Go-Go Mommy

Life Lately

Sometimes life comes at you hard and fast. It definitely feels that way in my life right now. The girls are doing well, KB is working harder than ever, and I am getting back to work. Not that I haven't been working beyond my expectations as a SAHM, but now I am even busier after the girls go to bed with a new project that will move me into the "WAHM" and "mompreneur" categories.

It is exciting to be so close to having something that will enable me to exercise my professional muscle again; to put my "thinking cap" back on and get back to a sense of business acumen. I will share more on this later, but in the meantime, I'd like to share my latest life moments that make giving up the "crazy rat race" in the first place so worthwhile.

Today I saw:
-Sweet Pea so beautiful and innocent at 19 months. She has the cutest wispy hair that is too baby fine and sparse to take her for an actual haircut but is now so long in the back and at the sides that it's starting to curl in all directions. It looks sweetest head-on where it sometimes sticks straight out beyond her ears and catches the light making her look like a little mad scientist. Because of this trait, she has affectionately also become known as "Bibble" in our household.

-Poppy lovingly putting shoes and a dress-up bonnet on Sweet Pea and Sweet Pea sitting quietly like a little, live baby doll, watching her big sister with enormous hazel eyes behind lashes that just don't seem to end.

-Poppy sweetly (and sometimes a bit bossy) directing Sweet Pea on where to go and what to look at as we toured some new homes today.

-The two girls together as one "read" a book (Sweet Pea) while the other talked on a pretend telephone (Poppy) and set up a "sleepover" with a close friend. I can finally see that while Poppy's hair is a more striking color, Sweet Pea's is getting close to becoming a toned-down version of the same unique color.

-Poppy help her little sister up into and down from various chairs around our house when Sweet Pea would make noise that she needed help.

-Sweet Pea inspecting all of the flowers at the newly landscaped model homes. She had to go up to each and every bloom and touch them. I'm not sure what she likes more, the color, the variety, or the feel of them.

-Poppy putting on her ballet leotard and slippers and dancing with Sweet Pea who was dressed in a sparkly green Tinkerbell outfit. The image of the two of them twirling and curtseying will always live with me.

In sum, it's so clear that while my new "job" may give me an avenue to pursue some of my personal passions and interests, it's still all about being here for the little moments.

Happy Mother's Day!

What I got:

- A "picnic" breakfast in the living room. (The best breakfast ever complete with bacon, omelette, pancakes, cranberry scone, brioche bread, and the most yummy fried onion and potato dish ever. YUM!)

- A cup of tea in a colorful mug from my new set of "HuesNBrews". Beautifully painted colors of celery green, sky blue, orange, pale orange, and pale green. I love it!

- A new MacBook complete with Microsoft Office for Mac for my new business venture. (This gift was totally unintentional since we already had a MacBook but I kind of killed it when it fell off the shelf where I keep it when I opened the cupboard door. As Sweet Pea says; "Uh oh!" - More on the business venture to come soon!)

- A trip to one of our favorite towns to run around the "town fountain" and enjoy lunch out. (Still no cooking today for mom, yeah!)

What I am getting:

- My favorite dinner - linguini and meatballs with a delicious salad and fresh bread.

What I need most:

- Nothing, just to leave the computer and get back to enjoying this wonderful holiday.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Itching for the Holidays.

Poppy is definitely my girl in so many ways. First, for better or worse she seems to be almost a little carbon copy of me. (Scary for those of you who know me, I know.) But really, when Poppy, Sweet Pea and I are out shopping together, people always look at the girls and nod toward Poppy as they say; "She's certainly her mother's daughter." In other words, if you held up her current photo to one of mine taken at her age, they could be mistaken for being photos of the same person.

She can also be very firm in her convictions and will make a great movie and/or stage director one day. She loves to give people detailed instruction on how to play with a toy or what lines to say when playing "Ariel and King Triton."

However, the most telling feature linking Poppy to being just like me is that not only can she watch the same movie over and over about 30 times in one week (well, maybe not 30 but it certainly feels like that to KB and I) and she notices something new each time, but more importantly is the fact that it's not even June and she's already jonesing for the Holidays. How do I know? Well, the other day she had to watch "A Christmas Story". Or as she describes it; "You know, the one where the bad kid makes the other kid stick out his tongue and then he's stuck to the pole and the firefighters come and rescue him. That's the movie I want to watch, PLLEEEAASE!"

Of course, we watched it. Of course, we enjoyed it. Of course, it's not even June yet, and I usually don't throw in a holiday dvd or cd until about July but I just loved it. I loved that she thought of it. I love that we cuddled as we watched it and pretended it was snowing outside (again, another one of Poppy's directives). I just love that she shares one of my passions. Bring on the holidays! We're ready!

Poppy's Wedding Plans

We had an incredible day: morning park playdate, swim class for both Poppy and Sweet Pea, picnic lunch at the pool, nap time in the car as I drove to Valley Fair Mall, shopping, and playing at the mall "toddler play zone" - carousel ride included.

After all of our activities, it was time for some "hot and ready" pizza with crazy bread for dinner - one of Poppy's favorite meals! As we were pulling out of our parking space, one of the gentleman from Little Caesers Pizza came out carrying a stack of about 10 pizzas and helped a young woman put them into the car next to us. Poppy saw this and commented:

Poppy: Wow! Look at all that pizza!

Mommy: Yes, that's a lot.

Poppy: Maybe she's getting it for her wedding.

Mommy: Maybe.

Poppy: That's what I'm going to have at my wedding - pizza! Everyone just loves pizza!

Mommy: That's right, everyone does like pizza.

Poppy: And crazy bread too, of course.

The wedding planning has officially begun!

Thanks Grandma and Papa B!

We had such a great visit... so many memories were made. Here's just a glimpse:

Watching Poppy at gymnastics, ballet, and swim class;
Going for our train ride (maybe next time we'll make it farther than San Mateo!);
Having a swim/beach weekend in Carmel when the weather couldn't have been any better;
Listening to the roosters and making new friends at the park;
And who could forget our trip to San Francisco Zoo? Sweet Pea had her first
carousel ride and I even got my exercise in for the day!

But the sweetest moment by far was when Poppy went the movies with Grandma and Papa - without mommy and Sweet Pea! Her first venture into independence! Yes, my baby is growing up and I'm the one suffering from separation anxiety. At least I can report that in addition to Papa sharing the popcorn, Horton from "Horton Hears a Who" is "very funny" and says "I'm as light as a feather" - which is really funny to Poppy since he is a huge elephant and so far I've heard her say it between all the giggles a few times a day.

So thank you for a wonderful two weeks. We can't wait to see you soon!

And so it goes.

We've reached a new milestone at the Go-Go house, Poppy and Sweet Pea are now officially playing together. Sometimes it works out:

Poppy: WEEE, we're playing tug of war! (With each girl on the end of Poppy's favorite/only blanket known as "soft blanket" and running together back and forth.)
Followed by lots of giggling and girlie screaming.
or
Poppy: Come and find me! (The classic game of hide-and-seek.)
Followed by lots of giggling and girlie screaming.

And sometimes it doesn't:

Poppy: No, don't take my teacup.... No, that's not how you play, you use your own bowl.... You've ruined my tea party, I'm very upset with you! (As she storms off into her room.)
Followed by a door slamming.

At least Poppy is using her words!

My 30 days: 28

Poppy is still telling everyone who happens to look our way at stores, music class, ballet class, etc. that she "just turned 4 and had a chocolate cake with pink frosting." She knows that Mommy's birthday is a couple of days after hers and so I'm teaching her that if anyone asks my age, she can just tell them that I'm 25.

Poppy's reply:

Mommy, can we pretend you're 21?

My reply:

Why sure honey, I like that number even better!

The Big Question!

Well, the day has finally arrived. Wait, why am I saying "finally" when I should say that it has already arrived. No, no one is getting engaged or married. I'm talking about the big question from Poppy - the "birds and bees" and "I don't know what in the heck to tell her" question because I thought I had at least another year or two to go before this topic came up. After all, she's not even 4 years old yet!

So this was my Sunday morning:

Mommy, Poppy, and Sweet Pea head to Target for the Sunday morning run. Just as I pull into the parking spot, this is what I hear from my little love in the back seat:

Poppy: Mommy, how did I get in your tummy?

Me: [after a cough or two to clear my quickly constricting throat] What was that honey?
[Translation: I heard you the first time, I'm just hoping you change the question.]

Poppy: If I grew in your tummy, how did I get in there to grow?

Me: Well, uh, let's see, um...[beads of perspiration starting to gather] Well sweetheart, [don't blow it, don't blow it!] after mommy and daddy got married, we loved each other so much that we wanted to share our love with a baby and, uh, we asked God for a baby and he helped us [OMG, I'm blowing it!] by putting you in my tummy to grow.

Poppy: Silence. [She's either not buying it OR it's sinking in to the gray matter.]

Me: You know, Aunt M is a nurse, she'll know just how all the technical stuff works. Maybe we should ask her [as I'm dialing furiously on the cell phone].

After a quick debrief from me:

Aunt M: You're right. After mommies and daddies get married and when they are ready to have a baby. God gives them a special way to put the baby in the tummy so it will grow.

Poppy: Oh. Okay.

God, I love her!!

Thanks for the help Aunt M!

Daddy, I want chili today!

Poppy: Daddy, I want chili today!

Daddy: That sounds great. I haven't made chili in a while and today is the perfect day for it!

One shopping trip and about 9 hours later:

Daddy: Who wants to have the first taste of the chili?

Poppy & Mommy: I do! I do!

Daddy: Okay Poppy, you've been such a good girl today you can have it.

(Daddy hands out spoons and puts some chili into a bowl. He lowers the bowl for Poppy to dig in with her spoon first.)

Poppy: What?! That's NOT chili!

Daddy: Yes it is.

Poppy: NO it's not - it's soup!

Mommy: Honey, that's daddy's famous chili. (Taking a taste.) It's very yummy!

Poppy: Well I don't want it.

Daddy: But this is what you asked for this morning.

Poppy: No, it's not.

Mommy: Wait a minute everyone. Poppy, what does chili look like?

Poppy: It wiggles and jiggles!

Back to the drawing board - anyone have any jello mix handy? hee hee

Parents will do anything for their kids.

My hubby and I were talking the other night about some of our fondest childhood memories. I guess living 3000 miles away from where we grew up makes one nostolgic at this time of year. Anyway, he mentioned that one of his favorite stories of my childhood is the story about my parents and their jeans. So here goes:

The background: I am the youngest of 10 (yes, I said 10) children. I grew up in a very loud household with 6 brothers, 3 sisters, 1 dog (and miscellaneous gerbils, fish, rabbits, etc. depending upon the year and how long each of these lasted), and 2 extremely loving and patient parents. My father and I are 40 years apart and my mother and I are 39 years apart in age.

My story begins when I went off to elementary school and acquired a new best friend. She and I played together a little bit in first grade but I believe it was really second grade when we officially became inseparable. My friend was the oldest of two kids (just her and a brother 2 years younger.) It was great hanging out with her for a couple of reasons. First, she was close in age to myself (my closest sister is 10 years older so we were friends but in much different phases of life). And second, her mom was very young and hip.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved my mother but I started to realize that there were some basic differences between our parents. For one thing her parents called each other by their first names. My parents had long gotten into the habit of calling each other "mom" and "dad" - some old-world thing?! And for some reason, one day, the most important difference I attributed to the "younger" parent set was the fact that they wore jeans! It sounds so lame but I saw the jeans as some kind of symbol of the fact that hip/cool parents wore jeans - and what kid doesn't desparately want hip and cool parents when they are in second grade?!

After one of my playdates with my friend, I came home and went to my room in tears. When my mom came and asked me what was wrong, all I could get out between my sobs and tears was: "K's parents wear jeans but you and dad never wear them!" My mother, bless her heart, had spent 18 years doing the pregnancy shuffle with clothes and somewhere along the line settled on stretch polyester (hey, this was the early 70s) as her pant of choice (which she had in about every shade imaginable). My father, who I'm sure had a pair of jeans somewhere along the line, seemed to never run out of clean brown slacks (again I believe some kind of polyester).

I could hear my mother trying to hide her chuckles while she worked to soothe my hurt feelings. After all those kids, she knew better than to try to show me how unreasonable I was being over a piece of clothing.

Well you won't believe what happened. When I got home from school the next day, there was mom in the kitchen with a brand new pair of jeans on! As soon as I saw her my heart melted (pretty much like the Grinch's grew bigger) and it hit me that this just wasn't my mom. I ran up, threw my arms around her, and gave her the biggest bear-hug I could muster. I couldn't believe she would do that for me. And when my dad got home from work, she announced that his new pair of jeans was on their bed. He just smiled and I don't think I ever saw my father put them on - but they both had a pair of jeans, and I learned just how much I loved them, no matter what they wore!

Happy New Year & happy memories everyone!

A Season for Memories

My dearest Poppy. Just a note to say "thank you":

Here's a memory that will live forever for me and hopefully, for you too Poppy. Where do I begin? Oh what a fun time we had together last night at your first visit to the ballet to see The Nutcracker at the San Francisco Opera House!

It began as all good "nights out" do - with the preparation of finding the right dress (yours was a beautiful hunter green velvet with a white silk shantung collar and bow that tied at your waist in the back with delicate smocking in the front - thank you Grandma B for providing the perfect outfit!) and buying new black patent dress shoes (these actually had heals on them - another first!).

You were so good while we were getting ready to leave that we even had time to paint our nails a sensible shade of pale shell pink. What we didn't have time for, however, was dinner since it rained earlier in the day. In the Bay Area, even a "little rain" can wreck havoc on the evening commute. So we simply had a quick cookie and milk. And yes, it actually was one cookie each - a shortbread cookie with a chocolote drop on the top that we made the day before.

Thankfully, daddy made it home from work early so he could help you with the final touches (he put on your shoes, brushed your hair, and told you how beautiful you looked), while I finished getting ready. Then, we quickly said "goodbye" to daddy and 'lil sis Sweet Pea and headed off on our adventure. You certainly do love going on adventures!. By the way, daddy was very disappointed that he couldn't join us. Unfortunately, Sweet Pea's babysitter was ill and Sweet Pea had a little fever herself. Daddy wanted to give us our "girl time" and take care of Sweet Pea himself since she is still too little to go to such a grown-up event, but he is definitely looking forward to joining us next year for our (now) traditional Nutcracker outing.

Photo Friday! 12.14.07

Poppy & Mommy's ever-so-hip homemade holiday decorations. Hey, you gotta start somewhere!

Princess Poppy: Pre-Mean-Girl-Teenage-Angst

We do our best to raise them. We give them love, guidance, and direction while emphasizing the importance of having a "good heart" and being a "caring" person. We do this with the best intention, hoping to somehow ingrain upon their personality a spot of humility, caring, and compassion for others. No matter what our walk of life, we instinctively know that life will be better for those around us and, in-turn, for us by demonstrating "good-will" in our everyday life.

Goodness knows we are not always the best example for this and whether you're 2, 32, or 92, these can be difficult words to live by - especially in certain circumstances and when we seem to be tested daily.

So in honor of this time of year, when we see kindness flowing from others in situations where none might othwerwise exist, I wanted to share this simple tale of Princess Poppy who was headed to her playdate with the effervescent "Miss J" last week:

Me: We're going to have to get ready so we can go and have a playdate
at the park with Miss J. You remember Miss J, right?

Poppy: Oh, was she here when we went through the (collapsible play) tunnels?

Me: Yes, that's Miss J.

Poppy: Oh yeah! I love Miss J. She has such pretty eyes.

Me: Yes, she does.

Poppy: They're blue eyes. And a pretty smile, and very beautiful hair.

Me: Wow, that's very nice of you to say.

Poppy: (While jumping up and down.) Oh YAY! YAY! I love Miss J!
I can't wait to see Miss J!

If girls could only stay this sweet! Love ya, Poppy! Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Hey mommy, I really love your boyfriend!

In a certain context these words could be very sweet and innocent. In my world, where I've been happily married extremely happily married for the last 13 years, they instantly raised my blood pressure and brought a nervous sweat to my brow.

My brain immediately started to go through the mental exercise of flipping through the images of the last few days. As a SAHM, the images were mostly all the same: Sweet Pea up at 4:30am (apparently 10 hours of sleep is her limit, whether we like it or not), Poppy up at 6:00am, breakfast, lunch, nap, dinner, bath, bed. Of course I did go to the grocery store with the girls, however, I had a female cashier and no assistance out to the car. No opportunity there. Wait, we also went to the San Jose Children's Museum on Friday for a playdate with one of our hip and cool SAHM friends and her beautiful 14 month old girl - nope, just more moms and babies there.

Did Poppy, my ever-observant 3.5 year old, see me talking to some stranger I couldn't recall? Maybe while we filled the car up with gas? How had I led Poppy to believe that I had a boyfriend?! My mental rolodex of possible scenarios ground to a halt and I finally said: "What did you say?"

Poppy: "I really love your boyfriend, he's very nice."

Me: "You're silly, you know mommy doesn't have a boyfriend."

Poppy: "Mom (pronounced as a 2 syllable word like "Mo-ohm"), yes you do."

Me: "Oh really, who is it?"

Poppy: "It's daddy, of course!"

Whew! I breathe again and lean over to give Poppy a big hug and rumpled-hair kiss. Kids, you just never know!

First Birthday and Other Reasons to Celebrate!

I'm finally sitting down, I'm semi-awake, and I'm feeling a sense of triumph mingled with the frayed edges of exhaustion as another milestone is officially passed. There was much to celebrate. Mainly, today was the celebration of Sweet Pea's first birthday.

OMG, I can't believe our little "Segundo" is already one year old! She is my wise child with her pouty mouth and serious eyes that sparkle so brightly when she giggles at her own private jokes as she intently watches the world around her. My little preemie who gave me so much trouble during my pregnancy and then announced her impatience to be a part of our world a bit too soon - five and a half weeks too soon to be exact. So, instead of the "Little Turkey" I was supposed to deliver last year, she became my "Little Pumpkin." But I'm getting ahead of myself.

As I said, there has been much to celebrate. A year ago I was in my fifth month of doctor ordered bedrest and, coincidentially, we were in the sixth and final month of our half-house remodel. Thinking back, it was strange spending so much of my pregnancy memorizing the layouts, pros, and cons of area hotels; then coming home to a house that was waiting so long for all of it's parts to be put back together, and my best friends became my contractor and the "tile-guy" who put together the intricate glass tile in our kitchen. And the whole time, Sweet Pea was so low that every time I spoke with my MIL in Michigan, I told her Sweet Pea would come early which would bring me admonishments not to talk like that - as if not saying it out loud would change the outcome.

A year ago, l was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, monitored, poked, prodded, and finally informed that Sweet Pea was definitely on her way - all within the span of about 15 hours!

A year ago my blessed mother-in-law (NB) dropped everything when she got the call, my sturdy neo-natal nurse sister-in-law helped her pack, and she was with us in California a mere 14 hours later. Not only did NB immediately fly out here, but she stayed with us for seven weeks and helped us all beyond measure.

A year ago, on the day after the delivery, I was told that I looked very "Elizabethan" by my pediatrician but luckily my obstatrician declared I would not (thank heaven) need to have a blood transfusion.

A year ago, our family expanded by one. My fireball, Poppy, was awed as she looked at her new little sis at the hospital and when she finally came home, Poppy happily welcomed Sweet Pea.

A year ago, my incredible hubby was calm when I needed him to be, brave when I wasn't, optimistic (at least in front of me) and did everything in his power to make sure his family was taken care of in every way.

Now... I'd say there are a few reasons to celebrate!

Mommy's In Love Again

 

xxx

xxx

xxx

Peace and beauty like I've
never known well up
inside me tonight.

Because you, my dear
little one, are snug in
my arms so tight.

So many times you
call to me - a siren
in my dark night.

And I lift you and
hold you against my
chest and feed my little light.

So soft and sweet, so
pure and true,
these moments so lasting and right.

And I hold you, and you
hold me, soft
fingers with touches so light.

I drink in your beauty; tiny
nose, sleeping eyes and cheeks
so cherub-like.

Then the wave rushes in and
the miracle begins, falling in love
at this breathtaking sight.

Poppy and her Papa

Poppy:  I have to go to work in Chicago.

Papa: You do?

Poppy: Yes.

Papa:  What do you do for work?

Poppy:  As a matter of fact, I don't know.

Call Mensa - This Girl ROCKS!

So I'm preparing dinner and Poppy, who has been busy playing in her room, rushes out with an armful of stuffed animals saying: "Mommy, Mommy, you have to come and see this!" So I turn down the heat under my turkey burgers (I've been known to burn a meal or two) and sit as directed at the dining table. Poppy then proceeds to line up the 6 or 7 stuffed animals she brought out while she explains: "Okay, so this goes here, then this one goes here..." until all of the stuffed animals are in a curved line like a backward "C". Then she lay down (proper English? I never get the laid, lay, lie correct. Does anyone remember the rules in a simplified version to share with me?), straight as an arrow, next to the curved line of animals and said: "Look mommy, it's the letter D!"

OMG, call Mensa! What brilliance, what creativity, what out of the box thinking! Is she going to be the next design/art/fashion visionary, or what?! Where do kids come up with this stuff?!

Of course, my first reaction is to take photos to share with the granparents on Ceiva (see below).

Next, I call all of the grandparents to share this fantastic moment. All was well until my mother-in-law reminded me that Poppy "probably saw it on Sesame Street." Then it all rushed back: the man who painted the "letter-of-the-day" everywhere he went (actually, wasn't he "Harry Bentley" from The Jeffersons?). Oh well, I guess the call to Mensa will be delayed until further notice.

Check out more of my blogs at Silicon Valley Moms Blog - JB.