Its Just Nature

We recently gave Beasty her first pinky mouse, an adorable, pink, soft creature. Ava carried the baby mouse the whole ride home from the pet store begging me to keep it. I had to explain that it cant live with out its mommy.

After 20 minutes with the cute naked creature, Ava changed her tune and said come on, lets feed it to Beasty. I was surprised how fast she dismissed the idea of saving the poor defenseless creature. I asked her if she was sad and she said No, its just nature...


No More Burn Doctors

Good news! We had Scarlett's last appointment with the burn specialist, Dr. Karanas. She said that Scarlett's arm and skin graft area should grow fine and she will not need any more graft surgeries. Woo hoo!! It has been one year since she pulled down the cup of hot tea on her arm, causing a 2nd degree burn.

She no longer has to wear the pressure garments but we do need to keep it 100% protected from the sun for the next 2 years if not longer. No more Dr. appointments in San Jose. Daily lotion massages on the graft area are necessary. Dr. Karanas said the raised textured scar will be there forever, but once she is old enough to care they can do corrective surgery. We have a long time before we even have to think about that.

I am so thankful for the awesome care of the burn specialists at Valley Medical, we are so lucky to live near  such a great hospital. Now we just need to get through the rest of her life with only minor booboos and scrapes.

Ewe Gross

Why does Scarlett always poop in the tub?! This is Scarlett's signature tubby foul. Ava never ever did this.  The girls bathe together so Ava has developed lightning fast super powers which allow her to do a flying leap out of the tub.

Ava yells Mommy, Scarlett is making the poo face!  I run in and sweep her out and put her on the potty where she sits for a while and then says she is done. But nothing happens. I put her back in the tub and then bingo she lets loose and drops the kids off at the pool. Ava flies out of the tub quick as lightning. Then it is my job to fish out the poop. Us moms have to deal with the grossest stuff.

I Blew It

I was kid free today so I went shopping for Easter basket treats. I got some fun yummy things and left the bag on my bed. I meant to put it away, tucked up out of sight in the closet, but I forgot.

Ava gets home around 3 pm from a day at the Boys and Girls Club. She was in a super grumpy mood so I ignored her and did some gardening outside. I asked her to go get her gi on for karate class, which is kept in my room next to the bed. I rush in a bit later to get going to karate and see the opened goody bag on my bed. When I ask her if she saw the things I got for Easter, she said yes like it was no big deal. I tried to act casual as I tell her I got candy for the easter egg hunt, hoping she did not see the little things that are supposed to be from the Easter bunny himself. She said mommy I saw you got us chocolate bunnies! Damn, those are not supposed to be from me!

Now that the cat was out of the bag, I was still trying to save the quickly disappearing image of her friend the Easter bunny. I told her I got some surprises for her and Scarlett to add to their baskets, but at least she will  still be surprised by the treats the Easter bunny will bring her. She totally bought it and said yeah she cant wait to see what he brings her.

Now I have to go buy more chocolate bunnies and candy for their baskets so the farce can continue for at least one more year. Thank goodness kids want to believe the unbelievable.

Multitasking Mamma

I have this awesome skill (curse) that makes me excel at multitasking. I am eating my breakfast as I write this blog. There are many positive aspects of this trait for example I get a ton of stuff done.

I have been told I may not do the best job when I combine tasks, but it gets done and thats what matters. The problem with this gift is that I cant relax. I dont allow myself to watch tv in the day unless I am also cleaning or folding laundry. I cant eat breakfast with out also checking e mail or picking up the house. I literally take bites of my oatmeal while I clean, or get the kids ready for school. I listen to my lectures from school while I run or do dishes. This is the best use of my time because I HAVE to study and the dishes NEED to get cleaned, so its a win-win situation.

I  think that every moment of my day must be productive, until the kids are in bed and then I can finally relax. I know it must be a family trait because my sister is the exact same way, if not worse. Even though I have a hard time relaxing, I cant begin to imagine being able to enjoy a quiet moment of quietness doing nothing or sitting in a coffee shop relaxing. This thought makes me nervous thinking about all the things I could be doing in this quiet moment to myself. This is when my amazing trait becomes a crutch, like I am a super robot who never needs to re-boot. Go Gadget Go! If Data can do it, so can I!

I am perfecting the art of multitasking

Psychochild.com.org.net

Scarlett has been going through a new phase and it is not pretty. She has taken the terrible twos to a new level. This spirited child needs to do everything herself and has to call the shots. This is normal and age appropriate but when she decides to not change a wet, soppy diaper, or wear shoes to school, I have to step in and make her do it. I have a genuine fear of making her do anything. I literally cringe because I know what is about to happen.

This is how it goes down.

Me - You have to change your diaper, if you do not let me, I will make you.
Scarlett - NO!!! (run away)
Me - You need a fresh diaper (Kevin helps me hold her down while I change it)

Then all hell breaks loose, which usually involves screaming, crying and yelling and there is NOTHING I can do to get her to stop. She usually takes her diaper, shoes, pants or whatever was forced upon her off and we are back where we started.

I have tried all the positive parenting strategies.

*That hurts my ears when you scream
*It hurts when you hit me
*Hands are for playing
*You can choose your diaper and I will put it on
*If you dont get dressed you will loose your desert privilege

After I exhaust these tools I count to 10 and tell myself to stay calm. Kevin can get her to calm down more often than I can, but not always. These episodes now occur daily if not a few times each day. Maybe I used to employ slave children in my past life and now I am paying for it?

I swear she drives me to drink. When she is having one of her episodes I wish I had a closet I could go hide in. I know I make it sound funny but its really hard and I feel like she loves me but doesn't like me. It just sucks and nothing seems to work. I know all kids have fits, but Scarlett takes it to a new level.

Ava was super hard when she was 3 and we got through it. Believe it or not, Ava used to physically attack me when she had her fits, which happened daily. I seem to have have forgotten this stage and now I am back 100%  in it. Kevin and I  make really spirited children and I love them dearly, but this stage sucks.

I have been told Scarlett is just like Kevin when he was a baby, so its all his fault! I hate to complain so much so here is a clip of Scarlett being cute as a button. Cute or not, I am going a bit mental...

Flashlights are fun

I was at Home Depot and bought the girls a 2 pack of red flashlights for $3.50. Deal of the day! I thought it was such a great idea. I got the same color so they would not fight over them. Hours of fun for less than 5 dollars, what a cool mommy I am.

What was I thinking? Getting Scarlett to bed is hard enough. Now I added a bright light to to the mix. 45 minutes after I put the girls to bed, I can hear her laughing away and then Ava comes out to say, she wont stop putting the light on my face. When I glance in their room it is like the lazer show at the I Max theater.

 It gets so bad, Ava says she feels like her eyes are going blind. At this point I tell her to go into our bed to fall asleep. 30 minutes later both kids are asleep. Note to self - Giving Scarlett a flashlight to take to bed is a really bad idea...

Lost in the Woods!

Big Rock Hole Trail One sunny day we drove to Henry Cowell State Park to meet up with some friends who were camping there. They told us ...