Archive | January, 2011

Toddler Discipline

31 Jan

I was talking to my Mom yesterday, telling her how challenging it has been for me to keep Little Man out of mischief while I’m on crutches. We then started talking about the video that shows how Little Man gets really scared if you “roar” around him.

So Mom says, “what if you roared at him when he gets into mischief?”

I shared that thought with JB last night, and we shared a good laugh. I didn’t think anything of it until this morning, when I heard “clank, clank” as Little Man played with some bottles in the recycle bin. JB happened to be walking through the room, and next thing I know, I heard a deep, loud, “ROARRRRRRRRRR”. It sounded like a very angry Daddy bear!

Little Man stopped in his tracks, gave a little cry, and then moved on to something else.

I think Mom is onto something here, though I don’t know how long it will work!

Flying Solo Again

30 Jan

Part of me was dreading this weekend. Being laid up, I shuddered to think of an entire weekend where I couldn’t take the kids anywhere or do the things we
love to do. So far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised.

The morning started with yet another cuddle session with Little Man, and some quiet time with the kids in the morning as JB caught up on sleep. He then got up and made us all pancakes, and then we all went to the park together.

Being at the park was a little frustrating, as I’m not normally a parent to just sit on a bench and watch. I like to get on the equipment, play with the kids, and run around with them. But today, I was on the bench. I think some other mothers thought I was nuts when I started doing tricep dips on the bench. But come on, I’m afraid my whole body is going to atrophy during this recovery process.

After lunch, we put Little Man to sleep in a pack-n-play in our bedroom (since I can’t get upstairs to his room) while JB went out skiing (and later mountain biking when the conditions sucked). While Little Man slept, my daughter and I read books on my brand new Kindle and watched our DVDs of Little House on the Prairie. First off — wow, the Kindle is amazing. It’s the perfect new gadget for someone stuck in a recliner most of the day! Secondly, a neighbor gave us the Little House on the Prairie box set (it was a cast off of theirs from a white elephant gift exachange), and I’ve truly enjoyed watching the series from the beginning and explaining the plot and what it was like living on the prairie a hundred years ago.

So now on to day two. Tomorrow, I’ll be flying solo with Little Man while JB takes my daughter to ski camp (sniff — that used to be my job!). I’m a bit nervous about watching him by myself in my gimpy state, but hopefully it goes smoothly. Unfortunately for me, it’s supposed to snow, so I guess I’ll be homebound. Crutches and snow just don’t mix.

Hear Me ROAR

28 Jan

We’ve been trying to teach Little Man how to roar like a lion.  He’ll say a quiet “brwoar”.  When I try to teach him to say it with gusto, this is what happens.

Some things are back to normal…

28 Jan

I am usually (OK, always) the one to get up with the kids in the morning.  Now that I can’t climb stairs, JB has been doing it.  And though it is nice to not have to rush out of bed, I have missed my morning snuggle-fests with Little Man.  The only time that kid is into cuddling is first thing in the morning, before he is truly awake.

It had been three mornings since my injury, and JB had been taking care of Little Man in the morning.  But this morning, I asked JB to bring Little Man to me with his milk. 

Once again, it felt that all was right in the world.  We lay with my arm wrapped around him, and the other hand rubbing his soft and truly irresistable belly.  We stayed like that for 20 minutes, and it was truly my favorite time of the whole day.

Tonight, I have two girlfriends coming over with dinner and much needed company.  I can’t think of a better way to start, or end the day.

P.S.  Today’s workout was going to the grocery store to refill my pain meds.  I opted not to use their motorized cart, and instead hung my purse over my shoulder, and my shopping bag around my neck.  I was rather sweaty after I picked up a few necesseties and my prescription, and a few store employees stopped me to remind me of the motorized cart.   I was resistance training on crutches! I finished the “workout” by coming home and taking a shower.  It’s amazing how exhausting everyday tasks are when you’re on crutches!

Playdate Anyone?

26 Jan

Remember how I was lamenting about how challenging Little Man was in a house that wasn’t very child-proofed?   Ha!  I didn’t know how things could get even MORE FUN when you add one gimpy Mamma to the equation.  The past few days, I’ve had to resort to verbal reprimands with Little Man, as I’m no longer physically capable of picking him up and removing him from a situation.  Let me just tell you how this goes…

Mamma:  “No!  Put that back!”

Little Man looks at me and smiles, then starts running. 

I then try to corral him by hopping after him with my crutches, and try to guide him with the crutch. 

It’s highly inefficient. 

Oh, boy, this is going to be fun.

I think I brought this knee injury on myself.  Just last week, I told JB that I’d like to “switch roles” with him, saying that perhaps he’d have more respect for all I do in regards to the kids and around the house if he just had to do it for a week.  Wow, did I get that wish.  And JB sure isn’t happy about all of this.

Went to the doctor yesterday, who said from a physical exam, he can tell that I probably tore my MCL tendon, and the ACL isn’t looking “right” either.  The fun part of that diagnosis is that they’d treat it as two separate injuries.  We’d immobilize for the MCL to heal and then do physical therapy for that, which will take 5-8 weeks.  Then, if I need ACL surgery, we’d do that, and then I’d have to do physical therapy specific to that recovery.

So in essence, this whole fiasco could last 4-5 months.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished I could go back in time and just tell myself to let Little Miss ski on her own — she’d be fine.  Instead, I now can’t really take the kids to do any kind of activity, such as bike rides, the park, swimming, etc.  I’ve always loved our outings on the weekend, and now I fear I’m just going to be homebound and unable to keep tabs on them when they go upstairs.

Last night, JB went on a walk, and I was home alone with the sleeping kids for about 45 minutes.  Of course, Little Man started crying.  After about 30 minutes of his crying, I couldn’t take it anymore, and managed to scoot my way up the stairs on my rear, dragging my crutches along.  It probably took me 10 minutes to get to the top of the stairs, and then find a chair to get myself to a standing position, and wouldn’t you know it — by the time I made it to Little Man’s room, he was fast asleep?!  Gah!!!!

While I’m throwing my own little Pity Party, I’m also so bummed that I’m about to get REALLY out of shape.  I just recently got to where I was within 2 pounds of my pre-pregnancy weight, and I felt like I was in really good shape.  I felt like I had completely recovered from the second pregnancy and C-section, about 18 months later.  And now, I’m looking at months of inactivity.  I’m just cringing at what that is going to do to my body, and have already started to try to monitor my food intake, considering I now get the same activity of a 80 year old in a retirement home.

The fun continues.  If you live in Reno, please come have a playdate with me.  I’m going to need friends to help me with Little Man while JB goes out to ski, as we all know he will.

Things Changed in an Instant

25 Jan

On Friday, I had a quandry. I had two free ski tickets to two different resorts — Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley. I had a meeting at Alpine, where they gave me a free pass for the day, yet a work “Morale” event at Squaw.

Unfortunately, the snow conditions leave a lot to be desired, as it has been warm, and we haven’t had snow since Jan. 1. Hence, the day was 90% groomers. But, really, a bad day on the slopes is better than a good day at work, right?!

So I did 3 runs at Alpine, and then headed to the resort next door, where I met up with a bunch of co-workers for some more groomer skiing. It was fun, though, as I’m so used to skiing by myself lately with JB and I switching off skiing and staying home with the kids.  My “Morale” was sky high.

On Sunday, I took Little Miss to ski camp, where she not only advanced a level, but was a rock star.  In fact, the instructor said, “she really likes to go fast.”  Little Man was at home with a sitter, so I decided to take Little Miss up on our first chair lift ride together. 

It was a dream come true.  She was so excited about skiing, and so chill about the chairlift (after years of telling me they looked too scary).  We hugged the whole way up, and I was amazed at her progress as we started to ski down.

I even stopped to take some video.

Right after I took that video, we got close to the bottom, where the slope of the hill gets a bit steeper.  Considering her newfound lack of fear of speed, I was worried she might get going out of control, so I decided to pull her in between my legs and snowplow down together. 

We lasted about 2 minutes like that, and next thing I knew, we were falling, my knee went POP, and my ski season came to a grinding halt.  That’s right, I injured the same knee I injured skiing 8 years ago.  Back then, I was leaping off a cornice.  At least then I had a good story to tell.

So anyway, from experience, I knew I couldn’t ski down.  Ski Patrol was fetched, and Little Miss and I rode down on a snowmobile.  Luckily, my brother and sister-in-law were still at Mt. Rose to come pick up the pieces.  Audra took me to the ER, and later when JB was located, she watched the kids while they finished up on me in the hospital. 

All we know right now is I didn’t break any bones.  I’m going to an orthopedist today, and I assume we’ll get an MRI scheduled. 

So now, I deal with the aftermath.  My lifestyle just isn’t condusive right now to being on crutches.  With two young kids and a two story house, I have been rendered rather useless.  I’m really not looking forward to this recovery process, plus having to get myself back in shape after  being forced to be bed ridden for weeks.

Excuse me while I wallow in self pity just a bit.

Anyway, I guess the good news is this should give me more time for writing.  Right?  There has to be something good to come out of this!

Easy Southwestern Chicken

19 Jan

I’m always on the lookout for a healthy dinner I can throw together lickedy-split. Last night, I made one up that is a true winner, so I had to share…

Southwestern Chicken
Preheat oven to 375
Place chicken breasts in a casserole pan
Pour salsa over the top
Pour a can of drained black beans on top of that
Bake until chicken is around 145 degrees, then cover with shredded cheese and return to the oven until chicken is 165 degrees.

Voila! I was originally planning to throw in some brown rice with the mixture, but JB thinks “that would have ruined it.” I didn’t have any in the pantry, so it was left out. Anyway, I sat and played with the kids while it cooked, and was my kind of fast food!

Master of Disaster

18 Jan

I vividly remember the first thing I said to JB after the ultrasound tech announced that we were having a boy for our second child.

“Toddler boys scare me.” Of course, JB had no idea why I said this. I think he is beginning to understand.

I had a right to be scared. Daily, I am amazed at the energy and determination of Little Man. He has an uncanny knack to find trouble, no matter where he is.

I remember Little Miss at this age — my cautious girl that would never stray more than a few feet from me in public, and who rarely got into cabinets or drawers. I didn’t really even need to childproof for her.

But Little Man, he’s a different story. I think it’s that extra dose of testosterone in a male child that makes them so much more curious and fearless.

For instance, last week, JB worked from home while Little Man recovered from the stomach flu. I came home that day to find a spoon in the guest bathroom, a spatula in the master bathroom, and a curling iron in the kitchen. He is into EVERYTHING. Plus, there is a philosophical difference of opinion between my husband and I. I am absolutely fed up with constantly following Little Man around and picking up the messes he creates every two minutes. He’s like a miniature Tazmanian Devil. I say, PLEASE, can we put childproof locks on the cabinets and drawers?! This is driving me crazy.

Of course, JB thinks that if we childproof the cabinets and drawers, Little Man will just find some other kind of trouble. (Perhaps I can convince him if I start pointing the electric drill at our cabinet doors.)

JB has a point, but I’m becoming more and more paranoid about keeping this energetic and curious little munchkin out of mortal danger. He interprets, “No!” or “STOP” as direction to RUN away from me as fast as his little legs can carry him. I am so afraid that one day, he’ll be running from me and will get into a street or drop off a ledge, etc.

I used to think that putting leashes on children was just wrong, but Little Man’s leash is probably going to start getting a lot more use. When I’d speak against leashes, I had no idea that my daughter, who functioned so well under voice control at this age would be absolutely nothing like my son in that arena.

Not only does he run from me if he knows he’s doing something wrong, but if he has something we want — a remote, a piece of trash, you name it – once he knows he is cornered, he will throw that item as far as he can out of my reach.

So yes, I was right to be scared of toddler boys. Little Man is earning the nicknames of Trouble and Master of Disaster in our house. The really scary thing is that he has only just begun. Oh, Lord, help me!

Last Woman Standing

14 Jan

Ah, the stomach flu. It entered our house Sunday morning at about 3am when Little Miss started puking. I nursed her back to health, and thought the rest of the family had avoided this fate until Little Man started puking Tuesday afternoon.

As of last night, everyone was well, and we even enjoyed chili for dinner.

Then, at 3am, I awoke suddenly to the sound of puking, this time it was JB that was hit. My first thought was how much I now regretted kissing him goodnight!

For some reason, in JB’s groggy sleepyness, he didn’t think to kneel in front of the toilet. Can I just tell you what happens when a 6’6″ man pukes from a standing position?! It’s not pretty. SPLAT.

Anyway, I’m trying to brace for it, because at this point, I’m not sure there is any chance for me to avoid this.

But on the bright side, it could give me a nice weight loss boost!

Ode to Carbs

13 Jan

Like millions of Americans, I took on the New Year as a challenge to jump start my fitness protocol.  First on the agenda was melting off some of that remaining baby weight — 10 pounds that were haunting me 18 months after Little Man was born.

I’ve talked to my doctor before about weight loss, especially considering I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrom (PCOS), which inhibits weight loss.  He said that the South Beach Diet is a healthy option, and is particularly good for women with PCOS.

He gave me this advice a few years ago.  Last New Years, I decided I loved my carbs too much to do South Beach, so I signed up for a 3x/week bootcamp.  The result?  I got my rear end kicked with high intensity workouts for 6 months, and didn’t lose a pound.

Six months later, I came back to the realization that for me, it’s all about diet.  I’ve been working out regularly (5+times per week) most of my life, and my body simply needs exercise not to gain weight.  But to lose it?  Well, time to say bye bye to carbs.

The last successful weight loss I had was on the Atkins Diet, which is stricter on the carbs.  South Beach allows carbs, but only after a 2 week induction of no carbs…  Just proteins and greens and sugar free Jello.  I started this phase last Monday.  I promptly had to take a hiatus for my company’s “winter party”, where I just couldn’t turn down the alcohol and chocolate dessert.  Sooooo, this Monday, I started up again.

So far, I’m down 8 pounds.  8 of those pesky 10, so I’d call it a success.  I feel healthy.  I’m living off of egg whites, tons of veggies, fish and chicken.  It’s all good, right? 

Except for the fact that I miss my carbs.  Oh, how I love cereal in the morning, and my almost daily fix of dark chocolate.  And the wine. My, do I miss wine. Two weeks of sobriety shouldn’t be bad after doing it for two pregnancies, but it is BAD. If I can just make it through the two week Phase 1, I can have dark chocolate again and wine.  But 4 days in on this regime (not counting the 5 days last week before I jumped off the wagon), another 10 seems lofty.  Especially when I look at my calendar, and find out my work group is going out for an Italian food dinner tomorrow.  $#!@  JB also wisely commented how everyone is going to think I’m pregnant if I don’t drink at our outing.  I think he is right!

Anyway (pausing to drink my V8 juice), it’s mind over matter, right?  There’s definitely part of me that wants to hanker down and keep this up, trying to not only melt away those remaining 2 pounds of baby weight, but perhaps getting back to my wedding weight.

Did I mention my work had a pizza party with cupcakes on Tuesday?  I’ll have you know I skipped all of that in favor of my salad with shrimp and Jello for dessert.  I even took 2 cupcakes home for JB and Little Miss, letting those God-foresaken things stare at me from my office desk all afternoon long.

Oh, and my husband non-chalantly announced this weekend that he has lost 20 pounds. Without trying. Just — woops — 20 pounds gone. I see what he consumes — wine every night, endless pasta, ice cream shakes daily… IT’S JUST NOT FAIR! In my next life, I’m coming back with his metabolism!

So, here is my ode…

Chocolate, I miss you so.

Ice cream, why did you have to go?

Fruit, wherefore art thou?

I long for our reunion.

Cupcakes be damned.

Mother of the Year

11 Jan

You know those bad motherhood moments?  The ones that haunt you afterwards, as you’re kicking yourself and wondering how bad you’ve emotionally scarred your child?  Well, I had one of those this weekend.

Flash back to Saturday night.  It was my work’s “winter party” (read holiday party thrown in January), so the kids were at their cousins’ house for the night.  We picked them up and got them to bed a bit late, and then at 3am, I awake from a deep sleep to the sound of Little Miss crying.  She only wakes me up with crying for one thing typically…

PUKE.

And yes, it was puke. 

Not many common illnesses can strike dread in a parents’ heart as much as knowing the stomach flu has entered your house. 

So, from 3-7am, I nursed her, and held her, and there were several puking incidents (but yay for the fact that she can now puke into a trash can on command!). 

Once we finally rolled out of bed at 9ish, she seemed fine.  She was chasing her brother around the house.  And there was the matter of the pre-paid ski lesson that was scheduled to start in an hour and a half.

This was the first lesson in a series of 5, and it was the lesson where they’d be divided into groups and get their instructors.  Plus, ski lessons aren’t cheap.  In fact, they’re darn expensive.

The quandry:  I knew if I stayed home with her, she’d be fine and keep running around and I’d be bummed we flushed that money down the toilet.  However, Murphy’s law would have it that if I decided to go to ski lessons, she wouldn’t be fine.

After much dilema, I decided to take her to ski lessons.  Afterall, she hadn’t puked in like 6 hours, and seemed to be just fine, right?

So, I packed her up and took her to ski lessons, deciding I would stick around to guage how she was feeling, and thinking I could take her home if needed. 

I’m sure the instructors thought I was a helicopter parent as I hovered nearby.  First, they stand the students by a pole with a number, and then the instructor calls that number and everyone follows him.  Except when Little Miss’s group was called, she was too busy making googly eyes at me to notice her entire class had left to follow the instructor.

So, I marched her up to her class, and then tagged along, watching the chaos of one teenage instructor trying to corral 6 beginner skiers and get their equipment on. 

Long story short, she was doing well.  In fact, according to the instructor, she was the best in the class (a class of all boys, by the way).  I could tell it was time for me to back away, so I went to grab a few runs myself towards the end of her lesson.

When I came back to pick her up, she was in tears, and the instructor informs me she puked in the corner of the lessons room.  I guess they had given her hot chocolate, and it came right back up.

That’s when the guilt set in.  Gah.  I should have just let her stay home.  But then again, she did so well!  My heart broke for that little girl, knowing she tried so hard while still feeling crummy, so I promised her I’d get her a treat when she was feeling better.  A dolly?  A game?  A cupcake?  You name it sister, Mommy guilt is in full play.

We stayed home yesterday, and she hasn’t puked since.  Thankfully, she doesn’t seem to be holding the whole experience against me or the sport of skiing, so no long term harm done, right?  And I have to admit that working from home in my pjs in front of the fire with my girl by my side isn’t a bad way to spend a day, especially if she is done puking!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

11 Jan

At dinner tonight, we were asking Little Miss questions.  The answers were so funny, I had to document.

  1. Where do babies come from?  In the belly.  I know that question very well, thank you.  They come from God.  You guys make an egg and then the baby goes inside into the belly. 
  2. What are you going to be when you grow up?  I’m going to be somebody that is on stage.  I’m going to do ballet.  Did you know Spiderman is real?  So he’s working on stage right now, and he doesn’t have a costume on.    
  3. Where do lions live, and what do they eat?  Why are they called the king of the jungle? So they live in the jungle.  I don’t know what they eat, but I think they get lost so people find them and put them in a zoo.  They are called the king of the jungle because they’re really big and strong.
  4. Who is the smartest person you know?  Barack Obama. 
  5. What is truth?  So truth is if you lie…  If one hand makes the L, the other makes the wrong.   That means the other one is right. (In other words, she confused left and right with truth and lies.)
  6. Do two wrongs make a right?  No, so one wrong and one right makes right.  If someone does something mean and the other one does it to the other one, that’s not fair.  And nobody tells, they’re going to have to go home. 
  7. What is a princess?  Well they’re not real.  They’re just on TV.  But Belle is. Spiderman is.  Belle is because Kacey said Belle came to Jordyn’s party.  So if someone has beautiful clothes, but don’t act beautiful, they’re not beautiful. 
  8. What kind of man will you marry?  A man with a beard.  A white beard.  He’s going to drive a motorcycle. 
  9. What is the internet?  So the internet is where you write down stuff and then it sends it to other people that you’re writing to.
  10. Why is the sky blue?  Because God doesn’t just want to make it white.  There has to be just two colors in between white, so God decided to make it blue.
  11. Tell me about boys.  So if girls have penises, and boys have vaginas, so boys call girls boys and girls call boys girls because it’s a lot more different.
  12. Why do girls wear dresses?  Because so if boys wore dresses it would be funny and every girl is going to laugh at them.  Boys don’t like dresses and whenever you try to put them on, they’ll say, “no”.
  13. What does Mommy do for work?  So she pays money to give to the poor children so that she doesn’t be poor.
  14. What does Daddy do for work?  He pays money just like you not to be poor and give money to other poor kids just like you are. 
  15. How old  is Grandma?  Um, that’s a hard one.
  16. What happens when you die?  You just are really still and you never move.  You can’t see, and you’re really still like this.  If you are mean, you’ll go to Hell, if you’ve been nice your whole life, you’ll go to Heaven.
  17. What happens in Heaven?  So if you go to Hell, you eat yucky stuff, and in Heaven you eat good stuff like bread.  Bread is hard in Hell, and it’s good in Heaven. 
  18. What is your life going to be like in 20 years?  So in 20 years, if I’m old, I die a little bit older.  You don’t know this…  You don’t want to be fat because if you’re fat, your life won’t be that long, it will be short.
  19. But what is YOUR life going to be like?  I might be like Claire (her aunt).  I might be like Papa.  To be like Papa, I would sleep really late. 
  20. Would you stay in the bathroom a long time like Papa?  Well if you poop by yourself and you don’t even wipe every day, your bottom will turn so red you won’t even want to walk. 
  21. What causes stinky bottoms?  Um so (said while cleaning toe jam) if you don’t wipe, your bottom will get red and store and it smells stinky.
  22. What happens when you flush the toilet?  So nothing stinks and if you wipe, nothing is going to go on.  So they get the poop in the pipes and smash it up and then they make it disappear and then they make the dirty water goes into the sea. 
  23. What does the president of the United States do?  If it was the Queen, it would go on trips and have everyone do what they wanted.  But if it was the President, he would talk or sing or be on stage. 
  24. What is the best part about skiing?  So I like when I turn and sometimes I jump a little bit. (I guarantee this kid is not jumping on her skis.)

Phone blogging

10 Jan

Trying out the Windows Phone 7 blogging app

Posted from WordPress for Windows Phone

You’re Doing Awesome…. Or NOT

7 Jan

Last week, I received an email from WordPress, the platform for my blog.  It was an email with auto-populated statistics, meant to congratulate me on my awesome blog content. 

What it actually do was serve as a huge reality check.

They said: 

“A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,600 times in 2010. That’s about 6 full 747s.”  That low number made me cringe.  It’s not even a blip in the blogosphere.  In fact, it is downright embarrassing.

“In 2010, you wrote 32 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 1399 posts. You uploaded 25 pictures, taking up a total of 9mb. That’s about 2 pictures per month.”  Ugh.  32.  That is hideous.  I knew the blog had been put on the back shelf, but didn’t realize how much until I saw that statistic.  My blog turns 9 years old this month, and I posted religiously until last year, when I went back to work after having my second child.  You can tell that not only do I have limited time, my life pretty much zaps any creative energy out of me, which is depressing in itself.

“Your busiest day of the year was September 15th with 32 views. The most popular post that day was I Heart Michael Phelps.”  How sad is it that not my witty words drive my top post, but a picture of Michael Phelps in a swim suit.  Ha!  As much as I enjoy looking at that picture, I take that as a challenge.

So, thank you, Word Press.  I needed that slap in the face.  It did make me chuckle about how positive and upbeat that message was intended to be, compared to the message it really delivered to me.

I need to take my writing seriously.  And hence, that is my New Years Resolution.  Haha, I know how many people make that resolution, but I’m back, people.  Hear me roar!

 

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