Bikini Weather is Coming

Not that I would wear one. Not that I even wore one when I was skinny-ish. But it's still coming. That at least means shorts. Or clothes that don't cover every inch of my body. So I FINALLY signed up at a gym last week. It took 9 days for me to even walk through the door. I don't know why this is so hard. I used to work out all the time. Part of the problem is the childcare situation. The gym that is the most feasible has a very poor setup for the children. They have fun toys, but they're in a completely different building from where I am, and there's no window to peek through. I just don't feel very warm and fuzzy about that.

I figured out, though, that my sister and my cousin are both signed up at the same gym in different locations. That means in theory we could meet at one of them and work out together sometime. I've decided this is going to be my stress release while Hubby is gone this week. So tonight we went. Exactly 9 calories into my elliptical workout I remembered that I haven't exercised in over 2 years. I decided I should at least stay on long enough to burn off today's Coke, so I made it 20 minutes. That's about all I could handle, and that's about all the kids could handle in the room with the one lady who never left her chair. Ahem.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the personal trainer. He told me to come dressed for a workout. Lucky for me, I dress for a workout most days. I just don't work out most days. Or ever. If I can will my muscles to bring me downstairs to the computer tomorrow night, I'll let you know how it went.

Chuck E.'s Sketch

Little Buddy got a gift card to Chuck E. Cheese for his birthday. Since Daddy doesn't have to leave until this afternoon (and I don't really enjoy trying to keep track of all 3 by myself), we decided to redeem it today. After going to Dave & Buster's the other night, Chuck E. Cheese's doesn't seem nearly so overwhelming--especially on a Monday morning when school is in session.

Here's everyone's Chuck E. "Cheesy" smiles.

Little Buddy eagerly awaits Big Sissy's arrival at the bottom of the slide.

He loves anything with buttons he can push!

Little Sissy and her good buddy, Barney, going for a little ride.

This is my favorite machine of all. I can't believe it's only a token to get these sketches. I get one every time. Aren't they so cute?

Dear Sunshine

My sweet, perfect beautiful cousin is getting married in June. Grandpa calls her Little Miss Sunshine, so that was the theme. Little Sissy gets to be the flower girl, so there will be many pictures to come. At the shower we all had an opportunity to write her a note in a journal. I didn't want to scare her, but the thing I wanted to say most is that marriage is HARD WORK. It is worth it, of course, but there are challenges--money juggling, emotion controlling, in-law balancing, decision making , family planning, career joining, chore delegating. Then kids come and it's exciting and beautiful, but with the little bundles of blessing come new challenges--finding time for each other, finding time for yourself, and really staying connected. Here's an example. This is how our weekend together went:

Thursday: Hubby got home from Chicago about 5:30. At 6:00 we left to go to a meeting to learn more about homeschooling.

Friday: Hubby got home from work about 5:00. We fed the kids dinner, and at 6:00 we left to go to Trivia Night at our church. It was so much fun AND we won free babysitting from one of our favorite girls at church who works with the kids. We got home way past the kids' bedtime and figured we would pay the price.

Saturday: We finally had a relaxing morning, then we darted off to IL so I could go to Sunshine's bridal shower and Hubby and the kids could go play with Papa B. I picked the family up, we stopped by home to drop off the food from the first party and pick up food for the next party (and clean pants for Little Sissy, who pooped in hers during the first one), and went to have dinner with friends. We left early on purpose since we were going to lose an hour of sleep, but everyone was still over-tired. After we dealt with the tantrums and got everyone calmed down, we were ready to crash too.

Sunday: We survived the time change and got to church only 15 minutes late (for the 2nd service, of course), had lunch, got everyone down for naps, I went to choir practice, we had dinner and got everyone to bed.

Tomorrow: Hubby leaves for Chicago again. *sigh*

So, Dear Sunshine, cherish these moments together. One day you won't be able to sleep in together on Saturdays. Or go for a spontaneous walk without dragging out the double stroller. Or stay out late without some planning ahead with a babysitter. But hopefully when that time comes you will be ready to sacrifice those things. And you will change and grow together as a couple. And you will appreciate your time together more than ever. They tell me that before you know it, you'll blink and they'll be out later than you, and they will sleep in later than you. Then one day they'll move out and have families of their own. And you'll grow old together--just the two of you. And it will seem like the kids were with you for only a minute. Marriage is hard, but it is good. And if you fight for it, it gets better and better. If I sound old and wise, it's only because I've gotten good advice from people who have been there, and today I need to hear it too. Love is a choice that you will make every day that you are together, and even when you are apart. Make the choice, and then don't look back. You won't regret it. Oh, and just in case you ever feel like giving up, don't hesitate to find someone you trust to talk to. We all need encouragement from time to time. You are a beautiful person, Sunshine, and you've picked a stellar man who loves you dearly. Your foundation of faith will be invaluable in the days to come. Enjoy the ride, and congratulations.

Baby Gymnastics

Little Sissy is in gymnastics at the Y for her first class. Big Sissy did it when she was 2. In the name of fairness, I guess we'll do it again next year with Little Buddy. Miss Louise has been there for years, so she'll probably teach all 3. The hardest part for Little Sissy is jumping with 2 feet at the same time (which is exactly why I put Big Sissy in the class originally).

Parents are Just So Embarrassing!

Big Sissy had her Spring Sing tonight for her preschool choir. I didn't realize until last week that it was coming, so we didn't even invite anyone to come. Then we realized that Daddy would be out of town. So it was up to me to get everyone there by 6:15 with clean clothes and full bellies. Usually we're late, but they needed to line up at 6:15--a daunting task with 5o preschoolers. So I boogied. And I got us there.

While we were eating supper, Big Sissy noticed some spitup on my sweater. I'm so used to having something on me that I don't even notice any more. She can't stand it, though. She will hold her nose the entire time I'm brushing her teeth if it remotely smells like spitup in the room (ie. on my clothes). At about 6:00 I was still frantically trying to get legs in tights, feet in shoes, and arms in jackets on so we could rush out the door. I thought about the fact that I didn't have on any makeup and hadn't brushed my teeth since early in the morning...for a second. Then I got over it because this night was not about me, and I don't even know anyone there. But when we got home, after all the hugs and congratulations, Big Sissy looked at me. Clearly disgusted she said, "Mooooom, why did you wear your STINKY sweater to my program?"

Uh oh. I'm that mom already. Of course my parents were embarrassing too. I was mortified when my mom used to wear her fanny pack to Six Flags. Of course I didn't complain when she carried all the money and I didn't have to. And I was humiliated when my dad wore his dark church socks with shorts on Sunday afternoons or asked for kisses when he was dropping me off to high school. I knew I'd embarrass my children somehow, someday. I just didn't think it would happen so soon!

Blast From the Past

Did you ever see the old Brendan Fraser movie Blast From the Past? A family mistakes a plane crash for a nuclear disaster and hides in their fallout shelter for 35 years. When Brendan Fraser's character is 35, he emerges as a naive, child-like man. He meets some friends who teach him how to dress and "act unimpressed."

That's how it was for us today at the grocery store. None of my children ever remember going to a grocery store. I wish I were kidding, but it's true. I used to take Big Sissy when she was little, but once I had 2 littles ones I decided it was just easier to go at night after they were in bed. I'm sure each of them has been there at some point when they were still nursing frequently, but nobody remembers it. I became aware of this when our Parents as Teachers educator showed Big Sissy some logos on her last visit. She was explaining how recognizing the logos from familiar stores, like grocery stores, can help the child in her reading readiness.

She asked Big Sissy, "What is your favorite grocery store?"
"Trader Joe's," she said. Good answer, kid, I silently applauded. Except it's not on the list.
"Do you recognize anything on this page?"
"Yep. That's Pepsi. My mom likes to drink that a lot."
That and McDonalds were the only logos she recognized.

So today I thought we'd emerge from our cave and go to the grocery store. OK, I didn't really have a choice since Hubby is out of town. I had to get some medicine anyway, since I never picked it up yesterday. I also just discovered that Shop 'n Save DOES have those cool carts that 3 kids fit in. I thought that was for fancy people at fancy grocery stores because I had never seen one at my store. Just recently I discovered that they are stored at the exit instead of the entrance--if they are not all in use. That is literally the only way that we can go. Otherwise there's no room for food!

It was mildly embarrassing as my kids squealed with delight over all the beautiful colors of apples and ROWS AND ROWS of salad dressing!!! And did you know you can get graham crackers in CHOCOLATE!!!! How come we never got chocolate ones, Mommy? And cookies and muffins and doughnuts, oh my. I only went for about 10 items and left with at least 15. I figure the least I can do is let them try jello THAT COMES IN A CUP. Awesome.

Tomorrow we're going back to our cave. It's too expensive out there.

Woe Is Me

I have a great life, but I still feel yucky and emotional sometimes. I guess it's part of being a girl, but I would not choose that part of womanhood in a million years. Today is one of those days. Hubby is out of town, and I always need a day or two to adjust to his being gone. But today I also woke up with symptoms of a recurring illness I have had more times than I care to name. I knew I would need to take some antibiotics, and I thought for some reason that I would then not be able to breastfeed while I was taking the medicine. I have dropped from 4 feedings down to 2 (morning and night), but I wasn't really ready to drop the last 2. When I woke up and knew what was happening, I made the impromptu decision to drop the morning feeding. It's not really the way I wanted to make that decision, and it turns out that the antibiotic is safe for nursing mothers. But my day just started wrong, you know? I am such a baby. Lots of moms do this alone all the time. I am just weak, and I need my partner!!!

On a brighter note, Big Sissy came up with a new definition today that I think is pretty good. She was talking about her vegetable soup, and she said she liked the vegetables but not the "background soup." That's a pretty good description of broth, don't you think?

Hubby called to check in on us around 6. He's such a good man. Usually I'm just getting dinner on the table, but we were already done. Frozen pizza and veggies don't really take that long to prepare. he he. That's one nice thing about "single mommin'" it. Little Sissy wanted to talk to Daddy. Usually she just says "hi" and then listens for a minute, looks at the phone, and then hands it back to me. Today she was feeling especially chatty. I knew exactly what she was saying, but I knew Hubby was struggling. Here's what she told him:

"I sad 'cause Mommy ot et me av 'oap."
Translation: (I'm sad ((ie. WHINY)) because Mommy won't let me have soap.) Lest you think I won't let the poor baby get clean, I bought a new bottle of soap yesterday and today it's already half empty.

After lots of struggling and Daddy saying things like, "What? You need help? You need help with what?" I got the phone back. Then she wanted to tell him one more thing.

"I got a boo boo."

Phone back to me. Then she needed to tell him one more thing.

"I toot." (silence on our end while Daddy says something) "Umm...I say "skuze me. OK. Bye bye."

Finally, to add to the randomness of this post, here is one way to keep your baby brother from taking your sippy cup--or at least to make sure he gouges out at least one eye in the process: Stick a toothpick in it. Good thinking, Big Sissy.