She finally did it...

Yesterday my girlfriend Natalie and her son Dayton were over for a play date for the kids while us moms worked. Natalie is the new owner of the Stroller Strides franchise in San Clemente so I am helping her with all the programs etc. So, it was getting close to nap time and I suggested we just put the kids in Meadow's room to sleep, Meadow in her crib and Dayton in his pack and play. What harm could that do? Natalie looked at me like I was nuts but went along with it anyway. I figured they might chat for a little bit but would soon tire out and fall right asleep.

Well, they were making noise for a few minutes and then it was quiet. Perfect! See Natalie, I told you it would be fine. We decided to walk back and check on them, since silence can also mean trouble in toddler land. We slowly opened the door and peeked in meadows crib, no Meadow! Then we quickly panned over and there was Meadow in her new playhouse entertaining Dayton as he stood in his bed. Meadow has never gotten out of her crib, which was actually surprising to Mike and I since she is a climber! I put her right back in to see if she just got lucky, and out she climbed in less than a second like she's been doing it for years!

We moved Dayton into the other room, and I had to put Meadow back in her crib 3 times supernanny style before she stayed put and went to sleep. I guess this is what life will be like when we move her into her toddler bed next month!

The good news, it seems that supernanny is on to something. When Meadow woke up from her nap she stayed in her crib and called for me to get her out. Then this morning I left her in there for about 20 minutes, she woke up at 5:55am, and she didn't try to get out. Granted this is only one day, but I'd like to pat my parenting skills on the back for keeping her in the crib. I'll let you know where I stand on this tomorrow!!!

Christmas Photos

Listening to my Walkman

Again Uncle Justin!

Meadow, Morgan and the horsies

Kraber Christmas Morning

Uncle Bobby and Elmo Live

Santa No No No

Our neighborhood Realtors do a great event every year at their office where the kids can go and see Santa and we get a free 5x7 photo on Santa's lap. Since free events are what we live for these days, we were up and at 'em early and out the door by 8:30. Meadow looked adorable, of course, and was so excited to see Santa. The office is decorated like crazy so she had a blast just checking everything out. There were lots of kids in line and she was having fun singing and jumping with them in excitement to see the big guy.

Mike and I had a feeling that she would have a minor melt down getting placed on his lap, and we were right! I tried to slyly just back her up to Santa and as I sat her down, trying to smooth her dress she lost it! Tears immediately and the poor guy in the Santa suit looked horrified. We tried to yell from behind the camera, like that would do anything! I am hoping the shot they got captured her at the peak of her performance. Anyone can have a cute posed photo with Santa, but not all of us can have the picture to tease your kids about for years, and years to come! They tried to get me to stand in the picture to help her calm down...but what fun would that be?

As we left his lap Meadow slowly began to clam down, but kept the sad act up long enough to get Santa's little helpers to give her extra toys and candy canes. I'm on to her...and very impressed with her tactics!

We left the office and went to the Christmas tree lot to pick out the perfect tree. We of course had to ask where the Douglas firs were since we were in the middle of all the $100 trees! Our tree is beautiful, and Mike is adding decorations as I type. I hope he knows the right ball to bow ratio, and which ornaments get gently placed in the back of the tree. Meadow is helping also, stroking Mike's ego by telling him how pretty the lights look, and she's almost done unraveling the entire ball of ribbon. I better go clean up this mess!

More to come, hopefully soon. we were in Cleveland for Thanksgiving and I will spare you all the details of the awesome stomach flu that wiped the entire house out like the plague.

Did I really just smell that for poo?

The day finally arrived. The day I have been dreading for the past few weeks. I woke up this morning with a silly idea in the back of my head of maybe sleeping in for a bit, but then I heard Meadow calling for me. 'Mommy'. So sweet I didn't mind not sleeping anymore. Then again, 'Mommy, diaper.' So smart, she is ready for a new diaper and is kindly letting me know. She doesn't like being wet, this is going to make potty training a breeze. And then I walked into her room. She wasn't saying 'diaper' as in Mommy please come change my diaper, she was saying 'diaper' as in Mommy look at me, I took my diaper off on my own!

Now this has happened before, Meadow is fascinated with taking her diaper off. Something about the fun Velcro strips just call to her. We have avoided any harmful situations but know it was only a matter of time.

So there she was, standing in her crib just as cute as can be, with her discarded, and dirty diaper cast to the side. She was so proud and a little shocked I did not share her enthusiasm. The only good news was that she did not go monkey on me and throw it all over, in fact I don't think she even touched it. But, as with anything with a toddler it didn't all stay contained either. I immediately grabbed her and put her in the tub to wash off the evidence. Another move she thought was really fun! Great, now I have made this something enjoyable for her.

After getting her in a new diaper, and a onesie, which I will be purchasing in bulk today, I headed into the crime scene. Pulling off her sheet, mattress cover, blanket, and oh great Minnie and Mickey...are they even washable??? The only thing that is left is her musical frog in the opposite corner. Batteries and a motor, definitely not washable, so I did what any other mother would do: I smelled it for poo, and found it to be safe. Wow.



You might be thinking, hey look on the bright side, at least Meadow recognizes she has a dirty diaper and doesn't like it, potty training will be easier and closer than you think. Unfortunately I think the diaper removal has no significance other than the kid just likes to be naked.

Fires in the OC

For those of you out of California you might be wondering how close we are to all the fires. To answer you right off the bat...not that close. The warm Santa Ana winds are never good for these crazy fires and it was close to 90 degrees today. Did someone forget to tell So Cal that it's November!!??

Now that new fires have spread in Yorba Linda and Anaheim Hills, we were hit with a very sudden wall of smoke this afternoon. It was crazy to see since the sky has been crystal clear from the winds. The picture doesn't quite do it justice but you get the idea.

Welcome to our blog!

So apparently my parents are getting a little sick and tired of me calling them 7 times a day to share the latest Meadow wonders, so they suggested I start a personal blog. I have a blog for my Stroller Strides business which I manage to update every 3 weeks, on average. Let's hope I do better with this one! If you're lucky I might be able to get Mike to participate! Don't hold your breath though!

I will be posting video and pictures of the family...meaning Meadow. She is just so much fun everyday and I feel like if I don't share it right away I will forever forget these moments. At least now when I sit down to fill in Meadow's baby book in a few years I will have something to reference! And maybe just maybe I will post some pictures of my growing belly. All when need is it to grow! Don't get me wrong, I am getting bigger, but I just seem to be carrying everywhere but my belly!!! I am the first woman ever to look pregnant from behind before I look pregnant from the front!

Any bets on how long before my next post?