Breaking a sweat...

Taking your 18 month old to the doctor for a well visit is not supposed to be a workout, right? Well , it is when the 18 month old is my very independent, opinionated, active, wild, yet sweet and adoreable baby girl.
Let me paint the picture for you...
We enter the doctor's office, and the first thing that baby girl does is try to take a toy away from a little boy that was already playing with it. I stood anxiously waiting to see if she would get violent with the little boy, but luckily my sweet girl rushed in for the rescue encouraging her sister to come and play with her. Then her nose starts running, and I get the evil eye from a mommy sitting in the well side. So, we decide to go and sit on the sick side to prevent any germs from spreading (the sick side is separated from the well side by a big wall of air, you know?)
After 20 minutes of waiting, they call us back, only baby girl is not finished playing and puts up a big fight! I try to reason with her(what was I thinking), and then I resort to picking her up like a football and carrying her back to the office where a very pregnant doctor is waiting for us. She remembers my baby girl and how "how full of personality"she is (a.k.a. strong willed and out of control). Then much to my excitement, baby girl leaves a present in her diapers for me, and she refuses to have her diaper changed like most normal children do. After wrestling her down, keeping her still, grabbing her leg, and wiping her butt, while remaining a calm, good mommy in front of the doctor, I finally get a new diaper on the child. I am now sweating and out of breath. The doctor observe baby girl climbing on chairs, running, and trying to climb onto the table and comments on her wonderful gross motor skills. I ask her about the high level of activity compared to other children her age, and she says that the 18 month appt. is always a hard one. I think she was just being nice because my baby girl was all over the place and refusing to cooperate when it came time to listen to her breathing, checking her ears, tummy, ect.
Then my sweet girl stepped right in to save the day...
She whispers to the doctor,"Why don't you try those things on me first, then she'll want to do it too." Is she smart or what? She gets the art of manipulation, and boy was it successful! Baby girl was eagerly awaiting her turn, and cooperating like a champion! Until it came time to be weighed. There was no way that she was even going to think about sitting on that scale, no matter how hard we tried to make it look appetizing!
So the doctor came up with the great idea of letting me hold her while they weighed both of us, then just weighing me and subtracting to find her weight. Great! Now the doctor, 2 nurses, and anyone who reads baby girl's chart will know that her mommy still has a few pounds too many to loose!
We found out how much she weighed, and headed back to get dressed, only she was not in the mood to get dressed, so more screaming, squirming, and hitting proceeded to take place. Finally, we are dressed, and getting ready to head out the door, and sweet girl accidentally shuts baby girl's fingers in the door. So, we walked out of that doctor's office screaming and sweating. I thought I heard as we ran out of sight, thank god they are gone, may they be well for a very long time!

Where are my earplugs?

It's 12:07 am on Saturday night/ Sunday morning, and I am sitting here listening to the piercing screams of my baby girl. Apparently she is not excited about going to sleep. This has been going on for about 45 minutes. I've tried motrin for her ailing eye teeth that are about to poke through, and I've gone in to console her a few times. But, she just keeps screaming. When I go in, she points to the door, which means that she would like to sleep with me. I'm really wanting a peaceful sleep (as peaceful as it gets with snoring dear husband beside me). Amazingly, my dear husband and my sweet girl are sleeping like babies, or at least how babies are supposed to sleep. How do they do that? We live in a very close quarters home, it's loud!
I think I have very sensitive ears to her crying, it drives me crazy! Slowly she's winding down, but then another load wail erupts from her little body....
I know this won't go on forever, and one day I will wish that my baby girl needs me and wants me, but for now, it just plain sucks! Well, I'm off to console her again! 12:14 am aaaagggghhhh!

Make new friends, but keep the old...

This week has been a great week as far as friends go. On Thursday, I went to the first meeting of what is hopefully to become a monthly affair of a women's wine tasting club. I really don't like wine, especially the wine that was featured...Pinot Noir. But I decided to go after some encouragement from a friend who would be there. I openly confessed my distaste for wine, and no one shunned me! I tasted the wine, was a good sport, and had a great time! I found out that I had more in common with a distant friend who has been out of the country for 2 years, and I found that someone I really don't care for is really a person who has some insecurites, and that is probably the reason for her distasteful behavior in the past. I also set up a lunch playdate with one of my husband's friends wives for today as a result of the wine evening. I had a really nice time at lunch today with her, and it was nice to have the company of another woman who works full time and has two girls.
And then tonight, one of my friends who I have known since I was 9 came to town to visit her parents, and I was so excited to have her and her children over for dinner and a playdate. Our kids get along so well, and I was wishing that we lived closer-she resides in N.C. I jokingly said that we would get together more often once we moved to N.C., but my dear hubby only nervously giggled at that idea...
It was so nice to be able to chat with someone who knows me, and my family and has the same mutual childhood friends as I do. It was also good to vent a bit about a certain mutual friend that I have written about before. My conversation with my N.C. friend confirmed for me that I wasn't being judgemental about that other friend, but that her behavior is truely rude and unacceptable. I have been on hiatus from that high maintenance friend, which has resulted in less disappointment for me and less frustration...I think a good thing for all parties involved!
I have also become friends with one of sweet girl's classmates mom. My sweet girl and her oldest really bring out the best in each other, and this woman just seems so normal and nice... no personal agendas, no materialistic competition, just a general, nice grounded person. It doesn't hurt that she complimented my home, saying that is was a house full of love and happiness. Love it when my family gets compliments like that!
To sum it up, this week has filled a void that I've been feeling since one of my best friends in the whole, wide world (the one that loves me even when I'm a month late in sending her birthday gift to her, the one who listens to me talk crazy, but doesn't really think I'm crazy, the one who always has something to talk about with me!) moved to Richmond. So... I'm glad to make new friends, but I will always keep the old, true friends!

Coming down from the overwhelmed high...

I haven't written in a month! What's going on? I'll tell you what's going on... life as a working mommy of a Kindergartener and a funny, energetic almost 17 month old, and wife to a man that doesn't always understand that the world does exist outside of his bubble.
This past month has been filled with getting new routines in place for my sweet girl the Kindergartener. She loves kindergarten, loves riding the bus. In fact, she had a break down last week when I told her that one of her friends had invited her home for a playdate afterschool and she wouldn't be riding the bus. We made it through that drama, and tried it, only to be completely disappointed by the playdate. I was greeted at the door by the mom who said,"Sweet girl will probably never want to come over again, my daughter has been horrible to her, and I'm so appalled by her behavior. But Sweet girl stood her ground very well and tried to not let my daughter get the best of her." As soon as we got to the car, it was deemed my fault. "Why did you make me go there? I did not have fun!"
Another event in our lives recently has been the exciting trip to the dentist to get our first cavity filled. Oh joy! They hook your sweet little ones up to nitrous oxide these days so they won't remember any of it. Poor sweet girl did not like it at all, and we were told that she has a developmental defect in her tooth, causing it to have a groove that the toothbrush won't reach and will definitely result in a cavity. Hmm... sounded a little like a bunch of crap to me, but I'm the mommy, and with no other responsible adult there, I had to make the decisions....
Afterwards, sweet girl managed to chew her tongue until little flaps of skin were hanging off because she couldn't feel it and just wanted to keep on testing it to see if the feeling came back. Ouch!!!! Now, we get to take antibiotics to protect our tongue from infection for the next 10 days, and we get to go back for round 2 in two weeks.
I really could have used some support from my "partner for life" on this one, but he was wound up in his own life that day as he is most. When brought to his attention, he stated that he would have been glad to help, but didn't know his help was needed. Strangely, I don't think that will be the last time I hear that, nor do I think it is the first!

Today was my day to unwind... I took of of work so that I could accompany my sweet girl to the pumpkin patch with her Kindergarten class. It was fun to be a stay at home mom today! I had a great time! And I met lots of other nice moms who work and took off for the day! The stay at home moms seem to have their own little clique! But that's okay... I've found my peace and that's what matters!

Words that Baby Girl can now speak...

1. Daddy
2. Mommomomomomom
3. shoes
4.Tank you
5. titty at
6. popo (poopoo)
7. vamos (spanish for let's go)
8. Sweet Girl (sweet girl's real name)
9. NOOOOOOOOO
10. yesh
11. hi
12. gammy (for grammy and grampy)
13. ungry (as she points to the refrigerator)
14. bye bye (when she's in the mood)
15. baby
16. me (short for her babysitters name, Michelle)
17. eh-eh-eh (to anything she wants that she cannot say the word for)

Friday Night dinner out, Take 2...

Well, this week we tried something different for dinner. We decided to dine at a loud establishment (Rio Grande) at an early hour of 6 o'clock and after feeding baby girl some food so that she was pleasantly full and happy.
And everything was going well until... Baby girl was getting fiesty, and restless and went to visit her daddy for a few minutes while her mommy ate a bit more of her food. Somehow she managed to scrape her fingernail across the cornea on my dear husband's right eyeball.
He has a history of being a bit dramatic when he gets a scratch or a pinch, or a hit, so I really didn't take him very seriously and told him to settle down and stop the drama. OOOps! Around 3:30 am, he was pacing the house and complaining about how painful it was, and I took a look, and it looked BAD! It was swolen and watery, and he couldn't even open it. So we decided that he should probably go to the emergency room. I couldn't go with him because that would have meant waking precious sleeping babes or waking wonderful sleeping grandparents to come over at ungodly hours of the night. So my dear husband drove himself to the ER and witnessed a poor soul who nearly chopped his ear off while apparently dancing with a young lady near a strip dancer type of pole. Hmmm.... interesting! Then they took him back and diagnosed him with a corneal abrasion that went from the top corner to the other corner of his eyeball. I felt a little guilty for calling him dramatic, but he's been a bit of a pain in my butt for the last few weeks, so a piece of me felt a little justice. But, then my guilt came back and I felt badly for him.
We have said that baby girl is our wild one, but now we have official proof.
Never a dull moment at our Friday night dinners, anyone want a little excitement? Come and join us next week... who knows what will happen?

It's a miracle!

My sweet girl is what is known as a picky eater. I don't think those words do her justice, something stronger, like only likes to eat about 5 things in the world. She's always been the one that eats a different meal, or eats nothing at a meal. I've exhausted myself reading different ideas on the picky eater topic, ranging from serve them what you eat, they'll cave in eventually to don't fight about it, that will only make her resent food. And I've had many a miserable dinner listening to her fuss and cry about "all that yucky food" on her plate. I've landed somewhere in the middle on the topic. She now has grilled cheese, french fries, chicken nuggets, apples, yogurt, banannas, grapes, cheese sandwich on a potato roll, peanut butter sandwich,with no jelly please, crossants, taco shells, and anything sweet on her menu of things she will eat.
I know some frown upon me for not making her eat what we eat, but they do not live with me, and they are not in charge of my home, so I cast their judgement to the wind.

Starting Kindergarten was a big thing for us food wise. We bought a lunch box, and I pondered what I could fill it with that would make my sweet girl happy. The first day I packed a chocolate pudding, cheese sandwich, some grapes, and some pringles potato chips, with a peanut butter bar for snack. The lunch box came home with only a few chips left, and a few grapes. I could not believe that my little "eat like a bird" child had finished off all of this food and left only a few morsels. The days continued like this for the rest of the week. Week 2 came, and a little more came home, but it was the junk, not the good healthy stuff. I feel like a normal mommy who has a child who eats. (I know it's not exotic food that she's eating, but she's eating typical school age lunch time food with other kids). The excitement came to a peak last night when we attended our very first back to school night. Another little girls mommy commented to me that my sweet girl had made quite an impression on her daughter's eating habits. I cringed at first, fearing what I might hear. It appears that my sweet girl's eating habits are being watched by others, and they are looking up to her. The little girl in my sweet girl's class demanded a cheese sandwich for her lunch because "Sweet girl gets one every day, and she says they are delicous." For those of you who know my sweet girl and our battle with the world of food, you know that this is a very proud moment for me.

A crazy way to end the week...

I went back to work 2 weeks ago after a fun filled summer with my girls. I was ready to go back to school and get my classroom set up for a new year of learning, and man, I made that classroom look great. Everything was in place, it looked perfect, and then they came. 25 little darlings walked into my door on Tuesday morning. I wasn't there, but I bet they looked cute.
I wasn't there because my sweet girl was starting Kindergarten and she was getting on a school bus for the first time at exactly the same time my new students were walking in the door. I struck a deal with my principal and found a wonderful person to greet my students and read a book to them until I got there.
Well, sweet girl loved the bus ride, loved the first day of school, and had nothing, but great things to say about Kindergarten.

As you can see it was an exciting day. And I held back my tears until the bus had driven away, and a had a small crying moment, but then I had to hurry on my way to meet my own students.

Speaking of my own students, they are quite a bunch. Not the worst, or weirdest bunch I've ever had, but definitely the chattiest. They won't shut up! Even the one who speaks only Japanese. This morning he was feeling a bit homesick, and he cried for 1 1/2 hours yelling at me in japanese (his yelling was translated by another student who is fluent in japanese and english as "Call my mom, I want to go home, you tell her to come and get me!) .

I survived my first week of school, and my dear husband and I decided to go out to dinner to celebrate. No babysitter, so the girlies come along for what was the most eventful, and unpleasant dinner I have ever had. Baby girl fell asleep on the way to Coastal Flats, home of the best, tangy Calamari that you have ever tasted, and a pretty good lobster roll too. We walked around a bit while we waited for our table, and she woke up in a good mood. "It's going to be a great dinner," we were thinking. But, boy were we mistaken.

As soon as we sat down at the table, baby girl starts fussing, which escalated to a cry, then to screams and wails. So my dear husband walked her around. She was happy and they came back, then she got mad again because he would not let her poke herself in the eye with a fork. Then sweet girl started to irritate baby girl by pushing, tugging, taking things away(something she's gotten quite good at lately, irritating her baby sister). So more crying! The waiter brings the girls food early, but baby girl will not eat because she is too mad. She loves food, and usually it can cure the angry baby that she sometime is, but not tonight. It's my turn to walk her around. (are you getting a picture in your head of this yet? Not relaxing, not celabratory at all!)

We come back to the table and she is calmed, and she starts to eat her grilled cheese sandwich. She's so independent, and wants to do it by herself. I let her, and I eat my yummy lobster roll with my left hand (my right hand that I usually eat with is holding onto baby girl so that she doesn't climb into the next booth or fall under the table). All of a sudden, I hear a waitress say, "Oh no, "and I look behind me to where my baby girl has dropped her half eaten grilled cheese over the back of our booth onto the back of another paying customer at the restaurant. The waitress takes the sandwich and inspects the mans very dry-clean only shirt, which luckily doesn't have a grilled cheese mark on it. I apologize and promise that nothing else will bother them that evening. Then baby girl starts her wailing again, this time her sister has smooshed her into the corner and she is stuck. What does a stressed out mommy do when faced with this situation? why, I give my sweet girl a little pinch and tell her to settle down and treat her sister nicely. The pinch only makes her scream and wail, and now any joy that was left in this dinner is gone. My dear husband takes those girls out to the the front of the restauarant, and I am left in peace to pay the bill. He knew that I was just about to step over the edge into really bad mommyhood, so I was awarded this akward, sit in the booth alone time. The waiter was relieved that we were on our way out and told me to have a very good evening in just a little, too friendly way, and I went on my way to find my family. They were easy to spot, one was sitting on the ground crying about something and the other one was trying to wrestle free of her daddy's arms.

And that, my friends, is how I spent my Friday evening!

Hopefully tomorrow will bring much rest and relaxation...

"What's that floating in the baby pool, Mommy?"

Yesterday we were at the pool. Baby girl loves to crawl and scoot in the baby pool and pretend that she is swimming. She's really comfortable in the water. Sweet girl has become quite the underwater swimmer this summer too! She loves to show off her tricks! At break time, she comes over to the baby pool to visit with her sister. Baby girl and I were playing in the baby pool, and sweet girl looked at us kind of strangely. Then she asked me to come over to her because she needed to tell me something. I asked her to come over in the pool and tell me. She said, "No, I can't." So I went over to her, and she whispers in my ear,"Mommy, I think there are some nuggets in the pool, maybe you shouldn't be in there." At first, I thought she ment chicken nuggets, and I looked around to see what she was talking about. Then I saw it. Little brown balls clustered together. There were quite a few of them in the pool. No one else seemed to notice or care, they couldn't be the type of "nuggets" that you would usually find floating in the toilet, could they? I carefully went to take a closer look. And then an even closer look. Ahhh, just some tiny acorns that were falling from the above tree. I reported my findings to sweet girl, and she sighed a breath of relief and joined us in the baby pool.

A higher being is speaking to me...

So, I reread my previous rant, oops, I mean post, and perhaps I was a bit dramatic too. But, boy did it feel good to vent and get it off of my chest!
The evening after I wrote that post, my family went to swim at a friend's pool. My dear husband assured me that my friend would not be there. And, guess who was the first person to greet me when we got there? You guessed it! I could not make eye contact with her because in my mind I had had a big argument with her, and I was afraid if I looked at her, I might just let it all out, and then who would be the big, bad friend? Me! of course.
So I immersed myself in my children and swam and had a wonderful time, and spoke very little to her. I thought I might get a phone call asking me about my not so usual unfriendly behavior, but no phone call came...
I didn't hear from her on Sunday either. Then on Monday evening, she stopped by my house to pick up some bottles that I had told her she could have because we were done with them. She also wanted to tell me about her first day at her new job. I was not rude, but I definitely wasn't my usual friendly, supportive self. She explained that her husband was working on an investment property that they have purchased in hopes of fixing up and making lots of money. And that she was hoping that he'd be home soon so that she could tell him all about it. Later that evening, 10:00 to be exact, my husband was text messaged pictures of that husband and another friend eating, drinking, and having a lot of fun at the local Mexican restaurant
Then, last night my dear husband was working a little late, and my girls and I decided to go to the pool right after dinner. And guess who shows up right when we get there???? Yep, my friend again.
She started to tell me about her job some more, and how her husband had gotten home after she had gone to bed the night before so she hadn't been able to share her first day job stuff with him. I just listened, I don't want to be involved in that one. Then her son started telling other pool guests that they could not sit in certain chairs because he and my sweet girl were going to make forts. After the 5th time of harassing a nice woman and her son, and my sweet girl coming to me and telling me what was happening... I stepped in and told my friend's little boy that the seats were for everyone, and that there were plenty to go around. Then I apologized to the mom and her little boy. My friend then came over and kind of laughed it off, perhaps out of embarrassment. I remained quite reserved, and did not have lots to say, just listened. She claimed that she was worried that her son might have ADD and need medicine because of his inability to pay attention to a swim lesson in a crowded pool. I only replied that I've worked with many children who have attention issues, and that medicine isn't always the answer, there are lots of ways to help.
Within minutes, my friend's son started to throw water at a child that was 3 years younger than he was because the little girl was trying to sprinkle water on him and my sweet girl. This episode ended with him having a fit, hitting her, and screaming and then her saying that they were leaving. Sound familiar? Except for this time, I just distanced myself, felt bad for her, felt bad for him, and said good bye.
So, what have I learned about myself is that I just need to separate myself from this said friend every once in awhile so that she doesn't drive me crazy. I also need to realize that I am a different person and we have different standards for what is considered rude and and not friend-like, based on her behavior and mine. And lastly, there is a higher source who puts me in the places that I need to be so that I can get a better perspective on things....

How can I divorce a melodramatic friend with out all of the drama?

Sorry in advance for the very long post...
I have this friend. She's been my "friend" since I was seven years old. She has not always been a great friend. When we were in 6th grade, she couldn't figure out how to be friends with me and the new girl who lived in a big house and had all of the cool things. In 8th grade, she was really pissed at me because the boy that she liked, like me instead of her. In 10th grade, she dated some really weird, drug abusing boys and became a very insecure girl who needed to be reassured alot, and was not sure about who she was. As a result, she was a high maintenance friend. Then in college, she was a boy crazy friend. Once when I was visiting her for a cheer me up after a bad break up with a bad boy who I thought I might marry visit, she ditched me in her dorm room and then at a couples party where I was the only one who didn't have a date. She never even considered my feelings, and never apologized.
Then came the after college days. I started dating my husband, and she was in awe that I was dating one of the "cool" guys from her high school. She was very judgemental, and never saw him for the guy that he was, just saw him for the guy from the wild, crazy, cool group in high school. She even dated one of his friends for awhile, but in the end, that didn't work because she was too busy criticizing him for what he was in high school and how he was going to college later than everyone else had. (god forbid someone decide to do something good and change for the better). Well, the jokes on her with that one because he is a very successful writer for a very funny T.V. show that is up for some awards this year.
Sorry to digress... I got engaged, and she was my maid of honor. On the day of my wedding, her hair did not turn out as she liked, she complained, didn't show up in time to help me with my makeup (probably a good thing...she's sometimes been the topic of too much make up gone bad), and my other bridesmaid's had to remind her that I was the bride.
A few months later, she got engaged to a boy that she had verbally expressed to me might not be good enough for her. After her marriage, she made comments about past boyfriends (the one mentioned above included) and how maybe she'd made the wrong choice because those others had more money, bigger houses, jobs that made them famous or popular. Are you sensing the theme here? She likes to be apart of the cool, popular, wealthy group, no matter what the costs.
I think it was around this time that we had our first real "I'm done with you and your selfish ways" conversation. She was being melodramatic over some cheesy fries that were placed in front of her during the season of lent (did I mention she'sNOT of the Catholic religion). I sarcasticly told her to get over it, and within a few minutes she was sitting beside me telling me that I was just kidding when I'd said that. Call it the stick that broke the camels back, but I snapped and told her that I wasn't kidding and that her melodramatic and selfish antics were getting on my nerves and she was a highly irritating person in my life. She had a fit and stormed out of that dining establishment in a fine melodramatic manner complete with throwing napkins. Well, my guilty conscience got the best of me and we ended up being friends again.
The next big argument happened when I didn't tell her I was pregnant early enough. I told her right after 12 weeks, when I told my extended family. But for the next 2 years all I heard about was that I hadn't told her and how I was so bad for not telling her. When I was about 8 months pregnant, she announced that she was pregnant on the day she found out, and again brought it to my attention that she was a better friend for confiding in me so early on.
So our 1st born children are 6 months apart. They play together, and sometimes enjoy each other. Her little boy is a bit of a behavior problem at times, and he lacks the self control that most children have at his age. But, that's a whole other story, the parenting of that household and all of it's disfuction is something I will save for another post one day when I need to vent again.
There have been some ups and downs, and jealousy about new friendships made in the past 5 years. And I have just ignored it, or been very annoyed by it and complained to my true friend, LT, and gotten over it. I've also distanced myself so that I don't have to deal with her on a daily basis. In the few months, she has added another child to her family after a long stay of bedrest. And when that second dear child arrived, her first born became chopped meat.
On one occasion, we were dining at their home, and their little guy was out of control. My sweet girl was playing with him, having fun, but not out of control. That's when the father of this boy snapped. He yelled at his son, and then turned to my sweet girl and said, "And that goes for you too!" My sweet girl was so upset, I summoned her to me and told her out loud for everyone to hear that she hadn't done anything to deserve being yelled at, and that her buddy's daddy had lost his patience. In his defense, he felt badly, not sure if he thought he was wrong, or was feeling guilty because he thought I was really pissed off at him. He said he was sorry to me, and I redirected him to apologize to her, and stated, that she gets yelled at when she's in trouble and has done something really wrong, but her daddy never yells, and she never gets yelled at in that irrate of a tone. Everything ended up fine that night, sweet girl recovered, and I forgave, but didn't forget. I never heard anything from my "friend" on the subject. And that bothered me because if the tables would have been turned, I definitely would have expressed some sorrow for my husband's behavior to her.
Their family endured a big flood in their home where they had to live outside of their home with friends. But, the weird part was only the new baby, mommy, and daddy stayed with the friends. Their little boy was summoned to his grandma's house for the evenings, and to any camp that they could find for him for the morning hours every week during the summer when his mommy was at home on maternity leave. Not to my surprise, he started behaving in a less than stellar way, the way any pissed off, left out, needing attention little boy would. I tried to include him in some of our fun outings, and he was well behaved, until his mother walked in the door. I have tried to remain supportive and helpful during their time of need, even when I don't agree with what they are doing, I just try to tell myself that everyone's different, and they are not wrong just because they don't do something the way I would.
Well, yesterday, something happened that may have changed my mind about everyone being different. We were at the pool, and having a nice time making forts with the pool chairs, then the pool manager told the kids that they couldn't put the chairs on their sides because it scratched the furniture. Sweet girl was disappointed, but fine with the idea that they could just use their towels and keep the chairs upright and make a different type of fort. Well, my friend's little boy freaked out, started howling, hitting his mommy and throwing an all out fit, complete with growling and devil sounding speech. She reacted by telling him to stop, then pulling his hair and telling him in an evil voice that they were leaving. I tried to help diffuse the situation (the teacher in me came out) by explaining to him that they could still build forts, but they had to take special care of the furniture. Then I said, "It's not your mommy's fault buddy-"To which he interrupted and told me," Don't talk to me, don't speak to me, I don't want to hear what you are saying to me." He had a very evil voice and look on his face, the kind that some say could kill. I replied," No problem, I don't want to talk to you anymore, I don't want to talk to someone who is talking to me in a mean, rude way. We'll see you later." And we finished packing up our things and started our walk home. I said bye to my friend and we left. Is it unrealistic of me to think that she might have called and apologized for her son's behavior?
I have been reading a book that talks about getting rid of the things that cause you the type of unhappiness and frustration that is not necessary. I think this friendship is one of those things. So in the next few weeks, I will not be available for that friend, and I am planning to do a lot of avoiding. I know that's the chicken way out, but if you had been there for round one, you would understand that it would not be pretty if I tried to discuss this with her and told her that I think our friendship would be better as a distant one. So, I'll try to create and stick to the distant friendship that I am comfortable with...

Not protected by the EPS Sump Pump Guardian

My husband is a very crafty sort of guy. He's a carpenter by trade and can build beautiful things. He has also learned about electricity, and wired our basement when remodeling. He single handedly remodeled our kitchen, plumbing, flooring, cabinets, ect. He built an amazing Victorian playhouse in our backyard for our girls. Because he works for himself, and does this type of work every day, some of our projects take longer than you would expect, which drives a goal oriented person like me crazy. Sometimes, he needs extra hands to hold something, and I pitch in. But, this is also when some of our best or worst domestic disagreements have happened.
So last December we decided to hire a contractor to add a bathroom to our basement. We were told this project would take a few weeks... Our first bump in the road was the water that just wouldn't go away when they jackhammered the floor, apparently we have a spring that runs under our house. So we added a French drain and a sump pump. But... that sump pump runs every 5 minutes when it is damp out, and about every 15 to 20 minutes on a bright, sunny day. Which ends up being a lot of water. So my dear husband dug a 120 foot trench to the back of the yard, put in some pipe to route the water, made a really nice to look at drain, which drains into another trench that he dug to put pipe with holes in it so the water would slowly drain into the ground. So sump pump problem solved.
Next problem, our pipes are to high, and our toilet and shower would back up constantly if we hook the new pipes into them, so we get to purchase and have installed a sewage injector. The pipes run under baby girls room, and during the average shower, the sewage injector pushes the water into the main pipe about 3 times, so no showers down there when baby girl is asleep, or she sleeps no longer.
The trouble never ends, next terrible, unskilled drywall men come to our house and frame the shower with a 20 inch door opening for the shower. I could fit in sideways, but hope I don't gain any weight or become pregnant again... So we get rid of those guys and wait for 3 month for a very skilled (the reason he is booked for 3 months) contractor to finish our project. It looks amazing, we love it!
Now, we have the problem of that sump pump. What if the electricity goes out, and that sump pump fills up and starts to flood our very nicely finished basement? So we research some products that can power our sump pump, our new best friend. And we find what we think is an amazing product, the EPS Sump Pump Guardian. It is a unit that contains a battery source and you can plug your sump pump into it, and it will pump for upto 48 hours without electricity. We were very anxious to get it, our money was taken out of our account the day we ordered it, so we thought it would arrive soon. After 2 weeks, no EPS Sump Pump Guardian. So we call, leave message, and get no reply. We call every day for a 5 days, leave messages, and get no replies. Then one day dear husband actually talks to someone there and was told there was a flood and their boxes were damaged, but it would be coming soon. 1 more week goes by, more calls, more messages, even a very irate email. No responses. Then 6 weeks after we order it and our money was taken, it arrives at our doorstep.
We follow the directions, plug it in to charge it, and it keeps beeping. We reread the directions, still beeping returns and the amber light never turns off (the amber light is supposed to go off when it is charged, and a green light should replace it). I put it a call, and am greeted by the voice that I've been hearing on the answering machine for weeks, only this time it's a real person. He's very friendly, and says that it just needs to charge over night, but if there are problems, then to call in the morning. All night long we hear the beeping, it never charges. We decide to return it and look for an ulterior method to save us during a power outage. I call, and he answers again (amazing) and is apologetic, will gladly give me a return authorization number, and we will have our money refunded when the product is received. We shipped it on July 22. It arrive there on July 29. Today is August 14, and I have made my 3rd call to them asking where my refund is. It's 3 weeks after they have received it and I have been told that it's being taken care of. I was promised a phone call, and never got one. I left a message asking for a phone call, never got one. Today I am told that it was refunded, but it sometimes takes 2 days to post to my bank account, so it should be there today or tomorrow. This whole process has taken almost 3 months. Ridiculous. And my basement is still not protected! But, the help has been ordered and is on it' s way, hopefully this time it will work out.
Moral of the story: Don't buy an EPS Sump Pump Guardian unless you want to add unnecessary stress to your life.

my first double post, I think

Last weekend, sweet girl, baby girl and I went to hang out with my parents on their boat. DH had to work. We had the greatest day ever. It was baby girl's first real boat ride, and she loved it, as long as she knew where her mommy was. I had the chance to chat with my dad and mom about the ups and downs of my life, and reminisce on some of the things that our family has done. Sweet girl had fun eating cantaloupe and hanging out with Grammy. Her Grammy is her best friend in the whole world. I love that they have that special relationship with each other. They can talk for hours about things, Grammy is a great listener, she always makes sweet girl feel very important. And Grampy is great with them too... They know he's a big, cuddly, fun guy, and they love to giggle with him, hug on him, and make him laugh. He's so interested in the things that they are doing, and sweet girl loves that he's apart of her audience. He's so proud of them both, and they can tell and love every minute of it.
On my ride home, both of the girls fell asleep, and I had some time to just think in a quiet peaceful environment (as peaceful as I-95 can be). I started thinking how I am so lucky to have two of the most giving, loving, patient, friendly, supportive people that I know fill the role of my parents, and my children's grandparents. I have friends who tell me stories of their parents, and of how their families were when they were growing up, and I just can't even imagine or understand because I can truly say that my parents have always done everything they could for us, and they continue to do anything that they can to help. Because of these two amazing people, I am who I am. And I'm pretty proud of the person I am, and the things I've accomplished. And I think I owe a big thank you to my mom and dad for providing me all of the love, encouragement, and guidance that has shaped me into the mom, wife, and teacher that I am. Thanks Mom and Dad! I love you!

An evening with my family

For a month or so, my baby girl has gotten into the bad habbit of pulling hair, pinching, and hitting. She pulls her own hair, sometimes mommy's hair, and her sister's hair when she doesn't expect it at all. She is a very sweet little baby, and always follows up the hitting, pinching, pulling with a nice kiss.
This evening the family was going to return some things that we had bought that were out of our budget. There is a park, and an ice cream parlor at this fine shopping establishment. We had a great plan for the evening. And then... baby girl grabbed a hold of sweet girls locks and yanked a very hard yank. Sweet girl screamed and then cried. And when her hair was finally released, she looked at her baby sister and replied,"You better not pull on my hair like that again, if you do, I'm going to not have any hair left and I'm going to have to wear a wig. Then I'm going to tell all of the students in Kindergarten about you." To this baby girl responded with a sad little face, a whimper, and then a kiss to her sisters head. Then there was a truce, and all hair was safe, at least for one evening.
We returned our things, well, my dear husband returned his, and I exchanged mine for something better :-) Then we headed to Ben and Jerry's where we were charged $4 a scoop for melted ice cream. My husband asked the guy to help him out on baby girls soooo small cone, and he added a teeny, tiny bit more. Ridiculous! It was funny to watch the other customers come out with the same small cones, discussing the outrageous price, but enjoying every lick, just as we did. Then it was off to play at the playground, toss pennies into the fountain and make wishes that we all hope come true, and home again to our toy infested house!
What a wonderful evening!

She speaks!

For the last few weeks, sweet girl and I have been hearing some words come out of baby girl's mouth. It's so funny to see how excited sweet girl gets when she thinks she's heard a new one. "Mommy! Baby girl just said (insert word here)! Can you believe it? She's learning to talk." Today, she learned uh-oh! And it sounds so darned cute when she says it. Friday the word of the day was bunny, pronounced in two very decisive syllables buhn-nee, inspired by the story Curious George and the Bunny. She loves that book, and gets so excited when George finds the bunny again, she starts to laugh and point and says, "Bunny."
Now there is a lot of babbling going on to, and if you listen and look at her while she's talking, you might just think she's speaking a different language, but definitely a real language. She talks with expression, and changes the tone in her voice. Tonight, she was talking to my dear husband, and she was telling him all about Tam-may and bany, and ebaloubaloo. He acknowledged her and she kept right on telling him all about these people or things.
It's just amazing how her brain is growing and developing, and she's becoming a little person of her own.
And another refreshing first today... she sat still for over 30 minutes entertaining herself with duplo blocks and some of big sister's fun toys. It was amazing, I didn't think it was possible. I was beginning to think that I had lost my mind because I couldn't remember sweet girl ever being so energetic, but I'm sure she was...a lot the mind will forget in 4 years...
Well, ebaloobaloo to you!

Just Flush it!

We have just returned from a fun filled week in Southern Shores, NC. First time visiting that far north, and we loved it. We spent lots of time on the beach, watching movies, eating ice cream, and enjoying each other's company. AND... lots of time fishing things out of trash cans, and other waste receptacles. It seems that baby girl has been watching us very carefully... She has observed that we often put things in the trash, and flush things in the toilet. Why should she know that the things we throw and flush are trash or waste? Yesterday, my dear husband forgot the rule about putting the lid down on the toilet. And poor Curious George and the Bunny took a swim. She seemed to think she was doing a good deed. I found a sippy cup in the trash, and last week when I searched and searched for a missing shoe, it was found in the hamper. Hmmm... If only I could get that girl to put the correct things in the correct containers, I might have a clean house.
My sweet girl never did these type of things. Her worst offense was pulling the toilet paper out to decorate the hallway, the living room, and the Kitchen.
Baby girl has new excitement in store for me, I think! And wrinkles, and grey hair too!

5!

Five years ago today I became a mommy for the first time. My sweet little girl was born, and the moment I laid eyes on her, I loved her more than anything else in the world. Now, a few days after that when I was trying to figure out how to be a mommy, how to feed my baby, and how to function on so little sleep... I still loved her, I just wasn't so sure about my own self or my mommy capabilities. But we've made it for 5 years, and I think I can confidently say that we're doing just fine!

I was thinking today back to that day and how much love filled the room when she was born. I was thinking about how much love and joy she brings to our lives, our families lives, and pretty much any life that she meets. She has such a personality. Sometimes she is so dramatic, and sometimes so shy. She has a wonderful heart and cares about almost all creatures big and small. She is an amazing listener. She has learned her phone number just by listening to me say it at stores or on the phone. Amazing! She is smart! very smart! She is quite an artist too.

In the past year I've noticed that she is growing into a little girl, not a baby, not a toddler, but a real little girl. She is expressing such interest in being independent, and I know I need to let her, but I'll always be there for her when she needs me. She's so sensitive too, and on more that one occasion lately she has explained to me," Mommy, I'm sensitive, so you should tell me if you are joking or not, I might not know." How do you argue with that!

Happy Birthday sweet girl! I'm so proud to be your mommy, you are an amazing, little girl, and I'm the luckiest mommy in the world.

beautiful ballerina

beautiful ballerina
Originally uploaded by Never a dull moment....

I was organizing some pics, and came across this one! I love it, I think it might be my favorite picture of my sweet girl.

"I am a queen!"

We just returned from Pennsylvania where we attended my husband's family reunion. The reunion was nice, much better than I expected... all of my dreading for nothing. My sweet girl and baby girl enjoyed swimming in the pool and jumping on the trampoline of one of my husband's cousin's that I have only met twice in the eight years that we have been married.
But the best part was hanging with our cousin's that live in Northern Virginia at the Johnstown Hampton Inn! They enjoyed a dinner at Applebee's where we were seated at the bar (because where else would you seat a party of 18?) Then back to the hotel for late night dip in the heated pool. And then to our room where sweet girl was so excited to sleep...because her daddy had been telling her for 3 days how she was going to sleep in a queen bed. He meant a queen-sized bed, she thought he meant a bed fit for a queen. She kept talking about how she was a queen and she had servants and how they had to obey her. The bed had a very nice down comforter on it, with lots of fluffy pillows and did look fit for a queen! She got into her jammies, and snuggled in. Her daddy read the princess and the pea to her and her cousin, who came over to join the queen for a sleep over. After the story and a lullaby sung by yours truly, she said to me,"Tomorrow I will need to have breakfast in bed on a tray." I replied, "Is that so?" And she quickly cut to the chase with,"Of course, that's what queens do, and I am in the queen bed mommy, so...."
I had a quiet little giggle and told her to sleep tight. And this morning, the queen was served chocolate chip muffins and juice on a tray in her queen bed.

Summertime!

I love summertime. I love going to the pool, sitting on the beach, reading a good book.

Oops... that was my life before my girls came into our family. Now, I corral everyone into their bathing suits, swim diapers, lather them with sunblock, prepare snacks and juice cups for all, get the stroller out to the sidewalk while baby girl screams at me (in her own language that she is really pissed that I even think it's okay to leave her on the other side of the glass door). Now that I've broken a sweat, I quickly put my bathing suit on, and we get everyone out of the house and start our journey to the pool.

Once at the pool, L(sweet girl) heads to her swim lesson, and baby girl and I head to the baby pool to splash around. This is at 10 am mind you, and the sun is not shining on the babypool, only on the pool where L is swimming. So no sun for me! L has made great accomplishments so far, today she learned to do a front float, and then started to swim underwater. Way to go! She's very proud of herself. Baby girl likes to be adventureous and walk all around, and stumble and trip face first into the water. On the pool deck, she runs and falls and scrapes her knee. She screams, did I mention that she has a very loud scream? I pick her up, and she squirms and wiggles because she wants to be free! That girl makes me feel like I'm getting old because it takes some work to keep up with her. She enjoys the independance that walking has given her, and she will battle with anyone or anything that gets in her way. Yesterday, a motherless, nannyless child poured water on my poor baby girl's head. I wanted to shout at her," What the hell do you think your doing?" But that wouldn't have been a very nice motherly thing to do, would it? Instead, I very nicely said," She doesn' t like water in her face, could you please pour it somewhere else?" Then she was off to bother some other unsuspecting child.

Because swim diapers are not allowed in the big pool, I'm not able to jump in with L and help her practice all that she has learned. Instead I coach and cheer from the side while baby girl tries to jump in and drown. But coaching from the side does allow me a few minutes of sunbathing!

Being home for the summer is a nice perk to my job. I get to spend lots of time with my children, take on too many house projects that only frustrate me when I can't finish them, and I just get to forget about time. Maybe I should say that I wish I could forget about time. I'm constantly trying to fit so many things in since the summer is only 2 1/2 months long. I ask myself so many times, "Why don't you just relax?" But when I relax too much, I just feel unaccomplished....
Kind of bratty for me to complain about such things, there could be lots worse things!
Well, here's to a different kind of fun summer!

To Baby Girl because she has turned 1!

Dear Baby Girl,
This year has been a very fun one. You came into this world and made a statement on June 14, 2005. Mommy was to be induced, and it was supposed to be a quicker labor than your sisters. It was, but only by 6 hours, which isn't that much considering that she took 26 hours to come into the world. Apparently, you were being a good teacher's daughter and had your hand raised and it got caught in your cord that was also wrapped around your head. That made for a rough entry, but you survived, and didn't seem to mind being yanked out.
When you were born, all of the nurses said, "Wow, she's a big one!" and they started laying bets on how much you'd weigh. Mommy guessed 8 lbs, and some ounces, and I was right. You were a chubby little 8 lbs, 4 oz. You had rolls that were so cute!
We brought you home and your sister was instantly in love with you. She rocked you to sleep in your car seat, she introduced you to everything in your room, and everything in your house. You were very nice and let her hold and cuddle you. You actually slept pretty good for a 4 day old, perhaps 3 hours straight.
When you were 2 weeks old, the screaming started. Your sister asked, "When will she stop crying, it's really hurting my ears." And I could only reply,"That's the way babies talk, we just need to help her and see what's the matter." We have lot's a great pictures with you screaming. We tried to take ones of you when you were peaceful and sleeping, but that really didn't happen very much at all. When you were 3 weeks old, we went to the doctor because I was sure that you had inherited the same trait that your sister had as a newborn...REFLUX! And it was confirmed, you did. We started giving you medicine, and you seemed a bit more happy.
You liked being held ALOT! You spent alot of time in the Baby Bjorn, which was fine with me and you. When you were 8 weeks old, you found your thumb, and it made you a very happy baby. You started sleeping for 8 to 10 hours a night! It was great. Mommy felt like a million bucks, except for the fact that you were a fiesty little sucker and you created a crater in the food source attached to mommy's body. We visited a lactation consultant only to be told that you were a really great sucker, and that it was likely that you would suck a wall if it meant that food would come out. We took you camping with some old friends when you were just 8 weeks old. You slept the whole night! No one could believe that you were a camper already.
A sad day came when you were about 3 months old. You started going to daycare because mommy had to go back to work. Daycare isn't a sad thing, but the one that you were in was. You were 1 of 10 kids there, and mommy had a really hard time leaving you there, so I made Daddy take you, and then one day when I picked you up, and you were laying in a crib and a humunguous child was trying to crawl in there with you, I started looking for better places.
Daycare #2, you lasted there for 3 months, but one day daddy went to take you there and Jerry Springer (a very weird, trashy, inappropriate talk show host) was blaring on the t.v. and a 4 year old and 2 year old were watching, we decided that probably wasn't the environment we wanted you to be in. Jerry Springer, and the fact that you were always buckled into your carseat no matter what time we picked you up.
Around 4 months, you got some nasty shots! And you stopped sleeping through the night.
Around 5 1/2 months, mommy decided that it was time for you to sleep in your own room. This was a hard decision, cause I really enjoyed your company, but I was sure that Daddy's snoring was waking you up and making us loose sleep.
BUT...You woke up in your room too.
When you were 6 months old, a wonderful woman named MiMi came into your life. She was your nanny. She loved you the minute she laid her eyes on you! And you loved her too! She took you for walks everyday, played games with you, cuddled you, made homemade baby food for you all in the comforts of your own home.
You hated your carseat. You just liked company! Mommy or Daddy's company.
We started feeding you lots of good food, and you loved it all! Vegetables the best.
Time flew by and all of a sudden you were 9 months old and you were crawling. It was a funny sort of crawl. You would crawl with one leg and 2 hands, and do a sideways drag and swoop with the other leg on hard wood floors, and normal crawling on carpet. Grampy used to say you were protecting your knees.
When you were 10 months old, you had the cutest curly hair, and you starting saying bye like a southern belle. But you didn't like it one bit if you were left in a room alone for one second. The separation anxiety had set in and it was the kind that you read about in books. So once again, you were attached at the hip! And you cried alot. Your sister was really good at trying to distract you and make you happy. Sometimes you thought she was hilarious, sometimes not. She got frustrated with you, but she kept on trying.
When you were 11 months old, you were cruising the furniture, and standing up and balancing on your own. You started dancing to music too. Very cute!
2 weeks before your birthday, you started walking. You looked too little to walk, but that did not stop you. Sometimes you try to run! But you are a bit clumbsy, so you've gotten some bruises, which are no fun!
On your birthday, grammy and grampy gave you a baby doll. You loved it, hugged it and said baby! You babble all of the time, I'm sure you saying lots of words, but I haven't figured out many of them yet.
You are now 1 years old, you have a very demanding, yet sweet personality. You are a girl who knows what she wants, and you are not afraid to throw yourself on the ground to let us know you mean it. You have just in the last week mastered sleeping in your own bed! Tonight we went through our whole bedtime routine, and I put you in bed, and you snuggled up, put your little bum in the air and went to sleep! Woo Hoo!
We love you baby girl, and we are so glad that you came into our lives and completed our family.
Love, Mommy

Pharoh the Sparrow

Last year for Christmas, Santa brought my sweet girl a birdhouse kit that she made with her real tools (also a gift from Santa) and a little help from her daddy. She was very proud of it and painted it, then hung it in a tree that we can see from our kitchen window.
She was even more excited when some little birds, apparently Finches, came to move in. Last Summer, some sparrows in the neighborhood were a little jealous of the new accomodations the Finches had found, and they hung out and tried to scare them away. They did not succeed, and the Finches lived there all summer.
They came back this year, and the Sparrows were really angry. There have been some mean pecking fights around that birdhouse, but the Finches have always stood their ground.
Until yesterday... We noticed from the window that there was a mean fight going on, and later, we went outside only to find a little finch, very dead laying on the ground beneath the birdhouse.
Sweet girl very indignently said,"What was that mean, ole' Sparrow thinking? That wasn't his home, he was a bully." Then she suggested that we bury him and have a funeral. Daddy dug the whole, and together they lowered him into his shallow grave and covered him. Sweet girl said a little prayer for him, and asked god to protect him in heaven.

Then she said," You know what? I'm gonna call that sparrow, Pharoh because he's just like that bad King that tried to chase god's people away, and he's a bully just like that Pharoh. He better watch out, cause God's gonna send some plays (plagues) down to that sparrow and he's not going to like it. I'm gonna say a prayer for god to help him be a good bird, not a bully." Who would have thought that a 4 year old would listen so well to the bible stories that she hears at preschool?
Watch out Pharoh the sparrow!

Sleeping Like a Baby! Ha!!!!!!

Whoever thought of that saying should have been at my house last night! I could have proved them wrong one thousand times and for 1 and 1/2 hours!
So, as I've mentioned before, my little baby girl does not like to sleep in her own bed for long periods of time. If we cooperate with her and bring her to our bed, she'll sleep for hours and hours and hours! My nanny has mentioned to me that she also enjoys the company of others during her nap times. Nanny holding baby girl = 1 to 2 hours of nap, Nanny not holding baby girl= 20 minute cat nap that leaves baby girl a lovely grump head to come home to.

So last night I decided that it was time to take this matter into my own hands. What am I saying? It's always in my own hands, my dear husband hasn't a clue when it comes to putting a child to sleep. Perhaps it's my own fault because every time he tries, he gets that helpless look, and claims to not know how to do (insert child rearing ability here), and I always step in to save the day! It's a bad habit that I trying to work on.

Last night, baby girl was exhausted. I went to put her to bed. She was half asleep and half awake. They say put them to bed when they are drowsy. Yes, I did that. The moment I laid her in her bed, she flipped her body onto her tummy, pushed her tummy off the mattress and was standing in 2 seconds flat. How does a drowsy child do that you ask? She has special powers that allow her to react to her arch, rival enemy, the crib is what I think. Then I told her it was time to go night-night, kissed her head, and up she jumped again. This went on for about 5 mintues with her screaming as if she was being tortured. Then I kissed her head, and said Mommy's going now, and walked out of the room. She proceeded to cry for 20 minutes. I returned and the prior scene repeated itself, only this time I got to change a poopy diaper and feel badly that perhaps that was the reason that she had been crying. Once again, I told her night-night, and I left the room. Another 20 minutes went by, and by this time, I'm ready to run screaming from my home. So I return for a 3rd time and the process is repeated. 2o more minutes and I go back in. She lays her head on my chest with the crib bars between us, and tries to keep her eyes open. She's so tired that her legs are buckling, and finally I am able to get her to sit in her crib, then ease her into laying position. I patted her back for a few minutes, and then she peacefully slept for the entire night in her own bed until 6:3o this morning. Was it worth it? I don't know. Perhaps I should just let her sleep with me, less stress for me, less upset and trauma for her. We'll see what happens tonight!

Playdate!

So, Sweet girl is having her first, official, after school playdate as I write. She has been to playdates, and has had friends over, but always on the weekend or with neighbor kids. This is our first friend from school. When I asked her if she wanted to have someone over, she was so excited. I expected her to pick one of the girls in her class, BUT... she picked the cutest little boy, who she plans to marry one day (she offered him 100 cookies to be her husband). They are having the best time, incorporating leggos, matchbox cars, and polly pockets. But my question is: What is my role in this? I've sent a snack down, complimented their creations, and checked on them a few times. I guess I'll just sit back and enjoy it, and check on them every once in awhile!
Next year, Sweet Girl will start Kindergarten. I can't believe that she's already crossing that milestone. It seems like just last year when I was pushing and pushing for 4 hours, and finally getting to hold the sweet little child that broke my tailbone as she busted into the world 26 hours after she made her initial move. Wow.... time flies!

Have you ever seen such a cutie? Baby girl is thinking about being an independent walker.... She took 4 steps yesterday by herself, and then crashed into my arms!

The Yucky old Virus!!!!!
Well, baby girl has been struck with a virus, while we were on a little escape to the beach no less. She had a fever for 3 days... and slept alot! While I felt bad for her, I kind of enjoyed the sleep (I'm a bad mommy, aren't I?) I was convinced that she had an ear infection, but the doctor rendered those horrible, awful, ear piercing words: It's just a virus, should be better in a few days, if not, come back. AAAARRRRGGGHHH!
You would have thought that baby girl was undergoing some terribly painful surgery without any pain relief when they were removing the wax from her ears... Friends of ours were in the room next door, when a nurse, the doctor, and myself had to hold her down, and she screamed and screamed and tried to get away. (the nurse commented on what strength she had for such a young child) Then they tried to look in her mouth at her throat, but she would not open her mouth, and the doctored feared she might crack the tongue depressor in half, so she gave up and took blood instead. All this just to look in her ears and throat???? And this came from the girl who didn't even cry when they gave her 4 shots at 6 months.
Anyway, we waited in the waiting room for the results of the blood test, and our friend came out and said "Man, did you hear that kid screaming?" To which I replied, "Yes, that was mine!"

So, 3 days later, she's fever free, and slept last night for 9 hours straight! There are 4 teeth lurking under those gums 2 poking through... I will not take those sleeping hours for granted!

And, to update you on dear husband....
We had a date on Monday night. The first part of the date consisted of me crying and telling him that I was so worried that he was always going to be a terrible listener, a selfish person, and that he would always be oblivious to his ways.
I actually got a bit of a response from him, and he "says" that he hears what I'm saying and that he wants to be a better husband. We'll see....

What's wrong with him?????
My husband and I have had many ups and downs, recently more downs than ups. It seems that I may have married the most selfish, yet clueless man in the world. Now, I don't mean that he's not a good dad, nor do I mean that I don't believe that he can be a good guy. But, he has this way of only thinking of himself ALL of the time. I believe that he has some strong ADD tendencies, which sometimes may be a big part of the problem. But, it's so highly irritating that he behaves this way and seems unaware of it. Here is an example of the nonsense that I dealt with last night....
Husband: (8:59)Going to change the cat litter, cat's pooped on the floor.
Me: (9:05) come on sweet girl, time for a quick shower ( hurry, mommy really wants to watch the season finale of Grey's anatomy)
9:10 husband still not returning, oops, look at the time, he's in the basement watching his weekly fix of 24. Always watches, every monday night, too violent for any little children to watch with him, so he scores an average of 1 1/2 hours of complete and alone, quiet time.
Me:(9:20) Okay, your turn baby girl, time for bath. splash, cry, scream, dry off, try to put diaper on, scream some more, jammies on...
Me:(9:30) Okay, baby girl and sweet girl, lets play and read books while mommy reads the close captioning on the screen, picks out your clothes, feeds one of you a bottle, gives one of you a bed time snack, listens to you sing and dance (in front of the screen which I am reading words off of), one of you jump on me repeatedly, and I still remain calm...
Me:(10:05) where's daddy? his show and peace and quiet should be over now....
Me:(10:10) HUSBAND!!!!!!! What are you doing?
Husband(10:11): Oh, George Bush talked too long in his speech, shows still on for a few more minutes.
Me: Well, take one of them... I deserve some peace and quiet please
Sweet Girl: I can't watch daddy's show, it's to violent.
Husband: Oh I can take baby girl, no problem.
Then I proceeded to watch the last half of Grey's anatomy being interrupted every few minutes with requests, questions, ect...
Not the peaceful time I had expected or wanted.

When all shows are off, he comes around hinting at compliments for doing something that he had to be asked to do. And then has the audacity to get pissed off at me for not agreeing that he is compliment worthy. And decides to argue with me about it (totally not in his character.... usually the most uncommunicative person I know)!
After all arguements are on the table, dear husband says, guess I just can't watch my show anymore.... What an idiot! This is where I question does he have an attention issue so strong that he can't even follow the real issue at hand, or is he really smart and knows exactly how to manipulate me????

It's Friday!

It's been a quick week, you know one of those weeks when you just feel like you are going, going, going, and you never have a moment to yourself, and then you wake up and realize, wow! the weekend is here again.
My weeks have been going like this for awhile now, and while it's nice that the time passes quickly, it's sad because my little baby is growing up, and my sweet girl is growing up even more! I can't belive that in one week my baby, the last baby I will have, is going to be 11 months old. 11 months, that is one month short of 1 year! How is it that she has already passed so many milestones in what seems like such a short time.
She is battling the 2nd or 3rd cold that she has had in her lifetime. Having a nanny has many perks! By this time sweet girl had had atleast 6 ear infections or sore throat viruses and she was in a small daycare setting! Anyway, baby girl does not have a good handle on sleeping through the night. She likes her mommy, and loves to cuddle with her mommy in her mommy's arms, which usually turns into mommy's bed because mommy is so darn tired, and has to get up and go to work in a few hours and wants to sleep.
BUT, last night a little benedryl, helped aid the sleep cause! I acutally woke up at 6 and looked at the clock, then tiptoed to baby girl's doorway and watched to see if she was breathing. When will I stop worrying about that? I think never, I still check on sweet girl in the middle of the night sometimes.
Yesterday, baby girl demonstrated her ability to stand up on her own and balance for about a minute. She was quite proud of herself. Hubby commented on how it looked strange to see baby girl and sweet girl standing next to each other. I agreed. Then she went on to show off her newest trick, How big is sweet baby? and up her arms go with a big smile! That girl is so darn cute when she smiles. To bad she only has 2 settings, smiley happy and crying pissed off.

As I write this post, I'm thinking to myself, "You really need to just sit back and relax and enjoy the ride at least 2 days a week." All of the other stuff will still be there, and we may pay a few bills late, and we might not have the best dinners, and everything might not be clean and tidy, but you know what, I will have had some enjoyable moments, and so will my girls. And Daddy might even catch on and join in on the family fun!

April 30th... What a Mess!

As I sit here among a mess, I'm wondering how did it get this bad. We have been in a construction zone since DECEMBER when our basemet bathroom addition started. Bad contractors, bad luck, and too much stuff is why it is this messy. That in addition to a husband who doesn't know how to clean up after himself, and has no organization skills.
I think if I sent him and the girls away for a week and got this whole house organized, like when one of those shows comes to your house like Clean Sweep, my house would be trashed again in one month.
It seems that number 2 daughter has created a bit more responsibility than I remember number 1 daughter being at this age, and I just can't seem to find the time to do all that needs to be done.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm a bit depressed, and maybe that's why I'm having such a hard time motivating. I also so feel overwhelmed, and I think that stops me before I even get started. And lastly, I think I'm being a bit passive agressive towards my husband because deep inside I blame him for everything that's wrong, or at least I blame him for not being more on the ball and noticing and remembering things that he can contribute to.
When we were married, he wasn't as overwhelmed, didn't have his own business, and seemed more connected to me... 8 years later, 2 kids later, 1 self-employed business later, and 1 bathroom addition later, he just isn't able to focus on anything for more than a few seconds, that is anything except business, personal health, food, personal belongings, and bathroom additon and anything that he can get obsessive compulsive about! WHat a rant! I guess it just feels good to complain and get it all out. Perhaps I won't be such a bitch to him when he returns at some unacceptable hour this evening only to have something very pressing that will take up even more of our precious family time!

April 28, 2006 The day of my blogging debut...

So, I've been hanging out and reading some really great mommy blogs (what about mommy, Irene's Scene, crouching mommy hidden laundry,chicky, chicky baby,and dooce), and have enjoyed them alot! And I've been thinking that I'd really like to have an outlet for all of my thoughts... it's kind of getting crowded up there inside of my head. Some have said that I have a way with words, so we'll see if anyone reads my blog and agrees. If no one reads, that's okay too, because I will feel better telling someone (even if it's just myself) my thoughts without being interrupted. 10 month olds and 4 1/2 year olds have a way of not understanding a mommy's need to be listened to, atleast not the things she wants to tell... they just aren't the appropriate audience. And my husband.... well, sometimes he has the attention span of a flea. That is unless it's a topic that revolves and directly has something to do with something that will benefit him! So, here goes....

Today is the start of a weekend that I will be left alone to deal with the little lovies yet again. One of my famous quotes is that I don't like being a single parent. But apparently my quote is not heard because this is the 2nd weekend in a row that I have been left to fend for myself. Now, Don't get me wrong, I love my girls. We have fun, and I am learning to just relax and not worry about all of the chores and bills to pay, laundry to do and all of those types of things that I don't quite have the time to do when I get home from work during the week. BUT, I want to have fun as a family too! My hubby just doesn't get it. When I complain, he says,"I know, next weekend you can go and do anything you want, I 'll watch the girls all day." This is not what I want! I tell him this, and he says he understands, but yet never shows any signs of understanding!
My relationship with my hubby and my marriage will be a topic that I write a lot about because currently it is something that is on my mind a majority of the time these days.
I decided to name my blog mommy!mommy!mommy! because many days I feel like the mom of 3, husband included as 3rd child.
Well, I think my first post rambled a bit, but I WILL clarify my thoughts and figure out how I want to do this!