Just Enough!

Life has been moving a million miles a minute, and also seemingly going by at glacial speed. Isn't that the way it is?

A lot of days, I feel like I am running around doing seventy million things, but at the end of the day, I have nothing to show for it.  I pick up the house nine billion times in a day, feed snacks, make meals, nurse Violet eight billion times, go to the store, clothe everyone (again and again), give them baths, change diapers, do the laundry, help with homework and piano practice, provide enrichment, go to the park, drive to and from school, swimming, piano, etc.

It is a lot.  And at the end of the day, I press reset and get up the next day and do it all over again.  Some days it feels futile, but I know each day we  move forward and we are building...these girls are growing and building each and every day.





We have little conversations when I least expect it about important things - conversations that happen over breakfast or the drive to school.

Last week Paprika asked me what rich and poor meant.  We talked about how all rich and poor means is how much money you have...nothing else.  And that a person can be rich in other ways than money.  And that some people work very hard and still have little money and others don't work much at all but have a lot of money.  And that money can't make you happy or make you a better person.  It just means that you can buy more things, but not more time. 

Paprika wanted to know if we were rich or poor, and I told he we were in the middle and we have just enough.  Some people have more, some people have less - and we are happy. 

Then we talked about Hiwot, the little girl we sponsor through Compassion.  Paprika is always writing letters to Hiwot and she wanted to know if Hiwot was rich or poor.  I told her that she had less money than we have but that we send her money each month so that she can go to school and have food, clean water, etc. 

Paprika wanted to know if she could send Hiwot all her savings in her piggy bank and if she could send Hiwot all her toys.  She wondered why we don't all split the money in the world evenly, so everyone has just enough.



It's conversations like that one that make me happy to be here - be present - and help me know why I am here, doing the futile work of mothering every day.  Because it's really not futile.  And these girls really do teach me more than I could ever teach them.  ;-)

Paprika is really into Yo-Yo Ma right now.  She loves listening to his performances, and watching him on YouTube (or You Tub, as she calls it).  Last week I was showing her some of his early performances, and at that moment, I was certain I was the best mom in the whole world.

Just then, Violet walked in the room foaming at the mouth with some black gravel she'd tried eating in the backyard.  Yes - I took off my Mother of the Year crown right then and there.  I'm not perfect - just doing my best!  ;-)

Have you seen this video?  We watched it about a year ago, and it impacts us to this day.   Whenever the girls are needing a bit of confidence, or even just a little invigoration, we all jump up and shout:  Victory!!!!

Victory was actually one of Violet's very first words.  That and Barbie!  I think it's because B and E are the easiest things for Violet to pronounce.  That's what I'm telling myself, anyway.  Ha!

Here are the girls mid-Victory pose: 



We have a lot of park days.  On Monday, we found a perfect park right by Paprika's piano lessons!  I am so excited - the piano studio we go to is so claustrophobic - how much better to escape and have half an hour at the park instead?  (This is not that park - it's a different one we love, too - I call this one: our home away from home!)




While Paprika is at school, I try to take Ginger and Violet to the park - any park - for at least an hour or two every day.  It doesn't always work out that way, but when it does, I am always so glad we did it.

Ginger usually makes a friend or two - she loves playing with boys so much - and calls them her boyfriends.  I know she means boy friends...not boyfriends (because she doesn't know what a boyfriend is).

Violet loves to run and play and generally do anything daredevil she can find.  No fear in this one, I tell ya!




See?!





This is random, but Mr. M is working really crazy hours this season on DWTS.  So, some nights he stays at work very late or works straight through the night (like 40 hours in a row kind of days).  Well, on those nights I let Ginger sleep in my bed because she loves to do that and if Mr. M comes home, it's at 4am or later - so he can sleep better in the guest room.  Violet also sleeps in my bed on those nights - so it's me, Ginger and Violet all in the master bed (plus Daisy on the floor) with Paprika up in her bedroom by herself.

Well - this was working out fine.  But then one night around 2am, Paprika came to my bedroom crying because she didn't want to sleep in her room by herself without Ginger.  I told her I was sorry, but there was no room on the bed.  The only place to sleep was the crib.  She left the room and a minute later was back with a stepstool, her pillow, and her blankets.  ;-)   This was the scene the next morning:




And this was the scene up in her bed!  ;-)



So that's not an everyday occurrence - just so ya know.  Only when Mr. M is working overnight shifts.  Can you imagine - all of us in one room plus Daisy Dog?  Why do we have three bedrooms again?!  Ah well, it is a sweet season of life.  I know it will be gone before I blink.

Speaking of Daisy, she turned two on Monday.  We had a mini Dog Party for her.  Cupcakes from Sprinkles for us, and Turkey and Cheese for Daisy! ;-)  She was a happy girl!





The End!

Puppy Love!

My little ball of fluff has grown and grown and grown...and she now is 20 months old...almost two years old - Hallelujah! (Dogs are supposed to mellow out around age two).

Do you remember when I was five months pregnant with Baby Violet (back then we called her Pavenzia) - and I used to carry Daisy around like this?  I used to take Daisy everywhere like this - Target, Home Depot, to Paprika's school...you name it.  Poor Daisy got kicked out of that spot really quickly when Violet came along - and let's face it, by that point she weighed about 70 pounds so it wasn't happening anyway.  Haha.




That first month or so with Daisy was such a honeymoon.  She was the smartest puppy, and the girls held on to her from that very first second and never wanted to let go.




I look back on these pictures and think...what the heck was I thinking getting a dog when I was four months pregnant?!  That was really foolish on my part.  If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have done it.  It was crazy to bring a puppy into our family when I was about to have a new baby.

But, I didn't see it like that.  I spent a lot of Pavenzia's pregnancy thinking she might not be born (at the time I had lost three babies and had two living...so odds were not in her favor).  I thought getting Daisy would be this amazing thing for Paprika.  I admit, I had watched a few too many videos about dogs and children on YouTube.  Plus, I was in this highly emotional state of pregnancy - living with intense anxiety about Pavenzia's well-being, and I guess I thought that even though I could not control the outcome of the pregnancy, I could control whether or not we got a dog.

Looking back the logic seems a little shaky, but it made sense in the moment.  :-)




We went round and round - first trying to adopt older dogs, then a rescue (which turned out not to be a good fit)- and then one day, I found Daisy and my heart melted.  How could it not?!




Well, after that little honeymoon phase (which lasted all of a month or two!  haha), I was so done with Daisy.  I was very pregnant, and did not have the energy to manage her and two tiny children.  It was so exhausting.  She drove me crazy!  I begged Mr. M to let me find a new home for her.  Begged.

But, he didn't give in.  We kept Daisy...against my wishes.  ;-)  It has been a bumpy ride, but here we are.  She is 20 months old now.  And one day not too long ago, I woke up one day and realized something.

I love her.  A lot.





Originally, I had thought that Daisy would be this incredible companion for Paprika and that Paprika would speak to Daisy in her animal language and they would have this forever bond.  Haha.  Well, that did not happen.  Paprika loves the idea of Daisy, but otherwise wants nothing to do with her.  Don't get me wrong, if something happened to Daisy, Paprika would be incredibly sad. 

But as much as Paprika loves the idea of Daisy, she doesn't want to touch her pretty much ever.  If I say to her:  Paprika, come over here and pet Daisy.  Paprika will say:  How about I pet her tomorrow?

Haha.

Turns out that Paprika loves insects - her snails and butterflies and grasshoppers.  A pet turtle would have been a better fit for Paprika, but I didn't know that (or didn't want to admit it to myself) at the time.  I wasn't ready to give up that dream of a family dog who would follow us around like Lassie.

The reality of what we have now is something better than I ever could have imagined.  Daisy is the BEST dog I ever could have hoped for - and the thing is that she just gets better and better.  Even though Paprika does not connect with Daisy as I'd hoped, Ginger loves her...sometimes a little too much.

They are Double Trouble...if you know what I mean!  ;-)





Daisy is so smart, so kind, so patient, so loving...she is a better dog than I could have ever hoped to find, and yet here she is in our family.  I am grateful for her.  A year ago, I would have laughed in your face if you'd told me I'd be grateful for Daisy.  It is amazing how a year can change things.  :-)

Baby Violet loves Daisy most of all - she is always saying:  Daisy!  Doggie!  Daisy stay....Stay....Daisy!

And the funny thing is that Daisy listens to her.  Daisy is so so so good...and her inability to have any sort of control around food makes me love her even just a little bit more. ;-)




So, Daisy is here to stay.  She isn't a perfect dog (she still jumps on the couch and will eat your food if you turn two degrees sideways) - but she is perfect for us.

It's taken 20 months, but I've fallen in love with her.  It's not that puppy love I had for her way back when we first adopted her.  It's the real deal.   :-)




The End.

Good Doggie!

Daisy eats anything and everything. I've taught her not to steal food from Baby Violet, not to beg at the table (she's 50/50 on that)...but I guess I overlooked one little thing.

Yesterday, Ginger had an enormous poop on her little potty. She yelled for me to come see it (so I could show her how proud I am). Daisy raced in front of me, galloping like a horse, and made it to the bathroom before I did.

Two seconds later, I heard screams coming from the bathroom. In an instant, I found out what had happened. Daisy had rushed in and eaten everything.  The potty was licked clean.  I guess Daisy still needs to learn a thing or two about snack-time etiquitte.  In the meantime, I really don't want to be the one brushing her teeth!  ;-)




The End. (Literally!)

I Am Not Reusing THOSE Earplugs!

Friday night we celebrated Violet's birthday with a little cake and a song.  We waited for Mr. M to get home from work so we could all celebrate together.  But, by the time he got home (8:30), Violet had fallen asleep!  She often does that and then wakes up a few hours later - so when she woke up around 10:30, we decided to have our cake then...since Ginger and Paprika were still wide awake!




I realize how crazy it sounds to feed your small children chocolate cake at 10:30 at night - the sugar! the caffeine! Yes, it was crazy. They were wired and did not want to go to sleep until 1am. Paprika and Ginger were proposing a midnight hike through the neighborhood. Oh boy. Instead, we had a late night dance party in the living room and an impromptu piano recital by Paprika.  Fun!

The girls have taken to raiding my closet to play dress-up.  This is them earlier in the week - another late night!  Paprika and Ginger were pretending to go on a romantic date together and dance in the moonlight.



They were having such a blast, it really didn't bother me that they had taken all my clothes in the closet off the hangers.  I think the last time this purple dress saw any action was in 2005.  It's practically vintage!  ;-)



Baby Violet loves her Daisy.  They really know how to get into trouble together.  Daisy is so sweet to Violet (so sweet to all the girls).  She's only 18 months old, and some days I still get so frustrated with Daisy, but she's really winning over my heart.  She is such a sweet, gentle soul and we are so lucky to have her.



One thing about Daisy is that she loves to eat things she's not supposed to eat. I have to be so careful, and I am very careful.  Our favorite things to eat in this house are grapes and chocolate- which are both deadly to dogs.  So...I am super vigilant about keeping all the food, etc. out of Daisy's way.

But yesterday, one of the girls went over to my nightstand and opened the drawer.  I saw Daisy over there but didn't think anything of it, and closed the drawer a minute later. My nighstand is filled books, craft projects, pens, Legos, hair ties, and about 1000 ear plugs. Okay, maybe more like 100 earplugs.

I always use earplugs to sleep (I have since I was in my teens) because I suffer from horrible insomnia (always have since childhood). Wearing the earplugs is kind of Pavlovian for me and helps me fall asleep about a gazillion times faster. 

Anyhoo- last night I went into my nightstand to get out a pair of earplugs and discovered that there were no earplugs in my nightstand.  None.  A quick look outside at Daisy's poop made me realize that Daisy had eaten them ALL.

I don't even know what to say about that except I am glad she ate the earplugs instead of the Legos!

Week In Review!

What a week! On Monday, Mr. M and I went to the cast and crew screening of Flight - a movie he worked on last Winter/Spring. It is coming out on November 2nd - go see it! It is GOOD! :-)

I had my friend AND her nanny come over to watch the girls. I figured with two grown women (both mothers) watching the girls, everything would be fine. I was a little (okay A LOT) nervous about leaving Violet since it was the first time I have left her with a sitter. I did everything I could to prepare for the night, and she cried the whole time I was gone anyway. She really wanted her mommy!

Anyhoo- the screening was GREAT! It was at Paramount, on the lot, in their fanciest theater. Mr. M edited the crash sequence, and it was soooo gripping. I was literally gripping his arm the whole time! ;-)

Needless to say, I was super proud of Mr. M. This is his first big budget studio feature he's worked on, and it's directed by someone he greatly respects...and so, well, it was kind of a dream come true all-around. I could go on and on about how special it was to sit in that theater with Mr. M and see his work on the big screen, but I'll STOP already! Haha.

Afterwards there was a beautiful reception, and lots of fancy food, and I ate way too much and talked way too long. Maybe I need to get out more! Ha! ;-)




Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty much business as usual days. The girls were recovering from their LATE night on Monday.

Oh, that's right...when we got home on Monday night at midnight, the girls were still wide awake, hungry (of course), and not at all tired. So, they didn't get to sleep until about 1:30AM on Monday.

On Tuesday, I got my Halloween costume in the mail (it's a Giraffe costume). I had planned on Violet being a Baby Giraffe and me being a Mommy Giraffe.

I ordered Violet's costume from Ebay weeks ago, and it's been sitting in the closet. Well, as soon as Ginger saw MY giraffe costume, she decided that she wants to be a baby giraffe and NOT a purple butterfly for Halloween!

So, now Ginger (age 3) has claimed the Baby Giraffe costume as her own...and wants to wear it everywhere.  It's size 6-12 months!  But she still squeezes into it!

Well, you know me...I have backups.  I accidentally "won" on Ebay a set of giraffe pajamas for Violet- so now both girls can be Giraffes if they want to for Halloween.  All's well that ends well...




Yesterday we met up with some out-of-town friends at Disneyland! Whe we got to the park, I realized our camera was almost out of batteries, so we hardly got any pictures. Doh!

Oh well - great time was had by all and our friends took lots of pictures, so hopefully we'll get a chance to see their pictures soon. :-)





Paprika was very excited to show her Halloween costume to Merida.  Hello Mini Merida! :-)


 


The hair cracks me up!

Paprika was brave and met up with Mickey at his house.





I will never forget her first encounter with Mickey Mouse:





My girl has come a long way in (almost) 4 years!  For what it's worth, the room where they have you meet Mickey IS a little dark and scary and intimidating.   ;-)

 I can't believe I was pregnant with Ginger in that picture...that's how long ago it was.   Mickey hasn't aged a bit!


 

And last but not least, we rode the roller coaster. Ginger is big enough to ride it but she was too scared. Violet is too little, so I went with Paprika the first time, and then they let Mr. M go with her a second time.

Paprika told me later that she was SO scared her loose tooth was going to fly out of the roller coaster and into the lake down below.

Yup, you heard it here first. Paprika has a loose tooth. She is so excited and desperately wants the tooth fairy to visit her. She's even started writing her notes!

Today it was back to business as usual, and Daisy got a full beauty treatment! She needed it. :-)




And...that's the week in review! Happy Weekend!
   

Daisy Doodlebug!

I realized that I haven't posted much about Miss Daisy lately!  She is now 17 months old - almost a year and a half!  She is fairly big - probably about 65 pounds?  She used to be so crazy, but I am relieved to say that she has calmed down A LOT. 

I am sooooo glad to say that she is pretty much out of the puppy phase.  She still has a lot of energy, but she's manageable.  I swear, for about nine months there I thought she was going to send me to the loony bin.  She was a typical puppy (chewing on everything in sight, nipping the kids, potty training, etc.) and well, she was a lot for me to handle - especially with three teeny kids and being pregnant for a lot of her puppyhood!

We sent her to intensive obedience training when she was about ten months old, and it helped so much!  She has real manners now, and she is much easier to be around because she understands what's acceptable and what's not.  That is something I am sure I could have taught her myself with a lot of time and patience, but like I said, I was kinda busy!  ;-)

She knows all the basic commands like: sit, stay, come, down...how to walk well on a leash, how to heel, and then she also has a "place" command.  So, if you say, "Daisy, go to your place," she will walk over to her little doggie bed and lie down and not move until you tell her to get up.  She likes to push the boundaries on the "place" command by inching all the way off her dog bed until just her toe is touching. ;-)




Of everyone in the house, the person who loves her most is Ginger. I didn't expect that at all. I expected her to be Paprika's dog and that they would have some kind of mystical, amazing connection that would bond them for life. Paprika loves all animals - she is so nurturing. Well, it turns out that the kind of animals she connects with are much smaller - like insects! Haha. So, while Paprika loves Daisy in her own way, the person who actually wants to love on Daisy and play with her is Ginger!

Daisy loves people.  She is so happy just to be included in the action, whatever we are doing.  She thinks she is a teeny lap dog, even though she is full-grown now.  She will try to climb up on your lap if you let her.  She is very affectionate and has a super sweet temperment.  She is very gentle with the kids especially.



We have a very big, fenced backyard, and so a lot of the time, Daisy is out there because if she gets wound up (as Ginger loves to get her wound up), I worry that Daisy will trample Violet.  It is tough because as much as I want Daisy inside all the time, our house is tiny (1200 square feet), we have three little kids, and Daisy can accidentally knock one or more of the kids over when she's excited.  I have to watch her every single second to make sure she doesn't knock over the kids - so I always feel a little tense when she's in the house.

I wish it weren't that way, but it is what it is.  After the kids go to bed, she is always inside, and she sleeps in our bedroom.  So, it's not like she's out in the cold (not that it ever gets too cold here - ha!) 

I have the back window open (no screen), so whenever she's outside, she comes up to the window, puts her paws over the door, and begs to be petted.  Did I mention she has the biggest heart?!




The good news is that someone is pretty much always home, so she's never lonely in terms of us being gone a lot.  She has a family who adores her, and she gets to grow up with three kids who think she's the best dog in the universe.

I can only imagine that as time goes on, the kids get bigger, and Daisy gets more mature, that things will continue to get better and better with her.  Already I am so happy to say that I survived her puppyhood (haha!) and that we have come out the other side in one piece.  ;-)

So, that's the update on Miss Daisy Doodlebug!  Love her!






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Dog Days of Summer!

It's already Thursday and I am just now getting around to talking about last weekend and the end of Robbie's visit with us. Whew - that's summer for ya!

Last weekend we had a full house. We had a doggie slumber party for Daisy (translation: we watched our friend's dog overnight). The dogs had soooo much fun together. They were both smiling their dog smiles the whole visit. The other dog was a boy and wasn't fixed (Daisy IS fixed...thank goodness!) The boy doggie spent most of the time trying to mount Daisy, but she was just so happy to have a friend to play with she didn't seem to mind. They had their run of the backyard and played non-stop for about 8 hours the first day. Then, they slept hard inside overnight. The next morning, they got up early and wanted to go out and play again - they were both so happy. It almost made me want to get Daisy a permanent playmate - but hey, I'm not that crazy! A new baby and a puppy all in one year was enough for me for a long time. Haha.

Friday night we ordered in Thai food from our favorite place - it was Robbie's first time having it, and I think he liked it! I know I liked it! :-)

On Saturday, we had plans to go to The Grove to the American Girl doll store for Ginger's birthday present. She had been talking about wanting a little doll like Paprika's (a Bitty Twin). I had promised her we could take her on Saturday and get Ginger her very own doll. But when Saturday rolled around, neither Paprika nor Ginger wanted to go to the dollie store! What?! I wasn't going to talk them into a trip to go buy an overpriced doll...that just seemed kinda silly.

So, we decided last minute on a Plan B. We are members at the Aquarium of The Pacific, so we decided to all go there. Robbie had never been and he was excited to go. I forgot how crowded it is on the weekends (I seem to forget this about once every year!) - so we hopped in the car and went.



The Aquarium was packed with people. It was overwhelming, especially with small kids, so we decided to split up. Mr. M took Ginger. I took Paprika and baby Violet. And Robbie explored on his own. I think we all went into survival mode. Haha.

Even a packed day at the Aquarim is fun, though. Paprika was having the best time playing with the sea lion. He was following her everywhere she went. It was so cute!



After about 20 minutes, I opted to take Paprika and Violet OUT of the Aquarium. The Aquarium is right on the Long Beach Harbor, so we just went outside and looked at boats and Paprika played on the rocks on the shore. It was so much more peaceful and enjoyable.



The rest of the weekend involved several trips to the park - one trip to the big park near us and a few more to our little neighborhood park.

Paprika and Ginger both made some friends on one visit, and we might be doing playdates in the future with those kids.




The girls' favorite game is still hide and go seek. Robbie played that A LOT with them. He is a good sport. Here is a fort they made using a towel over the picnic table. It was a fun hiding spot for them:



Ginger counting with her eyes covered up:



And the girls discovering Robbie in his hiding spot. They thought this one was sooo funny:



Mr. M and I also got to go on a quick date Saturday and Sunday night- we popped in a movie for the big girls while Robbie babysat...and we took Violet with us. We took Violet down to the beach and had a little walk with her at sunset. They were perfect mini-dates (just like an hour or so) - and that was super refreshing.

And...that was the weekend! Now of course, it's almost Friday! Now that Mr. M is home on the weekends (not working), I look forward to them so much. I am glad that tomorrow is the start of a new one! It has been such a busy week - I am ready!

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