Oh Yes I Did!

Bright and early, with a cup of (herbal) tea, and a fairly successful attempt at homemade English muffins, I furiously texted my mother and sisters across the country.

Did you?

Sweet

After Brent came home from work he told me he had a some lingering office items that needed to be taken care of immediately. His job allows him to leave work so he can be home by 6PM on the dot, even when it's busy. However, every now and again Brent has to bring a little work home with him.

We decided to divide and conquer. He felt he could handle Ireland if I could get Liesel out of the house. I decided to take her to Portillo's for dinner where she noshed on fries and a chocolate malt (I'm such a horrible mother!). She was so excited she chattered endlessly. She even flirted with the guy in the booth behind us. Out of nowhere the following conversation ensued:

"Mom? Did Dad kiss you?"

This bears some explanation. Whenever we pick up Brent from the train station he jumps in the car and immediately gives me a kiss on the cheek. Ireland was sleeping when his train arrived so I asked him to walk home. We kissed in the hallway where Liesel didn't see.

"Yes he did!"

"Ooooooooh!" *thoughtful pause* "He LOVES you Mom!!!"

Too true :)

Mugging for the Camera

I love how the girls look first thing in the morning with their bright eyes and fuzzy hair. My enchantment only lasts so long before I want to scrub them down and get them ready for the day.

I think Ireland's been observing Liesel give her classic "CHEESE!" face whenever I pull out the camera. Recently she's been practicing a picture perfect smile of her own.

Without the video she might look a little creepy. I think her attempt at a big smile looks oh so funny and it endears me to her all the more!

Easter Weekend

Brent had Good Friday off so on Thursday night we packed up the car and headed to Iowa City. Driving down was a dream: Brent and I were able to have a nice in-depth chat and the girls slept pretty much the who way. Once we got to my parents it was another story. The girls were so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa it took us hours to settle them down for bed the first night. Brent slept with Liesel who kept crying when she was left alone in her bed (undoubtedly because she felt left out) and I slept with Ireland who kept trying to slide off her bed (undoubtedly because she wanted to keep the party going). We all woke up bleary eyed on Friday morning.

Friday night the girls were lucky enough to spend some time with their cousins Hunter and Harley. I'd planned an Easter egg hunt but was bummed when it rained and then drizzled. The kids barely noticed though and they had a blast running around the backyard. We color-coded the eggs for each kid so the older ones had to work a little harder to find theirs. Watching their enthusiasm made me determined to make this a tradition. Hunter and Harley are impossibly well-behaved kids who are nothing but considerate and polite. I love that my girls get to hang out with them now and again so it can rub off. In the middle of all the fun, Liesel informed me she wanted to stay in Iowa City and not go back to Chicago.
On Saturday mornings, we often eat breakfast at the local grocery story, Hy Vee. It's really delicious and ridiculously cheap. Turns out they were having an Easter egg hunt as well! I told the lady at the check out I wish I'd known because I would have brought a sack or something so Liesel could participate. She whipped a grocery sack out from behind the counter (oh how I love midwest friendliness!) and encouraged me to hurry because it was starting in just a couple of minutes. Brent took the lead on this one and thanks to his swift feet, Liesel was able to score quite a few eggs. Ireland and I watched it all from the window as hot eggs and sausage were placed before us.

Saturday night my parents offered to watch the girls so Brent and I could go on a date. Nothing in the theaters was tempting. Soooooo, what do you do with your Mormon husband in a drinking college town on the weekend? I knew I'd have to get creative. I love Iowa City but it's not a date town. It's a bar town and if you don't drink life can be pretty dull. Driving around running errands, I'd noticed the University of Iowa just completed a new Rec Center this past summer and I found out they have a 52-foot rock climbing wall. I floated the idea past Brent. In spite of his fear of heights, he said yes! He was even more excited when he found out it was a measly $3 per person (WAY cheaper than a movie!).

I've done indoor rock climbing before so I went first. I got about 1/4 up the wall and was ready to get down. The guy bullaying me told me to just let go but I couldn't. I kept hanging onto the wall as he slowly let me down. Much to my amazement, Brent scampered up a full story and took his breath on a ledge. When it was time to get down he had to walk backwards over that ledge and Brent didn't even flinch. Iwas so impressed knowing how strong his fear of heights is. Look for us on Amazing Race someday!

I decided to try it again, determined to at least make it to the ledge but I froze. That may have been due to the fact Brent and the staff member were talking about what kind of bodily damage would occur should someone accidentally fall. Brent tells me I was about 1 and 1/2 feet from the ledge. All I know is I was DONE! When I said I wanted to get down suddenly everyone at the wall stopped what they were doing and stared at me. A few of them tried to cheer me on and one girl even said, "It's FUN!" Now the situation was getting embarassing. I even let go of the wall and the staff member just let me dangle- LITERALLY- as if I'd change my mind. Finally he let me down. Brent and I tried a more challenging part of the wall which in some ways was more fun. It was a great date and I can't wait to go again.

On Sunday the girls looked adorable in their new Easter outfits. We tried to get a family photo which was a complete fail because Liesel started crying out of nowhere. I brought out some bubbles while Brent snapped away and we got some good individual shots.

Ireland making a face. My mom pointed out she looks like a Kewpie Doll with her hair like that.

Liesel full of joie de vivre. This picture makes me smile. Every. Time.

Getting back to real life was a serious downer. Even with the long weekend, the time flew by too fast. The girls were irritable the entire drive back to Chicago. Unpacking was drudgery. Waking up on Monday morning was almost painful. We need another vacation!

Which is Cuter?

Liesel making fish faces on the balance beam at gymnastics?

Or Ireland crawling under the barricade to sneak into her class?
I can't decide!

Home Libraries

Oi. Our vast array of books, binders and manuals took up a chunk of moving space. Not just for me and Brent! The girls have an impressive collection of children's books as well. Our Boston apartment came with shelves. Our Chicago apartment not only comes sans shelves, but we are extremely limited on space. Extremely. Brent and I knew we'd have to get creative because leaving all our books in boxes was not an option. Here's what we came up with:

After hanging their clothes, I realized the bottom half of the girls' closet was empty. It occurred to me we could fit a small bookcase in there. Pottery Barn Kids just happened to have a bookshelf that fit the measurements perfectly! They also had these lovely canvas buckets (washable *choirs of angels*) which could be personalized.

In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a sucker for anything that can be personalized. Growing up with an unusual name, I loved that I was unique but I still felt I missed out. The little key chain kiosk at the gas stations never had my name. Not that I would have bought the stupid key chain, but the lack of my name being there I felt negated my very existence! With my own girls, I want them to have the unique name experience, but without the key chain kiosk pain. Enter personalization! I have a bucket with my name on it, therefore I exist. My pie in the sky dream is for the girls to take them to college and use them for toiletries or something. We'll see.

Toys go into the buckets which can be carried to any room in the house. If Ireland is taking a nap, I can pull all of Liesel's toys into the family room. They make clean up so easy even Ireland knows how to put her things away. If I don't want the girls getting into their toys or the books I can just shut the closet doors. There were a number of books that hung over the edge of the shelf so I stacked those horizontally along the bottom. I've seen a trend of organizing books by color so I was excited to make a rainbow effect with them. It's so cheerful it makes me happy every time I open the closet.

For the grown up books, we scoured many furniture places. We didn't want to get something cheap that would fall apart in the next move. We also quickly discovered you can spend a fortune on bookshelves. Finally something within a reasonable price range that fit perfectly along a wall in our bedroom presented itself. Brent was skeptical that we'd use the triangle cut ends much but we actually use them the most. They're convenient for housing scriptures since you can just grab and go rather than pull them out from between other books. The unanticipated bonus is how nice our room is for preparing a talk or lesson for church. We have a whole gospel library at our fingertips! While we work, we can spread materials out on the bed. With the rest of the family at the other end of the apartment, it's incredibly peaceful and lends itself to contemplation.

Once we put the bookshelves up, we finally, FINALLY unpacked our books! I know they're a pain to move, but each one felt like an old friend: Moby Dick, A Tale of Two Cities, Killer Angels, The Tipping Point, etc.. It was 2 in the morning when we finished putting them together but I couldn't stop adjusting the shelves and arranging books by topic, size and color. It was like an epiphany when I did the top shelf with tallest in the middle going down to smallest. I felt witty when I put the wedding scrapbook my MIL made for us, the guest sign-in from our reception and Pride and Prejudice on the same shelf. I noticed one shelf of similar sized books tended to be either burgundy or blue. Something clicked when I arranged them in a gradiated pattern. Forget a scented candle, I think the best housewarming gift is a good book.

Medical Binders

Full Disclosure: This idea was completely and wholly stolen from my sister Katrina. She is not only incredibly organized, but her second child was born premature. They've moved quite a bit and due to his extensive Dr's appointments, Katrina came up with the oh so brilliant concept of a medical binder. When the girls and I left Boston, I requested a copy of their medical records from their pediatrician. We didn't know exactly where we'd land and I wanted to make sure I didn't forget. Before I handed the records over to their new pediatrician, I decided to heed Katrina's advice and create medical binders. I made some changes from the way Katrina does hers, but if you'd like to see her version, it can be found here.

Materials:
* A 2" heavy duty binder with plastic front insert. Like Katrina, I color-code these for each child: pink for Liesel, yellow for Ireland.
* A nylon binder pencil case (while I was at it, I also grabbed a pen and mechanical pencil in the same color. If it ends up in my purse somehow, I know exactly where it belongs)
* A notebook with 3-ring punch
* If your binder doesn't come with folder flaps on the inside, a binder folder for loose materials
* Plastic page protectors (we buy in bulk from Costco)
* Plastic business card holder sheet
* Plastic sheet with pockets (2 per page)
* 5x7 photo of each child

Assemble as Follows (front to back):
1. In the nylon pencil case I put the little immunization card given at birth, a pen and pencil.
2. The notebook which is of course for taking notes during the appointment.
3. In the plastic card holder sheet I put the business card of every Dr starting with my OB-GYN (should anyone need to get a hold of birth info). I also have insurance cards (both current and former), hospital id cards and the nearest pharmacy where I prefer to pick up prescriptions.
4. Then I began filling in the page protectors. Because I had all the girls medical information handy, I created an excel spreadsheet of Dr's visits with columns for Date, Well/Sick, Age, Weight (lbs), Height (in), Head Circumference (in) and Notes. If there was a sick visit, I made sure to include the reason for the visit in the notes.
5. I found a website that provides excel spreadsheets which plots height, weight and head circumference when you input the data (found here). I update the info and print out those charts after each visit.
6. The plastic sheets with pockets were the perfect size for ultrasound photos.
7. Next I put in a page protector the birth record and copy of birth certificate. My sister also includes a copy of her kids SSN card but I'm too paranoid about identity theft to do that. I also can't think of a medical situation when it would ever be required but if you want to be thorough, to each his own!
8. Patient summaries of any ER visits. Liesel's binder even has copies of the x-rays from when she broke her wrist. Regular check-ups tend to come with a fair amount of info (ie All About Your Child's Hep B Immunization!) but after I read them, I toss them. Those go right into the folder flap at the back of the binder during the appointment. In the front flap I put anything they want me to fill out before the appointment so its handy.
9. Privacy policies. I'm not a litigious person, but I like to have this around to make sure I know my rights.
10. Finally, I used my label maker to clearly mark each binder. I put some fun scrapbook paper in the front insert and taped the 5x7 photo right in the middle. Should I leave it in the waiting room, a kindly stranger might know it's mine just based on the photo of my girl.

I dropped a small fortune at Staples to get all the materials and make copies. Putting everything together took an afternoon of hunting it all down and assembling. I was curious to see if my hard work would pay off at the girls first visit to their new pediatrician. Did it ever! To say the Dr was impressed would be an understatement. She said she had never seen someone so organized and even asked what I'd done before becoming a SAHM. When I told her I'd worked in Finance, she was surprised I wasn't in the medical field. I was able to definitively answer every question she had (which was a lot for a first visit with both girls!). She even ended up referencing the height, weight and head circumference charts I'd plotted just for a history.

While I was gathering information for the medical binders, I noticed we had a lot of documents that weren't necessarily medical in nature, but were nonetheless important. While I was at Staples, I bought an extra 2" binder in the colors I'd selected for each girl. I filled them with page protectors and plastic sheets with pockets. This is where I put hospital bands from labor and delivery, family predictions on height, weight and time of delivery, notes and cards that accompanied flowers sent after birth, the card from Katrina describing in detail the quilt she made for each girl, birth announcements in the church bulletin, savings bonds from the grandparents, blessing certificate, blessing notes (taken by both grandmothers), locks of hair from the first haircut, Build-A-Bear certificates (they have to go somewhere!), and notes about the psychology studies the girls have participated in. If there's a fire, we can quickly grab the brightly colored binders and we should be all set.

Someone once told Katrina she could make a fortune selling these to new mothers and she just smiled and shook her head. Katrina has (of course) moved on to her next project...

Birthday Girl

Liesel's 3rd birthday was pretty low-key. We took her to Rainforest Cafe for lunch. What a perfect place for little kids to eat! Between the fish tanks and electronic animals, there's plenty to keep a 3 year old and 1 year old entertained. If one of them starts fussing, it's loud enough that no one notices. Even if they do, it's usually pretty packed with families. We decided to forgo the little birthday sundae and we all shared the volcano. Liesel enjoyed blowing out the sparkler.

Afterwards, we went home to open presents. Since Brent and I are pragmatists, we got Liesel a piggy bank and rolls of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. If Liesel's old enough to understand the concept of money, we figure it's time she learn to save. We also gave her a $2 bill as she leaves her "twos". Liesel happily filled her piggy bank with her birthday money while Brent and I smiled at each other. When it comes to financial responsibility, you can't start them too young!

The piggy bank itself was not just any piggy bank! I scoured Etsy to find someone who did personalized piggy banks. One person's listings caught my eye because her lettering was nice without looking too homemade. I contacted her and asked if she could put Liesel's name on the piggy bank and some edelweiss for an extra-special touch. Like many people, she had never seen edelweiss and asked me to send a picture. She even asked me if we had her room decorated in any special colors so she could coordinate with them. I couldn't be happier with the final product! Neither could Liesel :)