A Fit is a Fit

Next weekend, we're heading to Gainesville for a good friend's wedding. Adam is a groomsman and we're very excited for Steve and Mary! Adam's mom lives an hour or so away, so we'll get to spend time with "Nana" and leave the girls with her while we have 2 nights in a row on our own! I'm not sure we'll know what to do without having two kids in tow...we'll manage.
So today I started trying on old clothes to see what I would wear (BTW-Men have it so much easier...it's only a matter of suit vs. sportcoat/khakis...maybe or maybe not on the tie). After pushing past maternity clothes still hanging in the closet (b/c we have no storage in this house), then past the 'in-betweener' size stuff (the early/mid pregnancy sizes or the first couple months postpartum), back to the stuff that has a solid layer of dust on it...I don't think I did one 'dress up' event while in Japan, and the only weddings we've been to in the last three years I was a bridesmaid. So, I'm reaching DEEP on some of these dresses. I was a little intimidated, but the girls were napping and I had to get it over with. I put on my Spanx (if you don't know what that is, don't worry. If you do, you know they're heaven-sent!) and started with the dress that I wore to my own wedding's rehearsal dinner. That was over 7 years and 2 kids ago.
SURPRISINGLY, THEY FIT!!!!!!!! I was seriously amazed and it did wonders for my confidence in the midst of a harried week, a desperately needing a trip to the hair salon, and having just overall 'blah' feeling for a few days. The dresses probably don't look as great as the did 15 pounds ago, but like Notre Dame football these days, a WIN is a WIN.
For me, a "FIT is a FIT".

Weekend...

In addition to getting her second tooth this weekend, Ainsley has also turned into a master-crawler and beginning-cruiser ("Cruising"= standing up at furniture and taking steps while holding on). She loves being eye-level with Elise, who is having a blast with it, too. Here are a couple pictures from this past week. Also, over the weekend we went to a local pumpkin patch and hayride with some friends. Elise and Ben spent a ton of time in the kiddie "Hay Bale Maze." It was adorable to see them run around inside and try to solve the maze. Pretty cool idea, too.

Never one to waste..

So I made this great casserole on Friday. It's one I've made before, but I amended it a little and it was even better than normal. Yum. HOWEVER, I didn't pay attention to the amounts of each ingredient until I was in the midst of cooking already. At that point it was too late to cut the recipe in 1/2 (which I usually do since it's only two of us eating something like that). So that was Friday. Adam and I both had a healthy portion for dinner that night... and Saturday... and Sunday night, too. At this point, we're both sick of the casserole, but I'm not going to throw away any food, so we keep plugging away. I just finished the last portion for lunch today (Monday). It was good each time, but it'll probably be awhile before I make that again. I should've suspected something when it started with "FIVE CUPS of cooked rice"....=).

Hmmm...why did we wait this long?

After a couple hours of us helping Elise fall asleep (annoying last night, but really no big deal in the whole scheme of things), she was fine without the pacifier all night. She woke up asking for it once around midnight, but that was it! So we made a trip to the Dollar Store this morning and got a new puzzle and coloring book. That's it. Seriously? I should've done this 6 mos ago. But, whatever. It doesn't really matter, either. One thing that I feel like I'm continually learning as a parent is that I don't give my kids enough credit. I underestimate how well they can adapt when they need to. It's fun when they exceed what I expect of them. YAY!

It could be a long night...

So, Elise is going on 3 and she still sleeps with a pacifier. There. I said it. I'm sure many of you are thinking we're horrible parents now that you know that. Between the deployments overseas, the move back here without Adam, the new baby joining the family, etc...I've just been too much of a wimp to deal with it. I just kept saying, "once things settle down a little bit and she can handle another transition , then we'll take it away...". And so she'll be 3 in January and still sucks that thing. (Which, maybe it's genetic, b/c I think I had a pacifier until I was, like, 5 or something). So, we've been talking about it for awhile and we finally decided to take it away COLD TURKEY. She was all excited to "give it to Ainsley" tonight, so we made a big presentation out of it. That was at bedtime, which was 7:30. It's now 8:30 and she's still crying. Not asking for "Binky" at all, but I went up and sat with her, sang songs, cuddled, etc... for 20 minutes. She lasted about 5 minutes after I left. Now Adam is up there with her. Poor thing, she just needs something comforting and soothing.
BTW- They're adorable to watch together on the video monitor. I think Adam may actually fall asleep in her bed. That wouldn't be the first time that HE fell asleep while soothing her. We'll see how long this goes tonight. Anyone willing to share a 'success' story for getting ready of a pacifier is welcome to share it with us!

Grosser than Gross

Let's talk about how even though I have a pretty tough stomach and even enjoy those "surgery documentaries" on TV. The blood, guts, etc.. doesn't usually phase me. However, about 20 minutes ago, I found myself choking a little and experienced some serious gagging. UGH!
Elise, Ainsley and I were upstairs getting ready for naps. Ainsley was on changing table and had a HUGE, NASTY, diarrhea-filled diaper (not uncommon for her). Since we use cloth diapers, you don't 'wrap it all up' like a nice little present. I set it on the floor by the door so I could rinse and dunk it in the toilet. Mistake.
Elise was running around like a crazy-kid and having so much fun. In one of her spinning-frenzies, apparently one foot stepped directly in the mess of poo. I didn't see it and Elise didn't realize it right away- until the spinning stopped a few seconds later and there was poo EVERYWHERE. In the hall, between elise's toes, up her leg. I yelled "freeze". She did and I grabbed her up, she squirmed once (still laughing at herself), the poo got on my hand, leg, and sleeve. We got her cleaned up, but I was gagging the whole time. I've cleaned up their feces 1000x, so I don't know why it totally grossed me out, but it was bad. The worst part is that I can't clean it all the way up until naps are over and Adam is home. I may even have to throw on a cartoon this afternoon and work on it before 6. I don't know if I can relax knowing there is poo smooshed in my carpet for the next 4 hours.
That's why we own an industrial-strength steam cleaner. I've washed my hands about 5 times and now I'm having some late lunch. MMMMmmmm.

What kind of pre-school IS this!?!

A couple weeks ago, I was asking Elise the typical "what did you do at school today?" questions...

"Did your teacher read books?"
"Nope."
"Did you play music instruments today?"
"Nope."
"Did you have a yummy snack?"
"Nope."
"Did you just sit in a dark room all day?"
"No, Mommy..." bursting into giggles.


Fast Forward to 12:30 today...
"Did you play with Ben and Lainey at school today?"
"Nope."
"Did you go to the chapel and listen to stories about Jesus?"
"Nope."
"Did you play on the playground?"
"Nope."
"Elise, WHAT DID YOU do at school today?!"
pause
pause
"I sat in dark room today."
More giggles...

Hilarious. How do they remember this stuff?