Good Morning, Old Friend.

Several weeks ago I read a piece by my brilliant college roommate - whose is an actual published writer - on her own personal history with alarm clocks. As always, her writings made me laugh, and energized me to do more of what I'm doing here, capturing all the little things about my life for myself and my family. You'll have to read the actual piece (found here: http://www.jengirdish.com/) to really get an appreciation for what she wrote, but in summation, her alarm clocks have changed over the years.

Oddly, I often think about my own alarm clock journey because there isn't much to it. As a child, my mom used to wake me up on the days I needed to be awake for any event. Then, by the time I was in 4th grade and now responsible for waking myself up, I received a wonderful Christmas gift from my grandmom... my first radio alarm clock.

Made by GE, the P'Jammer was wonderful in all of its early 1990's glory. I loved the snooze button (that gives you 9 minutes to sleep-in) and my choices between an everyday radio wake-up and a more serious if-you-don't-get-out-of-bed-on-time-you're-going-to-miss-something-very-important alarm wake-up. It also had a side panel that flipped down and gave you access to a coil of earbuds in case your parents thought your music was to loud.

So, remember how I said my alarm clock journey wasn't very long? That's it. 20+ year's later, I still use the P'Jammer. Long after the stuffed animals were banshed to a bag in the closet, the makeup Caboodle lay empty in a closet somewhere, and my giant NKOTB fan buttons misteriously disappeared, I still use this same wired, simple alarm clock. I never actually used the ear buds, and after years of non-use the foam cushioning deteriorated so badly I had to throw them away, but the rest of the P'Jammer is still going strong.

I have often thought of upgrading; snazzy designed alarm clocks call my name from the aisles at Target every back to school season and every time i flip through the SkyMall magazine on an airplane. I have an iPhone, so why not just use that like my husband? And I wouldn't have to change back my clock then every Daylight Savings Time. Heck, the thought of the energy that vampire electronic has sucked over the past 22 years is enough to give me heart palpitations. It takes up one-third of my narrow night stand, and wastes a plug space that I often need to charge my Kindle, iPhone, or plug in my bedside lamp.

But at the end of the day, I have not been able to part ways with that one thing - the constant companion to my mornings. I know it's nostalgic, sort of like all the stuff we found in our grandmother's house after she passed. It's the one thing in my house that you'd write a song about (sort of like Rachel Proctor's "If that chair could talk"). It has seen me through high school, college, and now married with a family.

I still smile when I turn that bigger-than-necessary radio on on 'cleaning days' and dance around the room folding laundry, and my hand actually has a relationship with the powder blue plastic snooze button.    That clock has been the one item I absolutely rely on to get me out of bed, to know it's been set right. I feel angry towards hotel alarm clocks for being to fancy and troublesome to set. Plus everyone knows they're not trustworthy (so I always call down for a wake up call). 

It may not make a lot of sense, but until that clock consumes its last watt of electricity, I'm going to love it.

It's Almost August.

My stay-with-it-ness has suffered once again. It happened last February, then again in October; but now it has been since March(!) since I last posted. Not since I've written, but since I've posted. I actually have a few posts drafted, but never posted because of that last polishing / photo copyrighting / photo attaching phase of writing my blog entry. I'll post those entries as a follow up to this one just for continuity (and to make the time spent on them not go to waste). I may have to change that last phase of my blogging habits while I have such short periods of down-time.

However, I do feel committed to continue blogging. Every time we complete a project, I have a thought bubble that tells me I should blog about it. When I'm driving in the car, I'm writing posts in my head. I miss writing.

So what has been going on over the past 4 months?

• the Boss started to walk with assistance, and mcNugget had her second birthday - both are growing terrifically
• We've done work on our back garden and side yard
• The husband finished the hallway wall upstairs
• I've cleaned out my office / mcNugget's old room and made it into a play room
• breastfeeding is still going great
• work is also going well, and I've spent my first two consecutive nights away from the kids (which went better than expected)
• I completed one of my resolutions to see 2 concerts
• I've started running to train for a 5K or possible 10K coming up in August

 I'll be back with more on these soon.

Happy 9 Months Bossman

Written on 6/30/12. Posted on 7/30/12. 

Bossman,

At 9 months, you're trying so hard to keep up with your sister. You're much quieter than she was, but much more physical. You're always on the look out for her, and diaper changes have become wrestling matches to keep you still enough to change. You're favorite toys are anything that makes music or moves (think big push toys, toy pianos, etc.).


You are incredibly social, and a real people watcher. You have the best smile still - and your eyes are a mix between dark brown and grey on the outsides. Its very hard to tell what color they are - or guess what color they will be. You have 5 teeth now, and working on a few more we think. The first two came in the bottom middle one day after another when you were 6 months. The next came in next to that when you were 7 months, and at 8 months you got the top right and bottom left.

Your eczema is finally getting under control!! Its a balance, and you still get the flare ups on your face every now and then, but we have seen days when your skin is completely clear and itch free! I can't tell you how happy that makes me.The cloth diapers are working so well - and I'm terribly, terribly happy that your skin feels soft and wonderful again. I hate to think you were ever in pain.

We started solids several months ago, and you're appetite has been hard to keep up with since. You're eating bananas, chicken and all sorts of vegetable - sweet potatoes, cauliflower, mixed vegetables, squash. We are considering if you have an allergy to either milk or strawberries though (you had some hives the other morning after eating a few infant yogurt freeze-dried drops), but we have to see if that's what it was or something else.

You started clapping your hands and blowing raspberries a few weeks ago, but the biggest news is that you're now mobile and chasing after everything. The week before your eight month birthday, you learned how to crawl. That was three weeks ago, and last week you mastered how to pull your self up to standing. Now if we hold your hands you try to walk around the room. Walking has become your favorite mode of transportation, because you still crawl with a limp (you don't put your right leg down!). Between that and your zombie noises, you're a hilarious little love.

You've spent a few nights where you've slept through the night, but wet diapers, gas, or your teeth still bother you and you wake up most nights at least once around 1 or 2. Its a HUGE change though, and we're all glad for it. We've just started keeping you in your crib at night, so we're trying to build a good relationship with you and your sleep habits. You're still my morning snuggle buddy before everyone gets up - and most mornings after you've been fed, its like the world is a perfect place. The smiles you give could make the birds sing; I know it makes my heart sing every day.

hugs & love,

mama

21 Already?

Written on 4/13/12. Posted on 7/27/12. 

Baby girl,

Happy Friday the 13th! You're 21 months today, and looking (and sounding) ever more like a two year old.

Right after my last post, you started to recognize the letter M, which to my delight - means you can now spell your name if we ask you each letter in that order! You have started to chime in a little with songs, and 3 word phrases are so last month. You've even started to command us with things like "Coat Off!" when you want us to stay with you.  When we forgot a washcloth for the tub, you came running back, opened a drawer, searched for the yellow wash cloth, found it and ran back to your daddy in the bathroom. It made my heart grow two times in size.

You're so very physical with everything you do - your personality (and your accident-prone nature) seems to take after your daddy. You're growing in front of our eyes; I remember the first time I saw you navigate the toddler slide on your own. You're getting so big! You're bumped and bruised and scraped almost every day now from that rough and tumble life style - but you're also still very gentle with your brother. This morning after your hand got squeezed in your crib bars you took it out surprised and I saw you give your arm a kiss to make it feel better. It was unbelievably cute.

At school, you love your arts and crafts, and get along nicely with all the kids now. Your teacher is always writing us of how much you helped her, or held another young girls hand when she was trying to walk.  You know whose teachers belong to your brother, and you can tell me the other children's names and which parent belongs to which child - even for some who aren't in your class. You like to ask your brother's teachers where the babies are, and where he is if you see them in the hallway. You're just so good with him.

You don't mind me feeding your brother anymore, and explain to me that the bottles in the fridge are milk for him. You laugh hilariously when you see him being fed solids (and as he spits them out), and you're always helping me get toys for him (even if they aren't always the best size).
 
You and I have gone to swim classes for the past month at the YMCA, and you LOVE it. The classes are 30 minutes every Saturday morning for 8 weeks - and I have to say its some of my favorite time of the week. I love seeing you have so much fun, listen, explore and learn. The ladies at the pool call you "the bathing beauty". You do all the gestures with the "if you're happy and you know it", "wheels on the bus", "humpty dumpty" and "goodbye - never swim alone" songs - and are really good at getting yourself out of the pool. You don't like to swim on your back yet; that's just something we'll have to work on this summer!

All in all, you're just a very impressive little girl. You're social, physical, artistic, and though we're a little biased, we can see how beautiful and intelligent you are now and how even more amazingly beautiful and intelligent you'll be when you're older. 

Squeezes and smooches,

Mama

Happy Half Year For Our Boss!

Happy six months boss-man!


The past two months you've really started getting a personality - and its a happy one. You have found your voice and  your laugh - so between your sister and you - car rides are rarely a quiet event anymore. You've also found your feet - which are always in your mouth, along with anything you can reach (blankets, stuffed animals, or anyone's fingers if they're not looking). You're constantly reaching and pulling things towards you now - including attempts at my food and drinks. I forgot how fast babies can be!

You smile all the time; on the changing table, when we wake up in the morning, when we sing, or when you're in your jumper. You giggle at your sister sometimes now - and at my singing as well. You love being tickled, tossed or squeezed. You are constantly watching your sister - who is always in your face, rocking you, or giving you toys and blankets when you cry. You don't even mind when she squeezes you in a bear hug;  you're just so easy going.

At school you're also incredibly social with everyone and have no problems with tummy-time or taking a nap. You're just enjoying soaking it all in I think. You're not afraid of anyone yet, and we hope to keep you as social as your sister is. She's definitely your best pal though - and you can pick her, me and your daddy out from the crowd.

We tried rice cereal for the first time last month and while you ate it, you weren't a big fan. We're hoping that you'll like it at 6 months now. And maybe, despite the research, it will fill you up longer to get you to sleep longer... a tired mama can dream!
You still never spit up - but you're incredibly drooley and gassy. You still wake up at 12 or 1 and 3 or 4 every night to eat. While I'm eager for you to sleep longer at night, I still love that you-and-me time together. Unfortunately we've had a terrible virus - or perhaps series of them - for the past several weeks which have given you a cold, a cough and a horrible rash. Your poor skin (which has always been dry) has gone through the wringer. Despite all that you're still such a happy guy; hopefully now that spring is here we'll all be a little bit healthier. 

Thanks for all your morning smiles and late night cuddles baby boy. You're so very, very amazing.

Hugs and Love,

Your Mama

Love my springtime girl

Baby girl- there simply aren't enough photos of you in this world- to me every movement you make is amazing. Thanks for bringing that sunshine into my life.

Happy 20 Months Baby Girl!

My sweet mcNugget,

You're so big. Two nights ago, I got my first "nite-nite mama" that had me over the moon. I'm telling you I could have run a marathon powered by those three words. You started linking together several words the past two months; the first was "whered it go?", which we hear nearly 20 times a day. We didn't believe it when your teacher wrote us to say you had said that about the FedEx driver you were watching out the window who went into the back of his truck to get a package... then we heard it ourselves and your daddy and I laughed and cheered for you. This month, you've developed that into a game where you hide things behind your back or below the wall of the tub or under a scarf, ask "whered it go?" and when and then surprise us by bringing it out. I can't believe how much you're doing and saying all on your own now! Other phrases you like to use are "bye-bye house/school/Cindy (your teacher)" you even said "love you" to your brother the other night.

This month we also transitioned from a high-chair to the dining table (complete with duct-tape phone books as your barely-needed booster). We're working on expanding your menu of what you'll eat, but since the past few weeks have had us all cooped up with a horrible cold, we haven't pushed it much. You did have your very first Taco Bell taco (and liked it when we got you to eat it!).

And the big deal for us was that just after your 18 month checkup we gave up the binky. We haven't looked back since, and amazingly enough you had no issues giving it up. Only a month later did you think to ask for it on occasion, but we're still binky free after a month and a half.

Unfortunately with all your development comes a lot of "testing" and "communicating" which we're working through. You now understand when I go to feed your brother that I can't hold you, so you shout "Mine" at me and want me to hold you. Last month you were pushing at school and hitting at home more, so we have been redirecting, spending lots of "mommy-and-me" time and even introduced you to time outs (though only for about 20-30 seconds) so we can all take a breather. This past week seems to have been a turning point with those types of communication and we are seeing a lot easier behavior.

You and I have been cuddling a lot more at night lately, where you request your books or songs or puzzels. You've started helping me say your prayers for who we love, and you're still a fantastic sleeper - but you get torn between being exhausted and wanting to stay up and play (so you reach for your crib, then whine at us when we go to leave). You don't like it when we leave you pretty much anywhere, and realize a lot of times when we go to a new place or to Gammy's that there is a chance of it, so you're clingy (what happened to my Miss Independant?). It sometimes takes a while, but you're usually quite comfortable on your own after we get settled. Two weeks ago we even started your first mommy-and-me swim lessons at the Y and you LOVE it. You're not afraid of anything!

Our next development seems to be singing songs and learning our letters / numbers. You can already identify an A, I, C and O. You can repeat the whole alphabet after me, letter by letter, when you feel like it (I often start and get a "No"). And even with that word, you wouldn't imagine how much I love your voice!! You sometimes chime in when we sing certain songs (like Row, Row, Row Your Boat and Old McDonald) - and make requests on some days ("Bus!" for Wheels on the Bus") and I can't wait for you to start singing along. If you hear If You're Happy And You Know It you automatically clap, stomp and lift your hands in "Horray" without stopping what else you're doing.

Thank you for these smiles you bring to us each day baby girl. You are smart, precious and beautiful; I love you with every cell of my body.

hugs & love,
mama

Living Room Changes

I have two living room changes to write about that we've completed over the past two months. The first is our front "entry" has changed a little.

When we moved things around to accommodate our Christmas Tree, we decided we liked the desk (that we no longer use as a desk since we got our laptop) as a 'drop zone' that separated the large room into two spaces - the living room and the entry way. (It's now standing immediately to the left of the front door). But that left us with an empty wall. We decided ideally if we couldn't knock that wall down (and we have no plans to do that since it would screw with the floors) - we would love built ins that double as some cabinets / storage (for the mess of toys) on the bottom and a display / bar area up top. Its the first thing you see when you walk in, so it better look nice!

But then we realized that that would cost about $1000 - even from Ikea or DIY'd. So that's on hold until we a) put away the money or b) find something better (like a REALLY cool piece from craigslist). In the mean time, we got this 15' plug in light cord from Ikea, lampshade from Target, and light bulb from Lowes. We hung some photos we had had framed but never hung and moved our chairs / table down from hiding in the attic. Its supposed to look like a reading nook and give us more seating when we have people over (which is a lot more often since we had the kids). I love the new light, but not sure if the whole thing looks a little like a dentist office waiting area... if there were fake plants, it probably would. Oh well, we're working with what we have!

But here's the best part. The lamp is a plug in. But its not. Well, not anymore. The husband found a remote switch that has two pieces: 1: you plug piece A into your outlet and your lamp cord into piece A. 2: you put batteries into this white light switch that you can tape or screw up anywhere. It's genius. Seriously. I carried it around for an hour just switching it on and off. That ran us about $16 at Lowes.

The other great idea was all from the husband. He decided some high shelves would fill in the odd gap around our floating TV. Ikea to the rescue again. Now finally have my "mantle" to decorate for the holidays- even if I don't have a real fireplace. For now I'll just turn on the Yule log at Christmas.

Twelve Years

It has been 12 years since my maternal grandmother passed away. I remember how incredibly happy I had been earlier that day; I was away at school and had left my IM "away" status to something like "what an absolutely wonderful day it is". It is strange to think how blindsided we all were; I miss her often.

Even though she had been sick for a very long time, she was still always there. This grandmom was my "crafty" grandmom; the one who taught me how to sew and crochet. The one who made all our Halloween costumes (and who's sewing machine I now use to make my own kids costumes). I miss her on all the holidays and when I see something incredible on Pinterest that I just know she'd know how to make. She was so fun for us kids during the time we had her, and I'm grateful for all the things she taught me.

The photo above is the wreath my mom made for her this year. It's clear to see where we all got it from. Love you Tida!

It's Already 2.2012

Like I said in last week's post, I've been on an unscheduled hiatus from my blog the past two months. From the time I get up in the morning to the time I go to bed I feel like I don't stop moving. Between getting both kids and ourselves ready for school / work, the time it takes to drop off / pickup, regular house stuff (like cleaning, making dinners, and paying bills) added to the increased work load at work and managing to pump / breastfeed on top of all that, I've had little time to blog.

Happily now things have "sort of" slowed down at work and I can get a few posts in here and there. I'm going to start back slowly; no promises or commitments for thrice a week postings; and I'll also be spreading out the content so that I have more time to write them on a more manageable schedule.


So what else have I been up to in 2012? Well, trying to get my work-life balance in order mostly. So I started 2012 like so many others do: with a resolution. That resolution was to make a list of resolutions really; one for each month. But I knew for me these resolutions had to be realistic, doable, and still make me feel accomplished at the end of the year. Important to note that this was the list. Laminated and finalized; no adding other resolutions (like "blog regularly" or "host a game night once a month") and over-stretching myself. Now of course I can do those other things, but my commitment is to do these things by the end of the year, without setting myself up to fail with other 'distractions'.

In January I decided to re-add flossing to my daily routine. Its one of those on-again, off-again things I got lazy with, and (TMI) during my pregnancies I had some pregnancy gingivitis. But from what I've been told, dental health can pay huge dividends in other areas of your health (and later on save you money!).

We also bought tickets for two different concerts (one coming up in March and the other in May). Concerts just didn't seem like all that much fun while I was pregnant so we haven't been to one in a few years!

Here's the others:

• Run a 5K (another thing I missed while pregnant)
• Learn to cook (to save money and get healthy!)
• Clean the attic (get organized... this is our #1 junk spot in our house)
• Get my cleaning plan together (eventually leading to less stress, live in a healthier environment, feel organized and let us have people over anytime!)
• Backup all my photos on DVD & create at least two albums (get organized)
• Learn to use my camera (have fun)
• Figure out how to "give back" more (have fun)
• Take a real vacation (have fun)
• Write a will (this one will stress me out until we do it)
• Rid myself of all the clothes that don't fit or make me feel good (enough said)

For me the over-arching goals of "have more fun", "get healthier", "stress less", "get organized", "save money" aren't realistic. However, I feel I can work towards them by setting smaller goals that "roll into" those bigger visions. I also wanted something to remind me of my goals throughout the year. And because it was fun to me, I made a mixed-font word-map with my resolutions in mind. This is on my refrigerator now. I love it.

McCutie Update

I took a bit of an accidental hiatus over the past two months. Mostly due to the craziness of the holidays, going back to work, and managing two kids when I'm home. I have to say I am egg-sauce-ted at the end of the day and go to bed at 9 or 10 every night. But, on the good side, I'm absolutely LOVING being a mom of two; there has been nothing more wonderful in my life than the gift of becoming a mom!

So here's an update for McNugget @ 18 months:

Dear Baby Girl,

You've grown up so much since becoming a big sister. Your vocabulary now includes all the animal sounds ("moo", "gobble gobble", "neigh", "who who", "ahh-ahh") and body parts we can think of (head, knees, eyes, cheeks, toes) , the words "please" ("pease") and "thank you" ("dando"). You know everyone's name "mama", "dada", and "duunda" of course; but also "troder", "am-e" (gammy), "juju", "alie" (valerie), "car" (sean), "poppop" and "ninnie" are all favorites too.

And for those words you're not saying just yet, you're still expressing yourself ("love you" is a blown kiss followed up by a real kiss and hug) and pointing correctly to almost everything we ask you to. You could finish the shape sorter at 13 or 14 months, and follow rather complex directions (please put mommy's shoes in the middle basket) - and know which bins your toys are supposed to go in (cars go in one bucket, balls in another).

Now at 18 months and 25 lbs, you've been a pro at climbing on chairs and up and down steps (with us by your side of course!) and are starting to get into trouble. The day before your brother's christening we had to take you to the ER for your first set of stitches (you fell onto the bottom step and put your tooth through your lip).

You've officially hit your jealous stage, and are looking to us for extra attention. You have started hitting and pushing a bit, but never maliciously - only for our attention. (After hitting, you always immediately smile and stroke our hand / face and say "niiiiiiice").  But you're absolutly crazy about your brother when its just the two of you - or when you see him at school (and he's pretty sweet on you as well!)

You're starting to get a little crazy about asking for the binky ("ginky"), so we'll be trying to get rid of it in the next few weeks/months. Most of our evenings are spent coloring, stacking blocks, reading, wrestling and playing with your cars. You do love to help out with vacuuming and dusting as well - so we may have to invest in a play broom soon!

Christmas was so much fun, it actually took us DAYS to open up all your toys. You're just crazy about Elmo, though you know all his friends too, so we had a lot of fun picking out elmo pjs, elmo plates and cups, elmo slippers and a new elmo toothbrush for you. And you were the flower girl in your Uncle David / Aunt Ninny's New Year's Eve Wedding - where you completely stole the show walking down the aisle by yourself.



At school you've started to play dress up and use the play kitchen, and in general are excelling at almost everything we put in front of you. You've known your shapes for months, so we've starting to learn your colors and letters the past few weeks. You love when I sing songs to you (itsy bitsy spider, ABC's, and Old McDonald) and can even do some of the motions with songs like "if you're happy and you know it" or "teddy bear, teddy bear"). We've also been working on you getting yourself dressed / undressed. You can pull your socks, shoes, and shirt off if we get it started for you; we're working on the pants now!

Night time is still pretty easy; you let us know when you're tired by twirling your hair. Daddy gives you a bath after dinner, you get a few books read and we say your prayers to you, and then we rock you for a few minutes until you point to your crib.

Last week you wanted me to paint your eyes with one of my makeup brushes, so of course I love to "paint" your eyelids (don't worry, the brush doesn't have any make up on it!) cheeks, and nose as we get ready in the morning. You just love the feeling of the brush and try to peek with your eyelids closed so you can see what I'm doing. As you've aged you've started to look more like me (even though you still have blond hair and blue eyes) and I am so excited about that. And when ever I wear something sparkly (like a shirt with sequins or a nice necklace), you like to touch it gently and say "oooohh". It is so wonderful to have a girl.

Those are the moments I love best; when its still me and you snuggling or playing together. You're so very wonderful and bring us so much joy everyday.

And here's an update for McMuffin @ 4 months:


Dear Boss-man:
The day you were born showed me how much a heart can expand in one day. And every day since then has been another in the best chapter of my life. Before 2 months you were rolling over and smiling. At two months we heard you laugh. The doctor says you physically are more than a month a head of schedule - with the most amazing head control from the day you were born and tummy time at daycare exceeding 50 minutes now (spread out over several sessions each day of course)! At 3 months you started to stand on us when we held you and play in your jumper. That's also when you really started "talking" a lot more to us.

For as physical as you are, you watch your sister and everyone else a lot more than your sister did at your age. We even find you going out of your way to watch the motion of the TV whenever its on in a room. You're still not keen on your binky (which may help us get rid of them for your sister), and you like stuffed animals and blankets much more than she ever did.


You giggle when I "bite" your belly and rarely spit up. You're not completely sleeping through the night yet, but we certainly have gotten quite a lot more sleep than in your first and second months - somedays you can now do stretches from 10 - 4:30 (usually followed by a few days of 10, 2, & 5 am feedings). You're still breastfeeding, and sleep besides our bed in a pack-n-play. While you're still what I'd call a good sleeper, our next goal for you is to help you sleep through the night.


You such a happy baby. You never cry unless you're hungry, though you're not quite happy when people touch your head (no hats for you!), and sometimes get scared at really loud noises (picture wide eyes, quivering lip, and a wail of a cry!). Bath time makes you really calm (unless of course we scrub your head) and you love the feeling of the water. Diaper changes are also a favorite of yours- I think its all the individual attention and eye contact. You can hold things like a rattle and are always trying to put things in your mouth (which also makes you drool a lot the past few weeks!) I imagine we'll have to start rice cereal soon (but I'm not ready for that, so we'll wait as long as possible!)

Like your sister you have my rosy cheeks and are middle of the road for weight (15.5 lbs). Also like her you're above average in height and headsize! To me your best features are your eyes and your smile. I can't get enough of either of them. You are the most beautiful boy I've ever seen - and you look so much like your daddy, though you remind me in certain photos of my own dad.


When we're at home, you spend most of your time with me, and I can't get enough of you (even at 3 am!) I love that one-on-one time providing for you, and am not ready for you to grow up so fast. While with your sister I've been excited about each milestone and anxious to see 'what comes next', I'm a little sad to see yours get here so fast.

Thanks for showing me how easy it is to share my heart - and for being the best little man a mom could ask for.

Love you both so much; squeezes and open mouth kisses.

Mama