Back in Business

My camera seems to have magical healed itself overnight. Where once the battery was not holding a charge, now it is. Isn't it amazing when that happens? I suppose I should still take it in.

Regardless, Zoe and I went to storytime today, just the two of us. She was pretty disinterested in the actual story - instead she preferred to spend her time leafing through the mystery paperbacks and saying "No pictures!" and then tossing them aside.

Today was the third of our "secret Wednesday" getaways. Wednesdays are suppose to be one of her daycare mornings, to free me up so that I can work. But when she got the flu a couple of weeks back, I kept her out of school and by Wednesday she was still sick but not too sick to stay in. We found all these fabulous Mommy-Baby things to do within walking distance from our house. There's storytime at the bookstore and free children's movies at the theater and a performer who sings kid songs on a guitar by the fountain.

It was so much fun we went the following week too. Now Wednesday mornings have become our special time together. Athena misses out because she's in school, but she also gets exclusive Mommy time every afternoon when Zoe naps. My time with only Zoe is rare. Wednesday mornings are quickly becoming very special to us, Zoe has Mommy all to herself and I prance around like a new Mom who only has one child.

Le Camera Phone

We'll be out of the dark ages soon, I hope. Until then photos of the girls

ala my new Sprint "Simpy Everything" plan.

Stitches

Chris and I reached a new echelon of parenthood today. The one you get to when you are called at work and informed that your child has had an accident and to please get there right away. After a long panicked drive, where you hit every red light, you find your precious girl in the arms of the preschool administrator with a cold compress on her chin. The incident is explained to you, you sign some papers. Apparently there was running and a no-fault account of tripping and falling, her chin smacking on a small bookshelf.

Then there's a trip to Urgent Care, more papers to sign, and you find yourself holding your screaming child while a medical student in scrubs sews two stitches in the open wound on her chin. These are the things nightmares are made of.

Afterwards, when relating your story, everyone has a similar one. It is almost a fond remembrance "Oh yea, I remember the first time so-and-so hit their chin and split it open...ha, ha." First time. Oh crap.

She was a trooper though. Except for some shrill heart-wrenching cries, she suffered through. I told her that when Aunt Mimi was little she got a boo-boo on chin in just the same place. Athena replied, "Unca Stuart too, he got a boo-boo on his chin a couple of times!" How does she know that Unca Stu was the most accident prone kid in the history of world? Not something to live up to. Please.

Family and Fireworks

We were able to get some photos from the weekend off the camera last night. It's still not turning on, so Zoe and I will take the annoying thing to the camera repair store today to see what they can do. Hopefully it just needs a replacement battery.

I have about 2 and a half minutes to report on our fabulous weekend with the family over the holiday. It was such a "blast" seeing everyone and catching up in a relaxed environment. Aunt Barb and Uncle Ron were the most amazing hosts and really made us and the girls feel comfy and at home. We especially enjoyed Matt's BBQing, the pancake breakfast and the amazing collection of Fisher Price Little People toys from the 80's. I told Aunt Barb she could make a killing on eBay.

Driving back, Chris was beaming. I know he loves being able to participate in the great L Family traditions that he has been missing from for so long.

I didn't get that many great photos, because I was trying to do some funky non-flash, night-time shots of fireworks that didn't work. But there are a couple of cute ones of the girls going kitty hunting for Tessa, playing basketball, lighting sparklers with Uncle Dave and a great one of Aunt Teri that Athena took.

Blog Pause

Tragedy. Our camera has stopped working. It won't turn on. Something about the power source. Until we can get it up and running again, the blog is going on a hiatus. Hopefully we'll return soon!

Waiting for Daddy

It's 5:45 p.m.

she sits by the window

waiting for Daddy

when he walks through the door

she will attach herself to his leg

and say "mine."

Great Expectations

I was so looking forward to this weekend: Jenny's wedding, a visit to Sea World and spending time with the whole family. But when travelling with small children I am learning that it's best to keep your expectations low. Looking back, I can piece together all the dismissed signs of impeding disaster that even if we had paid attention we couldn't have changed, just perhaps been more prepared or less disappointed.

At least Sea World was a total blast. Zoe was incredibly clingy and cranky in the morning but she soon warmed up to the adventure and had a pretty good time. She didn't eat much and was really hot, but it was sunny out, so we didn't think twice about it.

On Saturday, we hit traffic going to the wedding and missed Jenny walking down the aisle (my favorite part). Even though we were rushed getting ready, we managed to look pretty good, Chris in a suit, me in my new dress and the girls in their girly, pretty wedding clothes. The wedding started right around Zoe's naptime and she slept in my arms for the entire ceremony. She was really hot and sweaty but I just thought it was warm in the church.

We got to the reception and Zoe continued to be unusually clingy. By the time dinner came around, she was just stuck to my chest and not moving, not sleeping but not moving. And then she started to vomit. All down my (backless) dress, in my hair, all over my lap, her dress. Chris came over to help, picked her up and then she started to throw up all over him, too. It was like a scene from a Monty Python movie. I ran out of the dining hall as quickly as I could and tried to scrape the worst off in the bathroom. And then got the heck out of there. No dancing for me!

Zoe and I went back to the hotel for a bath, snuggle and bed. Chris and Athena stayed at the wedding and had a blast and I watch Ghost on t.v. After a solid 12 hour sleep, Zoe woke up totally dehydrated. Of course, I gave her water and tucked her in bed with me, she downed a huge sippy cup and then got sick all over the hotel room. Bath, once again, change of clothes, etc. etc.

This is when it really comes in handy having an urgent care pediatric nurse practitioner in the family (love you Laura, mean it!). Even though she closed down the dance floor and went to the after party, we were her wake up call asking her to please call in a prescription to help settle Zoe's stomach so that we could get her home.

So, no next-day brunch for us, didn't get to see the newlyweds or chill with the family some more. Instead we comforted our miserable, sweaty wet rag of a child on a long car ride, trying to urge her to drink little sips Pedialyte at a time and suck on ice chips. Not the weekend we expected. Oh well.

Here's our sweet little sick baby. Keeping it together, for the moment.
Athena and her Daddy all dressed up.
The only picture of me before I got yakked on.
How she spent most of Sunday, sucking on ice chips on her Daddy's chest...

P.S. She's doing much better now. Still a little fussy and not 100%, but on the mend for sure.

Tearing it up

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sea World Rocks

What a great place.

Who doesn't love performing dolphins, sea lions you can feed, walking underneath swimming sharks, penguins and Shamu...Shamu...Shamu...!

We even got to meet Elmo and Big Bird. The girls were a bit over tired and sunburnt at the end of the day but we had a fantastic time with Ah Katie, Robert and Uncle David.

Elmo is a rock star! Athena went in for a big hug

but Zoe was content to watch and wave.

Big Bird was very big.

The girls were totally enthralled watching whales dance.

Feeding sardines to seals and sea lions.
Aren't they cute.
Zoe pretending to be a seal or sea lion.

This is how we rolled. We totally abused the handicapped lines. And one of my favorite moments was Katie going against traffic through a crowd yelling in her best crazy old lady voice "'Scuuuuz me! Scuuuuz me!" paving the way for the rest of us.

Cinder-bear

Athena achieved her brass ring this weekend. She reached the ultimate prize for a certain, uh "consistency" in the potty arena. This brass ring has been held in front of her for more than a month now and was finally cashed in - a much anticipated trip to Build-A-Bear.

The kind folks at Build-A-Bear really know what they are doing and seem to have cornered the market on creating special friends for three-year-olds with active imaginations. If you are not familiar with it, the process starts with choosing your friend, then you must decide if it is a girl or boy, sew a magical heart into the stuffing, fluff and wash, pick an outfit (including underwear, accessories and shoes), create a birth certificate...and $50 or so later, voila, instant best friend.

Athena, of course, chose Cinderella attire - ballgown and glass slippers - and "Cinderbear" was born. Since then, Cinderbear has become a constant companion who is currently sleeping with Athena in a borrowed nightshirt (I see another trip in our future for more wardrobe options). At night, Athena carefully undresses her, puts her ballgown on a hanger and shoes in the closet, brushes her teeth and tucks the bear into her bed. Cinderbear has also gone to the park, colored with Athena and been fed an excessive amount of goldfish crackers (bears like fish, I am told). And this is Day Two.

I think we have a new addition to the family.