Saturday, December 27, 2008

its not his fault it is in the bugaj blood...

that is my husband i am speaking of....jeff has been home for 7 1/2 days and hoping to count a few more. i had all sorts of fun family packed ideas in mind for the four of us to do while dadda is home. i was thinking a day at the zoo, seeing the ice exhibit at the gaylord, maybe staying the night at the wolf lodge in grapevine, buying new boot for him and izzy, taking a long bike ride on the trinity, etc....i mean does this not all sound like a guy's dream christmas break! well, jeff has done well, and i give him a big high five for getting up with the girls this morning and allowing me to sleep till 8, but even better i got up made the bed and showered before leaving the bedroom. absolutely wonderful! we had a movie date last night, leaving the sleeping girls home with cade and running down the road to the theater. (by the way if looking to see one of the many movies released christmas day, i highly suggest the curious case of benjamin buttons) jeff reminded me this was our first movie since izzy was born together! so, this morning after getting out of the shower he informed me he was rushing out the door to work at the shop. no surprise here, on christmas day he worked in the backyard for 3 hours! there was no lulling on the couch, sneaking a nap in while the girls nod off, at 11am he informs me he has ants in his pants. yesterday was rough with annie's whole nap episode ** so he hung around (with ants in his pants) but the guy acts like a caged tiger when he is coped up in the house....pacing from room to room, stopping to look out the window wondering which one he could escape from, taking a very quick and brisk walk with me pushing me to pick up my steps the whole way and finally at the end of the day he walks through the house tool bag in hand determined to fix something.
i don't blame my husband this problem with not being able to take it easy and relax comes from his mom's side of the family, the bugajs. his grandfather worked every day of his life, even in retirement...jeff's mother works 12 hour days in her yard for fun on sunday (she is well into her sixties), when they vacation they must get up and go all day long. they walk, they explore, they move, move move (plus hate staying in hotels, would rather sleep in the car or in a sleeping bag) our honeymoon was 18 days of pure on the go go traveling....good for the fact we saw a lot of europe but hey everyone wants to lay on the beach every now and then. we took one trip to mexico for our 1st anniversary it almost killed jeff to sit on the beach or by the pool and just soak up the sun for two days. i had to keep pushing the free booze into his veins and even then i would have to stay up with him till almost dawn. chris my bnl is also like this....he does have a desk job so when not working he goes, goes, goes. i tell you it is in the blood, so i can not blame annie because well she has bugaj blood pumpin through her little body. this may even explain why she was walking at 9 1/2 months old and why it is a battle at nap time. in her little mind she has lots of work to get done!
the girls and i headed off to the zoo this morning and took babci along with us....it was like a ghost town, not sure if it was the weather threats or the wind that keep people away but it was super for us. the animals were frisky and if you have not been lately there are four tiger cubs that are incredible to watch.
well, i am off to make cade turn off the x box live and do something productive for the first time in days. i must figure out how to put a timer on that damn thing that shuts it off after so much time each day......

**today was easier...i rocked her for about 10min then laid her down, i think she only cried off and on for about 20 min. of course, she started with that loud shrilling scream that sent cade flying off his chair to rescue her from her mean mommy.

Friday, December 26, 2008

can i do it...i am not sure i am strong enough??

annie has been screaming in her crib for over an hour now.....while izzy has never had great sleep habits she has at least not given me much trouble at nap and bedtime (except the past week or so). annie however, while she has for the most part slept through the night since being 8 weeks old does fight nap time. she doesn't just fight she protests it by pulling my hair, scratching my face, pinching my arms and neck all the while i am trying to rock her. because of this izzy has been laying down on the couch to nap....which she does very well. i am trying to eliminate the morning nap so annie is even more tired for her afternoon nap but it does not always work. like yesterday she was asleep in three minutes both for a nap and bed but today, well, it took a lot of crying. now i am not one of those parents who run to my child every time she cries, but it really puts me in a foul mood to listen to her screams. funny thing is....i used to let izzy cry it out at night and for months she had to cry for up to an hour several times a week. with her cries i could sit in the hall and watch the timer to the moment i could go in and comfort her. but with annie her cry is different it gets under my skin and crawls up and down my back. it is louder and stronger....
what really sucks is i read "healthy sleep habits, happy child" twice before izzy was born. i was determined to encourage and follow healthy habits for sleep from the get go....but, i was so exhausted with work that i could not stick to the routine. (i worked the day i came home from the hospital) and many times since we have (or i rather) stopped our bad habits and moved her to her room and bed. at annie's age izzy was sleeping in a toddler bed all night in her own room. (i would never dream of taking annie out of the crib) anyhoo....i could go on and on...
my point is to publicly declare my one and only n.y. resolution....get both my children into a sleep routine at nap and bed time. i think i need to start with one and then move on to the other and breaking annie will be harder so i must start there. i am open to any and all comments/suggestions. for the next 3 days i am going to re-read the "master" book of childhood sleep and pump up for my emotional roller coaster to come. tata for now.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

merry christmas and all that jazz....

let's start by saying i hope you and your family are enjoying a merry christmas......we have had a wonderful morning and are now sitting here in front of the tv watching madagascar (oh, this was fun, izzy brought me the movie this morning in the moment before my "small" cup of caffeine had kicked in and i am desperately trying to change diapers, spread cream cheese on bagels and corral the troops. anyhoo, i set the movie down...now fast forward three and half hours to thirty minutes ago when izzy wanted to lay down in her i opened four dozen presents and spent all my energy already state to watch her new movie. aaaugghhh, with all of us, dadda, mommy and babci looking for the movie. all i can think is great where in the hell did i set it down that damn movie....

"no, jeff i know i did not lose it.....i did have it this morning...i will dig through the trash.....why would it be in the closet....yes, i looked in the giant pile of toys taking over the living room"....and so on.

and of course, dadda found it in our bathroom in my sink under a stack of my clothes! oh, well...

so, christmas started last night with my family coming over for dinner and presents. i worked all day on a pot of chili a hundred plus ready to have heartburn and gas the next 24hr people could eat on for a week. and yes, i make a damn good pot of chili! i also threw together mini lemon/cherry cheesecakes and the oreo truffles (i can not get enough of these). so add to all this the tamales, dip and chips i picked up earlier in the day and well, our fridge is overflowing with leftovers. (no comments from anyone about there being nothing to eat in this house, PLEASE) the girls made out like bandits, i think i was successful in picking out gifts that were totally loved and my mother finally got the hint i like gift cards because i received one to williams sonoma this year! once our over tired girls were snoring and in their beds (izzy ours)....i started whipping together the breakfast casserole and laying out santa's bounty. jeff is not so much into the christmas hoop-la i am and therefore did not get my need to unwrap all the food and pots and pans for the new kitchen set. however, i went forth and set up the kitchen for play plus wrapped it because i knew izzy would not touch another present once it was opened. finally, at 2 am i laid down and caught a few minutes of sleep.

fast forward to today and well, all went well.....again jeff is not so into the production of christmas as i am and did not understand why all things have an order. but, i must pat him on the back because he did step in line and proceed with my grand production giving me a little satisfaction for all of the many hours i slaved rehearsing for my, oh i mean our big day. i may not have hit it off with his gifts so much as i did everyone else...same goes for babci....but hey, who can nail them all. (well, me usually, but i will blame this one on the pregnancy hormones:)

santa did leave a special gift for dadda today.....last night when i went into the garage i found baby blazer asleep on a pile of blankets. for the first time in over six months he jumped down and came to see fandango and me. i kept him in the garage because well, he has been wild for a while and may have had bugs....this morning i told jeff santa left something special in the garage....i think jeff has not put him down yet. jeff fed blazer ham from the breakfast table (poor fandango), has been rubbing on him and well, if this cat disappears again for 1/2 a year without showing his face his is just plain dumb. really, makes you wonder....why of all the days did blazer come home on christmas day????

so, anyhoo, before i hit the kitchen prepping the beef tenderloin for our christmas lunch/dinner meal i am going to put my feet up and maybe shut my eyes for a minute. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND ENJOY EACH OTHER TODAY....

oh, i am in such a good mood i guess i could go on and announce the sex of baby #3......i am only up 1/2 a pound in 17 weeks so this is good news for me...i vow to be back down that 1/2 by next month. pre-note** the past few days before our sonogram i had some crazy thoughts rolling around in my head....like, "i am sure i felt annie by this point" so i did some research on the Internet and learned little boys are not as active as little girls....uhm, maybe there is a slim chance we are having a son. see i have not had much hope to longspaugh #3 being a boy because well, the first two are girls and i am one of 3 girls while jeff is one of 3 boys...seems like a slam dunk to me. anyhoo.....as i said before my doctor moved offices and with it came a new sono machine, totally amazing, we watched baby ??? play with its feet and open and close it hands. and while i was truly enjoying a very long sono the tech was saving the best for last. it turns out we are having another girl! so there it is....jeff has decided we need give up the plumbing business and open a flower shop. and now i get to start with the whole name game....do we have another "bel"???? or venture off in another direction???? this just may be god's way of protecting the fine residents in lake country of another generation of longspaugh boys or he just may be worn out himself from the first crew, however, i am not naive enough to not think we will have our hands full....they are longspaughs after all!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

tis the season to be busy....

wow, the past week has flown by...jeff is home so i am sitting in the living room, feet up, fire blazing and lights low finally adding pictures to the computer. we had annie's 1st birthday two weekends ago and i can not believe my little sweetheart now turned into hell-en is a year old. i feel like i barely remember each of her magical days.....however, i am not forgetting her new super hero abilities, such as, climbing into the dishwasher, climbing onto the fireplace but never figuring out how to climb off, running hugs, drop to the floor fits, roaring laugh and all around happy personality.


i started baking last wednesday and after (2) batches of chocolate pretzel clusters, peppermint bark, candy cane cookies, (1) batch of holiday biscotti, peanut butter and chocolate biscotti and mini coconut cupcakes and oreo truffles i am baked out. however, i do have a few more things to whip together for the neighbor tins and christmas eve dinner. i completed my shopping last week and everything is wrapped and under the tree. i guess this is not saying a lot since today is the 23rd of december and it is near midnight.


We went to the kids' christmas party today and had so much fun. it was a smaller group this year and not so overwhelming. with eight kiddos running around wearing themselves out time flew by.....we frosted santa cookies (i made the icing, blue (coconut), yellow (lemon), orange (orange), green (mint) and red (vanilla)) and had a gift exchange. i always think i am a great gift buyer; i just have a knack for finding the perfect present. i really enjoy my girlfriends and look forward to time with them. this is very new because well, i just am not usually good at keeping up with friends. not that i am not a good friend and i really care, it is just hard to keep up with anyone other than myself these days.


i finally had my hair done last friday....all i am saying is i will never go 4 1/2 months again without a highlight and trim. it is amazing on how much driving a clean truck and having a fresh hair do can change my attitude towards life. one thing i totally believe is that i am judged by the appearance of my truck. my life may be falling apart and i may be hanging together by a very thin thread but if my truck looks good than no one will notice my hair being 3 inches grown out and not blown dry in over four months. along with all the other helpers i am searching craigs list for...i need someone to come by and blow out my hair twice a week. maybe i just need to win the lottery???
oh, jeff and i went to longspaugh baby #3 on the way ob appt today....and had our first sonogram. WE KNOW THE SEX.....however, i am keeping it to myself until Christmas, hee, hee, hee..

all in all....jeff has been home for four days and oh, so helpful to me....i am busting with holiday spirit and extremely grateful for my two girls and baby on the way. we are lucky to have a thriving business and beautiful home......i wish all of you a merry christmas and happy new year!

Monday, December 8, 2008

my poor second child...

i was just lying down to bed...yes, before midnight. i did have to rise early today, oh, about 5am to take two of the guys out to the airport for a flight to new orleans. and while i was up in the still of the house thought to myself this is really nice and maybe i should get up early more often. however, the reality of it is i tend to stay up too late working and 5am is just the beginning of my r.e.m. sleep.
so, what brought me leaping out of bed and running back to the office.....poor annie, i realized i bragged on izzy and said nothing about anabel. so....here it goes, i did post a video on facebook today of her laughing because izzy wanted to take her babies for a walk down the street this afternoon and i thought i could not put annie in the stroller because she had been in and out of her carseat since 5:45 this morning (izzy stayed in bed this time and cade moved into our room if she woke up). in my mommy can be clever and crafty mode, i strapped her to the red push car izzy received for christmas last year (two straps for my monkey) and let her drive the car down the street and up the golf course.** i had to video her from my phone because she was so excited that her laugh was making me cry. it was one of those moments where i believe i am a damn good mom and it is not all fluff on the outside.
annie has also been imitating izzy....after bath time izzy like to play peek-a-boo in the closet, you know opening and shutting the door all the while looking for your surprised look each time when she shouts peek-a-boot. annie thinks this is so great and after her diapering and dressing (izzy always says "annie first") she rushes over to the closet to do as her sister did. well, three days ago she must have been playing the game by herself because she shut herself in cade's room and it was probably 5 minutes later before i heard her hollers for help. oh, oh, tonight izzy was peeking around the doorway into her room playing the same game and annie proceeded to get up and again pop her head around the corner waiting for my over excited "oh, you scared mommy...peek-a-boo".

so there it is....i bragged on both my wonderful children and can probably go to bed now since i am beyond tired.

**side note~word on the street is there is a buyer for the golf course, a lake country resident who struck rich in the barnett shale AND that someone else is looking into reopening the clubhouse with an upscale spa theme! i may be really really excited soon. jeff, please add to my christmas list a new set of golf clubs (mine are over 10 years old) and a golf cart....

jeff flew the coop and we are lost....

so, last thursday the girls and i returned home from little gym and yoga to hear the washer machine running...my first thought, did i finally find someone to do my laundry, iron it and put it away. second thought, seeing as i don't recall meeting this miracle worker (also still looking for the part time chef/food prep) was fandango must be doing it in hopes i can then take her for a walk because i KNOW jeff is not doing the laundry because there has been a stack of his stuff on the counter for the past week waiting to be hung up! however, the ugly truth was jeff was doing his laundry but only because he had decided to head back to new orleans....that day....like in an hour and a half after our return! i believe i was actually mad at him for the short notice a good day or two.
being that i am single "momming" again, my blogs will be a little sparse. i do have a better attitude this time and am trying to keep my chin up. i am finding the more i can laugh with the girls the less i feel like i am hanging by a thread over a 100ft cliff waiting to drop. also, i am putting keeping the house in order a priority (rather than keeping up with my work) and this too is helping me stay sane.
izzy did/said some really some really incredible things today. first, during bath time she was taking a smaller cup and filling a larger cup (no great task at 26mo.) however, while dumping each cup she would count them in order till it filled up then would start again....i am not sure where she is learning how to actually count but i have a feeling it has something to do with all the curious george we watch. second, she has begun to draw circles and calling them circles, while this may be normal my niece was not much into this sort of thing and i recall begging her to practice circles when she was four. third, i brought a black leather chair home from cody's apartment and out of no where the past few days she has been climbing up in it to nap and telling me she wants to "sleep in uncle cody's chair". while this breaks my heart i am so grateful she put two and two together and remembers cody.
i have been spending a lot of time wondering about baby names....if a boy, well, we have several from jeff's side to choose from and if a girl, do i choose another "bel"??? i have one in mind that i love and a middle name that rocks. i am really into names. both girls middle names are relevant to a family member we want to honor...izzy's is jean after jeff's mom and annie's is lee after me and i was named after my aunt gwen, someone who has done so much for me in my short life. she is one of the better influences i have always had and one to remind me the world does not revolve around how i can change others only myself. our new neice is names whitney josephine, whitney because chris proposed on the top of mount whitney (i know, so awesome) and josephine is jeff's grandmother's name. so i have really big shoes to fill......
a huge storm is rolling in and cade is practically sitting on top of me...so i better wrap this up. here is a list of our latest daily presents from babci.
on the 3rd day of christmas: a bunch of hair bows...not five or six more like a dozen and a half different colors.
4th day: two christmas plates, santa napkins and beautiful red place mats (for mommy)
5th day: a couple boxes of animal crackers...you know the really good ones in the circus box (i may have eaten most of at least one box)
6th day: large popcorn bowl, movie and kettle corn for family movie nights (love it!)
7th day: a new magnetic farm puzzle book and card games
8th day: a snowman mug for warm cocoa, glowing santa and milk chocolate santa candies

so as you can tell we are still thinking this is the greatest thing on earth....have a great day and i will be back soon!

oh, and don't forget to send me your christmas cards...they make my day!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

a slice of humlbe pie to go with all my bitchfest entries....

so jeff has been home now for 10 days and 1 1/2 hours give or take a minute or two. and i am loving it....he has slowed down (could be the fact he worked for something like 36 days in a row), i must clarify, jeff slowing down is kinda like me on crack. however, he has been here at the beck and call of both girls and just when i think i am about to curl up in the corner and cry he gallops into the room to save the moment. izzy even told dadda she needed to poopoo and he took her to the potty, brushed her teeth, nite nite diapered her all the while making it the event of a lifetime for her. i make it sound like he is not normally so helpful, he is when he is home....this being the issue. before going to new orleans the work here was coming in like crazy, still is but not quite so hot-n-heavy.....so jeff was leaving by 7am and returning at the end of bath time most night; this does not leave much time for dadda bonding or mommy help. i will admit the first few days were touch-n-go being he was not used to being here and a part of how i keep it all together (even in my own may not make sense to you way) and i was not used to him standing there trying to figure out how to help or be a part of our chaos. by thanksgiving morning we had figured it out and well, my life has been so much easier since.

i better stop before my dear husband's head gets too big......

i will finish by trying to update through photos from all our many challenging yet rewarding days the past few weeks.



here are the girls halloween night. their costumes were kinda all over the place. these tutus were a gift from momo (my mother) along with matching shirts. i found izzy a bodysuit, wand and wings and she became some type of fairy. poor annie was not in the mood to dress up and she just wore here skirt for about 10 minutes!







as i mentioned before thanksgiving was at our house this year and everything worked out wonderfully. jeff and i teamed up without too much fussing at one another and brine the turkey, roasted and for what was our first 23lb bird....we did a damn good job. i informed him maybe in a few years we should do two turkeys and try to fry one.......my whole family (well, those around here) came over and my aunt with the body of a 20 year old brought gluten-free desserts (have to say they weren't too bad, however, i do like her full-throttle chocolate chip cookies better), even all three of my cousins showed up along with one of the girlfriends. i opted for the easy way out and rented the dishes and table clothes, with a little rinse-rinse and re-stacking in crates clean up was a breeze. as usual we played hours of apples to apples and well, lets just say my mother is a good sport because she gets a lot of shit during this time.


jeff had izzy outside helping him cut up firewood and burn some of the brush. she did not get dress until 2:30 and smelt like a boy....no complaints here, i had lots of free time in the kitchen to work some foodnetwork inspired magic. during the crunch time of smashing potatoes and reducing pan drippings for gravy babci and dadda kept annie entertained by the fire in our backyard. by this point izzy fell asleep and stayed that way through dinner but woke up in time for dessert. cade had some type of flu the whole school break....every time i entered his room i was armed with a can of lysol and breathing mask.....all i could think was who would do all i do if i get this crap!


last friday i had a list of things i wanted to do while jeff was home...go to the parade of lights, the gaylord for the ice wonderland, the zoo, christmas card photo and put up our tree and hang the lights. well, after being sidetracked for most of friday we decided to meet the cooks downtown to watch the parade of lights. okay, we decided at 5pm and it started at 6pm......not only did i need to dress the girls in warm clothes, pack the stroller, chairs, snacks and what not; we were also going to stay the night at the worthington and kinda take a ftw vacation night. the girls enjoyed the parade...jackie and i enjoyed waiting two hours for the guys to return to the suite with uno's pizza (jury still out on this one) but the best part was the following day....after dragging dad and his foggy brain out of bed we went to breakfast and walked around a bit, then annie and dadda took a nap in the room while izzy and i walked down to see my aunt at larry north and read a few dozen books at barnes n noble. on our way back up we stopped in and took a swim with owen in the pool. it was a wonderful 18 hours away from home! (fandango did not agree...poor pup!)







babci (jeff's mom) is doing something different this year for the girls and their christmas gift.....she has prewrapped 24 individual gifts for everyday leading up the christmas morning. each one is labeled and ready to be opened on the appropriate day. i hope to find the time to share them all with you as i think this is an awesome way to kick up the excitement in a two year old who may or may not understand what is going on.

on the first day of christmas izzy and annie received new ornaments....beautiful butterflies to go with a new santa and sleigh for mommy and daddy. m-n-l gives us these polish ornaments every year corresponding with a big event we shared.


on the second day of christmas the girls received new scarf, mittens and hats....izzy loved hers so much she went to bed tonight with them on! annie just patiently, or rather as patient as she can be, waited through whole gift thing for her nite nite bottle and crib.
finally, the girls went over to momo's house today for almost 6 hours. my youngest sister is in town this week so the girls had some much needed aunt cari time too. i came home and worked for 4 hours straight...no interruptions or jumping jacks to keep my eyes open, plus i was able to shower too! they had so much fun playing in the leaves and making christmas cards i think the just might have to try it again next week. well, i have now sat here next to the tree in our quiet house and updated both my blog and facebook....nite nite!































Wednesday, November 26, 2008

all i want for christmas is....

so, jeff returned home Sunday night....it was very emotional for the girls having not seen their dad in over three weeks. for me, the lap top returned and thus hopefully my ability to release in the form of a blog. in the past few weeks, if by chance, being in the office i felt i could do a little writing for myself, all i could come up with was the negative (by 9pm all i felt was negative). without unleashing my poor poor me...my life can totally suck pity party, i will say it takes a lot to keep up with both girls now 11 months and 26 months plus answer the phone to which keeps the business going, oh, and all the work in the office. i really thought about running away and even began to doubt my parenting abilities.....however, my husband is home now and well, i should have a bit of a break for the next ten days until he leaves again.*
i started christmas shopping last week and in one morning completed about a 1/3 of my list. while izzy was in school annie and i made our way around the shopping center down the street from her school. i also purchased myself a christmas present (that leaves either two small ones for you husband or one big one). as for my christmas list this is what i want....1) world peace, 2) all neglected children tended too, and 3) a decision regarding the overgrown golf course behind our house. OK, for the real self deserving list...1) i really really want those new diamond earrings i have been asking for the past three years (yes, husband please ask your brother for guidance and inside knowledge to any "great" deals on a pair tiffany princess cut studs) 2) a would like to receive a day at the spa to be pampered while YOU keep up with both girls, not calling your mom over to lend a hand and finally 3) a date night for us, nothing fancy (no, i don't need dinner at my favorite restaurant lonesome dove)...just the two us...we could go to the movies and wonder around barnes and noble, just like the days before babies.
thanksgiving will be at our house this year. i had my mother talk to my aunt (only because she can talk in the evenings and well, i look at my phone ringing after 6pm and wish i had a voodoo doll to poke your eyes out with because that is my most crazy, at my wits end time of the day) and explain to her that while i could contain izzy in her house, annie is a different story. i would be "fighting" her all day and well, there would be no way to stay for game night. so, dinner is at our house this year and i am not in the least bit stressed. i plan to set the table tonight and bake anything i decide we can not live without, leaving only the turkey, smashed potatoes, dressing and brussel sprouts for tomorrow.
during my emotional i may not make it days while jeff was gone my wonderful bnl and snl had her baby and i would like to congratulate chris and krista on the birth of whitney josephine. we only wish yall were not in washington and are counting the days until we meet the newest longspaugh girl!
well, i better be off and oh, wash brussell sprouts or something.....happy thanksgiving to everyone and enjoy the time with your family and friends ( even if you need to start the day with a drink to do so...this is what i do when not preggos!) if you are crazy enough to shop on black friday..i wish you all the luck and patience in the world.

oh, if anyone is doing the turkey trot thanksgiving morning look for us...we will be the ones with the monster orange stroller, black lab and babci toting her king charles through the crowd of people. i may even make my husband a thermos of bloody mary!

*i should note that cade was extremely helpful the last week or so...picking up the living room every night, not complaining when i would beg for a five minute shower, and in general just being here to give me some support. however, i do think he was trying to make up for the phone call his math teacher made to me to let me know he eggs on the class clown and she was fed up.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

trying to visualize world peace....

so, the election results are in....i woke up (yes, woke up, i believe i feel asleep somewhere around 9pm) around 10:30ish to see mccain conceding to the race...while i truly wanted to cry all i could do was hope all you obama supporters knew something i did not. don't get me wrong i can see the plus side of the changes he has promised us as a nation, but i also am nervous about some of the other changes.... (jeff is so going to wave his finger at me for actually writing this)
1) i fear for the changes to health care...now, before you go off and judge me, please listen...as you know we own and operate a small plumbing company and if you know anything about health insurance coverage for SBO it is almost non-existent unless you are ready to pay a high premium. for example, our first insurance company did not cover anything unless you were hospitalized which sounded ok because i was most nervous about the day jeff fell off a latter or did something that required a trip to the emergency room. at the time we were both relatively healthy and pretty young. with such insurance availability to sbos maternity coverage is not an option, so we have paid out of our pockets for both girls....ob and hospital; except with annie i forgot to prepay so the hospital filled out some forms and we were given some government assistance, so around 14K for both babies...anyhoo.. we are okay with this, it is part of the choices we made, yes, it would be great if insurance coverage was more affordable, but would i have been able to use my really really incredible ob who did everything in his power to save us from a c-section (which would have been covered) with izzy. (she was upside down, twisted and entirely too large for my body)??? would we have been able to choose this high-risk specialist when it took over two years to get pregnant with izzy after two very emotional miscarriages??? so, as you can see, i don't want to lose my options in health care...i would rather carry around my kate spade, bought in an estate sale bag for a few more years than have to use a doctor unable to access my maternity needs.
2) i also know this....i have worked three jobs at once to start this business with jeff who worked 75hour weeks, i worked 40+ hours while putting myself through college, i have a hard time with government handouts....now listen, i do believe everyone needs a hand from time to time and i am so glad those programs are there, but i have a hard time knowing medicaid is covering the medical cost of a meth addict's children for five years or that a boob job came from the earned income credit. AGAIN, this is not everyone, but these are just a few of the examples i personally know.
3) i worry about the affect this election will have on our sbo taxes....we have worked really hard to get where we are today and last year lost a few options in a sbo bill congress would not renew (whatever being the technical terms). our business has always grown in numbers each year, but with that come additional cost. it would be nice to know if we do more than break even we will not be pushed into a higher tax bracket.
3) i am on board with government help, but where is the line drawn in a government that is too big....i like small government, local government, local choices given to the people of this country. i don't want someone in washington making decisions for me...a small person in the outskirts of fort worth, texas (are you supposed to put the comma there in a sentence). i want to know the officials we elect locally still have a say in the big decisions because what is good in uptown new jersey may not fit us down here in north texas.

i need to stop...because well, some of you may never read my blog again...or i may end up with lots of nasty comments about what an uncaring person i am.....i really do care, i just like to know i must take responsibility for my choices and my choices whether good or bad will effect my life to teach me a lesson. you should learn from the wrong ones and gain knowledge from the good ones to encourage you to always grow as a person. these choices are how we teach our children to be responsible adults one day....ones to strive to work hard and push for the american dream. i did and it was through a lot of hard times.....ask me sometime about why i could not get govt help to fund my college tuition and i will be glad to share my story.

have a great day, i am off to explore new orleans some more and watch the minutes fly by because i return to reality tomorrow.......

**side note** i have found better insurance coverage and the cost is half of what it was but we still do not have any maternity coverage. affordable insurance is out there...you just have to look really hard for it. we pay under $250 a month for our family of four.....and the girls have great coverage.

OBAMA NATION....I AM TRUSTING YOU

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

in new orleans and loving it!

so, here i am sitting on a hotel bed fee up, tv on election results having just spent the day riding the street car and wondering around. now don't get me wrong i do miss the girls, but having never left them i totally forgot how wonderful it feels to be me and only me....i ate when i wanted, i pee-ed when i wanted, i did not stop for naps, i did not change diapers, i just have wondered around with my own thoughts not really talking to anyone. yeah, yeah, some people can not stand to be alone or not have someone to talk to all day, but me, well, i enjoy alone time, and actually just realized how much good it does for my soul.
anyhoo, things are really different here in new orleans. being a gal from the right side of the tracks i find myself turning my ring around backwards and clinching my purse. (oh, yeah, i said purse not diaper bag) the hotel jeff is contracted with is in uptown which is near the old money area. the houses are amazing....true southern monster mansion with beautiful wrap aound porches and large greenery. the mccain support signs are in abundance....which surprised me but did put a smile on my face. the mix of people is just that a real m&m bag of cultures....though it seems to weigh on the artsy side. the clothing the locales and they stand out is very urban or very retro. i actually saw a girl with acid washed jeans that were tight rolled!
as for transportation i used my two legs to wander around with and the street car. it runs directly out front of the lobby and goes both directions. i even jumped rails and switched to another trolley line to get to the art house movie theater (tried to watch rachel get married...was kinda relieved when i had to leave early to deal with an unexpected work issue). tomorrow i will wonder down to the french quarter and french market....i heard several people asking the trolley drivers if they were headed to the market which makes me think it is probably something i should check out. i popped into harrah's and spun a few slot machines waiting for my movie to start and enjoyed the freedom of being able to hop hop hop around without two kiddos and a monster suv or stroller.
oh, and most importantly i spent an hour in the hotel gym lifting weights, doing crunches and a bit of cardio.....wow, i should vaction more often.
i have only called to check on the girls once today...i have not wanted to bug my mother or upset izzy by hearing my voice. though my mother says she is doing well....no tears only a couple of "mommy" whimpers.
well, i am going to watch the election results come in and sit on the edge of my seat hoping for a small miracle. jeff should be up soon and maybe we will head out and find some good ole cajuin food!

Friday, October 31, 2008

can you say three under three???

YES.....it is true i am pregnant again....and no we are not of any kind of religious background, raising a cult, or trying to create our own school. we are just certifiably insane. story goes like this....wanted one more thought about december but hey, apparently i am not so good at math. due date june 6th.....off to trick or treat! have a great halloween :)

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

halleluha, halleluha.....

so i apparently can not figure out time....i promised big news in 12 hours, then of course, i realized last night i meant 24 hours, and by the time we got home from the football game and i got the girls to bed i knew i did not have it in me to sit at the computer, so here we are 36 hours after my last posting!
annie slept through the night finally.....either she was truly exhausted (yesterday was a long day) or some higher power was looking out for me. i think i have said it before...but, i am not a cuddler, in my sleep anyway. i prefer to face away from the bed wrapped around a pillow...i do believe it is because i am never alone, never ever alone. i am working on this though, i have a new thought if jeff has to go back to new orleans next week, say around the first of the week i am going to fly out and stay two days sans kiddos. i will beg and plead with one of the grammies to stay here and let me wonder the streets of NO alone with my own thoughts, sleep past 7am, watch cheesy lifetime movies in my underwear (well, maybe not in my underwear) and veg out on restaurant food (but, i must force myself to contain my calorie intake...)! we will see if i can actually do it....
yesterday was one of those days of which i thought i would not make it....it started with forcing cade out the door for morning detention because of his tardies (again). i do feel bad because one of his many tardies was clearly my fault but hey, i can only get angry so many mornings in a row before i just give up. totally off subject, but, i even got him up thirty minutes early today and yet it was another "i am going to strangle you if you do not get out the door this minute moment".
anyhoo....from 8:00 on yesterday i was running....almost literally! but, i guess i really don't have to go through the horrid day with you. however, i did have a moment with annie in the bank where i actually thought about walking out the door and pretending like the girls did not belong to me. in our lack of communication that comes with both jeff and i being really busy, brain-fried and exhausted, i needed a name from him for a cashier's check for the job in new orleans, one he said needed to be overnighted three days ago....as i am trying to contain two children who have been locked in carseats all morning in the bank lobby a brilliant idea hits me. give annie a sucker...she will sit still and wonder where all this yummy gooey stickiness comes from...yeah right, in a matter of moments she was off my lap and trying to race crawl across the lobby with the sucker in her mouth. yes, i know, extremely dangerous... but, i did wonder for a moment if i should not just let her go, so i jump up and go to grab her and she wiggles out of my hands, throws herself on the ground flat and begins to scream, not cry, scream at the top of her lungs with the sucker still in mouth! while part of me wanted to run as fast as i could out the door, i stopped picked her up and told the teller once i got the needed info from my dear husband i would pull through outside. buckling both girls in the monster suv, i literally thought my heartrate would blow up my already overworked brain....may not make sense, but when you are in one of those moments it is hard to determine which is which, your whole body feels like it will burst into a thousand pieces.
so, that is all i will share of my long long day....except my big news.....
oh, shit annie is up from her nap....i guess you will have to wait another few hours!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

could it be true?

tomorrow...or rather some time in the next twelve hours of today.....i have something big to say! bit of a public warning/announcement or rather my final note to you before i turn to medication because i/ we must be out of our freaking minds!

Monday, October 27, 2008

is there a difference in toothpaste or bacon?

so, i am brushing my teeth and wishing jeff was not out of town with our laptop....i really want to blog, and here i am back in the office on the main computer. it just is not the same....

today was a school day and i am totally amazed at how quickly izzy adapted. she just walks right in now, sits down at the table and let's me kiss her goodbye. and the past two weeks when i return to pick her up her cuddly and binkie are still in her backpack. last friday night after i put annie to bed we made chocolate chip cookies....she loves helping put all the ingredients in my awesome "thanks husband for a can do anything" artisan mixer last year for christmas. ** it was great having a little one on one time with her. while our cookies were baking we played with some of her puzzles and watched a movie. after putting annie down tonight i brought out a new puzzle from her birthday and we played together for thirty minutes. it truly ends my day with a smile to be able to bond with izzy alone sans little sister trying to undo whatever we just put together. (annie and i did have a three hours this morning together without izzy, i do appreciate this time too)

as for annie, she is taking more and more steps every day. like i said before they are two totally different children; annie is constantly on the move. she won't cuddle much, unless it is two in the morning, she wiggles out of your lap, and the thought of sleep interrupting her play time is unbearable. i remember just a few weeks ago my little incredible sleeper would sleep all night long without a peep. well, these past few weeks i am lucky if i don't' go to her twice in one night, tonight i have already been in there three times. i don't know if this is a phase or if she is testing me. i have tried to let her "cry it out" but like i said she is one determined child and it has not worked, only waking everyone in the house up for a good stretch of the night, and damn it i am too tired to do it. so if i can get her to make it until around 4 or 5 am then i will just put her in bed with me...thus, starting all my bad habits over....the ones i swore i would not make with our second child. maybe i should just think her molars are coming in and give her a good dose of tylenol before bed???

i finally convinced jeff to take a trip with us to the mall playground last saturday. not sure he will return, but he did get to see how much energy both girls burn during a short amount of time. annie was enjoying the padded surface and walking to and from each climbing, sliding, crawl through apparatus she could get too. jeff did give me a few "hey, don't be so bossy with other people's children looks" and made the comment when we were leaving it seems like a good place to get into a fist fight with another parent. i just calmly remind the "aren't you much taller than the height cut-off" kids to slow down and watch out for the babies. afterwards we realized it was the last night of the season at burgers-n-bock and headed over to central market for dinner. jeff choked (again) on the price of the small container of pre-cut fruit i bought the girls (maybe he should choke at the cost of his copenhagen habit, atleast the girls fruit is an enrichment to their little bodies). all in all, we had a successful night of dancing, chasing izzy, and relaxing outside before the weather changes...not to mention, daddy had some one on one time with US!

so, i have a few obsessions.....first, is my toothpaste/brushing teeth habit. prior to living with my now husband, i had three toothbrushes i would use every day. i would brush my teeth three times every morning and each time it had to be with a dry toothbrush (yeah, nutty). then jeff introduced me to some stuff called ACT and now i just brush my teeth three times a day with one toothbrush. i could only take the comments on my number of toothbrushes for so long......anyhoo, i found a new toothpaste, or rather two of them; crest pro health, day and night time toothpaste. if you are thinking of trying something new...give it a shot.

finally, for eight years now jeff and i have been battling over the right way to cook bacon.....crispy or limp???? i am a must be crispy person and he is a must feel mushy in my mouth person. he is also determined that more people are like him, however, being in the food industry most of my adult life i think i am correct in saying most people like their bacon crispy. PLEASE COMMENT ME AND GIVE ME YOUR CHOICE...THIS IS ALMOST AS IMPORTANT AS THE ELECTION NEXT TUESDAY.....well, not really, BUT IT MAY SAVE US A FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS IN MARRIAGE COUNSELING ONE OF THESE DAYS. oh, and i would like to have hard evidence that i am correct.

oh, and if you have not already done so..... GO VOTE! this election is a make it or break it for us as a country.....so much more so, than eight years ago.

**side note, if you are reading this husband, this year i would really really love a new set of pots and pans. i think mine saw better days around five years ago.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

ALL CAPS....I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY!

I USED MY ELIPTICAL MACHINE TODAY! during nap time i actually had time to work out today. maybe jeff being out of town actually frees up my time because yesterday i felt kinda like a stay-at-home mom and just took it easy with the girls all day. granted, i should have finished the laundry from last week but, hey....

so, i burned just over 300 calories today in 30 minutes AND was able to take a shower while the girls were napping.

maybe i actually slept through nap time and had a really productive dream????

when is enough enough????

jeff left for new orleans and the super high stress job we took on monday. this is just the first of many to come all night long driving trying to manage both work there and here weeks that are to follow. i just hope there is enough money in it to buy me a new pair of diamond earrings.....(hint, hint). once back this weekend he will leave for fort stockton on sunday and probably be there until mid week....

annie is taking her first steps....i am torn about this, on one hand i am so excited for her (and my arm and back from carrying around this 26lb ten month old) but then again it just means she is growing up way faster than izzy did. it is amazing how different there personalities are; izzy always needs to know where you are and annie well she spends all morning playing in the living room with cartoons on not caring if anyone is around. izzy did not watch tv (or rather i did not get a break by turning on the tv until she was over a year old), annie she loves anything animated, some of her favorites are the bee movie, toy story, and curious george. what is even more amazing is she actually gets the humor because she gets so excited or even laughs at the funny parts.

so, on to my point of the day.....who are we really supposed to tip???? for instance, today i went by the dry cleaners to pick up my comforter because last week izzy upchucked on it one night and when the girl put it in the back of my truck she paused in front of my window as if looking for a hand out. i use the drive thru because well, it is just easier! not that i don't lock the girls in the truck to grab a drink inside 7/11 at the entrance of our neighborhood (i would never do this in a shady part of town) but hey one less time that i take the risk of someone saying something to me about leaving my children in the monster suv the better (and i always lock the doors and remote start the truck). anyhoo...should i be tipping these girls at the dry cleaner for bringing my stuff to my truck??? i always forget the coupons, so i end up paying full price.....and what would a tip be; ten percent, twenty?

now don't be going off and judging me a one of those super cheap people....i am a very generous tipper and have been in the service industry since i was in my teens. i know sometimes older people tip our service tech and he is always blown away, but he never expects it. i have gotten in the habit of tipping the carpet cleaner, the dish guy, the guy at the grocery store who helps with all my many bags, the people at the carwash, the cleaning ladies after a thorough cleaning, but should i tip the pest guy that comes by every quarter, what about the mailman (and he sucks by the way, we had a leak in the court forever and while the city was repairing it if the cones were in front of our mail box he would just skip us, not get out of his little vehicle and walk four steps to put it in the box or newspaper delivery person or the fed ex guy. would our trash cans be put in an upright position if i taped an envelope to the lid with a little extra for the trashmen??

another thought on tipping....at starbucks they have tip cups...i usually leave my change because well, it cost me $3.73 every morning to pick up my coffee, izzy's milk and then if we need a sandwich for the day add another $4.95. but, really, how much should i leave to sit in the line that wraps around to the walmart parking lot because if you ever tried to take my two children in and out or their seats to run in and grab our refreshments you would realize it is worth the $1.00 in gas to idle in line!

i will take any thoughts on the tipping subject and helpful hints that you may have.....because well, i just feel like everyone is looking for the extra hand and hey, my pocketbook is trying to be a little tighter these days.

annie is up and well, i think we should head of to target and spend someone else's tip money! plus, i need to break down and put clips on the cabinets around here because annie has figured out how to get into all of them....damn it, i was hoping not to until we put in the new kitchen, kinda like the microwave everyone wants but i won't buy.....

Monday, October 13, 2008

should be working but....

well, today started out as a great monday and almost turned to shit...and i mean literally. the girls and i had a play date with one of the other girls in izzy's class at the mall playground. this place is great for annie, totally padded and challenging for my little go getter. however, the day progressed as usual until bath time. i walked away from the bathroom for 30 seconds to get towels for the girls and izzy comes running down the hall with a diaper full of SHIT in her hands screaming, "mommy mommy i poopoo-ed". well, she did not just poo; she apparently had a small case of diareaha and is currently running around the house with it balancing in the diaper luckily she had folded in half the correct way so it was kinda hidden. however, she was covered in poo so i had to rinse or rather hand scrub her in the shower before putting her in the bathtub all the while annie is desperately trying to find to play in the poo mess everywhere. once izzy is in the tub i called cade in to sit with the girls while i started the poo covered laundry and cleanup all the while holding in my gag reflex that comes along with such events. at this point i figure "hey what is more shit now" and scoop out the cat box along with picking up the dog doo in the front yard.
so, you can imagine when jeff pulled up in the middle of this i was on the verge of losing it. he jumped in and helped with the bathing and dressed iz while i put annie down. for the first time in a long time, we had both girls down and asleep by 7:30. it is amazing what can get done when they go to sleep on time.
if you are wondering the whole losing weight thing is not working so well. i have not had time to dedicate to working out and apparently slightly starving myself is not going to work. i figure if i can get back to blogging this week, maybe i will fit in working out next week.
oh, if i have not already mentioned it, izzy is going to little gym now and loving every minute of it. i like going and interacting with other moms, it is always nice to hear comments about your kiddos from strangers, well, the nice comments anyways.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

i believe i am back....for good

well, it has been long enough since i blogged.....jeff is actually telling me "too much information" and asking me if i have blogged yet. i barely have time to brush my teeth, my elliptical machine is covered in dust (not really the ladies do clean it) but my trash mag from over a month ago is sitting on top waiting to be read, our pup looks at me everyday like when will you walk me, the girls well, they are surviving by clinging to each other and me i am trekking through my days half in an i must get all this shit done and half a brain numb fog. i did manage to accomplish something in the past few weeks.....i successfully through izzy a 2nd birthday party and well, i must pat myself on the back because i think i did a damn good job (of course, with the help of others).

when i know i am going to throw a party i tend to start at least a month ahead with the planning, including the invite list, menu, decorations, etc. i have been planning her monkey theme party for awhile....actually before i watched tori and dean and saw that they were throwing a monkey party, however, i did get the idea of bringing in a live monkey from the show....jeff immediately squashed that one!

anyhoo with weeks of prep and many last minute hours, we pulled off a successful party.
these are the papier mache monkey heads my mother and i made. in all we made seven of them...i am not sure these pictures do them justice but it was fun to do. i have not papier mached in years so i was very grateful for my mother who happens to dabble in all sorts of artsy fartsy things. the third one apparently did not have enough paper on it because it dried a bit deformed so we just added some bandaids and dedicated it to baby bang bang.

of course i had a bounce house delivered for the festivities. this year i found this one called the "toddler house" and it was so much better than your typical bounce house because it was an open arena of different things to do....the kids had so much fun bouncing, running, sliding and well, whatever they do in bounce houses. not to mention annie had a blast....she thought she had finally been given a room to do her thing that was padded for protection. for being almost 10 months old this child is all over the place. she is actually taking a few steps between land objects every day.

on the left is my m-n-l and on the right is my mother (i know for some reason i call her mother....who knows) but, thanks to them this whole thing came together without my losing my cool. i think they really enjoyed helping and spending the time with the girls. i am not one to usually ask for help, however, i came to the ealization last weekend that it is okay to ask them for help.

we went to a birthday party for a friend down the street not to long ago and she had this amazing cake....a huge wine bottle with cheeses and grapes surrounding it, plus it was so so moist and yummy! well, to find out, the cake was made by her s-n-l who happens to do this sort of thing on the side for fun. izzy's cake was the barrel of monkey toy and absolutely so cute....not to mention moist and yummy. if you are in the need of a special cake anytime soon, please send lety an email...her price is really reasonable too. cakesbylety@yahoo.com ps...let her know i passed along the huge recommendation...i need to more cakes in the next few months! and as for the dad's and friends without kiddos that graciously came to yet another toddlers' birthday party....we provided beer, cowboys game and yummy food. you know the moms are always expected to attend every party, but thanks to our dads that parparticipate too.

after a busy sunday...izzy went to school on monday, by the way she is doing really well and did not even cry last week when we left her. at the end of the day, i brought cookies for her classmates and we sang happy birthday again....izzy has taken on the role of "mother hen" at school and is taking care of the smaller children in her class. she sets the table at lunch and sits at the head of the table to be the leader. she is the leader when they go for walks and makes her teacher a nervous wreck on the playgrounds. i am loving the school and all of its resources and can not wait until annie gets her spot (not just for my sanity, but because i know she will love it).
oh and here is a picture of izzy's first sleep over....our friends needed a sitter last minute and we volunteered to keep there 15 month and 3 1/2 year old for the night. thanks to jeff and his participation all went really well and both of their kiddos slept over an hour later than ours the next morning.

well, better get back to my list of things todo today...laundry, laundry, laundry and starting my notes for my sister's baby shower at the end of the month.
i am back and will be rambling on and on and on again.................

Monday, September 22, 2008

i have not gone anywhere

i have not forgotten to blog....i just have not been in the mind set to do so. please do not forget about me and my crazy rant here but i need to find a time to sit down with a glass of wine or rather maybe a bottle and tell you the story of our friend cody......i feel i can not move forward until i express what is so heavy on my heart right now.

as i am really really behind from all i have been doing in the past week to deal with this loss, once i am caught up (or at least not drowning) i will share with you my love for this man that touched our family in so many ways.

love y'all and please continue to check on me.....i need to know you are there.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

such a difficult time...

we are having a really difficult and extremely emotional time in our home this week. we lost our family's best friend this past weekend. if you may some how reach us through my blog and have not hear i want to post Cody's memorial information....

Friends and Family~

By now most of you have heard we lost Cody Whitehall Sunday morning. He passed away in his sleep due to complications from sleep apnea.

We will be hosting a memorial for Cody Thursday at Kelly's Cove on Eagle Mountain Lake (the old Porky's) at 6pm. Please come by and celebrate Cody's life with us.

Please forward this message along to anyone you have in your contact list. Also, if anyone has photos to put in a slideshow we would love to use them. You can drop them by our house, please write your name on the back and I will send all pictures back. It will be very causal, no need to dress up....


thank you for all your support during this time.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

so many things to say....

against my better judgement i stayed up till 1:30 last night (or this morning) watching movies with my husband. i think he was watching them...it seemed like he was really into whatever he was perusing on the internet. i think i am just going to run on and on about all the things i have roaming around in my head.
--once i did go to bed last night, i did not sleep well. i can not stand climbing into an unmade bed. there is something about how the sheets lay on your body and the blankets are not pulled tight that makes me kick my legs all night long. not sure why i did not make the bed yesterday, maybe cause the girls and i did not get out of it until 9:30 or that we laid down right after lunch for a 2.5 hour nap. plus, i have not shaved my legs in a couple of days and no matter how deep a sleep i am in if i accidentally rub them against one another it wakes me up with that gut curling feeling like fingernails down a chalkboard.
--annie's hemangioma on her forehead is making me crazy. i just want to take my nail scissors and clip it off. it is barely hanging on which is driving me more nuts. when the whole thing was attached i did not want to mess with it. we finally get into the dermatologist on thursday......*
--friday night has become the night cade has 3 to 4 friends spend the night. not so bad....we like most of his friends and they are pretty good. they may be at the age where we need to lock up or mark the liquor bottles..it can't be long until they start to experiment with tasting.**
--jeff went to new orleans this past week in a 24 hour round trip to look at a job we have been contemplating taking on. in the past, if he did one of these large hotel remodels it was not so bad, i would spend part of the week in whatever city he was in and part of it here working. well, it has been a while since we did one of these jobs.....now we have guys and four other trucks to keep up with, not to mention, someone here in town always getting mad because he is not able to jump at the last second on a "let me tell you about it at the very last moment possible" project. the positives... the hotel is in the french quarter, much better location than the last new orleans jobs and the girls and i can fly out once or twice and do a road trip when cade has a long weekend, this job may send our revenue over a million dollars this year (this my no means we make any where close to that) and it is always good beyond the stress for jeff to challenge himself, he is incredibly smart and thinks everything through so it runs perfectly smooth. the negative.....jeff likes to make the 10 hour drive after working through the night, i am a total wreck worrying about him, he also likes to make the trip driving between 85 and 100 mph, he and i will probably be at each others throats more than normal due to his extremely overloaded schedule and my need of a break from both girls, but mostly i worry he is going to kill himself by the time he is 40 working himself to death. i say this jokingly but i know if i could actually get him in for a check up his blood pressure would be pushing him into an early heart attack.***
--biggest bonus might be that my do-it-yourself husband may let me contract out some of the kitchen remodel (that is probably pushed back to the first of 2009 now). if you don't know jeff, he has a hard time letting someone else do anything he can do. he completed 90% of the labor on the new 3000sf metal building for the shop on boat club himself. he laughed at me when i got a quote to trim the trees in the backyard. by the way, there are over 60 tress back there.....so as for my kitchen, i was told when we bought the house we can do right away and that changed to after boat club is done is probably pushed back to after this new orleans job. i may let him get started in n.o. and then start getting bids....i bet i can get it started while he is gone one week and then he will just have to accept it. (if you read this husband...i would never do that, oh, yeah i do it every time you leave...sorry) honestly, with all the girls b-day parties, cari's baby shower, thanksgiving and christmas, i don't think we could actually tear out the kitchen until the first of the year.
--i lost two more pounds last week....i know it is my diet. while i don't necessarily eat bad food like fast food (except chick fil a and then i usually eat a salad) it is my emotional eating that is killing me. when i am stressed out like most days, i hit starbucks and grab a toffee almond bar. if they would quit selling these i would lose 20lbs easily. then when it is creeping up to midnight and i know i need to work another hour or so, i hit the snack cabinet and munch on cheez-its (don't even like them), an ice cream bar, handful of chex mex or whatever is handy. i have started trying to not eat any complex carbs after 3pm, i need to grab an apple or orange in those late night hours.
--i am going to start training for the dallas white rock 1/2 marathon in december. i will post the weekly workouts and am inviting all my friends to take the challenge with me! i really did feel great last week after running both saturday and monday.....while the elliptical machine is collecting dust in our room because it seems the only time i can get on it is after the girls are in bed and then i have to work, i can take the girls along with me to run.
--well, i have been telling izzy for two hours we are going to go walkie, walkie....so i better do it before it gets too hot!

*i am going to encourage at least one of my children to become a dermatologist because they must be in high demand. it always takes a good month or longer to get into one. this appt. took 6 weeks and that was with me explaining to the receptionist that she is having to wear a bandaid every day because she rubs it and it bleeds.
**future blog....describing all the different personalities of cade's friends. it is amazing how different they are. one of them is actually buying stuff off the interent and relisting it on ebay to make a profit.
***i almost had him in for a check up until the life insurance blood work came back that he is as healthy as can be and in the best condition for his age.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

first day of school

well, as usual things are just nuts around here. it is amazing how i try every week to get caught up and it never happens. i know a big part of it is getting the girls to bed earlier again....they used to be in bed by 7:30 and now it has creeped up closer to 8:30.
please notice the shoes izzy is wearing. they were given to us by our friend with a very "girly" girl... the sandal is super cute and i have been begging her to wear them all summer...now as summer is wrapping up she has decided they are the best shoes ever. izzy will probably try to wear them right through winter.

so, izzy made it through her first day of preschool. at first she was so excited and wanted to wear her backpack and carry her lunchbox. she practically ran to the front door of the church and was such a big girl walking ahead of me all the way. once in her classroom she started out great and began playing with the toys but when i told her annie and i were leaving and would be back after lunch she started to cry. well, as you can imagine her crying started the other four children in the class to cry. i just turned my back and walked out the door because i know deep down she would be okay. i also know deep down that if i did not have annie with me there is no way i would have walked out the door and left my first very sensitive baby alone to cry with a total stranger. once out the door i waited in the hallway to see how long they all cried......next thing i know here comes one helper to the room and then a few minutes later another. my rational side knows three adults can calm down five crying toddlers "eventually" and i left the building.

annie and i headed down the road to my favorite running trail in ftw through the overton woods park and some how i ran 4 miles with her snoozing away. this was a huge step for me as a parent....i left my 23 month old at preschool, the child i have only been apart one night from since birth, my sweet daughter the one that would cry until she vomits when i leave her with someone; i took time for myself, a whole hour to run a path that has brought me many a tranquil meditation miles, i ate lunch at chipotle with only one baby to entertain, and hopped right through many small errands.

when i got there to pick izzy up she stood next to her teacher, ms. mia and just stared at me. she would not come over to me......just stood there and stared at me. this is one of izzy's tricks, she has already learned that it hurts mommy's feelings when she does not acknowledge me when i return to her after one of my very few moments away from her. all in all she survived and so did i.......i think we are both growing up!


this is a picture of our bed the other night after baby up-chuck's late night explosion. there was no way i was going to fight her crib and put another sheet on it that night! and of course, izzy has daddy wrapped around her pinky and can get him to put her in our bed whenever she wants. unfortuneltly i never sleep well with everyone in the bed........

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

baby bang bang.....oops

this is annie nick name now a days....she always looks like she just competed in a ufc fight plus izzy really likes to call her "annie, baby bang bang", even to complete strangers stopping to comments on the girls every where we go these days. people tend to walk away looking completely baffled as to whether they should be worried or laugh.
however, i am starting to think we should call her "baby up-chuck" because every other week or so she vomits after being put to bed....as you can imagine you have 8oz of a bottle mixed with what ever was for dinner puddled in her crib with her laying facedown in the middle of it. most of the time she doesn't try to rollover or move herself from the vomit....i can just hear her muffled cry through the monitor. i am one of those that the smell of vomit causes me to vomit....so, i usually call for jeff through the monitor to come remove the sheets while i am taking off her clothes at the same time holding my breathe....washing baby up-chuck down, putting lotion on her to cover up lingering vomit smell and trying to put her back to sleep.
of course, tonite is "baby up-chuck"' night because the girls did not get to bed until 9:30 after nephew's football game and i wanted to workout. so here i am with her laying on my chest asleep wondering if i should lay her down in our bed so i don't have to remake the crib or suck it up and put her it back together. (if you have never put sheets on a crib, you would not know the major task this is....pulling crib away from wall, squeezing mattress around bumper, putting on mattress protector and sheet, squeezing mattress back in, retying bumper and pushing crib back up against wall. easily a 20 minute ordeal....)
so i will try and tell you about izzy's first day tomorrow...i am off to bed!

adding to the list of must haves...

so, i have decided today to go along with the everything else my husband must cringe and bite his tongue because i am spending our retirement money must haves i need a personal chef. i don't mean someone that comes in every day and prepares three well-balanced nutrient enriched meals; more like someone that comes in once a week and lays out a menu for us. i would expect this person to line out five evenings of meals with instructions on what needs to be done to complete. i could probably even purchase the neccesary groceries...i would be motivated to go shopping with the direction of a professional to what i need to put in my shopping cart. if this magical person could pre-cut and slice all the vegetables, grate the cheeses and will just make dinner preparation like a paint by numbers for me. actually, that is a really good idea, my new personal chef should put color stickers on tupperware to make it really easy for me; something like red for meats, green for veggies, blue for sauces, etc .

i used to love to cook...it has always been one of my passions. i love trying new receipes and even thought about starting my own catering business..nothing to big just high end cocktail parties and fancy birthday gatherings. but, with everything else i have on my daily plate (no pun intended) i just can't wrap my brain around putting together a meal. it is as if i have never cooked before....

breakfast i can handle, eggs for the girls or several different fruits and yogurt, cereal or yogurt shake for me. lunch is usually some pasta with butter and a bit of cheese, boiled veggie, and fruit for the girls (if we are home to eat or it is a turkey sandwich and fruit cup from starbucks if we had chick fil a already that week) and i pick at whatever. but, as you can see it is almost 5:45 and i would rather blog about what we are having for dinner instead of cooking something.

please don't tell dear husband that i am starting the search for the perfect personal chef, to go along with my cleaning ladies who start ironing and putting away the laundry next week, my frequent stops to the carwash because i can't help but feed the girls in suv but can not stand the crumbs everywhere, my obsession with internet shopping, bi-weekly trips for fandango to the groomer, window washer that is going to clean all these really gross windows, and painters that finish my projects because i can only start them but never finish them. and if you do happen to tell him, please remind him i am answering some days 100+ phone calls (not exaggerating, i need to post one day of my calls), making the service schedule, returning emails, sending faxes, working many many late nights, and of course taking care of our two beautiful girls and all this takes a lot out of me.



i am going to post this without rereading it so please forgive me of my typos....i need to change diapers and gather snacks to run out the door for nephew' first football game. i hope to sit down tonight and tell you all about izzy's first day of preschool! i am so proud of her......