Some people

Some people pull their weight around here...


Others just expect service like royalty:

yea...more snow...yippee

Okay, I'm over it. Snow is fun and beautiful and wintery. But can't there be SCHOOL?




***And just so you know...I sent an e-mail out to my playgroup friends before I posted that last entry. I think they knew it was coming, because I'd been feeling them out to see if anyone else was getting unhappy with the way playgroup was getting crowded and crazy (they were NOT...which is why I decided it was just time for me to leave for a little while). They were wonderful and kind and non-judgemental...which is why I love them. They even insisted that I keep coming even if I don't host. Which I won't do, because that is totally unfair. But we are already planning a Mommy-Night...so I can tell I will still have their support and friendship as we move forward. I am so lucky ;)***

When to say goobye

When I moved to PA, I quickly started attending a playgroup set up randomly by the local MOMS club. Now, I've joined lots of playgroups and set up lots of playdates over my years as a mom. And playgroups are very tricky...it is rare to find a group of women that doesn't break into cliques or fight within...it is even rarer to find women like that who ALSO have decent kids that don't bite, bully, and cause problems. Well...more than NORMAL kids, anyway.

This group of women has always been awesome. It hasn't stayed the same...we've added some and lost some. But through it all, this playgroup has been a life line in an otherwise lonely SAH week.

But I kind of feel like it is time for me to leave.

-gasp-

I would go every week...if we could go without our children. When we started, our kids were 2 and 3 years old. Little fries. Since then, our kids have grown a lot, we've added younger siblings...and they've grown a lot. At this point, when we meet, it is 15 kids ranging from age 20 months to Andrew (6). It is A LOT. They destroy the house...even though they really get a long great. And we meet at night now...from 4 to whenever. So the hostess feeds the kids dinner. And now we've gotten into the habit of making something for the women for dinner too. And the meals get fancier and fancier and then we started adding dessert and then people started dressing their kids in pjs so they could stay later and...

Let's just say...it's gotten out of hand. I readily admit that crowds are one of my least favorite things on earth. And our playgroup has gotten to be a crowd. I really enjoy it...especially if only a few of us show up for whatever reason. But there are 7 of us women...and I couldn't choose which ones I'd prefer to hang out with. I like them all for different reasons.

I feel like I spend all afternoon preparing Andrew: "Now you are the biggest. No chasing, no wrestling, no putting your hands on other kids." And then once we're there, he inevitably gets in trouble and spends time sulking in a corner or on the couch. Lily is fine. She disappears and plays without interacting AT ALL with the other kids. Michael is a disaster...always climbing on things, finishing up other kids' juice boxes and eating off the floor.

It's just so weird, because I've always moved away before I had to deal with something like this. I am going to have to learn how to bridge the social gap when there aren't any children there to give us an excuse to get together. It's like I'm socially retarded all of a sudden. And I just hate to see this one go. Darned kids getting older and shit.

-sigh-

Catch up

Okay. Let's recap. I took a 4 day weekend break from my life. And it took me about 7 days to readjust to my life once I got back. Still...totally worth it. ;)

A few catch up updates...

--The tooth--
Negative: I went last Friday to have the permanent crown put on the problem tooth from hell. But, of course, he decided NOT to put it on yet. I am still having pain when I chew, which he said is ligament pain. That's right. Clean all the nerves out of the tooth and you can STILL have pain. I guess it is normal with all the messing we've been doing with that tooth for the last month (yes...4 weeks...cripes). He said it is normal to have ligament pain for 4-6 weeks, but not unheard of to last 6 months. Yippee!
Positive: I have lost 8 pounds in the last month. Not eating really works!

--Andrew--
-Negative: It is driving me crazy that he won't play with his siblings unless I am also playing. They have a great time together...but he insists that I tag along. Argh! I have set a very bad precedent. My advise to new parents? Don't play pretend games with your kids...
-Positive: He really has been delightful the last few weeks. He's eased up on the constant tackling his sister, he's been funny and helpful and pleasant. And we're reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing at bedtime, one of my favorite books as a child. And there are NO pictures and he LOVES IT. I see a whole new world of books opening up in front of us. And speaking of books...he is reading like a champ. He doesn't need pictures to help him figure out the context, he has incredible reading comprehension, and most importantly he doesn't get frustrated when he comes to a word he doesn't know. Which is HUGE for Andrew. I am just beaming with pride.

--Lily--
-Negative: Lily refuses to learn to pull her pants up and down and sit on the potty herself. Yet she INSISTS on privacy while she goes to the bathroom. (with the exception of the Pooping Parties she has with Andrew.) (which, let me say again, Eeewww.) So basically she hollers at you that she has to go to the bathroom, then the second you scoot the pants over her teeny tiny bootie, she is hollering at you that she needs to be alone. And the door closed so Mikey and Shadow don't come in. And then 15 seconds later she is bouncing half naked yelling, "Mommy! Come see this!" and getting drips of pee all over the floor. Oh, yes, she doesn't wipe either. Argh. And if I even mention trying to show her and teach her how to do any of it, she yells and won't even listen a teeny tiny bit. THAT CHILD WILL KILL ME.
-Positive: Lily hasn't had an accident in...I don't even know how long. And she's been dry at night for weeks and weeks. And I try and remind myself how she just one day did it, so I'm sure that one day she'll just start pulling those pants up and down. Right? Also, Lily has been really pleasant (for Lily) and funny and wonderful lately. She says hilarious things on purpose to make us laugh and accidentally which makes us laugh. She is cuddly and sweet with Shadow almost to the point of bringing me to tears it is so sweet. She is still brutal with Michael, but there are glimmers of sharing and future play.

--Mikey--
-Negative: Michael has discovered that he can drag the bathroom stool all over God's kingdom and reach anything he wants. The knife block, the fruit bowl, my drying rack. Nothing is safe. He also climbs on top of the couch...like really on top of it...and rolls down towards the stone fireplace. He dismantled my Dad's careful baby-proofing in 2 minutes. He really really wants to figure out how to walk on our window sills. Our 2 inch windowsills. He is really wanting to do everything the big kids do. Andrew picked up Shadow yesterday, and immediately Michael was right there, trying to pick her up. You're playing with tiny beads? Michael is right there, except he also will eat them. It is frustrating trying to do anything with the older kids, because Mikey wants to do it, but cannot do it safely. I'm willing to bet anyone with kids spaced 4 years apart or more has felt this very same frustration.
-Positive: Michael continues to be so stinking cute. He is a dancing fool, and cannot resist music. He stands very stiffly, and bounces and moves his shoulders from side to side. Very serious in the face. Unbelievably cute. He has started wiping my kisses off and giggling maniacally when I protest. He is still so far behind with speaking...but he gets new words every day. Kind of. Like if he starts yelling, "Geeee. Geeee." to you, I clearly know he is talking about shoes. So basically we are in the stage where I am learning his language more than he is learning ours. He loves to build with anything he can get his hands on. My first builder. He can figure out how to turn things on and open things up. My first mechanically minded kid. He understands EVERYTHING you say. So he's smart. He's just the strong silent type ;)

Okay...now back to our regularly scheduled blogging.

Blast to the Past

I met Pamela in August of 2000. We were both starting a new job at the University of Phoenix, at a newly opened branch with only 5 employees. Out of the 5 of us, Pamela and I happened to share a birthday...which I believe was the week we started work.

I only worked there for 9 months. And yet, we continued to keep in touch. We lived almost a half hour apart (only due to SoCal traffic...grrr..). We got together as much as two working people could. She quit working when she had her daughter, and I began the 18 month process to have my first child. We still managed to stay close. She brought me a meal and a hug when I had my miscarriage. She called me a bit nervous to tell me she was pregnant with her 2nd child...worried that she would upset me since I STILL wasn't pregnant. I harbored no bitterness towards her and was only excited. And then even MORE exited to call her 6 weeks later and announce that I too was pregnant. We had our sons 6 weeks apart. Now I was a SAHM too, and we saw each other more frequently. But then we moved. There were many tears.

It has been 5 years since we moved away from Southern California. And yet, just about every week we call each other. The darned time difference really does us in. But we have always managed to keep calling. We've talked each other through more babies, changes in husbands' jobs, moves, family crisis, and just general gossip. We cheer each other on and moan in sympathy. We pass no judgement and eagerly pass on useful information. It is a very freeing friendship because it is so isolated from our everyday lives.

I am, in a word, very very lucky to have a friend like Pamela. And now you know why I went to visit her. And now that we are both done having babies, you can bet we won't wait 5 years to visit each other again.

Some photos:

Here we are...Amazon woman and her tiny friend. And, yes, we could've posed in a million better places throughout the weekend...but we kind of forgot to take a picture until I was leaving for the airport. We were too busy TALKING to take pictures, people.
Let's just remember for a minute what I left behind in PA...

Do you see that slide? Holy crow, I've never seen this much snow!

The trees were stunning. Stunning. But I had to enjoy looking at them while I shoveled for 2 hours. And that was just my shift. Add in my dad and Jeff's hours...whew.

Why, yes, we DO have a driveway. Somewhere under that mess.

Our mailbox. Somewhere under that mess.

And then I flew away to a warm wonderland. It was so...surreal to be back there. I just can't believe that I ever lived there.

Admittedly, I didn't take very many pictures. I kept my camera in my purse. I hate carrying a purse, so I'd often leave it behind in the car. Which isn't good for taking pictures.


Pamela posing in front of a vineyard.

I'm pretty sure her ward is petitioning her to never speak to me again. Taking one of their flock to wine country. But even I didn't drink while we were there. I've taken WAY too much Tylenol and Advil in the last few weeks. I was pretty sure a sip of wine would make my liver just leap out of my throat and quit.

Me eating the coveted Chocolate Chip Calzone, from Claim Jumpers. Don't ask why it is so good...I cannot explain. It is horribly bad for you and fantastically delicious. I can't keep up this figure if I start eating SALADS and such, people.

We went for a walk at a nature preserve with Pamela's husband and 4 kids. I don't remember the park's name, but I know it will probably be the last time those kids go there. At least for the next 5 years or so. They were MISERABLE. We walked and walked to these vernal pools...and there just wasn't much to entertain the kids along the way.

I can't quite do the mountains justice. Their community is almost surrounded by picturesque scenery. And it was in the 70s. I almost died from pleasure walking in the warm sunshine.

Here are the poor tortured souls. She has almost the same spacing of kids, with the same genders, except for a bonus little girl at the top. Such sweet, good-natured, fun-loving kids. They're doing a great job. They get the "Giselle Star of Approval."

That's it. It was a refreshing, lovely weekend. We didn't do anything crazy or out of the ordinary. But it was totally out of the ordinary for those of us stuck at home with small children. We went out to eat. We browsed a book store. We went walking without having to carry a single diaper or snack with us. We went to a movie. We went through lots and lots of model homes...and we never had to worry about someone breaking something.

I cannot thank Pamela and family enough. I cannot thank my mother-in-law enough. All I can say is that it is a wonderful thing to be loved by such people. And I feel ready to face the rest of winter. ;)

Going, Going, GONE!

I. Am. Outta. Here.

Goodbye snow! Goodbye children! Goodbye Jeff! Although all of those things will be here waiting when I come back ;)

Grandma arrived yesterday afternoon after a short flight delay (the Philly airport was closed yesterday morning...). She is geared up and excited to have a day alone with the 3 kids, even after they have been housebound for 3 days. She may be Cr-AY-Zee...but I love her for it. ;)

Actually, all 3 kids are healthy as horses...not even a runny nose amongst them. So that makes me feel better.

My tooth is behaving quite nicely. On Tuesday, just before Snowmaggedon 2010, I had my root canal finished off. There was one snazzoo...one of the teeny tiny instruments broke off inside my tooth, and he was unable to retrieve it. So I have to go back in 6 months to make sure it isn't moving around in there (he tried to completely encapsulate it in the tooth filling). The fun of this tooth just never ends! But when he put the temporary back on (that's right, next Friday I get numbed up AGAIN and messed with AGAIN), and it seems to be sitting better. So my other teeth are virtually symptom free and the gums are healing and compared to the last 3 weeks, it feels GREAT!

Okay, okay...off to California now...YIPPEE!!

Holy snow, Batman

Holy FREAKIN' snow. This is so cool. I am starting to wonder when you have to worry about your roof...but we still have power and the snow keeps coming and it is the most snow I've ever seen in my whole entire life.

-gasp-

Just as an example, below is a picture of my Dad's car, taken at 7:45 pm this evening. Please note that at 4 pm, the driveway was completely shoveled and the car was brushed clean. My dad continued to go out every hour and shovel by the front wheel for reference.

That's a lot of snow.


I didn't take too many shots, because it is still snowing quite a lot, so I think tomorrow's pictures should be even more impressive. But I had to take one of my poor bird feeder. I brushed off the snow so the little birds will be able to get to it tomorrow. Or the squirrels. Whatever.

And if my flight to California is cancelled Friday morning, I swear to Frickin' Heaven Above that I will cry big crocodile tears and need professional help. And maybe lock myself in the bathroom all day long.

I swear.

Eli

Meet Eli.

We made Eli the Snowman today during the Littles' naps. The snow was perfect packing snow. Perfect Snowman snow. I don't know why his name is Eli. Ask the other little guy next to him.

Eli is the first "good" snowman to live in our front yard. Not that I've had any "evil" snowmen...just deformed ones.

Say "Hi" to Eli!

Oops. Here's Eli 90 minutes later. Apparently, you are supposed to make your snowpeople after it has stopped snowing. Eli is bigger, but almost unrecognizable.

Poor Eli. The opposite of a melting snowman.

Pictures from the last month

I finally downloaded some pictures from our camera. Turns out it has been a month since I last downloaded. Oops. We've been having some camera issues, some barfing issues, some Mommy-the photographer-is ouchie problems and some hair issues (Lily always looks homeless...2 seconds after I do her hair she is rubbing her head on our couch or wrestling or whatever.)

But here they are...

Mike the construction worker. My FIL got me this hard hat after I was taken out by the monkey bars last fall. Hardy-har-har. But Mikey sure is cute in it.

He also likes football helmets. But not for long enough to get a picture.

This is supposed to be a shot of how Mikey can get into the pantry now. Which Lily still hasn't figured out. He also can get into the fridge and knows to go get the step-stool to reach counters/microwave/knives. Good times.

Me and my trouble maker.

Lily. The Hair. Good God...would it be terrible to shave a little girl's head?

Who needs couches? Michael loves sitting in the baby carriage.

Mr. Mike does not want to sit in a high chair or booster seat anymore. Can't climb on the table and reach other peoples' food/crayons/milk that way.

I don't even remember what this was about. Playing without tackling perhaps? That would be noteworthy enough to crack out the camera.

No idea what this photo was about.

This is pretty much how sick-fest 2010 went. That day Jeff and I were both down. Good times.

Laundry baskets are fun. Fun enough to fight over.

Jeff buried Andrew in snow last week. Andrew decided it was NOT as much fun as being buried in autumn leaves. Brilliant.

Rooting for the Saints. Until the game started, and wrestling Lily became MUCH more interesting.

My parents are here. They are on their way to Virginia to have a birthday weekend with my Uncle Mark. Because Philly is on the way from Ohio to Virginia.

But with cuddles like these, I guess I can understand why they take the detour.

We had a birthday cake for Pepere.

Mike enjoys cake now...in case you were wondering.

That's all for the random photos today. ;)

Busy in a not busy kind of way

A few things:

-- I had my root canal on Friday morning. It didn't hurt, but it sounded awful. My mouth is still in constant nagging pain (it is Monday morning). I am still killing off my liver slowly by taking a constant stream of Tylenol/Motrin/Tylenol/Motrin. I am still eating solely on one side of my mouth. Now the teeth surrounding the affected tooth are hurting. And my gums. And my cheek. And sometimes my nose. I am starting to think this will never feel better and I will always have chronic pain.

-- Jeff didn't want to miss his traditional Superbowl foods, so he still had chips and got a hoagie from Sarcone's Deli anyway. And then moaned with pleasure as he ate food that I cannot share in. I had leftover Sloppy Joes... Solidarity my ASS.

-- I am finally starting to get ready for CALIFORNIA. I will be getting on the plane in 120 hours. I still have to call Pamela and find out what the weather is like. I don't even care that I might STILL not be able to eat my favorite SoCal foods. Vacation here I come!

-- I am quite nervous about the actual "getting there" part of the trip (I know, I can hear you crying for me from over here). I've always hated airports...I abhor crowds and I'm always frantic about getting to where I'm supposed to be when I'm supposed to be there. Also? I haven't flown by myself since August of 2003. So it's been a while. And I haven't even flown period since Dec. 2006. So...yea.

-- Andrew was totally totally excited about the Superbowl. He tattooed himself with Saints logos, he excitedly prepared food and watched a lot of the pre-game hoopla. But when the game started, he was right there on the floor...wrestling with his sister. When I had a "picnic" with her, he sat facing away from the tv. We've decided that Andrew likes the "idea" of football...not so much the actual game.

-- Lily is in desperate need of some "getting out of the house" time. She was sick last Sunday, and the only 3 outings she's had in 7 days are a trip to the library, school on Wednesday, and church yesterday. But she's been playing quite nicely around the house. But she is BOSSY. Yesterday she actually put her hand on her hip, shook her pointer finger at me, and said, "Mommy! If you don't play airport with me, I'm going to turn your computer off!"

-- Michael, my delightfully voracious eater, is officially picky. I know it is normal for this age, but it is so sad to watch him turn away food that just a few weeks ago he couldn't eat fast enough. It has happened so fast, I don't even know what to feed him anymore. And I have to change the way I treat him too. I used to let him snack whenever he wanted, because I knew he'd still eat the healthy stuff later. Not anymore. Le-sigh.

-- It snowed this weekend in the Mid-Atlantic...in case you hadn't heard. Although I say we're from Philly, we are obviously NOT, because we *only* got around a foot of snow. I think Philly proper got twice that. But still fun snow. Not that I would know. I hid inside all weekend, feeling quite ouchy. Andrew went out for about 20 minutes and when he came back inside he declared, "This isn't fun snow." It was that heavy wet snow that you can't really sled in and it was too high for him to stomp around in very easily. It would have been more fun yesterday, but with church and swim lessons and the Superbowl...he just didn't get out in it. As parents, I guess you could say we suck. Jeff did "play" for 3 hours...the length of time it took him to shovel our driveway. Good times.

Lordy, this post is lame even for me. Tomorrow I go back for Root Canal Part Deux. The infection inside my tooth was so bad that he filled it with medicine instead of the filler they usually do. So back I go to finish it up. But I'm convinced he's going to tell me that the infection has spread to my other teeth, or I have gum disease now, or whatever. I'm about to the point that I'm just going to pull all my teeth, take a blow torch to the raw ends of the nerves, and go about the rest of my days with a cool set of removable dentures that I can scare children with.

Have a happy Monday!

"I'm known for that"

Yes, I'm having a root canal later this morning. NO, I have not Googled what it means to have a root canal. I will find out after it is done and I have survived it, thankyouverymuch.

Andrew is tall. Not outrageously so...it's not like he's the Shaq in his class or anything. There are several girls in his class as tall as him. So he's not a freak. But he is tall. Always has been...probably always will be.

Andrew is also with me on all of my morning errands. He is only gone for 3 hours a day, and that is during nap time for Michael. So poor Andrew gets dragged to the grocery, Target, doctor's appointments, etc etc. And almost every time we are out, we have the same conversation with the working people of the world.

Like this Wednesday when we had our follow-up at the ENT (Andrew's ear tubes have fallen out, his ears have re-filled with fluid, and his hearing is again impaired. All without any infections...whoopie! So new tubes to come in March!). Anyhoo, they call his name and as we walk back to the examination room, we had the now familiar conversation:

Nurse: Hi, Andrew! No school today?

Me: No, actually Andrew is in afternoon Kindergarten. So we get all our mornings together for one more year.

Nurse: Holy Cow! Are you really tall for a Kindergartner, Andrew?

Andrew: Yes. Actually, it's one of the things I'm known for. See, I'm known for 3 things in my class. One of them is I'm known for being tall. But that's just for the boys. Because you really can't compare girls and boys, it's not fair. But for the boys, I am the tallest. So I'm known for that. The other thing I'm known for is for being the smartest. Because I know the answers to everything the teacher asks. My friends think I'm really smart. So that's what I'm known for. And the third thing...

I usually don't let him get as far as the 3rd thing. Because Andrew speaks with such seriousness, such articulation and so precisely, that adults just don't ever cut him off. And then you get stuck with a 15 minute dissertation by a six year old.

He told me one morning, out of the blue, "Mom, did you know that I'm known for being smart?"

And I struggled...because he IS smart...but he doesn't need his head blown up any bigger than it already is, and yet I want to support his self esteem. So I replied, "Well, that's a really good thing to be known for."

And he nodded and looked back down at the racetrack he was designing and said, "Better than being known for hitting, like M. in my class."

Just a glimpse at how that little thinker thinks all day long...And it is amazing that the kids are labeling themselves and each other already. Doesn't take long to slip into that label...I wonder how you ever get out of it if you are stamped at 5 and 6 years old.

And another one down, another one down...

...Another one bites the dust!

Andrew was the last hold out...and he now has the barf-sies. So after this, we should be DONE for a while. He was up every hour on the hour from 11 pm till 2 am, throwing up in his bed. Like on his pillow. I've never heard of someone who just lies there and throws up on themselves...4 times in a row. Never even tried to lift his head, poor guy. But it is preferable to the steps, I suppose. We are out of pillows...all in the wash.

By the way, in searching for that post on throw up, I used the blogger dashboard search tool, which I just discovered. I KNOW! I've been doing this for 5 years now, and just noticed that giant search thingy. Some employer is going to be so lucky to have me in a few years. Anyhoo, when I typed in "throw up", 76 entries popped up. Wow. What a wonderful blog you tune in to read. 76 entries on throw up. Genius.

Okay, so you can tell I'm feeling more normal. My tooth pain is really getting better. The throbbing head ache is mostly gone, although I still can't eat on that side without a sharp shooting pain. Small victories. My tummy is still queasy, and I just feel like sleeping. Which obviously isn't going to happen. But I keep reminding myself that this is just what I felt like for the first 4-5 months of pregnancy, and I managed to do it...so SUCK IT UP. It also reminded me why I really really really am done having children. I Cannot. Do. This. For 5 Months. Ever. Again.


And here's a random story I've been meaning to post on here, just for shits and giggles.

I gave my children very boring, very common names for a reason. As much as I love my unique name, there are many pitfalls. Many. And I just cringe when I hear of parents giving their kids a made-up name, because it brings me back. Now that I am 32, I am sufficiently removed from society that I forget about many of these things. I am either "Mrs. S..." or "Hey, Andrew's mom?" or just talked to by my friends, who thankfully have learned how to correctly pronounce my name.

But I went to Starbucks with a few friends a while back (Before Tooth Pain), because our book club had been cancelled, but we were going out anyway, Dammit. And it was quite crowded, so when they took your drink order, they asked for your name to write on the cup. So she asked, and I told her "Giselle". She nodded and smiled and wrote on the cup, and I thought, "Wow. People are really getting used to unusual names. She didn't even ask me 3 times how to spell it." And then I sat down at the table with my friends and chatted and waited for my drink to come up.

The poor guy manning the drink-making station stands there holding out a cup and trying to speak like a person who's tongue has been cut out. I figure it must be my name, because this was a common occurrence. Sure enough, it is mine. With the name clearly written on the side:

SHIRZZLLEE

Yes, yes that is really close. Did she really think that was a possible name? All this time I've thought that unusual names were HELPING my cause, but perhaps it is doing the opposite. This teenage girl thought that Shirrzllee was a totally credible name. It may be my new favorite mistake, thought. Before, being called Gazebo was. No, maybe when someone read my name as "Jerome". Gazelle is too normal an occurrence to be my favorite. Same with Janelle. Griselda was a good one.

Tomorrow...let's hope that no one is throwing up at this house (for the first time in over a week). And let's get this tooth drilled into oblivion so I can finally eat on both sides of my mouth! Yippee!

The perfect storm

This morning I was supposed to go to the endodontist and finally end my 10 days of hot poker pain in the head.

I awoke at 2 am with a funny feeling.

I am now throwing up and running out the other end.

There will be no dentist appointment this morning.

I can't seem to keep pain killers down, so my head is a ball of fire.

Which feels really good when you are upchucking.

Oh! And Jeff is sick too. Not throwing up, but definitely having tummy troubles.

But all 3 kids are feeling chipper and hyper and lovely.

Looks to be a long day.

Dentist appointment rescheduled for Friday...Jeff isn't sure he can take off work again. Don't know what I'll do then...