and now it's time for Weekend Update with Lexi-Lulu and Emma-Jelly Beans

To begin with, here are a few MORE "She said what?!?" moments from this week: 

After Emma finished drinking a bottle and I was getting ready to burp her, 

Lexi asks, "Mom, is it time to hit Emma now?"

Lexi is obsessed with costumes. She has lots. She wanted to wear a different one everyday this week. On Friday, she was Little Red Riding Hood. So when she came downstairs in the morning dressed up as Little Red, Paul told her she looked very nice. Lexi said, "Oh my, Daddy! What a big booty you have!" 

  (this is NOT Lexi - you'll just have to wait a few days to see her Halloween pics)

(We did later learn that she thinks you have a big booty if you use the regular toilet, and you have a small booty if you need to use the toddler seat. She wasn't giving commentary on the size of Paul's posterior)

I was putting her to bed the other night and she desperately wanted me to sleep in her room. When I wouldn't, she told me "Mom, please? If you do it will make Grandma really like you!"

(FYI, Lex - Grandma and I are totally cool)

And this is just for your entertainment:

Lexi has these two Barbies. They are hands down her favorites. 

She named this one Daisy. Cute.

She named this one Henka. Huh? I guess she's Swedish? 

I didn't ask why. 

I learned long ago there is no reason why Lexi names things what she does .

You can fly!

All it takes is faith and trust 

(that your father won't drop you)

and a bit of pixie dust . . . 

(or a 6 1/2 foot tall daddy with really strong arms)

When there's a smile in your heart
There's no better time to start
It's a very simple plan
You can do what the birdies can 

At least it's worth a try

You can fly! You can fly!
You can fly! You can fly!

What a Weekend!

 What a crazy whirlwind of a weekend! 

I still haven't totally figured out this weekend mom thing yet. Do I get up and shower right away? Do I enjoy my Saturday morning and sleep in? Either way - I usually end up tired or still in my PJ's at lunch time. 

We went to the grocery store (6 separate times this weekend in total. I have my act together. Clearly.) Saturday morning and Lexi is now terrified of Dillon's. They have a large black moving blow-up cat on display in the Halloween aisle. Lexi thinks it is going to eat her.

We went to Mass Saturday night and I can honestly say this was the first time we have ever been that both my children have behaved. This is due largely in part to Nana. 

You see, when we were little my mom had these figurines of all of the characters from The Wizard of Oz. 

If you even thought about taking them off the shelf to play with, you would be grounded faster than you could say 

"I'll get you my pretty!"

this is exactly the set TD owns

So. . . Nana has been cleaning out her basement and found these little treasures packed away in a box and thought they would make great church toys for Alexis. 

Church toys! 

I know I definitely couldn't play with my Barbies for at least a week after I broke the broom off the Wicked Witch of the West figurine when I was 7! 

Church toys! Ha!

But, both my children were angels. 

Well, Emma was perfect and Alexis was subdued and only asked to leave to go potty once. 

Success!

Funny: 

before Mass, the choir was singing and Lexi loudly announced, 

"I can sing, too. I know my ABC's!" 

Don't be fooled by her age - she is as sassy as a sixteen year old.

Not funny: 

I thought Emma's cheeks were looking mighty rosy Saturday night and she had been slightly fussy and cranky all day - not eating and only wanting to be held. That night, I was looking up every thing I could think of to figure out what was causing my little lady's odd behavior. On a whim, I asked Paul to check her gums to see if he saw any signs of teething. 

She has a tooth!

It is her first and she's only 5 months! This little tooth had already broken through the gums and I felt like a horrible mom - my baby was getting a tooth and I didn't realize it until it was in! 

More new things for Emma - we decided to try some cereal tonight and she LOVED it! She kept grabbing the spoon from my hand, 

and attempting to feed herself! 

Let's hope this helps her sleep for longer stretches of time!

 . . . .and that's how Lexi "C's" it

More fun - we painted some of our pumpkins. 

So much cleaner than carving - and more interactive for the toddler! 

I can't show you many pictures because I made Lexi paint naked so she wouldn't destroy her clothing. 

All inappropriate parts are covered in these photos.

NOPE!

My husband thinks he is hilarious. 

He sometimes like to teach Lexi things. 

Sometimes they are good things - like how to count to seventeen. 

And sometimes he teaches her stupid things. 

After watching this video - he trained our daughter to say "Chuck Testa!" after she hears someone say "NOPE"

Try it the next time you see Lexi.

The Great Pumpkin

If any of you have ever seen the wonderful, fabulous, classic Charlie Brown movie "The Great Pumpkin" then you know that the Great Pumpkin appears on Halloween night and gives children toys. 

yuh-huh

for real

true story

and if this is really so, Alexis probably will not be pulling a Lucy to hang with Linus in the Pumpkin Patch all night. 

The face you see here: 

was the face I got most of the day from Diva during the preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch. She had small periods of time where fun was had, but on the whole, this was not the best morning for Lexi. 

The pumpkins were too big. 

The pumpkins were then too small.

Then too dirty. 

There were flies. 

etc. 

She did manage to brave the flies and dirt long enough to find her "perfect pumpkin"

It is quite nice.

 I believe this death trap is what kicked off the cry-fest that became our morning. This is a large inflatable "pillow" with roughly 200 kids jumping on it. Alexis gave it a shot, but had to be carried off crying because she was soon so paralyzed with fear of the jumping screaming children surrounding her.

The tractor-train was pretty sweet. 

Load the kiddos up for a nice little scenic trip around the patch. 

She sat with a few of her favorite people: 

 she calls this little boy her "prince" - he is her favorite

Preschool group photo: 

 This is what happens when you tell a bunch of 3 year old kiddos to do a silly face:

The ginormous slide! It took her a bit to get up the courage to attempt this, but once she did - it was awesome!

I think she shall become an Olympic luge medalist

All in all, an OK day. I certainly hope school field trips in the future are more fun for Lexi. We came home with a couple of perfect pumpkins, a bunch of pictures, and new found fear of 'jumpies'

Next year, it's Paul's turn!

Double Take

same age 

same place 

same Papa

Lexi and Papa

Emma and Papa 

ABC- ya!

 

 Lexi can sing her ABC's

(sort of - I'd give her an A for effort, a B for letter correctness, and a C for singing ability)

You can't really tell by the video but she does her 'cheer':

Bang Bang

Choo Choo Train

Come on, Lexi 

Do your Thing!

Then her own version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

And some Emma-cuteness. 
You can hear Alexis crying in the background because I wasn't filming her anymore. 
Diva.

Mamma Mia!

I know I say it every time Paul goes out of town for work, but I still believe single parents are amazing, incredible people. 

Paul went out of town on his quarterly week-long business trip. 
That left me home alone with 
a 3 year old, 
a 4 1/2 month old, 
a large dog, 
a creepster fish 
(who - let it be known - I only forgot to feed ONCE!), 
and a whole lot of anxiety. 

This wasn't the first trip he has been on since Emma's been born, but this time I was in charge of getting us places on time  . . . ish. 

On a normal day, we have to leave our house at 6:40 a.m. 

(I know, right? That's #@$%-ing early!) 

to get the girls to the babysitter's and me to work by 7:15. That meant that this week I was getting up at 4:40 to get ME ready, Emma fed from 5:45 - 6, Lexi up, dressed, and fed from 6 - 6:30, with 10 minutes to load us all into the car and roll. 

Well . . . this is how it SHOULD have gone, we managed to only be 5 minutes late on our good days and as much as 15 minutes late by Friday. Oops. 

The anxiety of wondering if the girls would get sick, nearly did me in. I was in a state of panic at the end of every school day trying to lay out everything for a sub just in case. Every cough, sneeze, and sniffle put me on high alert. Thankfully, we made it through without any sickness. 

  By far the most difficult and worst part of my day was Lexi's bath-time. 

Lulu has a particular routine that cannot be deviated from  one little bit or she implodes (she has but a mild, parent-diagnosed case of OCD). 

Teeth brushed, potty, bath time (with bubbles, and copious use of the shower aka "rain"), potty again, nightgown choosing, story picking, story reading, potty a THIRD time (excessive? yes. But she has never wet the bed), lay down and count to 10 together, hug, kiss, and eskimo-kiss. GOODNIGHT! This in total takes about 35 minutes. 

It is impossible to hold Emma and do this. 

Getting Emma down for an evening catnap (her naps last about 30-45 minutes on average) and Lexi to bed every night before Emma woke back up qualifies me for some sort of award . . . or an Olympic medal . . . I'll take anything as long as it's shiny and comes with a large round of applause. 

We all survived, more or less. 

I didn't cook at all during the week - no worries, Lexi got to eat lots of kid-favorites like mac and cheese, PB&J, and chicken nuggets. 

I was a good mom and served it all up with sides of fruit or carrot sticks, so don't you go judging me, 'mkay? 

Problem with this menu is that I don't really love any of those things, and I was so busy I sort of forgot to eat a few nights. I kept telling Paul that I didn't feel well and when he finally asked me what I was eating that was making me sick I realized. . .

Wait a minute, I haven't eaten ANYTHING! No wonder I'm sick! 

(and yeah, I've already gained back the 3 pounds I lost and he's only been home for 36 hours). 

I was so exhausted by the time Paul got home Saturday at noon that I took TWO naps yesterday. 
That's right, people. 

2. 

T-W-O! 

And in case you were wondering - it did rock. It really did.

*all photos taken shortly after Paul got home. 

See how I quit caring what I looked like? 

No makeup and messy hair - that's my single-parent style.