Saturday, November 14, 2009

Rambly, Rambly, Blah, Blah, Nothingness

I seriously have nothing to blog about today. But the blog must go on right? So hmmmm . . . . what does today have in store? Probably some eating out of lunchy-goodness and a park perhaps?

I have recently decided to get really crazy with my meal planning. I am going to plan things out ONE MONTH in advance. Yep. You heard me right. One month. I've made a nifty little calendar and will write all my plans on yon little calendar and thus prevent my weekly stress fest over what to cook the following week.

Michael and I sat down and brainstormed all the food items I make that are healthy and we both like. We came up with 20 items. So we figure if I whip out my cookbooks and pick one new recipe to try each week and mix an unhealthy favorite once or twice a month we just might have enough to fill a month with no repeats. Wish me luck.

What else? What else? Oh! Sarah has finally started crawling. She will be 10 months old on Monday. Guess she just wanted to take her own sweet time. But just like all good things, it was worth the wait. She is just so stinkin' cute crawling around on all fours. Good thing the house is baby proofed! Oh, and Sarah got to eat her first Ritz cracker today. That was fun. She is really growing up!

There is no better way to end a rambly post than with some cute pictures. Here are a couple of Sarah. I plopped her down in front of the TV for a few minutes while I prepared her dinner. She was tired at the time so she decided to watch while lying down. The kid didn't move a muscle for almost 10 minutes. Once I took the picture, the flash caught her attention enough that she was willing to glance my way before returning her gaze to the afore mentioned drug with a plug. Enjoy!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Claire-isms

Any one else glad to see that the giant picture of fruit is no longer front and center on my blog? Every time I'd sit down and try to start a blog, that picture was mocking me saying, "Yep. I'm still here. Haven't blogged yet have you?"

Truth? I actually have been blogging the past couple of days. I've been working on this post in spurts. We had family in town for the weekend. It's always so much fun, but I found there was little time to sit down and compose a blog.

Claire had a blast with her Nana and Aunt Nikki here. And it was sure nice to have something to distract Claire from the general sense of crankiness that has become her way of life as of late. My precious first born girl has been a little hard to take this past week. I really think she must be on the cusp of a growth spurt (even though her pediatrician says that there are no such things as growth spurts. That is another post for another day.). She has been eating like a linebacker and sleeping like a hibernating bear. Seriously. The kid goes to bed by 7:30 and has been sleeping until 9:30 the next morning. And she still takes a 3 hour nap during the afternoon. This is not the norm for her so something is obviously up.

With all this sleeping you'd think she would be totally refreshed and happy during her waking hours. NEGATIVE. She is totally crank-tastic. Everything is a reason for a fit or fuss. Her empty juice cup fell on the floor the other day and she melted into sobs. I distinctly remember a moment last week when I was contemplating plucking out my eyes and shoving them into my ears so I wouldn't have to see or hear any more of the cranks.

I know it is just a phase, and we will get through it and my baby will return to her sweet little self. Until then, I am going to reflect on all her cuteness. Hopefully this will act as a patch to get me through until the phase is complete.

So here, I have a few cute little things Claire has said recently. Things that are really fun to hear come out of a 2-year-old's mouth. They really make me smile and love her even more, if that is even possible.

Cuteness #1:
At Target, Claire is walking too close and steps on the back of my shoe. She says, "Sorry, Mommy. I didn't mean to step on your shoe. Are you okay?"

Cuteness #2:
On the way to the zoo, Claire says that she wants to see monkeys, lions, kangaroos and zebras. I say, "Yes, baby. We'll see THEM ALL." Claire, looking confused says, "No mommy, I don't want to see the mall!"

And once at the zoo, Claire was absolutely intrigued by the "Bi-He-Nahs" (hienas)

Cuteness #3:
Claire's version of the alphabet song? "A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, ELMO PEE . . . "

Cuteness #4:
We were at Kohls and Claire was walking at a snail's pace as usual. I told Claire to catch up to me, but there was a lady in her way. Just as Claire was passing the lady, she says, "Excuse me!" To which the lady said, "Wow! What wonderful manners!" and promptly moved out of the way so Claire could pass by. As Claire catches up to me she declares, "I just tooted, so I said excuse me!"

Cuteness #4:
The other day Claire wasn't napping at all. She just played for almost 2 hours. I eventually gave up and went to get her. When I did, the conversation went something like this:

Mommy: "Claire, why didn't you go to sleep?"
Claire: "Because I'm still awake."
Mommy: "I know, honey. But why are you still awake?"
Claire: "Because my eyes are open!"

Cuteness #5:
After an hour of grocery shopping, I finally get the car loaded with kids and grocery bags. As we are pulling out of the parking lot, Claire says, "Mommy, I sure had fun buying with you today!"

Cuteness #6:
Nothing melts my heart more than when Claire runs up to me and climbs into my lap. Burying her head into my shoulder she says, "Mommy, I love you too!"

Ahhhhhhhh . . . . now I'm refreshed. Thanks for humoring me. I needed that reflection!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Put to Shame by a Two-Year-Old

Claire's very specific breakfast request this morning:



What I ate for breakfast:



I should really take a lesson or two from my baby!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Costumes!

I think Claire has found her favorite celebration. I mean, a day where you can dress up like a cat and walk around getting free candy from almost anyone you meet? Really? Perfect.

We went to our church's Fall Festival. There were games-a-plenty with candy to boot. Claire was too young for the games, though she tried several. The adults leading the games were kind and offered her candy for her feeble attempts. At one point, she was DETERMINED to complete a particular game and was having trouble with it. She just didn't want to leave the game and the line of waiting kids was backing up. The kind man who was in charge of that game sweetly held out a small candy bar for Claire. She IMMEDIATELY dropped the ball and ran to the man to get the candy. While it accomplished the goal of getting her away from the game, it was a bit scary to realize how Claire will run to any stranger who is waving a candy bar. Made me contemplate the benefits of a kid leash.

So here are a few pics. A fun time was had by all!






Wednesday, October 28, 2009

A Preview

I made the girls' Halloween costumes last night. Don't be too impressed. It was actually more assembly than creation. Claire wanted to be a cat so I bought the black leotard, leggings, some fuzzy ears and a boa (for the tail). Since Claire was a cat, I decided that it only made sense to have Sarah be a mouse. So again, more assembly. Take a grey (or is it gray. I never can remember) shirt/pants/socks combo with some cute mouse ears/tail. Oh, and don't forget to bond a cute pink oval to the shirt for the mouse tummy and voila!

I was going to wait to post any pictures until Saturday, but we had our playgroup costume party today and I caught a funny pic of the girls. Sarah looks like she is ready to kill somebody. (big surprise)

When I showed this picture to my mom, she said, "I'd look that way too if I were a mouse being held by a cat." Good one, Mom.

So I'll post more pictures on Saturday. I am going to see if Claire will let me draw whiskers and a triangle nose on her face. But I am not holding my breath.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Be Impressed, Be VERY Impressed

Sigh. I am e.x.h.a.u.s.t.e.d. Michael headed to Alaska Sunday morning for a week long business trip so I have been juggling the girls on my own. I wonder if there is any reason that a stay-at-home-mom would need to travel on business. Hmmmmm . . . . . sure would be nice.

So here at the end of another exhausting (yet fulfilling) day, I will ramble for a bit on a train of thought I had earlier.

Is it truly possible to be a GREAT housekeeper at the same time that you are a GREAT mommy? I am having trouble being both at the same time. I often find that one or the other is lacking. Which means that I never get to fully enjoy the one that is excelling.

Let me see if I can explain a little more clearly.

There are days when I feel like a GREAT mommy. I have engaged my kids in active play for almost the entire day. The TV played a very minimal role and we laughed, played outside, read books and just plain enjoyed each other's company. Sounds like a great day, right? Right. Until I look around at my house and see the chaos that was created by all that fun. Oh my. We're not just talking about a few toys strewn about. Oh no. We're talking dirty dishes filling the sink and spilling over onto the counter tops. A table that is caked with spilled cottage cheese and juice. Floors that are too filthy for any 9-month-old to roll upon and stacks upon stacks of unfolded laundry. I cannot rest in a house that looks like this so instead of enjoying the time I had with my babies, I instead have an overwhelming sense of guilt as I see the end of the day coming. I feel like I need to apologize and explain to the world that I really DID accomplish something with my day even though you can't tell it by the house.

Then come the GREAT housekeeper days. The laundry is folded and put away. The floors have been swept AND mopped. Ahhhh. Dishes are clean, counters cleared. The place fairly sparkles. I can look around my house with great pride. That is, until I realize that the exchange for all this sparkle is two babies who have been glued to the TV for a majority of the day. Ouch. Punch-in-the-gut.

Now I realize fully that the correct choice is to have a great mommy day. The kids are more important than a clean house. I agree completely. But it doesn't keep me from feeling guilty and stressed when the house is a mess. I know I will only have the kids at this particular age for a very short time and I need to take full advantage of it. I have my entire life to live in a clean house. I get it. I really do. But I can't help wishing I could have it both ways.

Sometimes I get so frustrated that I want to scream out my favorite four letter word. You know the one right? The one four letter word that makes you feel completely better and solves this entire dilemma:

M.A.I.D. There, I said it. Rant complete. And now, I am off to fold laundry before crashing for the evening.

Ta, ta.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Catching Up

Okay, one more post solely dedicated to Sarah before we move into other topics. This post is more for my record keeping than anything else. We went to the doctor this week for Sarah's 9 month check up and she did great! (honestly, I fully expected to come back from the doctor's office with plenty of new blog material, but this time the visit was smooth and painless--a rarity, I assure you.)

So here are the particulars for sweet Sarah Grace at 9 months. She weighs 21 pounds, 12 ounces (90th-97th percentile), she is 29 inches tall (90th percentile) and her head (I know you really care about this part.) was 44 cm (50th-75th percentile).

Now I have to pause here and ask about those silly percentile numbers. How accurate can they REALLY be when they can write "50th to 75th percentile". I mean, seriously. Why don't you just tell me that she is somewhere between 1 and 100? But I digress.

So far, Sarah has no desire to crawl, or even to attempt a crawl. She sits up right nice. And she can roll around the floor from tummy to back quite efficiently. I often come in and find that she has rolled herself all around the floor and is lodged in the corner. (Don't even think that I haven't thought about wrapping her in double sided tape so that she can clean my floors of all debris as she happily rolls to and fro.)

We are trying to start more chunky foods, but Sarah is having NOTHING to do with that. Put a chunk of any kind in her mouth and she immediately gags as if I am trying to do a step test and commences a literal blowing of chunks all over the highchair, mommy, floors and anything else in the vicinity. So for now we are taking things slowly. She'll do all these things in her own timing. And if not, I'll just be the only mommy packing strained peas in my Kindergartener's lunch box. Big whoop, right?

Now on to the cuteness. Since I've been blog-absent for so long, I need to post Sarah's monthly pictures with Max the dog. I'll thank you for not pointing out that Sarah's neglectful mommy didn't start taking these pictures until her 3rd month. I may end up having to photo-shop the stinkin' dog into her newborn, 1st and 2nd month pics so that she won't know. Hee.

I am going to post them all below so that you (really I) can see the changes. But know that the changes are very subtle. I promise I didn't take all the pictures on the same day. This girl just doesn't have any hair. I think the dog is starting to look smaller, but beyond that, to me the pics (especially from 6 months on) don't really look that much different. You be the judge:

3 Months


4 Months


5 Months


6 Months


7 Months


8 Months


9 Months


Catch up complete.