Keeping Track of Lauren & Jack » December 2008 Journal Entries » AboutMyBaby - online baby scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, birth and pregnancy announcements

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Tue, Dec 30, 2008 10:43 PM
Ok, I know it's been ages since I blogged. I my own defense, it was a busy weekend before we headed out of town to visit Mike's side of the family in Oklahoma. Lauren and I did manage to see The Nutcracker which has become a little mother/daughter tradition and we both really enjoyed it.

Our trip to Oklahoma went really well, it was nice to see everyone. We stayed in a hotel this year, and we found a place with a 2 room king suite. It was more like an apartment, it was huge! We moved some furniture around and set the kids up in the bedroom in their aero-beds. Then we had a living room with a small fridge, microwave and bar sink, which was all we needed. The place had a great included breakfast which had, among other things, a waffle bar and hard boiled eggs, which I was thrilled to discover that Lauren will actually eat!

I can't say what we did other than eat a lot and hang out. We didn't have any snow, and it was even warm (in the 70's) one day. We found our way to a nearby park and a few playspaces in McDonalds and Burger King. Our hotel had an indoor pool, but the kids only went there once. They also tried out the exercise room and appaently both ran on the treadmill at the same time which must have been hilarious! (I was showering at the time).

I took Lauren with me to a candlelight service at Mike's Aunt Rosalee's church on Christmas eve. It was mostly singing which Lauren really seemed to enjoy. She's still going around singing "Glo-o-o-o-o-o, O-o-o-o-o, O-o-o-o-o-Ria!" The pastor had all the kids gather around him on the stage for a story, and Lauren marched right up there and sat right next to him. He asked them what the meaning of Christmas was, and they had various answers "Time with family", etc. Lauren raised her hand and introduced herself and said "I'm from Tampa and I'm here visiting my Daddy's family. And my brother's name is Jack, but he's not here." I was just beaming from my seat, that she had enough self- esteem and confidence to do that in a completley strange setting with people she didn't know. I'm not quite sure what she made of church, but she liked dressing up and she liked the music and the candles, and I think we'll leave it at that for the time being.

Mike's family always opens presents on Christmas eve, and by the time everyone gathered at Rosalee's house it was already getting late. I was worried that the combination of not napping and not really having dinner was going to result in some meltdowns, but they were very well behaved. I get frustrated because it's a free for all and everyone opens their gifts at once and it's complete chaos. The kids both ask me to open things and take it out of the packaging, while at the same time I'm supposed to be opening my own gifts and I get overwelmed really quickly. And then it's all over in a matter of minutes, and I don't get to see what anyone else received, so I wind up feeling pretty flustered. The main gifts for the kids were Leapfrog Leapsters, which Lauren was very excited about because her best friend Taylor has one. Jack is still a bit young, but I think he'll grow into it before too long. Otherwise I got them books and a few other little things. They got a lot of other goodies from Grandma Irene and the other relatives, so much so that we had to send a box home, there was no way we'd be able to fit them in our suitcases!

On Christmas day we tried to go to the movies, along with everyone else in town, and we ended up giving up and going home since everything was sold out. We did eventually manage to see 'The Tale of Despereaux" a few days later which was very cute. Jack, of course, fell asleep in my arms, so I can't say I was very comfortable for the last hour, but it was very enchanting nonetheless.

After a week we were very happy to return home to our own beds. We somehow convinced the kids that Santa had also visited at home so we had a second Christmas this morning with all the gifts we never could have packed along with us. Lauren's favorite seems to be the Hannah Montana Guitar and Jack's is the Wall-E robot. At least that is what they had been asking Santa for all month! We had a nice playdate with Taylor this afternoon and they managed to play nicely together after their week's sepration.

So now I have the luxury to move on to worrying about Lauren's quickly impending birthday!

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Fri, Dec 19, 2008 9:51 AM
Thursday we made some more cookies for another playdate/cookie exchange and this time the cookies were sort of a disaster. Tatiana had suggested I add a few drops of food coloring to the cookie dough and then we could make patterns or flowers. I had in mind trying to make the cookie look sort of like a pointsetta, but they didn't really turn out that way. The kids had fun rolling the dough around and then icing the cookies once they were cooked. Funnily enough, later on all the other kids wanted our cookies at the party because they had icing and were so colorful, but I thought they looked terrible! Oh well, it was the process that mattered. And they tasted good!

The playdate was at Darren's house whom we know from Music class, and he's now at the same school as well, and he lives just up the road in the next neighborhood. He has a great house with a wonderful new play structure in his back yard. It was nice day, not too sunny so they didn't get too hot with all the running around. (I can't believe it's averaging about 80 degrees at the moment!)

On our way home we passed by Allison, Taylor and Hailey, so the kids got out of the car and walked home with home while I drove slowly alongside them. We ended up then playing on Taylor's swing set, so they were very pooped by the time we got home. So much so that Jack propmtly fell asleep on the couch within minutes while I was making dinner. I hated to wake him up, but we had another Skype web conference with Daddy, and I didn't want him to miss that.

This morning they are having pajama day at school and their Holiday party which involves decorating gingerbread houses and hot chocolate and cookes and movies, among other things. Sounds fun!

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Wed, Dec 17, 2008 10:01 PM
Wednesday afternoon we finally got to Skype (web-cam confrence)with Mike in England, which really is an amazing thing. It's much better than the phone because they can run around and show him things, plus they can both speak to him at once. It was really nice to see his face and we had the feeling of really visiting with him. Plus it's free!

Later that evening the kids had the Winter Performance at school. I got them to snack a bit before we left since the show was 6-7pm, right during dinner time. I got Lauren to dress up no problem, she loves to dress up, but Jack took some convincing. I think the problem was that I wasn't sure what he should wear and had him try on a bunch of different things to see what fit. He seems to like to dress up once he's actually in the outfit, he just doesn't like the whole deciding phase. Eventually we put an outfit together and they both did look very cute.

The performance was adorable. Jack went first and his class was satrs and they sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and it was al off key and loud and soft and just too cute. I tried out my new video camera but was dissappointed to see that it didn't zoom very well, so I tried our regular camera as well. I felt the responsibility of trying to capture it for Mike, but I'm afraid my shooting was not all that steady. Lauren was sitting in my lap which did not help matters. Then later on it was her turn and her class was representing the four seasons and Lauren was summer. She had on sunglasses and was carrying a little sand bucket and shovel. When it was over she had this big frown on her face. I think she got upset that I was so caught up with videotaping that she felt like she couldn't catch my attention. I'm going to try to download the video ASAP.

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Tue, Dec 16, 2008 9:22 PM
Tuesday I decided to take the kids to Disney World. It was the only day I could figure out that we could make the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. I also decided to get passes so that we could be there earlier in the day. I've been meaning to do that for a while, so now we can go at the last minute for just 4 hours and not worry about how much it cost. It was a rather ambitious undertaking to do alone though. I decided to take the double stroller and that turned out to be a wise move, I don't think I could have made it without that thing!

Earlier in the day it wasn't so crowded so we didn't have to wait in teribly long lines and even rode some things, like the Barn-stormer rollercoaster, 3 times! But we did the Dumbo ride , then we met Ariel in her grotto and took Pictures, then the teacups, barnstormer, looked through Minnie and Mickey's respective houses, the Peter Pan ride,Buzz lighyear, the people mover, the rockets in Tomorrowland, and rode the train back to the entrance to get our wristband for the party.

We had dinner at the Starlight cafe where there was a dance party going on. That got a bit hairy because just as I had found seats with our tray full of food, Jack had to go potty. I asked one of the Disney employees to watch the food, but Lauren said she didn't have to go and wanted to stay and watch the dancing. I felt a bit wary, but let her stay because . . . it is Disney after all. I don't think I would have done that at any other place. But the bathroom was right across the way, so we were quick. As soon as I get back, Lauren says she DOES have to go. OF COURSE! So I asked the guy to just watch the food since I didn't think Jack would understand. So that didn't take too long. So we get back and they dance a bit, and eat a bit, and I'm rushing to eat my food thinking we need to get to the parade. Well then Jack is saying his tummy hurts, which usually means he needs to poop. So we finish up and head back to that same stupid bathroom for the 3rd time in 10 minutes! Ugh!

But after that we were all set and headed to see the parade, which was a mob scene. It was getting cooler and I changed them into their pajamas since they were getting tired. I tried putting them up on my shoulders as floats went by but that was really hard to do. About half way through a nice grandpa let them stand on his scooter/wheelchair thingy. That really helped out a lot and they were so excited to see all their favorite characters and, of course, reindeer and Santa!

We let the crowd thin out and then slowly made our way down Main street where it was snowing and the lights were all on. It did look very festive. Jack fell asleep, and Lauren was on her way, but she was determined to see the fireworks which weren't until 9:30. I went back to the train station platform right above the exit, which has a wonderful view of the tree and the castle in the background, but it's elevated so you don't have to crain your neck so much. Lauren did wake up when they started, and I must say, the fireworks were quite spectacular with a lot of red and green and special ones that looked like a tree and stars, it really did not dissapoint. Jack was out cold and slept through the whole thing. I luckily had noticed that we were walking distance from the entrance to our car, so I didn't have to unload the kids and the stroller and go in the shuttle. In fact, Jack didn't even wake up putting him in the car seat, and for once they both slept the whole way home. Phew! I survived my first solo Disney trip!

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Mon, Dec 15, 2008 10:03 PM
Thurdsday we spent the entire afternoon making cookies that I needed to bring to a cookie exchange that night. Why I had to try a new recipe is beyond me, but they actually turned out really well, and I am not really known for my baking, so I was rather proud of myself. The kids had fun decorating some of the leftover cookies we had cut into fun shapes. Lauren loved the hearts, Jack loved the camel, and I liked the stars. I gave them all kinds of sprinkles to put on their icing and they went to town.

Friday evening Mike and I actually had date night which hadn't happenend in a very long time. It's not a good sign when you can't remember the last time you went out as a couple without the kids! Just dinner and a movie, but it was refreshing to have a glass of wine and eat my food while it was still hot!

Saturday Mike was supposed to attend graduation at the University, so I did some crazy runing around. I put both kids in the car, dropped off Lauren at ballet at 11:00, made it to MyGym by 11:20 which gave us just enought time to go potty before leaving him at class at 11:30, then I hopped back in the car and got back to ballet by 11:45, where Lauren was tearful because she had bumped into Miranda and bumped her lip. She was fine, but the moment she saw me she was in floods of tears. So we stopped home for a popsicle where I saw Mike laying prone on the couch. He didn't go to graduation because he was feeling sick with a cold. Hmmpf! (So was I, as it happens, but that didn't stop me running around like a chicken with a lobotomy!) So we headed straight off back to MyGym and got there just in time to pick up Jack at 12:30. Phew! Then we had lunch at the place Mike usually takes Jack, and then I took them to Target to get a birthday present for Jack's schol buddy Sam. Big mistake. Target on a Saturday before the holidays in the toy section? Nightmare!!!

Sunday we went to Sam's party which was at his home, and his Mom was gracious enough to say that Lauren was welcome. We left Mike to fend off his phlegm. The kids had fun, although there was no structured entertainment and it made me think about Lauren's upcoming party. I think they do need a little guidence, otherwise they just start making up their own entertainment and start chasing each other around!

Last night I finally bit the bullet and printed off some of the invitaions for Lauren's party. At first I was dismayed to see them printing all crooked, but eventualy realized that if I stood there holding the cards with my hand as each one fed into the printer, it printed straight. So those invites went into the folders of her school classmates today, and the rest will be in the mail tomorrow, so it's too late to turn back now! I am feeling a bit nervous because I still have not figured out the entertainment. Yikes!

Today after school we took Mike to the airport for his trip to Oxford (Tally ho!) and then since it was raining I decided to go to the mall near there since we don't get down there very often. That was a fine idea for . . . just running around. The Santa area was based on the theme from the Polar Express movie which Jack was thrilled about, they even had snow falling, but he absolutely refused to say hi to Santa, so I decided not to get pictures of just Lauren. She wasn't dressed for it anyway, since it was near 80 degrees today, she was in a short skirt and t-shirt, not very festive at all! But Lauren did sit on Santa's lap and tell him what she wants for Christmas. (Oops,I forgot to ask him what she said!)

The problem came when they had tired of the play area and we tried to do some actual shopping in a few stores. I didn't think it was so bad in Gymboree because they are smart and have a tv with little chairs for them. But in Janie & Jack they were literally climbing the walls and I just about lost my mind. I was having trouble since I was paying, and they absolutely would not listen to me or stay with me. I felt such a failure as a parent, I was so frazzled! That's the trouble with going without the stroller. Nowhere to strap them in when they're unruly! Oh well, lesson learned. No more shopping with them together for the time being!

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Wed, Dec 10, 2008 10:22 PM
Yesterday was our last music class for the session, but I registered for the next session which begins mid-January. I think that may be the last one for Lauren, she's getting to be at the upper end of the age range. She still seems to get a lot out of it though, so we'll just see how it goes.

In the afternoon we had playgroup at the park and there was a good turnout as the weather was spectacular. Every time we see Sarah and Meghan, Lauren tends to attach herself to Sarah, and Jack tends to fell left out. You would think Meghan would mind, but she seems to enjoy playing off on her own. This also happens with Taylor, this sort of triangulation. I remember that happening with my own brother. I guess it's just one of the things that comes along with being the younger sibling; most of the time you're a constant companion, but then sometimes you're a third wheel and it's very confusing and frustrating.

As we were getting ready to go, Jody invited us over to her house for dinner, since both our husbands were working late. She suggested I stop by my house and get their PJ's and then we could bathe them together too. It was fun, and even though we only got home at 8PM, all we had to do was brush their teeth and hop into bed! Lauren said that it was almost a sleepover, and I guess that's as close as they've come to that.

Today I left Lauren's lunch (which I had packed so carefully) sitting on the kitchen counter. Yeah, real smooth. Luckily they have a hot lunch program that you're supposed to sign up for ahead of time (but they must always have extras)and I had some crackers and a juice box in my diaper bag for her snack. Otherwise I would have had to drive all the way home and back, and that's almost an hour round trip!

I haven't been thinking clearly today, and it's probably becuase I stayed up late working on Lauren's invitation for her birthday party. I ordered them online and I'm printing them up on our own computer. I know, I know, it was supposed to SAVE me time, but that's probably not why I got them, I just think they'll look nicer. I just have to stop obsessing about colors and margins and fonts and get them in the mail already!

Today Jack fell asleep in the car on the way home and he stayed asleep for at least an hour after we got home. It was hot today so I left the a/c running, and Lauren ran around in the cul-de-sac with Dominck. I was so glad Jack slept so well. . . that is, until bedtime when he proceeded to get up about 5 times with every excuse under the sun until almost 10PM!

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Mon, Dec 8, 2008 11:09 PM
It was a busy weekend with loys of things happening both days. Saturday the kids had their usual ballet and MygYm classes, but then I took Lauren with me to the "Misteltoe Market" at the new shopping center where a wanted to stop by a friend's booth and we dutifully bought some of her hand-made hair bows. Then we headed to the toy store to find a birthday present for her school buddy Maddie. Then we ran home and changed Lauren into her party dress and we went to "Clara's Holiday tea" which is a fundraiser for her ballet school. It's fun for her and we got a little preview of the Nutcracker performance they are putting on in a few weeks time. We went last year, and even though Lauren keeps saying she doesn't want to continue dance, she insisted we go to the tea. I heard Taylor saying something about maybe taking ballet, so maybe if Taylor is doing it she'll feel more inspired to stick with it.

Then Sunday we had Maddie and her twin sister Lucy's birthday party at a roller skating rink. It was really fun. The kids didn't really take to the skating too well, and pretty soon we took them off and just let them run around. There were plenty of arcade games to keep them busy, but I think they had the most fun just running around the rink either chasing or being chased or pulling either Mike or myself. Oh, and the limbo and the hokey pokey were big hits too.

Then we rushed off to the Perfoming Arts Center for a "Wee Folks" show that we have series tickets for. This one was in a larger theater, so I was grateful not to have to sit on the floor, but our seats were way up in the balcony, so I was sorry to be so far away from the stage. The kids didn't mind, and it was actually a very good show. It was callled "Jemima Puddle Duck" which I think is adapted from a Beatrix Potter book. They wore these amazing costumes which did look like something right out of one of thosoe books, and they used some puppetry techniques with people in all black holding full size puppets of various different animals.

And the if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, we then went and picked out our Christmas tree and a wreath for the front door. Before it got dark I tired to wrestle with those twinkly lights outside, but they are just the bane of my existence! I only got one measly bush covered and I have dreams of putting up icicle lights but I'm a little scared of going up on the ladder that high, and I don't think Mike's too enthusiastic either. I'm seriously considering hiring someone!

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Fri, Dec 5, 2008 1:22 AM
Wednesday's bake sale at school was a sucess, my cupcakes sold out anyway! I'm finding it's a good way to meet people, and the kids were good sports about having to wait until 3PM when the pick-up rush was over.

Today after much nagging from the kids we went over to the storage unit to swap the big boxes of Fall decorations for Christmas ones. That's all I got accomplished today. Oh, and one load of laundry. No actual decorating yet, but at least the stuff is here in the house now. We had playgroup at an actual house for once (instead of the park) and kids were thrilled to decorate gingerbread man cookies. Well, Lauren was into it. Jack was entirely too busy playing at the train table to do anything else. That includes snacking, and apparently peeing. Despite asking him repeatedly if he had to go potty (due to the tell-tale touching of his crotch) he came to me just as we were getting ready to leave, saying, "I need to go potty, Mommy" with wet pants and even his shirt was soaked. Luckily I had a complete change of clothes in the car. (I must make a point to replace them!) I was sort of dissapointed, he hasn't had an accident in so long. But I blame myself, because I saw the signs and I didn't insist. I know it was just a case of not wanting to stop playing long enough to do his business. Plus the bathroom was busy, so it also might have been a case of meaning to go but not quite making it. Oh well. Not out of the woods yet. But he's really been doing so well, I'm so proud of him, honestly.

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Tue, Dec 2, 2008 11:33 PM
So I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! We headed off to Lewiston on Tuesday for our annual visit to My Aunt Hilda and Uncle Joe. I, of course, still packed too much but for once I didn't forget anything major! The biggest change was going without a stroller. Each kid had their rolling back-pack filled with new coloring and sticker books which I bought just for this trip. Lauren had a new box of 64 crayons which has the built in sharpener which she was just exstatic about. The flight up there was very easy as it was surprisingly not very busy.

The day after we arrived there was snow, which I was grateful for since I had made such an effort to find snow pants,boots, hats and mittens (which is no mean feat in Tampa!) The next day it rained and all washed away, but we had some more on Thanksgiving day. The kids got a little stir-crazy spending so much time indoors. They started to run around in and knock things over which was nerve-wracking since that house has so many beautiful and breakable things in it!

Thanksgiving dinner was a wonderful feast, as always. Lauren was very excited to say what she was thankful for which was "Family and friends" I sense that they were perhaps practicing that at school. I wish I had video-taped it because Jack said something cute too, which I don't quite remember. I know at one point he said "I'm thankful for you, Auntie Hilda" gazing up at her with his big smile. The kids ate more than I thought they would, but Lauren did better since she actually likes turkey. Jack still won't really eat meat unless it's cold cuts or ground up or disguised in a nugget. But I would say overall that mealtimes were more relaxed, mostly due to the fact that I tried to leave them alone about what they ate, and also I allowed them to leave the table when they were done, provided that they asked our host if they could be excused. It's also getting easier because we gave them regular plates cups and utensils,(albeit smallish ones) and they eat so many more things than they used to. I did bring their booster seats which are bulky, but not very heavy since they're foam. I think that helped them stay put better while they were at the table.

Otherwise we went to the Aquarium and the Festival of lights at a nearby church. We tried in vain on Saturday to find the Aerospace Museum but it was just futile so we gave up and found ourselves at the outlet mall. It was sort of a mob scene though, so after having lunch and looking around a little we headed back to Lewiston. We found our way back to a playground we found when we were there in the summer a few years back. Even though it was cold, it was clear and sunny, so the kids had fun running off some steam. And our last night we had dinner at a nice restaurant where Lauren informed the waitress that she can chew gum. (Oh yeah, that's her latest obsession, my blue peppermint Stride Gum. Probably because I'm addicted to it! But I told her she can't have it except when we take off and land in an airplane.) But the kids did very well at the restaurant and we were even able to have some conversation!

Our return journey was a lot busier and our flight was jammed full. We flew through some rough weather so we never got our beverages which was annoying since I was thirsty! But all the shaking put us all to sleep so it went by quickly enough. But we did very well without the stroller, I'm happy to report, and we also had no potty issues and no wet pants! Yipee! So it's nice to be home again i sunny Tampa. Nothing like going away to make you appreciate your own home once you get back to it!

We dove right back into school and I'm STILL trying to get unpacked and al the laundry done. Today we had playgroup and then we headed home and made cupcakes for tomorrow's bake sale (where I also have to sell.) It was fun having the kids help since it was just out of a box and we bought frosting with some confetti sprinkles which we all enjoyed scattering across the tops. Of course the best part was licking the bowl! I'm applalled to realize that was the first time they've help me bake, but I've vowed to do it more since it really was so easy.

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