Author Archives: carrievoris

Best Friends ~ Best Shot Monday

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Last week was a very rough week for our little Em. Not that great a week for Mommy and Addie either. It started out as a bit of a sickly week – both girls were in the pediatrician’s office at 9am on Monday morning. Addie had been battling a cold for a week or so, and Em had a bit of one, but it didn’t seem nearly as bad as Addie’s.

Until Sunday when I suspected that Em may have a little bout of pink-eye and I was unfortunately correct. Plus, she also had an ear infection on top of it. So a little stop at the pharmacy and a lot of rest and mid-week we all seemed to be doing better.

Then Friday morning Em made it into my room to tell me she was going to be sick, and back into the bathroom before throwing up (ah, such a good girl!). We thought it was just from coughing, a lot of times she makes herself sick, I guess she doesn’t have a very high gag reflex.

She assured me that she was fine and could go to school that day. Why? Because her Spring Program (that her class had spent months practicing for) was Friday evening. So we skipped school took it easy and rested instead, and were able to make it to the program.

So, last week did not provide a lot of inspiration for photo-taking. We were very, very light in the photo department. And all weekend we just sort of hung around – I think my camera and I just kind of needed a little break. I did get this shot while the little starlets were waiting to take the stage on Friday…

(L to R: Chloe, Em, and Ella)

This is part of Em’s little “clique” at her school. There are five girls who have really become fast friends and they are all such sweet girls and so very kind to Addie when she tries to tag along with the “big girls.” And more importantly, their moms are also so awesome. I really look forward to school, dance and playdates, almost as much as the girls do.

Oh, yeah – and the Spring Program! It went off without a hitch and Em did great. J. actually snuck up front and got some photos and video so I’ll try to get the footage off of his camera and post it so you can see our little cowgirls in action. (They did a Bible verse, the days of the week in Spanish, and sang “Turkey in the Straw” complete with cowboy hats…it was mighty cute!)

Hopefully this week we will get back into the land of the living and have some good stuff for you. Meanwhile, don’t forget to stop over at Tracey’s and see what everyone else has been up to this fine Monday.

Dear Parking Garage J.A. –

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To the J.A. that hit my car in the parking garage this evening:

I would just like to thank you so very much for the huge scratches that stretch from the back of the passenger door all the way to the bumper. They are a really nice addition to my car.

I would especially like to thank you for not leaving me a note and owning up to your mistake. Perhaps I should give you the benefit of doubt, maybe you didn’t know you had hit it. But I truly find that hard to believe considering the scrapes are nearly a foot long and clearly not scrapes that are easily “buffed” out.

It was a perfect ending to my fun date with my husband. Thanks so much.

Sincerely,
The pissed-off owner of the silver Volvo

More Potty Talk

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So, I sadly have to report that we were a little wet this morning. Enough that we had to strip the whole bed down and do a load of bedding before breakfast. She was not wet when I went in to her at 2am, why I didn’t make her go potty, I don’t know. Total bummer. But I just didn’t make a big deal out of it – and she didn’t either.

Me: “Oops…we had an accident last night?”
Ad: “Yeah, I went pee-pee, I had an accident.”
Me: “Well, maybe we won’t have extra water before bed and we’ll try again tonight?”
Ad: “Ok, Mama. I love you!”

Yeah…although she definitely flings “I love you, Mama” around a lot – it is the sweetest thing to hear, and I’d change her sheets every morning if it meant that I got to hear it.

She was not happy when I made Bear and Smokey (her stuffed cat – not the real one!) take a bath with her sheets. And I just told her that when she has accidents everybody needs to get a bath. I could tell the little wheels in her head were going as she pondered that fact. So maybe she’ll have more success tonight.

Thanks for all of the encouragement and comments, it really is so nice to get a little validation and a nod that you are doing the right thing once in awhile!

At any rate, we’ll try, try again tonight.

An Apron for a Good Cause

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My friend Sassy over at My Sassy Pants (the creator of the girls’ amazing pinafores and the Gracie Girl shirt!) is auctioning off an apron on eBay (it is so very cute!) to benefit a woman who is in her final days of cancer. The proceeds of the auction will go to help with medical costs not covered by insurance, and also the care of her son who will be left behind.

Please go check it out and maybe you need a kiddie-sized apron in your house, or know someone who does…please pass it along. Thanks!

Why do I have a sinking feeling about this?

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Addie went to bed minutes ago – unswaddled. No pull-up. Just purple Ariel “big girl” pants between her and the nice dry sheets. I will add that she has had dry pull-ups the last few mornings, but I really wanted just a few more dry nights, as a bit of a cushion.

Still, she was so very insistent tonight that she is a “BIG GIRL!”

The whole time we were having this argument discussion, I kept having flashbacks to the night that Emma declared the end of her pull-up era. After Em had made up her mind – there was no stopping her. And I think that she has had maybe one (?) accident since that night.

So, tonight I relented. I let Addie go to bed and, hopefully, prove me wrong.

We’ll see.

Just heard in our kitchen…

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Emma had her kitty in her shirt.

E: “Mama! I’m pregnant, whoa, look!” (As she is bent backward and holding her back!)
M: “Nice. Can you please go clean up your Pollys before dinner?”
E: “Oh, I can’t Mama. Because I’m pregnant!”
M: “Do you think Mama didn’t do any sort of cleaning while she was pregnant.”
E: “Nope. You can’t do anything when you are pregnant.”

Ha. Guess our pregnant (or just had a baby!) friends are all off the hook for the next few months!

More Sisterly Love ~ Best Shot Monday

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I can’t stop photographing the two girls together lately. This is what? The tenth photo of the two of them in the past two weeks?

Maybe it is because I am missing my sister. Or maybe I feel compelled to document the love between the girls while I can, for I’m sure I’ll need to pull some of these photos out to remind us all of a simple time when they were just happy to be together.

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I love happy “accidents.” When you think you know which shot is going to be your absolute favorite, and then as they are downloading the photos, one catches your eye. A shot that you thought was a “throw-away,” but it jumps out, and really speaks to you.

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That was this one. Probably not technically the “best” shot I took all week, but the pure love you can feel radiating from the two of them – it literally makes my heart feel like it will explode when I stare at it. So therefore, it is my Best Shot this fine Monday.

Better than better.

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You’ve had an incredibly rough day due to one two-year old  “whiny tiny” (yes, that is what we call her on days like this), and are running on very little sleep (also due to the two-year old and a looong stretch of no sleep the night before). What could possibly make the evening infinitely better?

Convincing your lovely hubby to allow you to go to the grocery store. Alone.

Yes, it has come to this. Joy over solo grocery shopping.

But what is even better than getting to grocery shop sans children?

Coming home to two bathed, read to, in bed, sleeping children.

Pure. Heaven.

Thanks, honey!

A bit of this, a bit of that

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I can’t believe it is Friday already. I have been dreading this week because it was Emma’s spring break and I figured that there might a little too much “togetherness time” and, more than likely, only one if us would be left standing by the end of the week.

Instead, it has been a little preview into what our summer is going to be like, I think.
And by the way, when did my 2 and 4 (almost 5) year olds acquire a bigger social life than I have?

Seriously. We have had 2 lunch/park play-dates, one play-date at our house, one at a friend’s house, and one aquarium trip already this week and we have another play-date scheduled for this morning. Every day, a different kid. It has been crazy. But it has made the week go by very quickly and has kept the kids alive and entertained, so I guess I can’t complain.
(Well, I could – but does it really ever do any good?)

It has left very little time for me to do real work, blog, or any sort of work that might resemble housework. So today will be catching up on all of those and planning some sort of birthday party for Em.

Gah! I think I have been in denial that she is turning 5. She is insisting on a High School Musical birthday party. So again, I will call on you, my internet friends, for some clever ideas for the HSM party. We are going to have the Wii karaoke game that they got for Christmas, but I need some fun game ideas, craft ideas, food ideas. Any thoughts?

What else? I need to start carrying a notebook (like Em does) around with me. We have had some pretty funny little conversations this week, and I’m now drawing a blank on most of them.

Addie is insisting on calling the drain (bathtub drain) – a “dream.” No matter how many times I correct her she will say at least once during bathtime each night, “Is my (ring/washcloth/baby) going to go down the dream, Mama?” Last night she was looking intently at the drain and said, “Am I fit down the dream, Mama?” and before I could answer she laughed and said, “Nooooo, Mama! I’m too big for that dream!” Too cute.

Emma has learned how to be “helpful” while we are driving. She will screech “Stop, Mama! There is a stop sign!” And she doesn’t miss any, either. It makes driving so much more of an adventure than it already is in L.A.

And she carries little pieces of paper, or notes, around with her everywhere. “Mama, how do you spell….” is the most asked question in our house (and car) at the moment. She furiously writes out all kinds of notes to everyone. The Easter Bunny brought a little spiral notebook that she can keep all of her treasured writings in and there are pages of words already that she has written out over the past week. She definitely recognizes quite a few words and is getting much better about sounding others out that she doesn’t know.

I think she is going to be much more mathmatically inclined than I ever was. She is obsessed with adding numbers. J. is teaching her all kinds of math tricks, and the Easter Bunny also brought her a little first grade math workbook (aw, don’t give me that – she got plenty of candy, too!) that she loves, she just sits with her head bent over her “work,” counting on her fingers, lost in her math zone. Crazy kid.

The other night we were out to dinner, and we were eating at one of the tables outside. There was a small group of protesters that were setting up their tables and signs right near where we were dining. One of the signs had a photo of a soldier that had died, and all of the posters had some derogatory remarks about Bush, the Iraq war, and the soldiers that had lost their lives. I was watching Emma as she was taking the whole scene in and I was willing her not to ask me what the sign said – especially the one with the soldier on it.

Instead she turned to J. (ha! my mind trick worked!) and said –

E: Daddy, what does that man’s sign say?
D: Um…it says Happy Easter!
E: No, it doesn’t Daddy! I know how to spell Happy Easter. What does it say?
D: It says we only have about a year before we will have a lot of explaining to do.
E: Daddy! What does it say?
(At this point J. looked a little lost for words and was obviously looking for someone to bail him out.)
M: Remember when you went and helped me vote for a President and we talked about what the President does?
E: Yes.
M: Well, that man doesn’t agree with, or like what our President is doing.
E: Oh. Ok.

Whew. Long, uncomfortable discussion averted. But J. is right, it is coming those hard talks they are all coming, much sooner than I would like.

————-
Just a little note to Aunt Carol, too – hope you are having a wonderful birthday today and wishing you lots of happiness in the upcoming year!

New Spring Clothes!

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Nana and Papa sent the girls some cash and instructions to get themselves maybe a “new skirt or some sandals” with their Easter cards.

The money has been burning a hole in the girls’ pockets all week. Finally we went to Target yesterday and Emma declared as we were walking in, “We have to find a skirt or sandals from our Easter money! Can we shop too, Mama?”

I told her yes, of course, but I didn’t say anything about what they had to buy, I kind of wanted to see what they came up with on their own.

My very literal Em, insisted that we had to find a skirt. When Addie picked up a little summer shirt that she liked Em chastised her, “No, Addie! You have to get a skirt!”

So I stepped in and told Addie if she really liked that shirt that it was on sale (good girl!) and it would be fine. She insisted that it was not a shirt, but a dress! But since the shirt was on sale, we were also able to get a cute little pair of shorts to go under her “dress.” Purple. Her favorite color.

Then we went over to the girls’ section and I was a bit disappointed I must say. Em is just on the cusp, her 5T stuff fits her, but it won’t for long and a lot of it is just too short for her long torso, so we’ve been trying to get straight up 5s. Which of course requires the girls’ section. But they just don’t have as cute of clothes over there. And some of it is down right hoochie. Which is another hard concept to explain to a 5-year old.

So, we get to Em’s section. She stops and looks so longingly at the sundresses, runs her hands through the dresses, looks at the tag and asks me how much all of them are, and then kept walking. (They were on sale and in her budget as well!) We got to the end of the row and she looked tearfully at me and said,

E: “But Mama, there just aren’t any skirts that I can get!”
M: “Honey, you don’t have to get a skirt! Papa and Nana just suggested maybe a skirt.”
E: “Can I get a little sundress – it is the right price?”
M: “Of course, yes!”

So she ran straight back to the sundresses, picked out the girliest pink one she could find and happily carried it to the checkout. And, of course, they both had to wear their new outfits this morning.

Em’s new dress…

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Ad’s new “dress”…

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And her shorts…

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And the two of them…just because they are cute, and I can.

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