A Very Elmo Christmas

We had such a nice Christmas. For journaling purposes, I am going to write it all down, but it probably won't be a very exciting read. However I can assure you that good times were had by all.

The 24th was reserved for Tom's side of the family. We spent the afternoon and early evening at his mom's house. She had purchased everything Elmo that she found in the store. Ellie received an Elmo outfit, Elmo coloring books, Elmo chair, TMX Elmo, Elmo books, and a small Elmo doll. To top it off, everything was wrapped in Elmo wrapping paper. It was so fun to see Ellie actually get into Christmas this year. She enthusiastically unwrapped all her presents and showed excitement over each and every one.

The one gift Tom's mom bought Ellie that wasn't Elmo related was a keyboard. Ellie loves it. Plus, it comes with a microphone so Ellie can "sing" along to her music. We received a lot of noisy toys this Christmas. I am not sure how prompt I will be at replacing the batteries.

In the evening, Tom's dad and siblings came over to my house. It was great just relaxing and visiting. Ellie loved having the extra company and showed off for them by dragging her new Elmo chair around.

Christmas morning, we slept in until 7 and then let Ellie open her presents for us. Surprise, surprise, she got more Elmo stuff.

Christmas day was spent with my family. Since the reunion was starting the following day, we had quite the crowd for Christmas dinner. We simplified things by putting the children in the kitchen and all the adults ate in the sunroom. I love that Ellie is such a great eater and will happily occupy herself with food so I can enjoy my own meal.

After dinner, we played a rousing game of kickball. My team lost, yet I was surprisingly sore the next day.

I am going to reserve the family reunion for a post of its own. It has been a very busy last few days. I hope everyone had as wonderful of a holiday as we did!

Merry Christmas!

Like mother, like daughter

I went to bed last night wearing my warm, comfy pajamas with the feet. I woke up this morning without a shirt on. I naturally blamed it on Tom, but he insisted that I woke up during the night flailing my arms about and saying something about bugs crawling all over me. It disturbs me that I remove articles of clothing in my sleep and have no memory of it. I am just really relieved I never did it in college when I had a roommate.

I went in to check on Ellie just now. She was completely naked and using her pink, sock-monkey pajamas as a blanket. It appears I am not the only one in this family that likes to strip in her sleep.

Christmas calamity

This is my last week of school before Christmas break. Finals start tomorrow. My students have been going insane. In the past week, I have had 5 students suspended for fighting. I am starting to feel the need to punch someone as well.

On the bright side, the whole family is going to be here for Christmas. One big family reunion. How big? Let me do the math for you: 2 parents + 7 kids + 7 spouses + 18 grandkids = a very noisy affair.

Christmas card photo shoot

The Rejects

The Finalists

Christmas card woes

The Christmas cards have started arriving in the mail. Christmas trees, smiling children, a lone gay guy on a mountain top (hi, Cody!). All of these cards are making me feel guilty. Like I should maybe attempt to take a picture of Ellie dressed in a cute outfit, sitting in front of our shabbily decorated tree. So, I have decided to bite the bullet and give it a try. Is there some magic trick or secret to getting a toddler to pose for a Christmas picture? Also, how about a trick for getting your husband to put up the freaking Christmas lights already?

Just kill me

Now I have the stomach bug.

Sleep deprived and showing off

Ellie has woken up at 4:30 in the morning for the past 4 days in a row. We have tried moving her bedtime back an hour, but she is still waking up like clockwork. It's killing us.

Good thing she is cute.

In which I say vomit...a lot

Tom projectile vomited all over his classroom today. How's that for an opening sentence? Makes you want to read more, right? Because who doesn't want to read about vomit? Not to worry, none of his students were around, although I am sure there are a few he wouldn't have minded spewing on. He walked in the door and went straight to bed and I haven't heard from him since. I figured there is no point in cooking dinner so I am finishing up the rest of my birthday cake. How many calories do you think are in half a chocolate cake?

Frankly, I am sick of vomit. Ellie threw up Saturday night and Sunday night. Then, this morning at 4:30am, she decided to take off her diaper and pee down the side of her crib. I have changed her sheets 3 times in less than a week. She had the nerve to demand to sit on the potty before letting me rediaper her. That kid is going to potty train herself despite my best efforts to stop her.

Has this seemed like a really long week to anyone else? I am so happy tomorrow is Friday. In the great tradition of the women in my family, I am going to drag out my birthday for as long as possible. Tom's mom is babysitting on Saturday so Tom and I can go out. I am doing my yearly trip to Olive Garden. Tom hates the place because it is cliche, but whatever, I love the breadsticks and salad. Then, on Sunday, the fam is celebrating mine and Leilani's birthdays at Mark's house. Goody, more cake.

Have a great weekend!

29 years ago today

I was born. 10 pounds, 3.5 ounces. Clearly, I had weight issues even then.

Tom bought me a dozen roses and hired someone to deep clean our house.

Ellie bought me some Elmo pajama pants.

Happy birthday, Alex!

Wow, even though I don't have to, I am still posting every day. But I have some fun pictures I wanted to upload. Saturday night, we went over to Alex's parents' house to celebrate his birthday. This has become a tradition each year. I was a little worried about Ellie acting up since it would be past her 6:oo bedtime, but she did great. She plopped right down in Alex's lap and insisted he read her a story.

Alex's mom planned the cutest surprise. His dad lured Alex outside and his mom pulled out masks she had made out of Alex's picture. We all were wearing them when he walked back inside so he was looking at 11 Alex's. It was pretty funny. I guess you just had to be there.

Opinions wanted

I'm looking for a toddler backpack for Ellie. I've decided it is time for her to lug her own diapers around. Any suggestions?

NaBloPoMo Champion

Tom went to a football game tonight so I decided to go through my closets and drawers and get rid of all clothes I no longer wear. Then, I opened up the boxes of "skinny clothes" and got rid of them as well. I filled two huge, black, trash bags with clothes. I am so proud of myself.

Today is the last day of NaBloPoMo. I did it! I posted every. single. day. for a month! I sincerely apologize for the countless boring posts (like the one above) that you have endured the past 30 days. I promise things will go back to normal (meaning there will still be the boring posts, but not every day).

Have a wonderful weekend!

My poor, neglected dogs

One thing I feel really guilty about since having Ellie is the decrease of attention towards the devil-dogs. You know how in The Lady and the Tramp, Tramp warns Lady that when a baby come in the house, the dog goes out? I hate to admit it, but that has happened in my house.

Before Ellie (BE), Tom and I used to walk our dogs (they weren't devil-dogs back then) every night. I really enjoyed our nightly walks together as a family. Tom would walk Kali and I would walk Dakota (RIP) and we would have such great talks. But after Ellie was born, we couldn't just leave her alone in the house while we went on our two mile walk. And the dogs were too large and strong for me to walk alone, so the burden fell mostly to Tom. Dog walking went from a daily thing to a weekly thing. And trips to the dog park? Ended completely. It's something I think about a lot.

The dogs have caused us so much stress, trouble, and money. Both of our families pressure us to get rid of them. But I love my dogs. I hate that I let our new lifestyle push them to the background. My New Year's Resolution (a couple months early) is to be a better pet owner. I started tonight by letting them drag me around the neighborhood for 30 minutes (both had choke collars on and still they dragged me). My palms are raw from my death grip on the leash and my shin splints hurt from pulling back, but my dogs are happy.

Toddler crack

Because I'm crafty like that

When I picked Ellie up from school today, they were just sitting down to a craft. She threw a huge, screaming fit when I tried to make her leave. I promised her that we would do a craft at home. Ha. Like I even own a glue stick. So, after I fed Ellie and bathed her, I printed off some Elmo coloring pages and sat her down with a few crayons. The kid couldn't have been happier.

The nigh-nigh paci

Ellie did not take a nap today and it was all my fault. I forgot to bring her nap mat and pacifier to daycare this morning. I am sure she would have fallen asleep on the cot without her nap mat if she had her pacifier, but I am a bad mother and left it at home. So, by the time I picked her up at 3:00, she was a wreck. She screamed in her carseat the first 10 minutes and then abruptly conked out. Then she slept on my lap at home until I woke her up at 5:00 to eat and take a bath. I put her down to bed at 6:00 and haven't heard a peep from her since.

The only time she even uses a pacifier is when she is sleeping. I think that might be the secret to having a child who likes to go to bed. She knows that once she is in her crib she gets her paci and her love-monkey. She is really good about taking out her pacifier and throwing it in the crib when I come to get her in the mornings. However, sometimes she will go into her room, shut the door carefully behind her, sneak a paci out of her crib and stealthily crawl underneath it so she can suck away in secret. We are going to try to wean her from the paci completely this summer. Here are a few of the tips I have been given:

1. Tell your child the dog ate the pacifier
2. Tell child to put paci under pillow and the Pacifier Fairy will take it during the night and leave a toy
3. Reason with your toddler and explain how a pacifier will ruin her teeth (this actually worked for my sister)

Does anyone else have tried and true tips for weaning from the paci?

More potty talk

I've mentioned before how Ellie always wants to sit on the potty when she sees me doing it. But she never actually goes in the potty. Well, today I was reading a book on the couch and Ellie came up and said, "pee pee." She was pretty insistent about it and tried to take off her pants. I thought she had a dirty diaper, but it was clean so I sat her on the toilet and, what do you know, the kid went pee pee in the potty! I was pretty impressed. I'm still not ready to buy a little toilet or pull-ups, but I'll sit her on there whenever she asks.

I'm so sad my vacation is over. I'm not ready to go back to school. I have a cold, so I feel like crap, and my supervisor is observing one of my classes tomorrow. Ugh. Oh well, only 4 more weeks til Christmas break and my family's reunion!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

A trip to the theatre

Ellie went to her first movie today! Yesterday, Sabrina and I were talking and somehow we decided it would be fun to take our toddlers to The Bee Movie. We convinced ourselves that they would sit still and really enjoy it as long as they had a big bucket of popcorn in front of them. My mom went with us so at least we had the kids outnumbered. I bought a large popcorn thinking we would all share it. Um, no. Ellie refused to let go of the huge bag and she would scream when anyone tried to take some. I cannot even tell you how much popcorn she ate today (looking forward to those diapers). Anyway, the popcorn kept her occupied for about 1/3 of the movie, the rest of the time I spent in the aisle or the hallway. I think the movie might have been funny. And Ellie would probably have enjoyed it if she weren't, I don't know, a baby! So, yeah, I am not going to be taking her to any movies in the near future. Maybe next Thanksgiving.

A little gingerbread madness

Yesterday, Rosie organized a gingerbread house craft for the kids. Ellie loves doing crafts, especially when they involve candy and frosting. She decorated and tore down her house four times. Here is the final product (the house closest to the camera):

This morning, she spied the house on the counter and started demanding to eat it. When I wouldn't let her have it, she threw the most tremendous temper tantrum. I put her in time out in the corner and she actually seemed to understand the concept.

Today was a pretty laid back day. We had some family over to watch the A&M/UT football game (A&M won, whoop!). Then, Tom stayed home with Ellie while we all went over to Mark and Rosie's to eat leftovers and play games. I am so addicted to this Ticket to Ride game. It is crazy fun.

I love Thanksgiving

I had such a wonderful Thanksgiving hanging out with my family. We only had half the family in attendance and we still had 18 people (8 adults, 10 grandkids). The meal was delicious, playing outside with the kids afterwards was a blast, and then playing games with the adults in the evening made for a great day. I lay in bed for a few extra minutes this morning (before answering Ellie's 5:30am wake up call) thinking about all the things I am thankful for. I thought about how lucky I am to be married to my best friend. I thought about Ellie and how I couldn't have asked for a more amazing daughter. And I thought about my family and how lucky I am to have such a large support system in place. I really do have so much to be thankful for and I need to remind myself of that more often...not just on Thanksgiving.

Temper tantrums aren't cute, right?

Pretty soon, it is not going to be cute when Ellie tells me, "No! Stop it!" Or when she throws herself to the floor because she doesn't get her way. I try to use a time out chair, but she doesn't seem to get the concept. One time I spanked her (lightly), but then she started spanking herself on the bottom and laughing. Any ideas on disciplining 19 month olds?

In which a hard drive falls on my foot

I went jogging again today. I was so proud of myself for going because I was totally sore and felt like crap. But then I broke my toes. No, seriously, I was trying to get a box off the top of my closet and a hard drive fell down on my foot. It hurt like crazy. Almost as bad as the time I caught my finger in the mixer. Or broke my pinky toe falling down the stairs. I would take a picture of my toes, but I am too embarrassed by my two-month old pedicure.

In which I say a little bit about nothing at all

Tomorrow is Ellie's last day of antibiotics, but I think she still has strep. She wouldn't eat her dinner tonight. She took two bites and each time she would cry and make the sign for hurt. I scheduled another doctor's appointment for Wednesday, but this time Tom is going to take her. Oh how he is going to love that hour of bonding time with Ellie in the waiting room. I just hope he has better luck trying to keep her from rolling on the floor and playing in the garbage cans.

I went for a little run tonight. Not far, about a mile. But I am determined to get in shape and lose weight. And no time like the holidays to do that, right?

In which we find a roach in the salad

Today was a busy day for us. We were celebrating Tom's sister's birthday which meant meeting at his mom's house for cake and presents and then meeting up with his dad later for dinner. Ellie loves her Nana's new house because it is right on a lake. Ellie will tear off down the backyard, shouting "water," and head straight for the dock. This, of course, scares Tom and I to death. I kept envisioning myself having to dive into that unnaturally colored water to rescue Ellie.

By the time we met up with Grandpa Tom at the restaurant it was getting dangerously close to Ellie's bed time. I knew it was just a matter of minutes before she turned into a banshee. After waiting for what seemed like forever, we finally got our salads. Unfortunately, there was a roach in one of them. We were are all bothered by this unexpected dinner guest and Ellie was screeching at the top of her lungs. The manager brought out some toys for Ellie in a vain attempt to calm her down (and perhaps to help us forget about the roach?).However, by this time Tom had reached the end of his rope and wanted to cancel our order and just go home. Even if Tom no longer wanted to eat, I still wanted my steak, so we got our food to go and said goodbye to the fam. Hopefully the rest of their meal was delicious (I know my boxed up steak was, roach or no roach). Happy birthday, Tara!

What new moms want new dads to know (imo)

Ok, as I mentioned previously, my expectant friend asked me to blog about what new moms want new dads to know. So here goes…

1. After having a baby, women go into this super protective mode that men don’t seem to get. New moms are deeply afraid that something will happen to their babies. This is not a time for new dads to laugh at their wives or to make light of their obsessive compulsive behavior (like staying up all hours of the night swatting at mosquitoes to protect your child from West Nile).

2. Never, ever, ever say “Why don’t you nap when the baby naps?” There is so much to think about after having a baby, so much to worry and obsess over (mosquitoes, fontanels, breathing, etc.). The mind does not shut down, making naps extremely difficult.

3. If your wife has stayed up all night nursing your child, don’t even think about saying “Well, I changed the last dirty diaper.” Just change it and be grateful that your existence hasn’t been turned into that of a dairy cow.

4. Finally, this may sound unfair, but I think that having a baby affects moms more than it does dads. Sure, dads are impacted big time, too, but it seems like after a few days off from work, they are able to go back to their “normal” lives. Our bodies, our lives, and our jobs will never be the same again after having a baby.

Ok, so this might seem a little like male bashing, but it really isn’t. I just really think that men experience having a new baby a lot differently than women and I wanted to share the women’s (or at least this woman’s) side of it. I do have to give major props to Tom because I went back to work at 8 weeks and Tom was home for the next two months with an infant. Pretty impressive, right? I would LOVE to get Tom to do a post about what new dads want new moms to know. The list would probably be endless, because new moms? They aren't too easy to live with.

Strep throat...again

I took today off from work and made another torturous trip to the doctor’s office. I really, really, really hate that waiting room, no matter how cute it looks with its little tables and childish drawings on the walls. Ellie has really been under the weather all week. The diarrhea I've been blaming on teething, but it shouldn't be happening several times a day. Then the congestion and chronic cough I tried to blame on teething as well. But when she started running a fever two days ago and it spiked to 103 last night, well, I decided to bite the bullet and get it checked out. Sure enough, strep throat. I should have known something was really wrong because she wasn't really eating. And Ellie ALWAYS eats. She loves food more than any kid I know.

Anyway, while I was hanging out in the waiting room, a lady brought in a little boy who looked to be about 2 months older than Ellie. One side of his face was badly burned and his eye was partially swollen shut. I smiled at her and went back to trying to keep Ellie from playing in the garbage can. The nosey mom next to me, though, decided to play 20 questions.

Nosey Mom: Oh my gosh, what happened to his face?
Burn Victim's Mother: Oh, he pulled the iron down on his face.
NM: It looks awful. Just awful.
BVM: Yes, it was rough.
NM: Did you take him to the ER?
BVM: Yes, last night. [chases after son who threw a book in the garbage]
NM: I bet he cried forever. It looks soooo painful.
BVM: Actually, he seems to be handling it quite well.
NM: Well, I burned myself on the oven and the pain lasted for days. I bet he is in a lot of pain. That looks really bad. I bet it will scar.

At this point, BVM looks like she is about to cry so I jumped in and asked her what degree burn it was. She said 2nd, so I told her that I doubted he would have any scarring, especially since they started treating it right away. Nosey mother didn't take the hint and said, "You'll probably have to take him to a plastic surgeon."

Ok, so that was a long conversation I just typed out, but I felt so bad for the mother. Her son's face really did look awful and the poor mom looked completely drained. After seeing that kid, strep throat seems like a walk in the park.

Oh no!

Ellie’s new phrase for this week is “Oh no!” It is so adorable. Not the phrase, but the way she says it. She puts so much feeling into it, like something so sad and dreadful has just happened. And yet she says it ALL THE TIME. Signing Time is over? “Oh no!” Splashed in the tub? “Oh no!” Dropped a cracker on the floor? “Oh noooo!” And “Where it go?” I love that she is talking so much more now. Last night I was eating an apple and she came up to me and said, “I want apple.” And then she repeated it over and over until I gave it to her because who cares that she has never had a whole apple before and therefore might possibly need the Heimlich? Who can refuse that sweet, high pitched voice?

So much to say, no words to say it

I received an email from a good friend of mine today who is pregnant. She reads the blog and suggested that I write about "What no one tells/warns you to expect when you're expecting" or "What new moms want new dads to know" or "Things I wish someone had told me."

Becoming a mother rocked my world. I have yet to find words that can encompass all the feelings/emotions/fears/joys that I experienced after having Ellie. Back in August, I wrote a post about the things they don't tell you. I've also blogged about my case of the crazies after Ellie was born. But I am intrigued by the topic: "What new moms want new dads to know." That is a good one. And very important, I think. I am going to give it more thought because there are A LOT of things new moms want new dads to know, but for now I am going to put it out there for my readers. What do you wish you had known? What do you think new dads should know? How much is too much to tell an expectant friend?

Teeth and turkey

Ellie is getting her bottom incisor in. She just finished getting the last of her 1 year molars and I thought I'd get a reprieve in the teething arena, but no such luck. Poor kid. She is chewing up her fingers like crazy. And she has been having diarrhea that burns her poor red bum. I will be so happy when she finally has all of her teeth.

Moving on.

Can I just say how excited I am about Thanksgiving? My parents are going to be in town and I am going to get the traditional, home-cooked meal. Oh, how I have missed it. What could be better than hanging out with my parents, my three brothers and their families, and chowing down on the best food around?

Post per day is killing me

I'm really tired and I was getting ready for bed when I realized I hadn't posted today. Dang it.

Tom and I watched How I Met Your Mother tonight. It was about the annoying things your significant other does that drives you crazy. So, of course I had to pause the show and make Tom list the things I do that annoy him. He came up with: leaving cupboards and drawers open behind me everywhere I go, forgetting to lock the door, walking around the house brushing my teeth, and laughing too much when talking on the phone. Yeah, I can live with that. The annoying habits I listed for him were just as banal. Heehee, I am really too lazy to type them out and, plus, how often do you get to use the word "banal" in a sentence?

Picture post: Devil-dogs edition

I have run out of things to say so I am just going to post a lot of pictures. And, yes, I am terribly embarrassed by what the dogs have done to the back of my house (although obviously not embarrassed enough).

The saga of the monkey

When Tom's grandmother passed away 6 years ago, I bought him a really soft monkey. We named the monkey Smia (Softest Monkey In America). When Ellie was a few months old, she latched onto Smia. It became her favorite object and she would sleep with it every night. We even took the monkey with us on our vacation this summer. Shortly after we got back from our trip, Smia disappeared. I looked everywhere for that monkey, but had no luck. I was so upset about its disappearance, not only because Ellie loved it, but also for its sentimental value.

When Tom left for his training retreat on Tuesday, he took some sheets with him. I spoke to him that night on the phone and somehow the monkey was brought up even though it had been months and months since it disappeared. I told Tom how bad I felt still about the monkey missing. The next morning, I woke up to find a picture of the monkey on my cell phone! After I had gotten off the phone with Tom the night before, he had taken out the sheets to make his bed and Smia had fallen out! Crazy, right?

I was so excited for Tom to come home and give Ellie her beloved monkey back. I wondered if she would even remember it. Sure enough, as soon as Ellie saw her monkey she latched onto it and would not let it go.

Welcome home, Smia.

A romantic conversation with my spouse

"What! You mean you can't burp on command?"

"Um, no."

"You mean you can't burp like this?" [burp, burp, burp]

"Definitely not."

"If I were in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, I could burp my way out of that room."

"I couldn't."

"Yeah, you would get sucked in the fan and die."

Brought to you by the letter I. No, B!

I have been keeping up with the whole NaBloPoMo thing, but my posts are sadly lacking in Ellie pics. So, here is a video of Ellie playing with her bathtub alphabet. It is a great tub toy and Ellie loves sticking the letters and numbers to the side of the tub. She will randomly yell out letters (almost never the right ones). What can I say...I think it's cute.

Notice the bite mark on Ellie's shoulder? That is her first injury while at this new daycare. At her old daycare, hardly a day went by without her having some sort of scratch, bruise, or bite. What bothers me about this bite, though, is that no one knew about it. She was wearing a thick shirt today, so for it to have left such clear bits, that bite must have been fierce. And I am sure Ellie screamed. So why didn't anyone notice it?

PB and eggs

When we were at the doctor's office the other day, our pediatrician informed me that Ellie is not supposed to have eggs until she is 2 or peanut butter until she is 3. I know I read something about that when Ellie was an infant, but for some reason as soon as Ellie hit the big 1, I just started feeding her everything. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? You bet. And guess what Ellie had for dinner tonight? I'll give you a hint: it rhymes with legs.

Lonely nights and evil items

I am a single mother for the next few days. Tom had to go out of town for a training titled, "Capturing Kids' Hearts." I won't say how much we mocked it. I am all for quiet, alone time in the evenings where I can kick up my feet and read a book without having to fend off Tom's advances, but when it comes time to go to bed, I need a bedmate. Seriously, Tom is the inner spoon and without him, it just doesn't work. On to something more fun. This is an honest to goodness sign that was up near where I used to work. When I went to the library last Saturday to meet my girls for lunch, Stephanie showed us this picture that she had snapped with her digital camera. We had a lot of fun imagining what they meant by "evil item." We also debated attending and throwing in our own "evil items." As you can imagine, the idea of book burning just doesn't sit right with three librarians. Now if you'll excuse me, I am suddenly feeling the urge to go watch Footloose.

18 month appointment (3 weeks late)

Ellie turned 18 months on April 13, but today was the earliest I could get her in. Her appointment was scheduled for 3:30 today. Of course, I didn't actually get to see the doctor until closer to 5:00. I love our pediatrician, but really, the wait times are torture. After 45 minutes in the waiting room, Ellie grabbed the diaper bag, dragged it across the floor to the door, and loudly announced "go bye-bye" over and over again.

Her stats are as follows:
Weight - 26 lbs 15 oz (this is fully clothed, with shoes)
Height: 32 inches
Head: 47.5

She was 75 percentile for everything. Such a big girl! She is already wearing 2T clothing and size 6 shoes. When the doctor removed her diaper, Ellie said, "Ewww!" I didn't think much of it because Ellie has been saying "Ew" every time I change her diaper for quite a while now, but Dr. Nguyen thought that was hilarious.

Ellie got her flu shot and Hep shot today as well. She kept making the sign for hurt and pointing to her thighs. I felt terrible. I am definitely making Tom take her for her 2 year vaccinations.

daylight savings

I am worried about this whole time change thing. I just know that Ellie will wake up at 4:30am instead of her normal 5:30. I tried to keep her up an extra hour tonight, but at 5:45 she was attempting to climb into her crib herself.

This weekend went by way too fast. I feel like I didn't get anything accomplished. Does anyone else get Sunday Night Anxiety? Every Sunday night, for as long as I can remember, I have gotten SNA. I guess I really, really, really don't want the weekends to end. Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

Saturday tales

Ellie and I went to my old library today to have lunch with Sheryl and Stephanie. It's the first time since I quit that I have been back. I thought that being there would make me sad and wish that I still worked there, but surprisingly it didn't. It was nice to meet up with the girls, though, and Ellie was happy to be out and about.

Tom, Ellie, and I went to eat at Fajita Willie's tonight. That has become our weekend ritual. Ellie loves the salsa. She usually chokes a bit on the chips so tonight I brought pretzel sticks for her to dip in the salsa. After a while, she just started dipping her fingers in it. I moved it away from her so she took the straw from her drink and reached across the table to dip her straw in it.

I always share my rice and refried beans with Ellie. Tonight, she would take a bite and yell "Hot! Ow!" on top of her lungs and then start giggling like a maniac. I really love that kid.

More evidence of my laziness

Where do you normally put your clean laundry? (If you fold straight from the dryer, shut up. I hate you.) Mine ends up on the living room couch until I get around to folding it while watching one of my favorite shows. But lately? Lately I have just let it pile up until it has turned into something that will take longer than the 30 minutes allotted by The Office.

I wish my mom lived here.

NaBloPoMo

Guess what today is? November 1st! You know what that means? The start of National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). During NaBloPoMo you post every single day for a month. Every. Single. Day. Even Saturdays and Sundays. Fun, right?

I was hoping to kick off NaBloPoMo with a really awesome post, but my day has wiped me out. Seriously. I had to deal with highschoolers all jacked up on sugar, dogs that are escape artists, vets that like to take advantage of escaped dogs by giving them unauthorized shots, and incompetent PetSmart employees. I am sure there is a good story in there somewhere, but I am just too darn exhausted to tell it.

How about a picture of Ellie dressed as a monkey instead?

Happy Halloween!

Ellie is such a diva...changing costumes left and right.

Here is a super quick video clip of Ellie and Kolby in action. You can hear Sabrina telling them to go get candy and then they take off running to the house that just gave them candy.

One fine day

Tom and I both took today off from work so we could spend some quality time together. We have both been pretty stressed out lately and have been doing a lot of bickering back and forth so a day off was just what we needed.

The day started off perfectly, with Ellie letting us sleep in until 7. We dropped Ellie off at her school at 9 and headed to La Madeleine for a late breakfast. It was so nice to enjoy a meal alone together. Then we headed home for a nap before going to the afternoon matinee. Weird thing at the movies...the elderly ticket lady with layers upon layers of makeup asked us if we were 18. Yes, my bald husband and I were carded at the movie theatre. We walked into the theatre giggling like we were children. Then we looked around and realized that everyone else in the theatre was senior citizens. Apparently, 1:00 on a Monday afternoon is prime movie time for the over 60 set. Anyway, after the movie we picked up Ellie and took her to Cold Stone for some yummy ice cream.

I felt a little guilty dropping Ellie off at daycare when we were taking the day off, but Ellie loves her daycare and Tom and I really needed a day like today. I fully recommend playing hooky with your husband every so often.

Some potty talk

Um, hi! So, it's been awhile, right? Yeah, not much going on here at Casa de Ellie. We enjoyed spending some time with my parents the past couple of days. Ellie's attempts at signing grandma and grandpa were cute. They had to fly back to Aruba early this morning. I hate that they live so far away. Sure, Aruba is a cool place to visit, but much too far for grandparent-ing.

Ellie has been so obsessed with the potty lately. Anytime I am headed for the bathroom, she takes off after me saying "potty!" and doing the sign for it. And the past 2 weeks, she has insisted that I put her on the potty, too. She grunts and pretends to go, but never does. Really it is quite the hassle because I have to take off her pants and her diaper. Totally reinforces my resolve to delay potty training for as long as possible. Because I don't want to be in the middle of the grocery store and have to make the mad dash for the disgusting toilets. I am pretty sure I might be the laziest parent I know.

I am really excited for Halloween. I can't wait to dress Ellie up in her monkey suit again and parade her around the neighborhood so that I can get lots of candy. What a great holiday.

A day at the farm and a final birthday shout out

I meant to post yesterday to wish my older brother, Mark, a happy birthday, but yesterday was a very busy sort of day. So happy birthday, Mark!
You know how he spent his birthday? Riding 100 miles in the MS-150. The men in this family are insane.


Tom, Ellie & I, along with the Daniel/Sabrina fam, went to a fun little farm yesterday. The kids played happily in Little Farmersville...Petted the bravest goats in Texas...


Rode around on pedat-carts with their dads...



But their favorite part of the day was playing in the pumpkin patch...

It was a really fun day, but tiring and Ellie and I both got sunburned despite liberal applications of sunscreen. We topped off the day by babysitting Kolby and Olivia while Daniel and Sabrina went out to celebrate their birthdays (enough with the birthdays already!). Anyway, it was a fabulous weekend.