Leap Day

I always thought that anyone with Leap Day as a birthday would have the most awesome birthday ever.  You'd only age once every four years!  If I had been born on Leap Day the year I arrived, I'd be 8 years old this year.  8!  How awesome would that be to say?  "Yeah, I'm only 8, aren't I big for my age?"  But then comes the dilemma of celebrating the birthday - do you do it February 28th, the day before, because it's still in February, or do you do it March 1st, because it's the day after February 28th?  How would you explain that to a young child?  "Today's not your birthday because your birthday doesn't happen every year, but we're going to celebrate it today anyway?"  Weird to a very young child.  Then again, L would be happy if we celebrated her birthday every day, lol!  I remember reading about a family once that had all Leap Day birthdays and thought that could get confusing.  Also, since it's Leap Day, shouldn't you do something special that you'd only do once in a blue moon?  I mean, blue moons happen more often than Leap Days, so make it special dangit!  I think I'll probably go do something fun with the girls on their very first Leap Day ever - maybe get ice cream, play leap frog, something.  What are you going to do to mark the special occasion?

Etiquette question, re: piano teaching

I've seen a couple friends over the years post about this happening.  I know it's not just me - in fact, I'm willing to bet every private lesson music teacher ever has had this happen and, well, what's does proper etiquette say you should do?  Well, let's post the situation:

You are a private music teacher.  You are teaching a private student and, in the middle of the lesson, the student toots.  The student doesn't acknowledge the fact that he has passed gas, nor do you make any indication that you heard it.  Then, noxious fumes hit.  What do you do?

Hilarious, yes, but at the same time, what do you do?  I was thinking about this over the past couple weeks and came up with some thoughtful solutions.  Which do you think is best?  Or do you think another would be better?  Let's hear your thoughts!

A)  You turn to the student and say "excuse you," so as to acknowledge that it happened and to politely let the student off the hook.  You then endure the ensuing cloud of gas without tears, screaming, or gagging.

B)  You immediately scream, gasp for air, fall to the floor, and clutch at your throat while trying in vain to crawl as quickly as possible away from the student.  You also scream something at that in the vein of "Was that a burrito????"

C)  You are competitive - you try to make one louder and more noxious.

D)  You ignore it and pretend it never happened, no matter how audible or horrible it might be.

Counters - KEEP THEM CLEAR!

When my husband is home for the weekend, this is what the kitchen counter looks like:

Counter by husband.

This was Sunday morning, when he was in his full-fledged counter-covering mode.  Where the f* are you supposed to prepare anything in the kitchen?  I mean, seriously?  This is ridiculous.  It looks like this every.  f*ing.  weekend.  and it drives me bananas.

This is what the kitchen counter looks like on Monday morning, after he goes to work and I clean it up:

Counter by me.

It's not perfect, but can you see where I prepare things now?  Yes, there's a counter there!  How hard is it to keep it clear and usable?  It took me probably five minutes of work to clear it and clean it.  ARGH!!!!

Fun with family - February edition

Yesterday, we spent the day in Tempe with my husband's grandparents and family.  It's always great fun when we celebrate birthdays there - a crapload of food that could feed twice as many people as there are there, birthday presents, a birthday grab box for everyone to choose stuff from, fabulous desserts, and terrific company.  The girls had a blast playing with their second cousins there (husband's cousin's children), as well as all the adults.  In fact, E refused to nap while we were there, but then fell asleep as soon as we pulled away from the house in the afternoon.  L played so hard she fell asleep about 30 seconds after E!  I think my husband was tired as well, as he fell asleep soon after we got on the freeway.  At least it was a quiet ride home. 

Flowers in the grandparents' front yard

DIM SUM SPREAD!

L wrestling her cousin C.

L enjoying lunch.

E chewing on some pens.

Off to celebrate...

Off to celebrate birthdays today with the husband's family.  It's a combination of his uncle, his dad, and his grandfather, as well as for his cousin's daughter (we're going to her 1st birthday party next week though).  I can't wait - we're having dim sum!  Packing up our stuff to go, but luckily it's just an up-and-back trip as opposed to overnight.  Meanwhile, enjoy a picture of E with spiky hair (she puts food in her hair at every. meal.  drives me crazy).

My punk eater (2-25-2012)

The damn cat

We have a cat.  Her name is Cookie, and she's a black-and-white "special" cat.  I say "special" because it is quite obvious to me, after having had quite a few cats growing up, that Cookie is not at the same mental capacity as other cats.  She'll be 10 sometime this year but doesn't really seem any different in her older age than her younger days.

I adopted her in 2004 right after I finished graduate school - I had a dream one night that I had a cat, and when I woke up, I knew I had to get a cat that day.  Not a kitten, a cat.  One who had already gone through all the kitten crap, was over that, had some maturity, and could eat and potty in the correct places.  I went to the Maricopa County Animal Shelter in Mesa that day with my wallet, apartment rental agreement, and cat carrier (I bought it that morning) to find my new friend.  I walked up and down the rows looking at all the cats that were there (more dogs, really), and everytime I went by Cookie's cage, she meowed at me.  I noticed that she didn't meow at anyone else that walked by, just me.  It must be a sign, I thought.  So, I asked a volunteer if I could open the cage, go in there, hold her, and just generally get to know her.  No problem, she let me in, and Cookie just sat there staring at me with these HUGE eyes.  She was terrified of the place, that was obvious, but not of me.  She let me pick her up and hold her (something she has hardly ever let me do since), carry her around her small temporary home, and just generally love on her.  After that, I couldn't say no to her.  I took care of the paperwork, the adoption fee, and went to get her.  Cookie was 2 at the time, and the paperwork said she had been at the shelter for about two weeks already.  Reason for relinquishment by previous owner(s)?  "Allergies."  Bull$hit.  Someone probably just didn't want her anymore and needed some label to get rid of her in their mind.  Didn't matter to me, I was taking her home.  So, Cookie came home with me.  When I got her back to my apartment, she immediately hid under my bed and wouldn't come out for anything.  I gave up after awhile and let her discover things at her pace, making sure the food, water, and litter box were pretty obvious.  I went to bed that night and suddenly there was this warm bundle of kitty snuggling up to me by my waist.  Oh, I fell in love:  this kitty liked me!

A month later, I met my husband.  He slowly got to know Cookie as well, and then we married and moved to our condo.  Change of pace, but Cookie did fine with that.

A month after moving into the condo, my husband decided to adopt the stray dog his parents found.  So, Belle came to live with us.  Cookie was horrified by her for awhile, but once Belle understood she was the alpha and the dog was subservient, it wasn't too bad.  They even snuggled together.

A couple years after that, my husband got a job offer that moved us from the Phoenix area to Tucson.  We lived with his parents for a few months before we bought our house, but then we were here.  Two moves, not too bad for Cookie.  I do remember drugging her for the drive down here - she was absolutely silent (sleeping) until we got to Picacho Peak.  All of a sudden, there was this really loud "MYOWR!" from my passenger seat, where her cat carrier was.  I think I almost wrecked the car I was so startled, lol!  Cookie hated my in-laws' house, but settled into our house no problem.

A couple years after that, we had L.  Cookie's world changed incredibly.  She didn't outwardly show resentment towards baby L, but she definitely let us know she was not a fan.  The pooping began.  She would poop right outside L's room.  We blocked the area.  She would poop right by the area we blocked.  We banned her from the entire hallway/rooms with a baby gate.  She would poop by the baby gate.  We laid foil all around the area and sprayed it with stuff to deter her.  Nope, she'd just move the foil and poop there more.  Finally, as L grew bigger, the pooping diminished but didn't disappear entirely.  Then, we threw E into the mix.  More pooping.  More punishment for pooping.  Pooping continued.  We're basically at the point now where we have banned Cookie from being upstairs during the day.  She gets thrown out of our bedroom at 5am and she's not allowed back in it until about 7pm (she usually spends her days lounging on our bed, then goes to poop in the hallway).  There is a litter box right beside where she poops.  It's infuriating.  We've tried giving her positive attention - she poops.  We've tried punishing her by putting her in the kennel at the vet's office for a few days - she poops.  We've tried throwing her in the bathroom with her food, water, and litter box as punishment - she poops.  We've tried cleaning the areas dramatically to make sure it doesn't smell or have any attraction to her - she poops.  My husband has even caught her getting ready to poop in the hallway and put her in the litter box.  She won't poop.  She'll wait until he gives up, go back to the baby gate, and poop.  SHE WON'T STOP TAKING F*ING CRAPS IN THE HALLWAY NO MATTER WHAT WE DO.

I realize I've had her for 8 years, but I'm getting tired of this behavior.  I feel like we've tried everything we can think of (and read about) to get her to change her behavior and our reward is cleaning up f*ing cat crap in the hallway all the time.  I'm tired of the girls almost stepping in it when they want to go to their rooms.  I'm tired of smelling it, using carpet cleaner, spraying the area, and looking at the poor carpet and wondering when I'm going to have to replace it.  WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET HER TO STOP BEFORE I THROW HER OUTSIDE FOR THE COYOTES TO EAT?!???  I'm kidding, I wouldn't do that - but I would consider giving her away.  It's so damn frustrating.

Our Christmas photo for 2006, with Cookie and Belle.

A very young husband plays with Cookie (February 2005)

Me sleeping with Cookie while we lived with my in-laws' (spring 2007)

Overnight stays

Last night, L spent the night with her grandparents.  She's still currently over there (probably having a supreme ball), and she's done it quite a bit before, so I'm not worried at all about her being there.  Tonight, however, I do worry (probably needlessly) as E will be spending the night for the first time since birth away from me.  I hope that she'll be fine, but I know there will probably be a few hiccups.  Even sending along a schedule to my in-laws regarding everything she does and need won't help, because E has a habit of going off schedule when you need her to be on.  :p  E is still nursing 2-3 times a day as well, so I'm wondering how I will hold up physically with her gone for about 24 hours.  In any case, I packed her suitcase this morning and will be taking her over around lunch time.  Then, bring L back home for some one-on-one time with Mommy and worry the rest of the night about how E is doing.  So goes the life of a mom!

Juggling 300+ Pianists...

In my volunteer life, I am currently the chair for a national composition competition (southwest division), corresponding secretary for our local music teachers association, and co-chair for an evaluation program for pianists in the state (but just for our local).  Ha, listing it like that makes me see why I'm so busy!  Anyway, as co-chair of the evaluation program, my job is everything after the registrations are completed (February 15th).  My co-chair sent me all the forms last week so that I could start scheduling evaluations, hiring judges, scheduling judges, and arranging for rooms at the evaluation location. According to the registration forms, there are:

302 students to be evaluated
40 teachers to keep informed
10 judges to hire & schedule
12 rooms to use
400 certificates to order for those being evaluated (pass & fail)
400 ribbons to order (superior, excellent, good, and participant [for fails])
100+ plaques for those completing levels 4 and 8 (there are 12 levels)
10 trophies for those completing level 12
8 scholarships for those completing level 12 and going to college (nice!)
~1000 copies of various forms and letters to use, distribute, and keep track of

If that wasn't daunting enough, it's my first year so I'm having to ask a ton of questions in order to figure things out.  My husband and I actually had to break out calculators last night to figure out how many of the certificates and ribbons to order based on percentages from the last five years.  Yikes!  The lady telling me to order ribbons and such isn't emailing me back right now and it's driving me nuts since she wanted the information yesterday, but c'est la vie for her, right?  I think I've finally got a preliminary spread sheet made up that has scheduled all the teachers' students in judges' rooms (based on who hasn't been evaluated by a particular judge in X amount of years), but I'm still waiting on two teachers' registration from my co-chair (they were late, but I have estimated times for them).  Then, once I've got all that finalized, I get to put together 40 packets to send to teachers so they can distribute stuff to their students AND mail back their final schedules to me by mid April.  ARGH.

Why do I do this?  I realize I was taught to volunteer my time for things I believe in (here, obviously music), but this is ridiculous!  No nap time for me for awhile...

A picture from the person who did my current job last year -  the final product of ribbons, certificates, trophies, and plaques!

The things parents do...

L had her birthday party at the beginning of January, and since then we've left the remaining plates, cups, napkins, and plastic flatware in the middle of the dining room table.  Yesterday, I was doing something in the kitchen while she was over there.  I came over and she had spread out a plate, napkin, cup, and flatware to each sitting place at the table.  I was a bit exasperated, because it meant I would have to clean everything up, but she was so cheerful and told me "I have party!  Happy birthday!" 

Me:  "No, we need to clean this up, it's time for dinner."
L:  *big tears in eyes* "But I have PARTY!"
Me:  "No, we have to...oh, for the love of pete..."
L:  *wailing* "I WANT A PARTYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!"
Me:  "Okay, fine.  Would you like to have a dinner party?"
L:  "Yes!"

So, we had a dinner party.  It was a festive party of fish sticks, carrot sticks, rice, applesauce, and milk.  L was so happy.  She made me sing The Party Song (Happy party to us, happy party to us, happy party to u-us, happy party to us!), repeatedly, and kept telling me her milk was special because it was in a party cup.  She insisted that her daddy, her little sister, and myself all use party stuff too, so it was festive all around.  At least she didn't ask for party hats! 

I swear, the things I do for this girl sometimes.  If she ever tells me someday that I don't do anything for her, I'm whipping this event out of my pocket!

Party dinner!  (2-20-2012)

Bad dream = bad feelings

I had a dream right before I woke up this morning that I was at my parents' house, sitting in the porch, watching a heck of a wind storm outside.  Everything was blowing across the yard from the west, including actual structures.  I remember wondering if it was more than just wind, if there was a tornado or hurricane (in Ohio!  ha!), and why everyone was coming out to the porch with me to see what was going on.  There was a loud sound and the roof ripped off the patio cover, and I saw trees coming toward the house.  At that point, I told my parents that we should probably get to somewhere in the interior of the house to be safer (they don't have a basement).  I woke up feeling terrified and just not able to shake the feeling that something was happening outside.  Of course, nothing was, but dreams like that leave me feeling creepy and off for part of the day.

Bad dreams suck!  Luckily, I can reason it out.  My girls?  Not so much.  I feel so bad when one or the other has a bad dream and I just can't make it go away.  I remember how terrified I was as a child whenever I had a bad dream - I'd scream for Mom or Dad, and they'd have to come up to soothe me for a bit.  They'd always leave before I wanted them to, and I'd be left in the dark of my room still feeling terrified and unable to fall back asleep for awhile.  It was always worse if there was a storm going on outside, as my bed was right under the overhang of the roof.  Yuck.

Care to give me happy thoughts for the day?  I could really use them.

The USA's Southernmost Ski Resort

It rained on Tuesday.  Then again on Thursday.  Then, just around the city on Friday.  This meant that it snowed up in the Catalina and Rincon mountains.  SNOW!  My FIL had suggested we go play on the mountain and have a picnic for his birthday (2/5), but it didn't work out that weekend so we put it off.  Here was the perfect opportunity, the perfect timing (because the mountain road was open even though there was snow - they usually close it), and we decided to go.  It was awesome!  The girls loved playing in the snow (though E kept trying to sit in it), we got to see the southernmost ski resort in the USA (I've gotta go back sometime, it looked awesome!), and we had a great time together as a family (us plus my in-laws).  My husband kept to his normal self and wore sandals in the snow.  Just...yeah.  Here are the pictures!

On the way up Mt. Lemmon

Husband showing off his sandaled foot in the snow.  *sigh*

L eating an icicle

E attempting to pick up a rock with mittened hands.  Futile but hilarious!

FIL tossing a snowball while L watches

L playing with the snow

L and E with FIL and MIL

Picky

L and I have a deal:  if she eats all of her lunch, she gets ice cream.  Not just any ice cream, mind you, but her favorite ice cream:  chocolate.  So, today she ate her entire lunch.  However, we were running a bit late and so I needed to take E upstairs for a nap.  I told L we'd have ice cream "later," which produced a massive screaming fit of hysteria that it wasn't happening "NOW!"  We had an appointment after nap time to get an oil change, so I promised her we'd get ice cream while the car was getting fixed.  That seemed to appease her.  After her nap, we drove to the shop, dropped off the car, and walked over to Wendy's (the closest place that had "ice cream" for fairly cheap).  She pointed at what she wanted (chocolate frosty), I ordered for her, ordered myself a caramel apple frosty (it was so-so), and paid.  L happily chose a table in the restaurant, got herself a spoon and straw, and proceeded to take one bite of her frosty.  ONE.  FREAKING.  BITE.  She then announced "this not ice cream, I no eat."  WTF CHILD, COULDN'T YOU HAVE TOLD ME THIS BEFORE I ORDERED AND PAID FOR IT?!???  Cue Mommy now telling her "this is special ice cream, and it's chocolate!  just like you wanted!"  Nope, no way, she wouldn't budge on it.  Fine.  I took her frosty and started eating it, telling her how wonderful it was.  She got interested in mine, took it, took a bite, and said "this ice cream good!  I eat yours."  *headdesk*  Well, at least she was happy and got her ice cream.

Note to husband:  please do not get the really good ice cream for our house anymore - we are raising ice cream snobs!

10 years ago today (a post on change)

Today is February 17, 2012.  Today, I will be taking care of two little girls, taking them to storytime at the library, trying to satiate the never-ending appetite of an almost-14-month-old baby, answering the ever-present questions of a curious 3-year-old girl, cleaning up the house, making all the meals of the day, and most likely trying to be amorous with my husband when I'm dog tired at night.  I'm also in the middle of organizing stuff for a local music students' evaluation in May, compiling grades from my college students' playing tests they completed last night, and contemplating baking something for my in-laws this weekend.  Also, I've got to practice my piece for the faculty recital next month and eventually get out the door for a five-mile run.  Tomorrow, right?  Lol.

10 years ago today, it was February 17, 2002.  I woke up nervous as can be because today was my senior recital at my college.  Today, I was going to play a solo 60-minute recital from memory for everyone that came into that recital hall.  I remember telling myself to treat it like a normal day so that I didn't go overboard on my nerves.  Slept in, had breakfast in the dining hall (waffles, because it was Sunday!), showered, watched TV in my room, and eventually got dressed, headed over to the music building, warmed up, and got ready for the recital.  I remember it went well, and I was pleased with how it turned out (even if my Rachmaninoff ended up having an accidental loop in it!).  I was in the midst of applying to graduate schools, loving that I got to be with my three best friends on the same floor in the same residence hall, and finishing up my senior honors project so that I could graduate with University Honors.  I was going places, and this inky-dinky college town (and college) were not going to hold me back from doing big things with my life.  Perform now, teach later, get married even later, and no way in HELL was I ever going to have offspring.  YUCK.  Kids suck, and then they suck the life out of you.  Who wants that?

Amazing how things change over a decade.  Then, I was 21.  Now, I'm 31 (obviously).  If I could go back and talk to 21-year-old me right now, I'd tell me to relax and enjoy what I'm doing.  There's no point in getting so worked up over things that are totally out of my control, so I might as well enjoy the last semester I have of college and let things fall where they will.  Never rule out marriage when you're still young, it could happen - you just have to meet the right guy.  And children?  Maybe meeting the right guy will change your mind.  ;)  I'd also tell me to beware of the page 2 of the Rachmaninoff prelude I played on the recital and not to start daydreaming when I get there, to eliminate that stupid loop.  It still bugs me, ten years later, when I hear it on the recording. 

Then, I was a student musician.  Now, I'm a wife-mom musician.  I wonder what I'll be in another 10 years?



Senior Recital program
February 17, 2002

Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI: 52 - F.J. Haydn
     Allegro
     Adagio
     Presto
Rhapsody in B minor, Op. 79 no. 1 - J. Brahms
Ballade in G minor, Op. 23 - F. Chopin
Prelude & Fugue in E-flat Major, BWV 876 - J.S. Bach
Sonata No. 2, Op. 6 - V. Persichetti
     Moderato
     Sostenuto
     Allegretto
     Allegro 
Prelude in D Major, Op. 23 no. 4 - S. Rachmaninoff
L'Isle joyeuse - C. Debussy

Starting to worry...

In about three weeks, my mom, myself, L, and E are flying to Japan to visit my family over there.  It's been a long time in the making - I've wanted to take L back since she was born in 2009 but just haven't bit the bullet.  Once E was born, I thought "I've really got to get them overseas sometime soon."  But, again, I just didn't move on it.  My impetus to finally get things in gear was my grandfather's passing in August this past year.  He was 96, so it wasn't entirely unexpected, but the fact that I couldn't go to his funeral was.  The girls didn't have passports (I hadn't even gotten that far in my thought process), and I couldn't leave E at home since she was still nursing, so I was totally screwed in going.  I cried for probably three days because I couldn't go with my mom and brother.  I was the only one of my grandfather's five grandchildren that was there and I felt so guilty for it.  In any case, I finally got my ass in gear and got the girls their passports in September, talked my mom into coming with us for a visit, and then finally bought plane tickets in January for this spring.

Now I'm starting to get to the point where I'm beginning to panic about traveling so far away with the girls.  I mean, my grandmother's house won't even have a crib, so all of us will be piled in futons on the floor.  How's that going to work?  We're not traveling with car seats, so it will be public transportation and walking all the way.  How am I supposed to manage two girls, luggage, and being on a plane/bus?  What about food?  Food is similar everywhere, but what if the girls won't eat anything that my mom or grandmother prepares?  Where the heck am I going to get food?  What am I going to do to entertain them?  How am I going to keep them out of all the things they're not supposed to play with while we're there?  How are we going to deal with a house that isn't insulated very well against temperatures that drop to freezing at night?!??  Ugh.  Mom tells me "don't worry, it'll be fine" but I can't help worrying about how my girls will take it.  I don't want it to be a bad experience for them or me, but I feel like it might just turn out that way.  Always look at the positive, right?  But sometimes I can't see the positive beyond everything else.  I'm sure my grandmother (and rest of the family) will love meeting the girls, but at what cost to my sanity?!??

That's where my brain is today.  I wish I had an answer for everything but...I don't.  We'll see how it goes, I suppose.  Thank goodness Mom is coming along!

Little (half) Japanese me (1981)

Valentine's Day

My husband and I didn't really get to celebrate Valentine's Day together until about 9pm last night:  I had to work, and then went swimming, so that was that.  Luckily, it wasn't a big deal.  My in-laws came by while I was working and gave the girls ice cream and new outfits.  Lucky girls!  Hubby got me a piano book of Mario music (awesome beyond awesome), a Nintendo DS game of puzzles that I know I'll like because it's in the same series as the last game I finished, and CHOCOLATE.  He rocks.  I got him a Star Wars history anthology, the girls got him a Burt's Bees chapstick set (he's addicted to the stuff), and I also got us DQ blizzards to top off the night.  It actually ended up being both of our dinners, but that's okay!  It was nice just to be able to spend a bit of time together and actually celebrate Valentine's Day.  I'm going to be playing piano today with my new music and charging my DS for some play tonight.  Score one for Valentine's Day!

Preschool Visit

I took E and L to a preschool yesterday to visit as a potential place for L to attend in the fall.  I have no comparison as to whether this is a good or bad preschool, but after yesterday I'm willing to bet it is one of the really really good ones!  L loved it, period.  She ran around to all the different stations in the gigantic room while I talked to the head lady, played with the other children, played outside on the playground equipment and with the group activity going on, and even got to do the art project the children were working on.  There were about 15-20 kids in there, and apparently they usually get divided up into age groups to do things (3-4 and 4-5).  It was great - even E had a good time with a wheelbarrow full of baby dolls.  :)  L threw a gigantic temper tantrum when we went to leave, telling me "I stay here, you come back later!"

I think L is ready to be in a place with other kids on a regular basis beyond library storytime.  She LOVED being at the preschool.  I guess the decisions my husband and I have to make now are A) when to start her (August or January), and B) half day for a few times a week, or full day.  Decisions decisions!  I guess we'll have to go check out a few other preschools now to compare.

Lily's art project from the preschool (2-13-2012)

Sweet Baby

Yesterday, after coming home from the race, E fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep when we got her out of her car seat.  My husband held her as she took a short nap and I snapped this picture.  I adore E's face when she's sleeping.  It almost makes me want to have another little one!

E asleep on Daddy's shoulder (2-12-2012)

Couples' Relay

The couples' relay race was this morning and there couldn't have been nicer weather.  It was slightly overcast (so it wasn't super bright) and about 65F at start time.  We got there around 7:15am and walked over to the registration area, where my mother- and father-in-law were waiting for us, got our numbers and some free stuff, and then headed over to the start line near Centennial Hall on campus.

People milling about, ready for the race

My FIL and I decided that I would run first and then he'd run second.  Our hand-off item was a candy necklace, which thankfully came wrapped so that we wouldn't have to handle the candy directed (I'd probably have been tempted to eat it).  The course was 1.7 miles for each person, and we were off after a countdown!

See the guy in the left middle wearing orange?  He's JUGGLING.  Amazing.  

For me, the race was pretty easy.  Straight out, loop around a building, and then straight back.  Then, hand the candy necklace off to my FIL, give him a sweaty peck on the cheek, and then off he goes (the PDA, or public display of affection, was required, lol!).

Me coming into the hand-off area

My FIL did an awesome job with his portion of the run, especially since he didn't do any running to train for the event.  All he's done is aerobics classes on a regular basis!  Amazing.  I finished my portion in 15:00 while he finished his in 15:17, so our combined time was 30:17 for 3.4 miles.  That makes both of our averages just under 9:00/mile.  YAY!

FIL pushing it through to the finish line.  Run, FIL, run!

Afterwards, there was a children's race (as usual).  L ran it and did great, and E started the race but needed a bit of help to finish (from Mommy).  L got a lollipop for finishing the race, which she loved, and then we all loved the main gathering area with donuts and bagels!

L running her race

E finishing her race with help from Mommy

L & E lounging in the grass (E has bagel in her mouth)

All in all, it was a very fun morning.  I'm so glad I got to do this with my FIL!  It was just a fun race with fun times shared by everyone.  This is definitely something I'll have to sign up for again next year.  I'll close this entry with my husband's favorite picture he took this morning - me holding E while she was noshing on a bagel and falling asleep.  <3

Love my baby

Playdates

I adore play dates.  They are the most wonderful thing for my daughters, and they adore them as well.  We don't know nearly enough people in this area to do play dates all the time, but we can usually get about one a month with those that we do know.  Yesterday, we drove up to Phoenix to see one of my friends from graduate school and her sons.  The ages work out well with our youngsters:  her boys are 4 and 2, and my girls are 3 and 1.  Not only was it fun catching up with my friend, the girls had a blast with all the "new" toys at her house as well as playing with her sons.  Definitely sucks that it takes almost two hours one way to drive up there; however, for as much happiness as the girls had there, I think I'm okay with that.  :)

Lots of fun playing in the back yard!  (2-10-2012)

Bad Mommy. Bad, Bad Mommy.

Yesterday morning, the girls were playing around in E's room while I tried to get them dressed, brush their hair, etc. like we always do in the mornings.  E was looking for a good chase from me, so I went to go after her and grabbed her from behind so she couldn't escape.  She swung around (due to me grabbing her) and klonked her face right against the arm of her rocking chair.  Oh, the crying.  Oh, the tears.  Oh, the horrible guilt Mommy felt for having caused her baby so much pain so early in the morning.  After E finally calmed down, I look at her poor face and saw red lines.  Those red lines turned into purple bruises as the day wore on.  Thanks to Mommy, she now sports a purple line under her right eye and another across the bridge of her nose.  I feel SO. INCREDIBLY. BAD. for this.  My poor child!  All I want to do is hug her, kiss her, and hold her until all my love makes those bruises and pain go away.  I know she won't remember this someday, and I know she'll be okay, but I can't help feeling so bad for her.  If only I hadn't [insert all sorts of guilt-tinged actions here]!  Poor poor child!!!!

MOMMY GUILT IS THE WORST THING EVER!

Sleeping Issues (me, not the kiddos!)

Let's start with my sleeping history:  I've never been a good sleeper.  Even growing up, I would wake up a couple times a night, be conscious for a bit, and then go back to sleep.  It got better in college and grad school (probably because I would only sleep for 4-5 hours/night), but then went back to being pretty crummy after I got pregnant with Lily in 2008.  I can probably count on one hand the amount of nights I've slept straight through the night in the last ~4 years, and that's pretty sad.

Now that both girls are sleeping through the night on their own (hurrah!), I'm trying to figure out how to get myself to sleep more than 3-4 hour stretches at a time.  The weird thing is I always wake up when I roll over - in other words, I'm quite conscious of the fact that I'm rolling over when I do it at night.  Sometimes that's all I'm conscious for, but sometimes it wakes me up for a bit.  I would love to go to bed at ~10pm and wake up at 6am, but that's a dream at this point.  I wonder what I can do to help sleep train myself into sleeping longer?

Any suggestions are appreciated.  Otherwise, I guess it will try for awhile to get myself sleeping better naturally!

Oranges = GREAT toys

E has this huge problem when it comes to meal time - she wails and wails and WAILS while I'm preparing meals because she sees food but she doesn't have it.  No matter what kind of food, drink, or toys I give her to try and pacify her, she stands in the middle of the kitchen wailing while trying to clutch at my leg so I'll pick her up and give her the food I'm preparing.  It's mind-numbingly frustrating.  So, last night when I was preparing dinner for her and L, I opened up the fridge to get something and E pulled out a bag of oranges.  I was so annoyed with her crying already that I just let her take it and run.  I didn't hear a peep out of her for almost 15 minutes.  She climbed up on the loveseat in the family room and played with that damn bag of oranges like it was the best gift she'd ever been given.  She was smiling, laughing, cooing, shaking it, trying to open it up, and then running around the house with it.  Had I known that oranges were the solution, I would have given her a bag months ago!  Sheesh, it's strange what works sometimes for kids...

Wandering around with oranges (2-7-2012)

MINE!  ALL MINE!  (2-7-2012)

Playing together

L and E are finally starting to play together, though it's probably more like side-by-side play rather than together together play.  I love it.  Here's hoping L stops hoarding all her toys from E and that she can learn that playing with her little sister can be fun. 

L and E have some dollhouse fun (2-5-2012)

Cold. Brrr.

No matter what I do lately or what I wear, I am always cold.  Seriously.  It's been 70-80F outside for a couple weeks now and I can't stay warm.  I'll wear long sleeves and long pants when it's that warm out while my girls run around in t-shirts.  My right foot is constantly cold, even if I put on socks.  I had to throw an extra blanket on the bed at night because I've been freezing (husband says he's roasting so I've had to put the blanket on only half the bed).  I'm sitting in bed under the covers while I type this with a sweater on while my husband sits next to me reading a book in nothing but shorts.  Why can't I stay warm????

Of course, when I go to work out, I warm up almost instantaneously to the point that I'm so warm it's ridiculous.  I've considered going out for my morning runs lately in nothing but shorts and a sports bra, but it's 40F at that hour.  My clothes are soaked after I'm done working out, I'm broiling hot, but by the time I come indoors after a short cool-down walk and stretch, I'm freezing again.  I spend probably 10 minutes in the shower afterwards shivering with super hot water coming down on me until I finally feel a little warmer.  Of course, as soon as I'm out of the shower, it's back to being cold again.

What the hell is wrong with my body?!??

Pet Peeve - Little Kids Out Late

Last night, after we put the girls to bed, I went out grocery shopping.  This is pretty typical - one of us will have some errands that need to be run and will go out once the girls are down for the night.  L goes to bed at 7:30pm, so it was probably about 8pm when I got to the store.  I realize that it was Saturday night, but the amount of children that were L's age or younger out with their families at that hour astounded me.  E had been in bed since 6:30!  There were children younger than her out, crying and rubbing their eyes, with their completely oblivious parents going around doing other things.  Other children were just wandering around looking zonked out of their minds as they followed parents, and it just made me angry. 

I understand that some children don't normally go to bed until 9-10pm.  I understand that.  However, I'm pretty sure that most children under the age of 5-6 go to bed before 8:30pm.  When I see tons of them out and about on a Saturday night, I wonder what their parents are thinking.  Do they not realize that a routine is so important for little ones?  That taking them out like that is almost bordering on selfish?  Why couldn't they do something like what my husband and I had done - one stay at home with the kids while the other shops?  Sometimes I just wonder why parents think that their very-young children are capable of doing everything they can do when they JUST CAN'T.  They're KIDS, for pete sake, not adults.  They need more sleep, more attention, and more assistance than adults.  One child was asleep in the car attached to the front of the cart, slumped over the wheel.  While that would have been humorous to me at any other time of day, all I could think last night was "that poor boy needs to be in bed, not in the middle of a grocery store by the beer display with his badly-dressed mother."  *sigh*

I've said it once and I'll say it again:  BREEDING LICENSES.  People need to have BREEDING LICENSES to have children.  Maybe then you'd get a handful of responsible parents...

L and the Birthday Party

Last night was the birthday party for L's friend Layla that she has been waiting to attend forEVER (according to her, but really only about 10 days).  It was at Peter Piper Pizza and we got there right as it was starting.  It was so laid back, with mostly family attending, and the kids that were there were Layla's cousins and children of her parents' friends.  L found Layla right away and mobbed her with hugs, and the two played most of the night together.  I was really impressed with how smoothly everything was run by the PPP people, and it was a really fun time for all the kids and adults.  There was even food for the adults (yay for me!)!  L had tons of fun earning tickets from different games, and she got three toy dinosaurs at the end of the night from them.  Layla had a meltdown right at the end while opening her many, many presents (including a Barbie motorized car!), and L had one at right about the same time from not being able to open presents ("I help!  I help!").  We got home and put her in bed, but she laid awake until almost 9pm before she finally drifted off (normal bedtime = 7:30pm).  I'm so glad that she had such a good time, and I'm actually surprised that I enjoyed it too.  Daddy and E had a good time together here at home, so it seems like everyone was a winner all around.  I may have to consider a PPP birthday for L or E when they get to school age - that was fun!

Birthdays and The Husband (slight rant)

Before I begin my (slight) rant, let me start by saying I LOVE MY HUSBAND.  He is exceptionally loving, kind, wonderful, and patient to me and our daughters, and I could not exist how I do today without him.  Or his sperm.  But that's another story.  :p  He is intelligent and can be quite thoughtful, which is why the thing with birthdays boggles my mind every time it happens.

My husband is not good with dates.  That being said, he can't remember dates to save his life.  If I ask him something like "do you know what we did today three years ago?", he gets this look of fear in his eyes and starts trying to figure out a way to get out of the conversation.  Actually, I think he's learned now to just face the issue head-on, as he'll usually respond "nope."  The only reason he remembers MY birthday is because it's the same day as his, just another month (we were both born on the 30th of the month).  He can't remember his mother's birthday, or father's, or anyone else.  Not even the month most of the time!  Drives me bonkers.  One way I've tried to help is by putting up calendars all over the house that have everyone's birthdays on them.  It was a great idea, but he doesn't ever look at the calendars.  Sigh.

Anyway, his dad's birthday is Sunday.  I've been thinking since Christmas about what to get my father-in-law based on his interests, needs, and trying to show him how much I love all he does for me and our family.  Part of his gift was new socks, as he had worn his old tube socks for so long that he was having to flip them upside down in order for his feet to not poke out the bottom through holes (now they poke out the top, LOL).  I gave him the socks last weekend as an early gift and told him to start using them, since he's going to be training for the couple's race we're doing on the 12th.  I asked my husband on Tuesday this week "what are you thinking about getting your dad for his birthday?"  Cue in the deer-in-headlights look.  He said "oh crap."  Great, he'd totally forgotten it was coming up.  I think our conversation went something like this:

Me:  I'm going to Target this week, is there anything you need?
Him:  Not that I can think of.
Me:  What are you getting your dad for his birthday?
Him:  *deer*  Oh crap...
Me:  ...and this is why I need to go to Target this week...

At least I knew what I wanted to get, but still!  Why is it always on me to get birthday and Christmas presents for everyone?  This includes his entire family (note:  if you are related to my husband and have gotten a gift from him since we got married, chances are very very high that I got it for you, not him) along with my own (note:  if you are related to me, I got your gift.  Husband probably forgets he's related to you, sorry).  I really feel like we should at least split up the duties.  Maybe he could take certain people in his family and I'd take the rest?  Or, maybe he could tell me what he'd like to get them and I'd go get it?  Vice versa?  Ugh.  I just hate having the responsibility of potential bad gifts on my shoulders while he sits there (while people are opening their gifts), leans over to me, and whispers "what did we get them?"  Oh!  Maybe I should just get really bad presents all the time!  Here, Grandpa, you're old so you need old people vitamins, happy birthday!  Maybe not.

Any ideas on getting a fair gift division?  Or, do you have the same problem with your husband/wife/significant other?  What do you DO?!???

The Playground

I took the girls to the playground yesterday to burn off some energy.  Wow, I'd forgotten how nice the one near us is since they've redone it.  Not only are there a ton more things to play with and on, there are huge sun shades over the entire playground to make it more bearable (and not nuclear hot) in the summer.  It was E's first visit to the playground since she started walking, and she adored it.  Her favorite thing to do was try to walk up the slide.  She'd get to a certain point and then fall down, which caused massive giggling and smiles from her.  E was also a big fan of swinging and just walking around watching the other children play.  L ran probably the entire time she wasn't on playground equipment.  From the moment she got out of the car, she was off, running around with the other children there, climbing on everything fearlessly, asking me how to get up and down certain things, and chasing other children on bikes and in wagons.  L even reported back to me on what the other children were doing.  "Mama, that boy sad.  He need a nap?"  (the poor kid was having a meltdown)  Ah, ever the empathetic child.  She was panting at the end of the hour we were there, and then she had a meltdown because she didn't want to leave!  At least she was fine by the time we drove the five minutes home.  Since the weather is nice right now, I'm going to try to get them to the playground at least once a week.  It's such a fun place and such a great way to entertain the kiddos for free!

Target Fun

Yesterday, we went to Target for our usual weekly (or semi-weekly, whatever) run for supplies.  I love letting the girls wander around a bit just to see what they do.  L immediately goes for whatever we're around, examines it, picks out her favorite, tries it out, and even asks me what it's for.  E runs.  Literally, she gets out of the cart, looks at me, and then runs the opposite direction.  Drives me crazy, but it's okay.  Someday, they'll probably be able to stay near me without me keeping a hawk eye on them.  For now, I'm okay with chasing them around the store.

L trying out the patio furniture (1-31-2012)

E running down the aisle (1-31-2012)