When you grow up

Naomi was watching a Dora video about jobs you can have when you grow up. They showed things like Firefighter, Police Officer, Umpire (or Ref?), Explorers, Clowns, Musicians.

You know, all those things people REALLY grow up to be...  

I suppose some people do. It was a good idea, so I decided to see if any of it was sticking with Naomi.

I asked her "What are you going to be when you grow up?"

She said "I'm going to be a Princess!"

I said "Oh really? What does a princess do?"

She said "She has a long, long dress, and sparkles and is pretty!"

I asked "Does a princess help anybody?"

She said "No, she doesn't"

I asked "What does she do?"

She said " she wears a long sparkly dress and a princess crown and a wand!"

I think we have a problem.

BUT on the flip side, I took the kids to the National Building Museum on Thursday and we played in the Building Zone. It was fantastic. Lots of room to run and be crazy. My good friend Cassie came with her kids and Naomi and Abby played like boys:) Kind of. They dressed up in the firefighter, construction worker, police officer gear and kept it on the whole time. They played with the building blocks, big soft Legos, magnet sticks, cars etc. It was a very un-princessy day. 

In all, I allow and even encourage on occasion the princess play. She loves it. She begged for dress up shoes and wands and crowns and now that she has them they are played with every day. Often I get to be a princess too. Last night Zach was bestowed the honor of being her Prince. James sometimes gets to wear don a crown and wave a wand too. He actually loves the wands, look at this picture:

It's fun to feel special and pretty and "princessy" I admit it. I like to get dressed up and feel like I'm someone important. I guess that part of it never goes away.

For Naomi's birthday I'm planning on making a cake. Last year I made a Nemo-resembling picture on her cake, for her Nemo themed birthday. She loved it.

 

I asked what she wanted this year. 

You guessed it. 

Princess.

I'm not sure exactly how to do it.

I have aspirations of something awesome, like this,

(Yeah, that's actually a cake, Hogwarts Castle)

or this

 

or this

Kidding, but that would be awesome, right?

It will really look more like the Nemo cake.

(Charm City Cakes (as seen on food network, it's located near me:) has the most awesome cakes I've ever seen. Take a look. http://www.charmcitycakes.com/)

It would be fun to have a cake like this though

I might be able to pull something decent off, maybe.

I would love some tips on how to make a great cake. I am most definitely a novice.

I guess I'm encouraging the Princess stuff again:)

As an after thought last night she informed me that she wants a Princess Monster cake. 

I think she might be disappointed....

I think I would rather she grow up a princess than monster.

ABC's

Isn't she adorable?

We survived and it was Awesome!

Finally here are the pictures and proof that we made it to the inauguration!

We took our kids to our friends house at 8:30 a.m. Ironically I had to wake Naomi up at 8, she was actually going to sleep in on the one day in her existence I didn't want her to. 

We then caught a metro train at 9 a.m. down town and got there by about 9:30. 

I wish I would have taken some photos of those first few blocks. It was chaos. There were people wandering in every direction, newspapers littered all over the usually very clean city streets. It was surprising. I just has assumed that it would be orderly and people would know where to go, that there would be signs and helpful officers and volunteers. 

There were plenty of armed officials everywhere but most didn't know where to send people. We got a different answer each time we asked where to get in for General Admission. 

There were people with tickets for closer to the capitol, and they all had specific entrances depending the the ticket color. 

The entrance points on the pre-inauguration maps were for some reason changed now on the morning of and we were told we needed to go to the "3rd street tunnel" to the other side of the mall. That would actually be the 2nd street tunnel, so walk interstate 395 around to the other side of the mall. 

Ok. 

Once on the other side there were helpful volunteers who knew what they were talking about. They told us to take a right and walk on down to 14th street. So basically the whole length of the mall. About 12 blocks more. 

It wasn't too bad, we had lots of company!

 

Apparently the original access point that we thought we could get in at had been closed because that part of the mall was full to capacity, so due to the parade route filling up, and the ticketed areas needing separate entrances, the rest of the general admission needed to enter from the back door of the mall, the South side. 

We literally got stuck in a crowd of people right before we made it onto the mall. There were firetrucks and buses blocking the flow of people for a while and people were getting upset about it. It was amazing how people loose their sense of respect for individuals in a large group like that. Mob mentality I suppose.

Where we were stuck:

 

Once they cleared out of the way we were able to just walk onto the mall at the Washington Monument by about 11 a.m. There was supposed to be security checks for everyone entering the mall but I guess they gave up on that... 

There was a crowd but not too crazy where we were. People seemed to have enough personal space. We were in view of one of many mega-trons on the mall. I had to be on my toes most of the time to get a full screen view though. I felt for people shorter than me, they couldn't see the screen and thus the program at all.

My face was cold but otherwise I was warm enough. We wore thermals under our clothes and all that walking kept the blood pumping too I'm sure. Also, the 30 or so degrees it was downtown felt downright balmy compared to the teen temperatures from the proceeding days. The sun was shining and we had made it in! It was a great day.

 

I tried to send a text, make a call,  check my voicemail before the program started but my cell signal kept dying out and then my phone would just be unable to compete calls or send anything. Some people seemed to be using their phones ok but I had heard that the Secret Service was possibly going to cut all cell service during the inauguration. We heard lots of crazy rumors. I don't know if the Secret Service can even do that?

It was a great experience to be there, the masses were amazing. I have never seen so many people at once in my life, and to be a part of it! Did you see me on TV? :)

Behind us there were people all the way up the steps of the Lincoln memorial. It was surreal how many people were filling up the downtown.

This is our view back to the Lincoln:

 

Cheering for President Obama:

We both really enjoyed President Obama's speech. I thought he did a great job. It was an overall great program, with a few little exceptions. 

I didn't really like the invocation. 

At all. 

Ok, I hated it. 

The benediction was much, much nicer. I felt like he was actually praying to God, not giving a speech under the guise of a prayer. 

Also, Aretha sang nicely, but her hat was intense. Yikes. 

Yo Yo Ma and co. was so beautiful, even over the loudspeaker that we were listening to.

The walk back to the metro was quick, the crowds were light. People were hanging around and partying, taking their time to get out and home. 

It was odd, once again, to be walking down the middle of a major freeway in a city. It was cool too, felt a little like the movies or something. 

Once we got to the Union Station metro there was a very big crowd to get down the escalators to the trains. It moved relatively quickly and we were on our way! We made it home to our apartment by 2:30. I was impressed, I was worried we would be stuck waiting to get on the metro forever.

Our dear friend was more than ready to hand our children back over to us. James followed her around and demanded to be held or whine and cry. She has a baby of her own too, who is not yet mobile though. 

And Naomi dearest, decided that a certain "rock" was "dirty" and needed to be flushed. 

What!? 

She flushed a large (3 or so inches) massage stone down the toilet! 

Naomi has never in her life flushed anything (other than the obvious). 

I was seriously mortified. Hopefully the toilet doesn't die. I'm afraid it might though, a rock, seriously.

So, we were there at the the Inauguration of the 44th president of the United Sates of America and first African American president. I am so glad we did this, we couldn't have passed up on such a fantastic opportunity. 

And no one even set off a bomb! 

All kidding aside, I did worry about that...

Zach with the Capital (very small) in the background:

Bigger, and tall

Naomi: Mommy, where's Daddy?

Me: He's at school.

Naomi: Why he's at school?

Me: Daddy's studying at school. He goes to school so he can be a lawyer.

*silence*

Naomi: Mommy, when I get bigger, and tall I can go to school too and be a lawyer!

Me: That sounds like a great idea!

Naomi: Yeah, I can be a PINK LAWYER!

I'm sick

I'm sick. I've had only a little bit of water all day. Seriously, only water. The last food I ate was chocolate milk and oreos last night. That's probably why I'm sick. Punishment. So what's that? 18 hours with out calories! From the girl who gets dizzy if I don't eat every 2. Now I know what that line on the movie "The Devil Wears Prada" meant: "I'm only one stomach flu away from my ideal weight.." or something like that, from the personal assistant girl.

Anyway. I think I want to eat something but I'm worried it won't stay down. Apples sound good and so do these little oranges, clementines- we have a box. Maybe just water still though. Stuff like soda crackers sounds horrible. Bleh. I think Jamba would nearly cure me.

I do have much more interesting things to blog about, I'll try those now. 

Like how we used our new ClearPlay DVD player last night. It worked rather well, we were pleased. Thanks Jeff and Linda. Now we will become redbox-aholics and watch movies every night. Really though, it's a cool idea/program and though the website needs refining, the player is great.

And how about this for a post idea, James almost succeeded in consuming one of those anti-oxidation packets from a shoebox sitting by the front door destined for the recycling bin. The ones that state implicitly "do not eat". You'd think the kid can't read or something.

I found him with a packet between his fingers in his mouth with a really disgusted look on his face. I confiscated, cleaned out mouth, fingers, face, freaked out a little, or a lot, and vacuumed the spilled contents. Turns out (online resources....) that they don't cause harm. I hope not. He didn't actually eat it... Wow, I'm just sounding like parent of the year here.

Ok, how about this then. Naomi and I made Jello jigglers yesterday and I didn't control-freak (much) while she cut them out with the cookie cutters. Turns out though that she doesn't really love the texture or taste, or both. They were just fun to play with.

Or this, Naomi was being the big helper she is and poured some ranch dressing on her plate for dinner the other day. Then we heard he say, "I got LOTS!" She was so pleased.

So. Still sick. Z is bringing home ginger ale or sprite or both to help me with the blood sugar issues.... and James just woke up from his nap. Time to be a mom!

H&M

My parents gave us money for Christmas this year and I decided to go on a little shopping spree to H&M last week. I took Naomi and James, they were troopers. Naomi is becoming such a little fashionista. She has an eye for all things silky, super-soft, shiny and sparkly. We also took a look around Forever 21 for a few minutes. Naomi was tunnel vision for the tables and tables with endless racks of earrings, necklaces, headbands, bracelets etc. She was in heaven!

Tyson's Corner mall is my shopping destination of choice. It is huge and has tons of fun stores, like Janie and Jack (not that I can afford that...) Pottery Barn Kids, (or that one) Banana Republic, (nope again) CakeLove, (kinda- it's SO yummy) Benetton, (not really either) and tons of others. It's huge, probably the biggest mall I've been to. True Religion Jeans has their own store, and Puma and Free People. The kids play area is really fun. Naomi and James love it. It's worth going just for that.

Anyway, my favorite store there is H&M. They have some seriously cute clothes and they are great prices. Really, it's like it's all on sale, but that's the normal price. They have kid stuff too, but I was on a mission for "Trisha" clothes. I didn't even stop at Gymboree, I'm proud about that. 

H&M is a European brand, based out of Sweden. There are a few stores around here and all over the country in big cities. (Not in Charlotte yet, hopefully soon.) They do have one BIG problem though. You can't shop online, at least not the U.S. Too bad huh.

So, here's my ode to H&M. Love your clothes, wish I could buy more!

I'm back

Well it's been nearly a month, I thought I had almost successfully fallen off the blogging band wagon. But I decided to stay. I like blogging. And reading blogs, I like that too. I have loads of perfectly good reasons why I've been negligent with posts, but I don't need to put them down here. I know why, and that's good enough.

Before we left for the promised land, we had a fun over-nighter in Hershey, PA with the Piersons. It was awfully cold but a lot of fun. We went to our ward Christmas party that was more fun that expected. We visited the White House Christmas Tree and it was beautiful. I have an awesome photo of Naomi on Santa's lap there but I have to scan it on here so I can post it. He was the real Santa.

 

Then we had a mini adventure of volunteering to be bumped because our flight was over-booked. It was a tiring run around but we got vouchers for flights within the next year. My parents were kind enough to come and pick us up at an adjusted time of midnight!

Christmas was great. It was busy and not as relaxing as I always hope it might be. But we got to spend two weeks in Utah with family and loved it. We spent about half of our time in St. George with Zach's family. It was warmer there. In Logan though we had snow! Lots of it. Naomi and Zach, and Isaac too played in the snow until their cheeks were bright pink.  I loved having other people to help me with the kiddos. It made me happy to see my children building relationships with relatives. It felt comforting to be with family who knows me, even though it's been months since we've seen each other. My entire family was at my parents house on Christmas with the exception of my sister and her family who lives in Switzerland. I made the observation that when Zach and I were married 7 years ago, there were just 4 grandchildren on my side. (That's right, we had an anniversary!) Now there are 17(.5) grandkids! And, interestingly enough, there are currently 4 grandchildren on Zach's side. We'll see how many more the next 7 years bring. 

All my Christmas photos are on Zach's computer only, I'll try to add some later. I also downloaded some from my camera onto my parents computer and forgot to make myself a disk before we left.  Sigh.

Now we are back in "DC" but it's really Maryland, even if it's just a block, it's still Maryland. We are only half unpacked. The kids stuff is all taken care of, but our room is a disaster! :) Zach is grocery shopping on behalf of the family right now. We couldn't even make mac 'n cheese today, out of butter! So we gave in and I sent him shopping. I actually gave him the choice of doing the shopping or stay here with Naomi and James. He went shopping.

Probably part of the reason he choose to go rather than stay was because Naomi decided to be sick this afternoon. Ewww. Too bad I made the offer before she threw up. I would have totally gone! She's actually doing fine now. She seems alright. We'll see if she is sick tonight.... I'm expecting James to have an upset tummy soon too. I hate it when my kids are sick. It's so sad and you can't do much for a stomach bug. I've found letting it run it's course seems the wisest.

For other news, I have been trying to enroll Naomi in a ballet class through the county recreation department. She has two or so little friends taking it too. I got my web ID and password to register online and then went to enroll her and it denied me. Naomi won't be three by the start date (next Saturday), and it's a class for 3 and 4 year olds. Seriously. On one hand, it's like "Duh Trisha, she's not 3..." but on the other hand, she will be three in a matter of weeks. I talked to the registration office on the phone. They were nice and assured me that they could get her in, just come in to the office to do it in person. So I took Naomi with me. When we got there the gal at the desk tried to enroll me, called someone, talked in hushed tones, handed me the phone and said "she wants to talk to you." Ok. So I talked to The Wizard of Oz who said "we are so sorry, but we really don't make age exceptions for our dance classes...." So why did "you" tell me to come here in person??? So you could tell me that over the phone? Seriously. She would not bend. She was sooooo nice though. Ick.

When I got home I was mad. Angry really. Then I decided that Naomi could just keep going to the preschool at the BCC High school. (Another story, probably not going to send Naomi to preschool this semester.) Then I had a great idea. I had a wonderful, awful idea:) I logged into my online account and adjusted her birthday to fall before the start date of the ballet class. So a month early. Now I can register her. I added the class to my "basket" online but haven't gone through with it. I obviously think she will be just great with the other kids there. I just worry that maybe they will find out somehow? They don't require verification for birthdays. The problem I guess is that it's dishonest. Is it a big deal do you think???? Now I'm faced with this moral dilemma because they won't make age exceptions for their "dance" classes. I guess they make exceptions for other classes. Bleh.

So that's where I'm at. There are two spots left in the class, but not for long I'm sure. 

*** UPDATE***

I did it. Naomi's birthday is, for all intents and purposes with the Montgomery County Recreation Department, January 15th. She's going to be a little ballerina!

Did you know that ballet slipper for tiny girls cost $16.99?!

The Nutcracker

My sister Aimee (who lives all the way over in Switzerland!) sent Naomi a surprise Christmas present today!

It's a copy of a new and fabulous pop up book by Patricia Fry, The Nutcracker.

I was so excited and Naomi sat with rapt attention as I read it to her for the first time. She absolutly loved the page where a beautuful candy palace unfolds. I really liked the layers of details, like there is a cabinet on the first page filled with special toys. The mouse king is cool too:) The story is shorter of course, being a chilren's pop up book, but the visual details are just lovely.

I don't know where to find one to get a look at in real life but I know Borders.com has it listed.

Take a look HERE. Also she has her own website: PatriciaFrybooks.com

Shades

They somehow were broken. She says Daddy stepped on them. I don't know. Then we had a cheap pair from maybe my mom's basement toy room. They were pink hearts, very awesome. She broke those, pulled the "arms" off accidentally, too excited maybe? Unfixable unless glued into an immovable state which is, of course, unacceptable.

Before all that there was a pair of tiny ones with pictures of fruit on them, from when she was a baby. And there was also the Mr. Potato Head pair. Both too small.

So I offered some of mine. A very inexpensive, even cheap pair purchased in a rush last summer when mine went missing. Or were broken. I don't remember which. They were white and seemed like the epitome of 2 year-old coolness. I was wrong. Something was wrong. She didn't like them.

Then, inspiration. How about we put some sparkles and buttons and jewels on them? YEAH! So I manned the glue gun and she ever so carefully stuck on the buttons, sparkly poms, flower and jewels. As the last jewel was pressed attentively into place she exclaimed,

They're just like Sharpay!

New and improved, these are much sought after designer (Naomi) shades now.

But Sharpay? It's been weeks since we watched HSM. I guess she made an impression.
BIG sigh. And she's only 2.

Grandma Linda

Zach's mom, "Grandma Linda" as she is affectionately called, was here all last week and left us for Utah on Sunday. It was so great to have her here! I have been so spoiled with both of our moms coming out to help me. It has been so wonderful. I've needed the help and Linda was great to have here;) I didn't change one (seriously) dirty diaper the whole week!

It was especially helpful to have Linda because James was so sick when she got here! He had an icky cold that made it really difficult for him to breath while eating. And he was just so sad, so an extra set of arms was just what we needed. Also Zach was super busy with his last week of classes.

And Naomi declined preschool on more than one occasion to stay home and play with Grandma. But can you blame her? James learned how to crawl during her visit too. We put up the tree and James decided to crawl on over to get a closer look, I mean- grab. at it. Naomi has told me repeatedly that "I just want to go and visit Grandma at her house right now!" Two weeks to a two year old might as well be two years! We miss you Grandma Linda.

We were able to visit the Washington DC temple Festival of Lights on Saturday. It's really beautiful, it's the East coast version of Temple Square in Salt Lake, but a bit smaller but no less lovely. The visitors center has concerts and programs continually this month, and pretty Christmas trees all decorated uniquely, as well as a beautiful display of nativities from around the world. Last Friday there was a special program or meeting for ambassadors from around the world to see the Christmas lights for it's first night and the ambassador from India had the honor of turning on the lights, officially beginning the festival.

Anyway, if you are at all in this area it's worth a visit. Just be sure to bundle up, it's been cold here!

This was so funny, in Downtown Silver Spring there was a Christmas tree display. When I went to take the picture of Naomi and Linda, this little boy jumped right in. He heard me calling to Naomi to look at me and smile so he called her by name too. Naomi was a little weirded out:)

Crazy Eights. Tag, I usually don't play tag....

Tag from Talia:) I usually ignore tags, rude, I know. But It sounded fun this time. We'll see how fun it is at the end!

Eight things I did yesterday: (TODAY)

(wow, yesterday was a really laid back day... I'm going to have to change that to today. It's 11 p.m. now anyway)

1. Colored Cinderella pictures with Naomi

2. Let James try my orange juice

3. Watched Naomi shove a huge piece of tofu in her mouth and then regret it but swallowed it all anyway...

4. Read a play by Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan

5. Talked to my mother in law and my sisters mother in law

6. Dressed James in his pj's for bedtime

7. Fed James bananas that he did NOT like, too lumpy?

8. Went to church

Eight places I like to eat: As you can tell, I have very fine taste.

1. Home, when Zach is cooking

2. Olive Garden

3. Chick-Fil-A

4. La Madeleine's

5. Ben and Jerry's (that's food right?)

6. McDonald's (only because there aren't enough Chick-Fil-A's)

7. HAPPY SUSHI!

8. Formosa, or Mandarin Garden- it's been a long time...

Eight shows I like to watch:

1. Dancing With The Stars

2. Life on Mars

3. Eli Stone

4. The Office

5. Samantha Who?

6. CSI Miami

7. Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses

8. Go Diego, Go

Seriously though, I don't have 8 shows I watch, more like 3 or so regularly. And 7 and 8 I don't really LIKE to watch, I just seem to all the time. Sigh...

Eight things I look forward to:

1. Skiing

2. Sleeping-in vacations

3. Christmas

4. Zach's graduation and job:)

5. Summertime

6. Seeing my all my family over the holidays

7. Reading good books

8. Being totally recovered from surgery

Eight people I tag:

hmmm, how about...

1. Ruth

2. Heather J

3. Ashlee

4. Natalie F

5. Brooke

6. Jenna

7. Cassie

8. Michelle F

And some picures thrown in for good measure. Pictures make blogs a little more entertaining. I think so anyway.

Zach put James in the sink because he was tired of holding him and it seemed like a fine idea. Indeed, James liked it, especially the dishsoap;) So I got my camera. Naomi insisted that she get in the sink too. We convinced her to wait a minute or so, because she wouldn't fit with James. Oh the agony. So there you have it, James and Naomi in the sink.

Two Weeks

I've been having a very lazy past two weeks. It's been wonderful;) My mom was here until Tuesday of this week helping me with my heavy weight champ(lin) and Naomi and everything else that goes on around here. It was much needed help, she did my dishes so many times.... I hate doing dishes, that was the greatest.

I am feeling better than I expected but still sore of course. I'm doing a bit better every day. I don't want to get my hopes up just yet, but I'm letting little thoughts of skiing the Beav in Utah after Christmas sneak into my daydreams. We will see.

Today is Thanksgiving and I am of course thankful for so many things. I always have enough food to eat and a comfortable place to live. I have a wonderful little family and a great extended family too. In comparison to so many people in our world, I have so much. It's sometimes mind boggling. I am, as they say "seriously, so blessed" ;) We have some friends coming over, the Ferguson's who are bringing 1/2 the food. It will be fun to spend the afternoon with them.

Naomi is so observant, she watches everything I do. She is getting so good at so many things, like using the mouse on the computer. She can get out a dvd, open the cd drive, load the dvd in and start a movie herself- she even seems to know where play is on the start up menu. She can pause and play movies too. I guess it is evident what we have been doing a LOT of the past few weeks.....

James is nigh unto crawling. So close. He is up on all fours rocking and launching forward. He usually ends up crawling/scooting backwards. That makes him so very frustrated. He also is pulling up to standing. He needs help a bit with that but he loves it. He loves to be standing, holding my hands. Naomi likes to help too, but then she forgets that he can't take off with her as she nearly drags him around the living room;) She is waiting and waiting for him to hurry up and grow up so he can play with her!

My mom and I took Naomi to the mall to see Santa last weekend and she walked right up and sat on his lap. I was thrilled but admittedly a bit surprised. She then wanted to get off and talk to him standing in front of him. When he asked what she wanted for Christmas she said "presents, and presents and lots of presents!" Smart girl. Later in Macy's they had a table with postcards where you could write a letter to Santa and mail it in their big shiny red mail box. Naomi sat down with me and drew squiggly lines as she dictated out loud that she was writing that she wanted "a dolly and a barbie with a long, long dress and a puppy and presents and candy and treats,.." etc. It was pretty adorable. She is also warming up to having her picture taken, obviously.

Naomi and James are so funny in the bath. James loves the water like crazy. And Naomi on the other hand likes it now, loves it now, but never on her face. When she was James' age she would get so mad if the water got on her face. James isn't even phased if water is poured over his head. He kicks non stop in the water and even doesn't seem to mind the after bath getting dressed part too much. Naomi likes to get wrapped up too in her hoodie towell and then sit infront of the space heater for a while. I totally understand where she's coming from. There are few things worse than being cold. James must take after Zach...not like that's a surprise at all!

Last night Zach stripped James down to his diaper and we got out the camera of couse. His chubs are so cute! He seems to be loosing a few rolls but there is plenty still left. We sat around and listened to Christmas music and watched Naomi dance. She was darling. I'll try to load a video but I've never been able to do that successfully yet.

Update- the file was too large, I'm going to try a smaller video of James.

Also, lastly, I've been busy (sitting of course) making all things darling for little girls hair! I opened an Etsy shop and have listed for sale some Christmas hair clips. I have more non-Holiday clippies to list as well. It has been fun, I love creating things. Naomi likes to get her hand in there on the action as well. Her very favorite clips are the green ones with rhinestones. I favor the candy cane ones with the red button. We'll see if anything sells. If not then I have loads for Naomi and to give to friends. My shop name is NaomiBaby, that name is linked.