Day in the Life of TTM–Weekend Edition

Posted in Family, Photography by teamtradermom

A couple weeks ago I did the exercise of taking 1 photo every hour during a typical work day, based on the idea from Simply Rebekah. You can view the results here. Well today I decided to do it again, only as a way to document a weekend day! Turns out my weekends are way more fun than my work days. Who knew? Smile

7:30 a.m. – Rise and Shine

7:30 seems so early for a weekend but it actually is pretty typical for me. Isabella wakes up anywhere from 7 – 8 a.m. so I consider myself lucky to make it to 7:30! CJ is a night owl and I’m a morning person so he will stay up later at night when I go to bed early and then I will get up early and let him sleep in. Some mornings it feels unfair when I have to get up early but in the end, it means some extra one-on-one time for me and Munchkin, which is worth it!

8:30 a.m. – Breakfast!

Even though Munchkin wakes up at 7:30, we don’t pull her out of bed right away. Usually, we’ll give her a couple books to read and a few stuffed animals to play with. She is very content to hang out in her room for a little while, giving us time to make coffee/tea, let Samson out, and get breakfast ready. Today, we had waffles, cereal, bananas and milk! Or as Isabella would say, “Waffles, ceweal, nanas and mook!”

[Yes, I know that she’s wearing a Halloween bib at the end of January. You pretty much stop trying to coordinate bibs with holidays/outfits after about the first week.]

9:30 a.m. – Playtime!

The best parts of my weekend are when I get to play with Isabella. She has so much energy and is a lot of fun. Here, we’re playing peek-a-boo with her play house.

10:30 a.m. – Baking

Munchkin went down for her nap at about 10 a.m. so I decided to use that time to bake some treats. I’m trying to use up some stuff from the cupboards so I made chocolate peanut butter rice Krispy treats. They turned out AWESOME! Just ask Samson! Or me…I only at 3 of them at lunch….

11:30 a.m. – Cleaning and decorating

Once the treats were done, I started in on some cleaning. I still had my January snowmen out so it was time to put them away and break out the February décor. Now that Munchkin is old enough to understand some things, it’s even more fun to change the decorations around the house. Since she was napping still, I hid a few bears and other valentine stuffed animals around. When she woke up I let her find them on her own and her face lit up every time she discovered a new one!

12:30 p.m. – Lunch!

We had macaroni and cheese (or “ronis” as Isabella says), a quince, green beans and milk for lunch. And of course, rice Krispy treats!!

[We’ve now quickly advanced in holiday bib world from Halloween to St. Patrick’s day. We like to mix it up around here. That’s how the Trader’s roll.]

1:30 p.m. – Chillin’ with my home girl

We decided to take a break and watch some Sesame Street. Isabella has a bit of a cold so I thought she could use some quiet time. Plus it gave me the chance to snuggle with her, which I always love!

2:30 p.m. – Dinner Prep

Today I’m going to make roast and veggies for dinner. I’ll tell you right now that this is NOT typical of me. I hate cooking and will usually opt for the easiest thing I can whip together. But today I was feeling ambitious so there you go. CJ was at the grocery store so it took me about an hour to peel the potatoes and carrots because I had to stop many times to play with Munchkin, change a diaper, let Samson out or whatever. But it eventually got done and popped in the oven around 3.

3:30 p.m. – Photo editing

I took advantage of Munchkin’s afternoon naptime to edit some of these photos. Her afternoon naps are usually shorter so I was frantically trying to get done as much as possible. Fortunately, CJ came home around this time and played with her when she woke up, so I had a little extra time.

4:30 p.m. – More Play Time

But too much time away from her during the weekend is hard so I couldn’t justify “work” when she wanted to play! Here we were playing peek-a-boo with a Christmas blanket that is out year round because it was CJ’s mom’s favorite. I had it draped over my head and she’d come running up and sneak underneath saying “Peek!”. She gets such a kick out hiding and then being “found”! Cracks me up!

5:30 p.m. – Dinner!

Almost time to eat the roast and veggies! Mmmm….Here I was in the process of finishing up the gravy. Turned out pretty good. Not as awesome as my mom’s but considering it’s only the 2nd time I’ve made a roast, I think I did all right.

6:30 p.m. – Bath time!

Isabella used to hate baths. I mean she would scream bloody murder through the whole thing. It got to the point where we just dreaded bathing her. But eventually she got used to it and now she has fun in there. Here she was putting her toys up on the edge of the tub and then knocking them down. Caught this shot a split second before the fish came flying at me. Bath time ended though when she called her, um, “girl parts” a “pocket” and tried to put her woobie in it.

7:30 p.m. – Puzzles with dad

Samson looking on as CJ and Munchkin work on some puzzles. We usually try to keep the activities low key as it gets closer to bed time. Samson likes to sidle up as close as possible too so that we don’t forget he’s there. Now how could we forget about Samson? When he was a pup we called him the “sidler” because he would come up when you were sitting and lean against the chair but then scurry off if you tried to pet him. He was very conflicted in those early days and I think he wanted love but didn’t know how to accept it. Now he does though. As soon as I took this pic, I gave him lots of kisses and snuggles.

8:30 p.m. – Watching a movie

After Munchkin went to bed, CJ and I decided to watch the “Babies” movie. Our friend Sara lent it to us a while back and we haven’t had a chance to watch it. It was really cute and much more interesting than I thought a movie with no talking that focuses only on 4 babies could be. Samson laid over in the play corner while we watched it. He really wanted up on the couch with us but there wasn’t room so the whole time he laid there, he was eyeing my spot just waiting for his opportunity.

9:30 p.m. – Time for bed

As soon as the movie was done, I headed to bed. All 3 of us are fighting colds and I wanted to get as much sleep as possible. 9:30 is my usual bedtime though some weekends I live on the edge and stay up later. I always pay for it the next day though.

So there you have it! A typical weekend day for TTM! It’s hard to pinpoint a typical weekend for us because they change so much from week to week, but I think yesterday was a pretty good representation. The only thing NOT typical about this day was the fancy dinner. Otherwise, everything else was pretty right on.

On February 1st, I will be linking up with Simply Rebekah and all the other blogs that participated in her challenge. Go check it out to see what a typical day is for other bloggers!!

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11Jan2011

Snow Play!

Posted in Isabella/Munchkin by teamtradermom

Way back in November, as the weather was starting to show signs of the coming winter months, I bought Munchkin a winter coat and snow pants. I hesitated on the snow pants because I was being cheap and they cost an extra $9. But, my practical mind won out and told me that she would need those some day and probably on a day when the streets were too crappy to drive out and buy some.

I was right!

Yesterday was just such a day. I was home working and kept promising myself that when I was done, I would take Munchkin outside for her first adventure playing in the snow. I was really looking forward to it.

At precisely 4:19 p.m., I logged off my computer and marched upstairs, determined to start having fun, dammit! Munchkin was napping so I stuffed my face with popcorn and watched Jenny McCarthy tell Oprah about her first Playboy shoot. It was fascinating (insert Star Trek Spock voice here). Eventually Munch woke up and I immediately changed her diaper (after she looked at me and said, “Diapa, poo poos.” I think she might be ready for potty training sooner than we thought). Then we started suiting her up in her snow gear.

First the snow pants, then the boots, the gloves and hat.

That look on her face kills me! It’s like, “Oh my God what is going on? Is the end of the world near? Is this my HAZMAT suit?”

Then we put on the coat and were ready to go!

I started out slowly because I wasn’t sure what her reaction would be. The first few times she was exposed to grass she freaked out and cried, refusing to put her feet on the ground…figured snow would be similar. But she actually took right to it!

I set her down on the deck and let her get used to it. She just sat there and looked at me. Gee mom, this is great fun. I showed her that you can kick it and run your hands through it and stuff. She eventually started getting brave and trying things.

After a few minutes, I took her down in to the yard. This time she stayed standing and tried to walk in it. However, the snow was up to her knees so she was unable to go anywhere. I suppose it would be hard for anyone to walk in that. I showed her how to lay back and make snow angels and she did! Sort of.

I love that she is laughing and enjoying herself. I remember being a kid and playing in the snow with my sister. We would pile it up along the side of the driveway and climb up, pretending it was Everest or something. And of course building forts and throwing snowballs. She’s too young for that yet but we got her started!

We went back in after about 10 minutes. I didn’t want her getting too cold since her gloves were wet and her face was exposed. Ok, fine, I was getting cold. Anyway, we headed in to get out of our wet clothes, take a nice hot bath and bundle up in warm jammies.

I’m so glad I took her out to play. Sometimes I hesitate to do that stuff because it feels like too much work. Or I’m afraid she’ll hate it and be fussy. But I do it anyway and am always surprised at how well she does and how much fun we have!

Happy snow days to everyone!

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10Jan2011

Weekend Wrap-Up

Posted in Family by teamtradermom

It still feels like it’s the weekend since I worked from home today. Even though I actually did work, since I’m wearing comfie clothes and sitting in the basement, it doesn’t feel like work. Here’s what went down with the Traders this weekend.

Saturday was fun because CJ and I went to a movie! Yeah, like an actual date! We were giddy with excitement. First we took Munchkin over to play with her boyfriend Owen. They were born 5 days apart (though they shared a due date) and naturally will grow up as best friends and eventually marry. What?

Since I’m trying to be all frugal and stuff, we went to an early movie because those are much cheaper. Or at least, that was the plan. I thought the movie was at 11:10 am but when we got there, the only 11 am movie was the 3D one, which was expensive even for an early show. So we got tickets for the noon show, which was regular matinée price. We were slightly bummed but what do you do? We headed in and upon seeing the concessions I was immediately starved. One of everything thank you very much! But, that would have cost us 1 gazillion dollars. Instead, we headed back out to McDonald’s since we had about 40 minutes before the movie started and got lunch for both of us for the same cost as one order of hot dogs would have cost in the theatre. Take that AMC!

We did buy some popcorn and a pop (which we shared) and then headed in to get our seats. We saw Tron: Legacy and it was really good. Here we are at the theatre. Yes, we’re geeks. No, we don’t have matching glasses.

We headed back to pick up Munchkin and found that she had learned to play the piano!

Well, sort of. Anyway, she had a great time and we headed home to settle in for the night. That was about it for Saturday.

Sunday the snow started. And it pretty much hasn’t stopped. Because of the weather, we decided to hunker down and spend the day at home. CJ slept in (I wish I knew what that was like) so Munchkin, Samson and I ate breakfast and then started playing.

At one point I had to, ehem, use the bathroom. I made sure all the rooms were closed off so that Munchkin couldn’t wander away and then went in to the bathroom, leaving the door open so I could see and hear stuff (all I could see was the hallway right outside the door). Right after I sat down, I see Samson walk by the door toward the end of the hallway and I hear him lay down (he usally does that with a big sigh or grunt). Pretty soon Isabella goes streaking by, headed in the same direction as the dog. I hear some noises including evil laughter and shrieks, then I see a lone woobie go rolling by the door. Reminded me of a western or something when you hear a scuffle off camera and then all you see is a cowboy hat rolling in front of the screen. Then, here comes Samson running back the other way, followed by Isabella chasing after him. I hear more scuffles in the living room and then Samson comes to the door carrying a deflated volleyball. I was hoping I wouldn’t find my child in an equally deflated state in the living room and alas, everything was fine but it was touch and go there for a minute.

Munchkin was pretty crabby all day. I think she was teething. She was also very clingy. I couldn’t go anywhere without her running after me and grabbing onto my leg, wanting to be picked up. I’m sometimes torn because I don’t want her to need holding all the time, but I also believe you can’t give them too much love. So, I did just that.

We played in the basement for a while (where CJ was working on volleyball stuff most of the day), and she had fun running around.

I love that she only has one Elmo slipper on. She’s gangsta like that, yo. That’s how this toddler rolls!

Samson was less than thrilled.

After spending the whole day inside with a crabby, clingy toddler, I needed a break so CJ was gracious enough to let me shovel the driveway and sidewalks. He’s sweet isn’t he? Actually, I asked to do it. I wanted something a little physical and get outside for a bit. It was very peaceful and quiet.

Here is what it looked like when I went out to shovel, around 4pm.

I felt better when I came in and made some dinner. Then Isabella and I played with some hats, as well as a game of pick-a-boo.

By the time she went to bed, I was pooped. Normally when I’ve been home with her all day by myself it’s been great. This was my first taste of a less than stellar day and now I can be more sympathetic when CJ has those days. I used to think he was just being whiny. Now I get it. It was nice to snuggle up on the couch, under my Steelers blanket, and hang with my friends on Wisteria Lane.

Like I said earlier, today was a snow day. Here is how it looked around 7:30am:

It has been nonstop all day so the accumulation right now is about double what you see in these pictures. Crazy, yet cozy. We’re planning to take Isabella out in her snow suit for playtime. I’ll definitely be taking pictures if we do!!

Stay warm and safe!

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6Jan2011

Reflections on a Tragedy

Posted in Family by teamtradermom

If you’re looking for a funny or silly post today, you’ve come to the wrong place. My usual cheer and humor has been replaced with sadness as a result of yesterday’s high school shooting. See, I found out last night that the assistant principal, who was shot and killed, is married to my uncle’s cousin. So, while I didn’t know her personally, I do know her family and am filled with sorrow for their loss and this senseless act of violence. Even if she wasn’t someone in the family, the whole situation is really horrible.

Omaha is a relatively small community. While we are a thriving, bustling, growing city of about 800,000 people, it still feels like a small town for those of us who grew up here. People say all the time that “we never thought it would happen to us.” Sounds cliché but it really is true.

Then it does happen, as it did back in 2007, and the community feels it. There is a feeling of fear and sadness in the air across the city. You see prayer vigils on the news. You see flowers on the sidewalks outside the mall. But eventually, while you will never forget, you move on. You think, ok, we’ve had our turn; we’ve experienced our tragedy; our time is done. It won’t happen here again.

But it does, only 3 years later. And this time it involves people you know, or that your family knows. And the air fills with sorrow once again.

As I said, I didn’t know Dr. Kaspar but I’ve heard a lot about her and I did meet her once. Way back in 1991, when I was trying to decide on a high school to attend, I visited with her at Millard South. I grew up in Millard and that was the high school I was supposed to attend. But my family is Catholic and my parents were encouraging me to look at the Catholic schools too. So I visited them all. I won’t lie – Millard South intimidated the hell out of me. It was huge and scary for the shy girl that I was. But Dr. Kaspar was nice and friendly. Ultimately, I chose Marian, a Catholic school, so I don’t have a history with Millard South like my friends do. They’ve all said what an amazing teacher, leader and person she was.

My parents know her too, of course, being that she was married to my uncle’s cousin. My mom told me this morning what a compassionate person Vicki was and that she probably tried to talk to the young man who shot her. But he either didn’t give her that chance or wouldn’t listen. Instead, he shot her multiple times at point-blank range.

Vicki’s son Ronnie also worked at the school, as a Chemistry teacher. She had talked to him that morning and told him that she had to suspend a student and was nervous about it. I’m sure that was an unpleasant part of her job, regardless of who the student was or why. As an educator, you never want to tell a kid they are suspended from school. But it was her job and she did it. And got killed for it. As her son was taking care of his classroom, locking it down and making sure his students were ok, Ronnie got a call to come to the office immediately. He knew why. He got there too late though. His mom had already been transported to the hospital. Her heart stopped several times on the way and on the operating table but all times she fought back, except for the last one. She was tough but no one can survive what her body was put through. She is now gone and can now join her mother and daughter, who are already in heaven.

Driving to work this morning, I was listening to the radio and the show was dedicated to the shooting. They basically opened up the phone lines to allow anyone to call in and talk about their feelings, view-point, etc. Hearing the callers talk really brought up a lot of emotions. I can’t imagine being a parent with a child at that school and not knowing if they are alive or dead. Or being one of the students, who are told there is a Code Red, but have no idea why or what’s going on. I shudder at the thought.

As with the Westroads shooting, life will go on and the events of yesterday will become a distant memory for most. I’m sure we will all wonder when the next time will be. Seems like more and more these days, people are resorting to violence to solve their problems so stories like this are bound to pop up more often. But we can’t live in fear. That gives power to those who don’t deserve power. We have to live our lives fully, as a way of honoring those who no longer can.

My thoughts and prayers are with my family, Dr. Kaspar’s, Dr. Case’s, the shooters and all the others affected by yesterday’s tragedy. May God be with all of you.

Rest in Peace Vicki. You were loved by many and will never be forgotten.

Note: the details on the shooting itself are based on heresay and news stories and may not reflect actual events.

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3Jan2011

The Meltdown

Posted in Family, Isabella/Munchkin by teamtradermom

Let me just start off by saying that I am still shell-shocked from last night. Isabella had a meltdown like you wouldn’t believe. Both CJ and my nerves were shot by the time it was over. Here’s the background.

Isabella is apparently a child who needs routine. I suppose all kids are that way but we definitely learned that if her routine gets thrown off too much, we will all suffer. Our holiday weekend was a busy one. We spent both Saturday/Sunday over at my sister’s house having some quality family time. Both days, we had a pretty normal morning and she got her naps and meals in as usual. But then we’d head to my sister’s house in the afternoon. Munchkin had lots of fun playing with her cousins and all the toys they have. So much fun, that she refused her afternoon naps. Saturday we tried 3 different times. I even had my mom try to work her grandma magic but to no avail. Also, we were eating holiday type food (chips, dip, chili, cheese/crackers, cookies, candy, etc.) with very little fruit and veggies. So her diet was thrown off too. By last night and bedtime, she was very crabby and out of whack.

When we got home, Munchkin played with some toys and watched a little bit of The Wiggles. Then it was time to change her diaper and put on her pajamas. That’s when all hell broke loose. As soon as I laid her down on the changing table, she started screaming and crying. She wriggled and tried to get away but I was able to keep her in one spot long enough to do what I needed to do (I’ve discovered that as parents, we come up with all kinds of creative ways to change a diaper when the kid is being less than cooperative). I figured she’d calm down once I picked her up again, because that’s what usually happens.

Um, no.

I picked her up and she kept on wailing. I tried to give her some juice/water/milk and she would have none of it. I offered her a bedtime snack of crackers and she refused. I gave her a woobie and she batted it away. There was no consoling her at this point so I thought, all right, she just needs to go to bed. We went through our usual routine and as I bent over to turn on her CD player, she grabbed my hair and yanked. Hard. I pulled her hand away and firmly said, “No!” She kicked and thrashed. I tried the CD again and she grabbed my hair for a second time. And yanked hard. I was fed up at that point so down in her crib she went. I figured she would carry on for a little longer than tire out and go to sleep.

I figured wrong.

She kept going. And going. After 5 minutes I went back in, with some juice, and tried to offer it to her again. She pushed it away. I offered a woobie. She threw it at me. Then, she reached out wanting me to pick her up, so I did. She pointed to the hallway and I thought, hey, maybe she’s hungry for something other than crackers. So we headed out to the kitchen and she stopped crying. Oh thank God. I tried applesauce but she didn’t want it. Offered cereal and she refused. When I handed her the juice cup again, she took it but wouldn’t drink. Just held on to it. CJ came in and we started discussing other options. Then the crying started again. And got louder and louder. I tried to take the juice away and she wouldn’t let go, yet she still wouldn’t drink it. I finally yanked it from her little hands and she freaked. She threw herself back and out came a wail like I have never heard before. I seriously thought she was possessed. I stared waiting for her head to spin around. When it didn’t, I took her to her room, made the sign of the cross over her and left the room. She continued with her meltdown.

That’s when I did the only rational thing any adult woman would do – I called my mommy. I needed more brainpower for this one – and apparently I needed God on my side. Since mon was a nun way back when, I figured she could help on both accounts. She suggested just letting her cry it out. Go in after 5 min to reassure her and then leave. Wait 10 min and go back in. Rinse and repeat until ~~the demonwas exorcised~~ Isabella was asleep. So, after a bit, I went back in. She was still standing up and crying. I told her it was ok and that she needed to lay down and sleep. She kept pointing to the hallway and I had no idea what she wanted. I asked but didn’t get much of an answer other than, “Muahhhuffffsnifffmuuuooooh.” Since I didn’t have my Toddler Speak dictionary on me, I couldn’t translate. I picked her up and felt her tummy, not really sure what I was feeling for but a nurse told me to do that one time so I did. Her tummy was a little distended and hard which I think means constipation. I had no idea how to fix that at 8:00 at night other than to stick my finger up her butt (a guy at work told me to try that). I didn’t find that option at all appealing so I put her back to bed and offered a woobie, figuring the crying was better than poop splatter. She batted away the woobie so I left her alone.

And she screamed.

It was at this point that I raised the white flag and told CJ to take care of it. After waiting for the right amount of time, he went in there. When he came out, all was quiet. I had to clap by my ears a few times to make sure I hadn’t just gone deaf or something. I don’t know what magic/exorcism/ritual he did in there but by golly it worked. He said he just rocked her and gave her a woobie. Gee, why didn’t I think of that.

Apparently, she just wanted some daddy time since they hadn’t had as much time together due to his surgery on Wednesday.

We tiptoed around the house for the rest of the night, deathly afraid to wake the beast. But she was out cold and slept great all night. By the time it was all said and done, she had screamed for about an hour. That’s an hour I don’t ever want to repeat.

I’ve learned a couple of lessons from this:

Isabella needs a set schedule. Missing 2 days of afternoon naps really threw her off and made her super crabby.
A regular diet is important too. She missed out on her normal amounts of fruits and veggies which contributed to the constipation.
You’re never too old to need your mommy.
You find religion real quick when the devil possesses your child.
From now on, CJ is putting her to bed.

I hope and pray that getting back to her normal schedule today will help and bedtime will be much easier tonight. If not, you will find me curled up in a ball under the stairs, rocking back and forth reciting The Lord’s Prayer.

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