Gobble-dy Good

Hello all! I hope everyone had a terrific Turkey Day. We spent a nice, relaxing weekend with family in Michigan. It was SO great to see and spend time with Erin, Nick, Jack, Mia and my Mom. My Dad and Pak were on an amazing scuba trip to Belize and they had a blast. They swam with sharks!

Some of you have inquired about the land of snot that we were living in as I previously blogged about. Well, it turned into an ear infection for Liam which made for an interesting 500+ mile drive - but I will spare the details and just glaze over it all by saying I became a contortionist (feeding a bottle to baby who is in the back seat while I am belted in the front), a clean-up crew (car-sick babies, anyone?), and a puppet master (impromptu puppet shows, lip-sync-style to the music of Coldplay, from over the seat of the car with baby toys and Kate's "My Little Pony" dolls make for great entertainment for a sad baby).

BUT, in all seriousness, every whimper on the road was worth the visit. Kate and Jack get along like twins and played until exhausted every day. Erin and Nick's place is awesome and seeing them and my Mom was great. Nick Morris and my Nick got to have a night out at the sports bar watching football, and Erin and I went for coffee and windowshopping one night. So great!

Following this blurb are some pics of the kids that I took at home today. Liam is pulling himself up to standing now and I snapped some shots of him standing in his playpen looking out the window at the xmas lights on the trees outside. He is growing up so fast! The other night he fell asleep on my lap and I looked down and I swear he had grown a foot in my arms - he looked like a little boy! Not a baby. And Kate is such a big girl! She is so tall and grown up looking!

I will leave you with a story about Kate's ongoing negotiations to obtain a puppy. So incredibly advanced in her negotiations is she! In addition to dramatically saying "God Bless Dutch" (Aunt Erin and Uncle Nick's dog) every night at bedtime prayers, she has even brought her preschool teacher into her pleadings for a dog! :) Last week was my turn to read a story to her class....I showed up early just as Kate's teacher was going around the circle asking each child what they were thankful for. It was fun to hear their responses - one was thankful for her mom and dad (awww), one for 'sparkle shirts' (cute), one for corn (um, ok!). When she got to Kate and asked "Kate, what are YOU thankful for?", Kate paused dramatically and looked out of the corner of her eye to make sure I was watching. She then said "I am thankful if I had a puppy". The teacher said "Kate is thankful for puppies". Not to be misunderstood, Kate loudly spoke up, "No, no, Mrs. Rodgers, I'm thankful IF I HAD a puppy!". Duly noted, dear Kate......but come Christmas morning there will be no barking, frolicking pup under the tree. The reasons are many, but on top of all of them, I do NOT want to be potty training a puppy in Minnesota in the frigid winter. :)

Anyway - after a long ramble of a post, here are some pics. Liam needs another haircut by the way - he is still insanely cute, but his hair is starting to do that creepy George McFly thing again. The front just grows like crazy! Maybe I should just let it grow and then he can have cool long 80's bangs like all the members of the Kobra Kai in the "Karate Kid".


Liam grinning and standing!


Liam smiling after gazing at the cool lights outside.


Liam intrigued.


In case you did not know, this is Kate and she wants a puppy!


YAY for Puppies! Let's jump for joy for puppies!!!!

Woe to Those Dastardly Parent Pixies

Here is a pic of Liam crashed out. I took his shirt off after a giant spit-up incident and, by the time I came back with a clean one, he was fast asleep in his play pen. He zonked mid-play with his buddy "Spike" still on his tummy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is what happened.......I should have known! As soon as I typed the words "Life is Good" in the last blog entry, I should have realized that that declaration immediately alerted the "Parent Pixies". For those of you who don't know, the Parent Pixies reside in a land bordering "Murphy's Law-apolis" and "Tempting Fate-ville". They are on the ready to flit your way at any moment to turn your life into a giant parenting comedy-sketch cliché. They must have paid us a visit the other night, fluttering into the kid's rooms in the dead of night, mischievously giggling as they swung their magic snot wands over the sleeping children - devilish gleams in their eyes as they flung copious amounts of enchanted fever glitter and cranky dust over our tired angels - and then leaving without us ever knowing that they were there.

Cut to two days later and I look like a crazy person - unkempt hair, wearing a 10+-year-old college sweatshirt now stained with baby spit up and, I'll just say it, snot. I look like hell. Poor Nick came home last night after a day that ran long to an insanely screaming Liam and a whining Kate and a wife that looked like she was going to snap any moment. I was going to go to an Interior Design lecture and a club meeting last night, but it is just as well that I was not able to with the craziness of the kiddos. At one point Nick and I just sat and laughed amidst the screaming because what else can you do when things get so out of control?

Poor things - they just feel so darn crummy. It DOES feel great, though, to be able to do all I can to make them comfortable. Even though it is exhausting and pretty gross! Trying to hold and comfort a writhing and furious huge baby, not to mention trying to use the nose-sucker-thing on him is darn hard.....but at least I know I am as effective as I can be....and then the snuggles when he has cried himself out and is warm and toasty and flushed and squishy in his footed jammies with his head on my shoulder, while Kate has the equal state of mind with her head on my lap and we are all just conked on the couch....well that is pretty great.

The kids are on the mend - especially Kate. Though she is ticked she had to miss school because she had a fever and they have a strict fever rule. Liam is getting to be more active today and actually pulled himself up to standing!!!! And he banged blocks together during the singing of "Old McDonald" and sang "eeeeeeeeee" during the e-i-e-i-o part. Off the charts on the cuteness factor. He then countered with a raging booger tantrum.

Kate remains eager in spite of her fever. She has a "Good Habits" chart where there are pictures of chores like "clean up", "brush teeth", "read a book" and she just asked me if she could turn the wheel to "Teriffic!" for the "read a book" one because she just read "Small baby" a story. Sweet.

BUT - just in case the parent pixies are listening - snot rivers do still abound and I am buying stock in whoever makes Kleenex. The cool-mist humidifiers are humming away and Liam's button-nose is as red as Rudolph's. But they remain cute - and maybe, just maybe, I can get a shower in while they nap today? Did I just jinx myself big time?!!!!

P.S. Kate just informed me that her new name is Karina. Um. Ok.

Life is Good

Kate twirling at the wedding reception! She is such a dancer!


Liam in the hotel crib waiting to go to the wedding in his little man outfit!


Liam making a grab for the camera!


Kate and Aunt Madelyn.


Kate and Joe - members of the mutual admiration society!


Quick update and some pics of the kids! I cannot believe it is already mid-November! Time has been flying by and I, of course, have not even thought about all the holiday deeds to be done such as xmas gift buying, xmas cards, etc. etc. I have noticed that the television advertising for kid's toys has REALLY picked up. Kate never used to notice commercials, but now is being wooed by the corporations into wanting their wares. TV stations like Nick Jr. and Disney have ads for all things girly like "Little Mermaid" and the "Dancing Princesses" which are all the rage with Kate. I am sticking to channels like "Noggin" from now on which have NO commercials at all for their preschool programming. Just educational vignettes. I really don't need to be hearing from my three-year old "Mommy can I have THAT for Christmas?". Her number one gift request remains - A PUPPY!

This Puppy obesession was rekindled a couple of weekends ago. We all had the wonderful fortune to travel to a family wedding in Mississippi. It was truly one of the most wonderful weddings I have EVER had the pleasure of attending. Aunt Dora hosted it at her incredibly beautiful home right on the water. It was the exact image of Southern Elegance - a white columned manse, a sprawling immaculate lawn with glittering lights and flower arrangements fit for royalty, the sound of laughter and lovely lilting drawls along with the most perfect weather ever topped off by a spectacular sunset over the bay. True perfection. The ONLY downside was that I did not anticipate the Mississippi bug factor so late in the year, and my legs still show evidence of their feasting, but every nibble was worth the experience! :) Kate, as I mentioned, was in heaven because not only did she get to boogie to the live band, but Aunt Dora has two wonderful labs that Kate followed around and snuggled with. Cocoa and Sandy were too too sweet to Kate and as a result she has not only renamed her stuffed puppy (formerly cleverly named "Puppy") Cocoa AND she has reignited her campaign to get a real live puppy of her own. She wants one for Christmas. Do you know how HARD it is to deny her life's wish? We just cannot do it right now. Dogs are a BIG expense and a LOT of time. But someday..........

In other news of the happy sort, Nick is great. He just got a promotion at 3M and is now (it's a mouthful):
Manager
Strategic Business Development; Alliances & Acquisitions
3M Industrial/Transportation Business

I just copied that from his work email sign-off. :) I am so proud of him and he is REALLY excited to be working in this area. His new boss is great and, to the delight of my father, is a Naval Acadamy grad! :) Academy grads across the defense disciplines are really amazing people and it is nice that they get to collaborate here - sure to be extremely effective! Nick also just got to have a weekend with his Yale buddies in NYC. Much like I meet with my college girlfriends once a year somewhere in the US, Nick and his Yale lads make an effort to do the same - only on a more global scale. Last year it was in London and this year they took a long weekend in NYC. The guys are all so great and it sounds like they had a great time. It was a much deserved break for Nick who, aside from family jaunts, has been working insane hours leading up to his promotion.

I have been having fun with the kids. Liam is SO SO SO happy! He is 8 1/2 moths old and is adorably sweet. He is such a good little guy, with such a sweet disposition. He is crawling and has 4 teeth all the way through with two making their breakthrough. His new favorite activity is eating Cheerios. He gets into everything, though, being so mobile and I must confess I have resorted to using a playpen at times - something I never did with Kate because I felt bad enclosing her. But Liam is just thrilled to sit in it and play with his toys and look around. I put it by the window so he has lots of sunshine and he just babbles away and plays. It is all I can do to continue vaccuming or cooking or working on Ever After and not just snuggle him.

Kate is wonderfully saucy and spunky. She is so funny. Her latest discovery is the art of distraction. If she is getting a time out for being fresh or being scolded for not eating her dinner she will tilt her head to the side and get a dreamy look in her eye and say "Daddy, you are soooo handsome" or "Mommy, you're so beautiful". Sometimes this is accompanied by her patting her hand on our cheek in a gesture of total endearment! It is SO hard to keep a straight face and continue with the discipline when she does this - and she knows it darn well! Another thing she will do to evade a scolding is - just as we are about to commence with some lecture - she will cock her head to the side and say "Shh! I think I hear Small Baby crying! You will wake her up!" (Small Baby is one of her baby dolls, the other one being the aptly named Big Baby - who never seems to cry or be as upset as Small Baby seems to get!). She never succeeds in avoiding disciplinary action through these tactics, but you have to give her credit for trying!

Anyway - this has turned out to be quite a rambler, but it has been a while since I posted. Lots of fun tales to come, I am sure, with all kinds of things on the horizon....parent-teacher conferences for Kate (!), Thanksgiving and the road trips that go with it (Michigan), and more milestones for Liam. In the meantime, I continue to be amazed by the daily deeds of the darlings. Who knew that hearing a baby discover the "ba ba ba" sound or a preschooler develop her imagination by naming her ponies things like "Windy" and "Flower Catcher" would bring such indescribable joy?

Liam is Eight Months Old!!!!

I cannot believe that today Liam is 8 months old! WOW! He is such a sweet boy. Today I took him for his first real haircut! I have done a few trims here and there on my own at home, but his hair was getting crazy creepy. Honestly, it had a habit of naturally falling into the exact hairdo that Hitler sported. You know, combed forward and split down the middle. Creeeepppyyy. So I took him for his first "big boy haircut". He still has spots where he has to grow hair, but he has spots where he has TONS of it! It was starting to look like a long combover. ha ha! So now he is all cleaned up!

He was such a good boy and sat perfectly still and cooperated perfectly. Here are some pics!

Pow-Wow Princess and Too Much Honey

Happy Halloween! Kate has been an ecstatic bundle of energy ALL DAY LONG! She was, in her words "so essited" to go "twick ow tweating"!!! I have never seen her eat her dinner so fast in all her life because when she was finished with dinner she got to go beg for candy! :)

Kate loved her "Indian Princess" costume - though someone suggested I call it a "native american princess" costume for the sake of being politically correct. Um - I tried to get my three year old to say "native american princess" and it came out sounding like "naked man princes" so I just let her stick with the word "Indian". I THINK people will understand!

The costume that Kate is wearing is actually the same exact costume that I wore when I was little! We have pics of me in it and I tried to scan them in, but it is not working. Oh well. It is so neat that she is wearing the same thing I wore X number of years ago!

Liam was supposed to be Winnie the Pooh. I got the costume about a month ago - when he was reaching the end of 6 months and moving into 7. It was a 12 month old costume and looked HUGE. Well, guess which Pooh Bear ate too much Honey and doesn't fit into his costume? In the pics it is on but what you don't see is that it would not zip up the back at all and his giant head barely fit through the neck hole for the hood part. Sweet, darling, squishy, yummy, huggy LIAM! The tummy girth in the pics by the way, despite his substantial size, is largely due to the costume stuffing! :) tee hee We put him in it for pics and he just stayed home from trick or treating. It is freezing outside anyway.

Well, enjoy the pics!

Cutie Pies

Here are some pics of the kids, followed by a funny story about Kate. Kate is posing here like she is having her Senior Picture taken. Liam is SO close to crawling. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. He does not even need to crawl though - through rolling and scooting he can get into anything. He loves to stand and hold on to the couch, the coffee table etc. He is so active and fun. And, at almost 8 months old, HUGE. Wearing 18 month old clothes and tall tall tall. He is also the happiest guy in town with a smile and a giggle always.





Here is a transcript of a conversation that occurred between Nick, Kate and me.

Kate: That's a pretty necklace, Mommy! Where did you get it?
Mags: Thank you, Kate! Your Daddy gave it to me!
Kate: Why did Daddy give it to you?
Mags: Because he is a great guy and he loves me!
Kate: Why does he love you?
Mags: Well, you'll have to ask him that!
(Kate later runs to find her Dad and this follows)
Kate: Daddy, why do you love Mommy?
Nick: Well, because she is smart and funny and pretty!
Kate: NO, Daddy!!!! IIIIIIIII am smart and funny and pretty:
MAGS: Where do you think you got that from, Kate?
Kate, looking right at Maggie: From DADDY, Mom!!!!!! (In a GEEZ don't you know ANYTHING tone of voice)

Now really, should three year olds know that kind of humor? She laughed maniacally and thought she was funny as heck while Nick walked around all puffed up and proud. It's always the Mom that takes the hits, right? Oh well! They were high fiving like crazy. I could not help but laugh along!

Lofty!

Big congrats to my WONDERFUL brother, Patrick! He is now a homeowner! Patrick has purchased an incredibly amazing, impossibly cool Loft in downtown Minneapolis! It is in a converted warehouse and is awesome with soaring ceilings, insanely huge windows, exposed brick, sleek new architecture, and appliances that I drool over. He made such a great buy and I am so happy for him. He is in the process of moving in and making it his own. Here is a pic of us on a pause from looking at paint chips, floor plans, and getting it move-in ready. I cannot wait to see what it looks like when he is all done with it. His photography is going to look so amazing on those cool loft walls. Yay, Pak!

An apple a day.....

To celebrate the fall season, Nick and I wanted to take the kids Apple Picking! Nick and I used to do this together as an annual ritual when we lived in New England and it just celebrates Autumn like nothing else! On a crisp, cloudy day when my medicine effects were not too burdensome, we bundled the kids up and took them for some leaf crunching, cider tasting, wheelbarrow pushing apple pickin'! My Mom came with us and it was such a nice time. We picked some great pumpkins, too! When we got home we made homemade apple crisp, apple sauce and enjoyed some apple cider. Liam got some super fresh apple baby food, too! :) So fun. Here are a whole bunch of pics from the day.

Kate ready to pick some apples!


Kate, YOU are the Apple of MY Eye!


Liam, YOU are the Apple of my OTHER Eye!


Kate and Nia - special buddies - what a pair! And with matching jackets, too! (unintentional!)


The Family that picks apples together, falls over while trying to take a picture together. Wooops.

So Many Apples!

Kate Picks the Perfect Apple


How Tall is Kate? This will be a neat pic to take over the years as we return to the orchard!


Kate waits for the Great Pumpkin!


Liam and Nick pick apples!

Snow Flowers in our yard!

So here we have the fall leaves under my flowering Vinca bushes, topped with Snow. Talk about seasons! We have them all here in Minnesota - at once!

Happy Birthday, Nick!

The kids are sending a message to their Daddy at work via the blog! :)

RA News

I'll post pics of the darling kiddos very soon to counter the seriousness of this post! :)

I know I have not been posting with my usual frequency as of late. I have been adjusting to a new Rheumatoid Arthritis medication and it has been less than fun and glamorous! :) After exhausting the available "nice" drugs for my RA, my rheumatologist finally decided to try putting me on Methotrexate. It is not the most pleasant of medicines, and can have some undesirable side effects AND I have to be monitored pretty closely while taking it - meaning regular blood work, liver function tests etc. No prob! It may seem familiar to some because it is actually a chemotherapy drug, but given to me in lower doses of course. And, yes, it CAN cause some hair loss just like in chemo. It is more mild if it happens so we won't have to see if I have any dents in my head! I take the drug once a week - a whole bunch of pills at once. It has not been easy-going adjusting to it - mostly feeling "flu-ish" and having a bit of an upset stomach. I just feel "off". Quite exhausted as well. But hopefully it will all wear off as I adjust to the drug over the next few weeks. As far as an effect on the RA, it is too soon to tell - it can take up to 12 weeks to really notice a difference and I am on the drug indefinitely - and I am just confident it will work!!! I have to be! It is a drug that is used a lot for RA with great success rates so I only have positives ahead as soon as my body gets used to processing what are basically toxins!

I DO NOT say any of this to incite pity or "poor Mags" remarks. Just being frank about what is going on. One of the things that I am sllooowwwllly learning about this disease is that I can no longer afford to always put on a happy face and be a "yes" person all the time. I need to be honest about what is going on so I don't put me or other people in difficult positions. As Nick would say it is all about "managing expectations". Mostly my own! It has taken two years of battling this to finally personally grasp that I have a degenerative disease that IS NOT going away - and that I actually have it and it is not like a cold I can get over in a week. What I can do is work on managing the illness and raise awareness toward a cure. Along with the drugs, I have to keep the right attitude and just focus on taking the steps to maintain the best quality of life I can - which means exercise, taking time for me and my family, knowing when to say "no" and when to REST.

To many, the word "arthritis" sounds like something mild and mostly just an irritation - like a headache. But Rheumatoid Arthritis is far from mild and the stats can be scary - and while I don't want to wallow in the fact that I have a serious disease, I cannot ignore the significance of that. THANK YOU to all of you who have taken time to get educated about the disease, understand what it is, are sensitive to the emotional effects it has on the patient and their family and those of you who are always there for me and my beautiful family. When I am 60+, I plan on enjoying hiking mountains with Nick and skiing and canoeing and walking all over Europe with him in our retirement. And I will do it despite my RA - because I am going to work to make sure I can.

RA does not define me. It does not need to be a daily part of conversation with others. So don't feel like you need to always say "how ARE you?" or handle me with kid gloves. I appreciate the support and the love and don't expect or WANT any special treatment from this. That would be so irritating! I know you care and that is enough! But it is important to let people in your life know that you are battling something - and I am and will continue to! I mean, let's face it, there are so many WORSE things in this world, right?! I am BEYOND blessed.

Ooh! Pretty Winter Sprinkles!

Ok - It is October 11th and Kate and my Mom and I are sitting here in our living room as Liam naps. We are looking out the window at a SNOWSTORM! It is blowing so hard that I cannot see the end of the street 4 houses down!!!! It is OCTOBER, people!!!! What the heck?! Maybe we have had it super easy these past winters in MN? This snow is actually accumulating! I am sure it will melt fast, but still.......

This display of weather has led Kate to just exclaim, "OOOOOH! Look at the Pretty Winter Sprinkles!!!!! Winter is hhheeeerrrrreee!"

Oh joy!

Birthday Girl!

Kate had a terrific birthday. She actually said to me as I put her down to sleep tonight "Thank you for a lovewy birthday, Mommy!" I think it was a big success! We spread the present-giving out throughout the whole day - from gifts from us and relatives, to her actual party that we had tonight, she was showered all day long! And was darn sweet about it! The biggest hit of a gift was her vacuum cleaner. Some of you who read the blog regularly may recall that Kate asked for "a puppy and a vacuum cleaner" for her birthday. Well, she got the vacuum cleaner. She LITERALLY GASPED when she opened it and exclaimed "Ohhhh my woooord! It's all I EVER WANTED!!!!!!" You have to love the drama! Thanks, Uncle Pak, for the great gift! :)

So it was a lovely day. We had our friends the Dunns over - Tim, Erin and their three darling kiddos Maggie, Julia and Aidan. Kate had a great time with Miss Maggie, and Liam got a big kick out of watching the twins! Pak was there as well and we all had dinner, cake, and ice cream. It was just a great day!

Here are some pics from the festivities!

First present of the day! The movie "Annie". She loved it!


Here is Kate with her present from Auntie Madelyn - she loved her feather boa and pony crafts!


Uncle Pak helping Kate read a card at her party.


YES! A UNICORN "My Little Pony" Doll!


Kate The Clean. Vacuuming away!

Kate Turns Three Today!

I cannot believe that our little girl is Three! On one hand, three years is such a short period of time.....and it has certainly flown. But at the same time we cannot imagine or barely even recall our life without Kate. Thank You, God, for this incredible person! She is so full of spunk and sass and sweetness. She is bright and funny and loving and so very imaginative (case in point, she told me today that she would only answer to the name "Ariel" because today she was a mermaid). She gives the best hugs in the world (complete with her saying "Squeeeeeeeze" while she hugs you tight). Her laugh is better than the best music and her cry breaks my heart but makes me smile at the same time because it is so dramatic with her completely downturned mouth and enormous crocodile tears. Nick and I are so so so proud of our daughter. I keep finding myself, as she grows, thinking "THIS is my favorite age. No, wait, now THIS is my favorite age. No, wait, now THIS....." Each day brings more laughs, as well as more challenges! She is not a pliant little girl - but her stubborness and determination I hope will serve her well and we just hope to help channel it! :) Who knows what life will bring us with this little girl - but we know that no matter what we love her and today we celebrate that AWESOME day when she greeted the world. She was born fast and Nick got to hold her right away for about 30 minutes. He just held her and rocked her and I think they stared at each other the whole time. Next thing you know, I am going to be making an entry on this blog and she will be 14. 16. 21......

Happy Birthday, Kate!

Ah, the familiar scent of Paint Fumes!

Do any of you know that one of Nick's FAVORITE TV shows is old re-runs of "This Old House"? Good thing that this is actually a passion for him because here we go again! We took quite a bit of time off from any of our home repairs. If you have been following the transformation of our little Saint Paul Bungalow at all, you know that the process has been extensive in detail and duration! From windows to flooring, walls to ductwork, lighting and paint, not one room has been left untouched, really. Except for the main hallway to the back bedrooms - until now!

For anyone who has actually been here, they know that our hallway was disgusting. Holes in the wall, dingy paint, dents and chips, mismatched floor trim and horrid lighting. Well, Nick was at it again this weekend and what a transformation! He patched and smoothed walls, caulked, trimmed, replaced some of the electrical housings and switchplates and got started on paint! I LOVE IT! I love the color - I told my sister that I want to LIVE in the color - I want sweaters and bedding and more walls and just everything in that color. I am weird I know. He also installed new lighting and you can actually see back there, now! (The dim light before was a blessing because it hid so many of the imperfections, to put it mildly). But with great paint and some artwork ready to go on the walls, good lighting is now a good thing. Nick really worked his tush off - it is looking good. There is still a lot of work to do - there is a lot of trim detail, we are stripping some paint off parts of a great built in that is in the hall and trying to expose original hardware with decades of paint caked on it now, and some of the doors in the hall need some TLC. But it will happen. It is nice to be making some progress again. Though admittedly we thoroughly enjoyed our time off of the DIY stuff. We actually spent time together! :) While this goes on, I take the kids to stay at Mom's condo because of the probable lead dust from old sanded and stripped paint. Nick is safe and secure in his terrific 3M safety gear! :)

So - more pics will come soon. One of these days I have to follow through on the promise of putting up some "extreme makeover-style" before-and-after pics!

The thing is, though, the list never ends. We are now brainstorming ways to renovate the hideously ugly bathroom on the first floor. Subway tile? Wainscoting? New tub or reglazing the old one? So many possibilities - and also one of the more ambitious projects for us as far as DIY goes! We shall see what happens! In the meantime, I just love sitting in our home and knowing that with our shared vision and work we are really making it OURS. It is so comforting.

Moments

From snuggles at bedtime story reading to Liam's cat naps on Nick's lap to Kate literally attacking a Super Special Breakfast Treat (that one, by the way, sends me into fits of laughter everytime I look at it!) - these captured moments are examples of the kinds of increments of joy that make up my day! :)

Oh, So Proper!

My Mom was visiting these past weeks and it was SO amazing to have her in town! The kids are absolutely crazy about her and love spending time with her. Kate got to bake cookies with her "Nia" and Liam just loved giggling and smiling for her.

One night, Mom took us all out to dinner at the club they belong to here, "The University Club". It is a lovely place with dark wood paneling, upholstered dining chairs, and sweeping views over the bluff overlooking downtown Saint Paul. Really 'old school' and elegant. Both Liam and Kate joined us and were perfectly behaved angels! And I say that without a drop of sarcasm. Truly!

At one point, as we all started conversing rather jovially, Kate widened her eyes, held up one hand and said to us "excuuuuuse me but you all need to use Ladies and Gentleman voices!!!!!" She sat up properly, used perfect manners and behaved like a little lady - and kept us all in check, too.

At the end of the meal, we decided to order dessert. My ears perked up when the server told us that they had Strawberry Shortcake! Kate misunderstood and thought they meant the doll, not the dessert, and she began professing her love for Strawberry Shortcake- "Oh, I WUV Sawbewwy Cortcake! She's my faaaavewit" Nick, a gleam in his eye, leaned into Kate and, in a "gentleman's voice", told her "Mommy is going to EAT Strawberry Shortcake for dessert". Thinking he spoke of her beloved doll, Kate's eyes welled with tears, her mouth turned down and, as giant crocodile tears dropped down her face, cried in an increasingly loud wail "nooooOOOOOOOO. Doooon't eeeaaat Sawbewwy Cortcake, Mmoooooommmyyy".

So much for the perfect dining record.

She was quickly calmed, though, and enjoyed her own dessert of a scoop of vanilla ice cream. She topped off the evening by literally winking at the Restaurant Manager (who was bowled over by her charm during the whole meal) and saying farewell to the other diners as we left....in a "lady voice", of course!!!

Giant Backpacks and Attitude

Today was Kate's FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL!!!!! I cannot believe it. She was soooo excited to go. She is required to bring a backpack to school and 'character backpacks' being discouraged, we had to find a plain one. OF COURSE, Kate selected a pink one, but unfortunately it looks like a turtle shell on her because it is for a bigger kid. I could not find a preschooler sized pack anywhere that did not have some form of cartoon on it! Oh well. She loves it and feels super special for having it. She made a big production this morning over making sure her backpack was ready to go with her to school!

Dropping her off was fine. She had no problem whatsoever. I leaned down to kiss her goodbye and barely brushed her cheek before she was dashing off to play with the other kids in the classroom. While some children were in meltdown mode, Kate could care less that I was leaving - I have to say I would not have minded a hug goodbye :) She was so ready for school!!!

As I was leaving, I was a little sad, but had LIam in my arms to preoccupy me. Just then, Debbie Downer Mom - parent of another preschooler - approached me with her whiny voice: "Can you beliiieeeevvveee how many kids are in that cllaaaaaaaas? I think there are too many kiiiiids for just two teeeaaaccchhherrrrrs. It is is hooorrriiibbblllllllle. I think we should get a paaarent patrol going and have each paaaaaarent sign up to sit in on claaaaases to moooonitor those teaaaaaachers to make sure they are doing a good jooooooob. Aren't you woooooorriiiiieeeed? How can they waaaatch all of them? What if something haaaaappens to your kiiiiiiid?"

ARGH! Thanks, Little Mary Sunshine! Good heavens! If I was not worried before I certainly am IRRITATED now! I told her "You know, those teachers have been doing this for 25 years, I think they have it covered and have probably seen it all." Of course she disagreed. I just ignored her. I WANTED to tell her that, first of all, one of the best things we can do as parents of school age kids is support our educators. Secondly, if you feel your kid needs such special attention then either put him in a class where the teacher/student ratio is 1:3 (this is not daycare, it is SCHOOL - how many classes did you have where there were 5 teachers??!!!), OR stop whining about others and placing blame around and instead just home school your kid and answer to no one but yourself. I did not think that was a good way to start the year off with another parent, though. Everyone was pretty much rolling their eyes at her. I think my irritation with her, though, really helped me keep my mind off of missing Kate and the sentimental tone of the day, so I did not fall apart too bad. Once I drove away, though, I did choke up. She is such a big girl!

When I picked Kate up, she was excited to see me, which is always nice. She talked a lot about the playground, but when I asked her what else she did she kind of shrugged and asked what was for lunch. Is she 2 going on 16?! I need details, people!!!!! Here is what the car ride home was like:

Maggie: "Did you paint?"
Kate: "I don't know. Can I have applesauce at lunch?"
Maggie: "Did you sing songs?"
Kate: "Ummmmm. I don't know? Can I have fruit snacks?"
Maggie: "Did you have a snack at school?"
Kate: "My tummy is growling. Can I have a snack?"
Maggie: What else happened at school? Did you read stories?
Kate: "Actually (I love it when she says this) we read about Clifford the Big Dog. Can I have milk?"

So all I know is she went on the playground (I also know this because her teacher mentioned that when she told Kate is was time to go inside, Kate politely declined, saying "No, Thank You, teacher!" and that they read about Clifford. Sounds like a good day for a 2 year old!

Anyway, I am babbling BIG TIME. It is just a BIG DAY! Kate is fine with school. She must have played and learned hard because she CRASHED for her nap.

Here are some pics of her and her giant back pack.

Your Eyes are Cracking!

Tonight I was really enjoying the kids. Nick had some work to do, so I put both of them to bed this evening. First was Liam. He was as sweet as ever. Snuggling as we rocked in his chair just before bed. I stared down at him in his dinosaur jammies as his eyes grew heavier and heavier. His little fingers curled around one of my fingers and his other hand crept slowly to the side of his head where he twirled a strand of his hair as he fell asleep - a move absolutely identical to what Kate does when she is super sleepy. Well I was just a puddle of mush over how cute he was. He has not been sleeping well at all the past few weeks due to teething and a giant growth spurt and I have been running on little sleep - but gazing at his peaceful sleeping face erased all exhaustion from my body.

Apparently, though, that was just in spirit. The effects of how haggard I really am must be pretty darn visible. Let me explain. After Liam was tucked into his crib, it was on to Kate's bedtime routine. A story in her rocking chair, prayers at bedside and she crawled into bed. Unusually, she then asked if I would snuggle her in her bed. Well I was just so full of total adoration for the kids I said I would sing her one song while I snuggled her. She cuddled right up against me and put her little arm around my shoulder and patted my hair while we sang her bedtime song. Could life get ANY better than this?

Just then Kate said "Mommy, what's on your eyes?" Thinking maybe she was talking about my contact lenses I explained that. She said "No, Mom! Your eyes are all red!" I explained "Oh, that is probably because I am a little tired. It is bed time after all!" Kate then said "No, Mommy, your eyes are CRACKING! They are RED AND CRACKING! You better go to the doctor."

So - the cloud of motherhood happiness that I am floating on does not make me LOOK as great as it makes me FEEL! Nice, though, that bloodshot eyes, limp hair and bone tiredness can be totally forgotten with just one sweet hug or smile or drowsy hair twirl. If I could bottle it, I'd make a million.