Tentatively Traveling

Tomorrow I travel to Utah with the kids alone. There has been much psychological distress on Nicky's part this week. I think it has to do with the lack of binky comfort and her refusal to sleep without a half hour to 45 minutes of crying every night. She is so exhausted. The weird thing is that last week she was really fine. This was the scene tonight at 5:45 p.m. She is so excited to go to Utah that she has been wearing her snow hat. She kept saying, "I'm happy" through all the tears because she didn't want to go to bed. It is sooo sad. Please pray for the weary mother tomorrow (me) and for my traumatized girl. Luckily Andy has alternated with Nicky and he is angel child this week.

Three Days of Kelly

A visit from Kelly was the highlight of this year’s Thanksgiving. She was a good sport and ran Father Joe’s Thanksgiving 5k with me on Thursday morning. This 5k was a lot more fun than Oma’s Pumpkin Patch 5k. A couple of factors helped decrease my run time by ten minutes. There was no pushing of strollers, there was pavement, and there was the energy of 5,000 runners as opposed to 20. Kelly and I also liked how there were a lot of runners behind us so we didn’t feel like the slowest in the bunch. We were somewhere in between. There was a Thanksgiving feast at Marie Callendars that was sadly sub par. I think it is because they came out with those Marie microwave dinners a few years ago. So any time we eat at the restaurant we can’t help but think of the microwave dinners. There was a trip to the beach, to the zoo, and of course Sea Port Village. Kelly slept a lot and needs to get her Thyroid pill dosage up but was otherwise in good spirits. There was a little too much talking about old boyfriend James but we decided it was mostly because Jeff and I kept bringing him up.

Nicky LOVES Kelly. At any moment during the last four days Kelly was here Nicky could be heard asking, “Where Kelly?” or saying “I want Kelly to watch me take a bath” or “I want Kelly to change my diaper.” Kelly let Nicky paint her toenails and fingernails, read her books, and danced with her. Nicky is smitten. Kelly even still likes Nicky even though she witnessed something very disgusting. Yesterday, for no reason, Nicky strong armed Andy, put him in a head lock, put her finger up his nose and retrieved a booger and than proceeded to eat it. I think it was probably the most disgusting thing I have ever seen but we laughed really hard. It is one thing to eat your own boogers but I have never witnessed someone eat someone else’s.

So if you know any hot guys that are looking for a fun, hot, single professional living in Phoenix. Tell them about Kelly. She needs to lose ten pounds but she otherwise a perfect catch. (That last bit is an inside joke).

Here are some pictures:

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Bye Bye Binkya

All of us are feeling a little teary today. Today was the day Nicky had to relinquish her beloved binkya forever. Last week at the dentist, we were told it had not been enough to get Nicky to use the pacifier just at night. Her mouth was much more distorted with over and under bites. I think it is because she sucks on it so powerfully at night. Anyway, I told her today we were gathering all the binkyas and taking them to my visiting teacher's new baby because babies get sad and they need them.


At first she was a little sad.


Then she was a little excited to be doing something nice.

After we left the binkies with the baby. Nicky said, "bye bye binkya" in the saddest little voice you can imagine. In the car she broke down and cried for it. I feel really bad. I can't even look at these pictures without getting teary. It is one thing to hear your kids cry when they need to go to bed but it is another to hear them cry for something that they really love and that makes them feel safe and secure. I hope we have done the right thing. I kept thinking about head gear, etc. and it was enough motivation but we all feel sad.

In happier news, here is a cute picture of the kids in holiday wear. Thanks to cousins Emma and Anthony for the hand me downs.

Play Dating with the Wealthy

The Santa Luz Montessori was erected 5 months ago next to our house. It is like the Harvard of preschools. It has the price of an Ivy League school but no scholarships or financial aid. People put their kids on waiting lists for preschools like this before they are even out of the womb. Preschools are a BIG deal here. More on that later.

Today the kids and I attended a playgroup for Andy. You may be wondering why Andy would need a playgroup at the tender age of one. But play groups for one and two year olds are all the rage in this community. The typical play date for this age group consists of friendly bantering amongst the moms while little kids fight over the same toy. Today’s play group was in the Santa Luz community. It is a gated community near our house that is filled with beautiful multi-million dollar homes and lovely landscaping. These people are known to sell their spacious dwellings for bigger ones because, “they need more room” (even though their living rooms are bigger than my house). They hold baby showers where they hire caterers and florists. The people in this community usually have their own exclusive playgroups but “outsiders” were invited this time to get a few more members.

I don’t know what my problem is but I feel insecure around rich women. It’s not that I have a problem with them being rich or that I don’t want to be their friend. It is just hard to be around all the finery. I feel like I get that Michael Jackson disease where I think I am ugly even though I’m not really. I imagine that my Costco capris and my Target shirt appear as rags to their name brand detecting eyes. I wonder if they are looking at my un-pedicured feet or off-white teeth in horror. On top of that, I feel like I say all the wrong things. Scratch that, I know I said the wrong things today. Someone asked me if Nicky was in preschool. “Not yet,” I answered. Then I had to go on…“she is so little plus the preschools are so expensive. The Montessori charges $850 a month!!! Who can afford that? “And they make them go every day,” I dug deeper…. “How sad to have your 18 month old go to school every day! Don’t people want to be with their babies anymore.” Later as I sat with my foot in my mouth, I learned every one else in the play group was signed on to go to the Montessori in January.

So yeah, I just don’t think I fit in their world. Am I a middle class snob? Do the rich scrutinize the Old Navy/Costco/Target clothing of the budgeting mother? Maybe no one really cares and I am making a big deal out of nothing. Really, I would just like to fit in with everyone and not feel so ugly and poor around them. I am really not either, so why the strong feelings?

An Angel in the House

Over the course of a few months, Nicky has transformed from demon tantrum child into a little girl that resembles nothing less than an angel plucked right out of heaven. There are still the tantrums here and there but nothing that will compare with that month from hell back in August. Maybe she is just happy to be home after all the travel. Whatever it is, I love it. She makes me smile and feel great happiness all day long. There is so much of singing and smiles to be had in the house. Here are some samplings of her little cuteness:

- She now insists on wearing church dresses instead of that mangy old striped "pretty shirt." Even though she technically shouldn't be wearing her sabbath best every day, I have welcomed with open arms anything she chooses to wear that isn't that rag.

- Whilst wearing her dresses, she twirls and sashays about the living room rug singing, "The Green Grass Grows all Around." She knows all the words and they sound so cute with that baby lisp.

- She still sings "The Lord is My Shepherd" in the tub. What two year old knows the words to that song?

-When I ask her to quiet down because Andy is sleeping or some other request, there is listening and obeying from time-to-time.

- She insists on wearing party hats most of the day. The other day she made Big Boy and I wear them as well as her bear whom she calls "party animal." She sings "Ta Ra Ra Boom De-ay" when pretending to party.

- She agreed to sleep in the Pack N' Play in my bedroom for naps. It just wasn't working for the two of them to try and nap in the same room in the afternoon. I asked her if she would sleep in that thing as sort of a joke and to my surprise she was excited to give it a try. Is this really my Nicky? Please let me keep her! I loved the old Nicky but this Nicky makes life enjoyable.

Just looking at this picture makes me laugh. I really can't believe she has napped in it two days in a row. My old Nicky was just not flexible like that.

Oma's Off-Roading 5K

I ran in Oma’s Pumpkin Patch 5k today. It was the first 5k I’ve done since 1999. A few months ago I decided it was time to get back in shape since having a knee surgery and two babies. So I have been training for today’s big race. Unfortunately, Andy has been a naughty napper ever since our Florida trip, ear infection, and evacuation screwed up his sleeping schedule. Therefore, he was sentenced to house arrest until he can successfully complete all of his sleeping in his crib. Yesterday he didn’t nap at all and cried for two nap periods. Today he went right down for Jeff. Go figure. So anyway, Nicky came with me to run the 5k. I was thinking it would be a paved road to run on but it ended up being more like off-roading. Nicky’s old green baby stroller is the only one we have tall enough to run with but it is no Range Rover. Oma’s 5k track was all rock, mud, and dirt with some tractor rivulets of muddy water. So Nicky and I were in between the runners and the walkers. People passing by would cheer us on with, “Keep goings,” “hurray Mom,” etc. I was the only one with a stroller. It made me smile all their cheers and uplifting shouts. I never stopped running but it was a little slower than I normally run. We finished in 40 minutes 13 seconds. Hurray for being physically fit again with or without a stroller. I’m going to do the Turkey Trot 5k on Thanksgiving and see what my time will be without a stroller.

Here are some pictures. I’m a little hesitant to put such horrible pictures of myself up but oh well. Normally my hair isn’t greasy and I do wear makeup but here we are:

Before the race, it was a little chilly and Nicky was still trying to wake up. We were numbers 140 and 141, respectively.

Nicky getting ready for her run.

Here were are after the race is over. Whew! It's all over.

Nicky on the hay ride looking at cows. Smells great!