Doing my civic duty. Possibly for the wrong reasons.

Arizona has an early ballot system where you can vote by mail and not have to go to the polling place on election day. As the stay-at-home mom of a two-year old, this appeals to me greatly.

When we were out walking the dogs the other day I said to Eric "I like the convenience, but I wish I could still get my little sticker for voting." And yes, I was pretty serious.

So imagine my thrill when the balloting material came. They have my number.

Skinny and powerful, I'll take it

Since I chose to have children with someone who gets up at an uncivilized hour I have a child who gets up way too early for my taste. Most mornings Rylee and I spend a few minutes snuggling in my bed watching The Incredibles. It's "mommy's resting time."

This morning she announces excitedly, "Here comes Dash and Mommy!"

Note to self

Waiting for me on the kitchen counter when I got home from playgroup:

At least I remembered Rylee's lunch and the frozen meals for the new mom. And the banana bread.

A glass is half-full kind of morning

We'll just call taking your diaper off so you can surreptitiously poop by your art easel a "potty training readiness sign."

And hey, if I hadn't caught the dogs eating it, who knows how long before I found it?

Dear Daddy

Dear Daddy,

I'm having lots of fun at Aunt Kari's. Went to the dark side. See you soon!
Love, Rylee

Survivor:Michigan

Thanks for all the well wishes for our trip! The traveling part went well, but the first leg of our visit home was a mixed bag.  Rylee was a dream baby traveling. She watched her movie for about an hour, ate a lunchable, read some books and was generally a fantasy. Then she stayed awake from 1:30 AM - 4:30 AM EST the first night. This would have been late even in our timezone (10:30PM - 1:30AM) so I don't know what that was about. The worst part is mean mommy is on duty at that time so it wasn't fun for either of us.

The weekend with Grandma and Grandpa was loads of fun and now we're up at my sister's for a week. She has five children ages 14, 12, 12, 9 and 2. Rylee loves it here. Her 9 year-old cousin Jacob has been her BFF every time she's ever seen him, starting when she was 3-months old. It seems to be holding true this time, too.

And the difference between my house and my sister's is something like this (in a good way).

And it's always wicked good for her development. :)

I think I'm going to stop trying to adjust her to the new timezone too much and just put her down late. Here's hoping for a reasonable amount of sleep for both of us, but beyond that I don't fret. It should be a chaotic good time!

Wish me luck!

 I'm flying tomorrow from Arizona to Michigan, just mommy and Rylee.

Packed:

• Outfits for if the entire trip is warm.
• Outfits for if the entire trip is cold.
• A new crayon wallet
• New Backyardigans matchbox cars (score!)
• 60 pounds of snacks.
• Books, books, books.
• A DVD player and a new Backyardigans DVD, still in the package. Virgin episodes.

Debating packing:

• Southwest drink coupons

I may or may not blog while I'm there and if so it will be sporadic. So, ta!

Three reasons to pee your pants from excitement at my house today!

1. I just got tickets for my sister and I to take Rylee and my nephew to see Nick Jr. storytime live when we're visiting Michigan later this month.

2. We have the first ever non-family babysitter coming by tonight. We've had family babysit at the house and took Rylee to a friend's house once, but this is the first time for a "regular" babysitter. Since our families live thousands of miles away you can see we don't get out much. Dinner reservations at 6:15.

3. I was just searching to find out what date in May the next Charlaine Harris book will be released and it's May 4th, just a few weeks away! AND she posted the first chapter. This actually happened in December and for some reason she didn't call me.

And for anyone who's interested, here's the breakdown.

Name	Nick Live	Babysitter	Eric the Vampire
Lynn	Excited	Excited	Excited
Eric	Indifferent	Excited	Not Excited
Rylee	Excited	Not Excited	Indifferent

Things I say more than I realize

Everyone should have this handy aid to help determine phrases they say over and over.

Starting with my favorites and working down.

1. Hmmm....let's see (complete with uuuup then dooooown inflection)
2. Mmmm....tasty!
3. Come on, let's go.
4. Look! See?
5. In a minute.
6. In a second
7. Quiet, dogs!
8. Careful.
9. Here you go.