Life in the slow lane

Note to self

2012-02-17T09:28:00.001-06:00

Stop blogging at 3 in the morning because you sound super whiny and are a little sleep deprived (aka: over dramatic). To all those concerned Jacoby will be fine. He wasn't running a fever this morning so I opted not to take him to the doctor. We are lucky and our doctor's office has weekend hours so if things worsen we still pay a regular co-pay. And if they stay the same we already have his 4-month check-up next Thursday. So from here on out I will try to reign in the crazy. Happy Friday!

When will it end?

2012-02-17T01:35:00.001-06:00

This is a whiny/ranty post so you've been warned.

Jacoby is sick-ish again. Little dude has had a rough 4 months on this Earth. I hate to complain because people have it so much worse but seriously...I've had enough. And at what point do I take him to the doctor? From about 1 month in the dr. has told us that he will be chronically congested and that some kids are. And that there is nothing they/we can do about it. And it sucks. But it seems like every time I end up taking him in something is wrong. Well he's been coughing something fierce for the past few days and sleeping more and eating less. And tonight he's been crying after the coughing fits. So I think I'm going to take him in to the walk-in doctor in the morning. And I hate going in all the time but his cough sounds terrible.. So I guess we'll see in a few hours if I'm being an over-reactive new mom or if my instinct was right (again) and something is wrong.

Kindergarten Update

2012-02-16T16:10:00.005-06:00

He was fine. He made it through the day. But the minute I saw him in the office he started crying. Even though he walked in smiling. After I talked to him for a few minutes in the car and he had calmed down we called the hubby so Leo could tell dad how school went. And he started crying again. Poor kid. He just didn't know anyone and so it made him so nervous. He even told me he didn't want to go back to his regular daycare becuase his stomach hurt. (This has been an ongoing issue where he complains of a stomach ache. A lot. Like every other day. We wil be discussing this with the doctor at his checkup in a few weeks) But I told him that we were so proud of him for trying something new and very different to him and being a big boy and making it through the (half)day that it was. He got to school and was still a little sad and I'm sure he'll cry again when he talks to the hubby about it. But baby steps people. He made it through the day and so I think we're a go when it comes to August!

Growing Up

2012-02-16T09:32:00.000-06:00

As I type this my baby is at a shadow dat at a local school. I took him this morning and dropped him off. A few tears were shed (his, not mine) and I left him there. It's been a little sad this morning. And I've been obsessively checking my phone to see if the school is going to call me and say I need to come pick him up. But I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen. Hopefully after I left he was a little less shy and made some friends. Hopefully this will not scar him and make him not want to go to Kindergarten at all. I guess it's just something he will have to figure out. But I'm just here. Waiting to go pick him up. Thinking about how he was so little and I could hold him in my arms not to long ago. And it makes me sad. But happy at the same time. I feel like Ron Burgundy in Anchorman...I'm in a glass cage of emotion. So I'll let you all know how it went!

The honeymoon was just the beginning

2012-02-10T12:25:00.001-06:00

Ahhh the honeymoon. When the wedding is over and you are finally introduced to the person you married. Am I right or am I right?! No I’m just kidding! My honeymoon was something of a strange encounter. We had recently bought a house so we didn’t have a lot of money to take a huge vacation. So we decided to take a quick trip up the road to Kansas City for a few days. But we went before the wedding because there was a concert that we wanted to go to. So we headed up there and met up with one of the groomsmen and his girlfriend and went to the concert and then the next day went to a Royals baseball game. On our way home from Kansas City we stopped in a nearby town and picked up another one of the groomsmen because him and his girlfriend only had 1 car and she couldn’t come down as early as he was. We had a really good time and it was nice to spend time with people we loved.

Now as a mom I’m a little jealous of all these pictures on Facebook and other blogs I see of amazing, HUGE honeymoons. So I have started planning a 10 year anniversary trip. We are trying to decide between Seattle or New York. Since we’re in the middle of the country we could go either way. I’ve never been to either place and he’s been to Seattle but either one would be awesome. I’m leaning towards Seattle but we shall see!

And make sure you go see Gretchen and all the other spinners and see where their honeymoons took them!

Book Exchange

2012-02-09T06:00:00.000-06:00

I saw a post the other day about a book exchange for kiddos and I thought that would be an excellent little endeavor for Leo. Especially since he's just learning to read. So I replied that I wanted to be involved and Hooray! I was picked. It's one of those where you invite some friends to do it too so everyone gets a book. So who wants to do a book exchange with me (and others)?!? If you do please email me at kendrasue18@gmail.com and I will get you the information! Seriously...it's a fun way to get some books for your kids and they'll get mail. So you know they'll love it!

I wish I may, I wish I mite

2012-02-08T15:15:00.000-06:00

So remember a few weeks ago when I said that I would like to be a stay at home wife but not a stay at home mom? Well I take that statement back. Well not completely but I would, at this point, like to be a SAHM. The reason I say this started about a week ago. We received a note from the daycare letting us know that there had been an outbreak of scabies (ewwwww) on one of the babies in Jacoby’s room. We dutifully read the note and then I put that information to the back of my mind. Jacoby wasn’t showing any symptoms of a rash or acting like he was itchy.

Fast forward to Monday night. I get home from work around 5 to be pounced on by the hubby. And not even in a good way. He said that Ms. Jennifer at the daycare told him that Jacoby had a small rash on his heel and that it looked similar to what the infected child had looked like. So I hurried and got dinner ready and took him to the doctor. Thankfully we go to a doctor that has extended business hours and Monday is our specific doctor’s late night. He said that Jacoby did indeed have little bites on him but to determine exactly what they were they would have to scrape him with a scalpel. He said that if there was already a known case of scabies that was more than likely what it was and he didn’t feel the need to subject Jacoby to that. (thankfully.)

Fast forward 2 hours and $50 later and I’m back at home with 2 bottles of scabies cream (1 had been dropped off at my parent’s house because of course we had spent a good part of the day Sunday with them) and I was covering all members of our family in a lovely lotion that had to be left on for 8-12 hours to kill the bugs. Let me just say…an almost 5 year old thinks it’s hysterical (and mighty tickly) to have a cream rubbed All. Over. Him. I eventually had to let him have some of it so he could cover his unmentionables because he wouldn’t let me do it.

Fast forward 12 hours later and I am scrambling to have enough time to bathe everyone free of the cream and make sure we aren’t touching any surfaces that hadn’t been cleaned since we had to treat and then clean.

Fast forward 12 hours and $20 later and I was in the Laundromat washing all of our pillows, blankets and towels that had been used. It was awesome.

So needless to say I would much rather be dealing with crabby babies and unruly children than yucky little scabies mites. YUCK!

Rainbows, Butterflies and Unicorns

2012-02-06T06:00:00.000-06:00

I'm linking up with Megan, Anna and Michaela for their random acts of kindness post. I swear I did a post like this last year but I can't remember when so I can't even see if I truly did it or if I'm just imagining things. Oh well. The whole point is to do some random acts of kindness (hence the name) for people and hopefully the kindness will be contagious and they will pass it on and so on and so forth. This is something that is really simple and doesn't cost anything. And really...this is something we should be doing every day. But I made an effort to go out of my way to do some things. Here is what I did:

Most Tuesdays we have dinner at my parent's house with my grandparents and have a family dinner. Last Tuesday my grandpa wasn't feeling well so my mom had to leave quickly after dinner to take them home. So instead of just leaving since she told me not to worry about cleaning up I decided to clean up the entire kitchen including washing all the dishes that wouldn't fit in the dishwasher by hand. I really would have liked to have just gone home but I knew that once my mom got home she wasn't going to want to wash them either so I just did it. And it made me feel happy knowing that she wouldn't have to worry about them when she got home.

I also sent a little care package to my friend who just recently had a baby. As a baby shower present I got a whole bunch of little pampering items and I really thought it was a cute idea. So I threw some stuff together that I thought she would like and packed them up with a gift card to Target and a cute little dress for her new sweet baby girl.

At work we have a new sales process that is kind of a struggle for some people. On the last pay period we had our first employee meet their goal and got an additional incentive on their pay check. Well it was a pretty big deal since this particular employee didn't even think she was going to be able to do it. So I made a big deal about it and got her a special little prize and she was so thrilled. It really made her morale go up for this promotion.

And finally...

A friend is having a birthday this week and she has a lot going on right now and I don't usually get her a present. But this year I decided that she is definitely deserving of something special for all that she does for others. She reads this so I can't put it out there what I got but I'm excited to give it to her. It's nothing huge but still...I think she'll enjoy it!
So there are my random acts of kindness. I now am challenging all of you to go out and do one nice thing for someone else. It makes your heart grow! And I'm sure it would be touted by the FDA that it would increase your life expectancy and that the side effects are: Smiling more frequently, feeling better about yourself and a non-crabby attitude when it comes to others. I'm sure there are more but that's all I can think of!

Dear So and So

2012-02-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

This is a post that I’ve seen Kat from 3 Bedroom Bungalow do for quite some time and I love it. I always want to link up but then never do. But today I am! So here we go. And go give her some letter love as well!

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Dear Jacoby,

Please stop crying. Your mama and dad need a little bit of downtime and this colic business is getting out of hand. Also, there is no reason to be crying. You eat All. The. Time. And your diaper is not wet. Seriously. What more do you want from us?!

Love,
Your very tired mom

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Dear Leo,

Thank you for being so good while your brother cries all the time. I also (sometimes) appreciate you getting in his face because you make him laugh. You are an amazing big brother!

Love,
Your loving mama

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Dear Leo,

Also…I am so proud of you with your newly-learned reading skills. I love that you want to read the books and sit down every night to do them.

Love,
Your extremely proud mama

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Dear hubby,

I understand that Jacoby cries a lot. But guess what? He cries when I am around too. The dishes aren’t going to wash themselves!

Love,
Your (just as tired) wife

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Dear KU basketball,

When you constantly are playing the other team closely you give me a heart attack. You are better than that. Play like it.

Sincerely yours,
A die-hard fan

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Dear co-workers,

If I say I am going back to pump I know you will have questions. But please save the stupid ones for when I return. Also, don’t call me when you have the answer the whole time. I will not be pleased.

With regards,
Kendra

RTT: Music, E-Mealz and Fun Times

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hello Tuesday! You seem like Monday to me since I got a 3 day weekend due to me working this upcoming Saturday. And while that is not exciting it was very nice to have 3 days that I didn't have any real plans. Amazing even! We will get right on this random train because I didn't hook up last week and there is a lot of random going on!

If you read my post yesterday it was about music. And while I love music (former Sam Goody employee!) I can't stand some country music. I love the ballads and even some up-beat songs but the songs that really grate on my nerves are the hard-core country songs. Like the Checking For Ticks song and then I heard a new song about a camouflage truck. Sadly they are both by Brad Paisley who I think has really good songs but those are the two that stick out the most. So I guess I have to take the bad with the good.

I bought a Groupon to E-Mealz and I signed up. It's pretty exciting stuff. It will tell me what to make for dinner and what I need to buy and that should make dinners so easy. I've seen the website on quite a few blogs and I followed them on Twitter for a giveaway which I unfortunately did not win but I saw there was a Groupon for a years membership so I figured I would try it. I took one recipe to finish off this week and then starting Thursday it will be my first full week to use it. I signed up for the Wal-Mart family one where it gives me 7 days worth of meal plans for between $75-$85 for groceries. That is a little on the high end for what I spend but I also don't cook 7 nights a week. So my plan is to choose 4-5 recipes per week and then the other days eat leftovers or do whatever we had planned for that night. Hopefully it will work out! Right now I have chicken in the oven and it told me what sides I should have with it and everything. Easy peasy!

I read The Help this weekend and I really enjoyed it. I know that I'm WAY late to this party but I wanted to read the book before I watched the movie. And with all the awards Octavia Spencer was winning for her portrayal of Minnie I wanted to hurry and read it. So I did. And then Sunday night after I finished it I ran over to the nearest Redbox that had it and I rented it and watched it that night. I will say the book was amazing. And it was a little difficult to get over the bad grammar of the maids talking but I overlooked it. And of course...the book was way better than the movie. The movie was ok but I wasn't supremely impressed by it. And it kills me that they chose Emma Stone as the "ugly, gangly" main character. Because she is far from ugly. They definitely uglied her up for the part but she still looked very pretty. When reading I get very involved in the characters and seeing her playing the Skeeter part was a little unbelievable. Oh well. And of course they had to cut stuff out and change it. I guess I wished they would have gone a little bit more into the snubbing of Skeeter by Elizabeth and Hilly and also the relationship between her and Stuart. And I thought the way they portrayed her relationship with her mother in the movie was a lot nicer than it was in the book. Oh well. I still enjoyed both!

Oh and it's the last day of January. What?! So crazy how fast time is going.

Ok and I'll end this post with a few questions...

1) We have a long, rectangular living room. We also have wood floors and big picture windows in the front. Needless to say, in the winter it gets pretty chilly. I saw at Wal-Mart that they have area rugs for about $20. My question is...do you just randomly put it in the middle of your floor? I've never lived anywhere that just had a random rug in the middle. But with Leo wanting to play on the floor and sometimes us putting Jacoby on the floor I would like a little area where I don't have to layer up the blankets for them to be on.

2) Any HR people out there here's a question. Is it common practice when someone applies for a position if they are not selected the never receive a courtesy call letting them know? I have applied for several jobs in the last few months at different businesses and I haven't heard from any of them. I've even called and not even received a call back. I obviously realize I didn't get the job and I'm ok with that, but it seems like a pretty crappy way to conduct yourself as the HR department. I don't need to know why I wasn't chosen or anything like that but a simple phone call or email would help. I would just like to not have to wait for a month before deciding I didn't get the job and looking elsewhere. Just curious!

Now that you've read my random check out Stacy and all the other rebel randomers. It will definitely be worth your time!

It's a good day

2012-01-30T11:55:00.000-06:00

You know you're going to have a good day when every song that comes on the radio station you're listening to you like. That's what happened this morning. I flipped to the country station since Leo is on a country kick and there were 5 songs in a row that I enjoyed. And of course one took me back to high school. It was Should've Been A Cowboy by Toby Keith. There are a few songs that will transport me to a specific place and time and this is one of them. It takes me back to my sophomore year in high school sitting in the back of a van on my way home from a wrestling meet that I had cheered for. I had 5 of my closest friends with me and we made up stupid dance moves in the back of the van to go with the song. And every time I hear that song I still do the dance moves. And I think about the relationships I built and then eventually lost to growing up and apart. But it still always makes me smile!

Is it really a job?

2012-01-25T16:16:00.001-06:00

This week's spin is about your dream job. Unfortunately I'm not working at my dream job now and I doubt I ever will be until retirement. But...my dream job is to be a stay at home wife! Now a stay at home mom would be a fine job to have but I would prefer to not have that aspect play into my "job."

My job description would read: A loving wife who takes care of getting the kids off to school or daycare. Then she can come and go as she pleases (and gets to spend as much money doing that) as long as the house is kept clean and dinner is made. And of course having delicious snacks ready when the kiddos get home. Sounds pretty cush right?!

Here are the requirements:

General upkeep of the house to make sure it is clean and presentable
Having dinner ready (or at least getting made) by the time the hubby gets home
Being a room mother to the kiddos when they get to school
Getting monthly pedicures and massages

Now some may ask...don't you have to do these things already? And my answer is, why yes I do (other than the monthly pedis and massages). Unfortunately I work 40+ hours a week and am still required (by myself) to do these things because that is what I feel need to be done. I of course have help with dinner and the kids and some cleaning but if I were able to just focus on that as my "job" that would be amazing!

So that's my dream job. What is yours? To see other dream jobs check out the spin this week!

Hilarity

2012-01-25T09:30:00.001-06:00

I picked Leo up from school this morning to take him to the doctor. On the way we saw a bird an he said it was an eagle. He also said that brown eagles weren't called that but they were called gold eagles and they laid golden eggs. I said ok and he went on to say not like the gold eggs like in Mad Birds (what he calls Angry Birds) but real gold eggs that hatch.

Mini-RTT

2012-01-24T16:30:00.001-06:00

A quick RTT while I have a minute…

I’m still not sure how I feel about girls/women wearing shirts and leggings. If it is a nicer, longer shirt then I can kind of imagine it but just like a t-shirt and leggings? Eh. I will pass!

I have been seeing a plethora of Facebook posts from SAHM’s complaining about Mondays. Now I’m not judging them but are Monday’s really any different than any other day? In my 10 weeks of being one (J) Monday’s felt no different than Friday’s. All the days that I had to get Leo up and out the door to school felt the same. I had no more hatred for one more than another.

I watched the announcing of the Oscar nominations this morning and it was a little anticlimactic. The old dude kept staring at the young girl while she was announcing names. I kept thinking that he was going to turn and correct her for mispronouncing names or something.

Jacoby has another ear infection. Ugh. I questioned the doctor on the breast feeding vs. formula feeding babies and the correlation of getting sick and he just laughed. He said that that’s what they tell you but he hasn’t seen that that is always the case. He also told me 3 more ear infections before tubes. Awesome. Let’s hope he can shake this and not get any more!

Jacoby is also getting a tooth. Double ugh.

My little Leo will be 5 in 1 month. Oh. My. Gosh. I can’t even believe it. We are opting out of a party since he really doesn’t have “friends” so to speak that we would invite but are going to have a few days of activities to just spend time with him. Dinner with the family on his actual birthday and then Jacoby will spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa while we take Leo out on the town. We are even going to stay in a hotel that night so he will be excited!

Alright. That’s all I have! Happy Tuesday to you all!

Sushi

2012-01-21T21:42:00.001-06:00

After a long day at work I met up with some friends (and Jacoby) and went for sushi. Oh ma gah. This was my first try of sushi and it was...different. The first bite was shocking. Not terrible but not great. Then I had some that was fried on the outside and on the inside was crab, shrimp and cream cheese. That one was pretty good. But I could only eat a little because I was just not sure about it. I think it was the mix of texture and flavor. Strange. But I stepped out of my food bubble and I'm proud of myself!

New Year's Resolution

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

Well it's not the new year anymore technically but my new year's resolution was to attend church more frequently this year. Last year I started off really well but then I got pregnant and had a lot of morning sickness and was exhausted all the time and excuses excuses but I quit going. Again. So this year I decided no more excuses and for the past 3 Sunday's I've made it to church and 2 of them I've even taken Leo. But after attending the past few weeks I've been thinking a lot about religion and the thoughts involved with religion. These thoughts are all my own and I am not here to offend anyone so if you are easily offended due to religious babbling please click away now. If you're not feel free to peruse what I have to say. Here we go...

We have a new priest and the 2 homilies that he has given have been culture-related. My mom said these are the only 2 since he's been here that he's given sermons like this but it is leaving a bad taste in my mouth. The first one was about pornography and being chaste and the one last Sunday was about having lots of kids and guiding them to become holy people (ie: nuns, priests, etc). Do I think pornography is an issue? Yes. Is it something I feel needs to be discussed in church in front of children? No. I also don't think this is an issue the church needs to be dealing with in such a broad aspect. The main reason I think this is because there are SOOOO many other things that need to be focused on such as poverty, hunger, homelessness, etc. I also don't think it is the church's place to tell me how many kids to have. At least he said he wasn't saying to just go out and have babies to have them. He said though to keep an open mind to having more kids if you could and guiding them to the church. I'm ok with the guiding but I also think it would be hard as a parent knowing that one of your two (in my case) wouldn't be getting married or having kids since being Catholic it means the priests don't partake in that activity. (edited to add: The thought of your kid not having kids was given to me by my mom...so credit where credit is due but I really do think it would be hard as a parent knowing that.)
There have been a lot of crappy things going on for me job-wise and I have applied for many jobs and haven't heard back at all on quite a few. I think that is horrible business practice but that's how it goes. I was thinking about it and was praying about getting a new job when I started thinking that maybe this wasn't something I should be praying for. Now, praying for peace regarding my situation is one thing but I don't think that God needs to be concerned with my getting a new job. Another one is selling our house. Not something tha needs to be prayed for. We at least have a house and the financial means to pay for it so not something that I should be wasting my prayers on. And I feel this about a lot of things I'm sure people pray for. Now if I had no job and had no means of getting another job or feeding my family then it becomes something (in my opinion) to be praying for. But just because I'm annoyed with how things have played out for me? That seems kind of selfish. Especially when there are so many other things that are much bigger to be prayed about.
Tim Tebow. There I said it. I am so annoyed with the God's quarterback business. I think it is ridiculous how people have said that God had a hand in controlling how games turned out. First...see above. I'm pretty sure God has a lot bigger fish to fry than worry about how the Denver Broncos and Tim Tebow are doing on a few Sunday's a year. Second...It's football. Get a clue. I'm not a fan of Tim Tebow as a quarterback but as a person he seems like a super-awesome guy. He does a lot of charitable work and I even cried when I watched a little segment on Sportcenter showing him meeting a little kid with cancer who tweeted he was Tebowing while Chemoing. I think that shows amazing character. There is no reason every celebrity/musician/athlete couldn't do more of that in their community. But going back to God...I don't think so. I'm of the belief that God gives you the talent and you have to decide what you're going to do with it. Tim has shown that not only will he (try) to be a good quarterback but he will use his celebrity status to do good. And I'm ok with that.
Finally...I am sick of all the kids that have cancer. I know that God doesn't give people cancer but I would really like if he could take it away. I also know that they say He never gives you more than you can handle but I don't believe that. Because I don't believe that any set of parents can handle the deaht of a child. Just in our small community I have been reading the stories of 2 little kids under the age of 2 who have leukemia. 1 of them has overcome it and gone into remission and the other one had a bone marrow transplant a week or two ago and is fighting for her life. So again...this really doesn't go with everything else other than the fact that I think it's crappy that kids are even allowed to have cancer.

So there you have it. My ridiculous thoughts on religion. And again...if you have read through all of this I'm guessing you are not offended but if you were I'm sorry. These are just the simple thoughts of a girl who's been brought up Catholic and trying to make heads or tails of everything!

Problem Solving

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-06:00

Last week I posted about not knowing how to handle mommy duty and adult-sanity keeping-duty. And I got a few responses. According to Jen and Gretchen they both think that adult time is a must-have for sanity keeping and that really benefits everyone. So I am keeping that advice and running with it. This week already I've gone to visit my grandpa at the hospital and gone out to dinner with my grandma and mom (in the same night) sans kids. But I also have decided that the time spent with the kids will be time spent together and not just sitting in front of the tv where we all do different things. I decided that this would be a great resolution for the new year to try as much as I could to stay more connected to them and not as connected to the electronics. So far it's going pretty well.

The hubby is part of a paranormal investigation group (that is a whole other story for a different time) and they went on an investigation last Friday. So while he was out until the early morning Saturday I was spending quality time with my boys. I picked them up from daycare and took Leo to get a haircut. After that we all went to the bowling alley and ate dinner and bowled a few games. We ended our evening playing Phineas and Ferb dominos and then bedtime. The rest of the weekend went about like that. I spent a lot of time with the family. I took a walk with Jacoby and my mom, went to church with Leo, and just all around had a nice time. And this week has been a lot like that as well. Every night I've played a few games of Dominos or Pictureka with Leo and had a lot of cuddle time with Jacoby. I know not every week will go like this but I'm going to put this week so far in the win column. And hopefully with the quality time it will help with Leo's attitude and with my patience!

Stand Up

2012-01-18T21:24:00.002-06:00

To honor Dr. King this week our spin topic is something we would or have taken a stand for. I don't have any issues that I am passionate about. Especially something that I have ever taken a stand for. I guess I took a stand when I felt there were injustices at work but that really didn't get me anywhere. But I think as a mother the one thing that I would always take a stand for would be my kids. Thankfully they are still little and at daycare so I don't feel like they have faced any injustices there, but I'm sure as they get bigger there will be things that I have to do to help them get ahead. I'm not talking crazy cheerleader mom from Texas killing people things, but making sure they are getting their fair shake in life. Again, I know that life isn't always fair and I won't be able to be there for them their entire life but going through school and with friends I hope that if I see something that I don't think they can handle on their own and are really struggling it will be something that I will be able to. Except Algebra. I can't help them there. Wow...this has really been a rambly post but I guess the main gist of it was I will always take a stand for my kids. Period.

Make sure and go visit the other spinners to see what they have taken a stand on.

Ipod Shuffle

2012-01-13T06:00:00.000-06:00

Have a listen into my eclectic brand of music:

On a 35 minute walk the other day my Ipod shuffled through:
Slipknot
TLC
Foo Fighters
Garth Brooks
Goo Goo Dolls
Avril Lavigne
Shakira
and ending with
B.O.B

And yes I did sing every song while walking down the sidewalk by myself. I'm sure people were looking at me like a crazy person. I was just thankful that mid-January I was able to take a walk outside in just capri yoga pants, a long-sleeved t-shirt and my ear warmers.

Dream a little dream

2012-01-12T06:00:00.000-06:00

Did you hear the Spin Cycle went to Hollywood? Gretchen took over from Jen and so we will bow down to our new leader and keep the spins coming. I definitely want to thank Jen for starting the spin cycle because a lot of my posts were prompted by it and I "met" a lot of new people through reading the other spinners. So definitely a win in my book! Anyways...the spin topic this week is dreams and boy do I dream. Actually my whole little family is a bunch of dreamers. The hubby constantly tells me about dreams he had and even Leo has started telling me he's had dreams. Who knows if he's just making up stories and passing them off as dreams or not but it's interesting to hear what his imagination has come up with. But I'm going to tell you about 2 of my most recent dreams I've had and remembered.

The first one just happened on Saturday night. I was heading to a Wal-Mart with a friend and we were slowly driving by the entry and saw that they were being held up by a robber. We spotted a police officer just down the way and so we drove by and stopped and told him what was happening. He told us to get out of car and hide behind him. So we did (because it's a dream...). The officer snuck closer to the door of the Wal-Mart and let us know that he was a sharp-shooter. He shot the robber who was standing in the doorway and he turned to let us know and then all of a sudden another robber busted out of the doors and shot the police officer, shot my friend and was standing over me about to shoot me when I just screamed out Jesus don't let him shoot me. (I think I was thinking about Jesus and church because I had made plans to go to church with one of my cousins before I went to bed Saturday). The robber ended up shooting me in the leg and the police arrived. I'm not sure of the next sequence but it's after the robber has gotten out of jail and he is forcing me to go to a birthday party for one of his friends kids. I am at the party and I apparently got the kid a toy that made a lot of noise and I looked at the parents and told them sorry.

SO RANDOM! Then my other dream that I remember happened while my brother and his family and my mom all went to visit his son in Missouri. So I was probably thinking of them when I went to bed. But I was at my parent's house and they were having a pool party. My brother walked by me and I pushed him into the pool. As he was falling in he grabbed me and took me in the pool also. We were both under water and he was holding me under being a mean big brother. I was ok but then I tried swimming to the surface and he wouldn't let me up. I was struggling and he knew it and he just wouldn't let me up. I was starting to lose consciousness and was starting to sink to the bottom dying when I woke up. Another very random dream!

Well...that's enough of looking into my dreams! Don't forget to check out the other spinners and see their take on dreams!

Mama Trouble

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

I have run into a predicament and I read on someone else's blog about a similar situation. She was talking about not wanting to go out with her friends because she wanted to spend time with her kids (I'm sorry whoever I read this from...I honestly can't remember!). So I have a group of girls I graduated college with and we try to get together once every 1 to 2 months. Well now that I'm back to work and having to close some nights I don't always get home to see the boys at a decent hour. While I hate my hours right now there is nothing I can do about them. So what do you mama's do? Do you take the time to recharge and go with your friends or do you sacrifice yourself and your sanity and stay home with the kiddos?

I went out tonight with them but I feel really badly about it because Monday night after I got home from work around 8:30 Leo wanted to play. We played a quick game of basketball on his Nerf basketball goal and then I read him a book and got him into bed by 9. While this is a later night than normal I liked that he was still up so I could at least see him before he went to bed. About 10 minutes after he went to bed he came in our room crying because he was sad because he didn't hardly get to see me that night. It about broke my heart. I just don't know what to do. While I'm looking for another job none of them seem to be panning out so I feel more and more stuck in the position I am in. And it was recently announced that Boeing will be leaving the Wichita area (which we are a suburb of) and so about 2100 will be out of work. That is on top of the people who have been laid off in the previous few years with all of the other aircraft companies and the economy. So I hate to be to frustrated because at least I have a job.

RTT: Massage thoughts and craziness that is when a new mom goes back to work

2012-01-10T15:00:00.000-06:00

Well hello there. I've missed you...have you missed me? Well I've missed some of you anyways. And I've really missed the time I get to sit in peace and write. But apparently that is a thing of the past now that I've gone back to work. Anywho...I figured I would start back easy and do a random Tuesday thoughts because that's all that seems to be floating around my muddled brain right now! So let's go.

__________

I was given a few gift certificates to get massages when I was given my baby sprinkle. Needless to say the first one has already been used and it felt amazing. But there were a few things floating in my brain as my body was getting rubbed down.

While getting a massage I'm pretty sure the massage therapist could do whatever he/she wanted to do to me (ie: murder me) because my eyes are closed the entire time. I just don't feel comfortable keeping my eyes open while someone is rubbing me. It's like when I go to the dentist. I either close my eyes or focus on the spot on the ceiling that looks like a duck. That way I don't have to see someone that close in my business.
Also, apparently since giving birth to two children I have lost all sense of privacy for my body. The massage lady says strip down, I do it. She asks if I want her to work on my gluts I say Heck yes. She asks if I want a happy ending...just kidding! :) But seriously. I don't care who or what sees my speckled behind because I know I'm going to get something out of it.
I also find it very strange when a complete stranger wants to divulge very personal things one, while I'm naked and two, while we are in a just met situation. I'm also not big on my massage people talking while massaging but I'll let some things slide. But when this lady told me that while she was pregnant with her twins she got super sick and almost died and then when she was pregnant with her third child her husband died it kind of ruins my relaxing vibe. And I know that is a really bitchy thing to say but in a situation where I would not be naked I would have something much more comforting to say than me lying on my stomach while she is massaging my ass. I'm just saying.
I think Enya needs to be compensated for all the massage therapists out there using her music. I've been to 3 different massage places in my life and all 3 have played Enya. And her music is definitely relaxing, but I wonder if there is a CD for massages. Hmmm.
And finally...I sometimes think that I could spend less money and just rent out the massage room for an hour and just lay in there in the peace with the stillness and the little waterfall and the Enya music. Because that might be just as relaxing!

______________________

I started back to work 2 weeks ago. It has been a pretty hectic 2 1/2 weeks and I am still trying to get back into the swing of work. And it totally sucks. So if someone has the winning lottery numbers please let me know. I will even share it with you as long as I have enough money to quit my job forever and ever!

_____________________

Ok that's enough. Check out Stacy and keep the rebellion of randoming alive!

Christmas Excitement

2011-12-24T10:17:00.001-06:00

As I'm sure a lot of posts out there lately have been revolving around Christmas, mine are no different. But I saw on Facebook the other day by Jen who I know from high school but now blogs she said that she now realizes why her parents were so excited for Christmas...it was to see the excitement in their kids faces. (I'm paraphrasing...that's the gist of it because I can't remember word for word...) And I completely understand that sentiment. While it is completely annoying every time Leo walks by a present he asks me if that is the Nerf gun we got him (We didn't get him a Nerf gun...Santa did and it's not wrapped and won't be seen until Christmas morning) but just seeing the joy in his face every time he moves the candy cane a day closer to Christmas moves me. And we did the Portable North Pole tracker and I almsot cried because I was so excited for Leo. It's just amazing to see the excitement and joy in the little kiddos faces around this time of year and we always take a minute to let Leo know why we are celebrating Christmas. For us it's the birth of Jesus and while we don't shove it down his throat we (I) try to remind him when he gets crazy about the presents. But seriously...as we were sitting as a large family at the in-laws last night I won't lie that I made the comment that we should open presents then because I was excited for Leo to be excited! But we waited and will do the opening of the gifts tonight and then Santa will come and Leo will be so thrilled when he wakes up tomorrow morning with a stupid-awesome Nerf gun and of course new undies and candy to fill his stocking. I hope you and yours all have a happy holidays and Merry Christmas. I will try to post some pictures of Jacoby's first Christmas (in his hand-me-down Christmas outfit--it was Leo's Easter outfit!) and of course all the awesomeness of the holidays through a 4-year-olds eyes!

Chrismtas Goodies

2011-12-21T06:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday in my random post I said I was going to do some Christmas baking. I really had planned on doing this and giving it to my peeps on Christmas but then realized my plan was flawed. It was flawed because I was going out of town from Wednesday-Sunday and I wouldn't have time to make them between Christmas gatherings on Sunday. Soooo I didn't want to give them old goodies. So I got to making on Tuesday. And I had a little elf that helped me.

His ridiculously cheesy face

His happy face

Of course after realizing that he couldn't eat every single thing I made he quickly tired of his task. So after he left and I finally got him and his brother napping at the same time (HALLELUJAH!) I had some quiet time to myself listening to Christmas music and just enjoying the time spent with myself. My menu consisted of sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, rice krispie treats and chocolate covered pretzels.

The cookies

with the rice krispie treats (I forgot to take pictures of them separately)

Chocolate covered pretzels

And the finished product

All in all I think everything turned out great! I delivered them Tuesday night and hopefully the recipients enjoy them as much as I did making them (and of course sampling them!)

RTT: Christmas Random

2011-12-20T09:08:00.001-06:00

Aaaugh! 5 days until Christmas! Well technically 4 if you count what Leo counts and don't count today or Christmas day! So here's some random to get you by these next 4 days.

I am done Christmas shopping. Woo hoo! My mom watched Leo for a little bit on Friday night so the hubby and I could get his presents. I really like including the hubby even though we talk about what we are going to get Leo I just feel better with him being there. And we got everything on our list. Not that it was huge but Leo will definitely be pleased Christmas morning!

All of mine and the boys laundry is done and put away. That way I can make an easy task of packing to go to the in-laws. Not that I ever know what to pack. Especially since we will be there longer this time AND a new baby. Gah.

I spent $30 at the store last night all on stuff to make treats. I am making some for my presents and I hope they turn out. It will be my first foray into chocolate covered pretzels so we'll see how those turn out. I will also be making 2 types of cookies and rice krispie treats. I am of course saving some for us to take for treats for on the road.

And I keep talking about traveling to see the in-laws but the hubby has to work tomorrow and so with all this crazy weather that Kansas is getting (who am I kidding? It's not crazy it's Kansas so we should be expecting this...) we might not make it. Western Kansas is getting bogged down with over a foot of snow and the hubby is a nervous driver so he may decide to wait or just not go. We shall see.

I'm making this short today because those treats aren't going to make themselves! Go visit Stacy and all the other rebel randomers and it will make your holidays! Happy Tuesday!

Christmas Christmas!

2011-12-19T17:38:00.000-06:00

I stole this from Vandy who stole it from someone else who so on and so forth. But it's fun so here we go...

Egg nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows!

Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? He fits what he can in the stocking (undies, candy, gum) and then the big(ish) present is sitting next to it. Since we are in Dodge every year for Christmas and his parents don't do Santa we do it in our room where we sleep. So it's kind of a hodge podge of where we put it.

Colored lights or tree/house or white? White lights look so pretty!

Do you hang mistletoe? No

When do you put your decorations up? I try to get them up the weekend of Thanksgiving but that doesn't always happen. So whenever I have time!

What is your favorite holiday dish? Green bean casserole. Yum! But only made by my mom. She makes it amazingly!

Favorite holiday memory as a child? No one in my family remembers this but I remember going to a tree farm and getting a tree and drinking hot chocolate. So much fun. Also, we sometimes got to open 1 present on Christmas Eve.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I still believe because he still brings me stuff at my parent's house!

Do you open a gift on Christmas eve? We always do now because we go to my hubby's family Christmas and they open all presents on Christmas Eve. So we do all their stuff on Christmas Eve night and then open presents with my family (and our little family) Christmas day. If we have a movie or something that we are giving to Leo we sometimes let him open a present in the car on the way to Dodge so he can watch it.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I string lights as best as I can and then hang our ornaments on it. Nothing too fancy.

Snow! Love it or dread it? Love it. But it sometimes ruins our travel plans. Like it might this year with this crazy storm coming from the southwest.

Can you ice skate? No. I tried when I was younger but my ankles are too weak so it hurt them really bad and I always fell.

Do you remember your favorite gift? My favorite gift was from a babysitter when I was 3 or 4. It was a Popples sleeping bag. It was AMAZING!

(image from Google)

What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Spending time with my family.

What is your favorite Holiday dessert? Pumpkin pie

What is your favorite holiday tradition? I read Twas the Night Before Chrismtas to Leo every year on Christmas Eve before bed.

What tops your tree? A star that is a little cheesy but I like it!

Do you prefer giving or receiving? I like giving. I love picking out things that I know the person I am giving it to will really like!

Candy canes: Yuck or yum? I like the strawberry flavored candy canes, not the peppermint ones.

Favorite Christmas show? My favorite is Love Actually. I've decided that is a Christmas movie!

Saddest Christmas song? Christmas Shoes

What is your favorite Christmas song? Any Christmas song by Straight No Chaser!

Tulsa Aquarium

2011-12-16T00:00:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago my mom and I took the boys on an overnight adventure to Tulsa to visit the aquarium. We had such an amazing time and Leo behaved about 95% of the time. That's pretty good for a 4 year old right?! So here is picture overload for you about our trip!

Ok so I think this picture of Jacoby is hilarious so I had to include it!

Leo and Jacoby welcoming us to Oklahoma

The biggest catfish I have ever seen!

Leo feeding the turtles. They ate carrots!

Petting the sting rays

Jacoby taking his turn! (Why yes I do exploit my children for funny pictures!)

Feeding the shrimp. Yes...shrimp

Leo's favorite fish because it was yellow

Nemo

Dori

Cool jellyfish

A family picture!

We had so much fun. We went down on a Monday night and stayed in a hotel so Leo thought he was pretty hot stuff. Then we woke up Tuesday morning and headed to the aquarium. We stayed there for almost 3 hours and by that time it was definitely time to go. We hit up Braums on the way out of town for lunch and then got home around 4:30. It was a pretty whirlwind trip but so much fun. I'm so thankful to have a mom who will do fun stuff with me and take the boys on adventures! And she said that she is looking forward to taking my niece on a trip like that soon too. She recently took my brother and his family to see his other son that lives in Missouri to watch him play football and they hung out for the weekend and had a great time. I think it's really awesome that she does that for us kids! Love you mom! :)

Job Update

2011-12-15T00:00:00.000-06:00

So if you've been following me for the past few months you know that I had a pretty crappy encounter at work. You can read all about it here. And while I haven't had much interaction with work since I've been on maternity leave I have had a little. I applied for an internal job at the same level I am currently at and was denied the position due to the same stupid test that prevented me from being promoted. So because of that I had another face to face with my upper supervisor who told me that she was not against promoting me but that I wasn't going to get anywhere with the current upper-upper management because she was all about sales and was sold that the test was GOD within the sales world and only what was on the test was taken into account. So after the 20 minute meeting I told her that I was going to start looking outside of the company because it didn't seem like I would be going anywhere and a job at my current location was really not in my future. The hours (until 8pm Monday-Friday and until 6p on Saturdays) just did not fit into my family life. She said that she would keep her eye out for internal jobs and said that she would be looking to promote me. (But apparently she's not the one that can do that...)

So I have applied for an internal reconcilement job that is in my pay range but still leaves me room to grow in the future. But of course I haven't heard back from them. Granted I applied for it on Monday but still. I also applied for 2 jobs at other banks. One a management job where I would be over my own branch and the other is an assistant branch manager but I know someone that works at that bank and he told me they start out much higher on the pay scale and they have really awesome benefits. Soooo...I guess we shall see what happens. I've already been contacted by the one for the manager job and I had to take a test. It was very strange. All computerized and I had 8 minutes to answer as many questions as I could out of 30. They ranged from math questions to word questions. I answered 27 of them. So I have no idea about that one. And my friend that worked at the other bank said he already has put in a good word for me with the manager that would be hiring me and the manager said he would be looking for my application.

Really though...I am so nervous. I haven't looked for a new job outside of the bank I work at now since 2004. So this is a whole new ballgame for me! I have been the one interviewing the people! I also kind of want the job at the bank I'm at now only because it is away from "retail" and I would be working Monday-Friday 8-5 with no Saturdays. How amazing would that be?! I wouldn't know what to do with myself! Plus the hubby works at the same bank (what you didn't know that?!) and works downtown currently so we would be able to carpool. And no we wouldn't be in the same department so it wouldn't be crazy weird. But still we would be able to eat lunch together if we wanted AND save money on gas. So I'll keep you guys posted on what I hear. I did tell both the outside banks I would be able to start January 9th or later. That would let me give my current manager 2 weeks notice plus I would be in the new year so I would be entitled to my 3 weeks of vacation! Woot woot! That would be nice to use that money to...oh wait...pay off all of my doctor's bills from giving birth. Damn...I thought a tropical vacation might have been in my future. Haha!

Ornament Swap and Decorating our Tree

2011-12-14T06:00:00.000-06:00

I was so excited to participate in my first swap between bloggers and it didn't disappoint me. I was lucky to be partnered with Alyssa from Wish You Were Here and she was so nice to "meet"! After she saw my blog and saw that we recently had a new addition she was thoughtful and got a personalized ornament for us. Here it is...

on our tree front and center!

And because I need to show off the rest of our tree...I let Leo do most of the decorating. And the hubby told me we need to get a new tree because it looks pretty cheap (in his words) and when I was getting it out and "fluffing" it up I kind of saw what he was talking about. But it's only 2 years old and I want to get the most out of it. And it's not too big which is good because we don't have a lot of room. And seriously...Leo loved decorating it and that was enough for me. Plus he told me it looked beautiful when it was all lit up and we were standing in front of it in the dark. That was good enough for me!

Leo helping decorate the tree

Jacoby's first Christmas ornament from one of the hubby's sweet co-workers

Leo's first Christmas ornament from his great-grandma in 2007

Our Charlie Brown Christmas tree

Finished product lit up. Beautiful! :)

RTT: sleep, vacations and freezing December

2011-12-13T00:00:00.000-06:00

Hi hi! It's Tuesday and that means RaNdOm! Yep. And I'm back to blogging this week so you can get some random!

Jacoby has not been sleeping the best in his bed. It has to do with a huge amount of congestion he has and the lack of us being able to give him anything because of doctor's not giving decongestants to babies. So we do a lot of nasal sucking with the little sucker thingy. And he doesn't have a lot that is readily available for sucking. So we don't get much which means he continues to be congested. But I bought a sleep sack and he seemed to do ok with it last night. I'm hoping as the congestion subsides he will sleep better. But the nights where I'm up every 2 hours suck. I'm just saying!

It's flipping-flapping cold here in Kansas. And it's not even that cold. But I hate to turn up the heat during the day while I'm at home because of stupid-high gas bills. So I sit here typing in a sweatshirt, yoga pants and socks pulled up to my knees! But don't worry...I'm not keeping the house too cold. It's set at 66 during the day but the wood floors really cool the house off in the winter.

I've realized since I've been home that I am not a normal meal eater. I could easily just snack all day and be fine. Today all I've eaten are 2 cookies left over from my shower this weekend. By the time I start to feel hungry I think it's too late to eat lunch and so I just put it off and snack. So not a good way to start my eating healthier campaign!

I watched a show on the Galapagos Island this weekend on National Geographic Wild and it was so amazing. It made me want to travel the world. I have never had the desire to just go everywhere but watching that and seeing the wildlife it definitely made me crave independence to just be able to travel wherever and whenever I want. I think an added baby has really made me see that my life is definitely theirs for the next 18 years. Not that I regret it though! I just need to learn to save better/spend less so I can go on vacations when they're a little older!

Leo has been being extra defiant lately to me and I know it's a phase but it is annoying me. Everything I ask him to do I have to say 5 times before he listens. I have got to the point where he is losing privileges when I have to continually repeat myself. Any suggestions?

Enough from me...throw your random down and link with Stacy. It will be the best thing you do today!

another busy weekend

2011-12-12T13:50:00.002-06:00

Seriously December? I honestly don't remember you being so busy in the past. And I'm not even working. So I can't imagine what you'll be like next year when I have a walking little one along with my already big boy.

This weekend was another busy one. It started Friday night with my work Christmas party. While I was not looking forward to it I actually had a great time. Interestingly enough though, the new people did not come so it was all the people I already knew so it made it more fun! We went to Laser Tag and ended up at a new sports bar afterwards where I had delicious bread pudding. Yummo!

Our little group. With the 4 of us on the right in our "ugly" Christmas sweaters. The one in the pink won the $10 prize!

Then on Saturday 2 of my lovely sister-in-laws threw me an awesome "sprinkle" for Jacoby where instead of gifting the baby I was gifted with pampering items. And let me tell you...it was awesome. While I was uncomfortable with the idea of a second shower and them giving me presents I really had a good time. It was a small turnout which was nice because we all had a chance to talk and everyone got to hold the baby! Here are a few pictures...

And then Sunday we had a pretty lazy day. We watched football and then I went to Target to get a few gifts and then I took the boys and headed to my friends graduation party. Of course the only time on Sunday I was getting out with the boys it started raining. Lame!

All in all though it was a pretty awesome weekend. But so busy! And it seems like the rest of the month is just as busy. I have another dinner get-together with friends this week, a Christmas program for my niece on Thursday and then a Christmas party on Saturday for my mom's work for the kiddos. And that's just this week! And sadly I only have 2 more weeks until I go back to work and then the real fun begins...real life with 2 kids and a job. Yikes! I hope your weekends were all as nice as mine!

Day 30: Peppermint Ice Cream and Jillian Michaels

2011-11-30T00:00:00.000-06:00

Ok...so this is the last day of November so I'm going to make this one a silly thanks but a thanks none the less. Today I am thankful for peppermint ice cream and all other desserts. They have made this November a November to remember! I have had one too many desserts probably every day. So that makes me thankful too for Jillian Michaels. Because starting December 1st I will be doing her videos every day to help work off all those delicious desserts. I'm going back on the bandwagon folks!

RTT: Sick kiddo and busy times ahead

2011-11-29T00:00:00.001-06:00

Here we are again you mangy Tuesday! Another week has come and gone and that means that I only have 5 more weeks of maternity leave. I dread each passing week! Oh well...let's get down to some Random!

Jacoby got sick this weekend. It was very unexpected because I didn't know babies got sick when they were this little and still nursing. But apparently that is not true. I'm like those women who know nothing about babies and am like...I didn't know you could get pregnant when you just had a baby! :) But I'm definitely not pregnant! Thank the heavens! So yeah, that was a strange tangent but back to the thought at hand. He has an ear infection. And he is severely congested so it makes his feedings very sporadic and short. So I definitely feel like a cow because since he only eats for about 5-10 minutes at a time I have been letting him eat whenever he wants the past few days because I want to make sure he doesn't get dehydrated. And he's been throwing up. A lot. And it's not just milk but TMI it's like phlegm. So gross!

Ok...that's enough on that! It's almost December. I've finally started a little bit of my Christmas shopping. Not much though. I did order something for my mom but since she reads my blog (HI MOM!) I can't tell you what it is. But it is super awesome and I can't wait until it gets here! We also got a few things for Leo like a Transformers Play-Doh set and a few Kinect games. Next Monday is the annual shop with mom and grandma day so hopefully I'll get the rest of my shopping done then.

Next week we are going to the aquarium in Tulsa. I am so excited. I've been to an aquarium in Texas when I went with a family as a babysitter but that was a loooong time ago. Leo loves animals and fish and so I'm hoping that the trip 3 hours away is worth it. We shall see!

For the next 3 weekends I have stuff going on. Apparently December is going to be a busy month! We have our work Christmas party where we get to see a movie and eat breakfast buffet style at the theater this weekend, next weekend is my "meet the baby" shower for my friends that my awesome sister-in-laws are throwing and the Saturday after that is a Christmas party through my moms work where you can take your kids and see Santa and do crafty stuff. Then the following week is Christmas and then I have to go back to work! Booo! :) So yeah, a very busy December.

I'm also going to be very busy with friend things. Tonight I am going to dinner with friends from college, I'm meeting my old manager for lunch this week sometime and then next week is the aquarium. Plus I have a get-together with my co-workers where apparently we are going to play Laser Tag and then a get-together with some previous co-workers for dinner. So yeah. Super busy!

Every commercial that Leo sees he says he wants me to put it on his Christmas list. And what I've learned is that toys are super-stupid-expensive. There is a fire truck that shoots blue balls (yes, I get the joke) that is the water and it hits the cardboard fire. It is not an extremely large toy and it is $60. I've also been looking at Legos because Leo has been playing with his a lot and those suckers run anywhere from $15 (which I'm ok with) to over $100!! I couldn't believe it! $100 for some legos. Ridiculous! And I looked at some Barbie stuff for my niece and the Barbie dream house is $135. Yeah, so I guess I'm glad I didn't have any girls after all!

Enough with my random. Go see Stacy and the other randoms. Happy Tuesday!

Day 29: Old Friends

2011-11-29T00:00:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for old friends. My friend whom I've kept in contact with the longest is Camdin. And I'm lucky enough that when she came into town this past weekend she came and visited my little family. And we had a blast! We spent 3 hours together which it seems like in the world we both are living in is unheard of but I'm so glad that we got to. And it was nice that even though we haven't talked for an extended period of time in awhile we were able to pick up where we left off. And just so you all know...she's amazing and just got a new job with Linked In and lives in Chicago currently working for the Tribune. Yeah. For real. And she reads this blog so I'm sure she's thoroughly embarassed but I don't care! She's pretty awesome in my book because not only did she leave to go to college she left from there first to Dallas and then to Chicago. So I'm a little jealous of her jet-setting ways but glad that when she comes back to Derby to visit she comes and sees me! So I'm definitely thankful for her!

Camdin with Jacoby

Giveaway Winner

2011-11-28T16:08:00.001-06:00

Happy Monday! So...it's 4 and you know what that means! Giveaway winner time! I used the random number generator and my winner was comment #6! So Toni you are the winner! Aren't you glad you were a last minute entry! :)

So shoot me your address to kendrasue18@gmail.com and let me know which prize you want!

Hopefully when I hit another big milestone I'll do another giveaway!

Day 28: Proximity of our city to a bigger city

2011-11-28T00:00:00.000-06:00

I am very thankful that we live in a little city (town) that is very close to a bigger city. So we are able to have the luxury of living where the school system is better but still be close enough to go to work. We also have the opportunity to go to the different things in the city that we don't have in our little town such as the zoo, children's museum, etc. And we live about 3 hours from an even bigger city where they have pro sports teams and lots of other cool things to do.

Day 27: My hubby's job

2011-11-27T00:00:00.000-06:00

I'm thankful for my hubby's job because it is pretty flexible. He is no longer in the retail division of the bank where he works and so he is quite lucky when it comes to time off. He was able to take 2 weeks of paid leave when I had Jacoby and he was able to save 3 additional vacation days to take the day after Thanksgiving off so he has a 4 day weekend to spend with us (and his family!) and he is taking the Thursday and Friday before Christmas off so we can go visit his family for an extended weekend. Plus he is able to take time off if the kiddos are sick and his boss is pretty cool about that. So I am very thankful for that!

Day 26: Holidays

2011-11-26T00:00:00.000-06:00

I'm thankful for the holidays because that is the time we get to see our extended family! We got to see the hubby's side on Thanksgiving day for lunch and then for the evening we saw mine. And then for Christmas we will see a lot of both of our families. And I love it!

Day 25: Sweet Boy

2011-11-25T00:00:00.000-06:00

I'm thankful for my sweet boy Leo. I know I was already thankful for him once but on Monday I had the WORST migraine I've had in about a week (gotta love not being able to take your migraine meds when you're breastfeeding and can't take anything stronger than Tylenol). But this one wasn't like the others...this one came in the middle of the day so I couldn't just sleep it off when everyone was sleeping too. So the hubby told Leo that I didn't feel well and he was quiet and good ALL. NIGHT. LONG. He even went to bed without any complaining or anything. There were a few times he even came in my room and stroked my hair and kissed my forehead telling me he loved me. That's the Leo that I love and I wished everyone got to witness him like that. Not the heathen that likes to show off for anyone and everyone! So I'm doubly thankful on the days that he acts like this!

Day 24: Food

2011-11-24T00:00:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for all the good food my family will get to eat today (and every day for that matter). There are too many people in this world that will not get a good meal and we will get more than our share. So I am very thankful for that. I am also thankful that I have the opportunity to help people get food to eat through many charitable organizations. Some that I actually given food to and some that all you have to do is "like" them on Facebook and they'll make donations.

Day 23: Sleep

2011-11-23T00:00:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for sleep. I haven't gotten a lot lately but just in the past week has Jacoby started sleeping for longer than 2-2 1/2 hours at a time (knock on wood). He's sleeping in 4ish hour stretches at night and let me tell you the difference it makes! And here's hoping there is more sleep in my future!

RTT: Giveaways, Optimism and Social Media Spewing

2011-11-22T00:00:00.001-06:00

Another Tuesday. Would you look at that. Let's get right down to the random!

Did you see my post yesterday? The one where I'm giving away something totally awesome? You didn't? Well you should check it out!

If you've been following me for the past few months you probably know that we are trying to sell our house. And we've had it on the market since August. And we just had a baby also. Well let me tell you...when we get a text message to show our house the same day in less than 4 hours...it's kind of unnerving. Luckily I'm on maternity leave so I was able to get up and get everything ready to show. But then I had to get Jacoby out in 30 degree weather and go to Wal-Mart just so we could be out of the house for an hour. That sucked. It also sucks that we keep having showings and no one wants to buy our house. I guess I am an extreme optimist (or it could also be seen as naivety) but I really didn't think it would take this long to sell our house. But apparently no one wants to buy a house in our price range ($80,000). But of course all the houses in the price range we're looking at are selling. Because we keep finding houses we like and they keep selling. Lame!

I have a twitter (@kendrasue18). And some of my followers are family members. And I'm ok with that. BUT if I tweet something I have to know that they will see it. I am also ok with that. I'm usually a pretty nice tweeter. On Sunday we were going out to lunch with the hubbys sisters and their husbands. And I was looking forward to it. But then they decided to go to Olive Garden. Which I don't like. So not really thinking about it I tweeted something along the lines of: 'if you know I don't like the Olive Garden why do you insist we go there. Gah.' Now to me I didn't see the big deal about that tweet and didn't think anything about it. But I got on Twitter last night and saw a tweet from the hubby's sister saying something along the lines of if your family or friends can read your tweets why would you complain. It wasn't sent to me but I looked at who she followed and I am one of 2 people she follows that she actually knows. So I'm assuming it was meant towards my tweet. So I told the hubby about it and said if she says anything to you please let her know that I was not trying to be mean. I guess I use my social media for myself and not really for anyone else. Oh well.

We got our swap partners for the ornament swap! I'm so excited to check out my partners blog and see what she's into so I can pick out a really cool ornament!

I started watching New Girl on Hulu and it's pretty funny. I'm also almost completely caught up on Glee to where I can start watching it on TV and not on the computer! That will be awesome!

Ok...that's all the random I have. Don't forget to check out my giveaway and then go visit Stacy and all the other randomers!

Day 22: Caffeine

2011-11-22T00:00:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for Diet Dr. Pepper/Diet Dr. K (the generic brand!). These get me through the days that were proceeded by loooong nights made possible by little boys!

Day 21: My BLOG, post 500 and a giveaway!!

2011-11-21T00:00:00.000-06:00

Wow! Look at me...I've gone 3 weeks of being thankful for something! And today is no different. I am thankful for my blog. Not only has it given me a place to spill my guts and get out my frustrations but after a little bit I have come to realize that even though I don't have a lot of things that I like to do I really like to write and so blogging has become my hobby. It also gives me a place to throw out some things that my little heathens are doing and so my family that reads this can keep up on what is going on in our little world!

So with saying what I'm thankful for here comes the fun part...this is my 500th post!!! I've been blogging for 3 years and I feel like this is a little bit of an accomplishment! Outside of work and school I'm not sure I've really stuck with a single thing for this long! So I think that this would be a perfect opportunity to do my first GIVEAWAY! Woot woot! And I've seen some other giveaways (and unfortunately mine isn't sponsored!) but I've seen some really cute stuff from ETSY so from what I've seen recently I'm going to give you readers a choice of what you want if you win!

You will have the choice of stationary (either the personalized or monogrammed) from Oh Louise Designs

My favorite design is this:

OR

You can choose from either of these 2 ring bowls from Say Your Piece:

Check out both of these options at the website above. They are under the wedding gift/keepsakes tab.

Of course both the stationary and ring bowl are on my Christmas list but unfortunately I can't win my own giveaway!

So here is how you can enter:

1 entry for following my blog and leaving a comment
1 entry for tweeting this giveaway and letting me know you did it!

And that is it! I will end the giveaway on Monday, November 28th at 4pm so get at it! Good luck!

Day 20: Health

2011-11-20T00:00:00.001-06:00

I am thankful for my health! Knock on wood but I don't remember the last time I've been sick. And it's AMAZING!

Day 19: A Home

2011-11-19T00:00:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for having a home to come home to every day. Not everyone is as lucky and even though we are not always as satisified with the amount of space and the quality of some of the things in our home (because for realz...I'm pretty sure our appliances were built with the house...in 1950) I am thankful that I don't have to worry about where my family is going to sleep.

Day 18: Maternity Leave

2011-11-18T00:00:00.000-06:00

I am thankful that I am able to take 10 weeks of maternity leave. After reading on some message boards I know not everyone is as lucky. And I'm thankful that because of saving up my sick leave and vacation all of it will be paid.

Not only am I able to spend the time with Jacoby I am also able to spend additional time with Leo as I am keeping him home a few days a week.

Day 17: A Happy Marriage

2011-11-17T00:00:00.000-06:00

I know my #1 thing I was thankful for was my hubby but not only am I thankful for him I'm thankful for a happy marriage. We know people who have divorced and we've talked openly about the arguments we've had with each other. But we've also always talked about how even though we sometimes get super mad at each other and sometimes just want to walk away we always know that life would be so much worse if we did that. We enjoy each other too much (most of the time!) that I'm pretty sure my life would suck without him.

Throw in 2 kids and to me divorce is pretty much out of the question. That was one of the things we discussed before we got married and I'm holding on to that. My family is #1 and so I would do anything to try and make it work before throwing in the towel. Also...I think I would make a terrible single mother so yeah.

Day 16: Breastfeeding

2011-11-16T00:00:00.000-06:00

Ok so this one is kind of strange but I'm thankful that I am able to nurse Jacoby. I wasn't able to with Leo and while it's not my favorite parts of the day it saves a lot of money and I really feel like he is getting all the right stuff from me. And hopefully he will have a better immune system because of it.

Also...I'm waiting to see the weight fall off because of it! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

RTT: Where is my time going?

2011-11-15T09:26:00.001-06:00

It's Tuesday again. And I can't believe that it is already the middle of November! Yikes! Only 5 1/2 more weeks of maternity leave! But enough about the mundane...let's get to the random!

Last night we had a first for the Fernandez family. Leo threw a temper tantrun in Target. Oh my goodness it was horrifying. He kept running off and this was after we had let him look at the toys. We had a house showing so we had to escape the house for an hour and thought Target would give us something we could do. And even though we let him do what he wanted first he kept running (literally) back to the toys. Finally we had enough and were trying to leave and he just sat down on the floor and started crying. I couldn't believe it. I hate the people whose kids do that. And then I became one. But at least I did what I always said I would do when I see those people. I just picked him up and walked out of the store. I was not about to let him make a full-on scene. Ridiculous.
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Do any of you follow the NBA? Just within the past year have I really watched much of it and I don't have a favorite team or anything (although I do despise the Lakers!). But these whole lockouts with the NFL and NBA have really annoyed me. I know it is all a money thing and that I think is what makes it even worse. When there are so many people out there with literally nothing and these people are griping over 51% control or 47% control of the money I think it is disgusting. I also wonder about the kids who left college early to go to the NBA. They aren't getting paid AND they didn't finish their college degrees. Awesome decision making boys!
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I know 2 people within the last month that have uprooted themselves from Kansas and moved to California for a job. I was talking to the hubby about this last night and thought how weird that would be. I am a homebody and I admit that. I also don't have a career that would take me different places. Although with banking I could go anywhere with it. BUT I would not look outside of this area for a job. I just don't have the nerve to strike up a job halfway across the country.
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I've seen a lot of people posting about fall flavors and what they are looking forward to eating and I was like...I don't have anything like that that I'm looking forward to. Then I saw a commercial for Braums and their peppermint ice cream. And now I've been craving it since last week. I think I need to make a trip to Braums to right this.
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Why is it that every time I sit down to do something (ie: blog, eat, take a shower, etc.) the baby starts crying. I remember this being a trend when Leo was little but for real. I just want to eat hot food, not take the fastest shower imaginable, right a coherent blog post, etc! Oh well. He's worth it! :)
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The family has been asking for Christmas lists and for Leo the list is easy. But for me...not so much. I'm not really sure what I want for Christmas. Maybe a full nights sleep!
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Did you guys see the Hunger Games trailer that they premiered yesterday? I am so excited for that movie to come out! Only a few more months! I hope that it is as good as the books were. I know that is hard to do but if they can be about 3/4 as good then I will be happy!
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Finally...college basketball is among us! Woot woot! Last night started the 24 hours of college basketball tip-off on ESPN. The first game started at 11 and ends with the KU game tonight at 8. I think that the KU game is an excellent way to end the day! It has also been nice to be able to watch basketball while getting up to feed the baby throughout the night. I say that because I don't want to start watching a show becuase I will get into it and then won't want to stop watching when I need to be going back to sleep. But basketball, especially if it's not a team I particularly care about, I can watch for a little bit and then stop!
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Ok. That was quite a bit of random! And if you follow me on Twitter most of these have been thoughts from the last week but you got a little more than 140 characters! So happy Tuesday! And to see other random check out Stacy.

Day 15: Dependable Vehicles

2011-11-15T00:00:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for the fact that both my car and the hubby's are reliable. His more so since it's new(ish) but I've had mine since 2002 and it really hasn't had many problems. (Knock on wood) And it's also really nice to only have one car payment. So I'm keeping mine til the wheels fall off!

Sweet Deals for a Growing BOY

2011-11-14T12:09:00.002-06:00

My little Peo Pants is growing up. And by growing up I literally mean growing UP. He is so dang tall these days! I'm not sure where he's getting it from because his dad is only 5'8 (in my best guesstimate) and I'm only 5'1 but this kid is growing like a weed! He's not even 5 and the boy is in 5T jeans and shirts. I bought few pairs of 4T jeans at the end of the last winter season because he was growing out of his 3T stuff and we had some hand-me-down 4T shirts that we got from some friends and relatives and when I got them out this fall lo and behold they were all TOO SMALL! So ridiculous. So I bought a few pairs of 5T jeans and shirts and my mom picked up a pair of jeans for him when she got Jacoby some stuff so he wouldn't feel left out but 3 pairs of jeans for a VERY active little boy is just not enough. Because the kid sweats like it's nobody's business. But then I received a flyer in the mail for Children's Place. And I love that place. I try to avoid it because it seems overpriced when you can get some pretty decent stuff at Wal-Mart and Target but I had 30% plus free shipping so I figured what the heck. Also, I like to get my nieces some shirts from there for Christmas as well. So all for just over $100 I got 1 short sleeved shirt and 5 long sleeved shirts for Leo, a pair of jeans, a sleeper for my nephew, and shirts for 3 of my nieces and a silly hat for Jacoby. 11 items!!! So exciting. And I ordered them on Saturday and they shipped on Saturday. How awesome is that?! So I'm pretty stoked to get them by the middle of next week! And look at me...I got some Christmas shopping done!

Day 14: My Job

2011-11-14T00:00:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for having a job. Maybe not specifically my job, but I am thankful that when I return from maternity leave I will still have a job. And in the world we are currently living in I guess that is something to be thankful for!

Day 13: Netflix

2011-11-13T00:00:00.000-06:00

I know I said I was thankful for cable already but Netflix is pretty awesome too! Especially since I found out Glee was on there and I have been watching the crap out of it. Let me tell you...And yes I know I'm 2 1/2 years late...but it's a pretty good show!

Also, Netflix has given me the opportunity to brush up on my Power Rangers knowledge. Did you know that since the series began there have been eleventy billion different versions of the Power Rangers and Leo likes them all? You didn't? Well let me tell you...you're not missing out! :)

Day 12: Weekends

2011-11-12T00:00:00.000-06:00

I'm thankful for weekends with my family. Especially with the hubby's job and him having weekends off it makes the time together even better.

Day 11: Veterans

2011-11-11T00:00:00.000-06:00

I'm thankful for all of the veterans that have served our country. Without all of them I probably wouldn't have the opportunity to voice my opinion on this little ol' blog of mine.

Day 10: Cable

2011-11-10T00:00:00.000-06:00

Yep. I'm thankful for cable TV. Especially while on maternity leave! It definitely makes the time go by while I'm nursing!

Project 52 Catch Up

2011-11-09T16:00:00.005-06:00

Hi. My name is Kendra and I am a project 52 failure. Well I won't say failure but I need to get on this because I think it's a really cool idea. So I'm making 1 post to catch up on what I've missed! So get excited because you're about to see a photo montage!!!

Week 11: Moon
Yep. I went there. I gave you a full moon! :)

Week 12: Pumpkins
We had 4 pumpkins but one rotted out the bottom and so I had to throw it away. But the little ones Leo painted and the big one was "his" from the pumpkin patch!

Week 13: Spooky
This was our jack-o-lantern from last year. So spooky right?!

Week 14: Costume
This is Leo and my niece before trick or treating on Halloween! BFF's! :)

And then just because I'm doing a picture post I figured I would throw in a few pictures of the hubby's birthday dinner!

Here he is soooo excited for his birthday pie!

And then here is my beautiful table with my beautiful family! My hubby, Leo, my mom and Jacoby.

ornament swap: part 1

2011-11-09T15:45:00.003-06:00

2 posts in one day? Shut the front door! But because of my thankful posts (that I was so awesomely given time to prepare to post on the given day by my thoughtful infant at midnight last night when he WOULD. NOT. SLEEP.) are set to post then if I get around to posting then there will be duplicates. Awesome!

But I was over visiting Megan at Mackey Madness and she and another blogger got together to do an ornament swap. And I always see swap blogs and I always want to participate but never know what to do and really if I want to get that into it and spend that much money but this one was simple. An ornament. With a $15 limit. And I was so there! So I'm super excited to see who I get paired up with and then of course see what I get! So fun! And if you want to participate too it seems like the more the merrier so click the link above! Or just click over to see Megan because her blog is super cute! :)

A Month of Thankfulness

2011-11-09T00:06:00.002-06:00

Yep. I'm jumping on the bandwagon. Because I think I (along with everyone else) need to be reminded of all the good things in my life that I should be (MORE) thankful for. So I know today is the 9th so I'll do 9 things I'm thankful for today and then go from there. Hopefully doing one per day but we'll see how things go...

I'm thankful for my hubby! He makes me extremely happy and seeing him being a dad is extra sexy! :)
I'm thankful for Leo. Even though some days he gets on every last one of my nerves he is my first baby and will always make me happy.
I'm thankful for Jacoby. I've only had him for 3 weeks but he is so darn sweet!
I'm thankful for I had 2 pretty easy pregnancies and births. And I'm thankful that even though Jacoby was 3 weeks early he was healthy!
I'm thankful for my parents. They are super-awesome and do so much for my little family.
I'm thankful for my brother and his family. They are wonderful to have in town so I can see them if I want but they also do really nice things for my little family so I'm extra thankful to have a brother who cares about me!
I'm thankful for my hubby's family. They don't all live here but it's nice that if we were to need something they would be here in a heartbeat (or as fast as traffic would let them be here) to help us with whatever we need.
I'm thankful for my extended family. Especially the ones that read this blog! :) Because they are the ones that give me the extra love when I need it!
I'm thankful for my aunt (AKA my godmother!), my mom and my sister-in-law who brought us delicious foods while I've been on maternity leave. They were much appreciated and delicious!

RTT: I'm too tired for a title...

2011-11-08T09:28:00.002-06:00

Hi hi! It's Tuesday. The 4th Tuesday of my maternity leave. That means only 6 more weeks until I have to go back to work. Bummer! But that means 6 weeks left with my sweet boys so I need to make the most of them! Blogging has definitely been put on the back burner and so I figured I'd try to get back in the swing of things by doing a random Tuesday. Because that's easy enough right?!
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Being a "stay at home mom" for these past few weeks have learned me something. And that something is that I was not meant to be a stay at home mom. I learned this when I was on maternity leave with Leo too. I love my boys and I love spending time with them but seriously...I need some conversation in my life. And when it's just Jacoby and me on the days that Leo goes to school I don't talk to anyone until the hubby gets home. And that is hard for my mind. Maybe if I was a for real stay at home mom I would have other moms to chat with but that wouldn't be every day. I need to be able to make jokes and talk to other adults. It has also sucked all the creativity from me. I had all these grand plans for the days that Leo stayed home but I'm just not feeling it. I did play Legos and color with him last week but today with him here I just have no energy. I'm sure that's because I was up 3 times during the night but still. I feel like I should be doing something. And the blogging? Yeah, non-existent. Even though most of my blogs tend to be about the kiddos I think when I think about them all day I don't find the things they do or say quite as funny as I do when I am not surrounded by them.
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On the upside I have been cooking almost every day since the hubby went back to work last week. The first few weeks we survived on meals people brought us and fast food but now that we got back in the swing of things I have been making dinner every night. And I have a meal plan for the next 2 weeks and my groceries are bought and we have stayed on track so far! Such a save on money!
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I did bake a pumpkin pie a few weeks ago and the crust broke while in the oven and the pie leaked over the edge. I had no idea how to clean a non-self-cleaning oven and so I let it sit there while I continued to cook things. Well the other night the hubby was "cooking" a frozen pizza and I saw smoke coming from the oven. I said something because he was standing right there and he opened the oven door and the flipping oven was on fire. We had no idea what to do and of course we don't have a fire extinguisher. Quite the excitement at 10 at night! Thankfully it was not a big fire and it went out on it's own. Needless to say I bought some oven cleaner (which they sale at Wal-Mart! :) and went to town cleaning my oven. I had to do it twice because that pie filling was caked on pretty good. But now the oven is as good as new!
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And speaking of my oven and cooking meals...it is clean and ready to be used just in time for my hubby's birthday! It is tomorrow and I have a big ol' meal planned for it! I am making a turkey and all the Thanksgiving works for him because he loves that stuff! So we will be having turkey, stuffing, rolls, mashed potatoes, corn and pumpkin pie! Yum! He is not a fan of the birthdays and it makes him think about his mortality every year but I figured something nice would maybe make it a little better!
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Did you guys realize it's November? Holy cow. That means that Christmas is just under 2 months away! Yikes! I haven't even started Christmas shopping unless you count the cashews I bought my dad from my friend's daughter who is in Girl Scouts! The hubby and I don't exchange presents for Christmas but this year we have talked about needing a new computer and how a laptop is really what we want so I think we're going to get one. Granted, it's not really for Christmas because I'm pretty sure we're going to get it this week but still. I'm saying it's for Christmas because it's close enough! I'm kind of excited. I've never had a laptop before. Hopefully it works better than the computer we have now!

Ok. That's all I have right now. I'm hoping to start blogging at least once a week but I think I said that 2 weeks ago and you see how that's turned out. But Stacy is the heir to the queen of Random and she rocks so go visit her and the others who are randoming out today!

Kids Say The Darndest Things

2011-10-26T21:52:00.003-05:00

I was talking to Leo tonight about what I should make for his Halloween party for school on Friday and I showed him these Frankentreats and asked if he would like me to make them. And he was a little sad and said that he wanted me to make Power Ranger treats. I told him I wasn't sure how to make them and he told me to buy the bags with Power Rangers on them. When I said I didn't know where to find them he told me I could find them 672 miles away in a place called Texahoma. Apparently that is a border town between Texas and Oklahoma and only there do they make Power Ranger treat bags. Who knew?

RTT: Baby Edition

2011-10-25T13:41:00.003-05:00

Hi! Did you miss me?! I've been a little preoccupied with an early arrival of our little guy. His name...is Jacoby Layne Fernandez. And he might be tied for the cutest baby I've ever seen!

This is him on day 2. So don't mind the scratches all over his face!

So to honor the birth of this little fella this week's RTT is going to be all baby-related. How exciting huh?! And it's going to be bulleted because I'm exhausted and don't have a lot of time to just sit at the computer. It's the darndest thing!

So...his name. Jacoby (pronounced: Juh-Kobe) That's my best phonetic way of putting it because I don't know the proper way to do it. And no Jake. I'm not into nicknames but apparently my dad likes to call him that. And every time he does I cringe. So I hope it doesn't catch on. We had about 6 names going into delivery and this one was my favorite. So I don't know if the hubby caved but I think it suits him. Even though we don't really use it right now. Everything is "the baby."
I forgot how much baby's sleep. I told Leo that all he is going to do is sleep and eat and boy does he. It seems like that is really all he does. And while it's nice sometimes I want to just sit and hold him but I know that I don't want to start that habit.
I am doing things the "right way" this time around. We co-slept with Leo and I swore I would never do it but I did. And then it bit us in the arse because dude wouldn't leave our bed. And even still he would rather sleep in our room. So this time we have the bassinet set up in what is the baby/computer room and he hasn't slept in our room one night. And even though it sucks that I have to get up and get him to feed and what-not I think (hope) that this will help when it comes to having him sleep in a crib and then as he gets bigger in his own bed. On the upside...since the baby has come home Leo has only slept in our room once and that was when we had company and they slept in Leo's room. So score on that!
Breastfeeding is nice and sucky all at the same time. I really like that I can actually feed Jacoby this way because with Leo I could not. I think part of the reason was because Leo was in NICU and so they supplemented by bottle feeding him formula so he could get enough to eat while in there and so I think it threw him off. With Jacoby he has only been breastfed and so it works for him. But it is super-sucky because when those middle of the night feedings come I would so rather be the one that gets to sleep while the hubby went to get him and feed him. I won't lie sometimes I pretend to be asleep when he cries just so the hubby is the one that has to get up and change the diaper and then bring him to me to feed him. I'm not the only one that is able to change a diaper!
Tonight I am leaving Jacoby with his dad while I go to a seminar at the church about how to deal with temper-tantrums and unruly children. Haha. I'm sure that's not what it's called but that's what I'm calling it. Leo is going with me for the hot dog dinner and then he gets to go in a playroom while I stay for the seminar. So I have been pumping a little bit each day and so we will see how that goes. Hopefully I can feed him right before I leave and then he'll sleep the whole time I'm gone. That would be ideal and then I can freeze whatever I've pumped to just stock-pile.
I am on maternity leave until I go back on December 27th. I smile every time I say that but I know it's going to go by too quickly. But while I'm on leave I really don't have much planned other than keeping Leo home on Tuesdays and Thursdays to save money on daycare. I bought some workbooks and got a look at their daily school schedule so I can try to do some of the things he does there instead of just sitting in front of the TV all day. Today was the first day he stayed home and so far we've watched Captain America, eaten lunch and now he's in our bedroom with his dad watching Destination Truth. So yeah...so much for that!

Ok. That's all I have the energy for now. Once I get some good pictures I'll get them up. Hopefully I'll have time to blog occasionally but if not don't forget about me!

A woman and her thoughts

2011-10-16T08:39:00.006-05:00

This weekend was the weekend we were to go to Dodge. And my doctor ixnayed it for me. So the boys packed up and left Saturday morning. And I was jumping (not really...I was still laying in bed) for joy. And so my weekend began.

First thing I did...eat cereal in bed.
Second thing I did...laid in bed and watched TV
Third thing I did...washed all of baby boy's laundry and all of Leo's hand-me-downs to the baby and put them away.

And by the time I was finished with this it was 11. Holy cow. Apparently living the single life is not all it's cracked up to be. The hubby called me around 4 to tell me that we had received a call about an appointment to show our house the next day so I could pick up and do the last minute cleaning things that needed to be addressed. And it was so random. Because that was really the first time I'd spoken since they'd left. And I talked to my aunt last night on the phone and even though I wasn't doing anything I didn't want to get out but it still felt weird not talking to anyone basically for 24 hours.

So today I am up already (actually I've been up since around 7:30) and am going to eat (more) cereal. Then I'm going to finish the sweeping and mopping of the floors and then kick back and watch the Redskins game until it's time for me to leave to let the creepers in the house. I'm almost to the point where I can deal with our house because I don't think I'm going to be up for people coming to check out our digs when I have a newborn. But I'm not sure how that works since we signed a contract to stay listed for 6 months. Oh well. What are you going to do? (stupid housing market!!!). Anyways...I hope you all had lovely weekends and keep your fingers crossed that this is the one and they'll buy our house!

Food sharing

2011-10-12T19:15:00.001-05:00

Are you a food sharer? I am not. And my dear hubby thinks this is horrible of me. Not that I won’t share with him but because I don’t like to share with Leo. Does that make me horrible? If I wanted him to have some of the food I was eating I would give him some. But last night when I was eating a gigantic piece of pumpkin pie (that I made) and Leo wanted to lick some of the whipped cream off I didn’t want to let him have any. 1) because I didn’t think he needed to eat just whipped cream and 2) I put the amount of whipped cream that I wanted on my pie and any less was not what I wanted. Or else I would have put less on there. But my hubby just thought that I was being the Worst. Parent. Ever. He even told me that what was mine was theirs (Leo’s and the new baby’s). I disagree. I think what is mine is mine and what is theirs is theirs. What do you think?!

Memoir Monday

2011-10-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

What a weekend. It of course flew by. I had to work all day Saturday so my weekend really was Sunday only.

And it seemed like we didn't do much on Sunday either. I took Leo to the grocery store and he got to pick out his Halloween costume. He chose the Red Power Ranger and he looks super cool in it! Plus I got all the groceries we need for the next two weeks and hopefully if the baby comes we have a little extra food in the house to sustain us!

Leo had some behavioral issues all day and so it seemed like it was a constant battle to keep him from flipping out in anger, throwing temper tantrums to having sad issues. Not sure what was going on with him but then he also didn't take a nap so that added to the awesomeness!

On the upside I did make blueberry muffins for breakfast, a pumpkin pie and chicken and rice for dinner so we had full bellies all day! Other than my baking I did I just watched football and baseball.

All in all a pretty awesome day! Hope you all had lovely weekends too!

Baby Update: 36 weeks

2011-10-09T19:47:00.004-05:00

I just figured one all stomach/no shirt picture would be fine. Especially since daily I get the, You look very pregnant today or the You look like you're about to burst. From my sweet hubby!

And this is what I see looking down. All belly baby!

How far along: 36 weeks

Baby Size: 6.5 pounds...the size of a watermelon.

Weight Gain: 44 pounds. Eeks!

Maternity Clothes: Still wearing lots of dresses. A lot of my shirts are no longer fitting because apparently I am carrying a bowling ball. Or a watermelon. Or twins as some people like to ask me.

Sleep: Sleep is a distant memory. Or at least a full night is. Multiple trips to the bathroom occur every single night. Oh well. Sleep will continue to be a distant memory once the little dude comes!

Best Moments: Just knowing in a few short weeks he will be here!

Movements: Little dude is moving a LOT. Lots of contractions too. I had to monitor them on Saturday because they seemed closer together than they needed to be but I was good.

Cravings: Nothing. Nothing ever sounds good anymore so it's hard to make anything to eat. I just have to make a meal plan and stick to it because if not we would be eating cereal for every meal.

Looking forward to: My appointment on Wednesday. Last week I was already dilated to a 2 and thinned out a lot (sorry TMI). So I guess we'll see if I have progressed any. We are also supposed to be going to visit the in-laws in Dodge City this upcoming weekend so I'll ask to see if that is a good idea or if I will be sidelined. Either way I am off work next weekend so that is nice!

Symptoms: Just contractions.

And last but not least stretch marks: The same as before. Haven't noticed any new ones. Thankfully!

Project 52: At Arms Length

2011-10-06T10:07:00.002-05:00

A drink and my phone...the two things I need to keep my day going!

The Perfect Date

2011-10-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

Jen came up with a super-easy topic this week. Well only because I'm making it easy! She wanted to know what our perfect date would be. I'm sure some went all philosophical and chose someone famous and how they would interact with them but I'm just going to tell you what my idea of a perfect date would be with my hubby since it's been a while since we've gone on an actual date that met my "standards"!

My ideal date would start with Leo going to my parents house because I wouldn't have to worry about a sitter and if he was (mis)behaving.

My ideal date would also be a weekend event. Only because this is fictional and it can be!

The hubby and I would pack a suitcase and head to Kansas City. We would leave Friday night and get to our hotel and we would just hang out for the evening. Our hotel would be on the Plaza and it would be expensive! And for dinner we would go to the Cheesecake Factory because it is AMAZING.

Saturday we would wake up whenever we wanted because there would be no human alarm clock waking me up asking me for milk or to turn on cartoons. There would also be no TV in our hotel unless I deemed it appropriate because I want to spend the weekend talking to each other and not worrying about what the score is or what-not. We would leisurely get ready and then head out for day 1 of our date. We would walk around the Plaza shopping all the cool shops and not feel like we are rushed or need to be anywhere. We would spend as much or as little money as we wanted on things that we don't need. Later that afternoon after a loooong nap we would get up and get ready to go to a nice dinner anywhere where there is not a kids menu. We would dress up. Not suit, dressed up but just nice pants and shirt for him and probably a dress for me. And after dinner we would go to a movie. After the movie if there was time we would go to an area where they serve ice cream AND have a nice little walk-around area where we could maybe walk around a pond or something. Something semi-romantic! :) After that we would go back to our hotel.

Sunday morning we get up and have a nice brunch at the hotel or a local eatery where they serve french toast. Yes...that is a requirement. I love me some french toast! Then we would just get packed up and head back to town. We would enjoy each others company on the drive home and be refreshed to see our little heathen who would be so overjoyed seeing us since he always misses us so much when we leave him overnight somewhere.

Ahhhh....I feel relaxed and awesome just writing about that. So yeah...if anyone wants to donate to my dream date fund and would also like to knock my hubby out so he would agree to this date then that would be amazing! Be sure to see the other spins about their dream dates. Maybe we'll get ideas (realistic ones) and have awesome dates in the future!

Baby Update: 35 weeks

2011-10-04T15:38:00.002-05:00

How far along: 35 weeks. 5 weeks to go!

Baby Size: A Large Cantaloup (hopefully not one with the bacteria...anyone?!) 22 inches and 6 pounds. Give or take a few inches or pounds...

Weight Gain: Yeah...I'm going with 42 pounds. That's so horrible to me when I say it or type it but what am I gonna do? Hopefully shed it all post-pregnancy with breastfeeding and getting back on track with an exercise routine.

Maternity Clothes: Still wearing lots of dresses. A lot of my shirts are no longer fitting because apparently I am carrying a bowling ball. Or a watermelon. Or twins as some people like to ask me.

Sleep: I'm sleeping fine but still having to get up constantly to go to the restroom. The hubby says I have been snoring a lot. I wouldn't know though.

Best Moments: When Leo gives my belly a kiss or he says something sweet about the baby. Plus just knowing in a few short weeks we will have a new little one in the house!

Movements: Dude is moving a lot still. Plus having the super-awesome fake contractions.

Cravings: The only craving I've had lately and it was a one-time thing, was when we went to a bbq place here in town and the hot links sounded so good. And so I got some. And they were delicious!

Looking forward to: My appointment on Thursday. As creepy as this sounds I get checked on Thursday so I'll know if I'm dilated or effaced or any of that nonsense. But it will be nice to know!

Symptoms: No symptoms as of late. So that is awesome!

And last but not least stretch marks: The same as before. Haven't noticed any new ones. Thankfully!

Welp...here we go

2011-09-30T15:04:00.000-05:00

Well bloggy friends. I have done it. I know I put in my comments yesterday that I wasn’t going to but I did. I sent a follow-up email letting upper management know about my successes in sales and letting them know that I am going to be the bigger person in their shake-up but that I am sales oriented and that I can do what they think I can’t do. I also snuck in there that I thought that I didn’t think it was the best idea to take a test’s word over factual information in what a person’s worth is. So it got sent Friday afternoon where I’m sure they are not in the office but they should see it Monday. Here’s hoping I didn’t hurt my future at this company. But I did send a copy to my mom to read over after the fact and she said it sounded very professional and not bad so yeah.

Project 52: Bed Head

2011-09-29T15:50:00.001-05:00

Crazy-hair Magee! He get it from his mama!

Haunted Traditions

2011-09-29T15:33:00.005-05:00

When I saw the spin this week was family traditions I thought that we don't have a lot of actual traditions for our little family. But then on Sunday my mom and I took Leo to the pumpkin patch and it hit me that, DUH! This was our family tradition. Since Leo has been 1 year old my mom and I have taken him to the pumpkin patch and had such an awesome time. We go to one that is about 45 minutes from where we live and each year the little farm gets bigger and bigger and always adds more attractions. And each year as Leo gets a little bit bigger he is able to do more and more. We were talking about how next year Leo would be in, GASP, kindergarten and so we would probably have to go on a weekend again but we both thought that we might be able to take him out of school or if they had an in-service day we could use that one to go and enjoy the time together. So our family tradition is nothing crazy but we sure like it! Here are some pictures from years past at the pumpkin patch...we don't have any from this year because I haven't gotten them from my mom yet.

Leo's favorite thing to do is play in their sandbox filled with corn and drive their dump trucks

Leo wished we could take this giant pumpkin home with us last year!

Leo and me in 2008

Each year we see how tall he is compared to the giant pumpkin! 2008

A little bigger in 2009

And in 2010!

And yes I am the obnoxious mom who makes her kid pose in the same spot every. single. year!
2008

2009

2010

To see other traditional spins go see Jen. I'm sure it should become your weekly tradition!

Dirty Laundry

2011-09-28T18:09:00.001-05:00

So if you read my weekend recap you saw that I had a pretty crappy start to my weekend. Well I’ll go into it now. I think I’m ready. But it still sucks and I still don’t agree with it. But I need to get it off my chest into a medium that is not controlled by people who are “for me” or “against me.” WARNING…this is a long post!

It all started Thursday afternoon when my boss, who I am friends with, received a phone call from her boss saying they needed to have a meeting that afternoon. But she wouldn’t tell her what it was about. I left before she came back but I talked to her later and was told that she would be moving branches. While that was not a huge surprise because of some change-ups with the company we were both still in the dark on who her replacement would be. Currently I am the assistant branch manager and with other managerial changes that have happened recently the assistant of the branch has been promoted in 3 instances so my assumption (even though we know what happens when you assume…) was that I would be a logical replacement. It was a crazy night of what-ifs between us and we both just were waiting for the bomb to drop the next day as to what the changes would mean for the branches.

Cue to Friday…I spoke to my boss throughout the day but she had not heard anything regarding the changes any more than what we already knew. I left for the day at 3 and headed to Wal-Mart to get a few things. While there I received a text message from my boss saying that the changes had been laid out to everyone and I was not the replacement for her. Now this wouldn’t have been a huge deal except that they replaced her position with someone who was already in the current position that I am in. So basically I was replaced by a different me. Who doesn’t know the clientele that we serve and hasn’t been managing the employees that I have been for the past 3 years. I have had my hand in hiring almost all of the current employees that we have. Needless to say I was beyond mad. Plus I’m a crier. So I was trying to keep it together while finishing up in Wal-Mart and get home. Then of course on the way home I called the hubby only to sob-scream into the phone and he was at work. So I’m sure that was the most awesome phone call to get on a Friday afternoon.

After talking to my boss later in the evening after she got off work and we could cry/discuss together the thing that I got out of it was that no one outside of upper management understood why that specific change was made. My reasoning was that I was pregnant and they don’t want promote me when I’m getting ready to go on leave for up to 12 weeks. I’m not saying that is the full reasoning behind it but that’s what my initial thought was. Along with quite a few other people. After letting the news simmer over the weekend I concocted a letter to send to our Human Resources department, my boss’s boss and then the main person in upper management who has the final say in decision-making. I had the hubby proof-read and add/change things to make it sound better and sent it to them first thing Monday morning.

Monday continues and I get a phone call requesting a meeting with myself, my boss and her boss. Again, no reason is given but of course I am super-nervous because I know it is regarding the email I sent. She comes in at 3 to have the meeting and the first thing she tells me is that she is glad I sent the email because if I hadn’t then she would have been concerned. She continues on that basically the reason that I was not given the position over this other person was based on a test that we had taken over a year ago where we chose which word out of 2 that described us better and according to mine I was more operationally-focused whereas the other person was more sales-focused and with the way our company is headed they were looking for someone more sales-focused. I told her that I thought it was ridiculous that my future was based on a test and that I feel that I would do just fine in a sales-based environment. She even told me that individual sales were not looked at when determining the position. Only the test. It was SO frustrating. Of course I cried some more because I couldn’t keep it together (stupid pregnancy hormones). She said she felt really bad and had a sleepless weekend after the decision was revealed. She also said that I was a candidate but that the upper management was the final decision. Really what I felt it came down to was she was afraid to fight for me if she really thought that I would have been the better candidate. She also said I needed to prove to everyone that I can achieve sales…which really annoyed me because I do that and if they don’t want to look and see what I’ve done then that’s their loss.

So after that meeting I just had another pity party. But then that night and the next day I really started to think more about it. I have been with this company since 2004 and since then I have won multiple awards based on sales. And then I could pull up a program and compare sales between myself and this new manager. And we have a sales quota that when we open new accounts we have a cross-sale that we are supposed to achieve. That cross-sale is a 3.25 average. So basically per customer they are wanting us to sale 3.25 products per customer. So I looked…and in the past 20 months I have achieved my goal 19 times. She has achieved hers 6 times…so really does a test show someone’s true self or does it just say what you think they wanted to hear? So then it takes me back to either thinking they really didn’t want to promote me because of my pregnancy OR they are just that dense that they think a test shows someone’s worth. And then just because I am catty and I like to make myself feel better I have other reasons why I think I was the better person for the job…Like I’ve been with the company longer, I have my Bachelor’s degree and she doesn’t and again I already know the customers and employees and they respect me because they know me.

So yeah…sorry this was so long and thanks for anyone who read all the way to the end. But I needed to get it off my chest and hopefully this will be my letting go moment. I’m sure it will last a little longer seeing as this new girl starts on Monday but I will be the bigger person and just deal with it. But I am definitely looking for other positions internally and externally just to see what my options are.

The Weekend That Was

2011-09-26T18:25:00.001-05:00

Wow. Another weekend has come and gone. Mine started off horribly Friday after work when I got some bad news regarding work but that isn’t something I’m ready to blog about yet…I still have a job but I’m not as happy to go to work as I once was. Of course I then had to go to work on Saturday but then once I got off Saturday night my weekend got exponentially better!

My Sunday started off extra early when Leo woke up at 6:45(!) and I just stayed up. I decided that since I was up and I needed to go to the grocery store I would. I got home and made us a nice breakfast of pancake, bacon and eggs and cleaned up the kitchen and put away groceries. It was actually really nice to have all of that accomplished by 10. Then I watched some Indiana Jones with Leo and then we started to get ready for our day. Leo and I were going to the pumpkin patch with my mom. We got to the pumpkin patch around 1 and stayed until 3:30. It was so much fun (and that will be a post for a different day…spin cycle I’m talking to you!) but it was definitely time to go when we did!

We got home around 4:30 and the rest of the evening was just spent hanging out. I did make dinner for Sunday and Monday so all the boys would have to do Monday night was put it in the oven since I have to work late. It was pretty simple. And then of course the kitchen got cleaned AGAIN. It seems like the dishes were ganging up on me! Then bathtime for Leo and bed for me by 8:30 after laundry had been put away. It was a very eventful day!

Spin Cycles: Rules

2011-09-16T12:05:00.000-05:00

Yeah...2 posts in one day. It just happened. But I was thinking I really need to post for the Spin Cycle because I haven't lately but I just don't seem to have the time to put that much thought into a post. But then after reading a few other posts about rules I realized I totally have a post about rules. So here we go...

2 summers ago we were heading to Dodge City to visit family for the week. And Leo had been in the precious stage of the terrible twos. So in the weeks before going we had created a list of the rules of the house. And it was a loooong list. Granted he was in a semi-violent stage (which seems to still come and go...gotta love a little boy full of a LOT of energy) we had some rules regarding those as well. I wish we hadn't packed/thrown away so much crap but I just recently put it away or else I would have taken a picture of it. It's even written in crayon because I couldn't find an actual pen. It went a little something like this...

No hitting
No biting
No throwing toys
No pulling on clothing (He seemed to pull on our clothes all the time)
No yelling
No kicking
No hitting Freckles

I honestly can't remember everything on it but I'm pretty sure there were 21 items on it. And we kept it on our refrigerator until just recently. We even took it on that trip to Dodge and we had to get that list out quite frequently to refer to when we were placing Leo in timeout because he wasn't following the rules.

Today the list of rules we try to follow are similar but as he's gotten older and able to express himself a little bit better we have pared down our list of rules although they still are there. Today the rules we seem to spout over and over go a little something like this...

No yelling
We must brush our teeth EVERY. Single. Day. (twice a day)
Wash your hands after using the restroom.
Put your dishes away.
Don't hit the walls (not in anger...just when running through the house. He seems to think the walls were meant for running into.)

So of course we still have rules and we use them on a daily basis but they are more items that we want Leo to do and not just how he needs to behave. It's nice that he's able to abide by some of our rules without us having to repeat them over and over again but of course there are days when all have to be on repeat.

To see other spins about rules check out Jen. She rules over all of our spins!

Things Not To Tell A Pregnant Lady

2011-09-16T11:35:00.001-05:00

Here are just a few things I’ve been told in the last week or so regarding my appearance…

Dang girl, you look like you swallowed a watermelon.

Every time I see you, you keep getting bigger and bigger.

It looks like your belly gets bigger every single day.

You sure are looking pregnant today.

Wow. Are you due today?

Yeah, all self-esteem boosters don’t you think?! Happy Friday!

Project 52: Vintage 2007

2011-09-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

Vintage Leo: Circa 2007

Vintage: a : a period of origin or manufacture vintage> b : length of existence : age

(from here)

RTT: Very Random Thoughts

2011-09-13T07:20:00.000-05:00

I know it's Tuesday and I know it's for random but this week you get lots of VERY random.

We got rid of our digital cable and opted for satellite. We did have to sign a 2 year contract but as far as I can see so far it will be worth it. Especially with my maternity leave coming soon and we got 3 months free of HBO, Starz, Cinemax and Showtime. Pretty excited about that!
While getting rid of our cable we also opted to get rid of our phone landline. I'm not sure how I feel about this but we hardly ever use it and both the hubby and I have cell phones that don't really have a lot of connection issues. So hopefully it works out for the best.
I was feeling very thankful this evening. I have been meaning to buy some thank you cards for some random things that people have done and I had packed up all my thank you cards while getting ready for the move. So I finally bought some this evening and sat down and wrote them out. So it made me very thankful to see what people have done for me.
My sister-in-law's are throwing me a baby shower brunch or BBQ (I'm not sure which) and I feel very awkward. Mainly because it's my second baby and so I'm one of those people that think showers are for baby #1 but am extremely grateful that they want to do something so sweet for me. I also feel like it might be awkward because I don't have a lot of people to invite because I don't have a lot of friends. So if any of you bloggy friends want to head up to good ol' Kansas for a baby shower feel free to shoot me your address and you can come! :)
The weather here has finally changed to a decent temperature but now that I am in my 3rd trimester I feel like all I want to do is sleep. And apparently the hubby feels the same way because I am having to pick up the slack where he is leaving off. I love the man dearly but seriously...I'm 32 weeks along...a little help shredding some cheese and cutting some tomatoes would be awesome!
On the creepy side of me I took my phone into Leo's daycare and snapped a picture of their schedule. They aren't in their "assigned" room in the morning when it's breakfast time so no one saw me do it. I did it for when I am on maternity leave and keep Leo home a few days a week I can try to keep him on a less-strict schedule than they do but still have some ideas in mind of something to keep him occupied other than the Backyardigans and Dora. So I have the schedule and now all I need to figure out what the heck circle time and centers consist of. Any ideas would be appreciated!
I made some extremely delicious chicken tacos last night for dinner. We hadn't had them in a while and so I decided to make them and they turned out awesome. I was very pleased with myself! I also made a list of dinners for the next two weeks and I bought my groceries and spent under $55 for 2 weeks! I will have to make at least 1 trip during the next week to get more milk but between the meat we already had and the stuff in our cupboards we had quite a bit so that was pretty awesome as well. I love it when I can make a list and stick to it!
Evenings have been a real struggle lately for Leo. He starts to get sleepy and cranky around 7 and I can tell it's time for bed but if I put him to bed that early he wakes up sooooo early. Plus 7 just seems so early especially when I sometimes don't even get off work until 8. If he was already in bed then I wouldn't get to see him at all. Any suggestions on what to do to help ease the evening angry's let me know!

Ok. Enough random spouting. I'm sorry if you feel dumber for reading this! Haha. SOmetimes I feel that way when I write it! Happy Tuesday! Go hit up Stacy to see all the other random ramblings out there. And she's also hosting a super-awesome giveaway for her 3rd blogiversary. You can choose wine or no wine. So yeah, it's definitely worth it to check it out!

Project 52: Freckleshins

2011-09-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

This is my crazy dog Freckles! She is currently staying with my parents so we can make sure she doesn't terrorize the potential home buyers when they come over. Haha...she is a nut. I've had her since 1997 and she is just a crazy old dog. She acts more like a cat where she only will do something if she wants to. She is a little crazy-eyed (as you can see from the picture) but she's a sweet dog and we love her none-the-less! And she's put up with Leo's shenanigans for the past 4 1/2 years so we give her credit for not going crazy and biting anyone!

Project 52: Mirror Mirror

2011-09-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

Week 5 is a little late but better late than never! Plus I had to clean the mirror and I used Emily's idea to just put me and my Peo in front of the mirror and snap away! I was lucky in the fact that he was in a good mood to be photographed!

RTT: Weekend Fun and Random Musings

2011-09-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

Wha? How did that happen? It's Tuesday? Woo hoo! That means a 4-day work week. OH wait...it doesn't for me since I work some Saturday's and this week is one of them but it's whatever! It does mean it's Tuesday and time for some Random.

With our 3-day weekend (because I was lucky enough to not work this past Saturday) we did a lot of nothing and it was amazing. I'm really enjoying having the house pretty much fixed up and with a lack of stuff in it so the cleaning is quick and painless. Saturday my mom took Leo to the local historic museum called Cowtown and they watched gun fights and participated in a scavenger hunt and did other fun things. Like drink beer (sarsaparilla) in the saloon. He thought that was pretty awesome! So while they were out gallivanting around town the hubby and I just hung out and watched HGTV all day. It was pretty amazing. Sunday was busier only because we attended 2 parties with our families. It was nice to see everyone and spend time with them. Monday was another day where we didn't have anything going on but then we got a message saying that someone wanted to come look at the house so we had to clean up and get out. While the people were snooping around we went to eat, went to Target and then got Leo's hair cut. All in all it was an outstanding weekend!

We didn't really have anything to get at Target but it seems like you can't leave without buying something. So Leo made out like a bandit. He got a coloring book, a box of colored pencils, a Star Wars t-shirt and a Target brand Nerf gun (btw...I didn't even know they made off-brand Nerf guns but he got 3 mini guns that came in 1 pack for $5). All of that I got for under $20. I was pretty amazed. And he was extremely happy!

Our house has been on the market since August 17th. That is 19 days. And since those 19 days have passed we have had 3 showings. That's 1 per week. I think that's pretty good seeing as how the market isn't super-awesome. I'm just hoping that before September 20th our house sells. I'm giving it until then so that way if it takes 1 month to close we are still closing on our house before my due date. Let's hope that the showing on Monday was the one and they put an offer in today!

Even though I sometimes complain about work we do have some pretty cool perks. Such as winning tickets to local events at the arena that our bank has the name rights to. The most recent contest was to win tickets to see Disney on Ice Toy Story 3. And we won! AND we get suite tickets. So this upcoming Saturday we get to go to the arena and watch Toy Story 3. Leo is so excited!

Is anyone else excited about football season? I AM! It starts this Thursday and I can't wait! Woo hoo! Let's go Redskins! :)

Ok. That's enough random from me. I hope you all had a nice Labor Day weekend and your week goes quickly!

Baby Update: 31 weeks

2011-09-05T17:39:00.003-05:00

How far along: 31 weeks!

Baby Size: Head of Lettuce. AKA 4 pounds and 19 inches long

Weight Gain: As of my scale at home 30 pounds. I'm not too concerned about the weight gain anymore because my doctor says my blood pressure is great and my glucose test was perfect. So I'm just trying to keep doing what I've been doing and hopefully not blow up the last 9 weeks.

Maternity Clothes: Still wearing lots of dresses and not a lot of pants because it has been a constant stream of 100+ degree days. We've finally had a cool streak (2 days of 80 degree days!!!) and so I'm sure I'll bust out a few fall clothes soon. But with only 9 weeks to go I'm not planning on buying any more maternity clothes and just forging through with what I have already.

Sleep: Falling asleep is becoming more of a struggle because I'm not able to find a comfortable position but some nights I can sleep through the night without getting up so that's awesome!

Best Moments: Making it through every passing day is a best moment because I know some people aren't as blessed to have had such an easy pregnancy.

Movements: Still moving and grooving in there. I'm sure that will start to slow down in the upcoming weeks.

Cravings: Sweets will be my downfall. The other night I went to bed just thinking about how good ice cream, cookies and pie all sounded. And then this weekend we had 2 family get-togethers with a LOT of sweet snacks so I definitely over-indulged. Oh well!

Looking forward to: My appointment on Friday. I'm to my every 2 weeks appointments. My last one I was in and out and so I'm sure they will continue to be the same.

Symptoms: No symptoms as of late. So that is awesome!

And last but not least stretch marks: The same as before. Haven't noticed any new ones. Thankfully!

With all the craziness that is life I haven't really updated on my life lately and since this is baby related I'll put it in this update. They are re-finishing the floors where I work and when I was walking back from getting lunch my foot slipped on a slippery spot and down I went. I wasn't going to even call my doctor because I could still feel the baby moving and wasn't too concerned but one of the girls I work with is marrying a doctor and she was overly-concerned. So I called. And they told me I should go to the hospital to be monitored. So I went when I got off work and they hooked me up to the monitors and there I stayed for about an hour and a half. Alas...everything was fine as I suspected but of course it's good that I went in and got checked just to be on the safe side. So a little scary moment but all turned out fine!

RTT: The Bulleted Edition

2011-08-30T14:00:00.004-05:00

It's been a few weeks since I've participated in RTT but I figured I had a little free time so I could throw some random up for you. It's going to be bulleted because my head is in a fog from all these crazy allergies!

I took Leo to the library yesterday and he really enjoys going. So that's a bonus since it's free. But since he can't read I don't like how they alphabetize their children's books. I think they should organize their books by type. Ie: Power Rangers, construction, princess, etc. This way when I know what Leo wants to read about I can look in one spot.

I have been uber-stressed lately. And I'm not sure why. I just feel very out of it all. the. time. I'm sure it has something to do with being 2 months away from baby, a house on the market and the devil spawn living in the form of my 4yo.

Ok, maybe not the devil spawn but some days I feel like that. We have had some extreme behavioral issues lately but they only manifest themselves when he is with me and the hubby. So I guess that's a good thing. And it seems like they come more when he's tired and/or needs a nap. And my mom made a good point that there are a lot of changes going on in his life (see my above stressors) and he probably does not have the same mental capabilities to handle them like adults do. So I can't get too mad.

We have started a behavior/chore chart again and day 2 he got ALL his stickers. So that is a plus. And he keeps looking at Sunday and says that it wasn't a good day and he needs to work on it. And I just keep reminding him that every day is a new day and that we can only make this one better than the one before. So there's that.

Work has been crazy lately as well. I worked 48+ hours last week. And it seems like all the weeks since the beginning of the year I've worked 40+. I'm not complaining...the time and a half is nice. Plus I'm very thankful for a job. I am just completely looking forward to my maternity leave to give me some time away from work!

With all our stuff in storage it has been extremely easy to keep the house clean. There is nothing to clutter our house. It's A-freaking-Mazing. And Leo's toys are not taking over the living room so we aren't living a real-life Toy Story movie when we walk in. So nice.

I got a massage on Friday and it was awesome. My sweet god-mother gave me a gift certificate to indulge myself and it was so nice. And at one point I thought that if the little massage lady left me in the room by myself in the peace and quiet I wouldn't mind that either. Not that the massage wasn't nice but the fact that just being in the dark, quiet room would be alright with me as well!

Ok that is enough from me. I am not linking up with Stacy (because I may or may not be at work where most blogs may or may not be blocked) but you should because she's awesome for giving me a place to spew my random every Tuesday while Keely is on hiatus. So Happy Tuesday!

Project 52: My Sunshine

2011-08-25T08:07:00.001-05:00

This was what my sunrise looked like this morning. It was a little before 6:55 but close enough!

Spin Cycle: Plz dnt make me hurt u

2011-08-20T14:09:00.003-05:00

Ah the power of language. And what you can do with it. I am not a linguistic but I was a communication major. And in those few years (and many thousand dollars later) I learned a few things. And that is that I am an editor at heart and people who don't use grammar/spelling correctly annoy me. I notice little errors in newspapers, magazines, books and of course blogs and social networking. I'm not one of those people though that point it out but every time I see an error I cringe a little bit. But the two things I hate the most are when people use abbreviations in texts and tweets and when companies don't spell things correctly or are grammatically incorrect.

I have several people who text me on a regular basis and use the silly little abbreviations like LOL and R U...and it drives me crazy. I never say anything to them but hot cheese it drives me crazy! And of course the tweets from companies is just a no-brainer. They are putting their products or stories out there for the whole world to see on Twitter. Don't you think it would make sense to have someone proof-read what they are putting out there so hacks like me don't blog about it later! They definitely should!

That's what I have for language today. I probably should have blogged about my sailor Kendra who uses language that would make even the roughest of the rough blush but that's a story for a different day! Go see Jen and the other spinners to see how they can spin their words into gold.

Project 52: A Learning Process

2011-08-18T19:50:00.002-05:00

My something to learn is how NOT to get paint on the baseboards! Whoopsie!

Spin Cycle: The Eyes Have It

2011-08-17T16:19:00.005-05:00

This weeks spin cycle is an interesting topic. Nature vs. Nurture. What traits are passed down. Or are they really passed down? Welp...let me tell you. In my house we have noticed a trait that Leo has been displaying loud and proud the last month or so. And it is the ever obnoxious eye-roll. And unfortunately he got it from me.

Anytime we ask him to do something that he does not want to do he looks up at us over his cute little shoulder and rolls his eyes. If you say something that he deems completely ridiculous...yep. You guessed it. An eye-roll.

And I was making the comment to my mom about it and I was fessing up that I'm sure he got it from me when my mom just cracked up and said that my dad HATED when I would roll my eyes at him. And I won't lie. It happened a lot. And I'll continue to tell the truth when I say I still roll my eyes. On a daily basis. And sometimes I don't even realize I do it. Which is unfortunate since I work in a retail position. So I know I've rolled my eyes at customers and don't even realize I do it. So I'm sure that has been a reason to yell at me when they are doing it. And in our house the hubby and I have an ongoing joke about my eye-rolls. I have a special knack for rolling just one eye. So he always calls me out when I am using my creepy eye. And then sometimes I do it just to mess with him.

So I am going to say that this trait is both nature and nurture. Becuase I'm sure I've rolled my eyes at Leo before but I think it takes a special something to get the eye roll just right and boy does he!

Project 52: Au Natural

2011-08-11T08:11:00.002-05:00

Oh man...I look tired! Here I am with no makeup. I don't normally wear a lot of makeup anyways but usually a little eye makeup so I don't look like a sleepy zombie!

Click here to see more Project 52's and see what it's about.

Baby Update: 27 weeks

2011-08-08T10:54:00.007-05:00

Whoops. It's been a month since I've done a baby update. I can't believe it. I also can't believe another month has come and gone. It's crazy how fast time is going.

How far along: 27 weeks. 89 days left...AKA: My 3rd trimester has begun! So crazy!

Baby Size: Head of Cauliflower

Weight Gain: As of my scale at home 25 pounds. I go to the doctor tomorrow so we shall see...

Maternity Clothes: Still wearing lots of dresses and not a lot of pants because it has been a constant stream of 100+ degree days. Yuck!

Sleep: Sleep is still a luxury that I am enjoying. If I get woken up I will have to get up to use the restroom but if not I can sleep through the night.

Best Moments: Just knowing that in a few short months we will be greeting the new baby!

Movements: He has been moving around a lot lately. And a lot of the time. He sometimes feels the need to become a contortionist and put himself in the weirdest positions inside of me. And so it feels really weird!

Cravings: The other day it was Taco Bell and other than that it is still chicken wings. But I haven't had any in some time. Our anniversary is this weekend so we may have a wing date at Buffalo Wild Wings! I'm sure the hubby wouldn't mind that!

Looking forward to: My appointment on Thursday. I don't know why because it is always a 10 minute appointment and I don't get much out of them but just hearing the heartbeat and having the reassurance that everything is ok is nice. Also...we still need a name. So I'm looking forward to coming up with that!

Symptoms: I have had some nausea and headaches recently but I attribute those to the extreme heat we are having and not really pregnancy related but who knows. I am trying to drink lots of water and not over-exert myself but sometimes I'm not even doing anything and start feeling that way. I'm ready for mother nature to get it together and drop the temperatures for the rest of the summer!

And last but not least stretch marks: The same as before. Haven't noticed any new ones. Thankfully!

Spin Cycle: What I've Been Doing

2011-08-04T21:57:00.002-05:00

Jen gave us a super easy assignment for the spin this week and I put it off. But I won't lie...I've been extremely busy. And since the spin is whatever we want this week I'll give you a little update on what we've been doing.

The past few weekends the hubby and I have been house hunting. We have a friend who is a real estate agent and so we enlisted her help and have gone on our merry little way and looked at several houses in our area. And we found some that we like. So that put a little fire under our behinds and I crunched some numbers and said...hey! We might actually be able to pull this off. And so we have been working our little tails off this week to try to get our house market-ready. We've painted the bathroom and master bedroom. We've updated all 29 (yes...29!) knobs in our kitchen and the hubby has replaced the entryway stick-em tiles with new colors. I've also packed almost all of Leo's 17 bajillion toys and cleaned up our closets so they look as though someone would be able to fit their stuff in them. And this weekend we are planning on packing and painting the spare bedroom (and what will be the baby's room if we can't sell the house). We also will be updating some ceiling fans in the master bedroom and kitchen, packing the items in our kitchen that we don't use all the time and just all-in-all trying to make our house clutter free so again, people will be able to imagine themselves here.

So yeah. While I haven't been around my little place in the blogosphere and definitely haven't been visiting others I have been doing something. Although last night I was in bed at 8 because the past week has kicked my prego butt! Next week the hubby is taking a week of vacation and hopefully getting what little we have left to do accomplished and then by the 15th we should have our house on the market. So about 10 more days and then I can just relax for the next 2 1/2 months until baby time. Yeah...2 1/2 months. From the 15th anyways. Yikes!

Go visit Jen and see all the other random spins!

Project 52: In the Car

2011-08-04T21:51:00.002-05:00

Emily over at Live a Charmed Life either had or got the idea for a 52 week picture project because honestly...who has time for a 365 picture project? She asked for people to join in if they would like and I love pictures and I love easy blogging. I won't lie! And I've been extremely busy with life lately and I figured this would be an easy post! And it was. The first prompt is In the Car. And anytime we take a trip I take a picture of my Peo in the car. So here he is in all his car seat glory eating Twizzlers on the way to Kansas City! And if you want to join Emily and I on our 52 week journey check out her tab and see the different weeks!

May 2011

What I Ate Wednesday

2011-08-03T15:22:00.001-05:00

I’m trying a new meme this week with What I Ate Wednesdays. It’s a little meet-up where you are to link a day in the life of what you ate…and since it’s Wednesday and I just decided to do this I don’t have pictures but it’s been a hectic week so here we go!

Breakfast:

Banana

Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Morning Snack:

Special K Blueberry cereal bar

Lunch:

Leftover Carlos O’Kelly’s chicken fajita quesadilla

Afternoon snack:
Fiber One Bar (We are doing a healthy eating challenge and this week the challenge is Fiber…just FYI!)

Dinner:

Completely forgot about dinner. We started a project and so I was wrapped up in that

Evening snack:

Since I forgot dinner and then went to pick up my mom from the airport I was starving by the time I got home so I ate another Special K bar This time it was strawberry! (Those things are delicious!) and banana.

To see what other people ate go see http://www.peasandcrayons.com/

Spin Cycle: The Kids Will Be Alright

2011-07-27T18:52:00.005-05:00

The spin cycle this week hits pretty close to home. Kids and technology. Wow. A lot can be said about this. With Leo his fascination with technology started at a young age. He was born around the time Rock Band was popular and the hubby and I like to play some games and especially when it comes to rocking out we deemed it necessary to get that game. And so of course Leo would “watch” us play. And he would sit there with his own guitar and pretend he was playing with us. He was just so darn cute! ( I was going to insert a picture here but stupid blogger wouldn't let me. Annoyed!)

As he’s gotten older he has continued with his fascination with all things technological. He loves playing on our Iphones. He got a DS for his birthday from his grandma and grandpa who love to spoil him. And of course his dad is a gamer so he felt he needed multiple games to go along with it. He plays Nick Jr. and Playhouse Disney on the computer. He got a Smart Cycle from his other grandma and grandpa that love to spoil him for Christmas. He also has a Superhero Squad computer AND a Bob the Builder computer. Both were given as gifts and he plays with both of them. Oh and yeah, he has a TV in his room because I can’t stand to watch Blue’s Clues and Bob the Builder and and and. And to top it all off he has learned how to play the Wii. While we always knew the Wii would come in handy for a kid because of the ease of use I was not prepared for the monster it would create.

I think it was just a few weeks ago that I said I loved the Wii because it gave me some uninterrupted time to myself while he could occupy himself while playing. Well I would like to retract my statement. While I still love that Leo is capable at 4 to get multiple hole-in-ones while playing Tiger Woods golf with his dad I feel like kids spend WAY too much time playing games and watching TV. And I NEVER thought I would be that parent. I figured that the kid would be diversified enough and that he had sooooo many toys that he wouldn’t want to watch TV and play video games all the time. Boy was I wrong. And maybe as he gets older and has more friends that live by us that are his age he will be able to spend more time doing other things. But right now I have to step in and set limits for him. Like two Sunday’s we woke up to the child bouncing on our bed asking to play the Wii. I told him that he could BUT he could only play for 30 minutes. And I had a headache the size of Texas and this would have been the perfect opportunity to let him play for as long as his little heart desired. But I didn’t. I set my alarm for 30 minutes later and when I woke back up I made him turn it off and do something else. And I’ve done the same thing with the computer and the TV recently. Unfortunately it’s been so hot I’m afraid to send the little bugger outside because I don’t want him to get heat stroke (seriously…it was 111 here today). And as much as he sweats he would probably get dehydrated in a matter of minutes! So finding other activities for him to do that will keep him occupied has been difficult. But I’ve bought some preschool/kindergarten readiness workbooks and he loves doing his “homework.” I’ve also told him that he needs to use his imagination and make up stuff to do. And I know that his dad does not impose the same limits on the games that I do and that’s fine. I also think it’s fine that the hubby and him spend time together playing the games. I actually think it’s pretty darn cute. I just want him to grow up learning that there is more to his life than technology.

One way that we are trying to broaden Leo’s horizons is by taking him to many different museums and events. In our town we have different museums and he’s gone to so many different ones. He’s been to the art museum, the children’s museum, the All-American Indian Center, Botanical Gardens and a Museum of Natural Treasures. He’s also been to a few college basketball games, to see the Harlem Globetrotters, multiple Kansas City Royals games and even a Kansas City Chiefs game. This year we were thinking of taking him to see a KU football game and I was going to send the hubby and him up to Kansas City to watch the Chiefs play again but that just depends on some things in the works for the future.

So yeah. I think there needs to be some regulations put in place by the parents and it has to be what works best for your family. I know that Leo does not spend hardly any time with technology at school so at night what he spends is not a lot. And I also don’t consider the time he spends watching stuff with us or playing games with his dad as part of his allotted time. I think family togetherness is way more important than any amount of time spent doing one activity. So again…we all have to do what’s best for our individual families!

To see other people’s take on this spin visit Jen!

RTT: Insomniac edition

2011-07-26T05:33:00.004-05:00

Tuesday already? It still feels like Monday to me since I hardly got any sleep last night! Well I guess since I'm up I'll throw down some random and join Stacy in the continuing rebellion!

I hate when you get woke up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. That's what happened to me. Leo woke up around 3 and I could never get back to sleep. Thankfully he's snoozing away now so he won't be a complete bear when I wake him up to get ready for school!

So we are trying to de-clutter the house and get ready for baby time. I figured 1 tote would clean up most of Leo's toys from the living room and his bedroom. Soooo yeah. That didn't work out. I filled up 2 totes and that was just from the living room. So ridiculous. I knew Leo had a lot of toys but had no idea he had this many. Kind of makes me rethink this whole toy thing. And maybe we need to have another garage sale!

Last week I said that the hubby and I had some real conversations about stuff to get the house fixed up. Well we have made some progress! I have 2 people coming to look at 2 different things to get them taken care of. Woot woot! AND...we picked up some paint samples for our bathroom and bedroom. They are both in need of some paint!

It's been over a week and the kitchen and living room have stayed clean. Score one for me!

The weather here is still crazy hot. The sucky thing about it though is that we had some rain on Sunday so the humidity is back. Yuck! I can take the dry heat but the humidity is for the birds!

Ok. That's enough for insomniac RTT! Don't forget to stop by and see Stacy and the other rebels!

Memoir Monday: Relaxing weekend edition

2011-07-24T17:14:00.002-05:00

Finally...a relaxing weekend! My first weekend off the whole month of July. And I have been looking forward to it since June! Haha. The sad thing is I'm not even kidding!

Saturday morning we got up super early (4am) because the hubby had to take his sister and brother-in-law to the airport because they got to go to Hawaii. So jealous! I set my alarm too so that way we made sure he got up because they live 30 minutes away so it was quite the drive and I didn't want him to oversleep. While he was gone I crashed back out and slept until almost 8. We got up and ran some errands and then got some McDonalds for lunch. Then the rest of the afternoon we just chilled out. It. was. amazing.

Sunday we got up and went over to my parents house to swim. The pool was crystal-clear (that's for you mom!) and Leo and myself plus my dad, brother, his wife and daughter were all over there. The hubby is not a swimmer (or a people-person) so he stayed home and relaxed by himself. Seriously though...the pool was awesome. The weather has been stupid-hot here so any time we can get to the pool for a little bit we try. We were over there for about an hour and half and the pool was just the right temperature to keep us relaxed. After swimming we got ready and went out to lunch with my hubby's parents who were stopping through town after going to a concert the night before. So we hung out for almost 2 hours and enjoyed the company.

The rest of the afternoon I've just been hanging out and I had 50 free prints from Shuttefly so I downloaded some pictures and ordered them so I could use the coupon before it expired. And now I am getting ready to go bowling for my league. We suck but we have fun!

I hope everyone had as nice of a weekend as I have! Happy Sunday!

What A Night

2011-07-22T10:55:00.001-05:00

Here’s a recap of how my week with my menu plan has gone.

Monday night I used the Foreman grill to cook hamburgers and brats. They turned out amazingly and the clean-up was pretty simple. And I say that because the hubby did it! Haha!

Tuesday morning I got up and made Leo the smoothie. It turned out pretty good but it made quite a large cup so most of it did not get drank. He wanted to save it but it did not save very well through the day!

Wednesday night was the crazy night. I got home from work around 6:30 and started dicing up the chicken for the kung pao chicken. I had bought a large package of chicken so that way I could save money since I was using the other half of the package to make the fajitas. So I diced the entire package and tossed what I needed for that night’s dinner in the skillet. I had already put the noodles in to cook as well. After that was done the hubby and I ate dinner together and then I started cleaning up. I had also decided that I would pre-make the lasagna so that way the hubby would only have to put it in the oven on Thursday when I had to work late. So I put that all together. And as a first time lasagna maker it was not as difficult as some make it out to be. Maybe I chose an easy recipe but it was pretty simple so that was a definite plus. Then I cleaned up all the dishes and the cabinets and stove. I was finished. But something was kind of nagging at me. So I let it nag and then I said…fine! So I decided to make the marinade for my fajitas so I wouldn’t have to do that Thursday night since the plan was to have those on Friday. So between 6:30 and 8 I got 3 meals prepared for this week. And I felt completely accomplished!

Thursday night was so relaxing because I came home and dinner was already made and so all I had to do was take some out of the pan and eat it. The lasagna tasted really good but I still have a hard time getting over the ricotta level. NOT a fan of ricotta! But the hubby said it was good so the vegetarian dinner was a success!

And now today is Friday. The fajita meat has been marinating for a day and a half so hopefully it will be deliciously seasoned! I am grabbing lettuce and tomatoes and I have cheese and sour cream at home. It is definitely a dinner I am looking forward to!

Leftovers come tomorrow and then Sunday I’m making enchiladas. I have all the ingredients for them so that I am looking forward to as well! Happy Friday to you all!

WILW: Love in the Sun

2011-07-20T14:48:00.001-05:00

Woot woot! It’s Wednesday! That means it’s midway through the week and time for What I Love Wednesday!

Here are just a few things that I’m loving this week:

I’m loving Dairy Queen Blizzards. No I haven’t had an abundance of them because I swore I was going to stop eating as many sweets. BUT…it’s been so darn hot so the occasional treat isn’t bad! Last week I had the banana cream pie blizzard and today one of my co-workers went on a Blizzard run and I got the mint oreo blizzard. Yum!

I’m loving that so far so good on sticking to my meal plan. Go me! Tonight I’m trying my hand at kung pao chicken. We’ll see how that turns out!

I’m loving that Leo is so darn smart (I’m not biased or anything!). We’ve been talking about Grandma being in Scotland for work and so we’ve also talked about what continent Scotland is on and the ocean that Grandma had to cross to get there. And he’s retained the information. He’s a genius! I’m sure he gets it from his mama!

I’m loving that the hubby and I have had real discussions about things around the house that need to be fixed up and actually have made moves to actually do them instead of just talking about it and then tossing them on the back burner. Go us for being adults!

I’m loving that when I went swimming last night it was like bathwater. I’m not even kidding. I love hot tub temps for me to go swimming in. I don’t want chilly. I don’t want yeah, it feels good once you’ve been in for a while. I want warm when I walk in. A-mazing!

I’m loving that I have done really well on not drinking as much pop. My OB would be so proud of the amount of water I’ve been drinking. My bladder on the other hand…

I’m loving that I got my money for competition at work I won AND there are 3 paychecks in July for us. That is super awesome. That means more money for our baby fund!

I’m loving that this Saturday is the only Saturday in July that I don’t have to work. I have been looking forward to this since June! It’s ridiculous how excited I get over a 2-day weekend!

I’m loving that my grandpa got out of the rehab center he has been in for the past 4 weeks. And he even got out to come to family dinner last night. Awesome!

And that’s all I have right now. I hope you all have a lot to love on this Wednesday! I know I do!

RTT: USA all the way!

2011-07-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

Whew. It's Tuesday again and boy do I have some random for you! After you get done visiting me don't forget to visit Stacy and all the other random rebels out there!

What is it about baseball players and chewing tobacco? Of course since it's the summer we watch a stupid amount of baseball and I've always noticed that baseball player like their chaw. And I don't get it. I definitely prefer to see them chewing on sunflower seeds or big league chew but you see a lot of them spitting and it is so gross. I wonder who started that. I'm sure I could find it on Google but figured RTT was a much better place for me to put my question out there!
I picked up Kentucky Fried Chicken Sunday night for dinner and it was expensive. Like $20 for 2 meals and 2 extra biscuits expensive! I'm not sure why there prices are so inflated. And by the time I saw the prices I had already been in line and didn't want to go somewhere else. I just couldn't believe it. Pretty sure that's the last time for awhile that we will be getting any KFC.
The hubby and I both downloaded Angry Birds (or as Leo likes to call it, Mad Birds) on our phones because Leo played it on my uncles phone and really liked it and it will keep him busy for a little bit if we have somewhere we need to keep him occupied. But something strange happened after download. The hubby and I have become addicted to it. It is so much fun and I just want to crush those stupid pigs! For awhile the hubby and I were on the same level but he has overtaken me and so now all I want to do is beat him!
The women's World Cup just happened. I'm not sure if any of you cared. I dislike soccer quite a bit. The hubby enjoys it sometimes. Our son became a soccer hooligan. We watched the USA-Brazil game and that was pretty exciting. I won't lie. And then I tried to follow when they played to get into the finals. And then on Sunday when the finals were on I watched most of it. I fell asleep and then woke up during the extra time. And then they lost in the penalty kicks. So I was ok with sleeping through part of the game so I didn't feel like I wasted my time to watch them lose. That's so terrible but that's how I feel. I also feel the same way about watching baseball games only to see the team I want to win lose it in the 9th. But my main point about the World Cup is that I know soccer is probably the least liked sport in the United States but my Twitter and Facebook feeds were full of updates. I think it's like the Olympics where no one cares about gymnastics, curling, swimming, etc. but man...when those Olympics come on you better watch out because we are USA all the way!

And that's all she wrote. Don't forget to visit Stacy and have a happy Tuesday!

My Sweet Peo

2011-07-18T12:35:00.002-05:00

My baby boy. The one who loves to do almost everything. Was crying because he didn't want to go to school. Full-on tears. Well first came the "I'm sick." He's 4 people. I had no idea it started this early. When I asked why he was sick he told me he had a head ache and he throwed up and he had the hiccups. A lot of ailments for a little boy! I told him that he hadn't thrown up and that hiccups weren't an illness. Then the tears started coming. The soft tears. Not the mean, angry tears that come when he doesn't want to do something. And my heart broke. So I asked him specifically why he didn't want to go to school. And he told me that there was a "friend" who was hitting him. And I was not surprised. He's a boy and he's 4. But he was still crying. So I felt bad. I asked him if the teachers knew about it. And he told me they did. And then I asked what happened when they found out about it. And he told me the kid went into timeout. And I was pretty satisfied with that response. Because when Leo got into a fight at school that's what happened to him. He was in timeout and I was told of the incident. And at 4 I'm ok with that. I understand boys will be boys and as long as there are no acutal injuries I think those situations need to play out. I also reminded him how the little boy that he got into a fight with before probably was in the same situation with him mom saying how he didn't want to go to school. But we all have to do things that we don't want to do sometimes. So off to school we went.

And then at the school I went to the teacher and told her about what Leo had said about being hit last week. And would you like to know what her response to me was? That another little boy AND Leo had been put into timeout for hitting each other. And then there I was...looking like a fool. (or at least that's how I felt!) And so before I left I told Leo that we need to remember that if we don't like to be hit that others also don't like to be hit. So we need to keep our hands to ourselves. And that we need to tell the whole story and not just the part that we want to tell! I think he just had a case of the Moon-days and didn't want to go to school. But I guess we all had a learning experience.