Skills Left Unused Go Dull

I took a week between posts, and the one from Friday is far from good writing. It's notes on things that happened, and I wanted to document them, but I simply entered the facts, I didn't embellish or craft a story. In general, my posts as of late have been flat. I feel like I'm in a slump. I've lost my mojo. And I haven't made myself push through it and write more to get to the other side. I've slacked off because I can. And I can tell. I care, but at the same time, I feel like I need a break.

Last week I mostly didn't post because things were a little chaotic. Monday night I had a get together with my girls from high school. While I was there, DH called to say our refrigerator stopped working, so he was moving everything over to the beer/pop fridge in the garage. When I got up Tuesday morning, I heard the ice maker drop ice, so I thought it was working again. This seemed like an opportune time to clean the inside since it was empty. I let DH know, and he said to put a thermometer in it to make sure it was really working again. So I did. It was around 40 all day, which I thought was fine, but DH said was too warm when he got home. The kicker was that when he opened the freezer to see the ice, it had all melted. Good thing I wasted the day cleaning the dang thing.

Anyway, I am trying to get back into the habit of writing a little bit every day. So forgive me for awhile as the quality and content may be less than stellar as I get back into the swing of things!

Composting: Have We Really Become That Pretentious?

Until last fall, whenever I heard people talk about composting, one of two things came to my mind. Either they were farmers, or they were pretentious hipsters who wanted everyone to think they were green even though they secretly loved styrofoam.

While we do have a garden, it's not like we have a tiller or a tractor or anything; it's modest in size. I didn't really think we needed to compost. Plus isn't that kind of a pain in the butt to mess with all the time? When DH suggested it, I thought it would be a hassle to do and envisioned a stinky pile with a 2-year-old playing in it.

When we first started to discuss it, DH and I argued about the process considerably. I told him we should follow the directions in a handy book I got at the library and photocopied about 4 pertinent pages out of:

Source: goodreads.com via Jaborandi on Pinterest

He said our neighbors at the end of the block also compost for their garden (hence, why he thought we should), and they just chuck it all in a pile, so that's what he wanted to do. My biggest gripes about DH's plan in the beginning were that #1: It would stink and our neighbors would hate us; and #2: In addition to the curious toddler, animals would be digging through it. And I don't just mean squirrels. We don't have a fenced in backyard, and there are two large parks near our house that have deer and coyotes. I didn't want to encourage them to hang out in our neighborhood.

However, since he was the one doing most of the work, we used his method. (I think it will end up working, it's just taking a little longer than I think it needed to if we'd done it my way, ahem.)

We have 3 raised garden beds:

The one closest to you in the photo is the one he decided to use for the composting. Basically we started to put grass clippings, raked leaves and table scraps in there (plus random stuff like dryer lint and coffee grounds that I didn't know you could compost before I read that book!) in no particular order or fashion starting around November.

Since it was winter, we knew there wouldn't be any progress for awhile since it has to be fairly warm for the waste to start decomposing. But then a funny thing happened; we sort of skipped winter this year in Kansas. So a couple of weeks ago, we decided to really start trying to get it going. The book says that if you water and turn it every few days, it can compost in about 6 weeks. Which would be perfect timing for the garden. DH even bought a bottle of some liquid compost starter that has bacterial and fungal cultures that are supposed to help move along the process.

Turning it basically means mixing it up so the stuff on the bottom gets moved to the top and air and water circulate through to aid in the decomposition. We only have a shovel, but I think we will have to get one of the twisting digging things (that's the technical name, of course) that are mentioned in the book if we don't buy a rotating bin next year like the one pinned below (which our friends have and would be my preference once I have a job again, and we can spend money). 

Source: homedepot.com via Jaborandi on Pinterest

Or the one that Carrie from The Sweetest reviewed on my fave review site, This Blogger Makes Fun Of Stuff. I can't say that our chosen compost process has totally worked (I just turned it today and discovered some rather large food particles that I thought would be gone by now), but I do think in general, it's going ok. Surprisingly, not much foraging (by the child or the animals). There was a little in the beginning, but it seemed like smaller animals; maybe a raccoon had gotten in, but most likely squirrels and rabbits were the biggest culprits. And it really doesn't smell at all. The book says if you do it right, it shouldn't, so that's encouraging, I guess.

So even if it turns out that this process doesn't result in the end-product in six weeks, based on how it looks so far, I definitely think it will happen eventually. And it's completely worth it even if we miss our start date. Not only because we can use it later, of course, but even if we weren't gardening with it and just spreading it on the lawn, we have reduced our trash output considerably. 

(Excuse me a minute while I put on my skinny jeans, pretentious TOMS and big glasses.) I can honestly say that once we potty train Baby R this spring, I bet only a quarter of our regular trash barrel will be filled each week. We cut it by a third when we started recycling (maybe even by half) and have cut out another 1/4 to 1/3 by composting. Granted, we have small children who waste a lot of food regardless of how hard I try to avoid that by making them eat leftovers later or finishing it off myself. (I draw the line at cookies dipped in Ranch.) So our trash quantities may be affected in different percentages than the average person's. Still, even if it's less than that, it's a positive step for the environment.

Do you compost? Have you considered composting? If so, are you wanting to use it for a specific project timeline or just start it up? If you're only wanting to do it for the sake of doing it, I say go with DH's "just chuck it" approach. If you want some organization to it, grab that book at the library for some tips.  Good luck!

Loan Options

With my newly unemployed status and DH's impending unemployed status, we are reviewing our mortgage options. Unfortunately, we refinanced last fall, so I don't think we're eligible anyway. But we do need to talk to the bank about possibly making some kind of adjustment. Thankfully we do have a bit of savings to get us through a few months, but it would be better if we could reduce it and extend that out a little longer.


While looking things over, we ran across some VA loan refinance rates. It doesn't apply to us as we aren't military, but it might help you or someone you know. To find out if you are eligible, you can click here. For market forecasts, mortgage rates and other real estate news in your area, the Housing Predictor is helpful. 

This was brought to you by your friends at www.militaryvaloan.com.

Kids Birthday Parties

I always thought we would keep our kid's parties low-key. I would hear of these insane parties with 100 guests, live ponies and a bounce house and think, "Those parents are CRAZY! And spoiling their kids!"

I used to think my birthday parties were typical for the time. From kindergarten through 4th grade or so, we celebrated my December birthday with kids just coming over to our house. We played a couple of games, I opened presents, and we ate cake. I think that part of it is/was pretty normal. But I never thought about how many kids were there before. Each of those years, I invited the whole class. That was around 20-25 kids. My mom had to corral 25 kids - in her house - for a couple of hours. Insanity!

We are planning S's 4th birthday party. The big question is who to invite. Last year we had a crazy thing happen where every single person we invited actually came to the party. And since the kids were 3 or under, their parents came, too, often with siblings. Which meant that even though she only invited about 8 kids, by the time you added in their families and our families, there were 50 people at this party.

And because Baby R was only 9 months old at the time, she was still taking a morning nap, so I had to schedule the party between naptimes, which meant it overlapped lunch. So we ended up feeding those 50 people hamburgers and hot dogs.

How did something so small turn out so big?

This year, hubs and I are determined to keep it under control. Being able to shift the time a bit will help. But inviting fewer people is clearly the biggest factor. I know, everyone says to only invite the number of kids equivalent to your child's age, so for S's 4th birthday, there should only be 4 kids. That's a great idea in theory. But what do you do when there are kids from preschool, daycare, our friends' kids and neighbors? She sees all of them on a regular basis.

I've come to grips with the large quantity. We have to have the party outside to accommodate them. My fear now is that it will either be record-setting hot next weekend or raining, and then we'll have 50 people in our house. Pray for nice weather...

Baby Bullets

I'm stealing the idea of a bullet point update from my friend KLZ at Taming Insanity. I'm so behind, I'll never catch up if I try to actually, I don't know, WRITE what we've been up to. But there's so much, bullet points would even be too long, so this is just an installment. (Keep in mind the days referenced are relative. These are notes from the last month or so.)

• S yesterday singing: Twinkle twinkle little star, How I wonder what's in my tummy. ?
  
• S kicked the back of my seat while I was driving, and I asked her politely not to. She was making vroom noises, so I asked if she was driving. No, I'm vacuuming with my leg. Of course, you are.
  
• We lost Baby R's blankie for a couple of days. It was NOT good. Luckily she has adopted a second one which she lovingly refers to as "Two."
  
• I had a nightmare that coyotes took Baby R when we were playing in the unfenced back yard. Woke up, terrified. Finally got back to sleep. Then I dreamt they attacked us in the playset. Not a good night's sleep.
  
• This morning S said the thunderstorm must have broken the water on the refrigerator so we needed to call the water helpers.
  
• S playing that she was running a store and had to close up shop for a bit. "If you need anything, just call me, ok? My phone number is 913-69."
  
• This morning Baby R woke up asking to play with the neighbor boy, P. Awwww....
  
• S, driving her Cozy Coupe, put her arm on the back of the seat and turned around so she could back out.
  
• This am S was talking about the tantrum she had last night when I left, and I told her I was sorry she was so upset. She said, "Oh it wasn't you, it was me."
  
• Baby R has started putting things in her "pocket," i.e. down her onesie. So now when I change her, interesting things fall out.
  
• She has also started walking down the stairs. And now can turn doorknobs. Look out!
  
• S asked if I could wash off her drumsticks after she ate, and she could use them to play drums. I've decided maybe we recycle too much.

And there you have it, folks. The first Baby Bullet update! More to come...

Slow Down and Breathe

We had a fantastic time in St. Louis for our Fourth of July, but now I'm playing catchup, so I'm going to recycle a post that some of you may have missed. It was featured on Studio30 Plus a couple of weeks ago. Hope you enjoy it!

•    •     •    •     •    •     •    •     •

She runs away from me, squealing, as I try to put her Pull-Up on.

"S, come here now!"

Frustrated, I chase her down and thread her legs through the night-night diaper as we call it.

"What book do you want to read?"

Still laughing, she starts baby talking to be silly.

"S, choose a book or we aren't reading one!" My pulse is racing by this point.

"Ok, ok. Umm, this one."

Inwardly I groan. "Hop on Pop" is longer than what I have time for tonight. I'm supposed to meet the neighbor out front in 10 minutes to go for a walk. I need to start exercising again and finding a partner to walk with is a huge step in the right direction.

"All right." I begin reading quickly and skip a few words here and there.

S interrupts me, "Why did they fall off the wall?"

"I don't know, honey." I continue reading, and S continues peppering me with questions. "Let's just finish the story, ok?"

The day's unfinished tasks scroll through my mind. Finally, the book is over. I turn off the light and turn on her music. Currently, she's fond of listening to Journey's Greatest Hits. I lie down with her for two songs, our agreed upon timeframe.

"Let's snuggle," she says, wiggling over to me.

"Ok," I say, a bit surprised. Lately she's more interested in Daddy than me.

She puts her arm around my neck. "I love you, Mama."

My heart melts a little, the beat slows. "I love you, too, baby. So, so much."

"Don't Stop Believin'" ends. The iPod shuffles. "Who's Crying Now" starts.  Lying still, I decide to just go for the walk and not worry about the laundry tonight.

"Mama?"

"Mmm-hmm?"

A long pause. "I..."

"What is it, baby?"

"I really love you."

"Aw, honey, I really love you, too."

A small, three-year-old hand reaches for mine in the dusk. I remind myself to savor these fleeting moments. I breathe in her freshly-washed hair, feel her soft fingers tracing the shape of my hand as I used to do to my mother. I knew Mom's hands as well as my own and wonder if S will remember mine when she has a child someday.

The second song ends. I kiss S on the forehead, and start to get up.

"Mama, could you please stay til I fall asleep?"

"Of course, baby."

The walk will have to wait.

Raising a Savvy Eater

Broccoli from our garden

When I was a kid, we were a meat and potatoes family. We also had a garden with fresh fruits and vegetables in the summer. That we loaded down with butter, sour cream and other yummy stuff. Then when I was 14, my dad had his first heart attack. Our diet changed dramatically. So much so that it literally divides my childhood in half in my memories. We started eating chicken and fish, very little red meat. And no more butter or salt. Everything was plain.

I was a bit of a picky eater and not a big fan of condiments, so plain was ok with me. And since 14 was around the time I started to really learn how to cook for myself, that’s how I learned to make meals. So for the next 15 years, I mostly ate bland, repetitive food, rarely venturing outside my comfort zone. And since I was single, I ate A LOT of frozen, processed foods.

Then I got married. And my poor husband was not loving my cooking. But his solution was to go to the opposite extreme – Hamburger Helper was a staple. I started trying new recipes to meet him in the middle. I looked for quick and easy things that wouldn’t be excessively fattening. It wasn’t until we had our first child that I really started thinking about WHAT we were eating. I realized most of what we ate wasn’t really good for us. It may have been low-fat or low-cal, but it was full of additives, chemicals and who knows what else.

I decided to make our baby food from scratch. It was so easy! And I wanted our daughter to get to try as many different foods as possible, so I bought things for her that I never bought for us before, like mango and avocado. Because of that, she’s been very good about eating a variety of food.

Now that she’s 3.5 and has an opinion that she likes to share with everyone (just like her mama!), she will sometimes say she doesn’t want something. I don’t force her to eat anything, but I do ask her to try everything on her plate each time. I tell her that her taste buds change every day, so something she may not have liked yesterday, she could like today. And I remind her of her favorite foods and what she would be missing if she had never tried them. Most of the time, she tries something and she likes it. And that encourages her to try more new things.

Of course, now that she’s been introduced to sugar, she often wants candy. I don’t oppose it, though I try to limit the kinds that have excessive dyes. I don’t want her to think that she can’t have it, I just want her to understand that it’s important to eat mostly fruits and vegetables, and teach her to make smart choices about treats. 

Hospitals, Holidays and Hunts, Oh My!

Man, you'd think after my last post, I'd have something more positive to say! Unfortunately, the next day my Dad had his Pacemaker put in. Here's a summary of the last couple of weeks:

4/15 - Mom & Dad's anniversary; Dad had a Pacemaker put in so spent the night in the hospital. Mom spent the night at our house. They sure know how to celebrate!


4/16 - Mom woke up and was confused about where Dad was. I think because she didn't take her pills the night before and woke up somewhere odd. Baby R got pink eye. DH's BFF had a party (just because; NOT to celebrate his 40th bday). They live 6 blocks away. It was nice out, so we walked there. It took us about an hour because we ran into and chatted with neighbors who were also enjoying the pleasant weather. After the party, we stopped at one of the neighbor's and sat by the fire pit for awhile.

4/17 - Went to my friend's daughter's 5th bday party. Scooby Doo-themed! Super cute decor. Check it out here: Not A Short Order Cook

4/18 - Playdate at our house which we had to have entirely outside since I hadn't finished disinfecting the pink eye zone, ie, our whole house. That would have been fine had the weather stayed as warm as it was supposed to, but of course, it didn't. Still had fun.

4/19 - S's parent/teacher conference. Seriously? Conferences already? So cute! She's doing an excellent job (of course). My BFF is her teacher and she started by saying that the assessment wasn't very accurate because the first day of school S wouldn't even talk to her, so she couldn't accurately gauge her abilities. I told her that just makes her look like an awesome teacher since S can now complete 95% of the testing elements!

Unfortunately, that night S had a fever and was throwing up. Around 2am, she said her neck hurt. I panicked and dug through my childcare books for meningitis info. Told DH we needed to take her to the ER. Decided to text my friend who is a nurse and works night shift to see if she was awake. Thankfully she talked me down, and we avoided a run to the hospital for a spinal tap. Disaster averted. But not until after I had tormented poor S by making her try to touch her chin to her chest a dozen times, turning on the lights to see if she was sensitive to them (DUH - she'd been asleep!), and a few other things that all people (especially 3 YOs) want to do in the middle of the night.

4/20 - I subbed on my vball team (took spring off since my rotator cuff had been bothering me) which was fun. Until the next day when I was SORE...

4/23 - Neighborhood egg hunt at the elementary school by our house. The girls were very cute. Though poor Baby R kept losing her shoe.

I asked S what she thought we should get Daddy for his bday present. What did she think he would like? She thought about it for a minute, then said, "I think Daddy would really like a new car." True dat! "That's a great idea, honey, but that's just too expensive. What else do you think he might want?"  She said, "Ummm, a new house. With lights!" ??? Like ours doesn't have lights?

4/24 - Easter! We went to church with my sister, D; it was her request since it was her 50th bday. I was happy to oblige. Of course, DH was a pain about it, but the girls actually went to Sunday school which NEVER happens. It was an interesting service. I will have to post about it in detail another time.

After church we went home and had lunch and the girls took naps. Right before naptime, S came to me with a chocolate candy that was the shape of baby chick popping up out of an egg. She said, "Mommy, I really think I need to eat this now because he might get out of the box while I'm sleeping and run away." She knew she was full of it; a little smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. I told her, "Honey, I think if he was going to escape, he would have done it while we were gone to church. He'll be fine while you nap." But she wanted to tape the edges shut. So, of course, we did.

Then we were off to hang out with DH's family where the girls did another egg hunt. And got more candy. That we stole discreetly hid.

4/25 - On my way home from work, I started to feel yucky. DH and the girls were at his BFF's as we had been invited over for dinner, but I skipped it and went to bed. That night I had a fever, chills, body aches - S's disease from the week before. BLECH. I felt like I'd run a marathon then been beaten. ALLCAPSAWESOME.

4/26 - Home sick. Fourth day off work in 2 weeks. Sigh....

4/27 - Still felt like crap, but HAD to go to work, and since my fever was gone, went. Too wiped out to fix dinner, so sign me up for Mother of the Year - I got McD's for the girls on the way home. Baby R was cracking me up - she dipped her fries in her milk. I had to text a pic of it to my sister, J, who did that with her frosty when we were kids.


Later that night, S and I had this conversation:

"Mommy, where did you get that ring?"

"Daddy gave it to me."

"Why?"

"Because he gave it to me when he asked me to marry him."

"Why did he want you to marry him?"

"Because Daddy wants me to be with him forever." (Daddy was muttering under his breath something about forever being a long time. He was in the next room so I don't think she heard him which was good, but I couldn't kick him in the shins, either.)

"A ring is a circle, and a circle goes on forever, and so he gave me this ring to show that's how long he wants me to be with him." (Seriously, I had to keep repeating "forever" for his benefit at this point.)

"Can I have a ring?"

"Someday after you graduate from college, and you live on your own, and you meet a man you love and want to be with forever; he'll give you a ring."

Slam dunk! Well, she stopped asking questions anyway. 

Today I lost my voice. Like, completely. I don't know that I've ever been without a voice so definitively. But I can still type, people. Clearly. Since this is an uber-long post because I've been slacking and have to include it all in one.

So I emailed DH this: 

You'll be happy to know that the "mute" function is in full-effect.
My voice is totally gone now.

(He's always joking he wished the "mute" button on the TV remote worked on me. Yes, he's hilarious, isn't he?)

His reply:

Sweet, just in time for my birthday.

I was feeling badly about my last post being so negative and had intended to write one today about how adorable the girls are and list all the cute things they are doing. But I had to put them to bed on my own tonight since DH's softball league started today (poor guys! why couldn't it have started a couple of days ago when it was 80 degrees out instead of back down to 40?). I read to Baby R with both girls on my lap in the glider, then asked S to go to her room and put a Pull-up on while I finished putting Baby R down. She went to the bookcase and got two small books out. She said they were for Baby R and started to put them in her crib. I told her no, we were done reading, I didn't want R to have them in her crib. She kept moving towards the crib, and I repeated no a few times until I almost yelled it. She looked me in the eye...and set the books in the crib. I pursed my lips and watched her walk out.

After putting Baby R down, I went to S's room. She was sitting on the bed with her clothes still on - including shoes. I asked her to take her shoes off since we don't have shoes on the bed. She complied and was happy and chatty while we got her ready for bed. Then it was time to read. "It's so sad, but I only read stories to little girls who mind me. You put the books in R's crib after I said not to. I won't be able to read to you tonight." She started having a tantrum and ripped a page out of her favorite book. "I guess I'll have to take this until you can learn to take care of your things." I put it up on a shelf in her closet. She was screaming and flailing. I told her she needed to quiet down or I wouldn't be able to stay to snuggle for a bit like we usually do. She was in a frenzy, so I left.

About 15 minutes later, she'd calmed down to an occasional sob and a cry for Mama, so I went back to check on her. She'd thrown everything off her bed. She was whining that she wanted her pillow and blankets back. I told, "I'm so sorry honey, but we've talked about how we don't throw things when we're angry, and it doesn't seem like that is sticking with you so I'm going to have to take your pillows and blankets tonight. Because it's cold, I'll leave one blanket with you. Which one would you like?" I took the rest to my bedroom. Another fit.

Another 15 minutes went by. Baby R started to fuss. I went to S and asked her to settle down. She had thrown the blanket I'd left her on the floor. I didn't say anything, just sat with her and held her. She said she wanted to tell me something. I asked her what, expecting a big announcement. She said it was the time of year that we needed to color Easter eggs. I smiled to myself. "You're right. How about we do that this weekend?" We chatted for a minute quietly, then laid down on the empty bed. I could hear Baby R's cries building. I told her I needed to go get Baby R settled down and then I'd be back.

When I came back she told me she was very sorry and she promised to behave. Wow! Where'd she learn that one already? I told her I would bring the blankets back for tonight, but from now on if she throws anything, I'll take it away.

I was very proud of myself. Even though I'm tired (Baby R is still not sleeping well. I'm taking her to the dr. tomorrow.), I stayed calm, didn't yell, and remembered to use my Love & Logic tools. And even though it took an hour and a half to get her to bed, I'm hoping she'll mind better and not throw things. At least for tomorrow anyway.

Happy New Year!

It's day three of those "goals." So far, I'm not doing too badly. I managed to go for a walk each of the last two days. I didn't lose my temper with the girls. I only drank 4-5 glasses of water a day, but that's better than the 1-2 I had been drinking, so progress! I did a devotion on the 1st and went to church yesterday. Things were looking pretty good until this morning.

I don't know why I bother going to bed. It's not like I get to sleep. (If only it was for reasons as racy as it sounds!) Last night Baby R was up for a couple of hours, and then S got up at 5:30am. For the day. 5:30am, people! WTH!?!?!? I was so annoyed. So even though I said a quick prayer for patience, or at the very least, the ability to bite my tongue, by the time Baby R had pinched my nipple while I was carrying her around for the THIRD time, I snapped at her. Ugh. Poor thing. Then S was (of course) so tired that she fought me at every turn, and I finally lost it when she refused to put her socks and shoes on. Big fail. Sigh. Will try to get more sleep tonight and do better tomorrow.

I'm so glad I don't do the traditional resolutions about wanting to lose weight because at work today there are chocolate chip cookie bars, peanut butter cup cookies and truffles. Seriously would have lost my willpower by now. On my fifth glass of water today. That's enough "dieting" for today... 

In other news, I have a product review and giveaway that I'm going to post about this week - yay!

But first, a few notes about the babies because I know you all don't get enough of them. :)

Baby R has started tugging on her hair when she's sleepy. I had completely forgotten that S used to do that since she has an ear fetish.

S has been looking for the Elf on the Shelf every morning since Christmas and doesn't get why he's not here after 10 explanations. Hopefully she'll be on the same page with me before Valentine's Day.

She cracks me up with her vocab. The other day she told me there was a car that was "similar" to my old one. It was, too.

She is now obsessed with Chinese food since DH introduced it to her a couple of weeks ago. Orange chicken, to be precise. She LOVES it. That and "forks n cookies."

She told her first lie last week. She was brushing her teeth and I left to do something in another room. When I came back I asked if she had spit (something I check with her about now that she's using "real" toothpaste with fluoride). She said yes. But she was standing in the same spot as when I left her. So I looked in the sink. It was empty. I mentioned it and then she said she rinsed it out. I told her she couldn't reach the handle. She said she climbed up on the sink. I couldn't believe she kept building on it. I told her how it was ok that she hadn't spit, it was more important that she tell me what really happened. Oy.

S, handing me some "presents" wrapped in Cool Whip containers: "Mom! I got you some junk!"

M: I'd really like you to pick up the Legos.
S: Well, that's just not gonna happen.
M: You crack me up, kid.
S: I know.

S: What's wrong, Mama?
M: Oh, I've got cramps.
S: I think you're gettin' old.

Ah, kids.... 

Just in Time for Halloween: A Haunted House Tale

Maybe it's because we moved a lot when I was a kid, so we were never anywhere long enough for me to be too attached to a house to notice. Or maybe it's because our house was the one all the teenagers hung out at so there was too much commotion to think anything of it. It could even be that all of us secretly wondered but were too embarrassed to mention it. Until now.

I'm just going to say it. My parents' house is haunted. I feel ridiculous even suggesting it. There's no such thing as ghosts; that's just silliness. But once the subject was broached (In a serious manner, that is. My mom always joked about it when we were kids and she would ask who had done something, and my sister and I would feign ignorance. Her response was always, "Well, the little ghosties must have done it then!"), it turns out there's a lot more evidence to support it than one would think.

It all started in 1990 when my parents moved into the house they live in now. It's a patio home - basically a fancier version of a duplex. One wall is shared between their house and their neighbor's. The neighbor is an older woman who lives alone. I often would wake up in the middle of the night and hear voices talking, but I thought it was the neighbor. Why, I have no idea. Who would she be talking to? At 3am? In her garage which is what my room butted up against? (I was a naive, trusting teen who saw the world through rose-colored glasses as I believe all kids should be able to do.) Anyway, it never occurred to me to mention it.

Fast-forward a decade, the longest my parents have ever lived in the same dwelling. They've been empty nesters for awhile, and attribute a certain amount of questionable sights and sounds to their age, as do we. So when my dad says he hears my mom say something and she didn't, or my mom swears she heard my dad walking around upstairs when she was in the basement but finds he's still not home from work when she goes back up, none of us think much of it. We certainly don't attribute something ethereal to it. This type of thing went on for several years.

Then last year, something happened that took the spooky level up a notch. My great-aunt was staying at my parents' house while she was in town, and in the night needed to use the restroom. She got up, but the door to the bathroom was closed and the light was on. She heard the floor squeak and assumed my dad was in there, so she walked back to her room to wait. In doing so, she passed my parents' room. And my dad was sitting on the edge of the bed. My mom was next to him, still asleep. She mentioned she thought my dad was in the bathroom which clearly he wasn't, and he was about to get up to go there as well. They went back and the light was off and the door was open.

Now, I realize that this seems like it could have been that she dreamt it, and she is also advanced in age, but it was enough to prompt a discussion the next day. And that's when we discovered that all of us had at different times experienced odd happenings. We just had attributed them to our own inadequacies and shrugged them off. Suddenly, it seemed like way too many coincidences to be just that - coincidence. But we still didn't have a smoking gun, if you will.

Until a few months ago. My parents have a fireplace, above which is a mantel. On the mantel is a glass-domed clock we'd given them one Christmas among other decor. Above the clock is a large painting, probably two feet wide by three feet tall. It has a wire that runs across the back and hangs on two hooks. One night as my parents were sleeping all snug in their beds, there was a huge CRASH! They stumbled out to the living room and saw that the picture had fallen down on the clock and both had shattered on the hearth. The picture hooks were still in the wall. The wire was still intact. Something made that picture come up off the hooks and fall down on the mantel.

And that, my friends, was the final nail in the coffin. In my mind, there are definitely ghosts living in that house. Good thing they don't live in New York and have to disclose that if they decide to sell. Any other theories?

I'm In Charge!

Pardon me - this is an unusually long post.

I'm feeling really stressed out. I had a great time in St. Louis over the weekend visiting my sister, but our house is a disaster area, and not having a weekend to work on it meant it was even worse when I got back. Though DH was AMAZING and had the exterminator come, cleaned the carpets, put the safety locks on the cabinets and did a load of dishes and tidied a bit for me. But I need to clean, like spring clean. BADLY.

We've been in our new house for a little over a year, and since we had a newborn last spring, I didn't do any deep cleaning. (I was mucho sleep deprived, and a little busy.) And this house is twice the square footage of our old house, so it's not like I could just knock it out in a weekend. I'm guessing I'll need about 4 uninterrupted workdays to get everything I want to get done, done.

My allergies have been terrible because I don't think I've dusted the dressers or bookshelves in our bedroom in at least 6 months. I haven't put out Halloween decorations yet - I LOVE decorating for the holidays - because I need to clean before I can decorate, and I just don't have the time/energy. (Deducting more and more Martha Points as I write this.) I can't stand having a dirty house. But everyone tells me not to worry about it - time with the kids is more important. I couldn't agree more. And I've been pretty good about not letting it get to me, as long as I can keep the kitchen clean. But the dirt in the rest of the house has accumulated to the point that I watch the ceiling fan in our bedroom spin and fear chunks of dust will fly off and suffocate me as I sleep.

Not to mention that the kids clothes need to be switched out for sizes/seasons. I need to buy new clothes because I'm gaining weight instead of losing it (BIG sad face). We are having a family picture taken with my in-laws on Thursday, and my MIL is trying to coordinate our outfits, and all I can think is, I don't care what we wear as long as my big butt is behind everyone else.

And she's worried about it being perfect, and I asked DH to remind her that we have two small children. Our family photos with just the four of us have never turned out with one that was perfect. Close, but not quite. The last time we actually have one with all 4 of us smiling, but it was at the very end when I had just pulled my hair back into a ponytail so I could jump around like a crazy person to get the girls to smile for their shots, and then we decided to try one more group one (seriously?) so even though we are all smiling, I look less than put together.

Plus, a week ago, I sprained my ankle at softball. Seriously sprained. I mentioned it in passing in this post. It was worse than a standard sprain because it's from an old injury. (Funny story. Not to self - share it later.) Anyway, though I was icing it every night and wearing an ACE bandage all the time, I was limping. This caused my back to get out of whack. By Thursday, I didn't need the ACE bandage anymore, but I was having a hard time picking up the girls.

It didn't help that I slept on the couch in St. Louis so I could be in the same room as Baby R. And sat in the car for 4 hours straight on the way there. And 5.5 on the way back. (UGH! SO much easier when they slept the whole way there!) So like a ding-dong, I played softball again Sunday (double header), since you know, there's no back twisting when you're, I don't know - BATTING! Or THROWING! So by last night, I could barely move without being in pain.

Of course, there's always the office. I used to really like my job and the people I work with and for the sake of decorum, suffice it to say that there are two people who now frustrate me and test my patience on a daily basis. Today one of them insinuated that the work I was doing was less important than the work she was doing. I came this close to firing off a retort, but didn't. I bite my tongue so much I feel like it is going to get sliced right off. She's a bull in a China shop and tries to boss everyone around. Literally every single person in the office feels that way. So frustrating.

Then my afternoon came to a nice head when my other favorite work person called me about a project and wanted to know why I hadn't proceeded with the changes she had requested. I reminded her that she had just copied me on the email asking the buyer if the changes were needed, but never gave me the directive to make the changes. Then she brought to my attention that the item name she had typed in the email wasn't entirely accurate. Oh, and the requested changes also applied to the six items she had attached to the email. None of which were listed in the subject line or body of the email. Which doesn't really matter since she refuses to reply to the original email I send her anyway. Sigh.

I also feel as though I've taken on more than I can chew at this point. I signed up for us to be a Nielsen family. I thought we were going to be reviewing TV shows. My sister did it, and I know what it entails. But it turns out we were chosen to do their shopping surveys. I was excited about it at first. They send you a UPC scanner, you enter your shopping receipt information and upload it once a week. Piece of cake! Except when your husband forgets to keep the receipt, or you don't get a chance to scan everything the same day you buy it and the packaging with the UPCs get thrown away, etc. So I've been feeling behind the 8 ball the last couple of weeks trying to get it done, and I've cut too many corners. I don't like doing a job and not doing it well, so I decided today that I need to tell them I just can't do it right now.

And I've kind of blown off my blog and blogging goals. Boo. One of the things I love, but I usually let go first.

One of the biggest things that is bothering me is my parents' health. My mom's memory is getting worse. I'm still in denial. But my dad is doing a diabetes study in the middle of November so we are going to juggle child care so that my mom doesn't have to take care of the girls by herself. But that means 8 straight days of being alone. There's no way she can do that and not completely lose it. So I'm putting together a schedule of sorts to make sure she's got company every 2 hours.

It's hard because my sister is in St. Louis, and since she travels for work, she won't be able to come to KC that week. And my parents don't really have a lot of friends who are nearby and/or mobile anymore. Thankfully my half-sister is here and incredibly wonderful and willing to help out. But I already know it's going to wear on me - and DH. And in the back of my mind, I can't help thinking about when my dad is gone, and what that is going to mean for my mom.

And this temporary daycare situation with S is about to put me over the edge. She has picked up SOOO many bad habits. She threw her worst tantrum ever a couple of weeks ago - like a scene from a movie, shoving all the papers, books and toys off the coffee table. Last night as we were snuggling before bedtime, all of a sudden she looked at me and shook her little finger in my face and yelled, "I'M IN CHARGE! YOU HAVE TO DO WHAT I SAY!"

I was so startled, I just looked at her, giving it a minute to sink in and figure out what was going on. I was trying to decide if she was replaying something that had happened at daycare, or if she was playing with her imaginary friends and bossing them around, or actually talking to me. She ranted on and on throwing in an "I'm very upset!" and a "I just don't know what to do" (which, ahem, is all me), but most of the rest of it I had no idea what she was talking about. Something about having to take care of me? I finally realized, she was really telling me that she was in charge... of... me. Ummmm, N-O. I firmly told her, "No, Daddy and I are in charge." "NO YOU'RE NOT! I AM!"

I honestly don't remember how the rest of the conversation went. I got so angry. I do know that I yelled and argued much more than someone who is truly in charge should have. It was the straw that broke the camel's back that was already in so much pain.

The upside is that I was so pissed off, I cleaned the kitchen, did the dishes, two loads of laundry and tidied the living room instead of going to bed early (or even on time). And I still had energy left over for Julia's push-up challenge. Enough to do all 20 in one set for the first time. (Check out the FitLink widget log on the sidebar!) So if I check the stress balance, it should have gone down a bit. How come it doesn't feel like it?

Notes

Life has finally settled down for us now that we our housewarming party over the weekend. It was mostly a success. I was exhausted and not ready when it started, but I think everyone enjoyed themselves, and we had fun, so it was fine. So this post is to catch up on a few things I've wanted to make note of the last several weeks but haven't had time.

S has really gotten into making her bed. While I'm sure it will be short-lived, I'm trying to encourage it. It's difficult because we inevitably are running late in the mornings, so that's the one thing I end up skipping. But if we don't make the beds, she says, "It's a mess!"

Something she's been fond of for almost a year is crawling into the pantry and hiding. She started at my parents' house - Dad calls it her office. So when we moved into our house, she was excited to discover we have a pantry now. Ours is a little different and doesn't really have the space for her to sit in it, though, so she's only gotten in it a couple of times. One of those times I was sitting at the kitchen table and she wanted me to get in the pantry with her. I told her, "Oh honey, Mama's too big." She said in a matter-of-fact way, "Get small, Mama!" I told her that's my plan after we have this baby...

I had a day where two funny things happened in the morning. As I was in the turn lane waiting to get on the highway, I saw one of those signs in the median that people advertise on, usually for garage sales or lawn mowing. But that day the one I saw read: "Backed up like traffic? Call us about the benefits of colon cleansing." I had to laugh out loud. Then I got to work and was checking my email when I had my second laugh. I get tons of email forwards a day, lots of great ones, but one that I saw that morning just really tickled me. It said: "If you receive an email from the Department of Health telling you not to eat canned pork because of swine flu, ignore it. It's just Spam."

Patrick Swayze passed away last week. Of course everyone knows him from "Dirty Dancing", but I think my favorite role of his was in "North & South". Back when the mini-series was popular on TV, that was a huge hit. He had been fighting pancreatic cancer for the last year, so it didn't come as a complete surprise, but still sad. He spent a fair amount of time pinned up on my wall with River Phoenix, Johnny Depp and Jon Bon Jovi, among others.

Last week was hectic with trying to get ready for the party Saturday. I had tried to keep the to-do list at a reasonable level for each day so I wouldn't be stressed or worn out. And had I been able to do the list each day, it would have been fine. But a 3 ft. munchkin was not on the same page. She didn't go to bed til 9:30pm three of the nights. Ugh! I ended up staying up til midnight a couple of nights, so Saturday I was tired and stressed - the exact opposite of my goal. S had a bday party to go to at 10am so my DH took her - hallelujah! My mom came over and helped me get stuff ready. The bday party was a blast. It was at a park and a fire truck came, and S just had a great time playing at the park and on the truck. I was sorry to have missed it. Plus I forgot to send the camera with DH!

The hope had been that after the party, he could take her to get some lunch and then she'd fall asleep on the way home and could nap before the party started at 3pm. She actually fell asleep on the way to lunch, so DH just brought her home. Unfortunately, she woke up when they came inside. So after lunch I told her she and Mommy needed to take a nap. I was really stressing at this point. There was only an hour and a half til the party started - I needed that nap time for finishing things up. Of course she didn't want to nap, nor did she want to change her diaper. I was so tired and stressed and impatient with her, and she was throwing one of her colossal tantrums. I told her she would get spanked if she didn't let me change her diaper, and that's exactly what happened. She laid still long enough for me to get the one off, but started bucking before I could get the new one on. My mom was helping me, and I finally asked her to just hold her down, she was so out of control. I was getting out of control, too, and yelling at her. She was turning purple, she was so enraged. By the time I finally got her diaper on, I was crying, and she kicked me when she was flailing, and my mom was worried about the baby, so she was crying. It was a complete disaster. I have felt like a bad mom before, but this was the worst. At this point, DH came upstairs and I had to walk away, I just couldn't take it. I went downstairs and my mom came with me and gave me a big hug. This was an hour before the party was to start. She still needed to go home to get cleaned up. So she and my dad got ready to leave, and DH had brought S downstairs. She was in her half-calmed down phase where she sniffles and can answer yes or no, but if she starts to try to say anything, her little voice gets so squeaky we can't understand her and she gets mad all over again and starts to cry. She finally got out that she wanted to go with Grandma and Papa. I asked them if that was ok and hoped that she'd fall asleep on the way there. They were wonderful and took her, and she did fall asleep, and she did take a nice long nap, thank goodness!

I pulled myself together and tried to finish getting things set up, but I didn't quite ever get done before people got there. So it was a little disorganized and chaotic in the beginning, but I think everyone ended up enjoying it for the most part. My friends from Iowa were in town and stayed in our guest room that night, so that was great to get to use it right away. :) My parents brought S back with them, and she was a little discombobulated at first - she'd left an empty house and returned to a full one - but once she settled in, she had fun playing with the kids. I was so relieved.

Yesterday morning we had breakfast with my friends, and then they left to do some househunting (they are planning to move back from IA - yea!). My DH went to a friend's house to watch football all day, and S and I just chilled out. After our nap we were getting ready to go to the park when our neighbors on the north side stopped by. They had been out of town when we first moved in and had been sick the last few weeks but wanted to bring us something to welcome us (pumpkin bread - yum!). They were really nice. I knew that the woman who had lived in our house before us had only been there a year, but the couple who owned the house before her were the original owners. They are the ones who put in all the nice extra touches. I just love our neighborhood - everyone is very friendly!

Last night when we were getting ready for bed, I had just put her Pull-Up on (We started using those at night last week because she soaked through her regular diaper all over the bedspread and sheets two nights in a row.), when she said she had to poop. I said that it was ok, she could go in her Pull-Up. She said she wanted to sit on the potty. I said ok we'll get it out of the box then! So DH got it out and we set it up and she sat down like a big girl. I really didn't expect anything to happen, but she did manage to toot a couple of times. After a few minutes, I told her it was ok, we'd just try again tomorrow, but she really wanted to be successful last night. She kept wanting to try more. I think part of it is just her determined spirit, but I know some of it was her way of delaying bed time. But I was glad to finally be able to have the potty chair out for her so she can use it when she wants for now.

This morning, I asked S what she wanted for breakfast. Here is how that conversation went:
Me: Do you want some fruit?
S: No.
Me: Some cereal?
S: No.
Me: Some pumpkin bread?
S: No.

We looked in the fridge.

S: I want this!" (hot sauce)
Me: (sigh) Honey, what are you going to put that on?
S: Chicken.
Me: We don't have any chicken. (thinking) Oh, but we do have turkey. Do you want some turkey?
S: Yes!

She ended up wanting BBQ sauce instead of the hot sauce, so I went ahead and put the chicken and BBQ sauce on a plate and got myself some pumpkin bread. Then of course she wanted some pumpkin bread, too. So I got the half-eaten slice we'd saved in a sandwich bag from yesterday. There was also half a cookie in there. She wanted the cookie. At this point, I just didn't care. Plus she was eating turkey which is big because she's not much of a meat-eater. So she picked up the cookie and said, "Dip it?" I said, "Ew, no. Well, try it if you want to, but I don't think you'll like it." She did, and I cringed, and she said, "It's good!" And continued to eat the remainder of the chocolate chip cookie by dipping it in BBQ sauce before each bite. Blech! In the meantime, I was putting together my lunch, and she wanted some of the grapes, so I gave those to her as well. Which she also dipped....

The mealtime process is a mess right now. She has decided she doesn't want to sit on her booster chair any more. Which doesn't bother me except she's started getting down out of her chair before she's done eating. She knows she's not allowed to get down til she's done, so I'll ask her if she's sure she doesn't want any more to eat, and she'll say, "No. Save it in the fridge." Ok, fine. But then two minutes later, she'll want something to eat. I'm not playing this game. Going to have to figure out a good way to get her to stay put until she really is done eating.

I'm excited that tonight I have nothing that I have to get done. I need to finish tidying up from the party, but I'm going to let it wait until tomorrow. The season premiers for "How I Met Your Mother," "Big Bang Theory," and "Heroes" are on tonight. Funny to think that just a few years ago, I didn't watch tv - didn't even have cable....

I Said I'm Proud, To Be, a CSU Ram!

Woo hoo! We beat CU - at Folsom Field! I only saw the last quarter of the game, but it was pretty awesome. Wish I could have been out there. Maybe next year.

I was planning to post this weekend, but it just didn't happen. Something I've discovered about being a mom is that you get beat up a lot. I should have known - it starts in the womb. R's not as active as S was (I don't think - it's been awhile!), but she can pack a punch. Last night while watching tv, she got me with a double hit and my shirt was fluttering. I don't remember S doing that. But when we put S to bed last night, I thought I was in wrestlemania. We were all laying down and then she grabbed me to pull herself up, and her little hand wrenched my nipple so hard I thought it was going to be bleeding. I cried out, but told her not to worry about it - I knew she didn't mean to - but man did that hurt. I had finally gotten over the worst of the pain and was left with a dull throbbing when she rolled over and popped me in the nose with her elbow. This was followed by her head to my nose almost immediately. They should hand out padding when you take them in for their 2-yr checkup.

We had a nice Labor Day weekend. Very productive. We rearranged the furniture in the living room and it flows much better, thanks to DH's brilliance. He finally agreed to put the tv on the fireplace mantel. Yes! Now the living room, kitchen, main bath, formal dining room and half bath are all put together. So exciting! All I have left to do is the office/playroom, guest room, master bedroom and bath. Plus I need to clean the whole house and do just a couple of little things in the girls' rooms, but they are done for the most part. I see the light at the end of the tunnel! Which is good since I just have 10 days til I need it all ready for the housewarming party. :)

The other thing I did a lot of this weekend was cook actual meals for dinner which was exciting. I finally got to use my Rachel Ray cookbook I got for Christmas. Loved all three recipes, although, 30-min. my ass! I discovered that's not including prep work, which is always the most time-consuming part. Saturday I made Chicken a la King (different than how I've made it before - served over biscuits - delish!). Sunday I made mini meatloaves and macaroni. Mini is the way to go with meatloaf - it only takes about 20 min to bake instead of an hour or so. They were pretty good! Someday I will make macaroni that tastes cheesy enough, but it has yet to happen. I know part of it was I couldn't find the exact cheeses I was looking for. And I overcooked the noodles because my timing was off, so it was a little mushy. Not bad, but could have been better. Then yesterday I made crab-stuffed flounder. DH doesn't like fish, so I'm always trying to find different recipes that aren't too fishy. This was really good (I thought), and it got an "eh" reaction from him which is as good as it gets. The only problem is that I'm pretty sure the recipe means fresh, whole flounder, but being in the midwest, tiny frozen fillets is my only option. But on the plus side, they only took 5 minutes to bake instead of 20. It was nice to be able to make dinner three nights in a row. But it was a little heavy, too, and all the recipes had onions and/or garlic in them which is wreaking havoc on our stomachs. :) I need to keep that in mind next time I plan my menu.

DH had a good weekend - got a lot done Saturday and Sunday. Then Sunday night his friend came over and they sat out on the patio and had some drinks. Bacardi came out with flavored mojitos, so he got the raspberry one and had a little more of it than he realized. He came to bed and said the room was spinning. Yikes! The next morning (or should I say afternoon?) he said he really didn't think he'd had that much to drink. His hangover lasted all day. We used to be able to get over it by early afternoon. I was thinking about him this morning, because really, I felt badly for him, but it was kind of funny. We are definitely getting old! For some reason it reminded me of when I got sick in his dorm room in college. I sooooo should have known he loved me then! It was awful. I will spare everyone the details, but suffice it to say that it started out seeming like it was just a night of too much alcohol that turned out to be the stomach flu. He took good care of me.

Update On Life

S is getting better at playing pretend. She likes to hold "food" in the palm of her hand and use the other one to pinch some of it and hand it to me to eat. Her newest fascination is with chewing gum. When she sees DH or me with it, she opens her mouth and wiggles her tongue indicating she wants to see what we have in there. The other night before bed she was smacking her lips and clicking her tongue. I asked her what she was doing. "Chewing gum. Mama chew gum. Dada chew gum. Me chew gum." Then this morning she asked if she could have some gum, so I pretended to give her some, and she pretended to put it in her mouth and chew. She said she wanted more so I asked her what happened to what I'd given her, and she said it was all gone. I told her we don't swallow the gum; if we are done with it, we spit it out and put in the trash. I gave her some more to "chew" a few more times. Then I told her she should be careful not to get too much because it gets hard to chew it, and I pretended like I was chewing a huge wad which made her laugh.

The house is starting to come together. I'm trying to get some decorating done before the housewarming party in two weeks. I got the letters for S's name put up on her bedroom wall yesterday. They turned out pretty well, but it looks a little plain. I need to finish the rest of the decor in there and see if they will need anything else. I got some ideas for our bathroom, and picked up a few things at Michael's today. I'm looking forward to getting a lot of stuff done over the long weekend! (Hopefully.)

Only 9 weeks left til baby R's debut. I made an appointment with a hematologist, so next week I see the OB, the week after that the hematologist, and the week after that the dentist. I need to make an appointment to get S's hair cut (and mine). October is starting to look busy - DH is catering a couple of things, we have a bridal shower to go to, my great-aunt will be in town, DH is having a party for the softball team, and I'm hosting the Party of the Month I have with my high school girls.

Work is picking up a bit, and I'm trying to make notes for people for while I'm on maternity leave. One of the women here found out yesterday that she probably has H1N1 (Swine Flu). Praying I don't get it, athough to a certain extent, I don't believe the hype. If I wasn't pregnant and had a toddler, I'd completely ignore it, but that's just one of the ways being a mom changes you! Of course, DH thinks it's a good excuse to avoid having to smooch and snuggle me. :) One of his aunts has a friend who is in the hospital with West Nile Virus, too. Crazy. A guy at work made a comment about all the bad diseases appearing when I'm pregnant. When I was expecting S, his son got the mumps which is highly contagious and dangerous for pregnant women to be exposed to. Just hoping to get through the winter without anything major happening to the kiddos.

Stuff

Friday night, DH wanted to move stuff out of the garage so I could park in it. How sweet is my husband?? So his best friend came over to help him. He and his wife ended up hanging out with us til midnight (dumb idea on my part - sooo tired already and needing a good night's sleep). They are house hunting, too, and were telling us about this house that they loved but there were a couple of drawbacks, one being that it has a really small yard. Then they said there was something about it they wanted to talk to us about first. We were like, okaayyy.... Then his friend said, "Well, it's close. I mean, really close." I said, "What, next door?" And he said, "No, but about 5 blocks over." I said, "That's cool, but I think you are the ones who need to think if you really want to be that close to us." :) Of course DH would love it if they moved there. We'll see what happens.

Saturday I had arranged for a play date for S for two hours before her nap so I had hopes of about a 4 hour stretch to work on unpacking. But I had completely forgotten that my MIL had tickets for us to go to her company picnic. S really enjoyed it; they had a big blow-up slide and a moonwalk. She went on the slide a few times. There were clowns making balloon animals and doing face painting and a sno-cone maker and games. Then I got her home and down for a nap, and a friend came by to see the house, so I didn't really get anything done that day.

Saturday night I was trying to get S to sleep (it was 10pm before she FINALLY went down!), and I was lying in bed with her, and she was holding Elmo. I heard her say, "Elmo, go time out. No, time out. Two choices, Elmo: time out or spank a bottom. Elmo, time out or spank a bottom. Two choices, Elmo. Time out - Spank a bottom!" And she spanked him. I was trying so hard not to laugh, I had to cover my mouth. That must be what happens with my dad. I do spank her once in a blue moon, but there's no discussion. I just tell her one time to quit it, or she's getting spanked and then she gets it.

Sunday, I relived my college days and headed to Mom and Dad's to do a load of laundry to get us through til our new washer and dryer get delivered today. I planned to leave S there napping and go home and get work done, but she wouldn't go to sleep, so that didn't work out either. DH has been sick, so he wasn't feeling up to doing much, so ultimately, we got very little done on the house this weekend which is frustrating. But I think I'm going to try to go home at lunch every day this week. Getting the washer and dryer will help a lot. A bunch of the boxes are clothes.

After we left there, I took S home and she took a short nap, and then we went to a friend's house for a bit. I dropped off some gently used kids shoes for a fundraiser she's doing, and she loaned me some maternity clothes. And we got to see their baby girl! We hadn't seen her for a long time - she's six months old now - time flies!

I had my glucose test this morning - yuck. It's hard to do something like that that requires exact timing when you have a toddler who runs on her own schedule. :) But it's over with. For now, anyway. I'm sure I failed it and will have to do the three hour one. I also got my paperwork to send in to the hospital. Crazy to think it's time for that already!

Home Sweet Home!

Love, love, LOVE our house. After moving Saturday in nearly hundred degree weather, we were wiped out, but glad to be home. Thank goodness we have such good friends to help us. I keep discovering more things about the house that I adore. It's funny because when we were looking for one, we'd see ones I'd like and DH would say it just didn't feel like home. I kept telling him it wouldn't til we moved in. But then we found this one, and it just feels meant to be. I'm so glad I listened to him. :)

Poor S - things were such a whirlwind for her. Saturday I took her to my in-law's to nap, but she was too wound up, so she didn't nap that day. On Sunday afternoon, I took her to my parents' house to nap, so I could get some stuff done at the house, and she didn't sleep then either. The hand-me-down washing machine we moved in ended up not working, so when I went to pick her up, I brought the bed sheets and some towels to wash at my mom's so we'd be set for the night and morning since that was our first night in the house. In the meantime, I'd asked DH to hang a curtain in S's room (she really can't sleep when it's so light out), but he couldn't find the drill bits. So I asked my dad if I could borrow his. He couldn't find his either since stuff had been shuffled when we moved our stuff in. So I asked my half-sister if I could borrow hers. She was fine with it, but was in the middle of something, so it was 6:45 before we could meet up. So, I took S to meet her, and on the way, she fell asleep. I got the drill bits, took the laundry home, got there, and DH was gone. I didn't want S to wake up, so I left the car running and stayed out front with her. I had to wait for DH to get home to put up the curtain and make the bed. Finally got that done, carried her upstairs and she woke up when we put her in bed. Poor kid was disoriented - last time she'd been in there, there was no curtain, and she didn't know where she was. I told her we were in her new pink room, and it was night-night time, and she started crying saying she wanted to sleep at Papa's. I finally got her settled down and to sleep. But she woke up in the night, so I just stayed in there with her. So I didn't get a very good sleep. Plus she woke up at 5am Monday morning. Ugh. Tried to get her back to sleep for an hour, but gave up at 6am and got up. But the two or so hours I spent in my bed, were heaven! Back to a queen instead of a full, nice firm mattress, ahhhh.

Last night she did better, but it was about 9pm before she fell asleep. She stayed that way til about 5am, though, and then I went in and laid down with her for about an hour. She slept til 7am - yea! Hopefully it will only take a couple more nights for her to get on track. Some of it is legitimate, but some is just her getting better at stalling. Either she really developed a fear of the dark overnight (which I have heard can happen) or she was just messing with me last night. She wanted her nightlight on, then the door left open, then the hall light on, etc. And every... single... step... of our routine was stalwarted in some way. Amazingly I was very patient with her. I had not been the previous Thursday night. The "one time" stall has been going on for quite awhile, but lately she's been wanting to give everything kisses good night. Which is fine, but the box her toys were packed in? I don't think so. I was trying so hard not to laugh at her different farfetched attempts.