Stripes

Baby Bear and I were playing faces in the mirror after bath time today. She chimes in, "Mommy, you have stripes." She was talking about the wrinkles in my forehead. Nice.

I was sitting at my in-laws chatting nicely and my mother-in-law gets up from her chair and walks over, looking closely at my head. "Are you getting gray hair?" Double nice.

We head north to visit the in-laws for Christmas, leaving behind the nice warm 60 degree weather of Texas in exchange for the 20s of Kansas, Daddy Bear says," Do you have Baby Bear's coat?" As we are crossing the Kansas border. Oops.

Guess I need to make some New Year's resolutions. No more getting older - no more stripes, gray hair or memory loss for me. No sir. Not in this upcoming new year. It is going to be a great year so hold on to your hats!

Jingle Bells ...Little Girl Style

A Perfect Weekend to do Nothing but Potty

Yesterday, the weather outside was cold and rainy. I am still fighting this cold that I have had... for what seems a month. Daddy Bear gone for the weekend for a boys golfing outing. In other words, the perfect weekend to cancel life on the outside and focus on one thing...potty time. Armed with a bag of cookies, a jug of apple juice and lots of time on our hands, Baby Bear and I spent the weekend communing the her potty.



Honestly, I had no inkling that this was going to be my weekend mission. However, by 10am Saturday, we had had three accidents because Baby Bear did not want to utilize our perfectly good potties at home. This gave me the prodding I needed to re-dedicate this weekend, from our routine of Little Gym, park time and a bday party or two to Potty Time for Baby Bear.


The day started with the bribe (milk and cookie) to just sit and read on the toilet. Folowed by cookies and juice for success. (You get the gist. With lots of fluids going in, there were lots of fluids coming out to practice with.) All day long...this was our routine. We would play Legos or read or draw for a period and then off to the potty. Toward the end of the day, she just started going on her own.


Today, VOILA...she went when she arose. Since we had to go out today (church and visit with Santa...last chance to do this before Christmas because I leave on Tuesday for another trip to the UK), I knew today would be more of a challenge. She rose to the occasion. While I did put her in a pull up for church. She stayed dry. We went potty after church. At the mall after lunch. Another time at the mall after the merry-go-round. After nap...and so on. She made it through today with only one accident this evening. This afternoon and evening, she even went three times without any prompting from me. Yippee! (Still no success with number 2...but if the success of the weekend lasts...we are on the road to full potty success, both school and home.)


We ended up being at Santa's house about 45 minutes early (because the time was incorrectly published on the web). Turns out people were standing in line 45 minutes early. So, we just stood in line. Good thing. By the time the jolly guy showed up, the line was likely over an hour long wait.

Baby Bear went right up to Santa, gave him a high 5. When asked what she wanted for Christmas, she asked for a Percy (from Thomas the Train fame). The photog took his photo and I took mine. Mine was the money shot! She looks so happy. Just can't beat that smile. She was especially amazed that Santa has glasses. (Since she got her glasses, she points out everyone who has glasses.)
Looking forward to Daddy Bear returning tomorrow. The abundance of lights in our yard mixed with rain has shorted out the fuse again...maybe, that was why I did not want to venture out this weekend....more puffy hair from no flat iron in the bathroom. And, Baby Bear sat on the remote and "fixed" the TV and I cannot get it back working. (Yes, honey, you are needed around here.)

Where do you wear your hat and gloves?

Everywhere if you are Baby Bear. Because the weather has been ridiculously cold (come on Texas, have you not heard of Global Warming?), Daddy Bear purchased Baby Bear a hat and matching mittens. Baby Bear is smitten with her mittens. She wore them from the minute he brought them home until they fell off during the night. She then put them on first thing in the morning. We finally wrestled the gloves off of her hands after they became plastered with her morning oatmeal. Yuck!

Daddy Bear put up our lights last weekend. Had a bit of a Griswold time of it. He had all the lights on one circuit and blew the circuit, which happened to be the one that ran our bathroom outlets. This meant no hairdryer or flat iron for yours truly. Was a puffy hair day. Finally, got that fixed and all is well. Baby Bear likes to stand in the drive way and watch the lights flash on and off.

The Tag goes in the Back

The tag goes in the back is our mantra these days. We have been working hard with Baby Bear putting on her own clothes. The main reason for this push is our total failure in potty training.

Don't get me wrong. She is doing great going on the potty at school and number one. Number two and going on the potty's at home ....nope. I don't know what is wrong with our potty's at home...but...even bribery of extra books, extra fruit, cookies, ice cream etc....nope.

So, if she is going to potty in her pants, then she needs to change her pants herself. She is really good at telling me she has gone potty in her pants. She will then go to her drawer and select a new pair of panties and pants. Take off her wet pants and panties and put on her new ones. (We still have to work on putting the wet clothes in the laundry basket.)

The excellent side effect of this is that this morning, when she was being a bit of a pickle about putting her clothes on for school. I laid out her shirt, pants and panties and told her she could not come out of her room until she had her clothes on. She amazed me by putting on not only her panties and pants but taking off her PJ top and putting on her shirt. Excellent!!! (Oh my, she is such a big girl.)

Did I blink?

Did I blink? Where did November go? It seems that just a few minutes ago, I was traveling back from the UK ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. That celebration was then to be followed by Baby Bear's 3rd bdBay party. Well, all that came and went in the blink of an eye.

I love Thanksgiving. We have so many things to be thankful for. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving three years ago was the day we received the call that Baby Bear was about to be born and needed a family. Thus, every Thanksgiving is full with amazement and awe that we were so blessed as to be granted a child to hold, nurture, watch grow and love.

We celebrated Baby Bear's birthday in our usual laid back, crazy style. Hubby said to invite a few people and he would invite a few people. With my family in town, we ended up with 30 people running around the house bringing chaos and good (messy) fun to the celebration.

So, Baby Bear is three. I still cannot believe it. But, each day brings an accomplishment or a new word that reinforces that she is no longer a baby. Tonight, as we were preparing for bed (OK...I was trying to encourage her that it was time to retire for the evening...and she was whole heartedly resisting because we were having too much fun putting up Christmas decorations). So, I laid her PJs on the ground and told her that she could come out of her room and we would read a book when she had her PJs on. Several minutes later, out she comes...fully PJd (top on backward...but still she had taken off her shirt and put on both her PJ top and bottom).

Wicked-ly Good

I am again in the UK to take care of more office stuff. As this trip ended up being over a weekend (went to the office Friday and will fiinish up with things Monday), I actually forced myself to do something besides stay in my cramped little hotel room.

To increase the certainty that I would really do something, I asked a couple of the office personnel to attend with me AND chose to go to a show by Victoria station, which is where I always stay. My colleagues chose Wicked. Good choice. I knew the basic concept of this show was in relation to the Wizard of Oz. That was my sole understanding. This was defnitely a new perspective on my knowledge of the Wizard of Oz gained from years and years of watching Dorothy and her friends, Told from the perspective of Glenda, the "good" witch, the many twists and turns (with their accompanying songs) kept me spellbound the entire time.

Was a great distraction to the office stuff that I faced on Friday and will face again on Monday.

As usual, I can't wait to venture home....though, will be faced with a house full of relatives and a fun filled weekend of eating and family stuff. Can't WAIT!!

My Favorite Things

Baby Bear is starting to express her opinions (yes, our aching ears have heard the screeching for things that she does not like). Tonight, however, we started a list of what Baby Bear likes:

Shape: Rectangle
Color: Red
Letter: Z
Animal: Possom...don't ask
Special Friend: Curios George (stuffed animal)
Food: Mac & Chees
Book: Snoopy

Of course, these will likely all change tomorrow.

Potty training is hit and miss but we are determined for this to be a successful endeavor. At school, she does great. At home, not so great. The first thing we do when arriving at school is visit the potty. Her teachers tell us that she will go when the other kids go and is also getting better about telling them when she needs to go. She goes through many school days without any accidents.

The complete opposite is true at home. When asked if she needs to go....nope. When we try to lead her to the potty to just sit...nope. Then, wet pants. Sigh. We have tried taking her into the potty against her will....which is not a good idea. We have tried bribing with chocolate, cookies, any thing...no go. The last few days, we have just backed off on this and just let the accidents happen. She gets to help clean up.

Tonight...eureka! Gold fish! Who da thunk!

What do you call it when....

your mother sends you a Facebook message telling you that you are being deliquent about updating your blog? OK...yes, it has been almost a week since Halloween. OK...yes, I have still not downloaded the photos from that most sacred event. OK...yes, I have been deliquent. So...here you go mom....here are a few photos from the big day.

Unfortunately, as I downloaded these. I realized that I actually did not take a photo of little one with her hood up. Sorry mom, you do not get the full effect of Baby Bear in full Lady Bug regalia.

Here also is Baby Bear with our Mr. Potato Head Pumpkin. As we discovered from our pumpkin caving party, carved pumpkins within days of carving are taken over by bugs and mold. (Yes, I have lived in Texas for 15 years...but...this is the first year we have actually carved a pumpkin.) Thus, the leftover pumpkins from the pumpkin party were made into Mr. Potato Head Pumpkins or decorated with drawn on faces or...just left al naturale.

For Halloween, we ventured part way around the block. Baby Bear would have happily stopped after the first house. The reason. Lollipops. She happily sucked on her lolli as the rest of houses we visited. (The only reason that we actually kept going were visiting friends, who were die hards about the candy colllection.) Baby Bear was reinigorated a bit when she discovered that she is now tall enough to reach most doorbells. Thus, she would run up to the door and start ringing the doorbell. If not stopped by me, she would keep ringing the doorbell even though the door had aleady been opened and the other kiddos were grabbing for the candy.

Oh yeah....she also was a princess earlier in the day. This outfit was given to us by a friend whose daughter was in ballet. Every now and again, Baby Bear will spy it in the closet and want to be a princess or a ballerina. Too much fun.

Look mom...boogies

One thing that has come out of having a clogged nose for weeks now is that Baby Bear has learned to blow her nose. Quite the excitement generated each time there is a load of new boogies in the tissue. Surely, if she blows enough out, her head has to clear at some point, right?

While her fever has gone away, she is still whiny and cranky...which makes Daddy Bear and Mommy Bear whiny and cranky too (not with her...but just in general).

What are we going to be for Halloween tomorrow? Happy parents of a little Ladybug!!

I'm Back

I am just back from China. Could not post there as they block many western internet sites - NPR, Facebook, this blogspot, etc. Going to other countries always make me appreciate what we have in the US. I believe the air quality is significantly worse than my last trip here, which was right before the Olynpics when they had shut down factories and limited car usage to improve the air quality. The smog is almost at ground level most of the day. The tops of most buildings are hidden in the haze. About 50% of the people where masks. Though, not sure if that is due to air quality or fear of the swine flu.

So glad to get back home to see colors. Beijing is just shades of gray - gray roads, gray buildings, gray air.

While I was away, Baby Bear once again spiked a fever. No flu...just general yuck. Since she did not feel like doing much, Daddy Bear went to the library and rented a few videos - one being Clifford's Big Adventures. This was our first full length video. The plot of the movie is that Clifford, the Big Red Dog, runs away to join the circus. When Emily Elizabeth discovers that Clifford is gond, we notice Baby Bear's bottom lip start quivering. Then the sobs came. How do you explain that this is just a movie and that Clifford would come back. So sad!!!

My theory on why this hit her so hard is that her Grandma and Grandpa were in from Kansas visiting for the last few days. They went home yesterday and I know she is missing them. Maybe Clifford going away struck this sore spot. Guess we are not ready for G movies yet....was is more gentler than G?

Pumpkin Party Overview

I was worried about the weather for our pumpkin party. Since it has been so hot lately (90s in October....what the heck!), I was imaging 20 hot, sweaty parents and kiddos running around with knives and pumpkin goo everywhere. In fact, it was a beautiful afternoon...with 20 parents and kiddos with knives and pumpkin goo. But fun was had by all.

Here is a layout that I was able to finish for this day. This is my first layout in a long time.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere

What does 16 pumpkins, 9 children under 5 and 12 adults add up to? A) a big mess with pumpkins guts everywhere B) a fun afternoon and evening enjoying our great weather or C) A Pumpkin pary for Baby Bear. The answer is, of course, all of the above.

What started out as a small gathering of a couple of friends ended up as a full blown party of all of our friends with kiddos. I will post some photos of the creative pumpkin carving tomorrow...as I cannot find my camera connection tonight.....and I am too tired to look for it.

How Many Versions of the Flu are There?

Baby Bear has now had the flu twice. On Thursday, we received a call from Baby Bear's school saying that she had a fever. By the time Daddy Bear got her home, her temp was over 102 and she was throwing up and was achy all over. Poor thing. Her Ped prescribed some Tama-flu and some anti-nasea medicine. By Sunday, she was feeling a lot better.

This was our second bout of flu. As you will recall, not a month ago, she was at 103+ for a few days. After speaking with our Ped, we believe the first round was Swine Flu. This latest bout was the standard flu. So much for the flu shot! As she had that some weeks ago.

So far, neither Daddy Bear nor I have had the flu. With our luck with sickness this year, it will probably hit while I am in China next week!

Porta Potty Anyone

I have decided that to be successful with this potty training, we are going to have to bring the potty with us ...or we just have to stay home until we have this mastered. We are having good success with the potty, when we are at home. Unfortunately, we did not make it back from the park "in time" nor from playing in the back yard. Sigh! Our diaper bill may be going down, but our laundry bill is going up.

Spent some time with Grandma Johnny last night. Such fun. We all had a turn at the hula hoop (luckily no photos of the big kids giving it a go). Baby Bear found that jumping in and out of the hoop was fun too.

Yes, you do see that there are no glasses on little ones' face. The glasses are broken. We will be picking up her replacement pair Monday. Hopefully, this pair fairs better than the last pair!

Potty Training Daze

Baby Bear has decided that she does not want to wear diapers any more. So, I would say, we are (finally) officially potty training.

Little one started sitting on the potty off and on early this summer. However, we traveled a lot this summer and never had a steady time to make much progress. Eventually, she and we just gave up and stayed with the diapers.

Last week, she started asking us and her school teachers to take her to the potty when she had to go. This week, her school teachers decided she was on the road to being a Toilettiere so with many changes of big girl panties and other pants in her school cubby, we are progressing toward being diaperless.

She had a couple of accidents yesterday. One today. So far so good. At least of potty. Poop...still have not got the hang of this.

I see much laundry in our future...but oh so worth it. You go little girl!

When Last I Wrote....

We were going into a rough night with sick kiddo and sick mommy. Actually, on that night, Daddy Bear took the Baby Bear shift and let me go to the sick room. Neither of us got much sleep.

Baby Bear was really sick for a couple of days. The doctor did not know what was wrong. Her temperature was averaging about 102 for two days, spiking to 103 every now and again. The doctor did every test in the book - flu, strep, bladder infection, etc. Everything was negative....but we still had a sick little girl. Then....she was better.

I am still fighting a bad cold. Voice is still gone. Still have not had a good night's sleep due to lots of coughing. Now, unfortunately, Daddy Bear also has a cold and I am leaving for my annual trek to Las Vegas with my mom and sisters. Both of us have 2 days to get better!

Soo....off to get better now (or at least take enough drugs to mask all the nasty coughing and sniffing)....

Going to be a Long Night

Baby Bear has been snuffling a bit for the last couple of days. (She just had the flu inhaler on Friday so put it down to that.) Last night, she snuffled and snored her way through the night ...but woke up OK and was happy to go to school.

When I picked her up tonight and gave her our usual hello hug, she felt a little warm. My first thoughts were that she was running around just before I came and was a bit warm from that. Then, I could hear her breathing in the car and she is totally stuffed up. When I took her temperature, it was 102.4!! And, they did not catch this at school! (I know. They don't hug as much as I do to feel how hot she is....but.....poor little girl.)

We just hung out this evening. She did not want any dinner. When I suggested bed, she went straight to bed (which is soooo out of the ordinary. Usually, when I suggest bed, we read and then rock first. We did not even pass "go" on this one.) She is pretty miserable with the snuffiness and the fever. I can't believe she will sleep through the night....though, I hope she does as my throat has been getting sorer and sorer throughout the day.

Cutie Pie with her "New" Eyes

Grandma Bear has been pestering me to post a photo of Baby Bear with her new specs. So here are a couple:

She is getting better about wearing them; though, as here, she tends to look over them or under them. We have to keep reminding her to look through them.

We are definitely getting to know the optomitrist place. We have been back three times in the two weeks Baby Bear has been bespeckled for adjustments and replacements. (Both lenses have had to be replaced due to scratches. Luckily, the scratch-proof lenses come with a two year warranty. At the current rate of lens replacement, we will probably put the lensmaker out of business by the end of the two years.)

What Not to Say to UK Customs

UK Customs agent: Why are you coming to the UK?

Me; To work in our UK office?

UK Customs agent: What will you do there?

Me: (pondering) Office stuff. (Homestly, I was not trying to be funny. I was tired and could not think of anything that I was doing that would make sense to him. I also realized I had no business cards or really anything with the company logo.)

UK Customs agent: Rant Rant rant.....do you really want to come into the UK. You need to give me a good reason to come into this country.

I am on my way back home. I did manage to find a reason to be in the UK office. I have now done the office stuff and will be heading home.

There's no place like home!!

I Need to Keep a Notebook

Baby Bear and I were playing this evening. Of course, there was tickling involved. All of a sudden she says, "do not touch my body." So, I with a mischief gleam in my eye, touch her knee with my finger. She looks me in the eye, quite seriously, and says, "Did you hear what I said?" Much to her dismay, I burst out laughing. This is the exact statement that Daddy Bear says when she does something that he has told her not to do. Now because I laughed, I am sure we will be hearing more of this statement over the next few days.

She is such a talker. The words she comes up with are so funny. Tonight in the bath tube, the water was running. She says to me, "Turn the water on louder." She wanted the water on harder (when it is running faster, it definitely is louder, so I understood what she was getting at).

These are priceless gems of wisdom...out of the mouth of my babe.

Getting Ones Money from a Warranty

Fifty-two hours into glasses-dom. Her glasses look like they have been through a war. They have been dropped, sat upon, thrown, tossed, bent, re-bent, and essentially discombobulated. Both lenses are scratched and will be replaced next week. Also, the earpieces will be replaced with rubber half-circles (that wrap around her ear rather than just sit upon her ear).

She looks quite cute though, as she looks over, under, and around the lenses as they glasses sit at various angles on her nose. (have to get the camera out soon).

New Specs

Baby Bear joined the spectacled club today. We tried to find the smallest pair possible to fit her little head. This was harder than you might imagine. As we are discovering, selecting the glasses was actually the easy part....getting Baby Bear to keep them on her head, is going to be the hard part.

She will wear them for awhile. The next time you look the glasses are off and she is chewing on one of the ear pieces or she is banging them on the floor...you get the picture. The glasses come with a one year warranty on the frames and two years on the lenses. We will be using the warranty tomorrow as she already has scratched one of the scratch resistant lenses. Sigh!

She is doing Ok putting them on (and even better taking them off). In other words, she has not poked herself in the eye too many times putting them on. We are having issues keeping the lenses clean enough to see through.

A new adventure....

How to Increase Nap Time

Since Baby Bear received her bicycle yesterday, she has wanted to ride it just about every minute. Today, she rode her bike from our house to the corner park and then over to the duck pond and back. That is a LOT of rinding for two little short legs.

The worst thing about the bike...getting her off. We rode to the park, with the intent to actually play at the park. Instead, she directed me to climb up the wall and go down the slide while she sat firmly on her bike.

The best thing...the smile on her face while she rides her bike. After much pedaling around, little one took a 3.5 hour nap today!!! Apparently, bicycle riding is quite tiring.

Look at this smile!!

Happy Girl

I believe we lived a charmed life. Baby Bear has just about grown out of her tricycle (and most of her clothes for that matter...but that is another story). We were just talking about looking around for a toddler bicycle with training wheels and Voila! a friend's Granddaughter had just outgrown theres.

Is this one happy girl or what?

Eyes and Ears

Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes...Eyes and Ears and Mouth and Nose. This week was a week for eyes and ears.

I have been a bit worried about Baby Bear's vision for awhile. I have no worries that she can see. She can see colors. She can count things. Etc. I have been noticing for quite awhile now that her eyes will misalign every now and again. Over the last month or so, it has been more often for longer periods (ie not just when she is tired). I have asked several people about their thoughts about her eyes but no one else really seemed to notice. (I was feeling that I am just over sensitive about this because of my life long battle with my eyes.) I decided to just make an appointment with an opthamologist anyway. Worst case....he tells me I am just an over protective.

With every such new adventure, I am amazed at Baby Bear's good nature. I had to pick her up from school before her nap. Even though she was tired, she was her usual happy self, despite all the look at this, focus on that, etc that you have to do at the eye doctor. Even when they dilated her eyes, she took that in stride. (OK, she did cry during the addition of the drops but the minute that stopped, she was happy again.) Turns out, the reaon her eyes are not working together is that she is far sighted. She will be the proud wearer of little girl glasses soon. (We are hoping that this is one of those things that she will outgrow. Either way, she will be a cutie with or without glasses.)

They eye doctor was Thursday. The ear doctor was today. Since she had ear tubes put in at 18months, they have not been able to obtain a good reading of her hearing. (Hubby has been worried that she may not hear so well; I just thought she was ignoring us.) We have now confirmed that she is just ignoring us, as they were able to verify that her hearing is fine. Also while there, her tubes were removed because they were about to fall out anyway.

Baby Bear and Daddy Bear at Summer Nights at Waterway Park. Such cuties!

Big Girl Panties

Baby Bear has not wanted to wear anything but her sandles for awhile now. This seemed rational to me because of the blazingly hot weather. Who really wants to wear foot emcompassing fabrics and get sweaty feet during the summer any way. I go with sandals as much as possible in the summer.

I have been meaning to go to the mall to purchase some big girl panties for Baby Bear. (In an effort to encourage our potty training progress (or lack thereof). Yes, me venture to the mall, an event that normally only happens when Grandma Bear is in town. (Somewhere, the shopping gene that runs heavily in her DNA was not replicated in mine.) I finally ran out of excuses. With Baby Bear in tow, we ventured out to face the hoards of shoppers (BTW...did I tell you it was tax free weekend!!).

Since I had a coupon for Stride Rite shoes, our first foray into the shop-til-you-drop world, was into this toddler-0rama. Between the kids running everywhere and Baby Bear pulling all the shoes off the shelf, a nice (patient) lady managed to measure Baby Bear's feet. She suggested that we purchase size 7.5 shoes. Hmm...all current shoes in our house are 6.5 or 6, except her sandals. Baby Bear is the proud owner of three new pairs of shoes and she even wore one new pair out of the store.

We also accomplished our other goal of buying big girl panties. She picked out the colors and took them to the check out counter. She was ready to put them on in the store. I managed to convince her that we would change into them once we arrived home. Once home, off came the pants and the diaper (she is quite adept at these two feats) and on went the polka dot big girl panties and out the door to ride on her tricycle. We had a short talk that when wearing big girl panties, she needed to tell me when she needed to go potty. She was happily riding along. Then, "Mom, I need to go to the potty." My heart soared with joy. She gets it. This was just what we needed to spur along the potty-going process. As I walked over to her, however, I was once again grounded as I noticed that yes, indeed, she did need to go to the potty but we were not going to make it as there was already a puddle around her. Oh well....the panties are still very cute and I cannot wait until we are using them for real.

Total Kid Day

Baby Bear keeps us busy with all of her play dates. She had a smile on her face from the first thing this morning until now.

We started the day with Baby Bear's swim lesson. She laughed as she dunked herself and was quite proud of herself when she splashed everyone at kicking time. Then off to a play date with her twin friends E and P. We tried out the new YMCA pool, which has kiddie slides and water falling everywhere. Naptime was pushed back until 2 because of all the fun. Then off to Summer Nights at the Waterway. More fun and frolic with friends.

She is still going strong well past her bedtime. Daddy Bear and Mommy Bear...are exhausted.

Say Yes

This is Baby Bear's latest statement. If she senses we are about to say "no" to something she is doing, she says, ever so sweetly, "say yes." How can you just not laugh at that...no matter how serious you are trying to be.

We FINALLY got a good dousing of rain tonight. Of course, we had to go out and jump in some puddles. The sky was marvelous range of colors. We were even blessed with a beautiful rainbow. Of course, little one playing in the puddles was my pot of gold at the end of it.

Catching up...so hard to do

Time flies when you are having fun. My only excuse is that we have just been having too much fun living life than writing about life. Let's see...what have we been doing...

July 31st

We flew to Indiana to visit our friends (see "A Day with Twins"). Our kiddos are a month apart in age. They were best buds until they moved away to bigger and better things. This was our first time visiting since they left over a year ago. We had so much to squeeze so short a time...running, walking, playing, talking, yelling, crying, truck riding, etc. We did our best to squeeze it all in.

August 1st

Their house, as well as the location, is amazing. Their backyard is an oasis. As it has been so brutally hot in Texas, we were awe struck by having the ability to relax in the backyard with the kiddos playing around us. The world just dropped away.

August 2nd and 3rd

Every day, actually, every minute of every day brought smiles and tears, laughs and wails, and just plain happiness and frustration. In short, we had a great time.

August 4th

Our last day showed up way too soon. We decided to spend the last morning at the Children's Museum. We white knuckled it...ok the "we" here was the moms. The kiddos sat three across in the back seat. They seemed to have some fun and were not bothered by the raging thunderstorm going on outside.

The museum was spectacular. Time to get scrapping again.

Baby Bear still talks about the fun time she had with her buddies. Bummed that the time went by so quickly. Will likely be next summer before we get together again so will have to treasure these memories until then.

New Phase....No Thanks

Baby Bear seems to be in a new phase. Over the last few weeks, she has become quite the mommy's girl. (OK. I love that part. Rocking before bed. Lots of hugs. Etc.) However, it means that any separation is becoming quite traumatic.

Monday - I did our usual drop off at school when she has a clingy time. I sat and read with her for a minute and then got her distracted and then left. All was OK.

Tuesday - There was no distracting. She clung to be with a fierceness not seen before. I resorted to the drop and run. The teacher came and held on to her (trying to distract her) and I left. Her teacher told me that she was out of sorts all morning (which never happens). Even on these clingy days, she usually cries for a minute and then all is OK.

Wednesday - Yesterday, was more of the same. I did finally distract her and then disappeared. Her teacher told me that again, she was grouchy most of the day.

Today - I had to leave early so Daddy Bear was on track for the school drop off. I was looking forward to seeing if it was just me or if it is a "global" problem. Well, Baby Bear woke up before I left. That led to a crying jag as I went out the door. Daddy Bear said this lasted for a bit of time. Then at his drop off, he saw what I was seeing...a clingy little Baby Bear.

Just breaks your heart.

We are thinking that she may be getting her back molars. She actually has asked for her pacifier a couple of times over the last couple of days. My poor baby!

Daddy's Girl

Tonight, we had our picture taken for our church directory. As a celebration for all smiling so nicely, we stopped by Baskin Robbins for some ice cream. As you can see, Daddy Bear and Baby Bear clearly enjoyed sharing a milk shake.

I am finally getting back to a little scrapping. Here is a two pager showing Baby Bear in her Easter Dress.

Big Girl Bed

Life is measured by various milestones, or graduations from one of life's phases to another. This weekend, Baby Bear officially graduated from baby to little girl and has gone from sleeping in a crib to a bed.

We have been thinking about making this change for some time. Baby Bear could climb out of her crib, if she wanted to bad enough. So far, she hadn't wanted to that badly. (We did have to block her from climbing out a few times.) We gifured it was time to make the change before she did REALLY want to climb out and possibly hurt herself.

Daddy Bear figured out how to take off the front of the crib and replace it with a partial wall. The partial wall has an opening for Baby Bear to crawl in and out on her own.

As we explained that shis was a big girl bed, she marveled at her new found ability to climb in and out at will. Daddy Bear and I were visualizing many nights where we would be putting her back in after she had climbed out (a technique we have been studying from SuperNanny episodes). Much to our suprise (three days into it now), once we have gotten her in bed, she has stayed there. She is a big girl. Sigh!

Question of the Day

I was explaining to Baby Bear that a ballerina's skirt is called a tutu. She asked why it was not called a one-one or a four-four. Good question!

How old are you?

Baby Bear loves to be asked "How old are you?" Once asked, she will proudly raise two fingers on each hand and say two. On a lark, I asked how old I am. She pondered this for a minute, then proudly said "Five!"

Where did June go?

I cannot believe that we are almost in July. The first of June was just yesterday, wasn't it? One clue that it is not the beginning of June is the weather. We are actually having August, dog days, lawn burning, instant sweat, miserably hot days of summer.

Baby bear and I have been spending every spare minute in the pool. She is really getting it. Grandma Bear said that I was able to swim across a pool at age three. I don't think we are going to make that but Baby Bear can be under water for about 5 seconds (without my holding her) and do the back float for about 10 seconds (with me holding her). Just can get in and out of the pool without assistance. My goal for the end of summer is for her to be water safe. In other words, if she were to fall in, she could either float for a bit before someone gets to her or crawl out of the pool herself if she was near a wall.



I am loving this age. (OK...I have loved every age so far.) Her favorite sayings are "let me do it" followed by "help me mommy" (if it turns out she can't do it). She is pretty good with her "Please" and "Thank you." She is fairly close to counting to twenty and has her ABC's down cold (and even knows most of her letters by recognition). We read books. We sing. We do puzzles. We are becoming masters of playdo. Life is just grand. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.



I just realized yesterday that I have not taken a single photo in June. So, yesterday when we were playing, I finally snapped a few june photos.

What would you do for a cookie?

We have been been potty training in fits and starts. A couple of weeks ago, I thought we were on the home stretch. Then we had an accident on the floor, which scared little one. Kind of like..."that came from me?" Since then, we have been at a stand still.

This morning, Baby Bear and I were chatting while I was putting on my face. All of a sudden she said, "I do not need to poo." Which in toddler parlance means, "I have to go poo but don't want to sit on the potty chair." So, I suggested that we retire to her bath room, where we have her little pink throne. She was adamant that she did not want to sit on her chair and did not have to go poo. I enticed her by offering for her to sit on the big potty. While she sat, we chatted about the upcoming day.

After awhile and no action, little one wanted to go about her way. She stood up but was standing with her legs locked together with buns tight. I suggested that she sit back on the potty. Oh NO, she did not want to do that. (Since this was the situation we were in when she had her accident, I resorted to desparate measures and offered a cookie.) "If you sit on the potty and go poo, you can have a cookie." I could not believe these words came from my mouth. (We have worked very hard to NOT bribe little one to do anything.) Sure enough, however, sit ... and success!

Trip to the Dentist

There are so many "firsts" with a little one. Now that Baby Bear is two and a half, the firsts are slowing down a bit...so have to savor each one. So even though work is crazy, stressed, overwhelming....off we went to the dentist.

I have been feeling guilty about little one's dental care. We brush morning and night; though, sometimes this is just chewing on the toothbrush or watching Daddy and me brushing our teeth (does that count...clean teeth by osmosis?). Anyway, I dutifully found a Pediatric Dentist to ensure that Baby Bear's first dental visit would be with someone who understands the Rug Rats of the world. Our insurance plan has no Pediatic Dentists close by, so I made an appointment with one down in Houston ...and the wait for an appointment was three months!! Which, was today...finally.

Off we trundle, Momma Bear, Daddy Bear and Baby Bear. We all have to share in this first, as we are sure it is going to be a special occasion to celebrate for one and all. We filled out the requisite paperwork for a first time patient and then sat in the waiting room reading kiddie dentist books. After awhile, little one got bored and unpacked her diaper bag. She found my swim goggles (left in there from our last trip to the pool) so she had to wear those around (mighty funny looking...where is the camera when I need it).

The nurse came to take us for X-rays. I wasn't sure how that would go. She climbed right into the chair. When the nurse showed her what would happen (where the machine would go and then how to bit on the X-ray), Baby Bear started to crawl off the chair. I asked her is she wanted to sit in the chair by herself or with me, she chose to sit with me. Thus, we sat in the chair together. She bit on the X-ray and sat still for both shots. She was great!

Another wait in the waiting room. Then, finally they came for us for the exam. Little one again crawled up on the chair. She put on the sunglasses they offered her. Then....the nurse went away to get the doctor.....five minutes later, no doctor. Ten minutes later....no doctor. What are they thinking leaving a 2 year old in a room with lots of scary tools and nothing to do. Finally, when little one would no longer sit still, we went back to the waiting room and asked them to come get us when the doctor was actually ready to see us. Another 15 minutes and finally she was ready. Little one scrambled up in the chair. She opened her mouth when asked. The doctor looked at her teeth, brushed them a bit ....and all of three minutes later, we were out the door.

One, we were very happy that little one was so brave. Two, the title of pediatric dentist is highly over rated as I was disappointed in the way they handled the wait in the room. Will likely just stay close to home for our next foray to the dentist.

Back home again....

OK...I gave up writing down everything we did in London. Let's just finish that trip by saying, if tourism were an Olympic sport, my mom would be on the winner's podium! I believe all had fun.

Back home, Daddy Bear and Baby Bear survived without me. I missed them a lot. After every trip, I am simply amazed at how much little one changes. The big news was that little one has had many successes with the potty. Looks like we are on the road to no-diaper-land! (Tonight, she had a success in front of me.) Her favorite potty-book is Clifford does good deeds. Don't know why but that is the book that she MUST read while doing her business.

So, we signed up for swim lessons. I thought Baby Bear would love these. She has had three so far and is no loving these lessons. Last Saturday, she did not even get her head wet. I am not sure what to do. When I am with her, it is hard to keep her out of the pool. She will dunk herself. She will kick her feet. She will lay on her back (does not float yet but getting close). What is going on? Daddy thinks that she is afraid of the teacher (who has a prosthetic leg). Will see how it goes this week. If it does not go well, we may then try private lessons (she is in a class of two) or just give up and have Mommy lessons.

Funny story of the week: Last week at swim lessons, Baby Bear was on the bench changing out of her suit at the same time a little boy was changing from his suit. She says, "look mom, he has a tail." Yes, mommy turned red and we departed as soon as we could. Out of the mouths of babes.

Long lost relatives...

Actually, they knew where they were going.

We rose at a more reasonable time this morning (at about 9am). Again, a long day of adventure was planned. Only, this time, we did not do the planning so we were sure to arrive with no mishaps.

To get the day started off right, we headed for a quick tour of Kensington gardens. We arrived back with 5 minutes to spare before the scheduled meet time with my relatives (Lousie and her father, Sydney). Not exactly sure what you call these relatives, Sydney's (who is 84) father and my grandfather were brothers....so he is kind of an uncle, once removed? Sydney is the true definition of "gentleman farmer." He strolled into the hotel looking dapper in a wool suit and tie (knowing the weather was going to be close to 80 degrees!)

Being a tourist is a marathon...not a sprint

This morning started bright and early (about 6am). As I am playing hostess on this trip, I thought it would be nice if I met my family at the airport. Since their flight was to arrive at 7:40 and the tube from the hotel was about an hour, it made for an early morning. As it turns out, I was very early as it took them nearly an hour to clear customs.

We headed to the Tube for our first adventure...finding our way to the hotel. After a first misstart - buying Oyster cards (which did not work for the tube, for some reason...only busses and trams), we acquired a 3-day pass and set off to our hotel. While it was no fun carrying their bags up and down the stairs at the various tube stations, we made it to the hotel with no mishaps and nothing or noone left behind.

Our hotel is the Copthorne Tara near the High Street Kensington tube station. One of our two adjoining rooms was ready when we arrived so we checked in. They had a quick wash up and we set off for more adventures. First stop, Westminster Abbey. The queue was not so bad but the price was highway robbery - gbp14. Then, as you walk in, they give you a "free" audio player for an audio tour. The audio tour was great. Walked you through high points of all the burials and some of the fighting that went on in the various periods. The place is beautiful but so much feuding and death surround it as well.

After breaking our feet in to the marathon that is tourism, we made our way to the London Eye for our 3:30 flight. We arrived to find the queue going well beyond the cattle chutes. There did not seem to be any way that we would be making a 3:30 flight. (Seems kind of silly to buy tickets for a certain time, when it seems that everyone, whether they have a ticket for a time or not, just shows up and stands in the queue.) As we were tired (from our early morning and from trodding around Westminster Abbey), we decided to pay the extra gbp 10 and upgrade to the Fast Track (which shortened our wait to about 15 minutes). The trip was great (if a bit stuffy). The view of the city, especially the House of Parliament and the Thames, was magnificent. Lots of photos were taken. (Of course, we all were shooting away so have many photos of the same things.)

Next stop, dinner with my coworker and her mother. We had a great time sharing stories and hearing of each other's adventures. (Turns out, they were at the Abbey just after us. Small town.) Phil had his first fish and chips. After Barb and her mom set off for their show, we decided we had a bit more energy and decided to go to our own show. The only tickets left for this evening was for a comedy called 39 Steps. We had no idea about this play at all...but, hey, we are in London. All shows in London have to be good, right?

This was a British farce put on by 4 Actors playing 100+ parts. At one point, one of the Actors has his jacket half on and he turns 180 degrees back and forth (putting on two different hats) and has a converstaion with himself. It was very funny. A great way to end a long first day.

Chicago....my kind of town

Met up with my coworker and her mom for a night on the town (of London, that is). They had just returned from a week in Paris so they regaled me with all of their adventures (I have been to Paris many times for work but have yet to enter a single museum or get close to the Eiffel Tower.). Sounds like they had a great time.

After a nice Italian dinner, we walked to the theater to see Chicago. EXCELLENT! The puppet scene was great. The singing was marvelous. I enjoyed every minute.

What Was I Thinking

My monthly trek accross the pond has come back too quickly. You wouldlthink that after all of these trips, I would have the packing and timing all set. I finished off my morning meetings at about 2. Had to rush home for a forgotten item. A quick, and painful, workout and off to the airport. As I wa loading my luggage on the parking bus, I noticed that my computer bag was decidely lighter than usual. Upon a quick luck....no COMPUTER! Argh! With time passing, I made the decision to drive back to work and pick up the erant device, which takes about an hour. No problems with the drive so made it back to the airport about an hour before the flight and at the gate at about 40 minutes before boarding. WHEW! One distaster averted.

I had a car service pick me up from Heathrow and straight to the office. I try not to do this as I am usually quite incoherent after the long usuallly sleepless and always restless rest on the plane. Had to be at the office for an interview of a new office manager. (I hope I did not yawn too much while the lady was telling us of her qualifications.) Hopefull, once this person is on board, I can lessen the nubmers of trips to every other month or once per quarter.

One more work day then the fun begins. One of my coworkers is on holiday (just toured Paris and now in London) with her mother. We are to meet for a show and dinner tomorrow night. Then Saturyday, my sister, mom and Phillip (nephew) will be arriving. It will be my sister's first trip to London. and my nephew's first trip otuside of the US. Can't wait. This is going to be so much fun.

Will be fun to scap an event rather than just little one blossoming in to a little person.

How did you start your day?

When little one does not greet you with a smile in the morning, you know it is not going to be a good day. She woke up (after 13 hours of solid sleep) still acting tired. A little rocking in the rocking chair to wake up a bit more and then breakfast. Since she did not keep down much yesterday, we went with the bland and the blander for breakfast. It seemed to be going well. She finished. Then she wanted on my lap for more hugs and rocking. Then the faucet turned on and mommy and baby were covered in sour, white yuck. My poor little girl! Daddy stayed home with little one for most of the day. Another shower and a new set of clothes for mommy and off to work.

I hope this passes soon. It is horrible to watch little one not feel well.

Barf-o-rama!

Was still on my Mother's Day high this morning happily munching on my cereal. Little one was eating her oatmeal, hubby was eating his cereal, and dog was sitting on her blanket watching to see if little one spilled anything. Then....urp. Little coughed a little and then up came breakfast. Niiiiicccceee (she says sarcastically).

By the sounds of it, I thought little one had just choked on something and in clearing her passages, she did too good of a job in clearing up and urRpP!. No fever. No other sypmpton. Little one was cheerful and talkative and then sat down for another breakfast. Did not really think there was anything wrong. The second breakfast seemed to be staying down with no ill effects so hubby was going to watch her for a bit then take her to school. Apparently, on the way to school.....UUURRRPPP, again!

Hubby and little one stayed home and played as though it was a normal day. Had a good lunch and a good nap. However, when she woke up from her nap, she then had a fever. So, off to see the doctor. They tested for strep and flu....nope and nope. There does not seem to be anything wrong with her.

Dinner was steak salad for us and crackers, avocado, and mashed potatoes for the munchkin. URP! Boy, this just makes meal time so appetizing.

Hopefully, she will feel better tomorrow. Poor little girl.

Happy Mother's Day

What a great day! We started the morning at church. Little one did not annoy too many people at church so we count that as a successful event.

Some friends were sitting in front of us. Their children (4 year old girl and 1.5 year old boy) go to the same pre-school as Rilee. We have been getting to know them little my little with our interactions at church and at school. They invited us for lunch at the wife's parent's house. They had also invited another friend with a 3 year old and a 1 year old. So was a kid-filled, food-filled, fun-filled afternoon.

The afternoon capped off with a swim in the pool. You know how the munchkin would not go near the pool during swim lessons without screaming. This afternoon, she was jumping in the pool at every chance. I had to keep my eyes on her every second as she would just let go of the wall and want to swim with the other girls. Too funny.

Another positive about today...Rilee has added three more foods to her repertoire. At the lunch they served bacon wrapped around shrimp and cooked little weenies. These were served up on tooth picks. Rilee was all over picking up things with tooth picks. She ate some bacon and a couple of the weenies. Also, we have a cherry tomato plant that has yielded one tomato. We let Rilee pick it, we washed it and then she ate it. Yippee...maybe we have broken her eating code. She will eat things that she is involved in (like picking a tomato, her first egg was one that she had colored and peeled) or that are fun to eat (like picking it up with a tooth pick).

Got say to Happy Mother's day to my mom. She is the best! She is all about the little things. A card here. A thoughtful word or gesture there. Plus, she still sends her little girls (OK, all of us are in our 40s now) stockings from Santa on Christmas.

Swim, Swam, Swum

In trying to get a jump on summer, I signed little one up for swim lessons. After last summer, were she was jumping in the water at every turn and going down the slide until her bum was sore, I figured she would take to the lessons like white on rice. NOPE! She did not want to leave me. Then, she sat on the edge and cried. The instructor stayed with it and by the end of the time, little one would pour water on herself and the instructor AND let the instructor take her out to the middle of the pool. Hopefully, this week was just to get her feet wet (so to speak) and next week her joy for water will return.

She seems to be in a bit of a weird phase. If you ask her if she wants to do something, she is all over it...verbally. Yes, I want to go swimming. Yes, I want to.... Then, when we actually do the acitivity, she gloms on to me and won't let go....all her bravado is gone. Last year, she seemed braver. She was the first one to do things. Now she is more reserved. That is not entirely a bad thing as I was worried last year that she would see a pool and just jump in....with or without me.

We have been working on please and thank you. She is getting the hang of it. It is so cute when she says "tanks" when given something she has asked for. I just want to scoop her up and hug her all day long.

Have a great weekend.

I Passed

Here is the deal. I got a speeding ticket about 2 months ago (my husband is now calling me a felon). I was going 46 in a 35. First, this road should have a 45 limit. Second, this must have been a speed trap because the local papers have letters to the editor that have people complaining about getting tickets. Anyway, when I went to pay the ticket, I decided to save a few dollars and take a defensive driving course. (Was not really worried about the report to insurance as this is my first ticket in about 20 years.)

I should have looked into this before I took this option. I did not realize the course was a minimum of six hours. Also, you have to apply to the Texas DOT to obtain your driving record. And, all of this needs to be done by the end of May. (OK, this would have been plenty of time if I had started this sooner...but...I am busy....so, of course, I have procrastinated until the absolute last minute.) I finally finished the course tonight and passed the test. Yeah. Now it is the way for the certificate. Then, the knuckle biter, I have to wait for my driving record from the state. I just applied for it yesterday and it takes 2-3 weeks. Hmm...today is May 6th. Plus 14 to 21 days...and all of this is due by May 24th. YIKES! (If you do not get all of this done, then there will be a warrant issued for your arrest and all the fines are doubled. Geez...should have just paid the money up front.)

I did a bit of scrapping last week. The inspiration was from my best friend at the "A Day with Twins" site...(that is a nice way to say I scrap-lifted her page ...I did tell her I did this today so at least I turned myself in.)

Summer is coming on. I signed little one up for swim lessons. Should be fun for her. The best part is that it will be fun for me too...as I will not be in the water. (Is that bad? I swam for 20 years competitively and have taught my share of swim lessons....but little one seems to listen better to others sometimes. Anyway, she and I will have many a swim together in between the lessons.)

First Corn

The fun thing about having a kiddo is being able to relive all the firsts. I have long since taken for granted many things. For the munchkin, these little things are all new and exciting.

Tonight was a new one for little one - her first corn on the cob. Rilee will usually take a bite or two of corn...but it is not her favorite. Thus, when it came to making corn on the cob, I did not make her one. Then, she got to participate in the entire process....first, we shucked the corn. (Well, anything that makes a mess is fun, right?) Then we put the corn in the pot. I thought that would be the end of it. As I put the little ear holders into the ends of the corn and started to eat it, she asked for a bite. She thought she was all that holding the corn. She mimiced how dad was biting on the corn, by taking little bird bites of her own. She got the hang of eating corn on the cob and, as you can see, did a pretty good job of cleaning the cob.

She had her first egg when she was able to color it. Her first corn on cob by helping to shuck and cook it. Now, my quest, is to have her help fix other foods to try to expand her food likes.

On the way home....yeah!

OK, I am not on the road home yet....but am heading out at 6am tomorrow morning. This has been a good trip, work-wise. Lots accomplished and good to be with the sales group.

Also, had a good (though quick) visit with my sister and her family. My best doggie-nehpew, Scooter, gave me a good licking and let me give him a good scratch behind the ears. I also was introduced to my new doggie-niece, Skye. She is a six month old Shephard mix. What a cutie pie! Was great to catch up with big sis.

First haircut....again!

OK...little one has had her bangs cut twice. Some hair was cut, so I have documented it in her baby book as her first cut, but not all of her hair was cut. Does that count as a haircut? Today, we went to Cartoon Cuts, a hair cut place for the kiddos. High chairs. Cartoons playing at each station. Really nice ladies doing the cutting.

Let me back up...why am I having her hair cut. Little girls should have long curls, right? Well, in Houston it gets hot. It is not even summer yet and little ones neck and back end up being a sweaty mess by of the day....because, we have only had her bangs cut and the rest of her hair is mid-way down her back.

Little one sat on the booster chair like a big girl. No comment. She just sat there and made faces in the mirror while the beautician wetted her hair down, pinned up this section and that, and trimmed her hair. She did great! She looks so cute with her little bob. Her first style and blow dry.

Touch a Truck...nope!

A friend told us about a fund raiser where the kiddos could be around trucks of every size and shape. As little one always points out every truck and school bus we pass as we drive along the road, I thought it would be fun to let her see the trucks up close. We packed in the car with our sunscreen and hats (as it was kind of hot), we paid our $15 and went to the parking lot where the trucks were parked. As we got out of the car, we knew this was not going to be the relaxing event as the kiddos were allowed to not only climb in the trucks but to honk the horns....and the horns were honking. We started walking down the main aisle, and were between a police car and a school bus. At about the same time, the siren went off and the bus horn was honking. Rilee grabbed her ears and started wailing. End of story. Too bad. I believe Rilee would have liked to climb in the trucks, especially, the school bus, but it was just too noisy.

Back to the car and off to home, where we passed a spring fair, which had a jump house. Rilee had a good half hour of jumping in the jump house so the morning ended up with a smile.

Home again .... only to leave again

I returned home Thursday afternoon. The flight was uneventful but long, as usual. This is my third time over to the UK this year. That is too much traveling. I will be going again in May and again in June. From that time, I am hoping to only have to go every two months and then, hopefully, once a quarter. I love working with our UK crew but do not like the commute.

The best part of traveling is coming home. I picked up little one at school upon my arrival. She was out at the far end of the playground. When she saw me, she smiled, dropped what she was doing and came running. Big hugs!!! That is the best feeling in the world.

The only ill effect that I can see from my travels (besides my sorrowful heart about leaving my family) is that little one becomes a bit clingy and possessive of me. If we play with other kids and I pay the littlest attention to them, she will grab my hand and state firmly, "My mommy!" and pull me away.

Little one's nose is about healed. Luckily, it looks like there will be no scarring. The doctor said to keep vaseline on it and to keep her out of the sun for awhile, as this new skin will be sensitive for awhile. Whew! That was a scary one.

A friend told us about a function called "touch a truck" held at a local church. Essentially, a bunch of different cars and trucks (fire truck, tow truck, tractor, school bus, police car, etc) that the kids can crawl into and, as we found out, honk their horns. We paid our money ($5 each = $15). We walk into the parking lot and then whammo, we are hit with a barrage of horns and sirens. Rilee starts crying. Daddy gets mad. And, off we go. Five minutes tops. Oh well. It sounded good.

There happened to be a spring carnival at the elementary school a few blocks from our house. We stopped there on the way back. Little one got to jump in one of those blow up houses so the morning ended up well.

I am off to San Diego tomorrow. Sigh! Can't wait to get back.

Imagine If You Will

Our office in the UK is out in the boonies serviced by a train that passes by once per hour. I had my head buried in email, I am the second to last in the office, then I looked up...5 minutes to train time. Agh! One last send, shut down, pack up, down the stairs, out the door (after remembering that you have to turn the lock at the same time as pushing, which means putting down your bag...argh!), fast walking across the parking lot, going through the train entrance gate, then THERE IS THE TRAIN, on the other side of the tracks....a quick sprint over, across and down...heart pounding, hair mussed...I made it. Whew! All to get back to my hotel room to sit at my computer and check some more email. Wow, something really wrong with that scenario.

Video skyped with honey and little one this morning...so at least started the day with a smile on my face.

Big Boo Boo

I got the call yesterday from school. "Mrs. K? .....Rilee has been hurt." Heart in foot, sand in mouth.... Rilee apparently stood on her cot after her nap and something happened (a leg buckled on the cot or Rilee stepped wrong and BLAMO!) The end of her cot ended up hitting her nose ...I still don't understand it. When I got there, her nose was still bleeding, her eyes were watering and she was not a happy girl. I took her to the doctor to see if 1) she had a concussion 2) had a broken nose 3) anything else bad. Because of the swelling, the doctor could not say for sure whether her nose is broken or not. Could have been worse....but still looks bad.

Funny, Rilee's favorite song right now is...10 little monkeys jumping on the bed, one fell off and hit his head, mom called the doctor and the doctor said? No more monkeys jumping on the bed!....

I am off to London tomorrow...again. Will be there until Thursday.

Good luck to daddy. Little Miss has been a bit of a pill lately. She is feeling her 2.5 year old oats.

This was yesterday. You can see the scrape on her nose and the beginnings of two black eyes.
Yup...still swelling and eyes (especially the right one) getting darker. She does not seem to be in too much pain but really looks bad. Poor little girl.

Hope you had a Hoppy Easter

If Miss Rilee cannot find a job, she may apply to be a professional Easter Egg Hunter. Over the Easter Weekend, she had three "official" hunts and an unofficial one put on by daddy. Over this period, she honed her hunting skills to a fine art. At her first hunt, she only selected pink eggs. Then she caught on that there were goodies in the eggs so for the second hunt, the egg had to shake "well" before it garnered a position in her basket. The last hunt, she had fewer eggs because she opened them up to find the goodies before going on.

We found that she definitely has a sweet tooth. She was chewing on something. I asked her to spit it out and it was the wrapper to a Tootsie Roll. Later, it was teh wrapper to a Hershey's kiss. Guess we need to teach her how to take off the wrappers first. While she was fast in sneaking the choloclate, the brown lips gave her away each time.

Here are a few photos of Miss Rilee in her Easter Dress and her new Easter friend, Frogger.

I Am So Amazed

Every day, it seems that Rilee amazes me with something she does or says. Today has been no exception.

The preface to this is that we have been working on our alphabet - singing the abc song when we are in the car, playing with letters while in the tub, playing with her alphabet bus and alphabet truck, putting the alphabet puzzle together, etc. Actually, looking around the living room right now, we have so many things with the alphabet, she has no choice but to learn it.

So, she is currently laying in bed, singing the alphabet song. She has GOT IT. So far, she has sung it completely through 2 times and still going. So cute to listen to.

For numbers, she has up to 10 easily and knows all the numbers to 20. However, after counting to ten, she kind of randomly says her teen numbers - 14, 18, 15, etc.

Proud mommy moment! (Yes, I have a LOT of these during the day.)

County Fair

I grew up around County Fairs so when I saw the Montgomery county fair was this weekend, we had to go. In my day, the county fair meant showing horses at the 4-H show, sleeping in the barn with the horses and going to the rodeo every night. Fun times. The one had a big BBQ cook off (lots of tents with BBQers showing their stuff), lots of rides, a kid barn with a petting zoo. There was a rodeo and a band but we did not stay for that.

Rilee loved the petting zoo. She even tried her first carnival corn dog (which was impressive on several counts...1) she will not eat corn dogs and 2) she normally does not try anything new these days....though, maybe she is starting to change on that front...see below) and her first carnival ride (not a success).

The ride height limit was 36" for the rides. She is awful darn close to 36" so we decided to try the car ride (which was essential a train with car that had steering wheels). It seemed to be the slowest, quietest ride around. We paid our $6 ($3 for the munchkin and $3 for me). We sat down in the seat and got buckled in. The ride started and Miss Rilee started crying and yelling for daddy. We were the only ones on the ride so one loop (about 10 seconds later) we got off the ride and back on terra firma.

Today was a day of firsts. We had leftover egg coloring from when grandma was here so we boiled up some more eggs and colored some more eggs. We cracked one so Rilee and I peeled it. And.....she actually took a bite...and then another and ending up eating just about the entire egg. This was the first time she has ever even tried an egg. I am thinking that because it was her egg, which she peeled, she ate it.

She is getting very independent in her old age. It is "I do it" on just about everything these days. Which is fine but have to plan extra time.

Hope you all are doing well.

What Happened to Silent Nights

Every night, we go through our nighttime routine - bath, book, bed. Most nights, this follows like clock work. When my mom was here last week, she marveled at how easy to bed little one was. Not sure what happened but every night since Grandma has been gone, bath, book, bed, wah wah!!! Hmmm...that last one is not supposed to be there. Not sure why, but she will lay there nicely like she is going off to lala land and then a crying bout. I will go in and see what is up...she will be laying down and just be crying. We hug and rock for awhile and then go back to bed...quiet for awhile...then crying again. It may be that she is getting another molar or two as she has asked for her Paci a time or two. Another phase.....

Good bye Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa are on their way home. What a Grand week of laughs, hugs and play. We will all be in withdrawal next week.

Today was spent mostly outside. The weather was glorious. Friends of ours with their twin 1.5 year little ones came for a vist and to color Easter eggs. We set up the table outside, had the kiddos don smocks and let them dig in. We have some beautifully colored eggs and lots of prettily colored fingers, elbows, etc. Lots of fun.

Here are a few photos from this week.

Making cookies with Grandma
Loving the ice cream cone
Picking blue bonnets.

Coloring easter eggs.

Bad Blogger

I have not been a very good blogger this month. Lots of things happening...just not enough time to write about it.

This last week has been filled with first with little one this week. Grandma and Grandpa are in town. Grandma and the munchkin made sugar cookies. Little one got to be the cookie cutter. By the end of the cookie session, we had some great cookies on the shelf and several in our tummies and flour everywhere. Fun was had by all.

Tonight, we went to Sweet Tomoatoes...she had two helpings of Mac & Cheese, two blueberry muffins, a taste of sweet potato. Her little tummy looked like it was housing a bowling ball. But...there was still room for ice cream. Just for fun, we put the ice cream in a cone. She quickly got the hang of licking the ice cream. By the end, there was ice cream from her nose to her chin and dripping down her hands.

Why is fun so sticky and messy.

Our next first will be coloring Easter eggs with friends of ours who have 1 1/2 hour old twins. Should be another fun mess.

Four days to go

The flight to the UK was uneventful. The flight was completely packed. It was eight hours of folded legs, arms tight against my body and poor circulation. My routine on the flight over is to eat dinner ahead of the flight, take an ambion, put on my headphones and zone out for as long as possible. Thus, when I arrive in the UK, I can stay up until a normal bedtime. This routine has served me well and this afternoon, I have been able to put in a couple hours of good scrapping time.

These pages are of little ones first bowling outing. With most things new (except new food), she will give it a try, even though other little ones are holding back.

Credits to Dani Alencar Your Day kit from GDS.

Has it been that long

Wow, I can't believe two weeks have passed since my last post. Time flies, whether you are having fun or not.

We have been very busy...both at work and at play. Little one is just so much fun these days. There just are not enough hours in the day to play all the games we want to play.

Little one is now a full fledged tricycle rider. She loves to ride her little trike around and around the back patio and up and down the driveway. She has so much energy it is amazing. She just goes and goes until bedtime. Once in bed, we sing a few songs and then she is out.

Hubby and I just installed web cams on our computers. I am off to London tomorrow for a 4 day trip. The goal of the web cam is to be able to stay in touch, visually, with each other. Also, for me, seeing the little one while I am gone is a bonus. We will see how she handles it. It may be too confusing to see and hear me but I am not there. She does not like to talk on the telephone. Maybe this will be different because she will be able to see me and/or she will be able to see herself.

I should be able to blog a little while in London. Hope you all have a great week.

Here are a couple of photos from last weeks trip to the orchard for some strawberry picking.

OK...mommy needs to go to beauty school. I have not quite mastered putting in even pony tails on a moving head.

Pictures...or videos say it all

Here are a few videos of little one. (Remind me to keep my mouth shut when filming. Nothing more distracting than mommy voice in the background.)




Little one has been fighting a cold for the last couple of days. The upside, at least for hubby and I, is that we were able to lounge around in bed until after 8am both yesterday and today as little one has been putting in some long hours in bed. Also nap time yesterday was a 3 hour marathon; today , we are coming up on three hours and still no peep. I hope these heavy duties zzzz will nip this cold so that she can have a good week.

TGIF

I am so glad this week is over. One of my coworkers left for a two week vacation on Wednesday so am having to do her job as well as my own. The harder I work, the behinder I get. I have already warned hubby that I am going to have to work this weekend. If I had a straight 4-5 hours of uninterrupted work, I can probably start seeing the top of my desk. Will see how that goes...as we have plans for fun this weekend.

Tomorrow would have been our usual Mardi Gras party (we have had one every year since moving to Houston - after Katrina). This year, we just decided we did not want to go for the extra effort or expense. So, we are going to the church for their gumbo cook off instead. At least we will get some good gumbo.

Hubby is off to College Station for a doggy thing tomorrow. If he and Nola achieve a Q for their round (which they failed to do today), they will be able to compete at the advanced level. Next thing you know, you will be seeing them on the Animal Planet.

I am working on a page challenge for My Scrap Shop, where I am on their creative team. For this challenge, you can only have flowers and papers. I am not a big flower person so have a bit of a block. Here is what I have come up with so far....very simple. Actually, I don't really like it. I need more photos that match the title or need to change the title. Sigh! I have been in a creative rut lately. I do love this kit, which is by CWPickets called All of Me. I will probably just post this for the challenge and then add some more interesting elements to complete the photo for little ones photo book. Is that cheating?

I do it!

This is little one's favorite line these days. We have been working on putting on and taking off shoes and socks, coats, hats, shirts, etc. Now, she wants to do it whether you want her to or not. She has the hang of the shoes and socks. Taking off her jacket, shirt, pants, bib and diaper are also pretty good. Putting these same things on...that is another matter. This morning, she was bound and determined to dress herself. I was late, so I was bound and determined to do it for her. I had shirt, pants, shoes and socks on...she then sat down. Stated, "I do it" and proceeded to take off her shoes ...just so she could put them back on. Oh well...I am very proud that she can do these things for herself now...I just need to add an extra 20 minutes to our morning routines.

Have not done anything creative lately so here is a photo of little miss in her Sunday dress. We are once again teething (upper eye teeth now coming in)so have many photos of her with her hand in her mouth.