Miami

Last weekend I took a little mini-vacation away from the family and flew to Miami to see my friend Sam. No, I didn't know the Superbowl was going to be there that weekend. American Airlines started non-stop flights to Miami just this last fall and I used my credit card points to buy the ticket, so getting there was a breeze. Jeremy took over kid and house duty while I had a little adult fun. There's nothing like a little all night dancing and drinking to make you realize how old you've gotten. I don't mean just age either. Having children and no babysitter or family to help can age you a few years too. I still woke up by 8 a.m. because of habit, but at least I got to just lay there in her snugly, quiet bed. I have to say, though dancing and kicking ass at playing pool was fun, my highlight was all the great food. Sam took me to eat Peruvian, Caribbean, and Cuban food. Not only was it some of the best food I've ever eaten, but I got to slowly enjoy it without the distractions of my own children. These places were cheap too, and thank god for Sam who spoke Spanish and could order for us, because I had no clue. We spent the day in South Beach on Friday. The driving there was absolute culture shock. People drove with no road rules, everyone honking and driving over all lanes. The pedestrians were just as bad. We almost hit an old man with a walker crossing the middle of the street, in the middle of crazy traffic. He didn't even pause. Just walked right into the street (not at a crosswalk). Saturday we spent most of the day visiting with Sam's friends and family who I haven't seen in a long time. It was such a nice visit that I was sad to go but also ready to hug my kids again. I made it home just in time to watch the Superbowl on T.V.

Of course life isn't without balance, so when I got home I was faced to deal with a broken water heater. By Monday water had soaked our bedroom and closet floor. Between being on the phone with the water heater people, the plumber, and our laundry room door falling on Bailey, I managed to loose the water heater manual. For some reason the company seemed to think I could diagnose this issue on my own. I never got the instructions they said they would e-mail, and I had to knock out more drywall to get the screw driver in to take off the electric panels, only to find out I can just shut off the breaker instead. We are now going on day 2 without hot water and I haven't showered since Sunday morning. Eww! As soon as Jeremy gets home I'm going to the YMCA to workout and shower. I never did find that manual that I did have in my hand for an hour before I lost it. Jeremy and I traced every step I took around the house with no luck. It's so bizarre and it absolutely is driving me insane! It can't just disappear! Doesn't matter now. Plumber dude is going to have to replace it anyway even though it's only three years old (still under warranty thank god). We should have a new one by tomorrow. Should. Back to old school boiling water for the dishes and Foster's bath. Foster was so cute bathing in the kitchen sink. At least we will save a little on our water bill.

Invasion of the Toy Snatchers

Now that Foster is mobile it is time for me to start child proofing more areas of the house. Yesterday I took out all of the non-safe-to-baby toys out of the playroom and put them in Bailey's room. I also bought a few containers for her smaller choke hazard toys (jewelry and Barbie accessories) so that she could find these things easier. Now the playroom has more to offer for Foster, so today I decided to let him try it out. I put Bailey in the kitchen with her lunch while I observed Foster discover a whole new world. He went straight away pulling new and exciting toys out of buckets, tasting each one for authenticity, deciding their fate of chewablity. As Foster conquered his new world the natives grew restless. Bailey, envisioning the ruin of her beloved things, came rushing in to see for herself. "I need to give you a kiss, Mommy." I allow this excuse but send her right back to the kitchen. She quickly discovered the toys in Fosters clutches and worry overcame her. Instinct told her to quickly snatch the toy to safety. Her beloved baby brother was no longer cute and fun. He is officially a grabby, drooly, toy eating monster. "Mommy, he's eating it!" I always knew this day would come, but I also know that it's only going to get more complicated the older Foster gets. Pretty soon he will be storming Bailey's room and trying on all her jewelry and princess clothes. Then again Bailey might not mind having a playmate that likes to be a princess too. Bailey has NEVER taken much interest in her toys, ever. She prefers to spend her time following me around, forcing me to listen to her endless chatter. Unless of course someone else wants to play with her toys, then she's interested. Or maybe more concerned that they will have more fun with them. This can be good and bad. Now that Foster is playing with the toys, Bailey will play "with" him. But more like take all the toys from him and play with them in front of his face. It's a process. At least she's paying attention to the toys... and Foster. Pretty soon Foster will be able to snatch back and that's when the real fun begins. This vision of the future makes me even more motivated to find a pre-school for Bailey this fall. They will need space apart, and so will I. Jeremy and I have also talked about the room arrangement for the kids once Foster starts walking. I don't think they will be able to share a room. Not if I want them to get any sleep and for me to keep my sanity. I guess Foster will just have to keep sharing his room with all our office stuff. Unless he is able to climb out of his crib before we move. Then I might have to rearrange the whole house. Someday, probably around 2 years old, he'll need his own room with all his own boy toys. We should be in a new house by then, and I'll have to give up my guest room/office/craft room. That's okay with me as long as I can separate the kids and say, "Go to your room and stay there! You will have fun and play with your own toys! Mommy needs a time out."

Kids, Clothes, and Hair

Foster is officially crawling now. I can't leave him alone for one minute. He's into everything. At least he is still interested in baby toys, but he also fancies anything with straps. Bailey is a good sport about keeping him entertained and Foster squeals with delight every time she talks to him. Foster has always been easy to keep happy. There isn't much he doesn't like. Except maybe food. He doesn't hate it but he's not crazy about it either. Baby food does not keep his interest and it can be frustrating to feed him, but at the same time he could care less if we skip his meals, so that's okay with me. I'm not worried because he's still growing like crazy. Not even 7 months old yet and he's in 9 month old clothes. Jeremy and I are having so much fun with Foster that we practically fight over his attention. I encourage the "boy-time" as much as possible though. We just got the bad news that Jeremy is deploying again for 6 months in September. Foster will have to get to know him again when Jeremy gets back. I'm sure the separation will be hard on Bailey but I'm hopeful that we will be able to see Jeremy through Skype on a regular basis.

With this news I can at least plan what I'm going to be doing for the next year. I know we will be here for another year so we don't have to sell the house yet. I've got to start looking for pre-schools for Bailey. I can't believe she'll be 4 years old this summer. I should be getting my abdominal surgery this summer if all works out. Then I'd like to go back to work part-time after Jeremy leaves. Those are the big plans. We also have Ricci's wedding to go to in June where I'll be a bridesmaid and Bailey is the flower girl. We are so excited! Bailey tried on a flower girl dress today and completely fell in love with it. We didn't buy it so I had to bribe her with ice cream in order to leave before the meltdown got out of control. Ice cream beats dress... for today. I just love shopping for kids clothes. I get most of their clothes second-hand. I paid $24 for 3 shirts, two shorts, and one skirt. They grow out of clothes much faster than they wear out so why pay full price for new. I feel the same way about my own clothes. Half of my wardrobe is from Goodwill. My size and shape has changed so often over the last five years that it would be a waste if I bought new clothes in four different sizes to only wear them for a few months at a time. Plus this way I can change my look more often. Just like I've been changing my hair color. Bailey said to me, "Mommy, your hair is silly." It made me smile. Then she said to me a few weeks later, "Mommy, I want pink hair." All in good time sweetie. You'll have your day too.

Make me Gag!

Gag! It finally happened. I always knew this day would come. I've heard all the stories. Jeremy and his little sister. It happened to some friend's of mine. Today it happened to me. Foster loves to hang upside down and be swung in the air. Today I was doing just that and getting my daily arm exercises in, when Foster so suddenly pukes into my open smiling mouth. Warm, acidy, soy-milk formula in my mouth and down my neck. Uck! I grab a rag and spit. I then put my laughing, smiling baby down as I gag and try my hardest not to throw up from the lingering taste and smell. Quickly I pick up my coffee and take huge swigs to wash away the disgusting pukness that is overwhelming me. Okay, it's gone now. Time to change. Foster, I'll get you back one of these days!

Christmas 2009: Powered by Coffee

Well now that the craziness of the holidays are over it's time to find our routine again. I can now get back to my blog and update on the household happenings. Thanksgiving and Christmas were a big success. I say that like we were putting on a major production and that is exactly what it was. But I love it. I love the menu planning, the activity scheduling, the decorating, and of course the entertaining. Bailey makes it all the more exciting too. She LOVES Christmas, and takes every opportunity to tell you how much she loves it. When we got the Christmas tree (three weeks before Christmas) she hugged the tree and said "I love you tree." For a whole month I had to explain to Bailey that it wasn't Christmas yet. She got to visit Santa for the first time at the mall and I have to say I'm glad I didn't take her before. We had to wait in line for a long time, and pay $17.00 for two little pictures (this being the cheapest available). She wouldn't have cared or even understood the hype before. But now she totally gets it and all the traditions that go along with the holidays.

This year we had Erik and Kristy bring the boys over for Christmas and my mom was able to make it by dinner. For a few hours Aunt Pat even made it up before Christmas to finally see our house. We had already spent Thanksgiving at her place in Tallahassee where we ate lots, drank lots, and crashed hard. We had to cram the whole holiday into one day. It was Thanksgiving on steroids. But it was nice to have my mom and Aunt Pat around to hold the babies. Christmas was a little more drawn out. Jeremy set the scene with the ashy foot steps coming out of the fireplace. Once again the kids were overwhelmed with gifts, goodies, and lots of wrapping paper. It's all worth it though and it's just one of those few times of the year where we just let them go at their own crazy and sometimes testy pace. The babies were fighting colds and teething so there was plenty of fussiness to go around. The kids wouldn't let us sleep much so coffee was our main life force. I think the whole month of December could have been sponsored by coffee brands in our household. But the babies are only babies for so long. Hopefully they will sleep better next year. Nick was already crawling but frustrated with his lack of being able to go where ever he wanted; mainly to floor cords for chewing on. Foster isn't quite crawling yet but he does scoot or roll to get to where he wants. Two little teeth have popped up on the bottom front and he is eating a little solids but I think more for fun than for necessity. It was a princess year for Bailey and a dress-up theme for both her and Xander. I made them matching capes and added the necessary accessories for superhero/knight/fairy/princess -hood. The kids played well but we did have to separate them for down time every now and then because they'd get on each other's nerves. We did have one little scare with Xander. He was napping in Bailey's room when we heard some gagging noises. At first we thought it was from all his nose drainage but further investigation revealed that he possibly swallowed a plastic play earring of Bailey's. One half was wet on the floor, the other half missing. He may have thought it was candy since it was pretty dark in the room. We never did get the story from him so the mystery remains, but it doesn't matter, we are just happy Xander is fine.

I have to thank all our friends and family for their gifts. Everyone was so right-on with the choices. Bailey got everything she wanted except snow. I got enough great reads to last me all year. Erik and Kristy's gift to us was a night out without the kids, and boy did we need it! We went to see the new movie Avatar, which was one of the best movies I'd ever seen. It's hard to go on dates when babysitters are so expensive on top of going out prices. Jeremy's gift to me was a Karaoke Wii game with microphone, which has been entertaining the whole family and our friends since. I also got a mountain bike which will be very useful for me to shed the holiday pounds, as soon as the weather gets above freezing. My favorite gift from Jeremy is the two weeks of time he took off from work to spend with us.

Now Jeremy is back at work, Bailey is ready to go back to play-school, and I'm ready for her to go back too. I'm also ready to loose some weight. Now that Foster is almost 6 months old, I can get him flu shots and take him to the gym with me. I'm also looking into getting a part-time job at the base since Foster will be old enough for childcare. My plan for this spring is to:

Loose at least 10 lbs.

Get Bailey into Swim Lessons again

Get Bailey into Dance or Tumbling

Run a 5k and maybe a 10K

Get a part-time job if we don't get orders first

Make a visit to Destin

Eat more veggies and less sweets

Drink less Beer (damn you Jeremy and your homemade brew)

Don't take myself so seriously

Have more adventures!

I'm also working on the family DVD with all the little videos we took all year. I hope to be done by the end of this week. Then I can finally get those out to our family along with the Christmas cards. Yeah! So much to do and with the baby's needs growing, it's only going to get busier. Now, where's my coffee?

No More Paci

We finally did it! Well, Bailey finally did it, and all by her self. I told Bailey last week that Santa Claus wasn't going to bring her presents if she didn't throw her paci away. I know that sounds rough but I knew she was ready, she just needed a little more incentive. She has been extremely attached to pacifiers since she was a newborn. We were able limit her use over the years to nap and bed-time only. With two failed attempts to take them away I decided to let her decide when to transfer her comfort item to something more age appropriate. So yesterday she tells me she's ready to give up her paci because they were for babies. I told her to go throw it in the trash if she was ready. To my surprise she did exactly that. Then she says to me, "Can we have Christmas now?" Honestly, I didn't think she would consent so quickly, but that's just fine. Now we have had one nap and one full night without them, incident free. Yeah! I'm so glad she made that change all on her own. We are very proud of her.

Would You Like a Little Cheese with that Whine?

Time seems to be flying by lately as it always does when the holidays approach. Foster has recently had a huge growth spurt. He caught up with a higher percentile in weight and height. He seems happier, sleeps through the night, and is just easy-going all around. Of course the teething will probably change that, but for now I couldn't have it easier with a baby. I love this age. He only cries when he needs a diaper change, he's hungry, or he's tired. I can usually foresee the need before it even turns into a cry. He is laughing more and can be really vocal when Jeremy is talking with him. He smiles so much that I have a feeling when he's older he's going to get away with more mischief than Bailey ever did.

Bailey is the model big sister, being so loving and comforting to Foster. But I can recognize how she shows her jealousy now. She tries to get attention by complaining (I'm hungry, I don't like it, I've got a boo boo, I'm hot, I'm itchy) or she's always asking me for something (I want snack, want candy, want playschool, want Christmas, want Grandma, want bye-bye, want doctor...) Doctor?! Yes, she always wants to go to the doctor. When we took Foster to get shots and I got a flu shot, Bailey wanted shots too. We have such a strange child. She'll even cry when we leave the dentist or doctor sometimes. Like she didn't get poked and prodded enough to her satisfaction. Maybe I should get her a doctor kit for Christmas. I'm not going to complain about her liking the doctor but I'm constantly explaining to her that she doesn't need to go. The "I wants" are usually something I can't give her at the moment. So when I tell her "not right now" or "later" or just "no". It's crying and whining and sometimes a full on fit. She'll even pester me about being hungry when she just ate 30 min. ago. But I think what she really wants is either attention, candy, or she's really just thirsty.

We also argue about everything. I knew if I ever had a girl she would turn out just like me in the stubborn-got-to-have-it-my-way department. She is super sweet, gentle, social, and very empathetic. "Mommy, you grumpy." But she has to argue with us about EVERYTHING. Just today:

Me: "We are having apples. What are apples, fruits or vegetables?"

Bailey: "Vegetables!"

Me: "Well no, actually they are fruits."

Bailey: "No! Apples are vegetables."

Me: "No, fruit. What color are apples?"

Bailey: "Red!"

Me: "That's right. And some apples are green."

Bailey: "No, red. Apples are red!"

Me: "Right, and some are green."

Bailey: "No, apples are red mommy!" starting to cry and fuss.

Me: "Bailey, don't argue with mommy."

Bailey: "No! Noooooooo! I not!"

Me: "Ugh"

This usually ends up with her in time out or her being sent to her room because she is throwing a fit over the fact that we won't agree with her. These little episodes happen several times a day. This makes it hard for me use teachable moments with her. I'd love to be able to have conversations with her, which is what she wants, but they usually don't turn out pleasant. So now I try and avoid talking with her. "Bailey, please go find something to do." Which still ends in her whining and crying.

I know it sounds like I'm venting here and that's because I am. lol. I'm venting and I'm also accepting any advice on how to handle this, or maybe just a better perspective. What I'd really like to know is, is this just a faze or is this who she is personality-wise? Will she grow out of it? Is there any way I can change the behavior, or do I just ride it out? Should I punish the behavior, or accept it as who she is? Is this the product of how I parent her, or is it just the product of Meng spawn? IS RESISTANCE FUTILE? Ahhh, my little Menglings... love, love, love.

Well, my mother always says, "God made toddlers so darn cute so that it would be too hard to strangle them." I can relate.