Two months later...

Has it really been TWO MONTHS since I last posted? Times have been so crazy here since we've made the move. I can't believe we've been in this house for 6 weeks already.

As you can guess, we've not done much in the way of playdates and such since the middle of January. Unless you count unpacking boxes, that is.

One thing that has gotten easier is Miss Jillian. She turned a corner behavior-wise late January. We've been loving her MANY smiles! Who knew this kid was so flirty?? My favorite is when she dons the "aw shucks" pose when someone smiles at her.

We've had unseasonably warm weather this winter and that's allowed us to play outside in our new backyard. That is perhaps my favorite part of this new house: being able to open the back door and boot Dominic outside to play and all the while I can see him from the huge wall of windows off the den! Superb!

Our new year's resolution this year is to volunteer, volunteer, volunteer. It's not easy to do with a 3 year old in tow, but I found 2 groups that revolve around volunteer projects appropriate for his age. YAY!! We are signed up to deliver meals for the Meals on Wheels program next week!

In a related note, last week we received our ashes for Ash Wednesday and we took some time to decide what our Lenten sacrifice would be. (Lent really snuck up on us this year!) Finally, at one of J's 4am nursing sessions it came to me: for the next 40 days Dominic and I will do one random act of kindness per day! So far we've only done two days so we'll have to make up for the 3 days we missed on the tail end of the 40 days.

Saturday we went through the drive-thru at Wendy's for lunch (long story) and I paid for the order behind me.

Today as I was leaving the grocery store there were 4 Girl Scouts selling cookies at a table. I noticed them walking in and made a note to buy each of them a candy bar. Since we bought 2 boxes just this morning after Mass, I told the girls that I wouldn't be buying cookies and that I just wanted to stop by and give them a little something for all the good they do for others. Their eyes lit up when they saw the candy bars and it made my heart smile as I walked away to their excited voices.

I'm loving the random-ness of it all. I even made some RAK cards to pass out as I do the good deeds to kind of explain what I'm up to. I suspect some folks will be a bit suspicious, sadly. I'll take a photo of the cards and post the pic later.

Any ideas for any good deeds that I can do? I'll make sure and post mine periodically so you all can participate with me, if you'd like.

This post is going to the dog(s)

OK, here's the skinny: We are closing on our new house in 4 days. That means in just 4 more days we will have the keys to our shiny, new (to us) home in our hands! We are super excited to be moving to such a clean and well-kept house. We'd love to keep it that way as long as possible, but with a toddler and a baby who's about to get mobile we know it won't be too long before the house gets a bit beaten up. Add a dog to the mix and there's sure to be some damage!

This got us thinking about our dog situation. When we first got Annabelle we were DINKS and had nothing but time to devote to our pooch. Weekend trips to the dog park were common. We knew all the other dog parents not by their name, but by their pooch's name!

We got Annabelle at the end of our first year of marriage and just as we began our journey to conceive. During the next two years Annabelle became our surrogate child: our furbaby. You can see more about her first few birthday party's here: http://thefriendshipodyssey.blogspot.com/2011/03/when-is-dog-just-dog.html

When I was pregnant with Dominic, Annabelle, not my husband, gained sympathy weight with me. We were able to get it off shortly after Dominic was born. Face time with Annabelle gradually began to decline. We took a total of two trips to the dog park as a family until Dominic got knocked down by one of the bigger dogs and we decided not to go back until he was bigger. Now that little Jillian is here face time with Annabelle is pretty minimal. Jillian is a high needs child and sadly Annabelle takes a back seat where the kids are concerned.

Once we move to the new house David and I are determined to have Annabelle be an outdoor dog. Not ideal, but we don't want her nails scratching up our new house! We'll have enough to deal with in keeping crayons off the walls and juice out of the upstairs carpet!

This decision lead to another discussion: how will Annabelle take to being an outside dog? Honestly, I think we'll have a revolt on our hands. Annabelle is used to coming and going as she pleases (via her dog door) and sleeping in the master's bed (not my choice). Is it fair to exile her to live in the great outdoors?

As sad as it is to admit, Annabelle deserves better than what we've been able to give her lately. She doesn't get any exercise, except when Dominic chases her around the house with a foam sword, and she's started putting on more weight. She needs more attention than what we can give her.

So.....we have decided to offer her to a loving family that has the time, energy and attention to devote to her that we currently don't have. It's a difficult decision and we are praying that someone will fall in love with her and take her in to their pack.

What is an ideal family for Annabelle?
** preferably have children (she does GREAT with our two little's)
** a family that likes to share (she loves to get treats)
** energetic personalities (she loves to play chase)
** patient attitude (as a beagle, she likes to bark at squirrels, birds, pedestrians, pedestrians walking dogs, bicycles, you get the picture, right??)
** I'm guessing she'd prefer to be an only furbaby (she loves attention)

If you think your family would make a good match for our Annabelle we'd love to hear from you!

Parental observations from a former teacher...

As a former teacher with 10 years under my belt I have the unique opportunity to see my child through two sets of glasses: the rose-tinted mommy glasses and the eagle-eyed teacher glasses. While this can be great, it can also lead to stress that other moms are spared.

This month we branched out and enrolled D in a 4-day parent optional summer camp. Actually, we enrolled him back in April knowing that he'd probably want to get out of the house and have some "D-time" away from his sister. Since we've never left him under any else's care, except for the Grands, I stayed Tuesday with him just to see how he'd do (FANTASTIC!) and to see what activities they'd do. I am happy to say that I was very pleased with both.

The following day I let him go on his own, but Jillian and I stayed in the commons area. There, I was able to see and hear many observations I otherwise would have missed. Here's what was rambling inside my head:

1. I can teach my child to follow instructions but not all parents do. The result? My child ends up waiting for his turn while other kids take multiple turns.

2. I am my child's greatest advocate. This means I will be present for all his activities. In his group of 7 at camp I was the only parent who stayed and sadly, I ended up feeling like the crazy "that mom". (So what if I happened to be snapping pictures of my son eating a snack?)

3. Parents are VERY particular about their children. As a teacher I know that parents can certainly be a thorn in the side. Being a parent in that common area I overheard a mother planning a birthday party on the premises and was amazed at the extravagance of the event. Face painter? Multiple cakes? Extra staff on site? Personalized favors? All of these cost extra money and the mommy was more than happy to oblige. Then she said a key sentence and it all suddenly made sense: "All the other parties we go to have face painters."
We had D's party here at home and I assure you it was just as appreciated at much less cost. (My hubby may beg to differ about the cost.)

I also came to the realization that I will be the mom who is in the front row at concerts, recitals and awards assemblies with camera in hand, hollering out my child's name so that I can get a shot of him/her in the moment. And you know what?? I'm okay with that!
I mean, look at these faces:

Can you blame me??

A Day in the Life: Jillian edition

I just put a call in to Jillian's pediatrician regarding her numerous reflux symptoms. We have been in a haze the last 3 weeks with her being in pain and us being helpless to help her. It's gotten pretty unbearable and has really stressed the family out. I tried changing my diet but it's apparant that we need medical intervention. I feel like Dominic has really gotten pushed aside and I really hate that.

That being said, I thought it would be interesting to document what a day in Jillian's life looks like, partly because I like to photograph her and partly because I know that this existence we are currently in will not stay etched in our minds forever. Believe it or not, we will forget how much she cried due to reflux, making those old man faces. We will forget trying so hard to figure out what will ease her pain. We will forget...eventually.

So here's an adapted version of Jillian's day yesterday.

Let's begin with a morning stimulating activity.

Ten minutes is about enough of that!

Time for a snack.

A quick snooze!

Wardrobe change! (due to spit up, NOT her diva attitude)

Some brotherly love.

Hanging with a good friend.

The bewitching hour (aka: cry time!)

That's about it for the day. I spared you having to see her cry at 3am. All in all, not a bad way to spend the day, eh? Minus the hurt and crying, that is.

Aaaaaa-Men!

This past week we've had a silent visitor in our home. He has watched over us as we slept, played, eaten and conversed. Silently overseeing our daily routine and blessing us at every turn, he stood stoically on our mantle.

Since my husband was out of town on a church retreat I was happy to have him here. I was comforted knowing that a visual symbol of him was present in my home. Dominic and I prayed the prayer of vocations daily while David was away and once he returned home the boys continued the ritual before bedtime each night. I love that I was able to capture them in prayer before the chalice.

I love to see Dominic join his hands in prayer. There's just something about seeing such an innocent soul paying homage to our Lord that makes me smile. His joyful proclamation "Aaaaaa-Men!" at the conclusion to any prayer makes my heart burst with pride. How will I ever survive his first holy communion?

In separate, but strangely connected news, I have a lunch date with one of my meetup pals tomorrow. She has been the subject of one of my previous posts: the one about Laura Ingalls?? Anyway, she is Jewish and we are, obviously, Catholic. The interesting thing about her is that she is a practicing Jew, not just Jewish by title. As a practicing Catholic I know all too well the distinction between title and action.

I'd love to talk religion with her but I'm not quite sure how it would go over. I am actually fascinated with Judaism. Afterall, Jesus was a Jew himself. I am intrigued by the traditions held by the Jewish people. It's certainly not easy to be Jewish, just as being Catholic is not exactly the easiest religion to "adhere to".

Oh well, this is really just a rambling post about religion that somehow worked it's way into my brain and wanted to come out and play. I'll let you know how the "lunch date" goes!

National Scrapbook Week

This week is National Scrapbook Week. What, you didn't know that? HA!
As a former big-time sb-er, I am aware of this little known title.

So in honor of this week, D and I will be doing something crafty each day to celebrate.

First up is a little book I like to call: "While you were sleeping". Jillian Grace will be here in just 36 more days (give or take) and I am anticipating a rough adjustment to naptime here. Since D takes one good nap from 11:30 to 1:30 I am hoping that I will be able to get at least ONE naptime that overlaps!

I have done a lot of research on naps and siblings. The advice that I am planning on taking is to ensure that D gets to have some mommy time during one of Jillian's naps- just the 2 of us.

In anticipation of this time, I had D sit down with me and we brainstormed some quiet activities that we can do just the 2 of us. Surprisingly, he was able to name off 11 events! Pretty good, huh?

I came up with the other 26. Here they are (if you are interested):

1. hide and seek
2. watch a movie
3. read a book or two or three
4. do a puzzle
5. bake cookies
6. fingerpaint
7. play-doh
8. color pictures
9. make kool-aid
10. eat ice cream
11. make a movie
12. sing songs
13. go swimming (with monitor on)
14. play in sandbox
15. make crayon stained glass
16. scrapbook
17. funny faces photoshoot
18. blow bubbles
19. sidewalk chalk
20. bubble bath
21. photo scavenger hunt
22. play a game
23. whipped cream letters
24. have a picnic
25. toss balls into laundry basket
26. make a fort
27. make puppets
28. plant a flower
29. make a card
30. create a bedtime story
31. face paint
32. lemonade stand
33. trace yourself
34. play mad libs (adapted, of course)
35. make a puzzle
36. make jello
37. race cars

Why 37 activities, you may be wondering. Well it's one for each day until Jillian's EDD. We made a paper ring chain and on each ring I wrote an activity from the list above. Each morning we will pull one off and put it in a basket in the playroom. This is our countdown to Jillian.

Once she is here we will pull a ring out of the basket each day during her nap to see what activity we will do that day. I am really hoping this works!! I plan on taking a photo of us each day doing the activity and putting it into a scrapbook.

Check back tomorrow for another scrapbook-y idea!

Know when to hold em!

While D is napping I usually hop onto FB and catch up with my "friends". Today I came across a link that one of the meetup gals wrote about our group. It was very complimentary and funny in parts. The end is what stopped me and made me think...

She mentioned one of the ladies in our group is her best friend. Now, I have hung out with R many, many times and she's never alluded to the closeness between the two of them, so this leaves me wondering...is this the total truth and I've just been oblivious to it and if so, have I said anything bad about her BFF?

There have been numerous playgroups that we have gone to where this BFF was present and I never got the feeling that they were overly friendly. I know they have hung out without the kids and done things together but it didn't seem like BFF chemistry. There have been plenty of times that I have bitten my tongue around said BFF b/c she irks me in one way or another. We just don't click!

Does this mean that my perception of R is skewed? If she can be BFF's with someone that rubs me the wrong way perhaps I don't really know her. This is a conundrum, folks. Maybe I am overthinking this "situation"?

So, what do you think, dear readers? Anyone have any words of advice for me??

When the cat's away, the mice will play!

Yesterday we had a full day! Two events to attend.

First up was the invitation from L to join them at Barnes and Noble for some storytime activities. We had such a great visit and the boys loved playing afterward with the train table set up. It was so cute to watch them parallel playing nicely with each other. I just love watching Dominic as he interacts with other little ones.

Of course we had to buy three books! We bought a Yo Gabba Gabba board book, a set of dinosaur seek and find placemats and a How-to book showing how to draw Marvel super-heroes. The last book is actually meant for our sponsored friend, Francisco. He is 11and loves to draw. I will copy off some instructional pages and send them to him in our correspondence. I think he'll get a kick out of that!

After a LONG nap (2.5 hours!!!) we were off to playdate #2: the recipe swap. I made caprese bites while D was napping and then assembled them prior to walking out the door. We met two new faces at this meetup. C and her 6 month daughter O were just too stinkin' cute! And C made the most fabulous pineapple crumble!!! YUM-O! I've already hit her up for the recipe. Her printer died before she could print out the recipe.

I noticed that one mother in particular has a rather rambunctious son. He is constantly taking toys away from other kids and upsetting them. He did it to Dominic a couple of times, but I was always right there to intervene. She seems pretty oblivious to it all. She sits politely chatting while her child is being the group bully. This bothers me to no end and for two reasons.

1. As a former teacher I see that this behavior only escalates with no consequences are given for said behavior. They become the kids who don't realize that they are doing something wrong because they are never reprimanded at home. It makes the teacher's job so much harder to deal with when there is no support at home.

2. Children need to know that there are boundaries. Personal space. I'm sure he wouldn't like it if Dominic came up to him and just grabbed a toy away. Children, especially boys, have a pecking order. The bully shouldn't be allowed to be the top dog all the time. It should fluctuate accordingly.

I also struggle with watching as Dominic loses a toy to someone and he's not sure how to take it. He will often look at me incredulously as if to say, "did you SEE that???" I commiserate and then offer him another toy. Why should he have to continue to find another toy? We all know that toys aren't fun until someone else is playing with it, right? It would be a non-ending game!

Anyway, I am just venting about this situation. It's not going to get any better as the boys get older. I'm just going to have to get used to the fact that some days D will be the one pushed around and some days (not too often, I hope) he'll be the one doing the mischief.