In Awe

I'm in awe of a friend of mine. Her strength, her will, her determination to do everything she can for her baby boy. And her ability to be a wonderful mother to her three beautiful girls in the midst of so much chaos. We finally met up last night - five of us "girls" (are we still girls when we are all in our 30's and all mothers??). We drank wine and ate appetizers, we chatted about our kids, our husbands, the holidays. But truthfully I was more in awe of my friend than I would have been in a room full of A-list celebrities. How does she do it? Would I have the same strength? I want to help her. But here is my deep, dark secret...I want to help her so I can feel better. Feel like I too am doing something. Something more than what I am currently doing.

Two Green Beans

Getting Daniel to eat vegetables is a daily struggle. Fruits, no problem. But vegetables, no way. Here is a re-cap of tonight's vegetable struggle.

I thought I was being easy on him - I made taco salad for Joe and I and since Daniel likes all his food separate I put on his plate (that has four sections) taco meat, cheese, tortilla chips and corn. Each in their own little section. Taco meat, cheese, tortilla chips - no problem. Corn...you would have thought I was asking him to eat a live frog. I told him he had to have some vegetables. He says he wants green beans. Fine (I had thought corn would be easier, whatever!). So I nuke two frozen green beans in the microwave. Twenty minutes and one time-out later we are down to one green bean. By the way, at this point Lauren has consumed so much corn that I cut her off in fear and anticipation of tomorrow's diaper change. Now Daniel starts his negotiating. One bite of the green bean and he will eat more chips. WHAT??? No way little man, the chips are just filler - I don't care how much of those you eat as long as you eat your veggies. Another 10 minutes goes by. Lauren is now in the bath and I'm washing dishes while intermittenly checking to see how the green bean is going. Several slow, painful bites later the green is gone. I'm thrilled. Until I realize I am happy that he ate TWO GREEN BEANS!

Hide-n-Seek

Recently Daniel has discovered the fun of Hide-n-Seek. He wants to play it ALL THE TIME! Some funny things though about the way he plays:

1. He tells you where he is going to hide
2. He only wants to hide, not seek
3. He hides in the same places over and over again
4. His idea of hiding needs some help
5. He yells out for you to find him

The other day I watched my niece Julia and she is just as crazy about the game. Here they are "hiding" in the middle of the family room.


And here they are when I "found" them. I had looked all over for them so they were very excited when I discovered their very secret location.

Sunshine on a Rainy Day

Southern California experienced rain last week like we haven't seen in 20 years. We actually had a tornado watch! I don't ever remember having a tornado watch before. Anyways, here is my sunshine on a rainy day...

The Calendar Says it's January...

but don't tell that to my husband and kids. Sure the water was cold and the kids didn't get wet above their waists, but still, swimming in a non-heated pool in January is pretty fun.

I'll Stick with Two

I think I'll stick with just two kids for now. This weekend I had the chance to experience life with four kids for a day. It honestly wasn't that bad, but that had a lot to do with it being Saturday and having Joe home all day. Pretty sure I'd be completely (versus my current state of partially) insane if I had to manage four kids on my own all the time. The boys went to judo, the girls stayed home and had a tea party, then Lauren napped while the older kids played in the bounce house and did arts and crafts (all outside so Lauren could actually nap. See - that would not be possible EVERY DAY!). Here are some pics of life as a family of six.

Craft time in our newly organized garage

For some reason the kids' favorite thing was to turn the air off in the bounce house and then jump in it while it collapsed on them.


My raga-muffin, messy daughter. She is such a mess here, but having a blast.

One for You, One for Me

I've been thinking about New Year's resolutions and decided not to make any. Instead I've come up with a New Year's plan (of sorts). I'm calling it "One for You, One for Me." It's my way to take time each week do something for myself and something for someone else - and that someone else is NOT to be my children. I feel like I do a LOT for my kids so I'm good in that area. Here's the deal, each week I will do something just for me - get a pedicure, treat myself to a Starbucks, or just take a quick nap (guilt-free and not because I'm sick). In addition, each week I will reach out and do something for someone else - watch a friend's child, take a new mom dinner or just send a nice card to someone. See...one for you, one for me!

I got to thinking about this because for a couple of weeks now I'd planned to drop off a care package to a dear friend of mine who just had baby #4, and unfortunately there have been many health complications with her new son. Why haven't I dropped off anything for her??? That's it, I'm doing it THIS WEEK!! So that's my one for you for the week. I happen to have an appointment on Thursday for an eyebrow wax, one for me -- check!

This plan may sound a bit selfish, I'm ok with that. I think as moms we are so often self-less that it's ok to get a bit selfish. My kids will be just fine and my eyebrows will look good too.

Update - Here is my list of One for You, One for Me
Week of:
Jan 4 - You: Gift basket for friend with new baby. Me: eyebrow wax
Jan 11 - You: Dinner for friend (just because). Me: guilt and kid-free shopping afternoon
Jan 18 - You: Babysit niece. Me: two fancy, sugary Starbucks during the week
Jan 25 - You: Cards sent to 3 friends. Me: went to see a show with my sister
Feb 1 - You: Hair bows for a friend's daughter. Me: Free Saturday morning
Feb 8 - You: Babysat friend's kids. Me: Hair cut and color
Feb 15 - You: Cards sent to 2 friends. Me: eyebrow wax
Feb 22 - You: Dinner for a friend (son had been in the hospital). Me: A night with friends
Mar 1 - You: Dinner for a friend. Me: Lots of relaxing, reading and shopping (Joe and I were in AZ for 5 days without the kids!)
Mar 8 - You: Watched niece (although this is a weak one because she is 13 and actually helped me entertain my kids). Me: Relaxed and read during the kids naps instead of cleaned!
Mar 15 - You: Two nice cards sent to friends. Me: A spa day and dinner with my friends.
Mar 22 - You: Was going to watch a friend's little girl, but she had to cancel last minute. However, I did make and pass out sack lunches to the homeless with my Mom's group. Kind of counts. Me: a guilt-free nap during Lauren's nap one day and quiet reading time another day.
Mar 29 - You: watch my niece and nephew. Me: pedicure
Apr 5 - You: dinner for a friend. Me: a day without the kids!

Big break of not keeping track...I swear I did things for myself and others during this time.

Sept 6 - You: dinner for a friend who just had twins. Me: two new dresses for the fall :)
Sept 13 - You: watched nephew after school. Me: Moms only get together on Friday night
Sept 20 - You: watched a friend's daughter while she focused on time with her older son. Me: eyebrow wax
Sept 27 - You: visited my friend with new twins, took her some wine and muffins and helped hold the babies (she said it was helpful!). Me: Iced Chai Latte from Starbucks.

Another break of not keeping track. I have however, been picking up a friends' daughter every Friday so she gets a little playdate each week with Lauren (the mom works full time) and I have watched another little girl a couple of times while the mom volunteers to tutor elementary school kids. So, I swear I have done some nice thing for others. Probably for myself too...oh yes, the boots I bought last weekend probably can count for more than one week ;)

Where do I even start??

What happened to the past two weeks?? I remember there was a visit from Santa, a computer virus from Facebook and a few too many glasses of wine. Instead of thinking through this post, I'll just randomly add some cute pictures and call it a day.

Let's start with Christmas Eve - I gave my niece and nephew their homemade gifts and they were a HUGE hit. Here is Christopher with his Oakland A's gear (pajamas, pillows and an overnight bag - all made by moi).

For some reason I didn't get a picture of my niece in her apron serving felt food.

We visited Knott's Berry Farm right before Christmas and the kids LOVED it. I don't think I've been to Knott's since I was a teenager but this was a slightly different experience. We only stayed in Camp Snoopy and it was adorable to see Lauren on rides with a huge smile putting her hands up in the air. Plus, it was the first time Daniel met a character, immediately smiled and was more than happy to pose for a picture. Lauren, not so much.

Decorating a gingerbread house (thanks Aunt Shannon!)


Lauren's first pigtails - sometimes I want to eat my daughter she is so sweet. But Daniel tells me, "No Mommy, don't eat her I love her!"

Christmas Eve


Christmas Morning - Daniel was beyond thrilled that Santa came during the night.




There was a ton more during the past two weeks, but it's a bit overwhelming to write about it all. Overall a great holiday season, only hiccup was my clicking on a link in Facebook that led me straight to a virus. The silver lining though...I'm blogging away on a shiny new computer now. God works in mysterious ways...