First Day of School

Matt started the UNLV Masters of Accountancy program today. Here is his first day of school picture that he (un)willingly posed for, mostly because he was late running out the door. I think we are in for a bit of a shock at our change in schedule, since he has been home with the kids for the past year. Sometimes I think the shock will mostly be mine alone, since now I am home with the kids two days a week versus home with them the same days that Matt is home too.

Now our schedules won't overlap at all since someone has to be home each day to get Claire to and from school. Does that sound terrible? That I have to get used to being home with my kids? It's just an adjustment for me - and I'm actually excited about it. Especially since I recently resigned a PR account I was working on the side (mixed feelings = more time at home but less money to pay for school). January will be my last month.

Here's to the next four semesters! Good luck Matt!

Bottle Baby

I am pretty sure yesterday was my last day nursing Penelope. She and I seem to have come to a mutual agreement that we are done. This is a complete 180 change since those first weeks after my maternity leave when Penelope refused a bottle and I had to meet Matt for lunch to nurse her.

After two nursing strikes over the past 2 months, the first for almost 3 days and the second for 6 days, I decided to start weaning Penelope so I could finish nursing on my own terms. A strike is when a baby suddenly stops nursing - like they nurse in the morning and then in the afternoon they refuse to even try and often cry or keep their mouths closed tight. It was emotional for me, and physically painful to be so full of milk.

She eventually came around and nursed again, though I can't be 100% sure why she ever did go on strike. I am guessing the first was pain from teething and the second my "strong" reaction to being bit multiple times (I just yelled NO! pretty loudly and she started crying, but did continue nursing that day, so who knows...).  Everything you find online about nursing strikes is from crazy La Leche League ladies who feel like there is absolutely no good reason to stop nursing. One lady was so upset that her 23 month old had stopped nursing after he fell and hurt his tooth while RUNNING! Let it go, ladies. I need to create a website for women who want to nurse, dare I say even like to nurse, but don't want to nurse for years. It's ok to do what is right for you and your baby, I just don't like someone saying you are a good mom or not if you nurse. Ok - off my soap box.

I started cutting out pumping sessions until I didn't pump at all anymore at work. I felt naked going into work with only a purse and laptop. That took about a month to get down to morning feedings only and then bottle the rest of the day. Penelope is a solid 19 lb baby (she was weighed this week when we took her in for croup - not fun!). She takes baby food really well and is very interested in our food and in feeding herself. We will be ok.

Cars Land

We loved the new Radiator Springs ride and the Mater ride - and it really did look like we were on the Cars movie set. Everyone was able to ride all of the rides, though we avoided the Luigi's Tires after a Disney cast member said that even if there wasn't a line at all, he wouldn't go on that ride. We stopped at Flo's V8 Cafe, saw Lightning McQueen and Mater, and enjoyed some Cars-themed snacks.

Eating at the Cozy Cone - popcorn in a cone, a drink in a cone, an ice cream cone, and of course the Chili Cone Queso - a cone made of bread to hold chili. It was actually pretty good! 

Disneyland 2013

What a difference a year makes - we went to Disneyland last week and I was so surprised at how Claire was not interested in the princesses or characters but just wanted to go on the rides. She was go, go, go the whole three days (other than a few tired meltdowns). We did manage to see a few characters but we weren't searching them out like in years past. Miles was tall enough to try a few new rides this year, but not quite the required 42 inches for the big rides that Claire got to go on. He is about 41 inches, I'd guess. Matt counted that we rode at least 25 different rides, and most of those multiple times.  Get ready for picture overload, but it's 3 days of photo-worthy moments so I can't help myself.

We lost Miles once - right here at the bag check before we even made it into the park. I should say he lost us -  we hadn't gotten far when I heard him crying. Very sad - but glad we got it over with in the beginning because he stayed right with us the entire trip - no running off at all, which is progress since last year.

Miles and Papa discovered their mutual love of cotton candy. This is their second round. 

Penelope was an angel baby - so good the whole trip. She even managed to nap for a few hours at a time in the reclined stroller by the second day.  I think the first day was just too much to take in and so loud. There is not a quiet spot in that whole place. And we tried to find one - and then there would be a parade, an announcement on the loudspeaker, or music coming from every ride. But she hung in there and did great!

We had cool weather and a high chance of rain, but we never felt a drop. So we were just bundled up pretty good most of the time, though I was woefully unprepared with cold weather clothes. I just don't like to buy a ton of winter clothes each year to only wear them a few times, but inevitably we need them.

The crowds were light, plus we had Phil's handicap pass to get us onto some of the older rides really quickly. The newer rides are built better for handicap access, but Fantasyland was easy on and off for all of the rides. We hadn't been to Cars Land since it had opened and it was awesome! I will do that in a separate post since we took a ton of pictures in that area. It was just like we were in the movie - so well done.

Kiddo Quotes

It's time for another installment of kids say the darndest things!

Betty watched the kids last week when school was out so she had all three of our kids plus Genevieve. When it was nap time, Claire read the story and Genevieve sang the lullaby. I sing the kids their own song before naps and before bedtime every night. But when Claire found out that lullabies, a term not often used at our house, were for babies, she said, "I'm taking a break from songs from now on! I'm gonna work on big kid stuff instead." That night at bedtime I said, well I guess no song for you Claire. She said, "Well fine, but tonight is the LAST night!"

Miles kept asking me to make my eyes bonk. He said, "Do it mom, make your eyes bonk!" Well around here a bonk is a hit or a hurt. I finally realized he meant to cross my eyes - so the eyes hit together :)

Claire came in to the living room with her lips completely blue. Matt asked her what happened and she said, "Well, I hate to tell you this Dad.... (sigh) but I ate all the fun dip."

We watched Mickey's Christmas Carol that has the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk in it - and Miles started saying, "Fe Fi Fo Five Six!"

We have about 3 tubes of Butt Paste,a diaper rash cream, around here but we can never seem to find it when we need it. Miles found a tube and squeezed out a bunch on his hands - super thick and hard to clean off. He just happened upon some tax papers we had set out that day near the computer and he wiped his hands on my W2s. Claire lectured Miles about not making a mess and then said, "Well, at least those papers don't have to worry about a sore bum!"

At bedtime we sometimes make up variations to classic stories. The other night Claire told me a no less than 10 minute story that combined the Three Little Pigs with Brave and The Three Bears. She said the Three Javelinas (a southwest type of pig that's in a storybook we have) went for a walk while their porridge cooled and in the forest where they met a bear that tried to eat them and they ran away and had to build their own home in the forest for protection. But then a fox came (not sure why a fox replaced the wolf) and tried to eat the javelinas but they got away and ran back to the house where the porridge was ready for them to eat. And it was pretty much a run on sentence just like my summary. :)

First Pony Tail

One of the reason's I love having little girls so I can do their hair. I have to start working on it when they are little so they are used to me tugging and arranging their hair. I used to let Claire sit in the sink in her diaper and play with a trickle of water out of the faucet so I could sneak in a pony tail. Here is Penelope's first every rubber band pony tail. Sorry Penelope, beauty hurts (that one's for you Becky Lee).

Resolutions

I'm ready to make some changes in my life and schedule that will let me focus more on my kids. I'm ready to not have so many things fighting for a place inside my thoughts. Even my dreams are stressful. I have decided that the source of a lot of this tension is when my worlds are colliding - working from home two days a week is great, but it also means being a mom and PR person at the same time. A great example is when I try to fit in a conference call around a nap that isn't happening no matter how much I threaten or bribe. I use the mute button way too often to hiss at Miles to be quiet while hoping the person on the other end of the phone didn't notice when I hop back on the call and try to act like I heard what they were saying.

No, I'm not quitting my job. Not an option just yet, since Matt was recently accepted into the Masters of Accountancy program at UNLV - we are in for two more years of school. Since he didn't have an undergrad degree in accounting, they tack on 21 additional credits to the 32 credits required for a Masters. He's excited and ready to get back into school after being home with the kids for the past year, but I know it will be a big adjustment to such a technical major after Communications. And Im allowed to say that since I work for accountants and was a Comms major. We took business classes, but only one accounting class was required. Anyway, I digress...

So, in the meantime I need to change my other commitments. I need to learn to say NO. I need to ask for help, even if it's just to my husband. Letting go of the things that aren't really necessities is one of my big New Year's Resolutions. Now I just need to get brave enough to not let opportunities to earn money make decisions for me.... My other resolution is one I have just about every year, but one that I am just so ready to own - find my old body somewhere inside this new "squishy" one, as Miles called me the other day. Oh my. More on that later.