Adorableness

I'll admit, there were times over the past two years that I've had my doubts about my ability to manage two kids. But the last few months have made me realize how totally awesome it is two children, not to mention how great it is for them to have each other. They have settled into a routine of playing together that just warms my heart, and even allows me to finish my breakfast sometimes. I love getting them ready for a bath while Andy tries to make her play Magic School Bus while she pretends to do what he wants. Half the time, she even plays the game. The other half of the time, well, she knocks down his toys and he cries. I do fiind that I'm spending a lot of time trying to smooth out their disagreements -- he cries that she broke/messed up/ruined whatever it was he was doing. And if he stands up to her or tries to keep her out of his room, she cries to protest. This will surely get old, but I do love their relationship and how it's evolving.

Terrible. F.

Today was one of those not so great moments in parenting for me (and it's all about me). Andy had his swimming class. The first three classes went great, then I went out of town and he missed a class. And then we had three feet of snow and classes were cancelled. We went for his first class in three weeks and Andy cried for the entire 45 minutes, refusing to get in and just being sad and scared no matter what I tried to do -- calm him, listen to him, guide, bribe, cajole -- you name it. It was rather horrific. For me most. I had Meg with me, which I haven't had to do before, but Bjorn was reffing basketball. Trying to keep her from diving into the class with the other kids while thinking how much easier it would be to just throw him in and do sit on the stands was a challenge. A challenge I did not meet. He cried all the way home, mostly because since he didn't get into the water, he wouldn't be rewarded with lollipops and Wii. Then he got home and had the nerve to tell Jennifer class was fun. Seriously?

I have decided to pull him out of the class though. He's missed too many classes and I want to sign him up at the beginning again and start over. We had enough of a fight that I need to let some time pass and start over. Problem is I can't get into any of the classes that start in three weeks. Gah. Let's hope I get him swimming before middle school.

Meg has turned into a two year old. She spends a lot of time saying, "No!" to just about everything and then willfully throws things on the floor and laughs about it. I am doing my best to just ignore and wait for her to get over it, but I must say I patience runs a little thin when she takes the cats' water and intentionally spills it all over the floor. She's also figured out how to get around my baby gates. I definitely need to rethink my strategies. Fortunately, it will soon be warm(ish) again and we can get to spending more time outside where she can drop and throw things to her heart's delight.

In fun news, we have booked our trip to Sydney, Hobart and Melbourne for this summer. I'm psyched although after weekends like this, I wonder what the hell we're thinking attemping to spend 23 hours on a plane with little kids -- each way. I have no idea how they're going to handle the jet lag and sleep issues, probably better than the adults.

Happy January birthday!

January is a great time of year because right after Christmas, we go into celebrating three birthdays within three weeks. I don't think you could plan that timing if you tried.

So we had three family parties and one gymnastics party. It was awesome, but I think we're all glad it's over with. Mark and Andy are cute and all, but they don't compare to Meg wearing her new tutu, Elmo shirt, tiara and waving her wand. That girl can celebrate.

Great room swap of 2010

Below are pictures from the Great Room Swap of 2010 when we switched three kids' rooms all in one day. We moved Meg from the yellow room into the middle room with the carpet. We moved Andy's stuff into the baseball room that had been Mark's and moved Mark into the yellow room. In the meantime, we threw away a ton of crap, including the carpet in the middle room. It was a pretty remarkable effort. Jennifer helped and it was fantastic having another adult so Bjorn and she could move stuff while I wrangled kids out of harm's way or vice versa. Everything looked pretty amazing for about a day.

The last picture is one Andy took just this weekend of his room as it now, complete with Legos strewn everywhere. Sure, it's good for his development, but it's a pain to step on one of those little suckers at 3 a.m. when I am returning him to his bed after a bad dream.

Snomageddon pictures at last

Between storms one and two. I believe I have taken more hideous photos, but not many.

The snow was so strong it kept getting in the flash. The kids on the snow tunnel Mark built.

Seriously, could they get any more adorable? We may have to take up skiing just to take this picture more often.

Two year check-up

Meg had her two year well-visit yesterday and it's again offiicial that she is growing and developing perfectly. She weighed in at a solid 31 pounds and is 35 1/2 inches tall. If you follow the old wives tale of doubling their height at age two that makes her 5'11". If you take away and inch or two because she's a girl (some have you add an inch or two for a boy) she is at least 5'9". No one is more thrilled than Bjorn who is planning her basketball and volleyball career.

No shots at this visit, thankfully, but they did a finger prick for a blood test. Nurse Sylvia hates that part of her job but Meg was unfazed. We were all surprised.

I asked again about the fat deposit/umbilical hernia. She said that she thinks it's a fat deposit since it doesn't push in like a hernia but there isn't really a way to tell without doing something invasive and neither of us want that yet. She did say to keep an eye on it since hernias can become impacted and turn purple and painful. She said she had never seen an umbilical hernia ever become impacted in her practice so that was good to hear.

In other news I finally got my old Dell desktop working with a wireless card. Funny how a 2001 desktop can run better than. 2009 laptop. Not that I'm not still totally bitter about my Acer laptop breaking or anything. But that means I am finally able to upload pictures again so be prepared for some total awesomeness and adorableness soon.

Test

Mobile uploads

Any experts on using the Blogger mobile uploads out there? I followed the instructions and e-mailed myself several posts with pictures. The text came through fine, but the photos, well, not so much. Any advice from you out there?

It's been been a long week in the house and we are finally getting out tomorrow. Andy's school sent an e-mail for the kids to bring snow clothes because they're going to play on the playground in the snow. He is thrilled. And I am thrilled that he'll get to visit with his friends. I think he's bored with us. And let's be realistic, the feeling is somewhat mutual. All things considered, I'd say we all held up quite well what with six people in a four bedroom house and three feet of snow swirling around outside.

Meg has her two year old appointment tomorrow. If I remember correctly there aren't any shots at this visit (fingers crossed, but I'll bring the Tylenol just in case). Her language is good, way better than Andy's at this age, she's very dexterous and beyond adorable. My main question is about this umbilical hernia/fat deposit on her belly above her belly button. I want to know what we do about it and if/when it could/will be a problem.

I have about a thousand pictures of the snowstorms to upload eventually. My Acer laptop has imploded and I'm quite annoyed with customer service at both Best Buy who refuses to acknowledge they sold it to me and Acer which conveniently dates its year warranty from the date is ships from the manufacturing plant rather than the date of sale, therefore shortening the warranty by a quarter. Not impressed. I've ordered a wireless card for my old desktop and assuming UPS ever makes it back to my non-plowed Fairfax neighborhood, I might get some pictures uploaded.

Snoverkill

After seven days of snow, my house, cupboard and brain are starting to look like this. As you can see all that is left is the stuff I have been putting off eating like non-dairy creamer. I have made chili, stew, cookies and pancakes while Bjorn has made bacon, sugar cookies, mac and cheese and everything in between. If I can get out we are getting take out tonight.

Five-year check-up

Andy had his five-year check-up today. I'd been dreading it because I had heard from one of the nurses there would be FIVE shots so he could be ready for kindergarten. I had decided to only really mention he might be getting a shot in passing so it wasn't a total surprise, but I didn't make it painfully obvious yet either. So I was relieved to hear there would only be three shots. Andy had no idea what could have been, but I felt better.

He got a blood test (cholesterol is a good 119). He also had his eyes and ears checked for seeing and hearing. He's not color blind nor lacking depth perception, which is good, but he does seem to be slightly nearsighted so she recommended I get him to an optometrist. She didn't think his prescription would be much and might not even really have to wear glasses at this age, but she felt it warranted taking him to get him for a real test. I can see why, I think they used the same equipment at Bradfield in 1977. His hearing test was also good, which was nice since it turns out he has a mild ear infection.

He weighed in at 40 pounds even and 42 inches making and all around a perfectly healthy boy. He cried when he had to get his finger pricked (I can't say I blame him) and then really cried when he got three shots, two on the left and one on the right. All in all, I thought he was pretty strong about the whole thing. He didn't try to run or hide, he knew what was coming and took it. Pretty big stuff really. Bjorn had gotten him a Pez dispenser so we put the candy in it in between shots. They also gave him a goody bag for being such a big boy. I was very proud.

I brought Meggy too, despite my not wanting to have her running around while he had a two hour appointment, because I had to get her sinus infection looked at before the snowpocalpse 2.0 hit. Indeed her sinus infection is not better and has spread to an ear infection. Fortunately, we could get some antibiotics (Suprax for both) before getting 20 to 30 inches of snow over three days.

Lost?

Okay, so I know my focus here is mostly on my kids, but who here watches Lost? I am all about confused after last night's season premiere. Even reading the recap on Television Without Pity didn't help much. Someone in my office begged not to be spoiled by any talk, but I assured her that I couldn't spoil it since I couldn't explain it and out of context, it would mean nothing. Oh sure, I'll still watch and all, but damn that's some confusing stuff.

On the television front, I have two new favorites from this season -- Modern Family and Cougartown. Well done, ABC. Well done.

I have just gotten back from a work trip and have more work to tackle than I can keep my head around. At least I don't have to worry about being bored, that's for sure. I'm also learning a lot, which is always a good thing. Next week I get to prepare someone for a congressional hearing. Well, I get to hire someone to do that dirty work. Before we can get to next week though, we have to get through the weekend. They have issued a winter storm "watch" for the weekend calling for a foot to two FEET of snow. Seriously? That's heaven for me.

I pledge allegiance, to the Elmo

I am back from a four day work trip. Bjorn was gone for 36 hours of it so the big kids were in charge of the little kids. I must say, I am quite impressed with how they held up. Meg was still getting over a sinus infection and had a bad cough that made her vomit occasionally while Andy managed to contract diarrhea just for sport. The meeting itself was so busy that I didn't have too much time to worry about everyone. Fortunately, Mark and Jennifer did a great job.

We did manage to swing through this cool Muir Woods natural forest on our way to Napa. Look at me holding up that big tree! I am very cool. In part due to Facebook, I have reconnected with a ton of friends who live in the San Francisco area. Unfortunately, I only got to see Bjorn's brother and his family. For all of an hour. On my way to the airport.

Bjorn picked me up at nearly 1 a.m. last night. It was so great to be in my own bed and see the kids. In tucking Andy in, I noticed he had used a dry erase marker to create an enormous mural all over his wall under his loft bed and all over his bed. Good times. Fortunately Miss Ayesha gave me a magic eraser and it really did work. On the wood. The walls are still a mess. Nail polish worked a little and I hear rubbing alcohol works a little better.

Andy missed me altough his main interest was what I brought him. Fortunately I picked up a frog night light from Muir Woods on our way out of the city so I had something other than a shower cap and mints to give him. Meg just cared that Elmo existed. Practically every sixth word is Elmo and if Elmo is on anything or even on her mind, it drives her wild and she's all distracted. If Elmo is her his boyfriend, I am totally screwed when she turns 12 and is actually interested in boys.

Adorable precious angel...and a black eye

Today is Margaret's second birthday. It's hard to believe what started this small has now turned this (sorry for the lack of today's pictures, but my damn computer is still a mess. Back to the office it goes tomorrow to beg for more help. Grrrr.)

We celebrated with a family party on Sunday complete with cupcakes (and a special Dalahest cupcake for the birthday girl). We made waffles for everyone, cheered the birthday girl, opened some of the most adorable clothes, including an Elmo shirt from Fafa and a bathing suit from Grandmother. It was pretty great.

Then the New York Times went and wrote an article making my work life incredibly busy and I went to indoor soccer and managed to get a black eye. Hey, at least the morning was perfect!

Overheard

"I need my own phone so I can listen to my Phineas and Ferb music wherever I go," Andy said.

My mom gave Andy the Phineas and Ferb CD for his birthday and we are all loving it. Seriously great music, especially for kids' music. Catchy, clever with a good beat and short. Plus, it's a great chance to work in phrases like "I have squirrels in my pants."

My computer is still on the fritz. So far, Acer has not been impressive. Fortunately, the folks are work kindly installed a new hard drive over the weekend, but it still is acting weird, which is partly why I haven't uploaded any birthday pictures. Soon. I hope.

Meg's second birthday is next week. How did that happen? I keep calling her my baby and it's clear she's anything but that right now.

Anybody smoke?

We had Andy's birthday party yesterday and it all went swimmingly except that I forgot the matches. And in this day and age, no one smokes so there were no candles lit to blow out. I think I was most disappointed.

We did it at the gymnastics place where he takes lessons. We invited the boys from his class and a few other boys he knows outside of school, making it an all sausage fest. There were 12 kids total. It's so hard trying to keep the numbers for these somewhat manageable. Between 20 kids in his class and all his (well, my friends' kids), I easily could have invited 50 kids. As it was, we kept it to just boys and then just boys aged four to six. If I'd gone any younger, they wouldn't have gotten to do all the fun stuff.

Overall it went well. They did gymnastics stuff for an hour on the trampoline, on an obstacle course and in the pit. They even let them do a little on the rings. Andy got to the the line leader for the whole party. I think that may have been just as thrilling. He actually loved it. He can get a little shy in these situations, but not this time. He was even pretty gracious, well, except where he lorded his line-leader status to the other kids. Otherwise, he was a great sport.

The whole thing lasted about and hour and a half. Pretty good. To remember for next year 1) parents always show up early to these things. Even though we got there about 10 minutes early (they had said no more than 15), two sets of parents were pulling up as we were unloading, 2) bring matches.

A cool side note, he got several sets of legos. I personally love legos. I played with them as a kid and I'm thrilled Andy's old enough for the real ones. The downside? Damnit if it doesn't take 45 minutes to put together a car what with 200 pieces, 100 of which are the size of an earring back.

On thin ice

It's amazing how 45 degrees can feel like 85 after a month of 20 degrees with 50 mile an hour winds. Today was nearly 50 and sunny so I took the kids down to the park and we all relished being outside. Andy wanted to go look at the lake since it had a pretty layer of ice on it. The lake is in desperate need of being dredged right now. Fairfax County is pretty broke at the moment though so I don't think it will happen soon. In the meantime, Royal Lake is about two feet deep in most areas. That made it pretty easy for it to freeze seemingly solid.

Andy was fascinated and we walked around the edges and talked about it. At the edge, I ran into a lady from church and we were talking about six feet from the edge. Meg decided that would be a grand time to step on the ice. I ran over to her and reach out, but the sly little vixen just smiled and walked in her Stride Rite sneakers about 15 feet from the edge. I kept calling her name and she just looked at me and kept moving. I knew it wasn't deep, but I also knew there was no way the ice was thick enough, especially in the warmer weather, to hold me. In desperation, I called out, "Meggie, come back. Let's go home and get some candy." Yup, that did the trick. She calmly walked back to the edge and we went home.

My computer is mostly better now, after a new $85 hard drive, 10 days without it and all my pictures and documents gone from my hard drive. I am very disappointed with Best Buy and Acer. It's a scam that they say the warranty on the computer starts when Acer ships it to the store. So even though I bought it in February 2009, Acer shipped it to Best Buy in December so the warranty expired last month even though I actually only owned it a year. Bastards.

Ugh, part 2

My computer is still broken. The latest word is that my hard drive is corrupt and I might need a new one. I am very displeased with my Acer. I bought it less than a year ago. Now I have to get into Best Buy and see if it's under warranty.

Good news, however, is that I can post the link to the pictures we took at the Picture People last week. So adorable! They were super nice. I can't believe I haven't done this like 100 times already.

Trying to update via iPhone

So my computer imploded last week. I
don't think I realized how much I used it both for this and other fun things like Facebook but also for important stuff like bill pay. I even bounced a check last week which I haven't done since, oh, never. I had money but in a different account and wasn't checking the way I normally do. Ugh. A colleague has been trying to fix it and it seems she going to have to reformat my hard drive and eat some pictures that I had not backed up. Bugger.

This is also bad timing since I am trying to plan a birthday party for 15 four and five year old boys. I invited all the boys in his class. Irritatingly only one family has Rsvped. Fortunately it's his school bff Leonard.