Monday, April 21, 2008

Our Trip to NC









Last weekend, the girls and I took a trip to NC to see good friends/former neighbors The Todds. Thinking Stefan would be working massive overtime (which he hasn't really) I planned this trip as a break for me and the girls. I'd be able to "get away" for a bit and Lexi would be distracted from Daddy's absence by seeing her friend, Mary, whom she has not seen in over a year but misses terribly. Stefan did not work, but it did afford him the opportunity to ride his bike a few times.

Our trip began on Thursday morning. The girls and I left the house around 10:30 a.m. to pick up Jennifer, who would be riding with us. Daddy returned from servicing lawns to bid us farewell and Abby even said "bye-bye" happily to him as we left (surprising because she is such a Daddy's girl). We picked up Jennifer and headed out of town. Thankfully, Stefan had bought a GPS for the business the day before and I was able to test it on the trip. Pretty cool! It definitely proved it's value, but you'll read more about that later. Anyway, we made it through ATL and down I-20 a bit before Abby had her first twinges of a meltdown approximately 120 miles into the trip. We used the GPS (who I named Garmindy because it has a female voice) to locate the nearest McDonalds and were directed right to it. We grabbed some lunch, let the kids play on the playland for about 45 minutes then we were off again. Abby, of course did not want to get back in the car, but we needed to put more distance behind us.

Finally, after much effort, we got the girls buckled safely back in their seats. We made it about another 150 miles before Lexi asked for a drink. Once Abby heard this, she too wanted a drink. We used the GPS to locate another McDonald's, but there wasn't one for about 20 miles. So we chose to search for a public park for the girls to run around and found one in Camden, SC (ironically, there was a McDonald's as part of a gas station just off of the exit, but there was no playland. GPSes can't always be counted on!). This is the "Oldest Inland City in SC" as was stated by multiple signs throughout the community. There were reenactment sites and a lot of history in this quaint town. We finally found the park. It is a square shaped park with beautiful shade trees, a gazebo with a fountain, canon replicas, the perfect little play gym for the girls, and it was all surrounded by colonial-style homes with to-die-for foliage. It's so charming. The girls had a quick snack and played for about 45 minutes, then we were off again.











When we left there, we were on our final long stretch of the trip. Abby did start fussing after awhile, but we pushed her the final 50 miles before we stopped. We met Jennifer's friend at a McDonald's in Dunn, NC that had the most awesome playland I've ever seen. Diane was meeting me there because she didn't want me getting lost in the dark with two girls (she's so sweet) but she was understandably running a little behind because she was wrangling her two kids on her own. I grabbed some dinner for the girls while we waited and Jennifer and her friend were nice enough to stay and keep me company while I waited for Diane. Diane finally showed, and Lexi and Mary were reunited. I thought they would be more dramatic with big "I missed yous" and such, but the gave each other a quick hug like they saw each other yesterday and proceeded to play for about an hour. We left the McDonalds at about 9:30 or 10 and drove the 35 miles to Diane's. I was so glad we were there. I was pooped.

She has a beautiful house yet she felt the need to apologize for the "mess" and the accommodations and anything else she could think of. I don't know why. Compared to my house, her house was in "show condition" as if she were selling it. The accommodations were absolutely perfect--nothing to complain about. We had a great time. We went out to eat a lot to get the kids out of the house. We went to places that we don't have in Georgia like Rock-ola Cafe and The Mash House. During the days (and nights) Lexi and Mary played. They only had a couple of arguments, but that's to be expected when kids their age are overexposed to each other for an extended period of time. Nothing tragic. Lexi loved all of Mary's dress-up clothes and they played that a lot.







I have purposely left out Wilson, the baby, up to this point because he has a special little story of his own. First of all, he is one of the cutest little babies I have ever seen...and he's a flirt. But he is a Mama's boy which is completely understandable because Daddy is currently deployed for 15 months. Anyway, this little kid had some sort of beef with me. Whenever I would shake my head, tell him 'no' or 'yucky', or anything that could be perceived as slightly negative he would scowl at me, stick his lower lip out, and then start a faint whine that would progress into a full on cry and want his mommy to cuddle him. Diane said she thought he had a crush on me because he didn't do that with anyone else...EVER! One day we were sitting on the front porch watching the girls pick flowers and Diane asked what I wanted for dinner and I said, "I don't know". Wilson perceived this as 'no' and repeated his routine. "K-N-O-W! K-N-O-W!" I argued but the routine continued through the whole process to the Mommy cuddle. He totally broke my heart, but it was cute and you had to laugh.





We left to return home the morning of Stefan's birthday. I met up with Jennifer at the same McDonald's. We let the girls have breakfast and play for a bit and then we took off. Abby did considerably better on the return trip. She watched a movie, took a nap, and allowed us to put 250 miles behind us before we had to stop which was perfectly fine because I need to fill the gas tank anyway. That was the only stop we made. She was an absolute angel. We returned home just in time to go with Stefan, his parents, and his brother to Provinos for dinner. I was exhausted but the kids were wound up, but I'm glad we were able to celebrate his birthday with him.

Well, that's our girls-only trip to North Carolina in a nutshell. Hopefully we'll be able to do it again sometime. I'd hate to think that was the last time I'd see Diane or the last time Lexi sees Mary.

Lexism of the week

After dance, I usually run through the drive thru at the McDonald's by our house. I had placed our normal order and proceeded in line and began to dig in my purse for a means with which to pay when I realized that no such means existed. I had no cash, no check card, not even a credit card. We had to drive away. "They're still working on our order!" Lexi proclaimed. I then had to introduce her to basic Economics 101 explaining that you have to pay for stuff that you expect to receive from a business and that food is not free unless you have a coupon which we didn't. "I wish McDonald's was giving away food today," Lexi pouted.

About a week later we were all at Zaxby's and Lexi said out of nowhere, "We need to come back here tomorrow!"

I was confused. Stefan was confused. "Why?" we asked.
"Because that sign says 'Free Lunch Tomorrow'!"

Again another Economics 101 lesson was taught. We explained that the sign was there everyday--that it was a joke. Realizing she had been fooled, Lexi laughed. Now, whenever she sees a similar sign she points it out and the fact that it's a "trick sign".

More Dance

A couple of weeks ago, Lexi's dance class had another parent observation day. I love these days as it gives me a chance to see Lexi's progress. Lexi loves these days because SHE gets to show ME her progress. Normally, I'd invite along Nana or Grandma to come and help wrangle Abby so I can have my hands free to take plenty of pictures, but I forgot about this coming up and called upon a friend that owed me an hour of babysitting. That was a nice break--not having to worry about Abby during this time--and Lexi was able to have my full, undivided attention. I had to laugh when they showed us the work they've done on their tap dance so far. They start the dance with their noses in Dr. Seuss books and after only a few counts of music, they snap the books shut and proceed with the dance. All the girls executed this fine, but Lexi was too busy reading the book. Go figure.



Tuesday, April 15, 2008

SUCCESS!!!

Today I was getting ready to walk out the door with the girls for Lexi's dance class when Abby came trotting into the kitchen with her pants around her ankles and her diaper halfway torn off. I tried to remedy the situation by fixing the diaper but she ran toward the bathroom. Seizing the opportunity, I asked if she wanted to sit on the potty. "Potty, potty!" she replied emphatically with a huge smile. I took off the diaper which was only somewhat damp and sat her on the potty. Unlike previous attempts when she'd hop right off she actually sat there. So, Lexi and I sat in the bathroom with Abby at the center of attention. The clock was ticking and we were going to be late...but I didn't care. After about a minute, I asked Abby if she wanted to get off and she shook her head no. So we sat...and waited...and waited some more. I turned the faucet on to a mere trickle to assist the attempt. Finally, she tinkled! Just a little bit but she did it. Lexi and I cheered for her and she basked in the glory.

I didn't want to get my hopes up. This was probably just a fluke after all. That's what I thought until we returned home and she repeated pulling down her pants and heading to the bathroom. This time there was no tinkling action, but she was dry and she sat there for a good while before giving up.

I will continue to allow her to call the shots on this process. I will not force her to sit on the potty unless she decides to because she isn't even 2 yet and I decided that I would start pushing the issue in about 4-6 months. If she can do this on her own before then, that will just be a bonus for me!

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Spring Break!!!!

Lexi is officially on Spring Break. She has quite the eventful break from her studies. She'll have a sleepover with her Nana and Papaw Monday night. On Tuesday, she and her nana will go to a puppet show. She'll then have a couple of days at home which I'm sure will feel like eternity to her as she will be looking forward to what is coming next.

Since this is in the midst of Stefan's supposed busy season (I say supposed because he has only worked a week and a half of overtime) he's not allowed to take any time off. I seized the opportunity to plan a Girls Only! trip to visit our ex-neighbors and good friends, the Todds, in North Carolina. Normally I wouldn't brave a roadtrip alone with the girls but it just so happens that my local friend, Jen, takes frequent trips to North Carolina to visit a friend of hers. I called Jen to see if she'd be up for a trip over Spring Break and it just so happened that her North Carolinian friend had just called the night before asking if she'd go there for a weekend in March or April. This works out perfectly. I have adult company in the car who can also hand stuff back to the girls while I drive. She'll ride with us up there and we'll meet her friend at some halfway point between the places where we are staying (which are only 45 minutes apart).

Now a little about the Todds....
They used to live directly behind us. Diane is one of the sweetest, most sincere people you will ever meet. Her husband, Will, is in the Army and currently serving a tour of duty. They have a daughter, Mary, who is a bit younger than Lexi but they get along famously. They also have a son, Wilson, who just turned one a couple of months ago and I haven't seen him since he was a newborn. We're excited. I miss Diane. Lexi misses Mary. And I'm curious to see how Abby and Wilson will get along.

Ok, ok. I admit it. I'm excited too.

What's Stefan going to do while we're gone? He's already told me not to check the mileage on his bike. Hopefully, he will be able to get some riding time in considering the weather is supposed to be rainy on Saturday.

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Abby's Ever-increasing Vocabulary

Every day Abby comes out with at least one new word. Her latest additions are

Sassy (for Cassi)
trash (which she says very clearly)
teeth (she says as she points to her teeth...she's a toothbrushing fiend)
out
shew (a very southern, drawn-out way of saying shoe)
NO (I hate this one. Especially when she screams it over and over as she is climbing
out of her crib)
Bayuh (bear)
Sissy (in reference to Lexi)


There are many more, I just can't recall them right now.

Yesterday, she said her first 3-word sentence. She said, "I see Woo" (Woo is Lou-Stefan's dog).

Lexism of the week: She's your child!

Stefan went and had lunch at Lexi's school yesterday. They both look forward to these events. After lunch was over, Stefan asked the parapro (teacher's assistant) what the plan was for the remaining two hours of the school day. She told Stefan that the class would be attending the book fair (which Lexi was not purchasing anything this time around) and not much else as it was the last day before Spring Break. Stefan asked Lexi if she wanted to go home with him. Her answer? NO!

Stefan came home scratching and shaking his head in disbelief saying that only MY child would choose to stay at school instead of cutting out two hours early. That may be true.

Okay...enough is enough!

At this point in Lexi's soccer season we should have 5 games behind us but apparently that was not in Mother Nature's plan. The first two games got rained out and rescheduled. We have since had two regularly scheduled games and one make up game. I thought we were making progress until today's game got canceled and it too will have to be rescheduled. It's like the old saying, "one step forward and two steps back" (or were those Paula Abdul lyrics). At this rate, we'll be playing through the end of the school year when we were supposed to finish up the first week of May. Quite frustrating!