Fully Aware

We were taking a family drive and I needed to get my eyebrows waxed, so we swung by my favorite nail place, and I took Addy in with me while the guys dutifully waited in the truck...I was really excited...I wanted have them paint her nails.

Addy was in awe of all of the nail polish...and I had her pick out the prissiest pink color she could find. She clutched it in one hand the entire time I was getting my eyebrows done...and then it was her turn...I wish I could have seen her face...but she was sitting in my lap...I paint her nails all the time at home, but it's not the same as getting to go have your nails done like a big girl!

I'm fully aware that I'm probably creating a monster...but as a mommy...I loved it!

St Pattys Day Fun

I can honestly say, and this is a VERY, VERY sad thing (at least for the Richardson side of the family!)...this has to be the first year that I haven't had green beer on St. Patricks Day in at least 10 years!!! My G-MA (Hi G-ma!!!) always organizes our St Patty's day festivities, whether it was a huge table at Nickelby's (back in the day in Sterling Park...they had the best Rubens...OK, besides my Mom's) O'Falians, or whatever...they (meaning all of the old-school Sterling Park Irish crew) would start before noon and last well into the night...eating and drinking all day long. Sigh. G-MA moved down to Florida last year, so things just weren't the same!



Bruce was my little Puerto Rican/Slovakian leprechaun this year...and he stopped at the store on the way home and picked up supplies to make some green cupcakes with the kiddos. OK, so we didn't do anything nearly as cool as my friend Shannon for St. Patty's day, but we did have a great time making and eating our cupcakes!



Chase had Addy in some sort of fancy wresting move at this point...she is going to be one tough cookie when she gets older...she has to be to survive being Chase's little sister!



Just a little proof that my daughter does smile...we actually caught it on film!! Chase in his sexy spider-man boxers, kneeling on the glass table...it's a miracle that it hasn't shattered by now. And yes, I am in PJ's...and it was still light outside ;o) PS: Rebecca, if you are reading...yes, I'm wearing my Pura Vida shirt that Erica brought home from visiting you in Costa Rica :o)



I caught Chase shoveling cupcake batter into his mouth...what can I say???



Addy's ticked...her Little Mermaid (which she pronounces as Mermayp) watch is covered in green icing.
The end!

Photoessay

We have been so busy over the last few weeks in between going to see Dora & Boots live in Baltimore (AWESOME...the kids loved it!!! You couldn't take pictures inside the theatre though...bummer), Birthday Parties every weekend (too bad I forget to take pictures!) and that kind of stuff...I've had plenty to blog about but I've been slacking!!

Here is Chase doing a pretty fancy double-thumbs-up move on one foot...talk about coordination...check out the tongue for concentration! ;o) He loves giving thumbs up...I can't wait for him to get ticked off about something, or me try to feed him something he doesn't want, and see him do the thumbs down...I think I'd fall on the floor and die right then and there.

Here's Miss Addy...I finally broke down and got Addy some Uggs...she loves them b/c they are pink...they're a little too big...Bruce says she looks like Boots on Dora ;o)PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT...Do NOT let your kids eat very, very blue cupcakes from Harris Teeter...even if they do look like the cookie monster...the outcome will be the same color, a day later...if you know what I mean!!! And from blue to green after that! Pretty impressive stuff. Chase was in his soccer uniform...he LOVED soccer...we are going to try to get him back in in April...after the month of b-day parties every Saturday is over ;o)
Notice anything super-sexy in this picture? Besides the fact that he is washing dishes in an apron? I didn't want to jinx us or anything, but Chase is OFFICIALLY potty trained...we are talking totally, no accidents for days...he is the MAN at pooping in the potty...but he asks for his privacy, slams the door and locks it (this drives me up the wall...his father does the exact same thing!!!) and then does his business. The funniest thing is that he stands on a step stool to pee...but he forgets that if he turns his body, that his little fire hose does too...he isn't as particular about needing privacy when he pees...so I walked past him the other day and he turned to see what the movement was and ended up peeing on the wall, which startled him and he almost fell into the toilet...this will only be funny so many more times...but I was so amused when it happened.

Here is the signature thumbs up picture...please note the crinkle-butt...sorry Chase, genetics are a bitch ;o)

We were trying to kill some time finger painting the other night...Chase and Addy don't get the whole you paint the paper, not yourself concept...so it was quite messy...

Addy was hard at work...notice the handprint on her cheek

Goof balls...this is the only way Addy will smile for pictures these days...by sticking out her tongue and being silly. Check out the hair...reminds me of There's Something About Mary

Uh Oh...this is where the fingerpaint wars began...

It was all fun and games for quite a while until Chase got Addy in the side of the head (PLEASE note the Redskin boxer briefs...ridiculous...I love them)

Look at how hideous Addy is...blue paint eyeshadow, hair matted down with paint...it was SO much better in person

She was ticked off the rest of the night...Bruce was a saint and dealt with bathtime while I hosed down the kitchen...I would title this picture "Are we having fun yet???" ;o)

Way to go Michael!

My trainer, Michael Thrash was on the news over the weekend! He travels around do to his awesome bootcamp program (I've lost over 40 lbs with him!) and this video clip shows what we do...and that his followers get great results. I just wanted to pass it along...way to go!

You can check out his blog for more inspiration...he doesn't update that much...but he has some pretty cool messages and more videos of his workouts:
http://plumblinetraining.blogspot.com/

here's a link to the news-clip:
http://cfc.wjla.com/searchvideos.cfm?k=michael+thrash

A Recipe & Truvia Review

I wanted to pass on this fantastic recipe I found while reading my blogs...it's a crock pot recipe...my favorite...since I don't get home until around 6 every night! Anyway it turned out fantastic...next time I'll probably make a double batch and freeze half...and we were saying it would probably be really tasty with a little ground up lean Italian sausage in it too.

Pasta Fagoili
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/day-305.html

The only thing I did differently was I cooked a whole box of pasta on the side...I DID add the 1/2 cup dry pasta to the crock pot like it says...I think it helps thicken the soup...and the noodles did cook right up. We just like more noodles...so we put some in our bowls before adding the soup over top...it was good stuff!

TRUVIA...like Keri said a while back
http://owencroberts.blogspot.com/2008/12/letter-to-my-favorite-no-cal-sweetener.html

it's been talked about that Splenda isn't so great for you...yes, it's 0 calories and all, but the chemicals it's made of just aren't' that great for you.

SO! While I didn't get around to making any new years resolutions (we were pretty busy that day...with Chase's tonsil/adenoid-ectomy!) I have been trying to treat my body a bit better...whole wheat as much as possible, 5-minute oatmeal with skim milk and strawberries for breakfast, a daily multi-vitamin (I keep them at work so I remember to take them!)...and cutting back on the artificial stuff...so long crystal lite and Splenda! (weeps). SO! I have bought myself a box of TRUVIA packets to try it out. My thoughts? It's really sweet! 1 packet in my oatmeal in the AM is way sweeter than Splenda was...and it's too much to put in coffee/tea...I guess I could scale down and use a 1/2 a packet or something...but other than that...I'm a fan.

When life brings you lemons...

I know, I know....you are supposed to make lemonade!

We have been going through clementines all winter long, and Chase had the idea that he wanted to make lemonade the other morning...with Clementines. It was REALLY hard to de-program him from the whole lemonade thing, into saying that he was going to make orange juice...he was dead-set on lemonade!

EDITORS NOTES:

1) What, you don't wear zip-up Christmas footie jammies in February? Live a little!
2) The cabinet locks you see on everything...life-savers...we have the ones you push down on the insides of the cabinets, but of course both kids mastered them long ago...so we have double reinforcement. Also? The one on the fridge...the best idea ever, if I do say so myself...Chase is a male...therefore if we let him, he'd stand with the fridge door open, shooting cool-whip from the can in his mouth, scratching his butt, asking what's for dinner...I'm just not ready for 2 males in the house doing that ;o)
3) **Mommy bragging rights**...this was totally Chase's idea to use the pampered chef ice-tea pitcher with the press/mixer thing on it...you know, so he could squish his orange...I was really proud of him for thinking of that on his own!

Here he is getting water and ice...it of course shoots out EVERYWHERE but hey...

That orange has no idea what's coming!Take that you little section of orange!
All done...every chef must taste his creation...he has this stash of party cups...they are all different animals and the faces fold down to make favor cups or something? Anyway, he loves them.
Delish!

If you're SASSY and you know it...

Oh my...miss Addy is going to give us a run for our money...that is a guarantee. She is such a little diva BUT she is still the sweetest little thing, most of the time. ;o)

My little Punky Brewster...check out the getup! You can't see it very well but she is wearing my pony-tail holder as a bracelet (I keep one on my wrist at all times, so I guess she thinks it's stylish?) slid up to her elbow. She was kind enough to pull out her binky for the first photo...that's all she would give me





I carried her up in the little laundry basket with a pile of folded clothes...she was only 23 lbs, 7oz at her 2 YEAR CHECKUP last week! She has started stripping me of my jewelry when I come through the door at night...all of my necklaces are piled up on top of her dresser in her room...so since she's still sleeping when I leave for work, I've been accessory-less all week :o)
Here she's storming off crying b/c I wouldn't give her the camera...I think she looks so funny marching off with her hair all messed up and her tu-tu on. Life is seriously hard when you are 2...I've come to realize that ;o)

Last but not least this video was taken Valentines Day am...listen to that bratty little voice! She knows she's being rotten