Josie's Summer Paradise

Since Mom and Dad have been spending every evening over at the condo getting things ready for Mama Hop & Aunt Leanne's visit next month, we haven't had as much family time as usual.  So we decided do something fun together on Saturday morning.  The obvious choice was our local splash park. 

 

The girls absolutely love the splash park - especially Josie.

 It should come as no surprise since we already discovered the water-induced euphoria that is our water activity table.  The splash park takes that to a whole new level!

 There is nowhere else to witness Josie participate in this much gross motor activity with a gleeful expression plastered across her face. 

 Of course we would expect Merryn to prosper in an environment like this.  

 Eyes shut

Mouth open

Run

Repeat

 This environment beckons every kid to be a fearless little force of nature - even Josie.  Just look at her wandering around like she owns the place!  All signs of her gross motor allergy were washed away and her signature "No, please, no!" was not uttered once...

  ...Well, maybe once...when she decided to plop face-down where the water accumulates near the drain to indulge in her obsession with blowing bubbles...

...until Dad came along and ruined all the fun.  Sorry, JoJo.  Let's just hope that run off from everyone's grubby feet is adequately chlorinated.  Ick!

 Suffice to say, even that couldn't burst her splash park bubble. 

Here's to hoping Josie likes winter sports this much!  I happen to know a medal-winning Special Olympian who can teach her how to snowshoe.

Wild Weekend (for us)

A friend recently complained that our blog isn't updated frequently enough.

Guilty as charged.

I will say that if you're not getting enough of your CCE fix here on the blog, you can find almost daily updates (including way more of #HurricaneMerryn 's oh-so-entertaining antics) on Instagram.  But for those of you who aren't on the Instagram scene, here's a little recap of our adventurous (yes, this word is relative) weekend.

While I'm not a paid endorser (wouldn't that be grand?!), I will issue a friendly public service announcement that it's Gymbucks season at Gymboree!  I hate it when I accidentally miss Gymbucks time.  Thanks to generous Gymbucks donations from YaYa and our beloved friend, Aleksandra, I got a whale of a deal on summer clothes for my little ladies who are nearly overlapping in size.   

In non-munchkin news, Travis and I enjoyed a great date night on Saturday.  Not knowing when we'll have a chance to do it again, I warned the sitter that we would be out late (which for us old married folks is 9pm - 10 if we're feeling really wild!).  We ran a few errands and then had some dinner at this fun little Mexican restaurant.  Afterwards, we decided to enjoy a drink at the lovely wine bar next door.  I grabbed a table on the patio while Travis went in and got drinks.  When he returned, I told him it was too chilly to sit outside so we moved our little tête-à-tête indoors.  Not realizing I was right behind him (where else would I be?!) with my generously poured glass of Cabernet in hand, Travis grabbed a chair to pull it out for me (so chivalrous) and his elbow knocked my full glass of wine into my face!  I was literally soaked in red wine!  I stood there in mortified shock as vino dripped from my face and hair while Travis issued repeated apologies through his laughter.  Romance, folks.  Pure romance.  Needless to say, date night turned into catching up on our DVRed shows on the sofa.

 On Saturday, we packed up our little ladies and went on a little road trip to a fun college town about an hour away.  We had a delicious lunch at a marvelous Italian restaurant but the big draw - are you ready for this? - was Costco!   That's right.  We drove an hour to go to Costco.  It's our idea of a fun Saturday.  This is an exciting life we lead.

I was hoping to top off our little road trip with a brief stop at the outlet mall but unfortunately, Josie's attitude would not permit that.  The only way we got through Costco was by me blaring "Rolling in the deep" from my phone.  At that point I wasn't really concerned whether the other shoppers were Adele fans or not.  I would have proudly blasted the tune from an old school boom box on my shoulder if it would have silenced her whining.  Between that and my eager photography (you would've thought I was a tourist at one of the 7 wonders of the world instead of a shopper at a big box wholesaler in the Heartland), Travis pretty much pretended like he didn't know us the whole time. 

But overall, we had a fun weekend and the blog has been updated (just for you, Helena!).  Tune in tomorrow because Mama Hop and Aunt Leanne are going to squeeze in another visit before we pack up and move 12 hours away.

Josie's Alter Ego

Here's a little CCE math...

Josie + the therapy swing in our basement = An adventurous superhero named "Flying JoJo"

That's probably the only time the adjective "adventurous" will be used to describe Josie.

Travis (self proclaimed "Computer Geek") + 2 babies attempting to explore every button and cable near our desks = The Great Wall of Baby Gates

The structure is really quite impressive.  He loves those girls and would give them anything in the world, but some things are sacred!

Merryn + Flying JoJo = disaster

While being knocked over by a swing is probably a childhood rite of passage, Merryn has since learned to stay out of the line of fire while her sister is "flying".  Mama didn't raise no fool!

Treadmill Therapy at Home

Josie has been making great strides (pun intended) in treadmill therapy.  She graduated from using the suspended harness and now she just uses the handles to support herself.  She has also accelerated to a lighting fast 0.5mph.  Those two factors mean she is ready to start practicing her treadmill skills and abilities at home. 

Josie is fortunate to have a very handy and creative dad who is determined to provide her with the resources needed to become a successful walker.  Besides, he loves a good household project.

After a trip to Lowes to gather his supplies, he measured our little Diva to see how high to mount the handle bars:

While Dad was hard at work adapting the treadmill for Josie's use, Josie was hard at play.

However, Merryn kept a close eye on him and continuously checked his progress.  She fancies herself quite the foreman.

Hey JoJo - you need to come check this out!

Really?  Well, I suppose I could take a peek...

In a matter of hours, that fancy new contraption was ready and Josie was eager to try it out.  That is, if "eager" means stubbornly dissolving into a limp rag doll at the mere sight of the treadmill.

After a little pep talk from Dad, Josie was ready to try again...

...and while her form leaves something to be desired, she did a little bit better.

Because she is blessed with such a caring and talented Dad, she can now practice her treadmill walking everyday! 

This calls for a "happy face," don't you think?

Tune in tomorrow because everyone's favorite chromosomally enhanced Aunt is popping in for a visit! 

Playground Predicament

This July heat has been unbearable but I hate to keep the girls' holed up indoors so we decided to rush through breakfast and head out as early as possible.

Covered with hats and smothered with sunscreen, we set out for the park.  We hoped to do a little early morning swinging but unfortunately, this is what we found:

Some little punk had thrown the swing up over the bar several times to where it was at eye-level.  Who does that?!  I'm going to go ahead and generalize here but I had a sneaking suspicion that only a member of the male persuasion would find amusement in such an endeavor.  Hoping that his Y chromosome would offer him some sort of top secret insight on how to rectify the situation (or maybe even some first-hand experience from his own little punk days), I emailed my beloved husband (because he has nothing better to do at work than to give me playground problem guidance):

Me: How does one go about getting this down?

Travis: You'd have to throw it over the top multiple times. I love you.

Me: I tried. It wasn't pretty. You would have been embarrassed :-/

Yeah, Josie isn't the only member of this household who is lacking in the gross motor department.  So we gave up and headed home.  And you know what?  We had the BEST time taking turns on our own backyard swing!



Did you hear that, little Punk?!  Your antics can't sabotage our morning.  We took those lemons and we made lemonade and it was refreshing and delicious!

...As illustrated by Josie's "happy face"!

And just as Josie inherited my gross motor prowess, she also inherited Aunt Leanne's sense of humility.  Remember this?

Cute?  Sure!  But with such a big head, I'm surprised that hat fits!

Happy Monday!

Here's to whirlwind weekends, brave babysitters and fantastic fathers

Well, this whirlwind weekend is finally winding down and I must extend my most heartfelt gratitude to Mama Hop and Aunt Leanne for their help with the girls.  Because it was so busy, I didn't have a chance to take as many pictures as I would have liked but here are a few...

As a consequence for the train "attack" on Merryn, Leanne grounded Josie from Starbucks on Saturday.  Josie was devastated, let me tell you.  I don't know how she made it through the day without her venti soy latte.  But Leanne did permit a little shopping excursion so that we could buy Josie some new shoes.  She has outgrown her orthopedics and it will take a few weeks to get more so we decided to spring for some summer sandals to get us by. 

Seeing as how it was a quick trip to Von Maur to run in and buy one pair of baby shoes, we didn't bring anything but ourselves.  However, upon pulling into the parking lot, something started to smell very unpleasant.  After wrongfully accusing Travis of the offense, I realized it was actually JoJo.  Amateur Mom Mistake #4,572:  A quick errand that doesn't warrant hauling baby supplies along will undoubtedly end in regret.  Note to self: ALWAYS bring the diaper bag!  Lesson learned.

 Travis and I went to a dear friend's absolutely beautiful wedding on Saturday night and we returned home to hear that the girls exhibited much better behavior for their Aunt Leanne than they had on Friday night.  No train wrecks, no tears, no problems!  Whew!  I would hate for Aunt Leanne to refuse to come back and babysit my little hellions. 

This morning Leanne helped Josie make a special Father's Day card for Travis.  

 There is really no better person to teach Josie how to design a card.  Aunt Leanne has a real knack for creating greeting cards.  In case you don't recall, you can read about it here.

 Leanne's card reads:

Starbucks

Happy Father's Day

Travis

Stir Fry Head

Decaf

Cream

Cafe

Love

Leanne

 The Starbucks theme is lost on Travis as he's not a coffee drinker, but Leanne tends to honor other people with her own preferences, instead of theirs.  Remember Mama Hop's Birthday last year?   She's still sporting that shirt and pants outfit Leanne picked out!  But I digress...

Without further ado, I'd like to wish Travis a Happy Father's Day.  My girls are very lucky to have such a wonderful dad, and it's a privilege to share this parenting journey with an incredibly loving and supportive partner.

Happy Father's Day, Travis.  We love you!

Congratulations are in order...

First of all, congratulations to Travis for successfully completing graduate school!  He is now the proud owner of an MBA.  This was no small feat considering he was simultaneously working full-time, taking multiple international business trips, maintaining a household...oh and all the while welcoming two brand new babies into the fold!  Josie's adoption required us to be out of the state for 8 weeks while she remained in the NICU and that was the only time he had to drop a class.  These past two years have been the most adventurous of our lives and the fact that he was able to ride the wave while completing his MBA is pretty darn impressive. 

We are looking forward to having him home every night of the week now!  Talk about a luxury! 

In other heart-warming news, we received a report from Josie's most recent visit with her pediatric pulmonogist and it contained such good news that I had to share:

If you're questioning the professionalism of the aforementioned report, it is important to clarify that Josie's pulmonogist is not an 11 year-old girl.  I added the embellishments :-)  I couldn't help myself.  No hospitalizations?!  No urgent physician visits?!  No oxygen in the past year?!  Incredible!!!!!

We're all flying high on the good news around here. 



Josie's Brazilian BFF

Travis just got back from a business trip to Brazil and Argentina and we were all so happy to see him.  It didn't hurt that he brought us presents!  I got fun earrings.  Merryn got a funny pig puppet...

...but JoJo's gift was the most celebrated of them all.  Unparalleled in it's magnificent splendor, it captured Josie's heart instantly.

It's the one thing she never knew she always wanted: a buck-toothed doll that flails about while singing a chirpy song in Portuguese.  Even though Travis did not have room for it in his luggage, when he saw it, he knew he would do what it took to make sure that doll found its way into Josie's arms.

Guess what Josie's been doing for the last six hours...



DJ JoJo even discovered that when her new doll sings in unison with Elmo, their voices blend into a melodically stunning duet that rival the great duos of our time; Donnie and Marie, Captain and Tennille, Milli Vanilli...you get the idea.  They could sell out Carnegie Hall, folks.  At least as far as Josie is concerned.

And Dad is a hero, as far as we're all concerned.

Welcome Home, Travis.  You were missed!

What kind of milk is this? Is this from a cow?

Is it me or is the Monday after Superbowl Sunday particularly exhausting?  And we didn't even attend a Superbowl party!  Last night, we all gathered around the table for dinner, Madonna's half time show echoing in the background (it's certainly not a common practice for us to have the tv on during dinner but it was the Superbowl) when Leanne looked up from her plate and said "What kind of milk is this?  Is this from a cow?"  Travis and I looked at each other, thoroughly confused, until we realized that Leanne had poured herself a nice, hearty glass of the half & half I use in my morning coffee...

Never a dull moment.  Period.

We had a hectic day.  Miss Josie was extra cooperative during feeding therapy and extra uncooperative during physical therapy.  I guess it didn't matter because Leanne seemed to think that Josie's physical therapist had driven all the way to our house with an armload of equipment to receive a very detailed explanation of every word search puzzle book Leanne brought with her (there were at least a dozen).  God bless Bea and her patience with both of the Divas!

As he does every night, Travis came home and immediately changed from his dress shirt and slacks into his "nightgown"...

...which prompted Leanne to write this manifesto on the Etch-a-Sketch.  Apparently it says something like "Travis, don't wear your nightgown to work or you'll get fired."  Point taken, Leanne.  Travis will hereby refrain from wearing his "nightgown" to the office.  In fact, he was even shamed enough to change into jeans before running his evening errands.

Speaking of evening errands, Leanne had a very special appointment with Trish, my hair stylist, tonight.  Although we learned awhile back that it's not a great idea to leave Leanne in a hair salon unattended, I gave her a firm lecture about sticking to a natural look and I left her in Trish's very competent hands.  I returned to find Leanne in all out Diva mode, admiring her new coif:

I can't say that I blame her.

Looking good, girlfriend.  Looking good!

Why Leanne Needs Her Own Reality TV Show

Until about 9pm last night, I thought this would be your standard, run-of-the-mill, Mama Hop and Aunt Leanne are here visiting post.  I envisioned including cute pictures like this one of Josie and her beloved rocking horse from Mama Hop...

And this one of the girls riding the "I Love My Aunt" train...

I even thought it would be kind of cute to include these photos of Josie eagerly bestowing affection upon her Aunt Leanne first thing in the morning...

Isn't that sweet?

But around 9pm last night, the plan changed.  You see, we were just sitting around chatting when Travis and Leanne started to discuss Leanne's next birthday.  It may not seem like a relevant conversation topic seeing as how it's not happening until June, but Aunt Leanne always starts planning for her birthday months in advance. 

I wish I would've been filming the actual conversation because the look on Travis' traditional-old-fashioned-conservative-midwestern-History-Channel-watching-talk-radio-lovin' face was really the best part.  But I didn't have the camera handy; I didn't see it coming anymore than Travis did.  But because it was one of those priceless Leanne moments, I asked her to recount on film this morning:

And just to clarify, that while Travis does have a reputation for wearing questionable ensembles in public, he did not go to Home Depot looking like this:

I only captured one full-length photo of Travis yesterday and it's not a good one but it does help exonerate him from Leanne's wardrobe slander:

In Leanne's defense, that's exactly what Travis wears for pajamas (or a "nightgown" as she so masculinely phrased it). 

Ladies and gentleman, if I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times: Leanne deserves her own reality tv show.  It's the only way these little gems will be captured in real-time and preserved for posterity.  So if everyone reading could tap into their six degrees of separation and contact any reality show producers you may know, that would be fantastic.  You'd rather watch Aunt Leanne's Auntics (get it?  Catchy!) than Jersey Shore anyway, right? 

Stay tuned.  She'll be here all week!