Clifford

Clifford is that name that I gave our big red van that my Mom drove around when I was in my youth (get it? Clifford the big red dog...?). I could not think of a more embarrassing vehicle to be dropped off in than a huge van. A woody rusty minivan would have been a welcome change. My Mom was (and still is) an aggressive driver, and she would always pull the van up to the very front, most obvious spot for the maximum amount of people to see me exiting the dreaded van. (In my parents defence there are 8 kids in my family so the van really is the only option for that many people). So to wrap it up, a good portion of my childhood was spent in total and utter embarrassment due to Clifford.

Fast forward 8 years.

The last time we visited NY Audrey got to ride in Clifford, and she thought it was the coolest thing that ever happened to her (like cooler than Chuck E Cheese).

Earlier this week me and Trav were talking about how he needs to get another truck for the business. Audrey got very upset and she said "NO Trav! You already have enough trucks!" So I asked her what kind of car she would want and she said "A van". I asked her if she'd want a big van or a small van. "A big van, that is red, with grey seats. That would be AWESOME!!" was her reply. It cracks me up just to type it. Who would have thought that my own daughter would think that the most embarrassing thing from my youth would be "awesome"?

just to keep it messy

I am a TV show kinda girl, I have a daily schedule of "relaxation" (umm....whose excited for the new DWTS?). Wednesday nights is The Middle, and Modern Family. Modern Family is funny, but I can relate to The Middle on so many levels. Last week the husby from The Middle was complaining about how between him and his wife they work 4 jobs, all just to stay poor. I don't work (in the world's sense) but I feel like I am constantly cleaning my house, and it is NEVER clean, it just basically stays the same (except for if I don't clean it gets bad....very bad). All this cleaning just to keep my house at its current level of messiness. Gahhh! I try not to get too frustrated though because I know there will be a time when I miss all of the pee spots on the carpet from Phoenix running around in the nude, and all of Audrey's animals scattered on the ground, and all of the smushed food spots on our kitchen floor. I just have to remind myself of that...a lot.

embarrassing

One of Audrey's new favorite (and usually misused) words is embarrassing. I usually don't correct her when she uses it incorrectly because I think it is cute.

Audrey and Phoenix LOVE baths (it might run in the family). Phoenix does the sign for bath about 5 times a day (very hard to resist!). Once in a while Phoenix will need to um...err....uhh...relieve himself when he is in the bath. He will stand up and let the pee flow. Audrey thinks it is hilarious. A few nights ago Phoenix did just this and between laughs Audrey said "Phoenix, that is embarrassing!" Phoenix laughed, and so did I. 2 kids keeps things interesting!

an update on Phoenix

(oreo-stash)

I am not going to lie. this lil fella was a lot of work between the ages of 6-14 months. There was a 6 month period when he would basically whine the entire day unless I held him, and he wouldn't be satisfied with me just holding him. He liked it when I would try to do things while holding him (cleaning, cooking...). It was a really difficult time, but my hard work has paid off! Phoenix is the happiest little guy now, he still gets into EVERYTHING, but he brings so much joy into our home. He gives me lots of wet and slobbery kisses, he is ultra cuddly, he is actually eating now, he loves playing ring-around-the-rosie, he loves nursery, he loves getting picked up from nursery (me and Trav always fight over who gets to pick him up because he gets a huge smile on his face and runs over to us), he is obsessed with candy, and he is starting to try to talk. He can say "uh-oh" (sounds like eh-ah), sometimes he says "all gone" (sounds like ah-gah), when I say "Trav" he tries to say it...oh my goodness, we LOVE this little guy. Whenever he sees his binky and blanky he will go grab them and then come and cuddle in mine or Trav's arms (I will sometimes bring him into his room to get his blanky just for the cuddles). Oh, and the other day he played for almost 2 hours by himself, in his room, with his cars. I am starting to think I might be able to pick up crafting/reading again! I usually bring Phoenix and Audrey to the local kids museum about once a week and he is obsessed with the trains there. His newest obsession is peanut butter, one morning this week he just wanted spoonfuls of peanut butter (I gave him like 10!). Life is good here at the Andrew house!

Audrey"s First Kiss (and love triangle)

So...there is this boy named Andrew in Audrey's preschool class. He is totally adorable, has long hair (surfer like), and he is in love with Audrey. A few months ago when I picked Audrey up from school she told me that Andrew said that he wanted to marry her. So naturally I asked her every day after that if he told her he was going to marry her. For a while her answer was in a very high pitched and annoyed (at me) "No! Just forget about it!". Then one day he told her he wanted to marry her again. And the next day, and the next day, and so on. So pretty much her and Andrew have been unofficially engaged for about 2 months. I always ask Audrey for updates (do you blame me?) and one day she told me that on the playground she was playing with a boy named Benjamin and Andrew came up and started pulling Audrey away and saying "I am going to marry her!" and Benjamin started pulling her other arm and saying "But she is my friend!" Audrey went to play with Andrew. Every few weeks Audrey will get a yellow ticket in class (bad) because her and Andrew were talking too much. Audrey used to say that she was going to marry Phoenix, but apparently Andrew asked his Mom about that and he informed Audrey that she could not marry her baby brother. Last week when I picked Audrey up she said "Mom! Andrew kissed me today!" Travis heard it to, and he said "Audrey, you shouldn't be kissing him." She said (in a very defensive tone) "Andrew is in love with me!" Travis said "It is just puppy love", Audrey responded in the same defensive tone "No, it's not!" Then Travis asked her how long the kiss was and she said "two minutes" (I am pretty sure it was not that long). When we got home I asked her to show me what her kiss was like because I was curious. Let's just say that was waay too much passion in it (I'm talking moving her head back and forth and it was at least 10 seconds long!!). I told her that she shouldn't kiss like that until she is married. And the last few days on the playground Benjamin and Andrew have been fighting over Audrey a lot, and now Benjamin is saying he wants to marry Audrey too. She told me she usually pretends to be a kitty cat when the boys are fighting.

I am friends with Andrew's Mom and she told me that Andrew talks about buying a house with Audrey after they get married. I actually think the whole thing is wicked cute (except for the passionate kiss...but even that makes me laugh a little). But Travis is VERY concerned about Audrey's teenage years.