The weekends are kicking my butt

First off I don't know how Paul has so much energy and a happy attitude to do all he does every single day non-stop. If I were doing half as much as he from dawn till dusk, I'd pull it off but I'd be suddenly cranky one day when it all caught up. So far he hasn't erupted...LORD. He even stays up late. Works hard and plays hard.

Speaking of playing hard, this has been a fast week and we are playing hard this weekend. I am super grateful Anna's keeping up!

My nephew Kody is in town, and he's not the moody, quiet, self-centered almost-13-year-old you'd expect. He's stinking cute, friendly, chatty, and participates in everything. Not to mention polite. He even actually enjoys playing with Anna and Anna really likes having him here. He came to stay with us for a week or so and attend the football camp Paul's clinic supported for 3 days. By the way, the employees and our friends all rock for supporting a second year in a row! In the horrible Houston heat, keeping the kids hydrated, lots of tiring physical activity. Thank you guys for supporting us again. You are truly great friends and a great Valeo staff!

Anyway, Kody and Anna and Paul and I have been buys this week. Almost every evening is swimming till the pool closes. Last night LW and her family came to the pool and we ordered pizza and the kids played for hours. It was so freaking fun! My favorite part was when LW's daughter (same age as Anna) and Anna were singing London Bridge and Baby Bumble Bee in the middle of the pool with us. Sooooo stinking cute. Anna's getting GREAT at hanging in the pool by herself with her arm floaties on...she kicks on her belly, she jumps in from the side, and goes completely under. She is so comfortable in the water now: a far cry from where we started when the summer started! And Kody can do some mean dives off the diving board.

Yesterday at the Little Gym, Anna was all over that room, doing stuff she's never done before. She even hung off the bars by her legs, upside down! She's always hated bars before. She can walk along the beam with her arms out and I don't even need to hold onto her. She totally loves that place! I wish we could get a few consistent weeks in a row, though. It seems we're always out of town or something (like next weekend).

Anna: Mommy, I know that thing!

Me: What is it, baby?

Anna: It's a hair thing!

Me: What's it do?

Anna: It cleans ma hair!

My hair dryer.

This morning was Kemah and now she's napping before we go to OM and MM's bouncy birthday party.

I'm beat and actually took a 30 min nap myself yesterday. And I'm not a napper!!! Just like last Monday I feel like I'll be beat rolling into work.

Gotta go wake her from her nap to go to the party...

It's definitely summer

Ouch. I am sore. We worked and played hard this weekend. Events full of stuff we'd never have done as a pre-Anna couple.

As a form of coaxing a sleepy-head to bed Thurs night, I told her she and daddy could go get donuts when she woke up. Surprisingly, it was her first question upon (EARLY) wake-up Friday morn. Lest she forget! Started the day out with crap for breakfast ;) Actually, that's pretty much how our entire 3-day weekend went: junk food. Is it bad she wants popsicles for dinner? (And no, we don't oblige. Cotton candy has much more fiber).

Friday morning we took a trip to the Children's museum of Houston. Croweded, hell yes. Air conditioned, hell yes. So 1 for 2. Anna had fun as usual and this was Paul's first trip. We made it back in time for her 1:00 nap, which she had decided to skip at school all last week. They said she wasn't cranky or noisy or anything. Just laid on her mat not sleeping, but obviously tired. Our goal this weekend was to get her little body clock back on nap track. We had success all weekend so hopefully she'll nap as well at school this week.

Friday afternoon was the neighborhood pool. At one point Anna jumped in and went completely under water (gasp!) and came up giggling, saying she saw bubbles and went "blub-blub-blub!" Ha, yes, baby. That's what it looks like when you jump in: lots of bubbles! :) She's doing great in the pool, and has eased up so much that she will just float on her belly by herself with the arm floaties on. That's my big girl!

Saturday morning she hung out in the small pool Paul filled for her in the back yard, in true July 4th spirit. He got her some new toys to keep her busy in the pool and she played while I got some work done inside and Paul got some work done on his shed outside.

Saturday afternoon we went to the zoo for the last hour it was open. We were supposed to meet TJ and family but they were running late. And I thought for some darned reason the zoo was free that day. But turns out it wasn't. So we went ahead and paid $26 to get into the gates to see elephants and giraffes and pay double for concession dinner. Monkeys were nowhere to be found. Frankly, it was the end of a hot day and they weren't getting paid holiday overtime to perform for us so there wasn't much to see. But it wasn't bad. Anna got pizza and cotton candy for dinner so I think she sees it as a success.

After the zoo kicked us out, we walked over to the Miller Outdoor theater for the Houston Symphony and fireworks on the lawn. We met up with TJ (Ommom) and the family and Spacemonkey. TJ brought wine and shared their goodies as usual with this little family whose goodies only consisted of juice, turkey sandwiches, and cheetos. TJ knows how to pack a yummy bag for these kinds of things. But I should give myself props for even packing an ice chest of my own, which is a first for me :) I'm usually COMPLETELY thoughtless about these things.

It was crowded and hot but by the time we all settled in and the sun went down, there was plenty of breathing room, a breeze, and the music was great! Anna liked it for the most part and then started getting sleepy...around 9:30 she started showing serious sleepy eyes but she's a fighter, and eats to stay awake, so she held on till the fireworks at 10:30pm! It kicked off with a series of cannon shots which she LOVED and wanted "more, more!" And she was non-stop chatter and giggles throughout the entire fireworks show: "fireworks go boom! Boom! They're blue and white! Look! That's pretty! WOA! Boom!" Now I see why people brave the crowds and heat just to get out to these events: with the intent to watch the family's (hopefully) fun reaction. We usually stay at home and go to bed early on the 4th. Paul and I were more tickled with watching her watch the fireworks. We finally got home a little after midnight, and mercifully she slept in till 9:30 the next morn. I joined her on that sleep-in but Paul got up early to work on the shed! I don't know where he gets his energy.

Incidentally, Anna-Marie's very first July 4th celebration in 2007 erupted with explosions of her own: soy milk and poop. Yes, in 2007 when she was just a few months old, our weekend was about cleaning up vomit and other GI virus-related fun. Last year we were at my dad's in New Orleans and she was an early sleeper back then. So this was her third July 4th, but the first time she's seen July 4th fireworks.

Sunday was more backyard pool play (this time add the sprinklers) and in the evening, TJ and family came over for grilling and more pool play :) It was HOT but better when the sun set. It's always so fun and neat to have people over for dinner. It makes the house come alive and we just haven't done it as much as we used to. Time. Time. Time. Paul made some really great ribs and TJ brought over some yummy cupcakes and watermelon. And I supplied my own wine coolers. Score me another point because I usually mooch that off my friends too :) They know I like them but never even think to pick them up for myself.

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Quick stories:

Thursday night I put her popsicle into the freezer since she forgot about it and it was getting close to bedtime. Once we got into bed, she looked around: hey, "where'd my popsicle go?" I told her she ate it. She asked again. I told her again. She didn't believe me. She asked again. I reminded her it's all gone. She seemed content with that but her brain knew something was off there. It's happening: it's going to be harder and harder to get stuff by her.

Saturday I ran her over for a quick doc's visit to check out some seriously nasty mosquito bites on her leg to be sure it wasn't an infection. I reminded her the doc always gives her stickers after her visit. As we were leaving the doc's office, I buckled her into the seat. There's that look again: "mommy, where's the stickers?" Huh? "I need a sticker, mommy". Out of the car, back inside. Not because she was whining for it or anything. But because I'd promised her. And yes, you veteran parents, I am seeing a trend and I am learning a lesson from it :) But I do know beter than to ever promise anything I can't deliver on and I do know not to tell her we're going to do something if there's a slight chance we don't end up doing it.

Later she put one of those stickers on my shirt and left the other in the truck. The lost their stickiness so I threw them away during her nap. Upon wake-up she asked me for them. I told her they were still in the truck. She let it go. Whew.

This is a Lego skill I didn't know Paul had.

My new favorite Anna video:

Spinklers with Daddy:

Feels like Friday

But it's only Wednesday. I guess it's cause it's a short week with Friday being a holiday for us.

Then again it's already July 1. What the heck, people? What happened to June?

At work I'm pounding out an in-depth review of ISS early Life Science experiments and some results for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and a conference. It's keeping me busy on a super short deadline (as far as paper preparation goes) but I'm learning tons. I have bursts of great productivity followed by periods of not wanting to look at it all day. And so it goes with writing :)

Today I got out of the office for awhile to look at some electric pianos. My first piano lesson is tomorrow afternoon, and it will be weekly from now on. The instructor is my boss's daughter's piano teacher and our first phone conversation revolved around talks about books, study, and practice. And also about how it's tougher for adults to take lessons because of their crazy other commitments (she was nicely hinting at me to be sure to show up since there is no mommy to make me).

Then it dawned on me: She was starting to make this sound like hard work or something. It may be best that I know not of what I am about to get myself into :) All I know is that teaching starts again Aug 24 and while I think may be busy right now, this is NOT busy. Busy will come when teaching starts and so I am using the time right now to trace the piano learning curve. Today I found a piano I think I'd like to buy but I'll ask her thoughts during our lesson tomorrow. It sounded so pretty when I tapped the keys. And as the notes came out, I turned the volume down so no one in the shop would hear me suck. Or rather so that they would not hear my lack of creativity that comes by nature for me. So then another realization: Um, this will be a creative challenge I may not have prepared myself for.

And no, the last 5lbs hasn't budged. Must have been that damned chocolate cake we made. It's amazing how one piece can screw up the entire scale ;)

Paul's clinic is unexplainably successful more and more everyday. They have met their goals over and over and keep setting them higher. At the end of everyday it's super cool to hear how his day went and even though I'd like to beat him for the schedule he's been keeping the last 2 weeks, it's his dream so I only give him partial crap for it ;) That's right honey, would you believe I am holding back?

Anna's been cheery and cooperative and sweet again so far this week (even though she's been skipping naps at school). I love talking with her because she's more and more saying the wackiest stuff. These days brushing her hair and teeth are a breeze (and even the days of me sneaking into her room at night to clip her nails have been long gone. She patiently watches now). She really likes to go places and do stuff and mostly me taking her along to places doesn't even really stress me out like it used to. Well, that's the story for now ;)

Her latest addiction: popscicles. The Flav-O-Ice kind. You know, the long sticks in the plastic you push up. It bums her out she can't have one for breakfast, though. Yeah toddlerhood can be rough.

A Weekend Together

This was the first weekend in awhile that the 3 of us has been together...maybe it's only been the last few weekends but it seems like awhile. Anyway, we had a great time just hanging around the house, cleaning, and visiting friends.

Paul bought Anna a Lincoln Log set which she actually enjoys building with Paul. Good thing he loves it because I am just not the creative builder type. I found a little Strawberry Shortcake doll while we were out shopping and I had to buy it. Anna didn't care for it either way but I remember that smell from growing up! It's the SAME Strawberry Shortcake smell even though the doll looks different. I never actually had one but I played with others when I was young. So I finally got one of my own. :)

We visited Z and C and her parents last night as a thank you for Paul's treating her mom's shoulder. Glad he could help! They cooked fish which Anna LOVED and we had a great time. Anna got sleepy and silly towards the end of the night and sang "Hoppy Poppy" (AKA Hokey Pokey) all the way home in the car.

This morning Anna bounced out of bed cheerfully...she still will wake up and wait/play in her bed till we come up to get her! It's funny because even after over two months of having the crib rail down, she still hasn't figured out she has the complete freedom to leave her bed and play with her toys. Yesterday morning I woke to watch her on the monitor and I was surprised to see her climb out of her bed. I thought: THIS IS IT! But she got down, grabbed her paci off the floor, and hurried back into her bed. We kinda have to giggle at that. She will also reach across to her bookshelf to get her babydoll but not leave her bed. This moring she was happy to see me and told me she was fixing her doll's pigtails. Then when she got down to our bedroom, she told daddy to wake up and let's go get some donuts!!! "Get up daddy! Move it!"

Tonight we went swimming at LB and AB's pool along with their daughter, OM, MM, CM, and OMMOM (TJ). I love it when we do that. Anna had a blast and it's so fun watching the kids play while the rest of us catch up. LB's baby boy is around 3 months old and she looks great and the baby is super sweet and laid back. We had lots of good food tonight as usual!

I got a peak in at Anna's final molar this morning. Its flat sruface is almost all the way through so I think we're past the worst part. She hasn't been bothered in her sleep for awhile, and her attitude has been happy Anna all week. So this one wasn't NEARLY as bad as the previous one. And now we're just about all done with teething. YIPPIE!!!

Well it's late. Night night!

More HOT

Johnson Space Center
Emergency Notification

Excessive Heat Advisory - ACTIVE

The National Weather Service has issued an Excessive Heat Advisory for the JSC area through 7 PM CDT Saturday June 27th. Hot temperatures and high humidity will combine to produce heat indices above 109. Please exercise caution while outdoors.
Issued on June 26, 2009 at 14:55

Photo Updates

Here's just a data dump of some of the photos that have been collecting in my camera over the last few weeks...


Anna's unattended artwork on our $1200 Lazy Boy. Luckily you get what you pay for and all of it came right out with a wet cloth and minimal elbow grease...

The NASA Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, Fl. Picture taken when TT and I tried to get as close as possible without actually sneaking in...This building is huge and it's where the Space Shuttle gets assembled.

The closest TT and I could get to the Space Shuttle Endeavour at KSC the day before its scrubbed launch.

Proud Spacemama's photo of bouncing Toddler at the Engineering picnic last weekend at JSC. Anna's usually intimidated by these boucy things but she was eager to get in and jump this time! Growing up!

Working that horse like her daddy does. At the JSC Engineering picnic last weekend.

Playing at the park with MM and the Sauers girls at the Engineering picnic last weekend.

Anna and the Sauers girls...

A rare photo of Anna with Mommy, courtesy of OMMOM.

The Little Gym's final class of the spring gave the kids a medal last weekend...

At Mythos restaurant, updating my Twitter at Universal Studios! Those are NOT horns.

Yummy dessert at Mythos.

Play date with Paul at Universal Studios during my Workation a few weekends ago...

Our hotel room inside the Hyatt Orlando Airport. This room was really nice!

Paul watching the travelers in the airport terminal from our balcony.

Even though my hotel room in Cocoa Beach was on the beach I never actually took any photos of the beach! Weird? TT did and she is going to give me some of the photos so I can post them too. I also have more pics on my phone I'll post once I figure out how to get them off!

It's HOT HOT HOT!

I found this at work this morning:

Johnson Space Center
Emergency Notification
Heat Advisory - ACTIVE

The National Weather Service has issued a Heat Advisory for the JSC area, including Harris and Galveston counties, until Thursday, June 25th at 7:00PM CDT. The heat index has reached above 108 degrees across the Houston area the past 2 days and similar conditions are expected for Thursday. Please exercise caution while outdoors and drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.

Issued on June 24, 2009 at 16:07

Lotsa chocolate

I had to make this cake from Nie Nie's blog (click on Nie Nie's blog all the way to the right on my blog lists to see the recipe and more info). Basically, Nie Nie is recovering from a near fatal airplane crash and during her recovery she's trying to ADD weight. Her goal is to find the right chocolate cake to add the "junk in the trunk". Well, I don't need junk in the trunk but I figured this would be a great way to kick off the loss of my final 5lbs. I am fitting in all my pre-baby clothes nicely, but it could be much, much nicer with another 5-10lbs off. I will shoot for 5lb and be happy.

Anyway, here's how our cake turned out, from the recipe made for Nie Nie from the Conversations with a Cupcake blog. It was a 2-night process and Anna helped me the second night.

There was chocolate on the floor and on the counters and on our legs and everywhere else. The kitchen and the fridge and the dishwasher still smell like chocolate in certain places, as I guess it will be until all of the dishes and cracks and crevaces are washed.

It was heavenly if not too rich and by the time Anna and I sat down to eat it, she had two bites and some sips of milk before she was "all done, Mama!" I guess (like myself) having eaten most of it in the making, she was already full (like myself). I worried a little about all that chocolate giving her a tummy ache but proceded anyway figuring we'll just learn the hard way. Fortunately it didn't seem to affect her.

There was no way we were eating this whole big-ass cake at our house, and Paul's clinic had enough sweets (he says). So my punishment for making this monster was carrying it across our mile-long parking lot at work for my co-workers to enjoy. And they did! You can count on food to go fast when there's plenty of co-workers involved.

I still can't explain why I HAD TO HAD TO HAD TO go out of my way to make this cake. It involved thoughtful grocery shopping for ingredients I've never even used before. But just had to do it I guess.

P.S: Happy Birthday to OM today! I have your gift, but because I'm so forgetful you probably won't get it till you're 21 or something.

It's HEEERRREEEE!!!

That's right, this time it only took me 3 cranky tantrum mornings to get a good quick peek in at the gums where Anna's final baby tooth (molar) is supposed to be coming in.

Today she let me have a good look in there at the Little Gym, and BEHOLD! The source of the latest round of Jekyll/Hyde, Thug-muffin attitude! Once again, I was ELATED to see it!!! In fact I was cheering so much she started giggling! It meant an explanation for the past 3 days of bad-ass attitude, but it also marked the beginning of the END of teething for Anna. When this tooth is done, all future cranky attitude will now be clearly recognized and handled appropriately, unless she's sick.

I guess the car seat struggles that we also got with the last molar might be on its way, but so far, mercifully nothing has surfaced in that area yet.

Last night she woke at 1:40am crying, half asleep. That's classic with her teething, and fortunately me sneaking her paci into her mouth quieted her enough to go back to sleep. With the last molar in May you may remember the 1-2 nights per week night terrors that lasted about 4 weeks. We have been free of those for the last 3 weeks or so. So I wonder if those will be coming too?

Does it seem like Paul's getting off too easy here? He was coincidentally away during the worst of the last molar activity in May (but my mom got the rough end of it along with me) and he's been gone this week too (till tomorrow night). Honey, consider THIS your father's day gift.

She was actually super fun at the Little Gym today. It was the last day of class and at the end all her classmates stood on a little podium to get their metals. Last semester she wouldn't stand up there but this time she went up with the rest like a big girl. And when she got her metal she had that look on her face, like all proud and embarrassed (a smirk/grin) and looking at me at the same time :) I was so proud! I didn't take a pic with her and all her friends, but I did get one with her and the metal.

Unfortunately we got a new camera and my computer won't read the SD disk so the pics will have to wait till Paul gets home I guess. So :)

Last night Anna and I went to a party at my division chief's house. On the drive there, Anna kept saying "let's go to a PARTY, mama! Are you going to a party TOO, mama?"

I really like my new co-workers and Anna had a great time. There was a pool (but she didn't get in), good food, other kids, and a bunny, a dog, and a kitty cat. To make it a real party, they had a pinata and the kids took turns hitting it. Anna swung that big baseball bat right where I'd think it'd hurt the worst ;) and then passed it off when her turn was over. She had a blast going through all the candy that fell out and went home with a cup full of the good stuff :) She did not want to go home but even I was tired after it was over! We got home wayyyyy past her bedtime so it was a fight through the bath and to bed but she passed out within minutes of her head hitting the pillow.

Today after the Little Gym we went to the yearly Engineering picnic (even though I'm not in Engineering anymore). We hung out with the Sauers and Maynard friends. I have a really cute picture of Anna holding hands with Annabel and Allie but again, can't post it (yay for the new camera!). They played on the playground, ate hot dogs, sno cones, and cookies! They even played with goats in the petting zoo and rode a horse (I got pics of that too!)...after the horse ride, Anna asked to go jump in the bouncy house thing and I thought she'd change her mind once we got to it because she's usually hesitant to get into one of those things. But we took her shoes off and she got in and jumped for a little while with other kids. And yes, I got pics of that too! After about 2 hrs of fun (and heat...we're in a hot drought here in Houston), I could tell she was getting tired, as was I so we headed home. After a brief tantrum regarding nap time, she got over it and sung herself to sleep soon enough.

At the Engineering party, a few ex-co-workers asked how I liked my new job. I told them I love doing the science stuff and I had no idea previously that this much science was going on on the ISS!

One person told me: you know you're in the right place, from the looks of how things are going.
My response: as it turns out, you are so right.

With the announcement from good old Bush that we would cut ISS and shuttle funding in favor of going back to the moon and Mars (Constellation program), the engineers I worked with decided ISS was a dead horse and Constellation was the place to be. Most engineers jumped ship from ISS and went to Constellation. Quickly. EB (Biomedical Engineering division for ISS hardware, where I worked from 2001-2007) was dismantled in favor of turning it into a new division just for Constellation. That left me looking for a job elsewhere in NASA, and it's how I ended up applying for the Associate Program Scientist position I'm in now.

Just now with the presence of a 6 person crew on orbit and assembly complete next year, science will finally take off to its full potential. This is why my job was created. JR, my boss, saw it coming. I did not. I feel like I fell into this. But I guess it was part my luck and part planning from people who recognized what was coming and realized they needed to create the position I'm in now.

So yes, I am in a good position. I'm not hating on Constellation, but don't you agree after all the time and money we've spent of taxpayers dollars to build the ISS that we should actually GET THE MOST FOR OUR MONEY? I'm going to stop here before I go off on a rant no one who reads my blog really cares about :)


And now I'm free and in the middle of toddler nap time (break). I think I'll go do laundry, clean the bathrooms, and water the bushes. :)

Out!

Girls' Nights Out

Well, really it's Paul's nights out and the two of us gals are left behind for a mixture of routine and outings till Sunday night. Paul's at a conference in San Antonio (does he ever work?) through Sunday night so it's just us...

Yes, the honeymoon period ended right around 5:32pm last night when the first of about 3 tantrums came. And then another two with a Time Out sprinkled in there somewhere.

Ah, good times are here again!

This morning she was 50% evil and 50% sweet. Bonus: she likes me (she even told me so...).

Unfortunately, the opppositional component unexpectedly and frequently breaks the love transmission such that just when I feel like she's getting it all together, she reminds me that she will still not wear socks, must wear her Elmo pajama top to school, and has to wear the same grungy white sandals every day. (I guess I'm lucky white sandals go with everything). At least she's still agreeing to getting her hair done (if you see her in pigtails, it's a good day. One pony tail = quick work with Yo Gabba Gabba bribes thrown in) and she's happily brushing her teeth.

On one instance yesterday she asked for her paci and then a tablet (motrin).

"Show me your teeth."

"Aaaaahhhhhhhhh"

Nothing.

Me = not a fan of drama or confrontation.
Definition of 2-year old = drama + confrontation + cuddles (though not on demand).