Commercials

Kids are funny with what they pick up from TV. Mine are no exception. They watch mostly PBS and Disney Channel or some DVDs from the library. I never have the TV on during the day for me. Not because I am that granola...but because I seriously don't have time to watch it. It's not part of my routine, which isn't a bad thing. I joke with Kurt that unless it pops up on the MSN home page or people are chatting about it on facebook, I really don't know what is going on in the world until 10 or 11pm at night when we watch the news. Occasionally before dinner I will turn on the news, but usually that is if the kids are playing somewhere else. So, they do see and watch regular TV on occasion. Which would explain a few things. Yesterday while I was unloading the dishwasher, Jimmy came over to me and asked me "Do you have credit card debt?" I had to ask him to repeat it, because I thought that can't be what he said. He did. I laughed and said no, but asked him what if we did, are we supposed to do something? He then went on about some 3year old gibberish nonsense. Then today he asked me why I didn't use Oxy Clean Max. Apparently he is worried that the Oxy Clean that we use needs a little boost. Julia told me the other day when I was doing laundry that they have these great balls for the dryer that are good for months and you get 2 when you order now. Both kids can also tell you all of the uses for Pillow Pets (you can take it to Grandma's with your PJs inside). WTF???? It's like marketers can't get it right. I can't tell you verbatim about all of these products, but a 3 and 5 year old can. Perhaps all products are marketed to them so they can market to their parents? Anyway, as annoying as it is, I think it is cute in a sick way.

Seriously?

Julia wears a uniform to school everyday and about once a month gets to wear jeans to school and a plain black shirt. She has gotten used to wearing a "boring" uniform and doesn't complain about it too much. She isn't a fan of wearing the turtlenecks and begs me to let her wear short sleeve shirts with a sweater over them. The school year has gone well and it does make getting dressed easier.

Tomorrow they are having some pictures taken at school and Julia can wear what she wants to. I thought that she would be so excited to pick out an outfit. Ugh, what happened next can only be described as my worst nightmare and a glimpse at the teen years. I pulled out a few outfits. All of them were pink. All of them had some girly girl flair. All of them were spring-ish. She wanted to wear her Easter dress. Normally I would probably not care, but this dress is dryclean only and isn't something that you could be crawling around a gym floor with (since she has gym tomorrow). I explained this. Tears ensued. Then she started to find fault in all of the outfits we picked out. One of them was scratchy, one of them she already wore in front of people and the other one had a side zipper and she was worried that it would show in the picture? I did yell. I did lose it. I seriously couldn't believe it. She was all upset. After realizing that this was going nowhere...I calmed down and showed her how all 3 were great options. Jimmy came in and gave his 2 cents and Kurt came in and tried to save the day. He got further than I did. Then Grandma called and Julia described each of the outfits (in detail) to her. Grandma will be coming over in the morning to help her. She calmed down. WTH? If this is what I have to look forward to, forget it. I know that I was a girly girl and I still am, but really? this was a little too much. But now that I can reflect on it a little...this is kind of where uniforms backfire. A way you can show your individuality is through dress. When everyone wears the same, they are all the same. There is a lot of pressure when you have to show who you really are. Maybe she is feeling this pressure? She was really concerned about what all of the other girls were going to be wearing and what if she picked the wrong one. We shall see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully my happy little girl who is just excited to wear pink to school tomorrow and not the tween drama queen I spoke with tonight.

I wonder if this is along the same lines of when I was in kindergarten and missed the bus because I was freaking out about my shoelaces not matching my outfit? My mom likes to tell that story. Hmm...does the apple fall far from the tree?

Baby Flash!

I can't say enough how happy I am that my sister had a baby! It is just so much fun this time around being an Aunt. Last time I was pregnant with Jimmy, Julia wasn't even 2 yet. So I had my hands full. It was hard to "enjoy" Olivia and revel in her baby-ness. This time is so different and I treasure it. I think part of it is because the baby phase is so short...it's gone in an instant. At the time, it seems to creep by. The lack of sleep does that to you. No matter how many times someone will tell a new mom "Enjoy it, they grow so fast!" - you can't comprehend it until you've passed the phase. I remember hearing it over and over again and it irritated me a little. I feel like I blinked and my kids are now 3 and 5. Where did the time go? I am not that crazy where I wish my kids baby little again, but I can pop over to my sister's house and love on this sweet little baby. It really puts things in perspective and warms my heart. I don't think Kurt minds being an Uncle again either. But he's been an Uncle 9 times already from the get-go. He's practically a pro.

Shhh...I think he's got it!

I hate to post this, because well, when you say something out loud, it basically nixes things. But what the heck. We're going for it.

Jimmy has been wearing underwear accident free (mostly) everyday!

To some people (those without kids or those who hate kids) will think that this is stupid to post. But whatever. It is a big deal around here and I am giving myself a great big pat on the back! We're getting braver every day, going places in underwear (while I tote around spare bottoms & socks just in case). It's so exciting! He's becoming a big boy!

I am an Aunt...Again!

It seemed like it would never happen...being an Aunt again. The past year and a half has been tough on my sister & her hubby Trav. They suffered 2 miscarriages back to back, which made for a tough first trimester with this pregnancy. We were all on eggshells. Trying to be positive. Knowing that if not for those losses that this pregnancy would not have happened.

They were due on Feb 22nd and to be honest, we were all expecting her to go late again (like she did with Olivia). Not so much the case. I got a call around 4pm that she was going to the hospital after her doctor appointment that afternoon....TO HAVE A BABY. I waited for Kurt to get home, ate dinner and packed a bag and headed out to the hospital about an hour away. I got there around 8:30 or so and we hung out, watched some of the Olympics, talked about the random stuff. Not focusing on the task at hand. Around midnight things started to pick up, she got an epidural, started to push 2 1/2 hours later and after about 15 min of pushing, Fletcher was born!

I was there in the thick of it. I was actually a little apprehensive about the birth. Last time, I was pregnant myself and Lib had a hard time. I didn't want to go through that again. She was a trooper this time and did a great job. Made me feel a little inadequate with my odd shaped pelvis and 2 CSections. But there are no medals or awards given in childbirth. Just get it done.

The Happy Family

Grammie & Fletcher
Fletcher James
2.16.10
2:52am
7 Pounds, 6 oz.
19.5 Inches long


Proud Aunt Kate

Nothing sweeter than a newborn baby in your arms and in your life. Welcome to the family baby Flash. Your Uncle Kurt and cousins can't wait to meet you. I can't wait to love on you a little more. We are so happy God sent you to us.

Random Thoughts for Today.

I am full of random thoughts today...so I decided to jot them down here.

As I was picking up the house for the 4th or 5th time this MORNING, thinking to myself, why do I even bother? It occurred to me that is why so many more women have that hunched up back. It's because they are always bending over picking up stuff. Perhaps that is why my waist stays small and my curves are kickin (A nod to Sir Mix A Lot)

I mopped the kitchen floor today. Again, wondering why I bother. But I still like to look at it all shiny and smooth. Will it stay like that for even 8 hours? Doubt it

The kids have 2 new favorite toys. A box from Amazon that delivered me some precious Raspberry Iced Tea Mix (1st ingredient is High Fructose Corn Syrup, so you know that it is good) and a Nike Shoe box. The kids decorated the Amazon Box the other day when we had a snow day and called it their dog cage and insisted they put all of their dog stuffed animals in it. Hey I am cool with that kind of dog, no dog hair. The Nike Box, Kurt made into a Monster Truck Garage for Jimmy. I think they need to get rid of all of their toys and apparently they do too, since after cleaning up the basement the other day, the kids had taken everything so meticulously organized and place it all random in the middle of the room, strewn about. They told me that they had a store and were selling things.

They should have tasers for little kids. Not to knock them out, but to keep them still for more than 5 minutes. Because maybe...just maybe they will stay still long enough to fall asleep. Hey, I may even taser myself once in a while. Just as an excuse to sit down.

I wonder at what point I will ever catch up on all the stuff I have to do around here? I am a list maker, but the lists don't ever get all crossed off. I am going to start to add stuff that I know will get crossed off, like Yell at kids to stop fighting or Walk downstairs to turn off the TV that was left on. My personal favorite would be Try to find all of the clothes that Julia was wearing before she changed into costume. The key to that one is to stop on all 3 floors. Anyway, I think I will feel more productive if I see more stuff crossed off my list.

And on a positive note, i have a few things that are not negative (because I am a glass half full kind of gal):

• We did the 3 days in a row of underwear thing for like the 4th month in a row trying to see if Jimmy would ever get the hang of it. Well, I am proud to say that in the 3 days, we only had 5 pairs of underwear TOTAL. Not bad my little guy...not bad. The thought of being completely out of diapers/Pull-ups has me sort of delirious. I need to make sure that Kurt visits the doctor in the near future.


• After scolding Julia this morning for waking her brother up at 6:30am...he is now fast asleep for a much needed nap and a much needed break for Mom. I will have to remember to tell her "Thanks, for not listening to mom...for once it was actually a good thing."


• I am glad that I am able to roll with the punches that day to day life as a housewife/SAHM throws at me. I am thankful that my day doesn't go to pot when all of the above happens and I thought that I'd get to go out and run errands before "quiet time." I am just thankful that I have my warm (depends on who you ask, 64 is perfectly warm for me) house and a great husband that pretty much gives me whatever I want and lets me live this little life where the list above are the things that I have to worry about on a Friday afternoon.

Making Valentines

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and the kids in Julia's class will be exchanging Valentines next Friday. I told her we should just make our own valentines this year, since she loves to draw. Of course we found some pink paper and I scored them to make them into cards. That's all I did to help her make her valentines. I did give her a few stamps that had hearts on them to use, but that's it. She's on her own. She is very creative and would use several "techniques" on each card. A few times she'd do something on a card she really liked and would say, "I'm going to do one like this again!" She warms my creative, paper crafting heart. When I am in my craft room, she likes to come in and set up her own little station. She has her own supplies and "scrapbooks" with me. I love to watch her be creative. Sure, i could make her Valentines for her and make them super cute....but really, would a 5 year old care if they got a fancy valentine? No. I care more that my daughter takes pride in making them herself and will beam with pride when she takes them to school.