11 in '11

1. Eyebrow maintenance - truly, only Brooke Shields can pull this look off

2. 11 pounds - I figured I would make it thematic, I do that

3. Learn how to use the sewing machine and make something worth wearing for something. I figure I have until October, as Natalie has requested to be a rainbow for Halloween.

4. Stay ahead of the laundry - may this be the only resolution I break

5. Beat my first 5K time, which ultimately means I must run another 5K

6. Run a 10K

7. Work on the Bro's scrapbook - seriously, I posted about this a year ago. He's two; it has one page completed. Natalie's has four years....ooops

8. Stop feeling guilty about taking time out for just me

9. Go on a date with my husband at least once a month

10. Find a way to get Natalie to eat vegetables

11. Follow Through!

Happy New Year!!!

Binge and Purge

This is post 199 for those of you keeping track. I'm almost at my goal, which in Kristen's world is usually where I start to slack off and lose steam...yes, I do slack off. But not this week, no not so much.

Although we may be in a "down" economy, it was a banner year for gifts in this household. Between Hanuka and Christmas celebrations (not to mention the birthday smack in the middle of the two), I am pretty sure that Natalie received everything (she can remember) that she wanted. My brother, with no children of his own (yet), went nuts. NUTS! Not in a bad way, more of a beloved, child-like, awesome uncle way. Games, barbie, a Home Depot work bench, a gumball machine, two electronic Thomas trains. That isn't even everything he bought and he isn't the only one who bought gifts! This sent me into a tailspin of cleaning and reorganization.

First, the upstairs craft closet (yes, we have more than one). Natalie was a good sport about throwing things out. I must give her credit because she really is a queen of ideas for repurposing materials. She is so convincing that even while I am in my mad woman phase of "everything must go" she makes me stop and think, maybe we should keep those ties that hold toys to the cardboard in order to make whatever clever idea she just told me." But I stayed strong, praised her creativity and resourcefulness and threw them out. OUT! The upstairs craft closet was the easiest, I have to say. Making room for the Crayola music draw thing and the light up Color Wonder paint set was easy.

Next came the game closet. It has been my dream, since before we had kids, that when we had kids we would have one of those game closets that had every game imaginable. Shout out Lyman family. I wanted their game closet. In fact, it is the model in my head as I reorganize every time a new game comes in. This holiday season brought us:

Twister

Scramble (aka Perfection)

Sorry (but not the original, although still on my list, a shuffle board version)

Kerplunk

Operation (which we already had, so we will pick out something new)

Three new puzzles

I'm tempted to list our entire collection, but I will spare you until another day. All I have to say is that it is good. Not finished, but if you wanted to come over and play a game, chances are we have it. And if you do want to come over, well, we're game. hahhahahhaha

There was some after hours purging that had to happen to make this organization possible. We said goodbye the the magnetic Melissa&Doug Calendar which had so many pieces that I was constantly picking up, I was not sad to see it go. Some noisy bug game that none of us knew how to play, and bag full of other stuff that really wasn't that great because I can't even remember what it was.

Since I was on a mission and we were snowed in on Monday, I decided it was high time that we take all the bins down from the attic, go through them, and purge. It feels so good. I organized all of Natalie's baby clothes (just in case), condensed three Christmas bins into one, and went through all of my work clothes from before I had Natalie. We threw so much out, that we were left with six empty bins. The rest we lettered and made a list as to what was in them.

The tree is undecorated and ready to be taken out and I feel that we are well prepared to bring in 2011!

Distractions

I am spending too many sleepless hours worrying about my house becoming a vomitorium. I warned you that is consumes my thoughts for the next few months, especially since a small wave actually hit us. I literally lay awake picturing the pie scene from Stand By Me and it is just a domino effect of illness. If you don't understand this reference, shame on you and go rent this fabulous coming of age film. Shame!

I became so entrenched in these worries this morning that I was totally convincing myself that I was feeling ill which of course led to a headache, which immediately concerned me that the brain aneurysm was coming. Seriously, this is the train of thought. After thinking about this for an hour or so, I thought that I would fight off my seasonal OCD with obsessive thoughts of more mundane things including, but not limited to:

1. "The Royal Engagement"

I am not really sure why I am supposed to care about this. People.com thinks that I am and have, therefore, dedicated an entire portion of their site to coverage of: Prince William and Kate Middletons' photographic and genic journey of courtship; Kate Middleton's fashion sense; Tiaras and former royal portraits. One of the Bush girls and Chelsea Clinton were married (not to each other, *gasp* could you imagine - how fabulous would that coverage be) and they did not get their own special sections on this website. Food for thought.

2. Justin Beiber

I have no idea what any of his songs are- they may be very good. I don't know. I find his hair and gummy smile disconcerting and overall he just makes me feel old. I am sure if I were a tweener, I too might be "in love" with him, although even as a "tween" he wasn't really my type. Oh Dylan McKay - now that was hair worth swooning for, right girls...and some male readers ;)

3. The Kardashian Christmas Card

I am an admitted tabloid junkie, so yes, I frequent People, USMagazine, and Eonline.com with regularity. This card is everywhere. It is not the crazy, over the top glamour of the card, I mean, really, they are the Kardashians, I expect nothing less than fabulous. The thing that I can't get over, is that Bruce Jenner has four other children who are not featured in the card. Where are they? At the very least, one would think that Brody would make the card. Yet, the only Jenner children are Kylie and Kendall. Yes, I keep up with the Kardashians, but it is Christmas people extended Kardashians via new marriage should share in the holiday cheer.

Ahhhh, all better.

Quarantine

I want to say that I have few rules, but the truth is I have few rules that I impose all the time. And really it is one rule with three categories.

Do not come to my house if:

1. You have head lice

2. You have pink eye

3. If you have recently (within the week) had a stomach bug

These things are all pretty highly contagious and while I am worried and hate to see my children sick, I think the bigger issue I have is if I get them. I truly believe that if I am affected with one of these illnesses/ailments that my house is going to fall apart and crumbled to the ground. I am that important and good at my job, that there is just no possible way they would survive without me for a day or so. Without a doubt, it would be a challenge for Dan, but deep down I know they would survive, barely, but survive they would.

People who know me know that these are my three rules and I am steadfast in them. Especially the stomach bug. Very strict no play for a week after puke. No joke, I won't let Natalie go to their houses for a week, at which point I am still nervous, but have talked myself off the ledge. I know I said it in the last post, but honestly, from November to March, I worry that every cough in the middle of the night, every slight stirring in a bedroom I hear, is someone getting ready to run themselves to the bathroom.

I thought we were in the clear when the bro got sick, but it was not devastating. We were not up all night with a tiny little man who really had no idea what was happening. But wouldn't it be just my luck, with the rules I have and rules that everyone knows about, that my Natalie would throw up all over my neighbors bathroom. Oh the horror and humiliation! I really thought we were in the clear. But at least I now know that I have these crazy rules for a reason and much to everyone's dismay and mental stability I have quarantined the three of us for the week...and it is awful. But in the end, when everyone is healthy with strong tummies to withstand Christmas Eve dinner of fish and Christmas cookies, my little people will thank me (someday) for my insane rules, which really, as I learned the hard way, are not so insane.

Sick Days

My little bud bud is sick. :( I hate when the kids are sick. It is in my top three worst aspects of parenting, preceded by bath time and followed by whining. Which, sidebar, when I became preggers and my mother was all, "Oh, I hope that child is just like you" in a weird evil stepmother vindictive, retribution way, I am pretty sure it was the whining about EVERYTHING that she was wishing upon me. But Natalie isn't the sick one.

It seems that when the bro gets sick he likes to make it really count. I, knock on wood - loudly, have relatively healthy children. Which is good, since I spend most days and nights of November through March worrying about stomach viruses. Colds, we get, but we are pretty lucky in terms of the flu, strep, croup, bronchitis, etc. But the bro, he's been housing something for the past two weeks or so. It started with a runny nose and a rough cough, which ran its course. But Wednesday, his birth day no less, the little man was in rare form. I mean, don't get me wrong...the kid doesn't sit still, but this day nothing occupied his attention, not even Fran Flynn the magician at dinner. If a magician can't do it, neither can I!

So, Wednesday he was all wiggly jiggly and out of sorts. Thursday, this is not for the weak of heart, he had a diaper that required all clothes to be stripped in the tub and an immediate wash down. I knew, in my mommy heart, that this was the preface to the dreaded vomit. But I will give the kid credit...he held it together at the dance studio, at Trader Joe's, Willow Books, and the car ride home. We walked in the door, up the stairs and WHAM - puke all over. Just the one time.

He went to bed at seven, awoke at ten (UNHEARD of), took a nap at twelve and puked all over at 4:30. But again held it together for the day. I hate the puke, but he kept rubbing his tummy telling me he didn't feel well (because he doesn't yet have those words) and then when it was done he was fine. But he still wanted to snuggle. And while I hate, hate, hate, the sickness it is the only time that he really wants to stay still and cuddle up next to me and be all snuggle puppy. So while I wish he felt himself, I am not so secretly happy for those few and far between (thank goodness) moments when he just needs his mommy.

Cute Always Cuts It

He's so cute, isn't he?

What you don't know about this picture, is that we had to be at Natalie's school for her Thanksgiving feast. I thought I was supposed to be there at 1:30, but really had to be there at 2:30. Because of this misunderstanding, this little guy had a not so great forty/forty-five minute nap in the car. When we went into Natalie's classroom, he was so overwhelmed by all the sensorial learning tools, he just kept shouting, "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" You can imagine how disruptive this can be in a classroom of 3, 4, 5, and 6 year olds. Then, a tray of cheese and crackers were brought into the room for the feast and his yelling went from "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" to "CHEESH! CHEESH! CHEESH!"

I'm pretty sure we won't be invited back into the classroom anytime soon, but he sure is cute, isn't he?

Happy Birthday, JoeJoe!

Merry Christmas, Love Kristen

There are things, that I remember as a little girl, I thought would make me the "grown up" I would want to be. I knew that I wanted a refrigerator that had the freezer and the fridge door side-by-side. I thought this was some sort of class statement. I wanted a refrigerator with water built into it. Again, I thought this said something about the lifestyle I would be living. And I wanted to send out Christmas cards. Specifically, the kind that came with a photo of my beautiful, photogenic family. Of course, saying something about the life I had carved out for myself.

My mother used to have cards ordered with our names engraved into them. I remember finding them in my father's den closet. I found them because they were never mailed. I would venture to guess, that to this day, my mother has intentions every year of sending out cards. She probably buys them, misplaces them, and doesn't send them too. That is not a dig-- it is a truth. But regardless, I remember finding these cards that I thought so fancy just sitting in the closet. I wanted to have these cards with my name, my husband's name, my imaginary children's names engraved in gold.

Once I was old enough to buy my own cards, I would painstakingly choose them from Staples, Barnes&Noble, The Hallmark Store, the day after Thanksgiving, write a "Merry Christmas! Love, Kristen" in all of them, address them and send them on their way to arrive as early as acceptably possible. I thought I was so classy. Then I became engaged and was able to sign them "Dan and Kristen" THEN I became a mother and no longer had to write anything because I was finally able to send that picture card, which with the advances of modern technology was not an add it, but the card itself!

I find myself, now, getting a glass of water from the spout in my dual door fridge basking in the mantel full of photo cards, thinking I have indeed arrived.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Hello everybody!

I was intending to right a blog about how burnt I've been feeling, as some half-assed excuse for why I haven't written in a while. But then I thought, boo-hoo for me, who the hell cares?

So, instead, I started to think about how my baby boy is approaching two and my little blog here is also approaching two. (this is really about the blog, and not at all about the boy - come back next week at this time if you are hoping to hear about him). Also, when I logged in to start this post, I noticed that I have written 191 entries, not including this one. Which then led my tired, fried, yet fired up mind to think about how when television series hit 200 episodes it is a big deal...well, at least they make it out to be a big deal.

So first, I have set my own goal to hit 200 posts before January 1 - oh the pressure! But this is 192 and I know for sure that there will be a birthday blog in my future which will be 193, so I am already making great progress.

But what about these ch-ch-ch-changes I speak of. Well, I am thinking about updating the look of my blog. But there is this voice in the back of my head, it belongs to an Italian man with a handlebarish mustache and a martini in hand, "Continuity, Kristen..." and that's when I'm not hearing "You can always order a pizza." Which, was said no less than three times last night.

So, I thought I'd throw it out there and let you know that the face of K.Rabs Blabs will be changing in the near future. I know there are some readers who would like me to change the name to What Would Kristen Do, but I feel like that might be a different blog...oooooo, like a Dear Abby blog...sorry, focus.

Heads up my dear readers, if you come back and I look different, slimmer, taller, whatevs, it's still me, just two. :)