1,2,3

I swore I would NEVER be that parent who counts to their children when they want them to do something.  I'll be honest - it used to drive me nuts when I was in a public place and would witness a parent doing it....

"Tommy???  Come here, Tommy."

"NO!"

"Tommy?  ONE!!!!  TWO!!!!  TWO AND A QUARTER!!!!  TWO AND A HALF!!!!  Tommy???? If I get to three, you know what will happen!!!!"

BUT - I'm THAT parent now!  Because, IT WORKS!!!!!  Granted, I  haven't gotten to the "Two and a quarter, Two and a half" point, but that's because I don't have to!  I'm not kidding - if I want Alex to do something and he isn't doing it?  I just start counting and by the time I'm done with 2?  He's doing it! 

It started out as a fun game (you know, because I didn't want to be THAT parent).  So, I would make it playful and turn it more into a game of "I'm going to count to three and if you don't start walking upstairs, Mommy's going to carry you" and would then carry on with "1, 2, THREEE!!!!  (picture my voice starting low and then getting high as though I am pushing him on  swing or doing something else fun). And, he thought that was fun and would do whatever I wanted him to do.  Well, then, he started getting older and wiser and is no longer falling for the "1,2,THREE!!!!!" in a high pitched, fun voice thing.  So, now, I've started getting stern  - I've started being THAT parent.  But, man! It works. 

NOW - the only question is - what when will he figure out that I actually have no idea what in the hell I am going to do when and if I ever get to 3?  I guess we'll both figure that out when the time comes...

Confessions

I have a confession.  Well, two.  First of all, I know that it has been a while since I've posted on the blog.  It started out because I legitimately was pretty busy and just didn't have time and then? Well, then the blog turned into that friend who you haven't talked to in so long that you know that the next time you talk, the conversation will be really really long and because of that, you just never call because, really, who ever has time for a really really long conversation?  But, then, because you never call, the eventual conversation just keeps getting longer and longer and longer and really it is just a vicious circle is what it is.  SO, ANYWAY - that is how I was looking at this blog.  Now that it has been so long, I have way too much to talk about and WAY too many pictures to look through and to attempt to narrow down, so I was just avoiding it all together. 

Second confession?  I know that you will all be shocked to hear this, but I actually think that Fall is slowly taking over as my favorite season.  I know, I know. I have always been that beach/summer kind of girl.  BUT, I mean, how can you beat those crisp fall days and all of the activities that come along with them?????  And, trust me - living in New England?  We take full advantage of these activities. 

It started with the trip to this Country Day festival - that was the end of September.  I have pictures somewhere, but can't find them and this post will have plenty of pictures of other things, so you'll just have to trust me that it was fun, the kids were cute and we did the classic things like face painting, riding ponies and a hayride.

That was followed by apple and pumpkin picking at a small farm near us.  That was the first time that Alex has gone apple picking and he may never go again.  There happened to be a car there whose alarm kept going off (like, seriously 5 times during the hour that we were there) and of course, it took the owner a good 5-10 mins to run back to the car every time to turn off the alarm and for whatever reason, Alex freaked each time.  So, now, anytime we say we are doing anything remotely "fall like," he says, "no horn!  no horn!"  Poor kid.  That damn horn has scarred him for life.

That was followed by the local apple festival, which was on Josh's bday, which is October 8th and it happened to be EIGHTY DEGREES.  Yes, you read that correctly - 80 degrees in October.  It was great!  And, again, the festival was full of face painting (I swear - I should buy stock in face paints with how many times my kids have gotten theirs painted over the years)...

and a hayride

And, because we had apples coming out of our ears from the other apple picking day, we passed on the apple picking at the apple festival, which seems strange, but whatever.  If I had one more piece of apple bread, I was going to throw up, so the decision was made - no more apples.

This was followed by a pumpkin tour at a local park.  It is a pretty cool event - there are over 1000 jack-o-lanterns that are carved and lit up and they set them up on a path through the woods.  We did this last year with our friends, Caroline and Jake, and their two kids and had a great time, so we kept the tradition going again this year.  Caroline had gotten the kids a craft to work on at her house before hand, so we started with that and then had dinner there before the tour,which was very nice.

THEN, this last weekend, we went to a corn maze, which was really fun.  Avery really got into it and was bound and determined to find the bridge, which of course, half the time, was about 2 feet away from us, in clear site, yet, when we tried to get to it, we somehow ended up a good 20 feet away from it. But, we eventually got there (and got out of the maze for that matter).  Alex wasn't feeling all that well that day, so he spent most of the day in my arms and I spent most of the day convincing him that there would be no freaking horn at the corn maze...

 This picture was taken approximately 2 second prior to the train taking off and Alex realizing that Mama wasn't coming with them.  Poor Avery - when we asked how it was when they got back, her comment was, "Fine, but he screamed in my ear for like the entire time!"  He wasn't crying when they came back, so apparently he got over it at some point.

That afternoon, we finally got around to carving the pumpkins that we had gotten a few weeks earlier...

And, the finished products...I'll admit, if it were up to me, I would have left the marker out of the equation, but I'm trying my best to fully support Avery's creative side, so both pumpkins have hair and the word Holland on them. 

And, that my friends is the full recap of our fall so far.  I can't imagine we could possibly find any other apples or pumpkins to pick or any other corn mazes to walk through, or a husband who would agree to any more money being spent on face painting,  but if we do, you better believe you will hear about it and you will see it through 100 more pictures.  Until then...

Al's Latest...

No idea where this came from, but he came home the other night saying it and it is pretty freaking funny if you ask me...

"Alex Lightyear"

So, I think that I mentioned it briefly, but we're having a bit of an issue with Avery not taking naps while at school.  I will say that she is not 100% to blame.  For whatever reason, they only give the kids 40 mins to come in from outside, get their bedding, calm down enough to the point where they will fall asleep and then to take the actual nap.  Clearly this isn't enough time.  When I asked the teacher about it, she informed me that the principal wants to focus more on the academics this year, so she decided to start the special activities (i.e., library, art, music, foreign languages, etc) at 1:30 this year vs. 2:00, as it has been in the past. Don't get me wrong - I am all about those special activities.  However, when it interferes with my child's nap time and as a result, she falls asleep on the way home only to be in a horrible mood every night?  I think that the library can wait for another 30 mins.  AND, not only does she come home in a horrible mood every night, but I just recently read an article on the importance of sleep for toddlers and how, if they don't get enough sleep, it can effect them developmentally.  Great.  My kid will be able to speak french, but her growth will be stunted because she isn't getting enough sleep.  I explained to the teacher that I think that the principal needs to accompany Josh on his drive home with Avery and once she witnesses the meltdown, she may change her mind on these "special activities."  The teacher agreed.  I have yet to make the call extending the invite. 

ANYWAY - while I don't think that they are giving the kids enough time, I do think that, if she really tried, she could squeeze in some sort of a nap.  However, from what it sounds like, Avery is too concerned with a) the fact that she knows that she doesn't have much time to nap and b) the fact that apparently other kids aren't napping and "are keeping her awake."  So, because of all of this, she isn't even attempting to nap.  That said, we had the discussion with her the other night that, if she doesn't start to at least TRY to nap every day, she will be punished.  The conversation went something like this...

Avery - "What will happen to me if I don't try to sleep?"

Mom - "We will start taking away one toy each night."

Avery - "Like, what toys?"

Mom - "Well, we'll probably start with your baby dolls."

Dad - "And, then, we'll start to take away your purses."

Avery - "Are you going to take ALL of my toys away?"

Mom -"Well, yes - if you don't start trying to nap, we will eventually take all of your toys away."

Avery - "Even my brother?????"

She has a point.  We clearly can't take her brother away.  Although, up until that point, I was not aware that apparently, she thinks of her brother as a toy.  Poor Al. 

AMS

This last weekend, Josh and I took our much anticipated kid-free trip.  Christine was getting married in Amsterdam, so we thought this would be a perfect way to have a little time away by ourselves in a city that we love with people that we love!  It was a great weekend.  A few things that I learned/took away from the weekend:

• Traveling overseas without an infant in your lap is (to be honest) far more enjoyable than having one your lap.  You are able to: a) eat; b) drink (free wine!); c) watch movies (Bridesmaid is pretty freaking funny for those of you who haven't seen it); d) spend $12 on the "All My Children" finale special PEOPLE magazine and actually read it; e) when you are done reading that, you can read the other "normal" PEOPLE magazine as well as the US magazine - both of which have the same stories and the same pictures, but you don't care because you don't have an infant on your lap while reading them; f) sleep!!!!; g) sleep!!!!!; h) sleep!!!!
• It is pretty freaking cold in Amsterdam when you land on September 22 at 5:30 AM.  Highly recommend NOT wearing shorts or a skirt and flip flops.  Or, if you choose to, take a taxi vs. taking the bus and then walking 8 blocks to your hotel.  All of that said, it was a refreshing walk, which was welcomed after only sleeping for 3 hours.
• Consider yourself to be VERY lucky when arriving at the hotel only to find that your room is in fact available because really, what the hell would you have done if it weren't????  We're glad that we didn't need to figure this out.
• When you are eating lunch at your favorite Tapas restaurant and the waiter mentions that the amount of food that you just ordered is normal for dinner time, what he is really saying is "you are typical fat Americans..."

• If you go to Amsterdam, be sure to invite us, because we apparently bring the sun.  It has never been bad weather when we have been there.  And, this time was no exception - high 60's and sunny the entire time, which was especially great as most of the wedding was outside.  Christine was thrilled, to say the least. 
• Taking a boat ride on the canal really is as cool as it looks.  One of Friso's friends had a boat and we all went on it one day.  We were FINALLY one of those people in a boat who I've always envied.

Although, little did I know that, really all we ever needed to do was to tie a picnic table to 2 things that float and we could have had our own boat all along when my parents lived there...

• There are quite a few differences between weddings in Holland and weddings in the states:
• First of all, the bride doesn't need to worry about a thing.  ALL of the details are taken care of by the wedding party.  AND, the "ceremony master" takes care of the organization of everything - making sure everyone is where they need to be at the right times, making sure everyone has their own allotted time to give speeches, etc.  It is truly amazing.  I'm not sure brides in America could handle not having that much control.  I'd like to think that I could have, but who am I kidding?
• The "rehearsal dinner" is held on Thursdays.  Not sure this is how it is for all weddings in Holland, but it was that way for Christine's.  And, let me tell you, I'm glad it was on Thursday because, as it turns out, drinking approximately 57 bottles of wine in one night results in a pretty horrible hangover the following day.  One that you wouldn't want to have on the day of a wedding.
• Also, at the rehearsal dinner, there are a significant number of speeches and, speeches in Holland?  Pages.  Numerous pages long.  That said, of the ones that were in English, they were pretty freaking funny and entertaining and I have to assume by the amount of laughter that the ones in Dutch were as well.  I did give a speech (after only 2 of the 57 bottles of wine) which ended with everyone in the room (including myself) crying.  Not sure if that was a good thing or a bad?

• On the day of the wedding, there is a get together which includes the wedding party and the bride and the groom.  We all come together and get to witness the bride making her grand entrance and the groom seeing her for the first time.  This was pretty cool.  Quite romantic, I have to say.

• When they say that you need to wear a hat, don't stress about it.  As it turns out, as with all weddings, people show up in a variety of outfits, some of which will include a hat and some of which won't. However, if you have brought your hat all of the way to Amsterdam, wear it and wear it with pride! I mean, really - how many times are you going to get to wear a hat in your lifetime (unless of course you are from somewhere like England, Scotland, Holland, etc). But, for us in the states? Not many.

• Wedding days in Holland tend to be long.  Long in a good way, but long nonetheless.  That whole presentation thing?  That started at 11:30.  Then, the ceremony was at 2:30.  Then, the cocktail hour was from 4-6pm.  Then, dinner from 630-800 (which only included some of the guests, which is another difference between the states and Holland).  Then, dancing from 8 until lord knows when.  Point being - GREAT day, but long.  Needless to say, the "how do we all stay looking (and smelling) fresh for over 12 hours?" crossed all of our minds.  Then again, by the time the party started, we were already 8 bottles of wine into it, so we could have cared less. 
• The Dutch know how to party.  Holy crap.  I mean, weddings in the states are fun.  Don't get me wrong.  But, in Holland?  Wow.  Unfortunately, my camera battery died prior to the reception so I have no pictures to prove it, but let's just say that there were numerous times throughout the night when the groom and all of his friends had their shirts off and had the uncanny ability of taking them off all while jumping up and down (consistently) to techno music.  Enough said.  
• Something about the way sororities work in the US works.  Not really sure how dragging us out of bed at 6 am to run 3 miles with one another every day (after keeping us up all night yelling at us) creates life long friendships, but it does.  I hadn't seen Leslye and Nancy for over 10 years and yet it was just like we had seen each other yesterday. It was great catching up with them and hanging out with them for the weekend. 

• You truly do start to miss your kids after being gone from them for that long.  We were lucky enough to have Opa and Grandma fly out to stay with them while we were gone, so we didn't have anything to worry about.  They had a great time with the kids and the kids loved having them there.  But, man!  It is a good reminder of how much you miss them when you are away for 4 days.  And, if it wasn't enough to come home to 2 kids (and 2 grandparents, but for different reasons!) who were thrilled to see you, we got to come home to this...

Yep - Josh and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary on the day that we flew home.  We couldn't have asked for a better anniversary weekend and I'm thrilled to have been able to share it with such an amazing couple.  Christine and Friso - thanks for everything!  We had a great time! 

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

I mentioned it briefly in my last post, but thought that it was so important that it deserves its own post....2 weeks ago, the Holland family got new mattresses!!!!  Well, except for Alex.  He is still in his crib, so he doesn't need a new mattress.  And, yes - he is nearly 2 1/2 and still in his crib.  He hasn't tried climbing out yet and the idea of him not having bars surrounding him and therefore enabling him to follow me out as I leave his room at night?  That, in my opinion, is not fun.  So, he's staying in his crib until the age of 16, if I have anything to say about it. 

Anyway...this is very big news as A) Josh and I have been sleeping on his mattress that he has had since HIGH SCHOOL.  Yes, people.  High School.  He is currently 37 years old.  I'll let you do the math.  So, needless to say, I have a sneaking suspicion that half of my neck pain is attributed to this mattress and as a result, we needed a new one.  B) Avery was still in her toddler bed and it was clearly time for her to graduate to a real bed.  Now, if I had my choice, it would have been a twin, as I'm not sure a 4-year-old necessarily needs anything larger.  However, the crib that we bought conveniently converts to a double bed, so a double is what she has.  I have to say, it looks great in her room and she LOVES it.  She loves it so much that she has even MADE it every day since we have gotten it.  Although, this morning, she informed me that "it isn't fair" that she has to make her bed every day because it is "just too hard," but whatever.  She made it, so score 1 for Mom.

And, just because I really think that baby butts are cute, here is a picture of Al looking for the moo-moo cows as we were putting together Avery's bed.  And, no, I don't remember why he was naked.  I think we were in between diaper changes and pee pee on the potty...