I'm registered for blogHer. Yay. a little mini-vacation. um sort of. I'm taking at least Darra and the kids with me and maybe my mom and nieces, but I get to talk to adults and meet some of my internet friends (Except Erin. crap. if you could get here, you (and your then 2 week old little Lucy) could totally stay with me) So YAY!

Last night I wouldn't let her sleep in the tent her dad bought for her. I read her stories in it, then made her go downstairs to her room for bed. She told me "I don't want to." I told her that it was bedtime anyway, and she came back with "I don't want you. I want Daddy." Then this morning, I woke her up and she said the same thing when I started to get her dressed. This kid is developing some serious attitude. We've got to nip this in the bud.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Only 4 days left!

So, I got this phone call on Thursday from Rob's mom. "Katie, have you got the girls Easter candy yet? Because I just realized that I bought way too much, so you don't need to buy any, ok?" um, ok. I had planned on being a mean Mommy and only getting the girls toys this year, because we still have Halloween candy left. but, since we all know how I feel about candy, I wasn't about to turn it down. Love me some chocolate.

She wasn't kidding. Way too much. She didn't even bring me all of it, but wow. I've got to pull some out of Ally's basket, because she'll never decide what kind to pick if she has that many to choose form. Thanks Darra! That means I'll get to eat a bunch of it too. yum.

So Anyway, Saturday during nap, we put all the candy in plastic eggs (for hiding the next day) and gathered all the stuff we had bought for the kids. Then I realized that we would need some BIG easter baskets, so I had to dump one of the baskets that regularly holds some of Ally's toys and requisition it for the job. (See flickr.) There were bubbles, books, sand buckets, chalk, fingerpaints, stuffed stuff (mostly rabbits), this weird little chick that chirps when you hold it, and more. Ally was thrilled. Anya's basket, of course, had a ball in it. She loves balls of every kind. Most of the stuff I got for them was carefully picked out by them at Dollar General a couple days before. not a surprise, but guaranteed to be wanted. What was my point? oh yeah, Big baskets!

Sunday, we started the day off with some candy. Just a piece or 2, and it wasn't really a big deal. We went to Grandma's house and dyed eggs. And then some peeps were eaten. Ally and Marley went outside afterward and hid and found for quite a while. It was very cold, but they didn't seem to mind. My uncle Steve went with them. The kids took turns with him hiding and them finding and vice versa. Everytime they hid them, he'd come out and say something like "I wonder where they could be" and one of them would run to an egg and yell "I found one!" well, duh. you just hid it there 30 seconds ago. LOL Very funny! They played outside until there hands were about frozen. Ally ate practically nothing at lunch. She played with her cousins and had a great time. Anya was busy chasing the dogs around if they came inside. And just generally wandering around. She actually managed to get an entire plastic Easter egg in her mouth, so we had to outlaw them. She has a big mouth! Ally utterly failed to have a nap. instead, she went for a walk with Rob and his mom out in the "deep, deep woods" (which was mostly empty field, I think.)

I learned to make the crocheted names myself, and we took a 4 generations picture and had to leave. Ally had some more candy before we left. (Does anyone see where this is going?) She asked for another peice when we got home. I gave her one and told her it was the last one until she had a good supper. She asked me again, and I repeated myself. lather, rinse, repeat. I told her to stop asking. If she asked again before she had eaten a good supper, I would throw away a peice of candy. So she asked me. And I threw one away. She was shocked. I explained myself and reminded her that she doesn't get treats when she doesn't listen. blah, blah blah.

So, then for supper she eats her chicken, but not her corn. Said her tummy was full. I warned her that she didn't have a good supper. We talked about it and she wanted down anyway. 10 seconds later, what does she ask me? You guessed it. So I threw away another piece of candy. It broke her heart. She started bawling. Ran over to the couch and threw herself down crying. Oh my god. So I explained again why it happened and that she needs to listen when we tell her things. Then I had to go put Anya to bed, and Rob talked to her about it for a while. Since he's not the one who did it, she listened to him a little more and I think understood. She calmed down at least. We made sure she went to bed early that night.

Some people that I have told about this seem outraged and think that I've lost my temper. (which I didn't. I told her the cnosequences and when she didn't listen, I followed through with them calmly) Others told me I was being a good mom. I don't know which is true, but I think it was the right thing to do. I know that it made me feel like shit. I hope that I won't have to do it again.

*And Darra, I'm not blaming you for this at all. I only mentioned your part in bringing it because I thought the phone call was funny. I'm actually really really enjoying the chocolate. It was the holiday and the mood that Ally's been in lately, and the no nap. Please don't misunderstand.

There has been a monster living at our house lately. It leaves a green wet trail where ever it goes. Everything it touches is left covered in slobber.  It peirces the eardrums of all who attempt to thwart it. It is teething. We call her Anya. Or sometimes "that one". As in "I'll deal with this one if you can just shut that one up for a minute"

But last week the monster started to fade. She started playing with toys again without the now-normal screaming. We are now able to be seperated for more than 5 seconds occassionally. She has a tooth. It poked through last week finally. I attempted to take a picture of the tooth, but instead got the monster. 

It's a piece from the Mr Potato Head alien set

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And don't forget to enter the contest!

I feel like shit. Well, mostly it's gone away, but I still feel like I've felt like shit for 4 days which is also a bad feeling. Thursday, I started to get sick. Many many bathroom trips later, I realized it wasn't jsut the brats I had for supper. Friday I came to work, but my mind was completely out to lunch. (Not that that is a problem at my job). Nasty. When I got home, I collapsed on the floor in the living room, and just let life go on around me until I was neded. Ally was so cute. "Do you have a tummy ache Mommy? My tummy hurts too" not that I noticed at the time. I was just wishing she would get off me, so that she wouldn't get whatever bug I had picked up. I am not looking forward to her having it if it comes. Saturday and Sunday, I mostly felt better, but still had numerous trips to the bathroom.  was able to finally have something besides crackers and Sprite (My husband was so kind. He even ran out to the gas station to get me some soda at like 9:00 Friday night to help make me feel better. he had offered to do it earlier and I declined, because I didn't want to be left alone with the kids awake. i figured he'd be annoyed that I wanted him to go out that late, but he didn't say a word and ran right out for me. Sometimes I love that man!) at lunch Saturday. And I felt pretty good Sunday at Easter at grandmas house. Mostly better in fact. Just a little weak still. But when my stomach started dealing with lunch, it got bad again. not terrible, but enough to make me sure eating wasn't the best idea I'd had all day. I lost 5.5 pounds in 4 days. Yuck. So if you've been wondering where I am, that's it. I've probably been reading you're blogs/emails and stuff, but not really in the frame of mind to have anything interesting to say about them. It's better, and I'm sure I'll return to my scintillating self again soon. And when I do, I have lots of good things to say about Easter. It was great fun. I love watching the kids play with family. and I didn't feel to bad to enjoy it by then eaither. But, then we had the candy whining start. grr.

~ cya later

Hey, there's this thing going on. Someone's trying to give away money (1/2 of what he raises, so really, he's just trying to make some money) to pay people to blog for a year. He's trying to raise $80,000 which is pretty farfetched. But even if he doesn't make it, he's giving half of what he's got. That's currrently over $600. To win, you have to have the most votes. I'm horribly behind, but am registered anyway. My chances of winning are pretty bad, and it's entirely possible that this is all a bunch of crap anyway, but I'm going to ask all of you to go over there and vote for me anyway. you can do it once a day, so go back tomorrow and do it to. Please?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And don't forget to enter the contest!

I'm on a roll with the scrapbooking.

http://ktjrdn.photosite.com/scrapbook2007/PumpkinGrin.html

I need your opinion. You know I had one of Ally's friends over a month or so ago, right? It never even occured to me that I might have done something wrong until I overheard a conversation the other day. Not about me, but I'm in the same situation. I didn't mention something to Maggie's mom which she might have wanted to know before letting her kid come over.

We own guns. Rob and I each have one. They are kept in our bedroom in  2 lockboxes which are keypad and key locked. The keys are not kept within reach of children. They are not loaded with a magazine, but the magazines are full and also kept locked in the box. I haven't even touched mine since I was in my first trimester with Anya (I used to get paranoid that I heard something when Rob was gone overnight working. I'd load it and wander around the house with it before I could go back to sleep. Preganancy paranoia). At some point I'm sure we'll talk about it to the kids, but we haven't yet.  

So my question is this: Did I do something wrong when I didn't mention it to Sandy (Maggie's mom)? Should I have? I never even thought of it. It seems like something I'd want to know but I never think to ask either. I assume that if there are guns present they will be locked and inaccessible. Like ours are. Should I mention it for future playdates? How would I bring it up? It sounds awfully ominous bringing up guns when discussing a playdate. Is there a certain age when I should start paying more attention to it? What do you think?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't forget to enter the contest!

Ok, so I wasn't gone long. I didn't have much work to do actually. I had to write some documentation for some work I had done previously (oh and I forgot to write a program for a class I'm taking that was due last week. oops. So I had to get that done too) So now I won't have anything to do for another month or so, probably. i hat emy job

So I never got around to telling you how the weekend went. I did post pictures, so those of yuo who checked out Flickr know we had an Easter egg hunt. That was Saturday. Our subdivision has one every year. Ally had a good time. She's been looking forward to this since I told her about it. She asks me constantly "Is it Easter time yet?" So of course she had a good time. She picked up lots of eggs. She had a great time. She even decided on her own that she had found enuogh eggs and quit. Which was cool because we still have halloween candy left. We sure don't need a bunch more.

I figured Anya would right away pick up a couple eggs and wander aroud banging them together. I was wrong. Rob had to restrain her because she wanted to start before it was time to go.  He helped her and she actually put them in her basket and looked for more. Unilt her basket got more in it than ewre on the ground around it. Then she started pulling them out. But she had a great time wandering around. They reuse the eggs every year, but we kept 2, because she just didn't want to part with them. 

For those who checked out yoUTube, you know that we had Ally's first dance recital this weekend. it was a very informal one (Thank God) at a retirement center in town. She was on her best behavior. i think that was because a couple of her friends didn't show up. She's always more calm without them there. I think familiarity breeds exctement. Anyway, i was proud. She did good.

Sunday we went over to Rob's dad's house to visit. She got to play outside with her cousins for a long time. A good time was had. So that was the weekend. Not too exciting, but fun

In case you were wondering, Jill was right. The other day, we had both forgotten our anniversary. Duh.

In completely unrelated news, our microwave died this week. I'm so sad. I've had this microwave since my dad gave it to me about 7 years ago. It was huge. I liked it. Our new one is an interloper. The start button isn't where it should be and you have to push "cook time" in order to punch in a specific time or else it uses the express cook thingy-ma-bob. Grr. plus the clock is bright green, but kinda small, so from across the room, it just looks like a green blob. (Um, yeah, it also cost $100 bucks, because of course, we couldn't just get a small cheap one, oh no!) I miss my microwave.

Also, I'm going to blogher. I'm going to get to meet some of the people that I read everyday. I am not sure of the plans yet, but I'm getting ecited. I don't ever get to do fun things like that myself. yay. If you're going, we totally have to get together! Let me know

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't forget to enter the contest!

I have work to do! OMG, I'm not sure I know how to deal with this. It'll probably only keep me busy for a day or so, but work! I have work to do!

um, I better get busy doing it, huh?

I have decided to get out of my scrapbook funk and do some more. I've started smoe pages and quit because I just wasn't feeling it. But I'm going to force myself. Check out my scrapbook link ->

I have some really cute videos of Anya dancing, but my firewall at work won't let me get to youTube. They figured people were spending too much time there instead of working or something so they blocked it. So now I have to try to remember to post them form home. So far it's not working, but I'm determined to do it tonight. I also have videos from Ally's first dance recital at a nursing home Saturday. she did great. very cute.

I got the Easter pictures back too. check them out (link under Ally's "Easter" and Anya's "11 months old" are the same) ->

I uploaded the Easter egg hunt pictures to Flickr too. Hunt is kind of a stretch of the imagination though. They basically just threw them on the ground and let the kids swarm on them. It's always great fun, and this time was no exception. Anya even picked them up and put them in her basket. I figured she'd just grab a couple and ignore the rest, but I was wrong. i ran back and forth between the kids taking pictures.

So, um click around and check out all the new stuff.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't forget to enter the contest!

>>> ROBERT SWANER 04/02/2007 7:55:09 AM >>>
friday april 13 or sat 14th. jeff planning have us over for dinner. any conflicts?

>>> KATIE SWANER 04/02/07 7:56 AM >>>
It seems like there was something the 13th but I can't remember...

Anyone know what it was we were forgetting on the 13th?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't forget to enter the contest!

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....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.