Life Goes On...

I know I haven't posted in a while. Not much has changed. I've got stories, yes. But, right now I am in the middle of so many projects that I have been spending a lot of my spare time on those after the girls go to bed at night. So, I'm sorry. The stories (which are hopefully entertaining) will return after Olivia's birthday next month. And until then, the boring update posts will be here to, oh I don't know...bore you?

Anyway, I have crossed one item off my to-do list, and that was item #1. Only to find out the next day that that wedding has been postponed until the summer of 2008 for understandable reasons (I love you, L!). I did try on the dress and got more excited about the Mexico wedding thing. At least I have something to look forward to well in advance.

I am determined to cross things off my list. I mean, we are almost to February already! It just felt like Christmas. And now we're headed into Valentine's Day. This is all happening way too fast.

So, it sounds to me like everyone in this house (including Josh) is asleep, so I will leave you with this:

Today Beatrice received a birthday card in the mail from her Uncle T (Thanks, T!). You don't have to give that girl a wrapped present...I have found that cards act the same way as a big boxed present for a two year old. I handed her the card and said "your Uncle T sent you this present for your birthday," and her eyes lit up as she saw the pink enveloped card in her lap. She immediately started to open it, and ripped the envelope in about 10 pieces getting to the card. She looked at it and said "Princess, Mama!" as that is what it was on the front of the card. Then she opened the card and a check fell out.

Without a beat, the kid picked up the check and promptly passed it to her father (who was sitting right next to her). No interest in money (coins, yes...bills, yes...checks, hasn't a clue what they are). She continued looking at the card and I read it to her...she forgot about that thing that fell out of the card. The next time she sees something she wants, it will be from Uncle T, and we will be sure to tell her. For it is the month of Beatrice...she has been celebrating her birthday all month long. How do I know? She sings the birthday song every single day.

Tagged

So, I've never been tagged before. Jenn wanted to know what some of my favorite music is, or music I have chosen for my iPod. I don't have an iPod...yeah, I'm so behind the times. I also don't really listen to the radio anymore due to Bea throwing change in my car's system, so what I have here are just some of my general favorites. Just some. I will post more at a later date, but these are the first one's that come to mind.

Beck – Loser, Where it’s At, Que' Onda Guero, Lord Only Knows, Devils Haircut, Beercan. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Beck. Any song is a good song, right Mitchell?
Peter Gabriel – In Your Eyes
Dido – All you want. I like all her music...
Jem – Flying High, all her music, really, but that is my favorite
Maroon5 – Sweetest Goodbye
Led Zeppelin - Fool in the Rain
Bic Runga - Sway
Queen - Under Pressure

**I also have a new favorite artist that I am not going to reveal here because I'm using a song from that artist for O's one year video. Sorry!

I'm happy to have fulfilled my tagging duty.

Olivia at Eleven Months

Dear Olivia,

Today you are eleven months old.

I wouldn't say that the changes with you have been huge this month, except for the fact that you are practically crawling! Inside, I think that you know how to do it and you are fooling us all...you are really dragging out the whole process. First you scootched along on your back, then you would drag your entire body with the palms of your hands, and now you are sort of doing the hulk crawl by using your forearms and hands to get you places. You don't go very far when you do "decide" that you are going to do it. Just a few little waddles and that is pretty much all we get (well, if we put a toy out for you to get that is farther than that you kind of snub us as if to say "you seriously thing I am going to go ALL the way over THERE?"). You're getting there and I feel as though you are going to be quick to walk after that.


This month brought many changes in the food department. Though you love your fruits and gobble up all of your baby food at every meal, you have advanced with what you eat. You're a finger food muncher, oh my gosh. This last week we gave you meat sticks (it's a mystery toddler food, ok?), and you gobbled those up like I couldn't believe. You like rice and fruits (in baby food and regular form), and you had some chicken noodle soup (mostly the noodles). I think you really like the fact that you can feed yourself and feel like the rest of the family. You've also been practicing with the sippy cup, of course, in an attempt to let the bottles be bygones in a month. In other words, you're kicking butt in the food and drink department!


You had one episode of sickness that double-whammied you (or maybe it was a triple hitter). You got a cold that your sister had, which turned into bronchitis and an ear infection at once. We felt very bad for you, but the doctor gave you some antibiotics and you were back to yourself pretty quickly. You hadn't been sleeping well at night, but once better, you were sleeping through again (thank you!).


Some of the other little quirky milestones you did in the past month include: being able to throw a ball, or any toy, for that matter - sometimes very far across the room (quite impressive!), your vocabulary is expanding in the sense of different sounds that come out of your mouth (think mama, dada, uh-oh, lala, baba, etc...), responding to your name, attempting the bye-bye wave (right now the hand goes in the air and stays there, like it is going to give a high five).


I've got two words for you that we have called you over and over this month: Drama Queen. Yes, you really are, but in the best way, baby. Once you become content with me sitting beside you while you are happily playing away, I try to get up to do something. It's not two steps that I take before you start wailing at me. Sometimes it is just when I stand up. Part of me thinks you want me to see everything you do, and part of me wonders if you have me trained? I wonder which one it is. Even so...


This past week I have thought a lot about you when I've been at work or was not by your side. These past eleven months have gone by so quickly, but I thought back through all of them. Baby girl, I held you so much, rocked you to sleep a lot, cuddled with you as much as I could. I spent a lot time with you, time that I will always remember as very special. However, I thought about those times when I didn't hold you or when I wasn't there for you every second, and I got a little bit sad. Even though I haven't spent much time away from you (except for working), I wished that the time I did have with you that you never left my arms. You're only small once, and you're already past the snuggle stage, and if I could go back I would enjoy those moments with you more than I did (I don't even know if it's possible). You'll soon be one, and even though I know you are trying to get to the next step in your life (mobility and talking), I'm trying to hold you back because I love you this way. I will let go just a little, and it will be hard, but I want to see you grow in every way possible.

I love you,
Mama

Insert Your Favorite Title Here

After watching the below video, you are more than welcome to choose your own title from below (or make one up yourself) for this video (I don't know why it is so dark, but hopefully you can make it out). It was just too hard for me to decide between the following:

A) A Clear Candidate for America's Funniest Home Videos

B) Does This Make Us Bad Parents?

C) Proof that the Youngest One can Hold Her Own

D) We've Got 17 More Years of Torment to Deal with



Please know that we did not take this video on purpose. Josh wanted to get some footage of them sitting together and this is what happened. And for the record, Olivia pulls everyone's hair, even Josh's, and HARD. You could say that she is learning how to hold her own in our family. I think also that she is finally figuring out a way to stick up for herself after all those eye-poking debacles that Bea did to her as a newborn before we even knew what was happening and stop her from doing it.

In any case, Happy Friday.

Each Kid Just Hit a New Milestone

Olivia:

My girl is at the beginning stages of crawling. If you asked me about it in person, I would smile and look as if I thought it were the greatest thing in the world. Inside, I’m crying. This is the end of the baby part of it all. And while at times I felt completely tied down to her because she’s been immobile and I had to carry her from place to place (lest she scream if I leave the room), I admit that I enjoyed it. I felt important. She NEEDED me! The crawling? Well, as I remember when Bea took off, it was all over and that was all she wanted to do. It’s a mission to get to places, find minuscule items on the floor to put into the mouth, and most importantly, find electrical outlets in which to attempt the sticking of items. We will once again attempt to have a spotless floor and keep those breakables (well, the things Bea got used to leaving alone) hidden.

In any case, she’s on her tummy, moving toward things and getting to things she wants. She hasn’t yet figured out that she needs to lift her butt off the floor in order to easily master the coordination of movements. Her hands are what is moving her as she drags the rest of her body behind her. I give her until her 11 months (DAMN THAT IS NEXT WEEK) until she gets it. Go Livey!

Bea:

Some of you may not like what you read here, and others might laugh, but THIS IS A MAJOR MILESTONE in our family since we have not just one, but TWO kids in diapers. Bea pooped in the potty. This I am happy to report. However, when I say that she “pooped in the potty”, it wasn’t a true case of the actual instance. An actual “poop in the potty” to me would consist of child saying “Need to go poop” and then adult says “Ok, let’s go to your potty” and then child runs there enthusiastically where adult helps pull down pants and take off diaper and child sits on potty and instantly poops. Then child wipes own butt. Well, ok, that last sentence is for the dreamer in me. Anyway, our situation was nothing of the sort as it happened while I was giving the girls a bath:

I’m washing Olivia and I notice that Bea has taken quite the weird stance. So, I look at her and ask her if she is ok. “PooPoo,” she says. I turn her around and notice that yes, something is already on its way out. I pull her out of the tub but part of the poop falls out onto the floor as my quick actions must have jolted her. I put her on the potty. She looked perplexed and turned a little red. Then she stands up. I asked her if she pooped and she said yes. Then, I looked. There were a couple of pebbles. I asked if she was done and she just looked at me blankly so I knew there was more coming. I set her back on it. I heard something fall and hit the plastic. Then she stood up again and I asked her if she was done and she said yes. She was done. And half of the poop went in there, ladies and gentlemen. That’s ONE DIAPER we didn’t need to clean (Oh, like cleaning the potty is SO much fun, too.). Anyway, we are proud of her.

2007 To-Do's

A little late with this? Yes, but that's me lately. If I don't make a list now I won't remember all the things that I want to do this year (because, well, it is already the middle of January...I've lost half a month). So for 2007, some of the things I would like to accomplish and some of the things I HAVE to do are this (and forget separating them out and listing some kind of order – I’m just not that organized today):

1. Try on bridesmaid dress for Lisa's wedding.
2. Book tickets and hotel for Josh's friends wedding in Maine in June.
3. Book tickets for brother's wedding in November.
4. Olivia's birthday projects.
5. Complete Bea's book (just need to edit now) and publish.
6. Book tickets to SD for Priscilla's wedding reception because surely there is no way we can go to Spain for the actual wedding, though I would love to.
7. Find mom group and join it.
8. Take Bea camping and wheeling in Hollister as a test run.
9. If all goes well with #8, take Bea on an actual sierra trip (or maybe have Josh take her).
10. Figure out work at home opportunities.
11. Re-organize ENTIRE house.
12. Begin house projects and redecorating. WOOP WOOP!
13. Attempt story night at the library with Bea.
14. Mini vacation with Josh. I’m dreaming here, but it could happen, so I should put it on the list.

The list, no doubt, will continue to grow and I’ll be adding things and updating. There are 5 weddings this year OMG! That’s a lot of traveling and a lot of present buying which is why I don’t think we’ll be able to get our own vacation in. I’m sure this is fun for you, right?

In any case, thanks to everyone for your comments and sincere emails about the video I did for Bea’s birthday. It was something I had planned to do for a while but kept it quiet. I wanted to be able to have something that we could look back on….and it was amazing for us to see the changes that took place in a year’s time. In fact, Josh didn’t even know about the video and I showed it to him the night before which completely choked him up. In any case, a few people had asked me about the tunes that I used:

The intro was from Jem’s album, Finally Woken. The track is “Flying High”, a special song between me and Bea as I used to sing it to her while I rocked with her in my arms when she was a newborn, right before nap times. The other song is by Carl Orff, Vier Stucke Fur Xylophon: Gassenhauer nach Hans Neusiedler.

Also, I used Windows Movie Maker to make the slideshow. It was many a late night after the girls went to sleep and took me a while to figure it out and make it perfect the way I thought was perfect. And then I would completely change it. But, the program was simple to use and pretty self-explanatory.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Beatrice!

Dear Bea,

Today you are two years old. I cried last night, this morning and probably will do so throughout the day, and most likely around 4:30 this afternoon. You turning two seems harder for me then when you turned one. You are no longer a baby now, but a little girl with her own personality.

For your birthday, I have taken all of the letters I have written you and am having them published in a hard cover book (via Blurb). All of your monthly letters and birth story, along with pictures, are included in there. It should be arriving in the next couple of weeks (hopefully).

But for today, sweet little girl, I have made this video slideshow for you...



Happy Birthday, Beatrice.

I love you,
Mama

The Inconsistent Parent

He gave me the look. The look that means my parenting has been completely inconsistent and that I should know better. But, I think he understands it because he does it with certain things, too. The situation is this:

Child: Toddler named Bea.

Parent: Yours truly.

Child: Doesn’t want to go to bed at night.

Parent: Is frustrated because likes the half hour to hour of alone time at night.

Child: Thinks she is missing something if others are awake when she goes to bed.

Parent: Puts child to bed around 8:30.

Child: Gets up 5 minutes later.

Parent: Puts child back to bed and answers the many questions that the child asks.

Child: Stays in bed for 5 minutes.

Parent: Continues to put child back to bed whilst answering any and all requests that pertain to owies, blankies, bow wows, hugs, kisses, tiger, and moo moo.

Child: Won’t stay in bed and practically follows parent out of room.

Parent: Continues to put child back to bed.

Child: Gets up about 20 more times (no, that IS NOT an exaggeration).

Parent: Gets frustrated.

Child: Thinks it’s a game. Gets up again.

Parent: Puts child back to bed without saying anything to her – only “night night time”.

Child: Gets up a couple more times and then gets bored because no one is talking to her and goes to sleep.


This is all a prelude to what happened the other night. Josh somehow managed to get her to bed at a reasonable time because I said I just couldn’t do this with her another night. He comes into the bedroom as I am folding laundry:

Josh: I think I figured it out. You can’t talk to her. You just have to put her in bed. No interaction.

Me: Oh really. I thought I told you this is what we need to do all along. It doesn’t work. I do that.

Josh: No, you don’t.

Me: I do when my frustration finally peaks. That’s when I don’t talk to her and put her in bed. And then she goes to bed after that.

Josh: See?

Me: Well, how would you feel if someone asked for a hug and you didn’t give it to them?

Josh: Jenna.

Me: It’s hard not to interact with her.

Josh: She was all hyped up tonight.

Me: That’s my fault.

(I RECEIVE THE LOOK)

Josh: What did you do?

Me: I was trying to get Olivia to sleep and as I looked around in her crib, I noticed that Bea had put all of her “I NEED” stuffies in there so as to use them as a motive to stay up longer while we search everywhere for them. She was lying in her bed and couldn’t see me. So, I took each one and made them appear to fall out of the sky on top of her.

(I RECEIVE THE LOOK AGAIN)

Me: But it was so funny. She would break out into hysterics every time she saw one come down on her and was so happy to see it. It was so priceless.

So, you see, even though I want her to go to sleep, I like having that final interaction at the end of the day with her, too. Sometimes it’s hard to be strict. And it is harder than anything to be consistent about it! I guess we will get it eventually.

A Little Snippet about "I Wish"

Sometimes....

I wish I could write my blog (or another type of blog) for moo-lah and make as much as I do now.

I wish I could work part-time.

Or maybe I wish I could be a stay at home mom and be able to have my own business.

I wish I had the time to finish my book.

Most importantly, when my girls are sick (like they are right now), I wish I could be there for them instead of feeling like I have to prove myself at work and have the balls to come in and not feel guilty about coming in late because of it. And by choosing to be a mom who works, I have to work harder, but it will never ever show through, so moving upward feels as if it may never happen. So, sometimes I wonder, just what is the point of all this?

That's the end of that. In funner news, I'm feeling quite popular today and I'm liking it:

I've been interviewed at "5 Minutes for Mom".

Love Thursday

Bea...I'm sorry I was impatient last night, but sometimes it's hard for me to be patient when I'm exhausted. I love you so very much.

Welcome 2007

Happy New Year!

We actually hadn’t planned on doing anything on New Years Eve. It’s a little tough still with the girls being so small. But, our neighbors who also have two kids were having a party. We ventured over to their house right after it appeared that Olivia had fallen asleep for the night (it was early at about 7:45 PM). When we arrived, Olivia woke up. There was way too much excitement for her to sleep. Instead, the girls partied along with us – while we talked with the adults, they played with the other kids. It was quite fun. We ended up heading home (well, walking across the street) around 11ish as the girls were very tired, and us, too. They went to bed pretty easily. I was the only one that made it to midnight, but that’s ok.

Now that it is 2007 (and I can hardly believe it), I hope to accomplish a lot in this next year (which, no way in hell I am listing here to be held up to some things). Fresh year. Fresh start. New attitude. Yep.

There have been some really amazing stories that I want to tell about the girls that have happened over the last few weeks, but for now I am holding onto them, but they will more than likely be included in their monthly letters. I can hardly believe that Bea will be 2 next week.

Here are a few more pics from the holidays: