Ahhhhh

When is the last time you went in the hot tub before work? Never? Yeah, well me either. But yesterday I did. And it was glorious. For the past day and a half my hubby and I have been child-less. My fantastic in-laws took them for a few days to give us a little respite. Since moving to Columbus, life has dished out one thing after another. Thankfully nothing too bad, but each one has worn us down. We really needed the break, so that combined with the fact that it was my b-day weekend resulted in their generous offer. Two kids under 4 are certainly a handful! These days of leisure…so foreign now…how would we fill them? On Sunday, my bday, we worked in the yard and got a ton done (it's amazing how much you can accomplish without two little ones underfoot). That night we holed up in our bed room and had dinner in bed while watching one of my all time favorite movies…Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Shake and Bake baby! Part of the reason we chose to hole up in the boudoir is that our AC unit was broken (see "one thing after another" above). It proved to be an excellent excuse to stop, relax and spend time together. Just what the couples doctor ordered. I do miss my kids, but am happy that I can relax and enjoy this time knowing they are in excellent hands, eating junk food galore, watching tv, playing with the animals and loving every minute! Thanks MB and CB, this "vacation" was awesome!

Differences

Bath time just became interesting. Last week, while bathing WA and IA, WA looked at her and said…"Mommy, where's IA's penis?". Whoa boy. This was the first time WA has directly shown an interest in anatomy and anything remotely circling the birds and bees. I wasn't exactly prepared (though I should have been considering my CT friend has blogged about her daughter's curiosity. LP is an intensely bright and inquisitive little girl, that should have tipped me off this was coming…). I explained to him that boys have different parts down there than girls. Luckily he was content with this explanation and didn't press for more details. He did however turn to me and say…"Well, Mommy. Boys have penises, they are ROCK STARS!" Why yes WA, little do you know just how right you are.

Certainly not Kansas

Ever have a moment where you pass an accident and think "If only I had left 5 minutes earlier" or hear about a scary incident and think " What if I had decided to take the subway instead of that cab "? Moments where you realize how fragile life is and how you're constantly avoiding disaster without even knowing it? I had that experience last weekend.

The kids, hubby and I went up to my in-laws, right outside of Toledo, for my sister-in-law's high school graduation. We were extremely proud of her and happy to celebrate her accomplishments. Graduation day started off with a few bumps, and a glimpse in to what having an emotional teen aged girl is going to be like. We made it out the door with zero minutes to spare and raced to the ceremony. We took our seats, listened to speeches and cheered as KB walked across the stage. Very cool. I've only known KB for a little over 7 years, but I felt like a proud mama watching her hit this milestone. After the ceremony we headed home. I stayed there with IA as she took a much needed nap and the rest of the family went out for a celebratory lunch. Later that day WA and I headed to a local Butterfly House and we had a blast checking out some amazingly beautiful creatures. WA freaked out when the butterflies tried to land on him, and I can't blame him considering they were the size of a very large man's hand. We took a break and went back in, me hoofing him around the whole time, and he was much calmer. I'd recommend a trip to a Butterfly house if you can find one…they are just pure happiness. WA and I then went back to my in-laws. My in-laws offered to watch the kids so the hubby and I could go to the movies. Well, they didn't have to ask ME twice! We bolted out the door and ended up seeing "Get Him to the Greek", a light, entertaining comedy. After the movie we headed back to the in-laws. We arrived home to find both kids sleeping and the rest of the family watching TV. I hung out for a little bit and headed to bed at roughly 10pm. At that point it was raining, but fairly calm out. About an hour and a half later my hubby came crashing in to the room yelling "Get IA, there's a tornado!". HOLY CRAP! WHAT?!? Not exactly the most calming way to awake from a deep sleep. I went to the living room to see what was going on. T he news was on, the sirens were going off, my husband and father-in-law were checking outside and my mother-in-law and sister-in-law were looking fraught. The doppler showed that there were at least three tornados either spotted in the air or ones that had touched down, all within a handful of miles from us. I calmly went to retrieve IA and WA and headed to an interior bathroom. What made this situation even more scary is that my in-laws have no basement. Yup….tornado + no basement = not so comforting. I ended up huddled in the bathtub with both kids as the rest of the family either monitored the skies (in hindsight maybe not the smartest thing) or collected flashlights. We stayed in the tub for maybe 20 mins and got an "all clear" shortly thereafter. I definitely did not realize, until later, just how serious the situation was. The next day we learned that a horse barn down the road was destroyed (and the horse's freed), that 5 people were killed just 10miles down the road, and that several local homes and municipal building were destroyed or damaged. To think that only 10 miles came between us and a not-so-great outcome. That's not a lot of distance. I'm SO thankful we are all ok and that ignorance is truly bliss….otherwise I would have been FAR more freaked out. I think next time I will be. NA, you're not in CT anymore.

My fix

Thank goodness for the Droid. A couple weeks ago the hubby and I happily bit the bullet and bid farewell to the Blackberry. We took advantage of a "buy one, get one free" offer and ended up with two Droids. My bitter hubby has to wait for his, since it's on backorder, and has been fidgeting with mine to get his fix. I've only downloaded free apps so far (i kinda haven't gotten over the mental hump of paying for one yet) and I love Shazaam. But what do I love the best? I love the Droid gallery which pulls in photos from all over the place (picasa, email downloads, etc) and elegantly displays them for me in an easy to use browsable format. I've already used it multiple times when I ache to see the Allmanettes during the day. It may not be the real thing, but its a heck of a good fix! Thanks Droid!

IA's 18mo stats

IA went to the docs earlier this week. Her stats are as follows..

Height- 97%

Weight - 95%

Head - 50%

Same exact percentages as her 15mo checkup. She's definitely a kid that gets mistaken for one much older and whose cute baby gut is almost too big for size 2T; she is adorable and i wouldn't change her for the world!

"Presents"

First of all...Happy Mother's Day to all the fabulous moms who frequent this blog!

Today I got a little star treatment (it being mom's day and all). It wasn't overboard, but just some nice solid appreciation. My favorite part of the whole experience was getting presents from JA and the kids. With the presentation of each gift, WA proudly announced what was in each package before handing it over (i think WA forgot he had told me upon returning home from shopping with his dad the day before). As any good mom would do, I acted surprised and thrilled. The thrill was legit...even if the surprise may not have been:).

Here is a pic that perfectly captures WA at the moment...on our way to the zoo today. Yes, the hockey attire was totally required.

My best friend

Today I had a bit of a heart breaker conversation with WA. We were riding in the car, just he and I, and out of the blue he said "Mommy, Jacob is my best friend.". Now, that's great, Jacob is a pretty rad kid, but they only problem is that Jacob lives in CT. He and WA were classmates at WA's old daycare. WA looooved him, possibly even idolized him a bit. I'm very glad that WA formed a friendship that was so meaningful to him, but the same sort of thing doesn't seem to be happening here in Ohio. We then went on to talk about Jacob and how he lives in CT and how we now live in OH. I asked who his best friend here is and he said "No one.". I said "No one?" "Not even Will or Owen?" (two of his new classmates). Once again he said "No.". "Mommy, I don't have a best friend here, no one likes me." Uff, and there went the dagger in to my heart.

His teacher says that he plays with all the kids at school and there's no real reason for concern (we'd chatted about how WA was doing and I asked if he was making friends). Still, it kind of sucks when you're kid essentially tells you he feels like a loser. My wish for him is that he keeps the memory of all his best CT friends alive (there were a few really great ones!) and also finds someone here that he connects with as well. I know he will, it's just that I worry. And guilt...there's a bit of that too.