I once heard of a little girl who wouldn't smile for pictures at her sister's wedding... OR How history repeats itself...

Hey Na, Hey Na

I didn't realize that Eve missed her daddy so much, until he got back from Madden's Friday afternoon (a full 2 and 1/2 hours earlier than I expected him!) and she would not let him put her down for about 4 hours. You couldn't wipe the smile off her face, and she kept burying her face in his shoulder. Sometimes, I think we have it so ingrained in our heads that Josie is "daddy's girl" that we fail to make sure Evie is getting enough time with him, and Josie with me.

Many things in life are uncertain. But one thing I'm fairly certain I know FOR SURE - my children will never be America's Next Top Model. They are beautiful, but not pros in front of the camera as some kids their ages are. See my friend Nikki's blog for perfect examples (and just to enjoy a couple of darn cute kids!) Granted, the end result is not always indicative of the experience as a whole, and I don't know what goes on behind the scenes during others' appointments. But for some reason, we keep subjecting ourselves to the terror of professional photographs. Gluttons for punishment? Apparently. We just want to be "good parents" and capture these months for our girls that go by so quickly. But between the one that wouldn't stand still, sit still or hold still and the other who wouldn't crack a genuine smile - we had ourselves one doosey of an appointment at Target on Saturday. It got quite comical towards the end, and we found ourselves laughing... good thing - or we probably would have been crying. We did end up with a couple of pretty cute pix... so the whole thing wasn't a wash. Maybe in a couple of years it will be different and I'll be eating my words. We'll see. Until then - the photographers at Target will be cringing when they see us coming!

Josie loves to draw pictures. Lately - her favorite subject matter is "the broken bridge." I wasn't quite sure I heard her correctly the first time she told me what she was drawing. But sure enough - she said it again. She must have seen something on tv at daycare - or they talked about it there, because she hasn't had any exposure to the coverage of it at home. It was a little disconcerting at first - but I guess this is a good lesson for us that we can't shelter them from everything.

Cute Josie story from yesterday - I had gotten done putting groceries away last night, and was starting to clean up the house before bedtime. Pat was getting Evie in her jammies, and probably changing another yucky-poopy diaper (the little doodle is working on about 4 new teeth all at once; they're the pointy ones next to the front four on top and bottom - are those the incisors?) and Josie was at the kitchen table when all of the sudden she came busting into the hallway yelling "OH NO! Look what Brewster did!! Brewster ate my pudding!!" She was holding an empty snack-pack carton that I had failed to throw away and must have left laying on the floor by the pantry. Her pudding snacks were safely tucked away in the cupboard, but she assumed by the empty container that Brewster had eaten all of her pudding. And in her little world - that would have been a tragedy of mammoth proportions. So I had to take her to the pantry and show her the pudding before she believed us that Brewster had not been a bad dog. This time, at least!

Ho Hum

It's Thursday.

I'm eating my soup and breadsticks from Eddington's (chicken potato chowder, in case you were wondering) - it's definitely a soup kind of day out there - and wishing that I was home on the couch, under a blanket, snuggling with my girls. *sigh*

Patrick is on Day 2 of his Madden's-resort-work-conference-getaway-dealie. He left at 5:00 am yesterday morning, which means that this morning was the second morning that Josie woke up asking, "Where my Daddy go?" Brainerd just isn't a sufficient answer for a 2 1/2 year old. Neither is work, golfing, or on a business trip. The only answer I've found so far that stops the question is, "Madden's resort for a work conference." And I think that's only because it's too much of a mouthful for her to repeat. I get her stock reply of, "oh." Usually followed by, "Mommy, you snuggle me?" Snuggling is a very big deal in our house right now. It's a cure-all for owies, an effective stalling tactic before bed, and the perfect after-dinner activity.

So I've never had to get the girls ready in the morning before daycare and work by myself. I'm not sure how that has failed to happen until now. But it's gone very well, much to my surprise. Mainly due to the fact that I've been forced to get up on time and get in and out of the shower and be ready before they wake up. I'd be toast if that didn't happen. Sure does make me appreciate my husband. I'm one lucky gal. At least tomorrow I don't have to be somewhere by 7:30 am. And I can probably even get away without showering... Yesss! And even better, in the morning when Josie gets up, I can tell her that her daddy will be home today.

I haven't mentioned Josie's potty progress lately. Yup. She's potty trained. She has a very rare accident here and there - and sometimes we suspect it's on purpose so she can pick out new undies - and she can even make it all through the night and wake up dry. I'm still flabbergasted that it was so easy.

And Eve is our little walker now. She's all over the place. It's taken her a while to warm up to wearing shoes, but now she's off.

Hey - congrats to Jeff and Michelle on the birth of their daughter Anna Catherine on Tuesday. She's beautiful. They are one handsome little family :)

Hey, again - check out the counter I added to the sidebar. Now we can actually see how few people I'm writing for. :) Not that that's going to stop me.

Josie-isms

I'm a big fan of Lucyisms. I've been compiling a list of cute things Jo has been saying, and it's not convenient for me to log everything into the calendar that I keep in my purse, so I've decided I should probably get this stuff in writing before I lose the list. While the humor may be lost on, well, pretty much anyone who isn't her parent (!), I hope you enjoy, nonetheless.

(Jo and Pat had gone out and about to run errands, and she came back in the house with a flourish, announcing her arrival...)
Jo: "MOMMY! Heeeeewwwwwooooowww!"

me: "Well, hi. I missed you!"

Jo: "You did?!"

me: "I did. You know why?"

Jo: "Why, Mommy?"

me: "'Cuz I love you."

Jo: "You wuv me?"

me: "I do."

Jo: "Oh." End of conversation. :)

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(Daddy was barking. This upset Jo.)

"Daddy - you not a puppy. You a BOY."
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(We were having a discussion about thumbs. Then hands and feet. We asked Jo if Brewster had hands and feet. Then we had to talk about paws for a while. She was quiet for bit, we could tell she was mulling all of this over.)

"Mommy."

"Yes, Josie?"

"Evie doesn't have paws. She have feets. Just like me!"
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(Brewster is a large dog. With a large tail.)
"DaaaAAdddDDY... Brewster WHACKED me!!!"
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(I don't even know the context of this conversation. But this is what I overheard from the kitchen...)
"Daddy?"

"Yes, Josie..."

"Daddy - you mad at me?"

"No. I'm not mad at you."

"Daddy - you pooping?"
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(While riding in the van. Pat was driving - chauffeur-style. I was in the backseat, with Jo.)
"Daddy a good driver. GOOD EYE, Daddy! Good eye!"
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(Pat was away in Duluth for the weekend. The girls and I were watching the Twins on tv.)
"Hey! That's my Daddy on tv!" (I looked up and there's Justin Morneau coming up to bat. Hmm... *wink, wink*)
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(Same tv session. I was flipping channels. Men's beach volleyball was on. The players were being introduced.)
"Mommy!! They're NAKED!"
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(We were getting set to leave the house before daycare / work in the morning. Josie was alone in the kitchen, Pat was letting Brewster out, I was finding coats for the girls. All of the sudden, Jo started yelling, like something was really wrong.)
"DAAADDDDY! DAAADDDDY!"

Pat went running into the kitchen. "What, Josie??!"

Silence for a couple of moments. "Thanks, Daddy." Apparently - she just wanted to make sure he was listening. :)
___________________________

(Buttoning up Jo's raincoat before leaving for daycare / work.)
"Mommy?"

"Yes, Josie?"

"We going to the Mall?"

"Nooo, we're going to Betty's house."

"OH." giggles. "Silly Me!"
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(We have frequent dance breaks at home. Jo stops whatever she's doing, and just starts dancing. One of her moves is a "pony dance." She was having a dance break in the kitchen this morning. Pat told her to "ride that pony, Josie!" Then I walked into the kitchen. Without missing a beat...)
"RIDE THAT PONY, MOMMY! RIDE THAT PONY!"
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(Another one of her patented dance moves is the "bootie dance." She and Pat will bend over and shake their booties at me. While shaking it...)
"Mommy... look at ours butts!"
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(She has moments of affection for her little sister. She'll hug and kiss Eve...)
"Mommy - Evie my BEST friend!"

More Cowbell

Josie's wish for "more cows" was fulfilled over the weekend. Not only did she get her bovine-wish-come-true when we visited my mom and Erwin in Newburg on Thursday, but she saw almost more horses than she could have hoped for during the annual Western Days celebration in Chatfield Friday thru Sunday.

It was a hot one, though, so that did put a damper on our spirits as it was hard to even enjoy being outside much. But we took in the parade, and Jo had her fill of candy... or should we say her parents' fill of candy, since we had a very sugared up 2 year old on Saturday night. She's a bit of a mean drunk when she's had too much sugar - even told me she didn't love me when I was trying to make her put on her jammies. Although she was very remorseful not too long afterwards and gave me plenty of snuggling to make up for it. :)

We belatedly celebrated Evie's 1st birthday with my family on Sunday - and she graced us with 7 or 8 consecutive steps across the kitchen floor - giggling maniacally the whole time! Of course, Sunday was her day to be all hopped up on the sugar as she whole-heartedly dove into a cupcake with chocolate frosting. She's beside herself with excitement over her new walking trick, and continued to take more and more steps once we arrived home last night. It was a weekend full of late nights and off-kilter nap times... I truly think they were both relieved to walk through the door at Betty's this morning to some normalcy in their routine. But they enjoyed their weekend at Amma-Ue and Youin's and KayBob's house and will be very excited to go back soon!

Speaking of walking through the door... we had a bit of a tough time doing just that when we arrived home last night, as the storm that blew through town also blew over two sections of the privacy fence on the west side of our yard. I'm sure Old Crusty was having a coronary envisioning that birch tree busting through her roof - it's a good thing that the fence isn't on her side of our yard to really top off her anxiety attacks. Oh - and the ole birch is still standing strong. :) So take that, oh crusty one.

It's been a week already?

Since last we spoke:

• The 35W bridge collapsed. I was at happy hour with friends, one of which had just driven over the bridge 20 minutes before. I'm thankful that my friends and family are safe, and sorry for those who can't say the same. But I have to say that I'm a bit horrified at those who try to compare this tragic event, an accident, to 9/11. I blame the intensive media coverage. Let the recovery workers to their work without sensationalizing and dramatizing every aspect of the efforts.

• On a much different note - Josie successfully dropped her kids off at the pool. Made a $2.00 deposit in the bank of potty. She pooped. In the toilet, that is. We were playdating at the Gronaus' and she spent the entire time going in and out of the bathroom. It's still a novelty to her. Granted, she does actually "go" every time she goes... even a droplet, so it's hard to chastise her for wasting toilet paper or running up the water bill. But "number 2" had been an issue... until last Friday. Yahoo! I daresay that we are on our way to being rid of diapers for one kid. She's been doing so wonderfully... only 3 or 4 accidents since starting to wear big girl undies over a week ago. She's been napping without a diaper since then, as well, and a couple of nights ago asked not to wear a diaper to bed, too. And she made it all night without an accident. I'm still amazed that we're actually in the midst of the much-feared and much-dreaded Potty-Training. And it's not nearly as scary as I imagined. :)

• Pat left us. For the weekend. He had a softball tournament in Duluth, so I was a "single" parent for the entire weekend. Needless to say, I was really tired come Sunday evening. But the girls survived without their daddy, and we had a very lovely time. We ran errands, played and played, went to the Twin Cities Public Television's 50th anniversary event in downtown St. Paul - and very quickly left as it was INSANELY crowded, played in Mears park with friends, and went to Culver's to celebrate Josie's potty success. It was nice to get some one-on-one time with the girls, and to move up a notch on the snuggling and story-time ladder. Josie actually had to think about it when we asked her who she wanted to read books with the other night. Usually, it's a slam-dunk for Daddy. Granted, I think she still ended up going with Daddy - but at least she had to think about it for a minute :)

• I got to use our "season tickets" for the Twins for the first time Monday night. We split a flex package with some friends of ours, and up until now, Pat was the only one of us to use the tickets - well, except for a couple of bobblehead games, I guess, but we rarely get to actually go to the game, or if we do, to see much of it. I have to say, that was the first time I've SEEN an entire game in a really long time, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I watched the whole thing, and even kept score (Meg - I think I'm hooked!) - for the Twins, at least. Way too much to ask of me to have to pay attention for the other guys, too! When am I supposed to do my people-watching?

• Eve has started to make animal noises. Man, she's stinkin' cute. "Woof" is "uffff," and "meow" is "maaaw." She is over her bout of roseola, and finally has her appetite back. Little peanut couldn't afford to lose much more weight. But she's happy and healthy again, much to our relief. She's going to be a climber. She's constantly trying to climb on Josie's bed, and loves to climb into the kid-sized chairs in the living room, turn herself around, sit down and give us a look like "what are you going to do about it?!"

• My mom's husband, Erwin, received the great news that he is in remission. Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes their way!

And that's about it. We're gearing up for a fun-filled weekend in Newburg and Chatfield. It's Western Days time already! I probably won't check in again until next week... so have a good one!

Not So "Rosey"

Remember how I said that Eve was my crabby little bear all weekend and had a fever?

Yeah.

So Monday night when we pick her up from daycare, she had this weird rash. Hmm. From the heat? We didn't know. Still had it yesterday. Pretty bad on her back, front and head. The daycare lady got suspicious, got out her little book of kid ailments and says, "Roseola!" And she was right. Who knew? I feel really naive about this stuff sometimes. Heard of it - but had no clue what it was. Pat did take her in to be checked out and they confirmed our self-diagnosis. It's much lighter today. Poor little bugger. She's had no appetite at all, has been miserably sad and her nose has been as runny as runny can be. Add teething to the mix - and woo-hoo! Instant party.