Bye-bye "buh"

Balloon is one of Abigail’s favorite words. I mean she says “buh” but from context you what she is talking about. You can also tell because her whole face lights up. Well today we trekked out to Trader Joe’s with Nana so I could get lots of yummy items for the Bunco bash that will be here tonight. (Emphasis on the lots of snacks! I hope no one eats dinner tonight!!!)

Well part of the fun of shopping at Trader Joe’s is the balloons they give the kiddos. The girls were excellent shoppers so they of course each got a balloon at checkout. Then a sad rite of passage occurred as we get loaded into the car. Without any notice, Abby’s pink balloon, that was so carefully tied to her wrist (another childhood rite of passage!) somehow came undone and up, up and away it went. As the balloon flew away she just pointed to the sky and said, “buh?”

Of course if Madelyn’s balloon had been the one to be lost there would have been a tantrum of epic proportions. But luckily at the tender age of (nearly) 17 months Abby was relatively unaffected. This is just one of the many balloons that will be lost but the first one seems kind of like something to remember.

As it flew away Madelyn commented that she hoped a bird would not choke on it. I mean really! I am sure I said that to her but it is uncanny how kids remember certain things you say.

The family that reads

Is one illiterate if she can read but doesn’t? I have started to wonder if I could be functionally illiterate. I ought to take notes from Madelyn who seems to LOVE to read (though of course she cannot actually read yet.) The girl loves books. It is not unusual for her to have 5 or 6 or more! books in her bed at night. Sometimes she says she was up reading all night. In the dark? Maybe. We went to the library today and checked a whole new stack. We had not been to the library in a long time. Usually I have Abby in the stroller and I know why. Yikes! Two kids can actually—and do—go in different directions. There is no toddling around here anymore…they both can go and go fast!

But back to me and my reading problem. If I sit down to read I usually fall asleep. (Was true in college too—I do not know how I managed!) I have a huge stack of magazines I would love to catch up on. I have books and books (classics, fun reads and self-help alike) piling up but as soon as I start reading…..ZZZZzzzzzzz. I am doing a bible study/book club kind of thing with MOPS this semester and I am really excited that I will get back into reading a bit. It is self-help and fun read that I really need (She’s Gonna Blow by Julie Ann Barnhill) so I hope it keeps my attention. {Maybe we should invite Britney to join our group—now there is a mama who really needs some help on the journey of motherhood!}

Reading more is certainly on my list of “resolutions” this year. This year I’d really like to add some titles that have more than 75 words in them!

With that I am off to read……….

Meals on wheels

We have really gotten some good use out of our handy tabletop thingys the girls received for Christmas. I love these things! They are perfect for us “on the go girls.” Madelyn now regularly begs me to let her “eat in the car!” I will say the ol‘ minivan is quite a mess though after a few meals on the road. Crumbs everywhere! Eek. Today we had breakfast and lunch in the car. We had a playdate at Kara’s new house which is about 35-40 minutes away. (We did not want to waste any precious playtime thus the eating in the car.) Melanie was there too. The three of us have known each other since 2004 we were pregnant with our now 3-year-olds. It was wacky and wild fun topped off with Dunkin‘ Donuts (picture glaze-covered little faces here.) Poor Kara’s basement was trashed (sorry!!!) The kids were like little tornadoes frantically playing with every toy in sight. Three 3-year-olds, one 2-year-old and two 1-year-olds (Melanie’s oldest was at school)–but we still managed to have some decent Mommy talk. Amazing!

Abigail’s compliment

So today when I picked Abby up from her MOPS room one of her teachers stops me to comment on how advanced she is compared to the other children. Oh well thank you very much. How nice to hear a nice compliment from someone who is not related to her (though really how “advanced” can she be? Is she doing physics experiments in there while the other slackers waste time on silly things like taking a nap? Come on now!)

But now that you say that. Yes, she has picked up several new words in the last week, probably because with the fluid draining everything no longer sounds like “Charlie Brown adult-speak.” And, yes, she does not watch any TV. And, yes, she is especially curious about everything from what’s in the bathroom cabinet to what I am making for dinner to why the water in the toilet bowl swirls down. I am not having visions of Ivy League school applications or anything like that…though are there any Ivy League preschools we should consider?

Oh wait!—as I am having this nice conversation—out of the corner of my eye I see a wave of pink (Madelyn in her coat) topple over a wave of purple (Abigail in her coat.) Abby has just been tackled in the hallway by her big sister. Poor girl cannot even have a moment in the sunshine. It must have looked pretty bad because I heard a few winces from the other mothers passing by.

Way to go girls, make me look good in front of my friends. Oh sure, I have this all under control. Perfect 10 on that flip, Madelyn. Good recovery, Abby! Oh sure, this happens all the time. No biggie. Just another day in my life as a zookeeper.

Madelyn should be from Texas

This girl loves everything big. Yes, in this house we prefer “big butter” (ie. the Smart Balance Light in the round tub) on our pancakes. Sandwiches cannot be cut anymore. No way! They can only be eaten if they are left “big.” Oh and forget cutting hot dogs, despite the fact that a whole hot dog is a major choking hazard. If a hot dog is cut it is a total meltdown and you better duck because it is probably going to fly across the room.

I’m giving it a Tri

Ever since I wrote a story for The Washington Post a few years ago on triathalons I have had that on my list of “things to do” some day. But who has time to train for a triathalon? And could I really do it? I would be very particular about the traiathalon venue also. I mean I do not want to swim in anything that I’d have to share the water with fish or God forbid snakes. Rip tides and sharks would be pretty scary too. And it couldn’t be too cold. So that is pretty limiting.

Well doesn’t Lifetime Fitness just have the perfect solution….they are doing a mini, indoor triathalon. So I signed up. I can’t wait for April 13th! Join me! You can find out more info. here.

Brrrrr……

I now it could be so much colder (did you see the Packers game last night?) but brrrrrr, it is so cold. I guess winter is finally upon us. It’s not that I mind winter and I mean, duh, I lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota in my early years and Chicago in my not-so-long-ago years….clearly I can handle it.

Maybe it is the children that puts me over the edge. The coats, hats and mittens for them. It’s all just too much. As a result I usually just grab a coat (most of the time) and run out of the house without my own hat and mittens. 1.) Not a very good example. and 2.) I am cold!

One more thing about the kids and winter, I hate stuffing them in the car seats with all the bulky coats and whatnot. Of course they are not even supposed to have the bulky stuff on in the car because it effects the tightness of the car seat straps. But to put coats on (out of the house) and off (in the car) and on (out of the car wherever we are going) and off (inside wherever we are going) and then repeat again on the way home. That would really put me over the edge. It was certainly easier when they were babies with those little BundleMe things!

So how long until long do we have to wait for Spring? 58 days, 10 hours and 18 minutes.

"Me" day

Today was pretty much all about me. It’s not even my birthday but it certainly could have been. I started the day off with an amazing workout. We made it in time for me to go to the cardio kickboxing class and it was awesome…the instructor, the music, the burn! Loved it, loved it.

Then we headed over the my parents’ house because my mom offered to watch the girls today when I went to the beauty appointment that was snowed out yesterday. Did I tell you about this? We won a $250 gift certificate to Versacchi Studio 5. I decided to do the “Masterworks Makeover” and got the whole do up. Well it really was nothing dramatic (nor did I want it to be.) But here’s how I usually look on a normal day:

Here’s how I look at this moment:

I am really not sure how close I will come to the “after” in my daily life but we will see. The photo really does not show the highlights and lowlights but they are there. They gave me some great tips also that I think I can really use to be a bit more put together. Not that I want to be the done up Mom on playdates or anything. This place was really cool…..a NYC feel right here in Baltimore. The “hair designers” really consider themselves artists and I believe they are.

We were going to have a big night out on the town but opted to stay in and look really pretty instead. I guess with my really hard workout this morning, my low calorie day and possibly the time under the swirling heat lamp (this thing was very new age…I could write a whole blog on it and maybe I will when I am feeling better) I gave myself a mini-migraine. Ugh! Oh well I guess I will bring new meaning to the phrase beauty sleep.

Abby could not resist having her “after” taken also…although it really was a “before”….before bed!

Unplanned fun

We had a big day planned (no surprise there!) but it did not really go as we thought it would. Kevin actually switched his normal Friday off and had the day off today. We thought in case Abby needed a little extra TLC…though she did not…she is still totally, completely fine–yay! In planning the day I made plans to get a few extra things done like 1.) visit another preschool with Madelyn, 2.) reschedule my “makeover” appointment and 3.) get the alarm system installed. Well Mother Nature had other ideas and totally re-arranged our whole day. After the preschool visit we spent the whole day at home together. So that was a-ok. It was a really fun family day. Poor Abby had so much trouble walking with being so bundled up and negotiating the boots. Poor girl must have fallen 20 times. Luckily with all the padding there were no injuries. A little snow in the mouth maybe but she licked it away from her lips as if she needed a little extra refreshment. They both had a blast building a snowman and going for a sled ride.

Maybe I will get to the “makeover” tomorrow.

Thumbs up!!!!!

Well Abigail did just perfectly this morning and even now you would honestly not know anything happened. It certainly was more traumatic on us than on her. I am guessing this will make life so much better for her. Whew! I think we earned another notch in our parenting belts. That was quite a task as a mother to go into the OR with her as they put her to sleep. Even thought I did not want to do it I knew I had to. It was really gut-wrenching leaving my baby who was one second fighting the mask and the next out like a light. The staff was on top of it though. They wisked me out and minutes later the doctor came out to tell us all was done. I guess he did vacuum out some thick fluid so that was just another reassurance we did the right thing. When they called us back a few minutes later she was awake and seated on the bed just looking all around. It was as if she were on a parade float. When she saw us she got a little upset but since we were able to pick her up right away she just nestled in and was happy as can be. So we were blessed with a relatively very easy recovery too. What a star patient. I am SO glad it is over though! We were home at 9:22 a.m. Here she is minutes later: