It's Monday

Eve got tooth #3 last Friday. Upper-front-left. She's been a cling-on, I'm guessing that's why. I'm assuming that she's working on #4. And she's already figured out how to grind her teeth, which happens to be one of my biggest pet peeves :) Right behind Styrofoam, the white stuff on oranges and people who don't swing their arms when they walk.

We bought a portable dishwasher on Saturday. I know. Finally, huh?? I just can't take it anymore. The final push came when Jo decided that she'd like to "help." Every time we turn the faucet on, she's grabbing a chair and pushing it over to "help." I'd estimate that it now takes twice as long to do dishes when you have "help." You may ask why we went the portable route, and I may tell you that's because we can't afford to lose any cupboard space by having a regular dishwasher installed. And we're lazy. And cheap. And didn't want the fuss of figuring out the logistics of where it would go and how we'd replace the lost storage space. I'm sure having the portable dishwasher taking up space is going to be a gigantic pain in the butt... but I'm willing to take that chance. Oh - we don't have it yet - supposedly, it's being delivered today. I'll let you know how it all went after that first load of dishes is unloaded and happily put away.

Here are some pictures to start your week...

I Had Me A Word

So I marched myself on over to Old Crusty's house last night.

We got home and Pat got the mail. I was busy getting my coat off and such, and he came into the kitchen with something in his hand and said, "here's something you might be upset about."

Never a good way to open up a conversation.

As he was sorting through the mail, he saw a blank envelope, and he knew it couldn't be good. Sure enough, she did it again. This time it was short and sweet. Something to the effect of "Take down that birch tree. I'd hate to have to sue you for damages."

Give me a flippin' break. Does she really thing that these notes are going to suddenly open up our eyes (and bank account) and we're going to have an "ah-ha" moment and say "OH! She's RIGHT!! We'd better have that tree taken down IMMEDIATELY!!"

Methinks not.

If anything, her ineffectual pieces of annoying correspondence are steeling our reserves against EVER doing ANYTHING with the tree, no matter what shape it deteriorates into or what threat it poses to our own home, not to mention hers. Argh. I'm so annoyed.

So, anyway, I slipped the coat back on and headed out the front door. After talking with her, I really think maybe she's losing it. She kept kind of laughing - which I found somewhat disconcerting. I was pretty composed, surprisingly, considering that my blood was boiling, and simply asked her to stop. I told her that we were not concerned with the tree, and had no plans to remove it any time in the near future, and that if she wished to sit and obsess about it, then that was her business, and to please leave us out of it. And furthermore, we had a tree specialist look at it, and he told us that it posed no immediate danger of falling on anyone's house.

She hemmed and hawed, and tried to make a couple of lame arguments, and kept going back to the fact that we'd have to pay for "the whole thing." Whatever that means. Then she said something about didn't we see how she had that tree taken down in her back yard. I'm not sure what that's supposed to do with anything - but I told her that was great. That's her property and her business, and this is our property and our business.

So we'll see what happens next. I'm tempted to plant a whole row of trees right along the line between our properties. Then maybe we'll host a big block party for Arbor Day next year.

Midnight Pomegranate

The good folks at Bath and Body Works have too much time on their hands. Their newest fragrance is Midnight Pomegranate. What does that even mean? Seriously... is a pomegranate at midnight different than a pomegranate at noon? I'm sure it's just as much of a pain in the arse to eat, maybe it's just more exotic in the dark. Or something.

Anyway.

The Big 2nd Birthday Extravaganza Weekend of Never-Ending Parties did, in fact, come to an end. Josie had a party at daycare on Thursday. And we spent the day with her Friday doing various indulgent activities that we let ourselves get away with due to the excuse that it was for her birthday. Like going to Culver's for lunch. And finishing off the cupcakes from her daycare party. Then we went to my sister's on Saturday to celebrate with my family. And had more desserts. Then we had Patrick's family to our house on Sunday. And had more dessert. Good thing there's a lull in birthday party celebrations for a while. Thank you so much to all who contributed to her wonderful birthday experience. She enjoyed herself very much. Except now she thinks all wrapped gifts must be for her. :)

And for those of you who don't know it already (hard to believe since I make my distaste for working on my birthday quite vocal,) I took the day off yesterday for my birthday. Thank you to all who sent me cards, or left me voicemails and emails. You are all very sweet and I appreciate your kindness very much - especially considering I probably don't deserve it since I'm an awful slug when it comes to timely cards and gifts lately.

I had a great day, despite this bugger of a cold that hit me. Patrick took the day off, too, and we spent the day shopping, going out to eat and to see a movie. Husbands are quite handy to have along to carry coats, purses, packages and such. All 3 activities very enjoyable, and practiced not often enough lately.

I have some cute pictures from the weekend I hope to post soon. And for those of you who have gotten really spoiled by the increase in frequency of my posts as of late, don't get too used to it. I am going to start to get pretty busy again here soon. Sorry to have gotten your hopes up :)

2 Years, Josie May - can you believe it??

I know I won't have a chance to go online tomorrow. I could kid myself and say that I'll do it when the girls are napping or something, but I think we all know that's not going to happen. So here is my trip down memory lane in honor of Josie's second birthday, one day early. I don't think I've ever documented Josephine's birth story, so here it is, two years later:

I had been put on modified bedrest in December of 2004 when I was 31 weeks along due to pre-term labor symptoms. I was taking Terbutaline to stop contractions and it was Dr. Lille's goal to get me safely to 36 weeks before letting me go off the nasty drug that made me shaky. So I spent a long month at home, in my comfy robe, warm and snug inside while a cold winter hit outside. I stopped taking the Terb on Sunday, January 16th. At my 36 week check-up with Dr. Rolando (Dr. Lille was on vacation) on Tuesday, January 18th, I was 3 cm dilated and was 50% effaced. My blood pressure was high, and my feet and hands were very swollen. Uncomfortably swollen.

Wednesday morning, January 19th, 2005 - 36 weeks and 3 days along: Patrick left for work at 7:40 am. I stayed in bed, awake, but not ready to relocate to the couch quite yet. At 7:50, I rolled (not an easy feat!) from my left to my right side, and as I did so, I felt a strong popping sensation "down there." Sure enough - my water had broken.

I managed to get out of bed, grab the phone and make it to the bathroom. I called the labor and delivery department at Woodwinds Hospital. (A very nervous first-time mother, I had already had the number memorized for weeks.) Since I wasn't feeling a lot of movement from baby, they instructed me to come in as soon as possible. I stayed in the bathroom since I didn't know what else to do, and tried to call Pat. He didn't have the cell phone turned on. I tried to call him at work. His telephone at the time worked through his computer system, and he wasn't logged on, yet. So I kept trying, every 10 seconds, until he was finally logged in. This is how the conversation went-

Me: "My water broke."

Him: "What?? Are you sure??!"

Me: "Uh - YEAH. I already called the hospital, and we're supposed to come in asap."

Him: "Oh. OH. I'm on my way."

My bag was packed, and I just needed to throw in a couple of last-minute items. I made a piece of toast, got dressed was *trying* to get my shoes on when Pat got home. He pulled up to the front of the house, grabbed some stuff for himself for the hospital, and off we went. We were at the hospital by 9:00 am. I called my sister, she called my mom, and they made arrangements to head up to the hospital. We got checked in and I got geared up in my gown and belly band and monitors; I was checked and was dilated to 4 cm.

We worked through the contractions, I had some lunch, watched some television, and labored mostly on the labor ball and in the rocking chair. The contractions were getting stronger, and I asked to get into the tub. Before getting in, I was dilated to a 6, and decided to ask for an epidural. The nurse, Janice, ordered it and I got in the tub. While trying to relax in the warm water, I was getting more and more uncomfortable, and very very hot. I was dilated to 7 when I got out of the tub, and relief had arrived in the form of a large needle and I was ready for it. It was about 2:00 pm when I got the epidural. Patrick sat in front of me while the anesthesiologist prepped me, and the look on his face when he saw the size of the needle was one between absolute terror and total disbelief. Everything went well, and I was able to sleep for a bit and was much happier.

Dr. Rolando was called and arrived a bit before 5:00 pm and everything was ready for me to start pushing at 5:00. My sister, Pat's mom, and Pat were in the room with me. Pat's dad and my mom waited in the waiting room. Everyone helped hold my legs as I couldn't feel them or move anything on my own. I was having trouble feeling the contractions, and they weren't showing up very clearly on the monitor, so the only way I knew when to push was by the pain I was feeling in my bottom. I pushed for an hour and a half, and Josephine May Daly made her appearance into the world at 6:29 pm. She was 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 19 1/4 inches long, and the most beautiful little pink bundle I'd ever seen.

Two years later, and after what seems like a million diapers changed, tears shed, tantrums thrown, giggles giggled, books read, kisses given and songs sung, I am still in disbelief every single morning when we go in to her room to get Josie up, that we are parents. We created this beautiful little girl and have somehow, miraculously, gone from a silly, naive, newly-married couple to a family, in what felt like the blink of an eye.

Happy Birthday, Josie. Mommy and Daddy love you more than you'll ever know!

I lost my tonsils 6 years ago

So I opened my email this morning to a big, bold, happy note from my supervisor congratulating me on my 7th service anniversary with Securian. 7 years. Holy Moly. I totally forgot it was my anniversary. Eve's 6-month birthday was yesterday, and Josie turns 2 tomorrow, and my mom keeps reminding me that I also have a birthday coming up, and I guess with all that excitement going on, it just didn't occur to me to remember something like a service anniversary!

Oh - and 6 years ago yesterday, I had my tonsils out. But I didn't get an email to remind me of that.

Kid update - I noticed last night that Eve is dangerously close to figuring out how to get on all fours. She can't really be getting old enough to start all this, can she?

C'mon!

Picture it:
If you have never been to our house, it's a 1 1/2 story expansion with the kitchen and living room at the front of the house, and the girls' bedroom, bathroom and playroom at the back. (The expansion upstairs is our bedroom, then the basement consists of a rec room on one side and laundry/storage area on the other.) There is a doorway leading from the playroom to the kitchen, the kitchen leads into the living room, the living room into the hallway which then leads back into the playroom. So one can run, walk, stroll or crawl in a big circle through our house. All of which we've been doing a lot of lately.

Now picture this:
Josie is pushing her doll stroller around and around and around the aforementioned circle through our house. She's not alone. She may be pushing a doll, or stuffed animal or potholder - whatever object she has determined most needed strolling at the moment. In line behind her is either Mom or Dad, or sometimes both Mom and Dad. Mom and/or Dad are not in line behind her by purely choice, but more by command. A command from an almost-2 year old that sounds like "C'MON!" and is accompanied by an emphatic hand-wave motioning you to follow her. And in line behind Mom and/or Dad is Brewster, who has also been commanded to "C'MON!" Brewster tends to fall out of line to sniff something, eat something or attempt to lay down, but is always busted and must fall back in line again in prompt fashion. And Mom and/or Dad are not in line just for their looks or to get some exercise, but to serve a very-needed purpose: to carry things for Her Majesty, Josie, that she may need to have while strolling. Like her sippy cup. And blankie. And Eve. And a tub toy she found along the way. And a magnet she found on the fridge as we passed by. And as we stroll around the house, we have to stop at the top of the basement steps (which are located by the doorway between the playroom and kitchen) and point down the stairs and say "Vacuum!" Every time we pass by. And then as we go into the kitchen we have to stop at the stove and say "Hot!" Every time we pass by. This procession can last for what seems like hours. Trust me - it seems like hours, but I'm sure it's more like 15-20 minutes. But when you're the one carrying a 16 lb. baby and all of Josie's stuff, it feels a lot longer. Thank goodness that the strolling usually is happening after we get home from work and are trying to make supper (which can be difficult when you get busted for falling out of line to stir something on the stove and are told to "C'MON!" and get back in line) so eventually there is the distraction of food to stop the line. Since it's dark out when we get home and we have to have the lights on, and our house is on a bit of a small hill and you can see into our kitchen quite easily from the street, I'm sure we must be quite the sight strolling around and around and around. Stop on by sometime and let me know how we look :)

Who Does Number 2 Work For?

Tooth #2 for Evie, that is! She got her second tooth (bottom-front-right) yesterday. No wonder she's been attacking things like a little shark lately. She sees her victim, leans in, and dives in for the kill - complete with a head-shake once she has hold of her target with her mouth. And we have perma-drool pools on our shoulders.

Patrick took her to the new clinic for her 6 month check-up yesterday. Very happy with the new doc! Here are her stats (Eve's, not the doctor's):
Weight: 16 lbs. (50th percentile)
Height: 26 in. (55th percentile)
Head circumference: 95th percentile!! They didn't write the measurement down - not that it really means anything, anyway. But she's got a big noggin!

A Peck of Pickled Pictures

We never claimed he was the brightest dog in the world. That's a cheese ball container on his head.






Josie and second-cousin, Taite.









Great-Grandma Janet with the girls.











Four Generations. Back row: Mamma Susie, Grandma Janet, Sissy Kay and Val Val. Front row: Em Schmem, Josie-Bean, me and Evie-Doodle.










Daddy and Eve.









Mommy and Eve.








Back row: Lucy, Eve and Jo
Front: Vivian and Ed








Sorry the pictures all seem so dark for some reason. They aren't like that in real life. If anyone has any tips for getting little ones to pose for pictures, please let me know. :)









Evie. Now that I really look at this picture, she may be pooping. It is a rare occurrence lately, so it's good we have it documented.










Calla and Not-So-Merry-Christmas Eve. This is Pat's cousin Kate's little girl who was born one day before Eve.







Our little helper. Unfortunately, she doesn't help clean up the water from the counter and floor when she's done washing dishes. :)










She loves hats. If it can go on her head, it's a hat!











Again, with the hats.

What a terrifying sight the blank blogger page is...

I sit here and stare at the blank page before me - overwhelmed at the task at hand. Or fingers. So long since last post - oh, where to begin?? How 'bout a chronological listing...

Friday, December 22nd. Patrick took the day off work so we could head down to my mom's in the morning. The trip went well, Eve slept the whole time and Josie didn't start to melt down until around Preston. (Which means we were almost there, for those of you not familiar with Iowa... oops, I mean extreme southern Minnesota!)

Saturday, December 23rd. (Don't worry - I'm not going to cover every day between then and now.) A lovely Christmas celebration with my side of the family. Josie played Santa and passed out gifts. She was very excited, even did a couple of "mule kicks" - and did a very good job at delivering presents, except for a couple of Eve's that didn't quite make it to her, but got opened on the way. Josie's new favorite word is "wow." It got used a lot during this holiday season. All in all, the stay in Newburg was great - but we did have a couple of crazy nights with screaming Eve and crying Josie. Oh, well. Sleep is overrated, right?

Sunday, December 24th. Back on the road, headed for home. Lunch and naptime, then off to Patrick's aunt Kathy and uncle Randy's house for the Daly-side family celebration. Yummy food, fun games, good company and we're off again! This time, to Patrick's aunt Helen and uncle Joey's house for the Ashton-side family celebration. The girls were troopers through all of our running around. Then, we got to go home! It was nice to be back in our own beds - although the house was a disaster since we didn't really have time to unpack or put away gifts.

Monday, December 25th. Merry Christmas! We got to have a much-needed morning lounging in jammies at home, just me and Patrick and the girls. We opened our stockings and gifts under the tree. The gifts were under the tree, not us. I don't think we would have all fit. Although we did have a beautiful tree this year. By this time, Josie was a bit overwhelmed by all the presents and holiday hoopla. We asked her if she wanted to open presents, and she said "no." We'll have to remember that in the years to come. After the gifts, we went to 10:30 mass at St. Jerome's. This was the first service I've been to since Father Peter passed away. It was quite sad and distracting for me to not see him leading the service. At around 3:00 we went over to Pat's parent's house for dinner with his family. And of course, more presents. So many presents. The kids were all very excited. Grandpa Mike gave Trevor, Trent and Josie guitars. Oh, yes. Guitars. Josie wasn't quite as into hers as the boys were... oh, their poor neighbors. We all got so many nice gifts - thank you ever so much to everyone! And more than that - thank you for the gift of time spent with us. It was great to get to see so many of our family members this year. And to those we didn't have a chance to see, we certainly hope to very soon in 2007!

Tuesday, December 26th. Hmm. I really will skip a day here, soon, I promise :) Back to work for me, while Patrick stayed home with the girls since we didn't have daycare this week. I don't remember being so thoroughly exhausted in months. Probably since after we brought Eve home. Then Patrick tells me that we're getting together with a college friend from Illinois, Marc, and his wife (Sandy) and daughter (Allison - 14 months) that night for dinner. Wow! The good times just don't stop! So good to see them and Allison is such a cutie. It was a late night again, but definitely well worth it.

Wednesday, December 27th. The Rosenbaums are in town! A huge thank you to the Gronaus for hosting all of us at their home. We owe you, big-time. Babies (Ed and Vivian and Eve) and toddlers (Lucy and Josie) and a pregnant belly (Tricia's), oh my! And... yippee for Peg and John... they are expecting a little one in May! Our Winona gang is growing. There will be 9 kids between 6 couples by the end of next May.

Friday, December 29th. Gronau playdate at our house. Lucy used Josie's potty. Josie was peeking in the bathroom, intrigued. After they left - Jo decided that she needed a piece of that potty action. Although so far, she's been saying "potty" as she's going in her diaper, then just wants to take off her pants and diaper and sit on the potty chair. She's quite pleased with herself. I'll be more pleased when we actually see something in the bowl.

Sunday, December 31st. The Crandalls were kind (or crazy) enough to have a few of us with kids over for a night of kid-friendly fun. The chaos that ensued when we all tried to get our little ones to bed was hilarious. Exhausting, but hilarious. Hip-hip-hooray for my first non-pregnant New Year's Eve since 2003! Although it wasn't as action-packed as you might imagine - we were actually on 35E on our way home when the clock struck 12:00.

OMIGOSH. I can't believe I forgot. So Patrick found out on December 20th that his job in Agriculture and Association Sales got eliminated. And then he got promoted to the Group National Sales Office team. All in one meeting. Exciting, but stressful. So as of yesterday, he has a new job. I don't really know what it is. Neither does he, so that's okay :) All I know is that his paycheck will be bigger. So rock on.

Monday, January 1st. A lazy day at home. I even got to nap! A genuine, curled-up under a blanket, real nap. It was a beautiful thing. Thank you, Patrick, for taking care of Eve while I slept. Eve doesn't really believe in naps. She says they're for babies. But you know what she does believe in...? Getting teeth! That's right, Eve is the proud owner of a brand-new, lower-left front tooth. She was chewing on Patrick's finger, and he felt a noticeable difference in the level of pain her chomping caused. And there it was! At 5 1/2 months, a full 2 months earlier than Josie. And that also explains why she's been somewhat impossible to get to go to sleep the past few nights, and has been waking up at 2:30 in the morning. Darn teeth. What are they good for anyway?!

Tuesday, January 2nd. I got to stay home with the girls. Daycare Betty called last week to let us know that her husband took her to the hospital because she was having chest pains. She had fluid on her heart, caused by a virus. She needed to have a follow-up EKG on Tuesday to make sure everything was okay, and it was, thank goodness. So the girls are back with her today. We are so blessed to have her. She gave Josie a huge hug this morning and said she missed her, and you could tell she really meant it. It helps so much having to leave my girls somewhere during the day when Josie gets excited on the way to Betty's house.

New things Josie is up to: She tells us we're "bad, bad," then we're supposed to act sad so she can give us something (like a toy or blanket) to make us happy again. It's her favorite game right now. Such power she has to make someone sad and happy again in 5 seconds. And now she says "Ummmm..." when you ask her a question before she answers. I've noticed since she started doing this that both Pat and I do that a lot. Her favorite Christmas toys (for today, at least) are her big truck from Daddy and doll pack-n-play and swing and stroller from Santa.

So here we are in 2007. What a whirlwind the end of the year was. I know that traditionally, Thanksgiving is the time to reflect on all that we have to be grateful for, but Christmas and New Years always make me think about the blessings in our lives. We have so much and are so lucky. Family and friends, health and happiness, and most of all, two beautiful children. Some doors may close and new ones open, but what really matters is the people in our lives we surround ourselves with. So thank you to all of you who read this - we send our best wishes to you for a happy New Year!

My kids are cute.

Even though this time of year is crazy-hectic-busy, I don't want to let myself disregard the fun things the girls have been up to the last couple of weeks.

• Like Josie talking. Not a lot, and not full sentences or anything yet, but lots of words and phrases. She pulled out "vacuum" this morning at Betty's - that was a new one. And she's always giving things to people and then saying "there you go!" We're in an upswing with the manners, too... she's using "thank you" and "please" quite nicely. For the time being, at least. Although we have had a few time-outs due to hitting issues. Just us, and at home, so far - nothing at daycare or with other people, yet.

• And like Josie running. She is fast. And takes off at inopportune moments, like when you're trying to get her dressed and only have the top half of her pj's on. Then she giggles and giggles when you chase her around the house to finish getting her dressed. Oh - and she put on her own shoes the other day. When did she learn that??! And she got her hat on by herself, too. It's exciting. But a little bit sad, too.

• And like Eve eating cereal and applesauce before bed and sleeping soundly all the way through the night and not waking up at 11:00 pm and staying awake until 2:00 am like she did to us the other night or waking up at 4:00 am like she did a few mornings in a row a while ago. Mommy and Daddy were not pleased. So now we fill that kid up before bed, and so far, it's working.

• And like Josie pointing out every Christmas decoration and every set of lights on every house we pass while driving to and from daycare. And we must ooh and aah and be equally as amazed as she is.

• And like Eve just being so happy. SO happy. She's awfully fun right now. She wants to sit on her own and stand and move and grab things so badly, but just can't quite muster the coordination, yet. Although she is able to grab things I don't want her to, like the spoon when I'm feeding her and my arm when I'm getting her dressed. Then she just smiles and smiles. And so do we. Her good humor is quite contagious. And she's got a chuckle that cracks me up to no end. And a shriek that can split eardrums, but we are hearing less and less of that, and more of the chuckling. Thank goodness.

• And like Josie just being such a... little person. She's getting taller, and smarter, and she's coordinated now and wanting to do everything that we do, and to help. All the time with the helping. It's funny how long it can take to get something done when you have so much help! And you ask her a question and she'll stop for a moment and think it through before giving you an answer and you can tell she's actually weighing out the options and it's amazing.

"Drop that rhinoceros!"

That's only one of the phrases uttered at our house lately that made me stop and think "what if someone caught bits and pieces of conversations around here without knowing the full context of what was going on?" For example, "Drop the rhino" was meant for Brewster. He is the big brother Josie doesn't have. He loves to antagonize her by going into her room, picking out a stuffed animal and parading around the house with it in his mouth while she chases and scolds him. Here are a few other phrases, and the context of the conversation in which they were used:

"Is the tree done whooshing?"
*** We got a Christmas tree on Saturday. A real one. According to Pat, they need to "whoosh" before you can decorate them. We always had a fake tree at my house growing up, so I am still somewhat new to real tree etiquette. Kinda like when Pat and I lived in our apartment downtown St. Paul and we blatantly ignored the rule that you're not supposed to have real trees in apartment buildings because of fire hazards or something like that. Oops.

"You're silly, Evening Poodle."
*** Pat's nickname for Eve. Although probably better than my nieces' calling her Beve (Baby Eve.)

"Yes, that's where the elephant goes potty." (Substitute basically any animal for elephant - and we've probably said that, too.)
*** Josie is fascinated by anything "potty"-related. She wants to see the poop in her diaper, insists on throwing diapers away herself, makes her "that's gross" noise (kinda like eew eew eew, said very low and with a disgusted look on her face) when she points to Brewster's wee-wee, still runs in to sit on her potty chair when I go to the bathroom. She turns over toys and stuffed animals to look for their girl or boy parts, only to be disappointed that they are not anatomically correct. Although she still makes the aforementioned "gross" noise and points. All of this has been going on for months... I'm starting to wonder if the fascination will ever go away?

"Would you like to leave Santa down your pants?"
*** My personal favorite. This was said by Pat - and directed at Josie, so get your minds out of the gutter. When digging out Christmas decorations, I found a couple of stuffed Christmas toys - a Santa and a reindeer. Josie was playing with them the other night, and I guess Pat shoved one down the back of her shirt, and the other down the back of her pants. All I saw of this was Josie running through the kitchen with them stuffed down her back and backside. Pat attempted to take them out for her, but she didn't want them out, apparently.

As I mentioned before, I feel like we've had a lot going on lately - although, I'm not really sure what. Getting and decorating the tree, finally. And the weekend before, the female Gronaus and Ed came over for a playdate and lunch (if you can call my meager attempt at a meal, lunch!) on Friday, then my mom and niece, Emilie, came up later in the day to stay for the weekend to help out with the girls while Pat and I went to a Minnesota Wild hockey game Friday night and a wedding for a fraternity brother of Pat's on Saturday night. We also did a family outing on Saturday to the Mall of America so Em wouldn't think the whole weekend was totally lame. :) Then Sunday was the annual cookie bake with my bookie-girly-friends. God bless 'em. Not to mention the tasty treats - we just keep getting better and better every year! And there's the usual work, eat, sleep routine to keep up while battling getting ready for Christmas. Oi.

Eve is, finally, healthy. For the time being, at least. But I'll take it! She continued to have bouts of throwing up on and off for about a week. We switched her to soy formula, and she seems to be doing better. So now we're gradually slipping some regular formula back in, and we'll see how she does. Either it was just a bug, or there's a formula issue that will resurface once she's back to full strength. So now we're just battling the usual runny noses here and there, and that, we can handle. Although we don't handle the snot nearly as much as my mother would like... she's a Kleenex Nazi!!

OH - Eve rolled over! Last Saturday morning. Poor kid - everything they say about the second child is sadly true. Less hoopla around their milestones, fewer pictures taken, hand-me-down clothes... anyway - she rolled. Yea, Eve! You're one step closer to getting into Josie's toys :)

That's all the time I've got for today, folks. Wishing you and yours a happy holiday season!

Busiest time of the year?

Sure feels like it! As you can probably tell from the lack of posts lately, we've been busy. Just wanted to check in and say that we're all healthy and happy. We've had a lot of fun stuff going on lately, and I promise to tell you about it someday. :) Just not today! How's that for a tease?

Yes, Virginia, it really was a Crap-tastic weekend.

Don't get me wrong. The actual Thanksgiving holiday was lovely. A nice, relaxed family day at the Coe residence. Thanks, Sissy and family, as always, for the warm welcome and complete hospitality.

But the days thereafter - not so fun. I'm not blogging about the weekend to gain sympathy or hear myself gripe, but only to have a record of what, in hindsight, was a frustrating series of events encompassing the "anything-that-could-go-wrong-probably-will," rule. I know I'm going to forget some things, but here are the highlights, or should I say - lowlights.

• The crud still has not left our home. This bug is a tenacious bug. All 4 of us, while not exactly sick, just didn't quite feel up to par.
• The bitch is back. Old Crusty, that is. Pardon my language. Not that she ever really went anywhere (her legs are much too short to allow her to go far - sorry, but she's a pain in my arse.) So Pat ran up to Big Steer Meats to grab some lunch on Saturday (they have very tasty sandwiches and soups, for any of you who frequent the East Side.) As he was walking back home, OC attacked. Again with the tree business. She told him that we really need to take that thing down, as it drops stuff on her roof. He told her that fine, if she wants to pay for it, we'll take it down. Aghast, she said that she couldn't afford that. Defiant, he said that neither could we. And walked away. Get a life, you old hag.
• We will never, ever, ever attempt to do a "family" grocery shopping trip again. What a nightmare. We've tried this in the past, and not had good results, so I don't know why we thought we should try it again. We even got one of the "car carts" for Josie to ride in, thinking that would make her happy. Not the case. She's in a phase right now where, basically, she needs to be eating something, at all times, in order to be happy. So to be in a store filled with food that she can't eat is not a good time. For anyone involved.
• The sliding door on the van decided to not work. Again. Perhaps we should have that looked at, you may say. And you may be right. Perhaps we should. Along with the brakes that started to squeak and the strange thunking noise that appeared, as well. Oy.
• After all the talk and hype about hitting the day-after-Thanksgiving sales and getting a camcorder, it didn't happen. Pat didn't feel good Friday morning and it sounds like he would have had to camp out over night to get one anyway. What a pain. And by the time we made it out the stores for anything else we wanted on Friday, those things were sold out, as well. Perhaps they should stock more than 10 items on sale per store. What a scam.
• In addition to the cold/cough that Eve has had, she started to throw up entire feedings on Saturday. It could be an hour or two later, and up it would come. She kept this up on Sunday, and we called the urgent care at the clinic. After a couple hours and not getting a call back, we called again. Oh - we don't have a record of you calling, they say. Oh - you're a bunch of frickin' idiots, I say. Okay - not out loud, but in my head. So they end up telling us that there is nothing they could do for her there, and we'd need to take her to Children's Hospital. Like they couldn't have told us that the FIRST time we called. So I took her to Children's around 5:30 Sunday evening. She checked out fine, they said her lungs sounded okay and were not concerned about her cough, and told me to give her some Pedialyte in small doses every hour or so, and gradually start adding in formula until she was eating fine without throwing up. So I stayed home with her Monday, we had an okay day, by late afternoon she was eating small amounts of formula and not throwing up. And she never seemed sick this whole time. No fever, no crabbiness (other than not getting a full meal when she was hungry and having to wait an hour for more food,) she was having wet diapers and not showing signs of dehydration. Then at 6:00 last night, up came what seemed to be all the liquids she had consumed all day. After a call to Children's, we started the whole Pedialyte process over again. We're at a bit of a loss. I'm suspecting something like GER (gastroesophigal reflux,) but we'll see how she does today at home with Pat and take it from there. Poor little bugger - it's so hard when they can't tell you what's wrong. Anyone know a good baby-whisperer?

Sorry - that got really long. And I'm sure there's more, I just can't think right now. I'd like to say it's a sunnier day, but have you looked outside lately - yuck!!

Giggles / Fun or Tears / Tantrums: Every day is an adventure

This morning was the toughest morning we've had so far. And Josie had some pretty, yellow goo coming out of her nose... coincidence? Methinks not. 'Tis the season, and we're already getting hit hard at out house. Eve busted out the raspy cough again over the weekend, Pat lost his voice and developed a lovely hack, I cracked open the Nyquil last night and chugged some Dayquil this morning and there's the aforementioned yellow goo for Jo. But we still made it to daycare in prompt fashion and got to work on time, so it wasn't all that rough. Onward and upward. Or something.

As indicated in the title, every day is truly and adventure. We never know which Josie is going to greet us in the morning, and even if we meet the giggle-girl, we could soon be face-to-face with tantrum queen. The joys of toddlerhood. :) But the good far outweighs the bad. She delights in brushing her teeth, then runs out to "show her teeth" in a big, cheesy grin. She had her last swimming class on Saturday, if she took anything away besides a love for water, it's a love for Wheels On the Bus. The parents and kids would sing this song in the pool while parents moved kids in whatever way the song said. We now have to do this at home. All. The. Time. The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round.

And 'round and 'round.

And 'round and 'round.

You get the picture. She was kind of flinging her cabbage patch doll, Hazel, around the other day, and I didn't really think too much of it as she does tend to fling her babies around from time to time. Then Pat realized what she was doing - she was trying to sing wheels on the bus and do the motions with the doll. Now that we know what she's doing, we sing for her and she tries to sing along and dances with Hazel. Super cute.

Josie also LOVES to be chased around the house, running or crawling. I prefer running. She laughs, and laughs and has gotten pretty good at finding new places to run around and try to lose us. So if you call and I'm out of breath, it's because we can keep this game up for quite a while before she tires of it.

Being the big girl she is, she has started to want to pick out her own clothes. Not even daytime clothes so much, but pajamas are a must. Sometimes we get some interesting combos of shirts and pants. Perhaps a lovely soft pink princess top with blue cloud leggings. Or pink camo print pants with a purple kitty shirt. She's so proud of her selections, you just can't say no. And she definitely is my daughter - Pat told her we needed to go pick out some clothes the other morning, and she ran into her room - and picked out a new pair of pajamas! That's right, we'd stay in comfy clothes all day if we could.

And Eve. She's just growing and grinning and gurgling. She's moving around more and more, arching her back, stretching her arms and so close to that final push to roll over. She talks and talks to us - I swear she's going to form full sentences before Josie does. Eve looked right at Pat the other morning while he was walking around the kitchen - not paying attention to her - and screeched. He looked. She smiled. Smart little bugger.

So there's an update on my girls. There's so much more, but not enough time. It's a short work week, so I'd better focus. Happy Thanksgiving to you all - safe travels and enjoy the holiday!

Back in the Saddle

Week 1 back at work is coming to a close. It's gone... surprisingly well. Me, being the worry-wart I am, had built up the horror of getting out of the house in the morning and being here all day to such a level that the ease we've found in making the transition back has been delightfully, well, delightful. Our mornings have gone quite smoothly - Josie hasn't really seemed to mind rising at an earlier hour, she's been excited every day we've pulled into Betty's driveway and Eve has been an absolute peach for us while we get ready to go. I honestly think the whole thing has been hardest on Patrick, who has to get up earlier and function at a higher level right away in the morning than he's been used to for the past few months. Although Brewster is taking it pretty hard, too. He's been spoiled by having someone at home with him all day since the middle of June. Poor dog just hangs his head as we leave the house in the morning. Very sad puppy.

And I can honestly say that I am really enjoying my new assignment. My team has been very welcoming, I'm busy enough so the days have been flying by and it's been great to be back in somewhat familiar territory. So for having to come back to work, it's not too shabby.

Of course, don't get me wrong - I do miss my girls terribly during the day. I find it's best to try not to think about it too much. Which is an almost impossible task. But we're surviving. One day at a time, right?

Bittersweet

I'm sucking up every ounce of Evie and Jo that I can. My maternity leave is at an end and I go back to work on Monday. It's been a bittersweet week. I'm going to welcome the adult interaction, but loathe bundling up and leaving the house at 7:00 in the morning. I'm going to enjoy working with a new team, but miss my kidlets so much I am brought to tears just thinking about it. I'm going to luxuriate in being able to go to the bathroom by myself without a helper right there to tear off toilet paper for me and help me pull up my pants, but will miss my new good friends - Ellen and Oprah :) But the calendar and our empty checking account say that it is time to rejoin the workforce, so what's a girl to do. *sigh*

I guess we have had an eventful couple of weeks, now that I think about it - so I have more to say than I thought. We went to a Halloween party in Spring Lake Park with friends and their kids (a week before Halloween - got good use of borrowed costumes!,) celebrated October birthdays in Pat's family, battled a bug and stayed up with a sick Josie, took the girls to watch Pat's cousin in a high school playoff football game (they got walloped,) Josie and Daddy did a little bit of Trick-or-Treating (just too darn cold for the rest of us,) had a couple of fun playdates with new stay-at-home mommy Meg and kids, and had a Mommy/Daddy/Josie fun day yesterday while Eve went to daycare in Jo's place.

Josie can now officially jump. Not the pretend jumping in the air where her feet don't really leave the ground, but all-out-bend-the-knees-and-catch-some-air jumping. She's so proud. And she discovered walking backwards yesterday. It's a good time. Until she smacks into the wall or doorway. Next year I think we can just have her dress up as a bruise for Halloween. Oh - and she's successfully been sleeping in her big-girl bed for the past week with the aid of a siderail. Whew.


Eve is a roly-poly bundle of joy. She's all smiles (except when she's screaming,) and can grab onto toys or blankets and gravitate them towards her mouth, and rolls to her side with ease. She was so exhausted after her first full day at daycare yesterday that she sucked down a couple of bottles last night and crashed without much complaint, except to shake her little head when she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. Frickin' adorable.

A kick in the tukus

So I've been given a polite reminder via my sis that "no news is good news" only flies for about a week before an update is necessary. Sorry, all. First of all - I don't know where the last week has gone. Or month, for that matter. And secondly... I don't have a secondly. Let me think. What have the Dalys been up to?

Josie turned 21 months old last week. Unreal. She's going to be two before we know it. Then she'll be going to school. Then she'll be driving. And graduating. And crap - I've got to stop, I'm having heart palpatations.

So like I was saying, we decided it was time to give ye old toddler bed a try. Sunday we schlepped the bed into her room, now her AND EVE'S room with the grand idea that it was time for Eve to move into the crib since she's been sleeping through the night. After some minor room adjustments the room was set up to my satisfaction. And seemingly, to Josie's liking, as well, as she climbed and inspected her new "big girl" bed. Nap time on Sunday went swimmingly in the new bed, except it was quite strange for me to have her wake up and get out of the bed on her own and try to open the door to her room. This is scary, uncharted territory.

So we were off to a pretty good start and I was feeling optimistic. Along comes bedtime Sunday night. Josie goes to bed. Pat puts Eve to bed a couple hours later, in the crib, in the same room with Jo. This is monumental. I'm upstairs, apprehensively listening on the baby monitor. After 3 tries, Eve finally falls asleep. 11:30 comes. Josie falls out of bed. We did put a squishy body pillow down in case this happened. Pat puts Jo back in bed. She fell out again around 2:45. Pat put her back again. She was quite confused. 3:45 comes around, and Eve wakes up, screaming. I go get her, and poor Josie is laying there, on her back, wide awake. I get Eve back to sleep after a bottle, and decide not to bother Jo again, so bring Evie back upstairs with us. But I can hear Josie on the monitor, chatting away to herself - for the next hour or so. Pat finally goes down and rocks her, and lets her go back to sleep in her crib. We caved. But the poor kid had a rough night without much sleep so far. In hindsight, we probably should have just let Jo get used to sleeping in the bed before tossing Eve into the mix, but hey - live and learn. So for now, Jo's back in the crib at night while we look for siderails, but napping in the bed during the day, and Eve is back with us at night. We'll get there, eventually.

Eve got over her bout of bronchiolitis and handled the nebulizer treatments just fine. But then on Saturday, our 6 year wedding anniversary, she decided it was time to spike a few high temps and have a very crabby day. So we nixed our night out dinner and movie plans (complete with overnight sitter) and cared for a sick baby instead. Of course, on Sunday, she was peachy fine again. Impeccable timing, Eve. :) The past couple of days she has been reaching out for and grabbing toys and just today she rolled to her side in her play gym. Granted, this move was in order for her to see the television more clearly, but hey - I'll take it. She's already 3 and 1/2 months old and getting so big and animated and... real. You know what I mean, right? When they're newborns they're real... but just kind of squirmy and sleepy and hungry. Now she interacts and smiles and looks for us. So fun.

But this is getting long and babbly and Eve is actually asleep so I should be, too. Patrick is playing hockey tonight, an early game at 9:20. Those boys are crazy. Sometimes their games don't start until 10:30. Insanity, I tell ya. I hope he can play okay... he was complaining about being sore after playing some touch football on Sunday. I told him he's getting old. He didn't appreciate that.

No news is good news?

There's not a whole lot new going on with us right now, which I guess can be a good thing!

Patrick is playing in a fall hockey league on Tuesday nights, Eve is sleeping through the night and keeping us laughing during the day, Josie is growing and learning and challenging and jumping and pretending more and more all the time and I am enjoying my time with them immensely.

I return to work on Monday, November 6th, so am trying (and failing) to hold on to each and every day of my leave as it slips away. But we're making the most of the time I have left and I am so grateful that I am able to spend as long as I have with my girls. It sounds like I'll be returning to the division, albeit a new department, where I have spent most of my time at Minnesota Life, and I am excited for the new assignment and opportunity I've been given. I will continue to work Monday through Thursday and am lucky enough to continue to be able to have Fridays off. It's going to be interesting with two in daycare, so we'll see how we manage after things settle down when I return to work.

Hope all is well with everyone - and Happy Birthday greetings to Becky and Peggles!! Hugs and kisses to you both!

Hey! Check out this book!

"Violette Between" by Alison Strobel

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1578567947

My bookclub read this selection a few months back, and the author is a friend of my friend, Meg. How cool is that? We all enjoyed the story and even got to have a conference call with Alison at our bookclub meeting. So, yes... we do talk about the books!! :) Alison is doing a blog tour to promote her book, so please, check it out!

A synopsis:
Violette is the quintessential artist: passionate, emotional and full of life. After suffering a great loss she finds herself enamoured with a new relationship and asking if it is truly time to move on.Christian lost his wife years ago and understands Violette's pain firsthand. He offers her a chance to love once more and hopes to build a future with the spirited artist. But just as Violette and Christian begin to feel something unexpected, tragedy strikes again. Violette retreats into her past - and she finds that she may not want to comeback. This is a captivating novel that asks what is more precious: the memories of one who is gone or the memories waiting to be made with someone new?

If you want, check out Alison's website and her blog.

Enjoy!

Take a look...

Above: There's nothing better than playing in the leaves at night. Josie thinks she's quite fabulous in her animal print hat passed down from Cousin Emilie.
Eve is all smiles in her massage chair... actually, I have to look, but I think I have an almost identical picture of Josie in the same outfit and same chair.

Above: This is the day of Bob and Steffi's wedding. Steffi made the mistake of laying her sunglasses on the table. Josie thinks she is also quite fabulous in sunglasses. And, of course, she is.
And here is Mason, who just HAD to hold Eve. Eve doesn't look so sure about the whole deal. "How old is this kid anyway? Does he have a license to hold me??"

Above: Caught in the act. Those two are quite the dynamic duo. This is a very common scene in our house.
And Eve, again, all smiles. :)