CHEEEEEEESE !!

NH Ski Weekend

Last Thursday night, we head up to North Conway, NH for a ski weekend with friends. It was a fun trip away for the last few days of Shelaghs school vacation. Joe got a short few hours skiing with some other friends that were up there sans kids, Kelly got to make up for her crazy sleep weekend away from home, and I got to read and mellow out with Kelly for a bit while the big kids went to Attitash with Joe.

The kids had a blast with 2 days in a row of skiing with Joe and then followed by their weekly Sunday class back here in Mass. After declaring "But, I don't want to be in control, Dad" on Saturday, Rory did an about-face and finally mastered his Pizza stop. Now, at least, he won't plow into the people in front of him as he barrels down the hill (I never trusted that "don't worry about the people behind you" method).

Shelagh was doing the magic carpet no problem by herself. She's doing turns, stopping by herself in control, taking her skis on and off, and falling and getting up safely and easily. Both kids went on the chair lift and down the bunny slope with Joe - Shelagh only falling once on her own and Rory holding on to Joes pole. They've really progressed nicely and will easily surpass my mediocre skill (if you can even call it that!) by next year. I've not skiied since before Shelagh was born. I was crappy before - it will be scary by the time I get back on skiis!!

Shelagh...cool as a cucumber

Rory, ditching Joe, to go instead over the side of the hill b/c it was steeper

Me & Kells watching the big kids go

Afterwards...

7:15 !!!

I actually had to wake Kelly at 7:15am this morning. AND, she didn't even eat almost any dinner last night...I thought for sure we were starting over today. Glory. She was smiling and happy when she woke. FINALLY.

Now THATs Snow

Now that's more like it...

Operation Ferber Kelly Days 3 and 4

Well, we've made it to 6am at least!! Yesterday morning, the monitor was on super low and I was so wiped out from lack of sleep the night before that my head was buried under the covers away from the monitor and at 615 I heard some very faint crying. Who knows how long she was going, but I don't think too long. I felt her face and sheet for tears and there were none. My niece was sleeping on the couch and didn't hear her until 615 either. Weeeee.

This morning, she started fussing at about 6 and I went in and got her up at 615. We played quietly in her room until 7 and that was that.

I dare not say anything definitive b/c that's when I jinx myself and we'd end up with 430am wake ups again. But, 2 days in a row is promising. Once we are solid at 6am, I'll work on 630-7. Anything before 7 just SUCKS!

Happy Valentines Day - Everythings Pink!

Happy Fake-Hallmark-Love Day! Haha.

We woke up with cards from the kids that they made for me with the sitter last night. Then, we moved down to the kitchen for pink and red pancakes inspired by this post I spotted a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't quite up for full rainbow pancakes after my evening of vomiting, but I'll do that soon - maybe Shelaghs birthday. I'll seriously have to wake up super-early and try to bang those out while they are still in bed. We also had pink milk. I'm trying to come up with some kind of pink or red inspired dinner with some pink ice cream to top off the day, but I'm stumped right now. I guess I could make pink mashed potatoes, some kind of rare-ish meat and beets or something but I don't think that would go over so well. I'll continue to think about it while I while away some time during the big kids ski class this afternoon.

"Pink MIIIILLLKKK"

"What the hell are these red pancakes and why can't I have pink milk????"

My shirtless warriors...

An Expensitive Humidimifier

Rory was asking me this morning about the "Humidimifier" in Kellys room and then stated how very "Expensitive" it must have been. Hilarious.

Operation Ferber Kelly - Day 2

Joe and I went out last night to our Supper Club. We got into bed around 1 and by 230ish I was still tossing and turning. Finally, I got completely sick for a good 1/2 hour. Definitely felt like a quick stomach bug. Ugh...I really hope the kids don't get it. The clock said 3 the last time I looked. I did feel better afterwards, but then at 4:36am, Miss Kelly decided to start her little fit. I decided I wasn't going to go in at all this time hoping she'd cry for less time. No can do. At 5:15, Rory got up to pee and then came to bed with us...it's was questionable as to whether he'd go back to bed at all since she was still wailing away. At 5: 47 I finally gave up and decided to go give her some water. She gulped it down like no tomorrow. She fussed for awhile and cried when I put her back down and rubbed her back a bit. At 6:03 she did fall back to sleep and thank goodness so did Joe, Rory and I until 730. I was just about to have Joe just get up with her...At 6 I feel it's tough to ignore her, but after almost an hour and a half of crying I knew she'd have to have exhausted herself. 87 minutes. Brutal.

Operation Ferber Kelly

Enough is enough. I keep saying it's because she's getting teeth or because she's sick. This kid will not sleep past 5 - it's INSANE! I'm seriously sleep deprived and it's got to end ASAP. She goes to sleep great, she naps great, otherwise she has no sleep issues. This has got to be me tending to her. I do it b/c usually I don't want her to wake up the big kids (who will not go back to sleep if it's early morning). There is no air conditioner for white noise. Shelagh doesn't want the sound machine on anymore (that worked great when Rory woke). If I just nurse her quickly she'll fall right back to sleep.

Step 1 - Weaning. Done this week. I really enjoyed nursing her to a year. I didn't nurse the other kids this long and it was especially rewarding this time for both of us. However, I can't be producing any volume of milk...She's drinking cow milk now and eating regular food, so I think we can call it at this point. She really hasn't fussed to much about it. One time in the middle of the night she was crying and leaning down, but a bottle of water instead quenched her throat and she seemed to move on.

Step 2 - Quash the early morning wake ups. She's been sleeping through but waking at 430ish. Yesterday morning she didn't go back to sleep after waking at 530am. She won't lie still and snuggle and won't even play quietly...she's thrashing and crying like she wants to sleep or stay awake and can't decide.

So, this morning I let her cry it out. It took 57 minutes and was awful. But, she did it and slept until 730 when I woke her so her naps wouldn't get screwed up. I love you, Marc Weissbluth, author of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. My most used and re-used book.

4:53 - She starts fussy crying here and there. I lower the monitor volume and ignore it.
5:16 - She is WAILING at the top of her lungs. Now, of course, I have to pee and decide to get her some water just in case. I give her a chug of water and put her back down. She wails for 5 minutes with me sitting in on the floor hoping I can give her the 5 minute "I'm here but I'm not picking you up" check in.
5:30 - I give up and go back to bed while she continues to wail. Joe gets earplugs and puts a pillow over his head. I lay in bed listening to her cry and pray that the big kids don't get up. Then, I think about the fact that even if they wake up, we have a sitter tonight so I won't have to deal with their wrath later. hehe. I can do this.
5: 36 - She starts to have 10 second quiet gaps. There is hope. At second 11, the crying starts again but louder, if that is possible. My hope is crushed. This goes on for several minutes. Chinese water torture.
5:50 - All crying has stopped. Heaven.

And the big kids slept until 730. Morning 1 complete.

Let's Go Friars!

He was randomly singing today "Let's Go Friars!". Leftover from the basketball game this past weekend with Joe. It was cute, so here it is.

Where's the Snow?

You'd think people had forgotten that we live in New England WHERE IT SNOWS! I got the recorded message from Shelaghs school yesterday morning that school was closed. The snow had not started yet. The forecast called for 4-8 inches in the city and surrounding and up to 10 inches North of the city but not starting until mid-day. Seriously. Our town doesn't even have buses - what the hell were they afraid of????

We recovered quickly and Joe brought Shelagh to work for the day (where upon his work mate suggested that Shelagh and her daughter - who was up the street from their office at home - have a play date for the day!). I dropped Rory off and his day care decided to close at 2pm. In 5 years of being at this center they have never closed early during snow. Unbelievable. I was so annoyed. I shuffled my work schedule and at 130 when I left to go pick him up, it had been flurrying with NOTHING STICKING.

So, Rory and I went to Barnes and Noble and spent a gift card he had on a few new books. We shared a hot chocolate and just tooled around together. Usually when I have Rory I have Kelly too, so it was nice to just be with him. He's such a love. Then we went to Trader Joes and picked up Kelly to head home for the day.

At 630am this morning Joe asked me "How much snow is there?"...It was a dusting. What a huge over-reaction. I think people saw how hard DC was hit and panicked. Completely annoying. The bummer is that Shelaghs Valentines Day party was postponed to today and now neither Joe nor I can go. She was devastated, the poor thing. I think my Mother in Law went, though, so hopefully she's feeling better.

Cream-Braised Brussels Sprouts

Heavenly...Cream-Braised Brussels Sprouts. The recipe I used was from Orangette, which she adapted from one of my favorite books, All About Braising. It was just so damn delicious.

Kelly Series

She just looked so cute the other day...I love watching her drink from her bottle by herself and I'm not sure what the other face is - kissy face?

I love the way her hair is winging out all over the place. It's been all good since I finally cut off her rat tail.

Roasting Pan of Doody

How gross does this look? Am I seriously impaired with gravy (along with dough). This has got to be my 4th or 5th attempt at making gravy and I just CANNOT DO IT! Pan of doody. I had a simple Everyday Food technique cut out showing 4 easy steps to gravy. Just disgusting. I have a ridiculous head cold so I couldn't even taste anything to see if it tasted as fecal as it looked. Needless to say, I threw it out.

Valentines Day Craft

While the boys were out yesterday, Shelagh and I worked on this craft for Paper Heart Garlands that I found a link to while browsing some other blogs. I am certainly not naturally crafty, but this one was easy and had a nice division of labor - Shelagh made the hearts and I strung them together.

Boys at the Game

How cute is this???? Joe took Rory to the Providence College Basketball game today with some other friends with their kids. Then, they are off to Dave & Busters to introduce Rory to the arcade. This morning Rory said "Dad, I'm so excited for the basketball game with you today." What a love.

Wrappers

I have to report that Shelagh is a hoarder. Not at the point of needing intervention yet, but she has this odd attachment to food wrappers. She saves all wrappers and I have to hunt around after them and be constantly vigilant re: squeeze yogurt wrappers or else the smell would just linger out there until they were discovered. She decided to switch backpacks for school on Friday so I finally got a chance to really clean out her backpack only to discover this!

I'm so writing a letter to the after-school "enrichment" program director. You can't really see in there, but they are getting that crappy gross 10% juice fruit drink in plastic cups and doritos more times than I care to publish. Ew. I'm so glad the Mass. House has passed a bill directing schools to provide only healthy snacks and drinks in school. If this doesn't pass it will be ridiculous.

Happy 1st Birthday, Kelly!

I cannot believe she is 1. This morning I dropped her off at the home care and asked for a hug goodbye. She leaned over, hugged me, leaned back and waved. Then she blew me a kiss. I swear my heart melted it was so sweet.

Here's a little rundown of what Kelly is up to these days:

• She is eating regular food, although she is already showing signs of being a picky eater, God help me. When she doesn't like something it gets either thrown at me, spit at me, dropped on the floor while staring at me with challenging eyes, or just screaming. Nice. She loves applesauce, toast and yogurt. That's about all that is a guarantee. She's not quite as bad as Rory, but I see a longer future of dinner-time cajoling.
• She crawls all over, pulls up to her knees, has pulled up to her feet (although not much and not lately), does downward dog sometimes, but seems not at all interested in standing or walking. If she was my first child I'd probably be disappointed, but do I need my 3rd to be walking yet???? No, I do not.
• She got 4 new teeth in the last month or so bringing her total to 8. She doesn't let me look in there so there might be more coming, but who knows.
• She has said a few words - Uh-Oh, Wow, Mama/Maaaam, Lala (which I believe is her trying to say Shelagh) - we thought it was Dada, but I saw her tongue on the roof of her mouth and she's staring right at Shelagh going "LALALALALALALA".
• She waves hi and bye and will high five you if she's in the mood.
• She LOVES hair: Pulling it, holding it, eating it, hiding beneath it, whatever. When she hugs me (which is constantly), she wraps her arms around my neck and grabs hold of my ponytail and does not let go. I love it...it's like she's holding on for dear life.
• She likes to play with Rorys toys mostly - cars, Bakugans - and her musical toy cell phone.
• She is a really happy baby - smiles all the time, laughs, claps, hugs.
• Despite falling off the changing table yesterday and landing on her head with the loudest thump I've ever heard, she has all her faculties and my Mother of the Year award is on the way. HAHA.

Tonight we will eat the pathetic cake I made (I am hopeless in the cake and bread department) and open her 2 little presents - a pink bunny pillow and a toy cube with beads and stuff - plus a couple of other things she got in the mail from family.

It tasted good anyway...

The birthday girl and the big kids

Cruising on her new fairy ride-on from her cool cousins.

Belly Laughs

The kids were goofing around today and Rory's laugh just filled me up and made me smile. Then, Kelly tried to join in on the fun. She is really trying to stay involved...she follows the other kids everywhere. Rory was crying with his head down on my legs today and Kelly came over and wrapped her arms around his head and lay her head down on his for a hug. It was just precious.

Food Update

The Cheesy-onion bread was actually made of biscuit dough, which is the ONLY reason I didn't screw it up! It was good, but I was dreaming about onion-y moist bread and it just wasn't what I had in mind. Bringing the leftovers to work.

The cornmeal fish sticks were a little bland. No one ate a thing at dinner tonight.

The pork shoulder was game-y. I think that happened last time and I suppose it's the cut. I will still use the shredded pork to make this pasta ragu type sauce b/c in theory the sauce should mask the bite of eating it as is I would think.

So, happy I've been able to cook more, but need to focus on better recipes. Also, it would be nice if I took Rory and Kelly somewhere on a home day, but I've barely managed a play date for Rory every 3 weeks or so. It's just so DAMN COLD. And, that DAMN Punxatawny Phil saw his DAMN shadow, DAMMIT. I need me some Spring.

Cupcakes & Muffins

Rory and I had a morning of baking and licking batter bowls. We made a single layer cake for our family for Kellys 1st birthday this Thursday and made cupcakes with the rest to send to her home care. Then, we made Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt Loaf from SmittenKitchens adaptation of an Ina Garten recipe. I've made the full loaf before, but today we made a mini-loaf and a dozen muffins. They came out yummy - really moist.

Rory is a helpful baker and likes doing projects in the kitchen. Today he cracked his first egg after which he said "and now I lick my fingers". When I dove and screamed for him in what seemed like slo-mo "NOooooooooo". People used to drink raw eggs for health so I'm sure it's no big deal but the kid is already King Diarrhea so why risk it?