Free Fridays

My first summer working for the school district, they did a test run of a special summer schedule in order to save on energy costs - four 10 hour days (Monday-Thursday 7-6). I guess it must have saved some money, because two years later we're still doing that schedule.

Fridays off, you say? That sounds awesome right? Well, it's not.

Maybe for those people that don't have kids it's nice. Maybe for the people who can go straight from home to work and back. Maybe when your day doesn't start at 5:30 and end at 7:30 instead of 7 and 6. Maybe if it doesn't mean your normally strict schedule gets totally screwed up and your kids have meltdowns in the morning and fall asleep on the way home and sleep crazy late on the days they don't have to get up early. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's not awesome even if those things aren't true. No one I work with LOVES this schedule.

There is exactly one good thing about this schedule, and that good thing is:

FRIDAYS OFF!

The last two years I've been jealous of the girls at work who had kids in daycare because it meant that on Friday, they were able to drop their kids off like it was a normal weekday and have the day to do whatever they liked. Normally it meant catching up on stuff that had been slacked off on during the week so they had the weekends free to spend time with their families. I had big plans for the same. Each Friday off has brought something fun and exciting.

Friday #1 I dropped the kids off at school, came home and had a nice relaxing breakfast. Then I spent some time cleaning the most under-cleaned rooms in the house - the kids rooms! After that I took a little walk to the pool and read for awhile, had a nice chat with an old high school friend, and did some very rare solo shopping! I picked the kids up early and we spent the rest of the afternoon with some fun in the sun.

Friday #2 A fun filled trip to the zoo with Nana and Grandpa!

Grandpa and Nate

Nana, Daddy and Mia

Friday #3 We dropped the kids off at daycare and I cleaned the bathrooms! I mean a good, deep clean. Then we picked the kids up after nap-time and headed over to Peter's parent's house to spend time with his family. We took their boat to a restaurant called T-Bones that lets you dock and eat. Good times.

Friday #4 I cleaned our bedroom, then had a fun friend-date with my work buddy Shannon. We went to lunch, then to see the movie The Heat. It was kind of funny because the two leads were named Sarah and Shannon!

Friday #5 I dropped the kids at school, then had a pretty relaxing day cleaning the floors. Then I finally got to enjoy my Christmas present - a trip to a local vegetarian restaurant. Peter went off to work and I headed back home, folded some laundry and took a short nap before picking up the kids. On the way home from picking them up we got into a little fender bender, but it was very minor and no one was hurt, so I'll count us all lucky. Though, even the smallest of accidents can be a major pain in the butt!

This is pretty much the extent of the damage. That, and the alignment seems a little off. Could be much worse though!

Friday #6 was spent driving fourteen and a half hours to New Jersey. But it was worth it for some great Fisher fun!

We didn't let him play with his iPod the whole time, but it definitely came in handy on occasion.

 Today, Friday #7, is the last free Friday until next year. I started it by dropping off the kids at daycare, then heading to Target to take advantage of the last NC Tax Free weekend. Now I think I'll do a little bit of cleaning, some YouTube Pilates, pick up the kids early and head to the pool!

I'll miss the Fridays, but the rest of the week will make up for it. I think. Check back with me next Friday.

18 Months!

Oh, where does the time go?

Height:  32.5” (about 60th percentile)

Weight:  25lbs 2oz (about 75th percentile)
Weight to height ratio: about 80th percentile... What can I say? The girl likes to eat! Hopefully she will just naturally slim down in the next year or so.

Hair: It is still everyone's favorite talking point. It is a beautiful red - not too bright, but just enough that it is definitely red. Pigtails really seem to suit her and her school sends her home with her hair done almost every day, so when I try to do it she will usually stay still! We are trying to let it grow out, but did have to get it cut again recently just to clean it up.

Pretty Mia in her pigtails (and me)

Teeth: Teething doesn't seem to be bothering her as much lately, thank goodness! She has a lot of teeth in there, so hopefully we're done until the dreaded two year molars. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that she will be easy like Nate and we will never even notice the molars until they are already in!

Eating: As I said earlier, she loves to eat! Her school always tells us how they love that she will eat basically anything they put in front of her. In fact, she will eat what they put in front of the other kids too (but not until she knows they're not going to).

One thing she can do on the boat is EAT!

Sleeping: Sleeping is great! She normally likes to wake up around 7:30, but this summer our whole family has been impacted with my four 10-hour day work weeks, so on the weekends she has been sleeping until 8:30! Trust me, that is bliss.

Talking: She has just kind of taken off with talking. For awhile she could only say mommy and daddy, and I'm sure that Nate basically answering everything for her did not help this problem. But all of a sudden she was saying a lot more and she will repeat almost anything we say. She can say Nate, out, boat, cheese, sit, Nana, strawberry (aw-erry), milk, eyes, nose, hi, bye and a few more. She can also do a few animal sounds. My favorite though is when she's wondering where something is, like a binky or a character in her favorite book. She will put her arms out in the universal sign for "I don't know", look at you and say "Go?!" I don't know why, I just think it's cute.

Reading: She has gained a love for reading over the last couple months. She will actually sit down and read a whole book with me or sit down and flip through some pages on her own. Her favorite books are Moo, Baa, La, La, La by Sandra Boynton (which was also Nate's favorite book at her age and we read it at least twice every night) and I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak (which was a book we got for Nate, though he never really seemed to like it). Of course, this makes me very happy.

BOOKS!

Shoes: The girl loves shoes. I'm not joking. She really loves them. She doesn't care about her clothes so much, but once she is dressed she wants to get down and go pick out her shoes for herself! And if she picks out a pair that doesn't really go with her outfit (her black Converse All-Stars for a frilly pink dress) she will go back and find a pair that really works. Actually, those black Converse All-Stars really seem to be her favorite. Luckily, thanks to Aunt Katie and cousin Kat, we have them for the next two sizes up!

I got up on this slide all by myself!

Activity: She still loves to move. Anything involving movement is fair game. She loves to dance; she loves to climb; she loves to run. When Nate was playing t-ball she really wanted to be part of the team and kept trying to join them on the field. Even when she's sitting (in a car or stroller) she's not happy unless she's moving. She has loved being in the water this summer whether in the pool, or at the lake at her grandparent's house. In fact, she thinks she can swim and really wants to do it on her own. The boat isn't her favorite, but mostly because she has to wear a bulky life vest which means she can't move as much as she wants to. So far, I'm thinking that she is going to be our little athlete.

Nate: As Mia is coming more and more into her personality, I am completely shocked at how different two kids from the same genes can be. Where Nate is generally calm, mellow and pretty willing to go with the flow, Mia is full of energy and has a force of will that is already making me dread those tween years. But, they have started to play more together- or at least Nate tries to play with her while she just plays near him. The most important thing is that the bedtime hugs still continue, and I don't even have to ask for them to happen every night. Some nights when Mia knows it is bedtime, she will just go into her brother's room with her arms wide open. And Nate will always give her a hug right back (though sometimes he keeps his eyes on his iPod). 

Two cool kids

Daddy and daughter time at the lake

Hanging out on the boat with Nana

She wasn't too sure about this when it got started, but quickly learned to love it. (It moves!)

Bubba and Sissy Reclaimed

We called my brother Bubba forever. From the time we were small and that was all we could say for brother until... I don't know when. At least high school. Then, I guess, he was too cool to be called that so we had to settle for Jarrett.

Bubba and Sissy circa 1982

Well, a new Bubba has been crowned! Mia is just starting to say a bunch of words, and the other day when I asked her if she could say brother, instead of brother, she said, Bubba!

Pretty much no one called me Sissy except for my dad, but I think it works for Mia, and for now she can say it. Even if it does sound more like Ihee.

Mother's Day

One of the bad things about having kids in daycare/pre-school is the amount of CRAP that they come home with on a daily basis. I'm sorry, but not really sorry, that I'm not one of those moms who keeps and thinks that every piece of "art" their children bring home is precious. It's really not.

But, one of the good things about having kids in daycare is that sometimes, some of the stuff they bring home is actually cute and precious. Usually it's the stuff that is more personal and includes hand prints or something.

So this year it was really nice to get some Mother's Day gifts that they worked on all week long. I got some flowers, a thumbprint necklace and lots of hand print flowers. But these two items are my favorite:

They spelled her name wrong, but it's still cute.

But my favorite was this one from Nate! Excuse the watermelon juice stains...

In case you couldn't read it...

My mom's name is: Sarah. (Smart kid.)
My mom is 21 years old. (I wish! No, not really)
She is 10 feet tall and weighs 5 lbs. (Those are worse proportions than Barbie!)
Her hair is red and her eyes are red and blue. (Red is his favorite color these days.)
My mom's favorite thing to do is play with me. (I'm glad he thinks so.)
My mom works at across the street. (True.)
At work she works on a computer. (Also true.)
My mom has the most beautiful hair. (Aww.)
My mom is the best mom because she likes to play with me. (Yes.)
My love for my mom is bigger than Logan's whole family. (I'm really not sure what this is supposed to mean, their family is only four people.)
If I could buy her anything for Mother's Day, I would buy her a Bob the Builder Set. (I guess so I can play with him in his Bob the Builder set.)

Four year olds are awesome!

15 months

Height:  31” (little more than 50th percentile)

Weight:  22lbs 13oz (little less than 50th percentile)

Big girl!

Hair: Her hair has been growing like crazy after her haircut! I noticed today that it is already back down to her eyebrows. And it is definitely getting thicker. Still red. I am very happy that we can put it up in little ponytails and barrettes.

Teeth: She is getting teeth in totally random places. They don't seem to come in symmetrical pairs like Nate's did. One on the bottom started poking out awhile ago, but hasn't progressed much. She has one next to one of her top front teeth, the one on the other side is just starting to come in. Then she has another random one on top toward the back that has come in a good amount. So, weird. No wonder she has been cranky!

Eating: After I stopped pumping in December, I was still nursing until January when I passed my first kidney stone. I wasn't sure if the drugs I was on would be good to pass onto her. So, I just stopped. There were a couple of times when it seemed like she was trying to get into position, but I just gave her something else and she was happy. Otherwise she is a very forceful eater. I thought she was slowing down a little bit, but that was just a little blip. She loves to eat and will eat anything, as evidenced in her little Buddha belly!

She's eating, so she's happy!

Sleeping: She is sleeping through the night! She still wake up occasionally right when we're getting into bed, but for the most part she is sleeping through. Actually, she really seems to kind of like sleep in general. Unlike Nate, she is generally very happy to go down - and asks for it herself a good chunk of the time. But she's also one of those early to bed, early to rise types of kids which is not always fun for us! But, I guess I shouldn't complain because she normally doesn't wake up until at least 7 or so, so I guess it could be worse!

Talking: So far she has mommy, daddy, uh-oh, bye, hi, and, sometimes, baby. She likes to talk to us a lot, but most of it sounds like gulla-gulla-gulla. She'll get there! But she is still using her signs for more and all done, and has added bed and milk. She also loves to wave and blow kisses.

Activity: The girl likse to move (thank goodness, since she also likes to eat). She went straight from walking to running. She loves to climb and explore. She is the best cleaner you've ever met! She doesn't like to sit still long enough to listen to a whole book most of the time, usually just one or two pages (that she has to turn herself) and then she walks away. Every once in awhile she will bring a book over to me in some random spot and we have to sit , cuddle and read the whole thing. Usually Sandra Boynton! She loves to dance and "sing". She likes to color (and is almost better than Nate, I'm sure that's a school thing). She likes to pretend to talk on the phone and bring me my shoes. Actually, she seems to have a thing for shoes in general!

Hey, this moves! Weeee!

Nate: Sometimes he's nice, sometimes he's not. Now that he can move more in the car he likes to play with her a little in the car. Of course, sometimes that playing turns into hitting - by both of them. And every once in awhile Mia will throw a book at him. But he still likes to take care of her like a good big brother.

In case you need something to brighten your day...

Pajama day during yellow week!

First day of shorts! (He dressed himself.)

Mia's First Haircut

Mia's hair has been looking pretty scraggly lately. I had mixed answers when I told people I thought she needed a haircut. Some people were concerned I was going to chop too much off (and I guess she'd look like a boy). Some people were all for it and suggested that cutting it a tiny bit would help it grow. Old wives' tale? I don't know, but I figured it didn't hurt since it definitely didn't look good the way it was.

Peter and Nate needed haircuts too, but weren't able to get them before we left for California, so I decided to let all three of them get a trim.

Before:

Baby Hooligan!

Front

Back

During:

She did pretty well and didn't wiggle too much.

Her brother was in the chair across the aisle, so usually
when she did  move it was so she could see him.

After:

Not too different, but better!
I don't know why I didn't get a shot of the
back, but it is still doing that cute curl.

I kind of wish we had picked somewhere else. The two girls who were there were not very good with kids, at least compared to the place we normally go at home, and it is not geared toward kids. And they didn't offer us a piece of her hair or give us a little certificate with the date of the first haircut or anything. But I'm glad we did it. It does look better and I can still put it in a cute little tiny pigtail that sticks out of the side of her head! It's hard to really mess up such cuteness.

Unexpected Snow Fun

So, yesterday when I looked at the weather to see what kind of weekend to expect I saw that there was a 10-50% chance of a rain/snow mix until about 5pm today. Well, the last two times, and only times this winter really, that we have expected snow or ice things have gotten blown completely out of proportion. Seriously, three weeks ago was ice-mageddon! Except it wasn't. We got nothing and everyone wasted an emergency trip to the grocery store. So, when I saw that chance of a rain/snow mix for today I figured it would be more on the rainy side and didn't think anything of it. 

At around 3:30 I looked outside and saw it precipitating - maybe a mix, but most definitely on the rainy side. Then about 5 minutes later I looked outside and everything had a pretty good layer of snow on it and it was coming down pretty fast. I ran upstairs to Nate's room (he was having "quiet time" since he no longer really naps) and opened his blinds so he could see. We just sat there and watched it for a few minutes until there was enough on the ground for us to be able to go out and play. Mia woke up just as Nate was getting dressed (yeah, he was still in his pajamas at 4pm - don't judge me!) so we all got bundled up and headed out.

It's coming down pretty good

I'm not sure about this...

What to do first?

This is snow fun!

We went to the front yard and had a mini snow ball fight and even started
to build a tiny little snowman. Then Nate knocked him over.

"Thank you snow!" - Nate

 Mia really didn't seem to mind the snow and was doing a  pretty
good job of exploring. And then, she was done!

I got Nate to come inside with the promise of hot chocolate! YUM!

And then we just sat around and watched the snow come down.

I'm glad we don't get it that often, but it is definitely pretty when we do.

Daycare Overachievers

Over the last few weeks Mia's daycare has introduced color weeks as a way to help them learn their colors. They wanted the kids to wear as much of the color of the week as possible even if it was just  part of the pattern of the shirt or on a sock. They started with blue week. We didn't know about it on Monday (Peter had picked her up the previous Friday), so when I found out about it I was a little upset that we missed day one. So when I dropped her off on Tuesday she was pretty much all blue. The teachers said they loved that we got so involved and that we got the parent participation award for the year!

Little did they know, I take theme weeks very seriously!

After blue week, came red week! We had this one down, no problem! (Thanks Cousin Kat/Aunt Katie!) 

Tuesday (she wasn't there on Monday.

Wednesday

Thursday - see, even my shoes are red!

Friday - she was taking medicine because the day before she was
sent home with a fever that, I'm pretty sure, was due to teething. 

 This week's color is yellow, and unfortunately, we have not done so well. I searched through every article of clothing and we had, maybe, two or three things that yellow was even remotely involved in. Oh well! We'll do better next week. (I think the color wheel goes to green!)

One Year!

One Year stats
Height:  29.75” (60^th percentile)

Weight:  19lbs 10oz (40^th percentile)

Happy girl!

Hair: Still red, still commented on. We even got some warning from other non-ginger parents of a ginger, that it will continue well into the school age years. It’s getting longer though, and thicker. One of her doctors even commented on how she has more hair than a lot of other kids her age. Too bad she doesn’t like me put anything in it! Her teachers like to call her “Brave” after the girl from the movie Brave (they couldn’t remember her name) and “Pippi”. I guess they think her personality fits her hair.

Teeth: She got one more tooth on the top, but that second tooth on the top is causing us some major problems! It has been on the verge of breaking through for what seems like months! Just come out!

Eating: She is still a big eater! She seemed to be getting a bit of a Buddha belly so we were worried she had gained a few pounds since we were last at the doctor’s office (a couple weeks ago), but obviously that is not an issue. Her daycare has said that she out eats everyone, and that they wish all of their kids would eat like her.

Sleeping: This has been a bit of an issue. We started out OK, but then something came up, and something else came up, and we were just so tired that we just wanted to sleep… But last night we started again and today at the doctor we got some good pointers for ways to get her to not associate going to sleep with feeding and hopefully that will make her sleep a little longer.

Walking: She started walking right around 10 months and never looked back! She can kind of run when she really wants to, and is on stable ground. When she started daycare, and when it started getting colder, she had to start wearing shoes and she doesn’t seem to mind them too much unless they are hard soles when her method of walking has to change.

Talking: She is definitely saying “Mama” and “Dada”. Sometimes she says variations like “Mommy” or “Mom”, etc. Other than that it is hard to say. Sometimes she repeats things that sound exactly like something you just said, or very close to words that would be an appropriate response to a question you just said. My brother could have sworn she said “cup” when we were in New Jersey. At the doctor’s office today she wanted to get down and walk around (of course) and it sounded almost exactly like she said “No, let me go!” So, who knows; some of it may be real, some of it may be a parent’s wishful thinking, but our doctor did say she thought she was advanced in her talking skills. And at the very least she most definitely understands a lot of what we are saying and responds accordingly.

Daycare: Mia started daycare the Monday after Thanksgiving. We found out at the beginning of November that Peter’s mom (through doctor’s orders) is no longer able to pick up the kids. So Mia for sure is no longer able to stay with Jack and Dianne on a full time basis. We signed her up in a daycare that we had looked at last year when we were looking for part-time stuff for Nate. We liked them, but they don’t have a part time option. Our school district contracts with them for Pre-K and the Pre-K director says they are really great, and they have a five (out of five) star rating, so they come well recommended. We looked at the Infant room and the Wobbler (young Toddler) room, and knew since she was so close to her birthday, is so smart and was already walking, that we should just go ahead and start her in the Wobbler room. When we first started we were kind of unsure about it. We got off to a little bit of a rocky start, but I think a lot of that was just not knowing exactly what we were supposed to do every day for pick up and drop off, but it got better pretty quickly. Now her teachers (and pretty much everyone else that works there) just love her. They always tell us how they wish they had a class full of Mias. She hasn’t been there for almost three weeks because I was on vacation for the first two, and Peter is on vacation most of this week, and her teacher has texted us multiple times asking when their Mamma Mia is going to be back. I’m sure they do this for everyone to make the parents feel like their kids are loved, but I like to think that they really mean it for my little girl!

Nate: As usual it is up and down between these two. He really seems to like all of her new Christmas and birthday toys, but he doesn’t always want to share them with her.  But there are some sweet points. He has really liked feeding her the past couple months (even though she can mostly feed herself), and he just likes to look after her. When he’s not pushing her down anyway.

December

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

I cannot believe that it has been one full year with this little girl! Parts of it seemed to go by super slow (see my pumping post), but in general it has gone by crazy fast. She really does seem to be the perfect (final) addition to our family and I can’t wait to see where she goes from here, and who she grows to be.