Too many toys ...

Do you think its a sign that you have too many toys when you're looking through the Fisher Price catalog with an almost 3 year old and on each page in the first half of the book she says "I have that toy" or "There's Joel's toy!"? I think I might be on to something here ...

Look Ma! It still fits!

When I was pregnant with Alyssa I tried really, really hard to avoid buying anything "girly" or "boy-y" things since we weren't finding out the sex of the baby. But on one shopping trip with my mom I broke down and bought this really sweet little dress with duckies on it. When I came home and showed it to Adam he declared that he wanted the baby to be a girl (not that he didn't feel that way before. lol). And he got his wish, but who would have known that that dress 0 -3 month dress would last for almost 3 years ...

First Thanksgiving ~ approximately 6 weeks old


9-16-07 ~ some odd days short of 3 years


She's such a goon!

Good to know

In a Past Life...

You Were: A Greasy Magician. Where You Lived: Egypt. How You Died: The Plague.

Who Were You In a Past Life?

Milestone week!

We've had a couple big milestones in our family this past week. On Thursday Alyssa had her first dance class. She's taking combo tap and ballet once a week. All day Friday she kept asking to go back, so I think its a hit. She thinks she's pretty hot stuff with her new tap and ballet shoes. (excuse the quality of the picture; it was through the "viewing glass" during class)


Our little Joely bear has mobility of the crawling kind! Or at least scooting, I guess. I *thought* that maybe he was getting there on Friday, but we had the official "thumbs up" from Dee yesterday afternoon, so that sealed the deal. No crawling pics, yet, but this one is awfully cute. :)

Congrats Jeff and Megan!

A little premature, but a big HAPPY WEDDING DAY wish out to Jeff and Megan tomorrow. We really wish that we could be there for the wedding (and to get an East coast fix), but it just wasn't in the cards for us. We'll be thinking of you and I hope the day is absolutely perfect. Wishing you all the love and happiness in the world ~ you guys deserve it!

It came early and from an unexpected place

I have been waiting for and/or dreading the stage where my kids see something on TV or in a magazine and start begging for it incessantly. I keep hoping it is a long ways off, but I'm afraid I'm probably mistaken.

I got a small dose of the "I want it"s when one of my daycare kids came up to me with the fisher price catalog and asked me if we could get a baby and bathtub. Ask your parents, kid!

She probably can see the true pushover that I am when it comes to cute, girly toys. ;)

I am ...

either a) the coolest mom in the world or b) the worst mom in the world.

We've had a disappointing afternoon. Flights have been delayed, canceled, rerouted, and turned upside down only to get our visitor from the East stuck in Dallas for the night. We *thought* she was going to make it into town around 10:45 tonight, which totally bummed Alyssa out because I had told her after her nap we would go to the airport to pick up Aunt Paula and see the airplanes. She looked completely crushed when I told her that we weren't going. And then the rest of the afternoon whenever Paula's name was mentioned she started wailing for "plaaaaannneeessss" (aka planes).

After talking to the airline and realizing that she was going to miss her connecting flight here and probably wouldn't be in until tomorrow morning, I resorted to my college comfort food: Taco Bell (okay, it was Taco John's in college, but its in the same family). After putting Alyssa back in bed for about the 4th time, I decided I would just let her stay up. Thus we had a mommy/daughter bonding experience tonight as I initiated her into the world of Mexican fast food comfort by taking her in her jammies at 9:45 to Taco Bell and buying her a taco. In her eyes I'm probably the coolest mom in the world ... but to the rest of the world ... its up for a vote.

On the up side, Alyssa does get to go to the airport to see the plaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnneeeessss (and Aunt Paula) tomorrow.

Today's the big day!

One of my closest friends in the world is flying in to visit us today for the weekend ... the catch is that I've never met her in person. Yep, I'm one of the crazies that meets people on the internet and invites them into their home. To be their son's Godmother no less! And I can't wait!!!

Cautiously announcing ...

Alyssa seems to be well on her way to being daytime potty trained! She's doing so well and I'm SO proud of her. She has far surpassed my expectations of what potty training would be like. And its a lot more fun to buy cute panties than it is diapers!

We're having us a party!!!

A pool party! This month's "theme of the month" for daycare is "Summertime Fun", so today we celebrated with a pool party. The girls had lots of fun and neighbors Sophie and Braden came to join in the fun. We spent the morning playing in the pool and throwing water balloons (the fence was the most successful target) and finished up with some fruit umbrella straw/kabob snacks.

Cute Kid Pictures 8-9-07

I took these pictures today and thought I would share. I love the one of the older girls... almost as much as the one of Joel getting "goosed". :)

Miracles Happen!

Sung to the tune of "Accidents Happen" from "Elmo's Potty Time" DVD.

Miracles happen; that's what they say!
Miracles happen, not every day!

All 4 kids are napping/resting right now. I keep hearing peeps from Kinley, but hopefully she'll put herself back to sleep. Or maybe I'll go get her and plop her in the swing; that usually puts her out.

Now I have to quickly decide what to do with the 10 minutes or so of peace that I might get ... I know I *should* clean up, but I think I might relax with a book instead.

What I should have said

Tonight at Target I was glancing down the picture frame aisle as I walked past it and I saw something that made my heart stop. Or rather, I should say, I saw someone. Had this happened 4 months ago I was have happily ran down the aisle and greeted her with a huge hug and a smile. Tonight my first instinct was to run.

Four months ago I considered this person one of my best friends. And then she disappeared. I found out several weeks after she "disappeared" that she had left her husband and moved to her own apartment. I was floored. Thinking that she just couldn't find a way to tell me the news, especially considering I was the matron of honor at their wedding, I e-mailed her to let her know that I knew hoping that would break the ice. I heard nothing. I e-mailed her to let her know that I wanted to support her in whatever way she needed; I just wasn't sure what she needed and asked her to reply even if it was just to tell me that she needed space. Nothing. On a whim about a month ago I called and asked her out to coffee/lunch. I was shocked when she answered her phone and even more shocked when she agreed. She told me that she would call me later in the week to decide on a time/place. I heard nothing. I called and texted her asking if we were still on. Nothing.

And then tonight, there she was. I got up my courage and went over to talk to her. Ridiculous considering she knows me almost better than anyone else in the world. She kept saying that she knew that she didn't handle the situation right and she never meant to hurt me and that she just didn't know what to say to me. I told her it was okay; that I understood.

But its not and I don't. I don't understand. I was hurt. I am hurt. She didn't handle it well. She treated me like crap and treated our friendship like crap. Meaningless crap. Forgettable. Able to be discarded at a moments notice.

I never thought that would happen to us.

I think she is truly happy. And I think I'm happy for her. After all, what kind of friend would I be if I weren't? And maybe on some level I'm a little jealous because she's free to do or be whatever she wants. But I'm also really sad. Because I honestly don't think our friendship can survive this.

Ones for Alyssa's baby book ...

* Saturday night after Angie's birthday dinner we stopped by Sonic for some ice cream. After Adam ordered, Alyssa kept rolling down her window and yelling "ICE CREAM, PLEASE" and then rolling the window back up as she would laugh hysterically.

* She's really starting to notice how much attention Joel pays to her ... so much so that she's taking to screaming at him when he's falling asleep in the car because she doesn't want him to miss anything that she might do. Just short bursts of "AH!" like when he squawks at her.

* Normal reply to anything that I ask her to do lately "no, please".

* Today at lunch I was peeling myself a peach when I offered some to Alyssa. She LOVED it and ate almost the whole thing and was really upset when I told her that we had eaten all of it and there wasn't any more left. Off she went to open the fridge on her own, find a peach in the fruit drawer, and come back to me to say proudly "one more, mommy!". Tonight I was retelling the story to Adam and spelled out p-e-a-c-h. His reply was "what you can't say peach around her?". She wasn't even really paying attention to us, but her radar must have gone off when she heard the magic word peach, because next thing you know she's pulling another peach out of the fridge and telling Daddy that there's "one more!".

Oh, she keeps life interesting!

Dee ~ this one is for you!

I put Joel down in his crib this morning to watch his mobile while I was putting laundry away. I came in a few minutes later to find this:


he had scooted his way around until he found his blanket (thanks again ~ its the best!!!), cuddled up with it, and fell asleep (he NEVER sleeps on his back, by the way). So sweet! Hope this story/picture helps you feel better soon!

I'm in business!

Tonight marks the eve of me accomplishing one of my long time goals/dreams. Tomorrow morning I officially open my own in home daycare. You name the emotion, I'm feeling it tonight, but mostly I'm really excited. I hope its a great experience for Adam, Alyssa, Joel, and me as well as my daycare families.

I have will have 4 additional kids total. The first family that is starting tomorrow has two girls ages 5 and 3. They will be coming two days a week. My other family starts in August. They have two girls ~ one is 3 years old and a baby who is about 6 weeks younger than Joel. The babies are going to be my biggest challenge, but I'm really excited about the fact that both families have girls close to Alyssa's age. The second family will be coming 2 1/2 - 3 days a week. So both are part time, which should leave me a day or so each week to run around and be "free" (or as free as a mom to a 2 1/2 year old and 5 month old can be!)

Wish me luck!!!

Dear Joel ~ 5 months old

It seems very cliche to start off by saying that I can't believe you are 5 months old already, but I'm sitting here flabbergasted that my little baby boy is quickly turning into a not-so-little baby boy! In the past week you have gotten 2 teeth. Teething was pretty rough on you (and mommy and daddy for that matter), but you were a trooper. Yesterday you tried cereal for the first time, which didn't seem to be a huge hit. I doctored it up with a little apple juice tonight and that seemed to suit you a little better.


You are such a smiley and happy little guy; I can't imagine our family without you! Thankfully you are also a very patient little person, with the exception of when you want to eat. Your patience comes in handy when Alyssa wants to "help" with you or "love" you. Already you're starting to show some signs of stranger anxiety, especially around people who tend to hold back a little to see how you are going to react to them ~ such the intuitive, smart one you are!


Your favorite toy seems to be a little play piano that has 4 keys on it; second only to your toes! Daddy and I both cheered the day you FINALLY got your toes in your mouth because you were working on it for weeks. There's just something really squishy sweet about a baby with toes in his mouth.


We need to work on your sleeping habits at night because you're still getting up two to six times a night. Thankfully you aren't up for long, but as much as I love to see you and cuddle you, we could do without all the wee hour visits ~ I promise you will get plenty of cuddling and loving during the day, too, don't worry. Maybe you figure the middle of the night is the only time that you get me all to yourself. :)

Its been a fantastic 5 months, buddy bear. I love you more than you'll ever know.

Love,
Mommy

Celebrating in style . . .

We celebrated the first day of summer by hitting the sprinkler park that is a few blocks from our house. Alyssa was a little unsure about it at first, but she warmed up pretty quickly and made a couple new friends. Mommy learned that she needs to watch where she's walking as there are buckets that dump water and sprinklers that shoot out of the ground without warning! ;)

Parental Influences

Out of the mouth of Alyssa . . .

Most parents try to pass on words of wisdom to their kids like "treat others as you want to be treated", "always say please and thank you". MY husband frequently tells Alyssa "always use a condom". Now, good advice, granted, but you can imagine how proud I was when my 2 1/2 year old came running up to me to say "condom, mommy!".

Almost as proud as when she told me "BEER, WOMAN!" in a growly voice.

And she's also picked up her daddy's tendency to grunt frequently, so throughout the day I get greeted with sweet little "manly" grunts from her.

But its not only Adam that is teaching her these things. Thanks to me she now says "Oh TOOT!" whenever she farts. Or she'll say "Oh, _____ toot!" when someone else farts. I can totally see that one backfiring when I let one loose in public.

Ahhh kids!

Bring on the mountain hikes!

As of about 10AM this morning I am the *proud* owner of a backpack carrier. Never in my life did I ever think that I would buy one of these. They were for those super outdoorsy, athletic, nature freaks that went on 20 mile hikes several times a week and camping on a regular schedule. My camping schedule goes about once every 7 years. And about 8 years ago I did a 7 mile hike up a mountain; I have no desire to do that again any time soon.

My midwife was the first one to suggest to me that we get one. She told me that its great for strapping on husbands and letting them have "bonding time" with the baby while mowing the lawn. I think I could handle that. ;) Then I started seeing a couple of our neighbors walking around the neighborhood with their kids in a backpack. I started getting interested ... I might want to do that someday. Then at Joel's 4 month check up his pediatrician recommended getting one. Joel does love being in the baby bjorn, but sometimes its just a pain to have to reach around him, so I started seriously thinking about getting a backpack.

And then it just so happened that our neighbor Amy had one on her garage sale this morning, so I think I got a pretty good deal, even if we don't use it that often.