Friday, February 29, 2008

so boring mom!

So Noah and I were playing on his playmat while Meredith took a nap! I ran to the bathroom real quick and when I cam back, this is what I found. Guess I was really entertaining that or the playmat is super comfy! Maybe I should put it in his crib! Just kidding, I know it is a SIDS risk!


It is painful to be this cute!

My superstar!
My cutie pie


Today I am feeling.....

Meredith and I were reading "The Pigeon has Feelings too" the other day and they were talking about: Happy, Sad and Angry. So we practiced our own facial expressions as well. She loves making these faces and this morning I caught them on camera:

Meredith feeling happy! probably because she has the damn mouse shirt on!
Meredith feeling Sad....
Meredith feeling angry!
Noah feeling happy!
Noah feeling sad!

Noah down right angry!

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Little miss homemaker

Yep that is me!

Ha seriously. I turned over a new leaf, I made a NEW rule for my family. We will only eat out 1 night a week, which really means 2. Why?????

The eating out rule started because I knew since Noah's birth we were eating out or getting take out way too much..like 5-6 meals out of 7. I am so not kidding. It was not doing much for our bank account or our mid section. So if we cannot eat out, then what he heck were we going to eat? I am no chef, I can barely open a can of Spaghetti O's. I do not like throwing things together and trying it out either, I need specific written directions and instructions and hell I will admit pictures are fabulous. I follow recipes like no one you have seen before... talk about anal retentiveness.....if you omit a step or substitute an ingredient then my world will come crumbling down and I lose it.....ask Josh about my breakfast pizza. I know.....live a little. So with this new rule I had to broaden my horizons on dinner and my ability to produce these dinners. I am also trying to incorporate more "healthy" meals when I have time instead of tons of carbs. We have switched to wheat pasta and brown rice and fresh or frozen veggies instead of canned ones.....baby steps people.

Anyway I needed some new recipes and got tired of all the recipes in South Beach, which are pretty good and have helped waistlines in this family, but I am branching out. I now head over to Work it Mom on Tuesdays to get a new recipe each week, by Chris Jordan. Her blog is an awesome read and her recipes at Work it Mom have pictures. Fool proof for me, well almost and the best part if you have a question, even a stupid one , you post it in the comments and she answers it! The recipes are really good, well the ones I have tried. And they even had me chopping up fresh carrots, onions and celery to use to cook with. I am pretty sure I have never purchased celery or carrots before. Heck I am really living....... the other night I did not have all the ingredients I needed for a dish so I substituted and guess what we all lived. Not to mention I cooked with onions......I know hell will freeze over next week don't you worry!

So, wish us luck.
Last night chicken curry with sweet potatoes can you say D-e-l-c-i-o-u-s.

Tonight beef stew.

Tomorrow night Chuck-e-cheese......Baby steps people!

Welcome baby Ty!!!!


This is Noah's newest little friend.....Tycer James!


Look how sweet he is. We cannot wait to meet you Ty. Congrats Jeff, Caryn and big brother Ian!!!! We miss you guys and look forward to seeing you all soon!!!


Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Note to self....

Please always make sure the "mouse" shirt is clean. You know the Chuck-e-cheese shirt that was purchased for you toddler's birthday last year, yep that one. Make sure it is ALWAYS clean that way your toddler has no reason to throw a tantrum night after night for the damn mouse shirt.

did i say sleep....

No one is sleeping, do not even be a little jealous of me. Last night, I am not sure what was in that tilapia I cooked or the veggies or heck the water, but there was NO sleeping going on here. Meredith was up until 1030pm crying, not sure what was up with that. The past 3 nights she has cried when we put her to bed and has not fallen asleep until close to 10pm. So we thought maybe she was getting cramped in her crib. So we decided to move her to her "big gurl bed." Josh put the rails on and the whole time she would point to the rails and say "big gurl bed", she was so excited. Once it was ready, she did not want out of it, even to take a bubble bath.

Then I could not get to sleep. I stayed up watching one of my favorite shows on TLC, John and Kate plus 8. She makes my life seen so normal and un-chaotic. I love it. They went to Disney World and since we are going in October, I had to watch it for pointers. So yes I stayed up until 1:30am. I cannot remember the last time I did that.

Needless to say when Noah woke up at 3am to eat and poop, that new 1:30am bedtime I had killed me. Luckily Josh got up with him to change his diaper and get him back to bed. Unfortunately I was so tired I shortchanged him and cut that feeding short so he was back up at 5am wanting more.

Then Meredith was up at 5:30am crying and just when I got her back to sleep I heard Noah screaming downstairs. Ah the joys of parenting. We were thinking about a 3rd child one day and had decided last night we were pretty confident we did indeed want a 3rd. This morning we decided that 2 really was a nice even number.

Sleep, it is totally over-rated!

Monday, February 25, 2008

my husband.....my hero

I got a call from a good friend of mine last week. This friend and I go way back, to elementary school and growing up in a city and not a small town, keeping up with friends from elementary school is no easy fete. Anyway she called to thank me for Noah's birth announcement and let me know that the address I sent it to was no longer her address. I asked if they had moved, that was the only logical explanation for that not being her address in my book. She then explained that her and her husband of 6 years, that she had been with for almost 1o years were finalizing their divorce this month. I was shocked....in awe....I never would have dreamed in a million years that this couple would have headed for the big "D".

If asked to line up all of my friends' husbands and pick out 3 that I thought were all around "good guys" he definitely would have been one that I chose as a "good guy." The news was devastating to me. I mean they have 2 children and were seemingly the "perfect couple." Their children are little..... ages 3 and 11 months. How did it just hit him that he was unhappy and not in love? That does not just happen overnight. How did he walk out on his wife that gave him two beautiful daughters? What about his responsibility as a husband and father? I know some marriages are doomed from the beginning and some people really would be better off without one another. But marriage is not easy, it is not about just making yourself happy all the time. And do not get me wrong, I have nothing against divorce, hey if it is not working than get out. If you spend everyday wishing you were somewhere else or bitching about the person you are with or if that person really makes you hate yourself or the person you have become, than by all means do what you need to, to get out. I guess this situation hit me by surprise.

I started thinking, what if MY husband came home and told me he was not happy and wanted out. What would I do? I am sure my friend never thought it would happen to her. I mean I am well educated, I have a master's degree and could definitely provide for myself and my children....but I would be losing my best friend. My husband, my hero. He truly is. He is definitely number 1 of the 3 "good guys" that I would pick out. In fact I hope my daughter marries a man just like her father. He is kind and patient, he has a good head on his shoulders and is a very rational man. I honestly feel bad sometimes because he is a much better person that I am. He tames me, he helps me see the other side of things, he is a great listener, he loves me, there is nothing he would not do for me and I know this. I try not to take advantage of it too much.....but I do own my fair share of designer jeans.

In all seriousness I do not know what I would do, I guess there is nothing I can do. I do ask everyday if he is happy.....and his answer is always the same "more than you know." I ask because I want to know, I want to know that he is always happy. That he loves this life we have as much as I do. I want him to know how thankful I am that he does what he does to provide this life for me and our kids. I cannot imagine how hard it is to work on weekends and tend to other families and other people instead of your own family. But he does, and he does it with a smile.

Sometimes I think how unfair it is to me and our children, that he has to work weekends and some nights. That he has to take calls and rush out to take care of other people and other people's children, leaving his own sick children behind. I think how unfair it is that his daughter cries on the weekends for him or her favorite saying when he is not home is "dada at wurk." And then I think how unfair it is to him. How unfair it is that he did not get to play outside on the slide with Mizit this beautiful Saturday and I did. Or how he misses so many milestones and I get to witness them all firsthand. I think how unfair that after getting up all night with his own children, he then has to get up with his pager too. I think how unfair it is that he does not get to stay home on rainy days and spend them all cuddled up in the bed with us.

Yes, I married one of the good guys. One of the most selfless guys I know. In fact he is not a guy, he is a man. And in today's world it takes a lot to be a man. Thank you honey for all that you do, for all that you sacrifice and give up for us. I love you so much, thank you for being one of the "good guys."

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Guess who slept all night........

And by all night I mean from 8pm until 730am when I woke him up to nurse him. My boobs were about to explode. If he was not in my room I would of feared him dead, but he was breathing and peaceful and not even stirring when I whisked him out of his bed to feed him and get some relief. Poor guy probably thinks.....all I hear is sleep, sleep, sleep, when I do mean old mom wakes me up! UGH!

She is coming around.....finally

So Meredith is warming up quite nicely to having a baby brother. Perhaps she will get more siblings after all. She still occasionally hits him or raises her hand to hit him and occasionally she still kicks or places her foot right up against his head as if to say.....doubt me and I will do it. But overall she is getting sweeter and sweeter by the day. Here are somethings that happened this week:

- when she wakes up she looks for bubby, then she goes right over to him kisses him and says "Hi bubby, hi bubby!........hi sissy, hi sissy!" it is a one way conversation that takes place.

- the other day poor bubby was crying from exhaustion, but for the life of me I could not find his pacifier (well a pacifier, they both take the same kind.) So I asked Meredith if Bubby could have hers, she thought about it for .5 seconds and then handed it to me. I washed it off and gave it to him and she said "is otay, is otay bubby!"

- at night she sings the goodnight song to him and to her. Josh and I sing it to everyone, Brownie included....but she only sings the verses with No-wee and Mizit!

- if someone she does not know holds bubby she kind of watches them, to see what they will do with him, if they walk away from me for a minute, she will start tugging on me saying "mama, mama..." in her very panicked voice.

- at night she takes out her pacifier to kiss bubby, if his is in...she will take his out too!

- she has tried sharing her pretzel fish and cheerios with him this week....I have to really watch this one.

- the other day I covered bubby with her "bankie" it was her favorite. she did not need it at the moment ....when she saw it, she freaked. I told her bubby was just borrowing it, he would give it back..... and although it was probably one of the hardest things for her to do, she left it on him. I was so proud. This particular blanket was purchased for him, she made it her own before he arrived though.

So yes, she is definitely coming around. It has only taken 3 months, a dozen or so time outs, 1000 be gentle's, 2654 do no kick/hit bubby's, and a couple 1000 gallons or two of patience....for us both.

Friday, February 22, 2008

A great subject for the blog....Feet!

So little Noah was napping today and this is how I found him.... See those cute little feet sticking out! My children hate socks and shoes and love to stick their feet out from under the covers.
After Meredith woke up from her nap, we got dressed to go on a walk. She picked the outfit out all on her own, check out those feet! (and yes she is nursing her baby before we go!)
Close up of the feet....those are last years sandals that she found in the closet. Her heels were hanging over the back and I could barely buckle them. She was insistent though!

Big sisters

This is what will happen if your big sister gets to pick out your shoes......





Mommy's Little Monster






I could not resist, is he not a ham????

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Oh yes he did...

I honestly cannot believe he did it either.......

So the other morning my tikes slept late, and by late I mean 8:30am. That is late... that is sleeping in... that is a LUXURY... that is unheard of in this house.... especially both of my tikes at the same time. But it is true the did, in fact it was Tuesday morning. Noah had slept all night and he woke up at 5:30am and nursed and then went right back to bed. Ahhhh the luxury, he is normally up for good at 6am, so yes it was a luxury indeed. It would have been really nice if I were able to enjoy this luxury, but I did not get the chance. Why???

My husband woke me up at 7:15am to ask me if his shirt matched his pants. Oh, yes he did. I wanted to scream, I wanted to ring is neck! I wanted to knock his lights out. He had on khaki dockers, the same color that he wears most mornings and a brownish colored, striped shirt..... for God's sake it was close enough. Not to mention he dresses himself every morning and if I am up I may occasionally say...."honey, that does not exactly go, you may want to rethink your shirt choice" but for the most part he does it all on his own! If he was unsure about his color selection this particulary morning that his wife and children were all still sleeping at the same time, he could have chosen one of the other dozen or so shirts of the same style hanging in his closet!!!!

But under NO circumstances has he or should he EVER wake me up out of a dead sleep in the morning, when both of my tikes are still sleeping AT THE SAME TIME! unless of course it is a real emergency, not a fashion emergency. And that emergency better be life threatening and something that cannot be handled when everyone is awake and total chaos is running the household.

I remember laying their bewildered and thinking.....you are kidding me......you are effing kidding me......what the hell are you thinking.....you have a death wish......what in the effing hell are you thinking????

Oh yes, those are all thoughts that passed through my mind. And yes, I was mad.... very mad. And not the cute, kidding kind of mad. In fact if I had special radar eyes that could harm people, I would be collecting a big, fat life insurance policy right now. Damn husband!

If he did not learn his lesson Tuesday morning, I promise he will after reading this blog.

Thanks honey! And yes, for the most part he is a damn good husband, but on Tuesday morning he had lost all of his marbles, that or someone did a craniotomy on him while he was sleeping and removed the part of his brain that deals with logical thought processes.

She did great!

Surprised the shit out of me! It went really, really well. I dropped her off this morning and she immediately warmed up to the college girl that looked like my cousin Lindsey. She said "in-see" and when the college girl asked her name she proudly said "Mizit!" So after our introduction I told her she would stay and play and mommy would be back to get her later. She was a little hesitant, but she never cried. I left and Miss Angel was holding her. I had to run out to the car to get the sippy cup we left there and when I came back I saw through the window that she was crying and asking for her mommy. Three other mothers had come in to drop off their tikes and she wanted to know where her mommy was. But I put on my brave face, handing the sippy to the director, who promised to call me within the hour to let me know how things were going. And off I headed, heartbroken.

An hour later I got the call, she was doing great. She cried briefly, but now was sitting back and taking it all in....no tears. The director said she was not really interacting with the other tikes, instead just watching, but not crying.
15 minutes later I got another call from the director saying, that now she was definitely interacting and having a good time. I debated on whether to leave her for lunch, afterall I had packed a damn good luvch for her complete with pudding, oh the MDO teachers would have loved me. In the end I picked her up at 11:30am right before lunch, I missed her.


When I went in to get her they were coming back from playing in the temple or sanctuary, whatever Methodist people call their house of worship. They do this when it is a rainy day and they cannot go to the playground. I stood around the corner out of sight and watched her march in her line back to her classroom with a smile on her face. Then I watched her through the glass before we went in to get her. She was smiling and playing and having a good time.


When I walked in to pick her up this was our conversation....


"no, no mommy!" with a big grin


"mommy luuuuunch!" one of the teachers had just said it was time for lunch


"Hey baby, mommy missed you so much, did you have a good time?"


"mommy lunch!.........pay wit kidz"


"Yeah did you have a good time playing with the kids?"


"uh-huh, mommy luuuunch!"


"Yep we are going to go home and have lunch!"


"no, no mi-zit luuuunch!" pointing to the lunch table


"yeah next week you can stay for lunch, today we are going home kiddo!"


I would say she had a pretty good day! I on the other hand did not spend my morning productively. I sat with my phone in one hand and bubby in the other waiting for the call. The call that she was screaming her head off and missed me so much she could not and would not survive another second until I rushed right over to the Mother's day out building and rescued her. That call never came, but it did not stop me from sitting and waiting and worrying. Next week I promise to be more productive and do better!
Pictures from today:
Miss Priss getting ready for "school"
Can you see the attitude? I am in big trouble!
Loving her new "purse"

Showing off her school bag, lunch pail ensembleAnd of course the new bags for school, cost me a fortune!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

double trouble!!

Meredith and Adalyn --- double trouble!

I have to say these two little girls are so cute, but I bet one day they will be a handful! Katey and I will be pulling our hair out and crying on one another's shoulder. The teenage years should be fun, glad I have someone to go through it with!


We call this the pout....

And this is because he is so damn cute! I just love this little boy so much!!!!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

me and my boy

Today Noah and I had lots of time to snuggle together and we did. We cuddled in my bed for a good while after we ran errands all over town. Unfortunately my little buddy is sick, say a prayer he gets better soon. He has the most awful cough and congestion. I wish my tikes would get better already.

Pay the lady!

So last night we ran to "Tah-get" - yes it is sad, my toddler knows exactly where this place is. I have been in withdrawals. With 2 it is much harder to get there and much harder to peruse the store like I love to do. But last night my hubby was in tow, so we did some perusing. Unfortunately it was very close to bed time, which makes for a cranky toddler. I was insistent on getting the most out of my visit, I was not going home early. So I did what any good mother who wants to stay at target longer would do, I bribed her. My first tactic was on the $1 shelves, elmo barretts, rings and stick on earrings. My second attempt was a baby doll, very cute but we already have 10. My third attemp was a $2 ball so we threw it in the buggy with the mantra "if you stay in your seat you can get the......" Fill in ball in this case.

As we were heading over to housewares I remembered we needed milk and there was no way after going home from target and getting two kids in to pjs, nursing one and getting them both to sleep I was going to go back out to the grocery. Josh offered, but I needed so many things that I decided to just grab some at target and head to the grocery in the morning. My bribery attempt at keeping Meredith in her seat was wearing off and fast. I needed some new material. Then I remember that she LOVES food, bribe her with food, that will work.

Yay more target time. Then we hit the food section and I remembered that we needed: pop tarts, oatmeal, milk and many other things that somehow wound up in our buggy. So this is how the rest of the night went:

"Look Meredith Woody & Buzz applejuice! If you stay in your seat we can get these juice bottles."

"Mizit juice...o'en!"

"No we have to pay the lady first."

"pay da lady"

"Yep, we have to pay the lady first."

"Ooooh Oreos!"

"mizit rio, mizit rio!"

"No we have to pay the lady first" as I toss the oreos into the buggy

"pay da lady"

"Uh-huh we have to pay the lady before we can eat them."

"Oh look mizit, pop tarts what kind do you want?"

"Mizit pop karks! o'en, o'en" making really drastic open signs with her hands

"No we have to the pay the lady first"

"pay da lady"

"Yep!"

"pay da lady mama"

"That is right we have to pay the lady first."

This conversation went on and on with various food items....pop tarts, brownie bites, crackers, oreos, ice cream sandwiches, sausage biscuits, cheerios, and candy! I had a new mantra.

By the time we left target Mizit was happily chanting "pay da lady, pay da lady!" She loved the nice woman at the checkout, she was her hero. She even got to eat a reese's peanut butter egg on the way to the car after we "paid da lady!"

my splurge!

I am addicted to this stuff.....so good. I have not introduced it to Meredith, but I did introduce it to Josh a few weeks ago. I bought one little box of the lite gourmet bites in creamy swiss and told him that they were all individually wrapped to enjoy one at a time. Not 5 or 10! That is not what they were meant for. I explained how it is all about portion control. How you have to savor the taste...it is a treat. So each day I would sneak to the fridge when two little toddler eyes were not watching and grab one. Then I could not help myself and I would go back for one or two or three or heck five or six more. Then I would delve into my delicious treat. When Josh came home and noticed how many were missing, he asked with a puzzled look"I thought you could only have 1 at a time, like a treat?" Exactly YOU can only have one at a time, me I can eat the whole damn box if I want. I keep the tikes all day. So this time around I went to Sam's and and got the 3 pack of round containers that contain the big triangles of the creamy swiss....oh melt in my mouth baby. And yes, I am sharing them with my hubby! They are fantastic on top of whole grain crackers or just by themselves. Heck you can put these little babies on anything and they would be fantastic.

Monday, February 18, 2008

When did this happen?

Who gave my daughter permission to grow up? She is reaching milestones that I am so not ready for her to reach. She already talks in sentences....one of her favorites is...."no yike it, mommy!".....and uses a few choice words...."O sit!"....she can even slap her hand on her leg and say...."O llllllauuud!"....just like Mommy!

Today though when we were going down for our regular nap time, she pointed to her big girl bed that is up right next to her crib and said...."mommy, mizit sleep." So I asked if she wanted to sleep in the big girl bed and she said..."uh-huh." So I laid her down got her the blankie and kiss and said goodnight. I fully expected her to get out the bed and come after me. She did not, in fact, 30 minutes later this is what I found.

Onto other big milestones, today I registered her up for Mother's day out--MDO. She starts on Thursday. I was not sure about this, in fact part of me hates it and the other part thinks interaction with other kids will be good for her. We will see. She will be going from 9 - 11:15. She could stay until 1pm, but I am not ready for that yet. Baby steps. I got the call last week, and immediately turned it down. However the incident of her kicking me out of the play area at Chic-fil-a entered my mind and I thought, maybe Meredith would benefit from a playdate with other kiddos and no mommies. So I called back and the spot was still available. So I went in today to let her check it out and register her with an open mind.....if she freaks out, I will turn down the spot and that is that. I carried on like any MDO mommy virgin.

"So my daughter is going to cry Thursday, really loudly okay?!?!"

"Uhm if she cries the whole time, you will call me right?"

"She can cry really loudly...I am fully expecting her to do this."

"She probably won't want to stay Thursday"

"What do I need to bring with her? Oh diapers right...and sippy cups, and her lunch...got it!"

"So she probably won't like it Thursday, but we will see!"

"Thanks so much, see you Thursday, okay Meredith are you ready to go?"

Meredith busy playing in the classroom....."no mommy no! Mizit pay wit kidz...pay wit kidz"

Yeah I am probably the one who will be crying Thursday....pray for me.

Silently I am still telling myself...."this is a good thing, this is a good thing!"

Friday, February 15, 2008

3am....party at my crib!!!

Ever see that onsie that says that saying....3am party at my crib?

I have seen it mulitple times and during my pregnancies...yes, both....I thought it was cute. I thought it was cute my first pregnancy because I had no idea what I was in for. I thought it was cute my second pregnancy, because I was looking through rose colored glasses and thought it would be easy to get up again with my baby like it was for my first. I guess it slipped my mind that I have a toddler who is up at the crack of dawn raring to go. That or pregnancy senility hit me and I forgot what it is like to be awaken out of a deep sleep by a screaming baby....some nights it is like a freight train ramming right into your head.

Today that onsie is not funny....at all!!! Because my son thinks it would be neat to throw a party in his crib at 3a.m. Yes, the foot stomping, hip shaking, screaming type of shindig! Some days he throws his parties a little early like at 1a.m. and they last...All Night Long!

I am at my wits end! How do I get this child to sleep?

I could do the old "cry it out method" then I run the risk of Meredith waking up. And if I know one thing about Meredith waking up, it is that she does not go back to bed easily. So I get out of bed and sleepwalk upstairs and nurse the little party animal. Now I know that I am building a routine.....baby cries.....mom rushes upstairs to nurse the baby. Yes I already know that...please do not emphasize this fact to me.

I could go back to the baby whisperer, but I tried that method with Meredith and the only thing I remember whispering with clenched teeth was....."I paid $20 for another damn book that says you are supposed to sleep if I whisper something.....now shhhh! baby go the hell to sleep!" Basically that method did not work for me either.

I did recently buy the DVD "Happiest Baby on the Block", see you can tell I am press for time and no longer have time to read. Dr. Karp is all about swaddling the baby...really the 5 S's....uhmmm....I think Swaddle, Sway, Shhh, Shit I cannot remember them all, but I am pretty sure sleep was in there somewhere. This method did work at first, we would swaddle that little tike so tight he could barely breathe and he went right to sleep. Now he is too long and too strong to stay in there as snug as a bug. The minute he is swaddled two arms pop right up.

I tried the begging, pleading and praying method....that too got me nowhere. So now I am asking you my blog readers...how do I get that little tike to bed? Please somebody....anybody....give me some good advice. The only thing that helps right now is knowing I am not the only one getting up at 3a.m. And I know it will not last forever, I am just afraid it may last for another 9 months. It lasted that long with Meredith.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day from us to you!!!!

Meredith and Noah would like to wish all of you a Happy Valentine's Day!

First Haircut

Today was a milestone for Meredith. She had her first hair cut. She did not really have too much taken off and we did not cut bangs, but we did even it out in the back. She went to Aveda and had Lauren cut her hair. At first she was a little apprehensive, but then she warmed up and was hugging and kissing everyone when we left. Hey she got candy after all!

Checking out AvedaSitting in the chair like a big girlNot so sure about this hair cut thing!Okay, now I am digging it! Everyone keeps saying I am pretty!Look at me and Mrs. Lauren! I look beautiful!Mom....no time for "cheese" I got candy!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

He is going to be brilliant!

Meredith may be my brilliant diva and fashion queen, but this one.....
He is going to be my rocket scientist!!!!
Or my lawyer, doctor, astranaut or heck even the president. He would be a better candidate than anyone else running!
But Yes, Noah (like his big sister!) is something special!
Studying for the MCATs already!
Mom I am reading......PLEASE leave me ALONE!!!!

Monday, February 11, 2008

Things are starting to look better

No vomitting for 24 hours! Woohoo! The light is dim, but it is there. I hate to keep blogging about the flu, but really that is all that is going on here. meredith missed her mommy and me party today, but a friend dropped off her goodies and we made sure she got to eat the candy and play with the playdoh, Thanks Olivia for doing that she really appreciated it!

She ate two doughnuts this morning and scarfed down "noo-nuls and cheez" for lunch and dinner. Poor baby was famished. She was laughing and dancing all over, she also went outside and played on her new "wee". Yeah I would says she is definitely feeling better. She still gets run down easily, but we are on the mend. She also said a new phrase today. Since she was a baby I would tease that I was going to "bust her butt!" whenever she did something she should not have. It is a phrase I always say...anyway I said something to Josh and told him if he did whatever we were talking about I would "bust his ass." Well Meredith looked up at him and said "daddy buss ass!" We laughed, now it is a very poplar phrase that she LOVES to repeat.

And we have a milestone for No-wee (as meredith calls him) too! Today while singing Meredith's mommy and me songs, me doing the actions with No-wee and meredith with Po (the red telatubby), No-wee had his first belly laugh. It was his first laugh of any kind, but it was definitely a belly laugh. I love that both of my tikes have those genuine belly laughs. He is getting cuter and sweeter by the day. He is the sweetest, most well-tempered baby. I am truly blessed. I soooo wish I had the laugh on video, it was the melt your heart kind!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

It's a war zone over here

And unfortunately despite our best efforts, influenza is winning. If you saw my daughter your heart would break, it is so sad. She has no way of telling us how miserable she is, she has pointed to every part of her body saying "hurt". She tosses and turns all night and moans. She cannot keep anything down and has thrown up any attempts. She begs me for food, noo-nuls and cheez or oreos, but we have tried it all. Unfortunately anything she puts in her little belly comes back up and it is so unpleasent. Her Poppa stopped by this morning with donuts, some for the whole family, but inside the box were 2 heart shaped donuts with red, pink and white sprinkles on top....I wish I could give them to her. But I know what will happen, so I will save them and hopefully tomorrow is a better day.

Noah is doing somewhat better, no fever today. He still cries out in a piercing scream every now and then to let us know he does not feel great. But he sometimes smiles and coos and laughs. I love that he has finally started talking to me, I just wish he was saying something other than...."I don't feel good mommy!"

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Even with the flu, the girl still has her style


So Meredith is miserable, beyond miserable. However that did not stop her from dragging me to her room to her closet and pointing to her Tom Brady jersey hanging up. I asked if she wanted it on, she said "uh-huh". So I obliged, got it down and started to put it on over her pajama top. Nope, not good enough. We had to remove the pajama top first and then put on the jersey. Then she requested her hat. I grabbed the only one I saw, the cowboy hat. I handed it to her, she put it on her head and said "tank you mommy" and walked away.


in the picture above she was saying "hi tay-la!"

Stay away, stay far, far away!

It is confirmed we have the flu!!!! Well at least Meredith right now. We are hoping that my nursing Noah will keep it away from him! Say some prayers.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Will this freakin day END ALREADY!!!!

UGh and if you think my day was bad, Meredith's and Noah's were 10 times worse. We all need it to end and start fresh tomorrow. Here is how the day started....

At 5am I heard wah, wah, WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH, sob, sob, WAAAAA-AAAAA-AAAAH!

translation....."Mom, Mom, I need milk, mom, mom, I NEED MILK DAMMIT!!!!!"

So I rush up the stairs and give him the boob before he wakes up Meredith, then he has a poop explosion that I change mostly in the dark hoping I am wiping in the right places and that the diaper is not on inside out or on backwards. Then we rock, and we rock, and we rock some more. He never does go back to sleep At 6am I am exhausted and I give up so I put him in his crib and he starts a crying, but see this is prime Meredith wake up time and I need some sleep. I do not need Noah waking her up because then the day really starts and did I mention I needed sleep. So I send up my husband to get the boy and I head back to dreamland. He goes and tends to Noah and brings him downstairs and the crying game begins. Finally at 6:30 the house is silent.


At 7:30am I hear "mommy, mommy" poor pitiful sounding mommies too. I hate to say it, but I tried to ignore them. Noah is finally sleeping peacefully in the bed next to me, can a mom just get 5 more minutes. And again I hear "mommy, mommy, hu-wee." So I begrudingly get out the bed and haul my tired ass back up the steps. I turned on the light in her room and that is when I was jolted awake. There was puke everywhere. It was red, I thought it was blood....then I remembered she had fish sticks with ketchup and a slice of pizza for dinner....don't ask!


So I clean her up and change her clothes. I pull off the bedding and haul it downstairs. And what does she ask for yogurt juice. Now every bit of sense I have says "DO NOT give the child any form of yogurt"....but I am weak and I do. Later on the same episode that probably happened around 7am, happens again. And again, and again, and again. Then she took a nap around noon and she woke up and it happened again, and again, and again. All in all it happened about 10 times. And each time it did my heart broke for 2 reasons. One I hate seeing my babies sick. And two, each time she got sick afterwards she would say "Sa-wee, sa-wee mommy." And I tried to explain over and over that it was okay she was sick, no need to be sorry. But she continued each and everytime with "sa-wee mommy, sa-wee!"

Finally around 4pm my husband gets home to help out. He comes in and gets some tylenol for the fever that crept up on us. He changes the ongoing laundry I have been doing all day. He heads back up stairs to gather more soiled sheets and rugs and towels and he is carrying around Noah that has been neglected of cuddling time today. He and Noah took a walk upstairs to fetch Meredith another pair of pajamas and on his way down the steps (all 17 of them) he falls. And yes, he was holding Noah. I screamed because I heard the fall, I knew it would be bad. Luckily for Noah it was not. He is fine. He was scared to death, but okay. Me too and Josh as well. He said he has never heard me scream like I did. I was not even near the steps, but I heard it and knew exactly what was happening. Meredith was also scared to death, I am sure by my blood curdling scream. Josh has a few sore bones, bumps and bruises, I am pretty confident he will survive.


Fast forward to tonight, it is 8pm I am just getting online to blog, while eating dinner and hoping that when I walk back to our bedroom my husband has gotten our daughter who still has fever, to sleep. Thank you day for ending, I hope tomorrow you bring a much better one.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Will they really know me....

I think about my mom and what I know about her and all I really know is she is my mom. I know I have heard numerous stories of her growing up, but all the stories I recall are of her being my mom. Know what I mean. So then I started thinking will my children really know me...

Will they know.... that I could spell photosynthesis in 2nd grade or that I won 1st place in the Science Fair for a paper and presentation I did on short people. That I took growth hormone to grow, will they know that. I took them for 4 years in grade school and proudly reached 5ft 2inches and without them was only projected to be 4 ft 3 inches. That I was was so short my dad only filled our 4 foot pool up half way. That my parents took me, my sister and our grandparents on a 2 week cross country road trip to California in a minivan and all I really remember is Alcatrez and China town. Or that I hated my first year of high school and would cry at night, beacause I did not want to go. That even in high school my mom would rock me when I cried.

Will they know.... that I got scholarships to 4 universities for college, but went to the only school that did not offer me one. Or that in college I wrote a paper for a literary magazine and had it published. I also recieved my first F in college and dissapointed my parents. That I lived in 6 different apartments during my 4 years in college. That somewhere in college my sister and I became friends instead of mortal enemies. Will they know that?

Will they know.... that by graduate school I straightened out and quit being so lazy as my college professors would say. That I was once engaged to someone other than their dad, but smart enough to know it would not work out and called off the wedding. Or that I met the man of my dreams while I was in grad school, their father. That one of my favorite haunts was Joe's bar, and that this is where their dad and I started dating. That the night we started talking and exchanged numbers, I hid roses that were sent to me by another guy in the beer cooler. Is this stuff they will know?

Will they know.... their dad surprised me with a trip to Disney World for my birthday while we were dating. And that their dad got down on one knee to propose to me in the rain in the city of New Orleans. That he got my father's permission before he asked me. Or that their dad and I lived together before we were married, but after we were engaged. That I wore a Vera Wang wedding dress at my wedding and never in my life felt more beautiful. That this was the 2nd dress I bought for the same wedding, and that I sold the first on the internet. That their grandmother bought me my veil and that I saved it in case they ever wanted to wear it or have their children wear it.

Will they know.... that the first house we ever bought is the same house I brought both of them home too. That together we decorated both of their rooms especially for them while we awaited their arrival. That at night their dad would read stories to them when they were in my belly and as babies and toddlers. That we have a special good night song that we sing each night. That I never worried so much in my life until I got pregnant for each of them. That I never ate cake until I got pregnant with them.

Will they know.... that being a mother was the hardest, most challenging and most fulfilling job I ever had. That I never dreamed it would be and it totally took me by surprise. Or that each night before I go to bed I pray that they will grow up to be happy and healthy and that they achieve all their dreams. And that secretly I do not want them to ever grow up and not need me.

Will they know all this about me? I hope so.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Motherhood Confessions

You know like taxi cab confessions. here are a few of mine....

- Meredith watches way more television than I would ever admit too!
- I often eat cupcakes in the pantry so she does not see me and scream cake, so she can have one too!
- I have pretended to not know she was dirty and send her off to see her daddy.
- Ketchup is definitely a vegetable in this house, as well as a staple with every meal.
- when she wants to play with a really aggravating toy, I will turn it off and say it is broke.
- I have pumped and dumped.
- My daughter went from a size 5 shoe to a size 6 1/2 and I never noticed that her shoes were too small.
- The Wiggles are my answer for any crisis, even before Dr. Sears.
- I have always shared my dinner with Meredith when she wants, but sometimes I did not want to.
- I have put her down early for naps when I just needed a break.
- I sometimes tell her the bubbles and playdoh are broke, those two activities can be quite messy.

So moms, I know you are out there......What are you Motherhood Confessions?????

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Sexism at its worst!

Today at Target, Meredith got her first dose of discrimination against women. It was not a huge deal and one she probably will not remember, but she felt so passionate about it this morning....her heart was just crushed. We were cruising through the baby section picking up diapers for Noah, getting some more shampoo and baby bath, and just checking things out....when we stumbled across big girl and boy underpants.

Now we are not exactly potty training hard core, but we are trying. One in diapers is enough for me. So we stumble across some big girl panties and big boy undies in the same little section. They have tons of characters.....Curious George, Hello Kitty, Disney Princesses, Elmo, Abby Cadabby and many more. Meredith is amazed.

"Meredith do you want some big girl panties?"

"uh-huh mommy!"

"Are you going to use the big girl potty if we get some panties?"

"uh-huh!" I know this is a lie - we have princess panties at home and they don't work, but hell I'll get more and try!

"What kind do you want?"

She takes a good minute looking them all over, even pointing to a few so I can hand them to her to get a closer look. Finally she shouts.....

"Suuuuuwwwweck! Suuuuuwwwweck!"

I notice at the very top on the left hand side is two packs of boy's undies with Shrek on them. There are no girl's Shrek panties.

"Baby, there aren't any girl's Shrek panties!"

"Peee-ze mommy Suuuuwwwweck!" pointing to the top left corner with a huge grin

"Sweetie those Shreck undies are for boys - they don't have any girl's with shrek on it"

"Suuuuwwwweck for boys!"

"Yeah baby those are for boys."

"Suuuuwwweck for Miz-it!" followed by crocodile tears.

"I know sweetie, you want some Shrek panties and they don't have any for girls -- It Is Not Fair!" I said this loudly as I gently rubbed her back and cuddled her close while giving the male target employee on the same ailse as us a dirty look. I know he does not make the undies and panties, but my baby was crushed it was the only thing I could do that made me feel better.

We headed home with some Curious George and My Little Pony panties. They were poor substitutes for Shrek.

Monday, February 4, 2008

I told you it was obnoxious...

Here is our big ass play structure, posted due to numerous request.
Season tickets will be going on sale soon!

My new favorite phrase is......Not so High!!!!!

Some days this job is just hard

Ever have one of those days where you just want to crawl back into bed? Today is that day. It started off fine, my tikes have been on great behavior, it just is a hard day. I could not get things together, when I did, I still did not have them together. Noah came to Mommy and Me with us this morning, Meredith really does not like this. So she ignored me, there were way more interesting mommies there anyway. Noah decided he wanted to participate so he cried a good majority of it. That is how it started off. Then there is laundry, no matter how many times I load the damn washer and dryer, there are always more piles. One day my laundry will take over the house and me and my little family will be out on the curb. Then the kitchen, it is never clean. And during that rare moment in the day it is....the mess is not far behind. The floors always need to be slept, toys always need to be picked up, clothes always need to be put away. It is an all day process. Today was supposed to be a fun day, an out of the house day, but for some reason it is just a hard day. My house is a mess, my kitchen a mess, my laundry taking over and my tikes both napping, maybe I will too.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

I may be small, but I'll get ya!

So tonight we were bathing the 2 tikes together. Meredith was a big help in washing bubby! She especially enjoyed washing his belly button and private parts, just a tad bit rough though. He did not particularly enjoy that, so he did the only thing a 2 month old boy could, he peed on her.

Bath over!

dinner parties with tikes.....yeah, not so good

So we hosted our first "dinner party" since Noah arrived Saturday. We invited over two couples and their kids to play on the big ass play structure and have some steak. 6 adults and 5 kids, we were not even out-numbered and the night when sour, not sure why. The food - delicious, the big ass play structure - fun, my newborn - awesome, my toddler - not so much. It was a rough night, but honestly for some time hanging out with friends so totally worth it.

We bought and prepared tons of food and appetizers, Josh marinated some damn good steaks, unfortunately he forgot to make sure the propane tanks were full on the grill. Read on to see how fun the night gets........

So our friends arrive and immediately Meredith latches on to her mommy and daddy, this was expected.....she is rather shy and slow to warm up. She never did warm up though, she threw one huge fit that started at 3:30pm and lasted until everyone left at 7:30pm. Why? She did not want to share her new "shide". It was "Mizit's shide", did we not know that???? So she would go up into the treehouse and just whine and cry for her "mommy". She was not hurt, hungry, sick or anything else, she is almost two and unfortunately the attitude is all there. After an hour of her whining, it became one of the most irratating sounds I have heard in a long time. I am so not being mean and I love her to death, but really she had friends who actually wanted to play with her in the treehouses and on the slides.....what the hell is wrong???? Noah meanwhile, is peacefully hanging out in his swing with Burke.

Fast forward to about an hour later, the new potatoes are done, the delicious soup Neely brought over is ready, the fresh vegetables that we cooked on the grill are finished....we go to put on the steaks so we can finally eat......oh this nursing momma is some kind of hungry and guess what no flame. Josh can not get it to restart.

"Hmmmm, did you check the propane tank?"

"No, I just assumed it was full." You know what they say about the word assume.....assume makes an ASS out of U and ME.

So he grabs the spare tank in the garage, guess what....empty. Seriously, the rest of the food is all hot and now there are 8 very rare steaks sitting on the grill. Fun times, Fun times! The problem was quickly resolved when Chris ran to the store to fill the tank and get more beer, both of which were needed at this point.

Finally the steaks are done, the food ready, meredith was still whining and the Adalyn and Connor were still playing and having a ball....probably wondering why in the hell she was still crying. After numerous attempts to appease her and many talks about sharing, I did what any frustrated mother would do and deposited her in her bed. The screaming sound really did not sound that bad all the way downstairs.

So here we are, 6 adults ready to eat the delicious, hot food. We are all sitting and who starts crying because he pooped, Noah. Then he just wanted to be held, who could blame the baby who had been sitting in his swing for way too long.

About half way through dinner, Adalyn's little feelings got hurt and she cried, to which Connor politely asked "why's her crying for?" Josh, Jeff and Chris gently explained, that is what women do and don't try to understand it. Katey, Neely and I just laughed. After Adalyn cried, Noah cried, then Burke and then Connor, I think the boys were just feeling a little left out of the crying spell. Not sure what was in that mac and cheese the kids all ate.

About 7:00pm dinner was done, the newborns bellies were full of milk and the toddlers and Connor were all happily eating chips. At that point we sat back and talked about what a fun disaster it was. We are planning another get together real soon.

Friday, February 1, 2008

My two cuties...

"No-wee you are going to be christened today!"
"I am what is that?"...."oh the man is just going to pour water on your head"
"sissy, please don't let him do that!"
"mommy, I don't want that water on my head!"

"No-wee got water on his head....and I got cacks!"