Fire Station and Oktoberfest

Julia has recently acquired a love of all things having to do with fire fighters.  Well, I guess this interest started last year when we went with Elisabeth and her class on a field trip to a fire station in Colorado Springs.  But, lately, Julia's interest has peaked.

At the library on base, the story time librarian told the kids that some firefighters were coming to read books and talk to them during National Fire Safety week.  Julia was beyond excited.  She talked about it for weeks.  Then, when the day actually came, she wore Elisabeth's fire hat and told me all about how we couldn't be late (which? we are rarely late, thankyouverymuch).  The fire chief read stories and then one of the fire fighters showed the kids how he puts on his gear and what he sounds like with his mask on.  Julia, who never ever sits with the kids on the rug during story time because she prefers my lap or sitting by my feet, actually sat in the circle.  She also turned to me to loudly declare, "Mommy, this is so cool!"

When it was over they all got to color a picture of a fire truck and received their own fire hats.

As they were leaving, the fire fighters told the kids that on Saturday, the fire station was having an open house where the kids could come and climb the fire trucks.  You'd have thought it was Christmas morning with how Julia's face was beaming with delight at the idea of actually getting to visit the fire station.  We'd already planned on going to Ft Sam Houston's Oktoberfest on Saturday, so we made a day of it and started with the fire station first.

They had a band playing at the fire station.  Julia got her groove on:

Now, here's where my Julia is so different from her big sister.  Julia, when actually presented with the opportunity to explore and touch the fire trucks, totally turned into the shyest child alive and shut down.

Elisabeth, who barely cares about such things, was climbing up in the seats and taking pictures with her camera.  

When it was Julia's turn to sit in the fire seat, she about started bawling her little eyes out.

So, we very slowly and calmly walked around the fire trucks.  We didn't make her touch anything if she didn't want to.

And, like we knew she would, after a few minutes she started to warm up.

She even got excited and started smiling and asking questions.

After the fire station, we headed over to the base's Oktoberfest where they served German beer (much to Evan's delight) and schnitzel and pretzels (much to my delight).  The Army's polka band was playing in the biergarten tent.  Julia danced and clapped and found it just a bit loud.

Then we headed over to the kid tent for games and prizes.  (Do you see my uber cool 8.75 year old in her sunglasses?  She cracks me up.  Oh, and she has a sucker in her mouth, not a small cigarette, which is what it looks like in every picture I took of her.)

                                      

                                      

Julia declared it the best day ever.

Today.

Today is one of those days where I could do a bunch of things and be super productive, but first I'd have to find the get-up-and-go needed to do said things. 

Today is also one of those days where Julia needs to talk all day to me about every little thought going through her 3 year old mind. She does this while following me around everywhere.  Some day, I will totally get to use the bathroom solo again...someday...

(This little bird sits on my kitchen window sill with two of his little friends.  They make me very happy when I'm washing dishes.)

 Today is one of those days where I don't feel pregnant, I just feel like a giant monstrosity. I will be five months along next week.  How weird is that?  This pregnancy has kind of flown by...probably because it's my third one and I kind of feel all "been there, done that".  Of course a pregnancy that flies by quickly in the beginning will probably drag those last couple of months and then the baby will be here before I know it.  I'm anxious to meet this baby.  I'm wondering how it will differ from it's big sisters personality-wise.  Do you think this one will talk less? Yeah, I don't think so either.

                                             
 Today is one of those days where I miss being in Colorado. I miss being able to just call my friends and say, "Dude, I'm  bored and I'm coming over in 5 minutes." I also miss the mountains. I am trying really hard to give Texas a chance, but when you're heart belongs to another state, it's hard.  This weekend I think we'll do some more exploring of the city.  I'm trying to take advantage of the loveliness that is Groupon and visit new places and try new things.  Now that it's not so hot, both girls have been outside more and have befriended the countless neighborhood children.  Even my shy little Juju has been initiating conversations with the kids she meets.

 Today is one of those days where I'm not saying "no" to much.  Can  we read a million books?  Sure.  Can I go outside and play in the rain?  Yes.  Can we build block towers?  Of course.

Today is one of those days.  How's your day going?

The Playground.

In less than a month, Elisabeth will be 9.  (Please be aware that you will get the year blog post with pictures of her much younger and me weeping about how my first baby could possibly be so big.)

I think one of the hardest things about parenting a soon to be 9 year old is explaining to her why some people choose to be unkind and that some of these people are her peers.

Ever since Elisabeth was a toddler, I have been drilling it into her that we don't pick on others.  When she was 4 and in day care, there was a boy (who had been in the 3 year old class I taught) who was still having problems potty training.  One of the girls in the class told all the other kids not to sit by him in center time because he was gross.  Elisabeth came home and told me what the girl had said and that's when I started talking to her about kindness and respect.  The little boy was probably one of the sweetest people you'd ever meet.  He was a ray of sunshine.  I asked Elisabeth how she thought the little boy felt when no one would sit by him. I told her what has become my number one parenting mantra: "You don't have to be friends with everyone, but you do have to be kind."

If you know my Elisabeth, you know she has a big heart.  She's never met a stranger.  And, until Julia started walking and talking and showing us her own personality, we'd never really seen Elisabeth be frustrated or unkind. (Siblings tend to bring out unknown characteristics in each other.) (And siblings of good friends...like Peter...right, Rach? :)

For the last couple of weeks, Elisabeth has been coming home from school with playground issues. It turns out that another girl from a different class has been unkind to Elisabeth for playing with a mutual friend.  She's been whispering (loud enough for Elisabeth to hear) rude comments about Elisabeth when she walks by.  She's been telling Elisabeth that no one wants to play with her. And, as of the last couple of days, she's been seeking Elisabeth out to sabotage what Ebeth is playing or to try to hurt her.

Of course, Evan and I are concerned.  I've been giving her some tools to use (telling the girl how you feel; ignoring and walking away; standing near a grown up so the girl won't bother her), but when it starts to get beyond normal girl squabbles and pettiness and into bullying, then we need to take it to the next step.  Elisabeth is going to ask her teacher to talk about her playground problems and I emailed the teacher last night.  Thankfully, her teacher is marvelous and I know this will be nipped in the bud.

But, what about next year?  What about in junior high when it seems that it gets even worse?  What about in high school? How do you tell your child that some people just suck and there's nothing you can do about it?

I am thankful that Elisabeth is comfortable talking to me and Evan about her problems.  She said one of the girls asked why Elisabeth was tattling to me (Elisabeth told them that I said not to hang out with them if they couldn't be kind).  Elisabeth said, "I'm not tattling. I'm telling her my problems and she's helping me."

This is when I wish I could just keep her home in a bubble. But, even if I kept her home in a bubble until college, she'd encounter these same bullies in the grown up world. At jobs and in parenting groups and at social functions, those bullies are still alive and lurking.  They are still just as mean and it hurts just as much.

"Mom, if they don't like me, why can't they just ignore me?"

I don't know sweetie.  But, please know that so many more people love you oodles and oodles and bunches and bunches.  You are a good person and it is their loss.

Snore.

You guys, I am a walking zombie today.

Last night my hips were KILLING me.  I hate that part of being pregnant. I have to sleep on my sides because I obviously can't sleep on my stomach or I'll squish the baby's house.  I can't sleep on my back because I can seriously feel my heart stop beating because the baby house is killing my internal organs.  So, it's my sides.  Except, my hips are expanding (cause they should totally expand...and make me feel even larger...I'm totally cool with that) and it HURTS.  So, I toss and turn and curse my body pillow for not supporting my hips more.

Then, for the last week, Julia has insisted on sleeping with every light in her room on.  Not a big deal, Ebeth did the same thing around that age and Evan did too when he was little.  But, Julia will wake up randomly and, since the light is so bright, she has no idea if the sun is up or not.  So, I have been going to her room before I go to sleep and turning off the overhead light (but leaving the desk lamp and the night light glowing).  Well at 6:00 this morning, I bolt out of bed because I can hear her calling for me and I'm assuming she's super pissed to find out that I've turned off a light when she's sleeping.  I walk into her room where I WAKE HER UP BY OPENING THE DOOR. I say, "Juju, did you call for me?"  She then looks at me like I am a moron and says, "No.  And will you turn dat big light back on?".  Awesome.

Thinking I'd dreamt it all, I go back to my room, knowing full well she's not going to go back to sleep for the next hour like I am hoping for, to hear that same noise again.  I tell Evan what happened and he says, "That's a cat making noises outside. I think it can see our cats through the windows." For the love of all that is holy.

As predicted, Julia is up as soon as she hears Elisabeth use the bathroom (at 6:30) declaring that she pooped her overnight pants.  I try to tell her to make Daddy change them (cause I am an awesome spouse) but she says he's in the shower.  So, I very grumpily stomp around to get stuff to change her pants (I need to let the entire house know that I am not happy with any of them and that I am SLEEP DEPRIVED for crying out loud), change her and tell her to go downstairs, without yelling at Elisabeth for once in her short little life, and eat something because I am going back to bed.  Evan comes to kiss me goodbye and to see if I'm getting out of bed.

Nope. No way. I am exhausted and my hips don't hurt right now.

He then asks what he should do with Julia who is awake and fed.  And, that, dear people, is when I say:

"Turn on the tv."

MOTY

Don't worry, though, because Julia came into my room as soon as Evan left to sit on my bed and stare at me while she talked to people on her play cellphone about how I was still sleeping and she was just waiting for me to get up because it was morning.

There is not enough coffee.  But, today, the baby growing in my belly is going to get more than one cup.

Virtual Coffee

Hey there! So glad you stopped by for coffee today! I am having an iced coffee due to the high today being 100 degrees. Yep. Still kind of hot here in Texas.

So, while we chat away, I'm going to show some more "cool" fall pictures of when we went apple picking in Illinois. It makes me feel better.

Today, I am going back into high gear of getting this house completely unpacked. There are a couple of rooms that I won't be able to finish (the nursery and guest room) until we've gotten things replaced by the movers since they broke/lost some things, but there's no reason the rest of the house can't be done. Especially our bedroom. It is a dump right now.

Dude, there are NO pumpkins to buy anywhere here yet. The grocery stores don't have any. WalMart doesn't have any. It's so weird. I know they are shipped in from other states (due to the drought and Texas not really being an ideal place for pumpkin patches), but I kind of thought they'd be here by now. I'd like to decorate the front of my house with pumpkins.

I have pulled out the fall and Halloween decorations for the house, though. I love it when the girls cheer to see some of their favorite things. I have a ghost pillow (that I love) that Elisabeth always insists on cuddling as soon as I pull it out of the tub. Both girls like to reminisce about where we bought the decorations or why they like them so much. Christmas is the same way too. Gotta love holiday memories.
(some of the apples were...um...gross)
So, tell me how it's going with you? Whatcha reading? I'm still working my way through The Scarlet Letter. I had never read it and I am loving it. It's hard for me to concentrate when I am pregnant (I totally gave up reading when pregnant with Elisabeth and even a few months after due to my lack of concentration), but I'm almost done with the book. Apparently, The Scarlet Letter is one that most high school kids are made to read, but somehow I missed out. I might watch the Demi Moore (1995) movie afterwards. I'm sure it's going to be a perfect rendition of the book. ;)

This weekend, I am taking Elisabeth shoe shopping. She has one pair of shoes right now that fit and she asked me nicely if she could maybe have a couple more pairs. Oops. In my defense, she just grew out of children's shoes and is now wearing a women's size 6. Do you know how sad that is?! And her feet are so narrow, I can't just go out and grab a few pairs for her, she actually has to be there with me. But, the girl LOVES shoes, so she's all kinds of excited to get some new ones. I think my sister is going to go with us and Evan's keeping Julia while we're gone, so it's a total big girl day out.

Well, Evan's on his way home for lunch. Have I told you how much we love living on base? Evan has an 8 minute walk to work, so he usually walks there every day and walks home to eat lunch with us. Julia loves it. She gets an entire hour with him in the middle of the day. And, we're so close to the commissary and the gas station, we are barely using any gas. It's awesome. Definitely worth the wait.

Well, thanks for stopping by. Please make sure and see the lovely Amy at Lucky Number 13 if you are in the mood for another cup of coffee and more chatting. I'll see you next week!

Oh, and happy birthday, Kyle!!!!!!!

Celebrating 30 at the zoo.

This past Friday, I turned 30.

As is my birthday tradition, Evan made me a pumpkin pie instead of a birthday cake. I like pie.

I had lots of people ask me how I felt about turning 30. Exactly the same way I feel every birthday--excited it's the day of my birth!!!! Can you believe some people don't care when it's their birthday? I think that's insane. I love my birthday. And, I've never been all worked up about turning 30. Maybe I'll feel different about different birthday milestones, but the idea of turning 3o just didn't freak me out.

For this birthday, I couldn't think of anything I really needed or wanted. And, since last year at Christmas I told our friends and family that I'd rather have them gift the girls chances and opportunities to make memories and experience things, I decided to take my own advice and told Evan that all I wanted for my birthday was to go to the San Antonio Zoo. So, Saturday we went and Evan bought us a membership! Best birthday gift EVER!!!!!
The high on Saturday was 95 degrees (stupid Texas heat), so we got there in the morning when it was still nice and balmy. There are lots of flowers at the San Antonio zoo. I may have taken a ton of pictures of them. I'll just share a couple with you today.
We really enjoyed the zoo. It is HUGE and a small aquarium in it that Julia loved. She even wore her fish dress to show the fish at the zoo. There was this weird, ugly, tired turtle that I kind of couldn't stop staring at:
And there was this spotted sting ray that looked like a cow that I loved:


More flowers...
The girls liked it. There was so much to do that there was no way we could do it all in one day. I kept telling them we'd be back a million times and we'd totally do it all.
Have you ever seen an alligator like this before? Or is it a crocodile? Crap, I can't remember.

By 1:30, we were done. It's was creeping up into the 90s and Julia gets just as cranky as I do when she's hot and sweaty. We made one last trip to see the elephants and got to watch them being fed...and happened to stumble upon the hippos who were comically cuddling underwater.


I told the girls that this zoo will rock during cooler weather because we'll get to see the animals move around more. Plus, it never gets too cold, so it's a zoo we can visit all year long!!! It was a great birthday weekend.

Virtual Coffee

Hello there! I know it's been forever, but would you like to have a Virtual Coffee with me today? Cause I could totally use a good friend chat this morning and we haven't caught up in forever.

If you were really here this morning...I'd probably show you around a little and remind you that the house is still a work in progress. I totally plan on giving a "virtual tour" of the house once we're done, but these last couple of days I haven't been in the mood to organize. I've been in the mood to veg.

Thankfully, the kitchen is fully done (except that one counter that is a catch-all because we're still trying to find homes for some things). It's always the first room in the house that I need to have completely organized when we move in. It's what makes me feel "at home" in a new house. Right now, I totally have everything where I want it and I'm ready to start cooking and baking to my hearts content again. Oh, and did I mention this place has a gas oven? Cause it does. It's fabulous.

If you were really here for coffee today...I'd tell you how the weather has been pleasant lately. Highs in the low 90s and cool enough in the morning to not feel stupid for drinking a hot cup of coffee. We even were able to go venture to the park after dinner the other night.

The park is just down the street and definitely geared more for big kids and not toddlers.
But, there are swings, so that makes my Juju happy.

If you were really here for coffee today...I'd tell you that, right now, I'm not feeling trapped and lonely. Yet. Part of it is that I'm still so busy getting the house together that I haven't really had a chance to think about my lack of friends here. However, unlike when I moved to Colorado and had a "I'm the loneliest person on the planet" meltdown, I am taking some preventative steps. I am starting a new book club in October, which I am kind of excited about. Well, I guess the part I'm most excited about is that the restaurant they hold the meetings looks delicious!!!! I have been really craving baked goods this pregnancy and the restaurant has a fabulous delicatessen selection. Mmm....

There is also a breastfeeding group at the hospital on base that meets weekly that Julia and I will be visiting soon. Nothing like a bunch of nursing moms to develop some friendships.

Well, I have laundry calling my name and, even though I don't feel like it, I have some rooms and some unpacked boxes that need my attention. It was so nice of you to stop by for coffee. I have missed our chats. No worries, I will be here next week with a nice hot cup waiting for you.