Stay tuned...

I promise that I haven't forgotten my blog.  I'm just very short on time with the move (yes, we're finally in!) and a tough couple of weeks at work both behind and ahead of me. Plus, we are currently without Internet, so I have to use my phone. A full update on the move and the new house to come...I hope before the end of the week!!! 

Move Over Mrs. Field

For the past two months, Lainey has refused to sit down in the bath. It started the evening after she scraped her knee and when she sat down in the water it stung. Ever since then, she's fought her once beloved evening event and even when she gets in without too much drama, sitting down has been out of the question. We have cajoled, begged, and bribed to no avail. Even the promise of a cookie, her most desired edible, couldn't get her down on her tushie. Until tonight...

Bath time went down the usual way with me soaping her up and pouring water over her to rinse her down. Then, as always, I tried to convince her to sit down for awhile. And, as always, she gave me her impish grin and said "cookie?".  I said "yes, you can have a cookie if you sit down," knowing full well I had no cookies or anything remotely cookie-like in the house. I assumed she was bluffing as she has done the past 60 or so days...I assumed wrong. She sat right down in the tub and started playing with her toys, chanting "cookie, cookie, cookie!"

Thinking on my feet, I quickly started talking about ice cream and wouldn't she like that sooooo much more than a cookie? She seemed on-board with the plan, and I was relieved. I mean, right now, bribery is the cornerstone of my parenting tactics, so I HAD to produce the promised treat. I would completely undermine all future bribery attempts if I didn't. 

Too bad she didn't like the ice cream. Now she was demanding her cookie, and I was unwilling to admit I had none.  This is where my mad MacGyver Mom skills came in. I told her I was making her a special cookie. I took a saltine cracker, smeared it with peanut butter, and drizzled Hershey's chocolate syrup over it. Mark looked at me like I was crazy, but she LOVED it! She even asked for another. 

Of course, the mess of eating that "cookie" completely negated the bath, but it was worth it. As far as my daughter knows, she can still count on Mommy to keep her promises. 

And tomorrow, I will be picking up a package of Oreos.

First Laugh

We caught Nick's first laugh on camera tonight! Big Sister Lainey provided the entertainment.

Birthday Bonanza!

Lainey got to celebrate her birthday three times this year! Celebrations began on the 23rd with Grandpa Bob and Sharon. I thought she was going to be stoked to have "Happy Birthday" sung to her, because she loves singing it and her favorite YouTube video is of her birthday from last year. But, when we started belting it out she got really shy and hid by putting her head down on the table. Maybe it was just our voices? We have video, but since we took it on the camcorder who know when it will get uploaded. If it's not on my iphone where I can easily upload to YouTube and post, then it has to go on the always growing to-do list. She did enjoy present time, however. A brand new tricycle from us and a tea set with play food from Grandpa were the big hits. Grandpa and Sharon also bought her clothes, but she just pulled those out of the bag and then threw them on the floor. The tricycle is a little too big for her, so we're going to put blocks on the pedals and hope they bridge the gap.

On her actual birthday, June 27, she had to go to daycare. Wah, wah. I wanted to take the day off, but since we closed on the house and had to take another afternoon off for contractors, (and I have to take July 3 off, because daycare is closed), I just couldn't ask for another. Turns out she had a BLAST at daycare. They celebrated her all day long, and she got a toy tamborine for a gift. When I picked her up, she kept saying, "It's Lainey's birthday! It's Lainey's birthday!" The celebration at home got a little off-track. It started pouring rain just as I was picking the kids up at CLP, so that was a fun juggling act getting them to the car, home, and then into the apartment without us all getting soaked (just me as I ran back-and-forth between buildings and the car). So, I was a little stressed, but then we had a fun Skype session with Uncle Chris and Uncle Sean before dinner. Dinner started off well...Lainey picked what she wanted (PB&J and yogurt), and Nick was contently nursing. Then a fruit fly appeared and Lainey lost it (she's developed a huge fear of bugs). You would have though Godzilla came into the kitchen. So, I had Lainey screaming in fear and Nick screaming because I had to stop nursing him. I got the whole crew relocated to the living room away from the terrifying fruit fly. I did get her to resume eating on the ottoman by the TV, so I could finish feeding Nick. I just accepted that PB&J would be all over the furniture and figured I'd deal with that later. I was able to coerce her back to the kitchen with a Potbelly Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie, which I stuck a candle in for her to blow out. The good thing about the chaos is it pushed her bedtime back about 45 minutes, so Mark made it home to see her before she went to sleep.

And the grand finale was this past weekend in O'Fallon with the entire Brandi crew! Lots of celebrating to do--Ben's birthday, Lainey's birthday, and Eleanor's baptism. We spent a great Saturday at the park, which had an incredible water area for the kids. That night we did cupcakes for Lainey and a big cookie for Ben, followed by presents. There was a mild meltdown during gifts, because they were really awesome, but she couldn't play with them immediately (Sit and Spin; tub of art supplies; bubble mower and BIG bottle of bubbles). Luckily, Grandma thought ahead and realized this might happen, so she bought a Little Mermaid toy that we could break out right away. Once that was opened, all was happy again in Laineyland. We have quite the spoiled little girl on our hands!

Lainey had her two-year check-up today. She's healthy and growing just as she should. This has been the fastest, best two years of my life. Happy Birthday one more time to my little Laineybug!

Birthday #1 - No singing please!

Take #2 - Birthday Cookie Time

 

And a cupcake make #3!

The birthday girl on her big day!

Blog Blitz

It's been a very busy, hectic week since my last post, so I'm going to give the quick rundown of the highlights all in one condensed post:

1) Dad and Sharon arrived on Thursday for my birthday and to celebrate Lainey's upcoming birthday. (Lainey is getting three celebrations, so I'll do a full post on all those once complete.) The big outing of the weekend was Brookfield Zoo on Saturday. Lainey loved it! Although it's not free, I much preferred being there to Lincoln Park Zoo. The exhibits are way better, and it was much less crowded, so we could give Lainey a little freedom to run ahead and explore. Dad even commented that he thought it was better than the Columbus Zoo--and that's BIG kudos for him. He LOVES the Columbus Zoo.

2) Nick hit three months on Saturday! He's all smiles these days, but has regressed on his awesome sleep habits, getting up multiple times at night. I'm hoping he's just going through a growth spurt! He's seems to have adjusted to daycare okay. I feel bad just giving him a line-item update for his three-month brithday, considering I gave detailed accounts of Lainey's first year, but I had more time. Should the future Nick feel slighted, here is my message to him -- "instead of writing a post about you, I've been spending my free time talking and playing with you. You very much enjoy playing 'Super Nick' right now, and I like getting a little tricep workout during it."

3) I made it out for the Bachelorette Party Saturday night, but dropped out at 12:30am. And glad I did! I kept the alcoholic drinks to a minimum and drank lots of water, but I still felt hungover on Sunday. Of course, I only got 3 hours of sleep, because the kids were up and at 'em at 4am, so drinks or no drinks, I would have been miserable. Mark had to work Sunday afternoon, but I still managed a nap thanks to Sharon (and I guess Dad, but really Sharon did the work). Once I got Lainey down to sleep, Sharon took Nick and a bottle and I headed off to bed myself. Not a great hostess move, but I really didn't care at that point. Thanks again, Sharon!

4) We closed on the house on Monday! Hooray!!! All went smoothly with no surprises. We are officially home owners! The next-door neighbor boy, Leo, came by with his best friend, Garrett, to welcome us. They just got out of the fourth grade and I think were a little disappointed that our kids are just babies. We briefly met Leo's mom, Meghan, on Tuesday when she came over to introduce herself (couldn't chat because we had contractors at the house).

5) We met with the chimney repairman and bathroom contractor Tuesday. Not so hooray. The chimneys are in worse condition that thought by our inspector and are going to cost A LOT of money to properly fix. Booooo!!! The bathroom is going to take about double the time as estimated over the phone and of course cost about 1/3 more than we thought. The money is a bummer, but not surprising. The real pain is the timing. There is no way to get it done before we move, so at some point we're going to be without a shower for 5 - 8 days. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. On the bright side, there is now no hurry to get that project started, so we can take our time picking tile and finishes instead of rushing into decisions.

So, there's my quick 15-minute post so I don't fall too far behind on things. Lainey's birthday is tomorrow and then we head down to O'Fallon Friday night to celebrate with Mark's family. We'll also be celebrating Ben's birthday and FINALLY meeting sweet Eleanor and attending her baptism on Sunday. The car ride should provide some opportunity to catch up on blogging...or catch up on sleeping...I might opt for the sleeping.

I'm Thirty-WHAT?!

When did I get old?

Turning one year older has never bothered me; I've always liked celebrating my birthday. I'm mean having a birthday is definitely preferable to the alternative, right? But, for some reason 34 makes me feel old! Wasn't I just turning 24 last year? How did I hit my mid-thirties so quickly? Joanna Kerns was only 32 when she starting taping Growing Pains. Think about that. I'm older than Mrs. Seaver.

My laugh lines are staying put long after the laughing stops, my spider veins are multiplying, and various parts of my body are succumbing to gravity.  Forget saving for the kids' college funds...I'm saving for botox, laser treatments, and a boob lift. Instead of a night out to celebrate, I'd kill for eight hours of uninterrupted sleep (followed by two more for good measure). I'm going to a bachelorette party on Saturday and praying that I don't black-out after drinking two beers. And I'm quite sure I'll end up with alcohol poisoning if I have more than four. Four beers used to just be the pre-party.

But, while I no longer look like a co-ed and my stamina for a night out has dwindled, I still think every year gets better than the last. I'm digging my thirties. I'm comfortable in my skin and in my life choices. I'm a calmer, less dramatic version of my 20-something self. I know having the last word, doesn't necessarily make you the winner and drawing attention, doesn't necessarily make you interesting. While I'm still striving to be a better person and pursue new challenges, and hope I always will be, I'm doing it for me--not to prove something to someone else. I may have traded in my four-inch heels for ballet flats and bar crawls for Chuck E Cheese parties, but I'm happy, healthy, and loved.

So, bring on the mid-thirties...and the late thirties...and keeping it going right up to the nineties, should I be so blessed. Because if things keep improving at the rate of the past 34 years, I'll be having one kickass life at 94! I think I'll ask for 35 candles on my cake tonight...I need one to grow on.

Date Night

Mark and I hit the town Saturday to see The Book of Mormon (the tickets were an early birthday gift). This is the first night out we've had since September. Since we're watching our cash flow right now (we close on the house in two weeks!!!), we opted for pre-show drinks at The Gage versus dinner out. I also didn't want to worry about making a dinner reservation if the kiddos delayed our departure from the apartment for one reason or another. Who wants to start a nice night out with a whole bunch of stress and rushing around?

As it turned out, all went well on the sitter front. Lainey and Nick were both on their best behaviors. I on the other hand was a clumsy mess that night. First, I managed to elbow a guy in the face when I stumbled on the el. Luckily it wasn't too hard and he was nice about it. Then at the theater I hit the bottom of my champagne glass while talking too wildly with my hands, spilling it on my lap and splashing the woman next to me. Again, luckily not much spilled, and she was really nice about it. So, not my most graceful outing, but whatever. 

The show was really great and it felt nice to get gussied up a bit and have some solo time with my main man. With Mark's crazy work schedule and our crazier kids, we haven't had much time to focus on each other lately. 

Of course, we paid the price for our glorious evening. After going to bed around 12:30 AM, Nick proceeded to ditch his streak of sleeping 6 or more hours and got up at 2:30 AM and 4:30 AM. Lainey decided she should get up at 4:30 AM, too. Only instead of going back to sleep like her brother, she thought it best to just be up for the day. Yaaaaay! We were exhausted, but it was still worth it.