What we did this weekend

Okay so truth be told, John had THE surgery this past Thursday. You know the one, the one that involves a bag of frozen peas. So to while away the hours we stopped at Minogues on our way home for some brews and there I saw the fruits of Trampoline's labor, just sitting on the shelf looking pretty. I've seen IPA out and about but I had not yet seen Brown and there it was. Always cool to see things you've designed out in public.

The next morning Luke "called" me on his "phone" to say that his name was Parker, that he was a construction worker and he wanted to go to Minogues. Um, okay. Sorry dude, we went last night without you. So he sat in our bedroom and watched This Old House. Curious, will he be the next Bob Villa?

We sported some Nine shirts as we hung around the house with a recouping daddy.

He said to me, "mama, I have room here, why don't you lay with me?" So I did.

And then he looked out the window longingly and said, "Mama, what should we talk about? Let's talk." And then I melted. He came up with some crazy story about a farm and then we hid under the covers and laughed. Look at that face, how could you not want to cozy up with him? And you can see our new front door right behind him:)

Sunday morning he looked at me and said, "Mawm. Next week I want to marry you." I said, "oh, okay, where are we going to get married?" He said, "the mall!"

Then we went to the mall with Ellie but without Daddy. We did not get married there. We came home, had lunch, Ellie went down for a nap and while John put his feet up we headed out to the backyard to play. Grandma came over and helped us build a hill to slide down. We made snow angels and laughed as I tried to hoist myself down our "hill".

We had hot cocoa and did a puzzle. I made soup and lasagna (it's Luke's favorite thing at the moment). As John was getting Luke into bed he told John he was going to marry me and that Ellie was going to marry him.

A simply perfect weekend.

House Warming

When I was applying to colleges I thought for certain I was going to major in Interior Design. I always loved decorating, paint colors, fabrics and rearranging furniture. Somehow along the way I was swayed into graphic design which ended up being my chosen major and I've never looked back but a soft spot remains for that love of interiors. Our house, while small and inefficient for a family of four with 1050 square feet has been a labor of love. We redid the floors before we moved in, painted every room in the house, had a new roof put on, a new front window installed and this summer we had the house painted, added an awning, updated all of the exterior doors, and rebuilt the rotting front porch.

Here are the before and afters, we've come along way baby! (please note that most of these photos are of poor quality, not at all styled, and were taken before we had kids hence the sparse nature of the house. The after picture of the outside of the house does not do it justice at all. It's kind of embarrassing as a graphic designer but it's what I have at my disposal right now.)

Before:

After:

Kitchen with the awesome ivy border, non-working stove and well you get the idea.

I painted the cabinets, we bought a new gas stove and put in all new lighting throughout the house.

The living room before:

After with a fresh coat of paint and refinished floors:

It currently looks like this:

Dining room:

The bathroom before:

After with new paint, cabinet and lighting:

In 2011 we plan to update the kitchen and take the bathroom from a rotting, leaky floor to one that looks like this:

Fashion Forward

My one main resolution for 2011 was to amp up my dress code. I am fortunate enough to work in a relaxed environment, one that does not discriminate jeans from the office attire. Having been pregnant for nearly two years straight, along with dumping a ton of money into expensive formula and all things baby, my wardrobe tanked along with our checkbook. I have been stuck in a jean cycle and some of them were not good jeans either. Even long before kids were in the picture I put myself in a role of wearing mainly black dress pants. I had convinced myself that skirts were only for summer because I thought I was too tall for heels and I didn't think the combo of flat shoes, skirts and awful stockings did much for my self-esteem. Confusing and messed up right? Somewhere along the line though I embraced heels and I like them. I like that I'm tall and try as I might to frown in the mirror at my reflection, what stands between me and the mirror is my daughter who is vying for her minute of primping. I have bit my tongue many times from saying, "ugh, I'm so fat, I hate myself." Last year I swore I would end that cycle and I have. I am accepting me more and more as time goes on. I am wearing dresses to work with heels and wedges and *gasp* stockings (more like tights, but whatever). After wearing the same belt for longer than Luke has been alive (is that the saddest thing you've read!) I have invested in some from Target and what a difference they make for an outfit, why have I waited so long? My hope in all of this is that when you feel better you beget better. Good comes from good. There are so many situations out of my control that I can't do anything about, but I can change my own way of thinking and accepting which in turn with morph into a mother of children with much less of body image problem than I carry with me.

What makes me laugh is that I found this the other day and smiled. Then I stumbled upon her and of course I just obsess over her.

Unexpected Day Off

We woke up to this:

I went to work and saw this from our front office window:

Then I got the call to go home. So I did. The last 3 hours of this day have been as decadent as a slice of flourless chocolate cake. I am blessed and happy.

Done

9:30am Sunday: Babysitter calls to say her mother died unexpectedly and she'd (obviously) need the week off.

9:40am Sunday: Call brother and sister-in-law to tell them the news and secure some babysitting for Ellie. Monday is taken care of. We'll find someone for Tuesday and Wednesday.

10:30am Sunday: John calls his mom. She can watch E on Wednesday but we'll have to drive her down. No problem, except that we have one car and he'll have to leave around 6:45am to be back in time for work.

10:45am Sunday: I call my Aunt Pat, she has doctor's appointments and can't commit to helping on Tuesday.

11am: I call my mom. She offers to use a vacation day to help us out on Tuesday.

Proceed with the day. Attend a family party which means kids don't nap and are overtired.

11am Monday: Call from Luke's teacher that he has pink eye and I need a doctor's note before he can come back to school. Need to pick him up immediately.

11:04am Monday: Call pediatrician's office. Can't get an appointment until Tuesday at 8:30. Call sister-in-law to say Luke is coming over.

11:15am Monday: Rush to school to get Luke. Drive home and get Vigamox, since we are stockpiled with the elixer.

11:30am Monday: Bring Luke to sister-in-laws. Get drops in his eyes. Head back to work.

7:00am Tuesday: Ellie wakes up with a bloody nose.

8:30am Tuesday: My mom arrives and takes over to spend the day with Ellie. I thought for sure Luke was off to school. Luke to the doctor. They decide to swab him for strep. Turns out he has it along with pink eye in both eyes. He's out of school for the rest of the week. Doctor says to make an appointment for Ellie to be checked today as well.

9am Tuesday: Bring script to the pharmacy for Luke. Bring Luke home to Grandma.

10am Tuesday: I have a meeting at work off-site.

11am Tuesday: Go to pharmacy to get Luke's medicine.

11:15am Tuesday: Go home to get medicine into Luke. Ellie screams for medicine too.

1pm Tuesday: John comes to my office to get surplus Vigamox since his eyes are burning.

4:30pm Tuesday: Go home. Make dinner. Wake up Ellie and get her dressed for the doctors.

5:30pm Tuesday: Go to doctor's. Determine that Ellie does not have strep but has a sinus infection and pink eye.

6pm Tuesday: Go back to pharmacy and drop off her script.

6:15pm Tuesday: Home. Eat dinner. Do baths and get kids in pjs.

7pm Tuesday: Luke and I go to pharmacy for 4th time in one day.

7:20pm Tuesday: Begin bedtime. Read books. Sing songs. Brush teeth.

8pm Tuesday: Kids to bed. Do laundry and dishes.

8:20pm Tuesday: Luke insists on his light on and door open. John lays down with him and reads more stories.

9pm Tuesday: Luke spits in his face. John punishes him. Luke throws up. Yadda. Yadda. Yadda. Until 10pm when the house is finally quiet.

Christmas wishes

It's Christmas. The time of year where we run around buying things for others, sometimes with great thought and care and sometimes we buy in haste because we don't know what to get, or quite honestly just want to cross them off our list, or to have something, anything to give to them. It's the time of year where stores are crazy, drivers are impatient and the lines for everything are long. We stress ourselves out as we lose sight of what really matters.

My babysitter's mother died last night. It was sudden and unexpected. I remember her telling me a few weeks ago of how they shopped together over the previous weekend and her mom bought all of her four grandchildren lavish gifts which was somewhat out of character for her to do. I can only imagine what it will be like for them open those presents without her present to see their reactions. They will rather be left with a void. Their grandmother won't be there to hug and thank or to even reciprocate the surprise to.

My mom and I went to New York City a few weeks ago as a belated birthday trip. Hers not mine. It was lovely to be just the two of us without any distractions of kids or life in general. I asked her what it was like as a parent to leave my 22 year old smarter-than-you-can-imagine self in New Jersey to start a new phase of my life as a working girl in NYC? We laughed at my insane phone calls home, especially the time when I had locked myself out of my apartment and was on a pay phone near teenaged boys beating themselves up with baseball bats. Oh how smart I was; crying on a pay phone and wanting to be anywhere but where I was. Character building moments, right?

I am grateful for that day in NYC, even though it was crowded and crazy, it was fun.

We ate at a french restaurant with snooty service which I chalked up to part of the NYC experience. We wandered through crowded places like Anthropologie, the Union Square Holiday Market, Bryant Park and Grand Central. We went on The Ride and the whole bus sang Happy Birthday to her.

My mom always made Christmas a big deal. It was magical and special with strong traditions. Our holidays were built on family, surprises, and togetherness (with of course the right amount of crazy shopping days).

Remember the love you have, not the stuff you have. Live without regret.

Kissmiss

If you're in a bad mood or not feeling well you should call us up and we'll put Ellie on the phone. She is in complete love with our Christmas tree and all things related. Snowmen, outdoor lights, Santa, you name it if she sees it she squeals with delight. The way she says "Kissmiss tee" will seriously have you grinning from ear to ear. I keep finding little piles of ornaments scattered about the house; a few on the recliner, one on the kitchen counter, a couple in her room, it cracks me up.

**********************

Tonight I was giving her a tubby (aka bath) and she started coughing really hard, the kind of coughing that is overly dramatic and you know is completely fake. I asked her if she was okay and she said, "Mom, I trow up."

You know about the crazy amounts of throw up in our house, isn't it hilarious that now she's imitating it? I tried to not crack up. Then she hit me with this, "I joke."

Her timing was just perfect.

PS the Kissmiss Tee pictures were taken with my iPhone in the dark thus the poor quality.