Play With Me!

Does it get any better than this? Sisters, finally able to play together. Maggie is just getting used to this sister-as-playmate idea. There have been many accusations of "not sharing!" thrown around in the past couple of days. Catie isn't the only one that has a lot to learn.

Easter

Breakfast

I love having breakfast with Catie sometimes. About two minutes ago I looked at her tray and she was happily cramming pancakes into her mouth while a small pile of mandarin oranges waited to be tried for the first time. And now, when I look at her two minutes later, her entire tray is clear - like the oranges never existed - and she has a dopey smile on her face and a piece of pancake hanging out of the side of her mouth. Silly little piglet, those oranges never knew what hit them.

Oh Oprah, you get me everytime!

Every Tuesday while Maggie is in preschool I go to the "mommy gym". The gym has excellent child care, which is great because it means that Catie doesn't have to wait in the car.

I'm usually on the elliptical machine by no later than 9:15am, perfect time to catch up with my old friend Oprah. All the machines have these little TVs attached to them, and I've figured out how to set the closed caption on them so that I can listen to my music and still follow the story on that day's very special episode of Oprah. I like this, it works out nicely. I'm betting though, that the people next to me don't like it so much, because I am the ONLY one in the gym that cries while working out. Blubbering and weeping, Oprah gets me every single time.

Take today for example. Oprah is telling the story of a menopausal mother that decided to be a surrogate for her daughter and son-in-law after they had struggled for years to conceive. Oprah, of course, had all three plus the baby on the show. I was in tears in about two minutes flat. It made me think of my girls, and how I would do anything for them and what an amazing gift that family had been given. I'm getting choked up just thinking about it.

So hear I am, every Tuesday at about 9:30am, crying buckets on the elliptical machine. Oprah really has made her "final season" a doosy.

Recent Pictures of Cuteness

Ahhhh.. Spring.
The past week or so has marked our first walk of the season through the forest preserve, and our first afternoon swinging in the back yard. There was snow on the ground this morning and I seriously thought I might start crying. Thankfully it had all melted by four o'clock this afternoon. We've got some major spring fever around here!

Time Flies

So yeah, it's been more than a couple of days since my last post. In my defence... well, actually I have no defence really, just the normal amount of busy with a little trip to Savannah thrown in there. Savannah was lovely, by the way, and I would completely recommend it as a long-weekend location for any weary parents looking for a relaxing but interesting (and beautiful) reprieve from the screaming, whining masses (aka their children). Just don't stay at the Inn on Ellis Square. Trust me.

But that's not really what I wanted to write about, so hear I go, changing the subject. Today we went to a movie. On the way to the movie Maggie was playing some kind of game in the backseat that involved, "Three, two, one, BLAST OFF!" But "blast off" sounded more like "pants off" in Maggie-speak so I amused myself by pretending she was saying "Three, two, one, PANTS OFF!" Tee hee.

Rio was our choice, and if you're considering seeing it - and you're probably not - don't bother. Jesse Eisneberg voices the main bird character and all I could think as I watched was of him sitting in front of a computer with a scowl on his face and reading these lines. Facebook dude as a blue Macaw. Lame.

Maggie seemed to like it though; Catie, on the other hand, must have higher standards. She spent the entire time spinning in circles on my lap. I felt like I was wrestling a greased piglet. You know what you probably shouldn't do with a nine month old? Take her to a movie right after nap time. She spun in circles for awhile, she stood up and stared at the people behind me, she vocalized her displeasure with the films writing, she shoved her finger in my mouth and got bit (I swear it was an accident), and she pooped her pants. She was super awesome. Super, duper awesome.

The staff at the movie theatre must all be pregnant, even the guys, because while I was thinking "what the HELL was I thinking" they were all complimenting my adorable, beautiful, baby girl. The two women selling tickets, the guy selling popcorn, and the guy taking the tickets all commented on how cute Catie is. She is cute, this I know, but even the twenty-year-old popcorn guy? Really? Don't they know she's just going to disrupt the other paying customers and drop Cheerios all over the place?

Do you think I'm going to have to baby-proof soon?

Not the Next American Idol

Yesterday we were driving home from the store when Katy Perry's song "Firework" came on the radio. I said, "Maggie, you're song is on the radio," and started singing along. Maggie listened for about 2.5 seconds and yelled, "Grrrr! Mom, stop singing! You're RUINING MY FAVORITE SONG!" Everyone's a critic.