Thursday, October 30, 2008

Totally made my day

What could happen in the morning that would make me so happy???

Was it the huge smile Sam gave me when I got her out of bed?
Was it the way Addi kept begging to go back to sleep that reminded me so much of me?
Was it the beautiful leaves falling on the drive to work?

Those WERE all nice. But they didn’t make my day quite as much as this tiny piece of paper.


That’s right. I paid less than $40 for an entire tank of gas! $2.19 a gallon, to be exact.

(Happy dance).

Monday, October 27, 2008

Diagnosis: Nothing.

Having two sick kids definitely has an upside. For one, it confirmed my desire to be a working mom versus a stay-at-home one... I love my kids but I think SAHM's must be saints. By 9:30 I was begging to head to the doc for their 11:30 appointments.

After feeding her yogurt to the dog, Addi pooped her pants. OK, not a big deal. Except she decided to take them off herself. And then tripped and stepped in the poo. And then tried to run away. SO wrong. After I cleaned that up I went to change Sam's pants and heard Addi ask for a towel. Turns out she wanted to paint her toenails. On my carpet. And her toes weren't the only thing that got painted. Sigh.

Anyway, 11 a.m. finally rolled around and off to the doctor we went. After waiting for an hour we got taken back into a room. And waited for another 30 minutes. Addi entertained herself pretty well by reading books and spinning the doctor chair during the wait.

Finally we saw the doctor and she checked out both girls... All was well until she wanted to look in Sam's ears. Sam started moving around so the doc asked me to hold her head still. Which made Sam cry. Which made Addi start yelling, "NO, mommy, the doctor is hurting my sister!" and try to pull the doc away from her sister. And start crying herself. Such a good big sister.

After the check up it was determined that the girls MIGHT have a virus. Fluid, rest and hugs were the medicine prescribed.

And some Tylenol for Mommy.

Sick "Bugs"

I'm home today with 1.5 sick kids. Addi has a fever, cough, runny nose and a whiny disposition. Sam has a runny nose and just looks yucky so I'll probably take her to the doc as well. And I just called the doctor and "all circuits are busy" so I'll take that as a very bad sign.

Anyway, this morning the three of us were in bed and Addi was coughing all over Sam. I asked her to cover her mouth and she asked why. I said, "You have sick bugs in your mouth and you'll get them on Sam." "Ok, Mommy."

Five minutes later: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! I have bugs in my mouth!"

After I calmed her down and then yelled at her for "hugging" Sam (see below), we headed downstairs for some breakfast.


I got Addi some orange juice, yogurt and apple slices. And Addi started yelling that now she had bugs in her juice and didn't want to drink it. Bugs that came out of her mouth. I tried again to explain to her that I meant metaphorical bugs, but that's a bit of a hard concept when you are two. So, fine, I'll just drink her juice. And what do you know... There's really a bug in there. Crap.... I see nightmares in her future.

And now I've taken five minutes to write this and Addi just fed her yogurt to the dog. This could be a long day.

Random thoughts that keep me awake at night

I woke up last night around 3 and kept thinking this over and over.

If you are deathly afraid of fur... instead of a phobia should it be called a "furbia"?

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Fit Friday (eh hem) Sunday

So, one of the blogs I follow is ItsAlmostNaptime. It's great, Missy's great, yada yada yada. Anyway a few weeks ago she started a "Fit Friday" thing to help everyone get fit for the holidays. "Hot for the Holidays", you could say.

So, I saw her post this and thought, Oh, yeah I'll have to do that. And went on my merry little way. Then one day I pulled on some jeans and thought, "Dang it, these shrank!" Reality hit and figured out that nope, I'd gained weight.

Confession time - I've gained weight since going back to work. And you know who is to blame? McDonalds. No, not the fries. The stupid coffee! Coffee isn't bad you could say... but when you drink a large mocha at least once a day, it adds up pretty quickly. I checked out the calorie content and almost fell off my chair when I saw the grim news... A large mocha has close to 400 calories. 400. Basically I was drinking a hot milk shake each and every morning.

Anyway this week I had a come to Jesus moment and cut the coffee completely. But I didn't magically lose the weight I gained, so now I'm off to start this diet. Ugh.

Why post here about my secret mocha shame? Because if I don't have people nagging at me to keep it up I'll come up with 100 reasons to not eat right or work out every single week.

Anyway, look on Friday for my first weigh in (no I will not post the number!) and my goals. Now that it's in cyberland I have to do it... right?

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Movin and Shakin, Part 2

To Addi's dismay, Sam moves more and more each day. I say her dismay because Addi is an attention hog and she will have trouble sharing the spotlight with her sister. So far we've had little trouble but the day is coming when Addi will have to fight for her attention a bit more than today.

As you can see, Sam is starting to play with toys and move around when she's on her belly.

Yes. That's a potty in the background. I don't want to talk about it.

The biggest news story this week is Sam's new skill... Sitting up unassisted!

That's right... She really enjoys it, contrary to the "You are going to put that thermometer WHERE?" look she has on her face in this picture. She has yet to master the STAYING in the sitting position for longer than 20 seconds skill so we have to watch her pretty carefully.
After a few days of Sam moving, playing, and sitting up, I think Addi began to worry. She cried on more than one occasion when Sam kicked her... Apparently a swift kick to the leg by a five month old is more than she can take. No degree of minimizing the pain would do, it hurt "so bad Mommy." So, in order to start fighting back, she started working on bulking up this week by with some light weight training.


If she asks to go to GNC to pick up some protein powder, I'm going to tell her no.

Human Tornado

What happens when you put a not tired two year old in their room for naptime.


Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Anatomy 101

After over two and a half years of being a parent, I've realized you have your good days and your bad days. The days you lose your patience very easily and the days your patience runneth over. The days your kids make you literally want to yank your hair out and the days they make you smile so much your cheeks hurt at the end of the day. The days you think you have this whole thing figured out and the days that your kid shows you just how little you know.

Yesterday was one of those days where you shrug your shoulders and thank God that you were not at Church when your kid decided to be inquisitive. Because there are a lot of things kids can ask about and strangers will smile and think it's cute. Anatomy questions? Uncomfortable for everyone involved.

I'm realizing very quickly that life is the time you live in between uncomfortable conversations.

I don't know if it's the age or if it's having a new specimen named Sam in the house, but Addi has gotten VERY curious in the last few days about body parts. I won't go into a lot of details, but she's starting to notice everything. Yesterday she wanted help undressing Barbie and I tried to convince her to leave Barbie's clothes on (simply because it's a pain to get them off) and she yelled, "NO! Take her shirt off! I want to look at her boobs!"

I don't even have a fun quip to end this blog with after that statement.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Smurfette

Bingo dabbers and Addi don't mix. See what happens when Mommy takes a shower?


Thursday, October 16, 2008

Laugh... or cry...

Tonight we had a "poor Addi" moment... one where you would cry for her if you weren't laughing so hard.


So, she went to bed and within a few minutes was yelling for us to come get her. OK, that happens a lot. So, we ignored her. The yelling got louder... Still nothing new so we continued to ignore her. Finally Jay headed upstairs to let her out (I was making a yummy five minute microwave chocolate cake, thanks Rachael!) and came downstairs a few minutes later. Addi was crying SO hard that I couldn't understand a word she said but did make out something about a toe (or a nose) hurting.


After Jay stopped laughing he recapped for me the scene he came upon when he opened Addi's bedroom door.


Addi has a Dora table in her room. She sits on the little stool and does Dora's hair or just plays. Here's a picture of it from this summer - Dora was her favorite hand-holder until Sam took the job.


Anyway, Jay opened the door and Addi was sitting here, sobbing. She was crying so hard he couldn't figure out what was wrong so he kept asking her why she was upset and she kept crying. And kept sitting. After about a minute he figured out the problem....

The stool was on top of one of her toes, and since she was sitting on the stool it apparently hurt pretty bad. And she couldn't figure out how to get up. So, she was totally stuck. Sitting on her own toe. In pain.

You just gotta hug her.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Beware of the Quiet Child, Part 2

Maybe I should have let her get her pictures taken without the concealer on her boo boo.

I'm just saying.

Weekend Update with Stephanie Ralph

This past weekend the Ralph family made a trek to Indianapolis. On the docket: meet new cousin/niece Loralai, have family pictures taken, meet Steph’s imaginary friend Mandee, and relax. And in typical Ralph family mode, the weekend started with a bang and kept going till we couldn’t stand it any longer!

Friday night we got to my mom’s house and began settling in. Three minutes later… BANG. Addi was running around and ran right into the kitchen island. And got a HUGE purple goose egg on her head. No worries….. OH WAIT, what did I saw about family pictures? Hmmm. Then Sam got tired of us paying so much attention to Addi and had a little explosion of her own. I won’t go into further detail but will say I threw that outfit straight into the trash.

We got to hang out with Loralai and love on her, and what a doll she is. I would post pictures but apparently didn’t take any. Aunt of the year! That’s me!

Saturday my mom hosted an open house for family and friends to come meet Loralai and see Sam. Sam must have heard about Addi’s purple forehead and again felt left out, so she woke up, promptly threw up, and then broke out in hives. Lucky for us the hives didn’t hit her face until Saturday evening, after the pictures were taken. And they were completely gone by Sunday. Whew.

As for the photo shoot, those were an entirely different adventure. I really wanted fall pictures we can use for Christmas cards, so we all wore brown to go with the theme. Sounds harmless enough, right? Well, what we failed to notice was the heat wave headed for the Midwest. So…. We wore sweaters and jeans to the park in 86-degree weather. At least Addi didn’t sweat enough for her concealer to rub off. She did however pout, refuse to smile, and beg for us to let her take a nap. Probably the first and last time THAT will ever happen!

Saturday evening Jay, Sam and I headed to Pat Flynn’s to have dinner with my imaginary friend Mandee, her husband Jason, and their son Jack. We call Mandee imaginary because I met her online on a pregnancy site, but she is obviously real. And very fun! We had a great time and the kids enjoyed it immensely.

Needless to say we were very happy to get home in one piece and relax. And we have no big plans for this coming weekend, hooray!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Captions needed

Tonight we got ready for our weekend trip to Indy. Addi helped by being sassy... And Sam helped by going to bed early. Have a great weekend!

"Watching Mommy fold clothes is SOOOOOO boring."

"I think I'll try out for Project Runway."

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Girl's Night Out

Last night I did what I hope will become a long-standing tradition in the Ralph house - I took my two girls shopping. And when you are carting a 2.75 year old and a 4.75 month old around single-handedly, it can get a bit tricky.

I made a bold move in making the trip in the first place, with no way of restraining Addi.

Because I consider one of the keys to my maternal success to be Physical Restraint.

However, now that she is a "big girl" I allowed her some freedom and independence. "Stay right with mommy, OK?" "Yes." "Don't run off and give mommy a coronary, OK?" "Yes."

And mostly, she listened. She did run up and down the mall hall but with few people around it didn't really matter. She even stopped on command and would wait for me when requested.

She also helped push Sam, independently of course. Like this....

And we got smiles, oohs and aaahs all around by the cuteness of the pair. "Alright," I thought... I can do this! Nothing embarrassing has happened! She listened! I puffed up my chest a bit at my new-found independent and obedient daughter, and headed to one last store.

And made ONE teensy mistake.

I asked Addi if she had to potty. "Nope." I asked Addi if she had already pottied in her princess panties (due to the suspicious odor coming from her direction.) "Nope." And then I asked again, one last time.

And Addi pulled her pants and panties down to PROVE TO ME that she had in fact NOT gone potty. And she was right.

Too bad it was smack dab in the middle of the mall.

Butter and Time

The last few days Addi has been pretty insistent that she hold Sam. Like, right now. Sam is on the move and really doesn't feel like being held a lot of the time, so I've been dissuading Addi as much as possible. However, there are only so many excuses an almost three-year-old will buy, so last night I gave in.

As you can see, Addi loved every second of it. And Sam was plotting her escape.

The second I sat Sam down on Addi's lap, I instantly got this image in my head:
Sam, a few days old. Addi, not quite sure what to think but super excited about her little sister.

Man, time flies.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Day in the Dirt

All week we have been talking about Jay's work's open house. Addi was super excited to see where Daddy works and talked about it non-stop. Well, Saturday morning we woke up and started getting ready. I grabbed the laptop and sat in bed to check the weather report and Addi ran off. A few minutes later I went to look for her and she was sitting in her bed.

She had gone downstairs, got her toy laptop, and was doing exactly what I was doing. So cute.

Right before we left the house, Addi grabbed her computer again and I asked why she was bringing it. She said, "I need it for work." Apparently she thought she was going to work too! Funny girl.

We headed off to Peoria Proving Grounds. Addi got to see Daddy's desk and pictures of her on hanging on it (none of me! hmmmm) and then we toured the grounds. Here's Addi and Jay inside a scoop...




Then Addi got to sit into a fire truck and was SUPER excited. Between fire trucks and school buses, the kid doesn't know which to love more.

Sam of course took it all in and loved every minute. Here she is in the new testing facility - very impressive!
Finally, Addi got to climb up into a few machines and pretend to drive. She was in heaven.
Fire trucks.... running in the dirt... ice cream... what more could you want.

Enough already

It's been almost a year since Addi starting going pee pee on the potty. Ten months later we are closer to being potty trained but still not QUITE there. But tonight I realized... It's definitely time to get the show on the road. And don't worry, no pictures in this post!

Tonight, while Sam was laying on our bed and Jay vacuumed (see below) Addi was off doing whatever. Then, I heard Addi yell for me, so I went off in search of her and found her in Sam's room. On the changing table. With her diaper off. Waiting to be changed.

I'm no expert but I'm thinking when your kid can move a step stool to the dresser, climb up on top, de-pants herself and order her diaper changed, it's time she learn to go on her own. I'm just saying.

Movin' and Shakin'

At almost 5 months old (on the 14th! Can you believe it???) Sam is really becoming active. When she's on the ground, she rolls around and reaches for toys. She is pretty close to sitting on her own too - tonight she was on our bed and I moved the pillow (below) and she sat alone for about 15 seconds! I'm crossing my fingers she will fast-track it and sit alone by Saturday for family pictures. A girl can dream can't she??

As I said above, she's into grabbing everything now... toes, hair, toys, whatever. And it can be tiring I guess. The other night she fell asleep playing in her bouncy seat. Too cute.


Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Bedtime Woes

At least a few times a week, Addi wanders into our room in the middle of the night or early early morning. Sometimes she has a bad dream, sometimes she is just lonely. We used to walk her back to her room but lately Jay and I wake up and there she is... and neither of us has any recollection of her showing up! I don't know if we are so tired we don't remember or if she sneaks in, either way, she's there. WITH several of her "friends".

Sam also sleeps in her own room but a few times a week she'll wake up to eat in the middle of the night. If I am motivated I'll move her back to her room when I'm done feeding her, but this week it's been so cold that when I pick her up her hands are freezing. Since blankets and babies are a difficult combo, this week I've let her stay in our bed after eating simply to keep her warm.

And, it's no coincidence they both stay there... Some of my favorite times are early Saturday morning when both girls are watching cartoons and we are all laying together. It's cozy, it's warm, and it's just fun. So, I'm not in a HUGE rush to kick them out.

However.

My girls are both still little. But add in Coco the bear. And Kitty the cat. And whatever blankie Addi has chosen as her favorite. And her pillow. And Sam's burp rag (her constant companion). And Sam's paci (artfully hidden from Addi). And what you get is a king-size bed with no room for the parents.

Kinda like this:


See that TINY space to the left of Addi? That's Jay's spot. My spot looks similar, just to the right of Sam. We leave ample room around Sam - don't want her squished! We squeeze in there somehow but it's getting tight. And covers? Forget about it. I'm lucky if I get a corner of a blanket, so I end of freezing. With a backache from contorting around Sam.
At least THEY are comfortable....
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