Mommy's little hoarder

Don't you always feel a little bad for the kids you see leashed to their parents? Maybe even raise your eyebrow at the mom who is so incompetent she can't control her child without resorting to such torture?

The monkey is such a big hit that Marielle insisted on wearing it at breakfast. This morning she was stuffed into her high chair in her pajamas, shoes, hat and monkey. The list of "must haves" grows longer by the minute; swim class might be a challenge today.

Marielle doesn't seem to ditch an old obsession (dolls) for a new one (carrying rocks) - she just does both. I fear she is one shopping cart away from living under a tarp on the mall in DC.

We're being followed

The other day during a particularly miserable car ride we stopped mid-errand at the nearest playground. Two seconds later it started raining. Did you not know? It's monsoon season in Virginia. I try not to complain - though usually don't succeed - as I know I'll miss it when it's 120 degrees with 7000% humidity two weeks from now.

We made a mad dash for DSW, because Marielle's favorite thing in the whole world is shoes. As long as she has shoes and a hat she is happy. She loved it more than the zoo but her tearing up and down the aisles, swapping shoes and boxes wore me down.

Marielle's running more than ever lately, including into the street, so after I caught her we headed next door to the baby store, bought a leash and taught her an important lesson about how mommy is a big fat liar who only pretends to value her opinion:

"Do you want the monkey or the dog?"
Marielle picks dog.
"Ok, that's a good choice!"
Mommy buys monkey anyway while Marielle makes a mad dash to rearrange the toy displays.

She doesn't mind the harness at all, but steering her is another matter. I'm trying to "walk the baby" every day as the weather gets nice with hope that one day soon I will magically be able to walk the dogs and the baby simultaneously.

Yesterday one block took thirty minutes as Marielle met a new friend - her shadow. She would wave, it would wave back. She would walk, it would follow her. She spun in circles to see if it would chase her. She would stop and wait for it to make the first move. I couldn't decide which was more amazing - watching her brain grow before my very eyes, or that I finally got to stand still for more than 2 seconds all week.

Tomboy?

So that's where I've been

So my accountant's all "um, you gonna do your taxes, blah blah blah." And I'm all, "Don't I pay you a monthly retainer to fill out extension paperwork once a year for me?" Not only do we have insurmountable record keeping to catch up on, but we also have to find $10,000 to deposit in our retirement accounts when we submit our taxes. Surely a responsible duo like us has been saving a little aside each month for such a payment? Surely you know us better than that.

Seriously, all the paperwork required to own your own business makes it 98% not worth it. But then I get to go to work in my pajamas and I lose my motivation to get a real job with less paperwork and more health insurance. The pajamas are a powerful force. I cannot resist the pajamas. Oh, and I gave myself a raise today. One of the other top benefits of being your own boss.

I made a dent in the piles and piles and piles that have been haunting me for the last 10 months. Yesterday I spent 9 hours yesterday filing. Let that stuff pile up and it takes...well...more than 9 hours to file it all. Now we have mini-piles like "health stuff" and "tax stuff," which is a big improvement believe it or not. But then the mailman came and brought more bills and more filing and it's probably the only time in my whole life that I have wanted to run over the mailman.

Speaking of mail - which, aren't we always?? - today I took Marielle on an outing to the post office. She loved it! That's my girl. She stood near the automatic doors and when someone would come in she was the official greeter. She would get all excited and wave frantically, then give them the same treatment upon leaving. I really think we could get her a job. There was an older guy there, some postal manager type, doing the exact same thing. He was more experienced though and therefore also got to stand next to the automated machine and make really obvious statements like "Now it says 'swipe your credit card here;' that means you take your credit card and swipe it here to pay." That automated machine could probably handle everyone on its own, but Marielle was nice enough not to point out that a 17 month old could do his job just as well.

After the post office we hit Costco where she insisted upon walking. Do you know how easy it is to lose an energetic toddler in Costco? One wrong step and she could be hidden beside a Costco-sized watermelon, only to be sold within 5 minues for $8.99. Once she figured out how to push the cart, we had it made. She insisted upon pushing it all the way out to the car as I helped from behind. Oh, if only I had bought that digital camera we were eyeing.

Instead, feast your eyes on the latest pictures taken around the house with our large not-so-portable camera.

There were lots of pictures too

What good is a blog if you can't even write about how in a late night rage you posted all your husband's belongings on Craigslist?