Archives for April 2010

Hey, Soul Sister

Not only is this a great pop song, but it’s now officially my daughter Annabel’s “song.” 

Daniel already has a couple “songs.”  He has Daniel by Elton John and he has Daniel (in the Lion’s Den) which we play all the time on our Raffi CD in the car.  The Elton John version comes on the radio all the time and when it does, Daniel likes to yell “Daniel’s song!” and I turn it up so we can all sing along.

Well, there is no song called “Annabel” so we picked Hey, Soul Sister by Train for her because, well, it has SISTER in the title.  Plus, it’s a fun song with a great beat and you can dance to it.  Enjoy.

Sandra Bullock’s Baby Boy

A wonderful, surprising, joyous HAPPY ending.  Congratulations Sandra Bullock.  Story HERE.

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Weekend Fun

It was a super busy Saturday.  There was a Gymboree sports class and a Where the Wild Things Are art class and a pirate themed birthday pool party and a Mommy Group block party in the park.  I wish I had more photos, but here are some snapshots. 

I was lucky to get one photo of Annabel and it is so funny.  Please notice the pink plastic bracelet she is wearing that I bought her at JCPenney just hours before while Daniel was taking those sports and art classes.  She was my shopping buddy and she was an angel.  Daniel never stopped moving the entire day and he fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.  We were all exhausted.  We all had a blast.  We spent Sunday just relaxing and playing around the house.  It was the perfect ending to a fun weekend.

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PS: I really, really want/need an iPhone to improve my photo quality.  (Hmmm…Mother’s Day is coming soon…hmmmm)

I Love a Good Park

I love a good park.  And I don’ t mean a playground.  I mean a serious “Parks and Recreation” PARK.  A park with lots of trees. (I LOVE trees.)  A park with dirt paths and perhaps a creek.  A park with leaves and rocks and sticks to pick up.  I finally found a really cool park  near my house.  We will be going there A LOT. There is much more to explore. 

I just love a good park.

BTW, I would love Leslie Knope’s job.  I really would.

Parenthood

I don’t know why I have not mentioned this earlier, but I ADORE the new TV show Parenthood.  It airs Tuesday nights at 10 PM EST on NBC. It’s loosely based on the hit movie Parenthood and Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are executive producers.   I hope YOU watch it too.  And YOU.  And YOU.  Why?  Because I don’t want it to go away.

I have settled into my warm and comfy place with this show, so now I have to wonder –  is anyone else watching it? 

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There was this show on TNT called Trust Me. It starred Tom Cavanagh (from Ed) and Eric McCormack (from Will and Grace.)  It was about two friends/advertising agency partners in Chicago and it was a GREAT show.  But no one else, besides me and my hubbie, watched it.  Apparently.  Because it was canceled after one season.

Ironically, Monica Potter, who also starred in Trust Me, is now in Parenthood.  And she is terrific.  She’s the most relatable for me and I love her relationship with her husband played by Peter Krause (from Six Feet Under). 

I, of course, have to mention that Lauren Graham is also one of the stars of Parenthood. I knew I was going to love the show after she joined the cast.  She was also the star of Gilmore Girls, which still holds its place as one of my favorite television shows OF ALL TIME.  I even have all the seasons on DVD waiting in my TV cabinet for when Annabel is older and we can sit down and watch them together.  I loved that show so much that I ALMOST named my son Logan because he was Rory’s boyfriend.  Lorelei was also on the long list of names for Annabel. 

But back to Parenthood.  Watch it, won’t you?  It’s a GREAT show and I think it’s the perfect companion to Modern FamilyModern Family is laugh out loud funny. Parenthood is its dramatically sweet counterpart. It features the trials of being a working mom while your stay-at-home husband gets hit on by the hotties in the mommy group.  It shows how frustrating it is to be a single mom back in the dating game.  It has a sweet storyline about raising a child with Asperger’s.  My favorite part is that the family is a true unit as the brothers and sisters are each other’s main confidantes.  Is this true to real life?  I don’t know, but it sure makes for good TV viewing.

Check it out.  You won’t be sorry.

PS: You can also watch past episodes on-line HERE.

A “2” and a “3”

I always wanted two children.  And I knew they would be close in age.  My husband and I were married for five years before we had Daniel. It was the perfect timing for us.  We enjoyed late night dinners, Sunday afternoon movie dates, and tons of LEISURELY activities before our lives were turned upside down, I mean BLESSED, with two amazing kiddies.

YES, we know we are TRULY blessed.

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Annabel was born 17.5 months after Daniel.  So that makes our kids 17.5 months apart.  I usually just say 18 months apart when people ask, because they DO ask.  My kids look like twins sometimes.  They act like twins sometimes.  It’s been an interesting dynamic.

I didn’t really think about the age difference as being that important until the past month or so.  I now believe my kiddies are at their PEAK of CRAZINESS.  And I say that endearingly.  I really do.  They are so much fun and they make me laugh out loud with the things they do, say, and ask on a daily basis.  But, MAN, I have to be honest and say that some days are REALLY HARD.  The worst part is that they switch their Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde roles daily.

We went to Disney on Ice on Saturday afternoon and I was so surprised when Daniel started WHINING and asking to go home.  He’s usually not a whiner. But he was just in that mood.  When we told him we were going to stay and it was going to be SO MUCH FUN, he just wanted a lemonade.  Then, a popcorn.  Then, cotton candy.  Then, MORE lemonade.  Then, he had to go the bathroom.  Then, he wanted to go home…again. 

Annabel, on the other hand, had the most amazing time.  She sat on my lap, completely wide eyed, enjoying the entire experience.  She danced and clapped and waved to Mickey and Minnie and all the Disney Princesses.   

When we got home, Daniel continued to whine about the grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner.  He would not eat it.  Then, he decided he would eat.  But ONLY the soup. Then, he didn’t want a bath.  Then, he cried when he couldn’t watch TV.  It just kept going on and on and on.  Annabel was just fine throughout Daniel’s mood swings but she also tends to ignore Daniel when he acts this way.

Well, today was Annabel’s turn!  She woke up smiling and happy, but after that, I could not do one thing right.  She did not want her banana for breakfast.  No, wait, she does want it!  Then, no, no, she doesn’t.  Then, she wanted more milk.  Then, NO, NO MILK!   Daniel was laughing at her and that was not helping the situation.  Then, after breakfast, she was playing with Lego’s when all of a sudden she just laid down on the floor and started to scream and cry.  I have learned not to approach her when she does this because it just makes everything worse.  OH, YES IT DOES.  After two minutes, she stood up, ran to her bedroom, grabbed a bunch of stuffed animals, threw them on the floor, fell on them, and cried some more.  Daniel was hysterical with laughter. 

I told him that was “not nice” so we went to color at the kitchen table.  Five minutes later, here comes Annabel, running out of her room with a big smile on her face, her curls bouncing while she says, “HI MAMA! HI DANIEL!” with such JOY!  It was adorable.  And weird.  And I really wanted to get off the emotional roller coaster already.

But that’s what it’s like in my world with a 2 year old going through the stereotypical “terrible” stage and a 3 year old who wants to exert his independence and give his opinion.   I read other Mommy Blogs on a daily basis and many Moms say that these “terrible twos” get worse when your child turns THREE.  Well, I have BOTH right now, thank you very much.

 Here’s what Tori Spelling tweeted this morning:

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EXACTLY. It’s SO nice to know I’m not alone in this mind blowing world of parenting.  And that’s why I blog.  And read blogs.  And twitter. And communicate.  Because I want to know I’m not alone.

Especially when I’m dealing with some seriously cute little CRAZIES.

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One of the BEST Pop Songs. Ever.


Easter Eggs ’10

So I’m a little late writing about our Easter celebrations because of this giant blue Easter egg that landed on my kid’s forehead:

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But we’ll get back to that in a minute.

Now that I have a PRESCHOOLER, Easter celebrations start a week early.  Daniel’s assignment was to create a one-of-a-kind Easter bonnet/hat for his school Easter parade.  I, of course, being the awesome Mom that I am, called up GG (Hubbie’s mother) and gave her the assignment right away.  She is very creative when it comes to these type of art projects and she actually LOVES to do them, so WIN-WIN!

GG and Daniel made the coolest Easter top hat EVER and it was the hit of the parade!  (GG also made Annabel an Easter hat too.  And it was pink, of course.)

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Bean then participated in his first ever school Easter Egg Hunt! It was perfect weather and all the kids had a blast.  But what is up with the non traditional eggs?  (Check out Bean’s basket.) I miss the standard, old-school neon colors.  Maybe I’m old fashioned.  Or sentimental.  Probably both.

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I also recently joined our neighborhood “Mommy Group.”  This is my first venture into the world of Mommy Groups. And let me tell you, I was a little nervous about it. But it’s been really wonderful.  One mom organized an Easter Egg Hunt in our neighborhood park the Thursday before Easter.  (This was great because our annual downtown Easter Egg Hunt was canceled this year?!) We all contributed 6 eggs per kid.  The kids played on the playground, had snacks in the park gazebo, and then ran around to find the eggs.  I actually had to borrow snacks and sunscreen.  I guess my OCD organizational skills go to the wayside when I’m worried about meeting a brand new group of people.  I should really relax because we all had the best time. 

Then it was Easter Sunday!  The Easter Bunny brought Daniel and Annabel some books, a toy, and the most important ingredients, a chocolate bunny and jelly beans.  After ALMOST making it through the entire Easter Sunday church service, we were back home trying to stop two kiddies from eating all of their chocolate bunny and jelly beans before our Honey Baked Ham dinner. (Our Easter tradition is to pick up a Honey Baked Ham.  Once a year we do this and OH, it is SO GOOD.)

But before dinner could start, Daniel decided to fall on the kitchen tile.   And when I say fall, I mean he SLAMMED his head on the floor. It was such a loud smack that it was SCARY.  He screamed.  I think I transcended to another place in my brain.  I was so panicked I just kept thanking God my husband was home to be the calm, cool, rational player in all this.  He said that Bean needed to go to the emergency room.  I gathered the shoes and keys and off they went as I watched this huge, disgusting bruise grow before my eyes.  The ER doctor said all his vitals were fine. We passed on the CAT Scan in exchange for watching him closely for 24 hours.  He rallied and came home for dinner and we ended everything on a semi-happier note.

It was definitely an Easter I will never forget.

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You’re Not A Single Lady

WE HAVE ALL BEEN THERE. 

As a parent to two little ones, I am constantly asking myself, “Wait, what just happened here?”  “What did I say wrong?”    This video is the perfect example of how a fun moment can turn ugly because of something completely unintentional.  I love that the sisters are so concerned and Dad’s comment at the end?  CLASSIC.