C is for Cookie

10 things I like that start with the letter C:

1. Caragh - my first-born, my goofball, my little Pants-incarnate.
2. Calleigh - my babe, my snugglebunny, and apparently a mini-me.
3. Cookies - the obvious, but I do love them. Chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin. MMMMMM.
4. Coffee - the #3 reason I wake up in the morning (see nos. 1 and 2 above). Columbian, Hazelnut creme, Amaretto - mmmmmmmm. Smell the roast...
5. Computer - could not live without my laptop. I use it for shopping, cheating on the crossword puzzle, keeping up my blog.
6. Clan - My family and friends are the best clan anyone could ever ask for.
7. Condiments - Is anything really not in want of condiments?
8. Chicken - Oh, satisfier of children, less fatty for the tummy, free-range or cage-fed wonder. I come from a house of yard-bird lovers.
9. Celts - that's right, we love the Irish in this household. In fact, as soon as I go back to work, we will be starting a fund so we can go to Ireland on our 10th anniversary.
10. Conundrums - I love a good puzzle. We regularly attempt the crossword, and I got the 4th Myst for Christmas. Yay!

That's 10. If anyone else wants to play, let one of us know in the comments for a letter. Thanks AKJ!

One step closer to perfect children

"Jode, why does Kitten know that the next step of making coffee is going into the freezer for the coffee? Look at her, she's holding onto the freezer door!"
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

I think if she could reach the coffeemaker, she might actually be able to do it.

Conversations

Three days before Christmas...
"So, did you finish your baking?"
"Baking? What was I baking?"
"You know. Christmas cookies and stuff."
Um, no." Look of near insanity ensues.

While shopping...
"$50? I don't love my kid that much."
"Yes you do."
"$50 for a blankie? No, I really don't."
"If that blanket meant Meimei would sleep all night in her crib, you would so buy it."
"Well, you have me there."

Santa in training

My little Kitten has chosen a profession, and it is Santa. She has come up with her own beard and everything.

Please note, she is not usually naked except for a bib and diaper, but this is a special occasion. Breakfast.

Random Thoughts - Christmas Edition

It may be completely misguided, but since the family that got stuck in the woods I have been really worried about being lost and stuck. I have started an emergency kit in a backpack that I keep in the car and I am waiting on the remaining items that I mail-ordered from a survival store. The thing that really worried me was that the mom nursed her 7-month-old and her 3-year-old during the 9 days they were out in the woods. I can't do that. What will I do with my kids if we get stuck? I can feed Kitten the energy bars I will be ordering (the most calories for the size, and they say they actually taste good), but what about Meimei? Could I nurse her still if needed?

I thought I was done with buying Christmas gifts Saturday, but when I got home I remembered one of my step-sisters and my step-brother's three kids. Plus Pants is still getting his brother something, which will be taken care of tonight, and he has to get a dice game gift ($10 gift card in a clever wrapping). Last year, his dice game gift was the best - $10 in quarters in a wooden chest. And one of his friends insists on buying us a gift each year, so they have to be taken care of also.

In addition to the survival supplies, I am waiting on Meimei's car seat and replacement parts for my double stroller in the mail. And I think my mom is sending the girls something for the girls for Christmas.

Did you know that Xmas is actually a religious moniker? The X is the greek letter for Jesus, I think. I read that somewhere. So all of you who don't appreciate the use of Xmas can get a secret laugh at the people who use it thinking it's a way to get the religion out of the holiday.

Pictures coming soon of the new stove and my new, favorite, nearly naked Santa...

There is something I want to do

I remembered something I wanted to do with my life. This may sound weird or dopey, but I want to start speaking to schools about driving safety and wearing seatbelts. I have wanted to do this since my brother died, but I don't know how to get started. I'm not really looking to get paid (although one day maybe it could turn into a nice second paycheck for a couple of speaking engagements here and there), I really just want to speak to kids about wearing seatbelts.

What Kitten learned to do

The ottoman is pushed up to the end table to keep Kitten from crawling under the table and playing with the lamp cord and outlet, as well as the newspaper box.

Now she can get up onto the ottoman, which means she can reach anything on the table. And she can knock out her teeth on the edge of the table if so inclined. Lovely.

Projects: done

I actually got through my list this week!

Stuff I accomplished:
Got CD burner replaced in my laptop, as it was making funny noises and selectively ejecting perfectly good blank CDs. Dell is really quick, they sent someone out the next day!
Got cable set up in the house, as dish deal is now defunct for reasons I won't go into here. Comcast has already come and gone this week, too.
Bassett crib part is being mailed to me (I thought I got it yesterday, as there was something shoved in the door, but it turned out to be my AT&T 10-year "gold" coin).
Went to the bank.
Mailed the pictures to my mom that I promised her about 4 weeks ago and that have sat in a cardboard envelope on my table for 3 weeks and 6 days.
Called the plumber to have the gas line run upstairs - we will be cooking with gas on Monday!
Meimei's car seat is also en route to my house. No more stuffing her into the infant seat!

All I have to do today is return the Satellite receivers and call my daycare lady about the vaccination sheets I will surely have to provide later and might as well get done now when Meimei has an appointment coming up.

Yay for progress!

Cute

Oh jeez

Now the barn door contraption downstairs is stuck. We can't open it and can't figure out why. My paper towels and extra toilet paper are trapped inside and the situation is becoming desperate. So the barn doors might get fixed sooner rather than later, as the only current solution is to take them off their track and have a giant gaping hole that leads down to the well. And yeah, that's safe. And warm!

We don't go down there much with Kitten, but we do occasionally and would like to continue to do so. So we may have to frame it in soon and put on some bi-fold doors as was our plan to fix it at some point in the future.

So once again, we are fixing an issue we were going to anyway, but we are fixing it NOW out of necessity rather than when we are ready out of a desire to make our house better. This is a recipe for half-assedness, just wait and see.

Random Thoughts

Friends once theorized that no one should ever see the hour between 7 a.m. and 8. After working 5:30-1:30 for 18 months in the 90's, I decided that hour is actually 4-5. Drunks should be blacked out and business people shouldn't be up yet. Yesterday, that theory was tested when Kitten woke up screaming at 4 and did not want to go back to sleep. As long as everyone was up, Meimei decided she needed a bottle too, and a crappy night was had by all.

Someone Pants works with has a girlfriend that works at a children's store and she had some samples that we're going to be thrown away. This is the benefit of being nice to people at work. Free is the right price, so he brought in the toys and Pants brought them home last night. They were a HUGE hit. I checked the website and, although the toys aren't on there because they are still in the sample stage, judging by their other (very expensive) toys, the box was worth $100-150. Kitten especially enjoys the soft shape-sorter with soft shapes because she can stuff any shape into any hole and then just pull it back out again through the same hole. Try that with the Tupperware sorter.

My MIL is nuts. She watched the kids Saturday night while Pants and I went to his holiday party (at which I sang very terrible Karoake, but that's another post), for which I am extremely grateful. But Kitten going to bed was a hoot! She told us that it took everything she had to actually close her bedroom door. What's the difference if it's closed or open an inch? She also was glad that we put plastic on Kitten's window, but then thought that she might somehow pull it down and smother herself with it. And lastly, she took the dirty blankets off the floor (that I had pulled out of the crib precisely because they were dirty) and put them back in, removing the clean blue fleece blanket because she thinks Kitten will somehow strangle herself with it. She thinks it's too thin and, therefore, pliable enough to get around her neck.

My stove is coming next Monday, but we have to get the plumber back out to run the gas line upstairs. Yay for gas stoves!

I am actively looking for a new car seat for Meimei, but Pants has sticker shock over the Britax Boulevard (usually $300 and rarely on sale). This is the one thing I can justify spending on, as it's the only thing the kid will use every day for the next 4 years, but it still may take some talking. I did find two patterns that were on sale for $250, but one is really hideous and the other is really bland. Is it wrong to not buy a car seat on sale because it's ugly? I should probably save the $50 and get the bland one.

Fool's Errand

I took the girls to see Santa on Friday. What was I thinking?

Why it sucks to see Santa:
There is no mall in my relative nearness, so we have to drive at least half an hour to any given mall. (Stupid Riverdale strip mall, I hate those things!)
Malls do not open until 10:00, and Santas do not show up until then. Considering that the sacred naptime is at 11:30, and that lunch needs to happen at 11:00, and that traveling with 2 small children takes 4 times longer than you ever think it would, this leaves only afternoon to go to see Santa, after naptime, which puts us driving home during rush hour in ENTIRELY the wrong direction.
Although I own a double stroller and have recently discovered that Meimei is now advanced enough to sit in a reclined stroller seat, it was a second-hand item and I have recently realized there is no crotch buckle in one of the seats, and therefore there are no restraints on that side. No child tray I can live with, but no restraints is not okay. One will slide right out, the other will leap out at the first shiny pretty thing we go by. So I actually do not have a double stroller.

So I went in the afternoon, after naptime, although Kitten was crabby with teething and hunger and Meimei was, well, 3 months and does what a 3 month-old does. I put Kitten on her leash and put Meimei in the stroller, which is a test of patience because Kitten does not always want to go where we are going. With a dog, you can just pull on the leash, but people frown on mothers pulling their toddlers to the ground to correct their direction. Kitten and Meimei cried the whole way there and back in the car. I spent $8 on a kid's meal and a hamburger at the mall. Kitten did NOT enjoy Santa Claus. I spent another $40 on pictures because I wanted them taken separately.

And to top it all off, The Body Shop did not even have Lavender Body Oil spray, they only had the Bergamot, which I love but Pants hates. Major suckage.

My style

That's right. Fear me, I will melt you and then adopt some kittens before they are euthanized.

Oddly, in the Last Laugh '06 Poll on comedycentral.com, I came out as Kim Jong Il.

In which Pants fixes my fridge problem...

And kitten finds a new "hiding" place.

Photos of my debacle

This is my fridge.

In my kitchen.

Taking up half of the space in my kitchen because it doesn't fit into it's rightful refrigerator cubby.

Bad refrigerator!

But it's hard to stay mad at something so pretty. When I can be mad at the ugly cabinet instead.



This is my food. It was getting tired of being cooped up in the fridge, so I let it outside to get some air. It likes to bask in the sun and say hello to the neighbors.

Progress

Yesterday I had two fruits and one bottle of water. We went grocery shopping and I got fruit to sit on the counter (thanks for the idea, Ms. Huis! it even got Pants to eat fruit last night).

This morning I ate instant oatmeal for breakfast. Yay! I was going to go to the mall this afternoon, and may still, but my fridge problem might kill that plan. Anyway, I'm doing better on the goals.

Good news/Bad news

The good news is the fridge is here.

The bad news is it's half an inch too wide for the bottom cabinet.

Update on goals

Yeah, so the goals were a bit ambitious. I have not yet eaten breakfast. Not once. The TV went off the first day at 11 but came back on as soon as Kitten went down for a nap. I think Kitten's getting her fruits and vegetables, but it's hard to tell because of the amounts of them that end up on her face and bib now that she's eating by herself. We haven't been to the mall yet, maybe tomorrow. I did buy the water, but have yet to drink two in a day. They are currently frozen into single-serving ice blocks out in the garage.

So, today is another day. TV will go off soon. Kitten is eating a fruit, although much of it is on her bib. I will go to the grocery store today and get some fruit. I will go out to the garage now and get some water started on the thaw. We will go to the mall tomorrow afternoon, although whether it's for Santa or Underwater Adventures is up in the air. I will eat breakfast tomorrow while I blog (during Sesame Street).

I knew that I would not complete all of these things daily. I knew that I would fail. And there is something actually a bit liberating about failing the whole first week. Now I don't have to be perfect, I can miss an item here or there and it's okay. The intention is good.

Good news/Bad news

The good news is the shower is not clogged.

The bad news is I am losing my pregnancy hair and there were three handfuls of it covering the drain.

More milestones

Kitten is actually eating with silverware. Ok, toddler training spoons and bowls that suction to the tray, but still. Victory!

And Meimei? She slept in her crib for almost an hour today. Mu wha ha hahahahaha! I will separate you from me yet!!

It's cold outside!

Here's my big girl in her nice coat and hat (not the usual coat and hat that has progressively turned the lining from pink to grey).

It's still hard to keep a hat on her, but she's getting better. We are on our way to a nearby restaurant to meet MIL and SIL. Kitten proceeds to charm the people in the booth behind us, as usual (she tends to work each table until at least one person at each will play with her). As we are getting them dressed to leave and Kitten has her coat and hat on, the man in the booth says, "I didn't think she could get any cuter, but she just did." How's that for outside validation that your kid is as cute as you think she is?

And here's my Meimei in her bunny hat (which was Kitten's last year and is still bit big).

We will be lucky if Meimei makes it in the infant seat until Christmas. Her shoulders are already level with the top setting on the restraints. How do people keep their kids in infant seats until they are almost 1? Do they not care that they are unsafe if their shoulders are above the belt? And how do they continue to carry them? They get awfully heavy in those dumb seats, which add about 5 pounds.

But, oh, aren't they cute?

Milestones

Is it a full moon? Kitten and Meimei both refuse to eat or sleep like normal.

Anyway, Kittens eye teeth are almost in. One looks like it is pretty much done, one is very visible above the gum, and the other two have tipped through. We think she is refusing a lot of food because it hurts her gums.

Yesterday, during my sleep-in, Pants tought Kitten to say No Touch Meimei (although she actually uses her real name). Later, she opened her Curious George book to the alligator page and said "bumpy," which is the cue for touching the tail on the alligator. We also gave her an empty formula can and two small wooden spoons and she turned into Animal.

Meimei has also not been eating or sleeping for the last 36 hours, but for unknown reasons. She has been very vocal the last 4-5 days, though, just talking away. Must be practicing to be able to get a word in while her sister is talking. She giggles if you get her in the right mood and she is pretty smiley when she is inclined.

My fridge is stuck in a snowstorm

My new refrigerator is parked in Indiana. In a snowstorm. Which I can totally understand and forgive.

What I really have an issue with is getting hung up on by what they said was the automated system three times when I tried to find out what was wrong, why the fridge wasn't being delivered. I highly suspect I was not hung up on by the automated system. I work in a call center and it sounded an awful lot like the phone was being picked up and then disconnected. I then tried another number and it sounded an awful lot like I was being routed back into the queue several times before I got someone to pick up. An attempt was made to get me to Customer Relations, but I was given the store number for the Mankato store instead. The Mankato store manager was a little confused as to why I was calling.

Anyway, Pants finally called the delivery number again and found out about the snowstorm. Had they said that on the message initially, this whole thing could have been avoided. I will be writing a letter to Sears Consumer Relations regarding their phone systems and their delivery systems.

It's too damn early

Kitten got up at 7:00 today and Meimei was up at 6:00 wanting to eat. I have been staying up too late recently, as it seems like that's the only time I get to myself. Because it is the only time I get to myself.

Also, I neglected to come up with alternate plans for my ambitious goals, as I can't go grocery shopping until after the new fridge is delivered. We are putting the old fridge in the garage to replace the REALLY old fridge (whose freezer broke recently, which I discovered when I went for a rather less-than-frozen pizza). So we have a place to put the food, but I don't want to stuff the fridge, only to have it all taken back out and put on the counter while we move it to the garage and plug it in. So the fruit and veggie thing, that will have to wait until next week. But Kitten can get hers and I will try to get as many as possible. Do you think Jello counts?