Halloween and such

Let me just start by saying, Jake is so excited he could pee himself. Honestly, he actually has once or twice. We're still having accidents when we get excited, you see... Anyway, he's climbing the walls, waiting, anticipating and counting down the seconds until that fantastic holiday where everyone (who's fun) plays dress up and goes parading around the neighborhood begging for candy. It just doesn't get much better than that... Except for Christmas which he is already climbing the walls, waiting, anticipating etc. etc. for. Chloe is still just like "WTF?", but is happy to devour sweets if she has too. She'll even wear a silly hat if that helps get her a cupcake.

Oh, and yeah, we're in our house and down to just one box left to unpack. I fully anticipate staring at said box in about 9 months, which is sitting dead center on the floor in my office, wondering what's in it. But hey, we're pretty settled and are even hosting a pre trick or treat party tomorrow just to prove it. aaaaaaack!

By the way, in case you're wondering why Chloe is holding a graham cracker instead of a broom, Mama wanted a picture and a graham cracker was the only way to get it. That, and I had to take it away because she was whacking her brother with it.

We are THAT family

Yes, you're probably wondering what the first thing we unpacked was... surprisingly, it wasn't halloween decorations. Regardless, I got them up because I'm just that CRAZY. Priorities people, priorities. Who needs to know where the hell the cups are... we've got pumpkins! Yay pumpkins!

So, this is our new home and we're pretty happy with it. It feels like home.

moving

Oh, how I've neglected you, my sweet blog. I have many, many updates but have simply been too busy to sit down and type them out. Bare with us, as we're in the midst of a move. Yep, we got the house! 

For the last month or so I've been running around like a lunatic, signing closing papers, inspections, packing, organizing, tossing, painting & landscaping. It has seemed like an insurmountable task but I'm starting to see the light. It has felt like weeks that we've been living with piles of crap up to our ears. There are many days where I literally have to search for one of the kids behind one of the many wobbly mountains of boxes throughout the house. They think it's just the new way of living, living amidst piles of boxes. It's great fun and even more fun are the meandering rabbit warrens between boxes which are riddled with booby traps.. Matchbox cars, trains, Darth Vader's little light saber and legos seem to be strategically placed just so you go skidding across the floor in the middle of the night. 

I'm also discovering what pack rats Jon & I are. I was going through our files last week and found a receipt for old paint from 2002 and other warranties and instructions for appliances I sold at a garage sale 5 years ago but couldn't throw away because SOMEDAY I'D NEED IT. It's been a very revealing process. As I sit here typing instead of doing the 109 other things on my task list, I stare at the embarrassing piles of bills to file and other such random articles from magazines and receipts that I NEED for some REALLY IMPORTANT reason [erhum]. Maybe we don't need 10 Easter baskets and that box of old handbags that I haven't seen since the last move. 

A new house is like a new beginning and a good excuse for a garage sale which is number 104 on my list. How else could we afford to buy more stuff?

Oh, what to title this one...

Maybe, "Dancing King", "So He Thinks He Can Dance", "Sir Dance A LOT", "Booty Shaker", "Dancing With the Jake"? 

Oh I know, "Crazy Dancing Whacked Out Toddler".

Yeah, I think that's the one.

Sadly, this is the only video out of the many we thought we had recorded, but didn't because of our crappy broken camera. It does, however, give you a taste. 

You have to admire how blissfully unencumbered he is. I think most toddlers fall into the category of either a bouncer or a booty shaker. Jake is more of a full-body-gyrating-breakdancing-on-the-ground-and-back-up-again-disco dude. He even has this move where he looks like he's playing an invisible keyboard. Don't ask me where he got this. I don't care. It's just awesome. I don't think there is likely anything more entertaining than watching him dance & just about everyone within sight didn't know quite what to make of him, but had to smile if not laugh (bless him). He's got moves, what can I say. 

My name is Jake and I like to Dance!

No Purple Dinosaur

In case you're still really confused about the "no purple dinosaur' thing, the lake we were at in the video was called Barney Lake. Jonathan & I had the pleasure of hiking 8 miles to have a picnic at that lovely place. Also, in case you were wondering, Jonathan was not as big of a curmudgeon as he looks to be in the video.  

I'm just finally getting my head around posting on this here blog. I almost forgot how it works... Wha? I have to actually type something of interest? Nah, how about I just post a few random photos from our recent trip to Grandma's house at Twin Lakes. We had such a great time and Jon & I  even got away for a hike, just the two of us. WEEEEEE! More photos here.

Jake & his Auntie Kat

Jon and his "catch"

Chudleyvision Turned 3

... two days ago. I've been a wee bit preoccupied with pirates and fat lips and such. This is the first photo I uploaded of Jake for my very first post. [sniff]

Happy belated birthday of sorts to my sweet little blog. [cueing hallmark muzac]

We've been through A LOT. Leaky boobs, a mucus plug or two, crying, screaming, faces melting and other wonderful moments. Ah, the memories. Misty water yada yada. You know where I'm going and I'm nice enough to spare you. maybe....

super hero

Let me introduce you to the Caped Pirate Crusader [ARRRRHHH] who is using his thumb of doom to take down Helmet Man. (Note karate moves even though he's never seen or been taught karate in his life... that I know of. Just curious, why is it that boys do this?)


I give you Helmet Man, the Caped Pirate Crusaders naughty nemesis [muaa aaa aaa aaaa]. Yes, both Dracula and Helmet Man are allowed to say the same thing. Bam! Boom! Pow! CRASH!

Looks like we're staying in L.A.

We just heard we finally got our offer accepted by the bank in a property short sale. Said property being our dream home and said offer happened to get accepted on Jonathan's 38th birthday. YAAAAAY! I feel like the Jeffersons aside from the fact that we're not moving to the eastside or into a delux apartment in the sky and other obvious reasons (trying to be pc here).
Ok, not a very good comparison. Still though, you know you have the theme song stuck in your head now so why not indulge in watching this little video here. C'mon, it'll be therapeutic.

An Attitude of Gratitude

Yesterday, I had one of those epiphany moments that has adjusted my way of thinking in a big way. I saw a woman standing by the freeway holding up one of those cardboard signs asking for help while I was driving somewhere to buy some new shoes. While I didn't stop for her, I did take notice of her. If I had to guess, I'd guess that she was maybe around my age, somewhere in her early thirties. What really struck me was how she didn't look like the stereotypical homeless person. She looked somewhat pulled together and had her red hair pulled back neatly into a ponytail. I could be wrong about this, but it seemed like she was new to the homeless thing. I kept driving.

Lately I've been guilty of grumbling about certain things, certain inadequacies in the material sense. Ever since we've moved into this house that we now rent, I've grumbled about the kitchen with its big ugly, orange pine cabinets & appliances over 20 years old. I've grumbled about the bathroom, the fact that we have to share the bathroom with our kids [guffaw!], the lack of central air conditioning, etc. etc. Since putting an offer on this other house which is PERFECT but in a short sale, I've had more reasons to complain. While I feel positive that eventually we'll get the house, I've heard myself complain even more. Every time I walked into the ugly green bathroom or kitchen I'd remind myself that SOON we'd have a better bathroom and kitchen. Soon, I'd be able to evenly bake something in the oven without rotating it 10 times. Finally, a bigger bedroom & our own bathroom.... you get the idea. Boohoo, right?

So, back to the shoes... I was getting a little annoyed that I couldn't find was I was after, not that I really had a clue what that was. I finally accepted defeat and left. Yet, as I left and the whole time I was in the store, I couldn't shake that woman that I saw by the freeway. On my way home I drove by her again & decided to grab a wad of singles that I had in the car and give them to her. I handed over what I had & she thanked me as I drove away.

And as drove, I was hit with this overwhelming feeling of gratitude and empathy. I couldn't help but wonder, what on earth happened to that woman to put her in that position. What sad chain of circumstances and events led her to stand by the 90 freeway. I cried. I realized that we are all a few steps away from that freeway off ramp. This economy has left thousands of middle class families homeless. The worst of it, I think, are all of the homeless children & homeless retirees who were supposed to be sitting on a beach enjoying their golden years. And here I am, complaining about kitchen cabinets and not finding another pair of shoes to buy. I am a lucky girl. My husband has a job. We have a roof over our heads. I get to stay home and raise the kids. We have kitchen cabinets and stuff to put in them. We have a shower AND and bathtub. We even each have our own rooms in which to call our own. We have our health. We have our children. We are so ridiculously lucky. 

How can we ever expect to be happy and fulfilled if we can't appreciate what we have now. While this all may sound cliche and I know we've all heard this before, I think we tend to forget how a simple change of attitude can change our well being. If we always focus on what we don't have, the new house, the fancy cell phone, the better car, we will never be happy even if we do get those things. I am so grateful that I saw that woman yesterday. She reminded me to not take for granted how fortunate I am to live the life that I've been blessed to live.

I am also grateful to be able to share some great blogs about being grateful. 

attitude of gratitude

living gratitude

a little gratitude

daily gratitude blog

gratefulness

"In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy."

-- Albert Clarke, photographer

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monday morning

... as seen through the eyes of Jake when he stole my camera. 

Independence Day (w/ muppets)

Nobody whoops it up on the 4th of July quite like my British husband but I think the Swedish Chef wins the spirit award hands down in the following 4th of July special presentation brought to you by Chudleyvision.. I have watched this at least a dozen times and seriously think you should too. It's way better than zoloft... just sayin'. As usual, I'm just trying to spread joy to the people. I give and I give [sigh]. Happy 4th of July!

The Things You Do for Love

Posing with "Mr. Recycle"

looking right at home on her new fork lift. 

The thought bubble over Jakes head would read 

"OMYGOD OMYGOD OMYGOD!!!"

Today we headed down to the West Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation for a stinky good time. Jake loves himself some garbage trucks and practically fainted with glee when he saw 50 or so of them lined up for his own amusement. Seriously. There were at least 50. All covered in ick and my son was out of his mind, happy about it. He climbed on them, honked their horns & pushed many a button. Not to worry, like any good germaphobe mother, I was well armed with a bucket of hand sanitizer and obsessively sanitized every square inch of his body once the whole fiasco was over.

How to Accessorize Properly

When in doubt, make it pink! 

Chloe's favorite thing on in this world besides Oliver the cat and her bunny is this shiny pink purse. She has clutched it going on 4 days now. Where ever we go, it goes. The sunglasses have also since become another of her favorites. I have tried to take them away but she will look at me like, Oh NO YOU DIDN'T!, followed by a fit of epic proportions. Hey, I guess if Jack Nicholson can get away with indoor sunglasses, so will she.

Happy Fathers Day!

Hats off to all of you hands on dads.
Today we celebrated just that.

Jake and Mr. Hyde

photo taken about an hour ago

Jake, oh Jake, how sweet you can be, but then the moon comes out and I wonder what happened to thee. Where do I come up with it? I don't know. So, moving on....

Please help me understand this, the terrible twos are supposed to be over when? Because, I'm not seeing any lights at the end of any long noisy tunnels.

You see... anyone who knows Jake, knows he has two sides. Happy, sweet, thoughtful Jake and, well, Mr. Hyde. Tantrums are a very normal and frequent occurrence at our house even with all the good vibes I've been exuding lately. I know, completely unappreciated. I barely flinch these days. Jon and I are typically at a constant state of tantrum alert, ready to instate the operation extinguish tantrum routine which is still not fully perfected.

So, I just reassure myself and everyone else in his path that he's just passionate... About EVERYTHING. He can go from a normal volume to earth shattering decibels in seconds. His motto is, when in doubt, scream at a pitch that will make my mother's face melt. He can completely loose it over anything. ANYTHING. Doc says it's just the terrible twos. Uh, hello, he's three. I expected way more maturity by now. He is getting better though. Better meaning he'll only tantrum for 25 minutes instead of an hour or more.

The classic situation happened yesterday. All of us headed outside for a nice walk during a brief break in the June gloom. Jake was on his tricycle which has a push handle to help us help him steer. We have been using the push handle because he hasn't quite mastered the art of peddling and steering yet, that is, until yesterday when he insisted on peddling and steering all by himself. While we were happy to let him try, it was becoming apparent that this would be a very long walk. He'd peddle a few feet and then end up in the gutter or a flower bed & get stuck. He'd try to get unstuck, accidentally knock over the trike in the process and follow that by screaming which we thought meant he wanted help. Turns out, screaming is really code for "back off and don't you effen even think about helping me or I'll throw myself on the ground, roll around, arch my back and scream in the gutter all the while passers by gleam disapproving stares our way."

SO GLAD WE DECIDED TO DO THIS. Remind me the next time I have some crazy, hairbrained idea to go for a walk to instead rip my eyebrows off. That, of course, would be WAY more fun.

Or there is always the food issue. I'll serve a perfectly tasty meal for him and what could have been a pleasant dinner together is instead an hour filled with "I CAN'T", "I WON'T" and "NO MOMMY, NO THANK YOU." Sorry, champ, no points for being polite while screaming at me. All because I had the audacity to serve him anything other than a waffle, which in case you didn't know, is a recipe for unspeakable horrors.

Jake's pediatrician has reassured me that these outbursts are "normal" and that he'd be worried if he didn't have them. After witnessing one of Jake's "outbursts" in the waiting room, though, I really wanted to ask him if he had ever seen a more "normal" kid than Jake. The advice was also to just ignore him and let the tantrum run its course. Tried that and the unanimous conclusion is: does not work with Jake. We tried the 1-2-3 magic until we're blue in the face and that seems to be working SOMETIMES. If I were at home and was at the point of dropping him off downtown with a sign around his neck that said "best offer or FREE", I'd instead opt to pick up his twitching and shrieking body, carry him off to his bedroom, close the door and safely listen from the other side until he was done flinging himself around the room in a hysterical fit. The neighbors have actually asked if he's ok. OKAY!?


If that wasn't enough, Chloe is showing signs of the terribles already. When I say sign, I mean LARGE NEON BILLBOARD SIGN. The age of independence and assertiveness has offically begun and is not helped by the fact that she has 2, 4 or 15 teeth all coming in at the same time. Any inconvenience, and by inconvenience I mean not letting her eat cat food, is followed by the bottom lip quivering and then quickly escalates into throwing herself on the floor (sound familiar?), back arching and some crying and whining. Thankfully, not quite with the ferociousness of Jake, but still remarkable in it's own right. The ignoring works a bit better with her because right after starting, she'll take intermittent breaks to look up and see if anyone is watching the show. If there is, she'll continue said show. Such a drama queen. Who on earth does she get that from?

So when does this agony end? Is there ever an end or does it just manifest itself in different ways. I keep hearing that 4 is the new 2. WONDERFUL. And then there's always my well meaning mother's favorite comment,"Just wait till they're teenagers".