Bad Mothering

I don't usually beat myself up too badly about my parenting mistakes.  I try my best to learn from them, and then move on.  But I've done a few things, just in the span of this week, that really upset me.  Despite Jacob's best efforts to warn me that I need to be on my toes with him (I found him trapped in our shower the other day), he still managed to get a hold of a cheap flower vase this morning, break in on the tile floor, and proceed to PLAY WITH IT while I was totally oblivious in the other room.  And yes, he did get cut.  Just like a tiny paper cut, but still.  Jordan comes in and informs me "Jacob broke a glass and he's playing with it."  I just looked at her, like, dumb.  Oh, the horrors that went through my head. 

Earlier this week he got a hold of a Halloween sticker, chewed on it for who knows how long, got gagged in the car on the way home from picking up Jordan from school, and puked (forcefully) all over himself and the car.  I had to pull over twice to check on him and clean him up b/c I didn't find the sticker in his mouth the first time.  He is gonna be that kid that gets into EVERYTHING.  Wait... he's already that kid.  And Jamie thought I was already an over-protective mother.  Time to step it up a notch.

Costco Top 10

A lot of people know I'm a total Costco fanatic.  I run up a ridiculous tally there month in and month out.  But it's a very useful store, it's within walking distance of my house (not that I could ever walk home with what I bought), and for some reason, it's fun.  I'm not sure if it's because their stock rotates, so there's always something new to check out, or because it's exciting to buy in bulk and know you only have to buy laundry detergent twice a year....  The samples don't hurt either, but I won't wait in line for them like some die hards.  To be fair, there are some Costco offerings I'm really not impressed with, like their photo processing (just awful) and their pizzas (rubber cheese).  Anyway, since this is the season of spending, I thought I'd share my Top Ten favorite things to buy there.

1) Books.  An indulgence, to be sure, when I could just get them from the library.  Eventually.  But they always have the latest best sellers minus the hokey ones featured at the grocery store.  And the monthly Costco mag has book reviews, so it's easy to try new authors.

2) Wine.  I love wine, but I'm not gonna study it.  They have several wines in the $10 range that rate 90 points or more from Wine Spectator or Wine Enthusiast.  They have cheat sheets up for them telling you why they are good, what they pair with, what years to drink them.

3) Kirkland brand diapers and wipes.  They're not any cheaper than Huggies, which they also sell, but they're superior in my opinion.  I've found several Kirkland brand items to be better than name brand. Like:

4) Nuts.  You can get 2-3 lb bags of pecan halves, sliced almonds, walnut halves, even pine nuts, for dirt cheap compared to the grocery store.  And they last forever in the freezer.

5) Rotisserie chicken.  I used to be really turned off by rotisserie chicken.  I like the idea of it, and they always smell amazing, but then when you go to eat them, they're super fatty and kind of gross.  The Costco ones are PERFECT.  And only $5.

6) Frozen sweet potato fries.  No explanation needed.

7) Organic, free range chicken stock.  I like the name brand one (I think it's Pacific) better than the Kirkland one.  These cartons are pretty pricey at the grocery, even on sale.  I'll go through the case of 6 cartons in a month or two.

8) Gourmet cheeses and their cheese shows.  I've found really good brie, aged Gouda, super sharp Irish cheddar, Manchego....  yum yum yum.  Great for parties.

9) Dave's Gourmet pasta sauces.  They carry a big jar of Marinara, and a smaller twin pack of butternut squash pasta sauce.  They are literally good enough to heat up in a pot and serve.  But the Marinara makes a great meat sauce, and fried pancetta would be really really good in the squash one.

10) OMG, the food court!  The fat free frozen yogurt is amazing, and so is that chicken bake.  And they have Churros!!  Just stay away from the pizza....

New Tricks

These are my favorite posts: the ones where I get to share, and remember, all of the crazy stuff my kids do and say.  Here are a few.

- Jacob is still short on words, but he likes to go " Bah bah bah bah bah!!" in a high-pitched voice, almost a squeal.  He did it the other day and Jordan turned to me and said "that's his Princess voice."

- I was sitting back on my knees/lower legs playing with the kids.  When I got up, I kind of moaned and groaned because my legs had gotten stiff sitting like that.  Jordan tells me "Mama, you're getting so old!"  is this concerned-sounding voice.  Nice.

- Jordan likes Post-It notes.  Basically, she likes any sort of paper product with a sticky back.  She put a blank blue Post-It on her bedroom door yesterday.  I asked her what it was for.  She pauses, and says "It says Jacob is allowed in my room because I love him so much."  My first thought was awww....how sweet!!  My second thought was, did she just come up with a nice, new "Mom-approved" answer on the spot??

- Speaking of Aawwww!!!  Jacob likes to lay the side of his down on anything soft and cuddly.  When he does this, he expects you to say Aawww!!!  And of course we do.  He'll keep doing it until he gets bored with the game.

- Jacob keeps getting colds, and they congest his chest.  When he coughs, or gets choked on his food,  I always pat/bang him on the back.  Now when he coughs, he starts hitting himself on the side of his neck.

Those are the highlights. I'm sure there are more that have already escaped my memory.  Thank goodness for the blog!

Turkey Day Post-Mortem

Ha ha, a phrase from my former life....  So, what died???  Plenty of things; here's the tally:

- the turkey, of course.  it was delicious.  as was the sausage stuffing, sweet potato casserole, roasted butternut squash with fried pancetta, salad, gravy, rolls and pies.  I cheated and bought a frozen pumpkin pie; I think that's allowed (since I don't even like pumpkin pie).

- my downward trend on the scale.  sharp uptick this week, I'm sure.  Lucky for me, the battery on thing died, and it takes a funky watch battery, so, no scale!  Woo Hoo!!

- Albuquerque's warm-ish spell.  we woke up to some snow, and the high was 35.  Burrr!! 

- Texas' hopes for a crappy bowl game.  You win some, you lose some...  This year we lost A LOT.

All in all it was an awesome day.  I got to spend it cooking and eating, watching movies with Jordan, hanging out with my family.  We have much to be thankful for: we are well fed, well loved, and well in health.  Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!! 

Some Random Thoughts

Here's the random garbage cluttering up my usually honed, nimble mind (ha!!)

- I have no menu plan for Thanksgiving.  It's just the 4 of us, but I'm a self-proclaimed cook, and I should at least have a PLAN.  I also have no plan for dinner Saturday night, when brand new dinner guests are coming over. 

- The sweet potato casserole recipe I do have for Thanksgiving is one I cannot possibly make.  It serves "four", but calls for a POUND of butter.  Speaking of pounds....the chef that wrote this recipe is probably pushing 400.

- The smell of a self-cleaning oven hitting its stride is awful.  I should have started this task before dinner, when I severely over indulged on cornbread.  And an open bottle of Malbec.

- Marie Callendar's complete cornbread mix, available at Costco, is amazing stuff.  I may have found a new crack bread.  Sister Shubert's was my previous crack bread.

- Speaking of Costco, I cut myself off from it midway through the month.  My monthly Costco tally is concerning.  This is stressing me out.  If I let this stretch out for too long, my next trip is going to cost me $200, and I will come home with 2 things I need and 10 things I "sampled".

See?  Random garbage.

Faster than the Speed of Light!

I'm proud of my husband for holding his tongue today when somebody said something incredibly stupid to him.  Actually, I think what the guy said just came out wrong, but it sounded funny. 

So, we're at the bike shop replacing Jamie's headlamp that he broke.  The sales guy asks him how fast he rides.  Jamie's like "not fast, just thru residential areas".  Jamie's looking for a cheap headlamp, bright enough that cars see him.  The guy starts explaining that if Jamie is "going faster than light" then he needs a stronger lamp, or else "the light will be behind you".  As soon as he says this, I look up at Jamie and watch him struggling not to comment.  He wins this inner struggle, and we have a good laugh about it afterwards.

Obviously we understand what the guy was trying to say.  At least, we hope he didn't mean that you could out-peddle light. 

Sleep

Why do kids decide all of a sudden they're not going to sleep?  Surely they're tired.  Jacob has had major issues with his midday nap for like the last two weeks.  He won't go down without a fight, then once he does fall asleep, we wakes up crying once or twice in the middle, is tired the rest of the day, and fights bedtime, too.  Jordan is good about going down, but she's been waking up with nightmares at around 11 pm or so, and has decided her day must start at 6 am.  The time change has made this all worse, but it started before then.  I hate to think that my kids are stressed out.  I know that's what ruins my sleep.  We have a quiet November planned; hopefully we all get back on track soon.

Jacob Turns One

How terrible is it that I haven't written a blog post about my baby's 1st Birthday?!?  It's the last time I'll ever throw a 1st Birthday party.  Maybe I'm stalling because it makes me a little sad...  But just a little.  So here are the highlights of Jacob turning one!

- We got to celebrate his Birthday with family and friends, and it was very relaxed.  Saturday evening we had a few families over that we're close to here, and Jacob had his Grandma, Nana, and Pa in town to love and hug on him.  Jordan helped me make his cake and cupcakes, which turned out super cute and were super easy to do.  No stressing over a Wilton cake pan this time!  No freakin' tiny stars to pipe over a pattern I can't see through the base coat.

- Jacob's Birthday seemed to last all weekend.  We did the party Saturday, presents and Halloween on Sunday, and then Monday was his real Birthday. 

- Jacob LOVE LOVE LOVES his toys.  He's got them all figured out, knows which buttons to push, how to turn them on, how to open and shut little compartments.  He's a toy boy.  ;-)

- Jacob must know he's one now and think it's time to step it up.  He's pulling up to his feet, pointing at everything to ask what it is and to go see it, and has almost completely given up the army crawl for a real crawl.  Oh, and he wants to eat everything in sight. He'll try anything.  He likes whole milk, learned to drink from a straw-type cup right away, and even wants to hold the cup by himself.  He's made all of these changes in the last week.  He's on a roll.

I'm thankful for his fall birthday, which means he'll be home with me an extra year.  But I know there will be many days that I wish he could just stay little.  He's just such a precious baby!

My Dad

My Dad never gets to come to visit us for free.  He's my handyman, photographer, and custom furniture builder.  This last visit was especially action-packed.  Here's what he got done in 10 days:

- Hung my new, gorgeous plantation shutters in my oh-so-out-of-square crappy builder windows.  The bedrooms have a COMPLETELY different look now.  And special thanks to my Uncle Pat for getting me awesome shutters at COST!!  I'm so happy with these.

- Delivered Jordan's armoire that he made.  It's a huge, solid mahogany work of art.  A matching nightstand is on its way, as well.

- Helped Jamie patch a leak in the roof.

- Fixed my laundry room door.  Oh, great day!  This door has not shut in over two years because the new tile we put in during the remodel was thicker, and the door couldn't clear it with the rug there.  And we have to have the rug.  So, now I can shut the door on my dumping grounds. The laundry room is always a mess.  And I have a feeling Spook will be sleeping in there this winter when it gets super cold.

- Manned the camera for our family photos.  We all went down to the Bosque to get Christmas card pictures in front of the yellow Cottonwoods.  Dad worked the camera and Mom held the diffuser.  And we had to really hustle.  It was the first day back to standard time, and I didn't time it just right. AND THEN, they took us out to dinner afterwards.

My parents rock.  I wish everyone's did, the world would be a happier place.  I promise we'll have a project-free Christmas visit.  And I hope I'm as helpful and generous when my own kids are grown.

Case in Point

This afternoon is a prime example of why I had to give up daytime TV.  My daytime TV consisted purely of watching the Food Network.  This really, er, enhanced my afternoon snacking.  I stopped watching TV during the day several months ago.  Today we were all stuck at home with colds.  So the TV has been on all day.  For some reason, we all want to watch TV when we feel crappy.  True to form, the kids go down for naps, and I turn on the Food Network.  Giada is on making treats for a Halloween party.  I'm hooked.  Then Ina comes on and does a show on chocolate.  I'm enthralled.  She makes Mexican hot chocolate, which I love.  As soon as the show is over, I'm tearing through the pantries looking for chocolate to melt down in milk.  Just so happens that I have WHOLE milk in the house, thanks to Jacob's impending 1-year mark.  It's a nasty cloudy, windy day out. Perfect for rich hot chocolate.  So here I am.  It is so good.  :-)

Place your Bets

A quick mental tally shows I have the following sites to keep up with:

- this blog
- my CatchLight Photography blog
- my recipe blog (Ok, I don't really keep up with that one)
- my website
- my facebook site
- family smugmug site
- CatchLight Galleries smugmug site
- future CatchLight facebook site

Who wants to bet how long it's gonna take for me to post embarassing family pics to the wrong smugmug site, or write an entry about Jacob getting his hand in his poopy diaper on the catchlight blog?  At least these things are easily fixed, assuming I catch the mistake.

Oh, and I named my business something that is impossible for my fingers to type correctly on the first try.  Proofreading this blog, I had to fix 4 (that's 100%, people) cacthlights to catchlights.... 

Hawking

I'm not a bird watcher, but it is pretty to cool to see the hawks in our neighborhood at this time of year.  Last weekend Jamie was in the garage with Jordan, and a hawk landed on our driveway with a baby dove in it's claws.  It had a really hard time flying with that load, so we were able to all get pretty close and check it out.  And when I go on my walk, I almost always see hawks circling.  Lots of critters to hunt in the Tijeras arroyo, and the canyon is so windy they don't even have to flap their wings.  Living on the edge of the desert has it's privileges.

Rub-a-Dub Chub-in-the-Tub

Jordan has always liked bathtime.  Jacob?  LOVES bathtime.  He is nuts for bathtime.  For those of you who still think he's incapable of a full-blown fit, you need to see him when I pull him out of the tub.

Jacob is still in the baby tub inside of the big tub.  I fill it up with water, plop him in, and watch the show.  He's a kicker.  He gets so excited, he kicks most of the water out of the tub, but will stop to straighten his legs and point his toes and squeal because he's just so excited.  He also likes to explore a little real estate that's usually covered up by a diaper.  Bath times are good times.

Tonight was the first time I gave him some bath toys.  Not sure why it's taken so long to do this, probably because he's always so happy to just splash and play with the wash cloths.  Anyway, tonight I handed him the two nesting cups that Jordan has had since she was a baby.  They're not very big, but still a little too big for him to palm with one hand.  He was fixated on them.  As soon as he'd get a grip on one, he'd try to pick up the other, but the only way he can get a hold of one is to use both hands.  And he did not want to let go of the one he mastered.  He kept trying and trying.... Unlike Jo, he doesn't get frustrated and quit.  That's my gene.  I was watching him struggle, so I'd try to help him out, but as soon as I put my hand in the water he'd start a fit.  So I let him be, until the water cooled off too much and it was time to get out.  Which he does not like.  He's screaming before his feet are even out of the water.  He continues screaming all through toweling off, diapering and PJs, until I stick the bottle in his mouth. 

Let's hope this phase lasts...I'm afraid that all too soon he'll be a dirty little boy who'll fight me on a good scrubbing.

Jordan's on a Terror

In the last three days, Jordan has

a) painted her room and furniture with nail polish

b) torn apart her Pat The Bunny book

c) decorated an old hand towel with markers

There is

a) no full moon

b) very little remorse on her end (except for maybe the book)

c) a sharp, precipitous decline to my patience

Cheers to all of you moms with 4-year-olds!

One Last September Post...

...To document some first time events that happened this week.

1. I did my first ever school portrait shoot and lived to tell the tale.  It was stressful, fun, and a huge learning experience.  I think I would do it again.  It's very hard to be creative when you have less than a minute to spend with each child, and there really aren't any do-overs unless you catch the error right away.

2. Because of item one, Jacob spend his first morning in a daycare facility.  I took him to a Mothers' Day Out program run by a local church.  He was happy, safe, and sound when I picked him up 3 hrs later, but I can't say many positive things about the woman running the infant room.  She seemed stressed, irritated by her job, and even went so far as to complain to me about other babies in the room. Not a good impression.  I will try very hard to not have to dump Jacob off at daycare.

3. Jacob started playing peek-a-boo with his hands on Sunday night.  He puts his hands over his ears instead of over his eyes, but we get it.  He loves this.  He's such a sweet baby!

4.  Jacob has also started climbing onto small objects, such as the LEGO box, or my legs.  He puts his hands on the object, gets on his knees, and enjoys the extra 6 inches of height e gains.

5. Not to leave out Jo, she took a ballpoint pen to her face for the first time.  Two days before school pics.  It washed off.

Back from the Beach

Warning - This post is gonna brag about our awesome beach vacation.

You know a vacation was good if you arrive home feeling like you've been gone a month instead of a week and a half... It's been three years since we've had a beach vacation, and I wish we could swing one every year. Well, at least we get two this year (more bragging).

Ever since my family moved to Texas, we've been going to San Diego for summer vacations. It's only a 6 hr drive from Tucson, and we ALWAYS went to Tucson to see extended family. This trip was similar. Tucson is a comfortable drive from the ABQ, and I love getting to visit family there. It's especially exciting now that my family has family: one cousin's son is Jordan's age, and one cousin's daughter is Jacob's age. How cool is that? This time we spent a few nights in Tucson with my Grandma, visited cousins, took a trip up to beautiful Mt. Lemmon to do engagement pictures for my cousin and see their wedding venue, ate an awesome steak feast at my Uncle and Aunt's house, and looked forward to our trip to the beach.

This year we moved up the coast to Carlsbad, CA, about 30 mins north of San Diego. Karen's friend who lives in the area suggested it, and it was SO SO SO much better than Mission Beach. We rented a huge beach house, plenty of space for the 9 of us: my family, my parents, Jamie's sis, my sis, and girlfriend Marsha. We had awesome meals every night, played in our private pool and TWO hot tubs, played at the beach and suffered the cold Pacific, and spent a day at Legoland. We had gorgeous coastal weather.

Without a doubt the best part of the trip was us all just enjoying each other. Everyone gets along, you find yourself paired up with someone different every day, we all had a great time together. There was no drama, just good times. Here are my personal highlights:

- Katherine and I making a sand mermaid for Jordan. Which she promptly destroyed.

- Boogie boarding with Jamie in that ice cold water. Karen and I kept convincing ourselves the cold temps were burning calories.

- The calories. Beer and wine every day. We took turns cooking, so it was like eating out every night. We had Indian curry, paella (with crab, shrimp, sausage, chicken, lobster....), heavenly cheeseburgers after Legoland, Italian sausage with peppers and mushrooms and fresh bread, spaghetti and meatballs, and dinner out for sushi and seafood. Oh, let's not forget the pie run to the local pie shop.

- The house. It was fabulous. 4000 sq ft of posh beach awesomeness. Comfy furniture (except for Katherine's bed), HUGE pro kitchen, pool, hot tubs, huge patio overlooking the beach, glass glass everywhere. When we got home last night, I looked around my nice, but small, kitchen, and sighed. We'll rent that house again.

- Running. Yes, I really enjoyed running there. There's a lot of oxygen at sea level, and anyone can run in a 65-degree ocean breeze. My last run was with Karen, we did a comfortable 5 miles, and then met Katherine and Marsha at a local breakfast spot and PIGGED OUT. Sweet.

- Wine tasting at Witch Creek.  It wasn't fancy, but it was an unexpected surprise stop on our walk into town.  And of course, the fact that Jacob was with me didn't go without comment (You have a BABY.  In a BAR!!)  Who said that??  Marsha?  Katherine?

- My kids. They were so good in the car, so good about everything. I loved watching them have a great time. My Jordan highlight was her on the dragon roller coaster at Legoland. She was sitting with Marsha (of course) and I was a few cars back. I could hear her SCREAMING through the whole thing; I was in tears, I thought she was traumatized. After the ride I ran up to her and scooped her up, and she was laughing and saying "Again! Again!"

My Jacob highlight was watching him check out the sand. Unlike Jordan, he took an immediate shine to sand. The surf however, not so much. I held him such that his toes could feel the water, and he had a fit. Can't blame him, it was frigid.

So, now it's back to the grind. Grocery stores, bills, a filthy car covered in splattered bugs. But some fun stuff, too: engagement pics and family beach pics to edit, Jordan's school's pictures in a week, the State Fair, apple picking, pumpkin patch....all in the very near future. Many thanks to my wonderful family for such a perfect week at the beach!

State Fair Food

Just a quick post about some new food items I saw at the NM State Fair today. What will they think of next....

- deep fried (as in battered) bacon
- 20# hamburger (four 1/2 patties, on a bun, $20 with cheese)
- chile relleno corn dog (I ate this, it was awesome. It's a hot dog, inside a chile, battered and fried, on a STICK)
- funnel cake fries (just funnel cake batter in fry shape, but sounds worse than regular funnel cake, right?)

Last Day of Summer

Labor Day really does feel like the last day of summer. It always was for us growing up; back in the day, the first day of school was always the day after Labor Day. And now that I've finally returned to a climate with four, traditional, seasons (vs the two Texas seasons: hot, and unseasonably warm) the days are already a little cooler, with breezes blowing most days, and you can tell autumn is right around the corner. When we get back from our beach vay-cay, I'm sure autumn will be in full swing.

So, what did we do our last weekend of summer? It was either a non-stop-GO day, or a totally worthless lazy day. But here's what made it really feel like the end of summer:

- We watched the opening weekend of college football, for like 20 hrs.
- We shopped the summer clearance clothing racks, not because we're cheap (well, we are cheap), but because I decided 2 days ago I was going to make everyone get sort of matching (color-wise) outfits for family beach pictures. My apologies to everyone who scrambled. I was scrambling, too.
- I harvested my basil and made pesto for the winter.
- My garden is kaput. We had a pretty disappointing harvest this year, despite the improved soil and irrigation. The squash beetles were really bad, and killed my two HUGE squash plants midway through the season. And I always get a bum tomato plant; this year it was the yellow cherry.
- Jordan and Jamie both mentioned it getting dark earlier. I've been noticing this for a while because Jacob sleeps with the sun, and he's been sleeping in a lot later.
- When I left Albertson's the other morning, the air smelled like roasting chiles. Yum!!

It's kind of nice to have our big vacation at the end of summer; kind of stretches it out a little bit. It's our last year to have such a long summer, Jordan starts kindergarten next year. I feel like we really made the most out of this one.

Happily Ever After

If everyone doesn't know by now what a princess fanatic Jordan is, then you must not read this blog. Yesterday we were in the playroom, and Jordan was busy cooking in her kitchen. I forget what she was cooking for me, I remember there was a lot of stirring involved. So she hands me her masterpiece, and I dutifully begin to eat it. Before I'm done, she's snatching the plate and spoon away from me. I say "Hey, I was still eating that". Her reply?? "Nope, nope, that's it, all done, Happily Ever After."

Under Pressure (think David Bowie)

So. In less than two weeks I will be on a public beach in a (gulp) bathing suit. For all the world to see. This weekend I ate Bobby Flay green chile cheese burgers and cheesecake (and beer, and potatoes, and....FISH! I had healthy FISH on Friday!) Today, I ran. Tomorrow, I'm thinking I better run again.

"Run" is a stretch. It's definitely more than a shuffle, but far less than a run. One of Jamie's ATX running buddies told me to never, NEVER, use the term "jog". I can always hear him in the back of my head. Anyway, I ran the Academy loop today, it's 3.3 miles; I ran most of it. Not too bad. It was a gorgeous morning, nice breeze, and the Academy area has amazing views. Of the desert. And it's just so lovely to push one child, specifically the small child, in a top-notch Baby Jogger. But I owe it to that double: it kept me going this summer and gave me quite a workout. It's like pushing a wheelbarrow, full of 60# of bricks... Anyway, I was feeling really good about my accomplishment, my light breakfast. I felt thin.

My world gained proper perspective about 20 mins later in the Target women's dressing room, trying on bikinis. Fool, fool, fool. Why not just go home on a high note? But, I'm determined to not spend a week at the beach in a workout Speedo and 6-yr-old bikini. Basically, Target's "sizing strategy" for bathing suits is WHACKED. I tried on size L and XL, which translated to size 12-16, and every one of them was cut so low you could see my butt crack. Standing up. It was awful. I did find a tankini, solid black, but it was still awful. Even Jacob cried throughout the whole dressing room ordeal. He was horrified. Scarred. (don't feel sorry for him... HE'S to blame!)

Home

We've been in the ABQ for just a little over two years, and it is finally starting to feel like home. I'm a homebody, so this is very important to me. I know I really give New Mexico a hard time; I'm very critical of many aspects of the culture here (high crime, poor schools, lack of focus on education, you've heard it all before from me...). But, I like it here, too. And, for better or worse, it is home.


Anyway, here are my musings on why I think I finally feel at home here (and that's a good thing)

- this is where I got to be a stay-at-home mom
- we had a new baby here, so now I'm attached to Jacob's birthplace as I am to Jordan's
- Jordan started preschool here
- I was able to really make this house MINE
- I'm starting a business here, so I feel a link to the community in a way that's really new for me
- we'll probably be here a while. Jamie's job is very secure, as jobs go. So, this will be the city that my children will probably always think of as home. Until they have children. Home is where your children are.

10 Loooong Years

Ok, so 10 years isn't that long, and they didn't feel that long, that's for sure. Jamie and I had our 10th wedding anniversary yesterday, and celebrated today with a nice hike through the Sandia's and lunch at a cafe afterwards. Very relaxing. Jordan was in school, but Jacob came along for the ride, and seems to love traveling in the hiking backpack. This was his first time out in it; he can finally see over the top, which keeps him happy. Anyway, we did a new trail today, only 4 miles roundtrip, with a view of the ABQ from the top of the main ridgeline between the north and south peaks. Gorgeous.

Yesterday, I pulled out our wedding album to show Jordan, and to look through it with my new, critical, photographer eyes (which were not impressed). Later, on the way to our walk, Jordan starts talking about weddings, and when are we going to have another wedding. So I tried explaining that you only have a wedding once, that they're not like Birthday parties. So she says, I want to have a wedding; I tell her, yes, someday. And I tell her she gets to go to TWO weddings this spring: her cousin's and her Koo-Koo Karen's. She says I want a wedding dress to wear. So I tell her, no, only the bride(s) get to wear wedding dresses. But, I say, we'll get you a really cute dress to wear to the wedding. Jordan's response? "I don't want a cute dress, I want a beautiful dress. Oh-My-Goodness!

So, to recap, I already have my 10th Anniversary to make me feel old, and my 35th Birthday, AND now my oldest child thinks she's outgrown "cute".

Crazy Ivan

Another Jacob post. He's just up to so much.

So today, Jordan, Jacob, and I were playing upstairs. We were playing peek-a-boo with him. He loves this, especially when Jordan's in the mix. He was doing the hiding behind the furniture, then he'd look around the corner and wait for us to say Peek-A-Boo!! The game morphed into us sneaking up behind him when he wasn't looking, then saying (Jordan yelling) Peek-A-Boo when he'd turn around. Once he figured this game out, he'd scoot away from us for a few feet, doing his army crawl, then pull a fast Crazy Ivan (think Hunt for Red October), spinning 180 and giggling when he saw we were there. So funny to see how fast he can spin himself around on his belly. So precious.

On a side note, he does have another trick. We discovered it Saturday night on our ice cream outing. If you tickle Jordan, and get her thrashing and laughing, Jacob FREAKS OUT. He gets this scared/stressed look on his face and squeals. If you do it too much, he'll cry. Poor little guy. I thought it was funny at first, because he just gets this look, but then felt badly because he really is upset. Jordan thinks it's hilarious, and whenever the three of us are playing on the floor, she wants me to tickle her so Jacob will freak out. We tickle Jacob instead. He still loves that. :-)

Oh BOY

Jacob is on the move. I knew I had it easy before, but I still thought I was pretty busy. No, NOW I'm busy. No more cooking dinner while he plays on the floor in the other room. No more sitting on the couch, sipping my coffee, while he rolls around with some favorite toys. Any time spent in a bouncy chair requires constant supervision because he'll try to flip himself out of it (he hasn't actually done this, but it sure looks like he could). As soon as he hits the floor, he's off. He's learned to army crawl, and is surprisingly fast at it. And unlike Jordan, he gets into everything: plants, trash can, paper, goes for the electrical outlets.... To this day, Jordan wants to stay where the action, i.e. people, are. Jacob wants to GO. The tile floors don't deter him, either. I have always said I'm in no hurry for him to crawl or walk. Let him stay a baby. He's going to grow up fast enough. But it would be nice if he did learn how to sit. Still.

Jordan Turns 4

We celebrated Jordan's 4th Birthday this weekend. It was a fun, action-packed weekend with family and friends. Here are the highlights.

First off, our family and friends are very generous, and packages arrived for Jordan throughout the week. Jordan came to expect this, such that everyday when I went to the mailbox, she'd ask "What's for me?", and I'd show her the box, sometimes two, that had arrived. She was really good about understanding that she couldn't open them until her birthday. And she could hardly wait to see them wrapped and sitting in my room and closet. She'd go up there and study them, but not touch!

My Dad, my Aunt Brigid, and cousin Sam arrived Thursday afternoon. They've been on a cross-country national parks camping trip. For like a month. Brigid and Sam live in the southern end of Florida. They drove to Austin, then their camping trip meandered to Seattle for another cousin's wedding. On the way home, they stopped over in the ABQ for Jo's Bday and to pick up my Mom. And to do laundry :-) Jordan and Sam, who is 9, hit it off right away. Sam likes to play games where there are evil characters: right up Jordan's alley.

Friday was the last day of swim lessons for the kids. They always have a little party the last day, where everyone brings snacks. Jordan was very excited about this. Jacob didn't care, Jordan ate his snacks, but he did get to do his last lesson with his Daddy, who had the day off. Jordan passed her class this year, so she'll graduate to the big pool next summer. Friday was also busy with cake and cookie decorating for the party. Jordan insisted on a Cinderella, to go along with the princess theme. Cinderella came out looking a little sunken and lopsided, but Jordan knew who it was at least.

Finally the big day came, Party Day. Sunday was her real birthday, and when she'd get to open her presents, but she didn't care, she was all about the party. We played at the park that morning, and Jordan took a nice nap despite the excitement. GrandMaMa flew in that afternoon for a long weekend visit, and Jordan got to see her before her nap. Jordan had two little girlfriends coming to her party. She's going to have to get used to small parties with her summer birthday; I remember that growing up, and it was one of the reasons I wanted springtime babies. The girls, little brothers, and Sam all played together and had a great time. We rented a princess castle bounce house, and that was a huge hit with kids and adults. Even Nana got in there for a bit and put on a little show for us! Luckily, given her strapless top, it wasn't too exciting of a show. We played outside, opened presents from friends, painted magnets, ate yummy pizza (despite being handed the wrong order), ate frozen cake (because I forgot to set it out to thaw), and bounced until dark. It was a good party.

Sunday was the real Birthday, and we opened presents for HOURS. Jordan got princess everything. She loved it. She also got her own Pillow Pet, after coveting Jacob's for months. When she opened it, she said "It's just like in the commercials!!". She was so excited to get a gift she had seen a commercial for. Ever since that morning, she's been on a rampage to play with everything. We've watched movies, worked puzzles, played princess computer, painted, colored, played dolls, read books, splashed in the pool, you name it. She is spoiled rotten, there's no doubt. But at least she plays with all of her stuff.

So, we're starting our 5th year with kids, and I think the changes we see in Jordan in year 5 will be much more profound than in year 4. I'm not sure why I think this, just a hunch. At any rate, I'm ready to enjoy age 4, even though she's already planning her 5th Birthday.

My Own Boss

For the past year, I've been toying with the idea of starting my own photography business someday. It's something I really love, I enjoy all aspects of it, and I think it will fit in well with our family goals. It's challenging, it's rewarding, it's personal, and it's a huge leap out of the box for me. I don't know squat about business. I'm not super with people, especially with people I've just met. I don't "think" as an artist, I still think like an engineer. And I CANNOT STAND the idea of selling to people. As in upselling, the hard sell, sales tactics, targeting clients.... It all makes me want to puke. But, I do want my business to be successful. Duh!

So, I decided the time to do this thing is now. I'm more than happy to start off slow. Jacob is still very much a baby, and time with him and Jordan is priority uno. But something lit a fire under me this summer, and in the past month I've made a small website, done some free shoots for friends to build up a portfolio, got set up with a pro lab, and today I spent all day in a seminar learning how to operate a business in New Mexico (translate: how to pay your taxes; and man, are there a lot of taxes). My official start date is 10/01/10. Seems like a lucky number. We'll see :-)

You can check me out. The link is now added to the column on the right.

The Big Hill

Jamie and I had a "date" day today. We hiked the La Luz trail in the Sandias, at my request. Jamie has done it before, and wants to do the La Luz race one year. It's probably the most popular hike in the Sandias, but at 9 miles one way, and 3000+ ft elevation gain, you better be ready. I was up for the challenge, given that we go up on foot, but take the tram down. Nothing tears up my body more than hiking down steep hills. That proved a good decision.

The hike was awesome, covering the most beautiful scenery I've seen in Albuquerque. You go through high desert, granite fields, pine forests, aspens, and huge towers of bare granite "teeth". We had perfect weather, with cool misty clouds shrouding the peak early on. And as luck would have it, we timed the trail just right to stay in the shade most of the way. The one part that sucked was miles 6-8, which were almost pure granite fields. I don't like scrambling over rocks. It's really slow and really dangerous for ankles. We hiked to the tram house at the top, ate our PB&J's (the best hiking lunch invented), and rode the tram down. And just in time, too. By the end of the ride, the top of the mountain was under clouds, some very very black.

So the one snafu? Why no pictures? This genius remembered the little point and shoot, but not the memory card. I guess we'll just have to do it again.

Swim Lessons

We just wrapped up the first week of a two-week session of swim lessons for both kiddos. Jordan is doing much more this year: putting her face in the water, grabbing the "treasure" on the bottom of the pool, allowing the teachers to dunk her. And Jacob? He's going to the Olympics. Mark my words. He kicks and splashes and rolls around. He's not too fond of dunking, yet. And his lesson is a at a bad time for him, too close to naptime. But they both seem to be having fun, and since it's the end of the summer, the classes are really small. They should be ready to enjoy the pool in San Diego in September.

Bad Boys

It took me two years of living here, but I finally had reason to dial 911 and call the cops on some damn fool today. The heat must be flushing out the crazies, the news here is appalling, what with that Emcore shooting last week and all. We live in a nice part of a rough patch of town. We knew this when we bought the place. This area of town is very integrated. Expensive neighborhoods right next to very poor, high crime areas. There are drive by shootings within a mile or two of our house.


The kids and I walk most mornings of the week. We have two routes: one goes south to a very nice new neighborhood that's cut off from the rest of the city. It's surrounded by desert, arroyo, and Kirtland AFB. It's a dead end. The other route goes around the outside of our neighborhood to the community center and park. Both seem very safe in my book, and I'm very critical of the "safety" of this town. Today we did the south route.

We've just left the neighborhood, and we hear this awful noise approaching. A POS black car comes barreling out of the mobile home park across the street (think: integrated), flying over the speed bumps and throwing sparks. One of his rear wheels is tireless. As in he's driving full tilt on his rim. Or somebody's rim; he probably stole the car. So I think: what an ass. Then he turns into the other mobile home park across the street. We keep walking, and we hear him again, much closer. He couldn't figure out how to get out of the mobile home park and comes back the way he came, flying out onto Juan Tabo. He loses control, spins 270 degrees, and flies past us into Volterra, which is the dead end. He must be going 60 mph. So I call 911 and describe the car, location, and tell them he's gonna kill someone. They HUNG UP ON ME. Sure enough, 5 mins later, he comes flying up Juan Tabo again, almost hitting the construction crew on the side of the road. I never saw another car chasing him. Never saw a cop. Never heard a siren. But, I did see his rim marks in the road on our way home. He'd gone through our neighborhood, too. Later that morning we went grocery shopping, and no kidding, his rim marks where gouged into the asphalt on the roads we took home. We could see other places where he'd spun out as well. Unbelievable.

Touting Taos

We just took a lovely family vacation to Taos, a quick weekend trip. I'm glad Jamie convinced me to do this; he's been itching to go somewhere, and I was hesitant since we already have like 4 major vacations planned in the next 12 months. The drive to Taos is spectacular, nothing like those miserable drives thru Texas where it takes you 8 hours to leave the state and (most) everything looks dull dull dull.

We've done the drive towards Santa Fe a few times for hiking, but never north of Santa Fe through the Espanola valley. The road follows the Rio Grande, which cuts thru the mountains. There's all kinds of little wineries and farm stands set up along the way. We stopped for an unimpressive lunch at the Taoseno, which I swear hasn't been touched since it was built in the 70's, and has food bland enough for a retirement home. But the people where friendly, and local. We walked around the Plaza some, and then we found The Store.

It's a toy store, called Twirl, and if you ever go to Taos with kids, you HAVE to stop in. It's easily the coolest store I've ever been in. It tops E. Dehillerin in Paris, and that's saying something. I saw the grotto and koi pond first. They're inside, have little elves and unicorn toys nestled in the rocks, and the cashier has marbles for making wishes. The next room had an arabic tent kind of theme going on. I passed by the cashier on the way out, telling her how cool her shop was, and then Jamie pointed me outside, where a kids-trapped-with-sight-seeing-parents oasis exists. It was a huge playground, with samples of their toys to try out, a huge climbing structure, fountains, a homemade popsicle stand, and a hobbit house with swaying bridge at the entry. SO COOL!!!

I ran around showing Jo everything. But then our meter ran out and we had to get to the car before we got ticketed. Sigh. But I did buy the kids a Christmas gift on my way out.

We weren't staying in Taos, but at the ski village up the road, where summer rates are ridiculously low. Our place was a big 2 bed/2 bath ski-in/ski-out place with a nice kitchen: a must for traveling with a baby. We dumped our stuff, fed Jacob, and headed out to walk around. First of all, Taos is crazy steep, and I doubt I'll ever ski there. The village is simple, mostly shut up for the summer, and nothing like the ski villages in Colorado. But it is gorgeous. You're truly nestled in a valley, with streams from the mountains running through, and groves and groves of Aspen.


I can't imagine what it looks like in the fall. We had a delicious meal and beer a for dinner, watched the 2nd round of the Open, and called it an evening. Or so we thought... We'd exhausted Jordan past the point of sleep apparently, and she stayed up until 1 a.m., just fussing.

The next morning we did our big hike up to Williams Lake, weary from the night before. But the beautiful surrounds perked us up, i.e. me and Jamie. Jordan got 100 yards in and quit walking. It was steep, it was 4 miles roundtrip, and Jamie carried her on his shoulders the whole way. Dammit, we were seeing that lake. And it was worth it. The lake is in a bowl at 11,000 ft, just under Mt. Wheeler, the highest peak in New Mexico. You hike up through the forests, you pass natural springs along the way, big fields of granite boulders, wild flowers... so so pretty. Jacob had a great time in the Bjorn, and got lots of attention from passing hikers. At the top, we walked around the lake some, had a snack (that's Jordan's carrot-on-a-stick for hikes), got a family picture, and then had to head back due to the sun. Sunscreen and all, 11,000 feet at midday is no place to hang out if you don't have shade.


We made sure the kids took good naps that afternoon, and then we drove back out to Taos for dinner. We ate at Doc Marten's, which was much fancier than we expected. It was my birthday dinner, so I took advantage and ordered the tasting menu that was paired with wine. 4 courses of deliciousness. First course was rabbit-rattlesnake sausage, and Jordan liked it. Wait till she reads about that later... Everything was yummy, a little too leisurely though, and we got done after dark: too late to go see the Gorge.

The main ski lift for Taos was right outside our window, and they run that lift on the weekends in the summer. Jordan had been asking to get on it since she first saw it. So the last morning there, we bought our lift tickets and took the trip. Those things are scary with your kids, and when there's no snow. You can kid yourself in winter that if you fall off, you'll probably just land in that soft snow and all will be ok. Not so in summer. There are rocks down there. Big ones. Anyway, no one fell off, and no one was scared except me.


We got to the top, also 11,000 feet, also midday, so we didn't stay real long. I was lucky enough to see a big fat coyote run up the hill, and then out came the deer it scared off. We went looking for the marmot Jamie had seen on his run that morning, but he was hiding. So we rode the lift down (even scarier than riding up) and l said good-bye to Taos Ski Valley.

On our way home we stopped at a few touristy places. First up was the Rio Grande Gorge bridge we'd missed the night before. The river cuts thru the mesa and leaves a 600+ ft canyon. We parked and walked to the mid point of the bridge. It was crowded, there are sidewalks for this, and bridges shake. It was a nice view, especially with the storm clouds approaching.

Our guide book said this bridge is where the wedding scene in Natural Born Killers was filmed. Funny, because I had just watched that part of the movie for the first time in like 10 years. Jamie's impression of the Rio Grande Gorge? "It's no Grand Canyon". Well, duh.

Next stop was the San Francisco de Asis church on the south side of Taos. No one got out of the car but me. It's been made famous by Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keeffe, so of course I had to take pictures of it. Until I ran out of memory. Sigh again. It's a cool building, you can see the straw in the adobe. I wish I'd been there later in the day, though, when the light is prettier. But it was a fun stop, for me.


So, we came back to a 104 degree afternoon in the ABQ. And on I-40, to greet us back and say "Hope you liked your weekend getaway, but you're home now", was a police scene sadly typical of this town: eight cop cars pulled over some dude in a white SUV, and the cop at the front car had a huge rifle trained on the idiot standing next to the SUV, arms waving in the air. I didn't even bother watching the news that night to see what it was all about. Welcome home, Kropka family, welcome home.

60

We must have made too much of Nana's 60th Birthday this past December. 60 is Jordan's favorite number, and apparently the biggest one she can come up with. When she thinks something is expensive, she says it costs "60 pounds of dollars". She defaults to this number anytime she's trying to out do you on something. Today I told her I had done something twice, and then she told me she did it sixty times. Maybe next year at Mother's Day when the pre-school asks Jordan how much she loves me, I'll be upgraded from "five" to a whopping 60!

The Incident

Jordan really wore me out today. Jamie, too, probably. She got in more trouble today than ever to date, and it drains me to think she's doing things like this now. Today while I was on the phone with my mom, and I hadn't even been on the phone that long, Jordan entertained herself with the can of aerosol sunscreen in the living room. The TV was spared, but not the tile, carpet, couch, dining room table, coffee table, a book and magazine, the box of legos and bristle blocks, Jacob's basket of toys, his jumperoo, and his floor gym. I was so upset, I actually walked away and stood outside for a few minutes. But when I came back in and really saw the extent of the damage, I told Jamie he had to do the disciplining because I was too mad. And because it seems like I'm always the disciplinarian because I'm the one at home. Strangely, it hurt my feelings that she did something so ornery that she had to be spanked and sent to her room. I could tell she didn't really think she was in all that much trouble because she was kind of smiling and play acting the hang-dog naughty kid role. But I think the discipline worked because she stayed in her room. Anyway, the sunscreens are put up now, the carpet will live to be abused another day, and I know I'll look back on this infraction wistfully one day when she really does something out of line.

Austin comes to Town

Ah, summer nights in Albuquerque. It really is a fabulous time of year. We've been enjoying our cool evenings, so cool that I wore JEANS last night to the outdoor concert at the Botanic Gardens. The night before we had gone to our park, it was windy, and I got goosebumps for crying out loud... I digress, I'm not trying to piss off the Texans that read this.

So last night we packed a picnic dinner and went to the Biopark to hear Eliza Gilkinson, hence the title of this post. I don't actually know if she is from Austin, probably not, but it was Austin in the ABQ nonetheless. Jamie and I know a few (ok, one) of her songs from KGSR, aka K-geezer, a radio station in Austin. So it felt homey. What REALLY felt homey was the crowd. It was 1) packed, 2) full of hippies, and 3) all of the moms with little kids were my age (gasp!) or OLDER. Babies babies everywhere. Thin, fit women clad in REI clothing head to toe. I saw dread locks (on white people). I saw lots of tattoos and body piercings. People were eating wholesome, homemade food for dinner. I saw three women breastfeeding within arm's reach of our blanket, and everyone of them was carting their infant around in a homemade baby sling. I almost felt guilty with my Baby Bjorn and bottle full of formula. Not really, I'm kidding. It was just awesome, and I felt so nostalgic for home.

This morning on our walk/jog through the neighborhood near us, I was firmly reminded that this is indeed the ABQ, and Austin is in a land far, far away. At the entrance to the nice new neighborhood were signs (i.e. more than one) declaring the neighborhood picnic for tomorrow had been cancelled, "INDEFINENTLY".

Monsoons

I love Monsoon season. Right when you think it'll never rain again, it pours and pours. We haven't had a lick of rain since May 1 (it is the desert...) and the last three days we've gotten rain in the afternoon. It makes me think of the African wildlife shows that document the annual weather cycle, and show the animals coming out of their baked stupor once it starts raining. I love that we get beautiful clear mornings, then menacing clouds by 2 or 3 pm, then a nice downpour. I mean, it's 72 degrees outside right now! Sure beats 100. And by this evening, it will have cleared off and we'll get an awesome sunset.

Saturday Night Fever

My Saturday nights have reached a new low. Jamie's too; he fell asleep with Jordan at 8:30. Me, I watched Dinocroc, a Scy-Fy network original movie. Translate: silly, low budget, two-hour time suck. It's about a genetically mutated super croc. Of course, it eats people. I got interested in it because I caught the last five minutes of its sequel, Dinocroc vs Super Gator, which the TV guide gave zero stars, but gave 1 1/2 stars to the original. To my credit, I gave up after 45 minutes and crawled in bed to read a book. By myself. Because Jamie was still passed out with Jo. We like to get crazy around here on the weekends.

Father's Day Fun

We celebrated a nice Father's Day yesterday. It was a pretty typical Sunday: Jamie did his long run, the kids and I hung out, but went to get bagels at Einstein's and we Skyped Pa to wish him a good day, played a little outside... That afternoon I felt like I was the one celebrating Father's Day, I feel asleep on the couch watching the US Open. Just like old times before kids. For dinner we went to Kelly's, a cool microbrew-type place (they have like 20 craft brews on tap, for $4 a pint!! and kids eat free on the weekend!!). We pigged out on pub food, watched more golf. I had a little incident with a table umbrella stand while trying to navigate my way out of the restaurant, but no matter.

After dinner we walked around the UNM campus for a Father/kids photo shoot. What a pretty place; it was lush with all kinds of trees, a pond, a waterfall, rolling hills. So much fun for photography. Jamie and Jordan explored the waterfall area while I fed Jacob. He was hungry, in a very bad mood, impatient after watching us stuff ourselves on fries and heavy beer. Anyway, I got some great pictures of Jamie playing with the kids, and I learned some new tricks for keeping Jordan engaged. Although one of the tricks involves letting her take a few pictures with my camera. This cost me some shots (I forgot to readjust the camera when I took it back from her) and a lens smudge, but she really got a kick out of it and even got some cool shots that I hadn't thought of :-) Here's the best one:

The weekend ended on a super high note with homemade cherry/raspberry pie. Happy Father's Day to all of those great Daddies out there that are integral, fun, and irreplaceable parts of their kids' lives!

Positive Reinforcement

I keep talking about how when Jo goes back to school, I'm getting a gym membership b/c Jacob will be old enough to leave in a gym daycare while I work out. And I'm excited to get to do this, but it seems like I should still be able to get plenty of exercise now. I found a used double jogger online, so walking is back on, and I still have two mornings available to me to swim (if I can get out of bed). So, the only piece really missing is weights (but I lug around a baby), spin class and ab workouts. And obviously, there is no good reason I can't do an ab workout at home. AND, given the previous post, and the looming beach vay-cay in September, it would behoove me to get on it.

So during Jordan's naptime today, I found an ab workout on the freebie On Demand programs on cable. Jacob was up, so I just let him play nearby while I did my crunches. Some cheerleader... he laughed and laughed at me the whole time! Every time I would roll up, and he could see my face, he'd start laughing. It's really hard to do sit-ups when you're laughing. I'm sure I'll be really sore tomorrow. Sad, sad, sad. It was a 10 minute workout.

Clothes

Something strange happened to my body after bearing two children. Somehow, my torso must have elongated 2 inches, which means my legs must have also shrunk said 2 inches, since I'm still 5'6".... Why do I think this??? Because every last shirt I own is TWO INCHES TOO SHORT!!!! I can understand things still being a little snug in my midsection, I stall have a few pounds to go, but this is ridiculous. I was standing in line at the post office today (another story), and to my horror, when I glanced down at Jordan, I saw in my peripheral vision a band of while belly fat. Soooo embarrassing. Thank goodness I had Jacob with me, who I think sometimes serves as the silent explanation for my disheveled appearance.

Sha-Zam!!!

Jordan's latest passion is Magic. And Magicking. Yes, magick is the latest craze in this house, and it's used as a verb. By Jordan. She has magic wands all over the house, and she likes to use them on us. We're turned into princesses, dragons, toads, horses, whatever her fancy. I think this is so fun for her because she gets to be the boss.

Jamie likes this new phase; there must be some deep rooted longing in him to be the boss as well :-) He started a game with Jordan where he takes a piece candy of a certain color and magicks it into a different color (by swapping it out from a stash of hidden multi-colored candies). Jordan tried to get me to do this trick one day, but she only brought me one candy and the wand, and I told her I couldn't do magic, only Daddy could (cleverly exempting myself from Jordan's obsessive repetition for the new game).

Anyway, Jamie decided to take on the role of house magician, and checked out like 8 books of simple magic tricks from the library. So morning, noon, and night, Jordan requests Daddy to magick something. It's so cute. She believes all of his tricks are real, but she also helps out by closing her eyes right before the magic happens. Today, I magicked the little remote control to the fan into disappearing, and we found it in Jordan's pants. She was so caught up in thinking about what the surprise would be, that she totally missed me tucking it down the back of her pants while she was sitting by me. When I said "Hey, what's that?!?" and pulled the remote out of her waistband, she just laughed and laughed with glee. How sweet is that?!

Powers of Persuasion

Jordan's bedtime routine, through all its evolution, is an excellent example of how she bends us all to her rule. Here's how we've progressed (or regressed).

Original deal: in bed by 8:00 after reading a book and a quick snuggle in the rocking chair.

As she got older we added a second book. Hey, reading's important.

Jordan outgrows the crib and gets a bed. Now Mama or Daddy can lay down with her for the "quick snuggle".

During times of Grandparents' visits, this quick snuggle turns into a full blown nap with Jordan, and no getting up until she's sound asleep. A week of renegotiating after they leave fixes this.

Eventually we're back to one book (her books are getting longer) , which Jordan always insists on reading, plus one of us lays down with her for a while, but not until she falls asleep. Bedtime more like 8:30. And there's usually an argument over the need to go potty before bed.

Then Jordan started requesting an extra hug and kiss when you get up to leave, no matter how many she got in bed.

Now we're at the following: one book, someone to snuggle her in bed, that someone needs to sing two songs at her request (always ABCs and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star), after songs she wants you to scratch her back, then rub it, then a hug and kiss when you get up to leave. Tonight she tried to get me to scratch her belly, too, which prompted the blog entry. And BTW, I'm not adding belly scratching to the nightly routine.

Flying the Friendly Skies

On our recent trip back home to Austin, Jordan made a few new friends. Jordan is a very out going little girl, as anyone who's met her well knows. I dread what this inhibition will lead to when she's a teenager. Anyway, on the leg of the flight from El Paso to Austin, the plane was full. A college kid, about 20 or so, sat next to Jordan. Jordan immediately started to chat her up. It went something like this:

"Hi, what's your name?"

"Hi, my name is Christie."

"I really like your shirt. And I like your nail polish."

"Thanks!"

me: smiling, somewhat apologetically. "She's going to talk your ear off."

Jordan: "What's your room like? What color is it?" (Jo has to know the color of EVERYTHING)

"My room is messy! It has brown and green..."

Jordan is obviously not impressed by this color scheme. Meanwhile, I'm getting her DVD player set up to distract her and give this girl some peace. The girl has gotten out some sort of smart phone, and if Jo sees it, she'll pester her about it for the rest of the flight. I talked to the girl some, she was really sweet and thought Jordan was cute and didn't seem to mind the 20 questions routine (I've forgotten most of their conversation).

So, flash forward 2 weeks later, and we're sitting in the Austin airport. Jordan takes a seat next to an older married couple also flying home to the ABQ. The lady turns to Jordan, tells her she's cute, asks her her name, how old she is, etc. Jordan loves this, and then digs through her backpack to produce a Dr. Suess book (that's not short) and asks the woman to read it to her. The woman does so happily. Jordan asks her about her nail polish, and then tries to strip off her own shoes and socks to show of her toe polish, which is mostly worn off. We stopped her. Then another woman sitting across from us tells Jordan what a pretty girl she is, and Jordan coyly smiles, and flashes three fingers at the woman, who, by the way, has not asked her how old she is. On the flight from Dallas to ABQ, we sit next to a man who Jordan instantly starts talking to and wants to see all the pictures on his phone. Thankfully, his phone did not run apps, so Jordan didn't attempt to commandeer it. He was really nice, and had a daughter of his own, who he said was also really outgoing with strangers. Hmmpff.

Jacob did his part, too, making gooey baby faces at people on the plane, and sleeping sweetly on me despite a two hour delay on the way home. And bless him, he waited until we were home to have a HUGE diaper blow out in his infant carrier. It was a great travel experience with the kids, and I honestly believe their presence on the planes brightened some peoples' day.