This and That

Good morning! Only 25 days until our vacation! Yay! Obviously I’m excited.  We know where we’re going, we’ve got our plan for the weekend, and all we’re doing is counting down the days. The week before we leave is going to drag, I just know it. I also know, the day we leave and the day before that are probably going to fly by, in the sense that I’ll have so much to do and feel like there’s not enough time to do it. I’ve already started my lists of what needs to be packed, and what needs to be done before the trip. Is that crazy? Maybe just a little, lol, but oh well.

Today was quite a fun day. For some reason, I was awake at about 5 am. I tried to get back to sleep, but I couldn’t because I was hungry. I’m one of those people who just can’t go to sleep if I’m really hungry. I wasn’t starving or anything, but also didn’t want to get up and eat, because then I’d be awake. It’s always a tough decision, lol. Anyway, a little after 5, I heard the kids door open, but then didn’t hear them. No tv, no playing…nothing. I figured maybe one of them had opened the door in a semi-sleep state (happens quite often in this house). I got out of bed a little bit later and decided to play a game on my computer, which happens to be right next to the couch. I come into the living room, and my couch is full of kids. There was a kid at each end of the couch, laying with their toes toward each other, sharing one blanket, fast asleep. It was so adorable! If I hadn’t been afraid of waking them, I would have taken a picture.

This morning we actually had plans outside of the house, which was unfortunate, kind of, for the simple fact that it was raining…quite a bit. We’re talking, we walked outside and the sidewalk in front of our door was flooded. It was one of those days where you just want to curl up on the couch with a mug of something hot and watch movies all day. If the plans had been just any other plans, I would have cancelled them and immediately turned on Netflix. However, today was a special day.

For the past 2 months, we’ve been trying to find a place for the kids to take gymnastics classes. The reason it’s taken so long is because we wanted a gym that wasn’t too far for us or K’s dad to drive, had a class for each child at the same time on the same day, and had coaches with previous experience working with special needs children. We narrowed it down to 2 gyms. Well, actually, I had one I really liked and wanted, my Grandma had another. Since she’s the one paying for lessons, she obviously got a say. Today the kids had a trial gymnastics class at my Grandma’s gym preference. They loved it and really had a blast. K can’t wait for her class next week, and L actually followed directions and tried pretty hard. The downside is, because of his slight motor delays (and probably some of his speech delays, too), L has been bumped down to the class for the kids a year younger than him. That normally wouldn’t be an issue, except the class that’s held the same time as K’s class is booked solid. So right now, we’ve got one class Wednesday nights and one class on Saturday mornings. Hopefully we’ll be able to get L into the Saturday class soon. The other possibility is, he makes progress in the younger class and is able to move to the age-appropriate class, which does have a spot open in our desired class.

What about the gym I really wanted? Glad you asked. It basically came down to this, that gym is more expensive, and Grandma didn’t want to pay the extra money. Hey, it’s her money. I’m not really going to argue with her about it.

Alright folks, I’ve got to head out and finish cooking dinner. See you all later!

Nosey Noses

I would like to thank all the old ladies who gave me the stink eye while I was in the grocery store yesterday. For those who may not know, L is borderline autistic. He has frequent meltdowns if things aren’t done a certain way. He’s now in this routine for the grocery store: He “pushes” the cart (while I pull and steer from the end of it), and he has to be the one to put the groceries in the cart. Yesterday, I was grabbing something, offered it to him, he didn’t want to put it in the cart, so I did. Well, it just doesn’t matter if he says no, if anyone but him puts it in, he freaks out. Didn’t matter what I did, he wouldn’t be consoled. I think part of the problem was he had a very short nap and was tired.

Whatever the reason, he was in meltdown mode. Inconsolable crying, nothing could appease him, and of course, the best part, he now refused to move from that spot in the aisle. I asked him politely to move and follow me so we could go get Mr. Then I told him, still calm and everything, that we needed to go. He wouldn’t budge. So I grabbed his hand and began to walk. That’s when he decided to become boneless and try to fall to the floor. Now, his teacher has showed me a way to hold on to him, kind of force him to stand up when he does that. The only problem was, it requires two hands and I only had the one available. Also, have you ever tried to move a boneless, crying kid through a store while he’s wearing a heavy sweater? I kept grabbing sweater, not kid.

Needless to say, there were lots and lots of stink eyes as I hurried to the checkout and got out of there. Now, I was finished with my shopping and was out of there in under 5 minutes. I didn’t drag my crying child all over the store. Have I done that before? Yes, when I couldn’t wait until later to grab something from the store. Most of the time, if it can wait, I leave. Last night was one of those nights were I couldn’t wait until he stopped crying, but luckily, I had everything and had been on my way to the checkout.

I pushed the cart, and tried to avoid dragging my son, through the parking lot and, when he dropped and tried to lay down in the middle of the road, I had enough. I stopped the cart, picked him up, threw him over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and hurried to the van. For some reason, there were a lot of people just milling around the parking lot, and they all seemed to be older women. As soon as I picked him up like that, I swear to you, two different groups of women started pointing and whispering behind their backs. I try to ignore when people do that in public, because they don’t know L and don’t know what his issues are. I know there are some moms who have handy cards to hand out, explaining about autism and such, but I don’t.

One one hand, I think those cards are great, because people are usually more patient with a parent when they understand the child is autistic, but on the other hand, have we gotten so judgey as a community that no one will give a parent a free pass if their child is having a meltdown in the store? K, my daughter, is “normal”, yet I definitely can remember some meltdowns she had in public as a child. Hell, she occasional still  has them. Maybe what I’m trying to say is, let’s give some parents a break, okay? Yes, the screaming child in the store can be annoying, but it happens. Next time you see a parent dealing with a child in the middle of a meltdown, offer them a kind smile instead of a scowl and whispered insults.

2013 So Far

Well, we’re 2 weeks in to 2013 and my resolutions are…well, they’re coming along is what they’re doing. I added a resolution to be more patient with my children and not raise my voice as much. That one I’m doing much better on. Anytime I feel myself start to get impatient and start to get upset, I stop for a second, take a breath, lower my voice, and talk slower so I keep calm. My resolution to get my organized and be a better housewife is the one that I’m still working on. This will be one I have to work on the entire year, I know.  I made some great progress the first few days, then I majorly slacked off for a week. Yesterday, I started getting back on the right track.

 

I’m committed to taking 30 minutes, first thing once L is off to school, to do dishes or straighten up. This week, since I’m playing catch up, will require more than 30 minutes, but I know myself. If I force myself to do nothing but clean when I first get home, I’ll do like a room, maybe 2, then I’ll burn out. I’ll sit down to “take a break” and then I’ll never get back up to finish. So I’m making a deal with myself…. I’ll do on and off cleaning throughout each day. Today, for example, I’m focusing on the kitchen. I did a load when I first got home, then sat down on the computer. I’m getting ready to go unload the dishwasher and do another load. Then I’ll sit down. Frequent breaks are what work best for me.  I wish that wasn’t the way I was wired, but it is, and it’s best if I recognize that and do something that works for me.

 

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Okay, so on another note, my best friend is about 7 months pregnant, which means I’m going to be an “aunt”! She’s having a boy, I’m super excited to meet him! She came over to hang out the other day and little man decided to go ahead and move for me. Since we’re not having a baby right now, I have to get my baby fix anyway I can. Hubby always groans whenever I’m around a baby or pregnant woman, because it makes me want another one so bad. *Sigh*

 

On another note, if you don’t know, I currently have 4 tattoos. When our tax return comes in, Hubby and I will be going to get new tattoos. It’s been years for both of us (he has 1), and we’ve actually each been considering getting a sleeve done. This new ink will be the first of many. We’re each doing a geek/favorite things mural. So I’ll have Firefly, Star Trek, Merry Gentry, Anita Blake, and many more themed tattoos for mine. I’m so excited!

 

 

Do you have any tattoos? 

How are your resolutions going so far?

 

It’s been a bit

Wow, it’s been a little bit since I last posted anything. Sorry about that, we’ve had a busy week. Let’s see…last Monday, we kept Tank home from school because he wasn’t feeling well. That night we noticed a raised rash of red bumps all over his chest and back. In the morning, there were more, and even more appeared when I stuck him in the bath. It looked for sure like we had a case of chickenpox on our hands. Fortunately for all of us, but especially the Mr, it was not chickenpox. About 2 or 3 weeks before, Tank had a whole bunch of vaccinations he had to catch up on. When we switched him from the old doctor to our family doctor, they either misread his chart or something, and told us we were all up to date on everything. Long story short, in order to continue with school, Tank had to have 6 shots. Apparently 2 of those have side effects of causing rashes a few weeks after injection.

We didn’t find out it wasn’t chicken pox until the end of the week, so he stayed home all week. Let me tell you, I about went crazy. I had to be careful not to take him anywhere, because I didn’t want him getting any other kids infected, which made getting him out to run off his energy quite a chore. Luckily he’s going back today, so yay! He’s been upset about not going to school this week and I could REALLY use the 2 hours to myself.

In other news, we got our tree put up this weekend. It doesn’t sound like much, until you count the fact that I had to take all the kids toys, and cut that in half. I’ve got a pile of toys and books I need to take to Good Will this week. Tank was a big help for the tree. The Mr and I put it together, and put on the tinsel and lights, but Tank did the star about about 1/3 of all the ornaments. Our tree may not be the most elegant looking tree ever, but it was decorated with love. I usually unplug the tree before I go to bed and plug it back in when I wake up. This morning, I was doing some other stuff and simply forgot to plug it in. About 30 minutes after we had woken up, Tank comes up to me saying “I want Christmas tree, please!” He loves that thing. Yesterday, he woke up from his nap, came out, grabbed a box of crackers, and plopped himself down in front of the tree while munching away. Not the tv, the tree. The lights aren’t even the twinkling kind, they just stay on. It’s adorable.

Alright everyone, I have some stuff I have to get done before it’s time for Tank to go to the bus, so I have to go. I’ll be back later. I promise I’ll be better at this now.

I’m Back

Sorry it’s been a bit since I posted. This week has been a bit crazy. Our internet was down for a day, from Thursday to Friday thanks to a mix up. Then we had our show on Friday, ran around on Saturday, and yesterday we were kind of just catching our breath.  It doesn’t help that Tank is fighting a cold. He’s got the fever, cough, all the fun things that go along with being sick, especially this time of year.

We’ve spent the weekend trying to get Tank to a point where he’d be well enough to go to school, but it just isn’t going to happen today. I’m actually about to go call him out .

We also spent the weekend trying to decide if we were going to add to our family. As you may or may not know, we’ve got 1 cat and 2 rats right now. This weekend we were trying to decide if we were going to adopt a cat.  We found one we fell in love with, but decided to hold off for the moment. We’ll think about it for a week or so, then make our decision.

Alright, I’m going to leave you for now. I’m working on my post regarding the show we went to, so stay tuned!

Our First Tweet Up

So last night was the first time we had attended a Tweet Up. If you don’t know, that’s where you get together with a bunch of people you talk with on Twitter and meet each other in real life. Last night was the Bookmans Phoenix Tweet Up. The turn out wasn’t the biggest, the Mr, Tank and I were there, along with one other Tweeter and her 2 kids, and the woman behind the Bookmans Phoenix Twitter account, Yvette, but it was a really fun night. We got to talk about some of the things we’d like to see from them in the future. Yvette brought out a craft project for Tank to work on, so he wouldn’t be bored.

Here he is, with the finished ornament project. There was also coffee and some great snack from the Bookmans Mesa cafe. By the way, I’m now very jealous of them because those baked goods? Yummy! I should have grabbed a picture, but to be honest, I just forgot. I guess I really need to get the whole picture part of this blog down.

Anyway, it was a nice time. We munched on some baked goods, enjoyed some yummy coffee, had a great time chatting with the others, and found out some interesting things about our favorite bookstore. If you’re in Arizona, I strongly encourage you to check out Bookmans. They’re all about recycling and keeping things as local as possible. They also have amazing prices on books, movies, and games.

We actually had some store credit from the last time we sold books to them so we picked the kids up some new books.

Here’s Tank, reading Curious George for bed. Well, I read the story and then gave him the book, so he could go through it again. That’s what this is.

In other news, I just turned on the heat for the first time this winter. Today’s high is supposed to be 65 degrees, with a low of 49. I know it’ll be shut off before lunch, but the apartment is just a little too chilly to do without it. I’m in a sweater, pants and socks and I’m still cold. I’m just looking to take the chill out of the air so I don’t feel like I’m an ice-cube. This year, my joints hurt more than last year, so I’m going to avoid suffering, especially since we have a flat rate on our electricity. YAY! If I chose to make it 90 degrees in here this winter (yuck!), I could without worries. There are a few advantages to living in an apartment and this is one of them.

Alright everyone, I’m going to head out and see about taking Tank for a walk to the pet store across the street. He loves looking at all the animals and I love him doing all that running.

Question of the Day: Have you turned on your heater yet? How cold is it where you’re at?

Thanksgiving Wrap Up

I know Thanksgiving was a few days ago, but I’ve had a lot going on. Our original plan was to get up early on Thursday morning, meet my Mom at her house, and she’d take us up to the lake. Well, that changed about an hour and a half before the Mr got off work when I got a call from my Mom. She had been at the lake, with the camper, by herself, for 3 days and was going a little stir crazy. She asked if we’d come up that night and camp. Well, we love camping, so we agreed. In an hour I packed up just about everything I thought we would need to camp and for Thursday, then picked up the Mr, and met my mom halfway to the lake.

We got up to the lake about 6pm. The kids immediately went to stand around the fire (my kids, the pyros in training, ha ha), while my parents got started on dinner. We had steak, homemade pico de gallo, and chips. I made a pledge that, even though I was on a diet, while celebrating Thanksgiving, I wouldn’t worry about it. I expanded this to include the night before. Around 8:30, we got the kids ready for bed. They were going to sleep in the camper, while the Mr and I were going to sleep in my Mom’s SUV. So the kids and my parents (and the dogs!) retired for the night in the camper, while the Mr and I headed to our “tent”. Since it was only 8:30, we weren’t the least bit tired. We were getting great reception for our phones, so we decided we’d watch some 24 through our Netflix app. After watching it for a bit, I decided to go get something to drink from the cooler. I was headed to the camper when I heard what sounded like someone rustling around in the trash, looking for cans. I figured it might be a homeless person, and walked over to the trash to get them to leave. As I got closer, I could tell it was an animal, I figured it was a raccoon. Imagine my surprise when I rounded the camper and found myself face to face with a skunk! I immediately backed away, careful not to do anything to scare it.

The next morning was a beautiful, although chilly, start to the day. We made some coffee, the kids began throwing rocks in to the lake now that they could see it, and we started cooking the pies.

There’s Tank, throwing those rocks.

We didn’t actually cook the turkey and ham in the oven of the camper, we cooked them on the grill!

Here’s our turkey, during the cooking process.

We had a good time. We munched on a veggie platter while the food was cooking, and there was drinking…lots and lots of drinking. I only had 2 alcoholic drinks, I just wasn’t feeling the alcohol. However, all the other adults were double-fisting their drinks! Mom made Captains Coffee, plus everyone had a cold drink, too.

Mom with her coffee and sangria

My other Mom with her coffee and beer

The Mr with his coffee and mixed drink.

Eventually dinner was ready and we were all ready to eat! Well, except for the kids. They had been snacking nonstop all day, which is what they usually do when we’re camping and/or they’re with my parents. The rest of us, however, dug right in to this wonderful buffet of food.

We all ate so much, we didn’t have room for dessert before it was time for us to head home. We were taking Princess back to her dad’s that night, instead of on Friday like usual, and we wanted to get her back before too late.

My parents didn’t have a ton of room for leftovers, so we basically got everything that was left except for the meat. We certainly dug in to the leftovers that night, once our stomachs had a chance to empty. While it was a crazy, hectic day trying to get everything ready at the same time, it was delicious and, the most important part was we got to spend some good time with family.

Question of the Day: How was your Thanksgiving?

Birthday Girl!

Today my beautiful daughter turns 5! I remember this day, in a combination of clarity and haze. I had a normal pregnancy with Princess until I hit about 34 weeks. At 34 1/2 weeks I was admitted to the hospital with complications resulting from preeclampsia. At 35 weeks, I was induced. At 12:46 pm, weighing a whopping 3 lbs 11 oz, she made her way in to the world. She was small, and had no fat on her, but otherwise we were very lucky, she was healthy. I stayed for 2 days, while the doctor made sure my blood pressure went back down. Princess was released the day after I left, much to everyone’s relief.

Other than a slight hiccup regarding jaundice (which is quite normal for preemies), she did great! She ate and gained weight like a champ.

Before I knew it, she was a year old!

Here she is, on her first birthday, eating her ice cream cake.

We got really lucky. Some preemies have severe delays, but once she hit a year old, she was right along side her peers in development.

I got pregnant with Tank when she was 15 months old. I was so worried about how she would react, being a big sister at 2 years old.

This is her second birthday party. She just loves being a big sister.

She has become such a smart little girl. She’s so loving, has a great imagination and sense of humor. She is a wonderful helper, who loves to cook and give great big cuddles.

Here’s her 3rd birthday party, getting ready to teach her brother the ropes on blowing out the candles on a cake.

Showing off her present on her 4th birthday.

She’s a wonderful girl, who wants to be a doctor, rock star, astronaut when she grows up.

She came in to this world on her own terms, when she wanted, how she wanted, and it’s pretty much how she lives day to day.

She’s my baby girl, always will be no matter how old she is. I love you, sweetheart, happy 5th birthday!

Birthday Boy!

So today is the day…Goat is now 3! Happy Birthday to my baby boy! It seems like just yesterday that he was born. I remember meeting the Mr’s aunt, who is more like his mom, and sitting on her couch having contractions. Good times, good times, lol.Yeah, hot stuff, right? They wouldn’t really let me eat, I had been in the hospital for 24 hours, and I had only a salad before being admitted. Oh, and I was allowed a quick breakfast break about 4 hours before he was born. I had like half a bagel. When he was born, all I really wanted was to eat. I think I cleaned them out of graham crackers, waiting until I could get a “real” meal.

We certainly had a fun first year, getting in to the swing of having 2 young kids. Luckily the kids love each other and get along fairly well.

He wasn’t quite sure what to make of the icing, though he certainly scarfed it down pretty fast.

There’s a possibility that he may be the last baby I’ll have (though I’d love another one), so I’m savoring each moment as it comes.

Isn’t he just so handsome? This was his birthday last year. He spent most of it grabbing ice out of the cooler and eating it, lol.

And that brings us to today. He may have his bratty, frustrating moments, but he’s my (not so) baby boy and I love him to pieces.

3 years ago today I was bringing him in to the world. Involved was about 20 hours of tiny contractions, minimal pain, and boredom. Then my water broke. The next 4 hours were major contractions, intense feelings, some pain, and lots and lots of breathing. He was born a little after 11 am with no drugs, and we both went home the next day. He’s definitely a mama’s boy, and I just love when he crawls into my lap on the couch and cuddles with me, or when he climbs in between the Mr and I and lays with us for about 30 minutes. He’s in own, unique person and we love him very much.

Happy Birthday, son!

School and stuff

You know, I’m really looking forward to starting my classes this spring. Yes, I’m glad to finally be back in school, and I mean physically. The Mr and I tried doing the online college thing and, well, it just didn’t work that well. It worked a bit better for him then me, but that’s besides the point. The point is, all of my friends are either people I’ve never met except over Twitter or they live across town and we never speak. I know part of the problem is, with one income, I can’t go out to the bar every week and drink myself stupid. Another big part is I’m a parent. I have at least one kid ALL the time so I avoid hangovers like they’re the plague. I also prefer to spend the money other ways, like fun stuff for the family.
Anyway, my point is, I’m hoping to make some new friends in class. I’m hoping to have people to study with, people who might possibly understand what my schedule is like. Going to a community college, especially night classes, increases my odds of finding students more my age with similar responsibilities. Even if we don’t get together outside of school, it would be nice to have someone to talk to. What I’d really love is to find someone who leaves near us with kids around the same age as ours. That way we could all get together. As I stated above, most of my friends live across town and that includes the ones with kids. My kids never have play dates. I’d like to be able to take the kids to someone’s house, and have them play while the parents, the Mr, and I work on school. Of course, I’m looking for variations of this…them coming to us (though in an apartment, that’s always fun) or even meeting up somewhere like a park or McDonald’s (yay wifi!).
Plus, lets be honest… If I don’t have someone to talk besides the Mr and the kids, I’m probably going to be insane by next Christmas. It’s not that I don’t love my family, I do, with all my heart. Sometimes I just need interaction with other adults.

Alright, folks, I’ve got some homemade biscuits to make. Gotta get some grub in the family. Until next time….