3 months

I was doing the math the other day... Kiley is 9 months old already and that is only three months until she turns 1! I've said it before and I'll say it again- where does the time go?

We had her in for her 9 month check up last week and I thought I'd share some statistics, mostly so I can look back and remember how little she was at this point of her life.

Kiley is 15 pounds 4 oz. She's about 23 inches long- I thought that was pretty tall, but some babies are born that long, so I guess it's all relative. She's in about the 7th percentile overall for height and weight, so she's petite.

Some of her latest tricks:

• Tries to wave goodbye when we drop her off at daycare. Comes off as a stiff arm flapping up and down, but it sure is cute.
• She sits up all on her own, but she can't quite pull herself up to sit from laying down, though she sure tries and lets you know how unhappy she is about it.
• Once sitting, she really just wants to be standing or crawling. She sort of perches up on her knee and launches herself forward into the ground.
• Once on the ground, she tries to do the army crawl to get whatever it is she wants.
• What she wants- anything Jaxon has. And the teeniest, tiniest speck of anything on the ground.
• Kiley has been babbling the 'guh' and 'duh' sounds for awhile now, and she has started putting strings of sounds together. Sometimes when we are having our dance parties, it sounds like she is singing along with the music.

• Kiley loves the music. We put her in the johnny jumper and she goes nuts!  She loves it even more when Jaxon is dancing around her.
• Kiley also loves her bathtime. She splashes me till I'm covered in water and loves to watch Jaxon run around the shower.

• She loves to pull Jaxon's hair, eat my hair, and just tonight when I was giving her a bottle, she seemed to discover that indeed, she has some hair. She started playing wiht it to soothe herself. It was cute.
• We're still not sleeping through the night... and usually around 1:30 or 3:30 when she wakes up crying, you might hear Scott slam his fist into the bed and say 'this is so stupid. why can't she just go to sleep?'.

• Kiley's been eating what we've been eating for the past few days. Tonight I made stuffed bell peppers for dinner and then ground it up for her. She's also had lasagna and mac and cheese. She eats any kind of fruit for the most part but has a hard time getting it all in her mouth. Girl loves to eat. Now, if only her mom and dad would remember to put a bib on her...
  

getting lucky

This past weekend was a weekend for getting lucky. Not the kind of luck you're thinking, come on- head out of the gutter!

Friday night, we went to Amelia's birthday party at Davanni's. Amelia turned three, she's one of the girls in Jaxon's daycare. It was one of our first outings in big boy underwear, no pullups. So, when Jaxon told me he had to go potty, I thought, boy we are getting somewhere! He's been doing such a great job with the potty training (and secretly I like to credit myself because of my attitude change!), so off to the restroom we went. I had brought along our travel potty seat- you basically put it on top of the adult seats so that they don't feel like they'll fall in.

Now, here's where we all need a little luck...

Jaxon sat right up there and started peeing, but somehow it ended up all over my shirt. A nice big wet ring in the center of my t-shirt. My jeans were not spared either. I had a flyaway cardigan on over my shirt though- Lucky. And it was the end of the party and we were headed home. Also- Lucky.

Saturday I ran the Get Lucky 7K in Minneapolis. It was really cold to start, but I had a great run and along the way saw some adoring fans. Scott ended up taking Jaxon and Kiley out to see me run--

Lucky? Oh yes, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. So wonderful to have such an amazing husband who has been at almost all of my races, supporting me every slow step of the way ;-)

Definately Lucky.

And Kiley. Well, when she projectile vomited all over me on Friday night, I guess you could say I felt Lucky that Scott was there to help me clean it up. And very Lucky that we had clean clothes and fresh cribsheets for her, especially given my ability to walk on by the laundry now ;-)

Here's to feeling Lucky!

little leprechauns

I'm not Irish, but I guess I like to think I am. I've been to Ireland twice in my life and it's definately a place I could see myself going back, over and over. It's got a lot of history, beautiful scenery, and amazing people. So I always get a little giddy on this day and it reminds me of the good times I had back in the Emerald Isle.

And it gives me a reason to cut out little footprints again!

Last year we had a visit from the Easter Bunny and I had Jaxon follow the footprints all over our house to his Easter basket. Today, we had a visit from some leprechauns! We were joking about them stealing Jaxon's underwear the other night, and so I had to chuckle to myself when I stepped outside this morning and saw a pair of his briefs on the garage door steps.. I must have dropped them... or perhaps a little green fellow slipped into the house? We'll never know.

Now, On to the little leprechauns.

I think I derive great pleasure from my own sense of humor. I'm sure when my kids are 13 and 15 and I'm still hiding their pots of gold or Easter baskets with little footprints all over the house, they are gonna think I'm crazy. But, eventually, when they're like 30 or so, they'll remember.

And they'll be doing it for their kids.

It all started when we saw those green little tracks through the house. Look over there! Someone's been here!! 

 All footprints lead to this door...

 That leprechaun didn't steal my underpants! He actually brought me a bag of stuff!

Jaxon, campaigning for me to help him open his bag, thinking that a leprechaun might actually pop out!

Kiley wasn't too sure about the whole leprechaun thing and decided to wait it out in her carseat. Smart. You never know Kiley. You never know.

serenity prayer

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

I've been thinking alot lately... and so this will be one of those random 'Brenna's inner mind' posts, but not really for any of you. In fact, you might feel like an intruder reading it, but it's out there, so it's available to you if you want to share in the revelations. It's really more about me, and documenting where I'm at in my life, so that one day, when I pay $1257.98 to have this blog turned into a book the size of a dictionary, my kids can look back and think- oh, that's what she was thinking.

No, I am not going to tell you I have tiger blood. Or that I am a warlock. (kids, those are Charlie Sheen references, just so you know I am hip to it.).

But I do hope that I will look back on this post often and remember the way I am feeling, and remember the simple changes I hope to be making moving forward....

For the past couple weeks, every now and then, Jaxon will ask, 'Mommy, you like me?'. He says it to Scott too. Now Scott may have me brush it off, thinking, he is just manipulating you again, trying to make you feel bad so you'll give him some more chocolate.

But I read into things. A bit much really. Or, perhaps I am knee deep in the trough of seasonal depressive disorder or just really friggin sick of winter (perhaps both as they are interrelated).

And so, I keep asking myself, why does Jaxon ask this question? Is it just a simple question, nothing to worry about? Or does it mean I've somehow failed at making my son realize I would love him no matter what (to which I promptly bought a children's book called 'No matter what' about this very thing).

So, I dug out my child-rearing books and have been trying to figure out just where I went wrong. Was it the iPhone 3G when I began to check my e-mail in front of him, which I'd never done before? Was it that I'm the last one picking him up sometimes because I had to sneak in a run so I can fit my jeans and make myself feel good? Was it that his sister is just as cute as he is, and I sometimes play with her more than I play with him, because I know she can't talk back to me yet, and I love the way she giggles and I miss how I used to do that with him?

When did I begin to say 'no' so much? When did I start to care about cleaning the counters and doing the dishes more than I cared about pretending to be a monster and hiding in laundry baskets? When did I begin to shush the sponge-like curiousity of my three year old, wanting to know how everything works and where the snow truck is bringing the snow and why the water in the gutter drain is frozen one day and dripping the next? When did I start turning the TV on to buy me a few minutes of precious peace and quiet so I could make dinner, instead of inviting a learning mind and excellent garlic peeler into the kitchen?

I know I've been doing this for a few years now... but why does it all seem so new again? What the hell?

And so...in an attempt to become a better mom, I will walk by the dirty dishes (at least until they are in bed, maybe just rinse them while cleaning up)... And I will let the laundry sit in the closet so we can hide in the baskets... And I will offer more choices, praise more, and soak up all the sillyness that comes my way- things like 'mom, you know who Justin Bieber is?' and 'your face is pretty', and 'i'm a dinasour, and you're a princess, and Kiley's a queen.'... I will really work on only checking e-mails after the kids are in bed...

I'm not perfect, I know that. I just always thought I was better than this... I guess it is a work in progress. I do know, that I want to look back on my life and know that I always made my kids feel loved, no matter what. That they can always feel like they can talk to me, share with me, laugh and cry with me (and Scott of course too ;-). I want to be remembered for being that fun mommy who danced around the room to the Black Eyed Peas and who ran around like a dinasour and then at a moment's command turned into an airplaine or a monster. I want my kids to remember me for so much more than having clean clothes and a decent looking house.

My dad always told me, you wake up in the morning and you choose your attitude.... so I'm choosing to be happy. To be loving, accepting, nurturing... to be the best mom, wife, friend, daughter I can be...

See... you feel like an intruder, don't you?

 

Getting away

Scott and I have been dreaming about getting away from it all for quite some time now... though we've been dreaming of an island oasis, on a beach, in the middle of nowhere... we settled on Friday for Treasure Island.

Casino.

In Red Wing, MN.

Not quite the same, but it certainly felt like an oasis after my first glass of wine. I'll admit, it took me awhile to relax and not think about the kids every second, wondering if they were going to be okay, freak out, or take total and complete advantage of Jenny.

Can you beleive it was our first night, both of us being away from the kids, in nearly three years?? I felt like a youngster again! We didn't think about getting home by 9 or 10... didn't have anyone asking a zillion questions at all times... didn't have anyone waking us up... and lo and behold we ate a decent breakfast, read the paper, and didn't have anyone interrupt us. It was glorious!!! Thank you Jenny for all your help- you are awesome!

So, what did our night entail? We bowled- Scott lost handily on the first game, but as is customary, I went downhill shortly after that (enter second glass of wine). He finished off with two turkeys and a 205. Not bad.

Then, we made our way to the arcade, and spent some time challenging each other to games such as air hockey, basketball, and shooting gallery. I clearly lost these challenges as well.

Moving on... we used up some complimentary slot play and walked away with $25. THen on to the blackjack where we paid for our hotel stay. And then to cosmic bingo where I thought about asking for a gas mask on my way in the door. Bingo was a bust, but I had fun dobbing.

It was so good to get away, but I found myself ready to go home, anxious to see the kids, hear how their nights were, and give them big hugs.

And, this is what I was greeted with this morning:

And now... I am ready for a really long nap and a day off...