http://www.blogger.com/html?blogID=1755139666841541603 about a dream: November 2008

Monday, November 24, 2008

our weekend in virginia




Here are the 5 members of the kelly family. this photo was taken right after lyla was baptised, a rather hasty affair as the priest didn't know about it and was on his way out the door for a funeral. at least he hadn't left yet! i don't know what happened, but he said the secretary told him there were no baptisms today, so there must have been some miscommunication. all's well that ends well though, and with 5 kids aged 3 and under, short was good.

so, here's a quick recap: we left on thursday at 7 pm and the girls promptly fell asleep. before we even left queens. the plan worked! unfortunately, we arrived at midnight and the girls woke up. we were all up for about an hour, then it took another half hour to settle everyone to sleep. waking up at 6 friday morning made for a tired mommy. tired mommy started to feel sick on friday--first just a few sneezes, then the itchy nose, throat, and eyes. i told myself i was probably allergic to the dog or cat, but by friday night i knew it was a cold. oh well. maggie got it too but we seem to be recovering quickly.

the girls played all day on friday and had a great time. saturday was the christening (10:30 to 10:45), then we took some pictures and went home for lunch. party lasted until we put the girls to bed.

sunday we had breakfast with the kellys and then drove into DC to see leigh and jim. the plan was to take the girls to the museum of natural history, but maggie and i were not up for it so we just had lunch at their place. still, we got to drive by the washington monument and the white house ("look!" we said to nina,"that's where the president lives!" "mitt romney?" she said. "no!" i said. "barack obama is the new president" i'm not making this up! she's really a mitt supporter i guess. "a rock obama?was her reply. "maybe mitt romney will be elected next time," i told her. i didn't add that he's a mormon and grandma give him no chance of getting elected. because who knows, right? if we can elect a black man, maybe we can elect a mormon.)

we left leigh and jim's at about 2 and the girls were out like lights before 2:30. maggie slept until 5:30 when we stopped for dinner. it was miraculous. nina slept for almost 2 hours and then occupied herself. we got back on the road at 6:30, maybe 6:45 and were home at 8 on the nose.

so, we had a great time! i can't believe we're heading out to stoughton tomorrow, hopefully maggie and i are much better by then. i was sick last thanksgiving and really want to enjoy this one.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

christmas list!

it's almost that time of year! i thought i'd put nina's christmas wish list up here instead of emailing it out.

first, the girls measurements:

NINA
height: 40 in/102 cm
weight: 32 lbs/14.5 kg
chest: 20 in/50 cm
waist: 19 in/48 cm
hips: 19.5 in/49 cm
shoe size: 10 or 10.5, but her feet grow rapidly

MAGGIE
height: 28 in/71 cm
weight: 19 lbs/8.5 kg
chest: 18 in/45 cm
shoe size: her foot is 4.25 in/12 cm, i don't know what size this corresponds to

now the fun stuff!

NINA
we went to toys r us to pick out toys for sarah davidson's girls. i wrote down all of the things that nina ran to and asked for. here they are:
tinkerbell doll (barbie-ish kind)
baby doll (but we really have enough of these!)
cash register that makes noise
little chair (plush)
foam sticker letters (there was a whole section of foam sticker craft stuff that nina liked. she likes anything crafty--stamps, stickers, glue, glitter, paint, paper... everything)
new playdough
wagon (big enough to pull kids. i don't know about this... it's big and i'm not sure how often i envision myself pulling them up the road there in maine or around the streets of NY)
animal figurines. she loved the bottle of bugs/animals that ethan has in KC.

here are some other things she could use:
rain boots (i'm thinking a big size, like 11 or 11.5, because i could put on heavy socks and use them as winter boots, and then in the spring as rain boots)
her own luggage (with a handle to pull and wheels!!)

she is pretty set with clothes. she will be needing some 5T pants soon, but i don't think they'll fit until spring or even summer, so we might not end up using them until fall. so i'm thinking of waiting on pants until the next big growth spurt.


MAGGIE:
mom is checking the clothing stash we have in maine to see what might fit maggie. right now she's in size 12-18 months. she's set for the winter with the exception of baby winter boots. what i'd really like are warm, fuzzy boots that don't have hard soles (because those are impossible to get on little babies). maybe i'll just put nina's old boots on her, i'm not sure... but if you see anything like this for cheap, i'd like it. i think she'd be a size small.
she likes toys with flashing lights that make noise. nina didn't, so we actually don't have too many of these.
other than that, maggie has everything she needs.

i'll update if there's anything else i can think of. last christmas was kind of crazy, so mom one gift is enough!!

ok, more when i think of it! oh, nick and i are doing great, except nick wants new pj pants (vanessa and micah, he's counting on you!), and i want an electric pencil sharpener (mom) and a meat thermometer (oma!) and really that's all!!!!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

questions, questions, questions...

the connie stevens episode of the muppet show (which is, incidentally, episode 2, season 1) has been freezing on lydia lately. since lydia comes before the connie stevens spot, we haven't been able to watch "teenager in love" without a great deal of trouble. thankfully, it's on youtube. we were so grateful to have found it again that we watched it a few hundred times in the past few days. (we would be me, nina, and maggie, who doesn't like to miss a thing).

in case you don't know the lyrics by heart, it starts like this:

each time we have a quarrel
it almost breaks my heart
'cause i am so afraid
that we will have to part.

each night i ask the stars up above
why must i be a teenager in love?


looks simple enough to you and me, right? well, there is a world of new ideas in there for a three-year-old. here are some of the questions i've fielded today:

why is she afraid?
why is she in love?
she's not really afraid though is she?
what's a boyfriend?
why does she have a boyfriend?
but her heart doesn't really break right?
why is she afraid they will break apart?
what does break apart mean?
why does she have a quarrel?

man!! i don't know why she has a boyfriend! don't go getting any ideas my friend, i know you have at least 2 little boyfriends at preschool already!!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

the new cabinets




here they are!

and one of the both of them

move over connie stevens



each night i ask the stars up above
why must i be a teenager in love?


there is nothing cuter than a three year old singing "why must i be a teenager in love?"

Saturday, November 15, 2008

nina learns a lot of songs at preschool

you all remember the farmer in the dell, right? nina must have learned it in preschool and has been singing it lately. it goes like this:

the farmer in the bowl
the farmer in the bowl
hi ho delario
the farmer in the bowl


i tried to correct her lyrics but she's having none of that. "no, it's hi ho de-LAR-ee-oo!"

ok ma'am!

Friday, November 14, 2008

we have new cabinets!!!!!!

i will put up a picture as soon as i can, but george's guys (george is the twins' papa, lives across the hall from us and does cabinetry/furniture building) put them in yesterday. it only took a few hours and they are soooooooo beautiful! YAY!!!!!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

politics, politics, politics





i was reading an article online the other day, and there was a picture of barack obama with it. of course, nina asked questions:

nina: who's that?
me: that's the new president of our country.
nina: mitt romney?

HA!

saw maggie's pediatrician yesterday...

...and got a referral to the cranio-facial specialist. she said she can see the asymmetry in her head and face, but that her face looks so mildly asymmetrical that it looks normal to her. because she is a resident, dr. russo works with this guy at the hospital a few times a month and she thinks he's great. she said he'll just give maggie's head a feel and let us know what he thinks. she thinks maggie won't need a helmet, but said that all of the cases she's seen while working with this guy were really bad, so she doesn't know for sure what he'd think about a mild case like maggie's. maybe he'll be able to give us more pointers on how to help position to reshape her head without flattening out the other side too much.

also, she weighs 18.5 lbs. that's a big maggie! nina was about 15.5 at this age. she's a little bit taller than nina at this age, maybe half an inch or an inch. she's also sitting up very well, rolling in both directions, and starting to scoot a bit on her tummy.

oh, and her favorite food is cantaloupe.

Friday, November 7, 2008

maggie is amost a PT grad!

maggie has been doing fantastically during physical therapy. her neck muscles are almost even, and she only tilts her head when she's tired. so, we get to wait 8 weeks before the next PT session. hooray maggie!

we're going to work on strengthening both sides of her body during the 8 weeks, and will continue daily stretching at home, but she doesn't have to meet with the therapist, which is great for me because it's a hassle to drive to the hospital for PT once a week.

in helmet news, we'll be meeting with her pediatrician on monday, so i'll update then. i did see online that fullness in one cheek is also a sign of facial asymmetry, and she has that, so i'm feeling more certain that we will do a helmet. but, we'll see what the specialists say.

Food funniness

on wednesday night i made crepes for dinner. i filled them with leftover chicken and cheddar cheese sauce. nina liked them, but was a little confused by the word "crepe." she thought they were crab and kept calling them crabs. we told her they were crepes with chicken, but she was confused.

this morning she was hungry. i asked her if she wanted some cheese and she said, "no, i want leftover crap."

HA!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

back home from kansas city

sorry for not updating while we were gone oma!

we had a fantastic time in kansas city. maggie did wonderfully on the plane, as did nina. we left early saturday morning and arrived around 10 am. we spent saturday hanging out with vanessa, micah, ethan, and mom and dad, and on sunday went to the science museum and lunch at the big train station. monday mom and dad left and we went shopping (i tried to find jeans, to no avail. but i did order some online today from old navy for only $20. the $20 jeans streak continues! featured in glamour magazine too!)

then flew home tuesday and had another easy flight.

today was my parent/teacher conference at nina's preschool. mrs. rickert, one of her teachers, had nothing but positive things to say. nina plays well, listens well, knows everything they try to teach the first year (colors, reading and spelling her name, etc) and apparently has never once given them even so much as a devilish look. she's still a little shy there, though, so maybe they'll see the dark side when she finishes coming out of her shell. next parent/teacher conferences are in march, so we'll see...

on the maggie front, we made an appointment to see her pediatrician on monday. dr. russo will evaluate the head shape and refer us on the the specialists at presbyterian if she thinks a helmet is a possibility. apparently they have a whole department of cranial-facial specialists that deal with this kind of thing.

maggie is continuing to say mama at me, so i think this might qualify as her first word. well, i guess second, she was saying hello. and one morning it sounded like she said "good morning" to us, but that only happened once... still, i'll take third, i was like, nina's 10th word. as long as i beat out nick this time, i'm happy. :-P