Ta Daaaaaa!

My baby has no fear.

The flip-flopper or terrible two

Didn't they call presidential candidate John Kerry a flip-flopper because he was always changing his mind? Well that's what I have on my hands with this kid...

I got her this super cool caterpillar sprinkler and turned it on the other day and she was all..."I don't like it" and prissy. A few days later, Debs and Grumps are sprinkling their lawn with a good ole fashioned sprinkler and she decides to run through it fully dressed. Not just run through it but stick her entire face into the water and continue to walk through this thing for the next thirty minutes. Her cousins were of course thrilled and only too glad to join her in the late evening fun.

That's not the only reason I call her a flip-flopper. We drive a lot and she's always telling me what songs she likes and doesn't. She seems to hate Adele's, "Rolling in the Deep," and always says, "me don't like this song, you change it, I want new song." Sometimes I oblige and sometimes I explain the ways of the world to her and she has to suffer through it. Then Kerry told me she was in the car the other day with her rocking out to the exact same song! So sure enough, next time the song comes on, Ella says, "I like this song." One time she made me change the station like five times until we got to Journeys, "Don't stop believing," at which point she said, "this is a nice song, mommy."

I tell her that it's time to eat lunch and she screams, "NOOOOOOOOOO!" Then a second later says, "ok, I eat lunch." I tell her I'm changing her diaper and she protests, "I don't wannnnnnt it!" and a minute later she says, "ok mommy." I guess she's just trying to express herself and control what she can in her environment. Right?

Who's kid is this? Oh that's right, she's Satan's

Ella's first haircut

On June 26th 2011, Ella got her first hair cut from her Grandma Jeanie. We only took the edges off. Ella sat nice until she banged her head on the cabinet one too many times. Jeanie distracted her with a cracker and it worked like a charm.

Thanks Grandma Jeanie!

How are the dogs coping?

Otis was raised in my parent's home before Buzz and I moved in together. Whenever we visited his old house, he always seemed to want to stay there. He's allowed on the couches (which he wasn't at our townhouse) and my mom slips him table scraps. My parents were nice enough to fence in their yard for the dogs. I was still nervous because not only were we moving back but Ziggy would be there for the first 5 weeks. Greta isn't the friendliest dog around and I was scared she would hand Ziggy his ass.

So far, so good. I feel like Otis isn't my dog anymore. He is content to lie on the couches all day with whomever happens to be by him. He doesn't follow me around. He enjoys sunning in the yard and sleeps downstairs without a problem. Ziggy and him are pretty tight too.

I'm a little worried about Greta. She follows me EVERYWHERE. She isn't allowed upstairs but we don't have a gate to block her out so although she starts off every night downstairs in her dog bed, when I wake up she's in my bed with me or trapped in Ella's room with her. She has found a spot in the yard by a tree that she likes to dig and she barks at the Golden Retrievers behind the house - but I swear they start it!

The thing I miss about being in Carpentersville is I had a wonderful, free dog park five minutes from home that I've visited for the last five years. Before Ella was born I would go there everyday. I have a lot of nice friends from there and I'm so sad that I only make it there once a week or so. Also, my neighbors LOVED Otis and liked Greta and they would go over there and play with their dogs. They were so sad to see them move away.

Then there's the poop situation. We have three dogs living in the Kane house and they produce a lot of poop. I think it's reasonable to pick it up three times a day - morning, noon and evening. My sister and I take turns and it's worked out well. The problem is my mother...she's like a poop-radar. Every time she finds a poop in the yard she calls us to report it. She called my sis the other day to say, "there's a poop under the Sycamore tree." She doesn't like the poop to sit for more than five minutes. So not only are we picking up poop three times a day, we are also picking it up as Debs Downer spots it. This gets tiresome when you're trying to do other things. She does not want the poop in the garbage outside because it stinks it up. But when we put the poops next to the air conditioner out back she complained that the entire yard smelled of poop. I'm thinking that maybe I'll just start eating the poop so that it's not in anyone's way.

Besides the poop thing and the no upstairs thing and the vacuuming everyday thing I think it's going pretty well with the dogs. But, if you know anyone who wants a neurotic, anxious, curmudgeonly Vizsla and a dog-aggressive, pushy, smelly Foxhound mix, please share.

I am grateful to my parents for taking me, my kid and the dogs in. Many people would have taken Ella and I but NOBODY (and rightfully so) wanted us with my crazy dogs. And we did not grow up with dogs so it's not like they're used to having them.

Swear to God that when we do Pilates, Greta does it with us. We had to keep pushing her out of the way!

How to look thinner...

Whenever we take a picture, Kerry and I are always fighting over who gets to stand further back or cut their hip off with the other's. In the top photo, Kerry won and we look like Courtney and Chloe Kardashian! But in the bottom photo, I won. I think since Kerry is shorter, thinner, and smaller-boned that I should always be able to hide behind her.

Kids are resilient

Because I loved Ella's room so much in the townhouse, I tried to copy it at my parent's house. My dad painted her walls the same green and the room has the same layout so the furniture placement is the same. It's kind of creepy because I was sitting in there last night and almost felt like outside the door was the townhouse...but I digress.

In regards to Ella, there are great things about living at my parents house and there are not so great things about living here. Mom and Dad if you're reading this, please remember that blogging is therapeutic and I need to get some of this out.

The Good:

• Ella is surrounded by people who love and adore her everyday.


• Her closet is ginormous!


• She now has a bathtub that is entirely hers (with the exception of my mom's washrags that she dries on the rim). No more sharing with me, Buzz and the dogs.


• I'm letting some dogs out four times a day and I can come and go and leave Ella in the care of others.


• Although temporary, she is spending oodles of time with her three cousins who are great with her by the way.


• She has a fabulous fenced in yard to play in.


• There's a huge park two houses away.


• We can walk out of the house and take a nice long walk around the block or neighborhood.


• She lives with her grandparents and is two minutes from her Grandma Jeanie.

The Bad:

• She has to be separated from one of her parents at all times.


• She is probably very confused.


• The television is on a lot here and she is glued to it.


• There are lots of treats and lots of people eating said treats so she is eating more treats.

The Ugly:

• She has to listen to my nephews say things like, "shut-up or butt wad." And she has to hear my sister yell at them to stop. Having said that, the three boys are nothing but loving, attentive and patient with Ella.

I think the little bird's going to be okay. And if she's not, we'll just have to add therapy to the list of things you buy your child as they age...

Pee Mail

Me, Cole, Aidan, Ziggy, Otis & Greta were taking a walk at night and Aidan was asking why Ziggy has to stop and pee everywhere. This is one of my favorite subjects to discuss with the boys. I told him that Ziggy is leaving pee mail. He's telling the other dogs how old he is, what kind of dog, his sex and his eating habits. Aidan turns to me and says, "He's telling the other dogs that he can't have sex because his balls were chopped off."

Moving Home

Well let's just get it out there. I've started a new chapter in my life. I'm at a crossroads, a new beginning, yada yada yada, blah blah blah. As most of the readers of this blog know already, Buzz and I are getting divorced. I won't go into details regarding that matter but I can say that I moved back home on Monday. Let me correct that, me, my two large dogs, and Ella, moved back in with my parents. That same day, my sister and her three kids and dog drove up from Austin, TX to stay here for 5 weeks. Oh and my brother, Joe, moved back in too. Our timing could have been better...
First I have to thank my parents for taking us all in. They have been very supportive and gracious. They got a fence for my dogs and painted Ella's room the same color it was in the townhouse. They cleared drawers and closets and made room for us. I am very grateful.

Now back to the move-in. We are in a four-bedroom, two 1/2 bath, two-story home. There are currently two parents, three adult children, four grandchildren and three large dogs living in this house together. OMG. There are not even enough beds for all of us.

My sister is a fly by the seat of her pants kind of girl and I am a play by the rules kind of girl. We have a blast together and are always laughing but when it comes to day to day living we are polar opposites. If you read her blog too then you've read about some of our differences but if you don't, I'll give you some of the highlights.

• Kerry can sleep anywhere. She doesn't mind who's been in the bed before her or how dirty they wwere. I on the other hand need my own space, with sheets that have only seen my body. When I told her that we should each pick a pillow and stick to it since we'd be sharing a full-sized bed, she said, "Are you serious Kelly?" Hell to the yes I'm serious. Are you?


• Next comes the bathroom. We've got seven of us sharing the bathroom and all of our towels are in there. I put post-its above the hooks and instructed everyone to hang his/her towel below their name. Kerry put a post-it up that said, "Get over yourself Kelly." I'm sorry but I don't want to be wiping her kids' balls on my face! I even suggested we break the countertops into zones for each of us to have a seperate space but that didn't happen.

More on that on a later post. Now when Kerry is here, all we do is drive, drive, drive. We drive to see relatives all over the Chicagoland area. This is fun because I don't see some of these people that often so it's always a good time. We also hit fests like crazy. We were at the Bartlett fest last night and it was like the Twilight Zone. A bunch of the carnies were actually good-looking? When you go to a fest with Kerry and her kids it usually consists of getting some food and beer and trying to listen to the band while the kids start whining about rides and games. They ususally don't want to ride the same rides so Kerry and I divide and conquer. Then there's the games. One kid always wins something while the other is left prizeless and crying. Although a few nights ago we hit the Arlington Heights fest and both kids scored a goldfish because of my sweet-talking ways.

Now it seems as if I'm rambling, which I totally am but this blogging stuff is theraputic and I need some serious therapy right now. More to come on my major life changes and the chaos that is ensuing around me.