Best Friends

It has become evident that we have a little hero worship going on at our home.

Lacy has to do EVERYTHING her dad does. She does anything she can think of to get a reaction out of him... any reaction. If it means she needs to stand in front of him so that he can't see the televising, she will do it! She runs up behind him and smacks him constantly. She LIVES for his attention.

Fortunately, they get along most of the time...

Here are our superheros in action.




If daddy puts his 3D glasses on the back of his head while waiting in line for the Toy Story ride at Disneyland, so will Lacy!

My Afternoon

It's been a day full of Lacy madness. I was laid up on the couch most of the day feeling pretty crummy, but once Randy got called in for an overtime shift I realized I would be in charge of dinner. Drat. Over the past few days I have completely emptied the fridge of all back up food. Yes, I consider slices of summer sausage and canned oranges a perfectly acceptable meal. (At least when the husband is at work!)


Somehow I managed to pull the two of us together and get things moving. Before we walked out the door, I wrote down a quick list of what I needed to get at Target. (We were sharing one roll of toilet paper between three bathrooms!) I neatly folded my paper into a little square and placed it in my pocket. As to be expected, Lacy began to do the same. While I hunted for my keys, Lacy finished off folding up her list. Suddenly I hear sobbing coming from the living room. I find Lacy standing in front of the door, tears down her face. She couldn't find the pockets of her jeans, and therefore couldn't put her list away. Absolute meltdown.

We quickly located her pockets and secured the list, and Lacy managed to recover. It was time to head out. First stop: beauty supply store. Momma needs a root job. We walked towards the store hand in hand. Somewhere among Lacy's incessant chatter I thought I heard her say that she needed a new lipstick. I assumed she meant Chap Stick. I was wrong. As soon as we made it into the store she marched right up to the cashier and asked said, "Excuse me, I need to know where the lipstick department is." I stood there in shock. Did she seriously just ask where the lipstick department was?!? To my continued disbelief, the cashier took her to the make-up area and showed her where everything was. Lacy thanked her and began to shop. I had every intention of putting a stop to the whole thing, but I was too dumbfounded to do anything whatsoever. My four year old was seriously shopping for lipstick. She looked at a nice peach color, a dark purple, and settled on a pretty pink. And being the sucker I am... I bought it for her. She even let me try some on. It really is a nice color!

And then we went to Trader Joe's for some random groceries. While waiting in line to check out, a strange white-trash couple behind us were staring at Lacy. Somewhere along the line the man decided it would be funny to make donald duck noises for Lacy. She stared at him completely unfazed. He continued. Finally she looked right at him, hands on her hips and said, "That's. Not. Funny." But still he persisted. And so did she, "I don't know why you are doing that." As we started to walk away she turned to the both of them and said, "Not. Funny. At. ALL." I left it at that. She was right, it wasn't funny. But she sure was!

Just another day in paradise around here.

Absolutely Fabulous

Lacy is now doing her own makeup. Topped off by a few sprays of Chanel perfume.

Operation

One of the many gifts Lacy received this Christmas was the game Operation. We figured it might help her fine motor skills to have to use the tweezers to extract certain parts from the fat little man on the operating table. Of course we neglected to appreciate the emotional aspect of the game. In the middle of surgery Lacy became visibly upset and asked me, "Mom, do you think this guy is gonna make it? Will he be okay? I'm just thinking he's not going to survive!"

Merry Christmas - Guest Blogger Style

Merry Christmas to all! No, this isn't Jo. This is her older sister, Becky, here to assure you that all is well in Isley land. I was just listening to Lacy chatter about the art of bath taking a few minutes ago. Jo's busy helping Lacy to "look fabulous" for Christmas right now (Lacy's words) and she sent me in to post a Christmas post since she's been a bit tardy in her posting as of late. Who knew that life with a four year-old would be so busy?

First, a little background. For the past two and a half years, I have been living 2000 miles away from my family while attending graduate school to work on a PhD. Before that, I taught high school for ten years and was fairly sure I'd seen and heard everything that kids could do. (Trust me... I could tell you some stories!) Since I've been gone, I get regular updates about the many escapades of Lacy mostly through this very blog. It's important to note here that having grown up with Jo, I know she has a particular tendency when it comes to story telling. She does what she and my dad call "exaggerating for humorous effect." So naturally, I would read the stories she posts and think, "maybe that's just a tad exaggerated. I don't know any four year-olds that do things like that." I sort of made a mental note a number of times to call Jo's bluff when I spent some extended time with Lacy and saw the real kid. Just a second... Lacy's calling me.

More talk of fabulousness... back now. So for the past few days, I've been staying with Jo and her family, seeing Miss Lacy up close for an extended time. I have a confession to make. Jo isn't exaggerating one bit. In fact, she's probably holding back. Since I've been here, Lacy has called me m'lady. She has gotten rather wound up (tears) about the fate of the poor Hershey's Kisses that were going into some cookies (you'll have to ask Jo for the whole story... but Daddy did show up and save the day in the end). She has told me that I looked fabulous and fashionable. When I gave her a lip gloss holder that had a mirror, it became the box of fabulousness complete with a mirror to check and make sure you are still fabulous. Yesterday, her dad put out some presents while she was napping and she explained that Santa made a preliminary visit but would be back later with more.

Right now, we are trying to keep her upstairs while we wait for the grandparents to show up and see her come downstairs to see what Santa brought. I think my shift is next so I'd better come up with a plan. Hopefully Jo will be back in blogging form after the first of the year. You'll have to give her a little slack... life with Lacy is anything but slow. But trust me... there are quite a few stories waiting to be blogged. And they are ALL true. Crazy kid.

Merry Christmas!

Guest Blogger, Becky

We are fine

I must apologize for my absence. I have received numerous emails regarding my lack of blogging. Yes, we are still alive. Everything is pretty much the same around here. I think the blogging muse has left me high and dry.

I will do my best to find something funny to talk about. Soon.

I promise!

Just a quick pic...

Boy, have I been neglectful of my blog. So many things going on around here. Mostly illness. And in that spirit, I present to you pictures of Lacy getting her flu shot! Oh, the drama!!!

Is It Christmas Yet?

Lacy has fully embraced Christmas, and wakes up every morning to ask, "Is it Christmas yet, mom?"

Her Grams asked Lacy what she would like her Grams to get her for Christmas...

Lacy's response?

"Don't worry, Grams, Santa Clause is gonna bring it."

Not much later she was watching TV and announced, "Hey, I circled that toy in the book!"

$135.00 toy dinosaur?!? Not this Christmas!

Christmas Shopping, Lacy Style

I found Lacy in the corner with the toy catalog this evening. She had a marker and was conveniently circling all of the items she expects to get. uh oh... not exactly the same institutionalized little girl we had last Christmas, huh?

Once she is done, I will see what exactly made the list and put it on the blog!

Victory Muffin

Last night I naively thought I had won.

I even called my mom to tell her that I won.

I did a little "I won" dance in my kitchen while nobody in particular watched.

I didn't win. Not one little bit.

It all started over a bowl of soup.

Once again it was just me and Lacy for dinner, we had sent daddy off to work shortly before. The cool weather had me inspired and I whipped up a batch of yummy corn chowder.

With exceeding pride I set the table for the two of us. Lacy even got to drink out of her "fancy sippy cup" (fancy = a clean sippy cup that came out of the cupboard vs. one recently dug out from under the couch and briefly rinsed off). Clearly, I was feeling generous.

As we began to eat, Lacy scooped her spoon into the soup, brought it to her mouth, and miraculously managed to make the largest slurping sound all the while avoiding actual consumption of said soup. At that, she placed her spoon back into the soup and stated, "wooooaaahhh, look at my belly... it's soooo full! I just can't eat another bite!"

Always looking to improve my tactics, I simply agreed with her and informed her that there would be nothing else until breakfast in the morning. Lacy happily agreed and carried on about her business. After questioning her twice more, "Lace, are you SURE you don't want anymore soup?" I tossed her bowl of soup into the trash.

And then I started baking. Grangirl's Apple Muffins. It's a little Paula Deen recipe that makes me very very happy.

As the aroma of freshly baked muffins began to fill the air, Lacy somehow managed to overcome that previously stuffed feeling from dinner and sauntered into the kitchen. Eyes closed, nose in the air, she sniffed for a few minutes and then announced, "I just can't wait till those muffins come out of the oven they are going to be so tasty, mom".

I just ignored her. But I smiled. I was winning. Lacy quietly returned to her evening activities of Legos and coloring with a hint of Wow Wow Wubbzy in the background, for good measure.

Thirty-five minutes later, Lacy magically reappeared at my side as I pulled the muffins from the oven and placed them onto the counter.

"Ohhh mom, those are real beauties" she complimented. "Can I have one?"

"Sure" I told her as she grew increasingly excited. "In the morning... for breakfast".

BAM! I dealt the blow I had been waiting for. It was a nasty little lesson learned. No dinner, no after-dinner muffin, kiddo! The disappointment coming from Lacy was nearly palpable. Only outdone by my glee. Lacy gave a giant "haaruuumpff... okay, give me the soup, I'll eat it".

"Sorry, baby, I tossed the soup in the trash. Maybe next time you will eat your dinner when it is served".

...and then came the line I have embraced wholeheartedly: "You are now suffering the consequences of your poor decision".

I walked away from her humming "We Are The Champions" by Queen "...nooo time for looooosers, cause we are the champions...."

You can see how I would've assumed I was, indeed, a WINNER.

Well, around 5am the first assault was lodged my way. "MOM... I am ready to get up, it's morning time!"

"No, Lacy, not till the sun is up!"

Lacy persisted.

By 5:45 my will had been broken. Lacy had been muttering in her room for forty five minutes and decided to take it to the next level... song.

At the top of her lungs she sang, "Gooooood morning, good morning, goooooood morning... it's time to rise and shine!!! And EAT MUFFINS!!!"

My spirit broken, I let her out of bed (remember, she is attached to a ventilator at night so she can't get out of bed without me). We both went down stairs so Lacy could enjoy her victory muffin.

I think I heard her humming a little Queen while she ate.

Crazy

Lacy walked up behind me with her little play broom and said, "here mom, let me brush the crazy off of you"

The Landlord...

I am sure we all recall the landlord from hell right? Well, Cruella DeVille dropped by our house this morning. She needed to inspect some work done in the kitchen.

The guy hired was unable to paint over the repair job and apparently told our landlord that we'd do it. (...or at least that is what SHE said).

Her parting comments were, "well, just make sure that you take care of the paint"

WHAT? YOU WANT US TO TAKE CARE OF THE PAINT???

So what did I say to Ms DeVille? "um, yeah, okay". I just wanted her to leave.

Now I've been sitting here stewing in anger.

I hate being stuck in this position. I hate having a landlord. We just need to wait for our lease to end and buy... sigh.

November is National Adoption Month

On any given day in North America, nearly 600,000 children are in the foster care system, and more than 150,000 of them are available for adoption, just waiting for the right family to find them.

There are 510,000 children in the U.S. foster care system; 129,000 of these children are available for adoption.

More children become available for adoption each year than are adopted. In 2006, 79,000 children had parental rights terminated by the courts, yet only 51,000 were adopted.

A child in foster care can wait up to five years to be adopted.

The average age of the child waiting to be adopted from foster care is eight years old.

The average number of months a child waiting to be adopted has been in foster care is 39 months.

Each year, 20% of children (26,517 in 2006) exit foster care at age 18 without an adoptive family.

According to a National Adoption Attitudes Survey commissioned, 63 percent of Americans hold a favorable view of adoption and 78 percent think more should be done to encourage adoption.

Nearly 40 percent of American adults, or 81.5 million people, have considered adopting a child, according to the National Adoption Attitudes Survey.

If just one in 500 of these adults adopted, every waiting child in foster care would have a permanent family.

Getting Better

Not perfect, but improving...

A Work in Progress

Decided to change my blog up a bit... unfortunately I lost the old copy and can't seem to bring it back. After wallowing in self pity over it, I decided to figure out HTML code so I can change my blog. We will see how it goes! I managed to put a GIANT "Jo" signature line on it. Not exactly what I had planned, but it will work for now!