So over it.

I have an ongoing joke with my girls that goes like this:

I put Vanessa on my back and then pretend I can't find her. Natalie and I go around in circles while she tries to show me were I have misplaced Vanessa. We all laugh and it's a great time.

Yesterday Natalie was in my room playing and I threw Vanessa over my shoulder. As I was walking to my room I was saying in a loud voice, "Oh no, I've lost Vanessa! Where can Vanessa be?" Before I even got into the room I hear Nat let out a big teenage-like sigh and say, "She's on your back." I walked into the room and jokingly asked how she knew that. She looked at me with exasperation and said, "It's just like always." I am not at all looking forward to her being a teenager.

The most important meal of the day!

My kids are pretty picky eaters, Vanessa less so than Natalie. They have a menu of items that they will ALWAYS eat, a selection of items that they can be coaxed into eating occasionally, and then a long, long list of stuff they will not touch under any circumstances. This is an example of a conversation that Natalie and I have daily:

I'm not going to eat that.

Just try it.

No.

Why not?

It's gross.

How do you even know if you won't try it?

Because it's gross.

HOW DO YOU KNOW?

Can I have some crackers?

It is maddening that they won't at least try stuff. I know that so much of it is just a power-play. They don't have much control over their lives and one thing they can control is what they will eat. I can't force them to eat and they know that.

The one meal we have no problem with is breakfast. They LOVE breakfast foods, at any time of the day. We often have breakfast for lunch or dinner (sometimes both in the same day). They have always loved pancakes, which is a good thing since for a long time that was the only thing I was actually good at making. I pride myself on my perfect pancakes. I make them very thin so that the edges get lacy and crisp. I eat them topped with butter and sugar because that is what my Grandma taught me when I was a little girl eating my Grandpa's famous pancakes (his were very thin also). The girls prefer syrup usually, but mix it up with the sugar method every once in a while.

We eat a lot of waffles (I can't remember right now who gave us our waffle iron for our wedding, but if it was you, THANKS!!). I make a mean cinnamon sugar french toast that is another favorite. We also enjoy scrambled eggs topped with cheddar cheese and dipped in ketchup. You add a side of fruit, whole grain toast, and a big, cold glass of milk and it is a meal. The list of yummy breakfast foods that we enjoy here goes on. It is fun to make the girls breakfast because they will actually eat it. I can't tell you how many times I've made a big dinner only to set it in front of the kids and have it shunned. I am not a person who likes to cook just for the sake of cooking so when the food I make goes uneaten it drives me crazy. So I make a lot of breakfast. Actually, it's lunch time and I am without a plan. Scrambled eggs here we come!

Ummm, hi.

I was just sitting here listening to the quiet and realizing how little attention I have given to my blogs recently. My days used to be filled with "I've got to blog that!" type thoughts and I just don't have those too often anymore. That makes me kind of sad.

It sounds SO cliche, but I am a busy mom and that is that. My brain is in so many different places at any given moment that it can't handle anything else. At all. That is why I don't remember to return my best friends call.s That is why I go to all the effort of dragging the girls out shopping and then get home just to realize that I totally forgot what we went for and have to end up asking Larry to stop on his way home anyway. That is why when the girls are asleep or other wise occupied I like to do things that don't require my brain to work at all. Such as watch stupid, uninspiring reality TV. Or eat. So I hardly ever get the urge to blog anymore. And when I do I am usually interrupted by a kid or a dog or a husband or a Thin Mint.

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An actual update that has nothing to do with my lack of blogging: Allison had her four month appointment this week along with a trip to the Ear, Nose, Throat specialist. She is twelve and a half pounds and is growing perfectly. She is healthy and happy, except for her continual congestion. So we went to see the specialist today and we are back to the reflux theory. We are going to try Prevacid tablets on top of the nasal spray and Zyrtec. I feel like that is a lot of medication for such a little baby. She doesn't mind taking it, except the nose spray. She could definitely do without that. There were a few irregularities he saw, her throat is a little swollen due to the reflux (according to the doc), the cartilage around her voice box hasn't fully matured yet, and her septum, the wall separating her nose, is pushed to the right. Her left nostril actually breaths a lot better than her right come to find out. He wasn't too concerned with the cartilage issue. He pretty much said she just has to grow some more. He did say that if the septum didn't correct itself and gave her trouble later in life they would have to do surgery. But really, everything looked pretty clear. I breathed a giant sigh of relief and walked out confident and optimistic. I just want my baby to be able to breath. That's it!

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Bad Blogger!

I could go through all the excuses I have as to why I haven't been keeping the blog up lately, but you already know them all so I will skip that.

It is definitely not that I don't want to blog, it is just that there are so many other things I want to do as well. If I do have a spare minute I am usually reading, or watching really bad reality tv, or obsessing over the NCAA tournament, or sitting and doing absolutely nothing (which I have a newly discovered talent at). My days are taken up so much by the girls that my alone time has become very rare and VERY valued. I try to pack as much of the stuff I want to do and never get to do in as possible. And I never know how much time I may have. Some days the two little girls nap at the same time for quite awhile. Some days they time it so one goes down right when the other gets up. Sometimes no one naps and then everyone is grumpy the rest of the day. You just never know.

I have no doubt that since the weather is getting warmer and we are going to be more on the go then ever the blog will sadly take a back seat once again. I hope to update a couple of times a week at least. And I really hope to keep the One A Day blog updated better then I have been doing.

I miss the outlet that this blog has always given me. I will not let it end completely! Keep checking back, and I will try to give you something to keep coming back for!

A little something I found on facebook

This is fun! The instructions were to ask your kid to answer these questions and then type in their answers.

1. What is something your mom always says to you?

Good Night at bedtime

2. What makes your mom happy?

Me!

3. What makes your mom sad?

bad things

4. How does your mom make you laugh?

she tells jokes and makes faces

5. What was your mom like as a child?

she was like me!

6. How old is your mom?

65 (HEY NOW!!!)

7. How tall is your mom?

29 feet

8. What is your moms favorite thing to watch on TV?

Survivor and the one where they sing (American Idol)

9. What does your mom do when you are not around?

work on the house

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

being in the circus riding the elephants

11. What is your mom really good at?

dancing

12. What is your mom not very good at?

ice skating and doing twirls

13. What does your mom do for her job?

works at Daddy's work

14. What is your moms favorite food?

pasta salad and burritos

15. What makes you proud of your mom?

when she reads books to me

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Garfield (I think I am offended!)

17. What do you and your mom do together?

buy ice cream and watch movies and got to the zoo. That was an easy one!

18. How are you and your mom the same?

we both smile at each other

19. How are you and your mom different?

sometimes one of us smiles and the other one doesn't

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

'cause she always gives me kisses

21. Where is your moms favorite place to go?

El Mexico

Ice Cream Sundaes

Saturday was our weekly family movie night. Natalie chose to watch the movie Space Buddies (which is kind of cute considering it is a movie about five dogs that ACCIDENTALLY put on space suits, ACCIDENTALLY get on a spaceship, ACCIDENTALLY fly to the moon, and then fly home with the help of a ferret...). Our snacks were deluxe ice cream sundaes. They were great...see for yourself:

First we got all the ingredients out. We had hot fudge, marshmallows, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, two different kinds of Barbie sprinkles, whipped cream, and cherries!

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First came a scoop of vanilla, a scoop of chocolate, and then a generous drizzle of hot fudge.

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Then the yummy toppings!
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Whoops! Just a little spill!

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Finally they were done and instead of letting them dig in I made them pose!

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Then it was time to eat!

..............................Most people would use the spoon in their hand to eat ice cream.

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It was a fun, messy, yummy night for us all!