Lexism of the week

We went to Pigeon Forge this weekend with Stefan's parents, his brother, and the girls. It was a fun weekend (with the exceptions of Abby at mealtimes). We went to Dollywood which was okay, but I think that place was really designed for children 10 and up. The kiddie area was like any pop up carnival and most of the other rides (with a few exceptions) were really geared toward the older kids. We did a lot of outlet mall shopping and I found some great deals for back-to-school clothes for
Lexi. Here are some pics from the trip.























On the way home, we followed the GPS which took us on the scenic route through Tellico Plains and Blue Ridge instead of going through Knoxville and Chattanooga on 75. It was a nice close to the trip until we were about 3 miles from home on 575. We were merely driving down the road when a teenager in a Ford pickup weaved his way in front of us in the left hand lane in such a way that ran the guy next to us off the road. I'm a nervous passenger anyway, but this would make anyone panic. The guy that was run off the road was able to recover without incident, but the way the crazy driver continued to weave and cut people off really upset Stefan. It turns out that the kid was getting off on our exit so Stefan followed him to the gas station, pulled in behind his truck, and proceeded to scold the kid for his erratic driving. The kid claims he is 18, but I'm not so sure about that. Stefan told the kid, "I'm 30 and I've been there. It's not cool." The kid had the typical dumb look that teenagers get when they know they've been caught doing something they shouldn't. He claimed that he didn't cut us off saying that if he made it in front of us, he couldn't possibly have cut us off, etc. Stefan realized we were getting nowhere with this kid despite pointing out that he could've killed our kids in the backseat, so he decided it was time to finally go home. As we were pulling away, Lexi said, "Um...Dad? Actually, you're 31 not 30." Nice.

The only positive I can take from that situation is, if the kid is 18 like he claims, if (God forbid) he ever does cause a bad wreck, he will be charged as an adult if anyone does die because of his idiocy.

Lexi's Camping Trip with Grandma and Grandpa

Lexi and her cousins, Corey and Mikayla, are with my parents on a camping trip in Hiawasee at a campground complete with a pool, playground, fishing pond, and even a putt putt course. While cell phone contact is quite costly with my parents, the campground offers free Wi-Fi so my dad has been able to send me some photos of what they've been up to.

Abby's Mommy Boycott

It's a phase...I know that's what most of you will be thinking. I mean, hey, I thought it too. I've also thought that I could make it through with my emotions unscathed as long as I kept telling myself that. Let me backtrack.

Since Stefan has been laid off from his job, Abby's go-go behavior has slowed down and her head-banging-kicking-and screaming-out-of-control tantrums have subsided drastically. I was enjoying the change of pace until she started boycotting me. She's always been a Daddy's girl and prefers him over me if given the choice; but whenever he wasn't around, she'd be satisfied with little ol' me. Now it appears she wants anybody BUT me.

Yesterday it took Barbara 20 minutes to leave the house after watching Abby while I was in school because every time she'd try, Abby would reach for her and Barbara can't resist that. Who could? A classmate of mine was here to work on homework together and Abby preferred her. I keep repeating to myself, "It's just a phase. It's just a phase. It's just a phase." As much as I tell myself that, I still can't help but feel alienated (especially with Lexi gone on a camping trip and no one else to turn to).

After Stefan got home from work yesterday, he decided that Abby needed a nap at 5:45 p.m. Normally, I'd say that it's too late in the evening for a nap, but he was the one dealing with her since she's on a mommy boycott. So who am I to say when he needs to tough it out until bedtime? She took a nap and while Stefan took a shower later in the evening, I gently woke her up so I could change her diaper and her clothes. She wanted to lay with us in bed and watch TV and that was fine until she snuggled in so close to Stefan and shoved me away whenever I came too close to them. This became too much. My feelings were hurt and the little tike actually brought a few tears to my eyes.

It's just a phase. It's just a phase. It's just a phase!!!

Abby's Father's Day Present to Stefan

This morning Stefan got to sleep in until 11:30 while I wrangled the kids and did my best to keep the noise to a minimum to better facilitate his snooze. When he got downstairs, he was bombarded with the excited "Happy Father's Day"s from the girls. After he had his chance to fully wake up, he decided it was time for a shower. Per usual routine Abby shadowed him up the stairs because she likes to mess around toys and such in the bathroom while he gets his clean on. She had brought her potty seat in the bathroom and put it on the potty. No big deal. She's been doing that for awhile. However, Stefan heard the distinct 'plop, plop, plop'. He turned the shower off and began to towel dry, but not fast enough because Abby flushed her accomplishment right down the toilet leaving only the telltale smear on her toosh for Daddy to clean up.

Yay Abby!!!!!!

Oh...and Happy Father's Day Stefan!

Abbyism

Abby's a riot! When she has soiled her diaper in any way she will go to the nearest person able to help and yell, "POOP!" even if it is just wet. Next follows the usual and obvious question, "Abby, do you need a diaper?" to which she will respond, "yeth!" When you get down to the dirty business and actually start undoing the diaper she grimaces and says, "Ewwww! Yucky!" Without fail, she will always want to sit on the potty after she is clean. One day...one day she will bypass the diaper and skip to the potty. One day...

In the meantime, this routine is hysterical!

You belong in the zoo

As mentioned previously, we went to the North Side Baby Alumni Club reunion at Zoo Atlanta. Since it was free, I thought it would be nice to bring along a friend for Lexi, so I invited her friend, Ian, from school. It was a great time. At first, Lexi and Ian were more into figuring out the map and what we would see next, but it didn't seem like they were so much as glancing at the animals before they were locating the next exhibit on the map. Eventually I had to take the map away from them telling them that they could look at the map anytime, but that they were only there for a couple of hours to be able to see the animals. They are such a cute little pair. For a while Abby was trying to keep up with them on foot, but eventually resigned herself to being chauffeured in the stroller. Right before we left, we located the tent that was set up with arts and crafts for the kids as well as a DJ. Lexi made a bracelet and Ian made a few masks. Abby observed. We saw just about everything except the kiddie zoo because we ran out of time, but all in all it was a great time. The kids behaved famously for the most part and you just can't beat the price...FREE!!!

A-peel-ing!

Abby grows more and more independent everyday. She sees Lexi do things and insists that she do them the same way. She now refuses cut up bananas and will only eat them from the peel. She's so proud of herself when she can do things like a big kid!





Speaking of wanting to be a big kid... We converted Abby's crib to a toddler bed this week. We made a big deal about the fact that she was in a big kid bed. While Stefan was actually doing the converting, I think Abby thought that it was becoming a bed for her toys. She kept piling toy after toy on the bed tucking them in like they were going "night night". Lexi was also very curious about the goings on in Abby's room. It was during this time that a bell went off in Lexi's head and she realized that Abby is a kid and not so much a baby anymore. For the first two years of Abby's life, Lexi didn't want to be bothered much with her little sister's presence to the point that it broke my heart. With the conversion of Abby's crib that all changed instantly. Lexi plays with her, tries to explain things to her, will read to her, and, in general, just WANT to be around her. She even asked if, on the first night of Abby being in the bed, she could have a sleepover with Abby in Abby's room. We did not allow this to happen the first night; but, on the fourth, we did and it went very well. Now the two are great pals except for the occasional squabble. Good times.

Busy, busy

Last night the girls had a sleepover at Nana and Papaw's. They had a picnic dinner and played at a playground which I gather was pretty darn fun. Meanwhile, Stefan rode his bike about 200 miles with my dad. They went to Suches, GA and back. While he was gone, I read a book (something he teases me about because I can knock out a 250 page book in one day). When he came home, we primped for an adult night of adult drinks and karaoke. We met up with some friends of ours that we don't get to hang out with much anymore and it was a ton of fun!

Being without kids, we were able to sleep in this morning. What a welcomed relief! Stefan slept until 9 and proceeded to do yard work. I insisted on seizing the opportunity and forced myself to stay asleep until 11 (which was a challenge with all the humming of lawn equipment outside). Once fully awake, we went up to the pool to help out with the neighborhood pool party. Lexi and Abby were dropped off at 12:30 and Stefan splashed with them in the pool while I continued to help with the food aspect of the party. I met a lot of new people and enjoyed the company. The pool party lasted 3 hours and I served the entire time. Once home, I realized that I neglected a very crucial point...sunblock! I am burnt! My face is red, my shoulders are red, and I have two thick white stripes across the top of my feet from my sandals.

Tonight, we are going to Zoo Atlanta for a Northside Atlanta NICU Baby Alumni Club reunion. This will be the first one we've gone to since our little miracle graduated. We're kind of hoping to see some of her doctors and nurses there. There will be face painting and all sorts of things for the kids. I'm sure they'll have fun. I'll post some pics later, but for now...I have to put myself together since I'm nasty from being in the heat.

Abbyism of the week

This morning Abby decided to fully disrobe. She spotted a suitcase with clothing from the girls' last sleepover at my parents. She then decided to take off her diaper and try to put on a pair of Lexi's panties. She was unsuccessful in getting them on correctly and they ended up around her waist like a belt. Then she tried to put on a pair of Lexi's skorts which were, of course, way too big. Once she got them pulled on, she bent over to pick up Lexi's shirt and the skorts slipped down exposing her bare rear. This process repeated many times until she finally enlisted Lexi's help to pull the shirt on. Needless to say, she was very proud of herself when she finally "accomplished" what she had set out to do, but she looked silly with the panties around her waist, the shirt on backwards, and holding her skorts up Erkel-style. I wish I could post pics but they would not have been...decent.

Lexism of the week

My mother-in-law, Barbara, has paid her dues and is officially retired from teaching. We are all very happy for her and are curious to see what she will do with her newfound freedom. Saturday night, she and Dennis had a retirement party at their house. At first we were going to try to find a sitter for the kids, but that proved more difficult than expected. Then we considered taking the kids although that option was not very appealing. At the last minute we were able to get a sitter and went to the celebration kidless. Lexi, fully aware of the party, asked me when we were getting ready to take her to the sitter what type of party Nana was having. I told her that it was a retirement party. She asked what 'retirement' means and I explained that it meant that Nana would not have to go to work again. She pondered this for a minute and then said, "I'm retiremented from Kindergarten!!" Cute.