Pizza Night

When Andrew was in Liberia Sydney and I used to have pizza night one night a week. It was easy and quick to make, Sydney could help and it was one less meal I had to figure out for the week. Since Andrew has been back we haven't had a weekly pizza night but tonight we decided to bring it back. I was trying to plan our meals for the week and nothing I could think of sounded interesting or fun to make. And every meal felt like we had just had it. Andrew thought of making pizza--nothing special but Sydney helped make it so it was well worth it. We made pepperoni pizza. She sprinkled the cheese and added pepperoni. She ate two pepperoni as she placed them on the pizza and thought they were yummy. She doesn't usually like pepperoni so I was surprised but when the pizza was baked and she tried the pepperoni again, she didn't like it all. But she loved the pizza, asking for three triangle slices. She's all into shapes and likes "circle" eggo mini's and "circle" pasta (the pasta shaped like wheels) and triangle cut sandwiches. I told Andrew about our weekly pizza and he liked the idea. The best part of course is that Sydney gets to help.

It's that time again...

It was a tradition growing up in my family to put our Christmas tree up during Thanksgiving weekend. I've continued that tradition with my own family and today we put up our tree. We have a pre-lit artificial tree and Andrew set it up while Sydney napped. When she came down the stairs after nap and saw it she said "whoa!" and walked right over to it pointing out the different colored lights. After her snack we started adding ornaments. At first Sydney was happy just holding an ornament and passing it to me to put up in the tree, saying "thank you mama" every time I took an ornament from her hand. Then she started taking the ornaments out of the trays and telling me what color to put up next. After putting up a few I walked Sydney over to the tree and asked her to pick a branch she would like me to put an ornament on. She picked a few different branches and I put an ornament on each. The last two ornaments we saved for her and she added them onto the branches with a little help.
Our neighborhood is starting to look festive with lights, santas and reindeer lighting up the night. We will have to take Sydney on a little stroll so she can see the decorations. Hazel always makes us laugh because she will bark at the reindeer with moving heads. Silly Hazel. I am excited about staying home for Christmas this year. I'm excited about family coming from far to share it with us, I'm excited about Sydney waking up in her own home and finding presents under the tree. I'm also excited about not packing and traveling with a little one during the holidays. Sydney does well on flights, thankfully, but it's still exhausting to do.

A Very Thankful Thanksgiving

This year was the first time I had Thanksgiving at my house. No family, just good friends and hopefully...good food. I was very anxious about how everything would turn out because I had never made any of these classic dishes before...dishes I had eaten my whole life! Sure I chopped some veggies and did simple things growing up but never made these dishes from start to finish. And since Andrew and I have been married we've always been at our families' homes where our contribution was a simple dessert. Today's menu was of course turkey, sweet potato casserole, my mom's stuffing, Andrew's mom's stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, my mom's ambrosia salad called "five cup salad", and dinner rolls. I also steamed green beans and corn on the cob. I prepped everything I could the night before and got a hand from Andrew and Sydney today. Andrew made the five cup salad and Sydney crumbled the cornbread in a bowl and added croutons by the handful for my mom's stuffing recipe. Our friends, the Choi's, came over around 2:00 and we ate an hour later. I knew everything turned out well because Andrew finished his plate and was going for seconds before I was halfway finished with my plate. He loved his mom's stuffing more which was fine with me because I loved my mom's stuffing much more. She used to make it every Thanksgiving until the brand of cornbread she used to use was no longer sold. She liked that brand, Aunt Jemima, so much she thought no other brand would taste the same. I just used Jiffy corn muffin mix and it turned out the same way--so Mom, you can start making your stuffing again :) Sandy made pecan pie, my favorite pie, and brought Haggen Daas vanilla ice cream which was so delicious. After dinner we watched WALL-E in the tv room. I love this movie more and more each time I've seen it. It's just so cute.
I have so many things to be thankful for. Things that I do not deserve, but that God has blessed me with year after year. This year I am especially thankful for my family. My Dad's family is Indian and recently my cousin Sabitha and my Aunt and Uncle were in Mumbai...the same city that had the terror attacks this week that has killed more than 100 people. Sabitha was there for six weeks with her work and my aunt and uncle went with her to visit friends and family. They came back to the US last week and are safe and sound, but they were at the Taj Mahal Hotel, one of the places hit, just three weeks ago. I am so thankful they are home. To all of you reading this, relative or friend, everyone one of you is very special to me and I am very blessed God has put you in my life. I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Home Decor Sydney Style

I have lots of Sydney's artwork around the house and today I thought we needed to add some new pictures. So I emptied one of her small bins from her storage shelf, taped a sheet of finger paint paper in it and added paint with two balls inside to do the painting. No paint brushes. Sydney moved, shook and rolled the balls around the bin and as they rolled in the paint they made a beautiful painting. I usually do this activity with a container that has a lid (coffee can, pringles can) just to avoid the balls getting knocked out and rolling on the floor with paint on it (as it happened once today) but I didn't have any empty cans on hand and I thought this would work out just fine. I showed Sydney how to move the bin first to get the hang of it, and once she did she moved the balls around pretty well. I hung one of her new paintings up in the laundry room and it brightens it up nicely. I have footprint art in her bathroom, foam shapes on contact paper in the dining room, a Valentine collage in the kitchen and leaves cut out of construction paper that we decorated with glue/glitter/tissue paper on our back door. She enjoys doing art activities but she does not like to get her hands dirty--at all, which becomes a problem during those dinnertimes when she refuses to use her fork but freaks out that spaghetti sauce is on her fingers--you can't have it all Sydney.

Daddy's Day at the Aquarium

My husband has been saying this week that he wants to take Sydney to the aquarium. I just took Sydney to the aquarium about a week ago, but Andrew hasn't gone with us since the summer. We have a family membership that ends in February so we should use it as much as possible, plus visiting the aquarium is fun! So after breakfast we got ready and headed out to Mystic. First let me say today was FREEZING!!! I practically raced us from the car to the ticket counter and into the pavillion. I was not really interested standing outside and seeing the Beluga whales get fed but Andrew wanted to watch with Sydney so we watched for about five minutes and then I shooed everyone inside. It's weird after having visited so many times to actually see the animals growing up. The seal lion pup doesn't look like a pup anymore and the Beluga whale that came from the Point Defiance zoo in Washington for breeding now has an offspring nine months old. It's always nice during off peak times (early in the morning and in the colder weather) because there is hardly anyone there. We walk from exhibit to exhibit as many times as we want. I'm surprised at how much I enjoy living here in CT. I was worried when we got our orders about moving to "rotten groton" but it hasn't been so bad. There is so much to do with Sydney. For couples without children, yes, it would definitely be boring as it was when Andrew was here for subschool. But with Sydney there are so many choices that we always keep pretty busy.

Dance class for Sydney, Girls' night for Mom

Sydney had dance class this morning and she is really loving it. All week we were singing over and over "Roly Poly", "Shake About", "Happy Feet" and on and on. The "See Saw" song was stuck in my head, but I could not remember any other words in the song than "see saw". So I was humming "see saw, see saw, da da da da da" when Sydney chimed in "see saw, see saw, up and down da go" which translates to "up and down we go". Wow Sydney, thank you. I knew she was right because she remembers everything and sure enough at music class today the see saw song played and I knew the second line. It was a very strange feeling to have learned something from my child, but she's not a baby anymore and this won't be the last time. We have one more class before this session is over and I will be signing her up for the next session. I also want to sign her up for tumbling again since she isn't constantly putting her fingers in her mouth anymore but I am debating between that and the Time for Two's class at the library. We did Wee Ones and Babies and Books so I feel like I should continue. Sydney enjoys all of the classes so I can't really go wrong. Either way, we'll be dancing with Ms. Joy into springtime.
Tonight was girls' night at my friend Jessica's house. I was excited all week about getting the chance to be out of the house past Sydney's bedtime and chat with friends. We did just that until 1 am and we only stopped because we knew we'd be so tired the next day, but we could have talked until the sun came up. It was great to laugh and talk about anything and everything and just be together. We see each other for playdates and potlucks but it's not quite the same as having time just for us to share. I can only share and vent to my poor husband so much! Being in the military you build very strong friendships quickly with other wives, and just like Andrew will be friends for life with his Naval Academy buddies and friends he's made through the pipeline, I have also made very dear friendships that will always be a part of me. It gets hard as people move away but we are so lucky to have the technology to email or have facebook and keep up with everyone like they never left.

Family Outing to IKEA

Andrew has had a pretty light week teaching only a couple of classes, so since he had duty on Sunday he was given today off. Pretty nice huh? So we decided to drive out to IKEA in New Haven since we hadn't been there since before Andrew's IA. I love IKEA...I love strolling through all of the show rooms and playing with all of the knick knacks. We are also in the process of looking for a bed for Sydney so we wanted to see what they had. She enjoyed walking along with us from room to room trying out the kids tables, even getting herself paper and markers (luckily none of them were working) and trying to draw a picture. IKEA is super kid friendly. In the kids' section there is a small play area with toys/furniture from their showrooms. Sydney played on the rocking chairs, toy tunnel, etc. as Andrew and I took turns looking around. There was a tent designed like an igloo for only $9.99 that we picked up for Sydney and a night light in the shape of a moon for her room. We looked at the kids beds but there was nothing that really stood out to us. We had lunch there which I also love because their meatball/mashed potato/cranberry sauce dish is so yummy. Sydney had pasta served from the same bowl set that I picked for her as well. It was a fun way to spend the morning. We set up her igloo in the living room. She spent the first 20 minutes just dancing and jumping around in it. Here is a video.

What a pretty smile!

Here are my new favorite pictures of Sydney. She has learned how to smile for the camera. If you ask her to smile she'll instead stick out her tongue as far as possible (I don't know where she got that from) but if you ask her to show her teeth, she'll give the prettiest smile. I was looking at pictures of her that I took while Andrew was on his IA and I couldn't believe how little she looked then. And at the time I thought she was so big! It's neat to see how her best friends, Will, Andrew and Christy have grown up too this past year. They play so well together too. Andrew loves to push Sydney on his car around Laura's kitchen and when Will found the middle part of the letter "O" from the puzzle mat and showed Mary, Sydney found the same piece and showed Mary too.

It has gotten so cold here over the last few days and it looks like it's here to stay. We took Sydney to the playground yesterday but only stayed about 10 minutes. She has a routine...little swing, little slide, little see saw, big swing with Mom or Dad and big slide. This time we didn't get to the big slide. She started to protest but was over it when she found a dandelion full of seeds to blow.

Her favorite thing to do now is "write" and "draw". She loves to scribble letters and shapes like she sees Andrew and I do. She has a magna doodle that she plays with everyday. It stays downstairs. While she was in her room this morning she took the pen from her toy fax machine (it's super cute...she can record short messages on it) and she used the pen to "pretend" scribble everywhere in the room. It's not a real pen, it just works on the toy, but it doesn't matter to her. So I fished out the Magna Doodle I used in my preschool class and gave it to her. I left the room to take Hazel out potty and I heard over the monitor "Thank you Mama!"

I can't imagine what our life will be like in about 6 months. Will we be in Massachusettes or California? I prefer Massachusettes, but the warmer weather of California is very tempting, especially now. Except I hear that Monterey weather is a lot like Seattle weather, rainy and cloudy. We spent months talking over the pros and cons of each school, Monterey and MIT, and MIT is the better choice for what Andrew wants to do as an EDO and afterwards when he is out of the Navy. As for me I miss teaching sooo much but I couldn't give that up right now. I am loving the time I have everyday with Sydney and I wouldn't want it any other way.

21 Questions...

I enjoyed reading Jessica's and Heather's answers, now it's my turn to share...

1. What is your husband's name? Andrew Jamie Privette
2. Who eats more? Him, I wish I could enjoy extra helpings as often as he does!
3. Who said, "I love you" first? He did.
4. Who is taller? Andrew
5. Who is smarter? He is without question.
6. Who is more sensitive? Me
7. Who does the laundry? Me
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does
9. Who pays the bills? He makes the money, I take care of the bills.
10. Who cooks more? Me but not by choice, I'm just home more
11. Who is more stubborn? We take turns...
12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? I think we both do.
13. Who has more siblings? I do
14. Who wears the pants in the relationship? We both do but we're each better at some things than others.
15. What do you like to do together? Watch tv/movies, travel, play with Sydney and Hazel, visit Family, play Wii and Wii Fit
16. Who eats more sweets? Me
17. How did you meet? Sophomore year in college (George Mason University) with Campus Crusade for Christ.
18. Who asked whom out first? We were on a mission trip during our spring break in Panama City FL. We were already very close friends and he tried to ask me out but instead asked how I felt about him...so I told him...and that was that!
19. Who kissed who first? I kissed him.
20. Who proposed? He did, in front of the Washington Monument in DC.
21. His best features and qualities? His patience, intelligence, his love for our family, his love for me, his dedication to his work and himself to be the best person he can be.

I'd love to see Mary and Laura's responses!

Back Online

Today is Monday which means a playdate with Laura and Mary. The kids had fun playing with toys, marching to Barney songs and sharing each others snacks. Watching them eat snack together is just hilarious because Mary, Laura and I will split our child's snack with everyone and they still reach over to everyone else's plate. They never fuss either they just share and ask for more when their plate is empty. Too cute.
Andrew was able to come home early from work today since he is not teaching any classes this week. Right now they are transitioning to a new session of students coming in as another session graduates so it's been pretty quiet. He didn't get to stay home though because he had to take our computer to a repair shop in Shelton. On Saturday he was downloading updates from Toshiba's website and when he rebooted the computer it asked for a password. We've never put on a password so there was nothing we could do. Andrew called Toshiba's customer service and they said it would cost $425 to fix it. For what??? Why should we have to pay it since the update was taken from Toshiba's own website? That's almost the price we paid for the laptop in the first place so I don't even know how they came up with that number. They said they wouldn't charge us but we had to take the computer to Shelton. It was fixed in about a half hour and they also told Andrew how to fix it if it happened again. He knew how to do it but he worried that if he messed with it and it didn't work we would be out of luck and would have to pay the fee. Now the laptop is working fine and I am blogging again. It was hard not being able to access the Internet for two days. Even Sydney was affected, asking for songs I've downloaded on ITunes that I couldn't play. She'll be happy to hear "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" tomorrow morning!

Duty Day

Today was a pretty quiet day for Sydney and I. Andrew has duty on base so it's just her and I until Andrew comes home tomorrow. Whenever Andrew has duty I bring dinner over and we all eat together in his office. Today we went to the pool on base during their family swim time. Duty for Andrew right now is nothing like it was on his boat. His makes his rounds from building to building checking up on everything and is on call for questions and problems for the base. It sounds overwhelming but it's pretty laid back compared to what duty used to be in Washington. Anyway, Sydney and I met up with Andrew after her nap. She was very excited since Andrew has taken her to family swim before for father-daughter bonding. She loves standing on the steps because she can sit and stand all by herself. We brought a ball and played catch. She loved it, squealing and giggling the whole time. The water was warm, but not warm enough and after about 20 minutes Sydney's little lips started to turn purple so she and I took a warm shower in the locker room. She enjoyed that very much!
In the morning I took her to Petsmart, for no other reason than she just enjoys watching the birds, guinea pigs and fish. We had been playing with her farm puzzles and it was way too cold and windy to go to Alice Acres or anywhere else outside. So I thought Petsmart was the next best thing. She knows where the birds are and always makes a bee line for them. She likes the blue and green finches and will watch them move about. Then we watched the guinea pigs for a bit. I had a guinea pig when I taught Kindergarten that really became my pet more than the classrooms because I took him home every night. His name was Clifford, the kids named him, but Andrew and I later found out when we bought a second male guinea pig that Clifford was actually a girl. She was labeled "male" at Petco and labeled "male" by the vet when she needed paper work saying she was healthy to fly all the way to Washington state when Andrew and I were married--like I said she really became my pet. So as I was standing at Petsmart with all those guinea pigs the thought had crossed my mind to get a new one for Sydney since I still have all of the equipment, but that I not something I want on my plate right now. Plus we are moving in a few months and I don't want to worry about another pet. Maybe after we move we might get fish. We'll see. At least Sydney's not asking...and I'm not going to ask her either :)
Tonight the Redskins played the Cowboys and I was on the edge of my seat. This was a really exciting game. I am a Redskins' fan, born and raised in the DC Area, so I will continue to root for them no matter where I live. They beat the Cowboys earlier this season, but sadly not tonight. It was a great game, but they couldn't keep up with the Cowboys' running back Marion Barber...he is amazing! Andrew won his fantasy football game this week and is back in first place. Good job Andrew!!!

A Busy Friday...

What a day...I didn't sleep so well last night because I forgot to turn on the ceiling fan in the great room before heading to bed--a must if you have a great room because all of the heat of the house goes up to the second floor making the first floor feel like a freezer and the second floor like a sauna. Having the fan on pushes all that hot air down making the house more comfortable. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking "It is so HOT in this room!" I tiptoed downstairs to turn the fan on and immediately I felt the difference but it took me some time to go back to sleep.
Sydney and I left the house early so we could get the flu mist at the clinic on base. We got there right at 8:00 to avoid the crazy lines. I brought Sydney's breakfast (eggo mini's, a banana and milk) that she ate while we waited. Andrew came with us which Sydney thought was a real treat. I didn't prep Sydney for what was about to happen, partly because she wouldn't understand and also because I wasn't really sure what to expect. I've only ever gotten the shot so this was a first for me too. Well it was super quick. We were called in and the nurse asked that Sydney sit on the exam table. Another nurse gave her a Winnie the Pooh sticker that Sydney accepted but not without a look of suspicion..."what is this for? what's going on?" Again I felt bad I hadn't mentioned what would be happening. We laid her on the table, and she started to panic, but I held her hand and kept her head still while Andrew held her other hand and the nurse sprayed the mist in each nostril. Done. Phew! We hung out in the lobby afterwards for the usual 15 minutes after a shot and Sydney finished her breakfast.
Afterwards we went to her dance class. This time when we did the parachute activity Sydney went under it and let the parachute move up and down above her. It happened by accident, Sydney prefers holding the handles and moving the parachute up and down while the kids run wild under it. She was holding it today when she lost her grip and was all of a sudden under the bright colorful parachute. There were not as many kids today and only two were under with her so it wasn't as scary. She stayed under for about a minute then came back out next to me and held the handle again. Go Sydney!
We then ran a couple of errands and on the way home Sydney fell asleep in the car. When she falls asleep in the car her long three hour nap turns into a short 30 minute nap. She didn't wake up when I brought her into the house but about a half hour later she stirred and realized she wasn't in the car anymore...and nap was over. She played with her Magna Doodle, water pens and ABC magnets the whole afternoon. She loves to scribble letters and sing over and over what sound each letter makes. Here is a video of her playing in the kitchen with her letter magnets.

My Poor Baby

And I'm not talking about Sydney. Andrew has come down with a cold this week that has him feeling pretty crummy. I thought I was coming down with it too when I had a sore throat most of Wednesday but it didn't get any worse than that. His sore throat started on Monday and by today he was coughing, sneezing and going through tissue boxes. Poor sweetie. And he's holding his kisses back from Sydney which is even worse. I made a run to the grocery store and picked him up some Sudafed which is helping. I just hope it clears up soon. He hasn't been working out at the gym so he's been sleeping in a little and coming home a little earlier. And Sydney has been commenting on all of Daddy's movements in the house. Like this morning during breakfast she pointed out "Dada sleeping upstairs, OK?" I explained that Dada was at work and that his jeep is gone. That's how she knows for sure that Andrew is gone, when she looks out the window and his jeep isn't there. When he came home this afternoon he went upstairs to take a hot shower. Sydney was having snack and pointed out "Dada in shower". Then she changed her mind and said "Dada sleeping". She shook her head when I asked if he was sleeping in the shower but nodded when I asked if he was sleeping the in bed so at least we have that figured out. I made Dal for dinner, an Indian puree made with lentils, peas, or beans--I used yellow split peas. As the peas were cooking with tumeric, cumin seeds and onions, Andrew could not smell it when he was standing in the kitchen...Indian food has a very strong aroma so I was surprised. He went to bed early tonight to give himself time to fall asleep. That's the best thing he can do. Hopefully this cold will be gone before Sydney or I have a chance to catch it.

Apple Cake

It's been a couple weeks since we finished eating the apples we picked at the apple orchard and I was still craving more apple desserts. So I today I made an Apple Cake. I LOVE this cake. It's actually called "Gigi's Apple Cake" and I got it from Rachel Ray's magazine. The magazine had asked readers to send in favorite family recipes and this person sent this one in, saying her grandmother used to make it every Christmas. When I made it the first time it also reminded me of cakes that my grandmother used to make. She loved using apples in cakes, crepes, tarts, you name it. And it was all sooo good. The recipe calls for six sliced apples so the batter looks like it's just apples with a little bit of batter. It bakes in a bundt pan but I decided to make loaves instead and share two of them with my friends Mary and Laura who I will see at our playdate tomorrow. Sydney had never had this cake before and I was excited to see if she would like it. She loved it!!! I think it actually spoiled her dinner a little as she hardly touched her spaghetti--a favorite.

Andrew had the day off for Veteran's Day. It was just great to have him home. Usually Sydney will ask where he is when we first get downstairs in the morning or say "Dada work." Today Andrew got to sleep in (which is still earlier than when I got up this morning) and I got Sydney when she woke up at 7:45. For breakfast I made pancakes and blueberry syrup. It was yummy. In the afternoon Andrew took Hazel to the park. He said there were about 20 other dogs there. Their owners must have had the day off too. It was good for Hazel just to socialize and play. She was wiped out when they got back home.

Here are a couple pictures of Andrew and Sydney coloring with water pens. It's been so long since I brought the pens and pictures out that Sydney was surprised all over again at what the water does to the pictures. She played with them all the time while Andrew was in Liberia and she played with them all evening tonight. I have them on her little table downstairs so she can play with them tomorrow.

Sydney's First Time Out

I knew this day would come...she is a two years old afterall. This morning I had the laptop on the dining table. Sydney walked over to the table, reached up and started typing on the keys. It was right after breakfast and I was in the kitchen putting our dishes in the sink. I saw Sydney at the table and I said "Sydney please leave the keyboard alone". She heard me but kept clicking away. So I asked two more times raising my voice. When she hears me raise my voice she will persist even more which irritates me so I try to stay calm. But this was not ok and she had no choice. So I came over, moved her away from the laptop and said "Mommy said to leave the computer alone. It's not Sydney's computer." She started crying and picked up her little plastic mama duck toy and threw it. Then she took the baby ducks and threw them. She tried to find something else to throw when I asked "Sydney please go pick up the mama duck and baby ducks." Of course she was too upset and said "no no no no no no." So I told her to go sit on the couch. She went over, climb up on our green loveseat and sat. Then she laid down and sucked her two fingers. I just wanted her to calm down which she seemed to be doing. I sat on the couch across from her and asked if she was ready to pick up the mama duck. She said "no" so she stayed on the couch. I came over and sat next to her, she didn't seem too pleased but she didn't protest and kept sucking her fingers. I said "Where's Mama duck?" She looked at the floor and exclaimed "Mama Duck!" "I said can you go pick her up?" She immediately climbed down and pick up the duck. Then I said "Where are the baby ducks?" She went over and picked them up too. Then I reminded her the rules that we don't throw our toys and she can't play with the laptop (which I moved out of reach onto the high counter). She was in a good mood again and our household returned to normal. When she was younger, around 18 months, and got upset she would throw the toys in her hands and run away crying. I would walk over to her and comfort her reminding her of the rules. Now I have to help her learn to comfort herself. And while I try to have a firm exterior, inside I have a little laugh watching my stinker in action.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

The last couple of weeks I've noticed Sydney copying my mannerisms and phrases--ones I didn't even realize I have. For example, I was giving Sydney a bath a couple weeks ago and I poured water into her little squirt bottle. All of a sudden she exclaims "Oh my gosh!" She's been saying it ever since. Next came "Oh my goodness!" Again, cannot recall when I say these phrases but Andrew doesn't say them so it must be me. Andrew's new game is to point his finger at me with an "ah-ha!" look on his face whenever I utter the taboo sentences. Okay okay I concede, I say oh my gosh/goodness quite frequently.
The mannerism I apparently have came to light this week during dinner. I had made stuffed shells and when I bit into a shell it was cool but the cheese was not. I was choking and gasping for relief from my glass of water. After gulping it down I started cracking up. Sydney and Andrew stared at me like I was crazy but then Sydney caught on and started laughing "HAHAHA" and covered her face with her hands. That is my mannerism. I cover my face when I laugh really hard. I really didn't know I did this but now I catch myself doing it all the time. Now almost each night at dinner Sydney will share a funny story--we can't understand it--and then crack up into a fit of laughter cupping her hands over her mouth. It's so funny that Andrew and I can't help laughing too.

Wrapping Up Our Weekend

Even though I am not working now, Sunday nights still give me the blues. After enjoying two days of Andrew being home it's sad on Monday morning to wake up and not have him home. His shore duty schedule has been so great that I really can't complain. He is home almost everyday by 3:00 and never has to put in extra hours. He's come to all of Sydney's well baby appointments and he's met us at the Commissary when Sydney and I went to buy groceries. Now whenever we go on base Sydney says "Hi Dada" and looks all around for him. It makes it tough when so many guys look like him and wear the same uniform. It's difficult for me too Sydney!

Today we spent the morning with our good friends Chuck and Sandy Choi. Their baby, Dona, is now 2 weeks old. They are Korean and Dona has the most precious features. Her eyes are so beautiful even when she's asleep. Sydney wasn't too interested in seeing the baby at first but by the time we left she was standing by Sandy and watching Dona sleep. We ordered Domino's pizza and had lunch together. It was so nice to spend time with them again.

Tonight, after dinner, we played all sorts of games with Sydney. Her favorite toy right now is the Magna Doodle and she loves scribbling and erasing over and over again...or she'll ask you to draw Elmo, Zoe, Cookie Monster and Big Bird. Our drawings are not perfect but she can tell them apart--and that's what counts :) She watched a little football with Andrew tonight too and brought her toy football out to play catch. When a player is tackled she'll say "uh oh!" Our game of catch will last a couple minutes but it's enough for Sydney. I am a football fan too so I don't mind the game on. Andrew is in a fantasy football league and he was a little stressed as this week was supposed to be easy, but it wasn't so. My friend Heather said her family plays fantasy football and they'll pass a trophy around to the winner each year. I think that would be so much to do with my family.

Andrew and Sydney are asleep now which is what I should be doing. It feels like your days are never really over. You just have to find a stopping place. So I'll make this my stopping place and wish you all a good night and a great week! 

 

Saturday Sales

Today was just a day of running errands and getting things done. We started out the morning with a trip to Waterford where we hit BabiesRUs, Linens N Things, Michaels and Best Buy. We would have done more but by then it was lunch time and if Sydney falls asleep for the 10 minute ride home, well, she doesn't sleep the rest of the day. We went to BabiesRUs for some new pajamas for Sydney. They had a buy one get one half off sale so we put it to good use and bought six sets. They are so cute and look so comfortable. I had Sydney try on a couple tonight just to make sure they fit. They're a little big but that means they will last all winter. At Linens N Things we browsed what was left of their "going out of business" sale. I have been eyeing the Rachel Ray cooking set for a while but wasn't ready to get it. All I really needed was a new dutch oven. I have one of her large skillets that I use frequently so I thought when my other pans wear out I would replace it with her set. Today the set was on sale 20 % off--from $199.99 to 159.99. I still wasn't convinced I needed all those pots and pans, but Andrew noticed half of the sets were marked $179.99 making it $143.99 with the 20% off. So I said ok I can't pass that up. Andrew picked up the set priced $179 and saw it rang up for $199. He told the cashier it was marked at $179. The manager came over, agreed and gave us an extra $33 off...on top of the 20%.We only paid $126.99. Good call Andrew. He figured out the store marked up the price on their sign to make the discount look bigger but they forgot to change all of their stickers on each set. You have to be so careful. He was so sweet when we got home. He unpacked the set, put it in the dishwasher, threw out the old pot and put the new set away. I told him he didn't have to, but he said he knew how excited I was and he just wanted to help out. I am so blessed.

Sydney's Trip to the Dentist

Sydney had a dental checkup this morning. Over the summer I took her for an initial visit where they counted her teeth and let her feel the dental chair move up and down. She did pretty well--opening her mouth on command was a little tricky, but she let the hygienist have a look. This week I had an appointment for a cleaning so I brought her along too. The receptionist said I could bring Sydney to my appointment and depending on how she did with counting teeth again I could then make her a separate appointment. Well yesterday was my appointment and I asked Andrew to take the morning off so he could be with Sydney while I had my cleaning. Unfortunately the dental assistant said that Sydney could not be seen since she did not have her own appointment and there wasn't enough time to see me and Sydney. I explained what the receptionist had said she replied "Oh yeah they [the receptionists] don't understand and then the parents will get mad at us when we can't see their child." Well YES! So I made another appointment for Sydney today, and this time it was just her and I, without Andrew. I wish he had been there because Sydney did soooo well. I couldn't believe it honestly. The assistant and the hygienist made all the difference. Sydney sat in my lap and we got to ride the chair up and down. She thought that was pretty neat. Then I laid back in the chair and Sydney laid on me. The assistant gave Sydney a cool pair sunglasses to block out the bright light. She wore it for a little bit but they were adult size and kept falling off so she held them in her hands. Then the hygienist showed Sydney her blue mask, protective glasses, gloves and her tools. The first tool was the suction tube "Mr. Thirsty". She helped Sydney touch the suction part with her finger, then give it a kiss to feel it on her lips, then open her mouth to let the tube do its work. Next was polishing her teeth. The hygienist showed Sydney the polisher and let her touch it with her finger. Then as Sydney laid on me the hygienist polished Sydney's teeth with bumble gum paste. By the end Sydney was holding "Mr. Thirsty" in her mouth while the hygienist was polishing all of her teeth! I wish I could have taken a picture. Lastly the hygienist rinsed out Sydney's mouth with the little water pik. When it was time to take back "Mr. Thirsty" Sydney wasn't ready to let him go. I was so pleased it went so well. We'll go back again in 6 months right before we move. Now we have lots to tell Daddy about how brave Sydney was today!

At the Children's Museum

Today was such a beautiful day. It's getting pretty cold here now that we're in November so when you have a day in the 60's, like today, you just want to soak it up. This morning Sydney and I went to the Children's Museum. I checked online to see if the Groton Library had any passes to the museum and saw there was one left. Lucky for us no one had checked it out by the time we got there. Sydney had a great time at the museum. We hadn't been since the summer so it was neat to see her play with everything with a new understanding. Her favorite thing is still the small climber in the toddler play area. It's in the back so we always go there last. She loves climbing up and down the stairs and going down the slide. Afterwards we went to Illiano's for lunch. We ordered Mozzarella sticks and Bianca pizza (and dedicated our lunch to my sister who's name is also Bianca). I don't care too much for Mozzarella sticks because they're usually soggy but these were soooo good. Sydney loved them too--as long as she saw the cheese inside. The pizza was delicious too!

It's ok...it's Mac and Cheese!

Sydney likes to eat pretty much everything, however she has this habit of ranking her food. She will only eat what she decides is her favorite thing on her plate and leave everything else. For example she'll eat all of her spaghetti one night and the next time I make it she won't want to touch it if there's something else on her plate she likes more. Although I'm thrilled she loves her veggies it doesn't do much good if that's all she eats. I started making more casseroles hoping that if everything was cooked together she would eat everything together. Nope, she picks out the peas or the pasta or the cheese. Last night I made stuffed shells for dinner with frozen mixed vegetables on the side. She ate the veggies right away and asked for more. I told her to take a bite of pasta and then she could have more vegetables. She took a bite but was eager for more veggies. After her second helping she asked again for veggies. So I said "what about your Mac and Cheese?" She looked at her plate and ate bite after bite of her "mac and cheese". So tonight we had chicken enchiladas and mixed vegetables. Again she ate all of her vegetables and not a bite of enchilada. So Andrew said "Hey Sydney try your mac and cheese." Sure enough Sydney picked up her fork and ate bite after bite of enchilada. At least we found something that works!

Today we went to the aquarium in Mystic. We made it just in time to see the Beluga Whale feeding. It's great to go at this time of year because there are no crowds so we had a great view of the feeding. My friend Laura and her children Andrew and Ada were also there which was a nice surprise. We toured the aquarium together and Sydney and Andrew enjoyed walking from exhibit to exhibit. The sea lions were very active swimming all around their tank. Sydney would say "Dolphin, dolphin" but Laura gently reminded her "No, those aren't dolphins, they are sea lions." Andrew enjoyed taking his time looking at all the fish but Sydney zipped through from tank to tank. She loves watching the Manta Ray tank as the rays "fly" past the glass. And she loves the fluorescent exhibit where you push the large button and make the neon fish glow. One great thing about living here in CT is there is so much to do with your kids. I'm always hearing of new places, classes and programs geared to Sydney's age. With the cold weather, that's good news since we won't be at the playground much anymore.

I love your blog...

I got an "I love your blog" award from Jessica and I have to answer the following questions with a one word response, then I have to tag three friends who have a blog that I love.

1. Where is your phone? Kitchen

2. Where is your significant other? Subase

3. Your hair color? Brown

4. Your mother? Caring

5. Your father? Dedicated

6. Your favorite thing? Family

7. Your dream last night? Weird

8. Your dream/goal? Accomplished

9. The room you're in? Family Room

10. Your hobby? Scrapbooking

11. Your fear? Death

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Japan

13. Where were you last night? Home

14. What you're not? Confident

15. One of your wish list items? Jewelry Bag

16. Where you grew up? DC Area

17. The last thing you ate? Stuffed Shells

18. What you are wearing? Clothes

19. Your TV? Off

20. Your pet? Hazel

21. Your computer? Toshiba

22. Your mood? Anxious

23. Missing someone? Husband

24. Your car? Toyota Rav4

25. Something your not wearing? Makeup

26. Favorite store? Barnes and Noble

27. Your summer? Lonely

28. Love someone? Andrew

29. Your favorite color? Blue

30. When was the last time you laughed? Today

31. Last time you cried? Saturday

My friends Crystal and Heather also have a blog and they got this award too :) So here are my answers ladies....can't wait to see yours!