Crazy in love

If given a choice between being with Matt Damon or spending a completely ordinary day with my husband doing nothing extra special, I would without hesitation choose Jeff (husband).

Yes, I know this seems like an easy way to answer given that my chances of actually getting to meet Matt Damon (let alone spend the day with him) are a gazillion to one, but let me explain.

I fall in love with Jeff more each day with just the little things he does.  It can be a look, or asking if he can make me lunch, or a funny remark about he much he wants me (when I am feeling like something the cat dragged in).   Calls at least once in the middle of the day to see how I am doing and at dinner, always asks how my day was.

Jeff gets me.  He makes me laugh.  He drives me crazy.  He takes planning and carrying out the details to a whole new level, that I've actually gotten more laid back.  He is smart, brilliant actually.  Ok, maybe not with gadgets and how to work them, but I can ask him anything about current events and he can explain to me what is going on in the world in a way that I can understand it and almost care about it.  And, he doesn't make me feel stupid in the least for not knowing what is going on.

Jeff is one of the best people I know and is the first to help out a friend in need and do whatever is necessary. He is quick to donate and support co-workers, friends, and me.  He backs me up 110% in all my crazy ideas and encourages me every step of the way.

 

Furthermore, Jeff warms up to my ideas a lot faster these days. Either he has thrown in the towel or trusts that I know what I am doing when I come up with some new plan.  We work great as a team and can face anything together.

I love my husband so much and can't think of a better best friend to spend the rest of my life with.  We've had 7 Valentine's days together and I look forward to spending them together when we are 77.



Sorry Charlie, my heart is
already taken.

 So if Matt Damon rang my door bell today and said he was mine, all mine for Valentine's day, I'd have to turn him away and say I've already got the best Valentine there is.





Are you sure they are related?

It doesn't get more different than this between Ian and Sam.

SAM in the morning:

Sam:  I pick out my clothes myself.
Me:  Let's put this on.
Sam:  No, I pick it myself!!
Me:  Sam, would you like to wear this top or that one?
Sam:  No, I do it myself.
Me:  Ok, Sam whatever. Here are clothes.  Pick out what you want to wear.

Sam then proceeds to carefully consider all her options and picks something to wear.  (Now this is a good day when she has decided to take her pajamas off and get dressed in regular clothes).

I see Sam struggling and offer some assistance. 

Sam:  No, I do it myself.  GO AWAY!  (And slams the door shut after I've walked out of the room).

About 5 minutes later, Sam opens her door and proudly exclaims the following:

Sam:  Look at me!!  Sammy did it!!  I dressed myself.

********************************************
IAN, the same morning:

Me:  Ian, here are your clothes to wear today.
Ian:  Ok.

It's all good

It has been brought to my attention that my previous blog about Samantha "I do it myself!" was a little on the harsh, aggressive side demonstrating how feisty she can be.  In fairness, it is not all chaos and mayhem with the youngest Toppall team player, and I feel the need to even out the score card a little.

When she wakes up ridiculously early in the morning (we let her out of the room starting at 5:00am), we bring her into our bed and attempt to get a few more minutes of sleep before our day has to officially begin.  Sam will curl up right next to and literally mold her body to mine.  She somehow fills herself in all my nooks and crannies and we lay like that for a good 25 to 30 minutes.  She loves to cuddle and it is very sweet to have her quiet, still and feel her warm body next to mine.  Other than it being an obscene hour in the morning that she has woken up, it is a wonderful way to spend time with her.  I can't help but the start the day on a good foot with her when she is like this.

Every now and then Sam will ask me if I am alright.  "Are you ok Mommy?"  I am not sure what I am projecting (either physically or mentally) that is giving her an indication I might not be ok, but it is one of the most considerate things about her.  She is genuinely worried and concerned about Jeff, Ian and me.  If Ian is upset or hurt in anyway, Sam will comment and say, "Ian crying.  Ian not happy.  Ian need tissue."   And, when Jeff is getting dressed in the morning, she makes certain he remembers everything he needs to put on.    "Daddy put pants on?"  "Time for belt Daddy."

Sam loves to draw.  She'll work on a picture for a good 10 minutes and then excitedly take the paper and run to me saying, "I made this for your Mommy.  A present for you."  She gets a big kick out of putting her artwork on the fridge and hanging her drawings with magnets. 

Another favorite activity of Sam's is to take care of her baby dolls.  My mom got her this one doll that pretends it is sick.  It coughs, sneezes and you can take its temperature.  Sam is an excellent caregiver and makes sure the doll doesn't have a fever. She'll wipe its nose, put it down for a nap.  Tuck the dolly in under the covers and read it a bedtime story.  The cutest thing is to listen to her "read" her doll a story.  It usually starts with "Once upon a time"...then she'll flip through some pages and go, "the end."  Sam will ask me to turn on the white noise machine, turn off the light and put up the gate for her doll's nap.  This usually occurs at least once a day.  As Sam leaves the room, she'll look at me and whisper, "Time for baby's nap.  Shhhhh."  Or, "Baby has fever and needs nap.  Shhhh."

Each night after putting Sam to bed and leaving her room, she says, "Night night.  Sleep tight.  Bed bugs bite."  You can't help but smile hearing her say this.

When Sam enters her classroom at preschool, she'll walk up to Maya, wave her hand right in Maya's face and say, "Hi Maya".  It is super cute seeing her do this.  When it is time to say good-bye to Ian and me, she'll come up and give Ian the biggest hug and kiss good-bye.  It is incredibly sweet.

When Jeff comes home at the end of the day, Sam is the first one to run to the door and scream, "DADDY'S HOME!!!  DADDY'S HOME!!!"  If she sees there is mail waiting for him on the kitchen counter, she'll run, get it and hand it to him, "Here you go Daddy.  Mail for you."  Then Sam will run up to our room and pick out a t-shirt for Jeff to change into.

Sam is incredibly playful and loves to hide and play "Peek-y-boo".  She gets great fun out of going under the covers when she thinks you are coming for her.  Her giggling gives her away. 

And, she loves to eat whatever I make for dinner.  While Ian still needs to have something special made for him to eat occasionally, Sam will happily eat everything 90% of the time.  It is really cool to see her take a big bite and then exclaim "Deeeeeelicious!!"

Whenever I go to the bathroom, Sam is right there by my side, clapping her hands and saying, "Good job Mommy!"  Or, "Yay!  Mommy did it!".

If Sam spots a scar or scab on any of us, she likes to give it a kiss and say, "Sammy made it all better."

So there you have it.  Just a quick list of all the sweet and adorable qualities that make up my beautiful little girl.  I hope when she gets old enough to read this, she realizes it wasn't all scary and traumatic being her mommy.

I do it myself!

Let me introduce you to my incredibly head-strong, fire cracker of a daughter, Samantha.

Most days she goes to school wearing her pajamas.  We've had mornings where I've taken them off her 3 times within 40 minutes, and only to turn around 5 minutes later to see that she has fished out last night's pajamas from the hamper and put them back on.

When driving in the car, she feels the car seat rules do not apply to her and therefore the arm straps just aren't needed.  Despite me pulling over several times to get her arms back in the straps and tighten them extra tight, she manages to get her arms back out before I can even get back in the driver's seat.

Several times taking Ian to school, which is just 1/2 mile away, Sam will not only take her arms out of the car seat straps, but also take her shirt completely off. Forget getting her to put on a coat and socks/shoes in 30 degree weather, I feel lucky if she is still dressed by the time we drop Ian off.

Sam's favorite hairstyle these days is the "white trash look".  Who can catch her and get a brush or barrettes through her hair?  The non-kept look goes great when sporting pajamas.

Her teeth are clean though!  Sam loves to brush her teeth, to the tune of 3 or 4 times a morning.  Sometimes you can even find her brushing her teeth at 3:00am.

Sam is very adept at putting her clothes on, not only with 100% accuracy (everything facing the right way) but in complete darkness too.  We usually find her the next morning wearing yesterday's clothing over her pajamas.

Sam insists on doing the dishes each night after dinner.  She brings her step stool over to the sink and then looks at either me or Jeff and tells us there is room to join her.  And, she has first crack at unloading the dishwasher too.  Her favorite thing is to put the silverware away, personally hand me the knives, and stack all like items on the counter (the bowls, plates, tupperware). 

At 2 years of age, Sam is definitely giving us a run for our money.  I haven't even touched on her sleep deprivation issues (lack of nap, waking up in the middle of the night) and the effect that has on her temperament.  She is a force to be reckon with.  It is a good thing she is so darn cute and that love is unconditional, because right about now, it is kicking in high gear to get us through each day.

Showing a little too much

Every Wednesday is Ian's show-n-tell day at school.  He has to bring in something that is not a toy to his class.  It can be a book, souvenir, story about a trip, etc.  After Ian speaks about the object for a minute, his classmates get to take turns to ask Ian questions about his show-n-tell.  Each Tuesday evening we walk around the house trying to figure out what Ian should do the next day. 

Ian came to me and asked if he could bring in this picture of him and Sam in the tub together.

Me:  Ian, you really want your friends to see you naked taking a bath?

Ian:  No, I want to show them Sam in the bath.  Isn't she cute?

Me:  Yes, she is cute and so are you.  But if you are showing them Sam in the bath, then they will see you too.

Ian:  Oh, then this is a bad idea.

Me:  Yeah, I think so too.

Whew!!  Poor Ian.  I don't think he realized just how bad the teasing could've gotten and how embarrassed he'd be by his whole class seeing all of him.  I am so happy we figure out what Ian will bring for show-n-tell together.

Weight Watchers - Month 2 (Chugging along)

So it's been another month of following the program.  I'd like to blame so many things for my lack of progress in losing weight, namely: lack of sleep, being extra grumpy during the day, dealing with a miserable little girl 90% of the time, and generally having my defenses down.  Grabbing food that does nothing for you health-wise but gives you a sweet instant gratification immediately is what did me in this past month.  When it comes right down to it, there are no excuses that make it ok.  It was all me.  No one put a gun to my head and made me eat the countless Hershey kisses and mini tootsie rolls.  To my stepmother Rita, please stop sending the kids candy.  I try to limit the amount of candy they eat, but can't seem to do the same for me.

Fortunately my exercise has been stellar and I am proud of how I managed to stick to the running training schedule no matter how tired I was. And believe me, there were plenty of nights where I only got 3 hours or less of sleep. I credit the exercise from me gaining even more weight than I did this past week.

Here are the numbers:

Started out with wanting to lose:  36.4 lbs

# of pounds already lost:  3.4 lbs

Week 5 - lost 2.6 lbs
Week 6 - lost .4 lbs
Week 7 - did not weigh-in due to snow and center being closed
Week 8 - gained 1.2 lbs

Lost this month:  1.8 lbs

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST TO DATE:  5.2 lbs

Total left to lose:  31.2 lbs

So there you have it.  I really enjoy the Weight Watcher meetings.  Each Thursday, no matter how good or bad I did that week, I leave there with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and the feeling that a brand new week will make everything better.  That's where I am at right now.  So what I gained 1.2 lbs this week?  I am back on track and ready to tackle all those challenges again head-on.   I am in this for the long haul and will keep chugging along.

Glue sticks, googley eyes, and glitter

It's been a while since Ian has been in school.  5 weekdays to be exact.  We had 3 "snow" days last week (Wed-Fri) and scheduled Teacher Workdays this Monday and Tuesday.  OMG!  It wouldn't be so bad if we actually got enough snow to warrant a big extended break, but I am pretty certain I could've gotten Ian to school safely and in one piece on Wednesday and Friday.  :)

And of course, every time Fairfax County Public Schools close due to the weather, so does Sam's preschool.  Really?  These kids aren't even coming close to needing to wait for a bus or use sidewalks to walk to school.  I can say with a 100% confidence that I could definitely make the trip to take Sam to school without any problems.  :)  I joke that the preschool makes sure its always open when it is time to collect tuition.

How did we spend our 5 day break?  Besides going to the gym and a few playdates, we tackled Ian's school project for Valentine's Day with gusto!

The instructions were for each student to bring in 24 Valentine's day cards and make a mailbox to receive Valentine's day cards from others. The teacher specifically requested that each child write the name of every student on their own.  And since this would take some time, make sure to start early and plan to do only 4 to 5 a night.

I came up with a crazy idea that we would make our own cards.  I know it would've been super easy to buy pre-made cards at Target (they have soooo many wonderful character ones too!), but what better activity for a SAHM to do with her children when you have pretty much nothing else going on.  FOR. FIVE. DAYS.

Here is our work:

Front of card



Back of card

Ian's Mailbox

Ian is very proud of his box.  I am very proud of him for writing the names of all the kids and not complaining once.  We even made two extra and wrote one for the teacher and the teacher's assistant.  This was Ian's idea.  On those the Valentine's message says, "It's great being your student."

We finished the project in plenty of time for when it is due at school.  Now we just need school to be open to bring it in.