Bordem

Tom has been out of town this week and so bedtime has been quite the production. As I was changing Ella and getting her ready for bed, I realized that Audrey was emptying out her favorite towel drawer. This is pretty normal. We had just gotten off the webcam after chatting with Tom so I had it handy at just the right moment. Sorry it is not the best quality or camera work, but it was the webcam and I could only see the image on the computer which was the opposite direction of the way I needed to be holding and shooting the camera. But you will get the drift.

A Glimpse Into a 2 Year Old Mind

After we took Christmas down, our house has looked pretty bare. I have bought a few new decorations to put out but before we do that we decided that we need to get a little color in the house. I have been debating and debating about the color and with Tom gone, I finally loaded the kids up and purchased some sample sizes of paint. When we came home I painted a small area on the wall to see what the color would look like and Ella said "Paint, Mommy, pretty paint". (As a side note, when I told her we were going to buy paint she spread out all ten fingers in front of her and said "Pink Fingers Mom". I explained the paint was for the wall not her fingers.) We still have the nails in the wall where pictures were hanging. Here is the conversation between us.
Ella: "Owie Mommy"
Me: "What Owie? The nails in the wall?"
Ella:" Yeah. They are owies in the wall."
Me: "OOOOkay."
Ella: "Paint makes them feel better. Mommy paints."
Me: "You want me to paint to make the owies in the wall feel better?"
Ella: (Super loud) "YEAH!!!"
After putting the kids to bed I started taping up the walls and all the crown molding. I love all our crown molding, until I realize I have to tape every little bit of it to paint. From the window sills to the base board to the mantle around the fireplace. Eeeekkk. Whenever I get these hairbrain ideas Tom tends to bring me back to reality. He called as soon as his plane landed and reminded me that we have a 50 inch TV that I can't even help HIM lift that would need to be taken off the wall to paint, as well as a wall bracket to hold that TV up. It is insane trying to get that bracket straight. Looks like I am repainting my little square back to off white tomorrow..... The wall will just have to keep it's owies without any comfort of paint.

Daddy's Day and Other Stuff

This week I had to re-schedule all my trainings because the girls have been sick. I have one office that I couldn't re-schedule for today and the girls were at least not contagious so I could take them to Cassie's today. The office I needed to train is a 3 hour commute one way. Yep, that would be six hours JUST IN DRIVING..... Anyway, for my safety and those of the other drivers on the road we decided that I would stay over night last night. (I also will be doing this again Sunday night for my Monday training.) I felt horrible leaving the girls with Tom knowing they weren't feeling good, plus they were both just in foul moods. I had to drop a couple things off before I got on the road and realized I left my shirt I was going to wear to the training hanging in the laundry room. When I snuck in to get it the door was closed but I could hear little girls giggling. Dad's always have the best ideas.

Dora is much better in a tent. We even found Daisy in there today lounging, but she didn't sit still long enough to get a picture of her.

In other Charlotte News, it snowed this week!! Well, it gave a small dusting on Tuesday, I don't know if I could REALLY call this snow, but it was enough to close down school and many many many businesses. Even Vegas didn't close schools for this little snow.

Sorry they aren't great pictures, but it really was FREEZING outside. The temperature was hovering around 5 with the windchill factor. Ella still was just happy to be outside, but we only stayed out long enough to snap these pictures and then we were back inside (after a Smartie bribe). Ella looked so cute in her winter clothes I had to get a couple shots though. Audrey's favorite spot all day was standing on the heating vent looking through the window. Now that is my way of handling snow or cold.

Little things that warm your heart

Ella is starting to get pretty sick. She just had a runny nose. Yesterday it turned into a cough. By early this afternoon it was a raspy cough and now she has 100.5 fever. I am not feeling the best either, so she and I cuddled and watched Dora while the healthy family members headed to the gym. As much as I need the gym, I will NOT get everyone else's kids sick. (Not that it mattered much since Audrey was the only kid in the gym daycare and had both caregivers doting on every need.) I medicated Ella before bed and after prayers I was about to put her in her crib and told her "Sorry you feel sick honey." She patted me on the back and said "no problem mommy, no problem."

How do you really feel??

Audrey is a lot more clingy then Ella ever was. She always has been. Nothing can melt your heart like when she snuggles right into your shoulder and puts her head down like she is safe and sound and comfy. She has always been a mama's girl too. It has only been in the past few months that she has really taken a liking to dad. Her first few mobile months, she would stay right next to me or on me, even though she could crawl. She would crawl, grab what she wanted then make a bee-line back to my lap. It took months, but eventually she learned to venture out and I could even leave the room. Not for more the a minute, but at least leave. With Ella I could set out a bunch of toys on the bathroom floor and take a shower and get ready for the day and she was just content to play. That is definitely NOT Audrey. Even though she has gotten a lot more independant and will leave the room to play with something in another room, she usually "checks back in" a lot. I am racing Michael Phelps time to shower and get ready. It also makes doing any work at home impossible. Tom just tells me I need to let her cry it out sometimes so I can do what I need to get done. Anyway, I decided to take his advice the other day so I could get ready. Ella was in a Dora coma (I haven't been letting her watch much tv, so when she gets to she is totally focused) and Audrey was happily playing away not caring about me. When I got out of the shower I heard her crying, but I was strong and let her go while I got ready. After just a minute, the crying stopped and I figured she was distracted by a toy. When I opened the bedroom door, my heart dropped as I realized Audrey was standing on the stairs with the gate to upstairs locked. It has been kind of hard to close lately (it needs to be re-adjusted) and I must not have totally closed it when I let Daisy up. Audrey loves to close it though, and apparently she did, but ended up locking herself out. I quickly opened the gate and saw what had distracted her from crying at the bottom of the stairs. (I assume she went downstairs looking for me.)



Yep, that is the extra toilet paper holder from the spare bathroom. It is pretty heavy so I am surprised she was able to move it. Notice, the toilet paper is still attached! To add to the fun, Daisy must have followed her downstairs and she tore up all the used Kleenex that had been thrown away in that bathroom's garbage. The picture didn't quite capture it. My kids tend to let us know when they don't like something we have done. But the shower was still worth it!

Am I Becoming Senile?

I was reflecting on life after our new 1-4 church schedule on Sunday and there are just a few things in life I am starting to have a hard time remembering. As my week has progressed I keep adding to my list and thought I would share.

• I forget what 8 continuous hours of sleep feels like, or heaven forbid 10!! Ahhhhhh, those were the days.
• I forget what it is like to sit in church and listen to an entire talk or lesson.
• I forget what it is like to just walk out the door.......no bag to pack, making sure we have enough diapers, wipes, sippy cups of juice, and emergency treats, or toys.
• I forget what it is like to have all my laundry done. It seems like there is always one or two full bins; even when I spend the entire day doing laundry.
• I forget what it is like to stay up until 3-4 in the morning, then somehow still make it to work by 7:30.
• I forget what it is like to stay up until 3-4 in the morning PERIOD. (Unless there is crying, medicine and a rocking chair involved.)
• I forget what it is like to just have to get myself ready.
• I forget what it is like to go out with Tom without trying to find a babysitter. So much for spontaneous.
• I forget needing to throw a gallon of milk away because we can't drink it all before the expiration date.
• I forget what it is like to not have to count bottles to make sure the dog hasn't eaten one. (Daisy has gotten about 2 dozen bottles between the two kids. She sure likes formula and whole milk.)
• I forget what it is like to take a walk through the neighborhood and not have a "tour guide" point out all the neighbor's flags. (Or point out any flag for that matter: Lowes, Wal-mart, gas stations, Bob Evans..... Who knew how many businesses were so patriotic?)
• I forget what it is like to fly on a plane and be able to sleep through the flight.
• I forget what life was like when there wasn't always something to do, clean, sterilize, or snuggle.
• I forget what it is like to feel lonely.
• I forget what it is like to go more then a few hours without hugs or kisses.
• I forget what it is like to NOT be unconditionally loved.

Some things I would like to remember again, like getting a full night's sleep, but some things are better left forgotten.