a proud moment

Anyone who knows me knows that I am, to put it in a nice way, interested in the conversations around me. Particularly those of strangers. Other names for this include nosy, nibby, nibnose, nibshit, etc...

At a restarant I usually know what the people behind me are talking about, what they order, how their day was, etc...

At a playground I love to listen to other mothers discuss their children, husbands, pets, whatever.

In line at stores is a great place to listen in to conversations. Teenage girls are particularly interesting.

Cell phone conversations, though one sided, can also be fun.

I don't do it to be mean or judgemental. Anymore, it is just a habit. I can even do it while holding a conversation with whoever I am with. I have shushed Chris a few times so I could find out the ending to the story I shouldn't have been listening to. I really can't help it.

A proud moment happened yesterday. We were out having dinner (because if I hadn't gotten out of the house after 3 days cooped up, something bad was going to happen) and Chris and I were talking, Ellie was coloring, the the servers were behind us gossiping. Without missing a beat, not even breaking stride in her coloring, Ellie goes "Mommy! The lady behind us is talking about Walmart!" A proud moment indeed. A huge smile broke out on my face. Chris just shook his head. A new nibnose is born.

So beware. You have been warned. If there is something you don't want me to know, make sure I am far away when you discuss it. I might not mean to listen, but I will.

playdate

My friend Jen was kind enough to come for a little play date today. Chris had to take the Pilot to work again (and it has the carseat in it) so we were stuck here. Again. God bless her! Ellie and Enzo had a good time playing and we had a good time talking. When Chris gets home, we are getting the heck out of this house. I don't care where we go, but it will be somewhere!

I wish I had more to report, but that is about it.

As for the picture, it is simply to remind myself that summer, and bathing suits, and swimming pools will come again.

realizations

I have had numerous realizations lately.

They include:

Ellie is growing up and now asks for "privacy."
My next door neighbor is a little crazy.
I have never worked in my "field" and that is ok.
Time alone in my own house is about the best thing ever.
I really hate to work out, but will do it when a bathing suit is in my imminent future.
Wii boxing is a kick-ass workout. My arms are killing me.
Orange and Pink can go together.

I love brussel sprouts.
And hummus.
I sometimes feel inadequate after reading the blogs I follow. These women are crazy talented.
Facebook is terribly addicting.
I can no longer eat popcorn. It leaves me with terrible gastrointestional issues.
My husband looks great with longer hair (wink wink honey!)
I like laundry.
I am freakishly strong when it comes to rearranging furniture.
Tator Tots are better now than they were when I was a kid.

I am more gypsy-like than I thought I was.
I finally perfected the pancake. Mine are better than IHOPs now.
I don't feel guilty with all the tv E is watching. What the hell else am I supposed to do with her every second of every wintery day?
E has graduated to real movies. Hello Lion King!
Turkey Bacon is better than real bacon. The key is making it really crispy.
Ellie just isn't ready to use the potty.
Sometimes an almost 3 year old wins the grocery store checkout lane battle.

frosty

Seeing as how the temperature made it to double digits yesterday and Ellie had been asking every single day to make a snowman - yesterday we did it. She named him Frosty. She is so original.

Giving a high-five.

All bundled up.

I think she was saying "It's COOOLLLDDD"

Nice and toasty inside, making sure he is still outside.

Happy Friday!

just for fun

Ellie 2 years ago today!

Ellie 1 year ago today! It looks like we had a freakish warm spell.

Look at the difference from 2007 to 2008! That's crazy! On the same token, I don't think she has changed much from a year ago. That makes me happy. Maybe time isn't going as fast as I think it is...

around the house

I know there are about 300 other things I should be doing. Instead, welcome to my home! Here are some of my favorite things and just some random shots of what goes on here on a day-to-day basis. Does anyone even care? Maybe not, but I enjoyed it! I don't know about you, but I love looking at other people's homes. I am always looking at the background in pics and stuff.

So without further ado...

A cup of coffee I had to warm up 3 times before I finished it. I was going to stop and get a Starbucks on the way home from my dentist appt., but realized I like mine better than Starbucks.

All the shoes Ellie has worn so far today. She is such a girl.

The m&m's we are bribing Ellie with to get her to potty on the potty. She hasn't gotten many and I have had my fair share.

My favorite nook in the house.

The teacups I recently brought home from Mom and Dads. Recognize these Paige?

Ellie and her animals. We do this every single day.

A pile of folded laundry that needs put away.

A sweet little angel that Linda Bean got me for Christmas. I smile every time I see her.

Wubbzy running down the street. It's so bright and cheery here today. Not.

Reading Francis. A current fave. Notice the panties!

A few more of Ellie's books. For some reason, I never feel guilty buying her another book, but oddly enough, most of these were gifts or mine when I was growing up.

The best pic Chris and I have ever taken together. I am 8+ months pregnant in this pic. Isn't he hot!

A picnic for puppy and Dora.

The wedding ring my husband forgot to put on today. In his defense, it is too big, especially when it is so freaking cold.

The shirt I am about 95% sure I am wearing to Mom's night out tonight. Chinese. YES!

My mom and dad at their prom. Chris and I at our prom.

Some of my mothers favorite books. I have only read "To Kill a Mockingbird" & "Jane Eyre." I have my work cut out for me. What you don't see is another whole shelf with lots more. Those are mostly the work of Gene Stratton Porter.

A sweet little bird I got at Target for $3. Score!

The world's best box of chocolates. I get a box every Christmas and try and make it last as long as possible.

A closet that desperately needs organized.

So there you have it. My house today. This was fun! I might do round 2 the next time blog fodder is scarce. Thanks for looking!

a weekend of potty

Nothing exciting going on. We have spent a lot of time at home this weekend potty training. It is not going well. She is so damn stubborn. She pottied once in the potty and lots on the carpet. I think it is a total control issue. She shows lots of signs of being ready but maybe she isn't. So hard to tell.

This is perfect potty training attire.

Our gigantic, evil cat Hoosier. I realized she had never been in the blog. There she is. And Ellie took this pic. Not too bad!

Proof that she is nice to Ellie. Paige is convinced she is going to eat Ellie in her sleep.

Chillaxin' on the couch with puppy.

Goofy look in the "cave" aka basement family room. Coziest room ever.

Watching Land Before Time for the 364th time.

I was going to post a pic of her on the potty, but they were all just too personal. You never know who's reading...but trust me...she has spent most of the weekend on one. Can I just say that I am not enjoying potty training.

sound financial advice

Ellie has started interacting with the cartoons she watches. For example, if Dora asks her to help pull Boots out of the icky, sticky mud, she is puuuullllliiinnnggg. Or if Steve asks her to help find Blue, she is shouting and pointing "There she is!" It's fun to watch.

Yesterday, I was getting ready and a loan commercial came on TV. The announcer goes "Do you want to get rid of your debt?" And without pause Ellie goes "Yes, I do!". Cracked me up. I looked down at her and told her what a good girl she was and how she was right, debt is bad. Now she goes around saying "Debt is bad, mommy" or "Mommy, get rid of your debt." Ha!

Sound financial advice from a toddler. Priceless.

houdini

Not much is going on here. There is a gazillion inches of snow outside which requires lots of preparation.

Like this.

And this. Hi Randy! (from "A Christmas Story" in case you didn't get it)

You would dress your kid like that too if it looked like this where you lived.

Ugh.

Go away winter!

Ellie, though, as brilliant as she is, knew I was low on blog fodder, so yesterday, she provided some.

I put her down for her nap like usual. As usual she talked and read books for an hour or so. Then I heard a loud THUD! and then silence. I thought she dropped a book and was settling in for a winter's rest. WRONG! Then I heard her fish game go on. Silly me tried to figure out how she got the game in her bed. Then I realized it.

She had escaped.

The day I had been dreading had arrived. I go upstairs and she is out of her crib, pleased as punch with herself. Damn. There goes the end of the nap as we know it. I put her back in and asked her to show me how she did it. She threw a leg over, kinda dangled for a minute then dropped to the floor. Not exactly safe. I told her under no uncertain terms was she to do that again. I was terrfied at bedtime but she was so tired she went right to sleep. At 7:45. Bonus! And this morning she called for me instead of getting out herself. Double Bonus!

Apparently a new bed is needed. A new era has begun.

new favoirte show

Since I have absoutely nothing else to blog about (because Ellie has a cold and there is a foot of snow outside) I am going to blog about my new favorite show.

Chris and I recently upgraded to HD and because of doing so got, like, 3000 movie channels, one of them being Showtime. I was flipping through the channels one night and NOTHING was on. How is that even possible with 3000 channels? So for some reason I stopped on The L Word.
THIS SHOW ROCKS! Now I am a happily married heterosexual woman but these women are awesome and the show is fantastic. Plus I have a total girl crush on Shane. She would be the one in the middle on the top in the picture. And I totally want to be best friends with Alice. She would be the farthest left on the top.

It is definitely on a movie channel for a reason because there is lots of lovin' and cussin' but it is so well-written and funny. I am bummed that I just now found it and the last season starts soon. A lot of it is just about women supporting women. That is nice to see these days. And unfortunately rare. There is a scene where they play basketball that had us laughing hysterically.

Needless to say, Chris doesn't mind it either.

So if you want a good series to watch this summer when all the reruns start, I totally recommend this. Good stuff!

ok, 3000 was a slight exaggeration.

please don't call the authorities

I am afraid. Very, very afraid. I think Ellie has stopped napping. At least regularly. She hasn't napped for a week and a half. I do make her have quiet time in her bed every day though. That used to last for and hour and a half, now it is more like 15 minutes before she starts calling for me (MOMMY! IS IT GOOD MORNING TIME YET??) Fun. To say I am frustrated would be a huge understatement. I love nap time. That is me time. I usually sit in front of the TV for the first hour and eat my lunch and then get whatever done that needs done. Not so much these days. And what makes me so frustrated is that she is so freaking tired! When she goes to bed at night, she has these dark circles under her eyes and everything.

So yesterday, I went in to get her after no nap, again, and was quite frustrated again. I think at one point I told her she was driving me crazy. I then decide that I cannot stay in this house with a no napped toddler another day. I don't care if she falls asleep in the 7 minute car ride to the library, I will wake her butt up. I have to get out! So we go to the library (and she stays awake) and play for a bit.

Picture it. A quiet library. Only us and one other mother and daughter are in there. Quiet. Ellie and I are reading BUNNY SCHOOL and she looks up at me and goes:

"You not mean anymore Mommy, you being nice now!!"

Hmm. I chance a look at the other mother. Crap. She's smiling. She heard. I felt an overwhelming urge to explain everything to this mother. "She hasn't been napping. It's been a tough adjustment", etc... Instead I look down at Ellie and go:

"I wasn't mean, I was frustrated. There's a difference. You need to take a nap, honey"

I threw the "honey" in there for good measure. At least the other mother wasn't discreetly on her phone calling the authorities. I think she totally got it. I mean, only good mothers take their children to the library for play time, right? Right?

Then we went to Target for a little retail therapy.

Ugh. Then to top it all off, she was nodding off and so exhausted at 6:30 that I just put her to bed. It seemed mean to keep her up. Guess who was up at 4:30 this morning? I think you'll only need one guess. It's going to be a long day but totally worth it if she takes a freaking nap! One nap could get us back on schedule.

Here's hoping anyway.


This pic has nothing to do with the post. I just smile everytime I see it. They walked around the whole mall like that last weekend. People everywhere were laughing. I don't think Chris found it as funny as I did.

gymnastics!

Ellie loves her gymnastics class. LOVES IT! As her mother I am convinced that she is the next Mary Lou. Or not. I think I'd rather her take up a safer sport, like Golf! Chris and I are huge golfers (or I used to be, anyway) and would like nothing better than for her to like it too. But for now, our toddler gymnastics class will have to do.

Jumping!

Sliding!

Running!

Hanging!

Relaxin' and Rockin'

Getting ready to slide!

Landing in the pit!

Talking to a pit block??

Peek-a-boo!