May 31, 2004
Birthday madness
We've had some busy days this week. I wish I could say our summer will slow down, but unfortunately it won't. We'll have summer class schedules, unpredictable work schedules, camp schedules, summer fun schedules, all to juggle around. In between that is still another three birthdays for us.
Doug and I had a good time on his birthday. It was nice to get away for a bit. We ate good food at the Cheesecake Factory. Yum. I can't figure out for the likes of me why there isn't one of those here. Pfft. We went to the Arboretum. We took some pictures there, but anything I was in is ruined. Doug takes AWFUL, dreadful pictures of me every time. I think he gets behind the camera and my face instantly turns ugly and my body bloats up thirty pounds. Oh well. He got some presents, as predicted he did roll his eyes at one and I at another one. ha ha.
Daniel is definitely crawling forwards now. He gets up on his hands and knees and alternates between that and tummy crawl. Either way, he enjoys touching new things that he shouldn't.
Here's a cute shot of two peas in a pod.
Cody had tried to invite three people to his birthday. One boy he couldn't find to give the invitation to. He had gotten a call from one boy saying he'd come, but he never showed up. We think that Cody misheard him because we knew he'd had another party to attend that same day...anyway...blahblahblah. So, he ended up with one friend over, but that's okay, it's his best friend that came, same one as last year too.
We ate hot dogs, cleared the table, opened presents...
Cody is ALWAYS bugging for gumballs and/or his own gumball machine...
He is now the proud owner of over one thousand gumballs and I swear if that boy ever asks for gum again, I'm gonna cuff him one! He racked in lots of presents, coupons for blockbuster movies and "I Wants" totaling $15, plus thirty-five dollars in cash this year. He was pretty happy!
After present opening, we all headed outside for some water fun. Cody got a slip and slide and a sprinkler toy as one of his gifts, so Doug hooked them all up and turned on our backyard sprinklers. He also got some super soakers, so you can imagine... the boys had a lot of fun.
What we did have that Cody didn't know about was over 100 water balloons. They were a blast, but went way too fast and were a bitch to fill up and tie off. I doubt I'll be able to convince hubby to ever do it again. ha ha. After water fun, we had cake and ice-cream and immediately following that we headed to Doug's dad's place so they could look after Daniel while we all went to see Shrek2. Very cute movie as usual. Long day, much fun. We get to do it all over again in three weeks. *faint*
May 26, 2004
Just the beginning
Got things to say, but don't really want to spend a lot of time with this entry, so I'm going to try to make it quick.
Sarah's graduation was last night. It was long, crowded and hot, but definitely worth going to. We figured she'd get perfect attendance award, which she did, but what surprised us was a high achievement award in Science. A friend said today "not hard to tell where she gets her help from". It didn’t even dawn on me that her father is a scientist. ha ha So I guess all those hours Doug spent with her helping with her homework has paid off.
Here's a couple of shots from last night.
I was encouraging them to snuggle close with one another. They thought it was pretty funny and embarrassing.
Cody had his end of year soccer party tonight. I happily collected all funds owed to us for the coach's gift cards. Phew! Cody will join again next year. We'll be looking forward to it!
Daniel ran a fever off and on today. Poor little guy. Doug called me as I was on my way home to let me know that he had woke up pretty unhappy, so I hurried home to check on him. Doug had just finished feeding him a bottle (fever had broke, but he had refused dinner, so he had an early bottle) and was sitting on the floor holding Daniel in his lap. I peeked around the corner at him. When he saw me, he just got this happy, excited look on his face, then for the first time, he started clapping his hands over and over. It was the cutest thing, it took me a minute to even realize that he was clapping. I was like HEY, he's clapping he's so excited! Made me feel blessed and loved.
Not only did he learn how to clap his hands this week so far, but he actually crawled up on his hands and knees yesterday in the hallway. Slowly he went, but he took about eight or so steps forward. We're so proud of him!
Here he is today SLOWLY crawling forward...
Of course once he remembered how much faster it is sliding on your belly, that's what he did...MUST touch doggie dishes!
We got the grandparents coming over tomorrow to babysit for us, so we can go eat and take a trip into Dallas for a few hours. It's Doug's birthday tomorrow! My dear hubby will be 36 years old!!!! WOW eh? *snicker* Justin, Daniel and I went shopping earlier for his birthday. Even WITH a list, it wasn't easy. One thing he'll snicker and roll his eyes at, one thing I'll snicker and roll my eyes at, while the other thing we'll both enjoy. All in all, a good day, right? Night!
May 24, 2004
Bubble Fun
Well Daniel has been motoring backwards pretty well for quite awhile now. About a week ago, he discovered how to motor forwards. He pulls himself with both arms and he scoots out one leg to provide leverage. We love to watch how fast he can go now. He gets better and better at it each day. He still scoots backwards, but at least now he can go back and forth. Of course, trouble comes with getting around better. He gets into everything.
I have finally seen how he gets himself up on the ledge under our desks. I caught him doing it the other day.
He just pushed himself right up there. He's great at moving all around and getting back up into the sitting position. That's new from about a week or so ago too. It's neat watching him maneuver his body all around now.
Earlier tonight, he crawled over to get into the cables under my desk, so I moved him back and no sooner did I sit down and there he was again, under my feet. I said "Daniel! What do you think you're doing!!" Here's the grin I got!
How innocent is that?!
Yesterday I had him outside on a blanket for some bubble fun!
Here he is watching his brother closely!
Catch 'em!!
What fun! Just look at that happy boy! He's so excited!
Out of the nuthouse
I open up the laundry room door to be smacked by the aroma of hot cookies. Yum I think to myself, then for a split second I thought "he wouldn't have baked himself cookies, I just made a double batch and have three containers still left". I laughed at myself for even thinking my husband would do that. I opened up the door to the kitchen to be smacked with the sight of my husband taking fresh baked cookies off the baking pan. I gasped. He giggled. I gasped again. Then he GOT IT. DOH, someone forgot about the cookies in the pantry. ALL THREE CONTAINERS FULL. He's lucky he did laundry and dishes today or I'd have to spank him. On second thought, spanking might be fun!
Sarah's friend Megan called tonight (she's the one whose father is up the creek for rape, yes, for raping her). I asked Sarah what Megan wanted on the phone. She casually, happily says "oh not much, she does want me to come over". I said "Sarah you can't go to Megan's house, she'll have to come here". Sarah "Why Mom?" Assuming Sarah remembered what had happened with Megan's father, I said confidently "Sarah, do I need to spell it out for you?" Sarah very seriously says "No that's okay Mom, you can just say it". *smacks forehead*
Tonight at the supper table, Cody embarrassed himself silly. I was explaining to them that we have a sitter coming on Thursday to babysit them so their Dad and I can go to Dallas. Cody, Mr. Curiosity, says "What are you doing?" I said "we are going for some frolicking, sex and fun". At the same time as I was saying that, he was yelling out "I wanna go, I wanna go" THEN he realized what I said and of course he's at the age that anytime you say the word sex or even insinuate that his mother and father are doing "it", it embarrasses the daylights out of him and I thought he was going to piss his pants laughing so hard. His face was beet red!
May 23, 2004
Cooking
If someone invites you to a potluck meal, what's the one dish you always bring?
If you are having company over to eat, what do you usually cook for them?
What is the flavoring/spice in chinese fried rice (like chicken fried rice)?
What's your favorite way to cook Asparagus? <--- I've tried it and LOVE the fact that's it's so quick to cook, mind you I'm the only one who'll eat it in this house, well actually I take that back, Justin will, but he eats anything.
May 22, 2004
Too much sun?
Not much to talk about these days. We've been pretty busy and I've had no time lately to read blogs or update. Cody's last soccer game was supposed to be last night. Four of us showed up to discover the game had been canceled, but we weren't notified. That sucked. We had purchased two $40 gift certificates for the coaches, thirty of which is still owed to us, then the game ends up cancelled. I hope they find time to reschedule because not only do I want a chance to give these gifts to the coaches, but I also want my darn money from those parents that owe.
Sarah's graduation ceremony is next Tuesday, so we went today and got her a dress for it. It's really cute and very springy! I'll post a picture of her next Tuesday before she goes. We also had Sarah's end of year soccer picnic on Thursday night. It was a lot of fun. I was bad with my carb intake this week. I've had way too many "treats". I think I'll have to do induction just to get back on track. I've lost twenty pounds, but if I'm not careful with my carbs, it'll come flying back faster than ever! I had corn chowder this week, a muffin, chicken fried rice and hotdogs with a bun. YIKES and YUM!
I woke up on Thursday morning with a bit of redness on one cheek. Friday it looked pretty bad. It appeared to be more of a rash, then just redness. My co-worker thought maybe Rosacea. I did some research online about it and yeah I suppose it could be that. I fit all the criteria. Then 'tis morning when I woke up, Doug said it looked more like I sunburned my face. Both cheeks, chin, nose and forehead were all red, blotchy looking. I'm a little worried about it because I don't like anything that effects my face. It's a bit itchy and feels hot all the time (just like a sunburn). I'm not convinced it's a sunburn because I haven't been out in it really and why would only one cheek be red one day, then my whole face two days later? Odd. If it doesn't clear up in a day or two, I'll have to go see a doctor about it. ICK.
I arranged for Doug's Dad and step-mom to come down on Thursday to babysit the kids so we could go out for Doug's birthday. I'm glad they said they would. We need the break. This coming week at work is the last normal work week for me for the next ten weeks. We've put Daniel in a summer program for five weeks at the same spot he goes to now for two mornings a week. That'll give me a bit more of an opportunity to work because we'll probably put the kids in camp a couple of those weeks too. Summer childcare for four kids isn't an easy task, nor is it cheap. What do you working moms do with your kiddos in the summer?
May 19, 2004
HA
Boy did I waste my time yesterday. Got Daniel up for school today and couldn't get those damn sneakers on his feet. Screw it, he just doesn't need them yet. I spoke with some of the other moms in his class and they all bought shoes for their babies when they were pulling themselves up on things to walk around. Daniel isn't all that close to doing that yet, so we're waiting! I did get some good suggestions as to where to go though when I do look for shoes, so at least I'll have a new starting place.
Cody's team loss their game tonight. Bah. One more game on Friday. End of year party for Sarah tomorrow night. End of year party for Cody's team Saturday morning. Remember I mentioned the other night about Sarah's team pitching in and getting the coach a gift card and how I wished Cody's team had of done that? Well guess who opened their mouth about it tonight? Guess who started collecting money for it? Guess who has to go get the gift card? Guess who had to call the other parents tonight? Guess who's going to have to front up some money while praying the parents pay up? Guess who's going to have to make even more parent calls tomorrow? I wish I could say it was someone other than me! Oh well, I wanted to do something and well...it's something isn't it?
Doug's dad is coming to visit tomorrow afternoon. I think he's going to tag along to Sarah's soccer party. I'll be busy making deviled eggs (yes again!) and cookies for tomorrow. I also need to finish cleaning and look at me...sitting here on the stupid computer complaining about how much I have to do in so little time! Gah. I have to go in a bit late to work tomorrow and I'm going to try to leave a bit early. I just don't have enough time to finish what I need to finish! I think I'm just flustered because its' birthday season in our house. Everyone's birthday is coming up except for mine! It's hard shopping and finding ideas as to what to do, let alone the thought of having more kiddos in this house!
Okay I need to stop thinking about it or my head will explode! I told Doug yesterday that he married a total idiot. I swear I am absolutely stupid sometimes! I do the dumbest things and ask questions over and over because I forget what he answered the first time. I'm also horribly indecisive. And I don't mean just a little bit, I mean IT'S AWFUL. I hum and haw and seriously don't have a clue. Anyway, I have cold eggs screaming out my name. Night.
May 18, 2004
Shopping sucks, as usual
Let's see, I've been searching for baby shoes for about 2 weeks off and on now. We've went to Old Navy (2), Target, Walmart, Payless Shoes (2), Khols, Dillards, Sears, Just for Feet, Academy, Famous Footwear, Striderite, Footlocker, Athlete’s Foot, ToysRus and Ross. Do you think I could find shoes I liked? There were a few pairs here and there that were okay, but those were found early on in my search when I swore I wouldn't pay $30 for baby shoes.
HA! I ended up at few places today and went out again tonight in search of shoes for the baby. It's ridiculous. First of all, what's up with Nike taking over the baby market? What ever happened to Reebok? And Tommy Hilfiger? Please. I must say they have some pretty ugly baby shoes in the stores (FOR BOYS THAT IS).
Midway through my search, I realized that I will be stuck paying $30 for shoes. Everything is $25 and up. I guess I'm just picky, who knows. I checked the shoes out at Payless, they had one pair that was cute, size 5 though. He needs a 4. I almost bought them so he could grow into them. I am seriously considering going back out to that store to get them now that I realize I am not going to find anything under thirty bucks. I was looking for something with color, I don't like all white shoes, something with some flexibility and give to them and something that had some cushion to it. You wouldn't believe the shoes I looked at that had nasty, hard sides to them or uncomfortable looking ankle support or really thick unmovable soles. Sigh.
Anyway, I bought a pair of Sketchers tonight (never heard of the brand before - roll eyes here) for $30 + tax. They had a sale that the second pair would be half price. I considered buying him his next pair just to save some money, but we decided to wait and see how these shoes work out first. I have until June 5th to take the receipt back in for my half price deal. It's depressing to spend that much on something that you know he'll wear for two months if I'm lucky.
I'll show you a picture tomorrow once I figure out how to get them ON his feet! Bugger child curls his toes up!
May 17, 2004
More nonsense
Guess where Daddy caught the boy child today?
Not too bad considering he's not really crawling or pulling up yet LOL. I'm not sure how he got himself situated under there, but he looks pretty darn proud of himself doesn't he?
Our garden is doing well. We lost one plant (NG Impatient). I took it back to the store, they replaced it. I wasn't sure at first why it died, the others are doing great, but as I dug it up to take back, I noticed one of the large stems had been broke off, so I'm betting the pugs jumped on it during one of their adventures through my garden!
Work today flew by, literally. I ended up staying late, not on purpose either. Oh and wanna here how bright I am? Boys close your ears! Guess who started their *ah-hem*? guess who wasn't prepared? guess who wore new white pants today? guess who had to drive all the way home after lunch? GAH! I'll be like Sarah "I hate stupid periods, why do we have to have them anyway. They are stupid!!!!" LOL God I felt stupid. Ever happen to any of you girlies (and I'm talking in adulthood, not 13 and in gym class!)?
Oooo I almost forgot, today during Daniel's class, his teachers gave me his End of Year scrapbook! Awwwwww. It's big and stocked full of pictures and artwork from Daniels whole year there. It was bittersweet to look through. He was only 8 weeks old when I first took him there and he's so big now! Here are just a few highlights, mind you these are pictures of pictures, so they aren't great shots (I was given all the extra photos too, but I'm just too lazy to scan them in right now).
Front of the book:
First day of school: Daniel and Mommy (post partum mommy - ewww)
I love this shot, he's got a little painting shirt on and he just looks so BUSY!
Here he is taking a little ride in the Bye Bye Buggy with all his friends!
May 16, 2004
At ten months...
Our little baby is ten months old today. He cut his first tooth last week and has a few more trying to come in. He's a pro now at getting up on his hands and knees, but still gets pretty frustrated at not moving forward yet. He motors backwards all over the place. I've posted pictures before at the funny places he gets his little body stuck in. Recently Doug bought a Swiffer in an effort to keep the tile floor a little less furry and it does work pretty well. Since then we've put him on the floor in our living room more often now, so he can explore. Explore he does!!
"Hmmm...what's this?"
"I wasnt' touchin' nothin', I swear!"
Daniel loves his baby walker. He scoots around everywhere in this thing. It's so funny to be walking across the floor and hear his wheels come chasing after you. You've got to watch your toes too because he'll motor right over them! Ouch! He's been so fast lately, that anytime you open the fridge or a cupboard door, he's RIGHT THERE wanting to peek and touch! Last night Justin was unloading the dishwasher and Daniel thought he'd help!
Just imagine when he's walking! Maybe we'll be fortunate and have a late walker like he is a late crawler! I picture gates and locks everywhere in this place. ha ha.
May 15, 2004
Bunk beds!
There always seems to be issues surrounding Cody's bed. When we first moved down here, Doug bought mattresses and steel bed frames. Shortly after we got settled, we searched for cheap bunk beds for the boys. We found a set as some dumpy "going out of business" place for $199.99. We thought perfect. We explained to the sales guy that we didn't want the floor model because it was scratched, we would gladly wait for one to be ordered. Well five days later, asswipe shows up with none other then the scratched up floor model. I was fumed. He said, they shipped a lighter color and he figured we wouldn't want it. Well geesh, thanks for giving me the choice.
Anyway, we were mad, but at the time we needed the beds, they were cheap, so we let it go. Can you say you get what you pay for? It wasn't long before the beds really started falling apart. They were scratched up even worse because of the ladder and the boys rough housing. When we moved here, we separated the beds because they each had their own room.
Doug's mom called one day to say that her good friend offered to give her a set of bunk beds that were just like new and she wanted to know if we wanted them in exchange for one of our beds so they'd have something to put out to their cottage. We jumped at. Oh boy, new beds! Well these beds were NOT what we were expecting, nor were what his Mom was expecting. They were unstable, OLD, painted white with pink/blue flowers and scratched up even worse than the other bunk beds we had. We were pretty disappointed in the end with them, but we didn't want to go back on the deal we agreed to with his Mom. Doug's Mom was more than willing to take the beds back with her to the cottage, but they were all unloaded and what not before we even realized how unstable they were.
Anyway, here is a shot of Justin's bed as it sits right now. That's what the old bunk beds looked like. Not bad, but trust me, they were pretty beat up.
Here is a shot of the "top bunk" of the other set Doug's mom brought to us. We recently had taken those bunks apart because of their nastiness and threw the flowered one in the barn for now.
While we were outside fetching the pugs before our second soccer game of the day, our old neighbors were out there in their yard. We stopped to chat for a moment. Turns out they have a contract on their house. Hurray! New neighbors. Also good news for us because the house didn't sit on the market for very long! Anyway, they wanted to know if we had any need for a set of bunk beds. I laughed out loud, I couldn't help it. I briefly told them of our experiences with "new bunk beds". They explained that they have a set they had built for their boys, it's got some scratches etc, but is real sturdy and has drawers with it etc. Doug told them he'd come over and take a look.
WELL, wow, these beds are gorgeous. We only have the top bunk set up at the moment because we threw away Cody's extra mattress a few weeks ago, so we'll need another mattress. It's a loft style bed, the top bunk sits on top of a five drawer dresser and in behind that dresser is a 3 shelf bookshelf. On the right end of the bed is a door you open that gives you access to three more shelves! The second bed has a nice headboard/footboard with it and it'll slide right under the top bunk in an "L" shape once we have another mattress!
Here's a shot of what they think is scratched up a bit:
They gave it to us! Woot! This just saved us at least 1,000 because we had intended on buying him a bedroom set this summer. You may remember (those who have been reading for awhile) we talked about doing it back before Christmas time. That's when I was mentally beaten down by my hubby with all his budget/debt talk! LOL Well then we decided to wait until tax refund time, but that didn't give back as much as we thought, so it's just been kind of put on the back burner for now until perhaps summer pay. Well now....who knows what I'll bug hubby for now. *insert snickering here*
May 14, 2004
Bath time fun!
When Daniel was first born, the one thing sure to make him cry was sponge baths. He hated being cold! I remember shortly after his cord fell off, I cringed at the thought of putting him in the tub for fear of really upsetting him. He managed to enjoy it to our surprise because we kept him warm with face cloths on his belly. Well it wasn't long before he realized baths were GREAT FUN!
Every night at 7:30 p.m. he gets a bath; it doesn't matter what sort of mood he's in, you can bet this is what I see as soon as I plunk him down in the water!
Then the splashing begins!
Just look at his little face. You can see how happy he is!
Doug always comes in to help me with his bathtime and we both just sit there night after night giggling at this crazy baby we have! He melts my heart he's so sweet!
Oh and here is a close up shot of one of the picture I took. You can see his first toofer!! Look closely, it's bottom right (his left). Awwww! He's got more coming right beside it too! Ugh.
May 12, 2004
AI
American Idol now officially sucks! It was bad enough when Jennifer Hudson got voted out before John Stevens, but now LaToya is gone when she is clearly the best singer left? WTF??!! I know she'll get a record deal, that's not the issue really, just the fact that the votes are really messed up. I guess Jasmine got a lot of sympathy votes for all her tears last night. I did feel badly for her because the judges were tough on her, but shit, she just doesn't have the vocals needed at this point. Jennifer should have been there in her spot. Oh well...
Getting a DVR installed tomorrow morning through our cable company. I will now officially always have something to watch! Wooot!
Still looking for shoes for Daniel. Any recommendations of where to go? The shoes I like are so damn expensive. Is forty dollars too much to spend on baby sneakers?
May 11, 2004
Snuggly baby
Here is my sweet baby tonight. He actually let me snuggle him to sleep. That's the first time in months. He's always just wanted to lay down after his bottle which don't get me wrong, I'm happy that I don't have to rock him every night to sleep, I just miss the snuggle time with him.
Daniel @ 9 mos 3 wks
Just for fun - Daniel nine months ago @ 3 wks
This and that
Daniel learned how to get from hands and knees to sitting up position on his own this week! Gooo Daniel!! I've been asked a hundred times if Daniel is ever NOT happy. Well here's a shot of my not so happy baby sporting his freshly shed crocodile tears. Notice he's holding his soother a bit out to the side? Well that's so he can still fuss and make noise without losing it. LOL
I have talked before about how much Daniel loves his Einstein videos, especially Mozart and Beethoven. Well some time this week, something odd has happened. The little green lizard puppet on those videos scare the crap out of him. I mean REALLY scare him. Just tonight I put in his Mozart video, sat him in his exersaucer. Doug and I waited, listened...nothing... then all of a sudden he took the screeching!! We both ran in...and well the little green guy wasn't there, a little silver black wheel was...Doug picked Daniel up to soothe him, then we heard it!!!! It was the entrance music for the little green guy, sure enough - there he was! Daniel actually knew he was coming and got scared ahead of time. Amazed us that his memory is so good at such a young age.
However it does concern me that the poor little guy gets so scared. I mean geesh Daniel was shaking from head to toe when we went in to pick him up, big 'ole tears too (that's what the picture above was, mind you it was taken a few minutes after he settled down some). We are guessing perhaps he had a dream that went bad with the little green guy in it. *shrug*
Found out at work today that one of the teachers at Daniel's school, her 28 year old son was killed in a motorcycle accident last night. How tragic is that eh? I feel just awful for her. She's worked at our school for over 13 years, her co-workers/friends have taken it pretty hard and no wonder! Also in sad news, Maricar's Mom was diagnosed with stomach cancer and is going in for some pretty extensive surgery tomorrow morning. I would link to her blog, but it's password protected anyway. You've probably often seen comments on my blog from Maricar, bless her heart, she's about 33 weeks pregnant and has had a lot of ups and downs and scary moments with this pregnancy and we just thank god every day her little miracle baby is still growing strong and now this with her Mom. Please keep her in your thoughts! (((hugs Maricar)))
In other news...when I went to plant my bleeding heart this past weekend, I discovered the pot was full of ants, so Doug took it back today for me and got me a new one. This one is from a fresh shipment and actually has blossoms on it! Hurray!
May 09, 2004
Exploring
Doug recently bought me a Swiffer. Oh boy right? Well actually when you have two shedding dogs in the house, it is actually Oh Boy! My entire kitchen, living room and hallways are ceramic tile and is a bitch to sweep all the time. I usually do a thorough cleaning once a week when Doug takes the kids out on Saturdays. Daniel wants to get around now, so this once a week thing just isn't going to work. The Swiffer is light, easy to maneuver, cheap and is a magnet for dog hair! I think it'll work great.
I'm a little nervous about Daniel being on the tile floor because it is sooo darn hard and cold. I worry about him slipping. So far though he is lovin' it. Here he is hammin' it up for the camera again.
As you can see he does get up on his hands and knees a lot now, but he's still motoring backwards. He does reach for his crib rails, but other than that, he hasn't yet even begun to pull himself up on anything. So aside from him backing in to things, we still have a pretty contained baby unit...oh unless you put him in his walker, then anywhere is game....and watch your toes...beep beep!!
Here's a shot from today. Backing up folks...scuze me....coming through!
Happy Mother's Day
It's been a great weekend. I slept in today until about 10:00 which always rocks! I got my bushes and presents from Daniel earlier in the weekend. Yesterday we went to eat at Ton's and afterwards we hit the mall to search for shoes for Doug and Daniel. As it turned out Justin and Cody both needed shoes too. Oh joy. Doug decided to get the boys each Reeboks in hopes they'll last longer. We've always had good luck with them. They seem to get new shoes every couple of months, especially Justin.
I didn't have much luck finding a pair I liked for Daniel. I did check out the Robeez that everyone seemed to recommend, but I didn't like them. They don't even look like sneakers. They are all leather and supposedly are good for babies feet (flexible sole and all that). I think they look like nothing more than a slipper (which I guess is the whole point of them). Oh well, just not for me. I decided to look for little Reeboks for Daniel. I found 1-2 pairs of them, but they weren't very cute. If I'm going to pay $30, then they want to be at least cute looking.
Okay enough about shoes...blah....I got some more scented spray for my cinnamon heart wreath because well, I'm spoiled and my hubby can't say no *insert cheesy grin*. I've been out of it for ages and ages. Sarah made me a little butterfly picture and wrote a little poem on it. Cody made me something he called a "God's Eye" with popsicle sticks and yarn. I'm guessing Justin is too old for crafts. LOL Doug picked up steaks for supper. Yum!! He also came back with a 12 pack of Mike's. Hello! Good boy! The stuff is hard on my low carb'ing though and I think it's breaking my chin out. I could be wrong about that, but I've had a couple of pimples for over a week now and it's been months since I broke out like that.
We had a make up game today for Sarahs' soccer team. They are improving their play, but holy cow, they've never scored a goal yet. I seriously think I'm going to fall out of my chair when/if it finally happens. They have one game left. End of soccer season. She will not be joining next year because of band. Cody will go back.
Anyone watch final survivor show? Sue got made over - ha ha. Go home Jerry. Amber didn't have much to say for just winning a million dollars. I guess that's how she won wasn't it? by not saying too much. Mouse in the corner. Oh well, provided hubby and I some entertainment for a few weeks. What's next hunny?
May 07, 2004
People food
When did your baby start eating people food? What sorts of things? Daniel cut his first tooth this week and has shown a decline in food intake, sometimes just flatly refuses to eat anything (not bottle, just solids). I'm not sure if this is a result of teething or is a result of tasting our food more often. I'm always so hesitant letting him try new things because I cook with things like onions, garlic, pepper, butter etc. It still freaks me out a bit to think of him eating stuff like that, so he's been getting bites here and there of broccoli and green beans, but crap if he's going to continue to refuse jarred foods now...ugh. I'm not ready to cook full time for a baby. WAAAAAAAAAH!!
Early Mother's Day
When I picked up Daniel from school today, the teachers gave me my mother's day present from Daniel.
Awww...the little red lady bug bodies are his finger and thumb prints. Isn't that sweet. I'll save the little clay pot, but I'm going to transplant the impatient to the garden. He makes pictures for me quite frequently at school, painting and such (lol). I never think to take pictures of them to post! Of course I save everything!
My dear hubby was also after some brownie points as well. He emailed me at work to tell me that he got my earlier message and that there was a surprise at home for me. Umm No, don't tell me I have a surprise, tell me WHAT IT IS!! We exchanged a few silly emails...well let me rephrase that, I sent silly emails, he avoided the topic of my surprise! Bad boy!
So, I get home and search all over. Hmrph. I don't see anything. So I head out to check on my garden (Dexter has jumped in twice so far and trampled one poor plant and knocked some flowers off of another...bad pug!) and WOOOOT! I found my surprise. Two of them!
Coleus:
Bleeding Heart:
I'm excited, now to figure out where I want to put the Colius. I knew the spot for the bleeding heart, now I have to get creative with my other plant! My hubby loves me!
May 05, 2004
Garden is planted!
I ache, I'm dirty and I'm so happy to be done. I love planting things and I will continue to add and take away things to this garden as time passes. Some things I'll discover won't grow well and I'll pull them up or move them, other things I'll want to try out and I'm sure I'll discover spaces that need more color, but over all I'm pretty happy with it.
I'll post some pictures, but remember I still need to get a bush (perhaps a bleeding heart or two) for the back corner. It is empty right now and I'll get something for it this week sometime. Maybe I'll get something for Mother's Day, who knows. *cough* Anyway, let's start waaaaaay back at the beginning... April 4th we roped the spot off and started our digging...
Before:
We finally got the rock wall in place on April 9th.
The rest of the month has been dirt preparation, digging, filling, adding manure/mulch, stirring, purchasing, planning, researching, arranging, building and finally planting!
Side view 1:
Side view 2:
You will notice a small wire fence in place at the front of the rock wall to discourage the pugs from jumping in the garden, at least until the plants take hold and get stronger. Well Isabella didn't let that her stop her, fast as a rabbit, up and over she went!
So, we've moved the fence to the inside of the garden. So far she's plowed through once and got her head stuck and hasn't tried it again! Dexter wants no part of no fence! Smart boy!
Here is a close up shot of the rock formation that I built. You can't see really well from the picture, but there are some grasses planted around, I've got four different types growing there. Four on the outside and one planted just under the front to fill in the gap.
I know it'll take time for it to really start growing and filling in. We placed a soaker hose down to make sure things get a good watering and I'll be sure to use the watering can where I think isn't getting enough. Oh and I'll also eventually remove all those little plant tags. They are mostly there for me until I remember the names of each of the plants. I also want to be able to fix my gardening journal because I switched places on some things last minute!
Well what do you think?
May 03, 2004
OH...
Yeah, before I forget. The boy child's toofer came through today. I can finally feel it, just barely, but I can feel it! Here he is right before bedtime tonight looking pretty happy about the whole ordeal!
We also recently discovered that he CAN hold his own bottle, he has just always chosen not to.
Look the other way
It's times like this when I wish the uninvited co-workers weren't here. Of course the invited co-workers are more than welcome. *insert cheesy grin* I just need to spout off and I can't. Sometimes in life you need to bite down on the sour lemon and pretend that your eyes aren't watering. It just gets harder and harder each time you find yourself doing it.
I'm tired. Daniel was up and down last night a lot. I also couldn't sleep last night very well because I kept thinking about something that was going on at work. I also removed Daniel's bumper pads last night because as I watched him roll over I could see easily how bumper pads could suffocate a rolling baby. His face was trapped right against the cloth pads. Scary. I got rid of them, but what that mostly did was make it easy for his soother to keep falling out. Four times last night I was on my hands and knees searching for that damn thing in the dark.
I bought a few more plants today while I was out and about. I didn't find a bleeding heart bush yet, but I will keep looking. I'd really like to find some bright yellows and/or whites, so I can brighten up the back. I also went to the rock yard. I got some flagstones for stepping stones and I couldn't find one big rock that I liked that matched the flagstones, so I got 5-6 smaller ones that I will use to stagger them together to form a rock cluster. Then I will plant some grasses in and about the rocks to fill in the gaps. I am hoping they will look okay. At thirteen dollars, they were cheap enough.
Well I'm trying to blog to distract myself and it's not working, so I guess I'll go sulk in bed.
May 02, 2004
Flowers
Okay as I posted earlier, we went today to pick out some flowers for the new garden. We expected to get pretty beaten down dragging all the kids along, but they were pretty good and all brought gameboys/CD players to keep themselves amused, so it went pretty well (surprise!). I am learning pretty quickly that cheerios are wonderful little things for a nine month old baby.
We went to Mike's Garden Center. I am a bit disappointed in the "help" we received from the manager. He didn't offer much by way of advice, nor did he point out really great plants either. He actually didn't seem too thrilled that I was looking for shade loving plants, nor was he excited that I picked his nursery to shop at. Oh well, lesson learned for me. After about the third plant he pointed out, we decided to forego it on our own.
We picked things that I either had heard about, saw that was part sun or thought "hey why not". Sadly after I got home, I saw that we didn't get the little plant stick that comes with plants on a few of them, so now I forget the names of the plants. I'll be able to check next time I'm out though. Here is what $120.00 buys you. Sad eh?
After speaking with the guy from Mike's, we figured we should cut back some tree branches in order to allow more sun through. Here is a before shot of the over hang.
Here is the after. I know it's hard to tell really, but we cut all the overhang right back, we didn’t touch the crepe myrtle though. As a result of our trimming, we now get much more morning sun and a few hours of filtered late afternoon sun. Perfect for sun loving plants now too!
As we got ready to mix in some more dirt and level out the ground some more, I noticed these and had a little chuckle over it:
PUG HOLES:
That little shit Bella! No wonder she turned the bath water black this week! lol
After we unloaded all those flowers, Justin and I hit the road to run over to the gravel yard to pick up the big rock I want and some stepping stones. HA I'm stupid. It's closed on Sundays. There's thirty minutes out of my life I'll never get back. I'll go tomorrow. I decided to map out the garden on paper and do some more plant research online first to make sure I put things in the right place. I think I have some more room for a few more things and I definitely need a big bush in the back corner. I was hoping for a bleeding heart bush, but the guy from Mike's frowns on them saying if you miss a watering, they don't bounce back well.
I am thinking I'll still get one anyway and give it a try. We didn't really see anything else that jumped out at me, so we'll see. I'll look elsewhere just to see and get another opinion. Any ideas? Anyone? So, here is roughly where they will be placed. There are white bricks there to represent my big rock and four stepping stones, but you can't really see them that well in this shot.
Here's a list of what I know we bought ...
Sedum (2)
Cosmo Carmine (1)
Shasta Daisy (1)
Astilbe (2)
Hosta (1)
Star Jasmine (2)
Celosia (3)
Impatiens (4 varieties)
Vinca (1)
Gazania (1)
Torenia Clown Mix (2)
Lobelia (2)
Uknowns?? (9)
Oh Boy! Camera is fixed!
I am relieved all my camera needed was a new battery! The guy at Best Buy says 18 months is the usual life span of rechargeable batteries. Wheee! Okay because I am once again equipped with a camera, here we go...
Let's talk about Daniel first! Our boy has been getting up on his hands and knees a LOT for about week or so and I've not been able to catch it on camera until tonight.
He is so close to just going, it isn't funny. He's getting all over the place still by creeping backwards and it's so funny to watch him go. He rolls and rolls, then scoots backwards and pushes himself 'round n 'round in circles.
I also decided he might like to try some Zwieback toast. Wrong. He simply refuses to even pick it up now! lol
He's still working on that bottom tooth. It's soooo close now! Here he is eating his supper tonight and being super cute as usual!
Time to get plantin'
Today is happy day! It's time to buy plants for my garden. Have any shade loving perennials to suggest? We plan on bringing all four kiddos on the adventure, so please pray for us! lol
Seriously though, I hope it goes okay, I want Doug to be able to help me and I don't want the kids running around like animals at the nursery. Places like this bore them to death and unfortunately they are still a few years away from staying home. I've done some research about some of the plants I'm interested in, but I think that's hard because a lot of the nursery's around here aren't even going to carry some of those varieties. I'll get help from someone at the nursery, after all that's what they are there for, right?
We had sloppy joes last night for supper. I bought some low-carb flour tortillas, so I made a sloppy joe wrap instead of eating mine on a bun. I've never made sloppy joes down here before because I didn't know Doug would even eat them. Almost three years and I'm still learning stuff about that boy. Tonight I think we're having steak on the grill. It's gorgeous outside right now. It's the "pretty after the storm". Oh and the pie has been broken into! Think we got three pieces left. Sawry girls!
On the Daniel front, his bottom gums are very red now and for the past two days, he's had this awful puffy red bump in one spot. Folks, I think we have sight of our first toofer!!! (finally) He's been surprisingly really good in spite of it looking so sore. I put a little Orajel on it 'tis morning, just in case it was bothering him. I miss my camera, I feel like I am having withdrawal symptoms of not being able to click away whenever I want. Doug just left now to buy a new rechargeable battery for it. They had none at Walmart last night (oh surprise). Has anyone else ever had to replace their rechargeable battery? I think it's odd that those type of batteries would actually wear themselves out, but it is a couple of years old now. Who knows. I just hope that's all it is or I may be without a camera for quite some time! Boo Hoo!
Here's a couple of shots of Daniel in his walker. He goes everywhere in that thing now. Holy cow. Dexter hides under the table when Daniel and I are out in the kitchen together because he always runs over anything in his way! Poor pugs LOL.
Peeking out the door! He's just standing right up in that shot!
See what he's peeking at!
May 01, 2004
How's your day?
Kid's games got cancelled today due to all the rain we got through the night (no surprise there). That left Doug and the kids free to run around doing their usual Saturday stuff which meant that I was free to clean the house. Joy.
My floors were in awful shape, they hadn't been scrubbed in a couple of weeks because something or the other kept us busy. I putted around for a few hours cleaning this, cleaning that, dusting this, dusting that. I even cleaned out dog bedding/crates and dog dishes. Daniel's toys got a once over and I finally got around to deep cleaning a stain on the couch. While I was at it, I febreezed the furniture too because holy, up close, it's smelly from those pugs of ours!
I finally got to sweeping and mopping. While I did that, I chucked the pugs outside so I could scrub in peace. When the floor was dry, I carried one pug in at a time for a bath, so they wouldn't dirty up my floors. Daniel was an angel today! I got all that done with him AWAKE. He just went down for a nap about twenty minutes ago and I'm taking a much needed break. My back is killing me and I look like total shit.
So, Doug and the kids come home while I am on the phone with a co-worker and feeding Daniel in the bedroom. I layed him down, came out and they were all out back when I realized no one bothered to take their shoes off. PLUS they let the wet pugs back outside to muck up their damn paws again. Can you say I went ANAL? Geesh, I was so mad. I yelled at them and even while I was yelling at them over it, Cody tries to squeak by me to get inside with his freaking shoes STILL ON! Ummm NO. I yelled at him good. He sulked outside after I was done with my fit for awhile. Doug talked to him and explained to him why he got in trouble etc. Doug said he got in trouble quite a bit today while they were out and about, so Cody didn't have a very good day.
I felt bad then, but holy god, nothing makes me madder than to clean my G.D. ass off for six hours and have everyone come home and not give a clean house any respect. It would just be nice to have the place stay clean looking for a few hours, but it never happens and today is a perfect example of why. I felt sorry for yelling at Cody like a mad woman, so I told him I was sorry and I explained why I was so angry. Not sure if an apology ever undoes any damage.
Oh and I've not been able to take any new pictures for a couple of days. It keeps saying low battery and refuses to open...SO, Doug is buying a new rechargeable battery today to see if that works. Let's hope it's not the charging dock that is the problem!