Helmet Head

Spring has officially sprung here in Beaufort, and that means that Allen and I have started enjoying the outdoors again. In fact, yesterday, we spent just about the entire afternoon out of doors. 

We started with almost taking a bike ride. First, on Allen's trike (he subsequently decided he'd rather not pedal), then on Mom's bike ... until she saw how far it was buried in the shed (Daddy will have to fish it out for them). Just because the bike ride got canceled, doesn't mean we can't still wear the helmet, though. 

He wore it while he rolled around in the sand, and poured sand all over himself.

Then it protected his head while he poured rocks over himself.

Fortunately, he decided not to wear it to the park. Because, honestly, Mom would have been mortified. We enjoyed a snack (or picnic) at the park, and then played for awhile. Mom almost took him down the slide, but chickened out at the last minute. Can't get past that claustrophobia (it's one of those tube slides).

Then we were off to see Miss Nancy at The Storybook Shoppe. The best place in the world (other than our shop, of course). And we hadn't seen Miss Nancy since her return from Australia. Allen immediately found the little table at the back and started working on some Curious George puzzles, while Mommy and Miss Nancy caught up and discussed appropriate books for a certain six-year-old who is coming to visit soon. After a long visit, we left the shoppe with two Dr. Seuss books.

We got home just in time for Daddy's arrival, and then walked back up to the Marketplace to dine at our favorite local haunt, Maggie's. Bad idea. After the busy afternoon we'd had, Allen was too tired to sit still or behave at dinner. I won't go into detail, but let's just say it involved shoes on the table and screaming. Oh, and telling the owner that he didn't like the food. Not embarrassing at all ....

On the way home, Allen informed us that the word mail starts with the letter M. "Mail and Malcolm start with M," he explained. Genius. We quizzed him on a few more words, and he got most of them right. Child prodigy, don't you think?

We ended the evening with a casual family worship viewing of the David video (in our bed. Where the only DVD player in the house is).

All in all, it was a good day. A very good day.

xoxo,

AHC

Little Opera Aficianados

So yesterday was the big day -- the day I visited Allen's class and told them all about Italian Opera and La Traviata. I was so nervous. Almost more nervous than giving a talk at the Hall. I couldn't believe that 26 little faces could make me so nervous, but they did. What if they asked me a question I couldn't answer? What if they hated the story? What if they were bored?

Right away I got them involved. Two little girls passed out the puppets -- Alfredo for the boys and Violetta for the girls. We practiced saying Opera Seria and Opera Buffa. We all said the characters' names and the name of the opera.

They LOVED the music, and had a blast holding up their puppets as they heard Alfredo and Violetta sing. They laughed and danced their puppets around. They all said "Ewwww" when I told them that Alfredo and Violetta fell in love; and one adorable little boy wanted to know if they kissed.

The children were so well behaved and polite. They all participated when I asked them to repeat certain words; they all told me "grazie mille" for coming in to share opera with them.

And of course, watching Allen participate was the highlight for me. He was able to sit next to me on the floor (I was in a little chair), and throughout my presentation he would lean over and hug my leg at various times. Once, he whispered, "I love you, Mommy." He was so excited that I was there.

Overall, I think it was a success, and Miss Avril was very kind to me. In fact, she had some of the older kids draw pictures of Alfredo and Violetta, and all the kids signed a thank you card that they made for me. It's beautiful, and I'm touched.

Do you like opera? If so, which is your favorite??

Bedtime Ritual

So, our bedtime ritual is to read one regular story, one Bible story, say prayers and goodnight to Daddy, and the for Mommy to sing. First, I recite the fruitage of the spirit, then I sing the ABCs, and finally I sing "Life Without End at Last," or as Allen calls it, "Can You See."

This week, Allen has decided that he needs to do it with me. It doesn't happen every night, but probably two or three times, he's joined in. Last night, Daddy was able to get some of it on camera. The sound is bad because we already had our white-noise fan on, but I think it's a beautiful show of Mommy-son bonding anyway. So I wanted to share.

xoxo,

First Day of School

I've been so remiss when it comes to posting. I apologize to all of you, especially because some of you who don't see me or hear from me regularly rely on the blog to get updates. And when you don't see updates you worry about us. So please accept my apologies. Nothing is wrong. We haven't been sick. We've just been busy and preparing for some transitions.

A big contributor to the busy-ness has to do with Joli. We had our "Sparkly Happy Sidewalk Sale" this past weekend, so we've been a little crazed. But even bigger than that, we have been preparing for Allen to go to "school."

Mommy calls it school, but it's really more like daycare with a focus on education. I call it school for two reasons. First, Allen is thrilled at the idea of going to school. Second, in my tremendous new mommy naivete, I said that I would never put Allen in daycare. (I also said that he would never taste fast food, and he knows exactly where Chick-Fil-A is.) It's not that there is anything at all wrong with daycare. I'm just a nervous mom, and I didn't really know what to expect. And in reality, after looking into a few preschools, this "daycare" came out at the top when it came to mine and Brian's comfort levels. It's the cleanest, most secure, most friendly, most attentive, and smallest. All important things for us.

In spite of how comfortable the staff and facility made me, I still went through some depression and anxiety over the fact that we were sending Allen to school (this decision was made for a combination of reasons: money and the fact that the wonderful Miss "S" is in Europe for a month and then off to med school). In some ways this was a devastating decision for me. But, I focused on the positive aspects and moved on.

After all these decisions and emotions, we get to today: Allen's first day at his new "school." We have been preparing him for about a week. We visited it together last week; we talked about going to school and playing with friends; we discussed it over dinner last night. And we assured Allen that we would stay at school with him as long as he wanted us to. We wouldn't leave until he was ready.

Brian stayed home from work this morning so we could take him together. We packed his new Cars backpack (thanks Aunt Kissy), and got his nap-mat ready. I even ironed the shirt he was going to wear. We talked about it all morning (his response: I'm so lucky!). As we pulled into the driveway, Allen exclaimed, "My school!!" The next few moments went by in a flash ...

Once he got that backpack off, he moved so quickly, I couldn't take pictures. He marched right up the steps to go find Miss L and the kids.

Mommy: Can't you give Mommy and Daddy kisses goodbye?

Allen: Oh, yeah. (stands there waiting for us to come to him)

(kisses and hugs quickly)

Mommy: Bye. Have a good day. Love you!

Allen: See ya yater! (walks away)

We were in and out in less than five minutes. It was so anticlimactic. We were relieved that he was so excited to be there, but a little sad that he wasn't more attached to us. One of our dear friends/neighbors/customers told me though that his reaction means that he has a strong sense of self, and that means that we're doing a good job with him. He feels secure and loved, so he feels confident. That made me feel really good.

Read the next post to find out about the pick-up and the first-day-of-school party.

xoxo,

How do i look?

I have a confession to make. Sometimes I let Allen play with things that I know he'll make a mess of just so I can finish what I'm doing. That's what happened this morning.

I had an eyeshadow case out (to use as a second mirror to check the back of my head ... I was trying out a new style ... more on that later) and it was sitting on my vanity. I was done with it and had moved onto my makeup (I don't use the eyeshadow in said case any longer). Allen asked to see it. Then he asked me to open it.

Here's where the mental debate came in ... if I open the case, he'll make a mess. But if I don't, I risk a tantrum (which these days is pretty much a given). If I open the case, I can finish putting on my makeup in peace. But, I'll have to clean up a mess ... Check out the pictures to see which side won ...

Does he not totally look like he's saying "Mom, how do I look?" in that last photo?

I did have a mess to clean up ... but it was better than a tantrum.

Onto my hair ... So I decided to go with the "messy pigtail bun" look today. Sadly I have no pictures of myself in this sassy little do, but I did find this picture in my google search (be warned: if you search for "pigtail buns" and look at images, you might come across some questionable photos).
Anywho ... my hair looked similar to the image above. Once we were ready, Allen and I went right outside into the hot and humid air. The 'do was perfect for the weather. But, alas, I forgot about the fact that as soon as Allen gets grumpy/sleepy/snuggly he wants my hair DOWN.

The things I do for love. So, now I ask you, "how do I look?"

It's so pretty isn't it? It's like Kristen's new hair on steroids. Waaaay over the top flipping!

xoxo,

Pigtail bun photo by Karen.

Back from the (almost) dead; word of the day

Miraculously, I am feeling better. And honestly, I thank the drugs. After four days of a hacking cough and a fever, I decided that I had to go to the doctor. And I was not above begging for some kind of drug(s) that would hopefully work some kind of magic on me so that I could function as a decent wife/mother/shopgirl as opposed to a walking zombie.

Fortunately, I didn't have to resort to begging. She took pity on me (maybe it was the coughing literally from the point they called me back through the entire nurse's interview), and prescribed a strong antibiotic to get rid of the infection and some steroids to reduce all that icky inflammation in my chest and sinuses.

Yesterday at 4:00 p.m. I had a fever of over 100 degrees, was bundled up on the couch with tissues at my nose about every five seconds, and was hacking away. This morning at 10:00 a.m. I was walking with Allen to the park (OK, still with tissues, but none of the other yuckiness):

It was a ridiculously gorgeous day here. This morning there was not a single cloud in the sky. Almost no humidity, since we had huge thunderstorms yesterday, and a lovely breeze. Allen and I walked to the park, met a stray dog that ran up to Allen and licked him in the face (I thought he was with a father and son, and the father told me it was a stray as it was licking my child's face), left the park after less than five minutes (he really likes the car-pushing more than the park right now), and walked home. We saw Miss "S" on our way back, and then discovered that birds have made a "mest" (as Allen calls it) in the beams on our front porch.

The rest of the day was pretty fabulous too. I got to sit outside while talking to my dear friend J. Allen and I took a lovely bike ride. We went to the park this evening with Daddy. And I was able to get the laundry done, read my magazine, make dinner (a recipe I invented that was actually pretty good), and have family worship night ... all before 7:30 p.m.

Oh, and the kid's word of the day ... is delicious (or, as he says it, "deyishus"). That he is. He had some genius moment's this evening before bed, but I feel like I've been bragging too much lately, so just post in the comments if you want to hear what they are, and I'll tell you.

Goodnight, loves. I am off to post on the Joli blog with the rest of this "roid" energy I have to burn off.

xoxo,

Bathroom adventures

Some of you may be aware of how much I enjoy trying to get ready in the morning these days now that Daddy is once again employed and out of the house early. I've been unsuccessful thus far in getting ready before Daddy leaves, so each morning that I need to be out of the house at a decent time is challenging, to put it mildly.

Lest you think I'm being dramatic, I'd like to share with you my morning. It was one of the more entertaining mornings in recent memory ...

Before I share this story with you, I need to warn you that some may be disturbed by some of the things I'm about to share. Those of you who have been blessed with two-year-olds -- specifically two-year-old boys -- will probably just laugh and nod knowingly. For those of you who read my story and think, "I will never let my child do that!" I say, "Just wait." Now, without further ado ...

This morning, as with other mornings, involved me negotiating with Allen to go upstairs with me. Surprisingly, this morning was fairly easy. I just had to lure him up with food (specifically, a Sunny Days snack bar and SpongeBob juice treats). We got upstairs and got him settled with his milk, snacks, cars, and Tigger and Pooh show ... for about 10 seconds.

As I was getting into the shower, he decided that he wanted to play with the "jumping balls" (cotton balls). So, he opened up my little (glass) jar (calm down everyone ... it's very sturdy and he's very careful), and busied himself with them while I was in the shower. By busying himself, I mean that he emptied the jar of the "jumping balls" and then threw them all over the room. Some of the balls had gotten wet, so one stuck to the closet door like a spit ball.

Once I was out of the shower and dried off, and the "jumping balls" were put away, he decided to get into our shower and "clean" it. Which meant that his pajama pants and shirt got wet, and he tracked dampness all over the bathroom.

After finding some random trash under the guestroom bed while I was ironing, we returned to the bathroom so Mommy could do her makeup and her hair. And so Allen could run from a lion. This involved him slamming the bathroom door, and saying, "Oh no, a yion! It's gonna get me!" and then turning off the light. And Mommy saying, "Turn on the light, please." And Allen trying to reach to turn the light back on, unsuccessfully, and Mommy turning on the light for him. This happened about three times until, against my better judgment, I told him that the lion is afraid of the light, so he should leave it on so it will go away (yes, I know I just invited a fear of the dark, but Mommy needs her makeup).

At some point during this interchange, the lion made it underneath the door and into the toilet. Which called for repeated flushing of the toilet. Mommy's repeated pleas to stop flushing the toilet and wasting water were ignored, so Mommy pulled the lion out of the toilet and dried it off (Allen joined in too). I told him the lion was nice, and it was licking my toes. He didn't notice that though, because he discovered that there was a baby lion in the toilet now.

On top of having no respect for our earth, my son apparently has no respect for animals either, because he started to flush the "baby yion" down the toilet as well. Mommy explained that it wasn't nice to try to flush it down the toilet, but that he should be nice to the baby lion. His response was, "Awww, baby yion" followed by a kiss ... right on the toilet seat.

After Mommy stopped gagging, she rescued baby lion from the toilet, closed the lid, and explained (again) that the toilet was not the place for baby lion or for Allen to play. I then told him that the baby lion jumped into the box (a small wicker box we have in our bathroom, filled with random books and toys for Allen). That finally distracted him.

Somehow, even with all of this distraction, Mommy was able to get herself and Allen ready in about an hour and fifteen minutes. And, if I do say so myself, I looked pretty darn cute!

I hope ya'll enjoyed reading about what life is like in the mornings with Allen. While it is frequently challenging and frustrating, life is never dull with him around.

xoxo,

Almost really gross

The other night, shortly after the ABC video was shot, Mommy and Allen were being very silly. I was bouncing him up and down in my arms. He thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world, so we decided to capture it on video ...

Now mind you, we had just finished dinner, and we had done this a few times before the camera started rolling, so I wasn't entirely surprised that he started to look a little queasy. Fortunately, he did not vomit after we stopped taping. And in fact, we started right back up again ... but as you can see from this next video, he wisened up a little and opted for a less-bumpy vantage point ...

Such a smart cookie ... already becoming aware of his limitations. Hope you enjoyed his laughter as much as we did!

xoxo,

I can pull it off

A non-Allen-related post. Well, let's be honest here ... the fact that I'm a mommy probably has something to do with this "fashionista"-type post in an I'm-still-hot-even-though-I'm-a-mom kind of way, but it's not directly related to him so it's a non-Allen post.

I was talking to my lovely friend J today, and she was telling me that she loved my earlier sassy outfit picture. So I told her that I wore those leg warmers out to dinner last week, and she told me that I can do it because I can pull it off. I have that confidence. Well, J, I don't think it's confidence as much as it's me being in denial, but I thank you nonetheless. And on that note, I have another "sassy" post for you :)

Before I show you the pics, I want to provide a little background (aka justification/ rationalization). About a year ago, I went on a whirlwind shopping spree one day before a wedding. We had flown up to Pennsylvania to attend a dear friend's wedding, and I had nothing to wear. Since Beaufort is not exactly a shopping mecca, I decided to pack lightly and shop for my entire outfit at the King of Prussia mall. So I ended up with this adorable Betsey Johnson dress (I tried to find a picture, but was unsuccessful. Sorry). It was blue, with black lace accents. I got a sassy little wrap to go over it. I got ridiculously fabulous earrings to match. Things were going well ....

So off to Nordstrom to get the shoes and the makeup. One thing I was at least semi-sane about was the shoes. I got great Steve Madden black heels. I knew I could wear those frequently (and I have). I got awesome, over-the-top M.A.C. makeup (think silver ... blue ... glitter).

Things were just about perfect, but I stopped at the Bare Escentuals store since I needed my basic makeup. And I found this great mascara in sapphire. I'm a sucker for sparkles and glitter. I rationalized that since my dress was like the exact same color, I needed this mascara. I assured myself I would use it again. And I bought it. I wore it at the wedding ... and I haven't worn it since. Until yesterday.

And I have to say, I love it! When the light hits my eyes in the right way, I see sparkles. Brian sees the sparkles. It's kind of sexy (OK ... I think it's sexy. Brian says it's "cute"). The pictures don't do it justice, but they give you an idea, at least. And remember, you don't have to get the sapphire mascara. There are other color options as well ...

I may be a mommy, but I can still (try to) look hot, right?

xoxo,