First Haircuts

Coco had her first haircut this week. She doesn’t have all that much hair, but what she has was, in her words, “a hot mess”. I wonder where she learned that?

I think first haircuts strike fear and sadness in the hearts of most mothers. Sadness because the baby is growing up so quickly. Fear because you don’t know how the child is going to react when the scissor appears in the stylist’s hand. Luckily for Coco (and I) she has been watching her brothers happily get their hair cut for the last two years.

Here’s Vincent’s first haircut at 23 months.

And Franklin at 18 months. He has always had the best hair in the family.

Coco choose to sit in the big kid seat- no cars for her. Apparently she didn’t get the memo that explains why parents fork out $20 for a two-year-old’s haircut- so they can get a cute photo in the car. So sad for me!

She did, however, choose to watch Dora the Explorer.

Wendy cut her hair. We only get haircuts when we can get an appointment with Wendy. This may seem silly, but Franklin got a very bad cut once when Wendy wasn’t available. Luckily Wendy fixed it the next day. Wendy is five months pregnant. You better believe we will get haircuts before she goes on maternity leave.

Coco received a nice blow out and style. I was envious.

When we were leaving Wendy commented that she didn’t look as much like a baby anymore, to which Colette said, “I’m not a baby, I’m Coco.”

She’s not a baby, she’s my Coco.

Choosing Happiness

I was asked recently why Mom’s for Xanax is so happy. I took offense to that comment, because it seemed that “happy” was used in such an artificial, saccharine way. I don’t really view it as a “happy blog”. I think it is more of a chronicle of our growing family with some of my random thoughts thrown in here and there. The intent is certainly not to blow sunshine up anyone’s behind. I fully recognize that life is not always rainbows and lollipops.

There is a lot of crappy stuff lurking around that I could blog about. The economy in general, and the housing market in particular, are a wreck. The downfall of a moral society can be witnessed daily by watching Jersey Shore. What is the deal with gas prices? My three beautiful children are not perfect, in fact sometimes they can act pretty ugly. Laundry is not filling my soul with joy, and don’t get me started on diaper changing.

Sometimes the only thing I have control over is my attitude, so I choose to be happy. Choosing happiness isn’t always easy. It feels good to vent and complain and be generally morose. And there are always people who are willing to bitch with you. But in the end, this whining and complaining and yuckiness get you nowhere. It lingers in your affect making you bitter and no fun to be around.

So when I want to be a complete hag here are some things I do to choose happiness. Maybe some will work for you:

Do something as soon as you wake up in the morning that makes you happy.  For me it is a cup of coffee. Maybe it is going to the gym, or praying, or calling your mom.

Do something nice for others. Make it a habit. They may not appreciate it at first (or ever), but you are setting an example for the people around you. I have a list of ideas here if you need inspiration.

Ditch the negativity. It can be as simple as turning off the television when the news is bringing you down or not engaging in a conversation that will cause needless anxiety. On the other hand, it can be hard to cut out negativity when it is a person in your life that is causing it. Is it time to reevaluate friendships and other relationships that are draining you?

Count your blessings, especially the small ones. We can easily take the big stuff like our health and family for granted, but the small things are reasons for happiness too. Sleeping well at night, a vacuumed floor, opening the mailbox and not finding a bill are all small things that can provide a touch of happiness to your day.

Turn a negative into a positive. Doing that laundry means my children have clothing to wear. Dirty dishes in the sink are a result of a home cooked meal. Patrick’s late night work call means he is still contributing value to his workplace. Is an overbooked social schedule really a bad thing? It means you have friends!

Finally, remember that this too shall pass- whether it is a headache, a really bad week, or eventually...hopefully...the crappy housing market.

Patrick turned 40 last Friday. The kids and I ventured out in the rain to stuff his car full of helium balloons while he was at work. Laughing and pulling a trick on daddy’s birthday made the kids happy. Thinking of Patrick trying to get in the car made me happy. Driving home with the balloons so the kids could have them (I would have released those suckers) made Patrick happy. Sometimes it's the little things that create happiness.

Am I happy 24/7? No. Unfortunately Patrick often gets an earful when I have had a particularly long day. But in general, I choose happiness in life and in my blog.

Moe the Spider

In the spirit of Halloween, and all things creepy, I would like to share with you an ongoing obsession in our house- SPIDERS.

The mere mention of spiders sends Patrick running to the other room. It is quite comical. He hates them- all 6’5”, 225-pounds of grown man is, dare I say, AFRAID of spiders.

The boys on the other hand adore all things arachnid. When we visited our family in Boulder this summer we made a trip to the Butterfly Pavilion.

There, in addition to an amazing butterfly habitat, which you could stroll around, was a fantastic insect room. It was full of ants and bees and SPIDERS!

Here is Franklin, my brave boy, holding Rosy the Tarantula.

And our family’s personal favorite, the Black Widow. Patrick mumbled something about it reminding him of me. I pretended not to hear, but a woman never forgets.

Colette shares her father’s distain for the live ones.

Pretending to be spiders in a “spider web”.

The boy’s obsession extends to pretend spiders as well.

Meet Moe, the squishy black Target dollar bin finger puppet.

A few hours after he became a member of our family he was lost somewhere in the house. The boys were beside themselves with worry. I reassured them that he was around somewhere. I was forced to eye Snoop’s poop for Moe’s remains. Everyday they asked if I had found Moe yet. It became a part time job. Two weeks later, Moe was found shoved between Franklin’s headboard and mattress. The children rejoiced. Angels sang. If only I had changed the sheets sooner the reunion would not have taken so long!

Since Moe’s “return” the boys have decided to keep him in a box with the rest of his spider family, were he will never be lost again. The box also houses Meanie, his mother. I’m not sure when we will have a Eanie and Miney, but there is a warm bed consisting of a washcloth waiting for them. And we love our yarn spiders as much as the others.

Spiders- they make Hexbugs look so cuddly!

Have a Safe and Happy Halloween!

Celebrating and Recovering

We just came off what might be the busiest three weeks of my life. It included lots of school activities and commitments, a traveling husband, a visiting uncle, the half marathon, Vincent and Coco’s birthdays and parties, and Patrick’s early birthday getaway. Throw in getting ready for Halloween and doctors appointments, soccer, swim lessons, and all the day-to-day stuff, and I’m not going lie, that Xanax prescription looked pretty damn tempting!

I did a lot of it to myself. Growing up birthdays were a big deal in my family, and I have promised myself that I will do the same for my kids. It would be more manageable if each child had their own birthday month, but with two kids sharing a birthday week, it is hard! I want them both to feel special. I don’t want either to feel slighted because their birthdays are within three days of each other.

Vincent turned five this year. Where has the time gone? Was it only five years ago that I could nap whenever I wanted and sleep in on the weekends?

We celebrated his birthday with cupcakes and presents and his favorite meal.

He had a birthday celebration at school, complete with fruit kabobs and marshmallow pops.

Legos and Hex Bugs were a huge hit this year. Franklin was excited too.

Colette turned two, three days later. She is such a sweet girl, my baby.

Colette got a cake and presents.

She loves her babies, and princesses and Dora, and Scooby Doo.

We finished the week with a joint party, something I don’t think I will be able to get away with forever, but Vincent happily agreed to this year. We are blessed to have such amazing friends and an awesome school community.

I love my little Libras, both born on Wednesdays. They are kind and loving and concerned for others. They are helpful and obedient. Vincent is a pleaser and a perfectionist, which can cause him frustration. Coco is fastidious and girly. As Coco gets older I see so much of Vincent in her. They both ask for permission to do things and say sorry and please and thank you without being prompted. I would like to say that this is the product of brilliant parenting and take full credit for their awesomeness, but then there is Franklin who totally shoots the nurture theory to you-know-where. Franklin is awesome too, just in different ways!

So, happy birthday to my oldest and my youngest. Mommy and daddy love you and are so proud of the children you are becoming.

Will someone please remind me about October in June? I need a lot of time to get ready.

Good Pickin'

For the last few years I have been wanting to take the kids apple picking. It seems like there was always something that prohibited it. Last year we were getting ready for the kids’ Godmother’s wedding. I’m sure those apostrophes are all wrong. I apologize to the grammar police out there. The year before that Colette was an infant. This year I found only one weekend day from September thru November where nothing was planned, therefore I had no excuses.

With super hero movies in the DVD player, we headed about 2 hours southeast to Julian, which by Southern California standards, is apple country.

After careful research (we Yelped it- duh), we decided on two orchards to visit.

The first was Raven Hill Orchards. The orchard is run by Irish brothers, complete with heavy accents, and they have 7 varieties of dwarf apple trees- perfect for the kids to reach. The end of the rows are marked with the varietals, but the owner told us the best thing to do was eat the fruit off the trees to decide what we wanted.

Vincent reminded me that his favorite apples are Fujis, so we started our search.

We often forgot to look at the end markers, so we took the owners advice and ate as we went.

And ate.
And ate. About 45 minutes into our picking, Vinny bit into an apple and declared it a Fuji. I gave Patrick a skeptical glance, but when we got to the row marker, sure enough, it was a Fuji! The kid knows his apples!

Franklin had fun running up and down the rows.

We picked Empires and Pippins, McIntoshs and Fujis. I think each child consumed five apples in the hour we spent roaming around. Patrick and I ate a few too. It would have been rude not to.

Our second stop was O’Dell’s Organic Orchard where we got to pick pears. Tasting was not encouraged, but the kids did it anyways. I have to admit that after the apple tasting it was hard to tell the kids not to sample the fruit. So I joined in. We decided the uglier the fruit the better it tasted. We then sought out the lumpiest, most multicolored pears we could find. We picked Bartletts, Anjous, and Boscs. The orchard also has chickens and horses, and farm equipment.

We went for BBQ for lunch. It was good, but living in the South for a few years has ruined all hopes I have of finding decent BBQ in CA. A big shout out to Gary’s in China Grove, NC and to Kelly and Scotty for introducing us to it. We miss you guys.

On the way out of town we stopped at the Julian Pie Company to pick up a whole dutch apple to go. At this point in the day I had 14 pounds of apples in the car, and could have baked my own pie, but I was tired like to support the local economy. It was the right thing to do.

When we got home I told the kids we were having pie and ice cream for dinner. They didn’t believe me until it showed up on their dinner plate. It was declared the best dinner ever. Fitting for the best family day ever.

Now what am I going to do with 20 lbs of fresh apples and pears?

Wisdom Teeth, Tomato Soup and Tyler Florence

As I told you last week, we have had a lot of dental appointments this September. My poor sweet husband had the unpleasant one. Patrick had four wisdon teeth removed. He also had a molar removed, which was cracked due to the wisdom teeth. Then there was a bone graph...because of the lost molar...due to the wisdom teeth. It is a vicious cycle. Anyways, the poor guy has had it rough the past week. His jaw is still sore and the bland diet he has been adhering to is boring. I bet he is dreaming of me Doritos at night.

In other September news, our tomato plants are still insane. It has gotten to the point that I cannot use the tomatoes fast enough. We have given them to friends, piled them on salads, topped tacos, added them to pasta and quinoa, made fresh salsa and guacamole and Sweet Corn and Tomato Salad.

Given Patrick’s current state and our out of control garden, I figured it was time to call in the big guns- enter the Barefoot Contessa.

Are you familiar with the Barefoot Contessa? Her real name is Ina Garten and she is a cookbook author and TV host on the Food Network. I’m going to keep it real here and admit that she kind of creeps me out. She has been married to her husband Jeffery for over 40 years. She speaks very fondly of him on the show...often and in a weird way. Then at the end of most of the episodes he shows up to eat. The whole thing gives me the willies. If you have seen the show you might know what I’m talking about...or maybe it’s just me.

Anyways, she has a couple things going for her.

First, I have never tried one of her recipes that I didn’t want to make again, and again.

Second, and more importantly, she is NOT skinny. This is good because I do not trust a skinny food professional. Paula Dean, Emeril Lagassee, Mario Batali and Ina Garten could all stand to drop a few lbs, but as food professionals it is necessary for them to maintain a certain weight for credibility.

And a quick shout-out to Tyler Florence...you are perfect just the way you are!

photo credit: Jeffery Ufberg

PERFECT!

I made Patrick this Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup from Ina Garten this weekend. It did not disappoint. Vincent ate a whole bowl of it and sopped up what he couldn’t spoon with sourdough bread.

Colette fell asleep at the table after eating hers. This alone merits my praise- it’s like a lullaby in a bowl!

Patrick got a nice reprieve from yogurt and applesauce, and the garden is four-pounds-of-tomatoes lighter. Perfect.

photo credit: Southern Living Magazine

PERFECT!!!

Adventures in Dentistry

The kids had their dentist check-ups and cleanings this morning.

I DREAD taking the kids to the dentist. I have vivid memories of my childhood dentist. He was a horrible, wretched man. He had no bedside manner. He wouldn’t let my mom stay with me when I needed fillings- and I needed a number of them before turning 6. I remember biting his latex covered fingers-hard. It was my only defense. He died a few years later, at a pretty young age, in a horrific speedboat accident.

Luckily, my kids love their dentist’s office. The staff is patient, calm, and kind. The kids all sit lined up in their chairs, in the same room where they can see each other and me. They watch cartoons while their teeth are being cleaned. They get to pick out a toy when it is all over.

Sweet, sweet Vincent. He is such a trooper! He has already had some extensive dental work done- most of it before he turned four years old. I felt terrible and cried for days when I learned the state of his teeth. I brushed and flossed him everyday since the time those teeth had come in. I never put him to bed with a bottle- in fact he stopped using a bottle when he was 16 months old. Juice was an occasional treat. Where had we gone wrong?

It turns out that it is a combination of genetics (my contribution, not Patrick’s) and a compromised immune system his first year of life (due to his bad kidney) that left his teeth weaker than most. It couldn’t happen to a nicer kid, who still remains cooperative at night when we brush- and we brush a lot... with prescription toothpaste. We had a good report today. Nothing needs to be done. I feel like we have dodged a bullet.

Then there is Franklin. While Vinny tells me when it is my turn to brush and wants his teeth flossed, Frank turns and runs the other way. I struggle with him every night. Of course, his teeth are perfect. Go figure.

And Colette. We are still waiting on her last molars to come in, which is fine because there is lots of room in there. Her teeth are looking more like Franklin’s than Vincent’s, without Franklin’s overbite. Third times the charm, I guess.

We have a really fantastic dentist, but I’m happy not to see him for another 6 months.

I hope he is not a boater.