Christmas 2008

Well, Christmas has come and gone. It has been an unusual Christmas this year, mixed with highs and lows. The highs included happy times with friends and family, sipping peppermint schnapps hot cocoas with my playgroup mamas, viewing holiday light displays all over town, and attending all Christmas themed events near our house. The lows mostly have to do with how my poor husband got laid off in late November in this economy that we now know to be pretty unfriendly to financial types like my husband. While there have been little bites of interest every now and then that have at times gotten us hopeful, nothing has panned out thus far. It is a crazy time for so many people out there with job loss, the stock market plummeting, and house prices sinking. We know we are not alone in our search, although this can make it harder since we also know that there are a lot of other financial/bank people out of work and looking all for the same jobs. We found a job in time last July to keep us afloat with our San Diego mortgage. It could be that this time ends up being different and that we have to rent our house out and move away. For almost a year now we have lived in a state of limbo-- not knowing where we will be in the next six months. While it is certainly a challenging time, it does have its merits. The girls and I are ecstatic to have "Dada" around a lot more and I think that these difficult times have brought Chris and I closer because we have had more time to talk, analyze, and enjoy one another. This Christmas was a lot less about gift lists and mall shopping and a lot more about being a family and enjoying the beauty of the season. With help from Mimi (Grandma), Natalie saw her first theater production of "The Nutcracker" along with her Aunt Renee and cousin (whom she adores) Addie. She sat wide eyed through the entire lengthy production and seemed absolutely dazzled by the music, the dancing, and the colors. Now she can't stop talking about The Nutcracker. She likes to say "My favorite part was when the Nutcracker got hurt. But then I helped him and he got better." She also says "I like the mice.. I want to be a mouse!"
Now that Christmas is over, I have put the fake tree away. Soon the lights will be taken down and we will ring in the new year (inexpensively). We are hoping that 2009 is filled with wonderful new opportunities for our family. 2008 has not been easy but we know that we have a healthy family and great friends and these things make us very rich indeed.

Noelle: The Little Mommy

Here is a Celebration of Natalie's First Three Years.. Enjoy!

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Happy Birthday Natalie Sage!

Today my little baby is three. Ok, so she is not my "littlest" baby but she will always be the one with the biggest blue eyes that stared up at me through all those long nights after she was born. She will always be my chatterbox child who didn't really care for walking until 15 months old but could say 20 words by 12 months and could count to ten by 17 months. She will always be my little independent free spirit child who veers off on her own during playgroups and finds every leaf and every bug. Now my little girl seems to be taking big girl steps instead of baby steps and I fear before I even look up, she is going to be packing her bags for college. Today was a day of pink and red cupcakes (just what the birthday girl ordered)and tissue paper (seemingly her favorite present of all). Tonight as I lay her down in her bed, I asked her how it felt to be three. She grinned broadly and exclaimed "It's good!"

My New Love Affair with Being Healthy

So I can't contain it any longer.. I need to proclaim my love for thedailyplate.com! It is a free calorie counter site where you put in all your stats and it basically tells you how many calories you can eat that day in order to either gain, maintain, or lose weight. I have lost 25 pounds since July and I didn't even think I was anything but normal. I am stoked now! I feel so much better about myself and really have the confidence with my body looking the way I always wanted it to look. Why do I feel like I am part of an info-mercial? Anyway, I have started running on the treadmill at the gym and I am going way faster than I ever did before. I also feel like I can have a day or two off and go right back to it without much guilt at all. It is like a video game where as long as you follow the rules, you win! Chris has now been on it too and also has had quite a bit of success with it and many other friends/ family as well! I think I have realized that what I thought was a normal portion size was actually quite large. I also realized that I was eating the wrong foods (think white enriched flour instead of whole wheat and sugar junk instead of fruits and veggies). I now have a philosophy based on "You on a Diet" and modified so I can graze basically all day long on smaller meals so I don't have to kill someone in a starved rage. Anyway, it is great to finally feel like I look good. Thank you thedailyplate.com!!! P.S. From one snacker to another, those mini kettlecorn popcorn bags that are 100 calories are seriously the greatest thing since sliced bread (which, especially if it is enriched flour, has ended up not being such a great thing after all!)

Halloween

I can't believe how fast October has raced by. Suddenly, the big day is here... Halloween. I am basically obsessed with Halloween. This month, I have dragged the girls and Chris (when he has been free), to every single event I could find that had anything to do with harvest, pumpkins, ghosts, and candy. We have been now to four harvest festivals, three pumpkin patches, two Halloween carnivals, and one nocturnal animal night hike. Natalie has climbed on tractors, run through corn mazes, sat on hay rides, and has saddled up on three different pony rides. It has been an amazing Halloween season! I have been happy to notice that Natalie does not seem affected at all by the "scariness" that can come with the holiday. While we walked by decorated houses the other night, she told me "Momma, I see a ghost! I love ghosts!" Maybe she will end up like me, a lover of all things spooky.. or the fright factor will hit her next year. Noelle points out each pumpkin, spider and bat with the same joyful yell of "Ball" while she points eagerly for me to notice the particular decoration she is referring to. On one night, she was calling pumpkins "Nan-nin" but the next night, they had turned back into "ball"s. Two things have put Noelle over the edge and petrified her this month and they include the person dressed as a giant penguin at Sea World and the pastor at Natalie's Christian preschool. All he had said to Noelle was "Well, hello there!" Her face crumbled into an expression that could fit someone who just lost a finger in a machine. I had flashbacks to the kid in "The Omen" (the devil as a child) when he realizes his parents intend to take him inside a church. Pretty funny really.

Now the month and alas the Halloween holiday season is coming to a close. Our Halloween parties are already done and soon trick or treating will be here and gone. My little spiders (they have spider costumes this year) will fill up their candy bags and then it will be all over. While part of me will be sad, the stores are already gearing up for Christmas and that will bring with it new and different holiday experiences. I must say though, there is simply nothing like Halloween.

Happy October Everyone!!

Fall is always my favorite time of year. It is a time of school and class starts, fall festivals and spooky events, apple picking, and crisp fall weather (unless of course you live where I do and then you get an additional summer month for September). This Fall is off to a great start. Natalie has started preschool and at the same time, a gymnastics class through the Y. This is not yet a perfect arrangement for her. She is going to take a few months at least to adjust to a new schedule and to listening and following directions from a different set of people (other than from all the playgroup Mamas and her own parents of course!) I am happy though that she genuinely enjoys going to school. Noelle has also started school- her very first school experience! I take her with me to a Mommy and Me one year old program one day a week. Even though she has only been once, she seemed to really embrace the fun of playing with new toys, making messes in a new location, and clapping with the new songs at circle time.

Speaking of Noelle, she is 15 months old now! My little baby is growing up so quickly! She has about ten "words" now. She can say Mama, Dada, no, uh-oh, and ball. She also says "duh" for duck, "wrap" for giraffe, "es" for yes, "nguh-nguh" for thank you (used at the appropriate times), and "mmm mmm" for yum yum. Noelle is a fairly independent soul like her sis. She often insists on doing things herself (like holding ice cream cones and using the spoon). She wants to do everything that her sister does. Noelle is very playful and loves getting tickled and chased. She is also very affectionate and often gives hugs and kisses, even to older sister who usually grumps about it. These days Noelle would rather race around and climb than read a book but she will still grab one eagerly when her sister is doing the same.

What Noelle loves..

1. Tickles

2. Starbucks blueberry coffee cake

3. When Dada comes home

4. Running around with her sister

What Noelle dislikes..

1. Getting splashed in the kiddy pool

2. Coming in from playing outside

3. When her sis swipes toys from her

Natalie is now 34 months old or two months shy of 3 years old. She is very eager to learn new things, especially about animals. Her favorite animals are giraffes, frogs, pigs, ducks, and orca whales. Lately she loves drawing and building with duplo blocks. She also loves jumping which is why I put her in gymnastics since they have a trampoline. While Natalie can be a handful these days with transitioning and cooperating, her excitement about learning and her silliness and playful nature make her a lot of fun. She has keen insights about things and loves to make up simple stories that usually involve her giraffe or meeting Diego.

What Natalie Loves...

1. Animals (especially orca whales and giraffes)

2. Jumping

3. birthday cake

4. drawing and painting

What Natalie dislikes...

1. Having to get off the swing

2. Having to share with her sis

3. Holding hands

Natalie Tid-Bits

Here are a few other Natalie tid-bits from lately. She now can draw happy faces. You can click on the second pic so you can see the face. Also, I gave her snap pea crisps to eat the other day and she put two of them in her mouth and said "Look Momma, I'm a walrus and these are my tusks-sks." (She pronounces tusks a little funny.)

Making Letters

Natalie has been really into drawing and making letters and numbers these days. Here are a few pics of her creations. Can you guess the letter?

A 13 month old can have a tough life. They want so desperately to be able to explore the world on their own and tend to get very frustrated when they are unable to do so for a variety of reasons. First of those reasons may be that every three seconds, they fall on their faces and cry like wild banshees or they are strapped into a stroller, high chair or car seat. Secondly, their attempts may be limited by a worry-riddled Mama/Dada and a power hungry two year old (if the lucky tyke happens to have those at home). Lastly, the 13 month old may try to communicate their desires but given their very limited vocabulary, they struggle endlessly.

Take my Noelle for instance. The poor little thing has but 5 English words under her belt and then the rest is simply toddler gibberish. An episode in the car often goes something like this. Noelle asks for my attention while on the freeway by shouting "Mama..Mama.." I say "Yes sweetheart?" She then explains to me apparently about her favorite toy/snack/drink for that second in her lap "ahbodusldgusodigsodgsdf." I say "Oh yeah?" Then she drops it or flings it on the floor and states "Uh oh." After this, a finger points vaguely at the floor and then I can see the worry creep into her eyes. In a concerned pitch she asks "Ball?" Now I need to add that "Ball" is the term for every single noun in the world other than Mama, Dada, and bubbles. "Oh honey, did you drop it?" I ask, certain of the answer. Noelle pleads with me as her eyes grow big "Ball???" "I am sorry honey but I can't pick up your toy while I am driving." I say for what seems like the thousandth time. 13 month old land just got fire bombed. "BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL! BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!" She screams at the top of her lungs before erupting into a fit of short spasming sobs. Her little hands fly to her eyes, tears pour down her face like rain, her whole body trembles in agony. "Sweetheart, it is OK!" I reach for her with one hand and hold the steering wheel with the other. I think about about how smart it is to multi-task while going 65 miles per hour. I feel her grip one of my fingers desperately and her strength is incredible. This is when my two year old joins the discussion. "Noelle, it is not a time for making noises! Noelle no! No! AHHHHHHHHH!" My two year old has absorbed the energy in the car and is now screaming along with her sister as she holds her ears and attempts to crawl into a ball in her car seat. Of course Noelle takes one look at her sister and doubles up on sobs. The noise level in the car is deafening and I wonder if I would hear a police siren if there was one sounding right behind me. I begin to shrink into my happy place in order to protect my mind from trauma. Both of my hands go back on the steering wheel and it takes all my focus to calmly state to my off spring "We are almost home." Then I floor it.

After pulling into the driveway, I race around the car to Noelle's door. I open it, quickly unstrap her from her seat, grab her beloved fallen object and pull her to me in a hug. She is immediately fine, even more than fine. She is all smiles and kisses even. 13 month Old Land is restored to its happy existence. A switch has been flipped and the world is a merry place once again. I sigh and hug my little one. I wonder what 14 months is going to look like.

My one-of-a-kind Natalie

Today Natalie was eating mini-pancakes for lunch. She looked at her silver dollar sized pancake and said "Look Momma, it's Luna!" (This is what Diego calls the moon on her favorite episode.) Then she ripped the pancake in half and said "Look Momma, it's Luna in pieces!" (Once again, in Diego, the moon breaks apart and Diego must find the pieces.) Lastly, Natalie eats all the pancake except one small piece and exclaims "Look Momma, it's a luna moth!" (This is from one of the Eric Carle books.)

The Stripping Artist

I have considered blogging about this topic for a while now but haven't due to possible embarrassment. I decided now though that it is more funny than embarrassing and this also gives me a venue to vent. My daughter Natalie has spent nearly a year now attempting to strip down at nap-time with the intent to make a giant mess with products discovered in her diaper.

This started innocently enough. One day I went in to wake my toddler only to find a naked child smiling up at me. At playgroup the next day it was handled like a rite of passage. "Oh yes, Natalie has now tried the whole taking-off-the-clothes-bit that some of your kids have attempted." I foolishly thought it would stop there. Little did I know that Natalie had tasted freedom and now she was hooked.

The second stripping incident was traumatic. As I opened the door, the stench hit me like a raw sewage tidal wave. I wondered for a split second why Natalie's room smelled like a toilet exploded. Then I caught site of some bare skin and nearly fainted dead away. My sneaky little two year old looked like a character out of 'Lord of the Flies.' She appeared as a wild feral child possibly found in the amazon jungles. The difference: instead of being covered with mud and grass, she was covered in poo-poo. It covered her entire body like a kind of war paint or psychotic finger art. There were also streaks of excrement lining her crib headboard, speckling her crib tent, and (gasp) dirt clod sized pieces both in the crib and little ones that had rolled out onto the carpet through the crib tent screen. Before I could consider against it, I moaned a loud "No!" My feral child grinned broadly, obviously proud of her creation. She stood there naked but confident and exclaimed "I have poo poo all over myself..why did I do that?" As I screamed for my husband to come help me spend the next two hours cleaning, I began to realize that this was no small challenge to overcome.

Thus began the many months of trying to one-up my daughter's stripping cleverness. My playgroup was all very helpful and provided a wealth of ideas in order to stop her from (what we started to call) "taking out her poo poos." First we tried putting non-elastic pants on her before bedtime. Natalie had them off the first day. I also tried onesies over leggings but my child would simply unsnap the onesies, pull down the leggings, and go to town. Then we went out and purchased a few one piece outfits where the shirt and pants are all together. We thought that we were finished. Natalie began reaching up through the leg holes and pulling out her art medium. Next we bought sleep sacs which we turned around backwards so she couldn't (we thought) make use of the zipper. We thought wrong since she started pulling her arms in, turning the sleep sac around, and then accessing the zipper. I even tried bribing her with M&Ms whenever she kept her clothes on after nap but she grew tired of the candy and refused it.

At this point, months had gone by with many nap time messes. The crib tent had been disassembled, washed, and then reassembled by my husband multiple times. The crib mattress had been thrown in the backyard and disinfected so many times that we no longer even put a sheet on her mattress anymore afterwards. Finally, after weeks of after-nap showers and cleaning frenzied afternoons, we discovered a solution. Here it is in case any of you out there also have a stripping artist like we do. The answer is duct tape. You put the sleep sac backwards on your child and then put a ring of duct tape under their arms. This way, they cannot turn the sac around to get out and thus, parents, we are home free in a land where poo stays in the diaper!! Wooohooo! Duct tape is like gold around our house. God bless the stuff!

So anyway, Natalie, our stripping artist will now have to find other outlets for her artistic endeavors. And when Noelle begins to shake off her clothes at nap time, my husband and I will be prepared.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good:
Yesterday was Noelle's first birthday. I no longer have an infant in my house! It is bittersweet to know that my days of cuddling her while feeding her milk are numbered. Soon my little girl will be running off to keep up with her sister and leave me in the dust! This is the first step toward freedom of individuality for her. She is revealing her likes and dislikes more often these days. If her sis swipes something from her little fingers, she squeals like a pterodactyl and bounces her body up and down in a little fit of rage. I can almost visualize the future. "Natalie give that back NOW! I had the phone first..." It is a very exciting time though. Noelle is clearly understanding a lot more of what I am saying and is making progress with her words. She can now say "buh-buh" for bubble and her cat noise sounds more like a cat than a humming noise. We took the girls to Sammy's for Noelle's birthday lunch since birthday girls and boys score a free "messy sundae." I should have noticed the name more because that is exactly how our girls ended up--very very messy! It was worth it though because they joyfully dove into that sundae with all its chocolate and caramel syrup seeping over the sides of the glass. Before I knew it, Noelle grasped a handful of pure chocolate drippiness and stuffed it happily into her wide open mouth. If only broccoli gave us such pleasure in life! Happy birthday little girl of mine.

The Bad:
This morning I went downstairs to get Noelle her milk and I discovered that for the first time since this house was built, we are under attack by ants. What are they going for? Of course it is the crumbs flung nearly three times a day by my little girls. I try to clean the floor up after meals but it is a bit like trying to keep sand off the beach (or like keeping sand in the sandbox which I will get to later). Now we have little lines of ants racing from crumb to crumb in the kitchen and into the living room. Perfect. Now we have Bug-Land since we already had the big fat flies that race around our house in the summer months since our house was built with french doors instead of sliding doors with screens. I am really not looking forward to having pesticides near the children. Did I mention that Noelle is at the peak of her bug eating stage?

The Ugly:
We bought a sandbox about a year ago. I fantasized about two girls playing quietly and happily with their shovels and buckets. I daydreamed about making elaborate sandcastles with the girls and knocking them down. Those were my fantasies, now I will tell you the realities. My children's favorite activity with the sandbox is taking the sand OUT of the sandbox and pouring it elsewhere. Thus we have sand covering every inch of our patio that then gets tracked into the house whenever anyone is hungry or in need of the potty. Also, Noelle loves to eat the sand and all other objects small enough to be crammed into her little mouth while in the sandbox. All these matters I could live with but here is the reason that my sandbox is on the next craigslist train out of here.. A cat has discovered our sandbox. I tried to remember to close the lid every day after we use the sandbox but it is not easy with two children under age three. Plus Natalie can open it herself so there are times when I think it is closed but actually it is not. Natalie will now tell you that a cat thinks that the sandbox is a potty. Lately I was completely grossed out to discover large turds under the sand while searching for plastic animals. Then there is the wonderful aroma of cat piss mixed into the sand. In a few nights, our sandbox has turned into a litter-box. Did I mention Noelle eats the sand? Goodbye and good riddance to the sandbox. We can frequent the parks to satisfy our urges to dig and build thank you.

Life These Days

Well it has been about 4 months since I have written. My husband was laid off in February and I just hadn't felt like writing bad news. Currently he is still seeking offers and we have expanded our search to include many other cities. His job is very specialized and it is not looking like our city in Southern California has many of that type of job. While we may have to move, there is still a chance that we will secure a job here and our life will return to what has become normal for us. The good news is that Natalie and Noelle have had a great deal of Dada time for the last four months. This has been very fun and also helpful to me.

The girls are doing great. Natalie is two and a half now and at times stubborn but always very cute and perceptive. She is infatuated with Diego and Dora the Explorer and also has become my little bug scientist out in the yard. She is also taking the first steps toward potty training by using the potty before nap and bedtime. Noelle will turn one this month which is mind-boggling to me. She is cruising around and has taken one or two tiny steps while standing unassisted. She says Mama, Dada, and Uh-oh, as well as making basic animal noises for the lion, snake, and cow. She points out everything and wants to have the world in tiny little hands. Outside on our patio, Noelle races for our cozy coupe car and performs dare devil stunts on chairs that she can now climb onto. She still can't be trusted to not eat the pill bugs. Noelle is also a very affectionate child. All day long she wants to climb into my lap and give me kisses and hugs. It is really very sweet. Natalie has become more affectionate too, maybe taking a page from Noelle's book. She especially likes to shower her Dada with affection.

It is hard not to obsess about where we will be living in the next few months. The waiting game is a challenge. In a way though, it is also exciting to think that we could be anywhere in the country within six months. For the meantime, we are spending a lot of time hanging out with our great playgroup and with all our friends. Our plans are to attend a particular preschool in the fall which means we need to be potty trained so that will be coming up in the next couple months unless we move. The last nine months have been trying since we nearly lost our house to the Southern California fires in October and then Chris' job was lost in February. What we keep on thinking about is how lucky we are to have each other. This year has really taught us that as long as we are all healthy, we are going to be fine wherever we are. Our family has grown even closer through neighborhood walks, trips to the zoos, and just relaxing on our back patio. We are enjoying simple pleasures these days and especially the simple pleasures that come with having two little girls.

Firsts

Within a recent two week period, Natalie learned to climb out of her crib and open doors, and Noelle learned to army crawl.

It started with a giant thud that shook the house during nap time. Natalie had monkey climbed over the front of the crib and then fallen like a brick to the floor. At first, my husband and I switched Natalie's crib over to the toddler bed setting (it is a convertible crib). This resulted in a ransacked room and a very exhausted toddler during afternoon naps. While we were happy that Natalie was interested in getting out the 70 or so books that she would fling all over the room, we really wished that she would also put them back. We really wished that she would actually stay in her bed. Us parents finally gave up after Natalie and I both came down with a cold from lack of sleep. My hero husband marched out and bought a crib tent. This thing is worth every penny of the ridiculous sum that Babies R Us sells it for. Natalie sleeps again at naps and at night and actually thinks her new tent is pretty cool. She seems to not mind her loss of freedom as she is back in a "crib" instead of a toddler bed.


Noelle is discovering a whole new world of fun and mischief in being able to get around by dragging her body with her arms and pushing off ocassionally with her toes. Poor Natalie is suddenly realizing what this little kid is capable of. About thirty times a day, my poor two year old will grab up a beloved toy (usually a stuft animal of some sort). From across the room, Noelle's head shoots up to take notice and her slow but determined scoot across the room begins. It is sometimes accompanied by a triumphant "A-da! A-da! A-da!" Eventually, Noelle will reach out with one starfish hand and grab at Natalie's current toy obsession. This is quickly followed by an appalled Natalie screaming "No, that's mind!" (yes she says mind, not mine) and snatching her toy back while retreating to another area of the room. Noelle just watches in fascination and then proceeds again to chase Natalie with similar results.


Occasionally though, Noelle will be interested in a toy that Natalie is not currently holding. When this happens, it is a similar scenario. The second Noelle picks it up, Natalie takes notice. Since Natalie is quite a bit faster than Noelle at this time, she races over within seconds and snatches the new favorite toy out of the baby's hand before she can shove it happily into her mouth. Now it certainly doesn't matter if this is a toy that Natalie never wanted anything to do with previously. If Noelle likes it, it must not be a dud afterall. "No, that's MIND!" Within days, my job as mother that already involves me being at times, a teacher, a nurse, and a horsey among other things, now includes referee.

As hard as these transitions can be, they are so exciting as well. Just thinking about how my little Natalie can open doors and how Noelle can crawl, fills my eyes with tears of joy. My little girls are taking baby steps toward who they will be as women some day. For now, yes my days are filled with diapers, sippy cups, and chasing chortling babies, but before we know it, steps are going to be taken and we will be onto new phases. Some day the house may be filled with school-work papers, girl scout badges, and sports equipment. Later, there may be make up, prom dresses, and (I hope) in-state college applications. There is definitely a lot to look forward to. For now though, I will hug my little ones close and try not to miss anything. These days are to be embraced and treasured forever.

Preschool Agony

It is that time of year. Chatter has been exchanged for months but now the anxiety is really beginning to build for us moms of two year olds. Yes, it is the dreaded question: "What preschools are you looking into?" While one would think the prospect of preschool would be a fun and exciting thing, instead, it has become kind of like a casino game. Whether you hit the preschool jackpot depends on luck and timing.
First of all there are the schools with the waiting lists. Some moms get their little ones on these lists before they are even little ones. Do you have a fetus? Throw "Baby X" on that preschool list or else he/she may not get in until he is 5! Some of these schools are elite private schools but others are just your little church schools down the street.
Second, you run into the dreaded lottery system schools. This means that your child's name basically gets put in a hat and the lucky draws fill up the new classes. There is no consideration to.. well, anything.
Lastly, there seems to be lots of schools with a mix of the first and second type of entry system. Your child might get priority for taking two year old classes there but that only applies if there is room etc.
So anyway, the bottom line is there is no sure-thing preschool.. or at least none that are any good or that I have heard of! Perhaps if you are a widely known big-time donor for that school...
This results in lots of poor Mamas (and Dada's) running around in a preschool-induced state of fear. Then, you add the potty policies (can I teach my kid to not pee their pants by September??), the question of part time or full time (Monday through Friday or two times a week?), and what kind of program (Montessori, traditional, etc..) and you can imagine that it is an interesting time for all involved.
I had my own discovery today regarding my friendly little elementary school which is situated about five walking minutes from our house. They have a preschool and a lottery system. I have come to terms with the lottery system but what I didn't know is that even though Natalie makes the cut off for having preschool that year (it is December and she has a November birthday), she wouldn't be allowed to attend until the day of her birthday. However, if I wanted to send her, AND I made it through the lottery, our family would have to "hold" her spot by paying the preschool for August, September, and October before she could even step through the door in November. Wow. If we pass on this, we would wait until the next August to go to preschool there..if we got in.
It is easy for me to criticize but when I think about it, I can't come up with a perfect system for accepting children into preschool. If it was based on academic competency then that could be pretty upsetting for kids who don't get in. Also, it wouldn't exactly be fair to children with less educational experiences or with parents that need to put food on the table and can't afford much time spent on ABC's with their toddler. Waiting lists are frustrating but at least they are fair.. unless you have to hold your place with cash. Lottery systems are probably the fairest but make preschool acceptances so unpredictable. I suppose preschools are doing the best they can so until some miracle happens and the system becomes perfect for everyone, I will keep plugging along and filling out my daughter's applications... and I better get "The Potty Book For Girls" thrown into our reading rotation!

Mama in Espresso Heaven

O.K., so I have a confession to make. I am just going to come out and say it: I am a Starbucks-a-holic. Few hours of my day go by where I don't hear a little voice in my head saying "man.. an iced latte sure would be nice about now." Some women do shoes, others are big on cars, I am into espresso. This revelation suddenly became very clear to me the other day when I was taking what somehow had become a daily trip to the (God bless them) Starbucks Drive-thru. My oldest daughter (25 months) was chattering away as always in the backseat along with my infant. As I left the window, cup in hand, I hear my Natalie say to me "Mama, would you like an iced grande decaf latte with two splenda?" This is when it hit me just how much time I spend at the drive thru window. Natalie is still learning her letters. She is working on counting up to twenty. Let me tell you though, she has mastered Mama's Starbucks order. I am happy though to report that while I continue to support an addiction, I have discovered a way to make getting my espresso even easier. Luckily, technology has gotten to a point where a machine can be placed in my house which provides me with espresso whenever my little heart desires. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I now have an espresso machine. This is no dinky steam driven dollar store model either. I think it was fate that brought me to this machine. Long story short, after returning two other machines, I found this bad boy on craigslist. Basically I got a $300 machine for $95. Now I am my own barista!
Anyway, it might sound like small beans to some people but I feel that my life is greatly enhanced with the purchase of my espresso machine. The girls get more of my time now since I am not shuttling them to Starbucks nearly every day and I save tons of money. What? Noelle is up at five after I went to bed at midnight? No problem! I will just go through the morning in a wide eyed trance, espresso in hand. Now that I think about it.. I think that espresso machines should be a priority on baby shower registries! Maybe I should market an espresso machine called the "Baby-Up-All-Night Mama Dream Machine." Perhaps I could have Natalie on the commercial.