Macy's turn

We finally got Macy registered for a class at the Little Gym. Kennedy started when she was ten months, so Macy has some catching up to do. It must be hard being a second child! Pamp has taken Macy to her first three classes, and I'm told it was a rough start. She started crying when the walked in the door, and had no interest in going in the gym. She said over and over to her pampy, "Go outside, please!" while tears ran down her cheeks. She had to be carried through the warm up, she was shy and wouldn't participate with the teacher and other kids, but halfway through the class she started to warm up a bit. She got down to do some exploring, and even walked across the low beam on her own. By the time the balls came out, she was ready to be engaged. When it was bubble time, Macy was right up there will all the other kids, loving every minute of it.

Week two went a little better, but there was still some hesitation about the whole thing.

This week, pamp reported, she was all smiles and giggles. Maybe next week I can skip out on work for a bit to see it for myself.

Kennedy's also been taking a class there this semester. She's on her own with the two teachers and other kids, and she's clearly the smallest and youngest - the class is for 4-6 year-olds, but I figured she's close enough. Well, Kennedy has no problem keeping up. Her teachers say that she's doing great! It's a workout - they have the kids moving the whole hour. She runs, jumps, swings, climbs and balances. And when the class is over she says, "Mom, I'm all sweaty!" I think she's heard me say that a time or two after my workouts. She's also exhausted, but that doesn't necessarily translate to an early bedtime.

Odds and ends

Here's what Kennedy has been studying in school lately: Africa, Van Gogh, Mozart, Animal Kingdom Classification, Santa Lucia, and Day of the Three Kings. One of the dads brought in a couple of brains for the kids to see (he's a researcher at the university). Kennedy had no interest in putting on the gloves to touch the brains, but she liked just looking at them. One of her music and dance teachers stopped me in the hall the other day. She said what a great job Kennedy does, and how she listens well is always so focused. We got the same feedback from her new Little Gym teachers.

Kennedy decided on her own to clean her bedroom, tidy up the office and pick up in the bathroom while I was doing an Insanity workout. She also helped me make brownies for grammie's birthday/super bowl dinner. We made a batch from a Sneaky Chef recipe with spinach, blueberries, oatmeal and wheat germ. They were actually very good!

We made some Valentine hearts to hang around the house. Kennedy and I decorated them while Macy was napping, and we hung them on ribbons in an arch in the doorway between the living and dining rooms. Macy loved seeing the dangling hearts when she got up. Then we made a few more with Macy to hang in the front window.

And speaking of windows, we finally ordered our new blinds! They should be here in about a week, and then Jake and I will attempt to install them ourselves - I have no doubt in his abilities, it's mine that are in question. We're getting cellular shades with the cordless top-down/bottom-up option. I'm very excited to check this one off the home to do list!

Macy seems to love the following - this girl has some very strong opinions:

1. Be with mom/sit with mom/be carried by mom/hold hands with mom/play with mom...And call out, "'ere are you mama?" if she can't find me. And then, "Oh, there you are!" when I'm found.

2. Saying "no"/running away when asked to do something/giving dirty looks when she doesn't get what she wants (is this an early start to the terrible twos?)

3. Wearing her "tick-tacks" (click-clack princess high heels)

4. Kennedy's doll/Kennedy's puppy/anything that Kennedy is currently playing with

5. Eating sweets - chocolate milk, cookies, brownies, cake (even my sneaky vegetable versions), ice cream, bunnies (little bunny shaped graham crackers)

6. And we can't leave off her daily request to "Watch Buzz! Toy Story 3!" She gets a cute little smile on her face when she says it, and then she'll say, "Yes!" in a coy little voice if you ask her if that's what she wants to do. And, she can't watch Buzz without her Bunnies (see #5). She likes to say, "There's snake my boots! Woody says." And she yodels like Jessie, "ya-da-he-hoooo!"

I love these girls

My excellent helpers for shoveling the driveway on a snowy day!

Making changes

Friday night both girls were exhausted by dinnertime. Neither one had a nap that afternoon, and Kennedy was coming down with yet another cold (curse you preschool germs! Macy had a day of fever earlier in the week, too.) I suggested that we could set up the movie player in their room, if they would go to bed right after dinner. Everyone was excited, and Macy started shouting her usual request, "Watch Buzz!" I decided to try pulling Macy's mattress out of her crib to set up on the floor. Both girls were tucked in, kissed goodnight, and left alone to watch Toy Story 3 for the bazillionth time. When I checked on them a bit later, Kennedy was sound asleep, and hanging half way out of bed. Macy was still watching, but I could tell she was fading. I made the mistake of turning off the movie, which woke Macy right up. I thought this could be a test to see if she's ready for a big girl bed. Well, she might be, but I don't know that I'm ready for another girl coming in to our room at all hours of the night - to tell me she needs to go potty, to ask if she can snuggle, to ask for more water, to say her blankets need straightening, etc. - so after Macy got up for the second time, I put her mattress right back in the crib. Maybe we'll try again in a few months. Luckily she's not climbing out of bed on her own yet.

Kennedy and I have decided to try an intervention with Macy's diet. We checked out "The Sneaky Chef" from the library, and a friend let me borrow her copy of "Deceptively Delicious." Our plan is to secretly hide fruits and vegetables in foods that we know Macy will eat. These books are all about adding purees like spinach, beet, sweet potato, carrot, or cauliflower, and adding other whole grains to recipes kids usually like. Chocolate pudding with avocado, anyone? How about tofu nuggets with flaxseed meal and pureed peas? Maybe not. Kennedy is especially excited about the idea of sneaky cooking, and I promised she could help me out.

We made a green puree of spinach, broccoli, and peas and added it to some magic meatballs...was it a success?

Yes, Macy ate them! They were actually pretty good for turkey meatballs.

And she goes back for another bite!

The next day I added a spoonful of green to their morning smoothie with berries and banana. That was a hit, too!

Jake and I are also overhauling our diets. We're following the Insanity program that I got for Christmas, and eating mini meals five times a day (it's like being back on the gestational diabetes plan.) It's a ton of planning and preparation, but Jake has been getting up early to get the food ready for us to take to work. His amazing efforts are making this all possible! So far we're doing well, but maybe I can add a sneaky chef chocolate chip cookie with white bean puree or chocolate cake with beets as a special treat every now and again. We're also doing the Insanity workouts six times a week, and a strength training session with our trainer, Jake Phippen, once a week. All this isn't leaving me much time for my latest Netflix favorite, Battlestar Galactica (strange pick I know, but I love it.) Or all the house organizing I've been meaning to get to, other than little projects here and there. Some day my life may all come together in one perfect, happy, healthy, fit, tidy, and totally balanced nirvana.

Dreams

When I was a girl, I think I had dreams of becoming a dancer or an Olympic gymnast - not very realistic considering I lacked the talent to excel at these pursuits. I also remember wanting to be a marine biologist. I loved the ocean, I was pretty good at science, and I was more than an average swimmer with all the time I spent in the pool. Despite being landlocked, this might have been a more attainable dream for me. What happened? How did I ever become a prospect researcher?

I like my job. It's interesting, but not as interesting as Jake makes it sound when he tells people I'm a spy. I'm contributing to the University by finding alumni who can make significant gifts. I help people make connections with prospects by providing profiles and wealth estimates. I believe in the importance of higher education and the amazing research going on at this institution. But really, is this what I'm going to do until I retire? I don't know, but part of me hopes not. I don't have any other professional dreams or aspirations at the moment. I didn't have a plan when I got my degree in human development and family studies. I sort of fell into fundraising, our "family profession," when I started working at the Alumni Association while I was still in college. Then I moved to Development, and eleven years later, I'm still here.

Kennedy, however, has other plans for me. I'm so thankful that she has such a clear vision for her future. What's even better is that it involves me. She's the kind of kid I can easily see knowing, from the time she's three, exactly what she wants to do with her life. And I have no doubt that she will work hard to get there.

She and I are going to have a restaurant together. That's her dream. Ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, and she'll say, "a restauranter." Technically a restaurateur, but I don't think she knows that word yet. Every penny in her piggy bank is for our restaurant (with a little set aside for Disneyland.) She wants to be a chef...and a mom with four kids, two girls and two boys. I think the first idea came from playing in her little kitchen, helping me with cooking and baking projects and watching the movies Ratatouille and Princess and the Frog. I'm not sure about her inspiration for the family part.

I'm going to do everything I can to encourage and support her dreams and passions, and of course, Macy's, too. I don't have the slightest idea how to run a restaurant, but having a family business sounds like a dream worth chasing.

(Someday soon I'll get around to posting about New Year's, Jake's birthday and gymnastics...please stay tuned and be patient.)

Red Rocks

The season started again for gymnastics, and the girls were especially excited for an opportunity to wear thier red and white tutus out in public! We all had a fun time, although Kennedy spent a good part of the meet coloring, and Macy wanted me to read books to her (when she wasn't climbing back and forth between my lap, grammie's lap, pamp's lap, and daddy's lap.) Jake traded seats with Eliza for the first two rotations, so she could have a better view. During one of the warm-up sessions, the girls and I were on the JumboTron - one of my worst nightmares. Kennedy and Macy shared a hot dog, and the Utes won the meet, beating the defending NCAA champs, UCLA. A pretty good night for everyone.

Happy birthday, Jake!

Today is daddy's 35th birthday, but we've been celebrating all weekend. Macy and I have the day off, but Jake is back to work and Kennedy is back to school.

The theme of his birthday seemed to be a continuation on Christmas - fitness and motorcycles - he got a set of kettle bells and used his birthday money and a gift certificate to get a heart rate monitor; his parents gave him a cover for his motorcycle. We decided that for Christmas and our birthdays we're going to get each other blinds for the house - not very exciting, but we've had enough with the temporary paper ones!

We did our first Insanity fit test tonight and I pushed myself way too hard. I'm still trying to get over this cold, and it didn't mix well with working out. Poor Jake had to cook his own birthday dinner, but he did a great job fixing the salmon, asparagus and noodles (part of the Insanity meal plan that we're also trying to follow.)

After I finished cleaning up in the kitchen, I went upstairs to see what they were all up to - I could hear lots of Kennedy's singing/shouting into her little megaphone. Well, the girls were singing and dancing around wearing their tutus. I was informed that they were in a band and I had to have a musical instrument, too. The performance went something like this: Kennedy would turn out the lights and then she'd stomp on a popper ball toy and yell, "Hit it, Charlie!" Each girl had a flashlight and they'd dance and shout while shining the lights all over the room. Macy pointed it up to the ceiling and said, "I see moon!" when she lit up their light fixture. Then the lights would come back on, but before long it was, "Play it again, Charlie!" We have no idea where this all came from, but it was very entertaining.

Maybe this isn't exactly what Jake had in mind for his birthday, but he said it was a pretty good day. Dinner and a show, what more can you ask? We love you!