Naked chef

Miss M loves making stuff in the kitchen. She asks everyday what we're going to make. I am usually not organized enough to actually make anything. I don't need to have baked goods around the house everyday or I would weigh 800 lbs. When I make a pan of brownies I successfully eat 85% of the pan in 2 days.  

I have decided it's easier to just give her some 'ingredients' and let her make whatever she wants. I give her spices that don't come out very fast and ones I don't use very often. I have been told I have an excessive amount of spices. She was using some cream of tarter, celery salt, oatmeal, seafood seasoning, cocoa (but I heard the price of cocoa is going up so she's not using that anymore!), flour, salt, malted milk and other random spices. She gets the measuring spoons, spatulas, and whisks out and goes to town. She's entertained for at least a half hour. She then puts it in 'her' oven and we wait for it to cook. It's a great way to get rid of spices and entertain a child.

Again, I would worry that she loves to be naked except she has my genes.  

Tomorrow we are going to actually make a treat.  I found a recipe for marshmellow Nutella puffs.  We'll see how they turn out. Hopefully tomorrow I can keep some clothes on her. Although her clothes stay clean when she's not wearing them!

N's one year old birthday bash

Our sweet friend N turned 1 this week.  We went to her birthday party Saturday night.  It was a semi-halloween party (kids could dress up if they felt inclined) since her birthday is so close to the holiday.  I didn't want Miss M to be running around like a crazy woman in her bear suit and sweating herself silly so we decided she should wear her Doc McStuffins outfit. She was excited.  She took her Doc stuffed animals with us, Lambie and Stuffy. 

There were an excessive amount of helium balloons for the kids to play with (non-latex - no worries).  The kids just ran up and down the hallway dragging the balloons laughing and screaming.

They hired a musician to entertain all the wee ones. The woman was amazing. Even Miss M had fun and was entertained. It sometimes takes a bit of convincing for Miss M to get involved.

She loves maracas (she always chooses the maracas at gymnastics class when they march with instruments) and so banging them obnoxiously on drums was the best.

Mr. Man was not put off by all the noise by the children or the music as the musician played the entire evening.

Mr. Man's probably going to have a low key first birthday party comparatively! I didn't know a first birthday could be so enjoyable. 

Random pictures

Andrew traveled to who knows where last week. I lose track of whether he's on the east coast or the west coast.  I guess it doesn't really matter since he's not home. 

Miss M was really sad and confused as to why he wasn't coming home. He is usually only gone for one night but she was more aware this time than previous trips. 

We like to take pictures for him and send them to him while he's away.  

Mr. Man is becoming aware of everything around him. He likes to grab for the bottle, pop cans, remotes, and anything else that isn't toys.  He's got some determination for a lazy guy who doesn't move much.

Miss M and I made pizza one night to kill some time. She likes to help in the kitchen. She's pretty useful.  Everyone needs a pizza sauce dumper/spreader.

Halloween-palooza

We had our annual halloween-palooza with our weekly play date friends.  We had two new ones and next year we'll have one more new one (not by me). We just keep growing.  It's so fun to watch the kids grow and interact with each other since they've been forced to be friends essentially since birth. I think they genuinely like each other since they ask about each other each day.  Miss M always wants to see her friends or have her friends come over and play. 

We headed into the city around 2:30 pm on Tuesday. Mr. Man had just woken up from a decent nap and Miss M had rejected taking a nap all day.  We got in the car and both kids fell asleep within a few minutes. I sat in the car for a half hour after arriving at our friends house to let them sleep and let our other friends show up.  I made them wake up around 3:30pm so we could go play.

Miss M did not wake up well. She was literally and figuratively a bear.  I was so frustrated and irritated with her. She wouldn't take a picture. She just wanted to cry and whine around about it. I would have been embarrassed by her behavior if these women weren't used to the antics of Miss M (and their own toddlers). 

So we took pictures without her. 

 Mr. Man didn't protest his tiger suit.

 Miss M being a bear (literally & figuratively).

A look back on the children over the years.  Miss M isn't in the first picture. I don't know why we weren't at the Halloween-palooza. It was probably during the period when I was losing my mind with Miss M and wasn't really as close to the ladies as I am now.

After pictures we busted out the snacks. There were so many snacks. Few of them healthy. Miss M perked right up.  You'd have never known she was being a grouch five minutes earlier. 

 T and Miss M got a look at the chocolate covered pretzels and they got really excited.

It was a fight over who got the first chocolate covered pretzel with sprinkles. Miss M loves chocolate and sprinkles. It was the perfect combination. T's mom was handing out the pretzel snacks so Miss M won the pretzel.

We ate and played and ate some more then we loaded up and headed home.

Random pics

I was trying to get ready to go out to dinner Sunday night and needed Mr. Man to entertain himself while I finished. I put him in the bumbo. He's way too big and too strong to sit in it. He was determined to destroy everything within reach and he almost pushed himself off the bathroom counter.  I found the hat he came home from the hospital in and put it on his head. It didn't even come close to fitting. When he was born he had a head in the 50th percentile. I think his head is in the 100th percentile now. He's huge. 

 One of my favorite dinner dates from Sunday night.

Mr. Man loves his bottles. He's been practicing holding his bottle. It's good practice so I don't have to do it much longer. I love independent children.

FLW 10K

Andrew and Aunt Nessie and some friends ran in the local FLW 10k on Sunday. The kids and I were in charge of cheering.  We dressed in our warmed clothes and set out to the race course. Miss M insisted on playing halloween and dressing in her bear suit. It was a pretty good idea because it kept her really warm.  

We saw them run by around mile 1 and then walked home to pick up some stuff and then back to the finish line. I should have asked Miss M if she had to go to the bathroom when we were home but I was in a hurry and didn't bother to ask. My worst fear was lived this weekend. She informed me as we were sitting at the finish line that she had to go to the bathroom. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? HOLD IT!!! These are the frantic things I was thinking in my head while calmly telling her we'll find a place as fast as we can.  I wanted to just knock on someone's door but I knew where the port-o-potties were by the finish line. We used the port-o-potties at the pumpkin patch so I didn't think it would be a big deal...it was a huge deal...port-o-potties at a race are gross and she was in her bear suit which meant we had to get her most of the way out of her bear suit all while keeping her from touching anything and keeping the bear suit from touching anything. I think it's best we wash the bear suit before the next round of playing halloween. There's not enough hand sanitizer in the world for a toddler using a port-o-potty.  I will have to teach her the tricks of using a port-o-potty but unfortunately I won't be able to teach her those tricks for a few years. I have fond memories of my mom teaching me the joys of port-o-potties! Thanks Mom!

 We were waiting for our runners!

Here comes John and Andrew at the finish line. The girls finished a few minutes before the boys but somehow we missed them entirely. I am not sure how they missed us. I was sitting with a bear.

 The finishers!

Flying with Four

We took our first flight as a family of four.

It was kind of exhausting.

It doesn't seem like it matters if you're traveling for four days or four weeks. Nor does it seem like it matters if you have a one hour flight or a four hour flight. The amount of stuff you have to pack for two kids is insane. We checked two suitcases and an umbrella stroller. We carried through the airport four bags, I had two, Andrew had one, Miss M had one, and two car seats and a stroller base for Mr. Man's car seat.  The aisle of the plane feels about a foot and a half wide and when you're a pack mule and hitting every aisle sitting passenger you feel like an idiot.

Thankfully, neither of our one hour flights were full so we were able to carry on Mr. Man's car seat and get him to fall asleep before the plane even took off. He didn't wake during either of the landings so maybe his ears won't be bothered too much when flying.

Since we were able to take on Mr. Man's car seat we weren't able to all sit together. I took Miss M as my seat companion and left Mr. Man with Andrew. I thought I scored in this deal. Not a chance. Miss M screamed and freaked out from the moment she was forced to enter the plane for about twenty minutes.  She cried and screamed like a maniac and wouldn't walk on the plane. Andrew had to pick her up and carry her while he was carrying Mr. Man and who knows how many bags.

By the time we were ready to land she had gotten herself together and decided she was ready to accept her status of flying.

We went to KC to celebrate Grandpa's service award of 40 years working for the same company.  It was a nice service and special to be there when Grandpa walked across the stage.

 We played with Grandma at the park

 We got to spend time with baby Jack and eat lunch with Grandpa

We did a lot of stuff while we were in KC. We went to a petting zoo, and to see a bunch of trains, and did a lot of playing. Miss M did far more playing then she did sleeping. On the way home from the airport she fell asleep in the taxi in her carseat. Andrew removed her from the taxi leaving her in her carseat.  He then carried her to her room, took her out of the carseat and put her in her bed without waking her up.

She fell asleep somewhere between 4:45 and 5:00pm.  I woke her around 7:00pm to put a pull-up on her and then she fell back to sleep. I woke her up at 7:20am the next day because I was worried she might have stopped breathing during the night. She slept for almost 14.5 hours.  She was exhausted.

Our first trip to the emergency room

Miss M and I made our first trip to the emergency room after more than 2.5 years of life. Impressive.  

I was about to put Mr. Man to bed for the evening when I heard Miss M crying from downstairs. I decided to go check on her b/c she seemed unusually upset. She falls down all the time but usually gets back up and doesn't seem to let too much get her worked up enough to have a melt down. I go downstairs with Mr. Man and find blood everywhere. It's all over her and the bathroom floor. 

I had no idea what happened and she was so upset she couldn't really tell me because she was semi-hyperventalating. I got a cold wash cloth and held it to her mouth to see if I could get the blood soaked up to find where the blood was coming from. I initially thought maybe she bit her tongue as she's done that a few times before. When I finally got the blood cleared off I noticed it looked like she bit through her lip with the skin broke on the inside and outside. 

I tried not to panic but I didn't know if this required medical attention. Do you let the blood clot or do you go to the ER and tell them you should have let the blood clot? I didn't know.  She also told me she wanted to go take a nap. Uhh. No. It wasn't nap time and I didn't want her to pass out in her room. 

I tried to call Andrew. No answer.  Tried again.  No answer.

I gave up and called Grandma D. She is our own personal WebMD. She told me I should take her to the hospital.  

I stand in the kitchen for awhile trying to think how to do this because Miss M is freaking out and Mr. Man was freaking out too because I just laid him on the floor and ignored him because the squeaky wheel gets the grease and he wasn't the squeaky wheel for once.  

I finally decide after calling Andrew and five of his co-workers, including his boss, that I would pack Mr. Man up with a bottle and we'd all go to the ER. What sounds more fun than that? Nothing.

Thankfully, our neighbors across the street were home and so I left both kids in the driveway and ran over to get them.  They were more than happy to help. They waited for Andrew to get home while I took off for the local hospital. 

The doctor said she didn't bite through her lip since the marks didn't line up but rather just broke the skin on each side. They washed her mouth out with saline and put an enormous band-aid on it. Andrew met us by the time we were ready to leave. We got our paper work and went on our way.  

She was back to her hyper normal self when we got home. She went to bed but woke up a few hours later complaining of pain. I slept on her floor the rest of the night and she woke up a few more times. I think she woke up when she tried to put her blanket in her mouth and it reminded her of the pain.  

She woke up this morning with a fat lip but that's about it. I need to remember to put some anti-bacterial cream on it when she wakes up from a nap so it doesn't get infected.  I better go find it and lay it out so I don't forget.  

Pumpkin Patch 2013

We went to our favorite pumpkin patch this year (the only one we've ever gone to as a family). We got there right when it opened which was good because it was packed by 10am.  It's never been that busy when we've been before but we've usually gone in September which probably is part of the difference.  

This is essentially how Mr. Man felt about the pumpkin patch this year.  He slept through most of it which is impressive considering all the screaming children. 

We met up with our friends as usual (we don't seem to do much without them).  Gabe insisted on holding Miss M's hand as they walked through the crowds of people. She was reluctant but agreed in the end.

 She agreed to stick her head through the pumpkin hole.

Miss M has been telling us she's tired a lot lately. I don't know whether to be concerned or not. I assume I don't need to be concerned and that her new tiredness is due to school and her lack of naps. She lays down randomly and when you ask her what's wrong she just replies with "I am just tired or I am just resting". I would prefer she didn't rest on random picnic benches at the pumpkin patch or the ground at the park but whatever. I am sure she's had her hands on dirtier surfaces.

 She crashed on the car ride home. She really was tired.

 He did too.  Such good babies.

After Mr. Man went to bed for the evening we got everything ready and carved the pumpkin.  Miss M has no interest in the middle of the pumpkin so she didn't want to help clean it out. I assumed she wouldn't be interested but wanted her to try anyway.  I actually carved the pumpkin from a template I found on the internet. I was pretty impressed with myself as I sat outside by myself in the dark while Drew and Miss M were searching the house for a tea light to put in our cat pumpkin.

I even wore my ninja suit for the pumpkin carving event. It was chilly outside. 

Gymnastics

Miss M loves gymnastics.

The gymnastics center had a break for a few weeks while they opened up their new (and amazing) facility.

We went back this past week and Miss M was in heaven. She was running around like a maniac.  She was so hyper and in her hyper-ness she didn't realize she had to pee until it was too late.  She was sitting on my lap. 

My thought process.

I can't move. 

We will get pee everywhere. 

Hopefully the pee will be absorbed between her clothes and my clothes. 

This is a new building. I don't want to be the one to ruin it. 

Eventually I pick her up and run to the bathroom. I told her we couldn't go back to gymnastics because her clothes and my clothes are wet. She told me she could go back without pants.  She hasn't figured out that pants aren't optional. If she wasn't part Calhoun I would worry. 

I saw a rack of leotards. I bought one in a frenzy. There are minimal options of the x-small variety. 

Andrew was on his way from work. I decided to wait it out and let her go back to gymnastics in her new leotard.  

She was so excited about her new leotard that she convinced her babysitter to let her wear it to bed.  I would have let her wear it to bed too. There are just some things that aren't worth the argument.

This and That

We had a good week (from what I remember).  I ordered Mr. Man a new high chair that sits in a regular seat. We have a high chair but it was kind of a pain to drag back and forth to the kitchen from the dining room. It's not far rather I am lazy.  And the high chair is in the way everywhere I put it in the kitchen. I haven't bought him much of anything so I felt it was justified. I can justify just about anything. 

I received a present to create a fairy garden for my birthday. I decided to pack up the children and go to Home Depot and buy a pot, soil, and plants. I thought it would be a good project for Miss M and I to complete. I suspected it would be a disaster. It's only partially a disaster. She wants to play with the fairy garden pieces which just kind of makes a mess with the dirt. It could be worse. It could be Play-Doh

I know about Play-Doh because against my better judgement I bought her some to play with. SHE. LOVES. IT. She will easily sit and play with it for an hour.  We have a cookie play set with muffin tin, bread pan, whisk, rolling pin, bowl, spatulas and other utensils which she uses to make all kinds of things.

We played outside to kill time one day. We're trying to enjoy the last days of nice weather. Miss M doesn't understand what's about to hit us. Winter. Gross. 

 Mr. Man does not lack for facial expressions.

This was our pile up.