Happy Halloween!

The night is finally here!! The night we get to set our little cheerleader and horse loose to descend on the neighbors and raid their candy. Ok, well we won't set them loose but they will be raiding the neighbors. All for candy and goodies that we seriously don't need in the house. Oh well, it's al for the fun of it and the experience. Halloween was one of my favorite holidays growing up. Getting all dressed in crazy costumes and going out with our cousins in the neighborhood. Even if it was 30 degrees out. We were troopers for sure! So I hope all of you who do go out have loads of fun, stay warm where the temps have dropped, and stay safe. You never know where a ghost or goblin will pop up!

BRRRR!!!

It's cold out there!!! Last week we were in the 70's and 80's. This week...the 50's and 60's. Taking Monkey to the bus stop this morning it was 41 outside. We had to bust out the winter jacket to stay warm. To backtrack a bit on Monday night I needed to run and do laundry since I didn't get it done on Sunday. I couldn't put it off another day either cause we seriously needed some clean clothes. One day soon hopefully we'll have one in the house but until then, it's off to the laundrymat. Course the night I go it's like 30 out and raining. Cold, wet rain. Yuck!! I always take Toots with me, especially that late so X can get to bed and I can feed Toots if need be. Since it was really nasty out I got out the Bundle Me that our friends got us as a baby present. I LOVE it!! Anyone who has dealt with infant seats know it is a pain in the hiney to get them strapped in with coats and such. Blankets will blow off with the slightest wind and no matter what their face/hands always feel cold. Not with this!

it's a super soft fleece bunting style that goes into the seat first. then baby goes in and gets strapped in. then zips up around them. No jacket required. He was so warm and cozy in there he passed out with in minutes. Definitely a great investment in colder climates!

Giddy Up!!

Mr. X thought this was funny last night. The cat....not so much. Toots? He could care less I think.

Burn Baby Burn

Did you know that Tator Tots can catch on fire?? I don't mean, yes they will blacken in the bottom of the oven. I mean they burst into flame, catch in fire, could burn down the house. Seriously. How do I know this?

Sunday night Mr. X made us dinner. His version of tator tot casserole which was good. I'll probably always make mine with green beans but I may add cheese in the future. Anyways, back to the story. Apparently while putting the dish in the oven he knocked one of the tator tots off and it fell into the bottom of the oven. Being the typical male, I'm sure there is a female or two as well, he didn't REMOVE it from where it fell. Yes, it got LEFT there.

Fast forward to the next night. I decided to make a chicken enchilada of sorts using some left over chicken, tortillas, and then enchilada sauce. I started the oven to get it preheated and started the enchilada sauce on the stove. It was one of those that you just add water and tomato sauce and heat it up.

So I get to cutting up the chicken and I start smelling like something is burning. Totally not even thinking about the oven I kept checking the sauce. Even wondering in the world I could be burning water and seasonings. Stranger things have happened I guess. Then it dawned on me....open the oven. So I did.

Out rolled black smoke. When it finally cleared enough to see there layed the offensive tator tot in the middle of the bottom. You know how coals have those glowing red embers when they get hot enough?? This looked like one of those. So I'm thinking there is no way I can just leave it there, it will only get worse. I so grabbed the metal tong things, slipped on the oven mitt and went oven diving.

I managed to snag the tator tot and started to pull it out. To my horror I bumped the rack and it fell back in. And rolled right UNDER the hot coil. With in less than second it burst into flames. It was burning like a marshmallow over a camp fire!! Now there really was no option to just leave it be as I had no idea what kind of damage an actual flame in an electric oven would do. So I went after it again.

Got it out this time and went to the sink....which had tupperware and bottles in it from earlier in the day. So with my flaming tator tot in one hand I'm frantically trying to move dishes to one side so I won't ruin any of them. I finally get it cleared and throw it in the sink. It's still flaming!! So hosed that sucker down as it hissed until it died out. So thats the story.....tator tots really do catch on fire. In the mean time I'm left with this...

Can you see the resemblence??? Brings a whole new meaning to burning dinner huh?? Now here is a real funny for you. You know your a true blogger when you see stuff like this and think "I need a picture so I can blog about it!". And your an Ebayer when you think "I wonder if I could sell that on ebay?" Hey, why not.....stranger things have been sold!

Just for fun

You don't have to be registered to listen to this. Just don't laugh too hard!



http://ksolo.myspace.com/actions/showSongProfile.do?rid=611574&sid=24216&uid=5547274

Donating Milk

One of the girls in our playgroup had posted a notice that she had been approved to become a donor of breastmilk. After reading her story and doing a little research I thought "You know that's a pretty amazing idea!". For those of us who seem to have an over supply of milk, the likes of which we will NEVER go through ourselves, why let all that "liquid gold" go to waste. And in our household, if we keep up at our current pace thats exactly what will happen. I have upwards of 200oz in the freezer. Each day I pump in the morning and at while at work. I'm only working about 3hrs a day in the office so we only need enough for one 4oz bottle and since I can pump anywhere from 4-7oz at one pumping session....we get way more than we need.

Anyways, about a week ago I went to the company website and went through the extensive intial interview asking questions about all kinds of things from our history. Today, I got the email saying that we have moved to the next step which includes a sign off from both our physicians and then the physical exam, drug testing, blood testing, etc. If we pass all of that then we will be approved to become a donor and will be sent all the supplies for storage and shipping of what ever extra milk we have to donate. I consider myself fairly healthy and Toots is certainly thriving so I'm really not too concerned that we wouldnt' get through this next phase. I'm not sure how long it might take but keep your fingers crossed for us!!

Here's a little info about what the company does and such.

As a result of the ongoing donations from generous donors and supporters like you, International Breast Milk Project is able to continue providing breast milk to babies in Africa affected by HIV/AIDS. Through May 31, 2007, IBMP donors had generously given 55,000 ounces of breast milk for our cause! 100% of the breast milk donated through May 31, 2007 has been shipped to Africa. 5,000 ounces of the breast milk was shipped in May of 2007, while the remaining 50,000 ounces was shipped in October 2007. IBMP is grateful to Prolacta Bioscience for working with us from the very beginning to collect, process, and package all of this donated milk. Due to the program’s great success and growth, IBMP is able to continue its work under a business model that ensures sustainability for the organization, so that we may continue helping infants affected by HIV in Africa. At IBMP’s request, Prolacta will continue donating their services at no charge to IBMP. Under this agreement Prolacta will collect, process, and package 25% of all breast milk donated after June 1, 2007. This donated milk will be provided to babies affected by HIV, poverty, and disease in Africa. The milk that is shipped to Africa for infants affected by HIV/AIDS is donated and not sold to the babies or orphan clinics. The remaining 75% of donated milk will be processed by Prolacta to make pasteurized human milk and to create the only available human milk fortifier made from 100% human milk, H2MF, for premature and critically ill babies in neonatal intensive care units in the U.S. For every ounce that remains in the U.S., Prolacta will provide $1 to IBMP. International Breast Milk Project requested this balance of milk and financial support from Prolacta to maximize our potential to fund local healthcare initiatives in Africa, including local milk banking, while also providing immediate relief for infants suffering from malnutrition. This partnership of a non-profit with a for-profit organization provides a model that creates sustainability to provide for a critical need in Africa. IBMP is pleased that the new model is working well: Breast milk donations made after May 31, 2007 have resulted in another shipment to South Africa sent on May 20, 2008, consisting of over 43,000 ounces of milk! This is equivalent to over 10,000 infant feedings.
Prolacta’s human milk fortifier is the only fortifier made from 100% human breast milk, which is added to a mother's own milk, or to donor milk, providing a critically ill preemie with the nutrition necessary to support appropriate growth and development. The human milk fortifier is concentrated human milk that meets the nutritional needs of premature and critically ill infants, as prescribed by neonatologists. Premature infants miss out on significant in-utero growth because they are born too early, and human milk does not have enough calories and protein to sustain the growth rates required for these babies to catch up with their full term peers. Feeding these babies more volume does not work since their stomachs are too small. The solution to this problem is to concentrate their food. The current standard of care is fortification using bovine (cow) milk products. Prolacta Bioscience is offering an alternative by making a concentrated fortifier from 100% human milk, as opposed to cow milk. Prolacta is the first and only company to provide human milk fortifier from 100% human milk for critically ill babies in the NICU. International Breast Milk Project is a federally registered 501c(3) organization. We will publish our milk shipment reports and our yearly financial information at www.breastmilkproject.org. You will know that every drop of your milk is making a difference for infants in need.

Grandma Tells All

Keeping Score?

Here is a touchy subject for you. For those of you who have kiddo's, do you and your significant other keep track of who goes out more with out the kids? This has become an issue for us, well maybe just me. X gets to go out quite a bit. The last few weekends he's been gone Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Then this week he was gone Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night as well doing his gaming thing I guess. It doesn't really bother me that he goes out, we all need to still have our own thing that we do. What did bother me is that it was so much and I was left stuck at home with the kids, one of which wouldn't stop screaming. On top of that Tuesday I heard the comment "You get to stay home and lay around all day". That alone was enough to irritate me cause it's so not true. Granted, I'm not working 8 hours a day anymore, I only go into the office for about 3 hours each day. Even at home though I'm still working answering emails and phone calls that get forwarded to me. Things I have to continue doing to keep up the arrangement I have with my boss now. On top of that I have to take care of Toots and then Monkey when she gets out of school. Keep the house cleaned up, make dinner, clean up from that, etc. Anyone who stays home knows it's not just sitting around watching tv all day. At the end of the day I'm wiped out so it's no wonder that most nights I pass out shortly after Toots finally goes down for the night. Needless to say it's just frustrating because in all that I have not been able to get a break at all. I've got bookclub this Sunday night, which I can take Toots with me but not Monkey. I got resistance to that idea and really it's not even difficult keeping Monkey. When I leave she's only got an hour before bed and she can pretty much put herself to bed. At least I haven't left him with both kids to handle...Even I get overwhelmed with that at times.

So how do you guys do it? Or does it really just not matter? Don't get me wrong, X is awesome with Toots. When he's here he holds him, burps him, rocks him, etc. I've never once had him refuse to take Toots even when I interrupt one of his computer games so I can get 5 minutes to go to the bathroom. I just wish I didn't feel like I was still on my own so much and had a chance to get out a bit more.

Beating My Head On A Wall

Don't let the smile fool you....



I finally caught one on camera but we've spent the last 6 hours alternating between eating, diaper changes, and screaming. He only slept about 45 minutes total in that entire time. I hope he'll sleep really well tonight! And who could possibly stay frustrated for too long with smiles like that mixed in.

Give me your ideas....please??

I need some recipe ideas!! We get WIC and every month I get 2lbs of raw carrots and a bag of dry beans. This month I picked up a bag of the split peas thinking...oh split pea soup. Never had it but X says it's not the best. I'm not really crazy about waisting ingredients on something we probably won't like, not to mention basically making two meals in one night. We all still gotta eat right?? So I need ideas for what to do with those split peas. As for the carrots, any recipes/ideas you have involving carrots throw them at me. It might not sound like it but 2lbs in a decent amount. Sure we can eat them raw or I could make a carrot cake but that will get old fast. So let me see what ya got!!

Great Invention

I think this had to be a mom invention. Someone who knew and understood the problems/concerns with getting nursing babies to take a bottle when needed but also not refuse to nurse. The most common issue is nipple confusion and lazy babies. Bottom line, regular bottles make it too easy and it's a different type of sucking. And since it's human nature...who wouldn't take the easy way out.

Toots was having bottle issues. He had taken some bottles ok and then wouldn't have anything to do with them. I can't leave him to starve all day and on occasion need more than 2 hours away. No a friend of ours suggested these bottles.

1st Years Breast Flow Bottles

You'll notice that the bottle itself looks like any other bottle. The actual genius in this set up is the nipple itself. It's kind of a double nipple of sorts. The inside one is fairly like a regular nipple although made out of a harder plastic. The outside one is the soft silicone but has a shorter tip and more "natural" shaped area behind it. The way it works from what I can tell is when you tip the bottle up the milk fills into the area between the inner and outter nipple. Baby has to both suck on the nipple and compress the larger area making it just like nursing. It has the exact same latch in that they use their tongue/lower lip as well.

Yesterday was our first trial run with these bottles and my sitter was bending over backwards thanking me when I picked him up. I imagine after listening to his scream for the 20 minutes it took me to get there anything would be amazing. But she contributes it to the bottle. She said that the first time it went in his mouth he kinda turned away but then got a taste of what was inside and went to town. He sucked down a 4oz bottle in 10 minutes and then was the happiest most content baby. He even gave her a few smiles and lots of big burps.

The one down side to all this is that when I have him home he wants nothing but me. Last night X tried to give him a bottle b/c I was taking care of Monkey and trying to get some things done too. It was the late night one right before bed but Toots wanted nothing to do with him. As soon as I picked him up he stopped crying. So we have to adjust to that aspect. I've heard that nursed babies will be more attached, especially int he beginning, after being away from mom for a bit. Hopefully though he'll start to realize that I always come back. Although for a 7 weeker I imagine we have awhile before thats the case!

Rolling Over

Isn't it the cutest thing??? Just ignore the crying at the end...

Because I Just Cant Resist

You can thank Mr. X for that one.

A Funny

When your significant other ticks you off don't yell, don't scream, don't argue.

Get Even

How???

Glue his flipflops to the floor.

Fall Festival

This morning we attended our playgroups annual Fall Festival. Our friend Jennifer and her son Justin tagged along too and hopefully they had fun like we did! There were crafts and games for the kiddos, a costume parade, trunk or treating, and yummy food. I personally loved our beer bread....YUM! There were some amazing sugar cookies and this hashbrown bake with corn flakes on it. We were eating going thats for sure.

During the party I snapped a few pic's of costumes the kiddo's were wearing. I narrowed it down to my top 2 favorite but first, here are a few others that were too cute.

First of course, my horse and cheerleader. Don't mind their facial expressions. I don't even attempt to try and get Monkey to make a straight face and Toots...well you know. He's ONLY now quite 7 weeks now.

Then we have Justin as Elmo. It took a good bit of coaxing to get him to wear that costume but he finally did and got to participate in the trunk or treating.

Here we have the cabbage patch kid. I couldn't get close enough to get a pic of hte kiddo inside but rest assured she was more adorable than any doll. I gotta say though, the real doll has got to be huge to justify that big old box!

Here we have a monkey with the chubbiest cheeks. Makes ya just want to squeeze him. And gotta love the little details like the banana sticking out of his pocket.

And here we have the fisherwoman with her catch of the day. I gotta commend the people who come up with these ideas!

And now the leaders.

The peacock. Sorry the picture isn't that great, I was trying so hard but Toots was eating like he is a starved baby and I was operating the camera left handed. Doesn't work so well for a right handed person. This costume was absolutely adorable though, right down to her orange tights and her feathers all puffed out around her. She was the prettiest peacock ya ever did see!

And finally, the one I think I do have to label the winner. Basically for originality. I'm pretty sure this was a home made costume, if not I'd like to know what store makes costumes like this! I don't think words could do it justice so here ya go....

Neat isn't it? Not only is that a washing machine but it's complete with Tide and Clorox and the assorted clothing as well. I hope though that the clothing was at least clean for the demonstration...especially the underwear on his head. Now what I really want to know is how they got their young son to wear that willingly!

Busy Busy!

We are going to have a jam packed fun filled weekend! First my good friend Jennifer and her son are coming up to visit. We haven't seen them in like a year so it's a long over due visit. So happy they will be able to make it!! Saturday morning/afternoon we are taking the kiddo's to a fall festival that my mom's group is hosting. The kids get to dress up, play games, trunk or treat, etc. Should be fun! Either tomorrow night or Saturday night I think we'll hit the Greek Festival going on near our house. The food sounds yummy, is reasonably priced, and admission is free. I think the kids would enjoy it too. On Sunday we're heading to another playgroup event to decorate cookies with the kiddos. Needless to say we have plenty to do!

First Day Down

It didn't go bad at all. A lot better than I anticipated actually. I went last night and set up the pack n play and a few other things so I wouldn't have to worry about it today. Especially since I knew I would be runnign late already because of what time Monkey's bus gets here in the morning. Sorry, I'm not paying someone to watch her for 15minutes in the morning. We'll just call it even with all the extra hours I've put in over the last 6 years. Anyways, got in and Toots slept most the morning. I wrapped him up in the Moby and he was perfectly content to sleep on me. I was able to get a lot done, to the point I'm not sure what I'll have to do tomorrow. Surf the net?? LOL Over all though it really was easy. He only got fussy really once when I changed his diaper but thats cause he still wanted to eat more and I was taking too long. I asked my coworkers at the end of the day if they had been bothered at all and they said no. If every day goes like this then we should have no issues! Yea! I do still want to look into getting the Ergo carrier. At $100 though it's an investment that will have to wait a couple weeks when I'm getting a paycheck again. It really is worth every penny though. Shh....just don't tell X how much that sucker costs!!

My Final Night

Well, the moment is finally upon us. Well me anyways. Tonight is my last night before returning to work. Can I say I'm a bit nervous about getting ready in the morning?? I've done as much as I can tonight. Laying out clothes, packing bags, etc. There is still the issue if juggling getting myself up and ready, dealing with Toots who will wake up screaming to be fed, and getting monkey fed/dressed for school. Oh ya, getting her to the bus on time! Toots is going to work with me. Should be interesting to see how that works out. The plan is to have him with me Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Those days I'll be at the office doing paperwork, system maintenance, mailing letters, the occasional call. On Tuesday/Thursday I'll use as my days to run where needed or do appointments. I've got the moby wrap for carrying him while awake and hte pack n play set up for when he sleeps. Thankfully I have my own office so I'm out of the way of the other agents in that location. I'm really hoping it works and is manageable. At least until Toots is a bit older an dmore mobile. Then we can look at other arrangements if necessary. I just woudl rather have him with me as much as possible while we're nursing to help keep it going well. Granted I've been able to pump pretty well but I still have concerns that it will dwindle due to him being in daycare all day. We'll see though.

Course, I really should get to bed. Here it is 11:30pm and I'm up on the computer. Man, this is going to be an adjustment.

Boppy Time

Yesterday I was sitting on the laptop, can't even remember what I was looking for now. X had been rocking Toots (this is pre-swing time) and I guess he had calmed down enough so he had layed him in the boppy. Toots seems to like being propped up some so that he can see the world I guess. The boppy was sitting right next to me so I was glancing over on occasion to check on him. When X put him on the boppy though it wasn't in the traditional way. He actually layed him across it instead of in the hole. Toots was just laying staring, not squirming so I didn't correct his position right away. Anyways, I glanced over at one point and this is what I saw...

He had managed to turn himself 90degrees, with out me noticing at that, and then promptly passed out. Even the paci was long forgotten. And for those not familiar with the boppy, this is actually the opposite of how any other baby lays in it. In essence he is laying down with his feet propped up instead of his head. And for baby safety...we'll just ignore how close we are to the edge of the couch....Shhhh!

Early Start

X and Monkey should thank Toots this morning for this nice hot breakfast. I've been up since exactly 3:10am when Toots decided it was time for a late night/early morning snack. Gotta love that swing though, knocked him out in less than 10minutes. If only I could have crawled in there too cause I am wide awake. Must be the fact I actually went to sleep shortly after him and got a straight 6 hours which I'm thankful for. Course, I'll probably get sleepy again sometime in the next hour when it would be time for me to normally get up and start our day. Oh well, at least they get to benefit. X is back at work today too so maybe I can even squeeze in a nap. Oh the things we wish for!

Swing Heaven

Robyn had given us a travel swing to use for Toots but for what ever reason he screamed when ever we put him in it. I don't know if it's the way it sat, the clicking noise it made, the height....who knows. So since he wasn't liking it we passed it back to her so maybe someone else could use it. Well, the last few days X has been swinging Toots in a way that kinda imitates a swing and it would soothe him when he was fussy. Course his arms could only take so much so I put out some feelers and was given one of the Ocean Wonders Aquarium Swings. Got it tonight and put it together right away, plopped him in and he just sat there swinging away. Took him out for a minute to move it to a better location and he immediately started screaming. Put him back in and with in 5 minutes he was passed out asleep. So needless to say, he likes this one. I have no clue what the difference in the two is. Maybe it was just a fluke. Either way, now I have one more way to soothe him when I need to get something done. Yea me!!! Course, it would have been nice to see X get some toned up arms after all that swinging. LOL

Cooking Again

One good thing about me being off work these last weeks is I've been more willing to cook again. Unfortunately I'm afraid I've just spoiled Monkey and X cause when I'm back at work I hardly think it will continue. At least during the week unless I can find even more easy, quick recipes. What I've found though is I'm actually starting to prefer making things from scratch. Bisquick pancakes??? Not us! This morning is was homemade pancakes with fresh strawberries. Pre-packaged muffins?? Not when I can whip together some banana chocolate chip ones. How about easy stroganoff for dinner??? So yummy! I find myself browsing recipes online looking for things that look good and a little different than our norm. Even adding additional basics to our grocery item instead of buying the usual ready made stuff. Over all it's cheaper anyways and it's kinda fun to experiment. And my favorite recipe site has user reviews and suggests that help as well. Even better is it's coming up on the holidays. Best time of the year for baking and making the house all warm and good smelling. Better than any candle you can buy!

And if you didnt notice I've changed my recipe blog over as well. You can find all the things we've tried lately and some old favorites HERE. Well almost all the old ones, I'm still transfering things over.

**Sigh**

Almost 6 weeks now.

Isn't he getting so big? Those are 3month clothes!

Half smirk, not quite a grin. We're getting there


Her face cracks me up. I think even he was wondering what her issue is.

Your Kidding Right?

I'm sure anyone who has kids has deal with the "Is IT a boy or girl?". First, you gotta love how baby is now an IT. Like he/she is no longer human when someone doesn't know their gender. Course, I shouldn't be too judgemental. I've probably done the same thing with our realizing it.

Here is the thing though....there are certain people like me who will dress their children so that it is apparent what gender they are. If I see a baby dressed in pink and purple them I'm pretty much going to assume that they are a girl. If the baby is in blue then most likely they are a boy. Course, there are some exceptions to the rule. I'm sure their are some parents who don't care what color their child is wearing. yes, I've seen boys in pink and purple. Not my boy of course...LOL

Today one of our neighbors had a party for her son's birthday so we went down for awhile. They had one of those big blow up bounce house things which Monkey loved and I'm hoping will now result in her sleeping very well tonight. Anyways, I dressed Toots in a blue onsie, blue jeans, and blue/white socks, and had a blue blanket with little puppies on it. And still every single person that came up to us asked "Is it a boy or girl". Grrr.....seriously people! Do I need to table a post it to his forhead??

Sweet Sleep

I'm probably jinxing myself but Toots actually slept in his crib last night! Totally unintentional on my part. During the day I've been trying to put him to sleep in there and at night in the pack n play next to our bed. Last night I laid him down about 8pm in teh crib thinking he would wake up about 10pm to eat like normal. I laid down on the couch with X and promptly passed out. At some point X went to bed but Toots didn't get me up till around 2:30am to eat. After I fed him I put him back to sleep in the crib where he slept until almost 7:30am. I would absolutely love it if we could get into that routine every night. Course I would need to make a point of getting to bed earlier but on that schedule i could get much needed sleep. In addition I'd have time to get up and get ready for work in the morning before having to get the two of them up and ready as well. One can hope right??? I have to say it was nice not having him right next to the bed where we could hear every sound he made. In the crib I could hear him actually cry on the monitor bu tnot every single grunt and groan. I'm sure X is now going to insist he sleep in the crib EVERY night. We'll see though.

Farewell

It's always sad when family or friends move away. Monkey is experiencing it for the first time. Granted we have had people leave the area over the years but it was either when she was too little to understand or we really were not that close. Last night we went to visit with her Aunt, Uncle, and 3 cousins as they are leaving today. Her Uncle is in the Navy and they have been transfered to Guam for three years. Monkey knows that they are moving away and that we will not see them again for a long time. We spent a couple hours there and she had so much fun playing with her cousins and eating pizza. When it was time to leave though it was so hard on her. All I kept hearing was "but I don't want them to move!". On the drive home we talked of nothing more than sending letters and emails and lots of pictures. She doesn't understand why they have to move only that they are. Since they are the only link to her fathers side of the family at the moment I think she is taking it even harder. She knows who her dad is, meaning his name, she doesn't know him as a person. I've always explained his being absent was because he lived so far away. Now I think she is assocating that distance that she will no longer know her cousins. Hopefully that won't be the case.

It's a Conspiracy

Babies must be born with the ability to just sense when you want to get something done. It never fails. On days when I'm feeling pretty lazy, just not wanting to do anything Toots is more than willing to sleep all day long. So much so that I find myself making sure he's still breathing because he's so quiet. Then on days where I have a lot to do he won't sleep and pretty much cries non stop. Of course these also are the days it's just him and I so I have nobody to take over to give me a bit of a break too.

Take today for instance. It started off well enough. He was actually agreeable with letting me get monkey ready for school even though she was determined to be really slow. Got her off on the bus and came home. Took some time to check my email and a few message boards. Changed and fed Toots thinking that surely this would put him to sleep so i can tackle monkey's room and getting rid of toys she doesn't play with. He drifted off to sleep and then 20 mins later was screaming. Just as I had gotten everything dragged out to the living room to sort through. Tried everything and the only thing he wanted was to eat so did that again. He dropped off to sleep, layed him down with some lullabye music, 20 minutes later he was screaming agian. The was teh case all morning. I did manage to get a little bit done but it was like a race of how much I could get to before he woke up again.

So this afternoon got lunch and then ran up to Walmart to pick up some photo's I had printed. Toots fussed as I put him in the carseat, picked it up and he was passed out before i got the front door locked behind me. Slept the whole 20 minutes it took to get back home and then was screaming as we walked into the house.

So what gives?? How the heck do you get a baby to sleep for longer than 20 minutes at a time??? I think part of his problem is just that he isn't sleeping right. So it's making him crankier than normal and in turn keeping him up more. I seriously can't sit on the couch all day with him attached to me. And I can't listen to him scream so much. For my own sanity if nothing more!

So appropriate

Toots nickname is definitely appropriate. In the last 5 minutes as I'm sitting here editing some things on the blog site he has "tooted" like 10 times. I guess I should be greatful though, at least they don't stink. YET!!

First Road Trip

This past weekend we had our first road trip with Toots. He did pretty well considering he's only a month old. On the way up he managed to sleep the entire way. A relief because I had been worried I'd be stopping every hour due to a screaming baby. Even Monkey slept most the way and we made good time. Had lots of fun visiting with Robyn and her boys. Can't believe how much they are growing up! Robyn even got some cute shots of the kiddos. You can check them out on her Photo Blog. Coming home was a pretty good too except for the last 10 minutes. Toots apparently had enough of the car at that point and screamed like he was being murdered. I could hear monkey in the back going "It's ok...don't cry...it's ok..". Ahhh sibling love. We'll see how long that lasts.

Child's View on Politics

Whether Democrat or Republican, you should get a kick out of this! A little boy goes to his dad and asks, 'What is Politics ?' Dad says, 'Well son, let me try to explain it this way: I am the head of the family , so call me The President . Your mother is the administrator of the money, so! we call her the Government . We are here to take care of your needs, so we will call you the People . The nanny, we will consider her the Working Class . And your baby brother, we will call him the Future . Now think about that and see if it makes sense.' S o the little boy! Goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said. Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed. The next morning, the little boy says to his father, 'Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now.' The father says, 'Good, son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about.' The little boy replies, ' The President is screwing the Working Class while the Government is sound asleep. The People are being ignored and the Future is in deep poo .

Underwear Dust

One evening a husband, thinking he was being funny, said to his wife 'Perhaps we should start washing your clothes in Slim Fast. Maybe it would take a few inches off of your butt!'

His wife was not amused, and decided that she simply couldn't let such a comment go unrewarded.

The next morning the husband took a pair of underwear out of his drawer. 'What the Hell is this??' he said to himself as a little 'dust' cloud appeared when he shook them out. 'April,' he hollered into the bathroom, 'why did you put talcum powder in my underwear?'

She replied .'It's not talcum powder......It's "Miracle Grow".

R&R....Please???

Thats what I need. Plain and simple...I need sleep!!! E has fo some reason decided he either doesn't want to sleep at night or he needs to wake up every hour. The latter meaning that just as I'm dozing off he wakes me up again. This makes for a very long night and me resorting to some drastic measures. Like co-sleeping. That big no-no that I would never in a million years admit to his pediatrician. Not that I understand why they need to know anyways. I always swore I would never co-sleep. No way do I want to share my bed/sleeping quarters with a baby until he's school age. I've heard too many people that are dealing with getting the kiddo out of their bed. Yet here I am doing it. Why?

I need sleep. I need every little second that I can squeeze out from one crying fit to another. Another reason I dread going back to work. How can a person be fully functional after 2hours of sleep every night. Something has got to give eventually and we know it sure as heck won't be the baby. He's as stubborn as I am in that department.

There is convenience in it as well. No getting up and stumbling from one room to the next. I hear a wimper and just pull up the shirt. Problem solved! Course it also results in wet spots for the wrong reasons....LOL

Yes we have the pack n play with the bassinet which I try to use often but convenience wise it's just not cutting it. We unfortunately have a platform bed. For those who don't know it's a bed that sits really low to the ground. So to get him out I've gotta drag myself up, climb over the side of the pack n play and drag him out of what ever corner he has wedged himself into. Then when finished repeat the process. See what I mean now? Its no wonder I'm sleep deprived.

I'm at that point where I fully understand why parents would offer up their savings or a limb just to get a full nights rest. Even a straight 4 hours would be nice. I've even tried taking a nap durign the day while J is in school and E is sleeping. Its inevitable that X will get home early though and bug me till I wake up. Or he messes with the baby and wakes him up. Ugh. It's a losign battle for me. I just try not to think about how long it could last!

We Have A Winner!

J has finally learned how to tie her own shoes! Seriously, I'm amazed. Especially considering in all the excitement and adjustments with E I hadn't really been focusing on teaching her. Apparently she's just been working on it by herself though because yesterday she comes up to me and goes "Look mommy, watch what I can do!" and proceeds to tie both her shoes. Not in one of those lose ones that fall apart with the first step either. A good solid shoe tie. Now, she won't let me anywhere near those shoes to tie them. That independent streak showing it's face again. *Sigh* She really is growing up.

Now if only we could get the finger sucking to end.....

Nicknames

So I've been thinking that instead of using initials to reference everyone I'd come up with nicknames. Make it a little more personal than just using a letter of the alphabet.

We already have one for J which is Monkey. Something we've called her since she was able to walk and climb on EVERYTHING. Don't believe me?? We went to a playdate this past weekend and the one thing she wanted to know was if there was a good tree to climb. She's my tomboy in a dress and becomes more and more like me every day.

As for E I'm thinking of using Toots. Odd name I'm sure your thinking but my reasoning is pretty sound. This kid is gassier than a grown man. And I'm not talking about short little cute ones. I'm talking, loud and long drawn out ones, back to back, and even a little liquid sounding at times. Ewww gross I know. Add the belching to it and I've already gotten an idea of what his teenage years will be like. Don't believe me?? I'll get it on video one day and after you pick yourself up from laughing you'll have to post how right I am!

As for X and myself....no idea. We don't even have nicknames for each other so I'm not even sure what would be fitting. So I'm putting this out to you guys....any ideas???

I Never Understood

When J was born I was a single mom. Her dad being completely uninvolved and requiring a court order just to get him to support her. Even now he hasn't seen her since she was a month old. His choice, not mine. Needless to say I had to find ways to cope and deal with our situation with out going crazy. How did I do that?? I avoided dealing with a lot of issues. Instead I dove head first back into work when she was barely a week old, resulting in a very early introduction to daycare. In being honest I probably didn't even really bond with her until she was several months old because I went back so quickly. In those early days I did what I needed to in order to make sure she was taken care of. Fed, bathed, clothed her. You can't really play with an infant that young and I had never really been a cuddler. Did I love her?? With out a doubt. I'd have fought tooth and nail to protect her. I just didn't feel that connection that so many of my mommy friends talked about. And before you bash me I HAD to go back to work. We don't get paid leave and the bills don't just pay themselves. I did what I had to at the time.

When my mommy friends were talking about being emotional and near tears over going back to work I thought they were crazy. What could be so hard about leaving a baby who does nothing but eat, sleep, cry, and dirty diapers? Who wouldn't want a break from that? I swore I could never be the stay at home mom type. Seriously?? Stay home all day with them? No freakin way! I'd go crazy first....right?

I used to hear all the time "I have no idea how you do it!" quickly followed by "I could never do it myself". Do what? I was doing the same thing they were, taking care of a baby. Right? This concept though is two sided though. Pro's and con's both ways which I'll go into in a minute.

Still, somehow we survived and apparently I did something right. I'm now dealing with a 5 year old who can negotiate like the best salesman, often leaving me at a loss of what to do next. She's fearcely independent and likes things her own way. A product of her infancy/toddlerhood or quite possibly, the spitting image of me. I know a few people who laugh every time I say in exasperation "She won't stop arguing with me!" or "She's so stubborn". They are really quick to comment that it sounds fairly familiar to them or that all to famous phrase..."Wonder where she got that from". Grrr

So where am I going with all this?? With baby E things are completely and utterly different. Having to adjust has been some what of a trial in it's own right but I'm learning how to adjust. Today was a rough day where I was really thinking about all this. And ironically...crying my eyes out too. Definitely not a good thing when your driving down an interstate at 70mph. What brought it on?

I realized that I only have 15 days left before I return to work and baby E learned about the tough world of daycare. Well maybe not tough for him now, he has a little while before he'll care that another kiddo took his toy. Still, he's my baby. And I've gotta leave him with someone else while I go and slave away for a few measely dollars. For at least 8 hours a day I won't be the one that comforts him when he cries. I won't be the one who rocks him to sleep or changes the never ending dirty diaper. I won't be the one who gets warm all over when he smiles, even if it is due to gas. Hey, we take what we can get.

The difference between J and E....it really bugs me now. Not because I love E anymore than J. Not because he's more important or anything. It's because now I have the luxury of caring. I'll have had 6 weeks off work with him. I've been with him 24hrs a day since the day he was born. I've had the chance to bond with him in such a way that just the thought of him pulls a few heart strings. Now I can say that I know how my other mommy friends felt. And now instead of thinking they were crazy, I feel their pain. I sympathize with them and I feel like I could shed a tear for every single working mommy that has to leave their child.

Whats even crazier is I would now gladly stay home with both my kiddos every single day. Well J has school but you know what I mean. I want to see every last one of those firsts that he will have. I want to be the one that is there for him in every way he needs. I want to continue to be here every day when J comes home from school with time for her in the evening because cleaning and dinner is already taken care of. Not rushing around tryign to fit a days worth of work into a few hours at home. I'm no longer the mommy who was slightly detached as a way of coping with a situation. I'm a mommy who is going to cry, and cry, and cry some more the day I leave him in someone elses arms. I'll be the mommy who calls to check on him and takes time to adjust to not thinking of him every moment. **Sigh** I'm going to be an even better mommy. Treasuring every moment I am with my kiddos more than before. No longer taking for granted the few moments that we do have.