New Year's Meme

I'm not big on the meme's but this one struck a cord with me. I haven't written out New Year's resolutions in a very long time, but this year, I am all over it. Some of the questions here I am taking a pass on, but I found this one to be fun, reflecting on the past year.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? A half marathon with my friend, Lisa. We're planning to do it again in 2009.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn't make any for 2008, and yes, I am making some for 2009.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Thankfully, no.

5. What countries did you visit? I didn't leave the US.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? More friends near to me.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? October 5th, the day of the half marathon. December 17th, the kids first trip to Disneyland.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I see a repeating pattern happening here. The 1/2 marathon. No way I can forget those 13.1 miles.

9. What was your biggest failure? There will be no negativity here.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Injury from the half marathon for about six weeks.

11. What was the best thing you bought? I absolutely love the wallet I got for my birthday in which I used a Macy's gift card for, along with a matching coin purse that I found at Anthropologie.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Obama.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Passing on this one...

14. Where did most of your money go? As usual, mortgage and daycare.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? The olympics and the presidential election. And also our trip down south this month.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? There are a lot that come to mind...

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier
b) thinner or fatter? Thinner
c) richer or poorer? Richer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Less work, more time with the family.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Work, work, work.

20. How did you spend Christmas? With Josh and the girls, and some of it with Josh's family. This year's Christmas was present overload.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008? Always in love...

22. What was your favorite TV program? LOST

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Not answering this one, either...

24. What was the best book you read? I didn't read as much as I would have liked to, but I did read a series of books by Emily Giffin (Something Borrowed, Something Blue, and Baby Proof) which I loved. I just couldn't get on the Twilight bandwagon.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? A number of new artists that people sent me for music to train for the 1/2 marathon. My favorite being the Ting Tings.

26. What did you want and get? Oh, a new flat panel TV with built in DVD for our bedroom, which I've wanted for so long!

27. What did you want and not get? Well, I still want this damn Bulova watch, which is way too expensive, but I am so infatuated with it.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? I saw a bunch of movies that I rented and weren't produced this year because I was so far behind on any movie watching - many which I loved including The Notebook and The Holiday. I went to the movies only twice and saw the SATC movie, which I loved, and Madagascar 2, with the kids.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 29 once again this year, he he. Josh took me to my favorite Mexican eatery, Sinaloa, among many other things.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? More improvements to the house, but at least we're getting somewhere now.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? More fashionable than year's past, that's for sure. I'm a skirt girl, with high heel sandals in the summer and boots in the winter. And I've added more accessories this year. I'd like to say there has been imnprovement.

32. What kept you sane? My husband by far...and coming home from work to two happy girls.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Obama.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? California's prop 8 by far. I thought California was more accepting of equality, but it appears that wasn't the case at all.

35. Who did you miss? A lot of people and too many to name...all those family and friends that are dear to me and who are not within 30 miles of me.

36. Who was the best new person you met? My east coast work counterpart by far...

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. It is wrong to let your kids pee freely, whether in the parking lot of a zoo or your own backyard.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Well open up your mind and see like me
Open up your plans and damn you're free
Look into your heart and you'll find love love love love

Listen to the music of the moment people, dance and sing
We're just one big family
And it's our God-forsaken right to be loved loved loved loved loved

--Jason Mraz, I'm Yours

Happy New Year to all....

The Trip Down South...

We're back...

I don't think I had anything to worry about as far as how long we would be in the car driving down to Los Angeles. It took us eight hours to get there (damn that LA traffic, not to mention that the grapevine had been closed up until a half hour before we got there due to snow). I thought that we were going to be out of our minds on the way down when Bea asked "are we there yet" a half hour into the drive. But, I didn't really have much to worry about. The girls watched movies and slept, and the ride back was just over five hours and was quite a breeze.

So, what wasn't such a breeze? Well, remember how I recently lost my iPod (and then found it)? And then remember how I recently lost my camera (and didn't find it)? Well, if there ever was a case of things happening in 3's, then this was it. And it was my most valued possession...my precious engagement ring. It was lost for 3 days. I swore I had it on my hand while we were at Disneyland, and then on the drive home I discovered that I was not wearing it. I panicked. And then we were sure it was gone forever if I really did truly lose it at Disneyland. My brother looked through his photos and it appeared to be missing from one of the first rides. Then, my mom said to dump out my purse. It wasn't there. Upon returning home and cleaning out my suitcase, there it sat, all by itself near my makeup bag. If only I had cleaned out my suitcase that night, I could have been relieved a lot quicker. I snatched up that ring as soon as I spotted it and threw it back on my finger. So the third missing item is now found...and there shall be no more missing items. I've had my three, and that's final. No more.

The visit was more than a good time. I saw family that I hadn't seen in a while, and we took the girls to Disneyland, along with my brother and his wife, V. I think we might have called it wrong when we took the girls on to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride for their first ride. After that experience, one where you hear a child screaming and crying when the ride comes to a halt, was a first hand experience for me. Olivia wanted to ride with me and was so excited to sit in the car and pretend to steer, but things turned ugly real fast when explosions happened and things flashed, and oh, it was just so noisy. Every indoor ride after that was the same, even the Winnie the Pooh ride, which I had never been on before and deemed it surely had to be mellow, was not her cup of tea. And neither was It's A Small World. Bea did just a step above her, but didn't like a lot of the indoor rides either. I really wanted to take Bea on Splash Mountain, and she even saw the people coming down the huge, main drop, and she was just tall enough. She begged to go on. But, we did pass in the end. I think their favorites were the Dumbo ride and Nemo submarine, and they always like carousels. We also did the teacups, with me and Bea spinning super fast, and Josh and Olivia taking it easy. Bea loved it, and so did I. The big thing we wanted to do was see the princesses, and the only princess that they were most interested in seeing was Ariel. Unfortunately, after waiting a good half hour to forty-five minutes, they switched out the princesses. We were nearly ten people away from the entrance when we saw Ariel saunter off, and then it was just a disaster when they let us in to see Mulan, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. I just can't tell that story.

Family time was awesome, and we enjoyed seeing everyone and spending some time enjoying the holiday season, too....

The beautiful castle...the girls are in the bottom left corner. Yes, Olivia wore her princess dress to Disneyland:


Aunt V and Bea in the monkey cage (as were the rest of us) on the Casey Jr. train:


The girls kept themselves occupied while we stood in line:


She saw something cool and let the world know it:


With dad in line at Roger Rabbit (yet, another mistake on our part):


The best damn corndogs in the world are at Disneyland (who knew??) and can throw you into a tizzy:


Fortunately, we didn't need to make any stops here:


Before the Pooh ride...can you tell?


My bro, V, Josh and the girls waiting for the submarine to take them to find Nemo:


Todd and O on the carousel - our last ride:


And my favorite pic from the happiest place on earth (for most):



I have to include some family photos in here...so you have to believe me when I said I took close to 200 photos on our trip, and I'm just picking a few notables:

Four generations:


O kissing the newest member of the family, Tanner:


Bea was grumpy, so in order for her to oblige with a family photo I yelled "Oh MY GOSH...I SEE WALL-E OVER THERE!" Hence, the look on O's face as she tries to see where exactly Wall-e is, and Bea is so happy he is there, for just a second:


Mom and Dad really liked their present:


O lights a candle on the menorah for the first time:


The magnificent seven:


The Hannukah pinata was a new addition to the festivities this year, but was a hit and will continue for years to come:


She loved my aunt's holiday village, and continued to rearrange it every chance she got:


My brother is bound to post more photos (and he is a much better photographer than myself) sometime soon. If you're lucky, you might see some pretty funny ones of me...I tend to mess up a lot of photos with funny faces. He's at www.thalimer.com.

Now we're just getting ready for Christmas around here...

I Should be Packing...

And I'm thinking, holy bejeesus, when was the last time I did two posts in two days. However, I have to share this year's Santa photo. I took the girls over to the mall after work today and we ate dinner there and stood in line to see Santa. I thought for sure I was going to have to be in the photo with them, because as soon as we got to the front of the line, Olivia clung to me for dear life and said she didn't want to see Santa or talk to him. Then, wonder of wonders, when the kid that was up there hopped off Santa's lap, she surprised me and ran up to him. Did she hit him? I kind of thought that could possibly happen. But, it didn't. She gave him the biggest bear hug I have ever seen and then whispered in his ear. It was the most adorable thing I have seen her do. And Bea just took it all in stride, but with extra excitement. Here's the captured photo (and mama - yes, me - laid down the law with Santa's helpers by making them take 5 photos so I'd get a good one. Mama doesn't pay good money to have one kid smiling and the other not. Well, that's the Mama I've now become.):

Breaking Away

In a couple of days, we will be headed down to southern California to visit a great number of family peeps and hit up Disneyland with the girls for the very first time. I'm hoping to have a lot of photos to post after our trip (Did I mention that I lost my camera on our big tree chop down event a couple of weekends ago? Well, I now have a new Nikon digital that I absolutely LOVE. Though, I will never see those photos of the tree chopping EVER. Boo.).

Anyway, we're all very excited over here for the big trip. Wish us luck, cause I think we might need it for the 5 - 6+ hour drive, there and back. It's kind of the least of my worries because of all the fun we are going to have...

Good people to visit. Fun times to be had. The happiest place on earth for a whole entire day. I couldn't ask for more, especially this time of year.

Why I Do It

Me: Bea, I really don’t want to go to work today.

Bea: You have to, mama. Because you make stuff for doctors to use so that they can make people get better faster. And then you get money because you do that so that you can buy me and Olivia toys and food so that we can be happy. So you have to go.

Me: Are you really only three years old?

Bea: I’m almost four, mama.

And there you have it.

Chicago

Chicago was....COLD. I'm not really going to state on the record that this was the trip from hell, but some things - like O'Hare airport - made it that way.

I absolutely LOVED Chicago. Maybe it was the time of year, or just going somewhere different, but it was absolutely beautiful. I saw the snow fall just enough so that the holiday lights that decorated the city made it a winter wonderland. It was gorgeous. I didn't even mind the cold too much, and I even went outside in front of my hotel to watch the snow fall for a while and take in the briskness of the city. I even obtained 5 cab rides in a single day - a personal record for me. It was a quick trip, however, and most of it was spent on an airplane or at the airport. Both of my flights were delayed a couple of hours, only telling us passengers AFTER we were all sitting on the plane. All of this due to snow, fog, and circuit breakers breaking where the word "engine" was said and people freaked out on our plane (you know, it was like that Friends episode where there was something wrong with the PHILANGE).

Anyway, being away is always hard without my family. I say a little prayer over and over before the plane takes off and everytime there is turbulence. I wanted them there with me, to experience it with me. When I got into Chicago and used the restroom, I was absolutely amazed at the toilet seat covers that are automatic. I immediately thought of Bea and how much she would freak out over them and not dare use the toilet in that airport. It was quite interesting. I'm glad to be home, needless to say, where things are somewhat normal and we are getting ready for the holidays.

And I was so happy to at least have my iPod. I hate to bring up the iPod again, but about 30 minutes into my flight there, it froze up. Then it died when the battery ran out. And I am scared to plug it in to recharge to only find out that the iPod died a slow death on the way to Chicago...Another update will be necessary.

Thankful

Yesterday we spent the Thanksgiving holiday with Josh's family...good food and lots of family. I realized, after seeing how old my nieces have gotten - they are now 11 and 13, and they were flower girls in our wedding at just 3 and 5 years of age - time has gone by so fast, and while they enjoyed being around the adults, it was different in the sense that they were so self sufficient and had to be hassled at times to visit with everyone. I realized that my little girls will be there, and not too far into the future and that I should cherish all the time that I have with them at this age. The girls had a great time hanging out with their nieces, and there was a lot of girl bonding to be had.

The day before, however, I had some bad luck...all around. Talk about things happening in three's, well it seemed to be much more than that. First of all, I am going to Chicago on Monday. The hotel I'm staying at called to tell me they had overbooked the rooms, and well, I was going to be put at another hotel far, far away from my coworkers. At least I had a hotel room. Then, I decided to head out of work early for the day because there was a lot of pie making to be done at our house. I arrived home and set my bag down and forgot that my portable coffee mug was in my bag and I had laid it on its on side. A few minutes later, my work laptop was soaked. And now my work laptop is dead.

So, a little while later I decided to start peeling the apples for the pies. I ended up skinning part of my finger in the process. Painful. I also peeled the apples in the sink. I didn't remove them from the sink and instead put them down the rain. I take the blame for stopping up the sink and clogging the disposal that Josh so kindly dealt with on Thanksgiving morning. There is possibly one other thing that went wrong, but I can't for the life of me remember what it is now. That's probably a good thing.

Thanksgiving ended up being so much fun, and I've so much to be thankful for. I think Olivia was most thankful for a bowl of whipped cream:


And today? Well, I'm on the upswing folks. I was researching new iPods and about to run out and get one, but decided to look around one last time in hopes that I wouldn't have to spend money on a new one. And I found it.

Accomplished

I'm basking in my weekend of accomplishment:

Finished the girls Christmas shopping (well, all but a few stocking stuffers)
Finished painting the dining room area (WHEEEEEEE!!! It's yellow instead of "owner's white")
Wrote round 1 of holiday card letter (hopefully approval from Josh will make it final)
Made dinner on Saturday and Sunday night (I'm not typically the chef in this family)
Me time with TWO uninterrupted movies after everyone crashed out (Wedding Date - entertaining, typical, but cute; Made of Honor - Typical, eh.)

So, the dinners weren't crazy by all means. Saturday night I made the classic tuna noodle casserole, which Olivia loved and Bea hated (I like all the stuff momma, just not together). Sunday I did a crockpot recipe I found off the internet, and it was so delicious that I want to share it with you. Both Josh and I were astounded at how delicious roast beef can be with little prep:

Layer the bottom of your crocker with mushrooms.
Place a 2 - 4 lb of roast beef (loin) over it.
Add a packet of Lipton onion soup mix over the top of the beef.
Pour in one bottle (12 fl. oz.) of beer. (I used the Dos Equis amber)
Cook that sucker on high for nine hours.

The result was amazing, fall apart and juicy roast beef. The juice left in the crocker Josh turned into gravy and put it with mashed potatoes and over the beef. It was so worth smelling it cook all day. I can't wait to make it again, and it was so little work. I'm still full. I should have taken a photo of it. Next time.

This weekend wasn't an easy one by all means with the girls. They played together happily for the most part, but when they got into it, it wasn't pleasant. After I came back from holiday shopping, Bea told me I better give her the presents or I'm going to go to jail. Or, when I told Olivia that no way she cannot go outside in her tank top and underwear and she went into hysterics. There was a lot of bickering between the girls. There were some raised voices around here, and I am proud to say I think I finally got the hang of the disciplinary mother voice. It worked.

I'm now officially wiped out, and ready for a very short work week. The next month is going to be crazy, but fun...

Making A List, Checking it Twice

Ok, not that kind of list.

I was a bit overwhelmed in my last post, and I have to say that I do have more of a handle on things now. I don't know what I would do without the Internet, believe it or not, and sad to say really...

I've completed more holiday shopping online, so now I'm about eighty percent there. Also, I did our holiday cards online and those should be here by next week. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Shutterfly? You can do personalized gifts there as well, and I found a bunch of codes to use at my other favorite site, retailmenot. There's bargains everywhere right now...did Black Friday come early this year?

I've got the holiday letter written in my head also, so I just need to get it down on paper. During the Thanksgiving break I'm going to try to get everything signed, sealed and delivered. I'm off to Chicago for work the day after the break for a couple of days, so I'm going to attempt to make up for lost time.

I've also made some decisions on where we are holding/having Bea's fourth birthday party.

As you can see, I'm kind of cranking things out. Not on my list? Painting rooms in the house. Last weekend Josh took the girls out to the zoo while I stayed back to get some things done. I ended up painting some yellow walls in our dining area. Not all the walls, unfortunately, but at least Bea continues to tell me "your walls are beautiful, mommy."

Speaking of which, there is a lovefest going on over here lately. The girls have been so kind with their words, minding their manners, and playing together happily. Do they know that Santa is the one making his list, checking it twice? Or are they outsmarting me already?

Sigh

I’m not sure what to do about this here blog. I love it and having a way of documenting things for the girls to see when they get older (and the reason I started it in the first place), but I’m finding it harder and harder to write in it. Actually, it is more like finding the time to write. As I look into the next six or so weeks, I just don’t know how to fit it with all of these other things:

Holiday cards/letter
Thanksgiving
Holiday shopping (already 50% done – woo hoo)
Hannukah and Christmas
Trip to LA: Disneyland and family visits
2 already scheduled holiday parties
Chopping down our tree
Planning Bea’s 4th birthday party and starting Olivia’s 3rd.
Making both girls b’day videos

Did I overwhelm you, too? Not much I can cross off that list unless we forego the actual letter part of the holiday card. I love the holidays, but why is there so much to do?

What to do, what to do.

Oh, and the iPod update you are all on the edge of your seats for? It’s gone. No stone left unturned.

Day of Mourning

What’s more frustrating than two toddlers vying for attention by crying and whining in what feels like hours and hours but is only about one hour while you’re trying to get ready for work and you’re not ignoring them but possibly continuously feeding the fire that is them without knowing it*?

Well, my beloved iPod has gone missing, and I’ve looked everywhere. It’s possible that the girls took it (as they did our keys last night and had Josh looking for a half an hour this morning to find them**), but I think I would have found it by now. It’s been a few days. And I’m frantic. What’s even stranger is that the earphones were still in my purse with no iPod, when I know that they were attached. Nothing else was missing. What I hate is the fact that it is “missing” and not exactly “lost” or “stolen”. What if I go buy a new one only to find my original iPod a day later?

iPod, WHERE ARE YOU???????????

So, I guess I know what I’ll be asking for Christmas this year. Or, maybe a belated birthday present?

*It is quite possible that yes, we are having competitive attention complications/setbacks right now.
**One tactic used to try to get our attention.

Happy Halloween, Part II

I don’t have too many more photos to display of Halloween, unfortunately. I didn’t get snap happy as usual this year. The girls were amped up on sugar from their party at daycare, so instead of cooperating, they were running around screaming from excitement. Fortunately, we got the help from our friends V and E (who are expecting their baby any day now) to help us pass out candy. This year, I couldn’t tell if the girls liked handing out the candy or trick or treating more. The weather was unusually windy, but at least we didn’t get rained on. All in all, I think we hit about 25 – 30 houses, and we were sad to see so many unlit homes this year. Here’s a few photos of last week:

She loves them pumpkins so much:


Getting ready to carve the pumpkins and gathering the SEEDS (all in good fun until some girls got some of the pumpkin goop on them and then wanted nothing to do with the carving):


Our pumpkins (hard to tell what some of these are, but the one in the back was this awesome skull that Josh did...looked 3d when it glowed at night):


The same one with an excited Bea (she was in about 10 others like this):


Waiting patiently before we head out to trick and treat:


This one wasn't feeling so well:


The four of us:

Happy Halloween, Part I

I haven't yet had a chance to take some photos of the girls from this morning in their costumes, or pics of our carved pumpkins. This photo was taken Tuesday before attending a Halloween festival. More photos to come later this evening....but for now, here's my beautiful butterfly Bea and pretty princess Olivia.



Happy Halloween, everyone!

Proof

Sometimes I start posts and never finish them, or sometimes I just don't publish them at all. I was looking for something in my older posts and I came across this one that I had titled "the brown-eyed beauty has claws" from about 14 months ago. We always say how Bea is so happy all the time, and that she was always happy. I must have blacked out those times when she made things a little difficult. I guess those times are few and far between in comparison to Olivia. Though, I do have to say that O's attitude has changed A LOT over the last few weeks.

Anyway, here is an excerpt from the blog post that I did not publish. See if you believe it. I don't remember my little happy-go-lucky Bea ever acting out of line, but she did, and reading this I do remember some of it and can distinguishly hear her voice saying some of it:

"Usually I am greeted with a hug and smiles, instead I was ignored. And, she makes it a point to say "Hi, Daddy" when he has already picked her up from daycare and spent some time with her. So, I interject with "Hi Bea!" The response I got made me stop in my tracks. It was "No, I didn't say hi to you. I said hi to daddy!" Oh, lord. And it gets worse...

At dinnertime, I am helping Josh by getting her drink and I kindly ask what she wants - water, milk or juice. She ignores me. I ask her about five times. Finally, I get an "I want lemonade" response. So I get her the lemonade, and as I am putting it in front of her, she says to me, "Mama, you're in my way." Excuse me? This isn't even the end of it...

Around bedtime, she puts a piece of plastic from a plastic bag into her mouth which she knows she shouldn't. I tell her to take it out, as I usually do, and normally she spits it out into my hand or throws it in the garbage. Instead, she runs away from me to her bed. I go after her and put my hand in front of her mouth and ask her to spit it out. What does she do? She pretends she is going to and then all of the sudden I see her chewing and then she does one of those big swallow type motions. Yep, she swallowed it."

She still has these types of moments, but it is short-lived.

Stay tuned for Friday...I'll be posting pics from last night's Halloween Festival at my mother-in-laws school, our pumpkin carvings that will take place this evening, and costumes. There could be multiple costumes for each child. Just a warning in advance...

Did the Washing Machine Throw Up?

I think that I learned a mighty big lesson this weekend. That lesson is to check everything before putting it in the washing machine.

When unloading the washing machine yesterday, these mysterious gel-like substances started appearing in the clothes. They were almost like little styrofoam balls, but they were clear and jelly-like. The further I got down to the bottom of the machine, they were more frequent. I started to wonder what in the world it could be - I go through all the pockets when I do the laundry, but this was strange, and what could produce something that looked like these little gel balls?

When I got to the bottom of the machine, I found the culprit. A pull-up had somehow not been taken out of someone's pajama bottoms. It had gotten thrown in there and stayed inside those pajama bottoms somehow. Generally, those are removed before they make their way into the laundry basket, and being that it had gone unnoticed, I figure that the girl who had used that pull-up had not done any sort of pee damage to it, making it dry and not heavy, and therefore, it got tossed in.

Upon finding the culprit, I exclaimed to the family what I found, and they all looked at it in disbelief. It was a strange sight, I have to say. I then sort of chucked it onto our already dying front lawn because I just couldn't hold it any longer and didn't know what to do because these gel balls were falling out of it like wildfire. It was just so, um, unpleasant.

As it layed there on the dying grass, I couldn't help but think it looked like a sad little pull-up that had somehow been filled with shaved ice. See for yourself:


The moral of this story? Check everything before putting it in the washing machine. Seriously. I have now dealt with two washing machine debactles: crayons and pull-ups. I put that load through two more times just to be on the safe side and was happy to find no more gel balls.

If there are any practical jokers out there who are looking for a new trick, here's and easy one for you to do. Take a pull-up, put it in the washing maching, then find a paper snow cone cup, fill it up with the contents of the pull-up, and add some food coloring. Fun times there, I bet. Just make sure that pull-up wasn't used before you put it in the washing machine.

A Question of Death

Shoot. I hope I didn't scare you with the title. No one is dead around here (other than my sad, sad knees that are still recovering from the half marathon).

The other night I received the most difficult question yet coming from a 3 year old:

Do we all die, mommy? (My answer: Yes.)
But why do we die? (My answer: I don't exactly remember how I answered. Something about how we start as babies then get older and learn stuff, and we go when we are done learning.)

I think after a while of trying to put words together for the answer I stopped and asked her why she was asking about it. She seems to be using the "D" word a lot lately. I don't think it is cause for concern. She's curious. But when she's playing she will mention that one of her toys is "dead". And I don't know, it makes me uneasy. And I've been correcting her on the toy being fake so it can't die. Who knows what is right or wrong with these answers...I'm just kind of playing it by ear since you never know when it's coming.

I just wonder...what other questions is she going to ask that are going to stump me? I'm also wondering if there is a book that has been written that has these difficult questions with a blanket answer...if not, it's a hell of an idea.

Speaking of death, I just had the death of my 34th year in the world take place on Monday. Another year older. I wrote this post about the last year and some of my accomplishments, but I wasn't at all impressed with it...just think I could have done a lot more. Anyway, with the birthday thing happening, I've been busy and haven't had much time to post but will hopefully be back on track soon.

Wait. Don't I always have some procrastination answer?

Anyway...my birthday was Monday. And that is why I've been so quiet.

Buh-Buh Graduation

Time for a little Pomp and Circumstance. Time to pop the bubbly wide open. Buh-buh's don't live here anymore (well, all but one...more on that later)!

Some of you are probably scratching your head saying "well, these people don't have babies...they have toddlers." DING! DING! DING! Your answer is correct. There's only one child here that refused to give it up, and that child was Olivia. Wait a minute. It is possible that her parents (i.e. - Josh and Jenna) didn't want to give it up. Or wait another minute. It's possible that they were just lazy. Mentioned many times in the past is Olivia's temperament: drama queen. Never knowing how she is going to be from one minute to the next is excruciating. Deciding on the proper time to take away the buh-buh was difficult, and we thought it out about five times prior to this. Something always seemed to get in the way: Olivia is not feeling well or Olivia might just gauge my eyes out at the mention of us saying we don't have one for her, or eh, it is just easier to give her the damn thing in order to keep the peace.

Anyway, we'd had it. I'd had it completely. She was reverting to wanting to be a baby again. Peeing in her pants every single time (thank goodness the poops made it in the potty). She was saying that she was a baby. Wanted to be held like a baby. And while she is still the baby in our family and I really wanted to hold on to her babyhood, it was more than time to let it go. After all, she is turning 3 this February. That was enough. I was done. And we made that decision last Thursday to take them away on Friday after daycare. In the past we'd give her a head's up about the buh-buhs (on those attempts which did not exactly work), but this time we didn't tell her and just sprung it on her on Friday when she asked for one in the evening.

We were nervous about the reaction. Would she scream at us for hours on end? Would she cry all night long? Seriously, will she come gauge my eyes out while I'm sleeping? Basically, the reaction was this: NOTHING. And the look on her face was: CONFUSION. We did receive some whines and a little bit of crying throughout the weekend along with some grumpy attitude, but it was easy. And we are kicking ourselves for not just doing it sooner.

Then we did what we did with Bea. The heaven story. People, the heaven story has gotten us through the removal of buh-buhs and diapers. And we will probably use it when the time comes to get rid of lovies and blankies. Read about the heaven story here. It saved us. I'm not sure of anything else that would have worked. The next day the buh-buh fairy brought Olivia like her hundredth play baby in exchange for the buh-buhs. With Olivia, we even bypassed the "safe" Nuby sippy cup that seriously could pass for a bottle. She's on the straight-up sippy cup now.

So, what happened to all the bottles and Nuby's? Josh threw most of them away. I have one of the Dr. Brown's saved. Just the bottle part of it. The ounces are clearly labeled. I've found a good use for the bottle in making mixed drinks. You know...an ounce of tequila here and an ounce of pomegranate juice there...the bottle makes it easy to get the right amount of ingredients for cocktails and to do the mixing all at once...I bet you didn't see that tip coming!

Anyway, congratulations Olivia (with new baby from buh-buh fairy)! You have officially graduated to being a little girl:

Out With The Old, In With The New

Last week I seemed to have mentioned the purchase of a new car on our end. And then suddenly I didn't have time to write about it.

We are so over the Corolla (nicknamed the Crapolla; and for short, the Crappy):


The car has done Josh good, but it has definitely seen better days...like back in 1992. It's taken him on his long commute every day for the past two years, but let's face facts. The car, well, not very presentable when let's say one must take clients out to lunch. He has dreamed and dreamed about getting the Subaru WRX for a couple of years, and now he's got it:


Two out of four of his beauties:


Again, two out of four of his beauties:


For anyone out there who knows Josh, you're probably thinking this car is so him. It is.

I've driven it only twice now, and both times I received a lecture beforehand to be extra careful. And, well, I'm kind of known around here for not seeing telephone poles or bushes and such.

Finally, I couldn't end this without a picture of one of my little pumpkins with her little pumpkin:


We are off this weekend to the pumpkin patch and to get our Halloween costumes...

I DID IT

I promised a post today on the marathon, and I am so tired right now that I can barely muster it up. I finished the marathon, yes. 13.1 miles total. I am pretty sure I didn't come in last. They time you as you cross the start line, and you are assigned a corral (kind of like cattle) to start from. I was in the final corral, so I was at the end of about 13,000 people.

There was definitely a lot of excitement in the air when we arrived at, oh 7:15 am. We stretched, had a banana (on top of the homemade french toast that Josh made us for breakfast). Then we ended up in our corral.

At about 7:55, the national anthem was sung, and then the race started shortly after that. By the time we got to the start line, it was already about 8:15. We hauled some ass the first mile with some major fast walking skills and had a pretty good time with just the walking. We wanted to make sure we were fairly warmed up so that we could do some good running. At mile 2, we began to run, and we did great. Then I had to pee. So we had to stop. We made up our targeted mile time quickly, and kept a pretty damn good pace. We alternated between running and walking. As we approached mile 5, the course becomes two sided, and would you believe this - the first runners were already finishing with one mile left? (Also, before the start of the race, the announcer had mentioned this one runner who had completed the 13.1 miles last year in under an hour...Crazy? Mmmm, yeah.) Anyway, that was somewhat of an inspiration and we kicked it into somewhat high gear.

All was going well, and we were approaching my neighborhood, so I was really excited and hoping to see Josh and the girls. Somewhere between mile seven and eight, my legs decided that hell no, they were not happy and what in the name of you know who summoned you to do this to yourself? Well, I did, legs. My shins hurt. My calves hurt. And my knees. Oh, my knees. I was stiff from the knee down. I kept telling myself to work through the pain and that soon enough there would be a medical station that would give me some Tylenol. Sooner than I thought, there was one. Only, they had just ran out of the Tylenol, but LUCKY ME, there was another station just two miles ahead. I worked through the pain....

Then, as we approached our neighborhood at around miles 9 and 10, I looked everywhere for my family. We didn't see them at all. Then I thought well maybe they would be at the finish line....

Right before mile 11, there was another medical station and I got me some Tylenol, but I thought by the time I finish, it will just be kicking in. I was kind of mad. In any case, I walked a fair amount after mile 8. Every now and then I would get a jolt of adrenaline and get kicked into high gear. I mean, I was still passing people!

As we neared the finish line, I started a very slow jog. All the people. It was so amazing. Everybody was cheering, and there were many cheerers along the way saying "you can do it" and "great job - you're doing so well". And then crossing the finish line. I think I cried briefly - for the pain and for actually finishing. Unfortunately, we missed seeing Josh and the girls and they missed seeing us. Probably by seconds.

So, I finished. We finished. And we made good time. And I can pretty much guarantee that I was not in the bottom 10.

Marathon Update

Sunday, it's on.

I've been on the treadmill every day since Saturday (I took ONE day off, and that is it). My time has improved pretty much each time. Despite a painful blister on Monday, some new running shoes and muleskin have fixed me up just fine.

My friend arrives into town tomorrow morning and we will be driving the course right after I pick her up. I received a call from her this morning. Turns out she has not been training the last couple of weeks. I suddenly feel a little bit better about this. I won't be holding us up, and lord knows, if she wants to take it easy, I'll be right there with her.

We're going to finish it, no matter what. Our pact has been made. And do you know what awaits us at the finish line? Well, hopefully a small cheering section, but they are also GIVING AWAY BEERS. I think only one per person, but anyway. I just wonder if that is such a good idea with all that excercise, but I don't care...I'll be drinking that beer in about 1 minute flat. I may not have the fastest running time for this marathon, but I will have the quickest beer drinking skills.

Anyway, stay tuned for Sunday. I plan to post a play by play of the marathon action then.

Pause

I've taken some time out, maybe a week or something. Maybe you forgot (as I almost did myself), but the marathon that I've paid money for and have a friend coming in to down to do it with me is next weekend. And while I have tried to find a way to back out of it, I haven't had any other excuse other than I have been really sick and have a bronchial cough. This is true. Totally not an excuse. Tell me there is something wrong with me because I am determined. Despite cough and not feeling 100%, I decided to get my butt on the treadmill this weekend. And I did - not once, but twice - and an hour each time. Yesterday I beat my distance by a half mile! GO ME. Additionally, on day two, I wasn't as huffy and puffy at the end. 13 miles this Sunday - if that doesn't scare the bejessus out of me, I'm not sure what will. I think I'm more concerned about finishing the race under the time limit at this point. Will I be in the bottom 10? Quite possible.

In other news, which I will post sometime this week, we got a new car this weekend, as the Crapolla (uh, Corolla) gave out on us last Friday. And we got a spanking new car, which we said we would never ever do after we did it once before. What can I say, this car was well worth driving it off the lot and losing money. Well, maybe not too much because this one holds its value pretty well. Details and pics to come later this week...if I'm not too busy, you know, running on the treadmill.

The latest in kid news is that we've had a little bit of regressing on the potty front for both girls, and it has been a bit frustrating. I think we might own 50 pairs of girl undies at this point. O is claiming that she still wants to be a baby, and Bea, well, she's just too busy to care about going. More on that later as well...and maybe I won't have to report anything other than the problem just mysteriously fixed itself. Wouldn't that be nice?

Also, my parents are visiting this week.

And what else? Well, one of my favorite bloggers, Daddy Dan, has posted an interview on yours truly. Check it out and comment over there if you feel inclined.

Will She Always Be a Terrible Two?

This post is about the one that looks sweet as pumpkin pie with beautiful curls. Her name is Olivia. But you probably knew that already.


Olivia has been a terrible two most of her life, except the first few weeks of it. She came out of the womb beautiful and peaceful. And she slept. A lot. She didn't cry too much at all. Fast forward to about the fourth week and becoming aware of her situation with open space around her and cue the crying. She could never be left in a room by herself. Additionally, she was the actual baby in the house so I showered her with all my attention, and I didn't know if she would be my last. I gave her my all.

She remained cranky. Two steps out of her direction and it was over. So then we thought, hey, maybe it is because she isn't mobile and once she started crawling we would have a much happier child among us. Nope. Worse. Then, well, maybe when she starts walking and talking. Nope. Much more worse.

Don't get me wrong. Olivia is pure entertainment in our house. She is so much fun ... at times. We'll be hitting three in February, and I hope we can get a clear understanding if this is how she's going to be in the coming years or if we can somehow change it, or maybe it will just change on its own.

She's hot and cold. And, we don't know when she's going to be hot or when she's going to be cold. That one can just flip a switch at any moment and I swear sometimes I'm overly cautious when I talk to her because I don't know how she is going to react.

The newest topper of the cake? These words: I'm mad at you! She says this more to us than other words. Try to reason with her, and she has no reason for being mad. I'm choosing to ignore it and see what happens. Walk away.

This stage? I hope it passes fairly quickly and we move on to something else...though i fear what could come next. We've already gone through the stages of hitting, kicking and spitting. And now we are onto words that kind of stab you in the heart. I have to admit that maybe expressing herself with words is better than the physical action she used to take, but oh my.

Did I mention that at one time Olivia's daycare provider called her the "daycare bully"?

Learning as I go

Yep, that is the name of my blog. I don't think I've ever written a post that actually relates to the title of my blog. I think I put a lot out there, and the learning part of it remains internal for me, as I just like to document certain things that happen around here - whether it is about my life, Beatrice's life, Olivia's life, or Josh's life. In any case, let me get to the point already. This post is about those things that I have learned over the years in being a mom, brought to you in lovely bullet point form:

• What happens in a diaper, sometimes doesn't stay in a diaper.
• The second that you are ready to shut your eyes and drift off into sleep, your newborn will loudly awaken, and you'll be up for a good hour after that. Be prepared with TiVo’d programs.
• A swing for a newborn can be either friend or foe. Friend for some quiet time for the adult, foe for the puke that follows after being in the swing for an hour or so...
• Solid sleep is a thing of the past, but we get it more often these days than in recent years. Am blessed.
• Bouncy seats are the best invention ever. How come they don't make these for adults?
• Once the toddler years begin, the only restaurants that are kid-friendly zones are places like Sweet Tomatoes and McDonalds. If you go somewhere else, you will apologize to everyone around you and not show your face there again, or for a few months at least.
• A toddler on the top bunk of a bunkbed is not conducive to potty training through the night.
• The box that a toy comes in is often funner than the toy itself. Buy a bunch of boxes instead of a bunch of toys if you're trying to save some dough.
• When blankies go missing, it is just as scary as losing your purse.
• I never thought I would see Top Ramen noodles again after college. I have seen them for a few months straight in our house now. I sort of have a rekindled love for them.
• Nothing grosses me out anymore. I've seen it all and it has all been on me at some point - whether puke, poo or pee. Shit (or pee or puke) happens.
• Showing your child how to pee in the zoo parking lot is not a good thing, especially when it crosses over to them going on the grass in the backyard, you know, just because they wanted to and thought it was neat. Still trying to unlearn this one.
• Band-aids and ice cream can fix just about everything.
• They're sponges. Watching what you say is priceless, unless you want to hear the conversation you had with someone else replayed over and over again, and at an inappropriate time.
• I never thought I would watch some movies so many times. I thought I watched a lot of reruns between Friends and 90210 before I had kids. This doesn’t even compare.
• Two girls means having two of everything. Not two of the same thing in a different color. They have to be exactly the same.
• Grandmas and grandpas can teach children more than we know, and they will listen to their grandparents more than you.
• Seeing life through the eyes of a child. Stopping to smell the roses and such. It makes you realize what is important in life and that you wish time could stand still.
• The words "I love you" coming from your child mean more than anything else in the world. (Runners up include "please", "thank you" and "I missed you"...)

My list could go on and on, really. So, is there anything you've learned that you want to share?

Those Yearly Things

So, my birthday is next month. I guess it's a big one. Sort of. As in no longer early thirties. With a 5. It's a little exciting, but not so much. It falls on a Monday. Bummer. So, I'm planning to celebrate the weekend before...all weekend long. And making it all about me. I'm thinking about being selfish this year because, well, it hasn't been about me in a really long time. It's my weekend. And if I want to take the family to Gilroy Gardens to see the girls ride the rides, that's what I'm gonna do. But, I haven't a clue. My parents will also be out this way, but I don't think they'll be here at that time. Though, seriously, I can't think of anything I really want to do...ideas welcome. I still have some time to decide.

Josh was recently talking about taking a cruise...hmmmmmm.

Anyways. I just thought I would put it out there. Next month is going to be busy. Marathon. Then Birthday. Then Halloween.

Which leads me to Halloween costumes. For the past two years I have posted ideas for the girls. I hate to say it and am sad to report, that I am not allowed to do the research for them this year. They already know what they are going to be. Yes, friends, no longer I get to choose. They are going to be what they are going to be, and those will be Disney characters. I promise. Now which characters they will be is kind of up in the air, so the big reveal will come October 31. Sorry. This is one surprise that I keep every year.

Finally, a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY to MITCHELL. You're still rocking it, sista.

When Painting Turns Ugly

B and O: DADDY DADDY. Can we paint, PUH-LEEZE????

Josh: Okay. Let me get you set up.


B and O: La-la-la....Paint. Paint. Painting!!!! Weeeeee!

After a few minutes:

B: I've done 4 ... LOOK!

O: I'm done.

B: Olivia, let's paint our bodies.

O: Okay.

B: LOOK AT ME!

O: LOOK AT ME!




B: Let's paint our whole body!!!

O: Okay.





Jenna: Is Olivia the newest member of the blue man group?


B and O: LOOK AT US! LOOK AT US!! THIS IS FUN!!!!!!!!






Josh: In the bathtub now, girls!