Softball? Basketball? Shot Put Olympian?

As the girls get older their personalities and talents start shining through. Unfortunately the "talent" that is currently being exhibited by both our little ladies is the throwing of items- usually from the high chair and the crib and specifically the sippy cups.

So does this mean that we may have little sports stars on our hands? Maybe. However, we have been attempting to communicate the "no throwing" rule for months now with inconsistent results. We know they understand what we say which makes it all that much more frustrating. We have a couple of smart competitive little ladies on our hands! But for now, it appears that mom and dad's job as referees need a little more practice. 

Storyville

After we went to the Please Touch Museum in Philly, Dave was talking about it to someone at work and they let us know about a place called Storyville. There are 2 Storyvilles, each in a different Baltimore suburb. They are affiliated with the Baltimore County public library system. I decided to bring the girls to one today (partly because I wasn't motivated for  the extensive sunblock application required of playing outside).

It was a 20 minute journey and when we arrived I was very impressed. First, it was a lot larger and more detailed than I expected; and second, it was free! There was a stroller station by the family bathroom so I didn't have to lug around our double-wide. There were a variety of different sections that the kids could explore: a marine play area with a lighthouse and stuffed marine creatures; a grocery store where they could collect food in a basket and 'pay' for it, a post office to sort mail, a puppet theater, a mini-library, a kitchen where you could 'cook' and 'eat' food, a backyard with a grill and a garden, a costume room, a tree house and a construction zone where they could build cool stuff. We spent a good part of our afternoon there and had a blast!

Going over their plans for a new skyscraper

Lucy brings her food to the checkout at the grocery store

The girls awaiting their meal which was being prepped by a 3 year old chef

Easter in the East

It was just the four of us this year for Easter in B-more. Dave and I 'painted' eggs on Saturday night (really just boiled on those egg wrappers) and I made my first ham ever! It was a bit of a challenge to find the kind of ham that my recipe called for however since most are pre-glazed or not sliced, too big, or too expensive, or not smoked... or who knows... Furthermore, who am I to know whether I was supposed to get the shank or the butt?! I closed my eyes and picked one- the shank.

We went to church and then the girls got to open their Easter treats. Since the girls still don't really know what they are missing when it comes to sweets, they each got one tiny chocolate peanut butter egg-- obviously Dave and I have ulterior motives here as we have an entire bag of them:) We were able to Skype with Grandma and pa Treiber and the ham turned out great with a fancy jalapeno pomegranate glaze- we are still eating the leftovers from that 10 lb delight.

Community Garden

It only took me a year to get in but I finally got my spot in our community garden just a couple blocks from our house. I was expecting a relatively small space but instead I ended up with an 10x10 foot lot! Now I just have to clean her up and decide what to plant!

I was advised against planting melons or tomatoes because people tend to hop the fence and take their pick with those varieties. It's a good thing I have a large self-watering system for my backyard for my bounty of tomatoes (hopefully a good bounty!)-thanks Dad!

I can do anything once... my MRI experience

Head goes in that helmet thing;
then you go into that tiny tube

I had my first MRI yesterday. But it wasn't my first attempt. About a week and a half ago I went in for my appointment with a good mentality (thinking- hey I'm not claustrophobic) and ready to get it over with. They were a bit behind so I was thankful for my Kindle Fire to keep me occupied. Once they called me back I slipped into my fashionable navy blue scrubs that included both pants and a top (no smock without a back)- nice! I was ushered into the "magnet" room and placed on the platform. They moved quickly not really chatting with me much about what was about to happen. They slipped an IV in my arm and briskly instructed me to lie back where they promptly placed a heavy plastic cage over my head... nice (not really). I asked 2 questions: 1) can I have headphones so I can listen to something? (as I heard this was available through my Internet searching) Answer: no; 2) How long am I going to be in there? Answer: 45 minutes (what??!!)

This day's story pretty much ends here. As I was inserted in the tube (a lot smaller than I would have imagined- especially with the 'cage' over my head) I last mere seconds when my heart started pounding (what felt like was out of my chest) and I felt like I couldn't breathe. Wow. So maybe I am claustrophobic. I asked to be let out almost right away. They slid me out and I had to sit up. They took off the helmet, I sat up, and the waterworks started. I was very surprised at my reaction to say the least. And also quite impressed at how our bodies work in unexpected and completely uncontrollable ways sometimes.

Open MRI

Fast forward to April 4. I had rescheduled my appointment at a center with an open MRI this time. I arrive at the center... they are once again behind schedule. I read, I waited... and the longer the wait, the more my mind started wandering to thoughts of freaking out again. While I may be claustrophobic, I am sure a big part of my anxiety is the fact that I have to get an MRI to begin with. I have been experiencing bouts of vertigo for a few months and the inner ear balance tests showed nothing significant. So a brain scan was ordered to rule out the worst.

They call me back. I get into scrubs again. This time not so fashionable; it is the smock sans back this time. I wait another 30 minutes in my backless scrubs in the 2nd waiting room. I finally get into the "magnet" room and get up on the platform. This time they were a little more communicative. They didn't actually say I was going to be in there for 45 minutes, but they said that I would have 15(ish) scans ranging from 90 seconds to 5 minutes and they would tell me when each one started and ended (making it sound more manageable). I was also going to be pulled out halfway through which is when they would administer the IV for the contrast. And of course I could always push the button if I needed to come out. They knew I freaked out last time. I am sure this is not new for them.

So they placed the cage over my head and almost right away I started breathing quickly and my heart starts up again. This time I came prepared with visualizations and things to do mentally to keep my mind occupied.  So I closed my eyes before they started moving me under the machine and I pulled my first image. It was beautiful and ridiculous. I was at a yoga class not to long ago and we were envisioning strawberries (not sure why, but it worked to focus on something). So I imagined a field of strawberries by a blue clear lake... I also added some white wobbling ducks with their ducklings (which actually made me laugh several times). I kept my eyes closed the entire time. I heard the machine was loud, but I had no idea;the machine was extremely LOUD. It was a cacophony of train whistles, boat horns, tornado sirens, and jack hammers. At times it was actually rhythmic, which was kind of comical after a while. At one point it reminded me of a teen rave or something and I pictured my ducks with their glow sticks (definitely ridiculous) and I actually laughed out loud and was worried they were going to have to repeat that particular scan. They  didn't.

After all was said and done, it wasn't super terrible, but I definitely would prefer not to do it again. So now the wait begins.

UPDATE: Everything is normal in my brain apparently (who'd have thought:))- thank goodness!!!

Trials & Tribs Part II

Here is a short video to sum up our Sunday afternoon adventures that we wanted to share. If you have not read the blog post "Troupe Treiber star in the Trials & Tribulations of a Sunday afternoon"- please do that first!

Troupe Treiber star in "The trials & tribulations of a Sunday afternoon"

Last night Dave and I actually went out to dinner!!! We celebrated my birthday at a tapas place in the Mount Vernon neighborhood called the Red Maple. We had a neighbor over to babysit and were out for almost 4 hours, but it went by so quickly!

We decided to continue the fun weekend with a day trip to Annapolis today. It was a comfortable 65 and sunny so we thought- great- let's go!!

We went through the normal 45 minute process of getting ready to get out the door with diapers and snacks, and shoes and a change of clothes. We finally all get in the car and hit the road! We made it almost 2 blocks when I realized I forgot my purse, so back we went. I ran in and now attempt #2, let's do it! This time, we we re approaching the highway (about a mile away from our house) and Dave realized he forgot his phone, so what did we do? Back again... Finally we were on the highway on the way  to Annapolis. We found a restaurant that was rated really well for families and we were headed there for lunch.

Once we were about mid-point between Baltimore and Annapolis the traffic came to a virtual halt. We inched along for the next hour or so wondering what in the world could be holding us up. We finally approached the 'incident'...it turns out, a truck from Perdue chicken was on the side of the road... surrounded by fluffy hens... that were just hanging out over half the highway... just clucking away while the state patrol was attempting to gather them into crates. It was quite the sight.

Finally, back on our journey to the restaurant, our GPS was recently updated so we were happy to see that it showed up on the list... when it informed us we had arrived, all that was there was a sailcloth manufacturing plant... hmmm. It turns out we were on the south part of the street and it was supposed be north so we turned around. We found the restaurant about 15 minutes later. It was closed. Apparently there was a sewage leak and all the businesses on that block had been closed for a week... bummer.

We didn't exactly have a plan B so we started heading to the waterfront to see what we could find. After about 5 minutes back on the highway, our gas gauge dropped. We have had electrical issues with the car so we didn't think much of it. Lo and behold, a few moments later, the car sputtered to a stop. We had just run out of gas. I went for my phone (in my purse) which wasn't there (it was happily charging in our bedroom). Thank goodness Dave went back to get his! Dave started dialing for AAA, and as if we hadn't already had enough going on, his phone started beeping, and then turned off. His phone was dead.

Luckily, we were on a very populated route and someone pulled up and called AAA on our behalf. There were there less than 15 minutes later with some gas to get us to the nearest station. Thank you AAA!

We pull  into a Royal Farms to fill up and decide to find some snacks and do a round of diaper changes. After the rigamorole of changing both ladies in a tiny bathroom and searching for something somewhat healthy to snack on, we go back to the car. We locked ourselves out. Now this seemed somewhat impossible since the keys were on the seat and I thought the doors had to be closed before we could push the key fob to lock the car. What did we learn? Never doubt the impossible. So back into the gas station, where we called AAA... again.

By the time we were safely back in our lovely vehicle (with a full tank of gas), we decided it was time to head home. We will just have to come back to the great capitol of Maryland another day. The good news, we made it home without a hitch; the not so good news, we left Penny outside the whole time. She was hanging out in the back yard safe and sound, playing with the neighbors. Gosh... what a day.

Check out the video we posted in the aftermath of all the hoopla here!