Ramblings from the not-so typical Stay at Home Mom

The Little Green Monster

2008-12-22T22:52:00.002-07:00

I have a huge green monster on my back when it comes to family. I see people that hang out with their mom. I hear people say how much they miss their mom. I rarely even see my mom and she lives less than 20 minutes away from me. We don't hang out or talk. It's almost like we are simply acquaintances.

I think it is great that my friends have a relationship like that with their mothers. A few years ago I would have said it was just plain weird. In my eyes it is a little weird. Growing up in a family where emotions were taboo and family togetherness meant watching Married with Children on Sunday nights, it was rather ingrained that this was how families acted. I never knew that families went on walks together, talked about puberty and school work, or had family board game nights. And it was normal.

I look back and wonder how that all happened. I want my children to be able to talk to me about boys, sex, drugs, and whatever else is on their minds. I want my children to have fun at family board game night, and I want them miss me when they are grown and raising families of their own. Granted, I want them to live near me, but that can't always happen in today's world. I don't want my children to groan and say "I have to go to my mom's for Christmas". I want them to say "I can't want to go to my mom's for Christmas" and I want them to want to come for more than just my chocolate cream pie (which is awesome by the way).

It pains me when my friends say "I just want my mom right now" because I want so badly to be able to say that but I know that I never will. I guess you can never say never, and maybe I will try to take steps to fix that in the future. Maybe. For now I just keep feeding that little green monster.

And so it begins...

2008-12-15T12:02:00.003-07:00

If you have read my blog for a while now, or have looked back at past posts, you will see that trying to take a shower when Sweet Pie was little (and known as Little Bear then) was quite the task. It still can be. Many times I would just let her shower with me. I told myself I would do everything I could to avoid that with Little Man.

Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

That, my friends, is the sound of mommies all over the world laughing at me.

My plan was to put Sweet Pie in the shower with me while Little Man played in his crib after filling his tummy with breast milk, cereal, and bananas. Sweet Pie then decided that she was not going to take a shower with me and threw a huge fit. This was not going to work. Sweet Pie is a little too "helpful" to leave them out of sight together.

Fine. I threw my hands up, undressed the boy and stuck him in his bath seat in the bathroom. Nope. He can't see mommy, not going to work. I gave up. I stuck his bath seat in the shower with me. Not too bad, he seemed to like it and all was well. Until Sweet Pie realized what was going on.

"I wanna take a shower with you mommy!!!"

"You said that you didn't"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I wanna take a shower with you too!!! I wanna take a shower with baby brother! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

"Fine, take off your jammies and get in."

That was interesting. An infant, a toddler, and me all in one small shower. Between the whining of "I want a bath now instead" and the constant picking up of bath toys to give them back to Little Man, I somehow got my hair shampooed and some of my body washed.

Looks like I get to go back to showering in the middle of the night between Little Man feedings.

Long Time, No Blog...part deux

2008-12-04T05:19:00.003-07:00

I know I know. I don't post for a month and a half and then suddenly one morning at 5 am I decide to blog. I suck, I know.

Lots of things have been going on in my world. I have my beautiful children, my wonderful husband, and my fun hobbies. I also have my cranky and messy children, my 29 year old toddler husband, and my expensive and somewhat neglected hobbies.

Make sense? Give me a break, it's 5 in the morning and I do believe that I am up for the day. If you pay attention to my facebook at all, you will see that I went to bed sometime near 3. Booooooo.

Miss Turtle is doing great in school. She has caught up to her grade's reading level and I couldn't be more proud. She is working very hard towards her goals with her horseback riding and taking responsibility. I have no doubt that this will be a great season for her. After all, she is the reigning State Champ :D (he he, just a little mommy bragging there)

Sweet Pie is a true Gemini. There are times when she is so sweet that I just want to pour chocolate on her and eat her with a spoon. Then there are times when I want to pop my own head like a zit. She is really doing well in preschool and her teacher just loves her...most days. Other days like last Tuesday she hid under the table because "her tummy hurt".

Little Man is getting big. He will be 7 months soon and is scooting himself all over the place and sitting up. He thinks that his sisters are just the best thing ever and loves to play with daddy. There are even times that he likes me although I have my shirt on. LOL

Hubby Lubby and I are doing well. The exhaustion that comes with an infant and a light sleeper of a three year old and a kid who is entering the "Growing and Changing" lesson at school is weighing on us at times. We need a date. Seriously. MIL tries to help us out when I have my knitting night or when Hubby is working and I have something for my Pampered Chef business to take of, but she is only able to watch one of them at a time. Sweet Pie is a lot to handle on her own and gets very upset if Grandma tries to take care of him. We need two baby sitters and a date.

I haven't posted a lot of my crafty-ness lately as I have been making it all for a big swap or for Christmas gifts. Soon I will be able to display my addiction all over the web without worrying about ruining surprises.

And some obligatory pics:

You try getting 8 rambunctious children to all look at the camera at the same time. It is truly an adventure. I believe they were yelling either "for the Horde" or "pork chop sammiches" in this one.

My New Etsy Shop

2008-10-20T13:19:00.002-06:00

I am so super excited about this adventure! I had an Etsy shop a long time ago and I only listed a few things, sold them outside of Etsy and took them down. That was it. I decided with the help of some friends to jump back into it. I have my shop up and running although there are only 2 items in there right now. A really cool apron and an awesome set of potholders. I plan on adding a ton more aprons, stitch markers, resin jewelery, other jewelry, Christmas items, kids clothing, and whatever else my hands feel like crafting. Check it out at Mommy is Addicted to Craft.

How to Melt a Momma's Heart

2008-10-15T01:48:00.002-06:00

Demonstrated by Sweet Pie and Little Man

Mommy's got a New Do

2008-10-13T00:41:00.005-06:00

Before:

After:

I am really loving it. It requires time to style, but now that it has grown out just a bit (I chopped it like 3 weeks ago) I can leave it un-styled and not hate it. I donted my 13 inch pony tail to Locks of Love.

Milestone Birthday for my Baby

2008-09-30T23:44:00.003-06:00

Miss Turtle hit a milestone birthday this month. She entered the world of double digits. That is right. My baby is 10 years old. We had a huge party for her at the bowling alley with all of her family (which she has a lot of) and her friends. Silly girl went to blow out her candles and her tooth fell out. It was pretty funny but we were all just glad the tooth stayed in her mouth and didn't land on the cake.

It is hard for me to believe that she is already 10. She has done so much and come so far. Just think of all the things that she will do and become. I know she is destined for something great.

91. Go to a Rockies Game

2008-09-17T08:33:00.002-06:00

One of the mommas on my mommy message board posted a link to a survey to get free Rockies tickets. This was just a few weeks after I posted my 101 list and was perfect! We went to the game last night and had a great time! Sweet Pie was more interested in the snacks we brought and the food at the concession stand, but she enjoyed it. Coors Field also has a little playground for the kids which was right near our seats as well so we had to visit there too.

Watching the game

Check out the moon

I am so glad that I was able to go to the game and take my family. I am not really into baseball, but I got into it while I was there.

The Example

2008-09-12T03:20:00.002-06:00

When I was in the 4th grade, I became the "example". The teacher I has was a wretched woman who always took one student and made them the example. Everything I did was wrong, even if the kid next to me did the same thing. Needless to say, it sucked and I hated it. It made me act out more and gave the teacher a reason to make me the example.

I realized a few days ago that my Sweet Pie is the example of her preschool class. The situation is MUCH different though. Her teacher is fair to all the kids (all 5 of them in the class) and is a really wonderful person. Sweet Pie just gives tons of reasons to be the example.

If you haven't read a lot of my older posts, Sweet Pie is very stubborn and it's her way or no way at all. This behavior just doesn't fly at school. I just haven't done my job in preparing her for this. At home it was always "you want to play blocks? Okay lets go do that". So it was what she wanted to do. At school the teacher wants to do what the teacher wants to do and Sweet Pie is having trouble coming around to that.

On Tuesday the class read "Rainbow Fish" and talked about friendship. They talked about how nice and friendly it was for the rainbow fish to share his scales. The teacher then gave a shiny sticker representing a scale to all the kids who listened to the story and behaved. Sweet Pie did not receive a sticker.

We are working with her and Miss Maria says this is very normal for the first few weeks at preschool and that she is excited to watch Sweet Pie grow. I am hoping the progress is quick.

First Day of Preschool

2008-09-02T21:41:00.004-06:00

Today was Sweet Pie's first day of preschool. She was so excited to go today. We had lunch at the Chinese place up the street before heading to the school. When we got there we were greeted by Miss Maria. Sweet Pie hung up her coat and bag and placed her name tag over the cubbie she chose for the day. Then she was off. She ran off to play with some of the other little girls in the class without looking back. I walked over to her and kissed her little cheek and told her that I would come later and pick her up. She looked up at me with those big brown eyes of hers and said "I love you Mommy" before returning to launch cars off the end of a table.

It was so sweet. I teared up a little, took a few more pictures and made my way home.

Too Small?

2008-08-31T00:28:00.002-06:00

I dressed Little Man in one of my favorite outfits for the day and noticed that it might be getting a little snug. As we played on the bed the snaps at the crotch slowly started coming undone with each and every baby kick of his little chubby legs.

I think it's a bit too small, don't you?

and of course Sweet Pie had to get in on the picture.

It's a Daddy Party

2008-08-20T20:23:00.002-06:00

We have been home sick this last two weeks or so. A sinus infection has found it's way to my family and we just can't seem to get rid of it. We even took Little Man to Urgent Care because he had such a bad time with it. Because of this we didn't leave the house and we are beyond cabin fever at this point.

For a change of pace we decided to celebrate. We don't have any birthdays, or major holidays coming up. We haven't had any major achievements either. But, who said you had to have a reason to celebrate? Besides, I vowed on my 1001 in 101 list to have a kid centered event at least once a month. So we threw a "Daddy Party". I know it seems like that would be centered around hubby, but really it was just for Sweet Pie.

Sweet Pie and I spent a good portion of the day coloring pictures and putting stickers on pictures to hang up on the dining room wall. Even Little Man "helped" out by grabbing at the papers and adding his drooly touch. We also painted her nails for a "fancy" touch. We then made green pancakes, eggs, and bacon and set everything up do hubby could see it when he got home. Sweet Pie stood at the window waiting for him and saying things like "come on daddy" and "where is daddy hiding?". I wish I would have got it on video. It was too cute.

Hubby was surprised and very appreciative. We had our dinner and now we are going to have his favorite dessert ever. Boston Cream Pie. Yum!

You can celebrate for any reason you want. Maybe next week we will celebrate Sunny Day or something.

The Fear of Biscuits

2008-08-13T11:51:00.003-06:00

A fellow blogger, and 101 in 1001 participant, Cafe Chick asked me about #19 on my list.

#19. Get over my fear of opening the biscuits

This is really on the list as something for Hubby as it drives him crazy that I won't open them.

Have you ever seen these?

They are pre-cut pieces of biscuit dough that come in a pressurized can and be found in the refrigerated section at the grocery store. Hubby would love to have rolls or biscuits with every single meal if he could, and many nights we do. Seeing as I am a bit lazy, we don't always go homemade with our bread. Most of the time dinner rolls are made from flour and love, but some nights I allow that cute little Pillsbury dude to do it for me.

Have you ever opened one of these bad boys? They pop. Sort of like a cheapie Colorado firework that you pull the string and it pops as confetti flies out. Only with the biscuits, you peel the paper and you never know when it is going to pop. It just surprises you, and it startles the heck out of me.

Yes I know, I am a wuss. But I can blame this on my mother. She too will still not open the biscuits to this day. As a child I watched her hand off the biscuits to y dad or my brother and leave the room so they could open them.

Silly huh?

So, #19 on my list is to get over that irrational and ridiculous fear.

My Little Gymnast

2008-08-12T02:24:00.003-06:00

A few months ago I enrolled Sweet Pie (formally known as Little Bear) in a gymnastics class that was meant for kids her age. They get to learn about the equipment, practice very basic movement, and it's a lot of fun. I took a ton of pictures of her first session, but the camera we had was on it's way to camera heaven and the pictures came out TERRIBLE.

I got a new camera for my birthday and brought it along to her second session. Her coach was so sweet to her and we basically had cheap private lessons as she was the only one enrolled who showed up to class.

101 in 1001

2008-08-08T17:48:00.014-06:00

It has been two months since my last post. I have been in a bit of one of those hectic spirals that life can sometimes bring. I haven't been handling it well either. Some things get too much focus and others not enough. Somethings start out with a bang and then fizzle slowly until it is forgotten and moved on from. Other things start out slow and never really reach where it needs to be. I need focus. I need to remember that life is not about waiting out the storm, it is about learning to dance in the rain.

Then I found 101 in 1001. I found it very randomly through a friend on Ravelry of all places. It looked interesting and when I learned that a master list was involved, I was in. I love lists. I love crossing things off lists and feeling that sense of accomplishment. So here it is. My list of 101 things to do in 1001 days.

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Finish Date: May, 7th 2011

Completed
In Process

THE LIST

For Myself:
1.spend at least 30 minutes of "mommy alone time" a week (6/143)
2.craft an item for myself
3.hike the Green Mountain Trail
4.take a fitness class
5.watch the sunset for no other reason than to watch it
6.wake up early to watch the sunrise
7.take a cake decorating class
8.learn how to jump start a car
9.learn how to check the fluids in my car
10.reach my goal weight of 150 pounds
11.get a pedicure
12.add to my "kids" tattoo
13.complete the Ravelympics (8/31/08)
14.do my birth chart
15.get a tarot reading
16.take a cooking class
17.watch the second Pirates movie
18.watch the third Pirates movie
19.get over my fear of opening the biscuits
20.learn to change a car tire
21.celebrate the end of the list with a fancy dinner

For My Kids:
22.get the scrapbooks to within 3 months of the current date
23.have one big kid-centered event a month (2/35)
24.make the playroom/craft room more kid friendly (8/15/08)
25.volunteer at Alex's school
26.volunteer at Athena's school
27.sew a vest for Alex's show competitions
28.take and save at least one family video a month (2/35)
29.help build a snowman
30.help build a sandcastle
31.help fly a kite

For my Husband:
32.schedule Erik's skydive (8/18/08)
33.celebrate our anniversary
34.buy him a pair of nice jeans
35.take out the trash myself without complaining
36.clean out the fish tank
37.clean his desk for him without complaining
38.finish his turtle quilt
39.give him a day at Elitch's
40.go to the Melting Pot with Hubby

For my family:
41.send a letter to B&R just because
42.send a letter to Grandma B just because
43.send a letter to Grandpa T and Grammy B just because
44.hem Jade's pants
45.pay off more than the minimum payment of the credit card for three months (2/3)
46.make at least 75% of Christmas gifts one year
47.call my mom on her birthday (8/27/08)
48.call my dad on his birthday
49.Find out and write down every family members birthday
50.make my mom a bed quilt

For My Home:
51.make curtain for living room
52.re-make curtain for kitchen
53.re-make curtain for bedroom
54.make curtain for playroom
55.make curtain for Troy's room
56.make curtain for Athena's room
57.add shelves to playroom
58.do a huge clean out of junk once a year (1/3)
59.organize recipe binder
60.hang up family pictures
61.get more clothespins to display the kid's artwork (9/8/08)
62.find a good place for the cat cube (9/9/08)
63.make the cat her own cat bed
64.paint the bathroom

For my Friends:
65.have a poker night
66.bake something for a friend out of the blue
67.craft something for a friend out of the blue
68.invite friends for dinner
69.truly forgive a certain someone who has wronged me
70.give a gift to a friend just because they are a friend
71.take a friend to lunch

For Other People:
72.donate my time to a good cause
73.participate in the Blogathon for charity
74.pay for the person behind me in a drive through
75.knit a baby hat for the hospital
76.donate fabric to Firehouse Quilts
77.donate old towels to Dumb Friends League
78.donate to the Salvation Army

For the Environment:
79.switch completely to cloth napkins
80.try to get a recycling bin in the complex
81.use water savers in the showers (8/8/08)
82.switch out all light bulbs to friendlier ones (after the old burn out of course)
83.make and/or buy enough shopping bags to not need to use plastic ones anymore

Just Because I should:
84.Go to Tiny Town
85.take a trip into the mountains
86.make a real cheese cake from scratch
87.Send pictures of my cat to stuff on my cat
88.dress up for Halloween
89.get pictures off of computer and onto a CD
90.ride the Georgetown train
91.go to a Rockies Game (9/16/08)
92.go to the Art Museum
93.ride a bike
94.go ice skating
95.Go on a picnic
96.go sledding
97.go to a Dinner Theater
98.make my bed everyday for a month
99.do not use the F word for one whole week
100.Update this blog once a week (6/143)
101.Blog about my accomplishments on the list

First Giggles

2008-06-14T17:16:00.004-06:00

The last few weeks have been filled with late night feedings, stinky diapers, and a few smiles and giggles (and very little blogging...). Little Man gave us his first little smile about a week ago and just a few days ago we got to see the big toothless grin with the cute little head turn and coo. Melts a momma's heart I tell you. He has a bit of a cold right now that the rest of the family has as well and has trouble breathing when he sleeps sometimes. Because of that I have kept him in his glider with me on the couch. Last night I put him in the bassinet but he ended up in the bed with us. I was awake and watching him sleep and he was making little gassy smiles. Then he started making big smiles and a few little noises. I giggled at him and he then made the cutest little giggle sound. His first giggle. It was in his sleep, but I heard it.

I love baby giggles.

More than you have ever wanted to know about my breasts

2008-05-21T13:49:00.004-06:00

I have been rather obsessive about breastfeeding with my son. After all the issues I had with Little Bear and not being able to breastfeed, I became almost manic about the whole thing. I have been reading, googling, talking to lactation consultants, and asking my mommy friends a billion questions about their girls and babies.

When Little Man was first born, we didn't get skin to skin time because of the very rapid delivery and the cord being around his neck twice. But the nurse said not to worry because he was sucking away at her finger and she said that he had a very strong suck and a bit of a bite. He latched on very easily and I was very excited.

Later that night I noticed lots of pain when feeding him and then I saw blood. The LC said that my equipment was too large for his small mouth and that I should pump for a while and try to latch him on later. This was disappointing to say the least but I kept up the pumping and would try to get some skin to skin time with him everyday and he would always go for the breast. So we decided to try it again. After a few failed attempts I got out the nipple shield and with a little bit of learning, he latched on and fed with no problems.

I was overjoyed. I posted on every mommy forum I belong to and IM'd all my friends to share my excitement.

Last night was a bit difficult, but we were both very tired and it was too dark to really be able to see what I needed to do to help him. We gave him the bottle after his frustration hit the point of no return.

This morning he was fine again.

I know it's a rather silly thing to get so excited about, but I am and I want the world to know. :D

Long Time, No Blog

2008-05-16T14:02:00.002-06:00

I haven't been around in a while, but I have a really good excuse. Want to see?

Isn't he beautiful? We are so in love with him. 7lbs 15oz and 20" long and both black and blond hair.

My water broke just before 1 am on Friday morning and he was born just before 4 am the same morning. The labor and delivery was very rapid and rather traumatic for us both. And for poor hubby who was watching the whole thing. Even with the cord wrapped around his neck twice, he came out with a nice, healthy cry and is doing very well. We just need to keep an eye out for GBS symptoms (I didn't get the antibiotic due to the rapid labor and the lack of rooms at the hospital) and watch the cephlahematoma on his head.

He has already gained back the 3% of his birth weight he lost at the hospital and then some. He is eating really well although he can't latch onto the breast right now. I am pumping and we will try again soon.

Everything is going really well even though Hubby is back at work already. He is just a few months shy of getting his vacation time. Booo. We haven't fallen into a routine or anything like that, but it will come.

Little Bear is the best big sister ever. She is so loving and gentle with him and wants to help us with everything baby related. Miss Turtle is also in love with him and wants to hold him every single chance she gets.

So that is why I haven't been around the last week or so and might be a little absent in the weeks to come. My family is wonderful and my life, but they can really take up my time LOL

Nothing New, so I'll share a funny

2008-05-07T00:11:00.001-06:00

I heard this on the radio the other day and I can't believe I had forgotten about it.

Enjoy!

Where does Creativity go?

2008-04-27T16:04:00.003-06:00

When I sit down to make a birthday card I make sure that all the papers, stickers, inks, and whatever supplies I need all match. I then take time to make sure that all the edges are straight, everything is centered, and all the ink is even. I am very careful to make that card look the absolute best that I can.

When Little Bear sits down to make a birthday card, she makes sure that she has a large variety of crayons, mis-matched paper, coloring books, and stickers. She throws caution to the wind and starts coloring, pasting, and sticking whatever she feels like onto her paper. She doesn't care that she has Christmas trees and Halloween stickers on her birthday card. She doesn't care that her crayon stroke went off the page or that Hello Kitty is slightly covering the cut out of a turtle Littlest Pet Shop. She cares not to stay within lines.

I give you one guess as to which card is kept and treasured for much longer.

Where does this child like creativity go? Why do we loose it as adults? Does society train us to only live within the reality we are presented with? Do we all just conform to how things should be? I really have no idea, but it's interesting to think about.

Some of us are very unlucky and lost our flair for creativity in childhood.

When I was younger the only color that I could use for people's hair in a coloring book was yellow. I eventually moved to a light brown, but black or red or *gasp* an unnatural color were never allowed. I was thinking about this the other night as Little Bear informed me that her tortoise had blue hair under his purple princess hat. As I thought about it, I realized that when my mom would color with me, she would only color hair blond or brown. I must have picked up on that from her.

So today I have decided that I will color hair a different color. I want to be sure that Little Bear keeps her flair for creativity as long as she can. I suggest that all adults out there try it out. Grab a coloring book, throw caution to the wind and color whatever color you feel like. Not the colors that you think they should be.

Still here, alive and being kicked.

2008-04-24T13:28:00.002-06:00

I am still here and still pregnant. The only thing that has really been on my mind lately is my belly, my contractions, and all the other beautiful things about being pregnant. Including but not limited to: heartburn, kicks to the bladder, aching back pains, and swollen feet. I just don't want to be the blogger that has no life outside of the pregnancy. Even if that is the case right now, I don't want my readers to have to deal with that.

I will come up with something worth while to say here pretty soon. I promise.

A Convo at my House

2008-04-08T17:29:00.002-06:00

It is a well known fact that there are few mature conversations at my house. Most conversations are either about poop and other bodily functions or they are delivered in a manner that resembles toddlers fighting over the last toy truck. We have become accustomed to this.

This conversations was of the immature bodily function type.

Little Bear and I decided that today we were going to make Hubby a special dinner. He really has been great about helping out around the house. As much as a man with an almost 34 week pregnant wife and demanding toddler can. We went to the store and picked out ingredients for his favorite boring Iowa chili (which I have spiced up a bit), onion rings, and a chocolate cake to be frosted with his mother's recipe for frosting which tastes like Crisco due to the large amount of Crisco in it. It is well known that this is not my favorite icing and I cheat and use butter flavored Crisco in order attempts to mask the taste of shortening.

So as I am cooking Hubby is helping Little Bear in the bathroom and a thought occurs to me. Onions give Hubby gas. Not just a little gas, but serious, explosive, and sometimes deadly gas.

MTM: Why is it that all your favorite foods involve onions? You hate onions.
Hub: I have no idea. I don't usually eat the onions in it.
MTM: Yet you want it cooked with the onions in it?
Hub: Well, ya.
MTM: So it's just a coincidence then that all your favorite foods make you blow ass?
Hub: Ha! That is awesome.

So tonight Hubby may earn himself a one way ticket to Couch-ville for sleepy time. Good thing I love him so much LOL

And the legacy dies

2008-04-06T13:05:00.002-06:00

I was a bad kid. I never went to class, started fights, back talked the teacher, and the word homework was not in my vocabulary. The teachers and staff at my high school still shudder when they hear my name. I was awful.

My brother then attended the same school 6 years later and unfortunately the last name still made an impact. He caught a lot of gruff from teachers that expected him to be just like I was. Luckily he was able to quickly prove that he was not anything like me. He liked homework, he was quiet in class, and he was in lots of school activities.

Even with the school loving saint in between us, I still worried for my younger sister. It has been years since my feet have graced the halls of Columbine High School. My sister is 14 years younger than I so at least a decade separates our 4 year stints in that school. Most of the teachers I had have either retired or have left the school after the tragic shootings in 1999. I would say that her chances of avoiding any gruff from the staff were pretty good.

Yet I still worried. She was meeting 16 year old boys when she was 12. She had "secret" My Space pages and talked with a slightly foul mouth and hung out with girls who liked to party.

This weekend I was given some news that have alleviated most of my fears of her turning into the mess up that I was. My sister made the JV Cheer squad for next year. Woo hoo!!! Those cheer girls are kept under strict watch and the slightest screw up will force them to turn in their cheer shoes. My sister is so excited to be on the squad and I hope she keeps that excitement so she can stay out of trouble. Not to mention the arduous schedule these girls are on. There is very little time for trouble.

So I am proud to say that the legacy has died. For now. I am hoping that my sister keeps it that way.

Apparently my rear end is broken

2008-03-30T10:34:00.002-06:00

I have not bought myself any maternity pajama pants or lounge pants. I got two pair of pajama pants in a larger size for Christmas, but I refuse to buy maternity sweat pants. I don't know why, I just can't do it.

The other day, like most days at home, I was wearing a pair of pre-pregnancy sweat/lounge pants that fit below my belly...well sort of fit below my belly. I bent down to investigate which family member left their dirty socks on the floor (it was me, whoops) and Little Bear came up behind me and said, "Mommy butt. Ya, Mommy butt broken."

Whoops. I have since retired those pants and am wearing the larger sized pants now.

I am very thankful

2008-03-27T22:55:00.002-06:00

A friend mine was due to deliver her baby boy just three weeks after Little Man is expected to arrive. Sadly, she lost the baby last week. There was no heartbeat.

This reverberated through my head as I sat there at my 32 week appointment today listening to the heartbeat of my little boy. Little Bear stood there listening with a hand over her ear and told me "I hear baby brother." I almost broke down right then and there. I cannot even begin to imagine the heartache and pain that my friend and her family are suffering.

A mutual friend gave me the news last week and through her I offered my friend and her husband my condolences and offered any help that I might be able to give. It breaks my heart to know that I cannot help my friend grieve right now. I cannot sit there and hold her until her tears dry because the sight of me and my swollen belly would hurt her so much.

I am so very thankful. I am thankful for my swollen hands and feet. I am thankful for the uncomfortable contractions and the kicks to the cervix or bladder. I am thankful for the heartburn that awakes me in the middle of the night. I am thankful that I heard a heartbeat today. All of these things just remind me that I have a living being inside of me. I wanted to pregnant so badly and I think I may have lost sight of all that when the aches and pains set in. I might be a little uncomfortable for a few months but I will have a lifetime to enjoy my precious child.

Gray and White

2008-03-19T14:50:00.001-06:00

I make fun of Hubby all the time for getting old because I am such a loving and caring wife like that. He's only 28 so he's not even nearing old, but the occasional gray hair or "dirty old man" joke finds it's way into our daily lives. I had just found a gray hair and lovingly plucked it from his head to show him. So the "old" thing was on the brain.

We were in Little Bear's room playing with blocks when she decided to start telling us the colors of everything. This is one of her new favorite games and I like it so much better than the "what's that?" game. She grabbed her hair and told us her "hair is red". So we asked her what color mommy's hair was and she told us "mommy's hair is black". I asked her what color daddy's hair was and without missing a step she pointed to his head and said "white".

I swear I almost peed myself. I think she was pointing at where the top of his head meets the forehead which is getting a little bit wider these days, which is funny enough on it's own, but I had JUST given him crap about the one gray hair. It was hysterical.

And because I have exposed my beloved husband's gray hair, I will now admit that I too have been finding a few grays here and there. It's more noticeable in my hair than in his though.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

2008-03-07T15:40:00.002-07:00

Pineapple Upside Down Cake is by far one of my most favorite desserts. I love to bake it all upside down like and I love to eat it. It is one of the few really good memories I have of my mother in childhood. Well, at all really. It was very rare that we would make it because my dad absolutely hated the stuff, but when we made I was a happy little girl.

So you can see why it was such a shock to me that Miss Turtle had NEVER made a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. It shocked me even more to find out that she had no idea what one was!! Her father's family all reside in the South and have all come from the South. My family also hails from a very redneck area of the South. I had truly failed in my duties as a mother if my first born had no idea what a Pineapple Upside Down Cake was.

This needed to be rectified and immediately. We found an Usborne book at the library that a recipe in it. It wasn't the recipe that I know and love, but it would do in a pinch. It ended up tasting like poo with some pineapples, but it was the experience of making the cake that meant the most. Little Bear, Miss Turtle, and I made the cake and then sat there and ate it.

Now I need to find the real recipe from my mom and teach her the right way to do it. It is so weird the things we remember from childhood and want to pass on to our kids.

Dust in the Wind

2008-03-06T16:19:00.003-07:00

This blog is dying. I am trying to keep up on it but with the "bliss" of pregnancy, a few minor complications, and a lot of topsy turvy things going on at home, it has taken it's place on the back burner.

None of it is really anything worth talking about, or I am just not ready to talk about it yet. It's not like the world is falling apart or anything, I just need to sort out my feelings and be okay with my choices first.

In other news, I have been sewing up a storm and have completed many projects the last few weeks. This baby is going to have so many blankies and outfits. I even made some cute little tees and diaper covers for those first few days at home with the belly button care. Little Bear also has almost half of her summer wardrobe now. She has been taught well. We walk into the fabric store and she will see something she likes and tell me "Mommy make dress". She recently had a Care Bear dress made for her and now she won't wear it. Doh! Miss Turtle also has a ton of bed shorts that she is loving. I think I have her addicted.

Tomorrow I will try to remember to post about Pineapple Upside Down Cake. It's a good story. :D

Random Thought of the Day

2008-02-27T18:14:00.002-07:00

Well, actually yesterday, but it should still apply to today. Everyday for that matter.

If you order a sandwich and a water cup at McDonald's and then fill your water only cup with Coke, you really have no ground to stand on when you decide to complain to the manager about your sandwich.

True Story. Some people out there amaze me. They feel so entitled I guess. Eh, they amuse me and hopefully my blog readers too.

Letting go of the reins ~ a tale in potty training

2008-02-25T10:07:00.004-07:00

Control has always been an issue for me. Or I should say that loosing my control has always been as issue for me. Even as a child my need to have control over something drove my mother crazy and does to this day. In true "you get what you gave" tradition of the mother/child relationship, my girls have a need for control.

I am trying to step back and let them have control over certain things. It makes my day easier in the end (usually) and gives them something to feel pride in. With Little Bear I am trying to step back and follow her lead.

Today we are potty training.

We have been trying on and off and each time she has decided that she is not ready. In fear of pushing her too hard and causing a rebellion towards the potty (which I can see happening with her all too easy) we just let it go and let her tell us.

Whenever we get her undressed for the shower or a bath we point to her little pink potty and ask if she needs to go. Sometimes she will sit on it for a minute and think it is fun and then go about her bathing business. Usually she will tell us no. Something clicked in her little head a few days ago and she peed in her potty. You would have thought that the Giants won the Super Bowl again the way we all shouted and clapped for Little Bear. Or maybe you would have just thought that we were watching the game super later.

Yesterday afternoon Little Bear decides to tell us that she has "stinks" and needs her bum changed. There was nothing in her diaper so I asked if she wanted to try the potty again. She ran in there at a full gallop and sat on her potty. To spare the details, poor thing is a little constipated, but she made poopies. On the potty!!! Once again there was a huge commotion of excitement. She continued to use the potty all night long and got to wear her big girl undies. She did have a small accident mid-evening but she caught it in time and finished in the potty. She also had an accident before bedtime but she was very tired and I had not asked her about going for a while.

Today she is in her big girl undies and very happy about it. We are having a pant less day filled with water, juice, and Popsicles. I am going to follow her lead and try to just guide and support her. I will not tell her to use the potty, only remind her that she hasn't gone in a while. I will not tell her how uncomfortable it is to sit in wet undies (she won't listen to me anyway) and let her figure that out herself and help her fix it.

Today I let go of the reins and let my 2 year old tell me all about the potty.

Wish us luck!!

Tired Tired Mommy

2008-02-18T12:15:00.002-07:00

I keep telling people that I don't remember being this tired during my pregnancies with either of my girls. But then again, with Miss Turtle I was very young and energy was limitless. When I was pregnant with Little Bear, I wasn't chasing toddlers around and acting as a chauffer/maid to a really messy 9 year old.

So that is why I am so tired!

I have been nothing but exhausted for the last few weeks and I don't see it getting better any time soon. I am told the 3rd trimester will be better, but I somehow do not really believe that at the moment.

I am almost 27 weeks and counting down to 40. Well 41 since my midwife told me that they could be kind and induce at 41 weeks this time rather than 42. My babies like to come late.

I will be around more once I can keep my eyes open without the tears of yawning clouding them. :D

One of those Moments

2008-02-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

There are always those moments that remind you exactly why you love your significant other so much. It's not like you don't remember or that you don't love them everyday, because you do, it's just those little moments that catch you and you flash back to why you got together in the first place.

I love those moments and had one myself the other day.

Hubby and I took Little Bear with us to Target to look at some wire shelves for the new craft closet and pick up a few random groceries. When we reached the check out lane, I did my usual quick visual sweep of the "impulse buy" rack. I spotted a Littlest Pet Shop turtle toy and instantly placed a disposable camera in front of it. I told Hubby what I had done (using a lot of spelled words and acronyms) and he replied, "Well, it has been a few days since she has found her turtle." I smiled a little and said, "It's only $3."

I handed it to him and watched his entire face light up. He started talking to Little Bear and hid the toy turtle behind his back and was so excited to give it to her. It was just the sweetest thing. That is when I had "the moment". He is such a sweet and king hearted soul that loves to make other people happy. He is the best dad a girl (or baby boy) could ever want and he is my husband.

A Child's Guide to the Stomach Virus

2008-02-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

1. Always make sure that you get sick sometime after parental bedtime but before sunrise.

2. Be sure that you miss the toilet at lesat once.

3. Insist that you feel better and then repeat the vomitting a few hours later.

4. Always eat something red or another bright color the night before you begin vomitting.

5. Be sure to breath on everyone around you so that everyone gets to share your joy.

Can you tell that we have been dealing with a stomach bug?

Photographic Evidence

2008-02-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

Little Bear always fought me when it came to anything girly. She refused to wear bracelets or hair bows and she was not a fan of anything with ruffles on it. Then one day she started asking me for pink clothes. She wanted everything pink (or with kitties or kitty spots) and I happily pulled out her pink frilly clothing.

I thought that this was great.

Then one day she found a Hello Kitty bracelet that I made for her a while back and she demanded that it get put on her wrist immediately. Again, I a=happily followed orders.

So with these two new revelations in the world of Little Bear, I decided to try the whole hair bow and pigtails thing again. Up until this point she flat out refused to have her done. No bows, no ties, and would run from the brush.

After her bath one morning I pulled out her favorite striped polo shirt that has a picture of Rocket from Little Einsteins embroidered on it. We put her shirt and jeans on and I carefully asked if she would like to wear the bows that matched Rocket. She turned to me and said "Rocket Bows". I almost jumped up and down and squealed with joy! I kept my cool and got two hair ties, a brush, and the "Rocket Bows". She sat there and let me put the pigtails in and the bows. She was so proud of her bows and kept them in until after dinner time.

I had to take pictures as evidence.

She has worn hair bows almost everyday since then and it has been upon her request :D

Suppressing Creativity

2008-02-01T15:43:00.000-07:00

Quick side note: Things have been all sorts of pear shaped in my world lately and I haven't had much to post about other than random bitching. Nothing is wrong and we are all fine.

With Hubby's recent night shift hours, he has Friday off and usually only sleeps until about 11 or noon and does something fun with us. Today we took Little Bear to the Children's Museum. She LOVES it there! It is so much fun to watch her run around and engage in different activities. I am a firm believer in letting children express their own creativity. Even if that means they want to put a Christmas Tree on their Halloween drawing in the middle of July.

We were sitting in the art studio area helping Little Bear glue some foam hearts to a piece of pink construction paper. Behind us there was a mother with her two girls and the mother told them they were going to make Valentine's Day cards. Then proceeded to tell the littlest girl "Ellie" that she should stop using the black paper since it was "depressing and sad and not meant for Valentine's Day". The mother also told them where everything should go and how it should look. The girls left with some really nice looking cards, but they weren't made by them.

I hate seeing a child's creativity stifled like that. If Little Bear wanted to use black, we would have let her. If she wanted to put animal stamps on her card, we would have let her. If she had wanted to put the Easter Bunny on her card, we would have let her. Catching a theme here?

Just where is the line between parental help and guidance and total creative control?

When life spins out of control, grab a basket of socks

2008-01-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a melt down. Part of it was the fact that I have some crazy hormones pulsing through my body and that other part is the fact that so many areas of my life have been out of my control lately. Mainly the whole situation with the car and the ~~snowball~~ avalanche that created. Nothing I could do about any of it and it just got to me.

I will admit that in a lot of ways I am a bit of a control freak. I like things to be done the "right way" and I like to be able to say "I want to do this" and be able to do it right then. So when I get that nesting bug up my butt I want to clear out the office and get everything situated to start moving in the baby stuff. What expectant momma isn't excited for new crib bedding and fun blankies?

So last night I was trying to move things around in the office so that Hubby could load it into the car and get it moved over to storage today. Everything I touched created a snowball. I would move a bag of gift wrap and I would end up with quilt batting, a sewing foot, and a stack of paper on the floor. I would go to pick that up and end up having to move a box out of the way which knocked over a box of cloth diapers and so on.

Instead of stopping and taking a break like normal and sane people do, I just kept going and getting more and more upset. I decided to switch rooms and went to put something away in the bedroom. On my way in I stepped on the lid to the car box that Little Bear left in there, hurt my ankle, knocked over a stack of books on the shelf and kicked over the sock basket. (You know, that basket that holds single socks for years and years until you finally realize that the dryer is never going to cough the match back up?)

I sat on the floor and cried. Hubby tried his best to console me, and I did my best to let him. Then I picked up the small sock basket and the overflowing pile of socks that were in it and I decided right then and there that I was going to sit there until I had a home for every single one of those socks. I sat there for 20 minutes matching socks, throwing some out, and ended up only putting about 1/3 of the original pile in the basket and they all fit. I felt validated and accomplished. I felt better about the world around me and was able to do a bit more organizing for the night and went to bed exhausted, but content.

So when life spins out of my control, that sock basket better saddle up and get ready for the ride :D

It's been an intersting week

2008-01-25T09:21:00.000-07:00

I just got my car back from the shop on Weds. Unfortunately, the thing that it was doing when we took it in is STILL HAPPENING!! Two thousand dollars and three weeks and the damn car is still stalling out when I start it. The work order from Firestone says right at the very top in all capital letters that this is what the car is doing and this is what the PAYING customer who has been loyal for 22 freaking years wants fixed.

Ya. Not too happy about that one.

Hubby started the overnight shifts this week as well. I must have some crazy selective hearing because I thought he said three weeks was the duration. I was very positive and told myself that just three weeks is no biggie and we can deal with that. Um...no...It's three months. Little Bear throws a huge tantrum every single morning for at least 2-3 hours because Daddy is home and not lavishing his attention on her. Would it be wrong to kick him out and make him sleep elsewhere until the night work was over?

On top of that, I had to go in to see the midwife again as there have been a few minor complications with the pregnancy. There isn't anything to worry about right now, they just want to keep a close eye on me and up one of my medicines. They told me I need to eat more and rest more. Eating more I might be able to handle, but apparently they have not met my 2 year old, my 9 year old, or my husband's night shifts. Maybe they will come and finish moving out the office and finishing the nursery for me so that I can rest. LOL

So that is where I have been and why I have not been around much. To much bitching on my end and I hate making my readers deal with my whiny bitch mode all the time. Think some happy thoughts for me and I promise I will get back to happy flower posts and funny ramblings about poop.

Rock Star Momma

2008-01-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

Last week I got to take a trip to the library all by myself. I love the library. People are supposed to be quiet, I can look at tons of things that interest me, and I can take home a bag full of stuff without putting a dent in the old credit card. It is a wonderful place.

So I am browsing the aisles of the "New Books" section when I come across a bright blue and pink book called "Rock Star Momma. The Hip Guide to Looking Gorgeous Through All Nine Months and Beyond." I thought it looked pretty cool so I picked it up and added to my growing pile of books. I usually flip through some pages but a very impatient woman was all but whining and doing the potty dance behind me to get a book about photography above my head. A nice excuse me would have sufficed. Oh well.

Fast Forward to today when I finally have a moment to myself to lie my lazy as son the bed and read for a bit. I was so excited to learn new facial scrubs from oatmeal to treat myself and feeling like a Rock star. I was going to read about ways to pamper my self and maybe some aromatherapy to restore my inner self (as the forward by Gwenyth Paltrow states) and feel refreshed and like I look good.

Apparently, in order to feel like a rock star, you are required to have a lot of money like the rock stars. The first few chapters are all about clothing. Clothing is an essential part of pregnancy because of how fast you grow out of everything and how badly you want to find something that fits you without looking like a camping tent that was attacked by painted flowers. Their tips included taking your favorite designer jeans to an expert tailor (or the designer themselves ala Heidi Klum) to have a maternity panel put in. Oh ya, that fits right in my budget under Hummer 2 payment and tickets to Ireland.

When I finally ~~got~~ skipped to the part about pampering yourself I figured there might be some good info in there. Once again, their tips included going to the salon once or twice a week for blow out. I barely can afford the electricity or the added heat to my body from my hair dryer at home. How am I going to afford the hair style and a baby sitter? Not very likely. Instead of suggesting a way to moisturize my hands at home I was advised to have someone come to my home and do it for me while I read a magazine. I am still laughing my ass off at that one and don't have a witty remark yet.

I skipped through some pages and finally figured out who this book was geared towards. There was a quote from Britney Spears about how to get my prenatal body back and how important that was to her along with time with her "babies". After reading that I put the book down.

I am not a rock star and I think that I am okay being that way. I am considering the idea of writing a book called "How to not feel like total crap while pregnant. A guide for real women with under a million in their bank accounts." I would read it.

Rainbows and Bunnies

2008-01-13T20:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe it's not exactly rainbows and bunnies, but it's cute redheads and a new bike! So it is very rainbow and bunnies-ish.

We took Little Bear outside to ride her bike that Hubby just got around to putting together today (while he was supposed to be getting ready to leave the house...dork). She had so much fun even if she couldn't figure out that she had to push the peddles forward rather than backward. It was really funny to watch her slam on the brakes while Hubby was pushing...

Little Bear says "always remember, safety first" :D

Bitchy Whiny Post

2008-01-13T13:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

I apologize for not updating you on my blog much lately. I do have a semi-good valid reason for my lack of posts though. I am a grumpy bitch. I have not had a working car for almost two weeks now, have a ton of Christmas boxes in my house that cannot be moved without said car, and even if I had the car I am on partial bed rest because of my sciatic nerve until I see what my physical therapist says tomorrow and couldn't move them anyway.

So you can see why I have been so grumpy. Add a nice layer of crappy family problems and a few too many hormones in my order and you have one grumpy bitch.

Sure I could get online and post about the length of time my hubby takes to get ready yet yells at me to hurry, or about the bike that he JUST put together from Christmas when he was supposed to be getting ready, or the fact that I can't walk and Miss Turtle's room looks like something post nuclear war.

But really, would you want to read a week's worth of bitching form a grumpy bitch? I sure as hell wouldn't. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind reading a good long rant every now and then but if I saw a blog that just had post after post of random bitching, I probably wouldn't keep reading for too long.

So there you have it. Mommy the Maid is now Grumpy the Bitch. Hopefully I will soon have something to post that involves rainbows and bunnies. Until then I sincerely apologize for my absence.

Your blogging buddy,

Mommy the Maid...errr I mean Grumpy the Bitch

Country Music lies!

2008-01-09T14:06:00.000-07:00

There is a country song I heard the other night that says "Easy on the eyes, Hard on the Heart" Granted, I didn't really listen to too much more than those words but I got the distinct impression that she was telling me that good looking guys turn out to be jerks. Therefor, a guy who is not that great looking will turn out to be the best guy you ever found.

Um ya. I think this is a load of crap.

Take my hubby for instance. While he might not be gracing the next cover of GQ, he is very sexy. I find him very attractive and attraction leads to the kind of thing that is in my uterus right now. He is very easy on my eyes.

Yet, according to the song because I find him to be hot he should be a jerk right?

My husband could not be a full out jerk if he tried. Maybe it is because he loves me, but even when we are bickering I have never thought of him as a jerk. Sure he has his jerk-ish moments, who doesn't, but he is not a jerk. He is kind and caring and would follow me around the world. He has a soft spot in his heart for kids and animals and is always helping out other people. He has a really great heart.

Not to mention, I have found many fugly guys that are total and complete assholes.

The Sweet, the Funny, and the Sad

2008-01-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

I try not to talk about it too much on here because it involves a lot of other lives than my own, but Miss Turtle's dad is not exactly a candidate for "Father of the Year". He is not terrible by any means as he is not abusive, but he certainly could use some help. He drinks a lot,doesn't have a car due to the drinking and driving and then engaging in a brawl with the officer, and he likes to let the "little woman" take care of everything.

His latest ex-wife took care of everything when they were together. When I needed to discuss something about Miss Turtle with him, I called his wife. It was the only way to do things. Now that they are divorced, the ex-wife makes half-assed attempts to get in contact with Miss Turtle, but she can see right through it an realizes that the whole step-mom thing is fading.

So now her dad has a new girlfriend. A cute little just barely 19 year old that used to be Miss Turtle's horse trainer. This girl is not on a family path right now. She is on the "Go to school and take care of her stuff" path which I fully support. However, because she is not on the same page as my ex and she refuses to step in as immediate step-mom replacement, my poor little girl suffers and rarely gets to see her daddy. This is not the girl's fault, it is my exes fault.

So now that you have some back story, here is what was said the night before last. My mom was dropping us all off back at our house (really long story about the car in the shop and a lot of money we don't have) and Miss Turtle says out of nowhere "Hubby is the best Step Dad every. I hope that mommy keeps him."

So of course we all laugh at how funny it was and "awwww" at how sweet it was. It was so sweet of her to say something like that but we all knew where it came from. I had to assure her that her Step Dad is not going anywhere and that he probably never will. At least she loves her Step Dad. I hear far too many horror stories of blended families not doing so well.

Pie Pie Pie!

2008-01-02T22:51:00.000-07:00

When does a slice a pie become so big that it is no longer considered a slice and more like something Miss Piggy would eat for lunch?

It is no secret that I am a HUGE fan of pie. I made two pies in advanced for my family on Christmas. Unfortunately the weather botched those plans and I was left with a very yummy homemade cherry pie as well as an apple pie. For a few days I took a large slice after lunch or dinner, and once for breakfast. Then I decided that the pie was going to go to bad if I didn't eat it. Hubby hates fruit pies and the kids weren't too fond of them either. So my slice the other night got just a bit bigger.

I am not sure if it was small enough to still be considered a slice...

Best of 2007 Blog Exchange

2008-01-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

Two-thousand-seven is officially O-V-E-R.

At the beginning of a new year, I'm always optimistic about the great things I hope to accomplish and then I'm amazed at how quickly time flies. To commemorate all things 2007, here are some "Best of" highlights I'd like to present, month by month:

January
Best Winter Activity - Sledding with Dawson was quite fun. Although I spent most of the time pulling him on the sled, up and down hills, sweating my ass off underneath the long johns, jeans, turtleneck sweater, coat, hat and mittens I was wearing. I didn't realize this activity was actually considered exercise. January was also the month that Karen created my current blog design that I love, love, love. (It almost won a Blogger's Choice Award. I was only short 687 votes. Hee hee.)

February
Best Valentine's Gift - A fabulous steak and shrimp dinner my husband cooked for me. I'm giving him and award for his culinary masterpiece. He even made twice-baked potatoes - my favorite - and he hates messing with stuff like that. February was also the month I busted my ass at the gym nearly everyday. (That reminds me, I need to get back into shape!)

March
Best Birthday Present - Since my birthday is March 17th, and I sort of freaked out about turning twenty-eight, my husband made the wise decision not to sing "Happy Birthday" to me. Instead, he bought a plain cake from the bakery and had the cake decorator write, "Forever Young" in the icing. It was the sweetest thing, and not just because of the butter creme frosting.

April
Best Spring Activity - Puddle jumping with Dawson. After several rain showers, we put on some grubby clothes, galoshes and rain jackets and stomped around in the lake at the end of our driveway. It was the best fun I'd had since I was three years old. The neighbors thought we were completely wacko, but I didn't care. We did a lot of biking this month, also!

May
Best Mother's Day Gift - A trip to the Milwaukee Zoo with family. I hadn't been to the zoo since I was in preschool and it was wonderful to spend time with my mother, father, brother and of course, Dawson. Our favorite animals were the penguins because we had watched the movie Happy Feet a million times. I bought Dawson a stuffed penguin from the gift shop. He loved it so much he went to sleep with it each night, until our dog got a hold of it and chewed it to shreds. I suppose this is a great excuse to revisit the zoo next May.

June
Best Field Trip - Visiting family in Allenton, Wisconsin and then heading to Milwaukee Polish Fest. We danced, we laughed, we sang, and we ate a lot of authentic Polish food, such as Polish sausage (kielbasa), sauerkraut, pirogies and ponczkis. Yum!

July
Best Vacation Month - This is the month I attended a Polka Festival; Pulaski Polka Days -- and I went to my first BlogHer conference in Chicago. I met so many wonderful people and had the best time talking to old and new friends. This month was extremely busy, but so worth it.

August
Best Month to Read Books - This was the month I read three wonderful novels. The sad part is I can't remember a single one. I may have to read them all again.

September
Best Party - Dawson's Birthday Bash. Even though I cleaned the house for five straight days, we all had a great time. Dawson received so many wonderful gifts from our family and friends. We are so grateful -- and so very lucky.

October
Best Anniversary Yet - Doug and I celebrated six years of marital bliss and again, my beloved made an amazing dinner of BBQ spare ribs and shrimp. I swear I gained twenty pounds that night, but we found a way to work it off. (We went for a very long walk, and reminisced our courtship along the way.)

November
Best Thanksgiving Holiday Moment - My mother told the story of the deck falling off my parents house, and when my younger brother heard the noise, he ran to see what the big crash was and walked into thin air -- he didn't realize the deck was not there and fell straight down. We all laughed so hard because as he fell he was saying, "What the....(hell was that noise?)" It still cracks me up as I type this! Sadly, I never blogged about it because I was frazzled about NaBloPoMo.

December
Best Christmas Moment - Watching a video of the Christmas we celebrated in 1989, when my grandmother was still alive, and realizing how wonderful it is to gather together to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.
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Dana writes about her life at her personal blog The Dana Files. She resides in Packer Country (Wisconsin) with her husband (Doug), three-year-old son (Dawson), and boston terrier (Murphy).
You can find Mommy the Maid at Dana's place today . This post is part of the January blog exchange, in which the theme is "Best of 2007 Awards". Dana couldn't think of actual awards to give out -- probably because she was very lazy after all the Christmas chaos. If you'd like to participate in the February's blog exchange, click here for details.

The Results are In.

2007-12-31T23:45:00.001-07:00

Today was my 20 week ultrasound appointment. The baby is sitting very low in the pelivs and they were unable to get a good look at the spine, so I get to see my little pork chop again in a month. Very exciting.

Although we didn't get to see the spine very well, we got a great look at the sex of the baby. We will soon be having a Little Man running around the house. I am so excited!

I was convinced that this baby was a girl. I had all the same symptoms that I did with the girls and was carrying low and wide just like the girls. I was certain. Turns out that mommy was wrong and that Little Man was already playing tricks on his momma.

As the sound of jingling bells fade...

2007-12-29T17:25:00.000-07:00

Christmas has come and gone. I worked so hard to get everything ready and spent every free moment shopping, wrapping, and cleaning the house. Everything went great. We had one little snafu and an almost Christmas Caper, but it was still an amazing Christmas this year.

On Christmas Eve, Uncle Dipshit took my grandmother to the bank where he had set up a "secret account" with her. That is when he found out that my dad (who is now the full conservator over my grandmother's money) had closed all of his sneaky little ways to supplement his income. It was not pretty. Uncle Dipshit said some very horrible and false things to my grandmother about my father and "his family". My poor grandmother was all worked up and still has not calmed down from the whole ordeal. This is half of what caused our little snafu.

The other half was good ole Colorado weather. We thought we were going to get an inch or two of snow but woke up to about 5 and it kept coming down. I had not heard from my family so I put my giant 10lb ham in the oven. It was so good all slathered with brown sugar and syrup, the way a ham should be. Forget all that cloves and pineapple nonsense (or my Uncle's hot sauce ideas), but I digress. My dad, grandmother and siblings would not be able to make it to our house in their small, low to the ground, rear wheel drive vehicles. Christmas with them would be postponed and at least half of my ham will go to waste. So between Uncle Dipshit and the snow, I decided to pout.

So after I pouted about that for a minuet or two, I realized that I had been handed the best gift of all. We have never had a Christmas that did not involve running around to a million different places and never getting a full meal stuffed into our bellies. This year was different. We stayed in our jammies for most of the day, played with all our new stuff, and even got most of it put away. We had a relaxed lunch of ham and potatoes and did nothing but spend time together. It was fabulous and I am really hoping that every year turns out this way.

We had dinner the next night at Hacienda with my dad and family the next night. It was perfect.

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!!

2007-12-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy preparing for Christmas. We are very blessed that there have been so many presents to wrap, cookies to bake, and decorations to put up. We are truly blessed to have so many people to see and give gifts to. It is going to be a great year and I hope that each and every one of you has a wonderful Christmas!

Myspace
Graphics- At Myspacejunks.com

Selfish Mommy

2007-12-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

I went to a focus group on Monday night to discuss frozen foods and collect my $75 cash honorarium. Good money for an hour and half long discussion and a free sandwich. In the beginning of the group we were all asked to introduce ourselves with our name, where we lived, what we did for a living, and what we would do if we had one hour and money was not an issue.

The first woman introduced herself as a full time working mom with a second job and her hour of free time would be spent working with her horses. Another woman introduced her self as retired and looking for work in the environmental wildlife industry. Her free hour would be spent in the forests helping animals. The third woman at the table introduced herself as retired and would love to get her grandchildren together for something fun like a helicopter hide. The final woman at the table other than me introduced her self as an in-home health care provider and companion who spends her time between work and taking care of her grandmother. She said that she would get as much money as she could and see how much she could give away to other people in an hour. My heart melted.

Then I reflected back on what I had said since I was the first to introduce myself.

"My name is Mommy the Maid, I live in Green Mountain and stay at home with my two little girls and soon to be third child. I sometimes do a little freelance writing, but not much as my girls come first. If I had an entire hour to myself I would go get a prenatal massage, manicure and pedicure. There would not be 4th grade math homework or a sippy cup in sight."

I am selfish. All these other woman thought of their family, animals, and other people. I thought of me and my sciatic nerve.

Digital Christmas Wishes

2007-12-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

Little Bear was just 6 months old when we bought our very first digital camera. We bought it on sale from WalMart.com and it arrived just before Thanksgiving. Hubby and I decided that it was our early Christmas present to each other. I was so excited to be able to take pictures and see how they looked without worrying about buying more film or wondering if any one's eyes were shut. Also, it was going to be so much easier to share pictures online as we didn't have a scanner yet.

It was the Kodak Easy Share Z703. It is the same camera that I am using right now. Hubby says that we are still paying it off as we put it on the credit card. As much as I love this camera, I would really love to get a Canon Rebel. They take such nice and clear pictures.

When I expressed this desire to my SIL, she asked me if I was going to be a photographer now. It took everything in my system to not laugh my butt off while rolling on the floor grabbing my sides in pain. Had she not seen my snapshots? That is what I take. Snapshots. And sometimes, they aren't even worthy of being called that. I just want the camera so that I can take really nice snapshots. I will leave the photographer to those who know how to take beautiful portraits.

So while I am still sitting her hoping to get a Canon digital camera in the next few years, everyone is talking about these new digital picture frames. I saw one in a store once and fell in love. Then I saw the price tag on most of them. Um...not in budget. Luckily, the prices of digital picture frames are going down so I might be able to get one for my family after Christmas. Just think how cool that would be sitting on my entertainment center. I am sure I would spend hours trying to decide which pictures to use it it.

That would then further my desire to own a nice Canon digital camera, and maybe the frame would help to encourage hubby too. It's worth a try.

All it takes is a smile.

2007-12-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

It is old and cliche, but I find it to be very true. It only takes a smile or a kind word to make someones day. At least that is all it takes to make my day. It is amazing how much my mood can be changed by the attitude of my cashier at the grocery store, the teller at the bank, or a random passer by at Old Navy. It really doesn't take much.

I try to remember this when I go about my day. I won't lie, it doesn't always happen. There are times when I get frustrated because a mother is on her cell phone ignoring her children who are playing in the only bathroom that is adult sized at the children museum. True story. I sure as hell am not going to smile at her, let alone say anything nice. I did however huff and say "I suppose I will find another restroom", stuck out my little belly and waddled just a bit to the next bathroom which was downstairs.

Other than the occasional asshat, I try to remember that people might be having the same kind of day that I had and may need some kind words, a big smile, or even a random act of kindness. A woman got behind me in line at the grocery store with nothing but a box of tampons. I had a cart full of toddler and groceries. The manager asked her if she would like to use the self check out and she declined saying that she wasn't really a fan of those things. I turned around and asked her if she would like to go ahead of me seeing as she had only item and I had an overflowing cart. She was obviously surprised by this and kindly accepted. After she had been rung up and was leaving, she turned to me and said

"Thank you again. It's so nice to see that people are still so kind this time of year."

I melted. How sweet of her. I let this woman go ahead of me in line and hold me up another 32 seconds of my day and she said the nicest thing to me. That made my day.

I think that mood can be contagious. If I am in a great mood and the cashier is a butthole, I end up a little grumpy and am a butthole in the parking lot and driving home. However, if the cashier was nice and friendly I tend to be much nicer on the road home. Funny how that works.

Manic Monday ~ Carol

2007-12-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

I believe that Mo's Manic Monday is becoming my favorite meme. It feels good to stretch my brain a little on Monday mornings. Even if it is only a poop story, I like it. This weeks word is carol.

With me being the biggest Christmas freak I know, the first thing I thought of was Christmas Carols and carolers. I have never seen a real caroler before. I have seen the brownie scouts sing at the senior home and the Christmas concerts at the mall. In fact I did many of those as a child. I have seen tons of movies and commercials with Christmas Carolers all bundled up in their snow gear with bright cheery smiles and red cheeks. Where are these people? Did they ever exist? What happened to them and the idea of caroling?

Are people just too afraid to be out at night in the cold? Are people too selfish to go door to door singing to bring joy to others? Do people get irritated by carolers and so they have diminished to nothing? What happened?

I would love to see real carolers, and if this darn cold would ever go away, I would love to be one of those carolers!

Have you ever caroled? Do you get carolers at your door?

Santa Clause Came to Town!

2007-12-15T22:32:00.000-07:00

Today we took the girls to the Children's Museum for "Snacks with Santa". Outside they had a live reindeer that the kids could pet.

Then we went inside and played with all the stuff that we usually do. After about an hour or so we decided that we would brave the visit with the jolly old man in the red suit. We expected full out tantrums from Little Bear. This Santa was the best Santa I have ever seen in my short 27 years of life. Granted, the first few I had no idea who Santa was and the next few years I thought they were all the same guy, but none the less, best Santa ever. He had a real beard and a genuine friendly smile. He was so calm that Little Bear sat right on his knee for about 5 pictures! And my camera is slow. She also sat their while miss Turtle rattled off her list of high priced items she wanted to find under the tree and asked Santa for some trains. I was so happy!

The pictures came out how Little Bear always takes pictures. That stare. Silly baby. But no crying shots!!

Christmas Spirit

2007-12-14T11:01:00.001-07:00

What is Christmas spirit? Some say that it is in your faith and religious beliefs. Some say that it is the spirit of joyful giving and being nice to everyone. Some say that it is the joy of being surrounded by family and friends. Some even say that it is a bunch of selfish people mowing each other down to get a cheap big screen TV.

I suppose that it can be some or all of these things, but the Christmas spirit means something different to me. I always march to the beat of my own drum so why not at Christmas time as well?

Christmas Spirit to me is wrapping my gifts with wrinkly wrapping paper because Little Bear is helping. It is letting Miss Turtle wrap gifts herself in her own "unique" way.

Christmas Spirit is teaching the words of Rudolph the red nose reindeer to my toddler while my 9 year old is singing Randolph the one legged cowboy.

Christmas Spirit is seeing the joy on my kids faces when we light up the tree. Reminiscing over every ornament and letting Miss Turtle make the tough decision of precisely where each one should go.

Christmas Spirit is forgetting about the jerks that just want to make you feel bad so they can feel good. It is taking the route of feeling sorry for them rather than letting them get to you. It is trying to spread a little joy to them.

Christmas Spirit is turning your cheek when the kids start eating the icing and sprinkles for the cookies. It is not trying to butt in and help when they are decorating in their own way rather than the picture on the box.

Most of all, I think that Christmas Spirit is seeing the joy on faces of family and friends and going out of your way to do this. Whether you have spent two days preparing meals, picked out the perfect gift, or your grandmother held your baby for the first time, it puts joy to be seen and appreciated.

This is what Christmas Spirit means to me. I just need to remember all this after Christmas as well.

What does Christmas Spirit mean to you?

Every Time a Bell Rings...

2007-12-13T13:16:00.000-07:00

We have all seen the bell ringers for the Salvation Army standing outside various stores collecting donations. They usually have one a Santa hat and are ringing a bell. Everyone knows the sound of this bell and what means. To adults, it is a plea for us to drop in our extra change to help out a great cause. For children, it is the sound of a really cool toy that they will be allowed to ring if their parents drop in their extra change to help support a great cause.

This is they way it has always been, and I thought this is the way it always would be. Yesterday I was shown otherwise. I waited to post this on my blog so that I could calm down and maybe see that I was just being hormonal. I am starting to think that I wasn't.

Every time we hear that bell ring I dig through my purse and wallet to pull out some spare change so that Little Bear can put in her money and ring the bell. She has done this at every Wal-Mart visit, every King Soopers visit, and every other time we heard a bell ring. Yesterday we heard the bell ringing as we approached the Michael's Craft Store. I started digging in my wallet to find a dollar bill and Little Bear started pulling my hand as she quickly ran towards the joyous noise.

When we arrived, we were greeted with a cold hard stare from a grumpy women in a Santa hat. I thought nothing of it and thought about how grumpy I could be if I had to be on my feet for hours in the cold and watch tons of people walk by without putting a penny into the bucket. That could be defeating for anyone. However, these people volunteer for this. They give their time for nothing in exchange but the warm fuzzy feeling that they get helping out such a wonderful charity. You would think they might have a bit more Christmas spirit. I have never seen a grumpy bell ringer until yesterday.

Little Bear took the dollar bill from me and placed it inside the bucket. She got a big grin and walked over to the bell ringer. She pointed towards the bell and the woman said. "No, I need that."

Little Bear's world fell apart. My heart broke for her. I whisked her away from the situation and distracted her. I should have let the lady listen to her throw a fit. Soon the bell was forgotten and a brand new pack of stickers helped ease the tears.

I could not believe that this bell ringer would not let my baby ring the bell. Am I wrong to think that this was rude?

Maternity Underwear

2007-12-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

I want to talk for a moment about my underwear. I figure that with some of other topics of choice over the last few years (for example, poop) that my readers would be okay with some good old undie talk.

Maternity underwear are not like the big huge granny panties that could also be used for a sail in a pinch. They now have cute patterns and a lot less fabric. I found some maternity bikini undies at Old Navy yesterday while I was shopping for other maternity items. ( I am in LOVE with the maternity jeans there) They were on sale, and momma loves her a sale, so I picked them up. I washed them and tried them on and holy hell are they wonderful. They fit right under my belly so I am not yanking them up or dealing with 8 yards of fabric around my waist. It is heaven. Oh, and an added bonus, NO WEDGIES!! Whoo hoo!!

I am not sure why I am so excited to share about my underwear, but I was pretty excited about them and my other fellow pregnant bloggers might appreciate knowing where to find some comfortable undies :D

Delightful Deliveries

2007-12-13T12:59:00.000-07:00

Every year my mom sends out a gift basket to my Grandfather in Arkansas. She used to order a gift basket with sausage and cheese but has been disappointed with the service and quality of the gift baskets for a few years. So this year I have mentioned the wonderful Gift Baskets at Delightful Deliveries. There are so many gift baskets to choose from and I am sure my mom will find something more interesting than just the same old cheese and sausage baskets. Not that she doesn't love gift baskets full of sausage and cheese, but she has sent one every year and we have just learned that my grandfather is now a vegetarian.

Here is the recent Press Release about Delightful Deliveries:

DelightfulDeliveries.com Recognized as Hot 100 Retail Website

Internet Retailer Ranks Website Among Best in Nation for 2008

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DelightfulDeliveries.com, the premiere Internet Gift Retailer and America’s #1 Gift Basket Website, today announced it has been named one of The Hot 100 Retail Websites for 2008 by leading industry magazine, Internet Retailer. The Hot 100 list represents the best of what retailers are doing online, highlighting innovation and setting the standards in online for what the rest of the industry should be doing.

DelightfulDeliveries.com, a privately-held company, with one of the largest and most unique selections of gourmet gifts, ranked alongside larger sites such as Dell, Nike and Amazon.com, by building its award-winning site on selection, functionality, speed and the complete customer experience. A recent re-design has improved the customer’s shopping experience to make holiday gift-giving easy and enjoyable, including rating and reviews, behavioral recommendations and free shipping offers.

“We are extremely honored to be recognized as a pacesetter in online retailing,” said Eric Lituchy, Founder and CEO of DelightfulDeliveries.com. “We pride ourselves on using the latest technology to make gift-giving fun and easy. Being named among the best in the nation validates we are succeeding in our efforts to deliver the best possible customer experience.”

In addition to making Internet Retailer’s The Hot 100 list for 2008, DelightfulDeliveries.com was recently recognized by Inc. Magazine as part of its Inc. 5000, which highlights the fastest growing private companies.

DelightfulDeliveries.com offers over 2000 unique and delicious gifts from America’s best brands to the finest boutique shops. Consumers can easily shop the site by gift or food category, occasion, type and best-seller. Corporate gift-givers can choose from hundreds of customized gourmet treats.

For additional information, and to see a complete selection of gifts available, visit www.DelightfulDeliveries.com.

About Delightful Deliveries

DelightfulDeliveries.com is an award-winning website that began in 1998 and quickly established itself as one of the premier Internet gift retailers. Its mission is to bring great products to gift-givers, while providing world-class service. The company selects its offerings from a broad variety of fine food gift products for consumers and for corporate gifts, and gathers them in one place to make the selection process quick and simple.

If you are looking for a great gift basket for someone special, or even someone not so special (admit it, we all have one or two) check out delightfuldeliveries.com. I will let you know how my grandfather liked his.

Hi Ho Silver Away!

2007-12-12T10:54:00.000-07:00

Can you tell that Daddy dressed her?

Manic Monday ~ Ornament

2007-12-10T07:19:00.000-07:00

It's another Manic Monday and this week Mo has given us a word that fits perfectly into something I have been wanting to post about, and just haven't done it yet.

Every year around Christmas time we have a lot of family traditions. One of my favorite family traditions is the special ornament. As a family we go to the ornament section and all pick out one special ornament to hang on the tree this year. It is a well loved tradition.

This year, we have not yet made it to the store to do this. Things have come up and with destructive Little Bear, Hubby has not been too excited to put more fragile pieces on our Christmas Tree. Here is the special ornament that Hubby picked out last year.

Little Bear has taken it off the tree and attempted to put it back on the tree a couple hundred times resulting in two broken arms and a broken foot for this poor frog prince.

Hopefully we will be able to go and pick out our 2007 special ornaments sometime this week. It really is cool to pull out the ornaments from years past and remember the trip and the year. I refuse to let the tradition die or even just be skipped for one year. We will just have to hang the ornaments on the very top and far side of the tree so that Little Bear can't get to them.

Long

2007-12-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

Little Bear trying to figure out the long Slip N Slide this summer at a playdate.

Photo Hunt

Maybe Santa should Vacuum before Wrapping Gifts

2007-12-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

I have very long, very dark, very thick, black hair. I also shed a lot. In the winter seasons human hair tends to fall out more than in the summer months. I am not sure why this is, but I do notice it. Or I should say my shower drain really notices it. I also have a slight alleopecia problem. So I shed like a husky in the Texas heat.

Knowing that I have this problem I really try hard to clean out the washer and dyer when I wash clothes so that hair won't weave itself into socks and bras. I try to vacuum and sweep more often and I rub used fabric softener sheets on the couch and vacuum it in attempts to keep the amount of hair to a minimum. The one room I have been slacking on is the office. We are tyring to down size the computer stuff and my craft stuff so that we can make the office the nursery for little junior due in May. I spend a lot of time in here between the computer and my crafty obsessions.

Late last night I decided that I was in the mood to wrap some of the billion presents we have bought already. I was wrapping the gifts that would be under the tree on Christmas morning from a certain fat man in a red suit. I wrapped the gifts very nicely as a trained elf would and wrote the tag in block letters to disguise my handwriting. I taped the tag on (why I didn't get self stick ones I do not know) and realized I had taped a long, thick, black hair to the gift.

DOH!!

How incognito is that? Can you imagine on Christmas morning Miss Turtle asking me "Mom, how did Santa get your hair at his workshop?"

So Mrs. Claus will be needing to vacuum better next the elves sit down to wrap some gifts.

I am a Blogger. Go ahead, be a dick. I'm gonna write about it.

2007-12-07T11:57:00.000-07:00

The lovely Leslie from My Mommy's Place has suggested one of the best ideas for a shirt ever.

Cool huh?

I thought of this shirt last night while I was making a late night trip to the grocery store. I had just finished some late night gabbing with a good friend of mine. Hubby asked me to get him some more soda and some breakfast sandwich things at the store on my way home. I stayed out way past my bedtime and was at the store around 11:30 pm. I made my way through the aisles picking random junk food I didn't really need and a really expensive block of cheese to settle a craving. I made my way to the front of the store with my basket and 12 pack of fake Mountain Dew. I limped the whole way as my sciatic nerve has been out of control lately. The man behind me went to the self scan checkers only to find out that they were not turned on for the night yet. I kept limping towards the only numbered light that was on to wait my turn. This man (who was very white trash looking and his eyes were red like mine were most of my high school days) started into a slow jog and pushed past me to get in front of me. He actually stuck out his skinny white trash elbow in case I got too close to him. Asshat. He got to the numbered light and realized that a checker was at the next register and ignored the fact that her light was off, which anyone with any grocery store experience knows that means the register is closed and you should NOT get in line.

He sets his stuff down at the register and gets all huffy that the checker is talking with her customer as she rings him up. He tells her to hurry. She took even more time and the customer spent even more time talking just to piss him off. It was great. By this time, my order was already being rung up at the register that was open. Stupid head orders the checker for a carton of cigarettes and gets upset that she can't just magically pull them out of her butt for him. She returns with the cancer sticks and rings the guy up. He flips out because he doesn't have enough cash left on his food stamps to afford the cigarettes. Oh boy, don't get me started on that issue.

He finally figures it all out and takes his items and proceeds to use his cash to buy scratch tickets out of the machine. The checker than comes over to bag my items and I lean over and tell her

"You are far nicer than I am. I would have loudly announced that I was closed."

She sort of laughed at me and said, "Yeah, I should have. He was a bit pushy."

"Oh no, he was a dick. He practically bum rushed me to get to your register first. I wanted to tell him that the register was closed a**hole"

She laughed and told me that lots of strange people come in at night. I agreed with her and told her that I worked for King Soopers as the lowest seniority checker for a long time and worked the nights.

As I left the store, he was getting into a car with a woman driver. They were parked in the middle of the parking lot aisle directly behind my car and sat there for like 5 minutes. The parking lot is EMPTY at 11:30 at night.

What a dill hole.

I so wish I was wearing that shirt when the jerk bum rushed me. Then he would have least knew that I was going to blog about him. I don't have a camera phone either otherwise I would have taken his ~~future mug shot~~ picture to post too.

So Leslie...let's get some shirts huh? LOL

Friday Feast # 171

2007-12-07T11:52:00.000-07:00

Appetizer
What was the last game you purchased?

I got an older game called Arch Rival from a garage sale for $1. It's an arch that you fill up with different shaped things and see how long you can go till it falls over. It's really pretty fun.

Soup
Name something in which you don’t believe.

My daughter has a negative body image. She is 9 and 6 pounds underweight. She thinks she is fat. It is hard for me to believe. I don't believe that any young child should ever have those kind of body image issues.

Salad
If you could choose a celebrity to be your boss, who would you pick?

Pauly Shore, I wouldn't have to take my job seriously.

Main Course
What was a lesson you had to learn the hard way?

Not to put off medical preventive care.

Dessert
Describe your idea of the perfect relaxation room.

A room with sunlight, a big comfy couch with pillows and blankets, and absolutely no kid toys, kid music or kid videos any where in sight. Oh and no kids LOL

Thursday Thirteen ~ What Santa is NOT Bringing

2007-12-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

Thirteen Things Santa Won't be Leaving Under the Tree

1. A brand new house

2. Anything with diamonds

3. MT's iPod wish

4. Butterscotch (the creepy hores that looks real)

5. really nice digital camera

6. digital video recorder

7. a pony

8. a penguin

9. new lap top

10. iPhone

11. Coach purse

12. Anything made at Victoria Secret

13. A clear ultrasound picture of the baby so we know the gender

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Works For Me Weds. ~ Can't drink when you are with child

2007-12-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

When you are pregnant, one of the number one rules that you hear about even if you already know about is that you cannot drink alcohol. It is a big no no and a big no no that I follow. My diet may not be it's best, sometimes I forget the prenatal vitamin, and I really should get up and walk more, but I always follow he no booze rule.

Sometimes, we have one of those days where everything is just too much and you would love to sit down and relax with a glass of wine or a beer. I had one of those days yesterday, but I can't drink. So here is my solution to have a nice treat of a drink to sit back and relax with.

Italian Soda

My good friend bought some Sugar Free drink syrup at Sam's Club and gave them to me. One is raspberry and the other is vanilla. She also gave me a bottle of Club Soda and I went to the store and got some half and half and whipped cream. I filled the glass with a good amount of ice, poured in a shot or two of the syrup, and filled the rest of the glass almost to the top with club soda. Then I poured a little half and half down into the cup and topped it with whipped cream. So yummy! I sat back on the couch with my drink and a good movie and relaxed the night away.

So if you are looking for a good drink to relax back with, but have to leave out the alcohol, try one of these. They are awesome.

Women's Health and Torture...uh wellness.

2007-12-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

WARNING: Do not read if you are squeamish when it comes to girly part yuckyness

Today was a scary day for me. I didn't post about it until now for two reasons. 1) I don't like to be Debbie Downer on my blog and 2)I thought my appointment was tomorrow, not today.

I had to have a colposcopy (a scope of your cervix). I had very high grade abnormal cells at my last pap. I was expecting this. It's a long story, but I knew the abnormal pap would come and that there would be a colposcopy in my near future. I have to have them done once a year or so.

So I am sitting on the table (why do they call it that? It makes me think of dinner) and was observing my surroundings. An array of metal things that looked very similar to torture devices were spread out on the counter. One of them looked like a hand saw with the saw part missing. I moved my eyes to the tray set up by the table. It contained various containers of iodine and something that looked like all natural peanut butter. Next to the containers were some Q-tip looking things on a long wooden stick. Next to those were what I swore was the American Gladiator Jousts cut in half. They were that large. I glanced at their label. "Texas Swabs" Ya, that should alone tell you how large these things are.

But that was not the worst part of this torture chamber I was in. There was no clock. NO CLOCK!! I couldn't tell what time it was, how long I had been sitting there looking at medieval torture devices, or how long until I could leave. No clock. What a torture device. I am sure it is meant as a comforting mechanism of some sort, but when you have tired Hubby and cranky Little Bear in the waiting room, knowing the time is important to me. Besides, it would have taken my attention off all those metal tools.

The procedure took a bit longer than expected, but they had a med student helping out and wanted to make sure she got a full lesson with my nether regions. Apparently I was her first pregnant colposcopy. It was pretty painless although now I am feeling a bit ouchy. It's a good excuse to lay down and watch the movie I rented out of the Red Box today.

Up until today I have had the Dr. tell me that everything looks normal, just pregnancy glandular changes if anything at all. Today was different. I had some abnormal blood vessels that they took a biopsy of. I was told that they don't shout "cancer" but that the possibility is still on the table. What I understood is that we are trying to see at what point we caught the cells. I hoping that we caught nothing and it was just abnormal looking.

Like I said, I hate to be a downer, but I felt that this is my blog and I needed to write this. I am sure you will more sarcastic humor or poop talk from me later this week.

Tackle It Tuesday

2007-12-04T09:26:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have participated in Tackle It Tuesday. I really need the motivation today though. We have all come down with a terrible cold and all I want to do is sit on the couch and zone out. However, that is not really possible with a two year old. So I figure that if I remove my fanny from the couch and be at least a little bit productive, I might forget that all I want to do is sit on the couch and zone out.

So today I will be tackling something that I have been ~~complaining about~~ meaning to get done. The cabinet above our sink was originally organized to house most of my oils, baking ingredients, syrups, and things like that. It now houses snack food we have to keep out of Miss Turtle's reach, Hubby's lunch stuff, and other random stuff I am sure to find. It is a mess.

Today I will clean out that cabinet. My camera's battery is dead right now, but I will try to remember to get an after picture and update. :D

Curtain Poles

2007-12-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

The painter's are finally coming today to paint Little Bear's room. Something between the leasing office and the painters got messed up and Little Bear's room has been in complete disarray ever since we had that broken pipe. When they took out most of the wall to fix, and then re-fix the problem, we took it is an opportunity to get Little Bear's room all decorated. They replaced the wall and it's two different colors now. The leasing office said they would come in and paint it antique white again for us. Bleh. I hate the yellowish colors of our walls so I asked if I could paint it a different color. I was so excited when they said they would do it for me. I bought Super Washable Kids Paint in a pretty pale pink.

Once they are done painting, I want to get some wall decorations up and stuff, but my biggest project is the curtains. Remember the blue Christmas blanket hanging from the window that was serving as our curtain? Yes, it is still there and even though Christmas is coming and it is slightly appropriate, I want real curtains. Curtains that match her room. The only problem is that most of the curtain poles I find are really lame. They are either really cheap and break with any weight on them or are really ugly. What every happened to strong curtain poles that held up your curtains and looked nice? I don't want some fancy intricate work of art in my toddlers room. Just something plain, strong, and preferably within my budget will do just fine.

In my Internet searching I found Terry's Fabrics and took a look at their curtain poles. They have some great metal poles that would like really nice in my bedroom (hint hint Santa) but what really caught my eye were the wooden poles. This one would look great in Little Bear's room! I love the simple shape of it and the color it is pictured in. You can also get it in Chestnut or Light Ash, but the Antique Pine that is pictured would go perfectly with her beach monkey decor. The prices were looking pretty nice too even after I converted it to US dollars. They have a range of curtain poles to fit every budget, even mine. My only worry is the shipping costs. However, I really think that the deal I am getting for the quality Terry's Fabrics is promising me, it is worth it.

Terry's Fabrics also offers pre-made and custom made curtains. I have already found two or three fabrics in the prints selection that would look great in different areas of my house. Some of our windows are not "normal sizes" so it would be cool to have curtains that fit our windows just perfectly.

Manic Monday

2007-12-02T22:14:00.001-07:00

"It's just another manic Monday"

Okay, so that joke is a little old, but I can't help but to sing that song every time I go over to Mo's to see what the word of the week is. This week's wonderful word is ship.

I've never actually been on a ship before. I took the ferry once from Vancouver to Vancouver Island when I was 8, but I assure you, this was not a ship. Even though I have never been on a ship and neither has anyone else in this house, I use the word ship quite often.

You see, the word ship is substituted for another word that rhymes in ship and ends in "T". It is no secret that Mommy the Maid has quite the sailor's tongue. I learned a large array of cuss words by the age two and was using them perfectly all the way into my college years and beyond. I even learned and found new ways to use them. At the time, I thought this was a major accomplishment. Ahhh, to be young and stupid again.

Miss Turtle is of the age where she knows which words are okay and which ones aren't. She understands that she can't ask her teacher "what the s**t is that?" in class. She has also knows better than tell family members that our cat is an "a**hole". Which is very true by the way.

Although Miss Turtle can master this mind boggling concept, Little Bear can not. As a typical two year old she can rival just about any talking parrot you can find. Anything that mommy says, Little Bear can say...and will. So I have had to alter my wording just a bit. That is how s**t became ship and a**hole became airhead.

The word ship is substituted most often in the car. With all those airheads out there driving like total "trucks" (I am sure you can figure what that word used to be), Mommy's mouth needs a black bar and a long bleep over all over noise. Phrases such as "Oh ship!" and "What the ship was that you airhead?" fly out my mouth almost by habit now. But there are those times when ship isn't the word that comes to mind. For instance, I dropped a rather full glass of sugar free cherry Kool-Aid all over Hubby, Little Bear, and the over sized chair we were all sitting on. "Oh Shiiiiiiiiiiiii.......p" Luckily I caught that one, but just barely.

One of these days, words like ship will be used appropriately in my house. Like when talking about a giant vessel on water for example. Hopefully someday soon.

Christmas Cards

2007-12-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

Addressing Christmas Cards really make me feel like crap. Every year I go through the list, which is really just my address book, and look at all the names of people that I should have kept up with through the year. Most of these people are either family or really sweet people that deserve to hear from us more than once a year. And when they do hear from us, it should be more than a card with a funny Santa joke on the front (we never send out serious holiday cards). We should have at least sent cards for other holidays and maybe a letter or two. Hell, even an e-mail every now and then would be nice.

Once again I will vow the same thing that I vow every year and hope that this will be the year that I keep my promise. I will keep in touch with everyone much better. I will send them cards, e-mails, and occasional postcards just to say hi sometime between New Years and Christmas.

Sweeny Todd Confessional

2007-12-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

I am so excited for this movie to come out. Tim Burton always has a way with his movies. Granted, Johnny Depp has been a star in quite a few, but that is not what I base my statement on. Well, not completely anyway. His movies are always so eerie. And when I say eerie, I don't mean scary. I don't have to piddle the movie theater chair because something popped out at me or an alien walked into the background of a birthday party. Tim Burton's movies are just plain eerie. If you haven't seen one of the awesome trailers for this movie visit the official Sweeney Todd movie site or visit Sweeny Todd on MySpace and take a look.

If you know the story of Sweeny Todd, than you know that revenge is a key element in this story. Who among us doesn't have a story or two to tell about revenge? I know I sure do. Some of things I have done I regret. Other things I simply laugh at. A few of my acts revenge are still fresh in my mind as being appropriate. Not that I would admit a lot of these things. Well, at least not on this blog.

The movie Sweeny Todd has now provided a place for me to go to confessional and type out my acts of revenge for all the world to see. You can go there too by going to Confess to the Demon Barber confessional.

I'll share a story here for my wonderful readers, but you will have to guess which ones are mine in the confessional.

I had just bought my first vehicle. It did not belong to my ex husband or my parents. It belonged to the bank, but I was paying for it. This person whom I will refer to as "Winch" keyed my lovely Champagne colored SUV. I was not happy. I vowed revenge. I wanted to teach her a lesson about messing with people's cars. My friend drove a tow truck at the time and he was just one phone call away. While this person was in the library she had parked her car in the parking spots reserved for people at the playground. We took the tow truck, hooked it up to Winch's car and moved it to the correct parking lot.

It worked! She was so angry and had no idea what had happened. She figures it was her "good karma" that placed the car in another lot rather than in the impound. It was later suggested to her that it was not good karma at all. My car was never touched by Winch again.

That was my revenge.

The Christmas Letter

2007-12-02T15:09:00.001-07:00

This year we have been requested to send out a family Christmas letter. I hate these things! Most of the stuff in these letters are things we already know about from in between holiday letters. And whey I say "holiday letters", I am including every holiday. Easter brings us a Spring Letter. Halloween brings us a Fall Letter. Valentines Day brings us jus a random letter, and every other holiday worthy of card sending. I figured I would be a smartass and write this one out. Then I should be able to put on a cheery simle for the real one.

Dear Family and Friends,

This year has been one crazy year. It seems to have just flown by. Miss Turtle has grown so much, yet her sneaky skills are declining to the point where she gets caught all the time. Her new added height has helped her to reach things in the top cupboard she is not supposed to have. It has also given her great pride which she shows us by taking great pride in her pig sty of a bedroom. Little Bear has learned so many new words this year! In fact, she can say "dammit" and "poop" very clearly and in the correct context. We are so proud of her. We ask that you do not send her clothing this year as she refuses to wear it on most days.

Hubby started a new job with an electric company this year and in just 4 short years he will be making enough money for us to buy a house. Only 4 short years until we can rid ourselves of rambunctious children that are not our own above our heads at midnight. He enjoys working with his new partner and spends much time passing gas and laughing about it. He also says that he likes to wait until he is at work to use the restroom because he feels like he is being paid to poop and this just tickles him silly.

In other great news, we are expecting another bundle of joy in May. This means that I am currently cranky and often in pain. The unexpected flatulence and severe heartburn are just part of my daily joys. I have had the cleanest toilet on the block for 3 months now as I have been constantly cleaning them so that I can vomit into them, and then clean them again.

This year has seen financial ups and downs. Well, more downs than ups. I will not get into the whole story, but please do not expect a gift from us. This letter you have requested is the gift.

The only other news I have to report is that our cat Lenore is still here. She is still annoying and hates people. She is still knocking the picture frames off my entertainment center and covering hubby's blankets in cat fur. We are hoping to be able to report differently next year.

We sincerely hope that your holidays are wonderful and we wish you all the blessings that we have.

Merry Christmas,

Mommy the Maid

Tress, colds, and fevers

2007-12-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the night that we were going to go pick out our special ornament this year and then come home and set up the tree. It's a tradition that we do every year on the day after Thanksgiving or sometimes after the turkey feast depending on Miss Turtle's bio dad. This year that didn't happen as our tree was playing musical storage spaces. Yet another reason you shouldn't share a storage unit with MIL.

So we rescheduled for this weekend. Hubby just got back with our tree and the ornaments and all the other holiday goodness that I love. Too bad Little Bear is very sick and I am catching her cold. Boooo....

I have not decided if the excitement will overcome our illness or if we will wait for another day.

Ghosts of Christmas Past

2007-11-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Leslie over at My Mommy's Place posted a story about a ghost of Christmas past that still haunts her to this day. I read her story and immediately felt what she felt. I was compelled to share my story too. I will also put the past in italics in attempts to be fancy like Leslie :D

We rarely share holiday traditions with my father's second wife. She has made it very clear that she does not like his children, his family, or "stupid American holidays". So you can imagine my surprise to see her on Christmas Day sitting on the couch at my Grandma's house. I said hello to her and got the usual cold shoulder. Whatever, I was used to it.

Time to open gifts came around and everyone was happily tearing into colorfully wrapped packages. Dad's wife sat there, staring into space. I mistook her staring into space for boredom and decided to whip out some holiday spirit. We did not have a gift for her as she is never present at Christmas and she "hates" the holiday. I grabbed a gift that was meant for my dad and the rest of his family. She took the box without a word and opened it. She pulled out the beautiful cashmere blanket I had carefully picked out to match the curtains in their living room.

She looked at while holding it between two fingers and said "It's a blanket." Very bored and almost disgusted.

My step brother snatched it out of her hands and draped it over himself saying it would be perfect for TV watching and thanked me. As if her comment was enough, the wife said again "It's a blanket".

Thank you captain obvious! You are disgusted with my gift...nice. You could of just shut up and left it alone.

To make that year worse, she helped pick out the gifts my dad got for us. I got a face washing kit because my skin is too "oily and dirty". Her direct words to me...on Christmas Day.

What a nice Christmas huh? Ruined almost the whole day. If you don't like a gift, say thank you and set it aside. You can exchange it later, or give it to someone who would like it. For years people would get my mom bath products. She is allergic to most fragrances and would wait until the gifts had been opened and people dispersed and she would put it on top of my pile of presents.

SO here is for hoping for a great Christmas this year. I may have to subject myself to the presence of the wife again this year. Wish me luck...I really don't need to be pregnant and in jail on Christmas this year.

Friday Feast # 170

2007-11-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

Appetizer
What is your favorite carnival/amusement park ride?

I haven't been to one in years, but at Elitch Gardens they have a really cool coaster called the Mind Eraser.

Soup
How do you react in uncomfortable social situations?

I try to make a joke. If it is not appreciated in the situation, I try to leave.

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy discussing deep, philosophical topics?

Maybe a 1 or a 2.

Main Course
Did you get a flu shot this year? If not, do you plan to?

I haven't. I have not had one in years. Both girls got theirs, and I know that I really should since I am pregnant, but I'm a pansy. Every year that I got one as a kid, I ended up with the flu right after the shot. Please spare me your lectures about how this is or is not possible. All I knew was that I got a shot and a day or two later I was barfing everything I tried to eat and had a fever.

Dessert
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend watching television?

Way too many. In the afternoons I like to rest on the couch and usually watch Charmed reruns or Dr Phil. On Monday I watch Heroes, and on Weds. I watch ANTM, Gossip Girl, and Project Runway.

Thursday Thirteen - O' Christmas Tree Edition

2007-11-29T11:44:00.001-07:00

I have not done one of these in a very long time. With Christmas approaching on my mind, here is the O' Christmas Tree Edition

Thirteen Things aboutOur Christmas Tree

1. It is playing musical storage spaces so hopefully we can get it from MIL this weekend.

2. We usually set it up the day after Thanksgiving, but that didn't happen because of #1

3. It's fake, and already has lights on it because we hate dealing with tangled lights.

4. Our cat has not to climb it in past years. *knock on wood*

5. We bought it at Walmart 2 years ago.

6. Every year we go as a family to pick out a special ornament for each of us.

7. Last year Little Bear selected a huge blue ball as her ornament.

8. Hubby usually selects something very funny. Last year he got a frog wearing a cape, and the year before a very large cow.

9. Miss Turtle always tries to find the biggest ornament she can.

10. My ornament is usually something very nostalgic and sometimes even vintage looking.

11. Our tree skirt is vintage with an appliqued toy scene. I will have to post pics.

12. Our tree always has way too many presents under it.

13. This is the first year that our tree will not have a super yard gate around it...wish us luck.

Up Close and Personal in 5 questions

2007-11-28T08:32:00.000-07:00

The Lovely Leslie of My Mommy's Place has been up close and personal with me recently. Okay, so it was only through some blog comments and an e-mail, but it was still up close and personal. Granted, I wasn't sitting in an armchair wearing a tashy too tight outfit and smacking on gum ala Britney Spears, but it's still a good interview :D

1. Why do you blog?

My first "blogging" days were on Live Journal. I signed up for an account mainly to stay in touch with my circle of friends. It worked rather well, but very little personal information or stories were reveled because everyone on there knew who I was. I then made a MySpace and have not been there much at all as I didn't like those turds in high school and I certainly don't now. I began reading LaLa's blog which I loved and decided that since everyone else on the internet had a blog, I needed one too. Now I blog for the sake of blogging. I love to tell random stories about my day and people can choose to read them or not. I also love making new blogging buddies.

2. What makes you proud?

My children. I know that every mother says this (as they should) but I am so proud of my girls. Miss Turtle works so hard at her school work (usually) as well as her horse riding and softball. It makes me proud to see her effort and hard work and watch it payoff in the end. It makes me proud to hear her say "Now I know what to work on for next time" when she has a horse ride that didn't win her a first place ribbon.

3. What is the best piece of advice you've received?

Never play leap frog with a unicorn. It's good advice really, but I suppose you are looking for something a bit more "real". My mother of all people gave me the best advice (very out of character if you have read anything about my mother). She told me in regards to my children to "tame the wild without killing the fire". Even with the shady relationship I have had with her my entire life, I can see excatly what she meant. I wouldn't be the strong and "firey" woman that I am today if she had killed my fire.

4. If you could go back in time, what advice would you have given yourself five years ago?

I would remind myself of my mother's advice. See above.

5. You have two children and one more on the way. How has motherhood changed as your family has grown?

During my 2nd pregnancy, and even more so after the birth of Little Bear, I found out that I love being a mom. I mean, I have always loved being a mom, but I realized that this is what I am meant to do. I am meant to clean up spitup, wash sippy cups, and watch Micky Mouse Playhouse. I wasn't meant to climb the coporate ladder at the IRA firm. I wasn't meant to dance. I wasn't meant to teach. I certainly wasn't meant to be an artist. In the divine plan that the universe has for me, I am right where I am supposed to be and I absolutly love it. To me, motherhood used to be something that just came with having a child. You were automatically a mom and loved and cared for your children and went about your life. Now motherhood means so much more to me. It IS my llife. It is the loving, caring, teaching, and watching your children grow that makes you a mother. It is the all nighters you pull sometimes, the constant strain of toys all over the house, and it is the kissing of owies. It is the headache from your daughter starting to like boys, the helpful hand in their accomplishments, and the grinding of your teeth when your little one learns a new four letter word. Motherhood is very special to me and I wouldn't trade it for anything. It helps that I have a husband who understands motherhood and is a great parent.

So, would you like to be interviewd? I would love to interview anyone who leaves me a comment and says "interview me!". I will need your e-mail address to send you the 5 questions.

Tomboys and Hair Products

2007-11-27T22:06:00.000-07:00

Miss Turtle has been proclaiming for years now that she is a "tomboy". I have bought her camo sweatshirts from the boys department for years now and her room is royal blue (the occupant before her was a boy her age) with blue camo bedding. She rarely wears pretty sandals and goes for plain flip flops, preferably blue, and her sneakers. Luckily I can find her shoes in the girl's shoe department that still look "boyish" enough for her.

I get all that. She wants to be a tomboy and who am I to discourage a 9 year old from wanting to cover her mid section with clothing? What I don't get is all the primping.

Yes, primping. This child spends so much time doing stuff to her hair with too much hairspray...my hairspray. She sprays way too much body mist...my body mist. She also likes to paint her nails on a daily basis. Tomboy?

It is confusing that she likes all these things and wants to look "nice" but she gets so upset when anyone tries to offer her anything girlie. Even if she currently uses it. She will insist that she is a tomboy and tomboys don't do that kind of stuff. It's really pretty funny.

I want to let her try new things and figure out who she is and who she wants to be. But it is hard not to crack a smile (which pisses her off to no end) when I catch her applying lip gloss in the mirror while talking to herself to see how she looks when talking. Or when she paints her nails for the second time that day. Although I must admit, is pretty easy to NOT crack a smile when I slip on my butt in the bathroom because the floor is covered in hairspray or soapy water.

Manic Monday

2007-11-26T11:19:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I have done a Manic Monday. The last one I did was about the color orange and I posted about how it made me ill to my stomach. So keeping right along with that theme, Mo has named this week's Manic Monday:

RANK

The word rank takes me back to high school. We would always say something that like "ewww...that h**t is rank!" Or did you smell that rank a** smell in the Chem Lab today?" Yes, we did a lot of swearing in high school when it was considered cool. I still swear a lot. I just never could drop the habit.

Anyway, the word rank instantly brings back memories of random people or places and the sometimes really stupid things we did. Whenever you came out of the room reeking of what a friend of mine calls "college", people would say "You smell all rank. Hook me up." Which then would usually lead to more illegal activities and more people smelling rank.

I try to keep this a family friendly blog, so I think I will leave the rank smelling "college" talk at that and discuss other things I think of when I hear the word rank. One of the very first things I thought of is when my dad would be in the bathroom "reading" and the rank smell that would linger for HOURS after that. So, going right along with the good ole poo talk, I will share a story with you that is pretty "rank".

We had a pipe leak in our wall. It was a bad leak in a really hard to get to spot so they removed 1/2 of Little Bear's wall from floor to 3 feet across the ceiling. It took a few days to get the leak fixed and the wall patched. To me, it was forever. The dry wall guys that came in to ~~patch~~ rebuild the wall (and also ended up fixing the pipe...again) are not used to working in a unit that people live in. They were in the way, throwing my daughter's stuff into the closet because apparently 4 feet beyond their plastic which covers the whole wall and back 3 feet was not enough. They were opening doors and letting the cat out so that they could place their buckets and stuff in the door ways to keep the halls clear so they could lay even MORE stuff in there. The removed everything from my bathroom counters as they couldn't use the sink. My water had been off for the better part of four days and they were upset about my dishes. Buttheads.

During all this commotion I tried to leave the house as much as possible. But that is not always possible when a cranky toddler wants to play in her room or watch Diego. We came home from a 4 hour errand run and they were still in my house, messing up my things. Then it hit me. I really needed to poop. At that stage in my pregnancy, if I felt even the slightest urge to poo, I needed to go right then and there and try to do what I could. Only this wasn't a slight urge. I didn't have time to ask if the water was on and I didn't have time to run to a neighbors. Not to mention, what do you say? "Excuse me, may I come in for a few minutes and completely wreck your bathroom? I promise to spray when I am finished."

So I used the bathroom. And I wrecked it. I went to flush and guess what. NO WATER. I was so embarrassed that these guys were going to have to smell what I just did so I sprayed the Febreze air can. A lot. And then I went into the bathroom every five minutes to spray even more. Luckily they didn't need to get in there, but I am sure that they are either wondering why I am spraying the bathroom every 5 minutes or they are laughing hysterically to themselves and sharing the story with co-workers.

So there is my RANK story. Nice and embarrassing and hopefully will make my readers laugh. I can almost laugh about it now.

Check out some other Manic Monday Stories!

Christmas Woes

2007-11-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to figure out what Miss Turtle would like for Christmas. For months on end she would talk about some random toy on TV or that a friend has and demand that it go on her Christmas list. We all know how that works right? She usually doesn't remember and neither do I. So I am asking her for about the millionth time so that I can get relatives off my back, and the only two things she can think of are 1) a knitted scarf with the "feather stuff" and 2) iPod. The scarf is easy, no problem. I pulled some really blue eyelash yarn out of my stash and have that started. But an iPod? Is she nuts? I cannot afford an iPod without canceling the rest of Christmas. Not to mention that she already owns a MP3 player that is like a CD Walkman, a CD Walkman, an MP3 player, and a Mini Media player that holds music, pictures AND videos. All that, and she still "needs" an iPod. *sigh*

She is refusing to give any other ideas in hopes that Santa will magically find an iPod in the bottom of his sack for her. She is in for a let down.

Tense Turkey Day at the Ghetto Buffet

2007-11-24T23:27:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving was very interesting this year. My dad hates to have people at his house, I couldn't cook at my house since I was told I would be cooking at my mom's house, and we are fighting with the rest of my dad's side of the family. SO my dad decides we are going to go to the Country Buffet. Nothing against Country Buffet, but I felt so ghetto eating there for Thanksgiving. I really wanted the big family table instead of two booths, the big turkey carved at the table, the sweet potatoes that did not come from an industrial size can, and the pies cooling on the counter while the kids sneak finger fulls of whipped cream. But instead I got to wait in a huge line, have a lady bum rush me to get to the meat counter, and eat instant potatoes.

But I made the best of it. The point was that I was spending time with my family. Even if I had to turn around in the booth to talk to them.

If Country Buffet wasn't non-Thanksgiving-ish enough, there was a tense feeling hanging over our two booths. We are fighting with my Uncle over stealing my grandmother's money. (I wrote a sponsored post about him and my aunt a little while back) My dad finally did the right thing and stopped worrying about what Uncle Dipshit would think. he filed papers to not only put himself in charge of my grandmother's money so Uncle Dipshit couldn't get to it, but also to have guardianship over her. That way we can get her a home care companion until the time comes that she will need to live in an assisted living environment.

The papers came the day before Thanksgiving. (enter the dun-dun-dun murder mystery sound here)

Uncle decided to tell Grandma that my dad was trying to steal her house. My eyes have not rolled that high into my head while awake in years. My grandma seems pretty okay with it now, but there are a few weeks until the hearing and she may forget and/or be convinced something bad is happening my the dumb uncle. Luckily, my grandma's doctor and social services agree with my dad and the trial should go smoothly even if Uncle Dipshit tries to intervene somehow.

So that was my interesting Turkey Day. How was yours! Give me links to your blog and I will stop by and read them.

My husband belongs in 3rd grade

2007-11-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I absolutly love about my husband is his sense of humor. Yes it is usually crude and immature, but it cracks us both up. Words like "plop" and "poop" are used frequently in my house and followed by much laughter and giggling. Little Bear has even learned that if she decides to shout either of those words at random times, it is very funny and daddy will laugh very hard. Miss Turtle made us a pre-Christmas card that said "POOP!!! Merry Christmas. I love you."

So it should be no surprise that I found my husband and my toddler at the computer using the voice button on the dictionary website to hear the word "poop" repeadtly. I decided to share this information with my mommy board and one mom replied saying she and her husband had found a turkey that talks at BHG.com and they were doing something similar. So of course I had to share this newly found entertainment with my husband. The things he is making this bird say are slightly gross, but pretty funny. Now he and one of his out of state friends are e-mailing the bird back and forth with crazy sayings. They have been at it for at least 30 minutes.

Men can be so easily ammused.

Halloween

2007-11-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

I realized that I am posting all this exciting stuff about Christmas without addressing the holidays I haven't posted about at all. I figure that I can skip a lot of upcoming Thanksgiving stuff since society as a whole treats Thanksgiving as a practice run for the family overflow that occurs during Christmas time. But how can I ignore Halloween? My second favorite holiday other than Christmas has been overlooked.

So here are some picture recaps:

Little Bear refused to wear her Tigger costume and I had to trick her into wearing this one. (Shhhh, don't tell her it is a costume. She thinks it's a dress)

Miss Turtle was pulled in so many directions about what she should dress up as. I put my foot down and told everyone that she would be whatever she wanted to be (within certain dress code standards of course. I think she did a great job!

Trick-Or-Treat! The costumes transformed from Soda Shop Girl and Little Devil to two freezing children in winter coats.

FREE Letter from Santa!

2007-11-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

We did something like this last year and the girls LOVED it. They were so excited to get a letter from St. Nick. This year you can personalize a letter for your children and receive it via email. The full color letter can also be printed and given as a gift to a child. Best of all, it's not just a letter from Santa, it's a FREE Letter from Santa. I love free stuff. Identity Direct has over 500 personalized gifts for your kiddos, so be sure to check that out too. Personalized gifts are so special. I love to get things with my girl's names on them because I can never find their names on the items at the store. I must have named them a bit too oddly. Don't worry, I didn't name them Fig Newton or anything like that. I am so excited to get my free letter, I think I will do them tonight and see how long I can hold out before putting them in the mailbox for Miss Turtle to find.

Left or Right? How about a bath instead.

2007-11-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

It is recommended to pregnant women that they should sleep on their left side for a number of reasons. It helps nausea, reduces sciatic pain, and helps prevent your right hand from falling asleep. The left side is a good side.

So last night I was finishing up one of those days where it just wasn't my day. I had sciatic pain running up and down my butt and the room was spinning in time with my stomach. I was lying on my left side and it seemed to help the symptoms, but I couldn't sleep. I simply am unable to sleep on my left side. So I tried the right side. I was getting sleepy, but I couldn't sleep with the stabbing pain in my butt and the room spinning.

Boooo.....

So I decided to take some Unisom and try a nice warm bath. It worked wonders. I have decided that a nice warm bath can fix everything. Feeling queasy? Take a bath. Your left arm fell off? Take a bath.

I think I will go and take a bath now.

Yes, it really is that time of year

2007-11-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

It is the time of year where retailers have full blown Christmas displays in the stores, drivers in the parking lot forget they are in a parking lot, and children start with the chanting of "I want, I want, I want" It is also the time of year where my husband has a permanent headache and I just want to keep spending spending spending. That's right, it is more than a month before Christmas and things are in full swing.

I have some of my shopping done. Not a lot like most years, but a little but. Little Bear's under the tree wishes are almost fulfilled and Miss Turtle has a few items on the way. I love Christmas and I love buying gifts for others. (which is why the next few days I will be trying to get in as many PPP opps that I can)

But what do hubby and I get for each other or ourselves? The only things that either of us want are way out of the budget. Besides, you can't fit a big house in a nice neighborhood under the tree. I am sure I will be able to find some computer game for him, or the paintball mask that NO ONE carries anymore. But I want something more. Something special. And before you say "Santa's Naughty Little Helper" I have three words for you...pregnant, fat, and tired.

So how far along on your shopping are you? Are you a last minute fanatic? What is your special guy or gal getting this year?

Letter to my Apartment Manager

2007-11-05T14:56:00.000-07:00

To whom it may concern:

I have experienced confrontation issues with the residents of [apt. # of idiots across the hall]in the past. I have not sent in a written complaint and chalked it up to living in an apartment building and the sometimes less than desirable neighbors one may have. Today, however, is different. The woman, Tammy, had her laundry in the communal washer for 25 minutes after her loads were done. I waited this amount of time and then took her items out and put my items in. When she came into the laundry room after I had put my clothes into the washer, I kindly told her that I had put her laundry in her laundry basket and it was on top of the washers. She said “okay, because I need to put these in now.” I replied to her that I had just put my clothes in and she barked at me that her laundry was very important and needed to get done. I replied to in a joking manner that I guess that is what happens in a complex with a communal washer and dyer. Tammy then proceeded to slam things around in the laundry room. I only heard the sounds and cannot be sure of what exactly was happening in there as I was walking away from the situation. She then proceeded to curse very loudly all the way down the hall and then slam her door.

Normally this is not an experience that I would feel compelled to express to the management, but considering this residents past of confrontation, police visits, and alleged drug use, I can no longer ignore even the petty things that happen. I can also write up the other incidents I have personally had with this neighbor if needed. I hate to be a tattle tale, but a part of me knows that I deserve to not be confronted in an abrasive manner by my neighbors or the police officers that come to visit to them. If this is not a problem that management can fix, I have no problem calling the police each time something like this happens, but I wanted management to be aware of it.

We really enjoy living here at [apartment complex] and plan to stay for a long time. We appreciate all that management has done for us and have absolutely no complaints. I thank you for taking the time to read this and take our concerns into consideration.

I suck

2007-11-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

I know, I have been a terrible blogger. The morning sickness is still here, but it is getting better and I will soon have meds to help all that. I have a lot of family stuff going on right now with my extended family and that is a little time and energy sucking.

I miss my blog. I miss my readers. I miss seeing everyone else's blog posts. I have only read every now and then. I suck.

I will be back. Hopefully soon, like now, but I will be back. I can't give up my blogging addiction. That would be silly.

The last two weeks.

2007-10-17T15:39:00.001-06:00

I have been on the Nausea and Vomit Express with non stop trips to the porcelain God. The sickness is insane and this is the first time in the last few weeks that I can look at the computer screen for more than a few minutes a day. My e-mail built up to 126 e-mails this morning. Ooops. Good thing a lot of them were just stupid stuff I could just erase without guilt.

Hubby has been great this whole time. The house is a complete mess and I am usually still in my jammies when he gets home. He has helped with the laundry and grocery shopping and even with the cooking. I cannot stand to be around raw meat right now (just typing that causes a heave in my tummy) and a lot of our dinners are meatless unless delivered to our door or passed through a drive thru window.

It's been hard on the kids too. Miss Turtle has been acting up to get attention and Little Bear has decided that Mommy wants to play on the couch all day. We get to read a lot of books, play horsies and watch videos. I am afraid to see what happens when I am feeling better and we go back to a more normal schedule for us.

I was planning on braving the children's museum tomorrow since I got the higher does meds today. Then I saw that a friend of mine was also planning to be there. It would be really cool to finally see someone. I have seen 4 people other than family in over a month. It's been getting to me. Hopefully tomorrow will work out for me. I know Little Bear would love to play with other kiddos too.

So that is my update. I am trying not to let this blog fall off the side of the world wide we. I love it too much. Hopefully this means the sickness is leaving me and I can try to be normal again.

Well, I lied...it's not pink eye

2007-10-03T17:13:00.000-06:00

Miss Turtle's eye did not clear up with the medicine for pink eye. In fact it got worse and she started to develop other symptoms. She went back to the doctor today and he claimed it to be an "eye, ears, and nose" infection. My poor baby.

So the attendance line called me again today. DOH! I had Hubby call the school in the morning, but apparently they are still needing to call me. I know that they are just looking out for the safety of the kids since a lot of them walk to school everyday, but it is still annoying. She actually told me that if Miss Turtle is not in school tomorrow that she won't call and just excuse her absence.

With all the new laws and garbage out there, the school nurse is not allowed to supervise Miss Turtle while she takes her eye drops and medicine at school without a specific form that is signed by her doctor with a copy of the diagnosis. That process alone has taken a good chunk of my day, so she might just be missing school tomorrow too. Poor thing will really have so much catch up, but I plan to visit the school tomorrow and get her make-up work.

So with all that, I offered to come to the school and give Miss Turtle the eye drops since she still needs a bit of help with that. Nope. Not allowed. I almost want to go in, sign her out for 10 minutes, take her across the street from the school, give her the drops, and then check her back into class.

Seriously.

I am not sure how this rule came about but I can only assume that some dumb ass down the line somewhere ruined it for everyone.

I will not let go of my precious crafty goodness!

2007-10-03T17:03:00.000-06:00

The room that I am sitting in is a disaster. It is the room that calls itself the office/sewing/scrapping/gaming/cache for all things random without homes room. I first thought that I would try to widdle down my fabric collection, my scrapbooking collection, and other miscellaneous crafty paraphernalia. Um, ya...that so did not work. It is so hard for an avid sewer and quilter such as myself to throw away fabric. Once you are faced with throwing it away, it suddenly has new life and there are so many great things you can plan to do with it. So you take it, shove back into some random place and wait until the next time you attempt to widdle down the fabric stash. It's a very vicious cycle really.

So I decided to browse a little bit for storage solutions. I found some storage bins at Caruysgarage.com that look pretty useful. I think that if I were to get some of these storage bins, I could put it in our storage unit. That might sound like a pain in the butt to go to the storage unit to get fabric, but ours is literally across the street from us and I could even walk there rather quickly if I needed to.

I am excited. Organization, more room in the house, and I get to KEEP my fabric and crafty goodness.

I know, I am a dork. I get excited over office supplies too.

Pink Eye and the School Attendance Line

2007-10-02T14:36:00.000-06:00

Pink eye is making it's rounds this year. As a child I never had to experience what I hear is the pain and gooey-ness of pink eye. Unfortunately, Miss Turtle now has it. She was up at her grandparents house when I got a call that they wanted to take her to the Dr. in case it was pink eye.

My first reaction was that it is not pink eye. Miss Turtle has spent the last few weeks convincing herself, and trying to convince me, that every speck of dust she got in her eye was pink eye. SO I figured she was just trying to pull that one again. I told the grandparents to take her in. Most of the time when you call in with pink eye, they simply give you a prescription over the phone. The don't want this highly contagious grossness in their office.

Miss Turtle called me back a few hours later, and it was pink eye. I felt horrible that I didn't believe her, but I was also relieved that it was diagnosed by a doctor and not a 9 year old and her playground buddies.

I called the attendance number on Sunday night and left a messaged excusing Miss Turtle from school for Monday and Tuesday. Monday morning I get a call from the school wondering where my fourth grader is. I calmly tell them that I left a message last night to excuse my daughter for Monday and Tuesday. The woman on the phone says something to the effect of it being another person's oversight. Then, this morning I get ANOTHER call. Not just one, but two. This time it was on my voice mail a bit snarky. The women said "Hello, we are looking for Miss Turtle again today. Please call us and resolve her whereabouts". I called back and gave them snarkiness right back.

"Hi, this is Miss Turtle's mother calling to REMIND you that I called in her two day absence on Sunday night. I also REMINDED you yesterday that she would be gone for two days. Today I got another call saying that I didn't. I would like to know why tax payers are paying money for an attendance line and an attendance secretary if the school secretary is simply going to call me everyday to see where my child is."
(in my defense, they have called me each and every time in the last two years that Miss Turtle has missed school or has been late although I have called it in.

They resolved it, but no apologies or anything. I really didn't expect one cause I was pretty snotty about the whole thing. But dammit I was irritated. Just because you can't run your office smoothly gives you no right to get snarky with me. Especially since I did everything you asked me to, 3 freaking times.

*sigh*

Free Raleigh, NC Getaway

2007-10-02T14:11:00.000-06:00

What I wouldn't give to go on a vacation with Hubby. With just Hubby. No kids, No relatives, no cell phones. It would be a dream. Don't get me wrong, I love my children, most of my relatives, and can't live without the cell phone or Internet, but it would be so great to have a whole weekend away from it all snuggled up in Hubby's arms. Sadly, we aren't really rolling in the dough and most of our money goes towards the kids or the house. Now with #3 on the way, we really need to take a look at our budget and make adjustments. Sadly, their won't be a "weekend for mommy and daddy" space on that budget.

But what if I could get a vacation for free? Mamma Mia! I can!! Look at this great vacation Fall Getaway prize to the "hidden treasure" of Raleigh, NC:

-One night accommodations for two at the Courtyard by Marriott Raleigh Crabtree Valley
-$25 gift certificate to Bloomsbury Bistro-Free VIP admission for two to Rum Runners
-2 tickets to the North Carolina Theatre
-2 tickets to the N.C. Museum of Art’s Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism
-2 tickets to Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences

That sounds like an AWESOME vacation to me. So who wants to fight me for it?

All you have to do to register for this Free Raleigh Getaway is go to the Raleigh Visitors site, click on the link and sign up. Easy as pie. Each month from April through December 2007, one lucky winner will win a specific weekend experience. All monthly prizes include a $150 shopping gift certificate from Triangle Town Center.

Shopping too? I am so in! I never really knew that there was so much to do in the classic southern town of Raleigh. There are so many attractions, concerts, sporting events and culture that Raleigh has to offer. I had a friend who lived there once, but she never mentioned all this neat stuff to me. I usually only heard tales of her work in the local King Soopers bakery. We have a theater here, and we have museums here, but seeing a museum I have never seen before in a place I have never been to before is so much cooler.

I am headed over there right now to get my entry for this month in. I would ask for some finger crossing that I win, but I am sure that most of you have fingers crossed already that you will win. LOL

Orange = Barf

2007-10-01T18:11:00.000-06:00

I keep meaning to join a Manic Monday because they look like so much fun and I LOVE reading the thoughts of all the other participants. I stumbled across an entry today and it triggered me to get one done. So here we go, courtesy of Mo here is my thoughts about this week's subject: Orange

I almost decided to wait until next week to jump in, but as my grandmother always ~~hounded~~ told me, "There is no better time than the present". The reason that I almost decided against taking on the MM challenge this week is the subject. The color orange, among some other colors, make me ill. I am not sure what it is, but as soon as I see that lovely orange square above, I get all head achy and my tummy starts to to somersault and rebel. When I was pregnant with Miss Turtle, it was the color yellow. With Little Bear, plaid made me vomit. I am not sure of the reasons behind this, but I do know that I was mighty pukey feeling.

Oranges also make me ill. Pregnancy can really turn up the crank of reflux issues. Oranges and orange juice not only make my cheeks water to warn me of possible vomit ahead, but they kill the pH of my stomach and cause it's contents to reappear. It's really no fun.

Why is it that orange in general hates me? Foods, colors, and everything orange make me sick. I have never done anything to the force of orange. I have never teased it like I have with yellow or brown. I have never banished it from my wardrobe, although I didn't really have a lot of it either. I wonder why orange hates me.

The world may never know.

It's Offical

2007-10-01T18:07:00.000-06:00

I have a belly. Granted, it's all just bloat and other lovely things that come with the first trimester of pregnancy, but it looks like baby. Or at least it does to strangers.

Hubby and I took Little Bear on a walk and we ended up at the Chinese place. While waiting in line a woman asked Little Bear if there was a baby brother or sister in mommy's tummy. Then she gave me a congrats.

I wasn't sure if I should be happy that I was given a congrats and that I don't just look fat, or if I should be upset by the fact that I am only 8 weeks along and already look pregnant enough for people to really notice.

I am gonna take the happy road and ditch the upset part. It's easier and happier that way.

I'm almost back from the dead

2007-09-28T08:26:00.000-06:00

Momnesia. It is the strangest thing to me. The second that we deliver our little bundle of joy, we instantly forget just how bad the symptoms of pregnancy are. The worst one for me is morning sickness. I remember that I had it really bad, but I forgot what it felt like. With Little Bear I lost 16 or 18 pounds or something like that in the first trimester. With both girls I was sick for the whole 9 months too. I am only 8 weeks along. In fact, i haven't even hit that 8 week mark and I have lost weight. I am not sure just how much since the last time I was weighed was about 3 months ago. My weight from then is down about 11 pounds, so I figure that not too much of the lost weight can be in the last 8 weeks. My midwife was concerned since I lost so much last time and has given me a prescription medication along with a vitamin regimen. I am finally able to sit up and even walk around again! Woo hoo! Those are two things that you have to do when you have toddlers and pre-tweens running around. My stomach muscles no longer aches from retching, my cheeks no longer have a constant waterfall going on, and I have not had to stare into the toilet bowl for over 24 hours!! I still get what Cartman's Mom calls "urps" and what I call "buke". It's a combination of a burp and puke. My reflux is acting up a bit, but I refuse to complain about the little bit of buke and urps if it means I don't have to wretch my stomach inside out every hour or so.

I am hoping that this is a good sign of puke free days to come. I need to get back to blogging. Oh ya, and cleaning house and stuff.

A Child's Imagination

2007-09-21T09:51:00.001-06:00

This is a picture of our Capital building:

My mom works right across the street from this gold domed government building. I took my girls to visit my mom at work and Little Bear was just mesmerized by this building. She stared at it with big wide eyes and said "oooh". I asked her what she saw and she pointed right up to the large, shiny, gold dome and told me:

"It's wearing a hat."

I laughed so hard. It was just too cute! If you look at it, you can see the hat. The big shiny hat. Once it is pointed out, it becomes obvious that someone would see a hat, but as an adult, it is just a building. My 2 year old had to show me what her expansive imagination saw. It really reminded me to look at things through a child's eye. Just look at all the fun that they see. :D

The Announcement

2007-09-16T17:02:00.000-06:00

I know that I promised an announcement a while back, and although many of you have figured it out already, I am sorry I haven't done it yet. I even made a video blog post to announce the announcement and it accidentally got erased off the camera. Doh!

It doesn't help that I am feeling so icky. Morning sickness will do that to a woman.

Yup! You read that right. Mommy the Maid is pregnant. We are going to have a baby. We could not be more excited. We started trying in Feb and only actively tried for 2 cycles. A certain Dr. told me that I probably wouldn't be able to have more kids without a lot of work and the stress from his diagnosis was weighing down on me so we stopped really trying and just didn't prevent.

This last cycle we decided to start charting and really go for it and guess what. It happened. We got pregnant.

This little one is due on the same day that Little Bear was due. A little Freaky Friday no? There is no way that they will have the same birthday thought. Little Bear didn't come out until 42 weeks and 1 day and I refuse to do that this time. I will lie on the delivery table and demand that they take the baby out now if i go past 40 weeks. LOL

So that is my big announcement :D I am a little less than 6 weeks along, but the morning sickness is starting to creep up on me. I have a bad history with morning sickness and I hoping to be able to beat it better this time.

Happy Birthday Miss Turtle!

2007-09-10T08:24:00.000-06:00

Today my baby turns 9 years old. The days of playing football with Mommy in the front yard are over. She has traded in the party dress and snow boots for camo capris and lip gloss and now watches the boy outside play football. She still plays with the boys every now and then. I am glad to see something I taught her has stuck.

We woke up this morning and opened gifts before school.

A shirt that I made from Little Bear

A digital camera featuring the beloved Hello Kitty from Gramma

A Disney Mobile cell phone...think her smile could get any bigger?

Then we had pancake cake for breakfast with a really yummy peach syrup a friend made for us.

We have a lot more birthday celebrating to do with friends and other family, but the morning with the family is always the best, and most important.

Sad news

2007-09-07T12:13:00.000-06:00

I know, I suck. I keep coming here and saying that I will stop leaving my blog so neglected.

I have been super busy lately. Miss Turtle's birthday is coming up and we have decided to get her a Disney Mobile phone. It's a bit more expensive per month, but I can put a cap on her minutes and avoid the fees for going over and it has a bunch of other cool features that are great for kids too. Her cell phone will actually be better than mine.

Her birthday was going to be a horse back riding party at her grandparents house. They were going to ride the horse that Miss Turtle has had since she was 9 months old. Unfortunately, the horse passed away a few nights ago. She had a form of colic that is rare, but not in horses her age. She also had a tumor wrapped around her intestines and the combination of the two made it her time to go. Miss Turtle took it pretty hard, as any kid would, and luckily she is now starting to understand that Missy (the horse) was sick and older and that she had a really great life.

It was so hard on me. It hurt to see her so sad and all I wanted to do was take away every ounce of hurt and pain that she had. I am getting teary just thinking about it.

I also have other news that will come shorty. So stay tuned...you want to hear it.

Ramblings from the not-so typical Stay at Home Mom

The Little Green Monster

And so it begins...

Long Time, No Blog...part deux

My New Etsy Shop

How to Melt a Momma's Heart

Mommy's got a New Do

Milestone Birthday for my Baby

91. Go to a Rockies Game

The Example

First Day of Preschool

Too Small?

It's a Daddy Party

The Fear of Biscuits

My Little Gymnast

101 in 1001

First Giggles

More than you have ever wanted to know about my breasts

Long Time, No Blog

Nothing New, so I'll share a funny

Where does Creativity go?

Still here, alive and being kicked.

A Convo at my House

And the legacy dies

Apparently my rear end is broken

I am very thankful

Gray and White

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Dust in the Wind

Random Thought of the Day

Letting go of the reins ~ a tale in potty training

Tired Tired Mommy

One of those Moments

A Child's Guide to the Stomach Virus

Photographic Evidence

Suppressing Creativity

When life spins out of control, grab a basket of socks

It's been an intersting week

Rock Star Momma

More stories of Poo. This time at Burger King.

Rainbows and Bunnies

Bitchy Whiny Post

Country Music lies!

The Sweet, the Funny, and the Sad

Pie Pie Pie!

Best of 2007 Blog Exchange

The Results are In.

As the sound of jingling bells fade...

Merry Christmas!!

Selfish Mommy

Digital Christmas Wishes

All it takes is a smile.

Manic Monday ~ Carol

Santa Clause Came to Town!

Christmas Spirit

Every Time a Bell Rings...

Maternity Underwear

Delightful Deliveries

Hi Ho Silver Away!

Manic Monday ~ Ornament

Long

Maybe Santa should Vacuum before Wrapping Gifts

I am a Blogger. Go ahead, be a dick. I'm gonna write about it.

Friday Feast # 171

Thursday Thirteen ~ What Santa is NOT Bringing

Works For Me Weds. ~ Can't drink when you are with child

Women's Health and Torture...uh wellness.

Tackle It Tuesday

Curtain Poles

Manic Monday

Christmas Cards

Sweeny Todd Confessional

The Christmas Letter

Tress, colds, and fevers

Ghosts of Christmas Past

Friday Feast # 170

Thursday Thirteen - O' Christmas Tree Edition

Up Close and Personal in 5 questions

Tomboys and Hair Products

Manic Monday