Ni-Ni

Now that I finally figured out why my videos weren't posting properly, I have to catch up on some older ones.

Kessler LOVES his jumper. I usually put him in it when I take a shower.. the shower takes a very long time to warm up so while he's hanging out and the cold water is draining from the pipes, I'll try to get chores done. The jumper squeaks like crazy so I know as long as I hear squeaking, Kess is okay! On this particular morning, all of a sudden I notice that there is no squeaking.

There never is NO squeaking, at least not without crying and that only happens after 45 minutes of jumping. So, I run to the bathroom to find something similar to what you see in this video. In my panic, I jerk him out of the jumper only to realze that he's sleeping. So, I put him back in and he immediately falls back to sleep allowing me to take this video. Nearly as rare as Kessler not jumping in his jumper is Kessler sleeping when there is anything.. ANYTHING else to do.

We notice over the next couple of days that he has a runny nose and it seems like he's not feeling well. That explains the odd behavior!

If you have speakers, you can hear the poor little tired guy snoring.

My Birthday Cake..

What a great birthday! Besides learning that my wonderful friend Femme and husband are coming to visit this weekend, Mark, Makena and Kessler made me a cake!!! Not just any cake either. It was a chocolate and vanilla cake smooshed together with heaps of homemade whipped cream and sprinkles and Dora heads on top! YUM! Take a look:





Now, I'm going to let you get some sneak peeks into the kitchen of Master Chef's Mark and Makena. Don't dare try to duplicate this recipe! Seriously, don't.
Making Whipped Cream:




Finishing up the Whipped Cream (and apparently mommy is a big duffa):




Adding Applesauce and taking a break for tea:



I'm not sure what you want to call this maneuver:



Decorating the cake and causing a cake slide:




Finally, it's time to sing Happy Birthday.

Happy Hollow Zoo and Park.

Here are some photos from our trip to Happy Hollow Zoo and Park last weekend.

The Perfect Storm

They are good, and I'm oblivious.

Where to begin... well, I'm not really sure where the beginning is as I'm still in the process of sorting the pieces together.

So, let me tell you what I know.

Just over 4 weeks ago, my friend Femme, challenged me to a weight loss competition. We were both trying to lose about 6 or 7 pounds. It was a brilliant idea! But, we had to decide what the prize would be. I told my husband about our little wager and he suggested that the loser buy the winner a plane ticket to come visit. I had the same thought but wasn't sure if it was a bit much to expect Femme to buy my ticket when I kicked her ass. At some point Femme made a similar suggestion. I'm smiling now as I recall the email I sent to Femme about bringing my family along. I felt like I was inviting my whole family to come stay with her if I won AND she'd have to pay for my ticket. That's a lot to ask of someone because they lost 5 lbs and not 6. Anyway, the wager was great. We sent our food journals to each other everyday. I lost like 5 lbs in 2 weeks, then Femme found out she's pregnant, so the competition weined a bit (I gained 2 lbs back the next 2 weeks). Really, a lot of this is inconsequential, but I didn't want to leave you hanging.

In the meantime, Mark is fretting about my birthday present. Well, he doesn't really fret. He just makes comments like, I still need to buy your present. And, I'm trying to decide between 2 different things and I'm waiting for them to get back to me. He warns me not to read his email or check the Amex bill. Then he says, he finally bought it, but it probably won't make it in time for my birthday. No big deal. Then he tells me not to make plans for this Saturday because he has something planned for me, etc, etc.

This particular part of the story is not directly part of the Perfect Storm, but I will insert it as it has to do with my sneaky husband and my oblivousness. Over the weekend he says that we need to go to the mall so he can buy my present. I say sure, not really thinking that this is nothing like Mark. Also forgetting that he already has it according to him. I figure he had something in mind and he would leave me for a few minutes while he went to go buy it. He didn't do that; we just walked around. He takes me to Nordstrom to look at purses, but I don't see one that I like. As we are leaving Nordstrom we pass by a jewelry store where he bought a watch a few months ago. The watch had to be sent back and Mark's been talking to the store manager and he want to go introduce himself. So, that's what he did. I decide to put Mark in an uncomfortable position and tell the store manager that my birthday is coming up. Of course, the manager latches onto that, but rather than make a joke about it and leave Mark decides to turn the table on me.. or so I thought. He knows how much I hate to waste sales people's time. I HATE IT! I get hot and start to sweat and get anxious. Somehow we end up looking at watches. I don't have a nice watch; the last not-so-nice watch I had broke when I was in the hospital having Kessler. Long story short, he shows us a bunch of nice watches.. I squirm and sweat and try to have small conversations with Mark when the sales guy is not in earshot. Mark finally says, "do you think this wasn't my plan the whole time?". Yeah.. let's go to Nordstrom... let's go to look at purses, which happens to be on the 2nd floor.. which happens to be where the jewelry store is.

He's a puppeteer.

Moving right along, he decides that he's going to tell me about the rest of my present on my birtday. So, this morning I call him at work and he has me check my email. There's an email from him with an airline itinerary. First I think, where are we going?? Then I see, it's for Femme and her husband to come here. Then I say, "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!! Do they know? Oh no, she's pregnant, crap, does she know? CRAP!!" Apparently I think my husband is an idiot and came up with this whole idea on his drive to work this morning and assumed that Femme and husband would just be game. Au contraire. It turns out that Femme and Mark have been in cahoots for several weeks. Hence the very thoughtful suggestion of a weightloss competition. Since I couldn't prepare myself for the visit, she figured she'd give me alternate motivation to look my best.

They are good. I am oblivious. The Perfect Storm.

Thank you both so much! I can't help but smile at all of this! I can't wait to see you-Femme and husband!!!

The Little Things.

I started this blog because I wanted to let our families in on the little things that happen in our lives. It's easy to get caught up talking about consequential things when we are on the phone, that we forget to talk about these little things. Another reason was to document my kid's childhood, again with the little things that might be forgotten over time.

With the latter in mind, I'm sure you might be getting sick of these stories and if you aren't yet, you will after you read this one. But, bear with me anyway.

I came home from picking Makena up from preschool. I had to pee something fierce. So, as I'm scurrying to get Kessler in his exersaucer I explain to Makena that I will get her milk after I go to the potty.

Here's how it went:

Makena asks, "Do you have to go poopies?"
Still scurrying, I tell her, "No, just pee-pees."
Very excitedly she says, "Okay, I'm going to help you."
At this point I'm walking quickly to the restroom and she's running to keep up.
I tell her, "Ummm.. that's okay sweetie. I should be good."
She persists, still telling me that she plans to help.
When I finally arrive at said potty, she says, "I'm going to hold your hand."
And that's what she did until I was done. The part that I can't articulate is how sweet and sincere she was. It was all I could do not to cry. She is such a beautiful angel!

Hat Conspiracy

I try to take the kids for a walk a few times a week. Being the courteous member of the community that I am, I started wearing a hat to cover the rat's nest that sits upon my head. It really is much more pleasant when kids aren't screaming and running the opposite direction when they see me coming. Anyway, when Makena first saw me in the hat, she insisted I not wear it. I explained to her that I needed to because my hair is messy and dirty and the hat covers it up. She found this answer to be acceptable and no longer protested my new accessory.

Fast forward a few days to one of our walks. A woman ran by us; Makena exclaims, "Her hair is dirty! Her hair is dirty Mommy!!". This particular dirty haired hat wearer pretending to be a jogger wanting to keep the sun out of her eyes blew past us too quickly to realize Makena was onto her. The next imposter probably won't be so lucky because, as it turns out, anyone wearing a hat is doing so because they have dirty hair. Makena has honed her radar and immediately points them out!

Tonster

A friend of mine recently made a major change. He lived in San Jose, California for all of us life (he's old--so that's a long time! :)). He decided to leave everything he's known and pursue his dream to become a chef. So, he enrolled in a Le Cordon Bleu Culinary school in Las Vegas. He moved there a few weeks ago.

If you get a chance, visit his blog --GoTonster and offer him some encouraging words. I imagine any supportive sentiments will be much appreciated, because as with any major change...I'm sure he's wondering what he's gotten himself into. Go Tone!

Thanks!!