Saturday, February 27, 2010

Time for confession

Several months ago the Paci Fairy made a visit to our house.  She took all of Addison's pacifiers with her and left her a pretty Princess bike.  And for awhile, the fear of the Paci Fairy seeing her with a paci in her mouth and taking back her sweet ride was enough to keep her from stealing Samantha's pacis.

It's now the middle of winter and we have approximately 8 inches of snow on our sidewalk.  Riding her bike is not really on her list of things to do this week.  So even though it's strictly forbidden, we find Addi with a paci a few times a week.  She always hides somewhere -- behind the couch, under a bed, in the closet -- but she still has it and gets in trouble. 

A few nights ago, I headed to bed and checked in on Addi.  She was sound asleep and looked like a peaceful angel.  Make that, a peaceful devil. 


After snapping a picture I pulled the white paci from her mouth and headed to bed.  And the next morning I woke up and was not surprised to find Addi lying next to me.  I was, however, surprised to find an ORANGE paci in her mouth.  Apparently she's past the "hiding" stage of her paci addiction.

After she woke up I looked her square in the eye and said, "Addi, Mommy knows you did something wrong.  Do you have something you want to tell me?"

She got a really scared look on her face and said, "Um, I peed my pants."

Not the confession I was looking for.  It was, however, very good information to have considering she was sleeping in my spot.

Chalk it up to Addi

Jay and I have been back on the healthy kick for a few weeks.  I've been pretty diligent about working out as often as I can.  I've been doing the elliptical trainer every morning and trying to do The Firm videos and weights in the basement when possible.

You'd think finding the time and motivation to work out would be the hardest part of this endeavor.  Nope.  Keeping my two "Helpers" from joining me is the biggest workout of all.

I do appreciate that Addi wants to work out with me.  She even uses pieces of chalk as her weights, which I think it's super cute.


However, trying to convince the two of them that my Firm steps are not a "stage" or a "slide"?  Not so cute.
 

Thursday, February 25, 2010

It's a dangerous job

Addi and Sam love to play daycare.  It's pretty much a given that at any one point in time, you can find several "honeys" napping, being patted to sleep, or sadly, in time out around the house.  Sam reads books to babies... Addi reads books to Sam...  It's just a ball of fun every day around here.

With both girls sick this past weekend, we spent a lot of time inside.  Which meant Jay and I spent a lot of time tripping over babies, blankets being used as cots, rugs moved around, and various projects the "kids" were working on.  As any good daycare would, I made sure to take lots of pictures so the parents would be able to see what their kids did during the day.

Putting out "cots" for naptime:

Making sure Sam takes a nap too (and notice the babies laying EVERYWHERE):

At one point we nearly had WWIII because Sam had the audacity to start coloring on a paper Addi had carefully laid out for journal time.  And it wasn't like she didn't have 16 other papers laying around and couldn't share.

Does this baby look like she cares if Sam takes over her art project?  I think not.

Jay came home from ice fishing and needed to go potty. Three seconds later I heard a CRASH, a few choice words, and some groaning. Apparently Jay was not informed that the downstairs bathroom was the "baby room" and that it was naptime.

So Jay, assuming the bathroom was being used for, um, a BATHROOM, walked in, tripped over three babies, and this poor stool took the brunt of his weight.


Who knew running a daycare would be so dangerous?


Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Sick and tired... Of being sick and tired

I know I am not the only one who has had sick kids.  I have lots of friends who have kids who are sick.  Missing work is hard and you do feel bad for you kids when they just don't feel good.  I know MY parents went through it and my kids will go through it with THEIR kids.  I shouldn't complain.

But seriously, this strep throat business is getting old.  FAST. 

So far, it's strep throat = 15, Ralphs = 0

Yes.  Fifteen rounds of strep. FIFTEEN.  Let me break it down for you so you know I'm not exaggerating.

Addison - is currently being treated for round 5 of strep.  Since November.
Samantha - is currently being treated for round 4 of strep.  Since November.
Steph and Jay - both currently healthy but have had strep 3 times since last year.

Add that up... that's 15 sets of antibiotics, 15 doctors visits, and 15 days of work to be missed.  Luckily we've tried to all be sick at the same time so Jay and I have only really had to miss like 10 days.  It's the little things that keep me going.

Last Friday I stayed home with Addi, since she was still contagious.  I expected her to lie around and rest most of the day and planned accordingly.  I had a ton of work to get done and really needed some peace and quiet.

Addi had other ideas.

She bounced off the walls. She ran, she played with babies, she colored, and she just wouldn't stop talking.  I know I'm a talker but this kid... wow.  A career in radio awaits her.

I finally got a few minutes of quiet and used that to my advantage.  I made a few phone calls and sent a few emails.  Then I got to thinking... Why exactly is Addi so quiet?  I called to her and asked what she was doing.

She replied, "I don't know."

Uh oh.

I found her hiding behind the guest room bed.  Like this.


That looks like "I don't know", don't you think?  [deep breaths]

After ensuring she did not color anything other than herself with that permanent fuscia marker, we headed downstairs for lunch and then I tried to convince Addi to take a nap.  But you know, she wasn't tired AT ALL.  And she made sure I knew it.  She was NOT going to take a nap. No way.  No how.  Not going to happen.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Giving back

A few months ago I decided to join an Easter Seals team here in Peoria.  The goal is to raise some moolah for a great cause and help some kids along the way.

My team is pretty great - it includes a few of my coworkers and a few other people from Cat and the community.  Their main fundraiser each year is "Shoot to stay on target."  Basically we spend the day at a local sporting goods store, people come shoot their bow and arrows, and we raise money and have fun doing it.  Last week we headed to Bartonville and started raising some $.

Kim, Erin and Lindsey at the registration table:

Me and my new pal, Stan.  Because, you know, he's on a Stand.  I'm wearing silent auction gifts. 

Ashley modeling some boots and a camo backpack. 

And me (and Stan) modeling some waders.

We raised over $10,000!  I do credit myself for my amazing modeling skills.  I TOTALLY rocked those pants.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Forever friends

When we started looking for daycare when I was pregnant with Addison, we found the BEST family ever - the Rockes.  They are fun, caring, and LOVE our kids to pieces.

Last year we moved the girls to a preschool in order for Addi to start preparing for kindergarten (and to learn to sit still for more than 15 seconds).  We were heartbroken to leave Kim's but hoped we'd stay in touch.  A year later, we still talk to them regularly (and Addi still can't sit still.) 

For Christmas this year, Kim got both girls a stuffed kitty.  Almost three months later, they haven't parted ways since.  Seriously, Addi has slept with that cat every single night since she got her.  And when Addi hasn't hidden Sam's cat, she sleeps with her too.


I have a feeling the girls will keep these friends around for a long, long time.  Just like we will keep the Rockes around.  Hopefully forever.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Her Night-Nights

It's been four years of trying to get this kid to sleep.  We pretty much let her decide what to sleep with out of pure desperation to get her to sleep at all and secondly, sleep in her own room.  In those four years, she's picked some random things to sleep with at night... popcorn, nail polish, her dad's shoe... 

As she's grown, she's started to picked a few more normal things.  Each night she sleeps with "shape blankie" (a blanket with squares on it) and either Coco the bear, Sheep the sheep, or Crystal the kitten. 

But just because she's gotten the hang of picking normal "night-nights" doesn't mean she's given up the strange ones.

Here is a picture of last week's most treasured possession.

Yes.  That's a tube of PlayDoh.  Pink PlayDoh.  Really REALLY fun to find under your arm at 3 a.m.  Oh and that's shape blankie covering her up.

And, last night:

A Magnadoodle.  I guess in case the urge to practice upper-case F's strikes her.  As long as she's not telling someone to F off, I'm cool with it.

And, yes, for those of you who've been to my house before, that's MY bed she's sleeping in both nights, not her own.  I don't want to talk about it.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Whatcha got in there?

Had this been Addison I would be convinced she had something she wasn't supposed to in her pockets.

But with Sam, she was just being cute.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Pizza Wednesday

Every Wednesday at Cat, it's pizza day.  So every Wednesday, I bring my lunch in order to not tempt myself.  Pizza is something that I LOVE, and I can't eat just one piece. 

Until today.
Yes, that's MY hand next to my SINGLE slice of pizza.  My and my work peeps (minus Ashley) headed out to Bradley's campus for lunch and were more than a little surprised at how large the pizza was. 


Has anyone seen my pillow?

What happens when these two are unsupervised.

Or, supervised by an unconscious parent.  A la Mom.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Night and Day

My kids are very different from each other.  Addi is, well, Addi.  She's a spaz... full of life and adventure and fruit snacks and piss and vinegar and is hell on wheels from the minute she wakes up until the second we convince force her to bed.  Our bedtime routine takes, on average, 45 minutes, and at least once a week we give up after two hours and just let her sleep with us, for the sake of family.  And, she wakes up swinging 90% of the time, grumpy and mad to be so rudely woken up.  She's loveable and funny and caring but most definitely hot or cold, no in between.

Sam, on the other hand, is a lover from dawn to dusk.  She loves to give hugs, pat babies, and snuggle wtih Mommy.  She's getting a tad fiestier at school but mostly, she's a sweetheart.  She is also quite possibly the EASIEST child to put to bed each night - literally, lay her in her bed, give her a blanky and close the door.  And 90% of the time when you go in her room in the morning, she looks like an angel.   She doesn't alway smell like one, but wow, is she cute.

This morning:

And from the moment she wakes up she's happy and smiling
(except when mommy is taking her picture with a flash, like today.)

These two are as different as night and day.  And I really wouldn't have it any other way.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Who let the dogs out?

So, when that phrase used to be muttered at our house it was because our super fast dog was on the loose.  That was followed by some inappropriate words being yelled, mac n cheese being made, and neighbors getting upset.

Now, it means something else entirely.  And it's pretty funny.

Enjoy this video!

Girls Dancing to Jay's Bday Card


Tuesday, February 9, 2010

A little sad, a little happy

We were definitely sad to see the Colts lose on Sunday.  But, we couldn't be all that sad when the Saints were the team to win... Drew Brees is a close personal friend of mine (you know, since we graduated from Purdue together, just me, him and 3000 other people).  So, while we cheered for the Colts, a part of us was rooting for our fellow Boilermaker.

Regardless of the outcome, the girls had a great time showing their support. 

And, we have determined that it's definitely time to retire the Stokley jerseys.  Perhaps Marvin Harrison ones would be more appropriate?

Monday, February 8, 2010

Springtime Fresh

Saturday afternoon while Jay and Addi had some Daddy/Daughter bonding (aka going to the grocery store) Samantha and I hung out at home.  And it was fun-filled and educational for all, just like family bonding should be.

First, we practiced looking through our legs:

And I learned that Sam has amazing balance.  She stood like that for a full minute.

Then we went into the basement to play:

And I learned that Sam's sense of style has not swayed one bit.  And, she is no longer afraid of this rocking horse.

The we did some coloring:
And I learned that being short is not a handicap for this little girl.  She's an excellent climber.

Then we had a snack.

And I learned (thanks to my friends at Poison Control) that deodorant is not, in face, terribly dangerous when injested by small children.  Sam was happy, I was relieved, and she had amazing breath for HOURS.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Lessons learned

You can search long and hard for the perfect gift...

Or you can just give the girl beef jerky.

And she's as happy as if it were a diamond necklace.

The birthday week

Well, Addison's birthday week is coming to an end.  Just a few pictures from all the celebration...




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