Mommy definitions

Compromise: (noun) - allowing your 3-year-old to wear a swimming suit on a snowy day, just as long as she's wearing snow bibs and moon boots as well.

(My apologies for the quality of the photo - it was taken with my phone. Its hilarious though. My brother said she looked like she belonged on an episode of My Name is Earl)

Potty talk

What is it about being 3 and 4 that makes potty humor hilarious? My kids are at the height of this stage and it is driving me insane. Every time they pass gas, laughter erupts. And every chance they get, they throw a "potty" word into conversation.

Maybe it is because their recent potty training accomplishments are on their mind. At their age, being potty trained is probably their biggest accomplishment to date. Maybe they just like talking about it because it reminds them of how grown up they are.

Or, maybe its just funny, and I'm an old fuddy-duddy and just don't get it.

Either way, I'm hoping this phase passes quickly (no pun intended).

Last night in the bath, Bryn was making up her own funny versions to the opening song for the Playhouse Disney show "My Friends Tigger and Pooh". Since the word "pooh" was already in the lyrics, all she had to do was replace the word "Tigger" and she had a funny song. She sang about her friends "pooh and pee", "pooh and fart", and then "pooh and penis" (that last one I don't get). She and G were laughing so hard that one of them got the hiccoughs. Tears were streaming down their chubby little cheeks.

Do kids grow out of this stage, or am I only in for years of potty songs? I do remember the whole:

I'm going to first, and my pants are going to burst diarrhea (ugh, ugh) diarrhea . . . song that my friends and I used to think was first-rate comedy.

Ummmm, yeh. It probably isn't going to get much better anytime soon.

Wedding meme

 

I copied this from Kristine (My Men on the sidebar – posting from email again).  It was fun to read hers, so I’m totally copying it.  I actually copied many of her answers, because our weddings were so similar – including the fact that they were only 2 weeks apart.

1) When was your wedding day? - August 17, 2001

2) What day of the week was it? – Friday

3) Did you get married in a church? - No, we were married in the Salt Lake Temple

4) How many in your wedding party? – I had 3 bridesmaids and he had 3 groomsmen.

5) How many guests were invited to your wedding? – I don’t even remember.  Most of my family was unable to attend the actual wedding inside the temple and so they waited outside (for those of you unfamiliar with LDS customs, only worthy members of the church are allowed in the temple).  The room inside the temple was packed, mostly with my husband’s family.  I think we invited 500 to the reception, but planned for 300.  We started running out of food at the end, but I don’t know what the actual count was.

6) How long did you wait to tie the knot after your proposal? - About 4 months

7) Did you register for gifts? - Yes, we registered at Target and ZCMI.

8) Who did you hire as your photographer & videographer? - Barrus Photography (just like Kristine) did my bridal portraits, wedding pictures, and video.  I wasn’t super impressed with them.  They showed up late and didn’t even get a picture of the entire wedding party.  I did love that they got words of advice from my friends and family in the video, and my kids love watching the “mommy and daddy movie.”

9) Did you have a DJ or a band? – We were supposed to have Ben’s cousin do our music.  He’s a very talented singer/songwriter.  He planned to do it for free as our present, but about a week before the wedding he was offered a paying gig and he totally stood us up.  We ended up with nothing.  I was so bummed too – I really wanted to dance.  I’d even paid for a larger dance floor.

10) Did the father walk the bride down the aisle? – There are no aisles in temple weddings.  But my dad was there, crying like a baby.  I don’t think he ever thought I was going to get married.

11) What color were the bridesmaid dresses & groomsmen vests? – The girls wore purple, mothers wore butter yellow, and the guys wore black tuxedos.

12) Who was the Maid Of Honor? The Best Man? – My sister Jen was my maid of honor (I guess, technically she was a matron of honor) and my husband’s best friend Jon was the best man.  The rest of the line included my (now ex) sister-in-law, and my best friend Joni.  The other 3 guys were his brothers.

13)What were your colors? – purple and butter cream yellow.

14) Did the bride have a bridal shower? – Yes – 4 actually.  I had a family shower, a friend shower, a shower at work, and one from my mom’s friends (they have a tradition of throwing showers for all their friends daughters).

15) What type of limo did you get? – No limo.  We did take a horse-drawn carriage from the reception to the bed and breakfast that we spent our first night in.

16) What type of wedding gown/tux did you two wear? - My dress was a simple, short-sleeved gown with some subtle stitching and beadwork.  I actually didn’t like my dress at all.  I had a totally different one picked out, but my mom liked the one I got much better.  She talked me into getting the one I got instead, but I never really liked it.  I thought it made me look fat.

17) How was the weather? - It was a very hot August day but slightly overcast.

18) Where did you go on your Honeymoon? – We took a Caribbean cruise that left from New Orleans.  We were able to spend an entire day in The Big Easy before the cruise left.  We visited Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel on the cruise.  It was an amazing trip.

19) What was your favorite part of your wedding day? – Our wedding wasn’t until 4pm, so I got up late and was able to have my hair and make up done at the salon.  Our lunch was at noon and was just down the street from the temple so we just walked.  The reception was next door to the temple as well, so we were able to walk there.  It was all very relaxing and easy.

20) How long have you been married? – 7.5 years

21) What was the most memorable "bridezilla" moment? – I was the opposite of bridezilla.  In fact, I was way too passive about the whole thing.  I had never been the type of girl who dreamt about her wedding day, and I had too few opinions about how I wanted stuff. 

22) What was your most memorable wedding-related mental breakdown? – I don’t remember ever having one breakdown.  (again, way too passive about the whole thing)

23) What would you change about your day? – I didn’t eat at my reception (other than a bite of wedding cake) and I was starving by the time we got back to the room.  I also would be much more opinionated.  I really wanted my bridesmaids in black, but my mom said it looked like a funeral.  And I really wanted just red roses, but my mother-in-law convinced me that I should do lots of different flowers.  I also (as stated above) hated my dress, and was really uncomfortable all day.  I don’t even like looking at the pictures.  I wasn’t really upset at the time, but since I’ve had 7 years to think about it I would do things differently and stand up for what I really wanted.  I’m not really upset about it now either, but I do wish I could have changed some things.

 

I also think that I would have tried to have some type of civil ceremony in addition to the temple ceremony so that my family could have been a part of my wedding.  Only my parents and a handful of extended family were able to attend the wedding – the rest waited outside, including all my siblings, their spouses, and my elderly grandparents who had travelled from Maryland.

24) What was your most memorable Wedding moment? – This may sounds funny, but I remember very little from my actual wedding day.  The whole day was like a blur to me.  There are a couple of things that stick out in my mind though:  Our reception was on the top floor of the JSB, overlooking the temple, looking west.  During the reception, there was the most amazing sunset. It was breathtaking.  I also had a lot of friends who live out of state come and surprise me, that I had no idea were going to be there.  It was a great surprise.

 

Oh, and one more thing.  My (soon to be) husband was late to the wedding lunch.  Everyone kept asking where he was, and I was worried he wasn’t going to show up.

Change

It is snowing right now, but over the weekend it was in the 60s and sunny. The air had a definite warmth that held the promise of spring, and my daffodils responded by popping open overnight, all at once. There are now fat little buds on the trees in my yard, that will be open any day. I even ran outside - in just shorts and a short-sleeved shirt - and actually felt warm. I spent most of the weekend outside, and I found myself, more than once, proclaiming that I love spring. And its true - I do love spring. I love the promise that it brings, that my flowers and trees will come to life again. The grass will green up, and it will be warm enough for the girls to ride bikes without coats on.

It may sound funny to hear me admit that I love spring, especially to those of you who remember me declaring my undying love for winter on a few months ago. But it is true. I think that autumn is actually my favorite, but I love all the seasons (for the most part - summer does tend to drag on and on). I think I really just love the change. Maybe I get bored or something, but there is no way I could live somewhere like Phoenix or California where the seasons really don't change that much. I think I'd get bored.

I recently heard (or read) somewhere that the instances of depression are higher in placess where there are not 4 distinct seasons, and I can see how that is true. I'm not saying that I've been depressed, but I've definitely been in a rut over the past few weeks. Just this past weekend, I've felt a renewed energy to get back on a running program, to actually clean my house, to start a financial plan that makes sense in the economy, and to just live better. I like the change, and it feels good.

Blump?

I was recently accused of being in a blump - a blogging slump for those of you not familair with the LINGO. ;)  While I have defintiely not lived up to my blogging and blog stalking responsibilities, I don't know that it really has been a slump.  I actually miss it - especially checking in with all my friends.  In fact, I'm suffering some withdrawls.  Seriously!  But, my internet at work has been down for 2 weeks now, and that is when I do the majority of my stalking.  And posting.  So, I'm far behind and sad.  How are y'all doing anway?  Good I hope.

 

I have been checking in a bit via BlackBerry.  But have you ever tried to do anything other than check the weather and Facebook via handheld?  It pretty much sucks, and makes my thumbs ache.  I'm hoping to get things fixed soon.  But, I know my internet at work really isn't priority #1, and me asking them to fix it so I can get back to blogger really doesn't sound good (I actually use my internet for lots of work related things too, so it does suck).

 

But, other than having another nasty cold, things are good.  I did try running outside on Saturday.  It wasn't very pretty.  My legs felt great, but my lungs burned.  I spent the majority of the 4 miles feeling like I was going to puke or suffocate (or both), and I haven't run since. 

 

I also got G registered for kindergarten.  I can't believe my little girl is going to school!  She seems too little, but I do know that she's totally ready.  We have year-round school where we live, and I wanted to make sure to get our Track request in early, although they claim they don't make assignments on a first come/first serve basis.  It still makes me feel better.

 

And speaking of suckage, this is my post.

Disney World

A few of the 170 pictures I took in Disney:


The princess pictures are terrible - never again will I let my husband be in charge of the camera. I'm just disappointed because we spent so much to eat at the princess lunch.
In line at Toy Story. It was the only ride that had a wait - after about 45 minutes, 3 of the 4 kids had to go potty, so we got out of line to run to the restrooms. We did get back in line too - after jumping in front of about 5 million people. Let me just say how much fun that was (but the Disney employee said it was ok).
Bryn at Minnie's house.

It was really cold there for 1/2 the week - even for us who left snow. We had to go and buy hats, gloves, and warmer jackets. But it did mean fewer crowds.




This was after one of the Sea World shows. Bryn was in heaven because the cute boy star of the show held her on his lap (he was cute).

One of the highlights were the flamingo paddle boats in Sea World.
We also had lunch at the shark restaurant in Sea World. We did try to eat in the condo most meals, and packed lunches almost every day. It was fun to splurge a couple of times though.



Bryn's curls are amazing in the humidity. It almost makes me want to move. Almost.


On the very last day, it finally warmed up. We let the girls put their swim suits on, and we rode the rapids ride in Animal Kingdom over and over and over again. It was fun.

Confession time

I've got to come clean:  it has been over 3 weeks since I've gone for a run.  I've wanted too, and I've thought about it often, but it just hasn't happened. Between having pneumonia and the mother-of-all-sinus infections (that made pneumonia feel like nothing) and then being on vacation, it just hasn't happened.  I tried to run Monday, but I just wasn't feeling it - so I setteled for 2 hours of walking on the dreadmill at an incline of 3.5.  I don't know what is wrong, but I'm just not "feelin' it".  My motivation is gone, and its starting to scare me.  I'm committed to a team relay in June, and I don't want to look like a fool.  I want to race.

 

I've been really struggling with my diet too.  Being on vacation was difficult, and I obviously cheated quite a bit, but now that I'm home, I still cannot find the will power to eat well.  I actually did fairly well yesterday until I got home.  I was starving, and as I was fixing dinner, I started snacking on some left over chocolates the girls had.  Before I knew it, the kids' candy was gone, and I'd moved on to left over Halloween candy.  It was stale and disgusting, but I ate 3 or 4 pieces before I stopped myself.  I've been afraid to even step on the scale - I'm sure I've gained, but I don't want to know.

 

Someone help me please!  How do I get my motivation back?

I'm baaaaaa-ack

. . . and I survived. I'm a little tired and really broke, but I made it. And (believe it or not), I actually managed to enjoy myself. Not necessarily because I was in Disney World per se, but because my kids had a blast. I took over 170 pictures that are still on my computer at home. But I did scan in a couple of pictures taken at attractions.

G loved every minute of it. She is a thrill-seeker and isn't afraid of anything. She rode Tower of Terror seven times in a row, and did every big ride that she could get on - usually multiple times. Her favorite ride was the Expedition Everest, but she only got to ride that one five times (it was getting late). She never stopped smiling.


Brynlee wasn't quite tall enough to ride most of the "big" rides, but she still had fun. She loved the princesses. She also really enjoyed the animals at Animal Kingdom and Sea World.

I'll get more pictures later, and do a much better blog post when I get my head above water.