Archives for April 2011

Today was a Fairytale

April 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I watched the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton with the kiddies.  We ate breakfast in front of the television set. They both were fascinated.  Annabel ran to put on her princess dress.  Daniel loved the car they rode in through the sea of admirers. I felt my heart flutter when they kissed (twice!) on the balcony.  It was magical.  I will be rewinding and watching the event over and over this weekend.  Prince William was so very handsome.  Kate’s dress was gorgeous.  A perfect, fairytale day.


Filed Under: Pop Culture

William and Kate

April 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Tomorrow is the big day!  The royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.  I will be awake and watching the event unfold at 6 AM EST.  I can not wait to see Kate’s wedding dress.  And how cool that my daughter will be watching a real life Cinderella moment.  Truly epic.  I love this just released photo of the happy couple.  The countdown is on…

 

 

Filed Under: Pop Culture

NKOTBSB: Dancing with the Stars Performance

April 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys performed their new single, “Don’t Turn Out The Lights” on Dancing with the Stars last night.  But my favorite moment was when Donnie and Joey from New Kids performed a dance number at the end of “Step by Step.” Check it out below.

Filed Under: Pop Culture

Easter ’11: Part One

April 26, 2011 by 2 Comments

This was Daniel LAST Easter.  (Please note the enormous blue and purple Easter egg bump on his forehead.)

And this was Daniel THIS Easter.

 

Please note the ginormous laceration across his cute forehead.  It’s the annual Daniel Easter curse.  This was the THIRD Easter we took Daniel to the ER.  The first time was when he was 7 months old and we were visiting my parents in Maryland.  It was Easter morning and we were all getting ready for church service.  I was changing Daniel’s diaper on the bed.  I turned around to grab his Easter outfit from the dresser and in that one, two, three seconds, BAM, he rolled off the bed and fell on the floor.  Luckily it was a short twin bed and there was a carpet, but I was a first time Mama. I panicked and so did Hubbie.  I had images of scrambled egg brain in my head.   I told my husband if Daniel ended up with a learning disability I would never forgive myself. That was an extreme reaction, yes, but I could not believe this was happening to ME.  I mean, I was not that Mama who let her kid just roll off a bed onto the floor.  And here I was.

We took Daniel to the ER.  I think one of the scariest moments was when the doctor separated us to get the story of how Daniel hit his head.  It was to rule out child abuse and I found out later that it’s standard procedure.  I was crying pretty hard so Hubbie handled most of the questions and the examination.  They felt Daniel’s head and checked his eyes and all the other vitals.  He was fine.  He was just a tired little baby that wanted to take a nap.  We felt justified taking him to the ER because we had to board a plane back to Florida that afternoon and what if he passed out while were were miles in the air?  I held him in my arms the entire flight.  He slept with a smile on his face.  I fought back tears the entire 2 and 1/2 hours.  It traumatized me for about a month.

I guess we were in the clear in 2008 and 2009.  Then it happened again in 2010.  Daniel was running around and fell on our hard kitchen tile.  I don’t think he put his hands out because there was just a slip and a fall and a cry and it was so fast.  When we ran to him I just saw the giant blue bump form before my eyes.  I had never seen something like that in my life.  We grabbed ice and asked him a million questions to ensure he knew who he was and where he was.  Hubbie took him right to the ER. The doctors checked him out and said he was fine and he came home in time for Easter dinner.  But then I had to stare at that yucky bump for over a week.

Last Friday was Good Friday and Daniel had off from school.  He was invited to a play date at a friend’s house.  I dropped Annabel off at her GG’s so I could have some girl chat with the ladies. We took a quick tour of the beautiful home and then the three boys went to play.  The moms camped out with drinks in the living room.  The boys moved from the living room to the bedroom playing with all the cool toys.  There were stairs.  Daniel refused to take off his Crocs.  I always insist “no shoes in the house” but the nice Mom said it was OKAY.  LET HIM BE.  HE’S HAVING FUN.  LET HIM BE.  Sometimes I don’t trust my gut.

I don’t know if the Crocs were to blame, but on the way down the stairs for the third time that morning Daniel missed the last step.  I didn’t see this, but that is what he told me.  I heard someone fall on the hard tile and then I heard Daniel’s cry.  I felt like I was moving in slow motion and then I saw it. Blood.  All over his face.  His hands.  Down the front of his shirt.  My heart fell to my stomach.  We thought he broke his nose.  But after wiping him down with wet paper towels and baby wipes we found out it was a big cut on his forehead.  We took him to the ER.  AGAIN.  I know this wasn’t exactly EASTER, but close enough for me.  I could not believe it was happening AGAIN.

Hubbie met us there and I did the hand off.  He’s better than me with this stuff.  He’s calmer.  I really was proud of myself though. I was pretty calm.  I was urgent, but I was calm too.  The ER doctor put Daniel’s forehead back together with skin glue.  It’s pretty amazing stuff.  Daniel was ready to leave the moment we got there.  He kept saying, “I’m FINE.”  He’s a brave kid.  And he has a very high tolerance for pain. He just wanted to go home.  He said it didn’t hurt.  Well, I sure felt a little broken inside.

Easter Sunday was actually really nice and drama free.  I’ll post photos and notes tomorrow.  Unfortunately, yesterday, Daniel had an allergic reaction to that glue adhesive.  The cut became puffy and red so last night at 8 PM we went back to the ER.  The same doctor took off the glue and replaced it with four steri strips across his forehead.   The doctor said he was healing well.  Now we just have to watch for the scar.

SO, Easter 2012?  I’m considering a three day movie fest.  On the couch.  All day long.  No one moves.  No one gets hurt.  I’m breaking this curse, darn it.

Filed Under: Celebrations

Bye Stefano

April 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Well, the first of my four favorite American Idol contestants has left the building.  Cutie Stefano Langone is, um, gone.  And he just had an amazing Wednesday performance of Ne-Yo’s “Closer.” What a bummer.  I hope he gets a record deal because he was the one contestant I could definitely hear on Top 40 radio.

Filed Under: Pop Culture

Parenthood on NBC

April 20, 2011 by 1 Comment

I’ve already written about my love for the NBC show Parenthood. My favorite “Gilmore Girl,” Lauren Graham, plays the complicated Sarah. She’s great in this role but I really do fall in love with a different character each week.  This week’s episode showcased the awesome Mae Whitman who plays Sarah’s rebellious daughter Amber.  All the kids on the show are amazingly talented.  Here’s a touching scene featuring Amber and her Grandpa (the also awesome Craig T. Nelson) after Amber survived a car accident.  Can you tell I really LOVE this show?

Please watch it so it doesn’t go away.  Tuesday nights at 10 PM EST on NBC. (You can also watch full episodes on-line.)

 

Filed Under: Pop Culture

Fire

April 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment

It was 2:00 AM and we woke up to this.

There was a brush fire in the preserve area behind our house.   This is one of the driest years that Florida has seen in a long time. Last night it was really windy too.  The flames reached 30 feet high and came within 6 feet of our neighbor’s back patio. We are blessed the wind did not blow the fire in the direction of our wooden play set and, of course, the back of our house.

Our neighbor’s dog, Abigail, was barking up a storm at 2:00 AM.  So our dog, Steve, decided to bark back.  I was completely annoyed. Steve finally calmed down and then we heard a large truck drive down the street.  It sounded like a giant moving van and I could not believe the bad luck we were having.  I desperately wanted to go back to sleep!  Hubbie and I looked out our bedroom window and saw two firetrucks in front of our house.  That still did not make me think “fire.” Weird, I know, but they were quiet.  No sirens.  No firemen running in panic.  They just started calmly taking out their hoses and walking to the back of our houses.

Hubbie went to look outside and that’s when I heard him say  “OMG! FIRE!” We panicked and ran to grab the kids.  They were so confused.  We waited by the front of the house while Hubbie ran out again to find a fireman.  The fireman said we didn’t need to come outside and that they had it under control.  So we watched from the safety of our living room while the fire grew smaller and smaller and finally turned into smoke.  It took about an hour.  And then another hour to get everyone back to bed.

We were exhausted in the morning.  We heard that it could have been started by a cigarette butt or even an ember from a charcoal grill.  Thank goodness we have a gas grill.  Our backyard looks fine and the preserve area between our houses actually looks nice now that it’s been cleared out.  It was just a lot of tall trees and brush.  That’s the positive.  The negative is that it smells a little smokey and I’ll probably worry about it happening again.  But there’s awareness now and we need it to rain!

I must thank our trusty neighbor, Abigail.  She LOVES to bark and this time it was a GOOD thing.

Also, Bean is obsessed with firemen now. That’s also a good thing.

Filed Under: Mommy Life

Diddy-Dirty Money: “Coming Home”

April 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I can’t get this song out of my head.  I caught myself singing it during My Gym with Annabel today. It’s not that embarrassing because everyone knows this song.  It’s EVERYWHERE.

I thought Diddy (P. Diddy, Puff Daddy, Puffy, and what’s Dirty Money anyway?) couldn’t top his enormous smash hit “I’ll Be Missing You.” Well, he just did.  “I’m coming home. I’m coming home. Tell the world I’m coming home.”

 

Filed Under: Pop Culture

Extreme Everything

April 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I was watching TLC’s Extreme Couponing last week and it gave me anxiety.  These shoppers have mastered the art of coupon clipping, but they have taken it to a whole new level of crazy. It was frightening to watch them fill cart after cart (some of them had 9 carts!) with hot dogs, peanuts, power bars, sports drinks, and other really random stuff (calcium pills?)  Sure, they would save over 90% with their coupons, but they were bringing home so much junk.  40 bottles of mustard?  120 candy bars? They would then stockpile the items in their garage, under their kids’ bed(!), or in their master bedroom(!), and then go out and do it all again later in the week.  Why do you need to stockpile 3 years worth of  pasta, toilet paper, and hair conditioner?  That’s EXTREME.  (And I didn’t even mention the Mom who went dumpster diving for coupons with her kid.)

I really thought I would watch the show and be inspired to start clipping coupons from my Sunday circular again (I used to be good at it, but have slacked because of the time commitment and energy it took) or maybe visit one of the myriad of websites dedicated to coupon deals, but NO.  The show was so over the top and overwhelming that it made me want to avoid coupons at all cost.  (No pun intended.) It really was EXTREME.  (OK, I signed up for Groupon, but that’s it.)

It’s very popular now to have these extreme reality shows on television.  Extreme Couponing is a lot like Hoarders. (Some of my Facebook friends referred to Extreme Couponing as Food Hoarders.) I wrote about Hoarders two years ago when it first premiered and it is fascinating. These people are EXTREME.  Every room in their house is stuffed from floor to ceiling with piles of crap.  They can not find their bed under the layers of unopened shopping bags and discarded food.  Yes, food.  Some of the people had serious mold issues and one lady finally “found” her cat.  I thought the show would make me want to reorganize all my closets, but it was just horrifying and sad.

Also, can I find one reality family show that features a mom, a dad, and their 2 kids??  No.  They either have 6 kids or 8 kids or 19 kids and then there’s the polygamist with 4 wives.  I guess my family of four is just not interesting enough.  It’s not EXTREME.

The Granddaddy of all extreme shows was Extreme Makeover.  Contestants would come on the show to change their entire face with plastic surgery so they could be happy.  What’s wrong with that?  I mean, it’s all about the outside not the inside, right? Ugh. That show morphed into Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which is so much better.  This show has a sweet premise. Families who have personal tragedy write in and the team comes to build them a brand new home. They tear down the small dilapidated house you once lived in and give you a gigantic mansion filled with top of the line appliances, electronics, and dreamlike bedrooms.  I always wonder what their poor neighbors think.  This show lives for that before-after WOW moment when the home is finally revealed.  It’s so over the top and EXTREME.

I still love reality shows.  I watch them all the time.  I always check out the brand new ones and give them at least a one episode try. Even these “extreme” ones. I wonder when they’ll do a show about me?  How about Extreme Reality TV Show Watchers? (Although, I only have 2 television sets and I do LEAVE my house from time to time, so I guess I wouldn’t be EXTREME enough.  Oh, well.)

Filed Under: Pop Culture

Life’s a Beach

April 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

or..not.

I’ve been telling Annabel lately that “you are lucky you are so cute.”  Which is true on two levels.  One, she is very, very cute and two, she is driving me CRAZY with this “3” stuff.

That’s the excuse I will use for her erratic behavior.  She’s THREE.  That’s my hubbie’s diagnosis whenever I ask him, “What is going on with her?  Do you think she’s just overtired because she’s not napping that much?  Do you think I’m stressing her out with the potty training by asking her if she has to poop every 5 minutes?  Why does she whine so much?”

“She’s THREE.”

Right.  AND she’s potty training.

I don’t like to talk about potty training that much because I feel like I’m going to jinx everything and I also don’t like talking about that STUFF in general.  I love being a Mom with all my heart, but the poop and pee stuff is something I will never get used to. Never. And it changes from cute little baby butts to big toddler butts before you know it and..

Ahhhh!  I just don’t want to talk about it.

What I WILL say is that I had a plan with Daniel and it was awesome.  We waited until he was ready.  I read all about potty training in my favorite toddler bible.  We set him up with all the tools and all the information and when he was ready, that was it. No more diapers.  No pull ups.  Only underwear.  He was a potty star.  I set up Annabel for potty training the very same way and it’s just taking a longer time.  She’s also my second kid and she’s my princess diva daughter, so I let her wear pull ups instead of underwear because that’s what she wants.  And, let me be honest, I don’t have the time anymore (like I did with Daniel) to just sit around the house and let her potty train at her own leisure.  We now have school drop offs and soccer games and places to go and..

Yikes.  I’m still talking about it.

The other night, about three hours after she went to bed, she woke up SCREAMING. When I ran to the room she looked at me like she had no clue who I was.  She was sweating and screaming and pushing me away and kicking me and I could not comfort her at all.  I asked her if she had to go potty and she just covered her ears.  She finally calmed down and I left her room to Google “what the hell just happened with my kid because her head almost started to spin” and it turns out she had a night terror.  And if you keep Googling you find that night terrors are often associated with the stress from potty training.

Great.

So I’ve shut up about it and it turns out, everything is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE.  It’s my new favorite saying because it really is so simple yet so darn TRUE. Everything IS fine.  Annabel is healthy.  She eats.  She sleeps.  She runs.  She plays.  She’s smart and funny.  She has her pink princess room which makes her happy.  She has a loving family and awesome friends.  Everything is fine.  And there is NO reason to worry or stress her out because she will PEE AND POOP ON THE POTTY WHEN SHE’S READY!

Oh, sorry, did it again.

 

Filed Under: Mommy Life
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