Memory Walk

Dear Family and Friends,

This September 13, along with my mother, sisters and my daughters, I will be participating in the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk. We are walking in honor of my grandmother, Rose Messina.

My grandmother passed away from the disease nine years ago, and not a day goes by where I don’t think of her. I have so many incredible memories of my grandmother it is hard to write down only a few. I remember her taking me to the Italian market as a child and holding my hand while we waited in line; sleeping over her house, helping her make dinner and laying my clothes out for church the next morning. I certainly miss even the little things about my Gramma, like the way she would pinch my cheeks and hug me tightly. My sister Krissy and I often reminisce about her, remembering how she would let us into her pretty bathroom to smell her rose scented soaps. She was a special woman who loved life and her family. In her last year of life, I remember sitting quietly with her and rubbing her forehead and holding her hand. She didn’t always remember my name or who I was, but I know in her heart she did. I am so grateful for all the time I was able to spend with her and all the life lessons she imparted on me.

It is because of her, I am inspired to help find a cure for Alzheimer’s. It is the most common form of dementia; loss of memory and other intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer’s gets worse over time, and it is fatal. Today it is the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States. Currently there is no cure for this horrible disease.

I am asking you to help me in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. A small donation can help fund research to find a cure. Please visit my personal donation page, http://memorywalk09.kintera.org/manh/grammasgirls_melissa to help me reach my goal of raising $1000. A check can also be made payable to the Alzheimer’s Association and sent to:

Melissa Menton

3 Maple Road

Middleboro, MA 02346

Thank you so much for your support.

Sincerely,

Melissa

To learn more about Alzheimer’s disease, including the 10 signs, please visit www.alz.org.

Practicality

Recently I came to the conclusion that I was so over my monthly payment for the Tahoe, insurance and gas (ugh!). But mostly, I am so over breaking my back trying to buckle my two gals. Seriously. I am 5'2"...literally climbing into the truck to buckle kids, is way over rated! So I ditched the Tahoe and got a minivan. That's right, I said it. Minivan. And I gotta tell ya...I freaking love it!

So, it's a Honda Odyssey and I must say I am in love with Honda and all of their fabulous practicality.

Hot mamas drive minivans. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Someday...

My Julia is obsessed with infomercials. She watches them diligently and then suggests who she thinks will benefit from the product. For instance, the "big city slider station" she wanted to get for me because "mom's love it." She still wants the "touch and brush" for herself because there is "no mess." What ever the tag line in the ad is, she fits it to someone! I have grown accustomed to her watching these infomercials and when she asks to have it, I tell her "maybe." Literally every commercial/infomercial she sees on tv, she wants for herself or someone else. So when an ad came on yesterday for some new Sketcher shoes that she wanted I told her "maybe."

She politely asked, "Mom, can you say 'maybe someday' ?''
So I did.
Her reply really got me off guard....

"Good, can someday be Saturday?"

Kiddos and other randoms

I am happy to say, Alison is back to her usual self and sleeping though the night again. (I really hope I didn't just jinx myself!) I think her sleep has been disrupted for a few reasons, the first being that not only one but two teeth popped through last week! The second being that she is 7 months old now and her schedule is changing. She has started to eat baby food 3 times per day now instead of two and is staying up until 6:30 instead of 6. Whatever works, right? She is such a happy little bugger. We are very lucky to have such great girls!

That brings me to the big sister. Julia is technically 4, but I swear she does things that like, I don't know, 7 year olds do. She is no longer into Sponge Bob (wipe tear), and certainly not Dora or any "babyish" or dare I say "age appropriate" shows. Her favorite new show is "My life as a Teenage Robot" and "Danny Phantom." I'm sorry, what? Are you a 7 year old boy? But that's what she likes. She found these shows accidentally, because, get this, she channel surfs.

She has also discovered computer games on noggin.com. She is addicted. She wakes up in the morning, comes down stairs and opens my computer. She knows how to open Internet Explorer and start playing her games. She can also click on vidoes and watch the "wub girls" (from the Wubbzy show), they are her favorite to sing along with. She also knows if she gets "lost" by clicking too many things to "go home" and her gaming home page reappears. Its really funny, but I have to set some serious limits on it!

Speaking of being a big kid, she is now in a booster seat instead of her regular car seat. She gave my mom a good scare today when she unbuckled herself while they were pulling into the grocery store. I explained to her how dangerous it was and how I only want her to be safe. A few hours went by and she asked, "um, can we just talk about it?" (That's her favorite catch phrase when she wants to pry for more info.) Needless to say, I am keeping my fingers crossed that was the last time she unbuckles!

On the subject of catch phrases, here are some other good ones from Julia....

"What on this eart (earth) are you doing?"

"Can I have some of that invisible paper (saran wrap) to put on my food so it does not get rot-ten?"

"I think I need to do some yoga breathing."

"Can I have some Reiki?" (a favorite!)

"I know, I know I know!"

"Oh, I was just joking!" (about something she totally was joking about)

so until next time......

Dear Alison

Dear Alison,

This is a quick note to let you know it's really over rated to poop your pants at 4am and then not want to go back to sleep. If you could just hold off on any activity that needs my full, "awake" attention until after 6:30am, I would truly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding.

Love,
Your Mama

Kids in review

So the past few weeks have been rather busy. But then again, life with 2 kids is always busy! My little Alison is getting big. She is on to bigger and better things, like eating biscuits, crackers and melon. Great for her, rather frightening for me. But so far, no choking on my watch! She has also (finally) taught her self to roll over; from belly to back. She gets a big kick out of it. (That happened on Thursday, 10th). Her poor little tooth is almost poking through, one more day or so and she should "officially" have her first tooth!

As for my Julia.....

Julia loves being a big sister. She is so good to Alison. She spends a lot of her day hugging, kissing and entertaining her little sister. She is also a good helper for mommy. Last week Julia helped make cupcakes for Daddy's birthday cookout. She did a great job, and insisted she was a "better baker" and "better cupcake froster" than Auntie Krissy....who is a pastry chef, but I wasn't going to argue. Of course the day before she came down with a tummy bug, but she was too excited to stay home and be sick. Myself, on the other hand, between Julia and Alison, has cleaned up entirely too much throw up in the past week. Seriously.

Yesterday, Julia and I spent the morning at the doctor's office. Of course our usual doctor, who Julia adores, was not in. We saw my other favorite doctor, but of course the sight of him makes Julia cry. She needed to be seen for a bug bite she got on her eye. Her eye was really swollen from it. She made herself so upset at the office, yup, more throw up! Today is also her last soccer game (for which she is excited because she now "hates it.") Of course it is picture day, so Julia will be there with her swollen eye. Oh well!

Last night, Jay and I let Julia stay up late and we made a fire in his new fire pit. Julia was super excited because we made s'mores. What can I say, the girl has my appetite. I was pretty excited, too. We took a huge bamboo stick and loaded it up wtih marshmallows. Julia patiently sat with it over the fire slowly turning it until the marshmallows were ooey gooey and golden brown. I had the graham crackers and chocolate all ready, and once that sandwich was made, she couldn't get it in her mouth fast enough, but then again, neither could I.

spiders make me sick

For those of you who are unaware, spiders completely gross me out. Living in Middleboro the past 5 years has helped me get over my fear a little bit, because there are "spiders" and then there are "Middleboro Spiders." These things are enormous, fury and disgusting. In fact, one comes back each year and makes a web in our screen door (at the very top). Last year Jason named him and considered him a pet. We would stare at him at night, like we were watching the Discovery Channel and watch him feed. Needless to say, although they completely gross me out, I have grown to tolerate them....a little. Well, at least I can squish the small ones without yelling for Jason!

Two days ago, the girls and I were driving to Stop and Shop when Julia let out a shriek and told me there was a spider in the car. I asked her if it was big or little, and she insisted it was big. I, on the other hand didn't see it. I explained to her it was very dangerous to kill bugs while driving, so if it really was little, it would have to wait. She insisted otherwise and then....I saw it. It was big, fury and black with white spots. So completely ready to gag and yell for Jason to help me, I pull over around the corner from my house and park. I get out, walk around to the passenger side door where the bugger was hiding and do what any other self respecting mom would have done. I whipped off my flip flop, whipped open the door and was ready to battle. I squished the thing in one good whack, and I got to tell you, it was a bit like killing a small rodent. Mission accomplished.

Back in the truck I go to finish our trip to the store. Julia is practically gagging in the back seat (everything makes her gag). Then this comes out of her mouth. Well, first off all, fair warning, my girl likes poop jokes. That's what you get when you let a 4 year old hang out with Daddy and Uncle Erik!

"Mom, I think I'm gonna be sick. For real! I'm gonna have...diarrhea...right now...in my pants!!"

Conversations with Julia

Here is a sampling of some recent conversations with Miss Julia...

"Julia, When do you think you can start wiping your own butt?"
"I don't know, maybe when I am like 14."

(one week later)

"Hey Dad?"
"Yeah, Julia?"
"I am really sick of wiping my own butt."

"I'm sorry you got mommy's midget legs."
"That's okay mom, accidents happen."

My mom asked, "Julia, can you reach in the (portable) crib and get a binky?"
(while reaching) "I can't reach it, I have mommy arms."
(wasn't aware I had short arms, too!)

"When I grow up, I wanna be hairy, just like my dad!"

"My dad is like a real big hairy stegosaurus!"
(extra funny, because he's not hairy)

"ugh, that is foul."

"Oh, they make it for man boobies, too!"
(while watching a hair removal infomercial)

What does mom do?
"Tells me to keep my pants on"
(sound advice, I think!)

While looking for a reason not to go to sleep:
"Um......Um.....I need you to water my plant."

"Julia did you get Alison's bottle for me?"
"No, I forgot."
"Can you get it for me please?"
"Give me a break I just sat down!!"

soccer season has begun!

Today was Julia's first day of soccer. She was so excited she woke up at 6am, ready to go. We all packed up and left for the field around 10:30. Julia waited patiently for me to find her coach, for her t-shirt to be handed out and to be introduced to her teammates. She was a little shy at first, but was so excited that she could still see me and daddy on the sidelines. She waved to us, almost non-stop. She was so cute stretching her little legs and arms out before the game began. At first she was put on defense, and told not to bunch up with the other kids. Well, she did what she was told alright and didn't move...not even a little bit! All of the parents on the sidelines started to cheer Julia on with us and before long, she was the talk of the sidelines. Everyone was amused by her waving, signing "I love you" and making "woggle goggles" with her fingers against her face. Too bad her woggle goggles didn't see the other kid coming straight for her because she got knocked down and ended up withh a pretty good size egg on her head. What would a day at the fields be with out a trip for an ice pack? A blue slush from her coach sure did make her feel better though!

Here are some pics of the day...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37544550@N04/show/

Go get your telephone

Last night my sister came over to watch a movie with me. She arrived at my house about 7:30 pm, right as Julia was getting ready for bed. Krissy joined Jay, Julia and I on the couch to watch Sponge Bob. When Julia blurted out:

"Krissy, I'm gonna call you!"

She ran over and picked up the house phone. She scrolled through the stored phone book of numbers and sure enough called Krissy. As soon as the phone started to ring on Julia's end, she was yelling at Krissy to answer her phone. When Krissy answered (who was sitting on one side of me, Julia on the other) Julia began belly laughing. She thought having this conversation was the silliest thing. Really, words cannot describe how funny this was. It was even funnier when mid conversation she blurted out,

"okay, now let me talk to my daddy!"

This continued for a few minutes until she told daddy and I to go get our telephones so she could call us, too.

Easter

It's been a while but here is an Easter update:

Julia had a grand ol' time finding her Easter eggs yesterday morning. The Easter bunny brought her an awesome soccer outfit (thank you Wal-mart) and she refused to take it off most of the day. She actually wore the shorts under her pretty dress. Alison was her usual happy self and enjoyed seeing the family, too!

Here are some pics of the day!

My little muffin...

My little muffin, Miss Alison, went for her 4 month check up yesterday. Four months, already. Since everyone knows I make gigantic babies, the little bugger weighed in at 16 lbs 9oz (slightly smaller than Julia was at 4 months) and measured 26 inches long. She is in the 96% for weight and 95% for weight. Needless to say, she has outgrown just about every piece of clothing she owns!

Julia and I had dinner by ourselves tonight. Daddy was (and still is) sick in bed and Alison has been in bed since 6:15....

We decided breakfast would really make the best dinner. Pancakes for Julia and french toast for me. We were pretending to be chefs making our yummy dinner. I told Julia, "Wow this is just like a restaurant!" Her sarcastic response..

"Yeah, a restaurant with no people..."

hope you don't mind but...

Yesterday, Julia spent a better half of the afternoon pretending to be our hair dresser, Kim. She had a spray bottle of water and a hair brush and did my hair, daddy's and auntie krissy's. Never would I have guessed, although I should have, what that could lead to!

This morning while squeezing in a morning shower, Julia poked her head in the shower curtain (yes, I gave up any sort of privacy when I became a mother) and told me " um, mom, I hope you don't mind, but I used your scissors."

hmmm....see where this is going? That's right. Julia gave herself a haircut.

"What did you do Julia?"

"My bangs were just crazy, so I cut them."

At least she didn't do that bad of a job or poke out her eyeball. Totally fixable.

Julia's randomness...

First off, I want to say, my day does involve Alison! Her day is filled with eating, pooping (hopefully not on me) belly laughs, and a fair amount of spit up. Good times really, just not too much to blog about. Julia on the other hand, comes out with the funniest things. I am a little scared for when Alison starts talking (and repeating) yikes!

Yesterday, for some reason I got a Hanna Andersen catalog in the mail. Julia loves to look through magazines and circle things she thinks mommy and daddy should buy for her. So circling away she went. She picked out some pretty dresses and frilly pajamas. Nice stuff. Then she circles a horse. That's right, a horse that one of the little girls was posing with. Hmmm. Mind you we do have a 200 pound dog, that Julia does try to ride around the house, though usually not successfully. Daddy brought this point to her attention, but she reminded him, Geoffrey is not a real horse, just a dog and she wanted a horse. Well, she told us huh?

Julia and I also practiced her soccer today. She is very excited to join a team this spring. While kicking the ball around, she declared, "Hey, I'm pretty good at this soccer stuff!" She was also trying to kick goals, through my legs. Guess what came out of her mouth after her first "goal"?

BOO-YEAH!!!!

I don't even want to think about where she learned that one!

Bedtime

So right now my favorite time of day is 8:20pm...both girls asleep in bed and I can sit down and relax! Miss Alison went to bed at 6pm after filling up on cereal and bananas. Poor little muffin is teething (already) so it may prove to be a long night. We'll see how much "relaxing" I can actually accomplish...

Julia's bedtime is very routine. The only variable of the night is what excuse she might use to keep me in her room longer or call me back up for. Here is a short list....

* I need another kiss/hug
* I thought you might like a hand shake
* The song was sad and I need a hug (she listens to Jack Johnson to go to bed, the same cd night after night since she was 1!!)
* Can I wear your eyeglasses? (placing her face nose to nose with me) Well, then can I look through your windshield?
* Can Charlie sleep in my room? (our pug)
* While stroking my hair, how did you get so beautiful? Are you a princess?
* Are mommies really magical? Well, then how do you do so many things?

She has also been having really weird dreams lately. The other night she had a dream her teeth fell out and didn't grow back, and the night after that she had a dream daddy's eyeballs fell out. She ran into see daddy in the morning to make sure his eyes were still there!

I guess only tomorrow will tell what silly excuse or crazy dream she will have next...

Behavior rant

Yesterday afternoon, I was talking to my sister. She was telling me about her terrible train ride home from Boston. The train had a handful of 10-12 year old privately schooled boys on board. Ok, that thought right there scares me. A 10 year old alone on public transportation? Frightening to say the least. I mean I am afraid of school buses, but clearly that's another issue. My sister's point was, how rude these young boys were on the train; pushing, eating like pigs and throwing trash all over the floor and stuffing it behind the seats. A woman next to my sister spoke up and told the kids to pick up their mess, and only one apologized and did so; which leads me to believe that one boy was only acting that way because his friends were. It reminded me of how last week I was in BJ's (yay discount diapers!) and how some 12 year oldish boy literally ran my feet over with his carriage because he was running and pushing down the aisle. What is with kids these days? Don't they have parents to teach them manners? My mom would have never allowed any such behavior. And why should she? Who wants rude kids? This leads me back to my point about my sister...she is convinced we should open an etiquette school for children. I know my kids are by no means perfect, none are and that's what's so great about them. But come on! Don't parents take the time to actually...parent? But really, who am I to judge?

I took Julia to Ikea yesterday (she wanted candles for her bathroom, and yes she is 4) and of course while leaving she wanted an ice cream (it's at the checkout). I gave Julia her own dollar and she waited in line with me. She patiently waited her turn and when prompted by the cashier, she asked for, with a huge smile "One banilla ice cweam please!" Then she paid for her treat and said thank you for her receipt and her vanilla cone. Ah.....manners!

Anyone else have a good/bad behavior story?

Happy Birthday

This week has been a busy one. It started off easy enough, but there is something about food shopping with two kids that is just exhausting. They were both really good in the store, I think it has to do with the lugging of one child while constantly trying to hold the hand of the other, while making sure you get everything on the list and not all the extra's Julia keeps trying to throw in the carriage. Then to put it all away, ugh. Seriously, hours later my kitchen was back in order. But we did manage to get all the yummy stuff Julia wanted to decorate her cupcakes with. Julia had about 10 friends over for her birthday, and they all decorated a cupcake. Not as messy as I imagined, but super fun. So, that brings me to Julia's birthday...

Her birthday was Saturday, so the night before after the munchkins were asleep (or so I thought) I went to ItzaParty and got 24 balloons for Julia. While she was asleep, I decorated her room with them. She was so excited when she woke up! I told her they were from the "birthday fairy." She used to visit me when I was little. After breakfast Jay and I gave her the presents from us. We got her some shark bite hot wheels toy she wanted along with walkie talkies and some other little fun things. Innocent enough right? Yeah, except for the fact that our awesome walkie talkies pick up the same frequency as the truck drivers on 495. The first thing we all heard when we turned them on were a few choice words...I think you get the point. Although, completely entertaining for me, not exactly what I want my 4 year old repeating!!

All in all Julia had a wonderful day. Alison was so excited for a party she refused to nap, but was surprisingly still happy to see people.

Lady Godiva

At this moment, Julia is trying to ride Geoffrey (our English Mastiff) like a horse. Did I mention she isn't wearing pants? Julia hates pants and will take any chance she gets to take them off. On the bright side...at least she is wearing her undies today. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother buying her new clothes, she clearly prefers to be naked.

On another note, Julia has been quite the little mommy today to Alison. She is a big fan of trying to stuff a binky into her mouth, putting head bands on her and a bunch of other unsafe things. She means well, she really does. I was trying to keep Alison awake (she is a big fan of bedtime at 5:30) by holding her in front of the fish tank (it's soothing to her). Julia, very firmly, asked me "Are you going to put Alison in the fish tank?" I love how my parenting is questioned by a 4 year old...who isn't wearing pants!

My Julia

You will never guess where I found Julia's underwear yesterday about mid morning...in the trash. But I bet you will really never guess why...

Once I found the said undies I asked her why she threw them away. Simple answer: she didn't like them. I guess it was why she didn't like them that I found a tad alarming.

So I ask,"Why don't you like your undies?"

To this I get:

"I like the softness of my pants."

That's right. The softness of her sweat pants...against her butt. Jay and I will definitely have our hands full when she is a teenager!

Gramma's song Julia's way

I have oh so many dear memories of my Gramma. One of them happens to be of her singing to me. When I was little, I had a swing set in my backyard, and my Gramma would push me on the swing. While she would push me, she would sing, "One, Two Buckle my shoe..."

I sing the song with Julia every now and then, and it makes us both smile. Today she gave me her own rendition:

"One, two, buckle my butt hole..."

Excuse me, what?

Oh yeah, she said it. For some reason, she has a fascination with the word. Probably has something to do with the fact, that it is hysterical hearing that word come out of such a little mouth. Anyone that knows Julia well, knows she is a fan of the word and many renditions there of, including, but not limited to:

"That is butt hole-ish" and "butt holey".

She has been saying it since she was about 2. When she was about 22 months old, she stayed at my mom's (mimi) house for daycare while I worked. I got a call from my mom one day saying there was a problem. She told me Julia had lost her shoes. I told my mom, it was really no big deal. That's when she told me that wasn't really the problem. The problem was where Julia was insisting her shoes were...up her butt.

So I guess singing about butt holes was really only a matter of time. But the Gramma song? Come on!!

Where there's a will, there's a way...

I often forget that my little Julia is almost 4. She talks to me like such a big girl (well, most days) that I assume she knows what a lot of things mean. Yesterday, she was helping me pile all of my enormous maternity clothes into a plastic bin. I was separating the things I wanted to keep from the things I wanted to give to Good Will. Julia was having fun putting the clothes into the bin. So much fun, she opened daddy's draw and started to put his clothes in there, too. As she got back to separating my clothes, she made a third pile.
Curiously, I ask, "What are you doing?"
"These ones are for Bad Will."

love is in the air....

Today started off as a rather typical Saturday except Alison, Julia and I all received beautiful roses from Daddy for Valentine's day. Julia was so excited. She loves to smell things (a bit odd, I know) so flowers are right up her alley! After smelling her lovely red roses, she asked to smell my yellow roses. Her thought after taking a deep breath in:

"Ahh....smells like love...."



Where she gets this stuff, I may never know!

This evening proved a bit more challenging. While putting Alison to sleep, Julia felt the need to interrupt about every 5 seconds. This included, opening the door and closing it so her room gets really bright and then super dark, whispering, dancing, and whatever else her little mind saw fit.

As I was about to lose my patience on the last interruption, she leaned forward to me while I was rocking Alison, and whispered, a very loud whisper, with a rather huge grin....."Happy Valentine's Day Mommy!"

need a rinse?

Julia came out of the bathroom this morning with a rather sad look on her face. She tells me she is sorry, but she has clogged the toilet. No problem I tell her, but feel the need to ask...
"did you flush a lot of toilet paper down the toilet?"
"yes mom, 32 pieces"

32 pieces? like she was counting while clogging the toilet....

Ok, so off to investigate. Indeed clogged, not as bad as I initially imagined. You have to remember, Julia is almost 4, we have had many a clogged toilets...like the time she tried to make an elephant out of toilet paper and flushed and entire roll....

I flush the toilet to see if it will go down, no luck and the water is rising. While I wait for the water to go down, I turn around and switch my laundry. No big deal.

That is when Julia decided it would be a good idea to put all of that toilet water to good use. So what does she do you ask? SHE STICKS HER FOOT IN IT!! My reaction was a bit of a loud one...."WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!" Of course she was doing what only made sense in her funny little head..."I'm rinsing my foot."

Needless to say, a lot of antibacterial soap later, Julia had a clean foot.

intro

Welcome to my wonderful world. One filled with two beautiful little girls...what could be better?

My girls have that wonderful ability to make me smile, to make me see the bright side of things and find laughter in situations I never imagined possible. Because of that, and my sister's belief that almost everything Julia does should be published in a best seller, I have created this blog.

So why the name you ask? "I love you" is Julia's favorite thing to tell me, all day, all the time. In fact she loves me so much, while I was showering yesterday morning (woohoo a morning shower!!) she came barging right into the bathroom when she woke up. Alison was already in there hanging out in her little seat, so the more the merrier, right? Julia comes right over to the shower and whips open the shower curtain. The rest went down like this...

"Julia close the curtain!!"

"But mom.....I love you."

"But I am NAKED!!"

To that I got a "oh...sorry" as if I was the one being unreasonable.

So welcome to my life. I hope my girls make you smile...