The Week in Review

I haven't blogged for a while. My parents and sister flew out to Colorado, and the time didn't present itself. We had fun. They left yesterday evening. The kids were more themselves today (instead of the somewhat whiny children they've been for the last week), but Caitlin was searching everywhere this morning for Grandma, Grandpa, and aunt Elizabeth, and making the funny sound she sometimes makes when we would ask her to say "Grandma" or "Grandpa".

This has been a crazy week. My parents were gracious enough to watch the kids for us while we went house hunting on Tuesday. What a way to spend an afternoon! I am grateful for the invention of the digital camera. Without it, I would never have remembered all the places we went to! We've seen about 15 places since we moved here, and put in 2 offers last week. No house for us, though. Why? You ask. Because both places were already under contract with different prospective buyers before we put in our offer! They didn't beat us out by hours, but by days! Why the other realtors didn't at least tell our realtor is a mystery to all of us. One of houses we looked at was owned by a realtor herself. Good ol' Jana Ringener never bothered to let us know there was an offer in already - even when we made appointment number two. She was standing right there! "Ring Jana"? Don't bother. We wasted a lot of time, and it's left me very emotionally drained. Our realtor has never had this happen to her, and not twice in a period of two days! Crazy! I'm over the initial bitterness, but I'm still mad that one of the houses is still listed as Active on the Colorado Home Finder, when it's clearly not available. I know of two realtors who I won't be recommending when new arrivals here ask about house buying.

Other than that, the week was fun. Monday we went into Boulder and hit the Pearl Street mall. It's a fun, eclectic outdoor mall with a hippie flaire. Tuesday was preschool, and house hunting for mom and dad. The kids stayed with Grandma, Grandpa and aunt Elizabeth and showed them the local prairie dogs. Wednesday was a bit unorganized, and we ended up in Boulder once again. Not that it's a bad place, it just wasn't what we planned. Thursday we went up to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park on Thursday. It is just beautiful up there. People have raved about Colorado all my life, but so far I haven't found it to be any more or less beautiful than northern California. It's very pretty here, but I also love the Sierras, the redwoods, and the cold beaches of the northern California coast, and will probably always identify myself as a California girl. Estes Park, on the other hand, made me understand what all those people were talking about. It really is gorgeous at 7,200 feet. The greenery and trees that my soul finds to the be the most beautiful of all scenery was everywhere! Go up another 2,000 feet, and view gets better. Longs Peak and Bear Lake in the national park were also gorgeous. I kept wondering if the water was as cold as Lake Tahoe, but I didn't stick my hand in to find out. Mostly because I knew Caitlin would want to try it, too, and would probably trip. Her latest word is "klutz," because her Mommy keeps saying, "honey, you're a klutz".

Mom and Brandon in front of Long's Peak

Caitlin, silly girl

Hey!
Grandma and Grandpa at Bear Lake

Friday was a free day, and Saturday we went to explore The Butterfly Pavilion, which is right down the street.

Brian and I were suppose to look at a house we found on Sunday, but wouldn't you know it, the man of the house told our realtor that he wasn't interested in working with anyone who had an agent. The woman of the house (who was also called) said, "Come on down!". ???? So we called on our own. The owners weren't home yesterday, but we're going to try to take a look at it tomorrow.

So, life is continuing on at the P4 household. Nothing new, nothing exciting. Back down to 4 people, an overly smart field mouse who refuses to be caught, a lot of laundry and dishes, and some more miles on the car. It was a fun week. I'm a little drained, and really just want to sit on the couch for a few hours and stare at the ceiling. Unable to do that as a mom, though. The house feels a little empty with 3 less people. But we'll all be together again soon!

Questions and Knowledge

Sometimes when Brandon asks me questions I answer them correctly off the top of my head. Those are the times I'm highly impressed with my knowledge of the mundane. Other times, I answer the question as best I can, all the while thinking, "What kind of crap am I telling him now?" The pride of knowledge goes right out the door.....

New to the Blogging World

My friend Lara has started her own blog! Welcome to the blogging world! It's easy to post. Plus, we all have lives, so we in the blogging world know that daily postings aren't always possible. We understand. My family is in town, and we've been house hunting, so blogs have been temporarily stopped. But for those of you with time (old and new friends alike), check out Lara's new blog here!

On Being 18 Months Old - Part I

Caitlin has finally reached the 18th month mark. In some ways I can hardly believe it. How did she get to be so big? Wasn't she just a baby? Wasn't I just pregnant? (Yet another one of the ways that you can feel pregnant forever!) However, now I can just say "18 months" when people ask me her age, or comment on how active she is. And, oh, she is! I don't have her stats, since I wasn't able to get her in to see a pediatrician without first having all her medical records sent to them. I called around and got the same answer - no appointment until I have the records sent to the office. So not the case in the adult world of doctors. They couldn't care less about my past and my records. It's all a little nutty. If I'd known this little tidbit, I would have had records made for me before I left!

Completely frustrated by all this, I called a few more doctors outside of B-town, closer to the town we are hoping to move to (about 7 miles from our current place). I finally managed to find a medical group that not only got us an appointment for the 27th, but also told me that they would order the kids records. For your info (for those of you who may move or switch medical groups), by law there is no charge for office to office records transfers. However, if you order your own records there can be a charge (and will be if you order from my old medical group). Thanks to the nice lady on the phone, we have an appointment and I've saved $30.

I love this age. I'm having fun with the kids most of the time. Brandon has been whiny and bossy (moreso than usual) since we moved here, but can still be an adorable boy. It's getting better, but the move and having no friends here put him off balance for a while. He still has a few more days of his preschool. We're off for most of August, and then real-life preschool starts on the 20th.

Here are the fun things that Caitlin can do:

*says a handful of words, including mama, dada, daddy(!) (sounds like DA-eey!), grandma, grandpa, bath, ball, dog, cat, cow, owl, milk (MEE-ook), down (as in go downstairs to the garage), water (wa-wer) .

*says "thank you" and "here you go". They sound very similar.

*likes to help mommy vacuum, put dishes in the dishwasher, clean (she'll pick up any cloth and wipe the table), and picks up her clothes and puts them in her hamper .

*likes to imitate me. Often brushes her hair after I've already brushed it and put it up in a ponytail.

*when I pour her a cup of milk at night, before bedtime, she will run out into the living room to give Daddy and Brandon kisses and hugs (sometimes as I'm pouring). All the while yelling "mee-ook!" at the top of her lungs. She then takes her milk and runs into her room and starts picking out books to read before she goes to bed. This is just the cutest thing ever!

*wants to do everything that her older brother does, causing many people at the park to think she's older than she is and slightly stupid.

*loves to dance, with or without music. Has a good bootie wiggle.

*climbs in and out of her highchair, and likes to buckle herself in.

*knows every place we go to play (some parks, but mostly the mall, Chick-fil-A, and the rec center since it's been so hot here), and will scream out and point if I drive past it. That gets old when I'm trying to find a place to park and she's in the back seat yelling at me to stop.

*big on pushing elevator buttons and the wheelchair access buttons that open doors at the mall. Thinks it's so great when Brandon's not around and she gets to do all the buttons by herself.

*tells me what is a "no no" by pointing at things, like my camera, and yelling "no!"

*tries to eat with a fork by herself. Is getting better.

*eats well, most of the time. Doesn't like hummus or diet Coke. Maybe we're not related. So strange.

*is still, unfortunately, the stinkiest child ever.

*gets cuter every day!

It's Been Hot Here

It has been hot here. The locals say this is unusual, but I don't believe them anymore. Every time there is hot, cold, or rainy weather in the bay area (anytime there's anything other than clear, cloudless, warm days), the meteorologists freak out on weather report. It's like they can't handle weather. Here, no one freaks at a cool day, a hot day, or a crazy rainstorm. That's why I think these days of 99 degrees are more normal than everyone would like to let on. I got caught in a thunder storm last week. I went to Safeway. It was dry, just thunder and crazy lightning off in the distance when went into the store. 10 minutes later it was pouring, the parking lot was under 3 inches of water, and I got completely drenched during my mad dash to the car (which was parked very close!). Luckily I didn't have the kids. And it was warm, so I was only a little chilled.

But I digress..... it has been hot here. There isn't much to do with the kids, and most outside areas are off limits. Who wants to continually burn their legs on the slide? The sun is a little more searing here, so even easy playing at a park makes the kids tired, and makes Brandon complain about a stomach ache. All the indoor play areas are crazy with kids on days like this. I have the patience of a gnat, so a bunch of screaming wild children can put me in insane mommy mode in a matter of minutes. Especially if the parents are not nearby to play referee (or are nearby, but sleeping, reading, talking on the phone with back to their kids - I'm not exaggerating!). I'm sure it will be similar in the winter if we get a bunch of snow or rain. I couldn't deal with a bunch of crazed children in an indoor play area yesterday, so I filled our old sandbox with water (there's no sand in it currently) in the backyard, and put the kids in their bathing suits. Brandon is still in his size 2T bathing suit and t-shirt, by the way. Caitlin has developed an irrational fear of water, which is making bath time oh so much fun, and wouldn't go in the pool at all. Here, Brandon is trying to convince her to get in the water, but she wouldn't. She didn't scream nearly as much in the bath tub tonight, though,

For more pics of our water afternoon, click here.

Games Brandon like to Play

Able Baker Daddy
On his birthday, Brandon received a book entitled "What Do People Do All Day?" (Thanks, Leanne). What do they do? Do you really want to know? We know, because we are required to read the book every day. It may need to "go away" for a while. Anyway, in one story Able Baker Charlie puts too much yeast in his bread dough, which causes the bread to massively over expand and blow up the oven. As if reading this story daily isn't enough, Brandon has decided to make a little game out of it. It consists of the following steps:

1) Brandon said "Able Baker Daddy, don't put too much yeast in your dough." To which you must reply "Able Baker Brandon, don't put too much yeast in your dough."
2) Then you pretend to put too much yeast in your dough. His dough is his blankey, your dough is, most likely, the quilt on his bed. You (being daddy), put waayyy to much yeast in your dough. Brandon, not so much.
3) After you put too much yeast in your dough you throw it in the oven (which means you throw it over the foot of the bed).
4) Then you must say to Brandon "What happens if I put too much yeast in my dough?"
To which Brandon stands up, reaches up as high as he can with his arms, and says, "Your dough will get TTTHHHISSSSS big"
5) Then, you ask "Is our bread ready yet?"
6) Brandon says, "let me get the timer." He then gets Gugga-Dok (his little toy reindeer), looks at the non-existent timer on Gugga-Dok's butt and says "Not until the hand reaches (insert any number here between 1 and 13)."
7) Sit in silence for 10 to 15 seconds. If you don't let that much time go by or ask again too soon, Brandon will reply (irritatedly), "No, I told you it's not ready yet".
8) You ask a second time, "Is our bread ready yet?"
9) Brandon again picks up Gugga-Dok and says, "Oh, yeah." And then gets the bread out of the
oven.
10) Then (yes, we are on step 10.....)
You take your bread (aka, the quilt), lift it up high and say "OH NO! I PUT TOO MUCH YEAST IN MY DOUGH!!!!!).
11) Then Brandon stands up, and he lays his hands on top of the "Bread" (as if he is healing it), and the bread magically collapses. Brian says he makes a "pssshhhh" sort of sound as the bread collapses on to itself.
12) Then you eat your bread.
Thus ends the "Able Baker Brandon, Able Baker Daddy" game. I had to the narrative from Brian tonight, as I cannot play the game right. Tonight was my first time, I didn't have the right lines memorized, and Brandon cried because I missed a few steps. Tomorrow, Brian will resume his nightly duties of putting Brandon to bed. I cannot handle the aftermath of not playing the games correctly and to Brandon's standards.

The Hat Game
While the previous game is complicated. The next game, another one of Brandon's favorites, is not as difficult. Still, I don't play this game.
1) Brian sits on the couch
2) Brandon brings in his cloth book "Cookie's Color Caper." From this point forward the book is referred to as a hat, not a book. Brian puts it on his head.
3) Brandon begins to jump toward Brian, reaching for the book. Oops, my bad, the "hat." He'll stop if Brian doesn't begin the story narration at that time.
4) The story goes something like this:
"There was a boy named Brandon. He was a hat getter. He use to be good, but today he wasn't so good. He tried to get the hat, but he couldn't get the hat. He tried and tried, but this was a hat he could not get."
(Imagine that all the while Brandon is leaping toward Brian, Brian is fending him off with his arms and tossing his on to the other side of the couch. Brandon is laughing hysterically unless you mess up the story, or call the "hat" a book. Then he'll stop and correct you.)
5) Brian continues with the story, saying pretty much the same stuff over and over again, until Brandon manages to get the hat. At which point the story comes to an abrupt end.

Brian complains a lot about the pain this game causes him. I've suggested he get a cup and stop complaining. Games in which your almost 4 year old child jumps on you are not usually high on the list of fun things to do, unless you're the producers at AFV. They love all these games. Without them they wouldn't have a show.

Highlights of Last Few Days

Not much going on here the last week. Here are the highlights, for those of you who are interested:

--I'm watching "Saturday Night Live," because I can. Prime time TV starts at 7:00 here, instead of 8:00. There are very few advantages to this, except that we can watch a few things, like SNL or the beginning of David Letterman, that were on too late to watch in Cali. It's summer, so there's not much on TV. Come fall, if we don't have TiVo by then, I will sorely miss my TiVo. We won't be able to watch anything we like. Seriously - who is able to sit watch a favorite show at 7:00? Or even 8:00?

---We've gotten a realtor and have looked at some houses that we can actually afford. Quite a change from our lives in the bay area. We looked at some 4 bedroom, 3 bath houses, over 2000 square feet, that are realistic possibilities. It's odd, but nice. I'm still getting use to the idea that we would live in anything that big.

--The other day, as we were walking to get the mail, Brandon told me "gravity rides cakes." Not exactly sure of what he meant, I asked him "What???????" (in the kindest possible irritated mom voice). To which he replied, "Gravity rides cakes?" I finally got it - "do you have any rice cakes?" No, but thank for confusing the heck out of your mother.

--Caitlin now cries pretty much all the time. I love wine. I hate whine. We think she's teething. We're almost up to 8 teeth now. I know - WOW! I really love my wine lately. The crying is grating down to bone level. We're not at all sure it's the teeth, but it's the only explanation we have for what's been going on all week.

--Brandon has attached strings to his toy planes, and is attaching Hot Wheels cars to the strings. He told us that his planes are the daddies, the cars are their little boys, and that the mommies died. What? Has he been watching too many Disney movies? I don't think any moms died in "Cars". Other than that, he's remained fairly sheltered from the "dead mom" line of Disney movies. Where does he get this stuff?

--On the side, the boy cars are all named Max, and the girl cars are all named Emily. Although he hasn't complained about it recently, Brandon still loves and misses his closest friends!

On Living in a Smaller Town

I've lived in lots of different places in California. Some big, some small. You run into people you know quite often in the smaller places. I remember not liking that about the small town, and loving the anonymity that larger towns offer. I also like the fact that news doesn't spread as fast in larger towns (counting out your circle of friends), so your business is not everyone else's business by the next day. I think I am the only person I know who likes going to grocery stores in different areas. There's something to be said for shopping locally and knowing those who shop and work in the stores around you. However, if I needed something from Safeway, and I was 15 miles away, I'd just stop by the closest store to where I currently was instead of waiting to until I got home and heading towards my local Safeway. My husband thought I was a little odd for doing that, but for me it was just normal.

Now we're in Colorado. Land of only 5 million people. So unlike California. Land of 40 million people. I am running into the same people all the time around town. I talked with two women today that I talked to yesterday in the rec center. Their kids are in the same summer preschool class as Brandon. It's so odd. Today at MOPS they both came up to me and told me how nice it was to see me yesterday! I'd talked to one before at a previous MOPS meeting, but the other one I'd never met until yesterday. I took the night off last night and just went out on my own (Brian put the kids to bed and got to watch baseball without having to listen to me gripe about it). I was trying on shoes in a store 7 miles and two towns away, and recognized a woman from my local Wal-Mart. I don't even know her! But I see her a lot. Obviously I don't live in a large town anymore!

I've been reminded time and time again that we are living in a smaller area. While we have everything here we need, I can't always find what I want. I've been out of tahini (sesame paste) for some time now, since we had to eat through the fridge and freezer reserves before moving here. It's not common, but I haven't had a hard time finding it for the last 10 years or so. Here? I went to 4 different stores yesterday looking for tahini, since I've found 3 recipes that call for it, and I can't really make it on my own. I even went to Safeway. I shopped at Safeway all the time in the Bay Area. There weren't a lot of other options. Trader Joe's was number 1, then Safeway or Albertsons. There were a smattering of other smaller stores, but they were all quite a distance, and not worth it unless you were in their general area. I rarely shop at Safeway anymore. The Wal-Mart and Target Supercenters have cut my grocery bill down by about 35%. It's like shopping at Safeway during a sale, but all the time, and I don't have to stock up. However, if it's not common, it's not at Wal-Mart. Maybe at Target. Sometimes at King Soopers. But tahini? Nowhere to be found. They looked for it for me at King Soopers. They gave me the blank deer-in-the-headlines stare at Safeway. Today I found some at Wild Oats (think Whole Foods, but smaller, less expensive, and friendlier), along with some fennel for my roasted fennel and garlic mashed potatoes. I had to go to many many stores to find dry polenta also. We've gone backwards in food diversity moving here. At least I can find good Hispanic foods, but I don't cook Hispanic foods very often. Asian is okay. It's fairly easy to find the common ingredients. I am just now getting in the mood to cook again, and am getting more and more frustrated that I can't find stuff. Stuff I didn't have a hard time finding before. I miss Trader Joe's. I knew I would, but it's just catching up with me now. I even miss Andronico's and Draegers. Didn't shop there much, but I knew I could find the odd stuff at the gourmet shops. Maybe I'd have better luck in Boulder or Denver. The weird thing is that I can find bison meat at Wal-Mart. Go figure!

Our Quirky House

A couple of months ago we had the grand idea to uproot our little family and move to Colorado. Although it involves another future move, we decided to rent before buying, just to get to know the area. After a lot of searching, Brian found a house online. The landlord agreed to a 6-month lease, and even held the house for us for a month because we are Christian. On top of it all, she left us dinner in the freezer, and milk, yogurt and apples in the fridge. How could we go wrong? Wellllll.......

The jury is still out on whether we didn't or did go wrong (although I might be leaning towards the latter), but we did get a rather odd house. It's a rental, and a short lease (thank you, Lord). We've lived in a lot of bizarre places with issues all their own, so there's no doubt in our minds that we can handle this. Houses are affordable here, and we have already gotten a realtor and will start looking at places next week. This house we're renting, though ... it's just a little bit strange. The neighborhood is fine - 20-30 years old, with a mostly blue collar make-up. The neighborhood play area, which is common in this town, is old and badly maintained. I'm not sure the play area or the fences have been taken care of since they were built! The average homeowner here is a little older than we are, but only in his or her mid-40's. The kids are usually older, too. Averages ages are 8 years to the 'teens. We've only found a few kids Brandon's age anywhere near us. It seems safe here, and if you left your door or garage open all day on accident chances are nothing would get stolen. Your neighbor probably would have been "keeping an eye out" on your place all day for you, too! We're in a "covenant protected" community - which seems to be a sort of Homeowners Association term. As a result, the lawns and exteriors of houses are kempt and nice. Our street is off a parkway that circles a golf course. Many HOA's here have their own golf courses and clubhouses, and golfing isn't as expensive as in California. The mail is in a central location, and the kids and I take a walk there every couple of days, depending on the heat, to check it. We also walk down the surrounding streets looking for signs of life. In our old neighborhood in S-town there were people out walking around all the time. Of course, the weather is milder there, and the high-density housing near the Community Center provided for a large number of people in a small area. You don't see nearly the amount of people walking around this neighborhood. I think the higher heat factor (it's usually in the mid to upper 90's in the evenings) combined with the small population contribute to that. Then there is the house......

Our theory (in jest, but mildly serious) is that a bachelor designed this house. He was fresh out of architectural school, never dated, was never around families with kids, and only owned 2 pairs of shoes! The house is a 1400 square foot split level with 3 bedrooms and a 2-car garage. You'd think that, technically, this house would be just fine for us, since we lived in a 1300 square foot 3 bedroom duplex back in S-town, and only had a 1-car garage. And all our stuff fit in that place without a problem! We even parked in the garage! However.... a major point - we had closets in S-town! Big closets! This place, while fitting our needs for the time being, is quirky and sorely lacking in storage space. We have maybe 1/8 the closet space as we had before. Although the kitchen and dining are decently sized, it has been a challenge just to fit in the necessities in the kitchen. The cupboards and shelves are small and badly done. There are a lot of half-shelves and wasted spaces. Our plates only fit into one of several cupboards. We went from 8 drawers to 3. This kitchen/dining area is twice the size of our old one on Offenbach Place! Half our kitchen stuff is currently being stored in the garage. We saw no need to unpack the china when we're going to move in a few months. Good thing, because there isn't any room for it anyway!

The kids bedrooms are upstairs, along with the living room, kitchen and dining room. The kids rooms are decently sized and have adequate storage space. The bathroom is tiny, but it works. I highly do not recommend an upstairs kitchen! Since the house is split level, I have to walk up 7 or 8 stairs to get to the front door, and then another 7 just to get to the kitchen (or an entire flight of stairs if I park in the garage). Unloading after grocery shopping is an Olympic event. Although I'm no longer dizzy, I'm still not use to the altitude. After a few trips up and down stairs I am winded! I feel like I did when I was just a few days from having Brandon - it can be so hard to breath. The world's tiniest family room (with the largest, ugliest, and non-functioning fireplace), laundry room, small bathroom and 1 "bedroom" are downstairs. The bedroom is only big enough for our queen size bed, one dresser, and our hampers. Seriously. No nightstands, no other dresser, nothing. There are about 4 inches between my side of the bed and the sliding glass door out to the backyard (again, seriously!). There is one teensy closet (almost too small for Brian's stuff. Now that's small!). My closet is the coat closet in the "family room". It's narrow and deep, but we've made it work. I've added an extra clothes bar and a lot of shelves for storage, including items other than my shoes and clothes. Brian's closet got a hanging clothes bar to add more hanging space. To get to the bathroom you have to walk through the laundry room, which has no back wall and only a partial ceiling. As a result you can really hear the washer and dryer running, even when you're upstairs and the laundry room door is shut. I'm not sure the bathroom was ever meant to be used regularly. It has a pedestal sink, a tiny shower, and no storage. All extra stuff is stored in the laundry room. We can use the shower, but I wouldn't have been able to use it during either of my pregnancies after the first trimester! We are using the family room as an office area, and place for guests to sleep. It's too small for anything else.

We have a nice shady backyard complete with a play structure for the kids. It's sloped and teeming with bugs, but not too hot in the middle of the day. However, since we live in a split level, you have to go down 27 steps from our second floor sliding glass door to get there, or sqeeze by our bed downstairs to get out to it! But it's a good sized yard. You can't slide the upstairs sliding glass door all the way shut when you go outside, though, or it locks automatically. Better than when it didn't lock at all. And Caitlin going down 27 steps? Can you say "falling", "mangled", or "emergency room visit"? We usually get in the car and go to the one park we've found that has sand to play in instead of jagged rocks under the swings. Sand is non-existant in most parks. Again, so odd!

I think I am finally over being perpetually tired. It has been grueling trying to figure out the challenges of the house, not knowing where anything is, unpacking, and spending all day with my kids and no one else! I am really looking forward to living in a normal place once we buy a house.

On the plus side, we do have a laundry room in the house, as opposed to our laundry closet at our house on Offenbach. We also have central air here, which was a rental house requirement. It has been unusually hot for this area, and most days are close to 100 degrees. We need central air here also, since most of the windows don't have screens. And the ones that do have holes in them. There are lots of wasps here in general, but so far none have gotten into the house. I've notice a lot of houses here don't have screens on the windows or doors, but people have them open anyway! Niiice! . We have a nice back and front yard with big trees. I also like our hardwood floors in the kitchen and dining area. It's so much easier to clean up after Caitlin when she eats! The attic fan in a big plus to suck in the cool evening air when we have it, and circulate it around the house. Right now it's 9:00, and still 80 outside. The winds have picked up, and there's thunder and lighting, but no rain.

I took some pictures over the last few days. Click here to get a tour of our odd little place! It looks good now, but it's taken a lot of work. It could be so much worse. However, since I'm so so good at complaining, I thought I'd share my little world with you.

Rehab or Dinner?

Due to the fact that VH1 actually shows videos in the morning, I've had "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse going through my head all day. At lunch the lyrics changed to a song about Brandon. I haven't named it, but the lyrics go something like this:

"They tried to make me eat my dinner,
but I said no, no, no"

"I ain't got the time
but daddy don't think I'm fine
they tried to make me eat my dinner,
but I said no, no, no"

The other version in my head goes:
"They tried to make me use the bathroom,
but I won't go, go, go."

It's said when the major issues that your kid gives you during the day start replacing the lyrics of the songs you listen to! However, when we weighed Brandon the other day we noticed he was up to 32 pounds. That means he's gained 1 pound since last September. At this rate he'll be the skinniest teenager ever. Of course, I was a skinny kid, and that curse no longer plagues me (darn you, skinny curse! Come back!).

To get the tune to my song just watch the Rehab video:

This Week

We're having fun this week. Brian's sister, Jackie, has come out to visit! Yay! We went up to Loveland to spend the 4th with our friends Rob and Janet. There hasn't been much time to write, but I've posted some pictures on Picasaweb. Click here to see pictures of our 4th of July.

She'll Be Famous! She's Already Avoiding the Camera!

I uploaded some pictures from the camera this evening, and found yet another of Caitlin's paparazzi pictures:
Her attempts to shield her face from the camera are rudimentary, at best, but I'm sure they'll evolve over time. I didn't know she had any reason to want the camera to back off, since she won't be gracing the public with her presence any time soon. Then I came across this picture:

Weaving and swaying. Not her best side. I can see why she was trying to get the mom paparazzi off her back!

Colorado Observations

Now that we've lived here for almost 7 weeks, I can complain write up a few things that I have observed about this area of Colorado. Keep in mind that these are coming from a California native who spends a lot of time alone, mentally and physically.

*Coloradans, as a whole, don't feel a need to go anywhere in a hurry. At first I thought I felt this way because I am always right on the cusp of being late, so I never bothered to share this observation. Brian brought it up one evening, and I felt validated. He's always on time, so at least I know it's not just me!

*The sky over Colorado is way cooler than the sky over California. The clouds... the colors... the rain... I use to get so sick of the of the clear, cloudless, warm days that we had 8 months out of the year in the Bay Area. Here, although it's much hotter, there is more daily variation.

*It's hotter here. Air conditioning makes our house livable, but....

*No one has ever thought to put a kids play area in the shade! Why not? I mean, there are a few trees around here.  Haven't found one park with any real shade! Which leads me to my next observation.....

*What do people do with little kids when you can't go outside and play? The slides and play structures are blazing hot by 10:30, and my kids actually cry when they are outside. They want to slide and play, but they can't.

*I can only go to the play area at the mall, the rec center, or Chick-Fil-A so many times in one week. I'm getting ready to crack!

*Evenings do not cool down here. I'm sure that's a Bay Area exclusive. But after 19 years of living in the Bay Area I'm use to it. It does cool down at night to the mid 60's or so, but not until the wee hours of the morning, and only for about half an hour at that. It's often still 75 degrees or hotter at 10:00 pm, and back to 70 by 7:00 am. Oh my word, that's a heat wave where I'm from!

*Primetime on TV starts an hour earlier. While there are some benefits, the negatives outweigh them. Nielson must not bother with people who live in the mountain time zone. I mean, how can you watch any programing when you have jobs? Or young kids? Or anything? Do people just do everything earlier here? Get home earlier? Eat earlier? Go to bed earlier? Our times for doing things during the day haven't changed at all since moving here, and may never change. I'm sad that I'm never going to be able to watch "Jeopardy" again unless I have a DVR. 

Preschooler Punchlines

My friend Anni has enlightened my world with the blog of Wendi Aarons. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. The blog that speaks the most to me is titled A List of What Are Apparently The Only Eight Punchlines Preschoolers Use for Their Jokes. Oh my gosh! It's my life! The conversation we have *daily* as we are pulling out of the driveway consists of me telling Brandon that we are not going to talk about poo poos or pee pees (or "peeps", as he calls them) when we aren't in the car or at home. I didn't think I would need to have this conversation multiples times per day. However, the necessity is warranted. Otherwise I am the mom in the grocery store has abandoned her cart, hiding one aisle over because her son is singing the "How we go Pee and Poop" song in the vegetable section. Personal references and sound effects are usually included.

All of Ms. Aaron's blog entries have tickled my funny bone, though. I'm still giggling over "Kenny Loggins Must Die". Check it out if you get a chance.

The Sky Over Our Neighborhood

We looked out the window around 8:00 tonight and were immediately struck by the strange hue of the landscape. The sunset and the cloud cover turned the sky a pinkish-yellow, and the reflection off the clouds turned our neighborhood the same color.

Comparisons at 17 months

Brandon just before he turned 17 months old. I think he's staring at some large garbage trucks in action off in the distance (such a boy!). At almost 17 months he was just starting to fit into his 12-18 month clothes. They were so big on him. I think he wore this outfit until he was 2!



Caitlin a day before she turned 17 months old. She is, as usual, staring at the ground and wandering away from me. She's starting to lean out. I'm not sure she's put on any weight since her 15 month appointment. I guess we'll see in a month. She fits into most of her 12-18 month clothes, but many are still too big for her. She does eat, though, which is a big change from the world of Brandon (boy with no body fat). She's just so active!

Checking E-mail

It was too quiet. There was no yelling, no fighting. I went downstairs to see what the non-commotion was all about. This is what I found. They were just "checking our e-mail", as Brandon put it. What was that old wives tail... that your children will mimic what they see, not what you say? Here's proof that mommy's on the computer too much....

Brandon's Scary Face

Charming, isn't it? I try not to look. It might give me nightmares.

Prairie Dogs

Today we went looking for Prairie Dogs. Brandon's June preschool class is at the local rec center, about 3 miles from home. I keep seeing prairie dogs as I take him to and from the center. We stopped on Thursday to see a few, and then Brandon thought we should bring Daddy here. Today we did.

There were lots of prairie dogs in this field! Everywhere you looked you'd see one or two scampering away. There were a lot of little ones as well, so it was probably puppy season. I didn't know prairie dogs barked until today. Probably why they are known as "dogs" when they really look like squirrels with little tails. Noisy little critters! After half an hour or so we were done with being in the direct sun, and we'd seen many prairie dogs. I put some of the pictures up on Picasaweb, so you can view more there.



tail up, clearly not happy that we are anywhere near his little burrow!


Mom and baby, hanging out at the burrow entrance.


Brian and his babies!

Rochelle, with the same cute babies! (although Brandon would tell you that he is a big boy, and Caitlin is the baby!)

Domestic Operations Officer

I found my friend Leanne's profile on LinkedIn. She's also a stay-at-home mom, and has 3 little ones. Her title: Domestic Operations Officer. I love it! That describes so much more than stay-at-home mom. I guess I fall into that category, too. My wonderful husband provides for our family, and I raise and maintain it. My current job duties include, but are not limited to:
-24-hour on call service
-facilities and household manager, services include janitorial, laundry, household sanitation, and food preparation
-chief transportation officer
-purchasing agent
-accounts payable and receivable (but mostly payable)
-in charge of daily exercise and nutrition program
-counselor (managing tempers and emotional outbursts)
-head of communications, including interpreting

Don't think for one moment that my husband only contributes monitarily. While I'm not going to go into his list, some major duties at his second job include bus boy, bather, and reader of many stories.

My Kids Are Trying to Escape

Here's evidence....

Rain Day

It's currently 56 degrees and pouring rain. Should be 90 on Friday. Odd weather here in Colorado. It's 56 degrees. And raining. And my kids are outside and wet. Once again, it's plain to see why I am not in the running for the "best mom of the year" award.

For more pictures of the kids in the rain, click on this link:

June 12 2007

Comparisons

I ran across this picture of Brandon today. Thanksgiving, 2004. He's 14 months old.

It really reminded me of a this picture of Caitlin that was taken last week. She's 16 months old in this one.

You can see the similar expressions! They both have their dad's eyes. Also, Brandon had way more teeth at 14 months than Caitlin does at almost 17 months- at least 10, probably 12. Caitlin - still at 6. No progress. It's been months.

Conversations with Brandon, Part II

Today was grocery shopping day. Never a fun filled adventure, since both kids hate it. You should have seen us at the end of the 35 minutes I was in the store. Caitlin, strapped in the cart, sobbing, eating her pretzel sticks. Brandon, walking next to me because the cart was too full, sobbing that he wanted to go home. Anti-depressants, anyone?

Anyway, I digress. We see the Rockies, in all their magnificent beauty on the way to the store. Today was very clear and bright. No picture I could show you would do our view justice, since the mountains look so much closer in real life. As we're driving toward the mountains, Brandon asks me if we've ever been in those mountains. Yes, we have. We drove through the Rockies on our way here from California. Then he asks me where monsters live. Brandon forgets nothing, and expects the same from you. All of a sudden the conversation he had with daddy zooms back into my mind. Monsters live in the mountains. *Great*.... Now the questions swarm around the fact that we stayed in the mountains. Did we stay with the monsters? Did they stay with us? Were they in our hotel? Brandon gets wrapped up in his questions the way a Pit Bull can wrestle with a tennis ball - you cannot pry it from his grip. After many exasperating attempts to ease his mind that the monsters didn't stay with us, I finally reply, with a sigh, "The monsters live way way up high in the mountains. Much higher than we were staying." (I'm such a great mom....) This seemed to satisfy him - at least for today. I feel so sorry for the teachers he's going to have in school. I hope they can handle his tenacity. Some days I can't. I really can't.

Officially Coloradans

We are officially Coloradans, I guess. I still consider myself a California girl at heart. Probably always will, whether I live there again or not. Of course, we've only been out for a month, so it's too early to tell! We registered our cars last week, and were handed the plates right then and there. With Brandon's help, Brian put them on the cars this weekend.

I find it funny that the license plates on both cars end in OWT. When the first set was put on, I thought "OWT. At least I'll be able to find my car in the parking lot." Since everything is unfamiliar, I've been relying on the California plate to guide me to my car. Our SUV, both make and color, is extremely popular here among the mom set. With similar license plates, I'm glad I'll be able to find either car, since the car I drive on weekend errands depends on who has the kids. I also find it funny that our license plates end in OWT... which is the sentiment I get from about half the population of this area. There is a group of people who think that too many people are moving to Colorado, and the urban sprawl is just getting out of hand. Also, the people moving here are driving up the home prices. I'm sure none of them has ever been to California. Urban sprawl seems to be the trend there, and here there are laws to prevent it. And, at least in Silicon Valley, people move in from all over the US and all over the world, which in turn drives up the housing prices. More often than not, I couldn't talk with the people I use to meet on my walks around the old neighborhood. They didn't speak English. Not a word. Not even "I don't speak English." I do meet a lot of people who aren't from here originally. Some from California, some from other places in the US. While I bemoan the lack of Indian and Persian restaurants here, a friend from Chicago bemoans the lack of good Greek restaurants!

So, this is our life right now. We've made progress on the house. Upstairs is great. Downstairs, not so much. I sometimes feel like I live in corporate housing, since the setups here are temporary and not really what I like. We are getting into a June schedule, with Brandon's preschool class and MOPS. I'm sure it will change month to month until September, but a little routine is nice. We've been trying different churches, but have not settled on one yet. Brandon's schooling may hamper any weekday mom's groups I might join if they're not close by, so I hope we can find something that's not too far away (or that meets on Tuesday or Thursday). We've gone to two we like in Boulder, but that is a drive when you have traffic. I don't have to worry about that yet, I guess. I'll just keep local for now. It will be nice to have friends in the future. I miss talking to my girlfriends, especially the ones I saw on a regular basis (Leanne - every week. Chris - almost everyday!). I spend the better part of my day reasoning with a 3 1/2 year old, and trying to get my 17 month old to talk!

Finally, I'll leave you with a picture of Caitlin's favorite activity - pushing something down the street. Bikes, trikes, firetrucks, push-toys - it really doesn't matter. We went around the block right after I took this picture. You can see the joy on her face!

When it's time to be done pushing toys around the block Caitlin throws massive, screaming fits. When I pick her up she kicks her legs and throws her body back. Luckily, I'm expecting it, or I might drop her. I usually let her lay on the floor to finish her tantrum. Brandon's highly disturbed by all of this (his little outbursts are nothing like the textbook ones Caitlin has). I'm hoping it will end soon. I've had to hide most of Brandon's trucks just so she won't see them. The tantrums also happen, though not to the same degree, whenever we are in the garage and she sees a toy. Since we can now park in the garage, this is becoming a daily issue. I rely on my favorite phrase: "This too shall pass." Although it doesn't feel like that when you're in the middle of it!

Picture for Grandma

hi Mom - this picture is just for you....

Milk Home Delivery

Guess what I just did? I started milk delivery, from a local dairy. Isn't that wild? Starting Monday we'll have 3 bottles of whole milk delivered to our front doorstep in glass bottles. Fresh, natural, hormone-free milk for the kiddos. I can't wait!

Twin Boys!

My friend Heather had a great day today. In quite a whirlwind of activity, she gave birth to twin boys! Congratulations, Heather! The lads are doing well, but they are 5 weeks early, so please keep them and their family in your prayers. They are in the NICU, and may get worse before they get better. Check out their website for updates and pictures.

What We Did Today

Nothing horribly exciting. I managed to get up, get showered, and get Brandon off to his June preschool class at the local rec center. It's a nice place, that brand new center! I couldn't put Caitlin down for the fear that I might never see her again. The lure of Brandon's classroom, or the central play area, or the indoor pool, or the elliptical machines.... all fun shiny stuff that Caitlin wants to play with.

After managing to get to class by 9:00, which was no easy feat considering the 60 plus mile-per-hour winds that were blowing around today (it was a struggle to open the car doors, and I wondered if they were going to blow off the hinges once opened!), I also managed to register the car and sign Brandon up for fall preschool. Caitlin was not happy at me for continually putting her in her carseat, and then in the stroller, and then in carseat. Made for a fun outing! According to 2004 census information, the population of Colorado is 4 million plus people (2 million of them living in the Denver metro area alone). The population of California is upwards of 39 million people. This does explain why nothing seems crowded here. When I registered the car today not only did I not wait in any line, but the lady who did the registration just handed me the license plates. Never in my life has anyone at the DMV ever handed me a license plate! It takes weeks, sometimes months, to get them in the mail in California. Although it is fun to be able to go to Wal-Mart on a Saturday and find parking, I do wonder how stores stay in business around here.

Other fun and exciting things we did today:

picked up tree branches out of our driveway and yard
whined
Caitlin rode her bike down the stairs and gave herself a nice bruise on the noggin
Caitlin walked into the same table at the preschool 4 times (not the smartest kid)
Caitlin cried many times
whined some more
did laundry (woo-hoo, I know!)
changed the sheets
whined
fixed the closet doors in Brandon's room (they won't fall off now!)
looked at affordable housing online
still haven't answered any of emails yet (and I'm going to bed anyway!)

What Was I Thinking?

Both kids have taken a real interest in cookware. I have a little cookware set from IKEA, and a couple of plates, spoons, etc., but that's about it. So, the other day I headed down to Toys-R-Us and bought the 85 piece fake food set, and some stainless steel cookware, since sharing is a ship that has not yet docked at our house. What on earth was I thinking? Am I just stupid (don't answer. Just....don't). But 85 pieces? I'm tired enough without having to pick up 85 pieces of fake food plus cookware every evening! No more toys with more than 1 part! No more! Luckily, the food pieces aren't nearly as injuring to the bottom of the feet as Legos or Hotwheels, but they're still annoying. I keep finding fake Pringles and fake drumsticks under the couch. Nice going, Rochelle. Smart move.

My Best Buy Ever

I went to Macy's today to get some shorts in preparation for the summer. I think I may have 3 pair, and they're all light tan (not a great color for being at parks with little kids). The sun is so intense here that it feels much hotter when you're outside at the park than it did in California (except walking around our old neighborhood in S-Town, which pretty much felt like it does here). Macy's is having a summer clearance, so I got a couple pair of shorts for a decent price. I also found a long sleeved hoodie that not only looked good on me, but was a good catch at $7.50. I decided to buy it for next fall. When the clerk rang it up, it was 1 cent. Yes, 1 cent! A perfectly good, $42.00 hoodie for $0.01! I don't suppose I could do better if I shopped at a thrift store. Score one for trying to be a frugal shopper!

Conversations with Brandon

Tonight, after Brandon had been in bed for 15 minutes or so.....

over the monitor:
Daddy..... daddy.....
dddaaaaaaaaaaaddddddddddddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.....

Brian goes in to Brandon's bedroom for a few minutes. Comes out, gets the flashlight, and goes back into the room. When he returned to the living room, I asked him how the boy was doing. Brian told me that Brandon is afraid of the monsters. Yup, I've heard that one before. Had to search the closet for them the other night. This is the following conversation, as told to me by Brian:

Brandon: Daddy, where do monsters live?
Daddy: No where. Monsters don't exist.
B: But where do monsters live?
D: They don't exist, Brandon.
B: But where do they live?
D: They don't live anywhere. They don't exist.
B: But Daddy, where do they live?
D: (*sigh*) In the mountains.
B: We drove through through the mountains when we came out from California.
D: Yes we did. But the monsters live way up high in the mountains.
pause.....
B (Never one for dropping a subject): What would the monsters do if they saw us?
D: They would run away.
B: Would we run after them?
D: No, we'd just let them run away.
B: Oh.

Hello 1980

Last night, as I was lying in bed trying to sleep, I had the dulcet strains of ""Morning Train (Nine To Five)" by Sheena Easton running through my head. Where did that come from? That song came out in what - 1980? I liked it - in 5th grade! The odd thing is that I haven't heard it for years, and yet, there it was, bouncing around in my head like an old friend. Hello, 1980!

The Saga Continues....

I don't really feel like blogging. I'd like to veg out on the couch and watch TV. That's not possible when you're the only one home, and kids must go to bed. Watching "Guess That Shape and Color" (a Sesame Street Production) with Brandon is just not all that invigorating. He already knows his shapes and colors. This is Caitlin's video, but nothing in the world can interest her in a video. I never thought I'd say this, but I would really like it if my daughter would be entertained by TV every now and then. Right now I'd really like to go to sleep, but that won't happen, either. I've been having a terrible time sleeping for the last few months. I keep hoping there's an end in sight, but I'm not seeing it. I'm currently looking forward to another night of tossing and turning and waking up at 5:30 am (which is a terrible time anyway, but worse when you're a stay-at-home mom with nothing to do).

Brandon has been having a hard time with all the move stuff. I don't think it's necessarily the move to a new place, but more the fact that he can't see his friends. He asks about Emily, our neighbor, and his friend Max, who we visited with almost every week from the time Brandon was 9 months old. Brandon keeps asking when we can go back to California. Brian was in New York earlier this week, and Brandon (the boy who never forgets) mentioned that he could stop by and visit Edison, our neighbor in S-Town who moved to New York in February. The boy is craving some kid interaction here! And not just any kid, because we are trying new parks all the time, but the same kids. Something familiar. Something to cling to. Someone who wants to run and play, and who doesn't have to leave his side to go push his little sister on the swing. I know it's to be expected, but I'm having a hard time with the daily meltdowns. Especially in the afternoons. Everything I say or do has some sort of double meaning to Brandon, and it's bad. This is why we were outside around 4:30 in our old neighborhood. We go to check the mail now, and have recently been seeing signs of life in our HOA. I've only seen a few little kids, but it's a start! For the first couple of weeks I only saw people walking their dogs. Nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't bode well for getting together for play dates in the future. We were spoiled, I know, having so many kids in our old neighborhood. But it was nice, and I'd like that again in the future.

I have come to the conclusion that being perpetually tired is going to be my state for the near future. My mind is tired of the constant storage challenges that this rental house presents. It still boggles the mind on how we could move from a 1300 square foot, 3 bedroom duplex to a 1400 square foot, 3 bedroom, split level house, and not be able to fit our stuff! Yes, we have a lot of stuff, but no more than most of our friends, and we weren't bursting at the seams in our old place. On the outside this place looks fine, but there is no storage here! The owners must have had the same issue, as the garage has the nicest wall-0-storage wardrobes that I have ever seen (it looks like something from one of those decluttering shows on HGTV). I know, I keep complaining about this, but it is thrust into my line of vision every time I unpack yet another box. The fine line of what to unpack, and what to put away during out (hopefully) 6-month stay here is also a challenge. I'm relabeling any box that goes in the garage just in case I need the blender, or the flannel sheets. Also, the fact that I have to map where I'm going whenever I need to go to a store has to do with the whole mental tiredness thing. Everything is new. Nothing is known. Grocery shopping takes forever, since the stores are huge and I don't know the layouts. Last week I went to King Soopers. Isn't that an odd name for a store? It's about 150% of the size of a new and improved Safeways. And the supercenters - Target and Wal-Mart.... great for one stop shopping, but I wander around in them for hours, getting delirious, like a lost soul in the desert looking for water. Tomorrow I'm making the trek out to Costco again (wish me luck). I know there's a Toys-R-Us nearby, and I'm hoping to get to that, too. The really sad thing is that if it wasn't for our GPS, I might never make it home. Just as I wander aimlessly around in stores, I drive around in circles looking for a familiar road or freeway. I'm good to go from some places, but most places are still a mystery to me.

So there is our current life. Caitlin is doing well. She said "hi mama" to me when I got her out of her crib this morning. She says "here you go", "thank you" and "uh-oh" all the time. She is starting to say "Brandon", and said something else this morning that was cute, but has completely escaped my brain right now. She laughs out loud (and very loudly) when she sees any animal. Always fun in the mall pet-store (bet ya haven't seen one of those in a while!). It's like she's having some sort of breakdown, but she's happy. It's pretty funny. Brandon is into all his puzzles, especially his tangram-type puzzles. He wants to read, and points out all the letters he sees while trying to string the sounds together. I've enrolled him in a preschool early learners class at the local rec center that starts next week, 9:00-11:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The people there have no idea how grateful I was that he got in (from the waiting list). I think he'll enjoy the class, and the routine it provides. If nothing else it will be a barometer of how he'll take preschool in the fall. I'm looking forward to him going and being with other kids, and I'm looking forward to my alone time with Caitlin. She's a completely different child without Brandon around. She loves the one-on-one, and is a happy, content girl with just me. All I say to her lately is "no" (as in "no, don't eat the cleanser", and "no, stay out of the trash"). It will be nice to just play, and not say no, starting next week!

I'd Like to Blog....

but every time I sit down I feel like I'm sitting sideways (imagine your couch being on the wall). I feel like I'm going to just fall right off the couch onto the floor. Vertigo? Who knows, but it's very odd. I felt like this last night, too. I wonder if I'm coming down with something. The kids have both had coughs and runny noses, so it's possible I'm catching whatever they have. Thanks to my oh-so-wonderful immune system, I'll get it worse and for longer. Good thing we have no friends - we can't go around infecting anyone. Whatever I'm going through has rendered me fairly useless - not good when you're playing single parent while dear honey is on a business trip. He'll be home tonight! Yay! I'll try to write more later, unless I still feel like I'm going to fall off the couch.

The Bubble Wrap Dance

I can't believe I forgot to post this one the other day. The Bubble Wrap dance is the latest fad to hit the our household. Brandon started it, but is such a nice big brother and has since let his little sister join in. Caitlin feels that she absolutely must do all the same things that her older brother does. I've noticed that Brandon only uses his legs when dancing (the arms so far have only been used to keep his pants up over his skinny little rear!). I think I'm going to enroll Brandon in Irish Dance lessons so he can be the next Michael Flatley. So I'll live vicariously through my children. So what?

Peek-A-Boo and Poopy Pants

This is what you get when you are the mom of the world's cutest, and yet stinkiest little girl. She was playing peek-a-boo with me from behind the couch, but stopped as soon as I got the camera out. Funny how the presence of a video camera can stop all the action that you intended to catch on film in the first place!

Brushing Caitlin's Teeth

Click here to see a video of our attempt at brushing Caitlin's teeth (all 6 of them)

It's Like Winter in California

We managed to get to a park today. There was a lone little girl at the park, playing by herself. No adult around. So odd to me, although I remember playing outside alone as a kid. Most of the houses around here are part of developments, and each includes a lot of green, open space around the houses. Each open space seems to have a park/play structure area for kids. These little parks are found every couple of blocks in the most populated areas. We have one just up the road here, but I don't like it. We live on a golf course and everything, but the slides and swings are icky. The playstructure looks abandoned and corroded.

Anyway, the little girl's name was Heather, and she is 5. She lived across the street from the park. Brandon must have thought he died and we'd gone to heaven. He and Heather played and ran all over the place for 45 minutes, until she had to go to school and we had to go home. I haven't seen him so happy in a long time. He was visibly upset when her mom showed up and said she needed to go to school. I'm working on getting together with people. Maybe next week!

I'm glad we left when we did because the rolling thunder started around noon. It was so strong at times that it shook the pot racks on the wall. The rain started not long after, and it's cold outside. Not bad for here, I guess (the weather reporters seems nonplussed by the day). I have all the lights on upstairs because it's so dark in the house.

the view from our front door

Yes, folks, it's 43.7 degrees outside. That's winter in California.

I'm not sure we had a daytime high this low in S-Town this year. Maybe during the cold snap in January when we were sure all our plants died, but that's about it. I'm pulling out all our winter clothes right now (after packing them away because the weather in S-Town had been in the mid-70's to low 80's for a while before we left). However, the clothes are just for today. Tomorrow is suppose to be around 65, then back up into the mid-70's later in the week. However, the last few days has made me think that we might have to do some cold-weather clothes shopping before next winter.

Today's Random Post

Today's random thoughts and happenings....

Yesterday it was 79 degrees at 1:30. Today it was 48 degrees at 1:30, complete with thunderstorms and hail.

We attempted to go to a park today. The hail and rain stopped that. Instead we went to the mall. On the way there I heard Brandon talking to himself while looking out his window - "Go, our car, go!" I guess we were having a race down the hill with the car next to us.

Brandon chose to read "Pooh's First Day of Winter" as one of his nap time stories. One of the pages reads "After finding his warmest winter scarf and extra-cozy, super-strength toasty winter boots and mittens, Pooh went stomping out into the snow to find his friends." Then you look at the accompanying picture on the opposite page. Pooh is indeed in boots and a scarf, but the dude has no mittens on, and isn't wearing any pants! In fact, he still has on his little red short-sleeved T-Shirt on. I've lived in the snow before. That outfit ain't gonna cut it, Pooh!

Why is our washing machine downstairs when most of the bedrooms are upstairs?

Who thought hardwood counter tops was a good idea?

I was putting yet another bunch of books in Brandon's bookcase this morning when I came across one called "Moving Day". My mom gave it to us a month or so to read to Brandon before and after our move. Then I noticed at the top it said "A Happy Ending Book." As opposed to what? Those "sad ending" books that we normally read to Brandon? Sending my child to bed sad isn't on the top of my list of fun things to do. Do we really need to point out that this particular book has a happy ending? We're Americans. Just about everything has a happy ending. We can't handle anything else.

Did you ever notice that parts of the background music on "Bob the Builder" sounds like part of the original Mickey Mouse Club March? Or is that just me? The MMCMarch has been going around and around in my head for a few hours now.

I am so tired of trying to figure out how to unpack and organize in this house. We have more square footage, but the lack of closets and the quirkiness of the downstairs bedroom/family room area makes it sooo hard to put things away.

The only thoughts I seem to have anymore are random thoughts. Nothing complete. Nothing cohesive. Just odd, offbeat, exhausted thoughts. Maybe when everything in my life isn't new, and I don't have to figure out an area from scratch I won't be so tired.

"I'm having a hard time sleeping"

Brandon is driving me nuts with his nap time/bedtime routine. A few nights ago he was having a hard time sleeping. Understandable, since we packed up all his toys, ripped him away from his home and friends, and drove him across 4 states. Anyway, I stayed in his room for a while and we sang a few songs. That always seems to make him feel better. Now, every time he goes to bed he wants to sing songs. He waits until you've left. Then you hear his little voice calling you from his room. "I'm having a hard time sleeping," is his little complain. Then, "What can you do to make me feel better?" I'm so sick of hearing that! Today I flatly told him that I wasn't going to sing songs. He didn't even try to go to sleep. He started in with the whining right after I shut the door. You aren't having a hard time sleeping if you haven't tried and failed. Ugh! Kids!

Caitlin at 16 months

Caitlin is 16 months old today! Yay, Caitlin! 16 months. She is a walking, almost talking, running active little girl. She has recently discovered that she has a will, and when I squash that will and she doesn't get her own way, she howls and throws a fit. It's easy to tell the difference between the real-pain cry and the I-didn't-get-my-way cry. When she does the I-didn't-get-my-way cry she squints her eyes, raises her head up (as if she's looking at the ceiling) and makes a howling noise. Sometimes there are tears, and sometimes there are not. Caitlin often does the I-didn't-get-my-way cry because I am constantly stopping her from doing dangerous things, such as doing a head first pitch down the stairs, jumping off the outside stairs, or doing a head-first dive into the bathtub. Sometimes I have to physically stop her, and other times I just say "no". They both elicit the same response. Other things that Caitlin does, in random order:

*walks
*runs
*falls (a lot)
*can eat with a spoon and a fork, but it's sloppy
*talks a little. Babbles a lot.
*Favorite things to say are "here you go," "thank you," and "uh oh" (We are trying to teach her that it's not "uh oh" but "bye bye" when she chucks her paci across the room or throws her sippy cup on the floor.)
*twirls on command (this is so funny. I need to video tape it)
*wants to do everything Brandon does
*tries to say Brandon
*tries to say "milk" or "mine"
*loves her stuffed animals - especially Eucalyptus the koala and her stuffed cat
*signs "all done" whenever I give her a diaper change
*signs "milk" when she wants to be all done with dinner
*signs "milk" whenever she's thirsty
*has discovered she can scream, but so far seems to just be testing her voice
*has already taken a dive down the stairs (I'm not use to the stairs, and didn't put the gate up as soon as she got up from her nap)
*has learned to remove the tops on the Take-and-Toss cups
*wants to push the buttons on the elevators. Brandon gets highly offended because, as he says, that is "his job."
*is in to every cupboard and drawer in the house. I haven't found the drill yet, so I can't put the child-locks on the door yet.
*Has only 6 teeth
*Has already had 2 haircuts (mostly to trim off the fuzzies and make it more even)

There are a million little things that I can write about, but Caitlin has just found my keys, and is busy opening and closing the garage door (yes, I have a keychain friendly garage door opener). I thought the dishwasher was going out the other day until I discovered the true source of the odd noises. Caitlin also hates it when I'm on the computer. Caitlin is a lot of fun and a headache all rolled into one. She is extremely active and demands your attention. She is very independent, and makes me laugh all the time. We love her just as she is!

Hmmmm.....

The news just reported a story about how the bears are waking up from hibernation near Boulder, and might start coming for your trashcans. Maybe I don't want to live in Boulder. Maybe it's good to live in the flat, non-bear part of Colorado. I forgot about bears, hibernation, and uncovered trashcans. It's been too many years. I don't think I'd be very happy to see a bear hanging out by my trash.

Preparing for the Meltdown

Brandon keeps asking why we can't just get in the car and drive back to California so he can play with Emily. It makes me want to cry (both the thought of him not playing with Emily, and the thought of driving back right now!)! I'm trying to gird myself for the inevitable meltdown. Hopefully we'll get out and start making some friends in the near future.

Progress

We have made some progress. You can actually see the counter top in our kitchen. Storage is greatly lacking here, so we have done some additional purging of our plethora of kitchen items. Some is going, and some it just being put away for a while. I do use my 12 quart stock pot, but not on a daily basis. It can go in the garage (which has an entire wall of very nice closet-storage units). Our tiny bathroom downstairs is also sorely lacking in storage. The pedestal sink doesn't offer much. After scouring our local Target, I purchased a small tower to hold our necessities near where they are used. I need to find the bathroom stuff soon. I'm running out of deodorant and toothpaste. No one wants that!

Brian went back to work today. He has a cubical, at least. Still calling on the cell phone, though. He'll be moving buildings soon. He just did that back in Milpitas a few weeks ago. He packed up his office stuff a few weeks ago, and won't be bothering to unpack it for a few more. The GPS headed to work with Brian, and I am proud to report that I not only managed to get to the store without getting lost, but I also managed to get home! Quite a feat for me lately. Brandon and I even sang a little song on the way home - something about going to home to eat dirt. Each stanza ended with us saying "no" in a very silly way, making Brandon laugh hysterically! Caitlin tried to sing, too, but has not quite mastered enough English to join in.

Otherwise, things are about the same here in Colorado. Once we have the house in working order, and I have found my shoes, I'll start writing about other fun things going on. I know you all want to hear about the extremely loud noises Caitlin makes whenever I go shopping. On the upside, she isn't crying anymore while in the shopping cart. On the downside, I'm still trying to hide in plain sight because I'm so embarrassed!

The Movers Have Come and Gone, Part II

I really should be downstairs making my bed, since sleep is on my mind right now, but I thought I'd update you on our third full day in Colorado. I'm stitting on our sofa! Yay! Currently the greater Denver metro area is under a severe thunderstorm warning, and east of Denver is under a tornado warning. We have had rain and lots of wind in the last few hours, and a few sounds of rolling thunder, but nothing more than that. Our area does get thunderstorms, but tornadoes are rare this close to the mountains. However, other parts of the area have had several inches of hail and flooding. It was 88 yesterday, 75 today, and we are expected to have a high of 59 tomorrow. Then it should be in the 80's again. (??) Schizophrenic weather we have here.

The movers came and went, again, today. We have stuff! We have lots of stuff. Too much stuff. I need to go through a lot of stuff. Should have done that before (and we did. GoodWill got several large loads), but it seems like I really need to do that before our next move! Of course, it all looks worse when it's all piled around your house in boxes. Moving is a great equalizer. No matter how wonderful your little home looks, everyone's stuff looks bad in boxes, and everyone's house looks terrible right after all the stuff is moved out. We are taking advantage of any curtain rod or shelf currently up, and storing ours. We'd like to buy a house in the near future, and packing up our stuff isn't at the top of the fun list!

I took the kids to the mall today to play before the movers came. I kept them out of the house from 10:00-2:00. The first couple of hours were fine. They played and socialized with other kids. Caitlin made many attempts to run out of the play area and explore the mall, but I have so far managed to keep up with her. At this this altitude,though, running is not easy. I am out of breath after a short jog. I still get a little dizzy when I move fast. That should change soon. Caitlin's attempts to make a break for the mall became a little game at the play area, and all the moms and dads were keeping an eye on her. Luckily she can only go so fast. Unfortunately, the mall floor is rough stone tile, and I didn't want her to go too fast, since she tends to trip a lot when she goes too fast. She never fell, and I never heard a cry. Still, she somehow managed to end up with a nice bruise/welt on her temple and a bruise on her cheek, and I have absolutely no idea how they got there! The welt was from today (it was pretty fresh when I discovered it at lunch). How it got there? One of the great Caitlin mysteries. All of us are a little banged up lately.

After two hours at the mall, which included lunch, it was nap time. Caitlin usually goes down about 12:30. Lately Brandon has needed to nap earlier as well. On top of it all, I only had a single umbrella stroller with me, and Brandon had to walk. Such a travesty of justice! Brandon cried all the way to the car. I decided to go through Dillards to the parking lot, instead of going by the play area again. Brandon cried the entire time that it wasn't the right way. Caitlin cried when I wouldn't let her push the buttons on the elevator. Brandon cried when I let her. To save my sanity, I suggested ice cream, which improved Brandon's mode incredibly. I found the nearest Costco on the GPS and got some frozen yogurt for us to share. Brandon wanted to eat it all himself. Caitlin wanted to visit the poor lady on her lunch break who just wanted to eat her salad and read her book. By the end of the visit both kids were bawling, loudly, and I was losing patience at an exponential rate. I had to bring them home. We set up Caitlin's pack-and-play in the closet, but she refused to sleep after her 20 minute nap in the car. Brandon never napped. Can you say early bedtime? Caitlin was in bed before 7:00. Brandon was in bed soon after. One can only hope that they sleep better now that they are in their own beds. I know I will!

So, that's the update from the home front today. Brandon and I sat outside on the front steps for a while today and watched a couple of school buses go by, and talked about all the pre-thunderstorm wind whistling through the trees. Our little neighborhood is cute. I'll take some pictures and post them on our Picasaweb site when the other computer is up and running. I can't edit or shrink photos until then. Happy Monday everyone!

One More Day....

Tomorrow the angels will arrive. The furniture angels. Actually, it's just the moving company coming to B-town to deliver our furniture! I'm not a jump-up-and-down-with-excitement kind of girl (much to the chagrin of others), but I am soooooo happy that tomorrow at this time I can sit on a couch instead of on the floor against a wall on my numb rear end! I went back to Wal-Mart this afternoon and got a big flat of water for the guys. It's been warm here. Not too bad, but heat never mixes well with hauling large furniture up stairs. Tonight we are cleaning up the tornado known as our house so that there will be room for our stuff. No more eating on the floor (after breakfast). The kids and I will head over to the local mall. I remember it being very cool when we were here in December. I think it has a play area, as well. The best thing about the malls and shops around here - you can park! The population here is just not as large as the south bay, so everything seems a little dead to us. Unfortunately I'm sure I'll get use to it soon. We went shopping yesterday at the Wal-Mart Supercenter, and had no issues with parking, getting around, or checking out. No lines, no waiting, no crowds. Scary, but sooo nice! At this rate, I might even check out the summer concerts at the mall.

Yesterday we headed over to the Wal-Mart Supercenter. That took a couple of hours. I've only been in one before, somewhere between Austin and San Antonio. It was nice. It really makes Costco seem small. Even though I've been in one before, I've never actually shopped there. It is a nice change to get all the things I need under one roof. Brooms, mops, shower curtains, yogurt, lettuce, nightlights, etc. And, it's all at great prices. I went back today to get more shelf liner, and managed not to get completely lost this time. I also tried to get back home without using the GPS, and ended up taking the scenic route, but that's another story! The Wal-Mart Supercenter reminds me of the Gemco store that use to be near my grandparent's house . I remember getting shoes and groceries, back when white patent leather loafers were in (let's not go there).

The kids seem to be handling this a little better today. Caitlin didn't throw a fit at bathtime. It's been a fun experience for her up until last week! After all our bathtime battles with Brandon when he was a baby, we do not want to go through the fights again. Yesterday we headed up to our friend's Rob and Janet's house in Loveland, about 45 miles from here. Rob and Janet use to live in the south bay and went to our church. They've lived out in Colorado since 2003. It was very nice to hang out with friends again. Brandon and Caitlin were thrilled to have toys and to be in a normal house. Abbey, Rob and Janet's little girl, didn't have a fit when our kids took over the living room. In a few minutes Abbey and Brandon were playing well together! Brandon was loving the socialization (especially after being stuck in a car for 1,300 miles last week!). I was happy to sit and have a glass of wine with an old friend. It was also good to hear their opinions about Colorado, since they have lived elsewhere prior to moving here. 45 miles isn't too far. I can drive that..... :-)

I suppose I should go clean up the counter in the kitchen, and sweep the dining room floor. The place needs to be clean so the furniture can go in the right places. Also, it's trash night, and I want to get all the stuff out we can. I'm sure we'll just make more as we unpack our belongings tomorrow.

Happy Mothers Day to Me

Woke up on an airbed. In a room with no furniture. Made toast in the oven (Brian went to Starbucks for coffee, at least). Big errand of the day? Going to the Wal-Mart Supercenter to get more shelf liner (and spent another $40 on groceries). Tomorrow we get furniture! I'll be very happy about that. My rear is getting numb as I type this blog while sitting on the living room floor, and I'm getting tired of eating on the hard dining room floor. I don't think this is the vision that Hallmark or the other greeting card companies had in mind when trying to market Mother's Day to the general public. I'm not complaining about it all. I just think it's funny!