Power Play

June 26, 20131 Comment

June marked the first of the “summer” power bills for us. It’s that time of year when our bill goes from being manageable to being a car payment (literally). I choke every time I open that email.

Last month I went to our power company’s website and found their service plan section. They list a bunch of options where you can minimize your use during full peak hours (9am to 9pm), super peak (7pm – noon), etc. We picked the super peak – basically we don’t use the washer, dryer, dishwasher or oven from noon to 7pm Monday through Friday. And we keep the air turned to 81 (which when it’s 112, feels pretty awesome). You can use those things if you need to, but you pay a higher rate during those peak times and a lower one during off peak.

The first week was a bit of a challenge to remember that the laundry had to get done first thing in the morning and to stay on it so it was done by noon. And we are a 8-10 load a week kind of house. Once I got the hang of the timing, it was great. First of all it got all the laundry done before nap time so I could fold without someone pulling it all off the table (his name rhymes with doggie…). Second, it was a good excuse to not throw in a load but save it up so I had a full load rather than a half load of clothes.

We just got our first bill today and I squinted as I opened the email…drum roll please….we saved $181.83!! I was a little shocked at how big the savings were. But it’s a great incentive to keep going and see if we can keep it up. We may be sweaty, but really, who isn’t at this time of year? But we’ll be rich! Or at least not poor!

Just Us

May 7, 2013Leave a comment

Last Friday, my awesome sister Ali volunteered to watch Augg so B and I could go to the Children’s Museam, just us. Ali also did the laundry while we were gone. She. Is. Awesome!

Baylor was beyond excited about the Children’s Museam and couldn’t quite grasp that we were going just the two of us. We could do whatever she wanted, when she wanted and I would have two hands free to participate. No breaks for bottles, naps or diaper changes. She asked from the back seat on the drive downtown if we could go to the grocery store section first and they way she asked is like how she asks if she can watch cartoons when she knows the answer is going to be “no”. The pure excitement when I told her “sure, we can do whatever you want” was priceless.

Both of us in the flying bathtub.

The Climber is both the coolest and most unnerving exhibit. It’s built like a giant tree house. It’s all enclosed and yet feels like you could fall out at any second! Of course, the billy goat was all over it.

The grocery and kitchen exhibit.

We had the fort room all to ourselves so we made this masterpiece.

Painting the giant rocket

Toothpaste car – doesn’t she look like she’s 12?!

We capped off our visit with a trip to the gift shop (which we never do) and found some fun things we don’t need. It was amazing how B’s attitude became one of nice words, gentle playing and general contentment for the rest of the weekend. I realized that she can’t verbalize when she needs more one on one attention – I need to get some help with the big guy more often so that she and I can have some fun – just us.

If you go to the Children’s Museum – go early! The school field trip buses arrive around 1030 but the museum opens at 9. Get there right as the doors unlock so that when the big kids get there, you’ll be on the upper floors already. Pack snacks and don’t bring a big bag and don’t bring your full wallet – the climber doesn’t allow purses so you have to leave it at the bottom. Plus you can get your hands on more when you’re not swinging around a big purse. Grab some hand sanitizer and a dose of patience, it can be a bit of a jungle in there!

Morning Sunshine

April 17, 20131 Comment

We are so lucky that a week of “cry it out” went really well and the little guy was actually able to move into his crib in Baylor’s room. It went great! Like too good to be true….which means it wasn’t surprising when he started waking up every morning around 4am and waking Bay up too. We spent two weeks pulling him out every morning around 4am and putting him back in his pack n play in our room so he could fuss himself back to sleep without waking up B. I’m hoping another week or two of cry it out in our room will get him over this 4am wake up and back into his crib!

Until then, it’s hard to resist this view:

He’s trying hard to crawl – he gets on his hands and knees and rocks so hard that it scoots the PnP across the floor…

Pillow Talk

October 1, 2012Leave a comment

Since B has been sleeping in a big girl bed, we’ve started the nightly routine of laying in bed and chatting for a few minutes before bed time. Peter swears it’s the most information he gets out of her all day because she wants you to stay so she keeps talking. It’s so funny to hear what’s on her mind while snuggling.

Peter explained what college was to her a few weeks ago. Since then I’ve made a habit of grabbing her and screaming “don’t leave meee!!!” periodically. To which she always responds “I HAVE to go to college, Mommy!”. It cracks me up that we even have this conversation at three years old. These exchanges flowed into bed time the other night and this is the conversation we had:

“I love you big girl – sweet dreams.”

“Mommy, I think you’re being kind of funny about college.”

“Oh really? How so?”

“Well, I have to go to college. I just do.”

“But I will miss you!!!”

“I will miss you too. So why don’t you come with me?”

“Come to college with you?”

“Yes.”

“Do I have to go to class or just be there with you?”

“Just be there with me.”

“Done and done. Mommy was a big fan of college the first time around so I think a second round would be splendid.”

“Good. So now you can stop being funny about it.”

Which completes my funny business about college. God help me if she goes somewhere that doesn’t have a decent bar….

My Assistant

September 27, 2012September 27, 20121 Comment

I was desperate for an hour’s worth of work time late yesterday. I asked B if she could work on her computer too so I could get a few things done. She agreed so I dialed in and tuned out anything that wasn’t a “I’ve critically injured myself!!” scream.

An hour of work, dinner, bath, dinner for PW and I, another 1.5 hours of work and I caught a glimpse of this in the mirror:

I knew she had been playing with my shirt, I just didn’t know I was a canvas for her new stickers. And I like that PW never asked why I had 100+ stickers across my back. When I pointed out this fact his response was “it’s impressive how straight she made the line”.

Happy Father’s Day

June 18, 2012June 18, 2012Leave a comment

June is a busy month around here – Baylor’s birthday, my birthday, father’s day and our anniversary. Generally by the time we get to our anniversary, we are so partied out and broke, we are happy to have frozen pizza to celebrate!

And true to form, PW bought himself a little present and requested we didn’t spend any money on him. Done and done. Instead, he got to spend some time at the shooting range while B and I recreated the breakfast from her favorite new book Tyler Makes Pancakes! . The book comes with a recipe for blueberry pancakes and calls for cantaloupe and bacon on the side. I happily take my demotion to sous chef when Chef Wand is in the kitchen.

Baylor also presented Peter with her gift she made at school. How cute is the frame with nuts, bolts and washers?? And I love that she has tools and a hard-hat. Such a great pic for dads!

The pancakes were delicious! And we had a lazy morning around the house after breakfast followed by family nap time and then swimming (thanks Missa!). It was a great day not deterred by the “soul crushing heat” (direct quote from a meteorologist). And as I write this post, the Wildcats are winning in the college world series. Life couldn’t get much better.

Happy father’s day to all the dads in our lives!

June 11, 2012Leave a comment

It’s finally here – the big 3-0! More to come on this tomorrow…today, we eat cake!

Pig or People?

May 31, 2012Leave a comment

Last night we tried out a new baby sitter who cousin Zoe just loves. Her name is Olivia and we tried to build up the fact that she was coming – we find if we make it really exciting, there’s no melt down when we leave.

So yesterday morning PW asked B if she was excited about Olivia coming and she responded “oh yes. I just loooove Olivia”. Confused, we looked at each other and then back at the kid and told her that she’s not met Olivia so how does she know she looooves her? B was quiet a minute and then said “oh I know her”. I went back to making breakfast and then it hit me – she thinks Olivia the Piglet is coming to baby sit.

So I mentioned to her that Olivia was not a pig but a nice girl and she seemed a little bummed. And the rest of the day she asked “is Oliva a girl or a boy?”. When I would respond that she was a girl, I could see the wheels turning in her head thinking ‘Olivia the piglet is a girl too….”. Thankfully, despite Olivia being people and not piglet, they got along famously as Olivia let B go through her purse, stay up late and she “believed” Baylor when she told her that she got two M&M’s before bed.

Schooool’s Out For Summa

May 24, 20122 Comments

Holy moly. It has been one jam packed school year and yet it’s hard to believe that it’s over! And my how much B has grown this year – just look. Here’s her first day of school:

All chubby cheeks and finally getting some hair!

And on the last day (btw, it’s pajama day at school):

Look at how long she is! And finally hair!

It’s hard to believe in just a 9 months how fast she’s gone from “being able to get her point across ” to talking like a teenager, hand gestures and all. The chubby cheeks have thinned out and her hair can no longer be described as baby curls… I know that the teachers have a present for the parents that is a collection of pictures from over the school year…I’m getting my box of tissues ready now. What am I going to do when she’s graduating high school?!

I Heart TJ’s

May 23, 20121 Comment

Despite really really liking it, I don’t shop at Trader Joe’s that often (I know, I know, I know). It’s really out of sheer laziness. I like Safeway, it’s close and it has it all. But I don’t always love the prices there and TJ’s does have great stuff so I’m making a bigger effort to split the groceries up and maybe save a little cash in the process.

Yesterday afternoon after nap time, I persuaded Baylor into the car for a grocery run with the promise of a mini cart at TJ’s. She was intrigued by going somewhere new – this kid has a memory like an elephant. She knows where all her friends and relatives houses are, which street we turn for school and which street leads the way to our favorite restaurant. She also knows where we get our hair cut, where Safeway is and where the pet store is and points them out as we drive. It’s a little scary what she remembers sometimes (like how to get to the airport after not driving there for 6 months…). As we drove, I was relating where the store was in relation to where we get our hair cut. This satisfied her that it wasn’t “real real far” and so she turned her attention to the mini carts.

As we walked in the door, she spotted them. It was like nirvana. A real grocery cart in a real grocery store. She asked me for a wipe to get the handle (just in case there was any doubt about her being my kid) and we proceeded to the produce section. All the while getting smiles and nice comments from everyone she passed.

It was there that I learned that mini carts are not as awesome for the parent as they are for the kid. You know why? Because they are the perfect height to cut your achilles tendon. The third time I was flat tired by the little cart, I became terrified of it. I couldn’t let B out of my sight – it was less about her being kidnapped and more about self-preservation. Much much more. The carts come with a long pole attached to them (security? location? I have no idea) which I proceeded to use as a guide to keep her in my peripheral vision so that I could keep my ankles from being accosted. She was less than pleased about this, but was easily assuaged by a jar of enchilada sauce so all was well.

The kicker was the checker gave her about 2 dozen stickers at the check out. I was so proud when she sweetly pointed to one sticker in the bunch and asked if she could have that one, rather than assuming they were all for her. When the nice checker told her that they were all for her, there was a brief moment where I’m certain she thought about asking if she could move in. And really, who could blame her? The brilliant part is that now she’s asking me “do we need to go to the grocery store??”.