Toddler Sound Bite

The other day Emily requested some juice mid-morning.  She hadn't had any at breakfast (we've been making smoothies!) so I granted her request and filled her sippy cup.  A few minutes later she brought me her favorite baby doll, complaining that she was all wet.  Taking a look I confirmed the wetness, and the stickiness.  Ever the quick one, I assessed that Emily had tried to feed her juice to the doll.  When I asked, she confirmed this.  I didn't want to give her yet another thing NOT to do, because sometimes I feel like I'm saying "No!" all day long.  Instead I tried this. "Emily, baby dolls don't like juice, so you shouldn't give them any.  OK?"  She thinks for a moment and responds "OK.  I get milk."

Mom FAIL

Yesterday was not my finest day as a mom.  It seemed as the day progressed that things went from bad to worse.  Emily cried (a LOT).  I cried (some).  Granted, this was to be expected because it's always hard to be by myself with Emily (while Eric works a 12+ hour shift) after we've spent time in PA visiting family members who are able to dote on Emily all the time.  I think the hardest thing Emily had to do during her time at grandma's house was choose between gold fish crackers or animal crackers for her snack.  Still, looking back on the day I can see that I didn't read books with much enthusiasm at all, I spent far too much time worrying about washing laundry and unpacking while ignoring protests from the toddler at my legs, and I yelled (twice!) when there were potty accidents.  Yes, I know this probably doesn't help her.  Yes, it was out of frustration and unfair to Emily.  I guess it's a good thing little kids are so good at forgiveness because at bedtime, she still reached her little arms around my neck while we sung our songs and said "I love you too, mommy" (which is what she says whether she is the initiator or not) and gave me a big smile.    Amazing grace indeed!

Toddler Sound Bite

Emily says so many funny things all the time I'm afraid I'm going to forget them all!  So, I'm going to record some of them here, in the form of toddler sound bites.  Yesterday, she was categorically placing all of her stuffed animals into our cat Oscar's kitty carrier.  This was a re-creation of a display at the Grand Rapids Children's Museum that Emily loved where kids could put all sorts of animals into crates.  Oscar decided that he wanted to get in on the action and tried to climb in.  Emily was quick to tell him "No Oscar!  This for animals".  I then explained to her that Oscar was in fact an animal, and she responded "No mommy.  Oscar a kitty".  You've got to love the logic!

The Friday Five

I'm having trouble coming up with a topic for this week's blog post.  My head is a little bit all over the place, and I can't seem to categorize my thoughts enough to order them in any particular way.  One of the biggest things that keeps percolating is news that we've recently begun to share more widely; we're expecting a new addition to our family in November!  Emily is going to be a big sister, and though she really isn't too engaged with the idea yet, Eric and I are rather excited.  And, truth be told, also a little terrified of having two small children!  And so, this week I'll share five random thoughts about being pregnant the second time around:

1.  Why didn't anyone tell me that I would start to look pregnant the second the pregnancy test showed a positive result?  Seriously, I'm almost 12 weeks along, and already, my jeans are a little snug.  I don't really understand this, as I haven't actually gained any weight yet, but there it is.  I seem to recall making it at least another month the first time around before I even began to think about maternity clothes.

2.  I forgot how rude people can be when you're pregnant.  I had one person, who shall remain anonymous, make the following comment to me after I told this individual that I was expecting: "you know, I thought you were looking a little plump".  I mean, really, in what context is that an acceptable comment to make?!

3.  My unwanted pregnancy symptoms - tiredness and nauseousness - have been much worse this time around.  I've felt sick off and on all day long, suffered a rather violent stomach virus in the middle of it, and am only just starting to feel like my normal self.  I've also found myself falling asleep on the couch shortly after Emily is in bed for the night on several occasions, and once I laid down on the couch in the middle of the day, while Emily was playing, and was woken up by her several minutes later.  That was a little unnerving!

4.  I have been very disappointed that coffee has been completely unappealing to me.  For my birthday recently, I was given a Keurig single-cup brew coffee maker (thanks mom!).  I used it daily for about two weeks, and since then, haven't been able to stomach the thought (or the smell) of a cup of coffee.  I'm truly hoping that changes soon.

5.  I'm going to know this baby's birthday way before he or she is born.  I've chosen to schedule another c-section, a decision supported by my doctor 100%, and she informed me yesterday that she can schedule this anytime after 20 weeks.  She gave me a due date of November 24th, but said they like to do as few surgeries as possible in the days before Thanksgiving, so I will likely deliver on the 18th or 19th of November.  It will be a completely different feeling to know exactly how much time  is left with this pregnancy!  Of course, the little one could always come early and surprise us.  Early isn't bad.

In all seriousness though, despite the complaints, I know just how blessed we are to be pregnant and almost through the first trimester.  It's been a more turbulent ride this time around, fraught with more worries and panicky moments about what could still go wrong, but God is good all the time, and we're thrilled to start a new adventure together as a family.

The Friday Five

I think most people, even if they don't formally write it down, have at least a mental list of things they want to do and/or see before they die.  Some of these things are big and grandiose, and others smaller, but it's fun to have some of each.  And even more fun to cross them off as you do them.  Here are five things on my list:

1.  Start a vegetable garden.  I'm irrationally terrified of gardening.  But at the same time, I love the idea of growing my own food, and how it would reduce our carbon foot print and force us to eat healthier.  I don't know if this summer will be the summer that I take the plunge and just do it, but I have these books on hold at the library, so we'll see: Grow Great Grub and Small Plot, High Yield Gardening: How to Grow like a Pro, Save Money, and Eat Well by Turning your Yard Into an Organic Produce Garden.

2.  Run a sub four hour marathon.  Okay, so this is a bigger goal, but I really think I can do it.  I just better set my sights on a marathon sooner rather than later.  Maybe I'll research which ones have the fastest, flattest courses...

3.  Attend a major sporting event: the superbowl, the olympics, or the U.S. Tennis Open are my top choices.

4.  Go to a wine tasting event.  They always sound so fun, and I really love to sample new wines!  My friend's mom, who is a buyer for a local grocery chain, hosted an informal night of wine tasting last year, and it was amazing!  I need to visit some vineyards and have at it sometime!

5.  Make the perfect granola.  I love to eat it with yogurt and fruit for breakfast in the mornings, but it's so expensive at the grocery store, so I've tried a couple different homemade recipes.  I'm getting better, but I'm not there yet.  Any tips?

I finally caved...

My baby was born with hair.  A lot of dark brown hair.  In the last two and half years, that hair has lightened significantly (though I still am not convinced that she'll always be a blond) and grown to be quite long.  I love her long hair, and I have fought tooth and nail to avoid giving Emily bangs.  I think this is because I have so many bad memories of uneven bangs from my own childhood.  Well, okay, maybe they are not memories so much as me cringing now when I look at old pictures (sorry mom, I know you tried).  But alas, Emily's hair is pretty hard to manage.  I often have to re-do it several times throughout the day, she's constantly pushing the wisps out of her eyes, and on Fridays, when Eric is home with Emily?  Well, let's just say it's not pretty.  And so I caved, and tonight, I gave her a trim and also bangs.  I hate it, and what's worse than that, I think I made them too short!  So, here are a couple of pictures.  And what do I need from you blog family and friends?  I need you to tell me how cute she is, how they'll grow back, and how she won't resent me for this when she's older (even if you have to lie).

The Friday Five

For lent this year, I gave up chocolate.  To many, this is not such a difficult feat, but to me, it was quite a challenge.  I'd actually done it once before, when I was in high school, but clearly time had made the challenge seem like a less daunting feat than it actually is.  I kind of imagine that labor is the same way, and that is what allows women to decide to have more babies, but I digress.  This week has been full of chocolate goodness, probably too much so.  I KNOW I ate way too much of a butterfinger milkshake last night!  Still, here are my top 5 chocolate treats:

1)  Trader Joe's Peppermint Chocolate Covered Joe-Joe's.  These are the best thing ever invented.  Period.  The ones in the picture don't all have the chocolate covering, but the boxes I buy do.  They only come out around the holidays, so I stock up.  I literally bought every box on the shelf when I visited a Trader Joe's location after Thanksgiving.  For those curious, it was 12 boxes.  I try to space them out over the course of the year, but I'm already halfway through them.

2) Chocolate covered strawberries.  I don't get to eat them that all that often, but something about the combination of the flavors has me drooling every time!  There are a lot of things that taste better when covered in chocolate, but strawberries have to be one of the best!

3) Bruster's Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Ice Cream.  I worked at an ice cream store called Bruster's when I was in high school, and Eric likes to brag about how often I was named "Scooper of the Month".  One of my crowning professional achievements for sure.  But they have the best ice cream, and the flavor mentioned above is just unbelievable.  I've tried everything to transport it back to Michigan, but I have to suffice for over-indulging when I'm home.

4) Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies.  When they are right out of the oven, and you down them with a cold glass of milk, that's hard to beat.

5) Tira Misu Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.  So stinking good!  It feels light (well, relatively light, compared to other cheesecakes) and just melts in your mouth.  I'm salivating just thinking about it right now, and I always have to treat myself when I visit this restaurant!

So, that's my list.  Am I missing any chocolate goodies that you can't live without?