Monday Monday

I am sort of glad it's Monday and the weekend is over. Don't count on me saying THAT very often.
The weekend started with a green pool, that turned normal by Sunday. This required a call to different pool people to come and clean the filters inside the filter. They were gross according to Leo. The fact we called someone besides our normal pool people that come weekly to clean it just pissed me off. I was so irritated with those people, I mean why wouldn't they have mentioned something like 'Hey you're pool is looking a little green, you might want to clean the filters', I guess that was too much and SHAME on me for expecting service from a business. Stupid Stupid me.
The weekend also started out with a green Danielle, OMG the lunch I had on Friday literally kicked my ass. And I have to say I don't know why my kids ever cried when you put A&D on their butt. It surely felt damn good on mine. So that kind of put a whole damper on the weekend for me because I just didn't feel right all weekend.
We did get a baby sitter (big step) and went out to lunch with one of Leo's co-workers and his wife, whose name is also Danielle and she even shares the same b'day as me. Strange. Then they came over and enjoyed some time in the no longer green pool.

The kids start swim lessons today. That should be fun. Although Sweet Girl is perfecting her underwater swimming and is becoming really good. Little Man will retrieve dive sticks from the step and sticks his head underwater to get them. He will NOT wear goggles at all though. It's so weird. My kids are weird.

Back to work now. Maybe things will feel more normal for me tomorrow. I am not enjoying how I feel today.

Birthday Dilemma

Little Man's 2nd birthday is a week from tomorrow. And I have no idea what to get him. I really want to get him his bed but that's not a whole lot of "fun" for him. And it would be nearly impossible to wrap... So what do I get him?

We have enough toys to rival a toy store and really don't need any more. It's too hot to really play for a long time outside so a trike or something is probably out since he won't be able to ride it comfortably (and that comfort includes mine as I have to sit outside with him as he spins around the sidewalk!) until November. We have plenty of books as well and even books we buy for Little Man Sweet Girl thinks are hers and only hers. I need to come up with some way to tag them to each kid or something.

So what does that leave??? Not much. This is actually starting to stress me out. I mean I know he's two but it's also his birthday. And it's a big deal. My birthdays as a kid were always a big deal and it always made me feel good. So I want to start that tradition with my kids. I'm just stuck right now on what the hell to get him! I guess I really should be happy that THIS is my current stress and not something really major. So for that I am thankful. But I'll be even happier when I have some things for him to open. And all I need is a couple things!

Off to surf the Toys R Us website to get some ideas.

Sometimes Mornings Just Suck

I actually hate getting up especially when I am all comfy in my bed and I can tell it's a little cloudy out because there is no sun streaming down the hallway. It just makes me want to stay in bed. It's not that I don't want to get up and start the day (although it's been that way in the past) it's usually I just want to enjoy being comfy just a little bit longer and get up when I am ready not when the alarm says I need to get up.

This morning was no different, I am usually up first on the weekdays because I get to work so early. I really should get up even earlier then I do because for the past few mornings I've been LEAVING when I'm supposed to be already at work. Most mornings the kids are not up yet so I go and visit them quietly in their room to get my one peek before I head off to work. I love to watch them sleep they are so cute and sometimes I just want to crawl in bed and hold them because really that would be better then going to work. However the difference this morning was both kids were AWAKE when I left. Awake and crying at the door and reaching for me to stay and hold them. And it was KILLING me. I hated it. I finally calmed Sweet Girl down and she was OK, but I basically had to peel her off of me so I could get to the door. They were fine after I left of course but that wasn't how I wanted to start my day. I didn't want morning image of them to be tear streaked faces saying 'hold me mommy', I wanted my morning image what it always was, them asleep peacefully in their bed.

Then it makes you wonder, am I doing the right thing by working full time and sending them to school? Did they act like that just because it was early and they didn't want to be up and about? Was it because they are not spending enough time with me? This has been my debate since Sweet Girl was born. Can you really have it all? I feel like I'm asking to have my cake and eat it too. And sometimes I think trying to achieve this causes more stress and unhappiness then just accepting things one way or another. I really honest and truly do not think I want to stay home full time, I do enjoy getting out and going to work. I enjoy being busy at work. And I really do think Sweet Girl and Little Man enjoy going to their school. I like that they are learning and getting social interaction with someone besides us, I do think it makes a difference. I try to limit their time there so they are never there longer then I am at work. I guess ultimately I would like them there even less. And besides the interaction for me, I enjoy the paycheck from working. It allows us so much more freedom to do things and buy things without worrying if it will break the bank. And I like this comfort and prefer that over the constant struggle of worrying about money. Not that I want my kids to be spoiled or buy them all the things their little hearts desire but more to provide a happy and content home where it's not filled with the tension and worry that comes with struggling with money. I don't want it to come accross like I am money obsessed because that is really not it. I guess I just don't want that struggle. I've been there done that and I really didn't enjoy it. I've done it as an adult and at certain times growin up.

Oh the joys of trying to do the right thing.

Sweet Girl

So as Sweet Girl gets older she is obviously getting wiser and much more manipulative. I guess she gets this from her mother (unfortunately), who is pretty good at being manipulative. Thankfully she hasn't gotten her mother's sarcasm at least not yet. I am sure it's coming sooner rather then later.

She sure has a lot of "pains" when it's time to help out or when she's told to do something. Here are some of them:

My arm hurts to do it.
My toe hurts, I can't go get my such and such (this is my personal favorite, your TOE hurts? Maybe I'll try this one sometime. I'm sorry Leo I can't make dinner because my toe hurts. Of course this will require that I actually make dinner on a regular basis and we all know THAT doesn't happen...maybe I'll have to come up with situation to use that excuse.).
My tummy hurts I can't eat. (but offer that kid some ice cream and she'll eat it in a second)
My leg hurts (she'll use this one A LOT to the point we took her to the doctor because of it, subjected her to x-rays and blood work even that all came back normal...go figure). Speaking of her blood work, she told me the other day, as she was looking at her arm, that she didn't' have any more holes.
I say Holes from what?
Audrey: Holes from getting my blood drawn
Me: Nope they are all gone.

She is a funny little thing. She also has some odd observations, but right now I can't think of them. I even say to myself oh that would make a great blog post and now I forget them. I need to start making notes or something. And she still thinks that just because two colors are the same she has to wear them together. Hopefully she'll get out of that phase or we'll some some strange monochromatic dresser. And that's just weird.

As I mentioned in a previous post she now will not pee in any toilet that automatically flushes or even remotely LOOKS like it does but that kid will pee in the grass or rocks when we're outside swimming and she has to go. I just don't get this one, I personally would much rather sit on a automatic flushing toilet then tempt fate and fall bare assed on a bunch of hot rocks. But hey what do I know, eh?

Finally Another Friday

Boy I sure am glad it's Friday. The week back to work after vacation always sucks ass and this week was especially difficult. We have not had a normal evening all week, this will be the first evening that we will all be together. The first two nights, Leo was out of town on business, Wednesday I went out to dinner with a friend, last night Leo had a work dinner so tonight finally we'll have a normal evening. And aside from my one dinner out with a friend we actually ate at home the entire week. A majority of the days we ate grilled cheese in shapes cut out by cookie cutters. Sweet Girl LOVED these little sandwiches so kept requesting them. After the second night I was kind of over them but she was eating and thus making our evenings much more pleasant so I obliged. The meal was also accompanied by grapes and some chips.

I am glad this week is over. I want a regular night and am really glad it's the weekend, although we will probably go pick out some paint colors so we can get started on that fun.

I hope everyone has a good weekend as well!

Little Man

Little Man is going through the language and personality explosion. He is saying many more words (which makes me happy) and really getting a cute sweet personality. He is such a giver and such a mommas boy.

Some of his new words are:
monkey
match
pig
pool
floatie
go away (i love this one...)
sit down
jute (juice)
hold me
night night
itsy bitsy spider
cheese
Watch TV (bad bad parents we are...)
elmo
oswald


And there are a lot of other ones that I cannot think of right now. And there are words he's saying and I still have no idea what they are and I'll answer and then he gives me this look like 'what the hell kind of reply was that to what I asked' or sometimes I just tell him I don't understand what you're saying.

I was just looking at him in his crib this morning and he was stretched out and wow he is getting big. He's so long and getting leaner now. But he's taking up a lot of crib space, so we've been thinking about moving him to a big boy bed. When Sweet Girl was his current age she had already been in a big girl bed for almost 6 months. I guess I was just afraid to move him because he wasn't communicating all that well. And because after the crib is taken down, chances are it's not going back up ever again in our house. And that is just sort of sad to me. But it will finally allow me to get the bed I've been lusting after in Pottery Barn Kids. I LOVE this bed for some reason and he just has to have it. It will probably take up most of his room since they are so small, but it will sure be cool. It's a twin over full bunk bed. And since he likes to lay under tables and in the closet (I don't know why) we figured it would be like a little cave for him. Maybe it will increase his chances of staying in his room at night!

Two weeks from tomorrow Little Man will be two. It's flown by and seems almost impossible that he is that big. It feels like just yesterday I had him and we brought him home. Now he's going to be 2. Ugh where is the time going!!

Yes It's Hot

We are under a heat advisory because it's so freaking hot. We've had well into the 100's all week, actually it's been about 110 and above. Yes that's hot, even with low low humidity. But it's not totally unbearable, you just don't hang out outside very long unless you're going in the pool! So I'm not complaining just letting everyone know what we're dealing with over here in the desert. This weather was fully expected and we knew it would be coming!

Monsoon season officially started on Sunday. Looking at the forecast, looks like one might happen next week. I would love to tell you I'll take pictures and share with you, but you know that won't happen. Well I'll take the pictures but you won't see them since I am SO good at posting pictures you know...

The pool is running about 95 degrees now and just feels fabulous when you get in. The kids are loving the pool as well. Sweet Girl has become quite adventurous and now really loves swimming underwater. She is pretty good actually but needs to work on her arm and leg coordination some yet. She will jump off the side of the pool and swim to you. She is quite the fish.
Little Man likes to float on his back. He will also get in the inner tube and kick back. He likes that. It's cute. We start swim lessons on June 30th. I fear that Sweet Girl will be a little advanced for her class but I'm hoping she gets more of the safety aspect of it more then anything. We've been trying to teach her she needs to swim to the wall.

Well that is what's going on in our neck of the woods. HEAT!

The Technology Devil

Well it happened. The technology devil has entered our life. I am all for technology but this particular piece I think is evil. It's the.....Blackberry.
I HATE this thing. I think it is annoying and completely blurs the line of when work stops and your life begins. Because now you're accessible ANYWHERE and not just by phone now. Now they can email you and you can reply quite easily.
I think this PDA should be renamed from Personal Data Assistant to Pain in the Damn Ass.

It's Leo and he got it for work. He swears he won't check email after he confirms the ones he needs to check. I laugh at this, sure maybe that will be the case right NOW but give it a couple months and when people know he can respond even when he's not at his desk they are going to expect it. I already warned him I would throw that fucking thing in the pool if he whips it out to check something in the middle of a conversation at home. Or I'll drive over it with the truck if he does it while we're at lunch. I cannot tell you my total disdain for this thing.

I will admit it did come in handy while we were on the plane to check and see if our connecting flight was delayed or not. So we knew before we got off the plane that in fact it was.

I guess I'll just have a love / hate relationship with it and live the complete double standard that it's not too bad unless it benefits me.

Vacation Highlights

It was a nice vacation. The kids had a great time at the beach. Here are the major highlights of the week:

Pre - Vacation Preparation

If you've ever gotten a Brazilian wax job I commend you. Let me just say there is no way I would ever do this. In preparation for the beach I was attempting to groom the bikini area and didn't want to keep shaving it while at the beach so I thought hell I'll try the Nair No Ouch Wax kit. Sure No Ouch my ass. Maybe it's because I enlisted the help of Leo and he's not good with female grooming tasks (remind me to tell you about when he burnt my hair while blowing it dry), but overall he wasn't too bad at applying wax and ripping out bikini hair on the sides. Since that didn't go too bad I thought well why not go ahead and try to take a little off the top...Big Mistake. Instead of having the nice little runway strip, I had a bald spot. So I had a reverse runway. Cleared down the middle and grassy on the side. Let's just say it stayed like that...

Packing four people's clothing into one big bag is not a good idea. We actually had to weigh the bag at home and then move stuff to another bag. But we were trying to consolidate as much as possible.

Beachy Adventures

We ran over a tire on the freeway driving to the beach and tore the hell out of the bottom of the rental car. We dragged that piece all week. It was awesome. Thankfully we fixed it enough before we turned it in so we didn't pull into the rental return dragging anything.

It was nice to see Leo's grandparents and all the other family.

We had sand everywhere: Body parts, bathing suits, shoes, hair, shorts, suitcase, bathtub, bed, car, body parts again, just everywhere you can think of...

Little Man does not like walking on sand and had to be carried.

Sweet Girl kept her shoes on after her sliver incident and basically never took them off.

Little Man enjoys laying down in the surf.

Sweet Girl and Leo played in a lot of waves.

Both kids got sick for at least one day at the beach. What vacation would be complete without cleaning up puke? You know how much I LOVE cleaning up puke...

Spending that long (1 week) with family is just a little too long and will be capped at 4 days unless we are not all in the same house.

Both kids took naps on the beach.

One day we spent five hours on the beach and it was great.

I have never seen so many Little Debbie snacks in my life. Holy crap, they must have both a whole grocery store of them.

We ate nothing but crap all week long. I think one day I had a nutty bar for breakfast AND lunch.

We drank a lot of beer and it was fun.

We never saw any ghosts on the ghost walk or in the haunted lighthouse.

Sweet Girl got to pet a shark on the pier.

We did not buy one beachy crappy souvenir.

Running in an airport to catch a flight when it's in a different terminal accessible by a TRAM with two kids, three backpacks, a camera bag and a bottle of water Sweet Girl wouldn't give up is NOT fun at all. Unless of course you like to torture yourself.

Sweet Girl refuses to pee on any toilet that will automatically flush or even LOOKS like it will automatically flush.

Little Man has a carpet burn, ON HIS FACE, from being taken out in the Jacksonville airport and slammed into the floor by his sister. That was really fun.

Well I think that about covers it. Major highlights of the week. We did have a nice time but we were happy to be home.
Now it's back to the grind. UGH UGH UGH. I think after the two years of hell we've had we should have a MONTH of vacation. Or we need to win the damn lottery!

It's Nice To Be Home

Just a quick post to say we are home and safe. I think we were all happy to sleep in our own beds!! We got home really thanks to delays at the airport, but more about that later.

We're off to relax in our pool because it's going to be a scorcher at 112!! Woo hoo the pool sounds AWESOME right now!!

Back soon with more updates.

Peace Out.

Puke and a Sliver

We have safely arrived at our beach destination and have been enjoying the nice weather and beach. The water has been much better then we thought, warm but still nasty color so you can't see the bottom when you walk 2 inches in, but hey it's the beach and it's not work or our usual routine so who really cares.

The plane rides were uneventful and they were very good on both flights. Thankfully. Yay!!



By Monday though, we had already experienced a puking Little Man and a giant sliver in Sweet Girls foot. What else would you expect with a vacation of ours??? For it to go smoothly all week?? HA NO! Little Man was pretty clingy on Sunday, possibly due to the flights and wasn't eating very much and didn't get a good nap. I guess Monday morning round about 3AM he throws up and starts crying, I get him up he throws up two more times in the sink while Leo is changing his sheets, then goes back to sleep and is fine the next day. Strange. Maybe that is why he wasn't too thrilled with the water on the beach on Sunday. He didn't want to have anything to do with it. He didn't want to play in the sand or anything. However by today, Tuesday, he was very much in LOVE LOVE LOVE with the beach. He played in the sand and surf and had a ball. He loved laying there in the surf and trying to get as much sand as possible on his body and down his pants. It is such fun watching them run around on the beach.



Sweet girl was limping on Sunday and I thought maybe from running on the beach. Well Monday morning Leo is looking at her foot and there it is. The sliver. A huge ass piece of wood from the porch. Ugh. And there was no way she would let you touch her foot. We tried to get it out but no luck and you would have thought we were killing her when we were just trying to look at it. But she is high drama so not surprising. Thankfully we have two nurses who helped us, extract that piece of wood, took some tweezers and a needle, lots of alcohol clothes and iodine wipes. But she was good as gold this morning. During this procedure she kept screaming she wanted to go back to Arizona. It was so difficult to hold her down. She gets like super human strength. But alas we are now sliverless and she will never go without shoes on the porch again.
Sweet Girl LOVES the beach, she likes jumping waves with Leo and just like running around the beach and playing in the sand.

It is nice so far. Tonight we are going to go listen to bluegrass at the park by the pier. Tomorrow we're going on a haunted lighthouse tour. And then ugh it will be soon to go back home. I'm trying not to think about that though...

Finally...A Vacation

Well my friends I am going on vacation. Yes it's been pretty much two years since our last actual vacation. It's been like two hell for a lot of that time. Leo did make the right decision when he left the spawn of satan company but it left us on one income and he struggled to find a job in TN. Obviously all things happen for a reason and now we are in a position that is pretty much 1000 times better but as with all things change related you have to go down before you can come up. And down we went!

The last time we went on vacation was right after Little Man was born and we headed to Destin. Sweet Girl had fun in the sand and enjoyed the beach and pool. Now we'll get to see how Little Man likes sand. He didn't do much on the last trip but sit in the stroller on the beach since he was so little. I'm sure he'll like sand, it makes a huge mess. Something he always enjoys.
We were going to go to Chicago last Thanksgiving for a vacation but family asked us instead to visit them since we were moving. I was reluctant because I really really wanted and needed time away but going to visit family was probably the better decision. But now we're going on an actual vacation! WOOHOO!! It should be an interesting week as we enjoy spending time on the beach and catching up with Leo's family (on his Mom's side). There will be plenty of kids Sweet Girls age so I'm sure she'll have fun playing on the beach with all her cousins.

Our long ass flight leaves tomorrow at 1:10 and we arrive at the airport in Jacksonville at 9:30. The real fun part will be the 37 minute layover we have in Atlanta to change planes. Hopefully we'll have a nice tail wind and get in a little early. And that will allow the kids to burn off some energy.

Ah I can't wait to just relax and sit on the beach. I'll try to keep posting daily, but that is only if there is a moron living around the beach house who left their wireless network unlocked!

I Am A Mascochist

I guess I have some subconscious love of torture. We go out to eat A LOT. It's just easier sometimes after I've worked all day and have two kids that want my attention when I get home so I can't really get time to make a meal. Now that it is summer we are trying to be better with eating dinner at home because we can grill hamburgers, hot dogs and steak. Slice up some cucumbers and tomatoes and we have a good meal. But we still go out to eat.

Although I'm not sure WHY we continue this torture. Sometimes the kids are angels and sit and wait and do their coloring and life is good. But sometimes they have no desire to sit down and wait. So they are antsy and want to get down. Well I cannot stand kids that run around a restaurant and that is not something we will let them do. If it gets to be too bad we will leave the restaurant and walk around outside. Sometimes I will admit this makes me really crabby, especially if I'm hungry. I think most of you who know me, know when I am really hungry WATCH OUT. This is not a good combination when it reaches this point. Sweet Girl is usually pretty good, it's Little Man that is the demon.

I guess it's probably his age. I remember when Sweet Girl was that age we did go through a phase where she would be the devil at a restaurant and I remember swearing them off then as well. But I never really did, we just kept on going out. I imagine Little Man will grow out of his phase, at least I hope so.

I need to get into a better routine of eating dinner at home, it's cheaper and healthier. But sometimes not easier and to me after a rough day at work, coming home with kids and spending time with them I am all for easy. I need easy these days. And I know it's bad when Sweet Girl REQUESTS to go out to eat! That is sad in my opinion but I guess I'm the only one that can change it. And sure I want to change it, I want to make dinner and eat at home. And eat only healthy meals. But again if you know me you are well aware that I am HORRIBLE with follow through on things that I want to do.
I guess I'll just try to work on it.

Books That Shouldn't Be Pop-Up

Sweet Girl has a plethora of books. We have books in pretty much every room of the house, we have them in the car, and even in the backyard. We are not lacking any books in our house. Little Man is even into reading them now. Sweet Girl will sit for hours and read her books. It's very sweet and I am glad she has this love of books.

She generally goes to be with a library at the foot of her bed and lord forbid you try to take them off the bed. She is very attached to them. Little Man is becoming the same way. He will sleep with his books in his crib as well. I am in no way complaining about this, it makes me quite happy that they are such avid readers. It's unfortunate that Arizona does not offer the Books From Birth program like Tennessee does. We would get a free book each month for the kids until they turned 5. What a great program it is.

In addition to reading books through out the day, we also read books every night before bed. Sweet Girl goes and picks out the books she wants to read and away we go. So last night she picks out two books - Jesus and David. I certainly don't mind reading religious books, we have a couple Bible books we read and they are quite enjoyable. But I do find it annoying that they have made religious pop-up books. I think this is just wrong. Seriously WHY? I would much rather them spent more time on the text in these two books because it wasn't all that great. Can you imagine trying to fit Jesus' entire life into a 4 page book? Obviously it was a little disjointed and add in trying to make it rhyme and they were just poorly written. Then add in that the books were given to toddlers so we had some heads and bodies missing thanks to them being a "pop-up", which is completely enticing to a kid when they open it up and right there in front of them is something they can touch. Oh and touch it they do, touch it and rip it right off the page. So the angel that should have been present at Jesus' birth suffered this fate, she was missing and it was a sad little empty hole.

I don't ever want to throw a book away but these might have to make file 13 or be hidden somewhere in the depths of the playroom that doesn't get touched very often!!!

The Kid With No Pants

So Little Man as of late is not a fan of pants. No shorts, pants, or pajama bottoms for him. I am not sure what started this dislike of pants but it is in full swing right now. He has no problem with shirts generally, it's just his pants.

He also doesn't have a problem with his diaper. Maybe he thinks the diaper is too cool to cover up? Who knows.

Although, Sunday he did take his diaper off and came running into the foyer and is standing there all bottom naked and throwing his diaper up and over his head (thankfully it was a DRY diaper). He thought this was funny. He did it over and over. I just liked watching his fat little naked butt jiggle when he threw the diaper in the air. He has such a cute little butt. He was able to take his diaper off because guess what, yep you got it...he had no pants on. And initially he wasn't really thrilled to put a diaper back on that day. I hope he doesn't become one of those kids that loves taking off their diaper no matter what is in it. Lord help me if that's the case. I'll have to keep him in overalls or front zip full body pajama's all day. And won't that look kind of strange when it's 110.

I'm sure he'll probably be one of those guys that likes to go commando which is fine I guess just not when he's not even 2 yet!!

Not As Flexible As I Used to Be...

We had a good weekend, the weather was warm so we did a lot of swimming. I just love the pool. I love that we can just go to our back yard and enjoy the water and get in and out when we want and eat dinner and go back in all without having to drive anywhere. Or dealing with someone else's annoying kids. It's just nice.

This weekend the kids got new goggles. Sweet Girl has been putting on sunglasses and calling them "goggles"(I can tell I haven't written about "goggles" in a long time because I keep typing "googles"... and now you know my search engine preference). So Leo went and got her some real goggles. She was a little apprehensive at first. But after seeing Leo and I wear them she was wanted to wear them. Now I will mention that these goggles are YOUTH goggles. Thus not made to fit adult heads or eyes so you can imagine the site of Leo and I as we put these things on. They fit around our heads fine, even Leo's. It was the eye parts that were a little small. But it was fun to swim under water and be able to open my eyes.

Sweet Girl then kept hers on and then kept wanting to go underwater. So we spent a lot of time underwater. It was fun.

The Leo stood on his hands. The kids weren't too excited by that. So I told him to do a forward roll (or somersault) and he did. I asked him if he could go backwards and he did.
So then I tried. BIG MISTAKE. Holy Christ, I thought I wouldn't be able to walk after getting out of the pool. OMG, my muscles haven't stretched like that in probably 25 years I guess. Yeah not doing that again. I think I have to take up Yoga or something now. I couldn't believe it. It is very sad. SAD SAD SAD.
Also my nose doesn't do quite as good as it used to either. I used to be able to swim without holding my nose. Now I still can but water seems to sneak in a little easier. Jeez I swear.

I'll have to start working on these things or I'll hate that damn pool by the end of summer.

Oh and I went and got Leo and I our own goggles! Adult sized ones! Woohoo.