It'a been a while!

I haven't blogged in ages. Did you miss me?

I never thought that being a mother would be so hard. So having one was hard, but having two...even harder! There's so much to remember, so much to think about, so much to plan for. Arrrrrgh! I guess it doesn't help that I've been reading other blogs when I should have been writing in my own.

So...my family is taking a 10 hour drive to IL for the holidays. Who drives 10 hours with a 4 year-old and a 10 month old in tow? Crazy people like us. So I have to think about packing clothes for them as well as packing activities to keep them entertained in the hotel room as well as on the road. That shouldn't be too hard, right? *rolling eyes*

SORFALUS

We are at Costco and walking toward the doors...

Sass: "Mommy....you need to get a cart!"

Me: "I know this, Lauren. I can't snap my fingers and make one appear. I am not Harry Potter...I can't make things apparate. Can you make things apparate?"

Lartakis: "Yeah...are you a Sorceress?"

Sass: "What? I am not a SORFALUS!"

Routines make life easier...

I remember being in 10th grade English and my teacher drilling us daily on "time management". I thought the lady had finally flipped her lid. Then I got to college and it all made sense. If you know how to manage your time, it is the first step to being successful. So you grow up and then you add a spouse and kids to the mix. Holy moly! I never thought it would be this hard. You have to get the kids up, get them dressed and off to school and daycare, work for 9 hours, go pick them up, take them home, feed them, bathe them and then put them to bed to start the process all over again. SHEESH! Now I see why people have nannies. I just started checking out this new website called www.flylady.net. She's all about using routines and 15 minute increments out the day to get chaos out of your life. I've already started making sure I know what I am wearing the night before and making sure Sass's uniform is ready to go. I'll report back and let you know how things progress.

Down for the count!

Why does it seem like the babies get sick and always bring their colds home to Mom? My daughter has been in PreK for about a month now. I knew it would only be a matter of time before she brought home a cold from one of her kids. Well, she coughed for about 4 days straight and we brought her back around with some Children's Triaminic ("Mommy, I like this medicine, 'cause it is YUMMY!)

So now she's fine. But guess who got sick?!?! ME!!! Now I must admit...I have a weakened immune system due to asthma. I've had it for about 14 years. Sometimes I catch a cold and I have it for about a week. Well, not this time. It started Monday...I could tell that I had a tickle in my throat. By Tuesday, my diet consisted of tea and cough drops. You could barely hear me. By Wednesday I had a full blown case of laryngitis and a cough. All the yucky stuff that I was sneezing up ended up in my lungs. By yesterday I felt worse! I took a breathing treatment with a nebulizer and it was no different. I finally let my husband talk me into going to the ER. The attending said it was a good thing that I showed up when I did. She put me on Zythromax to fight off bronchitis and put me on a steroid for a week. I consider myself blessed because I know that if it got any worse it would have meant a hospital stay!

So...I am at home resting wishing I had gone to work today (DAYTIME TV SUCKS!). So my next step is to invest in Airborne. Does that stuff really work? As far as the kid is concerned, she's fine. Never would have known she had a cold. : )

It's Friday...

TGIF! It has been one crazy week. I think everyone enjoys the 4-day work week but it has me completely thrown off. The good thing is that our household has finally settled into a regular routine. I have to be up around 6:15AM so I can get Sass and Mister dressed and over to Mimi's house so she can take Lauren to school. Everyone in the house now has the same schedule. We all used to sleep in while Lartakis got himself ready but now we all have to be up and out at the same time. Fortunately for us, Lartakis is a morning person and is willing to start waking the kids up in the morning. This has also changed Mister's schedule. Since he is up at 6 or so, he's drifting off by 9 and most nights sleeps straight through. WOOOOOO! I believe that being used to waking up so early in the morning will make my weekends that much more productive. We'll see!

Ra-ra-two-tee

It just gets better and better!

8/15/09 8:00PM

Sass: "Mommy, what you watching?"

Me: "I'm getting ready to watch 'Ratatouille'."

S: "I wanna watch 'RA-RA-TWO-TEE'".

Me: "Come on...we'll watch 'RA-RA-TWO-TEE' together."

S: "Why is it called that?"

Me: "Because it's named after a dish."

S: "'And the dish ran away with the spoon.' Why did the dish run away with the spoon?"

Me: "I'm not so sure."

S: "I think it's because the dish wanted to kiss the spoon."

Me: "If you say so!"

Does God eat green beans?

Boy, do I have a really smart kid at home. Yeah, all parents say their kids are smart but this little whippersnapper I have at home...I think she's smarter than me. The girl really says the 'darndest things'. A while ago I started documenting everything she says because 1) I don't want to forget them and 2) years from know I want her to know. Here was our recent exchange over dinner the other night:

Sass: "Why are green beans green?"

Me: "Ask God...he made them."

S: "How did he make them?"

Me: "He did just like this *make my hands jumble together* and said 'BOOM! *open hands* Green Beans!'"

S: "Then what did he do?"

Me: "He gave them to Adam and he cooked them up and ate them."

S: "Did God's father eat them?"

*prolonged silence*

Enter my husband, code name Lartakis...

Lartakis: "Go ahead, Mom...I am curious to hear the answer to that."

I shoot a mean look over at him.

Me: "God doesn't have a father."

S: "What about his mother?"

Me: "God doesn't have a mother either."

S: "Well if God doesn't have a mom and dad...then how do you get married with no woman?"

Lartakis looks at me...eyes wide open. I am flabbergasted and at a loss for words. How do you respond to a question like that?

Me: "Oh, just eat your green beans!"

"Mommy...what is a battlefield?"

Sass loves listening to Radio Disney. It's much better than some of the other crap I hear on the radio. I'm at work and I brought her into the office with me. A song comes on the radio and she says, "Mommy...what is a battlefield?"

These are the lyrics to the song she's referring to.

Jordin Sparks - Battlefield Lyrics

Don’t try to explain your mind
I know what’s happening here
One minute, it’s love
And, suddenly, it’s like a battlefield

One word turns into a
Why is it the smallest things that tear us down
My world’s nothing when you’re gone
I’m out here without a shield - can’t go back, now

Both hands tied behind my back for nothing, oh, no
These times when we climb so fast to fall, again
Why we gotta fall for it, now…

Chorus:
I never meant to start a war
You know, I never wanna hurt you
Don’t even know what we’re fighting for
Why does love always feel like a battlefield, a battlefield, a battlefield
Why does love always feel like a battlefield, a battlefield, a battlefield
Why does love always feel like

Now...how do you explain to a very intelligent 3 year old what a battlefield is?

Mister Ninja

Have you ever seen a 5 month old Ninja? No? Well, my son might be the first of its kind.

Imagine you are sitting in a chair holding said Ninja...things are going well. He distracts you with his cuteness. All of a sudden you get this warm feeling. Yes...part of it is a reaction to holding such a fantastic looking kid. But the warmth has instead come from the mile of puke that is now descending down the leg of your freshly laundered Levi's. Ahh...the joys of parenthood.

Warning: Don't hit on his mother. He doesn't like it. Ask Mister Ninja's father what happened when he tried. Those freshly laundered Levis I previously mentioned? Yep...they belong to his father.

You'll never find another Ninja like him.

Sassy's Test

I cannot believe that I am getting ready to send my first baby to PreK. It is scary and exciting at the same time. This morning my husband and I took her for her screening test. She had been inside of a school a few times before with her Mimi (Grandma) but she never got to see the inside of a school for children her age. Man was it overload for her!

When we walked in the room and met Ms. P, she was great. Usually she shies away from strangers but she was ready to go. Ms. P gave her some wooden blocks and asked her to stack them. Done. Ms. P asked her to make a pattern with the blocks. Done. Ms. P gave her a ball and asked what she could do with it. "I can roll it...I can hit it back and forth like this...like I'm playing tennis. I can bounce it. I can throw it through a hoop." My husband and I looked at each other and smiled.

The rest of the test involved playing "Memory", jumping over a tape line, standing on one foot (in Sassy's case, jumping on one foot without being asked) and other developmental questions. She was just awesome.

My husband and I let her play while we talked to Ms. P about what we should expect in the next few weeks and throughout the year. Then it was time to leave.

Oh. Man.

I thought we were going to have to drag her out kicking and screaming. She did not want to go! It wasn't until we told her that she would be there by herself that she was inclined to leave. SHEESH!

Needless to say I have a little person that is ready and raring to start school. Her father and I couldn't be more pleased. : )

I never imagined...

...that I would not only have children as great as mine (yes, I am bragging) and that I'd be able to share their antics with the outside world.

I have a dynamic 3 year old daughter (soon to be 40) and a plush and fluffy 5 month old son who are every bit as fun and frustrating as I would have imagined. I can't wait to see how life changes with them from week to week and from month to month. I'm in for the ride and I'm holding on tight!