Happy Birthday Raven!

Ok you caught me, Raven's birthday is actually June 26th. However, we celebrated a little late. Raven enjoyed a nice trip to the park with the family. She got to see turtles, fish, and plenty of kids. Caedan was the guest of honor at her fabulous party.

We then came home and sang her Happy Birthday and gave her a special cookie, which actually matched our treat. We had Black Forrest Cake. Caedan absolutely loved it. i believe Raven is still trying to find an appropriate hiding spot for her matching cherry decorated cookie. I can't blame her though, it is important to find a good spot, or else Caedan might take a bite.

I can't believe Raven is three. It seems like yesterday that we were listening to her cry all night. We finally gave in after four long months of sleep deprivation and let her bed share. Now she is Queen of the Castle.

Ravey then and now:

Toddler Hugs

I am absolutely convinced that toddler hugs are the sweetest things on earth.

Panera Update

I still love Panera just as much as I always have. I think Caedan is starting to recognize that place like he recognizes home or Grandma's. In fact, as we were eating a few days ago, a lady comes up to us and asks what Caedan is eating. I tell her that he likes the chicken and bread. At the same time I am wondering to myself, why does she care. She then tells me that she had to know because as I carried him through the door his eyes lit up and he became very excited. Well, yes, of course, he is my son.

We seemed to draw attention to ourselves yesterday at Panera as well. We went to lunch, while Brian had band practice at our house. Caedan was getting very frustrated that he couldn't go in the basement and practice with the band. So I brought him to Panera to cheer us both up. We shared a Cobb salad, no cheese, no eggs and add pecans accompanied by a french baguet and a large ice tea (new summer menu item, which can now swap out with my Fuji salad). I also, being a good mommy, and instinctually knowing that my son needed to share a cookie with me got a chocolate chip one.

However, ordering the chocolate chip cookie caused quite a few stares. As I am ordering my lunch. I tell the cashier, who we happen to see quite often, that I would like a cookie but I am going to grab it when Caedan isn't looking. This prevents an entire meal of toddler angst. She completely understood and rung up the cookie but didn't hand me one or mention it. So when she was distracting Caedan with our cup, which he late spat into (thanks hun), I picked up a cookie with my free hand and moved it around my back, into my bag. Well didn't that get thousands of stares and disapproving looks from strangers. I would just like to say for the record I PAID FOR MY COOKIE! I do not take my son out for a day of shop lifting. Thank you and you obviously have forgotten what it is like to have a toddler.

Caedan enjoyed lunch and then got to come home and watch the band from the top of the stairs. He also came down after practice and got to hang out and "jam" with them. The perfect day for toddler Caed.

Ahhh the Park

I remember swinging at the park for what seemed like forever. The swings are very coveted park equipment. I deem myself lucky every time we visit the park and I can swing side by side with Caedan. However, it is just not the same. In fact, I think I experience a bit of motion sickness. This really saddens me. If nothing else, I should be able to ride the swings with out needing to bring a barf bag with me. Okay, it hasn't gotten that bad. I dread the day it might. Maybe I should start pretending that I am going to be in the swing olympics and start training, just to avoid nausea.

Caedan, on the other hand, loves the swings. He loves everything about the park. He is getting good at swinging, watching the neighbor kids play, sliding, climbing, and "driving" with the randomly placed steering wheel. Raven even likes to tag along from time to time, to ensure that no one can hear anything over her barking.

A Decade

When I think of the word decade, my mind immediately wanders to thoughts of the 80s. I am not sure why. But hearing decade makes me think awful hair, hideous clothes, and shoulder pads. Yup, shoulder pads gets its own category. I also think of the good things the 80s brought us though, like the Care Bears, Smurfs, and Rainbow Brite, to name a few.

However, today, the word decade signifies how long Brian and I have been dating. For some reason, the word decade makes 10 years seem even longer. But here we are. Ten years after we decided to start dating officially. Crazy.

Tonight Caedan gets to spend some time with his Grandma. Poor Raven will have dinner on her own. Brian and I will be dining out and reminiscing. We have had many terrific times during this decade. I can only hope we will be even half as blessed in the next.

Now I will return to being my sarcastic self.

Photographic Evidence

There is now photographic evidence that we, Brian, Caedan, and I, went to our neighborhood pool. It probably won't become a trend or anything. But we did it. We braved the waters.

Caedan has been swimming before, however, he clung like a little koala bear to Brian the entire time. It was super cute. He even started to fall asleep. I will be sure to explain to him in the future that sleeping and swimming aren't a really good combo. But I will let it slide for now.

We took bets on how long we would stay. Mine was 15 minutes, Brian's was 30 minutes. Well we surpassed them both and swam for a whopping 35 minutes. I should mention though, that we went at 5:00 at night. So we did not have to see to many neighbors or need to deal with the hot, summer sun.

Best Buds

Caedan and Raven are an inseparable duo. Raven started watching out for him the minute he arrived home. She is always cautious of who should be allowed near her little brother. Caedan returns the favor by offering to share his food, toys, clothes, and more. Whatever Caedan thinks will make Raven happy, he hurries to give it to her, giggling all the way, since he knows mom and dad probably wouldn't approve. They have almost become inseparable.

However, their have been some down sides. Caedan has now taken on Raven's habit of barking out the window. Today at lunch, even in his weakened, sick state, he managed to boof at a neighbor mowing his lawn. Every time he would look out the window he would point at the man and boof. Cute, to say the least, funny even, but not the best habit to pick up.

Raven has also changed as Caedan grows older and is more mobile. She has decided to un-house train herself, little by little. This is one of the most annoying things we have encountered with her to date. Can dogs experience sibling rivalry?
I swear they also egg each other on. Like the other day when Caedan decided that Raven's litter box was a sand box. It is almost like they give each other ideas on how to create the most mischief possible. Whenever they are caught, Raven runs under the bed and Caedan giggles and follows her.

But through it all, I wouldn't change anything. They love each other and have a very special bond.

WORST Job

There are many jobs I would never have. However, right now, I cannot imagine being the community manager. I imagine sitting in the office going through emails and letters written by busy bodies and tattle tales. The job would be beyond frustrating.

Fast forward to yesterday. We are having a pretty bad day. Caedan is sick, mail issues, Panera won't carry the Nutty Chocolate Chipper cookie anymore, and drumroll please.... HOA letter! Oh those are the best! Here is what ours says:

Friendly Reminder (sure)

It has come to our attention the following condition exists at (address): clean bird droppings off of front bay window, your back yard grass is in need of mowing, and remove your recycling bin from the front of your house.
Our apologies, if this was a temporary condition or if it has been corrected.

I would say all those things are pretty temporary. I think you also missed calling us out on our missing shutter.

For what it is worth, the grass was bad, I fully admit it. However, we had cut it. But I am going to rethink cutting the grass, since it attracts neighbors with full bladders. The bird poop - I mean really? I didn't even notice. I literally read the letter and went outside to look. It probably happened the day before and it is a little bit. I mean if we want to nit pick - I can think of much greater issues in our neighborhood.

That brings me to the recycle bin. Fine, we kept our recycle bin on our steps two days extra. Should that really call for a notice? Really? It had been raining and we have to store them in the house, since we have no garage. Who wants a wet nasty recycle bin in their house? Maybe I should bring it over to the anonymous tipster's house for storage. Do you think I can claim that I am trying to raise recycling awareness and keep the bin on my front doorstep permanently? I can't believe I pay to get hassled for little things.

I wonder if I can get my pool pass taken away...that would be a shame.

Saying Goodbye

We seem to be saying goodbye to more and more stores, restaurants and other establishments in this economy. Some hit home more than others. The other day I saw that Lotus had closed. Lotus was a Chinese restaurant near our home. I was immediately hit with a feeling of grief. Even though we rarely eat Chinese food, this restaurant had been tied to our family in a special way.

We ventured to Lotus a few times while I was pregnant. Always ordering the same thing. Lotus was also, where we ordered from for Valentine's Day when Caedan was only five days old. It was not a very good meal, but very memorable. The dish with "crispy potatoes" turned out to be Lay's potato chips. Probably the most memorable visit for us, was Caedan's first Christmas. We ate there after our big meal and celebration, as the day was winding down. They had some great crispy beef.

I am surprised it lasted this long though. Last time I was there, I swear the Board of Health was giving them a long list of things to improve. The service was impeccable though. Even though we were the only diners, literally, the food always took an hour to arrive at our table. Oh how I will miss you Lotus.

Shocking...Okay maybe not

I swore I wouldn't write about my neighbors today. I thought I would give you a taste of other things/thoughts in my life. But alas, when the opportunity presents itself...

So Brian, Caedan, Raven, and I are sitting down to a nice steak dinner. We actually have the blinds open. Well, I am thinking about having them permanently shut after what I witnessed tonight.

We see a girl in our backyard, perhaps a tween/teen. Nothing unusual, their is a small path in the back that kids like to run between the houses on. Well, she looks both ways and to our absolute amazement, she pulls down her pants, squats and pees right there, in our backyard. Umm yea. Looking both ways doesn't mean that the coast is clear.

Has playing outside become that pressing and unbelievably fun that you will pee in a stranger's backyard? I mean really? How far away could her house have been? Two feet? Three even?

Ah, life in the suburbs. I thought you lived outside the city to avoid things like strangers peeing in your yard.

Mixed Signals

I am almost certain that my dog, Raven, cannot read. She is pretty smart. But, alas, reading does not rank high on her skills list or, I imagine, on her priority list.

Therefore, this sign makes me smile even more when I pass it. First, I smile because I imagine the type of person that actually places a sign like this in their yard. Secondly, did it ever occur to the person that the sign actually looks like a warm inviting, please poop here to dogs? I would also imagine, taking into consideration Raven's character and lack of discipline, she would love to poop in this yard if she COULD read. So, in my book it is a complete and udder failure to have this sign in your yard. But thank you for the smile I get every time we take Raven for a walk past your house.

This will be the Summer

Every year I say this will be the summer we go to the neighborhood pool. It never is. Every year we fill out the form and get our updated pool passes and guest passes. Every year I change the stickers to the current year. Nope, not the year.

I even followed this handy reminder:

Pool Pass Application and Membership Agreement should have been sent to PMP no later than May 8th for your passes to be ready for opening day. Passes will NOT be mailed to your home ~ you must pick them up at the pool upon your first visit or every Friday after 4:00 pm.

And no, just so you know I will not be picking up my pool pass every Friday. I chose the one time option - on my first visit - even though we didn't actually go inside.

It doesn't surprise me though, that we have never ventured to that side of the neighborhood. Brian and I are in total agreement on this: we hate the sun. I hate being hot and baking in the sun. In fact, i despise it. We called ourselves vampires, before it was cool.

Here are some reasons to go to the pool:

- The awesome hours - 12 am - 8 pm. So, why not be open that extra 4 hours? Is that when everyone sleeps?
- The neighbors - It will be harder to avoid them. But the people watching should be nice.
- I can invite 10 people, free of charge, to come to the pool that I already pay to maintain.
- It is located right next to the "Clubhouse," which I can check out prior to my next big bash.

Wonder why I am so anti-outdoors and anti-pool? Maybe it was because I was forced to play outside as a child for hours on end. There comes a time in your life when you can't handle any more outdoor fun. But don't worry about Caedan, he will see the light of day. He will come to enjoy the outdoors, I am sure. Maybe we will just send Raven out to watch him, like the neighbors do.