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. :)