Someone being me

March and April

2010-04-30T10:27:00.006-05:00

So....2 months have passed....

What can I say? We have been busy.

First this happened...

Then this happened...

And I got a Kindle which has sucked away untold hours of my life. We are also deep in the midst of potty training with Bear. Which is about as much fun as it sounds. But we are making progress so I am happy about that.

It has just been a crazy, crazy last two months. Like the huge party we had on Tater's 1st birthday with 30ish adults and 12 kids in my house. And Tater got sick that night with a 103 temperature and I got to be the mom waiting outside urgent care when they opened at 8 am that Sunday morning which also happened to be his birthday. He had a nasty ear infection, poor baby. He was also cutting his top tooth at the same time which made for a miserable birthday. Luckily we had the party the day before.

Plus my beloved pug got diagnosed with heartworms at his annual checkup so we have been going through the long and costly process of curing that. Let me just tell you how fun it is to get a pug to swallow two pills a day for 3 weeks so he can get ready for shots that will put him on the dog equivalent of bed rest for 2 months. Just trust me, give your dog his heartworm medicine on time, every month...In my defense I believe he got infected last summer when I was dealing with a newborn and a two year old and I could barely remember my own name much less when the dog got his medicine. But now it is on my calendar on the 1st of every month.

I promise I will try to be more faithful with the updates. And I will even try to comment on your blogs as well since I promise I have been reading them. I am just bad about writing and commenting.

Awkward

2010-03-04T11:16:00.003-06:00

Is it weird that I had to Google the word awkward to make sure I was spelling it correctly for this title? BTW, I spelled it wrong. It is just one of those words that looks wrong when you write it out. Anyways, not what I was going to talk about.

Today I went and met my best friend for breakfast at IHOP. It was 10 a.m. but this IHOP is always busy even on a random Thursday mid-morning. We got seated at a table with a booth on one side of us and a wall on the other. As we are chatting I notice that the older (like my parent's age, not old) couple in the booth next to us were being super quiet while eating.

Now I've been married awhile and I understand that it isn't abnormal to not talk a lot with your spouse while eating a meal since you live together and don't always have a lot to catch up on like my friend and I did. But what I noticed as we chatted is that it appeared they were listening to our conversation. Like the entire 45 minutes we were eating there. It wasn't even all that subtle like they were just overhearing an occasional comment.

We didn't discuss anything all that juicy but we did have a few things that we discussed that I didn't really appreciate someone listening to. So I ended up just steering the conversation to topics like my new yard service I hired this week and baby sleeping patterns, etc.

I understand that you really have no expectation of privacy out in public when it comes to conversations but I do find it annoying when people make it very obvious they are openly listening to your conversation. Seriously. Can't they at least chat amongst themselves about the weather or something? I catch myself occasionally listening in on part of a conversation if something catches my attention or I am in particularly close quarters with someone like a person on their cell phone in an elevator but this wasn't like that. The restaurant was busy enough to generate background noise and they obviously had each other to talk to.

What was even weirder is that when we left they were parked next to me and the guy actually waved at me as he was getting in his truck. Weird.

Progress

2010-02-25T21:38:00.007-06:00

It has been a busy week at my house. This past Saturday found me outside Urgent Care at 7:45 a.m. waiting in line behind 7 other people for the doors to open at 8 a.m. This was after spending an entire night waking up every 45 minutes to a screaming, feverish baby. Add in a lovely cold sore for me and we were quite the chipper pair at the doctor that morning. Tater had a double ear infection and the doctor took pity on me and prescribed me an antiviral medication to speed the healing on a cold sore along with prescribing antibiotics for Tater's ears.

Unfortunately the antibiotics took a couple of days to take effect for Tater so he was up a good bit of the night Saturday too. By Sunday I was exhausted so my husband let me take a 3 hour nap Sunday and spent a good bit of the weekend taking Bear out and about on errands while Tater and I rested at home. Tater is doing better now but I got sick yesterday so it has just been one thing after the other.

In better news we have been making progress with Bear on the potty training front. I'm almost afraid to say anything because I don't want to jinx it but I am just so excited. We have been talking to him about the potty and read books about it for a year now with virtually no results. No amount of bribery could get him to actually do anything on the potty. All the sudden this week it just clicked and now he has peed in the potty at least 1-3 times a day every day for the last week. I am just happy to finally be making a little progress. I started with just having him go as soon as he got out of the bath at night. After 3 nights of that I added an afternoon potty break for the last 2 days and tonight I added a third potty break before bed. I will probably give him another day or two and then add another potty time in the morning and go from there. He has been getting 2 Hershey kisses for each sucessful visit to the potty but he didn't even remember to ask for them after his 3rd visit tonight.

Bear also started a 6 week baseball program today for 3-5 year olds. It meets once a week and is for kids and parents. We had a really good time tonight. My husband and I took turns holding the baby and helping Bear. It is hard to believe that he is already so big.

Never send a Daddy to do a Mama's job

2010-02-11T11:20:00.005-06:00

As many of you know, Valentine's Day is fast approaching. Today Bear is having his class party at Mother's Day Out. I have known about said party for 3 weeks. Being the super Mom that I am I could not just go out and purchase a $1.99 package of Valentines at Target for my firstborn to take to his friends. No, no I decided to go on Etsy and purchase some simply adorable personalized Valentines for my boys to take. (Although Tater only attends on Tuesdays I still dropped of Valentines for his classmates as well). I may have procrastinated a tad and waited until the middle of last week to purchase them. After much hemming and hawing I decided on Pirate themed Valentines for Tater and Fire truck ones for Bear. The lovely girl I ordered them from notified me on Friday that she sent them first class mail that day. From Maryland. The same Maryland that seems to be under about 40 feet of snow right now.

So yesterday the Valentines still had not come in the mail. So not her fault. I blame my procrastination, and Mother Nature, and the Postal Service. I couldn't send Bear to Mother's Day out with no Valentine's today especially since I had already bought cookies for the class and little Valentine cans of play dough for each kid. Plus dragging both boys to the doctor yesterday morning so I could get Bear some antibiotics for his ear infection so he would not miss the party. Poor kid woke up with a cough and fever yesterday but we got him fixed up. By God my kid was going to have Valentines.

At 5:00 my husband called and said he was on his way home. Thinking it would save me a trip across town to Target I asked him to stop in on his way home and pick up some Valentines for the boys. He was passing right by on his way home and I knew there was plenty to choose from at that Target because I had just been there the day before. I explain twice where exactly the Valentine's section was in the store. All 5 aisle of it. Of course he calls when he gets there and cannot locate the Valentines. I explain yet again that there are aisles and aisles of pink, red and white animals, cards, candy etc directly next to the food section of the store. He says he found the section and doesn't see any Valentine's cards. Seriously. I tell him to keep looking because one aisle is nothing but the boxes of kids Valentine cards. After 5 minutes he indicates he found some Hello Kitty Valentines. Grr..Seriously? He wants to send my all boy 3 year old with Hello kitty Valentines? I tell him to keep looking. Finally he says he sees a box of 30 G.I. Joe Valentines. Great. I tell him that will work just grab one box because I only need 20.

20 minutes later he arrives home with these....
*

Not sure how much you can tell by the picture but they include a samurai looking guy with a huge sword, some scary looking bad guys, a woman in skin tight black clothing with a large gun, etc. Not exactly what I had in mind when he said G.I. Joe. I was picturing the army men in Toy Story or something. I explained to my husband that while I appreciate the thought there was no way I could send my 3 year old and 10 month old's friends at a church Mother's Day Out program Valentines that include scary looking bad guys, guns, swords, and women in skin tight outfits. Gah.

So I hop in the car and drive back across town to Target where I locate the entire aisle of completely age appropriate Valentine's for the boys to take. After picking up ones that included the characters from Up, Finding Nemo, ones with puppies etc I finally decided on a multi pack that included characters from all of the Pixar films. I bring them home and my husband is like "where did you find those I didn't see anything like that".

This is why you never send a daddy to do a mama's job...

*picture taken from www.Amazon.com

Three!!!

2010-02-04T16:25:00.007-06:00

On Sunday Bear turned 3. Whoa. That was just so crazy for me. He went from a 5lb 0 oz 18 inch baby 3 years ago to a 34lb 4 oz 38.5 inch boy in just 3 short years. When did this happen? He was in the 75% for weight and 70ish % for height at his 3 year checkup. Not bad for a baby who came out 7 weeks early and spent 16 days in the NICU.

We had a lovely weekend at my parent's house celebrating his birthday and my brother making Eagle Scout. The Eagle Scout ceremony was Saturday and carried well into Saturday evening and then we got up Sunday and celebrated Bear's birthday with more cake and presents.

I know people say that 3 is worse than 2 but I have a feeling this is going to be a good year. For me 2 was extremely challenging and at 3 I feel like he is easier to deal with. Yes, he still has his stubborn moments and throws the occasional tantrum but it just doesn't seem as overwhelming as last year. Maybe I am just getting better at handling it. Honestly I think kids just go through their difficult phase at different times.

Tater's Surgery

2010-01-26T11:12:00.005-06:00

Tater's surgery went great. Thank you for all your well wishes. We got there around 7:45 and the after all the paperwork, waiting, taking of vitals and such they took him back around 9:45. The surgery lasted about an hour. Then they let me go back and try to nurse him. He was not a happy camper. They gave him a couple of shots of pain medication before releasing him around noon and he was much happier. Once we got him home he took a 4 hour nap and ate a bowl of cereal and was back to his happy self. He has some swelling and stitches but he doesn't seem to be bothered by it. I am so glad it is over with.

Doctor Appts, Dentist Appt, and Surgery - Oh My!

2010-01-21T16:42:00.007-06:00

During Tater's 9 month checkup appointment the doctor noted that the hydrocele he was born with has not resolved itself. Basically he has extra fluid around his te$ticles and possibly a hernia. We were told when he was born that these typically resolve themselves by 1 year old but in Tater's case it doesn't seem to be improving. So we got a referral to see a general surgeon.

Today I took Tater in to see the surgeon and he diagnosed him as having a inguinal hernia along with the hydrocele. At this time it is not causing him any issues but it will not resolve itself and we would have to have it surgically repaired. I'm not a fan of putting thing like this off so I told the doctor to go ahead and schedule it as soon as possible. I was a little shocked when he told me they could do it Monday morning at the outpatient surgery center at my local clinic. We did a little schedule reworking with my family and got my Mom to agree to come down and stay with Bear while we take Tater in Monday morning. It is a quick in and out surgery that should take an hour or so but it is still a little scary when they have to put your child under anethesia.

I will be glad to have this over with though and move on. Speaking of things I put off I finally took Bear in for his first dentist visit this week. Which ended up being a complete and total waste of time. When I first mentioned to the dentist last year that I thought it was time to bring Bear in he didn't seem to think it was pressing. I thought it was a little odd but I figured I would just wait until Bear was a little bigger so he would be better able to deal with him. So I waited a year and scheduled the appointment for this week. On Tuesday I dropped Tater off at Mother's Day Out and take Bear across town to the dentist.

When we get there they took us back and tried to get him to stand at one of those x-ray machines that does the panaramic view where you bite down and the machine circles your head. You can see where this is obviously not going to work on a nervous 3 year old. So the dental assistant said we will hold off on the x-rays for now. Then she has me sit in the dental chair with Bear and the dentist comes in. He asks me if I have seen any brown spots or anything that concerns me. I told him that I saw nothing obvious but its not like I have little dental mirrors in his mouth every evening looking for cavities. So he has Bear smile and him and says his teeth look good and he will see us again in a year. SERIOUSLY!!!

He did not touch Bear's mouth. Did not even get closer than 2 foot away. I know he isn't a pediatric dentist but he is what is covered by our insurance and we don't have a lot of options here to choose from. I was beyond pissed. If he wasn't comfortable handling children as patients then he should just say that instead of having me waste my time coming in and billing my insurance for a visit. So I will have to wait 6 months and try to find someone my insurance covers that can handle children. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect but I at least expected someone to look at all of his teeth and maybe talk to him about brushing his teeth and such.

So I drive back across town to drop off Bear at Mother's Day Out and the teacher remarked on how quick the appointment went. I told her what happened and who my dentist was and she said she had the exact same deal happen with him. She took in her 4 year old with an obvious cavity on a top front tooth and he dentist looked at her and pronounced she looked fine. The teacher had to show him the cavity and even then he was very reluctant to fill it. The teacher explained that he is the only dentist covered by her insurance in this area and she can't afford to go to another dentist so he did do it but not willingly. Grrr...I never had a problem with him as my dentist but it would be nice to find someone who could do the whole family at one place.

3/4 of a year

2010-01-13T15:36:00.004-06:00

So on Monday Tater turned 9 months old. And last night he slept through the night. FOR THE FIRST TIME. I've been semi counting the few times that he slept from like 12-6 but really it doesn't count to me until they sleep from a reasonable hour until sometime after the sun is up. I'm sure it was just some fluke of nature but it sure was nice. Of course I still woke up periodically during the night to check on him and verify the baby monitor was working.

I took him in for his 9 month checkup yesterday morning. He was 17lb 10oz which is on the thinner side of the percentile chart but the doctor seems to think he is plenty healthy and will probably be a thin kid. He was 28 inches long which is right about average. During the course of the examination the doctor noticed that Tater has his first ear infection. I felt terrible because I had no clue. He had no fever, fussiness, loss of appetite or anything to indicate he didn't feel well. Poor baby. Then to add insult to injury they take blood at the 9 month checkup to check for anemia and such. So we got to go over to the lab and have 3 lab techs try to find a suitable vein. Tater was already past nap time, hungry, sick with an ear infection and now having his arm prodded at by three different people. They finally gave up on getting blood from his arm and instead got it from his heel. It was awful.

Spring Cleaning

2010-01-03T20:02:00.004-06:00

Dear Lord, where did all this junk come from? Seriously. I threw away an entire garbage bag full of stuff from my closet today and you cannot tell one bit of difference. We are constantly fighting the junk that creeps into our house. The endless piles of mail to go through and sort. The piles of toys. The clothes to be donated, stored away for a different season, or for the younger child.

We spent hours yesterday putting away the Christmas tree and assorted paraphernalia but I still feel cluttered and trapped by all this stuff. Last weekend I cleared out 2 boxes of stuff from my kitchen cabinets. The week before that I emptied half of the toys from Bear's toy box to clear space for the new stuff he would inevitably get for Christmas despite my warnings that we do not need any more toys!!!!

I feel like I spend the better part of my life putting away clutter, sorting clutter or throwing away clutter. You cannot imagine the hours we have spent clearing out cabinets, closets, baskets and under beds. There has to be some way to get this under control but I can't figure out how. The simplest answer would be to quit bringing in stuff but we live in a disposable society where nothing ever seems to be designed to last longer than a season. A new sweater purchased in September looks like something fit for my dog to sleep on my December. No matter the price spent or the supposed quality. The kids outgrow clothes faster than I can buy them. The mailbox is always overflowing with statements, advertisements, invitations all needing to be read, sorted and saved or discarded. Plus the constant upgrading to the new improved etc appliance or electronic gadget.

I also half believe that my junk breeds in the quiet dark corners of closets and kitchen cabinets. There is no way I could have possibly purchased 40+ shot glasses in my lifetime, right? And considering the fact that I can't actually remember the last time I took a shot I believe it is safe to whittle the collection down to no more than a quarter of it's current size. The funny thing is that I am not a hoarder by nature. I honestly do not care to have 2 dozen of everything (except maybe flip flops because I do need a pair in every color Old Navy has ever carried). Beyond that small weakness I am quite adept at throwing out the old. I enjoy the purging process I just wish I had to do it a little less often.

Holidays

2009-12-28T09:22:00.006-06:00

How do you wrap up a week of holiday excitement into one little blog post? To put it simply, Christmas was awesome. Having small children definitely makes it more fun. Plus now that we have kids our parents and grandparents come to our house to celebrate so there is no traveling. Yay! It was exhausting and wonderful and I wish I could bottle it up and enjoy it during the blah days through out the year.

I already showed y'all the train table in the last post which definitely took the cake as the coolest Christmas present. My husband got me a Flip video camera of my own so I can record the kids while he is at work since he misses all the great moments that happen during the day. I also got Adobe photoshop so hopefully I will have better edited pictures coming to a blog post in the near future. As soon as I quit watching Gossip Girl dvds and start figuring out how it works. I got my husband a Stud finder among other things and it has been a source of endless jokes (on his part).

I think I should have just gotten him a vasectomy for Christmas because the man has been talking about babies waaaayyyy too much lately. As in he wants a 3rd baby in the not too distant future. And I want a 3rd baby when, well, never. So there's that. I think a real Christmas present would have been him having to do all the night time feedings for the next 9 months. I think that would nip the whole baby fever thing in the bud.

Chef Bear

2009-12-23T14:27:00.004-06:00

Bear has been so busy lately. It is nice to transition out of the into everything toddler stage into a more structured play stage with an almost pre-schooler. He has shown a great interest in cooking lately. Every time I go near the kitchen he is in there dragging a chair behind him ready to "help make cookies, mama". Or muffins. I have to convince him that mama does more than bake cookies and muffins. Occasionally we have to eat real food. I let him watch and do a little stirring but for the most part he is too little to be much help. He will even eat chopped onion, bell pepper and carrots off the cutting board as I am working although he wouldn't touch those if I placed them on his plate at dinner. Kids are funny like that.

The other day I had set out a bowl of beans to soak overnight and went to feed Tater. I heard Bear going into his room and getting his stool. I caught him in the kitchen pretending to cook for me. He played with that bowl of beans for an hour while I sauteed veggies and got the other dinner prep ready. Guess who is getting some wooden play food for Christmas?

He got a train table yesterday from my Dad who came down to celebrate Christmas early. So if the whole chef thing doesn't work out he could definitely get behind the idea of being a train engineer. He went to bed last night holding pieces from the train set while us adults spent 2 hours building the train table. Then another 2 hours this morning assembling the train track and assorted buildings. It is awesome though.

Blah..

2009-12-14T08:37:00.003-06:00

I am so very, very tired. I thought by 8 months Tater would be at least close to sleeping through the night but I think I am getting less and less sleep. For a couple of weeks at the end of November he was only waking up maybe 1-2 times per night which was bearable but then last week he started back to his usual 4-5 times per night. Last night I put him down at 7:30. I topped him off at 9:30, 11:00, 12, 1, 3:30, 5, and he got up for the day at 7:30. I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. He has cereal and baby food through out the day with his final feeding of cereal at 6-6:30ish just before starting his bedtime routine. I am not the kind that can do the crying it out thing. I have to go in and make sure he hasn't wet through his diaper or gotten his leg stuck in the crib bars. And once in there I can't just ignore him. Gah...

Beyond this my life has been pretty boring. I spent Friday night at a potluck with my mom before going to bed at 9:45, Saturday night I stayed up till midnight baking 8 dozen cookies for a Sunday cookie exchange and last night I went to the grocery store after the kids went to bed. The big event of my night was arguing with the cashier about the fact that he charged me 3 times for 2 bars of cheese. And then he acted like it was my fault and didn't even apologize after I had to stand back in line to make him fix it. Such is the life of the SAHM.

I do love my life and it is the life I wanted but sometimes I don't recognize this nearly 30 year old with two kids and a coupon binder in her purse. The 20 year old me would have probably never even looked at a receipt to see what a cashier charged me and I certainly wouldn't have been caught dead with a handful of coupons. I could barely tell you at 22 who the President was much less my senators. Now I spend my afternoons watching Glenn Beck and reading news online complaining about how this country is going to hell in a handbasket. My life is definitely not exciting blog fodder but I won't complain. We are happy, healthy, and uninteresting which is just fine by me. I could use a little more sleep though.

Happy (almost) Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T14:15:00.004-06:00

Happy almost Thanksgiving! We are still alive over here. There just hasn't been a whole lot going on this past month. In fact I can't believe Halloween was already a month ago. The boys are doing well. Tater turned 7 months old on the 11th. OMG...and Bear is fast approaching his 3rd birthday in just over 2 months.

Tater is not yet crawling although he can do a little of the army man crawl with the belly on the ground. It is hard for the poor kid to get any tummy time to practice with a brother who won't leave him alone. As for Bear we are in the throes of the terrible twos still. It is shaping up that we will move straight into the tyrannical threes. There is much crying and gnashing of teeth over every little thing (mostly by me). He has also really gotten into the "no" and "I don't like it" phase lately. Let's not even mention the potty training that is so not happening. We have tried to not pressure and have offered bribes. I have taken him to the bathroom with me and talked to him about going potty until I am blue in the face but to no avail. The kid ain't budging. This was OK at 2 this is not as OK at nearly 3. I know if I try to force it or make a big deal out of it he will just resist even more.

But they are both beautiful and healthy so there is nothing to really complain about. Nothing that won't pass with time. We are truly blessed.

So Happy Thanksgiving everyone and hopefully I will post again before Christmas.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T10:00:00.006-06:00

We survived Halloween. Yay! I was a little worried about convincing the 2 year old to don a hat and costume and approach random doors but he did as well as can be expected. Meaning I bribed him like crazy. It was a little sketchy at first when I had to spend 10 minutes negotiating bribes in order to get him into the costume. Then we just won't discuss the lengths I went to in order to obtain pictures of him in all of his costumed preciousness.

Tater didn't do much better as he got hot very quickly in his costume and started screaming. Although I don't blame him. I wouldn't have wanted to wear it either. Once pictures and a trip around the block were done he got to spend the rest of the night chilling on the couch in a onesie while Bear convinced his Daddy to take him a few more blocks for candy.

At last...

2009-10-26T10:12:00.008-05:00

This weekend I finally transitioned Tater to his crib and I moved back into my own bed. For the past 6 months I have been sleeping in a separate room with Tater so he doesn't wake my husband with his frequent screaming for meals. This Saturday night I finally decided it was time for him to be on his own and I would just come into his room at night for feedings.

It went better than I could have expected. I had been trying unsuccessfully for months to get him to go down in his crib but the crying and constant waking was driving me insane. It was just easier to sleep with him. Then at the end of last week he finally discovered that he likes pacifiers. Or more specifically this pacifier. My friend bought it for us back when I was pregnant and despite my offers he never really seemed to get on board with the whole pacifier thing. Then this week it clicked and he would suddenly spend hours happily in his crib so long as he had his trusty WubbaNub.

He only woke for 2 feedings Saturday night and 1 last night. I woke up a few times and checked on him but he was good. Crazy. Last night while he was resting in his crib we also packed up the swing and brought down the exersaucer from the attic. He and his brother have been enjoying the new toy this morning. It was sad seeing the old baby swing go but it is fun to see the boys playing together this morning.

We even got in a trip to the Pumpkin Patch so the boys could pick out a pumpkin. It was pretty picked over but we got some cute pictures. Although I have noticed that the boys are at an age where getting either of them to look at the camera is an exercise in futility.

We also got in a trip to the park this past week.

In the past week

2009-10-15T13:26:00.005-05:00

This little guy turned 6 months old.

I can't believe he is already half a year old. We had his 6 month checkup this morning and he was 16 lb 2 oz and 27 inches long. Although I think the nurse may have over-measured his height a bit. He is now eating 1st foods and cereal one to two times per day and is still not even close to sleeping through the night.

Also this past week my blog turned 2. I can't believe it. My life has changed so much in the past two years and it is really great to be able to go back and see what was going on back then.

And finally I got a NEW CAR!!!! SQUEE!!! I am 29 and have never owned a vehicle that wasn't used. It was really exciting to be able to walk in and pick out the color I wanted (sort of, they only had 2 colors on the lot) and the model. We had been talking about this for 2 years and looking for months. I was in Dallas this past weekend and found a Honda dealer that gave me the price I wanted. So I got to drive home in this shiny new Honda Pilot.

It has been a big week here and that doesn't even include my 29th birthday that I celebrated last Monday. Now if I could only get my husband to get around to fixing my oven I will be in business.

Husbands can drive you crazy

2009-10-06T20:26:00.007-05:00

So a few weeks ago my best friend was over and we were flipping through DVDs looking for one to watch and she mentioned that she wanted to watch Interview with the Vampire. My husband loves that movie but for some reason we just never bought it. I mentioned it to my husband that night and told him I was going buy it since it is an old movie and I could get it cheap.

Last week I ordered it from Amazon and told my husband. I even followed up to tell him when it had shipped. As of today it has not yet arrived. So my husband has to run to Best Buy tonight to get some gadget he needed and he calls me to tell me that he bought me Interview with the Vampire. He acted completely oblivious to the previous conversations we had regarding my purchase of this movie. Grrr...

Then I decide to check the mail and I cannot locate the key to our mailbox anywhere. My husband checked it last night so on a hunch I went out to the mailbox and there was our mail key hanging out of the lock. The first words out of his mouth when I told him about it were "I didn't check the mail last night". Grrr....

My birthday

2009-10-05T11:20:00.010-05:00

Today I turn 29 for the very first time. It is strange to be turning 29 because in my head I am still 22. It seems like every birthday until 21 came so slowly and every one after flew by. It has been a pretty great birthday so far.

I celebrated last weekend with my my mom and then this weekend we had friends over for brisket with all the fixings and cake. Next weekend I will celebrate with my dad so it is really more of a birthday month than birthday day.

I got to start the day off right with birthday cake for breakfast with my coffee. Yum! And later today my order from Old Navy should arrive with this sweater and these jeans,

(pictures courtsey of OldNavy.com)

which I will tuck into these boots that my husband bought me.

(They are Frye - Heidi Boots *picture courtesy of Amazon.com)

I also picked myself up these 2 shirts and this sweater from Express last week and I love them.

(pictures courtesy of Express.com)

Yay for birthday money and giftcards. My best friend got me a $30 gift card for Ulta this weekend that I am itching to spend. Any suggestions on what to get there?

2009-09-30T19:29:00.000-05:00

and then my oven died in the middle of cooking dinner tonight....

Cosmic Kick Me sign?

2009-09-30T14:06:00.004-05:00

I believe somehow I have angered the universe and karma is kicking my butt. I'm not sure exactly what I did but it seems like lately things have just not been working for me. It's nothing big but just little karmic jabs that eventually start to get to you.

It started a few weeks ago when we ordered a new sectional couch and the salesman assured me he ordered the correct configuration just as it was in the picture I showed him. Of course when it was delivered 10 days later it was the exact opposite configuration and had to be reordered. No biggie, the people at my local Ashley's furniture store rock and totally took care of me. So it was just the minor inconvenience of having the wrong configuration for 2 weeks while waiting for a new one.

Then I got Bear back in MDO after a 3 week break between sessions only to have him sent home "sick" on his 2nd day back although he was perfectly fine when I got him home. This caused me to have to reschedule a desperately needed hair appointment that I had been looking forward to for weeks. Again, no biggie. I was able to get it rescheduled and it worked out OK.

Next my husband got placed on a job that required him to work an insane amount of night and weekend hours for 2 weeks. An inconvenience but we made it work. Then the Friday before last I got the stomach bug from hell. It was the sickest I have been in a very, very long time. Luckily my husband had gotten taken off another out of town job so he was able to come home early and help with the kids. I was feeling better by Sunday of that week so my husband sent me to get a pedicure. The pedicure was fine except the lady was a little vigorous in her digging around the edges of my big toe.

Monday my big toe was fine, Tuesday it hurt, Wednesday I thought it might fall off, Thursday was bad but not as bad as Wednesday, Friday was slightly better, Saturday was bearable and then I went and wore tight 4 inch heeled torture devices to church on Sunday. Monday I called the doctor who couldn't fit me in until Tuesday. I soaked it in Epson salt water, slathered it with Iodine, Neosporin and anything else I could get my hands on. By yesterday it was slightly better so I canceled the doctor appointment. Today I am monitoring it. So far it seems to be getting better.

Also, my inspection on my car was due by the end of September so last Thursday I decided to suck it up and take my car in. The night before we checked everything over to make sure I didn't have any lights out etc. Well when I went in to the inspection place the guy told me that I had a small light out and he would have to replace the bulb before he could pass me. Everything else was fine so I told him to go ahead and do it without asking what bulb he was talking about.

Had I checked I could have told him that what he thought was a bulb was just a part of the reflector next to the brake light and there was not a bulb out. However he figured this out once he took my light assembly off and looked himself. No biggie. Except he couldn't get my brake light to work once he took it off. So he took off the reverse light to look at it to see how it was supposed to go and then he dropped the reverse bulb into the light assembly so he had to remove the entire thing from the car to get the bulb out. When he reattached everything none of the lights on that side worked. So he comes in and tells me it must be a wiring issue and I need to get a mechanic to fix it before he can pass me on the inspection.

Yes, that is correct. My car was perfect and everything worked when I went in but when the idiot messed with my lights to replace a bulb that did not exist he screwed up the entire tail light area. Lets just say I was beyond angry and I let those guys have it. I also called my husband at work and he called and chewed them out. Yet they still refused to accept any responsibility and kept telling me it was a problem with my car. So they gave me my failure slip and sent me on my way with no brake light, reverse light, or turn signal on my driver's side. I went home and immediately filed a complaint with the BBB. Luckily my husband was able to reconnect the light correctly and screw the bulbs in properly and get it all working. So much for the "wiring" issue. I went back up there and was waiting outside the bay door when they opened the next morning. Those guys wouldn't even look me in the eye. The guys that were working the day before hid in the office and sent out a female mechanic to help me who wasn't there the day before. She passed me without a problem. I still have not heard a response from the BBB complaint although they told me they notified the owner. Lets just say I won't ever go there again.

Each of these things were annoying but not a huge deal but put them all together in the past month and I start to wonder if I've got a cosmic kick me sign on my back. My birthday is next Monday so hopefully things will improve soon.

Rice cereal

2009-09-19T21:10:00.004-05:00

In hopes of moving closer towards a longer than 1 hour stretch of sleep we mixed up some rice cereal tonight and offered it to our second born child.

He looks so little in the high chair.

Hey Mama, whatcha got there?

Hmmm....I'm not so sure about this...

Is it possible to spit out more than Mama puts in?

2009-09-18T08:45:00.007-05:00

Thank you all so much for your supportive comments. This parenting thing is like a big scary roller coaster. Really big highs, crazy curves, and then a stomach in your mouth drop of epic proportions. Only this can happen in a matter of minutes with a child. Monday was just a rough day at the end of a rough couple of weeks.

Tuesday shaped up to be slightly better as Bear has Mother's Day Out from 9-3 and I had a hair appointment scheduled for that day. Nothing like highlights and a trim to make you feel like a new woman. But of course those plans got derailed. I managed to get Bear dropped off 20 minutes late on Tuesday because he refused to get out of bed, refused to eat breakfast, and refused to get in and then out of the car. I barely had time to rush through the grocery store and drop off the groceries at the house before hopping in my car to get across town to my hair appointment. On the way the MDO people called and said Bear threw up and I needed to come get him. So I got to reschedule my hair appointment and head over to pick up my toddler that I dropped off just an hour and a half before. I showed up and before I even made it to the second set of doors into the center I could hear him screaming. Yay....

He was fine for the rest of the day, of course. Wednesday wasn't too bad because my husband finally finished up the soul sucking job he has been working on for weeks and got home by 6. We even managed to go have dinner together as a family. So that was nice. Yesterday was perfect. It was the day I have been needing for awhile. Bear was in a good mood, my hair appointment was good, I got to have lunch with my best friend, I made THREE trips to Target (1 was because the checker forgot to give me one of my bags) and my husband got home at 5:45 so we had dinner and then he took Bear out for an hour and a half plus gave him a bath and put him to bed for me. Score!

Now my only complaint is Tater being out of sorts. I don't know if it is teething, a growth spurt or just one of those developmental phases. He has been sleeping even worse than usual. Waking at least hourly. Plus he hasn't been eating normally. He keeps fussing and pulling away. I have tried Orajel with little luck. So I am going to start him on rice cereal tonight and see how that goes. He just fusses all the time. Playing with toys in his swing seems to be the only thing that makes him happy and even that is only for short periods of time. Wish me luck on this one.

Thank goodness I have Glee recorded on my DVR from Wednesday to watch at nap time. There needs to be something to look forward to today.

More of 2

2009-09-14T12:16:00.006-05:00

I'll admit, I was one of those smug moms with 1 kid who didn't really get what all the fuss was about. Bear was a relatively easy baby and I found staying home with him wasn't difficult at all. Then I went and decided to add another baby to the mix and my easy baby turned into this 2 year old that I don't know how to handle half the time. Add in a husband who has been working an insane amount of hours including weekends. Not so easy anymore.

I am just overwhelmed. Mostly with my toddler. Tater is a pretty easy baby so besides the time demands of breastfeeding and the not sleeping through the night we are doing OK. But Bear is a whole 'nother ballgame. The kicking, spitting, throwing things, breaking toys and furniture, screaming, crying, not napping and general melee is in full force. It is not all of the time but it seems to be becoming more the rule than the exception lately. I am sure some of it is new baby jealousy and some is not having daddy around much but it is driving me crazy.

I feel like I am all alone in this because it seems the people I know either have kids that didn't go through this, or went through it later (if I hear that 3 is worse one more time I am going to pack up and run away from home), or they have girls and have dealt more with the crying side of things and less of the physical things like hitting and breaking things. I have just been refraining from blogging because I really don't like writing negative things about my kids or family on here. I want to focus on the milestones and the funny antecdotes and not use this to whine about how hard my life is. I know in the grand scheme of things we are doing good and this is just a phase. There are times when Bear is amazing and I do see progress in his behavior. But when you are in the trenches of yet another battle over naptime or a diaper change it feels like this is how it always is and it will never end.

I have had a bit of a break the last 2 weeks because Mother's Day Out started back up after summer break and Bear is now going 2 days a week. This gives me a chance to focus on just one kid and even get some things done without worrying about someone dissolving into a puddle on the floor screaming about the latest injustice of being 2. I just want to see some kind of improvement and it seems that for every good day we have we end up following it with 2 meltdown filled days. Moving him to the toddler bed has in some ways made things worse. Nights were tricky at first but once we figured out that he needs it to be completely dark to sleep we were able to make it a little easier but now naps are a nightmare. He yet ready to give up nap
time which is evidenced by his much improved behavior on the days that he does nap.

So I have just been keeping my head down and trying to slog through this difficult period. I just can't help but think how great things are when Bear acts good and just wish kids didn't have to go through this phase.

In other news, Tater turned FIVE months old on Saturday. How insane is that? He is growing by leaps and bounds and it is so much fun to enjoy this baby phase all over again. We are going to be starting him on rice cereal and some first foods in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully he will start sleeping through the night soon.

Sleeping like a toddler

2009-08-10T11:39:00.004-05:00

So the time came to move Bear to his big boy bed this weekend. His new room has been set up since December but I just knew he wasn't ready yet. Last week was a tough week. He kept crawling out of his crib and refusing to listen. Before he might crawl out once and then he would stay in after we put him in the second time. But this past week he decided he was so done with the crib.

Saturday we got up and made a trip to Toys R Us to pick up a baby gate for his big boy room. We also picked up a mattress protector and some corner cushions for the sharp furniture edges in his room. We went home and put him down for his nap. While he was napping we assembled the bed rail I bought a few months ago and baby proofed his room with plug covers, a baby gate, door knob cover for the closet door and corner cushions on the furniture.

When bed time rolled around we followed our normal routine with a bath and a couple of stories but this time we cuddled in his new twin bed to read. He did fine until we walked out of the room and then he was screaming and banging on the door. We went back in a few times and put him down but he kept getting up and turning on his light. Finally we just left him up and figured he would lay down when he was tired. We have a video monitor set up so we could keep an eye on him and eventually he did tire out and fell asleep. He made it until 7:45 Sunday morning before he was banging on the door calling out for me.

He even sort of napped in his room yesterday. He passed out on the floor but at least he slept some. Last night we went through it all again and he fell asleep about an hour after we put him down. He was playing quietly with books and his cars so I was happy. The only catch is that he keeps his overhead light on. Even though he has a fairly bright night light. But I guess if he can fall asleep with all that light I'm not going to fight it.

Now I am trying to transition Tater tot to the crib. Wish me luck.

The quarter life clothing crisis

2009-07-29T22:28:00.004-05:00

I am a 28, almost 29, year old mother of 2. I still look closer to the 20 end of the age scale than the 30. However my figure is not what it once was after 2 pregnancies and 2 c-sections. I am only 2 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight but those are the biggest two pounds I have ever carried. My jeans that were snug before pregnancy are now screaming for mercy. So my husband told me this weekend to go out and buy myself a few new things to spruce up the wardrobe. Tuesday morning I dropped off Bear at Mother's Day Out and Tater tot and I set out for some shopping.

I hit the mall first and wandered through a couple of department stores but I couldn't decide whether to shop in the juniors or the missus or maybe petites. I walk through the juniors and I just can't get past this bag lady chic look they have going. Every outfit is 3 see through cheap shirts layered over a cami with a scarf around the neck and skinny jeans topped off with 15 necklaces. I look at the missus section and I am just so not ready to go there yet. I don't want to dress like my mom, or worse yet, my grandma. A forever 21 had opened up while I was pregnant so I wandered in there with my stroller and I am fairly certain I should be babysitting the other girls shopping there not buying the same clothes as them. Don't even get me started on the wet seal or abercrombie.

I even tried Gap, Express, New York and Co and a few other stores but nothing. It didn't help that Tater was not in the mood for shopping and kept protesting the stroller so I was carrying him while pushing my purse in the stroller. I nursed him in the car in the mall parking lot and got him settled enough to head to Old Navy. Can you believe that I did not find one thing that looked cute on me? The only good thing that came out of my trip to the changing room was a private breastfeeding session versus feeding Tater in the car.

It's not just the fashions it is just so many things. Not knowing how I should dress now that I am not a college kid anymore but not wanting to fall into the SAHM shlumpyness. The fact that my body is now fatter in the middle and wider in the hips. I can't wear the cute strapless shirts or anything that doesn't cover a nursing bra.

So I gave up. I went home and looked at my closet full of clothes and decided that perhaps instead of trying to find clothes to mask the body that I have perhaps I should work on getting that body back into the clothes that I have. Then I went online and bought a Wii Fit with the money my husband gave me.

Toddler-isms

2009-07-17T11:02:00.010-05:00

* Why is it that Mama can coach you over and over to say 1-2-3, A-B-C, etc and you will stubbornly refuse to say it in front of anyone when Mama asks you to? However you will have no problem saying "Oh, s%#*" in front of your grandparents, Sunday school teachers, and Mother's Day out staff after hearing your daddy say it once?

* Why is it that you sleep blissfully through the night (for the most part) over the past 2 years but the night your 3 month old brother decides to sleep pretty soundly you decide that is the night to wake up every 1/2 hour and fuss and scream for no reason? I know there was no reason because I checked, multiple times.

* Why is it that when Mama tells you no more juice because you keep spitting it on the carpet you decide that it is OK to get the dog's water bottle from his crate and try to drink out of that instead. Yuck!

* Why is it that you never want to play with or kiss the baby until he is sleeping soundly in his crib or the swing? Same goes for crawling all over Mama only when she is feeding the baby.

* Why do you ask to watch Elmo and then as soon as Mama gets it on you throw a screaming fit asking to watch robots (Transformers)?

* Why do you think that it is ok to throw any food on the floor that you deem "yucky"?

* Why do you scream and cry about being forced to take a bath and the scream and cry when it's time to get out?

* Why do you wait till Mama is at her wits end to decide to be cute and give Mama kisses?

Happy Thoughts

2009-07-06T12:22:00.014-05:00

After my last doom and gloom post I thought I would follow it up with a post of things that make me happy right now. So here are a few things making my life wonderful.

* Plastic kiddie pools. Seriously great way to beat the heat and so much fun for your toddler.

* Tater Tot turned 12 weeks old Saturday. If I was still working I would have had to return to work today as my 12 weeks of FMLA would have been up. Yay for staying home!

* I discovered the yummiest cookie recipe ever and have made it 3 times in the past 2 weeks. Half batches, anyways. I'm not a complete pig.

* Bear is starting to get a little easier. I am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel with these terrible twos. We still get tantrums and difficulties daily but it is still easier than it was this time last year. Although I haven't started potty training yet so that light might just be a train.

* Did I mention Tater is 12 weeks old? That means I have been exclusively breastfeeding for 12 weeks. I rock. It was so hard those first few weeks that I really never thought I would make it this far. I'll even admit I somewhat enjoy it except when he wants to eat someplace really public. Then I am still a little shy. Mama needs a few drinks before whipping out her breast in public which is obviously a no-no with the whole breastfeeding thing. Thank God for hooter hiders. I have the Blue Maxfield design an I lurve it.

* My best friend found out recently that she is unexpectedly pregnant and I am so excited. She will be having her baby in mid-January.

* I am getting my hair cut and highlighted tomorrow. The last time I got this done was 2 months before Tater Tot was born. I am way overdue.

* Homemade bread. I have been trying out some new recipes and it has made making my own bread fun again. I am really loving this recipe by Money Saving Mom. I also love, love her pizza crust recipe although I add Italian seasoning and garlic powder for a little umph.

* Coconut lime verbena foaming handsoap from Bath and Body works. Hands down my favorite soap for washing my hands in the kitchen. It smells so amazing I want to lick myself in a non-creepy, non-pornographic way. I picked up 3 new bottles on sale at Bath and Bodyworks this weekend.

* I got the boys pictures taken 2 weeks ago and they are super cute. I can't wait to hand them out at Tater's christening in two weeks. The only downside was that Bear refused to do a cute picture with Tater. Every time we put them together on the bean bag chair, Bear would start pushing Tater away which would make him cry. We ended up with one semi-decent picture of the two of them and a bunch of cute pictures of them separately.

* I am making Penne a la Betsy for dinner tonight. 'Nuff said.

Ostrich

2009-07-03T09:36:00.006-05:00

I have been hiding out lately. Burying my head in the sand, sticking my fingers in my ears and saying la-la-la. I don't know if it's just postpartum hormones or the godforsaken heat but I am just grouchy. So I bury my head in hopes of my head not exploding.

The boys are good. Well as good as a 2 1/2 year old cooped up in the house from the heat and a 2 month old who sleeps in 2 hour increments can be. They are beautiful and healthy so I am thankful for that.

I am just more stressed about the state of the world in general. It is a 100 million degrees outside. If I hear the name Michael Jackson one more time my head might actually explode (I have pretty much taken to avoiding the news and gossip websites for a few weeks until the furor dies down). I can't even begin to discuss the things our president is doing because there are just not words. I'm fairly sure a sworn enemy of this country could not do more damage in such a short period of time without using any weapons. I will leave it at that since I know many of my readers voted for him and think what he is doing is good. So I am back to my stance of burying my head in the sand.

My momma always said if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all.

Chunky Monkey

2009-06-21T20:02:00.004-05:00

This past week has been a busy week for those of us here in the slow lane. My sister came into town Monday to see the new baby finally. We had a great lunch and enjoyed getting a chance to catch up. She only lives 2 hours away but as a single parent with 3 kids she doesn't get to get out much. My mom came up the following day and spent the night so she could watch the kiddos while I saw a G.I. specialist about my gallbladder or whatever is causing the episodes I have been having since I had Bear 2 years ago.

He scheduled me for another ultrasound to see if they can pinpoint the cause of the problem and prescribed some medication that should help if I have another attack. If the ultrasound shows nothing obvious and the medication doesn't help then we will have to look into more tests. Yippee. It was nice to at least be able to meet him and have him take me seriously. I was afraid he would make me wait until I had another episode before he would do anything. I haven't had one since November so I am afraid I might be due for another one.

The new baby also had a doctor checkup this week. His two month checkup. He weighed 12lb and 14 oz and was 22 1/2 inches long. My husband and I have taken to calling him Chunk (short for Chunky Monkey) or Tater (short for tater tot). He was 25% percentile for height and 75% for weight. Lets hear it for the breast milk.

I am taking the boys next week to have their pictures taken. I am not looking forward to the actual appointment but it will be nice to have some new professional photos. I haven't been to have any taken since last summer.

We have also been playing around with the new Flip video camera I got my husband for Father's Day. I didn't want to give it to him until today but he was having a rough day on Thursday so I gave him his present early to cheer him up. We have been playing with it all weekend. Don't worry, all footage is of the children. Its all G rated people.

Who are you callin' Chunky, lady?

The boots

2009-06-15T10:47:00.008-05:00

I got some emails and comments regarding the boots in the picture from my previous post.

The boots are John Deere Johnny Popper boots from Cavender's Boot City. Yes, I live in Texas. No, I did not buy the boots. My husband's aunt did. Don't worry, Bear got a John Deere t-shirt from her so he didn't feel left out. If you feel your child's life would not be complete without his or her own pair, you can pick them up here. They sell them all the way up to kid sizes if you are so inclined to pay that much for them.

*Chubby baby thighs not included.

Typical Housewife

2009-06-12T17:45:00.007-05:00

If you thought posting before the baby came was sporadic at best I am now outdoing myself with laziness. It could be that there is very little going on in my life besides changing diapers and trying to get someone fed, clean or to sleep at any given point in my day. I barely leave the house anymore. My best friend was kind enough to watch the kiddos for us last Saturday night so we could go out to dinner alone for the first time in months. That was only my second time in a restaurant since the baby was born 2 months ago. That must be some kind of record for me.

Gotta look on the bright side. This has helped with saving money and improving my cooking skills. I discovered the best red beans and rice recipe ever at the Homesick Texan's blog. Love her recipes. I have also been trying out quite a few recipes from the Pioneer Woman lately. And I even made my own pizza crust from scratch the other day using a recipe from Money Saving Mom. What did people do before blogs? Seriously, I would be totally lost without them.

So thats my life for now. Cooking, cleaning, diaper changing. Just the life of the typical American Housewife. But I am happy, happier than I can ever remember being at any other point in my life. Doing exactly what I always hoped I would be able to do.

Can you blame me?

10 years

2009-05-28T22:04:00.004-05:00

Do you know what you were doing 10 years ago tonight? I do. Ten years ago I walked across a temporary stage in the middle of an outdoor football field in a small Texas town and accepted my high school diploma. I thought I was grown up. I had an acceptance letter to the college of my choice and all I had to do was make it through the summer and then come August I would pack up my car and head off to college to start my life.

The month of May has always been a month of new beginnings for me. May 2000 I finished my first year of college and moved in with my 2 best friends into our first apartment. May 2001 I moved out of that apartment, no longer friends with either girl, and into my very own apartment. May 2002 I studied abroad in Russia and faced my fears about studying in a foreign country with only a basic grasp of the language. May 2003 I accepted a proposal of marriage from my future husband whom I had known for a total of 4 1/2 months. May 2004 I married that man and we started our lives together. May 2005 we celebrated completing our first difficult year of marriage in Florida with my parents. May 2006 we purchased our first home and spent a week getting it ready to move into. May 2007 I lost my job of 3 1/2 years and had to start looking for a new one with a 4 month old baby at home. May 2008 was my first full month as a stay at home mom.

And here it is, May 2009. I am now the proud owner of a bachelor's degree, a homeowner, a wife, a mother of 2 boys and now I think I might actually be a grown up for real. I barely remember that girl from 10 years ago but I am proud of her and how far she has come.

Flying by...

2009-05-20T11:39:00.004-05:00

It is amazing how fast the time passes when you have two small people entirely dependent on you for their survival. It makes things like blogging, eating, showering etc take a backseat. Just kidding on the showering. I make sure to find time for that. My life has become a serious exercise in proritizing lately. When I am not feeding, changing, refilling sippy cups, dressing, bathing, re-feeding, cleaning up, cooking, doing laundry etc I have to figure out what thing I want to do most with my free time. Most of the time eating or showering wins which means there is no time to blog. I can still read blogs while breastfeeding but my one handed typing sucks.

I am also really trying to enjoy the baby time this time around. Last time I kept wanting each stage to pass or get here but this time I am just trying to soak up the newborn-ness. This is hard when my two year old is constantly demanding my attention and trying to get into or on everything. He is driving me a little crazy with the whole not listening and getting into everything stage. This stage has been going on for a YEAR with no end in sight. Lucky for him that he is so cute.

His daddy took him fishing this weekend and it is moments like this that make me realize that the toddler stage won't last forever either. It all goes by so fast.

Banished to the attic

2009-05-04T10:28:00.003-05:00

This weekend I finally got to clear out all the maternity clothes that have been hogging my closet space. When I had Bear I just moved them all to the back of the closet knowing that I would probably be pregnant again in the next 2 years. But today they are happily esconced in a Rubbermaid container ready for a trip up to the attic. Even though I don't plan on having more children you never know plus I hate to just get rid of them. If I don't use them again at least I can donate them to a friend whenever someone needs them.

It is so nice to see all my summer clothes hanging up at the front of my closet, organized and ready to wear. I can only fit in one pair of pre-pregnancy jeans but I have hope that I will be able to squeeze in the rest soon. I am only 4 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight but my shape hasn't bounced quite back yet. Until then I have yoga pants and shorts I can wear. And luckily my feet are back to pre-pregnancy size too so I can wear my new sandals.

The only thing that worries me is my appetite. I am hungrier now than I have ever been in my life. All I want to do is eat. I hope the breastfeeding will help keep me from gaining back the weight. I thought pregnancy was supposed to make you want to eat for two but breastfeeding is a whole new level of hunger. It doesn't help that I have been perusing the Pioneer Woman's recipes again and I made Pasta alla Vodka last night. So yummy yet so fattening.

The first day of the rest of my parenthood experience

2009-04-29T09:00:00.004-05:00

Today is my first official day on my own with my toddler and my newborn. I set the alarm so I could have time to feed Peanut before I got Bear up. It has worked out pretty well so far this morning. I fed the baby and then got Bear some milk and got him out of bed and changed. While he was eating his Cheerios I made coffee and folded laundry. Peanut entertained himself in the pack and play. Now we are all watching Seasame Street.

I'm still not sure on a nickname for the baby and I am thinking about abandoning the nicknames all together and just using their real names. Right now Piglet would probably be the most appropriate nickname for my newest son as all he does is eat and grunt. This is my first time to breastfeed so it has been really exciting to see him growing and thriving purely off what I produce from my body. I took him for his 2 week checkup on Monday and he already weighs 8 lbs. That is 15 oz over his birth weight. Very Exciting.

It has been a challenge getting used to having two especially yesterday when I had to pick up Bear from Mother's Day Out while juggling my newborn. I think going out in public is going to be the most challenging thing for me at first. It's not bad when I have my husband but on my own is scary. We took the boys to the park on Saturday together and that was nice. The breastfeeding has gone better than I could have expected. It hurt quite a bit at first but now I am starting to really enjoy the convenience and the closeness. I won't discuss the sleep right now as I prefer not to jinx myself.

Blessed (and Spoiled)

2009-04-25T14:34:00.004-05:00

There is nothing like a new baby to bring out the best in people. These past two weeks have been nothing short of amazing. (Can you believe it has been two weeks already?) I haven't had a moment alone in the past 2 weeks but in a good way. People have been falling all over themselves to make sure I haven't had to do anything but take care of and love on the new baby.

My mom, dad, and grandma have all been taking turns staying with us so that there is always someone here to take care of Bear, run errands and take care of housework. I feel so incredibly blessed. My friends have been bringing meals and baby gifts. My dad is out mowing the lawn as we speak while I take a break between feedings and my husband runs some errands.

I have just been trying to soak up all this time with my family as much as possible because I never get to spend so much time with them on my own. Tuesday will be the last day someone will be here and then I will be on my own. I'll admit I am a wee bit afraid of how it will all work but I know it will somehow.

2009-04-16T12:24:00.007-05:00

I know, I know. There is so much to tell you and each day that I don't write the more I feel like I will forget or leave out but yet it is so hard to take the few precious moments I have to myself to update my blog, Facebook, return phone calls, see visitors, etc. Today I got up early and my Mom took me and the baby up to the pediatrician for his weigh in and then over to my OB to get my blood pressure checked and my staples taken out. The baby, who I will call Peanut for now until I can come up with a nickname, is doing well. He eats ALL.THE.TIME and refuses to be put down which makes doing anything else difficult. He has already gained 4 oz since our release from the hospital on Tuesday so all the eating seems to be paying off.

I am doing pretty well. Tired and sore although not as tired or sore as I was after my first c-section. My blood pressure has been way high since the delivery so they are putting me on blood pressure medication for now. (It was 173/103 at my appt this morning). Plus they put me on antibiotics since my c-section scar was red when they took out my staples. Add in my Motrin, pain killers, and Iron pills and I am tired of taking medications. My weight loss has been good though so I was excited about that.

I mentioned in my last post that this was a surprise delivery on Saturday morning. Apparently Peanut felt that the 13th wasn't a good birthday and he would prefer the 11th instead. I knew something was up Friday night when I was so nauseated I couldn't lay down or sleep. Then bright and early Saturday morning my water broke. Immediately I started having contractions that were 5 minutes apart. My dad had just left his house but was still 3 hours away so we called everyone we knew to see if someone could take Bear. We got a hold of my husband's uncle and aunt and they agreed to take him for a few hours until my dad got here.

By the time we were in the car and on our way my contractions were 3 minutes apart and getting bad. The hospital was 10 minutes away so I told my husband to drop me off at the ER so I could get checked in while he dropped off Bear. Good thing I did that because by the time he got him dropped off and came back to the hospital my contractions were intense and approximately 1 minute apart. They did my blood work and IV and I was in the operating room at just under 2 hours from when my water broke. My doctor wasn't on call but he happened to be at the hospital checking on another patient so he stayed and delivered Peanut. The c-section wasn't bad but afterwards I shook in the recovery room for about 3 hours. I didn't have any shaking like that after my last c-section. It was awful and my temperature was 95.2. Brrrr... Once they got me in my room though I was doing better. I was up and walking around the next day with minimal problems.

We got home Tuesday afternoon and it is so good to be home. Bear is doing awesome with his baby brother. He has been giving him lots of kisses and has been very sweet with him. That was a big relief.

I think that gets you pretty well caught up. Here are a few more pictures to tide you over until I get time to write again.

We're Home!

2009-04-14T21:22:00.004-05:00

Baby boy made a surprise appearance on Saturday morning at 9:50 a.m. More details to come later but I just wanted to let everyone know everything is OK and we are home safely. Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes.

Like a kid in a candy shop

2009-04-10T22:09:00.004-05:00

So my new iPod nano arrived today. Finally. The UPS man didn't come until 5 and I was getting worried. I really wanted to get all my songs uploaded this weekend so it can come to the hospital with me on Monday. I am officially in love. Although I am certain I am going to smush it or lose it. This thing is seriously small.

I have been downloading songs and trying to get my cds into iTunes. It is a lot of work. And those downloads add up quick.

I may need an intervention.

Holy crap, 5 more days?

2009-04-08T11:55:00.006-05:00

In case y'all were counting we are now a mere five days away from D day. Crazy. I am so, so ready to be done with this pregnancy thing but still really nervous about the whole getting cut open while naked in front of a room full of strangers with a needle in my back thing. In addition to all my pregnancy discomforts I have now added allergies to my list of health woes. I woke up all stuffy, itchy, yucky last night and it has morphed into runny nose/headache/yucky feeling today. I just pray it gets better before my surgery on Monday.

In other news, Bear is all nicely recovered from his croup. Amen. Whatever those doctors at the ER gave him really worked. Plus the 5 days of steroids that he finished up yesterday. So I do have his health to be thankful for. Although is it awful to say that I kind of miss the sluggish/cuddly behavior that comes from a sick 2 year old versus the bouncing off the walls craziness that I have now? I love him being healthy but it was nice to have his energy down a notch for a little bit.

I am also excited to report that I got my first baby gift for me last night from my husband. I think the mama is definitely overlooked in the whole gift giving department when it comes to giving birth. Seriously, the baby only needs so many onesies. I need a medal or something shiny for getting gutted like a fish dontcha think? Anyways, he bought me a shiny new iPod nano in green. I am so excited. I could possibly be the last person on Earth (or at least in America) under 65 without one. There have always just been too many other things to spend money on like clothes, pedicures, GPSs, my camera, etc. I am open to suggestions on songs I should upload onto it when it arrives from Amazon on Friday.

Busy, Busy

2009-04-03T11:43:00.006-05:00

Has it already been a week since my last post? This week has been a little crazy. My husband was sick all weekend with some cold or allergy thing so we were pretty limited on what we did all weekend as he wasn't up for much. I had my regular doctor appointment on Wednesday and my blood pressure has been going up. The doctor checked it three times at my appointment and asked me to come back today to have it checked again.

Yesterday was supposed to be my easy day but Bear started running a fever and having chills while we were out at lunch with my best friend. We took him home and gave him Motrin before his nap hoping it was just a little virus. I checked on him several times during his nap and his fever had broken so I thought he was doing better. She left around 3:30 and I got him up around 4. When I got him up I immediately noticed the fever was back along with wheezing. I gave him a breathing treatment with our nebulizer and it did nothing for him. He started wheezing really badly and couldn't seem to cough or really talk.

So I threw him in the car and off to Urgent care we went. I called my husband on the way and he was on his way home and he said he would meet me up there. He got there before me and they told him it was a 2 hour wait. He explained that we had a 2 year old who couldn't breathe and we weren't waiting 2 hours. As soon as I got there they took him right back and grabbed a doctor. The doctor was really concerned with his breathing and told us we needed to go to the hospital. She called the ER and told them we were on our way.

So we got to the ER and they did two more breathing treatments with him and gave him steroids which helped a lot. Apparently has has a bad case of croup. What was scary was how fast it came on and how quickly it got severe. Luckily they saw him quickly and we were on our way home after about 2 1/2 hrs at the ER. He is still breathing rough and coughing today but nothing as severe as what I saw yesterday. They gave us a prescription for steroids and said this should be cleared up in a week or less. I scheduled an appointment for him to have a checkup with his regular doctor next Tuesday to make sure he is all better.

Today my friend came back over and watched him so I could go and have my blood pressure checked again. It is still high but not as high as it was Wednesday. The nurse wants me to come back at 3 today and have it checked again. Ugh.

Next week is going to be crazy with doctor's appointments for me and Bear, a vet appointment for Rocky, the Pest control guy coming for our quarterly spraying and last minute preparations for the baby. Then the following Monday is c-section day. The doctor said I should expect to be released that Thursday afternoon, April 16th. Luckily my nesting has been in such high gear that I really don't have a lot of baby prep work left. It will mainly just be getting the house ready for guests to be here while I am in the hospital. It's hard not to be stressed out right now but I am also really excited that in 10 days (or less) I will be holding my newest baby.

Whew!

Good times

2009-03-27T17:10:00.004-05:00

I love days that start out with the potential to be really sucky but actually end up being pretty good. I slept terribly last night. No big surprise since my back always hurts at night and I could not fall asleep for the life of me. Anyways, at around 7ish this morning I hear Bear up and talking to himself. Ugh. I was really hoping he would sleep until at least 8 or so giving me a chance to rest a little longer. But on the plus side my husband was still home, normally he leaves at 6:30, so he went in to check on Bear. This had the potential to be a very good thing or a very bad thing.

Good thing if Bear sees Dada and settles down and goes back to sleep or very bad if he sees Dada and freaks out because Dada isn't going to get him up to play with him. Guess which happened this morning? Oh and of course he soaked through his diaper and all over the sheets so he has to get up. So as I am laying in bed all I hear is a very angry toddler over the monitor. I heave myself out of bed and put in my contacts. Luckily my husband got Bear all cleaned up and the bed stripped before I got my not happy self in there. He stuck around long enough for me to feed Bear and get him in a better mood so he wasn't all upset when my husband left for work around 8. 1st crisis averted.

Then I look outside and it is gray, foggy, humid, yucky. So much for getting Bear out of the house today. We have been trapped inside for days due to yucky rainy weather that has made everything muddy. Just as I was resigning myself to another day of trying to wrangle a toddler indoors using nothing but toys he is already bored with and my imagination, my best friend called and wanted to come over. Cool. Crisis 2 averted.

She comes over and helps me entertain Bear for awhile. Another one of our friends called and suggested we all go out to lunch. We decide to meet up at the food court at the mall so Bear can play with her daughter in the play area there. Yay! So we had a lovely lunch of Chick-fil-a and the kiddos played at the play area for awhile. After that we got packed up and ready to go so the kiddos could get home for naptime. Then we heard the rain start thundering down on the roof and realized we were trapped in the mall until the storm subsided. Oh darn.

I managed to pick up an adorable swimsuit and sandals for Bear at Gymboree on sale and got in some good window shopping for me. We also treated ourselves to cookies from the Nestle Toll House place. Yum! By the time we got done the rain had stopped and we headed back to the house. Bear even fell asleep in the car on the way back meaning I was able to put him right down when I got home with no fuss. My friend took off and I got an 1 1/2 hour nap in before Bear got back up. Now my hubby is on his way home and the sun has even come out.

Still here.

2009-03-24T21:43:00.006-05:00

I promise I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, given birth, or anything dramatic. I've just been kind of blah. I'm tired of writing about pregnancy and yet I've been thinking about little else for the past few weeks, months. This last month is hard y'all.

So instead of whining about my big pregnant self I thought I would share a picture of my other darling child who is not kicking me in the ribs right now.

We got his hair cut last week and I think it makes him look more grown up. Every day he moves farther and farther out from babyhood. It makes me so sad but yet so proud. His new thing lately is "helping" us. If I am dusting then he is grabbing a towel and following along. Same goes for sweeping and vacuuming. It is so adorable.

Sleepless in Texas

2009-03-17T00:34:00.003-05:00

It is 12:34 a.m. and I can hear my husband snoring in the next room and my son talking to himself in his crib. I am up in my recliner in the living room unable to sleep. I desperately want to try to enjoy this last month of pregnancy before my world gets turned upside down but it is hard to do that when I haven't had a decent nights sleep in I don't know how long.

I know I got off easy in my last pregnancy skipping those last 7 1/2 weeks of my 3rd trimester although I would gladly have traded all those nights sleep for having my baby not have to stay in the NICU. It does seem to be nature's cruel joke to deprive expectant mothers of decent sleep for weeks or months before the arrival of a new baby. As if the sleepless nights after the baby gets here aren't enough.

Besides the backaches, rib pain, non-stop peeing, restless legs and general uncomfortableness this also happens to be the baby's most active time of the day. Throw in some baby hiccups and you have one tired mommy. I know it is all worth it in the end and someday this will be a nice distant fuzzy memory but tonight I just needed to vent.

C-section scheduled? Check.

2009-03-13T20:37:00.011-05:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, We have a due date scheduled. The doctor's office called and confirmed I am scheduled for a c-section April 13th, a scant 1 month from today. Luckily, NOT a Friday the 13th. This is all assuming that I don't go into labor before then. But it is exciting either way because at least I have a for sure date to know I will meet my 2nd son by.

In some ways I am more than ready and feel like I have been pregnant forever but in others I can't believe my pregnancy is almost over. I know my body is ready for a break. I already feel like I am busting at the seams and any day a rib is going to pop out and impale me. Mentally I am not as prepared but how can you ever really be ready for a newborn and a toddler? I know I will just have to take it one day at a time.

I did get a box of receiving blankets, onesies, and sleepers today in the mail from my husband's step-sister. Nothing like seeing tiny little footie sleepers with dinosaurs on them to get you all excited about meeting your new baby. Yay for baby presents.

T minus 7 weeks

2009-03-02T22:03:00.006-06:00

As I reflect on these last few magical weeks of pregnancy (snort) I think the thing I am most looking forward to beyond actually meeting my preshus baby is that once the baby comes I will have help. When you are pregnant you have people telling you to take it easy but its not like anyone can be like, "Here I'll take the baby for awhile you go have a few drinks with the girls". Nor do I see anyone volunteering to take the baby so I can sleep on my stomach uninterrupted for a 3 hour stretch without a pee break or a leg cramp. Yes I will be recovering from a c-section, going through the breastfeeding woes, and dealing with all the postpartum hormones but by God I will have a mother here telling me she will take the baby for awhile so I can go take a nap.

My ribs, back, and feet hurt. I am tired of eating mini meals because my stomach is located 2 inches below my throat. I want to be able to roll over in bed easily and even sleep on my stomach. I'm so over waddling and pulling up my pants every two seconds because no matter how big you get your maternity pants will never stay up. I'm sick of nosebleeds especially the 3 am ones as if the sleep isn't interrupted enough.

I know I should be enjoying these last few weeks before my life is flipped upside down but it would be nice if I could stick my stomach in a bouncy seat for a few minutes and do something unencumbered. I am ready to meet this second son of mine. I want him here safely and healthy and in my arms.

A celebratory belly shot

2009-02-27T20:40:00.003-06:00

Since I am now 32 weeks 3 days today I thought I would celebrate with a belly picture. My water broke with Bear right at this point so today felt kind of special. I also celebrated with a Ben and Jerry's sundae after dinner so that also factors into the belly size in the photo.

Week 32 - Commence Nesting

2009-02-23T11:32:00.006-06:00

I will officially be 32 weeks tomorrow. Just 3 days shy of when my water broke with Bear. Through out this pregnancy I have been doing some of the usual nesting. We set up Bear's new big boy room to free up the nursery, cleaned out the linen closets, and organized the medicine shelf in the bathroom closet to make sure we have all our baby nose suckers and themometers in order. However in the past few weeks the nesting has kicked it up a notch. I have organized the drawer with my party supplies, cleaned and organized the pantry, scrubbed and organized the lazy susan shelf with my pots and pans, cleaned and organized the cabinet with all the sippy cups and Rubbermaid containers, organized under the bathroom and kitchen sinks, cleaned out the fridge, etc.

This weekend we even started pulling down some of the baby things from the attic like the bassinet, newborn - 3 month clothes, bouncy seat, and the carseat. I washed all the clothes and blankets and folded them all and put them in the basket below the bassinet. I just feel like there is so much to do and I am so afraid of ending up in the same predicament as last time where I am recovering from a c-section and trying to wash baby clothes, set up a nursery and get my house ready to bring him home. I know the chances of another preemie baby are low but I think the added pressure of having a toddler is sending me into overdrive. I know that people will be coming and staying in my house to help take care of Bear while I am in the hospital and the first few weeks home with the baby. God forbid my mom see expired medicine on the shelf or not be able to find the lid to a pot in the kitchen due to my lack of organization.

I am starting to feel reasonably prepared. However, I know when I do get home from the hospital there will still be messes and things I forgot to get. I didn't really get into the whole nesting phase with my last pregnancy so I hope this is all just hormones and I will relax some when the baby gets here since I know keeping an organized and immaculate house with a toddler, new baby and a husband is an exercise in futility.

A Meme about Us

2009-02-20T20:04:00.005-06:00

I am desperate to blog about something besides pregnancy and my toddler so I totally stole this meme from Jenny at She Likes Purple.

What are your middle names?

Mine is Rae and my hubby's is Glen.

How long have you been together?

Since January 2003. It was the closest thing to love at first sight that I have ever experienced.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?

We met January 8, 2003 and immediately hit it off. He invited me to go get ice cream and while we were out he asked me to go out on a date that weekend. 2 days later we had our first date.

Who asked whom out?

He asked me.

How old are each of you?

He is 34 and I am 28.

Whose siblings do you see the most?

We are about even on this. We aren't particularly close with either of our siblings but see them occasionally since they don't live too far away.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?

Probably the 16 days Bear spent in the NICU after he was born. Although we have each been laid off unexpectedly and those times were scary and tough too.

Did you go to the same school?

Nope. I met him 2 weeks after I graduated from college.

Are you from the same home town?

No, I was born in a suburb of Dallas and he was born outside of Houston.

Who is smarter?

I was better at school but he has lots of life and work experience.

Who is the most sensitive?

I am, especially with all these crazy pregnancy hormones.

Where do you eat out most as a couple? 

We eat a lot of Mexican food (my top choice) and BBQ (his top choice).

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?

Cancun, Mexico for our honeymoon.

Who has the craziest exes?

I'd say we are probably even on this one. We have actually discussed setting up a dating service to hook up our crazy exes who seem to be perfect matches.

Who has the worst temper?

He does. I am the blow up and get over it type where he is the hold a grudge till the day he dies type.

Who does the cooking?

I do. He cooked for me first but I have been doing it ever since. Although he does handle all the grilling duties.

Who is the neat-freak?

I like everything picked up and put away where he is more anal about the actual cleaning part. So he doesn't care about leaving socks on the floor and stuff spread out all over the counter but will freak out about crumbs on the floor. I can deal with the crumbs on the floor but those damn socks will drive me crazy.

Who is more stubborn?

He is.

Who hogs the bed? 

Neither. I am extremely territorial about my half of the bed and will kick and push to keep him off my side during the night but I don't invade his territory.

Who wakes up earlier?

He does. He usually leaves the house by 6-6:30 a.m. sometimes earlier.

Where was your first date? 

We went out to dinner at Cheddar's and then back to his place to watch old movies.

Who is more jealous?

Honestly this isn't too much of an issue for us. I used to be jealous but marriage has mellowed me out.

How long did it take to get serious? 

Not long. We met in January, he told me he loved me in February, moved in with me in March, and proposed in May. We were married the following May.

Who eats more? 

He does. Although being pregnant I can give him a run for his money.

Who does the laundry?

I do since I stay home full time. We used to split the duties when I worked.

Who’s better with the computer? 

I'm better with software while he is better at figuring out the hardware.

Who drives when you are together?

He does. I hate driving and he always complains when I drive.

2009-02-15T21:29:00.005-06:00

Another week down. Every day I'm creeping just a little closer to meeting my new boy and fitting into my old clothes. I can't wait. This weekend we made our last pre-baby trip out of town. Now that I am 2 weeks away from where I was when I had Bear I've decided to stick close to home, and my doctor, until he arrives. We made a quick trip down to see my parents in Houston and had a good time. It was nice to get out of town with the hubby even if it was just for the night. My parents watched Bear Saturday for a little bit so my husband and I could have a lovely lunch outdoors at a nice little Italian joint on the lake.

Then my Mom and I did some grocery shopping for dinner and picked up steaks for the guys to grill for dinner. My Mom also bought us some chocolate covered strawberries, yum! My stepdad and I took some time before dinner to do my taxes. I am so relieved to have those taken care of before the baby comes. I could have done them myself but it is nice to have someone help me with a few of my questions just to make sure I don't miss something.

We got home this afternoon and Bear has been being a bit of a bear. He never sleeps well when we travel so we put him to bed 45 minutes early tonight. He kept me up from 3:30 - 5:30 a.m. this morning as if my sleep isn't bad enough with the backaches, peeing, and hip pain.

I entertained myself this weekend by reading The Pioneer Woman's love story. I had heard about it for awhile but hadn't actually read it yet. It was a great story to read around Valentine's Day. I am eagerly awaiting her next installment. I have also been tackling a few of her recipes lately. I did the French Onion soup Friday night and it was good but it would have been better if I had a dutch oven so I could have properly caramelized my onions. I'll have to add one of those to my wish list of kitchen gadgets.

New recipes make Momma very happy

2009-02-08T20:27:00.005-06:00

Well we survived the Superbowl/Birthday Party last weekend. It was a lot of work and I was exhausted when it was all over. We only ended up with 2 couples and 2 kids but with everyone hanging out for nearly 6 hours we ate enough food for 20 people. I am so glad it is over. This weekend my neighbors had their son's 1st birthday party and she went all out with food, games, bouncy house, pinata, favor bags, etc. It was nice to be able to go over and enjoy it all and then go home at the end of the night.

I have been working on more domestic pursuits lately such as expanding my recipe collection. I think I get tired of cooking because I am cooking the same recipes over and over. Today I did not one but two recipes from The Pioneer Woman. If you haven't visited her recipe site you are missing out. I made her biscuits and gravy for breakfast and then Penne a la Betsy for dinner. Yum! Although my heart (and my waist) can only take her recipes in moderation. If you have any favorite recipe blogs you want to recommend please let me know. I plan on tackling Bean Paste's Welsh Rabbit and Chicken Pot Pie this week as well. It is nice to be excited about cooking again.

We also put some finishing touches on Bear's new room this weekend by hanging some stuff on the walls. We put up the new baby's name on the nursery wall too. I even picked up my first package of wee diapers for the new baby today. Squee! It is getting more and more real now. I am 29 weeks 5 days today, I had Bear at 32 weeks % days so I want to be prepared this time around in case I get another anxious stork in a hurry to make a delivery.

Happy Birthday to Bear...Mommy needs a nap

2009-01-31T19:52:00.005-06:00

Today is Bear's 2nd birthday. I have been solo parenting for the past few days since my husband is out of town for work. So there was nothing planned for today. Which was probably good because apparently Bear got the memo that Two means Terrible Twos. He refused to nap today. AT.ALL. After I finally gave up on the nap and decided to give him a bath before daddy got home. I got him all scrubbed down and was peacefully reading a magazine beside the tub while he played with his bath toys. He started saying Uh oh and I looked into the tub to discover a blizzard of poop. At least that is what it looked like.

I hauled him out of the tub and stuck a diaper on him to contain any future messes. Then I got to scrub down the tub and all of his toys. Once those were all clean I got to give Bear a second bath with a good scrubbing. Fun times. These are the things they never show you in the Gerber commercials. My husband called shortly after that to let me know he was still not done with his job and didn't know when he would be. At this time it was 4:30 so I got Bear dressed and threw him in the car and we headed to the mall for a little theraputic shopping/pretzel eating. The mall was packed but I did get him a cute pair of sandals and of course a pair for me. We shared pizza and a pretzel and decided to head to the grocery store to get the stuff I need for tomorrow's birthday/Superbowl party. I had planned on doing that this afternoon with my hubby but since it was 6:00 and he was still not done at work and was still 2 1/2 hours from home I realized that was not going to happen.

Of course the store was packed and they didn't have balloons (normally they had these out at the door for the little kids) which did not help me with Bear. I get over to the meat department and discover they have 2 briskets left. TWO. One is a ginormous slab that costs 30+ dollars and the other is a dinky, fatty looking one for about $17.00. I'm trying to keep Bear in the cart and call my husband to see what he wants me to do and of course he doesn't have time to talk to me. I grab the smaller brisket because at this point I still have NO CLUE how many people might show up tomorrow since half of the invited guests did not respond at all and 2 families told us maybe. I have already spent money on beer, chips, sides, cake, ice cream, goody bags, etc I don't want to waste more money on meat no one might eat. Luckily we have a bunch of sausage in the freezer so I can throw some on the smoker if more people show up. I managed to get out of the store without too much drama except that I forgot to hand over the cheese until after I paid so I had to pay for that separately.

I got home around 7 and got all the stuff unloaded and of course Bear fell asleep in the car since he didn't nap today. I got him inside and in his jammies and put him promptly to bed an hour before bedtime. My husband called and said he will be home between 9:30-10. At least he will be home for the party tomorrow, which is good because I have no clue how to smoke a brisket. I hope tomorrow goes well and some people show up or I am going to be a little peeved that I did all that shopping and preparing for nothing.

So much for a sappy post about Bear's birthday with a video montage and a tear jerker song. Oh well the day he was born was less than idyllic so why should the anniversary of that day be anything more? I was talking to my Mom today about how crazy Bear's birth was and she told me that it would definitely not be a day she would choose to be her Groundhog Day. I thought that was funny. I think we should celebrate the day we brought him home from the hospital instead. So Feb 15th I'll try to be more upbeat on the anniversary of that joyous occasion.

Happy Birthday, Bear.

Nickname suggestions welcome...

2009-01-28T16:53:00.005-06:00

And we're back...My husband was able to fix our new hot water heater with minimal effort on Monday night. Luckily he was able to get the pilot light lit once a day during the weekend so we were able to take quick showers before the hot water ran out. I am so blessed to be married to such a handy guy with lots of tools. Plumbers are seriously expensive not to mention having to schedule them to come out to your house. I am one of those who never knows what to do with myself while someone is at my house repairing something. Do I hover and watch? Ignore them? Make small talk? Offer a coke perhaps? It all just makes me nervous. Plus I worry about the bill the whole time. What if it ends up being more or if they can't fix it? It is just so much easier to have my husband fix it not to mention cheaper.

I wanted to give y'all an update on Bear's sleeping situation since I kind of left it hanging after his great escape attempt a few weeks ago. We ended up putting up a baby gate on his door and getting a video baby monitor so we could see if he tried to escape. So far he has not escaped the crib again and when I try to lay him in his big boy bed for naps he just tries to play and jump on the bed. I really don't think he is ready to move up to a real bed yet. He sleeps great in his crib so I think that one escape was a fluke for now. I'll give him a few months and see if he is ready to move over to the big bed when he is a little older.

The pregnancy is still going good. Knock on wood. I feel huge but my weight gain is still great. Not too much, not too little. I am ready to be back in normal clothes again though. I have been shopping the great sales at Old Navy, Ann Taylor Loft and Francesca's collections lately and I am so eager to wear something without a stretchy waistband. I picked up quite a few empire waisted things which will hide the post baby pooch nicely. I am really enjoying that most of the fashions lately are really post pregnancy friendly. I am also so ready to meet the new baby. I really need to come up with a nickname for him here so I can call him something other than the new baby. My husband is the nicknamer in the family. I told him the other day that I name the babies and he nicknames them. I came up with the names for both of our sons but he is the one who started calling Bear by his nickname.

Updates and cold showers

2009-01-23T21:09:00.009-06:00

Bear had his 2 year checkup yesterday. I can't believe he is going to be 2 next week. It seems like just yesterday that I was carrying in my 5lb 18 inch baby for his 1st checkup outside the hospital and now he is 28lb and 34 inches tall. The doctor said he looks great except they did detect a heart murmur he wants to get looked at. I'm not particularly concerned as this runs in both mine and my husband's families. They are going to call us to schedule an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist but they said it would probably take a couple of months to get in.

I am stressing a wee bit about his birthday party. After last year's big party I decided to just have a few friends over to watch the Superbowl and eat BBQ next Sunday. Unfortunately only one couple has committed to come at this point. 2 families have replied as undecided and the rest haven't even responded. This is a little frustrating as I had to order his cake and the party favors in advance without knowing if any kids would even show. Plus I need to go buy the food this week and I don't know how many people I am feeding. Grrr...

The pregnancy is still going pretty well. I am starting to feel some of the pains of getting bigger but I am not to the miserable big point yet. The anemia is still kicking my butt. I am taking the iron supplement the doctor recommended and eating red meat every day but I am still exhausted. I scored some awesome deals on baby stuff at Target this week while they were doing clearance so that was fun. I picked up some new crib sheets, blankets, changing table pad covers, a video monitor, a baby book, and a few other things for a really good discount. I want the new baby to have at least a few new things.

In other news our new hot water heater that we bought less than a year ago is now refusing to work. We called the manufacturer and they said that it is just a defect on that model and they will send us a new part. Ugh. Seriously? It isn't even a year old. Plus they only cover parts under warranty not service and anyone who has ever hired a plumber knows that they are the most expensive part of the repair. So I am praying my handy man husband can fix this and we don't have to call a plumber.

26 weeks and counting

2009-01-14T22:06:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I was 26 weeks pregnant. I got to celebrate by having another sonogram. My husband wasn't able to come due to work so my best friend came along instead. It was fun. The sonogram tech actually used to work at my last doctor's office and she had done all my sonograms with Bear. She spent a lot of time showing me everything and making me a DVD to take home to my husband. There is definitely no doubt that this one is all boy so it was a relief to get that confirmed. My friend was all excited and was a little teary so it was good to have her there.

Then we went to lunch and stopped at Ulta to look at makeup. After I dropped her off I got to go get my hair done and do a little Target shopping before I picked up Bear from MDO. All in all it was a great day. I also got the results from my glucose test from last week and my glucose was good so no 3 hour test. Yippee! I did turn up anemic but I will just need to take some iron and I'll be all good.

It just feels so much more real now. It's hard to believe he will be here in 3 short months. I measured 26 weeks 6 days but they are going to stick with the original April 21st due date for now. He was 2lb 3 oz so it looks like I am on target for another big baby (Bear was the biggest preemie in the NICU).

Escaping Babies

2009-01-10T22:17:00.004-06:00

This morning I awoke a little later than usual. Typically I wake up to Bear moving around in his crib and talking to himself. I laid in bed for a few minutes and listened for him. Hearing nothing through the baby monitor I assumed he was also oversleeping. I got up and started to make my way across the living room to check on him. Something caught my eye as I was walking through. Bear was sitting in my recliner pulling keys off my laptop that was sitting on the table next to the chair.

So Bear has officially learned how to break out of his crib. He figured out the pack and play a few months ago when we were traveling but this morning was his first official escape from the crib. Unfortunately the crib is at its lowest setting so there really isn't much we can do to keep him in short of a crib tent which just seems weird to me.

What really freaked me out was how quiet he was. I never heard him get out of the crib or anything. Usually when I get him up he will head immediately for his toys which make noise. Instead he woke up, realized Momma was sleeping and quietly headed for the sweet siren song of the laptop.

I am just so glad that he didn't get into anything else. All the kitchen cabinets, outside doors, and the bathroom doors are baby proofed so there is nothing dangerously accessible but it was still unnerving. So tonight we headed over to Toys R Us and picked up a baby gate for his door. That way if he escapes from the bed we will at least keep him in his room.

We have his new room set up with a twin sized bed with a bed rail but I really don't feel he is ready for that yet. I guess we will have to give it a try now that the crib isn't keeping him in. I've been looking it up today and some people say they are ready to go to the big bed once they crawl out of the crib and others say they aren't necessarily. He still goes down great in his crib and napped there for 3 hours today no problem. We have never had luck getting him to sleep in a regular bed with us so if you guys have any suggestions or hints I am all ears. I want to keep him safe but I also want him to sleep.

*BTW, my keyboard is fine. I was able to get all the keys put back on that he pulled off.

Spring cleaning and breathing easier

2009-01-04T21:05:00.006-06:00

I am slowly, slowly recovering from my cold/sinus infection. I am still a little stuffy and blowing my nose every 5 minutes but it is markedly better than I was on NYE. I ended up crashing early on NYE and not even seeing the ball drop. My husband swears he came in and kissed me at midnight but I do not recall that.

Usually I am sad to see the Christmas season go and I get a little sappy as I put up my tree and decorations but not this year. Friday evening as soon as we got Bear to bed I got to work on packing up all the ornaments and decor while my husband dutifully hauled Rubbermaid containers up and down from the attic. I even got to use my label maker to label all my pretty red and green containers I bought at Target with the appropriate contents. So next Christmas I will know which box has the net lights and which has the stockings.

I can't tell you what a relief it was to get up Saturday morning and see my living room back to normal. It just seemed so crowded and cluttered with the Christmas decor. Not to mention my glee at not having to keep Bear out of the tree anymore. I am ready to move forward into this spring. It helped that the weather was gorgeous Saturday and it just felt springy. Of course it was cold and wet today but Saturday gave me that glimpse of spring I needed to get me out of my post-holiday funk.

I think a big part of it is now that Christmas is out of the way I can start focusing on getting ready for the baby to come this spring. He is still a little over 3 1/2 months away but it seems closer now that Christmas is over. I am really excited to meet him. My husband and I have been talking a lot lately about whether this is our last baby or if we might want a 3rd. And for now it looks like this will be our last and I am OK with that. I am a little sad to give up my dream of having my own little girl but yet I am glad to have the decision made and just enjoy this as my last pregnancy and see our family as complete when he gets here. I just think a family of 4 works for us for a lot of different reasons.

I went through Bear's toy chest tonight and cleared out all the little baby toys and stored them away for the new baby. This made room for his Christmas loot and upcoming birthday loot. Now I can actually close the toy chest. He loves his new big boy room although he still sleeps in his crib in the nursery. He spends almost all of his waking hours in his new room playing and sitting at his little table. I'm glad that he loves it so much. I think that will make it a lot easier to transition him when the baby gets here.

Still alive, barely

2008-12-31T21:43:00.005-06:00

Ugh. So I'm ringing in the New Year with what may be a cold/sinus infection/curse of the snot gods or all of the above. Whatever. I feel like crap. I have been in my pajamas since 4 this afternoon when my husband arrived home from work 30 minutes after I arrived home from Dallas. It is now 9:45 and the car is still packed with my luggage from the trip but Bear is in bed and Chinese food and mint chocolate chip ice cream have been consumed so the day isn't a complete loss.

Christmas was good for the most part. Normally I get really excited about Christmas every year and I am really sad when it is over but honestly this year I am just relieved it is over. If Santa really loved me he would have had all my Christmas decorations and my tree up in the attic when I got home from visiting my Dad but alas, he doesn't so I still have to tackle that when I feel better.

This year was relatively easy in terms of Christmas plans as everyone except my Dad came to see us so instead of visiting my in laws (who are divorced and live 2 hours apart) and my parents (who are divorced and live 4 hours apart) I only had to drive to Dallas the weekend after Christmas. Which was doubly good because Bear got a nasty ear infection the day after Christmas complete with yucky drainage and a nasty cough to boot. We ended up taking him to Urgent Care the next day and confirming my fears that the tubes we put in last October have fallen out. We got him all fixed up on antibiotics and cough syrup so its all OK now.

He also managed to have his first scary injury the day after Christmas when he decided to pull on his stocking which was held in place by a nice, heavy, metal stocking hanger off the mantel. Luckily he pulled at an angle so it grazed off his head and just left a nice scratch. It was a bit of a heart stopper for a moment there as it seemed to happen in slow motion and no one could stop him before it fell. Plus head injuries, no matter how small, bleed A LOT. Luckily no stitches were needed and the offensive decorative stocking hangers have been tossed and we will now be screwing in small hooks from our mantel instead for future years stockings.

Present wise, it was a lovely Christmas. I got 4 pairs of pink pajamas (2 from my mom, 1 from my sister and 1 from my grandmother plus matching slippers) which considering that around April I will be spending a lot of time in pajamas I think it was a good call on their part. I also managed to fry my cell phone with a leaky sippy cup in the purse so I used Christmas cash to buy a new maroon LG enV2 phone which I love. It only took 2 visits to the Verizon store and a visit to Circuit City to get it since the people at the Verizon store I went to don't seem to care about actually selling phones to people or anything. The guy at Circuit City was awesome though and the price was much better so it all turned out well. I also got a new Click Free backup drive which I love, love, love and have now backed up mine and my husband's computers. If you aren't backing up your data regularly because you think its a pain you need to buy one of these. Seriously. It rocks and takes up very little space. My husband and I both unknowingly bought each other digital picture frames for Christmas and I wonder now how I went so long without one. I really love them both. I won the wife of the year award for buying my husband an awesome universal remote to replace the 3 remotes we were using. Plus he got me various things including a Sephora gift card which I am still contemplating how to use.

Anyways, I think that about brings me up to date. Its been a crazy last few days and I need to get some rest so hopefully I can kick this cold. Happy New Years! Please drink something for me.

Another tag: 7 random things

2008-12-19T11:53:00.014-06:00

OK, I am totally a slacker when it comes to tag posts. So I got tagged like a month ago by Erin at Beading Mom and I completely forgot about it until today when I got tagged by JP and the Boys. So while I am at it I will go ahead and do the 7 random things about me post I got tagged for. Sorry for the delay Erin.

7 random things about me

1. I hate being the center of attention. I was more nervous at my wedding about being up in front of all the people than I was about the whole till death do you part thing. This goes for all things revolving around me like birthday parties, baby showers, graduation, etc. I prefer being the person in charge behind the scenes. When I was in middle school I was the stage manager for the school play because I love being involved, planning and being in charge I just don't want to be the one out there in front of everyone.

2. I hate driving if I am traveling with other people but I don't mind it if I am by myself. I do my best thinking in the car and I love listening to my music as loud as I want it. But when you add in other people I just want to sit back and let them concentrate on the driving so I can stare out the window or read a book.

3. In my mind I am still frozen at 22. I don't know why but for some reason when I have to think about my age I have to remind myself that I am 28. Same with my clothing sizes. I pick up stuff at the store that might have fit me in college but definitely not now. I enjoy getting older and having the stability but for some reason I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that I am closing in on 30.

4. I get pedicures regularly and hate being caught with chipped toenail polish yet I bite my fingernails and never paint them. I cannot get my fingernails in good shape no longer what I try.

5. I am a beer drinker. I used to hate beer. I was always the girl at the bars in college drinking the girly drinks or taking shots but never drinking a beer. Now there is nothing that makes me happier than an ice cold Shiner Bock at the end of a long day. Obviously not right now while I am pregnant but when I am not. At a party you will usually catch me out back drinking beer with the guys while the women mix up pina coladas in the kitchen. Although I will occasionally indulge in a good slushy frozen drink if I am in the mood.

6. I love spicy food. My favorites are Mexican and Cajun. You won't catch me eating eggs without Tabasco or a sandwich without peppers. Pregnancy has actually made my craving for spicy worse. Bear also already favors the spicy food too.

7. I hate being cold worse than anything. If my ears get cold I get blinding headaches. I do appreciate a little cold weather especially around this time of year but by cold I mean lows in the 30's at most. I don't mind it if I don't have to go out in it but if I have things to do it better not be freezing outside. Good thing I live in Texas.

Tagged : Picture Post

2008-12-19T11:44:00.006-06:00

JP & the Boys tagged me for a fun picture game. Here is how it works. You must go to your documents folder and go to your 6th picture folder, then go to the 6th picture in that folder and post it on your blog. Tell us a story about that picture. I had fun doing this one because it gave me a chance to go back and view my pictures from around the time Bear was born. I got my laptop when I was pregnant with him. The 6th file in my pictures is actually from my baby shower and the 6th picture is just a pile of presents. Sorry I don't have anything more titillating for you.

I have to share the picture before that one with you because my petits fours for the party were just too cute. They matched my invitations perfectly.

I won't tag anyone else for this but if you are looking for a fun blog post you are welcome to consider yourself tagged.

The old bait and switch

2008-12-18T22:56:00.005-06:00

So a couple of months ago I decided to start working on redecorating the guest room for Bear since the nursery will soon be commandered by his little brother. I figured since Christmas was coming up and his birthday it would be a great way to get the grandparents to help me redecorate and not buy him a bunch more toys. I located a bedding set at Target that I absolutely loved so I trotted down to the local Target and snagged up every matching piece they had in stock. This included the comforter, throw pillow, bear paw print sheets, red lantern lamp, bear piggy bank, curtains and stuffed bear. My mom volunteered to buy all of this stuff as Bear's Christmas/birthday gift. I purchased all of this about a month and a half ago. I put all the stuff away in the guest bedroom closet until we had the room ready.

Fast forward to today. We have painted his room, assembled the much assembly required furniture, and hung the curtains. The mattress was on order and my husband picked it up today and hauled it in. I excitedly dug out all the bedding accessories and made up the new bed only to discover that I did not get this bedspread at the store but instead got this one. Now the one I ended up with is nice and goes fine with the color scheme but it is not what I thought I was purchasing. Target had put all the pieces that matched the bedspread I thought I was getting with the bedspread that I ended up with. Because it was all folded up I didn't realize it didn't have the little bear mural until this evening. Now I still like the bedspread I got but it irks me that I got something other than what I thought I was getting especially since I bought all the other little pieces that match the whole bear/camping scene. I guess I could try to hunt down the reciept from 1 1/2 months ago and repackage the bedspread and return it and purchase the correct on online. I don't know. I may just buy the other one too and keep this one as a backup as you can never have too many linens with a small child. Grrr...I will just have to learn to start paying closer attention when I buy stuff.

On a good note, I went to the dentist today and no cavities! Whew! I celebrated by making sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles cause nothing screams good oral hygiene like sugar topped with more sugar.

Yum.

Silver Bells

2008-12-17T09:26:00.003-06:00

Bear had his first Christmas program yesterday at Mother's Day Out. I had honestly forgotten about it until the teacher asked me if I was coming when I dropped him off yesterday. Luckily it was a pretty informal little show so I didn't feel too horrible about the fact that I had forgotten and dressed him in a gap sweatshirt and jeans versus a cute outfit.

I was the only parent there without a video camera and/or camera. I am such a slacker. The program was basically each class from toddlers to older 4s getting up and doing some kind of Christmas song which none of them actually sang and most forgot to play their instruments for. Bear's class was the youngest so they basically sat on the stage and shook little felt mitten things with bells on them to Jingle Bells. I am turning into such a mommy sap because I was almost in tears over 2 minutes of my kid shaking bells on a stage. I imagine he won't be able to take me anywhere by the time he does some serious accomplishments. He was really cute though and I am totally not biased. He was one of the few kids getting into the music and he was swaying and clapping and shaking those bells. He was even waving to the audience.

Seeing that makes me so proud not just because of what he did but because he wasn't shy. I was so incredibly painfully shy until sometime in later elementary school that I would have never been able to do something like that. At my first dance recital when I was 3 they never got me on stage. I stood on the side of the stage and wailed. My sister was always the one that hammed it up and I always hid behind my mother. So it was a proud day for me yesterday. Which totally made up for the fact that I was sick as a dog the night before with what I think was a less severe one of my gallstone (or whatever) attacks. Plus it was cold, wet and gross yesterday and the lady checking me out at the grocery store was rude about my coupons and wouldn't take some of them. I really needed that little bell ringing pick me up.

Wordless Wednesday : Let it snow!

2008-12-10T23:08:00.003-06:00

Misc.

2008-12-04T22:45:00.006-06:00

So it has been a crazy past week or so. We survived Thanksgiving with both of our families. My husband got sick Saturday night and spent Saturday and Sunday with fever, chills and a sore throat. Besides that it was a good trip. I did not get up and brave the Black Friday morning shopping but my husband did. This Christmas is now officially sponsered by Sears, at least for him.

We had already put up the Christmas tree/decorations the weekend before Thanksgiving so I could return home and relax in my newly festive home. I still have to convince someone to go up in the attic and get down the lighted reindeer for the front yard but besides that we are covered. My parents gave us our family Christmas money in advance this year (my mom was too lazy to buy gifts so we all got money) so we hit Target this week and bought Bear furniture for his new room. Dear Lord, it should be illegal to require a pregnant woman to assemble furniture with her husband. They should just include do it yourself divorce papers in the box along with the allen wrench. Actually, it really hasn't been that bad, yet. We are only half way through putting together the dresser then we have to do the nightstand and bookshelf.

I had an experience this week that left me really upset. I really don't want to go into details but basically I got scammed. Not completely scammed but more mislead into purchasing something for what I thought was a good cause only to find out that the guy lied through his teeth and was just telling me a good story to get me to buy his product. Every word out of his mouth was a lie and a ploy to sell his product. I ended up sending in a cancellation on the order, reporting it to the BBB and stopping payment on my check. It wasn't a large amount of money but it was the principle of the matter. His story was really good but after he left I just got the feeling that something wasn't right so I started looking into the organization he said he was raising money for and found out it didn't exist. Then I looked up the company that I wrote the check to and found several complaints of other people all over the country who had been fed almost the exact same story by these guys.

I am usually a very suspicious person and I scoff at those who fall for obvious ploys like the Nigerian letter or lottery schemes. But this was a nice looking college age kid who said he lived in my neighborhood and told me his major and what church he went to. I felt like such an idiot I cried myself to sleep. It wasn't the money just more the fact that there are people like that out in the world who can scam people looking them right in the eye standing on their front porch smiling. At least I figured it out before he cashed my check but still, it really bothers me. Then I watched Oprah today and felt a little better since she did a show on professional scammers and those people had lost thousands. And the poor woman who was waiting at the airport in a white dress for six hours for a guy she met on the internet who had proposed? Broke.my.heart. I hope karma bites these guys on the butt. Reminds me of the movie, Matchstick Men. If you haven't seen it you should.

Anyways, that aside everything else is going well. I saw the Twilight movie with some girlfriends right before Thanksgiving. I didn't love it but I knew it would be hard to top the book. I didn't feel it was very well cast and I thought the whole movie was a little rushed to try to hit all the high points of the book. It wasn't terrible but I hope the next movie is a little better.

I also haven't forgotten I got tagged for a meme, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll get there.

The Big Reveal

2008-11-20T13:52:00.005-06:00

It's a BOY! Yes, another one. At least that's what the sonogram lady said. I will take her word for it because I really couldn't tell much from that angle. He did not want to open his legs so it made it harder to tell but she seemed confident that there was definitely something there that did not belong on a girl.

I am so glad to have the sonogram over. They gave me instructions yesterday not to pee for 2 hours before the sonogram and then to drink 40 oz of water to insure I had a full bladder. I'm not sure who they are performing sonograms on but my bladder does not require 40 oz of water to become full. I drank about 30 oz most of which were in the last hour before the appointment so I wouldn't suffer too badly. I dreaded the coming in with a full bladder part but she was very quick taking her measurements and they even had a bathroom directly outside the sonogram room specifically for sonogram patients.

Then I got to lay back and enjoy the rest of the sonogram. As far as I could see everything looked fine but I will see my doctor Monday to go over the results. It measured me at 18 weeks 5 days which equates to an April 18th due date.

T minus 1 day and counting

2008-11-19T11:28:00.005-06:00

So we are 1 day from the big reveal. I am so ready to see this baby and make sure that it is ok. Finding out the sex is the icing on the cake. So we all need to pray that this baby won't be feeling modest tommorrow afternoon. I have been keeping busy to help the time pass while I wait.

My best friend from college had her baby shower this weekend. She just happens to live one town over from my dad and in the same town as my dad's parents so I got to throw in a visit to them as well. Plus my dad watched Bear for us almost all day Saturday so I could go to the shower and my husband could hang out with the guys. Then we all got to go out to dinner. I am so spoiled having two weekend in a row where I got to go out to dinner with my husband alone.

The baby shower was great and she totally cleaned up. There were at least 35 people there and it took her an hour to open the gifts. All that adorable pink girly stuff sure did get me thinking about what it would be like to have a girl next time. I guess I don't have to wonder long.

I am also so ready for Thanksgiving next week. I am ready to eat meals prepared mostly by other people and spend more time with my family. The only drawback is that Bear discovered this weekend at my dad's house that he no longer has to be contained by the pack and play. He already expressed his displeasure at sleeping in it during our last few trips out of town but this weekend he upped the ante by crawling out of it multiple times during the night. I fear what 4 days out of town over Thanksgiving will be like. It wouldn't be bad if he would just sleep in bed with us but apparently that would just not be as much fun as jumping on our heads at 4 a.m. Plus he refuses to nap when we travel.

Germs, Germs go away

2008-11-09T20:20:00.008-06:00

I meant to write this week but there was a pox upon my house. My husband came home sick Monday from work with a 103 fever, chills, runny nose, and general cold like symptoms. So I spent Monday evening tending to him. Then Tuesday night I had another one of my attacks. I still suspect it is gallstones but since the doctors weren't able to find anything during the ultrasound a few months ago we are still in the dark on what it is for sure. I was pretty puny Wednesday from being sick and in pain all Tuesday night. Thursday I felt a lot better so I cleaned and cooked dinner and went about my business as usual. Then I got a stomach bug on Thursday night/Friday early morning. I assume it was a stomach bug since my husband ate the same thing as me Thursday night and was fine. So I was sick as a dog aaalllll day Friday. My husband was sick the whole week with his cold like symptoms so he finally broke down and went to the doctor Friday. He has an upper respiratory infection so he got loaded up with antibiotics and ear drops. Bear is fine except for a never ending runny nose and teething so thats good.

It was such a horrible and draining week we spent most of Saturday laying around trying to rest. My inlaws came in Saturday evening to stay the night and watch Bear so that we could go out. I thought about cancelling but since going out alone with my husband is such a rare event I decided I could suck it up. We had a wonderful time. We got to go see the Changeling with Angelina Jolie. Not probably the best movie to see as a parent, especially a pregnant parent, but it was a really good movie. Then we had dinner at Olive Garden followed by Starbucks (decaf for me). They had peppermint mochas so that was a special treat. We got home late and the baby and the grandparents were already in bed so we got to crash. The grandparents even got up with Bear this morning so we could sleep in a little. Plus my husband's stepmom brought us gumbo, rice, and crackers she made so I wouldn't have to cook today.

Also on the plus side this week, I am almost positive I am feeling the first kicks this week. I love that feeling. It is my favorite part of pregnancy. Only 1 1/2 more weeks till I have my sonogram. Squee!!

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T21:22:00.011-05:00

I have eaten even more candy than I thought possible today. But what's the fun in being pregnant during all the holidays if you can't enjoy it? I did what I do every single year. I buy a ton of candy the week before then freak out 2 hours before dark on Halloween and send my husband out for more thinking we couldn't possibly have enough. We had a lot of trick or treaters this year but not as many as last.

Bear did so awesome. We took him outside at 6:00 to take pictures while it was still light out then did a little trick or treating just on our block. He knocked on the doors and clapped when people gave him candy. When we got him home we stripped him out of his costume and put him in his pj's but let him stay up for awhile to hand out candy. He LOVED it! I ran to the door each and every time it rang and waved at all the kids. Then he watched out the side windows for more trick or treaters. He had such a blast. I really didn't expect him to get so into Halloween at this early of an age. I thought he would be more shy. He positively squealed when we opened the door and all the kids were standing there in costumes. That was the most fun Halloween I think I have ever had. That is one of the best things about being a parent, getting to enjoy life vicariously through your child.

Naps for the masses

2008-10-29T20:31:00.009-05:00

Time for another bi-monthly update. I am really sucking at this blogging thing lately. I am still tired ALL.THE.TIME. I am now firmly esconced in my second trimester at 15 weeks 1 day today. I went to the doctor for a checkup and all was well. No weight gain, yet. I did get to hear the heartbeat. Only 3 more weeks till I find out what we are having. I should be able to pencil y'all in for another post around then. I kid.

I have been skirting around the edges of the blogsphere the past few weeks trying to ride out the election. I am so tired of the anger and rhetoric. Pretty much everyone has said everything that could possibly be said so can we move along yet? Isn't there an election in 2010 we can talk about? It has been getting ugly here even in my little conservative town. I have election fatigue for sure and I haven't even voted yet.

I sadly had my last meeting with my college bible study group I was leading tonight. They will be ending the semester soon and then won't be back until the middle of January. With the baby due in mid-April at the latest I felt like I should go ahead and end the group now rather than leave them hanging without a leader in the middle of the spring semester. It was very sad.

I completely skipped over my 1 year blog-o-versary 2 weeks ago. I meant to write about it but then the pregnancy naps won out over usage of my free time. Naps are a highly under utilized resource. I definitely think the world would be a better place if we all had naptime every day. Perhaps if I ever run for President I will run on a platform endorsing a nationwide mandatory naptime. I could probably bring about world peace.

Life is going on but I need a nap

2008-10-17T07:58:00.003-05:00

Just dropping by to say I am still alive. I promise I have been thinking about blogging but I just seem to fall short on the actual logging in and blogging thing. I was going to post pictures from last weekend at the pumpkin patch but I haven't managed to upload the pictures yet. I am still tired. Still pregnant. And sick. I have had a cough for 3 days and it is getting worse. Bear and I will be visiting family in Houston this weekend and I really don't want to be sick. Ugh.

Bear has been sleeping less and less which is not helping the tiredness. He refused to nap yesterday and woke up way too early this morning. He is also starting into the picky eating stage I have been dreading. What was good yesterday is no longer good today. 2 bites of the banana he begged for and he is done. A few raisins and the rest go on the floor. Applesauce is now the food of the devil and must be refused or spit out.

All in all we are fine its just the little day to day things that are driving me crazy. Maybe I just need a nap. Is 8:00 a.m. too early?

The cloud to go with my silver lining

2008-10-06T18:54:00.008-05:00

So yesterday was my birthday. The big 28. It really does go by entirely too fast after turning 21. If it wasn't for the presents I would just skip birthdays all together. On Saturday my mom sent me a beautiful pink wool peacoat I was eyeing at LL Bean. Because the only thing better than one LL Bean peacoat for the non-existant Texas cold is a second LL Bean peacoat only in pink.

My husband surprised me yesterday morning with a bright, shiny new Wii. I am so excited. I already beat him at bowling multiple times. We went out to dinner last night with friends sans kiddos. It was wonderful. We spent 2 1/2 hours eating and catching up.

Today I decided to take Bear to the doctor to get his cough listened to. I figured it was allergies as he has no other symptoms but an occasional runny nose. The doctor confirmed my suspicion and told us to give him Benadryl. Since I was there anyways we stopped by the flu clinic in the lobby to get our shots. Of course I couldn't get the flu mist because I am pregnant so I have spent the day feeling like my arm is going to fall off after the lovely shot.

I asked my husband to pick up milk, Benadryl for Bear and Tylenol for my arm on his way home. He made it home with 2 out of 3. Guess what he forgot? So he goes back out for Tylenol which makes Bear hysterical since his beloved Dada left so quickly after coming home.

Then my friend called and left a message asking me to watch her son tomorrow while she goes to a church lunch meeting. I already have tentative plans for a late lunch tomorrow with another friend. Plus a list of errands I was going to get done in my precious 6 hours of baby free time. She knows this is my only day a week to get things done without Bear. Her son is in MDO Mondays and Wednesdays. I am just irritated that she gave me basically no notice and she is asking on my one free day. I called and left her a message telling her that I can do it if she can pick him up before my late lunch but I haven't heard back from her so I am hoping she found someone else. I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the last time I watched him for her but I am trying to be a good friend and let that go.

The pregnancy so far, a recap

2008-10-03T13:05:00.004-05:00

* Morning Sickness - I was blessed last time to have virtually no morning sickness. This baby is apparently offended by anything not made of sugar, chocolate, and cool whip. Oddly enough I am not a fan of cool whip but apparently the baby is. I have spent lots of quality time with the toilet as my punishment for eating anything other than the baby approved foods.

* Tiredness - I know I am a glutton for punishment having 2 kids so closely together but there is something to be said for having one that still naps during the day. Which means Momma can nap too. Yes, I am aware I am totally screwed come April.

* Peeing - Dear Lord, I did not miss this part of being pregnant. Sleeping would be better if I could just get a catheter over here please.

* Cravings - I am only slightly exaggerating about the sugar, chocolate, cool whip thing. I had a bad sweet tooth with Bear but this goes beyond that because I actually get sick trying to eat other healthier options. Although Jack in the Box tacos are approved and far too many have been consumed. It has been getting slightly better. Weeks 7-8 were the worst.

* Clothes - Still pretty much fitting in pre-pregnancy clothes which I find surprising because I expected to pop earlier with my second one. I did pick up a few cute baby doll tops at Motherhood Maternity that really don't look like maternity tops and cover the bloat nicely.

* Bloody nose - This is new this time around. I have been waking up more nights than not with a bloody nose. I also get them periodically throughout the day. Doctor says this is normal. Does not make it any less gross.

And the announcement you've all been waiting for..

2008-10-01T22:50:00.004-05:00

OK, so maybe you haven't been waiting for an announcement but I have been waiting to make it. This has been part of the reason for my lack of writing lately.

Yes, I am pregnant. Again.

We are so excited. If all goes well we are looking to have a new member of our little family around April 22, 2008. Unless this one decides to take after his or her brother and pop out early. Lets cross our fingers and legs that we won't need to go through that again.

I have known since 2 days before I missed my period because I am impatient like that but I am also superstitious so I decided to hold off telling anyone until after my appointment today. I am 11 weeks and 1 day today. The doctor scared me to death today trying to find the heartbeat but he finally did and all is well.

You have no idea how hard it was not to come to my blog and complain about the morning, noon, and night sickness. The kind where you throw up writing the grocery list because the thought of food is more than your stomach can handle. And the exhaustion. And the peeing. But it is all worth it. And now I can come and share it all with you.

Becoming financially dependent

2008-09-29T18:29:00.014-05:00

I was at the mall today picking up my contact lenses and I started thinking about how different my life is now. Six months ago I was getting ready to quit my job and I was really nervous about the finances and about being fully financially dependent on my husband for the first time in our relationship. Six years ago I finishing my last semester of college and preparing for being completely on my own financially. Both were very nerve wracking times. I'm not sure which is a bigger leap of faith, trusting that you can support yourself or trusting that someone else can support you.

That gets me thinking about how much things have changed in the way we manage our money since we got together. I met my husband 2 weeks after I finished college, right around the time I got my very first full time employee paycheck. He moved in 4 months later into my tiny studio apartment. We were both very broke and we split the bills straight down the middle. Whenever one of us had an unexpected bill pop up the other pitched in but besides that we were pretty even. I remember how touched I was when he gave, not loaned, me $40 to help pay a medical bill because that was a lot of money to us at that time. We eventually moved into a bigger apartment and got married but continued to split the bills. We paid our half and set a certain amount in a savings account but the rest of our money was ours.

One year to the week after we got married we got a joint checking account. That was a big step for us. We continued to keep our own separate accounts with a set allowance per month for play money. That worked for a few months but then we started trying to seriously save for a house and decided to quit doing the monthly allowances and just save everything we could. Eight months after the wedding, 2 weeks after Christmas, my husband got laid off. He was laid off for 2 months which stretched us even further on our budget and house savings. We bought our house in May 2006 and I got pregnant a month later. In September 2006 I got notice that I was going to be laid off the following spring right around the expected arrival time of our son.

My layoff was extended out until May 2007 and Bear came early in January 2007. Due to his early arrival I took an extra month of unpaid maternity leave to stay home a little longer. Then after my lay off I didn't work for 6 weeks. I think the layoffs and the unpaid maternity leave helped us to learn to become more financially trusting of each other. So when it came time for me to put in my notice in February 2008 at my new job I knew we would be fine and I knew my husband would take care of us. However I still had that little fear whispering in the back of my head about how I would have to curb my spending not just due to budget constraints but also because its "his" money. And for the first few months home it did feel a little that way not because of anything he did but just because it was a big adjustment for me to be dependent on someone again.

Last time I was dependent on someone was when my parents supported me and they set me a budget and I didn't have unlimited access to their funds like I do with my husband. Yet as I sat and reflected on that today I realized that it has finally clicked into place and I finally feel like it is "our" money and I feel comfortable spending it like I did when I was bringing in my half.

Little Miss Anti-Social

2008-09-21T21:35:00.004-05:00

I have been feeling kind of anti-social lately. I usually have fun when I make myself go out and do things but it is really hard to get the motivation to leave the house. We went to our neighbors' house yesterday for their daughter's 3rd birthday party. It was a fun party with lots of food, games, a pinata, and of course, a bouncy house. It was all good letting the kids get hopped up on junk food and bounce their little heads off in the bouncy house until the birthday girl threw up in the middle of the living room while everyone was eating their burgers. Luckily we are all parents so no one even batted an eye or stopped eating. My tolerance for grossness has definitely gone up since I gave birth.

Even though it was a good party I just couldn't get myself in the socializing mood. Making small talk seemed like a chore and I felt like the comments I did make came across wrong. Usually we are the last out the door since we live so close but last night we were the first ones to go home. This anti-social behavior has even extended to blogging. I can barely bring myself to update. I'm still reading everyone else's blogs I am just in a funk with my own. I have been tagged for a meme and I got an award so I promise I will get to those soon.

In other news, I did buy myself one birthday present already since my birthday is a mere 2 weeks from today. It was the Thursday markdown at LL Bean last week and I picked it up for $49.00 and free shipping. Now I just have to wait for it to get cold enough here in Texas to wear it. I also picked up Bear's Halloween costume. I am not a fan of the traditional Disney character costumes or the scary ones for kids. I thought this was too adorable and my husband is a total golf addict.

Tomorrow I get to go blow the rest of my birthday money my Mom is sending me on an eye exam, contacts, and glasses. I live on the wild side.

Bear - Doing his part to clean up from Hurricane Ike

2008-09-13T21:36:00.005-05:00

Don't worry. All we got here was a little rain and lots of wind. No serious damage this far inland.

2008-09-10T21:22:00.009-05:00

Tonight I hosted my first small group for church. Our church building is very small and barely has room for the children's Sunday school classes and the adults to attend service. Since the church began 3 1/2 years ago they have had small groups hosted in people's homes instead of traditional Sunday school classes. It is great because you can attend multiple groups and they change out each semester.

I have attended many groups in the past 2 1/2 years we been at the church but I have never led a group before. I have never prayed out loud in front of people before. Even more nerve wracking was that my group is for college women. We have an enormous amount of college students in our church so we have multiple college groups right now. I've stressed about my decision to sign up as a group leader since I made the commitment last month.

What if they think I am out of touch? I know I am only 6 1/2 years out of college but to a college kid 6 1/2 years is a lifetime. I struggled all day today with what I wanted to say tonight. We are doing a specific study so I have the material to cover but on a personal level I wasn't sure where to go. I ended up being honest and open without TMI, I hope. I want them to know I was not a saint, not even close when I was their age.

I talked a lot tonight. They were all really shy at first so I felt like I just talked and talked. Now I am sitting here over analyzing everything I said. I have a tendency to talk fast and say anything that pops into my brain whenever I am nervous. I hope they don't all think I am a total dork and not show up next week. Luckily it is only a 6 week study...

Needing inspiration

2008-09-04T13:46:00.009-05:00

Bear survived his first day of Mother's Day Out. Although I am a little suspicious of the progress sheet they sent home with him. Ate all of his food? Then why was there still food in his lunch sack when I picked him up? Napped? In a room full of other toddlers and toys with no bars to keep him locked in? I doubt it. Whatever. He seemed happy when I picked him up. It was a little strange having all that free time to myself. Don't worry I took advantage of it and used the time wisely by going to the new Target and going home to watch DVR'd episodes of One Tree Hill (OMG!), The Hills, and The Closer. I consider that time well spent.

Now on to my next issue. My birthday is approaching in a month. 28! OMG. Anyway, I need to provide gift ideas to my family members pretty soon and I realized I have no idea what I want. This happens every year. Between Sept-Dec. my mind goes blank and I can't think of a single good thing I need/want. Ask me in February! I will have a list a mile long and then I kick myself for not thinking of that at my birthday or Christmas.

So, my question for you dear readers is what are you coveting? Reasonably priced things of course. A car would be nice but probably not within the budget. Give me ideas. Jewelry, clothes, CDs, DVDs, electronic gizmos, books, bags, shoes. Whatever makes your heart go pitter patter. Help me get some inspiration so this birthday I will get something I really love instead of just telling them to get me whatever. Links are most welcome.

My readers are so respectful

2008-09-01T21:08:00.009-05:00

I am so impressed with my readers. You are some classy guys and gals. I brought up some pretty controversial issues in my last post and everyone was so respectful about making their points. I really appreciate that because I was really afraid to open my comments after I posted.

It seems in the past week that the Internet has exploded over this election in the biggest frenzy since the primaries. Whew. I won't even touch the controversy over Palin. I even refrained from making ugly comments on blogs that vilified her. You inspire me.

Did you have a good Labor Day weekend? Mine was pretty good. Boring, but good. Bear starts Mother's Day out tomorrow. I admit I am a little nervous. Daycare was just such a bad experience I feel like I have post-traumatic stress. Hopefully this will go better.

Tired of being politically correct and not wanting to offend anyone

2008-08-28T21:56:00.011-05:00

I think at some point in blogging you have to come to the realization that you can't please everyone. There will be those who think you are closed minded, intolerant or downright stupid. Some realize this when they start their blog and others take longer. They plant their flag in the dirt and declare that THIS is their space and in their space they have the freedom to say what they want no matter who it offends. I get so tired of being polite and cowering in the corner afraid that I will lose readers because I am a conservative Christian.

I wasn't always conservative. I didn't always go to church. I actually didn't step foot in a church for over 7 years after leaving high school except when I went home to visit my parents. I even used to be pro-choice and I used to shake my head at the people who picketed the Planned Parenthood when I drove by. But somewhere along the way in getting a job, paying taxes, buying a house and starting a family I found my priorities and views shifted.

This week in light of the Democratic National Convention people have been circulating some videos that caught my attention and broke my heart.

This one about Oprah.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - John 14:6

And this one about Obama and late term abortion posted on Mommy Zabs

Psalm 139:13-16 (New International Version) - For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

The Women

2008-08-28T13:28:00.012-05:00

I saw the previews for this film recently and added it to my must see list. I love the actresses involved and the entire premise of the movie. So, when I was contacted by Dove's marketing agency, Rocket XL, about an opportunity to see this film and receive some great Dove items I was really excited. They asked me to spread the word about Dove's film project The Women Behind “The Women”.

According to the promotional website, "This short film follows 16-year-old teen journalist Cammy Nelson behind-the-scenes of The Women to learn, first-hand, how Hollywood creates the images we see on screen, highlighting the work and people involved in making a major motion picture come to life."

Please stop by Dove's website to:

-View exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of The Women & The Women Behind “The Women”
-Read the Director’s Diary, written by Diane English
-Go Behind-the-Scenes with Dove teen journalist Cammy Nelson
-Download self-esteem building tools for girls, moms and mentors
-Enter for a chance to win one of 100 pairs of movie tickets each day between 9/3 and 9/19

Here is the great swag they sent me for my trouble. Did I mention how much I love Dove?

I'll make sure to update with a movie review as soon as I get to go see it. It is due out in theaters September 12, 2008.

Another post where I complain about helping people..

2008-08-26T20:59:00.011-05:00

My date on Friday with my hubby was lovely. Wonderful. Everything I hoped for. I forgot how much we need that us time. No picking up sippy cups or inhaling our meal before a major meltdown. We got to sit through a 3 hour movie (Batman). What luxury.

Saturday I woke up with a sore throat and a runny nose. Thank you Texas allergies. I made it through the weekend and spent yesterday nursing myself back to health. Today I needed to drop off Bear's MDO paperwork so he would be ready to start next week. At 5:00 yesterday a friend of mine called and left a message but I didn't check it because I was still feeling pretty crappy. She called again at 9:45 so I thought it must be important.

She needed me to watch her 2 1/2 year old today so she could go to a doctor's appointment. No problem, the appointment was at 1:45 I don't mind helping out. The first red flag should have been when she said she wanted to drop him off at 12. The doctor's office is only 5 minutes from my house but something about it was his nap time and how she didn't want to bring him over in the middle. She would bring him here at noon and get him settled in so he would nap until she got back.

Imagine my surprise when she calls at 11:25 today saying she is right down the road so why doesn't she go ahead and bring him by so he can eat and get settled in? At 11:30 she is on my doorstep with him and his lunch. At 11:35 she was out the door, mind you her appointment was at 1:45. She explained that she was going to bring her husband lunch to work so he could use his lunch hour for the appointment? This is 2 hours and 10 minutes before the appointment and her husband works 5 minutes from my house.

I feed her son and put him down at 12:15 for his nap. At 1:45 he is up and ready to play. Her husband calls at 2:05 and says the doctor is delayed so they may be later than they thought. At 4:00 she calls to say she is dropping her husband back off at work. At 4:10 she is back to get her son, 4 1/2 hours after she dropped him off. I explained he only took an 1 1/2 hour nap and she said that was normal which is not how she represented it when she called yesterday evening.

I don't mind helping people out. I understand it is hard to get people to watch your child in the middle of the day but I really think you should set the right expectations and perhaps even give people more notice that you need a babysitter. The appointment was scheduled weeks in advance. I just felt taken advantage of when she left. She thanked me several times but it just seemed like a case of asking forgiveness later being easier than asking permission.

I have watched her son several times over the past 2 1/2 years and this is the longest she has left him with me but I really don't want to set a precedent. She said as she was leaving that she has another doctor's appointment next week but she will try to get someone else to watch him since it is at 8:15 in the morning. I wanted to say I would help but I didn't.

Am I just being overly sensitive?

2008-08-22T09:22:00.003-05:00

This week went by fast. I didn't do a lot but it just flew by. I did find time to enroll Bear in Mother's Day Out though. Well I still have to drop the paperwork off but I did go by and give them my deposit check. Yay! 6 hours of freedom per week for the low monthly price of $81.00. Which isn't all that low in my opinion but still totally worth it. I'll admit I am a little nervous. I think I still have a little Post-tramatic stress from daycare. Which is why we are only starting off with one day a week this first semester. I might bump it up to 2 in the spring.

Tonight my inlaws are supposed to be coming up and staying the night so they can watch Bear for us while we go on a date. I am so excited. We haven't been out alone since our anniversary in May. I am in dire need of a date night. Is it sad that my whole post revolves around leaving my child? I promise he is still wonderful despite his new found love of temper tantrums.

He has started learning all kinds of new words and phrases which crack me up. Yesterday we were walking past the toy aisle at Target and he kept pointing and going See! See! Ball! So of course, the enabler that I am, I totally bought him a ball which he forgot about as soon as we got to the car.

Poor planning

2008-08-17T20:30:00.003-05:00

One of the girls in my Wednesday night church group had a baby a couple of weeks ago. As is custom, the other girls from church signed up to bring meals every other night for approximately 2 1/2 weeks. Today marked the 2nd week of this. I signed up to bring tonight's meal. Other people had sent stuff like a pizza but I wanted to do something special and homemade.

I went to the store yesterday and bought all the ingredients for my homemade lasagna and garlic bread. I spent over an hour preparing it yesterday and put it in the fridge so I could take it over today and they could just heat it up and eat it. I spent the whole day today running around doing grocery shopping, stopping at Walgreens, getting a much needed mani/pedi so 6 p.m. rolled around before I knew it.

I flew in the door at a little after 6 and explained to my husband that I needed to take the meal over. Of course I should have called first but I was running late and since this is the 2nd week of this I thought she would be expecting me. Especially since someone had arranged all these meals and sent out reminder emails, etc. My husband wanted to come along so we could pick up dinner while we were out.

We drove the 20 minutes across town to her house and of course she isn't there. I try calling the girl that leads our group to get her phone number since they didn't put it on the sign up sheet or the reminder email with the directions. She doesn't answer. So frustrating. Then my husband is lecturing me about how you should ALWAYS call, blah, blah, blah. I leave her a note on the door and we go to eat. She doesn't call for 2 hours.

Then when she calls she is all, I'm sorry but I didn't know you were bringing anything tonight. Then she and asks if I can just refrigerate it and bring it tomorrow. I can but it is just frustrating because I spent all this time shopping, preparing the meal and driving it over just to have to drive it over again tomorrow. People have been bringing meals every other day for over a week and will continue to for the next week it seems she should have known. Obviously someone dropped the ball. Now I have my husband telling me that he doesn't want me wasting the gas to drive back over there tomorrow.

Grrr...

Flashing by...

2008-08-12T15:19:00.004-05:00

THEN: Bear swimming in my Mom's pool last summer

NOW: Bear swimming in my Mom's pool last week

He is growing up so fast. My mom and I went shopping last Friday and picked up a wooden growth chart at Steinmart to hang on his wall. I've always wanted to track his growth visually but I had a hard time finding a growth chart I liked. We proudly marked off his height on Sunday when I got home and got it hung. We'll check it again in 6 months when he turns 2. Just saying that freaks me out a little.

Pain

2008-08-08T16:07:00.003-05:00

Bear and I are in Houston visiting my Mom's house for a few days. This afternoon I decided to take him into the backyard to play a bit while my Mom was out running errands. In the course of play he picked up a small decorative rock in the flower bed and before the the thought of him dropping it on his foot had finished crossing my mind he dropped it on his big toe. This caused a small cut on his toe which started bleeding.

I picked him up and tore through the house looking for bandaids and Neosporin leaving a tiny trail of blood droplets. He had stopped crying before I even got him bandaged up. It just one of those millions of tiny accidents that kids have but yet it still shook me up.

People say when you have kids you will feel every heartache and pain as acutely as they do. I believe you feel it even more so. Long after they have moved on you still feel that shaky terror that you felt when you first heard that hurt cry. Whether the pain is big or small you take it on as your own and you nurse that memory long past their physical pain.

Another sleepy Monday..

2008-08-04T11:06:00.006-05:00

How is it that at the end of every weekend I am so relieved it is over? I used to love the weekends. Look forward to them. Savor them even. The past few weekends have just been such a whirlwind that I feel like I can't catch my breath.

I didn't think me or my husband would survive Friday. He spent from 5:30 a.m. Friday morning until 9 a.m. Saturday laying on our bedroom floor with a few pillows and blankets moaning in agony. It was awful. I wanted to help but there was nothing I could do but fetch him food, ice and Ibuprofen while trying to keep my child from using him as a jungle gym. His last spasm hit around 7 p.m. causing him to throw up the pizza I had delivered for dinner all over him, the floor, and the blankets and pillows. I ended up throwing away the pillow and sending him to the shower so I could scrub the carpet. Friday night was the night the Fabreze came to die in my bedroom. Ugh.

Saturday came around much too early and I ran around trying to get Bear ready for a pool party at 10:30 and making sure my husband was settled. My parents called and said they were in town and would swing by while I was at the party and keep my husband company until I got back. The party was fantastic. This country club has the best pool I have ever been to. It has a huge kiddie pool part with a beach entrance that goes no deeper than 2 feet. It had little spouts of water for the kids to play in and tons of pool toys. The only downside was that it was already in the mid-90's at 10:30 in the morning and I was playing in 1 ft deep water which isn't really all that cooling.

I got home from the party and my parent's wanted to take us to lunch before they went home. My husband was up moving enough to come along. We did that and then I took my husband over to our Urgent Care center so they could check him out since he was in too much pain to go in on Friday. They gave him a shot and some muscle relaxers. As soon as we got home and I got Bear down for a nap my best friend called and said their apartment countertops had been varnished or sprayed or something and the smell was about to kill them. With the 100+ degree temps it wasn't an option to open the windows and let it air out so could they please come over and stay the night with us?

I barely had time to straighten the house before they showed up. My friend and I ran to Target to pick up a new pillow for my bed and look for a new lamp to replace the one that died in my living room. Then we swung by Taco Cabana and picked up dinner to take back to the boys. We stayed up watching movies that night.

The next morning we got up and made pancakes and visited before they left. I got everything cleaned up and then it was off to the grocery store. I am tired...

And the winner is ....

2008-08-02T15:07:00.002-05:00

Cheryl of Gibson Moments! Congratulations Cheryl. I will be contacting you by email regarding your $20.00.

You may be an unsympathetic wife if...

2008-08-01T12:12:00.012-05:00

...you debate taking pictures of your husband lying on the floor to post on your blog.

I kid, sort of. I slept very poorly last night due to watching Cloverfield. Cloverfield didn't scare me but apparently it brought back bad flashbacks of I am Legend and the virus infested zombie people. So I spent the night tossing and turning running from zombie people. I was awakened at 5:30 by unholy moaning and groaning from my bathtub. Luckily it wasn't a zombie person. It was however, my husband having back spasms.

He spent this whole week at work moving incredibly heavy equipment and apparently it caught up to him. So I got up and tended to him rubbing his back and bringing him drinks and blankets. He was certain it had to be something more and insisted on going to the hospital. Bear was still in bed and I was in my jammies. My husband was in...well..less. He called his uncle who lives nearby and asked him to come get him so I wouldn't have to take Bear to the hospital.

His uncle arrives at 7 a.m. and convinces my husband that yes, it is really just your back. He went and bought us a couple of bags of ice and helped get my husband settled on the floor of our bedroom. We gave him Ibuprofen and have been putting ice on for 12 min and off for 20. I also made him breakfast and served it to him on the floor. Brought him his laptop and movies....doing all the things a good wife should.

I got him all set up and Bear and I went to run a few errands. I told him I would bring him back lunch. I get back from my errands an hour later with his lunch and I see a tell-tale open pantry door and peanut butter out on the counter. The kitchen counter. The kitchen counter in the kitchen which is on the complete other end of the house from our bedroom. Uh huh. So now his back is hurting badly again and the moaning and groaning is back. Grrr....If men had babies we would all be an only child if the population didn't die off completely.

Catching up and such..

2008-07-29T22:13:00.003-05:00

Sorry I have been so scarce lately. I spent 3 days last week in Dallas visiting my dad and basically eating my way through the metroplex. I love how parents always want to spoil you and pay for everything. We ate out every day, watched movies, swam, and played in an outdoor fountain. It was wonderful. Although I forgot my camera. Grr...

I got to spend my weekend unpacking, doing laundry, grocery shopping and basically catching up. Then Monday morning rolled around and sucked me into the black vortex of the Bloggy Giveaway carnival. Holy crap. I think my fingers are going to fall off before I finish entering all the great giveaways.

I did break away from my computer long enough today to run some errands. Including going to my bank to set up a rollover IRA from my previous job I left 3 1/2 months ago. Procrastinate much? The lady had never set up a rollover IRA before and did not instill a lot of confidence in me. Like when she asked me to sign in the spot that was for her to sign and the spot for my spouse to sign. Oh, and calling her customer service to have them help her walk through the process. Sigh. But its done for now I hope. Cross your fingers that she dotted her i's and crossed her t's.

Bloggy Giveaways Carnivals

2008-07-28T10:12:00.007-05:00

It's that time again, the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival hosted by Bloggy Giveaways. In the past I have given away a subscription to Wondertime Magazine and jewelry. This time I decided in light of the bad economy to give you something we could all use, cold hard cash. OK, probably warm papery cash.

I will mail the winner of the giveaway a $20.00 bill .

To enter just leave your name and email or a link to your blog. If you would like a second entry you can post about this giveaway on your blog and come back and leave a link to the entry. I will draw a winner on Friday, August 1st at 5 p.m. CST.

Good luck!

I survived the weekend, unfortunately the blender didn't make it

2008-07-21T12:10:00.003-05:00

I survived the weekend. Whew. I may need to get t-shirts printed up that say that. Perhaps sell them to college kids on spring break. We had a great time but it was tiring. There was a steady stream of people in and out of our house from 4 p.m. Friday till my friend left at 2 p.m. yesterday. My in-laws even dropped by for a surprise visit with ZERO warning 30 minutes before my guests were to show up.

My husband wasn't there because I had sent him on an emergency mission for a gift for the birthday guy, which I had forgotten to get, and bread, because my bread maker was too hot for me to make the second loaf of bread right away. Then my friends brought an extra guest. And the blender died just as I was getting ready to make the 1st batch of margaritas. My husband got to make a second emergency run to the store for a new blender. Then another couple was an hour late because they didn't realize we were eating at 4. And my friend who was in town visiting got back from the wedding early and announced they didn't have food at the wedding. I barely had enough food to feed everyone which you know is a cardinal sin in my Southern hostessing little heart.

But in the end it all came together thanks to a fabulous brisket and copious amounts of alcohol. Everyone declared the party a success. Sunday morning my friend and I snuck away for ginormous breakfast burritos at a local Mexican restaurant while the boys slept in. She was even so kind as to go to church with me even though my church is quite a bit different from her own. After she left I got to relax and finish watching Season 1 of Mad Men I rented on Netflix. If you aren't watching this show yet go add it to your Netflix queue. Now, go ahead, I'll wait. The new season starts this coming Sunday at 9 p.m. CST on AMC. I can hardly wait.

Now if you will excuse me I have to go catch up on laundry, dishes, and getting my house back in order.

2008-07-17T21:20:00.005-05:00

I am preparing for a mini invasion this weekend. My best friend's husband's birthday is today and they requested to celebrate his birthday with a BBQ at our house Saturday. No biggie. They have a small apartment so it makes sense for us to cook a brisket at our house. But on top of having the get together on Saturday I also have an old college friend coming in to town tomorrow to stay the weekend. She is set to attend a wedding here on Saturday so she won't be here for the BBQ but she will stay Friday and Saturday night.

I am looking forward to seeing my friends this weekend but I am also dreading it a bit. Not because I don't like them or don't like entertaining. I just don't have a lot of time with my husband with all the hours he works and I will be out of town part of next week in Dallas. So there won't be a lot of time for us to hang out and decompress with people here all weekend.

Before I got married I used to dread the weekends and nights. I lived alone and made every effort to never be without company or plans. Now that I am married I have become quite a homebody, perfectly content to spend a weekend in pjs with my hubbie and a stack of videos. I have gotten a little better about going out but I still prefer to keep my outing to a few hours and then back home.

Riding along in my automobile

2008-07-14T15:35:00.004-05:00

My Mom and Stepdad came down to visit Sunday and brought Bear a present.

Isn't she a beaut? Check out the gas mileage on this baby.

Hmmm...how do you get in this thing?

Ohhh...OK, got it...

10 and 2, 10 and 2...I can totally do this..

Can I get fries with that?

The woman behind the mask..

2008-07-10T21:38:00.005-05:00

As I settle into my new routine of domestic bliss as a SAHM I start to wonder who I will be in 20 years. How will my children see me? Will they see me as a boring coupon clipping, bread making, plain old housewife? Will they think that I couldn't possibly ever had a life outside of cooking, cleaning and picking up dirty socks?Will they take my advice because they respect where I am coming from? Has there always been a June Cleaver poking out from under the exterior cool facade waiting to be set free?

I like to think I will be the cool mom. The house that all the kids come over to hang out at. Be the mom that has an open relationship with my kids that they will be able to talk freely with me without the fear of judgement. That they will see that I am protective not closeminded.

How do you balance openness with your kids versus TMI? Will they throw my past sins in my face like my sister did to my parents? Who am I to judge them when I used drugs and alcohol as a crutch to survive high school and college? That I couldn't make it into class without getting stoned in the parking lot first? Will they understand that I warn them out of experience and love and not out of being a hypocrite? Will they look at me and say you did all this and turned out fine without seeing the scars hiding under the apron?

Will they know that I screamed at my parent's that I hated them? That I ran away from home after saying words so mean and hateful that they still echo in my ears 12 years later? That I was a teenager and yes, I know EXACTLY what they are going through. Will they be impressed that I turned my life around and that I finished college early? That I studied abroad? That I worked with rape victims for 4 years rushing to hospitals in the middle of the night? That I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up either. That I still don't?

It is a fine line to walk. You can stay mum and let them see you as nothing more than Mom or you can spill all and let the chips fall where they may. My older sister suffers from overknowledge, the sins of the parent's visited upon the child. I suffer from the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil syndrome refusing to think of the past and wanting to know as little as possible. We fight our demons in our own way. I see my Mom as Mom, the boring old housewife. My sister sees her as part sellout, part hypocrite. Maybe we were both right and yet both so wrong. Either way, who do you think is the first person we call when it all goes to hell in a handbasket?

Thoughts from the middle of my night

2008-07-09T11:28:00.003-05:00

So my husband and I have been discussing expanding our little family. It actually makes my heart race a little to write this. As if putting the words out there might jinx something. We are not officially "trying" yet but we aren't officially trying not to. The pressure is on.

My track record with pregnancy so far is not exactly stellar. Not terrible, but not stellar. I had one pregnancy that made it to 6 weeks and one that made it to just under 33 weeks. I would prefer one that makes it to at least 35. After 35 weeks they are just freeloading right? Just kidding.

I try to make light of pregnancy and all that it entails but honestly deep down, I am scared to death. Scared of the pregnancy. Scared of miscarriage. Scared of preterm labor. Scared of labor, period. Each step of the way is fraught with peril.

But I do desperately want to have another baby. In all honesty I would like to have more than one more. I am so jealous of those women who can teach aerobics classes up to the end of their pregnancy and have a relatively easy natural delivery. Yes, I do have a friend like this.

I am not complaining by any means. I know I am extremely lucky that I can get pregnant and that I have a healthy baby. But it would be so nice to have a pregnancy free of worries beyond names, crib decorations, and back pain. Worries that keep me up at night sitting on the floor next to Bear's bed watching him sleep. Stroking his fluffy blond hair through the crib slats. Thanking God for every breath he takes. Praying that I will get to do this all again, and maybe again.

7 things about Bear

2008-07-07T11:12:00.002-05:00

I got tagged by Haley for a meme that luckily is not about me!
1. Link your tagger and list the rules on the blog.
2. Share 7 facts about your kiddos on your blog…random, weird, funny…whatever you want!
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post
4. Don’t forget to let the tagged people know!

7 things about Bear:

1. He climbs on EVERYTHING. This has resulted in many bumps and bruises and one scared mama. At the rate he is going he should be ready to tackle Everest by his 3rd birthday.

2. He is addicted to YoBaby yogurt. It is expensive but he loves it so I usually buy 4-5 six packs a week for him. I love that he is snacking on something healthy although crackers (animal and graham) are still way high on his list of requested foods too.

3. He has moved past walking and is now on to running. It is so funny to see him running away cackling. Luckily we can still outrun him although I know our days are limited.

4. He is obsessed with pushing buttons. I could kiss the person who designed our TV for putting the buttons on the side. I wish I could say the same for the DVR, DVD player, and XBOX. Don't get me started on the remotes.

5. He is cutting 6 teeth right now that I know of. I am a little afraid to probe around in his mouth too much as I am fond of my fingers.

6. If you want to make him laugh, show him your belly button and then show him his. He thinks belly buttons are the funniest things ever. Followed closely by noses and eyes. I encourage the belly button poking over being poked in the eye.

7. He wakes up in the night and talks to himself. I hear him through the baby monitor going through his vocabulary. Mama, Dada, cracker, Juice, more, bite, etc. There is no feeling in the world like laying snug in your bed with your husband and listening to that sweet little voice over the baby monitor.

I am not going to tag anyone in particular but if you are looking for some inspiration for a post feel free to consider yourself tagged.

Playing in the rain

2008-07-03T20:25:00.002-05:00

Ok. Not the actual rain since we don't get much rain here in the summer. But we did indulge in the next best thing. The sprinkler. Bear is still afriad of the kiddie pool but not the sprinkler pelting him. Go figure.

In other news, he is getting so many teeth at once I am about to change his nickname to Jaws.

Where the animal crackers go to die

2008-06-30T14:54:00.008-05:00

Today I was busily typing on my laptop while my darling child entertained himself. All of his toys are right around the area of my recliner and side table that is home to my laptop so I can easily watch him. Lately he has become bored with his toys and has zeroed in on the squeaky toys in Rocky's cage. So of course, I heard him squeaking the dog toys the moment I looked away. I retrieve the toys and return them to the cage.

Bear, in the meantime, has scrambled up in my recliner. He often engages in diversionary tactics to get Momma out of the recliner so he can scramble up into the recliner and explore the Mecca that is my side table. On this table rests my laptop, a lap, 2 picture frames, and more often than not a glass of iced tea. This weekend he nabbed a coke off the table which luckily did not get on the laptop but did get all over the carpet. Today he scrambled up and immediately started messing with the laptop. Mind you, I am only approx. 10 feet away securing the dog toys. So I run over and scoop him up. During the scooping he drags his little fingers over the keyboard popping off 2 keys. Not just the keys but also the little white plastic tabs that hold the keys on.

I take him into his room and lay him down for a nap and return to the laptop to contemplate my options. So of course I turn to my trusty friend Google, which kindly showed me that people have WAY too much time on their hands. There were step by step instructions on replacing the keys and several YouTube videos. I checked a few of the videos but they were poorly lit and blurry so I turned to the step by step instructions. I found http://www.laptoprepair101.com which had pictures and instructions. I managed to get one key back on after about 15 minutes of figuring out how the impossibly tiny pieces of plastic fit together. So I go to put together the plastic pieces and one tiny clear piece pops free and disappears. #$@%^*!!!!!

So I get down on my hands and knees and start feeling for the piece on my biege carpet. There are toys all around so I move the toys and the chair. I learned that this particular area of the living room is the animal cracker graveyard. So I have to decide, do I crawl around on millions of crumbs or do I vacuum and risk sucking up the impossibly tiny plastic computer piece? After 15 minutes of searching I get out the shop vac and start sucking up pieces of cracker while feeling for the plastic piece with my other hand. After 30 minutes my carpet was clean and the plastic piece was nowhere to be found. So I visited my other trusty friend, Ebay, and paid way too much for a new H key to be delivered with plastic clippy pieces. So for now I am typing without the key on the H and I am becoming painfully aware of how many times I use the H key in a day.

The moral of today's story?

1. Animal crackers are the handiwork of the devil.
2. Children and laptops don't mix
3. I am in the wrong line of work. I need to start an Ebay business selling keyboard keys. I would be rich. Rich I tell you!

2008-06-29T15:45:00.006-05:00

Why is it that weekends are almost always more tiring than weekdays? Even when I worked full time the weekends just wore me out. Although I do miss those heady days before having a child where I slept till noon on the weekends. Even in those days we stayed up half the night so the sleeping in didn't help much.

Friday night we went out to dinner with our neighbors and another couple who are friends of theirs. Between the 3 couples we had 4 kids. Which shouldn't be that big of a deal but they certainly ran us ragged. Luckily the restaurant was almost empty so it wasn't too big of a deal. Bear fell in love with a gum ball machine at the front that lit up. He spent half the evening running to the front of the restaurant and wrapping his whole body around it. Whoever invented high chairs for restaurants needs a new job. Those things couldn't keep a rock strapped in much less a squirming 1 year old. They need to invent them with the harnesses that come over the shoulders like they have on the roller coasters.

Saturday we got up and went out for sushi. We decided to stop at a couple of furniture stores to check out the 4th of July sales. But of course we couldn't agree on anything. Furniture shopping is the adult equivalent of if you buy a mouse a cookie. If you buy an adult a sofa, he'll want a matching love seat. If you get the love seat then you need a new recliner. It gets a wee bit ridiculous after awhile. Then we got home and I put together a banana split cake. I have had this cake before but never made it myself. It was a pain in the butt to make. And my pudding never set right. I even got cherries for the top and drizzled chocolate on it. I also threw together a corn casserole. We headed over to the neighbor's house for a BBQ/game night. We ate and drank ourselves sick and by the time desserts came out everyone was too full so I ended up bringing home 3/4 of that cake. Ugh.

Today I did my weekly shopping. I managed to hit 3 grocery stores, Walmart, and CVS. I got some good deals but shopping in 100 degree heat takes it out of you. How sad is it that I am ready for the week?