Friday, August 29, 2008

Wiggle It

just a little bit.

Here's Ruby's lastest obsession.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

I'll Be your Mirror

Ava looks at the television screen wide-eyed.
Then looks at me.
Then looks back to the screen with her face scrunched up in question.
Looking back at me she shouts "Mom, you on TV!"
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Needless to say, she made my day!




* Um yeah......I really don't look anything like her but it's the thought that counts. Mom by day.......teen star by night.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

The Sounds of Science

Want to know what will guarantee you a sleepless night and no nap day?

Feed the baby aspara-GAS for lunch and then bro-CaCa-li for supper.

I'm a light sleeper, so the constant "music" blaring and the thrashing about made for a very unpleasant night.

Seriously, what was I thinking?


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Why does the sound of someone else making razzberries with their mouth make my lips hurt so bad? And why does the baby insist on torturing me with this talent?

She must know by now it's my kryptonite/ I'll -give- you -anything- if -you -stop -making -that -god-awful -noise because she.does.it.all.the.time.

help.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

I Need You Like a Donut Needs a Hole

Two peas in a pod.



It's been a crazy month and didn't get a chance to document Ruby's first sentence:

"Hi DaDa. Hiiiii!"


She's so smitten with him.



Friday, August 22, 2008

Sabotage

Thursday, August 21, 2008

I Believe In Miracles

Cue drumroll please:



For the first time ever



I browned hamburger!



I can see my sisters now......gasping in utter shock and my mom falling out of her chair.

But indeed I have begun, begrudgingly at first mind you, to take on the cooking duties. Now my mom can rest in peace knowing that her daughter is FINALLY cooking for her skinny husband like a good wife should.



Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Here, There, and Everywhere

We came home Monday night and what an exhausting trip it was, physically and emotionally.

In the seven days we were gone, six of those were spent in the car traveling.

Ava did amazing and only watched videos for only 4 hrs the whole entire trip. The rest of the hours were filled with her playing with her "babies" and asking tons of questions. At one point during our trip she commented to her "baby", " I haven't seen one horse, not even a cow dis whole time." We finally arrived into the town of our final destination and she pointed out the window and exclaimed "Oooo, Papa what's that?!" Papa replied, "That's a house, Ava." "OH". I guess one could forget what a house looks like when driving the on the interstate for three days straight.

As for Ruby.....not so good. On our first leg out there we drove to Illinois to meet up with my in-laws and then we were going to drive out the next day. Well on the way down Ruby cried for 2.5 hours straight and was so upset she puked all over herself. I felt awful. There was no way in hell that she was going to tolerate the rest of the trip. I made the agonizing decision to leave her in Illinois with my twin sister, Caroline.She was the perfect baby for my sister and even cut two more teeth. I didn't want to leave her but I knew I had made the right decision, especially when driving back home from Ill to Mn on Monday.Yikes!

The time spent in Virginia was heart-wrenching to say the least. It was nice to be surrounded with our loved ones during this difficult time.

Ava seemed to understand what was going on as much as a three year old could. I had prepared Ava by telling her that she was going to see a lot of crying that not to be scared when she saw me and daddy crying. She lightly stroked my arm and patted me softly, "That okay mom, don't be sad. The baby is with God and Albert."

Albert would be our cat that died last year and at that time she told me not to be sad then too, because Albert was with God now.

God I love her.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

On the Road Again

We are leaving in a few hours to drive all the way to the east side of Virginia. That will take from Minnesota, with no stops, approximately 18hrs but traveling with 2 kids add in about another 4 more hrs. I know Ava will do great but I am a little nervous as how long Ruby will tolerate it. She is, after all,9 months old and on the go go go and under no certain terms likes being buckled in her seat for more than an hour. Hopefully by going late she will remain asleep most of the way.

This trip will be one filled with deep sadness as we are going to a funeral.for a 14 yr old. that took his own life.

I am stunned and have this need to know why. And from the story gathered this child was a perfectionist. So much so that instead of risk embarrassment or failure... he chose death.

That just tears my heart.

I am really at a loss for words but my mind is racing and I will explore these feelings at a later post.

All I want to do is hug my children tighter and let them enjoy being "just" three and nine months old, nothing more. This time is magical and I don't want them to feel pressured from me to have to be something more than what they already are........innocent.

Monday, August 11, 2008

You Wear It Well



Dear Hub,

I was cleaning up the playroom downstairs when I came across, yet again, a mass such as the one pictured above. Perhaps, I had not made myself clear when in the last six years of finding these clumps that , I, under NO circumstances will I ever desire or want the following: a Catsmere sweater, a Hello Kitty fur lined skull cap, and most definitely not a pair of the Purr-fect black pants. Yes, I love my cat but I do not wish to wear him. So next time you brush the cat and the thought arises "Should I keep the fur for future feline fashions or throw it away?" Do yourself and your sex life a favor and THROW.THE. FUR.AWAY. your wife


Saturday, August 9, 2008

Ripple


1994
first date
sunny day
road trip
meeting the moms
renting the red car
driving to Chicago
making signs
selling extra tickets while stopped in traffic
Soldier Field
village of hippies
getting tattoos in the parking lot
eating grilled cheese sandwiches
playing hacky sack
walking to Shakedown Street
cursing my Birkenstocks
Beavis and Butthead
the plethora of tie -dye in the stadium
doing a mass "wave"
sociale
Grateful Dead taking stage
hearing Sugaree
dancing
astounding visuals
fireworks
seeing old and new friends
drinking beers
taking a rest
heading home
losing my shoes
arriving at the gas station
no shoes, no service
borrowing shoes
laughing hysterically
racing with the yellow car
perfect day
perfect night.

Here we are 14 years later with 2 beautiful girls and 11 years of marriage under our belt.

Thank you for being the compassionate, thoughtful,loving, and unassuming human being that you have shown to me and that I strive to be.

You have been nothing short of excellent as a husband and now are proving to be that of a father.

Happy Anniversary Love.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Fever

My body temperature is rising, my head is spinning, I'm sweating buckets,having fits of uncontrolled crying, the lump in my throat, the chills,the screaming, a dry mouth, the gnashing of teeth, my eyes are burning, and I can't sleep.

I have a fever....Olympic Fever...that is!


I adore the Olympics. I especially like watching the more obscure events...such as Rhythmic Gymnastics,Badminton, Speed Walking, Sand Volleyball, Karate, and Water Polo. With a little training and hard work those events seem somewhat attainable,for even me,to excel at unlike women's gymnastics, the 100 meter dash, free diving and so on which require intense drive , years upon years of training and a mix of great genes to achieve success.

Two weeks with Bob Costas and the inspiring interviews to come...I can't get enough of this stuff. I love it!




Thursday, August 7, 2008

Please Do Not Go


"The Mamarazzi"



For the past week my adoring fan has made it quite known that she does not like it when I leave without her by my side.

Long gone are those precious months of escaping to the laundry room to steal some alone time folding clothes and the sweet, sweet luxury of going to the bathroom by myself.

Without fail when in the laundry area she goes right to the cat's bowl and dumps it all over causing a flood and more laundry for me to do. I finally got smart and now place her in a high- sided basket with some books for her to obliterate.

Now "the book" suggests keeping a basket of toys in every room as to help distract the little one from getting into the possible dangers that lurk around them.

What "the book" doesn't know is that my teeny weenie downstairs bathroom barely has extra room for a baby.......let alone room for a basket of toys.

So one day I'm scourging around the cabinet while sitting on the toilet( I'm talented that way) desperate to find something to distract Ruby before she tries climbing up my leg and breaking my concentration.




Meet Daddy(super plus), Mommy(super), Sis(regular), and Baby(lites).

All along I had a basket of "dolls" in my cabinet and I didn't even know it!

Now the only thing missing is....... Aunt Flo.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Comfortably Numb

Oh man.... I'm hoping.

Tomorrow I am scheduled to have my gallbladder removal surgery promptly at 12:40pm. It's a laparoscopic dealio that is done routinely and requires no overnight stay. My surgeon is highly qualified.... maybe over qualified. She is skilled not only in the art of removing body parts but in the transplanting of them as well. I'm in really, really good hands.

So what's the worry?

Let me count thy ways:

1) When I was in labor with Ava it took not one, not two, but three epidurals to numb me up.......partially.

2)When I was in labor with Ruby the epidural never took. I felt every contraction, every tear, and well everything when pushing that FACE UP baby out. YeeeOuch.

3) I had a root canal last month. Due to previous experiences above I opted for the gas and given seven Novocaine shots to numb me up real good. You guessed it..... it wore out within 10 minutes into the 1.5 hr painful procedure.

4) Last Monday, when in the E.R.. I was given morphine and in a mere 20 minutes I was doubling over again with intense pain.

I am a medical mystery, so I've been told......a medical mystery that happens to metabolize pain/numbing medicines in lightning speed.

When I was talking to the nurse during my preoperative evaluation about my problem he proceeded to tell me about the time when he woke up during his own surgery.He said he didn't feel any pain because the surgeons put localize pain medicines in the areas that they are working on in the event that someone does wake up. He was quickly put to back to sleep and the surgery went on without another hitch.He then stated that people would be surprised how often patients wake up when undergoing surgery and told me not to worry. I felt a little better when I left the appointment.

It wasn't until I got home that I realized that story doesn't help me out one bit, in fact, it made my fears worsen.

You see, due to my high tolerance of pain medication, in the event that I should, er.. ..when I wake up, you better believe I'm gonna feel it. Those localized pain meds don't stand a chance with this metabolizing machine wonder body of mine.

"And you body. Why of all things to metabolize fast you choose pain medicines? Seriously? How about metabolizing fat fast, you know, something useful? Once again you disappoint me."

I'm a-so scared!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Lady In Red

What? What's that you ask? What's my favorite color?

Well...let's see my ipod, phone, microwave, Buddha Board, camera, pots, pans, stroller,etc are all red. If it comes in red then that's what I'll choose...every time.

Is my affinity for red things subconsciously inbred? I just realized when sitting on the couch daydreaming that I named my daughter after my accent color...Ruby.

Creepy.


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*Raising fists to air*

"Damn you Sonic and your hee-hee-larious commercials. Why do you taunt me with the funny and then not be remotely close to try your tasty morsels! Why oh why?"


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SHAMWOW, I say SHAMRRIFIC,SHAMSOME,SHAMWOWZA!

Best thing to come around since the swiffer vac especially when spilling drinks has become an Olympic sport here in the Bruins household.

Next purchase...Mighty Putty. Oh the possibilities.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Loose Lips

We were coming home from the store where Ava had been very dramatic and persnickety and she wasn't letting up while on our drive home. I turned the radio up, way up, as so Ava wouldn't hear Ian and I discuss the situation.

"What's wrong with her?" Ian whispers.

"I don't know what's wrong with her, Ian, but she has been so emotional since she's turned three. It must be a three thing. Three is way worse than two."

"I'M NOT SO EMOTIONAL!" screams Ava, enunciating every letter slowly and totally proving our point.

Ian and I look at each other with wide-eyes and we are thinking simultaneously "WTF? She reads lips now?"

Better brush up on my Pig Latin.

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We are no longer referred to mommy or daddy anymore, we've been demoted to "you guys".

"Hey you guys, I have an idea! I go upstairs and get my monies, we go to Tarjay and I get green Carebear, it'll be fun of course!"

Um yeah, it wasn't fun.

She'd been pestering us for a week about buying that green Carebear and then we get to the store....she doesn't even want it anymore. We walk around forever till she finally decides she wants a Little Pony instead...to add to the 20 she already has.