Cupcake Crazy

The other evening, after a lovely dinner out with the family, we stopped by a local cupcake shop.  Our goal was to purchase some treats for Elder Niece's birthday party the next day.  All three of us took our time admiring the delectable display case, and then we placed our order for eight cupcakes in a box.  I carried the box out of the shop, and we were careful to explain that they were FOR TOMORROW and FOR YOUR COUSIN.  Everything seemed fine until we got into the car.  Delphinium was strapped into her car seat with M and I up front.  The cupcakes were balanced on my lap.  This is what we heard from the backseat:

D: What you doing Mommy?
Me: Just getting ready to go.
D:  What you eating?
Me: Nothing, I'm just holding the cupcakes.
D:  Daddy what you eating?
M: Nothing.  I'm driving.
D: You eating something?
Me:  No Honey we are not eating these cupcakes at all.  We are saving them for your cousin.
D: You eating cupcakes?
M:  We are not eating anything up here.
D:  What you eating?

It went on this way the WHOLE way home.  Luckily she forgot about them overnight, so we didn't have to endure a repeat of the car scene the next morning.

Facing the Lunchbox

In a matter of weeks our little girl is going to go to school!  I can hardly believe this fact, but it's true.  She will go to a local preschool for two mornings a week as a way to keep her busy and playing with kids while I'm preoccupied with the tiny addition.  I'm really not trying to farm her out, I just want to make sure that she doesn't have to slow down her activity level just because I have.   During the day this seems like a logical choice.  I'm still at the point where at night, in bed, it seems like a horrible idea, and I am filled with dread.  Luckily all the angst seems to be mine, so I have high hopes of her going with a light heart.

Of course the impending transition to school means that I'm thinking (when I'm not consumed by baby) about all things academic.  From clothes to books to crayons and paper, this is a side of back-to-school that I haven't thought about since I was a kid.  The teacher side of going back means something quite different, so all those years I spent prepping in August really did not prepare me for all this.  Does she need supplies at this age?  Will I need to dress her differently than I do at home?  What about lunch?  I'll be packing everything she eats, but what will be allowed?

Last year, at her toddler group, two highly allergic kids meant that milk, tree nuts, wheat, berries, fish, eggs, and soy were all on the no-no list.  Do you know how hard it is to find snacks that do not contain milk, wheat, eggs, or soy?  Very hard indeed!  Of course those poor kids didn't have a choice about their allergies, so there's no sense in getting upset, but it does make for challenging times at the pantry door.  I'm hoping very much that we will not be quite so constrained at this new school, and that everyone will adapt easily to all of our new circumstances.

In the next few weeks I plan to do several posts about lunchboxes and all sorts of other back to school topics.  Some will be from my perspective as a mom of a toddler while others will come from my experience with older kids.  Hopefully there will be something helpful for us all in the mix.  Come on parents repeat after me:  I solemnly swear not to ever ever buy any lunchables no matter how dire the situation.

Top Chef Seattle

I don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but I have a fairly serious addiction to cooking shows.  No, no I don't let the baby watch them, but when nap time comes, the TV goes on, and I enjoy a wide variety of personalities.  One of my favorites, and one of the few my husband likes too, is Top Chef.  It's a reality competition to choose the best cook, and it includes all sorts of culinary challenges.  It's been around for several seasons, but usually manages to stay fairly fresh and interesting.  One way it does that is by changing the filming location for each season.  This time they've selected Seattle!

Woo!  There have been sightings all over the city (and a few outlying areas) where they visit a restaurant or a Whole Foods.  Of course we know they will go to Pike Place Market (obligatory for any TV show in Seattle) and probably visit a Tom Douglas restaurant, but it will be interesting to see what else might be featured.  Only time will tell.  As yet, Bravo is not saying when the new series will be aired.  Maybe sometime in the fall?

Big Girl Room Vs. Nursery

Whew!  Our former home office is now a masterpiece in white and lilac.  Not only did we clear out the junk and paint the walls, but we had the carpets cleaned as well.  We have the perfect backdrop for a superb big girl room.  She can use her current toddler bed, we got a new blue dresser from Ikea, and now we have the task of finding just the right rug, curtains, and bookcase to make things really sing.  I remember how much fun it was to get a new room (thanks Mom!) and I really hope she will enjoy it was well.

Once she's all settled into her new digs, I'm closing the door on the nursery in hopes of making it go out of mind a little bit.  Then, when she's otherwise occupied, we'll go in and move everything around a bit.  The whole idea is to make her think of it as just a room that we give to the baby instead of HER room that the baby invades.  It's a nice theory right?  Wish us luck.

No New House

That is it, we give up, we throw in the proverbial towel.  After spending eight months and looking at 65 houses, we have decided to suspend things for a while.  The baby is due in only a matter of weeks, so by the time we were to close, moving and new babies would be way to close together for comfort.  Contrary to popular belief, I'm not completely crazy.  This means we now have to find a way to live with the parts of our current home that made us want to move in the first place.  Hopefully the acquisition of a storage unit will help.

Shuffling

It makes my mouth go dry with shock when I think that baby 2.0 could arrive in as little as eight weeks!  We are NOT ready yet!  There are still all sorts of practical considerations to be worked out such as where will everyone sleep?  Our imminent expansion means that we need to shuffle around the bedrooms in order to provide space for everyone.  This entails clearing out the years of accumulations that is the office, and trying to cram everything extra into our one tiny guest room. I always pride myself on my ability to get rid of stuff, but excessing an entire room is turning out to be a challenge.  When we're finished we should have one functional nursery and one big girl room (in purple!)  Oh the thrill of it all, but also the dust bunnies.

Pool!

Oh the joy!  Oh the excitement!  We finally put up our pool!  Delphinium received it for a birthday gift back in the spring, but it is just now hot enough to actually use.  Having her own personal pond is making backyard play all the more wonderful.  She will spend a good hour in the water if the weather stays warm enough for a stretch, and we have been known to haul a few buckets of warm water from the kitchen to keep the temp comfortable.  Next up, pool play dates!