My Night with Mommy (by Joel)

Daddy and Alyssa went to soccer practice tonight, so I got Mommy all to myself. As a treat she gave me a fruit roll-up. I LOVED it! And my dessert led to our next activity. BATHTIME! Its not very often that I get the bathtub all to myself, so Mommy pulled out the camera and documented the fun that I had.

Afterwards Mommy decided that I needed a HAIRCUT! It wasn't too traumatizing because I got to chew on my toothbrush and look at myself in the mirror while she cut my hair. Afterwards we played my new favorite game that I learned from my big sister Alyssa ~ it involved hiding in the closet and opening/shutting the doors. The louder you slam them the better!!! And you can see a little bit of my cool dude new haircut. Mommy was trying to get better pictures, but I wouldn't hold still long enough. I've got places to go, man!

After all the bath fun and running around I wanted to cuddle with Mommy and she was a very willing participant to cuddle time. I even fell asleep with her holding me, which was pretty awesome for both of us.

Until next time ... Joel

(More) Photography By Alyssa

As much as I hate Alyssa playing around with my camera, I have to admit it makes my day when I download my pictures and find little "presents" like these ... enjoy! :)

Where's the damn owner's manual?!

The one that came with Alyssa, that is. The girl is testing her limits BIG TIME lately and I don't know how much longer I can take it. I've tried being patient and firm and reminding myself that this is just a phase, but all I really want to do is run away. I feel like she's turning into an 18 month old again who is getting into everything and has to be watched 24/7 ... except now she *knows* that she's not supposed to do things. As evidenced by the "I'm sorry, mommy" that she says as soon as she sees me.

Breathe in ... 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ... and out ... *repeat*

Finally, the boy is paid off

It only took 4 months, but I think I've finally finishing paying all the bills from when Joel got his tubes. I swear it seems like the bills never stopped coming! And I told Adam that I was probably paying the same thing over and over again and *they* are just giggling over it and planning what to do with the Joel wing of Children's hospital. ;) This morning I confirmed that our balance with Children's is $0 and as of Monday afternoon we have a $0 with Dr. D. So unless a bill pops up from our pediatrician, we should be in the clear.

Now to pay off Joey's bills ... this parenting (whether human or animal!) is expensive stuff!

Movie weekend

We rarely watch new movies around here, usually its the same Disney and/or Dora movie for the 5 BILLIONTH time, but yesterday I stopped at Blockbuster to rent a couple movies with a gift card that Adam got for Christmas.

I rented "Juno" for Adam and I and "Enchanted" for Alyssa (okay, that one was for me, too, but I can get away with saying that I got it for her ~ ha!). Adam and I actually sat DOWNSTAIRS on the COUCH TOGETHER and watched A MOVIE all the way through without a kid interruption or one of us (me) falling asleep. The last time we did that we watched a movie that was so bad we wanted to shoot ourselves for giving up 70 minutes of our life ... I can't remember what it was; I think I've blocked it from my memory. Anyway, I highly recommend "Juno". I think its the first time ever that a film has gotten so much award "buzz" and recognition and I've actually liked it; usually I hate the film critics choices and love the ones that get horrible reviews. Although they did seriously screw up the pregnancy test scene, which bothered me as a person who has peed on several "sticks" in my day.

And "Enchanted" was a wonderful, wonderful movie. I think "Alyssa" definitely needs to add it to her DVD collection. ;) Another one that I would highly recommend for the entire family (because even Adam admitted that it wasn't too bad of a movie).

Boo yah!!!!!

After multiple weeks of stress and countless hours of "fiddling" on mostly my part, but some of Adam's part, too, I finally, finally, finally have an acceptable template for Uniquely Yours' thank yous. The design we had in mind seemed so simple, but was just barely out of reach no matter what program I used, no matter how I set up the paper, no matter how I trimmed. But finally, this morning, I figured that SUCKER out. I just want to scream from the rooftop because I'm so relieved that its behind me. Except its cold and rainy out and I'm totally terrified of falling off a roof.

So I'm virtually screaming via blog ... "HOOOO-FREAKIN'-RAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Backyard Crime Scene

Our back patio seems to have been the scene of a horrible homicide. Evidently Alyssa was smooshed into a large marshmallow-type shape (see the blue blob outline). Maybe a piano was pushed out of the bedroom window. Taye evidently was the victim of a hit and run from a Kawasaki big wheel. It must have hit her at a incredible speed because check out the way her body was practically bent in half (the white outline). Although is it really a hit and run if the bike is still at the scene? ;)

Attention parents ...

If you are one of those parents who have to use a crow bar to get your child in and/or out of a high chair at a restaurant because their legs pretty much touch the ground when they are sitting in it and you see a mom sitting by herself with a 3 year old (probably younger than your child and is sitting in a regular chair) and a 14 month old who she has to hold on her lap because there are no more high chairs left because morons like you feel the need to use them and she is almost in tears because she is sitting at a table for two that is the size of a serving tray and she's trying to juggle the 14 month old and eat and help the 3 year old at the same time FOR GOD SAKES OFFER HER YOUR HIGH CHAIR! Especially when you are sitting in a booth with your one 8 year old child in a high chair and with another adult.

Another one of those times that I wish I had the nerve to call people out. Kind of like the woman who rolled her eyes at me in the parking lot at Michael's when she realized that she would have to wait for me to get Alyssa out of her carseat before she could get into her car.

Alyssa and the Joey story

Adam and I were really unsure of what to tell Alyssa about what was going to happen to Joey when we finally made the decision that we were going to have to have her put to sleep. We finally came to the decision that we were just going to kind of avoid the situation all together (way to wuss out, huh?). We hoped that by not talking about it, Alyssa would be young enough that she would quickly forget and move on. Not so. The morning that I took Joey back to the vet after having her home for one last night, Alyssa wanted to go with me. I explained that just Mommy and Joey were going this time. So she asked if she could go with me the next day to visit Joey. Evidently she had gotten accustomed to our daily visits to the vet while Joey was staying there. So I gave her the story I had been practicing in my head. I told her that Joey was still very, very sick and that I was taking her back to the vet so that they could give her some special medicine that would make her go to sleep so that she wouldn't feel so yucky and sick anymore. But I also explained that after she got this special medicine she would stay at the vet and we wouldn't see her again. She seemed to accept the explanation and blew lots and lots of kisses to Joey as we were leaving.

The next couple weeks she would tell people from time to time that Joey was at the vet because she was really, really sick. I remember specifically getting a "raised eyebrow" from my inlaws when she relayed the information to them. As much as I hate to say this, I figured Alyssa was young enough that she would quickly forget our sweet Joey, so I just tried to smooth it over as quickly and quietly as possible.

Fast forward 6 weeks. More than enough time, in my mind, for her to forget. She and one of the daycare kids started talking about Joey this morning. Alyssa piped up and said that she was really, really sick and at the vet. Then she asked me when we could go visit her or when she was coming home. I gently reminded her of the "story" and then came the heartbreaking response, with big sad eyes and an expression like she was going to burst into sobs, "But, Mommy, I really, really miss her". Me too, sweetie. Me, too.

I feel like I haven't given her closure. That I've left loose ends and I don't know what to do about them. Alyssa doesn't know/understand heaven yet, so I can't use the puppy heaven story. We say prayers and she talks about God, but she doesn't understand all that He entails. I keep trying to make sure that she understands that Joey was extremely sick and that she had to go away to feel better and that because we loved her so much, we let her go, even though it meant that we wouldn't have her at home with us anymore. Maybe its too much for a 3 year old to understand. But I still don't feel like I handled it the right way.

Rainy Day Part 2

So, after Joel decided that he had had enough of the girly stuff and went off to his crib to burp and toot and all that boy-ish stuff, Alyssa and I sat down to make some "masterpieces". I sprinkled a little clear/sparkly glitter on mine, so she decided that her's needed some gold "accent". Funny how accent and accident are very similar words, huh? Anyway, I love her piece ... I think its my new favorite piece of art ~ and I'm lucky enough to have the original hanging in my kitchen!!! I may be biased, but I think she's pretty talented.

Rainy Day ...

No girlfriends to play dress up with? NO PROBLEM ... that's what little brothers are for!

Blast from the past

In anticipation of the New Kids on the Block reunion I've been spending time on youtube reliving the good old days of New Kids videos. Makes me feel like a giddy little 10 year old again. Those moves! Those clothes (especially the billowy long-sleeved shirt unbuttoned over the t-shirt ~ how HOT was that?!)! The big hair! Bliss.

Christy or Angie ~ want to hit a concert if they come to the QC? ;)

Now that I think about it, Adam had pretty big hair around that time, too ... maybe it wasn't his hot car that got me.

Alyssa-ism

Conversation at lunch today after Alyssa chucked her fork across the kitchen.

Mommy: Alyssa! You know better than that! You know you don't throw silverware.
Alyssa: No, I don't.
Mommy: Well, you do now. No throwing silverware; you could hurt someone.
Alyssa: Oh. *in a "damn, now I have to come up with a NEW excuse so that I can throw my fork and not get into trouble"*

I need a drink.

Fiji water's next spokesperson

My adorable children

Wednesday night Adam and Alyssa had soccer practice, so I got to hang out with my favorite little guy all by myself. That doesn't happen very often. I am just blown away when watching him lately. Its like he's gone from this blob to this little "thing" with a brain and I just love, love, love watching him figure things out. We were playing in the toy room and he picked up this yellow football that he has that splits into two pieces (a baseball fits inside, then the football fits inside a soccer ball and the soccer ball fits inside a basketball). He then looked around and found a yellow shape that goes to our shape sorter. He looked at both pieces for a minute or so and then slowly tried to put them together ... I just loved the look on his face. He knew that they were both the same color, but also knew there wasn't something quite right about them being together. The boy is just a genius, I think.

The other afternoon Alyssa was trying to get me to lay down with her before she took her nap and she was throwing a fit because I wouldn't be swayed. I reminded her several times that I only lay down at night, and only when she has been good and hasn't argued/procrastinated/fussed about going to bed. Then she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said "But mommy, I just love you too much!". How do you respond to that? I mean, other than telling her to move over. ;)

And speaking of Alyssa and sleeping ... the sleep fairy has visited 3 times this week. I really think its the addition of the sound machine that is helping her the most, but whatever it is I'm so relieved. Now if I could only get my bladder to sleep through the night, life would be grand.

Struggling with my bio

A few days ago I received a link via e-mail to a website that had been set up for my upcoming 10 year high school reunion. Although I have no desire whatsoever to GO to my reunion, I was excited about the feature on the website that let people update everyone on what was going on in their life. I've become slightly addicted to it; logging in freuqently with hopes that all of the sudden there will be a list of all my former classmates so that I can find out what they are doing with their lives. So far there is *maybe* 10. Out of about 135.

And then comes the struggling with what to write about me. For some reason my life doesn't seem good enough. So I try to figure out if I can "spin" it a certain way to make things sound better. But why should it have to be better. I have a really great life. There really isn't anything else that I would ask for. Sure, I could ask for more money, a cleaning lady, a nanny, etc, but overall I think I'm a pretty lucky girl.

This whole thing has me puzzled. If I don't care to go to my reunion because there isn't anyone that I really care about from my class that I don't see on a fairly regular basis, then why do I care what they think of me? Why do I feel like being a stay at home mom isn't good enough? It makes me feel like other people are going to think of me a living in a white trash trailer park (no offense to Angie and Eric! ;) ), with my dirty kids running a muck, and my beer-bellied, chain smoking, grease-under-the-fingernails husband yelling "woman, git me a beer!" at me. But when I think of stay at home moms, especially the ones that I personally know, that's not the case at all.

I'm so messed up.

BFF

Big. Fat. Failure.

That's what the sleep fairy was last night. For a past few weeks Alyssa has been getting up at least once in the middle of the night. She doesn't seem to want or need anything, she'll just show up next to my side of bed and want me to walk her back to her room. Sometimes she'll let me tuck her in; sometimes she'll "make" me wait until she's tucked herself back in. Sometimes she'll ask for music, sometimes she'll ask for kisses, sometimes she'll asleep by the time we get back to her room.

So after a friend of mine had success with the "sleep fairy", I decided to give it a try. I bought a cute little trinket box and told Alyssa that I had run into the sleep fairy and that she knew that she hadn't been staying in her bed at night. The sleep fairy gave me a special box to give to Alyssa to put somewhere in her room and then told me to tell her that if she stayed in her bed all night long, she would leave Alyssa a special little present. I stocked up on cute little things from the dollar store and I was ready to go. I think she was up 4 times last night. *sigh* In her defense, one of the times was about 1 AM to tell me that Adam had forgotten to put a diaper on her when she went to bed and one of the times it was thundering, so I did let her crawl in bed with us.

Tonight I'm going to try putting a radio in her room and see if the "white noise" helps. Any other suggestions? Besides medication and locking her in her room?

It sucks so much that it took me a year to get Joel to sleep through the night and now he sleeps like an absolute CHAMP and his sister is a big pain in my rump!

Can any of the locals enlighten me?

If people decide to kick Fahey out of office, then does the ball park controversy "disappear"? This question kept me up last night for some reason. Maybe because I saw some people out "picketing" yesterday afternoon. I kind of wish I had paid closer attention so that I understood what all the hubbub is about.

Its official!

I'm officially a soccer mom! Alyssa played her first soccer game today. And Adam "assistant to the coach"ed his first soccer game today. It was an absolute riot. Unfortunately it was cold and windy today, so hopefully once it warms up it'll be a lot more fun for them to play ... and for us to watch!

To My Sister

What I would really love to say, but don't have the guts.

"You're lazy and selfish and you need to pull your head out of your ass and realize that their are other people in the world. Yes, you have a difficult life, but a large, large majority of it is your own fault. Deal with it. There are people a lot worse off than you through no fault of their own that would give anything to be in your shoes and have the opportunities you have dropped at your feet, but are too lazy to pick them up."

Note this is my OLDER sister. My sister who in 2 years will turn 40. It makes me sad.

Quiet

Alyssa has her first soccer "practice" tonight. (Five 3 year-old girls ... I'm betting it goes something along the lines of "this is a soccer ball. Try to kick it.") Adam took her so that he could help Amy coach. Should be an interesting experience for all involved. ;) Joel and I had some good play and cuddle time while they were gone, but he ready to crash by 7. Frankly, I was ready to crash, too. So I put him to bed and for the last 30 minutes I've been sitting here enjoying the silence. I never used to enjoy silence. I was one of those people that always had to have the TV on or radio on for background noise. Ah, how children change your life.

And with that thought ... the garage door just burst open. Back to the craziness!

Perplexing

Today while making lunch I found myself thinking, "Wow, I had forgotten how much I really love being a stay at home mom". The kicker is that I can to this realization after spending the morning running all around town. Strange, eh?

For those of you that don't know, I have daycare kids Monday, Wednesday, and Thursdays, but still have Tuesdays and Fridays just for me and the kids. Most of my "mom" days just end up feeling like days that I need to cram as much in as possible. For some reason today was a "good" SAHM day and I was reminded of how much I miss those days. But again, the dumb thing is, we didn't stay at home. We all got up, had breakfast, got dressed and then made our first stop at the Y where the kids played (or sobbed in Joel's case) and I got a good workout in. We then picked up some groceries and stop by the park for a few minutes on our way home before heading home for lunch. Followed by that glorious thing known as naptime ... or shower and clean up the house time for mommy.

Anyway, today made me look forward to my "extra" kids growing up and going to school because in the back of my mind I keep thinking that I'll only do daycare for the families that I have currently and I'm fairly sure no one is planning on any babies coming along. But then I realize that when my last "extra" kid is in school, that means my baby will be in school, too, and then I probably won't know what to do with myself. Vicious cycle.

Alyssa Heard a Who!

I took Alyssa to see her first movie in the movie theater this morning. I was really impressed with how well she did; she started getting a little antsy about an hour, so I was worried if we were going to make it, but she pulled through. I thought the movie was really adorable and would HIGHLY recommend it. Alyssa clapped at the end, which I thought was really cute and she kept asking "where did the silly elephant go?" when Horton wasn't in a scene, so Horton was a big hit ... although she did ask where "Mayor" went a couple times, too.

Farewell, sweet Joey

Jocelyn "Joey" Pooh Bear
November 27, 2002 - March 8, 2008

Someday I may go into all the details of this past week/weekend, but for now, I'll just say this:

Goodbye, my sweet, wonderful, ornery, fuzz bucket. Thank you for being my first baby.

Daylight Savings

I know that I'm probably in the minority, but I LOVE "springing" forward. People grumble all the time about losing an hour of sleep, but if I get to get up to the clock saying 7:15 instead of 6:15, I call that a GREAT night no matter how many hours of sleep I *technically* got.

I love that Sophie came over to play with Alyssa and when Amy came to get her at 7 it was still light out. I hated going back and forth between our houses feeling like it was the middle of the night when it was actually only 6:30.

I love that I finished cleaning up supper and picking up the house and the sun was just setting ... makes me feel like I'm ahead of myself and can take the rest of the evening to just relax.

Now when Alyssa is up at 6:15 tomorrow morning and it feels like 5:15 to my poor body, I may not feel the same way, but for today, I say "spring" away!!!

Are you freaking KIDDING ME?!

To look outside it is the picture perfect day. Bright blue sky, sunny, no wind ... the kind of day that just SCREAMS spring. So I think that I'll be able to sneak the kids out with just a light jacket since they have sweatshirts on already and they won't be outside the car *that* long. And because I'm boycotting coats because I'm so tired of layers and bulk and that crap. Then I go to my handy dandy computer to look up the outside temp. Thinking it *has* to be at least in the upper 30s. Nope. 17. Feels like 5. Fudge.

Although I don't really say fudge.

I hate this winter.

Its not easy being "green"

Adam frequently talks about how he wishes that he could be more "green" in his day to day activities. I was inspired by him while grocery shopping a few weeks ago, so I bought some of the lovely canvas bags that our grocery store offers as a more environmentally friendly option instead of paper or plastic bags. Plus I get really annoyed when they will put a loaf of bread in a plastic bag and call it full so that I end up having as many plastic bags as grocery items when I get home. Anyway, yesterday I made a point of grabbing my bags before leaving the house to go visit Joey at the vet and then swing by the grocery store to pick up a few things. Per usual, as the checker starting ringing up my groceries she immediately asked me if I wanted "paper or plastic"? I proudly pulled out my canvas bags and she gave me a "good for you!" smile as she said "never mind!". I told her that plastic was fine after she filled up my two bags, but we both acknowledged that I probably didn't have much more than what would fill the two bags. So she instructed the bagger (who was about 12, I'm guessing) to use plastic after filling the bags I brought ... the poor girl was so confused ... she put my grapes in a plastic bag, then the bananas in a plastic bag, etc and then put all THOSE plastic bags inside my bag I brought into the store. The best laid plans ...

I jumped on my mobile phone because I'm sexy and I do what I want

Pick the month you were born:

January-------I kicked
February------I loved
March--------I karate chopped
April----------I licked
May----------I jumped on
June----------I smelled
July-----------I did the Macarena With
August--------I had lunch with
September----I danced with
October-------I sang to
November-----I yelled at
December-----I ran over

Pick the day (number) you were born on:

1-- -----a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a snowman
6-------a gangster
7-------my mobile phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbor
11-------my science teacher
12------- a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19------ - a smurf
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an ipod
29-------a surfer
30-------a llama
31-------A homeless guy

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White---------because I'm cool like that
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink-----------because I'm crazy.
Red-----------because the voices told me to.
Blue-----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want
Green---------because I think I need some serious help.
Purple---------because I'm AWESOME!
Gray----------because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars
Orange--------because my family thinks I'm stupid anyway.
Brown---------because I can.
Other----------because I'm a Ninja!
None----------because I can't control myself!

Thought this was kind of fun ... what did you get?

Back home again

As I spent last weekend checking things off the "Christi does Raleigh" list that Paula and I had made over the years, I started writing a really clever blog entry listing all the "firsts" that I did on my trip. But once I got home and started writing them down, I realized how lame most of them were ... so I'll give you the top 3 firsts (besides meeting Paula's family and seeing her house and meeting Renee and kids and all that junk. ;) )

Last weekend marked the:
First time I've ever flown alone; I think even the first time I've ever traveled alone.
First time I've been to an Ikea. Now I know what all the hub bub is about.
First time I've eaten at chick-fil-a. I definitely have to check out the one that is supposedly tucked away in some secret location downtown here.

Of course the super-duper mega first was that I left Joel overnight. :)

I had a wonderful, perfect trip. Okay, I had some airline drama yesterday getting home, so that wasn't wonderful or perfect, but I did get a little bonus time with Paula and kids, which totally made up for it. Although then my super wonderful brother-in-law had to pick me up at the airport at 11:30 at night and drive me home on sheets of ice and then be back at the hospital for work at 8 AM. But my bonus time with Paula and the kids consisted of playing at the park and walking around the lake in 60 degree weather with the sun shining down on us, so ... yeah, it made up for it. Maybe not for Chris, but it did for me.

I am madly in love with Paula's family and house and I am quickly developing a major crush on North Carolina. I now understand what Adam means when he says he dreams to live somewhere with trees. And it makes me want to rethink our staying the Midwest and not moving East. Its nice to dream.

Overall the trip was the perfect "cure" for my funk. I feel like I'm in such a better place now. Although I could stand to be here with a bit less of the freaking coldness!!!! But spring is on its way ... right?

If the boy fits ...

pack him, right?! Oh, I'm going to miss my kiddos and my handsome hubby. But probably not the dogs. ;)

Handing over my mommy gloves

In less than 24 hours I'll be handing over my "mommy gloves" to Adam while I go visit the Andrews family for the weekend. I have complete confidence that Adam can handle the kids ... whether the kids can handle Adam may be another story. ;) Please send good thoughts that we ALL have a good weekend so that I come home to as many children as I had when I left and so that someday I might be allowed off of "house arrest" again!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's a picture of the super cute craft that we did for daycare this morning ... in case you can't read it, it says "Thumb-body loves you ... and that thumb-body is ME!". And the white "smudges" are thumb prints (you try getting good thumb prints out of a one year old! Or three year olds for that matter). But anyway, I think they turned out pretty cute.

And here's a picture of my gift from my fantastic, wonderful, creative, and clever husband ...

its a "plain" ticket aka plane ticket to go to North Carolina!

Leaving on a jet plane ...

I can't wait!!!

A Million Bucks

That's how I feel tonight. Like a million bucks. What a great change from the two bucks I normally feel like!

This morning Angie and I went to SupperThyme USA for the first time. We both absolutely loved it. I was surprised at how simple their recipes were. From all the rave reviews I had heard I expected secret recipes and top secret ingredients, but everything was pretty simple. I loved having all the stuff right in front of us; all the bowls and utensils right there, and best of all ... after we made a mess making the stuff ... we just walk away and someone cleans up after us. Its like being a toddler! :P It was so relaxing to not have to run around the kitchen looking for this or that and pulling things out of the fridge and out of the pantry and out of the spice cupboard and then spend hours loading the dishwasher or washing dishes. Tonight we made Chicken Cordon Bleu for dinner and I was really impressed with it. After loading up our meals, Angie and I went to Subway for lunch. It was fantastic getting to spend some one on one time with her because it had been far too long.

Once I got home I was feeling so upbeat and accomplished that I decided to venture into the basement. *insert foreboding music* For several months I had just been tossing stuff down the stairs, the Christmas decorations were still just shoved into piles, party supplies were strewn from one side to the other as I prepped for Joel's birthday, and kids clothes/toys were overtaking at least 1/2. It was a jungle in there. I made SO much progress. You can actually see the floor, things are organized and put away and I even started a good sized garage sale pile for the sale in June. Plus you can actually WALK around down there! Or at least in the area that isn't covered with Adam's tools/gadgets/electronics stuff, etc ... I'll leave that for him. Or for the garbage men. ;)

Now the kids are in bed, Adam is at Eric's for movie night with the guys, so I think I'll go find myself a yummy snack and head to bed to watch some silly, lovey dovey, chick flick.

Birthday pictures

We had a BIG birthday weekend at our house last weekend. The festivies started with a family/friend party at our house on Saturday afternoon, followed by a super bowl/birthday party at Becca and Jim's on Sunday!

Joel's first ...

poker game.

The burning question ~ "Now if I *fill* my diaper does it count as one article of clothing or two?"

Photography by Alyssa

Alyssa loves taking pictures and I love seeing the world through her eyes. Here's some of her "treasures" from when we were playing a few days ago. I especially love how she looks all ticked off like "stop taking my picture!!!!" in the second to the last one when *she* is the one taking her picture. And I love the pensive-ness (yes, that's right pensive-ness) of the last one. And the first one is just pretty darn sweet. Proving that appearances can be VERY deceiving. ;)

Eyelashes

I think my boy has pretty amazing eyelashes (especially for a boy). They are beautiful and I'll admit I'm jealous of them. I attempted to take a picture today, but I just couldn't quite do them justice. Here was the best out of the bunch. Eyelashes are tricky photography subjects!

I'm not in small town Iowa anymore

Alyssa and I went to the dentist on Tuesday afternoon. It had been about 4 years since I had last been, so I am proud to announce that we are BOTH members of the "no cavities" club. Of course she got her picture taken for the club wall and all I got was floss. But the toothbrushes ... oh the toothbrushes!

Alyssa was awarded a purple, sparkly, princess toothbrush during her visit. She was in HEAVEN. I got a fairly nice one, too. I was impressed because the toothbrushes I remembered getting from my dentist growing up looked like they got them at the "Everything's a penny" store. Then when I got home I noticed that it had the dentist's name and phone number printed on the handle. Nothing like a little "free" advertising, huh? Adam says that he thinks that his toothbrushes that he got from his dentist always had the name and number on them. I find that really weird.

Moment of Truth

Adam and I decided to Tivo Fox's new show "Moment of Truth" last night since both of us were intrigued by the previews. I *highly* recommend recording it and then fast forwarding through all the "fluff". We turned a one hour TV show into about 20 minutes when we skipped over the long, dramatic pauses.

I don't think there could be much simpler of a game to win money at. Maybe its because I don't have a really juicy past where I would have a hard time admitting things in front of America. But then I decided that I wouldn't make a very good player because I would over analyze each question. Like last night one of the questions was something along the lines of "since getting married have you flirted with a member of the opposite sex". I'm sure I probably have ... I've probably said something teasingly that could be considered inappropriate to a guy friend in an e-mail or in passing, but that doesn't *really* count as flirting, but if its said in kind of a flirtatious manner .... see what I mean?

Things I hate today

In no particular order:

1. Other children's poopy diapers. I can deal with my own kids poop, but other kids poop is significantly nastier than my precious children's poop.
2. Sponge Bob
3. and Sponge Bob marathons. Damn you Nick Jr.
4. Strained carrots
5. The shrill screams of a baby with regards to strained carrots.
6. The whining of a 3 year old that is "really, really, really, really, really, really tired" and can't walk because she's so exhausted. My advice to her is "trying sleeping through the night".
7. The fact that I was up about every 30 minutes or so with one (or both) of my children last night. No sleep = cranky, pissed-off, crabby mommy.


I think that's enough for today. I also think that its naptime.

Who is "SHE"?

The kids and I took a day trip to my parents house today and as I was listening to this really crazy kids songs CD that we got from a friend I found myself wondering ...

who is this "SHE" who is coming around the mountain? SHE certainly seems important.

The great play dough mystery

It never fails. Any time we get out play dough to play with for daycare when its time to clean up, there is always one extra container that seems to have no dough to fill it. Dough came out. So where did the dough go? Its happened at least 3 times now. And I don't *think* anyone is mishandling (aka eating) the dough.

Things that make you go hmmmmmmm.

Is there anyone out there?

I missed National De-lurking week, which was last week, but I've been finding myself wondering who reads my blog. Sometimes I feel like I'm just writing to myself. So ... if you read and want to continue to hear my musings, please leave a comment and let me know that there are readers out there! :)

And now for a quick update on the family and the crazy fun that is my life.

Alyssa started swimming lessons last week. She loves it. And I love seeing her all alien-like in her little swimming goggles! Dance class started up again last week and she was SO excited to get back to that. The weekend after Christmas she was a flower girl in her "Uncle Noodle"'s wedding. She did SUCH a fantastic job and Adam and I were both REALLY proud of her.

Joel is celebrating the anniversary of his birthday in 17 days. But he will not be turning 1. Because that's too old for my baby to be. I *think* he is saying "mama" "dada" "hi/hey" and "yes/yeah". He also grunts in a barking fashion whenever he sees the dogs. He would make Tim the Toolman very proud. He's started standing (very briefly) on his own without holding on to anything, so I suppose walking isn't too far away.

Adam and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary December 28th by traveling to the great state of Illinois for David and Kristi's wedding with my parents. 5 adults, 2 kids, 2 carseats and luggage in a 7 passenger van. I'm happy to announce we all made it out alive.

And I'm excited to announce a new member to our family. Our Wii! The entire family (and several friends) are all having a blast with it.

And I'm crazy to announce that I have taken on 2 more daycare families. I've added a 16 month old, an 18 month old, and a 5 year old to my mix. The plus side is that they are all boys, so finally Joel is getting a little testosterone in the house during the day instead of being the only boy with four girls. Its working out really well so far. Both new families were willing to work around my Monday, Wednesday, Thursday schedule, so I still have Tuesdays and Fridays off to do whatever Alyssa wants me to do. ;)