1.31.2012

he knows what he wants

"as you know, mom, i don't always enjoy playing with those goopy paints in my bath. sometimes i would like more colors or even a crayon."


this last week ge decided he needed to be able to count to 100. i have him up to 20 and he is completely irritated with me because he isn't able to count to 100 yet. we have been working on writing our letters for the last week and he is doing exceptionally well, but is also irritated with me because he can't spell complex words. i take a lot of shit because my kids have unrealistic expectations. i prefer this over the other, though, and will try and remind myself of that next time chunk yells at me because she doesn't know how to operate heavy machinery, yet. the challenges of having intelligent and driven children ... yeesh. first world problems all up in my house today this month. 


speaking of this month - january can suck it. yes, we got a hug job promotion this month, but it has pretty much just sucked a nut from start to finish. i am looking forward to february and all of its gage and husband birthday glory. i think i might even accept valentine's day into my life this year and doing something nice just for skuz for the husband and kids. normally i hate valentine's day, but i think we could use all the reasons to celebrate that we can find in the second month of the year. hopefully we get a move date soon so i can finally take a big step forward and figure out what we really need to do next. 


birthday weekend is fast approaching for my little man. i can't wait to have the husband home for 3 days of celebration. superhero birthday weekend is totally going to rock socks. 

1.26.2012

place over all the

i would like to begin my next thought by saying that there is nothing funny about the costa concordia incident. nothing. but the captain saying that he tripped and fell into a lifeboat is absolutely hilarious. that is all.

yesterday chunk had her 15 month check up even thought she is technically 16 months old. a month of holidays and sickness kept us from the appointment, but i personally hate the mmr shot so i didn't mind the delay. i don't hate the mmr shot because of the autism thing, i don't believe there is a link there at all, but because it gave ge the measles and he was super sick for a week. way to be the 4%, ge man. so far it seems like chunk is not the 4% and we are grateful for that.

doctor rozwat says she looks great. and that there is no vaccine for evil. apparently i just made that one up. stats are : height - 32 1/4 inches (85%) weight - 26.2 lbs (80%) head 20 1/2 cm (97%). seems like our big gal is shrinking down, but still has a giant head. perhaps we will have to call her something other than chunk one day. i could think of a few of them, but none of those seem appropriate.

chunk has taken to playing fun games like stab mommy in the leg with a plastic screw driver, hit mommy and daddy in the face with cars, throw yourself on the ground in a heap and throw a tantrum like a wild monster baby, put your fingers in daddy's ears while he sleeps, headbutt daddy while he sleeps, and scream unreasonably because you don't know how to play angry birds on the old smart phone because you are only 16 freaking months old. she is completely unreasonable, totally dramatic, and absolutely insane. her combination of intelligence and stubbornness mix terribly with her lack of reasoning skills and create a volcanic like situation every moment of every day. she is a handful, to put it simply.

she is super sweet (sometimes), and she really is a smart baby. in the last week she had started looking at things differently - more interested in how they are working instead of that they are working. she expects to be able to do the same things ge does, but she can't because he is awesome and she is limited what with the whole 16 month thing. her vocabulary is huge and i can barely keep up with her new words. she is starting to string words together to make cute little sentences and is rocking to syllable words. she is starting to really understand that words are the best way to get what she wants and i hope that we move more into that phase as quickly as possible. i think once she can communicate with us a bit better she will be a lot easier. but probably still completely evil.

i can't believe my ge man is going to be 4 soon - time has gone so fast with him. the kid is so wicked smart and could walk circles around a lot of adults at using a computer. the other day he taught his dad how to play angry birds and was completely irritated when his dad didn't do it right. he has such a little imagination on him and i love watching him come up with new games and new rules to accommodate his winning streak (ge - 45,697 us - 1). we are looking forward to putting him in sports this summer and hopefully watching him blossom some new friendships. ge has always been my little introvert and we are hoping to help him come out of his shell a bit before he enters school in a year and a half.

ge keeps me laughing all of the time with his wild antics and hilarious phrases. he really loves learning and enjoys working on his pre-k books and playing connect the dots. he hasn't really shown much interest in writing his letters, but i can get him to write all of them if we turn it into a dot game. his favorite thing to draw is "papa's sailboat" and he is pretty good at drawing it. he is starting to delve into the world of super heroes and is grasping the good guy bad guy concept. he loves beating up the penguin and joker and having his heroes capture them and return them to the prison in the bat cave. i love his, "ha ha mean guy! we kicked your butt!" because we did, and we had fun doing it.

the biggest news is that the husband got a big ol' promotion at work and we are moving to virginia in a few months. i have loved living in philaburbia because i have loved the east coast, but i am excited to be in a place that we both are ready to put roots down in. plus, we will be closer to my sister, brother in law, and their soon to be own personal real live evil baby. we are going to have to keep rapture and chunk separated so they don't think up new evil plans together. we are both excited to start this new chapter of our lives and feel very blessed for the opportunity. the husband is a pretty damn amazing guy and i couldn't be prouder of him.

breakfast calls. well, children call for breakfast. i have recipes to post, but i suck at doing that so we will see if i ever get around to it.

1.24.2012

smks

while coloring : "hey, remember that i have dark blue eyes like you? and charli has light blue eyes. but daddy has brown eyes so he can't see in the dark."

science.

also, "charli, get back here you big fat bandit."

i love him.

1.18.2012

glorious pork

i have this vision that i will wake up tomorrow morning and learn to be the woman that uses my copious amount of natural light to take pictures of the amazing food i cook right after i finish up with a day full of crafting with the kids in my beautifully clean house. i have that vision in a world where i don't start a blog with a run-on sentence, too, but that would be counter to the point. or something. i have that vision and then i remember that my little apartment doesn't actually have much natural light. and that my house is only half clean because the children i would like to craft with were monsters yesterday. and that i don't have time to be that person because i am too busy living in the real world. still, visions.

i did manage to snap a picture with my iphone of the glorious lean pork roast i made last night.


see all that juiciness? me, too. i could also taste it in every glorious bite. we expected our little pork loin to last for two meals - i am planning on a new dinner tonight because we forgot to stop once we started eating.

and it's easy! super easy! i put the loin in a zip lock bag and added balsamic vinegar, a bit of olive oil, dried rosemary (the last of which i have from my previous new mexico home - tastes like beautiful desert. sniffle.) (also, make sure you rub it between the palms of your hands to open up the flavorness), pepper, salt, obscene amounts of crushed garlick (obscene. period.), and red pepper flakes (also from new mexico. double sniffle.) make sure everything is all happy and marinating together and stick that baby in your fridge for a few hours, or until you are ready to cook.

take your loin out 15 - 30 minutes (30 is better) before you are ready to cook it and place it in a shallow roasting pan. could you use foil for easier clean up? sure, you could, but i don't like easy things. no offense to my old neighbor. preheat your oven to 450 and ignore your husband telling you to stick with your regular method of cooking pork because his mother was a terrible cook who always dried pork out and you finally brought him back from the nightmares with your ability to not dry out pork and he doesn't want to go back to the days of oyster stuffing. IT WAS BLUE.

side note. i looked all over the internet for advice on how to make this dinner. i took advice from almost everything i read and turned it into our own personal vanishing loin. so kuddos to the intertubes for my success.

anywho. with the oven preheated it is time to put the pork in (that's what he said.) (you know it was bound to happen.)  before i placed mine in the oven i gave the top of it a healthy dose of black pepper and salt to create an even spicier crust. depending on your love for spice i would strongly suggest this to be a choice you make as well. in fact, you should probably do that part back at the step where you take the loin out of the fridge and put it in the pan. i am a little all over the place this morning. FIBER! CHERRY PIE! now you know what it is like to live with my four year old. FART FACE!

cook your pork loin uncovered at 450 for 20 minutes until it has a beautiful looking crust and your house smells amazing. drop the oven down to 375, tent your loin with foil, and continue cooking until the internal temp is at least 145. i got talking to the husband at this point and cooked mine to 152 - it was still amazing, but 145 is optimal so don't let anyone distract you. tell them there is only room for you and you pork in the kitchen and that they will thank you later. or don't be completely selfish and weird. whatever.

make sure you let your pork loin rest for at least 10 minutes before you cut into it. redistribution of meat liquids is a very important step in the awesomeness of this beauty of a dead pig. while you wait you can apologize to the person you kicked out of your kitchen during the quest for the perfect internal temperature. or poor yourself a glass of wine and enjoy your domestic bliss in silence.

i paired this with basil and herb pearled couscous. mostly because that's what i had on hand, but it turned out to be a nice side. a salad would also work. something green and / or herby is a nice compliment. or just eat the pork and drink your wine. no judging here. PIE FACE! SOCKS ON YOUR HEAD! CHICKEN STRIPPERS!!

1.10.2012

another night

i am covered in vomit. is that a pretty picture? no. is it terrifying? absolutely. i put chunk down to bed tonight and a half an hour later she started coughing so hard that i pulled her out of bed and she immediately dispelled the contents of her stomach on me. i called the doc and he proceeded to explain that as "normal". i found myself half believing him and half still worried. i am so tired of this. i know i am complaining, but seriously ... rabble.

my little ge man was such a champ today, as always. i have a never ending amount of amazed by what a good kid he is. i am so grateful that he was my first born because he made having kids such a cake walk in so many regards. we are looking at a lot of changes coming up and he is all like, "hell yeah, mom, bring it on." i wish that i had half of the strength that he does, but i sleep well at night knowing that we help him along with the environment to believe.

i am so bored at this point that i am willing to climb walls, i just lack the energy. 2 more days until answer time. waiting....

1.08.2012

gtfo

dear sickness -

please, gtfo. we are done with you. we hate you. you are like the person at the end of the party that refuses to leave. we do not want to put you up on our couch for the night and next time we have a party we will tell bill not to invite you because you were only an annoyance. you have more than overstayed your welcome (and, let's be honest, you were never really "welcome" in the first place.)

sincerely, 

sick of being sick. 

on a more serious note - this cold sucks. i don't even know if it's a cold anymore since it is also acting like a flu. my poor husband woke up yesterday being a little bit complainy and today he woke up in full blown sick land and we do not have time for this shit. my husband has the biggest moment in his career coming up on tuesday and he can honestly not be sick for it. i have been loading him up on tea and medicine with a side kicker of soup all day and all we can do is cross our fingers. i personally have been battling a 6 day migraine with a chest full of awful and cannot seem to move anywhere past the stage of "bleecccccchhhh". 

on a strange yet related note i had a moment of super pride with the husband tonight when chunk puked all over him and he didn't even flinch. go husband. 

chunk sounds horrible. i have had more mucous and vomit on me in the last week than anyone at a rave ever dealt with. as much as i appreciate the magnificence that is a nasal aspirator, i am fucking sick of using one. i encourage everyone to steal the nasal aspirator the hospital provides you with when your babies are born, though, because i have never been able to find anything better than the ones they "give" you at the hospital. turns out chunkers hates being sick and turns even more drama when filled with the devil mucous. she can scream really loud. 

ge is finally getting better and has finished out all of his meds as of tonight. i couldn't be more proud of my little man for how well he has handled taking so many disgusting medications while on his quest to fight the death cold. we have had a few minor incidences of coughing up meds, but he has taken them like a champ for a week and a half and the results are a happy little boy that is back to making crazy sounds and jumping up and down. his only issue has been that everyone has gotten sick after him so we are all pretty much boring and germ infested. poor ge. 

i am trying to keep my head above water right now and get everyone in the house back on track before i truly sit down and take care of myself. i have this never ending learning curve of appreciation for how much my mother did for us growing up. until you have a family of your own it is hard to understand the sacrifices and work that go in to really caring for a family and making sure they are okay. i have no complaints, honestly, but shit it's work. i wouldn't sign up for any other job - even if this one is currently covered in snot. 

1.04.2012

the millionth time


this is chunk's favorite book in the whole wide world. the child loves books. i cannot emphasize enough how much she loves - nay, LOVES - books. she spends the majority of every day bringing us books and screaming at us until we properly comply with her wishes and read to her with the proper tone in the proper place. if we do not have enough excitement in our voice? tantrum. did you want to sit like you were sitting? tantrum. are you doing the dishes? push and pull on your legs and proceed with a tantrum. is she awake? tantrum.

i lost my train of thought.

monkeys. (MONIES!!)

this morning chunk brought me her "monies" book. she was excited to have found it agains because it has been "lost" for the last few days. i have no idea who would have misplaced such a lovely book. perhaps someone who has read it at least 20 times a day for a month. do you think i am exaggerating? come babysit. she handed the book to me, sat on my lap, and when i opened it up she said "hand hand thumb". which, aside from the word fingers is the beginning lines of the book. not bad, chunkosaurus. perhaps all this book reading business is actually paying off. and i thought she was just fucking with us.

okay, i know she is fucking with us, just not when it comes to monkeys.

1.03.2012

sew cute

my mom gave me a sewing machine for christmas. i am super excited to get past this germ filled beginning of the week so i can start to learn how to use my pretty new machine. i was just explaining to ge that when i figure out wtf i am doing i will make him some fleece pants as one of my first project tries. his reply was -

"don't you know everything? i thought grownups already knew stuff."

"nope, not everything."

*heavy sigh - "fine, i guess i will have to teach you that, too."


1.01.2012

croup watch, now 2012 edition

new years eve brought us the gift of our sweet baby boy being the sickest he has been in his almost 4 years. i spent the morning at the doctor's office with ge hearing words like, "severe ear infection" and "croup". i also spent the day getting prescriptions of steroids and amoxicillin while the husband and the chunk bought bed bound presents to keep the ge man feeling special and entertained. watching my little boy struggle to breathe and gasp for air was the most helpless feeling i have felt as a parent.

we have spent many moments of the last few days sitting on our patio in the middle of the night to open ge's airways as he struggled to breathe. sunday night he laid down into bed with tears in his eyes and asked me if he would ever feel better. sunday night i spent 30 minutes in the freezing middle of night air with him wondering if this was the moment we give in and head to the hospital against his wishes. yesterday he spent the day curled up on the couch, the most defeated of all the days since the sickness came on, but we saw light at the end of the tunnel because he started wanting food and sleep. last night he woke up, but not as a seal, and i let out the biggest sigh of relief that ever was.

this morning my little man is lying in bed watching his 1989 super mario cartoons and feeling like there might be hope left that he won't feel like shit forever. after not really sleeping for the last 4 days i am hopeful that the worst is over. did you know that it is impossible to sleep when your kids are sick? it is for me. i am delirious with the no sleep. the husband and i are keeping our fingers crossed that chunk escapes this and that we can reclaim our house and our lives. here in phillie we are under the grasps of an arctic blast for the next few days, but this weekend is shaping up to be 50 degrees and i think we are all ready to get the hell out of this house and enjoy some sunshine.

the husband and i did get to enjoy our new year's eve together at home while on croup watch. we watched the dick clark special, made a lot of jokes, had a lot of laughs, shared the most amazing nye kiss i have ever had, drank a bit of champagne, and simply enjoyed each other's company. i know this is cheese tastic, but i really do benefit so much in my life from being married to him. i am lucky that my husband is the best friend i could ask for.

chunk is still talking more and more every day. she has not liked the fact that we have kept her and ge separated so much the last few days and i know she misses being allowed to play with him. she has acted out a bit more, but really she couldn't be much more of a terror in general. well, i think. what she has developed the last few days is more of an ability to keep herself entertained, which is relieving in a lot of ways. i keep telling myself that she will get a bit older and will be easier to deal with, but as she gets older she just gets more stubborn angry diva. trifecta of insanity inducing frustrations. she is lucky she is so cute and hilarious because right now she is a lot of hard to handle.

we welcome 2012 with open arms. after the last few days i am hoping for some sleep. ge is hoping to feel better. the husband is hoping for better month ends and to wrap a peruvian neck tie on someone tonight at jits. chunk is hoping for chocolate, a billion books to read, and more people to scream at. wait, no, i am hoping that she screams at someone other than me. i have no doubt that 2012 is going to bring us a lot of exciting changes and opportunities in our life and i am looking forward to all that is on the horizon.