The Never Ending Winter

Lord help me, but I might turn homicidal today - and no, it's not from Grandma Jersey's Mickey Mouse card.  I am proud to say that I was born and raised right here in Minnesota.  Weather doesn't really scare me away from doing much of anything and my most terrifying driving experience happened during a torrential rain storm a few months after I'd gotten my driver's license more than sixteen years ago.  That is, until last Friday.  We knew the storm was coming and we knew it was going to be bad.    It did not disappoint.  I left the office around lunchtime on Thursday to go get ready for the Attorney of the Year dinner.  It started raining on my way home and by the time I left the salon, I'd canceled my plans for the evening.  So, I picked Jack up from school, we came home and hunkered down to wait out the storm.  Jeff stayed downtown because it really was too dangerous to go anywhere in the weather.  Anyways, we woke up the next morning and got ready for school.  I got stuck in the driveway behind the four and a half foot snowbank the plows had so thoughtfully left in our driveway.  Our neighbors came to dig/push/shovel me out and another came over to plow the driveway.  I got Jack to school, and took one look at the freeway before deciding that I'd stop to have breakfast and give the traffic a bit of time to ease.  I got on the freeway to head downtown and tapped my breaks and almost slid off the road.  All of the freeways had turned into skating rinks.  I made it about halfway into the office and turned around when a car in front of me almost took off my front end.  

Jeff and Uncle Alec made it home a little after lunchtime on Friday after attempting to come home for roughly two hours.  We all just laid around the house, watched movies, and were just generally bored the entire day.  I got Jack from school and we had another pajama party.  On Saturday, I didn't feel very well, so I ended up spending most of the day in bed.  Jeff took Jack to the gym after nap time, so at least the kid was able to expend a little energy.  

Yesterday, we got up and went to church.  Afterwards, Jack and I went to Toys 'R Us to look at getting him some new furniture - more specifically, a toddler bed since he'll be out of a crib in roughly five months.  I would just like to comment that the store is truly a parent's hell.  Aside from the fact that Jack doesn't really understand the whole "money for objects" concept yet, he is of the opinion that every toy in there is for him to play with, throw, pull out or demolish.  And half the stuff in that store seems to be covered in some kind of Mickey Mouse stuff, so it just makes everything worse.  While wandering down the aisle with the toddler beds (there were like five) Jack decides to point out everything that has Mickey or any of the Clubhouse gang on it, pull it out, and ram it into my legs until I look at it, take it and put it away from him.  We didn't end up buying a bed yesterday, but we did get a birthday present for my nephew.  As I was picking out the wrapping paper, Jack comes down the aisle swinging a tube of Mickey paper like a light saber.  And, then, was quite disappointed when I wouldn't let him take it out of the store.  I know now that those display cases with all the candy, treats, and crap at the check-out lines are there just to inflict more pain into a parent's life.  Jack decided that he needed all of it, puts it up on the counter while I'm trying to put it back and the "helpful" sales guy keeps encouraging Jack to do it because "it's just soooo cute."  I wanted to ask him how cute he thought he'd look if I jammed my palm into his nose.     

We went over to Target to get some shopping done, and fortunately all Jack needed to stay put was a bag of grapes.  Afterwards, we came home and had lunch and then we all took naps.  Jack has started conversing - quite animatedly - with all of his guys when he goes down for his naps, even though I know he's tired.  So, I put him down after lunch yesterday and he really didn't fall asleep for more than an hour.  This is a parent's greatest dream because it means more downtime.  It turns into a parent's worst nightmare if the kid never falls asleep.  However, Jack really was tired and eventually fell asleep.  I was able to get everything done around the house and take my own nap before I eventually had to wake him up.  He was really unhappy.  He didn't want anything to do with Jeff and just wanted to cuddle with me on the couch.  Fine by me, it's rare that he's snuggly like that anyways, so I was happy to oblige.  I made him some pancakes for dinner but we reached temper tantrum status when I took his bib off before I removed his tray from his high chair or something like that and he just couldn't calm down.  So, I took him back upstairs to get ready for bed.  Jeff came up to try and help and Jack literally jumped into his arms, so who knows what was going on with him?  Anyways, we all eventually got settled and Jack and I laid in bed, winding down and watching a new Mickey DVD that I bought at Target yesterday that has a "cool train" in it.  He's pretty into choo-choo trains these days, and if Mickey is involved in any capacity - it's even better.  

So anyways, we got up this morning and got out of the house at our usual time.  It took me more than an hour and a half to get to the office because the streets in downtown haven't been salted or plowed, really.  There are streets that are down to just one lane because we really have nowhere else to put the snow.  The "polar vortex" has returned yet again and they're saying it's supposed to snow some more today.  I've got to say that I've had my fill of winter and if I see one more vacation picture of someone on a beach, I'm going to totally lose it.  I just want to be able to go outside.  I want to open up the back door and let Jack and Blue run around in the yard.  

And, it feels weird to think that when I'm finally able to do that, there will be a new little one here.  It still seems like it's so far away, but I'm almost half-way through this pregnancy (thank God) and the fun will be beginning before I know it.  I go see Duckie at the end of the week for my regular check-up and we'll schedule the 20 week ultrasound.  And then, I can finally start decorating the nursery.  We cleaned out the second bedroom at the end of the hall this week and as soon as I settle on new furniture for Jack's room, I'll start moving everything into the baby's room.  We've obviously still got a lot of time but I'd like to make sure Jack gets adjusted since he's already going to have his whole world rocked.  There are a lot of things that are quite different about this pregnancy - I love the fact that I kept a blog about being pregnant with Jack.  It's served as a great resource for me.  I tend to think that I've blocked out everything bad about my first pregnancy and, instead, remember it as a wonderful time.  It's nice to go back and remember that I did have similar aches and pains.  However, with this kid, I want so much to forget the fact that I am pregnant, in the hopes that time will somehow more faster.  A friend once remarked to me that her second pregnancy just felt like something she was doing on the side - and I wish, wish I felt like that.  But, because I've felt so poorly, it's literally the only thing I can think about some days.  I took pictures every week the first time around, and I know there's not a single "bump" picture out there floating around of me now.  Not that there's really much to show.  Although, in cleaning out the closets this weekend, I did come across some of my maternity clothes and I know the day is not far away where I'll be reaching for pants with elastic waistbands every day. 

This week, my parents come home from Oregon for a few days.  They really shouldn't.  But then they're off to Mexico for a week, which just makes me angry.  I'm going to a real sleepover at a friend's house on Saturday night and then my sister is coming over to help me organize my house on Sunday.  I should really be taking all this time indoors and devoting it to my "to-do" list, but I'd just rather sit in my warm basement and read.  

So, now that I've been sufficiently sarcastic, pessimistic and generally just cranky, I'll share a few pictures of Jack from daycare this week:

  

The first one has him running around with his Ms. LaLa's hat on his head - which he thinks is great fun.  Jack is really into hide-n-seek/peek-a-boo/where's Mommy? games lately, so it's no surprise that he's pulling a fast one on his teachers at school.  In the second picture, I can only assuming he's eating snow.  This is something else he likes to do, unfortunately.  If I'm carrying him in somewhere, he'll oftentimes reach out and grab a handful of snow from a snowbank along our route and shove it in his mouth.  I've said it often enough, but I choose to pick my battles.  However, when we were leaving Toys 'R Us on Sunday, I had him walk to the car because I just couldn't carry him.  His shoes got all slushy and gross.  So, when he got in the car, what does he do?  Takes a hand a swipes it along the bottom of his shoe and sticks it in his mouth.  I started screaming, he started drooling out everything (i.e. sand, snow, salt, gravel and God knows what else) and I started making him spit water outside the car.  Gross.  

The last picture is from snack at school.  I don't know what he's having, but I know that it is not a gelatinous substance because Jack does not like that sort of thing - think pudding, Jell-O, or anything covered in either of those two things.  From the looks of it, he's probably having popcorn and pretending he's at the circus, which is the theme for this month.  

So anyways, I hope that I'm in a better mood next week.  Like I said, this weather has the whole state in a perpetual funk.  Everyone wants out.  Jeff has started talking about moving and I've got to say, I'm not really discouraging him at all.  

Valentine's Day

So, there's good and bad news.  First of all, can I get a big "amen" to the fact that we're finally in above-zero temperatures here in Minnesota?  Honestly, I can't remember a time in my life when it's been so cold for so long.  I think that, every winter, I become like some kind of cold-weather ninja as I try to plan my entire life around being outside as little as possible.  At this time, I'd like to take the time to thank the genius who came up with the idea of the skyway system connecting downtown Minneapolis.  Now, the bad news is that we are currently in the middle of yet another blizzard.  Fortunately, it's supposed to stop snowing around the lunch hour, and it's supposed to get above FORTY degrees tomorrow.  Huge deal.  I'm going to wear a sundress.  

Alright, enough with the sarcasm and weather-related talk.  If there's one person who loves the snow, it's Jack.  Seriously, I wish that I had enough energy and stamina to withstand the cold so I could take him outside to play every day.  It was finally warm enough last week for his class to go outside at school and his teachers got the biggest kick of watching him explore his universe.  They said that he was the only kid that would tackle the snow with abandon, falling backwards into drifts, eating it (of course) and rolling around in it.  We'd pick him up at the end of the day and he'd be in an entirely new outfit - down to his socks because he'd soak himself through playing outside.  His daycare sent a few pictures:

I just can't get over what a happy little bugger he is.  So, what does his mama do?  Tries to scramble inside as quickly was possible each and every day lest one flake of that heinous white stuff touch me.  I should really just suck it up, hitch Blue up to the sled, and let them wear each other out.  

Anyways, last week was pretty routine - I went to work and Jack went to school.  He had a party for Valentine's Day on Thursday.  Jeff picked him up and came home with a bag of cards from the kids in his class.  I think it's kind of funny how times have changed since I was in school.  I remember painstakingly going through each and every message on the cards I would give to my classmates and then, how I would hyper analyze all the cards that night when I got home for hidden messages from all the cute boys in my class.  The day still reminds me of candy hearts and a really good sugar buzz.  Well, you are no longer allowed to give candy in school due to allergies and we can't put any names on the cards either.  Granted, Jack is only two so he probably didn't really care if any of the boys in his class got the "You Drive Me Crazy" card, so there is that.  And, he's a boy and probably will never really care about addressing any of his Valentine's Day cards.  Ever.  I'm not really sure what they did for the party - I know they made a special snack, decorated their Valentine's Day sacks, and that's about it, I think.  Here's Jack mixing up the "special snack" in class:

Anyways, Jack has really gotten into "helping" me cook dinner each night.  Mostly, this involves taking out his blender and whacking me in the back of the knees with it, but he likes to help where he can.  He really likes to sit on the counter and watch.  He likes it when I make "moo-mees" for him (smoothies) and asked for a "moo-me" for dinner three times last week.  I tried to pretend I was making one for him, but that didn't fool him for a minute.  He dances around the kitchen, hollering "moo-me!  moo-me!" while I mix everything up.  

He's also really into taking selfies.  He loves to see himself in the phone and scream "cheese!" and take a picture of himself.  Mostly I have to help him because this is what his unassisted selfies look like:

Anyways, on Friday, we had big plans to celebrate Valentine's Day together as a family.  We were going to go to Perkins, Jack's favorite restaurant.  However, I think Jack had enough of polite society for one week because he had a meltdown of epic proportions.  Everything was dramatic.  He didn't want to put his coat on to go out, he wanted to take all his toys with him, and he got upset when I put my coat on.  So, Jeff just turned around and walked out of the house, calling over his shoulder that he'd be getting take-out.  

I will say that Jack was a bit spoiled on Valentine's Day.  He got a card from his Nana and Boppa, and his Grammy and Grampy.  Earlier in the week, he got a huge chocolate heart from Grandma Sue and Grandpa Bubble and I had to fight with him every night to take it away after he'd had a few bites of chocolate because there was no way I was going to deal with that sugar rush.  I tried cutting off a few bites for Jack but that was completely unacceptable and he refused to eat the chocolate bits, preferring instead to take huge bites out of the heart.  

And then, he got a nice package from his Grandma Jersey as well - a few shirts and a pair of shorts.  However, Grandma Jersey sent along a card that may be the beginning of my undoing and will, at some point, drive me to commit acts of violence.  

Jack did not put this card down for three days.  He took it to bed with him on Thursday night.  

After I put him down, I could hear the refrain of the "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" theme song playing from his room.  I finally sneaked into his room after he'd fallen asleep and took the card out - but I made the mistake of putting it on his nightstand instead of removing it completely from sight because I was woken up to that stupid song on Friday morning.  We had to take the card to school with us.  It went everywhere with him.  Jack started playing "DJ" with the card and would open and close it quickly so I'd hear, over and over, "M-I, M-I, M-I, M-I-C-K-E-Y" and I began fearing for my sanity.  I finally got it away from him on Saturday afternoon and I hid it among all the other cards on our mantle.  

Anyways, on Saturday, Jeff volunteered in the morning, so Jack and I picked up Wim and headed over to Edinborough for some serious playtime.  We had so much fun.  Jack saw the Adventureland Tower and took off like a shot.  Wim and I spent some time climbing, jumping and sliding before we went into the gymnasium to play ball and ride on the scooters.  Seriously, they played so well together and taking care of them both was much easier than I anticipated - even though I only had charge of them for a few hours.  

We had lunch, dropped Wim off back at my sister's, and then we both headed home to take a nap.  After Jack got up, Jeff took him up to Lifetime Fitness to give me a break - and I spent it by cleaning the house and doing laundry.  My favorite thing in the world is having clean sheets on the bed.  Jeff was helping me make the bed on Saturday and I asked him if he was excited to have clean sheets to sleep on that night.  He responded, "Normally, you'd think I wouldn't care, but I'm pretty sure I've been sleeping on grammies for the past two weeks."  I just think that's funny.  Daddy daycare at its finest!

Anyways, Jeff and Jack picked me up after the gym on Saturday and we went to Perkins for dinner.  Jack pounded three pancakes inside of five minutes.  The kid loves his pancakes.  

Yesterday, Jack and I went to church and then ran a few errands - he helped me go to the grocery store, we checked on Nana and Boppa's house, and I took him to get a haircut.  I didn't get a picture this time, mostly because Jack insisted that I hold both of his hands while he was tortured in the chair.  Honestly, I hate the way he looks with a fresh haircut.  I like the fact that his hair is not hanging over his ears and he doesn't have a mullet, but the kid doesn't sit still in the chair.  I know it'll grow back in a few weeks' time, but for right now, it looks like I let him go nuts on his hair with a pair of pinking shears.  I don't even want to post a picture and I'm not putting blame on the barber either.  

After that debacle, we came home, cleaned up around the house, and I took the rest of the day off.  And now, it's Monday and the start of another week - we've got the Attorney of the Year dinner on Thursday and Jeff is going to Duluth on Friday for the weekend for some kind of conference.  In other news, we welcomed a niece on Thursday - part of me doesn't feel right putting it out there on the Internet just yet since my in-laws haven't made it "Facebook Official" yet, but Madeline Burke Storms came into this world at 8:52 p.m., in the middle of a Nor'easter.  I am so excited to meet her and, hopefully, we can get out to New Jersey before I'm too pregnant to travel.  However, I am equally excited to do some shopping and take advantage of all those girl clothes I can never buy!  

Super Bowl (and the past month!)

Okay, I would like to declare that I am officially done with making excuses for myself - no more complaining that I feel poorly, that I'm sick, tired, or don't have the energy.  I need to get back to my regular routine because, frankly, I think I'm out of excuses and giving myself a free pass.  

All in all, I would like to write a hate letter to the first trimester or pregnancy.  I would actually like to address this letter to myself that I could take out to read in two years or so when I think I might want to have a third child just so I can remember everything that I went through.  I know, I know, it's all worth it in the end - but going through the first trimester of pregnancy with an active two-year old is some kind of special hell and I know that I must have done something awful in my past life to deserve such a punishment.  

On the whole, I've actually had an incredible amount of "mom" guilt because I've been down and out.  I haven't been able to get on the ground and wrestle with Jack and every time he runs over to be picked up for a hug, I get a tug on my heartstrings when I decide I just don't have it in me to pick him up.  We haven't gone on any adventures lately, and my little man has been such a trooper - he loves to snuggle in bed with me, but it sure does make me feel guilty.  Fortunately, Jeff has pitched in as much as he has been able, but there have been days (okay, weeks) where the only way I know he's home is if I wake up in the middle of the night to pee and see him sleeping beside me.  

So anyways, about two weeks ago, I hit my limit - I couldn't eat, sleep, focus or do anything because I felt so terribly.  Finally, I decided to do something about it.  So, I called Duckie, who sent me to the surgeon, who took out my gallbladder two days later.  The whole process was pretty quick but the recovery took a bit longer than I anticipated.  I thought I'd be up and about a day or two after the surgery, but I remained in bed, flat on my back for about five days.  Still, after that, I think I finally turned a corner.  I feel better, I've got more energy, I can keep food down and I'm actually interested in exploring life outside of my bedroom and Netflix again.  I went back to Duckie last week and everything with the baby looks good, and for that, I am really grateful.    

So, we really haven't done much of anything the past few weeks - like I said, it's been a lot of time in bed.  Jack doesn't really mind all that much.  He likes to play on the iPad, or watch Mickey Mouse with me.  It's one of the few times he's perfectly content to snuggle with me and those moments are just precious to me.  He's becoming more aware and interested in the world every single day and some of the stuff he picks up on just amazes me.  He just loves to be "helpful" too and has chores that he does every single day.  For example, he likes to put the laundry into the dryer and he loves to feed Blue.  He's really pretty good about picking up his toys and likes to help me put my slippers on my feet.  

Even though this shot is a bit blurry, he's walking around with my tennis shoes on, which he thinks is hysterical.  He'd point to his feet and say, "Mama!  SHOE!!!" and then laugh like a maniac.  He's also taken to carrying his own diaper bag.  He likes to wear it like a backpack, but he has to walk with his arms in the air because it drags him down and, as a result, he walks really slow.  We were at the mall yesterday and I think it took about a half hour to get to the bathroom to change his diaper because he insisted on carrying his diaper bag the entire way there.  

Anyways, like I said, we haven't been doing much of anything lately.  We did get a ton of snow over the past week and school was closed for two days because of the extreme cold.  I guess the kids at school got to go outside sometime last week - because I got this picture in my inbox one day.  

Jack's teachers say that he's the only kid that really loves to be outside and play in the snow.  He likes to lay down in it and make snow angels.  I contend that the reason he likes the snow so much is because it makes a soft landing and the kid loves to jump into stuff.  

So, this weekend, I finally started feeling better, so Jack and I had a special picnic on Friday night.  We ate in the tent we've got set up in our basement.  Jack thought it was pretty awesome.  

 Afterwards, we made popcorn and watched a weird Mickey Mouse movie in bed.  Jack did not like it, and he kept voicing his displeasure with it.  It was some "old" Mickey Mouse movie - the Three Mouseketeers or something like that - and Pete the Cat keeps trying to kill Mickey, Donald and Goofy.  Seriously, it was a bit weird and Jack kept looking at me and saying, "Mom?  Mom?  Goofy?" and I'm pretty sure he was trying to ask me what the heck was going on.  It was SO not in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fashion.  

Anyways, on Saturday, Jeff and Jack stayed home so I could run the dozens of errands I'd been putting off for the past few weeks.  I also went to the grocery store to stock up on goodies to host our Super Bowl party.  On Saturday night, Jack and I got things ready for the party, cleaned the house, and prepared some of the food.  He got a kick out of "holding" the electric mixer and putting fruit on the kabob sticks.  

Yesterday, we went to church and then ran a few MORE errands before going to Ridgedale to play.  Jack was pretty good at pushing the shopping cart around the grocery store.  Actually, he was awesome at it.  Like I said, kids learn a lot through observation - so he was pushing his cart around the store, picking up various products off the shelf, pretending to read them, and making a decision as to whether or not to buy them.  And then, when we got up to the register, he unloaded all his groceries and made me hold him up to the credit card machine so he could pay.  It was honestly one of the cutest things I've seen.

   

So, after the shopping mall, we came home, cleaned up the house a bit more and Jack took a nap while I got things ready for the Super Bowl party.  Note to self - if you want to watch the game, never host a party.  I don't think I sat down for a minute, but I still had fun and the food was a big hit.  However, I ended up going to bed after half time - and don't judge me!  Jack had a great time playing with his friends, and sitting on the couch watching "football" with the boys.  The highlight of the evening was when I flipped the child lock on our basement door and locked everyone - myself included - in the basement.  We had to call the neighbor to come over and let us out!  

Anyways, I don't know if we've got anything exciting planned for this weekend just yet.  I am hoping that I continue to feel better every day and that I'm finally entering the "honeymoon" phase of pregnancy.  I'd love to plan another adventure or two!