The holidays when you're 2.5

Here's the long description of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning...

Christmas Eve we were out at Grandma and Papa's until late, not getting home until around 10pm. We were really tired, but had to put out cookies for Santa and Heidi carefully selected 4 cookies to put on her "Cookies for Santa" plate. I filled the mug with milk and we set everything on the table, got into our Dora jammies, and read Twas the Night Before Christmas and some other random Christmas book (Heidi has to have 2 stories every night).

Amazingly, she slept until 7:23. It's only amazing because she's almost always awake by 6:30 and especially when she's been up really late. Some reverse clock thing that I don't understand.

At the first cries of "Mama! Mama!" Josh and I bolted out of bed, I went to preheat the oven for cinnamon rolls and he went to find his glasses. We got Heidi out of bed and I told her to go in the kitchen and see if Santa ate her cookies. He did. She wasn't really happy about it. I made her feel better by telling her that he probably gave us presents in exchange for the cookies. We all wandered down the stairs to see and I directed her attention to her stocking. She could see some candy sticking out. She took one for herself and then started handing the others to Josh and I: "Daddy this for you!" "Mama, this for you!" We tried to explain we had our own stockings from Santa. She sat down on the floor to rummage through the stocking. Santa wrapped all of the "non-food" gifts and Heidi tossed them all to Josh, again saying they were for him. Finally, we convinced her to open them. The slippers were the biggest hit for sure. She's worn them almost non-stop since opening them.

Then we moved to the presents under the tree. She loved the mini-laptop that Santa brought. Wanting to play with it immediately (she could have given up on all presents right then). She opened Dora memory and wanted to play a little bit with that (giving me time to pop the cinnamon rolls in the oven). She opened up a few other things and finally it was time to direct her attention to the ginormous gift in the back corner of the family room. She did this strange battle cry thing and ran back to it, lifting the paper from the bottom and peeling it off before finally telling Josh "Daddy, take this off!" And she went to work. She ran and got her pizza to cook and served Josh and I pizza several times. She loves to wash her hands in the sink and put the pizza in and out of the oven. I'm still working on convincing her to "clean" her kitchen when she's done playing.

The verdict so far on Christmas gifts, according to Heidi's rankings would probably be:

1) VTech mini laptop

2) Slippers

3) Kitchen

4) Pillow Pet

She also loves her Minnie Doll she got from Grandma and Papa and the flashlight that projects princess images on the wall.

Favorite age so far!

"Aww" Inspriring

The other morning, while searching for gift bags, I bonked my head really hard on the shelf in the closet. Of course my mini me was standing close-by and I was proud to keep it PG with a "son-of-a-gun!"

Heidi: Mama, what happened?

Me: I hit my head on the shelf.

Heidi: I kiss it? [Pauses] I can't reach!

I bend over and she plops a big ol' wet one right on my forehead. Just what I needed.

At dinner the other night: "Mama, you cooked a nice supper!"

[She didn't eat any of it, but at least the sentiment was there.]

Well, when you put it that way...

Conversation on the way home tonight...

H: The sun is going down!

M: Yep, it's going down!

H: It's dark out!

M: Well, it's starting to get dark out, it'll be dark when the sun goes down.

H: I like Monsters.

M: You do? Me too! Do you think Daddy likes monsters?

H: Yeah, Daddy likes monsters. I like daddy.

M: Me too!

H: No! I like daddy!

M: I like daddy too.

H: No! I like daddy first!

M: We can both like daddy. Daddy and I both like you.

H: [Pause] Oh.

Imagine a week of this...

Response upon entering Heidi's room this morning to wake her up: "No, Mom, I'm still sleeping!"

Geez, Louise, when did you turn 13?

Response upon picking Heidi up from daycare at De's house several days in the last few weeks: "Nooooo, don't take me! Don't take me!"

I've asked De to remind me of this in the fall when we're getting back into the daycare routine.

Conversation on the way home yesterday:
H: I wanna go home!
Me: We have to go to the grocery store first, we have no food!
H: Mama, you're mean!
Me: Heidi, that hurts Mama's feelings. Mama is sad.
H: Mama, you're not sad.
Commences bawling.

Why she started bawling, I have no idea. Apparently she was sad that I said I was sad. Which left me feeling like I actually was mean.

In the bathtub last night, getting her hair washed: "Mama, my eye not broken!"

I commence rinsing the shampoo out of her hair and alas a drop of water nears her eye: "Mama! My eye broken!"

Lesson: For a broken eye, just add water.

Number of things Heidi talked me into buying at the grocery store: 3
Number of things we bought that had Dora on the packaging: 2
Number of things we bought that had a reindeer on: 1

The real meaning of Christmas fail:

Heidi is having a long conversation about the CareBears that she saw at daycare and how she wants a pink one and a yellow one and an orange one and a blue one. I told her that she should put them on her Christmas list...

H: Christmas is over!

M: Christmas is over? Don't you want your presents? [commence feeling bad for always talking about presents.] Heidi, did you know Christmas is Jesus' birthday?

H: No! My birthday FIRST!

Frequently heard phrases

Frequently heard phrases around here these days:

But I CAAAN'T! (In response to anything and everything, like "let's go get your pajamas on!")

Bubba. Bubba. Bubba. Bubba. (At least that's what we think she's saying)

Mama, Look! Houses! Lights! (She's just discovered really looking at things across a distance in the car)

No Mama! No Daddy! (In response to Josh and I laughing at anything she does).

No Mama! No talk daddy! (In response to me yelling at Josh...point taken).

And of course, my personal favorite...

MAMA! NO SINGING! (way to break a girl's dreams).

[Edited to add] I want that! (response to every. single. commercial for a toy she sees. Luckily we watch primarily Nick Jr. without commercials).

Heidi sings the classics

Heidi's version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (I shall attempt to videotape this at some point, but for now, the written version will have to do...)

Twinkle Wittle Star

How I wonder ARE!

Like a DIAMOND [insert gibberish, nonsense, I haven't figured out what she's saying, but it doesn't sound anything like "in the sky."]

The end.

Self-Aware

For the last couple of weeks I've been enjoying Heidi's little drama-fest that she has when she's upset and feeling like she's not getting enough attention for her drama. She's started interrupting her own crying jag to say, "Mama, I cryin'!"

But last night, really took the cake. She was way over-tired. I'm talking two hours past bedtime tired. We were driving home from Aunt Shay's volleyball game and she was enjoying the view of the moon when it went behind the trees, causing overtired hysterics, "my moon! my moon!" Josh and I were both ignoring her because we knew she was just overtired and no amount of reasoning would satisfy.

And then, in between her cries, she suddenly says...

"Hey Mom!" What, honey?

"I better! I not cryin'! I not cryin'!" I'm glad honey.

Are you smarter than a 2-year old?

Q1: Quick, without thinking, what color is the park you normally go to (you know, the slides, the awnings, etc.).

Well, duh, the park we normally ride bike to is yellow. And the park we normally walk to is green. Do not question her, she's right.

Q2: How do you call your Mom out when she's cranky?

Obviously by using the same sayings that she uses towards you. Like "for Gosh sakes!" and "Simmer down!" Bonus points for rewording what she just said to you as in "Heidi Jean, I've told you 10 times you can have milk when we get home!" "Mommy! 10 times!"

Now if only she'd learn the meaning of "later" or "tomorrow" or "just wait a minute."

I think he meant it figuratively

We stopped out at the in-laws to get Josh's Menards card before running to Baraboo and Heidi promptly ran off to play. Josh yells in to the livingroom, "Come on, Heidi, let's roll!" She runs into the kitchen, lays down on the floor, and...well...rolls. Heidi 1, Daddy 0.

Meals the week of 9/19

Meal planning tonight for tomorrow's shopping trip, so...

Sunday: Spicy Sweet Grilled Chicken (bone-in) with The Bread. Yeah, the Pioneer Woman's The Bread. Because I reeeeealy need that. We have a couple of chicken breasts in the freezer in my makeshift freezer covering that I don't trust for long, so I need to make them before they go bad.

Monday: Chicken Mac-N-Cheese. Didn't get made last week.

Tuesday: Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Homemade Coleslaw. Shay has volleyball so a crockpot meal was called for.

Wednesday: Salisbury steak with Hasselback potatoes. Didn't get made last week either. I ended up making pork steaks instead because it was so nice out that I was craving some grilled steak.

Thursday: Leftovers. Another volleyball game.

Friday: Broiled fish and homemade onion rings. Mom and sister both raving about these baked onion rings, so I'm all over that.

Menu Monday 9/13

What we had/are having this week...

Sunday: Uptown, Downhome Chili (Rachael Ray) with buttered bread. Minus the beans. Plus peppers and chili powder. It was spiiicy.

Monday: Homemade Pizza and salad. Have I mentioned I love the Wildtree Whole Wheat Pizza Crust? It actually has me using my pizza stone regularly. We topped our pizza with sausage, peppers, mushrooms, black olives, and cheese.

Tuesday: Honey Mustard Curried Chicken, brown rice, steamed broccoli. New recipe, so I'll let you know if we like it.

Wednesday: Salisbury steak and Hasselbeck Potatoes. I've been craving salisbury steak lately, and, yes, I know that's a weird thing to crave. I'm fairly certain I've never made it before, so we'll see if it turns out. I've been wanting to try Hasselbeck potatoes too, so this is the week.

Thursday: Leftovers. Provided there are some.

Friday: Chicken Macaroni and Cheese. Another new recipe. We like chicken. We like Mac-n-cheese. Not sure where this could go wrong. Is it wrong though that I've never found a homemade Mac-n-cheese I like as much as the off-brand boxed kind?

Saturday: Leftovers and/or eating out. In other words, no clue. Sometimes my planning falls one day short. That's what freezers are for.

Flattery, dinosaurs, and bird parties

The other night we were driving home from Menards (highlight of our week, I'm sure). It was the night that the moon was very full and very low, like eye-level when you looked out the side-window of the truck. Heidi Jean wasn't used to it being dark so early (or being up so late) and from the back seat we heard...

H: I scared!

Me: You're scared? Don't be scared, baby!

H: Yeah, I scared.

Josh: What are you scared of?

[Both of us expecting her to say: the dark]

H: Dinosaurs

J: Dinosaurs?

H: Yeah

Me: Did you see a dinosaur?

H: Yeah

Me: Where was it?

H: Behind the trees

Me: Was it a friendly dinosaur?

H: Yeah

Me: It was a nice dinosaur?

H: Yeah

Lesson: No more The Land Before Time.

Last week I'm roasting a chicken and Heidi is playing in the livingroom. I come in from the kitchen...

Heidi: Mama, fat!

Me: Mama, fat?

H: Yeah

Me: What do you mean?

H: Right there [points to my belly]!

Me: Mommy's belly is fat?

H: Yeah

Me: That isn't very nice, are you fat?

H: Yeah. Daddy, fat.

At least it isn't just me.

Heidi's favorite book for the last several months has been Go, Dog, Go! On average, we read this book 6 nights a week. I pretty much know it by heart. Our favorite part, of course, is the end when all the dogs get to the top of the tree and find a huge dog party. Heidi loves that there are all kinds of different dogs (and cake and ice cream). Last weekend we were all playing on the bed and there were tons of birds outside our window. Sort of like a bird party. We pointed it out to Heidi, that perhaps the birds were having a party in the tree outside. She agreed, pointing at the big tree and saying "bird party! right there! big birds, black birds, white birds!"

The morning drives are so exciting now. I never know what we're going to see. Around one corner, a bird party in a big tree. Around the next, a dinosaur. Frequently elephants are spotted as well.

Hey Good Lookin'

Here's what we've got cookin' this week. Dates subject to change, of course.

Sunday: Homemade Mini Corn Dogs with salad. Anyone who knows me well knows my love of mini corn dogs.

Monday: Buffalo Chicken Burgers. These were supposed to be later on the menu, but I'm dying to try them. It's basically ground chicken with buffalo sauce (and some other stuff) made like a hamburger patty, topped with cheese, on a bun with some ranch. Yum. The perfect use for the ground chicken I got on mega sale a few weeks ago.

Tuesday: Mexican Stuffed Shells. Those jumbo noodles shaped like shells, stuffed with a ground beaf, taco seasoning, cream cheese mixture, topped with taco sauce and salsa. Yum. Again.

Wednesday: Leftovers.

Thursday: Honey Curried Chicken. I'm not sure if I like curry but this recipe says even those who don't will like it. A few friends have raved.

Friday: Gosh, I'm not sure. Either leftovers again or salads or something else that sounds good between now and then. I'm sure we've got some frozen fish in the freezer if we get desperate.

Saturday: Fireman's banquet. We'll have some steak, baked potatoes, and some homemade pie.

Eeee-vie Time

So, a few weeks ago Heidi's cousins came over to spend the night. Heidi hadn't really had cousins come spend the night before and Heidi's mom (i.e. me) knew that if she didn't plan something she'd probably go out of her mind with four little rugrats running around where there's usually just one. So we decided to have a Movie Night. I blew up the air mattress on the floor in the family room, we picked out a movie, we piled up the blankets and pillows, and we all lunkered down.

Heidi was so excited. Long before her cousins were ready to quit playing and watch the movie, Heidi was lounging out on the air mattress going "watch eee-vie?"

Of course, she only lasted through about 3.5 minutes of the movie before she started mercilessly jumping up and down on the air mattress despite the protests from Triston and Seth who were engrossed in The Land Before Time.

Ever since that night, the lure of "eevie night" is going strong with Heidi Jean. It was amplified last weekend when we had a Family Movie night that included the best movie accompaniment of all: popcorn (which shall hereafter forever be linked to movies. Movies = Popcorn).

It should be noted, the only movie that Heidi will watch in its entirety is Baby Signing Time, which she knows by heart.

Face-licking good

In one of my attempts to be a "hands-on" parent and teach my daughter all the wonderful things about life, along with spending some quality time together over one of our last days of summer, I asked Heidi if she'd like to help me make cookies. The problem was that I really didn't think this through. See, I was making "no-bake" cookies, so pretty much the entire process was going to occur in a hot saucepan, which isn't necessarily the best place for a 2-year-old.

I was able to find one job that was suitable for her during the cookie-making process: peanut butter jar-licker-outer. She fully embraced the job at hand.

Not pictured was her arm, which was coated in peanut butter from elbow to fingertips. And, yes, it is difficult to remove a layer of peanut butter from the skin, if you were wondering.

Menu Monday 8/23

Monday: Grilled Mojito Chicken drumsticks. Along with whatever the mother-in-law makes. We got invited out there, but I already had the chicken marinating, so it's going along.

Tuesday: Pork ribs, sweet corn, asparagus. I'm putting the ribs in the crock pot even though they aren't as good that way. First day of teacher inservice, can't put cooking on top of that.

Wednesday: Eating out. Josh has a haircut and errands to run.

Thursday: We have a staff social. I'm taking Bok Choy Salad and Sea Glass Jell-O.

Friday: Brinner. You know, breakfast for dinner. Josh has been craving hashbrowns, so we picked up some of those. We'll have eggs and sausage with 'em.

Saturday: Chicken Cacciatore. I think. Or roast chicken. I'm not sure.

Bring on the Polident and Granny Panties.

Top 10 ways I know we're old...

1. Rarely see anything past 10 o'clock pm. When I'm on the computer at 10:30 friends start to harass me ("isn't it past your bedtime?"). This even applies when we're "out" for the evening, except then we sometimes make 11pm.
2. Have started saying "back when I was young." As in "back when I was young we played outside all day long..."
3. Grocery shop on Monday mornings along with all the white hairs. And one of the most exciting parts of the week is finishing the weekly meal-plan.
4. Only got carded once in the last couple of years.
5. Started driving with my hands on "10" and "2." And turning down the radio because it's giving me a headache.
6. Can't have caffeine in the afternoon if I want to sleep (which I do, see #1).
7. Spend a lot of time thinking about 401Ks and Roth IRA's. And gas prices. And the weather.
8. All my favorite shows are shown only in re-run syndication (Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld...)
9. Must right down daily reminders and lists or chance forgetting any mundane task. Often then forget to check the reminders and still forget the task until the next day.
10. Have 2 lawn chairs permanently set up in the garage that we regularly sit in. The old style of lawn chairs too, not those ones that fold into a carrying bag.

Old and loving every minute of it.

What we're eatin'

Someday I'll get back to blogging about actual things, but these days I'm reserving my brain power. It is summer break after all. For one more week anyway.

This week we're havin'...

Sunday: Pita Pizzas (they got moved back from Friday, when we ended up having fish sticks instead). I think I'm having mini pepperoni, black olives, mushrooms, and red onion on mine.

Monday: Spicy chicken tacos. Been dying to try this recipe. And it involves my crockpot, which is my best friend.

Tuesday: Sloppy Joes. Sloppy Joe, sloppy, sloppy Joe. Sloppy Joe's are one of those foods that once I hear about them I start craving them and must have them. We'll have something with 'em, not sure what. Maybe Bok Choy. Another one of those things you crave.

Wednesday: Leftover night. Early this week because I anticipate Monday and Tuesday's meals will have leftovers.

Thursday: Grilled Salmon, rice, veggies. We all love salmon. Yum.

Friday: Potato Nachos. Read about these in two different places within the last couple of weeks and took that as a sign from God that I'm meant to have them.

Saturday: Get-together night. I think. We'll probably grill or make pudgie pies.

How trends are made.

• Perhaps because it's been hotter than hot this week.
• And humid, to boot.
• Perhaps because she was having a bad hair day.
• On the same day as a bad hand day.
• Perhaps because she just likes hats (which has been proven).
• And she enjoys accessories of all kinds, really.
• Perhaps because it's pink and has a giant poofball.
• And they're striped and warm and fun to take on and off.

Whatever the reason. Heidi Jean decided this was the perfect outfit to wear on her Monday evening. She had the mittens on at one point, but I'm assuming it was too difficult to get the hat on with the mittens on, so she's just carrying them at this point. You'll have to take my word for it that she had them on.

You'll also have to take my word for it that right after this picture was taken, Heidi Jean traipsed back down the stairs, back to the hat basket, grabbed my winter hat, brought it upstairs, and said "Mama, hat!"

To which she was informed that it was way too hot for mama to wear a hat today. But nice try. Trendsetter and all.

This week's menu...

Posting early, but we shop on Sundays usually, and we're shopping on Saturday this week, so...

Sunday: Beer Can Chicken. I like beer. I like chicken. I have all day on Sunday with no plans. Done.

Monday: Enchilada stacks. Super easy stacks of tortillas, cheese, enchilada sauce, onions, and leftover chicken. Sounds like good power food for our softball double-header.

Tuesday: Pasta with Pancetta and Leeks. See link here. I recently discovered a love for leeks and I haven't made pasta in a while, so I think we're due.

Wednesday: Dinner Frittata. I love eggs and frittatas are basically a quiche without the hassle of a crust. This one has a leek, mini potato slices, and spinach in it. Yum.

Thursday: Leftovers. I'm betting we'll have some by this point.

Friday: Pita Pizzas. Whole wheat pitas were another thing I discovered this year that I love and Heidi loves as well. My friend uses hers as pizza crusts and that sounds like just the right kind of easy and fast dinner we like for Friday nights. I'm getting some toppings for Hawaiian versions and a sausage and veggie one. Can we skip right to Friday?

Saturday: Who knows? We were invited to a card get-together so it may end up just being munchies. And it's our anniversary, so maybe we'll go out for a treat. Or likely, something will come up one of the other days this week and we'll have to move one of our other meals here.

Blackberry Farmer

I've decided to quit my job and become a blackberry farmer. Okay. Not really, but I could. We have this hill behind our house, and to the sides of our house. We don't use it for much, other than walking up when Josh wants to check for deer on the top of the hill. And blocking the house from wind. This is our 6th summer of living in this house. And sadly, only the 2nd summer that we've been aware that there are blackberry brambles upon blackberry bushes covering our back hill. There's really no excuse for us not knowing, so I like to pretend that these blackberry bushes miraculously sprouted there 2 years ago. Even worse, this is the first year we've picked more than enough for one pie.

This year I've picked probably 3 gallons myself, and friends have picked a couple of gallons. It makes me sad to picture the blackberries drying up and not getting used. So far I've made 15 jars of blackberry jam, a blackberry pie, blackberry bars, and frozen 2 bags of blackberries. I have another probably 3-4 bags of blackberries to be frozen in the fridge yet.

There's just something about picking berries. It's completely miserable with the swarms of mosquitos, pricker bushes upon prickly bushes, and the heat (oh how I hate wearing blue jeans in the summer). But there's just something about watching your bowl fill up and thinking of all the delicious things you could make with the berries. The finished product isn't bad either.

Menu Plan Monday 7/26

In the midst of watching my 7-year-old nephew (along with my 2-year-old darling) and planning a quick salad to throw together for the Grandparents' 55th anniversary, I managed to throw together a cheap (we're talking $50 in groceries for the week cheap) and what I might say sounds delicious meal-plan for the week.

Monday: Venison roast, red potatoes, carrots (all thrown in the crockpot with some tomato soup, pepsi, worcestershire, and some of that thickener stuff, can't recall the name of it). Here's the link I roughly followed (I didn't have tomato sauce, so I subbed soup). Okay, let's be honest, I went to get a venison roast out of the freezer and there weren't any, so I used a couple bags of venison steaks that were in there. We'll cross our fingers that it turns out.

Tuesday: Grilled chicken fajitas. I'm forgetting right now where I got the recipe for the marinated chicken, hopefully out of my grilling cookbook. It was going to be regular ol' chicken tacos, but my aunt set me up with a bunch of red, orange, and yellow bell peppers, so we'll cook those up and make fajitas instead. Yum.

Wednesday: Barbecue Meatloaf, steamed broccoli, macaroni & cheese. This is actually a weight watchers recipe. I'm not on weight watchers, but my mom is. She said it's super-yummy (and only 5 points per serving).

Thursday: Grilled pork skewers over brown rice w/green beans. I made these a couple weeks ago when friends were over. They were pretty tasty. I'm going to try to cut my roast the right way this time (is it against the grain or with it?) so that they're not quite so tough.

Friday: Leftovers. Waste not. Want not.

Saturday: Frozen pizza, salad.

Sunday: Beer can chicken w/some kind of potato. Perhaps those grilled potato skins. Those were yummy. Confession: not included in the $50 because I added it yesterday when I decided I'd need some leftover chicken for one of next week's recipes.

Genetic Code

What she gets from Daddy:

• Love of the outdoors
• Love of animals
• Her newborn looks, she was definitely Daddy's clone on day 1
• Long arms and legs, 90th+ percentile in height all along
• Brown eyes
• Love of Gatorade
• Need to always be on-the-go

What she gets from Mommy:

• Love of purses and shoes
• Chubby cheeks
• Impatience
• Ability to walk in the grass barefooted
• Love of the farm

What she gets from both of us:

• Love of naps
• Silly personality
• Sweet tooth
• Love of going for walks

Not sure where these came from:

• 6 o'clock wake up time
• Love of afghans

Menu Plan...er...Tuesday

Mondays surely don't count on holiday weekends, particularly when you were camping from Thursday through Monday. We'll get to the grocery store at some point today and here's what we've got on the menu this week...

Tuesday: Asparagus Ham Rolls (from my Guilt-Free Cooking cookbook)

Wednesday: Spaghetti & Meatballs (homemade spaghetti sauce using Wildtree spaghetti seasoning, and homemade Meatballs from the G-F cooking cookbook), salad, bread w/dipping oil

Thursday: Maple glazed salmon w/steamed broccoli and probably mac-n-cheese

Friday or Saturday: Pork Skewers, Chicken Drumies, Grilled Potato Skins

That's all I've got this week. I'm also searching for a recipe for some fiber muffins and possibly going to make and freeze some oatmeal pancakes for easy breakfasts around here.

Growth

Six months ago when we'd drive by a park (or really, someone's swingset even) Heidi Jean would yell out "Park! Park!" Today when we drove by a park Heidi Jean yelled "Mama, I see a park!"

Six months ago Heidi used to sing random words to random songs (like, say the Dora theme song). Today there are three songs that she'll sing parts of the chorus of. The winners of the three catchiest country songs to a toddler are:

Little White Church by Little Big Town [Heidi loves to sing "Take down, take down, take down white church!"

Undo It by Carrie Underwood [Something about that "un-uh-un-uh-un do it!"]

And the third and possibly most ironic of all three...

Lover, Lover by Jerrod Niemann [not sure what my reaction should be to my 2-year old sing "lova, lova, lova!"]

Six months ago Heidi had just started getting addicted to carrying her "BABY" dolls around the house. Today, Heidi said "hold baby Emmett" and then she did.

Edited to add, I forgot this one from tonight. We talked about how we are going camping tomorrow with our aunts and cousins and gramafarm and how much fun it was going to be. And then, since she hasn't had a good nap in days, she had a major meltdown when she realized we were going home instead of going camping. I said "Heidi, you don't even know what camping is!" and she said (I swear to God I'm not making this up) "I do! sleeping in a tent!"

Relay for LIfe 2010

This year's Relay was so different from last year's in so many ways. Last year we were all so fresh in our grief over losing Keagen. We didn't even start planning for Relay until a month or so beforehand, but our team was large and full of love. That hasn't changed.

This year we started fundraising a lot earlier and through a lot of different methods. We continued our fundraising right through Relay night as we sold Jimmy's To Go beef sandwiches and ran a bounce house for the kiddos. We set up early in the morning on Friday and were all gathering around 5 o'clock to start the festivities. It was so hot and sticky, but we enjoyed walking around and looking at all of the booths and Heidi Jean especially enjoyed the bounce house. She must have bounced for 4 hours on-and-off and was still talking about it as we walked to the truck for her and Daddy to go home at 9pm.

Unfortunately this year's Relay was cut short by thunderstorms. By 9:30 the lightening was starting to fill the sky and by 10pm nearly everyone was loading up their tents and heading for home. Disappointed doesn't even begin to describe it after all of the work that we put in to get ready for Relay. I really missed that 3am quiet time when you're just walking with your loved ones, thinking about the ones that aren't there, enjoying the night and the quiet and the experience.

The silver lining was that I did get to go to the closing ceremonies this year, since I slept! We were so proud of our team as we won the Most Improved Team award for nearly doubling our fundraising from last year. And so proud of the Reedsburg Relay for raising over $99,000 to fight cancer.

Here's Heidi and Kaileigh trying out the bounce house after set-up:

Jayme introducing Laura who served as the honorary chair and gave a speech about her experience as a cancer mom:

Laura giving her speech. We all got our cry out by 6:15.

Heidi and Ethan riding on the Merry-go-round

More bounce house, Daddy "pushing" Heidi so she fell down

Seth trying to tame one of the lounge chairs

Heidi actually brave enough to ride the train all by herself. She didn't smile though or release her death-grip on the steering wheel.

She's under all that hair somewhere!

On to Relay 2011, I guess. Bigger and better things await!

Menu Plan Monday

If you were previously unaware, I'm a menu planner. I lag at times, but I really enjoy doing it, spend a lot less money on groceries when I do it, and we eat a lot healthier. So it's just perks all around.

This week's menu includes:

Monday: BBQ Chicken Pizza (leftover chicken from last week) on Wildtree whole wheat crust

Tuesday: Grilled salmon w/roasted broccoli and cauliflower

Wednesday: My Birthday :) Possibly pizza (Digiorno's were on sale) and salad

Thursday: Grilled Pork Skewers w/ some kind of potato and cooked carrots

Friday: Relay for Life munchies! I'm taking Tostitos and Fiesta Dip and possibly something else, if I get around to making more. Maybe Jigglers!

Saturday: Grandma and Grandpa's Anniversary party

Sunday: Homemade chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese, green beans

I'm hungry now :)

How to break Dad's Heart

Conversations this morning:

D: What's a daddy deer called?

H: MOOOOOOooo!

D: Moo? Not Moo! What's a daddy deer called?"

H: [Pause]

D: What's a Mommy deer called?

H: Doe!

D: What's a daddy deer called?

H: Doe!

You could say we asked for it

I'm cooking dinner in the kitchen the other night. Josh is...I don't know, doing something. Heidi was puttering around near my legs (as always). Probably carrying a baby doll and asking for milk, which would by typical.

So I'm just cooking or emptying the dishwasher or something and I hear Josh going "Heidi? Heidi? Where are you?" He comes into the kitchen "where is she?" I'm like, "I don't know, she can't be far." I glance to the stairs and see the gate is pulled shut. The patio doors are both closed. Neither of us hear anything. He goes down towards her bedroom yelling her name and looking for her. Then comes back through the kitchen and into our bedroom and bathroom looking for her.

I sense a presence nearby. I crouch down. There she is. Sitting on the kitchen floor, under the table, in front of a chair. Quiet as can be. We exchange a smile. "Honey, I found her." He comes out, doesn't see her "where is she?" Spotted.

I suppose this is what we get for naming her Heidi.

This isn't the first and won't be the last. Other memorable hiding expeditions include:

--Hiding in mom and dad's shower

--Hiding under a stool in the kitchen

--Hiding under the pool table

I told Josh we should have played along to see how long she could be quiet for :)

What (almost) 2-year-olds do

They Pretend Play in the car...(featuring dollhouse mom and dollhouse toddler girl)

DH Mom: "Do you want to go to the park?"

[Pause]

DH Mom: "uh-huh, you do?"

They hum "thank you" instead of actually saying it. As in "hmmm-hmmmm, Mama!"

They Pretend Play at home with their babies by taking them on a "bumpy" ride to Londontown.

They like shoes. They particularly like to take their shoes off and then try to get them back on. And then say "hep! Hep! Shoes! Hep!"

They like to spot animals while in the car. Then they like to spend the rest of the car trip saying "where deer go? Where go? where deer go? Mama deer, baby deer, where go?" "Tweet tweet! where go?" "cow! baby cow! where cow go?"

Their favorite foods are "choc-it" "O-njiz" ""nanas" "fwa-fwies" "chi-chin" and "MEK!"

They name their baby dolls "baby signing time."

They love to go the Papafarm and grandmafarms to see the "GOATS!" "PIGS!" "COWS."

They get T'd off if you say you're going to Grandma and Papa's, but then you go home first. Or say you're going to the store but forget something at home and turn back. Or promise you're going to Aunt Laura's and then make them go to sleep first. Apparently the concepts of "after we have dinner" and "tomorrow" are not yet developed.

Deep thoughts

• How am I supposed to reach this kid? The one that has parents that can't get along. Or parents that don't even parent. The one without bed-time. Or any rules at all. That gets himself ready for school. And ready for bed. The kid who's parents don't even know which grade he's in, for sure. Or where the classroom is. The one who's only meals of the day come at school, thanks to free school breakfast and lunch. Who doesn't want to go home on the weekend.
• How am I supposed to show this child that his education is important when he doesn't even think he's important.
• How am I supposed to teach him self-control when he doesn't have anyone in his life that models self-control. Or responsibility. Or common sense.
• How can I help someone who so desperately doesn't want to be helped.
• How can I make sense of things that don't make any sense? How can I come up with the answers when sometimes the only answer is that life isn't fair.
• How can I comfort others when I'm still grieving.

I know it's just a day

It's just one day of the whole year. A Sunday. I am a mom 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But I still like this one day. I wasn't the little girl that always dreamed of being a mother. In my teenage years I thought perhaps I wouldn't even have children. Had I not married Josh, perhaps I wouldn't have.

But 21.5 months ago, I became one. A mother. Suddenly, a role I thought maybe I would never have, became my most important one. Yes, I love being married and being a wife. I enjoy my job, which is more than many can say. I think being a sister and a daughter and a cousin makes my life complete. But I would be empty if I was not a Mother.

I love being a mom every single day. I love being Heidi's mom, especially. And I love Mother's Day because it's a way for the whole world to recognize that the moment I became a mom changed my life forever.

Mother's Day is more than just one day.

Wordless Wednesday 4.21.10

Cougar

Heidi went to her first wedding dance last weekend--well, the first one that she was old enough to dance at anyway. She lived up to the hype. As soon as the tables were cleared off of the dance floor, Heidi commenced with racing from one side of the dance floor to the other, shrieking and screaming. From time-to-time she'd stop to shake her booty or lay down and roll around (her signature move?).

My favorite moment of the evening came when the a little boy, just a few months younger than Heidi, came out onto the dance floor. Heidi spotted him immediately (oy, I'm sure this boy radar will cause me problems in the future). She ran over to where he stood. She stood directly in front of him, face-to-face, maybe a foot of space in between them. And then she danced. She shook her little butt and gyrated her arms. He just stood and stared at her, jealous of her moves.

And then Heidi got bored and moved along. Someday I'm sure those dance moves will have a different effect on the boys.

Heidi-ism

Heidi has decided to expand the definition of "whee!"

You know "Whee!" as in "going down this slide is really fun, whee!" or "I love swinging, whee!"

Heidi now uses "whee!" in all situations in which fun is being had. And she uses it in place of "more!" For example, bouncing on the furniture (like Tigger) and after you stop it's "whee! whee! whee!" Being dragged by her feet around on the carpet and daddy stopped: "whee! whee! whee!"

I'm just glad we finally figured that one out because she's been yelling "whee, whee, whee!" constantly lately :)

Words...20 months

For my own curiosity and because I'm sure I'll want to know this someday. Words that Heidi uses consistently at 20 months old:

Mama

Daddy

Papa

Grandma

Shay-Shay

De

Valerie

Baby Lexa

Molly

milk

cereal

O's (cheerios)

hot dog

cracker

strawberry

banana

toast

egg

chip

candy

treat

water

french fry

cheese

pizza

hi

hello

bye

night

moon

bright

sun

star

cloud

sky

dark

sit

hot

no

uh-huh

un-uh

chair

sing

car

choo-choo

tractor

truck

boat

park

swing

slide

walk

window

door

ride

go

where

up

down

out

bounce

basketball

fast

cartoon

Dora

Boots

backpack

map

Diego

Ruby

Tigger

Mouse (Mickey)

please

more

kiss

help

puppy-arf arf

cow-moo

neigh

meow

bird-tweet

fish

baaa

goat

deer

gobble-gobble

roar

butterfly

bug

fly

bee

Phrases:

Shay-Shay ball

Where go?

Molly sleep

Signs:

More

Please

Thank You

All Done

(blows kisses)

bye/love you/night (waves)

eat

grandma

cracker

banana

water

Yay (claps)

bird

milk

And more, to be added when they come to me :) Most of these have come within the last 2 months when her words just exploded.

Back to add...can't believe I forgot:

blankie

paci :)

coat

shoes

pants

socks

hat

hair

eye

mouth

ear

nose

foot

belly

Basketball on the brain

So a couple of weeks ago my little sister (Heidi's aunt) made it to state basketball with her high school team. It was such an awesome experience for everyone and Heidi was right there every step of the way. She got a little tiny t-shirt that said "State bound." She came to the game and cheered with her beads. And it spurred her first 2-word phrase "Shay-Shay ball!" Apparently she's still excited about it a couple of weeks later. Here's the conversation we had this morning:

Daddy: Heidi, who's going to come tomorrow, the Easter bunny? What's the easter bunny going to bring? A basket?

Heidi: basket...ball. Shay-Shay ball. Shay-Shay ball.

Basketball appears to be more exciting than Easter.

Future Rockstar?

Yet another thing that Heidi Jean got from her daddy...when singing along to the radio, she hums the rhythm and just sings the words she knows. Case in point:

Lalalaalala...fish (give me back that filet-o-fish)

Lalayaaya...fish (give me that fish)

And

dadayalaalalalaladayaya...map, map, map (if there's a place you need to go, I'm the one you need to know, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map).

Perhaps they'll start a father-daughter band.

Summer in March

We got a little spoiled around here this week with record highs and sunny skies I'm a poet and I didn't even know it . And so, we resumed our favorite pasttime with the Nut: walking to the park. I am 97% certain that if I told Heidi to walk to the park she could easily navigate the 1/2 mile walk all alone. But we use the stroller, because that's faster.

We've discovered that the things that were fun last year, like swinging and climbing up and down the stairs, are equally as fun this year, if not more fun because we're much faster.

And, the things that were torturous last year, like leaving the park, continue to be torturous this year.

We also discovered a classic summertime treat.

It is possible you heard her screams as I pried the melted Push-Up from her sticky fingers.

If you see this man...

The one that is checking into a hotel with his clothing and toiletries in this:

I don't know him.

The Lovie

As parents, we tried to introduce Heidi to a "lovie." Some little thing that she could use to comfort her in new situations, help her sleep, etc. We had a bunch of those little "blanket animals." You know the ones, about a foot squared, silky on one side, and an animal head attached.

Of course, The Nut had other ideas. To Heidi Jean, nothing beats an afghan. According to Wikipedia...

An Afghan is a blanket, wrap, or shawl of colored yarn. It is knitted or crocheted in geometric shapes. It can also be referred to as an "afkin,"^[1] "throw blanket," or simply as a "throw". Afghans, throw blankets, and throw rugs, originally named because the materials used would decay and the items would be thrown away, were first made in Afghanistan and commonly included geometric designs and many holes in the pattern. The most common defining detail about afghans is that they are made from yarn and hand-stitched or knitted.^[2] In North American craft tradition, afghans are handcrafted blankets of various sizes to be draped over sofas or large chairs for decoration and are sometimes used for napping or warmth.

I'm willing to say that Heidi Jean uses hers more than "sometimes" for napping.

Afghan=Lovie