BFFs on Hold

until further notice.

Recognize this shoe? 

It is what is left of a sparkly red Minnie Mouse shoe. You know,  the Miss's favorite pair of shoes. We came down the stairs to find Dixie chewing it. What on earth was going through that dog's head is beyond me, but the Miss was devastated. To say she was in the depths of despair is an understatement. Usually the two are the best of friends, today not so much. Regardless of what Dixie does, little Miss just keeps shouting "NO!" to her. Dixie is minding her own business on the dog bed, little Miss walks over and shouts, "NO!" She is a girl scorned, and hell hath no fury like the Brookie Monster. Good thing Meme and Pop Pop are headed to sunny Florida, they can pick her up another pair... or 2.

A Blue Sky Day

It finally came. A day I have been waiting for, for a long long time (feels like a lifetime). We finally could see the blue sky. The air was clean. We enjoyed ourselves.

As I am on the phone often complaining to my dad about our nasty inversion I try to explain it is just like Dr. Suess's book, "The Lorax". You can't see the blue in the sky because it is tainted by the brown air. You can actually see the smog as you are about to drive right into it. You can feel it in your lungs. 

Here is a picture:

You see what looks to be dirty clouds? Those aren't clouds that is our inversion. Just stuck in the valley no where to go but just get dirtier and dirtier.Yes, we inhale that. 

However, yesterday we had a storm. A glorious beautiful storm. Full of snow, wind and rain. It is exactly what we needed to clear out that nasty air. 

So we bundled up because it is still 25 degrees outside and played in the fresh clean air! It was so nice, so needed. It made my soul happy.

Positivity

My new favorite picture. It captures both their personalities and their relationship.

 It's so cold even Dixie thinks so.

Peace, love, sandy feet. Must I say more? 

So sick...

Okay, I lied. I am not through with whiny posts. I am sick. The barely-crawl-out-of-bed-I-feel-like-I-was-hit-by-a-train sick. We have had our share of colds this winter. I thought we were out of it. Thought, seems to be the magic word here. And then I was hit with whatever is in the air. I have been told due to the inversion, the germs are just stuck in the air. The germs are RSV, strep, cold and flu and most people are getting all of them... at once. Apparently, I have a mixture of RSV and the common cold. My main goal is to get through this without another single member of our family getting it, particularly the child. Which is hard! We are BFFs people! We chill every day together. We have been watching a lot of tv, and a whole lot of Finding Nemo. I have been pumping us full of vitamin C and strawberries and blueberries for the antioxidants. I have been washing my hands until they are bleeding. I have been only using the tissue once. I have this thing where I hate throwing away a tissue only used once, it seems so wasteful. But I have been using it and then getting it out. I have been washing the child's hands as often as mine with my new favorite thing:

 Norwex, baby cloths. Have you heard of them?

 All you need is water. No chemicals and they are antibacterial. It is hard to wash a little's hands properly, but with these they are efficient and effective.

Lucky, for me I called my doctor to check in and he prescribed an antibiotic since I am not getting better only worse. Cheers to penicillin! (That isn't what he prescribed but it sounded better than, "Cheers to antibiotics").

Anyway, while I lay in bed forgetting what it is like to be healthy, I think of better days and places I'd rather be and what I'd rather be doing.

Wishing we were back here (we visited my Grandparents in Florida last year)

 

Or talking my husband into taking us here.

Because, you know, being sick makes you feel like you deserve a tropical vacation. However, I feel if I can get over this without another single person getting it, I do deserve something. Then get over it and get somewhere warm and sunny fast before the sickness comes back.

Winter, are ya done yet?

I am ready for this weather again:

Our next 10 day forecast is looking cold, bitterly cold. And do you know how I make it through it? By grumbling, and whining, and moaning and complaining. I try to have a positive aspect on life... except when it comes to winter.

 I hate winter.

(Have I ever mentioned that on here before???? :) You poor people have to read my grumblings every winter). I am grateful for the snow fall. We do need snowfall. And I have to say, I much rather go through bitterly cold weather with snow on the ground than without it. I have no explanation behind this. I just figure if it's going to be cold, I would prefer for the brown to be covered up with a pretty blanket of white snow. It helps disguise the deadness and brownness aka ugliness, oh and don't get my started on the inversion. I just read that the inversion puts our air quality as one of the most polluted cities in the world (yep, worse than Beijing). Breathe that handful of deliciousness in.

*I will not post any more whiny complaints again (this only pertains to this year - expect another next year). I will try to find the good things winter brings.*

Christmas

We headed to the East Coast for the holiday. I remember my first plane ride with our Sweet B at 4 months old, and how nervous I was. Why was I ever nervous??? It is easy to contain a child that isn't mobile. Do you know how hard it is once they are??? luckily, Brad was with us to and from and it went fairly well.

Here are the two cuties on Christmas Eve Morning.

 See the Cinderella slippers? Apparently, they are perfect for sweeping.

 And walking.

 And more walking. She walked Daddy around the island about 35 times.

We paid our respects to Brad's personal hero, Major Richard Winters. 

For a hero, his grave was modest. Which is expected from a man who never considered himself a hero. 

The many faces of our Sweet B

We visited Manhattan. It was insanely busy, but we managed with a stroller and a youngin. 

Christmas is Here!

We love Christmas! My favorite season. And we know how to make our getup obnoxiously festive...

 

She doesn't have say in it. Except the shoes. She loves these shoes and tries to wear them everywhere. Even over her pajamas at night. She is a girl after my own heart. When I was little if I had a pair of sparkly red slippers... they would never have come off my feet, EVER.

One THING... (Sorry it is a bit of a reader)

This was a long week. It was full of colds and busi-ness. But there was one thing, ONE THING I was looking forward to more than anything (in fact I was looking forward to it all year long). Brad 's company Christmas party. It is always at a fancy schmancy restaurant (you know, the kind that is about $100 per person). The Little Miss goes off to play at the Grandparents and we stay out late talking with other adults and laughing. This is the one social event Brad actually looks forward to (since you know social situations are not his thing, they are my thing). I was also looking forward to Saturday, because for this Christmas I am doing the 12 days of Christmas for Brad, but to space it out I was going to start it on December 1st and he would get a gift every other day). His day 1 gift was suppose to arrive December 1st, and he could wear it to his fancy schmancy dinner party. I was checking on the package all week, and although it was in Wisconsin for 4 days (yep, 4 days!) It still promised the delivery date of Saturday, December 1st. Come Saturday morning I went to check on it, and it changed the delivery date to Monday, December 3rd. The was my first omen. It said it had been checked in to the US Postal Service but it had just been so that day. I was disappointed, but not too down because the party would still be fun. Around 1 o'clock I went to run some errands sans the Little Miss. When I got a call from Brad, bad omen number 2. He was asking when I would be home because he was feeling terrible and would like to take a nap. This rarely happens. I get home and he looks sick. So I send him to bed and think a 3 hour nap should do the trick. Then the Little Miss looks tired (again) she is now only taking 1 nap a day and she had just taken a 2 1/2 hour nap. Another omen I ignored. I put her down for a second nap, and thought happily to myself, "Well, that worked out nicely, now I can get ready without worry." I get ready. I am so excited for a night on the town (oh the thrill of a stay-at-home mom). I take a nice shower (I even shave), I fix my eyebrows, I do my hair nicely, I put on my finest make up (when I look in the mirror I can't recognize the person, because I was frumpy all week). I put on my cute purple dress with no spit up, food stains, or wrinkles. I wake up Brad (because you know it only takes him 15 minutes to get ready including the shower). He looks awful. He says, "I can't go." As Fancy Nance would say, "I am devastated. That is a fancy word for upset but a bazillion times worse." But he is sick. At that very moment, I don't have time to have a pity party because the Little Miss wakes up, screaming. I go get her. She is hot to the touch. Burning up. All hope is gone for a thrilling night on the town. I hold her I soothe her. She looks up to me and gives me a kiss. It soothes me. I remain in my fancy clothes the entire evening. I don't know why I just do. I head out the front door to run to the store to get the usual things for sickness. When I just about step on a big brown box... the gift! I squeal. At least, one thing went right.

Lazy Days...

This is how we roll

Date Night

We had a family date last night. Yes, technically you could say we go on family dates all the time, but this time it was like a date. We took her to her first dinner and a movie. We went and saw Frankenweenie (yes, I cried). She did really well (she liked to stand and rest her arms on the seat in front her, which wasn't a problem because the theater was empty), so as long as she could stand she was good. And it was only 1 hour and 30 minutes (she did get antsy near the end).

 

I look forward to more. I love the guts out of this girl.