Actual text message from Paul when I was in Paris:

 

“Anna told daddy while playing w/toys this am: daddy this the earth, holding a small globe, states I live on earth and the moon. Daddy someday I’m going to the moon”

 

 

 

Renaming the cat from KC (Kitty Cat) to KSC (Kitty Space Cat which is also the Kennedy Space Center in Fl). Still pronounced Casey. COOL, NO? YES.

Teaching Anna to say, “You think it’s boogers but it’SNOT!”

Today I had to do jumping jacks in my bikini top in front of co-workers.

I forgot I even had a bikini top.

I was a test subject for an experiment that is performed on ISS. An astronaut who was training on the procedure used me as one of his practice subjects.

He was very friendly but his hands were cold.

And frankly there’s no good way to ask your co-worker to take your top off.

I am refraining from jotting down the clever and funny one-liners I had in my mind the whole time.

Man my job is fun!

Christmas Chapel Photos

Blogger finally let me post some pictures...

Anna was chosen to be an "usher" and hand out little angel gifts because of her "outgoing personality". Do they really mean bully?

You have to admire a preschool teacher who can wear those kind of boots!

Anna and Ryan. Ryan was a baby with a HUGE HEAD. He's grown into it.

On the stage. They shook their jingle bells. Nobody sang ;)

testing photos via email

 

 

An early Christmas Miracle

...and no, it's not about the snow we received in Houston today.

It's the fact that Anna kept her angel wings on long enough to get through her very first Christmas chapel/singing/thing. This was yesterday.

Too bad Blogger's not letting me post any photos today! Must be something wrong with the website. I'm going to go post them all to Flickr and if you want to see them, you can click on the top right corner of this blog on her Flickr pictures and see them all.

Thanksgiving

I'm delinquent on Thanksgiving, I know. We're on to Christmas. And Blogger decided I can only post 2 pictures today. I guess it's being a scroodge. As soon as it lets me, I'll post more.

In short, we drove 10 hours each way to Arkansas to visit Paul's extended family. The last time we made this trip Anna was about 7 months old. And teething. We'd just gotten the Jeep so that was what we drove down. This time we just got the Lexus and so the ride was so darned comfortable and fun it was unreal. This truck has everything. Anna even watched her own DVD's with the toddler headphones we bought her. Amen.

We did have lots of potty stops which is a "yay! Boo!" situation but otherwise I'd swear this child had never raged against any car seat in her life.

What. A. Booger.



In fact on the whole trip you'd swear she was the most pleasant, agreeable big girl you've ever met. Naps and bedtime were a breeze, she playned nicely with her cousins, she obeyed and even wore her jacket and her clothes and never car seat raged and you'd swear she was "practically perfect" (sorry, too much Anna Poppins on the road). I think she was just so happy to be out of routine and doing something different she forgot to be rotten. She was honestly a blast to be around.


She kept asking where we are going to be sure we were still on track for Arkansas. We figured it was her version of "Are we there yet?" At one point in the long car ride she said, "I don't WANT to get out of the truck!" WTF??


Dear child, just know when the car seat phase starts up again, this time there'll be no doubt it's just you being defiant. Me = no pitty.

Anyway, she had a good time with the family and then when we got home, Paul's cousins from Michigan were on a road trip and so stopped by for a few nights. Again, she had a blast playing with their kids and I was reminded why I only have one.

After everyone left and te realization of "normalcy" set in, the Time Outs ensued and we're back on track with the terrible twos. She's not exactly TERRIBLE but she's not the "practically perfect" big girl we had for the last week or 2. But like all that is toddler, it all comes in phases. And overall she's still a cute little package of "pretty darned cool kid".

It's these phases of 'practically perfect' happy Anna that make the 'booger' phases so much harder to take. Weeks at a time!

The rides to and from school have been insanely blissful. The car seat fights are on hold until her next phase! Plus the new truck is super fun. Really fun.

Anna today

Here's a picture of our growing girl today. Paul said he measures her at 37" but that just can't be true...

Spring Time Santa Claus

I know it sucks, it's a picture of a picture

We went to the mall yesterday (what, never happens). We walked around to realize Santa was there doing the photo op thing. We brought Anna over to see what she thought. She watched. I asked if she wanted to sit on his lap like the other kids did and she said, "Ummm.No. I don't like him".

I tolder her he was nice and brought little kids toys on Christmas (oh look at me, indadvertently perpetuating the lie of Santa. Didn't even realize it till this whole affair was over. It's so engrained. I'm not against santa per se but was probably planning to approach it all more carefully....). After she saw the other kids hug him, and that he was handing out books to these kids, she agreed to sit on his lap for a photo. We stood in line, which was super short. I realized she had on a very spring-time outfit, since it was warm that day. She also had on the mis-matched shoes she'd just consented to buying a few minutes before. Not very photo-like but we were doing this for the $17 experience and (and 2 3x5 photos) to see how she was really going to respond. I should have had my own camera with video so I could have taped the whole thing myself. She actually sat on Santa's lap, and he asked her what she wanted for Christmas. Good thing we prepped her right before because even though this is her third Christmas, like Halloween, she has to learn it all over again...you get presents for Christmas! She pointed to the pile of books by Santa and said she wanted one. I saw Paul and Santa and Anna exchange a few words I didn't hear. Then she smiled for the picture. A little shy smile at first then we asked her to show her teeth and say cheese and got the perfect Anna-Santa picture yet with a really cute smile. Too bad she was in a springtime outfit. And for heaven's sake, Santa could have put a red coat on too. Oh well...if this whole thing had been planned, it never would have happened. Click here to see last year's attempt at a Santa shot...

I asked Paul over dinner what they talked about with Santa. He said they all agreed Anna would give Santa her paci's in exchange for Christmas gifts. OK, we'll see about that. Anyway I told that to Anna back in like March and I thought she'd forgotten it. But then a few weeks ago when I said something about Santa she said she was going to give him her paci for Christmas. She remembered!

No wonder she hated him right away.

The Family Truckster: Upgraded

The Family Truckster was supposed to be the 2002 Landrover Freelander I paid off just before the engine started to fall out of it. In haste I had to swap it for a 2002 Jeep back in 2007. For more details on the Jeep, click here. For the past year or so I've had my eye on a Lexus GX470, but it had to wait until finances were in order and then it had to be the perfect one: all the right colors and requirements.

Finally...a Lexus GX470 that meets all of my specifications: Used, affordable, dark blue, decent miles, clean. It even has a DVD player that will be handy for long trips. Like the one coming up this week to Arkansas to visit Paul's extended family for Thanksgiving. It's definitely the most comfortable vehicle we've ever owned. Craig Durrett of Durrett Motor Company here in Houston looked for it all year for me. He met Paul through Paul's clinic and treated us really, really well. Definitely the best place I'd recommend for a used vehicle. He found this truck for me at auction in NY and transported it down for me after sending me the specifications. Then he cleaned up all the dings and stains and I'd swear it's brand new. He was maticulous about it, which I appreciate! The thing is beautiful and rides like it's brand new. Paul and I checked out the "home" address in its GPS and it looks like its previous owner lived in downtown Manhattan, NY. So it was probably garage-kept, which is obvious since it's in such great shape. No smells, no pet hair. The crumbs from Anna's fruit bar yesterday are really all the mess that stands out in this truck (an dso it begins...sigh...).

Anyway, I'm not in love with having a car payment again after having been free for about 4 years. Yes I hear Dave Ramsey's little devil voice saying NO TO CAR PAYMENTS...and I've listened dutifully till now...now it's definitely affordable and it's used and now I don't really mind it.

My first thought when I climbed inside of it at the dealership was: "WOA this is wayyyyy too much vehicle for me!" Then I cranked up the volume on the stereo on the drive home and had to hold back the tears. Silly for just a vehicle, but the music sounded soooo full and sooo deep that I almost wished I were commuting again to UTMB.

And the heated seats come in handy too right about now...

It does fit in the garage, though not as tidy as my Jeep did. I'll miss the Jeep a bit. It did a GREAT job for us and never a problem. The miles are still super low. The Jeep does still smell of the smoker/pet owner who had it before me. Otherwise, it's a great hand-me-down that I traded in for $6,000 on the Lexus.

I got the biggest, most sincere (sorry honey) hugs I’ve ever gotten in my whole life from Anna when I reached the driveway Tuesday night! Complete with mmmoooommmmiiiieeeee!!!! Ahhhhh, that was the best EVER! And she was all SMILES and hugs the rest of the night. She loved the little things I brought her back from Paris, and for the past 2 nights she’s asked me to read Bonsoir Lune (Goodnight Moon) in French. She tries to repeat some of what I say too, which is really neat. (On that note, yesterday on the car ride home I could have SWORN she was saying something to me in Spanish. I can’t tell what the heck she was saying, I kept asking her to repeat it cause it sure wasn’t English! She does have Spanish class in school so I don’t know if she was twisting up some phrases she’s learning…).

She’s been super sweet since I’ve been home even though this morning we had a “Time Out” over brushing her teeth. She’s at a stage where it’s critical to crack down right away on crappy behavior after fair warning. So things are getting tougher for her but it’s all part of toddlerhood. Judging from the amazing leap in cognitive function I’ve seen just in the week I was gone, it’s clearer to me now that the car seat rages, nap skipping at school, and battles over clothing that went on over the previous few weeks (and smart-butt attitude) is all a result of a major developmental spurt she’s going through. Part of the Terrible Twos that for Anna come in groups of “good weeks” versus “bad weeks”. Phases, you know, rather than a steady trickle of “Terrible”.

So for now I’m enjoying the fact that she missed me tons. She’s being especially nice to me, whereas I was afraid it’d be the opposite J . And for my part I have noticed her sentences being more complex, she’s stating her feelings very clearly, and asking about ours. She’s really turning into a little person right before our eyes.

Paul took her to the grocery store while I was gone and he asked me the last time she’d been there. I don’t know, maybe 6 months? I never take her because I hate it in the first place and have no patience or time for toddler “toddling” or arguing over who pushes the cart. He said she was so excited to be there, it must have been like Disneyland or something! She wanted to ride in the cart, help with the food, and was full of “wow!” and excitement! To the point where Paul felt kinda bad for her to be so excited about the stupid grocery store! Good, the grocery store is a treat! Her head might explode if we took her to the mall again. She hasn’t been there in about 3-4 months. It’s not that we keep her house-bound. We just avoid places that are difficult enough already!

Anyway, the car seat screaming seems to have passed. She will try to pull her arm out of her seatbelt occasionally but we threaten to pull the car over and get out and she will comply with putting her arm back in the strap without escalating it much further. Unfortunately she’s back in the paci use in the car as a result of our desperation a few weeks ago. So Take III on dumping the car paci will come later. A few steps forward, and then a few backward. Hopefully the 8+ hour car ride to Paul’s relatives’ house in Arkansas for Thanksgiving will go smoothly (sigh). I keep thinking if we did 2 days to Colorado in the car and 2 days back, we can do this!

On Dec 3, Anna will be in her first little Christmas production at school. She’ll be an angel (with the other girls in her class) and the boys will be sheppards and she will also be a welcoming usher. Her teacher said they picked her to be an usher (to welcome the parents, etc) with David because Anna is so “outgoing” etc. I never know if she’s kindly trying to tell me Anna is a booger or what. I don’t know the other kids in Anna’s class so I don’t know the relative levels of “outgoing” J but either way she’ll be an usher and an angel. I canceled a trip to DC when I realized it conflicted with this. Can’t miss her first little Christmas show! Even if she rips the wings and halo right off!

Well I think that’s about all. Anna’s turning into a 3 year old faster and faster...

Little gym

Wow. Just got an email saying they're closing the Little Gym Anna goes to. Not sure why but it closes Nov 21. Frankly, even though Anna liked it, she hasn't been in the last 3 weekends because of car seat fights and other reasons. Well I guess that makes my decision easier on whether or not to re-enroll her next semester. Oh well at least she still has (and loves) the Tumblebus that comes to her school weekly.