Swing High

I guess today I'm going to post more than once to make up for the weeks of slim postings. We've been insanely busy lately, so hopefully my multiple blogging is a sign of things settling down! A girl can dream! 

Last week, Mimi & Papa came in town for a baseball tournament of Charlie's (Ruby's favorite cousin, no doubt) and brought along a little swing to add to our big kid swing set. Ruby has been asking for a while now to go outside and play on the swing set, but I haven't had anywhere to put Elvis while we are outside. Needless to say we were in dire need of a baby swing. Mimi & Papa save the day the way they often do. They have been a super help in MANY home improvement projects with Papa being the home improvement "Yoda" and Alex taking the part of "Obi Won" (you know, the entirely capable one that could always learn something new). So, yay for our new baby swing nestled neatly below the trapeze bar that no kid ever uses anyhow! 

Sing with me now, "Swing high, swing high, swing high in the sky! Elvis swings high, birds swing high, Elvis swings high in the sky!" (that's the song that Mimi sings when she's pushing the babies in their swing)

Big Easy Weekender

Yesterday we had a super fun time at the Big Easy Weekender Scooter Rally Picnic. Ruby and Elvis's first taste of what Mommy and Daddy used to do for fun before they came along (and hopefully will do more of now that we've got the first one under our belt as a family). Elvis had the best time smiling at everyone and listening to all the scooter motors. Ruby couldn't get enough SPRITE while chilling with Daddy and watching the Gymkahna (a scooter obstacle course) and Joust (see pics). It was only when we got half way there that I realized I should have encouraged Alex to follow us to NOLA on our scooter (the kids would have thought that was the best ever)...next time! After the rally we went into the city for some fun and food. We ended up riding around to find all of our favorite restaurants closed it being Sunday and all. Our ride took us all the way to the Camellia Grill, though we realized after finding the most perfect parking spot right in front that there are no high chairs at the Camellia Grill (it is only counter service) so we walked around the block to this little Pupusaria (I haven't seen one of those since we lived in L.A.)...YUMMO! The pupusas (an El Salvadorian kind of grilled sandwich...they are like corn meal pancakes, or hoe cakes, with meat & cheese inside) were really good, but a little overpriced. On the way home, while Ruby and Elvis slept, Alex and I had a wonderful conversation about how much we love where we live now...how Baton Rouge is such a great middle ground between all the places we've lived in the past and small town life. We pretty much love it here...the only thing that could pull us away is a super promotion for Al through WFM (that would be cool). 

xoxo 

A Very Happy Half Birthday!

My little Elvis James is 6 months old today! He has been a most wonderful addition to our family. He is gorgeous, sweet, funny, fantastic, and just the most amazing little boy we could have imagined! It is hard to believe that half a year has passed since he surprised us 4 weeks early that Friday night in September. We love you little boy, Ruby's 'baby brudda'! 

xoxo

A Rough Day & the Countdown

Today we had a super hard day starting at about 2 am when I woke up with a truly vomitous feeling deep in my stomach. I knew I was going to lose my dinner when I started burping Monjuni's spaghetti and meatball flavored burps. I KNEW I shouldn't have eaten the leftovers that rode in the car with us from lunch until dinnertime! What a total bonehead lapse in judgement...thank the Lord that I didn't share them with Ruby and that food poisoning doesn't pass through breastmilk because our day would have been 10 times worse than it actually turned out! After my early early morning bought of praying to the porcelain god, Alex let me sleep in (that is after nursing Elvis in bed at around 7). When I woke up Alex and the kiddos had done nothing but stare at the television for hours! By the time I finished feeding them lunch Ruby was actually asking to take a nap, which was weird but we went with it. I "let" Alex put them down, which may have been the mistake because Ruby seems to think that she has him wrapped around her finger. It took longer than the entirety of Elvis's 3 hour nap for Ruby to go to sleep. She screamed, she threw toys into E's bed, she sang to herself, she got a pop on the butt, she got her toys taken away, she jumped on her bed, she got her foot stuck under her rockin Vespa . . . what didn't she do? I thought it would never end! I have no idea what went wrong! I hoped that once she did nap and wake up that we could wipe the slate clean. HA! One can dream. Unfortunately those dreams don't always come true. It took us until bed time to salvage the day, finally while Elvis was having his bath I found my dear sweet Ruby hiding underneath that terrible two year old we had spent the day with. Oh how I missed her! I'm hoping that I've paid my dues at least for a couple of days and that Alex & I can rally together to make the best of days like this. We've made a pact to make sure that even when times are challenging that we have to be aware that Ruby and Elvis are constantly learning how to be. We want them to be ... balanced. 

Oh, Ruby and I finally made a 'countdown calendar' to Disney World. It is pretty cool.  We made it like a chain garland that she can take off a ring a day so she can see just how much time is left until we leave for our vacation. She really likes taking the rings off and throwing them away (I have to admit that I look forward to it everyday, too). I think in the next couple of weeks she'll REALLY notice how much shorter it has gotten. 

xoxo

Major Mom to Poison Control

Elvis rockin' the exersaucer

Ruby this morning "building" with markers before "the incident"

Since the big clean up of our house we've been on a pretty great schedule (one that unfortunately hasn't included blogging or balancing the checkbook. . both of which I am resolving today). We wake up, eat, play, I take a shower, and we all get dressed to face the day. This morning we made a slight adjustment to the routine when I let Ruby follow me into my room after my shower (I usually leave her to play in her room while Elvis takes his morning nap).  She'd be WITH me, what could go wrong??? I'll tell you what! She found herself playing in the last room to be kid proofed...meaning it hasn't been yet! She was going through one of those plastic drawer units which I thought only had hair rollers, craft paper, and a little left over fabric in it when she found her fav. . .toothpaste. OK, nothing to worry about, she knows about toothpaste and the tubes were actually empty if you don't count the few molecules that are left when you just can't squeeze anymore. (Please, don't ask why there were used up toothpaste tubes in there because I have no idea!) It was all no big deal until she dug up a tube of Arnica Cream that had PLENTY left in it and mistook it for toothpaste! OH LORD, help me! She had already squeezed a handful (with her little hands it didn't look like more than a teaspoon maybe) by the time I saw what was going on. . .she took off running towards the open door AND the stairs!!! She KNOWS NOT TO GO DOWN THE STAIRS BY HERSELF, but when she gets that crazy terrible two look in her eyes anything is possible! I grabbed for the only thing I could reach, her shirt collar. I pulled her in close to me as fast as I could to make sure she hadn't eaten any, but couldn't tell.  Both of us crying I washed her hands off best I could then noticed it. The horrible burn my pulling her collar left on her neck! OMG! What happened??? After apologizing to my 2 year old child profusely, struggling to ignore another wailing child who was safe in his bed, I searched for my phone and the number to Poison Control (for those of you that need it, it is: 1-800-222-1222). All of this probably happened in the course of a few minutes, but it seemed like hours!!! The guy at PC reassured me that it wasn't going to hurt her. . .maybe just a sour stomach or vomiting (btw, he called back about 2 hours later to check on her!), but nothing life threatening. After being so wonderful this morning quickly turned into a "bad mommy morning"! I tried hard to get our day back on track. I even made us a hot lunch. . .Taco Salad (Ruby's was more just nachos. .she isn't known for even touching salad much less eating it). I struggle every day with the idea that I am my children's teacher.  I love it when I see them doing something that I've taught them as long as it is helpful or "good", but I worry endlessly that I am not the "perfect example" for them especially when they repeat my not so perfect behavior. Yes, Ruby has learned a few 4 letter words from us and she has a temper that is somewhere between Al's and mine!  I am so mad at myself for even letting crappy things happen or bad words slip from my mouth even if it is only sometimes.  I know that no one is perfect all the time, that I should cut myself some slack. The only way I feel better about my imperfections as a parent is to know that they are gaining valuable lessons in how to apologize, make things right, and turn around a bad situation. That's something, right?