Videos

A funny video on what would happen with no writers due to the writer's strike:



In the Xmas spirit:



I stole this one from Be a Good Dad:

"During Disability Awareness day this summer they had a man with special needs sing the National Anthem at Fenway Park. While singing, the man developed a case of the giggles. Then, the crowd gets involved. Don’t worry, this is a happy video but you might want to grab a kleenex first."

A quiet day

Well I thought it would be. MLO would go to daycare, grandma would pick her up and take her to grandma's house for a bit.

I would get to finish off work leisurely and eat some dinner without trying to constantly stop MLO from wiping her hands on her shirt and so on.

Well, work was crazy with papers flying and folders being scattered. I had so many reports to suddenly get done that I couldn't remember my name.

Then hubby had a consulting job he had to go to around 3pm and wouldn't be back until after I was asleep. I think to myself, well I get more quiet time.

Instead he reminds me that he is almost out of clean underwear and the dishes (which did get done yesterday finally) are already starting to pile up again. Plus we have no food and so on.

I think I am going to rebel anyway and watch some of my DVRed shows.

Dishes

So after Thanksgiving several rounds of dishes had to be done. As my mother put it "Thanksgiving is the time you use every piece of cooking and serving ware you own".

Plus you get to clean up afterwards.

Since I already hate doing dishes, you can imagine how overjoyed I was.

This has resulted in no dishes being done since then, my sink is totally full.

This morning to eat my cereal (which I like in a particular type of bowl of which we only have four and they were all in the sink) I cleaned the bowl and spoon I needed and left everything else.

I am a horrible wife and mother.

Thanksgiving at my house

This year (since we just bought our house and it is big and beautiful) my family decided Thanksgiving was going to be at my house.

This is the first year I have hosted it and was a little worried.

I can say I managed to only ruin the gravy - everything else went well. Luckily my mom came and bailed me out on the gravy and the meal itself went pretty good (with plenty of compliments which are always given).

MLO was in heaven because she had a house full of her family (favorite people) and got to sit on everyone's lap and give and receive hugs.

Today is time to clean the house (though I just cleaned it right before too, ugh) and start seriously thinking about Christmas. I have some presents, but now is the time to make the list and check it twice.

Plus we got to find all the Christmas decorations which are probably scattered to the four winds since we moved and I wasn't in charge of the unloading of that part :)

Spelling words

We have just recently started spelling words around MLO.

Last night I asked hubby to give MLO a "B-A-T-H" and MLO yells, "I want a bath".

I have only spelled this word a few times, but MLO has already figured it out (she is 2 years and almost two months old).

I think we are going to have to be very careful around this one :)

Birthday Party

We went to a birthday party over the weekend at Kids Funtown for a three year old friend from daycare.

Kids Funtown was really great indoor play ground that was very clean and everything was in great condition (something I have worried about before at other indoor playgrounds). MLO had so much fun she skipped birthday cake so she could go play on the slide some more.

She did know it was a birthday party though and sang the birthday song (with the appropriate name in it) over and over again that day as well as the rest of the weekend and even this morning on the way to the daycare.

Off and On

MLO is working on the difference between off and on.

She walked into the dinning room last night and yelled across the house "mommy, turn lights off."

I looked and the lights were already off.

"You mean turn them on, right?"

She looks at me for a second, "yes". Which also, unfortunately, means I didn't understand the question so I just answer yes.

I walk into the dinning room, "the light is off now." She smiles and nods, "and you want mommy to turn it on?" another nod.

"Okay, mommy is turning it on," and I flip the switch with the immediate result of her running out of the room.

Shortly after, "take socks on," my socks are on.

"You mean off?"

"Yes"

We will get there...

Writer's Strike

Living in Los Angeles there is a lot happening in regard to the writer's strike.


In case you haven't heard, it is basically over the fact that the writer's feel (and I agree) they should get something from electronic sales of their work. When the shows go to DVD and people buy them, the writer's don't get anything. This includes Internet use and the like.

So I just wanted to post my little note to say I am with the writers

Getting dressed

This morning MLO didn't want to get dressed.

After finally convincing her to look at her shirt drawer she was willing to put her Tinker Bell shirt on, but that was it.

As time ticked away I couldn't convince her to put on a pair of pants, skirt or a dress.

She did however want to put socks and shoes on.

So we got into the car with a t-shirt, socks and shoes on (and the diaper).

When we got to daycare she wanted to walk and I simply told her, no walking without pants on. Then the pants finally went on.

Lions for Lambs Review

Hubby and I went and saw a movie over the weekend, first time we went to the movies in a long time. Have to say, hard to pick a movie when you are in a funky mood, but we picked Lions for Lambs.

I have seen some reviews for it that said it wasn't an action movie and this was bad.

Just wanted to add my two cents on this. They are right, not an action movie - don't pick it if you want to see an action movie. It is a make you think movie. While many of the items they bring up, have been brought up before there were a few things that I really liked.

In the Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep discussions, one thing that really rang true for me was how the press really helped sell the war. They have some fault in this bad choice, just like all the politicians. We trust the press to dig for truths and find out what is really going on, not speak as they are told to speak.

Another good point brought up with Robert Redford and the unknown actor (had to look up his name, it is Andrew Garfield) was that you can't just talk the talk of how politicians are all bad and lie and cheat, someone needs to actually go replace them. All our talk doesn't really do it, we need action and we need to support that action.

There was some "action" with a few soldiers fighting our infamous war, but was mostly about their decisions, not their actions.

Well acted movie, technically very well made, so the point that this isn't an action movie is true, but not something that makes it bad, I really liked it.

Feeling strange (gags on husbands)

This last weekend was a quiet one, just at home with family which was nice.

On Sunday I started feeling strange - had a headache (that went away) was tired, muscles achy as if I had been exercise heavily (but hadn't been) and very, very cold.

This morning I still didn't feel great, very achy. I was telling a friend about it and she said "maybe your pregnant". While this is not impossible, it is very unlikely.

The funny part was my hubby and I were talking, he was trying to call someone and I mentioned what my friend said. Just then the voicemail came on for his call and he left a very unconventional message.

I told him we were joking and I am not, luckily he thought it was funny too.

I love the fact...

I actually wrote this post first, but decided I should change the sequence so that I left everyone on a happy note.

I love the fact that when I go to pick MLO up at daycare, when she sees me she screams out "mommy" and stops whatever she was doing and comes running into my arms.

I love the fact that when she gets hurt the thing she wants for it all to be better is a hug and/or kiss from mommy (daddy works too sometimes).

I love the fact that she will go grab a pile of toys and bring it out to me and say "lets play mommy".

I love the fact that when she is drawing she wants me to draw too so she can mimic me.

I love the fact that she came into my life and made me whole.

Sad News

Daddy's daddy died yesterday.

We were expecting it, but still leaves a missing spot in one's life. I wrote the below poem for him (for his memorial book) and thought I would share it here too:

A whisper you may hear
late into the night.
That sound could be me
telling you sleep tight.

Across your sleeping face
a soft sigh may do.
Telling you once again
I'm thinking of you.

We all change directions
sometimes even roads.
But forever friends
is how it always goes.

To you my friend
always in my heart.
Forever together
and never apart.

I wish you peace and joy
and remembrance for years.
When we meet again
we need shed no tears.

"I do it"

MLO's favorite phrase.

Getting into the car seat before we go anywhere. I can't pick her up and do it, she must climb up herself and sit down. Of course, there are the times when mommy is in a hurry and MLO gets picked up when she is going too slow. Doesn't like that.

Getting out of the car seat once we have arrived. Run into the same problem as the previous one.

Getting food out of the fridge. There is the problem that she isn't quite strong enough to open the door so she always needs a little help.

Washing her hands/feet/face. Must climb up to the sink herself, turn on the water and get the soap. Mommy shows up with a wet rag every now and then which isn't always appreciated.

Eat her food. Nice one, except when said food ends up everywhere except her mouth.

Clean up her mess (bonus!). Like this one when it appears, though mommy has to come back after and actually clean it, but the thought is nice.

There are more, but my brain decided to stop here :)

Another moment to remember

Hubby has been home in the evening much more than previously. Which means, we all get to play together.

MLO's favorite game is to have me sit at one end of the couch and hubby at the other, then she runs/falls/jumps between us. Both hubby and I keep legs and arms ready to catch her if she gets too close to the edge.

We were playing this game last night and the house was filled with laughter.

MLO was having so much fun, even when taking a break (just standing in the middle of the couch) she would just look at one of us and we would all start laughing. This became a game in of itself, with us just glancing at the other and laughter would start.

My tommy hasn't hurt this much from laughter in a long time.

BTW: no sign of any stomach upset or anything, she is totally fine

What happens when your daughter's stomach doesn't like something

Yes you guessed it, I had an adventure recently with the V word (vomit). Skip this if you have a weak stomach :)

MLO seemed totally fine, we went to a friend's birthday party. MLO ate the hot dogs they cooked for dinner, she played with other kids and got to meet a 5 week old baby.

We get home, she gets a bath, PJs are put on and we crawl into bed.

I read her our designated one book and then we cuddle up to fall asleep.

Suddenly MLO starts coughing, really hard. She just keeps coughing and I hear a sound like vomitting but when I look at MLO she seems to have swallowed it back up (first mommy gag of the night).

More coughing and she sits up crying. I scoop her into my arms and lounge for the bathroom, just in time to keep her room and sheets relatively clean, but guess were it all landed.

ALL OVER ME (more gagging).

Hubby got called and he got to clean up the floor and handle the clothes while MLO and I jumped into the bathtub.

We got all cleaned up (and MLO loves the bath so had a hard time getting her back out). Went into her room and there were a few drops on the sheets, so they got cleaned up (even the idea of sleeping on them causing more gags).

New PJs get put on. I was a little worried that with all the excitement MLO would be impossible to get back to sleep, but she was out like a light in record time.

When I got back to the bathroom, more gagging as I cleaned up the spots hubby missed.

More joys of motherhood!

Finding Dory

My daughter's favorite movie is Finding Nemo (with Cars a close second).

However her focus has changed from the general story to watching Dory.

She actually makes me skip the scenes with just Nemo (by himself in the fish tank) and go back to Dory.

It cuts the movie time in half, but I think it is funny that we watch a movie where she specifically has me skip the scenes with the namesake of the movie in it.

How it went (tricker/treating)

Well I didn't have anything to worry about, MLO was too shy and scared to actually go up to any of the people who answered the doors.

So she got to walk around outside in her Ariel dress and get compliments, but didn't get one piece of candy.

Of course, only two kids showed up at my door, so I have a lot of left over candy at home that I have to figure out what to do with.

Just can't win :)