Cleaning House

Literally and figuratively, I'm cleaning house. There are quite a few things going on around here these days but none of them really warrant their own post, so I'm just going to throw it all out there.

Baby Girl will turn two-years-old on Friday. Oldest Boy will turn six-years-old on the 14th (that's Valentine's day). We're having a family party for both of them combined on the 7th, which means that the literal part of cleaning should be in full swing. Refer to the following information as to why it's not. I'm also having a kids-only party for Oldest Boy on the 14th. I invited all of the little boys from his class (plus a close friend of the family) which bring our total to 14 boys - not including my two. Yes, I'm insane. The biggest problem with this whole scenario is that everyone is getting presents and cakes and attention...except Youngest Boy. He's already the "middle" child (so far) and now he has to endure being left out for a whole day. Don't worry, I made sure to explain the whole thing to him and we also got him a gift of his own, but I still feel bad, like somehow it's my fault he was born in a different month. OK. I guess it IS my fault, but still.
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The drywall is almost finished in the basement (this is why cleaning cannot be completed. Dude tracks in more mud than my kids. And, oh, the dust). I'm starting to get excited but I'm trying to contain it lest Mr. MOTH think I'm pressuring him into getting it finished NOW! NOW! NOW! I really can't wait. I'm so tired of having a room that looks like a storage shed as the first thing people see when they walk into our home. It's been that way for over a year now. And because it's so close I can almost taste it, I'm starting to get impatient. We are getting ready to start picking out paint colors, though. This will be a HUGE deal. Mr. MOTH is of the "everything should be white" school of thought and I like color. I mean C-O-L-O-R. I want to paint the new bathroom brick red. He almost fell out of his chair laughing until he realized I was serious. I almost have him convinced. I think the rest of the basement is going to be some shade of green, so I'm reconsidering doing the bathroom in hunter, but I haven't decided yet. And Oldest Boy wants to paint the rest of the basement "Black and Gold". I love that kid!
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Baby Girl got a life-like (but not scary life-like) baby doll for Christmas from one of my closest friends. Because the box was labeled for "Ages 3 and up", I wanted to be there to play with it for the first time so that I could understand why (you know, small parts, too much violence, etc.). So, the baby has remained in the box on our living room floor since Christmas. Monday she started pushing the box around yelling, "Baby OUT!" until I finally obliged. Oh.my.God. I wish I knew how to load video onto the computer because it was frickin' amazing. Baby Girl IS my baby, so she's never seen me care for one, but somehow she instinctively KNEW what to do with it! She held her up on her shoulder and patted it. She fed her a bottle (which she took over the the fridge and pretended to "fill" from our water dispenser), she used the spoon to feed her and then wiped her mouth with a cloth. And then. And then. She brought me to tears. I told her it was time for the baby to go to sleep. She laid her down gently on the floor, covered her up, kissed her and said, "Night-night sweet. I love you, sissy. I be right here if you need me." This is what I say to her every night. It made me feel like I'm at least doing something right. {SIGH} I think she'll be just fine as a big sister.