Timehop Tuesday

Heya! It's Tuesday!

First up: Miss Maya.

 

Miss Callie:

 

And goofy sisters:

 

Then, Mommy and Maya:

 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Sunday!

Minus some three-year-old shenanigans, we had a pretty decent weekend.

I had my first race of 2017 and it went well. I did a 5K that was way hillier than anticipated (or trained for) and I finished in 30:14. I was happy with that time, and now have a goal for what to beat for the next 5K. Though I think my next race is going to be a 7K in March...

Left: at the starting line
Right: Post race, showered, and enjoying my SWAG

Then we had dance class. And I forgot her dance bag so she had no shoes. Oops. And Maya had fun participating in mat time.

 

After dance the girls and I headed to Boom's house. We got to go visit Elliott, and eat Izzy's by the fire in her lobby.

 

We also got to see some new wall paintings that were just done at her condo- they are beautiful, and these pictures do not do them justice.

 

This morning Maya and I were at Target by 7:30am.

 

We went sledding with G-ma, Pa, Auntie Cat, Uncle Dan, Hanna and even Shambles this afternoon!

 

 

By 4:00 it was the witching hour, and all downhill from there (sledding pun intended).

Lastly, I just want to say that I'm struggling to understand everything that is going on in the U.S. and world right now.  It is a scary feeling, to feel so at a loss.  It is also a time where I can't stop thinking about my Dad and wondering what he would be thinking about this. He was so calm and compassionate- he would be helping us all stay calm. And he would find caring and creative ways to help whoever needed it. 

So I'm doing what I can (with the mental energy that I can muster) to help.  I'm donating to organizations that are making a positive change in the world.  I'm educating myself with balanced news outlets that report actual facts.  And I'm trying to raise my little people in a way that they will grow up to be calm, caring, compassionate, and creative big people. Because I think we can all use more calm, care, compassion, and creativity...right now and for always.  

A Picture Update

This week has been so busy I can't even remember how we got to Friday. But we are here.

Holy moly January. 

Maya hung out with Boom on Monday.

 

And G-ma on Wednesday.

 

And Pa on Thursday.

 

On Wednesday evening the girls got to cash in their Christmas gifts from Uncle Dan: a trip to Build-A-Bear. And there was a 2-for deal going on so they each got to make 2!!!

 

Tomorrow morning is race #1 out of 10 in 2017! It is a 5K and I think I'm totally ready. At 29 degrees it will be a tad chilly, but totally doable for January in Minnesota.

Timehop Tuesday

Hola! I just have 2 Timehops today, but they are sweet ones.

First up, sisters.

 

And then, family on the bed.

 

42-Months-Old!

The 42nd month of this girl's life has been a challenge in more ways than one.

Notice how good she wrote her name!

 Besides all her health stuff, she is just thick into the threes and at times it seems that Every. Single. Thing. is made 5,000 times more difficult by her theeenager attitude.

Good thing she is cute.

Today she went to a doctor's appointment with my mom and saw her getting an IV. My mom said she was fascinated by it all. Then, tonight, Callie announced that she wanted to be a doctor when she grows up, and Maya said "Yeah and I want to be the blood buster!"

We aren't sure exactly what that meant, but I assume it has something to do with all the medical stuff she saw today.  She clearly doesn't have the Gosselin or Henderson medical heebie jeebies. (Which Callie totally does, so Chris reminded her she was going to be a professional golfer...so he could be her caddy).

Anyway. 

Miss Maya. 42-months-old and what a 42 months it has been.

 

Weekend Wrap-Up

What a weekend!

There were 2 big events. The first one I got to go to was the Women's March in St. Paul! The final estimate was 90,000-100,000 people in attendance. My Facebook feed was filled with tons of other people I know who were there as well, but because of the size of the event, I didn't see any of them! Mari and I went with Bob, Barb, and Jill and some of their friends and family. It was a great group to march with!

 

Here are a few video clips that don't even do justice to the amount of people that were there.

If you pay attention to the news, you have probably seen articles about the amazing signs that people had all over the country. The MN signs were awesome as well. 

 

But my favorite one sums up the reason why I was so glad to be able to march today. For my girls.

 

There is lots of uncertainty right now. And it has been a lot harder than I thought to have the now former president (who was in office when both my girls were born) be done, and someone so fundamentally different take his place. 

Anyway.  Maya and I also went to see Boom play her flute at a different church last night. I snuck a picture.

 

What's special about this other church, is that it bought the piano that was in my mom's old condo. The piano my dad bought for our old house many years ago. It wouldn't have fit in mom's new place, but she sold it to this church, a place where she plays every so often, so we all can still hear our old, special, family piano.

 

And that's pretty cool.

So the other big event we had this weekend was Callie's birthday party today, which happened to fall exactly on her 7-years-one-month birthday. We hosted 10 kids at a Nature center near our house. First, the kids got to meet a real live toad!

 

Then we went out in the snow and they got to play and build forts.

 

But before they could play, they had to sit for a group picture.

 

And then, of course, cake and presents!

 

It was a blast! We didn't do a kid party for Callie last year, so I'm glad we got it figured out for this year. She loved it.

After the party the girls had quiet time. Chris went to the gym. I did not.

 

(Granted, I ran 3.5 miles this morning so I'm not totally lazy.)

Here are a few other random pictures from the weekend. 

 

I caught a sweet moment with both of them that lasted about .25 seconds before they started yelling at each other. And Snapchat. And Maya loves rinsing dishes.

Tonight Callie went to see a volleyball game with G-ma so Maya helped me make Enchiladas.

 

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Enjoy the week ahead! Let's hope the last couple weeks of January are much less...um...hectic than the first few weeks.

A Picture Update

You guys.

I don't even know.

January 2017 has proven to be challenging. And so right now, right here, I'm going to make a gratitude list.

1. Our tribe. Our village. Our amazing and supportive and wonderful people who help us at a moment's notice when our child has a freaking FEVER the night before she is supposed to go to preschool and after 20+ days of other various ailments that have been widely blogged about already. Our tribe shows up with love and care and I'm so thankful.

 

2. Our health- both physical and mental. And our healthcare. Besides this month, we have rarely had to deal with anything other than yearly doctor's appointments and occasional sicknesses here and there. And we don't have to worry about high costs for medical care. Compared to what so many families go through, we are healthy and happy and I'm so thankful.

 

3. Wine. 

 

4. Girls who tell me that they want to eat my nose "gently."

 

5. Swag bags. I won an amazing swag bag this week from a blogger I follow. Lots of cool stuff for me and the girls (and even our future baby niece!).

The day the swag bag came in the mail I was hopeful that January would turn around a bit.
And then I promptly fell down the stairs and got a big bruise on my butt.
But that seems to be the only casualty of my clumsiness, so I'm thankful.

 6. A job that is totally stressful but comes with the opportunity to work with amazing people, and help amazing kids and families in their (often difficult) education journeys.

7. Um...did I mention wine? To be more specific, boxed wine is da bomb.

 

8. Movie nights rock.

I have no idea what is going on in this picture but I'm thankful for it.

9. The opportunity to join with others and march in solidarity of love and kindness and tolerance. I'll be doing that tomorrow morning and I'm grateful.

So.

I hope you have enjoyed my gratitude list. There are so many more things I could add, but it is Friday evening and I'm lucky to be halfway functional enough to spell words.

Oh wait- one more thing!

10. Dance parties!

I invite you, if you are stressed out or burned out or worried or feeling hopeless, to make your own gratitude list. 

And maybe have a dance party. Wine helps too.

With the gratitude.  And the dancing.

Maya QOTD

I had to wake Maya up this morning, which is my favorite because I just get to kiss her sweet cheeks until she groggily opens her eyes.

This morning, right as she was waking up, she said:

"The tomato didn't suck me up! I could barely see his eyes!"

And that's when I learned that Maya remembers her dreams, and apparently dreams about giant live vegetables.

🍅

Timehop Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!

First up, Callie!

 

Then, Maya!

 

Last, family!

 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Sunday!

As you could probably guess if you read my last post, we spent the majority of the weekend focused on Maya and how she was healing. It was hit or miss. She was either a super hyper goofball or a crabby clingy mess, and there wasn't much in between. On Saturday morning we stayed home and in our PJs. I brought home a couple donuts from work, so Callie was eating hers and doing a challenge math packet by 7am.  Then, thanks to my new discovery of Amazon music, I was able to play a bunch of songs from my favorite musicals for the girls. Callie was particularly interested in "Phantom of the Opera" and "Wicked." We tried to hold Maya down, but as you can see she escaped on the table for a second while listening to "Defying Gravity." I also went for another cold run and was rewarded by sunrays. We found that Maya was fascinated by Chris' laptop so that helped keep her in one place for awhile.

 

Thankfully Callie already had a sleepover planned at Boom's house for Saturday night. They had a blast, as usual, and she got to see Auntie Yoda too!

 

Maya started crashing and burning in the late afternoon yesterday, but rallied a little to help me make Stromboli. I thought she might like the job of squishing the tomatoes, but she wasn't really a fan.

 

Last night was pretty miserable- from about 8pm to 11pm she tossed, turned and whined pretty much nonstop. I brought her down to bed with me at one point, but then Chris was able to get her back in her own bed at 11. Then at midnight, while I was fast asleep, Chris heard her in the monitor, went up to her room, and found her with the lights on trying on a bunch of her dresses. She informed him that she wasn't at all tired when he told her it was sleepy time. He ended up sleeping on her floor for an hour to make sure she calmed down. Then we had to go up a couple more times in the early morning. Thankfully she slept til almost 9am this morning. Chris did too, but my inability to sleep past 5am is not altered by how much sleep I actually get. Stupid internal clock.

Anyway. Today was better, in general. She was much more pleasant, though still pretty hyper.  Hanna and I took Callie to see a community theater production of "Beauty and the Beast" this afternoon and then we all went over to Uncle Dan and Hanna's house for G-ma's birthday dinner and games!

 

Cal and I have tomorrow off, so that will be nice. Maybe. It will depend on how the little one wakes up in the morning. Once again, wish us luck.

At this point, I'm ready to be DONE with January. 

A Picture Update

Things that happened this week, which all had to do with Maya.  No Callie pictures this week at all. Whoops!

1. We learned Maya is allergic to Amoxicillin, which she had been on for an ear infection a couple weeks ago (it was a delayed allergy- symptoms started 1.5 days after ending 10 days of the medicine)

2. By allergic, I mean she got super bad hives that made both nurses and doctors go "Whoa!" when they saw them. They were all over her torso, legs, and arms and she was a hot mess. So she got put on Prednisone.

3. She was a tad crazy on Prednisone. 

4. The Prednisone didn't do much so it meant that the bad, itchy hives were still there for a few days. And she was a bit crazy.

5. And the Presnisone tasted disgusting so she straight up refused to take it by day 3 (of  what was supposed to be 7).

5. But then all the infections in her poor little body banded together to take out a her right hip, with something called "irritable hip" so yesterday morning she totally freaked out and couldn't walk.

6. And when blood results come back a little wonky back at the doctor's office (again), she got sent to Children's Hospital for X-rays, lots of pokes and prods, and even a hip ultrasound.

 

7. And she was not a happy camper. But was a trooper and eventually got a popsicle.

 

8. And now has to rest her "irritable hip" until a follow up appointment Tuesday morning.

9. Her hives still come and go, but thankfully she doesn't have to take Presnisone any more. Just IBProfen, Benadryl as needed, and lots of fluids.

10. And then this morning at 2:45am we were startled awake because she decided it would be a good idea to come downstairs, climb up to stand on a chair, and put a bunch of band-aids on all her fingers. What?!?! She had refused to walk at all like the 30 hours prior to this middle of the night adventure.
11. She was ok enough today to go to Boom's house, who saved both Chris and I from having to take more time off of work.

So that was our week.

Hives and hospitals and hips. And then 2:45am bandaids.

She still got to hang with Boom and G-ma earlier in the week.

 

And I watched Obama's speech on Tuesday and cried.

 

Today she covered herself with stickers from the hospital and rallied to do a kitty puzzle at Boom's.

 

I ended the week in a high note, going to a fundraiser planned and executed by Mary that included fabulous African music.

 

So now it is the weekend and we continue our quest to tame the three-year-old for three days without driving ourselves crazy. Wish us luck!