Great Poppy

So this afternoon Jerry and I took the girls up to see my grandfather at the hospital. When we got there he was asleep in the chair so we were kind of left just looking at him. He quickly woke up and the girls just looked dazed and confused. They knew he was sick and have been praying for him. They both just looked very concerned. They warmed up quickly when they realized it was still the same old Great Poppy though. I think it really helped Ally. She has been asking about him everyday and I think it was good for her to be able to see exactly where he is.

Preschool

So today Ansley had a preschool open house where we could drop in and let her play in the classroom with some of the other kids in her class and to spend some time getting to meet her new teacher. As I suspected, she was extremely shy. Her class only has 6 children though and she knows one of them so I am praying she will do well on the big day in a couple of weeks. She acts really excited but she clung to my leg for the majority of the open house. Only time will tell I guess!

I am defiantly grateful for afternoon classes though. I had to wake Ansley up at 9:30 in order to get to the orientation in enough time.

Dinner with Friends

Tonight we had dinner with the Marth's. Ally and Abby had class together last year and get along fabulously. It was great to spend time with other adults who have children the ages of ours. They all entertained themselves beautifully and we were able to sit down and actually have some adult conversation. It was wonderful. Thanks guys. We definitely need to do that again soon!

Grandpa's surgery went well and he looks incredible for what he has been through. I hated seeing him in pain but he really does look great. We love you grandpa! Get better soon!

Mini Golf and Friendly's

So due to the diligence of my hubby this during the month of August the girls were able to earn some prizes for all of the books they read. One of which was a round of mini golf. The girls have never been but Ally has asked about it several times as we have driven by so we decided we would take them tonight to use their passes and then out to Friendly's to use their free sundae certificates. Jerry the serious and competitive person that he is found the kids approach to mini gold quite disturbing and kept telling Ally "take your time, line up the ball and grip up on the golf club." He must have said it 15 times. So at hole number 5 after I had gotten a hole in one Jerry got flustered and had several bad holes. Lets just say we quit counting. The worse he played the more irritated he got and the more irritated he got, the worse he played. Ally could see this, so without missing a beat she said "Dad you just need to take you time and line up the ball." Priceless! The 5 year old is now trying to give her dad pointers. You've gotta love it! It was definitely the highlight of the night for me. Afterwards we took them for a ride on the go-carts. Ansley rode with Jerry and Ally and I rode together. Ally and I got a bad car so Jerry and Ansley lapped up twice. Ansley thought the whole this was hilarious as did Ally. Overall it was a great night out! The ice cream was pretty good too!

Ansley

So lately we are having this problem with Ansley stuffing her mouth so full that she chokes and can't swallow what is in her mouth. Several times this weeks she has gagged herself and had to spit out her food. So today during third hour, one of the nursery workers brought her out with her head on her shoulder. She said she was acting tired and wasn't really talking so she brought her out to us. I immediately knew something was wrong and told Jerry to pick her up. The problem was once again that her mouth was stuffed with food. Even with spitting some out she still had so much stuck to the roof of her mouth that she was crying and gagging. I am about over it. If anyone has any suggestions I would love them. I promise we don't take her food away at home so I have no idea where this shoveling of food into her mouth is coming from. HELP! It's gross and I am over it!

"I said I was sorry!"

So tonight at dinner I noticed that Ally has a bit of a shiner. When I asked her what happened Ansley immediately blurted out, "I said I was sorry!" Jerry and I tried not to laugh but that is so Ally and Ansley. They think that if they say they are sorry it just magically erases all wrongdoing. The funny thing is, Ansley wasn't responsible for the black eye at all.

Aaahhhh

So yet again our awesome neighbors have taken care of us. It is 100 degrees in the condo so they invited us over to their parents house for a dip in the pool and icecream. It was a great way to end the day and avoid our very hot and humid home. Thanks Jeff and Ali, you guys are the BEST!

Grandpa

Today after breakfast we left RI to go down to East Haven and spend some time with grandpa. He is getting ready for a really big surgery and I have been wanting to get down to see him. He looked amazing. We spent time talking about his siblings and what he did in the military and even his time as a teamster. The girls were so well behaved and let us just sit and talk with him. They did invade the meatball dish though. Ally with a mouth full of meatball requested that dinner be ready soon. (I guess she really liked the meatball.) Barb as always was slaving in the kitchen. Not my intent when I invited myself down but she is an amazing cook and everything she cooks is delicious. Before dinner grandpa walked with us down to the beach and sat out in the sun for a while. After only 2 minutes out in the water Jerry was bit by a crab which he found tremendously funny. It only took me a couple of minutes to remember how awful Connecticut beaches are. I easily forget how spoiled I am having been so close to the gulf for so long. Dinner was incredible and we left full and happy for the time we were able to spend with grandpa. Ally told him she was praying for him and we left. It wasn't until we were in Killingworth that I realized Jerry had gone north on 95 instead of south and we were 45 minutes out of the way. UGGGG! That's what I get for assuming he knows what is going on. But as Jerry quickly pointed out. We were all together!

The Beach

So we were fortunate enough to spend the weekend with some friends at their beach house this weekend. The weather was perfect and we had a great time out in the sun. It was a nice break from my crazy work schedule the last 2 weeks. Saturday night Jeff steamed lobster for all of us. It was amazing. It was Jerry's first lobster experience and I have to say I think he's hooked. The girls loved getting to see the lobsters up close and both of them tried some but in the end they ate salmon. Great for me, I didn't want to share mine anyway. I was proud of them for giving it a try though. Jeff walked Jerry through the entire process of eating the creature. I have to say I wish I had a camcorder to record the event. It was pretty funny. Thanks Ally and Jeff we had a great time!

There are moments

So today I was folding some laundry when Ansley walked in to see what I was doing. I asked her if she wanted to help and she of course said yes. I showed her how to fold the wash clothes and then gave her a few. She did pretty well and when she was finished she said, "Thank you mommy for teaching me dat." I love it. I could just squeeze her forever. So to those of you without children who read my blog, yes there are moments that make all the other more trying moments totally worth it!

The 3 year report

So in all of the madness this week we forgot to take Ansley to her 3 year well visit. Fortunately they could squeeze her in today because she really is already overdue. Overall it was a good report. She weighed in at 29.6 lbs which is 50th percentile for weight and was 38 inches tall which is 75th percentile for height. As usual she spoke no words leading the nurse to believe she is a mute. She even asked her about her birthday and what she got. Nothing. Just blank stares and silence. It wasn't until she asked her if she wanted a sticker that she muttered, "and a sucker?" After which she reminded the nurse that the last time she was in the office, "I throwed up everywhere." Yuck, a memory neither I or the nurse wanted to recall. When she was asked what her name was she said "Babycakers". I said no your real name. "Ansley Babycakers." Too funny. We were scolded only once. We bought Ansley a tricycle for her birthday and no helmet. I know we are anxiously awaiting our nomination for parents of the year again, although I never had a helmet and I think I turned out alright. After her checkup they did any extensive vision screening on her where they put electrodes on her head and made her where any eye patch. It helped that Ally really wanted to do it and wore an eye patch too. The test had her naming animals and I have to say she knew many that I didn't think she would know. She passed the test and we headed out. As I was about to buckle Ansley into her car seat I realized that the actual car seat wasn't strapped in. I know double nominations!! So as I am trying to put the car seat in Jerry decides he wants to try the eye patch on. It's at this point that the vision screener comes running out with some paperwork we had forgotten. So here we are Jerry wearing the pirate patch and me putting in the car seat. Pretty embarrassing to say the least. Oh well, as Jerry says it's just enough day in paradise.

The bike saga

So Jerry has been incredible lately. Every day while I work he has been taking the girls to the library to read books on the summer reading list. He even got Ally her own library card which she was thrilled to receive. So today as I am working I get a call from him asking me if $50 dollars was too much to pay for a bike. My answer was simple. It depends, what kind of bike and what shape is it in? His reply was his bike. Now for those who don't know his bike was stolen several months ago and we had contemplated replacing it over the summer but they are just so expensive. Long story short, while driving through Rockville to the town library he sees this bike sitting on the curb and gets out to take a look. He quickly realizes it is his bike due to a notable scratch he put on it when it was new and the serial number and was getting ready to put it in the car when he is approached by a rather large man who wants to know what he is doing with his bike. Jerry tells him it is his bike and then offers the thief $50 bucks to get it back because Jerry is certain he isn't the one who actually stole the bike. (I don't know who is more trusting Jerry or Ally) He even listened to this sob story about how the guy is riding back and forth to work on it and offered to let him keep it. In the end he paid $45 dollars and got the bike back. This of coarse went completely against my better judgement as I would have taken the police over there with the copy of the police report and receipt for the bike with serial number and taken the darn thing back rightfully. But no not my husband. Now we are the proud owners of poorly cared for $200.00 mountain bike now worth $245.00. The crooks parting words were for Jerry to keep it locked up next time. So for all of his flaws my husband has tolerance much greater than I and for that how can I be mad. Not only that the sheer excitement on Ally's face when we got her Daddy's bike back was priceless.

I really do have a wonderful husband

So it has been a crazy week and a half. With orientation last week and then working the days I had booked with the agency before I came home I have been at work everyday but two of the last 10 days. The girls have been beside themselves and so besides being exhausted I feel like an aweful mom. Jerry has been absolutely amazing though. The house has been picked up everyday, dinner has been ready and he has even started taking the girls to the library every afternoon to work on the summer reading list. In between he is trying to finish his master's papers and is even teaching summer school. He even did my Dubli training and downloaded all my software this week. I am really without words. He has totally picked up the slack while I have been crazy and I so appreciate him. You are amazing honey. Thank you so much for everything you do. I am so grateful to have you for a hubby!

Ok, so I lost it

So I admit it, I had a meltdown. I have been trying to get through orientation and getting back into a home routine and I melted. The kids refuse to clean anything up. Stuff is scattered everywhere and they destroy one area just as a clean another. So I lost it. Not completely, but there was some yelling as I tried to explain to the kids that I am not a maid. (Ansley disagreed, "Yes you are momma.") It didn't help the situation at all. So I sat them down and explained that from now on if I find a big mess I am not going to clean it up and I am not going to beg them to, I am simply going to bag it up and take it to the goodwill. Something I have done before. So far it is working. Jerry says that every evening before I get home, Ally rounds up Ansley and the two of them clean up. She even made my bed yesterday. It's been great. I have made it a point to praise them and Ally is so proud. When I got home tonight though Jerry told me that Ansley told Ally, "We don't have to clean up the big toys because mommy can't throwed them away, they are too big to fit in the twash can." While he loved the for thought involved with her rationalization he quickly reminded her that they were not too big to fit into the dumpster. It was all picked up when I got home. :) Maybe I should melt down more often.

So Ally has been asking me to let her shower by herself forever. She is soooo big now and doesn't need my help. I have been reading Marilee Boyak's book, The Parenting Breakthrough, and one of the things kids should be doing independently by age 6 is bathing so we gave it a try. I am happy to report that she did a great job. I don't know who was more proud, Ally or mommy. Excited too! One less child to bath sounds great!

I'm gonna be rich

So Ally lost several teeth over the summer in Georgia and somehow in all the traveling two of them never made it under her pillow. Tonight as she was getting ready for bed I suggested we put them in her tooth box for the tooth fairy. She was super excited (I think she had forgotten all about them) and had the biggest grin on her face. Then she says, "I'm gonna be so rich in the morning." Oh to be a kid again and think a couple of dollars constituted rich.