Thank you Ellen!

I have to say that I just love the mail - especially when you get something that isn't a bill, a catalogue you don't care about, or totally random stuff that you want but isn't all that exciting. I love getting my InStyle but it comes every month because I think I have paid my subscription past the date I will die. But getting a card with someone's hand writing on it or an unexpected package is the best. At least to me. In this day of emails, text messages, and ecards sometimes getting a good old fashioned card in the mail is the best. I am totally guilty of the gift certificate via email, sending an email to you for your birthday, etc. Often times even my email shows up a week after your birthday. So it was so nice to receive an unexpected package from Georgia. The Byrons always send something fun and exciting for both the grow-ups and the kids. Andy got some 'zombie gifts' and T got some new dresses. But one thing I wasn't expecting was the reaction from T and the pictures that resulted from the dresses. M & T were so excited! M kept talking about the beautiful dresses and showing T the flowers and such on the dresses. T immediately striped herself down to her diaper to get one of the new dresses on.

And then there were the pictures. I have two kids that usually run away from the camera, never stand still, are never in a photo together, and usually do really stupid smiles if you get anything at all. I honestly think this was the first picture ever of the two of them standing together with 'normal' smiles and looking cute.

So thank you Ellen not only for the dresses because that is so nice and thoughtful of you but also the unexpected memories that you gave me. No one else will remember that evening except me but I don't care. I love the picture with M resting his head on T.

On vacation without the kids

First I would like to say thank you to B&T and A. Without them we wouldn't have been able to go on vacation without the kids. We went down to the Dominican Republic for 6 days and 5 nights. I bought a package online one day at work - sometimes I tend to buy things when I have had a bad day. Sometimes my shopping is very close to an addition.

It snowed the day before we left. We woke up at 3 AM to catch the first flight out. We had one connection and the whole thing was going very well. Then we arrived in DR. We had transportation taking us to the hotel so I looked for my name on a sheet of paper after we made it through customs. No name. We ask at info if they can help us, no dice. So I just say let's just get a taxi and eat the 30 or 40 dollars. We go to the cab stand tell them the name - no idea. So I get the sheet of paper out - never heard of it. Now the husband is thinking that this whole thing is a scam and we will be walking back into the terminal and we will be home before dinner. They figure out where the hotel is - yah! It will be $200 and it is 2 - 2.5 hours away! What! So we call the travel agent. She has no idea how this could have happened. She calls the hotel and the taxi stand calls the hotel. Finally the hotel says just take a cab and they will pay. We are flying down the highway and I thinking we will be there in an hour. Then we hit the mountains. Washed out roads, waiting for other cars to pass so that we can use the road, and very steep drop offs. Both of us are thinking this place better be great after all of this!

We arrive and it is. We have a 3-bedroom suite with a roof deck. We totally don't need all of that room but I am lovely it! So dinner, bottle of wine, and we are back at the room and I think I was in bed before 9!

We basically had the place to ourselves. I think maybe 20 other people were staying at the resort. When we were at the beach there was no up at 8 just to get a chair. You could sleep in, casually stroll to the beach and easily get a chair that wasn't by anyone else. And did I mention that no one ever used the pool so that was always an option. You could look up and down the beach and maybe see 10 people and not a single structure. It was odd. We kept looking for people, wondering what the deal was, why is no one here, etc. The hotel was under a little bit of construction so that was part of it and I don't think we were exactly in the hot part of DR. We talked with one couple that was there with their 3 kids. And that was pretty much our only interaction for the whole time.

I read 2.5 books, I slept until 10 every day, except when we planned something, and honestly I think I was in bed before 9 almost every night. I know a lot of people would say what did you do on your vacation? What was the point? And before kids I would have said the same thing. We planned something every day, if we didn't go out every night I felt like I was really missing out on things, etc.

It was so nice to wake up and then just lay in bed and drift in and out of sleep, not worry about feeding other people, only have to deal with putting sunblock on one person, read a book at the beach for hours, and not have to talk to or listen to someone talk for long periods of time.

When we left A said we need to see if my parents can do this again next year because this was great. I love my kids but I have to say that was the best couple of days I have had in quite awhile.

Deep thoughts by M

Me: M what are you doing?
M: I am watching Scooby Doo, it calms me.

Babysitter: M that Caillou song is in my head and I can't get it out.
M: Walks over to inspect her head, I don't see it.

Me: M I need to cut your nails.
M: The Incredibles don't need to cut their nails why? They don't have nails?

Letting go.....

M has been in daycare since he was 10 weeks old. And technically it has been longer because he had a transition period. So one would think that he was used to being dropped off and he would be an old pro. Not true. In the infant room he would scream. In the toddler room the only way we could leave would be to hand him to a teacher and run out. And now in Preschool it is a little better but he would hold onto your legs and scream Mommy stay, Mommy I need you, etc. So needless to say by the time you did that, commuted into work, and started to work I was already exhausted. This has slowly started to change and I really saw it this week when I dropped him off. Most of his friends were already there, which I think helps a lot. I dropped T off and we gave her hugs and kisses which she had no interest in and she went to play with her friends (she has been like that since the beginning). I am thinking that now I will drop M off, hopefully we will play for about 5 minutes, and then one of his friends will distract him. Well I went in with him and he never looked at me. I asked for a hug and kiss, then a hug or kiss, no response. I then said may I have a hug or kiss or all you finished with me for the morning? His response - I am all done with you! So I got to work in record time.

M has started to get more and more independent, I will do that, I don't need your help, etc. But there has always been this issue when we drop him off. Both of us have been saying why can't he be like the other kids and just run in and play because when you pick him up he doesn't want to leave so clearly he likes it there. Be careful what you wish for....

I was thinking about all of this on my walk from the train to work. How I am slowly becoming a smaller and smaller piece of his life, how he really does need me less and less, etc. And for one second I was sad. Then I thought, wait a second you have been wishing for this for literally years and it is now here and now you are sad. Snap out of it! So instead of dwelling on what is being lost I thought about what we were gaining. As parents we want to strong independent free thinking children that no longer need us. That is just sometimes a hard pill to swallow. But then I think about M at 30 - do I really want him still in my house, most likely somewhere like the basement so it seems like he has his own apartment but yet somehow his laundry shows up in the bins with mine, he asks where his cinnamon cereal is, and that he needs help wiping? I think not. When I entered work I had a big smile on my face and pride in my heart for my smart independent young man.

Finally a warmer day....

We have been buried by many many feet of snow. It has been dark, cold, windy, and my lower back still hasn't recovered from the shoveling. But we are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. So we took advantage of a few hours of warmer weather before the rains started. It was sunny but it was still so nice to be outside. Funny how you take the kids and dog out for a few hours and suddenly there aren't any many timeouts and crazy dogs dropping balls on your feet to throw across the room. I can't wait for the warmer weather!

Penis Talk

Wednesday Night:

M: Where is T's penis? (while bent over in the bath looking between her legs)

Me: She doesn't have a penis sweetie.

M: Why not?

Me: Because boys have a penis and girls don't.

M: So Daddy has a penis and T doesn't and you don't?

Me: Yes that is correct. (And grateful that I didn't have to get into vaginas right then)

M: T touch my penis. Come on touch it! (While smiling and laughing)

Me: M please don't make her do that she doesn't want to.

Thursday night, A arrives home from travel:

M: Dad I have a penis.

A: Yes you do. (Clearly wondering where this has come from).

M: And so do you.

A: Yes I do.

About 30 minutes later while A is going to the bathroom.

M: Your penis is really big!

You can't buy publicity like that! :)

A Black One and a White One

If you have kids and they can talk I am sure you have been out in public when they say something that makes you grimace and you hope that no one else heard that. There are times when the lack of a filter can be very cute and funny and other times when it isn't.

I went to look at a preschool for M this week and when the open house was finished M saw some kids playing basketball in the gym on the way out and wanted to watch. Exhausted and thinking this will take up some time that could otherwise be spent at home with two kids running around wild before bed. So we stayed and watched for awhile. There were two groups of girls each with a coach. They were probably tweens or maybe early teenagers so they knew what they were doing but they still needed some coaching. The coaches both invited us in to play but M in his normal fashion turned his head slightly so he didn't have to look at them but he wouldn't leave at the same time. So we talked about the coach and how you have to listen to the coach otherwise you will end up on the bench.

As we were talking M said 'Hey there is one white one and one black one'. There were two coaches both of them were black but one had on a white shirt and one had on a black shirt. This struck me as so nice - M didn't notice that they were black he was just identifying them by their shirts. When your kid starts to say 'Hey Mom there's a black person' you want to shrink and die sometimes. But this time it was nice to see the world through his eyes.

The best parents in the world.....

The damage:



What was lost:



The result:





She had 4 center bottom teeth and after the fall she has three. Pour girl. She smiles with her bottom teeth. For the next 5 years or so one will be missing. At least it was a baby tooth - that is really the only thing that makes us feel a little better. T cried for about a minute and then it was over. She is eating, laughing, dancing, drinking as if nothing happened.

Please come back to this post if you ever feel like you have had a bad parenting day with your kids. This is one of our worst ones.

Time in bed with my favorite guy

Note to self. If you child wants to go to bed with his light on you should remember to go in and turn it off before you go to bed. Otherwise he will be up earlier than normal which isn't good for anyone.

I forgot to turn M's light out Tuesday night so he was in my bed around 5:45. Normally this would be a very bad thing especially when your husband is out of town. But it was snowing and I was working from home the kids might have school so lacking a bit of sleep wasn't that big of a deal.

M crawled in and I usually get the 'Mommy get up!', 'Mommy let's eat pancakes', etc. But today M was a little tired as was I so he agreed to crawl into bed with me and laid down to watch the snow in the trees. He stayed there for about 30 minutes and it was so nice. We whispered about the snow and how much was falling, how pretty it was on the trees, how windy it was, etc. He just laid on my pillow with me and didn't elbow me in the stomach or knee me in the face.

I wish I could have stayed there for hours. But the day must start, whining must begin, and people stop listening. I wish I had a pictures or video of the experience but to do that would be to ruin it. So I have my memories and the feelings from that 30 minutes that sadly are already starting to fade.

Baby it's cold outside

A left for Vegas early Saturday morning. Luckily my in-laws extended their visit a few days to help. After an action packed weekend including my first 4 year old birthday party with about 30 kids they left Monday morning. My Mom arrived late Tuesday night just before 2 feet of snow were dumped on us overnight. Working from home today and both kids are home so it is not my most successful working day ever. Shoveled some though several more inches have fallen. At this point there is no where else to put the snow so the snow may just stay there and I will hope that it will melt with the sun in the next couple of days. The kids didn't even go out in the snow. I really need to get at least a sled and put them in it for a walk around the block. I am sure the drop off at daycare and commute to work tomorrow will be great!

A arrives home on Friday at some point. I am just hoping to get through the next couple of days and T doesn't decide to play from 2:30 - 4:30 and then my alarm goes off at 4:45 because I am slowly dying. A leaves again on Monday but he will be back on Wednesday so at least it isn't a week. And I am getting my hair cut and colored on Saturday morning at 9 so that will be about 2 hours of time to myself.

I could really use a snow blower right now.....

I'm working on it.......

M has been going to to daycare since he was 10 weeks old. So you would think that by 3.4 he would be an old pro. Sadly for the parent that has to drop him off that isn't the case. We have discussed it many times that we would like a drop off that doesn't involved crying and whining. I picked M up the other day:

M: I cried when Daddy dropped me off.

Me: I thought we were working on not crying and whining when we go to school.

M: Mom, I'm working on it, I'm working on it....

It was so cute. Now he says that all of the time and it makes me smile every time.

Happy New Year!

We held our New Year's celebration around 7:30 PM which was just fine with me. We celebrated our second Christmas on New Year's Day so I had some cooking and cleaning to do. I think I fell asleep about 10 minutes before the ball dropped. Wishing you a safe and happy 2011!

I'm working on it....

Picking them up from daycare.....

M: I'm tired.

Me: Me too.

M: I cried when Daddy dropped me off.

Me: M I thought we were working on no crying and whining during drop off.

M: I'm working on it Mom, I'm working on it....

Merry Christmas

We have seen Santa about three times, kids have cried within 3 feet of Santa, other have sat on his lap but didn't talk and finally we got a smile as long as Mom was there with them. We have decorated cookies, made gingerbread houses, and wrapped presents. This is the first year we have really introduced Santa and they know who he is but I don't think they totally get the presents at this point. M has asked for a scooter and two fire tools. I wasn't sure exactly what fire tools meant so I went online and he pointed to what he wanted on Amazon. The rest of the gifts are coming from Craigslist - I have been searching for things for months! I got pretty much everything I wanted and saved a ton of cash. These aren't all of the pictures but I am posting some. I think tomorrow may be the last one where I am asleep past dawn. I can't wait to see their faces when they come downstairs and see all of those presents! I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and that you are all safe and heathy.

A trip to Santa and then a party, the kids were exhausted at the end of the night:

Setting up the Christmas tree (it was pouring down rain when we picked it out so no pictures from that), though M did pick this one out by himself.



A Christmas cookie party, M go into it and started to ham it up a little for the camera:



Some Christmas fun with Uncle H and L:

Dirty night at home

Here is what you have when you eat a marker and then eat your dinner (BTW this is T's favorite new face):

Here are the rest of the photos:

Pumpkin Waffles!

M made pumpkin waffles at school last week. They sent the recipe home with a picture of him helping out. We made them for Thanksgiving breakfast and we have had them about 4 times since. They are awesome and a little better than normal waffles. And if you add some banana slices to the top it really makes it better. Here is the recipe - enjoy!

http://pumpkinwaffles.wordpress.com/ultimate-pumpkin-waffle-recipe/

Oh Deucey!

We got a new dog walker for Deucey - I won't bore you with the details and drama of why. She has been with the new guy for a few weeks. I was texting him the other day and I got this back from him:

'Deucey has been great. She sure hates getting humped though- she tells them where to go!'

That provided us with a good laugh.

Damn It!, Damn It!, Damn It!

M: Damn It, Damn It, Damn It (then a little giggle)

Me: M don't say that any more that isn't nice.

M: Damn It, Damn It, Damn It!

Me: M say that again and you are going to get a time out.

M: Damn It!

M on his way back upstairs. 5 Minutes later:

M: What does that mean.

Me: No answer but throwing A a bad look - I am pretty sure I don't say Damn It!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Pumpkin Day!

Costumes for M&T - Check!

M&T actually want to wear the costumes - That is about a half of a check.

Trick or Treat! - What is that says M?

Happy Halloween - Again, what is that? M is calling it Pumpkin Day!

First time out Trick or treating - Check. Though it took a little convincing. We went out in a friend's neighborhood. On our street you would have no idea it was Halloween. And to be honest all I did was buy two uncarved pumpkins and put them on the steps. At first M didn't want to put his costume on and it was cold so he wanted to go home. But after a few houses I asked:

Me: 'Do you want to go back to car and go home or do you want to go to one more house?'

M: One more house.

Me: After the candy at the next house, 'Do you want to go back to car and go home or do you want to go to one more house?'

M: One more house.

That happened for about 10 houses and we finally called it a night.

After we got in the groove M was pretty good at saying Happy Halloween and Thank you or Trick 'R Treat and thank you for the candy. Two houses I thought were pretty funny. We went up the door after some older kids and I could hear all of them saying 'Ah man, granola bars!'. Basically saying these suck! M's reaction:

M: 'Happy Halloween'

Guy at the House - 'Oh another Spiderman, here you go!'

Me: (Fake enthusiasm) 'Oh a granola bar!'

M: Looks right at the guy and says 'Oh I LOVE these!'

The Other house:

M: 'Happy Halloween' or something like that

Lady at the door: 'Here you go Spiderman' She was giving little zip lock bags of four pieces of candy. I am not sure why you would go through all of that trouble to make all of these bags especially when you can just give the kids one piece, but anyway...

M: 'WOW!!!! Look at all of this candy. This is A LOT Mom! Thank you!'

So funny. The joy and fun he was having was such a good things to share.

Final funny story:

We went back to the car and we were looking at the various houses that had really cool decorations that we didn't visit because people were falling apart and there was this really cool one with spiderwebs and witches all over the front yard.

M: 'I want to go to that house!'

Me: 'Well we have to go home now.'

M: 'Tomorrow we can go to that house then.'

Me: 'Honey Halloween is only one day so we won't be going to get candy tomorrow.'

M: Silence

T was right there with the big kids. She was so cute in her dragon costume (thank you Ellen) and it was even better when she waddled down the street in her little walk. She kept trying to eat lollipops with the wrappers still on. :)

Pictures to follow.

3 Years Old!

How does this:



Go to this:



Then to this:



And is now this:



M has turned three. He is the love of my life. (Don't worry T you are as well) He came into my bedroom the morning of his birthday as he does every morning. He came up and I said 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!'. He got a huge smile. He climbed into bed with me and I asked him for a birthday hug. He gave me a huge one and said 'Thank you Mom'. I almost melted.

I have always thought that I should really get the presents on my kid's birthdays. I was the one who literally gave blood, sweat, and tears on that day. They did as well but they can't remember it. But after that hug I wanted to celebrate M and the fact that he came into my life 3 short years ago. I didn't think it was possible to love someone that much and that completely but it definitely is. I know soon he will ask me not to walk with him and to drop him off at school before we get there. So for now I am gathering as many hugs, snuggles, and kisses (especially our special nose kisses) that I can because I know they will soon just be a memory just like everything else. I was just looking at videos around his first birthday and it doesn't even seem possible that he looked like that only two years ago. How our memory fails us!

Here is to you my birthday boy. Thank you so much for coming into my life and giving me so much love, joy, pride, and happiness. I honestly didn't know it was possible.