Sunday conversations

Laura- "Next Sunday I'm gonna go out by myself. And spend $200. And you can stay here and watch Lily, and do dishes, and two loads of laundry. Then when I come home you can cook me dinner."

Jason- "Fine! I'll return the phone!"

Laura- "That's what you got out of that?"

A walk in the woods

Yesterday we went for a walk in the woods- but really, it was our backyard. Now that Thanksgiving is over.. we have Christmas on the brain. However, yesterday was not Christmas-like or winter-y.. until I saw this..

..it reminded me of what season it really was. Nature decorating in red and green; even if only in small spurts.

Because Halloween (and Thanksgiving) are really over..

"That's weird," I said when I saw the bright orange lump of wax. "It's the candle from that pumpkin" I told Jason. I don't remember the pumpkin lasting long before it was covered in all kinds of black mold.. but who knows if it just disintegrated or if it was burned into nothingness.

Come on winter, get here fast.. and bring some snow. A little bit I mean.. a little bit of snow.

My Black Friday. Really.

After all the eating was over with yesterday- and then the second round of eating.. I sat down to plan my midnight run to the local 24 hour drugstore. Only to suddenly realize/remember that the non-24 hour drugstores had been open during the day and the sales I was after.. had started already. It's what I get for not paying attention to the flyers when I looked at them the first time. Oh well.

So I left the house by 10:30 instead of just before midnight. That part was better, I thought. I got most of what I wanted.. only a few things had sold out already. Then I thought I'd head to the toy store to see if I could get a camera for Lily. It was supposed to be open at 9, but what I wanted wasn't on sale until midnight. I assumed there would be a lot of people there, but I didn't think it would be too crazy, because A.. they'd already been open more than 2 hours and B.. it was a toy store, not walmart, best buy, etc.

I drove by best buy on the way. The parking lot was totally full. People were lined up all the way across the building, around the corner, and who knows how much further. I drove through the mall parking lot and the strip mall next to it. At 11:15 people were already lining up outside of Macys and a very small group outside of Game Stop. Geesh, I thought, really? I'm not sure what time the mall opened, but I don't think it was midnight. Then I got to the toy store..

Coming up to the side of the building I could see the parking lot was pretty full, but it didn't prepare me for what I saw when I got around to the front. The store hadn't opened at 9.. so they must have all been waiting for midnight. Who was waiting? People. Hundreds and hundreds of people. With more than half an hour to go cars were still parking and large groups were walking and walking to get to the end of the line. I laughed. And laughed and laughed.

I laughed the whole drive through the parking lot and out of the chaos. "It's toys!" I said to myself. "Freaking toys." I never got out of the car or even parked. I went home. And told Jason he should have come with me.. for a good laugh.

I laughed so much I forgot to make a drive by Target to see what that mess of a line looked like. It's fine. I much prefer Cyber Monday anyway. Because I mean, this.. (apparent craziness over $2 waffle makers?)

NaBloPoMo

Dear National Blog Posting Month.. I quit.

If only mommys could call out "sick"..

Today was another day- with a series of events that I just couldn't win at. And by the end of it all.. "I should have just stayed home!"

Lily woke me up at 1:30- but thankfully went back to sleep without too much incident. When I woke up 6 hours later.. she did too- which meant no sneaking out of the house for mommy.

Next we all went on a 3 hour search for Jason's perfect cell phone. We finally found it about half an hour away from home at a store that had originally told us they didn't have it. Obviously.

I tried to get Lily the Lalaloopsy Holly Sleighbells Doll today. Which is only sold at one particular, very large retail chain (which I avoid like the plague). There was only location in our area that showed online it was in stock. And I went there. On a Sunday. But guess what? It was a lie- there was no such doll there. Of course there wasn't.

We went to pick out a Christmas tree at a tree farm that Jason and I had gone to once.. pre-Lily. The idea is that you tag it by Thanksgiving, then come back sometime before Christmas and they cut it down for you, etc. "The idea is.." can you tell where this is going? We walked around for at least half an hour, yelling at Lily to stop running away from us. My slipped disc spine plus full of small infant belly couldn't take it anymore.. I went back to the car to whimper in peace. Jason and Lily were about 2 minutes behind me. No tree.

Now it's almost 11:30 and Lily is still refusing to go to sleep. Jason, of course, didn't. And I, therefore, don't have a choice, but to be awake as well. And 6:30am, when I have to wake Jason up, will probably be here in about 5 seconds.

Zzzzzzzz

Today's post is brought to you by the letter Z. Because I fell asleep on the couch. And I didn't think I was going to. I thought I'd just lay there with my eyes closed for awhile.. and be pregnant. Then I'd get up and get ready for bed and pick up toys and fight a toddler to get her to bed and.. on and on and on. But I fell asleep. And apparently everyone else did too.

I woke up to Lily asking me for "strawberry milk and white" (aka strawberry syrup and milk). I told her to 'ask daddy' (because I thought I could get away with it- he'd wake up and never know I was awake.. and he'd get it for her.. and I could go back to sleep).. and she was like ya, riiiight.. you're awake now why am I going to waste my time trying to wake up someone else. (I could barely even see her in the dimly lit room and I still knew that's the look I was getting.) So I got up. And as soon as I did, guess who stole my warm spot and pillow on the couch?

I think I was tricked. (But I got her drink anyway)

Or maybe she just knew I hadn't written my blog post yet for today.

Or fed the cat.

Or peed for the 100th time today.

She's always thinking of ways to help mommy. Thanks Lily.

thank you

I love "thank you." I totally do. I say it all the time.. especially to complete strangers. I get the feeling it absolutely throws them. (But that's just a bonus.. not why I do it.)

I thank the people that bag my groceries. I thank the people that hold doors open for me. I thank the waiters that bring me my food. I thank the baristas at Starbucks for making my drinks (even when they add whipped cream after I told them not to). I thank cashiers for giving me change, the UPS/FedEx drivers that bring packages to my door, and Lily.. all the time. She isn't always the angel I make her out to be and when she does something I ask.. I always remember to say "thank you."

And she is a thank you-er too- even at 3. But she has been for awhile. In her swimming class over the summer they were sharing toys. One little boy willingly handed over the toy he had to Lily (which everyone was so impressed by) and then she said "thank you" and all the moms just about flipped their lids. Woah! "How old is she?!" they all wanted to know.

It never really occurred to me that I needed to teach her manners.. I just did apparently. She doesn't always use them, of course, but when she does- I can't help but smile. She can be too loud and demanding sometimes (what toddler isn't?), but when I remind her how she should be asking for something (not throwing out commands) she'll resay it and throw in the appropriate 'please' or 'thank you' (and usually changes her tone as well).

It's amazing how quickly mommy hops to it when she hears "mommy, can you get me juice please?" instead of "get me juice!" while ducking a chucked sippy cup.

Why kids need their own rooms

I've recently discovered the idea of hiding in Lily's room. Like.. to have a complete thought and other things that mother's of toddlers forget about. That sounds weird right? What parent goes into their child's room in order to be productive? Sounds like the opposite of what you'd need to do to write a blog post or research something online or pay bills. But for whatever reason.. it's usually one of the calmest, cleanest, most peaceful rooms in the house.

A few days ago, Lily was playing on her own and I was clacking away at my keyboard in the next room. Suddenly I realized there wasn't any reason I couldn't be doing exactly what I was doing.. just sitting in her room with her too. So I did. She didn't bother me. I didn't bother her. I think it's what babies call parallel play. We both get to do what we want, but hang out with each other too. And then we play together. It makes us both happier.

Right now, I am in fact writing this in Lily's room. At first I was alone, but then I convinced her to stop running around the house grabbing dangerous junk that other people left out and come hang out with me in her room (and get ready for bed.. but I didn't actually say that part). One night I even fell asleep on her floor and when Jason came to wake me up.. he tells me "she's sleeping." Easiest bedtime ever.

And I'm astonished that this brilliance didn't occur to me sooner.

I should have just stayed home

Dear local Target store,

It was totally brilliant of your shopping cart gatherers to bring all the dripping wet carts inside from the rain and put them right where all of your customers can grab them. To heck with leaving them at the far end and hoping that in the several hours it'd take them to get up to the front of the line that they'd be dry. To heck with that!

What's the point of allowing the customer to have a dry shopping cart to put their child, belongings, or potential purchases in? I have no idea either.. that's just crazy.

I sure am glad that I packed up my 3 year old and got drenched in the rain just so I could pick up a few things at your store.. and in fact wasn't able to pick up anything but a drink at Starbucks because I couldn't juggle an energetic child, my bag, and a hand basket.. nevermind trying to actually put anything in the basket. It was the best time ever.

Hopefully we can do it again the next time it rains.

Love, Laura

Actually..

I thought I didn't have anything to say the other day? Well, I truly don't have anything to say today.

It seems like it was such a long day.. but really it wasn't. Lily actually went to bed at a normal time.. and I actually fell asleep on her floor. (Which I gotta tell you.. being pregnant.. and having a slipped disc.. was incredibly uncomfortable.. and it took me 5 minutes after I woke up just to be able to get up off the floor.)

So.. here's to my daughter going to bed before the crack of dawn. Goodnight..

Monday afternoon art workings by mommy

I managed to pry Lily out of her room and get her into the "wilderness" today. We collected leaves together and brought them inside for an attempt at a rare, semi-structured, mommy and Lily art project. The old stand-by fall project of leaf rubbings..

Wow.. what an amazing job for a 3 year old, huh?

Ya. She didn't want to do it. I showed her how. But she didn't want to. At first she was at least helping to place the leaves.. but that lasted all of 10 seconds. So.. I did the rest. It was actually kinda fun.

But while I was doing that.. I was also being instructed on drawing what turned out to be a family photo- I guess? Except we don't have a tiger. As far as I know anyway..

She picked out all the colors.. and told me where everyone was supposed to go. When I asked her what color she wanted her hair to be.. she told me "purple." That's my kid..

Don't say I didn't offer

Laura: So far this month, I've already gotten liike.. 50 more views than I had total last month.
Jason: It's probably cus of that video you posted.
Laura: Oh ya, probably.
Jason: You should post more. Of your stupid husband.
Laura: Oh. I wouldn't use that word.
Jason: You can tape me running into a tree and stuff.
Laura: Aww. You'd do that for me?

At least it wasn't orange crayons in the dryer this time

I should have known this was coming, but I didn't. Recently, I had to wash an enormous quilted blanket we had on our couch. Which is nothing out of the ordinary. But when I opened the washing machine and saw something else in there.. sitting on top.. that had previously been wrapped around Lily's butt.. three words came out of my mouth. Guess what they were.

I pulled the blanket out.. and found it completely covered in tiny, gooey, jelly balls.. the words were worse. At the bottom of the machine.. giant handfuls of of the clumped-together jelly awaited me. I just stood there. This was a new one. What the heck am I supposed to do? Rewash it? Or dry it?

Shaking it out wasn't an option due to it's size and soaking-wet weight. I went with trying to dry it. Which I guess was the smart thing to do.. (I came across How to Clean Disposable Diaper Disaster in the Washing Machine later) since it got off about 75% of the mess.

(But then there were the handfuls and handfuls of jelly globs I scooped out of the washing machine.. as well as all the dried jelly globs I cleaned out of the dryer lint trap. Um, fuuun!)

Today I tried using a sticky paper lint roller to clean up the rest of the blanket.. but it was totally useless. I ended up washing it again. And that did the trick. Now that it's dry again, you can 't even tell.

At first I was couldn't believe it had happened. But then I thought.. wow, there's no way this hasn't happened to someone else already. A quick Google search confirmed that. Try searching this one and see what I mean: washing machine disposable diaper.

Living it up

I genuinely don't have anything to say today. I mean.. we went to IHOP this afternoon for lunch. And had pancakes. And Lily was actually fairly well behaved for the majority of it. She got a balloon.. and all was right with the world. She picked out her food- and then didn't eat it. Surprise. Well, she had some whipped cream, a bunch of chocolate chips, and the cherries that were on it. So healthy. Then, she came over to my side- and ate most of my scrambled eggs and some of my hash browns.

But do you think I remembered to take any internet-worthy photos? Nope. I was too busy enjoying not being stressed out (since she didn't need to be pulled down off the ceiling).

I bought 3 pairs of baby socks at Crazy 8 and then we went to Target (shocking). Where Jason had no patience for Lily not having any patience for him. So I bought baby bottles.. and we left. With Starbucks drinks. And popcorn. And pretzels. And cake pops. (The last three were for Lily. Because IHOP didn't fill her up with enough junk.)

Lily fell asleep on the way home, but woke up once we got there- because I'm just not destined to get a nap into my day anymore. Then there were dollies and Legos and animals and all kinds of other great toddler games for hours. Whatever.. you try keeping up with us..

Saying something anyway

Last month, I posted 10 times. And got the most visitors I've had since I started this blog. This month, I'm working on being a part of National Blog Posting Month (and therefore writing a post everyday).. and only 9 days into it, I've already gotten 2/3 of the visitors I had all of last month. So.. maybe there is something to this posting more often business.

Maybe.

In some ways making myself say at least something here everyday has been good.. in other ways not so much. Sometimes I feel like I really have to struggle to have something to say. And that's nothing new. But when those days happened in other months, I would just shut my computer, walk away, and figured I'd find something to say the next day.

And then I usually didn't.

Not that I'm tired or anything..

The more blog posts I write this month.. the less I find myself with things to say. Or maybe it's just that lately, by the time I sit down in front of my computer to write a post, it's after 10:30 and all I can think about is sleeping. And then not being tired anymore.

Today was my monthly checking-up-on-baby appointment. The nurse always asks how I'm feeling. The last few times I've just said "tired." Today was the first time she asked me 'how tired?' Tired like I have no energy to do anything? I told her "no." Which was only mostly true.

But it's because I haven't been getting enough sleep. And most days Lily doesn't take a nap. And I have a slipped disc. And there's always laundry. And vacuuming. And dishes. And I'm already worrying about how much harder (some) things will be with two small people instead of one. And..

In other words, it's nothing medical. It's mostly a temporary I'm-not-getting-enough-sleep-and-gosh-I-realy-wish-Lily-still-took-daily-naps. Is there a prescription for that?

I am going to need to have this

Since I don't really have anything to talk about, I'll talk about this.. the Photojojo Store. Because I just came across it for the first time. And actually, I don't even have that much to say about it.. except that it's full of such cool stuff. For example..

Camera Lens Mugs. I don't know.. but I'm pretty sure if Santa doesn't bring me one this year, I'm going to end up buying one for myself.

Goodbye Sunday

We've been up since 7am. The day has been a little difficult.. a little weird.. and fragile all around. The kind of a day where you aren't sure what you're supposed to say.. what you're supposed to do. And everything "normal" you do.. you think, wait.. is it okay to do that?

By 7:30, the house was oddly quiet. Jason had gone out, Lily wasn't awake yet. I had made waffles, but sat on the couch for 10 minutes before I even went to get them out of the toaster. It was the kind of a day with silences.. until someone would just sigh.. and say, "geeez." Because, really, we didn't know what else to say.

Just let it be Monday already.

When you eat pineapple before bed

For the first time, last night, I had a dream about Baby XY. I got to the hospital by myself and I was there in my room, but no one else was around- no nurses, no doctors. There was one other patient, but she went home because she wasn't ready yet.

And then, I'm not sure.. but.. I may have delivered Baby XY by myself. When I had him all wrapped up, a nurse came in. I was getting a bottle ready for him and she started telling me everything I was doing was wrong. And not so nicely.

"I have a child at home," I snapped at her. "This isn't my first baby- I know what I'm doing." When she left, I looked down the baby and said.. "What's your name?" He replied back quietly, "I already told you." And then I woke up.

Hmm..

There is a name, that I refer to him as. Sometimes. So.. I don't know- maybe I should take it more seriously.

I wonder if this was because I ate pineapple last night..