Royal Wedding Mania

Alright, I'll admit it, I've gone and caught the royal wedding fever.  I tried not to.  On Monday when everybody (on every TV show) was already talking about it I found it annoying.  And the buzz surrounding it honestly makes me fear for the bride's safety after what happened to her grooms mother almost 15 years ago.  But then yesterday they played a bunch of specials about when Charles and Diana married, and the little girl in me just got sucked right in.  My hubby is away and I miss him and I guess I just welcome the distraction. 

So of course last night I basically stayed up all night watching the whole thing.  I fell asleep a few times (where I had insane dreams about Prince William and in a few instances I think I was Kate,) for a couple hours here and there, but each time I awoke (mostly to take care of A.J. ) I was sure to turn back to the television and see what was going on.

I wanted to see the dress.

Somebody I once knew, who is one of my friends on Facebook is engaged and she recently posted something about how she could not believe the cost of wedding dresses and was wondering if the dress was even that important. 

My answer to that, of course, is that it's up to the bride.  For me, the dress was very important, but not everyone feels that way.  I'd spotted a picture of my future wedding dress in a magazine one evening in the grocery store when I picked up one of those Bridal magazines specifically to annoy Matt.  Trust me when I tell you that hunting down that dress, the one whose cap sleeves and square neckline I'd fallen in love with instantly nearly 2 years before Matt ever bothered to actually propose was an adventure all of its own.  But in the end, I found it, and my dear Matron of Honor was generous to buy it for me and let me pay her and her husband back over time and in the end, I didn't care about the price tag, even though, truth be told, my dress made up probably close to one a quarter of our total wedding budget.

Because it was FABULOUS!

And, I loved it.

And as a girl who'd grown up in the age of Princess Di, but well before the Disney Princess mania came along, I'll admit to always dreaming about being a princess in a great dress on my wedding day

On the other hand, I do not wish these dreams on my daughter... because for heaven's sake, the wedding dreams ought to be about the man, not the outfit!

Lately I've adopted a little slogan for my daughter... "Cleats not crowns!"

A.J. I hope you pursue sports and athletics.  Learn to be strong on your own!  Gosh darn it, go ahead and look cute and feel good about yourself while you do it too, but realize your beauty is in no way dependant upon a tiara or a floofy dress.  :)

I grew up in dance lessons, wanting to dance the roll of a princess and adorn my hair with sparkly things.

But the dance lessons, while teaching me grace, and perhaps some patience and poise, did horrible things for my self image.  Honestly, I'm not so sure I'd ever wish dancing on my daughter.  I suppose that we'll cross that bridge when when we come to it, but I really feel that no 12 year old girl should ever have to stand around in front of a mirror wearing tights and leotard and let people over analyze their body and its gracefulness (or lack thereof.)

I don't want A.J. to dream about tiaras, she can wear diamonds and jewelry, sure, just please not a crown, except perhaps on her wedding day, should she ever choose to marry, and in which case she can have a great dress if she wants, but my goodness only if she's marrying the right guy. 

A man who'll treat her like his equal, his partner in their life.  Not just his Princess to spoil.

Because certainly, we'll have none of that crap about Prince Charming coming to rescue her.

Also WHAT THE HECK is with those Disney princesses and their lack of mothers?!?!?

Do not even get me started.

Okay, well, apparently I'm going to go into it anyway...

A woman, can take care of herself!

Sure, I am married to a wonderful man, and sure, a lot of the time he takes tremendous care of me.  On more than one occasion you might even say he has rescued me.  But for heaven's sake, I can certainly take care of myself without him too.  (Obviously, or else my poor children and I would be doomed this year.)

But anyway, even though I am so ANTI anything princess for my daughter, here I am swept up in all the royal wedding madness.  Because seriously, just look at this beautiful couple:

This picture makes me happy just looking at it.

I love that he's in military uniform.  And that he's already sort of balding and she obviously loves him for more than just his (fading) hunky good looks.

And honestly, I love her dress.  LOVE IT. 

But also, I love that they are older and have lived a little and actually seem to know what they're getting themselves into because a regular marriage is hard work and theirs is doomed to be far worse.  I love that Kate was educated and that she showed, in the past when the couple separated, that she is capable of taking care of herself.  I love that he tries very hard to protect her, not because she NEEDS it, but because he loves her and because of what happened to his mother. 

Oh, and I LOVE that unlike every Disney Princess, ever, she actually has a mother of her own.  And a darned good one at that. 

It's not a magical, fake, fairy tale.  It's real. 

So, I guess what I'm saying is this.  A.J., sweetie, if you want a princess to look up to, forget about Ariel and Aurora and Jasmine and Cinderella.  Princess Catherine is more beautiful than the lot of them and you have my permission to look up to and admire her all you want.



Not that, at this point, you have any idea what I'm even talking about.

Unrelated, but this morning while I was wrapped up in all the wedding coverage and cleaning downstairs a bit, Peter pulled his rain boots on right over his footie pajamas and went outside to play in the mud.

That's my boy!



A.J.'s New Trick

Fun Times!  Love that face.  :)

Unexpected Firsts

Let me just being by saying that HOLY CRAP there is snow falling outside.

Okay, well it's more like one of those wintry mixes where like 2 out of every 5 raindrops have frozen and gone over to the bad place, and nothing is sticking, but still.  It's the freaking 27th of April and I am just not in the mood for that crap.

On the plus side though, at least I am inside.  Oldest Nephew had a track meet this afternoon and evening in that nonsense.  Except then it wasn't yet snowing... it was just monsooning sideways and was a downright balmy 41 degrees during that.  His nickname for the remainder of the evening shall be Soggy. 

Anyway, I know that awhile ago I posted about how sad I was to think of all the little fun things that happen with the kids that Matt is missing.  In response I had a comment suggesting that I write about those little things every night to keep him in the know.  That seemed to me like a great idea, except well, for the every night part, because I have enough trouble finding the time to post about the big things periodically let alone attempt to get something written every night.

Also, upon reading that, and several other posts I put up that first week he was gone, I had a very unhappy husband.  He didn't like being reminded what he was missing.  It made him feel sad and he doesn't like feeling sad to acknowledge having any emotions whatsoever.  I don't think he expected how much more difficult this separation is for him now that he is away from not just me, but the kids as well. 

If I was, like, overly sensitive that would make me feel exactly like crap.

Instead, I'm choosing to be touched by how much he misses his children.  He really is a great father.

Anyway, at the risk of occasionally upsetting the father of my children, I do want to post sometimes about the "little things" because these are just the best stories.  Especially when those stories are about a bunch of "firsts."

What's that?  You thought Peter was getting to an age where he'd be done having "firsts?"  Yeah well, so did I, but Monday was an interesting day.  A day that surely his Dad should not have had to miss...

For example, while I was doing laundry, there was the first time Peter got himself tangled up in his parachute man toy....

And then there was the first time Peter broke the house.

Monday evening, SIL and I were downstairs cleaning up the dishes after dinner.  A.J. was in her bouncer with us and Peter was upstairs in the playroom with all 3 of his cousins.  They were supposed to be watching him.  Then there was a loud thump, followed by crying.  SIL and I ignored it for awhile, assuming the cousins were in disagreement about something and Peter was crying about not getting his way.  Except the crying didn't stop.  It got louder actually, so I went up to investigate.

"Peter fell down."  was the response I received when I asked what had happened.

After some more prying I was informed that he'd been running up and down the hallway (still not sure why) and he'd tripped and hit his head on the wall.  Ouch!  Well, at least that explained the crying.  I hugged and kissed and comforted my boy for awhile and then Oldest Cousin pointed out something more.

"He left a dent in the wall."

I'm sorry, what now?

But Oldest Nephew was right.  My son's head had actually left a noticeable dent on the corner of the wall where it had hit.  The compression had even managed to chip off come of the paint!

 
Oddly enough, it seems the wall took the worst of it.  There was a small pink bump on his head for the evening, but once he calmed down from the crying, he really was no worse for the wear.  I think the bite of chocolate Middle Cousin gave him helped too... the evidence is all over his mouth in this picture.

So you know, Monday was fun.

And then came Tuesday which was in large part eaten up by the preparations for swim lessons, the actual lesson and the recovery naps afterward.  In the evening though, it occurred to me that I needed to run to the pharmacy (which is literally is across town since the meds have to be specially compounded) to pick up A.J.'s refill.  Once we got there, I had A.J. in her car seat carrier sitting on the floor next to my feet while they helped me, and Peter was seated on the counter in front of me in order to prevent his running away from me. 

While the clerk checked us out Peter noticed the bowl of Dumdum lollipops sitting beside him.  He selected one immediately.  It was sour green apple flavored.  I wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of him eating it, mostly because he's never had a regular sucker before and also because I was afraid he'd choke on the stick, but I ended up giving it to him anyway.  I helped him with the wrapper and he popped it happily into his mouth like he'd been eating suckers all his life.

A minute later when we were all back in the car I turned and told Peter "You can have that in the car, but when you finish it I need you to give me the sick so you don't choke.  The stick is YUCKY, please give it to Mommy when the candy is all gone."

I expected him to ignore me completely.

Instead, he took one more happy slurp then suddenly bit down hard.  He cracked the rest of his candy from the stick immediately.  He then handed me the stick matter of factly and went on happily crunching on his treat.

I was shocked.  First of all, I never thought his teeth were that strong.  And second, I don't think I bit through a Dumdum like that until I was much, much older than him.  And, finally, he was eating sour green apple flavor, which is, like, EW.

Then again, his Dad would have picked the exact same flavor and, probably, would have eaten the thing in just as many bites.

So you know, Peter's first whole lollipop.

Actually, I don't know why I was surprised by any of it.  Matt LOVES himself some green apples, the more sour, the better, and I know Peter loved to share them with him.  In fact, last week SIL brought home some green apples (for her own children) and Peter begged for them so insistently that I ended up buying a half dozen small ones for him as well.

He's been eating them a couple nights a week after dinner.  He won't even let me chop them up.  I take the first bite to "start" it for him, and then he just gnaws away happily for a good 20 minutes or so. 

Weird.

Meanwhile, A.J. is up to something new as well:

She's discovering her feet!  Neither foot has made it into her mouth yet, but she loves to grab at them (especially the left one) and will even take her socks off. 

Oh, and about this picture.  I took it yesterday evening while Peter was playing in the tub after his bath.  Lately, I'll just spread the blanket out for her outside the bathroom door so she can roll around and play while I bath him.  Then while he plays I can play with her a little and change her into her jammies or whatever while still being right outside the bathroom door and close enough to supervise her brother. 

So anyways, yesterday, this went on forever.  For. Ev. Er.  The boy did not want to get out of the tub.  Finally I drained the water and then he just sat in there some more anyway until I towelled him off, dragged him out and put him on his feet in the hall next to his sister. 

"Alright naked boy," I told him, "Quick before you have to pee again, run to your room for a diaper and your jammies and I'll get your sister and come right behind you to get you dressed."

The naked boy however had a better idea.  The moment I mentioned the word pee, it seemed, a little light bulb lit up in his mind.  The type of naughty little light bulb that only ever lights up in the brains of older brother with younger sisters.

He smiled.  He stepped right up close to his sister's blanket.  He bent his knees a little and concentrated really hard.

And then,

he tried his hardest, to pee...



on his sister.




Luckily, his aim was poor and A.J. was spared.

The carpet was not as lucky.


Oh boy oh boy.  It really is high times around here. 

Matt, if you're reading this, just think how lucky you are to have missed this one... the first time your son tried to pee on your daughter ON PURPOSE. 

Seriously.

I know I say this a lot but, I really couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

Swim Lessons

This morning Peter and I started a Mommy and Me swim class.  I know that I used to take him to the pool a lot last year, but it's been quite awhile and I really feel that it is important that my children learn to be smart around the water and some day be confident, strong swimmers in the water.  Also, the fact that the class is for him and I to take together is just what we need right now.  He's doing okay, over all, but I still see him acting out a lot recently.  The boy child's whole little world has been rocked in the last few months, first by a little sister, than by our move and then again by his Father's departure for the year.  I think the one on one attention from me will be good for him. 

SIL tagged along for the first session to take pictures for me.



Here we are before hand.  Peter just wanted to jump right in and I could barely contain him until our class began.



Once we were in the water, all he wanted to do was SPLASH!

One of the skills the teacher wanted us to work on was getting the
children relaxing while floating on their backs with our support.   

A.J. hung out on the bleachers with her Auntie.  In a few more months she'll be old enough to take a class with me too and it will be her turn. 

For most of the 30 minute class time the teacher told us to go off with our child individually and work on different skills.  She then sorted of rotated between us and offered help and pointers and then suggested which skills we should try next. 

Besides floating on his back, she encouraged Peter to try blowing bubbles.  He did this like a champ very quickly!

We were also working on getting him kicking.  He was good at this now we just need to work on getting him stretched out in the water on his tummy (with the floats) kicking and moving his arms. 

The duck was there to ease his comfort in the water and also give him something to stretch out and reach for...

All in all, I think our first class went very well.

Afterward, dragging him out of the pool was interesting, even though with about 10 minutes to go he was shivering, his little teeth her chattering and his eyes were starting to glaze over with sleepiness ever so slightly.

Then I got him under the nice warm shower.  He. LOVED. That. 

Also, after we were all rinsed off and he was dressed I discovered that he'd happily stand under one of the blow dryers while I myself changed.  It's amazing the things that will keep a child happy. 

Then, because I am a bad parent and I was feeling lazy, we buzzed the drive through a McDonald's for McNuggets because I knew he would eat those and I didn't feel like fighting to get him to eat before I could get his tired little toosh down for a nap.

And okay, so I know I've joked about his love for ranch but, see, nobody seems to believe me.  SIL laughed that the nuggets and fries were really just a ranch delivery system.  Ugh.  What a mess!

Naturally, while we ate, A.J. amused herself with a french fry.  I'm actually surprised that she didn't even try to put it her mouth.  Me thinks that starting solids with her in a couple weeks should be fun.

Sky City Restaurant and the Space Needle

I guess a couple of years ago, the regular Washington family started an Easter tradition of going to the Space Needle to eat brunch at the Sky City restaurant at the top.  Last year, of course, this didn't happen for them because they instead went to California to visit my family.  But this year, (desperate to make the day special lest I find myself to be really depressed and start wallowing) we decided to recapturethe tradition... with the glory that comes with all of it's amazingly overpriced food and a great view.

So you know, there's the Space Needle.  I have no earthly clue what's on that elevated section about a third of the way up, but at the bottom there is a big old gift shop and at the top there is the rotating restaurant and right above that is the observation deck (and tourist trap.)  Oh and a Starbucks.  Because of course there needs to be one of those up there, especially since the Coffee giant originated here.

Somehow, Peter ended up sitting between BIL and SIL.  Here is is demanding that his Uncle open his crayons for him so that, obviously he could draw for a minute then throw half of them on the floor and then consume the remainders.   I was seated opposite, next to A.J. and the cousins were at the end of the table closest to the window so that periodically they could put their hands on the window ledge and get dragged along as the place rotated until somebody yelled at them to stop reminded them of their manners.

Here I am.  I feel it's important, every now and then to include a picture of myself so that, years from now, I can actually prove to my children that I really did exist as something other than the family photographer and snarky blog writer.

Peter had Space Needle shaped macaroni and cheese, french fries and broccoli.  He ate the heck out of all of it. 

I had a steak served with a crab cake, mashed potatoes and asparagus.  I got to eat about 4 bites and then brought the rest home in a doggy bag because the magic-underwear I was wearing to smoosh in all the wobbily post-babies bits started to make my tummy hurt and I didn't feel much like eating.   That and A.J. wanted held.... I was only able to pawn her off on BIL AFTER he'd finished eating.  Seriously though, what a good Uncle he is.  Just look at him there.  AWE.... doesn't he look thrilled to have 2 more children around?!?!  :)



Anyway, here we all are... with a nice view to boot.

Just don't ask me how much that view cost...

Of course, once brunch was done, we went up to explore the observation deck.

A bit like the blind leading the blind here I think....

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum perhaps?



Peter just wanted to run!  This was fine of course, since the place is a circle and there really isn't anyway he could got *that* lost... except, you know, for the busy holiday crowds and all.  Also, the curve of the path around the round tower was too much for him to adapt to at full speed and every 10 feet or so he would crash into the wall....  poor kid.



He loved to look through the telescopes.  Not sure what he was really seeing or if he just like the trying.  I told him he looked like a pirate and asked him to say "Ar!"  He growled back at me like he does when I ask him what a Lion says.

Mommy and son and a rather impressive (ominous?) Washington sky... at one of the happy moments when the wind wasn't trying to blow my dress up around my head.

SIL waited inside to watch A.J. out of the wind where it was WARM.

The boys really like the little remote control camera things.

Fun times!

All in all, in case you couldn't tell, over the last 5 or 6 posts... we had a good little Easter.  I really wish Matt was here to enjoy it with us, but then again, if he was, we wouldn't be in Washington having any of these experiences.  I guess that means I've got to take the good with the bad.  I'm just thankful for family that has chosen to take us all in for this year and is helping me to make these days special even in less than desirable circumstances. 

Don't get me wrong though, Matt... We miss you like crazy... every. single. minute.

Easter Church and the Family Egg Hunt

After a breakfast of something SIL calls Egg-Mush... which is sort of like a poor man's version of Hollendaise Sauce served over biscuits (delicious but heartburn inducing) it was time to get ready for 10 am Easter Mass. 

Once the children were all ready to go, I ordered the children to line up on the couch and "get cute."  They were less than thrilled I think, but after several attempts I got a good photo of the bunch of them nonetheless.

Except Middle Cousin doesn't have his shoes on and one of A.J.'s seems to have fallen off, darn it!  Okay, well, but at least everyone is looking at the camera and seems happy so ignore the feet and just focus on those cute little faces!!



A Mommy/Daughter Easter moment.

A.J. in all her Easter Dress floooooofiness. 

I spent the entire day trying to decide what I think about her in this dress.  A kind lady from our Church in Monterey gave it to her for her baptism.  It's still a little too big, but I don't know if it will still fit the next time we have some place nice to go which, more than likely, will be when one of Matt's younger brothers get married in the fall.  I kept flashing between how cute and girlie she looked and thinking she looked like she was drowning in a sea of pepto bismol!  I also think it would have helped if she were able to sit up on her own, because the satiny fabric under the tulle made it very difficult to hang on firmly to her. 

And alright, I'll admit it, the line from A Christmas Story about looking like a "pink nightmare" just kept running through my head.

Not that this is a nightmare, by any means, but my brain just kept thinking that nonetheless.

She also kept trying to eat the tulle, so, you know... that was fun.  Matt, after hearing that and seeing a photo decided she must have thought she was wearing cotton candy.  :)

Anyway... here is 3/4 of my little family on our way out the door for church.

No idea why my eyes are so squinty, but trust me they really are open.  Peter looks nice and cute in this photo so even with my squinty eyes it's better than the other one SIL took... in that one Peter had a look on his face like he was being tortured or something.

 

The rest of the family....


Church was... interesting.  I'll just go ahead and be honest and admit that I had myself a little moment while driving there.  I miss my husband.  I hate that he is not here.  Holidays are for family and it isn't right to have to celebrate them without everyone. 

The church was crowded when we arrived, a good 30 minutes early, despite the fact that the parking lot was still emptying from of those insane blessed individuals who awoke early and attended the 8 am service.  Obviously we expected the 10 o'clock service to be packed, which is why we went so early, but this of course made containing the force of nature that is my toddler, um, far more interesting. 

He did okay.  We took several walks before and during mass.  The chapel and the lobby were literally standing room only and Peter didn't seem to understand why then he was expected to sit.  SIL helped.  BIL helped.  The cousins helped.  Heck, even the kind and understanding family behind us helped.  We lasted until immediately after communion.  Then, respectfully, we got the heck out of dodge. 

It was good to beat the rush out, because otherwise, I really think I might have lost my son. 

A.J. did well. She slept for about the first half and then was mildy satisfied to be passed back and forth for the remainder of our time in the service.  I'm fairly confident however that had we stayed much more than about 3 minutes longer she would have started to scream.

I spoke with Matt on the phone when we got home.  He was well.  He'd attended one of the Easter masses held in one of the base chapels, had picked up something other than chow hall food for lunch and was otherwise spending the day relaxing.  They only get liberty on Saturday evening and Sundays right now, so I guess it is good that he chose to take it easy.

Oh, and after church there was still another matter to attend to...

Somebunny had left eggs all over the back yard!!

Oh gosh, I can't believe I actually just let myself type the word "somebunny."  Geez being a parent makes you cheesy.  Seriously, "somebunny" smack me!

Naturally, by that point in the day is was raining.  Love the church clothes and rain boot ensemble there buddy.  How very Pacific Northwesterner of you...

Peter wanted to get the eggs but getting the wet grass on his hands really stressed him out.

Also, his boots are still about a size or two too large so it was slow going for him.

The Easter Bunny had filled these eggs with loose change.  The fact that these eggs, unlike the ones from the day before, rattled was interesting and warranted close investigation.

Middle Cousin ended up needing to encourage and help Peter to collect his share, otherwise we might have been out there all afternoon.

Mommy helped too!

Now there's a fashionable look...

After all the eggs were collected, all the children came inside to count their change.  Even though Peter had collected many fewer eggs than his cousins he was the big winner finding 2 silver dollars, and 4 fifty cent pieces in addition to lots of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies.  In the end, he collected $5.09... nearly as much as his 3 cousins combined!
(But don't rub this in, trust me when I tell you they were NOT happy to be beaten by a toddler.)

After hunting and counting his treasure, Peter went down for a quick nap because Easter still had one more family adventure in store for us that afternoon....

Easter Baskets

Sunday morning, I awoke quite literally to hear the pitter patter of little feet outside my bedroom door.  The cousins, you see, had been instructed that they needed to wait until about 7 am to wake me (and my children) up and see if the Easter Bunny had come.

Frankly, I am proud of myself for making 7 am work, since, I still maintain that nothing needs to happen, um, ever, before at least 8 or better yet 9.  But whatever.  7 is better than 6 I suppose.

Anyway, when everyone had stumbled down the stairs, we found that the Bunny had indeed left us all many great surprises.  (Unfortunately, I was not fast enough to get a picture before the excited children started tearing into everything.)

Here I am showing A.J. the stuffed chick that was in her basket.

Peter smiled a lot through his pacifier when he discovered his own basket full of candy and toys.

My babies enjoying the Easter morning together.

A.J. seemed intrigued by her Mrs. Potato Head Bunny.

The Hot Wheels set was a big hit!

Happy baby on her first Easter!

Peter was so thrilled with the toys that it really took him awhile to notice his candy.  He had a chocolate bunny, an egg of jelly beans, another of reese's peices and of course, a small carton of malted milk robin's eggs.  Obviously he went for the Robin's Eggs first.  Those are his Daddy's favorite so like Father like son, as always!!!

A.J.'s basket had some rice cereal and some puffs, but since she's still too young to start solids for a few more weeks, she settled to munch on her hand instead.  Can you say teething much?

The Easter Bunny, I guess knowing how much I have been loving the weather here brought me this sweatshirt and a matching coffee cup full of jelly beans and some chocolate.  It says "Washington Rain festival: Jan 1st - Dec 31st"  Hahaha!

And of course, this just needed to be done.  :)