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.

Finding the silver lining

Ultimately we decided not to get our cars back. In order to get them back the bank wanted to put a lien against our house and we just weren't willing to do that. That seemed like the worst decision to make. We found Dh a little economy commuter car yesterday, so he's back to work today. We're going to buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee from Dh's cousin that's in really good shape and they only want $1,500 for it. So now we have vehicles that are paid for, or at least will be paid for soon. That's going to dramatically improve our financial situation. Once the vehicles are auctioned then we'll make payment arrangements with the bank for the rest of the balance.

The kids are back to school. Thank goodness I have some time to myself again. I really like having my time to do my housework and some time to relax and just do what I want. Tomorrow I'm going to go see Smokin' Aces. I wanted to go see Catch and Release, but it's not playing at a good time so I can go while the kids are at school. I'm really enjoying this whole a movie a week thing. I love going to the movies and I can see whatever I want to see. I don't have to listen to dh complain about what we're watching. He's very picky about movies. Actually he's very picky about everything.

A few months ago I cut my hair really short. In the mornings now I always wake up with a major case of bed head. Last week while I was doing my hair I put gel in it and just made it stick straight up. My hair was still wet, I hadn't dried it that way. I went to see the kids and asked them what they thought. Mikel just laughed at me, and Katie said,"wow mom. That's not awesome". Ah my daughter, the fashion/style critic.

I have a little black cloud over my head

Ok, I'll start with Monday. Dh got a speeding ticket. Tuesday, he wrecked his car. We don't have car insurance. Then Wednesday night, we got our vehicles reposessed. Yeah. It's been a lovely week. So now we're trying to figure out whether we want to get our cars back. Dh's car isn't driveable. Or if we just want to start over. It's a complete and total mess

Just beware. If you have anything through a credit union you should ask about "cross-colateralization". Because if you have multiple loans with a credit union or even a credit card and a loan, if you should happen to default on either one, they can come and take whatever it is that you have a loan or loans on. So because we defaulted on our credit card with the credit union, they came and took everything that we had with them. They will not tell you about this. It's in your contract, but they won't go out of their way to tell you about it.

Bottom line, we need to learn how to manage our money better. We really have been living beyond our means. We overextened ourselves, but by the same token they helped us. Oy!

Katie has recovered from her cold and tonsilitis. She's back to her same perky little self. We're on our last day of three doses a day. Now we just have one dose a day of the two allergy medicines. Mikel is still his annoying almost seven year old self. It's a phase. His other friend is doing the same thing. He's old enough to realize things and understand sarcasm, so he's turned into a real smart-ass. They both eat like horses and I'm dreading what it's going to be like when they're teenagers. There's already enough door slamming and yelling going on as well. I may have to ship them to Siberia.

I mailed poo today

Yes. Yes I did. Sounds fun right? Apparently the old ways of obtaining a stool sample are over. Now you can do it at home and mail in the poo! Ok, so you're not actually mailing a piece of poo. You're just mailing a little smear. That sounds really gross. But without going into great detail that's all I can come up with. I know I have a very strange sense of humor, but mailing it in just seems funny to me.

Did you ever have one of those moments while driving that you think, "where is a cop when you need one"? Today after dropping Mikel off at school I pulled out into traffic. Most of the time I do an illegal U turn and go home. Pretty much everyone does it because the only other way is about a 5 mile drive. Back to me. Today I saw a Sherrif's Deputy driving up behind me, so I just drove straight and planned on making a left turn down the dead end street and doing the U turn there. Some lady two cars ahead of me pulls into the right hand turn lane and starts to turn. What she was really doing was swinging wide to do an illegal U turn. Right there at the intersection. So as I start to drive forward she swings her van around and does a U turn right in front of me. If I hadn't been paying attention, I would have hit her. I honked my horn at her and she gave me a dirty look. I hoped that the sherrif saw her. Sure enough, as I start to make my turn the lights come on and he does a U turn and pulls up behind her. Haha! I went down to the dead end and turned around and as I drove around the corner they were standing there and I could tell she was arguing with the deputy. I'm still laughing about it.

TGIO

Thank Goodness It's Over! The week it is. I say that because it's not just that it's Friday. The week is over. I'm exhausted. Katie has tonsilitis and some sort of horrible cough. For four days I hovered over her. She tends to have problems with her asthma any time she gets a cold. Practically every time she ends up in the doctor's office receiving breathing treatments. I've gotten used to it, but I like to avoid it if I can. So now we've got 10 days of 3 different medications 3 times a day. She's just not that into it.

I need a haircut. I need to go grocery shopping. Tomorrow is sign ups for baseball and softball for the kiddos. It's going to be a busy weekend. I hate those kind of weekends. Last weekend was great. I never got out of my pajamas. I napped. It was good. I didn't get to see a movie this week. I forgot I had an appointment with a podiatrist. That was fun. I wouldn't want to look at people's feet all day long. I don't see the glamour. There's lots of glamour in being a mom. Cheerios stuck to your clothes, that frantic look in your eyes, the ability to sleep standing up.

I know you're out there!

A little birdy told me that it's national delurking week. So say hi. I don't bite. Well, just my husband and that's only because he likes it.

I'd like to voice a complaint about this week's House episodes. Why show two new episodes back to back and then nothing for the next three weeks? Surely this qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment. I understand about American Idol starting next week and I'm very excitied. But why take away my House? Don't they understand the addiction?

I saw the Pursuit of Happyness earlier this week. If you get a chance you should really go see it. It's a great movie and a wonderful, very inspirational story.

Dh comes home today. We're all very excited. A week and a half doesn't seem all that long, but it was. It really drug by. So while the kids are at school today I'll be shaving and plucking and getting ready to give Dh a proper welcome home. If you live in SoCal and you feel an earthquake tonight, don't worry. That's just us celebrating a safe return.

Why?

Everytime I sign into Blogger I check the remember me box. But it never remembers me. I think Blogger is trying to tell me something.

Why does my son only wet the bed when he's sleeping with me? And only the night after I've washed the sheets. Is that like washing your car and then it rains?

Why do the kids want to drink my soda, even though they have one of their own? Some things are sacred. Sodas, french fries, and the comfy chair.

Why is it that kids only want to help you when don't want/need their help, and then when you want them to help they act like they're dying?

Why is it that kids can't wait to go swimming and then don't want to take a bath?

Why am I still exhausted after I overslept by an hour?

Why do I have so many questions today? I sound like a three year old.

Yuck!

I don't know why, but I just took a good look at my keyboard right now and omg is it gross! Nasty, dirty keys and who knows what I would find if I took some compressed air to it. Blech! My computer will be down for some much needed maintenance later. It's just too gross.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to wear out a six-year old boy? Today I plan on taking him outside and having him ride his bike until he doesn't want to any more. I'm hoping that works. Otherwise I'm considering the treadmill. At bedtime he's completely wired. I'd try warm milk, but he can't have anything to drink two hours before bedtime.

I'm so excited that my favorite shows are coming back this week. That holiday re-run crap was incredibly frustrating. House tonight and Grey's Anatomy on Thursday. American Idol starts next week too. I so can't wait for that.

I'm going to go see The Pursuit of Happyness today. I just love Will Smith. I think he's a great actor and I love his movies. I wanted to go see Dreamgirls, but neither theater in town is showing it. What a bummer.

Eww! I just notice there's all kinds of crud in the keyboard tray too. I know I was sick for a week, but dang. How on earth have I managed to not clean this thing? Wow. I'm amazed. I'd take a picture, but I think I've embarassed myself enough just by writing about it.

Thirsty?

LaKatie has this thing about water. She loves it, and that's great. I'm glad I don't have to try and get her to drink it. She prefers water to juice or anything else. But here's the thing. She only likes cold water. Ice cold water. I know you're thinking that what's the big deal about that? Well, we have a water cooler so it's easy for her to get her own water. Again, the big deal is??? She doesn't just get herself a drink. She fills the cup and the sets it down somewhere and forgets about it. Then later when she wants a drink she either pours the water out in the sink because lord have mercy it's gotten warm! Or, she forgot where she put it and gets herself another cup, and it's not ok to just put an ice cube in the warm water either. Oh no! That stuff had better be fresh lady. Even if does only cost $1.25 to fill up the five gallon water bottle, it sure seems like we're pouring a lot of money down the sink.

Can you hear the angels singing? The kids go back to school today. My freedom has returned! One of my new year's resolutions is to go see a movie every Tuesday. I love going to the movies and I'm a member of the Regal Crown club, so I earn points towards free stuff like popcorn and movie tickets each time I go to the movies. Since Tuesday is free popcorn day, I thought that would be a good, wallet friendly day to go. I can see all the chick flicks I want to see while the kids are at school and earn free tickets so I can take the kids to see the movies they'd like to see. It looks like a win, win situation so far.

Dh is still in Vegas. The convention starts today so hopefully he won't be so bored. Can you imagine anyone being bored in Vegas? If anybody can do it, it would be my husband. I guess being there with the people you work with isn't exactly an ideal situation. It would be more fun if he wasn't there to work most likely.

I started a new routine with the kids last night. No tv while going to bed. It's going to be a rough time getting that to stick. Both kids threw screaming fits, but I'm hoping that it won't take too long for them to get used to it. It's mine and dh's fault really, but the kids are the ones suffering for it. It's just not good for them and they stay up later than they should. Especially Mikel. That kid is a night owl if I've ever seen one. He'd stay up until who knows when and then sleep all day. Not good for a little boy that's going to school. Plus he's not getting enough rest and it's making him really cranky, and that makes me really cranky.

I don't know why they call it winter break

It's not a break for us parents. Maybe a break from having to get up and get ready for school for those of us that stay home, but for everyone else, not so much of a break. The kids are definately ready to go back to school. They've been fighting all day. Most of the week after christmas was spent recovering. I got tonsilitis for christmas and it was a gift that kept on giving. For a least a week. Thank goodness the kids didn't get it though. So this week was spent trying to make up for a so-so first week of vacation. Dh left for Vegas on Wednesday for the CES show. That's the Consumer Electronics Show. He's going to be gone for 9 days. Uninterupted tv watching in the evenings for me. How I shall enjoy it.

Tuesday we spent the afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese's and spent a whole lot of money to win stuff that's nothing but junk. Wednesday we drove DH to the airport and that was an experience. I'm dreading having to drive back by myself next Friday. Thursday I took the kids to see Happy Feet. A very cute movie, the kids really enjoyed. La Katie really shook her groove thang during the whole movie. Today we went to McDonald's for a couple of hours and enjoyed the playground. If the weather improves we may spend the day at the park on Sunday.

I finally took down all my Christmas decorations today. The christmas lights on the house will have to wait for dh. I'm so not about attempting that on my own. I'm crazy, not brave.

We had a nice visit with my parents over New Year's weekend. Even though our truck broke down new year's eve and dh and Mike were left sitting by the side of the road waiting for a tow truck for three hours. It's been repaired and is thankfully back in running condition. Driving dh's little car is really unappealing. It's just a little commuter car. A two-door, stick shift. Not exactly kid friendly transport.

My worst christmas present ever

It started on Friday. I was a little phlegmy and my throat felt funny. Then by Saturday morning it was full blown. My tonsils were the size of golf balls and they felt like they'd been wrapped in barbed wire. I suffered until Wednesday morning when the doctor came back to work and called in some meds for me. I love my doctor. Just so you know. I pretty much spent christmas not eating and being miserable. I did however lose ten pounds by not eating for four days. Nifty, but I don't recommend that you try it.

All in all though christmas wasn't all that bad. I got some gift cards and had as enjoyable a time as I could. Now that I've been taking my meds for almost two full days I'm actually starting to feel human again. Just in time for my parents to visit for New Year's. Hopefully I'll be fully recovered by new year's eve so I can actually enjoy myself and party a little. Last year I slept through most of it. I was still working nights back then.

The kids had a blast and enjoyed all their gifts. Now we have to figure out where to put them all. I think we need to buy a five bedroom house just for all the storage space.

It's nap time now.