Weekend Adventures, Part 2

Last weekend, Mr. T and I went to Grandma and Grandpa T's house to help them with a garage sale.  They had tried to have a garage sale before, but for one reason or another there wasn't much traffic.  Last Saturday happened to be the big city wide garage sale, which would certainly prove to be more successful.  The only problem was that Grandma and Grandpa T had important out of town plans.  Thus, Mr. T and I stepped in.  

We arrived Friday night, baby and dog in tow.  Annie loves Grandma and Grandpa T's house.  They have long, carpeted hallways that she can zoom up and down.  You've never seen a happier dog.  She's a hilarious sight to behold!  

Grandma T is a master garage sale setter-upper.  Everything was organized perfectly.  All we had to do was open the garage door and welcome people in.  In anticipation for an easy morning, we put Tidytot to bed and Mr. T and I snuggled in to stay up late watching episodes of "Bear Grylls, Get Out Alive".  

About 10:00 pm we heard a rapid knock on the door.  We got up to answer it.  "I need you to call 911 and report a fire next door!"  I grabbed my phone and did just that.  Mr. T handed Annie to me and made his way into the smoke filled night to see how he could help.

Another knock.  "Can my boys stay at your house?"  And in they came.  A few only stayed a short while before they were invited to stay at other friends' houses.  The youngest boy opted to stay by himself with me.  I thought this quite unusual at first, thinking that most children would not want to stay by themselves with someone they didn't know.  I soon discovered that this little guy was absolutely terrified of the smoke and wasn't leaving the safety of the house under any circumstances.  

So we sat in front of the big dining room window, watched the fire trucks, read Button Soup, and talked.  

"Can the smoke get in here?"

"No sweetheart, you are safe in here."

"What about my stuff?  Will the smoke get to my stuff?"

"I don't know."

"What about my tiger?  I left my tiger in there!  Or my TV?  Oh no, we just got a new cat!  Will my cat be okay?"

"I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Hey, is your dog a boy or girl?"

"She's a girl."

"So she can have babies!"

"Well, she can't have babies.  Sometimes you can make it so dogs can't...er...um...have babies...um...I guess.  I don't know."

(confused look)

Soon Nana came to the door to take the little guy to her house.  

"Nana, our house is on fire!"

"I see that." she said.

"The cat did it."

We both laughed.  She carried a crying boy through the scary smoke to the safety of her house.  Mr. T came in from his heroic escapades and I sent him to shower off the smoke smell while I stuck his clothes in the wash.  

The next day was full of garage sales and junk food.  All in all it was a pretty relaxing day given the previous night's adventures.

In case you're wondering, the cat made it out just fine.

Grandma S is coming to stay this weekend.  We'll see what adventures unfold while she's here!

Weekend Adventures, Part 1

Two weekends ago Mr. T and I volunteered to help out The Delightful Scollards by staying overnight with their 7 lovely children while they snuck away for the weekend.  We went Friday night to supervise supper and then proceeded to do what all good babysitters do...watch a movie!  Then jammies went on and teeth got brushed, prayers were said and off to bed they went.  After all the little ones were tucked in, Mr. T made a bee line to WalMart to secure some much needed ice cream.  Ice cream and coffee are two gifts straight from heaven for tired grown ups.

We got ourselves ready for bed and our heads had just hit the pillow when my phone rang around 10:00 pm.  "Who could that be?" I wondered.  

"Hi, it's me.  My water just broke and my husband is out of town.  Can you drive me to the hospital?"  How do you say no to that?  "Absolutely!  I'll be right there!"

I threw my clothes back on, nursed the baby, grabbed the thermos full of coffee Mr. T had just made and headed out the door.  A series of twists and turns landed us in the hospital where I did my best to entertain her three cutie children in the waiting room until Grandma and Grandpa arrived.  I was armed with only a colorful carpet, used to play a version of "Twister" and a boring book filled with words I couldn't pronounce, as much of it was written in Spanish.  Although I know a little Spanish, my skills start to get a little rusty after 11:00 at night.

Grandma and Grandpa arrived and I headed back to the Scollards and stumbled into bed about 1:00 am and endured the next 5 hours of restless sleep.  (Too much coffee perhaps.)  The next morning we took 7 Scollard children and our 1 baby to the park and responded to innumerable, "Watch me!" and "Spin me!" requests.  Then lunch, rest time and, of course, another movie.  Next supper and then we were on our way home, where I fell asleep on the couch at 8:00, went to my bed at 8:30 and sleep like a rock until 7:00 am.  

It was an adventure.  And unbeknownst to us, the following weekend would provide another exciting evening.

Oh, and that sweet little baby made it into the world just fine.  Mamma did a great job and Dad made it in the nick of time to welcome his new daughter!  

10 Months Old

Mr. T and I have been working out every morning.  Well, every morning for the past two days but who's counting?  Tidytot is normally still fast asleep, so we have to wake her up with a cheery "rise and shine"!  Not really; we are all still tired so early in the morning.  Getting up from nap time, however, is a different story.  I'm usually greeted by a cute baby standing up in her crib.

  

Our morning exercises sometimes include a little dancing.  Here Tidytot is showing Mr. T her salsa moves.

 Then it's time for breakfast.  The picture below is not of breakfast.  I don't have the energy to tackle the adventure of feeding her tomato based products first thing in the morning.  Mr. T and I have learned a few tricks to make the eating process a little less messy, but sometimes you just gotta go hog wild!

In our free time, we monitor Tidytot as she climbs the stairs.  Never fear onlooking maternal types; we are getting spindles in that opening next week.

Month 10 was actually a little challenging.  Mr. T had a bad cold for about half the month and Tidytot may have caught it.  For a time she seemed more fussy and a little more opinionated about her food.  She has a very sophisticated palate and will one day be a famous chef.  You can pre-order her cookbook if you like.  Actually, she pretty much eats whatever we set in front of her, with a preference to all things "meat and potatoes".

It won't be long before this little girl is walking all around!  She's cruising around the house and wants to be vertical every chance she gets.  Although, her favorite place to be is in dad's arms.

My, how they grow up fast.