Wordless Wednesday - Our Contortionists

Went in to check on E and found her fast asleep like this

R after dinner... I have no idea

Fish and Frog - Our First 2013 Pool Experience

So I don't have any pics of this adventure. Sorry!!! I knew I would have my hands full with the girls and I knew I'd probably not get out and take any pics this time. I am hopeful for next week. Anyway, the teacher was not there... grrrr... but there was a substitute. She was okay. Better than the subs prior.

E was ready to hop right in the water. She 'swam' after a few of the toys and put on these weird floatie things that are arms float with a chest float all attached - so basically she looked like a frog with her elbow and head out of water and feet and body in the water. She really really enjoyed 'swimming' to get stuff. She even when under - after seeing R do it. She did not want to leave but we told her we'd be back.

Now R was not really sure what in the world was going on. She was mad about her swim diaper but calmed down when we got to the pool. I took her in. She was perplexed by the situation at first. Then she realized that she was buoyant and had a ball. She was kicking and moving her arms like a champ! She preferred to be tummy down in the water but did 'float' on her back a few times. She went under a couple times and was not thrilled but did not scream about it either. By the end she was kicking and trying to blow bubbles. Papa said she was like a fish out of water... more like a fish back in her desired habit.

Cannot wait for next week.

Oh and the locker room floors give me the creeps. I thought I needed to soak my feet in clorox went we got home.. I know I am such a germaphob.

R's Birthday in pics

Let her eat cake!

Here's a few pics from R's birthday party which was toned down from originally planned as we are getting over pink eye and ear infections and coughs and fevers.

Presents!

The first present

Grammy and E helping

Okay this is how you open presents

Ahhhh! Baby 

Let me help you with that

Reading the cards

So excited about another toy that make noise!

A bow!

This is kind of overwhelming 

Loving the noise toy

Paper!

Paper!!!

PAPER!!!

Yea!!!

Eating the card... that means it is cake time!

Hmm....

What is this stuff?

Divide

Conquer

Yum

Must have more cake / on a sugar high : ) 

The caption possibilities are endless...

Sweet little R how is it that you are one? How it is possible that one year has gone by? I think you screamed more today at church than you did the day you were born. You are into everything and especially love to pick up the tiniest pieces of stuff of the floor and put it in your mouth. You pull up to your knees but not to your feet yet. I think you aren't going to start walking - you will just start running. Running to give big sis a run for her money. You all have been playing together recently though E will commandeer things you are playing with but I know that your protest over situations like that will come soon. You have traveled internationally and put your toes in the sand in DR - but still not in NC, yet. You are saying mama and papa and nini and nigh-nigh. You are a pointer when you want something. You save mama from changing a stinky diaper more than 50% of the time by going on the potty - and for this I am ever so grateful.

Here's to your next year and every year after that!

Real Life - Laundry

This was from a while ago but I still LOVE it!

                                         

I have blogged a few times about the piles of laundry that gets washed on a weekly basis and the crazy amount of laundry post family trip. But here is the things... I like doing laundry. 

I like organizing the piles and loading it up. It is actually even fun to watch E help. Seriously I do not like when other people - including Lee - do laundry. It is therapuetic. It is organizable. I cannot explain it.

I like doing all the laundry on one day. Saturdays. I like to conquer all the loads and have nothing left. Again I don't know why either.

I get tripped up with a few things though. Folding is not bad but Lee's prefers if I fold immediately upon exiting the dryer as there are fewer wrinkles. Sometimes that does not always happen. 

Also it is a rare occasion that every laundry load is washed, dried, folded and put away. I usually run out of steam around 7 pm and there might be a load left in the washer and dryer until Monday.

I really really really try to not do laundry on Sundays. 

I have a policy - I will do laundry but I will not put it away. Yes I put my clothes away and the girls clothes away - for now. I do not like putting towels away but I have been caught doing it a few times.

Winter laundry is bigger - more clothes, more layers. Summer laundry is dirtier. Concrete, blue glue, mud, clay, sand, chalk - it has been on our clothes.

I have been washing a load of the girls pajamas mid-week because we layer up the girls at night and pajamas don't always smell amazing the next morning though I try and recycle if breakfast has not made it on them.

Anyone else have a laundry-loving thing :  ) 

Siete (not so) Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

WOW! We have had an insane week. And I mean pretty crazy so excuse the lengthiness. Well last week ended with seeing my Aunt and Uncle from Europe. We were treated to an exception dinner thanks to Grammy. For dessert there was chocolate and non-chocolate options and you better believe I took advantage of the chocolate option given that Lent is just a few short days away. And yes they were pretty stinking good - and worth every single calorie too: )

Chocolate... yes I have a really bad habit : ) 

--- 2 ---

We survived our birthday party extravaganza and Superbowl family party. E did really well at the party. She was patience enough to not be right in front when the birthday boy was opening his presents. R kinda sat behind the presents and took notes as to how to properly tear into one's birthday presents. Let's see how she does at her party this weekend! Superbowl involved popcorn and Rotel.

--- 3 ---

Speaking of Sunday nights. Downton Abbey. Yes we are slightly obsessed. We caught up on all of season 1 in almost a week's time and we have season 2 ready. Actually we started the first episode of it last night but E is battling this unfortunate cold so we were interrupted. More on that cold situation in a bit.

--- 4 ---

Did I mention I LOVE my routine??? It happens to work so well for keeping me a happy mama. Well Tuesday R had the goops in her eyes. No fever. So no school. Fortunately E was spared - or at least at the time being. R came to work with me at Swimworld. Not a problem. We came home for lunch as usually and I debated a call to the doctor. I decided to wait it out. Well when R woke up she could barely open her eye thanks to the goop crusting her eyelids. Call doctor. Get a call an hour later from the nurse. Explain said situation, Nurse 'Are her eyes swollen" Me "Yes" Nurse, "Oh well if they weren't swollen we could just call you in a prescription but you'll have to come in"... Ugh.... Off to the petri dish of the doctor's office tomorrow.

--- 5 ---

Enter Wednesday... aka... comedy of errors... Actually the comedy began Tuesday night. E and Papa went to dinner at Jibbe's and then to the store and then home. E was thrilled to bring home more 'pillows' aka Mini Wheats and chips - three kinds 'hot' - jalapeño, 'warm' - plain and 'red' - baked doritos... along with pita and hummus and milk. Lee and I were slight beside ourselves because E helped unload the groceries and put them in the pantry. Hello are you 2? Okay just checking. Papa took the milk out of the bag only to find the seal was broken - I think Food Lion has a bad batch of milk seals as this is the second one in a week or two. Wednesday morning at 6 as I am getting a head start at work - there is a frustrating comedy of error with a container hauler in Florida that is not worth getting into but seriously it took until 2:30 that afternoon to sort out. Next comedy of errors, I am getting the snacks ready for the doctor's office and low and behold E unloaded the hummus into the pantry... not the frig. Really???? Ahhh yes. Next stop doctor's office with both girls. Not my favorite idea but whatever. No problems at the doctor's office. Then off to Sam's Club for the eye drops prescription. Straight to the pharmacy tell - it will be 10-20 min. Fine. E and R and I shop. Forget to get the Downton Abbey season 2 DVDs. Grrrr... Go back to the pharmacy. "Oh we don't have those drops but we can send it to a Wally World." Okay please send it to the less busy one close to my house. " Oh they don't have it; you'll have to go to the Mount WW". Really? Can't you see you see I have a sick baby and toddler with me. In and out; in and out; in and out. I opt to NOT take the girls to Wally World so R must wait on the prescription and she is way tired too. Yeah that was about 9:30 am. The rest of the day shaped up well. Given those silly hiccups. I know they are not major life problems and ultimately mere inconveniences so I guess it's God's way of reminding me my problems are really not that big of a deal. Take a deep breathe. Respirar profundamente... and get the heck over it.

Oh and E is sick now. So tired that she fell asleep sitting up and kinda plopped over. She is a fighter!

--- 6 ---

Speaking of larger than life problems. Have you ever hear a helicopter and known exactly who was in it and why they were in it and said a prayer as you heard it pass over that you would see this person again??? Well if you have not, and hopefully you never have - it is erie. Basically called up my vecina and asked if I could have/borrow a few dishwasher tabs to get the dishwasher run. Well turns out my vecina's dad - Papa G - had a very random seriousl medical emergency that all went down this morning. Through texts and phone calls I knew he had to be airlifted from the Mount hospital to a bigger one - because it was pretty darn serious. Well this morning at the store the helicopter sounds filled the sky and I knew it was Papa G getting transported to the big hospital (trust me there are not that many helicopters around here - I know that probably make me sound like we live in the sticks but don't judge now : ). Papa G also happens to be a co-worker at the fertilizer j-o-b so I prayed for him and his family all morning but it was different knowing that he was flying over head. Praise the Lord that he made it through surgery - the odds we not in his favor - so remember all those silly problems I mentioned. Yeah - they are not problems. Perspective.

--- 7 ---

And it is time. Lent is here - we have been soaking up cheesy foods all week. Then Sunday night - its on. And I am kind of excited. I did not do the Lenten fast last year - hello nursing mama. And the Advent fast we did not keep as strictly as we will Lent. Let me tell you Pascha/Easter morning is A-W-E-S-O-M-E as least I remember loving it because you get to indulge in all the foods you did not eat for seven weeks. Among other Lenten activities I will have Lee change my password on Facebook and be off for Lent - it is a definite must. I have thought about taking a break from my iPhone - but work is require so maybe I can work something out. I would like to read more. I think The Imitation of Christ is in order as it is short little snippets that can be read at length or in 5 minutes. We have a charitable activity in mind that we may or may not be committing to... We are just hitting the tip of the iceberg so maybe once some sort of commitment is made we'll divulge. For now it is an idea that we have toyed with for a while and we are listening for whispers of the Holy Spirit to guide us on the right path - as always : ) 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Images from the afternoon #15

Okay this is from a week ago but seriously spring let's get going so we can kick the cold weather and play outside

Wordless Wednesdays

This is only the tip of the iceberg....

Parking Spots, Pools, and Tears

We had a rough Monday around here. First major crisis was that someone had taken 'our spot' at school. Thanks alot Mr Pickup Truck. E nearly did not willingly get out of the car.

R fell asleep in the car on the way home, as usually though she was up before 3... Mama requires longer naptimes : ) R was way pitiful

E had been anticipating swim class all day... Well Papa got home too late so we could not go. It is Parent and Tot not Parent and TotS. Would not have been possible to take them both so hopefully the Y will be flexible and let us make up the class.. fingers crossed. I pleaded with her and told her that she could wear her bathing suit in the bath tub. Anything to stop the tears and frustration. Nothing. Finally she was over it...

Then she took a shower. I love showers. they are so much easier than baths : )

Pregaming Superbowl Style

Catching up on Next Great Baker and Iron Chef

Saturday Evening Crisis and 7 am Last Call

Yesterday was kind of a crazy day. We spent the night at my parents Friday, went to church first thing Saturday, took early naps, went to a friend's circus themed birthday party in the afternoon and came home zonked out. After a failed attempt to eat dinner - probably due to the cake an hour before - it was bath time. R did okay but was not feeling the best so she was pretty easy.

Then it was E's turn. She was tired so we were giving her a some slack as it was. But, but but... for whatever reason she realized/discovered that the nail polish from our vacation - remember we let her paint her nails - was coming off. No I did not use nail polish remover because there would have been a crisis. Well E had not noticed/cared about her 'nail paint' being off until last night during the bath. The poor kid was inconsolable. We rushed off to the shower to get clean and it has not come up... We are still trying to figure out what triggered that meltdown.

In other news, as we were rushing around the house this morning trying to get out by 7 so we are not late to church. I had this moment of "This is what my mom must have felt like rounding us out of the house to get to Mass on time". Guess things go full circle : )

An Interesting Saturday Read

My parents get the Wall Street Journal and since we stayed at their house last night we got to read the newspaper for the first time... in a while. There was a really interesting article - America's Baby Bust - about fertility rate in the US and comparing it to other countries. Basically the current fertility rate in the US is 1.93 which is below the necessary replacement rate of 2.1.

One of the most striking lines, "Here in America, white, college-educated women—a good proxy for the middle class—have a fertility rate of 1.6. America has its very own one-child policy."

Glad to be bucking this trend...

Here is a link to article.

Siete Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

Hello Friday! We have some crazy weekends ahead... I mean CRAZY. Trips to Raleigh. Birthday parties. The last football game of the season. Trip to Ohio. Sausage making. Seriously people. I think I am going to start looking forward to Mondays : )

--- 2 ---

Deep in the trenches of a great theological debate with a super great friend. Have you ever had one of those? The kind that force you to know more and defend your beliefs. Yeah there are pretty great and so so so interesting. One thing that we have established before the debate/discussion began was 1. we respect the other's views and 2. we are not having the debate to try and change the other's mind/opinion/view... Yep this friend's a keeper : )

--- 3 ---

Got the girls signed up for swim lessons in February - aka walk them around in the pool as they chase after a floating object. I have no idea how I am going to get pics this time because we had some great ones of E but somehow I will figure it out. I think we might have to include this in R's birthday because for real... Well this better be worth it!

--- 4 ---

Which leads me to another point... Several people including Uncle Kevin have been asking for what to get R for her birthday... Seriously I have no idea. And looks like we're going swimming for her birthday so that is taken : ) and E/we are getting her a baby doll. So bring on the baby dolls or something? Really what does a one yr old need... An unlimited supply of Veggie Crunchers and Yogurt Melts.

--- 5 ---

While we are on the birthday topic. We have a 1 yr old birthday party to go to on Saturday. I let E pick out a present for him - it is a bucket and shovel - makes sense because when it does get warm I can totally see him digging around - but I think I am going to throw in some of R's favorite snacks because seriously I think that is what she would want her little boyfriend to have! There are going to be some super cute pictures for sure.

--- 6 ---

Lee and I have been trying to escape for dinner for a few weeks now and go out before Lent starts. With Meatfare in two days looks like we'll be opting for some cheesy seafood next week if we can swing a night out. Though us girls had a great night out the other night. Seriously enjoying meeting/eating outside the office : )

--- 7 ---

Ahh... so the end of the football season is well here... finally! The Heels are not having a great bball season so maybe we'll start watching them more or watch/go see the Hurricanes. We watched them play Boston and lose in the last 2 minutes of the game. It was exciting but pitiful. 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!