So because I was pregnant for 9 mos and then didn't get old Aunt Flo back til December... I don't know but I'm wondering if getting my tubes tied made it a stronger experience? not to be gross -guys sorry - but DAMN! I have to stay on top of things or it's just not good. Then I wondered if it was just because I'm older and had 2 babies so things are heavier? Plus I tend to still FORGET to take care of business down there so that doesn't help. I just forget - after the initial 2 days of cramps and extreme bloat fun - that I have it.
I'm missing my other half big time. I cannot wait til he gets back from his trip. We've chatted with the kids on the video thingie on the macbook pro and that's good. I just miss my rock and back up. Lonely, I guess. Though I was so tired last night that I swear I don't remember my head hitting the pillow and I didn't wake til about 6 or so when Shea did. The first night I had a hard time sleeping. And I have a hard time getting myself off to bed alone.
My mum's surgery is scheduled for 4/28. All the sibs have been communicating more - which doesn't say much but still. The brothers are being more annoying since they are so removed that now when shit is going down they swoop in and question everything. I know my sister has a hardtime with it. She snapped at me this week and then apologized the next day. Which is fine because Saturday I unleashed a bunch of venting about my oldest brother on her and she was fine.
Saturday morning she and my niece Erin are picking me up to go for Erin's prom dress fitting. I had wanted to go for the dress shopping but they ended up going during the week last minute and didn't work out for me. But I'm excited to be part of something girly with them. I told my sister after I found out my second child was a boy that she needed to include me in these rites of passage girly type things because it's all I've got. Well at least until we shop for Rhena's wedding dress.... and the best part is not paying the bill. HA!
So I bought an entire new bedroom linens set. I'm pleased with it. Also curtains and some wall art. Hoping Dan can get those up soon. I don't do the walls stuff because he's anal about holes (ha ha anal about HOLES haha) in the wall and I just don't even want to deal with it.
Damn Shea is having another short nap day. Seems like he either has two solid nice naps or two crappy short ones. Doesn't help the mama get much done. Like blogging does either? HA.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
Wants
I think I want one of these. The hubs has made it quite clear that we aren't getting any iPhones in the near future as his office doesn't support them AND they are on AT&T which kinda blows. But I have long been mulling the idea of a phone with more than just "phone" capabilities. And I like to text/email which, as we all know, is a pain in the ass on a regular phone. This evolution of the blackberry now has a camera in it which is also a feature I really like. The sidekicks and other of those variety seem a bit to "young and hip" to me. A bit too Paris Hilton.
Now will the hubs be into me getting one since the phone I have now is less than a year old? Hrm. Not so sure.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Overkill
I count my blessings every day for the good relationship and love of my mother-in-law (The Nonni!). She is an amazingly generous and loving person. She accepted me whole-heartedly into her life and family and loves my children with an intensity I would second only to the love Dan and I have for them.
However.
The Nonni goes completely and utterly overboard with gifts and money. It is not uncommon for her to hear that I'll be doing seasonal clothes shopping for the boys and to hand me an envelope of anywhere from 300-500 bucks in it. See? AMAZINGLY GENEROUS. And CRAZY! On my birthday, mothers day and Christmas I get cards with money. Never less than $100. CRAZY.
She also gets hooked on collecting things. Liam got into Thomas and Friends when he was about 18 mos old. Nonni proceeded to collect over 100 trains from the Take Along series. She gave him tons and kept loads at her house...which have SOMEHOW filtered over here over the past year and a half. Hot Wheels? She has about 3 double decker cases of them at her house. Not including the oversized die cast metal ones she has as well. Eighteen wheelers and obscene monster trucks. CRAZINESS!
Then she was shopping for a toy for Liam right before Seamus was born. He picked out a toy from the Imaginext Jungle Adventures series. Only I don't think Nonni realized it was a series at first. My sister saw that he had it and, when she visited the hopsital after Shea was born, she innocently brought Liam some additional animals that went with the set. My mother-in-law realized it was an expanded set and proceeded to buy almost every other piece to it. The Nonni almost bought the biggest piece but Liam thinks it's a bit too scary.
ANYWAY.
You see my point? Well recently Liam has taken to puzzles. The 25-or-so piece variety. He got one from my sister a month or so ago and did it over and over and over again. So much so that his sitter brought him 2 more that she happened to have left from her brothers child years. Then I got a Buzz Lightyear puzzle for his Easter basket. Sooooo...Easter day comes and as always we go to Nonni's for brunch and fun. The Easter Bunny OF COURSE goes to Nonni's too. And Liam gets.... wait for it.... THREE MORE boxed puzzles and a book that has like 7 puzzles embedded in the pages.
Liam LOVES puzzles but honestly do we need 7 boxed puzzles and a book of puzzles? Doesn't that seem like a lot? And I love it when people come over and comment on how many freaking toys my kids have when we hardly BUY ANY?! Everyone else does! I do buy the odd matchbox car or coloring book, crayons, that sort of thing. But sheer volume of toys.... are from everyone else! I am happy that my children are blessed with these things. But it's almost embarrassing. We have this gorgeous storage center in the playroom... and it's stuffed to the freaking GILLS. I try to weed out toys but then feel guilty. I need to just lose the guilt and donate or pitch some stuff. I do a "crappy toy" sweep every other week or so - weeding out the happy meal prizes, broken toys, and very small pieces from sets that Liam wouldn't miss and Shea could choke on.
Anyway - I started this post to vent about Nonni and her penchant for buying too much and not knowing when to stop. Perhaps I should take some of that advice with this post.
However.
The Nonni goes completely and utterly overboard with gifts and money. It is not uncommon for her to hear that I'll be doing seasonal clothes shopping for the boys and to hand me an envelope of anywhere from 300-500 bucks in it. See? AMAZINGLY GENEROUS. And CRAZY! On my birthday, mothers day and Christmas I get cards with money. Never less than $100. CRAZY.
She also gets hooked on collecting things. Liam got into Thomas and Friends when he was about 18 mos old. Nonni proceeded to collect over 100 trains from the Take Along series. She gave him tons and kept loads at her house...which have SOMEHOW filtered over here over the past year and a half. Hot Wheels? She has about 3 double decker cases of them at her house. Not including the oversized die cast metal ones she has as well. Eighteen wheelers and obscene monster trucks. CRAZINESS!
Then she was shopping for a toy for Liam right before Seamus was born. He picked out a toy from the Imaginext Jungle Adventures series. Only I don't think Nonni realized it was a series at first. My sister saw that he had it and, when she visited the hopsital after Shea was born, she innocently brought Liam some additional animals that went with the set. My mother-in-law realized it was an expanded set and proceeded to buy almost every other piece to it. The Nonni almost bought the biggest piece but Liam thinks it's a bit too scary.
ANYWAY.
You see my point? Well recently Liam has taken to puzzles. The 25-or-so piece variety. He got one from my sister a month or so ago and did it over and over and over again. So much so that his sitter brought him 2 more that she happened to have left from her brothers child years. Then I got a Buzz Lightyear puzzle for his Easter basket. Sooooo...Easter day comes and as always we go to Nonni's for brunch and fun. The Easter Bunny OF COURSE goes to Nonni's too. And Liam gets.... wait for it.... THREE MORE boxed puzzles and a book that has like 7 puzzles embedded in the pages.
Liam LOVES puzzles but honestly do we need 7 boxed puzzles and a book of puzzles? Doesn't that seem like a lot? And I love it when people come over and comment on how many freaking toys my kids have when we hardly BUY ANY?! Everyone else does! I do buy the odd matchbox car or coloring book, crayons, that sort of thing. But sheer volume of toys.... are from everyone else! I am happy that my children are blessed with these things. But it's almost embarrassing. We have this gorgeous storage center in the playroom... and it's stuffed to the freaking GILLS. I try to weed out toys but then feel guilty. I need to just lose the guilt and donate or pitch some stuff. I do a "crappy toy" sweep every other week or so - weeding out the happy meal prizes, broken toys, and very small pieces from sets that Liam wouldn't miss and Shea could choke on.
Anyway - I started this post to vent about Nonni and her penchant for buying too much and not knowing when to stop. Perhaps I should take some of that advice with this post.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
on my mind
I have a lot on my mind and I think a stream of consciousness post is the way I'm going to get it out. If you can't follow along, my apologies. I just need to get some stuff out.
My mom - My mother had an appt with a surgeon today to discuss possible surgery on her shoulder. She has severe rheum. arthritis in her shoulder and cannot sleep for more than 2 hours without waking from pain. Her range of motion for the shoulder is horrible. Watching her put on a coat or shirt is saddening. I was unable to attend the appt with my parents and sister today because Shea had his appt which I had OTHER concerns for and that needed to take precidence, unfortunately. Anyway, it comes down in the appt that her rheum. doc also is referring her for knee REPLACEMENT surgery. Apparently both shoulder and knee are bone against bone at this point. The surgeon would prefer to do the knee first because it will be better for recovery from the shoulder surg. if she has two good legs to support her.
I'm really overwhelmed by all this and feel ill-equipped to care for toddlers and aging parents. I feel guilty for leaving it to my older siblings as well. And resentful of my brother in California who really doesn't have to deal with it at all.
Things will fall into place. I have already started researchingand bookmarking elder services pages. I can't imagine how my dad will cope with taking care of her 24/7 without losing his mind.
Shea's appt was ok. Doc said we should wait til after his one year appt to see if his gross motor skills have improved (head size is the cause of delay) and if not we will have him evaluated then. But his height and weight (22lbs 29") put him in the 75% and his head circ (49cm - same as Liam's was at 15 mos) puts him at 98% which is at least on the chart now. He didn't need any shots - just got a finger prick for iron and lead level testing. He didn't nap well, so by bedtime he was a nightmare. We did discuss c.i.o. during the appt and the doctor said Ferber is the way to go...as long as his basic needs are met and he's not ill we should do it. He said that we had to outlast Shea... especially since he's escalates so much when crying... gets worse and worse. We can't even go in after 5 or 10 mins cause he flips out even more. Tonight he cried after I put in (this is rare -= typically he is a middle of the night crier) and I was alone with both boys. I didn't want to leave Liam alone downstairs longer than necessary so I was sort of forced to let him cry. I did goin and try to rock him again, but he wasn't stopping so I put him back in the crib and probably about 30 mins later he stopped. I'm not sure exactly how long because I was putting Liam to bed and with the humidifier on high (purposefully) in Liam's room, you can't hear a thing in there.
I need to go to bed. Hubs is off tomorrow and I am getting my hair cut and colored. Cannot TELL YOU how bad I need it. GREY ROOTS! Ugly!
My mom - My mother had an appt with a surgeon today to discuss possible surgery on her shoulder. She has severe rheum. arthritis in her shoulder and cannot sleep for more than 2 hours without waking from pain. Her range of motion for the shoulder is horrible. Watching her put on a coat or shirt is saddening. I was unable to attend the appt with my parents and sister today because Shea had his appt which I had OTHER concerns for and that needed to take precidence, unfortunately. Anyway, it comes down in the appt that her rheum. doc also is referring her for knee REPLACEMENT surgery. Apparently both shoulder and knee are bone against bone at this point. The surgeon would prefer to do the knee first because it will be better for recovery from the shoulder surg. if she has two good legs to support her.
I'm really overwhelmed by all this and feel ill-equipped to care for toddlers and aging parents. I feel guilty for leaving it to my older siblings as well. And resentful of my brother in California who really doesn't have to deal with it at all.
Things will fall into place. I have already started researchingand bookmarking elder services pages. I can't imagine how my dad will cope with taking care of her 24/7 without losing his mind.
Shea's appt was ok. Doc said we should wait til after his one year appt to see if his gross motor skills have improved (head size is the cause of delay) and if not we will have him evaluated then. But his height and weight (22lbs 29") put him in the 75% and his head circ (49cm - same as Liam's was at 15 mos) puts him at 98% which is at least on the chart now. He didn't need any shots - just got a finger prick for iron and lead level testing. He didn't nap well, so by bedtime he was a nightmare. We did discuss c.i.o. during the appt and the doctor said Ferber is the way to go...as long as his basic needs are met and he's not ill we should do it. He said that we had to outlast Shea... especially since he's escalates so much when crying... gets worse and worse. We can't even go in after 5 or 10 mins cause he flips out even more. Tonight he cried after I put in (this is rare -= typically he is a middle of the night crier) and I was alone with both boys. I didn't want to leave Liam alone downstairs longer than necessary so I was sort of forced to let him cry. I did goin and try to rock him again, but he wasn't stopping so I put him back in the crib and probably about 30 mins later he stopped. I'm not sure exactly how long because I was putting Liam to bed and with the humidifier on high (purposefully) in Liam's room, you can't hear a thing in there.
I need to go to bed. Hubs is off tomorrow and I am getting my hair cut and colored. Cannot TELL YOU how bad I need it. GREY ROOTS! Ugly!
Monday, March 10, 2008
I'm Sex Deprived
Kind of a fun meme. Lifted it from Johnny Mac.
Instructions: Open up your iTunes and fill out this survey, no matter how embarrassing the responses might be
How many songs total: 1,110
How many hours or days of music: 2.8 Days
Most recently played: Let's Get Together - The Youngbloods
Most played: Real Gone - Sheryl Crowe (Cars Movie), Born to Be My Baby - Bon Jovi, Footloose - Kenny Loggins (these ar favs of Liam's mostly)
Most recently added: Band of Gold (Almighty Radio Edit) - Kimberly Locke
Sort by song title:
First Song: A.B.C. Gospel - Choo Choo Soul
Last Song: #41 - Dave Matthews Band
Sort by time:
Shortest Song: .05 New Hymn - James Taylor
Longest Song: 11:42 - Donna Summer & Barbra Streisand - No More Tears (Enough is Enough)
Sort by album:
First album: Alan Jackson: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
Last album: 100% Pure Dance
First song that comes up on Shuffle: S.O.S. - ABBA
Search the following and state how many songs come up:
Death - 1
Life - 18
Love - 66
Hate - 1
You - 132
Sex - 2
Instructions: Open up your iTunes and fill out this survey, no matter how embarrassing the responses might be
How many songs total: 1,110
How many hours or days of music: 2.8 Days
Most recently played: Let's Get Together - The Youngbloods
Most played: Real Gone - Sheryl Crowe (Cars Movie), Born to Be My Baby - Bon Jovi, Footloose - Kenny Loggins (these ar favs of Liam's mostly)
Most recently added: Band of Gold (Almighty Radio Edit) - Kimberly Locke
Sort by song title:
First Song: A.B.C. Gospel - Choo Choo Soul
Last Song: #41 - Dave Matthews Band
Sort by time:
Shortest Song: .05 New Hymn - James Taylor
Longest Song: 11:42 - Donna Summer & Barbra Streisand - No More Tears (Enough is Enough)
Sort by album:
First album: Alan Jackson: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
Last album: 100% Pure Dance
First song that comes up on Shuffle: S.O.S. - ABBA
Search the following and state how many songs come up:
Death - 1
Life - 18
Love - 66
Hate - 1
You - 132
Sex - 2
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Sleep
I'm about to get me some of that there sleep stuff everyone raves so much about. Last night was BAD with Shea. We changed up some stuff with his bed...hoping that maybe part of it. He's about erady to gnaw his arm off from the top teeth. Wish those fuckers would just come IN already. Sing a little Doors action..."break on through, break on through, break on through to the other side..."
Today was actually a very pleasant trip to my inlaws despite that Liam cried 3-4x about um...NOTHING. Oh he couldn't have a second yogurt, he couldn't play with something of Grampy's because Grampy wasn't there to tell us it was ok, his cousin wanted HER DOLL BACK, and oh and because he's 3 and his current lot in life is to make his parents very tired.
Hey Liam! Your brother HAS THAT COVERED, ok? so just knock it OFF.
Anyway, my brother-in-law and his daughter were there but it was still fine. Kendal played with Liam a little and only tried to smack Shea once. She was very sweet to him the rest of the time.
My mother-in-law didn't let Shea push her around. After we were there a few minutes she took him and listened to him cry for about 20-25 mins and I ran away to the kitchen. He's so much worse when I'm right there. He just keeps looking at me like "TAKE ME BACK NOW or I will cry and stick this lower lip out so far it will slap you in the forehead."
She finally found some toys he was interested in (her house is like friggin Toys R Us right now) and after he calmed down, I went back in. Shea was pretty much fine the rest of the visit. He didn't want to nap on their bed (Kendal was in the crib) so she put him in Kendal's stroller and Dan wheeled him around the house 2-3x and he was out. We parked him in the kitchen and he slept about 45 mins or so - enough to take the edge off.
So that gives me hope that someday we will be able to visit family without me feeling completely stressed out. And I feel a teensy bit better about being gone overnight Friday while my mother-in-law stays here with the boys. I feel incredible guilty that she may be up half the night with Shea but as Dan put it, "She gets to go home and sleep through the night. She'll be fine. Shea will be fine." So I will have to deal with the guilt while I have a cocktail, eat a big meal, drink wine and sleep through the entire goddamn night!
WHOOOOHOOOO!
Today was actually a very pleasant trip to my inlaws despite that Liam cried 3-4x about um...NOTHING. Oh he couldn't have a second yogurt, he couldn't play with something of Grampy's because Grampy wasn't there to tell us it was ok, his cousin wanted HER DOLL BACK, and oh and because he's 3 and his current lot in life is to make his parents very tired.
Hey Liam! Your brother HAS THAT COVERED, ok? so just knock it OFF.
Anyway, my brother-in-law and his daughter were there but it was still fine. Kendal played with Liam a little and only tried to smack Shea once. She was very sweet to him the rest of the time.
My mother-in-law didn't let Shea push her around. After we were there a few minutes she took him and listened to him cry for about 20-25 mins and I ran away to the kitchen. He's so much worse when I'm right there. He just keeps looking at me like "TAKE ME BACK NOW or I will cry and stick this lower lip out so far it will slap you in the forehead."
She finally found some toys he was interested in (her house is like friggin Toys R Us right now) and after he calmed down, I went back in. Shea was pretty much fine the rest of the visit. He didn't want to nap on their bed (Kendal was in the crib) so she put him in Kendal's stroller and Dan wheeled him around the house 2-3x and he was out. We parked him in the kitchen and he slept about 45 mins or so - enough to take the edge off.
So that gives me hope that someday we will be able to visit family without me feeling completely stressed out. And I feel a teensy bit better about being gone overnight Friday while my mother-in-law stays here with the boys. I feel incredible guilty that she may be up half the night with Shea but as Dan put it, "She gets to go home and sleep through the night. She'll be fine. Shea will be fine." So I will have to deal with the guilt while I have a cocktail, eat a big meal, drink wine and sleep through the entire goddamn night!
WHOOOOHOOOO!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Another new thing
I forgot to mention in my other post that I bought and tried Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer w/ SPF 15. LOVE IT. LOVE. LOVE. I heard about it from Cathy's post about wrinkles, zits and peach fuzz. I bought it on impulse at Wal-Mart and have been enjoying it ever since.
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