so not cool

She took it suprisingly well. Since it was her dog that did the eating of the hand and all. But if it would have been her sister, now that would have been a whole different story.

give thanks

thirty

Today, when I woke up, I was thirty. And most of me is relieved to tell you the truth. I’ve been acting thirty since I was about twenty-three. And for a long, long time I let that bother me. I let myself dwell on things that I was missing out on. I tried to hide things about myself like driving a minivan or not owning a pair of heels. Only recently, after the move to the burbs, the 2nd baby, maybe even the blogging support, have I learned to embrace my true self. That maybe what I thought the twenties were supposed to be was all just in my head. That my life did not just accidentally happen this way; that this is the life that I choose, the life that I wanted all along.
So maybe that’s the difference between the twenties and the thirties. Maybe the thirties bring confidence, security, comfort, even a little pride. Because honestly, the thought of all of that spontaneity right now just makes me tired.

clean sweep

I clean out my van every single weekend. And every single weekend this is just about what I get out of it. How in the world does this happen? Seriously it's embarrassing to let people ride with me unless it's on a Monday maybe a Tuesday.

10 jackets
7 pairs of shoes
1 pair of jammies
2 scarves
4 babies
3 McDonald's toys
3 unopened juice boxes
5 days worth of mail
stuff that I cleaned out from my desk at work
bags of stuff that I bought but didn't take into the house yet
papers that I cleaned out of Audrey's backpack

just another friday night

Travis brought home rock band. Todd and Tara and Lily came over for dinner. Nuf said. Good times.

baby mama

Something is different about this picture...

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? The blue one. Right. All of the other babies are obviously girls ;)

Lucy loves her some babies. And these are the best babies ever. Perfectly tiny to carry around everywhere. Perfectly tiny to get lost and try to find in the middle of the night in the dark. The first purchase was an impulse purchase. We were at Wal-mart and it was $1.00 and it was more than worth the price to keep a little one happy in the store. Then I noticed the attachment. Then I got the idea that the babies just might be able to replace the binkys. Um, I mean the occasional binky only at night...right. Moving on. Went back to get more, gone. Another Wal-mart, gone. 3rd Wal-mart, only had little black babies. And I was so excited to see any babies that I bought one. And that's ok isn't it? I really don't know the protocol on buying babies for your children that are a different race. I never had a black baby or a black Barbie. But I do have black friends and I am pro adoption so I didn't see the harm. And frankly, Lucy didn't even notice. Anyways, the 4th Wal-mart had all white babies and I bought 5. Again, I was just so excited. So that makes 7. Question is: does she have 7 thinking that she only needs one at a time or does she have 7 thinking that she always needs all 7? No wait, only Audrey would think that way :)

wispy

Yesterday, Nickie and I had this huge email discussion on how to make your hair into a "messy ponytail". It went on for quite a while: hold your head upside down, part your hair and pull back, back comb first, etc, etc. We take our email conversations very seriously. Well, I don't know about you Nic, but I think Lucy has the look down.

what not to wear mommy edition

Today I got the privilege of picking Audrey up from school. We had a few minutes to burn before her dentist appointment so I thought we could run into the shoe store to look for some black pattens for the fire fighter ball. This is when my 4 year old tells me that "we aren't even going to bother going in unless I promise to only buy heels". You see, my husband just happens to be the exact same height as me and even though he insists that it would be ok for me to wear heels I saw it as an excuse to not buy any more ever again. Until today that is. So we walk into the store and Audrey is running up and down the isles pointing out the most gauty shoes she can find. And she keeps saying things like "we have got to get you into a pair of heels" and "oh mom these are to die for" and "everyone deserves a good pair of heels". And finally I pick out a pair that look like they might fit on my extra wide flinstone croc wearing feet and when I sit down to try them on...Audrey takes my hand to help me up and then walks me to the mirror because she doesn't want me to fall over and says to me "wow mom, you are a quick learner, look at you already walking in those heels!"

*

* this post is not politically correct.

Apparently Audrey is learning all about Indians at school this month for Thanksgiving. This evening during play time, she holds her hands like she has a bow and arrow and says "I am going to shoot your dogs and eat them for dinner"

mmmm, must be one of those Asian Indians :)

mr wonderful

Happy Anniversary! Truly the most amazing 7 years of my life. You are the best husband I've ever had...hehehe.

reverse psychology

The other night at dinner, while Trav and I were quietly talking about our Anniversary plans, Audrey's radar ears clued in. The same radar ears that cannot hear me when I say things like "you need to pick up your toys" over and over and over again.

A: what are you guys talking about
J: we're going on a date for our anniversary
A: but I want to coooommmme
J: you'll be at Grandma's, you'll never even know that we're gone
A: but whyyyyyy can't I cooooommmmee
T: this is the night that mommy and daddy talk about what life was like before you were born
A: awwwwwwww, now you are hurting my feelings
J: we're going somewhere where there are no kids allowed anyway
T: yeah it's really boring there you wouldn't like it
J: you have to be really quiet there
T: and they don't even have a kids menu
J: or crayons
T: you will have way more fun with Grandma and Grandpa

A: wait a minute...you guys are just saying all of this to trick me into thinkng that I don't want to come anymore

...busted.

one month ago

We were still in WDW. (sigh)

The first ride - Dumbo

The first character meal. Audrey could not stop smiling...Lucy could not stop crying.

Hula!!!

Lucy "reading the map"

waiting patiently in line

royalty

the girls looking at the ducks

next to impossible to get a picture of them together

toy story ride Audrey and Daddy

vs. Lucy and Mommy

making an "A" out of her chocolate chips

standing under the fountain

Audrey playing in the water

the closest Lucy got to a character all week

Lucy and the men in her life

Lucy "in charge" of the slide

Lucy playing in the water

spinning on the teacups

last ride - carousel

We were there for 8 days so that was plenty of time to go slow, stop often, repeat rides, swim in the pool, go to bed on time, and still feel like we saw almost everything. Audrey was absolutely star struck. She had a blast. Lucy had fun and was so good the entire time. She only cried when the characters tried to touch her.
We stayed at Wilderness Lodge. It was close to Magic Kingdom so we could come and go there fairly easily. The other 3 parks we had to “commit” to for at least a ½ day if we were going to make the trip. We went to Hollywood studios for 1 day, Animal Kingdom for 1 day, Epcot for 2 days and MK for 2 ½ full days and then almost every night after dinner. We originally thought that we would be able to leave in the middle of the day and break for naps and swimming before dinner and then stay to close the park but it actually worked out better for us to stay in the park until dinner and then afterwards swim and get to bed at normal time every night. And let me tell you those girls crashed every single night. A few of the nights Travis and I went back out for the magic hours while my parents stayed with the girls.

No lines people. No lines. If the wait time was over 10 minutes we felt like we needed a fast pass we were SO spoiled. Some of those rides, I'll be honest, would not have been as fun after a 2 hour wait. Character lines really no more than 10 people long or so and near perfect weather. Next time we go back, it will probably be at this time of year again.

I have to say one more time that the girls were just so so good. There are tons of parents there pushing their kids to the limit and I completely understand why because it is truly a once in a lifetime situation but I never really felt like we had to do that with the girls. Melt downs were minimal, boredom was minimal, whining was minimal. I was so proud of what both of them were capable of day after day.

I can't believe it's already been a month. I'm so ready to go back. Only 4 years and 11 months left. (sigh)

watch week

Once a year the parents get to go behind the closed door at Sarah's and see what exactly they are paying $40 a month for. At this age, I'm not expecting much precision, but it's obvious that Audrey is having fun and loves the music. The main reason we put her in dance last year was for the socialization and it really got the ball rolling for everything else we have done with her in the past year...including preschool. I love that their little outfits match I think it looks so cute. They will be wearing these in the Christmas program but everyone buys them early so that we can really get our money's worth out of them.

Sadly, I think Audrey is ready to move on to a program that includes gymnastics. It's not that I wanted Audrey to dance all the way through high school or anything, I'm just not very good with "break ups". Sarah's will always hold a special place in my heart for helping Audrey to come out of her shell.