My Leapling DOES Have a Birthday, Thanks For Asking

My baby is turning one.  I'm somehow unprepared for this.  I'm fairly certain that this is the last time I'll have a first birthday party to throw.  I'm getting nostalgic about all those squishy newborn days. But it isn't just that. We've got another layer to deal with.

We can't put her birthday on our calendar this year. There is no February 29.

When you have a Leap Day birthday (or one of your kids has a Leap Day birthday), you get the inevitable questions and comments.  Some people were watching me like a time bomb around my due date, hoping I would go late because a Leap Baby would be so cool.  Some asked me if I was going to be induced so that I wouldn't have the risk of a Leap Baby.  People ask me if I'm going to tell her what her "real" birthday is. People ask if she'll have trouble getting into school, getting a license, registering to vote, having legal drinks.  But the main one is...

So, when do you have her birthday?

About 4 million people are born on February 29. The chances of having a birthday on February 29 is about 1 in 1450.  There's actual an Honor Society of Leap Day Babies (Reagan is a member).  Most on that site refer to themselves as "Leaplings". Since having a Leap Day baby, I started looking into it, as we get ready to celebrate Reagan's first year.

Yes, it actually exists.

Some people love their special day, some people feel forgotten.  Some people love that this date makes them unique, others hate being teased that they are only 3, or 8, or whatever.

I'm not sure how Reagan will feel about it, once she has actual "birthday awareness". Right now, I'm the one fielding the questions and comments on her behalf.

So here are my thoughts.

1. Reagan IS turning one this year. You age a year for every 365 days and 6 hours.  On the next February 29 she will be 1461 days old. Forty-eight months. That's not one.  However, it will be the first day she can celebrate on her birth DATE.

Interestingly, if you were born after 6:01 pm, no matter what kind of year it was, your first "birthday" wasn't until the next calendar day at 12:01, then next year at 6:01, etc.  That happens every year until Leap Day "resets" the calendar.  It'll stay that way for three years, then go back.

2. 70% of Leaplings celebrate on February 28.  It's the last day of February, which is how they identify their birthday. Some hold off until March 1. It's the day after February 28, which is when they were born.  We will celebrate, as a family, on the last day of February.  She was born in February.

I realize that by the point I made about time of birth, she would very definitely be a March baby. But I'm sticking with this celebration day anyway.

3. Milestone birthdays, and the benefits that come with them, are at the discretion of the state you live in.

Apparently, some states even allow you to choose an alternate birthdate for your license to avoid confusion.  

Basically it boils down to the this. No matter what questions Reagan gets, no matter what jokes people make, I don't want her to go through her childhood feeling like she doesn't get a special day unless it's a Leap Year.  It breaks my heart as I read quotes from kids and adults who've said they have been told they "don't have a birthday". When you're a kid, your birthday is something you look forward to all year. So it's our job to make sure that Reagan always feels like she gets her special day, no matter what the calendar says.

We may need to get this when she's grown.

I'll be honest. I didn't want a Leap Baby. It's the kind of thing that's cool when it's not you. I thought I was home free when we were still home at 10:30 pm on February 29.  But Reagan had her own opinions and very definitively chose her own birthday.  Trust me, I couldn't have stopped her. 

My Leapling...12 hours old.

It's part of who she is.

I hope, that when she's aware of birthdays, she embraces her special day.  She feels celebrated, she feels unique, and she knows she'll never be "cheated" out of a Happy Birthday.

And if necessary, to cover all her bases, she can make both sides happy, and have a two day celebration!

Already showing a stubborn streak...she wouldn't show the camera her shirt!

Happy Birthday to my Little Leapfrog!

Green Eggs and Ham (Mealtime with Toddlers)

Like I mentioned yesterday, we're in a heavy "read to me" phase right now. Madison is fascinated with reading. She wants her phonics DVD and her sight word DVD. She brings me books all day long asking "you read this to me?"

The DVDs are Preschool Prep if anyone is wondering, and I definitely recommend them. No, I get no kickback from them. I personally want to tear my hair out watching them. But they are undoubtedly effective and very appealing to Madison. And hey, if she's going to watch TV, I like that she requests educational stuff.

We've been reading a lot of Dr. Seuss. The rhythm and rhyme is the hook. Not surprising that Madison is a big fan.

By the way, Dr. Seuss is NOT good for the "what's that" phase, which we are also in. 

"What's that mommy?"

"Ummm....a knox".

"What's a knox?"

"Ummm...."

Anyway, this book is the clear favorite.  We read it a minimum of three times a day. Madison likes that she can recognize some words, and remembers the story well enough to "read" it with me.

Since I'm reading it more often, I can almost do it on autopilot, which allows my mind to wander.

This book IS mealtime with toddlers.

Think about it. They are sitting there, happy, and someone comes up with a meal.  Yes, they might be hungry. But on their own terms.

Then, whatever the meal is, they don't like it.  Whether they've eaten it a million times, or never tried it, they know they don't like it.  So the answer is NO.

Ok, Madison! Time for lunch! We're having grilled cheese!

No, I don't want to have lunch.

Well Sam has read the Love and Logic books, and he knows what to do. You can have them HERE or THERE.  Give choices.  Empower the contrarian.  You are happy with whatever they decide, because you still win.

Do you want your grilled cheese in triangles or rectangles? Do you want it with grapes or strawberries? Do you want milk or water?

And the guy (is that Mr. Knox?) behaves just like a toddler (or at least my toddler). I choose neither.  I don't like them.

No, I don't want to have triangles and I don't want to have rectangles and I don't want grapes and I don't want strawberries.

So Sam continues in this fashion, getting increasingly desperate. A house? A train? With a mouse? In the rain?

Madison, do you want to have a PICNIC lunch? Do you want to eat lunch with Reagan and Mommy?

And the arguing continues until both parties are exhausted, when Sam finally says,

"You do not like them. So you say. Try them, try them, and you may. Try them and you may, I say".

Madison, you are sitting at the table. Here we go. I believe you. Grilled cheese is awful. But take ONE LITTLE bite, so you have something in your stomach for nap time.

And like magic, Mr. Knox (I'm going to say that's him) loves the offering. He is thrilled to eat this dinner everywhere!

What a great idea!  Thank you!

Wow! Grilled cheese! It's delicious! Thank you Mommy!

What do you want to bet that Sam repeats this scenario at least once a day?

Because we do.

Disclaimer: Madison is actually a pretty good and adventurous eater, as is Reagan.  I'm knocking on wood as I say this, but I'm not really looking for meal ideas or advice.  It's not so much the food as it is the act of stopping the play activity to sit and eat lunch. And lunch is right before nap, so it is PRIME TIME for arguing and emotional tears.

Manner-Man to the Rescue!

We have spent a lot of time recently reading books.  Madison's book fascination has gone in waves. She had period where she could NOT get enough reading. Then she had no interest in being read to and only wanted to read to us. Now she's back to wanting to be read to all the time. We tend to read the same books over and over again.  Therefore, when I was offered the opportunity to review another of Sherrill Cannon's books, I jumped at the chance. A new book and more manners!  Fabulous!

by Sherrill S. Cannon; copyright 2013 Stategic Book Group

Manner-Man is a book that helps children learn to be considerate of others and stand up to bullies.  Manner-Man is a super hero who comes "to the rescue!"  He recruits some characters from Ms. Cannon's other books to join his team, and invites readers to find ways to do the same.

My reviewer. Tough critic.

Just as when we read The Magic Word, Madison was fascinated by the rhythm and rhyme of the story. She followed along with the story.  She recognized the emotions and personalities of the bullies and victims (that boy is sad, that boy is mean, that girl is scared).  I know she's on the younger side of targeted readers, but she definitely was engaged and picked up the story well.  She was very excited to revisit characters from previous books!

Fascinated!

As a parent, and of course, thinking as a teacher, I like how Manner-Man talked about hitting with hands and hitting with words, and how neither is ok and both can hurt.  The solution is never to hit back, but to respond with "not nice" and stand up for others.

Madison had a very tough time when I took the book away to keep it nice enough for a giveaway, and that's always a positive review.  She's asked for it several times since I hid it upstairs, and that lets me know it's a hit! Good for home, good for school, good for any situation where kids need some additional reminders about how to interact politely.  I would definitely recommend this book, as well as Sherrill Cannon's other books, for anyone who wants to encourage children to behave their best.

No mommy, it's my book!

I'm excited to offer this book as a giveaway!  To enter, leave a comment either on this blog or on my Facebook page, telling me who you would share this book with!  Winner will be chosen at random one week from tonight, at 9:00 pm.


The author is involved with the CureJM Foundation Fundraiser at http://sbpra.com/curejm/. 50%  of the cost of books goes to CureJM to try to find a cure for this incurable children's disease.

A Bittersweet Goodbye

Holy cow.

Madison has been discharged from the Yale Pediatric Hem/Onc clinic.

This is major news.  It's odd that I have mixed feelings about it, but I do.

In late March of 2011, we began this journey.  I've referenced Madison's ear trouble, and now it's time to finish the story.

Stuck in the hospital at 8 months old.

At the end of Madison's hospital stay, the ENT had cleared her for discharge, but pediatrics was bothered by her blood tests. They were pretty vague with us, just telling us that a certain white cell count was low - very low. Before they were OK with her going home, they wanted hematology to clear her.

Honestly, at the time, we were sort of annoyed by this news.  As any parent who has ever had a hospitalized child knows, you don't want to be there unless you really have to. Madison was still nursing, so I was sleeping on a cot in her room. Neither one of us were comfortable in our beds, and we weren't sleeping well. The days dragged, and because of this issue, we were confined to the room. Child life brought in toys, but we were itching to get out of there.

When hematology came in, they explained to us what the concern was.  We have three types of white cells in the blood to fight infections. Neutrophils fight bacteria. Most children have well over 1500. Under 1500 is considered neutropenic. Under 1000 is considered severely neutropenic. Under 500 is considered critical.  Madison had 300.

The hematologist we saw told us she would discharge Madison anyway, but we'd need to do some follow up.  She was hoping that the level of antibiotics we needed to heal Madison's ears had temporarily lowered her count. Until we knew, we needed to keep her sheltered from germs.

For the next two months, our lives revolved around blood tests.  Madison hovered between 0 and 300.  She was finally healthy, but with no neutrophils, she would have no ability to fight off infection. Which is obviously dangerous.  We disinfected everything in our house, and home she stayed. We had to pull her out of daycare, which pulled me out of work. We stopped going to Gymboree. We were kicked out of a Mommy group (they had an attendance policy). When I was allowed to go back to work, I had to take precautions over bringing germs from school home with me. I had to leave my school stuff in the car, change clothes, and wash up before I could interact with Madison.  She was at the hematologist a minimum of once a week. We learned a lot about what the different numbers in a CBC with differential meant. We learned about possible genetic syndromes that could cause this.

One of our MANY clinic visits, complete with badge of honor on her elbow.

Finally, after a bone marrow biopsy and extensive bloodwork, Madison was diagnosed with - ready? -  chronic benign idiopathic autoimmune neutropenia.  How's that for a mouthful?

For those of you who don't speak medical - her body was killing off these cells for no reason.  It killed them off as fast as she made them.

The good news about getting this diagnosis? We could finally start treating her.  Adam and I learned to give injections, and we injected Madison with a bone marrow modifier that would cause her to produce more neutrophils - hopefully outrunning her body killing them off. 

It worked.  And it worked fast. Madison's numbers skyrocketed. We were out of our home bubble.  We were encouraged to be out of the bubble. Just in time for summer.  Madison was so happy to be able to interact with other kids, and we were able to join a new Mommy group who was OK with us, and Madison's condition.  Adam and I definitely didn't love our job of giving injections, but the payoff was well worth it.

There were still some precautions.  She was on "newborn" fever restrictions.  That meant she needed to be checked - and get a CBC - for anything over 100.4.  That was tough. She never seemed to get these fevers during clinic hours, so we had several ER visits and would always end up explaining to the triage nurse that, yes, we knew that 101 wasn't a high fever for a 15 month old, but Madison wasn't a typical patient.

We were at Yale a lot.  Two blood tests a week.  Then one visit a week.  Slowly, as Madison stayed stable, we moved to longer breaks. Two weeks. Four. Six weeks.

Three months. At this point, after she'd been on the injections for a year, with no hospitalizations, with no consistent dips in her counts, we took a risk and stopped the injections.  She stayed stable.

Six months.

And today, just shy of two years from the start of our journey, we said goodbye.

I feel odd, because I should be feeling elation. And although I am feeling elation, there's a bittersweet edge.

We said goodbye. 

When your child has a serious condition, you come to think of some medical professionals as friends. As family members. The clinic becomes home.

We parked on the special Smilow fourth floor of the parking garage and weathered pitying looks as we carried our baby to the clinic. We knew our way to the seventh floor and merely waved to the receptionists when we arrived. We knew that Stevie and Priscilla would be gentle during vitals and knew just how to get blood without setting off a fit. We knew that Joanna and Dr. Deb would spend time with us, watching Madison grow from baby to toddler.

When we found out Reagan was on her way, they hugged us and congratulated us. They found a way for us to bank Reagan's cord blood for Madison - an insurance policy - for free. They let us know about special events and the "perks" of being a hem/onc patient.

They helped ease the pain by popsicles and apple juice and bubbles and stickers and visits to the toy closet.  Dr. Deb lets Madison use her stethoscope and talks to Madison like she was one of her own, and to Adam and I like we were friends. She explained to us what was going on. She let us know when to worry and when to relax. She calmed us. She let us know we could handle this.

They will always be there for us.  But saying goodbye was still tough. I want to be done, I'm glad to be done, I want my daughter to stay healthy.  There are kids who need the healing hands and expertise and calming presence of these wonderful professionals more than we do.

But I had tears in my eyes as we walked back to the car today.

Ridiculous...and yet...

The end of any chapter is bittersweet.

We could not have been happier with the level of care that Madison - and our entire family - received over the past two years. Here are two places that will always be dear to our hearts. If you need place to donate, know that your small donation will make a REAL difference.

Toy Closet - When a child at Yale is going through testing, a hospital stay, or any sort of procedure, Yale allows them to select a toy from the toy closet to lessen the sting. Many times tears were avoided, or at least helped, by a visit.  They accept new, non plush toys.

Kacey Rose - Before we knew Madison had any hematological issues, we donated her cord blood via this foundation. In addition, this foundation sponsors a library at the Smilow Clinic at Yale - quality books to read and keep for patients.

In addition, I know I'm paranoid. But if you have a young child who seems to have resistant or recurring bacterial infections, asking for a CBC with differential to look for the ANC is not out of line. I will forever be grateful to our pediatrician who realized that sometimes ear infections are more than ear infections. I'm happy to share more details of our experience with those who need them.

Battling With the Toys

Today was "downstairs floors and dusting" day on my cleaning schedule. 

I have two of these days a week, and it is by far the most time consuming chore I have.  More than three bathrooms. 

The reason isn't that I move the furniture, or that I'm mopping up banana and maple syrup. 

The reason is that before I can do anything to the floors, vacuuming, mopping, whatever, I have to pick up all the toys.  And right now, with a 2 1/2 year old and an almost 1 year old, we are in the Goldilocks and the Three Bears of toys.

Some are too big.

Some are too small.

Few are just right.

Most of Reagan's toys fall in the BIG category. All those Fisher Price or Playskool toys. Basketball hoop, Elephant, Kitchen, that thing with gears. A big cube with doors and latches and pegs.  Big, primary colored toys with big chunky pieces. Totally appropriate.  But they take up a lot of room and aren't easy to put neatly away so they blend into our major living space.

Right now we don't have a playroom, and probably won't in the future. The girls do keep toys upstairs in their rooms, but during the day when Adam is working in his office, we try to stay downstairs. Therefore, the majority of the toys are down there as well.  I've tried to blend them into our living room and family room decor, but a big LeapFrog table is hard to blend. They're clunky, and I have to move them often. They don't get lost, but they also never truly get "put away".

Adam and I bought this one. I don't think we knew just how big it would be once assembled.

See the legs and how stable it is? They also make sure you can't neatly put this ANYWHERE.

The loudest, most annoying elephant ever. Naturally both girls adore it.

It's also a car!

Love it, but where does it FIT???

They're just too big.

A lot of Madison's toys fall into the too small category.  I am slowly being driven insane by toys with multiple small pieces.  Madison's favorite toys are the Disney figurines, Melissa and Doug magnetic dress up dolls, and board games.  All with small pieces that are easily scattered, lost, and stolen by an orally fixated little sister.

I'm a little OCD when it comes to clean up, and all these little pieces are my nemesis. We are constantly missing little pieces to these toys. The idea is that Madison would keep most of the toys with small pieces upstairs in her room, so we could contain them and keep them away from Reagan. But we don't play upstairs. Madison is allowed to go up to her room whenever she wants, but she wants to play with Mommy and Reagan. And for Adam's sanity and work efficiency, we stay downstairs. So the toys slowly migrate.

Ballerinas are big in our house right now.

As are princesses.

We own (I think) 8 or 9 sets. All have between 6-8 characters. So we're talking 50+ small figures, just waiting to disappear.

They're waving goodbye. I see it.

The girls took a long nap today (AMAZING), so during my furniture moving/toy pick up/vacuuming I took a tally of what is missing. And by missing I mean not in/under/behind any furniture, hiding withing another toy, or in the bathroom (don't ask).  We are currently missing:

• Four small figurines (Donald Duck, Rintoo (from KaiLan), Pascal (from Rapunzel), and Sebastian (from the Little Mermaid). Sebastian is the most disturbing because he is TINY. I have no idea why Disney felt this was a good idea.
• One red ballet shoe and one black ballet shoe from the Melissa and Doug magnetic ballerina.
• One ballgown top from the Melissa and Doug magnetic princess.
• The letters C and V from her magnetic alphabet.
• The otoscope from her doctor bag.
• One cup from her tea set.
• The yellow Candy Land piece (this is an upstairs toy for sure, because Reagan chews on the cards - and I have no idea how many game cards we're missing - but Madison loves this game and continually shows up downstairs with it).

It should be pointed out that Madison is usually unconcerned.  Occasionally she'll fixate on a certain thing, and the world sort of grinds to a halt while we all search for it, but most of the time she barely notices. I should take my cues from the toy owner, but these missing pieces drive me absolutely insane. I hate the thought of the toys being incomplete.  And I hate the thought that there are little pieces out there...just waiting for Reagan to eat them.  The plus side is that I CAN neatly pack these toys away - when I can find them.

But they're just too small.

Yes, yes, we're lucky, my girls have plenty of toys to play with. I have zero right to complain. And I have a feeling that no matter how much I try to control it, we'll soon be dealing with even more annoying toys (again, I will not be the one who introduces Barbie to my girls. You buy 'em, you dress 'em).

But after an hour or so of toy wrangling - the big and the small - I'm longing for a toy that's just right.

By the way, no matter how annoyed I got today, I am really happy that we are past the REALLY BIG stage of playmats and exersaucers and jumperoos. At one point, our entire living room floor was covered with these contraptions.

I Can't Wait

Today I had a lot of "can't wait" moments.

My parents came over this afternoon.  I know everyone says "oh, don't clean for us!" but naturally, we always do.  The floor under the kitchen table is always particularly bad, because that's where Reagan eats.  Madison eats fairly neatly right now, but Reagan is at the stage where more food ends up on her, her chair, and the floor than in her mouth.  We've tried putting a towel under her seat, like we did when Madison was in this stage, but for some reason it isn't working with Reagan, so we just gave up.

That means the floor under her seat is always caked with food.  We do what we can to keep it under control, but sometimes we just can't keep up.  That means that I'm down on the floor scrubbing up glued on banana.  Today, as I was trying to scrub banana while keeping the girls out of the kitchen I said aloud "I can't wait until you are eating neatly!"

I was standing at the sink washing bottles and mixing up formula.  Reagan stopped nursing this December, so I've only had to do this for two and a half months, but it can feel like a giant pain.  It feels like I am always washing bottles.  I was thinking "I can't wait until you are done with bottles!"

Madison might be potty trained, but she's still not dry overnight.  I'm totally fine with that.  She wears a pull up to bed and we call them "nighttime underpants".  However, that's not always enough.  There are many, many, mornings when she wakes up with soaked pull-up, pajamas, and sheets.   Today was one of those mornings and I really didn't have time to pull off her sheets and do laundry.  I thought "Ugh, I can't wait until you wake up dry!"

When you stop and think, if you're anything like me, you have a lot of moments where you "can't wait" for something.  Can't wait for the day to be over, the weekend to be here, a class to be done.  I remember that last stretch before major events: my wedding, my pregnancy, graduation, where you just can't wait to be done and start the next part.

The next part is wonderful.  There's always something great coming. When you are having a tough day, you know a relaxing evening at home will make you feel better.  When it's been a long week, you yearn for a lazy weekend. When you're at the end of the journey, you want to see what's next.

But on the other hand, when you spend life thinking "I can't wait" or "If only this part was over", aren't you wishing your life away?  I don't know that I'll yearn for the days of changing sheets or washing bottles or scrubbing banana off the kitchen floor, but I know that my girls are already growing so fast.  They don't need me wishing it'll happen faster.

I don't know anyone who wishes for the sleepless nights with newborn babies. But looking back, nursing my newborn, holding her close while the world slept, was amazing snuggly bonding time. Once it was gone, I have to admit, I missed it.

So if I wish away these sticky banana and wet sheet moments, I'm also wishing away a little girl who sings songs while jumping on her trampoline. I'm wishing away a baby who chases her big sister as fast as she can get her tiny legs to move.

Look forward with excitement, but cherish the present.  That's what I'll try to do.

Update time!

And...we're free!  As of Wednesday, we were no longer snowbound and back to our regularly scheduled programming.  Madison had school, we had art playgroup, Reagan and I ran errands, and I went to the dentist (and ended up with a surprise root canal that afternoon.  Not exactly what I was hoping for when I was itching to get out).  Even today, when we didn't have any scheduled activities, we went out for a haircut and leotard shopping!  We're going to have a few very busy weeks, because everything that we couldn't do during the snow (preschool visits, doctor appointments, etc) is now rescheduled.  But I would much rather have a full calendar than being forced inside.

Yesterday was "Mom Feels Inadequate Day", otherwise known as Valentine's Day in the days of social media.  I definitely wasn't up to par.  Adam and I barely celebrate Valentine's Day as it is.  We don't ignore it completely, but we're more of a card-and-maybe-a-little-treat-I-picked-up-while-I-was-out-today couple.  For example, this year, I got Adam Starburst jelly beans and Mike and Ikes, along with a funny card.  And he was thoroughly happy.  He gave me a funny card and some wine.  And I was thoroughly happy.  That's how we do things.

I know kids get in on Valentine's Day too, so I wasn't going to ignore it for the girls.  I mean, I worked in an elementary school for years and I know the kids loved all the treats.  So I got the girls each a little card and put a sheet of stickers inside, and I picked up some pink and red cupcakes for dessert.  Madison had art playgroup, so we stapled little notes to some cookies and fruit snacks for the five kids.  Easy.

Coloring hearts in art group.

But man, people go all out!  Big treat bags of gifts for the kids, heart shaped and pink dyed food, massive hand crafted Valentines.  I know a few people had been planning their treats all month (judging from status updates and Pinterest pins).  And naturally, they post on Facebook and I sort of felt like I dropped the ball.

Then I remembered that
a) My kids are little.  Reagan still doesn't "get" special days, and Madison won't remember them.
b) We're not an over the top family, and
c) Facebook and Pinterest are not necessarily accurate indications of the day. 

Madison making a Valentine with her stickers.  It was adorable...until Madison tried to take the stickers back.

So I relaxed.  I just had a Facebook inadequacy moment.  People posting about weight loss, big projects, Valentine's over-the-topness, and here I am, just happy to be back to normal! I honestly don't know how people find the time to do these amazing things.  But I need to stop comparing my life to other people's Facebook lives, and just keep on with life.  In the end, that will make me, and my family, much, much happier.

Anyway, here are some updates!

The Never Ending Cold: We are all completely healthy! (I'm not counting my tooth issue).

My Car: Ummm...ask me tomorrow.  I got behind on my chores this week and my front seat needs a little straightening up.  I was doing pretty well until the blizzard.  That bag in the trunk and the bag in my front seat are definitely helping, but right now I would definitely be embarrassed to have a passenger.

Organizing: Stay tuned for a more in depth post.  I was on fire for a little while, but I'm in a lull now.  I'm blaming the blizzard again.  I kept two little girls active and happy, and that definitely took a toll.  I did manage to get the pantry looking fabulous, and so far we've kept it that way. 

I also did a massive overhaul of the linen closet and under two bathroom sinks (master and kids'). That project took me the longest, because naptime was completely unreliable doing it, and since I was messing with cleaning supplies, medicine, and toiletries, and working directly outside the girls' bedrooms, I couldn't just leave things out.  I was also doing a big switch of where we kept things, and anyone who has ever undertaken a project like that knows that it gets a lot worse before it gets better. It was a huge mess, but it's done.  Is it surprising that right after that is when I lost my steam?

Kindle: Man, do I love this thing. I can't believe I held out so long.  (This may be why I've gotten unproductive.  I'm definitely spending some quality time with the Kindle after the girls go to bed). I got some Amazon money for my birthday and it's burning a hole already.  I've finished Gone Girl - definitely not what I was expecting! - and I'm ready for more suggestions.  (Oh, and I've watched two seasons of Downton Abbey.  How did I not know this show was so good?)

Resolutions: I'm a little embarrassed to admit what being snowbound did to my resolution to shower daily.  Let's just leave it at ... I didn't.  And I've spent a good chunk of time in yoga pants lately, although in my defense, we've been home.  I've also been really bad about eating breakfast. I'm sort of in a lull with these now as well.  I'm hoping it's just the winter doldrums and I'll get some motivation back soon.

Scentsy: I am finally placing my order tonight! I picked some scent packs and a buddy for Madison, so even if my car doesn't look great, it'll smell great!  If you haven't ordered, definitely look into it.  Reagan's buddy has been put to the test lately, but her scent pack in Ollie is still going strong.

I've got some plans for the coming weeks: at least TWO giveaways, among other things.  I finally am able to update Facebook from my phone, so I've gotten to share some pictures that get me laughing, and I'm happy to see so many can relate!  Here comes my big question though...what do you hope I share in the next few weeks?  Anything that you wish I'd write about?

Not sure what's going on at Circle of Moms right now.  They merged with PopSugar and for the time being are not accepting any articles from bloggers.  The two they've published are still there while they decide how the merger will impact the bloggers.  Definitely check out my articles, share them, comment if you like.  There's not much I can do except wait it out, but I'm hoping they decide to keep me on and having relevant articles will help me a lot.

Cabin Fever

Relief is coming soon!

We've actually been able to get out of the house for a couple of days now.  However, our road was limited to one lane, and, as Adam discovered when he went out on Sunday night, many businesses didn't have parking/driveways/etc. available yet.  Our public schools have been closed the past two days, and the general advice has been to stay in and let the crews finish the clean up.

And we've had nowhere to go.

No dance class.  No pre-school visit.  No dentist.  Everything on our calendar has been canceled.

So we've been home. For five full days.  We do not do well when our routine is broken.

Yeah, I suppose I could have put the girls in the car yesterday, or today, and gone somewhere. We could have gone to Target, Stop and Shop, anywhere.

I've done that.  We've had days where we just need to get out, so I put the girls in the car, and we just go. Sometimes I don't decide on the destination until we leave.  And yeah, it's probably not a necessary use of gas.  But it always gives us a fresh start and we come home happy.  Adam works at home, and though he's usually in his office with the door closed, I know he likes having a quiet house for a bit.

But I felt like I couldn't/shouldn't do that.  The "parking area" at the top of our driveway is about half the size, and Adam's car is currently parked directly behind me.  Parking lots might be accessible right now, but they are a mess.

So I'd be bundling up two girls, asking Adam to move his car, navigating a very narrow driveway, driving on messy side streets with partially blocked intersections.  Then trying to navigate the slush and mess going into...wherever we go. 

I just couldn't justify it to myself.  Maybe if we really needed bread, or milk, or eggs, or something.  But we didn't.  We'd just be going out so I could leave the house.

So home we've stayed.  I've tried to find a good balance, we've done many fun activities.  We are now OUT of flour, cornstarch, rice, shaving cream, and food coloring.  No, those aren't staples, but after five days of toddler inspired fun activities, I've run through my stash.  Even playing outside in the snow fell through after the rain.  The snow is (obviously) still here, but now it's really mushy after a day of rain.  So our whole yard is two feet of a snow/slush hybrid instead of three feet of snow.  That doesn't work so well when your tallest child is three feet.  Playing in six inches?  Fun!  Multiple feet?  Hmmm....

Please...no more Play Doh!

I've kept the girls away from Adam's office, but they're getting cranky and whiny, and Reagan is now a whiz at stairs.  She can climb upstairs in under 30 seconds (or the amount of time it takes to tell her sister to hold on a minute while Mommy puts up the gate).  By the end of today, all four of us were ready for a break.  When Adam and I fight over who gets to walk all by themselves to the end of the driveway to get the mail, you know it's been waaaaaaaay too much together time.

Tomorrow we are back to normal!  Madison will go to her Gymboree School Skills, and Reagan and I will run some errands.  Then I'll bring the girls home, get them down for a nap, and go to the dentist (and you know I've got cabin fever when I'm not dreading that).

And once we're back to normal, I can get back to my schedule of keeping up the house, and, you know, ME.  I know that all this time home should mean I have a super clean and organized house, but somehow in this house, the opposite is true.  Go figure.

Anyway, that was my long, rambling way of saying I am DONE with this winter.  I'm done with trying to deal with heavy clothes and what's safe for the carseat.  I'm done with snow play that requires heavy assistance from me.  I am ready to complain that the girls don't fit into their warm weather clothes and complain about the heat. 

Hopefully, a normal day tomorrow will get my brain back from the cranky mush it has turned into over the past five days!

One thing I have done to stave off my personal cabin fever is become more active on my Facebook page.  I now post more than JUST sharing this blog!  Check it out!

And if you are the praying kind, please offer some up for my friend Amy Smith.  She collapsed at home yesterday morning, was revived by her husband's CPR and the EMTs, but is in the ICU and a medically induced coma, and remains a bit of a mystery to her doctors as to why her heart stopped.  She's a wonderful person with two young kids who need her and family and friends who love her.  If you aren't someone who prays, good thoughts work too.

Snowbound...Day 3! (And DONE)

As of 9:00 this morning, we were still snowed in.

As of 2:00 this afternoon, our road is clear!  Hooray!  I'm not sure when it happened, but I'm thankful we have the ability to get out.  Even if you don't have anywhere to go, there is nothing worse than knowing that you can't.

Today we're back to the fun we had on Day 1.  The girls were happy to turn their chairs into a fort, where we shined their flashlights and read some books.

We took a break for Sofia the First.  Reagan is absolutely obsessed and dances to all the music.  True to form for my girls, there aren't many Sofia "products" out yet, but I have faith that I'll be able to find some appropriate toys for her birthday.  Although I haven't had much luck with Little Einsteins.  Yes, I know.  Ebay.  But although I love my daughters, I don't love them enough to pay $200 for a toy.

I wanted to start off the day with some fun snow projects, but we actually ended up in Madison's room, playing Hungry Hungry Hippos.  While Madison and I played a few rounds, Reagan had fun in the ball pit.  Once she was ready to make a dive for the marbles, Madison was satisfied enough to put the game safely out of her reach and they played in the toy kitchen together.

The peanut looking on as Madison and I duke it out with our Gulpy, Gulpy Gators.

Our first project of the morning was making some rainbow rice.  We made our last batch a few months ago.  I'm trying hard to find sensory play that's appropriate for both girls, and our last supply of rainbow rice was faded and dwindling, so today was a good day to add to the stash.  If you don't know, rainbow rice is very easy to make.

1 cup rice
1 Tbsp vinegar
food coloring (as much or little as you desire)

I use a mason jar.  I've seen many websites tell you to use ZipLoc bags, but I see that ending very poorly.

Mix the ingredients (I make two cups at a time) and shake until the rice is completely coated.  Madison and I took turns shaking the jar.

Dump on a foil lined baking tray.

Repeat for as many colors as you'd like (we made four today - I only had 8 cups of rice).

Bake at 200 for 30 minutes, or until dry.  You can also lay it in a sunny spot, but that takes much longer.

Dump and play!

Madison chose our colors today.

The new rice and the old rice.

Hunting for treasure!

Both girls played for a long time.  Although Reagan did put some in her mouth initially, I didn't worry since it was all food, and not nearly big enough to choke on.  It must not have tasted great though, because she quickly stopped.  We added some fake jewels and gold coins and made it a treasure hunt, until Reagan started putting the jewels in her mouth.  Madison and I did a quick sweep of the jewels and stored them safely until Reagan wandered off, and then she started burying jewels again.  Fun!

It must have been an exhausting morning because both girls took a three hour nap. At the same time.  Go ahead, hate me.  It doesn't happen often.  I took absolutely no cleaning advantage.  I read magazines, finished my coffee, and caught up on some DVR'd shows.  It was heaven.

After they woke up and had a snack, we went outside to play.  It was cold today, but not windy.  The girls had a great time.

Yup, that is a BIG pile of snow.  And tractor tracks.

She barely made a dent!

Reagan in her sled.  I love how she's poking one finger out.

Madison in HER sled.  She LOVED sledding today.

Sisters.

She's actually really happy.  She just doesn't look it.

Remember the giant pile of snow?  Adam and Madison attempting to conquer it.  They succeeded, and luckily, it was Adam who discovered that the snow was MUCH more powdery on the other side!

We came in and played with goop.  (I've also seen this called Gak, ooblank, and various other weird words).  Another recipe I can handle, and another one where I don't care how much ends up in the mouth.

2 cups cornstarch
1 cup water
food color or liquid watercolor to coloring

I made each girl their own mixing bowl, sat them on the kitchen floor, and just let them have at it in their playclothes.  It's just messy.  I know that some people use it as a science project (is it a liquid? Is it a solid?) but we just had messy fun.

Side note: If any of you are Big Bang fans, this is the solution they use when they are making that blob dance on the speaker.  We didn't do that.  Nor did I reference it to my girls.  But there you are.

We ended the day with a movie and pizza, since leaving the house was again possible, and it felt like we should celebrate with take out.  Perfect.  (The movie was Tangled. Again.  I told Madison she could pick a princess.  She picked Snow White, which we don't own, and Sleeping Beauty, which we also don't own.  I guess I should be happy that Rapunzel was her third choice).

I realized it was Reagan's first time eating pizza!  I wish it wasn't so blurry!

Looking at the camera is totally unnecessary when Tangled is on.

As far as snowbound weekends go, I loved my cozy weekend with my family!

I have tons of pictures on my phone of playing outside and playing with goop.  Take my word for it, they are adorable.  However, gmail, samsung, and toshiba are conspiring against me and I canNOT for the life of my get them loaded into blogger.  I'm hoping all of these devices are just having a simultaneous moment, and will be kind to me later.  But right now I'm very close to throwing something, so I'm giving up, posting what I have, and taking a bubble bath with a glass of wine.  Check my facebook page to see if I've managed!  

Update: I managed!  Enjoy the snow and goop pictures!

Snowbound! Day 1 v. Day 2

In case you haven't heard, New England got a fair bit of snow yesterday and today.

DAY ONE

During the day yesterday it was really pretty.  Steady snowfall from about 8:00 am on, but nothing scary.  Our neighbor, who were share a driveway with, plowed several times to keep up with the snow.  Adam went out to shovel in front of the garage door, and Madison went out with him to play.  She made a snow angel, threw some snow, and took a ride on her new sled.

During the day I made sure to make being "snowbound" fun!  We were stocked up on supplies, and I was ready to play.  I wanted everything to be things that both girls could enjoy, which is tough right now.  But I had a list and was ready to go!

We painted. Both girls love to paint, but it gets pretty messy so we don't do it often.

We "cooked".  Plain oatmeal and various kitchen gadgets.  Both girls LOVED it, and I didn't need to worry about Reagan putting anything in her mouth.

We played with snow inside. This is SUCH A hit at our house.

Finally, we had a glowstick and color bath, once Madison had finished playing outside.  A bath BEFORE DINNER!  How outrageous!

A whole day in our house and we didn't resort to excessive TV!  We watched a bit in the morning and while I prepared dinner, but that was it.  What a wonderful snow day!

Around dinnertime the snow really picked up and started getting scary.  The wind was intense and the snow was incredibly heavy.  Adam decided to go outside and "check it out".  I've already gone on record with him that I think this is totally unnecessary.  He did it in the hurricane too.  I'm not sure what he expects to discover, and even if he did discover something, what would he do about it?  I think this is a guy thing.

Anyway, he came in red, snowcovered, and unhappy.  He slipped walking up the driveway.  He's fine, but based on what hurts and how sore he is, he pulled a muscle and probably bruised/cracked a rib.  Definitely good news at the beginning on a blizzard.  He also told me that in the hour since we'd come in, we'd gotten another 4-5 inches.

He did rally through, and played about 20-30 games of Hungry Hungry Hippos with Madison while I got Reagan put down and started the clean up.

Girls went to bed, we finished cleaning up (we like to put our best foot forward for storms), prayed for the power to stay on, and hunkered down.

DAY TWO:

We woke up to this.

I realize it's really hard to get the perspective, but that used to be our front steps.  You can no longer tell we have front steps.

Tough to tell, because of the drifting, but we're pretty sure it was about 3 feet of snow.  The town next to us had FORTY INCHES, so I don't think we were too far off.

We were thinking we'd play outside today, but we realized that was going to be tough.  We couldn't get out the doors.  We had drifts piled up against the garage.

The day started off well.  Both girls woke up smiling and marveled at the snow.  Madison helped me make waffles, and we all ate together.  Adam was sore and hadn't slept well, but he planned to go outside anyway to attempt to dig out his car and touch up the areas our neighbor plowed.

My plan was to do a few more activities today - I was super smart and split our fun snowbound activities into two days!  I figured we'd make some more rainbow rice, we'd build a fort with blankets and read some books, we'd have a dance party, and of course, we'd play outside.

Well somehow, I ended up with this weird heartburn/pulled muscle feeling on my left side.  Of course, when I couldn't kill it with Pepcid and couldn't figure out where or when I pulled it, when Adam jokingly said "tell don't tell me you're having a heart attack" my first thought was Oh God, I'm not, right????

Mom: No, I am not having a heart attack.  I even checked my pulse.  I'm fine.  I'm fairly confident it's a pulled muscle.  But February is a month when all the magazines talk about women having heart attacks who were young, and risk free, and didn't recognize the symptoms, and it made me paranoid.  Especially since we're snowed in.

Well, even though my threat of a heart attack seems to have passed, I still had an unsettling pain, and I was pretty thrown by it.  Adam was also still recovering from his fall last night, so he wasn't happy either.  The girls sensed that we weren't operating at full strength and went into super clingy/whiny mode.  Madison didn't want to make rice.  She didn't want to play play-doh.  She freaked out when we tipped her chair over to make a fort. 

She wanted to watch Rapunzel.  While reading Green Eggs and Ham 2 or 3 or 47 times. 

This is currently the favorite book.  She recites it right along with us.

So we did.

After the movie both girls were absolutely stir crazy.  Tearing around the house, tipping over their chairs (sure, NOW Madison didn't have an issue with it), shutting themselves in the bathroom.  Adam was outside shoveling, I was still trying to figure out what was going on with my muscle, and I was in no mood to start an activity.  I fed them lunch, and both ended up crying halfway through, begging for their naps.

They took nice long naps, which I appreciated.  I figured I should get outside and help out with the snow removal.  We have a snowblower, but we were having some issues with it, so we were attempting to dig out Adam's car the old fashioned way.  Just as we were speculating when our neighbor would be around, we heard him approaching on his tractor.

We found the car!

Digging a path so we could dig out the car.  So our neighbor wouldn't hit it with the tractor.  I love New England.

His tractor.  Because the snow was too deep for his plow. 

We did get our driveway done, but our neighbor told us that we'd be staying in, because our street was (and still is as of the writing of this post) completely untouched.

Once the girls were awake, we tried to get them outside.  They had a driveway to play in, and could marvel at the walls of snow.

We took 20 minutes to bundle them up, and went out.  The wind blew the powdery snow into their faces and both girls immediately demanded to be taken back inside.  Madison hates the wind.  Hates it.  Whenever we're outside and it's windy she freaks out because her hair moves.  When we're crossing a parking lot and a breeze blows, she yells at me to "hurry, hurry" and once we're inside says "PHEW.  The wind didn't see us".  So I guess we should have anticipated she wouldn't enjoy being outside today.  Reagan isn't as bothered by the wind, but she has a really hard time moving in her snowsuit, which isn't meant for walkers.  So I think she feels stuck.  She can't move where she wants to as fast as she wants to.

So we took both girls back inside, got them unbundled, and they watched some Kai Lan while I cooked dinner.

To Recap:

Snow Day One: Picturesque, wholesome, learning based playtime, and family fun.

Snow Day Two: Record amounts of snow, lots of TV, and crankiness.

Tomorrow looks like it'll be Day Three, since our road isn't plowed (and according to the town website, is definitely not a priority to them), church has already been canceled, and I don't think we're going anywhere.  Maybe I'll look at that as a blessing and we'll try to round out our snowbound weekend with wholesome family fun.

Or maybe we'll spend the day with Sofia, Kai Lan, and Rapunzel.

Or maybe both!  The girls are happy, I'm happy, and I think that's the best we can hope for!