Dec 16, 2016 | Holidays, Life, Uncategorized, What's going on |
The bad-
This has not been a great two weeks. I feel like every time I try to blog lately it ends up sounding I’m filing complaints with the Board of Life and Why Stuff Happens. But sometimes life isn’t all glitter and bunnies (for Christopher a life of glitter would be a nightmare) and that’s what I’m here to discuss today. Now is your chance to leave and look at perfect pictures on pinterest.
+ At the end of last week and the beginning of this week Annabelle was in the midst of her second round of bronchitis. Every night was rough. She had night terrors, she couldn’t find her pacifier when it was in her hand and she couldn’t figure out how to drink from the cup she sleeps with. I was so scared something would happen when I was asleep that I had her lay with me on the guest bed for a while. The next night was the complete opposite. She jibber jabbered until ONE O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING. I cannot tell you the number of times I went in her room to give a piece of my mind about her behavior. She wanted her wand. She wanted to talk about Hungry, Hungry Hippos. She dropped (threw) Appletini out of the crib. She wanted more friends to sleep with. She wouldn’t stop flipping the light switch on and off so I had to move the crib a foot away from the wall. It’s interesting how bad nights happen when I’m just barely coming around to the idea of maybe sometime having another baby. A child who doesn’t let you sleep more than 5 hours a night is the only birth control needed.
+ The pipes under the sink leaked and soaked everything in the cupboard below.
+ I got stuck in a snow storm and it took an hour to the drive 28 minutes home.
+ Annabelle’s sleep strike leaked into nap time and she repeated the above nonsense for days.
+ Every year I wrap presents while watching The Christmas Card. It’s a cheesy movie but I love it and look forward to my tradition every year. Annabelle’s nap strike reached a peaked on the afternoon I choose to watch it. She yelled to me for two hours. I eventually got her up and in an attempt to help she unorganized my cards and ripped wrapping paper, spilled her milk and knocked over her snack bowl. The whole thing was a disaster.
+ Sesame dumped all her beads all over the kitchen floor, under the oven, down the cellar stairs and into every corner. I didn’t think it through too well when I bought the extra large container of beads.
+ She spilled them again the next day. I’ve since hidden the beads and might accidentally on purpose forget where they are.
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| The day I finally checked myself into rehab. |
+ We couldn’t go to MOPS yesterday because I couldn’t get the car out of the driveway due to snow. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- I’m from Massachusetts and grew up dealing with snowy driveways. Not counting his 5 years at Fort Drum, Christopher has no snow experience to speak of. My word/advice on the subject should be taken as law and followed. All we have to do when it snows is shovel within an appropriate amount of time so we stay on top of the situation and we’ll be able to get in and out of the driveway just fine. It snowed Wednesday night and Christopher said we didn’t need to shovel, we’d just drive over the snow. This is what I was thinking on the inside.
Thursday morning I couldn’t get out of the driveway. Last night he finally shoveled (or more accurately, “shoveled” because it didn’t look that way to me). This morning I got stuck again. I’ll spare you the memes of how that made me feel.
MOVING ON. Stay tuned for future installments of airing my grievances.
The good-
+ I love our Christmas trees this year. Nothing makes me happier at the end of the day than to sit on the couch in the quiet with the trees and mantle lit.
+ One of Annabelle’s favorite games for the last few months is wrapping toys and giving them to us or vice versa. She’ll wrap them in whatever blanket or bit of paper she can find then makes a production of handing them out and singing Happy Birthday. There’s only so many times you can feign enthusiasm for the same toy but it’s so sweet. She wrapped these Christmas presents by herself and was so proud. Her favorite part is the tape. She thinks it’s important to use half a roll on each gift.
The Christmasy-
+ We decorated our gingerbread house. I’m pleased that no one (read: me) allowed perfectionist or OCD tendencies to get in the way of a good time.
+ I’m glad I have a child who loves all things Christmas as much as I do. She says “YOOK, MOMMY!!! IT’S A _______! I YOBE IT!” every single time she sees something Christmas related. It’s like the first time every time.
+ The next movie on our Christmas watch list is my personal favorite- It’s a Wonderful Life. If only I had been born 60 years earlier I would have been Mrs. Jimmy Stewart in a heartbeat.
Dec 6, 2016 | What's going on |
Today I told myself I’d blog about whatever we did, whether it was exciting or not. You’re welcome for the high quality, well thought through blogging you get around here.
Last week I realized I had a doctor appointment at 9:30 this morning. Who schedules a physical first thing Monday morning? Obviously I didn’t think that through when I scheduled this appointment after my physical last December.
I had to bring my sidekick who insisted on bringing in her giraffe mask. Whatever keeps her occupied! We also brought three books and the ipad which kept her occupied for 18 minutes. I like the office I go to but they’re slow. By the time the doctor came in we had been waiting for more than 30 minutes and AB had read all her books, climbed on both chairs, crawled behind the exam table and fallen down 57 times. Given the circumstances she did well, but it was like herding chickens. She was kind enough to tell me the gown I was wearing looked “so boo-tiful.” I don’t think anyone has ever felt beautiful in the gown that opens in the front while wearing very little underneath. The doctor told me my heart rate was a little high. That’s what happens when I’m seeing her at an ungodly hour and trying to keep a toddler entertained for an hour while wearing a revealing gown. That’s enough to raise anyone’s heart rate.
I rewarded us with ice coffee and hash browns from Dunkin Donuts. I needed it after being prodded and poked. This is her “can you get me some hashfries, Mama?” face.
We went to Toys R Us because the doctor wasn’t enough torture for one day. Normally I avoid TRU like the plague. There are few stores I’d rather wander. All the motion activated toys, weird looking stuffed animals and screaming children drive me nuts. If I want to see a hundred toys all I have to do is sit on my couch and look at our toy corner. However, I had a $10 gift card and needed to buy AB’s friend a birthday card so in we went. I’ll go anywhere to save money. Sesame hasn’t quite figured out that everything in stores is available to be taken home which made the trip go surprisingly well. I’m not going to fill her in on how stores work AND YOU BETTER NOT EITHER. I’d give her a toy to play with, rush around looking for what I needed and swap out the toy as she got bored with it. I acted as if we were borrowing toys like we borrow books from the library and it worked well. She lost her mind in the Minnie Mouse and Sofia the First aisle and would have taken everything home, but I said it was the other kids turn. She told me she wants the Sofia doll for her birthday. I said we’ll ask Daddy and crossed my fingers that she’ll forget come March 28th. “Ask Daddy” is my go-to phrase when I want to ignore a request. Jot that down in your Parenting 101 notebooks.
Tonight we made hot chocolate and watched the new Cinderella in our pajamas.
Tomorrow is MDO and I most certainly won’t be spending my alone time at the doctors or Toys R Us. You can find me at Dunkin Donuts instead. It’s the place to be on any day ending in Y.
Dec 3, 2016 | Holidays, Uncategorized, What's going on |
Watching: the Gilmore Girls movie. Obviously. I liked it but didn’t love it. I felt like they weren’t really in the groove until 40 minutes before the show ended. But those 40 minutes! Luke’s speech in the kitchen! I would have accepted a proposal from him if Christopher wasn’t sitting next to me.
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| I don’t even like phone calls but I’d answer for Luke. |
Feeling depressed about: My current size. My pants are bigger than I’d like them to be and none of my exercise and healthy eating is doing anything to fix it. Last night I set myself up for failure by looking at the tiny skirt I wore for our rehearsal dinner. I lay on the bed and bemoaned my hip size for the one hundredth time this month. When I sat up the button on my pants broke off and flew across the room. So that did absolutely nothing to help me feel better.
Reading: Home Fires Burning and A Day in the Sun with Olaf. I barely have time to read the former because I spend so much time reading the latter. I almost have it memorized.
Not reading: the I Heart Organizing blog. I followed it for organizational tips but I’ve barely read any posts. Annabelle’s closest floor is proof of that.
Looking for: Baby Jesus. Annabelle is very into playing with her Little People nativity set. The first day I took it out for her she said maybe our landlord’s father Mr. Jim would like to play Baby Jesus with her. He was over doing yard work today so he came in to visit her. The four wise men and two camels were there in all their glory but Jesus was no where to be found. As Mr. Jim put it, “All the supporting cast is here but the main attraction is missing.” AB asked Christopher if Baby Jesus was in his belly. I think Jesus is probably hiding under the couch with all the other lost toys. There may not have been room for him in the inn but there’s plenty of room under the couch.
Collecting: all the little Christmas trees. I only meant to buy one for Sesame’s room but I got sucked in by sales and ended up with three mini trees of varying sizes. That lead to me buying multiple boxes of fairy lights and a glittery gold deer decoration. The Christmas decor slope is very slippery.
Buying: Christmas cards. I LOVE cards, specifically photo cards. Growing up I was always the first to the mailbox at Christmas time so I could open the cards. We’d tape Christmas cards around the doorway and I loved looking at them. Now that I have my own home I hang Christmas cards from my snowflake garland then move the photos to the refrigerator for the rest of the year. I’ve conducted a ongoing study since getting married and concluded that people don’t send cards out like they used to. I don’t understand non-card senders. Who wouldn’t want to send a little holiday joy? I start planning my cards in September. It’s serious business! This year I ordered some laser-cut cards from Tiny Prints. I was torn between the laser-cut and the glitter cards but Christopher doesn’t love glitter the same way I do so I went with the more conservative option. I’ve already decided 2017 will be the year of the glitter card.
Annabelle requested this card to send Prince George. I hope he remembers to rsvp so we buy enough goldfish.
Nov 22, 2016 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
I mean Texas.
If I didn’t like the family members in Texas so much I’d swear off the state forever and never return.
I learned a few tips from our last three trips of sickness and urgent care visits so I’m not going empty handed.
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Advanced purell! Kills the most germs! #1 used in hospitals!
Nausea control! Benadryl to calm AB’s stomach/make her sleep! |
This is only a small part of my Sickness Avoidance Plan 2016. I also have a package of clorox wipes with which I plan on wiping down our entire row on the plane. I’ve been pumping us full immune system building supplements. Christopher hasn’t been gungho about my holistic efforts but I made him swallow some medicine yesterday. Germs spread like wildfire and I can’t risk him being the weak link that takes us all down. The pharmacist told me I should hand out ice chips to avoid nausea. I have no desire to carry a cooler of ice through the airport BUT I WILL DO ANYTHING.
If anyone (mostly looking at you, Belle Belle) does get sick on the plane, I have an extra pacifier, a towel, a brand new package of baby wipes and change of clothes for both of us. I learned that lesson the trip AB threw up on me three times during a two hour flight.
Surely we can’t get sick four times in a row, right? RIGHT?! Send prayers and any extra clorox wipes my way.
Nov 17, 2016 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
This morning as I was driving to Walmart I started wondering where I put my keys. I couldn’t remember if I put them in my purse or if they were on the seat. Then I remembered THEY WERE IN THE IGNITION. I blame Annabelle. She didn’t fall asleep until after 12:30 last night. TWELVE THIRTY IN THE A.M. If there’s any time I don’t want to discuss her book about dinosaurs or her new Paw Patrol shoes it’s at 11:48pm.
I feel like I’ve missed Fall this year. We went to the pumpkin patch, had our family pictures taken under trees with yellow leaves and drank a gallon of apple cider but none of it made me feel fallish. Even leaf peeping didn’t do it for me.
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| In case anyone besides Christopher isn’t familiar with the term leaf peeping. |
Yesterday I burned my flannel blanket candle and played in the leaves with Sesame. Making leaf angels finally put me in the autumn mood.
Speaking of things that put me in a good mood, Annabelle’s first school pictures came in and I’m dying over the cuteness.
On this particular day she was getting molars and the fake apples went straight into her mouth. She didn’t have time to start eating the fake pumpkins. Clearly she didn’t pick up any tips from the 4yo boy who had his picture taken before her. He was wearing a vest and smiling so perfectly I fully expected to see him as the cover model for the November GQ magazine.
This morning we went to an event about harvesting at the children museums. The teacher started off by handing everyone clipboards and pencils and herding us over to the Faces of Our Town exhibit. She sat everyone down and said, “ok, friends! Can anyone tell me what ‘community’ means?” She got the following responses-
My shoe is coming off.
She’s sitting on my lap!!
I don’t want her sitting on my lap!
That’s my pencil.
Where’s my paper?
That’s what you get when ask a bunch of 2 year olds a question way over their heads.
Tomorrow the topic at MOPS is Become Better Sleepers. This is a very unusual topic for our group.Unless they’re going to hand out ambien I don’t know how they plan on discussing this topic. Personally I think they should let us all take a two hour nap while the kids are in child care. Annabelle’s been in bed for two hours and is no closer to sleep than she was when I put her down. I should have her sit in the meeting with me and pick up a few sleeping tips.
Nov 8, 2016 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
Today is election day. I thought I’d write one last post in case the world collapses and life as we know it comes to a screeching halt.
I wore my Barbara Bush pearl earrings to the polling place and cast my vote for a man I know won’t win. This party gets my real vote.
We all win when chips and salsa are on the ticket.
Speaking of tickets-
When we were visiting my family a few weeks ago we went to a renaissance fair. There are few time periods I’d detest living in more than medieval times. The dirt, the weird “medical” practices, the lack of clean water, the fact that no one wore underwear. None of it appeals to me. We were among the few not in costume. You could say it was the ComicCon for renaissance fans. Everywhere we looked were court jesters, monks, a self-appointed queen, witches and even two girls wearing a cow costume and a Pokemon outfit. I don’t know what type of fair they thought they were at. I shouldn’t say too many negative things about those who attend fairs in costume. I once was one of them. Here I am, circa 2008, at the same fair with a large group of my costume wearing friends. I wore my hippie aunt’s wedding dress that we dug out of box in my grandparents basement.
Dad, AB and I enjoyed ourselves even though we stuck out like sore thumbs. I was tickled to see that the knight doing the jousting demonstration was the same one from years ago. I thought he was so handsome back in the day. Apparently I’ve always had a thing for men in uniforms. Annabelle got a butterfly painted on her face and it was the best thing that’s ever happened to her. She kept asking for a mirror so she could see her “be’utiful face.”
At one point I was in a tent putting back the boxes of incense Sesame had rearranged. Dad and the mess maker disappeared and I was left with the stroller. I rushed around trying to find them and walked over a stop sign on the ground. Immediately the town sheriff and a very unauthentic camera man were in front of me. The sheriff pulled out his pad of tickets, a Bic pen and said “Do you know what you just did?” I muttered something about having somewhere to be and how I had fallen for this trick in eight years ago. The sheriff made a big deal of making check marks and the camera man probably got a nice shot of my eye rolling.
Disturbing the peace, obstructing justice and/or annoyance of a public official
Failure to stop at a stop sign
Treason, piracy, lunacy or other acts of tom foolery
Lunacy and tom foolery. Sounds like a few people running for president, doesn’t it?
