God, I am so on my last nerve with Elias right now. I can’t even write how frustrated I am– suffice to say, the way to be My Best Friend? Is NOT ignoring your nap, punching your sister in the head, pouring milk down your pants, throwing all my DVDs on the ground, harassing the dog, stealing my food, screaming over every topic in the known world, and then waiting until it is almost MIDNIGHT and not only staying awake but waiting until your sister and I doze off, and then YELLING IN OUR FACE at the opportune moment.

– and as soon as I finished typing that, he walked up and said: “Hi Mommy.”

Me: “Elias. I am really mad at you. Do you know that?”

Elias: “Yes.”

Then he wrapped his little hand around mine and just stood there. And stared. And slowly he started smiling, this really cheesy fake smile, and it got bigger and bigger and went from ear to ear, and it was so borderline-sleazy that I started laughing. And he then intoned: “BEST FRIENDS MOMMY!” like the Iron Chef, and– okay. I guess we are best friends. I was wrong.

In order:

I never finished off the questions from the in-between post; and I promised both myself and all visitors that I would. Daily stories, then answers. Deal?

SO. Today. Today, I slept in till 9:20, and spent the morning playing games with the children and trying to make them sleep. Fail. They finally go down at 3. I clean. And hack and wheeze (still sick: probably have to see the doctor– fail again). At 6, I wake them up and dress them. They are not happy. Elias yells at me that his shirt is too hot and NO BLUE MOM, and Addie says I don’t make the bottle right and her clown toy is evil. Fail. Fail. Fail.

Jason: Hey, my mom copied ‘Ghost Whisperer’ onto a DVD for you. And ’24′ for me.

Becca: Oh my gosh, your mom rocks! I didn’t think she could do it.

Jason: Well, she basically hooked up her camcorder to the DVD recorder, copied it onto her camcorder, transferred that onto her computer, and then took the media and edited it and burned the result to a DVD.

Becca: That sounds seriously time consuming.

Jason: Yeah. She’s still perfecting the method.

I laughed so hard.

Drive to my parents’ for dinner. In front of me is this incredibly Stupid Driver. Normally, that would make me crazy, but they changed the road completely in the last month, and I’m secretly glad for Stupid Driver. Because if it wasn’t him going slow and making mistakes, it would’ve been me.

Taco salad for dinner. We eat taco salad with Doritos. Jason thinks that’s weird– so good thing Jason is at home on his shift, and not seeing the TACO SALAD INSANITY that is our meal. Chris lays on the couch for most of the night and watches TV. He puts on Larry the Cable Guy.

Michelle: Don’t watch that. Geez.

Chris: WHAT?

Becca: You know, you should go as Larry. For like, Halloween.

(Michelle mouthes to me: DON’T!)

Chris: Why? We don’t look alike.

Michelle: Um– yeah you do.

Becca: Chris, you are like the spitting image of each other.

Chris: Well, for one thing– I don’t own a flannel shirt. And another thing– I have a tattoo.

Becca: Oh. So people are going to see you and be like, “Larry the… TATTOO! I WAS DECEIVED! YOU MUST BE HIS JAILBREAK BROTHER!”

Michelle had to pause so she wouldn’t laugh and choke on her drink– or have it come out her nose. That almost happened last time we hung out, a few days ago. I was re-enacting a scene I saw online on World of Warcraft, and she almost turned purple. Becca as a dancing gnome? COMEDY GOLD.

The rest of the night, my mom and Shelly and Eli and I sit around eating heart candy, and asking the Magic Date Ball stupid questions. Am I pregnant? YES NO MAYBE SO. Is Michelle pregnant? GET REAL! Is Elias going to go to preschool? FOR SURE! Am I getting fatter? NO WAY! Should I have more chocolate? NO WAY! Will I get fat if I eat this chocolate? FOR SURE!

The heart candy says things like U R MINE and CUTIE PIE. Michelle and I make up our own. My suggestion wins: after Michelle pulls out a MARRY ME, I offer up LET’S LIVE IN SIN.

Tomorrow, my only plan is to shower.

And you know you’re a mom when even that is iffy.

Moving onto the final round– QUESTION CORNER!

How is Movable Type? Do you like it more than WordPress? Everything’s looking good.

THANKS! And I wouldn’t know about Movable Type. I’m still a WP gal… I was having tons of installation errors, and then somewhere in the middle of correcting them, I remembered I can’t run MT after all. Basically, the short version is that it generates more pages than WordPress– so many that when Jason ran it on burm for a week, Dreamhost sent us a warning that we were overloading the server with requests. Not a wise course of action.

PS: I heart WordPress. I’ll never leave you, baby.

hi becca! i’ve commented a few times, but i’m definitely a daily reader! a few questions i’ve had; i noticed you’re a fairly young mother. i know you wouldn’t give your family up for the world, but how do you feel about having children young? life happens, and the thought of having children young has come up, and the only response i get is “you’re so young, you have your life for that”. 2. if you could give someone advice about anyhting, what would it be? 3. what is the one thing you could live off of (besides diet pepsi-haha!) btw – your children are quite possibly the cutest ever. i’ve told my boyfriend so many “elias said” stories that every few days he’ll ask if there are any new stories about that “really funny little kid” - andrea

Okay, I loved the “really funny little kid” bit, and I ran out to tell Jason someone else was calling Eli that when I read it. Hee. Honestly, I think there’s no right or wrong age to have children– assuming that you can support them, and that you genuinely want them. I’m a huge proponent of family. I think, for me, being a young parent was the best thing that could have happened… I was a relatively wild teenager, and I think getting pregnant at 19 really was sort of like– a train crossing. You know, the track gets switched to the opposite direction. It forces you to look at yourself, to live better, to be strong, to be selfless, to be responsible, and that’s not always easy. It’s also one of the most rewarding, enriching things you can do in life. It’s so good. I could tell you how good it is– and I could try and tell you how difficult it is– but it’s just NOTHING LIKE WHAT YOU EXPECT. It isn’t. I have never met a parent who told me, “Yeah, all the books I read and people I talked to? Totally prepared me for everything.” What almost every parent tells me– what I would say– is this: “It’s incredible. I’m a different person. My life isn’t my own anymore. I don’t regret it at all.”

Also, money? I have a bunch of older friends, and we all agree: you’ll never be able to afford kids. You might be able to afford them slightly less now, but you’ll never be ahead of that one. It’s one of many of God’s little jokes.

If I could give advice to anyone about anything? I KNOW THIS ONE. I actually thought about it in the car today. ENJOY IT. That’s it. ENJOY IT. Because right now, you undoubtedly have something that you’ll want at another point in your life, and your task is to find every good thing and celebrate it before it’s gone. Because ten years ago, you wanted the job you have now, or now you want the boyfriend you had nine months ago, or you wish you were healthy like last week, or Future You will look back on Current You and be like, “I WAS SO SKINNY! WHY WASN’T I FLAUNTING IT WHEN I HAD IT?” Hee. So, enjoy it. Even when it sucks, enjoy it. I can promise you that you have something worth appreciating.

3. Pez. Sweet, sweet Pez. If I were rich, I’d have a vault of it like Scrooge McDuck and do laps in Pez every morning. (I probably wouldn’t want to eat them after that, but it would be a good moment anyway.)

Well – I’ve been reading your site for a couple of weeks now and have enjoyed the stories about your wonderful life. I love people who find joy in having children and family and imagine their lives like you described in one of your answers. Taking that path can be scarey but I think your writing shows how great it can be. I am writing to say that I might not have started reading your blog if it wasn’t for your excellent design. You definately have alot of talent – Keep up the good work! - Aidan

This isn’t a question. I just worked so hard on the new design that I really appreciated the love. Heh. SHOUT OUT TO AIDAN!

DUDE !! I feel so lucky. I’VE ACTUALLY TOURED THE HOUSE, PEOPLE !! Yessuh !!! You are probably the one person that understands me when I talk because, just like you, I talk reallyfastanditalkaboutrandomthings. I either get told to slow down — especially by my parents — or to speak up !! I’m just happy to have you in my life my precious Becca. No, I really am. Although I don’t comment a lot, I’m always thinking about you guys !! Addie is so precious !! She’s so chubby and LOOKS JUST LIKE JASON !! Elias is just so funny !! I’m always laughing when I see pictures of him. I bet my mom thinks I’m super weird since she’s always asking “wha arr juu laughing at ?!” I can’t really do that well — you know the whole writing out the way someone sounds thing … Okay, I’ll ask some questions: Lol — I was going to ask “what do you do when you’re bored” because I’m bored right now since everyone is sleeping. But, then I thought THERE ISN’T A DULL MOMENT WHEN YOU HAVE TWO KIDS !!! a) How do you sit on a couch ? Do you curl up ? Do you sit in the middle or do you sit on the right/left side ? I actually laughed at myself for asking such a stupid, random question lol b) How long do you spend at your favorite store ? Mine happens to be Target and I never do the whole in and out thing c) How many Diet Cokes/Pepsi’s do you drink a day ? d) What do you usually order at a restaurant — did I spell that right ? Okay, that’s all I can think of ! It’s past midnight and I don’t know why I’m up ! BYE BEWCA !! =] – Bianca

Okay, number one: Bianca, I love you. I really miss you tons, and I hate that we haven’t found a good time to get together yet. I laughed at your Mom Impersonation– because she DOES SOUND LIKE THAT. Internet: Bianca’s mom is hilarious.

(A) I sit on the edge of a couch. I usually sit with my left foot tucked under me and my right folded up next to my chest. I used to drive in that position, too, until Jason convinced me it was An Accident Waiting To Happen.

(B) If I’m by myself, I’m a really fast shopper– I can be in and out. If I’m with anyone else, it’s usually an hour to two hours– just to get milk. I TALK A LOT.

(C) I just counted the cans on my desk. Eight.

(D) I virtually always order a veggie burger with a slice of cheese and pickles, nothing else. I used to be one of those people like, “Um, no tomato, no lettuce, yes pickles, no onions, slice of cheese, American, no mayonaise, maybe mustard, ketchup is okay–” and finally it just got easier to say CHEESE AND PICKLES, THE END.

I love your questions– you’ve got the skill from all those surveys. Hee.

Becca, I have a minor suggestion that maybe you could look into doing when you do your new layout launch I’ve been meaning to suggest it for awhile, but Amber’s comment reminded me. Lots of people with websites do like ‘bedroom tours’ and I think it would be really awesome if you could do like a house tour We always see bits & pieces of your house and it looks amazing. It might be really fun & easy to do. [/end dorky suggestion] - Devin

I really love this idea. I’d like to do it right, and maybe make a nice little interactive floorplan with 360 views. And I have to clean up first. So, remind me again in like– a week. Deal? DEAL!

I’ve been reading your site daily, for over 1 year now. HOWEVVVERRR.. this whole time, I do not know how to pronounce Elias.. how do you say it?! I’ve asked around, and everyone is saying it’s a different spelling of Elijah.. but I’m sure it isn’t! I love your site, and everything you talk about. You seem like you’re such a genuine person.. and that is SO hard to find nowadays. I’m being so rude, let me introduce myself; I’m Jen, just turned 21, I’m from Chicago, no kids.. but 2 cats (which are just as great as kids!) I’m a Pharmaceutical Technician annnd that’s about it. Take care!! And hurry back.. you’ve been hiding! - Jen

Hey Jen! So very, very nice to meet you! I’ve been bugging Jason to get a cat, but he’s all, “Not till we get a house– crowded enough as is.” Sigh. We drove through Chicago once– all I remember was a lot of snow (we came in a blizzard), and we got stuck on this inner loop and couldn’t get out of downtown, and I saw my first Church’s Chicken… glowing and holy in the storm.

Elias is the Latin form of Elijah, and we’ve always pronounced it EE-LYE-AS. I made a little sound clip of it here– and because several other people asked

WHAT DOES YOUR SOMETIMES-MINNESOTAN ACCENT SOUND LIKE?

– here’s another clip of me saying “Casper the Friendly Ghost”. Listen to the ghost. Jason thinks it’s hilarious.

How did people really start coming to your site, did you advertise or was it word of mouth (or linking) that got you more visitors? And can you be my mentor now? I honestly can say that even at my age, I know the biggest thing I ever want is what you have, children. Plus you’re a writer, smart, and amusing as well as a good mother. So yeah. I’ll quit worshipping now. - Liz

Everything has been word of mouth and linking. I sort of thought about advertising, but, you know, I like it this way. Word of mouth means that (probably) the only people coming to my site are people that want to be here, or have heard it’s nice, and are prepped to like it… Versus someone surfing Google for dirty photos of Britney Spears and seeing a big YOU SHOULD VISIT DASBECCA! banner on the side. Those people? Would be disappointed.

And um, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all the nice words. If I ever start a mentoring program, I’ll be sure to let you know. And PS: it will be free. So, you know. Don’t worry.

Hee.