high and tight

So, remember how in October, I got the Katie Holmes cut and I was all, "Ugh! It's really short! I don't know if I like it!"...but in the end I ended up *loving* the cut and got tons of compliments on it?

Well, today I got my hair cut again. And, unbeknownst to me...she cut it even shorter. But unlike last time, I don't think I'll be swimming in the compliments as I look very manly and this cut has shown me that my neck is apparently disproportionately thick for my head.

I love my hairdresser. She's expecting GG twins at the end of May so we chatted baby names and gear (two of my favorite subjects) and I told her the story of our ER trip with E. I guess she just got wrapped up in my enchanting conversation and went a little overboard with the razor.

Sigh. At least I got caught up on the latest In Style and Real Simple while I got my hair colored. And the shampoo girl gave a *great* head massage.

And I tried to take a picture of myself, but I kept deleting because they were awful...maybe I'll take one this weekend for you. Speaking of the weekend...Autumn and her brood are coming on Saturday night. Should be fun (as usual)! I'm making carnitas...I'm very excited!

rub-a-dub-dub

Bathtime is always a party in the Slacker house. The girls have taken baths together since A was able to sit up on her own. Now the spend the entire time splashing each other and dumping water on each other's heads. Then afterwards, they run around like superheros with their hooded towels as capes.



I was going to upload a video the girls running around, but I'm afraid of some pervy internet guys watching it. I had to crop out some girl parts of these pictures as it was.

numbers game

When E counts to twenty, it goes something like this.

1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...11...12...13...14...15...17...18...19...20.

For as long as she has been able to count to 17, E has always omitted 16. It's dead to her.

In other news, the Slacker family had dessert tonight at the newly opened Maggie Moo's. 'Cause really, nothing says "It's ice cream time!" like temps in the 30s with windchills below that. Though she did not get her own cone, the big winner of the trip was A. She spent the entire outing walking back between me, John and E having a bite from each. E was such a good big sister...she shared so much of her cone with A and wiped A's face after every bite. They get along so well...I just hope it lasts once they hit the teenaged years!

random thoughts about work

• So there are posters all over my office building alerting us to the upcoming [Office Name] Idol Karaoke Competition. Is it me, or does that sound like one of the worst ideas ever?
  
  First of all, I thought you had to be drunk in order to perform karaoke? Last I checked, drinking while at work is generally frowned upon. I'm not complaining if *that* rule changed...but I'm pretty sure it hasn't.
  
  If the contestants aren't drinking...then they must stone-cold-sober and singing in front of their co-workers. Which means that they must actually think they are good. Since, I don't work for a record company or anything...so I'm going to assume that these people are not. I'll be avoiding the cafeteria that day for sure.



• I just found this web site, Mommy Track'd. Christie Mellor, author of Three Martini Playdate, is a contributor. I haven't fully checked it out, but it looks great...including good advice and entertaining articles.



• My cube at work is getting moved *again.* And, it's worse than my current location. Instead of being planted in front of the copy machine, I will be in the newly opened "satellite office"...on a completely different floor...with two new employees that look socially inept. Thank god it's only for three days a week/ I did tell my boss that banishing me to the overflow office really puts a wrench in the whole "you should come to the office in order to interact with the developers" argument he has made in support of me not working from home full-time. I'm hoping to get at least one more day at home shortly after I get moved.

no rest for the weary

Having decided that tantrums at school drop-off were simply not enough to indicate her displeasure in us going to Vegas, Sweet Baby A has decided that she will also protest at bedtime.

Our bedtime routine is simple enough...after the girls get into their PJs, brush their teeth and give good night kisses to each other, John takes E into her room and reads a story (or 6). I take A into her room, where I read her a story, sing her a few verses of her song, and then put her in her crib where she rolls over and goes to sleep. I then head off into E's room and sing her a song (or 6).

Well, the last two nights, A has started screaming bloody murder every time I put her down in her crib. Last night she did not go to bed until 9:30 -- almost a full two hours after I started the process.

E (bless her heart) was very good natured about the whole thing. The first time I went into her room, she looked at me and said,

"A does not sound happy."
"I know," I told her. "Why don't you read a book while I try to get her to go to sleep?"

So she quietly played and read in her room while I ran back into A's room...and came back just as A was starting to get hysterical.

"Mommy...looks like it didn't work that time, either."

I was able to sing E her requesite songs and get her to sleep...and eventually A *did* fall asleep. But at midnight, she woke up and it started again. I tried to send John in after I failed in putting her back to sleep, but she was just screaming "Maaaaaaaaaama!"...so John brought her into bed with us. I was too damn tired to protest.

While A is a much better bedmate than E was (E had to lie on top of me in order to sleep), she is not ideal. She wanted to lie across the bed, on top of the comforter with her face down in it. I could barely sleep as I was sure she was going to suffocate. Then she rolled off the bed. Luckily, she this ellicited no more than a grunt and as soon as I put her back on the bed she was passed out again. Then, she woke up with my alarm clock, not quite getting the whole alarm-snooze-sleep routine I usually use in the morning. So while, she was as happy as a clam this morning, I'm on cup #3 of coffee and praying that tonight goes much better.

Knock on wood...it can't get much worse.

they like me! they really like me!

So, apparently, the girls missed us during our weekend jaunt to Vegas. Don't get me wrong...they had a great time while we were gone...but since then I have been suffering from the aftermath.

Drop-offs at school for A have been a nightmare. The tears! The death grip! The pathetic cries of "maaaaaaaaama"! She actually pushed her favorite teacher's hand away as she tried to take her this morning.

And E? Well, let's say I have underwear that give me a little more personal space than she does. Wherever I go...there she is! She even refused to go up for "naked heiny time" and a bath last night because she wanted to "stay downstairs with Mommy." And she *never* gives up a chance to get naked! It wasn't until I took her upstairs and promised that I would not leave the bathroom while she took a bath that she relented.

I remember in the weeks following E's birth (when I was an absolute mess due to hormones, lack of sleep and PPD) asking my mom, "But what if she doesn't love me? Or like me?" After the way they've been acting this week, I guess I can cross one thing off my ever growing list of worries!

so it's not business casual...

Mondays (and Fridays...and whatever other days I can finnagle, for that matter) are my work-from-home days. And, I admit it, I don't exactly dress to impress on these days. So what if I'm wearing sweats and a tee-shirt? So what if I haven't showered? My interactions with people are via the phone, e-mail and IM...they have no idea that I'm a sloth.

Today, however, our next-door neighbor came delivering Girl Scout cookies (which is another post in itself. Samoas, Thin Mints, Tagalongs...oh how I love thee!). As I was going to get my wallet, her younger snot-nosed brother shouts out,

"Miss Slacker! Are you still wearing your pajamas?"

Embarassing? A little bit. But it won't prompt me to change when I go pick the girls up from school or anything.

absolutely hilarious

Have you seen Jimmy Kimmel's new video response to Sarah Silverman's "F***ing Matt Damon"?!?!?

Go. Watch. It. Now.

Quite possibly the funniest thing I've seen all year.

viva las vegas!

So, John and I made it back from Vegas in one piece. Actually, it wasn't all that wild of a weekend -- in part because we are older and more mature (heh), but mainly because we were both sick as dogs all weekend. We both had some sort of cold/flu thing that we most likely got from the girls (though Kiki is also a prime suspect), so neither of us felt good all weekend. On the one hand, it's such a bummer to be sick on our weekend getaway. On the otherhand, it was nice to sleep in as much as we wanted and not have to watch after the girls.

In a nutshell: Stayed at the Mandalay Bay. Got in Friday evening. Had dinner at Aurole, which was fantastic and had an extensive wine list. Woke up on Saturday and went exploring down The Strip -- started at the Wynn and walked down the Palladium, the Venetian and Caesars. After lunch, I thought I was going to die, so I napped while John went to the sports book. Then we both went down to the sports book for the Tennessee vs. Memphis game (of course!). Went to dinner at Trattoria del Lupo where we were seated in the most awesome spot ever for people watching. On Sunday, we walked around the resort, had lunch at Burger Bar and gambled a bit more before departing.

While it was a packed weekend I'm bummed that we did not get to go see a show. We had wanted to on Friday night, but with our delay, the time change and feeling totally cruddy, we ended up not going. Also, I think John was disappointed that we did not hit one of the great steakhouses out there for dinner. We opted out of making reservations for Saturday night because we weren't sure how we were going to feel...and while our dinner was delish, I think he would have preferred a hunk of red meat instead.

So, maybe next time...

ETA: Special thanks to both sets of grandparents! Grandmom and Grandad watched the girls most of the weekend, and Nonna and Pop-pop watched them last night (our flight didn't get in until after midnight) and helped this sleep- and coffee-deprived mama get the girls out the door this morning!

vegas, baby!

Well, we are off to Vegas for the weekend. Our flight has been delayed an hour because of the weather, but we're heading to the airport early to drink at the bar and read US and People to our hearts content because Southwest told us to. Grandmom and Grandad made it in last night, and the kiddos are having a great time!

See you all on Monday!

some"bunny" was ready to start their day

E greeted me this morning as I was drying off from the shower. She was wearing her Dora nightgown...and a pair of bunny ears.

On the way into work, I heard this story on how the way kids play today (with toys for a specific purpose) and are schooled even in pre-school (not as much free play) affects their self-regulatory ability. It's a pretty interesting article and makes a lot of sense.

a's vocab list

Here's A giving us a listing of the words she says/signs. It's not totally inclusive, but it's most of them!

I'm sorry for the poor lighting. Apparently I need another lamp (or two) in the family room!

she's got her mama's good looks

When it comes to resemblance, there's really no denying that E looks *a lot* like me. We have a baby picture of her and me framed side-by-side in her room that look almost identical. People stop us on the street and tell us that we look alike. However, there is proof that she does have some of her daddy's DNA in her. Case in point, here's a picture of E taken on Friday night:She is tall as can be and skinny skinny skinny (something I have never been accused of being). And it's not like she doesn't eat, even in the picture you can see she's scooping peanut butter directly out of the jar into her mouth. Last night, she asked for seconds AND thirds of steak. She just has her daddy's long legs and bitchin' metabolism.

tuesday, with a monday vibe

I'm going to be all out of sorts this week, let me tell you. It's Tuesday and the first day of the work week because Monday was President's Day the girls and I had off. So today feels Monday-ish espcecially since Kiki and Uncle Steve were here this weekend and all of our Sunday chores (grocery shopping! laundry! sheet changing!) were done yesterday. However, it'll be an even shorter week because John and I are headed to Vegas on Friday...so I'm super-excited and slightly stressed about what I will be wearing while there.

This weekend was great. We had a great time with Kiki and Uncle Steve. E especially enjoys all of the attention she gets when they are in town. Kiki must've played one million rounds of the Tea Party game with E, along with Chutes and Ladders and also managed to read the girls tons of books, including E's new favorite Pinkalicous. We got to spend time outside in the warm weather to boot.

John's brother and sister-in-law stopped by on Saturday night, and it was great to see them too. They only live an hour and a half away, but we hadn't seen them since Christmas. They brought their dog, Buster. When A saw him for the first time on Sunday morning she let out the most blood-curdling scream I've ever heard. I'm thinking she might be afraid of dogs.

That's about it for now. I have some cute pictures of the girls and some videos as well that I'll try to post this week. Stay tuned...

more conference call fun

My mom ran to The Teets yesterday while A took a nap. A woke up a bit earlier than anticipated, and so she got to join me in my office during a conference call. I should write an ode to the MUTE button because...seriously...the stuff I can do while on conference because of MUTE is just amazing. Anyway, here's a picture of my "Assistant" I took while on the call.And, since I feel like this blog has become a little A-centric, here's a picture of E in her Valentine's finest. She made the heart necklace she's wearing...very cute!

i wanna retire

Retirement looks fun. If you are like my parents, you get to do cool things like travel to Estes Park, Colorado for some snow-shoeing.On the other hand, you also get suckered into babysitting your grandchildren when they get sick...on a moment's notice! Luckily, A got sick this week (rather than last week) or we would've been Nonna-less!

maybe she's lovesick?

Last night, A was running a little hot. Actually, she was running a lot hot. So much so I didn't even bother taking her temperature...I was pretty sure she had a fever. So we gave her some Tylenol and sent her to bed. She woke up around 6:30 this morning, snuggled with me for a few minutes and slept until after 8. Clearly, she's not feeling well. So she'll be spending Valentine's Day in the comfort of her own home today.

Luckily, it's Valentine's Day, so I was able to stave off any massive tantrums by E wanting to stay home by hyping how much fun she was going to have exchanging valentines and...well that's it. Because our lame-o school and their nazi food rules have prevented them from having actual parties today. There was also bribing with candy at breakfast and a Dora poster (from the Valentines I bought and signed in 15 minutes lovingly crafted by hand). We also bucked the uniform rule so that E could wear her cute heart T-shirt courtesy of Grandmom.

Along the lines of love...I got to pick the girls up a little early last night (the commuter gods blessed me with a 1/2 hour commute last night!). And, so E had been moved into another classroom, but a few of her classmates were still in her classroom. E went around and gave them each a *huge* hug and a kiss. It's so sweet to see her interact with her little friends. Even if she did give a BOY a kiss last night!

the downside of learning to talk

When E was A's age, she had a few words that she spoke and a few more that she signed. It wasn't until about 18 months that she really started talking...then she started and never looked back. But one of the frustrating things about E was that she didn't say Mommy or Daddy until 18 months or so. Sure, she could sign it, but she wouldn't actually say it.

I remember once I went to pick her up from daycare, and she was crying and being comforted by one of her teachers. It turns out that a couple of kids had already been picked up for the day. Since I was working from home and part-time, she had always been the last one dropped off and first one picked up. I suspect she thought the kids were there all the time, just like the toys. Anyway, the teacher said that she started crying and asked "Where's Mama?" Since I had never heard her call me that, I thought the daycare teacher was lying.

But, A...she's said Mama and Dada for quite some time. It's so cute and John and I ask her to say it about 100 times a day. But the only problem is that in addition to saying it when she's happy...she also says it when she's sad. And there is nothing more heartbreaking than the forlorn "Maaaaama!" that A moans when she wakes up in the middle of the night needing another hit of Tylenol (seriously...are these damn I-teeth ever coming in????).

This morning, she got up just as I was finished getting dressed. We snuggled for a few minutes, then I finished getting ready. Though I left her clutching her Taggie, watching the Wiggles and snuggling with Daddy, as soon as I made my move toward the door she started wailing. "Maaaaaaaaaama! Maaaaaaaama!" It was so pathetic.

Luckily these episodes are limited to home now...drop off at daycare is a breeze these days. But, even so, it certainly tugs at the heartstrings. On the otherhand, it's good to be loved.

one of those days

Today was one of those days. You know...where no matter what you do you are always running late or forgetting something and generally not on top of things? This was mainly weather-induced today...we had freezing rain and it stopped traffic throughout the area. Literally, they shut down 395 going southbound for over an hour. Luckily, my commute home was *only* two hours tonight. Since I had left early so I could vote, work from home and then pick up the girls, I just didn't get a chance to work this afternoon. Guess there are worse things in the world than that.

The other thing is that I got one of these scales. It was on super sale from Drugstore.com (65% off) PLUS I got $10 off for it being my first order PLUS I got 12% back from Ebates. It was quite the deal. I was psyched!

And, then I stepped on the damn thing. I mean, I wasn't expecting single digits or anything...but man was it was a painful sight. Not giving you exact numbers but that whole let's just say that my whole "muscle weighs more than fat" excuse has pretty much been shot to hell.

But...as I sing to E every single night...the sun will come out tomorrow.

daddy's little girls

On Saturday morning, we all got dressed in our fleeces, sweats and sneaks and headed to Wegman's for a little breakfast and grocery shopping. E insisted on wearing a baseball cap just like Daddy and then A got in on the action as well.

she's a climber

So, child-rearing amnesia has kicked in big time. I know that I had to babyproof something for E...but for the life of me I can't remember what she liked to get into. Sure, we had cabinet locks and outlet covers, but she never seemed all that interested in those. She did like to take the books off the bookshelf (and still does, much to my chagrin), but that can't be all...can it?

The reason I'm wondering is because A seems to be a tour de force on the babyproofing front. We had to reinstall cabinet locks on the ones that had broken because A loved to get into them. If a lamp in a room doesn't work, there's a good chance that A has manage to pull the plug out of the outlet when we weren't looking. And, it turns out, she's also a climber. The girls were playing quietly at the easel in our office. John left them for a minute or two and came back to this.

In other Slacker news, the weekend was good. We spent a good portion of Saturday playing outside. E and I went to Target where we scored an inflatable Dora sleeping bag for 1/2 price. She slept in it on Saturday night...until 9 AM on Sunday morning (guess who gets to sleep in the Dora bed EVERY weekend from now on?). Sunday, we finished up all of our weekend chores and were in bed early, which is always nice.

Hopefully the week will fly by...'cause Friday Kiki and Uncle Steve are coming to visit! Woo woo!

coincedence? i think not!

So the menu for tonight at the Slacker house was this recipe for Pasta Jambalaya. By no means is the the *best meal ever*, but it's easy to make, pretty tasty, reasonably healthy and makes great leftovers for lunch.

So, what's the problem? My picky eater.

Nope, it's not A or E...I suspect that they will like this because they both love pasta and black beans. My problem "child" is John. He doesn't like the concept of turkey in any form other than sandwich meat or Thanksgiving dinner. On the rare occasion I've snuck it into a meal, he's fine...until I tell him what it was and then he's all "Ewwww! I really didn't like it!"

He called a bit ago and informed me that he "forgot" what I had planned for dinner tonight and ate the Pasta Jambalaya from here, so could we not have it for dinner as well? Since I might be a little late in getting home tonight anyway, he's just going to take the girls out to dinner instead.

Oh well...that just means more leftovers for me.

the benefits of a little sister

E is just starting to realize the awesome benefits of having a younger sister. Especially a younger sister that idolizes you and does what you say.

First of all, E gets A to dump toys. We have a couple of toys that are "dumpable" -- a bin of play food and kitchenware, a wooden train set, a bunch of instruments, and a bag of the big-ass legos for toddlers. All of these items are (relatively) organized in bins and bags and put away on the shelves in our family room. The rule is that the girls can only play with one of them at a time. So, if the legos are out, the food stays put.

Well, E has been circumventing this rule by letting A do the dirty work. A had just dumped the food bin out -- forks, plates, and faux treats were scattered all over the floor. As I watched with my own eyes, E picked up the bag of legos, unzipped the bag and handed it to A, who proceeded to dump the contents on top of the food

."E...you know the rules. Only one at a time," I scolded.
"It wasn't me, mama" E said as she looked at me with those big, beautiful eyes. "I didn't dump the blocks. A did."

E has also been using A in the capacity of a personal assistant. This morning as she was getting dressed, I asked her to pick out her shoes

."I'd like to wear my pink sparkly shoes," she said.
"Uh...well, can you go get them?" I asked her.
"A will bring them to me," she replied. "A! BRING ME MY SHOES."

This ended up being marginally successful, as A brought over E's pink dress up shoes.

"No, A," she replied walking over to her closet. "These shoes."

But did she pick them up? Nooooo. She turned around, walked back to the bed and waited for A to bring them to her...which A happily did. And as I walked out the room, I heard E say, "Okay, A, help me pick up my toys."

Gotta love little slaves sisters!

a rose by any other name...

Over the course of their little lives, my girls have been called many nicknames.

E has been called Sweet Pea, Silly Goose, Goose, Lizzie, Liz (by daycare, not family), The Hurricane, Lizzie Lou, Lizzard McGizzard, to name a few.

A has been called Baby, Sister, Addie, Line-y, Ade-lu, Lulu, La Lu, Lulu McGooloo, Sweet Baby A. But, in the last few weeks, A's been carrying Taggie around more and more. And, more often than not, she's carries him around like this.So, John and I have been calling her by a new nickname. We've been calling her Tark (after the former UNLV Men's basketball coach who was famous for chewing towels during games).Hey, if the Taggie fits...

pictures can lie

One of the ways I *truly* am a slacker mama is that I don't really get that many professional portraits taken of the girls. I remember sitting around one of my new mom's group playdates, and all the moms were talking how they took their kids to picture people on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. Me...not so much. In fact, Grandmom actually was responsible for having E's first portraits taken when she was 6 months old.

So, when John went out of town a few weekends ago, I got the idea to take the girls' pictures. I called Picture People and Portrait Innovations and they were booked solid. The local Target had an opening at 12:30, so I snatched it up.

At about 12:10, the girls were done with lunch, in their outfits and ready to go. I had just changed A's diaper and we were playing in her room...when she fell and hit her eye on the window sill. A shiner immediately emerged. Undaunted, I bundled them up and off to Target we went.

In a nutshell, the session was a disaster. Only 4 pictures were taken, and they were all of E. Why? Because A was totally petrified of the gigantic camera-thingy, the nice lady trying to take her picture, the stuffed animal she kept shaking in her face...pretty much everything...and spent the entire photo session crying and holding onto me for dear life. So we left, and came home for an afternoon of relaxation.

At about 4:15 the Target studios called...they had a cancellation for their 5:00 appointment, would I like to try again? Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I said sure...and shuttled the girls back to the scene of the crime.

This time, A was an absolute angel -- hamming it up for the camera and being all around pleasant. E, however, was "that kid". She would not listen to a word I said, kept jumping on the litte platform, and finally, after an eternity about 10 minutes (and 6 photos taken) of photo shoot #2, I called it off. This plunged E into a tantrum to end all tantrums. Not only did she want "pretty pictures" taken of herself, but she also wanted to get a Dora book in Target.

So, after 2 photo sessions totally a whopping 10 pictures taken of the girls, you would think the pictures would be horrible...right? Nope. Here are the results of my pain and suffering. With pictures like this...I ought to do it more often.

weekend update

It was a good weekend in the Slacker household. We were able to take advantage of the warmer-than-normal weather and spend a good portion of it outside. Saturday, we headed out to the Leesburg Outlet, where we strolled around and shopped til we dropped. The girls got some new shoes, I got some Ts and workout shorts and John got a couple of shirts. In the afternoon, we played a bit outside as well.

Saturday night, I got together with my friend, Marathon Mom, for a girl date. We headed out for a cup of coffee and then went to see "27 Dresses." It was really cute in a totally predictable, chick-flick sort of way. But, it was great to see Jenn and have a conversation that wasn't being constantly interrupted by the kiddos.

On Sunday, John took the girls to the playground and lunch while I did our grocery shopping. They then helped him wash our cars. While A (and Daddy) napped in the afternoon, E and I did some coloring and then took a spin on her rollerblades and bike. My parents came over for the first half of the game, so we gorged ourselves on a few apps and chili and cornbread. While the first 3 quarters of the game were pretty boring, the fourth was pretty exciting and we were happy to see the Giants win.

This morning, both girls were total love-bugs and we spent about 15 minutes snuggling on the glider before going about our day. What a wonderful way to start a Monday.

no shirt, no shoes, no service

We might have a little lawyer or our hands. Or a hostage negotiator. Definitely a pain-in-the-ass teenager in the making. Here's a conversation I had with E prior to dinner.

"Mommy, I wanna eat dinner naked."
"No, E. You have to wear clothes."
"Can I just take my shirt off then?"
"Uh...no."
"How about my socks and shoes?"

In other news I will be spending the better part of this morning incessantly checking my e-mail, as I'm anxiously waiting for an e-mail from Kiki about Uncle Steve's and her future whereabouts come summertime. As someone who lives in the same freaking county that I grew up in, I live vicariously through her country-trotting living quarters. I have given up all hope that she will move to the same time zone, let alone state as me. So, I look at their moving as an exciting vacationing opportunity for me.