I used to hate school

Now I absolutely love school. I still don't love to go there, but I love to send my kids there. It's an education and somebody else has to put up with them! The sad definition of reality: your kids behave better for other adults than they do for you. My kid's teachers think they're absolute angels. Oh little do they know that the minute my kids walk through the door at home they sprout horns and breath fire. I start getting a headache the minute I leave to go pick them up. It's like they've held it in all day and they must release the fury on poor me. I think kids should spend the last 45 minutes of school napping. Maybe that would help. They're always so hyper and cranky when they get home. Even after a snack. Yesterday they were bouncing off the walls so badly that I thought I was going to have to string them up from the ceiling fan.

La Katie gave me the look again yesterday. But this time as she turned away she turned her head so she could maintain eye contact with me. Someone is getting a little too big for her britches. The princess needs to be taken down a peg or two. Seriously, if she's like this now, what is she going to be like as a teenager? Could she be getting all the attitude out of the way? Or is this just a preview of things to come? Suddenly boarding school in Siberia seems tempting.

Birth Stories

This if for the blog carnival over at Maya's Mom.



Mikel-

On March 15th my OB admitted me to the hospital to induce labor. She started by administering cervadil to help my cervix soften. I'd been having tons of contractions, but not dialating AT ALL. After overnight with the cervadil in place and still no dialating the doctor started the pitocin IV. Twelve hours later and I had dialated to a whopping one centimeter. Yipee! My OB was going to leave me overnight and see where we were in the morning. My husband asked if there wasn't anything else we could do to help things along. She looked down at me and said,"let's just go ahead and get you delivered". Great, wonderful, fabulous. Wait a minute. Just how are we going to do that? Ahhhhh, a c-section. Yikes. I freaked out. It wasn't that I was opposed to a c-section, but deathly afraid of it. The anticipation of seeing my baby boy was greater than my fear of the surgery and an hour and a half later there he was. With much pushing on my stomach from my six months pregnant doctor that was on her knees on the operating table. Even with the epidural it was pretty uncomfortable. When the assisting doctor pulled Mikel out everyone in the room said "whoa!" Mikel was 8 lbs. 13oz. He was a big boy. I might also mention that the doctor attempted the inducement at 38 weeks because she was afraid I was going to have a ten pound baby. Not a good thing for a petite lady. Mikel will be 7 years on this March 16th and I still think of him as that tiny little baby they brought to me in the hospital.

Katie-

Katie was a scheduled c-section. With my mom coming from out of town to watch Mikel it just seemed easier to schedule the birth than to take a chance and not have anyone available to watch Mikel. Unlike Mikel's birth, Katie's was a walk in the park. 45 minutes and welcome to the world baby girl! It's a good thing that we had scheduled the c-section. Katie has done things her own way from the start. She was breach and came out feet first. Let me tell you, a kickin' baby and a cervix do not make for a very comfortable mommy. When they brought me back into the room my mom was disgusted. She said there was no way that I had just had a baby. I looked like I had just gone for a walk and came back with a baby. Thank goodness there was none of the uncontrollable shaking and vomiting like after I had Mikel. It was very nice and wonderful experience. We could hear Katie crying all the way in the nursery. Since I had gestational diabetes they had to check her blood sugar. They were trying to get her to take a bottle and she was having none of it. Katie was a breastfeeding baby from the word go. Oh she would drink a bottle. Then throw it right back up. She's not stubborn. She's assertive and very patient. While I really wanted a girl with a strong will, I'm not sure that this was what I meant. Lord have mercy on the man she marries. He better have a good job and the patience of a saint.

I'm going nucking futs

Mikel was sick all last week. The kids have been home on vacation all this week. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids but they need to go back to school. Mikel had some sort of cold/flu type thing and ran a fever for 5 days. He absolutely refuses to take any kind of medicine so it was really miserable for everybody. I seem to have caught a cold but it's still pretty minor so hopefully it won't stay around for very long. Combine all this with the rainy weather and we all have a major case of cabin fever.

Does any one have a daughter about 5 years old that has a major diva complex? I'm seriously ready to lock mine in her room. She's been rude and demanding and when I tell her no she actually gives me the look. You know the way your mom used to look at you when you were getting on her nerves? I don't know what to do with her.

I really need a nap. I'm so glad it's the weekend, now I can sleep all day tomorrow while Dh deals with the kids. I need some alone time. I think I'm just a day or two away from pulling a Britney. Only instead of shaving my head I'll probably just pull my hair out.

How to traumatize your child

(Here's another beginnings of a post. I have no idea what those words at the bottom are for. I think it had something to do with words that are searched for the most on Google.)

First, you must be repairing a favorite stuffed animal or doll. Second, you must be interrupted in some fashion. Third, when you are interrupted you must stick the needle you are using to repair the stuffed object into the animal abruptly. Fourth, leave the stuffed object on the table where your child can find it. Wait until screaming starts and you can consider it a job well done.




first, Constantinople, hobgoblin, postmodern and etiquette.

It's Monday night and the kids are in fine form. My oldest nephew is sitting in the corner for the second time in about 30 minutes. We're getting our Thanksgiving dinner menu set and will be shopping tomorrow for our goodies. It's so easy to get carried away and want to make tons of food, but it will just be the four of us so we need to keep it small. Small doesn't mean it can't be good. H has a good line on a job and could possibly be working before Thanksgiving. That would be so awesome. We really need him to get back to work. Not that I don't love being around my parents after living so far away for so long, but I'm living with my parents. After being on my own, it sucks. Plus H, the kids, and I are all living in the same room. Four people in the same room. Sounds thrilling don't it? I need my own space. I'm considering getting my own apartment and maybe sometimes I let H visit me there!

Just FYI

Getting a cortisone shot in your foot is not something you want to put on your "things to do before I die list". It hurts. HURTS. BAD. It's supposed to make my foot feel better. In a couple of days. Until then it hurts like h e double hockey sticks and I'm running a fever. Isn't that nice? I'm also probably going to have a lovely bruise on my foot. I'm also supposed to stay off my feet as much as possible. Did I mention I have two kids? What mother is able to stay off her feet? Perhaps I should introduce my podiatrist to my psychiatrist. I'm sure they would get along.

I'll be honest

While I'm not a big fan of Anna Nicole, I am sad that she died. She was still young and she has a beautiful baby girl. Regardless of how the media portrayed her, she was still a human and will be missed. It's incredibly sad that she first lost her son and then had this huge custody battle or paternity suit over her daughter. Not too mention all of it being played out on national tv and in magazines. I would not want that kind of life. It must be very hard. The thing that I feel the worst about is now there is a baby girl that will never know her mom. She'll grow up seeing all these images of her mother, but not really know the woman that she was. It's a tragedy, from all angles. A man without his companion, a child without a mother, a mom without a daughter. Regardless of my opinion of the woman herself, I feel sad for those who will suffer through her loss.

Addiction is an ugly thing

There are many forms of addiction. Addiction to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes,and diet caffiene free pepsi. But the worst one I've ever seen, just breaks my heart. I know it will be a lifelong addiction. One that no matter what, there is no twelve step program. The person suffering from this horrible addiction is my daughter. Yes, she is addicted to chocolate pudding. I caught her this morning constructing a ladder from chairs and boxes in order to obtain the object of her desire. The pudding cups. I have to hide them because she would eat them all the day I brought them home. It's an ugly, ugly thing folks. The chocolate smeared around her mouth and that crazed, sugar induced look in her. I'm frightened.

Proof that men don't listen

Have you seen that Volvo commercial where the little girl is talking non-stop? Dh and I saw it last night and he remarked,"that would drive me crazy". I paused and looked at him,"you obviously haven't spent much time in the car with our daughter have you?"

This girl gives new meaning to the word chatterbox. I've asked her several times if her mouth ever gets tired and she always says no. Maybe that's why she's so skinny. She burns off all the calories by constantly talking. I wonder if I should try that.

I feel the love

Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes. That was awesome. Dinner was wonderful and while they didn't have the kind of cheesecake I wanted, they did have pumpkin cheesecake which is something I have never tried before. It was quite tasty and I wouldn't mind having it again.

Dh and Mikel went to Fresno over the weekend and are traveling home as I type. They stopped at the Tulare outlets to do some shopping. I hope they got something nice for me! Katie and I had a lovely girls only weekend. Saturday we saw Arthur and the Invisibles. A great, very cute movie. Katie loved it. Then we went to Cold Stone and had some ice cream. After that we went rented ourselves a movie each and went home and washed our new car. Later we went to Carl's Jr. for dinner. I love not having to cook. Sunday we went grocery shopping and just relaxed around the house not having to watch football!

Too bad that can't happen all the time.

It's my birthday, I'll whine if I want to

Today I am (insert melodramtic music here) . . . . . 30. I don't really feel like I'm old. I'm not really. 30 is just 30. Feels kind of weird, but just because I remember being younger and not really being able to imagine what being 30 would be like. Despite all the financial troubles and other problems, it's not that bad really. I have quite a bit to be happy about. I have a wonderful husband (who's taking me out to dinner tonight), two great kids, and a home. Not too shabby.

One of my aunts sent me an e-card. She said that she thinks my mom is taking it harder than I am. My mom feels old. But seriously, if she dyed her hair people would think we're sisters. She certainly doesn't look like she's 55. I hope I look that good when I'm 55.

I have more free ice cream than I know what to do with. A coupon for a free ice cream cone at Baskin Robbins, then another one from my insurance agent. Then a coupon for a free creation at Cold Stone! I'm more excited about the Cold Stone. That stuff is gooooooooooooooood.

We're going to Marie Calendar's for dinner. I didn't really choose there because of the food. I chose it because of the cheesecake. Everything in life should be based around dessert. I loves me some cheesecake. Especially the monster slice they give you at Marie Calendar's. I can hardly wait. The only thing that would be better would be to get a whole cheesecake. That's not a bad idea actually. Well it is, because I would eat the whole thing and that would be bad. A massive case of heartburn and indigestion, not to mention ten pounds of cheesecake that goes straight to my ass.

Yes, I do believe I'd like some cheese with my whine.