Nifty Gift #1 for a 1 year old...

I know...I KNOW...I wasn't planning on BabyT getting this for Christmas...but he LOVES LOVES LOVES his TMX Elmo.  I cannot state enough LOVES it (we already had HokeyPokeyElmo, how can any VT grad not have this?)...and he loves Sesame Street and loves Elmo, so it's a natural hit.

 

BUT also a hit is the plain stuffed Elmo THAT DOES NOTHING.  IT'S JUST A STUFFED ANIMAL.

 

AND the Sesame Street Singing Popup Pals (see ToysRUs, not Amazon)...This is also a HUGE hit.  We got 2, and instead of returning 1, I'm thinking of taking over to my mom's.

One of the best presents we received...

we got from hubby's dad and wife...we LOVE it beyond words...



Coming up later, some of the hits with BabyT for all my readers that have little ones just slightly younger than he is.

oh, and by the way...

Recently, I find myself looking forward in time a bit, when the kids are a tad older and parenting is supposed to get easier (or at least less so physically draining - chasing a 1 year old is EXHAUSTING)...

 

BUT there is nothing better on this earth than the look of pure happiness in a 4 year old's eyes when he wakes up and realizes that CHRISTMAS IS HERE!

 

Son came RUNNING out of his room yesterday morning and met me on the stairs by his room - "MOM! IT'S CHRISTMAS!". He was so excited.

"Did Santa leave any gifts under your tree?" I asked (Son has a 4ft tree in his room).

 

The look on his face, once again, PRICELESS.  The yelling and exclaiming over the couple of gifts Santa had left in his room is only topped by the look on his face when he walked into the family room to look at the bigger pile of loot Santa left.

 

PRICELESS I tell you, and makes me want to have dozens of children, so that Christmas magic hangs in the air every  year.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday and got everything out of the day that you wanted!

 

Hubby and I got the best gift ever - BabyT learned how to put himself back to sleep, so now we get uninteruppted sleep!  BEST GIFT EVER (more on that back story later!).

i am such a dork...

I am so happy for Mare, I keep going back to her site, to re-read her posts and get all teary-eyed again!

omg!

please go over and say congrats! and wish Mare luck...her story is AMAZING.  She was an "infertile blogger" long before I found her - and I'm so happy she got a surprise pregnancy - there is no better Christmas gift!

 

barrenmare.typepad.com/barrenmare

Santa Claus!

WOW....Last night was interesting!

 

The Santa at our local mall is apparently quite popular...Hubby tried to go last Monday at 1 p.m. and the line was so long it was already closed - then again Sunday night (same deal, too long)...

 

So yesterday, we see his hours are 2-5 p.m., then 6 - 9 p.m.  I tell hubby I'll go get in line at 5 and sit thru his break so we're first (or near first) at 6 p.m. And he'll bring the kids about 6 so they don't have to wait.  I get there at 4:50 p.m. and we are 10th in line for the next shift!  By the time it was 6, the line wrapped all the way around the Santa display TWICE and then back down a wing of the mall.

 

But Son was SO excited he was beside himself and he stood and waited w/me for the 9 people in line before me to have their turn.  I saw that Hubby and BabyT are sitting in some chairs directly across from Santa so hopefully BabyT will be used to seeing him by the time we plop him on Santa's lap.

 

I comment to Son and the other kid Son is talking too...Look, Daddy's in that big chair over there and MOMMY is having to stand here in line!  How unfair is that!

 

The other kid gets all wide-eyed and amazed looking...he looks at Son and says "YOUR DAD IS SANTA?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (because the only chair they'd noticed is the one Santa was sitting it)...It was so funny!

 

Then it was our turn.  I handed BabyT a lollipop and put him on Santa's lap and ducked and ran to get out of the shot.  BabyT was HORRIFIED. So horrified he couldn't even cry.  His poor little eyes totally filled w/water but nothing came out.  He couldn't even cry.  Luckily, the girl took the picture the second I dropped him down on Santa's lap, while he was still happy w/his lollipop and that pic turned out pretty good.  So we got our pic!

 

Oh - and the picture girl!  There was a 4 or 5 month old girl having a FIT so the picture girl puts a reindeer covered in bells RIGHT IN THE BABY'S FACE and shakes it, trying to get her to smile.  I don't know if this tactic worked w/some other kid, but I cannot see how it could ever be successful.  If I'm scared and upset, ringing bells 3 inches from my face isn't going to calm me much.

By the way, Microsoft, I hate you...

Stupid ^$#$%#%#^^ Microsoft included IE7 in their nightly patch upgrades.  So now both our damn computers run it.  AND I hate it.  So F-You Microsoft for upgrading me on the sly.

 

The new version sucks so far...They copied some good features from Firefox.  I see nothing original in it, except they took away the File, Edit, Favorites menu.  So I HAVE to spend some time playing with it just to figure out where they stuck my goddamn bookmarks (which, btw, on the laptop are f-ing GONE...nice move Gates)...Ok...the 'star' button = Favorites.  Of course, it's easier to leave pages open (like gmail and bloglines) and refresh them every so often if I could find the freaking refresh icon.  You would think the toolbars on the two machines would be the same, but NO.  This one doesn't have refresh/stop icons, but the computer upstairs does and I can't figure out how to get them back.

 

Any software/hardware person knows you don't upgrade people's software w/out telling them.  As soon as I have time, I'm downloading Firefox and getting the hell away from IE7.

Well, hello there!

Whew!

 

BabyT (he'll be ONE on SUNDAY! should I change his name to ToddlerT??) slept thru the night last night - thank god!  Apparently there is a sleep regression at about 1 year that has hit us like a truck. A big truck.  A REALLY big truck.

 

Son is adorable - his school's Christmas program is next week and we are SO EXCITED.  But we got the note that there will be NO PICTURES allowed, which is AWFUL.   All because some parents can't stay in their DAMN seats and get in everyone's view during the show, now NO ONE gets pics during the show.  Thanks alot.  This part sucks and hubby and I are quite infuriated about it.  Any suggestions?

 

21w5d this week!  In the past 2 weeks, my belly has really popped the hell out and I look huge already.  Luckily, it still seems to be all belly, as my size 4 maternity jeans still fit!

 

Christmas shopping is coming along...man, when did I get so many people to buy presents for?

Christmas Spirit...

Every year my son's preschool (the school is Lutheran, we are not, but I love the religious stories and themes they are teaching him) does an Angel Tree for underprivileged kids in our area.

 

I instructed Son and Hubby to select 3 angels off the tree last week - 1 for each of our children.

 

Imagine my surprise when I took Son to school on Friday and the tree is STILL covered with Angels.  It seems that a lot of parents AREN'T taking Angels.  This is so sad.  By no means is my son going to an expensive preschool.  My mother lives in the neighborhood where a lot of the student's live - where the smallest house (~900 sq. feet) is going for about $500,000 (minimum).  The rest of the students (most of the rest, I'm sure not all) live in the area in NICER areas than my mom (she lives in the most-run down neighborhood that feeds into this school - all the houses are 50+ years old, etc).  I do not understand why there are still Angels on that tree and it is really bothering me.  There is no shortage of fancy cars in the pickup line to pick up the kiddies (BMW, Mercedes, GMC Denalis, etc.).  The Angels I've glanced at are all asking for simple things (puzzles, blocks, UNDERWEAR, SOCKS) so it's not like the kids have everything and are asking for WIIs/PS3s.  How can there still be Angels?  The presents are due back Friday, so there's not a lot of time left - I had hubby grab 2 more today.  Hopefully other parents will do the same - we are all so blessed, with happy healthy children, warm homes, etc.  It is so sad.

 

I don't know what happens for the children whose Angels don't get chosen.  It is too sad.

and we gave it a try!

So last night we did it - we took the kids out to dinner!  We haven't taken them out since BabyT was much littler and happy to just sit in his carseat.  Now that he's mobile (did I tell you he's WALKING?!  I think I may have forgotten that tidbit!) we weren't sure how it'd go, being stuck at the table for at least 45 minutes.

 

Well....it went GREAT!  We sat down and there was so much going on BabyT was fascinated and happy to just stand on the booth seat and look around while we fed him fruit cup while waiting for the waiter to bring dinner.  Then we put him in the highchair so we could eat and took turns feeding him bits off our plates (cheesesticks, quesadillas and a burger!)...  He handled it like a champ!

 

And of course, the older Son was a darling like he always is inside of a restaurant, so no problems there.  He even ate the apple that I brought for him!

 

So now we can go out to eat once in a while!  YAY!

Busy busy busy!

We are SO BUSY we don't even have time to stop and think.  When we only had 1 child, we THOUGHT we were busy - we had no idea we could be so busy (it's like trying to tell people who have no children how much work they are, you just can't do it - expressing how an extra child takes more than double the time doesn't work either)...

 

This weekend we had so much to do!

 

We had to dress/shower for my company's holiday party Saturday night.

Feed children breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks both days.

Do dishes and clean up after all of the previous item.

Put up outdoor lights.

Go to Target for massive spree ($500!!!!) (includes 2 new fabulous stoop trees that then had to be assembled and put up).

Acquire and put up 4 foot tree in Son's room.

Decorate said tree.

Put up Christmas town on our large buffet.  Realize need to return to Michael's Craft store for fake fluffy snow.

Finalize plans for BabyT's one year birthday party next weekend (invitations?! No - I just called everyone on the list)

Try and Christmas shop online -be totally unsuccessful.

Shower both boys at least once.

Spend an hour retrieving husband's car from dealer.

Attend my company's holiday party.

Clean up so father-in-law is not appalled at the state of my house when he arrives to babysit.

Try to rearrange things this weekend for next weekends party.  Husband feels using the dining room as extra storage space will not look nice for the party, go figure.

Make sure BabyT doesn't pick up/eat/choke on anything crazy (this is a full time job)

Watch and play w/both boys a lot.

 

Exhausting!!  What the HELL are we going to do when we have THREE CHILDREN?

anyone?

watching the Discovery Channel's Everest series?

 

They are following a team of men trying to climb Mt. Everest.  It is a 71 day trip, with only 10 of those days actually being climbing.

 

It is a fascinating show, though it escapes me why someone would spend $40,000 and 71 days to put their life on the line.  They detail all the dangers (cerebral edema!  The one guy that gets hit, his brain gets so swollen his eyeballs start to bulge right out of their sockets - frostbite!  One guy lost BOTH LEGS to a previous expedition's frostbite and he's back again).  To risk your life like that, when you have a wife and children, baffles me.

 

But it's a wildly interesting show - it details all the risks, what it's like, how they get equipment around, what it takes, etc.  How some teams take safety precautions and some teams simply follow the teams that are supposed to be safer, etc.

sorry for the radio silence...

we had a wonderful Thanksgiving...though we are still trying to recover.  BabyT and I both have colds, which is fun fun and yet more fun.

 

Hopefully I'll post more when I work my way thru the TON of housework and unpacking and Christmas decorating I have to do.

Happy Thanksgiving...

as you start up whatever plans you may have, please travel safe and eat well!

 

We are heading to our relatives house for the holiday.  Wish for us that BabyT sleeps there, he usually doesn't.

 

There are many things I am thankful for this year, the biggest of which is that my hubby made it safe and sound home after his long trip.  Also for my beautiful 2 sons, who are happy and healthy, and also for the wonderfully surprising unexpected and much loved little girl that will be joining us in April.  May she also be happy and healthy.  I am also thankful for my wonderful mother and father-in-law & his wife.  They are wonderful parents and grandparents and our lives are much richer because of them.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

18w2d!

Well here we are!  Since hubby came home, I had gained 3 pounds finally!  Then I weighed myself yesterday and ....

 

I lost them.  No idea where they went or how they fell off.  I've been eating like a horse too, so no idea why I'm losing weight...

 

Does this mean that when the baby comes out, etc and you usually lose 20 pds of PHYSICAL weight and fluids, that I'll actually be 20 pounds less than I started?  Is that possible?

are you kidding me?

Someone wants to re-instate the draft?  Seriously?

short story...

Remember, this pregnancy is my surprise pregnancy, the one I never thought I would get.  The first two children cam after much, much trying and many doctor visits, medication, charting, stress and miscarriages.  One could not be happier about it than I am (if not a bit scared of 2 babies at once, but that's ok)...

 

My AFP test came back w/an increase risk of Downs Syndrome.  So we did the ultrasound early to look for Downs soft markers, which we saw none.  We also saw no evidence of intestinal problems (usually associated w/Downs).  Hubby and I declined the amnio.  So now we just wait and pray that the baby is ok.    I felt pretty good about the results, but the DR said the U/S misses 30% of Downs cases.  I'm hoping, that since they went in SPECIFICALLY to look for it and take the measurements, they wouldn't miss it as opposed to a "regular" ultrasound where they don't usually measure quite so carefully or take all those specific measurements.   Only time will tell.  To my lovely readers that have already started praying for the baby's health, thank you very much.  I don't think we can have too many prayers hoping that the baby is healthy.

 

Oh, and they said it was a GIRL! 

hang on - long post coming...

but say a quick prayer for me and baby3.  More info coming later.

Voting!

Task accomplished!  I am registered at our old address, about a 30 minute car ride away, but we made it there and VOTED!

 

I hope you did as well!

10.5 months old!

Things BabyT can do:

** take 3 steps! Repeatedly! He loves to walk.
** Steer his walker like a champ. 3 point turns to turn around and all.
** meals are mostly table food followed by a bottle (ie. sandwiches! peas, carrots, fruit cups, black-eyed peas, yogurt, nuggets, bagels and cream cheese, ABCs and 123s, cheese sticks, crackers, rolls, bread (all wheat products), cantelope, banana)
** stand independently for long periods
** indicate wants by pointing specifically at things and saying "This!"
** Say big brother's name, "mama", and "dada"
** tell you that dogs say "woof"
** point at items (like if you ask where is the fan?)
** put balls in a tube
** turn canister over to get balls back out
** crawl amazingly fast
** hug and kiss!
** get angry when you say no!
** actually OBEY when you say no!
** refuses high chair, he prefers to sit at the table w/the family
** come looking for me

It's been a great 10.5 months!

Updates...

**  Kerry has apologized. Although Michelle Malkin has links and quotes from 1972 where he also said similar type things about the type of people you find in the military.  As someone who HAS career military people in her family (with actual degrees from Penn State) and works with several people who got their degrees paid for by the military, then served their due, and now are in the workforce and are highly in demand at the various gov't agencies around here, what he says is just offensive.

 

** 15w 5d today.  Still, amazingly, I weigh 1 pound less than when I got pregnant.  Odd.  But I'm sure it has something to do w/hubby being out of town for the past 6 weeks and me chasing 2 kids and not getting time to eat when I'm home w/them.

 

My belly has "popped". I went from not looking pregnant at all to looking, oh, 15 weeks pregnant overnight.

 

**  I love people watching on my way into work - w/the crazy weather (it was 80 yesterday and like 50 today) people are dressing all wacky.  Like the weather makes the mirrors ineffective or something!

John Kerry is a Moron...

From Michelle Malkin...

 

John Kerry: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

 

Nice.  And remember, don't question his patriotism or support for the troops.  yeah right, asshole.

Next time, just ask!

SO last night, BabyT didn't want his medicine - and gagged and threw up when I gave it to him.

So tonight, ready for a fight, I distracted him and got the whole 2.0 mL into his mouth. Since he wasn't ready - you guessed it - gagged and threw up (luckily, I am smart enough to at least be near a sink)...

So I cleaned him up and thought...well, he still needs the medicine. I filled the dropper. Set him on the counter and asked him to open up. Viola. Easy as pie.

I am a dumbass sometimes.

Dear Cold-Medicine Makers...

If the package says to give the child two dropperfuls (at 1.0 mL each) - can we just make the damn dropper have a mark for 2.0 mL?  After tricking BabyT into taking the first dropperful, I've got no shot w/dropper #2 as that mouth is SHUT TIGHT.

You guessed it - someone else came to visit w/a cold.  And now BOTH my sons have it.

I still heart Safeway.com!

Since hubby's been gone, I've been doing on-line grocery ordering and then scheduling delivery. I LOVE IT. Safeway.com delivers my stuff, puts it right on the counter!

Last night I tried to tip the delivery guy - he wouldn't take it! I love it when stuff like that happens, makes me want to tip more! But he said all I can do is leave on-line feedback, and you can bet I will leave them some fabulous feedback!

Countdown to hubby's return: November 3! Next Friday! Only one more weekend left (and our anniversary too, unfortunately, on Halloween, but shhhh, let's not talk about that!)...

and did I mention that I am tired?

Pregnancy update: 14 weeks 2 days today!

are you kidding me?

someone did a study and found out moms are sleep deprived...

duh

Stomach Virus - OH NO!

Older son has it.  Pray that me and BabyT do not!

exhausted...

is it possible to simply pass out from exhaustion?  If it is, I must be getting dangerously close to that level - between working full time and having the kids alone w/hubby out of town and being pregnant, I can barely stay awake.  October is being a bit of a rough month in our house.

Top 100 of 1991...

online grocery shopping!

We did our first online grocery shopping last night!  I had them delivered - and by delivered they mean that they PUT THEM IN THE HOUSE ON THE COUNTER for me.  How fabulous is this??!!  Especially w/hubby gone, I don't have to lug the kiddies to the store!  I love it and am SO SOLD on this being our primary way of grocery shopping from now on!

No Coke?

Hmmpph...on the same day Charlie writes about Dunkin' Donuts running out of coffee, our McDonald's ran out of Coke AND Diet Coke. HOW is this possible?

Pregnancy #3 or "I don't feel pregnant"

Hm.  We tried so long to get pregnant w/each of our sons, I knew at 9dpo that I indeed WAS pregnant.  With the crazy body-symptom monitoring and the temping, it was HARD to miss.  Remember, I also had clomid for both those cycles.

With a surprise and unmedicated cycle pregnancy, I have NO SYMPTOMS. I would not know now I was pregnant were it not for the pregnancy tests, sonograms, doppler checks on the heartbeat.  Well, except for this huge bump growing straight out the front of my belly.  No symptoms at all.  Well, I'm tired, but that could be taking care of the kids myself for weeks and weeks or being pregnant.  I'm going to guess BOTH.

So, I wish I had a great pregnancy post, but alas, no.  BUT it is SO HARD to eat right w/this one, as I have no spare time to make myself something yummy at dinner time.  And at work, the only decent food that isn't fast food is sandwiches, which are not allowed for pregnant women, so I eat grilled chicken sandwiches from Burger King quite a bit.

So I'm 13 weeks tomorrow, which means only 5 or 6 more weeks until the big sonogram!  That is the exciting date I've got my eye on, let me tell you!!!!

we're back...

from PA.  All is well - my MIL came back w/me to stay for 2 days so that makes things MUCH easier.

Even though it was a sad occaision, we, as a family, had a wonderful time visiting with each other and telling fond stories of PopPop.  I learned quite a bit about the man over the last 2 days and am very honored that my children are descendents of him.  He was a great man.

when it rains, it pours...

ok.  So, I'm pregnant.

 

My husband is traveling on business, unable to come back for ANY REASON.  For 5 weeks.  This makes me tired.

 

I just returned from a business trip to CA, where I spent a total of 16 hours on a plane, and find out none of it is billable.  Hence I am 2 days short on my timecard = 2 days short pay.  AND I took the red-eye back so I could work and watch the kids on Thursday.  Which made me more tired.

 

Then Hubby's Grandpa passed away.  So I've loaded the car and taken the children to their home for the activities surrounding that.

 

So, guess what?  I'm TIRED.

Thoughts on AjaxWorld and California!

** I love all the learning

** Sometimes it is VERY BORING though

** Getting to hear some of the best developers at the best companies is GREAT (ie: Yahoo! guys were great!)

** The food at the hotel is very "California" - fancy, full of veggies and strange.  My chicken and cheese quesadilla had a RED TORTILLA shell.  I was a bit grossed out, but since it cost TWENTY DOLLARS thought I should at least try it.  Surprisingly, it was good.

** The breakfast buffet food is either too fancy or crappy.  The scrambled eggs were RUNNY.  Gross.

**  The served lunch was a choice of strange salads (like a beef veggie mayo sort of salad), mahi mahi (can't eat due to pregnancy, and who eats mahi mahi cooked by the batch-load anyway?), roast tenderloin, and some sort of chicken.  Dessert was some vanilla watery pudding, flourless brownies w/nuts, or coconut pyramids (GROSS).  Too fancy.  How bout meatballs and sauce?  Burgers?  They didn't even serve sodas!  Just fancy tea and water.

** The lack of women here is AMAZING.  At the bootcamp yesterday, the 2 guys next to me assumed I didn't know crap about developing until I had to help one of them find the bug in his software (which I had finished writing 20 minutes earlier).  That is dumb, to assume I don't know much in the development field just because I'm a girl. 

** Dinner last night w/one of my best-est friends and getting to see her hubby and kiddies.

** Dinner with her again tonight!!

 

AND BabyT is feeling better - still stuffy and cough-y, but handling it much better.

so, a bad mommy it is then...

UGH!  BabyT is so sick.  He is so miserable w/his cold and cough, I can't stand it.  He's fussy and crying and OBVIOUSLY thinks I've abandoned him and is never coming back.  I feel awful.  I want nothing more than to scoop him up and settle him down in the glider, secure in the fact that Mommy's here and making it better.  I am a terrible mother for leaving him without a parent.  That is how awful I feel.  If the in-laws would've let me, I'd have been on the first flight home (of course, my company would be a bit peeved, giving that they spent like 4K to get me here and in this conference!)...

 

Please, please please let him have a good night tonight and feel better in the morning.

AJAX WORLD!

I am at a conference in Santa Clara, CA!  And I get to stay at the Hyatt!  I'm so excited!  Today is a day of hand-on-training followed by dinner w/my best friend, who happens to live right here!  YAY!  After the last week of having the kids alone (Hubby out of town), I'm beat and this sounds like a big break to me!

 

Speaking of the kids, we left them w/the in-laws for the FIRST TIME EVER.  They've never not had one of us there.  That was SO HARD, but I'm sure they'll be fine, we left them in wonderful hands.  Unfortuntately, BabyT has a cold, and was up from 2-4 last night.  Hopefully tonight goes better for the babysitters, I hope!  It is so strange to leave them with other people, and have to go over every crazy scenario and where the supplies might be for that crazy scenario.  Of course, from my instruction list, you would think I was totally out of communicaiton or something!

OMG

I watched the Barbara Walters Special last night with Terri Irwin.  That is seriously the saddest show I have EVER SEEN in my life and I cried terribly the whole time.  This is just so sad.  And to see little Bindi giving a eulogy for her father just broke my little heart.  And bless her, she didn't cry or anything. I don't know how she did it, she's only 8.

 

My thoughts and prayers are with Terri and her children.  I don't know how she's managing to go on.

Thoughts and Prayers...

please go visit Girl (GirlFromFlorida)...her grandmother passed away Saturday.

 

http://www.girlfromflorida.blogspot.com

 

Girl - my thougths and prayers continue to be w/you, H and Amelia.

10w2d

That's how far along I am today - but I don't feel pregnant at all (the doppler assures me the baby seems to be doing fine so far)...this is the first time I've not had any pregnancy symptoms, it's so strange, I actually FORGET that I'm pregnant sometimes (ok, I have the tired-ness syptom, but I have that all the time w/2 kids, so no change there!)...

 

It is so great to find myself pregnant by surprise! After having issues getting pregnant w/the first two, I had assumed that a surprise pregnancy was NEVER in the cards for me.  It was such a wonderful surprise and such a great gift, I am so thankful everytime I think about it.  I can't wait for April to get here!

You've GOT to see this!

Thanks to Charlie...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr9V1Cy-aqI

Returned!

From recruiting at VA Tech!  Man is it beautiful down there!!!  It was so much fun - we ate TWICE at Macado's!  And ate a lot!  Due to the pregnant status, no going out and partying for me, but that's ok, I was so TIRED after standing up all day at the booth.  I got a TON of cool little gadgets for Son that people were giving away and a RollsRoyce Tshirt for hubby.

 

Note to college students: WORK HARD at school!  We wouldn't even consider looking at a resume w/a grade point average below 3.3 or so - I KNOW it doesn't matter in the real world, but if you have no work experience or a co-op, it's the only thing we have to judge how hard you work when we are looking at a piece of paper.  Also - we get so many students with high grades AND co-op experience to pick from, why would we be interested in someone who pulled a 2.5?  Once you get that first job, the grade pt. avg doesn't matter anymore (just like the school you went to doesn't matter either), but for the first job, it matters very much.

 

Anyway, we had a good time, met some great interesting students that will be getting job and internship offers and it is all very exciting!

 

BTW, 9w4d pregnant today!

GO TECH!

Yay Tech!  Today I get to head down south to Blacksburg to VT to do college recruiting!  It should be so exciting to see what's new and around town!  I can't wait to get to the bookstore!  By default, I guess I get to be Designated Driver ;-)

 

We had a great weekend - after complaining to our neighbors Friday night that BabyT doesn't sleep, he slept all night!  But then paid us back by getting up Saturday night every 2 hours.  What the hell?  But anyways, the weekend was relaxing and we spent lots of time marveling at the pool shell that they sprayed in on Friday - we CAN'T wait for it to be done!

 

Who wants to come over and go swimming?!

big news!

Am pregnant!

so. tired. cannot. think.

So BabyT decided to start sleeping thru the night 2 nights before we left for Disney, so of course the vacation screwed up his sleeping again.  And being home screwed it up again - hence the getting up like 3 times last night!  AND SO I am very tired today, given that Disney, while fantastic, was ANTI-RESTFUL.  I am so behind on rest it isn't funny.

 

AND there will be unveiling of big news on Thursday!  Stay tuned!!!

We're Back!

Hi - we're back and TIRED.  There is no tired like doing Disney with a 4 year old and an 8 month old!  Seriously!  But it was fun and I totally have to endorse the Magical Express as a transportation means!  They deliver your luggage to the resort, then deliver it and CHECK IT at the airport for you - so you only have to worry about touching it when you get all the way home!!! How great is that!?

Vacation!

Today we are taking a day off from the vacation and just LOUNGING AROUND THE HOTEL!  It feels great already!  We're going to hit the HUGE pool and Son wants to do some of the hotel/Disney activities offered today (like cookie decorating and making ceramics!) ... I think I may sneak off to the spa!

 

So far, vacation is great - but it is a lot of work lugging the stuff needed for BabyT around Disney!

 

I apologize, I got no surfing in this week, so I'm hoping to visit all you wonderful peoples when we get back early Sunday!

another day in paradise...

Morning spent at MGM Studios.  LOVED IT - Son and BabyT got lots of pics w/charactes, as the park is EMPTY.  It is great and so worth the $$ if the park is empty!  You get so much for your money!

 

Then the afternoon and dinner back at the Magic Kingdom, where we burped the ghosts away on the Haunted Mansion and Hunted Zurg on the Buzz Lightyear ride.

 

I couldn't ask for more.

we made it!

Hi!  We're in sunny Florida@ DineyWorld's ANIMAL KINGDOM RESORT and it is great!  So magical in fact, BabyT slept all night!  more later....

Slightly better!

Well - BabyT is on the road to recovering from his cold!  And he's eating again! YAY!  So now, that's two out of two children that don't eat when they're sick.  At least it's a good warning sign of impending doom!

 

BabyT has also learned to pull up VERY WELL and does it all the time.  He's really bad at the balancing though, so I think walking is still a ways off, sadly (I can't wait for him to walk as he is SO HEAVY!)...

 

Son is excited about going to Disney World next week for our vacation EXTRAVAGANZA!  It will be a blast, or at least it'd better be!

 

Today is day 3 of pool building! I will post pictures shortly, but it's going to be fabulous in about 4 weeks!  We cannot WAIT!!!!!!

 

Also, the big news is still underwraps, but I should be all finished w/the details in about 2 more weeks - stay tuned!  We've already had 1 lucky guesser!!  *wink wink!

dang it...

babyT just gagged AGAIN and threw up all over me and the chair. Lovely. To the relative that said they got their colds from the cooler nights, rather than the kids that had a cold that played w/my kids, I say "i don't think so".

So, as anal as I was about letting my kids play with other kids who simply have colds (because their parents think it's no big deal to share those germs) I am going to be MORE ANAL now - because I've been cleaning up vomit at least once a day since tuesday ( a couple of days TWICE ) - BabyT gets up now TWICE at night - once for meds and once to eat AND he's barely eating during the day because the cold makes him not hungry. I will throw a fit if someone brings kids w/a cold over to my house now. Or lets us come over w/out proper warning. Or they will be getting a phone call every damn time I have to get up in the middle of the night w/the baby because of them.

(yes, the lack of sleep is making me cranky, why do you ask?)

Traffic Mess...

So - there is a hidden exit from the airport that exits on to the main road by my house. The speed limit on this main road is 55 mph, but people regularly go much faster than this on that road. It seems that everyone cutting thru the airport wants to head west on the main road, which is a left turn out of the aiport.

This means they must make a left turn across 2 lanes of traffic headed east bound, plus the lane turning into the airport, plus the lane for east bound people to turn left also at that intersection. Also, there are usually a ton of cars already on the main road, headed west bound. AND a good number of THEM turning left INTO the airport as well. So at this intersection, the people exiting the airport to head west bound must yield to both the people headed east and west on the big road (2 lanes EACH) but the west-bound people wishing to turn left into the airport.

Well, this traffic setup, especially at rush hour, causes a great backup of people coming out of the airport, waiting to turn left. And they get really impatient. Many times, as we are headed east or west bound on that road, we've almost T-boned people darting recklessly across as they feel they've already waited long enough - not realizing I'm sure the exact impact a large SUV like mine will have on their car if I can't stop in time.

This airport exit is so dangerous, even when we are exiting the aiport to come home, we take a longer route to avoid it - we've seen NUMEROUS accidents there. And they are always VERY SERIOUS.

So yesterday I have to pick up Sarah from the airport to return to my house to get her car. We exit the airport via the long route to avoid that intersection. As we are west bound on the main road, traffic comes to a standstill. Hmmm.

Eventually, traffic brings us to a County Sheriff directing traffic into an office park. Everyone seems to be blindly following her direction.

I stop and roll down my window "excuse me! We can't detour into there - there's NO OUTLET! IT IS NOT A DTEOUR, JUST AN OFFICE PARK WITH NO OTHER EXIT! Also - i live on this main road! I cannot turn around, THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO MY HOUSE"

She just tells me to go into the office park, seeming irritated that I question her authority. I reiterate that THERE IS NO OTHER WAY HOME, AND HAVING EVERYONE PULL INTO THE LOT IS DUMB. I just wanted to wait in line for the road to re-open, but apparently that was not allowed either. (NOTE that in December, the police routed us into an office park for an accident as well. Then they reopened the road w/out letting the office park people out first - well, the people that had to sit west bound (which got there after the office park filled up) wouldn't let us out, because they were so impatient. That evening, it took me 2 and 1/2 hours to go the 1/2 mile to my house from that office park. I hate the sheriff's department assinine traffic rules - why couldn't WE wait on the main road? Why fill up the office park first? There are WAY more cars than would ever fit into that office park, so it's not like they had a hope of clearing the road)...

So I turn around and head back to the airport, thinking maybe if I take that bad exit, it'll bring me back out onto the main road at a point after the accident. Nope - that is where the accident is. ( the road ends up being shut down for an hour and a 1/2! They had to bring in a helicopter) Not that I want anyone to be hurt, but I can only hope the people that are seriously hurt are the ones that caused the accident, not the people that were just driving along when they darted out. It seems to me, the ones darting out would be more hurt, as they usually get Tboned.

Anyways - we can't get out that way - as all EIGHT LANES (4 travel and 4 turn lanes) are blocked by firetrucks and ambulances. So I turn around AGAIN and go back into the airport to the exit for the Greenway (a $3 per trip) road to get home. To go the FOUR MILES to my house took us over an hour. Because the County won't put a stoplight there. There need to be 3 DEATHS/serious incidents at an intersection before they're required. BUT the accident has to be offically reported, and emergency personnel are not required to report them, so they usually don't get reported. Someone has to take the time to call and report and no one ever does. Peronally, I've seen the remnants of way more than 3 serious accidents there, but no light yet.

Lovely...

BabyT slept better last night!!!  YAY!

 

He went to be at 9 pm.  Up at 10:30, 11:30 and 1a.m.  Slept until 5:15, had a bottle, then promptly gagged on the snot in his throat and threw up all over his crib.  LOVELY.  But, then he did sleep until 7:45 a.m.!

oh...my...god...

i am SO TIRED.  We went to a birthday party Sunday and Tuesday evening (exactly the incubation time) both boys are behaving oddly.  Tuesday night, each boy got up TWICE.  Wednesday morning we realize they've both come down with colds (thanks other birthday party attendees - you owe me about 19 hours of sleep by now).

 

So last night, BabyT slept from 9 - 11:30.  12:30 - 2:30.  3 - 4.  4:20 - 4:35.  He was asleep (FINALLY) when I left the house at 6...so we'll see.

 

Son slept...ALL NIGHT  (remember, he's 4 and 1/2).

 

So all the people that say they should build up their immune systems while they're really young can KISS MY ASS.  Having a sick baby is annoying and painful for all involved.  Yes, they'll get sick less often when in Kindergarten - but if they wait until Kindergarten to get the sickies, THEY DON'T KEEP YOU UP ALL NIGHT.  So who's the dumb one?  The idiots telling me it's GOOD & HEALTHY to expose the baby to germs.  SHUT UP.

Morning Annoyance...

Ok... Often, I have reason to stop and get gas on the way to work.  This gas station is the nearest one to Dulles Airport.  AND there are 2 types of people that MAKE ME CRAZY  often there...

 

Type 1: don't know what side gas tank is on!  HELLO?  How hard is this?  EVEN IF it's a rental, they put a triangle on the gas gauge POINTING at the side of the car the tank is on.  It kills me when I see people trying to fill up w/the tank on the far side the car w/the pump hose stretched way over the trunk.  Often, they have to get back in the car and drive to another pump, which, being a very busy gas station, drives everyone crazy.

 

Type 2: People that leave their car at the pump and go into the store.  I'm not talking about people going in WHILE the car fills.  I'm talking about people that fill the car, then unhook the pump and F-ing go shopping.  MOVE YOUR DAMN CAR.  Like I said, this is a crazy busy airport, and very often, I'm waiting for a pump, when there are 3 or 4 unattended cars NOT BEING FILLED taking up spaces.  And if you have to prepay because you use cash, DON'T.  This is a huge waste of time for everyone - and don't lie to me and tell me you don't have an ATM card or a credit card.

 

Anyways, these people bug me, so if you could please pass the word along so that portion of the world's population will start behaving like intelligent beings, I'd appreciate it!

Nothing new to report right now...

work is HECTIC - getting ready for our first production release of the software. Which is exciting, but exhuasting!

 

BabyT is refusing baby foods.  So we're going to start trying more people foods tonight - we'll see what happens!

 

We are also getting ready for our big yearly DisneyWorld Trip in 2 weeks!  And BOY, doesn't THAT sound like a lot of work!!!! ;-)

 

I'm so glad they caught that crazy guy down at VA Tech yesterday - I can't imagine how I'd feel if my kids were down there (which they will be someday) and this nut was on the loose. 

 

Back to coding for me!

Virginia Tech...

Anyone keeping an eye on the drama going on down there???  I cannot believe my ears!

Recover from the vacation!

Gosh, it has been almost a week and I'm still not recovered from my "vacation" (which was wonderful, but took SO MUCH ENERGY). Laundry is 1/2 done, house is a mess(this is also the month my cleaning lady decides to take off the whole month!). We've eaten out or eaten junk most of the nights this week.

I've been so busy - it seems like BabyT might be on the road to sleeping well again - the vacation and the teething took quite a toll! I think he's cutting his 4 top teeth all at once.

Big news coming, I promise!

stay tuned...

some very big developments abound...

Tuesday Morning!

BabyT is about to get at least 2 top teeth (maybe 4)...which I HOPE explains the complete and utter lack of sleeping going on around our house.  PLEASE let it be the explaination, not that he forgot how.  ALSO he is now REFUSING baby foods.  Lips locked tight.  Only real people foods will get an open mouth, but there are like 3 things he can eat with NO TEETH.  Suggestions? Between being tired and him not eating, I'm going a little stir-crazy!

We're back!

Phew! After yesterday's 7 hour drive, we're back! THEN BabyT threw up his dinner. THEN BabyT exploded a diaper all over the walker (which he also did on vacation, btw).

There are 2 ways to slant the vacation --> how much fun we had (and we DID!) and how much god-awful-lot of work it was...

Fun:
- swimming out in the deeper ocean with Son. I would carry him out to 5 1/2 feet or so and we'd swim around together.
- watching the kids enjoy their extended family
- going to the Pavillion and watching Son ride the water ride (a big person ride) AND LOVE it
- taking Son to play Mini-golf
- watching BabyT in the sand! SAND!
- getting a few relaxing rays of sun (like 2 seconds worth)

Hard Work:
- carrying 42 pd son out into the wavy ocean trying not to get dunked!
- BabyT not sleeping well at all
- keeping BabyT off the gross floor at the beachhouse
- occupying babyT w/out the usual array of "baby stations" (ie. exersaucer, living room basket, activity center, etc)
- trying to feed both kids at once while everyone else is also trying to get breakfast
- BabyT throwing up a couple of times (reflux)

BUT it was a blast and I wouldn't change a thing (ok, maybe I'd trade the throwing up for some chocolate or something!)

Still alive...

Just because someone sleeps thru the night at home is no guarantee that they'll do so on vacation!

 

For instance, last night we had a 1 a.m. bottle wakeup call, a 3 am nightmare, a 5 am wet diaper leak and a 6:15 am wake up for the day!

 

BUT even without sleeping for a whole week, we're loving the beach - Son and BabyT!  You should see BabyT CRAWL AROUND IN THE SAND...it's so cute (as long as he's not eating it, ew gross!)

Prepare yourselves...

Our yearly trip is here - Myrtle Beach here we come. Thinking we might have too much to fit in our car (a Yukon XL) hubby bought a tailgate rack.

Thinking we STILL have too much to fit in the car, I've cut out a whole large suitcase and box of stuff. We'll see. My mom is bringing herself (which takes up a seat) and a very large suitcase (funny, the clothes for ALL FOUR OF US, plus some towels fit into a large suitcase also, but whatever).

Wish us luck packing!

So far we have:
2 large suitcases (ours + mom's)
1 box towels/sheets
1 pack&play
1 backpack carrier
2 sunshades for on the beach
1 baby portable highchair
5 people!
1 golf clubs & bag
1 small clothes basket of shoes
1 toiletries bag
1 box misc (sunscreen, TIDE, baby oatmeal)

We'll see!

ALSO! Congrats to JENN on having her twins! YAY JENN and I can't wait for pics of those cuties!

Happy Birthday TO ME!

Today is my birthday! I'm 33! So far, it's great!

Hubby & Sons got me an IPOD!
Mother-in-law got me Cheryl&Co birthday cookies!
Hubby's Dad and L got me earrings!
Work group got me an ice-cream brownie!
My Mom gave me spending money for OUR VACATION NEXT WEEK! YAHOO! MYRTLE BEACH, HERE WE COME!

And BabyT gave me the best present ever - 2 full nights of sleep!YAY for small miracles!

Check out FLICKR!

This weekend, in PA, a bat decided to sleep on one of the entrance gargoyle's at Aunt L's house!  It's very cool!  I will upload a bigger version of the pic later or send me an email and I'll send u a link to a bigger one!

Did I commit a faux pas?

I was at a specialty shop yesterday acquiring hubby's birthday present. 

 

As the cashier was ringing me up (SLOWLY!) I notice a newspaper on the counter.  It was set so the guy in the line to my right could read it, so I cocked my head a bit so I could just take a peek at the headlines.  A few seconds later, the guy notices I'm (GASP!) reading his newspaper (remember, just with my eyes, I wasn't going to touch someone else's paper!) and jerks it away so I can't see it.

Seriously? What is his problem?  It's not like the paper can only be read once then the words go away or something...who cares if I was *looking* at it.  What an ass.

Test again!

is it working today?  Somebody comment!

GAH! Blogger eating my posts!

I just checked and ALL The posts I sent this week aren't here! Where did they go??

It was a busy week - we're building our code base for the beta release TOMORROW so I've been crazy busy at work, yet unable to stay late due to other obligations (like a pedicure appt Wednesday after work that I couldn't miss due to the fancy awards dinner for my hubby after work Thursday)...and forget squeezing in a workout!

AND I called my OB since the Metformin isn't doing a good job at regulating my cycles, so she upped my dose (we are NOT trying to get pregnant -but our birth control method is "charting" and if you don't ovulate regularly, it's a pain in the ass)...

We're leaving tomorrow to see our fabulous relatives in PA and I haven't packed a thing yet, but home w/the 2 kids all day today, I will more than likely NOT HAVE TIME to pack! Yikes!!!

Both kiddies are doing great! TMan pulled into a sitting position yesterday, and is wobblying up on his hands and knees, ready to fullon crawl any day ( he does a pseudo commando crawl now, and he's DAMN FAST)...

TEST!

TESTING!  Is this thing on?  Two posts I sent yesterday never made it!

Look what I got at lunch!

Thursday Update!

*Sigh*  I can't get ahead can I?

I have to work tomorrow, to make up for missing Monday at work.  Boo hiss.

Saturday we have family portraits, which while exciting!  Is a lot of work.  AND it's going to be seventy-bajillion degrees.

Sunday, we have a birthday party for one of Son's friends that recently moved.  And this party is very far away.  And late in the evening.  SO I will be very tired, esp. when i have to get up the next day at 4:30 a.m.  AND since we have to leave the house much earlier than party start time to get there on time... it all makes for a long day!

BUT hopefully hubby and I will get some house organization done this weekend, so there's that ...right?  right?  Cleaning out the playroom is fun, yes?  No?

ALSO - my baby has super human powers!  Remember, he's exactly 7 months old.  HE GOT OUT OF HIS EXERSAUCER.  It is unbelieveable.  I have no idea how he did it, but he did!  So I guess no more putting him in it while I go shopping at the mall anymore huh?  (hahaha, just kidding!)....

Kid's Product Review: Kelty Convertible Stroller

Ok. Son is 20 pounds. While the Baby Bjorn is rated for that, it HURTS to carry BabyT in it! So we bought this:



We LOVE it and so does BabyT. The little bag is a great size and you can put stuff in the stroller basket even when it's on your back. AND Hubby can put the baby in it and get it on all by himself! What a great product!

Virtual Stock Exchange

We're playing this game - wish me luck - we each get a virtual $100,000 to invest and see what happens to it through December!

 

www.virtualstockexchange.com

 

funky shoe day!

I saw 2 people yesterday with funky shoes...

 

There was a guy dressed in a VERY NICE blue dress-shirt.  With french cuffs and cuff links.  Nice dress pants.

 

AND black leather sandals.  AND SOCKS (which were white and black patterned).

 

THEN

I was walking behind a guy wearing the little dress boots (instead of shoes).  They are just above ankle-height.  Which is a trendy shoe option, apparently.  BUT he had LIFTS in his shoes, that were SO TALL his heel was NOT IN THE BOOT AT ALL.  Which is why he caught my attention, because something didn't look right as I walked in behind him.  So he was pretty much walking on stilletoes (stiletos? stillettoes?) all day.  Now I know women (definitely me included) wear heels all the time to be taller (the shoes I have on right now are Born Sandals with a 4 inch heel) - but it's obvious to anyone and everyone that I am not normally 5'9".  Seems kinda sneaky for a guy to be doing it, eh?  What do you think?

Cute Things Son Said This Weekend...

*  when drawing a picture of Darth Vader, he said the arms were crossed because "Darth was covering his peepee"

*  while we were playing BINGO, he got the ball for "N 40"...which he tried to figure out what "40" was by himself, as "zero-ty four?"

 

 

bloody hell, I can't remember the rest right now!

Suprise Day Off!

Hubby and I had to switch days off this week to accomodate a class schedule of his - so I'm home with the kiddies! AND BabyT slept from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. this morning, then he went back to sleep until 7 a.m.! We are all well rested today! (of course, I could get called into the proposal room for this evening at any time, but, LALALA! I CAN'T HEAR THE PHONE RINGING!)

BabyT had his 6 month check last week! 90% in weight. At 20 POUNDS, I find it hard to believe that 10 % of children weigh MORE than he does. Good golly, that's a lot of weight to be hauling around! He's NOT EVEN ON THE CHART IN HEIGHT, coming in at 29 and 1/2 inches...NOT ON THE CHART. Amazing. He and son both have December birthdays, so I thought all of son's clothes would be perfect for BabyT, as they should've been close in size. But BabyT is now wearing the clothes Son wore in his SECOND SUMMER, when he was 18 months old! Dang!

OMG! BLOGLINES!

I am a total LOSER. I just figured this out! How GREAT is Bloglines! I can see who has updated by only visiting ONE PAGE. It is Genius, with a capital 'G'!!

SO! You're mission, if you choose to accept it, is to DELURK and leave me your URL so I can add you to my bloglines! Just like my TIVO, I can be SO MUCH more efficient if I only have to visit sites that have updates!!!! LOVING IT!

4th of July!

I hope everyone had a happy and safe fourth!

We went to Purcellville, VA for the Loudoun County 4th Of July parade.  It was great, as usual (we've been EVERY year they've had it - my grandma lives in Purcellville and her birthday is 4th of July, so we're in PVille wether there is stuff going on for the 4th or not)...Even BabyT loved the parade, which surprised us because it was so loud with all the emergency vehicles in it!

Then lunch at grandma's.  Then off to Leesburg for a pool party / BBQ.  Also, fantastic!  We love those particular friends of ours and Son had a BLAST swimming in their pool!

 

What did you do?

Work! And more work!

UGH!  This week, I've been working (IN ADDITION TO MY REGULAR JOB) on a proposal back at my company's HQ (I'm at customer site for 40 hrs per week).. and it's killing me.  Working from 6 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. or so.  KILLING ME.


BUT

Hubby has been doing a GREAT job - having the kids all by himself all week!  He's been taking them to my mom's before work, picking them up, taking older Son to swimming lessons.  AND keeping the house super-clean to help my sanity level (dirty house = crazy mom).  I am SO AMAZED.  He's been washing all the baby bottles and even DOING LAUNDRY.  And not ONE SINGLE complaint.

So, hubby, if you read this, thank you.  For being so wonderful.

As seen today...

*  Young lady in nice red, sleeveless dress.  Nice tradional, classy brown leather purse. AND MOTORCYCLE BOOTS.

 

*  Roughly 35 year old man.  In need of haircut, looking quite shaggy.  That or he didn't comb or shower his hair after rolling out of bed.  Black suit pants, which are too long and look as if he stores them rolled up in his nightstand.  NAVY BLUE pin-stripe suit jacket, which also looks like he stores it in his car glove compartment.  Black casual shoes (NOT SUIT SHOES).

 

 

I can't win, can I?

Ok...last week, I read something/figured out that BabyT needs a bit more food during the day, and that will help with the night-wakings to eat. I can do that, sure!

So Thursday we added 1 ounce to each bottle feeding and one more solids feeding per day.

He threw up Saturday.
He threw up TWICE today (Sunday).

I think it's because we're over feeding him, but it's confusing since TWO of the vomit-blasts were at the BEGINNING of a feeding, when he was very hungry. I would think it would be at the end of a feeding or shortly after. So, for today anyway, we're scaled back to 4-5 ounces at a feeding and only 1 solids this evening. If all goes well, we'll be back on our old scheule, with maybe just the addition of the one extra solids meal. We'll see. The real bummer is that Thursday night, HE SLEPT ALL NIGHT. Damn. Friday night too.

Gosh...where was I?

Oh yes!  San Jose!

 

After our wonderful trip to G00GLE HQ, we returned to our hotel  (see this link! The Wild Palms, baby. http://www.jdvhospitality.com/hotels/hotel/20 It was GREAT! )

 

Where we lounged by the pool like the bathings suit beauties we are (HA!).  Then showered up for dinner at a fabulous restaurant, where my girlfriends kept trying to take pictures of a waiter that bore a STUNNING resemblance to Orlando Bloom and yes, you read that right.  We also had a baby shower for SMG there - and showered her with tons o' girly baby clothes for her new little one. 

 

Then - back to SMG's house for drinks and hanging out, after yet another fun girly trip to the grocery store, where I'm sure we conviced all the employess that we were CRAZY.

 

And - our rental car was a mack-daddy tricked out 300M.  We were quite the scene!

 

More tomorrow - we still have to cover Saturday's events!
 

Gosh...where was I?

Oh yes - the trip.  Due to recent events, I cannot post the rest of the details here.  If you are interested though, I am writing it up and will email it to you, just email me or post a comment.

 

Oh, and BabyT can say MAMA!!  And it is SO CUTE I can't stand it!  Watching him practice pursing his lips trying to do the MMMMM sound is so cute and amazing!  Then to HEAR him say it!  When hubby held the phone up to his ear and I talked to him, he said it!  Think he knows what Mama means?!!

Another Great Weekend...

A great weekend all around!  I'll be posting some choice pics over there in the sidebar (FLIKR!) later!  Keep posted!

 

Hubby LOVED his gift - a leather bound album, to be updated each year, with the handprints and a picture of his 2 beautiful boys!  (there'll be a picture of that posted too!).

 

We had a nice time and visited w/my grandparents then had his dad over for a BBQ of yummy smoked filets, homemade mac&cheese, wild rice, cake and beer!  Yay beer!

Commerical Break!

Oh.My.

(actually, I sent hubby to store to find Edy's ice cream sandwich ice cream but he came back with an acceptable substitute!)

Update: here's the link for the ice cream sandwich ice cream! http://www.edys.com/brand/grand/flavor.asp?b=134&f=1610

Friday in San Jose...

Recap: me and girl friends have arrived in San Jose to have a girls'
weekend and baby shower!

Friday morning: after going to bed at 3 a.m. local time (6 a.m. East
Coast Time!)... my friend that lives in San Jose, SMG, arrives after
dropping her son off at preschool at 9:45 a.m. She finds me and other
friend SK in bed.

We sit around and have girly-chat time for 2 hours! Soon we are
joined by other friend SB. Who knew we've all discovered Secret
deodorant stops working after a time and you need to alternate it w/a
different brand for effectiveness! Also discussion on Brazillian
Laser Light treatments ensues (verdict from friend having it done: by
treatment #2 out of 5, the light is turned up so high it's quite
painful, but yet still NEAT-O).

Decide to go visit SMG's hubby, who works at G00GLE and have lunch
with him there (we love her hubby, he's great!).

There's not much I can say publicly, except that it was SO COOL I
cannot even begin to express it in words. By far, the hit of the day
( other than the FREE FOOD CAFETERIA stocked with organic foods of
your choice and free Ben & Jerry's ice cream ) were the Japanese
toilets that they had installed there!

Please see this picture that someone else :
http://www.theinquirer.net/images/articles/Google_toilet.jpg

These are GREAT! So we 5 ladies tromp on in there and as each of us
sat down, there was an audible "oooooh!" when we sat on the WARMED
TOILET SEAT! How nice! Especially since the building was freezing!
THEN, one by one my friends pressed the "front" button, or what they
thought was the front, but I guess they each accidentally pressed
"rear" and then an audible "hey!!!!" from each as the water turned on!
It was HILARIOUS (I did not partake in the washing though, I didn't
trust that they dryer would work well enough for my taste and who
wants to be wet down there wandering around?)

BUT MORE HILARIOUS was when we exited the restroom and there was SMG's
hubby sitting outside the door wondering what the HELL-a was going on
in the bathroom - apparently he could hear quite the commotion. It
was so funny!!!!!!

More later - this is a long entry...coming up, dinner and a baby shower!

And another weekend!

Oh what a GREAT weekend!

For starters, BabyT has returned to 1 wake-up a night, which is
totally tolerable! Yay Sleep!

Friday, hubby got off work early and we met him at ToysRUs so that son
could get his first bike!!!! SO amazing! And of course, he's a great
rider! So now we can be the cute family riding bikes w/the baby on
the back!

Saturday I got to sleep in a bit - then just hung out with the kids
all day. I had a 6:30 appt to get a pedicure...then on a whim picked
up dinner to go at Chipotle! We had never eaten food from there
before and ....WOW! That place is GREAT! Hubby and I are SO PICKY
about what's in our food, most mexican places put too much stuff in
the food that we don't like - but at Chipotle, I get to decide! No
veggies and veggie-like toppings for us! Meat, cheese and rice!
Fabulous!

Yesterday we had the sitter come for a trial to see if she could
handle both kids - she did GREAT. Son loved her and so did we (BabyT
did too, but he likes everyone in the world, except my Grandma). We
got SO MUCH done around the house. Hubby picked up blinds from Lowes
and put them up, along w/our custom window treatments from our old
house from our old family room into our new bedroom and they look
GREAT (I'm loving the all-caps today!). The blinds make such a
difference (we had paper blinds) - it's like real adults live there,
not just hubby and me!

And the summary from the California trip is coming soon I promise,
just need some time to write it!

those crazy people!

The past couple of days, people seem to not be looking in the mirror -
or maybe just not caring anymore?

I've seen
- lady in a red tank sweater with black dressy pants....and OLD TEVAS!
- lady in nice dressy black skirt, with a white top made of very thin
fabric - so muc so that the seams appeared SUPER WHITE because the
rest of the shirt was so thin. AND old ratty flip flops?!
- young woman in cool multi-length trendy skirt, little jean
jacket....and tennis shoes???
- a woman in a white dress, once again in such thin material that any
seam or area of double material (like around the neck, where they sew
the tag in) is SUPER WHITE because it's 2 layers of white material and
TENNIS SHOES

Why dress so cute if you're going to wear shoes that undo all the cuteness??

NewsFLASH!

Surprise! Not only can BabyT sit unassisted (for short amts of time)
he CAN CRAWL/SCOOT! I thought babies could only do one or the other
until they perfected the first skill. Either that is not true or
I've given birth to a super-genious (which is ENTIRELY possible :-)

Let the fun begin! We've scheduled a babysitter to come Sunday so we
can make the family room "BabyT friendly" - meaning moving all of
son's toys that are a choking hazard out of that room (like Star Wars
Figures guns, Lego pieces, etc.)...

So exciting moves afoot in our house!

And on Thursday Night, they arrived...

So - last Thursday all us girlies arrive in San Jose! SO much fun!

We were supposed to go right to bed (11 p.m. San Jose time) and meet
our friend that lives there in the morning (the pregnant one!) - but I
needed snacks from the grocery store, then the sisters decided we
needed wine...and you can guess the rest. We went to bed at 3 a.m.
local time (6 a.m. my time!!!) -yikes! It is SO NICE to just hang
with your girlfriends and chat and hear what's going on in there lives
(my friend E is being chased by an VeryImportant Internet CEO! SO
COOL!)...

More later - gotta get back to work! Watch for Friday's events recap
coming soon!

What a weekend!

I don't have time to blog right now, but here's what's coming....

- what happens when 5 women encounter the fANCY Japanese toilets at
Google headquarters!
- Monterey is GORGEOUS!
- more evidence that people on planes are asses
- why I love my girlfriends!
- what I ate this weekend and why I'm happy about it!
- how one can be up for 26 HOURS straight!

Girls Weekend!

This weekend is it! We're all flying to see my girlfriend that is
pregnant to have a baby shower and a girly weekend! I can't wait - am
almost packed and ready to go for my flight tonight!

I already miss my kids and hubby - that part of the weekend will be
really hard. But of course, I will struggle through. :-)

Have a great weekend!

Somebody help me!

HELP! My DS (born 12/17/05) was sleeping THRU THE NIGHT until 3 weeks
ago when a certain someone brought over her damn kids and they had
colds. Well, shockingly, the baby caught their cold. So throughout
his cold, he had to get up twice a night just to take cold medicine
and go right back to sleep. This was fine, as it was like getting up
for 5 minutes twice a night. No problem.

Well. Now he's all better, but he's getting up FOUR TIMES a night.
The first time, just to be rocked. Once to eat (about 1 a.m.).
Another time to be rocked. Then AGAIN to eat (Like at 3:30 a.m.).
And with each of these wake-ups. he is screaming hysterically, like
someone is cutting off his arms w/a dull knife. We do try to see if
he'll go back down w/just rocking instead of a bottle, but he tries to
fling himself out of our arms with back-arching if he's wanting a
bottle instead of being rocked. And continues screaming until his
bottle is ready.

So - crying it out isn't a solution for us, not w/the hystericall-ness
he's displaying.

Anyone have suggestions, please??!!! I have to getup for work
everymorning at 4:20 a.m. and it's killing hubby and I (I take the 11
p.m. - 2 a.m. shift and he takes from 2 a.m. on)...

A little bragging on my older son!

He got a perfect report card!

When the DR asked him to write his name at his 4 year checkup, Son and the DR were sitting across from each other at a table. He wrote his name on the paper upside down so it would be legible from her seat.

Son also got 4 shots at that appt. Shots his father told him about ahead of time, which did not cause him to fuss about going to the DR or cause him any fear. Or tears for that matter, when it came time for the shots.

We figured out why all the kids in Son's soccer class are so much taller than he is (although he is BY FAR the most coordinated child and athletically advanced on the field). They are all age 5 to 5 1/2 - which puts them a YEAR older than my Son.

At today's end-of-year party, he was the most well-behaved child. Putting his trash away, washing up, helping wipe down the tables, etc. Without being asked!

BTW - did anyone see Lost? Quite the episode - though not all the questions were answered like they said they would be!

so let us ponder...

Scene: you are in the building cafeteria. You would like an
EverythingBagel. You slice it open at the slicer counter and move
along to the toppings bar. There is whipped butter and whipped cream
cheese - each w/a spreading spatula stabbed into it.

Do you:

A. Use the spreader to put a topping on your EverythingBagel,
depositing pieces of garlic, onion, and poppy seed into the cream
cheese with every swipe?

B. Get a "topping container" and fill it, put a top on it, then use a
plastic knife to actually spread the topping on the bagel once seated
at the breakfast table?

If you said A, PLEASE STOP IT NOW. IF I WANTED GARLIC AND ONIONS IN
MY CREAM CHEESE, I WOULD NOT BE USING THE CREAM CHEESE LABELED "CREAM
CHEESE" BUT INSTEAD WOULD BE LOOKING FOR THE "GARLIC & ONION AND
VARIOUS OTHER PIECES OF SOMEONE ELSE'S FOOD" BIN.

Thank you.

As Seen In Parking Lot...

A lady wearing
<li>light blue ankle boots w/heel
<li>light blue panty hose
<li>denim skirt, slightly above ankle length, but not tea length.
Skirt has flower print and slit up the back.
<li>light blue turtle neck
<li><i>sante-fe print vest</i> (note: this is not the sante-fe vest
lady from before)

So. Obviously this person spends some time on how they look. How did
they decide on this particular combination?

And then....less sleep

SOMEONE SHOOT ME NOW.

Both boys started having cold symptoms IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

Here's how our night went:

10 p.m. Lights out!
11 p.m.- I have to get up to turn Baby T over.
12 a.m. - Get up with Baby, notice he's stuffy. Give bottle and worry,
as I have no cold meds in the house (the last time he got a cold, he
was too young to have meds).
12:15 - hubby gets up to give tissues to Son who is also awake and stuffy.
2 a.m. - Roll baby T over again.
2:45 a.m. - Son requests someone cover him with blankets.
4:40 a.m. - Baby T fussy due to congestion. Thankfully hubby brings
him back into our room because I am getting ready to oversleep AGAIN
and have to get out of bed to make room for Baby T.

So, to sum it up, I'm TIRED!

But there is some good news! Apparently Baby T sat unsupported
yesterdeay briefly!! YAY! Go Baby T - sitting at 5 mos is a little
early, but WONDERFUL! (Note: I WILL NOT be ecstatic when he starts
crawling, and hopefully that is MONTHS away. Our house is a safety
nightmare w/Son's toys everywhere and they all have teeny-tiny
pieces...UGH!)

I don't remember it that way...

My alarm went off at it's usual time, preset to give me enough time to
blow dry my hair (which, BTW, is 4:25 a.m.). I turned off the alarm
but do not remember either laying back down or making a decision to
lay back down (many mornings I <i>will</i> have discussions with
myself about when I should get up vs. when I want to get up).

The next time I looked at the clock, it was the time I would get up if
I did not want to blow dry my hair (BTW, 5:11 a.m.). I cursed and
told my husband that I'd overslept. Once again, I do not remember
making any decision to either lay back down or even the laying back
down.

The next time I looked at the clock, it was 5 minutes past my usual
"leave the house" time (BTW, 5:33 am). Crap. So, I got up finally.

Oh well. It's only my coworkers that have to suffer the visual
assault of the wavy hair. And I got extra sleep out of it!

mmmm...chocolate!

did you know a frosted chocolate cupcake has 1/2 the fat and calories
of alittle baggie of Doritos? Did ya? I just found out and AM LOVING
IT. And I'm sure I'm losing weight because of this new information!

PS. If you've commented lots and I "know" you, I have a great pic of
the boys in their Mother's Day outfits! (hahaha, like I ever get LOTS
of comments!)

I finally ordered a new bathing suit for my girly-weekend coming up.
Having to wear a bathing suit in front of my 2 girlfriends that
haven't had kids and my one friend whose body LOOKS THE SAME after
giving birth to THREE is really stressing me out. But I found a
nice-looking tankini at Macy's in "chocolate" that should look nice.
So we'll see when it gets here (notice my tie in of chocolate, I am SO
CLEVER). I've already vowed to stand as close to the pregnant friend
at all times and in any picture so at least I'll be more shapely or
people won't notice me while looking at her.

Off to eat that yummy cupcake!

Monday Monday..

At about 4:15 a.m. this morning, I noted that it was POURING rain.
Well. My original plan was to get up at 4:20 am. and motor into work,
goto gym, then start my workday at 6:30 a.m. Well. That would
involve carrying my gym bag, my purse, my workclothes (on hangers), my
worklunch bag and an umbrella in the pouring rain at about 5 a.m. I
don't think so. I 'slept in' until 5:05 a.m. then got up for work. I
guess I'll have to try and squeeze in a workout this week, which is
usually IMPOSSIBLE with our schedules, but whatever.

I'm also thinking about a jog-stroller. This way, I could get a
workout in AND take care of the baby at the same time! Genious!

Anything going on in your neck of the woods? Not much in mine this
week...just working as previously scheduled! ;-)

Well!

What do you think?

Thanks to Zoot for the great template design! BUT I have to redo my blogroll - since I'm redoing it, anyone I should add that I forgot last time??

Later...

Because you are lazy that is why...

Why would someone call a number, realize this is NOT THE RIGHT number
for the pesron they want to reach, and leave a message asking the
current-phone-number-holder to locate the person they were looking for
originally and have them return the call?

Jeesh. I am not your (or his) damn secretary or receptionist. When
you realize you have the wrong damn number, look up his new number
your damn self.

A strange week...

Hubby has training this week - so I've got today off to watch the boys and have to do pickup and drop off of the boys at my Mom's Tues/Wed/Thurs. AND this is Son's last soccer week, so I have to go to that Wednesday afternoon and tape it. AND Son's preschool is having a "Mother's Day Tea" Thursday morning so of course wild horses couldn't keep me away from THAT. So, looks like I won't be at work much this week, boo hoo! Of course, that will be reflected in my paycheck because I don't have any leave, but who the hell cares with kiddies like this!

Son has a playdate today w/my best friend's son, who is also WAY into Star Wars, so we should have a good day!

He's a grower too!

Well! Tyler had his 4 month checkup today (he's a tad over 4 months, but they were booked).

17 pds 4 ounces. 27 3/4 inches tall. That's 95% folks. A big boy (Amalah's Noah was 15 pds and 27 1/2 inches at 4 months). He's my only basis of comparison right now, as all the other babies are either a lot older or a lot younger, but her stats are in the archives! So thanks Amalah - which is pronounced AIM-a-lah if you read her Smackdown (which I did, of course). I would never have pronounced that right in a million years. I'm loving all the posting she's doing, she's so funny...

Anyway - back to the porker, I mean, baby! Adorable! He got 2 shots today which REALLY PISSED HIM OFF based on the quantity of red-faced yelling he did about it. Then 2 more in 2 weeks when Dad can take him! The nurse didn't put his bandaid on right, which I only found out too late when he'd bled all over my new white polo shirt.

Hubby is a bleeder. Whatever amt is normal bleeding, he is usually running about double the blood loss. When he had knee surgery, and i needed to change the bandage after the first few hours, it literally SHOT blood across the room, like in a movie. Ditto on the wisdom tooth extraction. Apparently BabyT has the same gene.

Otherwise, a good visit. THOUGH when my older son started at this Pediatrician office, they had very few patients because the were new and took everyone's footprints to put on the wall. Now they have a ton of patients and need to repaint and THEY ARE GOING TO PAINT OVER THE FOOTPRINTS, OH MY GOD. Which is exactly the reaction the receptionist had when I told her I was running out to the car for my phone to take a picture. HOW CAN THEY DO THIS? I have no idea, but in 2 weeks, hubby is taking the good camera in case the painting hasn't been done yet!

This one, he's an eater.

Well. Everyone tells you how your two kids will be so different from each other. And you don't really believe them because how can a child coming from the same gene pool raised in the same house be different from the first one that came along?

But they are. They SOOOO are.

Son is a tall skinny kid. Like he's going to be a rocking football receiver. Baby T is a very tall, 'stocky' baby. He weighs 18.5 pds at 4.5 months. Son was 19 pounds AT ONE YEAR OLD. Amalah talks about the big Noah, but when she posted his 6 month stats (Baby T was maybe 2.5 months old), he wasn't much bigger than BabyT was THEN.

Son slept thru the night at 9 weeks. BabyT proved he could do it, starting at 8 weeks, but consistently wanted a bottle once thru the night until 4 months. Gotta get those daily calories in somehow.

Son NEVER spit up. NEVER. BabyT has a touch of reflex and does little spit ups all the time - and as I JUST learned recently - if you spit up after eating peas, it comes out GREEN. And smells nasty.

We thought Son was a happy baby. Smiling all the time. BabyT smiles MORE than that.

Son REFUSED to entertain himself, even for 1 millisecond. BabyT INSISTS we put him down and leave him alone a couple of times a day. This is puzzling to us, to put a crying baby down and have it actually work!

Son never eats/ate green veggies, even as baby food. Baby T cannot get enough of this yummy new food I started giving him Saturday - PEAS! LOVING THEM, EVERY BITE.

The only thing not different is the startling-ly fierce love I feel for each of them.

Think again, young lady!

Well...so much for that idea!

We had a LONG day playing in the cul-de-sac w/the neighbor kids (which left all of us, including the BABY, with sunburn, earning me WORST MOTHER EVER status!) and drinking beer (beer for the big kids only ;-)...Well, at 6:45 p.m. Son falls asleep on the couch so hubby puts him in bed. We look at each other with hopeful eyes - an evening w/out the kids? Dare we dream it so? Since baby T's bedtime is usually 8, it seemed like a very real possibility - then when Baby T was SCREAMING for his bedtime bottle at 7:30, we were almost giddy! Like schoolgirls I tell you!

Well...that was a funny plan, while it lasted. Baby T wouldn't go down until 8:30 p.m., which isn't bad, but Son woke up at 8:10 pretty much beside himself w/crankiness. He fussed and cried all the way into bed at 9 p.m. I hate to see him like that - so tired he can't even stand himself or communicate what might calm him down.

And we're all funny looking tonight because of our sunburns. How Baby T and I got burned I have no idea - Baby T took TWO naps under the umbrella, and then hubby and I took turns sitting UNDER the umbrella with him while we were outside. So imagine our surprise when the redness on his cheeks didn't go away when he cooled down. Of course, my face is ON FIRE as I type this!

Allergies! And Pollen! and sneezing, oh my!

Yikes! Yesterday son came down w/a HUGE CASE of allergies. Like
swollen face, red squinty eyes, sneezing and a river of snot ("mommy!
The boogies won't stop coming!")...

So I made an emergency appt w/his DR for today to get a script for
Zyrtec. They helped him IMMEDIATELY. Love modern medicine sometimes
(I'm still questioning of DRs in general, but when it comes to
allergies, I know my stuff and generally lead the DR down the path I
have chosen of treatment).

AND last night? Was the 3rd straight night of sleep in the Princess
household, Hooray! Let's go for 4!!!!!!!

Goings on...

Grrr…so some person in a Passat got pulled over on the main road
outside our development this morning. At 5:15 a.m. It is one lane
in each direction at that point. There is an office complex directly
on the left, with a HUGE parking lot. So where does the lady decide
to pull over for the cop? On the 'shoulder' of the road, except there
is not enough shoulder for her TINY car or the large Tahoe that the
County Sheriff was driving, so both of their vehicles were ½ out into
the travel lane of the main road. Nice. Even at 5:15 a.m., there was
a HUGE traffic jam because those of us traveling east-bound couldn't
drive by them if there was any oncoming traffic. I don't know why she
didn't pull in the parking lot or why the cop didn't TELL HER TO MOVE
her car into the lot, for the safety of both of them.

BTW – this is night #2 of Baby T sleeping all night un-interrupted!
Please, please, let's make it three!!!

Monday Update!

Well. A lovely weekend!

Baby T slept all night last night! Hubby had to go in a couple of times and roll him back onto his back, but I guess around 6 a.m., he found a way to get comfy on his belly and settled down (Baby T, not hubby! ;-) Let's hope this trend continues! We are SO TIRED between getting up to feed him and having to work, it's exhausting to put it mildly. Of course, this doesn't fix the exhaustion that comes from having to get up at 4:30 a.m. Monday thru Thursday, but it could help a lot!'

My SIL had her baby shower yesterday - she's due at the end of May w/my little nephew. I can't wait! My brother put on the Baby Bjorn w/Baby T in it yesterday to see how he'd like it and it wasn't too bad it seems! I love this thing - one thing we cannot live without. And the food there was awesome, so much for my diet!!

I did get a run in on Friday and a lifting session and elliptical today (never as long as I'd like, but once again, I'll take what I can get!).

OH! And I found a new show "Honey, We're Killing The Kids!" - it's a show about totally unhealthy kids and their families. The DR shows the parents where the kids diet and lifestyle will take the kids when they are 40. It is AMAZING how some parents let their kids live. Of course, we let son eat quite a bit of sweets and play video games, but he spends roughly 2 hours a day (AT LEAST) outside running around at home, plus soccer once a week, plus he only gets 'dessert' if he's eaten his fruit for the meal. Anyway, the DR tries to get the whole family unit to change their ways. It's interesting - some parents give in and let the kids eat junk during the show anyway...some parents do really well. You should check it out!

Now with Updates!

Hi there y'all!  Now I can send in updates by email - so we should be seeing them more often right?  I hope so!

 

Baby T - man he's growing so fast!  He's so big and everyday learning new things.  It's amazing to watch him put things in his mouth, look for people, recognize people he knows, find new things to see on his exerasaucer!  He even sat UNASSISTED yesterday for a few minutes!

 

Son - he's growing like a weed too!  All his winter clothes are way too small...I saw him kicking around the soccer ball yesterday and he IS a soccer master!  He's amazing at it - esp. considering he's only had TWO classes and is only 4 years old.  He's got dribbling (do they call it that?) down pat, as well as evasive manuvers in case someone's trying to take the ball way.  SO cool to watch!

Test blog entry from email!

Congratulations!

To Sara on her newest little addition...

And to Bugs on hers!

All these babies, oh my!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to you! We are recovering from a traveling weekend - and having to work today means little time for blogging...more later, I promise!

My gosh!

We were SO BUSY last week I totally forgot to post!!! SORRY about that!

Congrats to Girl and Erika on the birth of their absolutely adorable little ones!!!!!!!

Oh dear lord...

all the kids that Son was playing with yesterday have CROUP today. CROUP. Pray for us... I hope we don't get it - esp. Baby T.

SHOES!

YIPEE! I had a pair of sandals in my shopping cart for zappos.com for a week now. I decided to buy them today and BOOM, they're sold out. Boo hoo. After much intense searching, I found them at another website and just bought them already. I don't want to lose out again!

They are the Born Farlow sandals and they are SO COOL I can't stand it! (BTW, did I ever tell you I LOVE sandals!). I got a pedicure last weekend and even though it SNOWED this morning briefly, I wore sandals so as not to rub the whites off my french manicure. No tomboy in me, that's for sure!

oddly enough, still busy...

My schedule was 8 am to 6 pm for work, but that was getting me home so late, hubby and I switched this week, to 6 am - 4 pm. Which means I get up at 4:30 am and BUST ASS to get to work by 5:40 am or so. BUT I get to pick up the kids and get some more time w/them each day, so it's great. Loving it.

The things I see at work have me laughing all the time. There was a guy delivering machines around to people today, and one fell off his cart. HUGE sound when it fell - he didn't even notice. Some guy going the other way in the hall stopped him and pointed it out. Ten bucks says there is a user somewhere trying to figure out why his computer doesn't work!

I also love the "fashions" that one sees in a building mixed w/people of different levels and positions. Today's lovely was a TEAL long-sleeved t-shirt dress with a red flannel shirt UNDERNEATH and red clogs. Very classy look, if you're going for farmers wife.

Stayed tuned tomorrow for an update on the weirdly dressed.

I don't think so pal!

Scene - my house. Lazy Saturday afternoon. ALL THREE boys are sleeping (includes hubby!)...While piddling in Baby T's room, I hear a truck. I look out the window and see one of those trucks that sells furniture out of the back parked on our street, in front of my house and see the driver headed to MY DOORBELL to see if we want to check it out.

Not only do I NOT want to buy any of his crappy, no name furniture, if he rings that doorbell I'm going to have his head. I RACE through the house and rip the door open just as his finger reaches out for the doorbell.

"No thanks - my entire family is sleeping." And shut the door. They are JUST as annoying as telemarketers - what gives him the right to interupt my Saturday at home???

And yet, busier...

Ugh. So much to do. At work, I am the only UI developer. So I have to write the entire client. Which is due for DELIVERY on May 31. Which means off to test maybe by May 15? So, I have a bit of work to do! Thank goodness the ONE server developer we have is great and does the design to help make my life easier!

Baby T starts cereal tomorrow! I cannot believe he's that old, but lo and behold, 15 weeks tomorrow! The DR said 16 weeks, but who's counting!

Girl, Sara and Erika STILL haven't had their babies - here's hoping for a productive weekend for them!

Son started soccer this week. Even though he's the youngest in the class, he's apparently already the soccer master! (no, I'm not a wee bit overly proud!)

Overly Busy...

Yikes....

Work is crazy. We deploy MAY 31 and the entire client is being coded by ME. And we have nothing so far. Yikes!

Hubby and Son have been fighting colds for a week now.

Baby T got the cold with a VENGENCE last night. Apparently he is too little for decongestant. We had to do nasal saline drops and nose sucking. Yuk. He didn't like it either, judging from the FIT he threw. I'm not suprised to see that he didn't like it AND that he's got quite the temper.

Tonight, we did a steam shower and a warm mist vaporizer in his room. Let's hope it goes better!

Surprisingly, I'm tired and have had NO TIME to work out. This sucks. Next week, hubby and I are going to try an alternate schedule to see if it doesn't suck a bit less.

Over and out.

Roll On Baby!

And Baby T has discovered the joys of rolling over! He can roll from his back onto his belly on either the right or left side! Way to go Baby T!

Also - I left him Saturday to entertain himself in the bouncy seat - when I returned, he was a FOUNTAIN (A FOUTAIN I TELL YOU) of vomit! It was STILL coming out and he had the hugest grin on his face, like "Mommy, look at my trick!". It would have been funny if we weren't on our way to a surprise party where it is sort of important to be on time. AND when I went to throw him in the shower with Dad, I discovered a massive poop too! Ah, the lives of parents of young children! Never a dull moment!

Swiffer Duster!

Oh man! Have I been wasting time vacuuming baseboards, lampshades, doors and chair rail! I bought this today as I am facing a severe shortage of cleaning time... and got the WHOLE HOUSE done in just about 1/2 an hour (in short spurts) as opposed to dragging the vaccuum around and the duster reaches behind and under things much better! I LOVE it and highly suggest it!

Also purchased - size 3 nipples! Baby T had a 6.5 ounce bottle in 20 minutes! Go Baby T!

AND

Our Bumbo seats came today! LOVE THESE. Baby T loves the new position and it keeps him occupied for a while - and he can see what we're doing better! I highly HIGHLY recommend them for once the babies get their head control (somewhere between 2.5 months and 3 months!).

A List (because I'm Tired)

Work is progressing.

I LOVE working in the same building as hubby!

Why did Baby T sleep thru the night ALL LAST WEEK and not once today?

My mom witnessed her first reflux attack while watching Baby T today.

Baby T has almost rolled over. As soon as you lay him down, he rolls onto his side to continue trying to get all the way over.

Son starts soccer next Wednesday. Is he already old enough for organized sports? Apparently.

Go Erika and Girl! They'll be having their babies soon enough!!!!

I got a coupon for 25% off at the COACH store! Yipee!!!!!

I seriously need a pedicure.

and some sleep.

and a couple more hours in the day to get things done.

and time to work out.

I have lost TWO MORE POUNDS by going back on my PCOS medication! AND I haven't worked out since Sunday!

My work pants are getting seriously too big - but they have to last until it's warm enough for spring clothes - should I eat MORE??!!

Work..

The new job should be great - my new boss, turns out to be an old boss of mine from years ago! I never ran across his last name in our chats w/my contracting boss and he never ran across mine, so that was a pleasant experience today.

BUT 2 developers (out of 3!) quit today. They are young guys and got HUGE offers from smaller contracting companies so we'll see. Hopefully I don't get dumped on!

And my contracting boss is a gem. Love her lots.

Gotta run though - the house today, after Dad and two boys alone in it all day, is a MESS.

Sun Won't Come Out Tomorrow, Tomorrow...

Tomorrow is my first day back at work. :-( I am SO dreading this. Yes, being home w/the kids is exhausting. And can be a lot of work, and hard to juggle the needs of a 4 year old and a 3 month old. And often times, I need TWO showers a day. BUT that is the best job I've ever had. I love it. And taking care of my boys. And being the one they have to run too all day.

So tomorrow is the end of my maternity leave and it sucks. Luckily, I only have 4 day work weeks, but still. That's 4 days more a week than I was spending away from my boys! The idea that for 10 hours tomorrow, I have to go be with STRANGERS (I'm starting on a new contract) rather than my kids, is killing me.

Sleeping!

Baby T has been asleep for 9 hours and 1 minute as I sit here and type and wait for him! It's 6:50 am and I am stunned! AND he only had 2 ounces before bed last night, so I was SURE he was going to get up around 3 am! So fantastic!

I just ordered 2 of these (one for my mom's house)...



Will let you know how it works out.

3 months old is TOO YOUNG for the exersaucer though, just FYI. I did try it yesterday and it didn't work.

Weekly Laundry...

Here's what I do in laundry...

1 load darks for Son

1 load sheets/towels for Son

1 load underwear for Son

1 load underwear for adults

1 load darks for adults

1 load lights for adults

1 load sheets/towels for adults

1 load lights for Baby T

1 load darks for Baby T

2 loads towels/spitup rags/etc for Baby T

1 load dishtowels

That is a good week. Many weeks include an extra load of undies for Son or an extra load of darks for adults (if Baby T spits up on us A LOT that week).

So I am pretty much always spinning something in the washer!

And this week, add

3 loads of ski outerwear from last week

Loving Fisher-Price!

We bought this for Baby T in January and didn't put the toy bar on until he was 2 months old: he loves this VERY MUCH, btw

Ocean Wonders Bouncy seat


Well, a week after putting the toy bar on, when it blows the bubbles, it makes this HORRIBLE noise. SO LOUDLY.

I just called Fisher Price and they are sending a new toy bar! Yay for good customer service!!!

We rented this seat while in Beaver Creek, CO, and he LOVED it as well. The only issue is that it is smaller than the Ocean Wonders one and when he gets taller, he'll outgrow it faster, but man did he love that little bird!

Flutterbye Bouncy Seat!


Because he loved that bouncy seat so much, but it is too small to justify buying, we bought this Monday... (Flutterbye Deluxe Soft Gym)



And, of course, he loves this too. (that is NOT BabyT in the picture! That is Amazon's picture)

Working Sucks!

I had to go into my new job today to do some stuff to get ready for next week (there is something that can only be done on Tuesdays - if I waited until next week, I couldn't do the "thing" until Tuesday and not start work until Wednesday. Since they want me to start on Monday, I had to do the "thing" this Tuesday).

MAN does hauling 2 kids to my Mom's house early in the morning SUCK. It is depressing and I hate it already. Next week is REALLY GOING TO SUCK.

That is all. Tomorrow I will be spending another glorious day with just my two favorite little boys!

And...

We're Home! Man, what a trip to get here! Our flight was delayed for TWO HOURS!

My husband is a tall guy. And well built. So on a plane, his knees literally have to be tucked in behind the seat in front of him. And it is quite uncomfortable for him if the person in front of him puts his seat back on most planes. Well, this one was really bad. The guy in front of him reclined his seat into hubby's knees. When the guy didn't get what he felt was the full recline, he kept trying to jam it back (I could see from across the aisle that he WAS fully reclined, BTW). Hubby pointed out that the continued rammning would do no good because his seat hwas now resting on his knees, the guy kept doing it for THREE HOURS. AND hubby was holding Baby T (his arms are more comfy for sleeping than mine, go figure). Nice huh? I wanted to get up and smack him. Even the stewardesses noticed, because they were quite rude to him (at the end of the flight, one stewardess put his seat up for him, while he was sleeping!)

Anyway, it's so great to be home! After having 2 kids in a hotel room all week, simply being home feels like a great luxury!