We're back

We're back from North Carolina! We had a wonderful time with M's parents. The weather was super - the last week we were there it barely got above 60 on a couple of days (of course, they are up around 4300 ft. above sea level, which makes for some mighty refreshing air). It was a bit of a shock to return to 90+ heat, although it should be expected for Florida in July. The kids and I survived our 12 hour car ride home, with a short stop at the Hampton Inn Valdosta, GA. (NOTE: Shameless plug ahead!) I really can't say enough about the Hampton Inn - I haven't stayed in one since the 90s and they've REALLY upgraded their facilities. And the Cloud Nine bed? Heaven! You gotta try it.

But now we're home, back to routine -- trying to answer D's thousands of questions (A sampling: "what's a precipice? what's an estate? who named this thing a grape? why are there crunchy things on my bagel?"); planning A's one-year birthday party; hopefully going to see my parents before school starts. And let's not forget the ongoing nightmare of the renovation plan that can't quite get off the ground. But something must be done because the kids really need their own space. Now. Of course we've been saying that for a year with no results at all.

Hope the weather is cooler wherever you are!

Hey loser....

So, the kids and I are having a great time on vacation and the weather is great and all. Then last night (3 days into our good time!) I get a call from M that someone from American Express's security division was questioning some "unusual activity" on my card. Hmmm. No, I haven't lost my credit card. No, I didn't let anyone "borrow" it. And, hell no, I didn't purchase $60 of gas last Saturday night at a Texaco station in Venice, Florida. So I go online to check my card and find that some LOSER out there has charged over $7000 since last Friday night on my card!!!!! At places like 7-11s, Shell stations (over $4000 at Shell stations in the Ft. Myers area alone!) and TACO FRIGGIN' BELL!!!!! I'm LIVID. I call AMEX, who are very professional, assure me that my account is SOOOO cancelled and a new card being issued as we speak and that of course I'm not liable for a penny of those charges. And by the way, do I have any idea who might have done this? (No, because no one I know spends over $40 at Taco Bell. In a lifetime. Let alone one night.) Amex also assures me that IF they catch this person they will prosecute - and I'll be happy to help send this person to a punishment they deserve, which in my opinion should include things like many years of hard time, maybe on a chain gang, a flogging and perhaps public humiliation, but will probably be something much less. And by the way, all you scumbucket card-stealing losers out there, THANKS A LOT for robbing me of my piece of mind on my vacation. Now I get to spend the rest of my lovely month here (and probably the rest of the year) worrying that someone has stolen my identity.

The new world order

Hello out there. Sorry it has been such a while, but the kids have kept me "entertained" 24/7 lately with nary a break. Every little thing takes 16 billion times longer than it should... like D & I playing the ever-popular game "What Animal Am I?" (These are a sampling of responses as she tries to guess "duck.")

"Cat?"
"Dog?"
"Bird?" (Ooh! getting close!)
"Canary?"
"Parrot?"
"Pterodactyl?" (Huh?!)
"Foofie bird?" (Ok, we're off track....)

And so on for 25 minutes people.... I didn't know she knew so many types of birds. Finally, after momentary diversions into other animal genres, she gets duck. Yes, 25 quality time minutes with my exhaustingly smart daughter - now 25 minutes behind getting dinner ready, etc.

Don't even get me started on the non-stop screaming, screeching, wailing as Baby A attempts to get around the house using his walker. He's very good with it, but hates that he has to do it without me, so every proud, independent step is accompanied by his non-stop top-of-his-lungs vocal disapproval that I'm not holding his sweaty little hand. He will (purposely?) steer himself into a corner then scream until he falls down - yet I've seen him nimbly manouever the walker to get over to D when she has a snack in her hand.

But, our vacation is thankfully just around the corner. We leave this weekend for a wonderful month in the mountains of Western North Carolina with my in-laws. We ended up deciding to fly M's mom down to drive up with the kids and I on Sunday. After the last few days, I was pretty concerned about the long drive alone with the kids - A is a handful and a half, which only leaves half a hand for D. But Grandma J will be a big help and good company and I won't have to worry about speeding to get there before dark (they live at the top of a very dark, very rugged, very beautiful mountain - tricky driving in broad daylight - scary in the pitch black after a long day's drive.)

Not sure what my internet access will be like once we're there, but I'll try to get a post in now and then. And of course, a recap once we're home in July.

Hope you all are enjoying your summer too!

Party with your kids

I spent the weekend attending not one, but two parties. A first for our life post-kid, as that's typically the number of parties we attend in a whole year. But, these were all kid/school related and were both great fun. One was a pool party and the other a house party - which was crazy because it poured rain (due to Tropical Storm Barney) for the first time in about 4 months and so all the kids, who normally would have been outside were instead running through the house - mud and water and screaming everywhere. But fun and good company and great food all the same.

Today I am attempting to make Lobster Rolls for dinner and am a tad anxious about potentially ruining such an expensive dish. Some recipes are simple - mayo, salt & pepper - others call for celery, capers, tarragon, chives. I'm not sure which way to go, but I do have my hot dog rolls all ready, so at least that part will be authentic.

All is quiet on the home front for now. Baby A is taking an afternoon nap and D is whining that she's bored. If A wakes up in time, maybe we'll head out to the pool for a bit.

Where have I been?

With summer hols here, things have been pretty nuts but I think we've finally worked out some kind of schedule. D had some major adjustment with being home from school and wanting time with me -- she's definitely not used to sharing me with Baby A. Anyhoo, she's off with Aunt Debbie today to swim & play and that's just fine with me.

We've got two parties this weekend (a social calendar first!) - one tonight and a pool party on Sunday. Next week we meet with a new architect to try to get this renovation thing off the ground. Then we're off to the mountains of Western North Carolina in two weeks, but until then, maybe I'd rather be here:

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

Have a nice weekend!

Guarantee

Nothing is guaranteed in life, except YOU KNOW the minute I get my errands and chores (blogging!) done, settle down on the couch with a cold drink, a tasty snack and the latest issue of Vogue, Baby A is guaranteed to wake up from his nap. Sigh. Such is life. I remember when my lunch break was actually a break.

"No" man's land

Baby A has entered the "no" stage - where it seems like all we tell him is "no" - no crying, no hitting, no licking your sister, no chewing shoes, etc. He's also teething. One of his big old top front teeth is just sitting there, almost ready to pop, creating a huge red bulge on his gumline. It looks incredibly painful and I really do feel badly for him, just less so when he's screaming bloody murder at 2:30 in the morning. Or again at 4:00. Poor baby.

It was lovely here this weekend, very un-Florida-y, with cool temps and a nice breeze and low humidity. It made me temporarily forget that summer is pretty much here. Every year at this time I try to remember why we didn't put in a pool last year, or why we don't have a playset for D yet, or why we don't really have any grass or shade in our big old yard. What we do have is a virtual, miniature Florida prairie habitat with wild native grass (re: scrub), little shade, and birds, lizards (EEEEK!) possums, squirrels and snakes galore. National Geographic could do a show on us. But it doesn't make for a very nice or inviting place for the kids to play. So off to the water park we go!

My other favorite thing about summer - no cooking in the oven!! I take a break from baking, roasting, braising and broiling during the summer. What's left? Well, sauteeing, crock pots, pan-frying, take out (ha) and of course the grill. Besides grilling, one of my favorite summer meals is make-your-own omelettes. I basically use the same ingredients as I would for a winter make-your-own pizza session: peppers, spinach, mushrooms, onions, sauteed turkey sausage, canadian bacon, and lots of cheese(s). It's a hit with everyone. It's too hot to eat heavy stuff anyway. So three cheers for easy, breezy summer living!

What Trish needs....

The eloquent Libby over at A Study of Schoolbooks and Shoes had a fun little game a few days ago. What you do is google the phrase "[your first name] needs..." and see what turns up. So here's a sampling of what I found:

1) Trish needs a makeover.
Well, you don't say. I thought the no-makeup, ponytail and baggy post-baby shorts and stained t-shirts thing was working for me.

2) Trish needs some help at UCSD.
And also at home, doing some cooking and light cleaning. Also organizing. And help finding a reliable architect.

3) Trish needs to always be in control of the situation and her men.
So sue me. It makes things easier around the house. (For a supposedly random search, these results are pretty accurate.)

4) Trish needs an acting coach.

5) Trish needs a kidney transplant.
Before or after I start acting?

6) Trish needs to come back SOON she is my favorite Diva.
Apparently, #4 and this one pertain to a retired WWE lady wrestler.

7) Trish needs her own, original weapon.
Doesn't every girl?

8) Trish needs about 8 days ...
Of vacation, with her husband, in Tahiti!

9) Trish needs to go on hiatus and take more vocal lessons.
I guess in case the acting thing doesn't work out.

10) Trisha needs assistance getting up from any sitting or lying position. ...
Maybe a sign that it's time to get back to gym?

Let me know what you find!!

Third Friday

Every third Friday of the month I clean up D's art room. Today is that day. I don't really tell her about it before hand as she is a bit of a packrat and tends to obsess over every scrap of painstakingly colored paper and every random pinecone, acorn, or other "treasure" she's collected over the past month. But I can't stand the clutter and she gets to start fresh every four weeks. Today, amongst all her little girl beads, baubles, crayons, etc. I found a pair of unused ear plugs, the kind that you use to block noise on planes. Thank goodness they were unused, but I have no idea where they came from. Ewww. The one thing I'm on the fence about tossing is an old licorice tin, long since devoid of licorice, but still bouncing around the house storing one thing or the other. M collects and stores old shoeboxes, so I shouldn't be surprised his daughter hangs onto candy tins (she also likes empty tissue boxes). Maybe if the shoeboxes or tins held something, I'd be more appreciative of their recycling, but so often they just rattle around, using up valuable storage space, completely EMPTY. So, I spend a fortune at the Container Store and Pottery Barn on cute storage totes, only to have them filled up with empty boxes, jars and tins. Don't even get me started on M's collection of empty baby food jars -- which he claims to collect to store his fishing flies, currently housed in a (youguessedit) shoebox. I'm not sure what's in his actual tacklebox.

We've been travelling and busy this past week, but we've planned an excellent family weekend. I'm making my famous sauteed chicken with mustard sauce for dinner (chicken fingers for the kids, natch), and we're going to rent a bunch o'movies and just hang out. Tomorrow, M is taking D to the zoo for a special daddy-daughter day. It will be nice to have a Saturday to myself, especially since school is out next week. Yikes. Since Baby A was born right before school started, I've never had both kids at home for any length of time. I'm adamant about limiting TV time, but finding stuff to do for a 10 month old and an almost-five-year-old can be challenging. Talk about your different interests! But, she'll go to Vacation Bible School at church in early June, and then we're leaving for a month in the mountains with M's parents. (Wish M could get away too!!) By the time we get back, it's only about a month until school starts so I can probably handle that.

Hope you all have a nice weekend too!

A pastry a day

Keeps the doctor away, or don't I wish it did anyway. Yesterday I made some fab low-fat cranberry scones. I'm experimenting with a no-butter recipe for scones, since most call for at least a stick of butter and if you're going to be eating a pastry a day, that could quickly add up to pounds of butter a week if you don't watch. Or some rationale like that. Anyway, M loved them so I think that's a keeper recipe. It's incredibly easy and you can pretty much add any fruit, chocolate, flavoring, that you'd like.

Today I made Incredible Exploding Cherry Turnovers. They exploded, I guess, because something went awry with my filling -- it was very liquidy. Maybe I should have drained the cherries after they thawed? Maybe I shouldn't have thawed them? Maybe I should have made apple? Well, they taste yummy anyway and I will definitely try again. I think I might play around with different types of puff pastry too. Apparently you can find "all natural" ones that are really close to homemade. Not that I'm masochistic enough, or have the time, to make homemade puff pastry.

For the weekend I'm planning something with buckwheat and blueberries tomorrow and on Sunday I'll probably do another batch of scones -- maybe cinammon? Maple? Something spicy-sweet.

D has a half day today so we're headed to the zoo for the afternoon to see the animals and play at the kid's water park. Tomorrow I'm getting a pedicure in the morning - hurrah! - and afterward may stop by the local kiddie consignment shop to look for onesies for Baby A. He's getting ready to explode out of his 12 month ones.

Have a super weekend!

Three strikes?

So we had our third meeting with Builder yesterday -- the preliminary design review and budget estimate meeting. It was exactly like dating someone who previously had "potential" but then pulls some bonehead stunt on that crucial third date. Maybe he gets raving drunk, flirts with a waitress behind your back, or maybe you start talking dreamily about how your goal in life is to settle down, buy a house and have kids... either way something goes awry and you start wondering what it was you saw in them in the first place. So that's pretty much what Builder did on our third meeting - first the prelim budget estimate was $15,000 above our top number. Hello! At least match our top number and then go over after we've started talking about hardwood floors and tile and other specifics. Second, and almost more importantly, the design was utterly hideous not what we had expected, especially for the price per square foot we're talking about. The interior was great, really lovely, but the outside elevation, and especially the roofline, were all wrong for our cute little bungalow-style house. It made the addition look tacked on and unfinished. The other huge problem was because of the unusually high pitch of our roofline, the interior attic rooms were quite a bit smaller than we had thought they'd be and, more importantly, none of the rooms had windows!! Can you imagine kids bedrooms and bathrooms without natural light and ventilation? YUCK! Anyway, we'd have to smack on a couple of dormers and even that would 1) ruin our cool peaked roof and 2) only allow one teeny-tiny window for each bedroom. There was no way to get one in the bathroom. All in all, we are a bit disappointed which to me means they better try a little bit harder to woo us if they want a fourth date. M, on the other hand, wants to break up and move on. Sigh.

Between you and me, if the housing market here was showing any sign of life at all, I'd rather move.

Never on Thursdays

Back in the day, when I was still working as something other than a mom, we used a cleaning service to keep our house clean. Over five years, we tried about five different services until right after Baby A was born. Yes, just after bringing our new baby home, that's when I decided that I was sick of cleaning services -- must have been something to do with all those new-mom hormones. But really it had more to do with them breaking things, or showing up late, or not showing at all, or constantly changing the time they would come, or doing a really poor job on the bathroom tile. This was last fall and because I had a newborn and D was still coming home for lunch, I was adamant that they get here by mid-morning and be gone by lunchtime. A three-hour window. It didn't seem too much to ask, but it was more than they could handle and after three weeks in a row where I had to send them away and clean the house myself anyway, I fired them altogether.

So fast forward 8 months and now one of my big weekly struggles is to get the house clean. I wipe down the bathrooms every day, but try to limit vacuuming to twice a week and I only mop every 10 days or so. That little schedule may change drastically now that A is starting to get mobile. He's almost crawling, but can also quickly scoot across the floor on his tummy or his butt. The last few times I've noticed dustbunnies on his tummy, dog hair sticking to his legs and I shudder to think what's on his hands and feet, which are always in his mouth. When he's on the floor in his room he immediately scoots off under the crib to play with wheels -- and comes out looking like a used Swiffer. So, looks like I'll be vacuuming every day now too, at least until he's properly walking.

Boo.

Weeked recap

We had a nice family weekend here. On Saturday we all went over to the Green Thumb Festival at one of the local parks. They have all kinds of beautiful plants for sale that we didn't buy because of course we're hoping to be building soon and why plant out your yard only to have a bobcat run it over? But it was a gorgeous day and D got all kinds of free junk from the exhibit booths, so that was fun. On Sunday we went to the beach for the afternoon. M & D got to play in the surf n' sand while Baby A napped on my lap. Again, another picture perfect Florida Spring day, and there won't be too many comfortable ones left, so we might as well enjoy them now.

This week is crazy busy again - D has a dentist appt. today after school, tennis tomorrow, meet with the Builder on Wednesday and then M is out of town Thurs. & Fri. I spent the morning making enough food to get us through until Friday - I hate cooking on busy nights and never cook when M is gone. But, we've got meatloaf, grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and pasta. So we should be OK and I won't have to touch the stove again all week. Yippeee!! I really should look into one of those "Dinner Done" places.

M will be home late tonight, so I'm thinking I'll have time to work on some crafty projects that I've been trying to get to -- organizing up our family photos, working on a needlework project I've got going or maybe making some pretty ribbon bookmarks. Either that or fall asleep on the couch watching TV.

Where's the truck?

I feel like I got hit and dragged by a semi. BabyA was in rare form last night -- up from 11:00 - 12:30 and then again from 3:00 - 4:00. I actually fell asleep on a chair in their room and scared the cupcakes out of D when she woke up around 4:30 to get a drink of water. A tired Mama was not what she expected to find lurking in her room.

Too tired to cook dinner even, so now have to start my campaign for getting some tasty take-out.

Happy weekend to all!

April showers

Builder finally did show up yesterday, with apologies, about an hour late. Happily, the Measuring went well and he said "this is going to be easier than I thought!" We'll see if "easier" translates into "less expensive." He brought one of the designers with him, George, to get an eyeful so they can do some initial planning. We're meeting with everyone next Wednesday to get a prelim estimate and decide if we're going to move forward. Oh yes, yes, yes. I think we're going to do it!!!

Today Baby A had his 9-month appt. and he is doing well, except for some low hemoglobin numbers, ie low iron. We have to step up the meat/egg portion of his diet and give him some supplements as well. We go back in a month to be re-tested. Doc wasn't concerned, said it was normal at this age, but just wanted to make sure we can reverse the trend. In other news, he pee-pee'd into his little bag like a champ -- he's certainly not dehydrated!

We're off to a dual Baby Shower for two dear friends this afternoon, D is taking a half-day so she can see her playgroup friends again. Should be fun. And the cupcakes? DELICIOUS! I went with half plain - half raspberry frosting. Even M liked them. Hopefully my Mom Friends will too.

Waiting....

Am I getting stood up? The Builder guys were supposed to be here 45 minutes ago to do some prelim measuring. I'm still waiting... . If this were a real date I'd have blown him off by now and put on my comfy pants and settled down to watch some telly. Hm. Good Builders are hard to find. But I thought we had a connection. Oh well - his loss if he shows up during Baby A's lunch - he'll have to do a lot of talking to himself.

In the meantime I'm making delish chocolate cupcakes for D's playgroup/baby shower tomorrow. I'm trying to decide between plain buttercream frosting, coconut b'cream or raspberry b'cream. Probably because there are wee kids involved I'll go with plain, but I may fancy up and make some of the flavored kind for the grown ups. Have you ever noticed that with cupcakes, the kids either eat the cake or the frosting, but rarely both? At what age do you start eating them both? As far I remember, I've always eaten both, and probably started licking the bowl/spoon as soon as I could walk.

Dare to dream

We had a meeting this week with a design/build firm and, well, it looks like they may be "the one." There was a good connection, we felt comfortable, we could talk easily, everyone was upfront about their pasts.... it was a great first date. And, instead of a "we'll call soon" we actually have a second date... er, meeting... set up for next Wednesday for them to do some preliminary measurements. If all goes well we'll be signing to make it official in about 3-4 weeks!! Hurray! And not a minute too soon as Baby A and D have reached the beginning of the end of the room-sharing period of their lives. Baby A has been waking up starting around 2:45 until about 4:30 every morning- YAWN!! - and things are just too cramped in there. If they'd both been the same sex, or if the age difference wasn't quite as great, maybe we could squeeze by for a few more years, but it really isn't fair to them right now, especially D who would love to have friends over to play -- if they had a place to go.

In addition to the addition, we'll be fixing up the yard as well (I'm all about putting in a pool right now!) and so we'll have a fully functional house -- soon-ish.

Baby A Update: He's getting mobile. He'll "walk" all over the house holding onto our fingers. He'll scoot on his butt. He'll roll like a fiend across the room. No crawling yet though. He has the top half down pat, but hasn't quite figured out what the legs are for. It's also quite funny to seem him butt-scoot in the tub - where he immediately heads for the faucet. He loves to stick his hands under it and make it splash up on his face. He doesn't mind it a bit. But you really have to watch him and be careful or he'll have his whole head under there in a second. He doesn't mind that either.

Our only plans this weekend are to have lunch with my sister Debbie on Sunday. Other than that, we're enjoying some downtime and hopefully will be able to get outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. Hope you have a nice weekend too!

Fear

I found out late yesterday about the shootings at VT. Normally it wouldn't take all day for me to hear about such things, but I had a sick dog, cranky baby and a ton of post-Spring Break errands to run so was online less than usual. I'm glad I caught up at the end of the day, when there was less speculation about what was happening, but my heart goes out to those poor people who lost loved ones and the students who will live with the fear and horror of that day for a long time.

As a mom, as a parent, you can't help wonder what if it happened to your child or at your kid's school? I don't even like to think about it, but who knows what kind of sick "person" preys on others like that. D's school, which is pretty locked-down, is relatively safe but the kids are still out on an open playground during the day -- isn't it a crazy world that you might not want your kid to be outside on a playground because someone could open fire on them? I'm sure it's just the sudden (re)heightened awareness of how vulnerable we are to the crazies, but right now it's on my mind.

And in a few days I'm sure we'll all be treated to one of Rosie O'Donnell's crackpot conspiracy theories about this incident. I've stopped watching the Martha show in the mornings because The View comes on right after and just seeing Rosie's face during the promo spots turns me off.

Hug your family today!

Fashion victim

For those that are wondering, yes, I'm still wearing the cute black skirt and I've got really awesome shoes to go with. The problem is the top -- first, I can't wear sleeveless because my arms are too flabby -- looks like I've got half-filled water bottles attached to them. Second, either the tops are too fitted (Boobs! Baby Nursing Bra! Breast pads! Flabby leftover tummy! All these things mean nothing too fitted!) or too sheer. Even the one I did end up with is too sheer, but it at least has sleeves to hide my bra straps and ginormous fat arms. I'm sooo disgusted with myself that I went out and got a half-gallon of Triple Threat Edy's Slow Churned and I'm going to eat it one cup at a time until I feel better about myself.

Only 3-1/2 months of nursing to go. I can't wait. I want to wear cute tank tops again, without some ugly stretchy nursing bra poking out. And don't even get me started on the situation with my underwear. Granny panty city, baby.

Oh and by the way, It's Great To Be a Florida Gator!!

Who's that girl?

Today I had to go to the Mall to return some stuff I bought in my Quest for An Easter Outfit. I also had to get some new shoes because all I have anymore are clogs and flip flops and one lonely pair of brown loafers. I have a really specific idea of how I'd like to look in my head, but unfortunately the clothes in the stores these days aren't what I'm looking for. I tried on about 50 blouses today (while BabyA wailed and whined and wiggled in his stroller) and not a single on looked like "me." "Me" is all about t-shirts and polo shirts and cotton sweaters and the occassional cashmere and, in the winter, turtlenecks. The blouses in the stores are all about rayon and nylon and wrap-styling and things so sheer they look like pantyhose and fitted things, or else blouse-y, peasant-y things. I can't even find a decent twin set.

It's very depressing. I wish that I were more like the girl in my head -- the one who's makeup is always perfect and who's hair is always brushed and neat and who has a closet full of outfits for every occassion. Sigh.

Orlando, again

Since my sister Debbie was on spring break this week and, as a teacher gets into Sea World free, we decided to take a mini-break and head over to Orlando again for a day. It was picture perfect Florida spring weather and the park was a bit more crowded than when we went with my parents in February. But we got to see some of the exhibits that we missed on that first trip and, amazingly, a lot of the shows had different elements (the animals are too awesome and dignified to call what they do "tricks") than before. It keeps it interesting for repeat visitors -- and for the animals too, I imagine.

I love the Shamu show. It is just incredible to see these huge animals interacting with people. One of the orcas had a baby swimming right by it the whole time and it was so cute to see the baby trying to imitate it's mom. It was a bit like watching BabyA trying to imitate us waving or eating - or walking. Just like last time though, I spent the last half of the show standing a the back of the stadium whispering sweet nothings in BabyA's ear. It will be nice when he's a bit more mobile and independent and can enjoy little outings like this more. Not that I'm rushing things.

It's nice to have our year-long passes. It takes the pressure off having to rush around and try to see it all in just one day. Florida may have some drawbacks but we are lucky to be so close to these big theme parks that many people will only get to visit once in a lifetime. I can't even count how many times I've been to Disney World -- we used to drive down just for the day when I was in college.

Of course, even if you've been to the Parks 100 times, it's all different when you have kids.

We were in the Wild Arctic exhibit -- polar bears, beluga whales and walruses -- which we did not get to in February. The walruses were just amazing. They have these huge heads/faces all wrinkly and whiskery and wise-looking. And they make this incredible, whooping whistle-y noise. We were in the underwater viewing area, marveling over their immense size (MUCH bigger up close than I had imagined).

The small crowed was hushed as we watched the walrus float vertically in front of the viewing area, it's huge abdomen tapering to it's two flippered feet. Then...

"I think that must be a boy," observed D.

Unfortunately, she wasn't sure why everyone thought it was so funny.

Hey Jenn!

I am wearing this skirt for Easter:




What shoe do you recommend? Remember, I don't wear heels over 3", t-straps, ankle wraps or mary janes. I'm thinking a woven (raffia, cotton, crochet-look, something like that) slide with a platform heel. Or maybe a peep-toe. What do you think?

Get moving

D spent hours yesterday on her new bike. She really got the hang of it quickly! We are amazed because she never really caught on to the tricycle and every attempt to ride it ended up with me pushing her back home after about 30 minutes. But last night after dinner she rode for about an hour with M.

Between the skiing last month and now this, I was inspired to sign her up for PeeWee tennis lessons at the local racquet club. She starts this afternoon and I'm really hopeful she'll do well. Tennis is the one and only sport that both M & I like to play and it would be great if the Kids played as well.

D also informed me that she'll start swimming when she turns five. This July.

In other news, M & I did NOT have dessert last night. (I did sneak in a couple of mini PB cups around 5, but that was just to get me through the kids' dinner/bath/bedtime routine.) The Sugar Monster was beating at the door, but we ignored him. It helped that I didn't have any goodies on hand (since I ate the PB cups already) and I'm not going to do any more baking until Easter weekend. Of course, like all good addicts, my brain tried to replace one craving with another, so I found myself wondering if a icy cold Gin & Tonic would taste good, or perhaps a big glass of red wine. Thankfully, since the babies, I have almost completely lost my taste and tolerance for alcohol so that's an easier "craving" to ignore. Plus kids & drinking don't mix AT ALL. Full disclosure: I do, however, have a bottle of Anchor Steam that I'm saving for the Final Four (GO GATORS!!) game next weekend.

What's your favorite veggie?

You'd never guess from looking at us now, but M & I used to be pretty fit, athletic people. Now, since Kids, our favorite veggie is Couch Potato and we have all the willpower of a herd of scavenging goats. Yesterday, we each had two (2!!) coconut cupcakes for dessert. They were yummy, though. M has managed to maintain a youthful figure by sheer genetics - he is naturally thin. I however have fallen sadly behind the curve and am horrified by my still-5-months-pregnant figure. Also? I can't stop eating. Now, I am still nursing BabyA, usually about 4 times a day, but still. I am always, always, always hungry. It seems weird.

So we have been trying to get more outdoor exercise, which also involves trying to get D to enjoy outdoor activities more - although she is very anti-hiking in Florida (likes it better in the cooler, mountain climate of NC), doesn't like swimming and can barely pedal a tricycle. So I'm predicting triathalons may not be her thing. The bike thing is of special concern because her class is having a bike-a-thon this Thursday. Last Friday M ran out to get her a 12" kids bike and we've been practicing with it over the weekend. She's getting the hang of it although we lost a practice day yesterday when her front tire blew and we (meaning M) spent all day trying to fix the little tube inside. He finally got it fixed was feeling all good about it, pumped up the tire and wham! it blew again. He ended up at Wal-Mart at 9:00 last night trying to buy a new tire. File under Frustrated Fitness!

The other small change I've made is insisting that D eat a veggie (other than carrots) with dinner every night. Which is OK, cause she likes broccoli, green beans, spinach. We tried asparagus last week and she loved it, although that might have been because of the hollandaise I made to go with it.

We are serious about trying to improve our fitness this year, so I'm going scouting for a decent health club this week. We don't like the local franchise gyms (too loud) and the local Y, while offering a great facility, is unfortunately poorly maintained and can get very dirty. There are some private clubs though, so I'm going to check into them. Hopefully one will have on-site kid care AND an outdoor pool. Which are my requirements. I think M just wants a clean locker room and a sauna.

My stuff

Here's the latest meme making the rounds:

Jeans - Levi's 501
Underwear - Hanes Her Way bikinis
Sneakers - Reebok brown & pink walking shoes
Watch - Cartier Tank
T-shirt - JCrew Favorite tee
Day bag - SkipHop diaper bag
Evening bag - I have a little black silk clutch that I've been using for about 15 years
Cell phone - Samsung basic flip-phone; no cameras; no music players; just a good phone
Blackberry or Treo - neither
Lipstick - MAC Del Rio or Bare Escentuals Fig pencil
Mascara - Clinique High Definition (but I rarely wear eye makeup)
Nail polish - none
Shampoo - Aveda Shampure
Moisturizer - MyChelle Pumpkin Creme
Hair product - Aveda Universal Styling Creme
Perfume or cologne - Hermes 24 Fauborg
Toothpaste - Colgate

Bad blogger

We have been super-duper more-than-usual busy lately and I've been so lackadasical about blogging. Between kids, housework and trying to catch up on my DVR'd shows I'm worn out at the end of the day.

Not to worn out to cook dinner though! Here's tonight's offering, Chicken & Black Bean Enchiladas:









And for dessert, Lemon Meringue Pie bars. This is actually something I'm thinking of making for our big Easter Brunch, but wanted to give it a test try before foisting it off on the family.









M & D are out looking a bikes right now. D's class is having a Bike Rally next week to raise funds for needy parishoners. So it looks like we'll have to teach her to ride a real bike in the next week. She's very bike-resistant (must get it from me) and can barely muster her tricycle. Wish us luck.

One (wo)man band

M & I complain, separately and to each other, that we each feel like we're all alone in our current roles of mom, dad, breadwinner, breadeater, housecleaner, cook, planner, organizer, CFO and, most recently, homeowner insurance expert. I really do sympathize with his situation - nine months of all the attention being on me while I'm pregnant followed by seven months of all the attention being on Baby A. I have to work a bit harder at the Wife part of my job life. It's sometimes hard to do though, when it sometimes feels like the lowest priority of the many things I have to do, forget to do or put off until tomorrow.

For all my scurrying around, I am always strangely behind the eight-ball as far as keeping up with things. I feel like I clean and do laundry 24/7, yet the house always looks disheveled and just as I'm folding and putting away the "last" of the laundry and full basket or dirty clothes appears out of nowhere. It can be very disheartening.

Then, as if we weren't in enough turmoil with the whole renovate vs. sell thing, our crap-ass Homeowner's Insurance Co., had the gall to send us a renewal premium for next year for $4500!!!!!!! WTF?! Do they really think we'll pay that? When we know that they are cancelling everyone next year anyway?! We have a 1200 sq ft house!! Our agent was nice enough about it (although I'd hate to be a homeowner's insurance broker in Florida these days) and we now qualify to go into the state insurance fund at a reasonable premium of about $3300. Citizen's doesn't have the best reputation, but at least we know they can't cancel us so we don't have to go through that headache every year. Anyway, it looks like even if we found a house to buy -- and IF ours sold -- the higher taxes and insurance may not make it practical.

Sigh. TGIF.

We love Apricot!

We had a blas at Epcot or, as D called it "Apricot," yesterday. It was wonderful to see M's brother and family and the kids got along really well. Baby A was in heaven -- all those kids to love on him. The park was great and they've added quite a few attractions so it seems more like the "community of tomorrow" that it's supposed to be. M & I went about three years ago and it was badly in need of an update then. They've revamped a lot of the rides though and added lots of updated, science/fun related attractions. (BTW, anyone else remember Captain Eo?)

Even with 10 people, including 6 kids, we got to see/do everything we wanted. Highlights include the Nemo ride, Soaring (a simulated hang-glider ride - very cool) and dinner in Germany, our favorite place to eat in Epcot. (Note to self: next time, be sure to get a snack at the Cantina in Mexico - it smelled fabulous.) D would say the highlight was playing with her cousins, I'm sure. She brought home a souvenir map and has spent the morning studying it trying to figure out what the symbols mean.

We got home around midnight, so I kept D home from school today to recover. We've been traveling so much, I can barely remember what day it is and I have to fight a nagging feeling that I've forgotten something important. Like doing our taxes.

For all of you looking for pictures, I recently switched to the new, "improved" Blogger Beta, and whaddayaknow, I can't use the image upload function anymore. I'll have to fiddle with it a bit.

Here and there

So we've had a fabulous, fantastic, BUSY last few weeks. First, M & I took the kids to NC to visit his momanddad and experience some real winter weather. It was great. D got to go skiing, M went fly-fishing with his dad and I got a much-needed break from housework. Then the day after we got back, my mom, sisters and SIL all went to see Wicked and have a real girls-only dinner. The play was really good and I was very skeptical because I didn't enjoy the book at all. Very pleasantly surprised at how funny they made some of the characters -- definitely worth seeing. Tomorrow we're hoping to head over to Orlando for dinner with M's brother & his family. My BIL is an LC in the Army and on his way to Iraq for three months, so they are taking a little R&R at Disney. It will be great to see them and I am already praying for his safe return from this deployment!

On more mundane matters:
I'd like to think that in the new, bigger version of our house that we are planning that I would NOT have to cook dinner with a herd of My Little Ponies cluttering up the counter, that we'd have an actual place to put the laundry piles that I have such a hard time putting away, and that if we want to have a conversation after Baby A goes to bed, we wouldn't have to whisper and tip-toe around. Our lack of space is really getting to us. The good news is we have references for a design firm, architect, and contractor so it should really just be a matter of deciding to actually DO it.

Gong Hay Fat Choy...

...which is "Happy New Year" in Chinese! This is the Year of the Pig, supposedly ushering in a year of friends, luck and abundance. I was going to make a big old authentic Chinese dinner, complete with sao bao, but instead we went out for dim sum at T.C. Choy's in Tampa.

We had a fantabulous time at Sea World. It's a great place for kids, much smaller and less expensive than Disney, but still lots to do. The shows were awesome - I loved Shamu! The park is really convenient for nursing moms, complete with private nursing/changing rooms scattered throughout the park. It was so relaxing not having to search out a quiet place to feed A, plus it got us out of the chilly weather for a bit.

I haven't put up pics yet because I've been too busy eating. Baby A, reacting to being fed three meals of baby food a day, has been wanting to nurse more and who am I to say no? I'm trying to wean him from 4 daytime feedings to 3, but he still manages to sneak a fourth in there most days. He's clearly gunning for the 20lb. mark. So, I've had to bump up the calorie intake and this time I'm doing it with bacon. (Year of the Pig, indeed!) Bacon and peanut butter sandwiches, to be specific. Yum. I know I should throw some fruits and veggies in there, but I believe in eating what you crave and apparently my body is craving crispy slices of pork-y goodness. Also Cadbury mini-eggs, which I feel no guilt about consuming in mass quantities since they are only available from now until Easter at which point they disappear until next year. I love Seasonal candy.

Yesterday my friend S and I took the little kids down to the outlet mall. Probably one of my best outlet shopping trips ever. I was desperate to get some new tops that weren't t-shirts. I got some Polo shirts, a nice spring/summer sleeveless tunic-style top and some pants for the warm weather that we know is just around the corner. I had to get A some clothes too, since his 12-month stuff is getting a bit tight and short. Yes, my seven-month old wears 12-18 month clothing. The sleeves are usually a bit long, but at least they don't ride up in the diaper area.

This morning we're off to Michaels to pick up some craft supplies for my next attempt at craftiness from Martha Stewart. These look easy enough maybe even D can help me. Wish me luck though. Usually my craft attempts come out looking a lot like D's pre-school attempts at "art," minus the charm and originality.

Spring clean....

So, in addition to the new Martha Housekeeping book and a Le Creuset dutch oven (to bake my no-knead bread), I also want these.

Happy Spring Cleaning!

On Monday I'll be posting an update and photos (hopefully) of our trip to Sea World. Have a great weekend!

Breakfast time!

This morning A was on the couch waking up while we got D ready for school. I guess he got impatient and decided to get breakfast for himself. We all laughed and I think he knew he was being funny 'cause he was laughing too. These kids crack me up.

In other news, I was up at 5:30 to prep my second loaf of no-knead bread. This time, I bench-proofed it on one of my silicone cutting boards and only used 1-1/2c. water -- the dough was way less sticky and much easier to work with. Funny how just 1/8 c. can make such a big difference. The loaf just came out of the oven, but I'm hoping it's as delicious as the first batch.

Today Baby A and I are off to the Nissan shop to get the MomMobile serviced. Then someone better vacuum the house - I guess it should be me.

I need no-knead

Given some of my recent baking mishaps, I was hesitant to try the "fool-proof" no-knead bread recipe that is currently the hit of the blogsphere, cooking shows, Martha, etc. Happily, even though from start to finish it takes over a day to make, the results are well worth it and exactly as the recipe promises. Fool proof, indeed! The crust was crispy, crackly; the interior chewy, wheaty and dense. Yumm! We devoured almost a whole loaf last night (served along with a delicious fruit-glazed pork roast and fresh broccoli) and ate the remainder this morning with blueberry preserves. 18 hours to make, 12 to eat. I will tweak my next loaf - a bit less water perhaps and, since the very sticky dough absolutely ruined two of my favorite tea towels, perhaps I won't use towels at all during the rising stage for the next batch. But go see for yourself! It's very easy and very delicious.

So that was our Sunday. This is a busy week: I'm hosting playgroup on Wednesday and D is off school Thursday & Friday. Next weekend the kids, my parents and I are off to Sea World for two days! I've never been, so it's exciting for me too. The weather looks to be perfect and it will be nice to have a little getaway. Maybe I'll even take some updated pictures of the kids.

I'm going to go bake some bread. You should too!

Sad truth

Here all this time I was thinking that Baby A is soooo much messier than D was at this age. Turns out my sister Debbie, who took care of D until she was two, was actually a much better housekeeper than I am. Those high chair straps looked spotless because she somehow had the time? energy? ability? to clean the caked on rice cereal off of them. Whereas I'm much more inclined to give them a once-over with a wet paper towel and call them clean. Those smushed-in peas can wait 'til tomorrow! I suppose if I did laundry every day, instead of waiting until there was a critical mass overflowing the basket, those spots would come out of his onesies too. The sad truth may be that I am just a slob.

I really need to get that Martha Stewart Housekeeping book I've had my eye on since Christmas. I wonder if she has hints for getting baby carrot stains out of a pale blue turtleneck sweater.

Fish story

After a lovely week visiting with the grandparents, it's back to normal this week. For our Special Sunday Supper over the weekend, I cooked up a batch of fresh fish that my dad had caught awhile back. About 4 lbs. of fresh, fresh Gulf Snapper. Yum. But a tad bit more than we could eat in one meal, or even two, so it's been Fish, Fish, Fish since then. Fish tacos, fish & chips. Last night we made fish wraps. Basically, got some rice noodles (cooked) and tossed them with shredded cucumber, red peppers, lettuce and red onion and then drizzled with Paul Newman's Low Fat Sesame Ginger dressing and a bit of sesame oil. Then wrapped the salad stuff up with a couple of filets of fish in a tortilla. Very tasty! But I'm fished out for awhile.

Baby A is doing very well with the baby food, but is not so happy drinking from a sippy cup. He likes regular cups, but is having a hard time latching onto the other kind. We'll keep trying! I gave him his first "meat" dinner yesterday - a bit of chicken & wild rice baby food mixed in with his rice cereal. He seemed to like it, but OMG, what a horrible mess. It has some type of cereal starch mixed in it and a tomato-y substance and bits of wild rice and it all congealed into a glue-y paste as he smeared it around. I think we'll lay off that type of thing until he's actually ready for table food. It got all over his shirt and face and hands and he looked like a Baby Oompa Loompa.

We're continuing our trend of waking up waaayyy too early and it's starting to take it's toll on M & I. And now A has started to wake himself up a few times at night -- I'm sure it has something to do with teething. Thankfully, so far, he's been able to get himself back to sleep with little or no intervention from us, but it still wakes me up and I have a hard time getting back to sleep. So I'm back to only about 5 hours of sleep at night. Yawn.

Dark and stormy night

We had some wicked weather last night. Which normally I would sleep through, but since our Dog is terrified of storms, particularly thunder and lightning, she woke me up about 4:40 with her panting and pacing about the room. Note that the KIDS slept through the worst of it, but the DOG woke me up. Argh. Then Baby A woke up at 5:00, crying, which woke up D at around 5:30, so hey-ho might as well get out of bed -- M went to make coffee and I took a shower. Good thing too because the power went out around 6, and if there's one thing I hate it's facing the day before I've had a shower and coffee.

Oh well. Pizza for dinner tonight and early to bed for me!

A meeting

We have a meeting this morning with a contractor/builder to talk about our wretchedly small house. He was supposed to meet with us Tuesday but "forgot," so we rescheduled for today. He just called to confirm, so I'm very hopeful that he'll actually show up.

Grandparent's Day at D's school went very well. I think all four were very impressed with the school, teachers, kids, everything. We're lucky to be part of such a dynamic, family-oriented parish and school. We find out at the end of this week if D has been accepted for Kindergarten so we're praying and hoping for good news there. On a funny side note, I got a note from the Home & School Assoc. president saying I had signed up to volunteer for G'parents Day and could I help serve refreshments, etc. Tuesday night I left her a message saying no problem, but I have a 6-month old that I'll have to tote with me. Well when Baby A and I showed up yesterday, he was in finest no-nap babbling form, and we were promptly asked to leave! The reasoning was the Administration didn't want competing siblings there to distract the g'parents (very reasonable) but I suspect A's full on display of his awesome vocal abilities also swayed the vote. He's one LOUD baby, especially in close quarters. I was assured I'd still get full credit volunteer hours just for showing up. M called them Pity Hours, but since we're nowhere close to fulfilling our 25 volunteer hours for the year, I'll take them!

In other big news, we finally decided to send D to school full-time. She'll officially start next week and she is SO excited. Obviously she has no idea that this is the start of a long career of going to school. She's just looking forward to spending more time with her school friends. Not sure what we'll do about playgroup. I'm as attached to my mom friends as she is to the kids. Maybe I can just show up with Baby A - he needs to socialize anyway.

Happy Monday

Winter is here! Nice and cold today, it's after noon and still only in the 40s.

We had a nice, low-key weekend - spent yesterday going to some Open Houses to check out what's for sale in the neighborhood. Not that we're selling, but more to get ideas for what we can do with our house. We're meeting with yet another general contractor/builder tomorrow morning, and hopefully he'll be "the one." Finder a builder is like finding a husband in a lot of ways. Except I don't care if my builder has a good sense of humor and nice eyes.

This is also Catholic Schools Week so there is some type of celebration at D's school every day. Today was Have Lunch With Your Kid day, so we went and everyone got to see what an experience eating with Baby A is. He just doesn't like to sit still and hates in when I try to eat. Finally, one of the other moms took him so I could wolf down my burger. It's kind of a shame, because we were supposed to be there for D, but I hope she'll be happy that I was there anyway. Wednesday is Grandparents Day and all of the grandparents are going to be there - pretty cool! They have a fun day planned, starting with Mass in the morning and then a reception and tour of the school. It should be fun for D and I'm going to stay home with A so that she can have a day with her grandparents all to herself.

I think A is getting ready to pop another tooth, at least I hope he is, because that would be the best explanation as to why he is acting like a complete psychopath. Waking up 2-3 times at night, screaming when I put him down for "naps", fussy, fussy, fussy. Chewing and drooling and his cute little face is all chapped. Poor little guy. Of course, I'm not quite as sympathetic as I'd like to be since I've been up since 3:00 a.m., but I try.

Slow news day

Not much happening right now. Baby A has his six-month well-baby check up this morning, I actually have to wake him up from his nap [frown] in just a few minutes. We've been practicing sitting up and playing "Wheels on the Bus" and "Patty-cake" and there are some days where I'm so happy and others where it's kinda mind-numbing and it's hard for me to get excited. The perils of being a SAHM.

Last night D had me stretched to the breaking point. It was pouring rain so we couldn't go outside so she got busy glueing pom-poms onto popsicle sticks. I was trying to make dinner and entertain A, and she kept waving these crazy decorated popsicle sticks in my face, asking if they looked like birds or fish tails or something and I was half-answering in a distracted way because I was, well, distracted and finally she just yelled "You're not listening to me!" It made me feel so bad, and like a bad mom, for not taking three seconds to check out her artwork and say, "Yeah, that DOES look like a fish tail, nice job!" which is all she needed to make her happy but instead she felt ignored. Then at dinner she asked me why I spend all my time playing with A and never with her anymore. Good thing we all have such bad short-term memories around here and we wake up every morning pretty much fine and happy and loving each other and totally forgiven for whatever happened the day before.

A first

Baby A has his first little tooth! All the signs have been there... fussiness, not napping, spitting up, biting me while nursing.... but I didn't quite catch them. So this morning we were playing and he gave me a cheeky little smile and there it was! He looks so grown up.

I've got a crapload of laundry to do this morning and then A & I are off to find onesies that fit. He's going to have to go with at least 12 month ones to fit around his big baby legs. D is at school all day today, but I promised her I'd do a science project after school, so I better prep for that too.

BTW, hands up if you watched "Scrubs" last night. They did a musical show and it was hilarious. We also watched "The Office" and we (I) were most pleased to see Jim & Pam reconnecting. I'm not too involved with my TV set, am I?

M is for...

Mudpie, which was what D's teacher had them making yesterday at school. Guess what? They even got to bring their project home with them. So yesterday, thanks in part to Ms. W. and in part to the 80 degree weather, we made mudpies all afternoon in our "yard." Despite having a huge lot, we have very little usable yard space, so D & I were crammed onto a small paved area in back of the house and Baby A had to be content with lying on a towel on a weedy patch. Our yard is utterly useless, a travesty, a shame, a waste of space, and a constant visible reminder that M & I simply cannot make decisions when it comes to major home improvement projects (unless something is broken, leaking or smoking). We should have had this place sodded, fenced and patio-d years ago. But no. Now I could kick myself, ourselves, because we desperately need a place to play and sit outside with the kids that is marginally more comfortable than crouching on an ancient 3 x 3 concrete pad that used to hold the boiler. So, I drew up some plans and maybe I can get M to agree to it before Easter when our whole family comes to visit. I'm even willing to forgo a pool (too much hassle, too much upkeep, too much of a frog attractor) in favor of a covered porch area and a nice, mulched area for a playset and D's sandbox. With such nice weather it's a real shame not to be able to use your own yard. We can't even let the Dog out there because she comes back in covered with weeds, dirt and bites. We might as well live in a condo.

And surprise, surprise... A just woke up from his 20 minute morning nap.

Manic Monday

So Mondays are my designated day to clean up, straighten up, put everything away from the weekend. I'm hampered a bit today by D being home from school for the MLK holiday, but will do my best.

Right now, I'm trying to get her to talk quietly since we're in the art room/office, which is right next to the bedroom where Baby A is trying to take his 25 minute morning nap. D, meanwhile, is doing mazes and speaking in, what seems to me, an unnaturally loud voice. While I repeatedly try to get her to speak softly. I think it's all really a ploy to get me to turn on the TV, but I swear I'd rather wake up the baby than have her sit in front of that thing all morning. I don't mind her watching a few shows - Curious George, The Upside Down Show, Little Einsteins, Backyardigans - but I'm also trying to encourage her to play by herself, use her imagination, etc. Kinda hard to do when the TV is on.

We had a nice weekend here. Saturday M & I went out for our first real restaurant dinner alone since the baby was born. We went to Pacific Wave and it was awesome. Sunday we had a nice Family Day and I made a really excellent Chicken Pot Pie for supper. Since I'm still in my PJs at 10:30 a.m. I guess I'm feeling relaxed. I better go try to get a shower before A wakes up.

And you thought you knew me

Some little known (and well-known) factoids about us...

1) We love to read. I average 5 books a month (when not caring for an infant). M can read 2-4. I'm reading Little House on the Prairie to D right now. Baby A likes books too - but mostly just to chew on.

2) I have an obsession with sour cream. I see many foods as mere vehicles for the consumption of sour cream.

3) I can, and will, eat cake for breakfast. I'm eating a piece of M's birthday cake right now!

4) I especially like cakes made with sour cream.

5) Baby A's favorite song is "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean." I make funny faces for him during the "bring back..." part.

6) D's favorite song is "Hush Little Baby." I sing it to her every night at bedtime.

7) Both M & D hate the sound of the vacuum cleaner.

8) I buy organic milk (BGH scares me).

9) I'm terrified of frogs and lizards. Not too much else.

10) M & D are scared of spiders and spider-webs. We saw one of these once on a walk and D almost passed out from fright. I'm sympathetic because if it had been a frog in our path M would've had to carry me.

11) I can say the alphabet backward almost as fast as I can forward.

12) I think I photograph better from my right side.

13) I'm still in love with my husband.

14) My original college roommate is still one of my best and closest friends.

15) Someone at M's old law firm asked if D's hair was a wig. I hope because she had unusally beautiful, curly hair for a child, not because it looked like plastic.

16) D started talking when she was about 10 months old.

17) I try really hard not to compare D & A. I know they will develop on their own timetable. But is it weird he can't sit up yet?!

18) I am interrupted while blogging 9-out-of-10 times. A is crying for me right now.

19) D's favorite food is pasta.

20) We've been talking about trading in the MomMobile for something a little larger. I want a minivan, although the new Saturn Outlook is very nice too.

100!

Whee! This is my 100th post. I should celebrate, maybe make some hot cocoa on this chilly, chilly night. I wish I had something momentuous to write about. oh well.

Funny follow up to the big Kindergarten registration day. First, D's school does not guarantee re-registration until the child is in Kindergarten, so every year there's a lot of suspense - will she get in or not, what will we do if she doesn't, are you sure you did all the paperwork, blah blah blah. So. This year, I'm like the first person in line, fill out my forms in double-time and hand in all my paperwork. Because she's a current student, they don't need her birth certificate, ss card, etc. Or so they tell me. One day later, the school secretary calls informing me that D's medical forms expire on February 1. Impossible I say, her birthday is in July, so her current forms should be good until next summer and I'll turn them in as soon as school starts next year (providing we get in). I had to ask her to recheck them and sure enough, I was right. But I hope she made a note that our stuff is on file anyway. I'd hate it if our Kindergarten application was marked incomplete because of a clerical error.

And speaking of clerical errors, it seems like Aetna forgot to sign us up for dental coverage when we became eligible for benefits at M's new job. Of course we only found out when M's dentist called to say that his most recent visit wasn't covered. Stay tuned here for more follow up on this impending saga.

I've got a load of things to do tonight - cook dinner, fold laundry, pay some bills. Better get to it.

Great to be a Florida Gator!

The picture says it all.

See you in Atlanta in March!

More kitchen adventures

I'm trying to ease myself back into baking. Since we try to have a big Sunday Supper at our house, I wanted to make a nice light, healthy apple crisp for an after-dinner treat. Not sure where exactly I went wrong, but it was probably when I tried to substitute Splenda for the sugar in the topping. Or maybe because the Granny Smiths I used were too tart. Or that I put in two tablespoons of cinammon instead of two teaspoons. Or perhaps because I was nursing while it baked so I didn't notice that it was burning on top. Whatever. D & M said it was good anyway, but I had to add three scoops of vanilla ice cream to make it edible.

The meatloaf and mashed potatoes, however, were fabulous. Even D ate the potatoes, which she normally hates. They were loaded with mozzarella and parmesan though - two of her favorite foods.

A bit cooler this morning (or is that the a/c blowing on me?) Had to get up at 5:45 to get myself showered and dressed to take D to school - today was registration for Kindergarten. So I'm back in my pjs now, trying to get motivated for the rest of the day.

Baby A is still completely nap-resistant, despite a whole weekend of trying to get him on schedule. I can hear him lying in his crib, sucking on his hands and chattering to himself about it.

Tonight is the big game - UF v. OSU for the National Championship. All my Gator friends are watching tonight -- even M is going to watch with me -- although Sister Debbie will probably have to flip back and forth since the pressure of watching the whole game is too much for her. Also. Since it's on after the kids' bedtime, I'm going to treat myself to a bottle of beer to go along with my popcorn. Woohah. Party on.

GO GATORS!

Al Gore is right?

An Incovenient Truth indeed. It's so hot and humid here - more like early summer. I'm running my a/c people. In January! Ugh. They're promising us a brief cool down next Tues & Wed so I'm looking forward to that.

Not much going on this weekend. I've been spending a lot of time on Martha Stewart getting ideas, recipes, tips, etc. I know she had a Handmade Christmas issue of her magazine, but because I spent so little time in the stores prior to Christmas (kids sick, remember?) I never even saw it. I wonder if I can order a back issue. I should really subscribe, but I gave up all my magazine subscriptions except for National Geographic about five years ago and I don't want to get back into it. Not only were they getting expensive, but issues just seemed to pile up without my ever reading them, or if I did read them and wanted to keep them, there was always a storage issue. So. No more magazines, except for Nat'l Geog, which I've got 14 years worth exploding out of two shelves of our precious bookcase space. Note to self: I really need to get some magazine holders for them.

I've got to plan for M's birthday this Thursday - I'm making either red velvet cupcakes or a white cake with lemon curd filling and buttercream frosting - and on Saturday, Sister Debbie is coming to watch the kids while M & I hit the town. If by "hit" you mean tapas and a movie.

Guess I'll have to try them all

If you like cupcakes (I do!), baking (I do!), reading other people's blogs (I do!) and eating (I do!), then you must take a moment to check out cupcakeblog.

Great recipes. Great photos. Really interesting reading.

Me... A to Z

A - Available or taken? Taken, heart and soul
B - Book you are reading? The Keep by Jennifer Egan
C - Car? Nissan Murano, aka MomMobile
D - Drink of choice? Water, coffee (no alcohol yet - still nursing)
E - Essential daily item? Aveda's Shampure
F - Favorite color? Pink
G - Gummy bears or gummy worms? Bears
H - Hometown? Naples, FL
I - Ice cream flavor? Peanut butter chocolate
J - January or February? February, January is too "new"
K - Kids names? D & A
L - Life is incomplete without...? Love, family, chocolate
M - Marriage date? October 9, 1999
N - Number of siblings? Three
O - Oranges or apples? Oranges
P - Phobias? Herpetophobia/ranidaphobia
Q - Favorite quote? "If you're not a Gator, then you're Gator Bait!"
R - Reason to smile? Cuddling with the kids after their baths
S - Season? Winter
T - Tag Aiden's Gift and Suburban Cupcake
U - Unknown fact about me? I still bite my nails
V - Veggie I don't like? Olives
W - Wish for 2007? That Jenn and Just Shane will get hitched
X - Last x-ray? Ultrasound on 7/24/06
Y - Your favorite food? Baked potatoes
Z - Zodiac sign? Scorpio

Happy New Year!

Happy 2007! We're back to our regularly scheduled programming today. D in school, A napping, M working, me blogging. We stayed in for New Year's Eve this year, made a special steak dinner for all the solid food eaters in the house, and then watched some movies. New Year's Day it rained, which didn't deter us from visiting the zoo. It was a perfect day, despite the rain, as there were hardly any other people there and the cooler weather made all the animals pretty active. Unfortunately, M locked the keys in the MomMobile so we had to wait 45 minutes for AAA before heading home. But the locksmith who came out was very nice and got the job done quickly. After a lovely two week Christmas/New Year holiday break, I'm rested and relaxed, full of patience and over the baking disasters, etc. I had a bit of a lapse yesterday (D's last day of school hols) when I had to spend the afternoon fending off questions like, "Is this just squishy? Or squishy-sqooshy?" and D's new favorite game "Ask a Parrot a Question!" - she repeats that phrase, in a decidedly parrot-y voice, until you ask her a question which she repeats back to you, and it goes on and on. If you decline to ask a question, she keeps repeating her request over and over until you feel like tiny bits of your brain are being slowly etched away with each repetition. She also learned to play two other games - Sorry! and Whac-a-mole. We all love Whac-a-mole - it's very stress-relieving. She's pretty good at Sorry! too. M's the Grand Champion though, taking two games from me on New Year's Day.

So, I've made some resolutions this year:

1) Lose the rest of the baby weight - from both D & A, through sensible diet and exercise, of course
2) Be more patient, especially with the kids
3) Remember all important friend & family birthdays
4) Write more letters (fewer emails)

I've got 5 birthdays in January, so I better get cracking.

As far as diet and exercise, I'm doing more of a home-fitness regimen this time around. M & I have wasted thousands on gym memberships that we never use after the first few months, and my favorite workout is swimming, so I'm going to try to get to our local pool more often and eat sensibly and see how that works. To kick things off, yesterday morning M & I made a No Cookies pact (we'd been indulging in this tin of delicious European chocolate biscuits). But by 1:00 I was in a frenzied rage of imaginary cookie-deprivation and had obvious withdrawal symptoms, so it's not going to be easy.

A and I are off to the Library this morning, then my sister is coming over to hang out this afternoon and play princess tea-party with us. So, as you can tell, I'm just busy, busy, busy.

Time to relax

Well, the cards went out, the baking stuff is stashed away where I can't see it and be reminded of my Baking Disasters, the house is mostly cleaned and the presents are wrapped. Whew. M gave me an early Christmas present -- since we have to drive both cars down to my parents' house, he's going to let me drive his car (Saab! Turbo!) all by myself while he takes the kids in the MomMobile. Yay! Two hours of grown-up music and talking to myself without being interrupted.

Have a very Merry Christmas!!

Kitchen adventures, part 3

What do you get when you are attempting to make a last-minute batch of Chocolate Biscotti to take to your daughter's playgroup, when said daughter interrupts you in the middle of sifting your dry ingredients with a potty-break problem and, as a result of said interruption, you forget to add baking powder to your dry ingredients? What's that? Did you guess Chocolate Rocks? Good guess!

Looks like our playgroup friends will be getting a hearty, sincere Merry Christmas this year.

Once the holidays are over, I'm running right out and getting Martha Stewart's new book. I love All Things Martha, and this looks like another great addition to my collection. Hey, it may be sorta aspirational with two kids, a small house with no storage space and the world's Most Shedding Dog Ever, but a girl's gotta dream, right?

Busy day

Today I'm very busy trying to not feel bad that I'm letting A roll around on his playmat all by himself, without me hovering nearby wielding burp cloths and rattles. The house is a sty of clutter and germs and I must, need, have to clean it up today.

In other news, I was in a very optimistic mood last night and got all the Christmas cards addressed. I'm thinking I just might be able to take a picture of the kids this afternoon, providing D comes home from school in a decent mood and A doesn't look too puffy and rashy-red from his cold. I might get the cards in the mail tomorrow. If not, I've got a real headstart on next year's cards.

More holiday cheer

Baby A still sick with a middling fever and a terrible, congested cough. Poor baby. I was half-listening for him all night long. We got him some antibiotics of his own on Sunday, hopefully they'll help him get over it sooner and he'll be better before we head to my parents' for Christmas.

In other seasonal news, it's about 80 out today. More like an early summer day than mid-December. I was hanging a new Gator banner out front (if I can't decorate for Christmas, I'll decorate for Important Football Games) and got stung by a bee. Good thing I wasn't up the ladder yet. If we lived somewhere normal that had real seasons, I'm sure the bees would be dead or hibernating, but oh well. So now I have a lovely red welt on my upper back.

Not much going on this week. D is back in school until Wednesday, then they're on break for two weeks. I've officially hung up my holiday baking aspirations, but my wonderful SIL stepped up to the plate and sent us a big package of cookies and peppermint bark and FRUITCAKE! So I get to nibble on goodies all week long anyway. Saturday night is M's office holiday dinner party, then on Sunday we're headed to Naples for a bit. Mom and I are getting massages on Thursday while my Dad watches the kids, so I'm looking forward to that. I still have a bunch of wrapping to do, and I'd like to clean the house really well, and there's always the laundry and packing of course, but other than that I'm looking forward to a happy, relaxing Christmas!

Sick of it

Good news: D is recovered. No fever, just a bit of a cough. Back to her self, for sure. Bad news: Baby A seems to be heading down the same Miserable Road that D just traveled. Woke up with a 102 fever, flushed cheeks, rattly cough. Darn it. We're headed back to the doctor this morning. I've officially given up baking this year, and I'm about to give up on the Christmas Cards too.

What day is it?!

So. Tired. D up many times last night - water, meds, potty. I literally fell asleep in the hallway when she got up to go to the bathroom at around 3 or 4. This morning she's tired, but her cough is so much better. I thought she was going to lose a lung last night. We ended up filling her Rx for Zithromax late yesterday so hopefully it will kick in by the end of the day and we can put this all behind us. Just hope A doesn't come down with it too. Or anyone else.

Somebody? Anybody?

As if things weren't crazy enough around here, Baby A JUST WON'T NAP! (Sorry for yelling.) It's driving me crazy. I mean I put him in his crib and he looks all calm and peaceful and I tiptoe away and then like 15 minutes later he's crying. Argh. So he's overtired and I'm tired out.

Maybe it's that we haven't left the house in 3 days.

I may need to take up drinking wine again. Just a bottle glass at night to relax while we watch TV.

It didn't look like this in the Pottery Barn catalogue

D only has a 100 fever this morning - but we're not celebrating yet as she seems to have developed a nasty chest cold overnight. I'm thinking she has the flu. She'll probably be home at least one more day, but maybe she'll be feeling well enough today to eat or play a game or... sit for a Christmas picture?

Yesterday (in between administering medication, forcing people to eat and playing endless rounds of "where's baby" and "peek-a-boo") I found time to clean, straighten up and finish decorating. We were being overwhelmed by piles of laundry, stacks of mail and bins of Christmas decorations. Even after the most thorough clean-up, within minutes toys will be scattered all over the living room, dog hair tumbleweeds will drift from under the furniture and the dining table will be covered with crumbs -- which appear even if no one has eaten there for days.

Sadly, no matter how hard I try, our house will never look like a Pottery Barn catalogue. For instance, here's Pottery Barn's beautiful Emma bedspread in a real-life setting:


And here's their super cute animal hoodie towel as interpreted by A:


Not quite what I imagined when I bought this stuff.

O Tannenbaum!

Before:


After:

Cabin fever

So D is working on her third day of 102 or higher fever (note the pink cheeks!) We took her to the doc this a.m. and thankfully it's not strep, but they don't really know what else it might be. At least if it were strep we could just go straight for the antibiotics and treat it. Anyway, no school for the next two days at least. She's too run down to go out, so I'm homebound too. So much for the remainder of my Christmas prep. Thank goodness for the Internet or I might as well just move on to Valentine's Day! But at any rate, I probably only have two brick-and-mortar stores to go to: Borders and Target. Then I'm done.

Baby A is feeling the effects of being stuck at home with two miserable females as well. He's off his already terrible nap schedule and doesn't seem happy to do anything. I've run through all the options - feed him, hold him, rock him, walk him, the gymini, exersaucer, bouncy seat, repeat. Nothing doing. So he's crying it out in his crib right now, I'll give him five more minutes then go in and start all over again.

Bah humbug

You ever get that feeling that you are out of sync with everything? Where you seem to be doing everything in fits and starts and you can't get anything done? Well, that's pretty much how this weekend has worked out. There's nothing like a sick kid to throw a wrench in your plans.

D was sick all day yesterday with a really high fever, so instead of baking and decorating, the day was mostly spent giving her Tylenol every 4 hours. Today she woke up fever-free, but really whiny and fussy. So we spent our whole morning comforting one crying kid or the other. After breakfast -- and by now it was noon - M wanted to get the Christmas tree. He said it had to be a family outing or it would just be another chore, so we all trooped out and found a really beautiful Fraser Fir right away. It's gorgeous. Came home. More whining and crying and presto! D's fever was back up to 102. Poor thing. So I put on Noggin (thank you Lord for TV) and tried to do some baking. Again, nothing worked out right. I burned some lovely pears that I was roasting. Then burned the choc-chip cookie bars. Then I burned my hand when I grabbed the oven rack by mistake. I would give up baking entirely this year except I spent a fortune on dried fruit and chocolate and stuff and don't feel like storing everything til next year. And I doubt the food bank would want 4 lbs. of dried apricots, cherries, craisins, etc. Unless there are a lot of homeless bakers out there.

Oh... there are a bunch of carolers walking by! They'd better not knock on our door or they'll wake up both kids. Plus they're singing Silver Bells and no one knows more than a couple lines of that one.

I'm hoping tomorrow is a better day, except that I imagine D will have to stay home from school so I'll be behind yet another day on my Christmas preparations.

Sleeping in.... NOT!

I hate waking up on Saturday feeling like your weekend has already gone to crap. Started yesterday afternoon when my initial attempts at baking went awry. I guess residual prego hormones and the distractions of two kids (one that I still have to carry around 99% of the time) prevent me from being able to follow even the most simple freakin' recipes, like say for the banana- nut bread that I make at least 4-5 times a year. The bread turned out HORRIBLE (shades of last year's cookie disaster) undercooked and gooey in the middle, burned on the bottom and with absolutely no flavor. What did I leave out.. the bananas?! Sugar? I have no idea.

Then, after dinner, I fell asleep on the couch as predicted, but woke up at 11:00 absolutely wide awake. Ended up watching Mission Impossible till about 1:00 then somehow got hooked into watching Real World: Denver until 2:30. I haven't watched the Real World in forever, but it was comforting to see that their casting formula is still in place - the "hot" guy, the gay guy, the enraged black man (men in this case), the quiet girl who spends a lot of time standing around looking alternately amused and judgemental, the drunken slut, and the pretty but clueless chick who routinely falls in loooove with the hot guy in the first 24 hours, hooks up with him and spends the next 6 weeks endlessly rehashing her poor choices. The last time I watched there was a lot of girl-girl kissing, but maybe that's gone out of style.

So anyway, I got to sleep around 2:30. Then D woke up crying at 5, burning up with a 103 fever. A followed at around 6, wanting to eat, needs diaper change, blah, blah, blah. They're all in the living room watching Kipper right now. Since I'm a morning person anyway, I'm ok for now. But I know after a full day of dealing with a sick kid and a baby by 4:00 I'll be a complete mess. Good thing M is around today.

Winter wonderland

Nothing like a cold snap to get that Christmas spirit going. Highs only in the 50s today and there's a wicked wind to boot. We'll definitely be able to stoke up the fireplace tonight and maybe enjoy some of the movies I've got Tivo-ed. I managed to get all of the newer Star Wars (I, II and III), Harry Potter/Goblet, and A History of Violence (starring Aragorn Viggo Mortensen). Movies at night are tricky since most of the time I'm so exhausted I'm dead asleep by 8:30. I didn't even make it through My Name is Earl last night, and since The Office wasn't on, there didn't seem any point to staying awake. (No offense to M.)

In other news, Baby A and I will be out and about today doing errands - stocking up for Christmas baking, buying some final gifts and a special trip to the bakery for my favorite Christmas treat, fruitcake. I love fruitcake. Especially the liquor-soaked variety, loaded with dried fruit. But I'll eat the regular kind with candied fruit too. Light or dark. I store it in the fridge for months and they get denser and chewier and are just awesome lightly toasted with a thin slice of extra sharp white cheddar cheese.

On my holiday baking list this year: PB kisses, snickerdoodles, and peppermint bark. We're having a cookie exchange for D's playgroup next week so I might do one extra type for that - maybe something chocolatey. I'm sticking with tried and true this year after last year's disastrous attempt to make new cookies. I tried this butter cookie recipe that I'd been saving for years from Gourmet magazine and it was awful. The dough was so stiff that I couldn't get it out of the mixing bowl. It sat overnight in my sink with hot soapy water and I still had to chip it out bit by bit. Then the Russian teacake cookies (which my mom makes perfectly every year) turned out just as horribly. They were so crumbly you couldn't even pick them up. Anyway, I spent a fortune on butter and chocolate and I STILL had to do some last minute running around to make substitute cookies and I just won't/don't have the time or inclination this year.

Tomorrow is Decorating Day. I love the smell of a fresh Frasier fir in the house. So Christmas-y. We play Christmas songs and drink cocoa while we decorate and then D and I hide in the hall while M lights up the tree for the first time.

Have a wonderful weekend!

GO GATORS!

You know where I'll be January 8!

Not that again

I have nothing to wear. Yeah, I'm sure we've all said it, but you know it's desperate when your 4-year-old says "Not THAT t-shirt again" with a perfect blend of pity and disgust in her voice, a tone I'd hoped not to hear for at least another 10 years or so. Anyway, we're one day out from Thanksgiving and I have nothing to wear but THAT t-shirt, again. Part of it is due to my wanting - REALLY - to get back to my pre-preggers size and by that I mean 2001, before we had D. So I haven't been shopping at all for myself. The weight is coming off a lot faster this time around, but what I still have left to lose seems to have re-packaged itself in places where I've never normally carried a lot of weight. In short, Baby's Got Back. And I ain't exactly happy about it. Pants look really odd on me. Jeans look odd. Skirts are out of the question. Anyway. The other part of it is I'm still nursing Baby A so I'm stuck with shirts that can be easily re-arranged. Nothing that tucks in, nothing that's going to show stains or leaks or leave me feeling naked. In other words, THAT t-shirt.

We're off for our Thanksgiving in Georgia tomorrow. We're driving. I think it'll take about 8 hours as I anticipate having to stop at least 3 times to feed A. Luckily, M is taking the day off so at least we're not leaving at 5 like we've had to in previous years. It will either be a nice family outing or the car ride from Hell, depending on A's frame of mind in the morning. I wish we had a minivan since it would be nice to be able to tend to the kids without having to perform a contortionist act from the front seat.

Have a safe and happy Turkey Day!

One bad apple...

Our Mac was in the shop for four days. Bad power supply. Or whatever. Hopefully I'll get a chance to post a better update later tonight - sometime between the children wailing, gnashing their teeth and rending their clothes and when Amazing Race starts.

Girls v. boys

Reading
D: Sat quietly; showed comprehension and mimicked action in favorite books
A: Tries to eat favorite books; head butts pictures of other babies; grows bored after 4-5 pages

Travel
D: Travelled extensively, including internationally, by four months old
A: Going to Target and Publix in one trip is a big deal; has not left the West coast of Florida (yet)

Playtime
D: Loved to be sung to; would play with whatever was dangling nearby; loved toys
A: Laughs when I sing; likes to try to get away by scooting around on his back; prefers shoes to toys

In the car
D: Would chatter to me; sang along to music
A: Sleeps

However, they both love baths.

Trying harder

I hate when I re-read a post and realize that I sound much harsher, meaner, angrier, unkind-er than I actually feel. That's how I feel this morning about last night's post about D. 99.9% of the time I LOVE listening to her -- she's both funny in a totally innocent way and (although this is probably taking parental license) amazingly astute for her age. She is very verbal and I love her for it and we will always encourage her (both kids!) to speak up and be heard and express themselves. My mom & dad say I was a talkative kid too -- some would say I still am, I'm sure -- call it karma or whatever. So, please forgive me, when sometimes, and especially at bedtime, it all gets to be a Bit. Too. Much. Even for a normally patient Mama like me.

What do I have to complain about anyway? I have a wonderful husband who loves us, intelligent and healthy kids, a 4-month-old who naps and a new recipe for chocolate chip coffee cake which I'm going to make as soon as I sign off here.

House of the rising son

Now that A is napping in his crib pretty reliably, I spend my time dashing -- silently -- around the house taking care of as many chores as I can during those crucial moments of "alone" time. But (and I don't think I'm alone in feeling this way) he has the uncanny knack of waking up the minute I've finished some task, but before I can actually do something enjoyable for myself. For instance, the moment I've finished cleaning the bathroom, but before I can actually sit down for a few minutes with last month's National Geographic, he's awake. Or just as I've put a batch of brownies in the oven, but before I can lick the bowl clean.

In other kid news, I've started sending D to school full day (7:45 - 2:50 - YIPPEE) two or three days a week. It started as just one day a week, but the prospect of having almost a whole day of relative quiet is a slippery slope indeed. D's conversations are sort of like Muzak - always on, sometimes enjoyable, but after a full day of background noise your nerves are worn away. Some of the fascinating subjects we've covered lately include 1) why we have knuckles, 2)why we shouldn't squeak instead of talk, 3)what to do with pink pompoms, 4)how come glue is "like that" and 5)how many popsicle sticks she can fit in a cereal box (my response: I don't know, why don't you count them? her: no mommy, just guess! Guess!! Guess!!!)

So, to sum up, I'm still exhausted, but it's not from lack of sleep.

We did have a wonderful weekend with our families though. The christening went fine, except that A popped the snaps on his waaaay too small outfit just before the ceremony, so M and I quickly did a shoddy swaddling job on him and just prayed he didn't decide to squirm too much. He was pretty good for the rest of Mass, I only had to leave to walk him around for about 10 minutes. On Sunday we had brunch at the Vinoy. Their brunch is too die for - from traditional breakfast goodies, to seafood, carving stations, salads and of course, DESSERT. I think it's great that I can get all my daily calorie needs met in just one meal. Since I'm abstaining from coffee, tomatoes, citrus and chocolate (they make A fussy, natch) I got to go all out on the seafood, pan-roasted lamb and non-chocolate desserts. Yum. Happily, A helps me burn it all off!

We're supposed to have some beautiful fall-like weather by the end of the week, so it will be fun to bundle the kids up for a change. I'm looking forward to sweater weather.

TGIF

Lots to do today in between conversations about putting away our toys when we're done playing with them and exactly what kind of artwork is OK to display on the couch, which to me would be no artwork and to D would be anything that isn't still dripping wet with paint. She's got stacks and stacks of decorated paper bags, paper scraps, construction paper covered with glued-on beans and glitter and what-not ready for display, but glitter and brushed chenille just don't mix.

I'm making a seven-layer taco dip, salsa and my friend V's yummy pumpkin fluff dip. All that plus cheese and crackers ought to keep the crowd happy tomorrow afternoon before the christening.

M's in charge of grilling tonight - as of 8:14 this morning he has yet to plan what he's cooking or go to get the charcoal, etc. but I've vowed to stay out of it. Even if it gets to 4:00 and there is no sign on action. The kids can eat pb&j if they get too hungry.

A is holding his own - still pretty congested and you can hear the rattle in the back of his throat, but it seems to be a bit looser. He's tolerating the nebulizer, but there isn't a baby in the world that wouldn't get antsy sitting with a steaming mask on their face for 8-10 minutes.

Target, which is becoming a giant black hole where I spend all my money, had some great deals on Christmas stuff so in a frenzy of pre-Christmas shopping I got cute wrapping paper, trimmings and my Christmas cards (something I usually wait until the very last minute to buy). Also the kids Christmas outfits. No last minute rushing around for me -- at least not for that stuff.

Funk-y

Oooh. Uck. The unexplained musty smell in the kids room was coming from their clothes hamper - one of those mesh bag thingys. Must have gotten something icky on it. I can only imagine what.

That's more like it

Okay, I've regained my composure this a.m., despite having had to spend $800 on chimney repairs due to the lightning strike this past summer. Baby A is feeling sooooo much better today (at least as far as I can tell) and isn't a snuffly mess anymore. Now he's just a drooly mess. There was a lot of hair in his crib this a.m., so I wonder if Albuterol has a side effect of sudden hair loss? Must Google that later today and see if it's common.

We had a quiet night. I was in no mood to cook, so M picked up delicious salads and chicken souvlaki from our local Greek restaurant and we watched Friday Night Lights, one of the few new TV shows that we (well, I) like. It's supposed to be about football, but mostly it's about the players. Sure, there's some high school drama there, but nothing too melodramatic except for the crazy cheerleader-sleeping-with-the-best-friend-of-her-star-quarterback-boyfriend-who-was-paralyzed-in-the-first-episode scenario. Come to think of it, for a show that is supposed to be about Texas, football and high school, there is a lot of sex in there. But I just watch it for the football, which, speaking of, how 'bout them Gators?! Still in the top 5, woo-hah.

Baby is napping in his bouncy seat, so I should be rush, rush rushing around cleaning up the house, doing laundry, changing sheets and investigating the slightly musty smell in the kids room, before I have to pick D up from school.

Why I get up every day

You try this

Baby A has bronchitis. His doc put him on Albuterol breathing treatments, so he is tired & cranky from the bronch AND wired from the drugs. So he's back to napping on my shoulder. I've got cramps in my left arm from carrying all 17lbs. of him around all day, and cramps in my right hand from trying to type one-handed. "Someone" left the kitchen a mess after lunch and the cleaners broke M's treasured milk frother (for his coffee in the morning). I've got 11 people coming in this weekend for A's christening and I don't have a thing to wear that is church-y, yet able to be dismantled quickly to nurse and also won't show any miscellaneous stains. I'm tired of lotioning my feet and pretending it's a pedicure and putting my hair in a ponytail and calling it a style. And to top it all off I;m turning 40 this weekend. At least I have my health.

Dilemma

Is it so wrong to pilfer from your 4-year-old's Halloween stash? I mean, if you sneak out the Milky Way Darks and Take Five bars, but leave the Musketeers, Starbursts, Kit Kats, Hersheys, etc.? Is it really so wrong? I LOVE Take Fives. They're like the crack of the candy aisle. I especially can't pass them up when they're sitting right by the check-out counter at the grocery. Or if they're in my 4-year-old's Halloween bag.

Today we're having the toilet in the kid's bathroom replaced. When the plumber pulled it up there was a HUGE nest of dead roaches underneath. It was horrible. I wish I hadn't seen it, but now the image is seared onto my retinas. Apparently, in Florida, God love us, roaches proliferate in the sewer drains and if the wax seal on your toilet happens to be a piece of shit falling apart then the roachies can crawl up under it and nest. And crawl out at their leisure. For instance, when the family is on a three-day weekend trip or when your mom is visiting. Lovely. Explains the hundreds of dollars we've spent on pest control in the last year.

I planned for a more eloquent return to the blogsphere, but of course, as soon as he heard my fingers on the keyboard Baby A went from peacefully napping to fully alert, DEFCON 4, I need Mommy RIGHT NOW.