Rainy day. grumpy kids. what to do?

It has been extremely humid here the last few days. It actually rained a bit on Friday and that made the humidity worse since it did not rain enough and the clouds stuck around. Yesterday was the same-hot, humid and on and off cloudy all day. This morning we woke up and it started to down pour around 7:30am. It only lasted about ten minutes but now at 8:30 it is raining again. I really wanted to go to the gym today and then take the kids to the pool afterward, but it is looking more like just gym playtime now. BOO.

Frank got to see Devin swim alone yesterday. Devin needs a little push and will do it, but if you baby him and do not make him do something he revels in that. Frank did not want to push him, but I did. Devin wanted me to walk him to the side, etc. I said no and let go of him in the pool and he just swam himself there. There was no turning back after that. Devin really loves to swim, but he knows that Frank is more of a softy than I am and takes advantage of that. I DO NOT want a wussy kid! I know he is more than capable of swimming, going to the bottom to get stuff etc. Frank now sees that. Devin has the confidence to do it and the know how and God help me if I baby my 4 year old. No way Jose! When I was growing up we were taught to do it yourself and that things were not done for you. That goes for swimming too. If you want your goggles, go swim over and get them. Mommy doesn't need to. He had a ball doing "jumps" from the side and swimming to me. He did a few cannon balls, kung fu, pencils and dragon warriors to keep him excited about it. Can I tell you how cute it is to see a 34 lb 4 year old try and do a kung fu kick as he jumps off the side of the pool?

Riley of course was wearing her little vest things and jumping in alone and swimming to the side. She did need help climbing up the ladder, but she kicks her little feet right on over to the side. She is such a good little girl. I would like to get to the pool more than once a week and hopefully we will be able to do that this month since we do not have any traveling going on. I have been wearing 30 SPF all summer as well, and it would be nice if I had a few days out in the sun to get some color before fall begins.

Devin's school orientation is Aug 19th and class begins on August 22nd. I am anxious to see who is new teachers are. His program is totally full with a wait list so I know that his class will be at the maximum capacity of 22 students. He will have two full time teachers and an aid in there so that is not that bad. He is very much looking forward to getting back to school and keeps asking me questions about who will be in his class, what classroom he is in and so on. I only know one student for sure named Giovanna from his 3 year old classroom. I guess we will see at orientation!

I turn 30 in three weeks from today. I am not happy about this, nor am I ready.

no more Mom and Dad, Frank and Shannon?

For a few months now Devin has been calling me Shannon as a joke. He will also call me by first name if I take to long to acknowledge him. He does the same thing with Frank. I thought it was funny and still do because he still calls us Mom and Dad 98% of the time.  Riley now calls Frank by his first name. What? She is just over two. I reminded her that Frank is Daddy and not Frank. She just smiled and sucked her thumb. Is this normal? I know my other friend Tina's daughter started calling her by her first name at this age.....but how do you stop it? Everyone else calls us Frank and Shannon so I could see why they do it....

Not much going on here. Just trying to stay entertained in the heat. We went to the pool today with my friend Mandy and her (almost) 2 year old Mia. The kids lasted about an hour before being bored and hungry. Not bad considering they were up really early and they went to the daycare at the gym before the pool for an hour and a half while I worked out. Devin is doing well swimming, but today was not really in the mood. He was cranky and whiny and apparently hungry because he ate almost the whole time we were there. Riley was such a good girl at jumping into the pool all by herself. She loves to be in the pool and splash around. It is funny to see how she amps herself up to jump in and then once she takes the plunge she cannot wait to do it again.

Riley loves to sing and does it all the time now. She is also talking so much now. Full sentences and although it is in squeaky 2 year old voice, it is not as high pitched as some little ones. She is so proud of herself when she says something or asks for something and I understand what she says fully. I knew it would happen overnight and I am just glad to be in this place now that she and Devin can communicate to one another and not want to kill each other the whole time. Devin was starting to get pretty inpatient with her since she was not able to talk back to him when he would talk to her.

Devin starts school 4 weeks from today. I am very excited about this. First, I am glad to have him in a structured class that challenges him. Second, I love that Riley and I will get some one on one time again. It also gives me a chance to run to the supermarket without both kids as well as other errands. He is excited to go back as well and see his school friends again. We have been playing with a whole lot of friends this summer, but not really the ones from school. He does love learning and I know he had a great time there last school year. I am also looking forward to the fall so we have better weather. Las Vegas in the summer is the pits. Las Vegas as a whole is the pits...but summer is the worst. (esp since I was in northern Cali-aka Heaven just last week)

Riley wants a job in a magic show

I flew back in yesterday from a 4 day away trip with my sister Kelly and one of her best friends named Kerri. We had a blast in Sonoma County CA and San Francisco. I am not going to bore you all with what we did....but let me tell you this, I would move there in a heart beat. Either place....San Fran is a lil cold, but what a great city. Windsor/Healdsburg were beautiful! Love Love Love it all....

I get home and did the kids laundry first. Mind you, I was away 3 full days and a half day so not even 4 days. Riley had apparently changed so many times that I had to wash 17, yes 17 shirts. 8 pairs of shorts, 5 pairs of pajamas and three bathing suits of hers alone. That did not count any of Devins laundry. I asked Frank what the heck happened and she apparently is practicing to try out for that show "Quick Change" from America's Got Talent. Oh well it was fine. I told him NO Janie and Jack while I was away and told him to try and avoid her closet all together. He did do that, but she did empty her dresser and half of Devin's. I am thinking about putting safety locks on the dresser drawers. She just messes them up and throws clothes all over the place. I am super organized and have both kids drawers seperated by type of article of clothing and then subcatorgized even further organizing it. This is starting to drive me a little insane.

Devin is teaching her all sorts of bad stuff. LIke how to put a step stool up to our knee wall and drop things over top. UGH. I dont worry about them climbing over or falling...but I am waiting for something to shatter on the tile below. He has also expanded her vocabulary with all sorts of 4 year old boy talk. Eg. poopy stinky butt....then a giggle or anything really with poop in it. I have threatened him that if he talks with a potty mouth he will get his mouth washed out. He does not do it more than once after I hear him. I have had a bar of soap in my mouth as a kid, and it was NOT fun.

Being away from the kids was really a nice break. I tried not to call but once a day. It made me miss them more after I talked to them...so by not talking to them I was able to not think about it as much. I have been away from them once before (two days with Frank to US Open) and to be honest, it was very refreshing and relaxing. Frank has traveled for work (a lot) and for pleasure since becoming a Dad so he knows this feeling...Call me a bad mom, call me what you want-but I liked it. I of course was anxious to come home after a few days and see Frank and the kids but the few days to rewind were awesome. After a lot of laundry and some grocery shopping-we are back in the game.

another few days of true tests...

2 year old molars are the devil! I forgot how awful these are. Maybe I do not forget, maybe Devin never really struggled with cutting them like Riley is. She is giving me a run for my money these last few days with the whining and crying and tantrums. She is sleeping like shit, not eating well and just plain old being a total pain in the ass. I do love my daughter, I do really-but man alive I am over this. Cut the tooth already. Whoever said raising kids was such a joy everyday was full of shit. Excuse the language, but come on...These last three days have been a real test to my patience and tolerance for all things annoying.

She starts out everyday in a crappy mood. I understand her mouth hurts, I do really. So I give her some orajel. She stands in front of her closet and pulls a 16 year olds attitude that she doesn't have anything to wear so we walk over to her dresser. She hates everything but some how manages to pick out a pair of shorts she likes. Will she allow me to put on the coordinating shirt? NO, she throws a fit and refuses. She really has been a pill with getting dressed. I had to hid the Mickey shirt since she has to wear it to a birthday party Saturday morning (a mickey themed party with requested attire.) I really do not feel like washing it again, so it stays hidden since Thursday morning when she wore it for a half hour before getting something on it.



sleeping now, can't she always be this peaceful?



Did I ever go into how she refuses to continue to wear something if she spills (anything) on it? That's right...water, juice, yogurt, applesauce, spit....anything. If anything touches her top or bottom, off it goes. She went through 6, YES 6 outfits yesterday because the moment something spilled on it she had to take it off. Her beloved Mickey outfit got dirty at breakfast so by 7:30 in the morning she already went through her pajamas and Mickey outfit. We went grocery shopping and she got chocolate frosting on her shirt and shorts at the supermarket so by 9 am we were done outfit 3. We went to a friends house to swim and I only put a bathing suit on her for the car ride since I was not battling with her to get dressed again. Of course she had to pee while we were in line at Starbucks, so I backed out of line and went in. Did she pee? NO, she did not. UGH that is a whole other story. So after swimming I packed for her a cute floral shirt with daises and matching yellow shorts. She threw a fit at my friend's house because she did not want to wear it. She eventually did but it of course came off after naps because she had to change into her afternoon ritual of cotton jammies being outfit 5. Those got dirty before dinner, then the jammies she wore for dinner got dirty so a third set was ready for actual bedtime. Now I usually can refold what she wears for a short time and put it back away, but yesterday she did manage to soil everything with staining materials so I was forced to wash everything.

So back to her teething. She has not officially cut her molars, but one is just about there. It is fully raised and just about to pop through. I gave her Motrin before bed but I do not think it is 100% working. She went down at 7:30 and around 10 started to whine in her sleep. Poor baby. I know it must hurt. She is just so Jekyll and Hyde now and I really want that to end. I want my sweet Riley back. The one who wants to snuggle and hug and play dollies. Not the one who cries when she spills water on her shirt, or when I ask her to pee before bedtime. You would think I told her she can no longer have B with the reactions I am getting at times. I want her to be OK with what I pick out so we can leave the house and not have melt downs with getting dressed. I still rule her and I will never let my daughter rule me. I have actually had to raise my voice to her these last few days and she just crumbles when I do since it is not a regular occurrence. I try and be patient with her and let her pick out clothes/shoes/snacks but a Mom can only stand there for so long while her indecisive 2 year old twiddles her thumbs.

Frank has to wake up tomorrow and leave by 5:30 for a golf outing. Here is to hoping I can fall back asleep after he leaves. I have to bring the kids with me tomorrow to get my hair cut and then straight to a birthday party in the morning. Riley should be happier than a pig in poop since she will finally get to wear her Mickey shirt to the themed party tomorrow. She has a Minnie dress that I was planning on putting on her, but I am thinking that will not be happening if she has anything to say about it.



running full speed



Unrelated news....we found a scorpion dead in the house a few months ago. No biggie...they are common out here. Well we found another one Tuesday, dead again, but second one in this season. We have been out here for over 4 years (April 2007) and have not seen any before this spring. I called the exterminator Wednesday and they scheduled to come out today. Billy came this morning and sprayed the downstairs and put 6 sticky traps down along with some special dust in the slider track. Gag. I was feeling more comfortable with the fact that he told me they are basic scorpions and not deadly to animals or kids. Whew. The kids and I were playing out front when I spotted a roadrunner in my neighbors yard! Yay how cool! I saw the same one Monday so now I am convinced it is our Horizon Mist resident roadrunner. I went in and got the camera and snapped some pics. Cute guy. Now I am feeling all great, got some good pics of our new neighborhood buddy, buy guy tells me the scorpions are not deadly...The kids and I go upstairs and they are setting the table for a tea party and Devin walks over to me and shows me a LIVE scorpion in the teapot. FUCK! I said "Holy Shit." and told him to get the land line and meet me downstairs as fast as he can. I transferred the thing to a Tupperware container and called Billy back. My day is now upside down again. I am afraid to do anything in the dark. They are nocturnal. Did you know that? I did not. I am afraid to walk around my house in the dark. I turn on lights everywhere. Tell you the truth, I am leery to go to bed without fluffing my covers. Billy came back and sprayed upstairs an put the dust in the window tracks. UGH. Can I please move back east?

I am sorry Riley, it's 5:44 in the morning....what?

So Riley wakes up typically around 6:30-7 am daily. Today she decided to wake up at 5:44 and when Frank went into her room she was completely naked. I asked if she wet her crib and he said no. Riley apparently wanted to put on her Mickey Mouse shirt and blue shorts. At 5:44 in the morning she woke up and for some reason insisted on putting this outfit on. I have to wash it EVERYDAY because she wants to wear it every day.....It was sitting on the drying rack from when it came out of the wash yesterday afternoon. Mind you, Riley has a closet full of beautiful Janie and Jack, Gymboree, Gap, Tea Collection and Hanna Anderson....but all she wants to wear this week is a pink Mickey Mouse shirt and blue cotton shorts from Carters. No, they do not match. Yes, that drives me nuts that she wants to wear an outfit that does not match. I do not buy clothes unless they match. (in the fall I do but everything goes with jeans.)



on the 4th of July checking out a firecracker 'snake'



Since she loves the outfit so much, she can wear it despite the mismatching look. Now I can only assume that she put this outfit together since she loves Mickey and her favorite color is blue? Why else would she insist on having to wear the blue shorts with a pale pink shirt? She even says, "No, match" with her hands up in the air signaling "oh well." She wore it Friday of last week, Sunday, Monday (4th of July) Wednesday and now today. The shirt is super soft and jersey cotton....I do not blame her...but again-wake me up at 5:44 because of the dire need to put it on?

She goes through 3 or so outfits a day since she helps herself to her dresser full of clothes. She typically puts on her jammies that have dogs on them by the afternoon. In the morning she likes shorts and tank tops....strange. She also likes dresses when we are going out to run errands? I am tired, and cranky and really do not want to be awake right now. Boo.

On the other hand.....Devin has become a solo swimmer! Yay! He gained some confidence at a friend's pool 2 weeks ago and since then has been swimming alone with no swimmies/vest on. Yesterday we went to my friend's house to visit with her since she just had a baby. She also has a pool so of course Devin asked to go swimming. I was hoping we could skip it since I did not really want to get in the pool yesterday...but no such luck. He was jumping off one side and swimming to the other (about 10 ft). I am so proud of him. The 6 weeks of swimming really helped him I think.

Devin can eat eggs baked in! Riley is shunned to the corner...

 I think I can say, "It's official, Devin can tolerate eggs!" Last week I made Riley some pancakes and Devin asked if he could try some. I said sure since he had not yet eaten and if he were to vomit from them at least it wasn't after a big breakfast. He requested chocolate chip ones and I was more than happy to make his that way for his first time eating pancakes. I use Bisquick so there is liquid milk and eggs in the batter. Both of which he could not tolerate as of 2 months ago when I tried last. He ate not one, but three silver dollar pancakes! I did not put butter on them because I did not want to push my luck. He LOVED them. The best part is, he did not vomit!

We had a playdate this past Friday with friends that have a daughter who is just over 3 and a son who is 19 months. I knew the kids would want to play out back with all the water, but I figured a good activity would be to decorate cupcakes. I baked up some festive vanilla cupcakes with blue and red jimmies in them and had vanilla icing with star shapes and regular shaped blue and red jimmies for on top. Devin was really the only one who decorated. Riley and Dom just ate the icing and made a MESS out of themselves and Gabi just ate her cupcake plain. I thought the kids would love spreading the icing on....but I guess its more fun just to eat! Devin did not eat a whole cupcake, not even a quarter of one, but he did have a few bites. If this were last year, one bite alone would have sent him to the trash can vomiting his entire stomach...we have made progress! I will not attempt to make him eggs yet, but at least I know I do not have to be super protective of things with eggs baked in anymore.

Riley had her first accident out of the house since April. I went to the gym on Friday am before my girlfriend came over and in the daycare they put "potty" stickers on the kids who are newly pottytrained and that reminds them to take them to go potty. Apparently they never took her the hour that I was working out because while I was getting my stuff together Riley peed her pants. She was put along the wall in a chair since her undies, socks and shorts were wet and its a sanitary issue to have her play. So sad to see her sitting there with her head down and so upset with her hands folded on her lap. I told the people who I was so they could pull the kids cards and they informed me of the accident. Riley heard my voice and turned around and started to cry hysterically. Holding her wet socks, she ran to me and told me (while sobbing) that she pee peed her panties and her blue shorts got wet. I told her it was ok and it was an accident. She was so upset that her blue shorts were wet and she could not wear them on the way home. I took her to pee again before we left and she was able to stop crying by then and Devin reminded me how sad she was while she was waiting for me to pick them up. That may have been one of the saddest things I have ever seen for her. The utter disappointment she had in herself and solitary confinement. Ugh my heart felt for my little girlie.

She will hopefully be moving to a big girl bed this coming week. It will be pending the purchaser of her crib/baby girl bedroom stuff. I listed it on CL last week and have someone that wants to purchase it, but was traveling for the holiday. She is planning on coming by Tuesday. Let's hope this works out so she can be out of a crib and in to a bed. Being potty trained in a crib is not really working since she cannot get out when she needs to go. Instead, she yells for me to come and get her and take her to the potty. Her bedding is one last thing left of her being my baby girl. After this, I think that she will just be my girlie....no longer baby girl Riley. Tear Tear. I actually picked out that bedding when I found out I was pregnant with Devin (but before I knew what I was having.)  I was so excited that Babies R Us still had it when I found out I was pregnant again and I bought it before I found out what I was having....just in case it was a girl! Good part about being high risk is I got ultrasound after ultrasound and found out around 14 weeks then was confirmed at 16, then 18 weeks! Wendy Bellissimo's vintage Teaberry is what I was in love with! Sigh, love love love it.



her room before anything was hung.