Viva Las Vegas!!

So, lemme start at the beginning--which would be February or so (technically I'm pretty sure it was first mentioned a full year ago). Kris' husband was gonna be in a pool tournament in Vegas, he wanted her to go but knew she would be bored. So, she got to invite all her friends and the husband paid for a 1900 square feet 3 bedroom, 3 bath condo for the Thursday thru Sunday weekend. Perfect. As a a side note, husband ended up not even playing in the tournament so the trip ended up just being just for us. Funny. So, I packed approximately 84 outfits, kissed my kids and left them in charge of my fab husband. Long time no girl weekend for this momma. My recap will be brief b/c I realize how un-fun it is to read about someone else's great time. So, we get in Thursday night, changed clothes and chilled at the Hard Rock bar--my friend Candi most especially enjoyed the ladies working the pole in the middle of the casino. Friday morning was spent at the pool and then a leisurely shopping trip at Caesars before it was time to get ready for our "doing it big" night. Three short hours later the four of us emerge as the hottest ladies in town. We dined at Fix( where we were deemed worthy of VIP passes to the Bank, based on our collective hotness--I'm sure) in the Bellagio, chilled at Caramel (where we were deemed worthy of a reserved table, based on our collective hotness level--I'm sure). The Bank was cool--looked like a thousand other clubs. Just typing that sentence further drives the point home that I am a mom and well past the days that clubbing on the weekends is something I look forward to, ever. Anyway. Saturday we shopped the Miracle Mile and then found an outdoor mall, which was lovely. Our dinner Saturday night was my fave--Firefly, a superfly tapas bar. We ordered 37 different things and they were all great. Equally great were all four pitchers of mojitos we had. Dani--sorry they had to be flat and thanks for being a sport!! We finished that night poolside. Sunday we had to check out by ten, so we did that and headed to the airport way early, which was fine b/c momma was tired. I think I had 12 hours of sleep over the three nights we were there. A bangin' good time...but I felt like I was doing makeup sleep until today. My husband was great while I was gone--lots of fun activities for the kids and lots of "hope you're having fun" type texts for me. It was great to get away. And I got to do the dramatic run (sort of) down the hallway and into my kids arms. Mostly I bent down and let Josie run to me--really cute!! Thanks to the husband that paid for the room, the husband that hung with the kids, and my ladies for making it a weekend to remember!! Love you guys.....

In my next post I'll talk about the joys of first grade homework (already), the drama of selecting a uniform, Wednesday folders, and more....I know you'll all be waiting on the edges of your seat.

First Grade, Here We Come!!

Wow, how did this happen so fast. I swear that just yesterday Liv was learning to walk. Anyway, today is the big day. She has a new haircut, freshly painted nails, a loaded backpack, school supplies waiting for her in Room 14 and the lunch of her dreams. The kid is ready. It is really sweet to see her be the combination of excited and nervous. She knows that there are kids she has known for years that are gonna be in her class this year. So, off to Mrs. Phillips class we go. We had to park a block away--I am obviously not the only excited mom. We get to Liv's class, Mrs. Phillips introduces herself to Liv and says she already remembers Liv from last year--due to Ry being in her class last year. After that, Liv sat along the wall outside the class, when it was time to go in the kids put the books they brought in a basket and found their assigned seats in the classroom. Liv left her lunch in the car, when I got back to drop it off the kids were decorating their nameplates on their desks with things they liked. Poppy and Josie met me up there and Liv got to wave at her sister--Josie blew her a kiss and we were on her way....too sweet.

Now, I just have to wait until 3 to pick the kid up and here all about day one....can't wait!!

Pin Recap and 1st Grade Eve

First, an update. We did the big pin removal appointment last Thursday. Grandma met us at the Dr's. office so she could be in charge of entertaining Josie while I focused on calming in hysterics Olivia. We get called back, do an x-ray and unwrap the old ace bandages--the whole time Liv is moaning and crying--really stressing out about the pins. Dr. Green comes in takes of the gauze and one of the pins actually does fall out. I think this is a great sign, and will calm Liv down. No. She flips out more b/c the pin hole bleeds a little bit. The second pin hole isn't much harder to get out and before you know it we are pin free. I was assuming that Liv was still gonna be in a splint and sling for at least another month. Again, no. We now have naked arm with just bandaids over the pin holes. I am plenty freaked out about it, I feel like at any moment a strong breeze could break the elbow again. Liv has exercises to do to get her elbow used to moving again and we clean and change her pin hole bandaids regularly.

Moving on. This weekend was our last weekend of summer. School starts Monday. So, we tried to do it big. I mean, as big as we can do with 2 kids. So, we put the girls in matching dresses, went to the park, ate pizza for lunch, and Liv got to stay up late to watch Michael Phelps win his 8th gold medal. Yea, like I said, we were doing it big. On Sunday, Liv and I had some big girl time. No fancy first grader starts 1st grade with naked finger and toe nails, right? So, we got her nails done, ate lunch, shopped, and then went home to ready ourselves for Monday morning. She got her backpack loaded with folder, pencil case, eraser, and sharpener. She was also supposed to bring one of her favorite books to school. Her choice--Alligator Baby.

Wild Wings and Metal Pins

So, today is the big day (potentially) that Liv could get the pins taken out of her elbow. I wish I had some way to sedate my Nervous Nelly, alas I don't have strong enough narcotics at home. She is scared to death even though everyone has told her this won't hurt....I kinda don't blame her, after all there are pieces of metal that have been inside her body for three weeks and they're supposed to just slide right out? Right. So, we'll see...but wish us luck.

I think this is my first blog since Monday so let's recap the week....Tuesday it was rainy so we stayed in for the day, lots of playing at home, no awesome Hannah Homemaking happened--a boring day, ask anyone. Oh, we did playgym at Gymboree in the afternoon, so I guess that was the highlight and got school shoes and Ry came over for a little bit. I guess Tuesday wasn't as big a bust as I thought. Wednesday was better--cleaned, like really cleaned the bathroom, did the little bit of laundry that had accumulated, installed my drawer organizers, returned a sprinkler to Lowe's, had milkshakes at Maggie Moo's, and got a little Olympic watching done. Not too shabby. Today has been busy...we did our actual Gymboree "class" where our focus was hard vs. soft--I really feel like Josie grasped so many concepts and now feels like a confident problem solver--mission accomplished. Ok, maybe not but she did participate more with what the class was doing, so I feel like we are getting the hang of this place. After that, my fave probation officer of all time--Kris called and she needed to avoid work today--we obliged by letting her accompany us to the mall to ride the bus ride and throw pennies in the fountain. We lunched at Buffalo Wild Wings, and then home to nap.

One more update--you'll all remember that Liv's school told us she had to wear uniform shirts....Right, well grandma to the rescue. She cut the sleeves of a couple of uniform shirts and sewed zippers in to allow for easy entry. Perfect.

And there you have it--up to the minute scoop on the family....I think I have another entire hour of mommy time....what to do, what to do.....

My Fair Ladies

So, this is my first week at home with both girls--and, boy do we have a big week planned. Today we went to our daycare to get the girls stuff since they are officially unenrolled (weird). Then we went by Liv's elementary school to make sure it would be ok for Liv to wear tank tops b/c of her arm as long as they were uniform color. That was not ok, the instructional coordinator let me know. She did give me a couple of shirts that are the same size my husband would wear. Great, thanks. Liv was real upset about that--and I can't blame her. Who wants to wear a nightgown everyday to school?? I'll be real upset if there are any sort of school pictures before the cast comes off....

But, I digress. The rest of today holds a trip to the bank and Target and then home to cook dinner, bathe, and watch more Olympics (Kevin is already real tired of that). Tomorrow we are gonna attempt some playgym time at Gymboree, possible lunch with Grandma, and some afternoon housecleaning--oh, and I got my drawer organizers in the mail today. Wednesday the park and bookstore, perhaps? Thursday I gotta find someone to chill with Josie in the afternoon so I can take Liv to her doctors appointment--also, Gymboree class is Thursday morning. By Friday, I'm sure we'll all need a stay at home day....the kids are resting now--sorta. Josie is asleep and Liv is "resting" in her room....

I should be doing something productive but resting sounds so good....I have some new pics of the girls playing--I'll work on that for tomorrow.

Meat Sticks and Gymboree

So, just learning things every day....About the meat sticks--they smell horrible and are coated in a greasy film that can't be removed with anything less than Goo Gone. I am used to paying my daycare and they take care of lunch. I pick the kid up and she is relatively clean--now I realize what a miracle that is and I wonder how that was done every day. Normally, dinner at my house is immediately followed by bath time so no biggie to be covered in whatever dinner was (something always gloriously home made, from scratch--or Gerber, whatever). At lunch time yesterday, I thought chicken sticks, diced fruit, and yogurt melts were ideal. I'm covering many food groups and its easy since nap time is nearing. Right. I left Josie eating to go to the kitchen to grab something and when I get back I find my kid rubbing a chicken stick into her hair. Perfect. If you're a mom and have ever smelled a meat stick of any variety you understand the devastation I felt. I made some ghastly noise that freaked my kid out, which led to meat stick being rubbed into her crying eyes and fruit being thrown on the floor. Almost any other food item is easily wiped off with a wipey. Not the case with a meat stick. I tried that and couldn't get the disgusting smell of my baby--which would have been embarrassing at the park later when all the dogs would have thought my baby was a dog treat. So, mid day bath it was.....never again, mommies, never again.

On to more fun stuff--Gymboree!! I have seen this place for the last few years and always assumed it was cool, but knew I would always be at work. Not the case anymore....so I went by yesterday on a fact gathering mission. Today was our free class and I thought Josie might be hesitant to play and join the other kids. Wrong. She couldn't wait to get rid of her boring ol' mom and play. There were obstacle courses, tunnels, bridges, slides, balls, parachutes and bubbles. I'll work on pictures but we were so busy that's gonna be hard work. Josie was exhausted when we left and won the best dancer of the day award--I was the only judge (not biased) but I think even the other moms would agree that she really rocked that place today. We will go back next week and hope for more fun....

As a followup to my to do list yesterday--my last load of laundry is in the washing machine now, I ordered my drawer organizers, and added to my list the following things that also got done yesterday: made pancakes to freeze for breakfast, unloaded/loaded dishwasher, went for a stroll, hung up a picture, and made some purchases at Victoriassecret.com at 70% off. That is what I call productive!

I am off to get ready for Liv's ortho appointment for the week. We'll get a new dressing on the arm and x-ray the elbow to make sure everything is still in the right spot....I'm gonna try to get some pics of the pins in her elbow today, just for posterity...wish us luck!

Day to Day stuff

So, I am into Day 3 of this stay at home mom business. I have all these grandiose plans for things I want to do every day and so far haven't really done much to get started on the accomplishing of the plans. On my list are things like clean/organize closets, wash every piece of laundry (I am only loads away from checking this one off the list--progress, right?), plan Liv's birthday, go to the gym, finish uniform shopping for Liv (sale at the Convention Center this week?), teach Josie things that she would normally learn from a preschool teacher, go swimming or to the park, hang with other mommies, pick up a new hobby, run all family errands. You get the picture. I normally hate being at home for too long--I get kinda stir crazy, and I knew going into this staying at home business that I was gonna need some variety and adult time.

To this point, all I have done on my list are some laundry and look online and some dresser drawer organizers. I have spent lots of time rolling around the floor with Josie. But, really I think that is the point of being at home--to hang with the kids. Everything else can happen when it does. Or maybe I pick one list item/day to tackle so I feel a small sense of accomplishment. I also know that if I leave the house to much I will end up at various retail locations and be sucked into buying many wares that aren't all that necessary. This is counter productive for the staying at home and living on one income.

So, here I am, blogging during Josie's morning nap--today I choose ordering the drawer organizers, folding laundry and playing as my top priorities for the rest of the day. Tomorrow--I will leave the house! Josie and I can play at the park early, and uniform shop for Liv after that.

Sounds like a good plan...I think I'm gonna do just fine with this stay at home mom business....

Six Flags

First, lemme say this--Six Flags was all Liv's idea. For the last couple of months of kindergarten she was clipping coupons from her Lunchables boxes so she and all her friends could "vacation" at the park. I am not sure what Liv thought Six Flags was (she has never been my adventurous child) but she did not (apparently) think it was outside or filled with roller coasters. I was nervous about mixing her broken arm with rides, but her doctor said he was more concerned about the heat than the rides--so we planned ahead of time to stay extra hydrated and take lots of air conditioned breaks.

So, the car ride over there goes smoothly--not an excessive amount of "are we there yet" questions. And her excitement when she first saw the park was really sweet. It was short lived. We paid $15 for the opportunity to park 8 miles away from the park entrance. Halfway through the walk to the front gate, Liv asks the question that let me know it was not gonna be a smooth day. Before we get inside the park Liv said it was too hot and asked if we could just go to the hotel. I asked what she wanted to do there--just sit is her reply....perfect. I had the "this was your idea" talk, coupled with "of course you're hot--so is everyone else and they're not crying". These things didn't do anything to improve her mood. I knew that her first ride had to be a roller coaster or else she would never do one. We waited for 1.5 hours for the Tony Hawk Big Spin ride (where I gleaned many important skateboarding facts). About halfway through the wait I dumped a bottle of water on Liv's head--and all was well. The complaining stopped--about the heat at last.

She was scared to death about halfway through the Big Spin, so I lied to her about the Runaway Mine Train and got her to do that....and that was the end of anything remotely resembling an adult ride. After that, Liv was more than happy to hang out on rides like Texas Boot, Tea Cups, and the Mexican Hat. But whatever, all's well that ends well. Towards the end, Liv hugged me and told me she was having a great time. I totally felt like Mom of the Year. We ended the day with carousel and a 3-D movie. Ate dinner, and finally checked into the hotel around 10:30. We were the stinkiest family in the history of families, so after baths we all piled into out king size bed and passed out.

Sunday was fun. IKEA was a big hit with the girls--face paint and all. And, I had been telling Liv about Libby Lu all week and I had not undersold it all. Liv loved that place and got lots of cool girly stuff....

It was a good weekend after all--I love how kids totally forget about the not fun stuff. Like if you asked Liv now if Six Flags was super hot--she would tell you no. Right. So, I am so glad we went and Liv didn't have to miss out on the fun b/c of her bum arm.

Our first broken appendage

Well, I got the call no mom ever wants to get at work (back when I had a job) that Olivia was at the skating rink on daycare field trip and had possibly broken her arm....great. I run out of my office, scared to death--this is my first broken anything to be in charge of as a mom. So, naturally, I call my mom. Always a calming force, she says she will meet me at the ER. I get to Olivia and instead of finding my normally dramatic daughter flipping out as I had prepared myself for, I find her silent with just a few lonely tears sneaking out. We go to the hospital, I ask Liv questions along the way. My fave answer was to the how do you feel question--"like a wimpy mom, drive faster".

At the ER, we do x-rays and quickly find out that she fractured her elbow. ER doctor consults with ortho guy over the phone, and we are sent home for a horrible night of pain and sleeplessness to wait on an appointment with ortho guy in the morning. After about .8 seconds of looking at the x-ray, Dr. Green lets us know that her bones are compacted and angulated out. Our surgery will happen in about 4 hours. For no real reason, Liv is scared to death of surgery--so I told her she was gonna take a nap and they were gonna straighten out her bones, but that wasn't surgery. It worked, and she was such a big girl. They put 2 pins in her arm and we spent the night in the hospital. She is used to toting around her arm in a sling now. Our next hurdle is having the pins removed....

Hopefully soon, I will figure out how to put the pictures after the blog....but for now, I am feeding Josie pasta pickups--gotta run!!