Tree Trimming 2012

Every year we get together at my mom's house to decorate her Christmas New Year's tree with the dozens of ornaments purchased by my father throughout the years.  It's become a really lovely tradition, especially since my dad passed. He was really into purchasing all kinds of unique and beautiful ornaments, so as we hang them on the tree, we think of him and miss him dearly.  Here are some photos from a really special day.

Just lounging around...

 

 Rockin' a cane like a true pimp

I can't recall if this was before or after they started dancing Gangham style

Celebrating Ivy's 5 month Birthday

Holiday Card 

(except half of us aren't looking and the background is kinda lame)

Matchy Matchy (Part Two)

Who Wore it Best?

This segment is also called, "Bitch Baby Stole my Look!"

Here is a series of pictures, of the girls, in similar situations or wearing similar things.  Can you tell the difference between Ivy and Violet?

1. Bath Time

 2. Brown Striped Onesie

 3. Sitting in the Bumbo

 4. Colorful Pajama

 5. Pink Prison Stripes

 6. Red Hat

 Answer Key: 
1. Ivy, Violet 
2. Violet, Ivy
3. Ivy, Violet
4. Ivy, Violet
5. Violet, Ivy
6. Ivy, Violet

Turks and Caicos (yes, again)

I am not sure what I was thinking when I booked a vacation with a 2.5 year old and a 4 month old.  At some point, I must have thought, "this is crazy!" but those kind of thoughts rarely get in my way of doing what I want to do.  Over the years Gene has gotten used to my madness and now just goes along with my wacky ideas and sometimes even encourages them.  Now, don't get me wrong, the vacation was fun and still definitely beat staying home in cold weather.  I am just not sure if it's deserving of the name "vacation".  Here's one definition I found.

va·ca·tion (noun) - A period of time devote to pleasure, rest, or relaxation, especially one with pay granted to an employee.

Ok, let's break it down.  Pleasure.  Do quickies count?  Rest.  Negative.  Relaxation.  Not so much. Pay granted to an employee. OK, we got one out of four.

Truthfully though, if you don't count the times that Ivy would scream endlessly when trying to fall asleep, the vacation was actually fantastic.  Here is what a typical day was like:

5:00am-5:30am:  When the sun began to rise in Turks, so did Violet. She would get out of bed, run into our room screaming and of course wake up Ivy.  It took us a good two hours (at least) to get ready for breakfast. Most of that time was spent lounging around in bed and watching cartoons.

8:00am - Breakfast.  It was right around this time that Ivy would start screaming on top of her lungs because she was tired and unable to self soothe.  If she's sleepy, she screams, and screams, and screams.  Either Gene or I would leave the restaurant mid breakfast and walk around the resort until she would finally fall asleep thanks to the movement of the stroller.

8:40am - Ivy wakes up from her short nap and we spend the next 40 minutes slathering the kids in sunblock.

9:20am - We finally make our way down to the beach.  Violet plays with the dozens of beach toys provided by the hotel; this keeps her busy for hours.

9:40am - Ivy is tired. Yes, more screaming.  Once again, Gene or I walk around the resort grounds (with a screaming baby in the stroller) praying Ivy falls sleep.  Usually this took about 10-20 minutes. Her second nap was typically about 2 hours so this gave us tons of time to swim, tan, kayak and build sand castles with Violet.  This was also probably the most relaxing time of our day.

noon - We go back to our room and I cook Violet lunch and get her ready for nap time.

1:00pm - Violet is asleep, so of course this means that Ivy will be awake.  At almost no point during this vacation were we lucky enough to have both kids sleeping at the same time.  With Violet asleep, Gene or I would walk down to one of the restaurants and bring back some lunch, which we ate on our patio while sipping Rose. (we so fancy!)

2:30pm- Ivy falls asleep.

2:31pm - Violet wakes up.

3:30pm- Usually both girls are awake and we spend an hour or so by the pool.

4:30ish-  It gets dark and chilly pretty early so we go back to our room to shower, watch some TV and get ready for dinner.

6:00pm- We pick restaurants that are 15-30 minutes away (walking) so that Ivy can fall asleep in her stroller.

6:30pm - Dinner is scarfed down quickly and I spend most of it praying Ivy doesn't wake up and start her usual scream fest.  By this time, Violet is usually tired and cranky so the crayons and tablet come in pretty handy.

8:00pm - We're back at the hotel and both kids are ready for bed time.

8:30pm - They are asleep!!! Hallelujah!!! Party Time!!!

8:31pm - zZZzzzZZ...

Here are some highlights from the trip.

Fashionista in Training

 I seriously can't stand the cuteness

 Ivy's carrier came in handy when dinner was a little bit of a hike

(this now also justifies me buying a second carrier)

Oops we left one kid in pajamas

 Gene and Violet kayaked several times because Violet wanted to try out all the different color boats

  The return of the red hat

 The obligatory self taken photo

From One to Two

I often think about what was harder, going from no kids to one or one kid to two.  After giving the matter some thought I concluded that the responsibility that comes along with having a child is by far the scariest and toughest part of parenthood.  Once you have a kid, having a second one is a hell of a lot more work but at least it's no longer scary.  Sure it becomes nearly impossible to go out to a restaurant and leaving the house takes at least an hour (more in the winter), but the chaos that comes along with two kids is still better than those first few months of insecurity that comes with having your first.  Did I feed her the right thing? Why is she crying?  Is it a cold? Or the flu?  Maybe she's teething?   Or is it a growth spurt?  Once you get all those questions out of the way with your first, life becomes a lot less complicated, albeit a lot more hectic. Of course this is just my opinion and isn't necessarily shared by everyone. Here's one mother's opinion on the matter...

So the other day we’re at a restaurant and this pregnant lady with her toddler leans over from the next table and asks, “How is it having two kids?” The way I see it, I can answer her in one of three ways:

1.     Thank God for Roe v. Wade, lady, because you still have a choice.

2.     Here take one of mine for the day and you can see. And I get to choose which one.

3.     It’s nice.

Being the lazy person that I am, I go with number three, when really in my head I’m thinking, “You really want to know how it is going from one kid to two?” Read’m and weep:

1. Going anywhere sucks ass. Remember all the crap you had to carry when you had your first baby? Now multiply that times two and add another poop machine to the mix. This is when you’re gonna wish you were one of those third world country chicks who can balance baskets on her head. Yeah, you’d look like a total whack job, but who gives a shit.

2. Feeding two kids is a bitch. Just when you’re all stoked because your firstborn can finally feed herself and you can go back to eating with two hands, an adorable little piranha comes along to chomp his way up your once again bleeding nips. And then when he can finally eat solids, he’s like, “I don’t give a rat’s ass if that’s what my sister liked. I’m going to pick totally different shit and make you figure it out all over again.” The only good news is you know how you used to cut blueberries in 16ths so your baby wouldn’t choke to death? When it comes to number 2, you’ll slap a whole rib-eye in front of him and let him go to town.

3. Awwww, remember how nice and quiet bedtime was when you just had one child? Lying on the floor together as a family reading bedtime stories? Say adios to that shit. Because now #1 (#1 my ass) is there to help you put #2 (who #2s like a thousand times a day) to bed. Which is like putting a baby to sleep in a room full of strobe lights with a Megadeth album playing at the highest volume.

4. Okay, you thought keeping one kid’s hands out of the frigging tampon trashcan in the public restroom sucked when it was just her. Now you’ve got two little a-holes to deal with. And I mean a-holes literally. One of them’s still in dipes, so you have to go back to using some nasty ass changing table that poop’s touched like a thousand times, while the other kid is on the loose sucking the toilet handle (one of those broken ones that squirts water when you flush it) and there’s nothing you can f’ing do about it because if you let go of the baby he’ll roll off and crack his head open. Are we having fun yet?

5. We have a new rule in our house. Only one kid can cry at a time. Does it work? Hell no. If it did, I’d buy a baby on the black market and stick it with pins all the time so it’d cry and my kids wouldn’t be allowed to.

6. You know how you saved all of those awesome baby toys to pass down to #2? Think again. Because as soon as #1 sees Sophie the mother-f’ing $22 giraffe that’s really just a dog toy packaged in a fancy box, she and the stupid chew toy are like two goddamned lost lovers running towards each other in a field, and your second child is more like a third wheel. Nope, from now on buy two of everything. And if you can’t afford two, buy cheaper shit and buy two.

7. When baby’s sleeping Mommy should too. Remember that shit they told you in the hospital? Well WTF does Mommy do if they never sleep at the same time? And speaking of napping… just as your arm feels like it’s going to literally fall off like you’re in a Monty Python skit because your friggin’ infant car seat weighs like a thousand pounds, your baby grows out of it and you’re like how the F is he supposed to sleep on the go if I don’t have the infant car seat anymore? So you have two choices. Stay home all day long like you’re Paris F’ing Hilton on house arrest because one of your kids is always napping, or go out and about your day as one of your kids is constantly exhausted and losing his shit in public.

8. I’ll bet you always thought it’d be awesome having two kiddos because they’d play with each other. Ehhh, wrong. They’ll play with each other, in likefive years. For the first few years, your oldest will play with your youngest like a crazy ass killer whale plays with a seal in the surf. “Here little baby who stole Mommy and Daddy’s attention from me. You know how mama and dada keep bragging about your neck muscles being so strong, why don’t you come over here so I can pick you up by your head and see if they’re right.”

Anyways, there you go weird lady who asks loaded questions to random strangers at restaurants. I could go on and on about all the ways going from one to two is just awesome (insert sarcastic looking emoticon face here), but my #1 has my #2 in a princess dress and a chokehold. Double shit, someone’s knocking at my front door right now. "Who izzz it? Oh hello, DSS!"

Ivy is 5 months!

Here are some of the things she has been up to:

-rolls over from tummy to back
-chews on hands and feet
-tried solids (avocado, squash, oatmeal, apple, pear, ice cream)
-hangs out in her excersaucer, jumperoo and bumbo
-plays with small toys
-sits (supported)
-bathes with Violet
-usually naps 3 times per day

Simple Moments

Little Bear

Apple Mush

JUMP!!!

Gene said that one day we will look back at this picture and be horrified by our tiny, cluttered apartment

Thanksgiving 2012

Preparing for the big day

My very talented husband made this veggie turkey

Love seeing all the kids together.  Peter is slowly growing out of the "kid" category :(

Big week of "firsts"

FIRST...

• solid food (apples)
• bath with Violet
• airplane ride (Turks and Caicos)
• ride in her big girl stroller (converted from bassinet to upright seat)

4 Month Update

weights: 13 lb, 5 oz (36th percentile)

height: 26 inches 

Matchy Matchy

Solve for X

Part A:
Ivy is 134 days old.  I have been pumping for (roughly) 100 days at about 1-2 times per day (let's say 1.5).  Each pumping session is about 20 minutes. How many hours have I wasted spent pumping?

Part B:
Each pumping session yields (on average) 6 oz. of milk.  How many ounces have I pumped since Ivy was born?

Part C:
Ivy drinks 5 ounces per feeding.  She eats at 4am, 8am, 11am 2pm, 5pm and 8pm.  I have about 115 oz of frozen milk left. How fast would Ivy go through the entire supply of milk if I quit breastfeeding cold turkey?

Bonus Question:
How much longer have I been breastfeeding Ivy (vs. Violet)? How much longer will I last?

Answers:
A. 50 hours or more than 2 days!!
B. 900 oz!
C. Just shy of 4 days!
D.  12 weeks with Violet.  19 weeks and counting with Ivy (shooting for 6 months)

Bronx Botanical Garden

I'll never let go...

Violet was sitting on the couch when I placed baby Ivy next to her, leaning her against a pillow.  She isn't sitting yet, so I jokingly said, "Ivy, don't fall!"  Violet put her hand on Ivy's head and said, "Mommy, I hold her. She never fall"

Can this kid be any more sweet?

Castles in the sky

We were driving on the BQE, right under the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, with the Manhattan skyline directly to our left when Violet saw the skyscrapers and with extreme enthusiasm announced, "Wow! Looks at all the castles!"

The Thinker(s)

Home cooking with Violet

Whole wheat grilled cheese with a side of cucumbers

Ivy meets David

It was love at first sight!  Not exactly, since no matter what we tried, we couldn't get Ivy to look directly at David. I think she was pissed that he didn't give up his seat for her. That David is no gentelman but pickings are slim in the 2-4 months old dating pool, so Ivy will have to deal with the lack of chivalry.  He makes up for it with those dreamy blue eyes though!

13 Minute Meals

Scene setup: It's 8:05am on a Thursday morning and we're already late for work/daycare.

Violet: Mommy, I have an idea.
Me: Oh yea?  What's your idea?
Violet: Let's eat rollies (this is the name we came up with for homemade crepes filled with cream cheese or Nutella)
Me: Umm, Violet, rollies take a really long time to make and we have to get to school already. What about having some waffles with syrup?
Violet: I want something else.
Me: OK, what would you like?
Violet: Rollies

I started making crepes at 8:11am and I was done by 8:24am.  Boo ya!  Take that Rachel Ray and your 30 minute meals!

Keepin' it together

My memory has never been great, but after two kids, it's probably at its worst.  Prior to marriage, kids and other adult stuff, the only thing I had to recall was the number of Two Buck Chuck bottles I had in the fridge.  Now there are bills, grocery shopping, school events, extracurricular activities, and numerous doctor appointments that I have to keep track of.  I am THAT mom.  How do I do it all you ask? (OK, no one has actually asked me that yet)  I have a system!

1. Shared Google Calendar- this is a great little tool and not only for the obvious things like keeping track of Birthday parties and doctor appointments but also for reminders to pay bills and various other recurring tasks.  The best part is that it is both online and on our mobile devices, so now there is really no excuse for forgetting something. Unless of course you forget to add it to your calendar.

2. Out of Milk- This is a Droid (maybe iPhone too?) app that is basically a shared shopping list.  We can both update the list with food items we will need to buy the next time either one of us goes shopping.  Since you're able to sync easily, you can also use the app as you're shopping in the store and cross off items once you add them to your shopping cart.  If you really want to make your life easy then download the Fresh Direct app and you can shop from the comfort of your cell phone.

3. Bookmarks - This may sound silly but one of the ways I keep organized is by using Bookmarks.  It would take forever to explain the method to my madness but each time I want to save something I see online, it neatly fits into one of my bookmark folders.  Some of the categories are: kids shopping, travel, nearby places to go, furniture, flash sale sites, etc.  Now that Pinterest launched "secret boards" there is definitely a better way to do this.  Eventually, I might make the switch but since I use the chrome browser my bookmarks are accessible anywhere, so I haven't had any issues with this method.

4. GTasks- Very basic, but very handy; it's just a list app.  This is a good tool if I need to jot down a simple note (ex: call grandma, update blog, research new recipes, etc.)

5. Amazon Wishlists - I buy nearly everything using Amazon Prime, which gets things to my house in 2 days or less.  From toiletries to gifts to non perishable food items, Amazon is really a HUGE time saver.  I have multiple wishlists and I update them as I see items that I may want to get in the future for myself, the kids, Gene or as gifts for others.  Some of the lists are public and I send them to my family and friends when they are looking for gift ideas for the girls.

6. Email Filtering- I am not sure where this fits in on the 'time saver' or 'organization' chart, but as modern day consumers most of us get dozens if not hundreds of emails daily with coupons, flash sale reminders, news, facebook notifications and much more.  I have a panic attack if I catch a glimpse of Gene's gmail, which has 100s of unread items.  This is why I set up rules so that anything that isn't directly sent to me from someone I personally know goes right into a folder.

7. Yelp Bookmarks- Don't you hate it when someone mentions a "hot" new restaurant and you immediately forget the name.  Well, now with your handy, dandy Yelp app, you can bookmark it and when you finally get a night out with the hubby or wifey you can just pull up your bookmarks, sort by location, rating, etc., and you have a plan for a night out in minutes.  This can also be done with museums, broadway shows, bars, etc.

Hope this list is helpful.  Please leave a comment and tell me some of the tools or apps you use to help you stay organized.

How to have a peaceful dinner...

A little oil and vinegar on the scalp never hurt anyone!  Tune in next week when I attempt to eat barbeque ribs.

Cousins at the park

One day...

...the four of us will all look at the camera.  Until then....

If that wig could talk!

Sisters