Quick, before I get Sidetrack'd

Yesterday Little and I got new ‘dos.

This was Little’s very first haircut.  She was born with a headful of hair and never lost any of it.  Because of that we had two issues: first, her hair was uneven – her “original” hair is very straight and her new hair has some curl; second, the longest parts of her hair came almost to her waist.  In order to even it up and get rid of her scraggly look, we got it cut in a blunt cut that falls just above her shoulders.  It is absolutely adorable, but she does look more like a little girl now.

She was a very good girl while her hair was being cut.  Our hairstylist is also a good friend, so Little is comfortable with L and I think that made a huge difference in her willingness to cooperate.  She sat in the chair like a big girl and was remarkably still; she even said “thank you” when L was finished cutting.  I was very proud of her, and I just love her new ‘do.

As for me, I went a little shorter in the back than the cut I’ve been sporting since January (which was pretty short already); the front is the same length it has been, but it is styled a bit differently.  I also got some copper highlights that I’m loving (settled on copper because Matt was very against the red-red that I wanted to do).  Just something fun and a little sassy for the summer.

It was fun to see Little’s first haircut, and I enjoyed getting a little pampering.  We had a nice “girls night” with L.

I would love to share pictures, but I’m having trouble with iPhoto; maybe I can get some posted after my tech guy is home to help.

Matt and I don’t see movies in the theater.  Before kids we made it to a movie about once a year, twice if it was an exceptionally good year for new releases.  Since Little was born, I think we’ve been to a theater once, to see the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie.  We’re Netflix subscribers so we see plenty of movies, just a few months (or more) after most people. [as an aside, I really like the Netflix service; if we weren't members, we'd never see movies!]

Last night we decided to watch a movie after the kiddos went to bed.  Our movie-on-hand was Juno.  We’d seen the previews and heard good things about it, but I wasn’t really prepared for how much I would like this movie.  Granted, there are many things in the movie that I don’t condone – teenage pregnancy, divorce, bad language – but I laughed so hard that Matt was laughing at me. I have a bit of an odd sense of humor, and Juno is one of those quirky comedies that fit it perfectly (like The Princess Bride, Monty Python, Rushmore, for other examples).

In fact, I liked it so much that I considered watching it again today before I sent it back to Netflix.  I think I might have to add it to our DVD collection.

A few weeks ago our temperatures reached into the upper-80s and 90s and I ceased to view the season as Spring.  However, today is officially the last day of Spring, and, thus, the end of the Spring Reading Thing. All-in-all, I’m quite pleased with the reading I accomplished, especially since we added Boo to the mix about a month into the challenge.

<br>These were the lists I started with:
Non-fiction:
John Adams by David McCullough
A Midwife’s Story by Penny Armstrong
The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer
The Complete Book of Sewing by DK Publishing (won’t finish this one by June)

Fiction:
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Austenland by Shannon Hale
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
Mater Biscuit by Julie Cannon
Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss</br>

Here are my answers to the wrap up questions Katrina posted.

Did you finish all the books you had planned to read?  If not, why?

I finished all of the books on my fiction list and most of the books on my non-fiction list.  The two I did not complete were John Adams, which I’ve begun reading, and The Complete Book of Sewing, which I haven’t picked up since the beginning of the challenge.  I just don’t have the time or mental capacity for sewing right now.

Do you think the challenge helped you read more? Or maybe helped you read books you otherwise wouldn’t have?

I’m a pretty avid reader, so I don’t think it necessarily helped me to read more.  However, having a set list of books enabled me to keep my reading focused and prevented me from “flailing around” unsure of what to read next.  These challenges do help me to read non-fiction as I’m generally unmotivated to pick up non-fiction books.

What was your favorite book you read this spring? Least favorite?

It’s tough to pick a favorite because I really enjoyed all of the books on my lists this Spring.  A Midwife’s Tale and A Thousand Splendid Suns probably stood out the most for their stories and style.  I really related to the sentiments portrayed in Stepping Heavenward and enjoyed reading it as well.

As for a least favorite, I would have to say Mater Biscuit.  It isn’t that I didn’t like the book, just not as much as the others.

What did you learn about your reading habits or interests?

I’ve always struggled reading non-fiction, but during this challenge I liked the non-fiction that I chose and got “into” the books just like I do with fiction.  I learned that I can read non-fiction easily and really enjoy it if it is a topic that I’m interested in.

Are you interested in another “Fall Into Reading” challenge this fall?

Definitely!

Visit Callapidder Days to see the other participant’s wrap up posts. Thanks, Katrina, for hosting another great reading challenge.  I’m looking forward to the next one!

From Little – as we prepared to go to the zoo yesterday – “skeeto bite no go to zoo.”  Yeah, if I could figure out how to leave mosquito bites behind I’d be a rich lady.

New to her vocabulary – “paw-der” for pillow

From the potty training diary – she has pee-peed in the potty once, but she won’t wear training pants because apparently they hurt (she spent 30 minutes pulling at them the other day before she finally brought me a diaper and asked me to put it on).  I’m not sure she’s really ready yet; we’ll give it some time.

From The Boy – during his 4-ish a.m. feeding this morning I laid him down in the floor to change his diaper.  He proceeded to roll over from his back to his tummy.  Whaa?  You’re only 9 weeks old boy!

On sleeping – he’s up to 6 hours straight for the past several nights.  We’re still getting up two times, but I’m hoping that we’ll cut out the 4 o’clock feeding before long.

And from the pacifier files – I haven’t yet decided whether it is our friend or not.  It is much better than sucking on my pinky, but it presents it’s own set of challenges (like when he loses it during the night).

As for me – I almost let myself get heat exhaustion yesterday.  4 hours at the zoo in 85 degrees weather, the last 2 hours of that with Boo in our black wrap, and only about 8 ounces of water don’t make for good times at the end of the day.  Fortunately, I’m feeling much better today.

And finally, from “file it under random” – I glanced at the Pay Per Post form in my SIL‘s sidebar earlier, and the default birthdate is June 19, 1906.  I’m thinking that 102 year old bloggers are a bit hard to come by.

That’s all I have for now.  Hopefully, tomorrow I can put coherent thoughts together and bring you a well constructed post.  We’ll see.

I’m wondering…

Who came up with the term happy medium?  And did they ever find one?  If so, can they give me some pointers?

Today was Boo’s two-months checkup, and wow, this boy is getting BIG!  He’s up to 12 pounds 12 ounces (from 8 pounds at birth) and 23.5 inches long; that puts him at 75th percentile for height and weight.  I knew he was a big boy (some of his 0-3 months size clothes are beginning to get too short through the body), but had no idea he’d grown that much.

Our only “issue” is that he seems to have a touch of reflux.  The doc recommended giving him some Maalox a few times a day to help, so we’ll try that and see how things go.  Otherwise, he got an A+.  He even went 6 hours between feedings last night for the first time (hopefully that will last!).

And in news about Little…

It is time to start potty training this girl!  She has been interested in the potty for a while now and asks to sit on her little potty at least once a day.  For the past few weeks months I’ve been making excuses as to why I couldn’t work with her on it.  The time for excuses is up.  There is a pair of training pants awaiting her when she wakes up from nap.

I’m sure this is going to be quite an adventure; I’ll keep you posted (because I’m sure you are oh so interested in our potty diaries).

That’s all from these parts for today.  Hope you are all having a great Monday!

I saw this meme posted at Lu’s the other day and thought it would be fun to play along.  This one is all about the kiddos; here are the rules:

1. Link your tagger and list the rules on the blog.
2. Share 7 facts about your kiddos on your blog…random, weird, funny…whatever you want!
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post
4. Don’t forget to let the tagged people know!

7 things about my kids:

1. Little thinks that any time we leave the house we are going to church or to see her friend David.  It’s a constant refrain of “see Daydee” and “go to church?” no matter what day, time, or where we’re actually going.

2. Little equates Barnes & Noble with chocolate milk (this is her treat while we get coffee).  If we say we’re going to the bookstore she starts asking for chocolate milk.  As soon as we pull into the parking lot she starts asking.

3. For the first six weeks of his life, The Boy would only suck on Matt’s or my finger, never a pacifier.  It took us six weeks and four types of pacifiers before he finally started taking the Mam pacifier that was the first kind we ever tried.

4. The Boy has started cooing and smiling.  He will lay on his blanket or sit in the bouncy seat and just coo away.  Most of the time he reserves his smiles for Daddy, but one day last week he was grinning from ear to ear at Little.  It was too cute.

5. Little pays too much attention to my morning “getting ready” routine.  She always pretends to put lotion on her legs, makeup on her face (using a makeup sponge, of course), and product in her hair.  She’s also been known to try and put nursing pads in her shirt.

6. Little loves music and she loves to dance.  She dances to music on TV, music we play on the computer, and music that plays only in her head.  She spins and jumps and dances all over the living room and kitchen.  I think she will really enjoy dance classes when she’s a little older.

7. Little refers to pajamas as “dubba-jays”.  I have no idea how the “p” in “pj’s” became “dubba”, but it has; in fact, she often calls them her “dubba-dubba-dubba-jays.”  Silly girl.

So there you have it, more things about my kids than you probably wanted to know.  Now I’ll tag Lauren, Sheryl, Lisa, Leah, Diane, and anyone else who would like to play along.

I’ve been out of the Tackle It Tuesday loop the last several weeks as we welcomed Boo and have been adjusting to a new routine.  We are also out of the house a lot these days enjoying summer fun with friends.  However, looking at my to-do list for the week, I think it’s time to jump back in and start tackling.

My big tackle for the past week was getting Cha-ching, my financial software, updated.  I was only a month behind.  Not only does this help me fulfill my need to play with numbers, but it allows me to see a little better where our money is going and how we might make budget adjustments for the future.

So, not very exciting for my first week back, but something that definitely needed to be done.  

For the upcoming week – create a schedule, write thank you notes, do some cleaning

Happy tackling!

I’m torn between my desire to share pictures of my adorable (um…yeah, but I’m a bit biased) children with all of you, my lovely readers, and my desire to protect the privacy and security of my little ones.  This is an issue I’ve debated with myself for as long as I’ve been blogging.  I feel that most of what goes on in the mommy-blogging sphere is safe and on the up-and-up; however, this is a public domain, and I don’t know who might be lurking that I’m unaware of.  As much as I enjoy talking about my children, as much as I would love to share with you their beautiful names, and as much as I would love to post picture after picture of their cute faces, I’m just not sure I can do it in good conscience.

How much info do you share about your children (names, pictures, etc)?  How did you decide what to share?  Have you had any experiences that would cause you to re-evaluate?  Please share in the comments.

Last Wednesday was the fifth birthday of my friend’s son.  To do something special on his actual birthday, we decided to take the four kids – ages 5, 26 months, 22 months, and 6 weeks – to Chuck E. Cheese for the morning.  This was Little’s first trip to the land of flashing lights, competing noises, and slots for tokens.

We got there early hoping to beat the crowds, and we were not disappointed.  This is the best CEC gets – about 15 minutes after opening – only one other mother and child in the entire place.  Also good was the fact that a game-tester was there checking that all the games functioned properly; he would play, win, and leave the tickets for us to gather.  

We camped out at a table in the little kids area thinking that the younger ones (minus Boo) would enjoy the slide and car ride kind of things.  Tokens were divvied up three ways and off everyone went.  Little and I started off at skee-ball (my fave) where she enjoyed throwing the ball up the ramp, even though none of them made it all the way.  

I really thought she would be pretty uninterested in the games, and I was both right and wrong.  She didn’t really “get” most of the games but did enjoy the ones where you have a single button to press and then it spits out the tickets.  However, the most exciting part for her was putting the tokens into the slots.  

It took quite some work to keep her from randomly putting tokens into games and to confine her token feeding to the games that I wanted/could play.  And even when the tokens went into the games that I wanted them to, she would stand beside me and continue to put more tokens in while I played.  I think there were a couple of games that I ended up playing about five times in a row.

All-in-all it was a fun morning, and I think the birthday boy really enjoyed it.  As for Little, she would have been perfectly happy to sit in one place and feed tokens into a slot all day long.  Better not let her near slot machines!