Almost May

I am so excited for the nice weather to be here. I honestly don't know what I do with the kids when they are cooped up all winter long. They love being outside. Brayden is enjoying his car, and Curran is behaving much better. She has not gotten into any skirmishes for the past two weeks at Little Gym. For her that's a great step!

I had a bad week. On Monday, I was leaving the National City garage and scraped and dented my car. I would prefer not to go into how I did it, because I am so mad at myself. I stopped at the body shop on the way home and found out it would be $900 to fix it. UGH - I am so mad. Then on Wednesday morning I was carrying Curran downstairs and I tripped fell. I tried my best to protect her, but she ended up hitting her head on the ground. She was fine, and barely cried, but I was so worried about her all day. I kept thinking of Natasha Richardson, and how she died from a seemingly harmless head bump hours later. But she's fine and so sweet.

Our trip to Catawba last weekend was awesome. We took the kids over on the Miller Ferry to Put-in-Bay and we rented a golf cart a drove around. They really enjoyed it. The Menus were tons of fun, and Steve and I both paid for our partying the next day. We both felt like crap.

I asked our realtor on Catawba if she knew of a girl who was interested in babysitting for us on the weekends at night every once in a while. That way Steve and I can go out for dinner or drinks and not have to haul the kids with us. It would be really easy babysitting, we'd put at least one of the kids to bed and she could basically sit there and watch TV. Our realtor knows of a girl who is very nice and she is going to come over to meet the fam when we are up there on Saturday. That will be huge.

Brayden still is very good about using the potty. My only complaint is that bedtime has become long and drawn out. He probably did not fall asleep last night until 930. He'll tell me up to 3 times that he has to poo, I'll go up and get him, he'll poo and then 10 minutes later he tells me he has to poo again. He is so cute though. He has been waking up before I leave for work and he looks so sad when I leave. He tries to get me to stay and hold him a little longer. He's such a sweet sweet boy.

Here are some pics from the past week.













View from our street down toward the lake












Put-in-Bay in the distance











View from the lake back toward our house, Curran in the stroller
Note: that enourmous blue house is not ours ;)






















Back home in Cleveland. I love this picture. Brayden the work horse, watering the plants, and Curran aka TwinkleToes dancing around.











Curran and a big smile in the kitchen at Catawba

I Love the April 20s

I love the twenties of April. I have several friends who are born between April 20-29. Jilly Billy, Brian, Debbie, and others. My due date with Brayden was April 29th. The ultrasound that I found out Curran was a girl was on April 24th, 2007. The Browns traded up and drafted Brady Quinn in the 20s of April in 2007. I was so pumped that entire week! It finally starts to get warm in Cleveland around this time, too.

Steve was in NewYork last weekend for work and went to the Indians/Yankees game that the Indians won by 20 runs or so. The kids and I went up to Catawba and the weather was so beautiful. I got a small taste of what summer will be like up there. It's gorgeous. We are going up this weekend and its supposed to be sunny and 80! I will take pictures and post next time.

I went to the Fleetwood Mac concert last Friday and it was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. They didn't have a new album to promote, so they played all the songs everyone wanted to hear. There wasn't a song I wished they played that they didn't. It's really hard to believe they are near 60! They must take vitamins or something.

This weekend we are going to see The Menus in Port Clinton. They are a super fun cover band and very entertaining. My sister Megan is coming up with Em to watch the kids while we go. I am definitely excited - it's always a good time.

Here are some pics of the kids, and I'll close with.......GO CAVS!!!!!!

Easter

This year's Easter was pretty low key. My mom and dad came over on Saturday to give the kids their Easter baskets, then on Sunday we went to Steve's mom and dad's for brunch. Sunday morning was my turn to sleep in and I was so proud when I saw that Steve had gotten Curran dressed in her fru-fru Easter dress all by himself. He even put tights on her! She was so cute in her little dress, she knew she looked pretty. Here is a pic of thie kids on Easter:




I think its very cute that Steve tries to get Curran ready for these dressed up days. Although he got the general gist of the Easter outfit right he forgot the little pantaloons that go under the dress and also put grey tights on her rather then white. But I give him an A for effort. Curran is just loving Steve these days. She'll call him from her crib in the morning. It's very cute. I have been experimenting with enhancing my photos with Photoshop - here are some of my favorite pictures I recently framed at the house:

Brayden's candy obsession is bordering on insane. He could eat candy 24-7 if we let him. He asked me for his Easter basket yesterday, and since there was only a large chocolate bunny in it that I knew he couldn't open, I gave it to him. I figured he wanted to put some little cars in it or something and carry it around. About five minutes later I went in the family room and he was about 3/4 of the way done with the giant chocolate bunny. He had gotten it open and went to town on it. I thought for sure he was going to puke. But he was OK, just mad that I took his bunny from him. This candy obsession is helping our efforts in getting him to brush his teeth. I explained to him that since he eats so much candy (not really, but trying to make him think so), he needs to brush his teeth or they will fall out. So he's been more cooperative.

The next hurdle that I see on the horizon is the end of the binky for Brayden. He only gets it in his bed, but it's still something he loves very much. Part of me is absolutely dreading this, much like I did potty training. But potty training was such a pleasant surprise in how easy it was, I am trying to not be pessimistic about his giving up the binky.

I am going to use the "binky fairy" technique. I am planning on waiting until the excitement of the Easter bunny wears off before the binky fairy pays a visit.

It will go like this - I will explain to B that he is a big boy now. No more diapers, he sleeps in a big boy bed, gets to stay up late and go to Indians/Cavs games with Dad, etc. Binkies are for babies and there is a very special fairy that comes and takes the binks for the babies, and then leaves a special surprise for Brayden.

I figured I would have him help me decorate an envelope or box with ribbons, sparkles, etc. and then we would put all of his binkies in that and put it in the mailbox. Then the next day the bink fairy will leave him a surprise in the mail box. He loves that kind of stuff so my fingers are crossed that it works well. Please don't think I was creative enough to think of this whole binky fairy thing myself, I saw it on Supernanny.

Some have told me that if I take Brayden's bink I need to take Curran's too. I have given it a lot of thought, and I don't think it's necessary to take her's too. Brayden knows and likes to tell us that he's a big boy and that Curran is a baby. I will just follow that logic with the binky.

Another milestone that I think Brayden is ready for is no pull up at night. He wakes dry about 3/4s of the time. However, I am concerned about the 1/4th. He pooped in his pull up one night a couple of weeks ago and just about lost it. He will now wake us up when he has to poo (see previous post). I know that he will probably get up himself if he has too pee if he goes with out a pull up at night. The problem is he still needs us to help him get him pants up and down. He also won't get out of bed unless one of us comes to get him, which has been great until he started needing to go potty in the middle of the night. I know I am just being lazy, but I hate getting up in the night - ugh!

In sports news, the Browns season schedule came out yesterday, and I must say that I am absolutely shocked the NFL gave us 2 nationally-televised games after our performance last year. Once again, I hope beyond hope that the Browns will be a contender this year. In other uplifting news, the Indians are 1-7. Great! Looks like the Cavs are the one bright spot in my sports world right now.

When I was watching the Cavs game on Sunday, the sportscasters all said that they thought the Cavs would meet the Lakers in the finals and that the Lakers would win the series in anywhere from 5-7 games. I hate the Lakers. I hate Kobe Bryant. I hope the pundits are wrong - as they often are. The sportscasters said the Lakers beat us 2x this season, and pretty much ended their argument there. But, as Steve pointed out, when the Cavs were swept by the Spurs in the Finals 2 years ago, the Cavs beat them in the regular season twice. So we'll see...regardless, playoff time is a great time in Cleveland! Especially when you see famous people at the games, here's one of my favorite playoff sightings -

Opening Day

Welcome Spring! Back from the Indians home opener and had lots of fun. We pretty much stayed at Panini's the whole time before the game and had a blast. The game was rain-delayed in the 4th inning or so, so we went to the Corner Alley (http://www.thecorneralley.com/) ate, and had drinks. I left Steve downtown - he wanted to play beer pong at his friend's house. The kids are at Steve's parents, so I am alone in an empty house. It is BLISSFUL!! Here are some pics from today:

Me and Lin

Group Photo

Me and the Mush

Me and Miss Lindy

Me and Ott Mama

In other news, I took Brayden for his 3 year well check on Tuesday. He is in the 75th percentile for his height and weight. He continues to be very sweet and is doing well in his potty training - except for one thing - his damn poo schedule is messed up. This past week between 4 and 6 every morning I am awaken by a loud, clear voice coming through the baby monitor - " MOM, I HAVE TO POO!!!". So either Steve or I get him up and then we have to sit with him when he sits on the toilet. This could be a 20 minute process. This morning he got up at 6 and had to poo, and never went back to sleep. For narky-man this is a non starter. He usually sleeps until 830. I am very spoiled by having uninterrupted nighttime sleep, so this is no fun for Steve or I. Hopefully he will right the ship soon.

Things continue to get more and more depressing at NCC - I will spare you the details. Regardless of what happens, I feel forever indebted to National City. Up until recently it was a great place to work. I have so many great friends that I have met there. And, NCC paid for my MBA, which is awesome. I will be very, very, very sad to see it go.

Big Weekend

Last weekend was a big weekend. On Saturday, we gave Brayden his car and he loved it! We wanted to give it to him at his party, but it's too big to get in the car. So my parents and Steve's parents came over on Saturday night for the big reveal. Curran is a very willing passenger too. They are so cute together:






















On Saturday night we headed downtown for dinner at Lola (http://www.lolabistro.com/). I was definitely looking forward to it. For those of you not from Cleveland, Lola is the restaurant of Michael Symon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Symon). He won Iron Chef last year and is regarded as one of the best chefs in the country. The service and the scene were awesome, but the food was only so-so. My main dish was honestly pretty bad. So that was a bummer. But I had a great pomegranate-fig martini as well as a glass of a really great Shiraz, so that helped the experience.

Then, off to Public Hall we went for the ceremony. It was really cool. I have never been to a concert that felt so intimate. Dining tables were set up on the floor of Public Hall, kind of like a wedding for the guests and the high-paying concert goers. A couple of the acceptance speeches were pretty long and pointless. Eminem introduced Run DMC and he seems like a little twerp wannabe.

Jimmy Page introduced Jeff Beck and then performed with him. That was definitely a highlight. For someone like me, who has no musical gifts whatsoever, seeing Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page play was awesome. The best introduction speech was by Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He is really a huge fan of Metallica and its definitely showed in his induction speech. All the members of Metallica had rather short, interesting acceptance speeches. Then, Metallica performed, which was the funniest part of the night. It was so funny to see these guys, dressed in tuxes, get up and absolutely rock out in front of a bunch of people who were sitting at dinner tables. The people where I was sitting were definitely into the jam, but not those on the floor. It was a riot to see them metal slashing around with a bunch of doctors and executives from Cleveland staring up at them. Not too many front row attendees like that at Metallica's live performances, I am sure.

This Friday is the Indians home opener! So far, the weather forecast looks pretty miserable. I guess lightning can't strike 2x in a year (St. Pat's and Opening Day). I am definitely hoping for a great Tribe season. It puts a whole different cast on the summer when they are shitty.

Selective Salad Syndrome and More

Have you ever been behind a middle-aged woman in line at a salad bar before? If so, you've probably experienced something I call "Selective Salad Syndrome". The sufferers of this disease pick through seemingly identical pieces of lettuce forever, looking to secure those 20 or so pieces of salad perfection. What does a perfect piece of romaine lettuce look like? I am not sure, but there are plenty of people in line downstairs at the National City salad bar who are engaged in this quest. These people drive me crazy! Just move QUICKLY through the line - thank you.

Tomorrow is Steve's 32nd birthday. Brayden's (April 7th) is next Tuesday. We got Brayden a truck for his birthday and I am so excited to give it to him. Here's a picture:

The kids are doing well. I have noticed that Brayden enjoys instigating and tormenting Curran. This does not excuse her behavior, but I feel like I can control her outbursts somewhat if I can get Brayden to just leave her alone. He basically enjoys taking anything from her that she shows a remote interest in. They've had lots of fun over the past few days with the weather being warm. They play outside together very well and Curran looks to be shaping up to be a pigpen just like Brayden. She loves getting dirty and playing in the yard.

Onto sports news....I am definitely hoping that LeBron wins MVP. I stumbled across this website today and its pretty cool - http://www.lebronisreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallygood.com/. I think the basketball playoffs should be super fun this May and June. When the Cavs were in the finals two years ago, Cleveland went bonkers. I am looking forward to participating in the fun - this time I won't be pregnant. But, as nuts as Cleveland would go if the Cavs won a title, it doesn't even compare to the insanity that would ensue if the Browns simply made it to the AFC title game. Ahhh to dream....I would probably take off a week from work to celebrate.

Steve and I have lots of fun things coming up this week. Dinner at Lola followed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction concert on Saturday, Brayden's birthday party on Sunday, and then Tribe Opening Day on Friday, April 10th. I am super excited!

Here are some pictures of the kids. Here's Brayden just being a cute little dude:

The pictures of Curran are hysterical. She peed on the potty this weekend. She'll come to me and say "pee-pee" and try to get up on the toilet. She loves the potty and everything associated with it. I am starting to think that she is using the potty as an excuse to go bottomless. She LOVES being naked. This is her after a potty attempt, chillin in her chair, watching Caillou before a nap. She kills me.