snow. that's all i got.

the good news:
all fevers were done and gone by christmas!
and all little girls who needed to take their antibiotics to feel better were much more cooperative and allowing themselves to be coerced with treats and candies and toys.
and mom and dad had one of the best christmases in a long time (we just wish we could have shared the whole day with mema and grandpa dan, not just the hours we spent on skype!)
and even though there are toys everywhere and food that needs to be put away, the house is cozy with the sound of sleeping children and falling snow ;)

i don't have any bad news really. the headache i was fighting (a hangover headache from too much fun, food, fires, wrapping paper, card playing and running out of coffee this morning) is gone and we just have some snow-plowing to look forward to tomorrow! for a week now, meteorologists have been skeptical about calling anything definitive about this snow storm (probably because they completely botched the last one), but suddenly mid-day yesterday, everyone was in agreement that we were getting snow, and lots of it.
i'm still not convinced, and until we can get a ruler out tomorrow and see what we actually got, i'll be making some gumbolaya and playing cooties with the girls :)

i plan on doing a post on christmas tonight or tomorrow. it was a really nice day with happy girls (even though nola's onto round 2 with this cold/sinus infection we all keep passing around!). can't wait for next year!!

noooooo....

i'm pretty sure when i was talking to my sister yesterday on the phone i said "...and we're all healthy!"

WHY?!

last year.

this year.

fevers. the difference this year is that she's been congested with a nasty cough for weeks so maybe that is contributing a little? good news is that the motrin i gave her already brought the fever down a bit and she started asking for toast and milk, instead of laying motionless on the chair and refusing anything to eat or drink.

off to the drs we (hopefully) go! is there going to be a 12/23 fever for years to come?

nah...

if someone had told me that i'd enjoy waking up at 5:30, i'd have laughed. hard.

but i sit here and it's true.

i wake up a few minutes before zane's alarm goes off at 5:30. he gets up and gets ready for work, i get up and make my oatmeal and coffee. he leaves for work, i check email, drink my coffee, put on baby diaries and enjoy the QUIET. so refreshing.

there have been a few times in the last few weeks (probably when i was sick) that i let myself lay in bed for a while and when i heard the first few stirrings from the girls i was so disappointed that i didn't get any time to myself. waking up and having to gogogo from the start just sets me off on the wrong foot. it only took me 30 years to realize this ;)

i'm excited to share some of this quiet time with zane over the holiday break. we can drink our coffees together, sit in silence without having to talk over chatty little girls, prepare the house for the day. can't wait :)

happy :) and sad :(

a 3 yeard old's love affair with her undies!

(ps, what i love about this photo--other than avery wearing UNDERWEAR and not a DIAPER--is her nose. when zane is really, truly happy or excited about something and is talking, his nose flares. like he can't contain his excitement...and avery's nose is doing the same thing in this picture. she is 100%, genuinely happy :))


an 18 month old's hatred of snow!

who knew?

finally!

finally a touch of snow!!

there was a big storm that was semi-forcasted for boston. then it went more out to sea and though the cape is getting some snow, we're just getting some flurries. i'll take it though. it's about time it looks like winter and doesn't just feel frigid.

the snow coupled with our new thermostat (that doesn't tell the heat to stop quite as fast as our old one, so it's getting toastier in here than usual) makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

*wanted to clarify-i know it's only december, and we have lots more winter to go (we're just hours away from the first day of winter, now that i think of it!)...the year avery was born, it snowed the day we left the hospital. and then we had about 3 more storms before christmas. that's always in the back of my mind i think after avery's birthday and the thought of cozy days in the snow with a baby and hot chocolate gets me everytime... i also realize that snowy days with a toddler and pre-schooler aren't going to be quite as lazy or refreshing, but i'm holding onto cozy ;)

silent sunday

(a snapshot of our weekend...friday night and sunday morning respectively...)

one week to go!

we were going to take the girls to see santa this weekend. then this afternoon rolled around, we had no real plans and the thought of going to the mall this weekend made my head spin. so we took our chances, took a spur of the moment trip and...success! half success, at least :)
avery ran-literally, ran-over to santa as he was waving to her and there were exactly ZERO other people around! before we knew it, she was sitting on his lap and telling him about the computer she wants for christmas. nola, however, stood next to us shaking our head and saying "no!" over and over :)
avery surprises me daily. things i think she's going to hate, she loves. things i think she'll be so excited about, she runs away from. we've learned to let her call her own shots and she does amazing. :) merry christmas!

excitement

*thanks to shutterfly's blogger holiday card deal, i just saved $112 when i placed my order! that's awesome!

*i took avery to a trial gymnastics class this morning. she LOVED it! i maybe should have told her that the adult in the class is the "teacher" and she needs to follow directions just like at school-there were a few times where she tried to run off and do her own thing ;), but overall it was a success! (the only problem is what to do with nola during class. she was furious that avery was off having fun and she wasn't. it was difficult to try to keep her happy-which i couldn't even come close to doing-and watch avery through the gym windows and cheer her on. maybe we'll sign up for an afternoon class when z is home...)

*one more week of work for zane and then we get him home for over a week! i am dumbfounded that christmas is next weekend. we have the holiday, my birthday, a concert for zane's birthday, lots of fires and hopefully lots of down time to enjoy as a family.

*there's the potential for a snow storm this weekend. though, being where we are, there's also the potential for cloudy skies and not one flake. it seems in the past few years, they've REALLY been lacking in any skills predicting this stuff. we'll see. i wouldn't mind some snow to make it seem a little more festive around here.

*i have to laugh at avery's "routine" during her "nap". she lasts for a few minutes being quiet, then-no joke-repeats the same phrases over and over and over and over and over until i lost my mind. "mama, get in my room now, please": repeat 180 times or 60 minutes, whichever comes first. "mama? where are you? mama? where are you?": after i've gone into her room and told her i will come back in 20 minutes and not to call my name one more time. maybe this doesn't fall under the "excitement" category, but i'm trying. i laugh instead of pulling my hair out. (ps, the current phrase is: "mama, i do want my garfield book, mama!" repeated so far about 25 times.)

*we're (um, I) in the process of getting our upstairs spare room/office into decent shape. in hopes that, ONE DAY, all our paperwork/electronics/pens/photos/etc will be in ONE place, not 3 like they are now. hopefully soon i'll be able to show before/after pictures and you can ooh and ahh.

*i got an A in my first class. so excited that i started off on a good note! we'll see how well i keep up-especially with my next few classes that are all centered around teaching strategies and curriculum frameworks...at least i have a good in-home tutor ;)

*nola seems a LOT better after a few days of antibiotics. she has crossed over from whining and crying over absolutely "nothing" (ie, nothing we could see, but apparently some good pain in her ears...) to following us around demanding we respond to her every utterance (is that a word?). she'll say "melmo!" when she sees him (on tv, on a dvd cover, in a book, in the playroom) and we respond "yes! it's elmo!" and repeat. 18 times. there seems to be a theme of badgering around here...don't know how it started or how to make it stop! i now understand how moms begin to tune things out. or at least pretend to!

*zane's dizziness seems to be doing much better...he was free from it for a while and last week it randomly came back. over the weekend it gradually got better, and by tuesday he was feeling pretty good. maybe it had something to do with all the congestion and sinus stuff around here and that's how it manifested itself in his body? anyway, he's feeling better and that's good news for all of us :) he has a dr's appointment today and we'll see what they have to say...

unfortunately, i'm not joking when i say that in the 11 minutes it took to write these last few bulleted notes, avery is still yelling "mama, i want the garfield book, mama!" i should go. wish me luck :)

3 years and 18 months!

the girls' doctor's appointments synched up beautifully this time around and we got to have a 2 for 1 :) nola was a basketcase for most of the appointment whenever the doctor, nurse or intern looked at her and clung to me for dear life. avery did great until she actually had to be examined and when the dr said "do you want to stay with your father" she emphatically screamed "NOOOOOOOO!" until she was told that her "father" is "dada", haha.

anyway, the girls are growing great, avery in the 90th % for height and weight (38 1/2 inches and 35 lbs) and nola's in the 95th for height and weight (i forget her height, 30 lbs 7 oz-down 2 oz from 15 months!). we talked about sleeping and eating and christmas and the potty-or lack thereof.

and then it was nola's turn to be examined. as the dr is checking her ears she asks "has she been sick recently?"

why yes. she's been snotty with a cough for a week and a half and when i called your office on friday, they told me she has to show these symptoms for 2 weeks to be considered something more than a cold...what?! she has a double ear infection?

that could explain the recent fussy/whiny/clingy/etc...poor baby! she said her ears weren't terrible, but the dr had the intern look for a second opinion and he agreed, so pink bubblegum medicine in the fridge it is!

here's to the antibiotics kicking in really soon so our little girl feels better and enjoys life a bit more! what a little trooper...

i take it back.

i take back my "whatever will i do with all my time now?!" comment.


this is just one of the many, MANY, sad and neglected rooms in the house. i had grand visions of baking things and making christmas crafts with the girls and organizing pictures and wrapping presents. but i can barely think straight when i see all this mess.

happy friday! you know where to find me ;)

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas :)

1 class down.

11 to go.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

let the celebration of the holiday BEGIN!

what am i going to do with all the freed up mental energy?!

a little of this.

and a lot of this.

yes.

damn dog.

i am SO close to being finished with my final project for class. SO CLOSE. and i could probably finish it this afternoon.
there's one problem.
i can't block out the sound of avery yelling "mama, i need more water and the wrinkly dog!!"

she's been yelling this for 20 minutes.

after i went up to check on her because i couldn't tell what she had been asking for. and when i left her room i said "please don't ask me to come up here again for anything else. i'll come get you when it's time to get up."

hmmmm.

as far as the wrinkly dog...she has a dog breed encyclopedia that she likes to look at during her "rest time". her favorite dog is the neopolitan mastiff. and for some reason today, she's having a hard time flipping through the pages to find him?

on a brighter note, our new approach to annoying/obnoxious/defiant behavior is working WONDERFULLY (when she's not supposed to be resting upstairs)! i should probably read ahead and see if there's anything in there about naptimes...

oh dear, she's now resorted to "ALLYSON! come upstairs right now!"

highlights

today marked the end of an almost week-long celebration of avery's 3rd birthday. i think we're all worn out and ready to move on!

when we crawl out from underneath cake, toys, and cough medicine, i'll elaborate more and share an album.

thank you to all that helped in celebrating avery's birthday in a whole host of ways!!

happy (random!) friday!

wednesday, avery woke up with a fever. i had a feeling it was coming, even from last week during the holiday break when she was waking up 4+ times a night, crying. not like her at all, unless she's not feeling well. and though it took a while, the fever came for a day, she layed and coughed and was pathetically sweet. and as soon as it had arrived, it was gone.

and then i got sick. wednesday afternoon while the girls were napping (another sign-avery napped 2 times this week!), i was working on my final project for class and could feel my throat getting sticky and crappy. i blame a weakened immune system from lack of sleep. now i'm voiceless and achy. and we have avery's little birthday tomorrow. and i need to finish my project. and the house is a disaster!

BUT! in the midst of all this stuff-sickness, birthday excitement, etc-we've all continued to be happy. so happy. like, avery shares everything with nola and tells dada that "mama's not feeling very good" and nola runs around the house trailing a belt and giggles and shrieks. it's awesome. and so needed.

so, to the randomness.

*just about every hour, i hear avery say "i just love my new movie" (toy story 2), or "i love my new camera so much"!

some of my favorite "avery pics" ;)

at some point i had lots of random things to say, but i hear the girls waking up and i lost my brain. more later...

a new, magical season.

since about a week before thanksgiving, the girls have been acting a-FOOL. zane and i were lost in a world of hitting and talking back and "nope" and yelling (both the kids and adults). we kept trying different things...ignoring, reasoning, time-outs, time-ins, etc etc etc. i can easily say it was the most frustrated i'd ever been in my whole life. in addition, zane and i both had work for school/work that we needed to do and that added another level of stress. all in all, we weren't really enjoying being parents. and that was a horrible feeling. i'd wake up in the morning and cherish the few minutes of quiet before i wondered who was going to start the mishaps first. and how much work i'd be able to squeeze in at various points during the day.

then thanksgiving came. and we were all together as a family, and worked more and more on our routines and being in the moment. that meant having a solid plan for just about every half hour during the day that the kids were awake, and trying not to think about all the things that had to be done but simply couldn't be done well with kiddos running around. it's been fantastic. in all honestly, work (school work, work for work, housework) is important. and it will get done when it gets done. and if it doesnt' get done and is a problem, we'll work to get it done (ie when the halloween decorations on the stairs start driving someone crazy and interfere with thinking clearly about enjoying family and friends). if it can wait until after the kids are sleeping, it will wait.

(it hasn't necessarily been easy. there are times when i want to sit in the corner by myself and go through mail, bang out a couple more paragraphs on my project, order a winter jacket online. but it's do-able. and necessary.)

we also bought a new book (1, 2, 3 magic) and like the other book we read and loved (how to talk so kids will listen), i've been hit over the head with the obvious mistakes we've made. a few small changes this week have brought tremedous improvements. and i can say, without a doubt, that i suddenly remembered how much i love these girls, being a mom to these girls, being a wife to zane, being a stay at home mom that tries to keep things together and us all under the same roof and plowing our way through "figuring it out". there have been giggles, and games, and smiles. less beating each other up and exasperation at little things that are annoying.

'tis the season. and i'm loving it.