Happy Birth Day, Marissa!

Marissa Kathryn Sager was born on April 29th at 10:15 am, weighing in at 8 pounds, 11 ounces and she was 20 3/4 inches long. It was an unreal feeling to wake up yesterday morning and just head to the hospital to give birth, luckily everything went off without a hitch. Marissa seems so petite compared to how big Lauren was, so that has taken some getting used to, but she couldn't be sweeter - she has only cried three times and would rather be sleeping than doing anything else right now. We are madly in love with her and can't wait for Lauren to meet her new little sister.

While We Are Still Three

We had a really nice Easter, beginning with an Easter egg hunt through the house leading up to Lauren's Easter basket after she woke up, which she really enjoyed. We went to church and then over to Katya's for a great meal and another egg hunt outside. The kids had so much fun all afternoon, the guys played bocce ball and the weather was beautiful - it was the perfect day all around!


Grandma and Granddad bought Lauren a sand and water table for Christmas and last weekend we brought it out and set it up, just in time for Anna to come over. Anna brought a necklace for Lauren that matched her own - beaded with her name spelled out and they wore them proudly. The girls played with the table for a couple of hours, in between putting on ballet recitals for us. They really do crack me up.



On Wednesday we took Lauren to the doctor for a spot on her cheek that began as a dot but she has scratched until it is now a three-week-old bloody scab (you can see it in the pictures above). I was hoping for something prescribed that would be stronger than Neosporin with the ability to heal quickly (does that even exist or did I make that up?). The pediatrician barely looked at the offensive area, but asked Lauren to please open her mouth so she could look inside. STREP THROAT. Onto the ears. EAR INFECTION. Apparently the scab was a side effect of the ear and throat infections and this whole time (three weeks) we've just brushed it off and waited for it to heal on its own. It is important to know - before child services is called - that during this whole time, the child has not once complained of any pain, not had any fever or loss of appetite and has run around like a banshee on a daily basis. The doctor even asked Lauren if her throat or ears hurt and thank God she said "no", so the bad-mom-guilt-thing was diminished slightly. She was home from school for two days and we have ten days worth of antibiotics to administer. I'm pretty blown away that we had no inkling whatsoever, how is that possible?

Now on a positive note, school sent a note home two weeks ago saying they would like to seriously begin potty training Lauren, could we send some non-diaper supplies in? With some other mom's opinions in tow, I headed to Babies R Us for the necessities, sent the stuff in and sat back to see how this would unfold. Up until now, she wouldn't even try to go at home and at school, she was successful "going" once or twice a day, and then only sporadically. Well, again, blow me over with a feather, because as soon as the supplies showed up, the child became a potty princess - she has gone about five-six times per day and this past weekend, we were amazed when she came up to tell us she had to go and knock on wood, we've only had a few accidents. We are so proud of our big girl!

Here are some random gems from Lauren lately:

While coloring and decorating princess paper with stickers, a crayon rolled off the table and without even looking at it, Lauren said, "Mommy, can you please pick up my crayon? I'm working on my Spanish."

Miss Sam, Lauren's teacher, told us that one day, Lauren brought her the play phone at school and said, "Miss Sam, my Daddy is in a very important meeting and needs to talk to you right now."

We were driving someplace and as we were approaching a stop sign, Rob was a little heavy on the brakes so we lurched forward a little more than was necessary and from the backseat comes, "WHOA, sister!".

Lauren likes the song "White Horse" by Taylor Swift and there is a line in it that goes like this: "I'm not a princess.." to which Lauren happily popped out with "I am a princess." Oh my.

Ignorance is Bliss

Since before Lauren was born, I have always wanted a portable video monitor versus the sound-only one. Rob was always against it - he thought that all I would do is sit and stare at the monitor while the child was sleeping. The one we have had for the past two years worked out just fine, but as Lauren has gotten older, I wanted to be able to see into her room, especially as the temptation to climb out of her crib might start up. Lucky for us, she has shown no desire to climb out and seems to really love being in there - in fact, she can stay in there until she's five as far as I'm concerned - I know where she is and what she's doing, it's perfect.

With the upcoming arrival of Marissa, though, we knew we had to upgrade the monitor system or not have one in Lauren's room at all, ours was not compatible with extra monitors. Again, I pushed for the video system for each room: I wanted to see in there, darn it! I had to do extensive research and build my case to present to Rob, as anyone who knows him knows I would have to do. This might have been the biggest sell I've ever had to lay out there - he was not on board at all so I was building from the ground on this one. I called the video monitor companies and did online research through testimonials and finally found one that I thought would work great and put the hard sell on him. His response? "Does the camera automatically flip between the rooms? I want one that goes between the rooms automatically." Might have been nice to know on the front end, back to the drawing board. I called the company again and this one was easy: to their knowledge, there isn't one out there that does that. Whew, bullet dodged, it doesn't exist. Without full consent, I went ahead and ordered the system I wanted, I figured I could always send it back if my better half adamantly objected.

Last weekend, Rob grudgingly set the system up in both girls' rooms, so Sunday night was our first time with the video after we put Lauren to bed. Our portable hand-held part has to be manually turned on for video, otherwise it streams sound only. For the record I would like to state that Rob held that monitor, with the video on, for at least a half hour. More surprising than that is the fact that Lauren was obviously great entertainment. With the sound monitor, when it was quiet in her room after we walked out, we assumed that she was asleep and so we could go about our evening. Maybe this night was just a fluke, but she was up playing with her animals and jumping on the mattress and walking back and forth from one end to the other. I think we went back in there to tell her that it was "sleepy time" once each. The brilliant part is, she was quiet the whole time, so if it weren't for the video, we never would have known she was awake. This has gone on every night this week. Most nights she actually appears to fall asleep and then about thirty minutes later, pops up likes it's play time and goes to town, sometimes for up to an hour. All the while, not making a peep. This whole time, we thought she was asleep and that we were parents of the year because our child went down so easily at 7:00 and slept for nearly twelve hours. The moral of the story: ignorance really and truly is bliss!

Had a Bad Day

5:00 am: thunder and lighting. Reach for the remote to check the weather radar maps. How does one shower and get ready for work during a thunderstorm? If one gets said shower, that leaves only dread for the looming bad commute. What about the annual Easter bonnet parade which is at school today and a sweet spring outfit that is waiting to be put on? Work arrangements have been made so Rob and I can both be there - in this weather??

5:30: just rain now, it's time to play the music and light the lights.

6:00: my rings no longer fit. When exactly did this happen, I wonder as my engagement ring is stuck between my second and third knuckles with no signs of budging. One red and swollen knuckle later, sans rings.

6:25: Lauren is up and singing various versions of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - she needed about 30-45 minutes more sleep for an optimal mood but so far, so good - let's not create a situation where there isn't one yet, right? I'm supposed to on the road in five minutes, dreaded commute still looming. Of course I head upstairs to get the future American Idol ready for her big day. A minor meltdown over putting said cute sweater over her plain white t-shirt, Daddy sweeps in and saves the morning.

9:30: email from the school - parade is canceled due to nasty weather. Songs and parties and egg hunts with handmade "bonnets" to take place within each classroom, parents still welcome. Call Rob, try to decide best course of action: when there are parades outside and parents all around, it's easy to be there for pictures and memories without disrupting her day with tearful cries of abandonment because we have suddenly appeared in her day and are now leaving without her. Coming into her classroom in close quarters and then leaving would be too much for each of us - Lauren would be an inconsolable mess, Rob and I would feel guilty for the next six hours until we see her again. We decide not to go and I feel guilty for the next six hours.

4:10: still at work, wondering where the day went, put the carnage of the day away until tomorrow because after all, tomorrow is another day. Another bad commute ahead, leaving ten minutes late makes a big difference, especially in the rain.

5:00: finally arrive at school, 30 minutes later than normal but still excited to hear all about Lauren's day, this was going to be the highlight of my day. She is without aforementioned cute sweater and in plain white t-shirt, no surprises there. Her cubby is overflowing with a little Easter basket full of bright plastic eggs, baggies of bunny cookies and another cute bag holding a cup filled with goodies. She wants it all and is grabbing it out of my hands, "Give me eggs. Give me that cup. I want to carry it all." I give her the cup with goodies to carry, it is tied up and that should work so that we can make it to the car before the skies open up again. Wrong. She parks herself at the table and begins working on the ties so she can get to the loot inside. I'm cajoling and bribing to get her out of the room and on our way home but it falls on deaf ears. There's no deterring her at this point so I gently take it away and say she can have it all when we get home, every last bit of it. Big tears, loud wailing - I'm mildly embarrassed but we are ten feet closer to the door, only three feet to go. Suddenly my sweet little girl is on the floor, kicking and screaming at decibel-shattering levels so that now even the poor teacher is speechless - she said she's never seen Lauren like this before. Unfortunately I have - it's the drama reserved just for Mommy and Daddy over choosing the wrong cup or serving the wrong juice, as if we are ruining her entire life. I hand all of the stuff back to the teacher, and am prepared to pick her up and carry her out to the car, but now we've created a scene and teachers are coming from all over the building to see what's going on. Lauren is hyper-ventilating and I ask Kim, the woman at the front desk who is awesome and I adore, for a bag so I can get the child and her treasure of the building as quickly as possible. I am beyond mild embarrassment at this point.

5:15: still wailing, I wonder if she even knows why anymore. Rob calls to check on things and she gets as silent as a church mouse, listening quietly as I recount the whole story to him. I mean, not even a sniffle from the backseat during the whole conversation, it's almost like the tears and theatrics never even happened. I hang up and she wants to talk about how she gets M&M's for "going" on the potty, except she didn't and I have the sheet from school saying she just "tried" several times, no successes. More desperate wails and tears. I am calmly saying that we can try again when we get home, she still gets M&M's if she goes at home. No use. I give up. Bedtime just got moved to 6:30.

5:30: my now-calm child is talking a mile-a-minute about her day and playing with Play-doh while I make dinner. My nerves are still shot, a nice glass of wine would be good about now. Oh, that's right, not for four more weeks.

6:00: Rob is home, minor meltdowns over coming to her seat to eat, about receiving peaches instead of mandarin oranges. Rob asks her about her day, she says she "threw a big fit". He asks why and the answer is simple: "Because I'm a fit-thrower." Hmm, I wouldn't label her that way, but I had to turn away because it was funniest thing that I had heard all of this long, yucky day.

9:40: I'm officially done but Rob is still logged on and working from his laptop with no indication of being done soon.

We all get a do-over tomorrow, right Scarlet?