Li’l Foot is a funny girl. Whether it’s something she says. Something she does. A look she gives you. A dance she busts a move to. Whatever the case, she is funny. She gets it from her daddy. I certainly am not funny like them at all. If I were, this blog would be way more exciting. It just comes naturally to the two of them, and not so much in my case. It just takes way too much effort on my part, and what usually winds up happening is I think of funny things to say hours after an opportunity for wittiness occurs. So whatever. They’re funny. (End tangent)

So today and recently Li’l Foot has had me laughing on many occasions.

This past week LFD has been on vacation. It’s been a stay home vacation and do things around the house type vacation. On Tuesday he got to see how Li’l Foot makes a fuss over the garbage man a la, frantically run around like a chicken with her head cut off until they drive up our block. And then when they get to our house, she stands at her open window which faces the street,and as the garbage man empties our garbage cans into the truck she yells from the window, “THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANK YOOOOOOOOOU!!!!” and just before he climbs on the truck before the driver pulls away, she screams, “HAVE A GOOD DAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!” On Thursday Li’l Foot slept in. I don’t usually go downstairs before she’s up. It feels awkward if I do. It’s NOT the routine I am accustomed to. I don’t know what to do with myself if she’s not part of the routine. So I wake her before I go down so I can get her dressed and make her go potty so we can both go down together. Also having LFD home on vacation always throws me off in the morning. So anyway, on Thursday I had to go to extreme measures to get her up. I tried the easy approach. I went in her room, turned on the light, made a little noise, took out 2 options of outfits for her to choose from and she didn’t budge. I walked back in our room where LFD was still in bed. I decided to take drastic measures. From our bedroom I said rather loudly, “HERE COMES THE GARBAGE MAAAAANNNNNN!” And watching her on the video monitor you would’ve thought he butt was on fire. She popped up out of bed and to her feet and darted over to her window. It was cruel, I know, but so much fun to watch.

Yesterday we went to dinner with my mom. Afterward we went to The Christmas Tree Shop and then Toys R Us. I was on the hunt for a princess type bag, either duffle or back pack for my niece who turned 4 today (Happy Birthday B). No luck, but Li’l Foot knew what we were looking for and wanted one too. I promised her we’d find one at another store as we were striking out. Well it was late at the point we left Toys R Us. LFD and I were driving two separate cars and Li’l Foot was NOT going to forget about the darn back pack. And afterall I did promise her one. I just didn’t think she’d make me hunt one down last night. The mall happened to be right next to the toys R Us. I figured we could run in and out and just hit the Disney store. Strike out…Disney store is gone. Poof…no more Disney in the mall. So we roamed up and down the first floor and second floor. a full lap around both levels. No luck. Sorry, but Li’l Foot was going to have to wait. She was none too happy when she realized we were leaving the mall with no back pack in hand.

Well, this morning, upon waking up she came into our room and snuggled and slept for another 2 hours. The moment she rolled over, facing me in the face about an inch from my nose, eyes darted wide open as silver dollars and said, “mommy, back pack!” Not “good morning”. Not a yawn or a stretch. Not a wipe away of sandman deposits. No…she immediately reminded me that yes, we needed to find her a back pack A…SAP!!! It made LFD and I laugh so hard. She does not forget a thing. We did find one for her and my niece this morning at Target. I barely had it in the cart and she already had it strapped on her back ready to take on the world, riding around in the Target cart!

And then today, it snowed. Our first real, stick the ground snow of the season. 3 inches outside right now. On the ground! So we went for a walk around the block with the dog. We got up and around the corner and had to stop for the 5,246,247,958,802 time for him to mark his territory and I looked over at Li’l Foot holding my other hand because she was making little giggles and grunt type noises. When I asked her if she was catching snowflakes on her tongue, she said to me, “no mommy, I’m catching them in my eyes!” Again, sending me into fits of giggles.

Tonight we were watching the marathon of Christmas movies they are playing round the clock. We moved the marathon up to my bedroom since LFD is working OT and it was almost over and time for bed anyway. I was looking to see what movies were coming up, so I hit the TiVo guide. The blue guide came up obstructing the view to the Santa Clause 2 movie that Li’l Foot was trying to finish watching. She politely (I might add) said, “mommy, I can’t see!” So I removed the guide. Then to mess with her and see what she would say or do, I put the TiVo guide up again. And without getting pissed about it, she again politely said, “Mommy, I can’t see again!” So I removed it, and now I’m in a fit of giggling without making noise but definitely shaking so she could feel it since she was laying right next to me. So I removed the guide again. And then decided I’d try one more time. I put up the TiVo guide one last time and I was giggling so hard that I was shaking both of us. She didn’t even say anything this time, she just turned her head to look up and back at me with this huge grin on her face with a knowing look that she knew exactly what I was doing and that I was just messing around with her. She was such a good sport about it. She didn’t get all tantrumy and melt down even though it was kind of late for her to be up.

I think we’ve entered the really fun stage with her. She is coming up with new things every single day and she cracks me up! It’s so much fun interacting with her these days.

Today is my mom’s birthday! Hiiiiiiii Mom!!!! Happy Birthday! Last night we went to the Downtown Glee Club concert in New York City. Just after I dropped my mom back off, I checked my phone to find a message from my sister had left me a text HOURS beforehand asking to get cat food. Needless to say, it was too late for that. So I texted back saying I’d bring some in the morning (today). So I stopped there on my way to work this morning. I brought a sandwich bag with some dry food for the cat. I went to my mom’s back door. Slid it open. Gave my mom a hug and kiss. Gave the cat some food and then headed out. I got back in my car. And started to drive up to the main road around the oval in the complex. As I drove away I was downloading a tweet and thinking to myself, gee…mom looked like she had something on her mind…something she was waiting for…I just couldn’t place it. And then the tweet finished downloading. It was from my sister thanking me for bringing the cat food by and not to forget to wish mom a happy birthday…DOH!!!! I almost had an EPIC daughter FAIL! I drove all the way back around the oval, parked my car, ran back to my mom’s door and burst in basically yelling HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! Man did I feel like a TOOL!!! Sometimes I am in such a morning fog, it’s awful. It actually happens more often than I care to admit. Especially when I drop Li’l Foot off at school. I just am not paying attention to the other parents dropping off. I rarely and awake enough to be courteous and smile or say hi. I’m usually just in such a zone still at the point of the morning. Anyway, all that to say Happy Birthday mom!!! You ARE the BEST!!! The most wonderful, smart and beautiful woman I know!

And I’d just like to give you a glimpse into what Cass has to look forward to in trying to get a Christmas picture of Li’l Foot tomorrow!

Good luck with that Cass!!! Hooooboy!!! That’s what I got last night during the concert intermission when I tried to take some pictures of her in her dress. I’ve severely cropped the picture so you can’t see her pretty dress before the Christmas card is created! Teh cute…your ovary will surely twitch once you see it! Consider yourself forewarned!!! I’m not entirely sure how Cass is going to concentrate long enough to do a photo shoot. HA! I’m hysterical!

I’ve never been one to put a release date for a movie on my calendar.

But I’ve put this movie on my calendar for sure. I so want to see it. Seems intriguing! Plus I’m a mom, so ya know…I just HAVE to!

I tackled a task last night that I had been both dreading and looking forward to. I’m not ready to talk about the task yet, as it will come into play in the near future, but it was a good step for me. One that needed to be tackled. And now I have some planning to do in order to expedite it.

While I was working on this secret task, I was reminded of something that made me giggle, lift my eyes and wring my hand all at the same time. Someone got the last laugh and I was all too happy to giggle right along.

(Sorry this post is so vague, but it’s my reminder to elaborate on this particular story when the time comes.)

Are you planning any secret missions/tasks this holiday season? If you comment here, I promise not to tell…heehee!!!

Kids are slick. You think they think, do or feel one thing and it’s the complete opposite. I knew it happens, but until I had one of my very own, I just didn’t realize how it affected a parent.

Take for instance. A few things. That just somehow find a way to the very core of a parent’s nerves.

Why is it…you put a child to bed they seemingly fall asleep. And you get up to put a book away or shut off the light, or go downstairs to take care of things, and lo and behold the peepers pop open and you hear a faint, “moooommmmmmmmyyyyy?” come from said child’s room. How do they know? What’s in it for them to one second be asleep and the next asking for us? Making us want to cry! And stamp our own feet. And throw a mommy or daddy tantrum?

Why is it…you tell them to stay in one place, either for their own safety or because you need to do something that requires them to remain still, yet you step away for just mere seconds and already the springs in the bottom of the child’s feet have been activated and that child is no longer in that spot you asked them to stay in.

Why is it…you, as a parent need to think. You just need to focus so you can formulate a plan of attack, a complete thought, or even just hear your self think. For just one moment. But in the midst of your best efforts, you are interrupted. The synapses in your brain keep misfiring. And why? Because there’s a child who will not stop making noise. Whether it be singing, talking, humming, stomping feet, playing with an annoying toy, having the tv too loud (although I blame LFD for this one most times), whining or whatever, sometimes I just need peace and quiet to figure things out and unless there is quiet, no can do! I, like Shane & David on “The Upside Down Show” have SUPERSENSITIVEHEARING!!!! I can’t listen to certain music because my nerves? Well, let’s just say I inherited them from my mom. They are extremely frayed. So when I am trying to think and try to fight off the mommy brain, the noises that surround me do not help me focus.

Kids, they take a lot out of you, including the pigment in the hair on your pointy little head, and sometimes even the hair itself! One thing’s for sure they keep you on your toes. If only to wonder what they will do next to test you. And test the limits you can be pushed to. I know I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but yeesh, the deep breathes just sometimes aren’t enough of a coping mechanism.

What do you do to cope with being a parent? How do you handle the unexplained child behaviors? How do you manage your own weaknesses when it comes to raising your child(ren)? (Mom, here’s where you say, I had three and by the fourth child I perfected the art and just had a perfect child! Heh!)

Well, it’s been a long road this month. But I did it. There were nights I wanted to throw in the towel. Most of my posts have been written at night, after dinner, after the bed time routine, after The Biggest Loser, after…after…after. Had this month not been absolutely crazy at work I might’ve been able to write something during lunch, but that wasn’t the case at all. Last year was so easy. Write all about my snails. This year I didn’t want to easy way out. I didn’t exactly write thought provoking posts, but I wrote. And I’m happy I stuck to it. I might take the next MONTH off from writing at all, but by golly, I wrote this entire month of November and that’s an accomplishment when you have a child and a husband and a job and a commute and…and…and, you get the point.

So it’s been fun. And I thought I’d leave you with some more cute! This morning walking into school another parents had just finished dropping off her child and was walking down the walkway towatrd us. Li’l Foot was going on and on about beating me to the door and I was telling her, oh noooooo you won’t, I’mmmmmmmmm gonna get there first. The parent stopped me and said, “Everyday I see your daughter and she is just the cutest!” I politely said, “awwww, thank you” and continued up the walkway. I thought it was really nice of her to say. So many times we don’t say things like that to random strangers but she took the time to do so in this case. It made me smile. And so does this…

Dear Li’l Foot,

As I sit here and write this post, you are upstairs, in your bed, falling asleep. I am so proud of you this month. (And every month) But especially this month because you and I have conquered this bedtime hurdle. With what I thought would be such a tough transition for both of us, turned out to only be a tough transition for me. Actually I shouldn’t say that. I’ve been ok with it. I’ve sought out other times with which to snuggle and cuddle with you and it’s been working out. Do I miss you falling asleep in the crux of my arm every night? Yes, absolutely! But I love that you are ok with the routine even more. That also scares me, because it just goes to show what a big girl you are and how independent you strive to be.

You have to go potty? You quickly exclaim you can do it by yourself and you need “proviceeee” (privacy).

You need to get dressed? You are all about putting your underwear, your clothes, your socks, your shoes on all by yourself, even if they are inside out backwards and on the wrong feet. You also want to pick out your own clothes each day, outfits that ummmm, don’t match. And I have to draw the line sometimes, but usually I will let you where what you want because you need that. You need to feel like you did it yourself. But for the love child, must you be such a diva about it? (Sorry, tantrum)

You want something to eat or drink? You don’t want our help to get it out of the fridge, you’d rather do it yourself.

You need to get in a chair or your high chair? You are all about climbing up yourself.

Everyday it’s something new. Everyday it’s something exciting. And these days I see the wonderment in your eyes. The excitement in your voice. The emotion in everything you do. You make me so proud to be YOUR mom. I know little kids who have been stingy with their hugs and kisses, but it makes me really happy when I come home from a long day of work, you’re waiting at the front window for me to pull in the driveway and you greet me at the door with open arms and big kiss. You ask me for hugs and kisses. And on the nights you aren’t at the door to greet me, you are playing hide and seek by hiding on the couch under a blanket calling out from under it for me to find you!!! I play the game and ask daddy if he forgot you at school or if he’s seen you at all. And little fits of giggling erupt from under the blanket. You think it is the best thing that I seemingly can’t find you!

And each night as part of our bedtime routine now, I tuck one of your special stuffed animals or botties under my arm so it sticks out behind me and then I ask you where it went. You try and tell me it’s behind my back so I spin around and around in circles looking for it. And then I look in the closet and behind the curtains and under the bed and then I turn my back to you and look at you from upside down between my legs and you erupt in hysterical laughter unable to control yourself because you think mommy is being so silly. It is such a special feeling to be your mommy. YOU make me feel special and loved. And don’t worry, I know you still love me when I tell you “no” and you say you want daddy! At that particular moment I want daddy for you too! And for me! What would we do without him?

So Li’l Foot, thank you! For being such a good kid despite the tantrums every now and then, you are the bestest kid ever!!!

I love you!

~ Momma

Li’l Foot had many mannerisms that remind me of either me or her daddy. I can’ place where this one comes from though. It MUST be from daddy. I would NEVER EVER make a face like this…

Either way, it’s cute! And in case you can’t see, she’s got her lips pursed out! She was really concentrating on that cat tail.

Taken at the Boston Red Sox game Pocklock kidnapped me to back in September. My BBBF was pitching that day and I managed to catch the jumbotron at the right angle, at the right time!!!

As I sit here typing this, I’ve hijacked Pocklock’s laptop in the downstairs of their house. I was just laying bed in the guest room and realized, oh no…it’s NaBloPoMo, I’ve come this far, I can’t NOT post tonight. Here’s the back story…

This morning I shipped Li’l Foot off to school so I could get some things done around the house without a toddler underfoot and since LFD was at work, I’d have the place to myself to buckle down and “get’er done”! I cracked the whip on myself from 8:30 until 11 when LylaBean arrived at my house so I could watch her while Pocklock and SuperDan went to visit her granddad. Within 5 minutes, even before they left my house, I had kicked a ball trying to show off my mad soccer skillz and bounced it once on the top of my foot and with the second tap, I toed it and it flew right into the side of LylaBean’s head…which was about 2 feet away from my foot. It was one of those really light balls that you get in the frozen food section of the super market, but still, a ball, a head, tears ensued!!! I think all three of them reconsidered the situation and almost decided to leave altogether. Go me! But they didn’t, I got Bean all to myself and I loved every minute.

Well, except for that one minute right after lunch and right before bottle and nap when Bean decided to play with the hardest toy in the toy box, smacked against her face and got a fat lip (there might’ve been a teeny tiny miniscule amount of blood inside the fat lip). That was fun, let me tell ya. This kid, my very own Goddaughter is out to get me. It never fails, it’s ALWAYS something. I’m buying a bubble for her to get wrapped in when she’s with me.

So, she had her bottle and then went down for a nap at 12:45. Then proceeded to sleep for THREE WHOLE HOURS. She didn’t wake up until 3:45. Just 15 minutes before I was due to pick up Li’l Foot. It was really perfect timing. The rest of the day went relatively uneventful. Bean and I went to pick up Li’l Foot. We came home. Played. Watched and episode or 5 of The Upside Down Show and then we ate dinner. You’d think these kids never ate before, the way they ate. And you’d think they hadn’t been snacking on everything under the sun since Li’l Foot got home from school. We ordered a pizza. LFd went to get it. He and I ate. And then I started to clean up dinner remnants. I cut off the coupon from the pizza box. Wrapped the leftovers and put them away and then was going to take the box out to the garbage. I crossed through the living room. Entered the foyer and remembered the half slice of leftover pizza that Li’l Foot didn’t eat still inside the box and when I opened the box I had also forgotten the pizza cutter. So I backtracked only as far as LFD in his chair because I was too lazy to go all the way back to the kitchen. He took both and shen I turned back around he was poised to eat the remainder of Li’l Foot’s slice. I stopped him as the slice was almost to his mouth. When he asked why, the next thing I knew, we were surrounded by darkness. Power. Out. Within seconds I hear LFD say, “What jut happened?” I replied with, “ummm, doofus the power went out.” And then Li’l Foot and Bean started to whimper and get stressed out, because HOLY HELL they were standing in the middle of the living room floor and there was no light with which to see. They freaked out!

I told LFd to grab his cell phone and flip it on so we could see. And then I repeated myself and he said he didn’t know where it was. Swell! Since I had been cleaning all day I remembered a flashlight on the bookcase next to where I was standing in the foyer. I put the pizza box under my arm and felt around with my other hand to find the flashlight, praying to all things good and holy that the batteries were good in it. They were! Thank GOD because the kids were losing their ever-loving minds! I had just cleared out the candle stash this morning so I knew where every one of them was and where to find them. Took them to the kitchen to light. And then in one of my trips back to the kitchen, my hand got away from me and my pinkie finger just kinda flew out, brushed up against one of the Yankee Candle glass tops for the 22 oz. jar, it careened off the counter and smashed on the floor only scaring the toddlers that much more. And then it not only was dark, but I couldn’t put Bean down, and have both her and Li’l Foot walking around and possibly mingling into the kitchen, never mind the nosey nelly dog! It was seriously like someone at that very moment, somewhere upset the balance of our universe and all things that could go wrong, did.

I put LFd on the task of going to his truck to get his iPod to entertain the little ones. He went out and got it and when he came back put Li’l Foot on his lap to watch and then proceeded to not put anything on the iPod. It wasn’t even turned on yet, but he was texting SuperDan about the situation. So then in trying to calm down the toddlers, find the dust broom, find a non-existent dust PAN (note to self…put dust pan on the shopping list…do not confuse shopping list with Christmas list), and light more candles, I now also had to tell LFD what his next steps were and how TEXTING was not a priority. HELLO…calm the children first!!! Then I found headphones but ehy were actual over the head headphones, so both kids couldn’t listen to Shane and David make asses of themselves at the same time. So I had to find my Bose ones so they both could hear. But then apparently I lost one of the ear buds and couldn’t put a bare ear bud into their ears. ARGH!!! It just kept getting worse, and then Pocklock called in response to the text LFD sent to SuperDan. They were on their way, but she asked if we wanted to come over since we had no power. The foresight in me thought it was a great idea because hello…toddler…nightlight…music to sleep to on the Bose speaker…which is to say none of those things would work out in our favor with no power.

LFD entertained the kids long enough for me to pack a bag. LFD was going to stay home because he has to work overtime in the morning which came up last minute this afternoon. Good money, but ugh! So here we are, at Pocklock’s & SuperDan’s house tonight. And here I am hijacking her computer. We arrived to find Christmas had barfed up cardboard boxes full of holiday cheer, and I was coerced into playing elf. No one, but NO ONE can make their banister look festive and cheery the way I can…thank you very much!!! We revealed to SuperDan tonight that Pocklock made me redo it one year after SuperDan had done it. He failed to equally space the garland between the rungs in the banister and good Lord he didn’t FLUFF the garland so it was all flat!!! I just gave it some help! (Love you SuperDan!)

So tonight I am thankful for power. And nightlights. And being able to post so as not to ruin my month long NaBloPoMo streak. And thankful for Pocklock having the quick thought to have us over. She’s a problem solver that one…she amazes me! It had been a while since our power had gone out like that. It was windy here today so I’m sure that was the source of the problem. I think the last time our power went out like that it was the summer of ‘06 and I was pregnant and it was HOT! and I was super uncomfortable! I slept on the couch that night, where it was marginally cooler.

Have you ever found yourself unexpectedly “in the dark”?