He tried!

Liam begged and begged to stay up for the UK game last night. Here he was with about 8 minutes left in the game (aka 10:30).

Curly Man

The warmer weather is really bringing out Grady's curls!!

Genetically nerdy

Liam to Mark: Dad, do you want to come to my school this week and read a story to my class at circle time? And maybe do a little math?

Oatmeal of the day

Toward the middle of each month, I get cheap and decide to see how long I can go before I need to go grocery shopping. Obviously I always have to get milk and bananas, seeing as how we eat 12-16 bananas A WEEK around here, but that is usually just a quick mid-week trip to Whole Foods. For anything else, I dig into the freezer or pantry and see what I can come up with.

We eat a lot of oatmeal for this reason. Long ago I published my recipe for baked oatmeal, which is so easy and awesome that I'll do it again. And I've since learned of some fun substitutions to keep it new and fresh and therefore avoid having it thrown at my head with Liam yelling, Oatmeal? Again??

Regular Recipe

Dry: 2 cups oats, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 cup brown sugar
Wet: 1 cup milk, 1 beaten egg, 2 tbsp. oil, 1/2 cup applesauce

Mix each separately, then together. Add raisins or another fruit. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Easy peasy.

Ways I shake it up...use mashed banana instead of applesauce. Oh my, they love that, especially with blueberries. Use any fruit, really. Today I added some almond extract to my wet mix and threw in frozen raspberries at the end. I plan to garnish with sliced almonds.

The possibilities? Endless.

Zoo trip

It was crisp and clear on Monday of this week, so we headed to the zoo. It was awesome because we were some of the only people there, therefore the animals were excited to see us. Here is Grady making friends with a gorilla. Also pictured is Allie, Liam's best bud from preschool.

, Mom

Grady has taken to calling me "Mom" rather than "Mommy". This is likely because Liam has made the shift. But when G is tired, he can't help but saying Mom over and over. He attaches it to every single sentence. Example from this evening:

Grady, can you go pick out your book for bedtime?

No, mom, I can't, mom.

Why not?

I have to wash my hands, mom. After I brush my teeth, mom.

You don't need to wash your hands.

Yes I do, mom. I won't waste water, mom. I'll be nice to the fishies, mom.


Sometimes, if he's excited rather than tired, he'll revert to Mommy, but just in the beginning of the sentence with a bit of a stutter. Mo..mm..mmm..mom...mommy, I want to wash my hands, mom. (He loves washing his hands...have I mentioned that?).

Hang Out Thursdays

Things seem to have gotten more hectic around here. Most days we're out the door by 8:30 (which I realize sounds ridiculous to those of you that go to work every day) and it seems like we just go until bedtime. A new membership to the Y has added to this, as I've been trying to get in a couple workouts a week while the boys play in the kid's area there.

Last week by Thursday I was tired out. I was packing my bag to head to the Y and Grady was crying, "I don't want to go to the YMCA!", Liam's eyes were "watering" (his new excuse when he's tearing up), and I was feeling bad. So I decided that we would just hang out together for the day, take it easy, watch too much TV and bake something. We also took a nap. It was a lovely day.

This week we went to the Y on Tuesday and Liam was determined that he tell the ladies at the kid's area why we hadn't been there last week. In his cute little voice he strides up confidently to Ms. Pam, the manager on duty, and says, "We didn't come on Thursday because it was a hang out day. Mom, are we hanging out again this Thursday?" His eyes were big and a little "watery", so I said that I would think about it.

And then this morning I was beat again, so I decided to have another hang out day. We baked muffins for Liam's snack tomorrow at school, snuggled on the couch and watched Disney Junior, and as I write this, the kids are still napping after 2.5 hours! I even got a 2 hour nap myself! Clearly we need hang out Thursdays.

I think they might become my favorite day of the week.

I wonder...

If I were to follow up on the email I got about obtaining a Russian bride, would she do all the laundry??

among other things

I haven't smoked a cigarette in almost two months, since my birthday extravaganza where I was with my gals...when I can't resist a cigarette. Before that it was numerous months. I used to be a regular ol' chimney, before I had the kids. I'll admit, after Liam I went back to smoking a few cigs a day, but after G, I never found my love for it again. And there's a part of me that's obviously glad about that (my lungs) but another part that's not (my ass). You see, since Grady came into the world, I've had a host of situations that have caused me to gain weight. Some of which can be attributed to my inability to stick to any diet I have tried, but some of which can be blamed on the following:
1) no more smoking . Smoking is bad, it's not glamourous, but it does help you stay thinner.
2) medication. Grady's arrival into this world was a blessing, but it also came with a whole host of issues, including postpartum anxiety and depression, both of which I am still being treated for. I know, he's over 2, but it's still here and I am working on it.
3) I am old. The mid-30's have made a considerable dent in my metabolism, and I'm still reeling from the after-effects.

Is it wrong of me to think that if I just started smoking cigarettes, drinking keg beer and eating cheese fries on a regular basis that I could get back into the jeans I wore in my mid-twenties? I wonder. I really do.

Quiet Mornings

One of my favorite things about my new dog walking career is when I return home to a quiet house. Mark leaves shortly after I get home, and then I have 45 to 60 minutes to just be before the hustle and bustle of the day begins. Having this time makes me feel so much more together, even if I don't do anything productive. But most days, I'm able to fold a load of laundry, unload the dishwasher, or something that makes me feel like I'm on my game. Yesterday I made blueberry muffins. On a weekday! Sure, they were from a mix but I added real blueberries. Grady was stunned when I told him we were having muffins. He literally jumped up and down in his crib and said "blueberry muffins for breakfast! Blueberry muffins! With butter and jam??" Doesn't take much to please that kid.

Another item for my resume

Dog Walker. It would fall under the volunteer or community service section rather than employment, but it is a new gig for me. No, we didn't get a dog, although jealousy over my new nephew Bowser led me to think about getting one for about 10 seconds.

Here's the thing. I don't get much time to myself, so I was trying to figure out a way that I could get a walk into my day before Mark leaves for school...at 6:20. Since it's dark, I don't necessarily feel safe walking by myself. Enter a pooch. But I only want to walk the dog in the morning, not take care of it and deal with it's hair all over my house (or it's slobber. I despise dog slobber). So, enter Lucy, my good pals and neighbors' dog. She's high energy and loves walking, and her parents just can't walk her enough. For instance, I walked her Sunday after she had completed a 7 mile run with her mommy and you would have thought she's been sitting on her butt on the couch all day. She's awesome.

And she's my new walking buddy. We spend a half an hour each morning together, and I'm loving it. So far I haven't even had to pick up any poop! It's similar to how Lucy's parents feel about Liam and Grady...they like spending time with them, but love giving them back.

Awww...

Mark got me some of my favorite flowers today, Gerbera daisies. They are so pretty and looked even better before I put them in a vase! :) There are nine flowers, one for each Valentine's Day we've spent together. Hard to believe!

Workshop

I led a Restorative Yoga workshop this afternoon and it was a blast! There were 21 people at the studio I teach at, and it was literally wall to wall mats. I think everyone felt "restored" when it was through. I really enjoy teaching all types of yoga, but Restorative is one of my favorites. People are always so happy when you can help them relax and relieve tension. A great way for a roomful of people to begin their Valentine's week!

No bird

I have failed at keeping everyone abreast (no pun intended) of the bird situation in the house. Apparently it's been driving my readers (all two of them) crazy not knowing the outcome. We determined that the bird was likely coming in through the chimney, which is really weird because there is very little space to enter, but we think that is what happened. Mark shoved a towel in the crack that might be an entry way, and we haven't seen the bird again.

Although there have been a lot of look alikes in the front yard, so I don't know why our house is suddenly the hot spot for birds (Mark looked up the name of the bird online, but it's escaping me right now, and he's asleep on the living room floor because I was practicing my restorative yoga postures with him...so I can't ask). I'm wondering if we did something to piss off a neighbor and they've decided to sprinkle bird seed all over the yard. Hmm...

The bird is back

Seriously. The bird came back today. I'm assuming it's the same bird, it looked exactly the same. I ran around the house for a half an hour trying to catch it in the soup pot but then finally opened a bunch of windows and took the screen out, and he flew right out.

Liam thinks he likes it here and we should just keep him.

Why and how is a bird getting into our house????

Bye Bye Birdie

Tonight we came home after picking Mark up from school and I headed upstairs to grab something out of the office. I noticed at the landing that the nightlight that is usually sitting on the window sill had been knocked on the ground. Then I heard a strange noise coming from the office. Olivia, our cat, was sitting on the floor in the office gazing longingly at the window, where there was a bird trapped behind our curtains.

I wish I would have taped the hilarity that ensued as Mark and I attempted to round up the bird. It flew from room to room as we tried to snare it with a blanket. Then we thought better of ourselves and went to a large soup pot. We finally caught it and were able to release it outside.

It was actually a pretty funny situation. But it certainly begs the question...how the f+$k did a bird get in the house?

New Friend

This is Bowie. His mommy is a friend of mine and she is going back to work part-time, so he's going to hang with us on Mondays.

He's 11 months, and I have already forgotten what it means to have a crawler in the house! I turn my back for just a second and he's off, making a mad dash for the stairs. But he sure is a cutie!

A baby

was born this morning at 4:03, and I was lucky enough to see it. I still cry every single time. Such a powerful and amazing experience!

Achy

Poor Liam woke up around 10 this evening in a sleepy stupor, crying and moaning. It took almost an hour of me laying with him to realize that he has an ear infection. Doubling up on Tylenol and Motrin, a strawberry popsicle, and an episode of Cupcake Wars with some cuddling made it all better (it was obviously the pain relievers, but he thinks it's the popsicle), at least for a few hours.

He is, of course, destroyed that he has to go to the doctor tomorrow instead of school.

And now I am surfing the web and enjoying a (very large) glass of Chardonnay to get over the trauma of a sick and whiny child. For the fifth day in a row.

If we get the stomach flu, I think I might have to leave town.

Little Drummer Boy

For those of you have heard about (or if you are our neighbors, just plain heard) the drums Liam got for Christmas...here he is in full drumming glory.