pictures

I may not have a lot of time to blog - but I can still share pics, right?  

Abby wrote her name for the first time the other day.  I know she can, but she gets really nervous about doing things perfectly (this is just the way she's always been) and so she sometimes doesn't like to write letters.  But the other day, she played a letter tracing game on my phone for 20 mins and turned it off and said "I need a pen"  So, thank you Dora. 

Running to the playground.  Amazing that you can 1) see the ground in Feb and 2) it was warm enough to go play in just a fleece jacket.

 She is over anything pureed...and if you're giving her something on a spoon, you'd better let her do it herself.  We are all about finger foods.  And this child? She puts away more than Abby every meal.  Easy.

She has some hair. 

Our newly minted 10 month old.  She's a lot of fun.

She fell asleep on daddy at church - this rarely rarely (never?) happens

I like that Abby builds castles and always puts roofs on the towers now.

 her hair is getting long.

Our Oscar party cookies. Ba-da--ching.

 She has learned to open drawers and likes exploring this new frontier. 

This is what she was doing while I made oscar cookies.

And this.  The smile after the tears - the relief - this is what I see when I come in to rescue her from the confines of her crib.  Sums up the age in a lot of ways. 

Sweet sisters - the just Adore each other. 

the kind with toffee in the middle

Yesterday, I spent over 2 hours of my life trying to get the girls to nap.  First I put E down, then I sat in Abby's room so she would calm down and go to sleep.  An hour later, Abby still wasn't asleep, but E woke up.  Then E fell asleep on me and I rocked her until I thought it was safe to put her down again.  The second I left the room - she started screaming.  I checked on Abby and she was still awake.  Back and forth.  It was all very pointless.

Today - I put E in her crib, Tucked Abby in her bed and locked to gate.  I've been listening to E scream and yell and carry on for 30 mins and I can hear Abby running back and forth across her room.

But whatever.  I'll go back up there in an hour and see what damage has been done.

In the meantime, I'm going to lay on the couch and eat a piece of chocolate.  Cause, y'know, that's what naptime is really all about.

Las Vegas

Brittany drew my name for Christmas this year.  I said the only thing I wanted was a date night, and if she could babysit, I'd be thrilled.  She said one night wasn't enough and suggested an overnight trip.  What a thought.  Kyle and I have never taken a trip with just the two of us since our honeymoon.  We've been on lots of trips, sure - but always with kids or others.  I told Kyle about the offer and somehow it turned from 1 night into a weekend trip.  Just like our honeymoon, we decided it would be fun for Kyle to plan and for me to be surprised.

We went to the airport on Friday afternoon, where I learned that we would be going to Las Vegas.  :)  We've never been and I was excited.  And, just for the record, this trip was completely paid for via miles and reward points.  We, contrary to popular belief, do not have the funds for weekend excursions to Vegas.  But, my awesome hubby was able to get first class tickets there and back and three nights in a nice hotel for a total of $20.  Thank you Delta and Starwood Hotels.  /end endorsement.

I could, and should, write a lot about this trip.  But - guess what - I've got a 10 month old (!) hanging on one leg and a 3-year old asking if she can pour the milk all by herself....so, deeper reflections are going to have to wait.

What I can share are pictures.

I'd like to call this simply: "Las Vegas" but I think "Las Vegas: an excuse to Instragram" may be more appropriate.  I took "real" pictures too of course - but these were so easy and fun.  I hope it gives a glimpse of our trip and how much fun we had.

Thank you Kyle for planning everything, love you too.

meme

I had a down moment at work today and thought I would send my co-workers a pick me up as we approach our Feb vacation week.  I searched the internet for some school psych humor, but came up empty handed.  So, I spent a few minutes and made this for their enjoyment.

And it was fun and made me chuckle, so I'm sharing it here.

one more day till vacation!

Valentine's 2012

Random stuff.

So, Valentine's Day was fun.  Abby really enjoyed it this year, and it's always fun watching her get excited about these things.  I put together a little basket of toys for the girls, a little candy, balloons and donuts for breakfast set the day off right.  We put simple post-it-notes in a mail box with things Abby could "read" and she loved that.

  In my mind, I had great intentions of making valentine day crafts for our families, friends, etc.  But, it just didn't happen.  I couldn't fit it in - or maybe I just didn't fit it in - either way, my intentions were good.  We did, however, manage to put together one project and we made homemade crayons for Abby's playgroup friends.  That was a fun project - taking Abby's crayons and melting them to create new ones.

We had playgroup during the afternoon, which was also one of the kids' birthday.  So, Abby was doubly excited - Valentine's Day AND a birthday party?  Awesome.  We all had a good time, and when we left it was time to pick up Kyle from work.  We all went to Applebee's for dinner (because, yeah we're fancy like that) and then home.  A simple evening, but it was nice.  

There was this one moment that I wanted to remember.  I tried to capture it with my phone, but the picture just didn't capture the feeling I wanted it to.  We were sitting at Applebee's, and Abby was sitting in her chair eating her mac n' cheese.  Her hair in pigtails, wearing a valentine's day shirt and looking both all grown up and so little all at once.  It was one of those completely normal moments that took me by surprise when I looked at her and found myself choked up.  She was just happy and I was overcome with gratitude.  I was thankful for her, and for the whole table of family around me.  Thankful that we were together, happy and healthy.  

I dunno, it was nice. 

E was in a great mood as well - she was interactive and happy and playful.  I love that she's big enough now to eat something off the menu when we go out.  I ordered her a side of rice beans and sausage and she ate every bite and loved it.  She's getting more and more personality - it's a lot of fun.  She smiles and flirts with other people, sometimes she'll try to wave, but it's not a strong skill yet.  Mostly, she wrinkles up her nose, smiles, closes her eyes and gives a little breathy laugh.  She's great. 

So.  I dunno.  I don't feel like I have anything stellar or amazing to write about, and yet, I do want to document these days.  Our days are good.  And busy.  And I'm *still* trying to learn to juggle everything (and also realizing I never will).  But, whatever, that's fine.

white doggy

One of our friends gave Abby a Barbie for her birthday.  This particular one was "pet shop barbie" and it came with a mommy dog and three puppies.  Abby hasn't played with the barbie at all - but she has become pretty attached to the dogs.

The dogs have magnets in their noses - so they can pick up the accessories (bones, a ball, etc) that came with the set.  But, lately, Abby has discovered that magnets stick to lots of things.  This is very exciting.  She's been running around the house, sticking the little puppy dogs to various surfaces and then announcing "mom! mom!  This is metal!"  or "daddy, this chair is not made of metal"  She's been adding to her list of things that don't "like" magnets - wood, glass, rubber, carpet, etc.  It's all been a lot of fun for her and fun for us watching her explore.

Yesterday we went shopping at BJ's for our bulk items - Abby brought her dogs, like always.  This time, she said she brought them so that the daddy doggy could sniff and find the things we needed to buy.  It was cute.  Abby was beside herself with excitement when she discovered that the puppy dog stuck to all the shelves in the store, and the cart, and some walls.  She just couldn't get enough of it. :)

I took this picture as Abby was explaining "OK! Daddy-doggy is ready to go sniff for diapers for E.  Let's go!"

Fast forward.

Abby's been spraying her doggies with a water bottle lately to clean them.  Her cleaning streak has been well documented.  She wanted to bring them into the bath with her.  I said daddy/mommy-doggy couldn't go into the bath, because she has a layer of soft fur and it didn't seem like a good idea - but she could bring white-doggy.

Abby and E had their bath and had a lot of fun playing.  I got both girls out and dried.  Abby said she needed to go potty, so while she did that, I went to go get E dressed for bed.

Next thing I know, I hear "MOMMY! AAAHHHH!  WHITE DOGGY! HELP!"

This screaming was accompanied by the sound of the toilet flushing and I knew what had happened.  I ran in, hoping to be able to rescue white-doggy before he was gone, but it was too late.  Kyle, E, Abby and I watched as the toilet finished flushing with no sign of white-doggy.  There was a 2 second pause of silence and then Abby LOST IT.  Cue blood curdling scream.

Kyle took E and I picked up Abby and sat her on the counter and just hugged her.  She moved from panic to despair.  She was silent-sobbing.  Big Gasp of air.  More silent sobbing.  This went on for several minutes until she regained her composure enough to look up at me and say "mommy, can you get him back?"

It actually made me cry too.  She was so sad.  It was as if she'd lost a real friend forever, and I suppose, in a way, she had.  I believe this is her first experience with the permanency of something being gone forever.  It took every ounce of strength not to rush in and promise we'd go buy a new one tomorrow.  That's totally what I wanted to say.  Of course, she brought the idea up on her own eventually - and I gave her a "we'll see"

Abby moved from despair to anger.  She started throwing things off the counter and angerily saying, "but I WANT doggy back!  I do!"

From anger to acceptance.  She started asking me why she dropped him.  I didn't know.  I told her it was an accident, that accidents happen, and I was sorry.  Abby kept apologizing too "Mommy, I'm sorry I dropped doggy"  That made me sad, I tried telling her she didn't need to apologize.

Then she was worried about doggy's fate.  She wanted to know if there were crabs down there.  That's a reference to Finding Nemo - Nemo gets flushed down a toilet/sink and comes out of a pipe where crabs are crawling around.  I told her no crabs, just water.  "Is doggy wet?  Is it dark? Is he scared?"  I had to stifle a laugh when she asked with dead-pan seriousness "maybe the peepee and poopoo can bring my doggy back?"

It took a while, but we got her tucked in and put to bed and somewhat comforted.

This morning, Abby gave us the missing piece of the puzzle - why or how doggy had landed in the toilet in the first place.  She said "daddy, the potty is not metal"  She went on to say "I tried to see if doggy could stick, but he didn't stick.  The potty is not metal and doggy fell down"

She was just experimenting, exploring.

So, it was a little sad, but a lesson learned I suppose.


In memory of white-doggy

missing them

I think that being a stay-at-home mom is harder than being a working-mom.  Just for the record.

Perhaps, I should put a caveat in that says I think it would be harder than working MY job.  Not that I think my job is easy - not at all - I'm constantly swamped and surrounded by deadlines.  But, you do get a mental break from the 24/7 work that a stay-at-home mom puts in.  That's what I mean.

And I was never one that had a problem going back to work after the babies.  I like my job, I like my co-workers, I enjoyed the "break" as previously mentioned.  And 99.9% of the time, I'm fine.  My work day ends early and I'm home before the girls wake up from their afternoon nap.  I have nothing to complain about.  nothing.

And yet, today?  I miss them so much.  Today? I would do anything to be home making PB&J and playing blocks.  I don't know why today is different.  There's no reason it should be.  Maybe it's because Abby has started asking me every morning "are you just getting ready for work mom?"  and when I answer "yes" she sighs and says "ok.  I'll just stay and play with Nee-Nee"  And I know they have such a good time....but it just emphasizes that I'm not there.

Maybe it's because Abby tells me "Saturday is my favorite day because there's no work for mommy and daddy"  And yet, this Saturday?  Kyle and I will both be gone for different things.  I have a training - one that I've very much looking forward to...but there's part of me that is so worried that Abby is going to wake up on Saturday morning - excited to see me - and then remember that this Saturday is different, mommy has to work.  The idea of letting her down makes me sad.

I want to spend more time with them, while they're still so little and wonderful and innocent and so full of everything good.  I spend a lot of time with them.  Like I said, my work day ends relatively early.  But, I wish I had more.

Today I listened as co-workers of mine spoke about the challenges of parenting - their kids are older.  And I know a day will come when their life will get more complicated.  Their travesties will be so much bigger than having to take a nap or deciding between pretzels and goldfish or lunch.  I want life to stay simple, like it is now.  Where potty training and teething are the only things that keep us up at night.

I need that pause button now.

I want to wrap both girls in my arms, close my eyes, and freeze time.