Wishful thinking is hazardous to my health.

Be careful what you wish for . . .

I wished for a reason at work to have to travel to Cincinnati to visit our sister office and see all of the people that I only get to see once every 6 months to 2 years.
Results: I ended up attending a week long class in Cincinnati, which is a bit longer that I would have liked to be away, but it was nice to see everyone.

Then I wished for a day off around the 4th of July.
Results: I ended up working 50 hours the week of the 4th

Then I wished for a restful holiday weekend and was hoping to get a lot done on my day off on Monday.
Results: The girls each had the stomach flu over the weekend.

And finally, I wished that I could get completely caught up at work from the two previous stressful weeks and take yesterday off for myself.
Results: I ended up with the stomach flu and had to use two days work of paid time off to stay home and gaze longingly at food.

But now I'm back on track.

Hopefully.

The time has come for a reaffirmation to happiness on my part. So I'm tackling the things that I can change quickly first.

Check list:

1. Get a haircut.
2. Go to a tanning booth just enough to get rid of my 'vampire chic' pale skin.
3. Go to the clinique counter and try some new colors.
4. Start working out.
5. Plan meals more efficiently for the girls and myself
6. Tidy up in the evenings.
7. Steal my sister's clothes.

And I already got my haircut, so its time to get rid of my deathly palor. Because while it may be cool when you sparkle in the sun (Have you seen Twilight?), pale skin is not cool when it causes you to be asked if you are tired/feeling sick every day.

A picture is worth a thousand words

It has been a while since my last confession blog entry and I keep telling myself that I'm going to get better, but I'm pretty sure I'm lying. Living with my sister in the house is getting easier, but living with Jeff on a different shift is not. I miss having family time in the evenings, but Jeff misses it even more. We're pretty much to the point that I'm not allowed to even say the words "I miss you," because he can't stand it.

But on to happier things . . . .

Kayla turned one on Friday. Like her sister, she's going to be walking on her own soon, but not quite yet. She dearly loves chasing the cats around the house and testing their patience as well as her sister's.

Recently she has discovered the sheer joy of climbing in and out of her sister's rocking chair and the ability to put on and take off necklaces.

Today I just stared in disbelief as I watch her plug and unplug the bathtub. I had no idea she actually paid attention to what I was doing.

Life is good for this little one.




Big sister is really enjoying being four. She has the memory of an elephant which makes me glad that I've never promised her a pony. She's one smart little cookie.

She doesn't listen to me one bit unless she likes the answer, so I've already lined up Sissy to be her go-to for grown up talk. Of course that is going to have to be for fashion and makeup advice too since I'm hopeless unless you want to talk sewing or costume talk. As me about seams and the fit of a garment, but ask Sissy about the color and style.

I suppose its too early to sign her up to be a future president or lawyer, but she has some mad negotiating skills that would do any politician proud, not to mention she is rather adept at side stepping questions. I've gotten pretty good at asking the "Right Questions" to get to the truth.

And still all I can do is marvel at how different they were in their first year.

Alaina was a rather contemplative child.

She was more than happy to sit and watch me wrap presents at Christmas time when she was little. I'd put a bow in front of her and she'd rub it between her fingers and toss it around for 30 - 40 minutes until she had in memorized. She'd explore every crevice of a new toy, flipping it over and over to check all of the screw holes and seams until she was satisfied that she knew exactly what could be down with it.

She was like Winnie-the-Pooh sitting there just thinking thoughts and pondering things. She loves new words and figuring out they fit into her speech. I call her a little parrot because she can repeat back just about anything you say to her perfectly.



But if Alaina is like Pooh, Kayla is Tigger.

She's a bouncing ball of energy.
She's not happy if she's static.
If you are sitting down, she's crawling all over you.
If you are standing up, she's trying to figure out the most interesting way to wrap herself around your ankles or climb your pant legs.

She can't stand 5 minutes in the baby saucer that her sister would cry to be put in. I never even childproofed my home with Alaina because she had no desire to get into any cupboard or go near outlets. I'm debating buying a Roomba automatic vacuum because Kayla has to stick EVERYTHING she finds in her mouth, where as Alaina cried when I tried to stick her fingers in the frosting on her first birthday cake.

And while I knew that my kids would be different, I didn't quite realize how different they could be.

So if I have another child, will I get a melancholy Eeyore, a wise Owl or a modest piglet?

And for the story of the day:

Alaina is rather adept at using the bathroom all by herself, but every now and again she gets distracted and we have to request that she speed up the process because she gotten distracted by trying to reach the bottom of the sink with her toes or trying to get on the toilet with her legs crossed. Her natural curiosity just won't let her do things the easy way.

And so I went to hustle her out of the bathroom this last week and found her sheepishly looking down and avoiding my eye.

Never a good sign with Alaina. Her unwillingness to provide answers leaves me no choice but to deduce that the wetness was supplied by a less than sanitary source . . .the toilet. Of course asking the obvious questions will get you nowhere with Alaina, so you have to circle around to the truth.

"Alaina, were you playing in the sink?"
No
"I didn't hear the tub. You didn't try to turn on the tub did you?"
No
"Did you dip you hair in the toilet."
(No answer, so I must be getting warmer.)
"Did you finish going to the bathroom?"
Yes
"Were you looking in the toilet?"
Yes
"Were you sitting on the toilet when you looked in?"
Yes
"Did you bend you head down?"
Yes
"Did your hair touch the water?"
(No answer)
"Alaina, did your hair tickle the water a little bit?"
Yes (That worked because it implied that something fun and not punishable occurred)
"What were you looking at?"
Myself in the water (aka - reflections)
"Well toilet water is yucky, so next time just let me know right away so we can wash the germs out of your hair."
Okay

I let it slide that her hair was rather dry for having took a toilet bath, so I subtly removed all the towels and put them in the dirty laundry. It wasn't worth the effort to try to get to admit which of the four towels hanging up she had used to try to dry her hair and hide the evidence.

Clever girl.

Twinspeak

Jeff, Sissy, Alaina and I were watching "Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs" and Sissy was looking up the voices of the characters on her laptop, because we had a few character voices that we couldn't place.

The mayor of Chew and Swallow was voiced by Bruce Campbell, and my sister couldn't think who he was. I always recognize his name, let alone his voice, so I tried to think up a movie or show that he had been on. And the first reference that popped into my mind had me giggling.

*giggle* You're going to love this . . .

What was he in?

*Giggle*

C'mon!

You are going to LOVE this reference. Kevin Sorbo. Hercules series. Character named "The Green" something.

*now giggling, too* I soooo know who you are talking about! I can't believe you remember that! I can't believe I remember that!

And then Jeff walks in to find us giggling like high schoolers and slugging each other in the arm.

I love my sister, because instead of going for the obvious choice of the Burn Notice series that is currently airing on USA or the Evil Dead movie series that practically made Bruce Campbell's career, the only reference I can think of that she would understand is one of the cheasiest television series created to show eye candy in the guise of barely clothed gods and goddesses.

hee hee.

Update #2

Jeff and I juggled parenting responsibilities last week because Kayla was home sick Wednesday through Friday with a fever. I'm personally very happy that she wasn't throwing up like Alaina was the week before, so I tried not to mind the sleepless nights.

Friday, Jeff's cousin's came down from Minneapolis and brought their one year old son to stay with us for the weekend. The little man's birthday was in February and I had a present that I never mailed waiting for him. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of him in his snazzy new Husker jacket, but needless to say his daddy was thrilled, and his mommy, the gopher fan, was a little less thrilled



Jeff's family gave in to impulse a couple of times this weekend and would just stop in at random which is usually okay, but since Kayla had been sick and I didn't get much sleep, I pretty much disappeared into the depths of the house whenever the doorbell rang.

My brother and his family from Denver stopped by for a quick birthday celebration since they won't be back until after my daughter's birthdays so we had a quick meal and gift exchange. I'm always happy to see my niece because she is so funny and makes me giggle. She reminds me of Alaina when she was just figuring out that everyone but mommy would laugh at her when she was being ornery. And then give her hugs, kisses, and treats. (Ahem, Papa!)

And after we ate . . ..Cake!

Alaina was very excited to blow out the candles all by herself.

The candles are supposed to have flames the color of the candle base, but unless you get close enough to singe your eyebrows, its hard to tell.

Kayla was a little unsure about the cake so first she took a little bite.

And that tasted pretty good, so she had a little more . . .
And ohhhhh! It was soooo delicious!

Update #1.

Now that the shadow of sickiness has passed over our house, we are just about ready to get back to our regularly scheduled lives. . . .but I'll put a few updates up on what has happened. This even predates my last post, but I wanted to get the pics up.



Jeff and I had the bright idea to take the 30th off to go to the zoo with Alaina and my sister, but fate decided to step in at 1 am that morning and I spent the next 5 hours comforting Alaina as she continued to vomit every half hour.



Not a pretty picture.



After she went 6 hours without a follow up incident, we decided to take our chances and headed to the Zoo for the afternoon. Alaina was really tired the entire trip, but she did enjoy seeing all the animals.



The trip was complete with orangatangs that were obsessed with their anatomy, pacing tigers, feeding the fish, and diving pengiuns. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to go to he jungle which is mommy's favorite, but we bought an annual pass just so we had excuses to go whenever we wanted.



I got some great pictures in the Garden of the Senses.

Poor baby

Kayla was officially off of breast milk as of Monday . . .meaning I'm no longer grouchy and moaning about pains in my chest and already enjoying the feeling of waking up without sore spots on my ribcage from wearing a bra all night.

But yesterday Kayla got sick. And when I say sick, I mean sick.

She's running temps of 103 and won't eat anything but yogurt because her throat hurts. As soon as I picked her up from daycare I phoned the doctor because she felt hot enough to cook an egg on her forehead. So for now its just a virus.

But knowing that its just a virus doesn't make me feel any better when she can't sleep because she's so miserable. It doesn't make me feel an better when I have to hold her all night because she just wants someone to make everything all better. It doesn't make me feel any better when the ibuprofen I had to drive to 2 stores to find isn't helping bring the fever down.

And so here I sit ready to start my day at the office and all I can think about is going home and holding my baby so that she knows that mommy loves her.

That and the possibility that stopping breastfeeding led to her getting a virus.

Either way I'm probably the droopiest looking girl in the office today.

Bite me.

So Mimi decided to come up and take Sis and I out to eat yesterday for our birthday.

The food was delicious and Jeff appreciated that Sis and Mimi handed over their left over meals for him to consume. But it was noted that the desserts we brought home were not included on his menu.

The little ones joined us and Alaina was very excited to pick her own dessert . . .but Kayla was glad when we headed home because she was tired. So after her bath and book, I sat down to nurse Kayla before laying her down to sleep. Alaina came into the room and startled Kayla, who whipped her head around to see what was happening.

Not a big deal except she got four pretty teeth in the front of her mouth with which she's been practicing a great deal. So while she was nursing she put said teeth to use before turning to see what big sis was doing.

I yelled quite a bit.

Which amused Kayla, so she leaned in and bit me again.

I ordered Alaina out of the room in my not-so-very-nice mommy voice, settled Kayla down for the night, and grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer to shove down my bra.

This would be the proverbial straw that broke the nursing-cow's back.

If I can get Kayla to go for formula bottles from me when she gets home from daycare, I'm debating going cold turkey. I'm trying not to bemoan the fact that I made it just shy of 11 months nursing which is truthfully about what I did last time. But I can't wait to say goodbye to the chaffing of having to wear nursing bras to bed, nursing pads that make me feel like my chest is sweating all day, and praying that my breast pump lasts until Kayla's b-day.

The only thing I miss is how great I look in a push up bra, even though they are almost painful to wear while nursing.