Christmas

Wow! It's been quite some time since I've written and it seems like there is so much to say. Let me start with Happy Belated Holidays! Whatever you celebrate, I hope you had a wonderful time and were able to share it with family and friends. We were fortunate to be able to share this Christmas not only with the family we see often, but also with my brother Ted and his significant other Earl. The week went by way too fast and we not only shared the holidays, but also a nasty stomach bug which made the poor guys miserable part of the time they were here. Nonetheless, we are so thankful for the time we got to spend with them and though they only left yesterday, I miss them so much already. I'll be looking forward to June when we will hopefully get to go to Disneyland to celebrate Ted's birthday!

Our Christmas started out a little rocky this year. Anthony's older brother, whom he didn't really have a relationship with, passed away a few days before Christmas. The loss of any chance of building a relationship along with numerous other complications, put a cloud over what is usually a joyous season. I never had the chance to meet Bobby or his family, but I pray that God gives them comfort and strength in this time when they need it most.

Christmas Eve was at our house this year and boy was it exhausting. I'll try to focus on the positives (for now) though there were some difficult situations that are still unresolved and threatening to cause extreme havoc in our otherwise happy life. It was nice seeing lots of our family and dinner was yummy. The kids got to open presents from their aunts, uncles, and grandparents and created quite a mess in the process. We had quite the house full with about 30 people, including 10 excited children, and it was lots of fun even if it did border on chaos. After dinner we sat around and watched Rankin and Bass cartoons while enjoying the company of our loved ones until everyone went home. We put on our Christmas pj's, put out cookies and coffee (our Santa really needed it!) for Santa, read the Night Before Christmas, and sent the little ones off to bed so that Santa could get busy putting together presents. Here are some pics of the kids on Christmas Eve.

We didn't do professional pics, so here are a few good ones that I snapped Christmas Eve morning.


Opening Presents

Christmas morning was so exciting. We got up about 6am to open gifts though neither of the kids were really excited about opening anything due to the three gifts that were left unopened by Santa. The Giddyup Go Pony, Crazy Coupe Car, and Wonder Pets Ball Pit could have been the only presents and the kids would have been happy. They did eventually get through all of the other presents and there were some other favorites among them. Alexis is quite fond of Mr. Potato Head and Justin loves his Handy Manny Tool Box. Additionally, the Geotrax rail and air have been played with quite a bit even if nothing really topped the pony and the car. In the evening we went to Anthony's Aunt's house for tamales and more presents, then home to recover from the busy couple of days. It's been a constant mess of toys ever since and Alexis and Justin fight over everything, but all in all, I'm really satisfied with the way Christmas turned out.

Christmas morning with Uncle Ted and Sandy (her Giddyup Pony)

Let the fighting begin. This was supposed to be Justin's car, but you see whose driving it.

Playing nice together. If it could always be like this!

The day after Christmas was a beautiful, chilly, sunny day and the kids got to go outside to play with their new toys. I was so surprised that Alexis was able to make the pony go, but she did and loved it. I now am sure it was the perfect gift.


Though Justin hasn't yet learned how to use his feet to move the car yet, he still has fun climbing in and out and playing the music on the horn.

Posing with the Snowmen

All in all, Christmas was fun, but I'm glad it's over. It will take me weeks, maybe months to recover, but I'm well on my way. I took down all of our decorations and trees today which was a little sad because I love Christmas so much, but such is life. Hope you all had a great holiday season and good luck in the new year!

It is done!!

My Christmas shopping that is! Yay! Usually I don't finish until like the day after Christmas, but this year, I'm two weeks early! Anthony and I spent all day shopping yesterday and it was so much fun. I usually hate Christmas shopping because of the crowds and rude people, but yesterday was almost blissful. First of all, it was the first time I've been able to shop without the kids in ages! (thanks mom) Second, Anthony and I spend so little time together with us that it was wonderful to be able to just be together. We got to have a nice lunch together AND I found a new favorite lunch spot! Panera is a really cozy spot with great sandwiches and yummy soups! Their pastries look great too, though I didn't have any. Maybe next time. We were out all day and got a lot done. It helped to get me in the Christmas spirit, which I haven't really been feeling yet. I should be because Alexis is so into the season already and I know Justin is gonna have a blast, but though I've had some moments where I starting to feel a little jolly, like when we put up the lights and when I arranged my Christmas music, I just haven't been into it. Maybe it's because we haven't put up any decorations yet. We're waiting to get our tree until my brother gets here on the 21st (which is okay by me because it means less time I have to fight to keep the kids out of it) and I need to get some indepth house cleaning done before I put everything up, but now that I'm feeling more Christmasy, I'm ready to get started. I actually got in today and wrapped all the presents we bought yesterday and if I stay motivated, I'm gonna start on the stuff we got the kids, which will be quite a task. My kids are completely spoiled. There have been two instances where I have said, "I'm not buying anything else for the kids" and after both times, I have been out shopping and found stuff that my kids just "had to have". This time...I am definitely done! I'm not even sure we have room for everything we bought, so I may have to get rid of more old toys to make room for the new (even though I already did that a week ago). But for now, I think I'll go listen to some Christmas music and wrap more presents!

The Not-So Routine Opthamologist Appointment

Today was Justin's appointment with the opthamologist...an appointment we expected to be pretty cut and dry. We expected them to look at the growth on his eye, tell us it wasn't causing any problems with a vision, and that would be that. I should have known the day was going to be rough when Justin woke up extremely cranky this morning. The kids were both up way too late last night, so when I had to wake him up at 7:30 he was besides himself and cried most of the way to the doctor. He finally calmed down once we got there only to once again be upset when I wouldn't let him play with the exam chair in the office. Our wait really wasn't too bad and the doctor was a very nice gentleman, but my cranky 16 month-old wanted nothing to do with the lights in his eyes or putting his chin on the chin rest. After a short but thorough exam, the doctor brought in some reading material about lipodermoids (fatty benign tumors that grow on the eye) and told me that they are common and would only be a concern if Justin were to have growths or skin tags near his ears or spinal cord abnormalities. Well...guess what? Justin's right ear has a spot that at birth was described as simply cartilage that didn't form properly. In all actuality, his right ear is slightly deformed, but not extremely noticeable unless you are his mother or a doctor who is looking for something. Anyway, the doctor believes he might have a mild form of Goldenhar's Syndrome which is a condition that is characterized by mild to serious facial abnormalities including dermoids and underdeveloped ears as well as spinal cord abnormalities. The doctor gave me some more literature and talked to me a bit about the condition and then showed me some pictures. Neither myself or the doctor could really see the same disfiguration that was in the pictures so if Justin does have this condition it is likely that it is a very mild case as the only real indicators are his eye and his ear. However, he will have to have some tests ran as well as some xrays in order to support or disprove the initial prognosis. I'm slightly freaked out because there are some other complications that this condition can lead to or that are a result of such as heart problems, lung defects, loss of hearing, and kidney problems, though in mild cases they may or may not be present. We could use some extra prayers tonight and through the next couple of months as the doctors try to figure out if Justin has Goldenhar's and if he does, how severe it is.

TAG! You're It!

Life has been pretty uneventful, but thanks to my friend and fellow blogger Heather, I finally have something to blog about! Yay! The way this works is I'm gonna blog about the six things that make me happy! When I'm done, I'll pick six of you to tag and you can pass along the joy. Thanks for playing!

1) Alexis and Justin. I really can't say enough about my kids. They are so incredible. Every day they are learning and growing and becoming such fantastic little individuals. They make me laugh and cry and teach me so much. I can't imagine anything more wonderful than being a mommy. I love them so much and they most definitely make me extremely happy!

2) Scrapbooking. I don't have much time for it anymore, but I love taking pictures and making them more than just a memory...it's a piece of art!

3) Hot things on a cold day. When it's so cold that you can see your breath and you think you are freezing, there is nothing better than bundling up, cuddling with someone you love in front of a fire place, and drinking some hot chocolate. Mmmm...makes me smile just thinking about it!

4) The beach. There is no place I'd rather be than laying in the sand, listening to the sound of the waves and the seagulls.

5) The perfect pair of jeans. Even on those days when you're feeling a little "fat", the perfect pair of jeans can make you feel sexy, confident, and...you guessed it...HAPPY!

6) Naps in the middle of the day. I love sleep and since having kids I don't get nearly enough of it. I am so happy when both kids take their naps at the same time and I can lay down and get a nap of my own.

In closing, my perfectly happy day would be throwing on a pair of great jeans, heading to the beach with my family, enjoying a nap in the afternoon, and cuddling up with my hubby when the sun goes down and the breeze coming off the water is just plain chilly.

And now the six people I wanna hear from....

1) Christia
2) Matthew
3) Michael (Hey...you blog about your art enough, how about something else? :)
4) Sergio
5) Lila
6) Charlotte

A Surprisingly Pleasant Doctor's Appointment

Justin had to get his second flu shot today and also had to have his eye rechecked. If you don't remember, about a month ago I found a pretty decent sized growth on his eye which at first glance, we thought was just an infection. Unfortunately, antibiotics didn't do the trick, so they had to reexamine him today. The morning started off a little hectic because we all slept a little later than planned. Even Anthony was rushing around to get off to work on time (not that he is ever really up on time), but it was even tougher because we were all up. The kids, or more specifically Alexis, wasn't very cooperative and refused to get changed, dressed, etc., but we made it out the door with a few minutes to spare. Thankfully, the wait at the doctor's office was minimal; probably the shortest it's ever been, and we got to see the P.A. pretty quick as well. Justin cried (as usual) and wasn't thrilled with the shot, but he recovered quickly. As for his eye, they think it's just a benign growth of some sort that we shouldn't really worry about unless it gets bigger or starts to obstruct his sight. Both the P.A. and the doctor looked at it and they did their best to reassure me that it was nothing to be stressed over, but they decided to refer him to an opthamologist anyway, just to be on the safe side. If you could just say a little prayer for him that whatever it is on his eye isn't and will not become a problem, I'd appreciate it. The thought of surgery on my baby is terrifying though I know whatever happens, everything will be okay.

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Wow. I can't believe how much different today is from yesterday. Yesterday, everyone including the dog was sick. Today, everyone feels so much better. Bella has had no more accidents today and seems to be much more playful (a blessing and a curse) and the kids are full of energy with no more snotty noses! I even felt like actually cleaning today...something I haven't done in days. My house is no longer a disaster and I even managed to package up old toys and clothes to make room for new ones at Christmas. I almost feel like myself again and am so thankful for that. My mom comes home on Wednesday and I have to drive 3 hours to pick her up at the airport and I was not looking forward to the drive while being sick. In case your wondering why she isn't flying into our local airport, it's because it was so much cheaper to fly her into a bigger city than our local airport. I was able to talk my step mom and my sister-in-law into splitting the babysitting duty so it works out for both of them and they will be able to watch the kids at our house, so I won't have to drag them out with me either. I'm looking forward to the drive and some much needed piece and quiet! Things are just so much prettier today! Let's hope the trend continues!

The Day After Thanksgiving...and Beyond!

We had a pretty wonderful Thanksgiving this year. This was the first year my mom and I didn't cook in what seems like forever, so Anthony & I were able to just lounge around the house most of the morning with the kids and relax before the hectic afternoon at his Aunt's house. Justin and I both started getting sick on Wednesday so by Thursday I was in desperate need of sinus medication. Thanks to Mucinex D, by the time we got ready to go leave, I was able to function and had plenty of energy all day. Dinner was great (what I got to eat of it thanks to children who wanted to cling to mommy) and it was fun spending time with family. The only down side was that my brother-in-law's six-year-old is a monster and her parents are worthless! I took toys for the kids to play with as I know that Anthony's Aunt's house is not childproof and they get bored easy there. My niece (aka Damien) kept taking them away from them and refused to share. At one point she actually socked Justin in the face. We are talking closed fist to the nose and my poor little man just didn't understand what the heck was happening. I can understand that kids will push and shove a bit, but the whole aggressive thing is hard for me to take, especially from a six-year-old. I tried not to make a big deal of it even though I was fuming inside. I tried to explain to the little girl that she needed to share the toys and that she couldn't hit the kids. She quickly shouted, "I didn't!" and when I told her I saw her, she shrugged it off and said, "Oh...it was an accident." At that point her mother, who watched the whole thing without saying a word, got a little huffy with me because I corrected her child and then sent the little girl outside to play. I'm not big on disciplining other people's kids, but I refuse to let unruly children bully my kids. I just don't understand parents who allow their children to behave that way. Of course, with my sister-in-law I'm not surprised. Her six-year-old is still in a diaper, why would I think she would be able to control her child at all?

Friday was a pretty good day. I planned to get up before the sun came up for Black Friday shopping, but since I was still feeling pretty lousy, I decided to sleep in instead. Christmas shopping can wait. The kids seemed to be recovering quickly from their colds and my niece (Alexis's favorite cousin) came over for the day. We spent hours playing outside and even though neither of my children took naps yesterday, they had so much fun. Alexis roller skated and rode her tricycle. I was so excited because she finally pedalled on her own! She still doesn't quite get it, but it's close. She was so surprised when she did it that she stopped, but soon I think she'll be riding everywhere. Justin had his first day of sidewalk chalk and loved scribbling on the ground. Of course he loved eating the chalk even more and desperately wanted to roller skate with Alexis, but settled for riding on the power wheels instead. Hopefully he'll learn to push the button on his own soon. My back is killing me from bending over to make him go. My niece ended up staying the night so the kids were up really late which meant mommy had to stay up late too, so I was exhausted by the time I went to bed at 12:30.

As if the sick kids and me being sick wasn't enough, Bella decided to get sick too. Last night she had to go outside what seems like every 30 minutes. I bet she squatted to pee 10 times or more every time we took her out. The last straw was when she peed on the bed. Off to the kitchen she went whining and crying the whole way. Poor Anthony ended up sleeping on the couch with her so I had to get up extra early when he left for work to stay with her. I wasn't terribly mad because I knew she wasn't feeling good, but there is nothing worse than having to change the bedding at 5 am and get up at 7 am after very little sleep. Plus it was downright cold last night and I froze every time I had to go outside. My vet was closed this weekend! Grrr. I ended up taking her to another vet in a neighboring city that was super busy since it was a Saturday, but I managed to get her in. As soon as we pulled into the vet's parking lot, Alexis got sick. She threw up everywhere...but most of it was on her. Today was the one day I decided not to pack extra clothes, so I had to call my step mom to meet me at the vet with a change of clothes. Unfortunately, I didn't explain how severe it was and she only brought a shirt, so I ended up running to the store to buy some pants so Alexis didn't have to run around covered in vomit. I think she was just car sick because she seems to be fine now. She ate well at lunch and is running around everywhere, so I'll just have to watch her. Anyway, 4 hours and 67 dollars later, I'm finally home and hoping that the kids will nap. The vet determined that Bella "might" have a bladder infection and gave me some antibiotics, but since her bladder was empty they couldn't find out for sure. Hopefully she'll get better soon because I don't know if I can handle much more. I'm physically and emotionally exhausted. Time to take the kids to the bedroom and see if we can all take a nap. Cross your fingers!

Thanksgiving

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I thought today I should take a few minutes to post about all of the things in my life that I am thankful for. All too often I focus on the negative things going on and forget that I am truly blessed in so many ways.

I have a wonderful husband. No one ever said that marriage would be easy and there are times when things are so strained between Anthony and I that I just want to run away from it all. But the truth is...I wouldn't have it any other way. It is the hard times and the obstacles that we face together that help make us and our relationship stronger. No matter how hard things get, I love him with all of my heart and could never imagine life without him by my side. He is my best friend and will always be one of the greatest blessings in my life. I love you honey!

We have a wonderful family. My mom is the most selfless person I have ever met. She has always supported me and always went out of her way to be there for me. She is the same way with her grandchildren and Justin and Alexis will have in her someone that will love them and help them to be better people. I love her so much and am so greatful for all of the love she has given me, all the things she has done for me, and all the sacrifices she has made in order to make my life what it is today. I have a wonderful older brother in Illinois that I miss so much. I never realized how big a part of my life he was until he moved 2000 miles away. Now I get it. I miss him every day and look forward to seeing him at Christmas. (Less than a month til he gets here!) I love you Ted and am so thankful that God gave me an older brother like you to watch out for me! I also have 3 younger brothers who are blessings in their own right. When my parents separated I never thought I'd have younger siblings, but God had other plans and now I have 3. Michael, Christopher, and Matthew. You all have so much potential. Embrace it and go out and be the best that you can. I love you and believe in you and am so thankful to have you in my life. I have other family members, aunts and uncles and cousins, the list goes on an on, who are all so special. Even though I don't see many of them as much as I would like, I still think of them often and am very thankful that God has given me such a loving and caring extended family. I got so lucky when I married Anthony, not just because of how great he is, but his family is pretty wonderful too! My sister-in-laws, my brother-in-laws, my mother-in-law. With all of the horror story one hears about in-laws, you would never imagine that your significant other's family could be so loving and so accepting and so willing to make you a part of their family. Yet, they have and after only 4 short years of marriage, they feel like my family too; a family that I've always been a part of and one that I will always be a part of.

I have awesome friends. Many of our friends live great distances away and our only contact is a phone call here, a Myspace message there, an email here, or a a text message there, but they are true friends. You know the type: the ones who are the people you call when something goes wrong or the ones you call when something goes right. They are then ones that matter all the time and no amount of time or distance will ever separate you. We love you all and know that even when there are large stretches of time in which we don't see or talk to you, you are still in our thoughts, our prayers, and our hearts. For the many wonderful online friends I have made, know that though we may have never met and in many cases never will, you all are just as special to me and are a great blessing in my life.

In time of great economic uncertaintity, we are fortunate. Anthony has a job. With all it's flaws and problems, it pays well and gives us the things we need and the things we want. We have a beautiful house with nice things. We have food to eat and never know what it is like to really be hungry. We have beds to sleep in and clothes to wear. We are truly blessed.

I have beautiful, wonderful children. I saved them for last because they are probably the biggest blessing in my life. I always wanted to be a mommy, but I had no idea how wonderful it would actually be. Alexis and Justin are the greatest children a mommy could ever ask for. They are well-behaved (most of the time), sweet and loving (when they want to be), and just incredible kids. They do so many cute and funny things and every day they make me laugh and smile and every day I as I watch them becoming a big girl and boy, I realize what exceptional little people they are becoming. I am so thankful for them and for the opportunity to stay home with them and watch them grow.

Of course, there are many other things that I am thankful for, but alas, duty calls and I must change diapers, vacuum floors, and play with playdough. So today, the day before Thanksgiving, take a moment to think about and enjoy all of the things that God has blessed you for and remind the people in your life how much they mean to you. Though they may already know it, sometimes hearing it is the greatest gift of all. Happy Thanksgiving!

Alexis...The Master Manipulator

I like to put my kids to bed between 9 & 10 every night. I've gotten into the habit of laying down with them and cuddling til they go to sleep and then getting up. I usually start with Justin because he is by far the better sleeper of the two, even though lately he has been starting to fight sleep a little. I should have known the night was going to be a disaster at 9:30 when both of the kids showed no signs of being tired. Nonetheless, at 10 o'clock I dutifully took Justin to his bed and laid him down. Half an hour later, after much cuddling, fighting, lullaby singing, and a sippy cup of chocolate milk (yes, I'm a horrible mother), the little man finally rolled over, hugged his Teddy and fell fast asleep. I hoped at this point, that Alexis would be getting tired and would readily go to bed. Tonight was just not meant to be an easy night and I realized that Alexis has learned to manipulate both me and the situation to make things happen the way she wants them to. When I first mentioned bed she immediately feigned starvation and shouted, "I'm hungry! Please make me a sandwich." How could I say no when she was so polite and I couldn't bear the thought of her going to bed hungry. She really must have been famished because she ate half a salami sandwich, a pack of twinkie bites and 3 banana nut mini muffins before declaring she was "full". So off to bed we headed once again. This time we actually got laid down in her bed, but sleep was still not to be had. She begged for her entourage of stuffed animals. She needed Green Puppy, Black Puppy, Mr. Bear, and her rabbit in order to go to bed. Fifteen minutes later after searching through the closet and her toy box, the required animals were located and put in bed. Once again, I attempted to lay down and cuddle. Her next request: "I have to pee!" Okay, so what I really wanted to say was, "Go to sleep!" but what if she really needed to pee? We've been working so diligently on potty learning, that I once again allowed her out of her bed to go to the bathroom. Much to her credit, she didn't try to play in the restroom and managed to sit on the potty for almost 30 minutes. Of course, she didn't pee either, so we finally put on her pullup and climbed into bed. She spent the next 15 minutes trying to get me to talk to her and further increased the time she was allowed to stay awake by hugging, kissing, and professing her love to me. For those of you who don't know Alexis, this might seem like a normal thing, but my child is not a love bug. She gives a fair amount of hugs and kisses, but most of them require much coercion. Not tonight. She was so sweet and cute and I couldn't resist stealing kiss after kiss. So a little over an hour after we first headed toward her bedroom, she is finally asleep and I realize that my little girl completely and totally played me like a fiddle tonight and she was so good at it. I've watched her do it to Daddy and Nana, but never imagined she would be able to work me over like she did tonight. I'll have to get much tougher with her now or else bedtime will be a nightmare. Especially since she and Justin still sleep in the same room. Sometimes I wish I were strong enough to make them cry it out, but I know in my heart that will never be me.

Update on Anthony's New Job

A few weeks ago I had written that Anthony was really struggling with his new job and that the management was really giving him a hard time. I am glad to report that things have turned around and are getting much better. He has finally proved himself by working hard and never complaining. It appears that he has won the respect of both management and his fellow employees and is starting to feel like this job will be at least tolerable until I finish grad school. There are a couple of other perks to being a mail carrier. 1) He is walking A LOT! In the past month he has lost nearly 30 pounds and is really starting to get back in shape. It's been great for his energy level and I'm sure it's making him much more healthy too. 2) The money is pretty wonderful. It is quite a bit more than he was making before which has helped emensely with our finances. I am so thankful that everything is starting to look up.

What Were They Thinking?

My kids are disgusting! I know they are only 1 & 2 and don't know any better, but still. Here's the story. Our St. Bernard puppy, Bella, is being trained to ring a bell that hangs on the door knob when she needs to go outside and she is doing pretty well with the exception of a few accidents here and there. (I'm sure you already see where this is going) Yesterday morning while I was doing dishes she apparently had an accident in the playroom. I'm thinking she is somewhat like a child and got so wrapped up in playing that she just forgot to go to the door. Not a big deal as accidents happens and she isn't even 4 months old yet, so if Alexis had come to the kitchen and told me Bella had pooped, cleanup would have been swift and things would have been fine. Alas, for whatever reason, both kids decided it was a good idea to play with the poop. I understand Justin doing it because he is still very much sensory motor oriented and explores things with his hands and his mouth, but Alexis is usually so much more advanced than that. She usually will tell me not only when Bella has an accident, but also when Justin needs changed. "Momma, Justin's stinky!" So I would think that one or both of them should have realized the very stinky poop was not a good idea to play in. So out of the playroom come my dirty children, covered in poop from head to toe. (St. Bernard's have big poops, even at 4 months old) I promptly stripped them, threw them in the bath and proceeded to wash them. Then I put them in the playpen (oh how they screamed at being "caged") and went to the playroom to access the damage. It looked like WW III had hit the kids playroom. Poop was on the walls, smeared into the carpet, just EVERYWHERE. It also had made it's way down the hallway and boy did it reek! So after 2 hours of carpet cleaning and odor/stain removers the kids were finally allowed out of the playpen. Unfortunately, the playroom was off limits for the day because of the wet carpet, but at least everything was clean and sanitary. As for Bella...her punishment was the kitchen all day except when I took her out to pee and poop. By the way...no more accidents yesterday or today. I'm thinking she didn't like all day in the kitchen yesterday. I still wonder what my kids were thinking. I would so love to be in their little minds and see how they work!

Silver Treats Free Jewelry Contest

Handbag Planet is launching a sister site that sells jewelry called Silver Treats. Like the handbag contest last month, Silver Treats will be giving away a free jewelry set for the first 12 days of December. You can enter the contest here! Good Luck!

Heaven is a bath!

The kids are finally starting to take their naps at the same time, so today, in lieu of my usual nap, I opted for a bath. Not just your regular, get in the bath, wash, and get out bath, but instead, lots of hot water, bath salts, and an hour of uninterrupted soaking. I forgot how much I love baths! It was so nice to relax without listening to screaming and yelling and without Justin throwing everything but the kitchen sink in the tub. I think I may have to start doing this once a week because I feel so refreshed and ready to take on the world again.

My Children are Driving Me Insane!

I love these little boogers more than life itself, but I don't know what has gotten into them today. Justin is climbing on/in everything. Not just regular things either like the couch or chairs. He has a leapfrog music table that he keeps turning upside down and getting inside (where he immediately gets stuck and cries and screams and throws a tantrum). Then there's the sing-a-long stage that he is climbing up on. The worst one is this Mickey Mouse saucer chair we have. He either stands up in it and tumbles over or he turns it upside down and gets stuck inside the legs. I don't get it. I know that climbing is a developmental milestone, but Alexis NEVER climbed like this! Is it because he's a boy? And the incessant fits and crying. He's only 15 months and I swear he's in his terrible 2's already. He gets mad when he can't do what he is trying to do...he gets mad when I won't hold him when he wants me to...he gets mad when Alexis won't play with him...he gets mad when he trips over his feet. It's awful. Alexis is another story. She is constantly hitting, slapping, kicking, and just plain out abusing Justin. (Could be why he is crying so much) I thought she was done with her terrible 2's. Apparently not. Then when I get on to her for misbehaving, tears, tears, and more tears. I've never seen her cry as much as she has the last few days. The funniest thing was when she started crying because Justin was "looking at her". Yep, she was crying like she's had been beaten and was screaming, "Stop looking at me! Justin's looking at me!" She didn't have much of a nap today so maybe that explains why she is crying over everythhing todaay, but it really is driving me crazy. I know this doesn't seem that bad, but for me it is HELL! My kids are usually so well behaved, with the exception of a few little fights or fits so this out of control, fighting, constant crying behavior is pure torture. I'm afraid it's the beginning of a trend and that I am going to have 2 children going through their terrible 2's. Let's just hope I don't lose my mind before they grow out of it. Did I mention that if I have to watch Racing Stripes one more time I'm gonna scream? Yep, Alexis's favorite movie and we've watched it a grand total of 4 times since 8 am. She gets on her little rocking horse and pretends to be racing. Complete with her Elmo bicycle helmet. If I can figure out how to add a video, I'll post some from my cell phone from last night. The quality isn't very good and I hate that I'm talking in them, but you get the idea. It really is super cute, but annoying beyond belief after the three millionth time.

Maybe I'm just overreacting because I'm sick, too. It's just a cold and my body seems to be trying to fight it off, but I'm exhausted and my head hurts and I wish I could go to bed and stay there for the next week. Not gonna happen, but a nice thought anyway. Enough of my whining. The kids are both crying again. Wish me luck!

Last Night....

was so awful. We all went to bed around 10 which was already later than I wanted, but the kids took an extra long nap, so I figured I was lucky it wasn't later. I wasn't very tired, but neither of them wanted to go to sleep without mommy, so we all curled up in my bed and went to sleep. Alexis woke up for the first time around 1am. Her nose was stuffy, she was having trouble breathing, and she just couldn't get comfortable. She asked for some milk and went back to a very restless sleep. I think my ribs are bruised from all of the kicking. When she woke me up at 3am, she felt like she was burning up. I took her temperature and sure enough, 103.7. A little high, but not really anything to worry about quite yet. I gave her some motrin (as we haven't had a lot of luck with tylenol and high fevers) and tried to get her back to sleep. Not more than 5 minutes later, she started gagging and told me she was going to throw up. We hurried to the restroom which is mercilessly close to the bed and she proceeded to vomit for a few minutes. She was such a big girl about it. Nothing like the girl last year who cried when she threw up all over herself. When it was over, she said she felt better and wanted to watch tv, so I gave her some gatorade, put a cold, wet rag on her forehead, and laid her down on the couch. At this point, Justin was awake and was thinking about getting out of bed. I turned off the light and told him to go back to sleep and surprisingly enough, he did. Alexis said she was hungry and managed to keep down some string cheese (her choice not mine) and we watched Sprout until about 6am. It took almost that long for her fever to go down, then I put some vicks on her chest and carried her back to bed. When Justin woke up at 7am i thought I might die. Not really, but i felt so extremely tired and still do. I think we are still a couple of hours from a nap and after 4 shots of espresso, I don't feel too terriblly bad. In fact, I think I'll start cleaning soon. Alexis seems to be feeling better. She is a little grumpy and more whiney than usual, but she is playing with Justin and her fever seems to be gone. I thought it was a cold, but now I'm thinking this is a side effect of her flu vaccine. I would have expected her to get ill sooner if that was the case, but then again, it was the nasal spray so maybe it affects kids different than the actual shot? I knew I should have insisted on the shot. The virus in the shot is inactive, while the one in the nasal spray is active. The doctor insisted that though it was active the chances of it making her sick were minimal as it is a virus that is manipulated that needs cooler temperatures than those in the body to survive. Alexis's puppy dog eyes and cute little voice saying, "I don't want a shot" along with the doctor's assurances were more than I could handle, but next year...it's the needle! Anyway, I hate when the kids don't feel good, but it looks like she is on the upswing. She even managed to eat some toast and drink two glasses of chocolate milk, so I'll take it as a good sign. Hopefully, Justin stays healthy. I'd hate for them to both be sick together, especially since tomorrow is Anthony's only day off for the week and it would stink if he had to listen to them fight on our one day to enjoy the whole day as a family.

The dreaded doctors office!

Well, just like every other time that I take my kids in for their well-child visits, they are once again sick. They both had their flu shots on Tuesday and after a 2 hour wait in the office surrounded by sick children, both of my babies woke up ill. The doctors and nurses are so wonderful, but the office staff is inept and rude. And because it is a clinic they are constantly overran with walkins. You would think that the appointments would take precedence, but they don't. It's still first come first serve, so appointments don't mean anything. They went to bed last night as happy, smiling, children and woke up this morning as coughing, sneezing, runny nosed, whiney, crying kids. I should be used to this because it happens every time, but I'm just getting annoyed. Not just by the sick kids, but by the long waits and not so friendly office staff. I love the doctors and the nurses and will surely miss them, but I think it is time for a change. Anthony & I will really have to start talking about it, but I think we will be changing the kids doctors in hopes of preserving my sanity.

Taking Care of Babies and Other Random Thoughts

Boy the last couple of days have been exhausting. As most of you know, my mom is retired and lives with us and is a humongous help with the kids. She left on Tuesday to visit my brother in Illinois for a month and boy am I feeling her absence. It's not that I can't take care of the kids by myself...it's just that I have gotten so used to having help (she's been with us or should I say we've been with her since before Alexis was born) that I forget how difficult it can be to keep up with both of them and still manage to take care of Anthony, the dog, the house, and myself. I am exhausted, but we are adjusting. It's been very difficult for the kids, especially for Alexis since she is nana's girl, because they miss her. Mostly it's hard at night when Alexis wants Nana and she's not home, but I know we will all be alright. There has been one good thing about Nana's vacation. With just me and Daddy around, we are finally getting on a regular schedule and we are getting a little more organized. The kids are going to bed around 9 (very early for both of them as they are night owls) and we get up at 6:30 (also very early, but it's been really nice to have a cup of coffee with daddy before he goes to work). We've done doctor's appointments and trips to vets, grocery shopping and even walks in the evening. Daddy takes care of baths in the evening, so I can do dishes and then we read before bed.

Last night was extra special. Uncle Ted and Uncle Earl sent the kids "Where the Wild Things Are" for Halloween. There were some hangups (specifically a dishonest internet company) in us getting the book though we received the stuffed wild thing a couple of weeks ago. We were gonna hang onto it for Christmas, but Uncle Ted insisted we read it to them last night. Alexis was terrified of the stuffed animal. Seriously, we asked her if she wanted to hold it while Daddy read the book and she nearly cried. She quickly picked up a stuffed dog and told us her hands were too full. Since Justin is not quite old enough to be scared of non-living things, he gladly held onto it. Alexis loved the story and we must have read it at least 5 times last night. We decided that the book would be Alexis's and the stuffed animal Justin's. He finally had a gift that Alexis wouldn't take away from him. However, Bella likes the wild thing too and figured that since she was part of the family, she should get a turn holding him. We spent some time chasing her around the living room to get it back. Here are Daddy and the kids reading.


Justin is really becoming a handful. I can't believe how many things the kids gets into and OMG the climbing! My laptop is now broken thanks in part to his climbing. Last night he moved his LeapFrog music table over to the couch so he could use it to climb up. He then proceeded to hop up on the tv tray where the laptop is and sit on it. It's just the enter key and can probably be fixed with some super glue, but boy has it been annoying trying to type without it today. You don't realize how much you use it until it's gone.

I must take at least a moment to mention how proud I am of Alexis. She is becoming such a big girl even though she still won't use the potty. She was doing so well, but since my mom has been out of town....NOTHING! Today, I had to take Justin to the doctor because it appeared that his eye and eyelid were swelling. Actually, it looked like part of his eye was hanging out of his eyelid, but thankfully, it is just an infection and should clear up in a few days with some antibiotics. I was completely freaked out this morning when I first saw it and spent a good ten minutes crying after I made Justin's doctor's appointment. After making Alexis sit in the doctor's office on Tuesday for 2 hours, I really didn't want her to have to sit there again. I called my little brother and asked him if he could come sit with Alexis for an hour and he was hesitant. (He's freaked out by dirty diapers and was terrified that she might choke on something. To make a long story short he did come, but with my ex-stepmother, who Alexis hasn't really spent much time with. Alexis took it like a champ! She didn't cry, whine, or complain when I left with Justin. She simply said, "the doctor will take care of my brother", gave me a kiss, and went off to watch tv. This may not seem like a big deal, but you must understand that I NEVER leave my kids with anyone except my mom and Anthony. Leaving her alone with someone else should have completely freaked her out, but she was so good. My baby is growing up and though every day is something new and exciting, it also makes me sad.

On a side note. I'm sure many of you are wondering why I'm not complaining about the outcome of the elections since those of you who have talked to me lately have been forced to listen to me bitch and whine. Well, I've decided that complaining about it isn't doing any good. It's not gonna change anything and it isn't making me feel better...in fact...it's just making me angry, so I've decided to accept the things I cannot change and move on, hoping and praying that things will all work out in the end. Ce lest vie.

Tomorrow is the day!

We have lived in our house for 15 months now and still have a dirt backyard. We put up the above ground pool this summer, with plans of what we wanted to do with the rest, but we just haven't been able to do it. Well, tomorrow the landscapers will be here bright and early to start! I can't wait. We will finally have grass and sprinklers and trees and bushes! Did I mention I am so excited? Jeff (the man who gave us the estimate) says it will only take 2 days to finish and then about 5 days for the sod to root. After that, we can start playing in the backyard! We're thinking about a swing set for Christmas for the kids too. I'm just so happy! I'll post before and after pics when it's done, but until then, I'll be patiently waiting to see how it turns out!

She Used the Potty!!

So after months of Alexis refusing to even try to use the potty, the girl went and surprised the heck out of us yesterday. I had went to the restroom and she had followed (like she often does), but this time she pulled her potty chair over, took off her shorts, asked for help with her diaper, and sat down all without coaxing. After I washed my hands, she promptly asked me to leave and told me so matter-of-factly that she would come get me when she finished. So I left, went back to cooking, and low and behold not 5 minutes later she came running out of the bathroom screaming, "I did it! I did it!" I was so thrilled! We praised her and gave her skittles and a sticker and she bragged about it all evening. She went into the restroom a few times on her own last night and today (mostly without success), but I am just hopeful that this is a sign she is ready to start learning. Her big thing is that we can't sit with her. I'm wondering if the pressure was too much for her and that's why she hasn't been interested in trying. Keep your fingers crossed that this is the beginning of the end for diapers! By the way, we are officially back in pullups since she is being a big girl and are doing big girl panties periodically today.

Boys Are Just Different

Everyone always told me boys were different, but I didn't believe it. I've always believed that kids are born basically the same and that certain behaviors are taught through socialization and gender stereotyping. Boy was I wrong! Last Christmas we bought Alexis a little Step 2 slide and swing. It's pretty much sat unused outside for months because we took it out of the playroom when we put the play kitchen in. Well, today I decided to bring it in and put it in the great room for the kids. Oh my God! The way Justin climbed on it (and fell off) was terrifying. He has fallen off twice now and pushed it over to the table, climbed on the table and fell of of that too. He is just so rambunctious and so crazy! Alexis was never ever like that. She was much more cautious. I wonder if it's because he's a boy and she's a girl or if it's just because Justin is the second child and he watches Alexis. I wonder how long before he starts to pay attention to what he's doing. He still can't get off of the couches. He tries to go off head first instead of feet first. Of course, he can't climb up on them either because his legs are so short. Regardless, I put the slide back outside tonight. I needed a few minutes of peace without having to stand over him to keep him from diving off something and breaking his neck. Sometimes parenting can be scary stuff!

My Daughter is a Bizarre Child!

Alexis has become a very interesting child lately. Her newest habit (which is driving me insane) is playing with her eyelashes. She mostly does this when she is trying to go to sleep and I think she is doing it to keep herself awake, but it just looks so strange! Here is Alexis, laying in her bed trying to avoid falling asleep.

Additionally, when she goes to bed at night she has to take a enormous entourage with her to bed: pink puppy, green puppy, her baby doll, pink kitty, and a teddy bear. This makes it very difficult for mommy to get in bed with her, yet mommy must be next to her for her to fall asleep. Last night we had Burger King for dinner and she insisted on getting rid of all of the other creatures in her bed in order to sleep with one, tiny, yellow, plastic turtle from her happy meal. She wrapped it her arms while she slept. Pretty cute, but really weird. She's strange just like her daddy!

They love each other!

Some times the kids are just so cute together. The morning started off so nice today. Justin and I went to Alexis's bed when we woke up and she immediately hugged him, kissed him, and told him, "I love you". This is what they did while I did the dishes. They snuggled together watching Mickey Mouse and drinking chocolate milk. I was so happy I could cry. Unfortunately, it didn't last long before long they ran off to the playroom to play (and fight).


Then Bella decided that the couch looked comfy too. Did I mention that she is getting huge? I can't believe she is less than 3 months old! We will definitely be starting puppy obedience classes soon.

Anthony's Job

Anthony has worked for the Postal Service for about 6 years. The announcement of the facility he worked at in May, turned our world inside out and upside down. Thankfully, he was placed in a job locally last week as a mail carrier. After only 1 week, my heart breaks for him. His supervisor is horrid and it almost seems like management is trying to push him to quit. There was a woman who transferred with him who quit after only one day. He was supposed to have 3 days of formal training, but only ended up with one day of training due to a lack of trainers. The other 2 days were spent with his supervisor basically criticizing him the entire day. It's bad enough that his body is having to adjust to the walking and carrying bags of mail for 8 to 10 hours a day, but he also has to deal with the emotional stress of working for people that just don't appear to care about their employees. Did I mention he lost 20 pounds in 5 days? Good for him, but still, pretty hard on the body. On Saturday, he worked for 10 hours and was completely stressed because his supervisor told him that it took him too long to finish his route. She told him the manager would talk to him about it on Monday and he was sure he would be fired this morning. He isn't home yet, so I'm assuming that wasn't the case. It just boggles the mind that after 5 days of work they expect him to do the job like he's been there for a long time. They keep telling him that the other carriers could finish his job in under 6 hours which is probably true, but first, he didn't even get the proper training, and second, it's only been 5 days! I'm sure after a month he will do it much quicker. I am not a big supporter of unions in most cases. Honestly, in my experience, they make it possible for lazy people to continue working, but in this case, I think that Anthony really needs to consider contacting his steward. It would be one thing if he wasn't trying or if he had been there for 6 months and was still slow, but that just isn't the case. Please pray that things went well today and that things continue to improve. I don't want him to stay in this job if it is going to be overly stressful. It isn't fair to him and it isn't good for any of us. I'd rather be poor and happy then see his character broken for a job that just isn't worth it, no matter how good the pay.

Note to Self. Quit your whining!

As I sit here watching Alexis play with her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Justin play with his Sing-a-long Stage and listening to Sesame Street on the tv, I realize that I should be completely content with my life. Yes, sometimes things are stressful and not they way we would like them to be. (Here comes my list of whines) Anthony's job isn't going quite as well as we'd hoped. (that'll be another post in itself) finances are tight. I wish I were 50 pounds lighter. I wish the backyard was landscaped. I miss my brother. (Just two more months til he comes to visit!) I long to have a life outside of my home again. I need to get my application and materials ready for grad school. Can I even survive grad school? Do I have a choice? I could go on and on about little annoyances in my life, but aren't they really just part of life? Everyone has problems. Everyone has stress. Those things are what make life, well....LIFE! I realize that I am fortunate because there are people who have much more serious things to think about. Today my goal is to concentrate on the things I have to be thankful for, instead of dwelling on the have-nots. I have two beautiful, healthy children. I have a husband, who despite all of my faults, (and they are many) loves me and will always be my best friend. I have wonderful family who is always there when we need them and who are more special than words can ever explain. We have a house that is ours, with plenty of room to live in and play in. We have warm beds to sleep in and toys to play with. We have cars to get us to the places we need to and want to go. We have food to eat and do not know what it is like to really be hungry (though sometimes the children act as if they are starving) or to go to bed hungry. We do not have to hide our political views or our religious beliefs, because we are lucky enough to live in a country that allows us that freedom. Life will never be "perfect". There will always be obstacles and problems. The important thing is not that they exist how we choose to deal with them. We can let them devour us, pushing us into a deep, dark place. Or we can face them and find the best possible way to overcome them. This is how I will live my life...not giving up, not focusing on the bad, but striving daily to be positive and see the good things in life, and be thankful for the life that God has given me.

I love watching....

my babies play with Daddy. He has been working such long hours and is so tired when he comes home that he hasn't had a lot of opportunities to spend time with the kids. Today is his first day off in about a week and watching him with them makes me smile. There is nothing cuter than my 270 lb husband and my two toddlers scrunched inside a Thomas the Train tent in the middle of the living room! Hopefully, I'll be able to catch them in there again so I can snap a picture. It's also pretty heart warming to watch Alexis and Justin wrestle. They just climb all over each other. Their new favorite thing is pretending to be dinosaurs. There is nothing more precious in life than having such a wonderful family. God has truly blessed us with so much.

My new favorite thing!

With two little ones, a husband, and a house to take care of, it is often so difficult to find time to shower, let alone exercise. However, I recently discovered the 10 Minutes Solution exercise programs and am so happy with them. I have 2 dvd's: Dance it Off and Tone it Up and Fat Blasting Latin Dance Mix and both are great. Each video has five 10-minute routines that really get your heart pumping and your muscles working. You can spread them out throughout the day or do them all at once. This has been great for me because the kids can't always be occupied for long periods of time. Additionally, both of the kids have been so interested in them, that they dance around the living room with me, giving us all some much needed activity. So far I am only focusing on two of the routines because I am so clumsy that getting the hang of the moves and choreography has been tricky. But after only a week, I'm starting to feel more comfortable with them and less out of breath when I'm done. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a solid exercise routine that I can work into my day, every day, not just sporadically.

Miscellaneous thoughts from a busy day...

As we turned off the a/c finally and opened up our windows, I realized that neither of my children have any winter clothes that fit. This was further illustrated when I put Alexis is her long sleeve pj's from last year and the pants looked like crop pants and the shirt resembled a midriff. This prompted an all day shopping trip with the kids. Shopping in itself can be tiring, but shopping with two toddlers...majorly exhausting. We were gone for about ten hours, but it felt like much, much longer. In addition to the three kids clothing stores we went to, we also took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese. It has been ages since I have been to Chuck E. Cheese and I had forgotten how much they have for little kids. Alexis was in heaven with all of the little ride on cars and the climbing structures. It was also nice that she could kind of run around without us worrying too much because they stamp your hand and your childrens' hands with a unique number in invisible ink so that you must be with your children for them to get out the door. She loved having a little independence in the toddler area while daddy and I watched from our table. I think my two favorite things were watching her play the little tiny whack-a-mole and the little air hockey table that was just her size, though I had to get on my knees. It was also quite amusing when she couldn't quite get the skee balls to the top so she just climbed up on it, when up the aisle, and dropped them in the holes. Both kids were extremely well behaved, with the exception of the small tantrum Alexis threw when it was time to leave (after 3 hours of playing). Though very exhausting it was a very good day. Things have been so stressful lately, so it was very nice to finally have a day to spend together as a family and just have fun. We got the kids plenty of clothes...probably too many, but there were just so many cute things and now I shouldn't have to buy any more clothes all winter. There were also some great Columbus day sales and I got some great deals, so I don't feel too bad about what we spent. Now comes the arduous task of washing everything and putting it away. Maybe I'll save that for tomorrow. For now, I think I just want to sleep.

God is so good!

I am thankful for so many things, but today there is one thing that stands out above all. Anthony still has a job and it is still local. For those of you who don't know the whole story, back in May the place where Anthony works announced that it would be closing. Because of his status and his seniority, we didn't really worry too much because we figured that he would be placed in another facility somewhere in the local vicinity. Then the first list of available jobs came out and our life was turned upside down. The nearest opening was 120 miles away. This was back when gas was nearing $5 a gallon and they couldn't guarantee hours, so we started to panic. Relocating was never an option because we bought our house when the market was near its highest, so with the failing economy, we are upside down on our mortgage and selling isn't an option. We probably wouldn't be able to rent it for enough to even make our mortgage, so things started to look very grim. A few months back we had resigned ourselves to what we thought was the worst case scenario. Anthony accepted a job about 200 miles away and would be living with some friends, while the kids and I remained here. He would be working enough hours and getting paid enough that we would still be okay financially and we hoped he would be able to come home at least twice a month. The catch was he had to pass three exams in order to be placed. We thought he was home free and were dumbfounded when we were told that he failed the final exam. Thoughts of unemployment were nearing reality and we were really beginning to stress out. When almost all hope was lost, a job became available 7 miles from our house! The downside...he had to take those three exams again. I kept telling myself that God had a plan for us and that the first failed exam was necessary. If he had passed it the first time, he would have moved 200 miles away and when the closer job became available, he wouldn't have been eligible for it because he had already been placed. There was still that slight fear in my mind of what would happen if he failed again. No need to worry. As I stated in the title of this post...God is so good! We got the results today and Anthony officially has a job 7 miles away that pays more than he was making before and will most likely allow for more advancement. I'm so thankful and so happy. What I've learned from this whole situation is that God always has a plan even though it might not be the same plan you have. My faith has been strengthened. May it continue to grow everyday and my I always look to him for guidance.

Being a Mom

Some days I wonder if I am really cut out to be a mom. Don't get me wrong. I love my kids with all of my heart and soul and I love being a mommy, but even after 2 1/2 years, sometimes I second guess myself. I wonder if I'm making the right choices, doing the right things, or raising them the right way. It's not like you get a user manual and though everyone wants to give you advice, you still have to figure out what is best for you, your family, and most of all your children. Having two children so close in age can often be extremely trying, especially now that they are both mobile. Overall I know it is the best thing I have ever done and as they get a little older, it will get easier. Some days can be very frustrating, especially on days when one of the kids are fussy or when one of them decides to be more difficult than usual. Then there are days like today where everything just clicks and I truly believe that being a mommy is what I'm meant to do with my life. My kids have never been on a schedule and I find it so hard to keep one, which is probably one of the main reasons I sometimes feel like a bit of a failure as a mom. I've been working really hard to get us all on a schedule and it's finally starting to pay off. The kids actually had three solid meals, a couple of healthy snacks, a good nap (which they took at the same time!), and went to bed at a decent hour. I even managed to do three loads of laundry, the dishes, pick up the house a bit, and get some exercise! I feel so good! I feel like I am completely in control and I think the kids sense it too. Hopefully this will become a trend and every day will feel so wonderful.

The only negative thing today has been that poor little Justin has had major diarrhea and he cries every time I have to change his diaper (which has been pretty frequent). It's been bad since the first diaper this morning complete with a very bad rash, and I know it is painful for him. We've stopped using wipes and started using soft cloths, but even that doesn't seem to help. The poor guy just shivers and shakes and screams. I don't know if he has a stomach bug or if it was something he ate, but my heart just breaks each and every time he cries. Please pray that it is better tomorrow. He's already woke up twice to be changed since I put him to bed 2 hours ago, so I'm thinking that tonight will be a long night.

Free Handbags!

After reading several of my friends' posts regarding Handbag Planet's new site launch and after realizing I only own 2 handbags (yes I know it's sad, but for the last 2 1/2 years I've only used the diaper bag!) I decided I might as well enter the free handbag contest. Basically, Handbag Planet is launching a new site on October 15th and on that day they will give away a free handbag every hour. If you need a new handbag and want to give it a shot check out Handbag Planet.

Politics, religion, and other things you shouldn't discuss with family members

Have you ever noticed how some subjects can turn even the nicest people into hateful, insult-breathing monsters? Why is it that we live in a country that is supposed to give people so many freedoms, yet people get so offended by others' opinions and spend so much of their time judging those who don't live their lives the way someone else thinks they should?

A few nights ago, i received a phone call from so pollsters, who were questioning California voters about discrimination and gay marriages. The questions I was asked really made me think about a couple of things. First, why do so many people care if gay people get married or not? I know that many members of the Christian Coalition as well as those of numerous religious organizations feel that it is morally wrong to be gay and are concerned about the de-sanctification of marriage, but are heterosexual couples really protecting that sanctity? We live in a country where 40%-50% of all marriages will end in divorce. That's a pretty sad statistic if you stop and think about it. So apparently there are many, many straight couples who aren't taking their vows very seriously. Maybe gay couples who really want to be married will be a little more earnest when it comes to their commitment. Why do people care so much about what other people do. Shouldn't marriage be about the love between two people and be something that a couple shares with each other and with God? It's really no one else's business. Which brings me to my next thought. Many believe that the Bible says that homosexuality is wrong, but the God I know is a loving, forgiving, mericiful God. I believe it is the grace of God that saves us. I also believe that the only one who has the power to judge is God. I was not put here on earth to judge how anyone lives their life. My job here is to live my life in a manner that is pleasing to God, not to pass judgement on those who aren't. Is it really going to hurt anyone to allow people who love each other to be married? I think not.

I In addition to all of the social issues people are arguing about, we have this whole mess with our economy. I guess overall, I am just very concerned with the choices our government is making these days and the behavior of the lawmakers and other politicians. This whole bailout plan, in my humble opinion, is just a bad idea. Between the government saving the companies who are struggling because they had poor business practices and all of the wasteful earmarks that are included in the bill, I don't think it is going to help our economy the way everyone thinks it is. I think this is the first election I've voted in that I don't know who to vote for and am seriously considering not voting at all. I just don't' know if I trust any politicians right now, republican or democrat, because they all seem to be making bad choices right now. And the local propositions and measures are just ridiculous. We don't want to allow gay marriages, but we want to allow 16 year-old girls to be able to have abortions without notifying their parents? Something is seriously wrong with our society and it's priorities.

I'll probably add more to this later, but right now I'm just tired, so should probably try to get some sleep as the kids will be up much too early. Good night (or should I say morning) and have a great day today.

He ate what??

Oh my word.  How do I keep Justin from putting everything...and I mean EVERYTHING, into his mouAth?  Two days ago was quite atrocious.  The kids were playing in the playroom while Anthony, my mom, and I were cooking dinner.  Justin comes into the room crying incessantly, while wiping his mouth.  Anthony was making salsa so I thought he had reached up on the counter and got a jalepeno or something else as equally hot.  However, when I picked him up I could smell that it was something far worse...it was definitely poop!  Ewwww!  So there we were wiping his mouth, brushing his teeth, cleaning out the poor kids mouth, and trying to figure out where it came from.  At first we thought the dog must have had an accident, but we couldn't find anything.  Then, my darling daughter informs us that, "My poop fell out of my diaper and Justin ate it."  Thanks Alexis for solving the mystery.  It would have been funny if it hadn't been so totally disgusting.  I'm still completely grossed out by the thought.  The most hilarious moment though came after dinner when we were eating chocolate covered mini marshmellows.  We gave one to Justin and he threw it and ran the other way.  Guess it didn't look so tasty.  Maybe he'll be more selective about what he puts in his mouth.  At least, I hope so.

Adventures in Laundering!

We've now made it through a full week without our washer and dryer. Last week, Anthony took some laundry to the laundromat to get us through the week, so this week I decided to do it. Anthony insisted on going too, so we packed up our laundry baskets and headed for the local laundromat. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of a laundromat, I highly recommend that you try it at least once. It was definitely an experience that made me truly appreciate having my own washer and dryer. The laundromat we chose is called BJ's and is a short 2 or 3 minute drive from our house. It sits on the corner of two busy streets, next to a gas station/convenient store/liquor store. Why is it that all laundromats are next to liquor stores? Does someone assume that the only people who need laundromats are alcoholics? When we first arrived there were no other patrons in the building. The first thing I noticed was the sign that read: 24 hour video surveillance. Which I promptly spent the next 3 hours trying to locate to no avail. Time to start washing. We got some change and began to work on the task at hand. Anthony brought in the baskets and I started the stain treating the kids' clothing and separating them into 3 individual machines: lights, darks, & whites. Anthony filled a 3 load machine with towels and then 3 more machines with dirty laundry. While we were putting our clothes in the washing machines and shifty looking young man came in and set down. No laundry, no soap, no apparent reason for being there. After a few short minutes of looking and watching he asked if we had met a man on a bike earlier. My dear husband told him no and that there had been no one around to which the young man replied, "are you sure?" Yes, we're sure...why would we lie about something like that to a complete stranger anyway? Why is it that there are so many bizarre people that hang out in laundromats? I really thought this one would be different than some of the ones that you see in the not-so nice areas of town. We're talking about a main street, lots of traffic, lots of normal people. Not to mention the fact that there were no restrooms or anything that might encourage less than desirable behaviors. Oh well, I guess I was wrong and now I completely understood why Anthony did not want me to come by myself. Anyway, back to the laundry. Now came the waiting. Thirty minutes of pure hell! Honestly, it wasn't really that bad. A couple of people came in with their laundry. The shifty little man left. We talked and paced and waited. We watched a very interesting interaction between two men that strongly resembled a drug deal that you would see in a movie, though I don't really know what was going on as I averted my eyes, afraid I might see more than I bargained for. As our clothing finished their wash cycles we put them in the dryer. When they finished drying we folded them and put them into baskets. After not quite three hours, we were ready to go home with nice, clean laundry. After all was said and done and despite the creepy people, expensive washers and dryers, and having to share the facilities with other people, I must say there are some serious advantages to washing clothes at the laundromat. 1) Getting to use someone else's PG&E. Of course because of the pricey washers and dryers that cost 25 cents for 9 minutes, it might even itself out. 2) No wear and tear on your home washer and dryer. Of course, who knows what has been in the public appliances, so not a real big pro after all. 3) If I had done the amount of laundry I did today at home, it would have taken me days! Instead I did about 10 loads in 3 hours. So what I learned is, if you want to save a little time, make that a lot of time, and you can deal with crazies, vagrants, and who knows what else, go to the laundromat. As for me, I can't wait to get my washer and dryer fixed because I'd much rather spend a week doing laundry than dealing with that mess.

Colds, Children, and Crazies.

Colds & Children
Has anyone missed me? If you have, it's because the kids and I all came down with our first cold of the season and it has been miserable. God bless my babies though. They are always such little troopers, even when they are sick. They may be a little more whiny and may sleep a little more, but overall they have been really good through the endless sneezing and coughing and snotting and nose wiping. Alexis has a tendency to lose her appetite when she's sick, though she still runs and plays until she passes out. Justin, my little walking garbage disposal, never seems to lose his appetite at all. The only time I've seen him not eat was when he had strep throat, and even then he tried to eat, but then cried when he swallowed. Night time is pretty rough, at least it is for me and Justin. (Alexis can and does sleep through anything) He's been so congested that he wakes up crying every hour or so because he can't breathe. My solution: Just let him sleep in my bed. I know, we worked so hard to get him out of our bed that it seems like such a waste to start the horrible habit all over again. Honestly, I'm just too sick and too tired to get out of bed every hour. At least if he's laying next to me, I can hug him and cuddle him and he just goes back to sleep. He slept all night last night though, so I'm thinking tonight he will go back to his own bed in his own room. Hopefully, three nights in my bed didn't ruin my good sleeper. As you might guess, I don't seem to do as well as the kids when I'm sick. While they are so full of energy, I just want to lay down and die. Was there ever a time that even being sick didn't keep me down? I can't remember. Kids must be much more resiliant than adults. I don't know how I'd get by without my mom. She has been so helpful the past week and also given me the opportunity to get some rest. Two days of antibiotics for this horrendous sinus infection, so hopefully, I'll start feeling better soon. I think Alexis and Justin are almost over it, so maybe life can go back to normal next week.

Crazies
What the heck are people thinking when they decided to have a baby or "accidentally" have a baby? Don't get me wrong. I understand that "accidents" happen, but when one is in certain situations, wouldn't it makes since for them to be extra careful? Okay, so here's the situation. A(male) and A(female) have numerous issues going on in their lives. A(m) is an alcoholic. He has been in a couple of different rehabs, was arrested a couple of times, including once when he plead guilty to felony child abuse, and is having alcohol related health problems. A(f) has some severe mental health issues and was in a mental hospital where she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. At one point she was asking A(m) to kill their three children in order to save them from the Catholic church. A(f) claims it was simply a nervous breakdown caused by A(m)'s alcoholism and the fact that she was having to take care of all three of their children without any help. In addition, both A(m) and A(f) are compulsive liars and master manipulators. Their marriage has been very unstable as has their living arrangements. They lived with A(f)'s sister for awhile and just recently moved into their own place. The youngest of their 3 children, D, is 6 years old and still wears a diaper. This family has some serious issues which I could write all day on and only begin to scratch the surface. Which brings us to last weekend when A(f) announced that she was pregnant? WHAT??? Are you serious? I hope she didn't expect me to congratulate her because honestly, this is crazy! She can't care for the children she already has, let alone care for a newborn. She keeps saying that this baby will change A(m) and will make him more responsible and make him want to stop drinking. She is also 100 percent positive (at 10 weeks pregnant) that she is having a boy. A(f) and A(m) have three girls, though A(m) has a son that he isn't involved with from a previous relationship. Apparently a boy baby will make everything better. I guess the children he has now just aren't enough to make him get his act together, but one more will be all of the difference. This whole situation is making me crazy. I fear for their 3 girls because now A(f) is off of her psych meds while not under the care of a physician and because I remember how moody I was when I was pregnant, and I was somewhat normal. I also wonder what will become of this baby if it isn't a boy. She is so determined that it will be a boy, will she lose it if it isnt? A(f) willing admits that they weren't really ready to have another child, but that they weren't trying to prevent it either. What on earth were they thinking? Yes, babies are cute and cuddly, but they also require a great deal of responsibility, responsibility that this family has already shown to be lacking. Come on people. If things aren't working in life, a relationship, whatever, a baby is not going to fix it. It's just gonna make things a lot more difficult and give you one more person whose life you can screw up. I just pray that God will take care of them and their children and that they will get they're act together before this child is born.

Can't I Just Get a Break???

Okay, so the stacked up laundry will have to wait. I had a blanket come apart in my washing machine and clogged up the drain. Even worse, I didn't realize what was going on until after I put the clothes in the dryer and my dryer is all clogged up with blanket pieces too! Ugh. Just when you think things are looking up. I can't get a repair guy out until next week, so looks like the laundrymat for me. GRRRR!!

So many things to do...so little time.

Wow! I am so terrible at keeping up with this blog thing. It seems that late night is my only time to myself, so I guess sleep will have to wait and I'll spend all night typing instead.

So today we added a member to our family. Meet Bella. Bella is a six week old Saint Bernard. We always knew we would get a dog eventually, but planned to wait until the kids were a little older. Well, I can be very impulsive sometimes (okay a lot of the time) and yesterday I got a wild hair and decided I wanted to get a puppy NOW! God bless my husband for putting up with me. I made an appointment with a local breeder to go check out their dogs without even asking him and he dutifully went along for the ride today. After about an hour and many questions, Anthony, Alexis, and I picked out a lovely little girl whom we immediately named Isabella; Bella for short. We promptly took her to Petco to buy all of the necessities: a collar, a name tag, food, dog bowls, and of course toys and also decided to have her groomed while we were at it. Anthony hated the little purple bow, but I thought it was pretty sweet and she didn't seem to mind that much. So far she has far exceeded my expectations. She is wonderful with Alexis and Justin. I never imagined that a puppy would be so tolerant of an excited 2 year-old and a curious 1 year-old. Nevertheless, Bella has allowed Justin to pet her and kiss her incessantly and allowed Alexis to carry her all over the place. Enjoy it now, Alexis, because before long this puppy is going to grow into an extremely large puppy and carrying her will no longer be an option, though she'll probably be able to carry you. Potty training is already going great as well. No accidents thus far (knock on wood) and I will consider myself very fortunate if tomorrow goes just as well. I've always heard that Saint Bernards are very smart dogs and as such, easy to train. We'll take it day by day and see how it goes. Tomorrow I have to call the vet to make an appointment for her shots to make sure she stays a happy, healthy puppy. The happiness and joy that I see in the faces of my babies has made me absolutely positive that I've made the right choice in getting a puppy. Though I know that it will bring a lot more work in the coming weeks, I am completely and totally satisfied as I gaze at Alexis and Bella cuddled together in Alexis's bed.

Tomorrow will be an extremely busy day. I am so far behind on laundry that my bathroom is starting to look like a laundrymat. Laundry is definitely not one of my favorite things. I don't really mind loading the washer and dryer...it's the putting it away. How on earth does my family go through so many clothes in one week? In addition to laundry and vet visits, I need to pick up the kids toys because my house looks like the toy boxes exploded in every room of the house. Oh how I wish I could afford a maid. Maybe one day after I finish grad school. One more thing to add to my to do list. I really need to get my application finished and mail out my letters of recommendations so my past professors can fill them out. If only there were 2 or 3 of me, I might be able to keep up with the many tasks in my daily life.

Well, after 2 years and 2 babies, I have finally decided it was time to take off my leftover baby weight. So far I have lost 4 pounds this week and am feeling pretty good about it. I still have a long way to go, but I have been eating so much healthier this week and actually getting some exercise as well. Not only have I lost a little weight, but I also have more energy which has been really nice. It hasn't only been good for me, but it's been good for the whole family because I'm planning our meals better and giving them healthier options as well. Wish us luck as we try to become a healthier family. Pre-pregnancy weight...HERE I COME!

The Greatest Fear of All

Many parents will tell you that their greatest fear is something happening to their child. Until today, I had no idea what that fear would actually feel like. I will never forget the feeling in the pit of my stomach when I realized that Alexis was not in the house and that the front door was not closed. Words cannot explain the pain, the anguish, the helplessness, and oh yes...the fear. Not just a normal fear like the fear when one says, "I am afraid of dogs." It went much deeper and ran much colder. My head was spinning and I couldn't breath. I heard her name coming from my lips, but it was so surreal, almost like someone else's voice was coming out of my mouth. For a brief moment I experienced complete and utter despair. In that moment I imagined every horrible possible outcome and thought that I would never see her again. I don't even remember dialing 9-1-1, but I know I did. I remember telling the operator that my 2 year-old was missing and then struggling to describe her and what she was wearing. Relief came when she told me they had found my baby girl and that she was okay. It was not complete relief yet. That didn't come until the moment I saw my beloved husband coming down the street with our little girl held tight in his arms. I cannot imagine how I would have survived had God not brought her home safely to us. I am so thankful that he saw fit to return her to us. I am also thankful for our neighbors and my brother-in-law who helped us look for her and for the couple who saw our little angel 4 blocks from home and kept her safe until we could get to her. I think of the many parents who must face the reality that their children are not coming home and my heart breaks for them.

Why blog?

Sometimes life gets so busy, that we forget to enjoy the little things in life. I've decided that blogging will be a wonderful opportunity for me to stop and reflect on the daily happenings in my life as well as give me something to look back on so that I can remember what this period of my life was like and what it was like having two small children. I am not a writer and my grammar and spelling is horrible, so if you are looking for something that is witty, entertaining, and also properly written, you might want to consider looking elsewhere. However, if you are wondering who I really am and what I really think, this is the place for you.