Politicking

Today was the Republican primary here in Florida so after a morning at PlayAway Hayley and I headed off to take part in the privelege of voting. We hit the polls around 11:45am and seeing as how our polling location is very much in a residential area with few businesses I was surprised at the turnout. Officials had predicted that turnout would be strong and what I saw definitely fulfilled their forecasts. Luckily the line moved quickly and it wasn't long before Hayley and I were on our way with her "I voted" sticker.

Our "patriot"


This is what happened when I told her that despite our vote today, it was possible that Hillary could be our next President!

Apparently she's got an opinion

Daddy and Hayley have a nightly ritual of playing in Hayley's room after dinner and a bath. After lots of giggling and squealing last night, I walked in to find this: The final part of this nightly ritual, is milk and storytime with Daddy. Since the day she was born, Hayley has known exactly what she wants. And she hasn't been afraid to express to us what she wants. A lot of times, we didn't get it right. She definitely let us know that. So it should come as no surprise that as she gets closer to two, her opinions are only becoming that much stronger. Nightly storytime is not immune from Hayley's opinions. She has a very definite idea of which books she wants to hear each night and she makes sure to let Daddy know. And she keeps us guessing because her book requests demands change from storytime to storytime.

A Day at the Zoo

Brian has been enjoying a four day weekend with today and tomorrow off, so we decided to take Hayley up to Tampa for her first trip to the Lowry Park Zoo.

She was so excited she could barely contain herself as we entered the parking lot! I can count on one hand the number of times this kid has fallen asleep in the car. Who would've thought at 9am she'd konk out??!!

She got up close and personal with the giraffes until they started to come after her Bunny Grahams crackers. Hayley does not share food with ANYONE!


By far her favorite of the day was the Aquatic Center where she got to see big fish swimming around. She liked the stingray exhibit until she realized that she wasn't going to be swimming with them and threw a fit. I think she would have been happy if we'd spent all day in this aquarium.


Overall we had a good morning and we think that Hayley enjoyed the trip. She's still too little to participate in a lot of the zoo activities, but it was good for her to see so many different animals. But at the end of the day Hayley was happy as could be to come home to her favorite animals of all... "Kwowie" and Pooh!

Battle Wounds

Over the past year and a half we've come to learn that we've got a tough little princess. Good thing too because she's a dare devil! I can't tell you how many times she's taken a BIG tumble and gotten right back up, scraped knees and all, and just kept on running like nothing ever happened. Which explains why she seems to have so many bumps and bruises that I can't explain. It's not at all uncommon for us to come home from a morning of PlayAway and I start noticing rug burns, bruises, and bumps on my little dainty doll. There is one thing that can bring instant tears to my little babe's eyes (aside from hunger of course) and that is the mere sight of a Band-aid. A few months ago, Hayley scraped her knee up pretty bad. Lest she have a scar for life, Daddy was adamant about keeping an ample supply of Neosporin on her wound (Daddy's obession with Neosporin is subject for a post of it's own). Of course keeping Neosporin on Hayley's knee required the use of a Band-aid. The mere sight of this Band-aid was enough to send Hayley over the edge... it truly was the end of the world. We kept pants on her and the Band-aid was soon forgotten about until it was diaper changing time and the terrible Band-aid would reappear. I even bought Hayley some Dora and Sesame Street Band-aids in an effort to make being wounded "fun." But there is no fooling Hayley and the reminder of her own immortality was just too much for her to bear. Luckily we've been able to put the Band-aids away for the past few months and we've accepted the fact that perhaps the medical profession will not be a career choice for our little doll. Besides, the way that Hayley has been blaming Pooh and "Kwowie" for everything lately leads us to believe that "Judge Hayley" may be more up her alley.

But as I was saying, our family has been wound free until last night when Daddy came home with a cut finger. Somehow he'd cut his knuckle on a door at work. It was one of those cuts in a pesky place that wouldn't stop bleeding. Unable to get a Band-aid at work he came home asking for one. (Yes, he works for the Department of Defense, the Army, you wouldn't think it'd be that tough to get a Band-aid, but I digress.) Unfortunately, the only suitable Band-aids that I had for his wound just so happened to be bright yellow with a blue Cookie Monster on them. I got a bit of a chuckle seeing my 200 pound "protector of our household" sporting a Sesame Street Band-aid, but whatever.

Brian took off early this morning for a big day at work. He had to brief a Four Star General. I'm really hoping he remembered to take off the Sesame Street Band-aid.

Strawberry Shortcake

We headed out to the strawberry farm this morning to let our little Strawberry Shortcake have her first berry picking experience! The strawberries at this farm are grown hydroponically which means they are grown in stackers making them the perfect height for Hayley to pick! Unfortunatley, Hayley showed no bias to the ripe strawberries and tried to pick just as many of the green ones! Apparently she's an equal opportunity picker and does not discriminate based on color! We decided to leave the picking to Mommy and Hayley spent her time showing Daddy how to transfer each strawberry from Mommy to our basket.
Mommy and Hayley at the beginning of our adventure! Hayley found a good one! An organic banana smoothie to thank Hayley for all her hard work! (This was the absolute BEST smoothie I've ever had in my entire life. Granted I'm pregnant and obsessive about fruit right now, but I'll save that for another post.) Washing up some of the "fruits" of our labor for lunch! (These were the BEST strawberries I've ever had, but again, I'm obsessive and pregnant so I may be a bit partial!)

I think I mentioned that the smoothie was REALLY good. Of course Brian and I only got a sip of it because Hayley REFUSED to share. We've learned that you DO NOT come between this kid and fruit!

When Food Sneaking Plans Go Bad

Hayley had Macaroni and Cheese for dinner tonight.






She should have known that if she kept sneaking food to Chloe she'd eventually get caught! "Doggone," says Chloe!

Resolutions

I’m not sure if I look more or less ridiculous pulling this down the street?!!

Okay, so it’s January 9th and I realize it’s a little late for the whole New Year’s Resolution thing. But personally I’m not a big fan of the term “resolution.” I think I’d rather just call them goals. After all, you don’t sit through countless hours of business school classes and not get the meaning of the word “goal” beaten into your head. I’d like to “think” that somehow I’m putting this graduate degree to work. So, for the new year we’re turning over a new leaf and Hayley has some specific goals that she wants to make sure she accomplishes this year… beginning with potty training and sleeping in a big girl bed. Oh, and she’d like to have these goals accomplished by April. I think it’s great that “she” has chosen a timeline that just happens to meet the looming deadline of the arrival of our beloved Frog Prince!

Now my personal goals, those are a little more complex. Of course I have the usual goals to get in better shape, eat better, etc. And I do have a weight loss goal. My goal is to drop a good oh, say thirty pounds beginning in April. And I hope to work on my running and maybe by the end of the year enter a few races. The biggest lesson I learned after having Hayley is that no matter how I try to keep fit while pregnant, it is still a long uphill battle to regain the stamina and strength that I had prior to pregnancy. I’ve definitely got my work cut out for me.

Along with working on the outside, I’m trying to work on the inside. Now that Brian and I have had to become ever so conscious about the words we say, we also have to be incredibly conscious of our actions. So putting it broadly, my goal is to work to be an overall good person… to be a good wife, mother, daughter, friend, and all the other roles I play in life. This is the most challenging goal of all for me because it requires a daily commitment to all those specific characteristics that have always been a challenge (such as patience, understanding, compassion, did I mention PATIENCE??!! After all, I do have a toddler!)

So cheers to potty training, big girl beds, frog princes, health, nutrition, and personal improvement in 2008!

The chill is ON!

Holy moly was it cold in Florida for the past two days! I know I've turned into a certified wimp, but when you get used to a lifestyle that doesn't involve socks or closed toe shoes, freezing temps, even temporarily, are not enjoyable. Last night as we were watching TV, the weather people (I am politically correct) kept breaking in to make announcements that "the temperature has now dropped to XX degrees." It is a tad bit ridiculous, but the good news is that it looks like the strawberries and the oranges will survive (we already know the nuts are alive and kicking here in Florida)! Now I'm not sure I can say the same thing for all the frozen iguanas down in Miami. You know when the sun hits them and they warm back up they supposedly come back to life? It's like the frozen goldfish in a pond story! Anyhow, it reminds me of how I feel in the cold weather.

So obviously it was an indoor activity day for Hayley and I, something we're just not used to here. She followed me out into the garage to get something and about went to pieces when I had to tear her away from her red wagon. I brought her table indoors and we had a coloring day.


Searching for inspiration


An idea!


Creating her masterpiece


"It's just not quite right!"


Zee Masterpiece! (said with a French accent)


Presenting her work of art to Daddy!

Chloe did it!

Hayley's vocabulary has been growing by the day lately and we always have to think twice about what comes out of our mouths that she might repeat. (Remember the movie Meet The Fockers?) Anyhow, Hayley has developed a habit each morning as I set her in her chair for breakfast. She first says, "Poooh?" (As in her good friend stuffed Winnie the Pooh) I tell her "Pooh is still in bed and you can get him when you finish your breakfast." She looks at me and smiles and then says "Kwowie???" (Translation: Chloe) I say, "Chloe is still in bed too. We'll get her up after you get dressed." (Chloe likes to lay in bed and watch TV for about an hour or so after I get up.) Every morning, we have this same conversation. Of course I get tickled that Hayley seems to be bonding with Chloe. Throughout the day she'll come up and ask me about "Kwowie," wanting to know where she is and she has even found Chloe's usual hiding spots such as under our bed our under Hayley's crib. I'll be working in the kitchen and hear Hayley squeal from another room only to find that she is playing peek-a-boo with an under the bed Chloe. They've warmed up to each other nicely and I love seeing Hayley express her love in the form of pats and kisses for Chloe.

So, you can imagine our surprise at what came out of Hayley's mouth tonight. Lately Hayley has been OBSESSED with one of our silk ficas trees. She could care less about the actual tree, but LOVES the spanish moss that lines the bottom of the tree. She likes to grab a handful and dump it on the floor, a trick that she knows is a "no-no." So tonight Brian and I both caught Hayley dumping a handful of moss on the floor. As we said "Hayley" simultaneously, she looked up and said "Kwowie did it!!!" She then acted like she was just picking up "Kwowie's" mess!! Poor Chloe... I won't be at all surprised if she packs up and moves in with Mimi and Grandpa before long.