Time, time, time....see whats become of me....

The blog title is appropriate because I always mean to sit down and blog but run out of time and, it's also a hazy shade of winter 'round here. Not that I'm complaining. It's the first year I've truly felt like we may have had more than 1 season--hot and muggy. I suppose the Bangles actually covered the Simon and Garfunkel song but I like the Bangles better. Should I admit that?
I'm sure most of my readers remember being a child, say 8 or 9, and hearing adults (read: old people) say "Where does the time go?" or "Time flies" and thinking they were nuts?! Time is SLOW when you're young. It's torturous to wait for your birthday or Christmas or summer vacation. When you're 13 you never, ever, ever think you'll reach 16 and get your license because it takes. so. long.
I'm not sure I have any young readers but because I publish my blog into a book for Miss F and McButter to eventually read and enjoy, let me tell you girls....Time FLIES! It flies when you're having fun, sure, but it can fly when nothing is going on and it sometimes flies even faster when you're dreading something.
We at the B Family Headquarters haven't had a whole lot of activity lately. We've been to the zoo, birthday parties, playdates, enjoyed watching the Saints win the Super Bowl, attended church, cleaned up, did laundry and have moved quickly into February. Man, where does the time go?
McButter is a cruiser and every now and then we'll wonder how she got from Point A to Point B and feel that the first steps are soon to come. She's still a toothless wonder but can out eat her sister in portion size so is not held back by her toothless status. We have all heard her say 'Daisy' so perhaps that's her second word? She also says "Duck", the first word we all heard and confirmed. Neither are clear, enunciated words but she'll point at a picture of a duck and say "dut" and when Daisy comes around for a good hair-pullin' from McButter she says "Deezee".
Miss F is 4 and ready for her own studio apartment away from Mom and Dad. Her newest thing is to go in her room and close the door and play by herself. She's better than us, smarter than us and gol' darnit, people like her so stay out of her way unless she needs something she can't reach. She's still shorter than us. At least we have that to hold on to.

Oh, Mexico...sounds so sweet with the sun settin' low...

Sing it JT (that's the original JT---as in James Taylor not Justin Timberlake).

Mr. B and I took a short sojurn to Riviera Maya in Mexico for business. My sales team was invited to the annual sales meeting and we stayed at Secrets Maroma Beach an all-inclusive resort. Mr. B enjoyed kayaking, bicycling through the jungle, feeding coati's tortillas and many, many, many Jack and Cokes on the beach. He even finished an entire book! I, on the other hand, attended meetings most of the days but was able to enjoy a Paloma or two (Fresca and tequila in a salt rimmed glass) and would steal away for 45 minutes in the sun at lunch. All in all, a good time was had by all and I think I'm sold on the all-inclusive thing. It's like cruising. Without having to be a trapped rat on a ship (yes, I know they are HUGE ships but I still imagine myself pacing the deck)

In other news, Miss F tried taekwondo for a couple weeks but we decided that swimming was enough of an activity during the week especially with her first season on swim team looming ahead. So, I did what any good parent would do and bribed her to drop out. She's going to do gymnastics through her school so everyone wins--especially her teacher who gets a break from her once a week as she boards the tumble bus. McButter went to her 9 month appointment and weighs 18 lbs which puts her at 50th percentile. Her head, however, measures at 96th percentile. She's got quite the Charlie Brown noggin. Getting shirts on and off proves difficult and even trying to make it a game of peek-a-boo doesn't work when you're yanking and yanking and she's still stuck in her shirt. She can clap and wave and she says "Die, Die" when you wave and say 'Goodbye'. I thought it was cute until I just typed it out and now realize she may actually be giving everyone a death wish instead of being polite. She likes to feed herself and has transitioned to a sippy cup. We thought we had sweet, laid back McButter but she's proving us wrong. She's been trying to bite and headbutts when angered. These events usually occur when you bring her in from playing outside or try to put her in her carseat.

Oh, and our trip to Mexico. Bet you want some photos of those cute coatis or the jalepeno poppers that I ate in handfuls or perhaps our tequila tasting class. But, well, you know us and...wait for it...we...say it in unison....forgot the camera (and I'd heard horror stories of roaming fees so I kept my phone off the entire time so no camera there, either)

The family that plays together....

This was from a couple weeks back. I just couldn't resist posting it. Please ignore my messy house and concentrate on the percussion and guitar playin'

Wild, Wild, Life

Miss F was not so sure about entering a cave. She was a bit freaked out about being 'inside the earth'. We here at the B Family have one ace up our sleeve; however, for getting Miss F to do whatever we want---use TV. She currently loves The Magic Schoolbus and all we had to do was mention that Miss Frizzle took the bus in a cave and Miss F was good to go. Who says TV is a bad thing? Nothing would ever get done around here if it weren't for Scooby Doo and Magic Schoolbus!!

The view from our trailer of Inks Lake. Ah, nature. Surrounding by barking dogs and motorized vehicles. There just isn't anything like it.

McButter was a happy camper. Literally. The cool temps didn't bother her one bit and she was quite the trooper---slept through the cave tour, slept on the hike, awake at 4 a.m. each day.

Had Ourselves a Merry Little Christmas

Yay! It was cold for our 3rd Annual Christmas Night S'mores fest! No nekkid photos this year.

McButter is wearing her crown from her party cracker (we discovered these the Christmas we spent in London). She also enjoyed wearing her PJs all day and mashed potatoes.

Here's how McButter spent her Christmas morn. In order for us to open gifts, we had to contain the beast. Seriously. McButter has already figured out how to rip the outlet covers out and enjoys dumping the dog food bowl, immediately crawling to an outlet and ripping it out and then pulling up to stand while tearing open cabinets supposedly secured with childproofing.

Santa brought Aladdin and Jasmine dolls. Oh happy day!

Thanks for waking us up by sticking a camera flash in our faces Mom!

The obligatory "In Front of the Christmas Tree" photo and yes, this was the best one. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

The Gift for the Person who has everything

As the years have passed, I find it increasingly hard to give unique gifts and I've become more aware that, at least for me, I like practical gifts over 'stuff'. My parents lived in their RV for a couple years and it really trained me to give them things that aren't, well, things because they had limited space. This year, I wondered what I might get them beyond the great gift card shower we usually bestow upon them. The gift came to me when Miss F asked for a meerkat from Santa. I went to the Houston Zoo's website and found that you could feed the meerkats! Perfect! Well, except you had to be 13 to do it so yes, my folks could receive it as their gift as we watched behind glass and held on to a fit-throwing four year old as she watched her dream happen to another. Lo and behold I find out you can feed the giraffes at any age! Problem solved.

Yesterday, we presented my parents with their early Christmas gift. A behind the scenes tour of the giraffes. We enjoyed feeding the giraffes and learning more about the herd at the Houston Zoo. Well, except for when Miss F cried because Papa's watch scratched her. But I think it makes the photo a Christmas classic. Merry Christmas from the family!

In the Air There's a Feeling of Christmas

As always, the pre-holiday madness has swept us up and is carrying us at frightening speed towards Christmas. We don't have any lovely snow to keep our spirits festive but we have had some wonderfully dreary weather (yeah, I said it...bring on the fog and drizzle)

Miss F hosted her 2nd Annual Christmas Craft party for a couple of her girl friends. Last year we attempted gingerbread houses. Oy! This year I got smart....we had the girls make ornaments for the birds (toast in Christmas shapes, Crisco, birdseed with a hole in the top) and I left the gingerbread house making to Miss F and a teenaged babysitter. Everyone wins!

The girls met Santa at our neighborhood Breakfast with Santa (I was one of the co-ordinators. Why do I do these things to myself). Miss F and McButter both enjoyed time with the jolly, old elf. I was a wee bit nervous that McButter was going to test out the beard with a good tug (she recently used her super human strength to rip up a floor board so it isn't out of the realm of possibility). Miss F asked for 1) A Leapster, 2) Bendaroos and 3) more Barbies. Gone are the days when she was coached to say Play-doh.

We've had 1-2 birthdays on the weekends, holiday parties, Lights in the Heights, luncheons with friends and all kinds of fun stuff loading up our calendars. This week proved to be no different---cookie exchange, book club, sales team dinner, local Moms Club meeting and then, well, then Miss F got sick and stayed home for 3 days and then, on the night I was to host Book Club/Surprise Birthday, I was diagnosed with strep throat. All plans for the week were cancelled due to illness, book club was relocated and we missed a Hanukkah party. I'm sad but I think I got the message. There are so many fun things to do. So many places to go. But maybe not all in a 10 day span.

Slowing down, cuddling on the couch, eating soup and grilled cheese 4 nights in a row, sneaking into a movie with a low-grade fever, listening to Alvin and the Chipmunks sing "Christmas Don't Be Late" over and over is just what the Dr. ordered.

It's snow joke, Houston had SNOW!

2nd year in a row for SNOW in Houston! Big kiss to global warming for this gift. And then, it'll be 80 on Tuesday.

Little surfer, little one

We had a pleasant Thanksgiving and then headed down to Port Aransas for a little beach time. The girls and I stayed through Wednesday and Rick went home via Greyhound on Sunday(which probably deserves a blog of its own--maybe he'll guest blog on his adventure) .The weather was beautiful for Saturday and Sunday but cold and rain came in for M, T and W which is exactly when I left my parents in the condo with the 2 girls and escaped to make sales calls. Good timing, don't you think?

Houston,We have a crawler

Here is (blurry) photographic evidence that McButter is on the move. After weeks of doing the backward shuffle, soon followed by the 'wounded terminator', she is officially a crawler. This, of course, means that three things in our household are in severe danger: Daisy (cat), Sheba's dog food bowl, and Miss F's dollhouse. McButter is determined to pull Daisy's hair, swish her hands around in Sheba's bowl and wipe out the entire first floor of the dollhouse every five to ten minutes. This also means that our house is filled with the shreiks of big sister. Shreiks like "She's touching my dollhouse! Argh! Ack! Psbsstat!" but also shreiks of concern "McButter is going to hit her head! Oh the horror! The pain! Argh! Ack! Psbsttat!" Then the shreiks from McButter are heard when she is relocated from Daisy, the dog bowl or the doll house. Order can only be restored when McButter has a teething biscuit and Miss F has been threatened with losing her Scooby Doo priviledges (one episode of Scooby a night). Being a sister is so emotionally draining.

The Great Outdoors

Last weekend we loaded up and went camping as a family. Since we've purchased the pop-up, we've been trying to squeeze in a camping trip every month (well, except for the crazy months like October and December). Miss F enjoyed stripping down to her skivies with the other children (we were with 2 other families) and wading into the water, picking flowers (which I think might be a no-no in the State Parks) and, the best part was there was so many varieties of animal poop to look at, talk about and poke with a stick. McButter enjoyed being in the baby carrier (she didn't really have a choice, did she?) and eating bottles under the stars. Mr. B and I enjoyed the Frito pie, the s'mores and hanging around the campfire with the grown-ups. Ah, the great outdoors.

**The photo is from the zoo but seemed to fit the blog post so I used it.

Fall Festivities

The past few weekends have been chock full of fall festivities: carnivals, trick or treating (2 days in a row since our neighborhood does it the day before Halloween), parties, parades, pumpkin patches and the like. The weather here has, for the most part, been wonderful.

Both girls had their well checks. Both are in the 75% for height/weight. Miss F was so excited to receive her shots because I told her she could shout out 'potty' words while it was happening. She did shout a few out but by the 4th shot she was crying. Those tears quickly dried when I said the magic words----Chick-Fil-A! McButter ended up vomiting all over our friends' couch on Friday and as far as we can tell it was either a 12 hr. bug that the nurse said was going around or a reaction to her 4 shots (yes, she had 4 as well). In other news, our family is a living science experiment as one child got the seasonal flu and one got the swine flu. We'll see who comes out ahead in the end, I guess.

Apples to Apples

Here are pictures of both girls at 6 months old.

My Little Pony

Birthdays are big business. The person who came up with the indoor inflatable playcenters life depends on birthdays being big business. For Miss F's 4th birthday this year, I decided to rally against such things. To go back to the birthdays of yore with Pin the Tail on the Donkey, some cake and that's that. Somehow, someway having a nice, quiet party at home turned into me renting miniature ponies and one that had a pink mane to better fit our My Little Pony theme. Just having mini-ponies wasn't enough for us, no way. In my defense, we did have a Pin the Cutie Mark on the My Little Pony Game but we forgot to do it. We were too busy grooming ponies, riding in carts behind the ponies and learning how to lead ponies around the cul-du-sac. It was worth it but mark my words. Next year is a small, quiet party at home.

Gotta get my head in the game

I've started another blog about my year as a saleswoman. If you're interested, you can check it out at http://www.deathorbirthofasaleswoman.blogspot.com/

The new job is definitely keeping me busy. The search for oil keeps Mr. B busy. Miss F is busy with 'school' and computer games (she's learned to get to PBSkids.org and play all the educational games online ). She's busy with gymnastics and dance and swimming lessons. She's busy with her new BIG bike that came early for her birthday (note: if you go to Toys R Us to have her just look and check them out, it's hard to bring the bike home and not give it to her early).

McButter is busy, too. She's 6 months old. She is currently scooting backwards and is attempting to do the Mowgli walk (see Disney's "The Jungle Book" for reference) but can only do the downward dog pose at this point. Mr. B and I wonder what she'd be like if she wasn't on drugs that supposedly make her drowsy and calm. If grabbing your plate off the table, flinging Barbie across the bathtub and only being happy when you're standing is 'drowsy and calm' then I can't wait for the days she's (possibly) weaned off the meds. Eek!

First Camping Trip 2009

We took our pop-up to Lake Livingston State Park this past weekend. We had a great time fishing, going on a horseback ride and listening to the loons on the lake (strike that last one as we're not in Minnesota but we did hear coyotes).

Future in CSI?

Miss F and I spent an afternoon tracing our bodies in chalk. She enjoyed it immensely. Perhaps she'll be doing CSI for a living. Or she'll be like those girls in the movie Sunshine Cleaning.

Up to our knees in Peas

McButter is a big fan of peas, carrots and sweet potatoes. Applesauce, pears and bananas---eh, not so much. I always thought that the moms who said "Oh, s/he doesn't like anything sweet" had bred that into their child by denying them sweets. I apologize for judging those moms because I fear I have one of those children. Who would choose peas over pears? So while Miss F and I down gummies and jelly beans, McButter will be chomping on carrot sticks. Poor kid. She's missing out.

The picture of McButter and Miss F is blurry but I chose to post it because I feel like it represents our life right now. Fast, a blur and yet, full of loving moments and memories. I should blog about them to keep everyone updated but also because I use this method as my baby book (yeah...the one for McButter hasn't even been opened yet). However, that stresses me out--the retroblog to fill in the days and weeks I missed--so I'm going to carry on, move forward and try to be a better blogger.

As of today, McButter is able to magically move herself when you're not looking. The daycare teachers and Mr. B and myself have not witnessed how she does it but you see her one moment, and then she is gone, you'll find her next week sitting out on the lawn (OK, that's a line from the song "Mr. Mistofolees" but I couldn't help myself--basically you put her down, turn your back and she's 1/2 way across the room). She sits up fairly well on her own but we always put the Boppy around her in case she takes a dive.

Miss F is sassy and sixteen (or thinks she is). The amount of eye-rolling that goes on in her head frightens me. I'm wondering if early eye-rolling can lead to permanent damage? A teacher at school asked Miss F if she could please share with her classmates. Miss F stomped her feet, looked up at the teacher and said, "I'm going to turn into a giant and eat you up!" And that, my friends, is why mommy hasn't tried the new Sweet Tea vodka that everyone has been talking about.

Wherefore art thou, B Family

Whew! Life sure has gotten busy. I belive we're suffering from Second Child Syndrome. How could one little person send a well-oiled machine like the B Family into chaos, I don't know but it has happened. Well, that and my new job and Mr. B working in a new part of the company AND the 2nd child. Perhaps there are more pieces to the puzzle.

I am on the road as a traveling saleswoman. I have a wide territory and started out of the gate visiting some of the school districts that are 2.5 hours from home. Yup, 5 hours of driving round trip for an hour visit here and a 30 minute visit there. I am enjoying chatting with fellow librarians and have listened to just about every James Patterson novel on tape during my drives. The flexibility is amazing---I was able to take off two days to go on my Annual Girls Weekend, this time to Dale Hollow Lake in TN, whenever I so pleased. That would never have happened on 'school time'.

Mr. B is on the clock 24/7 and it's challenging but I know he's up to the task. We're like Pavlov's dogs, though, and are trained to feel a sense of dread anytime his cell phone rings. It usually means he has to abandon whatever our plans were and head into work.

McButter is 5 months old! She's hysterical. She loves to shreik and grab at Miss F's hair. She tries to catch the dog and cat whenever they walk past her. She's enjoying eating her toes and when given the choice of rice cereal, applesauce or peas has chosen the peas. Seriously? What baby deciedes that peas is their fave?

Miss F declared this evening that she is going to have 6 children--3 boys, 3 girls and they're going to be really cranky (I'm thinking she might be the really cranky one with that many kiddos) and when asked how she was going to afford all those children, she replied that she was going to be a swimmer who wins all the races. Perhaps competitive swimming will be more lucrative 20 years from now.

Bingo!

Congrats to Greta, a pal from college and my supervisor at PFM (food service), for guessing my acronym in my post below.

McButter had her 4 month appointment last Thursday. She weighs 14 lbs (65%) and is 25 inches (75%) and her noggin is 17 in (95%). Checking back on Miss F's well-baby @ 4 months found her about the same, except that she had a pea-head and McButter has a Charlie Brown noggin. She is cooing, putting her hands together, rolling over (both ways), and has just discovered her feet. I caught her scooching up her knees and pushing up on her hands the other day--she was looking determined and wanted to get to a red stuffed bird. Crawling thoughts in her brain, I just know it. Funny, Miss F didn't crawl for MONTHS and I was so upset and worried about her. Now, I just want to beg McButter to wait a little bit. There's really nowhere she needs to be going right now.

Thwarted!

I decided a couple weeks ago to start working out in the morning. I set the alarm for 6:30, McButter gets up at 6:00. I set the alarm for 6:00, McButter gets up at 5:30. Today, I started working out with a friend (makes it harder to turn off the alarm) and we met at 5:15 a.m. McButter woke up at 4:00 a.m.

But yesterday? Sunday? No work out? She slept in. She is thwarting my efforts to reach MILF status. Or even just MILTLAANC status.

I've been up since 4:00 a.m. and today is my first presentation to a large group of librarians. I hope I can stay awake! I think today is a Starbucks kind of day.

Logistics

I once got a free drink for guessing what some random dude at a bar did for a living....I guessed logistics and he just about fell off the rooftop bar (@ The Bone for my Dallas readers)because I was RIGHT. This is just an aside but I felt the need to tell that story as I get into a post about logistics.

The other day I had a chance to chat with Stokes. She asked what the big difference in going from 1 to 2 children could be....I think I mentioned the staggering amount of laundry, the never ending never ending-ness of it all (like one naps, the other is awake, etc) but I think the biggest thing is logistics.

Schlep one into the store. No biggie. Schlep two and your cart is all kid, no groceries and the amount of time to unbuckle both from carseats and then, at the end of the adventure, buckle both back into carseats is mindboggling. I think I timed it. At least 15 minutes is spent fiddling with carseats and kids on a round trip. Of course, one has to stand in the parking lot while the other is being buckled and you have to decide which one you like better that day and put them in the car first. I'm working on getting Miss F to click herself into her seat but the eye rolling and teeth gnashing involved in this process usually has me doing it for her to avoid the drama.

This past weekend we took a trip out to Mr. B country. We stayed with his aunt in a town about 30 minutes from his old homestead. It's about a 4 hour drive and as you know, have baby, have acoutrements---pack n play, diapers, formula, bottles, bottle brush, bibs, diapers, wipes, change of clothes, diaper ointment, toys, diapers, and the list can go on and on. Then you have the 3 year old who changes underwear at least 19 times in a day. Seriously. And I learned on our last trip that forgetting underwear can be pricey!! So another bag of 3 year old 'stuff' and then our bags and the Pilot looked like we were smuggling something (or someone) in the back. We were hanging low and full up. It took us over an hour longer than expected to get ourselves out of the house and on the road due to above mentioned seat buckling and then running over the list (dont forget McButter's heart meds!).

I may be starting a new job in sales but if it falls through, perhaps I'll call a trucking company and explain that I have mad skills in logistics....

4 Months and Almost 4 years

McButter (yeah, we're back to that) is 4 months old today! She's a roly-polly machine...back to front, front to back, all night long. Last night I tried swaddling her again to limit her movement and she promptly rolled over (while still swaddled tight) to sleep on her belly. The swaddling did help with the late night yelps for us to come help her when she was stuck or had limbs hanging out of the crib so we all slept well last night. McButter is big on the baby sit-ups and doesn't want to recline, thank you very much. Sometimes while I'm driving I'll see something out of my peripheral vision and it's McButter's head as she is doing crunches in her carseat.

Miss F is doing well at 2 months to go in her 3's. She is a joy (and depending on the day you can read that with a sweet, loving tone or with one dripping with sarcasm). She's into cutting everything she can with her safety scissors (so, everything but her apendages, we hope...safety scissors and all). She is all about swimming, swimming and more swimming. Really, all she wants to do is swim. And, for me, it's easy...I pick them up from school and we head straight to the pool. What else are you going to do when the heat index is 108 with 100% humidity?!?!

Mr B and myself are fine. He's working, working, working. He's somewhere in the chain of command on the biggest land well...ever. Makes for interesting nights when he's on the phone and our dinner guests have to grill their own meal. I'm working the phones and setting up appointments to sell books. I have a couple on the calendar this month and I'm getting nervous/excited about this new job. I just realized yesterday that I really only need one nice work outfit. I'm only going to see people once a year, maybe twice, on calls so why not just wear the same thing every day? I'm not much of a clothes horse so this would suit me just fine!

We're here because we're here because we're here because we're here!

Sorry for the absence. We were without internet connection for over a week! It was such a convoluted, gigantic, ball of twisted Christmas lights involving 2 modems, 3 ethernet cables, 2 visits from Comcast, 2 cancelled Geek Squad appointments and 2 visits to Best Buy. But we're up and running again.

I also have to admit that with Facebook and Twitter (jeny8675309), I am finding it harder and harder to blog. For two reasons: the first is that FB and Twitter are easier and can be accessed through my phone; the second is that I feel that most of my blog readers are reading either the FB or Twitter updates and I hate repeating. However, I will try to get better about blogging.

And with the movie Julie/Julia coming out, I'm envious of someone turning their blog into a book and then a movie. Surely I can figure out a way to do that, too. Or, I'd like to be like Dooce (www.dooce.com) and be on Forbes list of influential people and make 500K with my blog alone. Stay tuned.....

Everyone has a laughing place

To continue our Disney theme, I will quote from Song of the South that Everyone Has a Laughing Place....it appears Mollster B'dollster (Miss F's new nickname for her) has chosen the excersaucer.

California Adventure

We flew out to California last Wednesday night. It was a nice, easy flight with Miss F watching a video or doing sticker books the entire way and Miss M (trying to avoid McButter for fear of complex when older) sleeping or eating the entire flight. We arrived and got picked up by Miss Molly (as Miss F says, "Grandma Molly") and headed immediately to get Thrifty ice cream at the Rite Aid and then on to the beach house in Laguna. We spent two days just relaxing on the beach, enjoying walking through town and not getting into a car, riding the trolley and eating good eats. The one downside? I forgot to pack Miss F's underwear and since we were on foot only, we had to buy a couple pairs to tie us over at a cute kiddie boutique. The cost? $20/pair. Quite the souvenier.

After Laguna we headed to the Disneyland Hotel to meet my folks. Since my mom and I share a birthday and we were both celebrating a milestone (35 for me and well, another round number for my mom) we thought it would be fun to celebrate at Disneyland and California Adventure. We had a great time---low crowds our first day--we did all of Fantasyland from Mr. Toad to Dumbo to Pinnochio in 30 minutes!!!! It got hot so we could head back to the hotel for a swim, nap and a snack both days (we had 2 day Park Hoppers). Favorite moments were Dinner at Ariel's Grotto (Miss F met Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel), the Aladdin show at California Adventure, breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen and Miss F dancing the twist with Baloo and Goofy, me scoring 21,800 points on Buzz Light Year and finally getting on the Finding Nemo submarines. Miss F's favorite thing? Soarin' Over California---she rode it 3 times! She barely made the height requirement but she's sure glad she did! Miss M's favorite park? Sleeping through just about everything. Though she did have her photo with Minnie, Baloo and Goofy and she rode most of the rides and did wake up a bit confused in "It's A Small World" and nursed through Aladdin and Playhouse Disney Live!

Great trip and Miss F has no fear---she wanted to go on the Matterhorn (and was tall enough) but it wasn't running when she wanted to do it. She can't wait to come back when she's 7 so she can get on all the BIG rides and roller coasters.

Happy 4th of July

We had a nice July 4th weekend. It started on Friday when Mr. B had the day off. We headed out to Brenham to the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory where we went on a tour of the process and enjoyed a scoop of ice cream at the end. From there we continued to the Brenham Airport where we ate at the 50s style diner (even played "Good Golly Miss Molly" on the jukebox) and watched the planes come in and out. We wanted to see the miniature ponies again but the nuns weren't open yet so we just drove by and said "Hi" to the ones near the fence.

July 4th found us up early for the neighborhood parade....not many spectators but lots of participants. Miss F rode in her wagon and McButter rode in the stroller. After some popsicles, a water balloon fight and some time in the bouncy house, we headed to the swimming pool. Miss F went off the diving board 100 times and I use that number loosely, it may have been more like 200. She loved it and could pretty much jump in and swim to the side by herself. That evening we went to the Miller Outdoor Theatre to hear the symphony and enjoy the fireworks. It was a late night but both girls held in there. Well, McButter slept through it all---even the cannons during the 1812 Overture!
Yesterday we met friends for bowling (ahhh, air-conditioned activities) and dinner. Then it was home for laundry, straightening up and the prep for the week.


McButter entered her third month yesterday. She attended daycare two days last week and did well. The first day the daycare called me to come check her heart but it was a false alarm and they warned me they'd be calling a lot the first couple weeks. She's been rolling over inconsistantly so I'm not willing to say she's done it on her own. I suspect that she is on an angle or something most of the times it has happened. She still likes to sing and coo, especially to Kelly Clarkson songs. She tries to break out of her carseat by doing crunches and sitting up and straining against the straps. She gave us a few good nights of 11 pm to 6 am sleep but is back to waking up more around 3/4ish, eating, then sleeping til 7 am.

We head to California on Wednesday for a little Laguna Beach time and then Disneyland for my 35th birthday and my mom's, well, let's just say my mom's birthday, too.

Summer Reading Club

Some of my fondest memories of summer include participating in the Summer Reading Club and visiting the library for their special summer programming.

Miss F and I read 20 books and turned in her record to the local library. She won some great prizes, one of which was a free Justaburger from Whataburger (a fast food chain here in TX). She was so proud of herself. Like her face paint? We'd gone to the Children's Museum and her favorite thing was painting her face and reading books about simple machines.

Notice the nice ladies behind her in the photo. They jumped up and were so helpful when I spilled a large soda all over the place and Miss F was crying and McButter was spitting up. It really does take a village sometimes...

Next up? She got a free circus ticket. Help me. I'm scared of the circus but I'll take her because she wants to go.

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Let's Bowl, Let's Bowl, Let's rock 'n' roll

While McButter and I were in the hospital, Mr. B got to sub for me as the chaperone on Miss F's field trip to the local bowling alley.

McButter Flutter Strikes Again!

It's really hot here. Like 104, record breaking hot. We live in a swamp and it hasn't rained in 30 days. So...when McButter was outside with me for a few minutes on Monday and got sweaty, I didn't think too much about it. Later on, after we'd run errands and she was sweaty again, I started to think, 'hmmmmm'. I got the stethoscope out and listened and sure enough, I couldn't get a good count. I knew Mr. B was on his way home so when he walked in the door I asked him to listen and he couldn't get a count either.

So...off we went to the pediatrician's office first for a listen and she was right on the border of it being OK and being a problem. So...we held her upside down. I made the Dr. do that figuring he was more trained at it than I was and sure enough he held her in his arms and dipped her, my vision was more of hanging her by her ankles. Good call, Dr. Then we put ice on her face. Nope. Still high so he sent us off to the ER where the monitor said her heart rate was 240.

This time we had the "B" team and they couldn't get in the IV (3 nurses tried and they finally called Wayne to come do it and he was successful), one of the nurses was being trained on the crash cart in the hallway just before coming in to possibly use it on McButter (not necessary, thank goodness). They just weren't as to-the-second precise as the team on our last visit but in the end they got her heart rate converted to 144 (they use a medicine that basically feels like she's been hit by a truck to get it where it needs to be). Thoughout it all, McButter was smiling and cooing (well, except for when they kept sticking her for the IV and when she got the 'hit by a truck' feeling). She was really cute and such a wiggle worm.

Then we were admitted for observation, an echo, another EKG and for her to be weaned off her original medicine and put on another. Lots of "Full House" re-runs for us as we hung out in the room.

We're home now and hoping to go without another flutter for a long time....we're still in the 'she could grow out of it window' but if it happens again, that window closes and we start looking at maintaining her with meds until she's 4 or 5 and then having an ablation done (destroying the tissue that is housing her 'short circuit').

Hot potato, hot potato

It's hot. Really hot. Miserably hot. Sit in the house with the blinds closed hot. It's time to move to Minnesota hotWe've been busy bees and yet I feel I have nothing to show for it. Most days I keep busy but when I turn back and look, I don't see much progress like organizing closets or working out. Miss McButter keeps me on my toes and in between meeting her majesty's every need, I try to do basic tasks like shower and/0r brush my teeth. I'm not sure a day has gone by that I've done both on the same day.

We've joined a local private pool (see photos above--Miss F eager to get in the pool and Miss McButter as our lifeguard) and Miss F is a real fish. She just loves to go swimming and I receive so many compliments on how well she swims for her age. Yay for 2 years worth of consecutive weekly swimming lessons!! Most Saturdays we swim for a few hours, have a picnic lunch and come home for a glorious nap! Yes, swimming has given us the gift of naps, real naps, not quiet time reading in the bedroom naps for Miss F. Totally worth the price of admission.

We have been hosting friends for dinner on weekends and it has been so nice to catch up with good friends and to watch our wee ones interact.

Last week I kept Miss F home from school so we could go to Noah's Ark, a really cool pool for the kiddos. Take that spongy mall playcenter and put it in ankle deep water. Good times. Miss McButter slept the whole time as the running water sounds, warmth and comfort of her carseat made her feel like she was in the womb again (I am assuming that is how she feels as she's not able to communicate to me what she really thinks at this point).

This weekend we were going to go camping but the temps are about 10 degrees above normal and there's been no rain so the Lake was low. Instead we're staying home to, well, swim, grill, and do what we've been doing the past couple weekends.

87, 840 minutes...how do you measure 2 months?

In diapers and wipes and loads of laundry...in pediatric visits, cardio visits and parking garage payments....(sorry creators of 'Rent', I just had to do it)

Miss McButter had 2 visits to the Dr. this week. She went to the cardiologist and all seems well enough and she wore another holter monitor (see photos) and got a new prescription for her Propanolol (higher dosage due to weight gain/growth). I really liked the cardiologist and he explained SVT and said that 80% of infants grow out of it so the numbers are on our side. If you want, you can Google 'SVT' and learn more about McButter's heart but read about the heart issue, not the car.

Miss McButter also went to her 2 month check up! Two months already! She weighs 10 lbs, 13 oz (50th percentile), her length is 23 inches (75th percentile) and her noggin is 15 1/2 inches (70th percentile). Miss McButter is definitely smiling and cooing now. Miss F is certain she has already said 'Flinn' and 'Airplane' but I think it's more like "hooo--hoooo--ahhhhhh" but maybe I'm wrong. We're on about a 3 hour feed schedule during the day with naps every 1.5 hour or so for about an hour. She goes to bed around 8:30 and she wakes up for her medicine/food at 2 and again around 5ish to eat so not quite through the night, yet. I begged the cardiologist to change her medicine to twice a day but we have to remain on 4 times a day until she's a little older. Therefore, there will be no sleeping through the night when the alarm wakes me at 2 a.m. to give her the dosage.

As you can see, I tried to get a 2 month photo of her and she's just a little too active. If you go waaaaaay back in the archives. Waaaay back. Back to the very first month I blogged, you can see that Miss F had a similar 2 month photo but I'm trying to not include photos of Miss F in Miss McButter's blogs. You know, poor 2nd child and comparing siblings and all that.....but if you want to look, go back to the December '05 blog and check it out.

Happy 1st Birthday

Yesterday, June 2nd, was Mr. B's 1st Birthday with Molly in our family! I won't tell you his age but let's just say he graduated high school in the 80's!!

Life in the B Family is good even for Old Man River mentioned above. Miss F is a sassy, 3-year and some months gal. The other night I told her to take a necklace out of her mouth because we don't put things in our mouths and she said "Actually, Mom, we do put things in our mouths. We put FOOD in there" and I think she rolled her eyes at me. I'm hoping not but I think she did. Does that start this early?!?!? I'm taking baby steps to get back in shape. As in, before kids, before marriage shape. Is that unrealistic?? One issue is that even though the scale says a number even LESS than when I got pregnant, nothing is fitting right. I don't know if jogging and work out videos can help with that no matter how much I sweat to the oldies. Miss McButter is coming up on 8 weeks (look for a blog later with photo and well baby visit stats) and is, dare I say, pretty easy. She eats, looks around/hoots/kicks her legs for about 1.5 hours, then sleeps for 1.5 hours and repeats. We can lug her all over town and she's content to be in the baby carrier, her carseat, wherever. Sure she has her moments and this one goes from zero to the silent scream kind of crying in exactly 7.8 seconds (Moms out there know what I mean, their mouth is open, their face is red but they are so P.O'd that it is beyond the speed of sound and is, instead, a silent scream). It's like she'll take it, roll with it, let it go and then bam! she turns into Dee Snider of Twisted Sister and she's NOT going to take it anymore!!!

I've been trying to capture the elusive first smiles of Miss McButter. The real ones, not the "I'm Going To Spit Up and it Feels So Good" smiles or the ones followed by a noise that should be coming from a lumberjack. This is the best I can do, so far.....blurry from her being a wiggle-worm and not quite the open mouthed, melt your heart, full of joy smiles we've been getting lately.