Bright spots

Some photos to make up for my whining...

Parker's birthday "party." We skyped with my parents and they watched the kids eat cake. Bedtime that night proved to be as difficult as hogtying an octopus. Sugar does a doozy on our kids! The rest of the pics are random from the last month...Oreo's antics, Madeleine's pirate face, Parker getting stuck in random places, Madeleine painting, and the kids sporting Messiah gear I picked up while visiting PA.

Little Miss Muffet

I hate it when things blindside you and turn life on it's head. After the last two weeks I'm way more compassionate towards little Ms. Muffet. That stinkin' spider! The nerve. Our spider has been in the form of a wicked cold that has turned our kids into stewing pots of germs. Madeleine's had it for a week, preventing her from attending the free H1N1 clinic last Friday that Justin took Parker to only to stand in the cold and rain for 4 hours waiting to be seen. No surprise his nose started running the next day. He can't sleep for longer than 3.5 hours at a time without waking up and that usually doesn't happen until after 3am. Before then he's constantly waking up crying. This has not helped Justin's and my attempts to stay healthy. One's body can only fight so hard when sleep comes in 45 minute chunks.

With the rivers of snot come mountains of laundry. I hate feeling coated in grossness at the end of the day so I'm constantly running a load of something that has just been slimed. Nasty.

Since a few weeks ago, Madeleine's been on a screaming kick whenever she finds something upsetting. Lately the upsetting item has been "loud" noises. I put that in quotes because I think she must either have a hearing problem or is just hyper-sensitive these days. She's also fighting sleep; she'd prefer to whine incessantly. Maybe this will move us more quickly towards the toddler bed. For now I'm thinking of investing in earplugs.

Then the jeep's clutch and heater core broke. Mildly inconvenient to our schedule; majorly inconvenient to our pocketbook.

Maggie's been chewing her leg raw so we bandaged it only to find her gnawing up higher above the wrap. Grrrr....

Did I mention we had almost an inch of snow on the ground this morning too?

Not my type of October. November has to be better, even though Justin ruined the surprise birthday party he was planning for me. No biggie...we had already planned on going to a redneck karaoke bar but nevertheless, he spilled the beans about the others who were going to be waiting for me there to yell "surprise." With that being said, I'm tempted to keep the porch light off this Saturday and stuff myself full of reeses, m&ms and skittles. Maybe it will help coat my sore throat...

A busy week

This past week was full of fun events which prevented us from celebrating Parker's birthday until Friday. First there was my final soccer game; I had a bunch of shots on goal and even got one in the net! I managed to play both the first and last games of the season...2 out of 5 isn't great but I still had a lot of fun. My quads held up pretty well although I'm spending the winter conditioning and strengthening them so I can play every game in the spring. We didn't get any action shots because it was really cold, dark and foggy but here I am after the game (first picture courtesy of Madeleine).

That was Wednesday night. Thursday night Madeleine and I had haircut appointments. This was Madeleine's first official haircut. I had trimmed her bangs a few times over the last 2.5 years but this was the real deal with Justin's and my hairdresser (I love saying that!) Katt. The fact that her name is Katt and she plays on my soccer team helped this go over really, really well. Unfortunately Madeleine lost it when Katt was using the blow dryer to help process my highlights because it was pretty loud, not to mention it was almost 7pm! So I got my hair colored but had to reschedule my cut for this coming week.

Before we left

In the big chair with her crazy locks.

Trimmed and pretty

I don't have any post-coloring pictures of me yet...just ones Madeleine took in the process so here is one more flattering picture of me :)

Happy birthday little monkey!

10 things I've learned over the last 12 months...

1. I know nothing about children

2. Just because your first kid sleeps through the night at 8 weeks doesn't mean your second will ever do so

3. Dog food, toilet paper, cat fur, hair ties, etc. can't hurt Parker's digestive system

4. Life does go on without ice cream and cheese

5. Chasing a half naked baby mid-way through changing their diaper can be the most frustrating and funny thing in the world

6. A sister is usually funnier than momma or daddy

7. We don't own enough toy cars or balls

8. Some babies will never, ever use a bottle

9. Weaning a baby is bittersweet

10. I never want another infant, although I'd go through it all over again with Parker

Happy birthday little monkey. We love you so much, even when you refuse to take your afternoon nap :)

Friends, family, and one really long day

I'm back in Missoula after an adventuresome weekend. JoAnn and I ended up carpooling to Spokane Friday because the 3 inches of snow and sheets of black ice on the roads spelled disaster our good ol' Jeep. That meant I'd have to rent a car one way to come back to Missoula but my life is worth it...I passed a car flipped over in the median on the interstate while driving 45mph trying not to slide all over with 40mph winds pushed the Jeep around like a kite. Not to mention I'd have a more comfortable ride both directions.

The trip to VA/PA was great. My dad picked me up at 7:45pm so I didn't get to spend much time with my folks as I got up at 6:45 Saturday to drive up to Pennsylvania. The purpose of the trip was to attend my college roommate Colleen's wedding!!! But fortunately my good friend and maid of honor from my wedding Amanda also lives in the area so I had breakfast with her (no pictures because we were too busy talking), drove over to Messiah to check out the campus,

grabbed Italian ice from my favorite off-campus eatery (so lucky for me...Saturday was the last day they were open for the season!), and headed to the wedding. Here are Colleen and Scott on their special day!

It was a lot of fun seeing people I hadn't seen since college and being back in that area at this time of year is very special because Justin and I got married in October in central PA. The changing colors of the trees and corn fields are something I miss dearly. And of course the beautiful sunsets!

I managed to also sneak in a visit with my grandma on the drive back to Virginia. She was gracious enough to let me drop in for an hour late in the evening. I love visiting her and her home...it was one of the only constants in my life growing up in a family that moved every few years. Fortunately she continues to thrive and even though she thinks she looks 150, I think she's still a beauty at 87!

I was chauffeured back to the airport by my dad early on Sunday for a very long day of flying. My flight from BWI to Salt Lake City was diverted to Chicago due to a fuel tank problem. Of course we had already passed Chicago when they announced this! After arriving, I was put on a flight to Reno which first landed in Boise and then continued to Spokane. That gave me a little time in the Reno airport to fix my car rental situation. Hertz said they didn't have my reservation and were going to charge me double what I had agreed to pay the night before so I contacted Kevin at the Hertz desk in Spokane and he took great care of me. He even got me a better price than I had originally found! Needless to say, after 5 take-offs and landings, I was eager to be on the ground although the 3 hour drive back to Missoula at 9pm through the mountains wasn't my favorite part. Fortunately no animals crossed my path and I kept a good pace. Yesterday was a fun day with Justin and the kids and for the moment, life is back to normal. Tomorrow is Parker's 1-year birthday and our 5-year wedding anniversary is this weekend but it's also the last weekend of archery hunting so it looks like we'll order out Chinese to celebrate. There's always something going on with us it seems :)

Flying solo

Justin's mom JoAnn has been visiting us this past week and she and I both drive to Spokane tomorrow morning to fly out...she's headed back to PA and I'm going to VA for a wedding. Be back with pictures next week :)

Changes

Parker's weaned and Madeleine now sleeps with a blanket on her. It only took two nights of really chilly air for her to decide she'd be okay with an "intruder" in her crib as long as it helps to keep her warm :)