be careful what you wish for

So in my last post I said I'd like to work from home more. And, today I am. Because A has the fever that E had last week, so she's home sick. My mom is here watching her (thank goodness!), but here I am working from home.

the new cube SUCKS

So, I got moved to my new cube in the "satellite" office. On the bright side, it's a window cube. That's about it. I'm on a different floor and down the hall from everything else, including the microwave and water jug.

And the other employee down here who works down here near me? Just came into my cube with her hand covering her mouth and asked for a tissue. Then she went on to say, "I just sneezed and...WHOO BOY!" So my prediction that she was socially inept was about on target.

I'm *so* going to make the move to work more from home.

dance dance revolution!

Sweet Baby A has become a little dancer, just like her big sister. During our nightly bouts of Naked Heiny Time, if we start clapping or singing, she starts dancing around. On Sunday night, John was in the family room and yelled, "Hey, A! Let's dance!" She looked straight at him, walked over to the little docking station we have for our iPod Shuffle and pointed furiously. She wasn't happy to just dance, oh no! She needed the beats and rhythm of Dan Zanes, Laurie Berkner and Justin Roberts in order to get her groove on. But once we turned on the music, dance she did.

If you read my posts regularly, you've probably noticed that my girls like to get naked on a nightly basis. We call this Naked Heiny Time, and it's generally after bath or for 15-20 minutes before bed on the nights they don't take baths. This actually started out of necessity, A had a recurring diaper rash so we would let her run around naked in order to air out. Of course, E then had to get naked, too. Thus, NHT was born.

The issue now is that it's no longer needed. We have identified the diaper rash culprit (pineapple...who knew?) and she's been rash free for about a month. But the girls still insist on NHT. On the one hand, it's nice to have the girls race upstairs on a nightly basis (and really...they run if you mention NHT). On the other hand, we've had suprisingly few accidents, but I feel like we are playing with fire every time we do this (especially since the girls love to play on E's bed).

But with the fun we have...I guess we'll take our chances.

if you paint them, spring will come

After putting A down for a nap today, I stole some time for myself and headed to the new nail place for a pedicure. I hadn't gotten one in a looooooooong time, so my hooves definitely needed a little TLC. This new place was nice, and the 1/2 hour I spent in their fantabulous massage chair was D-I-V-I-N-E. I got them painted a sassy shade of hot pink (totally did not catch the name, which is a bummer, because I puffy heart the color).

As happy as I was to get out and get it done, the girls were equally if not more excited. They were totally fascinated by the entire thing. E immediately demanded that we paint *her* toes pink. And A couldn't stop touching them. She had to touch every toe about 10 times each.

It's funny because both girls have become such girly girls. I certainly don't consider myself to be. And yet, E only wants to wear things that are pink or dresses or tutus (or all three). And A has begun demanding that we put bows in her hair. After getting her teeth brushed, she'll grunt and point at the bow holder hanging from the mirror. Then you are forced to point at each bow while she shakes her head or nods her approval. And then, because A is wearing one, E wants one, too.

So I imagine, before too long, I'll have some company on my occasional jaunt to the nail place. But until then, I'll relish my "me time" and hope that, now that my toes are flip-flop ready...I'll have a chance to wear them some time soon.

conversations with a sick girl...

...who isn't feeling all that sick.

Me: E, what are you doing?
E: I'm going upstairs, Mama. I *have* to get a tutu.

And of course, there's this:

Me: E, I have to get on the phone for a conference call.
E: Okay, mama. I'm good to go. I've got Diego on and if I need anything I'll just let you know.

stir crazy

Yesterday, I knew E was sick because she was pretty lethargic and running a temperature. But when I asked her what didn't feel good, she couldn't tell me. So I'd name a body part and she'd tell me that it didn't feel good. As far as I can tell, her tummy, ears and left foot were sick yesterday.

I must admit, I was a little concerned that E would really enjoy her day off yesterday and continue to say she was sick even when she felt better. At home with Mommy watching copious amounts of TV while I tried to work...what could be better? Apparently, school could be. Last night she laid out her clothes (and A's) for school today. And she just came down the stairs fully clothed, declared herself "all better," and asked when we were going to school.

Edited to Add: E's still running a little hot, so she's not going to school. But an episode of Pinky Dinky Doo has seemed to have softened the blow. We're picking A up at 11 or so, so maybe if she's feeling okay we can get some lunch.

free refills would be nice

Last night, E got her "usual" at Cold Stone (kids cup of strawberry with a gummy bear mixin), and A and I split a Like It cup of vanilla with Oreos. Well, A and I finished ours before E did, which A was not happy about. While E did give her some bites of hers, this was not good enough for A. She grabbed our (empty) bowl and spoon, hopped off her chair and walked to the counter. She then started pointing wildly at the ice cream while holding up her bowl. It was so cute, albeit unsuccessful.

paging nurse slacker!

E has a bit of a fever, so I'm working from home today. She's currently resting comfortably on the couch with Dora on. We did have our inaugural dose of Children's Motrin. You give it in a mini-shot glass as opposed to the syringe. 100 sips later, she finally got it down. I might have to find one of the 100s of Target syringes left over from anti-biotics for future dosing.

In other news, date night last night with the girls was fun. E was so excited to go "someplace special"...especially since she got to pick it. We went to Panera and then to Cold Stone. Then we came home and had an extra long bath session.

I mentioned that both girls have been clingy, so the story I read E last night was "In my Heart" by Molly Bang. Kiki gave this to us, and it's a *fantastic* book if you are a working parent.

And while this book has absolutely nothing to do with work...A's current favorite book is The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Audrey and Don Wood. We love all of their books, but A has taken to carrying this one around the house. Much more fun to read than the cheesy Dora books she had been selecting of late.

monkey see, monkey do

A is really starting to mimic the things we say and do now...and it is so stinking cute. Of course, her favorite person to copy is E. The other night, when E was religiously checking the front window for Maura and Maggie's impending arrival, there was A right behind her...peering out the window with absolutely no idea of what she was doing/who she was looking for.

Last night at the dinner table, E asked John to "do the numbers." This is where he impersonates a football announcer at the stadium and shouts things like, "Scores of interest: E 21, Mommy 20." When John would announce E as the winner, she would raise her hands in the air in victory. John then shouted, "Scores of interest, Mommy 14, A 28" and A threw her hands up and yelled "Yay!"

But the cutest thing is when she tries to repeat what we say. The intonation is spot on, but it's just gibberish. "One, two, three" became "Uh, ooo, eeeee!" And to hear her sing it's like playing "Name that Tune." I'm sure she'll be talking up a storm before too long...

In other news, tonight John is headed down to the UVA vs. Duke basketball game...leaving me and the girls to fend for ourselves. I think we're going to do a mini-date night -- dinner at Panera and dessert at Cold Stone. Both girls have been really clingy with me of late, so I think a little girl bonding will do us well.

artsy craftsy

After dinner last night, E told me she wanted to color. Since A was still strapped in her booster, I broke out the plastic table cloth, crayons and construction paper and let the girls have at it. At first, they were all about the coloring.
But that quickly disintegrated into crayon wrapper removal for E....And a rousing game of peek-a-boo with the table cloth for A.

tell me you love it (even if you are lying)

This conversation was had approximately 104 times this weekend in the Slacker house.

Me: So do you like my hair?
John: Yes. I do.
Me: Are you just saying that or do you really like it?
John: I really like it.
Me: You hate it don't you. You think I look like a man!
John: AAAAAAAARGH!

I got some compliments when I picked up the girls from school. E said she wanted to get her hair cut "just like Mommy's" and tried to get me to cut it yesterday in the bathroom. But still...I'm not sure. I tried to style it all flippy on Satuday and it looked like I just had hair sticking out randomly. This picture is from today...still not loving it, but better.

What do you think?

e's first slumber party

So, it was a great weekend at the Slacker house. Friday night was just relaxing at home. Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast at Cracker Barrel before heading off to The Teets to pick up a few items. We spent the rest of the day puttering around the house...E and I made ice cream and we generally had a nice day. The evening was spent running around and E checking to see if Maggie and Maura were here yet. Literally, every two minutes she would peek out the front door. When they finally did arrive, the girls played for a bit, had some ice cream and then headed up to bed.

Since there are so many O'Reillys, it takes some finnagling to fit us all. The plan was to have Bridget stay in the Pack-n-Play in the guest room with Sean and Autumn; Maura and Maggie (who share a room at home) in E's room; A in her room; and E on her Dora bed in our room. But this was overruled by the girls, who all wanted to stay together in their inflatable beds (Mo and Mags have Princess ones). So, E, Mo and Mags went to bed in her room together. Mags did get banished to the Guest Room for getting out of bed, but E and Mo did really well together. But, it was so funny to check on them and have them hanging off their little beds onto the floor, with E's nice and comfy full-sized bed totally empty.

Sunday morning, the girls just ran around and played together. They get along fantastically. They are such great friends even though they don't see each other all that often. Poor A was two steps behind the entire time -- wanting so bad to be a big girl. Then the O'Reillys headed in to Arlington for their cousin's birthday party. When I explained to E where they were going and what a cousin was E declared "I want a cousin, too!" (Hint hint, Kiki!) We wrapped up the weekend with a little Target trip, some playing outside with the neighborhood kids and then hit the hay really early.

All in all a good weekend!

cooking...slacker style

While I'm no Iron Chef, I actually do enjoy cooking when I get the time to do it. However, being a working mom with two small children, I don't often get the time. That's why I love these two things, both of which I made this weekend. They are great, homemade recipes and they are easy peasy to make.

The carnitas are great to feed a crowd because it utilizes an inexpensive (and awesomely named) cut of meat. The Teets had Boston Butt on sale last week, so we were able to feed 6 adults and *still* have leftovers for under $7. It's also a great thing to have when you have people over since you aren't slaving over the stove. All I had to do to get this to the table was heat the tortillas, shred the meat and dump the guac, salsa, sour cream and cheese into my cute serving bowls. (Note: Thanks to Kiki for introducing this recipe to me! Also, Sweet Pea Chef has a version of this recipe on her site...it looks yummy, too!)

Carnitas
Take a Boston Butt (heh), trim the fat and salt and pepper it. Cut slits all over it and insert (about 4 cloves or so) garlic cut into quarters.

Slice an onion and put that and a whole jalapeno on the bottom of the crockpot. Throw in your garlic-studded Butt and a can of beer. Turn on LOW and cook for about 10 hours. Shred the pork and serve with corn tortillas and guacamole (and your other favorite fixins).

To make BBQ leftovers: threw the pork in a non-stick skillet with enough BBQ sauce to generally coat. Heated on medium until warmed through. Note: we used your basic BBQ sauce, and my BBQ-connoisseur husband thought it would have been better with a Carolina (vinegar-based) sauce.

The ice cream is great because...well, it's ice cream. I use the basic recipe that came with the ice cream maker because that whole tempered eggs things that the more involved recipes use kind of scares me. Also, this recipe is quick and super easy. E helped me make this while A was napping...and she loved telling Maura and Maggie that!

Thin Mint Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream (well chilled)
1 cup whole milk (well chilled)
3/4 cup sugar
1 - 2 tsp vanilla (I use Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Paste)
1 sleeve of Thin Mint cookies, crushed (about 1 cup...minus a few for snacking!)

Mix the sugar and milk together until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cream and vanilla. Pour into the ice cream maker and turn on. Run for 20 - 25 minutes, adding the cookies in the last 5 minutes or so. Transfer to a separate container and freeze for a few hours to harden a bit. Enjoy!

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.