Catching up

Oh my it's been awhile! SO much has happened since December 10th, let me catch up on it all:

Dec 13th - Eric goes to Syracuse to take the last of his teaching tests (neccesary for tenure) and due to a clerical error one of his tests are not there! He was so angry! Now he has to take another one later...hhhhh

Dec 15th - my husbands excellent concert - except that the percussionists missed the whipcrack in Sleigh Ride...on purpose

Dec 16th - 3 lessons and 2 1/2 hours of musical rehearsal, followed by snow...boy was I worried. If we had a snow day the day of the concert it would have messed up the whole week.

Dec 17th - only a 2 hour delay, dress rehearsals all day and then my concert, it was a good time, the kids did well (my Sleigh Ride whip crack wasn't all that much better - though it wasn't on purpose!!)

Dec 18th - choir practice, and I got to go to the basketball game for a little while and see the pep band. It was nice to see my husband for once:).

Dec 19th - SNOW DAY EARLY START ON VACATION!!! We got SOOO much done on the house, cleaning and such and started on the bathroom downstairs so we can paint. So nice to have 17 days in a row to spend with my family.

Dec 20th - Choir practice, getting ready to sing the Hallelujah chorus at the Christmas Eve service, we had pizza and lots of fun:)

Dec 21 - church, Eric painted the bathroom!! So nice to have time to work on our house!

Dec 22 - Eric and Mike went shopping, and Genni and I went shopping. That night I started to wrap presents. We must have been really broke last year because I don't remember wrapping that many presents!!!

Dec 23 - The last of the Christmas shopping is done. Eric's mom came over in the morning so Eric and I got to go shopping by ourselves, had lunch with Gary and Cathy and Debbie, and we got so much done! More wrapping tonight!

Dec 24 - Happy Birthday Eric! My husband is 30 now, I'll be the last one to get out of my 20's, not till September. I cooked and cleaned all morning while Eric went to get my brother from the airport in Rochester, than Christmas Eve service and dinner party for Eric's Birthday. Didn't really expect that to be as stressful as it was, but it was also a good time. The choir did a great job, and we used every single robe! My parents where at my house when we got home, so it was Eric and I, my parents and brother, his parents and our friends Mike and Laurelyn with Graham and Dean. Genni fell asleep on the way back from church and slept through the whole party. I feel guilty that she missed the party, but it was nice to not have to worry about her for a little bit.

Dec 25 - Christmas! It was soooo much fun to watch Genni open presents this year. She was really into Christmas and Santa Claus. She was excited that the milk and cookies where gone and that she got what she asked for. She loves all the pretend food and dishes she got and is constantly making us tea, coffee, and sandwiches and soup (she's actually drinking out of the teapot as I type!). After we got ready it was to Eric's parents house for more presents and dinner. She especially loved her new baby doll and the shopping cart, and I had to reorganize the living room so everything would fit!

Dec 26 - my parents leave for home and we go to Syracuse to see Eric's grandmother and Aunt Joan and Uncle Rick. Lunch was nice, and the Birthday cake for his grandmother (93) - she's been in and out of the hospital lately though so keep her in your prayers.

Dec 27 - another dinner party - Eric's dad, Ken and Marcy, Brett and Chelsea, and Gary and Marie and Ethan - we did a turkey with the fixings and pumkin mousse parfaits. We love cooking and having friends over to visit. Genni and Ethan had a great time, I believe there is a picture of them rolling all over Ken.

Dec 28th - today! Eric went to a Bills vs Patriots game with Mike, Genni and I went to church and then hung out all day. Except for naptime (took and hour and a half to get her to sleep again) everything has been great. She'll go to sleep for Sarah and Grandma fine, it's just for me she has issues.

Well tomorrow we go to CT, then back on Tuesday and I guess that Tim and Sandi and Emily are coming on Thursday now, so hopefully we'll still have some time to relax and work on the house before we go back to school.

Genni has been so much fun, I mean we still have temper tantrums and moments of purposeful disobediance while smirking, but her language skills are great and she comes out with the most interesting thoughts. When we were Christmas shopping she wanted to know how the got stuff down that was on the really tall shelves, so I told her they would need a ladder, then the other night she told Eric she needed a ladder to get somewhere up high in our house. She woke up yesterday and said to Eric, "Daddy, it's so good to see you!" Seriously, we weren't dreaming. I have gotten some of her "I want...." to be May I have....please - and it's so nice to hear her being so polite. We did find out this week just how much TV she used to watch at the babysitters - all these shows we've never heard of that she wants to watch. I'm happy she is going to Larelyn now and we don't have to worry about her watching TV all the time.

Well, I'll write again soon - I promise not to let it go for so long again!!

The Christmas Season

The house is decorated,the shopping is at least started, and there are only 7 more days of school left till our two week vacation! The only thing we have planned is going to CT, but that is up one day and back the next. Still plenty of time for stuff around the house!
Genni is getting better - We had a talk in the car yesterday about her "attitude" and I've been sending her to her room when she starts, so that has taken the tantrums down a bit. She is still always asking for chocolate and cookies (at like 6AM!) and getting mad when I won't give them to her, but maybe sometime she'll realize she never gets them when she whines and stop doing it. (yeah right, I know)
Musical rehearsals have begun and we had almost 60 people at rehearsal Monday night. I'm looking forward to tonights rehearsal! I've been practicing and my pian skills are improving. Maybe by January I'll be able to play everything.
Well rehearsal tonight, choir tomorrow but from Friday night till Sunday morning I'm free! I also plan on sleeping downstairs Saturday night in an effort to sleep more than 3 hours in a row. Excited!

Getting Better!

Well - I feel better health-wise, though eating is still an issue. I am now so far behind in everything though that I shouldn't even be writing this post. Eric is in Rochester for the rest of the week for NYSSMA, and so it's just Genni and I at home. Of course as usual she woke up in the middle of the night thinking it was morning (1:21AM) and didn't want to go back to sleep, then she woke up again at 5:45 and the dog started barking in his crate two floors down because somehow he heard me cough. Then my two year old daughter refused to get dressed, didn't want to have her hair done, would not put her coat on, the dog would not come to go into his crate and then she lost it when I didn't have any granola bars for her (how on earth am I supposed to have granola bars for her if we don't have any!). My goodness what a morning. Yesterday she literally laid down on the floor in the hallway at West and was kicking and screaming when my mother-in-law was trying to watch her so we could cast the play. Luckily all of the other people in my life have much more patience than I do - Cathy had her in a wonderful mood before we left choir. Unfortunately the fact that she had to go to bed (though I prepared her many times in the car) when we got home made bedtime sound like I was severly harming my child. So I held her blankets down while she screamed at the top of her lungs, and when I couldn't take it anymore and left the room without a word she was silent and 10 seconds later I look in and she is asleep! I do NOT understand two year olds!!!
Before I get back to the wonderful things in my life, I want to complain for a second about my lack of sleep. Yes I know I shouldn't, other moms out there are laughing at me for thinking it should be any different, but I still can't stand it. My daughter used to sleep through the night just fine. Now it's been MONTHS since I've had more than two or three hours of sleep in a row. I think basically it's been since we moved her out of her crib. What am I supposed to do now? I can't move her back into the crib and this phase does not seem to be ending. How can she survive with such broken sleep? It's driving me crazy!
Deep breath, I'm better now:)
Well, I'm looking forward to Christmas and Christmas vacation, these next two weeks are always stressful as we prepare for concerts and stuff. My first musical rehearsal is Monday night, so here's hoping it goes well and everyone can sing. Since these aren't kids I know very well it's going to be kind of like the first day of school for me, so I'll probably be really nervous till I get there, and then I'll be in my element.
This weekend is pretty light, Genni and I are going over to the Simon's new house to help move things (well I'll move things, Genni will probably play with Graham and maybe be in a good mood for the rest of the day! *side note, it's been awhile since she's seen Graham but the first person she says good night to every night is Graham) and then Sunday we have church and Eric should be home in the afternoon. My big goal for the weekend is laundry. I'm actually tempted to put it all in the car and spend two hours at a laundrymat just so it'll all be DONE.

Back to completing all the things I should have been doing!

New Hampshire for Thanksgiving and the Flu

Well - lots of things have happened since last post, I just haven't had time or energy to get on the computer. Last Tuesday we left for New Hampshire, got there about 1AM I think, and had a nice time with Eric's brother and sister-in-law and family. Got a head start on our Christmas shopping. We got back Sunday early evening and School was fine on Monday. Then Monday night the flu descended on me (that's really what it felt like) at about 9PM and I've been trying to function since then. I'll write more about it later...don't have much energy now.

Baby it's COLD outside!

Every winter I remember that I hate the cold - I hate being cold - and the only reason I no longer want to move down south is because I like fall and spring too much and appreciate their contrast with the freezing cold of winter. That and snow days, 2-hour delays and early dismissals. But seriously, it went from a bunch of peasant days to - COLD!!

So we are getting the house ready for our trip to NH this week - still lots to do. One of my students is house/dog sitting for us so I feel like it really has to be clean since she may stay there some nights. Not much time for cleaning though - Friday Eric was at the football game (we got beat bad!) and I was just so exhausted when I got home I couldn't do a thing. We resited turning the TV on for most of the evening, but Genni started to ask for Elmo, and I thought that would be a great time for some shuteye. So I layed down on the couch with Genni next to me in my arms and Wallace curled up on my stomach (he thinks he's a cat sometimes I think). It was great till Elmo was over, then I had to get up. Saturday we went wine tasting, Genni was with us so they kept giving her grape juice everywhere, and she loved the food they gave us at each winery. (don't worry she din't get any alcohol!). It was quite a late night though after we went out to dinner. Of course Genni didn't fall asleep in the car so I still had to get her to sleep when we got home. She has been quite difficult at bedtime lately, she asks for all the typical things to get out of sleeping - apple juice, another story, the bathroom. Then once I leave the room she gets out of bed to get book and toys and she has recently begun taking her pants and diaper off too. On Sunday afternoon, after an hour and a half of this, she didn't take a nap at all. Then on the way to the church dinner she fell asleep in the car. We laid her on the couch in when we got there and she woke up 45 minutes later in a not so great mood. She has also started to freak out if we close her bedroom door. Luckily she is a pretty heavy sleeper so we can make a god deal of noise without waking her up. She didn't get up till 4 today, which meant 4-5 hours of sleep in a row for me, something I haven't had in quite a while!

Well back to class, I'll finish later:)

Winter is here!

Let's see - what has happened since my last post? Well this past weekend I played with the Williamsport Symphony. Great fun, I was almost accurate with all of my playing. If the conductor hadn't taken Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien faster than anyone on the planet I would have been fine. You should have heard the wind players griping in the back - none of us where happy. Bolero went fine, and the bandalino tune was very nice as well. I got a lot of work done when I wasn't playing as well. Then Sunday I went to see East's show - Fantasticks - kudoes to all for a well done performance! Last night we had a nice family evening at home - I even got to nap on the couch:). Despite my nap this morning was very difficult to face and so I called in for a half day and enjoyed a relaxing morning with my ever bright and cheery daughter (really she was I'm not being sarcastic). My dining room table arrived before we left for school and it looks SOO good in my dining room. I've never had new furniture like that before so it's very exciting. Eric's football team won on Friday 28-26 and are playing again this weekend in Rochester. Go West! So Eric is off to Rochester on Friday for the game, and then we are going wine tasting on Saturday.
So Genni gets more vocal every day. "Don't even think about it Wallace!, Wallace give that back right now! No Wallace!" Having a puppy has certainly brought on more full sentences. Wallace is being pretty good, still a chewer of all things moving or standing still, but he can generally control his bladder, which makes me happy. If there is a single tooth mark on my new table I'm going to take him to the shelter though!
Well - hopefully we are in for a relaxing week...cheers!

And Life rolls on....

Well - although the day off was wonderful - I'm all messed up now as to what day of the week it is. Today is Thursday, but tomorrow is conferences so no students. So really it's like Friday, but it's the second day of school in a row and the third one this week...argh. I have managed to cram all of my lessons into 3 days, 4-12, and so I have absolutely no time to do all of the other millions of things on my desk. Including practicing for the gig this weekend (some seriously fast parts that I need to be able to do!). Today is choir, tomorrow is rehearsal in Williamsport and the game in Syracuse, Saturday I will be in Williamsport the majority of the day for rehearsal and concert, and Sunday I have church and then go to see dad's show at East - but Eric has a concert at CMOG. Whew! Then we still have a whole week of school again! Here I go complaining again -I'll have to stop that.

Anyway - Genni is so much fun now, we were sitting at dinner last night (pizza, I totally didn't feel like cooking or eating leftovers!) and Genni started to say the same thing over and over - mom and I looked at each other confused trying to figure out what she was saying. She was reciting one of her books! "The moon is up, it's getting late, let's get ready to celebrate it's pajama time!" Of course there were a few words missing "The moon is up it's getting late, let's celebrate" so I said it with her to help her. Then she was in charge of whose turn it was. "Ok mommy's turn. Genni's turn, mommy say it with me" Sooo cute. Then we went in the living room and watched her video that I put together and I put the microphone close to her and recorded all of her comments. I'm going to extract them and put them in the video, some day she'll love it. Actually she is very fond of listening to her own voice even now:). Of course she is becoming more independant every day and wants to do everything "myself mommy myself". It's really a lesson in patience to let her do all of the thing I usually just do. I know she needs to learn, but does it have to be when I'm running late for school? She can now say music (not mookey) and balloon (boodan). Fun times:)

In other news - Wallace can now climb over the baby gates, so the good news is I can take out my kitchen rugs, the bad news is that I have to discipline him constantly to keep him from chewing up Genni's toys. He is now in his crate at night as well as when we are gone. In fact he went in it a bit early this morning since he peed on our bed when upstairs with Eric. What do dogs think? Genni is doing better at potty training then he is sometimes!!! She got to wear her "dora's (pull ups)" because she went in the potty all by herself - I had left her to get the dog away from something or other and she comes out with no diaper on saying - "mommy I did it!" "really hunny? (disbelieving)" "wow you really did, good job!!"

Life's small joys - till next time!

Seriously?

Well good and bad things abound - Last night my daughter took over an hour to get to bed in the first place, and then was awake from 12:30-3:30. Finally falling asleep in our bed to wake up at 7:30 - then I got her to go back to bed till 9. Seriously? One day in the week we have off and I spent it awake half the night? I even woke up Eric after the fourth time I got out of bed - but she just cries harder if it's not mommy so I got up anyway. hhhhh - so even if we didn't have today off I probably wouldn't have gone in in the morning anyway. Such is life.
Good things - we went to the store and found a dining room set we like - affordable (especially with our connections) - so it's being delivered on Tuesday. I'm so excited to have a real dining room set! Our current one has was Eric's grandmother's and it was in the house during the flood in Corning - so it's basically falling apart and it's just not our style. It will be donated to the school so we can use it in the play - so it will still get some use.
I'm currently at West killing time since my first student called 5 minutes before her lesson started to tell me she wasn't coming. I have another one after her so now I have 45 minutes to kill. Of course I could be using that time to practice my own oboe since I have a symphony gig this weekend and haven't played the music yet - but no I left my oboe at home. What a stupid place for it to be! I would also cancel this other lesson, but do you think I have her phone number? Nope. Oh well - back to killing some time. :) Cheers!

One day of school - then sleeping in again!

I don't know who had the idea to have us go to school for one day and then have a day off - but it totally rocks. It was so much easier to get up this morning knowing that tomorrow I get to sleep in. Of course at 6:50 today my daughter grumpily awoke because I woke her up, and yesterday she was up at 6. So maybe this will fool her into sleeping later tomorrow! I don't have anything else interesting to say - it's still Monday morning and brain is not yet awake. Random note - the times that it says I'm posting on the blog are like 3 hours off and I have no idea how to fix it - anyone have any ideas? Cheers to a relaxing week!

Potty Time

Although my daughter has gone in the potty a few times this week - this title refers more to the fact that she is currently watching Elmo's Potty Time so that I can have a few minutes to myself. I was reading through my blog entries and realized I hadn't posted since Tuesday. Also that in almost every post a complain about being busy - not that I won't keep complaining - but at least I realize it now:) Haha
Anyway - Wednesday we all spent at home, which was nice - Thursday was choir for me and a reahearsal for Eric, so Genni came to choir with me. She was SOOOO good, she just read her books and walked around a little and listened to us. I was just so happy. Friday Eric had Area All State so it was just me and Genni. We went Walmart for some stuff and I solved my "Genni up" problem in the store. If I put her in the backpack she actually lets me shop! Super cool. So that brings us to today, traveling to Binghamton for the West High football game. They won 12-8 with an amazing interception in the last 30 seconds that kept the other team from scoring the winning touchdown. So this means that Friday Eric will be going to Syracuse for the next game, I will be in Williamsport for rehearsal and grandma will be with Genni at home.
Genni fell asleep in the car on the way home and woke up in one of her moods, hence my last resort Elmo video. As the video is now over my daughter is now trying to push all of the buttons no the TV - my cue to stop typing. On the plus side Wallace is chilling out next to me on the couch chewing his bone. I guess you can't have it all:)

Time Change

OK, I take it back, I hate the time change. I'm hungry at 9:30 in the morning for lunch, starving at 4:30 for dinner, and all of us where exhausted by 7PM last night. I even put Genni to bed early, something I never do because I'm so protective of the time I have to spend with her. She didn't wake up till 4 though - and againspent the hour between 4 and 5 trying to get back to sleep between Eric and I, fidgeting all the while. Tomorrow I'm taking her back to her bed if she appears in our room at 4:00. Grrr. The ONLY benefit is that when I take Wallace out in the morning it's actually light out.
Speaking of Wallace, he's 4 months old now and still having accidents inside. Is that normal?? I mean shouldn't he have figured it out by now? He'll spend a half hour outside, then be in for less than a minute and go on the floor. It's infuriating! I want to put away the mop, take out my kitchen carpets and allow him to be in the rest of the house with us all the time. I want to put away the baby gates for good! For those of you who don't know, Wallace is a beagle pup, not a person. :)
Busy Tuesday's - I have lessons after school and then Eric has some rehearsal tonight or something. I guess Tuesday is going to be hang out with grandma day for Genni. That's the bell...back to teaching! Till later

Monday Monday

Well - although it did not mean my daughter slept any longer (in fact this morning she spent the hour between 4 and 5 fidgeting in our bed instead of sleeping) I did enjoy the extra hour before I needed to be at church on Sunday, and at least for today it feels better to have light in the morning. We had a nice weekend of plays, playing and cleaning (why is it that laundry and dishes are NEVER done! If we just didn't eat or change our clothes my life would be so much easier!)
Friday I went to see the West High play - the kids did a really nice job (I was also scouting for who might be able to do which part for the musical :)) and I imposed on my friend Laurelyn to keep my daughter for the evening so I could see it (my husband being the tech director and all). I guess most people actually do something on Halloween. I grew up in the country and don't remember going house to house for candy. I do remember going to the mall trick-or-treating once and getting BAGS of candy though. Luckily my daughter doesn't know any better yet so hopefully we can put off trick-or-treating for awhile. But anyway, that's why I couldn't find a babysitter. Luckily Genni and Graham play really well together and so didn't drive Laurelyn crazy. Genni then spoke of nothing but Graham the whole next day.
Saturday we hung out with daddy till after nap and then went back to see Laurelyn and Graham again. I am SOOO bad at sewing that Genni's curtains have been halfway done for ages. So since Laurelyn is much more talented with a sewing machine, and I seem to be able to handle the pinning part, we got some more seams done on her curtains in between toddler questions.
Sunday was church, spaghetti lunch (youth group fundraiser) and then nap and to mom and dad's for dinner. The play is now finished and the set struck so Eric should be home all night tonight - yay! This also means I can go to the grocery store tonight without Genni - she is an angel for the babysitter when they go to the store, but when I go with her she spends the entire time crying because I won't carry her. Now I know she isn't that heavy, but have you ever tried to push a cart, carry a two-year old, cross things off of your list, and actually think about what you are putting in the cart? Luckily I wasn't trying to keep a tally of prices in my head too! So, as much as I love my daughter, I'm looking forward to traversing the grocery store without a screaming child:).
Oh! one last thing - I get to play with the Williamsport Symphony on the 14/15th! I'm super excited to have a proffesional gig, it's been so long since I played with that quality of ensemble. We are playing Ravel's Bolero, Tchaikovsky's Cappricio Italien and something else I don't know. But anyway - super fun! Till next time!

The Weekend Yay!

I am sooooooo happy that the weekend is here. The time after our 3 day weekend in October till Thanksgiving break seems to drag on so much. I guess cause it's a busy time of year. What am I saying - every time of year is busy. Genni was a pumpkin last night for Halloween - sadly I have no pictures as I have no clue where the camera is (I'll bet anything it's at school with my husband). I'm almost done with my video collage of Genni - it only takes 12-13 minutes to view a few pictures from every month of her life (mostly - I think we are missing a month or two). Videos are scarce(sp) but it's so funny to look at all those pictures at once and see how much she has grown. It's a good thing I'm starting now - now I can just keep adding to it as she gets older. Every time I pick up my computer she wants to watch it - making comments like "Genni naked!" "Genni sleeping!" "mommy sleeping!" Maybe I should record her comments and add them to the video - haha - she'll especially love the "Genni naked!" one when she gets older.

Speaking of getting older - every night after we read her book in bed I get up and turn out the lights, turn her music (mookey as Genni says it) on and then we say good nights. She generally lists every person she knows as well as Elmo, the dogs and some othe inanimate objects we used that day. Last night however the only person she would say good night to was Graham. I hadn't seen Graham at the parade so wasn't sure she had seen him till then. I kept asking her if she wanted to say good night to anyone else and she finally said "hugs and kisses" "for Graham?" "yeah (cute smile)". Boy oh boy if these two ever date I'm going to bring this up - how cute is that!

Well - now I have to start thinking about the musical - and the concert - and solo festival - and Christmas presents - and....it's a good thing I get to sleep in tomorrow.

Myself mama - do it myself.

Well - Genni has become quiet the independant. She cries whenever I buckle her in the car cause she wants to do it herself (although realitically she never has and can't yet get the bottom buckles herself, though she can do the top one with help). Sometimes there is just not enough time to let her do it - like at 7:15 when we should have left 5 minutes ago and Mommy is going to be late to school and still has to go to the babysitter. Sigh - or when she wants to put her socks and shoes on herself, again always at the times I'm most in a hurry. If I didn't like sleep quite so much it wouldn't be a problem. I'm just not a morning person. Though there are some benefits to "do it myself". On Friday, after having already gotten up twice to get my daughter more food - she was still hungry, so she went to the fridge herself, got out a cheesestick, and closed the door. I was so impressed, I said "Genni did you close the refrigerator door?" "Yes I did". Wow, ok -"here Genni can you put this in the garbage for me?" "Ok mommy". Sweet! Now if she was just big enough to do the dishes! Haha.
I guess Grandma got the first taste of Genni's more toddler type behavior yesterday. Usually Genni is awesome for everyone else, and saves all her testing for her mother. Grandma was watching her yesterday while I was teaching lessons and Eric was doing the play and I hear that my wonderful daughter said the word "no" more often than any other. Grandma even had to threaten a spanking! They say it only gets better from here:)
Well, the play is this weekend so Eric will be busy, but my weekend is pretty free. As always I'm looking forward to Saturday morning sleeping in and hanging out in bed for entirely too long while my daughter watches Word World and Big Big World and other educational programs. Then we'll go downstairs and she'll want to watch Elmo - to which my reply is always "Elmo is for after nap hunny" and without fail she will cry and complain till I send her to her couch. After a few moments of my ignoring her she'll say "mommy kisses" and come give me kisses with a cute little smile on her face. I think that smile means that I may have won the battle - but she is winning the war - haha:) Oh well - little miss independant - so long as I keep getting "mommy kisses" you can have your way every once in a while.
Till later!

Friday - Cleaning - and a big girl!

Well the week's almost over....East vs. West tonight. Don't know how the football teams will do, but to be honest I know how the bands will do:). I'm looking forward to the weekend, though it is pretty busy too. I'm starting to crumble under the pressure of working all day, trying to spend time with my daughter at night, a puppy, a dog and cleaning the house. Most people would say to just not clean - but then I feel worse cause I have a messy house and it's not like it goes away just cause I don't do it or some magic fairy will clean the house for me. It's still there, just worse. It just never ends...

You know the rhyme about the little girl with the little curl - when she was good she was very very good and when she was bad she was awful. I believe they were talking about my child. When she is happy she is sooo much fun. Such a big smile with dimples and laughing like crazy. She is certainly happy the majority of the time too. But when she is not happy, well there is no in between. Dr. Jekyle/Mr.Hyde baby. Oh wait, my daughter informed me last night that she was not a baby, that she was a big girl. Seriously those words came out of her mouth - I have no idea where she got them. It was way cute, and a little sad. Of course I'll still call her my baby - she'll have to deal - but she's right, she's not a baby anymore. sigh.

Looking forward to the weekend....

Cranky napper

My girl wakes up soooo cranky from her naps sometimes that I wish she hadn't even taken one! Sometimes she'll just cry non-stop for a half an hour once she gets up and she can't decide whether she wants to cuddle or not so I hug her and she alternates between pushing me away and being more upset because I'm not holding her. It was so bad the other day on the way home from school/sitter's that I slammed on the brakes and pulled over (we all know that driving while your child is screaming is great for the nerves) and told her I would wait till she calmed down before I drove home. Thank goodness she stopped! I just wish she could tell me how she was feeling when she acts like that. It's so confusing!

Anyway, after another episode of post nap crying in the car, and then totally ignoring mommy's questions about her day, we arrived at Daddy's school for the hand off. Then Eric went to go get mom and take her and Genni home so he could come back and do conferences. Sometimes the most complicated part of our day is scheduling - gee I can't wait till that includes driving Genni (and whoever else may come along) to pratices too! Daddy got home right at bed time, so he got to say good night to Genni and we actually were able to spend some time together for once. Of course our time together was more spent watching CNN and complaining about FOX news coverage and rejoicing in the polls and agreeing that we can't wait for this election to be over! But hey, at least we saw each other:).

Even though Eric will be gone till late on his Eastman trip, at least I don't have any duties after school except dogs and children. If I can finally finish all of the dishes, I'll have a very relaxing evening. Cheers!

Random thought - SNOW IN OCTOBER!!!

Busy Times!

I was just talking with a friend at lunch about what I had to do this week - and she said "don't you ever get tired? How do you do it all?". I guess that is just life for me and my family. We like to be busy, but we treasure our "do nothing" time as well. Sometimes the best thing is to just not have anything planned, but then be spontaneous and do something fun. No pressure that way. Anyway, today I have a bunch of lessons and Eric has conferences in the PM so between the two of us and mom someone will be the Genni. I'm not exactly sure how dinner is going to get cooked or if my dishes will ever get done, but that's OK.

My daughter is so much fun, she is talking a ton now and likes to tell us about her day. Unfortunately she seems to hold grudges because it doesn't seem to matter that Wallace pushed her down a week and a half ago, she tells me about it every day. She also tells on each of us to the other one. If I'm in the shower, I'll get out and Genni says "daddy spankin me" which really means he either yelled at her or even just told her not to do something. It could even have been two days ago and she just remembered it, you never know. We have a dog and a puppy, so between the two of them we give a lot of "dog" commands. So now my daughter thinks that if she wants my attention she should call "mommy come here" and pat her legs. That part is funny, the bad part is that she says "mommy no!" just like I say "Wallace no!". I keep telling her I'm not a dog - she'll get it eventually.

The other new thing lately is that while your holding her she'll grab your cheeks between her hands and kiss you. It's so adorable, cause then she hugs your head really hard. Kids drive us crazy sometimes, but they are so precious. We keep hoping for another one, I'm sure it'll happen eventually (though frustrating to wait). Remind me when I'm sick and tired at the end of the day of teaching while being pregnant that I asked for this!

Well - back to my busy life....till next time!

Here we go....

Well, I've never done a blog before, so I guess it's about time I catch up with the times! It was a busy weekend - well not really. Saturday we just sat around all day and did family stuff - which was awesome. Of course the house didn't get any cleaner - but that's totally overrated right? Then Sunday we all slept too late, had to rush to get to church and get the cake ready for the church luncheon, then to mom and dads to move the futon and let the dogs play, hen to MU for Octoboefest. We didn't get home till 9:30, so Genni got to bed late again. Hopefully that doesn't mean she'll be cranky today for her sitter's house!
I finally finished my new book - I'm a fantasy nut and was reading the latest Eragon book, was sorely dissapointed to find out the the trilogy has turned into a series and that the book I was ready didn't have any closure! Of course I'm happy to have another book to look forward to, but I would have liked to know from the begnning what to expect. Oh well.
Our friends sold their house and my daughter's sitter agreed to keep her through the winter till they can move and get settled - so no more stress there!
It's going to be a busy week as Eric will be working on the play all week since the show is next week - but at least we have Thanksgiving to look foward to and the musical will be starting soon too.

Busy life - tonight hopefully I can tame the jungle that is my kitchen and bring the puppy one step closer to keeping the kitchen floor dry! Cheers!