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.

Movie Night

The Friday of Memorial Day weekend I really needed a break after a hectic week at work. That morning I realized that Epic was bring released that very day. When I first saw the preview for that movie I thought that it would be something Nate would like. So I decided to treat us both to a trip to the movies. He has been to the movies before, but I think the last time he went was the summer before Mia was born to a dollar movie special. He didn't really remember it, so this can almost be considered his first real trip to the movies.

As soon as I asked him if he wanted to go to the movies he was excited. The entire there he was asking questions about the movie going experience. What movie are we seeing? Will there be snacks? Where do we see a movie? What movie are we seeing? What are the glasses for? Why do I have to be quiet? Is this a castle?

He got a little scared at one part that involved a giant mouse, but otherwise he really liked it. It was a really good movie to see in 3d because it was all about nature. His favorite part involved a little flower girl. Actually, no, I think his favorite part was the popcorn. It was very good popcorn according to him. Well, good. It better be!

Yay movies!

I am a huge movie person so seeing him get so much enjoyment from this experience and getting the "thank you, thank you, thank you!" from him just made my year. It's a small thing, but it really is one of my favorite experiences as a parent.

So, this past weekend when he asked for some special mom and Nate time (because Mia got a solo day earlier in the week when Nate spent the night with his grandparents) I decided to give movie night another try. This time we watched Rise of the Guardians, and though he was a little less excited, not very much so. He loved being able to stay up late and cuddle with mom on the couch. He got popcorn this time too, but I guess it wasn't as good as the movie theater popcorn. Oh well.

Mom/Son Movie night! (I think the flash on my camera might be a little too bright...)

So, I think this is a tradition we will keep up. Some nights it will just be me and Nate, some nights Peter will be able to join us, and eventually Mia can join the fun too.

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!

Nate at 4

1. What is your favorite color? Red
2. What is your favorite toy? Thomas the Train and Dinosaur Train
3. What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries
4. What is your favorite tv show? Dinosaur Train
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? "McDonalds, the one that Grandpa takes me to. Nuggets, fries and apples"
6. What is your favorite outfit? shark and dinosaur t-shirts
7. What is your favorite game? "My airplane game" (Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy Airport)
8. What is your favorite snack? Fruit snack and raisins
9. What is your favorite animal? Stegosaurus
10. What is your favorite song? Dinosaur Train theme song and "The Good Night song" (Glad You Came by The Wanted)
11. What is your favorite book? A Barnyard Collection: Click, Clack Moo and More by Doreen Cronin
12. Who is your best friend? Logan 
13. What is your favorite cereal? The one that has the marshmallows in it (Lucky Charms)
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play, bike
15. What is your favorite drink? Orange juice
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Charlie and Kitty
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cereal
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Fish snack (I have no idea what he's talking about with this...)
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Fireman and an airplane driver

(I'm a little late, but I think most of it would have been relevant if I'd asked on time.)

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.)

Goodbye California

All good things must come to an end, right? Well after 10 fun days in sunny California we had to put our coats back on and say goodbye.

Bye Nonna! We love you!

The first flight wasn't too bad. We had packed sandwiches and used them to keep the kids busy for a chunk of the flight.

Mia really fought falling sleep on that first flight.
She fell asleep in this position just as we were landing.
Natch.

As we were getting off of the plane Nate saw the pilots and asked them if he could go into the cockpit.
They let him sit in the seat, hold the steering wheel and even press a button!
I don't know what it is meant for, but it made everything start shaking. Scary fun!

Remember how on the flight out we were told we were going to have a three hour delay that ended up being only 30 minutes? Well on the second flight we were not told of any delays, but after they already started loading people on the plane they decided that we needed a new one and we ended up having that three hour delay after all! This was on top of a two hour layover. When booking the tickets I chose between a 40 minute layover and a two hour layover. If you've ever traveled with two kids you probably know that 40 minutes is kind of pushing it... So I chose the two hour option figuring it would give us all the time we needed for going to the bathroom, changing diapers, getting food and finding our gate. I should have chosen 40. : / We kept them busy with food (again) and walking, or strolling, in circles around the terminal. Nate also made some friends who were delayed with us and played a rousing game of duck-duck-goose! At least he made the best of it.

Crashing in the terminal

Poor Nate started not feeling well on Saturday night. He had a very high fever and was complaining about his throat, head and belly hurting. So he was very happy to just take naps, listen to his iPod and watch movies for both of the flights. It ended up being strep. Again.

Mia fought sleep again on the second flight, but at least it was only two hours. We got home just after one o'clock in the morning and we were all ready to crash. And since Peter and I both had to be at work bright and early the next morning (or, no, THAT morning), we had to wake them up earlier than they would have liked, so they were ready for bed at NC time that night! Yay!

Goodbye California - we'll miss you until next time!

California - Days 9 & 10 - Easter!

It is rare that we get to spend a holiday with my side of the family, so we take advantage!

First up - dying Easter eggs. I let Nate do this while Mia was napping...

Bad vegan mom!

Then an Easter Egg Hunt led by my mom and Jerry's church.

This makes a good hat!

Mia's first hunt!  

When they let the "big kids" go Nate ran all the way to the end of the  lawn.
He had it to himself for awhile, but was too interested in what was
in the eggs to get too many of them

YAY eggs!

Checking out their loot

After this trip, I have decided that it is probably a good thing that, unless Peter switches industries, we will never be able to travel for Christmas. Luckily we don't go crazy with Easter baskets so everything we took fit in our suitcase, but what would we do at Christmas? Order stuff online and send it before us? Then how do we get it back? Order two and send one to our house and one to our destination? Try to ship it all back home? I don't know. For now I don't need to think about it!

Deconstructed Easter basket!
I couldn't' find my camera when I was filling the Easter baskets.
Books, sunglasses, socks, sippy cups, utensils, snack bowls...
Nate got a lot of Lion King stuff, Mia's was kind of random.

Easter breakfast!

Good morning!

 We left my mom and Jerry and went to a Catholic church for the Easter service. We went to a church named after St. Francis of Assisi. It was packed! Easter Catholics and the fact that the new pope chose to name himself after this Saint (who, PS, is one of my favorites!) so we ended up sitting in the fellowship hall or something with a kind of secondary service. Weird.

After church we went home and started cooking up a storm for the arrival of the rest of the family for our Easter feast!

Mia sharing with Nonna

The Shipman crew

Cousins! Kat, Mia, Sydney and Nate

Kat checks out what is inside her eggs

Fisher-Starr family - Katie, Kat and Walker

Easter fun! Nate and his "new friend" Sydney

Geez is it hard to get them both looking good at the same time!

Silly boys!

Happy Easter from the Morris family!

Calfirnia - Days 5-8

After the fast pace of the first few days of our trip, most of the rest of the time was just spent hanging roaming Bakersfield, shopping, eating all of the CA food that we miss and spending time with family.

Hanging out at Nonna's

My little adventurer

Cousins! Nate asked to play with her every single day!
But once she was there they were usually fighting. Hmm.

John's Incredible Pizza

This was train ride #2 of 3 for that day.

Ski Ball

Bust a move!

Peter taking over

Feeding the ducks

Reid Taco Night! The fake meat was fine, but the vegan cheese left something to be desired.

I went to see TWO movies with my sister (Oz: The Great and Powerful and The Host), got to sample her new favorite vegan market/lunch spot and share vegan meals at some of our old favorite restaurants.

YUMMY desserts made with love by my favorite sister

Nerds!

Peter and I went on a date night. We had sushi and I saw another movie (Admissions). Sadly, I didn't get any pics of that.

We went to CALM (California Animal Living Museum) where Nate and Kat got to ride on a real-life Dinosaur Train!

Snack time!

Daddy daughter time

Dinosaur Train, the dinosaur train...

Gonna ride, ride, ride, ride, RIDE. The dinosaur train!

Time tunnel! Time tunnel approaching!

And, of course, we can't go to California without some In'n'Out!

He got a 3x3.

Boogers aren't my favorite.

Yummy! This girl can eat!

Because he was just so excited! It had been awhile.