Paige's Quote of the Day

The other day in the car, Paige was asking about what people's "whole" name was. We went over what hers, Jimmy's and Alyssa's full names are.

I then asked her what my full name was. Her response: "Mommy Dana Miller".

Priceless.

It Only Takes a Minute

Every once in a while, something occurs that brings a thought to the forefront...how much your life can drastically change in a matter of minutes. The scary part is you just don't know where or when such change will strike. That is life, right?

I think I have become much more sensitive to this since having children. Considering myself a fairly laid back parent, I still worry... a lot. I really had no idea how much worry would come with the joy that is raising kids.

Alyssa loves the bathroom. She has figured out how to turn the faucet on (cold is the only one she can reach) and lean over just enough to get her little hands wet in the stream. She also likes to lean over the side and try to reach toys that are in the tub, water or no water. Laying on her belly, her little legs up in the air as she desperately tries to reach that ducky. She almost took a header into the empty tub a couple weeks ago. Needless to say, the bathroom door remains closed unless there is adult supervision present.

Last night, after dinner, I drew a bath for Paige & Jimmy. They no longer like to bathe together, so they take turns. Jimmy went first. Now that they are 3 & 4 years old, with over a year of swimming lessons under their belts, I don't necessarily sit in the bathroom with them while they take a bath. They are sitting in 4-5 inches of water and even if Paige laid her whole head down in the tub, her nose is still sticking out of the water! Of course, my ears are wide open and I definitely walk by the bathroom numerous times to check in. So Jimmy is in the tub, Alyssa is standing at the side of the tub playing with the faucet and Paige is standing next to her. The two girls are laughing at each other and playing. Jimmy is sitting in the warm bath taking it all in. I am standing at the sink flat ironing my hair because I was going to a mom's club function at 8pm.

I honestly cannot recall how it happened. Maybe Paige said something. Maybe the bathroom went unusually silent. Maybe some mommy instinct kicked in. Flat iron in motion, something made me look down to the tub. To my utmost horror, I looked to find Alyssa, fully clothed, laying on her back under water in the tub. Jimmy staring at her in shock. Her flailing arms and legs and the sheer look of terror on her face will forever be etched into my memory. I threw the flatiron into the sink, shoved Paige aside, reached down and grabbed Alyssa by the shirt and pulled her out and onto the towel on the floor. She was so scared. She was crying so hard. She was breathing. She was fine. I took off her wet clothes and wrapped her in a towel. Still getting a grasp on what just happened, Doug came home. Paige runs down the hall, "daddy, Alyssa fell in the tub." He turns the corner to the bathroom and sees the panic on my face. I tell him what happened.

I put her back in the bath and washed her up. She was splashing happily and playing with Paige. I don't want her to be afraid of the water. I dried her off and put her pj's on, walked out to the kitchen holding her. Doug looked at me and asked if I was ok...I lost it. He gave us both a hug and told me everything is ok. She is fine. It was an accident.

I am making sure to give Alyssa a few extra hugs and kisses today, on top of my already obsessive amount of hugs and kisses in a given day. And even though she may not understand, I have also added a few extra "I love you's" today too.

I write and share this story, not because I am looking for any sympathy. Not because I want to hear any judgments or criticisms about what I do or don't do as a parent. I write this because if you are a parent reading this, you need to hear stories like this from people you know. This shit really does happen. A friend last night told me I was courageous for sharing this story with her. People are too afraid to talk about things like this, for fear of being judged or criticized. No parent is perfect. We do the best we can. I think I do ok with my kids. I love them, guide them, discipline them and nurture them in a way that I feel is best. But no matter what you do, you never know when an accident can happen and change your life forever.

Jimmy's Quote of the Day

The "Big Store" (a.k.a. Costco) is a place that Paige & Jimmy love to go! There is so much enthusiasm and excitement for a trip to Costco. They love that the shopping carts have two seats up front for both of them and they love to sample all the food.

Yesterday, I needed to run to Costco for just a couple things. It was going to be a quick trip in and out...no unnecessary browsing, no huge list to shop from. I announced I was going to the Big Store and asked who wanted to come. Paige surprisingly said no, but Jimmy of course jumped at the opportunity.

We get to Costco, float through quickly to gather the items I need. We pass one of the sample stations and they have pizza. I ask Jimmy if he wants some, of course, the answer was yes. We grab our last item on the way to the check out. In and out in 20 minutes!

Arriving back at the car, I take Jimmy out of the shopping cart and he climbs up to his seat. I put the items in the back and return to strap Jimmy in. He looks at me very concerned and says, "mommy, we didn't eat enough food at the Big Store today."

After I was done laughing and kissing his adorable face, I apologized that we had such a short trip to Costco today and next time we would eat more samples.

Paige's Quote of the Day

This is a quote from back in August 2010. I posted on Facebook because I wasn't blogging yet. I had to reuse it.

 

Paige was running through the sprinklers and came toward me the with the water dripping down her face and claimed, "when I get the water in my eyes, I can see my brain!!"

Vegas Baby??? Turned Calistoga Baby!!!

After much agonizing thought, I made the decision to go to Vegas. It's just 24 hours, right? How bad could it be?

Everything was in place. Sister-in-law all set for the kids, checked out flights on-line and found a cheap one, all set with a place to stay (with Doug, of course!). Now I was just waiting to see if Doug could change his flight. He was set to fly out at 6:22pm, which made no sense if I was coming. He then had to be in conferences by 8am then next morning. What is the point of arriving in Vegas at 8:30pm? I mean, really, even though it is Vegas, I am not 22 anymore. Our idea of Vegas now, was an afternoon site-seeing, a nice dinner, a show and some gambling after, settling into bed no later than midnight!

The bad news: Doug could not change is flight = I cannot go to Vegas. I was sooooooo disappointed.

The good news: Doug made all the arrangements for us to go to Calistoga for an overnight for my birthday! YEAH!!

We left on Monday morning around 11am to drive over to Susan's to drop off the kids. I was most worried about how Alyssa would cope, as she does not really like other people. Things did not start off well when Susan held Alyssa while I ran to the car to get some items. I came back to Alyssa screaming at the top of her lungs. Not to mention the 3 tantrums that Jimmy had when we arrived and Paige wasn't exactly at her best either. I looked at Susan and told her it wasn't too late to back out of this. She laughed, said everyone will be fine and she shooed us out the door to enjoy our time.

I cried as we drove away...

However, as we entered Napa, I began to relax. We passed the outlet stores, "oooohhh, let's go shopping!" Yes, Doug actually likes to shop. After an hour of shopping we got back on the road. We arrived at Indian Springs. I am telling you right now...DO NOT stay anywhere else in Calistoga! This place is amazing. Check out the website. They have an olympic size swimming pool that is naturally heated by the geyser to 90 degrees! And it is open until midnight. We checked in to our cottage, settled our stuff and went for a walk downtown. Scouted out all the restaurants and settled on a little Italian place to eat. It was yummy. And the best parts...it was quiet, I got to eat a hot meal without interruptions and Doug and I actually had a conversation and could finish our sentences!

We headed back to our cottage and were immediately in our swimsuits and sprinting across the property to the pool! It was a cold but beautiful night. The pool has so much steam coming off the top of it. Eight feet deep, I stood at the edge and dove right in. I came up with a big "aaaaahhhhh", grabbed two noodles and we floated around the pool and talked. After that, we were asleep by 10pm.

The next morning, Doug woke up at 6am, put the swimsuit right back on and headed to the pool. I decided to stay in bed longer. Staying cozy and warm under the big down comforter, read a book and relished in the quiet. No crying baby, no one moaning for pancakes, no fighting, no yelling. It was heavenly.

We walked back downtown for breakfast and then had our spa treatments at 10am. I hopped into the pool for 20 minutes prior to our mudbaths follow by a massage. I seriously think I need a massage like once a week now. It is my new pleasure. OK, maybe once a month...I don't know if it fits in our budget.  ;-)

After our treatments we packed up and headed out. We stopped in St. Helena for lunch and I had the yummiest roasted crab on the planet. We arrived back at Susan's at 3pm on Tuesday. Paige & Jimmy ran up and gave us huge hugs and then ran off to play some more. When Alyssa realized I was back, she saw me and let out the biggest squeal of joy. I picked her up and she rested that precious head on my shoulder and I could feel her whole body relax. All was right in her world again.

We all survived 24 hours away from each other. While Alyssa was not happy about it, she did pretty well and didn't give Aunt Susan too much grief. Paige and Jimmy had a blast running around playing with their cousins and having a sleepover with their sleeping bags. Paige has been asking when she can go back. But I think I have to say, I am most proud of myself. I was actually able to let go and relax. While I missed the kids, for the first time, I did not have that physical aching pain in my heart being away from them.