What Kind of Mother Am I?

Matt left this morning. He'll be away for three weeks. I'll be going it alone for the first time with two children.

In preparation for this, I went to bed early last night. I knew I'd need a lot of sleep to get off to a good start.

It started out as a pretty normal day. Olivia did her normal begging for snacks and screaming for daddy when I wouldn't allow her to open and pour the Cheerios or Rice Crispies box on her own. She ate a decent lunch and I put her down for a nap. She had fallen asleep in the car an hour earlier for all of two minutes and, therefore, decided that was all the nap she needed. At least she played quietly in her crib for nearly two hours.

When she got up, she wanted to call Grandma and Grandpa McQuilton. After she entertained them both, I took the phone and started talking with my mother-in-law. Olivia migrated to the kitchen. After a couple of minutes, I noticed it was quiet. I walked into the kitchen. No Olivia, door open....DOOR OPEN!!!

I ran down into our arctic entryway and found that that door, too, was open. Oh no. I looked outside to where her new bike was sitting. No Olivia. This was serious. I looked to my left. My heart skipped several beats (had it been beating anyway?). There she was - running after the dog in the parking lot across my street. Barefoot. MP (military police) quickly getting out of his vehicle to apprehend said toddler and partner-in-crime.

I run down the street with my phone in hand, "Patty, I'll call you back."

I grabbed Olivia, said a quick hello and sorry to the MP, grabbed the dog by the collar and started to breath.

"Olivia, you know how to open the door now, huh!?"

"Mommy, I say, no Nali, no outside. He go outside. I go outside. I say, no Nali, NO NO NO!!! Come ear, Nalie! Nali outside, Mommy. Nali outside and I go outside!"

She's barely two and she's already blaming the dog!

While I was pregnant for Olivia, Matt and I envisioned she and Denali being partners-in-crime. Wasn't that conversation yesterday?

The rest of the afternoon, she went around the house proudly showing me how she can now open doors by herself.

Tomorrow, I'll cart two kids into Home Depot or Lowe's and buy door alarms or whatever they have to keep my child inside!

Note-to-Self #256: You are not a bad mother. This happens to everyone at some point? Or does it?

To my DH (dear husband) - I miss you! I have no idea how I survived 16-months without you!

KinderMusik Fun

Olivia has been enjoying KinderMusik for several months now. She used to be shy (What? Olivia shy??) and not participate much. However, lately, she's been participating a bit more so I thought I'd post a few pictures and a video.


Olivia shares a laugh with best friend, Ellie

Lila looks on

Weekend Recap

I'm exhausted! What a busy weekend. Olivia had swimming lessons on Saturday. Saturday afternoon, we had another barbecue. Our lovely new neighbors pulled out their Little Tikes Bouncer and Olivia had a blast. Though, she did manage to sneak out when mommy and daddy weren't looking and try to run to the park near our house by herself.

The mosquitoes are out in high gear. The past couple of summers it's been pretty smokey and those not-so-little blood suckers were kept at bay. I don't want the smoke but I don't want the mosquitoes either - so if anyone knows of a non-sticky, non-smelly, easy-to-apply, paraben-free, made for sensitive skin mosquito repellent, let me know (is there such a thing?)!

Lila Helps Daddy Prepare for ROP

Though the above picture was a bit posed, Matt has been working out hard so he can be prepared for ROP. A three-week program in Ft. Benning, GA that he has to get through in order to go to Ranger Regiment. It's tough and though he's ranger qualified, he's never been part of regiment before. So, we wish him the best - but, will be happy he tried even if he doesn't get accepted! Hopefully, by June we will have a good idea where we're heading next. We have so many exciting things happening this summer! Several visitors, exploring more of Alaska and moving! The girls are growing so quickly and Matt and I are soaking up every second of it!