The Rundle-McMahon Family

Watching Supernanny, Feeling Smug

2009-09-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

Holy crap. You need to sleep train your children. Do it when their tiny and they'll always be well rested and feel safe. Wait and they will suffer and you will suffer. It just seems so clear to me.

Also, keep the clutter to a minimum. No one needs that many toys. If the toys aren't contained in the kids' room, there are too many toys. Be a good example and clean up the house once a day just like they should clean up their room every day.

We are very lucky that we have such healthy, happy girls and that Nathaniel and I agree on parenting them to be a part of the family, not the center of the family.

That being said, where is Super Pet-Taking-Care-Of Show? We are bad, bad pet parents now. Chester is actually at the vet's this weekend, getting sown up from a cat fight with a some wild farm beast. We didn't even see the wound for, like, three days. And we looked! But not well enough, obviously.

Ava peed on the basement floor again yesterday after going a week without a mistake. We didn't throw a stick for her all day. Then she knocked over a beer with her tail while Amanda and I were watching "Becoming Jane" and lapped up quite a bit of Corona while I was fetching a dishcloth. Cooper, meanwhile, was on my bed, eating a diaper. His second diaper of the week. Son of a monkey.

Cooper and Sonja have a darling and loving relationship. She gives him open-mouthed kisses on his nose and he licks her cheeks. She loves both the dogs so much-- she waves at them and they wag their tails back at her. It's all too cute.

2009-07-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

I'm really digging my 30th year.

It's the best yet.

Is this the peak? Will I spend the rest of my life longing for this time? There's a lot of pressure to fully appreciate how much I have right now, how lucky I am, and how rich my life is. Like, if I don't appreciate what I have enough or take advantage of this golden time, it will be taken away from me. So, there's a good way to glass-is-half-empty the situation.

Nothing to say

2009-07-26T23:07:00.000-07:00

Even when I had a tiny baby, I never was up at 2:00am. But apparently I can sleep with an infant better than I can sleep without my man. Nathaniel's been in NYC for 5 days. And I am not sleeping on the couch. The bed doesn't even have sheets on it. I'm having a blast with the girls, the house is cleaner than it's been in a while, I threw a party and cooked dinner from scratch for everyone, but I'm spiraling out of control once the girls are asleep. Obviously, since I'm writing this blog entry.

Here's what I got at the Swap Shop today:

2 little soy sauce cups, blue

"Cinderella" golden book (which it turns out we already have)

about 1/5 of a roll of Christmas paper

a fake apple for the girls' grocery cart

a super-cute duckie soap dispenser

What I didn't get:

A couple nice wool pillows

An ugly flowery three-legged stool that Maddie says, "is just my size!"

A bunch of Christmas porcelain crappolas

Day Fifteen: 3280 miles

2009-04-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

Setting Mrs. GPS for home...

Home Sweet Home

After 12 hours in the car, we pulled into Gould Farm and our family and our puppies and our kitties and our log cabin Friday night! It was a long day but the girls were little troopers. We got a big heaping chunk of perspective on our trip and feel ready to enjoy the Spring on the Farm. The girls have shown us that we can take road trips with them and all enjoy it!

We said goodbye to Tom and Cathy and Dylan and took a nice drive through Charlottesville on our way out of town. We didn't stop until Maryland and then again for a last Chipotle lunch. We took our last stop in New York and had some ice cream while the sun set. Maddie and I decorated a pine tree with fallen pine cones (poor, confused tree) and sang Christmas carols to it.

Playing in the sunshine in Maryland

Poor baby Sonja, trying to get her Dad's ice cream cone

The dogs were excited to see us but not overly so-- they had a great time with Angie. It was so good to be home and put the girls in their own beds. They slept well and we woke up to a beautiful Berkshire morning-- breakfast at Main House and playing with cousins. What could be better?

Day Fourteen: Fun and Too Much Driving

2009-04-17T04:51:00.000-07:00

Slept in until 8:00 today and then had a hotel breakfast with all the old people who stay at the Quality Inn. I am feeling better but Fox News was on and I’m sure my blood pressure was reaching a dangerous level by the time we left the dining room. Nathaniel said that having that drivel on in a public place is as bad as having the most radical anarchists screaming at you about revolution and burning the country down while you’re digesting your waffle (yes, he had another waffle).

We packed up and I stole two pens (!) from the room. Of course we didn’t get too far before we hit South of the Border and bought presents for Ben and Myra and Maddie spent her Easter money ($2.60) on a thimble and a sticker. And we may or may not have bought some fireworks. Who knows?

Holding her Pedro sticker and her South of the Border thimble-- yippee!

Fun with hats! And two pink flamingoes for Ben and Myra

My girl, trying on some Nicole Richie glamour

Then we drove right into a traffic jam and spent almost an hour sitting in the 95 North parking lot. (Que sara, says Pedro.)

Every Lincoln Towncar that we see, Maddie asks, “Is that Nana-Papa?”

We’re stopping at Chipotle’s for lunch and we just had the following conversation with Maddie:

“Do you like burritos?”
“No.”
“You like burritos!”
“No. Like chips.”

**************************

After Chipotle deliciousness (Maddie and I shared a burrito with just a little bit of rice and lots of veggies-- very "Eat This") we didn't stop again until we reached Tom and Cathy and Dylan in Charlottesville, VA. This was a mistake. Our car was on empty, Sonja slept too long, and Maddie lost her damn mind. Nathaniel and I spent about 40 minutes singing Christmas carols, trying to keep her from screaming her head off. We were so glad to get out of the car at 8:30pm and Tom's mom had made a strawberry pie that we ate with ice cream and called dinner (very "Not That").

Dylan was so excited to hold baby Sonja again and was just in love with her! It was awesome and she grinned and grinned her little Sonja grin at him. This is a great place to be!

Day Thirteen: Sight Regained

2009-04-17T04:43:00.000-07:00

Eating some Cheerios after a good night's sleep in the Florida outdoors

We tucked the girls into their tent beds after some hot dogs and hamburgers. Maddie wasn’t a huge s’mores fan but she ate up some graham crackers right quick. Nathaniel and I stayed up late, in front of the fire, in our camping chairs—watching “Six Feet Under” on the laptop. While we were enjoying the wilderness, we heard someone come into our dark campsite. They walked up right behind us so we turned the flashlight on and no one was there! But there was a scuttling and crashing in the bushes next to us so I jumped on the picnic table in case it was an alligator. Nathaniel couldn’t see without his glasses but I was able to pick out a little grey body under the leaves—an armadillo! It was so cute and armor plated! I saw another one on the way to the bathroom and boy, they are not subtle when they are snorting in the dirt and moving through the woods. I bet alligators can hear them a mile away.

So we all slept well—it’s perfect camping weather, no bugs, cool but not cold, and not crowded. Sonja woke up at 7:10, right on schedule and said, “Ummmm” and looked over at Nathaniel and gave him a big smile. She is just a little angel. You’d have to go a country mile to find another baby as sweet. My dad said that you can tell she’s going to have a really warm personality. I think that’s totally true. Maddie has shown herself to be super warm and friendly this trip, too. She says “Thank you” to all the cashiers and servers and tour guides who’ve helped us. Two different strangers have expressed to us their concern with how friendly she is. Is it such a dangerous thing to be? Stupid dangerous world. Most people like how friendly she is. Especially since we’ve been teaching her how to say “sir” and “ma’am” while we’re down South.

My sweet Sonja, sitting up all by herself and hanging out in the tent while we break camp

My friendly little camper playing on the slide

We GPS’d our way to two phony Waffle Houses (one closed, the other non-existant) before finding one in Jacksonville. Sonja actually fell out of her car seat in the restaurant while it was sitting on the floor and she ended up under the table on her back. But we didn’t even know about it because she’s so chill that we only noticed when Nathaniel happened to see her on the floor, smiling up at us. From the brown-tiled floor of the Waffle House. Parenting award, here we come.

One of the actual locations where Mrs. GPS told us there would be a Waffle House

We headed up to Savannah, calling our insurance company and various eyeglass places on the way. We went to a Sears but there was a super cheap Eyeglass World across the street so Nathaniel went there and for $70 left with a pair of contacts. They charged extra to show you how to put them in, so I helped him in the parking lot and we had some laughs.

We drove until 8:00, our first night driving of the trip! Nathaniel started to get a little silly towards the end and I got pretty excited by all the South of the Border signs we started seeing. We barely got a room in Florence, SC and then had an okay dinner at the Olive Garden. Everyone admired our sweet Sonja, just hanging out in her seat, watching everyone go by. Of course, they all thought she was a boy because she wasn’t in pink. I don’t mind, I think she’s beautiful in blue.

She slept well in the Quality Inn and so did Maddie, except for one horrible coughing jag in the middle of the night. It was a fun road trippy day!

Goodbye Florida!

Day Twelve: Now this is Vacation!

2009-04-17T04:35:00.000-07:00

Coloring with Jessica while the adults keep an eye on the weather

One of my favorite vacation days! We woke up at Ruth Ann’s after a nice family sleep together and there was a wild storm raging, even threatening tornadoes! Very exciting. We got clean and Maddie had her appetite back so we fed her some good stuff and she played with Jessica. Jessica was home from school and showed us her impressive collection of grasshoppers. She is so nice to Maddie and Maddie thinks she’s terrific!

My parents and Uncle Walt came over to say goodbye. Maddie got so excited that she stood at the open front door, watching for them through the rain and screamed when they came in. She’s going to miss them so much! We finally left and Nathaniel was a little crabby. I drove through the rain and traffic while the whole family slept. We stopped for some fast food for a late lunch and Nathaniel had Taco Bell. He brought Maddie with him but she wisely refused the burrito he bought her. He ate everything he ordered: A burrito supreme and a baja gordita. I got a Wendy’s salad and chili (sans finger) and Nathaniel made me promise to never let him eat at Taco Bell ever again. I felt pretty superior about my fast food choices… until I spilled chili all over my white shirt.

We stopped outside of Jacksonville at the Kathryn Hanna campground and set up camp in a fabulous Florida site, dripping with Spanish moss and shaded by tall trees. It was beautiful and had three playgrounds and a lake (full of alligators!). Nathaniel and Maddie gathered fire wood and kindling and Nathaniel made a soft bed of Spanish moss to set the tent up on. Sonja sat in her Bumpo and supervised while I unpacked and organized our stuff. Then we changed into bathing suits and headed for the Atlantic Ocean, which was about ½ a mile away.

Better than a tarp!

What a fun playhouse, Dad!

We walked out this long walkway, past dunes and gazebos, to a empty beach. It was just us and the waves and the seashells. It was definitely our “True Romance” moment that I’ve been fantasizing about. There were cool pools for Maddie to play in and Sonja, our sitting up baby, sat and watched us from her blanket. She loved grabbing the sand in her fat little hands and she didn’t even try to stuff it in her mouth.

My beach babes

Nathaniel and Maddie dug a huge hole and I wrote “Rundle” with seashells in the sand. Then Nathaniel went for one more swim in the ocean and lost his glasses in the waves. My poor, blind sweetie! Oh, well, at least it wasn’t his wedding ring.

Nathaniel, looking very abashed after being bashed by a wave and losing his glasses!

Day Eleven for Reals: Puking

2009-04-17T04:28:00.000-07:00

Up early to get out the door and on the road. It will be sad to leave Gainesville and all our family, not knowing how long it will be before we see them again. Hopefully it will be before Sonja graduates high school, which is how long it’s been since I’ve seen my McMahon cousins!

I slept with the girls again while Nathaniel camped in the tent and it didn’t go super well. Sonja spent about an hour pooping, cheerfully. Then Maddie puked and puked and puked. She didn’t want to puke in the toilet but she puked everywhere else. Poor little muffin. Too much Easter.

We had breakfast with Uncle Pete at Clock, which I highly don’t recommend. Then we headed to the ocean! Finally! After months of waiting and all of Maddie’s anticipation, undaunted by Benjamin’s warnings against going in because of sharks, we were actually headed to the ocean! When we stopped and Maddie asked (as she always did whether we were stopping for gas or a pee break), “Go swim in the ocean?” we could say, “Yes!” Only, on the way there, she puked again. A terrible spewing puke that went everywhere, all over herself and Sonja and their car seats and clothes and hair and special blanket and scared the bejesus out of Maddie. She was tied into her car seat and it was just too sad. Nathaniel got us off the road immediately and we stripped her down and cleaned her and settled her down and tried our best with the car seats and Sonja and wondered if we should cancel the ocean. It was so unfair! We decided to keep driving to Tampa and see how things went. She dropped off to sleep once we were on the road again.

Maddie with her puke bucket and Sonja's blanket since hers was a biological hazard

We got most of the way to Clearwater Beach before she woke up and started telling us her belly hurt. We stopped and let her have some fresh air and did this many times before we caught up to my parents, who were waiting for us near the shore. Sonja had exploded a poop all over herself and we were all a little ragged by then but we sucked it up and soldiered on. My parents helped up change the girls and Nana took Maddie down to the water while I fed Sonja in the car. I missed it, but Nathaniel said that he took Maddie into the ocean and she just hated it. She had gobs of suntan lotion and sand running into her eyes and snot coming out her nose and the waves just overwhelmed her and she said, “Out of the ocean, please. Out of the ocean, Daddy.” Nathaniel said it was just too sad.

He brought her back to the beach and she ran up to our blanket behind the lifeguard station and wanted Nathaniel to come too. But he sat in the sand and started making a seat for Sonja in a little pool of water and told Maddie that he was going to stay near the water. And he said that he could see her decide, right there, to have a good time. And to enjoy the damn ocean, in spite of everything. So she came back and played in the sand and her eye didn’t stop crying and her nose didn’t stop running and I’m sure her little belly still felt crappy but she had a good time at the ocean.

Maddie, making the best of it and loving the ocean!

We put Sonja in the pool of water and she sat up! All by herself and for a long, long time! We now have a sitting up baby! Maddie helped bring her water and build a little fortress around her and she even went out into the ocean to bring back endless pails of water like a little sorcerer’s apprentice. Way to go, little trooper!

She really did like it until I took a picture! I swear!

When we were oceaned out, we rinsed off and de-sanded as much as was humanly possible (the white sand was so fine that it didn’t even grit in your teeth like regular sand does. It got everywhere. It got into my dad’s closed car trunk. I forgot how much sand is a part of the ocean experience.) We hit the road and drove to Ruth Ann’s house in Tampa for dinner with her family and Uncle Walt and Aunt Claire. It was so nice to see everyone and they fed us a delicious, laid-back meal. I was so tired. I hope I was sociable. It was nice to be with some Meuniers! I love having such a large, generous family!

Day Eleven? Ten? I've messed up my days! Anyway, it's Easter!

2009-04-17T04:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

A real quick entry:

Church: Sonja an angel, priest very nice, other kids soooo cute in their Easter duds, nice time with parents, very long service

Dinner: Delicious and Southern! Plentiful and overabundant!

Family: So cool. They have their own softball team and play other teams every Tuesday! The young folk are all so bright and enjoy being together and they organize stuff to do with each other—very tight. And I got to see one of the twins, Taylor, who was born on the day I last left Florida. Nineteen years ago. I saw him get cleaned and have his tiny footprints stamped before his mother even held him. And now he’s a grown, handsome man with plans and ideas and a life! The baby I held whenever I could get my hands on her when I was 11 (and who in my mind’s eye looks just like my Sonja) is now a beautiful woman who holds my baby!

Chelsea and Sonja-- Chelsea wasn't even born the last time I was here! Now she's going to college to be an English teacher!

My Dad and cousin Kim

Egg Hunt: So cute! And the Easter bunny gave Maddie $2.60! Score! She basically just followed Breanna, her three-year-old cousin around and spotted an egg every once in a while and then stopped looking and ate jelly beans.

So proud of her eggs!

Nathaniel played cards with my aunts and I talked with my cousins and we all stayed up until midnight (well, not the girls of course!). It was a super-great Easter!

Day Ten: Our tent rocks!

2009-04-11T16:34:00.001-07:00

Maddie was so happy to see her Nana and Papa again!

We spent one of the best night's of our vacation sleeping in the tent! It was the perfect temperature and we could look up to the skies and trees above us as the morning light came in. As soon as Maddie woke up, she said, "Turn light off! Turn light off!"

We had a delicious breakfast of sugary breakfast cereals and then met my parents and Uncle Pete at the Gainesville teaching zoo. We took a fun tour of the animals, an unfortunate number of which were of the bird variety.

These guys live to be 170 years old!

These peacocks were everywhere, even running free in the parking lot.

Then we ate out at a Southern B-B-Q joint and Nathaniel drank a bucket of sweet tea. I was reading the book "Eat This, Not That" and brought it into the restaurant with us. But there was a lot more "Not That" on the menu than there was "Eat This."

Some family came over for dinner and we all stayed up too late! I put the girls down inside and slept with them, which was so lovely and cuddly. Nathaniel said that he had the best night sleep of all of us, sprawled out alone in the tent.

Day Nine: We're Here!

2009-04-11T15:44:00.000-07:00

Florida!

FedEx finally delivered Nathaniel's computer cable to Jenny and Sandy's house this morning at 10:28-- with a good 2 minutes to spare on their guaranteed delivery. It was hard to leave everyone and I hope we can come back soon-- I still want to see the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center and eat more Flying Biscuits.

It was a long day of driving but the girls took it like champs. At our first rest stop, Maddie kissed a tree. For lunch, we went to our first Chik-Fil-A and it was delicious, just like the cow said it would be. Maddie got to play in her first fast food playground and Nathaniel got the milkshake he'd been craving. Then we headed back down Rt. 75, with Click and Clack, the Car Talk guys entertaining our way to Florida.

There are a lot of places near the border of Florida that want to give you free orange juice. And there are lots of places to see girls who are ready to bare it all-- at least according to the giant billboards. (I don't seem to see many of those billboards in the North. Oh, Bible belt, why don't you do a better job keeping pants on?)

We got into Gainesville in time for pizza dinner and ate outside in Kathleen and Richard's beautiful backyard. Nathaniel wanted to sleep in the tent so he set it up and we all enjoyed a pleasant, bug-free evening outdoors.

The girls went to sleep pretty well but they are all ready finding one another too amusing and it took a lot of giggling before they fell asleep.

Day Eight: Loving life in the ATL

2009-04-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

Jenny and Sandy have a beautiful house and adorable doggie named Maddie! Sandy's brother Jon also lives with them and I hope he doesn't mind that our Maddie rearranged his DVD collection this morning.

We're off to the Aquarium and will post pictures later!

*******************************************************************

Here's Nathaniel recording the global coordinates for where we parked our car into Mrs. GPS so we can walk around Atlanta and still find our way back.

What? That is very specific chiropractic!

The Coco-Cola building is opposite the Aquarium and almost as expensive to tour!

I hear there's a fountain of Coke inside, but that may just be legend.

Finally it feels like we're in the South! The sun is dangerously UV-raying us and the air is humid and the sidewalk is melting our soles.

The aquarium was packed. The highlights for Maddie were: 1) The man in the orange fish costume who hugged her. 2) The whale slide where she came out of the whale's mouth. And 3) the lights on the floor that she could step on instead of looking up at the shark swimming over her head. That's why kids have free admission.

Walking through the tunnel that lets up see up into the huge tank.

Baby Beluga! This was a rescue whale from Mexico and couldn't have been more friendly and sweet. Maddie and I sang to it and she really liked seeing him.

A diver feeding a hungry octopus

We took her home to nap afterward and Sonja and I tried to make it to Martin Luther King Jr.'s Memorial Center but the traffic was against us and Mrs. GPS and I had a falling out and Sonja and I ended up at a RiteAid, buying chocolate.

When we finally got back, everyone was home from work so we went out to Piedmont Park and let Maddie play on the playground while I fed Sonja and the sun set. It was so lovely. There were tons of cute dogs and we got to see some buildings that Sandy had inspected during construction. It was just beautiful and in bloom.

Then we went to dinner at Flying Biscuit and ate some good Southern cooking. I think we're all going to come home 10 pounds heavier (well, maybe not Sonja). We should have gone to bed early but instead we stayed up to watch "3:10 to Yuma" and I painted my nails. I really botched it and ended up with more paint on my toes than my nails. And I chose a hideous color. I'm not meant to do my nails in this life.

Day Seven: Halfway through!

2009-04-08T14:16:00.001-07:00

Cooper Riis didn't work out so we went into Ashville with Greta and Elwyn yesterday and ate a pile of Mexican food. Then we took the kids to a playground to tucker them out and admire the way the snow was falling from a blue sky. Admire with anger.

The kids deserved some fun after being so good at the restaurant. I had fun with Elwyn, too!

Always cheerful, little Sonja enjoys the playground in her snowsuit!

When we returned to the castle, Greta and John were working before we even got out of the car. We made a nest for Sonja to sleep in again and then we turned in early. I love the castle, but it really was like sleeping in a castle. Our bed was tall and thick with comforters, covered in gauzy netting and dust. There was a heavy black chandelier over our heads and old mirrors decorating the room. And cold, medievally so. We pulled Maddie into our bed both nights and used her like a hot water bag. Sonja pulled her blanket up over her head and buried herself. But it was fun to snuggle in and watch some old "Six Feet Under" on Nathaniel's iPodTouch.

We woke up early and headed out. We stopped after a couple a hours to eat at a Waffle House (making the whole trip worthwhile for Nathaniel!) and ate another pile of food. We thought we'd go to the Atlanta aquarium but when we got to Jen and Sandy's house, it turned out we were all tired and dirty so we bathed (I fell asleep in the tub) and did some laundry and watched TV: "Hip Hop Wives" and "Beyonce: Revealed." We don't have TV and are very susceptible to the flashing lights and sounds.

More later.......

Day Six: Snow?!

2009-04-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for Easter with a fat, fluffy bunny!

Here's just one side of this amazing house-- and the impressive tower.
The roof is going up soon.

Looking down from up in the tower with Greta and Elwyn

We woke up to a beautiful snowfall and some surprised daffodils. Greta made us delicious pancakes for breakfast while Elwyn and Maddie played with his giant indoor tractor (castles are big!). We climbed to the top floor and then up a ladder into the tower where we could see the organic blueberry fields, the purple mountains, and their terraced gardens—amazing!

Chasing Maddie was a big part of the tractor fun.

Pancakes! And me in Nathaniel's work shirt because no one packed me a sweater for our trip to Florida. Nathaniel needed his work shirt because Greta is, quote, "A slave driver."

Greta, John, and Elwyn have an Airstream in their yard! They’re refinishing the inside to be super homey and hip. When they leave the castle, they’ll call the camper home. I’m so jealous and miss my old school, orange shag, gold puff upholstery Airstream of my youth…

Maddie got to play with the whitest, fluffiest bunny this side of Easter and Sonja sat in the garden while her Daddy raked and hoed and laid sod. We’re heading into Ashville in a little bit and hope to see Cooper Riis before this leg of the trip is over.

Playing around in the living room.

Little Polly Flinders, playing in the cinders...

Day Five: We've Got This Down

2009-04-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

It’s freakin’ freezing cold in North Carolina! We’ve been gypped! It may even snow tonight! The good news is that we’re staying in a castle up on Blueberry Hill and it is amazing amazing amazing. We had quite a haul with the girls but they were very good, especially Sonja who is just an angel on earth. She is such a beautiful, smiley little girl and just goes with the flow. She’s sleeping on the floor in a dusty room in the castle tonight, dressed in her bunny suit because it’s so cold, and she’s just as happy and sweet as can be.

Happy bunny in her bunny suit. So cold!

Maddie is so happy to be here, too, and was a great passenger. The key is stopping every 90 minutes to 2 hours and letting her run around and play. Her dad taught her how to snap sticks over her knee and we had a picnic in the corner of a rest stop today, hiding from the wind. Let people stare.

While we were picnicking, Nathaniel and I were talking about the plan for the rest of the trip and how he felt about it. He said, “Sweetie, I’ve had a very good attitude about Florida ever since I resigned myself to going.” Hmmmm.

We’re listening to a lot of Radio Lab and This American Life on the iPod and thinking deep thoughts about the universe and who we are and what invisible forces are acting upon us to create our “identity”. I should have put some stand-up comedy on my iPod, too.

The South is a trip.

Still Day 4: Haven't left yet

2009-04-06T05:22:00.000-07:00

Nathaniel has said "No" to Waffle House for breakfast so I think he may be coming down with the cold Maddie and I are successfully fighting off (speaking of which, why don't all tissues come with Vick's VapoRub?) "No" to Waffle House? And he mentioned wanting to eat a salad for breakfast-- it must be serious.

So it'll be bagels and then hitting the road. I'm trying to let the family sleep in a little, since we surely need it. Hopefully today will be like this.....

Maddie and Sonja holding hands in the backseat. The two of them were laughing their heads off together yesterday on the way to Chipotle for dinner. Ah, sisters!

.....And we will all have a memorable day in the good kind of way. Although, I just heard some thunder and that might put a damper on the scampering in the grass that makes driving bearable for little ones. Luckily, we have a giant red tub in the back of our car to catch the water from the place where our car leaks in the rain. Oh, yes, thank you red tub! Oh, curse you, leaky place in the car!

Day 4: Where Will We Sleep Tonight?

2009-04-06T04:21:00.000-07:00

The babes, all hanging out on the porch that Tom built!

Yesterday was just what the doctor ordered-- a really great doctor, like Cathy. We got everyone some good sleep, I got to go to a World Market and buy Easter basket cuteness and Petite Palmiers, Nathaniel got to go to Best Buy and do something to Tom and Cathy's computer to make it do something about something that they wanted it to do, and the girls got to have naps.

We went to a terrific park and Nathaniel tried his hand at the climbing wall. He also got stuck on some spinning thing and I had to save him. It took me a minute because I almost peed my pants laughing so hard.

There were lots of spinning devices at this park-- please note my headband from the World Market-- it might not go with a ponytail, but it was only $2.00 marked down from $7.99,

so there you go.

The beautiful Sonja, post nap and long walk with Mommy. She loves to swing.......

But please don't take her binkie!

These two give two-year-olds a good name.

They are sweet little friends and both so nice to Sonja.

Virginia is so civilized, with it's beautiful weather and brick buildings and fat gobs of history. I really love it here but I know it's going to get too hot for Nathaniel very soon.

We're off to North Carolina today, but I'm not entirely sure where we're going to sleep. We can't get ahold of our friend that Nathaniel made plans with, so maybe we'll go to Cooper Riis. Although, Nathaniel had a dream last night that we did that and no one knew us and Maddie was running all around and we just went to the dining room and sat down and ate. Which actually might not be that far from reality.

Day 3: Charlottesville, VA

2009-04-05T07:46:00.000-07:00

Whew. Yesterday was a long day. We tried to leave New York in a timely fashion but when we were all packed up and in the car, it was discovered that one very important passenger was missing: Mr. Lion. Luckily, some men were tearing up carpet in Anna's apartment building and we were able to get back in and search. But, just like in "Knuffle Bunny," no Mr. Lion did we find. So Nathaniel decided to look harder and finally Mr. Lion was located: in a cabinet under the kitchen sink. And so we have a new rule for our road trip: No hiding Mr. Lion.

Unfortunately, Nathaniel did not have his dad here to find forgotten things for him and so our computer charger is still in New Jersey. Making it slightly harder to blog update.

Maddie and I are feeling a little better and the weather is fabulous! We saw green grass and pink and purple buds on the trees! We shed our layers and lay the baby out in the sun on a blanket. We stopped about every hour and a half and ran around and ate fruit.

Nathaniel flaunting the baby's lack of socks despite my socks-on-baby policy

Maddie having so much fun in the sun that I don't care that she's digging in

poopy dirt with a stick.

A happy Sonja. She and Maddie played together soooo nicely at this rest stop while Mommy and Daddy frantically tried to use his iPodTouch, our laptop address book, and our cellphone to arrange delivery of the power cord to Atlanta from New Jersey.

The number one best thing ever is that orange iPod playing pillow we bought at the New Jersey mall for $6.30. I would like to find the person who invented that thing and give them some brownies.

On the other hand, whoever invented the sunset and that terrible light squinting in your eyes when your driving down the road at 6:45pm, I'd like to give them a boot in the backside. We're going to need some sort of Darth Vadar-like black helmet for Maddie if that ever happens again (because of both the sun-keeping-out properties of the helmet as well as what kind of person Maddie becomes: "Sun in eyes! Sun in eyes!")

Nathaniel said at one point, "We should be glad when the girls are both crying. It's more efficient."

When we finally made it to Cathy and Tom's house, the sky was dusky and dinner was on the table and Maddie and Dylan were fast friends. We had a lovely evening and Cathy made sure I don't have strep throat. She also recommended a great book to me called "Show me How" and one of the things is how to get rid of monsters. Apparently you need monster repellent and a trap:

Florida or Bust: Day One

2009-04-03T18:19:00.001-07:00

Flashlight? Check! Huge mess in the living room? Check!

Here we are, one day out of Massachusetts! Maddie's been excited about going to Florida for weeks now and got all naked today so she could go swimming in the ocean. We had to explain that the ocean was still a ways off but that we'd be seeing Aunt Anna and Uncle Nick in New Jersey tonight. That held her until we stopped for gas and I asked her if she wanted to go inside with her Daddy and she said, "To go swimming in the ocean?"

Not the ocean, but ice cream with Daddy is good, too

Maddie and I both have colds and Nathaniel anticipates getting one shortly but we're all in great moods. I really love road tripping with Nathaniel-- we get silly pretty quick when we're cooped up together in the car. Sonja is the perfect age for traveling, as long as we keep her on schedule. And we have built up an army of defenses to deal with Maddie.

I turn up my nose at having a DVD player in the car but we really have a ton of electronics up front. There's Mrs. GPS, who has adopted an English accent for this outing; N's iPodTouch, my iPod nano, cell phone, and stereo. And we just picked up an iPod speaker pillow, neon orange, at the New Jersey mall. This is so Maddie can listen to the four hours (4!) of stories that are on my iPod. One hour of which we recorded together before we left.

Also: Maddie pooped in the potty for the first time this morning! She's been peeing really well but now she's branching out! Hurray!

The girls with their Auntie-- they're so lucky to have her and so are we!

Thanks Anna and Nick!

2008-12-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

Oh my god. I just started fantasizing about having a little baby boy! Sonja isn't even 3 months old yet! Jesus Christ. And I know I won't stop thinking about it until I'm pregnant again. IUD, here I come. I need to be stopped.

2008-12-18T10:42:00.000-08:00

I bought a new pillow for the couch today and Cooper is now on it, shedding. That's why everything I buy is chocolate brown.

Maddie and Sonja and I found ourselves with a free morning so we went to town and hung out at Rite Aid! Whoopie! On the way there we were listening to NPR and they advised us that if we wanted more information on something we should go to somethingsomething.com. The "dot com" part of that suggestion really stuck with Maddie and she kept yelling, "Dot com, dot com," all morning. Then, "Mommy dot com!" (Which would actually take you here, where's there's a suggestion to check the batteries in your smoke detector, but joke's on them-- we took ours out because the wood stove always sets it off.)

I would pay $20.00 to take a really hot bath and then nap right now. But instead I'm going to get up and get Maddie up from her too short nap and get all my stuff ready for McKee School. And Sonja! Please, let's not forget Sonja! I will get her ready to go, too.

2008-12-15T07:45:00.000-08:00

There's no point in having a Christmas without children. It's so much more impossibly fun with kids around. They don't even get what's going on but we enjoy trying to make it meaningful for them. We put a tree in our house and lit it up and Maddie just took it in stride, like we always have a tree in the living room.

Matthew took us out to cut the tree down and he took his kids out, too, and it was so frickin' cold and Myra fell down and smashed her knee on some ice and it was the kind of cold where your face just can't take it and Matthew gave up and didn't get a tree. But we had bundled our kids up and my man chopped down a beautiful tree and we dragged it back to our cave.

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I'm so devastated that The Daily Show won't be on until after the New Year, because I need to know what Jon (and his writers) think of that guy who threw a shoe at Bush in Iraq. Dude threw a shoe at him! Both of his shoes! But then he got beaten and kicked by Iraqi security and Bush called it democracy. Poor guy. I know it's an immature way to make a point or express yourself, but that guy is my hero.

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Sonja is getting baptized today. Pictures to follow...

2008-12-09T11:21:00.000-08:00

I spent about two hours by myself on Sunday, running errands. I haven't been by myself in over two months. It was amazing how much easier it was to get stuff done. I just got into and out of the car. No unbuckling car seats or strapping a baby to me while another car tries to pull in alongside me. No squirming bottoms trying to get out of the grocery cart or eat the butter while we're in line. No giant car seat full of infant to lug through the parking lot! It was good. I'd like to say, "But also kind of sad," but I just can't. The girls were with their Oma, Maddie asleep, Sonja full of milk, and they were fine. I wasn't sad, I was free.

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Rod Blagojevich! What the hell is wrong with you? Getting him elected is one of my first SEIU memories. Jackass. We were so happy! And I have the pen he used to sign a bill into law making it legal for healthcare workers in state hospitals to organize by signing cards. What the hell is that called? Jesus, I forgot what that's called, I can't believe it. Anyway, I organized the first wall-to-wall hospital in the state of Illinois and the first RN union for SEIU under that law and got the damn pen. I organized that place so fast, they didn't even have any paperwork for me to file with. Those were the days. Now this turkey turns out to be just as corrupt as his Republican predecessor! George at least made it out of office before getting arrested! Stupid governors. They are not having a red-letter year.

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We're lighting a tree before dinner tonight. At least, I hope it will light. We have to sing loudly enough and sincerely enough to inspire the tree to light up.

CARD CHECK! It is called CARD CHECK! Goddamn it, I remembered, I'm not losing my mind after all. It is called card check when the majority of the workers sign cards to form their union.

2008-12-06T16:28:00.000-08:00

Had a spectacularly bad fight today (taught Maddie how to say, "Shut up") and did a small bit of cleaning. What did we fight over? Nathaniel asked me not to leave the wet sponge in the sink after washing dishes because it smells bad and gets bacteria-y. And he implied that me leaving the wet sponge in the sink was the reason he never does dishes. Only, he called "never" "rarely". I felt that I never do leave a wet sponge in the sink and that it was unfair to fault me for there being a wet sponge in the sink just then. (Rather unfortunate timing on the sponge's part.) And somehow Maddie learned to say, "Shut up" to her Dad. Not great.

2008-12-04T16:50:00.000-08:00

Thursdays kick my ass.

Yet, here I am, one window full of blog, another full of Jon Stewart. Nathaniel is down at a meeting about brain plasticity (he won the "your turn to do something fun" night) and the girls are both in bed and the pets are fed. Wow. Did I just rhyme that?

I accidently watched "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" last night. "Accidently?" you ask. I was on the verge of actually getting a good night's sleep when I sat next to Nathaniel for a second and put my head on his shoulder and he opened up his laptop to check how his "perfectly legal" downloads were progressing. And when he opened up the "Z & M Make a P" file to check the quality of the bootlegged video, neither one of us ever shut it off and I never got up. It was awful. And defied all logic that a beautiful, non-crazy, good actress would fall in love with Seth Rogan. He is so gross.

Alright, I finished Jon Stewart and now I must pay attention to Stephen Colbert. I'm watching on Nathaniel's laptop because my computer is busted. AHHHHH! No more pictures or movies!

2008-12-03T08:31:00.000-08:00

Not to be outdone, Nathaniel gave Maddie a huge egg on her forehead last night. We were in Main House before dinner and he came out of the kitchen and she ran to him, saying, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" He scooped her up and swung her above his head-- right into the corner of the dropped ceiling. She got a huge bump, all black and blue, immediately. Very sad. She didn't cry too much but she was adorable, holding an ice pack to her little head and sitting on Daddy's lap all through dinner. Mostly, she loves telling everyone about her injuries. Again-- adorable.

Sonja has become beautiful this week. I just want to kiss her little cheeks all the time. She's a little puker and then she smiles and smiles at me, like she loves puking on herself. How can you be mad about that? She also follows me with her eyes at all times, even when I have her lying on the table upside down. She is so precious. She looks just like Nathaniel.

These are the things I'm putting off doing right now:

*Re-potting my favorite plant (it's 9 years old and I got it for $1.99 at Wal-Mart when it was tiny. Now it's huge and sitting the bathtub, waiting for me to help its roots stop strangling it to death.)

* Clean out the refrigerator (dear God)

* Dust the entertainment center shelving

* Play fetch with Ava

* Clean the basement. Poor, poor basement. Well, let me tell ya-- it's not my fault. I was too dispirited to clean the basement this month because someone (Cooper) had developed a pooping problem. Nathaniel thinks it may be related to the terrible butt surgery he had last Spring but I think it's related to him busting into the cat food and gorging himself until his brown body is visibly altered. Either way, he was leaving poops in the basement and when we would let him out, he'd just sit by the door unless you went out with him and held his damn paw while he pooped. (Not literally, okay?) So, I've got a new theory: he doesn't like to poop around Ava. I can understand this. While he's pooping, she stares at him from 20 feet away, crouches down in a stalking position, and as soon as he's done, chases him and drags him back to the door by his collar. SO, he goes out by himself now and no more poops in the basement! Yay, me! SO, no reason for me to not be cleaning the basement today while Maddie and Sonja are napping. EXCEPT that I found something else to do instead: procrastinatory blog posting. Ta-da!

2008-12-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

Whew. An important milestone today. Maddie made her first trip to the emergency room.

We went to the Family Center to drop off some clothes and we stayed to play. Maddie found a baby doll and took him on a tour of the playroom. I changed baby Sonja and realized I had left the wet wipes in the car. So I told Maddie we were going to the car for a minute, but not to leave, just to get something and come back. Then I took her hand and she rag-dolled herself to the floor. Just, whoosh, legs out from beneath her, ton-of-bricks to the floor. I picked her up in one arm, Sonja in the other, and had her stand just inside the entrance door while I ran to the car. She was sniffling but I thought it was because she thought we were leaving. I came back and told her, "See, we can still play! Let's go back to the playroom!" We went back, but she kept crying, and it was a weird cry, a cry I've only heard during teething, but it was intermittent so I asked, "Does your arm hurt?" and she said, "Baby doll!" I pointed the way to her baby doll and she laughed her little relieved laugh when she finds something and went to pick him up. But her arm didn't work and she couldn't do it!

Very scary for her. That made the biggest impression-- not the hurting of the arm or going to the hospital or even the doctor eventually popping the elbow back together, but the inability to pick up her doll. It made an impression on me, too. Terrible.

So, Sonja started crying in sympathy, and also because it was her feeding time (something I thought I had so cleverly timed to coincide with Maddie's Family Center playtime, like a clever, clever Mommy). I packed her away in her carrier, cleaned up our toys, shoed and jacketed Maddie and gathered everyone (and diaper bag) in my arms. I was calm but panicked. I was a good, reassuring Mommy who had it all under control and I was a frantic, guilty Mommy who wanted to rush my baby out of there. Maddie never cries in pain and it was obvious she was in pain. I'll repeat: terrible.

Nathaniel met me at the ER and the nurses couldn't have been nicer about not suspecting me of child abuse. Maddie calmed down when I was able to immobilize her arm with her blanket and Sonja calmed down when Maddie did. We sang songs and she was ADORABLE. When the doctor asked her to move her arm, she tried, it hurt, and she turned to me and said, "Mommy, help." Oh, my god. I'll be remembering that in the nursing home when I've forgotten my name. The doctor did his popping and her little face crumpled and the lower lip went out but she didn't cry or scream. And a minute later, she forgot that her arm hurt and reached for me, and lo and behold, her arm didn't hurt-- it was all better! The doctor said he likes doing this for little kids because it's so easy and is an immediate fix.

It actually turned out to be a hugely positive encounter-- I told her that the doctor would fix her and make her feel better and he did. She kept repeating that all night, "Doctor fix. Arm better." So maybe she won't be too scared of the ER the next time we go there. Oh, you know there'll be a next time.

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I was listening to NPR yesterday (NPR is so much better on the weekends because Alan Chartock isn't on. The quality of the local NPR is for poop) and they did a piece on Massachusetts's universal healthcare and whether it could work as a national model. And they discussed why there's a primary care doctor shortage in the state. Here goes:

With the passage of universal, required coverage for every MA resident, all these people who never had health insurance before, suddenly have it. And they have saved up a ton of health concerns while going without insurance and now they want to check those concerns out and get them taken care of. So instead of meeting with a doctor for the regular 15 minutes, they want a half hour or more to deal with years of overdue issues. And they have more complex and long-term issues than just stopping by for a flu shot. And the primary care doctor tries to help them but she's on a schedule and so refers them to specialists. So no one doctor is getting the big picture on this patient and their health, so the patient has to explain and address all their issues over and over again with different doctors and at different facilities.

Primary care doctors hate this and something like 83% of them hate their jobs and want to become specialists or decrease their hours in the next year. So we're driving away the doctors we need more of. They can't accept new patients into their practice, their waiting list for appointments is months long, and they're not getting paid crap compared to urologists.

I can testify to the bullshit that is the primary care system in South County. And the criminal lack of doctors and ridiculous wait time for appointments. Getting health care is important and 100% coverage of MA residents is awesome. But pin-balling between specialists and getting prescriptions from the local ER is not good, comprehensive health care and it's a bummer for the soon-to-be-extinct family physician.

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One last thing: I washed Mr. Lion in the machine during Maddie's nap and as soon as she woke up, she asked for him. It was lunch time so I told her he was drying on the table and took Sonja out to the car. By the time I got back, Maddie had spread glue all over poor Mr. Lion. ADORABLE.

New, Secret Blog

2008-11-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

Four years, two daughters, two graduate degrees, and a log cabin later, the Rundle-McMahon family needs a new blog! I ran out of memory space on the old one, and who wants to read my blog without seeing pictures of our peanuts? No one.

Also, I'm hoping to make this blog a bit more not advertised on MySpace and Facebook.

Thanksgiving at the Farm this year was great. Nathaniel was beside himself over quinoa stuffing (with raisins) so we're going to make our own Thanksgiving dinner sometime in January, but it'll really just be about the stuffing. And mashed potatoes. No thankfulness. Ooooo... and the cranberry sauce! I'm excited.

The Farm Thanksgiving was beautiful, though. It actually felt like a community, even though there were more people there that I didn't know and lots of friends gone home to their families. I gave a McKee School Harvest Report and it was a lot of fun. Nathaniel sang with the kitchen and Maintenance stole the show!