Amazon Is On Crack

The other day I get an email from Amazon. The ones where they like to recommend stuff based on a previous purchase. I like Amazon and I buy a lot there, mostly books and toys. So why did I get an email regarding the fact I needed to 'Stock Up on Street Surfing Gear'? I found it funny because I have no need to stock up on any street surfing gear. I don't own a skateboard or anything of the like. I do own a bike but I haven't ridden it in over 4 years. I only own a car and would probably look a little funny driving around with a street surfing helmet on. So I chuckled to myself as I thought a better recommendation would be the next installment of the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer or maybe something new in Elmo's World or a new Disney DVD that has been released for that stupid god forsaken vault that has prohibited me from buying Snow White or Sleeping Beauty unless I get them used.

The only purchase I can think that I made that would put me remotely into the street surfing gear category was Sweet Girls knee pads and helmet for her little 12 inch bike. They were adorned with Disney Princesses so that must automatically lumps me in the category of "street gear" purchaser. Although I must be pretty thick this morning because I'm not quite sure I see the connection.

If anyone needs any new street surfing gear, let me know I'll forward you the email.

3 Months To A Birthday

Sweet Girl comes out with some random stuff. Stuff we aren't talking about at the moment so that is funny but the conversation itself adds to the humor. The other day while playing in the play room she decided that she wants to have a big princess birthday party. I proceeded to ask her who she wanted to invite:
Sweet Girl: I want to have a BIG princess birthday party
Me: Who do you want to invite?
SG: J.Calvin
Me: OK, anyone else?
SG: Megan, Madeline, Olivia
*Note that NONE of the kids she mentioned LIVE here, they are all from TN and her old preschool with the exception of Olivia who is her cousin in CA.
Me: What about some kids from your new school? What about Allison?
SG: OK and Aidan.
Me: Anyone else?
SG: Ah, I don't know, you figure it out.

Well OK then. I guess I'll figure it out myself... I have over 3 months to plan and I'm sure the guest list will change about 100 times or maybe even be forgotten.

It's Amazing What A Hotel Can Do

Why is it that when my children cross the threshold of a hotel room they turn into crazy ass banshees who act like they were just let out of the zoo? We went to Tucson this weekend and obviously stayed in a hotel. We get into the room and magically my children are transformed into some sort of deviant nutcase. Little Man is wrecking havoc on the telephones, Sweet Girl is going around and around in the desk chair. They are loud and yelling. And I am continuously saying, stop it, don't do that, put the phone down, don't put the phone in the drawer, stop calling the front desk, don't call another room, etc etc. You get the idea. It wasn't all that relaxing, but then again not much is these days really if both kids are around... And awake...

And also WHY is it that Sweet Girl coughs all night when we sleep in a hotel? I think the only person that got a good nights sleep was Little Man. I slept with Sweet Girl (we were wise this time and got two double beds instead of one king) because every time I would go back to the other bed she would come over. So I got to endure sleeping with her coughing in my face and throwing her legs all over my legs, pushing her head into my back when she decided to sleep perpendicular to me.
Overall it was a good trip and we had fun.

We went to Tombstone and saw a lot of old history and people dressed up like Wyatt Earp. It was cool.
Sunday morning we went to the Pima Air Museum and saw all kinds of fun planes. The kids enjoyed that.
This weekend we're going to Flagstaff and I am really looking forward to this trip. Helloooo cooler weather!!! YAY!!!

Slacker

I am an exercise slacker this week. I haven't done my cardio like I should have but I did meet with my trainer both days. I had a rough couple workouts with the first one this week almost leaving me puking on the floor of the gym. It sucked. Thursday was better until I got in the car when I thought I was going to die. I cannot stand to feel nauseous.
So today while I should be going in to do cardio I'm not. I'm playing the total slacker card.

Next week, I'll be back into my groove.

Before this little slacker slump I had been doing very good. I enjoy the trainer dude, he's very nice and encouraging. And he pushes me much harder then I would push myself so that's what I need. I enjoy the feeling the next day of being sore but not too sore. He is a lover of squats which I guess is fine since I do need to get rid of the jiggly thigh fat I have. So I have grown to love squats too, even though I may tell you how much I hate them if I've done a shitload of them for a workout.

I am glad it's Friday.

So Happy Together

This weekend marked the first time, well really ever that the entire family (at least my immediate side) was together. That included me, Leo, Sweet Girl, Little Man, my sister, her husband, their daughter and my mom and dad. The last time we were all together was my sister and her husband's wedding back in 2004. But there were 3 less little people. If you want to get technical Sweet Girl was at their wedding in utero. I was looking like a bunch of bananas in the pretty yellow (pretty on everyone else) dress. I was HUGE. And top that off with the fact my hair looked like a bee hive with a total of like 51 bobby pins, I looked even larger. But I am digressing AGAIN.
Since the last time all of us were together, we've added Sweet Girl, Little Man and Olibia (as pronounced by Sweet Girl). So we had 3 little people all under 4. It wasn't as bad as you might think. Olivia is such a cute sweet little girl. She has a sweet little voice. Hopefully she didn't leave corrupted by my devil children. And she probably picked up some bad habits too (sorry Deanna and Dan...). What can I say my kids are good teachers...

We had a good time together. We went and had a big family photo shoot over at Papago Park. The spot was really pretty that had a little pond, a rock ramada, lots of palm trees and the red rocks. Very pretty. The only downfall was thanks to the high humidity it was hot as balls. At least I thought so. I'll tell you what. I sure don't miss the humidity. OMG it was gross. But it was still a good time and the sneak peek of the pictures really looks like we got some good shots. I think my shirt choice may have prove a mistake as I look 10 lbs heavier even though I've had a 5 lb loss since pairing up with my torturer personal trainer.

We had a fun evening playing the Wii. We went bowling, had a tennis match, watched Leo play baseball, and had a boxing match. I am the boxing champion. Oh yes I KO'd THREE people in a row. I kick ass so don't mess with me (at least when I have a Wii controller in my hand). It was fun and we laughed.

And of course we swam. A lot.

Deanna, Dan, Leo and I went to a "real" bowling alley and had a night out. It was very fun. None of us bowled as well as we did with the Wii...Oh well. It was still fun and we laughed. It was nice to be out.

And then our visit had to come to an end. Of course all good things must come to an end. We said we would come visit them next. Sweet Girl is already talking about our trip to CA. She keeps asking when we're going (and I don't know this yet...) and if we're going to drive or fly on a plane. I should not have said this. What the hell was I thinking? I forgot that Sweet Girl remembers EVERYTHING like that.

We at least have 2 1/2 weeks left with my mom and dad. None of want them to leave. Despite Sweet Girl telling them that I wanted them to go home...This is just NOT true!!!

Running Out of Topics

I am having writers block. I am running out of topics. I think I'm trying to hard to be creative and it's backfiring on me. I am trying to make the blog better and improve my writing since I enjoy it so much. I even joined a community just for blogging ladies, called BlogHer. Maybe it will help me find inspiration.
You wouldn't think with my luck and my children I would have this problem. But I am. I'm not sure what to post today.

I'll think about it and post some more later.

If you have something you want to hear about, leave a comment. I'll even share my opinion on anything, but I'm not sure about going into the political realm so I'll keep those posts to an absolute minimum.

I love comments you know. I know there are people reading I can see it on my blog stats, but you all turned into lurkers! What the hell is up with that? I am a bit of a comment freak, I love to get and read comments. I might develop some sort of issue if you don't start posting some comments.

Ahhh...Brown Free....

The whole front part of the house is now brown paint free, with the exception of the guest room and bath which I just picked out the colors for last night. A light light grey, oh it will be so nice and cool and calming. I found a pretty lavender and grey bedding set that will compliment nicely and welcome all those who come to visit that retreat. Does that make you want to visit?



Ah it is just so nice to walk in and be welcomed by a nice creamy cool color instead of tan, dark brown and more tan. I had nothing against beige, tan or brown paint until I moved into this house. I'm not really sure what these people were thinking. It's like they wanted it to be like outside, so hell let's paint as much brown as possible.



And the kitchen is RED, oh how I love a red kitchen. It makes me happy and hopefully won't make me want to eat. Hmmm....maybe I should have rethought that color choice. Crap.



Well either way, I love the paint in our house now...soothing and calm.

Drywall Boob

There is a leak in the ceiling. Yes a leaky ceiling in your family room is a great thing. When we came home from our date on Friday night I was sitting in the family room and kept hearing this noise (remember I said I have some weird issue with noises?), I thought it was the fan making a noise and was annoyed and then I kept hearing it and so I finally looked at the ceiling and it had developed a single boob. And it was dripping, that was the noise I was hearing. So I get out a pitcher to catch the water and surrounded it by towels since it looked like it was going to explode at any moment. I kept trying to get Leo to break the boob, he likes feeling them up so why not feel and caress the one hanging from the ceiling, but he wouldn't do it. It is a good thing I did call for someone to come and investigate the ceiling leak earlier that day and they were set to arrive on Saturday morning.

After Leo goes outside for a bit, he comes back in and gets the light changer thingie and breaks the boob. And a big swoosh of water comes from it. And now the torn piece of ceiling boob is all in pieces on the floor and it's still dripping.

Saturday morning rolls around and the guy shows up and goes up into the attic and comes down and says "well your drip pan is about 10 inches too short, but I'm plumber and we'll have to have the air conditioning guy come out so the office will call you in about 10 mins to make an appointment."
3 hours later - no call (not that I am surprised since so many places are such sorely lacking in customer service, but that is another post for another time). I called them. Now they will be out on Sunday.
By Sunday afternoon, it's dripped enough to make the dry wall tape hanging down, it is so sexy looking. It is completely classy. I'm thinking maybe to just leave it like that.
They were supposed to be here between 1-4 on Sunday. At 3:45, I get a call to explain my problem again (are you SERIOUS) and then a return calls shortly after to say they do not have the drip pan so we'll have to wait until Monday morning first thing.
Great.
What the hell is going to happen I'm thinking maybe the air using will come crashing through the attic floor. Wouldn't THAT be cool.
Leo actually went up there and said it had probably been leaking for the 6 years (when the house was built), it had eaten through a piece of particle board. Leo put a pitcher right by the leak (why the plumber didn't suggest this as an alternative solution until the new drip pan got there is beyond us...). Thankfully Leo didn't come through the floor. And WHY wasn't this found in the inspection? What else could have been missed. OMG at that thought.
So as I this writing they are still not here yet.
Oh the joys of home ownership. Hopefully we haven't moved into the money pit...

Just Brightens My Day (insert sarcastic tone)

Ah how nice it was to come home and not see brown/beige in our living room/dining room. It's just a nice white with a hint of blue. It's very peaceful and looks awesome. It is amazing at how much what seemed like the lighter of the browns that dominated most of the house made the house so dark. I am already much happier. With the walls at least.

What doesn't make me happy is that Sweet Girl is sick. She's running a high fever. So we have two possibilities here:
1. Gaga and Gran-dad brought some nasty bugs from the flight (possible yes, probable no)
2. We are now moving into getting ALL the sicknesses kids in Arizona got LAST summer.

I mean why not? Who doesn't love being sick in the summer? Personally I do, I don't know about you (Remember I did say I was horribly sarcastic, so you should have read that with all the sarcasm YOU can muster and then multiply it by about 1000). I love to feel shitty and have a fever of over 100 degrees when it's already like a damn oven out there. And when you have a kid that is suffering oh it just makes it so much better. Maybe just maybe I'll get my other wish, PUKE. Summer puke ah yes.
So I haven't mentioned happy valley lately. I guess I have been in happy valley for a while now. It's nice there most days. I've come out every now and then to be a mean sarcastic bitch. I just like to be like that every so often, I think it makes you realize just how much better being in happy valley is. I am generally not this way to my children more like my husband or my mother, both I'm sure would attest to that without hesitation.
I need to do a good vent post, I haven't done one in a while. This one was weak. I'll work on it. I know what could do it, the fact there appears to be a leak on our ceiling in the TV room. Oh yes, that is just plain annoying. You'll hear about it. Oh yes, yes you will.

100 Things You Maybe Didn't Know...

As I've been reading other blogs and becoming hip to the blogging world, I learned that on your 100th post you're supposed to post 100 things about yourself. Well officially this is post 102 so I'm a little slow on the uptake but not too much.
So here you go, you can now increase your useless knowledge count by 100 (that is if you actually REMEMBER any of the things you are or are not about to read).
Here you go. Enjoy and learn something new...

1. I’m a mother of two.
2. I love my kids more then anything in the world even when they get on my nerves.
3. I’ve been married for 12 years in November.
4. I still love my husband, actually more now then when we got married.
5. I’m a Scorpio and pretty true to my sign traits.
6. I love the smell of scotch tape.
7. I’m 32.
8. I have a strange obsession with the United Kingdom.
9. I do not like being around people who think they are better then everyone else.
10. I hate my thighs.
11. I grew up in Detroit, MI.
12. I love snow and rain.
13. My favorite season is Fall.
14. My favorite color is Red.
15. I like to only write with pens that have a cap.
16. I prefer blue pens over any other color.
17. I am horrible with following through on anything I start.
18. I’m working on #17.
19. I like the people I work with, but I really don’t like my job.
20. I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.
21. I love wearing jeans and a t-shirt.
22. I love flip flops.
23. I graduated college when I was 28 and pregnant with my first child.
24. I am extremely loyal.
25. I prefer my coke to be from a fountain.
26. I miss all my friends in Tennessee.
27. I have one sister who lives in CA.
28. My biggest fears are being left somewhere alone, drowning, and fires.
29. I have strange issues with noises, such as the dishwasher and hearing people chew or suck on their food.
30. I love having my parents around.
31. I pick at my nails and bite them.
32. I wish I didn’t do #31.
33. I love to be comfy and sleep in bed.
34. I love to get a pedicure but always paint my toes red.
35. I like to put on a fresh pair of socks when I get home from work (if I’m wearing socks that day).
36. I am extremely blunt and forward.
37. I am also horribly sarcastic.
38. I love the water.
39. I miss living close to the Great Lakes.
40. I have no coordination.
41. I also have no rhythm.
42. I get bored pretty easily.
43. I am a total emotional eater.
44. I could eat pizza every night.
45. I can type pretty fast, but have no idea about WPM.
46. While I would love to be a stay at home mom, I really don’t think I could do it
47. I hate tuna from a can, the smell, the look of it all make me want to barf.
48. The sight of a honeycomb makes my stomach turn and gives me the creeps. I do not know why.
49. My mother drives me nuts because she is always trying to figure out the Why of things, such as #48.
50. I cannot stand ketchup, I do not want it to touch me or come anywhere near me. I have had to address this dislike since both of my children do like ketchup.
51. I love shopping at Goodwill, but prefer to only go when it’s 50% off day.
52. According to my friend Heather, I am really good at looking shit up online.
53. My first dog’s name was Disney and he was a Dalmatian.
54. Before I got married I didn’t have a middle name.
55. I met Leo while at work and while dating someone else.
56. I refused to go to dinner with him while I was dating other person because it was too much like a date, but we went to lunch every day.
57. My favorite teacher was Mrs. Brengman from the 3rd grade.
58. My Grandma Jean used to call me DaniGirl. I sure do miss her.
59. I like to keep boxes that stuff comes in even if I never use it again.
60. Leo and I had two dogs before we had kids – Bogart and Dagwood both bassets.
61. I played volley ball in grade school and I was a good player.
62. I also ran track, not so good at that.
63. I took a rowing (on water) class and loved it.
64. I hate cleaning my house and according to Leo I’m not very good at it anyway.
65. I don’t mind doing laundry it’s the folding and putting it away part I hate.
66. I could watch the movie ‘The Goonies’ over and over again.
67. I wanted to be a Goonie when I was a kid.
68. I wish I could fly.
69. I wanted to fly fighter jets when I was younger.
70. Leo and I did jager shots at our wedding instead of a champagne toast
71. I have a secret wish of being a Broadway dancer. This is sort of funny because I am not a good dancer AT ALL and because of #’s 40 and 41. But I still think it would be AWESOME to dance in like a chorus line.
72. I swear a lot even since having kids.
73. I really should be working since I am at work while creating this list.
74. I saw New Kids on the Block in concert with my friend Jackie. And I think we both cried (but at least it wasn’t Milli Vanelli…).
75. Leo and I went to San Francisco on our honeymoon.
76. I would travel anywhere in the word if I had time and money (and a take along nanny).
77. I love to travel.
78. I love to read.
79. My favorite book of all time is Jane Eyre.
80. I cry after watching most movies even if they are funny.
81. I cry when I hear the National Anthem (the US National Anthem that is).
82. I cry easily when watching or hearing things that are patriotic, like seeing soldiers in person.
83. I cried at everything I went to when I was in Washington DC.
84. My first car was a 1986 Chevy Eurosport.
85. My current car is a 2004 Passatt.
86. I had my previous car a 2000 Jetta blessed by a preacher because it was possessed.
87. I love to buy stuff just to have it even if I’ll never use it.
88. I consider Leo my best friend and usually miss him during the day.
89. I like to sit Indian style.
90. I believe in ghosts.
91. I love watching The Haunting and Ghost Hunters on TV.
92. I am a sucker for a cute guy with a foreign accent.
93. I do not like to have lotion on the palms of my hands.
94. My left hip goes in farther then my right from carrying my kids.
95. I didn’t have a lot of friends in school and was made fun of a lot.
96. I love tulips, especially red ones. And I always vowed to have a little Holland in my front yard but I am not sure how well tulips will grow out here in AZ.
97. I did not use one rose in my wedding flowers.
98. I had a crush on a boy named Brandon in grade school.
99. I went to Catholic school until the 10th grade.
100. My friend Heather let me borrow a St. Joseph to sell my house and it worked.

So you actually read them all? Or you just scrolled all the way to the end and thought there is no way in hell I'm reading all this about a person I don't know. Or maybe you know me and you're like I don't want to know any more about you...Either way thanks for scrolling and/or reading!

The Best Week So Far!

This has by far been the best week I've had in Arizona so far. My parents arrived and now it just feels complete since they are here. I wish they didn't have to leave. I have to agree with Sweet Girl when she commented to Gaga about not going back.

And tomorrow the beginning of the brown paint removal will begin!!! YAY!!!


And to top off the end of the week, we'll see my sister and her family. I haven't seen her since 2005 right after Sweet Girl was born and haven't seen her husband since their wedding. And I have never met their little girl, my niece. It will be so fun to have everyone together. We'll have family pictures done and it will be a great time!

Let's see I also took a day off of work, so any week with one less work day is WONDERFUL!

My parents and the kids were in the pool by 9 AM this morning! It was fun to have everyone here.

And Leo and I get a date night on Friday! Woohoo!!

And my friend Kelly told me today that she booked her flight to come visit. Sweet Girl will be so excited to see her daughter.

I mean who can beat this kind of week!! Ahhh...such a nice feeling.

Rain = A Good Weekend

We had a nice weekend. I went bowling with some other moms and it was fun. We had some friends over on Sunday for dinner and to swim. At about 3:00 I look out and it looks a little dark. Dark blue clouds (I will admit my heart jumped with love at the sight of those clouds) coming from the south. I figured it probably would just blow over. The guests arrive and we are sitting outside enjoying the company and the winds pick up and the breeze is cooler (oh I was loving that) and it starts to thunder. So no swimming yet, because as you know where there is thunder there is also lightening. Then it starts raining and rains pretty good for a short while and then drops off to a light sprinkle.
It was very nice. Two things I've missed, dark grey rain clouds WITH rain and having people over.
Sweet Girl had fun playing with the little boy that was her age and Little Man had fun playing with the boys his age.

And tonight Gaga and Gran-dad arrive!! YAY!! They arrive pretty late and will probably be back at our house by about midnight. Hopefully they sleep on the plane because I am SURE Sweet Girl will be up at the ass crack of dawn and harassing them in their bed. We are also looking forward to their visit. I do enjoy hanging out with my parents so I am happy to have them back for a while.

Tomorrow we're all staying home to hang out and swim. It will be fun. Sweet Girl can show off her swimming skills and Little Man will hopefully show off how he can jump in. Lots of fun to be had while they are here!!

It's Actually Raining

They said it might rain, but I figured it would be like when they forecasted snow in Tennessee. It never happened. But yesterday afternoon it was really nice and cloudy. Oh it made me so happy to see clouds and potential rain and a nice drop in temperature into the low 90's. And sure enough at about 9:30 it starts raining and it wasn't just the 2 minute rain we've seen it was still raining this morning when I got up at 6! I was so excited and happy to see dark clouds when I looked out the window. Oh how I miss days like this. Don't get me wrong the sun is nice, but a good cloudy day is great. It, however, makes me long for fall. And not the fall we'll have here in Arizona.

Apparently all this rain has caused chaos in the Valley (sound familiar with snow in TN???), there is flooding all over the place. And of course they have to do the continuous warnings to not drive down flooded roads and washes. This is such a problem here, that they have the Stupid Driver Law. I love that, if you get stuck because you drove onto a flooded road you have to pay for the rescue AND a $2000 fine. That is awesome.
It even closed the airport for a while!
Gotta love the rain! Check it out.

Little Man Not So Little

We went to Little Man's 2 year check up yesterday. He is not really all that little actually. He weighs a nice round 32.8 pounds and is 34 3/4 inches tall. This equals short and chunky. He's in the 90th percentile for weight but only the 55th for height. But I am not worried, Sweet Girl was like this as well and she has trimmed out pretty nicely. Also the kid runs around like a nut so they are both pretty active and don't sit around all that much. They move A LOT. Trust me I know.

And on a Sweet Girl note...we were leaving the docs office yesterday and driving down the street to head to the freeway. She is fussing a bit and Leo is telling her to calm down and she finally does. Until they stop at a light and she starts screaming and pointing. There is a big semi truck next to the truck and Leo is thinking it's scaring her so he's trying to get out of her what the matter is. Finally he does, and this is what the problem is:
"There is a Harley Davidson store over there and I can't see it". She can't see it because the big semi truck is in the way. This is what was causing all the crying and screaming. Of course we had to call Gran-dad and tell him this because he would be proud. Because of Gran-dad Sweet Girl can tell the difference between a crotch rocket and Harley Davidson. And she will ALWAYS point out the motorcycles as we're driving and always talks about Gran-dad after seeing them.
Luckily she'll get to see Gran-dad and Gaga soon!! YAY!! I think we are all looking forward to that.

Oh The Torture

I went to the gym today. I met with the torture master and did enough squats for all of mankind. But alas lots of pain = no more jello legs. Right?? I'm telling myself that anyway.
I also did a lot of triceps work, the last time I attempted this I couldn't lift my arms past a 90 degree angle at my elbow. This made washing my hair quite difficult. I hope I do not suffer this same issue tomorrow.
Right now my issue I believe is going to walking like I'm normal and not afflicted with some sort of weirdo ailment or being accused of making fun of someone who has one for real.

So will I go back again, you bet your ass. And I'll bet my ass too because I imagine that's a bigger bet. But not for long!

If I Tell You Will I Do It?

So I'm wondering along the lines of Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams of 'If you build it they will come'. And he built his field and people actually came so apparently it worked. So if I tell you something will I do it? If I tell you that I want to lose weight and go to the gym to work my fat ass off will I actually continue to do it? I have been going to the gym for a couple weeks now and even signed up for a personal trainer in hopes that by Thanksgiving I can wave and only one part of my arm moves and all areas that jiggle will not be like jell-o anymore. And I've mentioned that I am horrible and I do mean horrible at following through what I start so maybe just maybe by proclaiming it to all the world basically I will follow through and actually finish something I started. So now I have told you, and now I must do it. Maybe by Thanksgiving those who see me will be amazed by my transformation and my loss of 30 lbs.

Yeah you probably should start taking bets...

The Big Fireworks

Our day at the resort was pretty fun. Leo and I drank fruity drinks delivered to us by someone else as we lounged in the pool. The pool that was not too refreshing because the water was so warm but alas it was not our house and we were our of our routine. The kids were enjoying it and having fun. They especially (and I have to admit I loved it too) enjoyed the water slide. Little Man really liked it and Sweet Girl requested to go down over and over. It wasn't a long one but it was pretty fun. I think they would like a water park. I love a water park myself. The best thing about it was the water in that pool was actually cooler since it was being recirculated so much.
After a few hours at the pool we headed up to the room to get ready for dinner and s'mores on the pit. Sweet Girl was really looking forward to the s'mores and we saw them getting ready for them as we headed to the buffet. Well the buffet was not that great as they were running out of food. Luckily we got a corn dog for the kids before they ran out. And fruit. So at least the kids were eating which was a good thing.
Then we headed off to the s'more pit only to find out that they were also out of s'mores and thus had closed up shop. NOT GOOD as Sweet Girl has a complete meltdown about wanting a s'more and rightfully so as we talked it up about how much fun it would be (rookie parent mistake there...we should have KNOWN better!!). So we headed to the room where we waited for the fireworks to start. We were lucky to have the luxury of watching them from our balcony. While we waited we could watch four other firework shows going on in the distance around the valley. It was pretty cool. After the fireworks started Little Man was hilarious. He said "ohhhhhhhh", "woooooowwwowowowo" and "looooook" after each one. He was quite entertained. As I said we were lucky to be in our room because no less then 10 minutes after the show ended was Sweet Girl asleep. Little Man was right behind her, but of course it was about 2.5 hours past their bed time.
The worst part of the outing was that Leo and I only got probably 2 hours of sleep as Sweet Girl coughed all night long even after a dosing of cough meds. She then got a wicked fever which resulted in some chills that shook the entire bed. I finally was able to calm her down after holding her and wrapping her in TWO blankets. Overall the time at the resort was very nice and we had fun and I would do it again, but the one thing I'll change is I'll get two double beds instead of one king. That way Sweet Girl can thrash around her own bed without kicking me or punching Leo.
We headed home early and enjoyed a nap at home and some fun times in our pool. The rest of the weekend was enjoyable as well.

Happy Birthday Little Man (and America too...)

Today Little Man is two years old. I can't really believe it was two years ago that he was born. Sometimes it seems longer and sometimes it seems like just yesterday he was born.
I will recap his birth story for you, you probably won't enjoy it quite as much as I will writing it but humor me anyway.
It was a pretty normal day actually. Leo let me sleep in since I didn't really sleep good during the night so I took advantage of it. We were planning to take Sweet Girl to the fireworks that evening so when I got ready I actually dried my hair and ran the flat iron on it so I would look halfway decent and not just air dried hair in a pony tail. We headed off for lunch and to go to Target to get Sweet Girl a new baby so she could have her own. We ate lunch at Ruby Tuesday's in Brentwood. I had the Ruby mini's and fries that had WAY too much seasoning. It was a yummy meal. We headed off to Target next. We found Sweet Girl a cute baby in it's own little carrier. It was really cute, so that is what we got. Then Sweet Girl and Leo went one way and I headed over to the sippy cup aisle because Sweet Girl needed some more cups. It was at this moment that I realized that I didn't feel quite right. I felt a little squirmy, in pain and I wanted to cry. I thought this was abnormal for me so I headed off to find Leo and inform him that I think we needed to call my parents and head to the hospital. I found him quickly due to hearing Sweet Girl screaming and running around. I inform him of this and to this he asks me:
"Well how far apart are your contractions?"
Me: "I don't know, I feel weird and I think it's time to call my parents."
Leo: "Well I don't want to call them and make them drive up here if we're not sure"
Me: "I'll start timing" and thinking I want to run you over with this fucking cart.
Me: "first one is 4 mins. I really want to cry"
We check out and go to the car where I am all squirmy and timing them at STILL four minutes apart.
Me: "Ok will please call them NOW and tell them to come up?"
Leo: "Ok"
He calls and they are on their way. I am doing my best to not really pay attention to how uncomfortable I am. We get home and I am reading to Sweet Girl as a means to take my mind off of the contractions. Leo walks through the living room and says:
"You don't look like you're going to cry anymore, are you still having contractions?"
Me: "Yes I am and I'm trying to read to Sweet Girl to take my mind off of them" and thinking I want to throw this book at your damn head, what the hell kind of question is that?
20 minutes later I make Leo call my parents to find out where they are because I am now READY to get to the hospital. I want to be there NOW.
They are on the freeway.
20 minutes later I demand Leo call my parents again to find out why the hell they aren't at our house yet. They just got off the freeway.
By the time they got in the driveway I was walking out the door. I said good by to Sweet Girl and good bye to my parents. Thanked them for coming and quickly told them how to fasten the car seat for Sweet Girl.
Now we are off to the hospital (in Leo's six-speed, that I wished until we got on the freeway was an automatic). FINALLY.
We get to the hospital and check in. Where the admitting lady is working in sllllloooooowwww motion and I keep my mouth shut to keep from telling her to hurry the fuck up. But I am nice and pleasant (well as pleasant as I can be at this point without saying anything vulgar).
We are taken back to the triage room, because you know they have to make sure you're telling the truth. Like I would really want to go and check in for the hell of it to have them check to see how far I've dilated because it feels so good when they check...Well we wait and wait and no one comes and there is no blanket or pillow in the little room and now I'm getting a little peeved. Finally someone comes in. And they check me and I am dilated 4-5. Woohoo, I wasn't faking!
We're admitted and taken to a room. We're situated pretty quickly. By about 6:00 or so, they give me my IV of pitocin, break my water and get the epidural ready. I would say by about 7:00 I was feeling nothing and just watching TV. We now had called everyone and informed them that our no name at the time baby was going to be born soon.
At about 9:30, I can start feeling contractions again so I request that I get another hit of meds in the epi. The nurse checks and sees that I am at 10 cm so she says "Can you do a test push?"
Me: "Sure"
Nurse: "Oh my god, stop. I need to get the doctor"
Me: "Ok"
The doctor is called and I am still sitting with my legs up while about 10 other people enter the room and get it ready. They had the room ready in probably about 5 minutes!
And the doctor says "Do you remember how to push"
Me: "I guess"
And away we go.
3 pushes, 8 minutes later Little Man was born at 9:52 PM. He weighed in a 9lbs 2 oz. And was a fat little round ball of baby. He was so cute and sweet.
I didn't even break a sweat birthing this kid and felt pretty good afterwards. At testament to avoiding induction at all costs I think!
I only took the motrin and refused the narcotic drugs since they made me so sick and I didn't really need them. Which the nurses said was totally unfair for someone to have a 9 lb baby in only 8 minutes and refuse drugs. I felt pretty good about that.
Leo's cousins came to visit about 11:00 or so and they said to me 'Jeez it doesn't even look like you had a baby'. I am assuming they meant because I didn't look all sweaty and like I had been put through the ringer. Not because I was still pretty large and looked pregnant still!
Leo's dad and step mom got to town about 1:30 AM. So we finally were able to get some sleep about 3:00 AM only to be awoken at 6:00 by all the barrage of nurses and doctors coming in to check on me and talk to me about this and that.

It was raining the next day when my parents, who had a bitch of a time getting Sweet Girl buckled in the car seat (remember I said I QUICKLY told them how to do it? Well that caused a few heated phone converstaions before they could leave to visit in order to instruct them how to do it), came to visit. Sweet Girl finally warmed back up to me and wanted to hold Little Man. But when she was done holding him she was done holding him and would pretty much push him off her lap.

We were in the hospital less then 48 hours, I was ready to get the hell out of there and to our own house and more importantly my own bed. Little Man was a good baby and only really cried when he was REALLY hungry. And he was hungry a lot, the kid ate sometimes every 45 minutes and he wasn't the expedient eater Sweet Girl was. He took a little longer.

In the first few weeks we adjusted nicely to having two kids. Sweet Girl did pretty good with him and adjusted well. She drew on his head with a green crayon, tried to headbutt him a few times and would try to poke him in the eyes. Overall she was your typical big sister.

So there you have it. Now he's two. He weighs as much as his sister, is a complete momma's boy, is talking more and really likes to hand out food or beer (especially from a cooler). His current interests are Elmo (even though he doesn't want Sesame Street), playing with anything Sweet Girl has, and coloring.

And now also we must wish Happy Birthday to our beautiful country as well. Today is our 232nd birthday. You really should take a moment to read the Declaration and reflect on our own countries birth story. It was a long road and we should all be thankful to our Fore Fathers for their perseverance and insight. Read it here. I wish our current leaders would reflect on it as well as our Constitution and remember the founding principles that we have so drastically moved away from in our current government state. But alas this is not a political blog so I will stop now. Just remember how our country originated and unless we strive to protect how we got here, it won't be the country you know much longer.

Happy Independence Day!

I Love a 3 Day Weekend!

Yay!! It's going to be a 3 day weekend! And hopefully we'll get out of work early today so it will be more like a 3.5 day weekend!

You readers are sure quiet this week, maybe you're all on vacation! Lucky you.

I hope everyone enjoys their 4th of July. Be Safe and Have Fun. We're heading to a local resort to spend the night. Since we have no family to celebrate Little Man's birthday with, we thought we would do something special. It should be a good time and hopefully the kids enjoy the fireworks. Sweet Girl will probably have her ears covered the whole time. She's funny about loud noises.

Check in tomorrow for Little Man's birth story as we relive our day.

Swim School and Random Ramblings

Sweet Girl did great again and Little Man did better this time as well. We were actually able to get into the water and away from the step. He even jumped in, whoa!! That was exciting. I opted for getting changed out of my bathing suit in the locker room instead of the car. Quite a bit easier then trying to stay covered up with a towel in the front seat, get out of the gut sucker swim suit and into regular clothes all with not being completely dry. Don't ask why I even tried this? It was a dumb dumb idea. But at least I learned from my mistake.

We were concerned we wouldn't have swim school because of potential rain (HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA) but we did have class and guess what, it didn't rain (big shock). It was pretty windy though. I can see what's happening now, we are beginning to be like those people in TN that expects it to snow when it's forecasted. What a joke. Soon we'll be desperate for precipitation. That is very sad. We'll have to travel to see some!

Swim School

The first swim lessons were OK. Sweet Girl did great and seemed to enjoy her class. Little Man didn't do as great. Little Man and I were in the parent/toddler class. Everyone else is in the pool and singing their songs and practicing their floating and Little Man and I are sitting on the steps of the pool. He REFUSED to go anywhere past the step and screamed when I got him into the water. A huge difference from at home. He did finally get into the water when enticed by a toy. And as soon as he realized he was away from the step he started screaming again. It was really fun. He stopped screaming when he realized he could go down the little play slide they had. He was OK with that for a while and then screamed some more when we had to leave. I'm not really sure how much Little Man will get out of it.

As we were getting ready to leave the pool, both kids are now crying and carrying on about who knows what. Waiting until AFTER the lesson to eat dinner is not a wise choice and will be following a different plan today.