Anatomy

Liesel: I wanna feed Ireland!

Me: Sorry honey, you don't have boobs.

Liesel: *eyes light up* I hab a boo boo!!! *points to bruise on shin*

Sand and Surf

We were finally able to have Brent to come to the beach with us! The weather was beautiful and we left fairly early in the morning so we could park as close to the beach as possible. Liesel decided to brave the tiny waves and wade into the water a bit. When she saw one coming she'd call out, "Here it cooooomes!" I had to laugh.

As the morning wore on she became more and more brazen. At one point she was up to her waist in the ocean and even my legs were getting cold but she would not be moved. Finally a big(ish) wave almost knocked her down and she thought it prudent to scootch back.


And yes, she wore those sunglasses the entire time. The apple doesn't fall far I guess. Ireland slept soundly so I think it's safe to say the trip was a success for the whole family!

A Touch of Culture

The much needed Cambridge Stake Center was recently completed and will be dedicated on Sunday. As part of the festivities, Jon Schmidt did a couple of concerts. I'd never heard of him so Brent played Waterfall for me and I was sold. We were told his concerts are great for little kids and to not let that deter us so initially we were going to go as a family. Then they announced a matinee and I decided to take the girls to that one and let Brent enjoy it on his own for the evening performance since he's a big fan. It turned out perfectly because Liesel met up with kids her age and a friend from the ward held Ireland so I could enjoy it as well.

Here's a video of Liesel enjoying Love Song Meets Viva La Vida. I love how she's just transfixed whilst eating her fruit snacks.


You may already know about this music because it went viral on YouTube about a year ago. I have to say mixing Taylor Swift with Coldplay is just genius and hearing it live was just amazing. Below is one of the versions (there are now many out there). Sorry it gets cut off on the right side, I'm not sure why my YouTube videos do that. If anyone knows how to fix it please share!
Watching this makes me desperately wish I danced ballet. Jon also does an arrangement which is a mix of Pachelbel's Canon and U2. Very cool.

Happy Father's Day!

Lest you think I'm jumping the gun by posting the night before Father's Day, let me clarify. I actually had Liesel paint a card for her father and two grandfathers. I intended to get them sent out along with the latest photos of the girls. For Ireland's 3 month photos we wanted to capture her in her blessing dress. Because we don't have any sister photos yet we put the girls in slips during the same sitting. I'm really happy with how they turned out. Unfortunately, I never made it to the post office to send the cards and photos so the grandfathers would have them in time. This is just a preview of what's to come. Watch your mailbox!

My favorite is the first photo because you can see the shamrock cuff links I gave to Brent when he blessed her. They were an early Father's Day gift and they coordinate with the shamrock charm from Tiffany's he gave me for Mother's Day. Great minds think alike...

Fishy

Oh how I love this time of day! Liesel is "resting" on her bed. If I tell her she has to take a nap she fights it but if she just has to rest that means she can have some toys and books too. As long as her head is down on her pillow she just has to wait until I come and get her. Of course, she ends up taking a nap too but I don't have the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth to deal with. Ireland is fed, in a clean diaper and happily swinging right now. The swamp cooler is humming as it brings a nice breeze into the apartment. It's Wednesday so now I'm free to re-watch last week's episode of So You Think You Can Dance and feel fully prepared for tonight's show. And I can blog. Ahhhhh, my afternoons are the best!

Brent received two free tickets to the New England Aquarium at work. Then a co

worker gave him their two free tickets. I decided it was high time to take advantage of them so I dropped Brent off at work and headed downtown. This worked out well for Brent because he could spend a little more time at home in the morning and catch some of the World Cup games. Anyway, my plan was to go right when the Aquarium opened so I could get a spot in the metered parking. As luck would have it, there were a handful of spots still open right by Fanueil Hall which is a hop, skip and jump away from the Aquarium. When I handed over my two tickets for me and Liesel the ticket taker asked how old she was. Upon hearing she was just two he handed me back a ticket. Turns out she's free! That means we can take FOUR visits to the Aquarium this summer. Woot! One thing I like about the set up is they have a metal bar near the floor and wooden rails for smaller kids to step up so they can see better. Liesel liked climbing on those and suddenly becoming taller almost more than looking at all the fish.

I assumed Liesel would like seeing all the sea life but Ireland was completely enchanted too. Here she is under the black light. If the picture looks a bit strange, it's because she's in a sling. Liesel is in the background. She was so good about staying close to me and holding hands when we were crossing traffic to get there. I hope I don't sound cynical when I say I was surprised how good she was. One little boy took notice of Liesel and just stared at her while she ran around to the displays. I wonder what he thought of her...

We spent a fair amount of time watching the fish in the big tank. The sharks swam by a good half dozen times but they started getting closer and closer to the glass. Finally Liesel asked to get down because they were scaring her. Sorry the video starts out so dark. I was trying to capture Ireland looking at the fish. It lightens up after a few seconds.

I'm looking forward to going back to the Aquarium! Next time we'll tie in a lunch with Dad!

For the Love of Ice Cream

You'd think the annual Scooper Bowl would be a harbinger of summer to Boston. Unfortunately, the last two years have been drizzling and cool. Not that the weather stops us from eating unlimited amounts of ice cream for a good cause. To top it off, our friends were able to get free passes courtesy of MIT. As if the Scooper Bowl could get any sweeter!


Do I even need to mention Liesel absolutely loved the Scooper Bowl? I think not. As soon as we finished one of the sample-sized cups she'd immediately ask for more. Don't know what I was thinking when I put the white sweater on her as we walked out the door.

A new ice cream flavor favorite from this year's event is Key Lime Graham gelato. Yum!

I'm trying to lose my baby weight so I've been cutting back on the "great whites" from my diet (sugar, salt, flour) and this was the first time in weeks I'd really had anything sweet. I think it put my system in shock because I felt SO sick on the way home. Which reminds me, does anyone out there get the logic of the following video?

Pequena Traviesa

Yesterday morning while I was nursing Ireland I decided to fire up the DVR and watch the latest episode of Losing It With Jillian. I love how blunt and ferocious Jillian is with those she trains and the last two episodes have taken place right here in Massachusetts. For the most part, Liesel is pretty good about playing on her own and she disappeared to do just that. When I was about to find out if "Deb" from Cambridge had lost the weight at Jillian's six week follow up I realized it was rather quiet. Eerily quiet. Ireland was now sleeping peacefully in my arms and I didn't want to jostle her. I decided to do a pulse check on her big sister. "Liesel?" I called out. She responded in toddler gibberish and I knew she was alive and in the bathroom. My instincts told me I needed to check on her sooner rather than later. When I did, I was met with this scene:

Liesel had climbed from her stool to the toilet to the bathroom sink, taken off her clothes, opened the medicine cabinet, pulled out the Vick's Baby VapoRub and slathered herself in it from head to toe. I don't entirely know how she managed to do it because the smell overpowered me before I even got to the door. Heeding my mother's advice, I grabbed the camera to take a picture and called her. Liesel proudly said, "CHEESE!" the second she saw the camera and of course my mother got a kick out of my predicament. While I related the story to her, I put Liesel down and tried to ascertain which bottles were clean and which were not. In that time, Liesel climbed onto the dining room table where she got a hold of the hand sanitizer and she began rubbing that on top of the VapoRub. I thought that smell couldn't get any worse but believe me, it did. I immediately told my mom I had to go and started a bath.

By the time I cleaned every inch of Liesel, the bathtub looked like an oil slick. The worst part? She got a huge glob of the VapoRub in her hair and it absolutely will not come out. I've tried 2 different shampoos as well as dishwashing soap and as of this morning I've lathered her up 9 times! The girls are supposed to have professional photos on Saturday and if I can't find a solution fast Liesel is going to look like she sleeps in a cardboard box on the street because of her greasy hair. Anyone know how to get VapoRub out of hair? The morning adventures must have tuckered Liesel out because for her nap she fell asleep right in the middle of reading her book.

Another recent development in our home is Liesel has discovered how to climb out of her crib. Time outs aren't nearly as effective when the offending toddler peaks out of her room 30 seconds after being chastised. This morning I awoke to Liesel at my bedside announcing, "I had a good nap... I hungry." So much for sleeping in another 10 minutes! Here is a picture of Liesel mid-escape. Friends and family joked with us that our lives were over once Liesel learned to walk. Oh no, I have to say this is much worse.

Aye de MI!

Missing Crosby

Today's Relief Society lesson was on forgiveness. The teacher mentioned an article she'd read on the Wall Street Journal which poses this question: Who do you treat better? Your pet or your spouse? It noted that most people actually tend to treat their pets better than their spouse because they are much more forgiving of their faults. This got me to thinking about our family pet. My siblings might argue that I treat my spouse much better than I did our dog.

When I was a kid my parents got an Old English Sheepdog for my little sister Reagan which we named Crosby. He was an adorable puppy and then he grew, and grew, and grew. Technically he wasn't as big as he looked. Sheepdogs really are a lot of fluff and he had tons of hair. It wasn't really Crosby I took issue with, it was his hair. My room had shag carpeting which was a disaster with the shaggy dog. Crosby's hair got everywhere because he shed TONS and because he eagerly climbed on the seats of the car it was on everything I wore. Admittedly, I hated that. Even when I was a kid I liked things to be clean, organized, tidy and to have my friends point out a tuft of hair on my butt was embarassing. I tried to keep him out of my room to no avail. I can remember firmly telling him, "Cros! Get out of my room" to which he'd respond by laying down and sighing as if to say, "Whydoncha come over and make me?" Well anyway, that is why my siblings were under the impression that I hated that dog.

I really didn't hate him at all. Crosby was always happy to see me even with my irritation at the mess he left behind. He was the greatest running partner I've ever had because he dragged me behind him as he loped from fire hydrant to fire hydrant, propelling me much faster than I could have on my own. Our neighbors had a boxer they named Ike because they admired President Eisenhower. Oh how Crosby tortured Ike and oh how we loved to watch the melee. Ike was kind of a stupid dog, he really had it coming most of the time. When Crosby heard someone walk in the front door he'd scramble down the hardwood hallway. In fact, he'd run so fast that without fail he'd start sliding into the doorway to the living room and his legs had to pump doubly fast for him to make the 90 degree turn to the front door. If I'd had a rough day, Crosby was always ready for a hug. How great is it to have someone in your life who is always at the ready for a hug? He never had to consider what kind of day he'd had and whether he had the emotional energy to give back to me, he just did.

More than anything, I think Crosby's most endearing attribute was that despite his size, he thought he was a small dog. When we were all piled on Mom and Dad's bed watching a movie he'd get one paw, then two, then his nose and then he'd quickly shimmy himself completely on. All the while Mom would repeat his name over and over in that warning tone that says he shouldn't be doing it. But once he'd settled in there was simply no moving him. Crosby repeatedly escaped from the backyard when we were out. As our van pulled into the driveway he'd "hide" between the bushes that lined the front of the house. As if you could miss a huge, furry sheepdog between the bushes! When we piled out of the van he'd run up like, "Oh hey guys! Whatcha doin? I didn't even realize you were home!" Any chastizement he received for escaping (yet again) was overshadowed by his excitement to see us again.

My best memories are of when he actually got to go with the family in the van. Consequently, if you wanted to see his little stub of a tail wiggle wildly all you had to say was, "Cros, wanna go WITH?" His claws would scratch the wood floor as he preemptively jumped around and sniffed towards the door. Returning home as we neared the house Dad would rap the dashboard and sternly instruct Crosby to get the squirrels that had taken over the backyard in his absence. One oak tree in particular still has a dirt moat Crosby created from running around the base in his vain efforts to keep the squirrels from invading his territory. When Dad mentioned the word squirrel he would start shaking with anticipation and whining. He'd always jump on Mom's lap which led to a cry of protest from her. "Cros!" she'd yell and then she'd chastize my father for getting him worked up. Dad never seemed to hear, he was having too much fun seeing Crosby's killer instinct kick in. As soon as the door to that van was open Crosby was out like a flash, into the backyard, running around that tree. Then he'd turn back to the house and bark as if to give us the all clear. It was so funny! Ahhhh, it may sound lame but I'm crying just thinking about it.

One of the many books on Old English Sheepdogs mentioned once you have one you never want to get any other type. Brent has mentioned if we ever do get a dog he'd like an Alaskan Malamute which sounds nice... but part of me still wants an Old English Sheepdog. No matter what we get (if we ever DO get a dog) there will never be another Cros. Oh, now I need a hug! Did you have a pet? Do you still miss him?