1-Urth Mama

Valentine's Day Date!

2012-02-12T21:21:00.000-08:00

Baby Violet had her 2 month well-check on Friday...at 3 months and 1 day old! (We are a little behind...oh well).

She weighs 15 pounds and is the 98th percentile for weight for babies her age. She is 24 inches long, which is the 86th percentile for height. The pediatrician kept commenting on how strong Violet is, and how happy and alert she is. Violet almost rolled over at the pediatrician's office, and she was smiling and laughing a lot. She gets a lot of attention wherever we go, especially because she is so alert and wants to interact with everyone. You can tell that there is so much going on in her head and she has a million things she wants to say already...she is just trying to get the words out!

Grandma Pat came down for a few days this week, which was wonderful! I got to take Violet to her doctor's appointment without Ginger in tow, which made things a lot less stressful for me.

Ginger picked up some kind of cold bug at the Tar Pits last weekend, so she was very sniffly and miserable all week. She is still mostly refusing to wear clothes, but will occasionally put something on if the mood strikes her just right. But usually even when she is wearing clothes, she wants to take them off about five minutes later! It is such a shame because Ginger has the best wardrobe of any of us (due to some awesome clothes gifted to us by a generous friend). The good news is that Ginger's wardrobe is getting very little use at the moment, which means it will be pristine for Violet in a year or two!

Last week, Ginger would only go to sleep in my bed and not in her bed. So that means I had a full bed with Ginger and Violet both sleeping with me in my room. It was sweet! Usually I stay up in bed after they have gone to sleep and I watch something on Netflix or Hulu (with the captions on and the volume muted) to wind down before I go to sleep. Last week I decided to watch Hoarders for the first time ever. Have you ever seen that show? It was unbelievably disturbing to me and gave me nightmares. I found myself wanting to declutter and clean all weekend as a result. I don't think I can ever watch it again...wow. But I think Mr. M will be happy because now anytime I want to buy something spur of the moment, I will probably think of that show and restrain myself. Haha.

Mr. M came home this weekend. Yay! I caught Ginger's cold so I spent most of Saturday just taking it easy at home, except for when all went out to lunch as a family. We try to do that every weekend, even though it can be a little challenging with the little ones. Last week we went to a vegan restaurant and it went over like a lead balloon with the kids. Haha. So this week we went back to our favorite hamburger place, and I picked up some Chipotle for me and Mr. M to split and brought it over to the burger place. I'm not really vegan, but I am eating a lot less meat these days after watching Forks Over Knives (the documentary), reading The China Study, and reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. I would say I am eating vegan about 95% of the time now, and when I just can't stand it anymore, I have a little bit of meat or dairy here or there. ;-) Baby steps.

Then tonight (Sunday), Mr. M and I had our weekly date. We brought Violet with us, and she was mostly sweet, but got a little fussy during dinner. I think she was tired. We went out to Indian food at a little restaurant near us. Delicious! Then we went to Target and picked up napkins for Paprika's Teacher Appreciation luncheon at school, and a new bathroom garbage can. How romantic! Haha. Then we went for a little moonlit stroll on the beach, but Violet's toes started to get cold (she was in the Baby Bjorn), so pretty soon we turned around and came home. Things sure have changed since we went on our first Valentine's Day date 12 years ago. ;-) But it was great to come home to our house full of life, and realize that even though things aren't as they once were, they are in some ways so much better. I am so happy to have our sweet little family, and it really is the best Valentine's Day present of all...to have our little house so full of love.

Speaking of...I need to put some little girls to bed now! I am trying my best to move their bedtimes earlier and earlier. Last week I got them in bed (not asleep) by 8:45pm, which is the earliest that pretty much has ever happened. If I let them, these girls would literally stay up all night long and sleep all day. Like mother, like daughters! :-)

Three Months!

2012-02-09T15:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Baby Violet,

Today you are three moths old. Three months! I am typing this post one-handed while I hold you in my lap...turns out that in my lap is where you prefer to nap and I am happy to oblige.

Every day, I learn more about you. You love music, and you love to try to sing along. You are a talker and you are positively giddy when you are the center of attention.

You like to sit up and often you fall asleep just like that - sitting up!

When you get overtired, you get so mad that you cannot fall asleep. That is how I found myself at midnight last night, pacing the block outside our house with you in my arms. The cool air and the cover of stars calms you to sleep like nothing else.

One thing about Mr. M working out of town is that, for the most part, I am on my own with you, 24/7. This has created an incredible bond between the two of us and I know that usually all I have to do is scoop you up and instantly you'll stop crying. It's a deep trust we have and I feel like we understand each other in the deepest, most affirming way. Even though we are two people now, in many ways I still feel that one-ness with you. It is the best feeling.

Happy three months, my sweet girl! As I sing to you every day, You are everything and everything is you!

Love,
Mom

Super Bowl Weekend!

2012-02-06T12:12:00.000-08:00

How was your Super Bowl weekend? We're not big on football around here and we don't own a television...so our Super Bowl weekend was kinda light on football. ;-)

On Friday night, Mr. M brought Ginger home from Santa Barbara. The girls were so excited to be reunited!

On Saturday, we caught up on all errand-type stuff that went out the window when I was sick. When there is nothing to eat, we always say: Old Mother Hubbard...and by the weekend there was a serious case of Old Mother Hubbard in our cabinets. One trip to Trader Joe's fixed that. ;-)

Saturday night, Mr. M and I had a date night. We hired a babysitter! She's actually the nanny of one of my friends (another stay at home mom from Paprika's school), and I asked the nanny if she would be able to babysit for us one night a week...and she said YES! So, now we have a date night scheduled on the calendar for once/week (different nights depending on Mr. M's schedule).

For our first date night in this new date night era, we went to our favorite restaurant. We got there and it was packed, much more so than usual. Well, it turns out that it was the last night that the restaurant was going to be in business! It was such a shock. We were glad we got to go. We even lucked out and got our little circle booth in the back corner.

We brought Violet on our date (I am not ready to leave her with a sitter yet), and she was a delight. She was in her stroller for the first few minutes when we got the restaurant, but then she started to get a little upset. So, I picked her up and sat her upright on my lap, and about thirty seconds into dinner, she fell asleep. She was hunched over and snoring and stayed that way from appetizers through desserts. Ha!

In the past I have always been hesitant about getting a sitter because I don't want to spend the money, but it was really so nice to get out with just Mr. M (and Violet). Just a little adult conversation and a glass of wine can be so relaxing. I am so glad we're going to be doing this more often. It's such a treat and something I totally took for granted before we had kids.

On Sunday (Super Bowl Sunday), we took the kids to the La Brea Tar Pits, now called The Page Museum. It's called "the world's most famous excavation fossil site" and it's a great place for kids to learn about pre-historic mammals.

Paprika loved it and had the best time looking "in the fishbowl" - which is the glass surrounded work space they have for palentologists. Paprika spent a long time at that spot and decided now she wants to be a palentologist and an astronaut.

The Fishbowl:

Ginger spent the majority of the trip running from one end of the museum to the other, although the animatronic exhibit of the Sabertooth eating the Sloth caught her attention for about ten minutes, and we were able to rest from chasing her through the museum. ;-)

Violet was a peach and slept the whole time in the Baby Bjorn (and I made sure it was on right this time! I do not want to ever experience mastitis again). I think she had a great time dreaming about the La Brea Tar Pits. Haha.

After about an hour, we got a little worn out chasing the girls around the museum and decided to go outside to the (free admission) grounds and let them run. They had a hill there and the girls must have rolled down it 20 times. That wore them out a bit. We decided to get Chipotle for dinner as a little treat for the parents after a tiring day of museum-ing...it was a great choice!

You would think the girls would have been exhausted after all that, but they still didn't fall asleep until after midnight. We have energizer bunnies for kids. ;-)

Now it's Monday and time to reset for a new week! Why am I already looking forward to this week's date night?! Haha!

What A Week!

2012-02-03T12:31:00.000-08:00

Seriously, what a week! Mr. M had one day off, so he came home last Sunday for the day. I was feeling a little run-down, but we decided to go hiking and to the cove anyway. It was a beautiful day, and this place really is my little piece of Heaven on Earth, so I had to go.

The girls had a great time hiking, and then playing in the ocean.

Paprika found this little friend (a hermit crab) and played with him (gently) for a long while. When she pulled him out of the ocean, I thought...oh dear...what is that?! But he ended up being pretty cute.

I had Baby Violet in the Baby Bjorn, and she slept the whole time we were there (hike and all!) The problem was that one of the straps on the Baby Bjorn was in a funny place and was pressing down on my chest. It was really uncomfortable, but I didn't want to wake her up! Big mistake...turns out the strap on the Bjorn caused a plugged milk duct, and by the next morning, I had a raging case of mastitis with a temperature of 102.

But while we were at the beach, everything was beautiful and we were all together and I didn't yet know what was coming. It was lovely! :-)

I started to feel bad on Sunday night, but thought it was just me feeling tired from the hike and wearing the baby bjorn all day. Mr. M went back to Santa Barbara at 5am on Monday morning, and by the time I woke up, my fever was 103! Yikes! I thought I had the flu at first, but then quickly realized it was mastitis. Still, there is no time off when you're a mom, so that was tough.

I get paid in smiles, and there was no shortage of those, thankfully! :-)

Baby Violet's new way to fall asleep is like this...you have to carry her seated in the crook of your arm, and eventually she just slumps over and goes to sleep. Any other method of getting her to sleep will fail and will result in hours of screaming. Just so you know! ;-) It cracks me up and I keep trying to get a good picture- but this is the best I could do on my own:

The rest of the week is a bit of a blur. Mr. M came down one night and got Ginger and took her up to Santa Barbara with him to give me a break (which left me taking care of just two kids and not three!) Grandma Pat watched Ginger during the day at her house, which was just wonderful and let me rest a little while Paprika was at school. I hear that Ginger is having the time of her life and is adoring all the one on one attention from Grandma and from Daddy when he gets home from work at night (he is staying with his mom while he works in Santa Barbara on the movie). But I miss my little Ginger bear sooooo much. I am counting down the hours until Ginger (and Mr. M) come home. Tonight! :-)

I started taking antibiotics on Monday or Tuesday (can't quite recall)- and as of now, my fever is normal (yay!) and I am feeling a lot better. I think I had about three days of having a fever of 101 to 103. It was awful. I had zero energy.

Last night I was feeling better, so I took Paprika and Violet to the mall. Paprika was sooooo excited! She counted out some money from her piggy bank and put five dollars in quarters and dimes in her purse. She dressed herself to the nines, including wearing sunglasses (even though it was dark out) and a big purse.

Several people stopped to tell her how great she looked, and one person even asked Paprika for her autograph. She was having a blast with it all!

Paprika kept saying things like, "I feel like such a grown up shopper. A serious shopper. But not a greedy girl shopper!" It was a hoot!

We went to a bunch of stores, but finally ended up at the Hallmark store. She picked out a Valentine's card to buy for Baby Violet.

She was so proud to buy it with her own money and to get to talk to the cashier on her own. And of course, now she wants to go back again! It was a real highlight to my week, just seeing how happy she was with something as simple as buying a greeting card.

Happy Weekend! TGIF!!!! :-)

Astronauts and Eggs!

2012-02-01T10:38:00.000-08:00

Paprika and I have been having the cutest conversations lately. I love this 5 year age so very much. Just so I remember, here is one conversation we had the other day at bedtime.

Paprika: Mom, what is a teenager?

Me: It's a person between the ages of 13 and 19 years old. One day you will be a teenager.

Paprika: I don't want to be a teenager. I want to be an astronaut.

Me: You can be a teenager and an astronaut.

Paprika: (wide-eyed) No way! Wow. WOW! What do teenagers do?

Me: When you are a teenager, you can drive my car by yourself. To Trader Joe's. And buy me a loaf of bread. And pay for it. And bring it home. By yourself.

Paprika: (getting very excited) Oh wow. Really?!!!!

Me: You can go out with your friends. You can go to the movies when you are a teenager.

Paprika: I would just want to go to the movies with you, mom. When I am a teenager, can we see that movie about the chipmunks?

Me: Alvin and the Chipmunks? Yes, we can go see that...ten years from now. ;-)

Paprika: But, mom? I still want to be an astronaut first. After I'm an astronaut, then I will be a teenager.

Paprika has been trying to hatch this egg for almost two weeks now. She snuck it out of the fridge and made this cozy little nest for it. Her little nest also has another blanket and a pillow and is all wrapped up snug and tight.

She has been putting this nest under a lamp at all times, so that it stays warm. And of course, she sleeps next to the egg.

She keeps telling me that in 21 days (or is it 23 days?), a chick will hatch. No matter how often I tell her that no chicken will come from this egg, she still believes it will happen!

Paprika can't wait to have her baby chick and raise it into her very best friend, a chicken, of course.

Stay tuned on what happens next. I am not sure where to go with this, myself...

Oobly-Woobly

2012-01-26T18:35:00.000-08:00

Baby Violet is now 11 weeks old. Eleven weeks! Still not three months for another two weeks. Not sure how that works, but I'll take it. ;-)

She is big! Almost 15 pounds big. These photos were taken two weeks ago (by my mama) and I think Violet has gained 3 pounds since then. I, on the other hand, have lost about 8 pounds since these pics were taken, but that is a story for another day... :-)

She is the sweetest, smiliest (always smiling and laughing) baby ever. She loves "talking" to us. She loves people and being held, and is just the greatest joy to everyone around her.

When she wakes up in the middle of the night, she doesn't cry. She just kinda looks at ya, and starts talking to herself. She sleeps in our room, so I always know right when she wakes up, and I can get right to her and feed her. But I wonder what she would do if she were in a different bedroom? Would she cry or just talk to herself all night? I don't know!

She is a very babied baby. There is no shortage of love for this girl. No shortage at all. Ginger is always saying to her, "You are my ooobly-wooobly best baby sister in the whole ooobly-woobly world." Paprika is always wanting to show Violet off to her friends at school. "Have you seen my baby sister? Isn't she beautiful? Isn't she just amazing? Look at her!"

Yes, she is oobly-woobly and one amazing baby. I am so grateful for her every moment of my life. I can't believe less than three months ago, I was at this very park pregnant with "Pavenzia" and now my days are filled with moments of looking at her sweet face. She is such a miracle to me...

A Little Piece of Heaven

2012-01-25T14:56:00.000-08:00

This week has been hard...on me. Whenever life seems too overwhelming, I go to my happy place. And if I can't get there physically, I go there in my mind.

The first weekend my mom was here, we went to the cove. My cove. My happy place.

It's my little slice of Heaven on Earth...and on days where it seems like all I do is fight fires and narrowly avoid catastrophe, it's good to remember our peaceful, lazy afternoons at the Cove. ;-)

Pictures like this one make me forget about Monday...when Ginger refused to take a nap, scaled the walls of her crib, and the fell asleep in Paprika's bed with no diaper on...and well, you can guess what happened next... Lots of laundry. ;-)

On that note, I will leave you with our pretty beach pictures. In my mind, when I'm dealing with the minor catastrophes of everyday, that's where I'll be! :-)

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A Sweet Day at Gentle Barn!

2012-01-22T18:06:00.000-08:00

We took the girls to Gentle Barn today. I have wanted to go forever and a day, and it has always seemed too far to drive. Well, this weekend we just decided to go "to the farm" - no matter the distance. I wish I would have gone years ago because it took less than an hour to get there...no traffic!

Gentle Barn is a sanctuary for abused animals, often rescued from the most terrible situations. During the week, they allow at-risk kids and special needs kids to come and interact with the animals. On the weekends, it is open to the public...thank goodness, because we got to go!

The girls loved brushing the cows. This one is named Buttercup:

I even got to hug a cow. This one is named Buddah. Such a sweetie!

We petted the horses, which was Ginger's favorite part of the trip. She fed an entire bag of carrots to all the horses there (about 15 horses total). She was scared at first, but then so brave.

We didn't get many pictures of the big girls feeding the horses because we were too busy managing Ginger and Paprika and making sure that they didn't get their fingers eaten off by accident! ;-)

It was really sweet to see the horses, who had been so abused in their previous lives being so trusting and sweet with us.

The chickens were a big highlight...I think because they are so small, they are less intimidating to the girls.

Paprika loves the chickens best of all. She likes to follow them around and talk to them. She spent quite a lot of time with the chickens.

It very much reminded me of this special day when Paprika had just turned two years old. Do you remember this blog post?! :-) What do you dream about, chicken? I will never forget it. Ha!

The girls were so excited about seeing a peacock up close. Ginger had to tell the peacock how she has a peacock (Halloween) costume at home. Why, yes, she does!

The girls thought this was soooo funny. Mr. M had to hold them up behind there because they were too short. Good job, babe!

And the girls even got to pet an emu. The emu was actually a lot nicer than she looks. Haha.

It was just a great day. I was especially proud of Ginger today because she wore clothes and shoes the whole time we were there. ;-) All three girls were actually amazing the whole trip, and it was just a really fun and special time. I am so glad we made the trip, and we're already talking about our next trip back. Success!

New Puppy!

2012-01-21T17:19:00.000-08:00

Daisy is now 9 months old. I can't believe we've had her for seven months. She's gotten so big so fast. This is one of my favorite pictures of her from when she was itty bitty:

This one is also a fave:

Considering she's never had a haircut, we thought it was high time. Daisy had her salon treatment this morning, and she looks like a whole new puppy! Eeek! (And she also looks about half her size! Ha!)

She looks even cuter in person, I swear. We snapped this picture when we got home from the groomer's (and after she'd already had a bowl of water- that's why her mouth is all wet).

We took her to a cute mom and pop place locally, and they gave her the royal treatment. The groomer said she was the best dog, and was super cooperative. Daisy loves baths, so I am not surprised!

She is so soft and cuddly, I can hardly stand it.

I am a sucker for a make-over, so here are her "Before" photos:

And one more time, her "After" picture:

Needless to say, I now see the importance of properly grooming a long haired, fluffly Goldendoodle like Daisy. ;-) I am also happy that a lot of her fur is now at the groomer's, which means, hopefully, a lot less of it will end up in my vacuum! Haha.

Grammy Time!

2012-01-20T05:05:00.000-08:00

My mom has been here for the past two weeks and the time has just flown by. She leaves on Saturday - how can that be? Didn't she just get here?! She was so excited to meet her newest Grandbaby. So sweet! I need to dig out all the pictures of my mom with the girls when they were babies. I am so glad she came out from Indiana...thankfully, airplanes make the miles shorter.

We have been holding down the fort with Mr. M gone working on a movie. (I wish I could say what it is because I am so proud of him...but I'm not sure if he wants me to say, so I'm just going to keep my mouth shut). He comes home on the weekends, and sometimes for one evening during the week.

We are always so happy when he comes home, but even more so now that he's gone so much. It's like Christmas whenever he comes home, and the girls start talking about him coming back the second he leaves. They love their daddy so much (as Ginger would say!)

Ginger still isn't wearing clothes. Those pics from that last post were taken at Christmas when she was still wearing dresses. Ha! I have just gotten used to taking her out in public just like this. It's just not worth the battle. Plus, isn't that one perk of living in Southern California? Summertime temperatures in January. So, I'm just going with it.

I got the girls Cardboard Houses (you can draw on them and decorate them yourself) as Christmas presents. But then, the night before Christmas, I decided they had too many presents and to save this one for Easter or Valentine's Day. Well, with Mr. M being gone so much, I have been really stretching myself to find fun things for us to do at home...and in a fit of desperation, I got the house out! So, it ended up being a surprise present for no particular reason whatsoever. But the girls loved it, and now we have a house inside our house! It's been used for everything from a nap den to a toy box...seriously, the way Ginger has "furnished" it, it could appear on an episode of Hoarders. ;-)

Ginger is now getting a nap every day. She is so happy when she's had a nap, and so not happy on the days she doesn't nap. The downside is that even a two hour (or less) nap will cause her to be awake until the wee hours of the night. She is not falling asleep now until after 1am, and then she wakes up at 6am and runs into my bedroom and wakes up me and the baby. Well, that is not so fun. But, I am taking the tradeoff of her being happy and up all night over her sleeping more at night and being cranky.

Once she started napping, she went back to being her old self...that ball of of joy and energy that infuses happiness in everyone around her. Ginger is so loving, fun, and amazing. I think if I had 1/10th the energy she has, I could run marathons every afternoon. She is like the sun.

Paprika has really come into her own as the big big sister of the house. She's so inclusive of her little sisters. She and Ginger are thick as thieves. She's always asking me when Violet will be big enough to play with them and go to school with her.

I enrolled Paprika in three extracurricular classes for the spring. She'll be doing ceramics, an art class, and a science class. I am hoping to get her back in swimming lessons in the spring, but right now the pool where we take lessons is closed for the winter. Boo! It's an outdoor pool, so I sorta understand. But seriously, it's the same temperature here year-round, so I just wonder what the logic is in closing the pool?!

Anyway, we are having a lot of fun hanging out around the house together and doing homeschool type stuff afterschool. Paprika is now reading phenomenally well. I can't believe she'll be in kindergarten next year, and already I would say she is reading at about a second grade level. She is getting so much more confident in her reading, and my hope is that by the time school starts in the Fall, she'll have a lot more confidence in the classroom. She is so smart and knows so much, but in the classroom she is so quiet that her voice gets lost.

At home, it's a different story. Ha! :-)

Baby Violet is growing so much every day. She seems to go through sleeping phases. One day the girls will keep her up all day and she'll sleep hardly at all. I will get Violet to sleep, and then the big girls will run in the room to tell me something and wake her up. Or I'll get her to sleep, and then we have to go drop or pick Paprika off at school. Just stuff like that. So then the next day, Violet will be so exhausted, she'll really sleep the day away.

I basically hold her all the time. I have done this with all my girls- hold them pretty much every second of their lives as babies. It makes them not like to ever be put down, of course. But it's just how I parent, and I love knowing that I held them every chance I could. But it also gets exhausting because at some point they learn never to be put down, and well...then it makes it hard to do things like dishes and laundry, and all the million things you have to do when you're raising three small children. :-) Even so, I can't help but hold her all the time...

Health-wise, I am doing so much better. I will probably write a post about it soon, but I am just so grateful to be feeling as good as I am now. My pelvis is about 90% healed. I still have a lot of pain sometimes, but it's miles better than it was after birth when I couldn't walk without being in excruciating pain. Health is one of those things that we take for granted until we don't have it anymore. I am just so grateful every day to be able to walk (mostly) pain-free.

I have made a bunch of goals for myself this year, and that gives me so much hope. After Violet was born, I had a period of feeling very blue. I think it was a combinaton of me being in so much physical pain, Mr. M's work schedule, and the responsibilities of home life. I am feeling so much better now than I was. I think that has a lot to do with the goals I set for myself, the expectations I have set (I've considerably lowered my expectations - ha!), and just taking better care of myself. I need to write a few posts about it, just to clear my head and remind myself in future years of how far I've come.

In other (lighter) news, this weekend Daisy is going in for her first salon treatment. :-)

When Mr. M was home more, Daisy got baths much more often. Now she barely gets brushed. It's so bad, I know! But that goes with my whole "lowered expectations" thing. Haha. So, this weekend, I have made her a full-service grooming appointment. Hair, nails, the whole nine yards. I will be sure to post some Before/After photos. :-) She deserves it. I can't wait to see the results!

Have a wonderful weekend! :-)

Two Months!

2012-01-17T19:21:00.000-08:00

Dear Violet,

You are two months old now. Two months! You are such a dream come true. One thing is for sure...you are a definite mama's girl. No matter where you are, if I am there, all is right in the world. You are the sweetest baby. Even though my mom is here this week and it gives me a lot more freedom, I still take you everywhere with me. It's just so much easier to take you than have you away from me. Last week I took you with me to get my haircut. This week I took you with me to get my pedicure. You are learning about girl stuff from an early age! ;-) You even got to go on a few dates with me and your dad. Lucky girl!

You have started to giggle and laugh, and try to talk to us! It is the best feeling watching you smile. It melts my heart completely.

You are so strong, and want to hold yourself up. We think you are trying to catch up to your big sisters. You love it when they talk to you and play with you. It is crazy to think that a year from now you'll be running after them, but right now you are 100% cuddle!

I don't have your two month stats yet b/c your "two month doctor's visit" isn't for another week (I procrastinated on the appointment and by the time I called, it was a one month wait for a well-check visit). But, just from looking at you, I would say you are well fed and growing! You are bursting out of all your 0-3 month clothes (the clothes you were swimming in at birth!) You easily fit into 3-6 month outfits, and look pretty darn cute in them, too!

You love love love to eat (errr...drink). I made a lot of changes to my diet (since you're nursing), and it's made such a huge difference. I cut out all dairy and meat products, and a few other things (broccoli) - and overnight your fussiness totally went away. Amazing. You're really so happy pretty much all the time now as long as I am the one holding you. Anybody else will get a lot of screaming. You're a girl who knows what you want!

I love you so much, and cannot imagine a day without you in it. You are just perfect, perfect to me. And I feel so honored to be your mama.

Love,
Mom

Sea Legs!

2012-01-12T23:54:00.000-08:00

Today marks the end of our second week back to school after Winter Break. I can't believe how fast these two weeks have flown (I feel like I am always saying that, but it's true!)

Last week was my first week solo with the kids while Mr. M is working on a movie out of town. It was definitely challenging. ;-) On Saturday, my mom arrived. She's staying for two weeks, and it was her first time meeting the baby! So, her arrival was definitely a bright spot. Mr. M came home on Sunday for the day and it was such a breath of fresh air to us all. We went to my favorite beach (again!) and we all had the best time. The pics are still on my camera - so when I get a spare moment (those are much fewer and farther between now), I will post them. I love that place!

On Monday, baby Violet turned 2 months old! She deserves her own post for that. Needless to say, she is such an amazing dream baby. She is starting to smile a lot, and she is just really laid back and mellow (especially around me). She gets pretty freaked out when she can't see or hear me, but as long as I am there, she is so happy.

I took her with me this week to get my hair cut (first time I've gotten it cut since July)! It was a new salon, and the girl took forever and a day to cut/style it. I was there over two hours, and my little dream baby was just sooo happy the whole time and even took a little nap. What?! I now understand how other moms who have one baby get so much done...I think they must have easy babies, and this is a first for moi. I should probably stop now because I don't want Paprika and Ginger thinking I'm criticizing their babyhood. I loved loved loved their baby stages, too, of course! They were just a teensy bit harder...but maybe that's because I have my sea legs now.

In other news, I am so happy to report that Ginger had her first nap in about two months today. We put the crib back up for her to nap in (napping in her big girl bed just wasn't happening). She fell asleep in the crib and had a two hour nap, and woke up a happier, saner person. Of course, since she had a nap, she did not fall asleep until after midnight. Because that's how it works in our house. Nap equals up all night. But happy up all night is better than moody, cranky girl all day. Right?

My Favorite Place

2012-01-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

We spent our New Year's Eve (Mr. M's birthday) at my new favorite spot. It's a little hidden cove down the coast, and I had never been to it before last Saturday. I spotted it on the map and suggested we check it out - then Mr. M realized that it's the beach where he shot his thesis film for his Master's degree 12 years ago (we met at USC Film School when we were both getting our MFAs). He shot that thesis just a few months before we met, so I had never been to this beach with him. How crazy is it that after all these years, I would pick this spot randomly to go to as a family for the first time on his birthday?

See that building down by the beach? That is actually a preschool! Can you believe that?! I want to send Ginger there next year, but the drive is a bit much...if she were my only child I would totally do it! But I don't think it would work because, well, when you have three kids you can't drive one child 30 minutes each way to preschool. ;-) But having siblings is way better than a year or two of beach preschool. Right?

To get to this amazing beach, you have to hike down the cliffs. The girls did great...thankfully, this was actually one of the last days Ginger agreed to wear clothes and shoes, so she was able to do it no problem. I guess one of her 2012 goals is to cut down on laundry by going clothes-free? ;-)

I had baby Violet in the baby Bjorn, so I had to kinda trail behind and go slowly so as not to tumble...

Once we got down to the beach, Ginger hung out on the rocks and was being a pistol. A cute pistol.

Me and the birthday boy. :-) Baby Violet is under that nursing cover, fast asleep to the sounds of the ocean.

The little pistol and her daddy. As hard as she is, she is so full of joy and sunshine. It's a wild rollercoaster with her...one day she is going to make her future husband very happy and very crazy. Ha!

Paprika swam in the water the whole time we were there. She was doing her mermaid dances, and having the grandest time. She told us that she wanted to live at this beach and never leave. The water was freezing, but she did not care one little bit.

The most amazing part of the day (for me) was when I noticed a pod of two dolphins not far out. They swam near us for quite awhile, and I just felt like it was the twins, Vivian and Annemarie, saying hi to us. It's hard to explain, but I felt the girls' presence in that moment, and it was pretty magical. It felt for a brief moment like our whole family (the twins included) were all together on a magical beach, on the last day of the year, on Mr. M's birthday. It was a truly rare, perfect moment.

Then we came home and had birthday cupcakes for Mr. M and took turns singing Happy Birthday. We didn't have birthday candles (doh!) so we used regular candles and an LED candle. Classic!

The day after New Year's Day, we decided to go back to the beach again. Paprika was soooo excited. This time we put her in a swimsuit so she wouldn't have to swim in her dress! It was a gorgeous day, but since it was after the first of the year and Ginger had obviously made her New Year's Resolution not to wear clothes or shoes, we had a hard time getting her down to the beach. So, I played with her (barefoot) and baby Violet up on the cliffs while Mr. M took Paprika down to swim. I did get a dress on her (briefly)...and took these pics on my cellphone camera:

I cannot wait to go back to this magical place. Just thinking about it makes me happy. :-) Next time, we are bringing the Ergo baby carrier, so if Ginger won't wear shoes, we can carry her down! Ha!

Little Pistol!

2012-01-05T18:30:00.000-08:00

Ginger is giving us a run for our money! Seriously, the "Two's" are here...bigtime! Her newest thing is that she doesn't want to wear any clothes or shoes. Ever.

She is in the midst of potty training (her choice) and well, it could be going a lot better. It is messy, and that is all I am going to say about that. ;-)

Every day, I take Paprika to school with Ginger and baby Violet in tow. It's quite a production to get everyone out the door, find parking, and get Paprika to her classroom on time.

Well, it wouldn't be so hard except that Ginger is just about as uncooperative as a person can be. On Tuesday (first day back after Winter Break), Ginger had such a fit about the whole thing. She looked at me and said, "I don't want to wear clothes. I don't want to wear a jacket. I don't want to wear a diaper, or a pull-up, or big girl panties. I don't want to wear shoes. Don't talk to me about it! Don't say a word!"

I went back and forth, and back and forth trying to get her dressed. It was a comedy of errors. I would get Ginger dressed, then the baby would start crying, so I would take care of the baby. Then, I would turn around and Ginger would be totally nake.d and running away from me.

So, what do you think happened? Time ran out and I had to get Paprika to school. I loaded Ginger into the van buck nake.d and just drove her to school like that. I threw her clothes in the van and planned on getting her dressed once we got to school. Well, we got there and she was still having an enormous meltdown, and the baby was crying, and I knew there was just no way I could get them out of the van and walk Paprika to school. I was sitting there with the van door open in the middle of the street, head in hands. Thankfully, a sweet mom from Paprika's school walked by. She was on her way to pick up her girls, so she walked Paprika the rest of the way...

Needless to say, it has been a bit of a whirlwind for me now that Mr. M is back at work. He is working on a movie outside of LA, and so I am here, you know, holding down the fort with these kids on my own. Oh boy. It's been a little tricky, but I am finding my way. Mostly, I am just trying to stay super organized and not sweat the small stuff. That's a good lesson in itself. Ha!

One of my biggest obstacles is that I have a super hard time accepting help from anyone - I am one of those people who wants to do it all myself, and never ask for help ever. But for the first time in my life, I am starting to see the need to get help here and there for little things...baby steps. I am also learning to let go a bit more - if the house looks like a hurricane went through it, or the shelves are dusty, or the laundry gets piled up...oh well. Not the end of the world, right? Kids are only little once.

Back to my story...today Ginger threw the same fit when we went to pick Paprika up at school. So, I just made sure she had a diaper on and took her to school nake.d. Then when we got there, I stuck her in the stroller and we rolled up to Paprika's class just like that- no shoes, no shirt, nothin'. When all the moms saw Ginger, they were laughing (hopefully laughing with me, not at me)! Anyone who has ever had a feisty two and half year old gets it. At least that is what I am telling myself!

Happy 8 Weeks!

2012-01-04T05:45:00.000-08:00

The sweetest baby ever turns 8 weeks old today. She is my little dream come true, and I can't believe how quickly time is going (although it feels like she's been with us forever, too). She is alert but peaceful. She is so strong and holds her head up like a champ. She lights up whenever she's around her sisters. She loves to be held and loves to smile. And ever since I quit dairy, she's a very happy little baby. Who knew a small dietary change on my part (she's a nursing baby) could reap such great rewards?

Last week on her 7th week birthday, I had my follow-up postpartum visit with my doctor. It was supposed to be the 6th week visit - but we're all a little behind because of the holidays. I knew I would be bringing the baby because everyone would want to see her, so when Paprika found this out, then she wanted to go, too. Then because Paprika was going, Ginger wanted to go. So, then Mr. M had to come to help me out. So, long story short, the whole family went with me to the gynecologist. Good times!

Usually I don't wait long, but for some reason, that day they were running wayyyy behind, so we waited over an hour (I want to say 80 minutes) to see the doctor. By that time, all good moods were long gone. Ginger threw a fit and hit her head on the metal stepstool, then proceeded to have a huge meltdown. And...that's when the doctor came in!

This is my same doctor who has delivered all my kids, so I thought it would be great to get a picture of him with Paprika, Ginger, and the baby. Easier said than done. Ginger was so upset she wouldn't look at the camera. And in the most unflattering photo of me ever, I have a huge double (or is it triple?) chin. Awesome.

So, here is the glorious photo we waited 80 minutes (plus an hour in traffic each way) to take:

I guess we'll have to go back another time to take a better picture. Or not. Maybe I can just photoshop a better picture in of me and Ginger. :-)

How I Almost Lost My Life at Toys R Us

2012-01-03T05:35:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas this year was a doozy. I told myself I would not get caught up in the consumerism of the season, and I mostly succeeded. It was overall a pretty quiet holiday and I definitely did simplify this year. Like these cookies for Santa? Not made from scratch. I picked up some Pre-Made cookie dough from Whole Foods, and guess what...the girls thought they were great!

This year Santa's cookies just happened to be vegan cookies since I've gone dairy-free. They were actually scrumptuous (or so I heard). ;-)

The girls' big gifts this year were a kitchen set for Ginger and a dollhouse with furniture for Paprika. They got some other gifts, too, but those were the big gifts that everything else kinda centered around. The play kitchen was the one gift the girls asked Santa to bring for Ginger, so I knew it had to be under the tree on Christmas morning.

I had spied a kitchen on Craigslist for $50 that usually goes for $300 new. It was a big plastic monstrosity, and Mr. M said "no way" - it was just too big for our house. So, I passed on it and we ordered a cute wooden one online that was supposed to arrive by December 24th at the latest.

Well, it still hadn't come by the afternoon of December 23rd and we thought no big deal. We were hanging out at home and went to the front door to discover that there was a "delivery attempt" notice and that the Fed Ex driver hadn't even tried knocking! The notice said that they wouldn't re-attempt delivery until Dec. 27th! Unbeliveable!

Mr. M called Fed Ex and they told us that since it was shipped Ground there was nothing that could be done since the 24th was a Saturday and Ground only delivers on weekdays! That conversation went around in circles for about half an hour before we decided to cut our losses and go in search of a different play kitchen for Ginger...less than two days before Christmas.

So...Mr. M and I loaded the baby into the van while Grandma Pat stayed home with the big girls. I knew it was lunacy, but we headed to Toys R Us - yea, at 5pm on December 23rd in Los Angeles. When we got there, it looked like a riot zone. Boxes opened and strewn across the floor, hoardes of people jammed together, a check-out line to the back of the store. I found the ONE play kitchen in the whole store and I laid on top of it so no one else could get it while Mr. M searched the store for one empty cart.

And which play kitchen do you think I chained myself to? You guessed it- the $300 monstrosity that was on Craigslist for $50. Did we buy it? You bet we did.

Thankfully we had the van because it took up the whole back area, even with most of the seats removed. We drove home feeling happy we got out of there with our lives...although a little defeated about the experience overall.

Just as we were pulling into our driveway, we got a call from the Fed Ex driver saying that he was going to bring our package to our house right then! So, the kitchen we ordered actually did show up, and all our Toys R Us drama was totally unnecessary! But, it's a memory and one I won't soon forget. How I almost lost my life at Toys R Us two days before Christmas over a piece of plastic. ;-)

Mr. M returned the plastic play kitchen to Toys R Us the next morning, which undoubtedly made some other last minute shopper (and ultimately some child) very happy! All's well that ends well.

On Christmas Eve, Santa (I mean, Mr. M and myself), stayed up until almost 5am wrapping presents and putting together the cute wooden kitchen. (Note to self: that plastic kitchen came pre-assembled).

Here's Santa hard at work. Doesn't this look fun?! :-)

You can tell that this was the last present that was wrapped. Look at all those different wrapping papers. And how "carefully" it was wrapped! Ha!

The kitchen was a hit! Just seeing the girls' smiling faces was pretty awesome. But, of course, Santa got all the credit. ;-)

Paprika was excited about her present. Mr. M kept telling her it was a tomato smashing machine, but she wasn't fooled (especially since I know for a fact she peeked!)

For some reason, Ginger likes to take all the furniture and dolls out of dollhouses and hide them. This is her stealing Paprika's dollhouse furniture while no one was looking:

And here is the dollhouse empty. Silly girl!

It was the baby's first Christmas (ever! - she wasn't even conceived last year). She is so sweet, I can't even believe she is real. She got a few little things - some monogrammed, personalized things from us, and dark chocolate from Santa. Wonder who that is for? ;-) Truth is she has everything she needs and gets more attention than she knows what to do with.

So, that was our Christmas this year. It was magical and so sweet, and oh my goodness a lot of work on the part of the parents! I kind of need a break before next year. And next year, the only gifts they're getting will be no assembly required. Ha!

The Nutcracker!

2012-01-02T10:42:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite memories from this Christmas was taking Paprika to The Nutcracker performance by the Los Angeles Ballet. Last year we tried to go to the Santa Barbara ballet performance with Grandma Pat, but Paprika (then age 4) just wasn't into it and we ended up leaving during intermission.

I was nervous that this year would be a repeat of last year, but thankfully, I was wrong! It was an amazing night and one I know I'll always remember (even if Paprika doesn't - ha!)

I planned for success. We started talking about the show a month ago and getting excited. I bought the best seats available...third row center...so I knew that she'd be able to see everything. Go big or go home. We got there early and read the program together so she'd know what was going on and who to look for in the cast.

I brought a booster seat with me into the auditorium (got lots of looks, but later people were saying they wished they'd done the same). This helped her see in her own seat, which was much more comfortable for her than sitting on my lap.

Here is the view from our seats. The curtain had two angels on it, and while we were waiting for the show to start she said, "Look Mommy, it's Vivian and Annemarie." So, that about did me in... :-)

Paprika brought Little Baby I Love You So (of course) and everytime it was time to clap, she had her baby clapping. Adorbs.

A few photos from the show...(photos by Reed Hutchinson)

Opening dance:

One of the most spectacular dances:

Paprika's favorite part (The Sugarplum Fairy). Paprika clapped and squealed when the music started playing):

We have been keeping the magic alive ever since. I gave Ginger the Barbie Nutcracker movie for Christmas (since she didn't get to go to the show), and the movie has been on heavy rotation in our house since Christmas day. Paprika got the commemorative Nutcracker from the show as a Christmas present. Both girls want to be ballerinas when they grow up...well, Paprika wans to be a ballerina, and an astronaut, and a mermaid. If anyone can do it, she can. ;-)

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T12:07:00.000-08:00

Hope you are having a wonderful New Year's Day. It's gorgeous here. We're all set to get outside and enjoy the beautiful day. We're also packing up all our Christmas decorations today (sniff sniff) and cleaning up the effects of four weeks of Winter Partying at our house. Fun stuff. ;-)

2011 was an amazing year for our family. 2011 was the year of our newest miracle - her entire pregnancy, birth, and first weeks of life were all in that one year. Needless to say, whatever hard times we had this year were far overshadowed by the miracle of life.

I am not big on resolutions, but I do enjoy each year figuring out what my goals and priorities are for the upcoming year. This year, I have a multitude of things I want to do, be, have, and give (I heard that phrase on Oprah 20 years ago and I've never forgotten it).

Mostly, I just want to survive this next year! Haha. With a newborn, a 2 year old, and a 5 year old, life is full here. ;-)

But more than just survive, I want to thrive in the new year. Here's to new possibilities and happy days this year!

New Traditions!

2011-12-31T13:00:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite festive things we did this Christmas was drive around together as a family and look at sparkly lights. I know it sounds like a little thing, but the beautiful lights always make me smile and feel all warm inside.

We toured the lights three nights over Christmas. The first time was probably the biggest hit. We just drove around our neighborhood, and although none of the lights were over-the-top spectacular, it was still so magical to Paprika and Ginger since it was their first time this season.

The second time we went to look at lights, we toured a neighborhood in Torrance that is famed for its Christmas displays. It's streets and streets of amazing light displays. We even heard that when you buy a house in this neighborhood, you have to agree to put up lights at Christmas! Needless to say, it was amazing.

We drove through the neighborhoods, but the girls wanted to get out and walk...so Mr. M took them while I waited in the van with the baby (who had fallen asleep during the drive!) People were selling hot chocolate and popcorn on their front lawns, and so the big girls got a little treat while they toured the lights on foot.

We even went back one more time to look at the lights. We did that a few nights before Christmas, and by then the traffic was crazy in the neighborhood!!! So, that trip was a short one - haha - and made me realize that we did the right thing looking at lights before the rush. Only in Los Angeles can there be a traffic jam looking at Christmas lights! ;-)

Anywho, this adventure was one of my favorites we did this year, and a tradition I want to keep going as the girls get older. There is something so magical about putting on Christmas music, getting bundled up, and looking at the lights together. I kind of wish that these light shows were year-round, but then I guess they might not seem quite so special. :-)

Time To Party!

2011-12-31T00:49:00.000-08:00

Today is one of my most favorite days of the year. Not because it's New Year's Eve, even though that is part of it. Nope, today is one of my favorite days of the year because it is Mr. M's birthday! How great is it that he has a whole holiday devoted to his special day? This is the 11th birthday I have spent with him, and it just gets better every year...

I know that we are going to be ringing in the new year and that it's time to put 2011 behind us...but I have so much catching up to do here, that I hope you'll play along with me as I get caught up on our Christmas week posts. We did so much, and I really don't want to forget a moment of it. So, the next few days I may be doubling up a bit on posts, trying to get it all in before I begin my 2012!

Last week (the day the baby turned 6 weeks old), we spent the day at the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena. We're members there, although we rarely get to go anymore (it is a bit of a drive and they close early)...

Paprika spent many afternoons there her first three years of life (we used to live right around the corner from this place), so everytime I go there, I get a bit weepy about days gone by. They are going fast. I can't tell you how many pictures I have of her playing in this same fountain as a new toddler. Now she looks so grown up to me.

The baby is hiding out under the nursing cover. I know, it's a bold fashion statement on my part. It's how we roll these days:

Paprika had to bring her dollie with her to the gardens. She's taking this little one everywhere these days. She named her "Little Baby I Love You So" - so if you ask her what her baby's name is, don't be surprised when she tells you that long name. I am not sure which part is the first, middle, and last... I just go with it!

Ginger is about the age Paprika was when the Huntington opened the Children's Garden. Seeing Ginger here at this age reminds me so much of Paprika (even though these two girls' personalities are night and day!)

I am so grateful that I am feeling well enough to get out now. It is still hard for me to walk (especially with the baby in the baby carrier)- but I am doing it. I think it's good to get moving, although by doctor's orders, I am still taking it pretty easy. Every day I feel a little bit stronger...I am so grateful for that!

Hope your New Year's Eve is fun, safe, and wonderful! I'll be back with a bunch of posts about our winter break adventures in the next few days! Then it is on to 2012...I have a lot planned for this coming year! :-)

Science Time!

2011-12-30T15:34:00.000-08:00

Another stop on our Winter Break Adventure tour bus was the Los Angeles Science Center. We have been a few times before, but not in the past year or so. It's in downtown Los Angeles, which is exciting in itself.

It's also free admission, which is definitely the right price in my book. Even though it's free to get in, there was hardly anyone there. In a city of 12 million people (or is it more?), you would think more people would come...but thankfully (for us!) they all were out holiday shopping or something. ;-)

Paprika and Ginger had a great time playing with the little television studio they have there. She did a puppet show...

And just generally goofed around...

And we watched it all on the "big screen":

Ginger was the camera operator. She had a lot of fun with it, can you tell?

She also spent a lot of time building stuff...we have noticed that she loves, loves, loves to build. She has been using our giant Lego set more than anyone, and often when she's supposed to be napping, we find her building elaborate structures out of little Legos...do I see a future engineer in our midst?

So, the Science Center was a hit! Our littlest girl slept through the whole thing, so no pictures of her on this trip. We'll have to bring her back again when she's awake! I guess even at 6 weeks old, you're never too young for a trip to the Science Center. :-)

Here, There, and Everywhere!

2011-12-29T15:27:00.000-08:00

We have literally been here, there, and everywhere this Winter Break. Last week we went to a museum or park or something every single day...and of course then with Christmas, we have been so busy I haven't had time to take a breath. So, get ready for picture overload! ;-)

Last week we took the girls to the "Big Aquarium" (Aquarium of the Pacific). The girls love going there, and the baby loved it, too. She was so good. I had her in the Bjorn with a nursing cover over her most of the time (to keep the germies away), but we took off the nursing cover for a moment to take a picture.

We also took the girls to the marina in Long Beach. So much fun to look at the boats. They were broadcasting classical Christmas music and the girls had so much fun running around. We had the whole place to ourselves.

I had to take a picture of daddy with his daughters - the baby was sleeping in the Bjorn while I was taking the picture, so it was just the big girls.

Ginger really is not a fan of group or posed photos...can you tell? ;-)

Even though it's a bit of a trick to all pile in the van and get out and about, it has been so worth it. I have found that all our moods are lifted when we make that effort to get out in the sunshine on a daily basis.

My girls are obsessed with dandelions...and love to blow the seeds here and there.

I wonder how many "flowers" will grow because of them?

That's the Queen Mary in the background. The girls call it the Queen Boat.

Whenever I see these at the harbor here (and also in the Bay Area), I am reminded of the At Ats from Star Wars (a movie I saw once, 15 years ago!) I think the ones in the Bay Area were the inspiration for the figures in the movies...can you see it?

I wonder how much of our outings the girls will remember when they grow up? I guess, even if no one else remembers, I will remember these days and treasure them. And that is important, too.

More pictures with daddy (one at a time):

And Ginger in a slightly better mood!

Looking out at the boats...Ginger kept saying that we needed to get in a boat and sail to the other side of the harbor. I half expected her to jump right in!

And nothing like letting the girls run with wild abandon and get their energy out. I have been so grateful to have Mr. M home from work this Winter Break - besides it being great spending the time together, I so appreciate the help corraling the girls! ;-)

My Christmas Miracle...

2011-12-22T09:40:00.000-08:00

Little Miss turned 6 weeks old yesterday! Her first six weeks have gone so fast. Ann always says "the first three months after you have a baby are just survival" - and while I normally agree, this time it has felt in many ways less hard than with the other girls. In some ways, it is a lot harder because I have more kids to juggle (haha!) but in other ways, it has been a lot easier.

She is an easy baby...or maybe I am just more used to what having a newborn entails and so I'm more relaxed with her...I don't know. She is a pretty good sleeper, a great nurser, and overall a very happy baby. I figured out a few weeks ago that she is very sensitive to any kind of cow's milk dairy. It makes her soooooo upset and colicky, so a few weeks ago, I completely cut dairy out of my diet. Almost overnight, that helped her so much.

A few nights ago, I decided to try adding dairy back in to see if it would make a difference, and oh.my.word...it was like night and day. She was in so much pain and spent 5 hours screaming. So, needless to say, I am dairy-free again for the forseeable future. ;-) A small sacrifice to make for a happy baby.

Looks-wise, she really favors Ginger. I think they look almost identical at this age, whereas I never thought Paprika and Ginger looked too much alike (although a lot of people told me they did). I guess time will tell as to who looks like who. ;-)

The most challenging aspect for me has been figuring out how to parent all three girls in a way that gives them all the individualized time and attention they need. Paprika needs help with learning, school work, and all sorts of other things. Ginger is still a baby in some ways...she just turned 2 and a half and is potty training, and needs her snuggle time. She just weaned, which was a big transition for her. She did it on her own, and I am a little grateful (although it is bittersweet, too, of course).

The big sisters love their baby sister, and it's all I can do to keep them from covering her with kisses day and night. They both want to hold her and play with her. Ginger keeps saying: Her is sooooo cute! I love her sooooo much! Paprika loves holding the baby, and kissing her, and wants to "teach" her everything...like how to clap. Both girls always want to know what the baby is saying, as if I am the master interpreter of baby coos and gurggles.

Yesterday (on the official 6 week birthday), we spent the day at the Botanical Gardens. She was such a good baby, and I have to say that she pretty much always is. She loves it when we interact with her, and take her exciting places, and as long as she is with her mama, she is a happy girl. I can't believe she's already 6 weeks old. I know I keep saying that, but it's true. My little Christmas miracle is the best present I could have ever received this year. I am so grateful for her with each and every breath I take...

Send It Soaring!

2011-12-19T15:51:00.000-08:00

Is there anything more fun than flying a kite? I bought kites for the three girls: a Barbie kite for Paprika, a Yo Gabba Gabba kite for Ginger, and a Toy Story 3 kite for the baby because...well, it was on clearance, and I knew she wouldn't know the difference. ;-)

Ginger is crazy about Yo Gabba Gabba (she got to watch it a bunch while I was pregnant) and Paprika is a huge fan of all things Barbie...so needless to say, the kites were a hit!

We waited for a windy day down at the beach, and we were not disappointed. I can't believe Ginger is old enough to fly her own kite!

Paprika thought her Barbie kite was the best thing ever...

The girls wanted to fly their kites until sunset...and they did!

Paprika chased her kite far down the beach. Thankfully, her kite gave her away and she wasn't able to get too far! Ha!

I can't believe Christmas is on Saturday! Eeek! Are you all done shopping? These kites were supposed to be a Christmas gift, but I just couldn't wait. I am glad we got them out when we did...no time like the present to enjoy a little kite flying. :-)

In With The New!

2011-12-15T06:05:00.000-08:00

Little Miss turned 5 weeks old yesterday (Wednesday). She is quietly sleeping in the next room, and I snuck away to upload my photos. :-) She is getting so strong, and curious about the world. Even though she is not my first baby, holding her never gets old. It's my favorite thing in the whole world to do at the moment!

I took her "one month" photos on Saturday (the day after she turned 1 month). They didn't turn out like I wanted them to - I think they all look a little silly, but here is one that is not half bad. I bought the decals off of Etsy from LittleBabyBumblebee. I bought a sticker for each month, and you just put the decal on a white onesie and voila!

I always wanted to do something like this with the big girls, but I never got my act together in time. Third time's a charm, I guess. ;-)

We decided not to go to the mall Santa this year. I hope that the girls won't hold it against us when they're adults, like we deprived them of that All-American experience.

Well, we couldn't get out of the Santa visit altogether. Every year, Santa comes to each block in our neighborhood on a sleigh (with elves and everything!) and visits all the boys and girls. He comes at after dark, so it's not exactly great for a photo op. But, it certainly is convenient!

This year Paprika gave him a drawing she made of him. I hope he likes it! :-) I am going to have to go back and look, but I think Paprika drew Santa a picture last year, too! Ginger would not get within 20 feet of Santa and keeps saying that she does not like Santa. So, no picture of Ginger with Santa this year!

This past week we have been doing some major de-cluttering around here. We sold our upstairs white couch. We sold our huge fish tank (because keeping fish alive is not our strong suit and I was getting exhausted replacing the fish when Paprika wasn't looking.) Gave some stuff away for free on Craigslist, and then we also sold a bunch of things on Ebay.

All of this decluttering has felt so good. When you have so many people in a little cottage like ours, you have to be quite intentional about the things that come into the house. We had intended for our big clean-fest to make room for Christmas gifts, but now I see how happy we are with more floorspace, and it makes me less eager to fill up that space again.

The girls' big gifts this year were going to be a play kitchen for Ginger (I found one for a steal on Craigslist...almost too good to pass up), and a big 4 foot tall dollhouse for Paprika that will fit her Barbies. I know that the girls would love these things and play with them constantly...but we really have absolutely nowhere to put them. So...I don't know.

I am torn between wanting to see their eyes light up on Christmas morning and the reality of living with a gigantic piece of molded plastic and a Barbie dream house almost as big as our real house for the forseeable future. I realize there is a compromise in there somewhere, but compromise has never been my strong suit! ;-)

So, next week is supposed to be my 6 week postpartum checkup with Dr. K. He will be out of the office all week, so we had to put it off until 7 weeks. This made me exhale a little. I don't know why but I always have that expectation that I will be 100% back to my "old self" by the 6 week check-up. You would think I would have learned by now that there IS NO GOING BACK! Haha. Even so, everytime I think I'll waltz into the office in my pre-pregnancy skinny jeans, with my hair done, make-up perfect and I will have a radiant glow surrounding me.

The reality is that I am tired, still have 40 pounds of "baby weight" to left lose, need a mani, a pedi, and everything in between. ;-) I told myself I would not step on the scale until 6 weeks, but yea...that didn't happen. I have decided to put off the whole weight loss freak-out until after Christmas. Not to be cliche, but getting back in shape will be a New Year's Resolution this year.

Until then, pass the nog and cider, oh and maybe a few of those chocolate peppermint brownies while you're at it. Ha!

Life's Little Adventures!

2011-12-12T18:58:00.000-08:00

We have been so busy lately!

Thankfully, a lot of Paprika's activities are winding down for the year. She finished her swimming lessons last week. She had been going 4-5 times/week since May...so it's been a big change for us. Her ceramics class ended last Tuesday. So, now besides school, she is extra-curricular activity free. Whew! I know she will miss her activities, but I am thankful for the break.

We have been busy doing lots of outings. We've been to the Aquarium. To the park. Flying kites on the beach. A trip to Candycane Lane to gaze at Christmas lights. Mr. M has been taking the girls on some trips solo while I stay home with the baby. Some activities we have all been doing together.

I've been leaving the camera home a little more, and then even when I do take pictures, I've been less quick to transfer them over to the computer. It seems like there are just fewer hours in the day now (I wonder why!) - life with three little ones is an adjustment, and I know we'll get our bearings, but right now it is all just a little overwhelming. Good, but overwhelming! ;-)

Last week Mr. M took the big girls to the Aquarium. I stayed home with the baby, and I know it was the right decision. It is still hard for me to walk. I knew the baby needed to nap, and she naps best when she's being held by me. So, I stayed home and held her for her nap...which means that I can't do much else besides stare at her while she's sleeping. :-) I know these days are short and soon enough she'll be crawling around after her sisters, so I am enjoying these fleeting moments while they are here.

The girls had a blast at the Aquarium, as I knew they would. I know I set my expectations high (sometimes impossibly so) and feel guilty if I am not providing every possible wonderful experience for them. Having a new baby has meant that I have had to let go of some of my expectations I set for myself, even if just temporarily, and just let things be. If Paprika goes to school in mismatched clothes, so be it. If Ginger goes without a nap for two weeks straight, then it's not the end of the world. I know I don't have to be everything for my kids...even though for some reason, I expect that of myself all too often.

I have a ton of pictures of all our adventures and I know I'll get around to posting them sooner or later. But for now, I will leave you with these from the Aquarium. I have three little girls (and a puppy!) who need my attention at the moment and so other things have to wait!

Oh yes, and I still have all my Christmas shopping to do, too! Thank goodness for shopping online. Now if I can just manage to do it one-handed while holding a nursing baby...that will be a trick! ;-)

Almost 2.5

2011-12-10T15:06:00.000-08:00

Little Miss Ginger, you are almost 2.5 years old now (officially so on the 18th of this month). You are quite a character, and your personality is so big...every day we learn more about you, and every day you show us how bright and funny you are.

You are now a middle child...and as such, I worry about you. Worry about you getting enough attention. Worry you will feel slighted somehow. But quite the opposite, you take center stage wherever you go. You are a huge ball of energy, smart as a whip, and eager to be as good or better than your big sister in everything you do.

When you were about 1 year old, I was worried that you didn't have enough words yet. Oh boy, did you ever prove me wrong! You talk like you're 5 years old, have every song you've ever heard memorized, and you have one big sense of humor. Wherever we go, people comment on how expressive you are, how much energy you have, and how smart you are (like when you counted up to 50 in front of a group of strangers when you were barely two). When we read books at night, Paprika usually reads one page and you "read" the next to us. You can't wait to be big, but I love it that you are still so little.

You love to pick out your own clothes, and are so picky about what you will wear. Your favorite things to wear are your sister's big shoes, butterfly wings, and any kind of tiara or headband you can find. You never want to take a nap, never want to sleep, and you can usually be found running (or climbing) from place to place. You eat very little, and we wonder how you can possibly go go go the way you do. You want to engage with everyone around you and you love making people laugh. You make us smile every day and we are so glad that you're our girl.

Love you so much!

Love,
Mom

One Month Young!

2011-12-09T16:49:00.000-08:00

Today little Pavenzia turns 1 month old! I took her to the pediatrician this morning to get her checked out. She did great!

She is 10 lb.s 5 oz. (82nd percentile) and 21.3 inches tall (60%) with a 38.6cm head (84%). She is getting so big! Her clothes that were swimming on her weeks ago are now too small. Good thing I bought her a big wardrobe of 0-3 month clothes. Doh!

Life with this little girl is pretty awesome. She is starting to be awake a lot more and wants to interact with us. She is generally a very happy little baby, and she is so curious about the world around her. I can't believe she's been here for a month already. Time is flying.

Jingle Bells

2011-12-06T14:27:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but the closer we get to Christmas, the more I feel like quieting down and getting cozy.

Mr. M and I had a big discussion this year about how we were going to get a "real" tree this year. Our "Old Faithful" fake tree that we bought on a whim back in 2006 - the one we threw in the back of the Target shopping cart when Paprika was just three months old...the one that was on clearance for $9 and we said would be our "temporary" tree...well, this year that one just wasn't going to do.

We decided that THIS year we would really step it up. We looked for a place to cut down our own tree (like Mr. M did in his childhood). And if we couldn't find that (which we couldn't without driving two hours), then by golly, we would at least make our way to a Christmas Tree lot.

So, the plan was that on Saturday we would all bundle up in our long sleeved shirts and possibly a hoodie (if the weather dipped below 70 degrees) and brave the winter weather down at the Christmas Tree lot.

But...on Friday night, the girls decided to take matters into their own hands. I had already set up Old Faithful when they were at swimming lessons. And when they got home, their eyes got so big and they said, "This is the MOST beautiful Christmas tree I have ever seen. Daddy, wait until we decorate it...you won't want to trade it in for a big tree then."

So, that night Mr. M went out for drinks with his buddies. I was in my room nursing the baby, when I peeked out to discover two-year old Ginger decorating the tree all by herself. All of the decorations were clear across the house in the family room, and she was taking each decoration one by one, and walking all the way across the house to put each one carefully on the tree. By the time I saw her, she had put about two dozen ornaments all along the bottom third of the tree. ;-)

So, I woke up the baby, and all four of us (me, Paprika, Ginger, and the baby) all decorated the tree together. The girls wanted so badly to surprise Mr. M with their amazing tree decorating skills. The whole time we were decorating the tree, they kept saying how they had never seen a tree more beautiful or special, and that when Daddy saw it he would be so proud of them.

Ginger was the director of the whole decoration extravaganza. She was telling us where to put this or that, and it was all very intentional on her part, including the garland only on the top half. Paprika let her do it, and even reached up to put the decorations up high where Ginger couldn't reach. And in the end, have you ever really seen a more beautiful tree? (If so, don't tell the girls!) ;-)

I am sure I don't have to tell you that Old Faithful is here to stay. At least for this year. The girls already have a little tree in their room, and truthfully, our 1200 square foot cottage can't hold much more than two little trees. I like that our girls see this tree with wonder. I like that no matter how many times we move (this is our third house in 5 years), that some things stay the same. I love that Paprika looked at the Christmas lights on this tree her very first Christmas, just as Ginger did two years ago, and now our newest babe does, too, on her very first Christmas.

I love that our girls get bundled up under blankets and ask me to read them stories by the light of their magical tree. And tell me that they will wait right there for Santa and that maybe he'll decide to come early this year.

How could any other tree bring more magic than that? As you might have guessed, we didn't visit a Christmas tree lot the next day. Didn't chop down our own tree. Old Faithful is here to stay.

On Saturday, we bundled up the girls and went for a ride in our own sleigh (you may call it a Toyota Sienna, we're calling it a White Christmas sleigh)...and drove around and looked at Christmas lights. Then we went to the mall and went to the one sit-down restaurant in our neighborhood that you can go to with three kids ages 5 and under...Islands, or "Surfing French Fry Restaurant" (as Paprika calls it).

It was our first night out at a fancy restaurant (as Paprika also called it) since the new baby was born. It went off without a hitch, the girls were so good...mostly. Ginger got her finger caught in the window next to our booth and almost amputated it. She started screaming, then Paprika started crying because she thought that meant we had to leave the restaurant, and all that noise woke up the baby. So there were a few minutes there that were a little less than perfect. But then all quieted down, and we had a great meal, walked through the mall, and got back in the sleigh to oohhhh and ahhhhh over more Christmas lights.

When we were at the mall, we asked the big girls if they wanted to see Santa, and they said no! (There wasn't even a line!) Paprika has never been a fan of those mall Santas. I think she senses something is up with them. Whether it's shyness or what, I don't know. But I don't mind it anyway. The magic of Christmas is so much more than waiting in line at the mall to see a man in a red suit. I think it's little things. Little things like finding the magic in a little bitty Christmas tree...and just being together.

Learnin' Games!

2011-12-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

Ever since I made that Candyland Sight Words game from Pinterest, I have been on the hunt for other board games to make. I wanted to figure out a clever spin on Chutes and Ladders, but it turns out that doesn't really exist (at least not that I could find).

With Paprika having all last week off school, and Winter Break coming up, I wanted to figure out some other fun, educational board games to try. I scoured the internet (okay, mostly just Amazon) and found some really cute games. I thought I'd buy them for the girls for Christmas, but who can wait that long? Plus, with Mr. M off work this month, this is a rare opportunity for us all to play together. So, I dove in and bought a few...

(And in case anyone's wondering, I didn't get paid to write this and I bought these games myself! Although, if people want to send me free stuff, I am not opposed. Ha!)

The first one I bought is Sum Swamp! It's a Math Game- basically, it helps kids with Addition and Subtraction. Paprika does not like Math, but LOVES this game. Already she is really improving with her mental addition and subtraction after just a few times playing it. A definite recommend. (But if you buy it, make sure to keep your two year old away from it or else half the pieces might get lost before the second day of ownership...I'm just sayin'!)

Paprika was having a hard time figuring out fractions and the difference between one half, one third, one fourth, etc. I realized that what she needed were some pizzas (or pies) cut up for her to visualize it better. But I didn't feel like buying a gazillion pizzas, so I thankfully stumbled across this game called The Pizza Fraction Game instead. It was a hit (even with 2 year old Ginger!)

It actually has a bunch of games you can play with the pieces, so it's the kind of game that can grow with your child. Right now we're still working on halfs through one sixths...but it can go all the way up to more complex fractions.

The third game I bought I haven't actually opened yet (will probably save it for Christmas, since we are still playing the other games a lot). It's called Money Bags and helps kids learn about money (the difference between dimes, quarters, pennies, nickels, how to make change, etc.) We hardly ever handle real money anymore...so I think that's why it's been harder for Paprika to grasp the different coin values. Hopefully this will help. I'll keep you updated!

Finally, I am considering buying this game called POP for Sight Words to help Paprika with her sight words recognition. It looks kinda simple, but gets really good reviews. I am not quite sure what the point of it is, but to a five year old it is probably fun, right? I might have to add it to the Christmas wish list.

Have you tried out any of these games? What did you think? :-)

Three Weeks!

2011-11-30T10:53:00.000-08:00

A little after 5pm today, you will turn 3 weeks old. I know that's not a long time, but I have a hard time remembering what life was like before you were here! Every day, Paprika asks me if we can keep you forever. I want that more than anything - you have been the sweetest gift to our family, and I can't imagine the world without you in it.

As far as what you are up to now, you are awake sometimes, and you sleep sometimes. You like to be held a lot. Which is a-okay, because you are hard to put down. You love being held mostly by your mama, but daddy is turning out to be okay sometimes, too!

You are starting to hold your head up on your own. You started that about a week ago, and you are getting so strong! You are so aware and curious about everything going on around you. I wonder what you are thinking...I think you love it here, too.

You are adored by your big sisters. When I walk into the room with you, they smother you with kisses and beg to hold you. You are a very loved little baby.

You like to "talk" to us in your baby language - lots of coos, oohs, and gurgles. You are a sweet, happy baby and you fit right in to our family. I am thankful for every moment with you. You make being a mommy very gratifying, and I am so excited to watch you grow.

My favorite thing in the whole world is holding you close. And thankfully, I have gotten to do that a lot lately. You are the best Christmas gift I ever could get, and my heart is so full this year. I love you, little one, and I am so thankful for you.

Love,
Mom

An Artful Sunday!

2011-11-29T12:00:00.000-08:00

Paprika was off school all last week, and all she wanted to do on her vacation was go to an Art Museum. By Sunday, we were feeling up to it, so we went to the Getty Villa in Malibu.

Well, actually I wasn't feeling so up for it after our hike on Saturday. But, we had already told Paprika about it, and she was so excited that she only slept for 4 hours on Saturday night. Paprika came into our bedroom at 5am on Sunday morning (after not falling asleep until 1am) - and said, "Is it time for the Art Museum to open yet?"

So, I knew that there was just no way I could cancel. So, I rallied and we all went to the Art Museum on Sunday. I am so glad we did!

Paprika has been to a bunch of art museums in her five years of life...but we hadn't been to this one...the Getty Villa...since almost two years ago, so it was high time. ;-) Here is a link, if you want to remember with me way back when:

Getty Villa 2009

At two weeks old, this was Pavenzia's first trip to an art museum of any kind...and she slept through the whole thing!

The girls loved the galleries, but most of all they loved being outside...

And running through the gardens!

Paprika got really scared by the mummy exhibit they have at the museum. She made me promise to never take her to see a mummy exhibit again. Noted!

The big hit of the day was the children's room. The girls got to draw on pottery with dry erase markers.

Paprika especially loved the shadow exhibit, where kids could make art out of their own shadows. Ginger was terrified of it, but Paprika told her that maybe when she's five years old, she'll like it better. We shall see!

Here are some pictures of Paprika's shadows that she made:

All in all, it was an awesome trip to the museum. I'm so glad all three girls had a wonderful time, even if Pavenzia slept through almost all of it! :-) Until next time...

First Outing!

2011-11-28T19:10:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, we had our first family outing with Pavenzia. It was the first time she and I had left the house since we got home from the hospital- well, except for her one week pediatrician visit.

First, we went to the Wilderness Park near our house. It is still really hard for me to walk, so I took it slowly...one step at a time. Pavezia napped in the Baby Bjorn...here she is under the nursing cover. I don't think she even realized we left the house. Ha!

The big girls had a great time exploring. This is one of Paprika's favorite parts of the park. She calls it "the iguana" - she named it that about a year ago (the first time we came here). She loves to come and talk to it and pretend it's a giant iguana- and even though we haven't been to this park in a long time, she still remembered her iguana.

After a few hours at the park, I was having a hard time walking back to the car. I knew I needed to rest a bit, so Mr. M and the big girls dropped me and the baby off at home, and then they headed to the beach!

They splashed around in the water and made sandcastles on the beach. Then they went to the little Aquarium on the pier. And finally, stopped at the ice cream parlour on the way home.

It's amazing how when you have one child, the newborn phase seems so overwhelming...and then by the time you have three kids to take care of, it seems like a piece of cake to just be relaxing at home with the newborn! Ha!

By the way, this is what Paprika looks like when you tell her to "smile" for the camera. ;-)

Just a few months ago, these two seemed like such a handful, and now an outing with just them seems so much more manageable. Perspective!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Even here at the beach!

Thanksgiving!

2011-11-28T16:57:00.000-08:00

I know I said we were "skipping" Thanksgiving this year...but you can't really skip Thanksgiving when you're feeling thankful, so instead I guess I should have said that we had a quiet time at home and celebrated in our own quirky way.

On Saturday and Sunday, we had big adventures (blog post to follow), but on Thursday and Friday, we stayed home and just enjoyed each other's company. We spent a lot of time in our jammies, and only half-bothered to brush our hair. Relaxation to the max! ;-)

Paprika spent time holding her new baby sister. Love!

Pavenzia napped and then napped some more. ;-)

Mr. M bonded with the newest princess...

The big girls painted a bunch...

And played Legos with daddy. These are Mr. M's legos from when he was a kid. He had thousands of Legos, and so now the girls have inherited them. How cool is that?

For Thanksgiving dinner, we had turkey burgers, fresh green beans, stuffing, and then pumpkin pie for dessert (store-bought). Our oven wasn't working, so everything had to be cooked on the stove-top. It was a no-fuss meal that took about 15 minutes to make, and was delicious (Mr. M cooked, thank goodness)! The two littlest girls were napping while we ate. Paprika painted her masterpieces at the table while we had dinner. Mr. M and I had a chance to actually have a conversation over our Thanksgiving meal. I have to say, it was pretty perfect (for us!)

On Friday night, we had a bonfire in the backyard. Don't think for a second that Paprika actually ate those marshallows! But she had fun roasting them! Ha!

Even Daisy had fun. Isn't she getting so big?!!!

We discovered that while Paprika loves campfires, Ginger does not! She hid out in the tent while the fire was roaring. A few minutes later she came inside with me and we got out the boardgames. :-)

So, that was the start of our Thanksgiving weekend. I didn't step foot inside a store the whole weekend. I joked that I should have run to Target at midnight on Black Friday for something silly like toilet paper and asked everyone what the heck they were doing out at that hour. I didn't buy anything because it turns out we have everything we need right here. :-) I am getting excited for Christmas this year. I know it will be magical because we are all together. I am ready to deck the halls...soon!

The End.

Vacation!

2011-11-23T13:14:00.000-08:00

I don't think anyone was excited as me for last night's season finale of DWTS. I have to admit, I was sooooo sad when Mr. M went back to work a mere 48 hours after the baby was born. It was so great having my dad and Nancy here that first week, and Grandma Pat this last week. I think if they hadn't been here, I would have literally lost my mind!

But, there is something so great about having Mr. M home now. He has promised me to take this whole month of December off work, and I am holding him to it! ;-) I am so excited for him to get to spend some time with Pavenzia, especially.

We usually go to the finale and wrap party of DWTS, but last night we just stayed home and ordered pizza. I was not going to leave my 13 day old baby at home...just not my style! (Not judging others who do). It was a low-key evening and just what I needed.

Today we had big plans to go to the Botanical Gardens, but when we thought about the holiday traffic, we decided to stay closer to home! Paprika has swimming today, and we are also doing errands like picking up dog treats and food, and maybe giving Daisy (the dog) a bath. Exciting, right?! Haha!

Mostly, I am just thankful to have Mr. M home, and I know the girls are, too. Pavenzia is doing great - so sweet, and getting to be a bit of a chunk-a-lunk (which is a good thing). She really only wants to be held by me (and will scream if anyone else holds her)...so that is my numero uno job lately. Can't say that I mind one bit! :-) Happy Thanksgiving!

Brown-Eyed Girls!

2011-11-22T09:05:00.000-08:00

The girls are loving their baby sister, and want nothing more than to play mommy to her. They have been great about showering her with their toys, presents, and lots of love.

Every day they ask me questions like:

When will she be big enough to play with us?

When will she be big enough to go to school?

When will she eat at the table?

Where are her teeth?

When will she talk?

I think they were expecting her to pop out three years old, and the fact that she's so teeny tiny is a little bit of a shock, especially to Paprika. But they are getting used to it!

Ginger has been sick, so I have been doing my best to keep her separate from the baby. Easier said than done, right?! Especially when she wants so badly to love on her baby sister, kiss her, hug her, and play with her! So, we've been doing our best...that's the best we can do, right?

As I said, it is hard to keep these girls from their baby sister. I forsee many years of this little one being smothered in kisses. :-) She doesn't know how good she's got it! Ha!

Thanksgiving!

2011-11-21T13:30:00.000-08:00

I don't think I could ever take enough pictures. Especially of this girl. Especially when she is sleeping. ;-)

Tomorrow is the season finale of DWTS. Will you be watching? I will! :-) I am so excited to have Mr. M at home for awhile. Looking forward to the holidays this year and celebrating together as a family.

I know what I am most thankful for this year! So thankful to have this little girl home with us. It is a dream come true.

I think I am over my "two weeks of crying" almost. I have been pregnant enough now to know all my "stages" of postpartum. First, there are the problems with nursing (that lasts about one week, usually). I think I can't do it, then cry about how I am failing, then eventually get the hang of it after lots of tears, drama, and self-loathing passes.

Then there's the incessant crying and "baby blues" phase - although maybe not really baby blues because I cry over everything those first few weeks after I have a baby, even how incredibly happy I am and how I don't feel at all deserving to have such a beautiful child in my life. (Now maybe I can see why Mr. M went back to work two days after the baby was born! Ha!)

And, of course, the lingering physical stuff. Ann (mother of three boys) says that pregnancy for her is one big fraternity party in her body, and when it's over...well, you know what the aftermath of a frat party looks like. So, she says that I've had a big sorority party and I'm left to clean up! Haha! After carrying five babies (6 if you count the baby I miscarried)- I can say that she's right. But I am slowly starting to feel more physically like myself.

But...there's one last thing I am not doing this time around. I am not stepping on a scale until my 6 week postpartum visit. It's just too cruel and won't change anything. Seriously. I just did throw out the rest of the Halloween candy yesterday. I broke up with Reese's Pieces, and oh, do I miss them!!!

We're not doing a traditional Thanksgiving this year...just hanging out as a family. For one, our stove is broken (I haven't been in a hurry to fix that, in case you are wondering! Ha!) Also, two week old baby equals best excuse ever to have a lazy Thanksgiving! And third, Paprika cannot stand Thanksgiving. At all. She doesn't like the smells or the food, and the whole reason we would do a Thanksgiving dinner would be for the kids and their memories. So, if Paprika and Ginger would be happier without it this year (not saying every year, but this year is special), then who am I to stand in the way of their happiness?

So, there ya go. I told Paprika we could have cheeseburgers for Thanksgiving this year (maybe Turkey burgers) and she was soooo happy about that. Ginger is happy about it, too. So, even if we end up eating cheeseburgers and fries this year for Thanksgiving, we'll be together- which makes it the best Thanksgiving of all. A new tradition is born, perhaps? Most importantly, we'll all get the chance to tell one another what we're thankful for. I have a long list this year...

Lately...

2011-11-18T16:45:00.000-08:00

I have been having so much fun loving on this sweet baby. I am soaking up all her newborn-ness, because as I have learned, it really does go by so very quickly.

She is starting to "wake up" to the world and become more alert. Here she is at 5 days old (on Monday). I can't believe how much she changes day to day.

My dad and Nancy left on Tuesday morning. That was really hard on all of us. It was just really so wonderful having them here. I told them they could move in! (And I meant it!)

We made some good memories, though, and I am grateful for the time we did have.

And for the few pictures of them I managed to take! Ha! ;-)

Grandma Pat (Mr. M's mom) is here now, and she is also a tremedous help and a blessing. I am still pretty much house-bound with my hip problem and some other postpartum stuff. I seriously feel about 96 years old...but every day I feel a little stronger. I am enjoying just having time to relax and enjoy the baby, and so that's the bright side of it. Slowing down is allowing me to stop and enjoy these very precious moments.

The girls are being GREAT big sisters! It's so wonderful to watch them in action. Paprika loves making cards and drawings for Pavenzia. Here is one she did yesterday:

And Ginger is just smitten with her baby sister, too...especially her "piggy toes" which she always wants to kiss.

I think Ginger's face pretty much says it all in this picture. :-) Happy weekend!

One Week Old!

2011-11-16T14:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe this was us just a week ago. At 5:07pm today, Pavenzia will turn one week old! I took her this morning to her first visit with our new pediatrician (she saw a pediatrician twice in the hospital also). I am happy to say she is almost back at her birth weight now. She is 7 pounds 14 oz, and at birth was 8 lbs. even (I know I said she was 8 lbs. 1 oz, but I read the scale wrong- whoops!) She got a clean bill of health and we don't have to go back until her one month check-up. Yay!

It seems like she has always been in our lives. I cannot imagine a sweeter, more perfect baby. We are adjusting to the change from two kids to three, that is for sure! Ginger has a cold, so I am keeping her separate from Pavenzia. The dog is driving me nuts (like I knew she would- ha!) I am getting almost no sleep...but just loving life at the moment. :-)

Von Trapps or Summer Camp?

2011-11-14T12:17:00.000-08:00

My dad and Nancy are leaving tomorrow morning. My dad has been here since November 1st, and Nancy arrived on November 9th (the baby's birthday!)

I have hardly taken any pictures of them with the girls. Mostly because they have been out and about so much, I haven't had the chance!

This morning I sat them down (while the baby was sleeping) and said, "I have got to get a photo!" So they obliged. But Ginger would not and I mean would not have her picture taken. I even bribed her with chocolate. But nope. So, this is the best we could do! Haha! That's real life for ya.

These girls have been soooo spoiled having my dad and Nancy here. Just thinking about everything they do in a day wears me out. Here is a typical day:

Wake up
Take the girls, walk to Trader Joe's (about 1 mile away)
Walk to the park
Feed the ducks
Go the beach
Go out for ice cream
Go to the Aquarium
Go to Target, play in the toy aisle
Put on a circus show at home

Not to mention, they've been walking Paprika to and from school and taking her to swimming (with Ginger tagging along, of course)! Just when I think they can't do more in a day, they are off on another adventure.

I feel like Paprika and Ginger are living The Sound of Music with their own personal Maria, or maybe it's been more like summer camp. Any way you slice it, the girls are having the time of their lives!

I still have to get a picture of my dad and Nancy with the baby before they leave. I would say that I want to get a picture of them with all three girls, but I think that might be aiming too high! Ha!

Now We Are Five!

2011-11-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

We got home from the hospital on Friday afternoon. Paprika and Ginger were at the beach with my dad and Nancy. They all stopped home before Paprika's swim lesson and the girls got to meet their new baby sister. They were covered with sand, and hopped right into the bed. Oh well!

Seeing the three of these girls together was probably the most special moment of my life. We had been worried Ginger would take awhile to warm up to the baby (since she's been the baby of the family for two years), but those worries melted away the second they were together. Ginger was so excited and happy to see Pavenzia and has just been the sweetest and most loving big sister ever (well, since Paprika)!

We knew Paprika would be so in love with her sister straight from the start. Paprika does not understand what it means to be jealous, and she is so smitten with her sister, it is unreal.

Paprika kept saying how much she loves her new baby sister...can we keep her forever and ever? Then she said, "We used to be four. Now we are five. I love you, baby sister." That kinda broke my heart in a million pieces.

Ginger kept wanting to give the baby kisses, and kept saying things like, "I used to be the baby. But now I am a big girl. Now I am a big sister and this is my beautiful baby sister. I love you, Pavenzia, so much. So much. So much. I love you. Let me kiss you!"

Needless to say, I have been an emotional mess over it all. I just love all my girls and having these three under one roof is a dream come true...one I've been waiting on for a long time.

Recovery-wise I am doing okayyyyyy. Haha. I dislocated my pelvis (something called Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction...here is a link) - something that also happened prior to Ginger's birth. It happened a few weeks ago and I thought delivery would help, but delivery made it worse! So, I am hoping it gets better on its own. Otherwise, I am going to have to do something about it because it is painful to move and walk. Not a great combination! ;-)

My dad and Nancy have been so helpful with Ginger and Paprika - it is making life with three kids seem manageable. :-)

Mr. M went back to work on Saturday morning - he has two weeks left until DWTS is finished. Then, I am hoping he gets at least a month off work to be home. In the meantime, we are making the most of our evenings together. Last night, he read a story to all three and put the two big girls to bed. That's pretty awesome in my book!

Pavenzia (yes, she needs a new name!) is doing great. We are just settling in and getting to know each other. She is now almost four days old! I have four hours left until she is really four days old- so I am not rushing that!

Just taking in every moment. It doesn't get any better than this!

Guess Who's Here?!!!!

2011-11-10T17:00:00.000-08:00

Guess who's here?! Mr. M and I arrived at the hospital yesterday around 10am, and Pavenzia was born at 5:07 PM! Labor was pretty fast - she came out in one and a half good pushes! :-)

She is 8 pounds 1 oz, and 20 inches long. Apgars were 9/9! An overachiever from the start...haha.

She is soooo sweet, and cuddly, and just perfect. It is surreal to me that she is here, and she is our daughter and we get to take her home with us. Bliss!

I am still at the hospital recovering. While the birth went great, there were a few complicatons afterwards. Basically, I had a retained placenta (the placenta would not come out). After over an hour of the doctor trying to remove it manually, he finally got it out in a bunch of pieces. They did an ultrasound to make sure it was all out, and then I'll have to go in to the doctor again in a few weeks to make sure it really is all out.

So, Pavenzia's entrance was grand, smooth, and easy-peasy (well, as much as childbirth can be). The few hours that followed were rough and probably the worst pain of my life (right up there with giving birth without an epidural or pain meds). Imagine if someone had their whole hand/arm inside your body scraping your ribcage for an hour. It's actually the second time that's happened to me (it also happened during the delivery of the twins). I guess I hit the retained placenta lottery twice. ;-) But all is well that ends well, and I would do it a gazillion times over again to have her here in our arms.

Recovery is going a bit slowly for me. But hopefully things will get easier, and I will be back to my old self in no time. :-)

These are just a few of the photos we've taken over the last day. Isn't she soooo sweet? We are so in love, and so happy Pavenzia has made her entrance to the world safe and sound. Tomorrow she gets to meet her big sisters! :-) I can't wait to have Paprika, Ginger, and Paveniza all together under one roof. It makes me so happy that I can hardly believe it's happening. Such a dream, and a whole new chapter of life. Welcome to the world, Pavenzia!

Photo Avalanche!

2011-11-08T13:24:00.000-08:00

I have a feeling Pavenzia is going to be here sooner rather than later! In the meantime, it's a waiting game. I am feeling a bit like Ginger in the above photo (if you catch my drift). Haha. ;-)

Since probably every post is going to be about Pavenzia here pretty soon, I thought I'd post some of my favorite photos from the last few weeks.

One of my favorite things this month has been volunteering in Paprika's classroom! I am the classroom photographer (very official sounding, isn't it?) - and I am so glad to do it because it gives me a legitimate reason to take photos at school. This photo was taken last week during an art project at school. Yay!

Another day Paprika got to be the "line leader" - she wants to do it every day now, of course!

Ginger squeezes in some QT (quality time) with Mr. M while Paprika is at school.

Snuggle!

Paprika brought home her first project from ceramics class. A cornucopia.

We displayed it in the only place that was appropriate. ;-)

Here is a photo of the one time of day that Ginger slows down. Naptime! Ahhhh...naptime!

Of course, when I took this photo, I didn't realize that she had taken off all her clothes and her diaper and what would be waiting for me when I pulled back the covers! Gah! She looks sooo peaceful, though, doesn't she?

Ginger is enjoying the new Ebay books more than anyone. She loves looking at the books and telling everyone what she thinks is on each page.

And when this happens, it is bliss. Reading with daddy before bedtime. How will we fit three on one lap? That is a good problem to have, and a "problem" I hope we have soon. :-)

Until next time...

Me Plus Pinterest Equals...

2011-11-05T17:06:00.000-07:00

Love! ;-)

Last spring one of the other moms at Paprika's preschool introduced me to Pinterest and I was all, Pinter-what?

Then I got hooked.

Then I got Devon hooked on it (for once in my life because she is always so far ahead of me on anything crafty or cool).

Since then, I have had a great time window crafting! ;-)

Then a few weeks ago, I came across a pin I actually wanted to do and could do with very minimal effort (which is my crafting mantra lately).

Paprika has been learning to read, but there are still some words that trip her up because they don't follow regular rules (you can't sound them out). Enter: the need to memorize sight words. Well, just memorizing sight words sounded boring to me until I stumbled upon this idea on Pinterest. It's taken from this blog: First Grader At Last and it was super easy to do.

Basically, all it involves is getting a regular game of Candyland (which I got for $5 at Target). Then, you print out the sight words you want your child to learn, and then you tape them on each card. For the child to advance to the next spot, they have to read the word on the card. I think there are 85 cards in the deck, so that gives you about 85 sight words. My plan is to buy another Candyland game (or two) when Paprika has mastered all these sight words and mix in new cards, since there are about 200 sight words that she needs to learn.

This is the website that I used to print out my sight word list: MrsPerkins.com Easy-peasy!

So, now I am patting myself on the back for my first successful Pinterest project. Paprika loves the game. Ginger loves it, too (we let Paprika read the cards for her). And, it's actually pretty fun to play. Now off to find my next Pinterest score! Ha! ;-)

Pavenzia Update!

2011-11-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

I had my routine OB appointment yesterday - 38 weeks 3 days, to be exact. Yesterday was my mom's birthday, and I thought it would be so great if the baby shared her birthday with her Grammy, but nope!

Right now we are in the waiting phase. I have never had so many false labor alarms ever. Every day I am contracting like crazy all the time (mostly in the evenings and at night), but according to Dr. K, nothing is happening!

Dr. K did an ultrasound of the baby, and she is looking great. Pavenzia's biophysical score on the ultrasound was 8 out of 8. She is estimated to be 8 pounds 4 oz. Her head circumference is above the 95%, measuring at about 42 weeks gestation! Can we say ouch! ;-) She also has a big round tummy, which was cute to see. So far, no real dilation (1-2cm), no effacement...nothing. She is still really high up and appears content to just gestate for the forseeable future. So, I am learning patience. :-) I really can't wait to meet her, though!

One thing that has been wonderful has been all the help we've had with the girls this past week. Grandma Pat came last Thursday and stayed until Wednesday morning. The girls had such a great time with Grandma Pat, and I was soooo grateful to have time to rest and have lots of help with Ginger, especially (she is so physical, she wears me out!)

Grandma Pat with Paprika:

My dad arrived on Tuesday night, and he has been a huge help this week. My dad has really been entertaining Ginger, taking her to feed the ducks every day, strolling her around town, and in general just being a doting grandpa. Ginger is eating up all this one on one attention from her grandparents!

Grandma Pat with Ginger (my paparazzi photo from across the yard!):

With all the extra help, I have been able to focus a bit on Paprika. Yesterday, Mr. M and I both volunteered at Paprika's school for a class art project. I have been able to take Paprika to swimming lessons while Ginger stays home and takes a nap (which incidentally has resulted in a much happier Ginger...go figure!)

Tonight I took Paprika to a classmate's birthday party, this morning I had a parent conference at her school...just little things that I wouldn't be able to do at this point without someone here to help me.

Overall, I am feeling fairly miserable most days...the worst are the mornings, for sure! I am one big creaky mess in the A.M. One thing is certain, no one is pregnant forever, so the end is in sight. I am so excited, nervous, and everything is seeming surreal at the moment. I know it's all going to fly by, so I am enjoying each moment fully because when she's here, I know it's going to seem like this pregnancy was just a blink! :-)

Our Creaky House!

2011-11-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this is probably (most likely) the last Halloween post of the year! I just had to show off the little Halloween Gingerbread House that Paprika and Grandma Pat made this year.

One of my favorite traditions with the girls is making these gingerbread houses. The past few years, we have done Halloween and (multiple) Christmas gingerbread houses. For Christmas, we usually do at least one kit and then do one from scratch (well, not really from scratch...just graham crackers and our own candy!)

For this year's Halloween Gingerbread House, I let Grandma Pat and Paprika do most of the heavy lifting! Ha! :-) I helped a little with the construction, but the decoration was all done by Paprika (supervised by Grandma Pat). Ginger later added (and subtracted) some of the embellishments...which made it that much cuter!

I have to say, it was so worth the $10 at Target for this little kit. Now, I am just going to have to see if they make a Thanksgiving Gingerbread House! I don't think we can wait until Christmas! Ha!

Longest Day Of The Year!

2011-11-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

Our Halloween day started very early. Paprika had to be at her school no later than 8am for the big Halloween costume parade. They needed parents to help out, so Mr. M and I both went. We were unsure how Paprika would fare because 1) it was an early day (anything before 11am is early for her), 2) the AM and PM classes were going to be combined- meaning Paprika would be in a classroom all morning with 34 boys and 4 girls, and 3) at the parade, there were going to be 500+ kids and a marching band on a field together. A recipe for sensory overload! ;-)

Paprika was very careful not to wake Ginger up when she got dressed in her costume. Grandma Pat stayed home while Ginger slept in...it was so nice to get to go to Paprika's school and not spend the entire time chasing Ginger down from the rafters. Thank you, Grandma Pat!

Paprika loved her mermaid costume. I know I kind of dropped the ball just putting her in an Ariel (Little Mermaid) costume...when she really wanted to be a real blue mermaid for Halloween. She spent much of her time correcting people all day telling them that 1) she was not a princess, and 2) she was a real mermaid (not Ariel!) Ha!

This is me on the way out the door...38 weeks pregnant, and although I also dropped the ball on my costume, if anyone asked, I guess I could have said I was going as a bowling ball thief for Halloween!

After school, the parents put together a picnic and park day for all the kids since we had early dismissal. I went with Paprika, and she wore herself out playing soccer for two hours (and of course not eating a thing at the picnic)!

Then we had swimming lesson...even though it was Halloween, we couldn't miss that!

After that, she came home and took a shower and had just a few seconds to get her face painted before the first trick or treaters started banging on the door!

Now, Ginger went down for her nap right before swimming (Grandma Pat stayed home with her while I took Paprika to swimming). So, we figured she'd wake up in time to get in costume and go trick or treating. But nope! She slept so long and hard that she missed trick or treating entirely! She ended up napping until 8:45pm and then (of course) did not fall asleep until after 2am that night!

It was kind of merciful that Ginger slept through Halloween, and I was just so thankful. First, she did not like her costume. She had a cute Pottery Barn Kids Mermaid costume to wear, and she would NOT put it on to save her life (we did a trial run the night before- it was a no go!) Second, we got over one thousand (yes, you read that right) trick or treaters on our block this year and it was mayhem, pure chaos, and a bunch of words I can't think of right now. It was unreal!

It was soooo loud (lots of music, and partying going on) - I really have no idea how Ginger slept through it all, especially because the biggest party was going on right outside her single-paned window! But, as I said, it was a gift to us all.

Grandma Pat took Paprika trick-or-treating for an hour or so while I passed out candy to the masses on my front porch. Then, Grandma Pat and Paprika came home and we all passed out candy. We had stocked up (because we knew from last year that everyone and their mother's dog comes to our block for Halloween)...but by 9, I was done. We had gone through most of our candy, and it was time. Three hours of passing out candy to one person per second was just about all I could take. We cut the lights and put a sign on the door saying we had run out of candy.

Of course, I had held back all of Ginger's favorites from our bags of candy and made her own little treat bag for her. When she woke up, she was so happy to have her treat bag and didn't seem to mind at all that she had slept through everything!

Here is a picture of Paprika around 6pm, just as things were starting to pick up and right before she left to trick-or-treat. I swear, Halloween really wiped me out this year...but seeing how much fun this little girl had, I would do it all over again tomorrow if I could!

Feels Like Fall!

2011-11-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday we went to the Pumpkin Patch. I know I'm a week late getting this up - life has been busy and crazy and so I'm cutting myself some slack! Yes, I'm still pregnant - no baby yet, although she does give me a lot of reasons to believe she is coming soon (mostly the contractions that seem to happen every night between midnight and 4am!)

This pumpkin patch is pretty far from us, but it was worth the drive! For these beach girls, visiting a working farm and pumpkin patch is quite the exotic experience! :-)

We did the pony rides first. We knew the girls would want to go more than once, and we were right!

As you can see, it was quite the hit!

Ginger loved it as much as Paprika. She is getting so grown up all of a sudden. She kept saying, "Look everyone! I'm a cowgirl!" as she was riding her pony.

Mr. M had the afternoon off work, so he was able to come with us which made it extra special.

They have this little wooden train there that the girls just love. Here's Paprika on the train this trip (2011):

Here is Paprika back in 2009 on the same wooden train...that's two years ago! Say it isn't so!

Ginger wanted to run and explore the tunnels and grounds (of course she did!):

They both climbed the hay bale mountain:

The girls rode in style while Mr. M did the heavy labor (can't you see why I'm so glad he came?!) ;-)

The train was as big of a hit as the pony rides were, so we had to ride the train a few times, too! One time they even got to be the conductors. Choo-Choo!

Paprika thought the corn maze was just about the coolest thing ever. She made a few trips through it and then intentionally got lost inside a few more:

Ginger did the corn maze once and had enough, then retired to the wagon and started snacking on the carrots we bought to feed the horses, cows, and sheep. Yum?:

The John Deere Combine turned slide made it really feel "down on the farm" - Paprika had a blast sliding. Ginger rode a bunch of times with Mr. M which was great until the last time down the slide, Mr. M almost scalped himself. I guess these things were made with kids in mind and not grown men over 6 feet tall. Ha!

Everyone had a great time in the bounce houses. Ginger, especially!

And we all had a great time visiting with the little animals in the petting zoo. All the goats had just had a bath that morning, so they were so soft and so sweet. This one wanted to play with Paprika and tried to head butt her across the pasture- but thankfully she could hold her own:

Ginger still says this goat is her "best friend" - she loved him so much it made me want to get a goat for her to take home:

So, a great time was had by all! Visiting this Pumpkin Patch has become a bit of a tradition for us, which I love. Last year we visited a different pumpkin patch, but the year before (2009), we visitied this one twice. It's so fun for me to look back on those visits and see how much bigger the girls are now. Here are the links to the old blog posts, if you want to stroll down memory lane with me:

Here's the first visit

Here's our second visit (also 2009)

I know the Pumpkin Festival is over for this year (boo hoo!), but I cannot wait to go back next year! It is truly one of the highlights of our Fall!

The Big Day Is Here!

2011-10-30T23:38:00.000-07:00

Well, the big day is here. No, not Pavenzia's birthday (although I wouldn't mind that one bit!) Nope, it's Halloween...the day Paprika has been looking forward to since November 1st 2010!

We had a quiet weekend at home.

Decorated a Halloween Gingerbread House (yes, they make such things).

Decorated the outside of the house with plenty of spooky things.

Bought lots of Halloween candy.

Only opened one bag of candy...which somehow has disappeared right before my eyes...which is why all the other bags of candy remain unopened! I just don't trust myself! ;-)

Stocked up on last-minute glow sticks and glow necklaces for the girls. Made sure the flash lights have fresh batteries.

Ran out for some last minute face paint (since mermaids have to have face paint, or so I am told)!

Tomorrow begins a big day of festivites for us, starting with Paprika's School Halloween Parade bright and early. Since I am the classroom photographer, I have to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for it.

Hopefully my water doesn't break between now and then! Or maybe I hope it does! That would make for a very memorable Halloween! :-)

Photos To Burn!

2011-10-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

Do you ever take pictures of yourself that you don't like...but then think that in 10 years, you'll probably love that photo? My big (not so secret) secret is that I never delete a photo. Like ever. Not even the bad ones.

Because you never know how in the future you may cherish that photo. Also, I think if I did delete photos I might get so caught up in perfectionism that I'd only have a few left! Haha!

So, here is a photo from last week that I want to burn. Mostly because the wardrobe choice. Can you believe I've worn this shirt through my last three pregnancies?!!! Eeek! Photos I do not get rid of, but ugly orange shirts are another story. ;-)

This picture was taken last week when I was going on 37 weeks pregnant. I am now almost 38 weeks pregnant. Tick tock! I am so in denial that my belly is that big. But it is. Actually, this week, it's about 10% larger (or at least it feels that way!)

Here is another picture of me in the lovely orange sorbet shirt. But, it's me with Ann...so obviously it's a keeper. Ha!

We had such a great time with Ann here. My one regret is that we got zero pictures of her and Paprika!!! What were we thinking?! I was a lazy photographer, what can I say. But we got some great ones of her and Ginger.

This week has been so busy! We had an awesome trip to the Pumpkin Patch, and now (as of last night) Grandma Pat is visiting. So, now I can go into labor at any time...because we have someone to watch the girls while I am at the hospital.

Last week when Ann went back to Indiana and before Pat arrived, I had visions of driving myself to the hospital (1.5 hours in traffic) with the girls in the backseat of the van...and then setting them up with a Barney video in my labor and delivery room while Pavenzia was born. Because that was the plan...

And, P.S., I am having crazy painful contractions this pregnancy. Like all the time. But so far nothing has happened. No progress. Nada. This is definitely my pregnancy that cried wolf! So, I am staying home and not going back to the hospital until I really go into labor. We'll see how that works out! Stay tuned...

School Days!

2011-10-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

We are now in late October, and Paprika has been in school for almost two months (and while I realize that is almost no time, it seems like so long!)

It has been quite a big adjustment for all of us. I am so used to having her with me every moment, and it's just not that way anymore. In the past two months, she has encountered bullying at school, sensory overload, and has been exposed more to the real world than she encountered in her first five years of life.

She is in Developmental Kindergarten this year, which is for kids who are not yet ready for Kindergarten...kids who need an extra year. It's tricky with Paprika because while in many ways academically she is way ahead of her peers, socially she is just not.

Paprika really struggles with anxiety, and so in some ways school is great for her. She loves the structure. The rules. The predictability. On the other hand, she is exposed to many simple things she just cannot handle, and I see her struggling with that on a daily basis (translastion: mental breakdowns over very small things).

Ahhh, being a mom is hard.

So, for now we have decided to keep her at school. She loves it. Why, I do not really understand. Every day I give her the option of whether or not she wants to go (I know people are going to think that is crazy, but at this point I have decided to leave it up to her for now). I want her to love school and love learning, and she does!

Of course, because her school issues aren't academic...the instruction she gets in school is not pushing her. School is 3.5 hours/day and includes playground time...in the big scheme of things, it's kind of a blip in the day. I mean, there are 24 hours in a day, so we have 20.5 hours/day when she is not in school...and if you know how little my kids sleep, we have to got fill that extra time somehow!

So, I've been doing basically a full homeschool curriculum with Paprika at home. In the past few weeks since we've started, she has learned to read. Yes, read. Not memorize words from a book and parrot them back (which we know she has been doing since age 1)...but really read them.

We started out with the program Reading Eggs (love it) and she is whizzing through it. I also bought a ton of books on Ebay for us to read together. Even though we have a pretty hefty library at home, I wanted her to have some new (to us) books. We got a bunch of Arnold Lobel books (we had been using Mr. M's from childhood but they were ahem, getting destroyed quickly...so I put those away). I got a huge lot of Dr. Seuss books on Ebay for a fraction of the retail price. These new books really round out our already sizeable Seuss collection:

Some Amelia Bedelia books on Ebay (which in hindsight Paprika is not ready for because she doesn't quite "get" the humor yet...a few years from now maybe):

And some other Early Reader books (also Ebay)...these are the Noodle series, which Paprika loves.

I also picked up a bunch of used books on Amazon that she is loving. Just books about things she's having anxiety about...like losing a tooth, for example. Not that she has a loose tooth- but she might...one day... ;-) The best one so far has been a book called Dear Tooth Fairy. It is adorable!

In addition to reading (and writing), we have been doing Science through Discovery Education, and Math through IXL and Math Whizz. We do lots of hands-on stuff at home, and reinforce with the computer programs. For the IXL and Math Whizz, I have to sit there with Paprika the whole time and guide her through the problems...and let's face it, she is just so much more interested in reading and art at this point than any other subjects. Math is like pulling teeth with her!

So, I have decided to just focus most of our time on the reading at home for now and everything else will fall into place later.

Of course, Paprika is now on the verge of reading chapter books (a year before she is set to enter kindergarten). In school last week they learned the letters P, M, and H. Which is great. Great that Paprika is not struggling academically.

Except now I worried that she is going to be bored at school. But...socially, she is just not ready (in so many ways) to go up a grade at school. I know that the Developmental Kindergarten is a great fit for her at this point. It's just hard. Hard for me to feel like she is struggling to find her place and fit in amongst her peers. Hard for me to see her having a hard time, when here at home everything is comfortable and safe for her. Just hard!

So, we take it day by day. So far, she is loving school and that is what matters, right? I just think this first year is going to be a big adjustment for all of us...maybe the biggest adjustment for me! ;-)

Full Of Life!

2011-10-24T22:12:00.000-07:00

Paprika (aka Yaya) still has swim lessons 4 days/week (3 group lessons and one private lesson). So, that means that Ginger hangs out at the pool 4 days/week. She wants to get in sooooo badly. She wants to be big, and swim, and jump right in!

So, because she can't, she literally sprints everywhere...climbs everything...her energy knows no bounds. When Ann was here, she commented that she has never met a child with so much energy. And Ann has three very active boys! Ginger is: Non-stop motion, with a penchant for mischief.

She is not just that way at the pool, of course! Everywhere we go (including home), she is into everything, climbing to the highest point she can find...she has no fear. And no "off button." She is, quite simply, full of life.

Those words have come to mind with Ginger for a long time now. It's funny (not haha funny, but you know...) because the name Vivian means Full of Life. I decided on Vivian's name before she was born, and even after everything that happened, it was still her name.

But I can't help thinking that Ginger really channels her older sister, Vivian, in that I have never seen anyone more full of life. She has the most magnetic personality. So confident. So social, so extroverted. So ready to celebrate life.

And soooo hard to chase after 9 months pregnant! Ha! :-)

Auntie Ann Visits!

2011-10-23T18:31:00.001-07:00

Auntie Ann came to visit us from Tuesday night until early this morning. We did so much on her visit here, and yet there was so much more to do, too!

We squeezed in a few trips to the beach. The week before she came, it was sooo hot and sunny. Then, she arrived from a chilly Indiana autumn only to find out that it was the same temperature here this week as it was there! (Mostly). Even with the cool temps, we still had a blast!

I am just increasing all the time! The first night Ann was here, I ended up at the hospital in the Labor and Delivery unit for very bad contractions. I stayed overnight, and Ann stayed with the girls while Mr. M came with me to the hospital. The girls had a great time bonding with Ann while I made sure everything was okay with Pavenzia!

It turned out to be a false alarm, and although the doctors could tell I was having big contractions, nothing was happening, so I got sent home! The rest of the week, I tried to take it easy and stay off my feet as much as possible!

Here I am last week at 36 weeks pregnant! I am feeling big, big, big. Eating is getting harder (I can just eat a little bit now...my stomach is so squished!) Rolling over, getting up, and getting out of bed takes some premediated thought and a little planning (and a lot of maneuvering). Things are not as simple as they were a short 10 weeks ago! I have to walk really slowly and have gotten used to pretty much always being in some sort of pain. I guess that is just nature's way of getting a women excited to give birth. Haha!

Grandma Pat arrives on Thursday and I am crossing my fingers and toes (and everything else- ha!) in hopes that Pavenzia does not arrive before Pat gets here. If I have to go to the hosptial, Pat is staying home to watch the girls while I deliver at the hospital with Mr. M. My dad comes next week for two weeks, so we should be covered here on the homefront, assuming I can just last until Thursday. (Again, fingers crossed and knock on wood!)

In the meantime, I have lots to do to keep me busy! Ann helped me pick out some last minute items at Tar-jay the other night. Of course, I had to ride the motorized scooter around the store. Any excuse to ride that thing, and I'll take it! :-) Seriously, though, walking around the store at the end of the day was just not an option!

I have lots more pics of Auntie Ann's visit, which I hope to upload soon! I wasn't great about taking pictures while she was here (I did not even get out my DSLR!) but...I have some really cute ones of her with the girls. Those pictures (and the memories) are going to have to hold us all over until our next visit. Living far away from people you love can be really difficult sometimes. But I guess it just makes the time we do have that much sweeter.

New Wheels!

2011-10-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

We've had the new van for exactly a week now, and I am loving it! The road to this baby was quite bumpy. We started off by scouting out cars at Carmax...and even after I thought I'd found the perfect van there, Mr. M thought we could find a better price by going with a private party.

So, next we looked at a bunch of cars on Craigslist. We drove all over Los Angeles, including the Valley on a 100+ degree day. The best one we saw was a beauty in Van Nuys, but after a little bit of prodding, we realized that a deal too good to be true probably is. ;-)

Mr. M decided to hit a few car auctions, and see what turned up. And that is where we got this van! It's a 2011 Sienna, and it has everything we wanted! It also doesn't have a bunch of things that we didn't want (like a dvd/entertainment system). The last thing I wanted was for Paprika and Ginger to start asking me to watch DVDs everytime we got in the car. I love our daily sing-alongs of Raffi too much for that. Ha!

Anyhoo- I am sooooo relieved that we got the van. We now have space for Pavenzia when she arrives, and we can also drive around guests...and I can even carpool if I want! It's a suburban mom's American dream I'm living here. ;-) But it's good...I am really happy with it, and so proud of Mr. M for surprising me with such an awesome van! :-)

She Likes To Party!

2011-10-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

Daisy gets to take her E collar off on Sunday. She has already pretty much torn it apart, and it is hanging on by a thread...but it's still working.

Mr. M keeps asking her if she's been to a party because she's wearing a lampshade on her head. I don't think she is amused. Ha! :-)

36 Weeks!

2011-10-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

I am now 36+ weeks pregnant! Next week I will be full-term, which really means: any day now!

I feel large. It is hard for me to eat more than a little at at time because there is just no room in my stomach. So, frequently, I will eat and then I am hungry again an hour later.

When I wake up in the morning, I feel like a train has run over me. When I go to bed, it's the same. Actually, that's how I feel pretty much every moment of the day! Ha!

The baby is kicking a lot - and often I feel like she is going to burst through my belly button. She is most active at night (2am-ish), and likes to kick me a lot when I am sleeping. Not that I am sleeping much...going to the bathroom every 45 minutes to an hour takes care of that! ;-)

We spent Saturday over at Devon's house. She took these pictures of me, thankfully, since I hadn't gotten around to taking any recent ones myself! She also talked me into this photo, which I was really hesitant about...but what the heck. It's not too often I'm 36 weeks pregnant, right?

I am getting so excited to meet this baby. I have a lot of anxiety with this pregnancy, but I am doing my best to put it out of my mind and focus on the positive.

Oh, how could I forget to mention...we got a minivan on Thursday! So now we have something to drive that will fit us all. Mr. M got it at an auction, and it wasn't quite as sketchy as that sounds. Or maybe it was. The point is, we have some pretty sweet wheels that can carry us all and that is a good thing! I will post pics of that baby soon. It is beautiful. Mr. M did a fantastic job picking it out, and I am so proud of him (and can hardly believe it's our car!!!)

This week my friend Ann is coming into town to visit! Yay! The last time she was here was in July 2008 (when I was in the hospital with the twins). I am so excited to see her, and I am going to try to rally and not be tired, lethargic, or moody while she is here. Wish me luck!!! :-)

Halloween Baking Time!

2011-10-16T18:52:00.000-07:00

First things first, for everyone who is wondering...Daisy is doing much better. She is back to being her same old hyper-puppy, chewing on everything in sight, and wanting to play 24/7 self. She still has the lampshade collar on to keep herself from hurting her stitches. I took a few pitiful pictures of her last night with the lampshade on her head - I will upload them when I have a chance. You know, as a keepsake for her baby book. ;-)

In other news, we are in the full swing of Halloween around here. I am being a little more low-key about it this year because of my (ahem) physical limitations. It is hard to get up on top of the house and hang lights when you are 9 months pregnant!

So, Mr. M gets to decorate the outside of the house with the girls when he has a chance. The girls are really looking forward to it, and I did my part and bought all the decorations at Target! ;-)

My Halloween activities with the girls have been much more crafty. Baking brownies, drawing Halloween cards, just stuff like that. I am doing it the easy way this year (as if it is really different than any other year?!)...Halloween brownies in a box! But, they seem to love it just as much as the kind you labor over from scratch, and they taste just as good (well, probably they taste better!)

I also got a Halloween gingerbread kit that we are going to try out any day here. It's like a Christmas gingerbread house, but you know...spooky! We did one last year, and it was a huge hit.

The girls had a blast making this, and it was so easy. The Halloween pan really adds something, I think! ;-) I am thinking of using the pan to make banana bread, and other baked stuff. The girls got such a kick out of it.

Originally, I was going to frost the brownies with orange frosting (and I even bought it). But when we went to put on the frosting, we all agreed that it looked more like the fake cheese you get with nachos at the movie theater. So, we passed on that. Still, the girls were soooo proud of their little baking creation, and it was easy enough that we will probably repeat it again at least a few times before Halloween. What can I say, nothing goes better together than being pregnant and eating brownies! :-)

Happier Days!

2011-10-14T18:18:00.000-07:00

These pictures all taken last week, when canine happiness was at a much higher level than it is today.

Yesterday, Daisy got spayed. She is not a happy camper.

Her vet recommends the procedure at 6 months old, and she will be 6 months tomorrow. We could have waited longer, but with the new baby coming in a few weeks, it seemed like the best time to do it.

Well, I was totally unprepared for how sick and miserable Daisy would be. She has that horrible collar around her neck (the lampshade one) and it is driving her insane. She is on Tramadol and Carprofen, which I think are making her feel worse than she would feel otherwise.

Last night she spent the whole night crying, nonstop. In our bedroom. At 3am. At 4am. It was rough. That, mixed with Ginger's antics last night (let's just say she is a wild girl and no longer believes in diapers or using the potty)...

it was just a long night.

Then, Paprika asked me what was wrong with Daisy, and when I told her about the surgery, she started crying and was so upset for Daisy. "She won't be able to have puppies?! What have you done?!!! Why would you do that to her? Why did you let them hurt her?" Made me feel like the meanest mommy in the whole world.

So, I am trying not to feel guilty about it. But I just feel so bad for Daisy, so bad for Paprika...some days are just hard being a doggy mommy, too, I guess! Hopefully Daisy will be feeling better tomorrow and happy days will be here again!

Thirty Five!

2011-10-11T02:43:00.000-07:00

I am now 35 weeks pregnant! Overall, the pregnancy is going great (knock on wood). I can't believe that now I have about three to four weeks until we meet this little one. Okay, five weeks if I make it to my due date, but Paprika and Ginger were both delivered at 38 weeks...which is just three weeks away. Yikes!

Mr. M has been working a lot (a lot a lot a lot), which is why there are no pictures of me. I need to just set up the camera on a timer and take some because I really want to document how enormous I am getting! (On second thought...ha!)

I had a doctor's appointment with Dr. K on Monday, and everything checked out. He told me he is going out of town for four or five days right around my due date (gasp!) - which took me a little off-guard. But it's okay - it will work out.

I can hardly believe my due date is so close, though! We are getting down to the wire here, and I have just started realizing certain things...like we still have no minivan. No diapers ordered. No clothes for the baby.

No clothes for the baby, you ask? Well...let's see. Paprika was an August baby and Ginger was June. So all I have are summer newborn clothes! Nothing long-sleeved. Thankfully, shopping for baby clothes is one thing I do enjoy doing quite a bit. So, that has been distracting me from the gazillion other things I've going on right now.

Mostly, I just can't wait to meet her. I am starting to let myself get excited, and dream about how she is going to fit into our family.

Life has been keeping me busy, busy, busy!!! I am doing all the stuff it takes to run a household (some of it fun, most of it not so much - ha!) and making sure that Paprika and Ginger are having lots of fun.

I am doing a lot of homeschool type stuff with Paprika right now (in addition to her regular school work), and Ginger of course is right there in the middle of it, and she is actually picking up so much...she blows me away!

Most of what I'm teaching Paprika at home has to do with reading. It's so gratifying to see her catching on and figuring it out! Paprika has zero interest in math (scratch that...less than zero interest in math). She loves art, books, reading, and life science. Everything else she would rather leave alone!

I thought Paprika being at school half-days was going to give me a little break, but between all the drop-offs and pick-ups, and volunteering in the classroom, etc., I have come to the realization that having her in school is not a vacation for me! Ha!

I also signed up to be the classroom photographer. What can I say, it sounded better than some of the other jobs available - like class party planner...no thanks! :-)

Paprika also still has swimming lessons four days/week, and ceramics class once/week, in addition to school. That plus hanging out with friends keeps us really busy!

Ginger even made a new friend recently, and they are so very cute together. Ginger thinks all of Paprika's friends are her friends (why wouldn't they be?!) - so for her to have her very own friend is cute overload and makes my heart smile.

It seems like every day is just packed with things to do. I know it is making the time fly by...so I really want to just slow down a bit and enjoy these last few weeks of pregnancy! I am just really grateful to be where I am and to have the family that I have. Not every day is perfect, of course, but overall I am enjoying the sweetness of it all.

Paint Party!

2011-10-08T17:35:00.000-07:00

The girls have been painting a lot lately. After the sun goes down, we still have a few hours before night-night time, and I am always looking for things for them to do. One thing they both love to do is paint! So, we've been doing a lot of painting!

Paprika says she wants to grow up to be an artist. I told her that she didn't have to wait to grow up to be an artist. She's an artist right now.

Then, she said, "Well, okay, then when I grow up I will be an art teacher and all the boys and girls will come to my class to learn how to paint!"

Paprika spent the first hour of painting just mixing different shades and seeing what colors she could come up with. She wanted to make lime, she wanted to make turquoise...just stuff like that..and she wanted to mix all the colors with white to make various shades. Then, after about an hour, she painted this mermaid in about a minute because I said, "Will you paint me a mermaid?"

Then, after she painted the mermaid, she painted the most amazing sunset. I have to get a picture of it because it took her about an hour to do it, and she was so thorough and careful. She painted the whole piece of paper orange first (the orange sky) and let it dry. Then she painted a big red sun, a pond, grass around the pond, then a potato farm, peas, a fig tree, pink clouds, etc. I was so impressed with how long and hard she worked on it, and how she knew exactly what she wanted it to be.

Ginger loves painting, too. She made about ten paintings during this session. She said they were all paintings of "Fireworks" - which interestingly enough, is what Paprika used to tell me her paintings were about when she was this age.

Anyway, it was just fun. We are always drawing with crayons and markers, but somehow it's just a little bit more fun to get out the paints and go at it. Even if it is messier, the girls think it's special and love it that much more. Plus, the paint washes out of everything...mostly! ;-)

Miss Doodlebug!

2011-10-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

Daisy is now 5 1/2 months old. I don't know if she's getting more well-behaved, or I am just getting used to her. Ha!

She really is the sweetest dog, even at this mischevious puppy stage. She's so smart, and very eager to please. I have been setting up some major boundaries with her, and that has helped so much. One thing is that whenever she is with the girls, she has to be supervised. I know this will change as Daisy gets older and the girls get older. Right now, it's just the reality of it because Daisy can get way too excited, knock them over, and bite the girls (nip at them) because that's what she thinks playtime means.

Mr. M has been working very long hours lately, and at night it is so great to have my little Daisy cuddlebear to hang out with after the girls go to bed. I think that is her favorite part of the day! I feel like all I ever say to her is "No!" (no chewing the girls' toys, no jumping, no biting...no, no, no). But at night, when the house is all picked up and the girls are in bed, I don't have much of a reason to say no to her! :-)

Next week she goes in to get fixed just a few days before she turns 6 months old. Isn't that a wonderful early birthday present for her?! Haha. I am a little nervous about the surgery for her, but it's gotta be done.

It will be interesting to see how the dynamics change when Pavenzia arrives. I have gotten a pretty good system down juggling the dog and the kids...and training her is going really well, but things are still not perfect (obviously). I am sure that it's going to be a bit of a work in progress once Pavenzia is on the scene...so stay tuned!

October-Fest!

2011-10-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Paprika woke up and said, "Is it finally October?!!!" Halloween is her favorite event of the whole year (she has been preparing for this Halloween since November 1st of last year). It is bigger to her than Christmas and her birthday combined. ;-)

She knows Halloween is in October, so when I told her that it is now October, she about burst open with excitement. Mr. M works on the weekends (Dancing with the Stars schedule), so it was just me and the girls all weekend.

I am so much less mobile than I used to be, so we did a lot of Halloween creative crafty stuff around the house this weekend. Paprika had swimming, but other than that, we stuck close to home.

Paprika wrote four Halloween books (she dictated them to me, and I wrote down the words for her- and she illustrated all the books herself, of course!) That was her idea, and took up hours both days. Two of the books are actually pretty impressive (maybe I am biased- ha!). I am going to have to scan all the books- they are definitely keepers.

We also swung by Trader's and got a bunch of pumpkins. I really did not want to carve them myself (will leave that arm work-out to Mr. M), so the girls got to draw on the pumpkins. They each got one big one, and then they insisted they get one for Pavenzia and they both decorated that one for her (also their idea).

We got out all the costumes, all the Halloween decorations, made a bunch of new decorations out of construction paper...just stuff like that.

I also listed the girls' Halloween costumes from last year on Ebay. Sob! Memories!

Thankfully, I took enough pictures! Those were some of my favorite costumes ever.

This year, Paprika wants to be a mermaid and Ginger wants to be a brown puppy. A dark brown puppy. She actually wants to look just like her little favorite doggie. I am trying to talk her into something else because the cute dark brown puppy costumes out there are very few and far between. Besides which, she seems to turn up her nose at every one I show her (too light, too many spots, etc.) She's a girl who knows what she wants!

If I had my say, they would be peacocks or butterflies for Halloween. Ginger is now saying that she might consider being a mermaid for Halloween, but only if it is a mermaid just like Yaya (Paprika).

So, I am on the hunt...what can I say...having these two around makes Halloween pretty fun and exciting. :-)

P.S.

2011-10-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

(this picture is not mine- I snagged it from the internet...)

I forgot to mention that when we got to Disneyland, I literally bumped into Seal with my big belly. I guess he was there for the day with Heidi Klum and their four kids.

All I know is, I was walking and was distracted by his camera. He was carrying what looked like a black Lumix ZS10...which is the camera that I have that I broke the last time I was at Disneyland!

So, we were both walking and collided and he looked at me and said, "Oh, Sorry!" And I said, "No problem!" And then I looked way up (he is very tall) and saw it was none other than Seal. He was with his bodyguard and youngest son and I wanted to see Heidi, but I guess she was off with the other kids! Anyhoo- that was the end of our little encounter. Haha!

We have seen other celebs at Dland before, but that was the first time I literally crashed into one!

Think Of A Happy Thought!

2011-09-30T15:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a hard day. My mom got on a plane back to Indiana after spending two weeks with us! I dropped her off at the airport and cried the whole way home. The last time I saw my mom was last October at my Grandpa's funeral. And, I realize that the next time I see her might not be for another year or more.

On top of that, it's just been one thing after another. Little things that feel like they are pecking me to death - Daisy has fleas, the house has termites, we went van shopping...just stuff like that.

Oh yes, van shopping. Two days of torture (I was soooo grateful my mom was here to watch the girls while we embarked on that little adventure). It was definitely a wild goose chase, and might have involved the russ.ian ma.fia. I am not sure about that one...but needless to say, it was an adventure. And deserves its own post! (P.S. after all that, we don't have a van yet!)

Anyhoo- needless to say, yesterday we were all feeling a little down. But, then it was as if all the stars aligned and said to us..."Why don't you just go to Disneyland? You'll feel better!"

So, we did!

Paprika had the day off school for no explicable reason (teacher in service day). Mr. M had the day and night off work! Paprika didn't have swimming lessons or anything else scheduled. And our season passes are still valid! So, we threw the girls in the car and off we went!

The only snafu was me being about 34 weeks pregnant! I was thinking I might rent a scooter while we were at the park (like I did when I was pregnant with Ginger!), but then I decided not to (my cheap side won out)...and then I regretted that decision about an hour later. Ha!

But I was too far in the park to go back and rent a scooter, so I just kind of glided myself from ride to park bench for the rest of the day!

Ginger hung out with me while Paprika and Mr. M did the big kid rides, like the roller coaster!

We had fun just goofing around together by the fountains and people watching...

The Buzz Lightyear ride was a highlight. Mr. M scored so high on this ride that he maxed out the high score...

See?!!!

I, on the other hand, am convinced my scoreboard was broken because even though I tried really hard, Paprika still beat me by a few thousand points. I think even Ginger scored higher than me! Ha!

Being at the park was so fun, and it's hard not to feel happy and upbeat when you've got two of the happiest girls ever smiling back at you. By the middle of the day, we were all feeling better!

Paprika even braved a visit with Mickey Mouse - this was the first time she asked to meet him. I think all of our other Mickey Mouse encounters have ended in big tears...so this was a small milestone for our growing up girl!

We stayed until the park closed. That's the way we do it! :-)

Live From Hollywood!

2011-09-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

Since my mom has been visiting, I have been such an absent photographer and a sporadic blogger! Life has just been whizzing by, and I find so often that I miss those opportunities to reach for the camera because we have been that busy!

Tonight I took my mom to a taping of Dancing With The Stars. Well, I didn't go exactly...the only sitter I could get couldn't be here until 4, and you have to be at the show by 3:30...so we did the next best thing.

I dropped my mom off at the show, and then I took the girls to The Grove (the fancy mall next door) and let them tear apart The American Girl doll store and Pottery Barn Kids store while we waited! Ha!

My mom had a great time at the show, and had an amazing seat. I have been to the show a few times before ;-) so I didn't mind hanging out with the girls until it was done taping.

The minimum age for audience members is 10 years old- so before long, I know I'll be dragging the girls to tapings with me! :-) Mr. M finished up the show and met up with us over at The Grove.

I brought my big camera (the Canon 7D with the honkin' 24-70L lens)- but when it came time to push the double stroller and carry the camera, I threw the camera back into the car because it was too heavy. Then, everywhere we went, I kept regretting not having my camera with me. C'est la vie.

Yesterday, we went to the beach while Paprika was at school. I took my mom last week, but it was a little gray. She wanted to get her feet wet this time, so we did!

Here I am in my 33 week glory! :-)

Ginger did not want to walk in the sand, and insisted on either being carried by me or sitting on my lap the whole time. She is my 30 pound sack of potatoes, but a little snugglier than a sack of potatoes, I think!

On Sunday, my mom and I took the girls to Hollywood to my mom's favorite yoga studio where she knows everyone there. I don't think it would be a trip to LA for her without visiting this place. Anyhoo- I took prenatal yoga there for Paprika and the twins...and I took yoga there with my mom before I was pregnant. So, I've been going to this place about 11 years, and it is just crawling with celebrities (not bragging, just a fact).

The yoga studio just moved to a new location, so my mom wanted to check it out. We got there, and it turns out that they moved the cafe to the front of the studio. We opened the door to go inside, but it smelled like yoga (you know, that mixture of incense, patchouli, and a yoga mat). Well, Paprika would not go inside because the smell was just way too overwhelming for her.

There were these two semi-famous Hollywood actresses seated at the table by the front door, and they kept trying to get Paprika to go inside. After much coaxing on their part, it basically ended with Paprika running inside and putting her dress over her nose, exclaiming (loudly), "It smells in here!" To which the actress said, "No, it doesn't smell! It does NOT smell!" At which point Paprika looked at her like she was 10 kinds of crazy and said, "It does smell. Blech!" And then Paprika ran into the parking lot screaming.

What can I say, we always make such a nice impression wherever we go! Ha!

I Am Not A Soccer Mom!

2011-09-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

I think this is our third week of Fall swimming lessons. Over the summer, Paprika had swim lessons five days/week (M-F) for nine weeks of summer. Now that school's in session, it's a little different. She has a semi-private swim lesson (2 or 3 kids/teacher) Monday, Wednesday, and Friday...and then on Saturdays, she has a private swim lesson. So, now it is four days/week.

She loves it...understatement of the Century! :-)

I guess instead of becoming a soccer mom, I've become a swim mom...if such a thing even exists! Ha!

I am living at the pool lately, and it is kind of a chore to get everyone out the door and be there 4 days week (especially when we have so much else going on). But...it is so worth it.

For Paprika, swimming has been soooo therapeutic for her. It is good for her gross motor coordination. It calms her mind and her body. The water in the pool provides a lot of great sensory feedback for her. The small group lessons are great for socialization. It's one of those sports where you really cannot fake it. Sink or swim. She is learning to keep trying and keep practicing, even when things are hard. We have really started to see such a transformation in Paprika since she started swimming on a regular basis.

I just can't say enough good things about it! Which is why, even today when it was drizzling rain at the pool (and we still had swim lessons), I wrapped myself in a towel and sat on the sidelines as she had her lesson. :-)

There's a part of me that wants to take swim lessons myself 4 days/week! How great would that be?! But that is being a mom, right?! :-) I'm just really grateful that Paprika has found something she loves to do that is so good for her, too!

Clingy Baby!

2011-09-23T22:57:00.000-07:00

Ever since my mom showed up, Ginger has become the clingiest girl ever. She wants me (and only me!) every second, and gets so scared that if I am even a few feet away from her, I might leave. She loves my mom...as long as I am holding her.

Whenever she walks a few feet ahead, she always looks back to make sure I am there.

I think Pavenzia's arrival is going to be big for Ginger. Paprika was so secure, and not jealous at all when Ginger came on the scene. I am guessing Ginger will be a little different with Pavenzia. Already, Ginger is saying, "Venzia will be big sister, and I will be baby sister."

She is nursing more than ever, and wants me to snuggle her every night to fall asleep. I think six weeks from now, her world is going to turn upside down, and well...it will be interesting! :-)

32 Weeks!

2011-09-21T23:30:00.000-07:00

It has been such an eventful week!

Last Friday, I had a routine OB appointment with Dr. K. We talked about how sick I've been (pneumonia), and after listening to my lungs, he prescribed some antibiotics. Yay!

He did an ultrasound of Pavenzia, and it was so great to see her. She is getting so big! On Friday, she was 4 pounds 12 oz., which means she's probably over 5 pounds by now. She looks so much like Paprika and Ginger in the profile. I was so excited to see her.

My mom is visiting for two weeks, and so she stayed home with the girls while I went to my appointment. I have to say, it sure is nice having Grammy here. She is kinda spoiling me! ;-)

Friday night, Mr. M and I went out on a date while my mom watched the girls. We had dinner at Katsu-Ya and had a great night out on the town. Just fun stuff. We got home at 11, and the girls (and my mom) were all asleep. We were amazed! We thought we'd come home to find everyone awake, but nope- they were all sound asleep!

Around 4am, I woke up really sick. Severe stomach pains, vomitting, and I could not feel Pavenzia move to save my life. After about three hours, I decided to wake up Mr. M and that we should go to the hospital. Honestly, the first thing I thought of was a placental abruption, which I don't have to tell you, is very bad.

We got to the hospital around 8am, and found out that I had a bacterial infection that causes pre-term labor. I got hooked up to some IV meds, and got cozy in my room at the hospital.

Mr. M had to go to work that morning even though it was a Sunday (especially since the DWTS premiere was on Monday!) - so we drove separately to the hospital, and once I was checked in, he left for work. I was feeling pretty miserable, laying there in the hosptial bed all by myself not sure if the baby was okay, if I was delivering, or what - and it didn't help when Mr. M on his way out the door reminded me to make sure to validate my parking (all the way across the hospital).

I was having some contractions, but nothing too regular. They did an ultrasound to check out my placenta and make sure everything was okay with the baby...and it was! So, after they gave me a bunch of meds, sent me home with more meds, and kept me there for a few hours for observation, I got to go home! And yes, I did remember to validate parking before I drove myself home. ;-)

On the way home, I stopped at the donut shop because while I was laying there alone in the hospital, all I could think of was donuts. So, I got myself some and some fresh squeezed orange juice...and ever since then, it is really all I can think about!

I have pretty much given up on watching my weight this pregnancy. If I have to be loaded on a freight scale upon delivery, so be it. The donuts were really good (and I've gotten them every day since). They're worth it!

The baby is laying on my spine, I think just about every second of the day. I have such severe backpain, I don't even know how to describe it. I just keep saying to myself...6 more weeks. 8 at the most. Most likely 6 more weeks!

Having my mom here has been so very helpful. She has watched the girls quite a lot for me, let Mr. M and I go on two date nights so far, and picked Paprika up from school twice when I had appointments to go to! I could get used to this!

Tomorrow Mr. M and I are going to go look at mini-vans, so we can actually transport this baby once she is born! ;-) My mom is watching the girls for us, which will be a huge help. I don't have to explain to you what a circus it would be to take Paprika and Ginger car shopping with us!

After my mom leaves, I am pretty much on my own until the end of October, when Grandma Pat comes for a few days around Halloween, and then my dad and Nancy are coming for two weeks starting on November 1st, which should get me through the delivery. Also, my friend Ann is coming for a few days in October, which will be so great...but I highly doubt it will be relaxing. We always try to squeeze every bit of fun out of every moment we are together, so I doubt I am going to get one millisecond of rest while she is here! ;-)

So, I guess I just have to skate from one week to the next, and hope this baby girl lays off my spine a little bit! That, and I know I can count on the donuts to pull me through. Ha!

Two and a Quarter!

2011-09-18T06:30:00.000-07:00

Ginger, you are now 2 years 3 months old! Your default position is On and only rarely do you hit Pause. ;-)

You are 100% sunshine, 100% love, 100% energy, 100% fun, and 100% troublemaker. Yes, I know that's 500%! You, my dear, are larger than life!

You talk like a 4 year old. There is nothing you can't say, and you are forever surprising people with your vocabularly. You still look like a baby because your hair is so short, so everyone assumes you'd be saying Goo-Goo Gaga. But then you bust out with "I don't need the stepstool to wash my hands. I can do it myself," and everyone takes a step back and says: Woah!

When we were at Urgent Care the other day, you surprised everyone by counting to 50 as you raced around the waiting room. I often get the question: How old is she????, with a look of disbelief.

You love to draw and paint, just like your big sister. Your favorite thing to paint right now is: fireworks! You remember the 4th of July fireworks and ask almost on a daily basis if we can go back and see them again. You remember everything!

You want to do everything yourself, and you want to do everything that Yaya and her friends are doing. You think you are a very grown up girl, even though I know you are still my baby. You are very opinionated on what you are going to wear, what you are going to eat, where you are going to sit, and of course, where you are going to sleep.

You think all of Yaya's friends are your friends, and don't understand why you can't do everything they are doing right now. You are in one big hurry to grow up, and I am doing my best to keep you close and protected because even though you think you're ready for everything, I know you are still so little!

Right now Yaya is taking swimming lessons 4 days/week, and it is so hard for you to watch her jump into the pool and swim without you. Everytime we go, you bring your swimsuit, goggles, and towel, and then get so upset when I have to hold you back. At our pool, you have to be 3 years old to take swimming lessons, and that is a long time to wait when you're 2 years 3 months. Next summer, you'll be in the pool with her, and I know before long, you'll be all caught up to her. That's how you are - whatever anyone is doing, you want to do it just as well or better.

You are still a snuggle-bug, and cling to your mama (me) quite often. I really don't mind it one bit. You are still very attached to nursing, and although I've been working on weaning you for awhile now, you just do not want to let that go. Because I am so pregnant, I have set some limits for you, and you seem okay with it.

You still want me to cuddle next to you when you fall asleep at night, and so most nights I end up holding you until you fall asleep in your bed. You always want to be with people, and you love your big sister, Yaya, so much. You love sharing a room with her because it means a nightly slumber party with your very best friend!

You have a big sense of humor, and know how to make us all laugh no matter what else is going on in the world.

Ginger, we love you so much and we are so blessed to have you in our lives. You have been such a gift and such a joy to our family, and we are so glad you are our daughter. You brought so much laughter and hope back into our family - and we are so grateful and thankful for you.

You make us so proud, and we love you to pieces.

Love,
Mommy (Daddy, and your sisters, too!)

Can't Keep A Good Girl Down!

2011-09-17T01:39:00.000-07:00

Thursday was a "minimum day" at Paprika's school. Basically, that means that all the PM and the AM kindergarten kids go at the same time because it's a half-day. So, that means roughly 40 kids in one classroom with no extra teachers. Because the AM kinder class is all boys, and Paprika's class is almost all boys, that meant there were going to be 36 boys and 4 girls in her teeny tiny classroom on Thursday, and we had to be there at 8am instead of our usual 11:30.

For my quiet Paprika who does not like crowds or noise, I knew that would be very very hard on her. Plus, the change in routine and the early start time would add to the disaster.

So, we decided to stay home for the day. But, by noon-time, we were all bouncing off the walls and needed to get out of the house. Ginger is thankfully doing a lot better now (knock on wood) and I am, too.

So, the girls and I decided a trip to the big Aquarium was in order. We're members, so it's low stakes. If we got there and decided to turn around and come home, it would be no biggie.

We arrived at the Aquarium and discovered that we were just about the only people there. There were no school groups, and it was so quiet you could almost hear an echo when you said something. Seriously cool!

They just opened some great new exhibits. They had a lot of California Jellyfish, and they are always so cool to see in person. Like living lava lamps!

The girls had the touch tanks to themselves. Ginger wanted so badly to touch all the sea critters by herself, and so her calves got a great workout from standing on tiptoe for much of the afternoon, peering into the tanks, and feeling the squishy sea cucumbers and prickly sea stars.

Paprika did a great job looking after Ginger while I lingered behind. At one point, Ginger ran off and hid from us, and that was a bit scary. After that, I put Ginger back in the stroller and told her she had lost walking privileges for the day! Luckily, that was towards the end of the day, so I think she was probably ready to sit down anyway! Ha!

We were all fascinated by the sea dragons. They are like seahorses, but oh, about a million times cooler:

The girls made friends with the sea lions. We even got to sit front row for the sea lion show (but I didn't get pictures). Of all the times I've taken the girls to the Aquarium, this was our first time catching the sea lion show, if you can believe it. It was neat watching the "sea dogs" do their tricks!

The sea lions are definitely my favorite part of the Aquarium. I just want to jump in there with them! I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one! ;-)

We stayed until about 5 o'clock, then headed home because we were getting ready for a special guest to arrive...my mom flew in from Indiana! She is staying for two weeks, and it's been great having her here.

She watched the girls today (Friday) while I went to my OB visit (I will update about the appointment in another post). Dr. K even prescribed me some meds so hopefully I can get over being sick already! Yay!

I have to say, going to the Aquarium was just what I needed on Thursday. No crowds, a little sunshine, and a lot of fun. That is my chicken soup for the soul. ;-)

One Of Those Days!

2011-09-13T23:44:00.000-07:00

(These pics were taken on my birthday...about a week ago...so not today, in case you're wondering!)

Ginger has been coughing off-and-on for about three weeks now. It seems to be getting worse, and I really think she gave her sickies to me. Well, today I just decided that her "cold" was not going away on its own, so after we dropped Paprika off at school, I took Ginger to the doctor.

Our pediatrician (who we love) is still across town. I didn't have time to go see him since I had to be back to pick Paprika up at school...so we went to the Urgent Care around the corner from school.

I'm not going to go into how dismissive and condescending the doctor was to me (okay, I guess I just did kind of go into it). But, basically, after I had been waiting an hour in the waiting room with my sick two year old (and did I mention that I'm sick and almost 8 months pregnant myself!), he told me that he thought she just had a cold and to put a humidifier in her room. Of course, I have been running a humidifier in her room for the past week! Genius!

I kept pushing the doctor and told him that I thought Ginger had pneumonia because her symptoms fit, and her two best friends (Riley and Peighton) have both been sick with pneumonia recently, and Grandma Pat was just diagnosed with pneumonia yesterday, and we have been spending a lot of time with Grandma Pat lately. The doctor said that exposure didn't matter (okay????) - but said that if I really wanted, then he would give Ginger a chest x-ray just to rule out pneumonia.

So, long story short, three chest x-rays later (Ginger was not a fan of the x-ray machine and I couldn't be in the room due to pregnancy, which made her even more upset)....she has pneumonia! The doctor was like, "Yea, so she has a lot of fluid in her right lung that leads me to believe that she has pneumonia. Possibly bronchitis, too, but definitely pneumonia."

Like he came up with that all on his own!

So, after I yanked his med school diploma off the wall, we headed to the Target pharmacy to get Ginger's prescription filled before we had to pick Paprika up at school. Little did I know that today was Missoni Day at Target.

What is that, you ask?

Well, I guess the designer Missoni came out with a line at Target and it crashed the website for the whole day (it is still down as we speak) and caused a veritable frenzy at the stores. There is an article about it here: Washington Post.

We got to Target, and there was nowhere to park. I had to cross about 12 football fields to get to the front door. Then when I finally put my prescription in, they said it would not be ready for almost an hour...which meant that I had to go pick up Paprika at school, drive all the way back to Target to fill the prescription with both kids...and find a parking space all over again! Not to mention fighting for parking at Paprika's school. I swear I feel like all I do is look for parking!

So, then we went to Paprika's school and I had to go to the bathroom. Went in the girl's bathroom (that was an experience!) and as I leaned up against the sink, I got water just in that spot that makes it look like you peed your pants. Awesome!

Then we all went back to Target, fought the Missoni shoppers for parking (it was worse than the day after Thanksgiving, I am serious!)- and grabbed the prescription. Got back in the car and neither one wanted to sit in the carseat, as Ginger only wanted to sit in whichever carseat that Paprika was currently occupying...and earlier in the day, Ginger spilled water over both carseats, so Paprika didn't want to sit in either carseat! Double meltdowns! Awesome!

On the way home, Ginger learned how to unlock the car door from the inside, and as we were driving on a very busy street (in LA, that means 8 lanes of traffic), Ginger decided to throw open the car door while I was driving. So, I slammed on the breaks, ran around and slammed the door shut (barefoot, I might add), and got back in the car. After talking to Devon, I realized that I am just about the only parent who doesn't know how to child-lock the car doors. I made a mental note to read the car manual before our next outing! ;-)

So, that was pretty much our day. That with a few more meltdowns sprinkled in! I wish I could have seen the doctor myself today, but there was only time for one of us to get checked out and I wanted it to be Ginger - so I am going to talk to Dr. K on Friday about me being sick at my next OB visit. I am pretty sure I have a more serious case of whatever Ginger has, which means that I most likely have pneumonia! I am not even sure what I can take for that being pregnant and all. Double awesome!

I know it sounds morbid, but all I kept thinking when we were waiting in the Urgent Care lobby for an hour, or fighting our way through Target, or when I was running barefoot through Los Angeles traffic was "No one died today. So, that's a good day!" And it was a good day - I just think if I wanted to repeat a day I might choose a different one! Ha! :-)

31 Weeks!

2011-09-12T23:11:00.000-07:00

I am in the 31st week of pregnancy! I think I've been saying for a month that I'm 8 months pregnant (because that's what I feel like!)- but it occured to me today when I checked how many weeks I am, that 31 weeks is not quite 8 months! That is pregnancy brain for ya!

So, I am basically in my last week of being 7 months pregnant, right? I have been so sick with a terrible cold, and I could not take anything for it. I feel like I am rounding a corner, but am still not 100%! I have been really careful not to take anything that would affect the baby, even though there were days when she was pushing up my congested lungs so far into my throat that I could not breathe hardly at all!

I've gained about 40 pounds (!) and still have two months left to go. I have been working on cutting back on the sugar. I was drinking iced tea with sugar, but I gave it up last week when I was sick. I am sticking to water now...very cold ice water! I would prefer not to gain 20 more pounds in the next two months, but if it happens...so be it!

My big symptoms are that I am exhuasted and so tired, and of course, bending down to pick up the girls' toys has become quite the trick!

We are 90% set on her name, although I think we're still going back and forth about it. She is a big kicker and lets me know she's in there...which I love. I used a doppler in the early part of pregnancy (just a little bit, not too much) to let me hear her heartbeat. But now, I just have to lay back and I feel her kick, which is really nice and comforting.

Devon's first baby was born at 29 weeks, and her fourth baby was born at 30 weeks (almost 31 weeks)- and her girls are amazing. I know it's never good to have your baby born this early, but knowing Devon's girls gives me so much hope that if Pavenzia was born today, she would be okay. It also makes me more excited to meet her and find out who she is going to be!

Every day, Paprika and Ginger ask about Pavenzia. Today when we got home from school, Paprika asked, "Is Pavenzia inside the house taking a nap?" Well...um...no! Haha! Paprika is always drawing pictures of her, and asking about where she is going to sleep and where she is going to sit in the car (stuff like that). Paprika does not understand the concept of jealousy, and I have no doubt that she is going to be an awesome big sister, once again!

Speaking of where Pavenzia is going to sit in the car...I did buy new carseats (the Sunshine Radian Kids ones) because our Britax Marathons were too wide to fit three across in the backseat. The Sunshine Radians were advertised as fitting three across in the backseat of most any car, no problem. I read all the forums, measured the backseats, and everything.

Well, let me tell you, they do not fit! At all! I had really hoped to keep our regular cars (we have a mid-sized sedan and a little station wagon), but that's just not going to happen. So, now we are on the look-out for a minivan. Tick tock! I have a little bit of apprehension about buying a minivan before Pavenzia is born because we sold my old car (the one I'd had since college) a week before Vivian and Annemarie passed away - and we were just about to buy a minivan that week. So, I don't know. I guess I have a hang-up about it a little.

Ginger loves talking about Pavenzia and says things like, "I love Pavenzia and Pavenzia loves me!" If you ask her where Pavenzia is, she will point to my tummy and say "There's Pavenzia!" :-) I think Ginger will follow Paprika's lead and be very welcoming of the baby. I'm excited to see Ginger as a big sister...I think she will love it!

So, just about 8 weeks left now. I am doubting that I will go to my due date - I am thinking Halloween or early November, if history repeats itself! :-) I am getting so excited, and am just happy to be at this place in the pregnancy...and I am not taking a moment of it for granted!

Ahoy Ye Mateys!

2011-09-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

On Saturday while I was home being sick, Mr. M took the girls up to Santa Barbara. Our friends' son turned 7 years old, and they threw a Pirate and Mermaid themed birthday party for him!

Mr. M took Paprika to the party and dropped Ginger off at Grandma Pat's house, since the party was right in the middle of Ginger's naptime and we knew she would be jumping off the walls at the party. That gave Grandma Pat and Ginger some good one-on-one time, and Mr. M got to enjoy the party with Paprika!

Needless to say, all the photos are of Paprika...since Ginger was at Grandma's house, and I was at home and well, Mr. M was taking the photos! :-) Mr. M dressed up in a GREAT pirate costume- the long hair really makes him look the part. Ha!

The party was so well-planned, not a detail was missed. Here is a picture of the cake. Can you believe that whole thing is edible?! Amazing!

There were crafts:

And Face Painting:

Paprika had a mermaid painted on her face (of course!):

Balloon animals...this is a pink poodle, in case you couldn't tell! I swear, it really does look like a dog from the right angle. ;-)

Paprika loved holding the macaws at the party. She is such an animal lover...

I would say the party was a great success! Mr. M had a wonderful time and got to talk to a bunch of people he hasn't seen in awhile. Ginger had a great time with Grandma, and I think Grandma had a great time with Ginger...

So, all's well that ends well. Ahoy Ye Maties!

My Buddy!

2011-09-11T17:54:00.000-07:00

I am still so sick, and was sick yesterday, too. Mr. M took the girls up to Santa Barbara for the party, and I stayed home. Pics of their fabulous day will follow in another post.

I hung out at home with Daisy and rested my body and my voice. Daisy was so good all day - a really great companion. It made me see what she is like without the little kids around, and it was just such a world of difference. She was the perfect dog all day and she took such good care of me!

I really wanted to go see The Help in the theater - but with my coughing, I could tell that was a bad idea. So, I instead I rented Soul Surfer from Amazon video on demand. It was a surprisingly great movie...a definite recommend for a family-friendly movie (although I would probably fast forward past the shark attack if I watched it with young viewers). Anyhoo- it was just the perfect feel-good movie to give me a little pick-me-up during my pity party. :-)

I missed Mr. M and the girls so much. They were just gone about 11 hours total - but it's the first time the girls have been in a different city than me, and I was so worried the whole time. But, they got home safe and sound, and everyone had a great time...so it was worth it!

Now, I just need to start feeling better. I have no time to be sick! So, enough already! Ha! ;-)

Birthday Wrap-Up!

2011-09-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

As I have made abundantly clear, this is my birthday week! I had big plans to celebrate all week long (and write lots of thank yous and call people back)...but unfortunately, on Tuesday-ish, I got struck with a tremendous bug. And I am so sick. (And 31 weeks pregnant on top of it).

Like barely able to function sick. Every day, I think I will feel better, but then I wake up and feel worse. The first few days I chalked it up to pregnancy-related stuff, but no more. No way. I can't remember ever feeling so bad.

Today I woke up not able to talk...well, I can eek out a few words but I sound like a 12 pack/day smoker. I am coughing like crazy and can barely breathe. Walking is difficult. And yet...as y'all know, there is no time off when you're a mom. So, I have still been taking Paprika to school, and fixing lunches, and cleaning up messes...all the while wishing I could just lay down and die (or at least just rest).

We are supposed to go to a party up in Santa Barbara that I have been looking forward to for a whole month. It's a mermaid/pirate party and I just know it's going to be fabulous. But, I can barely tie my shoes at the moment or breathe without coughing myself into a fit, so it looks like the family (who are all fine) will have to go without me.

Sigh. Do you feel a pity party coming on? I sure do! Ha!

This kind of reminds me when Mr. M went to the Emmy's two days after Paprika was born (and won). Although I loved being at home by myself with a two day old infant, I still had a little pity party for myself. Especially when I saw the pictures afterwards. ;-)

So, this week has been interesting. I wasn't as sick on my actual birthday (Wednesday) as I am now. Mr. M pulled out all the stops, and made me feel really special. Just little stuff, like he woke up early and went to the grocery store, and then took Paprika to school so I didn't have to do drop-off that day. And he got me a card from the girls, and my favorite flowers and a sweet balloon.

It used to be all about fireworks and candlelit dinners, and now I swear nothing makes me happier than when he goes to the grocery store! It's the little things! :-)

I picked Paprika up from school, and the girls had a good time playing in the backyard together.

I really wanted to surprise them and take them to Disneyland for my birthday (like we did last year)...but I was just way too sick.

So, we just had a simple little day at home, and then cake after dinner. Yum!

So, Happy Friday! I plan on laying in bed as much as possible this weekend, even if it does mean that I miss going to the party. There are worse things. I realize that. I have perspective. But, I am still going to have a party at home - my very own pity party! Ha!

My Little Luna!

2011-09-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend I spent some of the best money I have in a long time. ;-) I got this new to me double stroller on Craigslist. After the covers spent a few rounds in the washing mashine, and with a lot of oxyclean, it looks as good as new!

We have our big BOB double stroller - but it doesn't fit in the trunk of our car without me disassembling it (taking all the wheels off). So, everytime I went to use it, it would take forever to put it together and then take apart. So, I never used it...except for big stuff, like trips to Disneyland.

I also have a single Maclaren stroller- and I was using that for school drop-offs and pickups...but there was always a fight over who got to ride in it. If Paprika wanted to ride in it, then Ginger did, too. But if Paprika didn't want to ride, then Ginger would absolutely NOT ride in it. ;-)

It was driving me insane!

So, as you can see, Ginger made short work of making this "choo-choo" (what she calls strollers) her very own. She put Brown Puppy in there...and then back-up Brown Puppy (the one I found on Ebay in case Brown Puppy got lost) also had to ride.

I think I've mentioned it before, but Brown Puppy is a stuffed animal Mr. M. gave me when we were dating about 12 years ago, and it is Ginger's most beloved possession. Since they don't make this stuffed animal anymore, I found it on Ebay and planned on hiding it from her and only giving it to her if Brown Puppy went missing. But of course, she discovered it and now she needs both Brown Puppies! Ha!

So, now school drop-offs and pick-ups are much easier on me. I strap Ginger in and then Paprika sits next to her.

Now, none of the other kindergarten kids ride in a stroller to class. But Paprika really does not care. One thing I have noticed about Paprika is that she really does not care what anyone else thinks. Like at all.

We were worried that she might start picking up bad habits at school, but when I mentioned this to her OT, our therapist pointed out that Paprika has not picked up or modeled any of the other typical behaviors of her peers for the past three years of her schooling (stuff like their eating habits, etc.)...so why would she start now?

And it is so true. She really marches to the beat of her own drum. I always thought I would have a Hermione for a daughter...mostly because that's who I was until I was about 25 years old (obnoxiously so). But somehow I ended up with a Luna Lovegood. A true Luna Lovegood.

And I couldn't be happier about that. :-)

Crazy Daisy!

2011-09-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we took Daisy Doodlebug to the vet for her last round of shots. I feel like I've been living at the vet's office these past few months! We just have her spay left to do (that will be mid-October). Phew!

She is getting so big! She weighs 33 pounds now, according to the vet's scale. We got her when she weighed 6 pounds!

We also weighed Ginger and Paprika on the vet's scale, too...just for fun. Ginger is 28 pounds and Paprika is 47 or 48 pounds. I can't believe Daisy already outweighs Ginger! Eeek!

Do you remember when Daisy was this big?

And now she is this big! (And still growing!)

Life with Daisy is getting a little better. She is still a really big troublemaker. We are training her, and it's going so-so. She is so smart and learns most things super quickly.

The only issue that really really really bothers us about Daisy is that she bites our kids. And we have done every training trick in the book to try to get her to stop that behavior but she still wants to use our kids as her own personal chew-toys. Not us adults, just the kids.

I know she is just playing, but it drives me NUTS! Nuts, I tell you!

And before you tell me to establish pack structure, or have the kids walk through the door first, or give her a chew toy to divert her, or have the kids feed her, or have the kids walk her, or tuck Daisy's gums under her teeth so she feels it when she bites, or yelp when Daisy bites the kids, or spray her with a water bottle, or anything else...let me tell you, I have tried it ALL!

Daisy is 4 months old now...she'll be 5 months on September 15th. I know part of this nipping is just typical puppy teething. And part of it is her trying to establish her place in the pack. It's kinda weird but ever since Daisy grew bigger than Ginger, she is being nicer to her. Daisy is the most rough with Paprika. It's like she knows Ginger is a little more fragile.

So, that's the status on Daisy. We still love her. We are still keeping her. She still drives us crazy sometimes (and how she earned her nickname "Crazy Daisy!"). She makes us lose our minds some days, but she is cute! Did I mention that she is cute?! And I'm hopeful that we can train her to be a little lady, too...the sooner the better!

You Say It's Your Birthday!

2011-09-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday! This is the 12th birthday I have spent with Mr. M, the 5th birthday I have celebrated with Paprika, and the 2nd birthday I have spent with Ginger.

It's also the first time I've been pregnant on my birthday!

I am now 30+ weeks pregnant, and in that stage of really just wanting to lay down and sleep for the next 8 weeks...and simultaneously freaking out about the fact that maybe, possibly...hopefully...a new baby will be joining our family in a short period of time.

And while I feel a little like this on my birthday:

I also kinda feel like this...just keeping it real! ;-) Yup, this pretty much sums up my life at the moment:

(both photos are from my new love, Pinterest!)

Speaking of Labor...our Labor Day weekend was interesting. ;-) (That was a good segue, was it not?)

On Saturday morning, Mr. M took the girls swimming.

Paprika is now 48 pounds (which might as well be 50). She also has low muscle tone (hypotonia), so she feels more like 100 pounds than 48.

Anyhoo- Paprika loves to be thrown in the pool, so Mr. M did it about a gazillion times and threw his back out. Majorly. He was in horrible, awful pain from Saturday until...well, I think he still is in pain!

But, it was worth it to make this girl happy...right?! (I think we're all still debating that.) Ha!

More on the weekend later, and my b-day, too! Paprika is at school right now, and Ginger is taking a nap. Which means, I get to pee all by myself! Oh, I can hardly stand the excitement!

Sharing A Room (and School Sagas)!

2011-09-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

I got a quick snapshot of Paprika and Ginger on Day 2 of school. That day, I drove them there! Ha! The parking situation is a bit of a nightmare- the morning kindergarten gets out 5 minutes before the afternoon class starts, so there is absolutely nowhere to park. The school doesn't have a parking lot, and we are all expected to walk up to the classroom and wait with our children...and Paprika's classroom is the hardest to get to and we have to shimmy through all the waiting kids and parents (100 or more) just to get to her class. So, by the time I drive to school, park, get the kids out, find the class, and wait, say goodbye, tear Ginger away from school, load her back in the car, and drive home...it takes the better part of an hour. Same for pickup! School is only 3 hours long, so it all seems a little silly (and exhausting!)

I have half a mind just to show up to school 15 minutes late every day just for easy parking! Not really, but it has crossed my mind!

I was soooo worried about Paprika starting developmental kindergarten. Her class is all boys except for her and two other little girls. She has made a friend in one little girl, and it makes her so happy to go to school and see her. If it weren't for this little girl, I think Paprika would be miserable. So, I am crossing my fingers and toes that the little girl stays put in the class. Ha!

Paprika told me that the boys in the class are really rowdy, don't pay attention, fight, run around, yell...just a million things. She said that every day the boys scream at each other, and she goes to the corner and puts her hands over her ears so she doesn't have to hear them. That broke my heart.

But then I told her that I would move her to a different class if she didn't like it, and she said that she loved her class and didn't want to move to a different class. So, I am taking that as a good sign! I am also keeping tabs on how she feels, and we'll just take it one week at a time.

The other big change for the girls is that they are sharing a room now! I was fine with having them in separate bedrooms, but they both want so badly to share a room. Ginger was crying every night when she went to bed in her old room (she done with the crib, and wanted to sleep with Yaya). Paprika doesn't like sleeping alone either.

So, every night we say that if they are really good, we will let them sleep together in Yaya's room! We kept Ginger's crib assembled in the other room, so if they are troublemakers, then Ginger gets taken back to the crib. We've only had one instance of troublemaking (by Ginger), and we took her back to her crib for three minutes before we brought her back to Yaya's room (she was soooo upset to go to her crib). Since then, I am happy to report there has been relatively little troublemaking! ;-)

We took the bunk beds apart and made two separate twin beds out of them, which takes up almost the whole bedroom! Ha! But they love it.

The downside is that now both girls aren't sleeping quite as well at night. When one wakes up in the morning, inevitably they wake the other one up. But, that's getting a little better.

Also, this sleeping in a twin bed thing has pretty much meant the end of Ginger's nap during the day. I put her in there for a nap, and when I come in 5 minutes later, she's turned on all the lights and taken all the clothes out of the dresser. Or taken all the princess dresses out of the closet and put them on. Or thrown all the books off the shelves.

So, I guess I need to figure that out or just let her give up her nap altogether. Paprika was even younger when she stopped napping completely (she stopped napping before her second birthday). I know it is crazy early, but that's just how our kids are. We call them "sleepless elite" because they really only require a very very small amount of sleep. It's a real thing...here's an article from the Wall Street Journal about that. Anyway, I always worried it would affect Paprika's growth, but seeing as how she is as tall as an average 7 year old (at age 5), I think she's done okay.

The upside to sharing a room is that it makes story time at night that much easier! I just need to find some books that engage both girls. The ones that are good for Ginger are too easy for Paprika, and Paprika's books are too complicated. So, again, we're figuring that out.

One of the sweetest things is seeing them both sleeping soundly when we go in to check on them. This picture was taken basically in the dark with my shutter all the way open (and my flash off). The light in the corner is the girls' nightlight, which was the only source of light in the room.

The girls want to sleep with Daisy in their bedroom, but so far that's not working so well because Daisy is the biggest troublemaker of all! ;-) But who knows, maybe soon. A few months ago, I never thought these two would be sharing a room now, and Ginger would be out of her crib! Next thing you know, you'll probably be seeing a picture of a Daisy's dog bed in between their two bunks. Ha!

First Day Of K!

2011-09-01T12:37:00.000-07:00

We did it! We made it through the first day of Kindergarten! :-) After me obsessing about it for the last six months, did you think it was ever going to get here? Ha!

Paprika really wanted to walk to school, so that's what we did! Mr. M came home from work, and the four of us made the trek together. Walking to school was actually the last thing I wanted to do (it hurts for me to walk at this point) - but I figured the vestibular movement and carrying the backpack (heavy lifting) would be really helpful to Paprika sensory-wise. Plus, it really made it so special, so it was worth the pain and agony! Ha!

The school is up a great big hill from us, which I had kinda forgotten about. It was like climbing a mountain and halfway through I wanted to lay down and die. Seriously.

I was holding Paprika's hand as we were walking up that great big giant hill, and all of a sudden she looked up at me with the most deadpan expression. She said: You know what I really wish I had? Wings!

I laughed so hard and agreed with her because it would have been so nice to fly to school!

We got there a few minutes early and waited outside her classroom. Ginger really thought that she was going to kindergarten, too. She even insisted on wearing a backpack. It's Paprika's preschool backpack, and what do you know, it fits Ginger perfectly. So, Paprika gave it to her as a little present.

The kids don't have cubbies- they just hang their backpacks on hooks. Paprika hung her backpack up, and Ginger insisted that she hang her backpack up right next to Paprika's. There was just no way around that! Paprika's is the blue one with birds, and Ginger's is the swirly pink one to the left...

Then, the teacher opened the door and ushered the kids inside and promptly (within 15 seconds) closed the door. We didn't even get to say goodbye! All the parents were shocked, but after I thought about it for a second, I understand why. They didn't want the parents getting all misty-eyed and crying and upsetting the kids. And really, this is who it's about, right? The kids...not the parents!

For about 20 seconds there, it was really chaotic, and Ginger was trying to get into the classroom as we were trying to say goodbye, and we lost track of her. It happened in an instant, and we could not find her to save our lives. Mr. M was running one way and I was running the other, and we both thought that she had probably run into the parking lot...and I was freaking out!

Well, it turns out that when she saw she couldn't go into Paprika's classroom that she figured she must be in a different classroom, and she had gone and lined up with a different kindergarten class. So, there she was just waiting in line like it was her first day! Ha!

Mr. M went back to work, and then I took Ginger home for a little lunch. Ginger laid her head down on the table and looked up at me with the most pitiful eyes, and said: I miss Yaya so much.

Me, too, Ginger.

We did some crafts together and read books, and before you know it, it was time to go get Paprika. Of course, I got to school early and peeked in the windows when no one was looking to see what was going on! Then, when Paprika got out, I grilled her for the next four hours about her day. Sorta. Not really. Okay, maybe just a little bit!

The things I found out were very interesting, and I will save that for my next blog post. Let's just say that there is never a dull moment around here lately!

The Build-Up!

2011-08-31T13:15:00.000-07:00

We've been ramping up to Kindergarten these past few weeks (I know you're probably sick of me talking about it, but it's been a big deal around here!)

I know I have talked about our daily picnics on campus we had all summer long. I did that so Paprika would be familiar with the campus and it wouldn't seem like some big, scary place on her first day.

The school has had a couple of social mixers for just the kindergarten classes to get the kids acquainted. There was a popsicle social a week or so ago, and we went to that. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but it was a disaster!

We got to the school, and they hadn't mowed the grass in a few weeks, so the grass was long. Well, Paprika did not want to walk in that long grass because it itched her ankles. Then, when she finally did walk across that big open field, everyone was eating popsicles (with Red Dye 40, I might add!) and she of course wanted a popsicle but didn't want to actually eat the popsicle. So, as you can imagine, the popsicle got melty...and that didn't go over well!

I asked her if she wanted to meet the other kids, and she said "I just want to go home and play with my dolls!" I could tell she was on the verge of an uncontrollable meltdown, so that's what we did...we went home and she played with her dolls and she was happy.

Now, of course Ginger wanted to stay at the school, and she was enjoying her popsicle very much! I think Ginger thinks she is the one going to Kindergarten, and is enjoying these socials more than any of us!

When I asked Paprika about it later, she said she had such a wonderful time at the popsicle social and could we go back again. Ha!

Yesterday was the Kindergarten ice cream social. It was in the middle of the day, and Mr. M took a long lunch to come with us, since I knew that there was a good chance Paprika was going to have a hard time with it and I was going to need a little help.

We got there early, so Paprika wouldn't be overwhelmed with an onslaught of people. Well, turns out all the older elementary kids were hanging around (about 70 of them) right by the check-in tables waiting to give campus tours. So, while we thought we were walking into a calm setting that would slowly get busier, it was chaos from the start!

The good news about getting there early was that we got to talk to Paprika's teacher for awhile before the other parents arrived, which was great.

Once other families started arriving, Paprika found a quiet nook and buried her head in a book for the rest of the social. At the end of the social, they had all the kids and parents go into a classroom to meet the principal and the teachers, but Paprika just could not do that. She was totally overwhelmed, and getting her down off the meltdown ledge was hard...so I am really glad Mr. M was there because he took charge of Ginger and I was able to get Paprika home. She was kind of a wreck the rest of the day.

Ginger had a great time, of course, and is talking about how excited she is to go to school with Yaya and start kindergarten! ;-)

The whole thing from start to finish was one hour...but it seemed like a whole day! The social was actually really cute, and they gave out T-shirts to everyone that said the class of 2024! So, when we got home, Paprika wore her new shirt and again was so excited to go back to Kindergarten.

So, we will see how today (her first real day) goes! I will be reporting back later...fingers crossed!