"you smell like the zoo"

Sunday mornings and day I am on my own with the girls while Jonathan is at work. So I often try to find something fun to do, since school, gymnastics nor swimming is on our calendar, like often the rest of the week has. And most of the time, I try to get there right at opening, since most folks are at church and museums and zoos tend to be quieter then.

We packed up our things, dressed for a 65 degree day and headed out. A pass through the Starbucks drive-thru and 20 minutes later, we pulled into the Minnesota Zoo parking lot, where I discovered a sleeping Hadley.

After rousting her awake, pulling out Hayden's beloved stroller, we walked to the entrance, discussing the different animal sculptures along the way. And realizing the day was not going to be anywhere near 65 degrees, like the weather report promised (Hadley's bare legs and sandaled feet were the top of my concern).

We stood in a short line, where the woman in front of me handing me a coupon for free admission, which I happily took and made note that it was going to be an excellent zoo visit. And it was!

First stop, the monkeys. There were a bunch of little monkeys, adult monkeys, including a hugely pregnant monkey who was basking her busting belly in the sun. Having been pregnant in the past, seeing her brought back memories of those final weeks of pregnancy. Uncomfortable.

After our monkey visit, we made our way to see the bears, who were sleeping. Play momentarily in a sand pit until my girls sandaled feet were uncomfortable. Said hello to a wild boar. Then stopped by to say "how do you do" to a big kitty cat.

I was surprised how brave Hadley was sitting up against that glass. Hayden would have nothing to do with the display. And quite frankly, I don't blame her. That cat was pacing and would've liked a little girl for lunch.

We walked the distance and landed ourselves in the zoo's working farm. They had all sorts of farm babies, including piglets who were born just last week. We had an amazing sandwich followed by some seriously delish ice cream. And took some silly pictures.

We waited for the tractor to take us back to the main part of the zoo and passed the time admiring the 3,000 pound bull. He was laying down and had "boy bits" squishing out the sides of his massive body. Hadley innocently asked "Mom, is that an egg?" I told her no and didn't delve further into the topic since there were other children in ear shot. And she asked again, "Then, what is it?" Ughhh... At this point the mom next to me is chuckling. "Let's just call it an egg for now, but that's not what it is." She stopped pressing about the topic, but I overheard the mom whispering the story to her husband, who laughed and said "Well, she's not far off." I love my sharp little person.

We finished the day with some playtime in a cool playground followed by taking a peek in the aquarium. The girls both cried when we left. And I have to say it was probably the best trip to the zoo we've ever had.

I noticed, however, that my girls sort of smelled like the zoo, so major scrub down occurred after dinner to relieve the stink.

hello, little ladies

Yesterday was Easter. Easter is not a huge holiday for us, it's one we appreciate for spending time with family and friends. J was working, so the girlies and I ventured out to spend time with some friends I know from California. Their youngest daughter is the same age as Hadley, and Hayden was quite entertained with their dog. I enjoyed nice conversation with my friends and getting to know their family. While we were there, my sweet friend orchestrated an epic egg hunt and I was lucky enough to snap a few photos of the kids (I will only put the images of my children up on this blog).

Hello, little lady with her orange balloon.

Hello, little lady, blowing bubbles.

Hello, little lady, all dressed up as a "allerina"

"where do babies come from?"

A couple of weeks a go Hadley started asking how babies get in mommy's tummy. So when my "they grow like flowers do" didn't suffice, we decided to be honest, in a preschool manner. I found a little video on The Mayo Clinic's website that shows an egg being fertilized by sperm. I told her that mommies have the eggs in their tummies and daddies have fish. When mommy and daddy love each other very much, daddy gives mommy his fishy. I didn't go into details how, and she didn't ask (thank goodness), but the story was intriguing enough that we had to watch the video ten more times and even merited her own illustration of an egg and sperm.

I sure hope she doesn't decide to draw this at school...

Today, a package arrived for Hayden. It was a sweet story book about a puppy and the first illustration is that of a little of puppies being born. Literally one of the puppies coming out of the dogs rear end. This sparked a whole bunch more questions about the dog coming out of the mommy's "who-ha". And why? And how? "And why is it coming out of the dogs butt?" 

Of course, little Hayden who's language is exploding announces "DOGGY'S WHO-HA!"

hayden, you're two!

My dear Buggety Boo,

On Monday, you turned two. How is it possible that this little person who I pushed out of my body, what seemed like, just yesterday is two years old? It's still awe-filled and incredible, even after having witnessed it with your sister. And I'm glad I don't have the "been there, done that" feeling, because this is like magic all over again.

This year has been full of all kinds of stuff. We traveled to California a few times to see relatives and out to Vermont to vacation with even more. We even went to Disneyland for your first visit, which I think you loved. We've been swimming and playing in the snow. You've bitten through your lip - twice - and we have a trip to the hospital to have you nebulized when you had croup. We've eaten ice cream and slid down many a slide. We laugh and we cry. We have been living life, my sweet little person.

You have taught me so many lessons in parenthood, like to pick my battles and to slow down and listen. But the biggest lesson you've taught me is that every child is different. Even though they have the same genetic make up and were birthed similarly, you and your sister are very different. I think it was really easy to think that you would be the same, but boy you are not!!

Here are some fun things about you right now, at two years old:

* Little lady, your language has EXPLODED! There is still quite a bit I can't understand and you get so frustrated after having to repeat yourself 20 times, but you are talking. In sentences. I hear "Daddy's not here." "Mommy, I'm all done." "Put shoes on." and so much more... Plus when you say "sister" it sounds like "dee-toe", which is ridiculously cute.

* You are a climber and a pro at the park. Maybe I over worried with your sister, and we certainly didn't go to the park as much as we do now when she was two. But you can climb up the rock wall and go down the biggest of slides without me. I'm almost at the point of sitting on a park bench and relaxing, but not quite.

* You L.O.V.E. dogs and babies. If we are in 100 feet of one you start shouting "DOGGIE" or "BABY!". You must smell them. I hope to have a house someday with a yard so we can get you a dog, but I'm pretty sure there will be no more babies, so we will visit friends with wee ones :)

* You have a super strong little personality - you don't put up with shit. If you don't like it or we aren't doing something quick enough, you let us know about it. You'll never be a push over, that's for sure.

* You will only wear footed jammies. Sometimes I get you in clothes with promises of gymnastics class, swimming and trips to the park, but otherwise, jammies it is!

Oh my, little lady, there is so much I can share. I just can't believe what a little lovely you have become. I love watching you grown and blossom and love.

I love you to bits and pieces,
Mama

hello ice cream!

Considering March is considered the "snowiest" month here in Minnesota, we've certainly been enjoying 75 degree days here in snow land. We've all been exposing our legs and toes and spending almost every daylight moment outside. The tulips are even starting to push up through the ground. This California gal sure hopes this sticks.

Hello, Spring! And HELLO ice cream!

This evening, like the last several, I let the girls eat dinner outside. For some reason they eat everything on their plate, when normally, at least with Hadley, we are lucky to get half of it down. Must be the fresh air! So we gave the girls a treat of chocolate ice cream cones, which I cringed at J's suggestion of this, but it certainly turned into a fun little photo session!

I decided to consider these Hayden's two year photos, as she turns two in a week. I think they represent her fun little, pistol of a personality well.

I'm linking up with Lisa Leonard :)

you know you have a toddler when...

You send an email to a friend (who watched her for a couple of hours that afternoon) explaining why she may have found uncooked wild rice inside her clothes and diaper.

Oh, this doesn't happen to everyone?

Well, as an explanation, before we went over to her house I took Hayden to a play event at Hadley's preschool, where she spent a good deal of time playing at a sensory table pouring rice from cup to cup, on the floor and all over herself.

we are officially a cribless house

That's right... My littlest girl is no longer sleeping in a crib but in her very own big girl bed!

Back in September when she was 18 months old, I shipped our beautiful Stokke Crib to my brand-spankin'-new, sweet nephew. I honestly thought she would be climbing out soon, much like her sister did at 18 months. But instead I learned that she actually LIKED her crib, unlike her sister. So, I set-up our pack and play, bought a matress and made it cozy. She's been quite content and will at times look to get in it without our telling her it's time to lay down in it.

Recently, J and I read an article about the differences between French parenting vs. American parenting. Great article, I recommend reading it... Anyway, part of what they talked about is the French are clear about their children's place. Sure, they teach, encourage and love their children, but they also draw lines. It's important that children know how to entertain themselves and that adults have "adult time".

Since Hadley was two nap-time has been "quiet time" because she NEVER napped, and bedtime was sort of self directed. She goes into her room at 7 p.m. We read some books, snuggle, talk and then she does her own thing quietly and puts herself in bed. We sneak in around 8 p.m. and shut off her lights and make sure she is tucked in. This system has always worked and we get our adult time and she has her alone time to do her thing.

But Hayden, who loves her crib, hasn't been able to enjoy this option. After several nights of her crying for 30 minutes before she falls asleep, waking several times in the night, and up for the morning around 5 a.m., we decided a change needed to happen. I don't know if it's that she is ready for some freedom in her bedroom or the pack and play is no longer comfortable, but something needed to happen.

Last Thursday I ran out to Ikea and picked up the same bed her sister has. No toddler beds here. We went straight for the twin sizes. I brought it home, J put her pack and play away and assembled her new bed. We read books on her bed, let the girls play for hours on her bed. The night came and I laid down with her while she nodded off... After that, not a peep until 6:45 a.m.

The following day I was watching a friend's children (we do a weekly babysitting swap) and Hayden was getting grumpy. I was apprehensive as to how putting her down for a nap, in a new non-confined bed with other kids here would go. And after a few minutes of fuss, down she went. Same with that evening.

So, we are officially a cribless house. Next will be diapers, which will likely blow my mind. All are bittersweet as my babies grow up into little girls.

stuff she says

• "Daddy Mana" - Hayden, translates to "Daddy Monster", which we refer to daddy who growls when he wakes up

• "Hair Ups" - Hadley, translates to pony tail holders

• "Allerina" - Hayden, translates to "tutu" or "ballerina"

• "Splendid" - Hadley, translates to the flavored fizzy water we sampled at Costco that I was told was sweetened with Splenda

• "Uce" - Hayden, translate to "juice"

• "Kiki" - Hayden and Hadley, translates to "blanket"

• "Mil, mil, mil" - Hayden, translates to "give me milk right this very second"

• "Getting Married" - Hadley, translates to "getting your prince"

• "Ammies" - Hayden, translates to "pajamas"

one of my finer moments in motherhood...

Last night we took our kids to a local waterpark. We purchased an overnight deal that included a great, family friendly hotel room and two days access to the park. The girls had a blast, as did we.

In typical form - especially when traveling, Hayden was up at 6 a.m. Since Hadley and Jonathan were still fast asleep, I slipped on my shoes and we headed downstairs to locate some coffee. I purchased her a plastic bowl of cereal to eat dry.

After hanging around in the lobby a bit, I decided that a trip to the bathroom was needed for obvious reasons, but also to facilitate a diaper change. I put the cereal in the top of my purse and went into the bathroom, where there were not any hooks to hang a bag. So I plopped it on the floor, went about my business. Hayden pulled out the bowl, sat down on the floor and proceeded to eat her cereal.

On. The. Stall. Floor.

The only upside I could see was that the bathroom had clearly just been cleaned. Needless to say, I bundled her up quick, changed her diaper and scrubbed her hands. The clothes she was wearing is in the washing machine.

One of my finer moments...

cool stuff about my 22 month old

* Hayden loves the BeeGee's "You Should Be Dancing". We discovered a fun scene on Despicable Me and I made the mistake of downloading the song on my iPod. If I'm not careful, it is all we will listen to in the car. But it's pretty darned cute to hear her little voice saying "Dancing, Yah!"

* She has taken to wearing tutus. And dress up dresses. Just like her big sister.

* She copies everything her sister says. My favorite is when they get into this spiral of my Hadley saying "I'm Hadley" then Hayden repeats it. The Hadley get's upset and says "NO! I'm Hadley." and, of course, Hayden repeats it. This goes on for several minutes and always leaves me laughing.

* Hayden loves her footed jammies! LOVES them! With a tutu, of course. I will miss the days that she wears them. I'm going to need to replace these soon. Her feet have grown too big for them.

* Her vocabulary may seem limited, but I think she uses a lot more words than we understand. There are a lot of runs of noise that sound alike, I think she gets it, we just don't.

* She loves to iChat with her family on the East and West(ish) Coasts. She's a total ham.

* When she is scolded, she immediately lifts up her shirt and smiles. We've taught her flashing young. But she knows we yell "BELLY" when she does this. She thinks it's a way to make the bad better. She's got us figured out.

* When we talk to my mom in the car through the handsfree system, she says "Hi Grandma" and "I love you". It's very sweet.

* Hayden is obsessed with dogs. We can't be within 100 feet of one with out her going crazy. I suppose we will be needing to get her one someday.

* When she gets frustrated she does things like pull hair, bite and hit, which I am not a fan of. Lately, she's added making farting noises with her tongue. I can't help but laugh.

* When she doesn't get the hint across with her words, she comes over and says "HAND", takes your finger and leads you to whatever it is she wants. I love it. Especially the feel of her little hand.

* She's a great eater. Will eat most things you put in front of her. But will only lick peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

and more in the news of poop...

I ducked out yesterday afternoon to catch a movie by myself. The second I walked in the door, not having even taken my coat off, Jonathan shouts down the stairs: "CAMBRIA! Our children are evil!"

After laughing and asking why, I learned that Hayden put her hand down her poopy diaper, pulled out a handful and deposited on our nightstand. He didn't realize this for sometime after changing her diaper and figured it out after he went searching for the source of the smell.

This kind of scenario usually only happens on his watch.

happy christmas

Santa came twice last night. OK, more like three times. We filled multiple bags with wrapping paper and boxes. We are certainly blessed.

As an added bonus for the holiday, it was 40 degrees today. An in Minnesota, in the dead of winter, 40 degrees may as well be Hawaii. Fortunately, they were well enough to go outside and play with a new tee ball set and scooter.

In a tutu, of course!

J had to work this afternoon, so I braved up and took the girls to see Arthur Christmas. I know Christmas is a big day for the movies, but I have never seen the mall parking lot so full! This was Hayden's first trip to the movies, so I decided that I'd pull out all the stops, mostly to keep her in good form during the movie. Popcorn. Swedish Fish. Junior Mints (which Hadley dumped the, nearly, entire box on the floor). They did super well!

We had about 25 minutes left in the movie when Hadley announced that she needed to go potty, so we snuck out. There was an older woman who glared at me when we came in and gave me an evil eye on our way to the bathroom, so I decided that we just wouldn't go back after the potty break. I just didn't know how much more "good time" I would get out of Hayden. No need to upset this woman further, even though I think it's silly to be grumpy at kids when you make the decision to see an animated film, in the afternoon on Christmas day. Just sayin'...

We are now home and the girls (well, Hadley) has requested PB&J for dinner. Soon, I will crank out that gourmet Christmas feast. J is bringing home some dinner for he and I... Likely something from Buca di Beppo, but it could very well be Chinese (which is what we had last year).

Our household is far from traditional for Christmas. If we lived closer to family it would be different. But, I enjoy the traditions our little family has been making.

Happy Holidays!!

I'm dreaming of a brown christmas...

** UPDATE SINCE THIS POST WENT LIVE: It snowed.**

This is our second Christmas in Minnesota. Last year we were buried in snow, which, quite frankly, is what I was expecting. Though, was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was an especially snowy winter. By this time last year we had walls of snow! But this year?

What has landed on the ground has melted. And we've enjoyed several days above 40 degrees. So when this last heat wave came through, what did we do? We went to the park...

Here we are just six days away from Christmas and while we no longer are enjoying 40 degrees, it seems we might, just might, have a brown Christmas. And I'm not gonna lie... I'm hoping for it.

I wish I had a camera: this morning

Hayden woke up at 3:30 a.m. and refused to go back to sleep. Except for on me. I tried putting her in her crib four times to only have her wake with a shriek. I tried laying in our bed with her and she woke up shouting "DADDY. DADDY. DADDY." I finally settled in downstairs with her realizing that I might be up for the day.

At about 5:15 a.m., she crawled up on top of me, laid down on my chest and fell asleep. After a few minutes, I decided that I could deal with this scenario and catch a few z's myself. I rolled her onto the inside of the couch next to me and fell asleep myself.

Around 7:15 a.m. I heard Hadley playing in her room. She is not a quiet player and I knew she would soon be shouting to be brought downstairs. So I left this peaceful sleeping child on the couch and ran upstairs to rescue the princess from the tower.

We came downstairs and instead of her waking her like I anticipated, Hadley just told me to be quiet because her sister was sleeping. And then we commented about how sweet she looked. I went into the kitchen to make some coffee and when I came out, I found Hadley curled up next to sleeping Hayden. Every fiber of my being melted. Here were my two little girls in such raw, innocent states of sleep, snuggling.

And I realized something... This is what it's about. This. Loving them. Loving each other.

The past couple of weeks have been rough with the kids. Colds. Teeth. Not being able to go outside like we were. I'm not going to lie, I've been frustrated with them. Then a moment like this pops up and all of that washes away. I tell myself, "This, Cambria, this is what it's about."

Oh my, how I love these two perfect beings.

our first snow of the 2011/12 season

This past weekend I had some friends and family in town. My friend, who I've known since elementary school, drove from Chicago to the Twin Cities with her five year-old and three year-old. Needless to say, her kids and my kids were fast friends.

On Saturday morning, we lazed around and waited for the snow. About 11 a.m., the snow started. We bundled up the kids and headed out to our mini-backyard and enjoyed the first blanket of snow.

Last year, Hayden was still a little peanut. In all honesty, we never really went out in the snow. But this year, she was raring to go! We put her snow bibs on and jacket, and made a trip to Target for some snow boots and gloves. She loved the snow!

we celebrated...

Today, Hadley pooped in the potty. Not a little piddle, a for real, man sized poop. This is a major milestone for her... Poop and the real toilet have been scary to her. So, we went out for ice cream and celebrated.

Last night, we ran out of pull-ups and I decided I was not going to buy anymore daytime pull-ups. "Oops, honey, we ran out. I guess you need to wear your panties". This morning, she took her overnight off and put panties on before coming down the stairs. I am going to work to keep myself, and more importantly, J staying strong on the no pull-up unless sleeping thing. Unfortunately, she has to wear one to school until she is confident with the undies. But we will get there.

I also picked up a Potette, which is a nifty portable potty that has these plastic bags that attached to the bottom of the pot to collect the pee and poop. It folds up and fits into my tote bag easily. Very handy and we used it for the first time today while we were enjoying our ice cream. Unfortunately, it was after she had an accident, but we gave it a try, changed her clothes and put new panties on. It was a bit of a project, but I feel it was all in all a success.

Hopefully by the end of the week she will be near potty trained.

In other news, Hayden pooped in her diaper this morning, said "uh-oh" and went and got a new diaper. After we cleaned her up, she asked to wash her hands. Something tells me we should start sitting her on the Potette too.

halloween 2011

J and I packed up the girls and headed to the nearby mall, who was hosting a huge shindig, complete with live kiddo music. There were so many people and so many kids near our girls age. While I am not a fan of mall trick-or-treating, I'm glad we did it. They had fun. We fed them some Zoila Pasta mac-and-cheese for dinner and then headed home.

On the way home, Hayden fell asleep in the car, so J dropped Hadley and I off at the top of our street and we trick-or-treated home. We just visited the homes of people we know, but it was a fun outing just her and I. She was so good. Said "trick-or-treat" loud and clear, modeled her Cinderella dress and said "thank you". I was a proud mama.

On our way back to the house I saw some kids leave our courtyard. As we got closer to them I realized that they had taken all of our candy. Bowl and all. Thankfully it was a cheapo bowl. I confronted them and they took off running. When it occurred to Hadley what had happened, she burst out is tears. Big tears. I just told her it was a naughty thing that they did, but there was no reason to be sad. After visiting another house and her telling our neighbor "The boys took our candy" she settled down.

I finally convinced her that it was too cold to keep going (we weren't dressed for the out doors) and we went in. J showed her how to sort her candy (something he used to do as a kid) and she picked Peanut M&M's to much on. Then off to bed she went, and J and I enjoyed some of their candy in bed while watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (the diet starts today!).

It was a good night!

a little diddy on the eve of her 19 month birthday

minnetonka orchards

Last week Hadley learned about apples in school. Her curriculum was full of doing apple art, singing apple songs, reading apple books and eating apples. So it was only natural that she asked to go apple picking. And we are, after all, in Minnesota. Land of apples.

So we went to a nearby apple farm on Saturday to apple pick. Only, it was so busy we didn't get to apple pick. Instead, we walked through the orchard. Played on the jungle gym. Slid down slides. Said "hello" to the goats. Road the choo choo train. Ran through the pumpkin patch. Sipped on apple cider. It was a fun day, though we will be going back to actually pick some apples soon.

Here are some pictures from our day.

vermont: stowe lodge farmer's market + alpine slides

Near the end of our trip to beautiful Stowe Vermont we had the opportunity to go to the Stowe Lodge, which is a gorgeous hotel/ski resort/spa and enjoy their outdoor market. There were a few farmer's, lots of artists and fun things to do.

The big girls (aunties and second cousins) were having their hair wrapped and Hadley wanted to have it done, too. So, Grandma treated Hadley to some sparklies woven into her hair. They were basically over priced tinsel pieces that they knotted into her hair. Unfortunately, they were gone by that evening. But she enjoyed being a big girl and let me snap a few cute pictures.

During the non-snow seasons, the alpine slide is open. And Hadley was amped to take a ride. We rode the long chair lift to the top of the mountain and slid on these little skateboard like things down. I disappointed the boy behind us because I went a little slower. But I had my kid with me!!

Hayden waited at the bottom with her aunties, snacked on goldfish and enjoyed her own water bottle.

Hadley went back up the slide with Grandma... And the trip turned into a bit of a disaster. Not only did they get stopped at the top because a bear ventured out on the track, but they were involved in an accident. A little girl on the track next to them fell off her board and was asking for help. Hadley and Grandma slowed to help and the kid coming down behind them slammed into them. The little girl on the other track was pretty scraped up. Grandma got a good goose egg on the back of the head. And the kid who hit them was a little bumped up. But nothing too serious... I think the not knowing if my child was the one injured or not was scary. I've never breathed such a sigh of relief when I saw them come down to the bottom of the hill.

All in all, it was a good day, albeit a little freaky at the end.