Update on the Kiddos

Gwen is 3 months old. She sleeps pretty well unless she is having a growth spurt. When she poops, it is an explosion and it stains whatever she is wearing. Even my most trusted stain remover (and bleach if the clothes were white) CANNOT remove her stains. She is amazing.


Also, she can still fit into some of her "newborn" clothes as witnessed by this cute red dress she wore to church yesterday. (Thanks, Aunt Tracy!)

Asher is totally funny and totally two. He rambles a lot and "reads" to himself ("Brown bear, brown bear... what you doin' here!?") He likes to jump around and explore. He also sometimes likes to be in charge. ("Mom, put the baby down. I 'ant some juice!") He can be sneaky with stating "I 'ant to show you somesing" and then leading you to the fruit snacks, and if that doesn't work, giving you a hug and a kiss and "asking" again. He likes to sing and knows many of the words to primary songs as well as some musical theater classics. He loves to play, and is a very happy kid. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be any closer to potty training, but I can handle that. I'm just happy that he started eating fruits and veggies again.

I bought Asher a new shirt. It might seem narcissistic of me (ha!), but Asher actually thinks the names "Mom" and "Dad" are interchangeable.

Oh my Heart

Sometimes Dan and I don't exchange gifts. For instance, no gifts for our anniversary this year.
That is why I am always so shocked and delighted when he goes for it.
This Valentines Day, he really went for it.
Behold my Valentines Present.
Best. Gift. Ever.

I was upstairs getting ready to go out when it was delivered. I had no idea. I came downstairs and I didn't want to go out anymore. The first song I played was "Think of Me" because it was the first song I ever memorized and I figured I could still play it although I haven't touched a piano in half a year. Asher stopped me halfway through... he is not a fan of me playing the piano. Then I played "Johanna" from Sweeney Todd, then Dan took the kids to get lunch so I played and sang "I Couldn't Be Happier" then I kind lost track of what came next. I love that piano. I love that Daniel.

All I gave him in return was some cheese enchiladas (red and white!) and angel food cake.


And he just likes his cake plain, so only mine looked this pretty.

Magical

My sister-in-law Amy is very magical. She seams to obtain everything at a discounted price... except when she gets stuff for free.

One of the major advantages of living in Arizona is that I get to hang out with Amy more often. I already blogged about getting free cupcakes with her, now it is time to catalog another freebee. One day she walked into our gym, and the guy that signed us up flagged her right down and offered her 2 free tickets to the opening night of Mary Poppins at the Gammage. She decided to take me.

The show was great. I liked Bert and the kids best. (Dan and I saw the same Bert in New York three years ago. He originated the role in London.) The only complaint Amy and I had was the statues. They needed bigger fig leaves. This is a family show after all.

Amy is lucky in other ways. We got to the theater way late and ran right in. We weren't sure they were still holding our tickets, and we were positive that the show had already started... but we walked right in with no line, received our tickets in 30 seconds, and made it to our seats right before the music started.

Amy is also really fun. afterward we got lost trying to find our parking structure. Although we felt like we could be mugged at any time, we were giggling. While driving we listened to old school Alanis Morrisett and Evita and laughed at the words and Antonio's accent. We also saw a store that said "Drive thru liquor" in neon. Drinking and driving... hmm.


Anyway, it's a jolly holiday with Amy.
No wonder that it's Amy that we love!

Correction

You know what kinda stinks about the internet? You can't hear inflection or tone of voice.

I realize that some people may have thought that my last post was sad and that maybe I was feeling sorry for myself, but really I'm just fine. Life is great, I love my husband and my kids, and I feel pretty good because I'm exercising and I'm SLEEPING. That's right. It has been over a week and Gwen has been sleeping til 7:00 or 8:00am every day. I get at least 7 hours. I'm good. Life is good. I promise.

What I was trying to say is that my physical appearance and the cleanliness of my house are not my top priorities right now, and I was surprised at how low on the list those things were when I thought about it. My goal is to be "neater" and I'll get there, mostly for my family, because I honestly don't care if I'm drop-dead gorgeous (although I like to look nice) and I hate to clean. I was just good-naturedly poking fun at my current state.

Oh, by the way, I'm loving the color of my toes more and more. FYI, the name is "Vodka and Caviar" by Opi.

Sloppy

Yesterday I read something that inadvertently called my attention to what I slob I have been lately. I know I have a 2 and a half month old baby, but really I have no excuse for some of my slovenly ways. I actually had a dream a couple weeks ago where my mom was YELLING at me (something she never does) to clean my house. I try, I just can't get it all clean at once.

I am still going to the gym at least 4 days a week, which is hard because I don't have access to a car during the day right now. Dan is commuting to Tempe every day, so his sister Amy has been really kind and gone out of her way to take me a few times. I can also go at night. This is the only thing I am doing for myself in the physical appearance category. I try never to look in a mirror- this is how I stay happy. Even at the gym I try to stand behind someone in zumba class so that I don't have to see the reflection of the mess that is me.
I only put makeup on once a week. (church)
It has been over a month since I did my eyebrows.
It has been over 5 months since any professional has touched my hair.
It has been over a year since I've painted my toenails...
until today.

This is my attempt at doing something for myself. Valentines Day is on the way, right? I went for red. It's pretty sloppy, but at least I tried, right?