Then there was four.

Sushi

2009-03-09T10:07:00.007-05:00

Our friends had a SUPER COOL PARTY this past Friday. It was a SUSHI PARTY! They were learning and teaching us how to make sushi rolls.

Mine wasn't pretty, but it's a start. L was eating sliced 'ava ka dough' (avocado) and T ate apart of a California roll.

Dude and I agree that we want to host one sometime. AFTER Farrell's, when we can eat as many carbs as we want (oh carbs how I miss you).

(Photos courtesy of jensennrf)

My Something Creative - St Patty's Day

2009-03-05T19:24:00.005-06:00

I missed last week. Dude was out of town, so between WORK, KIDS and FARRELLS I didn't have a lot of time for anything other than life, so nothing creative. I was able to pull a shirt together for L this week, but no huge brownie points for orginality. Just the same, it is always neat to see her wear something I made her.

This is me

2009-03-05T13:50:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago I got 'tagged' on a Facebook (FB) note. My FB friend (and FXB cohort) said something like how she admired how I seemed to have it all together. To be CLEAR - FAR FAR FROM IT! Just to prove it, below is an edited snippet of an email I sent to a friend today:

"OMG! I FORGOT I WAS GOING TO GET YOUR LUNCH TODAY!!!! I AM PUTTING A CHECK IN THE MAIL TONIGHT!!!!!!!! THANKS AGAIN FOR COVERING L's REGISTRATION FEE FOR PRESCHOOL WHEN I FORGOT MY CHECKBOOK FOR PRESCHOOL REGISTRATION!

[it is so not like me to be a basket case or crazy or witchy or indecisive about life in general (okay maybe witchy, but just once a month, for a few days)...... I am WORKING on getting over all of these things and trying to get back more to being ME and to be more POSTIVE, not focusing on the negative! I too enjoyed lunch today – sorry I was just a debbie DOWNER. I PROMISE I will do my VERY BEST to not be like that next time – I am so glad that you want to get together again for lunch]"

File under "Things I don't want to forget"

2009-03-03T20:47:00.005-06:00

For those of you that have children you know that they say and do things that you laugh at and think to yourself "I don't ever want to forget that". From there I do a REALLY great job of forgetting. I have done a pretty good job of capturing pictures.

BUT it is the words/actions that I want to capture. In an ATTEMPT to remember, every so often I am going to do a post where I list things that "I don't want to forget".

For instance:

L calls soup "SLOOOup"

That my son dances like a chicken. There doesn't even have to be music, you just have to ask him to dance and he bops up and down like a chicken eating chicken feed.

Everytime it snows overnight when L wakes up and sees it, she shouts "Yeah! It is Christmas Day!"

EVERY man with a beard L gets SUPER excited and says "There is Ho-Ho! Even to Dude's uncle. And the grouchy construction worker at the cafe, and the random man at the store. EVERY man with a beard

my little guy, T, CHOOSES to wear ONE shoe or boot at ALL TIMES. He'll bring me his boot and grunt at me until I put it on, then happily walks away and plays, for hours (well not hours, but hours in 14 month old time)

Wild Animals

2009-02-26T19:16:00.005-06:00

The hearth room in our house looks like this:

(notice the chairs on top of the table and the footstool on top of the chair)

All becase of this:

I guess the next step is to completely eradicate my house of ALL furniture.

Lessons Learned

2009-02-25T13:53:00.002-06:00

When your manager tells you about his/her threesome with his/her crack dealer, RUN! run FAST! Find a NEW JOB!

Please folks, learn from the mistakes of others that are not smart enough to figure it out themselves.

What Cool People do on Saturday Nights

2009-02-22T17:45:00.003-06:00

Zero style points. They were all sitting down! The drummer I can understand, but the guitars COME ON- let me see you ROCK!

Sorry Mr. Man.

2009-02-20T11:19:00.004-06:00

Drama, makeup, bathroom hog, PMS, sassiness (and bossiness), dolls, dress up. Just a few of the pitfalls of having an older sister. Sorry Mr Man.

Don't worry son, I am sure someday you will get her back. When she is 13 pull a tampon out in front of her boyfriend, throw it at her and tell her stop leaving them lay around. She'll be mortified, I promise.

wait no boyfriends when you are 13, how about 18.

Please Bare With Me...

2009-02-19T19:22:00.003-06:00

It is embarrassing that I have an MIS degree and for many years did web-based application development. When setting up this blog I took the easy route and used a free template. It is driving me nuts. Over the next few days (maybe weeks!) I am going to do my best to do a few enhancements, so bare with me as I am sure there will be several versions and lots of bugs.

Creative Juices....

2009-02-19T18:54:00.005-06:00

Being creative makes me happy. I need to do it more often. Anything creative - plan a party (baby showers are my favorite!), make treats, wrap presents, sewing - anything creative, I am not picky. I have resolved to try and do 1 creative thing a week. If it turns out, I'll share it on here and if not, you’ll never know.

This week it was a shirt for L.

I got the tutorial here. You should check out this woman’s Etsy Shop – she has lots of cute things, my favorite being the messy butterfly pin. Even more admirable is that she is donating 100% of the proceeds to the Cora Paige Playground fund. I must warn you, if you click on the story be prepared to cry and be touched in ways you can’t imagine being touched by strangers. I have thought about this family everyday since I learned of their story almost a month ago. Maybe because my son is only 14 months old and I can’t even imagine. Or maybe because having children has made me a softy. Or maybe just because. Either way, I am sure your heart will ache for them as well.

Missing?

2009-02-16T14:57:00.002-06:00

Looks like I have been missing from the blog world. I would create a missing persons poster, however it seems not only am I missing from the blog world, but I am also missing any pictures of me. I am always behind the camera and I didn't realize to what degree until I went to find a picture for my facebook profile.

Happy Monday.

Wordless

2009-01-10T11:54:00.004-06:00

Yellow Snow

2009-01-10T11:50:00.002-06:00

I double checked, the snow wasn't yellow.

Ready. Set. Go.

2009-01-10T11:19:00.007-06:00

There is something sweet about a little girl dressed in light pink and piggy tails - in this case L was ready for gymnastics. I tried to capture the 'sweetness'. This is what I got:

Not so sweet looking. She takes after her father :)

do you think he will have curly hair like his sister?

2009-01-01T17:36:00.003-06:00

I often get asked if wingman will have curly hair like his sister. I'll let you be the judge.

noon years eve.

2008-12-31T16:03:00.005-06:00

Happy Noon Years Eve! The kids and I celebrated it 'young child' style with our good friends, the Lobis's, at the Science Center of Iowa.

There were a ton of balloons and even more confetti.

We only had one episode of documented all out sassy-ness

(her shirt reads "sweet" a little irony anyone?)

Happy New Years to Everyone!

Ten Minutes by Herself, That is All It Takes....

2008-11-28T16:19:00.005-06:00

INSIDE I am laughing so hard that I had to post before I even clean up...

Notice the 6 or so Oreos that she has cleverly cleaned the frosting out of, with a spoon (heaven forbid she gets her fingers dirty). And, if you could see inside each of the cups you could see that each is filled with M&M's.

Seriously she was alone downstairs by herself for 10 minutes. Fair to say she is almost self-sufficient, if left alone and hungry she will find food, even if it is just M&M's, Oreo cookies and a previously unopened bag of sugar.

(she is looking over my shoulder looking at the pictures saying "L made just a little mess on the couch).

UPDATEDED
It gets even better, as I am cleaning up, I pick up the sugar and ask her:

Me: "Why did you open this? Did it taste good?"
L: "I didn't open it"
Me: "You didn't? Who did?"
L: "Brother did"

Of note - brother was upstairs, in his bed napping like she was supposed to be doing.

(also of note, I was in the house with the kids - I was upstairs, she down)

The Worlds Best!

2008-11-03T11:32:00.002-06:00

I was lucky enough to stumble across the worlds' best photographer when L was 6 months old. We have made many repeat visits to see her I am super excited to go back in a few weeks for T's 1 year pictures, hopefully she is looking forward to seeing us as well!

As a preview (or rewind?), here is a picture of T from his 6 month's session: http://amydoerring.com/blog/. Makes me want the day to hurry up so I can see my chubbers again!

Just for Ed

2008-11-02T22:49:00.002-06:00

"Move your hips in big round circles"

Why we don't travel thru airports...

2008-11-02T22:44:00.002-06:00

L's favorite song is Laurie Berkner's Three Little Pigs. In fact it has become her favorite story to recite back. Except she has ONE little line wrong, as L tells it: "I'll blow your house up".

THE MOONS ALIGNED!

2008-11-02T22:39:00.003-06:00

It has only taken 10 months, but it FINALLY HAPPENED. ONE good picture of the two kiddos together!!!!! Apparently all good things take 9-10 months.

I just had to share!

Now if only my little T would start to sleep thru the night... heck I'd even take 3 hour increments!

More posts to come, I have lots of ideas in my head, just been busy and haven't made the time to post.

She's a Maneater

2008-10-12T09:18:00.004-05:00

L built a cage for her brother today. He happily stay in his cage for about 20 minutes before the "woman you will not trap me" testosterone based syndrome set in.

Mothers, hide your little boys. She's a maneater

Playdate

2008-10-09T22:05:00.003-05:00

L had a friend (K) over for a playdate, they made cupcakes! Think they had fun?

Fun side note, my friend Jamie (K's mom) is an awesome mom and cook, but doesn't bake so the mixer scared the shit out of K! It was hilarious!

Senior Picture Pose

2008-10-09T21:51:00.004-05:00

Senior pictures look much different today, but if T had been born 30 years ago this is the pose he may have taken for his senior pictures.

Another 10 seconds of L's faces

2008-10-09T21:37:00.006-05:00

Ready Set Go (Again!)

(notice her jaws are always flapping)

It Happened

2008-09-19T14:25:00.002-05:00

I once went to lunch with a friend and her 2 year old daughter several years ago, before I had kids. My friend picked the location - the deli of Hy Vee (an area grocery store). Her daughter was being ornery (actually she was just being 2) and my friend said to her daughter "That isn't the way you behave in nice restaurants". I had a great laugh about it - it was the DELI AT HY VEE not a nice restaurant! Besides, who willing eats there except old people? For many many many years I have made fun of Amy about that comment.

Fast forward to today, I was out running errands and found myself at Target during lunch time. No big deal, I have eaten there several times before, except today was different, after battleling for several minutes (felt like hours) with L to behave I opened my mouth and out came the words "This isn't how you behave at nice restaurants". OMG. Seriously I just said that.

Of course I had to tell my friend. Her response "what goes around comes around" - there will be a lot coming around.

T-man

2008-09-17T21:33:00.006-05:00

Because the blog is missing photos of T....

Her Father.

2008-09-17T21:33:00.003-05:00

Dude doesn't know this, but L's real dad is Richard Simmons

When Pigs Fly

2008-08-22T13:11:00.004-05:00

Guess where I took the kids for breakfast this morning? Better yet, guess what large ceramic animal they have standing outside the door. Thank you Iowa Machine Shed for making it nearly impossible to get in your front door (note the extreme sarcasim). I will forgive you though; our server (even in his overalls) was good looking.

(If you haven't read about L's fear of pigs, read this.)

Kiss it

2008-08-22T13:08:00.005-05:00

The fashionista she is, L had my high heels on, purse over her arm, pushing her baby stroller around. The 2 1/2 inch heels were just a little too much and she tripped, falling on her bottom. Crying, she backed over to me, pointed at her butt and said "Kiss it".

Being the wonderful parent I am, I did.

Pretty postive it is hot where I am going

2008-08-21T22:08:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago the family took a trip to the Iowa State Fair. Good times had by all,

We visited the Cattle Barn, Horse Barn, Sheep Barn, Birthing Center and a little bit of everywhere else. L was FEARLESS. BIG, HUGE ASS BELGIN HORSES - BRING THEM ON! No fear - "I touch" to everything. The last barn we visited was the Pig Barn (not sure if that is what they truly call it). Anywho, for some reason L was freaked out by the 'piggies’ and would not touch them, even with my coaxing, pulling her arm and trying to force her to touch the pig's wet nose. Giving up, we move on to exit the barn. Completely oblivious to what is going on in front of her, just celebrating the fact that we let her out of the stroller to walk, I was able to say “L, look there is a piggy!” as it was running right for her, with the young 4-H’r trailing behind it. It might have been in those next few panic filled, screaming bloody murder moments as the pig brushed by her that her indescribable, over-the-top fear of pigs developed (or it could have been my attempt to pull her arm out of its socket trying to get her to just touch the pig prior). Just the mention of pig drives this child to look feverishly for her anti-anxiety pills.

Why the story? Fast forward to tonight, I took L on errands with me, hoping that providing this wild, short tempered (only a 20 minute nap, thank you cousin K) child a change of scenery might speed up the night. WHO THINKS LIKE THAT? (except a FRAZZLED MOTHER trying to have it all – career, friends (lunch with a girlfriend today) family and a little of ‘martha stewart’ baby shower planner). The entire Target store knew we were there and that sidekick was in a foul mood. I even tried bribing her with mini-oreos (which did nothing more than set her off even more when she couldn’t get ALL of the stuffing out of the cookie). So here is this child, end-of-day-food-stained attire, oreo-crap everywhere on her face, trying to climb out of the cart, SCREAMING about ANYTHING – frosting in the cookie, she wants that neckless, she wants the paci, she wants to ‘touch’ this toy/that toy. What does the parent of the year do? Nothing. We made it out of Target alive. BUT the Parent of the year (the one reference earlier, who wants it all) does try her luck and brings her to just ONE MORE STORE. (Apparently I had used my last brain cell in pouring the milk in her Fruity Pebbles diner earlier in the evening, I digress). In Stein Mart, after a scene similar to the one above, I am at the end of my rope so I say “L you had better sit down or I am going to take you to see the piggy’s”. Freak out follows, SCREAMING “I SCARED OF PIGGY’S” so I bust I out the back up line “If you keep screaming, they are going to know you are over here and find you”. She is now resolved to making herself as small as possible, whispering to herself “i scared of piggys” the entire rest of the shopping trip, even to the cashiers. All the way home “I scared of piggys”. Bedtime – pretty sure you figured it out.
Any bets on how many times she wakes up in the night?

(disclaimer: in my defense I didn’t realize the EXTREME extent of her piggy fear until tonight, I now know and will only use against her in EXTREME situations, like “DON’T RUN IN THE STREET, THE PIGGY WILL GET YOU”.)

It ain't sexy, but it is ours

2008-08-20T21:54:00.003-05:00

A family picture, complete with cheeto-stained mouth on L's face (thank you Grandma K.... who gives a 2 year old cheeto's RIGHT before family pictures?!?!)

I'll paint your toes too

2008-08-20T21:49:00.004-05:00

She isn't Asian, but you would never guess that by the way she paints toenails.

Cousins doing the nastics

2008-08-20T21:35:00.003-05:00

Cousin K is going to be a big sister, so while her mom (dude's sister) had a dr appointment Cousin K came to play! L had gymnastics (otherwise known as 'nastics') and Cousin K joined us - the girls had a BLAST!

Does this lipstick match my outfit?

2008-08-20T21:06:00.004-05:00

The family embarked on a bike ride last night, sidekick & wingman close to my side (backside) in a bike trailer. Because we road to DQ for a treat I had my purse in the trailer. One the way home from the bike ride I hear L smacking her lips...

What do you think, is it a good color on her?

Childless People Package Toys....

2008-08-01T10:36:00.004-05:00

We have been under self-imposed quarantine at our house (I could go on a rant about people that let their children play with others when they are sick and know it, but I’ll save it for another day). After a late night trip to the ER due to a really high fever we discovered L had hand-foot-and-mouth (sounds so dirty, so animal like).

Good news, she is feeling better, to make up for the stagnate play of her toys for a few days she took every single toy out of the toy boxes this morning.

It is great that she feels better, but it makes me sick to realize that I need to sanitize every single one of those toys because of ‘play’ like this:

I'd like to take a moment to thank all the grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles for billion and two toys, especially the '150 ball pit' and the bag of '100 blocks'.

Now if only my little wingman and I can start to feel better....

How's your week?

2008-07-30T09:31:00.003-05:00

One of the dogs shit in the front seat of my car and then jumped on it squishing it in.

Next day: L threw up in the backseat of my car, all over her carseat on the way home from the ER at 1 am.

Tell me, how is your week?

2008-07-18T15:39:00.002-05:00

The phone rings, here is how the conversation goes:

Guy on the phone: Is this Beth Ann?
Me: Yes
Guy on the phone: This is Mark with something something Iowa Sheriff's department
Me: Okay (thinking in my head, I haven't done anything, that I know of)
Mark (guy on the phone): I am calling about id cards for children
Me: Okay
Mark: Wouldn't you agree that just 1 child missing is too many?
Me: Yes, that is why I talked with my therapist about it and am going to stop taking random kids.
Mark: silence
Me: just joking. But seriously I don't donate money over the phone.

A Little Diddy About Jack and Diane….

2008-06-27T13:18:00.002-05:00

...except no Jack or Diane and really only a diddy about L. I’ll move on...

I am fortunate to have the flexibility to spend Friday’s (for the most part) at home and work when I can fit it in (not really work at home, but be at home and work). Anywho, I love being at home with the kiddos, it grounds me and I find myself looking back at the day laughing at the little things that I miss while I am working. Take for instance L’s attempt at a nap today. Here is how the first 45 minutes went (and she was the one who told me she was tired and ready to go night-night):

~ 5 minutes into her nap, found her in the spare bed, watching tv (with the fan and radio turned on)
~ 10 minutes into her nap, jumping on her bed
~ 13 minutes into her nap, in our closet playing with whatever she can find (leaving a mess for me to clean up)
~ 18 minutes into her nap, peeked in because it was quite; she had a stack of books she was reading (left her be)
~ 21 minutes into her nap (short books), in my room jumping on the bed (with T sleeping soundly on the bed as well)
~ 30 minutes into her nap, playing with block in T's room
~ 35 minutes into her nap dancing to Shrek music (all of a sudden the music got louder….)

She is asleep now, don't know why she would be tired. Thought about trying to take a picture of her sleeping – she looks so sweet. But I want the sweetness to last just a few hours so I can get some stuff done.

Me & L

2008-06-22T21:49:00.002-05:00

The Best

2008-06-22T21:45:00.002-05:00

My BEST picture of the 2 kiddos together. Not bragging....

10 Seconds of Faces

2008-06-22T21:32:00.005-05:00

Ready, set GO:

No joking these pictures were taken within a 10 second timeframe. I am not sure where she gets her visual 'animation' from.

(the orange on her face was a sample of T-man's sweet potatoes, she is the taste-tester for our prince)

Long time, no blog....

2008-06-22T20:54:00.008-05:00

Long time, no blog. I'd like to say I am going to get better at posting, but..... 2 kids, 50 hours work week and somewhat a of a life.

At a quick glance here is what has been happening.

My baby brother graduated high school:

L had a REALLY bad hair day:

An old fashion 'pool party' with friends:

Camping Trip:

L gave horse back riding a try (sorry the picture stinks, it was poorly-lighted indoor arena):

L decides to dress herself:

T tried sweet potatoes:

Gave potty training a try (I vote for diapers):

And tried YET AGAIN to get ONE good picture of the kids together:

So that in a nutshell is what has been going on with us. What's new with you?

Happy Belated Birthday L

2008-05-27T15:12:00.004-05:00

L's birthday was the middle of this month - she turned 2 (sniff). I can't believe my baby is 2....

We celebrated in style - Shrek all around!!!!

T modeling the Shrek Ears...

And some cute pictures of my 2 year old...

(L's first ring pop experience)

What a Handsome Boy!

2008-05-21T10:38:00.003-05:00

Have to brag.... my sitter (LOVE HER) sometimes takes pictures of my kiddos and sends them to me at work. I just stare at them all day long.....

Mr T at his finest!

I give up!

2008-05-04T23:48:00.004-05:00

Every opportunity I get I try and get a picture of the kids together, you would think 2 kids, 2 adults surely ONE of the pictures would turn out. HA HA! We visited Grandpa & Grandma B this past weekend, the weekend was great, picture session with the 2 kids together, not so great:

At least I got each of the kiddos individually with the grandparents:

And L's new pal:

Happy May Day!

2008-05-04T23:44:00.003-05:00

I don't know if I can say it enough, we live in a GREAT neighborhood. This year we made little 'flower cakes' to give to our friends & neighbors and are sharing via the web with you:

HAPPY MAY DAY

All about T-Man!

2008-04-28T22:44:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe that T is over 4 months old! yikes!

"Hey mom look what I can do, no hands!"

And just because he is so darn cute:

Who's daughter is she?

2008-04-27T09:51:00.003-05:00

My daughter, L, looks a lot like her father, but she eats like me :)

This WAS an M&M cookie:

(there were M&M's around the side of the cookie...)

Her dounut BEFORE:

and AFTER:

MMMMM, We LOVE our chocolate!!!

Can we get an "oink, oink" for the west side

2008-02-18T14:21:00.000-06:00

Mr. Thas been pretty fussy that last few days/nights so I brought him to the dr today just to make sure it wasn't something. At all appointments for babies they do a weight check. T weighed 13lbs 11ozs today!!!! That is up a whole 9ozs since 1 week ago!!! HOLY PIGGY!

Oh and a clean bill of health, so the fussiness isn't because he is sick. I just wish he could tell us what is wrong.

Happy Valentines Day!

2008-02-14T14:49:00.000-06:00

What is sweeter than the love between a father and daughter?

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty....

2008-02-14T13:39:00.000-06:00

We have 2 dogs, Sparky & Scooter. Both are pre-L so not new additions. Today out of the blue she keeps looking at Sparky and going "Cat, Cat". Trust me, she knows what the difference between a cat and dog.

What do you think? Maybe there is something we are missing?

He is smaller than most cats at 5 lbs.... maybe she has a new word, "Rat, Rat"... poor fella the 'necktie' makes him look a little more dog-like

Happy 2 Months T!!!!!

2008-02-11T13:21:00.000-06:00

T turned 2 months on Monday. Crazy how fast the last 2 months has gone and even crazier how much he has changed in the last 2 months. Since he was about 6 weeks old he had to move into 3-6 month clothes. He can hold his head up, follow you with his eyes, coo, smile (yet to capture it on camera and actually it is more of a smirk with his eyes smiling) and just be pretty darn amazing.

Here are a few pictures of our big guy....

At his 2 month appt he weighed 13lbs 2ozs and was 23 inches long, when he was born he weighed 8lbs 10ozs and was 19.5 inches long.... they grow up way too quickly.

Cupcakes Anyone?

2008-02-08T15:49:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Feb 7, was the husband's birthday (anyone at the local bar last night would have known he was celebrating hard.... another story, I am not sure that I even want to hear about it.) Anyways, the kids wanted to do something special, so L made and decorated cupcakes!

There were a FEW left for everyone else.....

Here Is Your Valentine's Day Card

2008-02-07T14:27:00.000-06:00

A friend reminded me that Valentine's Day is next week and as tradition has it, kiddo's are supposed to exchange cards & treats. Being as my kiddo's are young I WAS going to do a photo card.

Here is a sample of how my attempt to capture the kids together for the card went....

At the point T is thinking "Sister, move out of my shot and just sit still for 2 seconds so we can get this over with!"

I QUICKLY gave up on trying to capture the 2 kids together. Trying to get each of them alone didn't go so well either...

And T (notice the shadow as well as the fear in T's eyes? It is L standing dangerously close to him)

I gave up, needless to say no photo Valentine card from the B's this year. Points for the thought?