Our life in a list

• My parents are in France, and I'm so jealous. I also sent them with a rather large shopping list, and I'm feeling a bit guilty about that. But then I remembered that I forgot to ask for Madelines! What is wrong with me. I am a francophile I guess.
• Me + Tylenol with Codeine + not being able to eat = bad bad idea. I haven't felt so sick since I was pregnant with Aimee. And it renewed my zeal for staying un-pregnant. Not that it had waned.
• If you know of a way to get Katie to go poop in the potty, I will marry you. Well, I guess not marry, but I will be eternally grateful. That girl can pee in the potty all day with very few accidents, but she poops in her underwear nearly every single day, and I might go insane if I have to rinse out another pair of those disgusting things. Pull ups are too expensive, so she's back in diapers today, I couldn't do it. I must have had a revelation, because she just pooped in her diaper.
  
• Being a mom is about a billion times harder than I thought. I thought it would be so fun all the time. It is sometimes fun, but mostly hard for me. I am envious of people who have lots of kids, or even the same amount as me, and are completely sane. I am right on the edge.
• Aimee nods and says "uh huh!" when you figure out what she wants. It's so cute. She loves peek-a-boo too, its her favorite. She also gives hugs and kisses now, and I will not lie, I LOVE it.
  
• Katie loves to help me, and while it pains me to let her help sometimes I do it because she is just so proud of herself.
  

The New List!

I figured I should finally do this, since I'm going to do one of the things tonight.

25 things to do before I turn 26

1. Paint a wall a color I really like
2. Work on meal planning
3. Start Monday list-day
4. Exercise at least once a week
5. Only eat junk food on "free days"
6. Finish my swatch portrait wall
7. Read 15 books
8. Knit Katie legwarmers
9. Knit Aimee a hat
10. Take the girls to the coast
11. Do a special thing with Katie each month
12. Go swimming
13. Take a class at PCC
14. Go to a concert
15. Do not cut my own hair (except bangs)
16. Start learning french
17. Start learning sign language
18. Use more manual settings on my camera
19. Cover light over the table
20. Get to church on time
21. Keep the house cleaner
22. Fold and put away laundry as soon as it's done (or at least on the same day)
23. Take the girls outside more when the weather is nice
24. Go to sleep and wake up earlier
25. Eat more fruit

I'm excited to get started!

Sooooo funny part II

Last night Jon and I watched 30 rock, and then President Obama on Jay Leno, and I don't think I've ever laughed so hard. I missed about a minute of the interview because I was laughing so hard. You really should watch the whole episode of 30 rock, it is hilarious, but if not, here is a clip:
30 rock clip
You actually only have to watch 1min 30 sec or so of the two minute clip, you have time.
Then, watch the President HERE, and you only have to watch the first minute and a half of this too.
You can even skip ahead to the one minute mark and watch from there.
Honestly, 2 minutes of your time.
And you will thank me.
Or not, your choice.

Funnies

Did you call newspaper comics the funnies growing up? That seems like such a weird name now, but when I was little that was what they were called. If you called them comics, I would have had no idea what you were talking about. It's funny how when you're a kid, things are so absolute, and no amount of convincing can change your mind. I'm thinking of the time my dad told me cottage cheese was called college cheese. So I commenced calling it such, and my brother was so annoyed. Nothing he said, though, could change my mind. That still makes me laugh. And I love to laugh. So I will show you my recent funnies.

1.
Can you imagine looking down on your deck and seeing that? It makes me laugh every time I see it. Also I have a weird love for things that look like faces.

2. Esterday.
This is how Katie says yesterday. She also says esterweek and esternight. Example: Esternight I went to gramma's house. I love it.

3. This girl. Aimee is constantly making me laugh. She is honestly the funniest baby I know. And she loves to make us laugh. At least in between the temper tantrums. She's the kind that throws herself on the floor and often hits her head on something. But that cute face makes up for them.


4. I love love love this show. And I am a little in love with Alec Baldwin, in spite of the fact that I know he's a jerk. I don't care. He is hilarious. And I love hulu, because we can actually watch them.

24 things update

24 things to do before I turn 25
Completed are bold. Updated with commentary :)

1. Paint a wall a color I really love

2. Get my hair cut

3. Eat a Voodoo Doughnut

We went on my birthday, and it was really busy since they were having a wedding. A wedding! At a donut shop! They didn't have the ones Jon and I really wanted, so we will be going back to get them.

4. Buy something from Etsy

My picture I love, and I got it in a frame too!

5. Read 5 non-fiction books

Potty Train your kid in one day, A room of one's own, Apartment Therapy,

6. Read a book each day to Katie

This is an average one. I think there were a few days I didn't read her one, but I usually do at least 2, so it all evens out.

7. Find a new band I love

Sam Philips. She is awesome. Look her up.

8. Do a photo shoot with someone other than a relative or friend

9. Do the Apartment Therapy 8 step home cure

I read the book, but it was a very involved process I just don't have time (or money) for now.

10. Make a piece of art to hang on our walls

11. Frame a picture Katie painted

12. Print off pictures of the girls

13. Send Christmas cards out before Christmas

14. Take the girls for a walk once a week

15. Recover dining chairs

16. Get out the advent calendar before December 1^st

17. Take the girls to the coast

I'm so sad, I ALMOST did this. It was nice at the coast too.

18. Go downtown and look at the lights

19. Make a pillow cover (knit or crochet)

20. Send thank you notes for all gifts received

I did do some, which is an improvement. I am grateful, it's just so hard to buy stamps. I'm not kidding.

21. Go to a concert

22. Make bread once a month

So glad I put this on here, since it made me get out my bread machine. I haven't put it away since, and I've been making almost all my bread now. It's not as good as my mom's or Jon's mom's, but I like that I know exactly what's in it, and it's usually 1/2 wheat. And it's pretty good.

23. Learn how to make my favorite Thai food

Coconut Lime soup, check. Yellow curry, not so much. I bought yellow curry paste, and it was so gross. So I think I need to make a trip to the Asian market and get some good stuff. I guess Winco isn't good for everything.

24. Start the couch to 5k

I always try to do this, and it never happens. I just don't have that much time to myself while it's still light outside.


Well I did half, I guess that's not bad since I only had about 4 months. I'm working on this years list now!

I did it!

Thanks for all your support and encouragement, I did it! And I ate donuts, cake, and ice cream today, and probably undid all my hard work :) But what can I say, it's my birthday.

I didn't get all my stuff done on my list, but I'm glad I did at least some of them. I'll update and tell you which ones I did, and make a new list too! Soon.

But not now because I'm tired. And a cold caught me.

Thanks everyone! Goodnight!

Some days are hard

There was nothing terrible about today, it was just a hard one. Here are some contributing factors:

• Aimee was fussy. She's been having a lot of cranky days recently, and crying gets old really fast.
• The kids keep waking up earlier. I stayed up late last night and folded like 10 loads of laundry. I am so tired.
  
• Katie drew on every dress in my closet with chalk.
• I made coconut lime soup, and the coconut milk had a weird texture.
• Katie is getting a cold, which means Aimee is getting a cold too.
  
• This has been the hardest day to not eat sugar yet.

See, nothing bad, but together it makes for a long day.

The good that made it okay:

• Aimee makes the cutest faces. And she's starting to talk.
  
• Katie likes to "help" It's sometimes less than helpful, but its cute.
• I've lost a couple pounds the last few weeks.
• Canned fruit.
• The thought that on Saturday I'm going to eat a huge piece of texas sheet cake.

So that, in a nutshell, was my day. Minus the diaper changes, but you REALLY don't want to know about those.

Oh ice cream sandwiches, how I miss you.

Every evening, after being so good the whole day, I nearly die of ice cream sandwich cravings. I didn't even know I liked them that much. I thought I would miss nerds and e.l.fudge. But no, it's those skinny cow ice cream sandwiches. Which is even worse, because they're not that bad for you! But every time I open the freezer the practically jump out at me. Like this.
But I can't get rid of them. I can't throw them away, and I can't make Jon eat them, because I WANT TO EAT THEM!!!

It's going pretty well I think.

So in honor of my birthday coming up (the one where I turn a quarter of a century old) I decided to give myself a gift. And I decided that it should start the first of February, and conclude on my birthday. Then I tried to figure out what I wanted to do. I had lots of ideas, and it was hard to decide, but I finally picked:
21 days with no sugary treats.
Now you may think, oh that's easy. Well maybe for you. This, to me, is like saying, go without air for 21 days. I kind of thought it was impossible. But I went all day yesterday and today, so I'm feeling hopeful. I'm kind of wondering why I chose something to make my life harder as my present to myself, but I think I need it. I would consume about 5 people's daily allotment of treats in a couple hours, on a daily basis.
I also had a hard time deciding what counts and what doesn't. Yogurt, muffins and popsicles were debated (with the ever supportive and patient Jon) and we decided yogurt- yes, other two- no. Unless I make my own popsicles with fruit juice. Because juice is allowed.
So wish me luck, and hopefully I will survive. I am planning on having the world's largest piece of cake on my birthday to celebrate! Then I hope to go back to eating like a normal person.

Hat

The kiddos are sick. Still. They have huge fevers that won't go away and weird green stuff coming out of their eyes. Aimee has been sick for a week. I was sick before that. So I am lacking in social situations. I'm not super social, but I discovered I am not anti-social. I really don't want anyone to get either my or my girls' awful sicknesses, but I am bored. And Netflix is sending us boy movies. Except The Duchess, which made me cry for an hour afterward, and I am hereby striking from my memory. Done. Still bored.

Anyway, there was a baby shower today that I was going to go to, but couldn't because I am a non germ-spreader. But the day before I still had hopes of going, so I set about thinking of a gift. And I decided a knitted hat was in the realm of possibilities. So I started, and I had to alter the pattern a bit to make it smaller. Well, I started in, and I keep thinking, this looks a little big. But being the lazy knitter I am, I kept going. Because if I had to redo, I wouldn't do it. But I still had hopes it would fit a baby. In the early stages it looked like it wouldn't fit on Aimee's head. In the later stages, it turned into this:
That's right, Katie is now the proud owner of a new hat. I was trying to make a NEWBORN hat! I am knitting-retarded. It's the same as baking- I think hey, I'll just do this instead, and this too! But not that, that's too much work. And I end up with something completely different. In cooking, this works for me. In baking and knitting- (and probably life) not so much. So I thought of a Ratatouille quote, "No! It was his job to be unexpected! It is your job to follow the recipe!"
Then I spent a while thinking of which life would turn out better, being unexpected, or always following the recipe. I decided my way is more fun. I kind of like it when I open cupboard and things fall out. And I will have disasters, but I will also have moments that are unanticipated and amazing. And cute. Look at that hat.