And Just When I Thought...

I couldn't be any more excited, I turned on the tv and this was just about to start:

It is the little things like the Grinch that make me feel like this:

Over the River and Through the Woods!

Happy weekend to you!  I hope you are getting as excited as I am about Thanksgiving.  I can't wait to get home and see my family and friends!  Oh, and get my fill of turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie!  I am sucker for Thanksgiving food.  Our housekeeper, Rene, has made our cornbread dressing for us for as long as I can remember.  And let me tell you folks, Rene knows how to make dressing like it's nobody's business!  I sound like I'm more excited about the dressing than my family and friends don't I??  Please do wish me luck as I am having my first holiday air travel experience Thursday morning.  I have class Wednesday night, so I will be flying in to Birmingham just as the turkey is probably being put on the table.  Luckily, my grandmother's house is only about 30 minutes from the airport, so I won't be too late getting there.  Ya'll save a plate for me, please, and make sure that most of it is dressing! :-)

In other news, my three little gals are doing great and are keeping me on my toes every week!  Erin is growing like a weed and it has been so much fun watching her become more alert and observant of her surroundings.  She is the calmest, most satisfied baby I've ever seen.  As long she's fed and clean, she's more than happy to let me drag her around and put her in and out of the car 18 times a day.  Sweet pea, I hope you keep up this good behavior because you have spoiled me rotten! 

Lucy and Gretchen and I have spent alot of time talking about Thanksgiving for the past few weeks.  It is so fun to listen to them talk about what they've learned in preschool about Thanksgiving and how it began.  Lucy sat me down last week and told me all about the first Thanksgiving:  "Stewart, the pilgrims came over on a BIG ship and then they had a BIG feast at a BIG table and they all said WE GIVE THANKS!"  Does it get any cuter than that??  Gretchen was a ball of excitment all last week as she is turning the big FIVE tomorrow!  I don't know what I would do without her.  She is such a huge help with the baby and Lucy and what makes it even better is that she truly loves to help out.  Give that girl a task and she'll get it done pronto!  Do you think it's possible to teach a 5 year old how to change a diaper correctly?? ;-)

Let's see...what else is going on...mmmmm....oh I almost forgot!  My hair is falling out!  Isn't that great?!?  I bit the bullet last week and made an appointment to get my hair cut and highlighted at the Aveda salon up the street from my apartment.  Originally, I decided to forgo haircuts and color to save money while I was in school.  Yes, I was going to have long, dishwatery blonde hair for two years.  That is until I looked in the mirror the other day and couldn't take the stringy, dishwatery hair anymore.  So, I went in on Wednesday and my stylist was inspecting my hair when he asked "Are you stressed out by any chance?"  I replied "Well, I'm a nanny for a 5 year old, 3 year old, and a newborn and I'm in grad school at Georgetown, so I think it's safe to say I'm pretty stressed out 99% of the time."  He responded with "Well, you are losing your hair and there is a lot of breakage too.  You should get some prenatal vitamins."  I wasn't quite sure whether to freak out over the fact that I'm shedding like a dog or that I was just told to go get some vitamins for pregnant women.  Thankfully, he informed me that the "shedding" isn't permanent, but that I needed to really work on de-stressing.  How the heck do you de-stress when you have this kind of life??  If any of ya'll know, please tell me!  Otherwise, I may be bald by the time I finish grad school!  Despite the fact that my hair is falling out and broken, what is left is now golden blonde and the perfect length again.  Sorry natural hair color, you just didn't do it for me!

Alright folks, I'm off to get back to work on one of my final papers for school.  Only a few more weeks and I will have finished my first semester of grad school at Georgetown!  Yay! 

Happy Early Thanksgiving!

P.S.  Don't you just love Norman Rockwell paintings?  I do. :-)

Does anyone out there remember me??

I hope so!  And I know if you do remember me, you've missed me terribly. ;-)  Every single day I think I am going to find the time to blog, but inevitably it doesn't happen!  If nannying has taught me anything so far, it is that I am in the WORST physical shape of my life and, that time is precious!  OK, maybe I should re-phrase that - "alone time" is precious!  As much as I adore the those three little girls, they might as well be putting me through a workout boot camp every day!  The only time I sit down during the day is to feed Erin a bottle and I normally don't make it through a feeding without having to get up to referee a spat between Gretchen and Lucy or open the back to door to remind them for the millionth time NOT to pull the leaves off the shrubbery.  For some reason they love to pull leaves off the shrubs and bring them to me as "presents". 

Speaking of presents, last week before my midterm, I told Gretchen and Lucy on the way home from school how nervous I was about my "really BIG test".  An hour or so after we got home, both of them came upstairs from the playroom with a little something for me to keep in my pocket during the test.  They said "Stewart, we have bravery treasures for you to keep in your pocket during your big test tonight!"  Bravery treasures - don't you love it?!  The "bravery treasures" consisted of two beautifully colored pictures (Hello Kitty, of course) and a few pencil grips.  I tucked all of my bravery treasures safely in my coat pocket and you can bet they were with me through the entire exam!  I haven't gotten my grade back yet, but hopefully those bravery treasures helped me pull through!

There is much more to write, but it's time to pick up the girls from school and I don't want them to be the last ones waiting for the ol' nanny to get there!

More to come soon!

Still here...barely!!

Hello friends!  I am still alive and kicking, but school has taken the stuffing out of the country mouse over the past week or two.  I have had a ton of work to do and a midterm to study for that is this Wednesday.  Please pray that I will pass with flying colors and not crash and burn!  I am so nervous about this test (obviously, it's been a LONG time since I've taken an academic test) and am terrified of forgetting everything the minute I sit down for the exam.  I'm sure plenty of you out there have experienced this feeling before too!  Thankfully, the girls have been so understanding of their stressed and frazzled nanny.  Two of them were sick last week (thankfully it wasn't the swine flu!), so needless to say we were all in pretty bad shape!  I will be breathing a huge sigh of relief come Wednesday night when I finish the exam.  Well, it might not be a really huge sigh of relief because I still have to deal with anticipation of getting my grade back!  Oh grad school...you sure are giving this mouse a run for her money!

I'm hoping this isn't what happens to me when I sit down to the exam:

Be back after Wednesday with a *hopefully* positive report!

"The Drowse"

Why is it that I had trouble keeping my eyes open earlier tonight and it is now 10:27PM and I am still awake??  Still awake and blogging at that!  Yes, I was that student in class tonight who embarassed herself by nodding off a time or two.  I normally drink an enormous thermos of coffee on the way to class, but I didn't have time to brew my usual pot this afternoon.  Tired and void of caffeine, I felt "The Drowse" strike after being in class for only about five minutes!  "The Drowse" is a sneaky little devil.  I'm sure most of you know it well.  When it hits you know its more than likely going to win no matter how hard you try to fight it off.  And of course it loves to strike in public settings like class, work meetings, church, etc.  "The Drowse" struck me tonight with full force and unfortunately I succumbed to it's evil doings.  But, my heavy eyes were definitely not a result of boredom in class.  We had a fantastic class tonight with a wonderful speaker.  Like I said, I only nodded of for a few seconds a time or two, so yes, I do remember what happened in class!  My lids felt like lead weights because of this:

Today was gorgeous and the girls didn't have school, so I decided a trip to the National Zoo would be just the ticket.  Their grandmother graciously came over to take care of baby Erin while the three of us took our field trip.  Now, I've been to the National Zoo once before, but I must not have paid much attention to the terrain at the time.  Well, you start at the bottom and work your way UP.  So, that meant pushing a double stroller containing two little girls UPHILL for TWO HOURS.  If you know me, you know that I have arms that resemble small tree limbs.  In other words, I have ZERO arm strength.  Or upper body strength for that matter.  Yes, I am a total wimp and not afraid to admit it!  The stops for the indoor exhibits didn't provide much relief considering the fact that they are kept at a temperature of about 85 degrees. Heat + strange animal smells + double stroller + uphill terrain = half dead nanny.  One man laughed at me and said "Honey, you need a motor for that thing don't you?"  I laughed in agreement and Gretchen quickly scolded me for talking to a stranger. ;-) 

Alas, the half dead nanny forged on like a soldier in the heat of battle and managed to get through most of the zoo (the girls think they saw the whole thing..shhhh).  The half dead nanny also thoroughly enjoyed the downhill walk back to the car ;-)  The girls had a wonderful time and it was a treat watching their eyes grow wider in amazement with each new animal they saw.  Gretchen decided the hermit crabs were her favorite and Lucy and I both chose the elephants.  I voted the cockroach exhibit as my least favorite!

OK..."The Drowse" is creeping up again.  I think that is my cue to sign off for the night.  More to come with news of things non-nanny related!  Good night!

Smitten

Happy Saturday to you!  I woke up this morning to yet another rainy and cold day!  But, like I said in my previous post, I'm a sucker for a good rainy day.  And it makes it easier to stay inside and study when gorgeous weather isn't calling me outside! ;-)

I wanted to give you all an update on my sweet little gals.  Gretchen and Lucy are absolutely taken with their little sister and are always eager to help feed her a bottle, change her diaper, or wrap her up in a warm blanket.  Gretchen will happily take diapers to the garbage can for me...how funny is that?  Of course I don't shy away from taking full advantage of this service!  They love to pat her on the back and give her kisses on the head.  It is such a precious sigh watching them! 

Yesterday was my first day of alone time with baby Erin.  Gretchen and Lucy were at school, so Erin and I had the morning to snuggle up on the couch and listen to the rain.  Like her sweet older sisters, I am smitten with this little peanut!  She is just as beautiful as she can be and is abnormally good!  I never heard her make a single peep yesterday.  She loves to sleep and eat and as long as she's doing either of those, she's a happy baby.  Erin, I hope you continue this pattern of good behavior because you are spoiling your nanny big time! I'm going to have to work on not spoiling her though.  I had a very hard time making myself put her down yesterday!  It's hard resist having a warm little bundle of sweetness in your arms though, isn't it? :-)

Hope you are having a snuggly Saturday wherever you are!

The country mouse meets the city mouse

Hello blog friends!  I hope you are all doing well!  It is rainy and COLD here in the nation's capitol.  I have to admit that I enjoy a few rainy, chilly days.  I'm a sucker for snuggling up on the couch with a cup of hot tea, a good book or a good movie.  This is a drastic climate change from the hot, humid conditions I experienced during my visit home.  The minute I stepped outside the Birmingham airport I could barely breathe it was so humid!

I had a wonderful time visiting my family and friends, despite the fact that I spent the majority of my time working on a midterm paper for school. :-(  It was actually nice to shut myself up in the cozy study at my parent's house and not have any distractions (i.e. DC nightlife!).  Plus, I had two fabulous proofreaders on hand...my parents!  The paper was turned in yesterday and I am keeping my fingers crossed for a good grade!

So...let's talk about the title of my blog post.  This afternoon the girls were downstairs playing in basement and I decided to walk down to make sure they were behaving themselves.  I had the little peanut with me (baby Erin) and when I got down to the bottom of the stairs I noticed something out of the corner of my eye on the floor...something dark...something dark that moved...fast.  I did a double take and didn't see anything...right away.  I waited a few more seconds and all of a sudden out came....

Now, that is a picture of a cute brown mouse, but this thing didn't look anything like the cute little field mice I've seen around our house in Monroeville (not that we have mice everywhere, but I've seen a few in my lifetime).  It was dark and fat and could easily have been a small rat.  I'm still surprised I didn't drop the baby and run for dear life.  I just stood there and watched the little invader dart across the room behind another piece of furniture.  The girls were on the opposite side of the basement, so they had no clue that one of Mickey Mouse's cousins had decided to pay them a visit.  Thankfully, their dad had just come home and I calmly walked upstairs and informed him of the situation.  Of course super nanny forgot to tell the girls to haul fanny upstairs before she went up to grab dad to come to rescue.  So, we ran downstairs (peanut still in my arms and fast asleep) and I told the girls to run upstairs as fast as they could.  I scared the poor things to death and all they could say was "Why?!  Why?!  What did we do?!"  Gretchen jumped up and started running and she hadn't made it three steps when our furry friend darted right out in front of her!  Thankfully, she was too focused on me to look down and she scaled right over it! 

Everybody managed to get upstairs and of course Gretchen and Lucy were begging me to tell them what was wrong.  I tried to avoid telling them the whole truth (them being terrified to ever go in their playroom again would NOT be a good thing!), but they kept on asking and I just told them a little mouse had come in the house by accident and that we were going to find it and put him back outside where he belonged.  Put him back outside??  Yeah, right!  Mr. Mouse (or Rat) will hopefully succumb to one of the four traps that are now waiting for him in the basement!  I hate to wish death on an animal, but either the city mouse/rat bites the dust or we are banished from the playroom until he does.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he will be dust before I get to work on Monday!

OK, now that I keep looking out of the corners of my eyes for unexpected furry visitors, I think I'll head to sleepytown!