Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Again with the Wii!

Quick true recap of a conversation that happened today during Liam's naptime as Kate was suggesting ways to keep occupied:

Kate: Mom, let's play the Wii!

Maggie: Ok. We can do that.

Kate: (with great enthusiasm) Let's play BASEBALL!!!!!

Maggie: Really? (Trying to mask the fact that she does not like that game on the Wii). Why don't we do Tennis instead?

Kate: (compromising) Ok. Tennis first. THEN baseball.

Maggie: Oohhhh. Well.....

Kate: Don't worry Mom, just watch me, you'll get the hang of it!

Maggie: No, Kate, it is not that I don't know how to play. I know how to play baseball. I just don't feel like it right now.

Kate: Oh, So sorry that you are so SCARED to play against me, Mom.

Maggie: (Totally falling into Kate's beyond-her-years trap) Scared?! I'm NOT scared! Let's go! Game on!!!!!

PS Final Baseball Score: 1-1 TIE!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Expressions

Kate is very into playing the Wii. I think it is such a great game to play individually and as a family. We really like bopping around the living room swinging at tennis balls and hitting baseballs out of the park! It is so fun to watch Kate play - she gets REALLY into it, creating her own running commentary ("YES! And it's OUT OF THE PARK!" "YES! He COULDN'T return the BALL!") She absolutely loves it, it is good exercise and I am thoroughly entertained.

Yesterday she was creating a new character, called a "Mii", on the game. You can create different people to play as and change all kinds of features like eyes, hair, body type, lips etc. Kate really wanted to create a new character and so she did! When she was done she asked me what I thought. I looked at the character and realized it was a little more "intense", shall we say. Her first character is sweet, smiling and happy with a cute hairdo. This one looks stern and has a very severe haircut. Lastly, Kate pointed out to me, "do you see the eyebrows?" I said yes I did and must have looked perplexed because Kate informed me "They are ANGRY eyebrows, Mom." Indeed, the eyebrows were like sharp lines pointing down toward her nose - angry indeed. I asked her "Why did you give yourself angry eyebrows, Kate?"

She replied, in an enthusiastic and loud voice "Because I want to WIN!!!!!"

I love that angry eyebrows equals fierce determination to succeed! ha ha ha

Wow. Where does she get this competitive streak? I have no idea, really. :)

Friday, March 14, 2008

All is Well

Sorry for not posting for a while! It has been a VERY busy two weeks! My non-profit event occurs in about a month and I am in the absolute thick of planning and execution. Media coverage, logistical planning, sponsorship meetings and fundraising are all keeping me super busy. I love Ever After Gowns and get so much satisfaction out of the work I do - - and I am very fortunate to have a wonderfully supportive husband and a mom who helps out with the childcare during this busy crunch time. I cannot believe how much EAG has grown in the four years (4! where has the time gone!!!) since it's inception. We have gone from 300 dresses in my basement to going on 3000 dresses in a storage facility! From 40 guests the first year to hundreds and hundreds of guests. I am constantly grateful for, humbled, and amazed by the generous spirit of the people in this community as it is through their donations, time and understanding of our mission that we have been able to help so many great teen women! I feel so lucky! Fingers crossed for a terrific event this April!

On another note of being blessed and happy - the kids are fine. Kate has fully recovered from her noggin bump. It took about a week for her to return to normal but she is better than ever! Liam is wonderful as well. He is going through a major "mommy phase" right now and I LOVE IT. I get a lot of snuggles and smiles and stories all day long. This morning when I went into his room to get him out of bed he said "Goo Muhning, Mommy! I Yuh You!!!!!!!! (I love you!)" Followed by a smacking kiss. That is the part where my heart explodes out of my body with love and joy.

Nick is well. Busy with work with quite a lot of travel coming up. I am glad for him to get the chance to see some new places! And envious - but not really of the new places....just of the hotel. My idea of heaven now that I am a Mommy is (aside from solo trips to Target with a Starbucks in hand) a night BY MYSELF (yes that means without Nick! Sorry, love!) in a hotel room. I would take a long hot shower with no kids pounding on the door. I would order room service and sit in a fluffy robe and rent a total mushy chick flick that Nick would never want to watch (hence the no nick) with some gooey green face mask on and pedicure spacers in my toes. Finally I would hang the "do not distrub" door thingy on the door - sleep as LONG as I wanted and take as long as I wanted to get ready in the morning. Granted, Nick will be on a timeline so cannot linger and order movies etc., but still.......

More tales to come - and pics. The kiddos have been so fun lately. I am too pooped, though, and think I will actually try to get to bed early tonight! Happy Friday to all!

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Liam dans un chapeau

Liam posed quite cutely in his hat as we were attempting to get out of the house on an outing. Apprécier! (And no, I have no idea why all of a sudden I am French)




Wonderful, Wacky Weird Week

It has been quite a week for the Harris Clan. Things always seem to get a little nuts for us around this time of year (see last year's posts about car bumpers flying off, toilet seats on heads, and sick kiddos). We must be on some sort of "when it rains it pours" schedule of craziness with the cycle hitting in March and April. Here is a taste of the last week - I am prepared and resolved that I may have more fodder for the blog over the next month or so......

- My best friend from Boston (Stacee) and her wonderful husband (James) paid us a visit. Stacee just got her PhD (CONGRATS!). We had a great time with some cozy nights in and some terrific jaunts out to favorite restaurants and sights around town. They are two of the most amazing people and it is so great to have a "couple" that we mesh with so well with. The kids love them and Liam is now wandering the house saying "where's James?"

A pic of Mags and DR. Stacee


Liam and James - members of the Mutual Admiration Society


- Nick and James took Liam to get a haircut on Saturday. You know, just the men. Liam took great exception to the poor woman who held the shears and, after much writhing and squealing while Nick attempted to pin him down and other patrons plugged their ears, Liam emerged with a much-needed haircut that unfortunately looks as if some wild animal had actually chewed his hair off. The uneven mess actually prompted the very distraught hairdresser to bemoan "ohhh no. His mom is gonna want to KILL me." To which Nick replied something to the effect of "no she won't. She knew this is what would happen - that is why she sent me to do it!" :) So true. So Liam does have an AWFUL haircut to usher in his 2nd birthday - oh well, hair grows.

-Speaking of birthdays, Liam's was on Sunday! We had a nice family and friends party. Pretty small - no gaggle of kids tearing around at this age. Liam wanted nothing to do with the party for the most part - he just wanted to play with the "Bwoons" (read: balloons) and not even open gifts!!!! He eventually warmed up and had a nice day. His "Cars" themed cake was a big hit and he was adorable trying to blow out the candles.

Liam on his Birthday morning!


Liam the two-year-old. Doesn't he look like he is thinking "are you kidding me? I have to wear this dumb hat ON TOP of my dumb haircut?! Mooooommm! I am so not into birthdays."


-Kate, however, kicked off the party by (after breaking rules and removing her party shoes) slipping in her ruffled party socks on the wood and smacking her head with alarming fierceness into the corner of a curved wooden chair leg. The INSTANT golf-ball-sized lump that swelled up was truly nauseating. I have never seen anything like it. It looked like someone surgically implanted an egg under her scalp. After lots of tears and a bag of frozen peas secured to her head by wearing a ski hat over it, she calmed down and seemed to enjoy the party. We kept a close eye on her and she seemed ok. She jumped right back into the party soon enough - though the pit in my stomach never really went away.

A shot of the already diminishing bump after being iced...only slightly clingon at this point. No longer full on clingon. But there has never been a more beautiful bump-headed girl.


- Not long after the party ended, the house went dark. Literally. We lost all power. I had a house full of out of town guests, bday cake and balloons everywhere, it was about 20 degrees F outside, and there was no power. No lights. No heat. And it was dark outside. Apparently the transformer had caught fire and the neighborhood was dark. We embraced it and lit candles and fortunately Liam had received a very cool nightlight for his bday that is like a planetarium, and is also battery powered, so we all gathered in the living room and looked at the constellations on the ceiling. The kids just loved it and for me it will be a great memory for years to come. Eventually the power came on, the kids hit the hay, and the grown ups enjoyed some wine. A nice end to a nice, but strange day.

- Monday Kate went to school and I dropped Stacee and James at the airport. After school, Kate's teacher said that she was very out of sorts. She was very emotional and irritable and not concentrating at school at all. Once home, I watched her wild mood swings, more-pale-than-usual skin, and the fact that my meticulous daughter was wildly scribbling in a coloring book with no care for color or staying in the lines. Very unusual. I called the pediatrician (it took me about 6 times to get a doctor - and even then when I was actually in the car on my way to bring her in without an appointment) and the doc said to head to the ER due to the head smack the day before.

- Kate and I spent hours in the ER waiting room - literally surrounded by projectile vomiting children. I don't know what is going around but it was GROSS. An already touchy and cranky Kate was even more irritated by the fact that I would not let her touch ANYTHING and that I moved us to the other side of the ER away from the fun toys and movies to avoid all the vomitousness. Long story short - Kate has a considerable concussion. She has to take it easy for a week and then follow up. She is still very moody. Where she hit is the "personality" center of the brain and it is essentially bruised, so she is "off". Cranky, irritable, impatient. She also has trouble concentrating so I see her not coloring in the lines and even writing backwards. It is very unnerving to witness actually. Poor sweet girl.

SO - wonderful friends visiting, tantrum haircuts, blackout birthday (for the power and for Kate) and ER visits. It has been an eventful few days here. I am hoping for and looking forward to a very calm and relaxing weekend coming up!