Behind the Scenes

If you had happened to walk by our neighborhood park today, you would have seen me playing with Laurel and carrying Brynna in a sling. I might have looked like one of those hip, have it altogether moms. Before you jump to any conclusions about my have-it-altogether-ness, let me give you a glimpse of the 40 minutes prior to that moment...

A friend called this morning to say they were going to the park, asking if we wanted to join them. I didn't have tons of energy (due to being sick), but I knew it would be good for Laurel to get outside and run around a bit. So, we made a plan to both leave our houses as soon as possible and meet there.

Laurel was already dressed, and I had just taken a shower. I got myself dressed. The easy part was done.

Then I got a snack ready.

Found Laurel's shoes and tried to hold her still long enough to get them on.

Start looking for Laurel's hat.

Filled water bottles, put sunscreen in the diaper bag.

Stocked the diaper bag with diapers. I took out Laurel's cloth diapers because she's in disposables until I get her covers washed (which won't happen until our washer is hooked up). Jon had told me he put disposables in the diaper bag the last time we went out, so I checked, and saw some disposables. Good to go.

Still looking for Laurel's hat.

Brynna was sleeping. Woke her up, changed her bum, put her down.

Can't find Laurel's hat.

Realize the diaper bag was out of wipes, so I grab the box from the change table.

Search upstairs, downstairs, outside. Can't find Laurel's hat.

Walk by Brynna and hear her completely fill her diaper. sigh.

Back to the change table, start to take her diaper off, and realize there are no longer wipes there. So, I take her to the living room, put her on the floor, and grab another thing of wipes that was nearby...only it's empty. Run to the basement for a new box of wipes. Back upstairs, sit down to change Brynna and realize the clean diapers are at the change table. Sigh.

Get Brynna's bum changed.

Call Jon as work to see if he knows where Laurel's hat is. He doesn't. But I assume it must be his fault that I can't find it.

Find a sun hat for Laurel that is really too small, but will have to do. Put it on her head, and send her into the back yard.

Put my shoes on.

Go outside to move the stroller to the backdoor and begin loading it. Discover that Laurel has taken her hat off and put it in her water table. I had dumped the water out earlier, but apparently I didn't get it all because the hat was now wet. Great.

Came inside. Banged my head against the wall. (over and over)

Picked up the diaper bag. There's Laurel's hat, sitting right under it.

Got Brynna, gear, and Laurel into the stroller. And we were off. Brynna is crying. And please imagine the above scene with the background music of Laurel asking me "why" every 2 minutes.

We get to the park. Our friends are there. This is fun.

Wait. Laurel has pooped and needs a diaper change. Brynna is crying and needs to be fed.

Get Laurel ready for her diaper change...only to discover that all of the disposables in the bag are actually Brynna's. I have enough diapers for Brynna to be gone until bedtime, but not one diaper for Laurel. I put one of Brynna's on Laurel, and sent her off to play, but quickly realized it wouldn't work. Luckily our friend had one that was a little more appropriate.

Get Brynna fed and into the sling.

And that's when you might have walked by and thought that I was a hip, have it altogether mom!

I won't even tell you about coming home, pulling the watermelon out of the fridge for lunch, having it bump a shelf on the door, the front of the shelf coming off and the bottles all crashing to the floor.

Laurel's Prayers

Our bedtime routine with Laurel is pretty simple. We read a few books, say prayers, and then she gets to choose what song we will sing as we leave her room. When we pray, I always ask her what we should thank God for. Every night for the past 4 or 5 months, we have the exact same dialogue. It goes like this:

Me: Laurel, what should we thank God for tonight?

Laurel: ABCDs

Me: Okay, we'll thank God for the ABCs. Anything else?

Laurel: Rory and Lisa

Me: Okay, we'll thank God for Rory and Lisa. Anything else?

Laurel: Jack and Jonas (the other half of Rory and Lisa)

Me: Okay, anything else?

Usually she doesn't say anything or she goes back through the list.

So, we thank God for the gift of language and the fun of learning, and we thank God for our friends. Every night we have this same exchange. Until last night. Last night Laurel switched it up a bit...

Me: What should we thank God for tonight?

Laurel: 1234

Me: Oh. 1234? Okay, we'll thank God for 1234. Anything else?

Laurel: Big books.

Me: Okay, big books. Anything else?

Laurel: Tiny books.

Me: Okay, tiny books. Anything else?

Laurel: Books. Big books. Tiny books.

So last night we thanked God for books of all sizes and for numbers. Children remind us to be thankful for the everyday things. They remind us that we don't have to wait for the big, impressive events to be thankful.

And speaking of Laurel's prayers...when my parents were here, each night before we ate supper, I would say to Laurel, "Who should pray tonight?" And every night, without fail, she would say, "Elmo." I love it!

Table

Here is a little table I made for Laurel for her birthday...

No, it wasn't from a kit...I bought the wood, cut it, built it, sanded it, painted it...

al-didi-telf (That's Laurel's way of saying "All by myself.")

What Will Probably Be My One and Only Hockey Blog. Ever.

I am not a hockey fan. In fact, Jon and I have a joke that if our kids ever start showing an interest in hockey, we're moving to someplace where hockey is unheard of. When I moved to Canada, I gave it a fair try. My friend Jane (who is a legit hockey fan) invited me over to watch a hockey game. I went, ready to learn the ins and outs. During the evening, Jon stopped by. Jon and I weren't yet dating. He scanned the room, saw a lots of guys, Jane, and me. He loudly proclaimed, "Julianne Fraley, since when do you watch hockey?" and later accused me of only going to Jane's house to meet guys. He might have been right.

I have probably watched hockey three or four times. In my whole life.

But, I am always up for jumping on the bandwagon, so I was rooting for Vancouver this past week. (When I say rooting, I mean I was rooting from a distance--I didn't watch a single game).

They lost. I was disappointed. I no longer live in Vancouver, so I couldn't go join the riots.

The what? Yes, the riots.

I really don't get it. I understand being a sports fan. I understand the mob mentality. But, really, people, riots? What happened is that a group of overpaid men didn't manage to get a small disk into a net as many times as another group of overpaid men. That's all. Is that really worthy of riots? They didn't plunder your village. They didn't rape your women. They didn't set fire to your fields.

Of course I get that lots of the rioters were probably just looking for a reason to get drunk and act stupid, and probably would have done similar things if the Canucks had won.

But, really, of all of the things in this world that might be worthy of such emotion and such an active response, I'm not sure that a sporting event really makes the list. (I know, I know, it's more than just a sporting event--it's the Stanley Cup, for Pete's sake!). What if we put that much energy into something that mattered? (I know, I know, this matters--it's the Stanley Cup, for Pete's sake!). What if the statistics on global poverty or human trafficking actually got us fired up enough to rally in the streets? If we cared as much about others as we do about sports, this might be a very different world.

That's all. That's my hockey post.

Just Because

Here are a few random shots of the girls...just because I feel like posting them.

Brynna and Laurel in the same getup...do you think they look alike? (And do you know who is who?)
Brynna's hair gets crazy curly when it's wet...and then dries straight....here's a picture after a recent bath...

It was a warm day today, so Laurel put on her "timming toop" and played in the water. How could I not post a picture of this cuteness?

ABCs with Laurel

Favorites

Here are a few things that are bringing me joy these days...

Having Brynna sleep on me while I type this.

The songs Laurel sings. She gets the basic idea of the song, but skips words here and there--it always makes me smile.

Our new friend, "W." Not really sure who this W character is, but yesterday Laurel was pretending to talk on the phone. I asked her who she was talking to, and she said, "W."

When Laurel says our friend Emily's name, it comes out "Enabee."

"Timming toop" = swimming suit.

The way Brynna's hair gets crazy curly when it's wet.

Laurel puts herself in time-out when I start to question her about something she's doing that she shouldn't be.

Laurel wants to do "tummy time" next to Brynna.

Now the once sleeping baby is awake and protesting, so I must conclude this post.