I’m Currently…

Watching…Downton Abbey. It's addicting and quite the English drama. I wasn't sure at first, now I'm hooked. It definitely transports you to another time and place, something that is nice after a long day but the episodes are long and keep me up too late :-)

Eating…breakfast for lunch today? It's another 3 am wake-up morning so looking ahead...

Planning…spring cleaning and wrapping up the new bathroom now that Maggie and Max's party is complete! 


Reading…The Female Brain. Really good book. Found it at a kid's thrift store of all places and I would recommend it to every woman (and man for that matter but not sure that's gonna happen). It's the stuff you wonder about when no one really comes out and tells you specific things about what it's like to be a female during different stages of your life. The author includes fun scenarios to explain her points with scientific evidence to back it all up.

Inspired by…my husband's ability to turn something ugly into something very pleasing in a relatively short amount of time.

Excited about…spring arriving and our new bathroom!

Focused but scattered

You can tell someone has a lot on their mind when:

-they start feeling a little sick
-they loose/misplace things like camera, TV remote, etc.
-they forgot to bring important things to work like pump parts!
-things stop cooperating like cell phone, garage door, etc.
-things fall out of your car and shatter because your car is too full of groceries

Thank the lord that our bathroom is almost finished but I think we have a couple more weeks of touch ups. The timing coincided with taxes and Maggie and Max's birthday bash. I say a little prayer that their party will be a sunny celebration for our friends and family and of course Miss Maggie and our soon-to-be 1 year old (ok, how did that happen so fast now that it's here?) and another prayer that my little camera turns up because I really miss it.

Peace out.

She's 4!

 

My, how my life has morphed and been on fast forward since Maggie made her way into our world. Last night we celebrated her birthday. She was a bundle of energy the day before and truly couldn't believe that she was turning 4. She thinks that turning 4 now allows her to do things on her own that she couldn't imagine a day before at 3 and that she must wear 4T, nothing smaller. LOL. More power to her though. She is full of hilarious sayings these days. People have been asking me all week what to get her. I asked her a few times and the last time I asked she hung her head and said "Ugh. I swear, mom" with a smile. I couldn't stop laughing.

Birthday dinner - "brown chicken", grains (TJ's harvest grains), and corn w/carrots

I was at a loss of what to get our sweet girl up until yesterday. I had ideas...pet fish? Not really something I want to be responsible for. Maybe we will introduce a new low-maintenance pet later this year :-) She would love a turtle or bunny but we have a cat and two little kids in this house and that definitely feels like plenty for now. Yesterday was a whirlwind, the whole week was for that matter, but I persevered even after waking up late most days this week due to daylight savings and running around like a crazy woman. On my list as a potential present were pink cowgirl boots. Then the timing was right and I splurged at the insistence of my dear co-worker and got light up ones to boot (you like that?). To Maggie's delight, she exclaimed that she will be wearing them every day from this point forward. I sure hope so, let's get some use out of these puppies! I also snagged the perfect Rapunzel/Tangled singing card. FYI to all you parents-you really can't go wrong with a singing card for your child. It's about just as good as any other gift you will get them (along the cardboard box theme or wrapping paper-sometimes that's much more exciting than the actual present).

These are all of my early morning thoughts after a 3 am waking with Max where momma can't go back to sleep. Did I say that we are also in the middle of the biggest remodel yet at our house? Our master bath got gutted and is being replaced piece by piece thanks to hubby. Last year we did an update on our hall bath. So you can see why I can't sleep. Today we buy all the expensive stuff, are having a friend take some family photos of us, and are getting some dinner out with said friends that are getting married soon. Good times. And, my friends, day by day.

As she turns 4, Maggie is all about letters and words. I'll post a picture of her work soon. She is constantly pointing out words while driving in the car and writes every chance she gets at home. I often see her writing on kleenex. Sometimes her words are backwards or from bottom to top. She loves to write Max, her own name, mom/dad, or friends names down. Other names she asks me to write down for her to copy. We encourage her on this path of course but it is really cool to see a child discover writing and what it all means. She is very enthusiastic about it and wants to figure it out. I have been having conversations with her that start like this: "Mom, did you know that "e" starts with elephant?" The other thing about 3 going on 4 is that she doesn't make a ton of sense sometimes. Either it's some babble where she is trying out sentences or topics that just don't make sense or one day she likes something, the next day she doesn't and usually it has to do with some specific experience she had that was minor in reality but huge in her world. She seems to work this stuff out but it's just a funny stage.


{Joys of Parenting}
Spontaneous kisses and being told they love you or think you are pretty at random moments (these are the moments where you quickly clear your brain and be in the moment with them because these are the moments to remember 20 years from now)
Watching your child focused on something, like writing or dance
Moms group fun (being involved with other moms and their kids-hubby believes there is always high society chatting and consumption of alcohol that ensues at these events)
Watching shows quiety with your kids and speaking of, another comment from Maggie that made daddy laugh: "Mom, let's watch a show, but not Downton Abbey" (she said DA almost perfectly :-)
Watching your kids play outside together w/o you!

{Challenges of Parenting}
Night wakings and loud crying
Tantrums in a store (where you drop everything and escape)
Dropping baby at daycare when they have seperation anxiety

Of course there are more on both points but I digress...it's not even 6 am.



A Maggie shot-Kwan bear with Disney on Ice hat, Pascal off to the side, and Baby Rose wrapped up

February

First things first. Happy birthday sick husband! He was not the best patient this past weekend and I'm glad we celebrated before it hit, but we still haven't recieved his gift by mail yet (drill for our upcoming bath remodel). It's a delayed birthday of sorts, one that lasts a week. We've hit the season in our house where birthdays and celebrations are taking us by storm. I'm more prepared this year but wow, I'm constantly shopping for gifts and getting cards and meals ready.

My kids are taking over. This is one instance from this morning where Max proceeded to climb up on their little table and start ripping Maggie's art off the wall. I read a friend's post yesterday and felt a little more normal after reading it. She has a little guy that is doing the same. But seriously. Max was with his grandma yesterday and he climbed out of his crib at naptime. She found him at his door banging on it. Not crying, just wanting out. Ay yay yay! Before that happened yesterday, I was going to document other good stuff that's been happening around here. Like, Max had a bang and "over the ears" trim at 9 months. His hair was getting a bit shaggy and I wasn't ready to have him get a full cut. I wasn't even sure what that would be. Cutting boy's hair? Not my forte. The stylist commented that he was a great little client, one of her best. He sat on my lap and would look this way and that in response to new sounds. Then it became time for Maggie to get her hair trimmed so we did him again last week because his grew out really fast. He's quickly becoming the little boy. I thought I would mind more, but it's pretty darn cute. He has transitioned to walking in the past week too. Watch out!

Maggie is a cute little dancer. I think she is quickly becoming the teacher's pet. I overheard her at dance class last week being asked to get in front of her peers and state her name, age, and what she wants to be when she grows up. I heard the first girl say a singer. Then Maggie went up and said in a soft voice that she wants to be a farmer so that she can take care of pigs. I peeked in at that point and gave her teacher a smile and she responded to the class by asking Maggie about pigs and said "that's the first time I've heard that one." My daughter, the lip gloss wearing farmer :-) Her teacher held a Valentine's Day party at her studio a couple weekends ago and we signed Maggie up. She was the youngest and stayed close to the teacher all night. I think she had fun but she told us a few days after that she held her tears in while she was there. I asked her why and she said because we weren't there. Such a cute girl, a growing up moment.

I've read and finished my first book of the year: Hungry Monkey. I found this book in the Friends of the Library stacks. It was a very good read. I'll be going through it again to flag recipes and write down ingredients I want to search out. Not your typical children's "cookbook" but a great spin on how to eat with kids with lots of great tips. If you have little ones and haven't taken them to an asian market yet, do it, it's great fun. We're headed back soon.

We went on a family hike recently and leading up to it, I told Maggie we were going to see our friends and hike and she said back "Mom, you remember that I don't like to hike, right?" Yep Maggie, I know sweet dear, but we're going anyway. If you ask me how the hike went, great! Fresh air, good company, and needed exercise. 1/2 the time I carried Max in the ergo. The other half hubby offered to carry Max and then big sis wanted to be carried. This ended up being hubby also carrying her on his shoulders. It was a sight to see.

Wrapping it up, hubby and I may be in over our heads right now. Having fun of course but tired and trying to keep up with these two little monsters :) Max is currently playing with scizzors and digging through the file cabinet and trash, gotta run...

Girly things

I'm averaging about one post a month. My friend in Hawaii who got me to blog hasn't in a year. Patria, if you are reading this, post something - I miss you! When I'm not feeling tired and spacing out, I am excited for the days as they come. As for being tired, like most babies I think, Max goes in and out of being a solid sleeper at night. The past couple weeks I've been up a lot and even though my memory is hazy, I know I'm not getting the good sleep I want (last night was good). I'm definitely not able to watch any of the good shows I keep hearing about past their bedtime (for sure no movies) or spend much time chatting with hubby. After I put Max down, then I do my part in saying goodnight to Maggie which involves maybe a book but singing songs softly in the dark. 95% of the time I'm waking up a few hours later to move to my bed and then there are a few more wakings before morning. I'm not complaining though, just sharing, because I know this is a sweet time that is probably my last, as all of these phases will probably be my last since Max is probably our last, and I know that the phases don't last long. Days and months yes, years no.

A friend shared a great article with me on modern mommyhood. I enjoyed it.

Max has gone from walking around assisted to standing unassisted, then dropping down when his little legs get tired. He likes to push things across the floor, like their little Ikea chair. It's pretty cute to see him go. As long as you point him in the right direction, he keeps on walking. He has entered the stage where he freaks a little if I leave his side. He says "mamamama..." when he's tired and crawling after me wanting to be held and "dada!" when hubby walks into view. He likes to put his hand up to people's faces to say hi (right when you think he's going to grab your eyeballs) and he likes to pull on Maggie's curly hair. Seeing Maggie and Max together is awesome, they've already developed a special bond.

One of my ideas for this year with Maggie was to switch her from gymnastics to dance. She seems to have a love of singing/dance/performing so I thought this would be a step in that direction. Plus side for the parents and grandparents: we get to watch her through the magic window at dance class. I can't wait for the recital! The other bonus is seeing your 3-year old done up in a leotard, leggings, ballet skirt, ballet shoes or tap shoes, and hair in a bun. Never imagined it, but I'm loving this period of being the mom of such a little dancer.

Happy foggy (where is the sun?) Saturday!



Seeing clearly

I'm happy that 2013 is here. I'm feeling refreshed and I like the number 3. I turned 33 a few months ago and with our two kids in tow, we're on a roll. This year I won't be pregnant or living in the trenches of one of our baby's first year. I don't make new year's resolutions because those just seem silly but I do hope to get in some more exercise and reverse some of these wrinkles I'm seeing. I also am going to develop more quality time with hubby and just have more fun, some of that was in short supply last year.

This year I am going to take a trip (or maybe four). I'd love to go back to Hawaii, but I also want to take the kids to Monterey and I know we'll be visiting Aptos, and hopefully Oregon and Cayucos.

I also want to read more which means I need to stay up after the kids go to bed. Hmm...

Our holiday vacation was full of long days but then it was over in an instant. I got a lot of things cleaned out ("spring" cleaning), and I rarely went outside. Too cold. We spent lots of family time together. I cooked new recipes and a really yummy, moist turkey on New Year's Eve. Maggie fell asleep on my chest that night shortly after I told her she could stay up. I think she was holiday'd out and it was just really sweet to have my baby girl peacefully sleeping on my chest. We went on a NYE daytime date to see this movie. Billy Crystal had us cracking up. We saw the snow but didn't make it past the parking lot (our plan was to snowshoe with the kids and friends). It was a challenging 24 hours but I'm still glad we went. Trying times (or ones that don't live up to your expectations) seem to make the best laughable stories and memories!

{More good recipes to share}

Really awesome chocolate chip cookies - the dry ingredients were gifted to us at Christmas. I let the batter chill for 36 hours.

Comfort food one-pot pasta meal with bacon and butternut squash - I used what I had on hand, so instead of shallots I used leeks and white onion and instead of provolone I used cheddar. I didn't use rosemary because I was too lazy to go outside and clip it and I didn't think I'd miss it.

Leftover turkey pot pie - I have been making this for a long time, I think I clipped the recipe in college (the one linked is similar). This time, I used turkey of course, frozen peas and white corn, fresh carrots and onion, herbs de provence, leftover turkey gravy mixed with country gravy to give it creaminess and water to get the right consistency.