as long as you're only looking for pictures:

Pictures...sit back and enjoy!!! #5's my favorite

Summer pictures

1 - big sis doing her job
2 - the 4th in Ridgewood
3 - cooling off in a torrential summer rain

4 - Maggie in the pack-n-play at Canandaigua
5 - Katie's first bike and first bike-ride

Advertising at its finest

Yikes, it's been a while! Guess what? I'm not gonna write about kids...I've got this weird idea to write about a few of my new favorite products...I know: what the heck?! But - I've gotten a couple of things recently that I have to rave about.

First - Cheer. Yes, the laundry detergent. Seriously. I have never really payed any attention (or is it paid?) whatever, I've never payed much attention to laundry detergent - buy what's cheap or whatever's got a coupon. I had a moment of consumer/commercial affliction and fell for the ads. I decided "what the heck - might as well try it". Katie's been taking dance class and has to wear white socks and a white t-shirt, I need to try something to keep her from not looking dingy. And you know what?!?!? I really think it works!! Really; honest - I think Cheer laundry detergent makes my whites brighter!!! (And I know it's not "new" as stated in the first paragraph, but it's new to me!)

Second - everyone knows how great the magic eraser things are (cuz they're not really sponges, hhmmm) anyways, how many of you have tried the magic eraser/febreze/bathroom version?? FANTASTIC!!! Yeah, for sure - they're great, ok - not quite as great as Frosted Flakes, b/c who wouldn't rather sit down to a bowl with Tony the Tiger opposed to cleaning the bathroom, but if I have to clean the bathroom - this it totally the way to go!

Third - more specifically to moms who still use strollers - the First Years something stroller. Way better than my 100$ Britax stroller! Really! A 45$ umbrella stroller bought at BJ's is going to be our go-to stroller from now on...I might even get rid of every other stroller we have! ("How many strollers do you have?" you might ask. I don't know, I'd have to count.) Anyways, awesome awesome awesome First Years stroller. Finally found one I really love.

Okay, so there's my not-paid-for-by-advertisers ad --- go buy yourself something!

(Oh yeah - we're all good!!!)

So, Maggie'e daycare room has a little fenced in area (I don't know...4x5, 5x5) it's used for either the baby who is not yet mobile - keeping him/her apart from those who'll trample him, or it's for the single mobile baby so as not to trample over the stationary others.

I go into the room today to get Maggie and she is in the pen! You think now: maybe she's the only one walking. Well, she's not. I ask "What's the matter?" and the response is "we have a biter in the room". So, I think for a split second, that what goes through my head is: 'well, ok - I guess it's good that they're putting Maggie out of harms way'. Um - I was wrong!! Maggie's the biter!!!!!! Yikes!

What the heck do I do with that!?

A tiny bit of additional information...
1. One of the careproviders in Maggie's room left 2 weeks ago (last week, there was a girl in there temporarily, but she's in the Center regularly, so Maggie knows her)
2. The new girl started yesterday! We had never gotten a 'biting' report before this.
3. Even at 14 months, Maggie has no words yet, so I expect that extreme frustration/lack of verbal communication is a huge role.
4. She has some eating issues, so maybe she's getting too hungry and irritable

*sigh*

PICTURES!!!

The team everyone loves to hate except me

DUKE!!!! "Why" you ask....where do I begin?

I guess in the 7th grade. Gym class...running up and down the halls when the weather was too lousy for outdoor gym. I can still visualize that hallway with the ramp off to the side, going either to the cafeteria or maybe loading dock...Charlotte Middle School; 7th grade; I was very white and pretty athletic (an urban coach's, well I won't say "dream" but...you might get the idea). So, there I was running my laps for gym and apparently caught my gym teacher's attention Ms. LM. I was "recruited" to play basketball!! Short little me, yes, I am right on the border of petite, playing basketball! Okay, okay, I did win a couple of trophies in elementary school: "Super 7 Shootout". (Yes, I still have those!) On with the story. I had never played b-ball before, never even watched a game. So, what did I do...that weekend or sometime thereabouts, I watched my first basketball game from start to finish; it happened to be a college game. Guess which team was playing and guess who won! You got it: Duke. As my memory serves (not so accurately as people know), I recall that it was Duke vs. UNC and Duke won, so - since the 7th grade Duke has been my favorite team.

So, all you Duke-haters out there...so be it! They are my favorite, I am a life-long fan...not some winning team only kind of favorite. I have watched them through winning and losing, National Championships and (one in particular) really really poor season - the year Coach K had his back issues, 1996ish...So, you may hate Duke (you're just jealous) but don't knock me for playing favorites.

So, on a final note:
YAY DUKE - CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!

March - since it looks like only 1 post this month

Very weird - it says it's 9PM on the 14th....uuuummmm NO - it's 1:30AM on the, well, now the 20th. What is wrong with the dating on this blog!?!?!? So, anyways, here's the post:

Yes, I know - I've skipped over Maggie's first birthday-blog. In a nutshell: she goes to bed at 5:30, so there's not much to report from her b-day --- she doesn't like cake or frosting; chocolate or vanilla! (At least Katie liked the frosting.) She likes her baby doll stroller and she steals all of Katie's dolls. She is most enamored with a recycled gift - we got Katie (for either her 1st b-day or that Christmas) a little chair, sorta like the pottery barn little chair, but for about a tenth of the price. Well, Katie didn't terribly care for it. We think that Maggie has used it more in the past 3 days than Katie ever did!

I'd load up some pics, but I am not home..."gosh" you say "where could you be at 1AM???" Well, I am in the maternity ward with my new nephew: Patrick Colin. You all know how it is...first baby, (do I need to go on? Well, I will!). A little extra support is always needed, sometimes it's welcomed or even asked for, sometimes however - it's a little tough love: Matt speaking to his brother "Elizabeth is coming to the hospital, what can she bring?" Period. So, I arrived with a Quarter Pounder, Twix, sodas, a fleecy homey blanket and COFFEE. The java was for me (and it seems to be working!) the blanket was for me too, but a certain new daddy was short on pillows and the "blankets" that the hospital provides, well, they're lacking a little, uummm coziness.

So, in I walk - straight into a breastfeeding lesson! Okay, been there, done that. Finally, these Highland Lactation ladies, ugh...well finally, she's done. I get a bit of Baby Patrick-time while new daddy falls asleep and new mommy takes a well-deserved shower. Clean Mommy, Baby P and I go off for a saunter through the halls...yeah - don't miss that! Returned to room (new daddy still sleeping) new mommy hands off Baby P to the nursery and she gets some rest, so here I am!

Not much else...We have to reschedule Maggie's 1st b-day party :-( She has had a fever since she woke up on Tuesday! Yuck. And from what I hear, it lasts a long time and doesn't really present any other symptoms. I've heard people mention this lasting for 10 days!!!! I'm gonna run out of sick days....I have never used as many days as I have this year, excluding the 2 years I had babies. But what are ya gonna do?

Oh yeah - my birthday and Matt's too! busy month - maybe that's my problem.

sayonara (the coffee is wearing off)

Life as we know it

So, I suppose it's about that time....nothing profound (at least at this precise moment) but here are some pics...the top one was an "Oh Sh*t" moment when I left Maggie unsupervised for a split second...the second picture is practicing walking - she's gotten a few steps at a time done, but I imagine by her birthday she'll be strolling around the house like it's nothing!

Next...15 pounds at this point since January 2nd. Not too shabby! A couple of ah-ha moments: 1. it's nice to just slip into a pair of jeans (although, at this point, frankly, they're simply too big!!) 2. I can wear some of my white sweaters now without feeling like a snowman! 3. my perception of myself now and 5-10 years ago is uumm, off. I am wearing sweaters now that I have owned for an embarassingly long time and they fit, but how did they that long ago when I so much smaller...? I have no idea. It is what it is and it was what it was. I've got to stop dwelling on what was and keep moving forward from where I am. My goal is 5 pounds a month for a few more months...we'll see.

Katie is doing a great job of writing and letters and wanting to know how everything is spelled! About a week ago Maggie had to go through a series of shots and I was explaining to Katie that M needed two shots on Thursday, two on Friday and two on Saturday...without missing a beat, Katie replied "Maggie needs six shots!!!" Well, I was impressed by her math. Another random display occurred this weekend. We were talking about distances/travelling/where people live. She understands that Florida is far away and you need to get on an airplane. New Jersey - you can get in a car and drive there in a little bit. "Where does Aunt Carrie live?" asks Katie. She lives Washington, you need to get in a plane for even longer than going to Florida, I replied. Katie said: "Washington...like on money paper and a quarter." Me: "Uumm, yeah! Good Job." As much as I'm not thrilled with daycare, I guess she is learning stuff.

Maggie - 7 teeth! Crazy hair and learning to walk. In a nutshell, that's what you get with an 11 month old. Food - I'm doing better with her...eggs, bacon, meatloaf - good. I will admit, I've done something I never did with Katie (note wrinkled brow here) I bought the "stage 4" foods...Ugh. But I haven't wrecked here yet - I hope this isn't the start of that! :-)

Matt, simply put, is CRAVING fishing and golf.

There's the end of my free time - Maggie is rattling the crib-rail. I guess she's awake! (Although "rattling" doesn't seem to do justice to the vigor with which she indicates she's up.)

So long.

Please

COMMENT....FOLLOW!!!!!!

Does anyone read this besides my mother and Jess? (Love you both and thank you)

Okay, I'm done.

Have a good day.

The Family Portrait

My family was never big on professional photos; in fact, I can only recall two such instances in my life: senior pictures for high school and my wedding.

So, I picked Katie up from daycare the other day and she has this picture, (I think this is a keeper for posterity!) and she says it's her family.

Here's our conversation:

Me: Katie, who's in the picture?

Katie: That's Maggie (the little blue person in the upper left); there's the sun (should be obvious); that's Daddy (the red person) and that's Grandpa (the green one).

Me: Is that even Grandpa's mustache? (The green splotch in the middle to match the green hair)

K: Yes

Me: No Mommy? Where's she?

K: Oh...nope - maybe next time.

:-)

The Girls

I do hope you can tell that Maggie has the biggest smile on her face here.

It is so awesome - the pleasure that Katie and Maggie get from each other. (It almost makes me want to add another to the mix. I said almost.)

Anyways, I suppose this one will be about the girls.

Really, I couldn't be more proud of the relationship these two have. I truly think that there is no one who can get Maggie laughing and squealing quite like Katie. They have this game they play (it drives Matt crazy in the car): it's, I guess to get technical - part of Maggie's language acquisition skills; but they squeal and squawk and mimic each other, with escalating volume, of course. Maggie says "da" Katie says "da" and "dada" and then "dada" and it gets to shrilling volumes. I love it - it gets too loud for Matt though, but as long as he does somewhere appreciate it, then we're ok.

It seems as though Maggie goes through more separation anxiety when Katie leaves than when I do....what does that say!? Yesterday afternoon, Matt and Katie went out and Maggie was not very pleasant the whole time they were gone...makes me feel special (not!). But when Katie got home - everything was great.

I can't expect that it will always be like this between them, but I sure can hope for it! And enjoy every second that it is like this.

The return of the d-word

It's back! That pesky d-word. sshhh....whisper....diet. Ugh. There, I said it. Yup, South Beach again. I swear though, some of it is a crock of you-know-what! "Your cravings should subside within a couple of days" B-S!!! I don't think so. Hence the reference elsewhere: do you dream of bread? Yes, I do! and pasta, cereal, rice, I wasn't going to say potatoes, but french fries are potatoes, so those too. It's been 9 days and man-oh-man, I could go for some starch. I've been good though, over at friends' the other night, no pizza, no chips, no beer or wine, no bread with chili.

It might help that Matt is doing it too. But I gotta say: Men Suck!!! 11 pounds for him!!!! only half that for me. Oh well. I do know that's typically the way the cookie crumbles. Oops, there I go! (At least we don't have any cookies in the house).

In terms of the food, it's not hard to follow. It does take alot of preparation...having clean fresh veggies (preferrably ones to eat raw for snacks). Making salads and eating them in a timely fashion so nothing rots. Meats...just finding ways to cook, prepare and sauce that's within the guidelines. And knowing you'll eat one meat and 2 veggies instead of meat, veggies and rice/potatoes/bread. Nuts are good and beans. If you're thinking of starting...(MWM) buy the newest edition - they've added alot of foods for Phase 1.

So here's some of my thinking. I never lost the weight after baby #1. I was conscientious, but it never went away and after a certain point, I figured: Heck, I'm gonna have another baby anyways, so forgetaboutit. But now, I know I am done having babies. So, I've got to do this. For me.

So, now that I am done making myself accountable to the world, off to eat dinner - marinated swordfish and salad. MMmmm

Stuff - the good, the bad, and well, just stupid stuff too

Okay, if you keep reading you'll see the actual post and the fact that I was going to try to do pics, so I got the pics but can't yet figure out how to move them! (This entry turned out longer than anticipated - blame it on the pictures)

#1 - if you missed out on the holiday card - here's a variation on the picture
#2 - Katie making funny faces while decorating cookies for her party - read on...
#3 - the dichotomy that is Katie: a bejeweled princess driving her remote control hummer!!! a fantastic picture

Okay, so let's start of this New Year with a New Post!

Good stuff - BABIES...there will be at least two new babies in the family this year. My sister-in-law is due on March 15, yes - that is Maggie's birthday!!!! That could be tricky though, so a day early or late might be good. And another Cousin is having a baby (Yay, Fort Washington!!!!)

More good stuff...the family is good. Really, we're all doing very well. So far this season, escaping major illness (okay, an ear infection, but that's nuthin'). Maggie is growing and growing. Clapping; pulling up to stand; taking a couple cruising steps...it's funny, interesting, unfortunate, and I suppose normal, to see the differences between parenting an only child (Katie until 9 months ago) compared to parenting a second child (Maggie). I feel kinda bad for Maggie. It seems like I'm paying so much less attention to her than I did to Katie at this age. I know Katie at that age was so much more diverse in her eating, for one thing. Finger food, meat, yogurt, just in general. Maggie is still eating almost all jarred stage 3 food. Ugh.

Katie. I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to keep up with her. She is learning so much so quickly. She got a big floor puzzle for Christmas, it was of the solar system. I asked her if she knew what it was a picture of and she proclaimed "Outer Space!" like I was an idiot! :-) Writing, spelling, numbers, strangely - really really basic math: you have 5 dolls, if I take one away, how many do you have? That's not wierd to do with a 4 year old is it!? OMG - yeah, she's 4!!!!!! Good segue here...

4 year old birthday party! We did it. Her b-day was a Friday and her friend Lydia's was the next day so her mom and I decided to do a joint party..if you asked Katie which daycare kids she wanted to invite, she'd name a certain 5 and if you asked Lydia, she named a whole other 5, so we invited the whole daycare room! 14 children! There was a "no" or two and an extra sibling or two so, we ended up with 14, maybe 15 children between 3 and 5 years old all at my house!!!!

I had this idea to decorate Christmas cookies as the party's primary activity. Yeah, CRAZY - you don't need to tell me that. After I'm not sure how many batches of dough, rolling, cutting out and baking - we ended up with enough cookies for each child to decorate 4 cookies and an extra 2 dozen for our house. (which we really could have done without.) AND - it was not a disaster! Lots of frosting, lots of sprinkles and cinnamon thingy-s and we had a party. (I'll see if I can figure out how to put pictures in this thing.)

So, "The good, the bad and just stupid stuff"....so what's next...the bad? Not a whole lot - we are healthy, we have our jobs (like them or not; primarily "not"). So, on to "stupid stuff"

"Stupid" here refers to trivial and insignificant.

Books: I have not read a book since my rampage through half a dozen this summer. I have a big pile of books to read and an even bigger list (I know - you English geeks there's an improper comparison there: you can't compare the size of a pile to the length of a list, oh well! {Yeah, you probably know the proper term for that, too!!!})

Coffee makers: For some reason I am on a mission to find a new one. The one I have been using for however many years, was a wedding present. Matt doesn't drink coffee, so I'm not sure if that helps or make the decision-making more difficult. Hhmm. Anyways, he kindly bought me one as a gift from the girls for Christmas (thank you!), but I didn't care for it and I really didn't care for the price! So, I bought one that I thought I liked, at least there were certain aspects that I liked, but there were things I just couldn't get past/passed(?). Today, I bought another one and am doing a test run before tomorrow AM...we'll see...I guess that's it. I'll see if I can find my way back here sooner than in another 5 months.

So long for now!