmmmm, chocolate cake…

This is bad to the max. Carob is strange and vanilla gets so played out. I guess I can always chase a chocolate dessert down with some Benadryl. Or stick myself with an EpiPen, though that may weird people out if we’re at a restaurant; “Don’t mind me, folks. Just, you know, injecting myself with allergy meds so that I DON’T DIE!” Or, I can just swear off of it entirely and be really really skinny for life (food allergies — it’s the new diet craze!). Catch is, husband will have to take up the no-chocolate vow, too, because it’s only fair.

Chocolate, I will miss you. It’s been a love-hate relationship (mostly love), but maybe one day we’ll be together again. Here’s hoping for a cure.