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

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).

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 :(

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.

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)

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!

Latest Happenin's

I know, I know, you're all tired of hearing it by now, but I am just so sick of the pain. I feel like this is God's big joke on me since I just couldn't wait to get pregnant again. I can't imagine what life is like for people who live with chronic pain. At least there's a light at the end of the tunnel for me. I do have to give a big shout out to my wonderful Hubs, who puts up with me night and day and has had to pick up the slack since I am no longer capable of doing a lot of things. I seriously lost it the other day. The IG had started and things didn't seem to be going so well (we've since wrapped up with a lot of my programs and I got a coin -- a traditional military way of rewarding someone for a job well done -- and we also got complimented on how what a well run shop we have, especially considering out personnel turnover rate -- we are at about 36% manning!); I also woke up on Monday with what appeared to be a third eye in the middle of my forehead (I later discovered it was just a zit); then I discovered I had developed a medical condition that all pregnant women dread but no one ever wants to talk about (let's just say it was on my heinie and it was excruciatingly painful!). All these things combined with the sciatica and the fact that my once sweet and snuggable little baby girl has suddenly turned into this, and, well, I just lost it. I think I had a complete and total mental breakdown. Poor Hubs found me in the tub soaking my sore ass and sobbing uncontrollably. I think I just needed to have a good cry and let out all the frustration because I am feeling a little better now. Also, I broke down and said screw the $$ factor and have started getting a massage 1x a week. It is really more than I should be spending, but it makes a huge difference in my ability to walk and perform other normal, daily functions, so I guess it is worth it in the end!

In other news, I was perusing one of my favorite sites for workout DVDs when I came across this. While I found the idea of it hilarious, I have to wonder what the reaction would be if it were titled, The Fat Ass Wife Workout.

Second best commercial ever! I do stuff like that all the time! :)

More Baby News

I meant to post this the other day, but we have been so frantic at work with our IG prep that I have barely had a chance to breathe much less do anything else! I went to see my perinatal specialist (PS) on Wednesday and the news was not as good as I would have liked. The baby is not growing at the rate her is supposed to. Prior to this ultrasound he was measuring at the 30th percetile; at this ultrasound his head was measuring at the 20th percentile and his stomach at only the 10th percentile. According to PS, the first sign that baby is not getting enough nutrients from the placenta is in the growth of the stomach area, so that is not a good sign. Also, although I didn't lose any weight, I also didn't gain any in the last two weeks. This is also a bad thing when you are as far along as I am.

This is precisely what happened with J, so they are going to start keeping an even closer eye on me than they have been. It is a little disappointing since everything seemed to be going so well, but we knew this was a possibility with my history. The difference this time around is that we were aware of the problem and monitored for it, so there are no surprises. With J, it was such a shock to hear that something might be wrong and to be forced to be induced on that very same day in a hospital in nowhere Japan with no NICU was very scary. Here we are in a city with some of the best health care in the nation available to us. I live within a 20min drive of three different hospitals, all with NICUs. Plus, baby is already weighing just about what J weighed when she was born, so he is already at a weight where he has an excellent chance of survival outside of the womb. So even though it wasn't the news we wanted to hear, I am feeling okay about the whole situation. PS said to take it easy (ha!) and to try not to lift J or other heavy objects and to rest as much as possible on my left side so that the baby can get as much oxygen as possible.

So that's where we're at right now. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up since, if things don't improve in the next couple of weeks, it looks like we may have to induce early with this one, too. Maybe if I eat a lot of ice cream baby will start to put on weight? ;)

They're Meaty, What, What!

**Warning: TMI Ahead**

Okay, I seriously wanted to do a funny post about pregnancy, really I did, but I just can't seem to muster up my sense of humor lately. Maybe it's because the baby has dropped and how there is a 1lb baby head wedged in my pelvis so I (literally) waddle around rocking from side to side like a Weeble Wobble. Or maybe it's because I have a pinched nerve in my back so that when I get up to pee for the 15th time during the night I (again, literally) have to crawl to the bathroom on my hands and knees because I can't put any weight on my left leg. Or maybe it's because I now have to wear panty liners just in case I happen to sneeze, cough, or laugh too hard and have an *ahem* leakage problem. Or maybe it's because it has become so difficult to shave my legs that I have resorted to bizarre methods of hair removal in order to avoid bending over (hence the Nair debacle). Or maybe it's because I lumber around so slowly that my 1 1/2 year old can easily out run me, knows this, and delights in doing so since she thinks it is all a big funny game to make Mommy chase her around trying to get her to put her diaper on.

I am recording all this now in the hopes that the next time I say I want to have a baby Hubs knocks me upside the head and reminds me of how miserable I was for the last two months of this pregnancy since God seems to think it's really funny to make women forget about the excruciating pain they go through within hours of giving birth (I guess he has to otherwise who in their right mind would ever give birth more than once!)


Thought I'd share what currently passes for humor in my house:

J: Yuck!
Me: What's yuck?
J: Poop
C & J: Hahahahahaha
J: Ew!
Me: What's ew?
J: *makes farting noise*
C&J: Hahahaha hahahaha hahahaha

C recently taught J how to make loud farting noises with her mouth, and they both think this is the most hilarious thing in the world. Bathtime has become Dueling Fart Noise time in our household despite my repeated attempts to nip it in the bud. Of course, it doesn't help that I also happen to think farting is pretty damn funny, so I'm sure my giggling along doesn't exactly inspire them to stop. I guess I should be greatful that they're just making rude noises and not trying to stick crayons in their butts (Y - I'm looking at you ;).

I seriously love this commercial.

C has recently become very interested in anatomy. I think this is both a product of her age and the fact that I am having another baby. She has started expressing curiosity about my giganto boobs (she confided that Trevor, the "bad boy" of her class, looked up the word breast in the dictionary. Apparently this is extremely funny to the average 2nd grader.) So I, being the liberated woman I am, decided to go out and buy her every book about female anatomy they have on Amazon. Now, I don't know about you all, but when I was growing up, we had My Body, My Self and that was about it. So I was totally shocked to find out there are about 1 million books about all kinds of anatomical issues I had never even thought to address. Here's a few of my favorites:

Who's Knees Are These? (Is this seriously a problem for some kids?)

The Truth About Poop (He works for the NSA. He's actually a member of the Priore of Scion. He's a transvestite hooker who regularly appears on Jerry Springer!...don't ask me why I think of poop as a he...)

You Can't Taste a Pickle With Your Ear (This one is actually pretty good advice considering C once shoved a daisy so far up her nose it took a trip to the doctor to remove it)

But this is my favorite.

Fear me, for I have learned to link!!

Random Musings and Another Dilemma

Why does this pregnancy seem like it is so much physically harder on me than my last two? According to my dr it is b/c:
#1 I have gained more weight with this pregnancy already than I did with Jocelyn altogether (I also started at a very low weight, so my body isn't used to carrying all this extra poundage around.)
#2 I have a toddler this time around, so I am bending over a lot more and carrying her around, which is an extra 20lb on top of the rest of the weight I have gained.
#3 This is baby #3! My body is simply giving out from all the abuse I've put it through.

Me: So, what you're saying is that there's really nothing I can do about the fact that it takes me a good 10 minutes just to get out of bed in the morning?
Dr: Yes, that's right. You just have to suffer through the pain and act like nothing is wrong since you still have to work and be a mom and there is nothing you can do about it. Ha ha ha ha ha (okay, maybe I imagined the sinister laugh at the end)
Me: You suck


In other baby news, the head is down and I'm experiencing Braxton-Hicks contractions (I had these for a month b4 C was born, so they're nothing to me but an extra pain in the ass, literally!): however, the cervix is still closed and the baby is measuring and weighing at his proper age so I will most likely go to around my due date. I can't decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing.


Don't use Nair. It sucks.


I want a Peg Perego Duette stroller. I also want to keep my new boobs. I am shit out of luck.


Dilemma #2 or Why Do These Things Keep Happening to Me:
So, I get this e-mail today from C's bio dad that he wants to fly C up to the Emerald City for a few days over 4th of July weekend. As you all know, he just saw her for the 1st time in 3 years last weekend, and he hasn't exactly been a huge part of her life since we left the EC in 2003. Additionally, I don't get child support (never pushed for it since I make 3x what he makes) or any other monetary support from him and never have. He's never put one red cent towards her care. I never really pursued the issue since, like I said, I make a heck of a lot more money than he does, and I didn't see the point in putting him in the poor house when I didn't really need the money. Now I'm beginning to feel a little annoyed since he has also asked to have her over her birthday. Where is all this $$ coming from that he can now ask to see her 3x in one year? For the last 3 years he's been telling me that he didn't have any $$ to help out, and I know he still has the same job and same apartment. I realize we're somewhat closer now than we were before, but I had offered him chances in the past to see C on my dime (most notably when my most wonderful parents came to my rescue and watched C for me while I attended ASBC for 6 weeks a few years back) and he was "unable" to take me up on any of those offers. Also, I feel slightly uncomfortable with the whole situation now. C idolizes her bio father; he has become this imaginary figure who can come and rescue her whenever Mommy is being mean. I'm scared that he's going to come back into her life only to have to leave it again, and I know that would devestate her. Or maybe I just feel threatened. In fact, I think I do, but I'm not sure why. So, what should I do? Should I let her go (even though it terrifies me to think about putting her on a plane by herself, she's certainly old enough to do so now. And I recall doing the same thing at about her age when I went to visit my grandparents in CT.)? Should I question him about the whole finances thing? I also kind of feel bitter about that. While I certainly make more $$, I also have a family to support and it doesn't seem fair that T and I support my step-kids financially while C's bio dad offers nothing for her care. Or is that kind of petty? It's not so much the actual $$ as it is the prinicple of the thing. I didn't care that he wasn't giving her any financial support b/c he wasn't really giving her any kind of support! Now he wants to be a bigger part of her life, so is it right for me to ask him to essentially pay for the priviledge? Have I mentioned that being a parent is hard?


Also, I should never be allowed to post in a short timeframe. My last post is so riddled with spelling and grammar errors, I'm surprised anyone was able to grasp its meaning.

Dilemma Update

I wanted to post quickly to thank everyone who weighed in on my dilemma from last week. After our little exchange on Monday, I think BS realized how upset I was and didn't say another word about C for the rest of the week. Since she's only there on a very infrequent basis, I ended up deciding it wasn't worth it to possibly offend BS when really I can just avoid the issue by finding other care for Caitlyn when need be. In other C news, she saw her biological father for the first time in three years this last weekend. He came for two days and C stayed with him during that time. It was really bizarre for all of us. Hubs and I were kind of looking forward to having a C break, but we ended up bickering all day on Saturday and J is acting like a brat all day, so we end up not enjoying it at all. Finally, Hubs notes that we are all out of sorts b/c are family is out of whack w/o C around. We really missed her! Happily, she came back all in one piece, sad but seemingly normal and she doesn't appear to have been too affected by this whirlwind visit. I was very worried that we would be experiencing emotional outbursts or other behavioral problems following his visit, but it seems that I should have been more concerned about J as she is the one who has been a real cranky pants for the last couple of days (I think it is a combination of teething - her last baby teeth are coming in - and hitting a growth spurt - she has also been sleeping a lot as of late). A cranky 1 year old is no fun to be around!

Oh, and I totally meant to post this earlier, but I wanted to give a shout to to my big sis and my girl Susanne who sent me clothes for various kids. We so appreciate having such wonderful people in our life!

Pics of the Girls

Dilemma

I feel I should preface this next post with some serious background info. My babysitter (let's call her BS, shall we) is an elderly woman. Old enough that she has children who are clearly old enough to be my parents (two of whom still live at home, which, I've come to learn, is not all that uncommon here in So Cal), and she is quite set in her ways and firm in her opinions. I am never right. If Jocelyn is constipated, it is not because she is eating too much dairy, as I proclaim after adjusting her diet and noticing a significant reduction in rabbit pellet diapers, it is because BS has been giving her more raisins. If I am extra pale, it is not because I haven't been tanning for the last 8 months of my pregnancy, it is because I am not getting enough water. Now, as annoying as this is, BS also has a lot of good attributes that sort of balance everything out. For one, she is cheap. No, I mean, really, really cheap. Average care in LA for a non-potty trained child will run you about $1000/mo. BS charges me $600/mo and she throws in free weekend sitting pretty much whenever I need/want it. Also, and more importantly, she looooves Jocelyn. I know that when I leave Jocelyn in her care that she is being as well tended to as I could give her myself, and I feel 100% confident that BS loves her like she loves her own children. And that counts for A LOT!

However, on occasion, I have to ask BS to watch Caitlyn for me as well. Caitlyn is obviously much older than the children BS usually has (they range from newborns to about pre-school age and come on different days and times, I think Jocelyn is actually the only full-time child she has on a daily basis), and, in my personal opinion, I don't think BS likes Caitlyn very much. This is highly unusual, as Caitlyn is a definate charmer with adults, and all of her teachers/coaches/rec leaders, etc. are always telling me how much they adore Caitlyn and love having her around. This week is Spring Break for the kiddos, so I asked BS to watch Caitlyn full-time for the week since it would have cost me $200 to have her go to the Parks and Rec camp (she goes to the Parks and Rec afterschool care, which is a reasonable $250/quarter), plus it is a lot easier on me to have the girls both in one place for pick ups and drop offs. So, yesterday I swing by BS's after work to pick up the girls. I innocently ask if the girls were well behaved only to get the "stern" look from BS...

BS: Well, Jocelyn was an angel, as usual. But, this one (pointing at Caitlyn, who is standing next to the door with her head down looking very sad)... She's a problem child.
Me: What happened?
BS: Well, so and so came by to tell me she has decided not to go back to work so she won't be needing my services any more. So Caitlyn then asks her why she came by at all.
*pause*
Me: And...
BS: And, that's it. It was so rude of her, and so and so was just stunned by it.
*pause*
Me: I'm not sure I'm getting this. What did Caitlyn say?
BS: She asked so and so why she came to the house.
*pause*
Me: And this was rude?
BS: This was very rude and you should really talk to her about it. She says rude things like that all the time and she needs to understand that you can't talk to adults like that.
*pause*
Me: Hmmm
BS: And, she is very mean to her sister.
Me: Hmmm

Now, Caitlyn is standing right next to us during this entire exchange! I am thinking to myself that this is a serious overreaction on BS's part since kids say dumb things all the time and they certainly don't mean anything rude by it, and clearly BS is getting that impression because she then shoots this look to her daughter (a total mini-BS who is also a nurse and therefore thinks she can diagnose me every time I happen to see her) as if to say "See, I told you she wouldn't do anything about it." Then BS rolled her eyes (rolled her eyes!!!) and threw her hands up in the air.

Me: Okay, girls, it's time to go.

So I did manage to get out of there without strangling her, which I was very, very proud of. Maybe it's because I am 8 mos preggo and I am stuck in bitchland regardless of what's going on around me, or maybe it's because some variation of this exchange happens every time I take Caitlyn over there, but I am really, really, really pissed off! Am I overreacting here? I feel like BS does not like Caitlyn and always has something bad to say about her whenever I take her over there. I know Caitlyn is not the perfect child, but she is a sweet and loving little girl (and she 100% adores her little sister!) and it really, really bothers me to have BS say not so nice things about her every single time I take her over there. Especially since I don't really see anytign wrong with Caitlyn's behavior. She's a normal 8-year old, sometimes she says dumb things, sometimes she's a little selfsh and would rather play with a toy herself than give it to her sister (who doesn't understand sharing yet and almost always gets her way since she's the baby), but that doesn't make her a bad kid and she doesn't deserve to feel like she's always doing the wrong thing or that she's going to get in trouble every time she has to go to BS's. Grrrr...

Okay, so after all that, my true dilemma is that I'm not sure how to deal with this situation. On the one hand, I don't want Caitlyn to get the impression that I don't believe BS or give credence to her complaints because I want Caitlyn to respect all adults, and I certainly don't want her to think that she can start getting away with anyting just because she doesn't get punished based on the report I get from BS. On the other hand, I don't even want to take Caitlyn over to BS's any more because I feel like it's a toxic environment for her. And on the third hand (I totally just made that expression up), I can't afford to hire another babysitter and I love how BS takes care of Jocelyn. So I'm stuck in a serious, um, dilemma if you will (like how I tied it all back to the title of my post--I am so freaking clever!). How do I handle this situation? Do I continue to ignore BS when she says things to try and get Caitlyn in trouble or do I fork out the cash I don't really have to find another sitter for Caitlyn during those times she needs it in order to avoid the situation altogther? Is there another solution I am missing? Have I completely lost my mind to end-of-pregnancy bitchdom? Tune in for next week's post: why public bathrooms piss me off.

Bunny Day

So I totally posted this at MR's blog as a comment, but then I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and post here for you all to enjoy as well. (BTW, never use that expression in front of your 8 year old who loves animals and can't understand that you are not literally killing anything!)

Anyways, here's a run down of our Easter:
It was a little wet here (its been like 80 degrees for the last two weeks and suddenly it drops into the 60s and gets foggy for the holidays, go figure), so we did our egg hunt inside. Jocelyn had an enormous meltdown just as we were starting the egg hunt, so I tried to distract her by showing her how to open the eggs and get the candy. BIG mistake! She proceeded to open half of Caitlyn's eggs and shove as many jelly beans as she could get into her mouth at one time. Then, when I tried to pry them out, she started screaming and dribbled all the half eaten jellybeans onto my white carpet. Note to self: holiday festivities should always be planned as post-naptime activities regardless of how early in the morning it is. Also, 1 1/2 year olds are really too young for Easter egg hunts no matter how cute it may seem to you as a parent. *sigh* On the other hand, Caitlyn was thrilled because I decided Jocelyn was too young to eat any of her candy, so she got double! Best Easter Ever, Mom! ;)

Dad arrived at about 1pm, his flight was delayed a bit, and I made a traditional Seder feast of chicken fricasse, asparagus, and buttered noodles (um, okay, so maybe it wasn't very traditional after all), which was silly since we were celebrating Easter. But, it was either that or lasagna, so no one complained! :) Dad "whipped" us up some deviled eggs (I am unable to stand the smell of eggs and refuse to make them in any form, so Tim was overjoyed that he was finally able to get some), which were a big hit. Jocelyn ate almost three whole eggs and was begging for more when I finally cut her off! I also made a really fab-u chocolate mousse, which was awesome because it is made totally in the blender and took all of about 5 minutes to prepare. I was very impressed. Oh, and I got to watch Banned from the Bible II (the only time I get to watch the history channel is when one of my parents is here and we out-vote Tim ;) All in all, it was a pretty low-key day with good food and good company. I'll post some pics of the girls once I get them downloaded from the camera and I find one where Jocelyn is not either: A. crying, B. shoveling jellybeans into her mouth, or C. Not looking anywhere even close to the camera so that all you can see is the side of her head. Hope you all had a good bunny day!

Warrior Moms are Cool

Okay, so I know I said I was going to skip Caitlyn's presentation this week, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. If people at work are resentful that I took a lot of time off of work this week, they'll have to live (I mentioned to Caitlyn that I might not be able to make it and she got really upset, so I figured it was better to disappoint my coworkers than my daughter!). I got there a few minutes early and Caitlyn was visiting with the school counselor (she meets with her regularly), so I ended up hanging out with her classmates for a bit. And I was quite the hit, if I say so myself ;) I went straight from work so, of course, I was in uniform, which the kids totally freaked out about. LA is not exactly a military town. In fact, most people here have no idea there is even a base anywhere in the city. So I wasn't surprised by the reaction I got. So while we were waiting for Caitlyn to get back, her teacher let the kids ask me some questions about my job...

"Are you in the Army?"
"Have you ever driven a plane?"
"Have you ever killed anyone?"
"Do you get to carry a gun?"
"Do you get scared at your work?"

It was pretty funny, cute, and a little disturbing at the same time (one little boy asked me, "Isn't there a war going on?" and a lot of the kids seemed confused by this. I guess their parents don't talk to them about it at home very much.)

Anyway, Caitlyn got back and did her presentation (I think I was more of a hinderance than a help, since she got stage fright and didn't want to do it in front of me), and it was really cute. The best part is when the kids left for recess, and I overheard one of the little boys in her class tell her that her mom was cool. Yeah, that's right. I am a cool mom. Okay, so its mostly the uniform, but I'll take what I can get!

Things Just Keep Getting Better

Sorry for all these "poor me" posts, but things just don't seem to be looking up for me. Now that Tim and Caitlyn have recovered, I am suffering from a bad head cold and Caitlyn was sent home from school yesterday with a fever. School policy dictates that kids who have a fever over 100 have to stay home for 24 hours, so I'm home watching her today. This might actually be a good thing, except that I took off early yesterday afternoon (before I got the call about Caitlyn) because I was feeling so badly. So now I'm missing another day of work. I also have a dr's appt on Thus, and I was hoping to go see Caitlyn present her ancestor report to her class (cause you know all the stay at home moms will be showing up for their kids' presentations with family photos and tons of homemade snacks) but I can't afford to take that much time off of work. The ORI is less than 4 weeks away! *sob* Anyway, this whole pity party is really just a lead in to tell you all that I might not be posting as much over the next month or so. I promise I have not died or fallen off the face of the earth, and I am still reading your blogs, so keep that in mind when you write nasty things about me ;)

Feelin Sorry for Myself

Okay, so I lied about doing some political posting. Maybe I'll get around to it one of these days, but I think I'm fooling myself when I say that. For some reason, this pregnancy seems like its been so much harder than my other ones. I'm just physcially exhausted all the time, I can't seem to remember anything, I keep getting sick (of course, everyone in the house is sick right now except Caitlyn, I swear she has the most incredible immune system!), I've been battling preggo depression/mood swings, and I'm totally panicked about having 5 kids and my MIL here this summer when we still don't know where we're going to be living!

At any rate, we did accomplish some things this weekend in spite of my lethargic mood of late. Caitlyn had a soccer game, and, although she didn't score a goal this time around like she did last week, her team (The Blue Lightning) creamed their opponents for the third week straight! We also did the obligatory hospital tour on Sunday, which lasted about 2 hours (and I still have to go in and pre-register, argh!!). I just wanted to ensure the availability of a private room (all of theirs are), where the maternity section actually was (always good to know before you go into labor), and what some of their policies were on different laboring techniques (they have a shower in each room, yay!). Since I'll most likely have to be induced again (having never actually gone into labor on my own before), it seems like this should be a fairly easy process even though its the first time I'll have given birth in a civilian hospital. Now I just have to figure out what their policy is on giving out multiple prescriptions for Percocet, and I should be good to go! ;)

Sorry For the Lack of Posting

I promise I'm not relapsing into my old ways. The base has been exercising for the last week, and I have been heavily involved in it, so I have had little time for blogging and such. Now we're into the post exercise hot wash and after action report season (boo), and it's only 5 more weeks until the ORI! I know most of you are non-mil types, so let me make an analogy here. Going through an ORI (operational readiness inspection) is like having a really thorough anal probe conducted by a group of people with ten thousand checklists and if you don't answer their questions correctly you get zapped with a taser. Okay, maybe it isn't quite that bad, but it's close! So forgive me for the lack of blogging. I promise a diatribe on the sad state of American politics in the face of this latest scandal (8 US attorneys fired for less than clear reasons -- gotta love the fact that the incriminating e-mail trail includes info from one "Scooter" Libby!) But, for now, I have an exercise evaluation report to write. Someone tase me, please!

Foodie Blogs

In the spirit of competition (and good eats), I've been spending a lot of time researching good restos in the LA area. I have come across many good foodie blogs and message boards, but I have to say that no one can top Alan Richman. Enjoy!

http://men.style.com/gq/blogs/gqeditors/food_and_wine/index.html

Pulisha: Movie Critic

Okay, brace yourselves...I actually left the house for the second weekend in a row without my kids! That's right, I went to see a real movie in a real movie theater with absolutely no children (okay, no children that belonged to me, I will not comment on the multitude of people who apparently think it is okay to bring their very young children to a rated R movie full of sex and violence, or maybe I just did). Hubs and I went to see The 300 this weekend (along with everyone else in the world according to the amount of money it made at the box office). Considering this was the first time I'd gone to see a movie in a theater since we took the kids to see Monster House last summer (most bizarre kids cartoon movie ever!), you'd think I'd be thrilled just to get my paws on some fake buttered popcorn (I wuz). But, ever the critic, I couldn't be satisfied with stuffing my face with popcorn and flavored oil. I honestly don't know how this movie made as much money over the weekend as it did. It must be from the lack of any other interesting movies on the cinematic landscape (post-Oscar season is notorious for its crappy movie releases), because it certainly wasn't from anything the movie itself had to offer. Or maybe I'm being overly critical. After all, the Hubs loved the movie (but I think he may have been biased by the fact that we were watching it at an actual theater that was located nowhere near our living room and that no children who came from any part of our DNA were located within a 10 mile radius). Personally, I thought it was lacking in any real storyline, there was nothing to tie you emotionally to any of the characters, and all it really had to offer was 2 hours of non-stop blood and gore (lots of blood and gore! Blood and gore in slo-mo, at wierd camera angles, etc.). Oh, and nipplage, lots and lots of nipplage. So, clearly, this is a man's movie ;)

Pu's Critique: Too much blood, too much gore, too many nipples.

Don'cha Wish Your City Was Hot Like Mine

It is a sunny 91 degrees here in LA today. Not to rub it in or anything... ;)

This is My Life as a Mother Girl

Despite my prestigious job and exceedingly high intelligence (and modest, don't forget about my modesty ;), I am totally and completely addicted to what is clearly the least intelligent show on television: America's Next Top Model (unless you count I Love New York...which I also watch). So if you don't get the above reference, really, you should feel quite good about yourself. And if you do...well, now I feel better about myself ;) Anyway, the whole point of this post actually has nothing to do with reality tv, modeling, or really anything I've typed about so far and, in fact, has a lot more to do with pooping. Now, I realize this is becoming somewhat of a regular topic here at Pu's Corner, but you must realize that we are in the midst of potty training a toddler, and I feel you all should at least be greatful that I haven't posted at length about the issue of pregnancy and pooping. So quit whining! Ahem...sorry about that.

Anyway, Jocelyn has now established a regular pattern of pooping in the tub, which has become increasingly less funny each time it happens. She is apparently as unhappy with this turn of events as I am since she starts crying every time it happens. I think her crying is partially becuase Caitlyn tends to freak out when this occurs (and rightly so. I, as a xx yr old woman wouldcertainly freak out, so I can't really blame an 8-year old for getting upset when someone poops in her bath water) because last night she (Jocelyn) kept going, "Ewwwww!" as I cleaned up the mess. I did manage to catch her mid-poop this time and sit her on the toilet, which she seemed fairly nonplussed with. She had another small poop in the toilet and we waved bye-bye at it as I flushed it down the toilet. What I can't figure out is what is causing her to keep pooping in the bath? Is it the warm water, is it the time of day, is it some wierd psychological baby thing? I don't know! So how can I prevent it from happening again? She obviously doesn't like it when it happens, so she isn't doing it on purpose, and I'm getting darn tired of cleaning out the bath tub (not to mention the fact that its just kind of gross). So, that's the big news from Pu's house (pun intended). Maybe it will make you all feel a little bit better about your own lives (I know that's how I feel when I watch ANTM!).

Pregnant Biz'otch

I have long since passed the second trimester glow and am now mired down in the heavy, plodding, ever widening butt morass known to most people as the third trimester of pregnancy. God plays cruel tricks on women. After gagging and sleeping like a narcoleptic through your first trimester, you suddenly feel energized with the added bonus of immense breasts that are no longer so sore to the touch that you sock your husband in the eye everytime he dares glance down below your neck. You begin to feel like this pregnancy thing might not be so bad after all. I mean how could something that gives you cleavage for the first time in your life be all bad, right? Hahahahahahaha

No, my friends, this is all a clever joke on the part of the cosmos to trick you into thinking that procreating is not that much of a pain in the ass. Because as soon as you pass that 28 week mark (and I mean literally...like within minutes) you suddenly notice how incredibly dumpy your butt has become, how much your thighs have expanded, how hard it has become to breathe, and how impossible it is to try and roll over in bed without the concerted effort of your husband to assist you (although he may get some enjoyment out of watching you flounder around like a turtle on its back). Then you begin to count the days, nay, weeks left until your due date with a sinking feeling in your excessively large abdomin as you realize you still have an enormous amount of time left and have already hit the point on the scale where your nurse has started to make little comments about how much weight you are gaining between appointments (wow, are you sure you're only seven months, ha ha ha). Slowly these realizations and ever increasing awareness of the mass of your lower body begins to take a toll on the pregnant one's already fragile psyche. And so begins the quick descent into pregnant bitchdom. I should, perhaps, feel some sympathy for my poor hubby who has no choice but to put up with me since he has no where else to live, but, instead, I wallow in my own misery and bitch incessently about retaining water (combat boots = not so good for preggo feet). (I feel less bad about this now that he has taken to shaking my prodigeous rear and singing about how my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard). How is it that we forget just how bad it gets towards the end? Nature is a cruel mistress to the pregnant!

Gettin' Our Culture On

So after much whining about how my lil' sis always seems to be doing cool cultural things, we finally broke down and admitted we now live in LA and not bum f*ck Japan and can actually go out and experience American culture at its finest (instead of sitting on our couch watching American Idol and America's Next Top Model *sob* I admit it, I have a problem). For our first foray outside the home this year, we chose to go to Jim Hensen's Puppet Up!, a puppet improv show that is definately not for children or people who offend easily! (We figured if we couldn't make it to Chicago to see Harvey Finklestein, this was the next best thing!) As with any improv show a lot of the jokes were hit or miss, but it was actually really cool to see how they do all that stuff you see on tv (also there was a disclaimer that they were filming for a DVD that night, so if any of you ever, um, buy an adult puppet show DVD...that just sounds so wrong). They did the show on a regular stage, so the audience could see the puppeteers underneath working the puppets, and there were large screen tvs around the stage that allowed you to see the puppet-only perspective. Very cool!

Anyway, the kids were very interested in the fact that we had gone to puppet show without them. As soon as I find the cord for the camera, I'll post a picture of Jocelyn trying to puppet up!

Maternity Woes

Have I mentioned how much I hate maternity clothes? I feel like I shouldn't bitch since maternity fashions have come a long, long, LONG way since I had Caitlyn 8 years ago. During that pregnancy I was forced to wear hideous sailor suit-like clothes which I thought must have been designed by the same brilliant person who designed BDUs for women. When I was pregnant with Jocelyn we were still in Japan where there are either no maternity shops (a distinct possibility considering how remote we were), or they fooled me since all their clothes are incredibly tiny (which I found very bizarre since, in my opinion, not everyone in Japan is a size 2!). Anyway, this time around I am in a major city with access to some seriously high-end maternity shops. Unfortunately, I can't actualy afford to shop in the same places as Britney Spears, so I am forced to shop on either Ebay (so much cheaper!) or at the regular mall (Mimi is really not that bad). Ebay, of course, doesn't allow you to actually try on the clothes, so I have several pairs of extremely expensive designer maternity jeans which make my legs look like huge sausages an have bands which cut into my belly so that when I sit down it looks like I have two stomaches (sooo attractive!).

There are a couple of brands I have had good luck with. Isabella Oliver is a London-based maternity company which had absolutely gorgeous clothes that are both comfortable and flattering. It's easier to get them on Ebay to try to save on shipping (I ended up paying 1/2 price for a shirt and dress). On the down side, IO clothes are hard to find from a US seller and finding pants from them has proved nearly impossible. 2 Chix is another great brand, but they only sell tee shirts (the one Susanne admired in my CA Wine Country picture is from them, as is my I Love Pickles long sleeve tee). So I am stuck with lots of greats tops and absolutely nothing to wear on the bottom that doesn't make me look and feel heavier than I already am.

My mom took me shopping at the mall while she was here, and I was finally able to locate a decent pair of pants but they are still a little too big (I finally gave in and moved up from a small to a medium but I really need an in between size), so I end up having to pull up my pants every five seconds whenever I walk anywhere (no so attractive when you have a big preggo belly hanging out!). I know they'll fit eventually (probably a lot sooner that I would like :( But it is so frustrating to not have anything that fits! The worst part is that this stage of clothes not fitting right goes on for much longer than the acual pregnancy. It will be at least a year if not longer before I can actually fit any of my regular clothes again. Wah!

Poop Party Part Deux

I just can't catch a break. Tim left very early this morning for Austin to visit Tommy & Vanessa for a few days, so it's just me and the girls this weekend. I don't know if you all remember what happened last summer when Tim left to pick up the kids, but you can refresh your memory by reading all about my joyous adventures with Jocelyn's malfunctioning poopy diaper if you read my old blog post. This time around Jocelyn's diaper had once again leaked but just a little bit, enough so that I thought I'd dunk her in the bath to make sure she didn't get a rash. I put Caitlyn in there with her so that they could play and so I could get her bath out of the way, too. About 10 minutes into it, I hear Caitlyn let out this scream of disgust (I was brushing my teeth), "Mom! Jocelyn pooped in the bathtub!" Being the sensitive mom that I am, I immediately began to giggle (come on, it is kind of funny). I managed to get both kids out of the tub with no poop escaping, and it was actually a lot easier to clean up this time around since it was all floating in the water. Jocelyn, to her credit, looked a little guilty, and was very interested in my cleaning methodology. But I have to wonder what it is I did in my childhood that has caused this shitty karma ;)

My Baby the Pig

I've been meaning to post this little blurb my big sis sent me a few weeks ago, but you all know how on top of things I am :)


"according to the lunar calendar, 2007 is supposed to be a very special year for having children. According to the Chinese zodiac, this will be the Year of the Golden Pig, an event that occurs only once every 600 years. Babies born this year are believed to have good fortune and will lead comfortable and wealthy lives. "

So all I have to do is sit back and wait for my son to start rollin' in the dough and we'll be set. No more IRA for me! ;) On a slightly different note, Jocelyn was born in the year of the rooster, which helps to explain the loud, high-pitched shrieking she has started using as her main method of communication. Caitlyn was born in the year of the Tiger, which helps explain why she used to say she wanted to grow up to be a cat (either that or she just takes very strongly after her Auntie Alexis ;)

I Hate DTS

So I'm finally getting around to filing my travel voucher from my trip to Omaha, and I am discovering more and more why I hate the new Defense Travel System (DTS). The DoD implemented this system because they said it would be easier for us all to get paid after going TDY. Easier for who??!! I used to just go drop off my voucher and receipts with the Finance office, where all the wonderful finance professionals would take care of it for me and money would magically appear in my bank account a few days/weeks later. Now I have to do it all myself online where there is no explanation and no one to tell me what to do. For example, I ended up cutting my trip short by a few days, so I need to reflect that on my voucher only there dosn't seem to be any way to adjust your plane ticket info. I can adjust my hotel and rental car info but not my plan tickets. So now it keeps flashing at me and telling me that my dates don't match. Well, no shit! Now I could go ask the DTS "expert" in our shop, who is basically someone who was forced to attend the training and really doesn't know anything more about DTS than I do. Or I could try calling Finance, but it's nearly 2pm here, which means they've all left for the day to beat the traffic home (not that they answer their phone at any hour of the day, really). Even if I did get ahold of a human, they would probably refer me to the DTS questions website, which never has an answer to any of the questions I actually have. I just hate how the AF has moved to all these automated systems (a lot of our personnel stuff is supposed to be taken care of online now, as well) so it will be "easier" for people to get things taken care of. In my experience all that has happened is that the average person now has to spend copious amounts of time figuring out what to do to take care of requirements rather than just going to someone who's an expert in that area. Bleh says me!

Is It Really Over?

Why does it always seem that when you return from vacation it feels like you never really left? *sigh* We had such a fabulous time. The weather was absolutely incredible; it was about 80-85 degrees on the central coast. We drove up the coast on Friday in our rented convertable w/the top down and stopped at several wineries along the way. Poor Tim had to "take one for the team" and do all of the wine tasting since I couldn't really partake (I could have used the spitting bucket, but what's the fun in that?!). We ended up only buying a couple of bottles, but when we opened one with my mom on our return, it got her stamp of approval, so we must have picked well! Friday night we ate at the resort restaurant (spa food - good but expensive) and spent the night soaking in our private outdoor hottub. Our room was so remote that you have to get carted out by golf cart (you can also walk the path, but it is a long way if you have luggage and it gets very dark out there at night!).

On Saturday we spent the morning at the resort's spa. We both got massages and I also got a facial. It was sooo nice and relaxing! Then we hopped in our little red convertable and took a drive down the coast to Pismo Beach. We had a fresh seafood lunch overlooking the ocean and took a drive downtown, although we elected to skip trying to find a parking space since it was so overcrowded. I think the great weather brought everyone out and down to the beach, and there wasn't enough that we saw that we wanted to stop and fight to see. So we ended up driving north up the coast and stopping in San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, and then Morro Bay and just walking around soaking in the sunshine and the atmosphere. It was definately fun (and the clam chowder was pretty darn good), but it wasn't so exciting that it would be something I would want to do every vacation. Maybe it's because our beaches are even better than the ones we visited! I think next time we would elect to just stay at the resort and take advantage of some of the hikes and other activities that were offered. We preferred the first day touring the wineries, but we were pretty alchoholed-out (Tim had a terrible headache by the end of the day) and didn't want to spend Saturday doing the same thing. Anyway, we had another seafood dinner in Morro Bay on Saturday night and shopped at some of the local downtown stores (we almost bought Tim a great used surfboard, but I was really worried about being able to get it home, so we decided to wait). Then we drove back down to the resort to spend another gorgeous night in the hottub.

On Sunday we slept in a bit and checked out around 11 (after soaking in the hottub some more!). Then we drove back down the coast and stopped in Santa Barbara for lunch and some shopping. We also stopped at the outlet mall in Cabrillo has outlets like Coach, Barney's, etc.), but it was so overcrowded (and they didn't have any maternity places) that we didn't end up getting anything.

So that was our vacation in a nutshell. Back to the daily grind :( Anyway, here's a picture of our hottub filling up with mineral water from the resort's hotsprings. Enjoy!

Morro Bay

California Wine Country

My Dad Says I Need to Blog

Well, there hasn't been much to write about lately. We have been super busy at work lately. Wish I could actually tell somebody about it. If anyone has a TS clearance and a need to know, feel free to call me up on your local STE to chat! Ha ha ha. Okay so we intel geeks aren't very funny. But it is gratifying to know that Space geeks are way worse and a whole lot dorkier looking. The problem? I am now so immersed in space intel that I am rapidly becoming a member of both groups, eek!

In the good news department, Tim and I are going on our spa getaway this weekend (his X-mas gift to me), and I am soooo excited! We are going to be in the San Luis Obispo/Pismo Beach area and plan to stop at a few wineries. The spa we're staying at has natural hot springs and private jacuzzis in each room, plus it's so secluded that you have to be ferried over to your room by their private shuttle! It will be just us, nature, and a jacuzzi! Oh, and maybe some of that win we pcik up on the way ;)

Omaha Sucks

Okay maybe I'm biased since it was 80 degrees and fabulously sunny when I left LA yesterday, but it is freaking cold in Omaha! My flights were both full, and I am too fat to lean over and get things out from under my seat :( I have to get out of my seat and squat down to get my belongings. Plus, I've recently discovered that people seem to think that staring at pregnant people is not considered rude. Clearly I did not receive this memo since it makes me feel uncomfortable and I get a strong urge to say things like, "no I don't really love pickles, I am in fact pregnant and the shirt is supposed to be funny. Now please stop staring at me and trying to figure out whether I am pregnant or if I just have a really wide butt!"

Anyway, back to the Omaha suckage. So I get into the airport at about 8pm last night and struggle with my heavy luggage (as many non-pregnant people stare and do not offer to help). The signs in the sirport were confusing, so I ask the info desk where to go to pick up my rental car. they send me outside into the -2 degree weather (according to the internet it feels more like -20 with the wind chill, mind you) and way out past the parking garage only to find out that, in factm the actual rental car check-in is inside the terminal, so I have to go back to get my keys. Did I mention that I am carrying all my luggage and it is -2 degrees!!!! (I did attempt to dig out some of my old winter gear, but I already got rid of all my winter maternity clothes and we couldn't find any gloves or a real winter coat, so I am damn cold!). I get all the way back inside only to find the rental counter empty b/c the guy manning it has gone for the longest cigarette break ever! Finally get my car and discover that mapquest has given me some seriously shitty directions. Example:

Mapquest: go NW on Abbott Rd
Me: which way is NW?

Finally make it to my hotel 1 1/2 hours later (it is 10 miles from the airport). Fall asleep.

Day 2: try to start my car for 15 minutes. Much begging and pleading ensues. Car finally starts. Discover that mapquest has again given me sucky directions. Take 35 minutes to find the contractor site only 5 miles from my hotel. Attend 3 1/2 hours of death by Power Point led by the Monotone Woman. Try to stay awake by drinking crappy coffee. Baby does not like crappy coffee and lets me know...repeatedly! Go to lunch and almost get run off the road by middle aged farmer in F250 truck who glares back at me when I yell and shake my fist (I was very, VERY lucky not to get hit as he nearly broadsided me and I only missed being hit by managing to swerve into the turn lane). Return to conference where we break into our working groups. Informed that I am supposed to have brought some materials I have never heard of with me. Inform working group lead that I have never heard of such materials. Am stared at like I am stupid. Long pause. Return to hotel and freeze ass off.

And I'm supposed to be here until Friday, aghhhhh!!! I think I am going to cut my trip short, though, and try to return after Wednesday's wrap up and skip the second part of the conference. Must say, though, I am not lovin' Omaha!

On a totally different note, why is it that I can find Lexi's blog with ease using the blogger search, but I cannot locate Loki the Dog and his Blog?? Are there more dogs named Loki in blogdom than there are Alexises in Amsterdam?

Why American Society Still Needs Feminism

http://insidedateline.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/01/27/43049.aspx

Reading things like this make me so angry and so sad. It is shameful that a television program would even ask viewers whether or not it was right for a rape victim to try and achieve justice after 21 years. How is this even an issue? If this had been an attempted murder would people still say, well he appologized so it isn't that bad. Rape is murder of the soul, and it doesn't matter whether or not you have experienced it yourself to understand that it is a horrible crime that the victim didn't "ask for." That's like saying that all wealthy people are just asking to be stolen from because they drive nice cars or live in nice homes. No one should have to fear trying to prosecute a crime simply because it occured a long time ago. The sad part of the story is that this woman is lucky her rape occured in the state of Virgina, which has no statue of limitations on rape cases. If she had lived in another part of the country she would have had no recourse despite the fact that he admitted that he raped her!

It frightens me to realize that our society is not nearly as advanced as we might like to think. No one "asks" to be raped, whether she is wearing a jogging suit or a thong bikini, whether she is drunk or sober, whether she is at a frat party or a church study group. How do these situations make any difference in whether or not a horrific crime was committed? It scares me to see that so many people still have these prejudicial feelings towards victims of rape and women in general. Even scarier is the fact that many of these people are women themselves! I am already nervous about having a son and being able to teach him how to be a good man, a man who respects all human beings regardless of their sex. People develop their values from various sources, a major one being their parents, but children also learn from their peers, from the media, and from other environmental sources. It would literally kill me to think that one of my children could agree with some of the sentiments written in by viewers. You don't have to be the victim of rape to identify it as a horrible crime.

The Curse is Broken!

That's right, we're actually having a boy! I was so convinced we were having a girl I had to keep asking the dr, are you sure? He had to show me the baby's bottom view (here's one leg, here's the other leg, and here's this thing in the middle that is not a leg ;) before I would believe him. I went to see a perinatal specialist to get my ultrasoud done since we had all those complications with Jocelyn, so I got the full treatment (4D ultrasound, sooo cool!). He showed me just about everything (the baby even has a healthy liver!), so it was really, really exciting. Everything looks good and looks normal. He said that I have a 20-25% chance of having another preemie, but that gives me a 75% chance that everything will be normal, so things are looking pretty good. Now we just have to pick out a name!

Wide Butt

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! ;)

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 ;)

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.

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! ;)

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.

Our Nightly Visitor

He might actually be cute, except he's totally not afraid of us and tries to get inside the house!

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!

Pics of X-Mas in LA

When Pigs Fly

There might be snow in Albuquerque...

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!