October 31st, 2007

Most grateful moment of the day: I had a few. The first was spending the afternoon out with Jack and Mallie. We haven't been able to leave the house much since they've been sick....so getting them out was so fun. Mallie slept the whole time. But I took them down to Sweetwater Landing to eat lunch and see the boats and ducks. Jack was infatuated with the water and especially the wind (it was a really windy day). He threw leaves in to the ducks and said 'Here go ducks....eat!'.
Also, this evening, Dede and my dad came over for dinner. They were so happy and excited to see the kids (and vice versa). Then Brian and Claire and Drew showed up....along with Tommy's parents. Jack got to Trick or Treat for the first time with an entourage. I got good video of it. It was a special memory with a lot of people to share it with!

One thing I learned today: You can fit more into your day than you think. I was panicked this morning wondering how I was going to carve a pumpkin, clean the house, make dinner, entertain the kids, shower, bathe the kids, get them into costumes, and grocery shop.....but somehow it all fit in. Jack is getting to the age that he is almost helpful or at least can entertain himself for a while....and Mallie's pretty good no her own for a little while too!

Best life tip of the day: Make your house a drop-by house. Not everyone can do this and keep their sanity...But I love that everyone knows that they can just stop at our house without calling to see us or the kids at anytime. I wanted that type of atmosphere here and I think we achieved it. I think it's good because people feel comfortable and relaxed and actually do stop more often. It's good for Jack and Mallie to see their friends and family on a regular basis in their little environment!

One moment I wish I could redo: Jack ran away from me in the parking lot at the grocery store today. He did it on purpose to make me mad because he was mad that he had to get out of the 'truck' shopping cart in the store. I am at a loss when he does this...although it's getting better. When he did it today, I scooped him up and put him in his carseat and then grabbed his cheeks and told him 'no!'. He laughed right out loud at this, even when I did it again. I felt like he needed to learn a lesson, so I smacked his hand and told him ''no' again. He started crying at that. I don't want to resort to hitting him...but it seems to be the only thing that gets through to him in a situation like that. I didn't do it out of anger and thought it through, but I still hated doing it and feel guilty about it.

Biggest laugh of the day: While Tommy was out trick-or-treating with Jack, he stopped to talk to a neighbor across the street. Jack, as usual, was trying to interject in the conversation and was pointing at our house, yelling at the poor man 'THAT MY HOUSE!!!!' about 100 times. No one was listening to him, so he kept at it. We could hear him from across the street and Brian thought it was the funniest thing.

Best Tommy moment of the day: Tommy is a really, really good dad and is also a nostolgic person. He was a little disappointed tonight with the flood of people here and how it took Jack's attention off of remembering his first Halloween with 'just his dad'. When so many people are around, Jack gets really distracted, as would be expected and Tommy got lost in the shuffle of all the new, exciting people around (Papa, Brian, etc.) It just showed me how much Tommy really cares about making memories with the kids...he's a great dad.

Best Jack moment of the day: Jack went trick-or-treating tonight for the first time. Amazingly, he knew exactly what to do. He walked right up to the first house, with his entourage in tow (including the video camera) and said 'trick-or-treat!' and then was shocked when he got a piece of FREE candy in his bag!! The look on his face was priceless. He even said thank you. He also got to help hallow out his first pumpkin today. He was shocked by what was inside and not afraid to touch it and help. I think his first Halloween was a success!!!

Best Mallie moment of the day: Mallie dressed up as a Fame dancer again this evening (using the same costume that won her the costuem contest at Claire and Drew's party). She looked so adorable in her pink leotard, gray cut-off sweatshirt, white tights, gray leg warmers and white headband. She's such a cutie and loved the extra attention from everyone tonight.

October 30th, 2007

Most grateful moment of the day: I have 2..... My sister-in-law, Emily, called me from Belgium this afternoon. She's one of my favorite people in the world and I always get so happy to hear her voice. We got all caught up on our kids and made some plans for when they're home in December. It was great to get that call!
Also, Claire and my mom and I sat at my parents' house and talked for over an hour, uninterrupted by kids or phones, etc. We ate, drank wine and got all caught up...just the 3 of us. It was so relaxing and fun!!!

One thing I've learned today: I learned to bite the bullet sometimes and just 'suck it up'!!! Mallie has been sick and I finally called to bring her to see the doctor. I didn't want to take Jack with us....for obvious reasons. But I also didn't want to call and ask someone to come stay at my house while he just slept. So I brought him with me. He was perfect!!! And then ended up taking a nice long nap because he went down so late! I'm glad I didn't chicken out!!

Best life tip of the day: Get outside!!!! I realized we spend WAY too much time indoors! It was a gorgeous fall day today and we got out after naptime. Jack loves it out there and so does Mallie. We went on several walks, he pushed her in her stroller and thought he was a big guy, and played baseball. It was a great way to spend the time!!!

One moment I wish I could redo: I wish I hadn't asked Tommy to come home for lunch today....I thought I needed someone's help with the kids while I showered, but they were fine. I felt like it was a waste of his time.

Biggest laugh of the day: We had an investment club meeting tonight. They tend to get a little off topic sometimes and always end up with some laughs. Tonight we were talking about the health care industry and the baby-boomer population. We discussed investing in the health care industry since the baby boomer generation is aging. This led us to talking about the general population trends in the U.S. and the increase in the Hispanic populations.... Uncle Phil thought maybe we should investigate how to invest in hispanics...... This was the funniest thing I'd heard all day.

Best Tommy moment of the day: This actually happened yesterday..... I was trying to get the attachments on the vaccum cleaner and struggling terribly. I was basically wrestling the stupid thing and completely losing my temper, swearing and banging around. Jack and Tommy were sitting on the couch, and I realized they were watching this whole thing. At first I got so annoyed that TOmmy didn't offer to help, but then I realized that he was laughing at me and I couldn't keep a straight face and lost it. Tommy is the only person I know that can get me out of a temper tantrum by making me laugh. It is one of my favorite qualities about him!

Best Jack moment of the day: I told Jack that we were going to be taking the baby to Dr. Skoch today. He started asking if she was going to get a boo-boo (she got shots and band-aids last time) and then said 'Baby, Dr. Skoch listen to your heart'. It was the cutest thing...and kind fo amazing that he remembered that! He's been giving me updates about Mallie too, either saying 'That baby laughing', 'That baby crying' or 'That baby night-night'.
Also, Jack is getting better about running away from us outside. All we need to do when he runs is ask him if he wants to go to time-out and he stops and says 'no' and then comes back.

Best Mallie moment of the day: It was great to show Mallie off during the investment club meeting since most people in the family hadn't seen he in over a month. They couldn't believe how big she's gotten (almost 13 lbs at her doctor's appointment today!!!) She was smiling and cooing at everyone tonight.

October 25th, 2007

Most grateful moment of the day: When Brooke called this morning to see if we wanted to meet them at the Nature Center. She had the same break-down I had at the same moment with Charlie and threw the kids in the car to get them out of the house. I was at the brink with Jack at the same moment and threw the kids in the car and we met there. It was GREAT to get out of the house after a long week staying in with a sick toddler. We had a great time.

One thing I've learned today: Brooke told me that she called Sam's doctor to see what she should do for his cold and they told her to put Vick's Vaporub on his feet!!!! I had never heard of this, and she said that her mother-in-law swear by it too!!! Maybe a weird old wives' tale...but certainly something to try!!!

Best life tip of the day: Cute jammies makes bedtime that much cuter!!!! My kids looked adorable in their 2 piece long-johns tonight!!! They were so snuggly!!!

One moment I wish I could redo: I wish I had not asked Jack about his new baby-sitter today. His reaction was not what I had hoped for and did not put my mind at ease (he started crying and saying 'No!').... I have a gut feeling about it and it's making me DREAD going out on Saturday night. I feel like I should just trust my gut. But I also feel like I'm super-paranoid about baby-sitters and need to realize that this sitter is as trust-worthy and responsible as any out there. He's only crying because he relates her to me leaving!

Biggest laugh of the day: My mom stopped this morning and I made the mistake of telling her that Jack and I were going to story hour tonight. Jack LOVES story hour and once he heard that he was going, he would NOT stop talking about it. Normally this would not be that funny....unless you've ever heard Jack say the words 'story hour'.....it is hilarious. He said 'story hour' about 30 times in a row. My mom and I were crying we were laughing so hard and he knew it...it was egging him on big time!!!

Best Tommy moment of the day: After we put the kids to bed, Tommy and I actually watched our shows together on the couch, next to each other.....he even rubbed my back which was really sore from sleeping on it wrong last night. It was nice not to be running around doing our own thing....

Best Jack moment of the day: There were 2 actually:
At story hour (the last one in the session), Jack actually did the movements along with the songs and SAT for one of the stories!!! This is a big deal, as through the first few story hours, he would be running around and did not follow along very well. I think he loved the teacher tonight and is getting used to the routine!
The second one: Tommy put Jack to bed tonight. He's been a little clingy this week...I think because he's been sick, so he was calling for us and wimpering every once in a while from upstairs. We were trying to just ignore it. As I was watching TV, I sneezed two times and from upstairs in a little tiny voice I heard 'Bless you Mommy!'. It was the cutest thing. I had to go up and thank him and tuck him in again!

Best Mallie moment of the day: Mallie is REALLY growing on us!!! I am starting to feel so happy and excited when she wakes up in the morning! She's such a fun little person to be around and I have to kiss those chubby little cheeks a million times a day. I cannot stop myself!!!!

October 24th, 2007

Most grateful moment of the day: Holding Mallie while she slept on me. I realized how lucky I am to have 2 healthy, happy kids without having any trouble getting them. There are so many people out there who have fertility problems and there is just NO room to complain about a second I have with either of my kids.

Biggest laugh of the day: Emily called me today from Marc's. She was there buying accessories and make-up for our Halloween costumes. We've been researching what to wear and have a list of things we needed, but had NO idea where to start looking. When she called, I asked her where she was and her reply was, "I am standing in front of what I like to call 'The Wall of Possibilities'." (the accessory wall at Marc's!)

One thing I've learned today:

Best life tip of the day: Sometimes it is good to push your limits. Jack has been sick all week and we've been really cooped up. Tommy suggested going out to dinner, which we haven't done with both kids in a long time....It's a lot of work, but I'm glad we did it. It was nice for all of us to get out and the kids weren't bad at all.

One moment I wish I could redo: I wish I hadn't snapped at Tommy while he was at work this morning. I told him that he was just trying to start problems with a co-worker and me....which I know wasn't true. Again...just shooting my mouth off.

Best Tommy moment of the day: Tommy tackled the bills tonight after dinner. It's SUCH a relief that he handles that now. He does a good job and is more conscientious about it than I was when it was my job. It's very comforting.

Best Jack moment of the day: At the grocery store this afternoon, there was a scavenger hunt for little kids. They gave each little kid a foam picture frame and there were orange and black balloons attached to buckets of stickers all over the store. We had to find the balloons and put the stickers on the frames as we shopped. Most of the kids were in costumes. Jack was LOVING the costumes (especially Scooby Doo and Thomas the tank engine), and asking me 'Mommy, what's this?', pointing to everyone. He also loved spotting the balloons, gasping every time he saw them and getting very excited about the different stickers. He had a great time. It was a very cute idea.

Best Mallie moment of the day: I realized that I haven't been giving Mallie enough tummy time lately. So I put her on her tummy to exercise a little bit...but she wouldn't stay on her tummy!!!! She rolled over about 5 times in a row!!! She's getting very strong!

October 21st, 2007

Most grateful moment of the day: I got to sleep in with Jack until 9 a.m. and THEN got an hour nap this afternoon. This much sleep is unheard of around here.

Biggest laugh of the day: Tommy told me that he would get up with the baby last night. Every time he says this, Mallie has a great night and doesn't get up until 5 in the morning. Last night was ridiculous though. She went from 9 p.m.- 7:30 a.m. without eating and slept from 10 p.m.-7:30 a.m. When I came down this morning, I started talking in my 'Mallie voice' saying "Hi, my name is Mallie and I like to sleep all night long so that my dad doesn't have to bother with me.....I just LOVE my dad and want to give him as much rest as possible....I'll go 13-15 hours even just so he gets the sleep he needs".....to me this is very funny and I've been laughing about it all day.

One thing I've learned today: When they say that Pepcid expires after 30 days and becomes ineffective, they aren't kidding. Mallie's medicine expired 2 days ago and she's been kind of a mess all afternoon.

Best life tip of the day: I shared it with Emily: After carving you pumpkins for Halloween (especially if you carve them this early), put Vaseline on all the exposed surfaces. THis keeps the pumpkin from decaying as quickly.

One moment I wish I could redo: Eating the many, many, many calories I have today....MUST get to the gym this week.......ugggg.

Best Tommy moment of the day: Tommy dialed a few of his brothers on the phone today and just handed it over to Jack. Jack was very excited to talk to his uncles....and I'm sure they loved hearing from him at 9:30 on a Sunday morning!!!

Best Jack moment of the day: Jack's really been adding to his vocabulary this week. He is now saying 'What happened?', 'My turn', 'This way', 'God bless you', knows several of his colors and uses 'please' and 'thank you' almost all the time!

Best Mallie moment of the day: I just looked at Mallie sleeping in her swing. She has one hand behind her head and looks like the picture of relaxation. The best she's been all day!!!

October 20th, 2007

Most grateful moment of the day: Getting to see friends! We haven't been out with our friends since well before Mallie was born. We got to see everyone at a clambake tonight. It was great to catch up...I felt like I talked non-stop since I've been so starved for adult company!

Biggest laugh of the day: A story from my friend Liz: They had taken their baby to the emergency room at 2 a.m. because she was coughing non-stop and struggling to breath. The doctor came in and told them that the baby had croup (which is essentially a bad cough caused by a virus that isn't curable but treated with a steroid when severe....it is not life threatening!) When the doctor walked out, Liz broke into tears out of sheer sleeplessness and relief. Her husband, Tom, looked at her with alarm and asked "What's croup???" as though the doctor had just given them horrible news. Poor Tommy was scared to death!

One thing I learned today: That the Indian's had been pull themselves together in order to make the World Series. We lost the 2nd game in a row.....one more deciding game tomorrow night. It would be SO disappointing if they don't get there!

Best life tip of the day: If you wake up feeling sleepy/ unmotivated....take a walk! We laid around for 2 hours this morning like lumps on a log. After my walk with Claire and Mom, I came home and got a lot done.

One moment I wish I could redo: I wish I would have been paying closer attention and let a pedestrian cross the parking lot before I went ahead. He was not happy with me for cutting him off and yelled 'thanks for stopping!', which at first made me mad...but then made me realize that I was in a hurry for no reason.

Best Tommy moment of the day: Tommy and I stopped at a bar we frequented when we first got married before we went to the clambake. Sitting on the barstools and looking around, I realized how much time we spent at this place and how unproductive we were! I can't imagine chiseling that time out of my life now. We've come a long way from those days....and I'm GLAD!

Best Jack moment of the day: Jack woke up with a pretty bad cough and low-grade fever today. He was not feeling good, but it didn't slow him down too much. But when it did, he came and snuggled with Tommy or I. It made me remember how much he still needs us- even though he gets more independant every day!

One from yesterday: On the way home from Boo at the Zoo, Tommy made some 'interesting' driving decisions. I was in the back seat with the kids, being a backseat driver. After a few comments from me, Tommy started mocking me in a REALLY annoying voice. So I used the annoying voice and mocked him back. Jack was listening to all of this and said 'Mommy, what's this?" and then did his own impression of our voices. This broke the tension completely and we used that voice for the rest of the way home!

Best Mallie moment of the day: Mallie wore the cutest outfit ever today! Her Aunt Eileen gave her some froggy pj's that have frogs on the feet. She topped it off with a pink hair bow. She was irresistable.

October 17th, 2007

Most grateful moment of the day: Claire called on her way home from work to see if she could come over. I feel like we do not get to see her nearly enough and even though it wasn't a long visit, it was great to chat for a little while and catch up. Plus, she took Jack on a long walk!!!

Biggest laugh of the day: Jack was playing with his cell phone while pretending to drive he car. He flipped it open to answer it and said "This is Tom", just like his dad answers his phone.

One thing I learned today: While watching Oprah, I learned that 70% of African American children born today are born into fatherless families. I'm not sure where this statistic comes from, but if true, seems very scary to me. Dads are pretty important people and leave quite a void when they are absent.

Best life tip of the day: As I was changing Jack's diaper today, I realized how important it is to do things when you think of them. If you leave things to 'get to later' they'll never get done...especially with a toddler and infant in the house!!!

One moment I wish I could redo: I told Tommy that I did not care about cleaning out the garage today, which probably started a fight. I was in a hurry and annoyed about having to wait for the charity to come pick things up from the garage. I shot my mouth off even though I didn't mean what was coming out of it. Dumb.

Best Tommy moment of the day: Earlier this week, Tommy told me that we were not going to seek out Tribe tickets for the ALCS series vs. Boston this week. He said if we were meant to go, the tickets would fall into our laps for free. At about 3:30 this afternoon, he called me to tell me to line up a baby-sitter because he had won a raffle at work for the game tomorrow night. This is the biggest game yet- as we could win the league championship tomorrow.....a huge deal!!! I still cannot believe his luck.

Best Jack moment of the day: Jack helped Tommy take the garbage out tonight. He thought he was such a big shot- strutting his stuff on the way to and from the garage and tree lawn. He brought a long piece of a gutter out to the lawn and looked like such a big boy in the process!

Best Mallie moment of the day: Mallie took a bath tonight and was loving it. She was smiling and splashing around. Tommy got a little bit of it on video. Jack pulled up a chair to help us out!

October 16th, 2007

Most grateful moment of the day: We sat down to eat dinner as a family tonight. It wasn't a great dinner, but at least we all sat together to eat. Even Mallie joined us in her bouncy seat on the dining room table.

Biggest laugh of the day: On our way to meet Tommy for lunch, Jak sang "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" to the tune of 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" the entire way at the top of his lungs. It was the biggest laugh of the day....and also the most annoying moment of the day (after about 15 minutes of it).

One thing I learned today: I learned that Lynn Cheney is kind of a bad ass. She confronted Diane Rehm on her radio show today and kind of made her look like an idiot (in my opinion). Rehm was trying to make her seem like a complete 'B' by getting her to say that federal funds should not be directed to public radio. She made some good points about how biased public broadcasting is and called Diane Rehm out for being part of that biased reporting. It was refreshing to hear- even though I ADORE public radio!!!!

Best life tip of the day: Don't compare your child to other people's kids. There will always be someone doing something your child is not doing....and always someone your child is showing up. It's not fair to your child, the children you are comparing your child to, or yourself.

One moment I wish I could redo: I wish I had napped when the kids were napping today because I was tired all day and by about 8:00 tonight, I was very short tempered with everyone.

Best Tommy moment of the day: Tommy and I had a discussion about how marriages break up tonight. It was reassuring to hear his views on the subject. I knew that we were on the same page before the discussion, but sometimes it's just nice to hear how committed he is to our family. I can't imagine what it would take to change the way I feel about keeping this family together. It's naive to think that all marriages will stay strong forever. But when children are involved, I would hope that it would take something pretty drastic to weaken things enough to contemplate divorce, let alone going through with one.

Best Jack moment of the day: As we were walking to meet Tommy for lunch, Jack had his 'big guy' strut going in full effect. He was talking to me (saying something I did not understand), but also looking up at each person we passed and giving them a quick wave of his hand and saying 'hi!'. People were laughing out loud at him and he just thought he was being a friendly citizen.

Best Mallie moment of the day: I fed Mallie her bottle this evening and realized how calm and content she is when she's eating now. It is such a huge change from about a month ago when she was struggling and screaming through her bottles. Now it's finally a moment I look forward to during the day!

October 14th, 2007

Most grateful moment of the day: Taking a walk with my family to the park after Tommy got home from work. Jack got to play on the swings and slide. Mallie was awake and looking around in her stroller. Tommy and I got to chat about the day. It was BEAUTIFUL in Cleveland today!!!


Biggest laugh of the day: Trying to teach Jack how to say 'milk'. He pronounces it 'nyup' for some reason. As we teach him to say 'mmmmmmilk' he says, 'mmmmmm-nyup' with such effort. He's really trying to say it but end up with that 'nyup' every time! He even tries to slow it down, without success.


One thing I learned today: It pays to make the effort to reach out to new people. We joined a new playgroup. Today was the first meeting and the girls were very nice and Jack had a great time.


Best life tip of the day (parent, housekeeper, wife, sister, friend, etc.): Make pumpkin candle holders: Hollow out mini pumkins with a melon baller. Place votive candles inside.


Moment I wish I could redo: I wish I had not wasted 2 hours of the kids' naptime to make the dinner I made tonight (white chicken chili). It was not at all good- very disappointing.

Best Tommy moment of the day: Tommy woke up at 5:45 this morning to drive 2 1/2 hours to an appointment in western Ohio. He got there 15 minutes early, went in and asked for the guy he was supposed to meet. The guy was not in the office at all today on account of a work-related emergency...and neglected to call Tommy to cancel the meeting. When he called me to tell me about it, he was laughing....not at all as annoyed or MAD as I would have been in the same situation!!!!





Best Jack moment of the day: After several minutes of too much quiet coming from Jack's room, Tommy went up to check on him. He was sitting in his bed with a tube of hair gel, sucking on it while his hair was completely slicked back. We called poison control for the second time in 4 months (the first involved a mushroom eating incident in early spring). We were assured that hair gel in generally non-toxic, as the operator laughed at our alarm.





Best Mallie moment of the day: Mallie is turning inside-out when she sees her brother. Jack climbed up to the side of her bassinette tonight and was talking to her. He notified us: "That baby happy!!!", and it turned out that she was, in fact, smiling and cooing at him!!!