Cruisin' for a Bruisin'

Well, I am back at work. It is nice to be back where it is relatively quiet.

We had a lovely trip. It was so nice to get to do something like this with the kids. Even though Delilah won't remember it, Evan certainly will. Mind like a steel trap, that one. So the trip...

Friday:
We packed everything and everyone up and headed to the airport. Upon arriving at the airport, James found out that one of his friends was on duty. So we got a police and police dog escort to our gate. Made security a lot easier :) The flight out there wasn't too bad. Evan watched TV and Delilah napped twice. She fussed quite a bit before falling asleep, but she slept. Once we landed, we went to the Nickelodeon Family Suites and checked into our SpongeBob suite. Evan's room had SpongeBob on the wall and bunk beds. He wanted to sleep on the top bunk (because the bottom one was "itchy"). I had my doubts, but he did it and didn't fall or anything. James took Evan swimming while I put Delilah down in her pack and play. Then we put Evan to bed and James and I got to watch some How I Met Your Mother on the DVD player.

Saturday:
We got up early and started our day at the theme parks. Jen, Jose and Jasmine met us at our hotel to give us their parking pass so that we wouldn't have to pay for parking. We headed off to Magic Kingdom and went straight to the kiddie rides. We rode Dumbo, It's a Small World, watched a 3D show, and rode Snow White (man, that sounds little dirty.). Delilah finally fell asleep after fighting it for hours, so I held her while Jen and I rode a little ride around Tomorrow Land. Then Jen and Jose watched Delilah in her stroller sleeping while James, Evan, and I went to ride on Pirates. That pretty much concluded our day at Magic Kingdom. I think it was about 2 by then. We went back to our hotel and had the kids nap before heading out to Epcot. It was the Food and Wine Festival and we were supposed to be going from booth to booth eating around the world. Unfortunately, everyone else in Orlando had the same idea. It was nearly impossible to push the stroller through the crowd. And we were all hungry, so eventually we just called it. Jen and Jose found us a place to eat off the beaten path and then we went back to the hotel.

Sunday:
We got up early to go to the character breakfast at the Nick hotel. Evan got to meet SpongeBob. He was so excited that he was holding his crotch. I don't know if it was like a puppy who was so excited that he was going to pee, or if he was really excited. We also got to meet Dora, Cosmo, and Ming Ming. Evan was in heaven. Then we got everything packed up and headed to Cape Canaveral. The check in process was pretty easy, but time consuming. Once on the ship, we went straight to lunch, but we had to drag along our carry on and the stroller and keep Evan from running out in front of people. That was pretty stressful. Our room was ready by 1:30. We got in there and it was SO.SMALL. I was freaking out a little bit. But I started to calm myself by getting everything in order. I used Jen's suggestion and put a over the door shoe organizer on the bathroom door and used it to store all the random crap that would be all over the room. I unpacked our suitcases and stored them in random places. I did all this while Delilah napped. We had the lifeboat drill at 4 and we got Evan all decked out in his lifevest. I told him, "This is for if there is trouble on the boat and we have to go in the water..this vest will help you float in the ocean." He said, "Um, can we do that later?" LOL. Dinner was at 5:45 and was pretty good. Delilah was pretty tired though and I had to bail early to get her to bed. She just slept in our bed. It was easier than using the pack and play that took up most of the room. I just would draw the curtains and we would stay on the other side of the curtain. I took Evan swimming at night. He had so much fun playing Monster and Doggy with me. I had to drag him into the water over and over.

Monday: Nassau. We woke up in port at Nassau. We took the kids to the breakfast buffet first thing and ate outside on the top deck. Beautiful! I went back to the room to put Delilah down for a nap. Sometimes while D was napping, Evan would just hang out in the room with us. Luckily the tv had Disney movies playing 24/7. Easy entertainment. Once she woke up, we got everything together to get off the ship. We went down into the tourist area of Nassau. It wasn't anything spectacular. It was pretty Mexico-ish. We walked around for a bit...but it was already getting too hot to function. There are tons of "excursions" that you can sign up for around the island, but with the kids, it is difficult to do any of that right now. So we went back to the ship and I put Delilah down for a nap and I believe James took Evan to the kids' club. After Delilah's nap, she went to the nursery and James and I got to spend some time at the adult pool. Relaxing and drinking. We picked up the kids and started getting ready for our dinner. Dinner was exciting because it was at the super nice restaurant Palo. We had reservations with Jen and Jose. We took the kids to their respective clubs and headed up for dinner. It was delicious. So much good food. It took about 2 hours for dinner to be finished. Dining with Jen and Jose sans kids hasn't happened for about 3 years or so, so it was really nice. And I want to take this time to thank them both for all that they did for us...getting us on the trip and planning it and helping us out on the ground. After dinner I think that James took Evan to a late movie... while I stayed with Delilah. A memorable moment from this day was that Delilah fell off our bed. :( I turned to get a diaper and off she went. Poor baby.

Tuesday: Castaway Cay.
Castaway Cay is Disney's private island. It was very pretty. Once we woke up and got breakfast at the buffet and gave Delilah a nap, we left the ship. It was a pretty long and HOT walk to the beach. We got some nice chairs in the shade and headed off to the ocean. It was very pretty and warm in the water. Delilah enjoyed eating some sand and splashing in the water. James took Evan deeper into the water. When D got hungry we headed up to the shade. Evan came to the shade eventually and built some sand castles (thanks to Jen again!). At lunch time, we packed up our stuff and went to the dining area on the island and got some food. We began the long walk back to the ship and then put the baby down for a nap. We were planning to take Evan to the kids' club and D to the nursery, but the kids' club on the boat was closed (moved to the island for the day)...so we sadly, didn't get our adults-only time that day. Instead, we went to a lower deck where there is a breeze and shade and James read and I knit while Evan played with his trains. We had our dinner with Jen, Jose, and Jasmine... and our other tablemates, Aaron, Suzanne, and their girls, Emma and Amber. After dinner, I took Evan to see the Toy Story the Musical show. It was really good.

Wednesday: Day at Sea.
We were barely moving on the water... very little waves. We started the day by a quick breakfast at a counter because I was supposed to go get my massage with Jen. It was a super nice massage. Very relaxing. Afterwards, James and I were supposed to go to a brunch with the Js at that nice restaurant again, but we decided to instead just relax. So that is what we did while the kids were at their clubs. I wanted to see Up in 3D with Evan, but the little turd decided 15 minutes in that he did not want to do that. :( We also took the kids swimming that afternoon. Well, Evan got to swim. Delilah got to splash in the milimeter of water that non-potty trained kids are allowed in. We had our last dinner with our tablemates and James took Evan to a show while I packed our bags. We had to have our bags taken by the stewards before 11 pm.

Thursday: Disembark
We got up super early to get to breakfast at 6:45. Right after breakfast we had to get off the ship. We got back to our rental car and then drove the hour back to Orlando. Once there, we tried to check into our hotel, but the room wasn't ready yet. So, our family and the Js met at Animal Kingdom. We went to the Lion King show first (where Delilah fell asleep in the bjorn and slept for about an hour like that). Then we went on the Safari ride. It was a big jeep that drove around and looked at the animals. It really looked like I imagine Africa to look like... Evan liked that. He wanted to go again. After that we went to lunch and the Js departed. We walked over to Dyno-land and rode a dinosaur ride. Evan had a terrible meltdown regarding wanting a $17 water sprayer/fan thing...so we headed out. We went to Jen and Jose's room for a little while because our room STILL wasn't ready. When it was, we checked into our room and put Delilah down for a nap. Once she was awake, we set off to Hollywood Studios. This is where Evan got to meet Lightning McQueen and Mater. That is really all we did there. After that we went back the hotel.

Friday: 'Cation is over.
We woke up early to go to the pool. It is the best time because then I don't have to worry about sunburns all around. Delilah really liked splashing in the pool and Evan liked playing "Alligator" with James. Then we had to go pack up and check out of our room. We spent a few hours in Jen and Jose's room with them waiting until it was time to leave for the airport. That plane ride was the worst. Evan didn't sleep. Delilah slept for about 30 minutes before Evan bopped her with a toy and she woke up. We spent about 3 hours trying every trick in the book to keep her from crying. As we were landing, Evan said loudly, "Mommy, 'Cation is over. But that's ok, we will go again someday." The airport was a mess. I sent James ahead to go get our car because it snowed (a lot) while we gone and the kids didn't have the proper shoes or coats for that. So I had to try to get 3 suitcases and 2 car seats on a dolly, while I had Delilah on my front and a stroller over my shoulder...all the while Evan is SCREAMING that his legs are broken and that he wants to ride in the stroller. It was about an hour all told, but it felt much longer. A police officer came over to tell Evan to stop screaming like a girl ( :( ) and to reprimand me for having the kids out in the cold. Fitting, I guess, that our trip began and ended with a cop. The kids passed out in the car and that's was it.

One of the highlights for me was teaching Evan to play Go Fish on the Cars cards that Jen got him. He really enjoyed playing the game with James and me. It was some great memories. I hope Evan will remember it always. I will.

Halloween will have to be a post for another day. :)


Meeting SpongeBob

In the SpongeBob bedroom



Evan is DONE

Meeting Lightning McQueen

Doing the Life Boat Drill

Morning on the cruise ship



Delilah and her new baby



At the beach:


In Nassau

Always Watching

After Evan went to bed, I was carrying on a conversation with James downstairs and I hear Evan's little voice in stereo--over the monitor and coming from his open door upstairs. "MOMMY, DON'T SAY 'SHIT!'" I said, "Evan James! What did you say?!" He said, "I didn't say it. You said it. You said, 'Shit.'" I may have. I don't even recall. I thought I was off-duty, dammit. LOL. So I had to go upstairs and explain that sometimes grownups say things they don't mean.

Quite apparent that he is always watching, always listening. Even when I think he isn't.

Paging Dr. Evan

I have a few minutes (17 to be precise) before I need to leave work. We had a nice weekend. Friday, we went to dinner with David and Linda. Even though we had to wait forever for dinner, the kids were pretty well behaved. Saturday, my folks came up to the area for a wedding. They spent the day prior to the wedding at our house. It isn't often that both of my folks get to come...so it was a rare treat. I think the kids had fun...and I enjoyed seeing mom and dad. Delilah is really starting to scoot around on her belly. Not quite crawling...more like army crawling. She gets around ok so far. Not too long and we will be in trouble!

Sunday morning, Evan insisted that I get into bed and that he would check me out with his doctor bag. So first, he looked in my mouth and ears (with the otoscope)...saying "cool." after each procedure. Then he listened to my "tummy" with his stethoscope. Then he took my temperature. I asked him what it said and he said, "It says you are sick. Sorry mommy." He gave me some medicine (using the syringe toy) and packed his bag up. He said, "I am going on 'cation. I will see you on Thursday or Friday. Stay in bed." He headed downstairs, waving. About 2 minutes later, he came back upstairs saying, "it's Friday!" and ready to check me again. So we went through all the exact same administrations again. This time he looked in my ears and said, "Your tubes are out." (Wonder where he heard that? LOL.) He again had to give me some medicine for my fever ("it's not down."). This time as he was leaving, he reminded me to eat some apples. We repeated this at least two more times. It was pretty fun. Quite the imagination. (And much more fun for me than playing with the trains....you only get the one train to play with and you have to follow his instructions).

If you can't tell, we have all been sick around here. First Evan, then Delilah (Doctors diagnosed her with the flu and an ear infection), then me. Mostly well now. Hope we stay that way thru next week. We leave Friday for our big cruise! Looking forward to it :)

Negligent

I have been neglecting this blog. I really do enjoy writing in this...but sometimes it is hard to keep up.

We have been dealing with some sick kiddos. Evan has had a fever, cough, and vomiting this week. Delilah woke up with a pretty nasty cold this morning. Poor thing can't have a solid week of being well. This is shaping up to be a really fun winter with all the cold and flu out there. I have been taking sick leave left and right. I probably won't have any left when I need it for myself.

I spent a day home with Evan when he was sick and I think that he really enjoyed himself. I had to work, but I took breaks every so often to play trains or cuddle on the couch. We watched Tarzan, went to lunch. It was a nice sick day for him. We rarely get time--just me and him. When I located something for him, he said, "Great, mommy! You're a genius!" LOL. I love it.

He went to school on Wednesday and when I went to pick him up, he wasn't in his classroom. After a moment of panic, his teachers said, "Is he in karate?" (an instructor comes on Wed. for kids that pay extra). I said, "No." They said, "Well, he said he was." I said, "He doesn't even know what karate is." LOL. So Evan was in the gym having a free karate lesson. He seemed to be enjoying himself, but when he saw me, he ran to me and said, "Mommy, I am going to throw up." And he did. Poor kiddo. But I still am giggling at the free karate lesson. Seriously, you are going to believe a 3 year old? The same kid who told everyone he was from China? Ok.

As you can see from my ticker, we are only 14 days away from our Disney vacation. I am looking forward to some beachy weather and having some fun with the kids. Only getting mild hives thinking about the 4 hour plane ride.

I was hoping to be closer to my goal weight by now, but shit happens. I will still enjoy my fat ass on the beach. It isn't like I was going to wear a bikini anyway.

Here are some pictures to make up for my absence.

Twitchy

Talking about my eye. When I am unrested, my eyelids start twitching. I remember when I was opening Burger King, it would happen frequently. I would say to Aimee, "It's doing it again, can you see it?!" She never could.

Anyhow, my eye is twitching. I have been up at varying hours of 2, 3, or 4 am for the past week or so. Delilah is trying to kill me.

Things have been pretty busy here. Thankfully, they should start slowing down now. On Friday, James was in a wedding for one of his work friends. So I met him at the DU chapel for the wedding and reception. Although, I pretty much attended by myself because he was performing his wedding duties and then sitting at the head table. I got to sit next to some interesting oversharers. Always entertaining. The wedding was beautiful and very well planned.

Saturday morning we took Evan to his swim lesson. He is doing really good. I think he has a lot of fun. They are still covering the basics like putting their faces in water. And "ice cream scoop hands"--which is basically your standard hand motion of arm extending out in front of you and then behind your back and up past your ear, etc. Evan thinks that it is more like arms out to your sides and flap like a bird. And he really thinks he is doing it correctly. It makes me laugh every time.

Saturday afternoon, I took Evan with me to run some errands. I think he enjoyed the time with me alone. We went to the Mall and to the Disney store. He bought some jammies and a shirt he can color on. We also went to Panera for some lunch.

I finally got my birthday bike and went for a quick ride that night. Evan "fixed" my bike with his toy hammer.

Sunday, James and I got up early to take Evan to pick up his BFF Chase to go to the Day out with Thomas the Train. Chase and Evan were very LOUD together. Evan would yell, "Babyhead!" and then Chase would yell, "Babyhead!" They would just feed off of each other. They seemed to enjoy the time together and doing the activities. Like the train ride and playing with the train tables. We really didn't stay there all that long. We left there at about 11:30 to drop Chase back off at home.

The rest of the day I spent playing catch up with all the household crap that has to be done...groceries, etc.

Here's hoping that tonight's sleep goes better. I am losing brain cells.

Nap Needed

It was a great weekend. Saturday night was my Dirty Thirty birthday party. I really had a lot of fun. James, Emily, Madeline, Kala and I started off the night over at Fado's while we waited for Sing Sing to open. It started off innocently enough.
But people kept buying me shots and I got up on stage a couple of times. I had a ton of fun!
I think about 15 people were there for my party. Pretty darn hungover the next day. But worth it. Some of my favorite pictures:

Yesterday was our 6 year anniversary. We got to go to a movie together. We saw (500) Days of Summer. It was pretty good. Kind of a downer...but a great movie. We also got to go to dinner together. It was nice.

This morning was Delilah's surgery for her ear tubes. She got to last eat at about 3:00 am. I woke her to eat. But then the silly would not go back to sleep. We left the house at 5:30 am. We were the first surgery of the day. Delilah was a little tired and hungry so she was just a bit cranky. But overall, she was better behaved than Evan was prior to both of his surgeries. The surgery itself was uneventful. They came and took her from us and that was hard to see her go down the hall without us. But she was the belle of the ball there. Everyone loved her. They came to get us after about 15 minutes. The doctor said that she was glad we did the surgery now because there was thick fluid built up behind her ears. Her hearing should now improve greatly. When we joined her in recovery, she was crying inconsolably. Poor baby. She was all disgruntled and couldn't get herself together. She probably cried for 20 minutes before she calmed down enough for a bottle. She was watching her hands move too....I think she was seeing things. She is doing well now.

Wise Beyond His Years

Evan fell out of bed during nap and has generally been having a rough afternoon. So, I had him lay down on our bed and I gave him a nice long snuggle. He started playing around and said, "I have a black eye." (there is an episode of SpongeBob where he gets a black eye.) I said, "Let me kiss it and make it better," and planted a kiss on his eye. I said, "Is it better?" He said, very seriously, "No, sometimes a kiss doesn't work."

He's Right!

This morning, my boy said to me, "Mom, sometimes parents are wrong." I had to laugh. And I asked him who told him that. He said no one, that he thought of it himself. LOL. Then when I was laughing, he told me it was a joke.

I am back at work after a nice long weekend. I was sick for most of it, but am feeling better now. With a chapped nose.

Saturday morning, Evan, Delilah, and I packed up all of our stuff and headed out for my folks' place. We stopped in Castle Rock to pick up Emily. Sweet Delilah slept almost the whole way there. I think she woke up in Florence. Evan usually watches movies the whole way there...but I guess he is bored with Cars now because he asked that it be turned off after about an hour.

When we got to my folks' house, Madeline was already there too. Mom made us some grilled cheese sandwiches (YUM!). We had a little excitement there when we noticed a fire on the mountain behind my folks' place.

Evan helped us keep an eye on it with some binoculars, while my mom and I caught up and Delilah napped.

My Grandma and her husband, Bill, came over for dinner that night. We had lasagna and a roast and garlic bread. Fantastic (I tell you, there is nothing like Mom's cooking!). My dad was given a pinata for his going away party (he got a new job after 20 years at the old one)...so they wanted to crack the pinata for my birthday. Evan started first. Then I got to try. I beat the shit out of that pinata. LOL.

Evan was in heaven when I broke it in a couple of swings.

I felt really bad that no one else had an opportunity to play! We came back in the house for some ice cream cake. I caught my dad giving Delilah some chocolate ice cream and gave him some business. The little ingrate loved the chocolate ice cream. Evan went to bed pretty early because he had a busy day doing chores, chasing Rooster (one of the dogs), and playing with his toys. Delilah went to sleep after some fussing and slept pretty well. I did not sleep so well. I was miserable with my cold.

The next morning we woke up and started packing up again. Before we left we ate some Mexican Trout (cheese stuffed chile peppers battered in corn meal and fried) and spent some quality time with the folks.

It was really nice to be surrounded by people who love me this weekend. It was such a fun time.

A Healthy Self Esteem

Yes, he is saying, "Mommy, my penis is big." And, yes he is referring to the puzzle he is holding to his crotch. Just another hilarious day.

I also had to laugh when Evan got mad at me for making him go to the bathroom prior to starting a movie. He called me an "old man." I did laugh. And he saw me. But it was new and original compared to "baby head." LMAO.

I am home early today because Delilah was not feeling well. She was crying nonstop at daycare. The dr. wants her to stay on antibiotics until the surgery. Tomorrow is her pre-surgery appointment.

And a picture of my girl for good measure:

Waiting.

As many of you know, I have a thing about punctuality. I am almost always on time. Usually early (except to work...how does that happen?). Comcast gave me a window of 1 - 3 that they would be here...with a call 30 minutes ahead of time. Well, we are now 20 minutes before the window is over. And I am going to have to go get the kids in a bit. Oh well. They are a bad company.

Last night I was up too late waiting for them to call me back. They finally called at 9:40! Evan was still awake then. Not sure why he was up so late in his room. He called me in to wipe him at about 9:15. I said, "What are you still doing up?" "I hungry, mama." Yes, well that is because you never eat what I make for dinner. I got him a cheese stick and he told me that the moon was broken. He showed me out his window where the moon is either waxing or waning.

My baby girl is always so tired when she gets home from school that it is pretty much straight to bed. I miss getting to play with her. I guess that is what the weekends are for. Anyhow, back to waiting....

We got Delilah's ear tube surgery scheduled for September 14th. I guess they thought it was serious enough to push it right along. I will be glad to give her some relief. Poor baby. She was up 4 times last night. I am a walking zombie. The only thing that keeps me going is Diet Coke.

September is shaping up to be a CRAZY month. Blink 182 concert. Evan is starting some swimming lessons soon. My 30th birthday. Our 6 year anniversary. James is in a wedding. We have Day out with Thomas the Train (and Evan's bff, Chase!). Evan's MRI.... Yowza.

I just keep making tons of lists to remember everything.

Evan, Delilah, and I are headed to my folks' house this weekend. It will be Delilah's first trip there and her first night away from home. I hope she does well. Emily is riding with us to help me out...and we will meet Madeline there. I hope it is fun weekend and my kiddos aren't too weirded out by change. Evan is excited about playing with "his" truck.

I am sitting outside with the laptop while the cleaning ladies clean my house. I am working from home today. This is the life! It is nice and cool out here. The only downside is the glare on the computer screen.

I took Delilah to the ENT today. Poor baby has thick fluid behind her eardrum. She is getting little movement of the eardrum...so that means she is probably hearing like she is underwater. Poor kiddo. The doctor did recommend that she get tubes sooner than later. If this were the winter with all her ear infections, the doc would recommend to wait out the summer. But since she got this many in the winter....waiting would only prolong the inevitable. Plus, she just isn't gaining the way she should. Poor Peanut!

I still haven't been able to go back to running. My knees are still bothering me. I think I further pissed them off today when the cleaning ladies showed up while I was peeing upstairs and I tried to run down to the door. Not good.

yay me!

I lost 2 pounds this week. I finally cracked the 130s. I did this without even running this week because my knees have been in so much pain. 138.8 feels good :)

Sigh. Friday. I am happy you are here. I wish you would go by quickly. I want to get to the weekend. Although, I don't have anything exciting planned. Last quiet weekend before the madness of September.

Last night, Emily came over to help me out for the evening. We were giving Evan a bath and chatting him up in the process. We were talking to him about what he wanted to be when he grew up. Emily asked him, "Do you want to be a doctor when you grow up?" He said, "I'm in the bathtub right now, can we talk about this later?" LOL. I don't know where he comes up with this stuff.

Not a journal

I have been having trouble writing. I think of this as a journal of sorts so that I can remember these times with the kids. I wrote in a journal for years. But clearly, since this is a public forum, not everything can be written about. And lord knows I have trouble only telling part of a story. LOL.

Saturday, Delilah and I made the long trek to Greeley for a baby shower for a college friend, Larissa. It was really nice to see her and I can't wait to meet her little one. Delilah slept the whole way there and the whole way back. And she was super good at the shower.

When I came back, my little sister Madeline, and her boyfriend Brett came over. And then Emily came over too. It was a little while before James and Evan came back from their big day at the children's museum. James grilled up some burgers and we had a nice time with our family.

Sunday, James and I took the kids to the park and the bookstore. Evan had fun tearing around the playground. Delilah had fun being strapped to me in the Moby wrap.

And now it's Wednesday. I ran this weekend, and again on Monday. I am probably going to wait until tomorrow to run again. My knees have been bothering me.

I am working from home today because I think Delilah's ears are bothering her again. So we have a doctor's appointment pretty soon. I will pick her up at daycare and then take her to the doctor. and then hopefully back to daycare again.

Week Has Gone By

I have been busy here at work. Just minor details, but it seems to eat up the whole day.

I ran Monday night and then last night. Last night was brutal because it was so warm. But I did it. Finished Week 1 of the Couch to 5K challenge. So on to Week 2. Last night my hips (not muscles, but the joints) were killing me. I may need to get new running shoes or something. My body is clearly not used to the beating it takes during the run.

Emily came over and made dinner while I was running last night. Really nice to run home and have dinner ready.

The kids are doing well. Delilah is just finishing up her latest antibiotic this weekend and now she has another cold. So I am sure that will mean another ear infection. And I can't seem to get an appointment with the ENT. They will call me when they have one available, they say. :( She is so happy and sweet these days. I feel sad that I miss most of her day while she is at school. By the time I pick her up, she is so tired, she usually goes right to bed. She has been getting up about 3 times a night. But last night was only once! I needed it!

Evan has been doing pretty good. A better week at school this week. We have had some tears. He was telling me that there was a picture of Tyler on the fridge. I said "Where?" He said, "By your boob!" LOL. He has been BIG into puzzles lately. He can put them together pretty quickly. He tried to climb the fridge a couple mornings ago because I put something in time out on top of it. He did pretty good too. Was about half way up when the door opened. He has been having an imaginary Gary (the meowing snail from spongebob) follow him around occasionally. Gary was sitting next to him in the car.

I have a baby shower up in Greeley tomorrow. My first trip up there in quite sometime. Maybe since Christmas 2007? Yowza. Happy showers, Larissa :) I think I am going to bring D. Her longest car trip to date. We will see how that goes. I hope they are serving some alcohol :P

Mondays

Monday is sometimes a safe haven from the work of the weekend. But it still sucks having to come back to work after time off. Especially when I am TIRED. Girlie is waking up at least 3 times a night. I don't know if it is her teeth or her ears or what. But I am TIRED.

Friday, we did the doctor again for Delilah's ears. Poor kiddo. Then Saturday morning, I did my first run. I am going to try to do the Couch to 5K program. The work week is the difficult part. Since most mornings I am on my own, I can't run then. And the evenings are a complete cluster. So we will see how it will get done during the week. Also, on Saturday, Delilah and I went to brunch with some girls from my boards. Erin brought her daughter Lauren. Lauren is clearly in the dressing herself phase. Great outfit. U of M cheerleader outfit, with two different colored knee socks, pink sequined shoes, and a feather in her hair. LOL. Delilah did really good at lunch.

Sunday, we got up early (no choice in that matter thanks to D!) and went to the zoo. It was a lot easier to get to at our old place...now it takes 45 minutes to get there. So, it was our first trip to the zoo as a family of 4. Since we have a membership, there is no pressure, we just meander around and see what we want to see. The only thing Evan really cares about is riding the train. And even that is losing its appeal. Delilah really enjoyed being "held" in the Moby Wrap. She only fussed a bit when she got hungry. We ate some lunch and left by 11:15 when the crowds were arriving. Delilah was asleep before we left the parking lot.

Evan told me this morning that he dreamt that James was getting him some Spongebob fruit snacks. What a dream! LOL. Hopefully, he has a better week at school this week. No peeing in the kiddy pool.

Weight Loss?

There are few things that feel worse than feeling like you did a decent job with dieting the whole week. Going on your first run...like ever. And then GAINING almost 2 pounds. I don't even have a period yet to blame it on. And I certainly felt deprived. There was only one bagel. No chocolate pastries. And my legs focking hurt from my run.

Best Laid Plans

Today is Great Uncle John's funeral. I had planned to take the kids to daycare and then work from home until the funeral. Well, Delilah has a slight fever and they said she was fussy yesterday...so probably her ears. So I took the kids to daycare and could only get a doctor's appointment for right before the funeral. So. All this for not. I feel badly because it is important to go be a part of my family with James. But, Delilah could get worse over the weekend again. Can't plan around these kids.

Evan saw some kids playing basketball on the way home and said, "Look at those basketball poops." LOL. What an interesting world he lives in. He gets to have a splash day today at daycare. I don't know how much fun that will be without grass to play in, but whatever.

Looooong day here again at work. We are at the point in our process where we get comments back from the agency and have to respond to them. Luckily, the comments were not showstoppers. But it has been a long day, nonetheless.

Last night, James suggested pizza so I wouldn't have to cook. I counter-suggested Subway because of my diet. Evan piped up, "I want Subway! I want to eat fresh!" Ok, clearly we are in need of an intervention from Nickelodeon. I wonder what he thinks "fresh" is because he kept wanting to eat it all evening long.

This morning, Evan told me about a dream he had about Sponge Bob in the water. It was scary. And he told me, "You need to get your boy a snack." LMAO. A laugh a minute, that one.

Emily is coming over for dinner tonight, I think. I don't know what we will make, but I bet it will be yummy!

James' Great Uncle John died this morning (or maybe it was last night...not sure on the details). He was 97. What a long life! He was sick this past week and in the hospital. David and Linda had just moved him to a nursing home/hospice care yesterday. I guess it was just too much for him. Poor guy. We will miss him at the holidays.

This morning, I asked Evan to go check to see if Daisy had water. She needed more, so while I was filling it up, Evan was telling me, "Dogs drink water. They don't drink milk, or juice, or pepper." I said to him, "What's "pepper?" He said, confirming what I thought he was saying, "What my cousins drink." Dr. Pepper...the choice of Ella and Molly.

The heat is on in my building. Seriously. It is in the 80s, and I can feel hot air coming out of my vent. I don't know what they are going to have to do to get the stupid HVAC stuff fixed in this building.

I went out to lunch at Hapa for a coworker's birthday today. I got the chicken katsu...so yummy. But all the veggies are punishing me now..........

7 o'clock and all's well....

I am relaxing and watching Douchebag & Kate plus 8. Guilty pleasure.

Today, Evan started the Preschool 2 class. He is officially potty trained. He still has the occasional accident. He even self-punishes when he slips up by going to get a pair of the super absorbent training pants rather than his favorite Lightning McQueen underwear. Poor kid. He told me this morning that in his new classroom there is a "peter." I said, "A peter?" He said, "No, a PETER!" I said, "A boy named Peter?" "No, a PETER!" I thought about it for a minute and then said, "Oh a computer?" He said, "Yeah, a com-peter. Silly mama." LOL.

This weekend he had another issue with the headache and vomiting. I noted one such issue here back in June, but it has happened once since then too. He woke up from his nap looking really peaked and complaining of pain behind his eyes. He came downstairs and threw up what little he ate for lunch. Since it has happened a few times, I wrote an email to his doctor to see if she thought it was worth seeing him for. A nurse called me today to say that the doctor thinks that it sounds like a migraine, but since he is so young she would like him to be checked out. So, first we have to have an MRI and then a neuro consult at Children's Hospital. The MRI is scheduled at Children's the end of September. Will be loads of fun since he will have to be sedated. :( Hopefully a lot of fuss for nothing. I haven't scheduled the consult yet, but I am sure it will be awhile before we get in.

Miss D is 5 months today. So happy and smiley most of the time. :)

Blurg.

I have a food obsession. I love it. I like to cook it, eat it, love it. What's the point of eating crappy food?

However (comma) I have about 15 extra baby pounds around my middle that need to go away. See that ticker over to the left...yeah, I have about 2 months get get my butt in shape. See the other ticker? It isn't accurate anymore. I gained after my last weekend of debauchery. So, I am going to start again on Sunday. The toughest part for me is breakfast right now. I don't have time to eat at the house. So I almost always am stopping somewhere on the way to work. Once I get to work, I don't feel like I have a lot of time to eat there either. My old standby for breakfast is cereal...and I don't really have time even for that.

My coworker and I said that we would start working out together in the "gym" downstairs. That's Step 1 to working out. (Step 2 is bringing clothes and shoes; Step 3 is making a cardio mix on my iPod....last time I only made it to Step 3).

Evan is with David and Linda, David, and David's girls today (whom Evan calls lovingly, his cousins...or sometimes his "brothers."). They are going to have a full day. I was supposed to be in the office today but made it nearly to work before realizing that Daisy hadn't been let out. So by the time I came back, I didn't have it in me to drive all the way downtown.

Tale of Two Weddings

Hi! It has been awhile. Life has mostly returned to "normal." I have some things to tell you about, but first I want to direct your attention to another blog. Heather Armstrong was one of the first Mommy Bloggers and I love how she captures exactly what I feel. She recently had her second child, med free and tells the hilarious tale here:


http://www.dooce.com/2009/08/04/labor-story-part-three



I just looked and it has been nearly a week since my last post. I haven't had time to sit down...and I have been way too tired to function. So Thursday night was the Rod Stewart concert with my mom and sisters. Late night, drank some.

Friday, I had to get up early and go to work, like any other day. Saturday, I had to rush around like crazy to get all my normal weekend stuff completed. My friends, Nancy and Brian, and their daughter Jenna came over to meet Delilah. And then it was off to Wedding #1. Claire is my work BFF. She looked amazing! The Catholic ceremony was sweet and funny. The reception was super duper nice--open bar. So that was another late night in which I drank too much. Claire is to the left with her maid of honor, her sister. I had a lot of fun with all my work friends at the wedding. I just wish I could have stayed longer. But we had to scoot home around 11 because I had to get on a plane the next morning for Las Vegas and Wedding #2. Wedding #2 was the wedding of my BFF from high school. She was my maid of honor in my wedding. Aimee and Richard wanted to get married before he had to leave for Iraq in a month or so. So, I got up early and had to rush around to pack. I got to the airport around 10 am. My high school friend, Tiffany, made it on my flight and we got to chat the whole flight there (I am sure the people around us loved it). We got into Vegas around 1 and went directly to In-N-Out Burger. For those of you who have experienced In-N-Out, you must. Heaven in a bun. They are only on the West Coast...mostly in CA, but there are a few in Vegas. We also picked up a Double Double for Aimee and made our way to the Stratosphere. Let me pause here to say that it was 109* there. Aimee might as well have gotten married on the face of the sun. Aimee found us in the lobby and we went up to our room to relax and chat. We haven't seen Aimee since our reunion two years ago. She had to leave to go get her hair done at 4 and we were supposed to meet Kristi and Brian. Kristi was another high school friend. She and Brian got married right after high school and are still together :). We met them for a drink in the hotel bar and chatted for awhile until it was time to go get ready for the wedding. Tiffany started to snicker as she hung up her dress next to mine in the closet. We were wearing very nearly the exact same dress for the wedding. It was pretty funny. People thought we were bridesmaids. The ceremony was held in the tower of the Stratosphere right under the revolving restaurant...so you could hear the motor throughout the ceremony. It was short and sweet. It was also really nice to see Aimee's family again. It had been years since I had last seen them as they have been, first, in Italy, then Alabama, and finally Washington. My one complaint is that I wished that we would have been able to spend more time with Aimee and getting to know Richard. After the ceremony and small reception, Tiffany and I went to go gamble for a little while. I lost my $20 in record time and we were off to bed. We had to get up at 6 to make it to the airport. I got to knit all the way home, so I was happy. Today, things are finally starting to slow down. Although, I have plenty to do. The photos above do not belong to me. I am horrible about taking pictures, which is why facebook is such a great invention.

The busyness of life is about to pick up again. I will rest in the fall :P Today, I am taking CPR training to be recertified in CPR and AED. Tonight is the Rod Stewart concert with my ma and sisters. I am more excited about hanging with them than sitting on the (wet) grass at Fiddler's. Saturday evening is my good friend, Claire's wedding. It is going to be a nice party...night time reception with dinner, drinking, and dancing. I think it will be nice. Then Sunday morning I get up and get on a plane to Vegas. Aimee is getting married. I am only staying in Vegas for less than 24 hours...but I fully intend to go to In and Out burger in that time period.

It is nice and cool and rainy...but I hear that the poor folks in the Northwest (who normally dont' have AC) are roasting. 109* in Oregon. Vegas is supposed to be hot too...but that is par for the course.

This morning as we were getting ready to head out the door, Evan put his hands on his hips and smiled at me and said, "Can I have some candy, or what?" Oh lordy did I laugh. Or what? LOL. He did not get some candy. Fruit snacks instead.

The Fascination Begins So Young

James just reported this story from bathtime. Evan has these foam fishes...they have holes in the middle so that you can fish for them using the accompanying fishing pole. Evan says, "Hey Daddy, look at this." James looks over and Evan has his penis through the hole. James says, "That's nice, buddy." A few minutes later, Evan says, "Hey Daddy." James says, "Yes," and looks. Evan has his penis inside one of the cups we have as a water toy, "My penis is hiding from you."

LOL. As soon as the diaper came off permanently, Evan found his new best friend. Be careful, kid. That thing can really get you in trouble.

Holy Moley

Life is always getting in the way of blogging. Yesterday, I went to the dermatologist in the morning. I wanted to get a skin check because of all the weird pregnancy skin things that popped up--including this pink raised mole that appeared during pregnancy. Dr. was concerned and took it off. I guess they will biopsy and get back to me. So I got two stitches on that. It is a little sore. Evan wanted to "touch it a little bit. Little bit, mama." Uh, no.

Yesterday, I also took Miss D to the doctor for another ear infection. So we will be visiting the ENT for her in the near future. Fun.

Today, Evan said two things that you would hope you would never hear your kid say (and you know if *I* am saying that... you really really don't want to hear them say it). First, this morning James and Evan were play fighting. I should also preface by saying that Evan still gets his prepositions confused sometimes...says "shut off" instead of "shut up" and the like. So he was with James and he started to yell, "I am going to beat you off, Daddy." LOL. James asked him to never say that again. LMAO.

Then, later today, I stood up from the couch and he laid down on my seat when I wasn't looking and I accidentally sat on him. He thought that was pretty funny, so he kept laying on my seat and yelling, "Sit on my face, mama! Sit on my face!" Oh the giggles that me, James, and Emily had about that. Of course laughing only encourages him.

James and I got new phones today. Super cool. And they work in the house. Extra special.

My grandma came up to meet Delilah today. That was pretty neat. When I told Evan that it was my grandma, he kept asking if it was Grandma Suzan. So he is totally getting the concept that Suzan and Jerry are my mom and dad.

Anyhow, I suppose I should get to bed. We are taking the kids for pictures tomorrow.

Tick Tock

I am practically sleeping sitting up at my desk. I am TIRED. Last night was a bad one. Delilah got my cold, poor baby. She was up snuffling and coughing. So I eventually went and got her and brought her into my bed. Bad idea. She continued to cough and snuffle, but kept me awake in the process. And she is now getting out of the Miracle Blanket within minutes. Time for duct tape. Good news is that she rolled over last night! First time!

After I finally fell asleep, within an hour or so, Evan woke me crying. I went in there and he was crying, "I can't put on my shirt." I assessed the situation. Yep, he had changed his whole outfit. I asked, "Did you wet your pants?" "Yes." I felt around for them and they were pretty wet. "Did it get on your bed?" "Yes" I felt the bed and it was soaking...a huge spot. He told me, "I cleaned it with water." Yes, folks, he poured water on the bed to clean it up. LOL. So I changed the sheets and went back to bed with the snuffleupagus. 5 am came way too early.

Yesterday, Evan gave me, James, and Emily fits with his description of what they do before they eat at school. *holds hand in a praying position and rocks them back and forth* "Tick tock, tick tock" *holds hands up in the air, victorious!* "Thank you, God!" Ah, assimilation. LOL.

He was also telling me that when Delilah gets bigger and turns into a boy she can play with his toys. He really wouldn't budge on the idea that she was going to be a boy. Hm.

Anyhow, it is Jennifer's birthday today. Happy Birthday to her. I wish I was going to dinner with you tonight! I will make it up to you :)

I swear I am going to try to go to bed soon

Last night I was up tooooo late. We had a bad storm last night that woke me up last night. I have been watching Tori and Dean. I want to like them because they are pretty cute and funny. But I have a hard tme liking them because they both cheated on spouses when they first hooked up. Dean actually had just adopted a baby girl when he left his first wife for Tori. Blech. http://www.laineygossip.com/Tori_Spelling_and_Kevin_Federline_Junior_pose_with_baby_Stella_in_OK_Magazine.aspx
And it was a little weird seeing Tori ask her nanny if it would be ok if her baby girl could have some type of food. Shouldn't she know what is ok for her baby? It is hers. I suppose it is a miracle that Tori is as normal as she is.

Evan just called me up to his room with most pathetic, "Mommy? Mommy?" I went up there and he said, "My toe hurts. I need a band aid." I asked him, "What did you do to it?" He said, "I bit it." Hm. Well, I guess try not to do that anymore. LOL.

Right. Ok. Right after this show is over, I am going to go get ready for bed and then feed the baby. I am on my way.

I found a stack of cards in James' stuff tonight...some were old Christmas cards...one old card from me during our first month of dating (that one is actually quite funny because it details a legendary moment when my little sister almost very nearly died in an amusing way...ask her about it sometime). Then there was another stack of unused correspondence cards. I can only imagine that Linda brought this stuff this weekend. One in particular caught my attention:

"I hope that this is one of those little things...." that what? that make me want to hide in a corner and call for my momma? that make me wish I had never seen the movie IT as a child? that reinforces my fear of clowns? Seriously, this is the stuff of nightmares. You can see the blood in that guys eyes....and around his eyes. And on his hands. WTF?

(the inside actually says "That perks up your day and makes you happy" if you were curious. Uh, no. LMAO).

Semi-Quiet

James just left for work. Both kids are down for bed. Evan just yelled, "Fine!" and then screamed a blood-curdling scream. This made Delilah stir, but it sounds like she is still sleeping.

The kids' days went well. Evan seemed to be having fun there. Although, I suspect he is one of the older ones in his class right now. He will move up when they have determined that he is potty-trained. He did great today with no accidents. He has actually been saying, "I have to pee!" and goes on his own.

When I read to Evan tonight I asked him if he was ready to go back to his new school tomorrow. He nodded yes and then said, "I won't be sad tomorrow." I told him that made me happy. Then he said, "That baby won't scare me anymore." When I was leaving him this morning, this chubby cheeked toddler took a toy out of Evan's hand. He was probably just 2, if that. LOL. That was the scary baby.

I am nursing a cold right now. I feel kind of yucky. Need to go to bed. But I enjoy the solitude so much. I can see why my mom used to get up in the middle of the night to sew.

New Daycare

I dropped the kids off at their new daycare today. Evan was looking pretty worried in the car. He willingly got out of the car and started off into the building (noting the differences from the last time we were there for the open house, "There are no chairs and tables, there are no people, there are no cookies."). We dropped off Delilah first because she is the easy one to drop off. She doesn't care who watches her :P At this point, Evan started saying, "I don't want to go in there! I want to go outside." :( We went into the classroom together and I held him and showed him where the potty was, and all the toys. He started to get really scared and gave me the saddest face ever. Big crocodile tears and a pouty quivering lip. We sat down together and hugged for a while. I gave him kitty cat to hold on to and told him that I would be back in the afternoon. A little boy came up to him and I asked Evan if he wanted to go play with that little boy. He said yes, but kept looking at me with the sad pouty lip. Heartbreaking.

I just called though and the receptionist went to ask how he was doing. She came back and said, "His teacher says he is doing wonderful. Like he has been here for months." Whew. What a relief!

Endings and Beginnings

The hearing was today! You can see all the details (including webcast) here:http://science.house.gov/publications/hearings_markups_details.aspx?NewsID=2543 If I had gone (nursing Delilah kept me away) I would have been sitting right in front where you see two ladies' heads. So glad to have that off my plate. We are already getting press on this. I will put up some links as they come in.

Today is the kids' last day at daycare. Evan brought Oreos to school today for his last day party. We were calling it a "Goodbye Party" but he calls it a "Goodbye birthday." He has been taking the new school issue in stride and today I figured out why. He was under the impression that James and I would be going with him to the new school. Just like we all went to the open house together. :( He was really upset to find to find out that we would not be all going together. Poor kid.

I am taking the afternoon off and will eventually go get the kids for their passports. I can't wait to get out of here :P

Potty Humor

When I picked Evan up from daycare today, the teacher told me a funny story. She said that she told Evan that if he pooped in the potty that he could have a treasure. He went in there and came out yelling that he had pooped. She went in there and saw that he had pooped the world's tiniest poop. She told him that it had to be bigger to get the treasure. So he climbed on the toilet, clutched the seat with both hands, closed his eyes and started to chant, "I will get a treasure, I will get a treasure, I will get a treasure." And he did.

Next, tonight on my first poop in the bedroom potty of the night, I said to Evan, "I don't know what you ate today, but it stinks!" He looked confused and said, "I ate breakfast and lunch." Touche.

Is it anyone else or do I just have an inordinate number of stories involving poop these days?

Don't Got For.

Evan informed me today that I "got for" to give him water at bedtime. I got for a lot today. I didn't have training pants for him to go to school today. I got for to water the flowers in my planter all week. Dead. Sheesh. It is hard being the person who has to remember everything. I am exhausted.

We are getting close to not having my work assignment hanging over my head soon. Whew! James had late training tonight, so Emily came over to help me out. She is awesome. I could deal with a fussy Delilah (shots) while she gave Evan a bath. Made my evening bearable.

If I make it through this summer, it will be a miracle! This weekend is the shower I am helping to throw my coworker. I have a lot of prep work for that. I think we also have to get the kids' passports soon.

Absolutely exhausted!

Whew! It has been a long few days...and will only get worse this week. Very busy. Today was D's 4 month well baby visit. Poor thing got her shots. She is just a peanut still. Weighing in at 10 lbs. 11.6 oz...still only 3rd percentile. But tall at 24.5 inches long (58%). Otherwise healthy :) We picked up Evan late in the day. He told me he was hungry and "juicy." (Thirsty). Very creative. He is still "pooping the big one" for us multiple times a night. Twice in the big potty tonight so we are really moving along.

Tomorrow our draft testimony goes to the Hill, so my work life will slow down a bit. Thursday is the big hearing. I will try to link the documents and such. It is pretty exciting.

Thursday is the kids' last day at their daycare. Moving to the new one next week. Kind of scary.

Delilah has been sleeping quite well in her own crib for naps. It is too loud here with Evan for her to sleep downstairs now. She isn't ready to sleep there at night though. :P She misses her mom too much.

Weight loss went out the window last week. I was barely surviving. I didn't gain...lost just a tiny amount. Hoping for more this week.

We have created a monster!

Evan has been doing really well with the potty training. He has had a couple of peeing accidents at school, but pretty good. He pooped at school today for the first time. When we got home tonight, Evan said to me, "I am going to poop after you read me a story, and you will say, "Yay, Evan! You did it!"" LOL. He did. And I said what he had scripted for me. And then he pooped again. The treasures make it worth it for him. I went in there again and he was still sitting on the potty (45 minutes later) looking at the bucket of treasures he got. I convinced him to try again tomorrow when he had some more poop.

Tonight, Evan, Delilah and I went to The White Fence Farm with Jen, Jose, Jasmine, Lori, Jayson, and Kayli. The White Fence Farm is not far from where we used to live, but we never went there. It has a petting zoo and a play ground and all sorts of crap. When we first got there, I said to Evan, "Come on. We have to go over a bridge." And he said, "Oh, holy shit." LOL. I said, "What did you just say?" He said, "Nossing."

He also told me that his name was "Evan Superstar." Good to know.

Well, I guess that's progress...

Evan told me tonight, "After you read me a story, I will poop in the potty." He hadn't pooped all day (had two pee accidents at daycare). And he did. I read him a story and went downstairs and he was already calling me back up because he pooped. He was very proud of himself. And got in the treasure chest for some sidewalk chalk. (He told me, "This was my dream!") Five minutes later he was calling me again. More poop. Which resulted in a squirt gun. He told me then, "I will poop some more." I told him not to force it if he didn't have to go. Another five minutes went by. More poop. This time a watercolor set. LOL.

After an hour (of blissful knitting and watching crappy Tori and Dean) I headed up to get myself ready for bed and Evan was calling out for me. I had forgotten to turn off his night light. But I smelled poop in his room. Sure enough. More poop. LOL. I gave him a shocked face and he said, "Holy moly!" I brought him one of the smaller treasures...a little plastic lion. He is in there now roaring in his bedroom.

No matter how early I get up, I seem to get to work about the same time. Today was tough because Evan woke up and wanted to poop on the potty. Great, right? Well, 20 minutes later he was still sitting there waiting and I was going to be late for work. So I had to talk him into trying at school later.

I only lost one pound last week, so I am having a hard time staying on plan. It is so easy to derail. I just have to think about the new boobs I am going to get once I get down to a lower weight. Breast reduction soooooon. Well, not too soon, but soon.

I just had a minute because my team is on the Hill for a meeting. Gotta run!

Thanksgiving

The last couple of days have been rough for me. But tonight I got my moment of grace. I have been laying down with Delilah in my bed for a few minutes to get her to go to sleep around 6:30/7:00. We usually nurse til her eyes start to close. Tonight she kept taking little breaks to pull off and "talk" to me--her sweet eyes communicating more than her coos every could. After she finally closed her eyes, I got up and I could hear Evan yelling something in his bedroom. I went in there and he had his pants down around his ankles. He was yelling, "I did poop in the potty, mama." And he did. We have been putting his little potty in his room because it is hard for him to get into the bathroom at night. This is the first time that he has done anything like this fully on his own with no prompting. God, I was so proud, you would have thought it was my poop in there. LOL. As we walked downstairs to get his prize, he kept pumping his fist and saying, "I did it!"

This was after he stayed dry all day at daycare. Perhaps a breakthrough? You know I have a whole box of toys for the treasure chest that i think are so cool...you know what he picked? One of those silly spinning windmills. He was so proud and going to show his friends tomorrow. LOL.

These moments are sometimes so far and few between that I needed to document this one.

Can't sleep

I have been laying in bed for over an hour trying to go to sleep. My body is exhausted, but my brain will not turn off. I keep playing a handful of events over and over in my head.

This weekend was supposed to be potty training weekend. Yesterday went pretty darn good...with a poop in the potty and very few accidents. Today was a different story. It was battle after battle. Cries of "You're mean" and "I hate this/you/potty." And spitting and hitting. He is a stubborn kid. I feel like we have done everything wrong with potty training now. When he pulled his head back and spit right in my face, I slapped him. I don't even spank. I just lost it. Then we have been telling him that if he doesn't start going in the potty, he will have to go back in diapers. He pooped in his pants during the party today and brought down a diaper and handed it to me. He really really does not want to go back in diapers, but he was ready to because he feels like a failure on this. He kept asking me, "Are you happy, Mommy?" I of course, tried not to show my disappointment. It has become a battle now. Battle of wills. And now I don't know what to do. We have been saying that diapers are for babies, but now I feel like we just have to not pressure him. Because if he feels like it is a battle, he is going to want to win. But how do we go back to diapers? He will feel like we are punishing him. I don't know. Being a parent is so freaking hard. My heart breaks when I see his face handing me that darn diaper.

I am stretched so thin right now, I feel like I am not doing anything right. Potty training, getting Delilah to sleep in her own bed, work, marriage, keeping this house up. I can't keep up with it.

This "party" was miserable. I think everyone else had a good time. I was being pulled in about 1000 different directions. I wanted to be able to greet my friends, but don't feel like I got much of an opportunity. I am done with the whole BBQ thing. Not worth it.

I am envious of James getting to go out. I don't really have anyone to go out with or anywhere to go. Pity party of one. Last weekend I declined to go to a party at a coworker's house because I felt bad leaving James alone with both kids at bed time....but that was stupid because James went out that night anyhow.

Anyhow, it is now almost 11...I hope I can get to sleep soon. These kids don't care that I had a late night...they will be up regardless.

FML.

I am ridiculously excited for the long weekend. Probably because it is first long weekend since my leave ended. Also probably because we have some fun stuff planned. Like our old friend Lori, from Hawaii is flying into town. And we all have a wedding in a park to go to.

Yesterday, Evan had his surgery. It was relatively uneventful. I forgot the camera and so won't have pictures of him in his gear. He was surprisingly happy...even though he didn't get to eat before we left the house. He got a little bit upset when they asked him to change from his SpongeBob pjs into the rocket ship hospital gown. But we talked him into it. I distracted him by using one of the socks they gave him as a puppet. The anesthesiologist was awesome and she let us come back to the OR with her. James held the mask in front of Evan's face, while I helped him hold this "Magic Wand." He got to tap this magic trick coloring book that was first blank pages and then once he tapped it, the pages were colored. James and I were almost as excited as Evan was. LOL. Evan was breathing in the gas and chuckling at his magical abilities. Then we laid him down and his body entered what the doctor called the "excitement" phase of going under. She said he was already asleep, but his body was still reacting. He was jerking and mumbling stuff. And then he was snoring. 10 minutes in the waiting room and the ENT came out to say that all was well. 10 minutes later we were in recovery with him. He was already asking us "Where's my chocolate milk?"

He was fine most of the day. Just a bit cranky. Really doesn't like the ear drops we have to give him.

We went out to Buca di Peppo for dinner with David and Linda. We sang Happy Birthday to David because his birthday is tomorrow (Evan led the way with the singing). Right as we finished singing, Evan pointed at David and yelled, "His penis is bleeding!" There was a few minutes of shock before we realized that he was referring to a statue behind David (oddly enough it was a statue of The David) that was painted gold and was reflecting some of the red fabric around us. LOL.

Work is keeping me way too busy. I can only do what I can do. :)

Damn you, Kitty Cat!

Last night, I laid Delilah down in her crib to sleep for the first time. When I first laid her down, she gave me a little pout like, "Please don't leave me all alone." I worked for an hour on the computer (real work stuff...kicking my butt right now!) and then knit for an hour. I had just posted on Facebook that D was sleeping in her crib for the first time and the little monkey woke up. She let out a holler that she was hungry, so I went in and rescued her. She was very very happy to see me. And then we slept happily in my bed the rest of the night :)

This morning, Evan saw a pair of shorts I had set out to take with me to daycare...so he has extra. He asked me, "Mama, are those dirty?" I said, "No, they are clean." He said, "Oh, my bad." LOL. I love when he tries out those little statements...who knew he had the lexicon of a college student in the late 1990s.

I managed for once to get out the door on time. I was even gloating about it as I walked into daycare. Until Evan realized that he (I) had forgotten Kitty Cat. We can't go to daycare without Kitty Cat. So, I had to drive home and get the little mongrel. Thwarted again.

Today is super busy. Getting all this stuff ready for the testimony; going to Indian for lunch; having a quick shower planning meeting; maybe a movie with my hubby tonight. Tomorrow is Evan's surgery.

Check out his soccer video:

The Ultimate in Multitasking

I am blogging while standing....while cooking dinner. I just have no time!

I lost 2 pounds this week! Woo hoo! The holiday weekend will be the real test.

We are officially starting the new daycare July 20th. Our kids will be assimilated into the Christian culture. LOL. I told Evan's teacher today and she cried. :( So I cried. They love him so there. I made sure to stress that it is purely financial and that we love them otherwise. So sad.

This morning while feeding Delilah, I asked Evan to tell me a story. It went like this, "Once upon a time there was a boy named Evan. He lived with Mommy and Daddy and Bear and Tyler and Daisy." "Anyone else?" "And Emowy (Emily)" "What about Delilah?" "yes" "what did Evan like to do?" "Eat breakfast." We went on like this for a while. Pretty cute.

A little bit later he said something that sounded like "Shit." I gave him THE EYE and said, "I do not like that language." Perhaps, I misunderstood him because he said with a confused frown, "But I didn't say 'Day-mit.'" LOL.

I have many other adventures to tell you about, but they will have to wait until the proverbial shit is no longer hitting the fan at work.

Please don't leave me

Night before last, when I was putting Evan to bed, I was singing to him Pink's Please Don't Leave Me. (for reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddZPrJ8ROto) I was singing the chorus, "Please don't leave me. Please don't leave me. I always say how much I need you." He would repeat what I had sang after each line. And then he started to sing his own lyrics, "Please don't leave me. I want to go with you. I love you." It was hilarious. What a talented little guy.

Last night, Emily came over to help me out because we were on our own as James had to work a different shift. She and I had a good time...made roasted red pepper wraps with feta and spinach. Yummy. Then brownies with ice cream. All weightwatchers friendly :) We were hoping to get watch True Life I am Pregnant with Twins or 16 and Pregnant....but MTV was only playing Michael Jackson stuff. Boo.

I think MJ was very talented and very damaged. It is sad that there is a whole generation of people who don't remember him before he hacked up his face and (allegedly) started touching little boys. But I don't want to watch MJ videos all night. Darn it.

I have a ton to do today before my boss comes back Monday. Better get cracking. Donuts for new staff at 9:30 woo hoo!

Hurry Up and Wait

Hurry up and wait. it is what the government is all about. Is why GSA has to hurry up and spend $22 million on our stupid building fixing things that don't need to be fixed to fix the economy. My slow days of work are over as of tomorrow. My big boss called today and said that our requesters on the Hill want a testimony next month as opposed to the report we were publishing in September. So first thing tomorrow, I need to start revamping our report to become a testimony. Yowza. So I may not get to blog as much as I would like. I am going to try though. When my boss gets back from her vacation next week the poop will hit the fan.

I am intrigued by Twitter. But I can't figure it out. When I read people's twitter pages it doesn't make any sense. Oh well :P.

Ah, home

I went all the way to work today. Went down at 9 am to pump....and realized that I left some integral parts of the pump at home. Sooooo....I had to drive all the way home. Now I am teleworking. Which isn't so bad. I am missing getting to have Indian for lunch. As part of our Diversity month, they are eating indian food and watching "Slumdog Millionaire."

Yesterday, I went to that Christian daycare. It wasn't bad. The teachers seemed nice. The facility is HUGE. They do teach a bible story a day...and pray before meals....but I could live with that. I think we are going to go to their open house this weekend. They will even have pony rides.

Last night, Evan complained of a headache so Emily gave him a bandaid for his head. Then a little later he was crying, so I went up to his room. Poor thing was sitting on the floor crying. He said, "I think I am going to throw up." So we ran to the bathroom. I saw him bending over as we walked in....so I tried to catch it. LOL. It was totally second nature. Needless to say, he didn't make it, and my hands couldn't catch it all. So there was some clean up involved. I don't know if he just had an upset tummy or what. But he was fine this morning.

Miss D was sleeping very fretfully last night. She kept partially waking and stirring. It kept me up for a while. She seemed ok this morning too. So, I don't know. They are ganging up on me. :)

A couple of things that made me smile this morning:
I was looking for a blanket for Delilah to cover her in her car seat and Evan started to yell, "I have a 'Dea! I have a 'Dea!" (idea, I think). He thought he knew where one was.
And then we were talking about how Daddy was home this morning but that he had to go to work tonight. I asked Evan if he knew where Daddy worked and he said, "The gym." LOL.

Today, I have lunch plans with my work friends! :) Tonight, Emily is going to come over. We are going to have a Jon & Kate + Eight viewing party. It shouldn't be so much fun to see if a couple is going to get divorced. I do truly feel bad for those kiddos. And I feel like one of the idiots watching The Truman Show, but I CANNOT help myself. Who decides to let the whole world watch your marriage unravel. I have no secrets, but even I would draw a line there. Kate talks about how this is all for her kids, but when you see stuff like this you have to wonder:
http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/telefile/2009/06/in-defense-of-this-kate-gossel.php
I am not even talking about her "denying" her child water. I am talking about how listless those kids are. They shouldn't have to do press! They are 8 and 5 years old! It doesn't look fun at all for them. So, my thoughts are that Jon & Kate are both douchebags. But I still can't help watching tonight.

And then my next dilemma. I found this daycare that would save us $400 a month. It is a state of the art center...looks really cool. The reason it is cheaper is because they offer civil servants 25% off. Well, the downside (isn't there always a downside?) is that it is affiliated with a nondenominational church. I wouldn't mind it if they taught the kids a few bible stories and had a Christmas pageant, but I do not want them indoctrinated. So, I am supposed to go see this place this afternoon. It makes me a little oogey. They call their youth group at this church Revolution Youth. Oogey.

I have just a minute!

I wanted to say that I lost 2.5 lbs. this week. I gave up a lot of yummy food for that :P. Today we celebrated Father's Day with David and Linda. Emily came out to dinner with us too. I hope James enjoyed himself. We went to Mimi's and I only ate soup, salad, and half of a really yummy and very caloric muffin. Job well done.

I am going to hurry up and get off the computer because I want to knit a bit before both kids wake up.

Some Evan-isms

Yesterday, the boy lifted my shirt and said, "I think you have another baby in there." Ha. Thanks, kid. I am trying. LOL.

He and I went to the park near our house yesterday afternoon. He was a "grumpy troll" who lived on the "grumpy troll bridge." I wasn't allowed to cross the grumpy troll bridge. He told me I had to stay over under the "umbrella" which was really sort of a turret. So I told him I was a pretty pretty princess in a castle. He said, "Oh, that's great!" LOL.

He went to soccer today with James. He played for a little while until he fell on his face. And then he was done. We are still struggling with potty training. I bought a big box of cheap toys from the target dollar bins and he was intrigued. But not enough to poop in the potty. I don't know what we are going to do. Maybe we will have to outsource. Hire someone to come in and potty train him. Supernanny, where are you?

Miss Delilah is sick again. She has another cold. She is sneezing and throwing up the mucus in her throat. Poor baby. Poor me. It only means that I am going to get yet another disease from her. She is sitting in front of me on the desk in the Bumbo seat. She thinks that since I am in front of her all is well. But I can still bloggy blog while keeping her company.

We are off to Evan's BFF, Chase's 3rd birthday party this evening. Should be fun. We enjoy that family's company.

Fat Lip

We had some excitement last night. Evan was in his room playing and reading per usual at his bedtime. At about 8, I went in there to see if I could talk him into just using his sheet because it was so warm. I could kind of tell that he was having difficulty talking, so I peered into the dark and said, "What is wrong with your face?!" I could kind of see that his upper lip was fat. My first thought, as I turned on the light, was that he was having some sort of allergic reaction. Nope. Instead, he was covered in blood. There was blood on his mouth, blood on his hands, blood on his feet. I asked him what happened and he said he bit himself. So, I cleaned him up and couldn't really find any major wounds on his mouth. I got him a ice pack to bring the swelling down. Adding to the mystery was some black stuff in his back molars. He had brushed his teeth before bed and hadn't had any Oreos or anything. I brushed that out. James asked Evan, "What did you eat?" Evan said, "Just my lip." LOL. This morning, the poor thing still has a fat lip and there isn't any huge wound that is noticable.

We are pretty confused. He didn't yell out or anything that he had been hurt. But to get it to swell like that you would think it had to be some sort of trauma. Bizarre.

James had some major heartbreak yesterday. The daycare always helps the kids make us things for holidays. So Evan came home yesterday with a card shaped like a tool box with a story about his dad inside. The transcribed message was something like, "My dad likes cereal. He watches TV. He doesn't play with me. He takes me to the park." James was heartbroken. I can't say I blame him. I would have cried for days over something like that. James is a great father. He is more hands on than many many fathers. (Sometimes too hands on. I have to holler at them for wrestling all the time.) I am sort of pissed at the teacher for making what could have been a great gift into a slap in the face. Shame on her.

I don't think I mentioned here that Delilah and I spent the evening the other night in Urgent Care. She has an ear infection. Spent the day sort of upset at daycare. But while we were at urgent care, she was laughing at me. Her first giggles for me. Of course, she hasn't done it since.

Big weekend. Tomorrow is soccer and then Chase's birthday party. Sunday is Father's Day.

Since I have a minute...

I am home. Waiting for dinner to cook. I somehow turned the oven off after preheating it. So dinner sat in there for 30 minutes just chilling. Gah. Evan is watching TV. Miss D is sleeping off her daycare hangover.

I went to my work picnic today. We do it in conjunction with Diversity Month, so the offerings were American BBQ, Spaghetti, Tamales, and Korean Flank Steak. All delicious....not so good on the tummy all together. Although my family will tell me that nothing agrees with me. LOL. There were two pinatas (I know there is supposed to be a tilde above the n but don't know how to do that here)...one for kids, one for adults. The adult one had candy and alcohol shooters in it. I had to miss out because my boobs were going to explode. It was a nice time. I had a hard time sticking to the plan. But I just tried not to overeat. I did, however, have two brownies and two mini cookies. These picnics make it incredibly hard to say how many points I actually ate. Because there were tastes of so many little things. I may say 20 points for it all.

I made Evan a poo poo treasure chest today. I bought a bunch of little crappy toys and put it all in a box so that when he poops on the potty he can pick out something. We will see. He was intrigued and went to try to poop immediately, but to no avail.

Looking forward to sleep tonight. My sinus seems to have cleared. Delilah is recovering nicely from her ear infection. Poor kiddy.

Mornings Suck!

I am really forking tired today. Delilah woke at 2 last night to eat, but I had a really hard time going back to sleep because I had another headache in my cheek/teeth area. Ouch. It must be sinuses. I could feel/hear things shift in there. If it gets bad again today, I will go off to the doctor. A bagel would have made it all better this morning :(

This morning, Delilah was happily sitting in her chair, talking to Evil Pooh. Evan said, "Here's she pacifier!" (He gets she/her mixed up.) And he ran over to give it to her. I said, "Be gentle, ok?" And before I could say anything else, he hooked a finger in her mouth and forced it open. LOL. I said, "no, no, no, no!" Evan said, "She not opening she mouth!" Luckily, Delilah just took it all in stride.

Still slow at work today. Going to go to lunch this afternoon. Worried about finding something on plan.

Feeling Lighter

Well, I started my diet yesterday. I was HONGRY. I even felt a little crappy. I hope that I am still eating enough with the milk production. WW allows me to have 5 extra points a day....should be 10, but since I am pumping, I erred on the side of caution. I wanted a bagel and cream cheese and my diet coke this morning. Instead, I was good. I even had some Mother's Milk tea this morning to try to stimulate milk production. Here is my status so far. I want to get down to my prepregnancy weight before our big vacation in October.




We had a nice weekend. Evan played in his soccer game on Saturday. He seemed to enjoy himself a bit more this time. We had my dad, and Emily and Madeline over for dinner Saturday night before their big concert.

Yesterday, Evan and I went to the grocery store. He was a good boy so he got to ride the horse at the end. Another little boy didn't get to ride the horse, so Evan was supposing that may be that little boy wasn't good. As we walked to the car he said, "Yesterday (which to Evan is any day prior to today), I wasn't good." I said, "Yeah, did you have a bad day?" He said, "Yeah, broke my heart." LOL. Later when I was telling James the story, Evan said, "My heart is fixed."

This week is going to be on the boring side, I am afraid. Evan has his pre-op appointment on Wednesday, so I am going to work from home after that. And Thursday is our office picnic. That will be fun....but it seems so far off.

Thomas, Percy, Freight Cars, mmmmmmmm

Yesterday, I was in training all day. I learned at least one new thing, which met my goal. It was a different way to spend a day, so that was nice too. I came home a little late. Emily came over to have pizza with the family. All in all a nice night.

While Emily and I were chatting downstairs, Evan was upstairs "reading." We have a baby monitor in his room because our house is big enough now that we probably wouldn't hear him if he needed us...and most of the time, he won't come out to get us.

Evan has been doing this weird sort of moaning/singing/chanting since he was 4 months old. It always happened as he was getting tired, he would start to say, "Mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm." I think it was sort of a meditative thing for him to help wind down. Since he has been talking, he does his "reading" aloud where he names off all the characters that he can see in his books. But he does it in the same intonation as the "Mmmmm, mmmm, mmmm"...it is sort of a nasal droning chant. Emily and I captured it on video last night. He is saying stuff like, "Thomas, Percy, James, Gordon, Freight cars, mmmmmmm..." Cracks us up everytime.

My girl is officially 3 months old now. She is such a sweetheart. The daycare providers said that she was really talkative yesterday. No real suprise there.

Miss D has a little bit of a cold and is sort of snuffly. But she is in good spirits. Can't wait to spend some time with her this weekend.

Well, I must run and pump now. Seeing her cute little face made me let down. *crying*

Delilah 1:1

Delilah was supposed to be my VBAC baby (Vaginal Birth After Caesarean). I really wanted to experience a “normal” birth after what happened with Evan. I started thinking about natural childbirth even before I got pregnant the second time. It really started with watching The Business of Being Born (highly recommend for anyone pregnant). Then, I mentioned wanting to go natural the next time when James and I were taking a small vacation up in Vail last summer (was I pregnant then? I can’t remember…it seems so long ago!). As I said to him then, “It is like Emily says, ‘Go big, or go home.’” At first James was sort of weirded out by going natural with no pain meds, but I explained that I thought that this would be the best chance for having a VBAC. After that, he was incredibly supportive. Pregnancy was, again, mostly uneventful. I had some nasty morning sickness, and the usual discomfort, but nothing too out of the ordinary. I hired a team of doulas to help me out in the labor room. I read up on the Bradley techniques and Hypnobirthing. At my 36 week doctor appointment, my doctor and I talked about coming back in two weeks and that she would strip my membranes then (to hopefully get things started off on their own…the best chance for a VBAC). She said, “Assuming that this baby is head down, of course.” She turned on the ultrasound machine and put it at the bottom of my belly, and then moved it up to the top…where you could clearly see a head. She was very disappointed, I think, because she knew how much I wanted a VBAC.

We tried some of the tricks to try to get baby to flip, but it just wasn’t going to happen. I was hopeful at each appointment that they would have different news for me, but it just didn’t happen. At my 38 week appointment, the doctor and I scheduled a c-section for March 10, 2009. I was disappointed that I wouldn’t get a chance to experience a natural delivery, but being able to schedule the birth made me feel a little more in control of the situation.
Surgery protocol says that when you have a surgery, you can’t eat after midnight the night before. My surgery wasn’t until 5:30, so that would have been a very long time to be without food. Thankfully, the anesthesiologist said it would be ok for me to have breakfast before 8:00 am. So the morning of March 10th, I went to get Evan out of bed to go to day care, and the kid was burning up. So, that was a change of plans. He went to breakfast with us and then we had a nice relaxing day of taking care of a sick kid. Emily came over to watch Evan around 2 and we scooted out the door.

We checked into the hospital at 3:30. Strangely enough, the same girl who checked me in this time had checked me in 3 years before with Evan. I got into an observation room and hooked up to the monitors. The light contractions I had been feeling all day started to really pick up and HURT. They were coming every 2 to 3 minutes and I had to concentrate to get through them. We had some company in the observation room. It was a small room but two or three people were there at all times with me. James, my folks, Linda, and David came in and out as we waited. And waited. My surgery was supposed to be at 5:30, but we were told that we got bumped for an emergency c-section. So we were supposed to be next at 7. But we got bumped again. My spirits really started to fall. I was getting a headache and felt lightheaded from not eating. I was hooked up to an IV, so I had to pee all the time. So much fun trying to get to the bathroom without showing off the goods to random people. Finally at 8:30, my doctor came into the room to tell us that we were next. She was in a hurry. It was like we had to get me on the table before someone else got there before me. (Incidentally, the hospital was super busy. Full moon.) They wheeled me down the hall to the OR. I had to try to scoot over to the operating table without falling off—not an easy task for a pregnant woman. The OR was really freaking cold. I was shivering…probably with cold and nerves both. I wanted to remember everything because I didn’t get to really see anything the last time. One thing that struck me as funny was that there was one nurse whose job was to sort of guard the tools that were all sterilized and laid out there. James was allowed to come in while I got my spinal, but he couldn’t touch anything. I had to curl into a ball around my pregnant belly for them to get the right place for the spinal. The local anesthetic was quite painful—like a bunch of bee stings right on your back. But once that took effect, I couldn’t feel much. I did feel wet on my back. I still don’t know what that was. After the spinal went in, I felt very warm. I felt intoxicated. It was kind of nice…especially laying there with your lady bits exposed to everyone… They draped me up. James said they were pinching me and such and I couldn’t feel a thing (I could feel them pinching me with just the spinal with Evan which is why they had to use general. So glad I said something then!). And away we go! They started to cut and I asked James what he could see. If there was a lot of fat. LOL. I asked him if they were through the second layer yet. (Not yet!) The doctor explained that there was a lot of scar tissue from my last surgery, so they were cutting it all out. At one point, I started to panic a bit because I couldn’t breathe. The anesthesiologist explained that it was just because I was numb so high up, but that I could breathe and demonstrated by having me blow on my hand. The surgery seemed to take a million years. I was trying to listen to what the doctor was saying to the other (very young) doctor but either couldn’t hear or couldn’t make sense of it.

Finally, they pulled out the baby. She was pulled out feet first and had the cord wrapped around her neck. I asked several times if she was ok, and they assured me that she was. James asked why she wasn’t crying yet, and they said it was because they hadn’t done anything to piss her off yet. They held her up for me to see her right away. My first feeling was happiness that everything was ok; the second feeling was disappointment because I had thought I would feel something magical when you see your baby born…something I had missed out on the first time. Then they carried her away to a corner of the OR where I couldn’t even see. I tried to move the drape so that I could see, but I got the smackdown from the doctors. I guess they don’t want you to accidentally see your innards on the outside. It isn’t really fair. You sacrifice and carry the baby for 9 (10) months and then you don’t even get to see what is going on. It took awhile for them to get me cleaned up and sewed up. Eventually, they brought the baby to me and James to see. I got to smell her—ah, baby smell.

After, they rolled me (picture a conveyer belt, for real) onto a bed and moved me to recovery. They monitored me and cleaned baby up. James was already quite smitten and wouldn’t even leave to go tell our folks that we were out (they eventually found us by asking around! LOL). I finally got to hold her once they were sure I wasn’t going to drop her…and I got to breastfeed there in recovery. She nursed for a few minutes before dropping off to sleep.
We named Delilah Sue (Sue for both of her grandmothers—Suzan and Linda Sue) the next morning.

Our hospital stay was short and sort of crazy. Poor Evan got even sicker while we were gone. He gave his caretakers (Emily, Madeline, Linda, and David) a run for their money. The day we left the hospital, he was diagnosed with strep and the flu. We were told that the two kids should not be in the same house together. So James, Delilah, and I had to immediately pack up and go to a hotel. At the time, I was beside myself. I wanted to be able to care for my boy; I was afraid for Delilah; I was exhausted and just wanted to be home. But in all, it wasn’t so bad at the hotel. I got some time to adjust to being away from the hospital without having to care for a sick three year old.

It is so crazy that it has only been 3 months…and yet it seems like a lifetime. Sweet Delilah.