That's it...I'm officially old

Last night T was in pain from some baaaad diaper rash and would sleep for about 30 minutes and then wake up crying from any where to 1-2 mins to 5-10.

The only reason he got any sleep was because mommy slept with him for 1/2 the night. Luckily there's twin bed in his room for the older boys as we cuddled on that.

However, somewhere around 3-4am he decided he needed the twin bed to himself and wanted me to sleep on his toddler bed. Fine - I didn't argue. I slept like crap, my whole body aches, and never mind only getting little snipettes of sleep all night.

Sooo - glad I only worked 1/2 a day.....off to home and early bedtime for everyone - especially me.

Took T to the doctor this morning - has a raggin' yeast infection. Got a prescription for some cream...hopefully it'll do the trick. If not we're back at the Dr. on Friday. (If you haven't guessed this is why I only worked 1/2 a day...didn't make it in until noon.)

Should we do it?

And by "it" I don't mean the dirty deed...get your minds out of the gutter!!

By "it" I mean rent out the extra bedroom in our basement. We're not talking long term - but we've been looking at the ads on Craigslist.com and there's a lot of people wanting something short term for $200-$400/mo.

We could definitely use the income. We'd have a little expense up front as we'd need to change the lock and deadbolt to the outside door downstairs since it's the same as the rest of the house. We don't need to, but I'd feel better if we did.

I just keep thinking if we could find a college student who works and is pretty quiet we'd be set. Plus I have dreams of being able to charge less in rent if they'd babysit at least one night a month. OMG - I get all twitter patted thinking about actually having someone I trust other than my parents to watch the kids so K and I could go out on an actual date!!!

Some people just never learn

And by that I'm referring to myself.

Once again went to the store and on my way out dropped my phone in a grocery bag. Get home, K helped me unload and put away. Not thinking I just gave him the two bags for the freezer. As I'm heading out the door this morning realize I don't have my cell phone. Call if first, then realize where it's at.

At least this time it only took me about 12hrs rather than 2 weeks to figure it out.

It still works - for now. Seriously gonna have to look into LG appliances if their cell phones can take this kinda beating and still work.

Oooooowwwwww!

That's my body protesting after all the hard manual labor I did on Saturday. Ironically felt pretty good Sunday - wasn't too sore, etc. But this morning it was hell getting out of bed....and this was even after taking two ibuprofen and an aleve (with two bottles of Mike's Hard Lemonade) before going to bed last night.

I feel like a nap, more drugs, and maybe even a drink. If I can just make it until 7:30pm I'm good....and I might actually goto bed at the same time the kids do. Gawd I'm getting old, and it sucks - wish my body could stay as young as my mind thinks I am.

What's that wet spot?

That was the question Friday night and most of the day Saturday.

We have (had) carpet in our kitchen. Some crappy blue stuff about the texture of office carpet. It has multiple stains and overall just looks like shit. Seriously what dumbass puts carpet in a kitchen??? Then again - what morons buy a house with carpet in the kitchen with 4 kids??? Anyhoo - making dinner Friday night notice a spot of wet carpet by the dishwasher. Put down a towel - step on it to soak it up and all looks good. Get up Saturday and the same damn spot is there and I swear its wetter than it was the night before. Get another towel and all seems good. Since Saturday was sooo friggin' beautiful we headed to the park. We get home after the park and lunch, and that damn spot is still wet and wetter than when we left.

Okay - that's it. Ask K to rip up the carpet to see what the hell is going on. Can't you tell where this is going??? Do that and the pad and floor underneath (shitty old 70's linoleum) is soaked. So we ripped up ALL the carpet, ALL the padding, ALL the tack strips, and the zillion staples. Pull out the fridge - no leakage. Look under the dishwasher - looks good. Under the sink - good, but just in case cut a hole to check it out. Still looks good, but there's been some recent water near the front.

SO - we run the dishwasher and sure enough the bastard is leaking. GRRRREEEEAAAATTTT - NOT!!!

Our dishwasher is having a good ol' time with the old carpet and padding out on our deck.

My hands and arm muscles still hurt from pulling up all those damn staples. Seriously someone got a little too happy playing with the staple gun. However, removing all that crap is what we wanted to do eventually just not now. We don't have $$ for the new flooring we want nor the new dishwasher we'll need. Oh well - maybe by X-mas Santa will be nice and help us out.

Why does he take it soooo personally?

R, my step-son, was 12 days shy of the cut-off to start Kindergarten last fall. So K's ex-w decides to have him attend private K at his current daycare center for the '08-'09 school year. Basically the same price for daycare - so no real big difference. Accademically he does great and he does pretty well socially. Especially since there's only like 10 kids there.

Anyhoo - fast forward to this Spring. R's mom has him tested and he's been admitted into the public school system as a first grader for this fall. '09-'10 school year. Well the boy is smart, but he's very whinny and is really lacking maturity.

I inform K of this that maybe having R goto 1st is a big mistake and that he should really repeat Kindergarten. This way he's on par with his peers and rather than being the youngest he's one of the oldest.

Well K is taking it as a personal attack on him. Even after I've explained that I think most of R's childish and immature behavior is because his mom babies him and waits on him hand and food. Then again K won't really bring this up to her 'cause then she takes it personally and a fight ensues. With those two it takes just one little spark to set-off an arguement....which is probably why he doesn't like talking to her. I've even heard him ask as in regards to R's best interest and she still gets defensive, etc.

Oh well - apparently R was just being a butt this morning and K has realized he does need to talk to her about his behavior as it's getting out of hand.

Somedays I'd just love to call her and lay it on the line for her because she needs a big reality check when it comes to K and R. Really do wish they made a "clue-by-4" as she needs a good smack with one.

Toddler Dictionary

Over the years whenever my kids couldn't say something properly they'd make up their own word. So I don't forget here are the ones I remember and/or my favorites

kop-key = coffee (S)
kay-kay = pancakes (S)
butter = peanut butter and jelly sandwhich (T)
coffee = anything K or I drink that's in a can or coffee mug (T)
ma-dee = T's combination of mommy and daddy (and yes, we both answer)
la-la-loon = balloon (S)
zoom-zoom = car (S)
cake = anything that is cake or resembles cake (T)
down = up or down (A)
bay-kee = blankie (A)

The price you pay for eating dirt/mud. . .

. . . is a raging fever for 5 days, extremly stinky and runny poo, oh and a severly bad case of diaper rash.

Yup - T's at it again. At least alternating the Tylenol and Motrin is controlling his fever - but it's done nothing for his whinniness.

We had him tested for a few bugs - but nothing positive. I personally think it's a virus....probably one of those that the Health Dept would call us on if they knew.

Oh well - at least the fever seems to have broken and the diarreha has stopped......just need to get the diaper rash to clear up.

Did you know that clouds can cry?

Last Sunday we awoke around 8am to a pretty intense (if short lived) thunderstorm. T promptly tells me that "The clouds are crying". Ahhhhhhh - isn't that so cute and sweet. Well, it was until he informed me that they were crying because "You made the clouds mad mommy".

I seriously have no idea where the boy gets this stuff. Later after the storm had passed and the sun had come out he tells me "good morning mommy - it's daytime now". You see it was pretty dark - even at 8am - with all the cloud cover.

I love the boy to pieces....now if I could just get him to stop pissing himself.

When all else fails - check the deep freeze

. . . . . that is if you're looking for a lost cell phone.




I'm assuming I've now piqued your interest...let me elaborate: approximately 4 weeks ago goto the bread store, buy lots of bread, when leaving store shove phone in bag, when get home K takes bag to freezer and shoves whole thing in, next day can't find phone, call all weekend, assume it's lost and have it shut off, don't order new phone as we now have land line, 4 weeks later go to get loaf of bread from freezer and empty bag K put in earlier....and find phone.

Amazingly not only did it still work it actually had battery life left. Been using it for a week w/no problems. LG phones get a gold star in my book.

Can the Potty Train please stop at our house???

Hopefully it will this weekend. We've been slowly encouraging the boy after he went pee in the potty on his own last Sunday....not only once, but 3 times!!! He's even showing interest in preschool. So this Saturday I've decided that's it....to the bathroom we go every 30 minutes. Good thing it's supposed to rain/snow all day that day.

I've got the pull-ups out, big boy underware washed and ready, and plenty of towels ready. However, I think we may have to let Baby A try as well......especially after she insisted on sitting on the potty tonight.

Don't mind actually......I'm getting kinda giddy over the money we'll save on diapers!

On to child #2 with an IEP

IEP = Individual Education Plan

It really sucks that Biddy Boy (T) needs speech therapy as well as S. However, it really wasn't a surprise. Yes, his speech had improved since starting preshool, but we still can't always understand him and he'll be 4 here in 3mos. So he'll be getting 20 minutes of speech therpay M-R when at preschool to work on his pronunciation.

I am amazed that T has basically the same problem as S - even with completely different personalities. But why did they both have to inherit this from me? Yes, I too needed speech therpay....as well as my brother. Seriously here....why couldn't he inherited my cute butt....rather than his father's? (BTW - his father has no butt.)

Chant to self: focus on the positives, focus on the positives

Ahhh....another birthday has come and gone

My 37th to be specific. The closer I get to 40 the more I start reflecting on my life so far - especially if you believe the stats I've lived half my life already.

So, I've decided to pick one goal that I'd like to accomplish by the time I'm 40. The problem is I'm no sure what it should be. I know I'd love to lose some weight, start working out....but to be honest I know that won't happen I'm a born again couch potato. Then there's paying off debt...well our big debt will be paid off by then anyway so that's kinda cheating. I've got my professional career to think about. Maybe some training?? I just don't know.

Maybe by my 40th birthday I'll have figured it out?

Curious Georgette strikes again!!

Yes, I did have to get her out. Didn't stop her from getting in there 3 more times that night. At least the cake pans were safe for a night.

Gender Differences ? ?

T and Baby A are exactly 2 yrs appart (okay 1yr 355 days to be exact). Noticed lately that T's really into playing/caring for one of the 4 baby dolls we have around the house. T wants to feed them, bathe them, and even change them....but when it comes to carrying them any old way will do. Baby A on the other hand will always wrap her arm around the baby doll's belly (you know, just under the arms), but has no desire for the feeding, bathing and changing.

I've been really wondering if this is a girl vs boy thing or just their personality since Baby A is very observant while T - not so much. Especially since T and A treat the cat the same way. T just picks poor Squeakers up any old way, but Baby A picks him up the same way she does her baby doll.

BTW - did I mention we have a cat? Orange Tom cat named Squeakers - soon to be an it. For now he's an indoor cat.

Sometimes the boy just amazes me

We have this old crappy computer that the older two boys use to play games. (Lately it's Lego StarWars.) Anyhoo - T or Baby A some how removed a few keys from the keyboard and whoever put them back didn't put them back in the correct spaces.

K was all ready to ground the boys from the computer when he saw S taking off the keys and putting them back on. Come to find out he was fixing it. The boy is 7 - and already knows the placing of the keys on the key board. I did a quick check of course and he put them back in the correct spots. Needless to say I was amazed at this ability....and of course he was happy to not get in trouble.

FWIW - I would like to point out that I did have R confirm S's story.....per R "He was fixin' the keyboard".

Update of Sorts

Isn't it funny how life seems to get in the way of your life? Anyhoo - here are a few updates.

1. Baby A is 16.5mos old....where the hell did the time go?! She's doing soo much more at this age than any of the boys I sometimes forget how young she really is. She's still on the petite side - but trust me you wouldn't know it the way she wrestles w/the boys. (At some point I'm going to have to stop referring to her as Baby.)

2. T - is a monkey as always. He's going to preschool 4 days a week for 3hrs a day. It's done wonders for his speech and behavior at home and he's only been going a month. Good thing is that he'll be automatically enrolled next year. The year after is still up in the air...not sure he'll be starting K the Fall of 2010 or if we'll wait until Fall 2011. Really depends on if the evals from preschool and our gut feelings tell us if he's ready or not.

3. R - started K at a private school this fall. Due to his birthday and the cut-offs for public he wouldn't be able to attend until next Fall (2009). I definitely think he has the smarts and knowledge to be in K, but his maturity level is severly behind. Luckily the state requires him to go through 1st in private as well before testing for placement in public.

4. S - in 1st grade and will be the big 7 tomorrow. We had a harry start to school - hitting, trouble keeping his hands to himself - but we changed his meds and all seems better now. However, his anal retentiveness about rule following is about to drive us batty - he thinks it's his job to correct everyone rather than just tell on them. Oh well - Parent-Teacher Conferences are this week so we'll find out how he's really doing.

5. K - he's doing good. Still doing the SAHD gig for now. He's hoping this Spring to get a job a couple nights a week. Then again that's if my work schedule will allow for it. Either way he's looking forward to the Fall of 2010 when Baby A is eligible for preschool.

6. Me - well, work has been nuts. Back in March 2008 got a new boss and things aren't going as planned. Apparently regardless of my performance in the past I'm starting over and must prove myself. I'm going to have to start working from home at night after the kids are in bed, and possibly even some weekends. This just totally bites. What I hate the most is that I love what I do, but apparently I haven't earned the trust of the new boss so every move I make is being scrutinized.

Hmmm....that's it - will try and take a picture tomorrow of the birthday boy. Can't believe how big he is...before I know it I'll have a teenager on my hands.

Oreo Moment

Last night in honor of Labor Day weekend we went all out and grilled up some steaks and hot dogs. (Steaks for us, hot dogs for the kids.) While at the store picking up the fixin's for dinner I grabed two things of Oreo's per R's request. I get home and the first thing the kids want are Oreos and milk. I gave them each an Oreo with the understanding that they could have more after dinner.

If you haven't seen a package of Oreos lately they're having this "Oreo Moment" contest where you record your Oreo moment and submit it on youtube.com. Anyhoo - working on dinner, etc I notice the cookie remains of an Oreo cookie on the floor. Come to find out, T - who just turned 3 and hasn't had many Oreo type cookies - just ate the filling. To confirm this I gave all the kids another cookie and low 'n behold T just ate the filling and ignored the cookie part. Asked him to eat it and I repeatedly got told "No, yucky! Trash!". So off to the trash they went.

Thinking T's pretty smart I tell K only to come to the realization that the boy watches way to much TV. (Damn commercials!!)

So which minority will win?

Even if you don't keep up with politics (and personally I really don't), you'd have to live under a rock in the middle of nowhere to no know that regardless of which side wins - Republicans or Democrats - a minority will win as well.

So - will this come down to a race of do we want a woman VP or a black President? It shall be interesting - especially on how the media will handle this. Just maybe once they will remember what journalism is all about and just report the truth and exercise some common sense before they hand in that piece of shit they call a story to their editor.

Being an Independent I was prepared to vote for Obama. I can't believe all the mistakes McCain has made in his speeches are due to his staff - something just doesn't seem right. And his choice of a "young" candidate for VP seems to prove my point. Banking on the young VP to handle anything should something happen to McCain.

Regardless of who wins I'm just proud of America for having made it this far - not that we still don't have a long way to go - but at least my kids will grow-up in a time where at least one minority made it into the White House.

Toddler's Guide.... (cont.)

Chapter 3: Start Small



Driving your parents insane should be approached very carefully. You should also know that these first few years will set the tone for the relationship you'll have with your parents for the rest of your life. You must go slow otherwise you will not get the desired results. In otherwords start smal. Literally do not take on any task bigger than yourself.



The following are good places to start, espeically for those 0-12mos.

1. Missing milestones. If you're the oldest missing milestones will frustrate and annoy your parents to no end. If you're the 2nd, etc definitely do not follow the same timeline as your older siblings - we gotta keep the 'rents on their toes. Just when they think they have us figured out we need to change the game. A very good example is my family. S (the oldest) started crawling at 10mos, and walked at 11mos. I came along (T) and decided to crawl around 11mos and not walk until 13mos. Then there's Baby A. (She took this to a whole new level.) Crawled at 6-7mos, and was walking at 12mos. So, even though you know you can roll over....hold out. The look on the 'rents face when you finally do is all worth it. Better yet, just forget about crawling and go straight to walking - that'll throw the 'rents for a real loop!!



2. Being different. Yeah, yeah - I know were all different. What I'm referring to is make sure you do just enough stuff like your siblings or so-and-so's kids to keep the 'rents happy, but you still gotta make your own path. I, S and R are not climbers.....but Baby A sure is. In other ways she similiar, but with her being a climber she's not. Remember it's all about keeping your parents on their toes. BTW - Baby A has really out done herself and I would even say has surpassed me in this department.

3. One thing. Pick that one thing that annoys the 'rents more than anything and continuously do it. You like to take your diaper off and run around naked - do it. No matter how many times you're told "no" - do it. Undressing in public your thing - go for it. Screaming because you can - make it loud. Throwing food - do it with meaning. (Okay, must point out don't do this until you've had your full.) What ever it is (and you know what it is) do it repeatedly and give it 110%. Plus you get the added bonus of doing something you've been told not to do!! Come on - be a rebel - you know you wanna!

4. Something unexpected, yet expected. By this I mean do something they wouldn't expect, but when they look back on the 'rents should've known you'd try or do it. Take this example from my own personal accomplishments: take the turtle out of the tank and set it free. Don't say anything, just let the 'rents or siblings discover the disappearance. In this instance the 'rents are repeatedly putting me in time out for playing in the tank, so you'd think they'd realize that eventually I'm going to get brave enough to actually take out a turtle and play with it. Apparently not. You see - 'rents like to give you the benefit of the doubt and think we're smarter than we really are. 'Rents haven't figured out that we probably won't get any common sense until we're well into our twenties....but God love 'em they are optimists which make us opportunists!