Playdating

I now know why they call it that -- because it's too much like real dating only instead of looking for a spouse, you're looking for people to trust your kids with and that's practically the same thing! Seriously, you spend time getting to know parents and children to make sure that it's ok for your kids to spend time with them.

I think I've found a good one.

I've been going to Mother Goose time at the library and met a girl (woman? -- she's my age but honestly, when do you start thinking of yourself as a woman) who has a daughter just a month younger than Megan (who walks -- oh yeah, they all walk) and it's her first as well which is kind've a bonus because we're in the same boat. As I've talked to her over several weeks there I've discovered she also grew up in Winchester (graduated from Handley High -- pretty bit rivals), her husband was in the Air Force, she taught school (elementary, it still counts) and it took them several years to get pregnant as well. And she's Christian which is a bonus (good values) and we really get along! I'm very very excited because it not only means a friend for Megan but a friend for me!

So we had a playdate today at our apartment complex pool which is really nice. No pool pictures because it was Megan's first time and I didn't know if she's freak out if I walked away to get the camera but I did take one of the swimsuit before we left. I think this is the only age where it's cute to have fat rolls hanging out of of the swimsuit and yet so many people do . . .

Ok that was kind've rude. Megan is also starting to crawl conventionally (I think I win because she is now 17 months -- do you know how many people tell me their child FINALLY started crawling and then when I ask -- oh, 10 months -- come on people!) and she is such a girl. She puts on her own headbands (and throws amazing tantrums when she can't get it right - she is SOOO my daughter), applies chapstick (I'm not kidding), hugs and kisses and feeds her stuffed animals, and brushes the hair out of my face when we've been playing. I don't even need a boy to see the differences! But one would be nice eventually.

Good News, Bad News

OK maybe that should be reversed. Bad news is that Chopper injured himself again in training. Sigh. He will not be going to Georgia for the next 3 months like we thought. I guess that's kind've the good news though is that he'll be here all summer. Literally. Right now he's focused on recovery and he may or may not stay with the Capitol Police and he may or may not be reassigned to another job within the CP or just the government or where ever! We have a year to figure this all out -- and we may or may not survive the uncertainty -- ok that's just me and I know we'll survive I'm just sick of uncertainty . . . and possibly moving . . . and all that ickiness. But I get to keep my husband! That's a good thing.

My new role

I just got a kid at my door trying to sell me magazine subscriptions so he can earn points towards some kind of amazing vacation. Who are these kids? We had one in Montana too and it's apparently some sort of race because there are teams and they're always out of breath. It's supposed to be a "leadership opportunity" or something. I always wonder how legit these things are . . .

But anyway, part of his speal (spiel?) was to ask if I have an amazing job -- which I said yes, stay-at-home mom and he replied, cool, a domestic housegoddess. Then he promptly asked what my husband does and the reply police officer flustered him up badly enough that he didn't persist in his sales pitch, which was nice.

I like the sound of "domestic housegoddess". Even if I do feel terribly un-goddess-like sitting here in my pajamas with humidity hair and tired from Megan having cranky fits all afternoon (I know, the pictures only show the angel, but it's true!). And I would like to wave a magic wand and clean the floor and the dishes rather than getting on my hands and knees to wipe up spilled food 3 times daily. Plus, can anyone tell me the magic word to get a 16-month old to eat vegetables? Any vegetables? By the way, I need to apologize to anyone and everyone I ever thought ill of because their children did not eat the way I thought they should -- unless that involved Spaghetti-O's -- there have to be limits somewhere!

But then there is something magical in hugs and kisses and that wonderful little laugh and the way she talks to herself all the time (too much like her Mommy on that one) or wants to hold on to you and have you all to herself.

I love being a domestic housegoddess.

Cutie Patootie

I just wanted to post these because they're darn cute. I took pictures the other day of Chopper and Megan to update her "Daddy Book" before he goes to training.

Poor girl

I can't believe I forgot this because I laughed SOOOO hard!

Yesterday we get a survey call from Maris College for the "youngest male over 18 in the house). It turned out to be a survery about A) Obama, B) abortion, and C) our government system. Well Chopper is indeed the youngest male over 18 in our household and you all know how wonderfully opinionated he is. Our phone tends to be loud so I could hear some of her questions and these were Chopper's answers. He wasn't rude mind you, just . . . vocal. . . and well I'm not kidding that this is how it went:

Girl: I'm going to name some types of people and I want you to tell me if they should be able to speak out on abortion or not on a scale of 1-5 -- 1 being they absolutely should not and 5 they absolutely should.
Chopper: Well if they're living in this country than the answer is 5 for all of them because we all have freedom of speech.
Girl: Well I need to go through them anyway.
Chopper: Ok fine.
When the girl gets to judge -- Chopper: Is this a sitting judge or a private citizen who is a judge.
Girl: I can't elaborate on the questionnaire sir.
Chopper: Well if it's a private citizen, of course they can, but if they're on the bench, absolutely not.
Girl: I need a number.
Chopper: Well how can I answer the question if I don't know what capacity he's in?
Girl: Well you need to give me a number.
Chopper: Then I guess I"m going to assume since you're saying judge that he's on the bench so that's a no, a 1.

GIrl: Should the Supreme Court change the law about abortion?
Chopper: I can't answer that it's a dumb question.
Girl: What do you mean?
Chopper: The Supreme Court doesn't legislate, they rule on decisions already made. It would be the Congress that legislates.
Girl: SO you're saying that they shouldn't change the law?
Chopper: I'm saying that the question is invalid because the Supreme Court doesn't legislate.
Girl: Sir if you're not going to answer a question just tell me to move on.
Chopper: Then move on because I can't answer invalid questions.

Those are just a few examples of how this survey went. But it made me sad too because she had a whole series of questions where the answer was either "pro-life" or "pro-choice" and it asked you to choose but it was stuff like, which group cares more about family and which group should be allowed to speak out about their views and which group is more violent. Chopper basically answered "both" for all of those (not an option of course) because we do all have the right to speak out and I do believe that everyone cares about their family and there has been violence on both sides. It made me sad that their survey obviously set out to peg people into little holes that said if you believe a certain way than you are bad or good. That is one of the biggest things that bothers me about politics. If someone's views are not mine, they are not a bad person (ok a few exceptions but you can ask Chopper about those) -- but it seems as if lately the labels of "liberal" and "conservative" are both being used by the opposite groups to spread hate. And there are people on both sides who do it. But that poor girl. I wonder how the rest of her calls went?

Family Update

I wasn't sure what else to title this since it's lots of random things but I guess that's as good as any!

Crib Recall
Megan's crib was recalled due to breaking slats in certain models. The maker is Jardine and they worked pretty quickly to get us a voucher to purchase a new crib. So yesterday we went to Babies R Us to pick one out and this is what we came home with. I'm very surprised at the black -- I would have preferred to get a wood color but I liked the crib and I'm not really trying to match any decor so I thought why the heck not? I am very excited about it being a drop-side though because our last one was not and I did not care for squishing myself into the bar to pick up my baby!

On the way home from Richmond we spotted this Outdoor World off the highway and so we had to go. If you've been to Cabela's, I think that this was bigger. They had of course every outdoor "area" that you could think of -- camping, fishing, hunting, etc., plus boats and RV's and 3-wheelers and a restaurant and kids area with classes and giant fishtanks and displays. Chopper was in heaven, Megan was in heaven (stuffed animals galore -- ok really stuffed, not the cute and cuddly ones) and I had a good time too I have to admit. I had a really cute picture of Megan in a coonskin hat holding a stuffed alligator (cute and cuddly, not real) but our camera is stupid and wouldn't flash so they turned out way too dark.

We've been trying to do fun things because Chopper's doctor gave him the go-ahead and he'll be reporting to training next week and then will be in Georgia until about the middle of September. I'm not real thrilled about my temporary single-parenting but it's good that he's finally going.

Milestones

Like every new mom, I read a lot of parenting books and look for all of those milestones to occur: crawling, first steps, first words, etc. And it's an exciting moment when they finally occur and you know that your child is progressing and growing.

I've now realized that many of those milestones, however, are not covered by the parenting books. Perhaps they don't want to discourage parents just yet . . .

Megan's most recent milestones in the latter category include the following:
1. picking her nose
2. Throwing screaming fits (i.e. tantrums) when she doesn't get her way
3. Understanding no and either ignoring it or making it a game
4. Realizing that her hands are dirty and deciding that her hair is as good a napkin as any
5. rolling her eyes
6. trying to escape when you try to a)change a diaper, b)get her out of the tub, or c) put clothes on

I love me daughter but I've decided that if she's going to be delayed in movement she needs to be delayed in other areas as well -- like toddler behavior. Not so. Ok I'm grateful she's not delayed in other areas really but, you know what I mean.

Happy Birthday Chopper!

Ok this is a day late and I have no birthday pictures because I took them with my mom's camera -- which is still in Michigan of course! But yesterday was Chopper's 32nd birthday! It was nice of the country to take the day off in his honor (ha ha).

On a side note -- I found my music! It's Kidsongs, not Wee Sing Silly Songs and now that I have it, Chopper is being slowly driven crazy. Ah, parenthood.

Happy Memorial Day!

I know it's not over yet but it's been a good one. The 3 of us drove up to Michigan to see my family. Grandma-great is visiting them from California and so up we went. We lucked out too because Mark (my brother) came over from Chicago and of course Jeff (another brother) is still there until he goes back to school in the fall. And Alma, Michigan was having it's annual Highland Festival so we got to go to a parade and the festival itself which meant lots of bapgpipe music, Highland games, and fair food! I love fair food.


We took a day up to Lake Michigan just to see. It's so large you can't see the other side and it has waves, storms, and sand, just like the ocean. My brother Jeff was all gung-ho about swimming in it since he hasn't gone swimming since his mission but after stepping into it -- he changed his mind very quickly.



My brother Mark did everything he could to help Megan love him but distracting her with a parade was the best thing. They had the Loch Ness monster, bands, candy, and these reenacters who blew up cannons along the parade route. Is that legal?



At the festival we saw the most adorable little girls doing Socttish dancing and then of course the bappipes. The main guy is hard to see but he must have been wearing the whole 9 yards, plus the big furry hat. The Scottish games were amazing -- the caber toss is where they lift up a TREE practically and then toss it. I couldn't believe they could carry these things, let alone throw them!

Good Music

Of course everyone knows how beneficial it is for babies and children to listen to good music. Of course the trick is to find music that is beneficial for them while not driving me crazy! Although I suppose that that is part of what goes around comes around when you become a parent. There also is that big push for playing classical music. I found the best combination of the two!

There are a series of CDs called Beethoven's Wig: Sing Along Symphonies. They literally take well known classical music and write lyrics to it. Megan and I checked out vol. 3 from the library today and I thought it was hilarious! Megan was a little less than impressed but she's that way with pretty much all music right now. They do the tracks twice, once with the lyrics and once without. But everyone needs goofy lyrics! I just wish I could find Wee Sing Silly Songs . . .

My mom also sent me a CD called Stories of Jesus. I'm going to be honest, it's not my favorite. I guess for one I expected them to be more reverent, more Primary. But that's hard to do when you have lyrics like: "And wicked old Herod went crazy and died. / And not one person missed him at all." and "Listen to good news! Hey, really good news. Good news! Good news for the good guys and the bad." or my personal favorite -- (in a song titled Sheep) "We could get eaten by a leopard. Yum! I like my mutton peppered. Ooh, we really need a shepherd! Little sheep, sheep. Helpless little sheep, sheep." It just makes me laugh really hard and I don't usually see that as the goal of a selection of music titled Stories of Jesus! Thanks mom!

Rejected!!!!!

Yes those are exclamation marks.

I received my first official rejection letter in the mail yesterday from Boyds Mills Press for my very short children's rhyme book -- A Mouse in Madison's House. Why is this a good thing? A) because it means I actually submitted something to be published and B) Choppper's theory is that every author is rejected 20 times before they are actually published.

So 19 more submissions to go!

Family Fun

There is nothing better than doing fun, cheap things with your family in great weather.

But first . . . Megan loves stuffed animals. She is now going to bed with 4 or 5 a night. And she gets very excited when she sees them. Including this one: Yes, this is Yoda. I thought he would freak her out, but no. She really liked his toes.

Anyway -- yesterday Chop took the day off and we toured some friends around the Capitol and then went to the zoo. Megan was so good even though she missed her nap and was pretty tired. She loves animals and got a big kick out of the birds and bears and the tiger -- and he roared for us!

The cherry blossoms were out in full force and I was reminded again how much I LOVE DC! I wouldn't want to live there with traffic and stuff but it really is one of my favorite cities. We had such a good time. Then today we went to Chancellorsville battlefield where Stonewall Jackson was shot by his own troops (on accident) and died after the amputation of his arm (which is buried in Spotsylvania -- the arm that is) and then walked around Mary Washington again. It made me miss college a bit -- that was a really great 4 years and Mary Wash is pretty much the prettiest campus this side of wherever.

Megan is getting to the point where she wants to do things and tries to put on socks, jewelry, hats, sunglasses, shoes, etc. She's getting pretty good at it, even if the hat is closed in this one.

I am a Top Chef!

Back before Chopper and I got rid of cable, I really enjoyed watching Top Chef on Bravo (although it was 2nd to Project Runway ANY DAY!). As I was making Megan lunch yesterday, I realized that they really aren't as fabulous as they seem. At least a few times each season, the contestants will do a dish that is "deconstructed". In other words, the individual components have been separated and are served to be eaten one at a time. Well gosh darn, I've been doing these for months now! Yesterday Megan has burrito's -- deconstructed (rice and beans and tortilla and cheese all separate on her little tray) and for dinner, hamburgers -- deconstructed. She also has enjoyed chicken salad -- deconstructed, and plenty of sandwiches -- deconstructed.

Either the chefs aren't that advanced, or the judges don't realize that they are being served toddler food. :)

My Grand Debut

I've debated telling this story but Chopper and my mom think it's hilarious so I suppose I should laugh about it as well.

Yesterday I did my first sharing time as the Primary President. It wasn't bad -- Easter-themed and the kids seemed to enjoy it. Plus I had a really great attention-getter for the beginning.

Part of the lesson involved pictures of the events of Christ's life and I'm walking to the board to put the first one up. Backwards. And talking at the same time. And we have a fixed podium in our primary room with a small stair step for the little little kids to stand on when they give talks, etc. And I tripped. No big deal right?

As I'm struggling to regain my balance, arms waiving and everything, I try to reposition my feet. Only I reposition on the edge of the stair and just pretty much go head over heels. I hear a collective gasp from 30 children ages 4-8, 5 teachers, a pianist, and a choristor as I go down. I jump up and say "I'm ok!" But I wasn't. I'm pretty sure our pianist and choristor (who is male) got a good look under my skirt. I don't think the kids did since I was behind the podium . . . Well at least it can't get any worse than that. And nothing was hurt except my pride -- and that probably needed to be taken down a notch after the Megan Easter pictures. I just didn't know it would happen so literally!

Yes, I know . . .

I have pretty much the cutest girl in the universe. See Grandma, she loves the sunglasses! I took her on a "photo shoot" to Chopper's parents today in her Easter dress because it was 70 degrees out. Tomorrow: rain. Sunday: cold. Plus, they have some really beautiful flowers. But, Megan wanted no part of the flowers -- I had to post a few where she is attempting to eat the dirt, leaves, twigs, and oh yes, the balls from a sweet gum tree -- and they are not sweet, they are spiky. I think it started as "what does this taste like" and became "how fast will mom take it away from me" because she literally would go slow until I took it away from her and one time she actually held it to her mouth while I took the picture and THEN tried to eat it. But she loved the dirt!