First Concert: The Fresh Beat Band Live!

Here we go!  Sometimes I think I love Nickelodeon’s The Fresh Beat Band more than my two kiddies.  The songs are so darn catchy!  They are always smiling!  (How do they smile like that?)  I was very excited when I found out the foursome would be heading out on their very first national concert tour this year.  It would be Daniel’s and Annabel’s very first concert!

Our stop on the Fresh Beat Band Live in Concert! tour was yesterday at the historic Florida Theatre in downtown Jacksonville.  It was at the hardcore party time of 4:00 PM in the afternoon.  We decided in the car that Annabel would like Kiki.  Daniel would like Twist.  I would like Shout. (He’s my fav so..YAY) and Daddy would like Marina.  (Although Daddy likes Kiki a lot too.)

Before we sat down in our orchestra seats, Annabel picked out a purple concert T-shirt and both kids got the mandatory blinkie light stick thingie.

Then it was time for the show to begin!  The kiddies danced and sang along to all their favorite songs.  Twist even came THISCLOSE to us when he grooved down the aisle.

Of course it all ended with my favorite song.  I couldn’t hold back my excitement.  (Yep.  That’s me screaming in the background.) It was a super fun concert.  And an even greater memory.  Thanks, Fresh Beats!

Daniel Loses His First Baby Tooth

Now wait a minute, Easter 2012.  We have an update.  Daniel just lost his very first baby tooth!  He’s a little bit sad, but very excited to use his new tooth fairy pillow.  Go, Bean!  (Oh my.  I just noticed the baby picture in the background.  My heart.)

 

Four

Annabel turned four on February 15th and it’s been a whirlwind of fun.

First, she had her birthday party at home with her family. Then, this past Saturday, we had a pony farm celebration with all her friends. (More about the pony party tomorrow.)

This was a big year for my little girl.  She started preschool in the fall.  She is my social butterfly, but she is also very stubborn. Some mornings are met with an “I don’t want to go to school” attitude.  But as soon as she sees her classroom down the hall, she can’t stop herself from skipping all the way to her seat.  She knows her letters and numbers and has started writing her name.  She made some new friends and talks about them constantly.  While it felt like pulling teeth to get any school information out of her brother, Annabel jumps into my car and starts chatting about her day.  She loves to play with the boys on the playground.  She loves to color.  She loves books. But her passion is music.

She is constantly singing.  She sings songs (her favorites are “Party Rock Anthem” and “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer”), but she also sings stories.  I am amazed how she goes on and on with these awesome lyrics.  They always involve love and happiness and she always says, “I just made that up, Mama.”  When she’s playing alone with her room (instead of napping), all I hear is singing.

She is a sweetheart who loves to be in control and when she can’t, OH BOY, watch out. She is very headstrong.  It’s a bit tough to deal with at times, but I know she will always speak her mind.  She talks like a big kid and her favorite word right now is “actually.”  It’s hilarious.  She doesn’t always love to share.  It’s like the concept doesn’t make a lot of sense to her.  This is MY thing.  I’M playing with it. (Duh.) It makes me giggle because even her grumpy face is still so very cute.

Her face looks like a doll.  She is forever my tiny baby girl.  But she has grown so much this year. Her legs are long and lean.  She is the tallest girl in her class.  Her curly hair is growing and growing and I can’t even think about taking her to a hair salon to cut one single strand.  She hates when I have to brush it and detangle it every morning, but it’s her signature.  She is Annabel with the long, curly hair.

She still loves princesses and dress-up, but she also loves to play outside with her brother and all his friends.  She just got her first scooter so she can ride with the big kids.  She is very comfortable with the older crew and she will always speak her mind.  She is a tough girly-girl.  She is still passionate about pink.  She loves to make believe with all her dolls in her dollhouse.  She loves animals.  She wants to be an animal doctor when she grows up.

She is my little buddy.  We had our first pedicure together this year.  She loves to go with me for Starbucks treats.  She will help me clean the house. (Yay!)  But she’s becoming Daddy’s little girl more and more.  She can’t wait for him to come home so she can tell him all about school or just sit on his lap.

She can be shy and sweet, but also outgoing and demanding.  She is just a little mix of everything.  She’s a complicated little girl and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Happy Fourth Birthday, Annabel Marie.  I love you.

 

Bye Training Wheels

We took the training wheels off Daniel’s bike this past weekend.

And, of course, captured the moment he rode on two wheels for the very first time.

“Look, Mama.  No hands!”  Well, that was my husband.  You go, Bean.

A 2011 Recap

In 2011…

I hit a major milestone.

So did my son.

And my daughter.

And my marriage.

And our country.

We lost a loved one.

And had the (not so) tough conversation.

We lost a pioneer.

We were back in the ER.

We had a fire in our backyard.

I watched a real life fairytale.

We went to Disney.

We went to the grand opening of LEGOLAND.

I went to my first Jags game.

Daniel started playing two new sports.

Annabel started dance class and got her first bike.

I had my heart broken by a woman.

Then, I fell in love with another one.

I met a Real Housewife.

I met Greg Brady.

I met Taylor Swift.

I spent the night with some New Kids.

Daniel went to his first movie.

I added another movie to my all-time-favorites list.

And another.

We decided not to travel and spent Thanksgiving at home.

We spent Christmas at home too.  And went on some fun holiday adventures.  Daniel even ice skated for the very first time.

And we rang in the new year with some great friends.

It was a year of major milestones and family moments.  I’m excited (nervous? curious?) what 2012 will bring.

 

Collide

When I had my children 18 months apart, I knew there would be days (weeks, months!) that would be tough. It’s inevitable when you have two little ones so close in age.  The first months were difficult because I had a brand new walker and a newborn.  Then, there was an awesome period when Daniel was 3 and Annabel was 2. They could finally play together and it felt like I had twins.  It still feels like that sometimes.

But now I’m going through another difficult period.  Daniel has reentered his school worry stage.  And Annabel has started an “I don’t like school anymore” phase.  And let me tell you…Whoa.  Just WHOA.  This morning was an example of the worst of it.

I put Daniel in ASC (After School Care) two days a week on the recommendation of his teacher.  Because Daniel is repeating his Pre- Kindergarten year, he is now one of the older children in his class.  There are a handful of 5-year-olds (like Daniel) and the rest are 4-year-olds.  The teacher is wonderful and has managed to teach to the different skill levels and needs of the kids.  Daniel is starting early reading while other children are in learning centers.   She works with him on his speech which is improving dramatically.  He is doing awesome. She also said we should start extending his day at least a couple times a week so he can start getting used to the longer hours when he starts Kindergarten in the fall.  Also, it would be great for him socially and I know he needs to continue to work that “muscle.”

Well, Daniel does not like change.  He’s very sensitive, like his Mama, and he gets a little nervous.  But he’s been doing the ASC for two weeks now and I thought it was finally just a part of  his new school routine.  No.  I basically have to prepare myself for a torturous morning of  anxiety each day he has ASC.  He over thinks it. He tries to be brave but his sad face makes me feel horrible, like I’m sending him off to some mean place. And it’s just a few extra hours of playtime and eating lunch with his friends.

Annabel might be feeding off Daniel, but she has begun her “I don’t like school anymore” phase.  After I drop Daniel off at his school, we have a 45 minute wait before Annabel goes to her preschool.  It used to be fine. We would pack her lunchbox and backpack, go for a walk, read some books, and then off we went.  She would smile and run into class.  She loved school. But the last two times have been a horrible watching-the-clock wait while she complains and whines about how much she doesn’t want to go. This morning I had to drop her off kicking and screaming.  It was awful. I know it’s another “phase,” but I wonder if something happened.  She won’t give me answers and her lovely teacher says she is a joy.  But the same thing happened with her dance class.  She no longer goes to dance because after three weeks of sitting and crying on the sidelines, it just wasn’t worth it.  I’m not going to force her to do a 30 minute dance class that she is supposed to love!  I was super disappointed because she was my little ballerina girl.  But I’ve moved on.  I didn’t want to make a big deal about it because she’s allowed to change her mind.  She’s allowed to CHANGE.  But she was always my “easy” one.  She was the one who ran in and didn’t look back.  Well, the universe is laughing at me now. Big time.

I’m emotionally exhausted. It’s just hard that these two challenging milestone moments are happening at the exact same time.  You’d think they planned it. Hmmm…anything’s possible with these two.

 

Roar!

I went to my very first Jacksonville Jaguars football game yesterday.  I’ve been in Jacksonville for five years now, so it was about time. Our awesome friends had extra tickets, GG was free to babysit, so away we went!  I was equally thrilled to watch football as I was to get some grownup play time!

That’s me and Touchdown, our Jacksonville Jaguar mascot.  He was in front of the entrance to the “Touchdown Club.”  Oh, I didn’t mention that our friends super spoiled us with club seats?  They rock.

I had to take a look at our seats before we grabbed some lunch.  It was thrilling to walk into the stadium.  It’s the same excitement I get when a concert is about to start.

We had lunch and Hubbie and I bought some cool hats.  It looked like it was going to rain or be really hot. That’s Florida.  So we had to be prepared with some head coverage.  I love my pink hat.

Special thanks to my girlfriend for letting me borrow her turquoise necklace.  We wore white because the game was declared a “white out.”  But a lot of fans still wore game jerseys and other “interesting” outfits.  I tried to get a photo of the dude wearing a full-on jaguar body suit, but I missed my chance.   But here’s a guy with a funny hat:

After a couple of beers, and a rum and coke, I even forgot we were losing!

But we lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, 30-20.

I really wasn’t that sad.  We had such a great time.  So great that Hubbie and I were calculating how we could buy season tickets next year, and bring the kids to all the games!  And even get the seats in the club section! Um, maybe we’ll just keep schmoozing our friends.  Thanks again, guys!!

PS: I didn’t include the photos of all the food I ate or the shots Hubbie took of the cheerleaders.  For obvious reasons.

10 Years

Ten years ago today I married my best friend.  We were married in the beautiful courtyard of a historic inn in Charleston, South Carolina.  We were just dating when we first visited Charleston together and I fell in love with the city in two seconds.  Just like I fell in love with my husband.

Yes, it’s true.  It was love at first sight.  The one you always dream about. The kind in fairy tales.  We worked together so it started out as a secret romance which really made it fun.  He was, and still is, my soul mate.

We were married four days after 9/11.  It’s defining because it slammed everything into perspective.  It didn’t matter if my hair wasn’t perfect.  It didn’t matter if it was too hot outside.  It mattered that all my friends and family made it to our wedding.  It mattered that I stood in front of all these people and committed myself to the love of my life.

And we had the perfect destination wedding with 30 of our closest friends and family members. Everyone was just so excited to be there to celebrate something happy. It’s weird because I thought there would be this dark cloud overshadowing our special day.  But it didn’t feel like that at all.  The love in the room was just elevated. Our only gift request was that everyone stand up and give us a wedding toast and everyone’s words left us speechless.  It was awesome.  We had an informal reception in the dining hall of Magnolias restaurant where I danced with my Dad and cut the cake.  We all ended up at a small local bar for drinks. At the end of the night, Hubbie and I walked back to the Inn hand in hand while everyone yelled “Congrats!” along the way.  I was floating on air.

But there are two key memories I will never forget about that weekend.  Memories that I don’t think I’ve even shared with my husband. The first was watching the 9/11 footage together the day we arrived.  We planned to fly, but had to drive because everything was canceled.  We sat at the end of our poster bed, almost in shock, as we watched the rescue workers still trying to find survivors in all the rubble.  It was heartbreaking.  Then a young man was interviewed about his fiance.  She was missing and he had hope.  He said he would not give up hope that he could still find her.  She worked on the top floor of one of the towers, but, he said, she was a survivor.  He planned to stay there at the sight with his friends and family and he would shovel the rocks and metal until he found her.  We both sat and cried.  My husband, who never cries, was right there with me.  We both could not imagine losing each other.

The second memory happened the morning of our wedding.  We were staying together in the same room and planned to separate before the ceremony.  I don’t know if it was nerves, or the southern food from our welcome dinner the night before, but my stomach was killing me.  I had trouble sleeping.  I felt horrible tossing and turning in the bed all night and waking up Hubbie at 6:00 AM to complain about my tummy.  He didn’t even hesitate one second as he threw on clothes and shoes and headed out to find me some antacid. It was still dark outside.  He came back 45 minutes later because the only thing open was a grocery store about 20 blocks away.  He gave me a bag of medicine and the only thing he said was how the grocery store was so awesome because it was located in an old railroad station.

He never said one word about losing sleep, not knowing where he was going, nothing.  He was, and still is, the most positive person I know.  This is a huge blessing for me because I tend to overstress and look at the negative side of a situation.  He will prop me back up and show me the other side.

We are partners in life and 10 years later you still make me laugh out loud, Baby.  You are the smartest person I know.  The sexiest thing ever is to watch you read to our two babies.  You are an amazing father. You lift me up when I’m down and you always have my back.  Please know I will always have your back too. I’m excited to continue this life journey with you as we drink red wine and sing the soundtrack to Les Miserables along the way.

Happy Anniversary, Baby.  I lovey you.  Forever.

Annabel’s First Day of School ’11

What happened to my BAAAYBEEE?

This is Annabel heading out to meet her preschool teacher for the first time last Friday.  We had a 10 minute meet-and-greet orientation. Annabel met her teacher as well as all the cool classroom toys.  Then, we left.  Today, we went back.  It was her very first day of school.  Her very FIRST day.

Did I mention that it was her very first day of school?  Like, EVER?  You would not have guessed it.  She was so confident.  She was actually quite giddy.  First, she said goodbye to her big brother.

Then, we got everything together.  Her lunchbox, her backpack, the play-doh we were donating, and the teacher gifts.  (We bought them pink tervis tumblers.)

Her cute backpack is the “chocolate butterfly” version from PBKids.  Annabel picked it out in April and it’s been sitting on a side table for over four months.  She finally got to use it today.  She was VERY excited.  She wore her blue school T-shirt (required), with a jean skirt from Target (I couldn’t resist the white trim), and her brand new sparkly white sneakers from the Stride-Rite outlet. She picked them out all by herself.

We left early and arrived at her preschool SUPER early SO…more photos!

Oh why, yes, that IS a bruise on her beautiful forehead.  It wouldn’t be my kid if there wasn’t some type of head bump present in a major milestone/holiday photograph.

And there she goes.

She hung up her backpack.  She handed in her play-doh.  She gave her teachers the gift bags.  She was wide-eyed and ready to go.

Before I left I said, “Give me a big hug!”  She did.  And then she said, “And a kiss too, Mama.”  I kissed my baby girl and walked out the door.  I stopped and looked back.  She didn’t.

I walked away thinking about how my little BFF was out in the world without me for the first time.  I was only 20 feet away, but I already missed her terribly.

I swear I didn’t cry until I got to my car.

PopKids Report

When I started PopMommy in 2009, I really hoped that I would stick with it. The goal was to write about my life and my kids’ lives and all the crazy pop culture stuff that I love.  It would be my on-line diary.  My memory book.

I did it.  It was hard.  There were days when I could not think of anything to say.  Or I was tired.  There are still days like that, but I’m in it for the long haul.  I thank you for reading and commenting.

My passion for my kids and my love of pop culture has now lead me to the birth of my brand new baby, PopKids Report.  (No more real babies for me.  This new website will keep me plenty busy, thank you very much.)

PopKids Report dishes up all the breaking news on kids movies, DVDs, television shows, music, books, fashion, tech, games, toys, and hot spots.  We’ll tell you all about Justin Bieber’s new album, Disney’s new holiday flick, that new children’s book app, the cool new holiday toy, and much more.

If you have kids, or you are a kid at heart, then please visit me at PopKids Report.  You can also follow us on twitter and “like” us on facebook.  I’m super excited!  I hope to see you there.

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