Monday, March 29, 2010

Our little "boys"

We have two girls.  Two cute, baby doll loving, dollhouse and kitchen playing, nails painted, makeup adoring girls.  And even our "boy" toys are girly... we have a Dora the Explorer baseball glove, pastel legos, a pink bat, princess bikes, and our swing set has a flower box built in.

Poor Jay.  He's a football playing, beard growing, beer drinking man.  And he's raising two princesses.

Last week during a girl's trip to Michaels, I let them each pick a new toy.  After trying on princess hats and magic wands, Addi asked for a knight's sword and an elephant hat.  Sam followed suit and picked a tiger hat.  When we got home they got to playing "Get daddy the monster" and ran around, growling and yelling and playing how I would imagine little boys would play.  It was loud, rough, and just annoying enough to be fun. 


They took turns "getting" the monster until Addi stole the sword and wouldn't give it back to Sam.  I obviously forgot the golden rule of parenting... Don't buy just one cool new toy without risking Armageddon.


Sam tried out a few wrestling moves but that couldn't keep the monster down.


So she did what any self-respecting tomboy would do.

She attacked the monster with a magic teapot.  A pink, musical teapot.


Monster slayed. 

A New Camera

I love my new camera!  A Canon has replaced our Kodak... Now, if only I can get the kids to BACK AWAY from the camera...

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Around the house

Jay and I still have a few friends in the world who don't have kids yet.  When we talk, the conversations usually go something like this:

Me: "How are things with you?"
Them:  "Oh great!  Last weekend we jumped on a plane, went skiing in Colorado, and got serious hangovers from all the wine we drank.  It was awesome.  What did you do last weekend?"
Me:  "Oh, I had a great weekend too.  Jay and the kids played in the basement and I was so excited, I got to mop the kitchen!  Then we watched Spongebob and hung out on the couch."
Them:  [crickets]
Me: [attempting to fill the akward silence] "Oh, but you don't understand.  It was so great because no one was sick the whole weekend and we barely had to put the kids in time out.  Sam colored the wall but luckily it was washable marker, and Addi ran down the street but she had on pants, unlike last time, so it wasn't a huge deal."
Them:  "I'm never having kids."

If you are a parent, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.  Having kids changes your life in ways you'd never have thought of or imagine.  Your body, your house, your food, it all changes.  It's totally worth it of course - but I just laugh at my childless friends who are total control freaks about their house.  Honestly, most days I'm thrilled if I can do the dishes, let alone remove the stuffed animals from my bed before going to bed.  It can get a little frustrating at times and it's hard to see what's important.

Like today.  I went into the girls' bathroom to get their toothpaste.  And found this:


And, no, I did not do anything about it.  I figure if someone needs a cup they can just pick from the nice display Addi made.  In fact, I like to think that she was being super helpful for any future guests.  She's such a giver.

Or, when I walked in our bathroom and thought back to the big jacuzzi tub that sealed the deal for us on our house.  I can't tell you the last time I used this but the girls LOVE doing canon balls off the side.  Jay and I are getting used to tripping over plastic ducks that make their way into the shower on occasion.


Or when I went to get dressed this morning.  And tripped over daycare #5.  It was naptime and I got yelled at by both Sam and Addi for turning the lights on and waking the kids.  I apologized... Every mom knows you NEVER wake a sleeping baby.


Or when today, they were both so crabby and whiny and started fighting over who got to sit on my lap.  And when they settled for sharing me and rested their fever-y heads on both of my shoulders and my whole world stopped.  Just stopped.  In the blink of an eye, none of the other stuff mattered.  I had yogurt smeared on my shirt, Addi's "death breath" blowing my in face, and Sam staring at me with boogers everywhere, and there isn't anything about my life that I would change.

It's totally, totally, TOTALLY worth it.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Another rainy day..

...Another attempt at keeping the kids busy indoors.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Miss Sam

At school, all of the teachers are Miss So-in-So.  Addi's teacher is Miss Ericka, and Sam has Miss Tish and Miss Cia.  They have a very set routine and the kids really thrive on it.  Each night before dinner we have to say "Candle, Candle" and we sing the school songs throughout the day as well.

While playing daycare at home one night, Sam grabbed some rubber gloves prior to changing her baby's pants, just like Miss Tish.

I'm waiting for the day when she insists on us calling her "Miss Sam."  It's coming, I know.

Pop Pop

Thanks for the visit, Pop Pop!  Addi misses you!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Good Riddence

Today we celebrated my mom's birthday with something priceless... Addi's tonsilectomy.  After five rounds of strep throat since November, it was pretty much a unanimous decision that the tonsils must go.  And really, the sooner the better, thank you very much!

We headed to the day surgery center today where Addi chatted up all the nurses and carried her unicorn Emma around with her.  Then we got all dressed up in this awesome gown and waited for go time.


Soon after slipping on the non-slip socks, Addi started to freak out.  A warm blanket, some cuddles from mom and a round of anti-anxiety meds were prescribed.

We tried to distract her by taking some silly pictures...
...but who are we kidding?  I highly doubt it was my magic powers and made her smile.
I'm willing to bet it was the drugs.  She was stoned, that's for sure.

With a hug and a wave she left for surgery and Jay and I headed to the recovery center.  About an hour later her surgeon came in and said that she entertained them with stories about butterflies until she was knocked out, then she did great during her surgery.  Once in there, the doc decided to also remove her adnoids.

Once she got to her room, she cried for a few minutes, made me climb in bed with her, and then fell asleep.  She woke up, puked, then asked for a popsicle.  Which she promptly threw up too.

Finally after some ice chips and juice also came back up, the nurse ordered some anti-nausea meds and Addi was well on her way to feeling better.  Within the hour she downed some pudding and it thankfully stayed where it belonged.  She also gave me a 4 minute break so I could eat, then promptly threw her Daddy out of her bed and asked for me to climb back in.

Once we determined that Addi was on her way to recovery, we had the nurse check out Emma.  Sadly she also had her tonsils removed but was a much better patient than Addi.  Emma also got an IV which made Addi feel not so alone.

Lucky for Addi her favorite food is part of the recovery process, so she ate some mac and cheese, then took a nap.  She woke up, got the IV removed and we headed home!

Since we've been home she's had another nap, cried, ate 5 packages of jello and pudding, refused applesauce, and watched several cartoons.  Her throat hurts pretty badly and we have to pretty diligently give her Tylenol every 4 hours over the next week to get her through this, as well as keep her quiet and calm.  LOL... Not sure how that's going to happen but miracles do happen I guess!

Our goal for this week is to stay hydrated, get some rest, and have mommy not go completely insane on Spongebob episodes.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Good friends

Nothing beats a day at the children's museum with our good friends Jenny, Jillian and Ryan.  The kids had fun, Jenny and I talked, and our men got an afternoon alone.


Thursday, March 18, 2010

Rain, rain, stay away...

With two very active kids, this winter has been LONG.  L-O-N-G long.  Most weekends we try to come up with creative ways to burn off energy... We blow up the bouncer in our basement, we go to Menards and "try out" their swingset, or we go to McDonalds playland and enjoy a few sticky minutes.

The last few weeks the weather has slowly been warming up, enough to let the kids go outside and just run.  They love it and aside from the muddy feet we find, it's a win-win situation.

But, the first day it rained, the kids were more stir crazy than every before.

So we improvised and practiced driving at Lowes.




I feel as if they are traitors, but since Cat doesn't make a zero-radius lawn mower I'll let the girls dream.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Spongebob Crazy Pants

Addi has a big love for Spongebob.  I am not so much a fan and try to get her to watch more wholesome shows but somehow she became obsessed.  I keep hoping it's a faze but so far, no luck.  We have just tried to limit her watching it and cross our fingers her obsession with Hannah Montana comes back soon.  Addi already shows kids at daycare her undies so I'm guessing a teenage popstar can't be that bad of an influence.  The damage is done.

Last week we were driving home and talking about the kids days.  Out of nowhere Addi said, "Mommy, the people in my head tell me they hate me."

I almost rear-ended someone and started freaking out... Images of my little blondie in a straight jacket danced in my head and I somehow managed to ask, "Addi, what are you talking about?"

She said, "Well, on Spongebob he had people in his head and they were doing silly things.  So I do too.  Then Spongebob had ice cream.  Can we have ice cream tonight?"

After breathing one of the hugest sighs of relief EVER, I vowed to ban Spongebob from our house.   However, this ban did not go over well and the tears were flowing. 

The next day, Addi found my shower sponge and realized it was her beloved Spongebob.

It's obviously true love. What's a mom to do.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Oh, what a difference...

... a few months can make.

A little over three months ago I bragged here about what a doll Samantha was.  She was cuddly, she was sweet, she was the kind of kid a mom and dad dream of.

You think I would have learned by now to keep my big mouth shut.

Now, it's not that she's BAD, really.  More like she realized she has an opinion and would like to express it.  Like, NOW.  For example, last week she learned that her father's name was "Jay."  And from that point on she has refused to call him Daddy.  It's "Day, Day."  And she says it with this little smirk... she definitely knows exactly what she's doing.

She likes to tell us where she wants to be.  And wants no help getting there.

She has an opinion about what she will wear to bed.  Do NOT try to take boots off this girl.  I snuck in while she was sleeping and at least got them unzipped.  And please, don't even think about taking the headband she has around her waist off of her.

And, the newest obsession - wearing big girl undies. 

Yes, she went to school like this.  I did manage to get the headband from around her neck off, but I gave up trying to take the roo's off when she tried to bite me.  When I picked her up from school she was still proudly wearing them.

But, right after she sinks her teeth into your arm or hits you with her little tiny fist, she'll smile at you and melt your heart.

I'm doomed.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Croppin' for Kids

Notice the nifty countdown clock at the right of my page?  Aren't you just dying to know what it's for?

Well, you are in luck!  I'm going to tell you how you can 1. have a wonderful day preserving your memories 2. hang out with ME and 3. help some people live a better life.  You can come to our daylong scrapbooking crop on March 27th!

Easter Seals is an amazing organization.  They provide exceptional services to ensure that people with disabilities and their families have equal opportunity to live, learn, work and play in their communities. 


Details of our event are below.  Please, if you can, support the cause.  Come to our event or if you can't, pass this along to someone who can. 

When: Saturday, March 27, 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Where: Northminster Presbyterian Church, Peoria, IL
How Much: $35 / person

Participants will receive a goody bag with scrapbook supplies, raffle tickets for door prizes, space to scrapbook, demonstrations, and fun.  Join us!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Happy birthday to ME!

Ah, 32.

Today I turn 32 and it seems so boring. Nothing exciting happens at 32!

However, 32 is:
  • The freezing point of water.
  • The number of teeth in adults (counting wisdom teeth)
  • The total number of pieces in a chess game.
  • The number of teams in the NFL.
  • The winning car number in the inaugural Indy 500 (1911).
  • The average number of pages in a comic book.
  • The age Jesus was when he died.
  • The approximate number of minutes it took me to come up with that list, thanks to Google.
Honestly, I don't really care that I'm 32 this year.  It does seem old though... but maybe that's because my first gray hair was spotted just weeks ago and the wrinkles are have started rolling in. 

I’ve had a few people ask me what I will get for my birthday. Since I rarely get birthday presents, I think I’ll just make a list here and my family can make all my dreams come true.  Thanks in advance for the pony!

What I’d like (in no particular order):
  • Perfect eyesight.  Or, at least, glasses that Sam can't break.
  • A two hour massage.
  • A metabolism that was perfectly normal, except when eating cake. Then, I’d like it to be faster than a tiger on Quaaludes.
  • A lifetime supply of Orbit gum. Bubblemint, please.
  • Birthday cake to share with my loved ones.
  • Icing that doesn't stain clothing.
  • A great book to read in my spare time.
  • Some cute new boots.


  • Someone to do all the dishes at my house.

  • Cute, healthy kids, with great imaginations.
  • Kids who listen all the time and never misbehave.  And never have their teachers tell me the spent the day 1. flashing boys on the playground (Addi) or 2. beating up the 19 month olds and stealing their toys (Sam).
On second thought, being 32 is pretty exciting.  Here's to an eventful, fun, healthy 32nd year!

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