Atti's Quote of the Day

I had just put Wren to sleep and Atticus and I were headed back downstairs to play for a bit... he paused on the steps and said, " Mommy (long pause) no put bugs on Atti please." Huh? I have no clue what he was talking about, but I assured him that I had no plans to put bugs on him.

The weather has been bringing out all kinds of creatures. We've held ladybugs and doodle bugs in our hands. We've watched a worm in the front garden... we've squished some ants and shooed a few unidentifiable creatures back outside lately too, but nothing today. Not sure where the bug comment came from!

If You're Happy and You Know It

Clap Your Hands. Wren is now clapping. I'm sure she's done it sooner -- but it just dawned on me yesterday when she was so enthusiastic about the clapping. :) Go go little lady!

Winner Winner

So -- if you throw a big enough stink and contact the co-founders, you get things done quickly. :) My cookbooks from the Babble.com contest arrived yesterday.

Heh.

Eeek.

So another week has flown by -- or blown by as the case may be lately with the weather! My heart goes out to all the families affected by the tornados over the past few days. Mother Nature is NOT happy.

I've posted tons of new photos and videos to Picasa. If you'd like to be on the distribution list to see the pics, etc -- just shoot me an email and I'll send it over.

xo.

The Badens

Coffee

We didn't even have two hours... but it was a great night to sit out on the patio of Starbucks and drink a latte and chat with my best friend. Life is more complicated once you start factoring in kids. Glad we were able to sneak off for a bit.

Sick, Sick, Sick

And then came Monday morning. I woke up, rolled over and thought... ewwww, I feel kind of quesy. Then I tried to stand up. Yep, quesy. I hate hate hate being sick. And to top it all off - I had a ton of work to get done and I really needed to go into the office. I didn't have time to be sick!! Apparently no one heard my request and the remainder of the day I felt like death warmed over. Sick, sick, sick....

Oh, and did I mention that it was the first night of Passover and that Seder dinner was being held at my folk's house? The Mayraz/Bernstein/Hargis clan were cooking up a storm, as were we (well, I was supposed to be helping - but I was banned from touching anything someone else might eat...) and soon enough the whole house was filled with wine, food and The Four Questions. Did I mention the food? The very thought of food made me ill and the house was brimming with food. Ewwwww.

Thank goodness for small favors. I woke up today, Tuesday, feeling 90% back to normal. Let's hope tomorrow I'm back at 100%.

Sunday Funday

So, we arrived on Friday... had Bubbe's 60th birthday party on Saturday and had a relatively calm day on Sunday. Atticus was just an absolute doll on Sunday. He was listening, he was being funny, he was playing with Wren. We just had a fantastic day. He and I went for a couple of walks down to the end of my parent's street to see the backhoe and the digger. We picked wildflowers for Bubbe and Great Bubbe and I taught him how to blow on a dandelion and watch the seeds float off in the wind. We rode the new Y Bike all around the yard and in the house...It was just a really great day.

The party on Saturday was a ton of fun too. It was good to see everyone and I can't believe how many kids there were at the party! Atti found it a bit overwhelming and spent a hunk of the evening outside -- but it was a really good bash. I totally need to send a thank you card to my Aunt and Uncle for chasing Atticus around the backyard while I made the rounds and took care of Wren!

I've snapped a few photos and video on the camera that I'll upload once I'm back home.

The Flight to Dallas

Pardon the expression - but it was sheer Hell. Oh my goodness. Both of my children screamed for the majority of the 3 hour flight. It was awful. When the jet turned on the runway to begin taxiing for take-off, Atticus got upset because it was quite loud. Then -- the plane is in the air, and he refused to look out the windown, he just had a death grip from my left shoulder to my left elbow and kept trying to bury his head in my body. (Mind you at this exact time, I'm also attempting to nurse Wren to help with her ears...) As the plane gains altitude, Atti tells me that his ears hurt. He has his wooby, he has juice... neither is working. Wren isn't doing all that great either. I thought certainly she'd fall asleep -- we had to wake her early and here it was smack dab in the middle of her nap schedule. Nope. I'm attempting to bounce Wren, nurse her, move her from one leg to the other all with only my right arm because Atticus won't let go of my left arm. I tried bribing him with breakfast. I tried bribing him with M&Ms. I tried the new stickers in his Elmo backpack.... just about the time he was sort of calming down we hit a small bout of turbulence that sent him over the edge again. Oh, and add to this that I'm still shifting Wren around and the guy in front of me apparently was peeved and he threw his chair backwards clocking Wren in the head with the tray! I was speechless! (I know, hard to imagine...) Seriously -- it's pretty obvious that I was trying everything in my power to get the kids to calm down. Sigh... Atticus is doing well with his words and his vocabulary. He kept telling me that he didn't like the airplane and that he wanted to get off NOW. He wasn't so happy with having to stay strapped into his chair. Poor guy. On the upside - I didn't have to take either kiddo to the bathroom on the plane and the gate crew took my stroller out of the bag and reassembled it for me when I got off the plane. :)

Weather.

Ok... I still need to fill everyone in on the "adventure" of our trip to Dallas, but this is just a quick update on weather. I just watched the Dallas weather and it's supposed to be 89 degrees tomorrow here. (Not terribly surprising -- I did actually get a sunburn today!) So, I thought I'd check the weather in Perrysburg. No joke, it's supposed to snow. SNOW. Oy.

Just Call Me Chevy

I will be playing the part of Chevy Chase in less than 48 hours. Me, the two kids, the double stroller, the backpack with the laptop, the diaper bag, the two suitcases, the Elmo backpack, the baby sling, etc etc. I'm a wee bit petrified.

Actually, I think once I get the bags checked in - and get through security, it won't be terrible. But then I have this nagging thought -- what happens on the flight when one of the kids needs a new diaper? There isn't exactly room in the lav of a MD-80 to squeeze one adult, one toddler, one infant and a fold down changing table. And well, I can't very well leave the two year old strapped into the seat while I take the little one to the lav, can I? I suppose that's not nearly as scary a proposition as what happens when I need to change Atticus! If he just pees - poor kid may just have to live with it until we land. If he poops - goodness help all of us, no matter what I do the whole plane will smell like poop. Please Lord, if you're listening (and/or reading) don't let Atticus go poop on the airplane. Please.

Thanks.

Do YOU Like Apples?

Atticus and I had a pretty normal evening at home. Dinner, some playing, bath, stories and bed. After I left his room tonight, I could hear him talking (to Tigger I presume). "Do YOU like apples? Do you? Do YOU like apples?" I kept waiting for the "punk" to fall somewhere in those lines. It was really funny.

It all comes from a book on apples we checked out from the library. Along with Atticus's fantastic memory of our family going to the apple orchard up in Michigan last fall. Who knew a two year old's memory could outpace an adult's recollection skills?

Two Steps Forward

Well... we've now successfully peed in the potty several times over the weekend. We've had the most luck right after bath and before bed as well as once in the morning. I haven't quite mastered his daytime schedule to know WHEN to put him on the potty. He's getting quite good at telling me the instant he goes -- but we haven't quite mastered telling me BEFORE he needs to go.

But, of course - there was one step back too over the weekend. Saturday night, after bath -- all wrapped up in the towel to dry off, before going to sit on the potty -- Atti was sitting on my lap to put on his pajama top when I felt something warm on my leg.... sigh... He peed in the towel before we made it to the potty. Ooops.

Wren

Wren said bye-bye and waved tonight when we went upstairs!

~ Jen
Sent from my iPhone

Babble

Literally Babble.com. I saw on Facebook that I'd won a couple of cookbooks from one of their daily contests. Cool, eh? Except that they haven't contacted me. Boo. I finally got a tiny response after posting on someone else's "I Won" comment -- but all they said was that they contacted me via Facebook. Ugh. I really want to find out what I won!

Otherwise - it's just been a crazy week. Preschool admission processes, a trip to the dentist (oh joy) and sheer madness at the office. Greg and I did make it out for a date night earlier in the week. That was a rare treat. Many thanks to Brianna for watching the kids. Greg and I snuck out for sushi -- a very rare treat! It was good to get out for a couple of hours. Refreshing. We'll have to try and do it again.

I'm mentally preparing for our trip to Dallas. It's going to be an adventure to say the least. I'm just picturing me, a double stroller, two kids, a diaper bag, my backpack, the ERGO, a couple of suitcases and a triple shot grande Starbucks. If there isn't a Starbucks open at the airport, it's not going to be pretty. I still haven't quite figured out how it's going to work on the plane if one or both kids needs to be changed.... quite the dilemma.

We're also hammering out the details for our trip to California for Gavin's wedding. Atticus is quite looking forward to going to California. He's been practicing carrying a small pillow -- and I think he's going to be an awesome Ring Bearer! I need to try his tux on and get his feet measured so I can look for shoes! It's going to be fun.

Ok... need to finish cleaning up and go look at some more spreadsheets and graphs...

Government Shutdown

I never thought I'd pay so much attention to the inner workings of Washington. I'm concerned with government and politics - but I don't follow issues religiously. I vote, but I don't have any real political passions I'd say...

However... a government shutdown would affect my life in a negative way. Greg is employed by the Federal Government. Any shutdown would essentially put the kabosh on his paycheck. That sucks, huh?

So -- for the sake of my grocery bill, and a balanced budget for all Americans, can we please resolve this issue by the end of the week? Thanks!

Stress.

Dude. Who knew preschools in New Orleans could cause this much stress? Wait lists, possible openings for one kiddo but not the other - maybe across town in Metarie? Maybe? Call this person. Call that person. Call every connection you can think of and have them put in a good word to bump you up on the wait list...

I'm going to have to be super involved in the Jewish community once we arrive to repay all these kind folks sticking up for us and trying to get my kids into a great preschool program! Not that being involved is bad -- no way -- I think it will be good for my heart and soul to get out and make friends and get involved with the community again.

In the meantime, I'll just stress about my kids getting into preschool. (Don't even mention NYC to me yet...)