Early Wishes

Being that our little lady has her birthday just 1 week after Christmas, I thought we should give her a tiny 1/2 birthday wish every year. As she gets older, she might feel like her birthday is kind of a dud being on the heels of Christmas celebrations, so we're going to do a super mini-celebration of her birth at the end of June. A lot has happened in all of our lives over the past six months however, the memory of sleeping with her in the crook of my arm her first week home feels so fresh. I love doing these monthly entries because they give me an opportunity to slow down and reflect on where my babies are/ what they are doing.

Little Miss Claire is officially sleeping in her crib for naps and nighttime sleep. We did do Ferber with her last week and I can't lie, I cried right along with her. I bawled. It felt so terribly wrong standing outside of her door letting her cry like she did and I was in there every instant the timer went off during the "progressive waiting." We had to go in at 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 8 minutes and as we neared the 10 minute mark, she went quiet about 7 minutes in. Hard work and heartbreaking work, but well worth it when you do it right. It truly works but you've gotta have chutzpah. On the night we committed ourselves, we turned Preston's fan up to full speed so the girl's crying would be muffled enough and that worked out perfectly.

Silly girl...look at her legs (Grammy said, "Now, Claire, you can only do that when you are a baby and when you are having a baby...AFTER you're married!)

What we now have is a little girl who can put herself to sleep as well as go back to sleep through the night, without needing my help, the swing's help, a swaddle, nursing or pacifier. Oh yes, and about three weeks ago she decided that the pacifier was no longer her friend...HOORAY! I was dreading having to take that away since she really seemed to like it and I didn't want to have an older baby "plugged in" all the time. No Maggie Simpson for us! Woot! Woot! As I shed a tear, our baby is growing up.

Sitting like a big girl

Clairey loves watching her brother. She goes crazy figuring out the toys on her exersaucer and she is delighted to be able to bounce up and down in that thing. She is still a tummy time girl who rarely rolls over to her back and if we put her on her back, she flips to her tummy in one second flat. The bouncy seat is going to be outgrown pretty quickly here as she is trying to sit up in it. She loves being in the Bumbo and even better is sitting on her own on the floor with mommy, daddy or grammy supervising those "Timmmmberrr!!!" moments. Solid foods are still not delicious and just yesterday, she decided she would stick her tongue out, flex it upwards, clench her mouth closed around her tongue and practically hold her breath to keep me from getting the spoon in her mouth. That stinker is smart but we just keep on trying.

Relaxing on a beach blanket at Webster Pool

I'm blinded by the fact that they are my kids and I see them everyday. I can't objectively say whether they look exactly alike or not. My tendency is to say, you can tell they are brother and sister but they don't look "exactly" alike as some people say. What do you think? Here they are both at six months in the exersaucer.

From Fountain to Splash Pools Recap

Last week's temperatures were downright unbearable. There was no choosing what to do with the days, it was automatic water play. We had quite a week, getting together with various friends, trying to keep the kids active AND cool.

Rodney and Gina came over with Will and Eva for bbq and sprinkler action. Preston was loving it; Will was not. The boys, as usual, entertained us the entire time.

Preston, soaking wet and Will, dry as a can be, watching the dads grilling dinner.

Eva and Mommy sucking their thumbs on my bed (Gina is not sucking her thumb:))

Erin and Yuri came over to play in Preston's two kiddie pools. It's funny how Yuri and Preston are nearing 2 years old but it seems not so long ago that Erin, Michael, Kyle and myself were new parents to be in Lamaze class! Preston is a big brother now and Yuri is just about to be a big sister!

Relaxing after playing in the scorching heat...look at Yuri's adorable after water dress!

We headed over to Tower Grove Park's fountain and wading pool to meet an old friend Kate and her little girl Kira. It was my first time getting both kids to the pool since my ankle deal so I didn't get to take any pictures. I had Claire in the Moby Wrap, so that freed me up a bit, however the heat was terrible so we left a bit early for lunch at Hartford Coffee.

Chris brought Gabe and Reese over on Friday for barbecue and swimming. Claire and Reese chilled out on a picnic blanket while Gabe and Preston played in the water for a couple hours. We had to remind Gabe that there was plenty of "morna" (water) to go around when he would get nervous about Preston playing in the pool next to him. It's so fun watching how all of the kids interact. Preston and Gabe are both so energetic, I'm happy to know my son isn't the only wild toddler with what sometimes seems like too much energy.

Claire enjoying a little pool time.

"Catching" water droplets

Finally, on the water get togethers, we met Evie and Noah at TGP fountains. It was Evie and Noah's first time playing there and Noah really seemed to like it. Unfortunately, since he is crawling everywhere, his little legs were getting scraped up. Evie decided to walk him around to keep him from getting too torn up. Preston and Noah had an after water snack of Goldfish on a beach towel and Claire happily played in her car seat.

Snack time

Now this is the stuff of summer I wish I hadn't missed 6 weeks of. At least in St. Louis, we've got plenty more of this hot weather to look forward to (or dread when it's 90+ and humid).

Wheat or Wood

Yesterday, Kyle came home from work and said, "Cool, you got Preston a new truck!" He looked a little closer at the truck in the window sill and realized the truck was not new but Preston had made a little truck bed out of a Wheat Thin! So cute. Funny that when P woke from his nap, he walked into the kitchen and picked up the cracker and ate it. So much for a "wooden" truck bed! That boy!

Curiously

Being a mom of two little ones has in general made movie going a non-choice when there is free time. Kyle and I used to see a movie in the theater nearly every Sunday night but after pregnancy and child rearing for three years now, that little tradition has fallen to the way, way side. I don't know what movies are out there because I don't pay attention to that anymore. This is the first year in a few that I paid attention to the academy award nominees and winners and made mental note of some titles. Truly, I did find great pleasure in sitting in a theater, eating candy and popcorn and drinking a Cherry Coke but for some reason, anytime Kyle and I have a chance to get out by ourselves I always nix the idea of going to see a movie. My rationale is that since we don't get too much time to talk about things other than the kids, I would rather spend that precious 3-4 hours of freedom doing something like a nice long dinner and then dessert/coffee. Next week, we will have a babysitter and we are going to the Missouri Botanical Gardens for the once weekly Whitaker Music Festival...the event where we had our first proper date six years ago...so, no movie.

All of this to say, in a round about way, we've gotten back to watching movies (at home). Summer helps being that our late evenings, once the kiddos are in bed, aren't filled with DVR'd shows like fall, winter and spring. Well, over the weekend, we began The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. We considered naming Preston, Benjamin, but decided not to, obviously. Oh, and he is so not a 'Benjamin.' Okay, back to my point. This movie is so lonnnnng. I admit, we broke it up into two nights AND I considered not finishing it because honestly, I felt it was moving sort of slowly for the first half. The dialogue was very light (volume wise) and it was annoying me to have to turn it up really loudly to hear and then be blasted when the film moved to more action. So, the next night, I suggested we begin something else (since I'm so big on not wasting time since it feels like we don't have enough) but Kyle never likes things to go unfinished...books, projects, and movies! Here is the point where I admit, I'm super happy that he insisted even though we were both underwhelmed.

Stick with it and it is good. Visually, the entire film is full of beautiful shots. The story picks up in the second half and ends up, in my opinion, being worth the near three hour run time. I don't want to give a synopsis or review of the movie, I just want to recommend it. I liked this movie, A LOT! The fantasy bit of the plot reminds me, it's a bit of a stretch, but it kind of had a Forrest Gump feel to it, only much better and the cinematography more beautiful.

Heaven (if you know Preston)

Gina and Rodney have been talking about this place, Monkey Joe's for a few weeks now. They said we "needed" to go together because Preston would love it. Well, I had no idea he would love it like he did. On Monday night, G called and invited us for a last minute romp at this bounce off the walls kids place. We arrived with just 1 hour left before closing...I have to admit, at first I was a bit upset that we would only have a short amount of time to play, however, one hour is a lot of time for a boy who goes full speed all the time. Basically, Monkey Joe's has gigantic inflatables for kids 2-12 to climb, slide, jump, roll, flip and really, just go nuts. Parents are allowed to go in but they are not allowed to jump or "play." A bonus for we moms who are a little concerned about germs, they sanitize the inflatables regularly.

For just $5, your toddler can play to his/her heart's content in a pretty safe environment. Preston somehow, knew just what to do. Upon entering, he immediately started jumping and flopping onto his belly or booty and then moved on to climbing and such. Preston went crazy, he was running in circles going from one place to another. I think Kyle and Rodney were wishing they could partake more fully in playing with the boys. Way fun. We are going to have his birthday there but the price is so reasonable that we can go there just to burn some steam on a regular basis. Preston gets a bonus jumping time as Yuri will be having her birthday party at BounceU, another place here in town like Monkey Joe's.

I was having so much fun watching the kids, that I really didn't get any great photos. So, the pics don't do justice for showing the place or the joy the boys were having.

"Preston, you go first!"

A rare moment of stillness

Silly Brother, Tricks are for Me

Preston was running around (big surprise) the other day as Claire lay on the floor. For some reason, when P would make noises and run by Clairey she laughed like it was hilarious. We were able to get a little bit of the tail end of their interaction. I need to wear my camera around my neck to get more of this type of stuff when it begins. These moments are the ones that remind me of why we decided to have the kids so close in age.

Meal Time

Claire has begun her foray into solid foods and her first time was captured on camera. I'm so happy because her expressions were hilarious. She got to sit in her big brothers high chair and I couldn't believe Preston used to be that little. They look stinking adorable in that massive chair.

"So you say there is something tasty in store? I'm IN!"
Holding on for a new experience.

"Ewww! What is this?"

Such a good sport, trying it again after realizing it wasn't so delicious.

The Look of Fear
"Okay, PLEASE keep that spoon away from me. I've humored you enough."

Splishy Splashy

We were finally able to take the babes to the pool a few times. Preston could not get enough and he cried when we had to leave. Claire was not terribly interested in getting her little feet wet but we let her "wade" for a few moments. It's too bad we don't have a great pool to play in all summer long right at our back door because Preston certainly would burn lots of energy that way and we all know how much activity this boy needs. When we are cooped up indoors, which is sadly a bit too often with this bum ankle of mine, he is nuts. Summer + toddler + injured mommy = Hyper toddler and whining (mom and Pre, both!). At least physical therapy is finally starting to show some positive results. I am feeling less pain and stiffness, so it is apparently, on the mend. Here are some pictures from our fun times at the pool. Can't wait for more in the next weeks.

Daddy showing Claire the water jets

Laughing at daddy's silly sounds

Pouring water into cups and buckets provides hours of fun

Too cool with the sunglasses Grammy bought him

This boy is growing up too fast

This posed photo took some effort and help from mom, Damon and Kyle. Damon took the picture, Kyle helped me hobble into the water, mom brought the kids to me as Kyle leaned out of the picture while I balanced on one leg for a quick snap! Voila, a rare picture of mommy with the kiddos. Too bad Preston is trying to run off and Claire wanted to look elsewhere.

We All Fall Down!

Ahh, this time it's not about me falling! Some other people fell down and I laughed. Really, it was a fun sort of falling. Having Gina and the kids over this week was not as difficult as we thought it might be (most of the time). At one point we were singing songs with/to the boys and Ring Around the Rosy was on the list. My mom does the song and spin around with Preston so he was game for the actions once Gina hyped it up for them to do it together with her. They got into a mini-circle and joined hands--it was the cutest thing. Here are some pics and a video of them on two days of play.

Summer Girl

For Claire's 5 month photos, I thought bright colors would be appropriate for the gorgeous early summer weather we've been having. Thanks to EJ (and Yuri) for the head band, it pulls her outfit together perfectly! ;)

Claire is still going to her bi-weekly physical therapy sessions with Beth for the torticollis and we are slowly making progress with her "strength training." Actually, a couple of weeks ago, the girl pulled out a new trick. She can roll from her back to her tummy and Beth tells us this is advanced to do at 5 months. It is usually closer to around 7 months that most babies do this regularly. She is also doing a super job working on her tripod sit. Good work little Clairey, all that tummy time must be paying off!

Yesterday was Claire's first time trying baby oatmeal and she wasn't a huge fan. Most of it ended up on her bib although she did swallow down a few spoonfuls. It's funny how I had to go back and read up on the feeding schedule for introducing solids to babies since I'm not used to feeding her anything but milk--it's fun though. I'll enjoy having an infant who eats most of what I offer as opposed to the toddler who only eats like 10 different things.

Baby girl loves the exersaucer, her playmat, the cat, the dogs, her brother and tummy time.

Lessons Learned

Today was my first day of physical therapy on my ankle. It has been a really slow process with the healing and Wednesday was the first day in nearly three weeks that I've been able to actually stand on my right foot without excruciating pain. To further drill in the message that I tore myself up pretty badly was the physical therapists' comments about the swelling today being 3 weeks post injury. My range of motion stinks and strength is a joke but we'll be working on that once the swelling goes down. So, back to ice and elevation.

There has been a lot of time to reflect as I haven't been able to do much acting and I've come to realize some things.

-I never thought I'd miss changing a dirty diaper, however, I do. I miss the interaction I get with my kids while they are getting their little booties cleaned. The changing table is a great place to tickle and talk and play with the little ones.
-I've had to rely on Kyle so much so that at times I feel ridden with guilt. I decided to watch our wedding video again and hearing the vows reminded me of how we are there for one another even during these very difficult times.
-Our bodies are wondrous things that we all probably take for granted. When everything is working it's amazing and when just one thing goes, life changes drastically. It seems there is a need for every part...well we usually do just fine without an appendix, tonsils or even a little toe. :)
-I've had to rely on other people and that is difficult for me. My family hasn't needed this much help, ever. (Not even after having Preston and Claire). I wasn't completely immobilized post-partum, I could stand and walk with the babes, I could cook a meal or shower myself without assistance. Cooking, cleaning, animal care, child care, "Marisa" care, career work, yard work, my husband is doing it all. And this topic (needing/relying on others) is where I've learned the most.
-Some friends have recently decided that they would help my family out so that Kyle could get back to work for a few hours each day. Gina has been here every day this week from 10-2 to take care of the kids and help with meals and such. Evie brought lunch over, prepared it and then CLEANED MY KITCHEN. My kitchen was a mess and I'm not talking about a couple of dishes and crumbs on the counter top, I'm talking one sink side full of dirty bottles/pump gear/nipples, another sink side full of dishes and more piled up on the side counter and juice, crumbs, spaghetti sauce, milk, etc. all over another counter. I was so embarrassed about the state of my home and she came and so freely took care of a big job. Gina VACUUMED for me on another day and insisted on doing laundry of the nastiest sort, the kids' dirty cloth diapers and she has agreed to get me to physical therapy. These women have full time jobs themselves, they are stay at home moms with homes and lives and they have gifted my family with more than just their time. I have learned that giving of this sort is something that is cultivated. I want to be able to do this for others, I want to pay it forward, and I don't want to be the person who says I'm too busy to help when busy is a pretty relative word. I don't want to be lazy or selfish. I want to thank my friends for what they have done this week because they weren't too busy (or selfish) to teach me a life lesson and take a load off both our (Kyle and me) backs.

I know that when we are talking about 3-4 months of recovery time until I'm completely normal it feels like forever. I can't wait to just be able to walk without this boot and to have it be relatively pain free. It is easy to feel sorry for myself and my family but then I have to remind myself that 3 or 4 months also flies by. Claire is already 5 months old (separate blog for that) and that time has gone by in a flash.

In Company of Survivors

It has been 12 full days since I tried to be Humpty Dumpty. I haven't been able to walk on my ankle at all and it was getting a bit worrisome. I know I had a severe sprain but I didn't think I'd still not be able to walk this many days out. This morning, we went to see the doctor again and I found out I have cellulitis. Apparently, the swollen area is infected and that is part of the reason I'm still in such pain. Wah wah, I know, but it hurts like none other if I even try to take my leg from an elevated position. Started on antibiotics today and should see results by Friday.

I had a feeling something was not right when the skin over my rainbow colored foot/ankle was warm and red...(and blue, green, purple, yellow). I got another set of x-rays to make sure of no breaks, so we are good there. I just really need to get this thing healed so I can do my job taking care of the kiddos and Kyle can get back to his day job. The doc said we're looking at 6 more weeks before I'm healed. How unfair is it that we are coming into summer and the next month and a half will be with a bum ankle? Ridiculousness, I tell ya.

Oh, I almost forgot. The title is not me trying to say I'm some super strong survivor. I was jokingly referring to a couple of the contestants on the show, Survivor. Two seasons now there have been people sent home (Jonathon and Joe) because of cellulitis and the potential for worst case scenario...losing a limb or death. I'd never heard of this problem until the show and here I am with an infection in my connective tissue. Cool. :(

The Clairey Takes Milwaukee

On May 9th, Kyle, Claire and I traveled to Milwaukee for Kelsey's wedding. We flew north on a very short 1 hour flight with a super well behaved little girl. She slept almost immediately after taking off so that made things easy. It was actually a surprise for everyone that we brought Claire. She finally got to meet her aunts Kelsey and Kendra.






We had wonderful time visiting with family and friends. The three of us had our first and probably last vacation as a threesome as Preston stayed home with his Grammy. We received word that Preston had a most awesome time being spoiled by Grammy.

Sweet

The other day, Kyle left the kids in the kitchen so that he could bring me my lunch. As he started back to the kitchen he saw this:

Playing together

He came back to grab the camera hoping they hadn't spotted him. Sure enough, they were still playing and he was able to get them in action. Preston turned around after the first couple of snaps and I heard Kyle say, "Hah, I caught you!"

I am so excited to watch the kids' relationship grow. The older Claire gets the more fun it will be for Preston to interact with her. Today I had one of those moments I'd only heard about before. You hear the expression "it made my heart swell" but until today, I'd never thought to use it. Seeing Preston lying next to Claire looking at her and sharing his cars and blankie with her nearly brought tears to my eyes. She kept batting at his hand with the Matchbox car in it, so he took her hand, steadied it, and then put the car in her hand. She smiled and he laughed. Okay, so he may have wanted it back seconds later but the gesture was so sweet.

Alternate Titles

Friday looked to be a gorgeous day--blue skies, warm temperature, breezy. I told Kyle I was definitely going to make a plan to spend the day outside. Around 10:00, I got a call from Gina that she was going to Forest Park for a change of scenery from the usual jaunt to Tower Grove Park; she wanted to know if we'd like to join her. By 11:30 the plans were to meet Gina, Will, Eva and Christina, Gabe, Reese to walk, let the kids play on the playground and then have lunch at the cafe next to the playground. Those plans were thwarted in a very uncool way. I had our beloved Bob packed in the trunk, the snacks, water, camera, Moby wrap, diapers, wet bag for dirty diapers, bottle of milk for Claire...everything was checked off the list for once. I didn't forget a thing. All we had to do was get ourselves to the park to meet our friends for a great Friday afternoon. I went outside to unlock the car doors, got Preston strapped into his car seat, gave him his blankie and went back to grab Claire who was in her carseat waiting for me to get her into the car. I had Preston's water and the Moby Wrap in my left hand/arm and the keys/Claire/carseat in my right hand/arm. Locked the door and started down the front steps, just 30 more seconds and we'd be in the car and on our way. However, I am reminded of the movie Sliding Doors with Gwenyth Paltrow, about the very different ways life can go if just one little thing is changed. I digress. So, Preston was watching me and I smiled at him and tried to wave at him while walking down the steps...thought I was on the last step when in reality I was on the second to last step. Foot catches on the edge of concrete porch step and mommy comes tumbling after. This was no small tumble as I freaked about dropping Claire and somehow all of my weight landed on a very twisted right foot/ankle and pop....holy owwwww...This cannot be good...

Here are the alternate titles and descriptions:

"Babe, I Hurt Myself"
Lying in a crumpled mess on the concrete sidewalk, belongings scattered about, my Pre screaming in the backseat of the car after seeing me fall, near tears myself, I pulled up to standing and couldn't bear weight on my foot so I hopped to Preston as he wailed. Trying to calm him, I got him out of the car using one leg and held his hand back up the steps hopping along. Claire was calm, Preston settled and I looked at my ankle that was ginormous. I got out my cell phone to call Kyle and upon hearing his voice, I matter of factly said, "Babe, I hurt myself. I think pretty badly. I don't know if my ankle is broken but it hurts like none other and it is huge."

"You're Kidding"
Not only was that the first thing Kyle said when I told him that I was hurt, but it was precisely what Gina, Chris and my mom said. I suppose I could have kidded about such a thing and really, I wish I had been kidding. No such luck.

"When Your Doctor says, 'Wow! That is Cool!'"
Once Kyle biked his way back home, we made our way to the U.S Center for Sports Medicine. What a perfect place for my mom to work. No waiting just right in for x-rays and scans. The news, no broken bones but torn ligaments and a nasty, nasty sprain. Dr. Stahle said it was the biggest ankle he'd ever seen and he's been doing this for years. I was sent home with a boot, crutches and a wrap. Orders to stay off the foot through the weekend and then try the crutches working my way into the boot.

"Not With Two Under Two"
Orders to stay off of your foot when you have a 21 month old and a 4 month old seems completely ridiculous. Besides them being orders the honest truth is I really can't bear weight on the dang leg if I wanted to try and tough it out. This injury has happened at one of the worst possible times in our lives. Kyle really will have to take off work and not only take full time care of the kids but also of me. I thought post-partum was one of the only moments I'd have to lean on my partner for physical help and now not only am I literally leaning on Kyle, I am also completely incapcitated. This is a horrible feeling. It's one thing to leave Kyle alone with the kids for a couple of hours while I run errands but being in the house and hearing both kids needing something and not being able to help is completely depressing. I feel horribly for Kyle as he once again proves how amazing a husband and parent he really is. He has been carrying me from room to room and from house to car when needed as well as doing everything to care for the kiddies and doing household chores/meals non-stop.

"Rivalry"
The pain. Post-partum pain is pretty strong the first week out. This ankle injury rivals that pain and I am not kidding. The severity of the sprain must make the difference because I am taking more pain pills for this than I did after having Preston and Claire. The constant deep throbbing and severe pain while attempting to stand or trying to readjust, I had a moment yesterday that hurt so badly I had a vision/desire to amputate my ankle to rid myself of the pain.

Please let me have a speedy recovery. We can't have me on the injured reserve list for long.

Hours after elevating and icing it down. Beautiful isn't she?

Where are They Now?

The little ones are now 4-months old and 21-months old. Claire had her 4-month check up with Dr. Schmandt yesterday. She weighs 14 lbs 11 oz; her length is 24.5 inches and her head is 44 cm. I think she's trying to keep up with her big brother as they both have huge honkin' heads!

Claire is still doing her physical therapy to fix her torticollis. As Beth, the PT explained it, now that Claire's muscles have good range of motion (she can move her head equally to both sides since they are well stretched) she needs to work on her strength and endurance. The sternocleidomastoid (SCM) on her left side is very stretched (like a rubberband that has been used over and over...it is not very strong). We are now doing exercises that will help strengthen that side so that her head will naturally come to center the way it should. There are quite a few upper body parts that are affected by this condition so we have several exercises to put Claire through. The poor girl gets so mad at us.

Right now she loves grabbing at faces when being held and 'talks' to whomever is doing the holding. It's so sweet. She bats at and grabs toys in her bouncy seat, loves watching Preston when he is playing near her, screeches and squeals so loudly (I know where my kids get their volume...not me) I sometimes wish I had ear plugs in, and loves smiling and babbling to anyone who will give her attention, stranger or not.

Girly pink*

Check out those long toes!

Preston, our picky little eater. I don't freak out as much as I used to since I know I can rest assured the few things he will eat are in general healthy. I can't believe how little variety he wants but hey, we do what works. Oh, and the advice we've gotten about holding out until the next meal if they don't want what you offer, that is kind of a joke. P is so stubborn that he will skip a meal if he doesn't like it and upon next eating time, if he doesn't like that meal, he won't eat it either. We are then left with a hungry and extremely crabby toddler so I like to just make things I know he'll eat and offer him just one item I don't think he'll like in hopes that he'll try it and like it.

Our boy is so much fun though. I love hanging out with my best little bud. When we ask him if he'd like something, his affirmatives are so cute. He says "yeeeah!" and "sure!" He loves reading books with us and will now actually sit still long enough for books with "real" story lines. The past two weeks books of choice are Go, Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman and Trucktown Smash!Crash! by Jon Scieszka. Walks with Grammy are a favorite pastime as is grocery shopping with mommy and dog walks with daddy.

Banged up knee, ball cap, and truck.*

*How are those pictures for stereotyping? A boy and his truck and a girl dressed head to toe in pink. And I was sure I would fight this before I had kids.

Brighten

Why do babies have such sparkly, bright eyes? Claire's big brown eyes...I love their lucidness. Amazing how these little ones suddenly become so aware of their world. It really was only a few months ago that she was kind of just blobby and now she is so completely aware of her world. Love it.

"Tom _____ed"

Saturday night was trivia night for Rodney's Project Badilli. The program that he and a couple other teachers created to get some of their students out doing service for others. They take a trip at the end of the year and this year it is Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans.

After a long day selling items in our yardsale, Grammy and Grandpa Damon came by to watch the kiddos so Kyle and I could have a night out. The trivia event was held at Morgan Street Brewery in their banquet room. We had so much fun even in light of the ridiculous level of difficulty the questions presented. Apparently, some of the tables were complaining about how hard the questions were and began getting a little too loopy and in turn started heckling poor Rodney, who was reading the questions. Rodney and his question writing partners did a most excellent job! I must admit I was shocked at how good some of our participants were at trivia.

One of the "easier" categories...'Tom said.' Here is a question...What a bummer, I wrecked my Swedish car. Tom ______. You fill in the blank with the one correct word and yes, there is only one correct answer.

Feverishly working on short time. Just playing around actually!

Our team, which only consisted of 4 participants for 4 rounds and then for the remaining rounds only 6 members out of a possible 8, won 2nd place! We got our entrance fee of $20 per person returned! John and Kyle were definitely the anchors but everyone had at least one moment of pulling some crazy correct answer from out of nowhere.

John and Gina

One happy couple out on a Saturday night with no babies!

Royally Good

Last Thursday was Rodney's birthday so Gina invited a group of friends to celebrate at a local restaurant/bar, The Royale. It is right in our neighborhood but we'd never been, so going to a birthday party was a great reason to try it out. We got to see friends we hadn't seen in forever

Erin and Yuri at the end of the table

and celebrate Rod getting a year older.

Enjoying The Royale burger

The food was absolutely delicious and had I not had a dance class right afterwards we would have tried more off the menu. Must go back for sure.

Preston loving on some sweet potato chips

One Man's Trash...

This past weekend was craziness. We participated in the Tower Grove Park South neighborhood wide yard sale. For over a month we knew we were going to do this but we hadn't thought much beyond writing it on our calendar. On Friday, Kyle stayed home in the morning and we began going through things to sell, the day went on and although Kyle's intention was to get to work in the afternoon, we quickly realized there was way more involved in a yard sale than we had realized and he ended up staying home the entire day.

It rained all Friday, so we were pretty nervous about Saturday mornings forecast of rain as well. Instead of setting some of the stuff up in the backyard we left it in the basement with the threat of rain. Sleep after midnight and we found our 6am wake time arrived a bit too quickly. Kyle was amazing. He got everything out of the basement and set up like a pro without much help from me at all. At 8am we got our first group of customers with just a few items sold. We sat outside with Claire (Pre sleeps in until NINEam these days) for what felt like eons and Kyle said our "early bird" shoppers would probably be the best crowd all day. Well, the rain we fearfully expected was no where to be found AND our monetary goal was exceeded by leaps and bounds! We had so many people come by that at times the crowd was so big I was afraid some of our shoppers would be leaving with items unpaid for. By our 1pm quitting time most of our "stuff" was gone and what was left could be donated to Goodwill.

There is a local Freecyle group in our neighborhood that came by to pick up left over items of interest for no charge. Freecycle aims to keep things out of landfills through donation. Our address was listed on the freecycle yahoo group for members to come by after the yard sale to see if there was anything left that they might want or need. They take it off our hands and use it instead of us throwing it away.

We actually ended up having fun as the day was a cool change of pace for our regular weekend activities. Preston even got in on the fun making sure to say "bye bye!" to every customer leaving. Unfortunately, we were so rushed around that the day slipped by without even one photo taken of our very first yard sale.

Just Peachy

Last week was my turn to host playgroup/mom's brunch. The morning was all rush rush as I scrambled around getting the house straightened up and brunch made while keeping the kiddies happy. The menu was decently simple with fresh strawberries and my favorite fruit dip (marshmallow fluff mixed with cream cheese), homemade peachy muffins (shameless brag...they were from scratch!) and a cheesy egg casserole (recipe courtesy of my friend Carrie). Side note, the previous sentence has an inordinate amount of parentheses, no?

The kids were so cute in all of their different developmental stages. At one point, and we didn't get a picture or video, Will and Preston were chasing each other around the dining room table giggling like crazy. It was so adorable. Random question...When hosting a get together does it get stressful trying to make your home look like you always keep it nice and presentable or am I alone in this and everyone else always keeps their home vacuumed, dusted, picked up and ready for anyone to see? On the flip side, having friends over does provide a perfect motivation to clean!

I didn't take any photos of the gathering so Evie sent me the two she took even though she used them in her blog post.

Evie knows how to take good food pictures.

Check out Noah and Claire's expressions in reaction to Eva's crying! Too funny!

Salmon

There was no link on how to pronounce salmonella; whoops, my mistake. If you were wondering...it isn't pronounced like salmon with the silent 'l.'

You Think Too Much

Random thoughts and pictures

-Each week these kids are changing. They are getting bigger and smarter and sometimes my heart hurts at how fast it's going by and sometimes I wish the day gone. If I were away from them for a week, I know I'd be amazed at their new developments.

"These hands are quite interesting."

He now has a literal "security blanket." He insisted on taking it into the bath the other night and had to learn that the blankie wouldn't be cuddly or useful after getting it all sopping wet!

-Being a mom is a hard job albeit often one of the most satisfying. Kyle said he was talking to a doctor he works with comparing having babies vs. doing a residency. The doctor said if he had to choose, he would rather do a residency again over having his kids be babies again. The reasoning was that when you are working all night or on call you know there is a definite end in sight. But, with babies, the crying in the middle of the night for example can become a repeated cycle and you often don't know when they will begin sleeping through the night...which brings me to my next thought
-My little Clairey is waking nearly every 1.5-2.5 hours throughout the night. I feel crazed, dazed, foggy, slow, snippy and run down. A paci doesn't "pacify" her, only mommy can. Maybe I should feel honored? Ha, not at 1am and 2:30am again and then at 4:30 only to be jostled from my light sleep again at 7:30 and up for the day at 8:30. During the day, I feel hope that the next night will be different yet it has not changed. If you don't have kids and think this might be in store for you, don't let our babies' sleep habits scare you. Kyle and I have this really fantastic mix of genes that seem to make babies that are unable to settle down for sleep without lots of intervention. Hmm, maybe other doctor and philosopher duos need to be aware. ;) The babes must be thinking too much from birth!

Sitting pretty straight!

-I love the toddler years! They have tantrums but they interact in such fun ways. Oh, and crying can usually be figured out more easily. His fits are mostly because he wants something and sometimes he just has to deal (oh, and he's easy to distract). But babies' cries, no distractions for them...for instance, when you are driving, you can't just say, "Oh, look at that big, cool truck!!"

P just "fed" his duck some toast from breakfast.

-What is the deal with construction guys blatantly staring/ogling at moms with babies? Not only is it creepy it is rude. The behavior of men staring at women and hooting, hollering, whistling is in general just weird. What do they think they are going to get for it? It's not flattering and they certainly aren't going to get a phone number...at least from a normal woman.
-I'm excited that my friend invited me to attend Nia dance classes with her. It's so outside of the type of exercise I do that I really think it's good for me in other ways beyond physical exercise. I feel like it forces me to stop focusing on all that is happening outside of me/around me and to just focus on my mind and body.
-Being described as regimented when it comes to scheduling sleep for my kids twice in one day by two different people is funny and I'll also take it as a compliment although I know the description probably wasn't meant to be that way. Sleep is good and I prefer not having baby Zombies or terrorizers because they haven't had rest.
-I think winter is finally over! It feels so good to know I will have many more regular opportunities to spend outside with the kiddos. Preston needs to try swimming, Claire can, too. I wonder if they make bathing suits that look like robes (for me)?
-Still love the book Kyle thoughtfully gave to me as a wedding anniversary gift. He knows me well. Kyle, how do you say, "salmonella?"

Ahhh, random thoughts posts are so cathartic.

A Walk to Remember

Not a post about the high on cheese factor movie with Mandy Moore. Yesterday was a gorgeous day in St. Louis and the kids and I were invited by Evie to go on a walk with her mom's group. I've been to Forest Park many times before but the path we took was new to the kids and me. One of the moms had apparently been on this walk before so she was the "guide" for the rest of us. It was so scenic, going over bridges, rolling over a creek, passing by beautiful flowers and trees in bloom, and seeing some of the historic buildings in the park, the walk had both kids and moms happy. The pace our lead mom took left the rest of us winded however, it was a good chance for me to get this post pregnancy body back into some sort of shape. I think we'll try to find our way back to that place for another trip before the rain comes this weekend...we'll meander a little more, though! :)

Preston and Noah

Here is that tree picture for you, Evie!

Lovin' It

Some things we like that I wanted to share.

Claire's feeding specialist/speech pathologist, Jeanne, introduced us to a pacifier that is awesome. We had been using the standard Soothie but one of the therapists offered us a Gumdrop. The nipple is exactly like the Soothie, but the body is shaped like the orthodontic types...curved more towards the face and lower profile. According to Jeanne, the Gumdrop helps give feedback to the baby to use the lips while sucking since the body of the paci curves around, thus encouraging more muscles to engage. Claire, by far, keeps this in her mouth the best. Gumdrop pacifiers also come in colors orange, lavendar, pink, and blue. By the way, how weird is it to say my 3 month old has a speech pathologist?!

Thanks to Gina for giving us a copy of the CD Cranberry Sauce Flotilla by Dog On Fleas, we have another great set of songs to add to our small collection of "kid" music. We actually have had the CD for some time now, but I kept forgetting to mention it. The other CDs we have and love are For the Kids, Here Come the ABCs and Free to Be You and Me. We, seriously, we (including the adults in the house) really like the music because it's not cheesy. For the Kids have new renditions of many classic kids songs from Sesame Street and the Muppets by artists I listen to who don't only make music for little ones. Cranberry Sauce Flotilla is a really fun CD (the members of the band sound like they are pretty cool, too) with a mix of blue-grass, reggae, country, soul and a couple other genres...Preston especially loves the songs Weevily Wheat and Fiddle-i-fee. Here Come the ABC's is actually by TMBGs better known to we parents as They Might Be Giants. Finally, Free to Be You and Me (from my childhood) by Marlo Thomas...great for letting kids know they can and should be themselves/defy stereotypes, etc. Very 70's, so it might annoy some but the message is great and the book is wonderful.

Trampolines, Chicken Leaves and Cars

Save the harried rush out the door and a few forgotten items (drives me crazy when I forget stuff) today was a fun change of pace for us. We took a little trip across the river for brunch at the home of new friends, Mike and Carrie and their four lovely children, Zoe, Nick, Zander and Kali. The "change of pace" was getting out of the city and visiting a small farm and walking along wooded trails. The trip only took thirty minutes and it was gravel roads and hard to see street signs. I estimated that we'd be just 10 minutes late but one wrong turn had us arriving a half hour past the time we were supposed to be there. Kyle joked with me that perhaps we wouldn't be such good contestants on our favorite reality TV show The Amazing Race.

I've been spoiled this week with two absolutely ridiculous brunches. This time it was homemade cinnamon raisin rolls, spinach salad, fresh fruit, an egg casserole and vegetarian sausage and bacon! Who would've thought they make vegetarian bacon?! I've seen and eaten vege burgers and hot dogs but I hadn't come across bacon until today. It's kind of funny because bacon, burgers and hot dogs are things you just imagine the meat and potato types wanting to eat, not vegetarians. Bacon in all its greasy piggy glory becomes 'vacon' (okay, I made that word up) a food that bears odd resemblance to Beggin' Strips since it is one flat piece streaked to look like meat and fat. It actually tasted similar to bacon although I don't really eat bacon all that often and I assume the vacon version must be healthier than the real thing. Anyway, the meal was just way too good and we were wishing we'd taken some of those cinnamon rolls to go.

Preston, of course was too busy bodied to eat. Carrie got out her boys' old Match Box Cars and Preston was in heaven; he was too cute playing with them. He was loving the huge assortment and clearly had fun as he often got quiet, I would wonder where he went and would turn around to see him standing at a chair just pushing the cars around. I actually went out and bought him a set for his Easter basket. Luck had it they were on sale at Target tonight!

After our meal we checked out their humongous barn. They coolest part about the barn is that it was built before the civil war in Michigan and was going to be demolished. In the spirit of reusing, they had it shipped to their property (in pieces) and had it rebuilt. The kids have a trampoline in their yard and little Pre went berserk when he saw Zander jumping and flipping on it, he just kept screaming with delight. Zander offered to take Preston up there but P was just a bit too shy to go for it.

Napoleon Dynamite wanted to know if the chickens have large talons but we found out they have leaves. Mike was telling us about the different breeds of chickens they had as the kids fed grass to them. Kyle asked the breed of a certain chicken, Mike told him and then said he liked that one's "pretty leaves." Oh my gosh, we all got a good laugh at that. There is a nature preserve behind their property with trails, so we took a walk and enjoyed the gorgeous weather and lively conversation that continued once back at the house. We could have talked for hours but toddlers and babies must have naps so we ended our visit an hour past Preston's nap time to head home. The boy shocked us and stayed awake the whole ride home, napped until 6pm and still went to bed at his normal 8:45 bedtime! Gotta love it, now if only little miss Claire would sleep so well. Mommy is praying yet not so hopeful for a better night's rest than last. Bedtime at 11:30 and waking at 2:30, 4:30, 5:30 and 7:45 will wear you out really quickly.