A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Blah, blah, blah EAST COAST- it's been snowing here all month too! Now that we have had some sunny days and a bit of it is melting, I thought I would finally post some snow pictures.

Look! You can see where we live - oh, wait...


The snow makes Harper a little insane. Here she was "shoveling the yard with bucket." I really can't explain that.


The snow was too deep for Michael to walk in without falling over and losing his mittens so he preferred to "help" shovel. We took turns catching him before he shoveled the street.
Please notice his purple snow boots - I had procured some navy ones for cheap from a mom's sale but they were already too small. Fortunately we still had a pair of Harper's on a shelf by the back door. Note to self: good job not cleaning out the garage!


Here's a head-scratcher for you... Harper, who has outgrown multitudes of clothes and shoes since her third birthday, has been wearing the same snow boots for three winters. How is this possible? I'd like to think they're magic, but I've probably just had her in ridiculously over-sized boots for the last two winters.

Belly Boy

Michael is an eater; he eats and eats and asks for more. I can scarcely comprehend the amount of food the boy consumes and I shudder to think of the day when he has a teenaged appetite. Dear Lord.

Here, for example, is what we pack for his lunch:


It's a 100% fruit juice pouch (they get milk w/ the afternoon snack at school, not to mention he has it w/ breakfast and dinner), an entire banana, cheese slices, and a whole wheat mini bagel w/ sunbutter. (The painkillers in the background are mine!) He also eats both a morning and afternoon snack at daycare and is practically crying for dinner every night. Um, seriously, he often stands at my feet and cries while I make dinner. It's charming.

Most times that we get him out of his seat after a meal his stomach is comically full and hard as a brick. You might suggest that we feed him more often so he isn't so hungry when he eats, but he's already eating three meals and two snacks a day. Tonight, after a hot dog (no bun), tater tots, apple, milk, and corn his stomach was so huge I tried to take a picture of it... without much success.

(He's still eating the corn, whoops.)

(Can you see how round his middle is?)

(Should I remind you that he was a 4 lb. baby?)

He grew annoyed with the photo session and brought me his pajamas - it IS cold in our house.

I couldn't capture the stomach phenomenon to my liking - you'll have to take my word for it. Does anyone else have a toddler who does this?

He's had RSV and can't kick it, so the doctor just put him on an oral steroid... his appetite can't possibly get any bigger, can it?

Well THAT Was Interesting

To sum up:

We went to Michigan to look for a house.

We talked to people about schools.

We saw Matt's new office building.

We said, "Actually, Ohio feels like home -why fix what isn't broken?"

We decided not to move.*

And if that isn't enough to knock you out of your chair, today Matt ran over to our neighborhood elementary school (in Ohio) and registered our daughter for kindergarten.

So, you know, it's been a busy few days.




*Obviously the entire story is slightly more complicated than that, but you'll have to take what you can get, I'm spent.

The Saga of Jonah C.

When Harper started preschool, in January of 2008, there was a boy in her class - we'll call him Jonah C. - Jonah C. and Harper didn't become fast friends right away, but she was thrilled to find out that he was in her same class the next year, even though we switched to a different site for preschool. Over the last year and a half Harper and Jonah C. have become very good friends. She likes him, she says, because he is silly like her dad. And he gets in trouble sometimes, but not too much. Mostly, she says, he's a pretty good listener.

Sometime this school year (they are in the same class again) Harper decided that, because they are both silly, she was going to marry Jonah C. She started talking about loving him and how they were going to have silly babies and a silly dog when they grew up.

Harper knew that Jonah C. would not go to the same kindergarten as her - we live in the same school district but they have a different neighborhood elementary schools. When I ended up getting a job for this semester and Harper found out she'd be switching schools, you can imagine there was a lot of sadness over leaving Jonah C.

Her exact words were, "I'm just not ready to let go of Jonah C. yet!"

We told her not to worry, I've gotten to know Jonah C.'s mom and I was confident that we would be able to get the two of the together. We told Harper she wouldn't see Jonah C. when she went to school, but she'd still be able to play with him. (And get married and have silly babies.)

But then last week we had to sit Harper down and tell her that Matt got a new job and we'd all be moving to Michigan. It took a few minutes (and various phrasing) for the news to sink in and once it did Harper started sobbing hysterically. It took a long time to calm her down enough for her to tell us why she was so upset. When she finally caught her breath she said she couldn't tell us why she was upset, but she could show us.

She walked over to the counter and pulled out a red construction paper heart on which she'd written, "I love Jonah C.," and showed it to us.

"How can I marry Jonah C.," she sobbed, "if I live in a different state?"

That noise you heard last Wednesday evening? It was the sound of my heart breaking into a million pieces for my girl.

The initial shock has worn off, but now Harper is trying to figure out how she'll convince Jonah C.'s family that they should also move to Michigan.

All I Can Manage -

are bits and pieces:

-I killed a bug on the family room curtain that I'm fairly certain was a tick. I don't want to know how/why it was there.

-Harper had been working on reading with me last spring/summer and then it got to be kind of an exercise in frustration for both of us so I shelved the issue for a while. The last two nights she has read to me from a book called Mouse Tales with very little assistance from me. Ah - it is awesome! I'm so excited for her to be able to read on her own - she's going to love it.

-Last week was my first full week of full time work and both kids were sick and we had many sleepless nights. To cap it off it took me 2 1/2 hours to drive my 35ish minute commute home on Friday. I'm choosing not to use last week as an assessment of how this job thing is going.

-Speaking of my job, I think I may never have mentioned what it is, exactly. I am now the junior high media specialist (librarian and then some) for a school district a bit south of where we live. The gig is supposed to last until June. I love lots of things about it, but suspect that it will take all semester for me to feel truly competent.

-The kids love their preschool/daycare - LOVE IT. Harper complains when I come to pick them up and we've been told repeatedly by many staff members that Michael is adjusting beautifully and is such a happy child. This certainly makes things easier.

-In related news - it is kind of nice that they get a chance to miss me. I know it is difficult for them in some ways, but I selfishly enjoy being wanted in a way I felt I never was when I was the at home parent all of the time.

-Getting up at 5:30 (or so) in the morning is actually a bit easier than I would have imagined.

-Staying awake long enough to pack lunches and take time to email/blog/comment is much, much harder that I would have imagined.

-Now I know we're only a few days into this adventure, but I'm going to say that it isn't more difficult than being at home all day, it's just difficult in tremendously different ways.

"School" Pictures

I thought I would take a moment and share a few first day pictures of the kids. The center they go to is both a preschool and a daycare so I thought first day pictures were especially appropriate for Michael.

Here is a before we left picture, notice the charming new thing he's doing when asked to smile:


Here he is, posing again, outside his classroom:


Just in case you aren't catching that face, here's a close-up:


Well at least you can tell he's happy!


Harper's first day came a couple of days later, and the morning was so hectic that we didn't get any pictures at school. Here's what she did when I asked her to show me how she felt about her new school:


I had to ask her to let me take a less jumpy one:


It's mid-week, week one, and both kids are still happy. We're all happy, but tired.

So far, so good!

Oh, Hi!

So! I start working full time TOMORROW - what?

The kids are in full time preschool/daycare at a local community center with an awesome program (you may remember that I was disappointed that they wouldn't be going there when I didn't find a job for the fall). Michael actually started "transitioning" last Tuesday and Harper began Friday. So far, so good. Although Michael fell and hit his head on a table as I was picking them up Friday and got the worst goose egg I've EVER seen.

Of course he had a cold now and isn't sleeping well - I've been in cuddling him for much of the last hour and not getting my last before work things finished - which is some sort of Murphy's law of parenting; when you have stuff to do your kids will be sick, the end.

Maybe this week we'll do some photo catch up covering the last week - which included the largest snowfall I think we've seen since Harper was a baby, among other things.

I am woefully behind on reading blogs and getting to that threshold (again) where I think I may just "mark all as read" in the Google Reader and begin fresh. This is a strange thing to say to the internet, but I miss you guys!

Again, job, tomorrow, ack! Wish me luck!

P.S. I had just turned 12 about six weeks before that photo was taken.

For Now

Things have been pretty topsy-turvy here lately, in ways I'm mostly not at liberty to discuss just yet. Soon, very very soon, I should be able to share what has been going on - talk about my job (though not too much) and explain the impromptu blogging hiatus that seems to have happened here.

In the meantime, please enjoy this photo a former babysitter (now friend) sent to me of a New Year's Eve Past. Anyone want to guess how old I was???


It is not the most embarrassing old photo of me out there, surely, I mean my jeans aren't even pegged! And two bonus points to you if you know what I'm talking about.

Christmas = Success!

Someday I will again post something besides a series of photos...


Our Christmas celebrations have been one rousing success after another. I was pleasantly surprised by how pleased Harper was with even her small and not-initially-fun-looking gifts. She did as much delighted shrieking as talking on Christmas Day.


Michael didn't know what to think of all the presents under the tree, but he caught on quickly once we started opening. He was such a trooper, even without a nap! Compared to last year, when Harper was sick and Michael was so little, this Christmas was both easier and more fun.


The children even slept until 7:30 Christmas morning, which was the best gift they could have given us. (Especially considering Harper was up at 5 a.m. on Christmas Eve.)




The above picture was not posed at all, Harper was really that taken with the Strawberry Shortcake Cafe Santa brought for her.


Michael's favorite gift was a new copy of Goodnight Moon. Our original copy was literally loved to pieces (over the last five years) and finally bit the dust a few weeks ago. He was thrilled to get a new one and showed no interest in any more presents for a good twenty minutes after opening the book.


What is the word for a large group of princesses? A parade? A pack? A party? Whatever it is, Harper now has one!


Hope you all had happy and safe holiday celebrations. Tomorrow we head north, through the snow, to Wisconsin, where we will celebrate Christmas (again!) and my dad's birthday before returning to face 2010.

Not a Creature Was Stirring

Wherever you find yourself this Christmas, and however you celebrate, I wish you joy and peace.




Let the Christmas chaos begin!

Honestly, Couldn't Say it Better

My friend Erin is a truly gifted writer. I am envious of her talent, more than I care to admit, but even my envy cannot keep me from directing you here - if, that is, you haven't already seen it for yourself. You're welcome.


Sometimes, dear friend, I think you are doing the wrong job! (Although of course not, because yours suits you so perfectly and often, I believe, provides inspiration...)

Snapshots of Busy Days

Harper is enjoying her role as resident cookie helper...


Mostly because it means she gets to be chief leftover frosting eater.


For her birthday next year she is wondering if I couldn't just put her candles into a big bowl of frosting and forget the cake.

*****

Michael got his first big boy haircut. I did give him one home haircut in August, which was so questionable I'm pretty sure we skipped the before and after pictures here at Midwest Mom.


He was uncertain at first but a lollipop helped. (Oh my gosh, there were rivers of watermelon drool running down that cape!)

*****

Aaaaaand we went to see Santa!

Michael sat on his lap for approximately 1.2 seconds. Harper stayed a little longer and actually spoke in multiple complete sentences. I wonder if we have one or two more years before we're finished with the screaming Santa pictures?


Oh, and I think I got a job? Details later this week, or in the new year!

Videos!

Michael feeds the dog:



Kids in pajamas being kids:

I also have a six second video of Michael attempting to bounce on an exercise ball and then falling off and smacking his head on the computer desk. It's about three seconds bouncing, one second falling, and then a nice big gasp from me after I hear the sound of his head making contact - er, oops. Don't worry he's fine.

Favorite Photo Series

On our fifth day visiting the Disney parks, the tea cup ride was an early stop. By day five Harper was tired, and there were several near melt-downs that day. After one of them I told her she needed to decide to pull it together or we'd just head back to the condo for the evening to which she replied, "Mom, I think it all started with the tea cups."

The first picture is Harper telling Matt to go as fast as he did the first night... Matt thought she said to spin us as fast as he could and, well, the pictures tell the rest of the story:

Legitimate Reasons

Okay, so, I'm not necessarily feeling all pre-Christmas cranky - not quite. BUT if I were in a bah-humbug sort of mood these would be legitimate reasons:

1) So much unpacking/sorting/putting away to do! The bad thing about going away for nine days in DECEMBER is that you miss out on some of that Christmas prep time. Our shopping is pretty much done, but I haven't had any time to, say, read a book by Christmas tree light. And at this rate I'll maybe get to do that January 5. Note to future self: Disney World is pretty all done-up for the holidays, but maybe don't travel in December again.

2) The week before we left we had a fraud issue with the main credit card we use. The card had to be canceled. This was not a HUGE problem, but was annoying, especially the week before vacation. Fortunately Matt and I both have back up cards - he has a card from our grocery store and I still have the card I got when I was a senior in college. I mostly use it for times when I'm buying Matt a gift and I don't want him to see the charge. However, with our other cards temporarily out of commission, I've used it more in the last two weeks. Today I got a phone call that someone had been using that credit card number! TWO different cards in a matter of two weeks, seriously??? Of course Matt now thinks it's my fault that both numbers were stolen! I think I was a little sassy with the lady who called to report the fraud on my card because I just couldn't believe it was happening. Crazy!

3) I have to make an allergy free cupcake for Harper because one of the parents in her class insists on bringing cupcakes as a birthday treat on Wednesday - not such a big deal, but then I also have to bake cookies for their holiday party on Thursday so she'll have something safe to eat. I don't really mind the baking, but normally I'd do it over a weekend (which I don't have!). Of course Harper wants frosted cookies for the holiday treats, which I normally avoid because they are a giant PIMA. I finally decided to make the reindeer cookies we've done in the past - they are easier than cut-outs. Unfortunately the store did not have cinnamon candies or holiday colored Kissables to use for the noses - the best we could come up with was using red Skittles. I suppose it will be fine, but that's not really a complimentary taste, is it?

4) Michael has developed a troubling sounding grunt/cough that will hopefully get some attention at the doctor tomorrow - I'll have to call in the morning to try to get an appointment. It is exactly how he sounded the entire car-ride up to Wisconsin last December, when we ended up taking him to the ER. At least I can be thankful it's happening now and not next week.

I fully realize that none of these things are even remotely tragic but they are getting in the way of the pre-Christmas high I prefer to maintain this time of year.



I will leave you with one non-crabby thing: Semi-Desperate Housewife won the music giveaway! Hooray! Hopefully we'll get in touch before the end of the week and I can get a fun CD off to her just in time for Christmas.

We're Home!

Whew! That type of "vacation" always takes a little out of you, you know?

There is so much to say, but right now I'm happy and grateful to be home and reunited with Michael (and Rebound). The trip was wonderful and this photo pretty much sums up how Harper felt about things:



I haven't had computer access (but for a short time last night) in 9 days so you can imagine the state of my email and google reader. I'll slowly catch up this week, while I also finish getting ready for Christmas and prepare for a job interview. Perhaps I should start by going to be early tonight...

Buh-Bye!

Hi! We're leaving for Florida ten minutes ago - I have to load the car, but I'm waiting for something to print! Michael is safely in Wisconsin - here is a picture of him "helping" me pack!

I don't have time to link it right now, but you have time to enter the holiday music giveaway - it's about four posts ago!

Maybe blogging from Florida, maybe not - if not I'll see ya in ten days! Waa-hoo!

So Long NaBloPoMo

Ah November, one of my favorite months of the year - it seems this one has been a little extra crazy and things won't get better before we leave on Friday.

I have over 300 posts sitting in my own Google Reader and whatever I don't catch up on before vacation is going to be disappeared because there will likely be that many more sitting there when we get back! (Note to self: read fewer blogs?)

I have no idea what our internet connectivity will be like on vacation. I don't like to go without but I am really looking forward to some face time with Harper and Matt! Matt and I have been planning some games and things to take with us to use when Harper's in bed. Since we're going in December none of the Disney parks are open very late. Our hope is to get up and go early each morning and then get to bed at a decent hour.

I've been really distracted this month and feel like the blogging has suffered a bit - if December isn't better there's always 2010 to look forward to.

They're Out

After three more hours at the ER Michael's stitches are out! Wow was that a l-o-n-g afternoon. The doc who'd stitched him up last week asked us to come back to the ER to have them removed, instead of going to our pediatrician. After seeing how difficult they were to get out I guess I understand, but our ER copay is five times that for a doctor visit. Kind of frustrating!

All's well that end's well. Our only instructions were to put plenty of sunscreen on it this summer and to try to keep him from re-injuring the area - well he's a toddler but we'll do our best.

I feel like, despite posting frequently, I've kind of been lazy about the blog this month. This week won't be much better, since we have to finish the preparations for our big trip. Hopefully our day will be a little more calm tomorrow. Good night!

Big Night Out

Guess what we did tonight? We went to a wedding with no children! There was fancy dinner, and drinks, and many wonderful people. Here we are with two of them, Matt's sister Meaghan and her boyfriend Stephen.


We stressed a little about this wedding because it was an hour away and it was a family wedding so none of our usual family babysitters could watch the kids. We ended up asking a former student of mine to babysit; her family goes to our church so we still know her well despite the fact that I was her teacher nearly ten years ago. It is a little mind-boggling that she is old enough to babysit my children. I am excited to hear all about it from Harper tomorrow. When we got home the kids were sleeping and it looked like dinner had been eaten, so I am calling the night a success!

I'm bushed from the drinks! and dinner and long ride home. Good night!

P.S. Don't forget to enter the music giveaway!