Time alone

The Hubs and I had a few hours alone. My SIL drove down and took care of the kids for three hours.

What did we do?

We looked leisurely around Thomasville checking out the bedroom furniture. We've been married 9 years and still haven't purchased master bedroom furniture. The kids have their wood framed bed/cribs, but us? Just the basic metal frame with no headboard. Sad, but true. We saw a couple things that we like, but have yet to make any kind of decision. We're going to continue to look at more styles before we make a purchase.

We had dinner at an adult restaurant. One that had crisp white table cloths. One that didn't have a high chair in sight. One that didn't have a children's menu. It had Pacific Rim cuisine on the menu. Hubs ordered the "Panko-Crusted Chicken Breast over Linguini". I ordered the "Crisp Fried Calamari", which was an appetizer, and the "Shrimp Roll" sushi. It was a glorious meal. We sat next to each other in the booth. We talked. We ate (a HOT meal). It was a good time.

We headed home early. We stopped by Cold Stone and picked up dessert for the troops. My SIL left and we cuddled on the couch until the kids' bedtime.

What was nice about our almost 3 hours alone? We were a couple. My Hubs opened doors for me just he would when we were dating. We were able to sit right next to each other. We were able to talk about stuff WE wanted to discuss. We were able to hold hands and walk quietly. We were able to look at each other.

It was fantastic.

Potpourri

Currently? 3:05am. Princess? In her bed snoring away. Hubs? In our bed snoring. Bear? In the toddler bed in our room. Hubs went and got the Bear at 2:25am because he was crying. Thankfully, the kid is back to sleep. And NOT in our bed. Me? Can't sleep. That's why I'm online!

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Niece#2 is engaged. She's engaged to a loser. A loser who is currently "living the den" of Sister#1 & my BIL's house. The loser who barely got his high school diploma. The loser who will be joining the armed forces in a couple of months. Niece#2 works at Blockbuster. She also lives in my sister's house. No wedding date has been set.

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"Wait until you finish school (meaning college) before you start a family..." This was the advice Sister#1 gave Niece#2 when she was told of the engagement. Hmm...Interesting advice. But doesn't it sound familiar? This is the advice my folks gave Sister#1 when she was dating my BIL. But my folks just wanted my sister to finish high school! She didn't listen to my folks. She ended up running away from home midway through the 11th grade. She got her GED about 4 years after she ran away.

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I ordered our "We've moved" announcements. We should be getting them in the mail tomorrow. When my ILs came down last Sunday for dinner, Hubs made a point of telling his Mom that we'd ordered the announcements and would be mailing them out soon. Now WHY did he do that? Because she was telling us about how Hub's cousin had moved and she (my MIL) just received the announcement. She was letting us know about that because she didn't think we'd received one. He told me later that he wanted to make sure she knew because she'd end up bugging him about it to find out when we were sending them out. Like WHY is that any of her business? What if we decided NOT to send announcements out? So what? It's not like anyone on her side (about 95%) or my FILs side (about 100%) ever sends out stuff to let us know when they've moved! We end up hearing months and months after the fact that "so and so now lives here..."

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My parents house will be a mess next week. They are having their old countertops/sinks removed. New ones are being installed. They'll be getting new Sandstone Corian countertops and sinks installed! It's going in the kitchen. AND it's going in all the bathrooms. The cabinets? The pieces required for the refacing are currently being manufactured. The actual installation will be in a month or so once all the pieces are complete. They've opted to go with a beech color for the cabinets. Someone will be at their house soon to scrape off their popcorn ceiling. The newly unveiled ceiling and the walls will be painted a new color -- hopefully a warm color to tie along with the sandstone counters and beech cabinetry. Any paint suggestions? It's going to look a LOT different. Currently, the walls are a dingy white. The countertops are plain white tile with white grout. The cabinets are dark brown. Home improvements. Gotta love them!

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Backyard? Still not done. They still need to paint the stucco exterior. THEN they'll install the grill. I'm sure it'll get done. But I knew it wouldn't be a TWO day job like the guy told Hubs.

Making Mommy Laugh

Driving home after picking up the Princess from preschool, I turn to look at the Bear. He's too quiet. I HAVE to find out why. He's covered his entire body with the white towel that had been next to him. He's even pulled up his feet. So it looks like it's just the white towel on the carseat.

Where is the Bear? Oh...where is the Bear?

He pulls the towel off his face. He's got the most HUGE smile on his face -- along with a snorty chuckle. Then he's covered again. The Princess gets into the act. The two take turns hiding. We all play this makeshift "peek-a-boo" game for the rest of the ride home. Those CRAZY kids of mine!

Note: It's hot here in Arizona in the summer. To help keep the kids carseats from getting too hot, I cover the carseats up with white towels when we're out and about. This way the buckles and straps don't get direct sunlight on them.

Baby Bear strides on...

My Bear? NOT the best sleeper. Took him forever (compared to his sister) to sleep through the night.

The past few months? He's been sleeping with either me or the hubs. Sleeping with one of us in the guest bed or the master bed (while the "lucky" one gets to sleep alone somewhere else).

This past week he seemed to be making strides of sleeping in his crib. All night. By himself. He did four nights alone. Four nights in a row! That's a record in these last few months.

On Sunday? We got the extra crib from our storage unit. We put it into the toddler bed configuration. In our room.

Last night? The boy started crying bloody murder when my Hubs put him in his crib. ^!$%

The result? My boy slept in the toddler bed in our bedroom. He slept there all night. In the toddler bed. NOT in our bed. He slept in the toddler bed -- except for the couple times he rolled off onto the floor. Still sleeping.

Hopefully, he's going to realize that even though he's in our bedroom. He's NOT sleeping in our bed. Hopefully, he'll figure that he might as well stay in his room.

HOPEFULLY...

Another reason to get him potty trained

There I was this morning. Happily surfing the internet. The Princess was in school. The Bear was watching "The Incredibles".

About 20 minutes before we had to go to pick up the Princess from school, I wandered back to the family room. I walked over to the Bear.

Hey Bear! Let's change your diaper. We've got to go pick up Sissy!

He walks over to me and stands there. I wrap my hands around him for a quick hug. UGH! Wetness.

Why the heck are my arms wet? Gross! You leaked kiddo!

I look at my arms. They have a dark residue on them. I turn my boy around. Yup! You guessed it! He'd pooped and it had leaked out the back.

Why don't you ever tell me when you've pooped?

I pulled off his clothes and threw them cleanside down. I got him down on the changing pad and quickly went to work.

Yuck! It's green! It's runny! It's ALL over the place! Buddy...you stink!

I cleaned him up as best I could. Using wipes was not doing the job though. I had to give him a quick bath. I ran upstairs with him arms-length away from me. I put him in the tub. Ran the water. Rinsed him off. Little bits and pieces went down the drain. I got the soap and scrubbed him down. I rinsed. I rinsed. And I rinsed. I threw on a clean diaper. I got him into a new outfit. I scrambled to get him into the carseat. And OFF we went. I left the house JUST in enough time so I wouldn't be late. All the kids HATE it when the Mommies are late.

What's funny? The Bear fell asleep about 15 minutes into the drive to school. What's even funnier? I was able to get him out of his carseat and into the school. Pick up the Princess. Walk back to the car. Get him AND her into their carseats. Get home. Get them both out of their carseats. And get him onto our big bed. He never fully awoke. He had that dazed awakening bit when I put him back into his carseat, but mostly he slept. He fell asleep about 11:40am. He officially woke back up at 2:30pm. That's right folks! A THREE hour nap!

BBQ...BBQ...where art thou?

On Monday morning, Hubs finally got a hold of the landscaper guy. The landscaper guy came by that evening to check out exactly what we wanted. He measured to determine how much rock is needed to cover the area. Spray painted where we wanted our built-in BBQ. Fine. The landscaper guy told my hubs it would be a TWO day job. GREAT! Hubs called his parents and invited them over for a BBQ dinner this Saturday.

Tuesday...one of his small crews (2 or 3 guys) came and trenched for some gas piping (gas grill). They put the piping in and poured the foundation for the BBQ.

Wednesday...the crew built the BBQ base using concrete bricks (I don't know what you call them specifically).

Thursday...the crew cut and placed the flagstone counter. Grouted it all in. Then textured the concrete bricks to match the stucco texture on our house exterior.

Friday...nothing. I came home at 12:45pm after being gone all morning. There's no crew. NO work has been done. The BBQ grill pieces are in boxes on the back patio (they dropped these off on Thursday), so we assumed they'd be here putting it all in today. Then they still have to get all the rock and lay that down all over the yard.

I called the Hubs to tell him the news. I guess he's going to have to call the landscaper guy to find out when the backyard will be finished. He also has to call his parents to find out if they still want to come down tomorrow for dinner. It certainly won't be a BBQ dinner. Unless we order out. HA!

Dodging a bullet

A bullet you ask? Yes. The sickness bullet.

I am so trying not to give into the swell of germies that are invading my home. Both of the kiddos have cold/coughs. The Princess has mostly a late evening cough. The Bear has it worse. He's got goobies coming out of his nose. When he feels something coming out, he'll take the back of his hand and swipe his nose. There's been a seemingly permanent white streak across left and right cheeks since yesterday. I try to clean him up, but the next time I look at him it's there. He's got the hard cough accompanying the goobies. It's the kind where you have to cough like 5 or 6 times when the urge hits. Poor little man.

Yesterday, we visited our local corner drugstore and stocked up on cough meds. Cough syrup? Check. Cough patches? Check. Cough patches? Yes. Instead of slathering Vick's on their chest at night, I got these cough chest vapor patches. The Vick's ends up doing is soaking up into their jammies. Supposedly these patches keep emitting the 'vapor scent' for about 8 hours. It was worth trying. You know what? It worked pretty well. I didn't hear the Princess cough until about 4am for just 30 seconds. The Bear? He coughed a little when we first put him into his crib but then it was quiet in there pretty much all night.

As for my status? Yesterday morning I woke up with a scratachy throat. I bought some throat spray at the drugstore. But I ended up dosing myself with NyQuil last night. I almost threw up trying to get the entire dosage down. It was horrible. Ugh. Yuck. But it definitely helped me. I slept from 8:45pm to 1:30am like a log. I heard the Bear complaining (not coughing) and I jumped out of bed. I used the toilet and headed to his room. By the time I got there, he was quiet. So I threw myself in the guest bed (next to his room) rationalizing to myself that he'd wake up again and need me. You know what? He didn't. He woke up at his usual 6am. But at least I got the sleep I needed.

I think we're all feeling better today. Got our sleep. With the help of some good meds. Hopefully, we'll be back up to speed tomorrow. Friday. Oh yeah!

An exciting morning already...

6:35am

The Bear is eating breakfast (bagel with cream cheese & a banana). I had just turned on my coffee to get it brewing. I was getting my two insulated coffee containers down (each holds 2 cups in it).

[buzz-buzz][chime-chime]

These weren't subtle sounds. These were the sounds of an alarm going off. In my house!

"Holy shit! What the hell is that going off for?"

I ran to the security system keypad and turned the alarm off.

"Whew!"

The Bear was crying because he didn't know what the heck was going on. I grabbed him out of the highchair (where he'd been happily eating his bagel). I headed upstairs because the Princess was still asleep. I'm sure she wasn't sleeping anymore! I also wanted to check each room upstairs to determine if there was any kind of smoke or odor. Nothing. But I got both kids downstairs after I did my check.

I put the Bear back into his highchair. He protested because that alarm really freaked him out. But I made sure to scoot his highchair over right next to his sister so she could be a comfort to him. I made the Princess her breakfast. Then I went digging for the security system directions. I wanted to make sure I turned the alarm off correctly. Even though I'd turned the alarm sound off, I knew I had to cancel it (for those of you with systems, you know what I mean).

I finally headed to the bathroom and got myself together for the day. Washed my face. Brushed my teeth. Changed into some shorts and a tank top. Pulled my hair back into a ponytail. Waa-laa! All ready for the day.

"Hmmm...do I hear a fire truck? Uh-oh...."

[knock-knock-knock]

I run to the front door. I open it up. Standing there are three huge fire fighters.

"Ma'am? We were called because a fire alarm went off?"

"Uh. Yes. It did go off. Come on in."

They all shuffle in.

"We just got the system installed last week. I checked through the house and didn't find anything out of the ordinary."

"Well, we've got this device that'll detect any smoke. Even in the roof and walls."

"Oh. Great. Go on ahead."

It was a fourth guy who had the smoke detector. The other three firefighters came in and stood waiting. The Princess came to the front when they came in and ran back to her breakfast.

"Her preschool just had some firefighters visit last week."

"Oh that's great!"

As the Bear is actively checking them out.

"This is the first time my little guy has seen you guys up close. We wave whenever we drive by the firehouse."

"Well, we'll definitely wave back if we see you."

The fourth guy with the smoke detector finished up walking through the entire house. And found nothing.

"Since it's a new system it might be a wiring thing. But sometimes those things are triggered by dust. Were you just vacuuming?"

"Nope. Just feeding my boy his breakfast and starting my coffee."

"Well, if it triggers again we'll be out here. If it does happen again, then you should get your security people out here to check for faulty wiring."

"Thanks guys."

They leave. I call the security people. Why? Because they called at 6:44am and left a voicemail. A voicemail that said that they'd be calling the fire department. I talked to a customer service person. Told him what happened. He said what the fire fighter said.

"If it happens again, a tech should check out the wiring."

What's crazy about that statement? We didn't want that additional fire alarm put in. We already had fire alarms through the builder. But it was part of the package in the security sytem we'd selected.

7am

All quiet. The kids have finished their breakfast. They're watching "The Incredibles."

Me? I'm finally fixing my coffee. Just poured the coffee into the containers and stirred the sugar into it.

What an exciting morning already!

Making Mommy Laugh

My daughter found her old bike safety helmet last night around 5pm. She was running around with the Bear. She put the helmet on the Bear's head. I knew something had happened because all of a sudden I heard the Princess laughing hysterically - even snorting. What's funny? He ended up wearing that helmet until bathtime (8pm). When he'd turn his head quickly the little straps would hit his cheeks. Yes, he ended up adjusting it a few times. It ended up on his head backwards. He looked too adorable. What's even funnier? The helmet? It's a blue one with brown bears on it! So appropriate!

We went to IHOP this morning. I ordered for me & the Princess. My hubs ordered for himself. The Bear? Hubs said he'd share with the Bear. Okay. Fine. My son looked like he'd only chew about 5 times before he'd swallow the pieces of waffle my hubs was feeding him. He'd swallow. Look at hubs. Say "Eat" and give my hubs the sign for eat at the same time. My hubs had to work hard to keep cutting the waffle to keep up with the Bear AND get some in his own mouth. [snort] That's what he gets for not ordering the Bear his own food. Ha!

Having the two kidlings share a hot dog outside of Costco. My son couldn't open his mouth wide enough to get the hot dog and bun into his mouth. My daughter? She'd open her mouth EXTRA wide to get everything to fit plus take a huge bite. What was even more funny was when a black bird landed near us and started making this piercing screeching sound. My son was a little weirded out by it. He climbed over to me and stood near me. Then he pointed to the bird and said "GO!" He did this a few times. He sure wanted it to go away. But (of course) the bird ignored him and continued to make the sound. I finally got up and put something in the trash and shoo'd the bird away.

Hearing from your teacher that you've got secrets. And that you tell them into your teacher's ear. "I wish I had a tail." "I wish I had fins." I had to explain to her teacher, who was a little perplexed by these secret desires that we'd just started watching "The Little Mermaid II". It all makes sense now!

Duh...we all knew she was pregnant!

Seems like all these celebrity watchers just don't have a clue. Like who didn't know that Britney Spears was pregnant? Any Mom who has tried to hide her condition until the end of the first trimester could already SEE quite plainly that the girl was knocked up.

We've seen her when she's gained a little weight but this latest gain was something altogether different. The wider shoulders. The larger breasts. The increased circumference around her mid-section. The plumper arms. At least she's admitted it now.

But she really needs to take care of herself. More time taking care of herself -- she should be more like Denise Richards! Now that girl is going through a divorce while she's in her last trimester and she looks amazing! You see photos of Denise taking walks with her trainer. She's tiny! And this is her 2nd baby in less than 1 1/2 years!

Best wishes though to Britney. I hope she has an easy pregnancy. And that she finds the happiness that she seems to be seeking.

Health advocate

When I come across any health issues, I am definitely going to have someone with me when I visit the doctors.

Why am I talking about this? Well, my hubs grandmother recently came out to have some tests run. She flew about 2000 miles to go to this one particular (world known) health clinic. She and hubs grandfather also wanted to visit the family that lives out here. Vacation and health tests. Why not combine the two if you're going to fly 2000 miles, right?

Grandma & Grandpa flew out on a Sunday. They went in on Monday to make sure what was going on. Grandma was having her tests on Tuesday. Fine, right?

No. Not so fine.

Grandma was having a test that required her to fast for 12 hours prior to the test. That's okay. Her test was scheduled for 7am in the morning. The clincher? Grandma has type-2 diabetes. Uh-oh! Turns out that Grandma had to go to the ER because she hadn't eaten. She ended up leaving without having the test performed. She flew all this way and didn't have those special test done. Oy!

Okay. She's got type-2 diabetes, right? Didn't this world renowned clinic realize this when they told her to fast? Did they not give her guidelines as to HOW to fast to ensure there wouldn't be any complications with her diabetes?

Then there's the issue that only Grandma and Grandpa were at the doctor's on Monday. I know if my Mom or Dad were taking special tests that I'd take the day off and go with them to the clinic. My MIL didn't go with them. She could have easily taken the day off. I wouldn't assume that the doctors know all the details of my parents health. I would be there to ask all those details questions that I know my folks wouldn't think to ask.

Because of this situation, my hubs and I have discussed what we'd do if we were ever in this situation. Each of us would be the "advocate" for the other. If the situation were overwhelming for either of us? We'd call in reinforcements. I would call one of my sisters. He'd call in his father.

So, do you and your spouse/significant other have a plan when this type of thing happens to you? Think about it. Discuss it. Then each of you will know what to do when (and hopefully it never does) happen.

Changing the doodies

Changing stations...do you use one?

I'll admit when I got pregnant with the Princess I wanted her to have an awesome room. I wanted a nice crib with a matching dresser and changing station. We got one of those large changing stations with two large, deep drawers along with a cabinet. It was a nice set-up.

Did I use the changing station like I'd anticipated? Nope. I used it regularly when she was a baby and still waking up at night. But once she started to sleep through the night I stopped using it. You see, we had a split level house. We had a main level with the kitchen, breakfast nook, formal living and dining rooms. Upstairs (about 10 steps) had the master bedroom and bath, two bedrooms, and a hall bath. Downstairs (4 steps) we had the family room, two bedrooms, and another hallway bath. Since I spent all my time in the family room, I wasn't about to haul my kiddo upstairs 14 steps to the changing station to get a clean diaper. No way! No how!

The solution? I bought a changing pad that had curved sides and kept it in the family room. The diaper supplies were kept in a large basket. I just changed my kiddos right there in the family room.

Today? I still have that changing pad and the basket. It's just easier to get my boy cleaned up. No going up stairs.

Now how about you? Where do you change your kid's diapers? In their bedrooms? On a changing station?

Sharing

My Princess went over a HUGE hurdle yesterday.

[drumroll please...]

She SHARED during circle time!

Her lead teacher had a huge smile on her face when I came in to pick up my daughter yesterday. I smiled back at her. She told me that my daughter told them all about her new bedroom. How she now has pink sheets. How she has Hello Kitty AND Strawberry Shortcake pillowcases that she sleeps on. How she has Strawberry Shortcake stickers all over her closet doors and her bedroom door. How she has white see-through curtains with flowers and sequins sprinkled all over them.

Ha-ha! She spoke in class! She had the entire class looking at her. Let me tell you that when she first started this class in August, the lead teacher had to stop doing this one activity because she saw how much my daughter cringed when they did it. What was this activity? They'd sit in circle time and everyone would sing about each kid. What the song was doesn't matter. What mattered is that my daughter would visibly shrivel up like she wanted to disappear whenever they'd sing her name.

She's a shy one. Yes, she is. She's exactly like I was when I was her age. I didn't like any attention on me. I hated reading out loud in class. I hated doing show-n-tell. I hated it when everyone would be looking at me. I didn't like it one bit. So I'm not surprised she's the same way. Genetics. It's gotta be genetics.

Anyway, the lead teacher was audibly proud of my daughter's accomplishment. I was proud of her. I let her know that I was proud of her. I told her that she should be proud of herself too. I made sure to tell my hubs so that he could "chat" with her about her day. That way SHE could tell him what she did. Hopefully, she'll continue to share during circle time for the next 6 weeks (what's left in her school year). That way she'll build her confidence.

By the way, the Princess did make it into the private school. We received a letter a couple days after we moved into the new house. The hubs and I have been trying to figure out the "best" way to handle the tuition obligation for it. But, she also made it into the charter school. I just found out this morning. I've got to give the admissions gal a call this afternoon to get more details. I'll spring the news on the hubs this evening. So she'll definitely be in kindergarten this fall. YEAH! She's such a smart cookie. I want her to be in an environment that'll stimulate her. I've got no more knowledge up my sleeve.

Where to begin?

So much time has passed since I last posted!

The move went well. As well as can be expected.

Hubs & the Bear did a final inspection of the house at 8:30am. I dropped the Princess off at preschool at 9am. We were at the title company signing papers at 9:30am. We finished up by 10:15am. The moving guys showed up around 10:45am. I picked up the Princess at noon. I got to the new house at 1pm. The temporary window coverings went up around 1:30pm. Hubs & the moving guys showed up around 2pm. Two guys from the builder came out a couple of times during the afternoon. The gas tech came to check the downstairs furnace (which wasn't turning on) & the fireplace (which would light after about 15 minutes). The moving guys left our house at 3:30pm. The cable guy showed up around 3:45pm to activate the cable & the internet. The fire department inspection team (2 ladies) showed up right behind the cable guy. They had to perform a final inspection of where our fire sprinkler heads were located. The cabinet install tech was right behind in the fire department team to fix a shelf (the dishwasher door wasn't closing because the shelf was too high). Our washer, drier, and refrigerator came around 4:30pm. Turns out we didn't have any of it installed because the guys didn't have the tools they needed. Their store truck was in for repairs and they'd borrowed a truck from another location. They sent a guy out the next day to install the appliances. The tile guy came around 6pm to seal the grout on the tile floors, the countertops, and the backsplashes. If it wasn't already looking busy, my sister, my BIL and their 3 kids showed up around 5pm to finally see our house. They stayed a couple hours. We started to get our kiddos ready for bed and found that there was no hot water running in their tub. It was flowing in both their sinks but not the tub. Oy! So we bathed them in our tub. The hubs and I took quick showers and rolled into bed right after the kids were down. We were thoroughly exhausted.

Here's the official list of problems:

1. Fireplace not igniting within approved timeframe - air in the pipes have since cleared out.
2. Downstairs furnace not turning on - repairman fixed it on move day.
3. 1-car garage opener not working - unit was replaced a week after move-in.
4. Burner plate on stovetop missing - customer service rep put in a new burner plate.
5. Hot water not flowing to kids' tub - customer service rep discovered the valve was clogged & got a new one 3 days after move-in.
6. Dishwasher not closing correctly - cabinet guy fixed on move day.
7. Coach lights on 2-car garage not turning on automatically - tech fixed loose wiring 10 days after move in.
8. Paint on upstairs hall light fixture - customer service rep got fixture from unfinished house & switched out ours.

All in all the move went great. We've still got boxes to unpack - maybe 15 or so. We still have one more storage unit with some miscellaneous stuff that we'll get in about 2 weeks. That's it for now on the move.

I'm finally back up & running

It's been FOREVER since I've been on-line. I just set up my new account (new ISP provider due to the move) about 2 minutes ago. Had to let you all know I'm alive & ready to read up on everyone. I'll try to give you an update on what's been going on with us these least couple of weeks! Great to have the computer back in my life! Woohoo!