Pack it Up

"Do you want me to bring up one suitcase or two?" Josh asked me yesterday.

I looked back and him and raised one eyebrow sarcastically.

"I will make it two", he said chuckling.

He knows me well. Two large suitcases, overflowing with clothing for six days.

I seriously overpack.


Here are a few I took yesterday of Bryce, for you non-Facebookers:









His neck is getting better, can you tell? :-)

Don't you wish you had a Special Day?

I found the designs for these at easycupcakes.com, and had a lot of fun doing them.


In preschool, each child gets a "special day". They take their turn on the heart shaped rug, dress the bear, changes the weather icon for the day, and then they bring snack in for the class.


He looks thrilled, no?




This is Kayden after crying for HOURS about having to give back the preschool elephant, Tembo.



Now we are Cool. Thank goodness Grandma has a soft heart, and bought him a new Tembo Jr. to compensate.

Freddie Mac

A frog goes into a bank and approaches the teller. He can see from her nameplate that her name is Patricia Whack.

“Miss Whack, I’d like to get a $30,000 Freddie Mac loan to take a holiday.”

Patty looks at the frog in disbelief and asks his name. The frog says his name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it’s okay, he knows the bank manager.
Patty explains that he will need to secure the loan with some collateral.

The frog says, “Sure. I have this,” and produces a tiny porcelain elephant, about an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed.

Very confused, Patty explains that she’ll have to consult with the bank manager and disappears into a back office.

She finds the manager and says, “There’s a frog called Kermit Jagger out there who claims to know you and wants to borrow $30,000, and he wants to use this as collateral.”

She holds up the tiny pink elephant. “I mean, what in the world is this?”


The bank manager looks back at her and says ..
“It’s a knickknack, Patty Whack. Give the frog a loan. His old man’s a Rolling Stone.”


**As heard when I went to the review class for my investment banking license, to help me remember Freddie Mac. I thought it appropriate this week.

The never ending bed time routine

This blog has been a bit of a downer lately. My uncle dying, the hot water heater, my beloved pet...I feel like must set the record straight.

Thursday night, I was putting the boys to bed which is very unusual. I confess. I am horrible at getting Kayden calmed down; I would rather tickle him and delight in his giggle. For some reason, everything is funnier at bedtime.

Once he finally calms down, I love laying next to him and hearing the sounds of him breathing. Smelling his hair damp from a bath, inhaling the baby wash smell that won't be much longer.

It bugs Josh to no end, because obviously if we did this every night it would wreak havoc on the bedtime routine.

This particular night, Kayden was finding the word pumpernickel hilarious. The more he laughed, the harder Bryce would laugh. I had one of those moments, where you remove yourself from the situation. So many of my friends with older kids have told me lately to enjoy this time, because it passes too quick.

So, I surveyed the scene. Thanked God for how incredibly happy I am. Reading this blog, you would never think it, so I apologize for that. Although it has felt a bit chaotic lately, I feel blessed through and through.

how could I ever be anything but overjoyed by this?

When it rains, there is a lot of water...

Running out the door to preschool, I noticed Kayden did not have a sweatshirt in his bag "just in case". I ran downstairs, only to be greeted by about one inch of water. Not wanting to be late for the first day of preschool, I rushed off leaving the problem for later.

I hurried home, thinking that the rain must be allowing water to come in somewhere...only to find our hot water heater pouring water out the top. Bryce fell asleep in the car, a God send for sure.

Right now, I have every towel in the house down there trying to create a water wall.

Yikes.

I imaged something different for this first day of alone time.

sigh

Can you believe this kid is going to be in preschool? Thank God Daddy is right across the hall, or I would be a mess! If my "allergies" start acting up tomorrow, don't be surprised. sniff, sniff

Beloved Friend

When we decided to get married, Josh and I were trying to figure out where to live. I wanted to live in Michigan, Josh couldn't leave the surf just yet. The proposition was to start our journey in California for six months, then move to Michigan to eventually start a family. Being an hour away from one of the most exciting cities appealed to me; the historical town of Redlands surrounded by mountains and year-long warm weather sealed the deal.



We got married in December, and a cold one at that. My excitement only grew towards the adventure awaiting. We returned from our honeymoon cruise, and as I was packing up, only then did I start to think about the reality of moving away. I was leaving everything I knew. My church family that I loved, the investment banking job and close colleague that I had worked with for 2 years, the university life of books and classes, my parent's home, my two younger brothers. Tearfully, I said goodbye, the full impact of leaving felt, but not necessarily understood.



The first month was spent with little furniture in an apartment filled with Josh's shoes. And by that I mean they were everywhere. I opened kitchen cupboards to socks and shoes, each closet held boxes of the treasured footwear; I went outside to the storage area. You guessed it, more shoe boxes. There were size 14 Jordan's everywhere.



I say this to set the scene, not because I was unhappy. Some of those dinners eaten on the cardboard kitchen table comprise my fondest memories. Hindsight usually lends itself to fondness, but vivid memories of walking to the grocery store each day to buy groceries (I did not have a car, so I could only buy enough for the day), making supper, and figuring out what married life was about. It was only in the evening, while lying in bed, did the loneliness creep in. I would lay there and imagine my parents playing cards around the kitchen table, visiting my grandparents, or eating ice cream at Frostys. Days turned into minutes ticking by on the clock, wondering how much longer it would be before I got to come back and visit.



And visit I did. Any chance I got. (Tia had 30,000 frequent flyer miles by the time she was 4)



Upon living there a few months, I was still struggling to adjust. If I am honest, I was lonely overall. It was hard to make new friends. Josh had lived there for a few years before I moved out there, so at first I felt like I was moving into his life instead of creating our own. We kept busy, but my lack of both a social life or an outlet to find friends left me really craving home. We joined a church we liked, but couldn't find a small group to connect with. My co-workers were nice, but office politics left me out most days.



We had a little poodle as I grew up, so Josh and I both thought a dog might ease the quietness of our apartment. I searched around, and found little Tia from a breeder who weighed in around 400 pounds, surrounded by teeny teacup poodles. The place smelled of disinfectant mixed with wet dog, but I visited Tia often until she was ready to come home. "Johnny's Angel, white with the apricot ears" was how he called back for them to bring her up for our visits. She weighed in at one pound, and pictures of her lined my desk at work before I could even call her mine.

She came home on a weekend, and we spent every last minute playing with her. She was not set down, except for a walk where her little legs worked overtime to keep up with Josh's long pace. She brought a lot of joy to our house, calmed the quiet. Each day, I literally raced home to see her, tail wagging so hard her whole body shook.



Today, Josh had to take Tia to be put down. She had been sick for a while, anyone who has ever seen her knew that today was inevitable. Arthritis deformed her front paws, and we tried multiple things to correct it to no avail. Still, it is hard to say goodbye to a loyal companion. And oh, what a companion she was. My only friend for a while there.






After Josh came home today, we were explaining to Kayden that we had to say goodbye to Tia, and that she was in heaven. In reality, she was taken to a pet cemetery named Sleepy Hollow where her ashes will be spread over the grounds. Tonight we wanted to take a bike ride to get out of the house because we all were feeling a little down. We looked up a trail and decided to park right off the beaten path, at what we both thought was a human cemetery. Sure enough, it ended up being Sleepy Hollow. We got out of the car in confusion and I asked Josh if this was where Tia was.


Kayden looked at me innocently. "Is this Heaven?", he asked.


I guess some things need better explaining.


Anyway, as today draws to a close and something in the house seems oddly out of place, we know will all miss Tia greatly. Carmelo (the black dog) most of all.

T is for trouble

I can sum up what is going on in our life right now with Ts.

Torticollis-or wry neck, is a condition in which the head is tilted toward one side, and the chin is elevated and turned toward the opposite side. According to the therapist, 80-90% of the time it is caused by a child that is too large for the mother's womb. The neck is scrunched so it grows longer on one side than the other. You can see it in both of these pictures.

The pediatrician noticed it early on and tried to fix it initially without physical therapy. Almost obsessively so, I adjusted him to look to his weaker side (the right side of his body). Night after night I would turn his head the opposite direction, but the shortened muscles made it uncomfortable for him and he would turn it back almost as quickly as I repositioned him. We started physical therapy a week ago Friday, and he seems to be doing better already. I have to admit that a very large part of me was relieved that he did not have to wear the oh-so-adorable helmet.

Tournaments- the end of this softball season brought an unfortunate realization. I am a very sore loser. The final three games of the season provoked my competitive streak, and not in a good way.

Thrush- Bryce and I both have thrush right now. Painful for him, even more painful for me to feed him. We went to Tar-jay and bought a slew of medicine to clear it, but I was this close to buying Similac and saying forget nursing all together.

Teaching-back to school for the hubby. No more pool days. 'Nuff said.

Target- I am three weeks into my run, and already they have bought all of the merchandise I have on hand. Relief!

Trouble-I woke up this morning and Kayden was laying in our bed next to me. This is not unusual, he often pops into our bed in the morning after daddy leaves. I love it because it allows me to sleep longer. However, as my sleepy eyes adjusted to light, there was one thing different than most days. It appeared he had black and blue around his mouth so I leaned in to take another look.

A red, white, and blue Popsicle was thrust in my face. "Take a lick, Mommy" he said with a huge smile and joyful emphasis on the last ckkk. Many of you will remember, I prayed all summer that God would show me the right thing to do with Kayden this year. It is clear; he needs preschool. He is SO bored lately at home. I am excited for him to start, not so excited about paying tuition:-)

I SO wish we went back to school after the holiday!

Yuck

**I did not think it possible, but sadly this blog has reached a new low.

It really was one of those days....he is much happier than I was.

Also, just a memory of my Uncle Harvey. He found out he had cancer while we were in the hospital with Bryce for RSV, and he passed away yesterday morning. My most recalled memory of him was sitting on his lap every year for birthday photos. What an odd memory, huh? Each picture I have growing up is of Uncle Harvey and me sitting in front of a cake with gobs of frosting (a Grandma Giggles favorite).

The other picture is from the freezing cold Thanksgiving parade this past year. Uncle Harv is on the right. We will miss you, Harv.

Dear Synchronized Platform Divers,

I was going to send you a free Wet Happened? wet bag, then realized you probably do not need one for bathing suits this tiny. I very much enjoyed your diving, but was a bit distracted by half your butt hanging out of your Speedo.

Sincerely yours, Jamie

A glimpse of a family in a nearby neighborhood led to memories long forgotten, yet easily recalled.

The air smelled a mixture of wet and freshly mowed grass, the chill in the air reminiscent of fall. Two kids sprawled across the grass, with their mother overlooking the festivities from the wrap around porch. A girl, clad in an outfit far beyond her thirteen years. Face puckered in a scowl, almost unconvincingly so. A freckled face, red-haired boy by her side, throwing a football at her as he ran carefree across the lawn. The chase ensued. That is when the memories came flooding back.

Memories of days without bills, uncontained belly laughs, screaming fearlessly on the roller coaster at the fair, the last day of school with nothing planned but summer days, the comfort and resonance of a mother's hug, dinner always on the table at 5. Waiting for my first date to arrive, nervous and giddy. High school football games; cheering with abandon, pulling confetti out of my hair days past. Simple times, really.

The past has a tendency to present itself that way, though, doesn't it? In a glowing haze of perfect memories bound together. I forget all the teenage angst, nights spent waiting by the phone for that phone call that never came. The knot in my stomach as each member of my class was picked, the sinking feeling of being least sought.

Some days I think I would like to go back to simpler times, and then the reality of my memory comes back to me in a jolt. I am not sure you could pay me enough to go back to high school. Searching for who I was, not quite fitting in....all of it is not pleasant enough for me to ever want to repeat. What about you? Would you go back if you could?

Tar-jay

I have not seen them in our stores yet. This was sent to me from my friend Kim at Ribbies clippies. bottom right.

Chubby leggers

Can you believe these legs?

I have got a hefty eater. Both kids, actually. At breakfast, Kayden is thinking about lunch. At lunch, he is worried about dinner. At dinner, he is already talking about eating the next day. I have to shoo him out of my fridge multiple times a day.

Bryce is soon to follow suit. He was laying on his back yesterday and actually rolled himself right over and started eating the floor. He has to support all that baby fat somehow, right?

Sneaky, Sneaky

As summer approached, Josh was pretty bummed about not being able to go back to CA for our annual trip. He is taking Master's classes, and not allowed to miss any, so we decided to stick around here for the summer.

The long face and puppy dog eyes got to me after a while. I hatched a plan to fly Josh's best friend in to surprise him. I admittedly have a hard time keeping "fun" secrets. Any type of really great gift is always given to the intended recipient long before the birthday commences. My mom had to force me not to give her Christmas present the day it arrived. Anyway, the ticket was booked late May, I had seven weeks to not blow the surprise.

The first six went by so quickly that I only almost messed up once. We were in the grocery store looking at a giant rack of ribs and I almost said "We can get that when Hartog is here". I caught myself in time and he did not catch on. The closer the date came, though, the harder it became. It is natural to plan the next week, and time and again I caught myself before the words came out. Getting him to the airport was also complicated. I ran down the list of people we knew that would make visits to MI, and his aunt and uncle were about the only solution.


Monday, we loaded up the car to head on out to the airport. Just as the plane arrived, little Bryce decided to have a major blow out. I told Josh to quickly run to the car for the diaper bag. He got back just in time, and I finished changing the diaper just as Hartog came through the revolving glass door.

It took Josh a minute to connect that his friend was here. He muttered "Dude" reminiscent of the Bud commercials and popped onto his feet. He thought that Hartog was just flying through and we happened to be at the airport. After the confusion settled, he finally started to see just how many people it took to keep it a surprise... I think for a long time he still expected his aunt and uncle to show up.

Special thanks to my parents for letting us use the van, Uncle Norm and Aunt Char for allowing us to use you as our visitors, Josh's parents for playing along and getting us to the airport, and friends that knew for not spilling the beans.


He actually leaves tomorrow, but what a fun week we have had. Lots of reminiscing, laughing, and relaxing. The decision was made that the reunion next year needs to be at Huntington Beach hotel. I guess we better start saving!

Slide Show

I am having too much fun taking pictures of two kids. If I could ever figure out how to get the camera to focus on two subjects it would be great. I need to read the instruction manual.


Anyway, here are a few from today. Sometimes I think Bryce looks like a cabbage patch doll.

Awesome Comb Over

Move over, Trump. There's a new comb over in town.

Confusion

We headed to the mall today. Central to this particular mall is a large elevator. Capacity would be comfortably around 15-20 people, and it has a large glass wall to view the journey and shoppers milling about. Every time we go Kayden needs to ride the elevator, so before we left we hopped on to ride up and down one time.

If you would ever like to see mass confusion, decide to stay on an elevator. No one knew quite what to do.

As the other elevator riders starting filing out, the people outside graciously stood back to let us exit. The door closed. They pushed the button and gave us a confused look. The door opened then closed faster than my explanation could prevail. I watched the door open and close three times.

A few pictures:

Facebook

I have been bugged to sign up. I signed up. Now what? I am not sure I get how this all works. Anyone care to explain?

What is the difference between this and myspace?

From Girls Night Out....

Click to make larger. Take a look at Chelle's blog for full details.

Foam party, anyone?

So You Think You Can Dance was on this evening, and it just got me thinking. I was watching a spandex clad male do ballet. Wait, let me back up.

This morning, I had a older male helping me in the swimsuit department. I dread the task anyway; I have no desire to have a male ask me what size I am. Call me sexist, but it just made me think that some things are better when left to the ladies:

Ice Skating

Pageants

Ballet

Cheerleading, thank you GW.


and finally, having babies. That is just wierd.