Our little princess....or not

This weekend, Avery was invited to her second Princess birthday party where she was supposed to wear her favorite princess dress. This was a bit tricky, as Avery is totally not into princesses. That being said, I sucked it up and spent $20 on a Snow White dress and then on a Belle dress. It really is unbelievable how into these princesses some of these girls are. One woman said that her daughter wears her princess dress every day for as long as they will let her. Uh…what? It makes me wonder – is it because we just haven’t exposed her to princesses (not really on purpose – I guess it is just because I was never into real girly girl stuff growing up) or is it more that she just isn’t that kind of girl who is into it? Regardless, I first attempted the Snow White dress and she didn’t like how that felt when she had it on. So, I went out and got the Belle dress, which she was all excited about, but just as we were trying to get out the door, she announced that she didn’t want to wear it. I went back and forth at that point as to whether or not I really cared. I knew that all of the other girls would be in a dress, but I couldn’t determine whether it was she or I who really cared that she would be the only one not in one. I realized quickly that I was being that mom, so I stopped trying to push it and put her in a regular (or, as we call them, party dresses) dress instead. Sure enough, every other little girl was wearing a princess dress.
It didn’t phase Avery a bit. They even had Ariel show up and Avery could have cared less.

Oh - I nearly forgot – the weekend started off with 3 friends of mine and their kids coming over on Friday morning. This was interesting, as they all have boys (ranging in ages 5 months to 4 years) and I, as of right now, only have one boy who doesn’t do much at this point. Turns out, boys get into anything they can get their hands on. Don’t get me wrong – they were all well behaved. However, things like play dough and my blackberry are all fair game when left out. Avery really is unique when it comes to this stuff, as she would never play with it without asking first. We’ve never had to baby proof the house at all because she just doesn’t get into things. So, I never even thought to put this stuff away until I turned around and play dough was every where, my blackberry had been pulled off of the window sill where it was charging and was on the floor ( I know, that one was dumb on my part) and there was a puddle of water on the ground where one of the boys decided that perhaps my hard wood floors were thirsty and, to satisfy this, he pushed the button on the water thing on our refrigerator...over and over again. None of this stuff really bugged me – it was just comical because it made me realize that I am SOOO not ready for Alex to get older. We’re screwed. And, so is chili because his litter pans are in the basement and apparently, you can’t leave a basement door open with a baby boy who is crawling and I refuse to have the litter pans anywhere else in the house, so it looks like Chili has to go within the next 5 months. Takers? Anyone?

Alex is awesome. A very happy baby ( I know, I know – I would have NEVER thought this 3 months ago). He is smiling and laughing a ton. He went to daycare this last week for 2 days as a trial run. He did great. Didn’t sleep much and apparently I nearly starved him, as his bottles didn’t have enough breast milk, but other than that, he was great. Turns out, frozen chunks of milk don’t actually cause the level in the bottle to raise, but actually, to go down. My sister nearly fell over and died when I told her this and reminded me that I clearly need to go back to science class, as things expand when they are frozen, but whatever…

I’m entering my last week of maternity leave and it sucks. I’m actually getting used to this stay at home mom thing. Granted, being a stay at home mom is easier when the kids are actually going to daycare, but still...

Me being me, I have procrastinated and have waited until the last 2 weeks of my leave to schedule all of the appointments that I need to, so I’ll be doing that this week as well as running any other last minute errands that I have to do before heading back. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Fall Festivities

It’s funny how, once you have a toddler, you actually start participating in all of the things that seasons have to offer. I mean, I’ve always enjoyed fall in New England (even more than summer sometimes – I know, I know – crazy coming from the sun goddess herself, but…), but I really can’t remember the last time that we have done things like carve pumpkins or pick apples….until this weekend.

It started with Friday when we met Lindsey and Asher at the fruit stand and let them pick out pumpkins then bring them back to our house to carve them. Asher and Avery had a good time and seemed to enjoy touching the insides more than the actual carving. Sunday, we went to an apple festival in town where we picked apples, ate apple dumplings (ok, so Avery really didn’t like it, so Mom ate the entire thing – and I wonder why the baby weight really isn’t coming off this time around???), ate honey and watched the bees in their little glass thingy making the honey, listened to a blue grass band and got Avery’s face painted. It was a great day overall. Here is a picture of Avery eating one of the apples and one of the two of us at the festival (no real relevance, just the only good picture I have of the two of us, so I included it)Just one thing…the face painting???? THREE DOLLARS. WHAT? I mean, the lady bug on Avery’s face was no more than a red dot with a bunch of small black dots on it and we paid three freaking dollars? Mind you – in WI, Avery got her face painted with some heart and some crazy vine-like things coming out of it AND glitter and that was FREE. Granted, that really isn’t the norm for there either, but whatever… it still wouldn’t have been $3! ANYWAY, I digress…

Monday we went on a hayride. It was definitely cheesy, consisting of stuffed animals and stuffed characters like batman and Frankenstein that were obviously made in the 1970’s placed throughout the forest that the tractor drove through, but the kids liked it.
So, needless to say, we had quite the festive fall weekend.

I think that the best (for lack of a better word) part of the weekend was when Chili got out of the house right as we were trying to leave for the hayride. Now, this wasn’t the best part of the weekend for the reasons that you are thinking (although, they are a close second). It was the best given Avery’s reaction. I was sitting on the couch feeding Alex when Josh comes storming into the house exclaiming that Chili had gotten out. Avery had been outside with Josh helping to pack up the car, so I go out there and she is yelling at Chili to come out from under the deck. As I’m there with the cat nip, trying to lure him back in, Avery just looks at Chili under the deck and says, “Fucking cat! Fucking cat!” It became clear to me at that point just exactly what Josh’s reaction was when he got out. Lovely. I did was I was supposed to do and ignored it. I haven’t heard her say it again, but knowing my luck, she went to daycare and announced to the class that her fucking cat got outside this weekend….

Alex is doing really well. He has his first cold, which sucks. And, of course, any little sniffle or cough he has, I’m convinced we are going to end up back in the ICU. But, he’s getting through it. He is really starting to grasp things with his hands and has taken a liking to a bunny that he got as a gift. He also laughs a ton. It’s pretty cute.

Here is a picture of his all bundled up for the weather. I think that babies in hats are adorable, so I'm including it. I’m going to start to bring him to daycare next week for 2 days in preparation of my return to work, which is in 3 weeks. I can’t believe it. The idea of leaving him with someone else is breaking my heart. So, in order to cope, I’ve scheduled a hair appointment as well as a pedicure appointment for the days that both kids are in daycare. I’m certain this will help me get through the days. :) More later…

Life on the Farm

Ah….one of the many upsides to maternity leave – being able to go on vacation for as long as I want. So, to take full advantage, the kids and I went to WI to visit my parents for 2 and a half weeks. The one negative of traveling while on maternity leave is that my husband, as it turns out, can’t just take 2.5 weeks off, which requires me to travel by myself with two kids. However, believe it or not – it wasn’t bad at all. The way there went great. Avery has always been so easy with stuff like this. I didn’t bring her carseat and yet, she never once tried getting out of her seat. The hardest part was to try to figure out the appropriate times to bring out one of the new “presents” that I had gotten her to occupy her until we got to WI. Alex basically just nursed and slept the entire way, which was fine by me.

We had a great time while we were there. Avery got to experience life on a “farm” with the chickens, the dogs, the fire pit and the snake (yes, she touched one and no, I was not there when this happened). She LOVED “getting the eggs from the Roosters” with Opa every day.
I was shocked – she wasn’t scared of the chickens at all. She just walked right in and grabbed the eggs with my dad. She was also not afraid of the snake evidently and had no problem touching it. But, like I said – I wasn’t there for this – I was in Milwaukee visiting the HS girls. Not quite sure that would have happened had I been there. She was however, scared of the puppies. It’s hard to believe that a 2 year old would be more scared of puppies than snakes, but whatever. Oh –and, one other animal I forgot about –the pony! I couldn’t believe it. We went to a fair near my parents’ house and she LOVED the pony ride! Now, mind you – this is the girl who started crying on the Merry Go Round at the mall just a few months ago! I was shocked, but pleased. She also developed a new past time – cooking with the grandparents. She loved helping in the kitchen whenever she was given the opportunity. I was thrilled as this distracted her from her “mommy do this and mommy do that” attitude at times.

Here she is on Opa's tractor and eating dinner outside on the stumps by the campfire...

Alex was great and loved hanging out with his new cousin Annabel (ok – clearly he had no idea that he was hanging out with her, but you have to say things like that about a cousin who is the exact same age).

Annabel is adorable and has a great personality. She taught Alex a thing or two like how to hold a toy and tried teaching him how to hold his head up a bit better, but he hasn’t caught on to that quite yet. She tried really hard to teach him to sleep during the day, but that REALLY hasn’t worked. My lord. This child WILL NOT sleep during the day- I think that I’ve just given up. The last straw was when Josh put him in the stroller and walked him around the house (it was raining out, so he couldn’t go outside) to try to get him to sleep and that didn’t even work. Now, that being said – we did reach a milestone while in WI – he started sleeping through the night!!!!! Well, basically. He now goes down between 7 and 730 (with surprisingly NO effort on my part) and sleeps until 5-6 AM. Every once in a while, he will wake himself up with gas at around 3 AM, but he goes back down. He is also smiling a ton, which you will see here with his Auntie Sara.
I managed to sneak away for a day to see the HS girls. It was great seeing all of them. It couldn’t have been better timing because Sara had just had Lila a few days earlier, so I got to meet her, which was great. She is adorable and they are both doing really well. Here is a picture of Alex and Lila. Isn't it funny how Alex nearly looks like a toddler compared to her?

We also managed to throw my mother a surprise retirement party, which was somewhat of a challenge since it was at her house, but we pulled it off. She literally had NO idea and had a great time.

The way back from WI was good overall. The only “mishap” was when Alex pooped and then Avery decided that she needed to go to the bathroom at the same time. It started with me getting up with Alex and walking down the aisle only to hear Avery screaming. Yeah….I totally forgot that she was buckled in and couldn’t get out, so the poor child was locked in and thought that I was just leaving her there. Well, the flight attendant came to the rescue and gave Avery her baby doll to make her feel better, which helped (you may be thinking that part of the story really wasn't necessary, but see more on baby doll below). So, we get to the bathroom and turns out, Alex doesn’t like the changing table and as a result, screamed the entire time. As he was screaming, Avery hit her head on the sink, so she started screaming. At this point, I’m about to lose it, so I walk out of the bathroom holding Alex and asked for a volunteer to hold him. Some poor man in a business suit was the first to offer, so I put a burp cloth on his shoulder and handed him a screaming child. Of course, the entire time, I was convinced that he probably had the swine flu and that Alex was going to end up back in the hospital, but I couldn’t be concerned with that at that point. We ended up making it through ok. HOWEVER – the baby doll? Yeah – she ended up on the floor of the bathroom during the entire fiasco. So, I’m thinking, ok – this is gross, but at the same time, it isn’t like she puts the baby doll in her mouth or anything, so what is the worst that can happen? Um…have you ever been on Midwest Airlines? If you have then you know that they serve hot, gooey chocolate chip cookies. And, of course, as Avery was eating his hot gooey cookie? Yep – the chocolate dripped on the baby (yes – the baby who fell on the bathroom floor) and what does a two year old do when she sees chocolate? LICKS IT!!!! Oh my god – I nearly died and was totally convinced that I would now have TWO kids in the hospital when I got home. My lord.
I’m happy to report that, so far, neither one of them is sick and they are officially back into their normal routines. Avery was thrilled to see all of her toys again and all of her friends at daycare gave her a big hug when she walked into the room. It’s depressing knowing that our vacation is over and that I’m going back to work soon, but we’ll see them all again in November for Thanksgiving, which will be great.

2 going on 16 (or is it 21?)

NOTE – I meant to post this before we left for our trip to WI, but never got around to it. However, I still find these things funny, so I’m posting now...

Since there really wasn’t anything too exciting that happened this last week (which is a good thing in this house lately), I figured I would post the funny (and, not so funny) things that Avery has said lately. She really is too smart for her own good sometimes and says things that you wonder where they came from and who she got them from. Most of them are funny, as you will read below. Others? Not so much:

1. Scenario – All of Avery’s babies are laying face down on the living room floor:

Mom: Avery what are your babies doing on the floor?
Avery: They’re just chillin’, Mommy.

2. Avery: Mommy, I have to go pee
Mommy: Ok. Let me know when you are ready for me to come in to help you.
Avery: You can come in when I call you. I’m going to close the door because I need some privacy.

I mean, seriously? What 2 year old says that she needs privacy while going pee?

3. Scenario – Mommy feeding baby Alex and trying to think of something to do with Avery while doing so, so I ask her if she wants me to read her a book.

Mommy: Avery, do you want me to read you a book?
Avery: No Mommy. I want to read you a book.
Mommy: OK

Avery starts to read and then passes the book to me and says…
“Mommy, can you read this to me? I don’t have my glasses.”



4. Scenario – Avery hasn’t taken a nap all day and is in the bathtub having a meltdown from being so tired. So, as she is screaming (for no real reason), she looks at me and says (through the tears), “I’m having a VERY BAD DAY!”

5. Scenario –Avery comes to the table while we are eating dinner asking what we are having. Unfortunately, we have yet to figure out how to get dinner ready early enough for her to eat what we are having and for all of us to eat together as a family. So, typically, she eats before us, but then tries (and ends up eating half of) whatever we are eating and sits with us while we eat. This night, she ate rice, steak and spinach salad with us and afterwards said….”Hey guys – thanks a lot!” It may not sound very funny, but hearing your 2 year old refer to you as “guys?” Pretty funny.

This next one is one of the not so funny ones –
6. Scenario – This morning we were getting ready to leave and she had taken a blanket out of the basket in her room where they are kept.

Mommy: Avery, please put the blanket back in the basket
Avery: You can’t tell me to do that!

I'm including this picture because I think that it is ironic that such a cute little girl can be such a bossy, strong-willed little lady sometimes



I’m pretty certain, based on this, that she and I will continuously be at each other’s throats in just a few short years. Also, I might add (just so you don’t think that this type of behavior is a result of how we parent) that I clearly stated after that comment that I am her mother and I can tell her to do whatever I want (yeah – that’s right – I’m a hard ass). She didn’t find that very funny.
This next one is the best yet and the reason for the title of this blog:

7. Scenario- Josh is giving Avery her dinner.

Daddy: Avery, what would you like to drink?
Avery: Um…..I’d like some wine please.

We’re definitely in trouble...




As far as Alex goes – he is doing much better. He had blood drawn a week ago and his hemoglobin levels were a bit low, so we have to give him this disgusting vitamin liquid with iron. I’ve learned to wait until he is really hungry and then mix it with a small amount of breast milk in a bottle and he chugs it right down. I’m also focusing on eating more red meat, spinach, anything else with iron. Hopefully all of this will help. We only have two more days of antibiotics and then he gets that horrible thing out of his arm!!!! I’m psyched. He is too. He just doesn’t know it.

That’s about it. I’m spending the rest of the week packing and making lists of what I need to pack for our trip to WI. I’m trying to force myself to remember that my parents do have a washer and a dryer and, because of this, each of them only needs a few outfits, but inevitably, this theory will not work and I’ll end up packing more than they could ever possibly need. I should probably work on this problem of mine now that checked bags are $15 a piece. I’m flying out there by myself with both of them, so be sure to check the next post, as I’m sure it will be entertaining…