Fourteen Days.

Eileen and I are on vacation.  I always take the last two weeks of the year off. And have, in the past, sent Eileen to school while I stayed home and did, well, nothing. 


But she's so dang much fun, and this being the last year I can pick and choose when she goes to school or not, I told her she doesn't have to go back to school until I go back to work.

Of course I made that promise before doing any math. hoooooooooooboy! We counted the days. Fourteen days. By the time she goes back to school next Tuesday Jan. 3, she will have been out of school fourteen days.  Heaven help her teachers. 


It should be noted: Bill has opted NOT to take any days off. hmm. can't imagine why!? :)


So today, the first day of the Christmas Break without any family activities or things to bake or errands to run, Mini & I are being lazy. Well. I mean. I went to the gym. We've showered & bathed. And picked up her room. We're waiting on the cleaning service to arrive. (Eileen was baffled as to WHY she had to clean up her room when the maids would be here shortly.  At which point I promptly shot her the 'do you really want to actually ask me that again' look. She immediately began picking up her toys...). 

Me, shouting up to her room:   Are you hungry?
Eileen: Nah. 
Me: AHEM
Eileen: no ma'am, I'm not hungry...
Me:  Ok.  What do ya wanna do when the maids get here?
Eileen: go to the mall! i love the mall! we can get ice cream!
Me: You just said you weren't hungry!
Eileen: oh. well. I'm just hungry for ice cream. that brownie batter kind. 


Me, all at once agreeing with her choice of ice cream, trying not to giggle, and being slightly concerned that my five year old daughter chooses to shop to kill time, firmly responds: 
well you're sure not getting any ice cream until you eat lunch!


Eileen: Oh I know. I figure we can just eat something at the mall before ice cream. 

Well folks. I'm gonna wrap up this post now. I needto go check into the legality of posting 'free child to good home' ads on Craig's list. 

Biscuits & Shimmer Bricks

A super busy Thursday landed Eileen & I at Red Robin for dinner (while Bill cavorted at a work Holiday Dinner). After ordering our food, Eileen declared she was tired and wanted to go home.  


You all know what an Awesome Mommy I am, so of course I ignored her... I mean, really. what five year old do YOU know who openly admits they're tired?!


It became apparent that she was, indeed, worn the crap out. Got the  food boxed & headed home. After mommy finished her Winter Lager. 

Upon arriving home, Eileen inhaled her burger & oranges while watching Aladdin. I managed to -all at once- and with success-

• eat my french dip & broccoli
• pour & drink my red wine
• wash dishes & clean up kitchen
• drag out kitchen-aid mixer (seriously, if ever i feel threatened, the sheer fact that i can pick up and carry that BEAST should frighten the threatening being the hell away from me)
• grease & flour foil loaf pans
• measure out the correct ingredients in correct places for Pumpkin Bread (sidebar: slight moment of panic when i thought i had no canned pumpkin. alas, i still have 4 cans left from two years ago when Tim told me there was a shortage and i hoarded canned pumpkin).
• mix, pour & get loaf pans into oven. even saved a smidge of batter for eileen. (salmonella be damned!)
• clean up kitchen, put ribbon on unisex $5 kid gift (ok i suck, i spent $8) that bill had wrapped

apparently bill is a good wrapper, but has a fear of ribbons & bows.  to be fair, while i was doing all that stuff, bill was doing laundry, catering to little miss, feeding the animals, and generally ensuring that i remained sane. ("sane," of course, being relative to this girl).

so yeah. it was roughly 9pm by the time i herded eileen upstairs. opted for moving bath time to friday morning. 

in bed, eileen yawned. this after conning me into finishing her Katie Kazoo book. 

"see mommy! i TOLD you i was tired."   ahem. yes dear. 

she finally passes out. bill & i then deconstruct the rappelling scene. a noisy affair despite attempted silence. 

thank you White Noise in eileen's room. 

after feeding chuckie his pumpkin bread (see above photo), we crawled into bed.

fast forward to this morning. up early. despite being as ready as could have been with regards to eileen's school party, there were STILL details to be finished up. and the dog to camp. and the blasted bath for eileen. (i know, she's only five. how dirty can she be? she probably could have skipped it. but i can't deal with that. i'm vein. and i mean, if i'm going to give her a complex and pass along the vanity, i may as well start early). 

In order to convince her to move.her.biscuits (biscuits = pleasant kid friendly word for ass) i tell her it's a race. bill's taking gracie to camp. we HAVE to be done with bath before he's home, so we can win. OMG it worked. not only were we done, she was dressed & we were blowing her hair dry when he got home. yes, i dry her hair.  most mornings i also flat iron it. and hairspray it. which is usually just before i apply her lipgloss. (if you think i'm kidding, just ask bill). 

eileen yawning while i dry her hair. 

"HA! see?!? when you stay up TOO late you're still tired the next day! that's why mommy wanted to go to sleep last night when you kept chatting."

"mommy! i am not tired. it's the hair dryer. i always yawn when you dry my hair"

bwahahaha. a total & complete fabrication. but i give the kid some credit for being quick on her feet,  right!?

oh, and before i wrap this up. speaking of lip gloss.  it just so happens one of my girlfriends is a makeup artist. an almost exclusively  bobbi brown makeup artist. now,  until my genius, gorgeous, immensely talented friend came along, i was a clinique girl. since about age 13.  oh my. i am now addicted to bobbi brown. (electric bill or new concealer? tough call). so said friend knows that i am particularly addicted to super shiny sparkly awesome lipgloss. and she gave me some for christmas. along with a beautiful gorgeous shimmer brick. eileen spotted that new compact like a hawk finding rotting flesh. loved the pretty colors. and insisted i put it on her. 

so yes folks. we have a five year old princess. as addicted to bobbi brown lipgloss, and now shimmer bronzer, as her mommy. i have accomplished what i set out to do. Vanity complex instilled in child.

that is all. 

Family of Six (not counting the pups)...

Our version of Modern Family has added a member. 

Edith Kay Loebner arrived on Wed, 12/14/11, a little before noon.  She weighs in at 7lbs, 4oz.. and is 20inches long.

Perfectly perfect. 

She looks just like her mommy. 

And Big Sister Eileen is enamored. Not to mention fascinated by this whole pregnancy thing.

Bill, Eileen and I went to go meet Edie Kay yesterday. We came bearing Pumpkin Pancakes for Sarah, and regular pancakes for Josh (of which Eileen ate as much as she could).

Fommie (Sarah's mom and first time Grandmommy) was there, glowing of course. 

Eileen made a beeline for baby. Which is about the time Josh, Bill and I moved as one to ensure a buffer around the Yellow Blur.  In all honesty, Eileen was quite gentle. So very curious. Since I am Mother of the Year, I had of course, NOT trimmed her nails. So it was an event of Olympic Caliber to make sure Edie Kay didn't end up as our version of ScarFace. 

Little Edie was a tad fussy when Eileen held her, which may or may not have had to do with the fact that Eileen was holding her sort of kind of a little bit almost upside down. So then I took her with Eileen close at hand. 

"mommy. she doesn't have any eyebrows!"

"well, you didn't either when you were born."

"WHAT?!" 

"Mommy. Heehee. Her ears are so tiny!" 

"Mommy.Is Edie breathing?"  (this was the part where Edie was snuggled against my shoulder and I had a mild panic attack. Rest assured, Edie was breathing quite well).

I really don't remember Eileen being that small. I seriously don't.  If it weren't for the (literally) thousands of pictures, I might be convinced Eileen was never actually a new born.  I also forgot how after about 10minutes of holding baby, that little new born head suddenly weighs 95lbs. So there was Sarah, a brand-new mommy, instructing me to put the (SUPER DUPER REALLY COOL NEW LOOKING SINCE I HAD A KID) Boppy under my arm for support. 

Sarah was in great spirits and looked beautiful. Tired, yes. 

"Sarah. Why are you so tired. You've been in bed all day..."

"Sarah. Is your belly flat now? Can I touch it? It's squishy! What? Why does it hurt?"  

Ahh. Children. Eileen was convinced there was no reason on the planet Sarah should be tired or sore. 

I may start calling Sarah "Saint Sarah."

<---  and yes. this is Cousin Carl. I mean HELLOOO. Of course Edie's Elf was there. He knows where she is. (i mean serious kudos to Josh & Sarah for thinking of that. Eileen totally noticed Carl and was uber excited on Edie's behalf). 

When it was time to leave, Eileen was really sad and quiet. She wanted so much to stay and do all things baby. Once we got home and looked at all the pictures it helped.

At bedtime after we'd read our story, and the lights were out, I could tell she was thinking, and thinking hard.  

"Mommy"  (a ton of genuine concern in her voice).

"Why can't Sarah move or feel her left leg?"

Oh if I could have squeezed her forever I would have. 

When we'd been at the hospital, not all of Sarah's epidural had worn off. So her left leg was still numb and she couldn't really move it, which she mentioned at some point.  Not unusual and not a big deal. The adults didn't say much about it, and Eileen didn't ask anything. But clearly it was on her mind, and she was upset/scared that something was wrong with Sarah. After explaining about the medicine, I think she felt better.... tho I am still not sure she believed me. 

<--- Of course, I do put a lot of effort into having her believe there are elves rappelling around our house in the middle of the night, so why would she believe what I said about Sarah's leg? 

We are so happy, and blessed, for Edie Kay to be here safe and sound. So happy for Eileen to have a little sister. She can't wait to teach her things (there are plans for 'How to Stand' lessons. next week). We are so happy for Josh and Sarah to have a new addition to their family. To our family. 

Because, we are indeed, a Family of Six. 

We Made It!

This was, quite possibly, one of the busiest weekend's of my entire life. And I am still here to tell you all about it! 


It's a Christmas Miracle!  (and people say I'm dramatic... sheesh).


It was a very busy, but very fun, time. We missed Grandpa & Beanie so much, and were sad they weren't able to make it. 
We did, however, get to see so many friends who came to town for Sissy's big day. 

There were birthday parties and graduations and a day of baking and power point (NOW I've got your attention don't I!? I mean if PPT doesn't reel you in, what will?). Add in a potluck at work and a Decorating Competition - also at work- and you'll be glued to the blog. 

So stay tuned.. more to come... when I'm not ya know, working. 

Yep. That's Elvis. I grew up in Memphis, would you expect any less?!? 
Apparently Chuckie the Elf is fascinated. And he seems to be fond of pickles. 
A pickle ornament. I'll leave you all to your keen senses of deduction to determine who belongs to that one.


Admittedly, I have been lax in my Chuckie postings. Actually, we have been lame in our Chuckie adventures. That changes tonight; he'll soon be holding court with some Squinkies. It's ok if you have no clue what those are. I didn't either until Eileen got some for her birthday. I'm still not certain of their purpose or appeal, though I can say with confidence Aunt Sissy would have l.o.v.e.d. them when she was five. 

We seriously have so much going on I have to keep remembering to breathe. No doubt most people feel that way at this time of year. 


Closing out the year at work. Holiday activities at work. Holiday activities at Eileen's school. A good deal of December bday parties for Eileen's buddies. Shannon's graduation. Family in town. Baby Edith on the way. A lot to coordinate.. and everytime I start to hyperventilate and wonder how I will get it all done.. I actually remember to remind myself that we  will get it all done.. and of how very thankful and blessed I (we) are to have so very many friends and family in our lives to create such fun chaos. 

So our five year old is morphing into a tween. At Mach Speed.


Justin Bieber. I rest my case. OMG she loves loves loves him. Actually -  until this morning she was referring to him as Justin BEAVER.  Bill spent a good ten minutes convincing her that his last name is not that of an prickly rodent.


Chuckie brought her the Bieber Christmas album. That was Friday morning. Which brought a preview of the teenage years. Door shut. Music blaring. Child singing. And. Dancing.

The girl knows all the words to all the songs. And. She has little routines to some of them (choreography by friend from across the street). So fun. So cute. 


E: Mommy. how old is Justin Bieber? Is he a colleger? 
Me/Bill: He's 16. Maybe 17. I think 16. He's like Miss Courtney.
E: does he live with his parents? where does he live? 
Me/Bill: well, he probably does live with his parents. He's Canadian (why why why do bill and I know all of these facts??).
E: Oh. (pensive...) Um, What's Canada? 
Me/Bill: well, it's another country right on top of America. It's cold there!

E: What language do they speak there? 
Me/Bill: Well. Most people in Canada speak English like us, but some speak French too. 
E: oh. 


Fast Forward two days....
E: Mommy, Justin Bieber says some words funny. He says "sleh" instead of "slay" and "reindeeah" instead of "reindeer."
Me, thinking fast:.... "Welllll.. um. You know how Nana says "cah" instead of "car?"  but it is still the same word and we know what it means? "
E: yep. 
Me: well, its the same. sometimes people speak the same language but say some words differently. Its called an accent.
E: Oh. OK. 
(resume dancing and singing...)

OMG. OMG. OMG. I think I just used Justin Bieber as a teaching tool.


on that note, i have nothing left to say. 


(well. for now anyway). 

Don't be alarmed..  you're at the right place.. just changing things up a bit. 


No reason. 


In the middle of a long to-do list (and no, updating blog was not on that list..)


so, i'll be back later.
stay tuned people.