An Exposition at Olga's

I feel obligated to share this story with the Hooligans' friends: Last Saturday after aforementioned fun at Lewis and Clark in the bounce houses, we went to Olga's for lunch. Sam, Gwen, Patrick, Eva, and me. As we are in the midst of potty training, after we ate, Sam took Patrick to the restroom to try to go. He took wipes, but no clean pull up. Upon further examination, Sam realized that he needed a new diaper/pull up. He got Patrick cleaned up, went potty, and then brought him out "commando" to get a diaper. They come to the table and while I am reaching over the table to get the diaper bag, Patrick pulls down his jeans and shouts, "Need a diaper Nana!" over and over. This brought him to the attention of the crowded restaurant. He was standing there with his cute little butt facing the world, jeans around his ankles and was puzzled as to why we were all paralyzed with laughter. He just didn't get what the big deal was.

A Good Day

Ok, so super great day...we got up this morning and just hung out at the house together: all 4 of us. Sam and I decided that snow on the ground justified not going to swim class. So we played hookie from that. At 11am, Gwen picked us up and we went to LCCC for Kidz Dayz. It was a gym full of bounce houses. Yippee! It was a great opportunity for Patrick to blow of some steam during this time of year when we don't get out much. He didn't want to get in the small bounce house first...after a few minutes of encouragement, he took off and we didn't see him again for a bit. Then we went to the big slide, he was so brave. He confidently climbed up all by himself and after running from one side to the other, finally chose the slide on the right and whoosh, down he went! He jumped off and high-fived us. It was brilliant.
After that, we went to Olga's for lunch. Yummmmmmmmmm.
When we got home, Patrick informed us that he had to got potty. I will spare the details, but long story short: he pooped! Anyway, this was a big deal because he waited to poop until he got to the potty. YAY! We are so proud of him. Progress at last!
Also, after dinner, I cleaned out the fridge and rearranged the shelves and boy that makes me happy. My fridge is all feng-shui-ed out (i.e.it's happy and so am I). I know, I'm wierd.
After a long, happy day...my kids are in bed, my house is relatively picked up and I changed 0 poopy toddler diapers today. A good day!

People should not rise from bed before the sun...

The two mini hooligans had to get up at the ungodly hour of 6:30am this morning because Sam was working and I had a meeting at 8am in Wood River. I got up at 6am. This wasn't pretty for any involved let me tell you. Well, Eva took it quite well, but Patrick and I weren't happy campers. He was crying and begging to go back to bed. I had to literally put each arm and leg into his clothes. People should not rise from bed before the sun...it's unnatural.

Work has been picking up for me and Sam has been working overtime so we're like two ships passing in the night. Well, it's more like two people who tag in and out of a game (like the madness of our house).

We're still working on potty training. Bribery just isn't what it used to be. Sam and I spend about 10% of our time sitting on the edge of the bath tub cheering for poopy. I think that's it for now, but I'll leave a few pics of us recently.

a test in unnatural parental instinct, a.k.a. toddler swim class

So I took Patrick to swim class this past Saturday. He's been going off and on since he was about 15 months old. My dear son has never really enjoyed the "pool" experience. The first class he ever went to was a brutal hour of my baby screaming, crying and clinging to my neck. Fast forward to this past Saturday-he was way excited about it right up until he dipped his first toe in the water...it was mostly downhill from there. "No pool mommy, go back mommy, wanna get outta the pool mommy."

The whole experience is hillarious. It's a giant pool full of desperate grown ups trying to get their desperate children to love the water. Don't get me wrong, there are a few kids that just take to it and are jumping off the side in no time. The rest of us, well we just stand there in the water wondering where we went wrong. We loved swimming as a kid, how can our perfect baby be so averse?

Anyway, so then comes the "trying new things" part of swim class. This is a test in NOT following one's natural parental instincts. 1. "I'm going to let go of you, you kick as hard as you can and get back to the surface." Your child pleads for you not to, but you let go and watch them sink to the bottom and struggle back to the top for a little oxygen. 2. "Jump off the edge into the water sweetie." In this exercise they think you'll catch them, only to be surprised when you let them jump in and try to swim back up. The list could go on, but you get the drift. It's just damn unnatural to let your child struggle so much while pleading for your help and you intentionally do nothing but encourage. Yeesh, parenting is tough stuff!

Don't worry-I won't disturb any of the Hooligans' adoring fans by posting pics of these swim class days.

Sam in the Doghouse, and a Visit with Elmo

I found my husband in bed with another woman a few days ago...I took a photo to show everyone what kind of man he really is.

For those of you that don't know, this is our beagle Libby. She takes my spot the moment I get out of bed.

The next photo is of Katie with Libby. Here Libby is intimidating Katie into petting her. It sort of goes like this..."I'm sitting on you, holding you down...if you don't pet me, you will be licked promptly."

Ok, enough about that darn Libby beagle. We went to see Elmo and Friends today at the Scottrade Center. It was a great Sesame Street Live production. As you can see, Patrick had a great time. Gwen, Sam and I had a great time as well. We had club suite seats (read: our own private bathroom and we were away from everyone else's happy and/or crying children.) Patrick waved at the characters often and kept saying, "Hi Cookie Monster!" He was adorable.

It's a New World After All...

I couldn't let this day pass without marking it in this blog. Barack Obama was inaugurated as the President of the United States of America. Woot! I acknowledge that this was remarkable because he is the first African-American person elected to this position. What has struck me more though is that this man is honest, genuine. I think that he is going to be a different kind of President. He is different in the way he handles himself. He knows what he knows and more importantly, he knows what he doesn’t know. He seeks advice from others. I don’t know, he’s just awesome. I know he’s coming into quite a mess, but he will make progress.

Sam and I watched the whole she-bang today. It was crazy how many people were there. Estimates were 2 million. Aretha Franklin’s bow was a little…not little. Malia and Sasha were super cute…I loved the orange gloves. Michelle’s dress for the day was beautiful and classic. With the last ball arrival scheduled for 2:35am, they will be exhausted. I hope they wore comfy shoes today!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Well it's too darn cold to do anything!...even typing is risky. Who knows? My fingers could break off at any moment. I came up to my mom's house this morning because our internet is not working at the house. The lake is frozen over and is very pretty. Me, Dad and Andy walked out on the lake. I was too chicken to get more than "knee deep." There are neat crystals on the top of the ice...

My friend Katie has been out of the country in Guatemala since January 7th. She's on a mission trip with some WIU folks. Anyway, I'm ready for her to get home. And I'll admit I'm a bit jealous she's in shorts and T-shirts while we're freezing our butts off! So Katie, if you're reading this, COME HOME! Surely you're looking forward to these lovely sub-zero wind chills?!

We're keeping busy in this post-Christmas time. Sam has taken over as the treasurer for the PBPA, the local police union chapter. He and I are also both on the committee for the Policeman's Ball. Emily is the chair of the committee and it's going to be a rockin' event this year. For those of you that are interested. It will be May 16th at the Holiday Inn in Alton. I promise a fun night with lots of great silent auction items.

I am the vice-president of the YWCA Board of Directors...life is so much quieter since my term as president ended. My inbox is definitely, happily emptier and my cell phone is using way less minutes! I am also co-chairing the Women of Distinction and Men of Distinction Luncheons (May 28th and August 6th respectively) for the YWCA Board of Directors.

Sam is enjoying shooting at the Alton Pistol and Rifle Club downtown. He is in a .22 league and shoots on Wednesday nights when he isn't working. As for my free time, well potty training Patrick and nursing Eva is pretty much what I do these days. While at times I feel bogged down by motherhood, I'm trying very hard to enjoy it all. Someday I'll look back and miss it.

Well, we're keeping busy and enjoying life. This band leader must sign off for now...