three strikes and you're outta here

although i promised more installments about our move, i wanted to interject this post while it is still fresh in my memory... courtesy of d bugs, the baby of the world.

this weekend scott's boss invited us to their place for a cookout. momma, being a person that likes a full social calendar, welcomed this invite.

i will take a moment to describe their home as it is kind of pertinent... the floors throughout the house are slate, the exterior walls are solid panels of glass, and everything is pristine. it is a stately piece of art with a very frank lloyd wright-esque design style that draws the eye to that nature around the home. let's just say that i could have let my jaw drop when i walked in the front door (but i didn't because, well, that would be inappropriate... but in my head, i had to pick up said jaw and reattach it).

my husband, knowing they had just moved here from chicago as well, asked for a tour. he did this because he is polite... and a tad bit curious. but as the request came out of his mouth, i silently (in my head) let out a huge "NOOOOOOO!" because as a mother of three children under five, one thing i have learned is that when in new surroundings (especially ones with ginormous walls made out of glass) it isn't best practice to show them around. this tends to give them a quick run-down on all the naughty hot spots. children under five tend to find them eventually, but tend to stick closer to mom when they are uncertain about the lay of the land. if you show them the lay of the land, suddenly they feel like they are in their own home and then act accordingly. (not that we act "accordingly" in our own home, but you get the idea.)

within five minutes of arrival to above mentioned home, delaney climbed up onto their square leather ottoman. as momma (using her very best sweet, calm mother voice, hiding all traces of panic because she saw where wee little d was headed with this) cooed for her to come down. when it was clear that she wasn't going to listen (or more likely didn't recognize/hear the voice of the impostor that was trying to play the role of her mother) momma reached out to gently remove her from the ottoman. momma was a little slow in her save because poppy was being carried in the sling. as my arm was about to grab her, my sweet d plunged from the ottoman onto the sofa, and then let out a huge giggle and a "wheeeeeee!". strike one.

about twenty minutes after arrival our family was in the guest room changing into our swim gear. momma was sitting in a chair nursing the baby (hands occupied) and daddy was in the bathroom dressing. d donning her swim gear (floaties and all) climbed onto the guest bed and proceeded to jump up and down. momma, in a loud stern whisper.... "get down, buggy, i'm warning you. stop jumping immediately." my 'lil bug then proceeded to toss the pillows from the bed onto the floor. all 8 of them. while she continued to jump.

after swimming for a little bit, delaney had worked up an appetite. she decided to join momma and poppy on the lawn, very close to the tray of snacks. she carefully checked out the selection and discovered a platter of hummus, veggies and crackers. d is a huge fan of hummus, so she decided to jump right in. momma, having seen this snack ritual before, was right at her side to monitor the dip to cracker ratio and ensure that the "one dip per item" rule was obeyed. buggy was on her very best dipping behavior. she dipped, she tasted, she chewed, she swallowed. momma let out a sigh of relief. at that moment, poppy seed needed some attention. as soon as my eyes were slightly distracted, d decided to go in for a gigantic double dip at the exact moment that her nose began to run. as i lunged for the save, she threw the half eaten carrot onto the platter and took off in the opposite direction. strike two! (bed jumping didn't count against us because we were behind closed doors.)

we made it through dinner without much ado. it wasn't exactly peaceful, but it was absent of any major mishaps.

after dinner brownies were served. the kids were each handed a plate and allowed to choose a brownie. d, after attempting to touch three brownies (intervened by daddy), was escorted to the patio with her brownie on a napkin. the idea of giving her a plate just didn't sit well with me. note, always trust your mommy intuition. you can see where this is headed, right? so our kids and their two kids sat side by side on a patio stair eating the brownies and chatting. it was, if only for a moment, picturesque. after a few moments, d noticed she was the only one without a plate. d, never wanting e to have something that she does not have, went in for the swipe. e, carefully chewing her brownie, was not suspecting that little sister was about to snatch her plate and as a result was not on the defensive. d, ever so thrilled with her successful snatching had not thought through what she was going to do once the plate was in her possession. she was like a deer caught in headlights, unsure of what her next move would be. and so she did what any 21 month old would do. she ran... across the slate patio... and threw the plate... at the glass wall... and smashed it (the plate, not the wall. thank you, Lord!).

momma and daddy = mortified
d = shocked and suddenly very subdued
e = laughing hysterically along with the host's two boys

and as we got down to the business of cleaning up the very broken plate, we overheard e say to the younger of the two boys, "hey, do you wanna play smash plate? you know, for pretend."