Hippo Birdie Two Ewe...Well, to Me!

Today is my birthday.
I am 31.

It feels like if I am old enough to be 31, then I should really have all my crap together. I totally don't. I think I am going to start by at least keeping my room clean. We will start with the things I should have mastered when I was a teenager. Hey, maybe it will make me feel young again!

I started the morning "sleeping in" which these days means I stay in bed till Ella yells enough to get me out. This morning that meant 7:30am. Man, I am crazy! We raced off to pick Nick up and play a little T-Ball and then home again.

After naptime, the kids iced their own Mommy's Birthday Cupcakes. They got to pick the icing color and had sprinkles and stuff to put on top. It was fun, but one of those activities that took about 5 minutes instead of 25. I took all the leftover icing and mixed it up to ice the rest of the cupcakes and we had a deeeeeeeep purple color on our hands. It was barely edible-color wise. But because I am not one to leave a cupcake lonely and uneaten (especially when it's a lemon cupcake with home made buttercream icing,) I took care of it anyway. I am a really wonderful person like that.

We watched a movie and ate pizza with the kids and after bedtime, David and I watched "Dan in Real Life" with Steve Carell. We'd seen it int he theatre but I loved it so much that I wanted to see it again. It is a lovely film that makes you laugh and leaves you feeling good and maybe a little contemplative.

Now, as I have 30 minutes of "My Day" left, I see my husband asleep on the couch next to me with my 7 week old daughter on his chest. Upstairs, I have a 5 year old asleep in my bed as well as a 3 1/2 year old in one bedroom and a 3 year old in her bedroom. There are a handful of cupcakes still needing to be iced in the kitchen and Star Wars figurines litter my floor. My toenail polish is a little chipped (and will be fixed by church tomorrow or I will be wearing closed toe shoes) and my jeans need to be washed. There is laundry to hang, pictures to edit, a website to update and scripts to review.

This is 31 for me.

I think it is going to be great.

N to the G

I am seriously blowing my kid's mind with this show. He adores all things dance, especially hip hop and since he "learned" to roller skate this weekend, he can't get over that Team BreakSk8 can dance on skates. Actually the first thing he said was, "Mommy, they can STAND STILL wearing their skates?!"

Ahhh, MTV-bringing the family together-not tearing it apart. (As long as you fast forward through all of the commercials for Spring Break 2008 and the Real World.)

Tagged. And Pictures.

Pictures first!

Nathan is in T-Ball and loving it-most of the time. For his first semi game (scrimmage) he got to play catcher. It was all I could do to not run out onto the field and eat him up he looked so cute in all the gear...

I guess you could say that this seasons baseball crush will be on the adorable, snuggly, sweet and spirited Number 3 of the Bluejays!

(Never think I will forsake my all time crush and love Trevor Hoffman though. Especially now that he is sporting some handsome long locks at spring training this time around. I will always love you Trevor!)

Now, the Tagging...
I was tagged to open the closest book to me and write down the first 5 sentences from page 123. (I wrote 6.) I don't usually do this but it had something to do with books. And I love books.

The Last Battle
by C.S. Lewis
Chapter 12

Jill ought to have been back at the white rock already but she had quite forgotten that part of her orders in the excitement of watching the fight. Now she remembered. She turned at once and ran to it, and arrived there barely a second before the others. It thus happened that all of them, for a moment, had their backs to the enemy. They all wheeled round the moment they had reached it. A terrible sight met their eyes.


I tag, ummmm....


Deanne

Angela
Emmy
Amy
Troy

She Had a Strong Walk and She Was Fierce

Daddy and Nathan events happen often in our house. They do things like hiking, taking pictures together, T-Ball, even church work days. Lucy and I get to hang out but we often end up running errands or cleaning the house. So when we had a chance for a Mommy and Lucy "thing," I jumped all over it!

Last Saturday , it was a Fashion Show. Nordstrom has a children's fashion show in the spring and Lucy was invited to participate! We went down a week before the show for her to select her outfit she was going to model. She informed me (and Nathalie-the gal from Nordy's who invited us and adores Lucy) that she would be wearing a PINK DRESS. We looked at every PINK DRESS in the department. There were some really really awful pink dresses. And, oddly enough, when Lucy would select one of those ugly pink dresses as her new favorite to wear in the fashion show, Mommy would inform her that they just didn't have Lucy's size! Isn't that the oddest of coincidences? We found a beautiful dress we both loved and I found out it was a $68 Ralph Lauren dress. And since I knew that Lucy was going to want to take home whatever she modeled, I had to pass on the dress that cost more than what I spent on the entire outfit I was wearing that day. We finally found an adorable Sweet Ivy dress at a reasonable price.

The day FINALLY came and we were down at the Nordstrom in Fashion Valley by 8am. Lucy's hair was all done and she had new shoes to match her dress and Mommy was doing her best to be as pressure-free with her sweet model.

We got dressed and hustled ourselves in line with about 40 other kids and mommies. Our fans showed up: Emmy, Gwen, Amy, Jeff and Kim. We were set! The show started and we inched our way closer and closer to the white carpet runway. When it was Lucy's turn, I handed her off to the Nordy's employee and stepped out front to take pictures. I saw Lucy take about 2 steps and then she suddenly disappeared. She ran sobbing backstage and couldn't find me right away which made everything even worse for her. She just held me and said she didn't want to go. I told her she didn't have to-and I really really meant it-and suggested we go see our friends.

Suddenly she said she wanted to try again. The gals who were helping to wrangle the kids said she could totally go again and this time she walked down the runway and turned around and bolted off stage-this time with a giant smile on her face.

"I DID IT!" She told me.

Oh yes Baby Girl, you did.

Moments before changing our mind....

Second time is the charm! And look at her charm her way down the runway.

"Mommy! I did it!"

Some of Lucy's adoring fans

We are blessed to have such lovely friends.

Double Standards...The Only Kind To Have

As I drive around town (I have been doing that a lot...I am on a mission that when it is complete, I will tell you all about!) I am amazed at the number of houses that still have their Christmas Lights on display.

This judgement is passed despite my role as a Christmas Decor Nazi and including the fact that I still have my Holiday Starbucks Mugs on display in my kitchen.

Ahhh, hypocrisy...isn't it refreshing?

Sometimes You Just Can't Dial Down the Crazy

I love that Elle McPherson uses the word "knickers" instead of "panties" on America's Next Top Model. I am SO teaching that one to my kids. Hmmmmm, if I only talk in a British or soft Aussie accent to Ella if she will develop one? That would be awesome! I'd have 2 Yankee Youths and 1 sweet English Muffin.






OK, I just went back and read what I wrote and I have decided I have too much power. I shouldn't be raising impressionable children. Maybe with every crazy Mommy thought I have, I will put a dollar in a jar to be later used for the kids' counseling and crazy-deprogramming sessions.

From the Mixed Up Day of Miss Ella Anne Zabrosky

Dear Diary,

Oh what a day it was yesterday and today! Certainly not one of those boring days filled with sleeping, eating, pooping and stopping women in their tracks and causing their ovaries to call out for more children because of my undeniable cuteness and beauty.

I started the day normally after a night of general fussiness. I am not sure why, I just wasn't in a good mood. Woke up on the wrong side of the cradle I think. And around 11am, I spiked a fever of 101.5. Mommy was SURE she took my temperature wrong so she retook it an hour later and got 100.4. She called my doctor who said I needed an outing...to the Emergency Room. Yay!

Mommy bundled me up in the Moby Wrap and we waited in the waiting room for our turn. I took a nap and kept Mommy nice and warm. People would look twice at us before they realized I was snuggled papoose style on Mommy.

Once they called us back and took my temperature, it was back up to 101.3. They let us know that all kinds of tests needed to be done, including a lumbar puncture, a pic line for an IV and blood tests and all kinds of other poking and prodding. They also told Mommy that I would need to spend the night at Children's Hospital. Hooray! Another field trip!

Mommy didn't want to see all the tests done so she left me with the kind nurse ladies and she called Daddy to come too. Our friends next door said they'd-what did Mommy call it-"wrangle" Brother and Sister while we were gone. I dazzled everyone I met with my charm and mesmerizing presence.

After all the tests were done, we got to go to Children's Hospital...in an ambulance! How exciting! Find another 3 week old who has had this much fun in their short life! Plus, the ambulance guys were cute.

Once we got to the hospital, we relaxed and Mommy and I settled in for the night. I would have slept better if the nurses there didn't come in every 2 hours to poke me, test me and then use this loooooong tube to suck all the boogers out of every inch of my body through my nose. I mean, I know I am filled with a creamy, gooey center (that's why I am so irresistible) but I thought it was caramel or Cadbury Crème Egg or homemade cheesecake-not snot!

Test results were slowly coming back in and were looking good so far. No bacterial infection, nothing really all that serious looking. I however, felt the continued poking and suctioning was a VERY serious matter but no one listens to me!

I hung out in bed a lot...or snuggled Mommy as we waited to see what the doctors wanted to do with me. It was a quiet day since Daddy is sick and can't visit and all of our friends and family are either sick or have sick kids.

The doctors decided that I probably just have the boogery, snotty cold that Brother and Sister have and they gave me some meds and sent us home. Mommy was so happy that she took pictures of her shoes and said, "There's no place like home." I am not sure why she did that. I know it is a lot louder here at home than at the hospital but I don't mind since it means no more suctioning or poking or prodding. I get to see another doctor in the morning and then I think I will be all done with the adventure for now.

Mommy told me that if I was looking for some extra attention to just ask her to read a book to me next time.

Good Night Diary,

Ella Anne