An Accounting

I have been mysteriously absent.

Maybe not so mysteriously, maybe not even noticed. But I have been absent. From Blogger, at least.

Did you miss me? I doubt it. But I was pleased to discover this past week that I have an addition of 3 more faithful readers ... bringing the grand total to somewhere near 5. Four, if you don't count my own husband.

So what have I been doing, you ask?

Pulling my hair out and seriously considering defecting to a foreign country. No, seriously. Having two children 15 months apart is not that bad. Of course, call me any time around 4 p.m. and I'll tell you a different story. In fact, some woman in the grocery store this past week, as both my children filled every corner of the market with their screaming and wailing, told me they used to call this arsenic hour, "because you either want to take it yourself or give it to someone else."

So here's what has happened (keep reading, this post is fraught with pictures ... but maybe not the ones you're looking for):

1. ELLIOT TURNED 1 MONTH

It's true. My darling little boy turned a whole month. Can it be possible?

We went to the pediatrician, got his measurements and weight and talked about his general progress.

Little Man is 11 1/2 pounds. And you people thought Jane was chubby as a baby (she was 10 1/2 pounds at 1 month, for the record).

And he's still gaining at remarkable speed. It's true. In just 2 weeks, I'd swear he's another 1 1/2 to 2 pounds.

2. ELLIOT AND I MAKE OUR GRAND REAPPEARANCE AT CHURCH

After hiding out in our home for the past month, I decided it was time to go back.

Not the biggest news, but I had such cute photos of my two babies all dressed up, I couldn't bear to leave them out.

P.S. Can you see how Elliot looks at Jane? He pays more attention to her than any other person in this house. I doubt it's intentional, but then, it's too precious to not mention.

3. ELLIOT AND I GO TO UTAH FOR DIANA'S WEDDING

Yes! Diana got married.

We were so happy about this, I didn't even mind flying for 2 1/2 hours with a newborn.

I couldn't take Jane (still a point of sadness for me). And I forgot my camera, which I'm really upset about.

There are photos floating out there of the event, but no one has sent me any. And I didn't get any photos of my boy with my BFF's little boy. Drat my forgetful brain.

But Diana was (is) beautiful. And I quite literally have never seen more people at a reception.

4. JULIA AND BABY HONEY COME TO DALLAS

My wonderful sister came back with me from Diana's wedding. And she brought her 7-month-old son. She even travelled on her birthday to visit me. Is she not wonderful?

Again, my crazy brain forgot to take pictures of Julia with my kids. How could I be so stupid? What is wrong with me? I hate that I forgot this detail.

But Jane adored playing with her little cousin (remember, he's 8 months younger, although his size wouldn't suggest so ... and Jane's big for her age).

Elliot basically watched the whole thing, longingly, from his newly-acquired vibrating seat (a life saver. Why did I wait a month to purchase this?).

5. GENE WILDER VISITS

Do you remember the actor from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory (Willy Wonka) and Young Frankenstein (Dr. Frankenstein)? That's Gene Wilder.

Does my daughter's fashion statement not make her look like him?

The first person I thought of was Julia's dear husband, Steve, because I thought he'd appreciate it the most.

Julia and I got a kick out of it. We put Baby Honey up on the changing table with Jane and called them Dr. Frankenstein and Igor.

Now I'm sitting at home, missing family a lot.

Luckily my birthday will likely distract me.