I was at my babysitter's house picking up Jocelyn after my dr's appt last week, and Lily (my sitter, an elderly woman with very firm opinions) wanted to know if we'd found out the sex yet (for the record: No! Still don't know :( I'm supposed to be going to see a specialist this week -- new dr is concerned b/c of what happened w/Jocelyn and wants to get an expert to check me out). I told her that even though we haven't had the ultrasound yet, we're pretty sure its a girl. Before I could even tell her why, she goes "oh, that's what I thought, too." So I asked her why, and she goes, "Well, you've got wide butt. With all my girls my butt was wider than a school bus, but with my boys I was just big in front."
So there you go. From another mother's wisdom: we are definately having a girl b/c I have wide butt! ;)
Monday, January 29, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Unexpected Customer Service
Well, despite you all thinking that I have lapsed back into old habits, the reason I haven't posted for a while is because Jocelyn spilled apple juice on our laptop and shorted it out. Luckily it was still under warranty. I was totally amazed, though. I thought our best shot at getting it fixed was through the BX (where we bought it), but they basically told us to go screw ourselves. So, Tim called Sony (we have a Vaio) and they just looked up the serial number and verified our warranty. They sent a guy to Tim's work to fix the computer, and we didn't have to lift a finger! I was literally in shock at how easy it was to take care of. We were convinced that we had lost a very expensive piece of equipment (not to mention all our pictures and itunes, etc.), but Tim's coworker kindly managed to download all our info onto an external harddrive and we just reinstalled it onto our (basically brand-new) computer. Little things like that restore my faith in mankind ;)
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Ode To My Maternity BDUs
Oh, Maternity BDU's,
You are so ugly and uncomfortable;
And yet there is something so comforting,
About you.
You are so big and tent-like,
I look like a small tree with boots;
And your elastic band sits so tightly across my stomach,
So that I am forced to pull it up to my ribs,
Like Urkel.
Yet, your billowing folds of extra material,
Hide the fact that I no longer have a waist;
And make me appear so small and large at the same time,
That no one has any idea how much weight I've gained.
I love you, Maternity BDUs.
You are so ugly and uncomfortable;
And yet there is something so comforting,
About you.
You are so big and tent-like,
I look like a small tree with boots;
And your elastic band sits so tightly across my stomach,
So that I am forced to pull it up to my ribs,
Like Urkel.
Yet, your billowing folds of extra material,
Hide the fact that I no longer have a waist;
And make me appear so small and large at the same time,
That no one has any idea how much weight I've gained.
I love you, Maternity BDUs.
Monday, January 15, 2007
We're Adopting!
A baby leopard, that is :) Caitlyn's grandpa gave her a monetary gift for X-mas with the understanding that 1/2 of the value would go to the charity of her choice. We finally sat down this weekend and reviewed some of the charities I picked out (I wanted to make sure her money would go to a well established charity to ensure her money actually goes to the cause she picked out). Caitlyn is very interested in animals, so she selected the World Wildlife Foundation, which has this really cute option where you can "adopt" and animal. Poor Caitlyn, she was devastated when I explained that she would only be able to virtually adopt a wild animal and that, in fact, no leopards were on their way to our house! ;) Actually, if you spend a certain amount of money the WWF will send you a stuffed representation of the animal you picked out, which is almost as good as the real thing when you are 8 years old. She took a long time to pick out the right animal, as the WWF site doesn't have the cutest pictures of each animal (and, according to Caitlyn, cute animals are really the only ones worth saving!). So now I have to endure at least 3 weeks of Caitlyn rushing for the mailbox (it takes 3-6 weeks for the WWF to ship your free gift). Thanks, Dad! ;)
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Still an It
So, we still don't know what the sex is :( I meant to write about my miserable experience with my ob last week, but I was kind of upset at the time. Really it just has to do with being respected. I had a horrible experience in the lab, where the technicians were openly hostile and incompetent (the first girl signed me and then proceeded to yell to the other one that she was going on lunch and could she take care of me. After rolling her eyes and sighing deeply, the second girl proceeded to poke me several times in the arm and not take enough blood so then a third girl had to come and start the whole thing over.) Then I had to wait in the dr's office for almost 2 hours(!!) after being assured on my last visit that having to wait was highly unusual (we waited an hour and a half last time). This meant that Tim wasted his lunch hour sitting in the waiting room with me only to have to leave long before I got anywhere near the ultrasound machine. When they finally took me back they put me right into the ultrasound room, plus this was my 20wk appt, so I automatically assumed this was my ultrasound appt, right? Wrong.
After waiting all that time the dr finally came in only to tell me they don't do ultrasounds until the 24th wk b/c the baby is too small at this point. Umm, that's a 1st heard for me, since both my other kids had their ultrasounds at 20wks. That wouldn't have been so bad, but then he listened to the baby's heartbeat and asked me if I had any pressing questions. When I said no, he was out the door. My appt lasted literally all of five minutes. After waiting for nearly 2 hrs, I was highly unimpressed. Needless to say, my 1st phone call on Monday morning was to Tricare to ask for another dr. So my 1st experience with a civilian dr, not so hot. Hopefully my next dr will be better b/c I really don't want to switch drs again, especially this far along.
After waiting all that time the dr finally came in only to tell me they don't do ultrasounds until the 24th wk b/c the baby is too small at this point. Umm, that's a 1st heard for me, since both my other kids had their ultrasounds at 20wks. That wouldn't have been so bad, but then he listened to the baby's heartbeat and asked me if I had any pressing questions. When I said no, he was out the door. My appt lasted literally all of five minutes. After waiting for nearly 2 hrs, I was highly unimpressed. Needless to say, my 1st phone call on Monday morning was to Tricare to ask for another dr. So my 1st experience with a civilian dr, not so hot. Hopefully my next dr will be better b/c I really don't want to switch drs again, especially this far along.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Our Nightly Visitor
He might actually be cute, except he's totally not afraid of us and tries to get inside the house!
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Success!
After a disappointing attempt to make fish more palatable to my poor hubby on NYE (sauce was good, fish was, well, fishy), I scored my 1st success of the New Year last night with a lovely roasted Chateaubriand with Bernaise sauce (I'm so proud to have mastered the egg yolk after my last disasterous attempt at a hollandaise!). We completed our meal with a fresh baby greens salad and pan friend potatoes in lots o' butter (thank you Julia Child). My New Year's resolution is to get back to the basics of cooking and really learn the basic techniques of a good chef rather than trying every new recipe I see in one of my many magazines. Tonight we're going to have torellini in a tomato cream sauce with fresh, crusty french bread and steamed green beans. Yummy!
Monday, January 01, 2007
Another Year, Another Baby ;)
I know, I know, my last entry was in October. I offer no excuses (except for that whole thing about being a full-time worker, mom, wife, and pregnant lady ;) This year I pledge to blog at least once a week. I’ll add it to my Friday list (right after I do my weekly WAR - weekly activity report for you non-mil types) so I won’t forget! There is so much to write about, but since it is the new year I suppose the thing to do is give a quick run down of everything our family has done this year.
In February, Jocelyn and I flew to Tacoma, Washington to be a part of one of my dearest friend’s weddings (update: they are now the proud parents of a gorgeous baby boy). In March, Tim left me with the girls in Japan to fly back to the States to visit my step-kids and to prepare for our big move! In April, the girls and I joined Tim in New York after the flight from hell (not fun to arrive in the States after traveling for 2 days only to find out that your flight has disappeared - not been canceled, just totally disappeared). A few days later Tim and I jetted off to Denver for my other dear friend’s wedding to her wonderful husband (who got her a bangin’ digital camera for X-mas!). After that it was off on our cross-country trip to LA with stops in Chicago and Albuquerque to visit my sister and parents. After finally arriving in LA we ended up having to live in billeting for a month and a half while waiting for our house to be available. It wasn’t until the middle of June that we were finally settled in our new home. Just in time for…my step-kids to come visit for the summer! Our summer was incredibly hectic as we went from one kid and an immobile baby to four walking and talking kids (Jocelyn had her 1st birthday on August first!). I can only imagine how this next summer is going to be as we found out a few months later that we are expecting another baby! (In fact, my ultrasound is this Friday, and we should be finding out the sex of the baby!)
For the latter half of the year, we were incredibly busy, as I imagine most families with young children are. Caitlyn started 2nd grade (and scored the highest of all 2nd graders on the California Scholastic Aptitude Test…just had to brag a little ;), she played soccer this fall (and scored 2 goals!), started ice skating lessons, and also took golf (a class offered by her school). She’s had a little break over the holidays, but she’ll be right back into her activities starting next week. She’s got more ice skating on the horizon, spring soccer, piano lessons, and possibly dance classes (we’ll see how the $$ situation works out). Jocelyn has become a complete maniac. It was so interesting to see her interact with her cousin Yelena over the holidays (Yelena is the only child of my older sister and happens to be just 6 months older than Jocelyn). Yelena has to be one of the smartest toddlers I have ever seen. She’s not even two and she talks in complete sentences, and she can be completely understood by adults! Jocelyn, on the other hand, would rather punch you in the eye to express her love than say it. We all thought Jocelyn would run over Yelena without a backward glance, but, as it turns out, Jocelyn was fascinated by Yelena and wanted to do everything she was doing (including becoming a lot more clingy towards Mom, thanks Stef! ;) Prior to this trip I used to have to grab Jocelyn whenever I could catch and force her to give me snuggles (she would much rather be pulling all over my dish towels out of the drawer and wearing them around the house on her head). Now she’s become quite the Mama’s girl, which is both gratifying, slightly annoying (it’s kind of hard to pick up a whiny baby when you are trying to cook dinner), and a little worrying (I am having nightmares about Jocelyn’s reaction to the new baby).
Let’s see…where was I? Oh yes, so after a crazy fall full of activities, I spent most of November and Dec prepping and then running our base’s portion in a big exercise (I won’t bore you with the details but suffice it to say I was working overtime for quite a while). Tim’s mom came out to LA to stay with us for Thanksgiving, and, of course, we cooked way too much food and got super sick of leftovers long before I managed to use them all up L For X-mas, we rented an SUV and drove all the way to Albuquerque (12 hours on the road with a very active toddler…I would highly NOT recommend doing that ever again! Not to mention the fact that Jocelyn got really sick while we were in Albuquerque and ended up puking in the car on the drive home….This is my life…;) For New Years we didn't do much, though we managed to stay up until midnight, which is quite an accomplishment for me! We celebrated Caitlyn's birthday as a family (she'll have her party in a few weeks - we are doing a tea party this year). Can you believe I am the mother of an 8-year old!!?? Neither can I! ;)
I know I’m leaving out tons of details and probably a trip or two that I can’t remember since this pregnancy has taken over my memory banks and left me with only the vague sensation that there is always something I am forgetting about. I'll leave you with some lovely pics of our white Christmas in Albuquerque (1st snow there in like 35 years!), which caused my poor sister to be stuck in the Denver airport for 3 days straight (it's hard to feel sorry fcr myself and the 12 hour drive when my sister got stuck in a building with thousands of strangers without a change of clothes, anywhere to shower, or even a toothbrush for 3 days...she did make some interesting friends!) Hope this year has been as eventful for you as it has been for us!
In February, Jocelyn and I flew to Tacoma, Washington to be a part of one of my dearest friend’s weddings (update: they are now the proud parents of a gorgeous baby boy). In March, Tim left me with the girls in Japan to fly back to the States to visit my step-kids and to prepare for our big move! In April, the girls and I joined Tim in New York after the flight from hell (not fun to arrive in the States after traveling for 2 days only to find out that your flight has disappeared - not been canceled, just totally disappeared). A few days later Tim and I jetted off to Denver for my other dear friend’s wedding to her wonderful husband (who got her a bangin’ digital camera for X-mas!). After that it was off on our cross-country trip to LA with stops in Chicago and Albuquerque to visit my sister and parents. After finally arriving in LA we ended up having to live in billeting for a month and a half while waiting for our house to be available. It wasn’t until the middle of June that we were finally settled in our new home. Just in time for…my step-kids to come visit for the summer! Our summer was incredibly hectic as we went from one kid and an immobile baby to four walking and talking kids (Jocelyn had her 1st birthday on August first!). I can only imagine how this next summer is going to be as we found out a few months later that we are expecting another baby! (In fact, my ultrasound is this Friday, and we should be finding out the sex of the baby!)
For the latter half of the year, we were incredibly busy, as I imagine most families with young children are. Caitlyn started 2nd grade (and scored the highest of all 2nd graders on the California Scholastic Aptitude Test…just had to brag a little ;), she played soccer this fall (and scored 2 goals!), started ice skating lessons, and also took golf (a class offered by her school). She’s had a little break over the holidays, but she’ll be right back into her activities starting next week. She’s got more ice skating on the horizon, spring soccer, piano lessons, and possibly dance classes (we’ll see how the $$ situation works out). Jocelyn has become a complete maniac. It was so interesting to see her interact with her cousin Yelena over the holidays (Yelena is the only child of my older sister and happens to be just 6 months older than Jocelyn). Yelena has to be one of the smartest toddlers I have ever seen. She’s not even two and she talks in complete sentences, and she can be completely understood by adults! Jocelyn, on the other hand, would rather punch you in the eye to express her love than say it. We all thought Jocelyn would run over Yelena without a backward glance, but, as it turns out, Jocelyn was fascinated by Yelena and wanted to do everything she was doing (including becoming a lot more clingy towards Mom, thanks Stef! ;) Prior to this trip I used to have to grab Jocelyn whenever I could catch and force her to give me snuggles (she would much rather be pulling all over my dish towels out of the drawer and wearing them around the house on her head). Now she’s become quite the Mama’s girl, which is both gratifying, slightly annoying (it’s kind of hard to pick up a whiny baby when you are trying to cook dinner), and a little worrying (I am having nightmares about Jocelyn’s reaction to the new baby).
Let’s see…where was I? Oh yes, so after a crazy fall full of activities, I spent most of November and Dec prepping and then running our base’s portion in a big exercise (I won’t bore you with the details but suffice it to say I was working overtime for quite a while). Tim’s mom came out to LA to stay with us for Thanksgiving, and, of course, we cooked way too much food and got super sick of leftovers long before I managed to use them all up L For X-mas, we rented an SUV and drove all the way to Albuquerque (12 hours on the road with a very active toddler…I would highly NOT recommend doing that ever again! Not to mention the fact that Jocelyn got really sick while we were in Albuquerque and ended up puking in the car on the drive home….This is my life…;) For New Years we didn't do much, though we managed to stay up until midnight, which is quite an accomplishment for me! We celebrated Caitlyn's birthday as a family (she'll have her party in a few weeks - we are doing a tea party this year). Can you believe I am the mother of an 8-year old!!?? Neither can I! ;)
I know I’m leaving out tons of details and probably a trip or two that I can’t remember since this pregnancy has taken over my memory banks and left me with only the vague sensation that there is always something I am forgetting about. I'll leave you with some lovely pics of our white Christmas in Albuquerque (1st snow there in like 35 years!), which caused my poor sister to be stuck in the Denver airport for 3 days straight (it's hard to feel sorry fcr myself and the 12 hour drive when my sister got stuck in a building with thousands of strangers without a change of clothes, anywhere to shower, or even a toothbrush for 3 days...she did make some interesting friends!) Hope this year has been as eventful for you as it has been for us!
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