its not his fault it is in the bugaj blood...

that is my husband i am speaking of....jeff has been home for 7 1/2 days and hoping to count a few more. i had all sorts of fun family packed ideas in mind for the four of us to do while dadda is home. i was thinking a day at the zoo, seeing the ice exhibit at the gaylord, maybe staying the night at the wolf lodge in grapevine, buying new boot for him and izzy, taking a long bike ride on the trinity, etc....i mean does this not all sound like a guy's dream christmas break! well, jeff has done well, and i give him a big high five for getting up with the girls this morning and allowing me to sleep till 8, but even better i got up made the bed and showered before leaving the bedroom. absolutely wonderful! we had a movie date last night, leaving the sleeping girls home with cade and running down the road to the theater. (by the way if looking to see one of the many movies released christmas day, i highly suggest the curious case of benjamin buttons) jeff reminded me this was our first movie since izzy was born together! so, this morning after getting out of the shower he informed me he was rushing out the door to work at the shop. no surprise here, on christmas day he worked in the backyard for 3 hours! there was no lulling on the couch, sneaking a nap in while the girls nod off, at 11am he informs me he has ants in his pants. yesterday was rough with annie's whole nap episode ** so he hung around (with ants in his pants) but the guy acts like a caged tiger when he is coped up in the house....pacing from room to room, stopping to look out the window wondering which one he could escape from, taking a very quick and brisk walk with me pushing me to pick up my steps the whole way and finally at the end of the day he walks through the house tool bag in hand determined to fix something.
i don't blame my husband this problem with not being able to take it easy and relax comes from his mom's side of the family, the bugajs. his grandfather worked every day of his life, even in retirement...jeff's mother works 12 hour days in her yard for fun on sunday (she is well into her sixties), when they vacation they must get up and go all day long. they walk, they explore, they move, move move (plus hate staying in hotels, would rather sleep in the car or in a sleeping bag) our honeymoon was 18 days of pure on the go go traveling....good for the fact we saw a lot of europe but hey everyone wants to lay on the beach every now and then. we took one trip to mexico for our 1st anniversary it almost killed jeff to sit on the beach or by the pool and just soak up the sun for two days. i had to keep pushing the free booze into his veins and even then i would have to stay up with him till almost dawn. chris my bnl is also like this....he does have a desk job so when not working he goes, goes, goes. i tell you it is in the blood, so i can not blame annie because well she has bugaj blood pumpin through her little body. this may even explain why she was walking at 9 1/2 months old and why it is a battle at nap time. in her little mind she has lots of work to get done!
the girls and i headed off to the zoo this morning and took babci along with us....it was like a ghost town, not sure if it was the weather threats or the wind that keep people away but it was super for us. the animals were frisky and if you have not been lately there are four tiger cubs that are incredible to watch.
well, i am off to make cade turn off the x box live and do something productive for the first time in days. i must figure out how to put a timer on that damn thing that shuts it off after so much time each day......

**today was easier...i rocked her for about 10min then laid her down, i think she only cried off and on for about 20 min. of course, she started with that loud shrilling scream that sent cade flying off his chair to rescue her from her mean mommy.

can i do it...i am not sure i am strong enough??

annie has been screaming in her crib for over an hour now.....while izzy has never had great sleep habits she has at least not given me much trouble at nap and bedtime (except the past week or so). annie however, while she has for the most part slept through the night since being 8 weeks old does fight nap time. she doesn't just fight she protests it by pulling my hair, scratching my face, pinching my arms and neck all the while i am trying to rock her. because of this izzy has been laying down on the couch to nap....which she does very well. i am trying to eliminate the morning nap so annie is even more tired for her afternoon nap but it does not always work. like yesterday she was asleep in three minutes both for a nap and bed but today, well, it took a lot of crying. now i am not one of those parents who run to my child every time she cries, but it really puts me in a foul mood to listen to her screams. funny thing is....i used to let izzy cry it out at night and for months she had to cry for up to an hour several times a week. with her cries i could sit in the hall and watch the timer to the moment i could go in and comfort her. but with annie her cry is different it gets under my skin and crawls up and down my back. it is louder and stronger....
what really sucks is i read "healthy sleep habits, happy child" twice before izzy was born. i was determined to encourage and follow healthy habits for sleep from the get go....but, i was so exhausted with work that i could not stick to the routine. (i worked the day i came home from the hospital) and many times since we have (or i rather) stopped our bad habits and moved her to her room and bed. at annie's age izzy was sleeping in a toddler bed all night in her own room. (i would never dream of taking annie out of the crib) anyhoo....i could go on and on...
my point is to publicly declare my one and only n.y. resolution....get both my children into a sleep routine at nap and bed time. i think i need to start with one and then move on to the other and breaking annie will be harder so i must start there. i am open to any and all comments/suggestions. for the next 3 days i am going to re-read the "master" book of childhood sleep and pump up for my emotional roller coaster to come. tata for now.

merry christmas and all that jazz....

let's start by saying i hope you and your family are enjoying a merry christmas......we have had a wonderful morning and are now sitting here in front of the tv watching madagascar (oh, this was fun, izzy brought me the movie this morning in the moment before my "small" cup of caffeine had kicked in and i am desperately trying to change diapers, spread cream cheese on bagels and corral the troops. anyhoo, i set the movie down...now fast forward three and half hours to thirty minutes ago when izzy wanted to lay down in her i opened four dozen presents and spent all my energy already state to watch her new movie. aaaugghhh, with all of us, dadda, mommy and babci looking for the movie. all i can think is great where in the hell did i set it down that damn movie....

"no, jeff i know i did not lose it.....i did have it this morning...i will dig through the trash.....why would it be in the closet....yes, i looked in the giant pile of toys taking over the living room"....and so on.

and of course, dadda found it in our bathroom in my sink under a stack of my clothes! oh, well...

so, christmas started last night with my family coming over for dinner and presents. i worked all day on a pot of chili a hundred plus ready to have heartburn and gas the next 24hr people could eat on for a week. and yes, i make a damn good pot of chili! i also threw together mini lemon/cherry cheesecakes and the oreo truffles (i can not get enough of these). so add to all this the tamales, dip and chips i picked up earlier in the day and well, our fridge is overflowing with leftovers. (no comments from anyone about there being nothing to eat in this house, PLEASE) the girls made out like bandits, i think i was successful in picking out gifts that were totally loved and my mother finally got the hint i like gift cards because i received one to williams sonoma this year! once our over tired girls were snoring and in their beds (izzy ours)....i started whipping together the breakfast casserole and laying out santa's bounty. jeff is not so much into the christmas hoop-la i am and therefore did not get my need to unwrap all the food and pots and pans for the new kitchen set. however, i went forth and set up the kitchen for play plus wrapped it because i knew izzy would not touch another present once it was opened. finally, at 2 am i laid down and caught a few minutes of sleep.

fast forward to today and well, all went well.....again jeff is not so into the production of christmas as i am and did not understand why all things have an order. but, i must pat him on the back because he did step in line and proceed with my grand production giving me a little satisfaction for all of the many hours i slaved rehearsing for my, oh i mean our big day. i may not have hit it off with his gifts so much as i did everyone else...same goes for babci....but hey, who can nail them all. (well, me usually, but i will blame this one on the pregnancy hormones:)

santa did leave a special gift for dadda today.....last night when i went into the garage i found baby blazer asleep on a pile of blankets. for the first time in over six months he jumped down and came to see fandango and me. i kept him in the garage because well, he has been wild for a while and may have had bugs....this morning i told jeff santa left something special in the garage....i think jeff has not put him down yet. jeff fed blazer ham from the breakfast table (poor fandango), has been rubbing on him and well, if this cat disappears again for 1/2 a year without showing his face his is just plain dumb. really, makes you wonder....why of all the days did blazer come home on christmas day????

so, anyhoo, before i hit the kitchen prepping the beef tenderloin for our christmas lunch/dinner meal i am going to put my feet up and maybe shut my eyes for a minute. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND ENJOY EACH OTHER TODAY....

oh, i am in such a good mood i guess i could go on and announce the sex of baby #3......i am only up 1/2 a pound in 17 weeks so this is good news for me...i vow to be back down that 1/2 by next month. pre-note** the past few days before our sonogram i had some crazy thoughts rolling around in my head....like, "i am sure i felt annie by this point" so i did some research on the Internet and learned little boys are not as active as little girls....uhm, maybe there is a slim chance we are having a son. see i have not had much hope to longspaugh #3 being a boy because well, the first two are girls and i am one of 3 girls while jeff is one of 3 boys...seems like a slam dunk to me. anyhoo.....as i said before my doctor moved offices and with it came a new sono machine, totally amazing, we watched baby ??? play with its feet and open and close it hands. and while i was truly enjoying a very long sono the tech was saving the best for last. it turns out we are having another girl! so there it is....jeff has decided we need give up the plumbing business and open a flower shop. and now i get to start with the whole name game....do we have another "bel"???? or venture off in another direction???? this just may be god's way of protecting the fine residents in lake country of another generation of longspaugh boys or he just may be worn out himself from the first crew, however, i am not naive enough to not think we will have our hands full....they are longspaughs after all!

tis the season to be busy....

wow, the past week has flown by...jeff is home so i am sitting in the living room, feet up, fire blazing and lights low finally adding pictures to the computer. we had annie's 1st birthday two weekends ago and i can not believe my little sweetheart now turned into hell-en is a year old. i feel like i barely remember each of her magical days.....however, i am not forgetting her new super hero abilities, such as, climbing into the dishwasher, climbing onto the fireplace but never figuring out how to climb off, running hugs, drop to the floor fits, roaring laugh and all around happy personality.

i started baking last wednesday and after (2) batches of chocolate pretzel clusters, peppermint bark, candy cane cookies, (1) batch of holiday biscotti, peanut butter and chocolate biscotti and mini coconut cupcakes and oreo truffles i am baked out. however, i do have a few more things to whip together for the neighbor tins and christmas eve dinner. i completed my shopping last week and everything is wrapped and under the tree. i guess this is not saying a lot since today is the 23rd of december and it is near midnight.

We went to the kids' christmas party today and had so much fun. it was a smaller group this year and not so overwhelming. with eight kiddos running around wearing themselves out time flew by.....we frosted santa cookies (i made the icing, blue (coconut), yellow (lemon), orange (orange), green (mint) and red (vanilla)) and had a gift exchange. i always think i am a great gift buyer; i just have a knack for finding the perfect present. i really enjoy my girlfriends and look forward to time with them. this is very new because well, i just am not usually good at keeping up with friends. not that i am not a good friend and i really care, it is just hard to keep up with anyone other than myself these days.

i finally had my hair done last friday....all i am saying is i will never go 4 1/2 months again without a highlight and trim. it is amazing on how much driving a clean truck and having a fresh hair do can change my attitude towards life. one thing i totally believe is that i am judged by the appearance of my truck. my life may be falling apart and i may be hanging together by a very thin thread but if my truck looks good than no one will notice my hair being 3 inches grown out and not blown dry in over four months. along with all the other helpers i am searching craigs list for...i need someone to come by and blow out my hair twice a week. maybe i just need to win the lottery???

oh, jeff and i went to longspaugh baby #3 on the way ob appt today....and had our first sonogram. WE KNOW THE SEX.....however, i am keeping it to myself until Christmas, hee, hee, hee..

all in all....jeff has been home for four days and oh, so helpful to me....i am busting with holiday spirit and extremely grateful for my two girls and baby on the way. we are lucky to have a thriving business and beautiful home......i wish all of you a merry christmas and happy new year!

my poor second child...

i was just lying down to bed...yes, before midnight. i did have to rise early today, oh, about 5am to take two of the guys out to the airport for a flight to new orleans. and while i was up in the still of the house thought to myself this is really nice and maybe i should get up early more often. however, the reality of it is i tend to stay up too late working and 5am is just the beginning of my r.e.m. sleep.
so, what brought me leaping out of bed and running back to the office.....poor annie, i realized i bragged on izzy and said nothing about anabel. so....here it goes, i did post a video on facebook today of her laughing because izzy wanted to take her babies for a walk down the street this afternoon and i thought i could not put annie in the stroller because she had been in and out of her carseat since 5:45 this morning (izzy stayed in bed this time and cade moved into our room if she woke up). in my mommy can be clever and crafty mode, i strapped her to the red push car izzy received for christmas last year (two straps for my monkey) and let her drive the car down the street and up the golf course.** i had to video her from my phone because she was so excited that her laugh was making me cry. it was one of those moments where i believe i am a damn good mom and it is not all fluff on the outside.
annie has also been imitating izzy....after bath time izzy like to play peek-a-boo in the closet, you know opening and shutting the door all the while looking for your surprised look each time when she shouts peek-a-boot. annie thinks this is so great and after her diapering and dressing (izzy always says "annie first") she rushes over to the closet to do as her sister did. well, three days ago she must have been playing the game by herself because she shut herself in cade's room and it was probably 5 minutes later before i heard her hollers for help. oh, oh, tonight izzy was peeking around the doorway into her room playing the same game and annie proceeded to get up and again pop her head around the corner waiting for my over excited "oh, you scared mommy...peek-a-boo".

so there it is....i bragged on both my wonderful children and can probably go to bed now since i am beyond tired.

**side note~word on the street is there is a buyer for the golf course, a lake country resident who struck rich in the barnett shale AND that someone else is looking into reopening the clubhouse with an upscale spa theme! i may be really really excited soon. jeff, please add to my christmas list a new set of golf clubs (mine are over 10 years old) and a golf cart....

jeff flew the coop and we are lost....

so, last thursday the girls and i returned home from little gym and yoga to hear the washer machine running...my first thought, did i finally find someone to do my laundry, iron it and put it away. second thought, seeing as i don't recall meeting this miracle worker (also still looking for the part time chef/food prep) was fandango must be doing it in hopes i can then take her for a walk because i KNOW jeff is not doing the laundry because there has been a stack of his stuff on the counter for the past week waiting to be hung up! however, the ugly truth was jeff was doing his laundry but only because he had decided to head back to new orleans....that day....like in an hour and a half after our return! i believe i was actually mad at him for the short notice a good day or two.
being that i am single "momming" again, my blogs will be a little sparse. i do have a better attitude this time and am trying to keep my chin up. i am finding the more i can laugh with the girls the less i feel like i am hanging by a thread over a 100ft cliff waiting to drop. also, i am putting keeping the house in order a priority (rather than keeping up with my work) and this too is helping me stay sane.
izzy did/said some really some really incredible things today. first, during bath time she was taking a smaller cup and filling a larger cup (no great task at 26mo.) however, while dumping each cup she would count them in order till it filled up then would start again....i am not sure where she is learning how to actually count but i have a feeling it has something to do with all the curious george we watch. second, she has begun to draw circles and calling them circles, while this may be normal my niece was not much into this sort of thing and i recall begging her to practice circles when she was four. third, i brought a black leather chair home from cody's apartment and out of no where the past few days she has been climbing up in it to nap and telling me she wants to "sleep in uncle cody's chair". while this breaks my heart i am so grateful she put two and two together and remembers cody.
i have been spending a lot of time wondering about baby names....if a boy, well, we have several from jeff's side to choose from and if a girl, do i choose another "bel"??? i have one in mind that i love and a middle name that rocks. i am really into names. both girls middle names are relevant to a family member we want to honor...izzy's is jean after jeff's mom and annie's is lee after me and i was named after my aunt gwen, someone who has done so much for me in my short life. she is one of the better influences i have always had and one to remind me the world does not revolve around how i can change others only myself. our new neice is names whitney josephine, whitney because chris proposed on the top of mount whitney (i know, so awesome) and josephine is jeff's grandmother's name. so i have really big shoes to fill......
a huge storm is rolling in and cade is practically sitting on top of me...so i better wrap this up. here is a list of our latest daily presents from babci.
on the 3rd day of christmas: a bunch of hair bows...not five or six more like a dozen and a half different colors.
4th day: two christmas plates, santa napkins and beautiful red place mats (for mommy)
5th day: a couple boxes of animal crackers...you know the really good ones in the circus box (i may have eaten most of at least one box)
6th day: large popcorn bowl, movie and kettle corn for family movie nights (love it!)
7th day: a new magnetic farm puzzle book and card games
8th day: a snowman mug for warm cocoa, glowing santa and milk chocolate santa candies

so as you can tell we are still thinking this is the greatest thing on earth....have a great day and i will be back soon!

oh, and don't forget to send me your christmas cards...they make my day!

a slice of humlbe pie to go with all my bitchfest entries....

so jeff has been home now for 10 days and 1 1/2 hours give or take a minute or two. and i am loving it....he has slowed down (could be the fact he worked for something like 36 days in a row), i must clarify, jeff slowing down is kinda like me on crack. however, he has been here at the beck and call of both girls and just when i think i am about to curl up in the corner and cry he gallops into the room to save the moment. izzy even told dadda she needed to poopoo and he took her to the potty, brushed her teeth, nite nite diapered her all the while making it the event of a lifetime for her. i make it sound like he is not normally so helpful, he is when he is home....this being the issue. before going to new orleans the work here was coming in like crazy, still is but not quite so hot-n-heavy.....so jeff was leaving by 7am and returning at the end of bath time most night; this does not leave much time for dadda bonding or mommy help. i will admit the first few days were touch-n-go being he was not used to being here and a part of how i keep it all together (even in my own may not make sense to you way) and i was not used to him standing there trying to figure out how to help or be a part of our chaos. by thanksgiving morning we had figured it out and well, my life has been so much easier since.

i better stop before my dear husband's head gets too big......

i will finish by trying to update through photos from all our many challenging yet rewarding days the past few weeks.

here are the girls halloween night. their costumes were kinda all over the place. these tutus were a gift from momo (my mother) along with matching shirts. i found izzy a bodysuit, wand and wings and she became some type of fairy. poor annie was not in the mood to dress up and she just wore here skirt for about 10 minutes!

as i mentioned before thanksgiving was at our house this year and everything worked out wonderfully. jeff and i teamed up without too much fussing at one another and brine the turkey, roasted and for what was our first 23lb bird....we did a damn good job. i informed him maybe in a few years we should do two turkeys and try to fry one.......my whole family (well, those around here) came over and my aunt with the body of a 20 year old brought gluten-free desserts (have to say they weren't too bad, however, i do like her full-throttle chocolate chip cookies better), even all three of my cousins showed up along with one of the girlfriends. i opted for the easy way out and rented the dishes and table clothes, with a little rinse-rinse and re-stacking in crates clean up was a breeze. as usual we played hours of apples to apples and well, lets just say my mother is a good sport because she gets a lot of shit during this time.

jeff had izzy outside helping him cut up firewood and burn some of the brush. she did not get dress until 2:30 and smelt like a boy....no complaints here, i had lots of free time in the kitchen to work some foodnetwork inspired magic. during the crunch time of smashing potatoes and reducing pan drippings for gravy babci and dadda kept annie entertained by the fire in our backyard. by this point izzy fell asleep and stayed that way through dinner but woke up in time for dessert. cade had some type of flu the whole school break....every time i entered his room i was armed with a can of lysol and breathing mask.....all i could think was who would do all i do if i get this crap!

last friday i had a list of things i wanted to do while jeff was home...go to the parade of lights, the gaylord for the ice wonderland, the zoo, christmas card photo and put up our tree and hang the lights. well, after being sidetracked for most of friday we decided to meet the cooks downtown to watch the parade of lights. okay, we decided at 5pm and it started at 6pm......not only did i need to dress the girls in warm clothes, pack the stroller, chairs, snacks and what not; we were also going to stay the night at the worthington and kinda take a ftw vacation night. the girls enjoyed the parade...jackie and i enjoyed waiting two hours for the guys to return to the suite with uno's pizza (jury still out on this one) but the best part was the following day....after dragging dad and his foggy brain out of bed we went to breakfast and walked around a bit, then annie and dadda took a nap in the room while izzy and i walked down to see my aunt at larry north and read a few dozen books at barnes n noble. on our way back up we stopped in and took a swim with owen in the pool. it was a wonderful 18 hours away from home! (fandango did not agree...poor pup!)

babci (jeff's mom) is doing something different this year for the girls and their christmas gift.....she has prewrapped 24 individual gifts for everyday leading up the christmas morning. each one is labeled and ready to be opened on the appropriate day. i hope to find the time to share them all with you as i think this is an awesome way to kick up the excitement in a two year old who may or may not understand what is going on.

on the first day of christmas izzy and annie received new ornaments....beautiful butterflies to go with a new santa and sleigh for mommy and daddy. m-n-l gives us these polish ornaments every year corresponding with a big event we shared.

on the second day of christmas the girls received new scarf, mittens and hats....izzy loved hers so much she went to bed tonight with them on! annie just patiently, or rather as patient as she can be, waited through whole gift thing for her nite nite bottle and crib.

finally, the girls went over to momo's house today for almost 6 hours. my youngest sister is in town this week so the girls had some much needed aunt cari time too. i came home and worked for 4 hours straight...no interruptions or jumping jacks to keep my eyes open, plus i was able to shower too! they had so much fun playing in the leaves and making christmas cards i think the just might have to try it again next week. well, i have now sat here next to the tree in our quiet house and updated both my blog and facebook....nite nite!