Friday Night Leftovers

Once again, another week has come and gone. Time for all those random thoughts in my head! As always, head over and see Danifred for more leftovers!

•Alice climbed a tree on Easter. It wasn't completely vertical, but she was 15-20 feet up in the air before Sean realized! They were mushroom hunting, and I guess he had put her down and was picking mushrooms. He said he heard some laughing, looked up, and there she was! He dropped his bag and climbed up to get her. Then all hell broke loose because she wanted to go all the way to the top (which was about 60 feet!). We are in serious trouble with this one, folks!

•I wake up everyday and wonder if this is the day that we end up in the emergency room. I pray that doesn't happen, but with Alice and her climbing, I'm sure that is where we will end up.

•The car is fixed! Sean got it done Saturday evening. Yay! My husband rocks!!!

•I'm so tired of hearing about the whole Obama birth certificate thing. I think the "analysts" are missing the most important point. That an 18 year old, Caucasian woman, had an African man's baby in 1961! Thank God she chose life!

•Furthermore, I'd appreciate if they start talking more about why I'm going to have to start selling kidneys on the black market to put gas in our vehicles!

•I found Alice helping herself to some chocolate cake yesterday. I had left it out on the stove, and she grabbed her spoon, stood on her tiptoes, and went to town!

•She also helped herself to a "bite" of my coffee this morning. "Mmm! Dats pwitty," she said! I didn't know she could say pretty. I also think I've confused her when I say something is "pretty good".

•Alice is teething. She has two that have broken through, and another two that should be here shortly. You know what that means...diarrhea, diaper rash, and yeast infections! Woohoo! Oh yeah, and all that crankiness stuff too.

•It has been raining here almost everyday. I love how it makes the grass a beautiful, lush green. Now if it would stop so we could mow our swamp, that would be splendid!

•I will get around to making the prizes for the winners from the "Guess when HJ will arrive and how big he will be game" and for yesterday's question, as well. The prizes will be baked goodies, and maybe a little something else thrown in!

•I am preparing to do a post about my favorite things. There will be a give-away for that. Whenever I get around to it!

•I still can't find the recipe for the filling from when I made the triple chocolate cupcakes. I did find a box mix that is a pretty good substitute (that is what inspired me in the first place).

And that is it for today! Wishing you all a lovely weekend! Remember to visit all the leftovers over the weekend!

I Wanna Talk About Me

I had asked if any of you had questions about me, and some of you did. So now I will answer a few of them. Let's talk about me! (First one to tell me who sang that song gets a "prize")


Megan asked, "what is your dream occupation? (including SAHM obviously) Where did you and Sean meet?"

I will probably do two separate posts on this down the road, as my answers are pretty long. My dream job changes all of the time. A few things I'd love to do/be (besides SAHM b/c I'm doing that and LOVE it) OB/GYN, math teacher, architect, private investigator, and a chef. The only job I can incorporate most of those things into is SAHM (minus the OB/GYN part, but I use myself as my patient there!).
Sean and I met at a bar/pool hall when I was 24. I had gone out with one of my girlfriends, and she and I were shooting pool. He came over and asked if he could play the winner. That was me! So I then proceeded to whoop up on him ;-) There is more to that story because we only dated about two weeks, and then I didn't see him again for two years, where we picked back up and the rest is history! (stay tuned-I'm sure you're wondering what happened!)

Tasha asked, "What did you do before you had the kids? How old are you?"

I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for here, Tasha ;-) Before I had kids, I would go out A LOT and shoot pool and drink beer! I would sleep a lot. There isn't a lot of that going on these days, but I don't regret that one bit. I worked at a bank doing processing (applying payments, deposits) and I was in charge of the account corrections. Ever get a notice that your account was credited/debited due to error in addition, extra (or missing) items? I did that stuff. Of course, I did this for awhile after Alice was born, until I was severanced in September.
I just turned 30 in December. Sean turned 40 in December. We are 9 years and 360 days apart (roughly-I didn't go back and count those days from that last year. It could be a leap year for all I know).

Carrie asked, "If you go on any vacation with anyone for 5 days - who would you bring and where would you go?"

This is another one that I could write a whole post on. I guess it depends on where I was going because it would change on who I'd take with me.
If I went to Ireland, I'd take my sister and Dad (and Sean). And aside from the obvious sight-seeing, I'd make it a point to hit every pub in the country ;-) We might need more than five days!
Hawaii-I'd take Sean. We'd go surfing, swimming, hiking, and all sorts of other stuff!
Alaska-Sean. We'd go fishing, hiking, and hunt polar bears and moose ;-)
Florida-I'd take the kiddos to Busch Gardens, Disney World, and the beach. Of course, this is the most likely to occur. We'd visit my aunt and stay a few days with her. We'd probably also visit Jen and Dibits on our way there or back (assuming they would want to see us!).

Danifred asked, "Where would you live if you could go anywhere? What was life like for you growing up?"

I think I'd live in North Carolina. It has a little bit of everything. Mountains, beach, and ocean. Of course, I wouldn't mind living in one of those huts in Bora Bora.

Life while growing up (I will do a post on this later) in a nut-shell: I have a twin brother and a younger sister. My dad worked nights for the majority of my youth and I didn't see him much. He had a bad temper and I remember being scared of him. My mom was a SAHM for quite awhile. She was a "good" mom for awhile, and after my Granny passed she completely quit caring. Of course, that didn't happen over night, and had been building for years. So I was forced to grow up at a young age. I was doing everyones laundry and cooking dinner, occasionally, by the time I was 9 or 10. I had to start doing that "regularly" by the age of 13. But I'll expand on that more later.

Is there anything else you would like to know, or for me to expand upon?

What A Morning!

I hope this posts. I wrote one yesterday, and I tried to publish it and have NO idea where it went. It wasn't even saved to my drafts!

I got everyone to bed earlier than ever last night. Everyone was asleep BY 9 pm! Except me. I stayed up until 1 am.

Around 2:30, I was awoken to Sean running into the room yelling, "How did he fall out of the swing?" I immediately jumped up and said, "What the hell!" Alice woke up during all of this, so we had two kids crying. Alice didn't want Sean to leave ("Daddee NOOOO bye!"). HJ only cried for a few minutes. I checked him out. No bumps or marks. He nursed for about twenty minutes and then went back to sleep. It took me an hour to get Alice back down. She HAD to have a cookie and a drink. I stayed up for awhile longer and kept checking on HJ.

He seems fine. He shows no signs of anything. No vomiting, etc. He has been sleeping a lot, though. I tried to figure out how he got out of the swing. We have it fully reclined, and it wasn't going fast enough to "launch" him out of there. I think he just plopped himself over the tray.

I checked on him again before going to sleep, and he was almost out again! Apparently he had kicked the tray up and was wiggling himself down. Good grief! I've got a Houdini! Now it is time to start buckling him in. I never in a million years would have thought I'd have to worry about this with a 6 week old!

(Just talked to Sean and this is what he said)
Sean said he was in the kitchen and he heard two thuds. He was in the bedroom before HJ started crying and picked him up. He thought Alice had thrown him out of the swing! Our best guess is that the first "thud" was him kicking the tray up and the second was him hitting the floor. I guess he was face down about two feet in front of the swing!

I'm planning on calling the pediatrician, as he seems fine, but I'm worried a little as he has been asleep since 8:30 (it is almost 1pm). I know the big thing to look for/worry about is vomiting, and we are okay there.

I'm just hoping he is fine. He seems to be, but I'm still a little worried. I'm glad babies are resilient. Sean "dropped" Alice (he says she rolled off of his chest) and she hit her head on the corner of the nightstand, within hours of getting home from the hospital after her birth! So we are no strangers to head "injuries".

Also today, I've had to wash one of the couch cushions and give Alice a bath. She had a blowout and got it all over the couch. Lovely!

Ahh, a day in the life ;-)

OOH, An Award!

So I have been bestowed my first blog award! Apparently, Jenner has been pulled into my mighty charismatic trap and thinks my blog has substance *wink*! Bahaha! So now I am required to share seven things about myself with you. And I won't cheat and use your questions from yesterday.

1. I am not scared of many things. I am scared of mushrooms. The ones you eat. The wild ones outside do not bother me. If a mushroom is in something, on something, or near something I'm eating then I will not eat that food. What if we get a pizza and they are on half, you ask? Nope. Still won't eat any of that pizza! Why, you ask. Because fungus has spores, and those spores have spread onto the other half. Do not try to convince me of anything otherwise. I am set in my way on this!

2. Sean also does not like mushrooms and will not eat them. I knew I would marry him when I found this out! Now I don't have to worry about getting spores from someone who has eaten a mushroom and then kisses me. Phew! Big sigh of relief!!!

3. I love pickles! Sean and I make our own pickles. Well I really make the "juice" and he helps. They are AWESOME!

4. I have a phobia of milk. I have not drank milk (with the occasional exception of Nesquik, which I put way too much on and make it really gritty) since I turned 6. Why? I walked in on my dad nursing on my mom after my sister was born. "He was hungry," they said. My mom asked me about how I can nurse, if I'm so terrified of milk. Breast milk is different. Plus, I don't see it when nursing. The smell of milk makes my stomach turn. I will use it for baking/cooking. And don't ask me the logic behind seeing someone drink breast milk and quit drinking cows milk. I was six!

5. My favorite band of all time is Counting Crows.

6. If I could live at any different period of time, I would choose the sixties/seventies. I would have made an awesome hippie! I'm a "modernized" hippie. Not into all of that "love" crap from back then (whatever floats your boat-I'm happy being monogamous), but I'm all for peace, love, and joy! Plus simplicity!

7. I have never been a big chocolate fan, but I have been dying for anything chocolate/peanut butter! Whoever thought that combo up is a genius!

Now I get to bestow this award on to seven lucky people. In no particular order:
Jen
Lindsay (if she ever does another post! *hint hint*)
Shannon
Lisa
Danifred
Tasha
April

Friday Night Leftovers (Take Two)

I'm really irritated. I was almost done with my leftovers when Blogger had to refresh, and I lost them. ARGH! I'll probably forget half of what I wrote the first time, but here we go...

•Happy Earth Day, on this Good Friday. Not only did Jesus die for our carbon transgressions, but also for all of our sins.

•As I was playing with HJ and watching him smile at me, I thought how happy I am that I'm not God because if I had to give up my son to save all of mankind, you'd all die and go to hell.

•I am incredibly exhausted. I have gotten three to four hours of sleep each of the past few nights. Consequently, I have been nodding off nursing and anytime I'm sitting.

•Want to know how exhausted I am? I changed HJ's diaper the other day. I then put him down, threw the diaper away, grabbed him and changed his diaper. A little bit later, I was wondering how Alice's diaper could be leaking?! Gee, I wonder!

•Do you know that breast pads don't work when you put the absorbent side away from you? Twice I have done that this week, and woken up soaking wet and in a puddle of breast milk.

•My mom made a comment the other day (in reference to having my hands full) that if I had a third I'd just be depressed. Umm, no. I might go crazy from the chaos, but I wouldn't be depressed. That explains why she was a crappy mother...at least until she just quit parenting.

•When I told Sean about what my mom said, he agreed that that explains everything. Then he went on to say that anyone who has more than two kids is selfish. We should just repopulate ourselves. WTH?! I think this comes from his parents (he and his sisters spent the majority of their youth with other relatives and apart from each other) and their lack of involvement, love, etc.

•HJ is now rolling both ways from tummy to back, and can use his forearms to lift himself up. He's grounded! Growing up too fast is now a mandatory grounding!

•We are forecasted for thunderstorms for the next week. Why don't you just pee in my Wheaties too, Mother Nature?

•Thank you for all of your suggestions yesterday! I will be trying them out and seeing what works. I'll update soon :-)

•I realize a lot of you really don't know a lot about me. I know I'm usually talking about the kids (they're mine and I like talking about them), but there is more to me than mom-dom. Is there anything you'd like to know?

For more leftovers, visit Danifred! Wishing everyone a Happy Easter!

Help Me Out

I'm going to start a new thing. It may not be weekly, but it will be an occasional thing. Help Me Out will be where I ask you some questions, and you can humor me and help me out!

Jack (that is what I'm calling him this week *wink*) has been a horrible napper lately. He will fall asleep nursing and wake up immediately upon putting him down. He takes cat naps. Ten, maybe twenty minutes if I'm lucky. In order to get him to take a good nap during the day, I have been putting him in bed with Alice and me, and nursing him until he falls asleep. Then he will sleep for about three hours, BUT only if I'm lying next to him for a good part of that at the beginning. So I usually end up taking a nap for an hour or so (much needed!). I then put him in the bassinet, which I warm up with a heating pad so it feels like I'm still there for a bit. Any ideas on getting him to nap better and quit falling asleep at my breast? I don't swaddle him, but maybe that would help. He does well at night mostly. I put him in the swing, and he will go anywhere from 3-5 hours with the occasional longer stretch.

Alice, also, has been napping/sleeping poorly. She has been getting about 8 hours of sleep at night, and a two (sometimes three) hour nap. She really needs more like twelve hours of sleep a day. She will fall asleep for twenty to thirty minutes, and then be up for a few hours before actually napping (which means she goes down later than I'd like) and the same thing at bedtime. Tonight she went to bed with Sean (about 9:30) so I'm hoping she will stay asleep until morning. I think me lying in bed and being awake is what is interrupting her sleep. If Sean is here, I can stay out if the room until I'm ready to sleep, but if I'm the only one here, she won't stay in bed unless I'm right there with her. Any ideas for her?

Stoned

I'm laughing thinking about how many hits on google this post could get. Especially considering what day it is!

No, I'm not stoned. I sure feel like it though. We had awful storms last night (80 mph winds!), and Alice didn't go to sleep until 2am! Not because of the storms, but because she has been staying up later and later every night, and getting up later each day. I've allowed this because it gives me a chance for some extra sleep, but no more!

I got her down at 2, and then went to the grocery store. It couldn't wait. We needed toilet paper! And food because why waste a trip? I got home around 3:20 and put everything up, washed my face and brushed my teeth, and headed to sleep about 4. No sooner had I gotten settled and HJ woke up. So we did the whole routine, and got to bed at 5:30. 8 o'clock rolls around, and someone was hungry! Got back to sleep thirty minutes later, and then everyone was up around 10. Ugh! I'm exhausted!!! This is especially cruel because HJ had slept 7.5 and 8.5 hours the past two nights, so I was "used" to getting some sleep. I have gotten a few really big smiles from a cute toothless guy, so it is all worth it!

Today is also Alice's 20 month-versary! Twenty months on the twentieth! Is that kind of like a princess birthday? It is hard to believe she will be TWO in four months! My goodness, time flies by! Since I haven't posted her monthly updates in awhile, I'll do one today.

Alice has started talking more. She had stopped using most of her words when I started staying home, so I'm glad she is starting to communicate a little more.

Words she is now using regularly:
Pee
Dog (sounds like daw)
Bunny (bunh)
Ball (baw)
Bite (she uses this for sips of my drink as well-too cute!)
Bath
Bolt (bote-this is her most favorite movie!)
Swing (swee)
Yea (finally answering yes occasionally!)


So a lot of those words sound the same and some people may say she isn't saying new words, but I can tell a difference in what she says and know what she is trying to say.

New things this past month:
Somersaults
"reading" all of the time
Loves to do laundry (throw stuff in washing machine or dryer and close the door/lid)
Can lock doors!
Can throw a ball correctly
Loves to feed the chickens (instead of watching)
Loves tools and "helping" Daddy on the car (future mechanic?)
Puts things back where they go (or where she thinks they should go!)

And there is probably more, but I'm not functioning too well!

Happy Twenty Month-aversary, my sweet Alice!