Mo' Baby News
Went to my final dr.'s appt yesterday, and I am finally dialated! 1 1/2 cm over here, folks. That's right, this baby could just fall out of me at any moment. Run in fear of my cervix! (Of course, as soon as I mention this to Hubs, he gives me this horrified look and says, "You mean it's open down there?"*) Then he makes the even bigger mistake of saying, "Well, you can't have the baby yet. I am soo busy at work." Oh, really!! You're busy at work?? Well, I'll just cross my legs until next week if it's more convenient for you. Poor Hubs, he really has been having a rough time at work. His company is expanding rapidly, but they haven't hired enough people yet to deal with the workload, so he is doing the job of 4 people and trying to interview new hires all while worrying about when I'll go into labor. Of course, I am just totally occupied with getting this baby out, so I have a hard time mustering up any sympathy for his predicament.
*Seriously, you would think this man had never had children before!
Still a Pregnant Beeyotch
On a totally bitchy note, I am getting really tired of all those people who, once they hear how far along I am, say things like, "Oh, you're all belly." Okay, people, I know how much I weighed before I got pregnant and I know how much I weigh now, and there is no freakin way all that weight went straight to my belly. There is also the fact that my butt has expanded to nearly twice its normal size. I know they're just trying to be polite (I mean, seriously, no one ever says "Wow, you're all thighs and ass!"), but, really, it's not necessary to tell such obvious lies!
More Randomness Inspired by Boredom
Is it really sad that I think this guy is totally cute?
This is how life will be in the near future. Is it strange to think of your future in claymation?
Kobe finally asked to leave the Lakers. Can I have a minute to laugh my ass off?
I just like the word "moronitude."
Les aventures de Babar: Babar falls in with the wrong crowd.
**In the spirit of X & E's blog, extra points to anyone who knows where the title of this post came from.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Critters
While we may not have the squirrel problem currently being experienced in Abq, LA does have its fair share of crazy critters. Our current garden neighbors include a mommy possum
A baby possum
Some kind of predatory bird we think was a hawk. (Picture is fuzzy because we caught him eating a mouse/rat on our fence and didn't want to scare him of by opening the screen door)
One of god knows how many raccoons
And, we're not sure what species this one is, but it is clearly just as destructive to tomato plants as any squirrel!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Bikini Babes
Long Weekend Round-up
So our weekend was actually pretty busy as I attempt to get all those last minute things done before the baby comes. Hubs bought a new car (Honda Element - pics will be forthcoming), which cost us just a bit up front and payments around what we were paying for his old sedan. I am not really much of a car person (I was happy driving around my mom's old '93 Subaru station wagon), but having a nice car is very important to Hubs. He works very hard (he had to telecommute all weekend thanks to a last minute request from the Czech Republic!) and it is always nice to have something that sort of reminds you that all that work is really worth it. And, I am happy to see him so happy! We also got some new dressers for the girls (our old ones were so broken C was only able to use 2 out of the 5 drawers in hers!) and had those delivered. We also totally rearranged J's room to accomodate the new furniture and to get it ready for the new baby. On Monday the sun finally peaked out from all that June gloom, and we spent the entire day outside in the "pool," so now I have a belly tan! :)
I am not up to staying on my feet for any length of time right now, so Hubs ended up grilling all weekend long. We had 1" thick porterhouse steaks, baked potatoes on the grill, and fresh zucchini sprinkled with olive oil and balsamic vingegar for our Memorial Day feast. Yum!
In Other Totally Random News That You Will Not "Get" Unless You Are a Member of My Immediate Family
We recently discovered that the only thing on television that will hold J's attention for longer than 2 seconds (besides Sesame Street) is Animal Planet (she literally watched about a half hour of the most recent dog show in absolute rapture), so we have had that channel on quite bit a lately. So, I was watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom the other day with C & J and we discovered there is, in fact, a group of animals known as the "Claw" family. The program informed us that anteaters are a member of said group. Then C turned to me and very excitedly said, "So is my Grandpa!"
C the Dietician
So, C is learning a lot about health and nutritian lately at school. I guess this is the new way the gov't is trying to prevent childhood obesity because she sure knows a heck of a lot more than I ever knew about healthy food choices at her age. This is all well and good, and I'm totally happy she is learning about good nutrition from a source that is apparently more credible than me. The only problem is the USDA has totally changed the way they rate foods. C recently asked me what food group tomatos fall in (they are a fruit, not a vegetable, a favorite trap of the young for their adult counterparts), so I answered Fruits & Veggies, right? Wrong, Mom! Apparently fruits and vegetables are no longer grouped together, they now segregated into their own food areas and must not be combined! Then we get into the more complicated foods, like lasagne or hot dogs. This must be how our parents felt after we all started coming home with "new math."
The Price is Wrong, Bob!
Can I just tell you how truly devastated I am that Bob Barker is retiring! I loooove the Price is Right (seriously, folks, I watch Flavor of Love: Charm School, what do you expect?). I used to watch it every morning when I worked shift work in Hawaii, and now I finally live in an area where I could actually go down and get on the show (Bob loves service people!), and he's retiring! The base MWR (morale and welfare)) sends people on trips down to the studio on a regular basis and one of my girlfriends went on the last trip they had in April and actually got on the show! She only won a chandelier, but, still, how cool is that!!?? I just want to spin the wheel!
Pimpin' More Foodie Blogs
My cuzins in Baltimore have started blogging, too! We're taking over the blogosphere, mwah ha ha ha ha. Ahem, sorry about that. Seriously, tho, if you love great food pics, check dis out!
More Randomness Found on the Web Whilst Sitting on My Ass
Thursday, May 24, 2007
This is the Pregnancy that Never Ends...
OB is Back in Action
My old boss (OB) returned from her deployment to Tampa-stan a couple of weeks ago. As with BS, I should preface my bitching (**Warning: Bitching about to commence!**) by saying that OB has a good heart and means well. That doesn't make her any less annoying, but it does sort of temper the fact that I often feel extraordinarily violent towards her. She just has this overwhelming personality that can be very difficult to deal with. It is particularly difficult right now because OB is being forced out (she was passed over 2x for promotion and has hit her high year tenure) in a relatively short amount of time. She is fighting this, but, honestly, with the AF trying to downsize as much as it is, she doesn't have much of a chance. I actually feel really bad for her. She's given some 20+ years of her life to the AF and they're giving her the heave ho without so much as a thanks for all the years of putting up with our crap; however, she had to be aware of the impending dates, so its not like this was just sprung on her without warning, and she can easily get a civilian job with all of her qualifications (so its not like she's going to be out on the streets). Anyways, to make a long story short, she has returned for a relatively short period of time, so our CC had instructed us that she was not going to take over her old job as our OIC (officer in charge) since it doesn't make sense for us to turn the office back over to her for such a short period of time (we're talking weeks here, she'll be long gone by the time I return from maternity leave). Weeeel, this would be all well and good, but somehow he either neglected to tell her about this (I doubt it) or she just doesn't know how to let go b/c these last couple of days have been a lot of tap dancing and deflection on my part. I'm a few ranks under her so it is not kosher to say things like, "Um, I thought you weren't in charge any more."
Actually, the work stuff is not so bad since I'm mostly passed it off to other people, so I just sic her on them (hee hee, I'm so evil). It's the personal stuff that gets me. I should mention that OB also studied to be a dr (20 some years ago!), and she has two kids of her own so she thinks she knows everything and feels compelled to continually share all her "motherly" advice with me. I have so little patience at this point that I am seriously beginning to think I should buy myself a muzzle because I have come uncomfortably close to telling her to just leave me the fuck alone! Today was particularly funny to me. I am on half days now, so I left work early and got a call from her on my cell phone. Thinking it might be, you know, work related, I foolishly answered it. I then spent 25 minutes (25 minutes!) getting a 100 Days of Summer safety briefing (an annual occurance for us military folks, the gov't likes to protect its property!) about boating safety and how I shouldn't drink and drive this holiday weekend. I actually laughed out loud at that one since I am, well, incredibly freakin pregnant and not likely to be drinking much alchohol in the first place, much less getting shit faced downtown and then getting behind the wheel. Then I had to endure another 20 minutes of her advice on breastfeeding, which is all very nice except that I breastfed my first two so, ya know, I'm not exactly in need of advice! Luckily I was at home and thus able to be on the computer perusing Ebay so I just let out a few "uh huhs" and "hmms" at the appropriate pauses and all was well in OB-land. Then, of course, she had to go and tell me about how she had fought for me to get an on-base parking pass (space is at a premium here, so we park at an off-base facility and get bussed in) since I am so preggo, which was really, really sweet and made me feel really bad for thinking evil thoughts (It also made me not want to tell her that I've been illegally parking on base anyway since I am too fat to be bothered with walking).
Adding Insult to Injury
So the Anaheim Ducks beat the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conf Finals *sigh* I know this doesn't mean anything to you all, but, to us, it means that, if Buffalo had beaten Ottawa, we could have actually seen the Stanley Cup Finals live, person without having to do anything but drive to Anaheim. *sob*
Baby Update
So after three weeks of losing/no weight gain, my fat ass has managed to put on 6lb in a freakin week! I didn't even know that was physically possible. It may have been Baby making up for all this time of trying to scare me with his lack of weight gain (or it might be the fact that I mostly spend my afternoons sitting on my butt, eating cookies and watching Oprah), regardless, it made me feel like a big, fat whale. Also, despite my quiet (and pathetically desperate) begging, Dr refuses to induce early since Baby has been so small (and even though he now estimates Baby may be as big as 7 1/2lb at due date). He did go ahead and set up an induction date for me anyway, since I have a history of needing such things. So, if he doesn't come on his own, we are evicting him on the 5th of June. So, at least I have a date to look forward to now. It might not be as soon as I want, but its better than nothing!
J's Cry For Help
Every time Hubs is chasing/tossing/throwing J around she cries out to me, "Ahhh Meee," which, for a long time, I thought was just her trying to say Mommy. As she learned to enunciate more and more Ahh Mee has turned into "Hep Meeee, Hep MEE!." So it turns out that while I was correct in my assumption that J was trying to be rescued, she could really give a crap who was doing the rescuing!
Things Recently Heard at the House on Pu Corner
"Get that goat out of your nose! We do not put farm animals in any of our orifices!"
"Hey, I think my water broke! *pause* False alarm, I just peed myself."
"Sorry I didn't finish my homework, Mom. I was at a bee funeral."
Me: When did you ever see Pirates of the Caribbean?
C: What's that?
My old boss (OB) returned from her deployment to Tampa-stan a couple of weeks ago. As with BS, I should preface my bitching (**Warning: Bitching about to commence!**) by saying that OB has a good heart and means well. That doesn't make her any less annoying, but it does sort of temper the fact that I often feel extraordinarily violent towards her. She just has this overwhelming personality that can be very difficult to deal with. It is particularly difficult right now because OB is being forced out (she was passed over 2x for promotion and has hit her high year tenure) in a relatively short amount of time. She is fighting this, but, honestly, with the AF trying to downsize as much as it is, she doesn't have much of a chance. I actually feel really bad for her. She's given some 20+ years of her life to the AF and they're giving her the heave ho without so much as a thanks for all the years of putting up with our crap; however, she had to be aware of the impending dates, so its not like this was just sprung on her without warning, and she can easily get a civilian job with all of her qualifications (so its not like she's going to be out on the streets). Anyways, to make a long story short, she has returned for a relatively short period of time, so our CC had instructed us that she was not going to take over her old job as our OIC (officer in charge) since it doesn't make sense for us to turn the office back over to her for such a short period of time (we're talking weeks here, she'll be long gone by the time I return from maternity leave). Weeeel, this would be all well and good, but somehow he either neglected to tell her about this (I doubt it) or she just doesn't know how to let go b/c these last couple of days have been a lot of tap dancing and deflection on my part. I'm a few ranks under her so it is not kosher to say things like, "Um, I thought you weren't in charge any more."
Actually, the work stuff is not so bad since I'm mostly passed it off to other people, so I just sic her on them (hee hee, I'm so evil). It's the personal stuff that gets me. I should mention that OB also studied to be a dr (20 some years ago!), and she has two kids of her own so she thinks she knows everything and feels compelled to continually share all her "motherly" advice with me. I have so little patience at this point that I am seriously beginning to think I should buy myself a muzzle because I have come uncomfortably close to telling her to just leave me the fuck alone! Today was particularly funny to me. I am on half days now, so I left work early and got a call from her on my cell phone. Thinking it might be, you know, work related, I foolishly answered it. I then spent 25 minutes (25 minutes!) getting a 100 Days of Summer safety briefing (an annual occurance for us military folks, the gov't likes to protect its property!) about boating safety and how I shouldn't drink and drive this holiday weekend. I actually laughed out loud at that one since I am, well, incredibly freakin pregnant and not likely to be drinking much alchohol in the first place, much less getting shit faced downtown and then getting behind the wheel. Then I had to endure another 20 minutes of her advice on breastfeeding, which is all very nice except that I breastfed my first two so, ya know, I'm not exactly in need of advice! Luckily I was at home and thus able to be on the computer perusing Ebay so I just let out a few "uh huhs" and "hmms" at the appropriate pauses and all was well in OB-land. Then, of course, she had to go and tell me about how she had fought for me to get an on-base parking pass (space is at a premium here, so we park at an off-base facility and get bussed in) since I am so preggo, which was really, really sweet and made me feel really bad for thinking evil thoughts (It also made me not want to tell her that I've been illegally parking on base anyway since I am too fat to be bothered with walking).
Adding Insult to Injury
So the Anaheim Ducks beat the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conf Finals *sigh* I know this doesn't mean anything to you all, but, to us, it means that, if Buffalo had beaten Ottawa, we could have actually seen the Stanley Cup Finals live, person without having to do anything but drive to Anaheim. *sob*
Baby Update
So after three weeks of losing/no weight gain, my fat ass has managed to put on 6lb in a freakin week! I didn't even know that was physically possible. It may have been Baby making up for all this time of trying to scare me with his lack of weight gain (or it might be the fact that I mostly spend my afternoons sitting on my butt, eating cookies and watching Oprah), regardless, it made me feel like a big, fat whale. Also, despite my quiet (and pathetically desperate) begging, Dr refuses to induce early since Baby has been so small (and even though he now estimates Baby may be as big as 7 1/2lb at due date). He did go ahead and set up an induction date for me anyway, since I have a history of needing such things. So, if he doesn't come on his own, we are evicting him on the 5th of June. So, at least I have a date to look forward to now. It might not be as soon as I want, but its better than nothing!
J's Cry For Help
Every time Hubs is chasing/tossing/throwing J around she cries out to me, "Ahhh Meee," which, for a long time, I thought was just her trying to say Mommy. As she learned to enunciate more and more Ahh Mee has turned into "Hep Meeee, Hep MEE!." So it turns out that while I was correct in my assumption that J was trying to be rescued, she could really give a crap who was doing the rescuing!
Things Recently Heard at the House on Pu Corner
"Get that goat out of your nose! We do not put farm animals in any of our orifices!"
"Hey, I think my water broke! *pause* False alarm, I just peed myself."
"Sorry I didn't finish my homework, Mom. I was at a bee funeral."
The Power of Commercials
C: *spying an advertisement for latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie* Oooooh, Mommy, I loooove Capt Jack Sparrow.Me: When did you ever see Pirates of the Caribbean?
C: What's that?
Monday, May 21, 2007
Blah Blah Blah
Weekend Round-up
Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. I feel like I'm just playing the waiting game now, so there isn't actually a whole lot to talk about. Work is boring since I've passed off most of my projects and regular stuff already. Home life is basically the same thing every day as I'm too big to go galavanting about and too lazy to cook or do anything particularly constructive.
Well, we did do some stuff this weekend, I guess. Even though June gloom is in full effect here, we did manage to get a few hours of sun this weekend, and I am totally impressed with how well I'm able to get a tan now. I think Hubs might just be a little jealous! ;) Also, I know you're all as broken up as I am about the Sabres being out of the race for the Stanley Cup. Saturday's overtime loss is just the latest in a long line of Buffalo sports team losses (just try being a Bills fan!). Hubs says I need to learn to "man up" and get over it. It just comes with the territory!
Kidz R Krazy
Poor C. As time goes on I begin to see how she just can't win as the oldest kid. J is just too young to know any better, and C gets caught up doing the stupid things that kids do. Whenever J starts crying, we automatically ask C what happened since J is just too young to be able to articulate her needs (and C generally has the normal kid response of 'I dunno' despite the fact that she is holding J's pacifier over her head and making her jump for it -- little sisters, better than having your own puppy!) Last night C & J were throwing these little plastic balls around her room, and when she got yelled at for it, C's excuse was, "Well, J started it." I think Bill Cosby said it best: parents are not interested in justice, parents are only interested in quiet! :)
Oh, and in case you all were wondering, I finally registered for baby stuff at Barebabies.com. So if ya'll want to, um, you know, buy me presents *cough, cough* that's the place to go! ;)
T to the M to the Motha Freakin' I
Oh and here you thought you were going to get through a whole post of mine without any mention of my pregnancy woes. Nope, I merely saved them for the end in order to lull you all into a false sense of security, mwah hah hah hah hah (clearly this baby needs to come because I have waaay too much time on my hands!) I feel it necessary to let you all know that I have hit that point in my pregnancy where I feel like an overstuffed sausage on a fairly regular basis (which is to say, all the time). Even my arms are fat! I come from a long line of pear-shaped women so when you hit the point where your upper body starts to look chunky, you know you're in trouble! I know I will eventually lose the weight. I managed to successfully lose it after the last two, so I don't see why this one will be any different, but that line of reasoning isn't exactly making me feel much better right now. And it sure doesn't help to think that bathing suit season is upon us and I live in Southern California, the plastic surgery capital of the world!
Also, I am really, really sick of these stupid Braxton-Hicks contractions. First of all, whoever thought of naming them Braxton-Hicks in the first place in an idiot. It is not a self-intuitive name, so every time I mention them to anyone, I then have to explain what they are. For the record, they are pre-labor contractions. Basically your uterus is warming up for the big day. To which I say, Fuck you, uterus! While I understand the point of a good warm up, is it really necessary to warm up for weeks on end. I mean, come on now, at some point you have to actually, you know, engage in the actual work out. Oh, and if you look up BH contractions online, they are described as "mild" and "not as intense" as real labor. Ha ha ha ha ha! Having been through labor twice before, let me tell you, BH contractions suck big donkey balls. They are painful and annoying. It's like having early labor for weeks on end, the fun just never stops!
On top of all that, I have decided to do my damndest to get this kid out of me as soon as possible. One of the ways to naturally induce labor, which seems like it would be more appealing, is to have more frequent sex. Being intimate at 9 mos pregnant is already more like completing some sort of incredible gymnastics feat, it is just more work than it is worth in the end. But, there happens to be some kind of chemical in sperm that helps to naturally induce labor. So, as much as Hubs would like to hide under the couch, I somehow manage to convince him to "help me out" (threats and tantrums are very attractive ;) Here's a typical exchange to make you all feel better about your own sex lives:
Me: Let's get it on, baby
H: Again!!?? Isn't this bad for the baby?
Me: No, now get over here and give me your labor inducing sperm
H: *sarcastically* Wow, I am so turned on right now
Me: Oh look! That's the baby's foot sticking out.
H: Just what every man wants to hear in bed
Me: Hang on, I think I'm having a contraction.
H: *panicking* What like a real contraction??!!
Me: No, just one of those stupid BH contractions. Fuck you, uterus! You hear me? Fuck you! Hey, wait! Where are you going? Come back. I'll be sexy, I promise. Oops, I think my boobs are leaking. Wait! Come baaaaack!
Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. I feel like I'm just playing the waiting game now, so there isn't actually a whole lot to talk about. Work is boring since I've passed off most of my projects and regular stuff already. Home life is basically the same thing every day as I'm too big to go galavanting about and too lazy to cook or do anything particularly constructive.
Well, we did do some stuff this weekend, I guess. Even though June gloom is in full effect here, we did manage to get a few hours of sun this weekend, and I am totally impressed with how well I'm able to get a tan now. I think Hubs might just be a little jealous! ;) Also, I know you're all as broken up as I am about the Sabres being out of the race for the Stanley Cup. Saturday's overtime loss is just the latest in a long line of Buffalo sports team losses (just try being a Bills fan!). Hubs says I need to learn to "man up" and get over it. It just comes with the territory!
Kidz R Krazy
Poor C. As time goes on I begin to see how she just can't win as the oldest kid. J is just too young to know any better, and C gets caught up doing the stupid things that kids do. Whenever J starts crying, we automatically ask C what happened since J is just too young to be able to articulate her needs (and C generally has the normal kid response of 'I dunno' despite the fact that she is holding J's pacifier over her head and making her jump for it -- little sisters, better than having your own puppy!) Last night C & J were throwing these little plastic balls around her room, and when she got yelled at for it, C's excuse was, "Well, J started it." I think Bill Cosby said it best: parents are not interested in justice, parents are only interested in quiet! :)
Oh, and in case you all were wondering, I finally registered for baby stuff at Barebabies.com. So if ya'll want to, um, you know, buy me presents *cough, cough* that's the place to go! ;)
T to the M to the Motha Freakin' I
Oh and here you thought you were going to get through a whole post of mine without any mention of my pregnancy woes. Nope, I merely saved them for the end in order to lull you all into a false sense of security, mwah hah hah hah hah (clearly this baby needs to come because I have waaay too much time on my hands!) I feel it necessary to let you all know that I have hit that point in my pregnancy where I feel like an overstuffed sausage on a fairly regular basis (which is to say, all the time). Even my arms are fat! I come from a long line of pear-shaped women so when you hit the point where your upper body starts to look chunky, you know you're in trouble! I know I will eventually lose the weight. I managed to successfully lose it after the last two, so I don't see why this one will be any different, but that line of reasoning isn't exactly making me feel much better right now. And it sure doesn't help to think that bathing suit season is upon us and I live in Southern California, the plastic surgery capital of the world!
Also, I am really, really sick of these stupid Braxton-Hicks contractions. First of all, whoever thought of naming them Braxton-Hicks in the first place in an idiot. It is not a self-intuitive name, so every time I mention them to anyone, I then have to explain what they are. For the record, they are pre-labor contractions. Basically your uterus is warming up for the big day. To which I say, Fuck you, uterus! While I understand the point of a good warm up, is it really necessary to warm up for weeks on end. I mean, come on now, at some point you have to actually, you know, engage in the actual work out. Oh, and if you look up BH contractions online, they are described as "mild" and "not as intense" as real labor. Ha ha ha ha ha! Having been through labor twice before, let me tell you, BH contractions suck big donkey balls. They are painful and annoying. It's like having early labor for weeks on end, the fun just never stops!
On top of all that, I have decided to do my damndest to get this kid out of me as soon as possible. One of the ways to naturally induce labor, which seems like it would be more appealing, is to have more frequent sex. Being intimate at 9 mos pregnant is already more like completing some sort of incredible gymnastics feat, it is just more work than it is worth in the end. But, there happens to be some kind of chemical in sperm that helps to naturally induce labor. So, as much as Hubs would like to hide under the couch, I somehow manage to convince him to "help me out" (threats and tantrums are very attractive ;) Here's a typical exchange to make you all feel better about your own sex lives:
Me: Let's get it on, baby
H: Again!!?? Isn't this bad for the baby?
Me: No, now get over here and give me your labor inducing sperm
H: *sarcastically* Wow, I am so turned on right now
Me: Oh look! That's the baby's foot sticking out.
H: Just what every man wants to hear in bed
Me: Hang on, I think I'm having a contraction.
H: *panicking* What like a real contraction??!!
Me: No, just one of those stupid BH contractions. Fuck you, uterus! You hear me? Fuck you! Hey, wait! Where are you going? Come back. I'll be sexy, I promise. Oops, I think my boobs are leaking. Wait! Come baaaaack!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Rockin' the ORI
So the base had their ORI outbrief today, which means the inspection is officially over. I wouldn't even have brought it up, but I had to brag a little about awesome my organization is. Intel got 1 of only 2 Outstanding ratings for the entire base! Plus we had two outstanding performers (they only give those awards to the top 5% of the base, and since we only have a shop of 11 people, that's pretty damn good!). And, we won the professional team award for the base as well. We so totally rock!
Mommy Logic
C: Mommy, you can't change the radio to the talking station because me and J like music and that's two votes to one.
J: Eeeeeee!!!
C: See, that means 'I want music' in J-ese.
Me: Well, since I weigh as much as you and at least three of your sister combined, plus I have a baby in my tummy, it is actually 5 to 2 in favor of NPR so sit back and enjoy Marketplace, kiddo.
Parenting the 8-Year Old
My recent parenting commentary tends to center around toddler-dom, but parenting the 8-year old also yields some interesting observations. For instance, the average 8-year old is not very good at being subtle.
C: *opens snack cupboard and gasps with pure unadulterated joy* We have cheesy poofs??!!
Me: *doesn't look up from paper* Can't pull one over on you
C: *sighs longingly* I loooove cheesy poofs
Me: *still reading* They are tasty
C: *fingers bag lovingly* Cheesy poofs are soooo good
Me: That's why I bought 'em
C: I ate cheesy poofs at school one time with my friend Trevor
Me: Hmm
C: Yes, and they were the bestest snack I ever had!
Me: That's nice, dear
C: Bestest snack ever!
Me: *still reading* Mmm hmm
C: *long pause* Can I have some cheesy poofs?
Me: No
Mommy Logic
C: Mommy, you can't change the radio to the talking station because me and J like music and that's two votes to one.
J: Eeeeeee!!!
C: See, that means 'I want music' in J-ese.
Me: Well, since I weigh as much as you and at least three of your sister combined, plus I have a baby in my tummy, it is actually 5 to 2 in favor of NPR so sit back and enjoy Marketplace, kiddo.
Parenting the 8-Year Old
My recent parenting commentary tends to center around toddler-dom, but parenting the 8-year old also yields some interesting observations. For instance, the average 8-year old is not very good at being subtle.
C: *opens snack cupboard and gasps with pure unadulterated joy* We have cheesy poofs??!!
Me: *doesn't look up from paper* Can't pull one over on you
C: *sighs longingly* I loooove cheesy poofs
Me: *still reading* They are tasty
C: *fingers bag lovingly* Cheesy poofs are soooo good
Me: That's why I bought 'em
C: I ate cheesy poofs at school one time with my friend Trevor
Me: Hmm
C: Yes, and they were the bestest snack I ever had!
Me: That's nice, dear
C: Bestest snack ever!
Me: *still reading* Mmm hmm
C: *long pause* Can I have some cheesy poofs?
Me: No
Monday, May 14, 2007
Last Soccer Game of the Season
Irealized on Saturday that I have yet to take pics of C's spring soccer season, so I snapped a few of the kids at her last game of the season (they won). I love how most of pics of C are of her just standing around (reminds me of when I played soccer at her age, hee!). Actually, it's because my camera sucks, and I can't get a good action picture since it has such a long delay. Maybe I'll get a nice, new camera for my birthday this year (I think I've dropped more then a few hints Hubs' way ;)
Still Preggo
So, ultrasound went well today. Baby is back up to 20th percentile all around and looks like he's just destined to be a small baby vs. anything actually being wrong. While I'm thrilled that everything is okay with Baby, I am devastated to still be freaking pregnant!! Hubs was appropriately sympathetic by pointing out that we will still be able to watch the NHL Eastern Conf finals now that it looks like I will still be freaking pregnant for a few more weeks. It may be a bit of an understatement to say that I was not really consoled (esp since our beloved Sabres are now down by 2 games :(
Anyway, I hope all the mommies out there had a good and special day yesterday. I got a book I've been coveting and a (2lb!!) box of See's chocolate. It was a gorgeous day, so we spent most of it outside sunning in the "pool" ;) In addition, Hubs cooked me a fabulous meal of yummy, buttery buffalo wings and fried potatoes (hey, I need to gain that weight, right?!). It was a great day all around. Enjoy the pics, wish I had more to report but I am so exhausted (not getting very much sleep right now).
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Boo Work
Back at work *sigh* I thought I'd be a little more excited since I was going out of my mind with boredom at home (but I think most of that was b/c J and I were stuck in the house since I didn't want to risk her starting a pink eye epidemic.) Nope, not excited at all. Now that the ORI is over (well, the inspectors are still on base, but our shop is done with our portion of it), it's kind of like a let down. We've been so frantically busy that it seems really quiet and slow now that all of that fuss is over with. I really shouldn't complain, but having very little to do just makes me want to go home and take a nap rather than sit here at work!
I did have a little *fun* today. I used to do the weekly intel briefing for the Commander's Staff Meetings (these are for a 3-star, 1-star, and more birds than you can count on two hands), but I passed them off to my coworker once I hit the third trimester because you have to get up very early in the morning in order to have everything together in time for the 730 brief. Well, my coworker is TDY to Omaha today (which I had managed to foist off on her due to the fact that I am too preggo to fly, bwa ha ha ha!), so I had to suck it up and attempt to get my frazzled baby brain together and give a coherent brief. All was going well until the very last sentance of my last slide. You know, the one where you tie it all together and give the big impact point. At this crucial moment my brain decided it had done enough work for one day and promptly shut down. Not only did I completely forget what I had planned to say, I also completely forgot the topic I was speaking about. I believe I stammered out something that may have remotely resembled the English language, but I really can't remember since it has now been nearly an hour since, which is plenty of time to have totally forgotten the entire incident in the first place.
TV Land
Okay, seriously, folks, I don't think I can take much more of Lost. What the hell is going on!!?? I need some answers here, people. I think this is worse than when I got sucked into Twin Peaks. I followed that show from beginning to bizarre drug-induced midget hallucination middle to horribly unsatisfying end. And I made a promise to myself that I would never again be taken in by the latest trippy, quasi-intellectual, ooooh how deep can it be? analogy-heavy hit show. I was not going to be left without payoff again. Um, yeah, so we see how long that promise lasted. Damn you, Lost. Damn you all to hell!
Also, the Sabres lost to Ottawa in game 1 of the Eastern Conf Finals :( Boo! For those of you non-hockey fans, Buf and Ott are not only division rivals, they have also had the most spectacular brawls in NHL history! The last time they met, the entire team got into a huge brawl, which included the goalies fighting each other and the coaches coming close to blows themselves! This should be a great series!!
Oh, and isn't this a great season for Survivor? I really thought it was going to suck because there were a lot of dumbasses this year, but things have really turned around over last few weeks. (Go Yau-man!)
Pu's Social Commentary
Don't ask me why I'm so interested in the concept of assisted fertility. Maybe it is because I was once an egg donor myself, but I find the endless debate over using various types of technology to help people conceive fascinating. If you want my personal opinion (of course you do, after all, you're reading my blog!), I really don't like the idea of any governmental interference into people's right to decide what to do with their bodies. I may not personally approve of someone waiting until they're past 40 to start having children, it's also none of my goddamn business what other people decide is right for them. I was listening to my local NPR (KPCC in LA!), and our version of Air Talk aired a great interview with the author of this book, which I found really fascinating. What do you all think about this topic?
Pu's Preggo Commentary
I realize people are just trying to be sympathetic, but is it really necessary for everyone (and I mean everyone from the secretary in my office to the random people I pass on the street) to make some kind of comment about how close I am to having the baby. Do they think that I am somehow not aware of this? Like I'm going to look down at my stomach and say, holy shit! Is that why I've gotten so fat!? I swear, if one more person says, oh you're going to pop any day now (like I am a balloon!) I am going to pop them! If one more person asks me how much longer til the baby comes, I am going to reply that the last time I tried to open up my uterus and ask, the baby didn't respond because it can't freakin' talk yet, so just fuck off! (Ahem, sorry about that, can you tell I'm a little testy today?) Next ultrasound is on Monday; is it terrible of me to hope that the Dr suggests induction at that point?? (still haven't gained any more weight, and I lost a pound at Wed's Dr appt :(
I did have a little *fun* today. I used to do the weekly intel briefing for the Commander's Staff Meetings (these are for a 3-star, 1-star, and more birds than you can count on two hands), but I passed them off to my coworker once I hit the third trimester because you have to get up very early in the morning in order to have everything together in time for the 730 brief. Well, my coworker is TDY to Omaha today (which I had managed to foist off on her due to the fact that I am too preggo to fly, bwa ha ha ha!), so I had to suck it up and attempt to get my frazzled baby brain together and give a coherent brief. All was going well until the very last sentance of my last slide. You know, the one where you tie it all together and give the big impact point. At this crucial moment my brain decided it had done enough work for one day and promptly shut down. Not only did I completely forget what I had planned to say, I also completely forgot the topic I was speaking about. I believe I stammered out something that may have remotely resembled the English language, but I really can't remember since it has now been nearly an hour since, which is plenty of time to have totally forgotten the entire incident in the first place.
TV Land
Okay, seriously, folks, I don't think I can take much more of Lost. What the hell is going on!!?? I need some answers here, people. I think this is worse than when I got sucked into Twin Peaks. I followed that show from beginning to bizarre drug-induced midget hallucination middle to horribly unsatisfying end. And I made a promise to myself that I would never again be taken in by the latest trippy, quasi-intellectual, ooooh how deep can it be? analogy-heavy hit show. I was not going to be left without payoff again. Um, yeah, so we see how long that promise lasted. Damn you, Lost. Damn you all to hell!
Also, the Sabres lost to Ottawa in game 1 of the Eastern Conf Finals :( Boo! For those of you non-hockey fans, Buf and Ott are not only division rivals, they have also had the most spectacular brawls in NHL history! The last time they met, the entire team got into a huge brawl, which included the goalies fighting each other and the coaches coming close to blows themselves! This should be a great series!!
Oh, and isn't this a great season for Survivor? I really thought it was going to suck because there were a lot of dumbasses this year, but things have really turned around over last few weeks. (Go Yau-man!)
Pu's Social Commentary
Don't ask me why I'm so interested in the concept of assisted fertility. Maybe it is because I was once an egg donor myself, but I find the endless debate over using various types of technology to help people conceive fascinating. If you want my personal opinion (of course you do, after all, you're reading my blog!), I really don't like the idea of any governmental interference into people's right to decide what to do with their bodies. I may not personally approve of someone waiting until they're past 40 to start having children, it's also none of my goddamn business what other people decide is right for them. I was listening to my local NPR (KPCC in LA!), and our version of Air Talk aired a great interview with the author of this book, which I found really fascinating. What do you all think about this topic?
Pu's Preggo Commentary
I realize people are just trying to be sympathetic, but is it really necessary for everyone (and I mean everyone from the secretary in my office to the random people I pass on the street) to make some kind of comment about how close I am to having the baby. Do they think that I am somehow not aware of this? Like I'm going to look down at my stomach and say, holy shit! Is that why I've gotten so fat!? I swear, if one more person says, oh you're going to pop any day now (like I am a balloon!) I am going to pop them! If one more person asks me how much longer til the baby comes, I am going to reply that the last time I tried to open up my uterus and ask, the baby didn't respond because it can't freakin' talk yet, so just fuck off! (Ahem, sorry about that, can you tell I'm a little testy today?) Next ultrasound is on Monday; is it terrible of me to hope that the Dr suggests induction at that point?? (still haven't gained any more weight, and I lost a pound at Wed's Dr appt :(
Monday, May 07, 2007
Stir Crazy
So I am going slightly stir crazy here. I'm trying not to base my opinion on what it would be like to be a stay at home mom on these past couple of days, since it is totally different being nine months pregnant and basically unable to do anything other than try to keep up with Hurricane J (isn't it amazing how utterly destructive the average toddler can be in like .2 seconds?), but, seriously, folks, I'm going nuts. I can only say, Want to watch Sesame Street?? in that slightly manic, high-pitched voice so many times before I just give up and sit in the middle of the floor just to try and weather the storm that is J. Today we played a fun game where I tried to guess what kind of food she would eat (she has eaten very, very little since contracting the dreaded pink eye, so I was a little - okay, a lot - more pandering to her desires than I would normally be), and she threw everything I gave her on the floor and said, All Done.
J: All done cookie. *crash* All done chee (cheese). *splat* All done raisa (raisin). *clatter* All done drink. *clunk*
Me: *high pitched, manic voice* Well, what do you want??!!
J: *pause* Mo? *in a sing-song voice* mo chee? mo cookie? mo raisa?
Me: *silently jumps out window*
After this little exchange, she decided it would be more fun to combine all of her food into one big pile and play with it much like you would play with sand in a sandbox while happily singing, mo chee, mo chee, uh oh! Then she would laugh and laugh and smile at me like she couldn't believe I was not finding this as absolutely hilarious as she was. Later we played a game where she buried her head in a pillow and I pretended to be surprised when she popped up by making a loud "Oh!" sound. This lasted for a good 20 minutes and only ended thanks to a fortuitous call from Hubs, which then launched the latest round of Let's Hide Mommy's Cell Phone and Watch Her Frantically Run Around Looking For It Since She Currently Has the Memory of a Fruit Fly.
Hubs and I stayed up a bit last night since I'm still off work today watching J. Its been so long since I was able to keep my eyes open past 9pm that I had forgotten the joys of watching late night infomercials. It took everything I had not to jump on my computer and buy this. (I may or may not be being sarcastic with that one...I'll let you know in a few weeks ;)
For those of you sans toddlers, you may not be aware of the glut of bizarre childrens programming that has invaded cable television in recent years. I thought the oddity of kids tv had reached its peak with the advent of Bananas in Pajamas (a favorite post-clubbin' show of my ex-roomie and I many years before I joined the military). Boy was I wrong. Even Mickey Mouse has succumbed to the inanity with this post-show wrap-up song. But, these guys have got to be my pick for weirdest shit kids will watch in total rapture for hours on end (unless you are J, in which case it might hold your attention for about 5 seconds). Who doesn't love Bob the Bus Driver?! If childrens programming really kept up with the times, they would look more like this. Had enough You Tube, yet? (hey, you try staying home for two days with the pink eyed bandit at nine months preggo and see how much time you spend on there!)
J: All done cookie. *crash* All done chee (cheese). *splat* All done raisa (raisin). *clatter* All done drink. *clunk*
Me: *high pitched, manic voice* Well, what do you want??!!
J: *pause* Mo? *in a sing-song voice* mo chee? mo cookie? mo raisa?
Me: *silently jumps out window*
After this little exchange, she decided it would be more fun to combine all of her food into one big pile and play with it much like you would play with sand in a sandbox while happily singing, mo chee, mo chee, uh oh! Then she would laugh and laugh and smile at me like she couldn't believe I was not finding this as absolutely hilarious as she was. Later we played a game where she buried her head in a pillow and I pretended to be surprised when she popped up by making a loud "Oh!" sound. This lasted for a good 20 minutes and only ended thanks to a fortuitous call from Hubs, which then launched the latest round of Let's Hide Mommy's Cell Phone and Watch Her Frantically Run Around Looking For It Since She Currently Has the Memory of a Fruit Fly.
Pu's Political Commentary
Wow, who would have predicted Paul Wolfawitz was such a jerk-off? (that was heavy sarcasm for anyone who might not be familiar with my political leanings)
Wow, who would have predicted Paul Wolfawitz was such a jerk-off? (that was heavy sarcasm for anyone who might not be familiar with my political leanings)
Pu's Late Nite Commentary
Hubs and I stayed up a bit last night since I'm still off work today watching J. Its been so long since I was able to keep my eyes open past 9pm that I had forgotten the joys of watching late night infomercials. It took everything I had not to jump on my computer and buy this. (I may or may not be being sarcastic with that one...I'll let you know in a few weeks ;)
Pu's You Tube Commentary
For those of you sans toddlers, you may not be aware of the glut of bizarre childrens programming that has invaded cable television in recent years. I thought the oddity of kids tv had reached its peak with the advent of Bananas in Pajamas (a favorite post-clubbin' show of my ex-roomie and I many years before I joined the military). Boy was I wrong. Even Mickey Mouse has succumbed to the inanity with this post-show wrap-up song. But, these guys have got to be my pick for weirdest shit kids will watch in total rapture for hours on end (unless you are J, in which case it might hold your attention for about 5 seconds). Who doesn't love Bob the Bus Driver?! If childrens programming really kept up with the times, they would look more like this. Had enough You Tube, yet? (hey, you try staying home for two days with the pink eyed bandit at nine months preggo and see how much time you spend on there!)
And I Leave You With This...
Gotta love the LAPD. Not only are they still under investigation by the FBI for racial profiling and an unprovoked beating of a suspect (video if which was posted on You Tube, but I'll spare you all a link to it) just three months ago. Now they're under investigation for gassing and shooting all those peaceful immigration prostestors in MacArthur Park. Ooooh, scary immigrants peacefully marching, singing and protesting with their children in a public park. Thanks, LAPD, I feel much safer now!
Pink Eyed Bandit or Weekend Round-up
In the spirit of MR and AinA, I suppose a weekend round-up is due. I figure this is a good weekend to recap considering it was one of the most exciting in recent memory. Saturday started pretty uneventfully. C had a soccer game (she almost scored a goal but missed by just a few inches), and I took J so she could play at the nearby playground, which meant her nap was pushed to much later in the afternoon. After J got up, we took the kids outside on the back patio and let them play with the fountain (it was the Littlest Pet Shop Pool Party!) because it was so gorgeous outside. Then we dunked them into the tub to wash up. When the girls got out, J was rubbing her eye and whining a little bit. She continued to do this as the evening wore on and also became very lethargic and listless -- definately not the norm for J no matter how tired she might be! I started to get concerned when J kept rubbing her eye and crying and didn't want to do anything but lay in bed and hold her bottle (she didn't want to drink from it, she just wanted to hold it). C claimed that J had poured some water over her head while in the tub, so I thought she might have gotten some foreign object in her eye (and she didn't have a fever), but her behavior was really starting to worry me. We tried putting her down for bed, but she just kept crying, so I finally got her up and put her in bed with C where she fell asleep while C watched cartoons. Hubs and I were really worried, but I didn't want to overreact and rush off to the emergency room if she was just really tired or something, so we decided to let her sleep it off and make a decision in the morning. All night J would sleep for a few hours and then wake up screaming and crying, but she wouldn't open her eyes. I was totally freaked out and I kept picturing all the horrible things that could have happened to her, so, obviously, I didn't sleep that much Sat night since I kept getting up to check on her or comfort her all the while thinking what a horrible mother I was for not being able to figure out what was wrong or do anything to make it better. Finally, on Sunday morning, J didn't want to get out of bed and was still refusing to open her eyes. I managed to pry them open and her right eye was really red and puffy, so I threw on some clothes and we rushed off to the emergency room (Hubs stayed home with C). Luckily the ER is pretty deserted on Sunday mornings, so we were seen fairly quickly. The doc took one look at her and diagnosed pink eye. We were literally there for about two minutes, so I guess I did overreact a little after all! Anyway, I'm home now with the pink-eyed bandit (so dubbed by Hubs since she's recently picked up this ferret-like penchant for picking up random thing like, oh, my keys, my cell phone or the remote and stashing them away for god knows what nefarious purpose). Luckily most of my programs were inspected last week, so my boss wasn't too disturbed by my having to call in for the next 48hrs (pink eye is highly contagious, so I have to keep her out of daycare). J is really back to her old self for the most part, except for the one red eye, so I am just trying to keep up with her today. She absolutely hates getting the eye drops she was prescribed. I don't know if they sting or what, but she gets really upset when I try to give them to her, so I end up having to hold her down and try to pry her eye open so I can get them in there. I think I hate it more than she does!
So, we've put the house on quarantine, and I sent a note to C's school just in case she's contracted it already (she doesn't have any symptoms, thank god). Hopefully, the train stops here and no one else in the house will come down with it. Hope everyone else's weekends were a little less eventful!
So, we've put the house on quarantine, and I sent a note to C's school just in case she's contracted it already (she doesn't have any symptoms, thank god). Hopefully, the train stops here and no one else in the house will come down with it. Hope everyone else's weekends were a little less eventful!
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