The kids love to play fetch with Barney. We always say, “Go get it!” when we throw a toy. Lily caught on, and showed us that she could do it too!

Everyone had been playing with him all morning, so all he wanted to do was relax!

I know, he’s adorable. An old couple pulled over when I was walking him yesterday to comment that he is a beautiful dog. This probably seems strange to my New England readers, but people are polite around here.

I took all of the kids to Walmart. Three people stopped me, as I was pulling two shopping carts, to remark on how well-behaved the kids were (and how calm I was).* I guess we were just having a good day, but that’s something you’d never see “back there”. People in CNY are so courteous and friendly, which is one of the many reasons I am so glad we came here.

Since I have always been a bit horrified by Black Friday, I stayed home and slept “late” (6:45 – Oh my!). I eventually found my way to Kohl’s, however. I bought what may be the world’s cheapest tablet. It was perched on a shelf in the shoe department. I couldn’t resist. There’s no way we’ll ever own an iPad, so this is good enough!

I was slapped in the face with steam when I opened the dishwasher. Half of the bottles and sippy cups had melted. The heating element (for lack of a better term) would not turn off. It was overheating. No matter what I did, it wouldn’t shut off. It was anchored well – too well – so I couldn’t pull it out to unplug it. I eventually had to turn the fuse off and call Maytag. They’ll be here to look at it on Thursday. I couldn’t find any recalls on it. I assume they’ll either fix or replace it. We’ve only had it for two years! It’s always something. Washing dishes by hand is not as time consuming as I expected.

Well, it’s time to soak my dishpan hands in cocoa butter. Eww. I concede; I miss you, dishwasher.

* Shortly after I posted this, Micah had to carry Will home after he hit our neighbor. Totally humiliating. Bliss fizzles quickly.

Guess who’s ready for Halloween?

“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” – Roger Caras

Our weather has been unseasonably warm, but it’s cold at night. I figured it was time to make beef stew for dinner. I haven’t made it in a long time, but it turned out delicious!

Today, we had our first round of raking in the front yard. We had some help,

but they spent most of the time jumping and burying each other in leaves.

Barney had fun too.

I once said that I have super healing powers. I wasn’t kidding. My doctor said we would have to schedule quants for the next few weeks to watch my HCG levels drop. I was completely confident it would happen. I wouldn’t need surgery. Monday was brutal, but when it was over, I knew I would recover quickly. I had a blood test this morning. The result: 94. Not 9400. Not 940, even. Just 94. My friends at the blood lab are going to miss me.

I am emotionally and physically OK, though I was kind of blindsided by the miscarriage. I didn’t have any pregnancy losses between William and Lily, so we actually let our guard down and assumed the problem had resolved itself.

Over the years, I saw four different fertility doctors in two states. I had the full fertility workup (multiple times): Bloodwork, HSG (twice), ultrasounds to monitor follicles. Micah went through all the testing too. No one was ever able to determine the cause of recurrent miscarriage. I’ve informally concluded that the babies we conceive are genetically predisposed to a fatal chromosomal abnormality. We will never know.

We hope to have one more child. I have no idea if it will happen, but I figure I have 7ish years of good eggs. I’m in no rush. After all, I have lots of adorable people (four) who need me. I don’t have the time for the obsessive TTC madness (don’t miss that). I also have things like this to keep me occupied:

Barney is housebroken. He sits on command. We’re working on “paw”. I have convinced myself that we can train him to pick up laundry from the floor and put it in the laundry basket. I guess I need a book about dog tricks. I also picked out a collar for him. I must order this soon!

I took Will to the library today. He usually glues himself to the train table and has a coronary when it’s time to leave. Today, he was focused on finding a good book, and he was very quiet. Mommyhood is all about the tiny victories.

My incredibly stubborn baby girl hates walking. Lily took two steps the other day. She will take one step here and there, and loves to tease us by standing for 1-2 minutes at a time without budging. Her pediatrician said that if she didn’t walk before 16 months, we should call early intervention services. We had to do the same thing with the twins. We’ll see what happens, but I have my fingers crossed.

I discovered a gorgeous walking trail today by the lake (West Shore). I usually stick to the Shore Line trail, and had no idea there were others that were stroller-friendly. I want to take my camera there soon!