Happy Halloween

I don't think I ever really got too excited for Halloween. I mean of course everyone loves a holiday where they get to eat a ton of candy. But overall I am not a huge fan of dressing up into something else and pretending to be something I am not. This year has been different for me. I think it must be because the girls are so into it this year. We carved our pumpkin and Nicole not really understanding it fully just keeps saying "Happy Birthday Pumpkin" so obviously she gets the whole candle in the pumpkin idea. But every night that we light it we need to sing happy birthday to the pumpkin and blow out the candle.

I also think this year is different because the girls have gotten to wear their costumes around a few times already. Last weekend we went to the open house at the Norwell Fire Headquarters. There was pizza, juice, apparatus on display and of course a special appearance by Fire Pup, a rather tall Dalmatian type of costumed individual that the girls really liked. But my Cinderella (Aimee) and her trusty mouse Gus Gus (Nicole) came decked out to the open house. We saw some really great costumes while we were there. Scooby doo made an appearance as did many Sesame Street characters. I think that they even had some potential new recruits on their hands at the station with all the kids that dressed up as firefighters.

But hands down, my favorite Halloween moment so far has been this morning at Aimee's school. Her class puts on their costumes and then does a little parade around the school to show them off. Forget the parade, I was so excited just seeing these little kids coming in to school in their costumes. The funniest by far being the 3 year old decked out entirely in SWAT team apparel complete with helmet and shield and his vest. I cracked up. There were also the requisite other princesses on the block such as Jasmine and Ariel to go with Aimee's Cinderella. But the SWAT team child really made my day. He looked so cute in it and you could just tell he loved his costume.

It's funny because when I was trying to get pregnant and had my eyes on the prize of having a baby I don't think I ever really thought too much about this stage of the game. Aimee and Nicole are at such great ages. They can fight terrible and can be very fresh, but it is so much fun to see them getting into things like role-playing in costumes or even with their dolls. I have liked most all of the stages my kids have been in. It was great having a new baby and snuggling in with them, but the sleep deprivation and absolute craziness of it all at first is overwhelming. It was also great seeing them walk, but the reality of walking is climbing and that is terrifying to see your kid halfway up the couch ready to jump off onto the hardwood floor without a care in the world.

But this, the conversations and realizations that these little people are mine has been amazing. They have full talks with me about things like swimming lessons and why they jumped in the pool last week but didn't want to jump in this week. Or why it is of the utmost importance that we wear the Ariel swimsuit this week but last week it had to be the striped one.

So tomorrow night we are pairing up with my sister in law and her daughters for a trick or treating outing in her neighborhood for what I hope will be a tradition that continues for many years to come. I wish you all a wonderful Halloween and don't forget to turn the clocks back on Saturday night just to get another hour of sleep. Unless you have my kids which just means we will be up one hour earlier than the rest of the world.

Wake up calls

We are in a never ending transition so it seems here with middle of the night wake up calls from our girls. I did a little Googling over my lunch hour to find out that in Nicole it is probably just part of separation anxiety that happens between 18 and 24 months. The fix, basically to get up each time she calls for me and reassure her that I am nearby and she is okay. But the article I read cautions not to spend too much time in there or else it will create a night time wake up habit. Well just great because I think we are already there despite my efforts to only do minimal calming and interaction in the middle of the night.

For Aimee, her middle of the night wake ups are quite similar in that she calls for me and I go in and try to reason with her that she too is okay, I am right across the hall in my own bed and can come back at a moment’s notice. Again the article cautions not to say too much or give in too much because it will create more bad habits of waking, but that I can’t get upset with her for waking up because that too could also cause emotional harm and create an environment where she is not comfortable sharing.

Are you freaking kidding me? Who in the world is happy after being constantly woken up night after night weeks on end? So these people in the articles are telling me that how I react in the middle of the night is not only causing further wake ups but if I do not handle said wake ups appropriately then I am possibly doing further harm to my child? Fabulous. Like I need more guilt in my half-arsed, part time whatever I do life of mine.

And lest you think that my dear husband is not doing his fair share in all of this, rest assured he does attempt to comfort whatever seems to be the crisis of the moment. However, both children react with loving shrieks of discontent when they see Daddy in the doorway when they have so clearly indicated from their high range cries that it is indeed Mommy whom they are seeking. Sigh.

Stay tuned, if I get some sleep perhaps I can write a better post!

Stitch Witchery

Sounds like it's something for Halloween doesn't it? But no, for $1.97 this stuff has changed my life in the past few weeks. As many of you may know, my youngest daughter is little bitty. We have done our best to add some weight to her but she isn't a huge eater and despite having a huge sweet tooth I can't in good conscious let her eat candy corn all day just to put weight on her. But my dilemma has been that in this economy I want to re-use some of Aimee's clothes not only for money saving measure but because some of it was just so darn cute. Even though they were born in completely different seasons, Nicole is about 6 months behind Aimee size wise at the same age so it has come together nicely. If only this stuff would fit her properly. Thus enters the Stitch Witchery. This stuff is iron on that you can put a hem on the inside of the pants and arms and then when the child grows tall enough to actually fit into the pants, you can lower the hems. And not a bit of actual sewing occurs.

It is available in the sewing section of Walmart and with just a hot iron to the "wool" setting and a damp cloth above, the pants are suddenly shorter, the sleeves are suddenly shorter and a new outfit emerges. It's been fantastic and I am extending the wardrobe. I even used it this morning on a pair of pants for Aimee. Because clothing makers try to fit as many kids into one size as possible with adjustable waist pants, the size 3T fit her great in the hips, thigh and waist but the length make her look like she is forever wearing Capri's. So we moved into the 4T but the length are just a bit too long right now. I feel so domestic lately with my stitch witchery. I may even have to try it myself when I am down a size in pants because God knows that whoever is making clothes for women these days seems to think we have all grown 5 inches since everything I own seems to need a hem. When I do get to invest in new pants, I will have a quick easy way to hem them.

Which brings me nicely to my other news. I made it to WW on Tuesday and was indeed down 1/2 lb. My total after all the yo-yoing is 12 lbs since I started back in early Sept. or late August, I can't remember when without my little book in front of me. Still not the progress I would like to see but it is still in the downward direction and I even took the dog for a walk last night after Gary got home from work and dinner was in the oven.

Slowing down

I realize I have been neglecting the few readers that I have and for that I am sorry. But I have been taking it slow lately. I was starting to feel like I was stretched so thin that I couldn't possibly fit one more thing in. Then I took a moment and thought one day ... what am I rushing to? Preschool? It's not like Aimee is going to get marked down for being late. I don't think they start that until high school. Am I rushing to work? Probably but really, I have flexible work hours so what is the point with pushing myself to get there faster by rushing out of the house in the mornings.

So now I try to make an effort to be on time as I normally do, but not in such a way that I put so much pressure on myself to make it happen. As a result I have actually been on time more, have felt more relaxed and the kids are happier. I know I was trying to rush them out of the house to be on time for whatever activity we do be it playgroup, dancing lessons or swimming. And really, what is the point of doing these extra curricular things if the stress to get there ruins it all?

So I have slowed down. I fit in what I can and what I can't fit in, I try not to stress about. I went back to fundamentals. Each morning I make two lists. The first list is all of the items that I want to do that day. The next list puts them in priority of what HAS to get done down to what I would LIKE to get done and lastly what can probably slide to tomorrow.

You know what else has been helped by slowing down? My eating habits. My efforts on WW was stalled for two weeks because with the stress of trying to fit in everything with our new fall schedule I realized that I am a stress eater. I will push things into my face as fast as I can without really tasting them. So by slowing down, I have made sure that I will enjoy what I am eating and I sit far away from the refrigerator and cupboards so that if I truly do want something else to eat I have to get up off my butt and get it. So far so good. I forget where I was at last post for efforts to date, but as of my weigh in last week I was down another 2 lb after having gained 1/2 and 3/4 for two weeks in a row. So tomorrow night is my meeting night and hopefully I will have "edit blog" high enough in my list of to do's to report back how I did.

Falling leaves

There has been something about this fall that I haven't quite come to accept that summer is officially over. I know that it's Labor Day that seems to signify the end of summer, but I am still not ready for near freezing morning temperatures. Brrrr.... It has also brought a bit of a struggle with dressing. Not me, mind you but my strong willed 3 year old. She is really holding onto summer by way of her skirts sans tights and flip flops. We struggle every day with putting on real shoes and *gasp* socks. It's like I am torturing her to put them on. Nicole is no better come to think of it. Though to her it's all about her sudden hate of pants. Pants you say? Yes, pants. She seems to not want to have anything to do with pants and will arch, kick and scream when they are put on. It has gotten to the point where I don't even bother taking her out of her sleeper pjs until we are ready to leave the house just because of this fight.

But today was swimming lessons for Aimee and even that was a fight with her. She assumes that since she is supposed to wear her bathing suit that it's justified she wears her flip flops. I have even gone so far as buy the sherpa fleece crocs in hope of persuading her to wear something other than flip flops. It's a mixed thing really because crocs are banned at school. Yes, you read that right...banned. She has to wear either sneakers or other shoes with a good rubber sole and some sort of tie or strap. No open toe or open back shoes. I can obviously understand it. Aimee is the one having a hard time with it.

Speaking of which, nursery school is going great. She is loving her time there. It's so sweet for me to take her in and help her wash her hands, take off her coat and hang her backpack before she reaches for a kiss and a hug. I don't quite remember all of my time there when I was a student about 30 years ago, but much of the building is still the same and it's endearing that she is going to the same nursery school I went to. Not so endearing is the fact that I have to tease Nicole with the drop off. She is ready to whip off her coat, wash her hands and start right in on nursery school with Aimee. I feel so bad for her because she sees the great stuff in the classroom but then has to leave a few short minutes after getting in there. It's like she is thinking..."hey, we go to daycare together, why not here?" I try to make our time together while Aimee is in school special, but the little cutie walks around the house calling "Aimee?" and I remind her that Aimee is in school. There is something distinctly different about the second child, aside from the obvious birth order. It's like the innocence of experiencing things is lost a little bit because the older sibling is there showing how it's done, for good or bad.

I can't even express what an amazing time I am having with them and I keep thinking towards the future and thinking how lucky they are to have a sister, something I never had. There are some days I want to tear my hair out over the constant questions that I run out of answers for or the temper tantrums that involve throwing themselves on the floor. But I think knowing these pieces of their personality is precious and it is all just going so fast, just like the season and the leaves of fall.