Taking a break

We're headed to TX @ 3AM. Send me "don't get kicked off the plane for a screaming kid or breastfeeding" vibes.
We're coming home late Tuesday, and Wednesday is my birthday (26!!) but I'll post when I'm able.
Until then, Happy Labor Day!

New baby!

Semi-Desperate Housewife had her baby!! Go see!

I'm screwed.

Sleep is an ongoing battle over here. D & I want it and the kids don't.
d is almost 2.5 years old, and just this month started sleeping through the night. Until now he was up several times a night. His sleeping issues were a NIGHTMARE! I am not exaggerating, but I'm too tired to bother writing down the horrible nights we've had for well over 2 years.
Well, suffice it to say that we're thrilled that d is finally sleeping through (and I'm praying like crazy that mentioning this won't ruin it!).
O has decided to take over the nighttime torture. He is every bit as bad of a sleeper as d was. There is only one difference and that is that he'll fall asleep in his bed, by himself. d still won't do that. (Yes, we still lay down with our 2.5 year old to get him to sleep every night.)
Granted, with O, sometimes all I have to do is lay him down and turn on his music and noise machine, give him his lovey and paci and leave the room. That's all it takes and he falls asleep.
However, some days it's a lot harder. I just spent an hour and a half fighting with him. Up and down out of the crib. Him screaming, me patting his back, nursing, crying and leaving. Coming back and trying again after a small breather so that my head won't explode. FINALLY he's asleep.

Why do kids fight sleep? Is it just my kids? Even when they can barely keep their eyes open, they don't want to sleep.
I had no idea that sleep issues would plague me when I signed up for this parenting thing. I knew that babies don't sleep through the night right away, but 2.5 YEARS?! Come on now!
I just hope and pray that O does better. So far, though, it's not looking promising.

busy

Busy, busy, busy.
I'm frustrated with my weight loss, or lack thereof, lately. I am down to O's pre baby weight, give or take 1/2 a lb. My body is taking it's time returning to it's normal shape, though. To be expected I guess.
The annoying part is that I haven't lost ANY weight in 2 weeks. Hmph. I've been working my butt off!! Seriously. Grrrr.

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Going on vacation this weekend, so we're swamped with things to do.

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I was looking at baby pics last night and O's newborn picture made me tear up! WTH!?
I swing back and forth between wanting to get pg RIGHT NOW and then acknowledging that that is, indeed, crazy. (it really is!!)
To make matters worse, I think I was ovulating (am ovulating?) this week and we were less than, uh, careful.
So now I'll have to spend the next week and a half wondering if I could be and sligtly hoping that I am and seriously hoping and praying that I'm NOT!!
Stay tuned for a freak out in 2 weeks.

d & O

d left, O right. At comparable ages.

So, what do you think? Similar or no?

Awww and OUCH!

O The Tripod!

This baby, this little chubby, almost-sitting-up baby can surely not be MY baby. My NEWborn baby?!

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Now I remember why I had to give up sports in high school. (Aside from sucking at them that is. ) I was continuously hurting my ankles, knees, and wrists. It got to a point where I went to a PT (who also happens to be D's aunt) and she told me that I had "loose ligaments."

I had never heard of such a thing, but apparently this is the reason I suck at strenuous activity. Walking is no problem, and strength training is fine. Bicycling is good even. But running, apparently, is a high impact activity and not designed for people like me.

I ran Day 2 of Week 2 (but my 3rd week of running) today. My knees hurt the entire time. I finally had to quit they hurt so bad. Day 1 was on Sunday, so they had plenty of time to rest up. Now I feel kind of torn, because I was kind of starting to like it. Plus saying, "I'm going for a run." sounds a lot more sporty and somehow cooler or something than just saying, "I'm going for a walk."
I'll try again on Saturday, and hopefully my knees will cooperate.

ahhhh

It's cool again. Thank you HVAC man!!

Yesterday afternoon it got up to 92 degrees in here. Yikes! The kids and I were hot, and miserable. Finally I called D at work, where I believe he was hiding, and said that we ARE going to dinner. We went out for pizza and ice cream at d's request and then to WalMart to get a new vacuum. I also convinced D to buy a stand mixer for my birthday. Yay!! I couldn't convince him to spring for the Kitchen Aid, but we ended up going with the Sunbeam Mixmaster because it was half as much. Still pricey, but so worth it!
All in all, the evening was much better than the rest of the day, considering it was spent in the A/C. We ended up sleeping in the upstairs bonus room with the window A/C on as low as it could go.
I'm getting old - the floor just isn't as comfy as it used to be. HVAC Man came this morning and viola! Cold Air!!

That's it!

I AM in hell! Our A/C hasn't been keeping up very well with the 100+ degree temps. I tend to keep it on 75 and at the hottest part of the day, the house gets up to 80, so I knew that the A/C wasn't functioning at full capacity.
However, this morning at 8AM the house was 80 degrees. It's now 89 degrees. It's 100 outside and there's a breeze, so it's not that bad out there considering.
I wanted to call an HVAC repairman and get this thing fixed pronto but D wants to "take a look at it" first. Let's just be honest here. He's never fixed nor "looked at" an HVAC system in his life. He hasn't got any more clue what's wrong with it than I do. He maintains that he wants to check it out before I call anyone.

Fine!

But, and here's the fun part for me and the kids, he absolutely cannot come home before 4 PM at the earliest, probably 5. So, we get to sit here in the dark, with the blinds closed and fans on, barely dressed - until he "looks at it" and determines that he doesn't know a $*#($& thing about HVACs.
Of course, at that point, it will be the end of the work day and I'll have to swelter in here all day tomorrow too. Fun stuff.

I was playgroup host today too, and had to cancel because all those people and kids in here would have made it like an oven. Baked baby anyone?

ice cream, C25k and travel

1 - So, what is your favorite ice cream? I'll list what I like, and I'm always up for new ideas to try. :)
Bruesters - Blueberry cobbler and Birthday Cake. (I should mention I don't normally like fruit in my ice cream, but this one is totally worth it!)
Coldstone - Birthday Cake Remix (it has brownies in it too. mmmmm)
Bellacino's - Cheesecake
Sonic - Peanut Butter Fudge Shake
Grocery Store - Snickers, Phish Food by Ben and Jerry's, and Cake Batter. Also, anything that looks chunky like and has chocolate. I'm really not THAT picky.

2 - I ran day 1 of week 2 today. 90 seconds really isn't THAT much harder than 60 seconds. I even almost enjoyed it. Almost.
I quake in fear of week 3 though, and I'm not starting it for awhile. In fact, I think I may be on week 2 for at least 2 weeks. 3 minutes just seems like a long time to run.

3 - We haven't traveled at all this year and September starts the busy travel season for us this year. On Labor Day weekend we're flying (!) with both boys to Texas. I'm nervous. We've flown a couple of times with d, and he did pretty well. O hasn't flown and this will be the first time we have 2 littles on the plane. I don't want to be nervous, I would just prefer NOT to get kicked off is all.
Then we drive to Destin, mid September, for a week. That should be a blast!
Then it should be quiet till Thanksgiving, when it's Texas again, I think. Then we're staying home for Christmas for the first time ever!! yay!
All in all, we've traveled less this year than ever before.

overkill!

I should have mentioned in my last post that I've been following YOU On A Diet for the last 3 months. The exercise portion suggests walking every day for 30 minutes. This is a life long habit, and not part of a diet per say. They also suggest 20 min of strength training 3x a week, hence the M,W,F strength stuff. The last step is 20 min of cardio 3x a week. I had been slacking on this one, because I don't like cardio and it's hot and a million other reasons.
The C25k is the perfect fit for it though, so I caved and started. I feel like I can't drop the others because they are working so well for me. I'm considering running while D is getting ready for work in the morning and leaving the kids with him. Then I'll walk as normal, with the kids, when he leaves for work around 7-ish. Not ideal, but it gets the job done I guess.

It DOES seem like a bit of overkill, because how much more could I possibly work out?! I should be super model material by now. (except I like to eat and well, you know...)
I even have a free 3 month pass for yoga and step and other classes at a wellness center that I haven't used because I can't figure out when I would possibly be able to work that in.

Now, if it would quit being so hot, maybe I wouldn't keep eating ice cream. THEN the fitness program would be a little more helpful...

C25k

I'm still on week 1's workout. I'm doing the last day tomorrow though, and then I'm going to week 2 on Sunday. I feel pressed to find the time to do this for a few reasons:
1 - I walk daily for 30 minutes. Barring near death, I do not miss this. 7 days a week.
2 - I do strength training M W F after my walk. It takes about 20-30 minutes.
3 - It's HOT and I am already walking in the morning so I can't run then. I planned initially to run Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and have Sunday as a "walk only" day.
I ran Tuesday, Thursday I was out with the girls till midnight and I'm running tomorrow. I meant to make up Thursdays today, but it was 103 and then it was raining. See my dilemma?

What time of day should I run? I prefer NOT to do it in the mornings because I walk then and I live RIGHT by a school and there are TONS of cars and walkers. I don't need that much of an audience for my jiggle. TYVM.
Twilight is nice, but I am paranoid about going out by myself. I took the dog last time, but she's a slacker and couldn't keep up. Plus, sometimes I'm out at night.

Afternoons will be fine in the fall or winter or some of spring, but for summer - Nu uh! Tooooo hot!

Tomorrow morning we are going to walk and then run around the track at the school and then walk home, pressing the walk and run into one workout. I can't normally do this unless it's a weekend, because of school

I just realized this is an incredibly boring post. If I didn't actually need your opinions, I wouldn't even post it.

EUS

Or Empty Uterus Syndrome.

I have noticed a disturbing trend in myself. When I am not pregnant or busy with a very, very new child I want another baby. Or something like a baby. A puppy or a kitten or a soft little bunny or hamster.
It was so much worse before I had kids. I was constantly wanting pets. We already had Tiger the cat and we got Penny the dog before we had d, and then when d was about 6 months old, I had the urge for another baby. However, I thought that might be a little crazy so we got another dog against D's better judgement. It didn't work out because she hated d when he started pulling up on her. Snapping is a quality I don't admire in a pet. We found her a nice, new home.
I got pregnant later that month (d was 9 mo old) and the urge for another pet was squashed for awhile. The I miscarried and I had a hard time recovering emotionally. A few months later I got a kitten. I couldn't seem to get pregnant again, and I needed something baby-like, though I didn't realize that's what I was doing at the time.
Calvin was a sweetie, but had a couple of really bad habits. Like peeing outside the litter box and bringing in live rabbits and mice. Shortly after that we found him a home on a farm, where I'm sure he's living happily.

I feel like a pretty horrible pet owner, but before you get all riled up - the pets were all adopted from the shelter, saving them from almost certain death. Also, they all were fixed and had all their shots, so I was responsible in their care.

We came to the conclusion that we are a two pet max household. (not including fish.)
Now, however, I find myself with the very strong urge to get a kitten. Or puppy.

With a little reflection I realized what I was doing. WHAT is wrong with me? Why this constant need for babies? Is this nature's way of ensuring the human race?

Most importantly, how can I convince D that we need a kitten?
Er, just kidding.

I think.

It's love.

Do you see why my heart aches for more?

Could it be

that I'm actually starting to like tolerate not despise running?!


The jury's still out, but it may be that it's not torture that bad after all.

la la la

Random tidbits.

O had his 4 (!) month appointment today and he's a whopper! Almost 18 lbs and 26 inches. Good thing we opted for the car seat with a 29 inch height limit!
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I almost started crying as I was looking at my chubby, rounded out little baby who is NO LONGER A NEWBORN. What happened? I could not possibly want another baby already. Right? I will put this thought out of my head immediately, but my uterus, not so easy...
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30 days till our beach vacation. Oh my gawd, how I need a vacation and to be able to see my husband for more than 6 minutes at a time. We really need to reconnect.
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We had friends over Sunday who are pregnant with their first child. Due in October. O spit up (just a TEEENY bit!) on him and he freaked a little. He was totally grossed out. Man, is he in for a shock the first time a diaper explodes on him, or he gets projectile vomited on. Oh, the humor of it all.
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I weighed in yesterday - and here are my 3 month totals:
18 lbs lost (36.6 lbs since O's birth)
22.5 inches lost!

WOO!
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My 2.5 year old is FINALLY starting to get the hang of this sleeping through the night business. He does it about 4 times a week.
My 4 month old takes the opportunity to have a crappy night every time the big one is having a good night. WTF?!
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This has been Totally Random Tidbits from Devan.

I don't need no stinking cookies

when I have brownies!!

If you like brownies, ice cream and chocolate you will love this! It's simple, yummy and easy!
Make one box mix of brownies - I like the store brands because they are simple, cheap and good. I used GV.
Use a large pan, larger than 9x13. You want the brownies very thin. After you make the brownies according to the directions, cut the whole pan in half - like you have 2 slices of bread.
You will need some ice cream for this part. I used Snickers, but you could use virtually anything.
Spread some softened ice cream on one half of the brownies. You'll use about half of a 2 quart container.
Put the other half of the brownies on top, like a huge, yummy sandwich. Freeze for a couple of hours.
After a couple of hours, cut into desired shapes and then drizzle with that shell topping. (the kind that freezes into a hard shell after a couple of seconds.) Refreeze and serve when properly frozen.
How good are they?

Let's just say it's a good thing we had company over for dinner tonight, or I would have eaten them all!

Am I in hell?

It is so hot here in N. Alabama I feel like I might as well be in hell. I'm sitting here at the computer - sweating!
Fall! I'm begging you to come early!

Oh, Oh, OH!

Oh my goodness. I witnessed some voyeurism today. Oh yes.

Let me lay it out for you. It was about 5 minutes after 5:00 PM. PM is important because you must understand that it was broad daylight. Broad Daylight!!

I heard Penny barking and assumed she was barking at our new neighbors, who she is not yet familiar with. I knocked on the window to shut her up and realized she was actually barking at a car parked right outside our back yard. There is a little dirt road back there, leading to a lot of new construction, and it's not unusual to see people driving through there. It IS unusual to see someone parked practically outside the gate, but I didn't give it that much thought.
Penny continued to bark, so I looked out again and noticed that the guy I had seen in the car wasn't just looking for something like I originally thought. Nor was he alone. Do you see where I'm going with this?

I watched long enough to figure out exactly what they were doing and that it was in fact consensual. (I wanted to make sure I didn't need to call 911, but the fact that he was first on top and then she was, well, I could just tell that they were indeed both interested...) *ahem*

{as a side note, I took a 10 second video, just in case I did indeed need to call the police. Luckily I just got the car and not very much, er, action on it. lol}

Anyway, I called D because I simply couldn't believe that there were two adults having sex practically in my backyard (in a subdivision - not in the country!) in broad daylight. We decided not to call the police because we were a bit flustered and didn't really know what to make of this. I checked to see if they were gone, and saw WAAAAY too much of man I didn't know. Parts that even the sun has obviously never seen, by the looks of his lily white heiney.
When I saw they were starting to get dressed I decided to have a little fun with them and grabbed d (O was sleeping) and went outside while on the phone. I made sure to get where they could see me and looked at their license plate. heehee

They hightailed it out of there and I'm sure they were looking for the police in their rearview the whole time. Hopefully I scared the voyeur out of them.
If you want to have sex in your car, don't do it my backyard, people. Especially not in broad daylight in the middle of a family neighborhood. Crazy fools. They weren't even teenagers. Sheesh.
D was on his way home when he saw a car speeding out of our "alley." He said they were flying out of there. heh

If they come back, I've got the police's non-emergency number ready. I'm willing to just scare them the first time, but I don't have any desire to watch that show again.

bitchfest

Man, I'm in a pissy mood today. I feel like biting off the head of all the people who dare look at me wrong or say something annoying or are even thinking about annoying me. Can I blame AF for this? She is such a bitch too.

Pics to make me feel better:





My boys can make me smile when nothing else can...

Cold

No, I'm not cold. I'm burning up with our 100 degree temps - I just seem to have a cold. Lovely. A cold in the middle of the summer, when it's already a million degrees outside and eating chicken soup is like sitting in a sauna. d has it too.
I hope O manages to escape. So far so good - thank you breastmilk!!

Day 3 of the C25k will have to wait till I feel better. Darn.

I don't know if it's the cold or hormones, but I'm feeling particularly grouchy today too.

3.5 months

ouch

The second day of the C25K program was a lot harder for me. Ouch. My daily walk is going to be a painful one in the morning.

Garage Sale

I'm part of a mom's group that is quite large. About 25 of us got together and planned a garage sale, which was over today. It was open Thursday, just to our group and friends, and Friday & Saturday to the public.
There was SO.Much.Stuff that I can't even begin to describe it!!! Overall, it was a success. At close of business yesterday the garage sale had grossed $4000. That doesn't even take into account Saturday's business.

Now, I have mentioned before that I thought garage sales were a lot of work for very little reward. I have more proof of that now than ever!! In order to participate you had to tag every item with an index card that had your initials and the price. (in order to keep of track of who got what money.) That alone took me over a week of working in our HOT upstairs bonus room and trying to keep my 2 year old occupied at the same time.
I also had to haul a buttload of stuff across town to the house where this garage sale was being held. Then I had to work a 6 hour shift in 100 degree weather while not only watching my own 2 kids, but helping watch 8 other kids. (not all the moms who put stuff in the sale participated in helping work, which frankly, pisses me off.)
Lucky for me, I was with friends, and d was OMG SOOOO well behaved. Owen slept a little but mostly just wanted to be held, so it could have been worse. Now, as far as monetary gain - I've broken it down.
Total from items sold
+$122.75

Advertising
-$5

Things I bought
-$40

Total profit = $77.75

When you add in cost of labor, I'm fairly certain that it cost me to participate in this garage sale. I would have done better if I had donated everything and deducted the donation from our taxes.
I wasn't expecting to make a lot of money though, and I did get rid of a LOT of stuff. I just had it priced cheap, cheap, cheap so that I would be rid of it. I still have to contact a charity and donate the stuff left over though, so I'm thinking that all that work was for nothing really.
All in all though, not a sale I will be participating in again. Definitely not one of my better ideas.

fine

Fine. Fine. FINE!!!

D and I did the first workout of the Couch to 5 k program this morning. The dark side has won.

Do you ever just feel like NOT being the one?

As a mom, I have so many hats. Chef, childcare, maid, friend, lover, financial advisor, pet specialist, and teacher. There are many, many more I'm sure.
I feel like D has it easier. Let me preface this by saying that D is an extremely hard worker. I appreciate that he works hard so that I can raise our kids and not have to bring home a paycheck.

However, his routine is simple. Very little variation. He gets up, gets ready, makes his lunch, goes to work, eats lunch (at his desk!) and then comes home. Eats the dinner I made, plays with d for awhile, or reads a magazine or whatever. In the fall/spring he runs off to rugby 2-3x a week. Then he goes to bed.

My day is so much more complex. Just thinking about writing it down makes me exhausted! If there are errands to be run, I do it. If there are Dr's or insurance companies to be called, I do it! If there are bills to be paid, it falls on me. If the kids are hungry, I feed them. The house needs to be cleaned? You guessed it.
Someone's birthday, anniversary or wedding? Time for a checkup? A teeth cleaning? All me.
Decision to be made? Me! It doesn't matter what, it ranges from choosing a dog kennel to deciding how to parent our kids.

I'm honestly just tired. I don't mind doing all these things, but I just feel like I wear the pants all day. D wonders why I'm so tired and what I do all day, but the truth is that I do EVERYTHING short of bringing home a paycheck.

I feel very frustrated with our situation at the moment. D is a great guy, regardless of how he seems from my last few posts. I just don't think it's possible for him to understand all of the things I do on a daily basis. And the truth is that I don't care if he knows the minute details of every errand and chore and tantrum of the day. I just want to be appreciated. I just want to feel like I'm in a partnership where I'm appreciated, loved and cherished. I don't want to feel like I'm worth less as a partner because my contribution isn't monetary.

I honestly don't think D intends to make me feel this way, but tact, thoughtfulness and empathy are NOT his strong suites. (have you met his mother?!)
He simply doesn't get it. But, I do think he's trying. This is where my husband will win back some points from the blogosphere:
He was having a discussion with some friends who are about to have their first (poor saps. :) ) and the husband thinks that his wife shouldn't stay home, though she wants to. He is constantly teasing me about staying home and not doing anything all day. (believe it or not, he's actually a pretty nice guy! )
When he heard that we're building a new house, he asked D if I finally went back to work. D said, "Raising two kids IS work!"

I guess it's true what they say; what people say about you to others is a good indicator of their true feelings.

Alumni Newsletter

This is a MeMe. First write a nauseatingly perky paragraph about your life, the type of paragraph you see in alumni newsletters. Then write a franker, funnier one. I was tagged by Swistle, go read her paragraphs too!

Devan & D are pleased to announce they have 2 wonderful, smart little boys! They live in Mytown, Alabama and D loves his engineering job, but not as much as spending time with his family. They are happily married and feel so blessed to have their lovely family. Devan stays home with the boys, and cherishes it every moment. She feels so blessed to have the opportunity to spend each day with her kids.

Devan & D are the parents of two kids who don't sleep! They live in the south, far, far from family and HELP and D spends hours upon hours at work, leaving Devan at home with the kids. They are married and try to keep their annoyance with each other under control, at least while the kids are awake. Devan stays home with the boys, and wonders frequently if she would get more respect if she earned a paycheck.

If you read this, consider yourself tagged.

C25k

Seriously people. A LOT of you fellow bloggers are joining this Couch to 5 K program. I have been admant from the beginning that running, especially in public, was NOT MY THING!
Now, I order you to quit inspiring me! I feel like I'm being called to the dark side.
(The dark side being running. )

A few more posts about this and I might just feel guilty enough to join. And that would mean I'd have to run. Which I hate.

Demi Moore?

Well, I had to go to the dentist again today. My tooth was bothering me so much yesterday that I couldn't even eat. It's a great diet, but I'm hungry!
I called, they got me in and they aren't sure what is causing the pain but it MIGHT be a teeeny little cavity in my back tooth. Normally one they wouldn't fill because it's soooo small. BUT they filled it and here I sit. Numb, starving, and with sherbet dripping down my chin because I'm numb in the face and ear area and eating is not going well.
Let's just hope this fixes it. Another $230 down the tubes...

Oh, and the dentist mentioned, while I was laying there all drugged up, that I look like Demi Moore and asked if anyone has ever told me that before. I said the only other person who had ever said that D, and I just thought he was trying to get lucky.
Anyway, the dentist insisted, and while likely not true, it's still nice.

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Speaking of D. He was home with the boys while I went and got my tooth fixed. When I left I had put 2 loads of clean and dry, but unfolded, laundry on the bed. When I got home, my clothes and the community laundry (mostly the towels we use instead of paper towels) were in 2 big piles on the bed. HIS clothes were folded and put away. How's that for helpful?

OH, and he didn't put d down for a nap either. wheeeeee

This chore thing

is really not going well. I think it will only work if we both give it our all and don't slack off or take advantage. Yesterday, D took out the trash. I asked him to take out the recycling too, since it's collected on Tuesday. He forgot and left for work, so I took it out.
When I was cleaning up I also noticed he didn't put trash bags back in the cans. OK, I did that too. Then I noticed he also didn't empty the dishwasher, which HE maintains is his chore. SO I also did that. Then I refilled it and did all my usual chores.

When I mentioned this stuff to him (very nicely!), he said he forgot or was too busy. So, to me, it seems like what's going to happen is he is going to keep forgetting and I'm going to keep picking up the slack. That would be fine if it worked both ways, but it doesn't seem to.
We're going to have to figure out something else.

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Our house should break ground this month!! Yay!