Tales From The Playroom

Tales from the Playroom

Garrett has the day off so we are of course spending our morning down in the playroom. The girls are doing their usual while Garrett is lounging on Big Bear watching Home Alone and I am snuggled under a blanket with the laptop. I my as well log the happenings because I am sure something noteworthy will happen.

9:09 AM: Addy is stacking blocks and Olivia keeps knocking them over. After a few quiet grunts of frustration Addy decided to push Olivia over. I guess Olivia had it coming but I had to scold Addy anyway.

9:13 AM: Olivia has now ventured over to the other side of the playroom. I am pretty sure this is her favorite place of all time. And why wouldn't it be? There are only like 4 million things for her to chew on. She is currently pushing the same button repeatedly on the ABC Sesame Street Bus. I am hoping that will bore her soon because it is annoying.

9:15 AM: Addy has now stacked her blocks extremely high.

9:20 AM: Annndd the beast just came back over and knocked them all down again. Addy's response, "Ahhhhhhh!!!!"

9:22 AM: Addy: "Liva, NO! (while pushing her) Do someting! Get da toys... Go! "MOOOOOM!!"

9:23 AM: Olivia is not moving.

9:26 AM: Addy has given up and is moving on to a new game. She must have decided to be the bigger person...

9:29 AM: The first meltdown. Addy is trying to turn on Garrett's old cell phone to look at "pictures" and it won't stay on because it has no battery. I've attempted to explain this to her but she doesn't want to hear it. So I'll let her cry it out while I continue typing. It's called good parenting =)

9:31 AM: Olivia doesn't mind it has no battery as she has picked it up and is chewing on it. One person's trash has become another's treasure.

9:34 AM: Kevin is running from the fat cop after he stole the toothbrush from the store on the corner. If only that cop could have caught him. He could have avoided a lot of trouble but then we wouldn't have a movie now would we?

9:36 AM: Olivia has walked herself over to Dad and Big Bear and is smiling/dancing/grunting with excitement as she tries to eat Big Bear.

9:42 AM: Hey great news, Olivia has found the Sesame Street Bus again! I just want to take a minute and thank Megan and Doug for getting us the loudest toys ever created. The play vacuum will surely be out before long and I can't tell you how much I just love that thing.

9:44 AM: Quick change of events, Olivia almost pulled the table over on top of her but managed to regain her balance and steady the table back on all four legs. She's a machine!

9:47 AM: Garrett is asleep. Seriously, how can he possibly be tired already?

9:49 AM: Addy is now stacking the blocks on a table where hopefully Olivia cant reach. Smart girl. And apparently extremely determined to build the world's tallest block statue.

9:53 AM: Olivia was playing with a toy and Addy just took it from her. I am going to sit back and see how this one plays out...

Still 9:53 AM: As usual Olivia just let her have it, only in time for Addy to not really have any interest in the toy to begin with and move on to something else. Olivia has regained ownership of the toy and all is well.

10:00 AM: Olivia made her way over to me and clearly would like to be held. It is time for her morning nap so I suppose I will get off of here.

You just experienced an hour of our day. You're Welcome =)

Sincerely Yours,

Imagine This Is A Clever Title

Dear Diary,

3 Things I Need:  

(1) A good nail color. Preferably something dark. And something cheap. If it isn't under $4.99, I don't want it.

(2) Ice Cream. Yes, I am one of those people that crave ice cream even when it's 2 degrees out. I worked out a majority of this week - I deserve it!

(3) Clean Floors. I cleaned today - everything but the kitchen and the floors, which I plan on doing tomorrow, but the thought of getting down and scrubbing isn't appealing to me in the slightest. Good thing I enjoy the outcome so much or else it would never get done!

3 Things I Am Excited About:

(1) Christmas. Addy couldn't love Christmas more than she does. I thought we'd have a hard time liking anything more than Halloween but she has outdone herself. When we go to gymnastics she points out the window to every house with Christmas lights and says, "Mom! Christmas!" and then wants, "More Christmas!" My favorite was when we drove by our grocery store that was all lit up with lights and she said, "Aw, pretty I ever saw!" Christmas is going to be awesome this year. I can't wait!

(2) Garrett's Work Christmas Party. The party is tomorrow night and really it's not even the party that I am all that excited about, although it should be a good time. I am excited I get to go out for a few hours with my husband. It goes without saying that I don't get out much. Neither of us do in fact. That comes with the territory when you have two little ones and I am perfectly fine with that. I really can't tell you the last time Garrett and I did anything alone so lets hope for a good time and some kind of a tolerance for alcohol. I'll take it slow - I've already promised myself!

(3) Ice Cream. Did I mention this already?

3 Things I Love:

(1) Olivia's steps. This girl is on a roll! She walks everywhere and she loves every second of it. She is so proud of what she is doing and as soon as I make eye contact with her she gets the biggest grin on her face. Ah, I love her!

(2) Addy's one-liners. My newest favorite moment (all you Hocus Pocus fans will understand): I am trying to get her to fall asleep the other night and as soon as all is quiet she turns toward me and says, "Ohh Allison...Ohhh Allison!" She sounded EXACTLY like the little girl from Hocus Pocus and I about pee'd my pants laughing - which didn't help with the sleeping situation but it was worth it. She. Is. So. Funny.

(3) A newly organized playroom. As if it wasn't organized enough, we got new shelves and hung those last weekend which required me to do some rearranging of the set up and now I love my playroom even more. ANNNDDD once Christmas is over and we are adding new toys to the family, I will be reorganizing once again! It's my favorite job!

3 Things I'm About To Do:

(1) Get off this computer.

(2) Put Liv to bed.

(3) Eat some ice cream.

Sincerely Yours,

Olivia Walking - 8 Months Old

Olivia walking and her snotty sister being snotty...

"Throw it to 2nd Smalls!...Kaayyy!"

Dear Diary,

My kid is funny. Everyone thinks that but my kid is reaaaalllyy funny. The things she says and does constantly catch me off guard and I cant tell you how many times Garrett and I are laughing our heads off.

She knows EVERYTHING. How? I have no idea. I wish I could take the credit. I mean I teach her things, of course I do, but she says things that I have no idea where it came from or how in t world she knows anything about it.

She is abnormal in that she likes movies that aren't for her age group. With the exception of Toy Story (which is kind of a grown up movie in itself) we aren't watching pixar and cartoon movies. Her favorites are Hocus Pocus, The Sandlot, Wizard of Oz, and now Home Alone 1 and 2. She likes movies with real people and I kid you not, it takes only one or two viewings before she knows every line. It's a tad bit creepy. She'll just bust out these lines out of nowhere and I just stare at her stunned before I make her repeat it to me 15 times to make sure I am hearing her right. It's amazing.

I should write them all down and I will kick myself someday when I cant remember all the things she says or does but at least I will always remember how many times that kid makes me smile in a days time.

LOVE HER! And Liva too of course :)

Sincerely Yours,

Happy Birthday To Me!

Dear Diary,

I tried to get to everyone who wrote me a message yesterday wishing me a Happy Birthday! If I somehow overlooked you, I am sorry! I feel like if you took the time to write me a message, I can take the time to respond! Not to mention I am the worst at wishing people a Happy Birthday on FB. For some reason I don't see the little birthday reminders EVER. So that makes me appreciate all the messages even more! So Thank You!

Birthdays are not what they used to be, although I have never been one to get overly excited about my Birthday. Yesterday was extremely regular, which is okay because I love my regular life so I guess a regular day on my Birthday isn't so bad. I decided on Monday night that I did want a Birthday cake so at 9:15PM I ran over to the store to get what I needed. For dinner I went with pizza because 1.) It sounded good, and 2.) We had coupons. Because it was a typical day, Garrett was a little late from work, which was a slight bummer, but what are you going to do? So, I baked my own cake, picked up my own dinner, and cleaned up the mess - not to mention I gave both girls their baths and folded all the laundry before Garrett walked in the door at 7:00! But the good news is that I got the cake I wanted, the first pick of the pizza slices AND I can use the "I handled my own Birthday" excuse for a few days to get out of nightly duties =)

Addy did sing me Happy Birthday though. Yes, I had to remind her several times that it was my Birthday and yes, she only got about halfway through the song, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless!

Moving on from Birthday news - I have to take the time to complain about the horrible customer service at Toys R Us. I think I hate the place. Which is no surprise because I hate Babies R Us too.

I tried to take advantage of "Cyber Monday" only to not be able to submit my online order because the website was getting "too much traffic." I didn't want to lose my deal so I called Customer Service to figure out what was going on and she more or less told me there was nothing she could do and to "keep trying." If I wanted words of encouragement I would have called a friend - JUST HELP ME PLACE MY ORDER!

Obviously everyone else was having trouble as well because Toys R Us extended their deals another 24 hours. So, by yesterday morning I was able to get my order to go through only to wake up today and have an email saying the one item I REALLY wanted was cancelled because they don't have it like they told me they did. And to make matters worse, it was a buy one get one 50% off so now I have no idea if I get the second one half off or if they are going to charge me full price for it. URRGHHHHHH!

I have placed orders through Amazon and Target and have had NO trouble and received them in an extremely timely manner. I will not be placing any more orders through Toys R Us and once I figure out they have screwed me on my half off item, which I know they will, I will be cancelling the rest of my current order as well! How can such a well known, huge chain store be so horrible at customer service? Don't even get me started on Babies R Us!

Alright I better get started with my day. We've been in the playroom for 10 minutes and it already looks like a tornado has passed through. I only cleaned LAST NIGHT, putting everything in its exact spot but who needs a clean playroom right? Oy!

Sincerely Yours,

You're Welcome Olivia

Dear Diary,

First of all, I want to say that our Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful! We had an entire weekend of family and food and while our bodies may hate us for the extra weight we will carry following this weekend's food fest, our hearts are happy because of the time that was spent with everyone we love!

While we were home we decided to go through some old baby pictures of myself only to realize that Olivia and I are twins...separated by 26 years. She looks just like me when I was a baby, which I guess only she can decide if that is a good or a bad thing. Enjoy the comparisons below. I know we did!

Lindsey & Olivia: The "Side Glance"

Lindsey & Olivia: "Looking Up"

(Please ignore the dots on my forehead. We think a staple is to blame!)

Lindsey & Olivia: "A Bit Surprised"

Lindsey & Olivia: "The Happy Face"

Lindsey & Olivia: "So Serious"

While she may not look a lot like sister, at least we know she is related to somebody in this family!

Sincerely Yours,

Team Rob

Dear Diary,

It has been quite awhile since I have written. Busy doesn't even begin to describe my life lately, which is okay, but I have to say I am eager for things to slow down. After a full day of juggling orders and girlie's, I have decided to sit on the couch with the laptop. One child is about to fall asleep while the other is still doing her nightly exploring before she'll be ready for her last meal of the day.

The ol' hubby is working late. Normally I would complain but tonight I don't mind because the Dancing with the Stars Finale is on and I plan to watch the entire 2 hours. Yes, I am one of THOSE people. And I am not ashamed to say that I am 100% rooting for Rob Kardashian to win. No, I don't love the Kardashians and yes, I do really like J.R. and Ricki also, BUT since I started watching this show several seasons ago, I decided that those who begin the show knowing how to dance have an unfair advantage. If you score well the first episode, then I am not rooting for you. I have always liked the contestant that starts off shaky and turns into a pretty good dancer and that is exactly what Rob has done. That guy has proven himself and I have been a fan of his from the beginning. I'll go ahead and put my name under the Loser list after I admit that I EVEN voted for him the past two weeks. Go Rob!

Besides being on Team Rob Kardashian, I have 3 things I am admitting tonight.

#1. I Love My Christmas Decorations: I didn't go overboard but I am very happy with how things turned out. And I hardly spent a dime. In years past I have gone for the nontraditional Christmas colors - trying to match my home interior or picking deep colors instead of the bright festive Christmas palate. This year I went for traditional reds and greens. My mantel is awesome, my tree is perfect, and my little shelves round everything out. We are staying home for Christmas this year now that Addy is old enough to understand about Santa. We want to have our own Christmas traditions that the girls will always remember and we thought being at home was the best way to do that! It will be different this year but I am really looking forward to it!

#2. Dinner Sucked Tonight: We are going to Pitt for Thanksgiving so I decided I wasn't going to do much cooking this week to avoid a bunch of leftovers in our fridge all weekend. I ran to the store today and decided I would just buy a couple bags of those frozen Chinese dinners. I went for the cheaper brands and really shouldn't have. First of all "Meal for 2" SHOULD NOT be written on the bag. If Addy and I hardly had leftovers then clearly they have a misprint. It was gross and I will be referring Garrett to a fast food restaurant on his way home tonight. I guess that's why I make real dinners during the week. Frozen is quicker but not better.

#3 I'm Addicted to Online Shopping: I have started my Christmas shopping and I have yet to set foot in a store. And I have to say I'd be okay with all my gifts greeting me at my doorstep. You can't beat the "Free Shipping" deals and half the time the product is marked down as well. I can browse, compare brands, read reviews and shop for several people at once without leaving my couch. With 2 small kiddos it's the way to go!

Alright 5 minutes until showtime!

Sincerely Yours,