It's official

Yes, after a grueling battle, the committee unanimously awarded both Mark and me the coveted title of "Parent of the Year."

We were told that our only competition was really each other and after the brilliant display last Thursday they really had no choice but to allow us to share the title. Grandma did receive an honorable mention however.

You see, last Thursday after swimming, Mark, myself, Grandma, Grandpa and the kids went to a car show in Danville. There were zillions of people and after making a pass down the main street we decided to bail and get something to eat. On the way back to the car we stopped at an Indian Restaurant. We asked to be seated on the patio as it was completely empty. The kids were being a bit of a handful; Makena kept wanting to go to the potty and Kessler didn't want to be held.

Mark had been wrestling with Kessler for a while so I suggested that he just put him on the ground (again, we were the only ones there.) When he started to crawl around one of us followed him. It was the perfect solution, until our food came. Grandpa had gone to take Makena to the restroom again. Grandma, Mark and I were identifying our meals and making room for the plates, as people tend to do in this situation. When the waitress left, Mark said, "Where's Kessler?" I tend to be inclined to overreact but in this instance there was no need. We were in a relatively small enclosed area. He had to be under another table somewhere or behind one of the pillars. It had only been seconds since we last saw him. Mark heads to the other side of one of the pillars with purpose and I think, "see, we just couldn't see him." Only, he doesn't stop at the pillar he keeps going.. then he's on the other side of the little wall--outside of the patio. How did he get there? Grandma jokes, "Kessler's probably in the street." Then I hear, "Shit, Kel!" and watch Mark pick up the pace. I look ahead of Mark to see Kessler sitting on the sidewalk just a few feet from an extremely busy road. This is only after crawling past a packed parking lot.

Here's a visual:



All joking aside, it was an extremely horrifying experience. How did he move so quickly? How did none of us notice? I wasn't even close to questioning where he was yet! This really brought home the realization the we often get comfortable that the kids are being looked after when there are a lot of people around. The reality is, it's just the opposite. Everyone always thinks someone has the kids. Very scary!

Cement Truck

Makena likes vehicles, all kinds of vehicles--trucks, cars, motorcycles, contruction vehicles. When we were driving along and she saw a vehicle that she didn't recongnize she would ask, "what's that car mommy?" She's built up her database and estatically points out the less common vehicles. Her favorites are garbage trucks, diggers and now cement trucks.

This morning on the way to school we saw one. Here's the conversation:

Makena: "Oh, a c-mint truck, mommy."
Mommy: "Yep."
Makena: "It has mints in it."
Mommy: (laughing a little) "No sweetie, it has cement in it."
Makena: "Yes, it has mints in it."
Makena: "I like mints."
Makena: "Whenever people give me mints I say thank you."
Mommy: "That's good sweetie."
Makena: "We have mints at home."
Mommy: "Yeah, maybe."
Makena: "Noooooo. We don't have mints at home."
Makena: "I like mints."

Pay back

Since Femme's husband taught Makena to make fart noises, we have been identifying select toys that we plan to send to Junior.

Today I was with Makena in her room. She walked over to her toy box and pulled out a very obnoxious car and said, "This not supposed to be here." It is Kessler's so it should be in his room, I thought. She continued, "this is for Femme and Husband."

Good girl!

Expensive Lesson

I think I'm going to be sick.

Mark's 40th birthday is in September. In December I started to plan a surprise birthday party for him.. in Fiji. I booked the flight/hotel in January only to have one of Mark's friends RSVP yes. No biggie, we need a vacation anyway. I paid for the travel insurance thinking I'd be safe if I needed to make changes. I did tell Mark that I had planned the trip and gave him the dates; he was unaware that his friend would be coming from Australia.

Meanwhile, Mark has been working really hard to establish a relationship with SAP for our business. Long story short, it's working. He suggested a joint road show with them to promote some services we offer. They loved the idea and totally ran with it. Last week they selected the dates. Yep, they conflict with our trip. Thank goodness for the travel insurance, right?

Upon reading the fine print, I realized I've been dupped. For $107.95 I purchased the right to receive a refund of $800 per ticket provided there is a death or serious injury with one of the traveling parties!! That's it. Oh, and if we have a documented accident on the way to the airport to catch our flight.. well, they'll provide the refund then as well. It gets worse. We do receive a credit for the tickets, but the credit has to be used within one year of the purchase date. That was January, even though the travel dates were in September. We aren't going to be able to travel internationally before then! And, if we could, they are going to charge us a $280 reissue fee per ticket.

I must exude confidence

My mother-in-law just came up to me and said, "This reminded me of you" and handed me this book:

Turns out smart-assedness is hereditary after all! :)

String Bean

Kessler had his one year check up this past Friday. Everything went well. He didn't cry at all for one of his vaccinations and cried less than two seconds for the others. Thank goodness!

I can't find the paper that has his measurements!! But, I remember he's 33 inches long putting him 100% plus for height. He's in the 75th percentile for weight and 70th for head circumference. Big boy!

Itty Bitty Twinkle Twinkle

This video is a few months old. I think it was from April, but I couldn't find it when I tried to post it. I found it, so here you go!

We were driving back from school and Kessler was crying. Makena started to sing to him and it worked! Here is Makena finishing up her performance!