Poor little naive white girl

Yup, that's me. Even though I lived in a college town in the mid-west growing up I really didn't see much racism, etc. (Probably didn't help that the school I actually attended from K-12 was in a small town of 3,500 people.)

Moving to the 'burbs of Kansas City has been a definite eye opener. I absolutely only goto the closest Wal-Mart because there's so much racism on both sides of the fence from the employees and customers.

Then there's my new co-worker, H. Single mother of two, has a college degree, just bought her first house, and is catching onto her new job quiet quickly. She's been the one to really open my eyes about the stuff that goes on....especially here at work. You see, she's African American. And I use the term African American as that is what she prefers to be called. And yes, I did ask her.

Her youngest son just turned 2, and the party was this last Sunday. We were invited. I knew we were going to be the only "whites" there, and K even asked if I was sure I wanted to go knowing this. Yes, it was a little akward at first, but after the kids warmed up and started playing and we started chatting with everyone we fit right in. However, I'm dying to ask H what everyone thought. She took a vacation day today...rightfully so after all those people at her house yesterday afternoon.

Even though I am the Naive White girl....I think in the end it's going to be a good thing. I just might need a little more education from H, but yes in the end it will be a good thing.

Confessions of an "Evil" mother

Before having children I thought parents that "tricked" their kids into doing/eating things were just wrong, mean and yes, EVIL. Aaaaah - little did I know that this is the most magic and secret of all weapons we as parents posses. Below are just a few of the things I've done:

* I've been telling S for over 2 years now that there is medicine in his water to help him sleep. Sorry dude - it's just water! Helps that I always have him brushing teeth or heading up to bed an I follow with his water bottle so he doesn't see me put in his "medicine".

* Playing up S's competitve nature I tell him he needs lots of sleep so he can have energy the next day so that when he's playing he can win. Hey - it gets him to stop the chatter and procrastination before bedtime.

* Got the kids to eat Sweet 'n Sour Chicken and Quesadilla's by telling them they were Chinese Chicken Nuggets with Chinese BBQ sauce and Mexican Grilled Cheese. :)

* CornDogs started out being called "Hot Dog on Stick"

* All my kids think Turkey is Chicken at the Holidays.

* S is under the belief that the earlier he goes to bed and the faster he falls asleep on nights the Tooth Fairy is to visit the more $$$ he'll get. Okay, I didn't come up with this - he did, but you bet your sweet ass I'm encouraging it.

* My kids think that the car can not go into Drive or Reverse unless they are all buckled up.

The sweetest smile

When I got home from work Tuesday I entered the house to sounds of "mommy, mommy" from the boys and Baby A's high pitched squeals. After I get all of my hugs and kissies I notice S's smile. It's hard not to as big as he was grinning - so proud of himself. He had lost his 2nd top front tooth. Grand total lost s 4 now.

He'd lost the first one about a week to 2 weeks ago. He was so adament about pulling it out I stayed up with him and helped him. Knowing if I didn't he'd stay awake until he pulled it out and would then come get me to "call" the tooth fairy. Well, the same with tooth #2. Monday night I had to convince him to leave it alone and go to bed, but I would help him on Tuesday pull it out. The little stinker couldn't wait that long and played with it enough Tuesday morning at school that before lunch he'd pulled it out.

What surprised me is that when I look at him and when he smiles I see this child-like innocence / joy that wasn't there before. Or it's always been there and I've never noticed. Secondly, I was really surprised at how absolutely adorabaly cute he looks. I've never thought kids with both top teeth missing were all that "cute".

If I can get off my duff tonight I'll see if I can get the boy to pose for a few pictures.

Random Thoughts

Things running through my head this morning in no particular order:

* A co-worker who recently lost her 6 wk old son is back at work today. I want to reach out, but not sure how.

* WTF - last week I puke my guts out and now AF shows up. Seriously - WTF! (She's a week early the bitch!!!!)

* Don't know why this annoys me, but why can't the man just tell me when we're out of stuff - why do I have to find out the hard way. We're out of Q-tips, which I use every morning to get the water out of my ears. I know it's something little, but he does this ALL the f-ing time!

* Holly Cow! Can gas prices go higher? Well, yes they can....but WOW. I was kinda mad we moved 3 years earlier than planned, but now it's beginning to look like a good thing. Especially with only driving on average 100 miles a week for work, etc rather than the 600-700 we were doing.

* Beginning to hate my job. I think it's because I feel I have no control. Hopefully will be able to meet with New Boss this week for a 1-on-1 and get a handle/feel for what the Hell is going on around here. I hate being kept out of the loop when it involves my job and duties.

* My husband is truly wonderful. He not only took care of two sick kids ALL last week, but he took care of me as well.

I'M FAT

There I've said it. I can't believe I'm this fat. The last time I weighed this much I was 8 mos pregnant with Baby A. It's amazing how a store's dressing room mirrors can make you look so fat.

So, this week we're back on the diabetic diet. Helps that I've barely eaten anything the last few days. Unfortunately I haven't lost any weight. Starting with Memorial Weekend (yes, that Saturday) I'm going to get up early and go walking either outside or on the treadmill.

So - today here's my stat: 235lbs

Let's see how long it takes me to get to 175lbs. Would love to be around 150-155lbs, but we all gotta start somewhere.

Why won't it die?!?!?

Seriously, what ever this virus is that hit Sunday night it can die a very fast death. Not only did I go home sick from work on Wednesday, but K got sick Wed night and then S. Great - we've all had it you can leave now!! The only one spared has been R - and I think that's 'cause he went back to Mommy's on Monday night.

But NOOOOOO - it wants to hang around and make T and Baby A's life hell. Not only do we get the occassionally puking, but we're getting the constant liquid poo. Yes - liquid poo.

We're washing everything with bleach, and have sprayed every possible item those two do and could touch with not only Lysol, but that new Clorox stuff as well. By the end of this weekend our house will be cleaner than a hospital and you'll be able to eat off the floors!!!!

Unfortunately we have a room full of laundry to put a way. Should be a fun Mother's day - everyone folding and putting away laundry.

I'm not old enough to be left alone

No, this isn't about S, it's about me. You see, New Boss is paranoid about my job, etc and has absolutely no earthly idea what I do and how long it takes. She understands the basics, but the intimate details are lost to her. So, to put her mind at ease I sent her an e-mail last Friday telling her the game plan me and my new co-worker came up with. It did envolve us staying late 3 nights this week. And by late I mean to at least 7pm.

Anyhoo - Baby A was sick all night Sunday so I came in late Monday. Then T was sick all night Monday so I came in late Tuesday. BUT I did stay late with my co-worker.....and so did our boss. She has never stayed later than 5:30 since March 3rd......so why last night?

Yes, it could've been conincidence - but considering some people making comments like "ah, see you found your way here", etc it really makes me wonder. Plus it pisses me off - especially since I have always worked way more than 40 hours a week.

So can not wait for my 1-on-1 meeting with New Boss.......that's been rescheduled 3 times now.

Scapegoat

I have a feeling that's what my new name will be around work. Never mind that I told my old boss when I was 10wks pregnant that I was pregnant, and would really like someone to train now and have them for at least 3 months when I got back from maternity leave (ML). Oh, and let's not forget all the crazy ass hours I worked before having Baby A, and all the long hours I put in now that I'm back to work.

No one, and I mean NO ONE understands exactly what I do. My old boss got a nice eye opening when I was on ML, and my new co-worker is starting to realize how much manual crap we do. Yet the fact remains - I'm still behind on my current plans that need to be paid, the 2 new ones I got recently, and the testing of the new system that is to be in place by June 13th.

There are only so many hours in the day and I have a family damnit. If anyone should be to blame it's management for not getting me help back in Nov 2006 when I said I needed it. NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!!! Seriuosly folks, I had to practically re-create all the work that was done while on ML as well as keep up the current work and take on 3 (now 4) new plans/projects.

Everyone is doing the finger pointing thing and it's all in my direction. Well, you know what? My finger points as well and I just might have to point out everything that's been wrong with this project from the beginning. I'm tired of trying to keep people out of trouble....especially the ones that are pointing the fingers at me.

Stupid people piss me off

And I'm not talking run of the mill stupid people. I'm talking MIS / Computer Geek stupid people. Basically we have one system we log into to then log into another system. The Geeks in their infinite wisdome decided we only need to log in once. No problem, great idea and it works great......except - the Geeks decided they knew who used the system and would notify everyone rather than sending out a broadcast e-mail to all employees. You do see where I'm going with this don't you????

You guessed it - I and my new co-worker did not get notified. Oh, and then when I politely ask to be kept appraised of any future updates I got a snotty comment like 'you should ask to be included on one the of the in house distribution lists'. Ummm...no, I think not - don't need more e-mails I get to shit can.

Oh, and the kicker is that due to this combination of log-ins I can't access everything I need. Greeeaaat. NOT! Try explaining to 100+ officers why I can't process their incentive compensation.

What an ASS

During our last custody hearing DSSD (Dip Shit Sperm Donor) and his lawyer kept harping on the distance between our houses, etc. (Approx 55 miles) Wanted to know if I'd be willing to bring Stephen to DSSD's house, etc for extracurricular activities that S may participate in over the summer. Of course I will - I will attend all his activities.

Even though my lawyer got DSSD to testify he'd do the same he hasn't held up his side of the bargin. The first weekend that DSSD didn't have S during soccer season he couldn't make it due to a prior commitment to his wife's work - bowling. Now this next weekend that he doesn't have him he can't make it again 'cause they're having a garage sale. WTF?!?!?

Then the kicker to all of this is that S had a little program on April 15th at 7pm. Plenty of time for DSSD to get here. Nope couldn't make it - work obligations. Never mind I gave him plenty of notice (4 weeks) for the program and he knew when I signed S up for Soccer that all the games where on Saturday mornings.

Seriously - if I pulled that crap he'd be hauling my ass back into court for neglect and asking for full custody. However, if I tried that I'd look like a vengeful bitch. In a way I'm happy he doesn't show up, but I absolutely hate to see the disappointment on S's face. I do get my revenge - I make DSSD tell S exactly why he can't make it rather than me being the bearer of bad news. I of course go back and pick up the pieces of S's broken heart.

My Little Nudist

When T was just first entering the toddler stage he barely uttered a word, but damned if he couldn't take off all of his clothes. Well, except his diaper - but he did figure out that one eventually. Even now at almost 3 years old he prefers to be naked to clothed. If there was a nudist colony for toddlers he'd be their leader and inspiration.

Where am I going with this you may ask?? Just the latest in a long line of T moments. We recently bought all 3 boys bike helmets that came with knee and elbow pads. This is the first time T has had his own helmet, etc and is pretty adament about wearing all the parts most of the day. Monday night was no exception.....well, except that he was naked. No clothes, not even a sock nor a diaper on his body. All he had on was the elbow and knee pads and the helmet. Of course he thought he looked like hot shit, and to be honest I was dying to take a photo but being arrested for child pornography is not on my "to do" list before I die.

Yes, this cute little boy is going to cause us major headaches as he gets older, but at least there's never a dull moment when he's around.

"I HATE YOU!!!"

We've all uttered those words at one time or another to our parents......most likely our mothers. I myself have been on the receiving end of that phrase more than once. Yet I'm not really bothered by it.

Seriously - I'm not. I've been trying to figure out why that is, then it hit me - there's something much worse that S can say to me than "I hate you". It's something along the lines of: "I want to go live with Daddy".

That's my ultimate fear - "Fun Daddy" winning. I know it's not a competition, but throughout this whole divorce/custody thing I feel like I'm being punished for being the responsible adult and parent in the whole ordeal.

As the end of school approaches the more I'm reminded that S will be spending all summer with "Fun Daddy". Yeah I'll get to see him every other weekend - but what happens when he's back with me full time in the Fall? What bad behavior are we going to have to un-do? How many times will I hear "I hate it here, I want to stay with Daddy"? And will my heart ever mend after he utters those words?

K would tell me I'm getting myself worked up over nothing and he's right. Why worry about it now when I can't do anything about it until it's all said and done? But I do worry because I'm a mother and it's what we do best besides unconditionally love our children.

My Ass hurts and I can't take it anymore!!!

Okay, this is NOT a post about hemorrhoids. Rather its a post about my on going saga with my broken tailbone. Around March 2004 after many months of such severe pain I could barely stand after sitting I was told I had a broken tailbone. No, I had not had any trauma to this area........it was decided that it must have been broken during childbirth on October 20, 2001. And w/o proper treatment it just got worse.

I tried the physical therapy. I've had an MRI. Multiple x-rays. Did one or two pain shots. Which did help, but I never went back every 3-4 weeks like I was supposed to. But damn pregnancy kept getting in the way. Oh, and it didn't help that in November 2005 I reinjured it by falling down the stairs, Ass first.

Well I've finally had enough. I've had two pain shots in the last 3 weeks, and my first appointment with a chiropractor. I don't think one by itself will be the cure, but I'm hoping the combination will finally get me some relief from this chronic pain.

I don't think I'm asking too much. . . . . . . . . all I want is to be able to play with my kids without having to stop due to the pain.

Gardasil, HPV and Cervical Cancer

First off let me say that I'm very thrilled Gardasil (http://www.gardasil.com/) is now available. Having gone through an abnormal Pap Smear myself and all the fun that followed it's comforting to know that when Baby A is around 10 she can get vaccinated.

However, here's my complaint. Why is this only being offered to girls/gals/woman/females?? Seriously here shouldn't we offer this vaccine to our sons, etc?? Seriously think about it.

I have HPV. Who did I get it from you might wonder. . . . . .

MY BOYFRIEND!

I doubt the HPV virus causes such severe problems in males like the cerviacal cancer it can in females, but wouldn't vaccinating everyone be the wisest choice? Not only help stop females from contracting this potentially harmful and fatal virus, but stop the damn thing from spreading.

Just my $ .02 for the day.

I'm 252 years old :)

Playing around on Blogger I thought I'd check out my own profile. Low and behold I'm 252 years old!!

I think I look damn good for my age!!

Apparently I over-react

Okay, what ever honey. Last night while K and S were off at soccer practice I stayed home with T and A. Get your mind outa the gutter!!!! While I'm working on dinner, feeding T and A, changin' poopie diapers I notice a can of food on the floor with barely a label. Pick it up and determine it's a can of Cream of Mushroom soup....Campbell's to be specific with at pop-top lid. Then it happened. I noticed the ring to pop the top was gone (and the can was partially open).

I searched as best I could while trying to get K on the phone. I tried to calmly ask him who was playing with the can and he told me "T was playing with it and I tried to remove as much as the label as I could should Sissy play with it". I then asked where the ring was for the pop-top. He didn't know it was missing. Then accused me of over-reacting and it was no big deal....blah, blah, blah.

So after listening to him yell at me how I over-react and that I should just load up the kids and rush them to the ER we finally found the ring. Luckily I had enough forsight to grab another can and ask T where the ring was - 'cause S spoke up and pointed towards the back door. T had shoved the ring under the screen door.

Let's just say after that I went to the bathroom and cried. All the horrible things running through my head and anger at K for doing something so stupid as to let a 2.5yo play with something like that with an infant crawling around I just had to let it all out. Somedays I really do think it would be cheaper to just put the kids back in daycare 'cause the stress that man causes is expensive.

"So, when will she get her penis?"

Ah....yes, that was the question asked by S the other day while we discussing the differences between boys and girls - more specially the differences between him and Baby A. Apparently as many times as he's seen me walk around naked he either didn't notice I didn't have a penis or hadn't made the connection that Mommy is in deed a girl.

I am proud to say I kept a straight face while answering the boy's questions and got him straight on the difference between boys and girls. Boys have a penis and girls have a vagina.

I'm probably going to have this talk 2 more times with in the next couple of years for R and T's benefit. Hopefully they'll just catch on - if not I'm prepared.

However, when relaying the whole conversation to K we both were laughing pretty hard. Gotta love the naivety and innocence of the boy.

Product Review - Eucerin Redness Relief Kit

During my last pregnancy my skin and hair just went to crap. I was hoping that once I weaned Baby A (around Nov-Dec 2007) that my skin would start to improve, etc. Nope - actually I think it got worse. It was horribly dry, but no amount of moisturizer seemed to help. I felt like I had greasy flaky skin. Especially on my forehead between my eye brows, on my nose and cheeks. Oh, and it was red! If you care I did occasionally use good ol' Noxema but to no avail.

Anyhoo - last week while wandering through CVS Pharmacy I ran across their clearance stuff and they had the Eucerin Redness Relief Kit for $3.75. Hmmm....picked it up and thought what the hell might as well give it a try.

I've been using it for a week and I can tell a difference in my skin already. The dry flaky patches are gone. Still red, but it says it takes up to 4 weeks. Oh, and the best part is that this little kit should last me about 2 weeks so of course I went back to CVS and bought the last one.

Needless to say I'm very impressed (as I always am with Eucerin products) and will definitely be buying the larger sizes once my kits have been depleted. Actually I'm trying to convice K he could benefit from the cleanser and moisturizer as well - but that's just not manly.

http://eucerinus.com/products/face_err_kit.html

WE WON!!! WE WON!!

For those of you living in a cave or if you don't follow college hoops the University of Kansas men's basketball team won the 2008 NCAA National Championship Monday night (April 7th) against the Memphis Tigers.

Check out the following sites for more info:
www.ku.edu
www.ljworld.com

S O C C E R ! ! !

Okay, S and R are playing soccer this spring. Since K got drafted to coach we had them put on the same team. (Unfortunately this will be the only year we can do this :( ) Anyhoo - here are some pictures one of the other mom's sent me. So far none of R, but plenty of S and K.

S is the little white boy in the blue shirt. Or to be politically correct: he's the third from the left in the blue shirt.

Here's the big man himself K with some of the other players on the team. They didn't have enough volunteer refs so he and the other coach referred as well as coached. Good think in the Kindergarten (actually the 4yo-K) they don't keep score!!

Think I need some professional help . . .

. . .either that or that bitch Aunt Flo is headed to town. Ever since hearing about my co-worker losing her 6wk old son I can't seem to focus on my life - this includes work as well as personal. All I really want to do is go home and just play with my kids. It doesn't help that when I do talk to my kids and/or play with them I can't help but tear up....hell, every night since Monday I've cried as I rock Baby A to sleep.

What's bad is that I haven't worn make-up to work in 2 days and I honestly don't care. Then the lack of attention I've been giving K doesn't help either. Okay, I did make it up to him last night around 1am. hehehehe

I'm think I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Things are going pretty good right now....but I know it won't last. Thinking I might need to take a mental health day in the near future and just go do something fun for me.

Put it all into perspective

This last weekend as we ran around to soccer games, grocery store, doing laundry, visiting my parents, and all the regular chaos little did I know how much I take for granted about my life. Especially when you get into work this morning and are informed that a co-workers 6wk old son died this weekend. Don't know the cause or anything.

I can't put into words how much my heart aches for her.......and all of the other mothers who've lost a child. I can tell you though that I did cuddle with Baby A a little longer than needed when putting her to bed, read more books to S than I needed to, and gave into "more movie" from T. Never mind the outrageous amounts of hugs and kissies given and received.

Seriously here - with all of the problems we've faced they seem so petty and trivial compared to the loss of a child. So - when you think your life sucks and there's no way out, remember to count your blessings....especially those cute little babies asleep in their beds.

"The Train is Big" by S

Before Christmas break S started to complain that he was bored in school. I thought nothing of it until after break was over and shortly after he was back in school started once again with the "I'm bored". Talked with his teacher and she agreed to give him some "special" projects to work on. This was his first. I'm very proud and I hope you enjoy S reading his book.

Hint: turn the volumn down....S is quiet loud when reading this.

Some of my favorite pics

T - what can I say....he loves his blankies now, just like he did back then.

Baby A - unfortunately Daddy's right....you have gotten cuter as you've gotten older. You were such a homely looking little infant - but look at you now!!!

Bye-Bye Toddler - Hello Little Boy

We've been trying for 3 months to get T's haircut. Everytime we went he'd throw a fit. So, a week or so ago we just took the plunge and had the stylist just buzz it off (she used a #3 guard that left about an inch). Talk about drastically changing his appearance. His hair is still curly, but without those long locks he looks so much older than 2 1/2 yrs old. Unfortunately he's got little scragglies all over the place that need to be trimmed.....just not sure how we're going to do it though.

On a side note: we had this done with S and R were at their other parents house. When S got home on the first thing he said is "Mommy, Tyler looks so handsome. He's a big boy now." First, WTH - where did my 6yo go? Secondly, aaaaaahhhhhh - that was soo sweet. S really is a good big brother.

Sign you need a new toothbrush. . . .

. . . .is when your toothbrush falls into the toilet....an unflushed toilet. Can I just say "eeeeeeeewwwwwww". And yes I did dig it out - luckily or not before I hoped into the shower.

Jumping on the Potty Training Train

About a month ago we finally got the T-man into his toddler bed and out of the crib. Now we're venturing into Potty Training (HELL). Call me a bad mom or whatever, but this is one area where I really wish he was in daycare....let them deal with him and Potty Training.

Yeah, yeah....I know we need to start introducing the idea into his cute little head. But dang it...if the boy is already ripping diapers off and peeing on the floor, etc it can only get worse once he's in training pants.

So K and I devised a plan of action. For the remainder of the month of March we're going to sit him on the potty every morning during diaper change, and everynight before diaper change. We're hoping this way he'll get used to the potty seat/toilet so the first weekend in April we can just go gung-ho with the training.

So wish us luck, say a little prayer, cross your fingers this works. Especially since I'm tired of paying for diapers for two.

Confirmation I'm old

Went to my parent's a few weeks back to have my birthday dinner. My mom informs me "I've never felt old when you kids have birthdays....until now. I can't believe I have an almost 40 yo daughter."

Gee thanks....I know I'm on the downside of my 30's....but I didn't need you saying it outloud.

She STANDS . . . .and the audience goes wild!

She = Baby A

Audience = me, K, and all 3 boys

Little over a week ago I caught Baby A trying to pull herslef up.....then this last weekend viola! She now must pull her self up on everything.

Okay, I'm going to take a moment to freak out a bit....she's 9mos old....yes, 9mos old and pulling herself up and more than willing to have you let go. The boys didn't start walking until at least a year......oye - thought we had more time.

Best Birthday Present Ever!!!

Well - only really applies to when you have an infant/toddler who isn't quiet sleeping through the night. For my 36th b-day Little Miss A slept through the whole night. However that was short lived as the next night she was up every 2-3 hrs, but hey I'll take what I can get.

Flat Tire from H-E-L-L

Every other Sunday at 6pm I meet DSSD at a McDonald's about mid-way between our respective houses. This particular Sunday I decided to hit Super Wally World which is right next door to our exchange McD's and grab a few things. Wanted to do it before with only 2 kids rather than after with 3 - plus I wanted to get home at a decent time.

Anyhoo - the exchange goes fine - you know, me asking all the questions and DSSD answering...never once volunteering anything. Got S loaded, ran around to wait in line at the drive through, got our food, and hit the interstate. All was good for about 5 minutes......then it happened................POP! And immediately the front passenger tire went flat. Luckily there really wasn't anyone around I crossed traffic and pulled to the shoulder.

Here's where the fun began. Since we're down to one car K had no way to rescue us so I called my dad (he lives about 30 mins away from the exchange point). One advanted to being Daddy's Little Girl after all these years....he came to the rescue no questions asked.

So rather than bore you with witty comments here's just an outline of all the crap that happened:
1. You'd gone shopping before picking up S and your front passanger seat was loaded with groceries. Luckily you only really bought frozen meals and cheese sticks that might get ruined.
2. You had all the kids with you and they were hungry and tired.
3. DH (that D stands for Dumb or Dumbass) decided to leave all his RC Car crap in the back - you know to make it more difficult to get to the spare tire.
4. You have no idea if you have a spare tire and if it's good
5. You're down to one vehicle as you've sold the other two to pay off bills, etc and haven't gotten a cheap replacement - this means DH can't come help.
6. Call father to come help - guess what he gets 1/2 way to where you're at....yup a flat tire.
7. You get to entertain your kids in the car for 1.5 hrs
8. Oh, and when your dad finally does arrive to help so does the rain
9. Almost forgot to mention - I was on I-35....not a back road but the friggin interstate
10. Lastly, not only did Addison's diaper leak, but so did Tyler's. Luckily I had a change of clothes for Addison, but poor Tyler wasn't so lucky.
11. And what I found most surprising not a cop, nor driver stopped to ask if I needed help

The only positive to this all was that I had picked up food for Baby A at the store, and I'd picked up happy meals for the boys and myself. It took us almost 45 min to get home driving at 45mph with my flashers on. Yes, I really pissed off the other drivers - but when you're driving on a donut and there's a wind advisory can you really blame me?

Oh, and we had to replace the tire. ($75 for just one....figure that should last another 12mos and we'll just replace all 4 tires.)

SO - there you go.......anything that could go wrong just about did. I'm just very thankful the car gods deceided to at least bless me with a spare that not only was in good shape but had air.

Snickerdoodle Snob

Yup - that's me. What is a Snickerdoodle Snob you ask?? We'll for me I won't eat nor buy just any snickerdoodle. You see a snickerdoodle is more than just a sugar cookie rolled in a cinnamon and sugar mixture and baked to perfection. It's all about the Cream of Tartar. (And if you want to know more about cream of tartar than you want please check out: http://www.ochef.com/933.htm) Actually the recipe as a whole is different.

Cream of Tartar - yes, any snickerdoodle made with this magic substance is worth my consideration and the $$ to purchase such a treat. Of course unless the ingredients are listed I don't even waste my time. However, the coffee shop next door to work has the most tempting version yet. I asked - and low and behold all that is mighty they make 'em themselves and yes they use Cream of Tartar!! You see the owner is a snickerdoodle snob as well!!! You bet your sweet bippy I bought myself one and slowly enjoyed every last morsel with a great cup o' joe.

However, I must resist....otherwise any weight I've lost will be gained very quickly from eating one of those delicious little morsels.

Skid Marks......on our stairs

Yup......we had skid marks on our stairs the other day. Took us a while to figure out what those repeating black streaks were down the stairs....that was until I smelled the boy. Yup, you guessed it T-man was wondering around in only a diaper and loves to butt scoot down the stairs from the Big Boy's room. Apparently he was due for a change as the poo was overflowin'.

The best part is while we're trying to figure if one of the boys had tracked in mud on their shoe. S gets down, smells it and proclaims "Yup, smells like poop."

Oh, and if anyone cares resolve carpet cleaner spray does get out toddler poop stains out of a light brown carpet.

Potted Critters

While searching the web for a cool picture to use as an avatar I ran across these:

This is your full size Canned Beaver......


And when you're not in the mood for something that large, here's the mini Canned Beaver.


Yes, I'm going there.....can't resist. Every man wants a little canned Beaver he can save for a rainy day.....or a dry spell.


In all seriousness though I'm thinking about using this as my avatar:

It would definitely be funnier if it was "CANNED COON".

"That's a lot of cake"

For some reason the other day S started talking about how he's had 6 birthdays and "Mommy, that's a lot of cake." I proceeded to inform him that his Dad's birthday was in a few weeks and that Daddy would be 38. His response "Wow, that's a lot more cake than 6."

Of course he then wanted to know how old everyone else was in our extended family. He was very impressed that Gma Sue and Poppy were 63, and that Momo Molly is 65. Of course he kept saying "I can't wait to have that much cake".

At least he's put it all in perspective.....birthday's aren't about age....it's all about the cake!

Week 2 - Let's just not go there

Seriously....week 2 sucked. My tempermental scale didn't help. However, this week we're back on track....sorta....but now that the Reese's Peanut Butter Heart is gone I should be able to stay on track.

FWIW - did buy a new scale. Had to find one that could weigh us both....K will probably kill me for telling everyone this, but our current scale didn't weigh high enough to register his weight. He did weigh himself yesterday on the new scale.....he just won't tell me what the figure was. It's alright for him to know how much I weigh apparently.

Scale vs ME

Okay - my scale will be receiving it's walking papers when I get home tonight. Wed morning I weighed myself....scale said I'd gained 2.5lbs. Thursday morning I weigh myself and I'd miracously lost 4lbs from Wednesday. Now this morning I've gained 2lbs. Not only that, it's trying to weigh thin air. It's a digital read-out and it just starts acting like it's trying to weigh something.

So while we're at Wal-Mart Saturday getting Baby A's picture taken I'll be picking up a new scale....preferably one that knows I'm the boss....not it. :)

Week 1 Stats

Well - should have posted this yesterday, but I forgot and I finally had some pictures to post. SO, as of Monday, Jan 14th I've lost 5 lbs!! Wish I could keep that up through April 7th!! Talk about being ready for bikini season!! Not that I'd ever wear one......the only person who has the privilage of seeing my stretch marks is K!!

K and I are both trying Relacore - so I'll let you all know how that goes as well.

Pictures, Pictures....and more Pictures!!!

Saving this for future reference.....gotta know when T decides he wants to become a stoner like his old man.


Can't help it......mind is in the gutter, but they sure are cute. R on the left and S on the right.



Baby A on X-mas day...looking cute as ever.....yes, she's on the verge of crawling.



Has to be my favorite pic of X-mas day.....Baby A and Big Brother T. They look sooo much sweeter than they are don't they?

Baby A's Halloween costume.....she wasn't thrilled about it, but hey it was warm.

Isn't she just precious?!?!? Taken back in August when she was only 3 mos old.

Back in the saddle again

Well - all that weight I lost while pregnant with the baby girl has mysteriously reappeared. Seriously I have NO idea how that weight found it's way back onto my body!! LOL So this last Monday (Jan 7, 2008) I officially started back on my diabetic diet.

So far I've lost 4 lbs.....I know water weight, but hey I lost 4 lbs. :) The best part is that last night I slept really good. I did get up with the baby girl around 3:30am, but I still woke up feeling more refreshed than I have in a long time. Okay, I'll admit I'm still a little tired, but this week I've made it into work by 7am each day which is huge since the last month or so it's been hit or miss.

The added bonus is that even though I'm stressed about work and crap that needs to be done at home I now feel like I have the drive and energy to get it done. Which means that this weekend I'm going to put away all the laundry that has been sitting in baskets for the last month. Guess I'll hafta post on Monday to let you know whether or not I gave K a heart attack.

On a side note a department at work I help support has a contest aptly named "The Fat Off". For a $10 entry fee you have 3 months to lose as much weight as you can. Who ever loses the biggest percentage of weight wins the pot. This year we're looking at about $100 for the Women's winner with a $50 bonus for the overall winner. Hmmm.....sounds like I'll be flying up to Chicago after April 7th to visit my cousin for a few days and still have some $$ left over!!!

My new job: Tooth Fairy

S finally lost his first tooth on Dec 26th. He comes to me all excited "Mommy my tooth is loose!!!" Not 5 minutes later "Mommy it fell out!!!!!" We grabed a cup to hold said precious tooth in and proceeded with our day. That night I quietly crept into S's room.....took the tooth and left him 5 $1 Gold coins. Of course I slept in the next day (who cares if I needed to get up and get to work) just so I could see and hear his excitement.

Unfortunately we're still waiting on tooth #2 to loosen up.....new tooth is already poking through. Taking the boy to the dentist Monday to see if they need to pull it. Guess that means that I.....er the Tooth Fairy needs to restock her supply of Gold coins.

FWIW - if I ever get off my lazy arse I'll get you guys some photo's.

Child Custody Woes

December 13th we had our hearing in regards to child custody. Even after I gave testimony that DSSD has never requested extra time with S nor taken me up on offers of weekly vacations during the summer the Judge awarded all but 3 weeks in the summer. She also awarded him every 1st, 3rd and 5th weekends while I get the 2nd and 4th.

To say I've been a little down is an understatement. Heck I'm beginning to cry as I write this. The only thing I know to do is just document everything, and to form a plan of action so that I have proof that this is NOT in the best interest of S.

The part that pisses me off is that this is ALL about money.....not DSSD really wanting to spend time with S. DSSD thinks that the more time he spends with S the less he'll have to pay in child support. Which unfortunately is our next court battle.

Hi, My name is Stephanie and I have a problem.

I'm addicted to Coffee-Mate' Peppermint Mocha creamer. I look forward to the holidays every year not because of the parties, gift exchanges.....but because my addiction will be available for purchase.

Since discovering it was back on the shelves in late October I've managed to polish off not one, not two, not three, but four of the large containers - and that's with only drinking coffee on the weekends at home. I will admit that K has been helping some, but he prefers just regular 1/2 and 1/2 in his coffee.

Now I can't get enough of that enticing chocolate mint flavor. I've been snacking on the new Hershey Kiss Mint Truffels and have recently found some instant Hills Bros. Cappuccino in Chocolate Mint. I had 3 cups of it yesterday.....no wonder I didn't fall asleep until well after 11pm last night.

Now that it's getting closer to Christmas I can't seem to find it anywhere......soon I'll be jonesin' when bottle #5 runs out.......so please just ingnore my crazy ramblings.

T - future FBI (female body inspector)

Saturday night Keith decided we needed to all head out to the local Pet Co to price all of the stuff we’re going to need for the lizards. We’re going with lizards rather than snakes – TG!! (Leopard Geckos to be specific.) And when I say ALL – I mean K, myself, R, T, and Baby A.

We wander around Pet Co, found most of what we will need except one item. So K thought we should head over to Target – just next door – and see if they might have it. Long shot we know, but we did need batteries and a few small items.

Now usually Baby A’s in her sling so the T-man can be in the cart, but not this time. We wander around the store with Baby A in the cart and the boys walking. The boys did great – even in the toy section. We got them both out of there w/o a melt down.

However, we pass the woman’s lingerie. T has to poke and prod each bra – especially the padded ones – and touch all of the panties. K and I were just dying w/laughter. Of course this is the section of the store where we have the difficulty getting the boys to leave. Go figure - typical male behavior.

Baby Girl Update

Everything seems to be looking good with her liabial adhesion. Won't find out a definite answer until her next appointment on Dec 4th. Keep your fingers crossed that everything's A-Ok.

What's that smell??

I love the man, but sometimes he just doesn't think things through. All 3 bathrooms have shower doors. With kids this just doesn't work.....especially in their bathroom. So down that shower door went. Then a week later the shower door in the master bath broke. If you must know only one side would slide. So, K decided yesterday would be a good day to remove it. Ummm.....HELL-OOOO.....we have no shower curtain/rod, and he didn't chaulk up the holes. Does anyone see where this is going?

Anyhoo - no problem he could've called me on my way home to pick them up. Nope, nada, nothing. He informs me I'll need to use the boy's shower in the morning. Yeah right - guess what wouldn't work.....yup the boy's shower. Got the water on and turned the knob to start up the shower and ...... nothing. Greeeeeeaaaat. So this morning I take a sponge bath and wash my hair in the boy's sink. I was tempted to wake his happy ass up and have him come help me.....but I'm too nice.

All I gotta say is that his sorry ass better be at Wal-Mart or Target (most likely Dollar General) buying us a shower curtain and rod sometime today, and my shower better be cleaned-up and chaulked by the time I get home so I can take a proper shower.

Ironically we were just looking at all of this great KU Jayhawks bathroom accessories on Monday and I tried to get him to buy a shower curtain then.

Craptastic

A friend of mine created this lovely word, and I love it.

The house we "bought" had duel furnace and a/c's. One set heats/cools the "old" portion of the house while the other set the "new" portion. The "old" set really need to be replaced as they're the original furnace and a/c. Of course the furnace doesn't work so it definitely needs to be replaced.

So we're looking into getting a heat pump. Our electric company has an initiative that they will help you finance a heat pump and pay for it via your electric bill as well as give you savings on your electricity costs. Unfortunately neither K nor I know anything about heat pumps.

I'm also secretly hoping that one heat pump can replace ALL of the units.

Shake, Shake, Shake.....

....shake up the Org Chart. I know - now you're singing "shake your booty". I swear every other week we're getting an announcement of some new hire and some department now reporting to a new manager. Well, now this time it's us. My boss did report directly to the CFO (Chief Financial Officer). Now he reports to X who is in between my boss and CFO. Great.....seriously this should be good. I'm still under the incompetent manager, but with him reporting to X this could be my blessing in disguise. Then again maybe not......we know how well this last one worked out.

"Buyer's Remorse"

Definition: Buyer's remorse is an emotional condition whereby a person feels remorse or regret after a purchase. It is frequently associated with the purchase of higher value items such as property, cars, computers, jewelry, etc. The common condition is brought on by an internal sense of doubt that the correct decision has been made. (From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)



Well - I'm using this term to apply to my acceptance of a new position at work. Yeah I got a $7,000/yr raise and they created the position specifically for me - but you know what I'm beginning to regret my acceptance.



To start with everyone in the bank agrees that this needs to be done and that I'm the person for the job. However, where do I belong? HR doesn't want me, Finance/Acctg isn't the best fit and neither would one of the main departments. Ironically my job will entail me coordinating with ALL of these departments to insure that incentive compensation is paid correctly and getting the desired results.

Then there's the new system being put in place to hold the calculations, etc. I'm being told my piece for one plan must be ready to go live by Jan 1, 2008.......W.T.F.??? I have been upfront telling them that my piece would not be ready until after the first quarter 2008. Also, why is it MIS dictating when I need to have my stuff done?

Lastly I have more to do and I doubt I'm going to get the resources to get everything accomplished in a timely manner. Basically I could work 60-70hr weeks from now until the end of the year and I still won't be any where near where I would need to be to do this job by myself. I honestly need some help, but I probably won't get it.

In the long-run if I can keep above water this will be a great opportunity - but I'm not sure I'll be able to keep above water if I can't get some help and this has me stressed. So if you've got one.....throw me a life perserver!!

Reincarnation

Before kids I wasn't sure if I believe in reincarnation or not......but with the arrival of T into my life I'm begining to believe. I swear the boy was a dog in a previous life. And it's not just him picking up food off of the floor and eating it or begging at my plate for a bite.....now it's the drinking from any standing water he can find, and yes that includes the toilet.

T is now 2 year and 5 months old and I'm slowly introducing the idea that rather than relieving himself in his diaper he should do it in the toilet. So being the good mommy that I try to be while going pee myself I asked T "don't you want to go pee on the potty like mommy". I get this "un-huh", and next thing I know he's leaves me in the bathroom to finish up. Then I hear the the toilet lid in the kids bathroom being slammed open. Oh shit! I wipe, run out of the bathroom while pulling up my pants only to find the boy with his head in the toilet. I pray and hope that he didn't actually drink the water - but with him who knows.

Oh, and this was after I caught him drinking from the puddle of standing water outside on the drive way. And it doesn't help that when you ask him what a sound a doggie makes the boy pants......no bark, woof-woof - but pants.

Ringworm

Guess who's got it.....nope, not one of the kids. Me. Yes, Me - 35 yo mother to 4 who's never had it before has ringworm. How I got it who the F knows - so I'm off to buy some anti-fungal cream. The best part is that it's right on a spot on my back where I can't really reach. Oh, and of course it's also irritated by the rubbing of my bra.

Better yet, when I get the receipt from the pharmacy the cream had the lovely label "jock-itch cream".

Christmas Music ALREADY?!?!?

November 1st as I'm driving into work I'm channel surfing on the radio and what to my wondering ears should appear, but Christmas music. Seriuosly - What. The. Fuck. Wouldn't it be nice to get through Thanksgiving first before heading to Christmas....before you know it we're going to just skip Halloween and Thanksgiving and go straight for Christmas. Damn commercialism.

Liabial Adhesion

That's what the little girl has. Some stretching of the skin to pull things apart and some hormone cream should do the trick. Should take about a month to clear-up, if not back to the doctor. If you'd like to know more than you ever wanted about Liabial Adhesions you can check out this website: http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,5892,00.html

Okay - getting the diagnoises from the doctor was the easy part, getting into the doctor was not. First off we were running about 5 minutes late when leaving the house. We made it to Children's Mercy Hospital at about 9:40am for her 9:45am appointment.....however, we had to find a parking spot. Down 3 floors of parked cars we find one.....make it into the actual hospital only to discover we're on the wrong side of the building. So off we trek (me, K, T, R & A - S was in school). Of course there's a security check - TG K and I both had our driver's licenses.

So it's now 9:55am and we finally get to the right office. Sign-in and wait. Around 10:30am they finally call me up to do paper work. Keith checks with them at 11am to see what the problem is and the receptionist made it sound like it was our fault for not getting the paper work done until 10:30am. At 11:15am they call us back to a little room....another 15 minutes later we finally see the doctor. She's in with us for 5-10 minutes and we're done. So we leave her office at 11:45am and head for the car. By the time we stop to pick-up lunch we arrive home around 12:45pm.

That's when my fun started as I then promptly headed to the pharmacy to fill baby girl's prescription. Apparently it takes almost an hour for them to slap a label on a tub of estrogen cream. So, by the time I get home with the prescription it's 2pm. No sense going into work as by the time I get there it'll be 2:30pm and I would be leaving for the day at 4pm. Gotta get home to get the kids fed/dressed early for Halloween!!!

Even with all of that sitting around waiting I was totally exhausted by the time the kids were finally in bed. Now I get the next 3-8wks to stress over this.

Getting Nervous

Tomorrow morning we go to the Urologist for Baby A's appointment to checkout her girl parts. I'm just hoping they can do something then or if not get us a surgery appointment ASAP. I'm tired of worrying about this and my imagination is in over-drive. Plus if she barely has an opening for urine to pass......that can't be good on her kidneys, etc.

Paybacks are a B-I-T-C-H

I'm finally Mom-ee in the eyes of the T-man.........and so is Dad-ee!!!! Bwaaaahahahahahaaaaa!!!!

Parent-Teacher Conference ! ! !

Last Thursday we had our first Parent-Teacher conference. To say I was nervous is a serious understatement. Between the recent move, custody issues and of course his ADHD I was soooo worried that we'd get an okay report or even a bad report. That was sooooo not the case!!

Basically he got 3's on everything (on a scale of 1-3 with 3 being the highest) on his report card. The only thing he's lacking is knowing the sounds letters make and since that is related to verbal understanding as far as I was concerned that was acceptable. He got a 2 and knew about 50-60% of the sounds - which I think is good for a non-verbal learner.

Mrs. P. did say that his drawings are incredible and that he's extremly creative. She showed us one pictured that had she not told us he did it himself I would've thought she had helped him on it, it was that good. Heck - it was much better than I could've and have drawn. As soon as it's sent home I'm scanning and then framing it.

So the good news is that he's doing great and she said if he keeps up this progress towards the end of the year she'd like to have him tested for the "gifted" class. I knew he was a bright/smart kid, but just didn't think we was "gifted". Only "bad" news is that he does exercise poor choice in words when he's mad/frustrated. So we get to work on that, but overall I'm sooooo relieved that all of the stress and work over the last 3 years has paid off.

Maybe he's right (for once)

I'm beginning to wonder if K may actually be right for once. You see I have 3 or 4 boxes of memoriabila and in one of those boxes are pictures from DSSD and I's wedding. He says I should just trash them and keep only a few for S should he want them, but not all of them.

It's not that I still love the man. It's not that I need to preserve the memory for myself. I've realized that the reason I'm keeping the whole album, etc is that it's a Creative Memories album. I, let me rephrase that - I created that album and there's a lot of hard work in there. I just can't throw away my hard work and effort. Not only that but the monetary cost of that album -between the album, stickers, price paid for photo's, etc.

I think this weekend I'll go through the box of crap and just keep the photo album......and trash all the other stuff. I'm thinking this is a good compromise even if K doesn't think so.

"Elp mom-EE, Elp!!"

Note: For those of you who do not speak toddler that's "Help Mommy, Help"

This is the pharse my adorable yet cunning 2yo has uttered the last 3 nights when "dad-EE" carries him off to bed. Not only is this hearbreaking as he utters these words with a look of sadness and pleading - his little arms outstretched towards me, but it's quiet funny as well. It also has us concerned that at 2 years old he's already figured out if he doesn't like what one parent says or does, go ask the other.

And in a way it's frustrating......I can't get that boy to say "mom-EE" any other time during the day, but wait until "dad-EE" starts to pick him up and put him in his crib and from the multiple utterances of "mom-EE" you'd think it was the only word he knew. See to T this is a game. When I start asking him who everyone is he'll tell me until I say "Who am I" and the response???? "dad-EE!!" said with glee and an ornery grin on his face. He knows who I am - just refuses to call me "mom-EE".

My baby will be 6!

Here he is the day we brought him home from the hospital. This is the "Pope" picture. Born 16 days early he still weighed in at 8lbs 13oz and 21 inches and a head full of black hair. I'd guessed he'd be 8lb 14oz......I was close. How little I knew him then, but we soon got to know each other well. He was my little buddy. Now he's this rambuncious soon-to-be-6-year-old that is a typical little boy. Obsessed with trains, likes to play computer games, enjoys digging for worms, has a love/hate relationship with his big brother role, and gives some of the best hugs/kisses in the world.

I'm proud to call him my son, and hopefully as time goes on and he gets older I can call him a friend. I hope he understands about the divorce (his father and I) and realizes I've only ever had his best interest at heart. I love you Poopie Bear!!

Either I'm crazy or this is true devotion

Last week as I'm sitting in the bathroom stall hacking up a lung while blowing my nose pumping breast milk I thought to myself either I'm just down right crazy or truely devoted to keep up with the breast feeding this time. I'm thinking a little of both.....unfortunately this may be the beginning of the end. My supply has decreased and since I've been fighting this cold/sinus crap for the last 3-4 weeks it's hard to get it back up where it was. That's okay....as long as I can make it through to the end of November and I'll have 6mos under my belt....again. Plus we've got a plethora of free formula samples so we're good on that front.

DSSD = Dip Shit Sperm Donor

That's what I'm calling my ex-H from now on. After making my life hell for 10 days with his restraint order now he's telling me he can't afford his lawyer and the courts will side with me any way. Well - duh......get a clue you dip-shit. I do everything for that boy and you're just "Fun Daddy".

Anyhoo - I told him e-mail with what he'd like to see in regards to a custody schedule. You know - days he wants each year (his birthday, father's day, etc) and I'll send him my thoughts. We verbally agreed that my lawyer will get everything typed up, and submitted to the courts in time for our Dec 13th court date. Sounds simple enough doesn't it.....apparently not. This is the e-mail I got instead "I will be more flexible with the custody schedule if you will put in writing that you don’t want child support anymore. The original purpose of the child support, as stated in the divorce papers, was for “work related daycare expenses”, which obviously, you do not have anymore, nor have you paid daycare for over a year. I think that’s fair, but it’s up to you. "

Okay - NOT you F-ing moron!! Doesn't matter that he only paid me $500 in two years while unemployed, oh, and that I need $$ to put a roof over S's head, feed him, clothe him, etc. Yes, K does stay home with the kids and I don't have daycare expense for Stephen, but I figure the money he's paying now is making up for not paying anything for two years.

What's ironic is that I've told DSSD (remember that's Dip Shit Sperm Donor) that all he needs to do is contact the District Court and request a re-evaluation of child support, and viola - child support will be lowered, etc. No lawyers, just the DC office gathering data etc and going in front of a judge with their recommendation. Never mind that in a year it's automatically recalculated as S will be in first grade and in school all day. Okay, the boy is in full day K now and should be adjusted, but I'm not telling unless I hafta. :)

Oh well, once again I get to take the high road, ignoring DSSD comments and respond with what I think is far in regards to visitation/custody, etc. I'm also very tempted to state that as long as he gives up his parental rights then of course I'll put in writing that I don't want child support any more.

It's great when they punish themselves!!

And it's cute. Not sure that T was in trouble, but I did need to remind him several times to sit at the table to eat his lunch. Next thing I know he just walks over to the naughty corner and stands in timeout. Occasionally when S has been in timeout T will go stand next to him, and when T has been sent to timeout usually I or K stand next to him to keep him there.

Honestly don't know what he thought he did to deserve timeout, but it sure was cute.....and even after telling him he could get out he stayed right there. After that I had no more troubles getting him to stay at the table and eat.

Baby A's 4mo Check-up

Everything went great. Really like the new doctor, and Janis (person who referred us) is right he is cute! She's up to 13lbs 8oz (50%) and in the 60% in height.

Only problem is that she's been referred to a urologist. Apparently some of her girl parts are fused shut. The doctor couldn't even see an opening - not even one big enough for urine to pass through. Oh, and as I explained it to K - basically there's no opening to put a tampon.

Doc said it could probably be fixed with just an estrogen cream, but since she was new patient he wanted to err on the side of caution and referred us to a urologist just in case she'll need surgery. Could have been like this since birth, or it could've developed over time.

Great - I love a pro-active doctor.....but it's been 3 friggin' days and the urologist has yet to call and set-up an appointment. Don't they know they have a mother here with an over active imagination....who has yet to research on the internet 'cause there's no way what's out there could be as bad as what she's imagining?!?!?

Turtles, Fish and Snakes - Oh MY!

Well - apparently I've gone completely insane as I've agreed to get Stephen a snake for his birthday coming up. There are two reasons for this: (1) K already has all the equipment we'll need so we just need to buy the snake, and (2) the kids already have enough toys.

I guess there is a third - Stephen really would like one. I've been doing a little research and I'm thinking we'll go with a Corn Snake. They don't get very big, but do live for up to 20 yrs though. Best of all they're not poisonous. Believe it or not, Stephen really wants a rattle snake - no way in hell.

So the next step is to find some place or someone that is willing to have an instructional session with myself, K, and S on how to care for a snake. 'Cause the last thing I want is for it to die a week after getting it or for it to get out.

T's butt is green - no shit!

Apparently when one gives your not yet potty trained toddler toooooo much sugar free grape kool-aid in one day not only with his poop be dark green, but so will his butt!!! After a day the greenish tint faded, but still - how much of this stuff has K been feeding the boy for this to happen??

You'd think after him freaking out about the red poop (from too much sugar free cherry kool-aid) that he would realize not to give the boy sooooo much of the grape. Oh well - live an learn, and learn and learn in this case.

"Emma" by Jane Austen

I just finished this book after a month. Not that it's a slow read, but that's how long it has taken me to read this book on the bus to and from work. And during my three to four 10-15 minute pumping sessions at work.

I have to admit had I not seen the movie I probably would not have choosen this book out of the blue to read, but like "Sense and Sensibility" I loved the movie so I decided to read the book. Another confession is that thanks to the movie I did have a much better understanding of what was going on, as occasionally I would get lost or misunderstand the meaning of a phrase. But I always have this problem with period pieces.

I normally don't recommend seeing the movie first then reading the book, but in this case the movies sticks pretty close to the book and it did heighten my enjoyment of reading the book.

Anyhoo - off to find something else in my bookcase that I bought long ago to read but just haven't found the time. Irnoically all those years of driving I missed actually sitting down and reading a book that I started listening to books-on-tape, and now that I'm communting via public transportation I kinda miss the books-on-tape. Go figure.

Major meltdown last night

Me - not one of the kids.

You see K stays home with the kids. During the day he'll do the basics - dishes, load of laundry and feed the kids. No real cleaning and refuses to put laundry away. He uses the rest of his time playing WOW (World of Warcraft). That's all fine and dandy - I understand it's his stress reliever.

However, once I get home and changed he goes back to the computer to play some more and leaves me with everything. This includes: making dinner, feeding Baby A, myself dinner, S's reading homework, bath, make S's lunch (if needed), make my lunch, read books, feeding Baby A, help S get his clothes out for the next day, get clothes out for Tyler for the next day, get my clothes out for the next day, go through S's backpack, put dinner away, read books, brush teeth, and finally get the kids to bed. Oh, did I mention the whole time I'm usually feeding Baby A? At the breast? Or sometimes she's fallen asleep in her sling but I'm still carrying her around with me.

As everyone knows not everything goes according to plan. Example would be last night: not only was T poopie before bath, but during bath he got sick and threw-up a little in the tub. So I had to drain ALL the water, clean it up, and then get a fresh bath going for S.

My point is there are 2 - count them one, two - of us. Why shouldn't he help? Yes I understand he needs a little break from the kids - but damnit I want to rest and relax as well. Haven't I been working all day? Don't I deserve the same consideration?

All, ALL I have ever wanted is for him to help in the evenings so that I'm not yelling at the kids and we both then can spend some quality time together after the kids goto bed. Rather than me doing everything, get the kids in bed, and then listen to him whine that I don't spend time with him 'cause I still got shit that's gotta get done before I can goto bed.

If you haven't guessed I finally had enough (again) and told him everything that needed to be done. Of course 90% of it was done by the time he actually came up for air from the computer to help. He didn't help his case when I had first asked him at 7pm to help me and he didn't make it around to helping until 7:45pm. Better yet, told him I doing what's best for me and kids, and if he wants some love and attention then he better start helping.

You know your getting old when . . . .

. . . . . . you spend the first 15 minutes at work (when nobody else is here yet) on the internet looking for a waffle iron that's non-stick, has removeable and possibly even exchanable plates. See this is what I'm buying myself for X-mas this year since I'm tired of spending money on frozen waffles. I figured one weekend a month I could just make up a huge batch of waffles, french toast, and yes even pancakes and freeze them. Then the boys would be set for the whole month for breakfast or lunch and even dinner. If you haven't guessed we eat a lot of waffles/pancakes/french toast in our house......my boys love their breakfast.

So far this is the best one I've seen:
http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=210958

I just would really like one w/exchangeable plates to make quesadilla's or even grilled cheese on them. Oh well - I guess I have a few months to X-mas so I'll keep looking.

No use crying over spilt milk ? ! ?

Definitely a saying a man came up with.....probably after he saw his wife crying over wasted/spilt breast milk.

Men just don't get it do they? They don't understand the effort and time it takes to get a good supply going, then the foods you can no longer consume (caffine, chocolate, anything spicy, etc). Oh, and the constant worry of "do I have enough?" Then there's the sore nipples and breast engorgement, and breast milk leaking every where. As well as remembering to take our vitamins and avoiding medicines when we're sick.

So, yes when you (aka men) waste any drop of breastmilk we will cry and we will yell at you, but understand it's not just breast milk you're wasting but our hardwork and effort. Apparently which only our children understand and appreciate.

For those that care.....K just wasted a 5oz bag of breast milk the other day. I was so mad I told him if his daughter starves it's his fault. Never mind the twenty or so bags of frozen breast milk in the freezer.

"Turtles can't play with Hot Wheels Tyler"

This is the latest chant around our house. On the average we dig out 3-4 Hot Wheels a day from the fish/turtle tank. I think his obsession with doing this goes back to the toilet.....yes, we've retrieved many a Hot Wheel from the toilet as well.

Then there's the bread crumb incident. Mr Destruction got into the pantry, found the container of bread crumbs and proceeded to "feed" the fish/turtles bread crumbs. So after only having the fish/turtles in the new house for 10 days we've cleaned/changed water now 4 times.

Thinking we should introduce our selves to the Principal at the elementary school our children will attend......I have a feeling the first day of Kindergarten for T we'll be getting a call.

My new toothbrush

Yup - this is my new toothbrush. Isn't it trendy???

In all seriousness here - this is what I'm using until I can (a) find my toothbrush that Mr Destruction ran off with or (b) finish unpacking the bathroom and find the spare adult toothbrushes I know we have.

Let's just say that ALL bathroom doors are now closed - at least until we can deter Mr Destructions fascination with the bathroom. Okay it's more like an obsession - just last week we had to replace K's razor as Mr D got a hold of it and tossed it in the toilet, that and his body puff K uses in the shower.

Jayhawk Football 2007

Okay - now that school's back in session I can start to focus on what's really important: KU Sports!!

Yeah-yeah, I know. KU sucks at football.....but Coach Mark Mangino is slowly building us a great program. We've already won our first two games and this Saturday we're going for win number 3!!

Hopefully we'll continue to perform throughout the regularly scheduled Big 12 games. As always I look forward to the KU vs K-State Kansas showdown. Especially since we may actually be better than them - first time in a good 10 years.

Poop, Crap, Kaka, Doody, etc

Why is it no one tells you that at some point in your life after having children you will live and die by the bowel movement. Oh, not yours - but your kid's.

Whether or not my child has pooped can determine my whole mood for the day. See - I have 3 kids who all have had trouble going poo at one time or another, and when they don't go at least once a day they just get in a fowl mood. I'm not shittin'. Yup - pun intended.

To prove my point, K called me at work just to tell me the baby girl finally went dukie after 4 days of nothing. The rest of day at work was just great and I was just in a good mood. I think I felt as much relief as she had! Now the little stinker is back to not poopin' and I'm getting just a little worried.

Ironically if the older two go poopie more than once in a day for at least two days in a row they're on the verge of getting sick. No shit - by day two they've got a nasty cold and bad sinus drainage.

See - life does revolve around shit......at least in my house.

Fish can't live in Milk & Turtles don't eat Crayons

We moved over a month ago, but just this last weekend we finally moved the turtle/fish tank. We still don't have the stand, but we needed to get the "pets" out of our previous home so we could get it cleaned and ready to rent/sell.

Right now the tank is setting on the ledge in front of the fire place in the living/front room. Unfortunately this makes the top of the tank at just the right height for Mr. Destruction. Apparently the day before he dumped a whole box of crayons in the tank, and then yesterday he poured milk from his cup in the tank. Strawberry milk if you must know.

While I got the boys situated for dinner K emptied as much water as possible and cleaned-up the tank as best he could. Sadly our two bottom feeders (looked like baby cat fish) kicked the bucket, but we've still got four gold fish.

The turtles are fine......as they've just had a nice meal of fish. Yup - they ate the two that died. BTW - the remaining gold fish don't look so good either, but only time will tell.

Tonight R comes to stay so I'm thinking a trip to the pet store will be in order to get some more feeder gold fish (aka turtle food), snails, and two more cat fish. Now if we could just get the stand from K's dad we can foil the rest of Mr Destructions dasterdly plans. At least the ones invovling the fish/turtle tank.

Peter Pan Peanut Butter

Ahhhh......I've never been soooo happy to see a product back on the shelf!! Now if I can only find the no sugar added I'll be in heaven!

Yup - I'm old.......these are the things that turn me on lately!

Moving SUCKS!!

Plain and simple.

So not only do we have to keep up with the daily crap around our new house, but we're still unpacking. And little Miss High Maintance doesn't help. And neither does this stupid cold that T got last weekend that he's now passed along to everyone else in the house in one form or another.

Oooooo - and then there's trying to find the crap that you have unpacked. Like last night trying to find my hand-held mixer....found the beaters, but not the mixer. Where it's at is a mystery to me. Hopefully I can find it before I make mash taters again - then again I like lumpy mash taters.

What is it with boys and their penis

I know it's because I'm female and I don't have one is the reason for my lack of understanding, but seriously folks what's the fascination?

I ask because this is what I've dealt with at my house within the last week:
* R - just turned 4 and is constantly grabing himself. Finally told him it's okay to play with it in the bathroom or your bedroom, but NOT out in public.
* S - will be 6 in October, and recently informed me he likes playing with his penis. Fine, once again in your bedroom or in the bathroom, not in public.
* T - biddy boy just turned 2 in June. I swear the boy gets a woody the second you start to change his diaper he's that eager to grab/play with it. Oh - then there's the bathtub and the cups....you guessed it, the cups go over the penis.

Oye - how am I to survive the pre-teen and teenage years if they're already this fascinated with their favorite appendage? Maybe this is why I finally had a girl - but then again that's a whole different can of worms.

The Pirate Movie

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084504/


If you've never seen it - go get your drunk on and watch!!! Seriously this is right up there with "The Princess Bride". Now off to find the soundtrack!

Short, but sweet

The gravesite service yesterday for my grandmother was short, but sweet and not overly religious. I hate to admit this, but I honestly thought it would just family and one or two close friends. Was I wrong. Besides family (only 9 of us including the great-grandkids) there were at least 25 other people in attendance. Many people spoke up about what a wonderful woman, friend, person she was.

Made me realize I didn't really know my grandmother at all. Yes, I should've taken the time, but as a child she was always stand-offish - unaproachable almost. Unfortunately that feeling carried with me into adulthood. All of this has also made me very thankful for my own mother - as she's a wonderful grandmother.

Here's her obituary in the Lawrence Journal World:
http://www2.ljworld.com/obits/2007/sep/01/gertrude_coon/

Breakfast short-cuts

Okay - the boys love their waffles/pancakes/french toast and sausage links. It dawned on me the other day that the groves in our Geo. Foreman knock-off is just the right size for sausage links. You can cook about 14 at a time and you don't need to really worry about turning them, etc. Just set the timer and go. I can cook-up two packages of sausage links w/o the hassle and the boys get their sausage for their breakfast. Now I just gotta try bacon!



Second thing I just figured out......corn starch mixes great with milk and works wonders at thickening gravy for biscuts and gravy. This way you don't get that over powering flour taste. Made the best gravy this morning. Even K said it was my best effort yet.

Well - she's off to a better place

My grandmother's (father's mother) health has slowly been declining these last 10 months or more. She would've been 89 in November.

Unexpectedly, her death has made me sadder than I thought I would be. I don't know if it's because she was my last grandparent or if it's emphathy for my dad. You see my dad's father passed away 14 years ago, and his only sibling almost 7 years ago. He's not close to his extended family so his immediate family was all he really had. In my communication with him last night and today he's been very mater of fact, which I know is his way in dealing with his grief. But I'm at a loss for what to do for him. A big batch of chocolate chip cookies just doesn't seem like enough.

For those that care I wasn't very close with my any of my grandparents except my maternal grandfather. I've always felt a little cheated in the grandparent department 'cause none of my grandparents were the ideal grandparent - except my Grandpa Clary.

So, the service will be Saturday at 2pm. Just a small grave site, and family only. That's what she wanted.

School lunches sure are better.....

....than when I was kid. Seriously here....no joke.

This week is my last week to drive myself to work so I thought I'd take the opportunity to go have lunch with S at school. (He's in all day kindergaten.) Plus they were having pizza - the boy's favorite.

Oh, if you care I start taking the bus next Tuesday. Figured out I could save approximately $300/mo if I rode the bus vs driving myself.

What was also weird is that they basically have the kids serve themselves. No longer does the lunch lady populate your tray with the various menu items for the day, but you get to choose!! They have 3 choices of the main entree (today it was salad, pizza, or sandwhich) and then you choose your three sides (carrot sticks, cooked veggies, and/or applesauce). Plus you get not only chocolate and plain milk, but strawberry....AND you can choose a juice drink as well.

Also, it was nice to see that my little monster is one of the tamest of the bunch. No joke - there were a few kids there that I thought could benefit from a few doses of S's ADHD meds. However, it was nice to see my kid is normal....even if his parents are not.

I think I'll pull my hair out!!

Wait a minute I don't need to.....it's all falling out on it's own!!! Seriously - is this mother natures sick joke....once all hormone levels are back to normal after pregnancy a woman gets to lose her hair?? It's not like I had a lot to begin with......I guess I should look on the bright side: the grey hairs are falling out like all the rest!!

Curious George watch out!!

T will give you a run for your money. We've been our new house for little over two weeks. As you can imagine most things are still in boxes, and only recently have we been able to get the boy's room somewhat unpacked and organized. Until then this is what T has found to entertain himself.

1. Inflatable ring for the pool - he loves to step into this and pull it up to his waist and bump into things as well as put it around his ankles and shuffle around the floor.
2. Toothbrush - he's going to have the cleanest teeth
3. Sippy cups - they're great to stack and unstack
4. Boxes - of course empty ones are every where
5. Floor tile - we're tearing up the laminent floor in the basement and T's been helping.

He's also been getting into everything, and taking his clothes off. (He's the poster child for the toddler nudest colony.) Unfortunately we can only keep him clean for about an hour at best.

However, he's cute, he's entertained, isn't causing much more of a mess than what was already there - so why not let the boy have some fun.

Why now does he want to be a father to the boy ? ?

Is it because he'll be 6 in October? Is it because he can just sit the boy in front of the TV, computer, or video game all day? Why? I seriously want to know.

Even though he couldn't take care of him for the 2 years he was unemployed, and had me put him in daycare. As well as, made me use all of my sick/vaction/paid-time-off to care for him when he was sick for 3 years. He thinks he can now be a father?? Or does he just want to be "fun daddy"?

I unfortunately gave him the door with which to open up the issue of custody. The last 2 times I've moved and the last 3 times he's moved neither has required the 30-day written notice be sent via registered and certified mail. However, I move out-of-state (40 miles away) and all hell breaks loose.

Not only did he file a motion to get immediate full custody of Stephen while we wait on a custody evaluation, but he got the judge to sign a restraining order against me from removing the child from the state of KS. All of this the Friday we moved and a week before S was to start school - more specifically Kindergarten.

Luckily my parents were kind enough to keep Stephen from Friday August 10th through Monday August 20th as we'd already moved 75% of our junk by the time I was served with the restraining order. The 20th of course being the first day of school. Our lawyers were able to meet with the Judge on the 20th and got things temporarily straightened out. Basically I get S throughout the week so that he can attend school, but he gets to spend all of his weekends with "fun daddy" until our Dec 13th court date.

My lawyer told me I was being punished by the Judge for not filing the 30-dy notice as required by KS law, and I was being made to be the authoritarian figure. Well, shit.....I'm that already....no big punishment there.....except I do miss out on the quality time of every other weekend.

So after everything's said and done I got the boy back the night of the 20th and he started school on the 21st. Now I just sit back and wait for ex-H to do something stupid and for the custody evaluation to start.

Dec 13th can't come soon enough.

Good News

Baby A still fights it, but she'll take the bottle!!!!! Weird thing is she prefers one bottle with Daddy and another with Mom.....each bottle has different shaped nipples. At this point we're not going to question it and just go with it.

As you can guess this has made my week at work a little easier.

Food Allergies & School

S has a Tree Nut allergy.......more specifically to Walnuts (Black and English) and Pecans. So, not only do we avoid food with Tree Nuts but Peanuts as well for the boy. We also spend $110 every fall for his EpiPens, Albuterol inhaler, and Zyrtec....enough for four seperate emergency packs. One for the school nurse, one for mom's house, one for dad's house and one for his back pack which goes with him everywhere.

Now for those who are wondering we didn't know he had an allergy. It took him eating a chocolate chip cookie with a few English Walnuts in them and vomitting immediately for us to figure it out. (BTW - it's the Black Walnuts he'll have the most severe reaction.) This was a year ago........and so far so good.

FYI - the reason for the EpiPens is because up until the allergy was discovered he was on meds for asthma (aka Reactive Airway Disease)....which he has out grown TG......and if he has Black Walnuts most likely it will be an anaphalactic reaction.

S does know to ask if a new food has nuts in it, and I, his grandparents, and dad all know to read the labels carefully. So before you complain about what you can and can't bring to school for your kid's parties.....just think it could be worse.....it could be your kid with the allergy.

FWIW - here's a great article on Food Allergies:
http://www.babble.com/content/articles/features/dispatches/Martini/foodForThought/

It's official.....we bought a house

However, I'm not excited as I should be. You see....there's some strings attached (which I've already made it perfectly clear to K that should his grandparents get too involved in our lives we're making other arraingments). First, K's grandparents are buying the house so they can reinvest the money they received for selling some land. Should mention that we are thne paying them a monthly payment....more than they could rent it for but less than a house payment for us. Second, due to the first we bought in a city we weren't excited about but decided that we could suffer for the 2-3 years it'll take for us to get some equity and buy a house on our own. Third, K's grandparents have reserved the right to come and stay in the spare bedroom as needed. This is the one item I'm not sure about....they spend about 8mos outa the year in Phoenix AZ so hopefully this won't be too bad.

Oh, then to top it off Stephen starts Kindergarten Aug 20th.....we're hoping to be all moved by Labor day. So - not only do I hafta get all of the paper work together for his current school I've gotta get everything together for his new school. Then to top it off we're moving from KS to MO....that's just a whole nuther set of issues: driver's licenses, registering the cars, etc.

And the best is that I start back to work on the 14th of August.....and A won't take a bottle.

Starting to feel like I've lost control over everything........stay tuned to see if I lose my mind next.

3wks Left

:( I only have 3 weeks left of ML......guess baby A needs to get used to the bottle. Hmm...on the bright side I might ween her off me as her pacifer....doubt it though.

Ugh - Car Repairs

Okay - really shouldn't complain, but still we had to shell out $450 for a new alternator for my '99 Nissan Maxima. More than half of that was for labor as the alternator is on the bottom of the engine, not the top like American cars. However, I still LOVE that car.....even if K and/or my dad can't do all of the repairs when needed.

Anyhoo - luckily I'm on maternity leave and K's grandparents have been borrowing it as it gets better gas mileage than their truck, otherwise we'd have had to play musical cars as well.

Funny thing - K's grandfather thought he'd left the lights on and ran down the battery.....I kept trying to tell K and his grandfather that that wasn't possible as the car was equiped with a sensor that when it sensed a drain on the battery it would shut off whatever was causing the drain. They of course thought I was full of it.....got the last laugh in the end didn't I?

Crying, Crying and more Crying

I don't know who's been crying more: me because she's crying so much and I don't know what's wrong or Baby A.

Seriously folks, I think she has colic. But rather than crying 2-3 hours at a time she cries pretty much anytime from 8am to 5-7pm unless I'm holding and/or nursing her. The gas drops do help, and I have noticed that after she has her 2-4 good daily poops is when she well craps out.

I've given up all Mexican (too spice), all caffine (including my beloved morning cup), most Chinese food (brocoli, etc seem to upset her), and have severly limited my intake of chocolate. These have helped, but she still just gets pissed off for a lack of a better term and the only thing that seems to settle her down eventually is nursing.

Basically I'm the human pacifier again. Not bad at night as A and I sleep together, but during the day it sucks big time. Especially since I had to send the sling I ordered back as it was too big. Trust me the new one in the correct size can not come soon enough.

Then to top it off I think she's going through her 6 week growth spurt early.....at least there I can help and once she does fall asleep (for a good 3-4 hour nap) I can get in 2, sometimes 3 small pumping sessions to help boost supply.

Hope this ends soon.......