it's the little things...

So I'm sort of working today but because I'm waiting on someone to do something for me, I'm taking a bit of a break. My "working from home" looks a little different. Hubby went to the office today, too. First, thank you to everyone who has been concerned. I hate that I can't update everyone individually but there's just so much going on. And I guess it's getting me blogging again a little bit. (Goodness, this is as far as I got this afternoon.) Since we left off, we started some car research and test drove a few. I think we might be down to a short list but still have some work to do. They still haven't gotten my car yet--maybe Friday. But that should all be resolved pretty quickly. It's pretty obviously totalled and it's much easy to resolve than an entire house. We're staying in an extended stay hotel for January. It's nice. Free breakfast, cookies, laundry, dinner three nights a week. We have two bedrooms and Ma

There has to be a clever title in here somewhere. Maybe something about chestnuts? I don't know. I'm exhausted. So we started out with a really great Christmas. We opened family presents on Christmas Eve. It was the first year both kids were really excited about it all. And the first year I had to work extra hard as a parent to pull it all off. We opened Santa gifts Christmas morning (after checking that the reindeer ate the food we left for them outside and Santa polished off most of the cookies). Then we played and Hubby took the kids to the park for a bit (using the jogging stroller that was inside the garage). We all ate a little lunch and were going to try to get the kids to nap (I totally needed one, too). So we were in Chicken's room, and they were a little wound up. Hubby actually mentioned at one point that it smelled a little like smoke up there. It was pretty cold on Christmas eve so there were lots of fires (appropriately in fireplaces) so it didn&

We made full use of our costumes this year.  We visited a corn maze prior to Halloween, then Halloween proper (including school and trick-or-treating that night), then a Halloween party the next day (today), and finally we're going trick-or-treating at our favorite neighbors' tomorrow as they were at the football game last night. We all dressed up as characters from Frozen--some of us more low-key than others.  Even our pumpkin joined in the fun.  I imagine it's the only year we'll be able to do this as the kids are starting to have opinions of their own.  She already had the Elsa dress for, you know, dressing up.  But we did make her a cape and jazzed up some Cinderella shoes.  Her hair got a few snowflakes and she had a crown that she has misplaced.  He was Sven as I couldn't get him to be Olaf but I think this turned out better.  Whipped up Daddy's costume in about 5 minutes, and I did a quick-n-dirty job on embroidery for mine.  The Olaf pumpkin was pretty

Buddy Bear! Happy birthday! I can't believe my baby is two. I'm not sure how that happened. We've all been very busy; I guess life just sneaks up on you. So what are you like at 2? Pretty awesome. You still have strawberry blonde hair but it seems very blonde underneath. We're letting you keep it a little long these days. Daddy shockingly said it suits you. I thought he'd want to give you a business haircut as soon as possible. I am taking you and your sister for a trim on Saturday so maybe we'll go slightly more dramatic then. You're still a skinny minny. I think you're going to take after me in build except that you'll have your daddy's long torso. My big head, though. And my long fingers and toes. You wear size 7 shoes and still fit best into 18-month clothes. Your well visit isn't until next week so we'll see how you're doing then. (Yep, you're a little thing--34" (48%) and 25 lb 9 oz (20%). But you se

Oh, little girl. I can't believe time just keeps flying by. You're 3 1/2. As we're planning your brother's birthday party, you tell me that you want a princess party yourself. That is not at all shocking but we'll see what happens over the next six months. I'm also excited because there is a very high probability of a new baby being born today and he'll be exactly 3 1/2 years younger than you. I can't wait for him to get here! What to say about you? You're a pretty awesome kid. You're so smart and verbal. And very, very chatty. You have such empathy and are really kind to the younger kids. You're going to make a great momma one day since you mother your brother. Sometimes too much but we're working on that. You're really well-behaved and people seem to enjoy you. You do whine more than I'd like and pitch a few fits but those are way down. You are still not the most athletic but you're really enjoying the pool

My kids get along pretty well. She looks out for him, and he's sometimes helpful. They're really interacting a lot more these days as he's a legitimate toddler and no longer a baby. On the weekends, they have started napping together. First, let me say that this is awesome because they nap AT THE SAME TIME. When he was still taking two naps, he'd wake up as she was going down and she'd wake up as he was going down again. Now? Family nap time! Or we sometimes are productive. Whatever. But now they nap at the same time, in the same room. He sleeps in his toddler bed and she has a pallet on his floor. Works out well. Sure, they're chatty sometimes before they fall asleep but not too bad. I found out that when they nap at the grandparents' he will usually wake up first. He gets out of his bed and goes into the room she sleeps in and crawls up on the bed. Yesterday he was sick but she was not. She went to school and he went to the grandparents

Hubby had a work meeting in Vegas this week and we decided to capitalize on that. We went out on Saturday for a few days of kid-free leisure. We stayed at the Encore, which was just as nice as the Wynn. There was some napping, some tv watching, some reading by the pool. We also stuffed ourselves with good food and wandered around the strip. Went to the wax museum. Saw David Spade--Kevin Farley was one of his opening acts. All three guys were quite funny. And saw the phenomenal Elton John. So, so good. And we squeezed in a gondola ride at the Venetian. Yea! We had a real Italian scoot us around and sing lovely songs to us. It appears I'm on a Life List roll. Who would have thought?

Y'all. I'm studen loan free. I could have paid them off awhile ago but the interst is so low my financially-brained husband convinced me to let them linger. But they got low enough that I thought, "That's it. I'm paying them off this year." Weee! And it's well before I start paying for college for the next generation. Next up? The house. Just kidding.

One thing I never really expected out of this whole motherhood gig is how my amount of empathy would increase exponentially. It's crazy. Someone gets bad medical news? I immediately think of her kids. And how she must be feeling (also probably thinking about her kids). And I think of my kids and how much the whole situation just sucks. I cry at Olympics commercials. When that girl coasts over to her mom and hugs her? And they put their foreheads together? Gah. And I go to school plays and see those kids up there? And I'm just so. freakin'. proud. And I don't know a single one of them. But they're amazing and they're someone's kid and I think what they're doing is just awesome. Everyone is suddenly just a person. Who was once a baby. Who still is someone's baby. I hope people look at my kids that way. Honestly, we should look at everyone like this--it lets you cut people more slack and be happier for them and realize that we're a

Buns! A year and a half! You are my favorite son ever. I'm surprised I haven't suffocated you with snuggles. I'm not sure if it's because you let me more than your sister did at this age or because you're a boy or because you're the baby. Whatever. I'm taking full advantage. So other than super cuddly, what are you like at 18 months? You still have a really deep voice but you say words now! Some are pretty clear to others but some only I understand. Off the top of my head: Mommy, Daddy, doggie, plane, nudie, no, bye bye, cheese, all done, help, armie (for arm), book, Maggie (garbled), Daisy, Tessa, milk, mummy (for gummy), and Scarlett (it varies but kind of like "Carleh"). I know I'm forgetting some. You can tell me what sounds most animals make. You know what we're saying now and respond to commands. You know some body parts. You still love water and baths. You really love reading these days. You were a little slower t

Chicken, last week you turned 3 years old. How did that happen? It's been a pretty good year. Mommy is finally getting the hang of parenting two children so things are less stressful around here. What are you like? Well, you can do pretty much most things physically. Walk, run, climb stairs, climb up the "rock wall" of the playground equipment, climb onto all sorts of things, walk backwards, march, dance, jump, stand on one leg. You don't yet ride the tricycle, pump your legs while swinging, or have a good grasp on kicking balls. You continue to grow taller. We don't have your annual doctor's appointment until next week and I'll update things then. (Update: Weight=32 lb 11.2 oz or 70th%, Height= 38" or 65th%.) Your hair is perfectly highlighted blonde (natural, of course). It still curls up at the end. You had your second haircut recently but it's still super long. It gets all ratty and tangled underneath but we've figured out how to (mo

Happy 2014! Last year, I wrote this to recap the previous year and lay out the goals for 2013.  Those were: Find the perfect coconut cream pie recipe.  No progress.   Finish the bulk of Baby #2s baby book.   Done! Find the perfect mac and cheese recipe. Again, no progress. Weird since these should be easier. Add to the Life List.    Added 3--and completed 1--item(s) in January. Eat lunch with someone one day a week.   M aybe about 1/3 of the time? Accomplish more on the house (kitchen and landscaping).   Kitchen mostly done and dining room done. All house trim painted (while we were on vacation--even better!).  Had foyer and front porch lights installed.  Front yard done for now plus work completed in 2 of the backyard beds.  Guest bath finished. Living room painted, started re-staining furniture, hung gallery wall, rearranged furniture. Ripped down the wallpaper in the kids' bath.  So basically blew this one out of the water. Throw really good birthday parties for the k