The Playdate That Keeps on Giving

I knew this point in my journey through parenthood would come...the day both of my kids are throwing up. Yes, Barf-o-rama 2011 has hit our house. It all started Saturday night...I was sleeping with Charlotte in the guest room because she was scared of the crazy thunderstorm that were going on outside. All of the sudden, at 2:30am, she sat up in bed and just threw up everywhere. And..she kept throwing up until 5:00 am. We had to do laundry and give her a bath. Then, I wake up in the morning and find out that all 4 of the other kids we were on a playdate with on Friday were also up puking all night. We went to Monkey Joe's (an inflatable place) because it was supposed to be 98 degrees and we wanted to do something indoors to let the kids burn off some energy. I don't know what they all could have picked up there...we all brought our own food. Then, this afternoon..I started hearing screams from the playroom...and sure enough, Nate was throwing up...and continued to throw up for hours. I have done more "puke laundry" than I care to ever do. I have washed more carpet and more floors than I want to discuss...and I have bleached everything those kids have touched. And, now...here I sit and, to quote Charlotte, my tummy is very grumbly. Please God, do not let me get this!!!!!

Charlotte's First Movie

WARNING - Emotional Post Ahead....Proceed at your own risk!

Charlotte's first movie...what could be emotional about that, you ask. I know, it seems ridiculous. Well, let me take you back almost two years ago. It was the summer of 2009, Nate wasn't even born yet. Our family had just been given devastating news, that my mom (stepmom...but God, I hate that label) was diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer. Yes, stage 4. The same disease that took my mom 25 years ago when I was just 8 years old. I am sure you can imagine the bleak outlook that comes with a diagnosis like that....and I had already lived through that once. As much as I wanted to remain positive and upbeat, I found my mind wandering to questions of "How much time do we have?" "Will she see my son, her grandson, be born?" "Will she see my brother get married?" Given my previous experience with this dreadful disease, I was hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. That summer was one of the worst times for our family. There was so much uncertainty...and we were all living in a cloud of sadness. I remember one day, she looked at me and said, "I just want to be around to take Charlotte to see her first movie....it's really important to me." Charlotte was just 14 months old at the time of her diagnosis...not exactly the "movie going age." But, I don't care...Kevin and I would have made it happen. We would have rented out an entire movie theater if we had to. But, by some amazing miracle...my mom defied all of the odds (and they were crappy...no, SHITTY odds!). She is walking around today with a clean bill of health. To this day, I just don't understand it. Stage 4 is just that...stage 4. I am stunned and amazed that she literally kicked cancer's ass. She is a superwoman, really...who gets that kind of diagnosis and is back at work in less than 2 years. Wow.

So, fast forward to last week. The new Winnie the Pooh movie came out and my mom decided that was the movie that she was going to take Charlotte to see. She texted me to ask if Monday would be okay...and I cried. I cried while I was on Fandango securing the tickets... I cried as Charlotte was standing in front of her closet picking out a "special dress for the movies." I cried as my mom's car pulled into the cul-de-sac. This wasn't just a movie...it was the fulfillment of a personal goal that my mom set for herself when she needed a goal the most...and I think that at the time she set it, she might have thought it was a long shot. It was also such an amazingly unselfish thing. Only a Grandmother would say, "I want to take my Granddaughter to her first movie" instead of something like, "I want to go to France" or "I want to go skydiving" or something like that. She wanted to be the one to share that experience with Charlotte.

Charlotte was so excited. She just kept talking about how she was going to see Winnie the Pooh at the show. It was all she could talk about. On Monday, she could barley wait until the 1:20 show. She picked out a very special dress, with special shoes. She wanted to wear her flowered headband also. Then, Grandma, Aunt Liz, Char and I headed out to the theater. Charlotte was beyond excited and said that she wanted some popcorn and a diet coke...and of course, Grandma obliged. She sat though what seemed like an hour of previews...rather impatiently. And finally, the movie started. Thank God Aunt Liz was there or I would have been a sobbing mess the entire time. Lizzie and I were like bad school kids in the theater...constantly laughing about how stupid Pooh is and why, when the whole gang was trapped in a hole, the damn owl couldn't have just FLOWN out!!! In the end, we decided that Winnie the Pooh teaches illiteracy, stupidity and overall lack of common sense. But, it's entertaining.

So, that is why....in addition to my list of 10 or so movies that always make me cry...Winnie the Pooh might always bring a tear to my eye...

(FYI..my other major tear jerkers are....Rudy, Terms of Endearment, The Notebook, Philadelphia, Marley and Me, Finding Neverland, The Green Mile, Eight Below (God, horrible movie if you have dogs), Field of Dreams and Life is Beautiful...they all get me every time.)

Navy Pier

It was a beautiful day on Friday, so I called my sister, Liz, and we decided to take the kids to Navy Pier for the day! I love spur of the moment plans...we had a BLAST! Take a look at the pics from our day!

Charlotte

Nathan...he looks so handsome here!

The Ferris Wheel

...and since Daddy wasn't there...we took them on it! Daddy has a little fear of children falling from heights

Liz and Nate on the Ferris Wheel

Mike decided to wait at the bottom for us :)

Char on the carousel

Then, we went to the Children's Museum...here are the kids at the butterfly simulation

Digging for Dinosaur bones!

In the water adventure

Char in her raincoat

Pumping the water up like a geyser

Nate playing with the water

Nate wearing a cone as a hat at the fireman's exhibit

After the Children's Museum...we decided to let the kids make a bear at Build-a-Bear

Nate with his bear

Char helping to fill Nate's bear with stuffing

Nate and his Cubs Bear, Ryne. I gave him the option of a Red Sox uniform and a Cubs uniform... Despite me holding the Red Sox uniform slightly closer to him and urging him to choose it, he chose the Cubs....traitor. Ryne also has two hearts...Nate really loves him and added an extra heart while he was being stuffed :)

Mike and Charlotte filling out a birth certificate for Ella...her fairy bear

Charlotte and Ella ....3 minutes after getting in the car..she was exhausted!

Zoo 2011!!!

Today was a beautiful day, so we decided after Charlotte's ballet class to hit the zoo. This was one of my favorite trips to the zoo. Nate finally gets it and is totally interactive...he's not just along for the ride in the stroller. He knows his animals and is totally delighted when he recognizes them! It was so much fun watching him enjoy himself so much. We also did something we had never done before, we went into the butterfly house. It was gorgeous!!! There were 500 butterflies flying everywhere. They would land on you and you also had to be careful where you stepped. I had to stop Nate from accidentally killing more than one. Char liked watching them fly around but did not want them landing on her. Such a fun day!

Not just a fashion statement...it was super sunny!

Watching the dolphins from the underwater viewing area

Nate getting a feel for the goat situation

This isn't so bad!

Char went right for the goats..and she had no fear of the chickens like she did last year!

Brushing the goats

Charlotte

Nate finally getting a turn at brushing a goat

..and another! He really liked it!

Stopping for a snack and photo op by the zoo fountain

Watching the camels

Having some ice cream to cool off (mommy finally got to break in her picnic blanket)

Butterflies in the butterfly house

Close up

Watching the butterflies!

That telephoto lens comes in handy!

The kids were really good at the zoo...so they got to grab a stuffed animal to remember their trip!

Swimming!

It seems like Char and Nate have at gotten over their fear of water...at least for now. We went to Grandma and Grandpa's on Tuesday for some swimming since it was so nice out! After a quick stop at Grandpa's office to say hi...we were in the pool. It took about 10 minutes of "NO MOMMY! I DON'T WANT TO!!!" until she was saying, "MOMMY, DON'T HOLD MY BOAT, I CAN DO IT MYSELF!!!!!"

Supernanny to the Rescue!

In my younger, childless days, I was the person in the restaurant shooting you daggers for bringing your kids to dinner. I was the one rolling my eyes in the checkout line when you couldn't control your children...and God help you if you brought your children aboard an airplane, because I was the one sighing and shifting uncomfortably in my seat even before they had a chance to misbehave. And now...the Karma gods are repaying me..10 fold. I will admit it, my name is Gina Clinnin...and I cannot control my children in public.

Take yesterday for example, I took the kids to Target to get diapers and goldfish cracker...two essentials in a house with toddlers. Charlotte and Nathan seem to think every time we go to Target, they are entitled to get a soft pretzel and an Icee. This is probably because, every time we go to Target, I buy them a pretzel and an Icee. It all started at Customer Service while I was making a return. Since I had them in the massive cart that the two kids can sit in..I left the cart behind the roped off lines to make the ever so quick return. In the 20 seconds I had my back turned, Charlotte grabbed Nate's face and he screamed bloody murder. Like an, everyone in the front of the store turned around to look, kind of scream. I turned and gave Charlotte a stern, "Leave your brother alone" with an accompanied look that said, "I mean business, lady!" I turned around to get my receipt and, Nate screamed again... Charlotte laughed and looked down with a huge smile on her face like she was attempting to convey, "I didn't do it mom!" This is where the "threat game" commences. I came back to the cart and said, "Charlotte, if you can't keep your hands off of Nate, I swear, I will put you both in a regular cart where Nate sits up front and you have to sit in the basket with all of the stuff we are buying. (She hates that). "Okay, mommy, I'll behave." Then, within 5 minutes she had done something else and I had to whip out the, "Do it once more and you are not getting a pretzel and icee..." Then, she did whatever she had done again (I can't remember what it was now)...and that was it. NO pretzel and Icee for you!!!! We checked out as quickly as humanly possible and when we left the checkout lane, I turned left and headed to the doors instead of turning right towards the food court and all hell broke loose. "No, Mommy!!! I want a pretzel!!!!!" Screaming. I responded, "Well, you should have thought about that before you acted badly in the store! Keep it up and you are going straight to bed with no TV when we get home!" They both screamed from the door to the car...and everyone in the path looked at me like I was a terrible mom. But, I held my head high and didn't waiver...I was doing the right thing...and I don't care what anyone in the Target parking lot thought about that. When we got to the car, I turned on the engine so the air would run, put Char and Nate both in their car seats, loaded up the groceries, returned the cart and got in the driver's seat. That's when she pulled out the, "Mommy, I calmed down...I can get a pretzel now." She was stunned to find out that was not how it works, so she pulled out the, "Mommy, I'm not your friend anymore." Such drama.

Also, Charlotte has entered the tattle tale/I don't like to share phase of her toddlerhood. Let me tell you, I am NOT A FAN. It is SO embarrassing to go to parties, playdates or have friends over now. Charlotte is constantly tattling on everyone for everything. And, not only does she tattle to me, she tattles to the offender's parents. Like, "Miss so and so, Johnny isn't sharing and he won't do abc..." To which I have to step in and say, "Charlotte...STOP tattling!!!" The tattling is one thing, but the not sharing is ten times worse. She will not share anything. We had our new neighbors over for lunch the other day. They have a 4 year old girl and a 2 year old boy. Well, Charlotte and her friend both came down from the playroom in tears after an episode of Charlotte not sharing something. That whole room is filled with toys, yet they can't seem to find something for everyone...they always want what the other one has. I said, "Charlotte...your friend came over to play with you, you need to share your toys!" Her response, "NO, mommy...all the toys in the playroom are MINE!" Whoa....my mouth dropped to the floor in utter embarrassment. I said, "Excuse me??? Listen here, chick....you need to share your toys...wouldn't you be upset and sad if you went to your friend's house and she didn't share her toys with you?" I am at a loss with how to deal with her newfound "bratiness."

We think part of it has to do with her not napping. She hasn't napped in months...which, was fine in the winter. But in the summer, she is up early at camp, burning off a lot of energy outside..we are out and about. I think it's just too much to deal with without a nap. Then, she is falling asleep at 6:00 or 7....and waking up at 8:00 ready to party. No way... So, we have started forcing naps on her again. It's hard...she doesn't want to take one unless I lay down with her...and I have to much to do for a daily nap (it would be nice...but the laundry isn't going to fold itself).

I am at a loss, I don't know what to do. I don't want to take them anywhere because I hate having to publicly discipline my kids. So, I did what any normal mom would do...I ordered a Supernanny book. With her guidance, I should have this all solved by early next week.... I'll keep you updated!

Holy Catch Up Post, Batman!!

Wow!! So, I guess I took a little unintended vacation from blogging for a week. The weather is so nice, we are spending time outside and it leaves little time for blogging. However, my camera was not on vacation, so I was still able to catch some shots of what we have been up to. So, I will try to catch you up on the last week or so.

Here is Nathan playing around with the photo booth app on my Mac

The kids have been swimming in their pool with the nice weather

The kids like to go in the pool, fill up their watering cans and proceed to water everything in the yard

The princess pool appears to have been a casualty of the tornado. There is a leak in it somewhere and I haven't found it yet..so we are making due with the pirate pool from last year.

Nate ready to fight off enemy pirates

When we had our landscaping done, we had a raised garden bed installed. We have al kinds of stuff planted...4 or 5 different kinds of tomatoes, red peppers, green peppers, cucumbers, poblanos, jalapenos, pumpkins, acorn squash, banana peppers, butternut squash, lettuce, green onions, spinach, eggplant and more!!

Most of our herbs are potted on the patio, but I threw a few basil plants in the garden..we love basil!!

Pablano pepper

Our beautiful pink hydrangeas....I love them, but boy do they need a lot of watering

Our patio

Banana Peppers

Our garden

Veggies aren't the only thing living in our garden!

We also went to our friend's daughters birthday party this past weekend. Happy 2nd birthday, Lanie!!! It was so hot that day, the kids had the reddest faces! Here is Nate giving Char a push in the swing

Here's our little bruiser. Notice the busted nose and black eyes..he fell off the bed...he's totally fine..we're just glad he did it after we took family pics for my mom's birthday gift!!

At grandma's birthday party...my mom was holding both kids and a piece of cake, Nate decided to help himself.

Who needs a fork??

Charlotte helping Grandma open her presents

Nate helping to lick the frosting off of the candles

Grandma and Nate

Grandma opening her gifts from the kids and grandkids...family pics! She loved them!

Grandpa holding the family pic up so Grandma could get a good look

Here are the two pics that we gave Grandma...I'll post the others when we get the CD...the photographer was nice enough to give me the rights to these two the same day we had them done...that way, we were able to get them printed and framed in time for the party.

Mommy is typing the blog post from her brand new Mac laptop....my last one was murdered at the hands of a hot cup of coffee. It was going to cost me more than half the cost of a new laptop to fix it...so, it didn't make sense. Nate and Char went to the Apple store with me to get the new laptop after they finished transferring all of my data. The workers were laughing at Nate who kept pointing and saying, "iPad, iPad!!" The kids were so good...right next to the store was a Disney store (which was having a sale) so Nate got two new buddies! (You can't just get Woody and not get Buzz!!!!) He has been sleeping with Woody and Buzz for the last few nights now! Char also got an Ariel doll and a princess tea set

When I pulled into the cul-de-sac after the Apple store, guess who was waiting to greet us....the friendly coyote. You can tell how scared he was of me by how close I got to take the picture (I took it with my phone from the car) I was honking at him to try and scare him off...he just laughed at me.

Yesterday we took some bleach to my friend's pet boutique...they were having a bleach drive for the West Suburban Humane Society

And...finally.....here is Charlotte holding our first cucumber from the garden!!! It's huge!