Favorites

Gotta love a morning when you succeed in making 2/3 of your family mad at you before 6:00 a.m.  Success?!  You tell me.  You would never guess the one person that was happy with me ... the one who is usually the most unpleasant in the morning ... Sweet Little Bia.  Let's just say she is my favorite right now - but don't tell the others! 

But seriously how could you not 

think this one is my favorite???

 

Conversations With Bia

Bia is sounding more and more like me with her comments lately ..

• "Momma - Momma - Moooommmmaaaa!" at the top of her lungs until I answer her in the morning.
• "I organized the toothpaste drawer." 
• "No I need to take the toys out of my drawer and organize it before I go to bed"
• "Momma is it church day? After church can we take a nap together in your bed?"

Hello Friday ...

Oh how I have missed you.  It has been another long week here in the ESPN house.  Here's a recap ...

• Chatty lost her library book again - this is her second one this year.  She has been informed she will be paying for it with her own money if she doesn't find it at school today.
• Bia is a HOT MESS .. extremely demanding and so adorable all at the same time.  Lord help me!
• I mailed a soccer refund check to the wrong address (Yeah Dumb Me!).  I went over to the house I accidentally mailed it to, to try and explain (I even took Bia so I would look more legit) but they weren't home.  I guess I will try going over tomorrow.
• I haven't had any sweets in over a week ... but I have inhaled mass quantities of almonds and spinach salads!  They're not nearly as good but the scale has been much friendlier.
• Co-irker as my co-worker aptly named Clipper Guy got his clippers unglued when I was in NJ the other week.  So when I got back in town last week I threw them in the garbage (in the women's restroom).  On Tuesday he was rummaging - actually it was more like a dog rooting through his drawer looking for them.  So far he hasn't brought another pair in but if he does they are heading straight for the trash.
• Chatty turns 7 on Monday ... every day she gets up and tells me "Mom my birthday is in (insert number) days!"  And I respond "Really?" Some day when she has kids she will realize it is very hard to forget the day they were born ... that and it was the final round of the Master's.  Chatty was sweet enough to stall her arrival until after the Master's ended that Easter Sunday so Mr. ESPN wouldn't have to turn the television off too early!
• Speaking of which Mr. ESPN will be watching the Master's this weekend in between family birthday celebrations.
• Bia snuck silly bands into school yesterday and when Mr. ESPN confiscated them she had a royal fit!
• Chatty lied to me about syrup on her shorts.  She has this habit of ordering breakfast at school, which Mr. ESPN has instructed her not to do (he can see it on her online account) because she eats breakfast at home, takes an early morning snack with her, plus she has a snack in class during the late morning.  So the other day I noticed she had syrup on her shorts (and she had eaten her breakfast at home in her PJ's) and she lied about how it got there ...
• So right now we have a petite thief with a tendency for tantrums and a liar who likes to talk back in our house.  Is that why they invented wine? 
• I am thinking of making this cake for Chatty's birthday.  I think it is super cute.

Courtesy of http://www.tasteofhome.com/

OK - that's about it.  Next week I'll post birthday pics ... have a good weekend!

Spring Break Part I - Bia's 4th Birthday

Ok - so here is Part I of our Spring Break ... Bia's Birthday.  Well actually it was Mr. ESPN's birthday but I didn't get any pictures of him opening his cards/gifts.  Great wife I know! We met Nana and Poppa at our favorite restaurant - Oregano's for a birthday lunch.

Bia and Nana

Bia and Poppa

Enjoying some pizzookie!

We were all decked out for the Arizona game that afternoon

Look who's 4 (the morning of her birthday)

  

Lots of princess stuff

And then we left for Disneyland.  After we checked into our hotel, picked up a birthday cake for Bia.  We celebrated again late that night in the hotel room!

Next up our visit to Disneyland ...

A little Behind

I can't seem to get ahead this week - or any week for that matter.  It's Thursday already and this is the first time I have posted this week.  Not sure what I have been up to (work, sick Bia, soccer, etc.) but I haven't had much time to blog and/or post pictures.

Last weekend we were supposed to have our good friends (AZCottrells) over to watch the GO CATS (as Chatty refers to them) pound the Huskies. Unfortunately Bia woke up with a fever on Friday that lasted through part of Sunday. So instead of getting together for the game we cheered them on in separate places and Mr. ESPN and Matt texted each other during the game!  Afterwards we had a family night of Wii bowling.

Chatty started out happy and dressed for I am not sure what

Then she started losing and looked like this

And this

This is how Mr. ESPN bowls

Bia can now bowl (yes another fashionista in the house)

"Come on Strike"

"Woo Hoo I got a strike!!"

Puppy played too

Sunday we celebrated our neighbor's 3rd birthday ... the weather was a little cool (for desert standards) but we had a great time.  Luckily Bia was feeling better and was able to join in on the party ...

Self Portrait

Chatty Played some hoops

Check out that concentration

Bia showed her silly faces

All in all a pretty good weekend - especially since we had Monday off!  This weekend - lots of soccer practice and a Girls Night for me on Saturday night!

Thoughtless Thursday

Not much going on around here (hence the reason I haven't posted all week) - just the usual chaos that is our life. 

• Yesterday we had a high of 42 degrees with 20 mph winds.  Needless to say soccer practice was COLD for us here in the desert!  Speaking of which, one kid shows up in shorts, t-shirt and thin little hoodie!  For pete's sake - can't her parents figure out how to dress her warmly - a little common sense people! 
• Another note from soccer - I was so cold I took my scarf and wrapped it around my head and then my neck.  I looked like someone from the Middle East ... my friend was cracking up (it was quite the site)!  You do what you gotta do right?
• I have to go to NJ for work on Sunday ... nice right?  Lovely, snowy, cold NJ in February!  And I won't be able to thaw out until Friday when I return to the desert (yes I know some of you live in cold places but I am from FL and have only lived in FL and AZ ... my body isn't programmed for extended bouts of cold weather).
• My kids were up and dressed by 5:45 am this morning.  The early rising gene did NOT come from me!
• Karma will bite you in the a**.  In the middle of the night Chatty came in complaining she had a nightmare.  I told her she was fine and go back to bed.  Then I fell back asleep and had a nightmare!  Note to self - next time Chatty has a nightmare at least offer to tuck her back in bed.
• I took my first Zumba class on Monday night with my friend L.  It was fun and funny!  I mean really funny when I looked at myself in the mirror during class!
• I asked Mr. ESPN if he wanted me to make any food for he and the girls to eat next week while I am gone.  Chatty answers and says "Brownies", I say "OK, what else?"  Chatty says "Cookies!"  She's my kind of girl!
• Bia has no concept of time.  Last night I told her I was leaving on a plane on Sunday and two minutes later she says, you leave tomorrow? (mmm ... depends on how you and Chatty behave)
• I don't think I took any pictures during the month of January.  Note to self - take some!
• Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday ... I am bailing out early so I can get some provisions for my adventure to the blustery northeast!

Honestly ...

(yes I copied this idea from someone else's blog)

• Is it possible for your child to be described as an Angel at school and then be the complete opposite anything less than angelic at home?  I had a wonderful parent teacher conference with Chatty's teacher.  She was gushing about how smart, sweet, eager, etc. she was.  Her first words to me were "Chatty is an Angel in class!"  Honestly?
• Was it necessary to to make our new Children's Hospital look like the Rio Hotel in Vegas on the outside?  The red lights change to different colors of the rainbow as they go up and down (you can see the purple on the bottom).  While I am all for spending money on a top notch children's hospital, I have a slight issue with the excess that was undoubtedly spent on this part.  Especially since this is the same hospital who at one time sent me a letter saying they no longer accepted our insurance even though they accept people without insurance!  I am not bitter - Honestly!

(this was the best pic I could find since I didn't whip my phone out

while I was driving on the freeway this morning at 6:15 am)

• It is possible for you to not lose weight while training for a half-marathon and in fact you can even gain weight while training.  Honestly!
• Can one kid leave school early two days in one week and be completely healthy?  Earache on Monday - 1 1/2 hour doctor visit later = nothing wrong.  Vomit in dance class on Wednesday - go home = nothing wrong.  Bia are you looking for some attention, honestly (Bia loves her school - honestly!)?
• I may be more excited about going to Disneyland than my kids.  Yep - Honestly I am!  Probably because I get to see one of my most favorite cousins and hopefully meet Casey!
• I told Chatty I needed a 4 day vacation from her bad attitude.  Honestly! (not sure why I said 4 day but in the heat of the moment it sounded good).
• I wore jeans to work today (we're only supposed to wear jeans on Fridays).  But because my boss is in another state and no one in my department works in this building I decided to do it (and because secretly I am a rebel).  Honestly!

Sweet Little Biaisms

Yeah so I know Biaisms isn't a real word but it is my word

Yesterday after work Mr. ESPN picked up Bia and Chatty.  As they were riding in the car Chatty is talking (non-stop - nothing new here).  Bia turns to her and says "Chatty STOP - you talk too much!"  Oh my sweet little Bia - you are sooo smart! 

For anyone out there who doesn't know, Bia is 4 years old now (according to her anyway - but according to her birth certificate she is actually 3).  She moved up to the 4 year old classroom at school and now insists she is 4 years old.  Since she has a birthday in March, she thinks she will be turning 5.  I keep telling myself Pick Your Battles, it is not worth it!

Bia and Chatty were supposed to stay at Nana and Poppa's house the other week but Nana and Poppa were sick.  I told her we would reschedule.  With that in mind she packed her two little backpacks for Nana and Poppa's house (blankies, stuffed animals and two pairs of flip flops - just the necessities for her).  I kept telling her it would be several weeks before they were able to have their sleepover but she kept insisting everything stay packed and ready to go.  She got mad anytime I pulled something out of her backpack.  Then she convinced her big sister to pack her backpack too! 

Self Esteem

Bia to Poppa on the phone last week: "Poppa you come watch me dance (she takes a class once a week at her daycare - dance and yoga)."
Poppa: "I would love to see you dance, tell me when."
Bia: "You get in your car and take me to school and watch me dance.  The you tell me I great!"

Chatty had a double header this past weekend.  She scored one goal in the first game and two in the second. 

As you can see we don't have any self-esteem issues in our house!

The Things They Say ...

I have several posts about Chatty and the things she says.  However her little sister Bia gives her a run for her money in the chatty department.  It is so bad most days that they argue over who gets to talk when! 

Some things to note about Bia - she talks LOUDLY.  Even her whispers are loud.  She is small but mightly and likes to make sure everyone hears her.

• "I WANT BREAKFAST!" - this is a common occurrence around 5:45 to 6:00 am at our house
• "Dr., Dr., Dr., Dr. Come HERE!" - this week while we were waiting to see our pediatrician
• "I WANT A MINT NOW!" - this week while I was speaking to the nurse about Bia's pink eye
• "I CAN'T SEE!" - 11:30 pm and again at 4:00 am because her eyes we crusted (sorry for the visual) over.
• "Tomorrow my buddies come over - Michelle, Addison, Sophie, Spencer, Collin and we have a play date at our house, OK?" - she is constantly trying to plan play dates.
• "Tomorrow you buy me .... (insert - movie, toy, snack, etc.)?"
• "What is this/that?" - a million times a day
• "I WANT MOMMY" - when Mr. ESPN makes her mad.
• "I WANT DADDY" - when I make her mad.
• "I WANT PUPPY" - when we both make her mad.
• "NO!" - this is a daily occurrence
• And my all time favorite .... "I Love you too Mommy, I give you a kiss and a hug" - she likes to say this when you begin to scold her for doing something wrong!  She is a smart one!

Tales of the Tooth Fairy - Part 2 and Random Stuff

I know the suspense is killing you - did the Tooth Fairy return to the ESPN house or did we get another e-mail due to bad behavior?  Good news the Tooth Fairy visited and left $1.  Chatty was very happy and immediately asked if she could put it in her piggy bank.  I don't think she understands the whole money concept and buying things either that or she just expects Mr. ESPN and me to pay for everything with our money!

In other news Bia has been waking up at 5:00 and demanding breakfast.  She comes in our room and lays on our bed and then yells "I WANT BREAKFAST!"  I told her yesterday that her chef (Mr. ESPN) was in the shower and she would have to wait.  Demanding little thing she is!  Good thing she is cute - crazy bed head hair and all!

We finally have a fairly quiet weekend with minimal commitments - ahhhh!  Let's see how long it lasts!  I do have to get up early tomorrow so I can go on a run ... Saturdays are my long runs and since it is still over 100 freakin degrees I gotta get moving early.  I started at 7:40 last week and when I was done at 8:30 I thought I was going to die, it was HOT!

Have a good weekend!

Conversations and Sunday School

Friday Chatty came home from school chatting about 9/11.  I was really caught off guard as I didn't know they would talk so in depth about it in first grade.  She seemed to know all of the facts and on Saturday insisted on wearing her Flag shirt.  We talked about the military and Uncle Lee, the people who serve our country and the people who died that day and we talked about Pap-pa.  It seems like every time death comes up we come back to him!  She had me in tears again Friday afternoon telling me how much she missed him.  So sweet and a great reminder for me.

Chatty knows the way to my heart ... "You're the BEST, better than daddy.  You are the best and he is the second best" (although we all know that is subject to change at any moment). 

Not quite so sentimental but out of the mouth of my youngest was "I farted in my seat mommy" - anyone who says potty humor is just for boys hasn't met Bia!  She was cracking herself up over it and kept saying it.  Of course I didn't help by joking - ooh it smells!

Sunday was the first day of the new Sunday School year.  Bia has graduated from the nursery and is in the 3 year old class across the hall from Chatty's 1st grade class (that I am co-teaching).  We'll see how long it takes for Bia to get mad I am not teaching her class.  I foresee a tantrum in our near future.  To celebrate the first day we snapped a few pictures before church

I wanted one of the girls and me ...

As you can see Bia was doing her own thing

So Mr. ESPN focused in on Chatty and me and cut Bia off

Finally one with Bia sort of looking at the camera

Randomness at the ESPN House

Nothing exciting to report from the ESPN house ... Chatty was almost sold to the highest bidder three nights in a row (darn homework and sassy mouth), but she redeemed herself last night after I pulled out the big guns - no not my sculpted biceps, rather the promise of not going to our neighbors for a party tomorrow night and missing the opportunity to ride the school bus tomorrow.  She did an awesome job last night so let's pray (a lot) that she does well tonight too - which is questionable since we have soccer practice to add to the mix.  Speaking of soccer, I think this Team Finance Mgr could seriously be a part time job - what the heck was I thinking???


Mr. ESPN said Bia's internal clock is out of whack.  She wakes up when I am in the shower (between 5:00 and 5:30 am) during the week and climbs in our bed.  She is quiet and usually dozes back off so I am ok with it.  Plus she has quit bringing her entire entourage (aka hoards of stuffed animals) and limits herself to one blankie and one animal, so I really can't complain.  She is obsessed with Band-aids and it's getting expensive.  The other night I found her up on the counter in the medicine cabinet trying to get one (or three Band-aids) for her imaginary boo-boos.  Needless to say the Band-aids have been moved to a locked drawer.


This weekend Chatty and Bia are having a sleepover at Nana and Poppa's.  I am not sure who is more excited - Chatty, Bia, Me, Mr. ESPN or Poppa (yes Nana enjoys having them too!).  Mr. ESPN and I will be celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary (yes we were oh so young when we got married!) on Sunday - alone!  Hallelujah!  If I was a good wife I would have tried to think of a gift prior to 3 days before the big day, but I didn't.  Usually we don't get each other anniversary gifts but I think he is buying me a watch (because I lost mine last month and he didn't have to think of something to get me since he knew I needed a new one) so that makes me want to get him something too.  I just looked it up and it said the traditional gift is silk/linen, which is not very Mr. ESPN.    We'll see what happens.


College football starts this week!! Yeah!!

This Week

This week:

• I did not find out anything about the "job" at corporate and a potential offer
• I ran 14.5 miles - 7 of them on Wednesday which resulted in chaffing and a big blister
• I ran into a friend from college at Total Wine and looked like crap (went after working out - it wasn't pretty) plus I had Bia with me.  It was a total "You have a baby in a bar" Sweet Home Alabama moment (kind of).  Lucky for me college friend had his son with him too so I didn't look (well I did look bad) too bad
• I have had a sinus headache for the last two days ... a glass of wine didn't help ... and neither did screaming kids ... maybe I need a second glass?
• Chatty started using the phrase "What the" - with no H word - WTH? 
• Bia got into trouble, when I asked her what she did wrong she told me she could not talk, it's cute annoying
• I went to make tacos and had no taco seasoning.  I googled it and made a homemade version.  Chatty said it smelled great - she loves tacos
• I decided I am addicted to HGTV - specifically House Hunters and House Hunters International ... Buying NY is awesome too

And next week Chatty graduates from Kindergarten ...

Thursday Tidbits

• If you go hiking in the springtime in the desert do not listen to Blaze of Glory (Bon Jovi) or Funny the Way it is (DMB).  Both of these songs have tambourine (I think it's tambourines) music that sounds a little like a rattler on a rattlesnake ... just sayin' it might freak you out a little, which can be a good thing because you will run/hike faster
• PC is BS ... I was told to apply for an internal position by the hiring manager (and several other managers close to the position) and now I have to wait at least two weeks to see if I get the position ... I hate PC HR rules that require the role to be posted for a week and them dragging their feet - let's get a move on people, momma wants a new purse (and wallet - my reward to myself if I get the new position)!
• I need want a Blackberry and I need to convince Mr. ESPN that I really do need it
• My sweet little Bia is so much like me in the morning that it is scary.  She tends to be very cranky in the morning and wants everything done her way.  She also likes to change her mind about what she's wearing several times.  One way that she is NOT like me is that she insists on wearing outfits that don't match ... not sure where she gets that one from
• Chatty is at my parents for two nights ... she was so excited.  My mom may have to turn her hearing aide off if Chatty lives up to her nickname
• We will be hosting a session of grandparent detox for Chatty on Saturday afternoon for any interested parties
• I am getting rid of my grey hairs (for a couple months anyway) tonight because unlike some blogs friends I have, I get my hair highlighted regularly, it is one of the many ways I keep the economy rockin', we all have to do our part
• I saw this cool post about Easter cookies (scroll down the post a bit to see the full recipe with pictures).  If we have time Saturday afternoon I want to do it with the girls.  Not sure Bia will get much out of it but I think Chatty would.

Birthday Overload

This weekend we had birthday overload at our house.  Warning - there are a lot of pictures in this post.  Mr. ESPN's birthday was Friday.  We went to dinner at a nice "kid-friendly" restaurant that had the basketball games on so everyone was happy.  After we got home we dug into Daddy's cake.

The next day was my little monkey's 3rd birthday.  When we got up she told me she wanted to go shopping at Costco and the gym ... my kind of girl! (As you can see my girls are big fans of their Christmas PJs and are still wearing them even though it is almost Easter).  Since it was a birthday weekend and we had an abundance of cake, we broke all the rules and had cake for breakfast! 

Time to open a few presents ...

Even the Philly Phanatic knew it was her birthday and sent her a card!

After we obliged Bia and her request to shop at Costco we headed to her buddie's birthday party at the train park.

After the party we met Nana, Poppa, Uncle Greg and Mrs. T at our favorite restaurant - Oregano's!  Nana and Poppa bought Bia a singing/dancing monkey.  It is a lovely annoying monkey that sings to Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus ... and it took all of 5 minutes for the girls to learn the words.  Nothing beats being serenaded by Miley and the girls!  

Monkey was thirsty so Bia shared her water

Since we had cake at the birthday party (and for breakfast) and had pizza cookie at Oregano's we saved Bia's monkey cake for Sunday and invited our neighbors over for cake and ice cream.

Two down, one to go ...Chatty's birthday is in two weeks and so is their joint birthday party.  After that I am on a cake baking vacation for a while!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BIA!

Bia is officially a three year old today - complete with three year old tantrums!  As sweet and snuggly as can be but super independent and stubborn.  She knows what she wants and gets mad when she doesn't get it (I have no idea where she gets these lovely qualities from - ha ha!)!  She is my baby and I can't believe she is already three!  We love you sweet little Bia!!!

2 Days Old

2 weeks Old

Baptism 2 months old (my Granny made the dress)

1st Birthday - 2008

2nd Birthday - 2009

3rd Birthday Invitation Picture - 2010

Zero to Sixty in Five Minutes

No I am not talking about the speed of a car, I am talking about the speed with which my child can become extremely cranky. Mr. ESPN and I went to a party on Saturday night. Somehow the girls convinced the babysitter to let them fall asleep in our bed. So when we got home we found the following.

And it quickly turned into this:

Yes I did laugh the entire time I snapped those pictures.  I have to admit she is my child - I am about that happy when someone wakes me up either!  Luckily she was in a much better mood the next afternoon (after a nice long nap with Mommy) and wanted to ride her sister's old bike (note to self - buy Bia a bike helmet that fits) ...