We are on vacation here at casa de phillips....at casa de phillips. It only makes sense to those people who have two small children as to why we are vacationing at our own home.
Since Tobe is home from work for the next five days, I ran out on my own to tackle a few errands this afternoon...one of which was having my eyebrows waxed (Ah, the things we do for glamour). As I settled myself into the plush chair at the salon, ready for hot wax to be pulled and then ripped off of my eyes, the technician suggested a new method of shaping the eyebrow area.
First, I must explain that this nice lady had a very thick accent...so much so that I had difficulty understanding what she was saying. She begins to explain this new eyebrow shaping technique, which she is calling "threading." Although I did not completely comprehend everything she was saying about this technique, I did catch the part about it being cheaper and that it did not hurt. This was all I needed to hear to decide that threading was the choice for me and my eyebrows.
Threading....well, it involves a very sharp piece of thread (razor sharp) that is drug over the unwanted hairs of one's eyebrow at a sharp rate of speed. I have a high pain tolerance. Eyebrow waxing does not make me flinch. However, eyebrow threading was indeed painful and the technician kept telling me to not be scared--which is difficult when a person is wielding a thin razor over your face. After 45 minutes of this intense procedure, my eyebrows were nicely groomed. Before the technician began this legal form of torture, she told me once I "threaded" my eyebrows, I would never return to waxing again. All I know is that if my only eyebrow shaping option is threading, I am simply going to shave the things off.
Before I could leave this house of pain, the technician told me that I really needed a facial (which she just happened to do). She kept saying that I had many blemishes and then said that I needed the resurfacing facial (AKA microdermabrasion). I am an avid user of Pro-Active Solution and Bare Essentials, both which keep my skin quite clear. I was unsure of exactly what blemishes the lady was referring to, until she suggested I buy a particular lotion to help with my skin issues. The particular lotion was a lightening cream and I finally figured out that the blemishes she was referring to were my freckles.
That was my first...and last...visit to this salon.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Tips From the Trenches
Here are a few tips I learned in my neverending role as Mommy today:
Give your toddler a shiny green apple. This will entertain him for at least 30 minutes as he sits on the kitchen floor munching away happily, lost in his thoughts.
Holding your prone-to-spit-up 3 month old above your head five minutes after eating in order to get a giggle out of her will cause her to spit up. Into your mouth.
Trains and small children don’t always result in laughter and fun. As we were out this morning I noticed our local train chugging up ahead of us. Being the savvy Mommy that I am, I pulled a U-turn (not knowing there was a police officer behind me—fortunately he did not seem to notice my traffic violation) in order for us to stop in a parking lot right next to the train tracks. I hurriedly grabbed Isaac from his car seat, anxious to see his utter joy as the train whizzed past us. What I did not expect was the loud screams that would come out of both of my children’s mouths as the train blew its whistle. Loud screams, my friend. Isaac calmed down rather quickly, until the conductor (who was only 10 feet from us by this point) noticed this sweet blonde hair boy watching the train and decided to blow the whistle again. It took five minutes to get them both calmed down and for all screaming and crying to subside. Hopefully they both will not shudder in fear every time we cross a railroad track in the near future.
Two year olds feel like an open sandbox makes the perfect resting spot for a half-eaten Popsicle.
If you watch an EBay auction’s final minutes over the phone with your mother, you most likely will end up bidding on an item in the final 12 seconds out of the sheer excitement of the moment. Then you will do an unfortunate dance of joy while shouting, “I won! I won!” to which your husband will remind you that you actually have to pay for such item.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Going On a Mission
If you happened to be shopping at the lovely Target near casa de phillips this morning, you likely heard a toddler's voice yell out, "Rocket!" repeatedly. That toddler belonged to me.
On a mission to purchase diapers and return a birthday gift that had arrived damaged, the three of us set out for our local Target where we found very few open parking spaces. School starts here on Monday and all of the procrastinators were out in full searching for the much-needed crayolas and mechanical pencils. On our drive to Target I had explained that we were returning the broken birthday present and Isaac could pick out something new as a replacement.....all the while making sure to emphasize the point that we do not just buy toys every time we grace the doors of a store (except for when Mommy and Daddy shop at Target together and can't help themselves).
Target is now a proud distributor of Little Einstein toys, which just happens to be Isaac's very favorite cartoon. It was quite amusing to watch him peruse the selection of toys trying to find the very best one (which actually would have been the large Rocket and four Einstein action figures that cost $40...YIKES!). He opted for the toy that allows you to create your own music. I believe this one was chosen mainly for the fact that we rarely, if ever, buy him electronic toys because: A. They annoy the stuffing out of us and B. Prefer for him to play with things that stimulate his mind and creativity and do not simply require the pushing of a button over..and over..and over again.
We spent the rest of the shopping trip with Isaac repeatedly pushing the buttons on his new toy with joy and yelling "Rocket!" (You have to watch the show to really get why he is yelling "Rocket"). Somehow Evelyn managed to sleep during all of this.
Our shopping list did take us near the school supply section where Moms were frantically searching for the required glue and kids were attempting to choose the perfect backpack from the measly selection that remained. Not being one to procrastinate (in most areas), I find it amusing to see such chaos. These same parents who have waited until three days before school begins to get supplies when the lists have been in the stores for over a month will likely wonder why their child never seems to turn in their homework or hand over a paper that needs to be signed on time.
(Here is a little tip from my former teaching days: Target will clearance out all remaining supplies in a few weeks. Hold onto the list of items needed and buy more once such things go on clearance. Your child will most likely need most of these supplies restocked in January...if not October!)
Here are some random pictures:
On a mission to purchase diapers and return a birthday gift that had arrived damaged, the three of us set out for our local Target where we found very few open parking spaces. School starts here on Monday and all of the procrastinators were out in full searching for the much-needed crayolas and mechanical pencils. On our drive to Target I had explained that we were returning the broken birthday present and Isaac could pick out something new as a replacement.....all the while making sure to emphasize the point that we do not just buy toys every time we grace the doors of a store (except for when Mommy and Daddy shop at Target together and can't help themselves).
Target is now a proud distributor of Little Einstein toys, which just happens to be Isaac's very favorite cartoon. It was quite amusing to watch him peruse the selection of toys trying to find the very best one (which actually would have been the large Rocket and four Einstein action figures that cost $40...YIKES!). He opted for the toy that allows you to create your own music. I believe this one was chosen mainly for the fact that we rarely, if ever, buy him electronic toys because: A. They annoy the stuffing out of us and B. Prefer for him to play with things that stimulate his mind and creativity and do not simply require the pushing of a button over..and over..and over again.
We spent the rest of the shopping trip with Isaac repeatedly pushing the buttons on his new toy with joy and yelling "Rocket!" (You have to watch the show to really get why he is yelling "Rocket"). Somehow Evelyn managed to sleep during all of this.
Our shopping list did take us near the school supply section where Moms were frantically searching for the required glue and kids were attempting to choose the perfect backpack from the measly selection that remained. Not being one to procrastinate (in most areas), I find it amusing to see such chaos. These same parents who have waited until three days before school begins to get supplies when the lists have been in the stores for over a month will likely wonder why their child never seems to turn in their homework or hand over a paper that needs to be signed on time.
(Here is a little tip from my former teaching days: Target will clearance out all remaining supplies in a few weeks. Hold onto the list of items needed and buy more once such things go on clearance. Your child will most likely need most of these supplies restocked in January...if not October!)
Here are some random pictures:
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Perspective
Have you ever looked at a picture or watched a video and suddenly realized that you were starring at yourself? Well, tonight I opened an email from a local indoor play area whose mailing list I am on and saw this picture:
Um...yeah that is me in the far left corner doing crunches with Isaac on my lap. We attended a free Mommies Boot Camp class Tuesday morning at this indoor play area and apparently are now a part of their advertising team. I am just thankful no promotional pictures were taken during the jump rope/jumping jacks cardio session.
***
This afternoon Isaac, Evelyn, and I were coloring in the kitchen on a large poster board (want to save your sanity while cooking? Purchase several sheets of poster board and pull them out on those evenings when the little ones feel the need to be directly under your feet while you cook. Isaac will sit and color on one of these forever and then later they can mysteriously make their way to the trash can and he never knows.). Isaac and I were both drinking chocolate milk and I advised him in a very motherly tone to be careful with his milk so he didn't spill it on his artwork. Guess what I did about a minute and a half later....spilt my milk on his artwork.
***
On a serious note, check out the following blogs and offer up some prayers for these friends. This close friend from college recently lost her father and wrote a beautiful post about her precious daddy. These fellow ACU alumni have become better friends of mine via the blog world. Please lift up the health of their newborn son as he fights a huge fight for a little guy. It is events such as these that provide much needed clarity among my often stilted perspective of everyday life.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Toddler Speak
Here is a conversation I had in the car this morning with Isaac:
I: "Dinosaur?"
L: "A dinosaur, really..hmmm" (Confession: I wasn't really paying attention due to the fact I was glaring at someone who took too long to turn, thus making me miss a green light)
I: "I saw a dinosaur"
L: "Cool." (still glaring at the person in front of me)
I: "I saw a dinosaur riding in a car."
I turn to look in the car next to us where a white fluffy dog was hanging out...AKA a dinosaur. We contemplated taking Isaac to see this but then decided he was too young and it was a bit too realistic...especially since he is mistaking the friendly neighborhood dogs for dinosaurs.
I: "Dinosaur?"
L: "A dinosaur, really..hmmm" (Confession: I wasn't really paying attention due to the fact I was glaring at someone who took too long to turn, thus making me miss a green light)
I: "I saw a dinosaur"
L: "Cool." (still glaring at the person in front of me)
I: "I saw a dinosaur riding in a car."
I turn to look in the car next to us where a white fluffy dog was hanging out...AKA a dinosaur. We contemplated taking Isaac to see this but then decided he was too young and it was a bit too realistic...especially since he is mistaking the friendly neighborhood dogs for dinosaurs.
***
Casa de phillips is a cozy home....not too big and nearly not enough closet space, but it fits our family of four nicely (and it was a great buy for our location). However we don't have what is called a split-bedroom house which means all of our bedrooms--including the Master--are in a nice little row down the hall. I can see Isaac's crib while lying in my bed if the doors are open. This means that I try to be quiet as a mouse in the early morning for fear of waking him (and starting my day as "Mommy" too early).
This morning at 6:15am I heard a loud, toddler voice call from his bedroom:
"Mommy, wake up. Change I-ick's di-ter. Change Baby E-vins di-ter."
Cute and all, but I managed to hide in my room cherishing my first cup of coffee attempting to organize my To-do list by the dim light of the bathroom for twenty more minutes of alone time....until the toddler chatter turned to toddler yelling which woke up the 3 month old in the next bedroom. Welcome, Tuesday morning.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Randomosity
Okay, so randomosity isn't really a word, but here are some bits and pieces from casa de phillips:
1.We do our grocery shopping on the weekends. I used to simply go by myself--without anyone under three feet tall accompanying me. Lately we have been tackling this chore as a family. We divide the list, each parent takes a child, and set off to get our food and necessities. Upon arriving back at casa de phillips we all help put everything away...including Isaac. He loves to help take things to the appropriate room and is quite good at stacking or lining things up. Last week he stacked--by size--diapers, wipes, and trash bags in the shelves of Evelyn's changing table and then stacked toiletries in the master bath by size. Impressive, but a bit creepy.
2.Potty training is going nowhere at our house. However, Isaac makes a good faith effort everyday. He removes the necessary garments, sits patiently, reads a book, requests toilet paper, uses the toilet paper, and then asks if he can flush the toilet paper down the "mommy commode." Obviously he has the routine down...except the most important part of actually using the restroom. I told him we would have a party with a cake whenever he actually did something in the toilet. The aspect of a party really excites him, so I hope this encourages some progress. Our diaper bill is outrageous (however, we are racking up the Pampers Points!)
3. Speaking of diapers, we do use Pampers at casa de phillips. I know they are most expensive, but they have never let me down. I believe the extra money is worth not having to change clothes at a public place or pajamas and bedsheets in the middle of the night due to leaks. Pampers teamed up with Sesame Street and have placed these childhood characters on each diaper. During the day we have to discuss what character is on Isaac's diaper and what character is on Evelyn's diaper repeatedly. Currently Isaac is requesting that Evelyn only wear Baby Zoe di-ters (diapers).
4. Friday I was able to speak with a man at animal control regarding the duck situation. Apparently these birds are not mere ducks...they are some sort of duck-goose hybrid. The owner of these lovely animals does not see a problem with letting them run free and is trying to have his feathered friends' ability to roam free grandfathered in under a city ordinance. (Apparently there are lots of people with livestock who have gotten special permission to keep such animals despite living in the city. It has something to do with the fact that our little city used to be quite a bit more rural than it is now.) He has been warned twice and is now facing a fine. The city has called in their lawyer to review pet ordinances and see exactly what rules this man must adhere to. Perhaps this will go all the way to Judge Judy...
5. The Nanny Diaries comes out this weekend. About four and a half months ago I arranged a Girls Night Out to eat dinner and catch this film...only to realize that I was completely wrong about the release date.
6. I have heard about FlyLady for years, have checked out the website a few times, but did not really get (or want to get) the whole concept of "FLYing." However, I thrive on structure, organization, and cleanliness....all three of which are becoming increasingly more difficult to achieve with two babies. So I purchased the Flylady's book, grasped the concept (some of it is a bit corny), and have been running my household using quite a bit of her principals. Despite her awkward acronyms, it really is a good system for getting your house under control.
7. Last week Isaac, Evelyn, and I were at a local indoor play area. I struck up a conversation with another mother after we bonded over forcing our children to share a toy. She inquired as to how far apart Isaac and Evelyn are. Her face became quite sympathetic as I told her "21 months," she patted me on my arm, and said, "You are in hell now but it gets better in a year." A year??? Didn't she read my blog about how I thought after three months things would be peachy keen? Apparently her children are 22 months apart and she said if I could simply survive the first year, then things would start to look up....until the children begin to fight over who gets what toy.
8.Isaac went in for his two year check-up and weighed in at a whooping 25.6 pounds....with his clothes on. I find this amusing, considering he eats more at each meal than I do.
9. Evelyn has been identified as being a "happy spitter" meaning that she spits up...a lot...but doesn't really fuss about it. However our sweet baby girl often smells like sour milk and goes through a few outfits a day on some occasions. I also get the lovely opportunity of walking around with spit-up on me most days.
9. Here are some funny things Isaac has said to me lately:
"Mommy, I woke up!"
"Mommy, take trees and grass bath?" (this was said because I was watering our backyard one morning. He says that someone "takes" his bath but means "give" his bath instead.)
"Mommy, play I-ick just few minutes" (yes, he has the guilt trip thing down to an art)
"Mommy, Baby Ev-in hungry/mad/asleep" (If Evelyn makes the slightest peep, Isaac likes to diagnose the problem immediately.)
"Mommy, one more time?" (Every desired activity is now "one more time" meaning that he wants to do it again...and again...and again.)
"Mommy I see _____ sign." (His new thing is to say that he can see the sign of wherever we are going, such as Target, mall, etc. He says this even if there is no sign for our location and if we are still five miles away.)
"Mommy, I or-nize Mr. Tater Head." (He said this to me tonight after I gave him the chore of putting all of his new Mr. Potato Head toys into clear plastic bins to make them nice and organized.)
"Kiving Room" is Living room and "banas" is bathroom
10. I have a confession: I rock Evelyn to sleep for most of her naps. This might not seem like a big deal to some people, but I am an advocate for teaching babies to fall asleep on their own from a very early age. This means that you don't rock the baby to sleep. It was quite easy not to rock Isaac as a baby because he hated to be held. Well, Evelyn was not doing so well in the falling asleep department so I began rocking her so she could nap and our day could stay on pace. Lately she doesn't want to rock, yet she cannot drift off by herself for her little naps. This has lead to the use of the large stability ball. Bouncing on a large stability ball is soothing to babies and makes Evelyn drift off to sleep peacefully. It also is great exercise for one's abs and quads. It took me a few days after starting this new method of getting her to nap to realize why my legs felt as if I had run five miles that day. The positive side of this is that I am two pounds lighter than I was at weigh-in last week---the whole ball-bouncing thing must be working! If you need to shape up your lower body, feel free to stop by at 9:30am, 11am, or 5:15pm to bounce Evelyn to sleep.
11. Twelve years ago this month I headed off for college as an eager little freshman. Twelve years sounds like a really long time, but college feels like it was just yesterday. That might be because Tobe and I rehash college antics at least once a week...if not more. Our children are going to hate the fact that Tobe and I shared our college years together and have a vast collection of stories to tell over and over again.
12. About a year and a half ago I decided to grow my hair out to donate to Locks of Love. I know that sounds glamorous, but the truth is that I wanted to grow my hair out anyway, I do not color it (donations cannot be dyed), and I figured if I decided to do something with the hair after growing it out I would be prevented from chopping it off early. Well seems like Evelyn's favorite thing to grab is Mommy's hair...by the fistfuls. I looked up the other night how much hair one had to cut off to make a useful donation to Locks of Love---10 inches, my friend. I had Tobe help me figure out exactly how short my hair would be should I hack off ten inches now. It was not a flattering length for me (think Posh Spice's hair...not so "major" for me) so I am going to stick with this "growing my hair out thing" for another six months.
13. I just made a Posh Spice and "major" reference in my blog...seriously I need to get out more.
14. Sometimes I feel like Isaac, Evelyn, and I are kid-magnets. Perhaps we look interesting to other children or they feel sorry for us....whatever it is, we seem to attract the children whose parents are oblivious. At the library story time, the rowdy children like to plop down next to us. At the picture studio on Friday, the children who were climbing the couches chose to come talk to us rather than play with the nifty Lego table. We often have random children tag along with us at the park as we set out to check on the fish pond. The play area at the mall typically generates one or two children who feel the need to tell me the intricacies of their life. I hate to be rude to children, but this seriously bugs me. Perhaps I should pretend as if we don't speak English...
15. Apparently Isaac knows how to set the alarm on my travel clock because it just started chirping in my bedside drawer. Fortunately he set if for 9:24pm rather than 2:25 am.
16. In this month's issue of Cookie magazine, they printed the result of some survey they had taken regarding families of different sizes (in relation to the number of children, not waist size). Tobe hates such surveys because they are not statistically sound and fail to mention that "correlation is not causation". I gleefully read the survey "findings" to him the other night, being sure to show him that families with two children reported higher marital satisfaction than families with one, three, or four+ children. It was then that I noticed the part of the survey that showed parents of two children tended to drink more than the other parents...hmmm.
17. Each week when we got to the library, Isaac gets to choose some books that look interesting to him (I throw some into the pile that I know he will actually enjoy because he sometimes grabs some random stuff). This past week he chose a children's book called "Dance By the Light of the Moon" where various farm animals (all girls) get ready to go to a dance in the barn to "dance by the light of the moon." The premise of the book is based on the old song "Buffalo Gals Won't Ya Come out Tonight". Tobe tells me that this song is referring to "women of the night" when it speaks of Buffalo gals....do you think the authors of this children's book understood the real meaning of the song?
Have a great week!
1.We do our grocery shopping on the weekends. I used to simply go by myself--without anyone under three feet tall accompanying me. Lately we have been tackling this chore as a family. We divide the list, each parent takes a child, and set off to get our food and necessities. Upon arriving back at casa de phillips we all help put everything away...including Isaac. He loves to help take things to the appropriate room and is quite good at stacking or lining things up. Last week he stacked--by size--diapers, wipes, and trash bags in the shelves of Evelyn's changing table and then stacked toiletries in the master bath by size. Impressive, but a bit creepy.
2.Potty training is going nowhere at our house. However, Isaac makes a good faith effort everyday. He removes the necessary garments, sits patiently, reads a book, requests toilet paper, uses the toilet paper, and then asks if he can flush the toilet paper down the "mommy commode." Obviously he has the routine down...except the most important part of actually using the restroom. I told him we would have a party with a cake whenever he actually did something in the toilet. The aspect of a party really excites him, so I hope this encourages some progress. Our diaper bill is outrageous (however, we are racking up the Pampers Points!)
3. Speaking of diapers, we do use Pampers at casa de phillips. I know they are most expensive, but they have never let me down. I believe the extra money is worth not having to change clothes at a public place or pajamas and bedsheets in the middle of the night due to leaks. Pampers teamed up with Sesame Street and have placed these childhood characters on each diaper. During the day we have to discuss what character is on Isaac's diaper and what character is on Evelyn's diaper repeatedly. Currently Isaac is requesting that Evelyn only wear Baby Zoe di-ters (diapers).
4. Friday I was able to speak with a man at animal control regarding the duck situation. Apparently these birds are not mere ducks...they are some sort of duck-goose hybrid. The owner of these lovely animals does not see a problem with letting them run free and is trying to have his feathered friends' ability to roam free grandfathered in under a city ordinance. (Apparently there are lots of people with livestock who have gotten special permission to keep such animals despite living in the city. It has something to do with the fact that our little city used to be quite a bit more rural than it is now.) He has been warned twice and is now facing a fine. The city has called in their lawyer to review pet ordinances and see exactly what rules this man must adhere to. Perhaps this will go all the way to Judge Judy...
5. The Nanny Diaries comes out this weekend. About four and a half months ago I arranged a Girls Night Out to eat dinner and catch this film...only to realize that I was completely wrong about the release date.
6. I have heard about FlyLady for years, have checked out the website a few times, but did not really get (or want to get) the whole concept of "FLYing." However, I thrive on structure, organization, and cleanliness....all three of which are becoming increasingly more difficult to achieve with two babies. So I purchased the Flylady's book, grasped the concept (some of it is a bit corny), and have been running my household using quite a bit of her principals. Despite her awkward acronyms, it really is a good system for getting your house under control.
7. Last week Isaac, Evelyn, and I were at a local indoor play area. I struck up a conversation with another mother after we bonded over forcing our children to share a toy. She inquired as to how far apart Isaac and Evelyn are. Her face became quite sympathetic as I told her "21 months," she patted me on my arm, and said, "You are in hell now but it gets better in a year." A year??? Didn't she read my blog about how I thought after three months things would be peachy keen? Apparently her children are 22 months apart and she said if I could simply survive the first year, then things would start to look up....until the children begin to fight over who gets what toy.
8.Isaac went in for his two year check-up and weighed in at a whooping 25.6 pounds....with his clothes on. I find this amusing, considering he eats more at each meal than I do.
9. Evelyn has been identified as being a "happy spitter" meaning that she spits up...a lot...but doesn't really fuss about it. However our sweet baby girl often smells like sour milk and goes through a few outfits a day on some occasions. I also get the lovely opportunity of walking around with spit-up on me most days.
9. Here are some funny things Isaac has said to me lately:
"Mommy, I woke up!"
"Mommy, take trees and grass bath?" (this was said because I was watering our backyard one morning. He says that someone "takes" his bath but means "give" his bath instead.)
"Mommy, play I-ick just few minutes" (yes, he has the guilt trip thing down to an art)
"Mommy, Baby Ev-in hungry/mad/asleep" (If Evelyn makes the slightest peep, Isaac likes to diagnose the problem immediately.)
"Mommy, one more time?" (Every desired activity is now "one more time" meaning that he wants to do it again...and again...and again.)
"Mommy I see _____ sign." (His new thing is to say that he can see the sign of wherever we are going, such as Target, mall, etc. He says this even if there is no sign for our location and if we are still five miles away.)
"Mommy, I or-nize Mr. Tater Head." (He said this to me tonight after I gave him the chore of putting all of his new Mr. Potato Head toys into clear plastic bins to make them nice and organized.)
"Kiving Room" is Living room and "banas" is bathroom
10. I have a confession: I rock Evelyn to sleep for most of her naps. This might not seem like a big deal to some people, but I am an advocate for teaching babies to fall asleep on their own from a very early age. This means that you don't rock the baby to sleep. It was quite easy not to rock Isaac as a baby because he hated to be held. Well, Evelyn was not doing so well in the falling asleep department so I began rocking her so she could nap and our day could stay on pace. Lately she doesn't want to rock, yet she cannot drift off by herself for her little naps. This has lead to the use of the large stability ball. Bouncing on a large stability ball is soothing to babies and makes Evelyn drift off to sleep peacefully. It also is great exercise for one's abs and quads. It took me a few days after starting this new method of getting her to nap to realize why my legs felt as if I had run five miles that day. The positive side of this is that I am two pounds lighter than I was at weigh-in last week---the whole ball-bouncing thing must be working! If you need to shape up your lower body, feel free to stop by at 9:30am, 11am, or 5:15pm to bounce Evelyn to sleep.
11. Twelve years ago this month I headed off for college as an eager little freshman. Twelve years sounds like a really long time, but college feels like it was just yesterday. That might be because Tobe and I rehash college antics at least once a week...if not more. Our children are going to hate the fact that Tobe and I shared our college years together and have a vast collection of stories to tell over and over again.
12. About a year and a half ago I decided to grow my hair out to donate to Locks of Love. I know that sounds glamorous, but the truth is that I wanted to grow my hair out anyway, I do not color it (donations cannot be dyed), and I figured if I decided to do something with the hair after growing it out I would be prevented from chopping it off early. Well seems like Evelyn's favorite thing to grab is Mommy's hair...by the fistfuls. I looked up the other night how much hair one had to cut off to make a useful donation to Locks of Love---10 inches, my friend. I had Tobe help me figure out exactly how short my hair would be should I hack off ten inches now. It was not a flattering length for me (think Posh Spice's hair...not so "major" for me) so I am going to stick with this "growing my hair out thing" for another six months.
13. I just made a Posh Spice and "major" reference in my blog...seriously I need to get out more.
14. Sometimes I feel like Isaac, Evelyn, and I are kid-magnets. Perhaps we look interesting to other children or they feel sorry for us....whatever it is, we seem to attract the children whose parents are oblivious. At the library story time, the rowdy children like to plop down next to us. At the picture studio on Friday, the children who were climbing the couches chose to come talk to us rather than play with the nifty Lego table. We often have random children tag along with us at the park as we set out to check on the fish pond. The play area at the mall typically generates one or two children who feel the need to tell me the intricacies of their life. I hate to be rude to children, but this seriously bugs me. Perhaps I should pretend as if we don't speak English...
15. Apparently Isaac knows how to set the alarm on my travel clock because it just started chirping in my bedside drawer. Fortunately he set if for 9:24pm rather than 2:25 am.
16. In this month's issue of Cookie magazine, they printed the result of some survey they had taken regarding families of different sizes (in relation to the number of children, not waist size). Tobe hates such surveys because they are not statistically sound and fail to mention that "correlation is not causation". I gleefully read the survey "findings" to him the other night, being sure to show him that families with two children reported higher marital satisfaction than families with one, three, or four+ children. It was then that I noticed the part of the survey that showed parents of two children tended to drink more than the other parents...hmmm.
17. Each week when we got to the library, Isaac gets to choose some books that look interesting to him (I throw some into the pile that I know he will actually enjoy because he sometimes grabs some random stuff). This past week he chose a children's book called "Dance By the Light of the Moon" where various farm animals (all girls) get ready to go to a dance in the barn to "dance by the light of the moon." The premise of the book is based on the old song "Buffalo Gals Won't Ya Come out Tonight". Tobe tells me that this song is referring to "women of the night" when it speaks of Buffalo gals....do you think the authors of this children's book understood the real meaning of the song?
Have a great week!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Help!
The world's largest double stroller has to go.....soon. Seriously, it is a moment away from completely dying on me and leaving me stranded (possibly in front of the duck's house) with two babies to haul home in the 100 degree heat (actually we walk early in the morning when it is a cool 92 degrees).
The problem is that I need a double jogging stroller that:
1.folds easy and fits in the trunk of my car
2. fits through doorways of stores
3.Has a car seat adaptable bar for Evelyn's car seat (I am super paranoid about jolting Evelyn's neck around and want her in the car seat while in the jogging stroller until she is at the very least six months old. When you pay big bucks to strengthen one child's neck muscles you hate to ruin the other child's neck by bouncing her along in a jogging stroller too early)
Add these three things together and you come up with a double stroller that costs approximately the same as a small country. The sweet husband here at casa de phillips keeps telling me to buy what I need, especially since I use a stroller ALL THE TIME. However, I feel a bit guilty about plunking down such a large chunk of change when I bring no income into our lovely home. I am trying to look at every possible way to find the stroller I want at a cheap, reasonable price before running off to our local specialty shop and buying the Cadillac of all double jogging strollers. I have searched Ebay, where used strollers are going for as much as new ones, and have read page after page of items for sale on Craigslist (and fought the urge to buy tons of stuff I don't need just because the seller is so close)....only to come up with nothing.
I have now resorted to my blog. Here is a picture of the jogging stroller I am looking at:
It is the BOB Revolution Duallie Jogging Stroller. Dear readers, if you or someone you know has a double jogging stroller by BOB and are wanting to rid themselves of it, please let me know.
Otherwise I might sell a kidney to offset the cost of my purchase...
Monday, August 13, 2007
Duck Tales
I have a confession to make. If you are an extreme animal lover, it will likely be best that you click over to the next blog you read and skip mine for today.
Yesterday, I kicked the duck. I feel slightly horrible for doing so, but the duck has declared war on my family and I had take action.
When we last left the duck saga, I had contacted animal control to report this angry bird and his cohort. I had to leave a message...which I did in great detail and left my name and phone number. I heard nothing back.
Yesterday morning we ventured out on our daily walk. We had to take what I now call "The Duck Route" because of the extreme heat and this particular route provides the most shade and breeze. As we walked along on the opposite side of the street from the duck's house, both duck and his cohort ran across the street--dodging traffic--and started to come after me. I know many of you might have this image of a duck waddling up to us simply trying to make a gesture of friendship. This image is quite wrong my friend. The duck RUNS and is flapping it's wings in an angry gesture.
The ducks approach me, running and flapping their wings, and are about a foot from the stroller. I calmly attempt to scare them off in a way that does not panic Isaac nor make him fear birds for the rest of his life. The ducks are not intimidated by this tactic and are at my feet. So I kicked one. Not a hard kick...more of a nudge with my New Balances. I also made sure that Isaac couldn't see what I was doing because the last thing I want our toddler to learn is cruelty to animals. My nudge sent the duck rolling backwards, feet over his head, and knocked him into the other duck. Think that stopped him? Nope. He got up and started running after us again. Fortunately we were able to break ahead in the time it took for him to get up and "escape."
I called animal control again as soon as we got home. This time someone answered, who knew exactly what house and what duck I was speaking of. Apparently animal control has visited the duck's owners already on a few occasions. The man promised to take action against the duck. Tobe is stopping by animal control after work to have a one-on-one talk with animal control to make sure the duck's reign of terror comes to an end soon.
I'll let you know what happens. Until then, if you happen to live near casa de phillips and see us out walking...don't be shocked to see me armed with a tennis racket and perhaps a nerf gun.
Yesterday, I kicked the duck. I feel slightly horrible for doing so, but the duck has declared war on my family and I had take action.
When we last left the duck saga, I had contacted animal control to report this angry bird and his cohort. I had to leave a message...which I did in great detail and left my name and phone number. I heard nothing back.
Yesterday morning we ventured out on our daily walk. We had to take what I now call "The Duck Route" because of the extreme heat and this particular route provides the most shade and breeze. As we walked along on the opposite side of the street from the duck's house, both duck and his cohort ran across the street--dodging traffic--and started to come after me. I know many of you might have this image of a duck waddling up to us simply trying to make a gesture of friendship. This image is quite wrong my friend. The duck RUNS and is flapping it's wings in an angry gesture.
The ducks approach me, running and flapping their wings, and are about a foot from the stroller. I calmly attempt to scare them off in a way that does not panic Isaac nor make him fear birds for the rest of his life. The ducks are not intimidated by this tactic and are at my feet. So I kicked one. Not a hard kick...more of a nudge with my New Balances. I also made sure that Isaac couldn't see what I was doing because the last thing I want our toddler to learn is cruelty to animals. My nudge sent the duck rolling backwards, feet over his head, and knocked him into the other duck. Think that stopped him? Nope. He got up and started running after us again. Fortunately we were able to break ahead in the time it took for him to get up and "escape."
I called animal control again as soon as we got home. This time someone answered, who knew exactly what house and what duck I was speaking of. Apparently animal control has visited the duck's owners already on a few occasions. The man promised to take action against the duck. Tobe is stopping by animal control after work to have a one-on-one talk with animal control to make sure the duck's reign of terror comes to an end soon.
I'll let you know what happens. Until then, if you happen to live near casa de phillips and see us out walking...don't be shocked to see me armed with a tennis racket and perhaps a nerf gun.
Goal!
In the early morning hours of Evelyn’s first week of life, I set a goal for myself. I decided that if I could hang on and survive the ride of mothering two babies until Evelyn turned three months old, then I would be okay. I figured by three months of age sleeping and eating patterns would be established, schedules would be almost kink-free, and the fog of parenting a newborn might have lifted. This goal was my little secret…my glimmer of hope as I attempted to make our family of four function.
Saturday marked that three month goal and I am happy to report that I am still in this game called mommyhood. In fact, Evelyn’s first three months have been much smoother than Isaac’s were. She has been smiling since day one (seriously, she came out looking quite pleasant), rarely cries, eats well, laughs when you put her legs on her tummy, and simply enjoys just hanging out. Her hands are constantly grabbing at whatever they can find so she can immediately place such object in her mouth. Her legs with their rolls of chub are always kicking in excitement. Her eyes—still blue—are always twinkling with happiness, especially when I place a big, beautiful bow on top of her head. These three months have passed quickly…and not in the way time does when one has a newborn and days and nights meld together in a sleep-deprived haze…and have been filled with love, laughter, exhaustion, frustration, contemplation, and joy.
This mommy of two thing isn’t as bad as I once thought it might be. This morning as I listened to both my children giggle uncontrollably as I made a funny noise, I knew that life at casa de Phillips is pretty darn great.
Saturday marked that three month goal and I am happy to report that I am still in this game called mommyhood. In fact, Evelyn’s first three months have been much smoother than Isaac’s were. She has been smiling since day one (seriously, she came out looking quite pleasant), rarely cries, eats well, laughs when you put her legs on her tummy, and simply enjoys just hanging out. Her hands are constantly grabbing at whatever they can find so she can immediately place such object in her mouth. Her legs with their rolls of chub are always kicking in excitement. Her eyes—still blue—are always twinkling with happiness, especially when I place a big, beautiful bow on top of her head. These three months have passed quickly…and not in the way time does when one has a newborn and days and nights meld together in a sleep-deprived haze…and have been filled with love, laughter, exhaustion, frustration, contemplation, and joy.
This mommy of two thing isn’t as bad as I once thought it might be. This morning as I listened to both my children giggle uncontrollably as I made a funny noise, I knew that life at casa de Phillips is pretty darn great.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Old Lady Phillips
So I might not be old, nor have a front porch to sit on and yell at the neighbors on a daily basis....however I have succumbed to taking action against the duck. After the duck---and it's new cohort---braved traffic yet again to cross a busy street simply to chase me, I called animal control on it's little duck bootie. Some people have told me the duck might have a nest it is guarding or perhaps it is protecting the residents of the house....whatever. I live in the city, not the country, my friends. This duck is going to have to learn to abide by city rules, one being that it cannot chase poor innocent mothers and their children.
I called animal control and left a very detailed message of my duck drama and am hoping for a return call soon. By the way, I managed to take a picture of the duck and his partner chasing us this morning but have yet to download it from my camera. Hopefully it won't be too blurred as I was running and pushing the world's largest double stroller as I attempted to photo these two wild birds in attack mode. Check back later for the picture!
I called animal control and left a very detailed message of my duck drama and am hoping for a return call soon. By the way, I managed to take a picture of the duck and his partner chasing us this morning but have yet to download it from my camera. Hopefully it won't be too blurred as I was running and pushing the world's largest double stroller as I attempted to photo these two wild birds in attack mode. Check back later for the picture!
Sunday, August 05, 2007
A Day on the Farm
Saturday was filled with lots of down on the farm fun as we celebrated Isaac's second birthday with a tractor party. Hoping to make this experience fun and void of stress, we chose to hold the party at our local community center (thus avoiding the space issues we have at casa de phillips) and to invite only family and two friends of Isaac's. Tobe and I are quite happy with how the party went and Isaac had a great time.
Favorite Activity at the Party---Chasing each other around a table
Isaac's "Happy Day" has officially come to an end....now we must find the space to store all the new toys.
Family Portrait in our John Deere shirts
Favorite Activity at the Party---Chasing each other around a table(Notice Morgan's adorable John Deere dress)
Isaac sat happily and ate his cake while the other kids played. We had to bribe him with the chance to finish his cake at a later time so he would stop eating and open presents
The party happened to coincide with Evelyn's morning nap time....poor second child was drug out and forced to sleep in various people's arms. She doesn't look terribly thrilled in any of the pictures.
After Christmas this year when we realized that Tobe was in NONE of the pictures, I made sure to get a few shots of him at the party. I love this picture of him and Isaac.
Finally....the Tractor cake.
This took quite the time to create, but Isaac loved it which made the hard work worthwhile. The stones on the sides are actually chocolate candy made to look like pebbles. It broke my heart a little bit to cut into this cake, but it would have been a bit silly to have a cake which no one is allowed to eat (don't think I didn't contemplate that for a second though)
Isaac's "Happy Day" has officially come to an end....now we must find the space to store all the new toys.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Happy Day!
This morning at 6am we heard a little voice singing, "Happy Day...Happy Day." Yes, today is Isaac's birthday. We have been practicing for a few days what it means to have a birthday and the festivities that go along with such an occasion. Apparently these lessons were well heard because Isaac told everyone he came into contact with today that it was his "happy day."
Evelyn is quite excited about Isaac's birthday as well because special occasions call for hair bows!
Mommy and Isaac at his birthday lunch
Isaac and his PopPop watching the "Rhino Movie"
This morning Tobe and I entered Isaac's room with a donut hole with a candle. That boy loves donut holes, as you can see in the following pictures:
Evelyn is quite excited about Isaac's birthday as well because special occasions call for hair bows!
Mommy and Isaac at his birthday lunch
Isaac and his PopPop watching the "Rhino Movie"
I write a letter to each of the children on their birthday....here is Isaac's two year letter.
Who Said Two was so Terrible?
Here it is….the so-called terrible twos. Although it hasn’t been quite so terrible yet. I thought you changed a lot between those initial seconds of life and 1 year, yet as I reflect back on these past twelve months I think you have changed the most in your second year of life.
This was the year you learned to walk, learned to talk, developed a love for “fresh” apple juice, welcomed a baby sister, and really grew into your personality. Those big blues eyes and that smile as wide as the Grand Canyon manage to melt my heart every single morning when I enter your room to scoop you from your crib. These days you like for me to place your green basket of books into bed and let you peruse the selection for a while before getting up for the day. Your favorite things to watch on television are Little Einstein’s, Curious George, and Wonder Pets. Any book is enjoyed by you, however you especially like Moon Plane, How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?, Bounce, and Berenstein Bears Go on Vacation….you can recite these books almost word for word. Toys that receive the most attention from you include your massive amount of Little People, your tool box, and Lego’s. A day does not go by where you don’t stand at the coffee table and work your numerous puzzles (which you call “puz”). Currently you are able to do 48 piece jigsaw puzzles with no assistance. Favorite foods include turkey hot dogs, honey crackers (Graham crackers), the beloved corn, and donut holes (a rare treat). Every night you crawl into bed with Raffes, Lil InkInk, Big InkInk, Ike the Dog, and Green blankie. You flash us one final sleepy grin for the day before saying “luv lu” and rolling over to go to sleep.
As we have come to know these preferences, we have come to know our sweet Isaac better. Gone is our little baby Isaac Michael. He has been replaced by a running, giggling little boy with long legs and bleach blond hair. We are amazed by your intelligence, impressed with your memory, inspired by your curiosity, and proud of your tender heart. Daddy and I often lay in bed at night giggling over the cute things you have said or the sweet antics you have performed that day.
So we say good-bye to another year –with a certain amount of disbelief that 24 months have passed so quickly and with a strong desire to see what the next year holds for you. Keep that head high, Tiny Tiger, and those eyes filled with wonder because I know there is a world just waiting for you to discover all it holds.
Love,
Mommy
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