best.weekend.ever.

What's gotten in to me...I was all Super Mom this weekend. Fridays are my SAHM Day so we packed up for The Children's Museum which is a blast now that Henley can get out of the stroller and in to trouble. I regretted that we never took Nori there until she was two -- there are so many exhibits geared towards babies. We whooped it up and still got in a 2.5 hour nap, beat that! Jake & I got a babysitter so we could have a quick date which consisted of more Rusty Taco while discussing fence options, beer shopping, and ice cream cones at Izzy's. Jake tried to think of the grossest combination he could create and he came up with coconut ice ream with a black licorice Izzy scoop. Guess what the dude in front of us actually ordered? On Saturday, I took the girls to Kid's Appreciation Day at the YMCA where Nori ran races and jumped in the bouncy house while Henny dust mopped the gym the floor with her body. The rest of the weekend was productive in the cleaning department yet fruitful in naps for all of us. Walks and cuddles ensued. Roasted veggie sandwich were cooked. We watched The Help and organized the mud room closet. What more is there?

Daughters are fun. Nori has some interesting theories on life. For example, she believes the music from wind chimes helps the flowers grow big just like listening to music when she was a baby helped her grow. Also, if your Mind Petter Stickers "take a rest" they will regain their stickiness no matter how many hundred of times you pry them off the paper. Baby Henny likes to be funny so when she does something silly she looks to see if you like it. She will crawl up to a blanket and lay her head drown pretending to nap then peek to see if you notice her. She loves to touch cheeks and lay her head down on you briefly as a form of a hug. I am trying to teach her to kiss, too. Mwah! New items in her food repertoire are spinach ravioli and crab cakes. Gotta love a baby with garlic breath.

It's Victor Papa Bubba Henry the Elevator Operator Itten Bitten Diddley Whitten...

HC was a big fan of the Habitot room

I like little butts and I can not lie...

Even better than the dog's water bowl

Sweatpants Party!!

Look closely... baby girl faux hawk alert!

Double Deuce Dorth

Plastic equine therapy promotes sisterly love

back on ice

My scientific research confirms that yesterday was officially the most popular birthday on the planet! Happy birthday to my dad, Bill, who is 60 years old! Also, my niece Mekensie, Nori's  "Charming" Liam, little girl Sophia, Chef Rachel , Adviser Ellen, and Pastor Luke, none of whom read this blog. It's the thought that counts. I took the morning off to celebrate with my Dad and Henny with a picnic at the zoo, but somehow we ended up at The Olive Garden on 394 instead. Don't judge, we made memories one breadstick at a time.

At breakfast Nori was eating a bowl of Cheerios so I told her that when I was little girl  I ate Cheerios every morning for breakfast. I left out the fact that I also had seven Flinstone vitamins washed down with a quart of chocolate milk (it's okay Mom,  "they didn't know about nutrition" in the 80's). Anyway, Nori gave me that look like, "You were a kid? That's impossible".

I am sure you are sick of hearing about about my back &  hips, but so am I so we are even.  I am 3 weeks into a flare-up brought on by doing my prescribed exercises with a resistance band. I have moments of feeling so hopeless that it will never get better (I felt the same way about my foot pain and it is just fine now so I will try to stay positive, like a throat culture).  I am going to start some private Pilates sessions on the reformer to keep working on my core strength. I just want to be pain-free, stop taking so much Advil, be active, pose for a swimsuit calendar, invent a cure for Lyme's disease (wait...) and someday (not now) try to have another baby. All of which seem impossible when laying on my ice pack. Boo hoo me! I am hoping to reverse jinx myself by talking about this.

 

science lesson

Recycle and stuff

You better work! (double meaning)

Sometimes the trials in our lives teach us to persevere. Nori likes to chant "Never give up! Never give up!" when she confronts a problem. Of course this is seconds before she quits trying and stomps off in anger.  I recently had a challenge of my own that I would like to share with you. It has taken me months of trial and error to finally be able to create and post a photo collage (see above) on my blog. I tried these instructions and I tried those instructions, I asked here and I asked there, I used Photobucket and I used FotoFlexer, but for some reason nothing would work. Nothing! Turns out the answers was right under my nose when I discovered Picasa, my photo editor, can make photo collages. A little practice and voilà , I finally did it. Throughout this ordeal, I learned a lot about myself.  Most importantly, I learned to trust myself and my photo editing software. We had the answers all along.

 momma love

Henley puked on the new nanny and the old mom. She had a quick stomach bug and high  fever which made for one rough night and reduced intake of food for a couple days but she is back on track now. The girls & I went to a baby shower during the course of which Nori jumped off the couch banging her nose on the table requiring an ice pack, Hen cut her finger up bloody requiring a band aid and I spilled my drink of the floor. I bet they were thrilled we attended. Switching topics, have you been to the Rusty Taco?  We ran into my co-worker Amy and her husband  there and joined them for supper. She recommended the  BBQ Brisket Taco. So good, order five! We celebrated Earth Day with Sarah & Baby Andrew in the Patagonia parking lot, future home of a community composting pile. What up decaying food!  I was this close to getting my own compost bin. This close.

I would like to say a special HELLO! and CHEER UP! to my mom who had a very rough week. And also, thank you for the new material for my forthcoming as of yet untitled memoir.

Baby Hen

april showers

Has this ever happened to you? Your husband is driving the family down I-35 when he notices some crumbs on a CD lying in the center console. When you attempt to brush said crumbs out of the window, you actually place CD outside of the car where the wind whips it out of your hand never to be seen again. Of course said CD is none other than the Lion King (soundtrack to our lives), which you have thought about tossing out of the window before, but would never actually do it due to how much your kids love it. So then you have no choice but to play it cool, not wanting to let anyone know that their beloved music is now a $400 litter fine in the ditch. "Oh that? Um...nothing" Oops.

The first week with the new nanny was a success, Henley already loves her. Nori did pretty well in school even though she gets nervous before school and refuses to eat any lunch in the cafeteria because it is so loud.(Really girl, you know how to do loud). I have been sick with a bad cold, then 24 hour stomach flu, and more dumb back pain but that's why God made Kleenex, toothpaste, and Advil. On Friday Jake took off work and we visited Great Grandma Rosie & Grandpa Dick in Austin, yet again perfectly timing our visits to coincide with pancake time. We had a great time catching up, returning home in time to host my Winona girlfriends for our monthly Girls Night Out. Somehow we all ended up crammed into the small space in my dining room, sitting on the radiator and floor instead of chairs. Reason #6 why I refuse to buy fancy furniture (reasons number 1-5 include chocolate ice cream, brownies, cost, dog paws, and ink). Jake made lasagna from scratch so he won the Most Valuable Husband award. I made it to the new release of Body Pump 81 where I won the prize for knowing how many reps we did on this release (800). Jake ran errands while the girls & I hung out, walked to the park, and snuggled. Today we lounged as family and invited the Ho girls over for a playdate and leftovers. Gotta love friends that will eat your old food. "Trust us, this was so tasty just last week!".

I have been trying to think (for the last five minutes) of ways to make this blog more interesting. I could do the obvious things like spend more time thinking about what to write or improving my photography skills, but that is just so cliche. Instead, I will make up lies and try to see what I can get away with. Cool? Jake just sang a verse of Papa Don't Preach into the remote control. And I have not even started the lie thing yet!!

GREAT grandparents

we go waaay back

Go Foosie!

Little mama and her bunny babe

Watching Monster's Inc. in lieu of church

New weekly tradition? Freestyle Yogurt!

look who's playing with the big kids

snuggle buddies

graffiti artists

Easter chicks

Happy Easter SoS readers!

We colored eggs with Gramsie, Casey & Jaimie after burgers at The Nook and Freestyle frozen yogurt.
Notice the egg for Chris & Martin Kratt?

for realsies?

getting in the holiday spirit

Henny's got the bunny teeth, just needs the ears

the bunny is very practical: baby food, summer jammies, and hair bows

the tulips are up! she is dying to pick them!

Norelle the belle

baby's first Easter!

happy girl

Us

Hen is too little bribe into posing for Pez

where's the lasagna! we celebrated with the Hengel crew, Italian style.

penguin training

sleep deprivation nation

Little sister loves to stand

working on her core to avoid an SI injury

Wouldn't you just love it if you could literally sleep as long as you want, whenever you want? The Seltz girls must think that is overrated. They prefer to fight naps and wake at the crack of dawn every single day of their of lives, just for fun. When Jake left for work on Friday morning, he said, "I'll be praying for you". Days off are harder than work days. Yesterday, he won the coveted Best Husband Prize (a beer) when I was so exhausted and so crabby, he said "why don't you go take a nap? I'll take the kids the park". Best 30 minute power nap of my life, the sole reason I am still alive right now.

I am not the only crab in the house, Miss Preschool is also a little moody thanks to no naps. The good news is she loves school and is adjusting very well. It was shape week at "Show & Share" so she brought a hexagon shaped tile from the tile shop. "What the hexagon" was her opening line. She even went to the all-school Mass with The Girl in the Red Shirt ( her 7th Grade Buddy, the uniforms are red polos with plaid skirts for K-8). Nori is not eating much at lunch so this week I let her choose what I will pack and she asked for salami. Uh, okay. Overall, she loves school and I really think this will be good experience for her!

Hen is a standing fool. She is happiest on her feet, eating if possible. She likes to pull-up to standing and even took a few steps with her push toy. Her new favorite food is blackberries, but really she will eat anything and outeats her sister at most meals. She has as two new teeth popping and possibly her ear is bothering her (that might explain the bad sleeping habits. Aha! You just witnessed me putting the pieces together).

Other weekend highlights include Bodypump followed by lunch with Missy & Makenna, receiving a closet worth of hand-me-down work clothes from my Aunt Jill, eating not one but two Zone Bars before paying for them while grocery shopping at Target (they went with my latte), Taste of Thailand, Pancake Breakfast at Nori's at St. Mark's, playing Candyland, and having Aunt Ellen over for a supper. And possibly going back to work to tomorrow.

we met the Easter Bunny, some of us were cooler about it than others

This baby can put it away. PANCAKES!

Playing Pin the Tail on the Bunny with the Girls Scouts

Last week with Nanny Nicole. We are going to miss her!

The only child who sleeps