After assembling several more toys this morning (and over the past few days) I've decided my gift to new parents should include 1) lots of batteries 2) a screw driver 3) a pair of wire cutters.
It looks like Christmas threw up at our house again. The trash already came today and I have enough for them to come again.
We are officially done with bottles, baby food and formula. Packed up and out of the kitchen. Yea! My bag just got a little lighter.
Ok, it's been way too long since I've posted an entry. I've been really busy working on the memory album for my grandparents. I hope to scan some of the pages and post them for you to see. In the meantime, here's what's good in my world.
The Grandview Triangle Project is finished. This means nothing to you if you aren't from KC, but if you are you know how life changing this event is. Something like three years (or more?) in the making.
It snowed but it's been too cold to play in it. This also delayed my ability to go shopping this weekend - a travesty. Will have to make up for it on Thursday this week.
And not-so-good in my world...
When it snows Sonar apparently thinks that the deck is the ground so he poops and pees right there on the deck. This means that today when everything was melting I got to clean up crap all over the deck. This was so that I could put Tassie on the deck so I could clean up all the puke in her area by the garage. I think she ate some of the insulation (since she ate through the sheetrock) and it made her sick. She hasn't fully tunnelled through to the garage but I suspect it's just a matter of time. This was all discovered when I got home from picking up Carter from daycare because he had explosive diarheaa.
I'm looking forward to the four Christmases we have planned. They start on Saturday and end on Christmas day.
And by the way - I found a box of diapers upstairs. So not sure if that means I've lost my mind even more, or if it's making its way back.
I've lost my mind. If you've seen it will you tell it to go back home soon. I really do miss it.
Since it left I was unable to remember to buy diapers. And now I am stuck at home in an ice storm.
My best friend Molly has launched her website and it is awesome! Check it out.
Kevin did some Christmas wrapping today of gifts for moi. The tags say From Carter and From Annika.
So when Anna spotted the gifts under the tree right away she looked at the tags.
her: "This one's for me!"
me: "Well that one is to mommy, from Annika."
her: "No, it says for Annika."
me: "It says to Cara."
her: "Well it almost says Annika."
If I had theme music today it would have been Cyndi Lauper's Manic Monday. It started around 12 am when Carter decided to start crying. After three 30 min increments where I thought I had him back to sleep and then trying the cry-himself-back-to-sleep idea, and give him Motrin idea and - damn we couldn't find the benadryl idea - which all didn't work last night, I got up and slept with him in the guest bedroom. He wanted to lay on my chest and listen to my heartbeat. Which was sweet but also not comfortable for me in any way. Finally he fell asleep and I rolled him over and slept next to him. For all of four hours.
I then had to take the kids to daycare because Kevin was really busy at work. I was doing well until I went to find a sheet for Carter and couldn't. I pulled last week's from the dirty clothes, smelled it and folded it and put it in his backpack. I then realized I had to wash bottles because we had used a few in the middle of the night trying to get him to go back to sleep and I didn't have enough clean ones to send to school. THEN I realized I am the mother who is supposed to bring the whole milk to his room this week. (the daycare uses 2% milk but the AAP recommends whole milk for brain development. a few of the moms are in agreement so we rotate who brings a gallon instead of each bringing a half gallon which ends up going half unused.) I ended up taking our 3/4 full gallon rather than stopping on the way. Now, if I could stop at the gas station by the daycare and leave the kids in the car I would have totally gotten this but because there are freakshows who steal cars with babies and I would have gotten reported and arrested I took our partially used gallon instead.
Carter had serious separation anxiety with me leaving him. I looked at one of the other moms and said "I'm having one of those mornings where I wonder why I'm working." "Yea I asked to go part time. This is really hard." Her kids are the same ages as mine. Then she said "I'm late. I'm always late." Ditto on that one. Blame it on the sheet-bottle-milk inconveniences today.
So I got in the car and started crying. I decided to go to McD's because it's free coffee day right? Apparently not since they charged me for it. Since I was teary I didn't want to argue about it.
The rest of the day got better as it went on. But it does make me think - is this really worth it? I mean, in the last few weeks I've completely forgotten to take Anna to dance and to go to her parent-teacher conference. And not even realized it until days afterwards. And this SATURDAY I have to give a 15 min. presentation for a client. So my mom has to come watch the kids and take Anna to dance for me. A Saturday presentation isn't really what I signed up for with two kids.
So bleh. manic monday.
So after two attempts at getting a scanner to work I resulted to buying a new one. Yea! It came and I got it hooked up and have been scanning the old photos from my grandparents. I am hoping to make good progress on this memory book on Thursday when I am off and the kids are at daycare aka school.
On Saturday night I hosted a "scraptacular party." Thanks for coming Amanda because without you it would have been a usual Saturday night for me with Candi - which I would have been totally cool with also. Turns out, after all your friends have kids, it's really hard to get together. Kim couldn't come because her hubby was leaving to go out of town the next morning for work so he was packing, Susan couldn't come cause Cameron was clingy and Hether didn't show up I'm assuming because of something with one of her two kids, or maybe she didn't feel well since she's also pregos.
Candi's little boy was the life of the party.
Sunday we went out to my grandparents with the plans of collecting stories and possibly more pictures. But turned out lots of relatives planned to swing by so it was busy and I didn't make much progress on that front. I think I pretty much have everything I'm going to get. Enough with the organizing and planning, let's start scrapping!
I can't believe my baby is one. I know it's really cliche that everyone says they grow up so fast but the time really does fly by. One year ago today I just kept saying "I can't believe I had a 9 lb baby."
At his checkup today he
Weighed 20 lbs = between the 25th and 50th percentile
30 inches tall = 60th percentile
19 inches around your head = 95th percentile.
I love you Carter. At one you...
...can say
mama
dada
nana (anna)
dawh (dog)
uh ah (instead of uh oh)
and your newest word just a few days ago: bawh (ball)
...love
to take a bath
push anything around, including chairs, toys, the booster seat
put smaller toys inside bigger toys (sorting)
get into every cabinet that doesn't have a lock
to be on your mommy's hip
your binky
to hit things to make loud noises
the nightlight in the outlet in anna's room
...have six teeth, your top front four and your bottom front two. Plus I think you're getting more since you were up for two hours last night which is very unusual
...walk everywhere
...like to eat what everyone else is eating
...throw balls with your left hand - daddy is so excited that you might really turn out to be a left handed pitcher
...go to bed at 7:15 and sleep until about 7 am (except for last night)
...pull your shoes off right after I put them on you
...drool. More than any dog I've ever met. Your shirt is always soaked.
...won't hold still for 10 seconds so I can get a diaper on
...sleep on your tummy with your booty in the air and your hands tucked under your tummy
...pat your hand over your mouth to make indian noises
...won't hold still for me to dress you. It should be an olympic event
...like it when I
Blow raspberries on your tummy
Smell your toes and say PU! you have stinky feet
pretend to eat your toes
tickle your sides
play peak-a-boo around items
chase you and say I'm gonna get you
jump out in front of you and say booga-booga
And more...
You have the cutest giggle
When you smile really big you have dimples
You have peach fuzz for hair
You clap when I sing Patty Cake
You move your arms up and down when I sing Its Bitsy Spider
You like to hear Old MacDonald and sometimes this will make you hold still to get your diaper or clothes on
Random people always comment on your beautiful blue eyes
I miss that you won't fall asleep in my arms when I'm rocking you anymore
I love the way you smell after a bath
I feel like I should
Spend more one-on-one time with you
Read more books to you
Happy First Birthday my Handsome Snuggle Bug. I love you sweet precious baby.
Have you seen the IBM commercial where they're all laying around in a dark room and brainstorming?
I was stuck in that meeting today. From 8 am until 3:45 pm with no more than a 5 minute break.
And they really started at 7:30 but I just couldn't make it there by then. Clearly the people who decided on this time are not full time working mothers with children to get ready in the morning and drop off at daycare and drive from the outskirts of town.
I quickly downed two cups of coffee to try to wake up and not yawn in front of everyone. Carter was up off and on between 1 and 3 am last night so I didn't really feel like I'd slept.
While I was in the meeting today and someone was talking about taking out full page advertisements in major newspaper publications I was reminded again of what I call the "generation gap" in technology. These people are not that much older than me.
I turned to my fellow coworker and asked, when was the last time you picked up a newspaper?
- years.
Ditto for me. I don't read the paper. I don't want to read the paper.
To me, when this last not-entirely-technology-savvy generation finally grows up I think the online space is going to take off even more than it already has. Just like no one buys Encyclopedia Brittanica and you don't look anything up in a Card Catalog at the library, I predict that newspapers will only be delivered to old people and online advertising is going to be more relevant to you, based on what you are subscribed to, your profile, the sites you visit.
When we finally don't have the target audience that are my parents - who read every line of text presented to them on screen and take 20 minutes to checkout on a website - making the decisions about company websites, then this internet thing is really gonna take off.
"Please may I want some help."
"Don't shut ME in the fridge, I'm not a snack!"
I love you Sonar.
I love you Carter.
I love you Tassie.
I love you Anna.
And I love you all. So super cute.
About $350 worth of clothing for around $140. My best deal was a $52 coat for Carter for $10. Yea!
Coming soon - pics of our Christmas decorating.
So, as a super girly girl who LOVES to shop, I was very excited to see a special announcement in my inbox this morning from Gymboree for an additional 30% off my entire order. See, I also received a special 20% off my entire purchase coupon in the mail this week. PLUS I have gift cards totaling $30 AND I have the Gymboree Visa so I get an additional 5% off. IN ADDITION, to the items that are already on sale, this mean I can get a fleece hoody and pants, super cute here here and here, for a really good deal
Regularly 19.50
on sale for 12.00
add'l 30% 8.40
add'l 20% 6.72
visa 5% 6.38
This is cheaper than Target people. And much better quality.
This is a really good deal. People wonder how I buy so much Gymboree for Anna (their boys lines are not quite as cute) and this is how. Sales people. Watch the sales. Then I stock up. And a lot of times I buy a year in advance. So I would buy some size 3's now, but probably also buy size 4's for next year for her.
Crowds don't bother me too much. Guess where I will be (and yes, braving it with two kids because my parents are out of town and Kevin has to work) at 10 am on Friday morning. Too bad they don't open earlier, not that we could make it anywhere before 10.
No, I haven't blacked out but I did realize it's been about awhile since I did a post.
So it's been almost a month since the release of Blackout by Britney Spears and as a fan I thought I'd provide my review, song by song.
Gimme More
You know this one by now. It' my ringtone although I plan to upgrade to Toy Soldier when it's available.
Piece of Me
At first this was my least favorite song. But after listening a few times I enjoy this track just for the lyrics. Now if you can get past the fact that most of the lyrics on the album are cheesy.
I’m Mrs. Lifestyles of the rich and famous
(You want a piece of me)
I’m Mrs. Oh my God that Britney’s Shameless
(You want a piece of me)
I’m Mrs. Extra! Extra! this just in
(You want a piece of me)
I’m Mrs. she’s too big now she’s too thin
(You want a piece of me)
But honey, I hate to break it to you, you are not too thin right now.
Radar
A forgettable track.
Break the Ice
One of the top 3 songs on the album. Leaked under the title "Been Awhile" this song reminds me a little bit of Early Mornin' and Showdown from the In The Zone album.
Heaven on Earth
Leaked under the title "Your..." I like this one after the first 20 seconds.
Get Naked (I Got a Plan)
Keep laughing, it's worth a good laugh. The song doesn't live up to it's title. Sorry Best Week Ever, I know you were hoping to use this as your background music. Danja is featured on this track and the beat is pretty good but it's just boring to me.
Freakshow
Skip. Sorry again Best Week Ever.
Toy Soldier
Hands down the best track on the album. It should be her next release, right before the holidays. A hot video complete with sexy toy soldiers doing synchronized dancing is on my Christmas list.
Even though it's super cheesy I find myself ROCKING OUT to this song on my way in to work.
When I shut the door leaving with my bag, hit the scene in my new wagon
Bet he gonna wish he knew the type of fun I'm getting into,
Peek a boo, he good...doing things you wish you could,
He's not talking, he's just walking like them city boys from New York
This time I need a soldier, a really bad ass soldier
That know how to take, take care of me
I'm so damn glad that's over
This time I need a soldier, I'm sick of toy soldiers
(I need ....i'm so sick of...toy soldiers...)
A boy that knows how to take care of me,
Won't be just coming over...
Hot As Ice
Like Piece of Me, I didn't like this one at first, but now I find it kind of catchy.
'Cause I'm (oooh) cold as fire baby, hot as ice
If you've ever been to heaven, this is twice as nice
I'm cold as fire baby, hot as ice
If you've ever been to heaven, this is twice as nice
Break it down, break it down, break it down
Break it down, break it down, break it down
Ooh Ooh Baby
You'll feel dirrrrty singing along. The most hysterical lyrics on the album, but the music is good so you have to listen. And sing along. Without the kids in the car. It's in my top 5 for the album.
The way you smile, the way you taste
You know I have an appetite for sexy things
All you do is look at me, it's a disgrace
What's running through my mind is you,
Up in my face
yeah, yeah
Your voice is like music to my ears,
Whisper softly and the world just disappears
Take me higher and just wipe away my fears,
If you're with me
Oh boy, it's my heart you're gonna hear
Ooh, ooh baby
Touch me and i come alive
I can feel you on my lips
I can feel you deep inside
Ooh, ooh baby
In your arms I finally breathe
Wrap me up in all your love
That's the oxygen I need, yeah
You're fillin me up
You're fillin me up
You're fillin me up
You're fillin me down
You're fillin me up
You're fillin me up with your love
The more you move,
The more I dance
It's like you got me hypnotized
I'm in a trance
Your jersey fits
It's right at home, between my hands
And now I hope you know that I'm
Your biggest fan
yeah, yeah
Perfect Lover
Leaked early under the name this one is worth listening to and also reminds me of the In the Zone style.
Why Should I Be Sad
I think this is a stab at K-Fed, but sorry sweetie, I don't think this one is going to have him crying in his room. Maybe if you didn't show your cha cha to everyone and fail your drug test you could say you were moving on, but K-Fed has taken the high rode on this breakup.
They couldn't believe I did it
But I was so committed
My life was so restricted for you
I just told them set of lies
Couldn't see what's on inside
Thought there'd be real panic for you
Exchanged my vows
And said it all
Woman, let's prepare to fall
Even, screaming did it for you
(Remember it?)
My friends said you would play me
But I just said they're crazy
While I was crying, praying
Was it true?
Well, should I be sad?
Heaven knows
From the stupid freaking things that you do
(Stupid freaking things)
Or should I get bad or sad
Who knows?
Just take it all
As a sign that we're through
Goodbye
It's time for me to move along
(Goodbye)
It's time for me to get it on
(OK)
I'm tired of singing sad songs
(All right)
It's time for me
(Britney, let's go)
I sent you to Vegas
With a pocket roll of paper
Don't put no ultimatiums on you
I thought what could separate us
But it just seemed to break us
Only brought the playa part of you
(Hey baby, what's your name?)
Lavish homes and fancy cars
Even got the drop Ferrari
Filled up our garage for you
Made your choice with all the teams
People let us in magazines
Tell me who'd I do that for, who?
Top 3 Tracks
1. Toy Soldier
2. Break the Ice
3. Ooh Ooh Baby
To Round Out The Top 5
4. Heaven On Earth
5. Piece of Me
Worst 3 Tracks
1. Get Naked (I Got A Plan)
2. Why Should I Be Sad
3. Freakshow
Checkout MTV's review here (I read this AFTER writing my review)
Officially crossed this item off the to-do list now. I think it's been on there, oh about 3 1/2 years.
And yes, I drove Kevin crazy. I had the outfits for the kids, from babygap. But he and I didn't have anything to wear to be matchy-matchy. So yes, at 8pm the night before I went to the gap and got sweaters for us.
I had both kids by myself for five days. Kevin was out of town on a hunting trip and my parents were out of town at a bed and breakfast. I did it and I didn't lose my patience. The kids. were. awesome. I had them both in bed at 7:30 tonight. I don't think Anna was in timeout once. Actually Carter had his first timeout this morning for hitting Anna repeatedly after I told him no, but other than that things were great.
AND I've been working on my first home project in four years. I realized I haven't done a home project since before I had kids and we lived in our first house. I thought it would be a nice surprise for Kevin. I hope he likes it. I hope he notices it, before he reads about it here.
I'm painting our bedroom. Wednesday night I taped and moved furniture. And sorted papers. - We have a paper issue. I think admitting it is the first step to recovery - Thursday after Anna and I got our hair done she went to daycare/school where we had dropped Carter off earlier. I then painted one coat over everything in four hours. Friday night I worked on the raised ceiling. Saturday night I did the second coat over the walls. Sunday day removed all the tape and moved the furniture back. Cleaned. I am now getting ready to finish off the raised ceiling. I hope. I hate to have it unfinished when Kevin gets home but I am also tired so we'll see. I hope he likes it.
I ordered a new duvet cover. I got matching lamp shades. The lamp shades came but the duvet cover is apparently on back order so it won't have the full "makeover" effect I was going for but that's ok.
Also Kevin isn't getting back until 11:30 or so tonight and I'll hopefully be asleep so the lights won't be on and he probably won't even be able to tell, other than I think it still smells like paint.
So that's what I've been up to.
I'm watching this show on TLC called john and kate plus 8. They are parents with twin 6 year olds and six three year olds. I'm fascinated with this. It reminds me of a BUNCH of Anna's. The parents took them all to an amusement park. I'm so impressed they can keep track of all of them by themselves and enjoy the experience. They are making me laugh. The parents say things like Kevin and I would say it. "That's poison don't put it in your mouth, you'll die."
So over the past few days here are some quotes from Anna
"Stop helping me."
"I don't need your help."
There were also some funny ones that I can't recall at this moment.
Before and after room pics to come after the duvet cover arrives.
Anna: Where does Santa live?
Me: Santa lives at the North Pole.
Anna: But I want to sit on Santa's lap.
Me: Well, we'll have to go to the mall. Santa will be at the mall.
Anna: NO! Santa doesn't go to the mall.
"Mommy when are we going to drive in the snow?"
"When it snows."
Last week she was the weather helper. This week she is the calendar helper. They must talk about how Christmas happens in the winter because it is all Christmas and Santa Claus talk around here. I keep telling her that first we have Ben's birthday, then we have Thanksgiving, then we have Carter's birthday. THEN we have Christmas.
In other news, this weekend I made a trip to Archiver's to pick up some card making supplies for the next Scraptacular scrap party I'm hosting. I have also decided that instead of making the memory book for my grandparents using the Kodak Gallery printed and bound albums that I should do a "hand-made" scrapbook with pages that slide in from the top. Why? Well, I just feel like this genealogy stuff will always be ongoing. And sometimes I'm 90% sure I have the right names and dates but if it's wrong and it's printed and bound, there's no going back. But if it slides in from the top, well then I can change that item or that page and slide it back in. Or insert additional pages, etc.
So while I was there I indulged in lots of black, white, chocolate brown, light blue and red solid Bazzill cardstock (I like them because they are textured) as well as some cute pieces from Deja Views (Click Sharon Ann then Timeless and scroll down).
I still plan to keep it pretty simple and how funny is this - ancestry.com - the site i've been using for genealogy - has scrapbook products. I picked up a few.
And of course I couldn't resist a few products for myself. Those of you who know that I'm obsessed with letters won't be suprised to know I picked up this and how could I resist some stickers that look like these guys.
Nothing like some new product to get motivated!
Little minds are like sponges. I know this. It's why I try not to cuss or let Anna watch Cops when Kevin is watching TV. But it sort of hits you when other people have made the impressions in your little one's mind.
All morning yesterday Anna was carrying around this stuffed animal Owl which Kevin's mom gave her last year. She got it when they were in Oregon. It reminds me of an Ewok. Anyway, she kept carrying it around and calling it "baby jesus." It's not unusual for her to carry a baby, usually named Carter or Carson, or sometimes Carson Carter (we have a friend with a baby named Carson) or sometimes Alex (another friend's baby), but "baby jesus" was new.
Two weeks ago my mom had asked if she could take Anna to Sunday School. I thought it was fine since I wasn't really planning on taking her but I would like her to be exposed to different religions. After my mom took her I asked her how it went. Turns out they don't have Sunday School for Anna's age at my parents church, it was just babysitting or something.
At daycare, she has learned a few prayers and songs like God is great God is good let us thank him for our food. Ahhh men. and some song that ends in "for the sun and the rain and the apple seeds, the lord is good to me." And occassionally she says/sings these things at home. I think it is a little inappropriate to teach these at daycare, but I figure there are worse things she could be learning. I have wondered how other parents in the room feel about it, especially if they are jewish or muslim, etc.
But the "baby jesus" thing was a little much. Especially when she wanted to bring jesus to lunch with us (to meet my mom) but I was like, whatever. I kept trying not to laugh because all I could replay in my head was the Talladega Nights scene when they pray to "dear baby jesus."
She asked me where jesus stayed and I told her in a manger. She asked me who jesus mom was and I told her Mary. She asked me who jesus grandma was and I was stumped. I told her to ask grandma.
When you're little you just believe what people tell you. And even growing up I thing this is true. You learn your political beliefs and religious beliefs and all kinds of nuances about life and people just from how your parents handled it or said what they believed. When you're young you just think your parents are right. End of story. Or at least I did. Until I learned to question that later or realize, you know, my parents actually don't know it all. It sort of happens when you realize your parents are just people too.
She hasn't mentioned it once today so maybe she's over it.
But really I wish everyone else would let me teach my child what to think about jesus. And really I think it's something you have to learn when you're older and make your own decisions.
If I tried to explain now that mommy and daddy don't pray to jesus, etc. I just don't think she would understand what I was trying to say. And I already answer enough "why" questions that aren't even hard.
That someone in our neighborhood put up their Christmas decorations yesterday? Um, three days ago it was Halloween.
Tassie's Ready
(overheard while we were out: "oh look, a construction dog.")
Dragonfly and Butterfly are Ready
And We're Off...
Both of these costumes are from babystyle. I got the Butterfly one two years ago after Halloween, I think it was on sale for $2, no kidding. The Dragonfly costume I got on sale for $15, looks like they have it for $10 now. It's great to buy now for next year, good deals.
OMG - this one is so funny and only $5
Tonight we carved all the little pumpkins. We have one huge one we might try to do tomorrow when it's still light outside.
******************
Tonight while Anna was getting ready for bed....
Mommy dinosaurs can go trick or treating.
Really?
But if they roar they can't go. Right mommy.
Right.
Pause.
But we don't have dinosaurs, we have doggies.
Yes.
They can't go trick or treating either, that would be silly!
We've had trouble off and on with getting Anna to go to sleep. Sometimes we'll hear her talking and playing in bed more than an hour after we've left her. Sometimes two hours. She has been wanting to read but the nightlight wasn't bright enough so I'd been leaving the closet light on. Not ideal. So finally we made a purchase this weekend. It's only night #2 but so far its the magic lamp. She reads with it on and then pulls the moon to turn it off to go to sleep.
Friday
I picked up Chilis on the way home and Kevin and I watched Godfather Part I on A&E. Except I couldn't stay awake for the last 20 minutes, which I'm told is what the entire movie leads up to. I'm sure they will rerun it again and I'll catch the ending. This was the first time I have ever seen this movie, to Kevin's amazement.
Saturday
Anna had dance and it was costume week so she wore her Halloween costume to class. I didn't do Zumba because I couldn't get a sitter and Kevin had to work.
We made cookies at home for the new neighbors across the street. We keep waiting for "the big truck" but I guess they're moving in one Suburban load at a time. Or maybe it came during the day when we weren't here. The woman said she has 10 kids. Only 5 live at home still and the youngest is 9. She has a 14 month old grandchild. I heard from another neighbor that she is widowed. Her Geek Squad guy showed up right as we dropped off the cookies so we didn't get to talk too long. She did say she has twin 13 year old daughters, and I told her we'd love to have them babysit. She said they'd all come over to meet the kids sometime.
Sam and Candi invited us over for dinner and made white chicken chili and corn bread. We took an appetizer dip and chips and the leftover cookies for dessert. We played Settlers of Catan again and I won one game. Yea for me.
Sunday
Carter woke up with pink eye. I swear if you just say the words Pink Eye around my kids they get it. I saw a sign at the daycare, in a room that Carter doesn't spend much time in, that they had 2 confirmed cases last week. Yea, I get to try to work from home tomorrow with a sick baby. Good times. Poor thing though, he has a cold too I think because he is all snotty and plus he's cutting two teeth so he just doesn't feel good. I keep giving him tylenol and motrin to help.
Even so, after his morning nap and everyone ate lunch the kids and I ran some errands.
We finally got around to dragging the scanner to the dr. - aka Radio Shack - to see if they can fix it. They told me I have the wrong power adapter but they didn't have a right one. She wrote down what I needed and sent me on my way. I asked her if she thought Best Buy would have it and she said I should call. Yea right. I used to date a guy in high school that worked at Best Buy. Those guys could care less. So not sure if I should try to track this power adapter down or just buy a new scanner. Buying a new one seems easier, but finding a power adapter seems cheaper.
Either way I need to get one working so I can finish collecting the photos for the memory album I'm making for my grandparents for Christmas. Speaking of which, I read a great entry on another blog about journaling old photos.
We also made it to Target, Babies R Us and Wal-mart. While I was at Babies R Us I realized I am really picky about some of my baby purchases. I trekked all the way over there specifically to get a Carter's brand mattress pad/cover and one of their flannel lap pad protectors in a full crib size (not sure what they are exactly called but they are like lap pads except much bigger). This makes it so I only have to change a sheet when a diaper leaks, instead of changing all of the bedding. These big lap pad protectors are also great for Anna's twin bed when she has an accident, which is still known to happen. But you can't find them at Wal-mart or Target. Anyway, mom tip for anyone who is collecting those.
I resisted buying a work bench shape sorter for Carter and a steering wheel/driving toy for Carter, and a basket ball and baseball toy for Carter. We really don't have many boy toys (hee hee that sounds bad but I'm not going to edit) and Carter keeps playing with Anna's kitchen but that's ok. Maybe he'll be a good cook when he grows up.
So on Saturdays Anna goes to dance (tap/ballet) and I noticed that there was a class going on for women at the same time. So last Saturday I decided to take the class rather than sit on my ass and watch Anna.
The class is called Zumba and Candi has taken it at a gym before. She raved about her gay instructor who would scream WATER when you were supposed to take a break. I don't think my instructors were quite as motiviational but it is rather fun. It made me realize how out of shape I am. I took the class last Saturday and I am just now feeling back to normal. I could hardly walk on Sunday, although I'm sure the dancing at Hilloween didn't help either.
They call it latin dance moves. but really its more like hip hop. and i think i'm doing it right until i look in the mirror and realize how ridiculous i look. but so does everyone else so what the hell.
the instructor has a great ass and i just kept thinking, if i keep doing this mine could look like that too. so here's to getting off my ass to make it look better.
On Saturday night we went to Hilloween.
Candi was Princess Lea and Sam was Darth Vader.
It was such a good night that we actually lost Candi's camera. Luckily she was able to get it back today. Whew! The really good pictures are on there.
Each year we go to the Johnson Farms pumpkin patch. This was Carter's first year. He loved it. He just wanted to crawl among all the pumpkins.
2006
2007
On Fridays the kids ride to work with me and my mom meets us there to pick up the kids. This way my mom doesn't have to get up quite so early. We usually go through the drive thru at Starbucks on my way - by Friday I need the caffiene.
So this morning we were on our usual drive, listening to the Disney Greatest Hits Volume 1 which includes tunes like Zippidy Doo Da, Kiss the Girl, that one from the Jungle Book and Anna was just chattin it up...
anna: What is that mommy?
me: Looks like a big hill.
anna: No, it's a mountain. You have to walk up it.
me: That would be a lot of hard work.
anna: No you have to go up a snowy mountain, not a grassy mountain. That's silly.
and you take a sleigh.
me (did a double take): a sleigh?
anna: yes.
me: What do you do with it?
anna: You put it away.
me: Do you slide down the mountain on the sleigh?
anna: NO, you go UP the mountain. (implied: you idiot)
me: oh ok.
anna: then you put it away and have supper. Grandma calls it supper.
We continue on our usual route on an overpass where there is usually a train sitting.
me: there's a train.
anna: we need a moving train, not a stopping train.
and continuing on...
anna: Look, what's that?
me: (looks like small piles of dirt from a digger) I don't know.
anna: I think they're building a mall so we can go there. An indoor mall.
more disney...
anna: don't talk mommy.
me: silence
anna: say "no"
me: no
anna: no mommy. say no again.
me: no again.
I think I only amused myself.
In Starbucks drive through. Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious playing in the background.
me: What is Carter doing? Is he asleep?
anna: He's looking at Starbucks.
me: What are you looking at Carter?
anna: I don't think he wants to talk right now.
anna: If you climb up a Starbucks it would be really dangerous right mommy?
me: right.
anna: How did they make Starbucks mommy?
me: I don't know anna
anna: Me neither!
I get my coffee from the barista and she says "OH, do you have a princess in there!?" I'm like, I guess. I had completely forgotten she was wearing a tiara she found in a toybox this morning.
It was pretty continuous for the entire drive and highly entertaining.
So work sucks this week and it's only Tuesday.
Let's think about something that's more fun. Something I would spend more time doing if I wasn't working.
Scrappin it up.
Here are the layouts I created last weekend. Again, sorry for the reflection from the camera, reallllllyyy need to get the scanner fixed or get a new one.
Anna Sandwich (still need to add my journaling)
Snow Bunny (still need to add journaling)
Vegas Baby
While running errands last Thursday on my day off, my car said "Brake Failure" again followed by "Reduced Engine Performance" followed by "Service Required." I called thinking I would take it in on Friday around lunch but found out they couldn't guarantee a loaner vehicle then, but they could now. So we (me and Anna - it was girls day) drove to the dealership to drop it off. This was after we had been running our errands.
Which included
I'm way behind on posting so I'm going to try to catch up...
This week Anna is mat helper at school.
me: What is mat helper?
her: I help put the mats away.
of course.
She is doing a 24 piece puzzle of SpongeBob SquarePants all by herself.
I found this video on the camera when I was uploading pictures this weekend. Anna is singing Old MacDonald to Carter.
**********
We are on a schedule of roughly every other night for baths. Bath night is Carter's FAVORITE thing.
Oh - and Carter is taking one step. sometimes. with lots of encouragement and being very very close to him.
He is good at walking with toys.
UPDATE: Carter Video working now using Viddler. Anna video didn't upload correctly so I'll try again.
The kids' school fall program was last Thursday. Good for a few giggles.
Anna singing I'm A Wide-Mouthed Bull Frog
(here are the words
There once was a wide-mouthed bullfrog friendly as could be
He liked to hop around and talk to any animal he’d see. He’d say,
“Hi. I’m a wide-mouthed bullfrog and I eat bugs. What do you eat?”
One day on his travels he saw a blue-feathered bird.
He hopped along and sang his song. Sing with me each word.
“Hi. I’m a wide-mouthed bullfrog and I eat bugs. What do you eat?”
“I eat wiggly worms,” said the bird.
“Oh!” said the bullfrog.
And he hopped, hopped, hopped away.
Next he met a brown mouse, a cute furry little thing.
He went real near the mouse’s ear and began to sing. He sang,
“Hi. I’m a wide-mouthed bullfrog and I eat bugs. What do you eat?”
“I eat seeds and berries.” Said the mouse.
“Oh!” said the bullfrog. And he hopped, hopped, hopped away.
The frog went to the swamp. Saw a gator swimming around
The wide-mouthed frog jumped on a log and began to sound. He sang,
“Hi. I’m a wide-mouthed bullfrog and I eat bugs. What do you eat?”
“I eat wide-mouthed bullfrogs” said the gator flashing big teeth.
The bullfrog pulled his mouth real small and answered back real sweet.
“You don’t see many of them around here.”
And he hopped, hopped, hopped away! )
Carter is here today
Finally got around to scrapbooking this past weekend. I finished a two page layout in one night. Now. if any of you have every scrapped with me in the past you know that I have been known to take weeks to finish a single page or layout. I'm getting better. These pictures are from August 2006. Sorry Carter, you still don't have any layouts yet. Second child syndrome definitely in effect.
Sorry for the glare on the layout, I had to take a picture. Still haven't had a chance to take the scanner to the dr aka radio shack.
At scrabulous in facebook. No one plays all their tiles to spell Siderite. Cheater cheater pumpkin eater.
Thought you would enjoy some photos.
Key West Crew at Hogsbreath
Carter feeding himself
Annika has learned how to chew gum. We have one rule. In your mouth or in the trash.
Anna Says:
This evening Anna was eating a snack and her cracker broke in her peanut butter and she said Dammit. What did you say? Dammit. What did you say? Dammit. Yes it's what she said stop asking her you idiot. We say Darn it, Dammit is a bad word. Ok mommy.
Tassie has been eating various items around the house again. Kevin didn't lock her up when he came to pick me up from the airport on Wednesday. I think she ate a toy that day. On Thursday, while I was home, she ate some of Anna's happy meal doll toys. Itty bitty pieces of plastic arms and legs were scattered by the front door. Yesterday she was locked up and she worked on eating the drywall Kevin had already repaired. This means there are white chalky pieces all over and therefore white chalky paw prints.
Sonar has not been an angel either. Yesterday and Today he has gotten into the kitchen trash can and shredded trash around the house.
Today Tassie Has Eaten:
One orange plastic pool toy on the deck.
So while I was out of town Merry Maids had the sink replaced. (To get up to speed you can read the previous posting.) But, it is not the right sink. Mind you they TOOK the original sink after they ordered the incorrect one last time to make sure they got hte RIGHT sink. But it is not the right sink. And, now they have broken the pedestal as well.
I had the owner of my Merry Maids franchise come to the house today and showed her what is wrong.
Old sink
Current sink
This is where they broke the pedestal.
She of course apologized and said they will make it right. But I feel it is now my responsibility to find the right sink since they seem incapable of doing so and are clearly trusting a plumbing company who is incompetent (Pyramid Plubming in Grandview you suck).
So I have contacted Crane directly to see what to do since you cannot purchase directly from their site, nor am I 100% sure if I have the right model number because their website sucks. Um, it's 2007 people, get a better web site. Call me Crane, we'll hook you up.
...Was the highlight of the night at the conference dinner this evening. Here is my video highlight of his performance.
The story behind this: He is a speaker and had posted this online via YouTube at the request of highschool kids who saw him speak so they could watch the video, practice and perform it at a talent show. He then went away to a weekend retreat without internet or cell phone access and came back to have his phone nearly explode and find out 200,000 people had viewed it. It's now up to 59 million views. Here's the original posting.
apparently i haven't mastered the video posting yet.. technical difficulties in progress.
I am now in Indianapolis at an ExactTarget conference where today I gave a short presentation of a case study on Gordmans, one of our email marketing clients. The audience was suffering from end-of-day-burnout but overall I think it went well.
I have one more day here and then I'm heading back to KC. I have to admit, I miss snuggling my baby Carter and listening to the funny things Anna says. It's been almost a week since I've been on home ground so it will be good to settle back into a routine. I'm sure the junk mail pile is about to reach the ceiling.
Day One was a great success. First off, I didn't throw up on the airplane.
We arrived and after checking in at our awesome resort with beach front view...
...we headed to the local store to get a few items. Then around the corner to the liquor store. There was a bar attached to the liquor store and I saw the "2for1" sign so we headed in. We had an awesome bartender and met another guy, not sure if
he was the owner, named Dino from Sicily.
These pictures are on Candi's camera. Might get posted later.
I laughed so hard about something I can't remember that I cried. Then we decided we should eat something, I believe Candi kept saying "let's get some shrimps."
We wandered around looking for place where Sam and Candi had eaten last time but we finally decided it had been bulldozed and we ate at another beachfront cafe that had the worst service ever.
We then wandered back to the hotel...
...and swam in the pool. It was like our own private pool because no one else was in it. Then we headed back and played some drunk Settlers of Catan.
I remembed when I woke up this morning that I won!
And now we're waiting for our room service. Yum.
My life is crazy right now. I am getting ready to leave for a much-needed vacation with my hubby and our best friends. BUT immediately following the vacation I am going to a conference for work, where I am speaking for 10 minutes about email marketing. So I am trying to get everything ready at the office for my departure, get the house ready for my mother-in-law to watch the kids, and pack for a vacation AND a work conference. I am flying directly from vacation to the conference. Not ideal I know, but what can I say, I didn't do it on purpose and there's not much to do about it now. So I must just get my sh*t together so I can relax on the beach drinking pina colads and not be stressing about the work thing.
My biggest fret at this point: What to wear while I'm speaking at the conference. Typical girl I guess.
Today was a Venti Starbucks day and I didn't get everything accomplished that I'd hoped so tomorrow looks to be more of the same.
Well, bad things keep happening to me. This morning we lost Sonar, my dog. the one who eats toilet paper and kleenex but doesn't eat sheetrock. I've let the batteries die on the invisbile fence collar and he's been getting more and more adventurous. I've been finding him a few houses up or in the neighbor's garage but this morning we called and called for him and nothing.
We went ahead and went to the parade thinking he'd be on the deck or sun bathing in the driveway when we got back. Still missing.
It had been three hours. He had his tags on so I kept hoping someone would call saying they had found him. I decided we should go out driving to look for him... and to make sure he hadn't been hit by a car.
No luck. When we got back there was a message on the machine. He was at the thrift shop at the retirement community a little ways behind our subdivision. We headed up to pick him up. They were having a big furniture sale and said he'd been hanging out there all morning. They gave him water and had taken him inside. I think he was probably excited to have some attention.
With that dilemma solved we headed down to meet my friend Candi at the Plaza Art Fair. Anna had a lot of fun decorating a crown and painting a picture.
Then we had fun shopping at this adorable kids boutique.
I had a small fender bender in the parking lot at work as I was leaving today. Apparently I am having bad car karma.
Today was my day off, and as usual, lots of plans and most of them actually got done today.
Started off taking the car to the dealership for them to fix a handle on my car while it is still under warranty.
Got a speeding ticket on the way. Oops. Will have to get that taken care of.
While they fixed the car we met my mom for breakfast.
Then Anna and I had a girls afternoon with my friend Candi and we got pedicures. Took Sonar to get a vaccination so he can be boarded next week. My parents came over for dinner. I made fajitas. Then we went up to the Festival in the Park to see if the kids won anything from the baby contest.
We just missed Carter's age division. He won second place!
Anna won Best Play Outfit.
Then we walked around the carnival...
...and Anna rode a ride.
Then they had a cake and ice cream social.
Good day off. Except for that damn speeding ticket.
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