They turned off our cable yesterday. Previously, our cable/internet bill was $86.26 a month. Without the cable, the internet bill will be $46. We're trying desperately to get our finances in order, and have been looking for ways to cut back where we can. The internet isn't really an option, but the TV? I can live without. I can't believe that's true. I was a tv-holic. I used to have shows I watched religiously almost every day of the week. I've watched Days of our Lives for probably 18 years. I love the TV.

That is, until I had kids. I'm not one of those crunchy earth-muffins that think the TV is the devil. In fact, I did enjoy it. (And it let me take showers by occasionally babysitting Ally, so I'm forever grateful.) But when you have a kid you run out of time for stuff like TV. I can't even remember the last time I got to watch an entire 30 minute sitcom without hearing "Mommy..." let alone an actual movie. With the addition of a second kid, my TV time went right out the window. I even quit watching DOOL back in the fall sometime. (And I still suffer from withdrawl - but I'm dealing) There just wasn't even enough time for me to watch it in fast-forward. Not if I want to play with the kids and do the dishes and laundry and vaccuum and eat and shower and stuff. I used to tape my shows and catch up on them after the kids went to bed. Eventually, most of the shows I watched went off the air. I never picked up new ones. I've only been watching random stuff and reruns lately, so I didn't think it would be too hard to give up.

I had to convince Rob. He used to hate the TV. Now, he sits down at night to relax and he's got the remote in hand. He gets watching a (stupid, boring) history channel special, and his ears tune out the rest of the family. It's annoying as hell. Especially since I can't do the same. It doesn't happen all the time, and I don't usually complain about it, but at $40 a month, it's worth doing something about. After looking at the budget over and over again, and with spring finally here, he's agreed. The TV is non-essential. Good-bye cable.

So for the last 3 weeks, I've been taping 3 or 4 hours of Ally's favorite cartoons a day. I now have 15 tapes full of various cartoons. She watches them over and over anyway, so I think those tapes will last us a while. plus, she's getting older, and can start to watch movies, and I've got plenty of Disney movies. I don't want our money-saving to deprive myself of showers, you know? although, maybe then I'd lose some weight haha.

Yesterday they turned it off, right on schedule. So after the kids went to bed last night, Rob and I had to find alternative entertainment. I think I'm going to like this after all....

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Don't forget to enter the contest!

Ally has this game she likes to play. She's a puppy and I'm a Mommy puppy and we both wander around the living room woof-ing at each other. It's quite tame compared to some of her other favorite games (like hiding toys from Anya and screaming nonsense words in her loudest outside voice and putting things on top of other people's heads and poking people in the eye and such) so I endulge her and play it pretty often. Last night we both decided to woof at Anya a little bit. She was clearly enjoying it. And laughing her head off. Then, she looked around the room. I thought she might be looking for smoething, so I told her to go find me a puppy. She turned in most of a circle and then made a beeline straight for the stuffed animal pile and picked out a puppy and brough it back to me! this is the first time she has ever shown me that she knows what a puppy is. I was amazed.

She has also learned the sign for "more". Given her love of eating, I'm not surprised. We've been teaching her for a long time now, hoping to cut down n the screaming for food at supper. but, she doesn't have it quite right. Instead of putting her fingers together and touching both hands together (I'm pretty bad at describing the sign, but it's kinda like clapping, except with your fingers all gathered together) she just claps. there's a subtle difference between clapping and more, but it's all in the look on her face. and the number of times she claps. Plus, it's usually 1 or 2 claps followed quickly by some pounding on the table and screaming if you're not quick enough.

She shows no signs of saying Mama or Dada, but if you ask her where someone is, she'll usually crane her neck looking around for them. Ally had so many ear problems, that she didn't talk until 15 months old. Not a single word. I wonder when Anya will start. When did your kids start talking?

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Don't forget to enter the contest!

A little backstory:

I started blogging in a roundabout way. My uncle opened an MSN group to kinda keep in touch with the family (and friends), while he was in the navy. After I had Ally, I used it to post little updates now and again for those family members who we didn't get to see very often.

Then, in 2005, I was taking a class through our community college. One of the projects was to  create a website for a non-profit organization. It could be a fictional one or a real one, but if it was real, you had to do actual research and stuff, so I made one up instead. it had to be posted on the internet. My teacher gave us a list of some free web hosts. tripod was one of them. I did my project and went on with life. one day while mindlessly google-ing because I was bored at work, I ran across an interesting blog. Since I had nothing to do, I stopped and read for a while. Then, I followed some links. Eventually, I decided that I basically was treating Roger's group kinda like a blog with my updates posted there. I decided to check out the capabilities available for blogs with tripod, and found that I like it. I posted a lot more often, and everything was much easier for me to find and post.

For those of you that have wondered, that's how I came to be using tripod instead of something like blogger or typepad or something. You can thank my college instructor. I really didn't know much about other blogs then.

I copied all my old posts from the MSN group and posted them here. Then I started writing my posts here. That was on April 15, 2005. I've officially been blogging for almost 2 years (and over 700 posts). Somewhere along the way, the blog became less about updating family (although it still does that) and more about my life in general. Until very recently, I knew everyone that commented here. (And I loved them for it.) Lately, I have had more visitors from various other blogs, and have made some great friends (even if we have never met).

But, I have never had a contest. So to celebrate my second anniverary, I'm offering a prize.

First - the prize:

My mom makes these framed crocheted names. She sells them, but I'm giving one away. (I'm going to get the pattern from her and make them myself too. But since I am a terrible procrastinator, I can't guarantee that I'll make the one I'm giving away. It might come from her, although she hasn't been told about this yet. ) Typically, she crochets your last name and you get to choose the background color to match your decor. Or, you could pick your kid's first name and have it framed to match their room colors. I have my last name hanging over my entryway stairs.

Now - How to enter: For every comment you make between now and April 15th your name will be entered in a drawing. I'll number them and at the end, I'll let Java's ramdom number generator pick the winning number for me. (At least my programming skills will get used somewhere, since they don't give me anything to do at work. ha!) So as not to rule out the Safari users (grrr. stupid tripod servers!) emailed comments will count too (or you can use Firefox). 5 bonus entries will be given if you post on your own blog about how and/or why you started to blog. If you have already posted on the topic, you could write about whether your style has changed, or what blogging means to you. But to claim the entries, you have to send me the link to your story.

So that's it. Get writing

If for some reason, you don't wish to be entered, you can still comment. Just let me know to remove your name from the list (cough*Roger*cough)

If you'd like to buy one yourself, drop me an email. They are for sale, but I haven't gotten around to getting a website for my mom set up yet. The frame is included with the contest, but she typically doesn't like to ship them framed.

"Hey, that cow is acting like a bird! Silly cow. Cows don't drink from those. Those are for birds. heh heh. That cow was being silly Mommy!" - Ally

She was partly right. I never have seen another cow drinking a martini. Then she went on to tell me how "cows have milk in their BUTTS! Haha, in their butts, Mom!" When I told her about the udders, she laughed and said pigs have milk in their udders too. um, no honey, I don't think that's what they're called. I'm not up on anatomy of pigs, so I waffled around when she asked me what they are called and I finally called them teats. I'm waiting for the day care to call me about Ally talking about pigs tits. Any time now...

1. http://www.xkcd.com/c90.html

2. Only 1 month of breastfeeding left. Then my boobs will be mine again. Well, except for when Rob claims them, of course (What? TMI? Sorry)

3.

4. Of course, I can't leave out the obvious:

What makes you smile today?

Ally pull your dress down!
"Because nobody wants to see my butt?"

Are you going to eat some cake?
"I'm going to get junk food"

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray
"Hey, my skies are blue"

"How do you spell ambulance?"
A-M-B-U-L-
"That L is in my name!"
A-N-
"Hey, that A is in my name! An A, 2 L's and a Y!" now let's spell blue

Come here so I can put your pants on you"
"But nobody wants to see my butt. I better not turn around so you won't see it"

"I have snot!"

Do you like spagettios?
"I don't like spagettios. I like chickens. I like what I like, and I don't like spagettios!"

Ally, you scared me. (she suddenly appeared next to my bed while I was sleeping and scared the carp out of me. She had to potty)
"haha, but I'm not scary"

Everything has been in the form of a question lately. Instead of asking me to hold her hand she asks "Mommy, are you sure you want to hold my hand?" She says "Are you sure you're a Mommy puppy?" and "Are you sure I can have apple juice?"

She doesn't exactly like it when Anya follows her around, but she loves trying to get her to (that sentance ends in a preposition just for you Roger). "Come here Anya puppy!" I even caught her the other day trying to put a necklace over her head like a leash. Your sister is not a dog!

We had cake for breakfast today. She got attacked by a cold or alergies or something, and didn't sleep last night. This morning she woke up snotty and cranky, so I gave her some medicine. I stayed home with her a bit so she could go back to sleep and she finally woke up bright eyed. It was someone's birthday at work and she's been asking to come to work with me, so I brought her by here to get some cake before going to day care. We went to see Rob and she told him "I'm going to get a cavity!" We tell her that's why we brush her teeth, so the junk food doesn't give her cavities, and I didn't bring her toothbrush with us. Rob had one at his desk though. (for that matter, I did too, but she didn't remind me while we were at my desk)

She's constantly coming up with new ideas. She makes me stop and think about things. She looks at the world in a whole new way. So I have to open my eyes to it too. I love listening to her talk. I complain about it all the time, because it slows us down when we're trying to do something. But I still listen, and smile and try to remember. Because she's growing up fast. I'm trying to remember to stop and enjoy it with her.

Wonderful weather! wonderful. So happy.

I have no idea what we did Friday night. Odd. it must not have been too important, huh?

Saturday, Rob had to go take a PHTLS (Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support, if you're interested. I really wasn't. Precious brain cells wasted on that acromyn) class. i had already had the kids Easter pictures scheduled before he found out the class was available. Since he wasn't available, I was going to need help. I got Anya's 11 month/easter pics on Friday afternoon, so I wanted to be able to focus on Ally and only stick them together for a couple. It's easier to do them mostly separate. So Rob's mom said she'd come up. yay. I decided that afterward ew'd take them to the mall for Easter Bunny pictures too.

Ally and Anya both had a Pop-Tart for breakfast (Shut up. We don't do it that often). Ally was watching cartoons (Shut up.  I watched lots of cartoons when I was little, and there's nothing wrong with me. Stop laughing!), so I took Anya downstairs with me to take a shower. I removed the toliet scrubby and plunger so the bathroom would be relatively yuck free for her to play while I was in there (She hasn't yet learned how to open the lid). In case Ally needed me, I left the door open a little, but shoved my clothes behind it to make it harder for Anya to escape. God, it's hard to get a shower when you're home alone with 2 kids not sleeping. Finally I got in and had to deal with Anya peeking in at me and letting all the cold air in. She thought that I needed some toys, so every once in a while she'd throw me a new one. Of course, she wanted them back 5 seconds later, so I was constantly retrieving them. I got my hair shampooed and was in the midst of conditioning when Ally puched her way in and had to pee. I convinced her she didn't need help. Next thing I know, both kids were playing peek-a-boo with me using the shower curtain. Brrrrr. And, of course, Ally had left the door wide open when she came in. sigh. Out of the shower I come. But I got de-stinkified before Darra showed up. Youv'e got to count your victories where you can find them.

The kids both were glad to see Darra. Anya was particularly thrilled to find a clean shirt for her to blow her nose on. But after a little bit, Aly told me she didn't feel good. Her tummy hurt. I asked if she needed a trash can, and she said yes. I figured she was just looking for attention. She had been having a good time and didn't act like she was sick or anything. She has never once actually thrown up anywhere other than on me of her bed or herself in her bed, etc. And all in the middle of the night. So when she walked over to the trash can and said it was too full, I thought it was funny, and went downstairs to get her the bathroom little plastic one. (Oh, and I pulled back her hair, just in case.) She played a while and completely ignored it. After a while though, she said she needed to throw up. She kinda turned gray-green, so I gave her the trashcan, and lo and behold, she wasn't kidding. hooray. my daughter has learned to postpone puking til a trash can is available. Ok, so it's not a milestone I thought I'd be happy for when I started this whole motherhood thing, but it's right up there with learning how to blow her own nose and wipe her own butt. They are very practical milestones.

She almost immediately turned back the right color and started playing around. She knew our plans for the day and didn't want to miss seeing the Easter bunny. About a half hour passed and she looked fine, so I got them ready to go. I figured it was just a upset belly and now she felt better. She insisted she felt good, so we went. 13 picutres later. She coughed. She turned green. I picked her up off the posing table just as she started to get sick again. We made it to the trashcan before we made a huge mess. She got her dress dirty and some of the stuff I brought with me, but the studio didn't have to clean up their floor or anything. Anya was getting tired, adn we had to go home to get everyone changed and stuff. Ally was very upset that we weren't going to the Easter Bunny. we went home and I put them both down for a nap.

Ally woke up cheerful. I really think her stomach was just wonky or something. She had no more problems all day. So after playing a while we went to the mall for the bunny. I'm stupid, right? (well, maybe I am - we went on the merry-go-round too) but everything was fine. She was happy and not sick anymore at all. We all had a good time.

When Rob got home, we went for a stroller/tricycle/walk to our neighborhood playground (which seems generous to call it that, but they have a slide and a few swings, so hey...) Ally loves to do it. She knows the way, and we can't fool her into going elsewhere like we used to. Anya had fun hanging in the swings. Ally tried to convince a couple kids that they wanted to teeter-totter with her, but they weren't interested. So Ally sat down to play in the gravel with them instead (Anya wasn't allowed to join. they were little rocks. She eats them). Much joy was had.

Sunday Rob had class again, so I took the day off. I shooed Ally outside to play for Anya's nap and I took a blanket out to the deck. I spread out and read for an hour or so. Then I brought Anya out when she woke up. We stayed out til it got a little warm, then I let Ally watch Finding Nemo while I got lunch ready. Then came her nap, when I promptly went back outside to sit under the clouds in the breeze. Anya wasn't tired, so I stuck her in the swing and read some more. And basically did nothing all day. I finished my book last night though. It's great when the kids let you take a day off occasionally.

I'd wake up on my own. Fully rested. Able to give my attention to the kids in their waking hours rather than spreading myself thin over the nighttime ones.

I would have money. Not just to be rich. I don't especially care about that. But not to have to worry about whether we can give the kids the quality of life we'd like to.

In my imaginary world, the day would have more hours. Or possibly there would be less demand on the current ones.  Either way, I wouldn't have to constantly run around like crazy. I could let Ally take 5 years to eat supper if she chooses. I could let her "tie" her own shoes without taking over and making her scream because we're going to be late for... something. 9yes, if I let her, she eventually gives up and asks for help, but it takes a while) I could play with Anya enough that she wouldn't get jealous and cranky when I play with her sister and I could do the same for Ally.

Anya would have learned to talk and sleep - oh, about 6 months ago. I really hate the not verbal part of raising the kids. Interpreting (and listening to) the screaming is enough to drive me insane.

Ally would eat.

Rob would listen better and be less critical. And pick up the camera once in a while (so I could be in some pictures with the kids too)

Our house would be much bigger. And located somewhere other than Illinois (I hate Illinois!). I lived in Portsmouth, VA for a while which was a craphole, but there are many nicer places in that latitude that I'd be happy with. near the ocean, so the weather isn't too bad.

Mosquitos would be extinct. Tigers woud not be in danger of it.

My sister wouldn't be a crackhead.

Mostly, I would wish away our worries, so we could enjoy our time together rather than always having an agenda. I would be more patient with the kids. They would be safe and secure at home knowing their parents were there and always loved them. - Basically what I strive for every day.

This musing brought to you by this weeks Fun monday topic suggested by Tristan.

Invitations were easy

Ally: I see big storm clouds. The clouds are round and pointy like a TORNADO! (there are no clouds to be seen)
Me: I don't see a storm honey. It's ok
Ally: If a tornado comes it will pick me up and I will be scared
Me: What should you do if there's a tornado, Ally?
Ally: We should go in the hall.
Rob to me: They must have had a tornado drill today at day care
Ally: We should put our hands in our laps and lay down. But if I'm outside, I will be scared and I will RunAway!
Rob: I don't think you have to worry about it Ally
Ally: And the tornado will smash our house!
Me: our house will be safe. if we're home and there's a tornado, we'll all go in the bathroom, because it's safest there.
Rob: If there's a tornado at day care, you'll have to listen to your teachers.
Ally: And I will have to RunAway!
Me: You don't have to run away Ally. It's not safe outside when there's a tornado. The house will be safe.
Ally: because it's not made of wood? If it's made of wood it will get smushed! It's not made of wood. It's ok

I confirmed it. They're learning about tornados and tornado drills in day care this week. We had the same sort of conversations about smoke and fire when the firetruck came to day care. She's cute.

Last night after work, it was about 70 degrees. beautiful (but a little windy). Rob took both kids outside and they puttered about. he got a bunch of leaves raked up and put in bags for the up-coming free-yard waste pickup. Ally helped. Anya wandered around randomly yelling at the wind and finding things to chew on. (I went out once and said "Rob, do you realize that anya's eating rocks?" He said yea, but she was just playing with them, she wasn't putting them in her mouth. yeah, right. So we had to take her away form the rocks (big over-sized ones, so it wasn't likely she would actually swallow them, but still) which kinda pissed her off) We let her out in the yard with just socks on, because she's still kinda wobbly and not really ready for shoes yet. Her socks were filthy! they all looked so cute outside togther. Anya and Ally were just following Rob around.

I was inside getting things done. I made Chicken Cordon Bleu (sp) for the first time last night, and it wasn't half bad. I also folded all the laundry that was piled up and put it away. Putting it away was quite a chore, since it was all the next size clothes for Anya and summer stuff. So I had to pull some of the heavier winter stuff out for storage and leave some, because the weather isn't hot yet, and find room for the new clothes. I cleaned out a bunch of stuff that's getting tighter on her and just generally straightene dout the closet and dresser. this is one chore that Rob just doesn't appreciate. he thinks I'm playing. I would LOVE to not have to do htis every season. It's really a pain in the ass. I love getting her new clothes, but I hate the organization and trial and error of what fits and what doesn't yet and all that.  So anyway, that's done for now.

I felt a little bad that I wasn't out there with them having fun, but i told myself that they need time with the Daddy too. It was nice to be able to get some chores done.

It's supposed to be rainy for a while, but in the 70s. if it's not too bad, I'll take Ally out in the rain. She loves it, and has been sad all winter because it's too cold to go out while it's raining.

... it's 42!

Uh no, that was  a different question.

I asked to Rob about it last night. His reply? "I wish you'd shut up about the damn birthday party already. Let me know when you've figured it out." humph. So I talked to him some more about it (that'll teach him). He helped me realize that I'm over-obesessing. See there's this normal mom level of obsession about your kids first (sniff sniff. 1 year odl!) birthday. Then, about a mile past that is my level of obsession. No one else in the family works this hard to be so accomadating. They have a party and if you can't make it, you see them later or maybe not. whatever. I need to stop trying to run myself crazy over it. So, I'm having a party at my house. If the weather is nice, we can all have lunch on the deck. If not, we'll go to a buffet place or something. It will be fine. If you can't make it, I will be absolutely crushed and assume that you don't love me/my baby enough worry about how not having a family around that loves her will affect Anya slide into a deep depression fine. Just fine. It will be a happy day. There will be cake. I will not drive myself crazy. I will try not to drive anyone else crazy along the way. 

btw: My house is not large. The yard is quite spacious though. If it's good weather, we can fit quite a few people outside. Cross your fingers for good weather for us.

Does anyone have a magical solution to what to do when your child lies in a small house, has 6 sets of grandparents who are scattered in a 4 hour radius, and a birthday in a month? I'm all ears...

I'm bragging here, so anyone who might be offended by it can just shove off now.

Ally can read some things. We're trying really hard to teach her. She's so interested right now. She asks us "what word said ___?" when we're reading and we point it out to her. She can recognize quite a few names (all of her classmates) and spell some back to us. She can write her own, Mom, and Dad. She can spell red and big and dog and dad and zoo and Dora and Pooh. Probably some more, but I have a horrible memory, you know.

She has learned some songs about colors and how to spell them. She hasn't yet made the leap to realize that she can read words if she knows how to spell things. Like Red. She knows that it's spelled r-e-d. but if you point to the word and ask her what it is. She says "I don't know" you have to ask her what the letters are. When she reads each letter in turn, her face brightens up and she gets so excited. "Red, Mom. It says red" We picked out some books for her at the store this weekend, but need to start visiting the library for more learning books I think.

I'm so proud of her. She's loving it too. So I'm trying to help encourage her however I can. Any tips from those who've been there before?

We got a night in a hotel this weekend! Rob's mom offered to stay at the house with the kids and pay for us to sleep somewhere else. It was so great. We left the house around 6:30 or so and wandered around Barnes and Noble for far too long. Went back by the house, because I had forgotten my pump (to replace the bottles she was going to use) grabbed some root beer floats and laid around on the beds in the hotel quietly reading our new books. It was heavenly quiet. I called home a couple times and annoyed Darra, but otherwise, it was wonderful. We came home around 9 am the next day. So, around 15 hours. And it felt like 2 days. So restful. Thank you Darra.

In other news, we went to the St Patricks Day parade this weekend and  got frozen a little. Last Tuesday it was 76 degrees. Saturday? 35. yuck. So we left early and went out to eat. Then back home for (late) naps. Since the naps were late, bedtime was late, but we weren't there for it, yippee!

Sunday, Darra wanted to take the kids to the Build-a-bear in the mall (which is actually a Fluff-n-stuff, but really, what's the difference?) So we loaded everyone up for that. The kids both picked out kitties (Rob held Anya around the animals, and we got the one she reached for most often) they got a bouple outfits. Ally picked out a backpack and a hard hat. They had fun, and Ally even made me put pj's (stolen from a bear she had from a couple years ago) on hers last night, and get it dressed this morning. She was bummed that we don't have any shoes for it (minor oversight). She even took it to day care today.

Anya is basically walking around everywhere. She only crawls to get things that are really close. Otherwise she stands and walks. I tried some of Ally's old shoes on her and they don't fit. When Ally started walking, she wore a size 4. last summer, she wore a size 6.5 She had a growth spurt in her feet over winter and now wears 8.5. Anya wears a 5 already! Um, that is, she would if she would actaully wear them. We don't put them on her since she's still pretty wobbly. But she'll need them to go outside at day care if they go.

Good news: Anya has learned to blow her nose. Bad news: Anya thinks that it's best done by rubbing her nose vigorously on your clothes. She'll walk over to you if her nose is running for the specific purpose of wiping snot all over. Consider this a warning if you come over.

We got Ally some pre-reader books this weekend. My god they're expensive. Shouldn't they be priced based on word-count or something? $6 for 4 little books with 10 or 15 words in them repeated over and over. I'm seriously going to start going to our library. (Granted, they are good learning books, but sheesh!) Oh, and anyone who is looking at beginning the whole phonics/reading thing might want to check out http://www.starfall.com It looks useful.

That's it. That's the weekend news around here. What you got?

A general guide (my God, this is long...)

4:00 feed Anya when she wakes. put her back to bed

5:15 shower. get dressed. load pump bag with bottles for filling later. get bottles out of fridge with ice packs to go to day care. pack lunch.

5:55 wake up Ally. carry her upstairs. Give her the candy basket to get her daily 1 piece. dress her quickly while she's distracted. brush her hair ("you're hurting my hair!!!") and braid it (if you don't braid it, it's likely to come back from day care with food in it).

6:15 wake Anya up. change diaper and dress her. coat her. Rob is out of the shower and loading the car by now. He'll probably load her. brush Ally's teeth. "Come on Ally, come downstairs and get your coat on"

6:20 contacts in and brush my teeth. "Ally, come downstairs and get your coat on NOW"

6:23 "Faster Ally!" Shoes and coat on me.

6:24 Coat on Ally. Load her in the car. Drive to day care

6:40 Rob unloads Ally and drops her at day care. I take Anya.

6:50 Park and come to work.

6:55 Read emails.

~~~summarized, because I don't want to get Dooced

during breaks and stuff I read email and blogs. otherwise I work. I program internet and intranet applications in Java. Fun stuff. Currently learning how to manipulate PDF on the fly. Twice daily trips to the nurse's office to pump milk for Anya to eat tomorrow.

~~~end-summary

3:30 log off to leave work.

3:40 pick up the kids.

4:10 get home. Pee (It never fails. I walk in the door to my house and have to pee. Every time.) un-coat everyone and hang coats (most often over the arm of the couch, but that's still hanging them, right?) put away to the empty lunch stuff. put away the ice pack and cooler and dirty bottles from day care. put away pump bag. sort the mail. Shoo Ally outside, if possible. Throw some toys at them if not. Check what's for dinner.

5:00 one of us cooks dinner. It's about 50-50 who does it. the other one has to keep the kids out of the (too-small) kitchen, by whatever means necesary. Start some laundry

5:30 eat. Feed Anya as fast as possible, because if she runs out of food, she screams. "Eat your food Ally"

5:40 "Stop talking and put a bite in your mouth"

5:42 "I don't care which bite. Just take one!"

5:45 "Ally don't talk with food in your mouth"

5:46 " I don't want to talk right now Ally. I'm eating. I can't talk to you while I'm eating. It's not polite."

5:50 "Turn around. Daddy is watching TV, because he's done with supper. you're not done yet"

6:20 "yay, you ate a good supper" OR "you can get down now, but you didn't eat a good supper."

play a while

7:00 remember to switch the laundry

7:10 bath both kids. Ally in first. Then Anya. Ally's hair washed. then Anya's and they can play a bit

7:25 Anya out. Taken upstairs and diapered and pajama-ed. Left with Rob.

7:30 Ally out. Taken upstairs and pajama-ed and hair brushed.

7:45 Anya downstairs with me. Feed her in her room and lay her down to sleep.

8:00 vitamins for Ally. teeth brushed. potty time. 3 bedtime stories. Rob and I alternate nights. My nights off, I try to pick up the toys scattered on the floor, but I don't always get to it. Sometimes, I just sit around basking in the silence.

8:30 "Mom, I'm thirsty"

8:45 Ally asleep. I'm close to it.

somewhere between 9:30 and 10:30 Rob wakes me up on the couch and we go to bed.

Anya wakes up in the night 1 to 3 times and is easy to get back to sleep lately. occasionally, I have to spend a half hour or so rocking her.

fine print: For some reason, my server and comments don't work with Mac computers. Sorry. All I get is a blank comment. It annoys the piss out of me, but I'm too lazy to move all my crap to a different server. Feel free to email me (ktjrdn at yahoo dot com), but go ahead and post a comment if you want, because I never get many comments, and I really like to. Even though I won't be able to read it, it'll make me happy, because then I can email you about it and maybe even get another email in return. Woo-hoo. I like getting emails.

Update: enidd was kind enough to run a test for me and has confirmed that the problem isn't with Macs, per se, but with Safari. So if you feel the urge to comment with Firefox, you'll have no problem. What a PITA, though. blech.

Say goodbye to the conventional diet. Apparently, the only thing you have to do to stop gaining weight is to stop using soap. Especially men.  So eat all the chocolate you want, just don't shower.

What? That's not how you interpreted it?

Just to let you all know, the day care situation still sucks. They're still bastards, but we're dealing with it. Rob talked to his boss at the hospital and set up a tentative schedule for working. They have a shift open pretty often from 5pm to 1 am on Monday nights. He's going to try to do that every couple weeks and just work enough hours to not get kicked out. It has a plus side, in that we get paid for it and are currently beyond broke, but it means that he's tired as hell the next day. It also means that he's being forced to work, and that just chafes, you know? Screw them. But, it's a really good place for the kids to grow up, and it won't kill us, so we're going to keep up at it for a while and see what happens. We're still considering putting Anya somewhere else this summer before she gets too attatched, so we don't have to keep doing this for the next 5 years until she gets to kindergarden (only til Ally goes) but haven't made any decisions. Yet. Until then, I've decided to not be bitter about it (much) and just go on with life. Besides, they're renovating the playgrounds (they have 4, I think) and it looks like it's going to be awesome outside! The kids will love it this summer.

I got a new little widget thingy that tells me search strings. Most people that come by here already know me, but I've had some random visitors lately too. Today I noticed that someone came here by searching for "There's got to be someplace cleaner than this" I'm number two. How fitting.

So what do you tell your kid when she says "The kids in room 9 said I'm a baby"?

If you're good parent, you tell her that her friends were teasing, and it's not very nice. She's beautiful, smart, and a big girl, and she should ask them not to say it. (Um, I think that's what you'd say...)

If you're a bad parent, you say "It's because you are, you stupid baby.".

However, if you're me - you know, a annoying, nagging, irritable parent tired of all the whining -  you say the good parent thing, but add in that she chouldn't cry over everything, and maybe they'd stop teasing her**. Because her crying over every. little. stupid. thing! is driving me NUTS.  "Mooooommy, I huuuurt mysellllf" Well, are you ok? "Yeah" then she continues with whatever she was doing. It's like she has to have the validation from me to go on. I know Rob and I have probably created this (on accident) but I don't know how to stop it. I don't rush over everytime she hurts herself. I don't hover. I think I give her plenty of space to explore things safely and stuff. So why? why?

"(sniffle) I fell down outside cause I was running too fast and I cried(sniffle)"
"My friend took my toy away and I cried"
"Hannah said I couldn't play blocks with her, but I wanted to and she made me cry"

I want Ally to express her feelings. I do. I just don't want her feelings to rule her life. I don't want every little thing to make her sad. I want her to be able to make it through a day without being reduced to tears. I want her to be able to interact with her friends and deal with people. I want her to learn to be strong and have friends. Above all, I want her to be happy. not sad. The more time she spends on crying and whining about stuff, the less time she's able to enjoy her day. It makes me very sad. Sometimes I want to cry.

**And of course, we talked about how she's not a real baby. Real babies don't know how to talk yet and they are learning to walk and they drink bottles and go to the baby room. And about things she san say to people if they call her names and all the other responsible parent crap. But, I'm so tired of listening to the whining that I had to throw that annoying little bit in there. Why can't I just get over myself and deal with her without getting irritated with the neediness? Of course she needs me - she's 3. Grrr.