Author: pazmeyer

daddy is home

The girls were so ready for their daddy to get home.  There were a few tears waiting for him Thursday night, but he finally arrived! I was worried Miss Gwyneth would have to head to bed before he made it home, but he got home just in time! The girls were so excited to see him. 4 days is far too long to go without their daddy. B swears they grew up even more while he was gone….it certainly seems like they are changing every day.  It’s really good to have B home and I’m sooooo looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning! (that won’t really happen, but a momma can dream can’t she???)
When is Daddy going to be home?
Why read the books when you can stand on them?
The girls were getting really antsy to see their daddy so I granted the “Baby GG” movie request. Monsters Inc, again you ask? Yep – we’re working on a “Baby GG” marathon!
Sweet Sisters!

missing daddy

Enough is enough! These girls want to see their Daddy! They have been so so good – I really couldn’t have asked for more. The early mornings are starting to take their toll and I can’t get a smile for pictures, but definitely not the end of the world. I’m certain the smiles will return when their Daddy returns tomorrow.
B’s parents came over to see the girls and brought dinner. The girls were happy to see them and Annabelle did quite a bit of showing off. Their Grandparents were amazed how easily they go to bed at night. I think maintaining a schedule really helps with that (along with the early rising this week) – most nights they barely make a peep. We have a few rough nights here and there, but we really have been fortunate! I got each of them in their pj’s, they gave hugs and kisses and then off they went to bed. Gwyneth at 7:30 and Annabelle at 8:00. B’s parents just kept waiting for the drama but that’s just not how we roll in the Meyer house! We like our sleep!

very scary

My girls are really learning to express themselves verbally. Well, that’s a delicate way of saying they have inherited their mother’s ability to gab and there is never a quiet moment in our house! Annabelle repeats everything she hears and Gwyneth repeats everything she hears from Annabelle. It’s a house full of parrots! I’m pretty amazed at how much Gwyneth has picked up on already and although she may not get all the words quite right she defintely get her message across. Here’s a few examples:
  • Annabelle likes to negotiate. If I ask her to clean up or get ready for bed, she’ll say “How about 5 more minutes?” Gwyneth then looks right at me and shouts “5 mines, Mommy!”.  (My favorite negotiation tactic with Annabelle is to tell her she has 10 minutes and she’ll say “no thank you, how about 5 more minutes?” DONE! Mommy wins.)

  • Annabelle likes to keep us in the know. When she’s leaving the room she’ll say “I’ll be riiiiiiight back”. Gwyneth will wag her little finger in my face and yell “I Back, Mommmy!” and chase right after her sister.

Tonight we had to make a quick stop at Babies R Us. As I turned our cart down an isle we saw a rather large man covered in tattoos with lots of metal in his face. Annabelle gasped and said very loudly  “oooooooo, scarrrrry” and little Miss GG grabbed her cheeks (Home Alone style) and repeated even louder “scarrrrry”. I was so embarrassed but the guy cracked up and told them, “yep, I am kinda scary looking huh?”. Filter girls, filter!!!
Really concerned her Daddy still isn’t home. Only 2 more days to go….

work trip

The girls came home from daycare with only one question on their mind….”Where did Daddy go?”.  I was asked over and over and over and they were never happy with my answer. “Daddy is in Chicago” (for work for 4 long days). Standard response from Annabelle “No Daddy in Chicago. My Madison!”. Unfortunately B wasn’t able to sneak in a visit with Madison while he was there but he did promise the girls a little treat from the American Girl store.
I do believe the girls have taken pity on me while B is gone and they are on their very best behavior. Gwyneth has been her usual laid back self and Annabelle has been very helpful. We’ve even managed to keep the house in pretty good shape and stay on schedule, for the most part. We’ve had to get up about an hour earlier so I can get them to daycare and make it to work in a timely manner, but they haven’t put up a fight. In fact, they’ve been downright agreeable in the mornings. I guess ice cream and candy for breakfast really can make a difference….I kid, I kid. I have been letting them watch a bit more tv than I would like, but what the heck? I’m picking my battles this week and if a little Dora or Monsters Inc is what’s needed to keep order around here and keep my girls happy then so be it.
We spent most of the evening playing bakery. Annabelle received the Melissa and Doug cookie set for Christmas and it’s a huge hit. She asked Gwyneth and I to line up and we each got a turn picking a cookie. Annabelle asked each of us “Excuse me Miss, would you like a cookie?” and Gwyneth thought that was h.i.l.a.r.i.o.u.s.!! Gwyneth would then pretend to gobble up her cookies and then rub her little belly and say “mmmmmmm!”.   My girls had each other belly laughing. Annabelle told Gwyneth “Oh stop,GG. You so funny!”.  It’s fun to watch their little imaginations at work and see them play so well together.
We read books and Miss Gwyneth tried to get her Monkey to color with her. It was a really nice evening. The girls were very sweet, ate a big dinner (I promise I did wipe the spaghetti off their face…eventually), and gave each other big hugs and kisses before bed. They were both sad about not seeing their Daddy before bed and woke up asking for him again the next morning. Here’s hoping the next 4 days go by very quickly because we’re all missing him a lot!

weekend recovery

These illnesses are really testing me! I’m not one to lay low so being home-bound for the past few weeks has started to take it’s toll. I am happy to report that I’m on my 3rd day of antibiotics and no longer contagious for strep. I am on the mend (knocking furiously on wood!).
We have been on the search for a church in our area and finally found one this weekend that B and I can agree on. He grew up Catholic and I grew up Methodist and we never found a good middle ground until now. It’s just spitting distance (well, that might be exaggerating because I haven’t actually tried to spit on it….) from our house and there are tons of kids! The nursery is really great and Miss Gwyneth walked in like she owned the place. She loved hanging out and playing with the other little ones, but Annabelle wanted to go to the service with us. She did great and there were plenty of other kids in our section to keep her entertained. We’re looking forward to visiting again and taking advantage of some of the family friendly activities they have planned in our area.
Sunday evening The Rewalts joined us for dinner and B put his new Morton’s Steakhouse Bible to good use! B searched all over town for the ingredients for his au jus and it was well worth the effort (he had to visit 3 different Whole Foods to get exactly what he needed!). He grilled steaks and corn on the cob and we whipped up some mashed potatoes. Dinner was delicious. There’s no denying – B can grill!
Here’s a few random photos from the weekend of my sweet little Gwyneth. I wasn’t in picture-taking-mode this weekend so these are the only one’s I’ve got…
This big smile is because as Annabelle naps Gwyneth is wearing her shoes. She’s thrilled with her steal!
She makes this face & gesture and asks “Where’s Annabelle?” Priceless!
Always time for a round or two or three of peak-a-boo!

baby gg

I decided to let the girls watch Monsters Inc. tonight. I was hesitant to let them see this one, because their buddy Jack has been really afraid of monsters lately. I didn’t want to scare them but I remember Madison really loving it when she was about Annabelle’s age. They never really sit through an entire movie at home with so many toys around to distract them (except Annie, of course) so I thought they’d only be slightly paying attention anyway.  Boy was I wrong on this one! The girls were glued to the tube and they really liked it. Annabelle was convinced that Boo was “Baby GG”. She was telling the monsters “Don’t make baby GG cry!”, “Don’t scare baby GG!”. Gwyneth kept waving to “herself” on the screen saying “hi GG, hi!”. The funny part is that I took Madison to see this movie in the theatre when she was little and she thought Boo was “Baby Madison”. I guess they modeled Boo off a Paz girl!  We’ve saved this one on our DVR so we can revisit “Baby GG” another time….she’s already been requested several times.
My girls may be on to something…..

walk the line

Miss Annabelle and I were just not clicking today. I adore her, but she was really pushing my buttons and the worst part is I believe she was doing it on purpose. She’s a funny little girl, but my goodness is she independent and fiesty! I’m certain all the illness and break down of our schedule has taken its toll on all of us, but here’s a perfect example of Annabelle’s sassiness:
Let me explain – Annabelle would not sit in her chair for dinner. She was running around all over the house with chicken nugget in hand. I gave up the fight to  keep her seated and told her she could stand up and eat but she had to stay in the kitchen with her dinner.  She was not to leave the leave the hardwoods – no feet on the carpet.  And this is my girl walking the line, just testing the boundaries and her momma…..
Crossed the line…
Annabelle was full of tantrums and fussiness tonight. If she didn’t get her way she thew herself on the ground and let us know she was not happy. I was not well-equipped to deal with the fits tonight so she spent lots of time with her dadda. Here’s hoping she got all (or at least most) of her sass out tonight and tomorrow is a better day.
On a better note, Miss Gwyneth is  back to her old self again. She was the last one done eating and all smiles. Hopefully we can keep our girl happy and healthy through the rest of this winter. We didn’t get off to a good start, but we’re hopeful we can turn things around.
I should also mention I have strep throat. I woke up this morning feeling terrible and went straight to the doctor. I wasn’t messing around this time. I’m on antibiotics but contagious for 24 hours. I have to work from home the rest of the week and I cancelled most of our plans for the weekend. Oh boy, I think we’ve hit rock bottom!
Although Annabelle was quite a toot today she did crack me up – at 2 am! I woke up to giggles and found Annabelle snuggled in our bed right between B and me. I hadn’t heard her come in or climb up in the bed (I’m sick and really out of it!). She was very quiet and sneaky! She was walked back to her room and went back to sleep in her own bed. I think she was pretty proud of making it as far as she did!

sherlock holmes

After being cooped up over the last week and feeling the stress of sick babies and work, B took pity on me and told me to get out of the house for a bit.  What a good husband. We gave the girls dinner and then he sent me on my way to a movie. I love that Gus just lives 5 minutes away from us now so we get to see him more often. He joined me for a showing of “Sherlock Holmes” at Cinebarre.  I was not that eager to see it – it looked dark and  slightly creepy, but I was pleasantly surprised! It was really quite funny and vey entertaining. I’d definitely recommend it. I’m definitely glad for the distraction and a night to get out and clear my head.

fevers and shiners

About an hour after I got settled in at work I got a call from daycare. Miss Gwyneth was running a low fever, but worse she was completely out of sorts. She wasn’t playing with her friends, she had laid down on her mat, and really just wanted to be held. She was acting very un-GG-like!  I didn’t hesitate to pick her up and spend the rest of the day holding her. She slept on and off the remainder of the day – for 2 hours in her crib so I could get a little work done but the rest of the time was on my lap.
My poor little sick girl
Gwyneth was pretty happy when her big sister came home.
Annabelle came home with a SHINER!! I was shocked and asked her what happened. She said “I hit the ground!”. Apparentlly she tripped and forgot to put her little hands down so her cheek took the brunt of the trip. It didn’t seem to bother her much – not nearly as much as it did me! 
The girls are always sad to spend the day apart and they had to reconnect this evening. Annabelle was happy to hold her “little” sister on her lap!

Gwyneth’s fever broke and Annabelle’s bruise started to fade by morning. Gwyneth was restless through the night and didn’t sleep very well, but seemed back to normal. Annabelle showed up in our room at 6:45 a.m. and said “I awake!”. This was the first time she got up and came to find us. We were thrilled to see her at 6:45….I wonder if we’ll feel the same if she decides to visit us at 2:00 a.m.???

chipmunks

Annabelle was back in action and feeling fine by Sunday afternoon. Gwyneth got some daddy time when I took Annabelle to see the Chipmunk sequel. She loved it! She danced her way through the entire movie. There was only one scene that didn’t have the Chipmunks in it and she loudly asked “Where’s Alvin?”. The theatre was really crowded but she had the people around us laughing with her dance moves. She sure did like the music, but I think the white cherry icey helped a bit too!  On the drive home she said “Mommy, you say Simon and Theordore”, so of course I did and she sceamed “ALLLLLVVVVIIIINNNN”. Oh how she cracked herself up (me too!)!

When we got home, B was still in bad shape. He barely made it through dinner before heading to Urgent Care. He had a bad ear infection! Luckily they put him on antibiotics and he was good as new by morning.